If this is Saturday, we must be in Utah

Well, after 8 days on the road, we are camping about 60 miles west of Salt Lake City. We had a long and tiring day, over many more mountains today. The scenery was lovely and the weather was great except for a very small shower on us just before we stopped for the night. We are in a parking lot not far from Salt Lake because there are no campgrounds in this area. We found one on the internet that was supposed to be near here, but the man at the gas station said that town is now a ghost town.

The traffic in Provo and Salt Lake was five to six lanes and moving very fast most of the time. One time we came to a crawl and assumed there had been an accident but never saw one. We had just been on the move again a short time when all traffic came to a hault but we could not see why until we got closer and then three tiny baby ducks crossed the interstate, across five lanes. I am glad they made it across, but also very glad no one was hurt because of the traffic coming to a stop on the freeway.

We do not have electricity tonight except with the generator which Gil is using to charge up the battery on the RV (not sure why it was so low). We don't need the A/C because there is a nice wind blowing and the temperature is not very bad. The sun is going down now as the kids play with their frisby outside. I am enjoying listening to some Elvis tapes inside as I talk to you, my sweet friends and relatives. I am tired and will close for the day. Tomorrow we have about 75 miles left before getting into Nevada, but will not make it across the state in one day. We will get into Reno on Monday morning...then into California.

Goodbye to Colorado; Hello Utah

May 29 (Friday) and our 8th day on the road. We had a very different night camping last night....no electricty, no cable, no water, no internet...but the views from our camper at the lake near Frisco, Co, were the best and we woke up to ice on the picnic table this morning. We found out we were at over 11,000 feet, so no wonder it was cold! Had a warm breakfast and went back into town to get a new tire for the dolly that carries the car. While Gil got the new tire mounted, the kids and I did some shopping at Wal-mart. I had forgotten my sweat suits and that cold morning was a warning to me. I had a good time shopping. After we got on the road, we had some more breath-taking views of the mountains and then we began our descent to lower levels. About mid-day we crossed the Colorado River and followed it for at least 200 miles or more. Some times it was on the right, sometimes on the left. I will add some pictures to show you. Then when we got into some lower elevations and began going through some canyons, the kids really enjoyed the ride. The terrain changed again as we went out through west Colorado and I would not have recognized it as such....more like Arizona. There were mesas and rolling mountains with no trees or brush; some appearing to be high sand or gravel piles. Then as we got closer to Utah it became a real desert and very different than we had seen before. We are now camping in an oasis type town, Green River, at a nice RV park with trees, cable, WiFi, full hookups, laundry and pool...all for $20. We had to have electricty tonight because all our "toys" needed charging up (laptop, cell phones, I-pods, camera batteries,and more). It must have been over 90 degrees this aftrnoon, what a change for freezing this morning.

As we drove through that desert, I could not help but think of the 2 million (or more) Israelites who wondered in the desert for 40 years...I sure thought that the terrain I saw today might have been similar to that desert Moses led those folks into and out of.

Supper is over; Gil did the dishes, and the kids are settled in with TV. We were all very tired, driving/riding over 300 miles (in and out of mountains) and the best part was our RV got over 7 miles to the gallon. I know, that sounds bad to you car travellers, but we feel blessed to get that much with all we are pulling (our own bedrooms, bath, kitchen and car)...gas has ranged from $2.15 in Carthage, MO., to $2.38 today. Some stations wanted $2.66 - $2.86 but we did not want their gas. Okay, tomorrow we head out for Salt Lake City, but don't think we can get there until Sunday noon. Stay tuned... forgive me for any typing errors tonight.

We are in Colorado

We left Kansas this morning passing many wheat fields and cattle farms. As we got into the eastern side of Colorado we began to notice a change in the terrain and saw antelope and hills. It was a while before we saw mountains in the distance, and then closer and closer to Denver they rose out of the horizon. We at a picnic lunch just east of Denver and then drove through the city and the mountains began to surround us. The valleys were so lovely, and the snow topped mountains were so pretty I almost cried. When we got to a point of over 11,000 feet it began to snow tiny flakes of white. Then we went into a long tunnel and as we came out on the other side the snow was gone. We drove until we got to Silverthorn but could not find a campground except for tenters. A little ways west on I-70 we found the most beautiful campground in
the White River National Forest on a lake near Frsico, Co. We could not believe the surround of mountains and the lovely view! We have no hookups and the wind is blowing cold. We ate supper and are almost ready for bed. It will be very cold tonight but we have plenty of cover for us all. I will pick out some pretty pictures to put on the right of the blog, then email a few more pictures to relatives and friends.

We are still in Kansas

Well, we tried to get out of Kansas today, but had a late start and had to stop in Goodland, KS, not too far from the Colorado line. We are now in mountain time. The campground is very nice (over 100 spots, but only a few here tonight). We have shade trees, a breeze, nice temps (60s), and are just a short distance from the interstate (I-70). There is cable, WiFi, laundry, full hook ups and a very nice lady in the office....all for $29 per night. We paid only $10 each for the nights we stayed in Ft. Scott at the fair grounds but did not have these amenities. The Fam Camp at McConnel AFB was $14 per night....but no amenities except water and electricity.

We had lovely weather once we left Wichita and turned west at Salina. The most interesting part of the trip today was a large field of wind generators...I mean about 10 miles of them along the interstate on the north side. We had never seen wind generators before and were amazed to see so many, possibly 300. The wind certainly was there to turn them because Gil had a hard time keeping the RV on the road. I will pick several pictures now for the blog and email the others to relatives and friends. Stay tuned...we will go into Colorado in the morning, probably getting to Denver about noon depending on the time we leave camp. Oh, we needed milk tonight, but the convenience store next door to the campground wanted over $4 for 1/2 gallon so we decided we did not need it very badly and will wait to find a grocery store tomorrow. Glad our RV does not run on milk!

Leaving Kansas for Colorado May 27, 2009

Oh, now we get the rain! We had a nice visit in Wichita and are ready to head out west. Mitchel is with us and he and Suzanne enjoy having company. Gil is ready to break camp and get on the road but the rain is coming down and the wind is blowing. The campground here at the base is nice but the weather is not. The pictures to the right are Sylvia (our cat) when we were driving through north Arkansas and Suzanne and Mitchel in the camper this morning. Stay tuned for our adventure.

In Wichita Kansas

Visit with the Niemeirs in Ft. Scott, KS

We had a wonderful visit over the Memorial Day weekend in Ft. Scott with Gil's Dad, step-mom and his sisters and brother. Doug was still in Panama City when we got there Friday, but he came in Sunday evening and we visited with him Monday morning before we left.

Doug's wife Diana and their younger daughter Kara joined us and Gil's Dad and Helen for supper our first night there. We visited on Saturday with Dad and Helen again, and Gil's cousin stopped by to see us there. On Sunday morning we attended church at First Baptist in Ft. Scott and enjoyed SS with Bill's class (Gil's bro-in-law). That evening we all got together at Glenda's and Bills for sandwiches and fun visiting. Monday morning we slept a little later than usual, had breakfast with Doug, and then broke camp and headed for Wichita about 12:30. We arrived at the McConnell AFB Family Camp and ate supper. Gil's daughter Pat, her husband James and their family will join us tonight. I'll take more pictures and post some soon.

On the Road to Alaska

May 22nd, 2009

We boarded the Niemeir-Express and headed out about 8:00 am. We had perfect weather for traveling and enjoyed the scenery. The Boston Mountains were lovely in NW Arkansas and the roadway cut through the mountains in Missouri were interesting with the layers of various minerals showing on the sides of the hill walls. We arrived in Ft. Scott about 6:30, parked the RV, and went to supper with Gil's Dad and Helen. His sister Carol joined us as did his sister-in-law Diana with daughter Kara. His brother Doug was helping his daughter Kristen get settled in Panama where her new job took her. He will be back later this weekend.

Stay tuned for more of our journey....we'll stay here a few days then head for Wichita.

Book Discussed at Victory Christian School

On May 11, 2009, Mama and I visited the classroom of the 7th and 8th graders at Victory Christian School in Camden, AR. The students had recently listened to the audio version of our book and wanted to meet us. They had many questions for Mama and seemed very interested in the stories she told about her life during the years she grew up on farms as a sharecropper's daughter. Thanks, Mrs. Jones, for inviting us to your class to meet the students. We really enjoyed this time. We also visited Suzanne's classroom for a few minutes to meet her teacher and classmates.

Successful Book Event, Monroe 05-09-09

What a wonderful time we had in Monroe at the Main Ouachita Parish Library. This was our second visit there and our most successful book event to date. The group consisted mostly of senior citizens, some of whom had lived through part of the hard times described in our book. Aunt Sue joined us here again and helped answer questions from the group. I began selling books before the review ended because some people needed to leave early. They began to line up and we had such a good time meeting each person and visiting with them. We sold 43 books that morning, met many new friends and had a wonderful time. I also met the wife of a distant relative of my son's (on his father's side of the family) which was a surprise to both of us. Fay, thanks for coming. Velda, it was so nice seeing you there as it had been a long time since we had seen each other. And to a couple of my cyberspace friends, Lorene and Emilia, it was especialy nice to meet you both and your sister that day. Thanks so much for the invitation to your family reunion next week. Aunt Sue, a special thanks to you because you are so helpful at the events and we love your participation as the youngest "sharecropper's daughter."

Gilbert's Retirement

Well, that long-awaited date arrived yesterday, May 6th when Gil left his employment with the State of Arkansas, Highway Dept. Actually this is his second retirement because he retired from the USAF 20 years ago. We both slept in late until 6:00 but our cat Sylvia insisted on us getting up to get her breakfast. We left the house just before 8:00 headed to Texarkana to pick up the motorhome. An RV repair shop was doing some minor work on it to make sure everything was ready for our big trip across the western USA and into Canada and Alaska. We are just about ready to go. We leave out the 22nd of May, so watch this blog for our exodus.

Today I am visiting my mother and my sister in Bastrop and tomorrow Mama and I go to Monroe for our book signing at the Stubbs Ave. library. We hope for a nice crowd this time. Last time we attempted a book event there was in November and it was VERY cold. The Monroe paper published a very nice article about our book and the event taking place tomorrow. On Sunday Mama and I will go back to Camden and then on Monday we will visit the 7th and 8th graders at Victory Christian School. Those students listened to our audio book and now they want to meet us and ask us questions about the book. We look forward to that. I will try to remember to get a picture of the class to post here. Stay tuned for more adventures.

CHOOSE THIS DAY, New CD Available

A CD of 20 of Mama's songs will soon be available. Before we sell them, we want to make a booklet of the sheet music of the songs to accompany the CD. The CD is piano music only played by Terry Leonard, church pianist at Hillside Baptist Church in Camden, AR. There is a picture of Mama and Terry on this blog, lower right, which is the one used for the front cover of the CD which Mama named Choose This Day, the name of one of her songs. I'll let everyone know when the song booklets are ready. If you would like to have a CD and song booklet, you can contact me via email at lniemeir@yahoo.com. The CD with song booklet will sell for $15 plus postage.