Washington, DC October 2010

We left Minnesota and headed South and East! As John HATES driving through Ill. for very long, we headed South through Iowa, then turned East headed and across Illinois toward D.C. The weather was sunny and warm, a nice drive and the leaves were putting on their fall show! We have never been this far North this late in the fall to see much of the color. The days are still warm and sunny however the nights are rather cool.


We made it to D.C. and survived the Metro and traffic. It was easier to take the Metro downtown than drive and try and find a parking place. Once you know the system it really is very easy. We passed by the Whitehouse and walked along the Mall taking in all the monuments along the way. John wanted to stop by the Vietnam Memorial and we found his friends name on the wall. I have been there before but it is still a very moving place! We went to the WWII Memorial and again, it is a very moving place.
More photos of our visit later.... Candy

2010_10 D.C. by Night

After walking the Mall we returned to Cherry Hill RV Park and signed up for the DC by night tour. It was well worth the money. Once again we stopped by the White House... we then stopped by the Marine Memorial, Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial, along with the Lincoln Monument and the Korean Memorial. The tour driver was great with a wonderful sense of humor. The evening was very pleasant and a bright moon was in the sky. A perfect way to see Washington, DC!

2010_10 Washington, DC

The historic Castle, the oldest of the 17 Smithsonian museums in the Washington, D.C. area, houses the crypt of founder James Smithson, a visitor orientation theater, scale models of Washington's monumental core, a few exhibitions and helpful information..

We did not have time to view much of the Smithsonian museums, however we did go to the Air and Space museum. It is in this building that is housed NWA 747 ship 6601. The first 747 that NWA flew. Both John and I spent many hours on this aircraft when it was flying. I flew on the aircraft the very first month that NWA flew the plane. It flew a round trip flight between Minneapolis and New York City. At the time the plane seemed so Large!!!! It brought back many memories of flying days gone by!

Candy and Johnny

October in Minnesota with Grandkids

We left South Dakota and headed east to the Twin Cities in Minnesota. John was not too sure about the weather as October can be very questionable!! The weather was perfect! Sunny and warm every day. June had been so cold and wet and Minnesota had received so much rain at the beginning of September that the road that we were to take from I-90 up to the Twin Cities was closed due to flooding. We headed Albert Lee and spent the night before heading north on I-35 to Maple Grove.

I love to stop in Minnesota to spend time with the Grand kids!! And my daughter, naturally!!!!! Angela and I did get to spend two days together without the kids to talk and shop, Mom and Daughter things... . it was a great time with her. I do miss her when I am away. The kids as always are great fun. I got to spend some time with them as Angela had to go to San Francisco for work and her husband was also out of town for business.
Michael is now 6 and is riding his two wheel without the training wheels.....he is so proud. Abby is now 4 and she does very well keeping
up with her brother. Michael is in Kindergarten and Abby in Pre-K. They both go to the same school and are having a lot of fun with so many new friends.

Keeth and Kristy were away for most of the time that we were in Minnesota however they returned with little Emery, 1 year old, the night before we were to leave. I was so glad to be able to see Emery. She is doing very well, despite her early beginning ( 6 week early!) She has learned to sit up and do her version of crawling. We are hoping that she will be walking near the end of the year.
The weather while we have been here has been fantastic. As I said, sunny and warm every day. It has even been in the 80's. a real Indian summer. The leaves are at their peak in beautiful hues of gold, red and yellow.

We were going to head to Washington DC, but decided to stay over as there is a Flight Attendant retirement party on the 12th. I am looking forward to going and see many friends. We will then head East to DC for a couple of day, John had not been in the district before so he is looking forward to that....

That is all for now....

Until then, Candy and Johnny

Rapid City, SD, RNPA

We left Buffalo and arrived in Rapid City, South Dakota to join the Retired Northwest Pilots Association for their annual convention. We have been to Rapid City several times before however the highlight of the stop was seeing all of our friends!!!! The one thing that one misses about not flying any longer is the camaraderie. During our working years we spent so much time with many of these people that they were like family. When you had to be away from home on holidays these folks made it seem like home just to be with them. The "fun" days of flying are long behind us all now, however the friendships made during that time remain!
The first night we attended a cocktail party and renewed friendships....told many lies and laughed until our sides hurt. A good time was had by all and it was time to say goodnight.
Saturday morning we were all loaded on buses and headed off for a day to see the sights of the area. Our first stop was in Hill City to take the 1880 Train through the countryside to Keystone. From here we boarded our buses once again and headed to Mount Rushmore to have lunch with the Presidents! Then on to see if any progress had been made on the
Crazy Horse Monument, (they have been working on this since June 3, 1948. Work was begun by Boston-born sculptor Korczak Zilkowski. Korczak died in 1982 however he passed us vision along to his wife Ruth and their 10 children. He left them 3 plan books and scale models showing how to continue his work. The face of Crazy Horse was completed and dedicated in 199, 50 years after the monument had been started. When the monument is finished it will be as long as a cruise ship and taller then a 60 story skyscraper.



The memorial is a non-profit undertaking and receive receives no federal or state funding.

Some traditional Lakota and Native Americans oppose this memorial. In 1972, Lame Deer, a Lakota medicine man said "The whole idea of making a beautiful wild mountain into a statue of him(Crazy Horse) is a pollution of the landscape. It is against the spirit of Crazy Horse."

Work on the monument continues today. There is no time frame as to when it is scheduled to be completed. Many return each year to see what progress has been made.

It was a long day of sigh-seeing but lots of fun. John and I had dinner that night with his old neighbors from Seattle. They had a great time catching up on family and good times spent together.

Sunday was free during the day and it was a beautiful afternoon. We had returned to the coach were spending a quiet time when there was a knock on the door. It seems that Gayla and Myron had been locked out of their coach. The key would not open the door. Myron got out a ladder and opened a window and crawled into the coach.....and still the door could not be opened. Now....... the question of the day is......how many pilots does it take to open a coach door???????? Five!! That is how many offered assistance. It took most of the afternoon but success was achieved and finally the door was opened and the problem discovered. (Gayla has a photo of the five pilots working on the door problem!!)

That evening was the final banquet at the hotel. Another wonderful evening was had by all. Not sure if we will be able to attend next year in Omaha but we shall see...

Early on Monday morning the RV's began pulling out to head home or where ever the road may take them. We are on our way to Minnesota for a few days. John is hoping that the weather will hold and we will not encounter snow!!!! It is almost October you know!!

More later.... until then,
Love to all,
Candy and Johnny

Billings, MT to Buffalo, WY

We left the Billings KOA on Tuesday, September 21 and headed to Buffalo, Wyoming.
Along the way we could see that some of the trees were beginning to turn shades of yellow and orange, a sign that fall is in the air! On the road to Wyoming we did see Antelope along the roadside. It was funny, when we were in Montana we did not see many Antelope and once we crossed the boarder into Wyoming, there were Antelope all along the road. John is always surprised when we pull into the campground in Buffalo, Wyoming, that there are wild turkeys running around the campground. He says that when we was younger and out to hunt turkeys they were no where to be seen and now we see them all over the place!!

We stayed in Buffalo for two nights. The first night that we were there our friends Gary and Courtney pulled into the campground and joined us. We all went across the street to the local restaurant and had one of the best dinners. Of all things on the menu was Oysters Rockefeller.....they were outstanding to say the least! Who would have thought you would find these in the middle of the country?

Gary and Courtney left the next day, however we decided to stay and do a little more sight seeing. We had been here several years ago during our first year of RVing. We went over to the little town of Story(just to the east of Buffalo). We had stopped there before and had a great lunch at the "General Store'. Unfortunately you can't go home again, as was once written. The little town was all but gone. A few brave souls still live there but the General Store was all closed up. It was a great store....so much stuff!!!!! We left Story and drove through Buffalo, once again the little town is fading. So many businesses were closed or going out of business. It is sad to see these little towns go by the wayside!

The next day we were off to Rapid City for the Retired Northwest Pilots Association convention.

More on that later....

Until then, we love to hear from you.

Candy and Johnny