Alaska Bound

Well sort of...

We have a few detours to make first.

We left home on Thursday the 17th.  Today is the 18th.

We are currently in Marion, Illinois.

Our first destination is Denver, Colorado.

As some of you know - part of my retirement dowry is invested in a collection

of fine French wines.   The thought being that if they appreciate in value and

I can make a nice return selling them then fine.

If not...  well its pretty hard to drink a mutual fund but my wine collection will

keep us smiling for quite some time to come.

I'm almost hoping the French wine market collapses.

Anyway...  since the house is for sale, and since we'd need to move the wine to

a proper storage facility at some point - now was an opportune time.

So - I boxed up 24 cases, rented a UHaul trailer and off we go.

All Catalogued, inventoried, boxed, and loaded....  ready to go.

Our first stop for the night was Asheville, NC about 7 hrs west of the house.

We were in Asheville last fall during our Blue Ridge Parkway Travels with 

Jim & Kristi.   While here we discovered the 12 Bones Smokehouse....

The Vallhalla for lovers of smoked meats.

Well.  Since were were right near by - we couldn't pass up an encore visit

As a lover of all things barbecue, let me tell ya - if you are passing thru Asheville

do yourself a favor.  Look them up.  You won't be disappointed.

Gracie is eyeing up my rack...

"Got some bones for me pa?"

The change of seasons is an interesting time to travel cross country.

Last Fall we ran into and out of fall endless times as we ran down the Blue Ridge

and then to Arizona and back....  Twice.

Now we are seeing the same with spring.

On the coast, spring was in full bloom. 

During the last 2 days as we traveled up and down in elevations we got to see

everything from the last vestiges of winter to full fledged spring flowers.

Here in Illinois we are back in just the starting buds of spring.

For those mechanically inclined...

My Torklift Supertruss in action.

I'm really impressed how it handles the load.

A bumper tow hitch can sometimes be a handful as the trailers like to fishtail.

Loading it proper is critical and I paid great attention to the weight distribution,

but that said - the extension is rock solid.  The trailer follows behind us

arrow straight and I don't even know it's back there.

Well tomorrow we run thru St. Louis, across Missouri, and part of Kansas.

Then Sunday its across Kansas to just east of Denver where on Monday I will

drop the girls (all 290 of them) off at their new home.

After Denver it's off to Twin Falls, Idaho, with a round trip to

Casa Grande, Az  to pick up the Monty thrown in for good measure.

I'm moving the DogHouse and the Monty to the Pacific Northwest for the Summer.

We still have a lot of miles left before I get to sit and relax.

More on that later.