Chanute, KS

Stayed in the city park campground (no water in winter) in anticipation of our 7am appointment with the service department on Wednesday. BRRRR.

At 7 the next morning we get packed up and drive over to service with our long list of things do have done or checked. The service guys hooked up the electricity, and were already starting while the supervisor was still writing up our ticket!

Off to breakfast, then a little tour of the town. Back to the factory for a tour of the facility. Cathy checked out the new RVs and liked the new floorplans, but Steve said not now. Found out we need new springs, but can't get them installed until Monday. Oh, great, 5 more nights in freezing weather with no water!!!

Picked up the RV, and went back to the park for the night. Found we had new neighbors in a 5 slide Discover America RV parked right next to us. Woke up in the morning to find a brand new Champagne parked next to the 5 slider, only going the other way. Our new neighbors had just traded in the 5 slide for the Champagne!

Steve, in his usual nosy fashion, went over to tell them how jealous he was, and got a tour of both units. He went back to pester Cathy until she went over to look, too. Cathy says that "the angels sang" when she toured the 5 slider. Next thing we knew, we had traded in our own RV for this new one!

Asked Nuwa for a favor, and left our RV in Chanute in their service building until Monday, drove to KC to stay at our friend's house for a few days in the yucky cold weather. Will let you know how the next week unfolds.

Walnut Grove RV Park - Merriam, KS

Here we are, back at the beautiful Walnut Grove. We are parked right next to our first RV friends, Paul and Mary! They brought a couple with them (Mike and Leslie), and we all had a great time together. We all had chili one night, and had Mike and Leslie over to watch "The Long, Long Trailer" with Lucy and Desi. What a hoot, and still relevant.

Went to all the Dr., Dentist, and Vet appointments that brought us back to KC in the winter! Visited and played cards with all our friends!

Took the cat with us up to Lincoln for Thanksgiving. Stayed at Cathy's folks again. Ate too much and watched football, what a great time!

All the "girls" went to the movie "Tangled" and had a great afternoon.

Took what we hope is the last "excess" stuff to storage.

Went back to Walnut Grove for a week. Cathy had a company put all of her music onto disks, so she spent a week uploading all of them onto her computer. Then we donated all of the original music to the library. We visited with our financial advisor, who told Steve that it was OK to retire.

Cathy was glad to get back to her favorite massage therapist, and made the most of her 3 weeks back in KC.

Went back to Lincoln to visit our niece, who came back for a visit with her son. All 3 little ones (our great nieces and great nephew) had their Christmas. What a blast! And more great food!

One bad, sad happening: Our 16 year old cat, Smokey, had stopped eating and was in kidney failure. We had to euthanize her right before we left. We are recovering with a new cat, Dottie, who needed a new home, and was already at the vet's location.

Lincoln, NE - RV parked at the Farm

We took the RV into its' home service location, and had a new, extended king pin welded on, and the new sliding hitch put on the truck. Steve "saved" money by purchasing the hitch on ebay, and then spent money having it shipped to Camping World in Las Vegas. Camping World was unable to do anything with it, as they waited too long to order the parts, weren't familiar with our brand of RV and had no relationship with the company that made the extension. What a bunch of excuses!!!

Once the new stuff was installed, we took it out to make sure we could actually turn without hitting the back of the truck cab, as we already had matching dents on each side. It was a go! We also had the truck transmission worked on (beefed up) and did make a difference.

Stayed with Cathy's folks while the truck and RV was worked on. Had a great time with family.

Aurora, CO - Cherry Creek State Park

This is a really nice park, and we have stayed here before. It is just down the road from Cathy's sister.

We had a great time with the kids and visited the State Capital. That's one more down.

Stayed a couple of days and now on our way to Lincoln, NE.

The long long road to Denver!!

This is what NOT to do: decide you need to drive from Las Vegas to Denver in 2 days! It is just over 1000 miles! One good thing, the truck (which has had its problems with overheating) made it over the pass in New Mexico.