10/5/26 - A fairly short driving day was made long by needing to fix a leaking RV tire, following a drunk driver (we called it in), and Albuquerque rush hour traffic. After setting up, we decided to treat ourselves to dinner at Chili's. 10/6/26 - Up at 3am!!!! to get to Balloon Fiesta Park before the Albuquerque International Balloon Festival activities started at 5am. We enjoyed the "Gondola Club" which provided parking, a shuttle, private seating, hot drinks, breakfast b

10/1/26 - We drove about 3 hours south to reach Alamosa, CO, near Great Sand Dunes National Park. We had a great view of the snow-capped Sangre de Cristo Mountains out the back of our RV We had some time after we set up so we did a short hike at Zapata Falls. Although sunny when we left the RV, it was drizzling when we arrived at our hike. This produced a rainbow to welcome us! The falls were tucked behind the rocks and inaccessible (Pat tried!) but the raging stream was lo

9/25/26 - In the morning, I went to a great farmers market in Woodland Park (the town where we are staying). I bought veggies, fruit, bakery, beef, and a new wallet. In the afternoon, Pat and I went to the nearby Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center. On the way, we got a close-up view of the mule deer that hang out by our RV park. They like the new grass the town in trying to grow next to the road. We attended a wolf feeding. The wolf rescue currently has 14 wolves (and othe

9/20/27 - We drove about 7 hours this day from Lincoln, NE, to where Pat's brother, Jeff, lives with his wife, Trina, in Wellington, CO (north of Fort Collins). We were able to hook up next to their house and sleep in our own bed We got to meet Teddy for the first time. He is a very good boy and loves cuddling. He likes to fetch and I helped him learn "drop" so it wasn't always tug of war when he brought the toy back. We had dinner and hung out with Trina's cousin and son.

9/17/26 - We left Tennessee and drove through Kentucky, Illinois, and into Missouri. Four states in one day!! We spent one night west of St. Louis. 9/18/26 - We drove briefly through Iowa on the way to Lincoln, Nebraska. We arrived early enough that we had time to take a guided tour of their truly ornate capitol building (finished in 1932). Nebraska's capitol building has gorgeous mosaics on ceilings, walls, and floors This specific mosaic scrolled through the area under

9/12/26 - Rain thwarted our plans to hike a 2nd time in Great Smoky Mountain NP. I spent the day reading my dad's extensive writings about his life and travels. In the evening, we ventured out for pizza at our favorite chain (Mellow Mushroom) and we saw a beautiful rainbow on the way back to the RV. 9/13/26 - Before we left our site, I took the truck to drop off some mail. On my way back, I saw a good-sized black bear running down the sidewalk that Pat and I had been using

9/6/26 - Our RV park was near Gatlinburg, on the north edge of Great Smoky Mountains (GSM) National Park. Our site backed up to a stream with woods beyond. Pat made friends with the small fish in the stream by giving them pieces of ham and crackers. 9/8/26 - We drove through Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge (both tourist attraction madness on an epic level!!)... ...to visit Sevierville, the town Dolly Parton would visit as a child. Since she passed away so recently, there were m

9/2/26 - In the afternoon, we checked into our hotel in Lexington before meeting our South Dakota friends who live part-time near us in Arizona. Chris and Carrie Nipe flew from South Dakota. Alice and Steve Kary drove in from a family reunion in Missouri. We had cocktails in our room before taking the hotel shuttle to/from dinner at a nice steak and seafood place. 9/3/26 - We were picked up mid-morning by our Mint Julep Tours driver for a day of horse farms. Our first sto

8/27/26 - We left the RV at 5:30am(!!!) to drive 1.5 hours to Louisville for our 7am tour of Churchill Downs (home of the Kentucky Derby since 1875). Our tour guide took us to the edge of the racetrack to watch the "workout riders" giving the horses their daily exercise. We also saw the owners' suites and the Winners Circle. We learned that ~1400 horses stay on the "backside" of the track in stables leased by several "trainers" who manage the care and training of the horses

8/21/26 - We arrived in our RV park about 45 minutes south of Lexington, KY. Our RV park is next to the Kentucky River (with a pretty waterfall on the opposite site) and has a Sasquatch theme After extra time setting the RV up (our spot had quite a slope, requiring use of cinderblocks to raise the front enough), we packed overnight bags again and hit the road to drive about 2 hours to Bowling Green for our Kentucky half marathon. Near Bowling Green, we drove by a large Corv

8/12/26 - We arrived at another hilltop campground near Fayetteville, WV. Another pretty, wooded spot. We'd frequently hear acorns dropping down onto the RV. We spotted deer when we drove around at dusk looking for the bears (supposedly scavenging the campground's dumpster) 8/14/26 - We left for a 2-night stay near Parkersburg, WV, for another half marathon. West Virginia is very hilly, with rivers/creeks far below the bridges we used On the way, we stopped in Charleston t

8/6/26 - We drove ~30 minutes south to Richmond, the capital of Virginia. I scheduled a tour of the Virginia Supreme Court. We learned about 1) how their court system differs from AZ and USA, and 2) some of their important cases in the past. The state capitol building was right across the street and we were able to get a guided tour there also. The original capitol was finished in 1788. In 2005, they went through this massive renovation to add a visitor entrance and more

7/31/26 - After one night in our campground, we packed some overnight bags to head towards the Virginia coast for a couple of days. We spent several hours in Colonial Williamsburg ("the world's largest living history museum, where restored 18th-century buildings, costumed interpreters, and hands-on demonstrations bring Virginia's colonial capital and the story of America's founding to life"). On our tour of the Virginia Governor's house, who in 1775, was a man selected by t

7/21/26 - We had a short, 3-hour drive to our campground near Asheville, North Carolina. Our campground (Campfire Lodgings) was on top of a tall hill and had this awesome view! Our spot had a lot of tall trees and brush so we didn't have this view. But I was happy to be on high ground knowing that heavy rains from Hurricane Helene had destroyed the lowland areas in Asheville in 2024. We arrived early enough that we were able to complete a 4-mile run along a pretty trail in

7/15/26 - We arrived early enough at our RV park, south of Columbia, SC, to go for a short run before dinner. 7/16/26 - Another state capitol building: This one had a very unique area between the House and Senate chambers. Unlike other capitols, it had lots of comfortable seating. I loved this gorgeous glass mosaic window Our next stop was the South Carolina State Museum that had, in addition to state history information, a planetarium (we watched a program on black holes),

7/12/26 - We had another pretty, woodsy spot at Stone Mountain Campground, about 30 minutes east of Atlanta. Luckily the thunderstorms stopped when we were setting up; but they resumed later with a fury! One thundercrack was so loud we believe it hit nearby. 7/13/26 - Thunderstorms kept us inside most of the day. In the afternoon, we toured an Amazon Fulfillment Center. It ended up being just us so we had a private tour again!! We each had a headset/microphone system so

We had a fairly laid-back visit in Tallahassee, Florida. Beyond a thunderstorm every afternoon, the highlights of our stay: Staying under these massive live oak trees. Most branches were about 60-feet long! Running on the Miccosukee Greenway Trail, which provided welcome shade for our 90+F runs You can't go to the South without stopping for breakfast at Waffle House! The main cook was fun to watch...he had about 20 things going on at one time! Despite the "chaos", our ord

7/1/26 - We passed through Selma, Alabama, on the way to our campground near Montgomery, AL. We parked the rig on a street and walked over the Edmund Pettus Bridge. We had, of course, heard about the March 7, 1965 events, but we learned more about the violence before and after the marches. Storyboards, this mural, and a local told us about the murders of the Selma activists (two of three were white) Our remaining drive followed most of the Selma-to-Montgomery March route th

6/26/26 to 6/30/26 We loved our campsite at Timberlake Campground (on the east side of Jackson, MS). It was on a bay off of the larger Barnett Reservoir. We shared the space with several Canada Geese and Mallard ducks. Once the sun lowered in the sky, the temperature cooled off enough that we could enjoy sitting outside in our clamshell enclosure. We also enjoyed watching the turtles and a large school of catfish (when our neighbor threw corn out for them). This community

6/23/26 - I did a bit of shopping and in the evening we went out to dinner. We celebrated Pat's birthday with some Texas BBQ 6/24/26 - We dropped the RV off at a shop to get some brake work done. Isn't this shop confidence-inspiring? The guy on the phone was very nice and Pat seemed happy with the work they did. We spend a couple of hours walking around the Texas A&M campus in the town of College Station. The visitor center gave us a nice guide that told us a lot of infor