Planning Our Upcoming RV Adventure

The heavy snows have come to Wisconsin, just like a lot of other parts of the country. We have been snowblowing and shoveling it away and keeping a clear path behind the motorhome. Our cargo trailer with the e-bikes and all of our extra gear is safely stowed away out of the snow inside of our garage.

We are looking to make a getaway as soon as some other obligations are finished. We have our yearly checkups at the end of this month, and have already completed the pre-appointment blood work. All looks good.

We have a neutering appointment set for February 7th for the new dog, Nicholas. We know it'll probably be a good 7 to 10 days after that before he will be cleared to travel. So that brings us easily into the middle of February. AAARRRGGGHHHHH! 

I KEEP TELLING STEVE: THIS IS THE WORST MONTH TO BE STUCK IN WISCONSIN!!!

So I am proposing that we push ahead our physicals into April when we get back as well as Nick's neutering appointment. He isn't showing any signs of aggression or dominance. He doesn't even lift his leg when he goes pee. So I don't think he needs to be neutered immediately... Although that is the best situation for him to get it done. We just wish we could have gotten a sooner appointment at our vet. We did ask to be put on a cancellation list in case they get in earlier opening for him. 

He doesn't like this anymore than I do, so I am hoping to nudge him forward into saying heck with the appointments and let's just load up and go? 

Nicholas has chosen to take the easy path and just curl up inside the warmth of the house. He is really appreciating a good warm house after being on his own out in the cold miserable woods for 3 weeks trying to find food, water, and shelter! 

Binney says she will go out and be a snow puppy just long enough to go pee and get right back in the house!

We got a whopper of a storm the other night. It was amazing blasting with blizzard conditions. The winds were equivilant to a F2 Hurricane. Everything's stuck and frozen shut. 

Sustained winds for hours along with a good 12 to 14 inches of snow. It was blowing so much it was hard to accurately measure the snowfall. I think in our area we got closer to 18 inches. 

We had prepared before the storm hit and had everything we needed at hand. There was no reason to go out. So we hunkered down and enjoyed the fire and binged watched some traveling YouTubes to get some ideas on our upcoming trip.

We are thinking about heading south as quick as we can. In about the middle of Illinois is a small town called Wenona. There's a gas station and Burger King just off the interstate. They have pull through RV sites with hookups alongside of their building. It's nice to have electric for the night and add some electric space heaters as well as the propane furnace. We will leave the motor home fully winterized until we get further south. We carry along a 5 gallon jug of drinking water for the first night and use RV antifreeze to flush the toilet. 

From there we are looking to get down maybe to the top edge of Arkansas by the second night. We've looked at a few campgrounds and made sure that they are open in the Ozark National Forest. We called ahead and found out Long Pool and Cove Lake are both open year round.

Next we are looking at getting down into the corner of Arkansas Oklahoma and Texas area. We found a few places that we might meander around to. 

On the way back I would like to stop in Hamilton at Missouri Star Quilt Company, and then stop by our dear friend Rosie in Bethel, Missouri. 

We will just play it by ear and we don't make reservations. Because we are very adept at boondocking we don't need campgrounds with hookups. We prefer the National Forest where it's quiet and take the rustic sites.

Tentative ideas: 

Now.... 

Just to get out of the snow

and hit the road!! 

One of our last commitments here for January was our granddaughter Chelsea's 14th birthday. We also combined it along with our delayed Christmas family event. First we took all of them out to our favorite little Mexican restaurant here in Oconto, Los Magueyes.  

The food was excellent, as always. And of course the birthday girl had to wear the token sombrero and get her Birthday Sopapita! 

After that we took them bowling at the local bowling alley for our Epic Bowling Day. We had a lot of fun!

The snow is starting to get deep, 

the deer out in the Nature Preserve behind our home 

have come into our yard to check out the bird feeders! 

We told both of the dogs that we want to take them and go camping in the motorhome. So it's time to get Nicholas accustomed to the motorhome! Even though it was down around 0°, we turned on the furnace and set up an electric space heater to warm it up inside for a couple hours. Then we went out with the dogs and a food dish and a water dish and our lunch! We let him explore the motorhome and sniff everything. Binney showed him around, and told him all of her favorite spots. We had our lunch out there and watched some TV so Nick got used to the idea that we would just sit in the recliners and it was like another house. We think he got the idea??

He has traveled well in our Saturn in a dog crate on the back seat. He doesn't show any signs of motion sickness or nervousness so we think we he will be a good traveler. We put on about 180 miles with him one day and it didn't bother him a bit. 

So as long as we pack up their toys, their doggy beds, and their doggy food..  they will love to go wherever we go. 

Since we've been kind of snowbound and trapped at home, I've been making some YouTubes of the dogs just being silly and getting to know each other. I think they are just hilarious. Here are a few links for your viewing pleasure:

Well, if Steve doesn't want to leave yet...

I do have some quilts to work on.

This one is called North Star, 

and will be done for my friend Cella.

I am prepping and prewashing and cutting fabrics to take along to work on this one next.  Called Autumn Leaves.  I have a variety of rich brown, rust and gold prints to work on the blocks. The pattern has 3 sizes, I think I will work on the largest 10 inch ones for a big quilt. 

Time to get a move on here,

maybe start packing?