I have wheels again

After being without a bike [or in my case a trike] since I punctured a tire during our last week at Mission and not having time to order a replacement for this odd sized tire, one of our goals on our way home was to stop by Utah Trikes in Payson Utah which specializes in selling and working on trikes. We got there today, got a replacement tire that is extremely difficult to puncture [Schwalbe Marathon Plus], replaced the little computer that tells speed, distance etc, and had the bike tuned up and chain adjusted. That worked out so well that I started comparing the new trikes they had in the showroom. I have had my trike for a couple of years but Dan has never had one. He didn't think he wanted one at first, but has since found out it is hard to ride a bike when I am on a trike, especially when we are birding, as the trike can go so much slower, then at higher speeds it is easier for the trike to go faster. Long story short [too late for that] we bought a new trike.....a Catrike Trail. Now we can both ride together, and since my trike is so much easier for me to ride with my back problems, it will be good exercise and more fun for both of us. They are going to set it up the way I want it and will ship it to us next week. Can't wait although the weather may keep us from riding for a while. Will post a photo of our trikes when we get home.

These last couple of weeks the weather has conspired against us. When we went to Winnebago we had snow. Coming back, more snow. Staying in Lawton, snow on the first day of spring. Now, on the way home to Montana, snow in New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and now we are in a motel in Pocatello, Idaho and there is about 3" of snow on our car. The only good thing is that it is wet, and melts fast and the roads have been clear. We will be home tomorrow and after that it doesn't matter what the weather does. This has been one screwy winter for weather.

On-line again...temporarily

After leaving Winnebago in Iowa we headed back to Lawton to put the motorhome in storage for the summer. Unfortunately Winnebago was the last time we had internet. We are now in Utah on our way home to Montana and staying at a motel with wifi. We should be home Saturday night. I will try to catch up the blog on our activities after that.

Still at Forest City

On Sunday I went to a Lutheran Church for the first time. Their guest musicians were a college choir of about 40 who created beautiful sounds, often without accompaniment. I was impressed that the majority of the congregation were young families. This was such a contrast to the church in Mission where the majority were senior citizens.

In the afternoon we went looking for birds. Unfortunately the fog was moving in quickly. We just got past the edge of town and had to turn back. There was no way we would find any birds. We have only had 1 day in Iowa when there was no fog.

Monday morning we had to get up early [5:30....actually 4:30 body time before daylight savings]. Since I am not an early riser this was not an easy thing to do. We are once again sitting in the waiting room at Winnebago. However, today everything should be completed. We are ready to be heading south, away from the fog and temps in the 30's. Iowa looks like a beautiful state. It would be nice to be here in the spring or summer although I really don't want to spend another week at Winnebago.

Heading North

Of the friends that we email, this blog is for those who want to keep up with our wanderings. Some want to hear all the details, and others just want to touch base from time to time. This way you can read or not read the blog instead of us sending emails all the time. Hope this format works for you.

When trying to decide on a starting place for this blog I thought a logical place would be when we left Mission Texas, where we spent the winter, to head for home in Montana. As a result, I have to back up a couple of weeks.

We left Mission on March 1 after a cooler than normal winter in South Texas. We headed to Oklahoma where we store our motorhome with the idea of heading to Arizona for a few weeks of birding. At our first stop in Spring Branch, Texas we had trouble with our leveling jacks....again. Last fall we had the control box replaced but things still didn't work properly. We had several other things that we wanted fixed or adjusted but just hadn't gotten them done. In tossing around ideas, we thought about calling Winnebago, who made the coach, to see if they had any appointment vacancies. They are very busy in the summer but thought that this time of year, we might have a chance to get in. We called, and they did have some time. Two days later, with temperatures dropping every mile, we arrived in Forest City Iowa at the Winnebago factory. The guys looked at the list [14 items] and got started. They worked quickly and got a lot done, but the holdup was the extended warranty company. Like all insurance companies, their main focus is to deny claims. We don't have the final tally, but I am sure that we will have to pay more than what we thought we would. Oh well, it will all be fixed at the same time. Winnebago worked on the coach for 4 days [they are on a 4 day work week for the winter] and now we are waiting until Monday to complete 2 final items before heading back to Oklahoma. We are staying in Winnebago's parking lot where they have electrical plug-ins but no water or sewer. However, they have wifi and we have books and Direct TV [our automatic dish on the top of the motorhome is now working] so as long as we are economical with water usage from our storage tank, we will be in good shape.

Neither of us had ever been to this part of the world so we are being tourists. We thought we could do some birding but there was about a foot of snow over everything with huge drifts everywhere, lots of clouds and fog, and no birds to be found. However, the temps have been above freezing and things are melting. We are near the Iowa/Minnesota border and while Dan has been to 48 states, Minnesota was one of his missing states. We headed up the road, only 20 miles, and now he has 49 states. Yesterday we drove around the area to look for birds and although we did not see a lot of species, the ones we saw were different for us. Unexpectedly, the largest numbers we saw were horned larks, but also cedar waxwings [I tried unsuccessfully to make them bohemians], an eagle, rusty blackbirds, a pair of trumpeter swans, and 3 mink. They have snow buntings wintering here but they have now left.

Winnebago has factory tours but they are not supposed to start until April. However, I talked to a woman who called a guy who does the tours and since there were 7 of us, he agreed to come in and escort us. It was really interesting to see their huge operation [they didn't allow cameras in the plant]. This town has a population of 4200 which would blow away in the Iowa dust if it were not for Winnebago. Over half their population work in the factory, as well as many others from the surrounding area.

In driving around this rural area we were impressed with the well kept farms. Everyone lives on the farm [unlike Oklahoma where many farmers live in town] and many homesteads had new houses or very well kept original farm houses. However, after seeing the miles and miles of snow so late in the year, it is no wonder we see so many Iowa license plates in south Texas!