Utah in the Winter

He said:

After two days on the road, we finally made it to Provo Utah where we were happy to visit family and friends.  We parked Willie at the Hampton Inn, after  unhooking the car so we could get around easy.  I call it removing the car from "the mother ship"

It was nice to be able to drive a smaller car again, although we soon found out we had a burning rubber smell when we drove it. (after lots of research we found out this was a common problem with cars being towed behind an RV ...something to do with oil and tire rubber getting in the engine).

It was great to see Sandy, Susie and Nicolas again. And for the first time since Saskatoon, we got to reacquaint with Sandy's son Terrell, his wife Kellie and their daughter Zoey.  We all went to Yannies for supper joined by the Tanner family (we filled that tiny place). Yannies is a great Greek place in Salt Lake City.

 Sandy Smith

The Tanner Men (AKA Duck Dynasty)

After Yanni's Pat and I were able to cross another item on our bucket list - seeing Temple Square at Christmas time. It was absolutely beautiful. It was too bad it was cold, but it was well worth the trip.

This was a beautiful nativity scene in the reflecting pool

Looks cool in B&W

My favourite picture of Pat and I...makes me smile.

Today we went to church to the Provo 6th ward. No reason for that ward, we just wanted to go to Sacrament and trust me it isn't hard to find an LDS chapel in Provo...lol.

Had a great visit with Norm, Tricia, Zaria and Ashley today. Norm even took us out on his new toy " a Polaris RZR. (a really cool dune buggy like thing that you can drive on the street except it doesn't have a windshield. Let me tell you how cold it was driving that thing. Here is Pat in the driver seat. 

Had a great supper with them then went to visit McKenna and husband Scott and her two cute little girls Harper and Quinn. They served us a delicious brownie with ice cream!!!

We leave tomorrow for a place with no snow...can't wait. Utah was way colder then I was hoping.

She said:

The trip from Butte to Provo was a little less chillin' for me, as the sleepy stuff had worn off :)  There was still wind, blowing the motor home around, but certainly not as much as the first day out.  In order to a try to save some $$ I used the Gas Buddy app, and we were able to find gas at a whopping $0.10/gallon cheaper than anywhere else in Idaho Falls - we went off course a bit, but saved a whopping $3.10 according to my calculations.  WOW!!  We drove another long day, getting to the Hampton Inn in Provo after dark.   We had a late supper at a place called Desparado Joes - the Mexican food was excellent . We made our way back to the hotel to the scent of burning rubber, which John has discussed above. The car was also filthy and covered in a film of road slime - I can see we will be looking for car washes along our way.  We have our bikes on top of the car, and on two occasions the last couple of days, John has forgotten their presence.  It is quite disconcerting to hear a grinding above our heads - so far only minor, with hitting signs - I just hope we don't both forget and take out both bikes in a garage, or low bridge, while driving around.  We spent Saturday morning running a few errands, then met up with Smiths - Sandy, Susanne, Nicholas, Terrell, his wife, Kelly, Zoe, his daughter  and later joined Tanners.  Kris, Emily, Kari, Ryan, Becky and all of the Tanner Grandchildren they came to Utah to visit were there.  It was a large group and it t was great to get together with all of them!  Being the product of a military, transient family, it makes me happy to get together with such a great group of people!  After supper we went on to Salt Lake City to walk around and look at the lights in Temple Square - they were beautiful!  Finding a parking spot, not so beautiful, but we persisted, with success.  Sunday, was a good day as well.  After Church we went over to Norms to see him and his family.  It is always great to hook up with them.  Their home was decorated beautifully, and Tricia had some cheeses, crackers, dried fruit and treats there.  Norm got his new toy, and took me for a ride around the neighbourhood - he stopped and asked me if I wanted to drive - I said no, but he got out for me to take over - boy, I was glad I did. SO MUCH FUN! It was extremely cold but well worth the chills.  We went back to their house and Norm let John take his place. I kept driving - I really did offer the wheel to John who said no, and I did not stop and let him take over, as my brother did for me.  I guess I was just having too much fun :)  Did I mention I really enjoyed his new toy?  I then got dropped off at Sandy's while John returned to the hotel to do laundry - I got the better end of that deal, as well.  Sandy and I ended up going over to her office to do some printing, and got to drive in her new Honda Pilot, another fun toy - and no, she didn't offer me the wheel!

John and I then met Norm, Tricia, Ashley and Zariah at an Italian restaurant (it starts with C - but my short term memory has totally forgotten the name)  Food and company was fantastic - being with family is always and enjoyable time!  We then went to McKenna and Scott Browns place to meet Scott and her girls Harper and Quinn for the first time.  I have been following McKenna on FB, and confirmed tonight that her husband and girls are as awesome as they are presented online.  So great to see them. Neither of the girls had anything to do with me at first, but over time, playing skipping with their GaGa, the barriers came down, and we had a great time.  Back to the hotel to let the dogs out, and figure out where and how we were going to attach the pod to the mothership, and found the ideal location.  Done for today, going to bed, ready to move further south and somewhere MUCH warmer.  I am really done with the snow and cold!

Day 1 Butte Montana

Our Lady of the Rockies overlooks Butte and is lit up at night!

He Said:

We finished packing the RV and were on the road at 8 am. We didn't wake Heather and family which in hindsight wasn't smart!   Anyway we high fived each other and began our trip south.  Had an easy crossing at Coutts, although the border guard looked concerned. .."you're going to Florida in this?"
The promised wind speed did not happen and it was tough keeping Willie (my new name for the Winnebego ) on the road until we got deeper in the mountains. Managed to get to Butte before it got dark.  Staying in the "pet- friendly " La Quinta.  Not wanting to unhook car we took Willie to get supper.  Had a nice local pull us over and tell us our tail lights were not working on Trailer.  Argh!
(Break and signal light work though. )Must be a fuse or something!

For those many who asked just where are we going, here is our planned route between now and end of June   wish us luck!

She Said:

Yes, an early start to the morning - I think we are used to sleeping in lately - a habit picked up very quickly!  Of course on the way out we stopped for some juice at McDonalds - really no pop early for us today, we stuck with something a little more healthy.  As a passenger, the wind in Willie can be equated to being in a large boat that has a lot of movement as it rolls along the road.  My biggest fear became a wind gust moving us in the wrong direction when a semi passed us.  John was great at keeping the speed below 60, to try to keep the gas consumption as low as possible - and please don't ask, as I am sure our mileage is very low.  The boarder guard was one of the best I have ever experienced. As John mentioned, he was quite amused that we were driving to Florida "in that??"   He was, however from Florida himself, so had some advice on going there. I told him that both my grandparents had retired there, so he pretty much waved us on...other than produce and firearms questions there were no other questions or concerns that John had researched prior to leaving.  Most of the day was somewhat of a blur for me as I had, by mistake, taken a sleepy pill with my morning pill - it was in the pill container I was using, got stuck to my vitamins and I didn't realize I had taken it until after it was down.   I really believe that this was what gave John a very quiet drive as we were blowing around the highway! We did stop in Shelby and at the Costco to top us gas, and
walk the dogs on our way to Butte. It is shocking at the time driving Willie takes compared to the car. I guess slowing down and enjoying the scenery is part of what this trip is all about. Getting used to destinations taking much longer than they used to will be part of our learning curve.

EXPLANATION TO THE NAME OF OUR BLOG:

WTF stands for:  What the Freak Were We Thinking...any fans of 'Canada's Worst Driver' and 'Canada's Worst Driver Ever' - watching Sly GrosJean, who is married to my niece, Christine has a habit of saying 'Freak' when he is in a stressful driving situation. This just made me laugh (sorry Sly, if you read this, it really did).  Driving a motor home, at times, has been stressful and I am sure that over the next while, at times, manoeuvering the beast will make us candidates for the above mentioned TV show!

Baby got new shoes

We are now only 10 days from heading south.  It has been a long wait from the day we announced our retirement. Still collecting a pay check so we owe it to our boss to show up for work, although not really overdoing it. We have been out of our house since August so we had a good two months living in the RV full time. This allowed us to go through a growing pain of a smaller place, finding out how the motorhome works, getting the dogs adapted to their new home.  We were fortunate to move into a time share for 6 weeks. It was nice to have two bathrooms again, but we were starting to buy "stuff" because we had the room and we couldn't have the dogs with us. We are now living in Heather and Jaydee's basement till we leave, looking forward to spending Christmas with the grandkids! 

This weekend we got the motorhome  a new battery and six new tires..so baby has some nice new shoes and she starts much quicker now.  We are anxious to get started and are praying for good weather to get us south.  Our first stop will be Salt Lake City but we will have to stay in a pet friendly hotel until we get to St. George or Vegas (which ever is warmer) so we can dewinterize the motorhome which will allow us to start using it again :)  Las Vegas is calling our name!!!!