Why I write this

The purpose of this blog is to document our adventures, such as they are, now that we are settled in North West Arkansas.  We are in a more or less retirement community named Bella Vista.  Most here are golfers, which we are not, although we do own clubs and very occasionally have played a round or so.

We are once again getting accustomed to four seasons, where living in Florida for 12 years got us to thinking that there were only two.  It's all part of getting acclimated to our new environment.  Last year was mostly spent getting settled in Arkansas.  Although we did escape the August heat by travelling north to the U.P., Yooper country.  Now we are ready to get out and about a bit more.

Part of getting ready for travel included trading our van for a "truck", a Honda Ridgeline.  The Ridge has several advantages over the van.  Higher ground clearance to match our so called "off road" camper, the ability to carry our bikes, barbecue grill, and inflatable kayak in the truck bed, plus hidden storage for our generator, in the Ridge's unique trunk.  The Ridge also is rated with a higher towing capacity than our van, should we opt for a larger trailer.

We had some nice mods made to the Aliner trailer earlier this year, where John Pfeil, well known amongst Aliner folks,  gave us a grey water tank and added a hinged bed platform.  We gave up the sofa option, which we had never used in favor of a permanent bed.  The platform rises with ease, assisted with struts and gives us access to much needed storage.  Organization has never been easier.  With the addition of the grey water tank, we feel much better about overnight stops at Walmarts and Flying J's as we make our way toward destinations.

We will be leaving home in a few days for a Spring trip towing the Aliner.  We will start with a visit to Salina, KS, with the main purpose being to attend Granddaughter Madeline's Dance Recital, an annual event we can't miss.  We will stay in the city park in Lindsborg, KS about 20 miles from Salina.    Lindsborg has always been a favorite small town, and the park is quiet and an easy walk to downtown and our favorite coffee shop. After the Recital, we should be heading west.  At this writing, most likely we will be headed for northern New Mexico.  If the weather breaks we could head straight west to Colorado, in anticipation of some higher altitude camping, perhaps venturing into Wyoming.

The travel map is the result of a peripatetic beginning when we first acquired the camper in 2011.  Twenty states, on our first outing, and eleven more that fall.  Phew too much too fast, we decided to slow down, and limit our daily driving mileage, plus we should stay longer when we stop.  In 2012 we added only one more state, Michigan.

If I continue to post, I hope that a pattern of slowing down and enjoying more will materialize.

Only time will tell.