SIXTY DAYS AND COUNTING . . .

Until Tim and I depart in September on our epic adventure. Back in February we celebrated our 25th Wedding Anniversary and have decided to wait to celebrate. Since we are still in the working crowd and taking the six month dream trip to Alaska in the Airstream is not in the stars we have chose 'Plan B' for our big celebration trip. This year we have begun changing our travel plans and carving our own road so this will be the most exciting outing for us yet.

Tim and I will be lacing up our hiking boots, grabbing all our gear and bracing ourselves for a six week expedition to the Southwest in the Airstream. I'm guessing we will be logging close to 6,000 miles round trip, exploring the unknown and discovering some of America's most amazing scenery. Our focus will be the Four Corners . . . Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah. We may even throw in a treasure hunt along the way! I've included a few pictures in this blog post that will hopefully represent what lies ahead for us on this trip. The travels of our past have pretty much kept us in the eastern United States. So this trip is a major step out of the box. I have a t-shirt that says FORGET THE BOX ... JUST THINK OUTSIDE. One major stop along our journey will be the Albuquerque Balloon Fest. This balloon fest has over 600 balloons, is one of the largest hot air balloon events in the world and the most photographed event on earth.

This trip of ours to the Southwest has been a few years in the making and planning stages and we can't believe the time is nearing so quickly now. Our fingers are still crossed that we can pull this off. It seems every corner we turn something tries to corrupt our progress in making the trip happen. One thing that recently reared its hear is the EGR and oil cooler on Tim's F-350 diesel truck. This repair has been nagging at the back of Tim's head for years. It would have been so easy to just ignore what might happen and I think we were going to . . . until our last trip.

Right before we left for Cedar Key in May Tim had a computer flash update done on his truck and during our last outing with the Airstream this new update kept showing a wrench warning light only while we were towing. In order to keep the indicator from showing we could only tow at 55 mph. Good times on I-4! Anyway long story short we bit the bullet and had the repair done on the EGR & oil cooler that's not cheap or easy. It involved a full cab off on the truck to make the repair. All is well now and we will need to make a towing trip in the Airstream prior to the BIG EPIC ADVENTURE to give us the peace of mind prior to leaving for the Four Corners. Without this repair we could have blown the engine. I can just picture it happening on a 12% incline with no pullover heading to Durango. Now fingers crossed today for a delivery by Mr. UPS . . . so that this week Tim can replace all the brakes on the Airstream. Once this is done we can take off for a last minute mini trip to 'break' in the brakes and feel comfortable about towing with the new engine repair.

Just prior to our big trip in September I will be leaving Tim behind and flying out for a short trip to Montana. My sister, JoAnn, is turning ... uhhh ... will have a milestone birthday celebration this year. She moved out to Montana over three years ago and this will be my first trip to Montana & to visit her there. She does not live far from Wyoming and Yellowstone National Park. I think she is going to take me there for her birthday! The remainder of this year has so much to look forward to and I can't wait!!!

So here is a request! Please let us know of any 'must go' places to visit, campgrounds, restaurants and things to look out for in the Southwest. I know many of you have made similar trips and know the roads and places to go. The travel plans and route will be a works in progress until we depart. There will be no reservations other than the Albuquerque Balloon Fest and a few days surrounding it. Since we don't know how long we may stay in once place it makes it hard to reserve anything. Any advise and suggestions will be greatly appreciated!!!