Welcome

Thanks for visiting our web gallery. We hope you enjoy the pictures... we had a great time taking them.

Roaming... that's something we like to do. Pack a lunch (and the cameras), go exploring, take pictures, relax and enjoy the scenery. Over the years we've captured a lot of scenes across America, from the backroads, and Scenic Byways, National Parks, State Parks, Historic Sites, deserts, mountains and everything in between.

You can read about some of our adventures below.

Jon and Pat

2008... Meandering along the east coast, stopping at lighthouses and historic sites. There was plenty to see and do and lots of interesting history in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. We toured forts, historic towns, museums and wildlife refuges snapping pictures all along the route to add to our memories and growing albums.

The campgrounds were not full this year and we didn't see many RV's on the road... Most likely the cost of fuel kept people home. We enjoyed a couple months traveling before heading back to Florida where we parked on our lot and saved fuel.

Sometime in October we ventured out to look at homes and made the decision to put a new home on our lot. Now we are enjoying the extra roominess not found in the motorhome but the next trip will take extra preparation time since we have to move things back to the RV. Now if we could just get some grass to grow...........

2007... After a delayed start we had a tire blowout on the RV which damaged the jacks and furnace ductwork. After a visit to the factory for repairs we eventually made our way out west and mostly explored Utah, Wyoming and Colorado. While we were exploring a 4x4 trail out of Arches National Park we ruptured a tire on the Jeep. Luckily there was no damage to the car but the temperature was around 108° and not a good time or place to be changing a tire. Back in town we tried to find a replacement tire and nobody had one... a standard Jeep tire. You would think that a town full of 4-wheeling vehicles and most of them Jeeps, that they would stock the standard tire. Nope... and there were not any within 100-mile radius. Good thing for the internet, we ordered one and had our spare within 3 days. Running around in the desert without a spare is not something we wanted to do.

There were many wildfires and lots of smoke but we tried to move around and stay away from the fires. till took lots of pictures and enjoyed all the scenery.

2006... and the price of fuel keeps rising. We planned another trip to Alaska and the fuel prices rose again. We thought about the trip and the price went up... yet again. We followed our plan anyway!

When April 2nd rolled around, we rolled out of the driveway and made our way north. First stop in Ohio to visit family and friends, then on to Indiana to visit more friends. Soon we were heading west, the weather pleasant until we reached Onawa, Iowa. On April 25th we woke up to cold and sleet and the new leaves popping out on the tress looked a little distressed.

Moving on down the road we crossed another time zone. Trees were mostly bare with drifts of snow along all the hills. Stopped at Spearfish, South Dakota to get our mail and let some of the snow melt. May 5th we woke up to frozen water lines, the temperature was 26°.

Shelby, Montana was our final stop before crossing the border. The wind was awesome for about four days; we were rocking and rolling even while parked.

Finally on the Alaska Highway, no more satellite TV for a long time. The lakes and rivers were frozen, the mountains covered with deep snow. Most of the campgrounds were still closed, the days were longer and we saw a lot of wildlife. Life is good! The price of fuel is not! One thing we noticed were all of the Florida license plates. We began to wonder if anyone was left in Florida.

At Fort Nelson the water at the RV park was still frozen but we had to stop. We found out that the pass ahead had 2-foot of snow the day before. Besides the snow there was a landslide and a large boulder in the middle of the road. We spent the afternoon talking to the other RV'ers who were also waiting for the pass to clear.

May 16th we arrived in Whitehorse. Sure gets brisk at night. The morning we left Whitehorse the campground sewers froze up. Do you think mother nature was playing a joke on us? Big patches of snow everywhere, frozen lakes and lots of potholes.

May 20th we crossed the border into Alaska. We made a big circle tour, visiting Tok, Valdez, Anchorage, Soldotna, Homer, Seward, Talkeetna, Cantwell, Fairbanks and Delta Junction, just to name a few so you can get an idea our route. During our visit to each area we used the Jeep to explore everything within reach. Just about every time we went out exploring we saw one or more moose. You really have to watch out for them... they are everywhere. In Seward we took a day cruise of the Kenai Fjords National Park. The seas were quite choppy, which made taking pictures a bit of a problem, but the weather was decent. The scenery is awesome, the wildlife abundant and the glaciers spectacular. I would recommend this cruise to anyone.

After leaving Alaska we visited Dawson City and somehow ended up with two broken fog lights on the Jeep. Moving on down the road again, destination Hyder, Alaska to see the bears. Two more broken lights, this time the turn signals. The car was covered in so much mud that you couldn't see the windows. Ugh! What a job trying to get the windows clean enough to drive to the car wash.

The following morning we rolled out of bed real early to visit Fish Creek and watch the bears. When we arrived a momma grizzly and three cubs were in the creek. We photographed them and watched them play for a long time, then they went away. Finally a young black bear came to eat salmon along the bank. Eagles and gulls also grabbed their share of the booty, although there were not very many salmon this year.

We took a lot of pictues and have a lot of memories for when we look back through them. In spite of the frozen water lines, the snow and ice, the broken lights and the high price of fuel we had a good time and enjoyed our visit. You just never know what the next year will bring.

Follow our adventure in the Alaska 2006 albums.

2005... This year we decided to visit Oregon, one state we had never before explored. After visiting family in Ohio we drove down the Natchez Trace. Plenty of wildflowers and wild turkey along the highway; also low hanging branches that brushed the motor home as we travelled south.

Leaving the Trace we headed west to Texas to see the Bluebonnets and found many different types of wildflowers. Texas knows how to brighten the roadside with color.

Moving on west to Ajo, Arizona to visit a friend and explore the Organ Pipe National Park. The Saguaro cactus were covered with large blossoms and the smaller cacti were also full of colorfull blossoms. I'm glad we finally got to see all desert in bloom.

On the move again, we explored Yuma, Laughlin, Oatman and then stopped in Las Vegas for a minor motor home repair. While we were in the area we explored Red Rock Canyon, Valley of Fire State Park and Charleston Peak.

On the road again and after a stop at Salt Lake City we moved west across Nevada, stopped in Carson City, explored Virginia City, and Lake Tahoe.

In California we took a tour of the Jelly Belly Factory. It was really interesting and I had no idea that the Jelly Belly went through so many steps in the process of becoming a jelly bean. Of course we had to take home a couple of bags to sample later on.

On the way north we stopped here and there along the California Coast, setup camp in Brookings, Oregon as a base for more intensive exploring. The weather was cool and usually foggy. Beautiful coast, but a lot different than Florida.

On June 28 we left Brookings to move on north. Stopped at a pulloff to take a picture, slipped and fell when the rock I was standing on split. Saved the camera but later in the day found out that I had broken my arm. Should have let the camera go, it would have been cheaper and less painful. We still explored more of Oregon, but now Jon was taking the pictures while I nursed my arm.

Well, eventually we decided that we should head back east. Along the way we stopped in Wyoming to see the wild mustangs, then wound our way back to Florida. After several weeks of therapy my arm finally healed and we began planning our next trip. Oh, and did I tell you I have a new camera to learn. It's a Digital Canon Rebel XT. Jon will be using the Kodak DX6490, he likes to "point and shoot". Jon is always telling me to "Just hurry up and get the shot", but I like to take my time... or, maybe I'm just slow!

Visit California and Oregon with us.

On April 1, 2004 we left Florida on an extended trip. Our goal was to eventually explore Alaska... but we took a round-about way of getting there.

When we left Florida the low was 63°, the days were warm and sunny, everything was green and flowering; citrus trees were full of blossoms and new fruit. By the time we reached Tennessee the low was 44°, the trees were just beginning to show a little green, the Dogwoods and Redbuds were blooming. When we stopped in Ohio to visit family the temperatures ranged from 21° to 71°; the trees mostly bare were just beginning to show a bud. We left Ohio mid-April and drove southwest across country to visit friends in Arizona.

In Ajo, Arizona the temperatures reached 102°, every day was sunny; the desert was very green from the winter rains. The cactus plants were blooming and I went a little crazy taking pictures.

After leaving Ajo we moved on north to stay a week in Salt Lake City... one of my other hobbies is genealogy. The first day we had a light dusting of snow, followed by temperatures in the 80's. We wondered if it was winter or spring.

May 10th we stopped in Shelby, Montana. By the next morning the ground was white and it was snowing heavily. We were stranded in a snowstorm until May 13th when we finally crossed the border into Canada. The trees were bare and the temperature dropped to 27°. On our second night in Canada the water pipes froze in the motorhome but suffered no damage. Guess we were just a little early. *Grin*

We drove the full length of the Alaska Highway across Canada and into Alaska, stopping in Skagway on the way; then we explored Alaska. The trees finally turned green, wildflowers were everywhere and we had warm days, although mornings and nights were pretty darn cold. At the end of July, when we left Alaska, we noticed the trees were starting to show signs of fall. We ushered in spring and now it seemed fall was on the way. Oh well... at least one day in July was hot!

We enjoyed our cross country excursion, the scenery was awesome and the history was very fascinating. During the 5½ months we were gone we took over 2800 pictures, logged around 16,300 miles on the motorhome and dodged three hurricanes on the return trip home.

See our Alaska 2004 albums.