Final Blog Segue to 2022...

OK, so I literally can't stop myself with providing the details of last year and if I don't "put a lid on it" I will NEVER get to the present day. And if I don't get to the present day I will defeat the whole bleepin’ purpose of trying this blog thing again as a means of taking you all along for the ride. So…(big sigh)…I am going to rip off the proverbial Band-Aid and say this about the last couple of months of 2021 and Kay and Karl‘s full-timing adventure:

• We went through & stayed at least 1 night in: NE, then SD (in the very Southeastern tip which lands you in the intersection of Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota; all within literally a stones throw from each other…). Then onto MN , WI, IL, KY, TN, VA, PA, NJ, NY, MA, ME & MA EDITOR'S NOTE: The pictures I have included are in order of said states!

• No we did not get lost along the way if you follow this circuitous route on a map! … The purpose of this route included three important features: 1)we went to the world’s happiest wedding in Minnesota and then 2)headed down to Tennessee to “the mothership” to get our Oliver Travel Trailer its yearly maintenance and then 3)went to ME & MA to spend the holidays with friends and family (aka food for the heart & soul).

I can’t share everything or I’ll end up sharing nothing so I will give the BRIEF highlights that photos either can't do justice or are missing :

Nebraska:

We returned to Chadron State Park & while driving around in the area were able to see sugar beets being harvested! I've never heard of sugar beets but learned that 90% of Nebraska's sugar beet production occurs in the Panhandle where we were. We saw them being harvested and lots and lots of trucks driving on the country roads to the factories loaded up with them - not to mention the sweet smells that emitted from the factories while processing them into sugar!! There were also miles of sunflowers waiting to be harvested …THAT was an exceptional visual! And then there was the corn. A lot of corn was being harvested throughout the state with grain combines; that was also very scenic and pretty cool. (And I now appreciate why they're called The Nebraska Cornhuskers!…)

Golden Spike Tower & Visitor Ctr (i.e., The world’s largest rail yard!) The technology involved in managing every individual train car that gets processed through this hub was mind-boggling! (Plus Penny got to have her first elevator ride to go up to the observation deck!)

Minnesota: Our whole trip back from the West Coast to the East Coast was timed around a rescheduled (CoVid-19) wedding in Minnesota and, OMG, was it ever worth the trip and the planning!! We also got to see our friend from Minnesota and check out the Mall of America while, yes, camping in an Rv Park in Lake Prior, MN for a week in mid November!

New Jersey: We finagled our drive north to be able to stop in to visit with one of my first mobile grooming clients that made my heart vvverrrryyyy happy! (And the dogs fell in love with Karl too!) Editor’s Note: you may recognize the pic of Ronin from my blog homepage as he and his mom were the ones that helped me get this baby started!

Massachusetts: Seeing family and friends was beyond wonderful. I didn't realize how anxious I was to see people until I was all stressed out as time was drawing near to head north and I was panicked that schedules wouldn't allow for us to see the people that were near and dear to our heart. Luckily, we did pretty well (considering we also had a bunch of doctors, dentist and chiropractor appointments that took up a bunch of time)! We got to see family and friends and old neighbors and beloved pups and...well you all know who you are and how much you are appreciated. I posted a bunch of pictures on FB at the time and included some more here. THANKS FOR BEING YOU!!!!!!!

And THAT concludes the year 2021...(insert applause here)!!!