San Antonio – We visited the picturesque Riverwalk and the Alamo where Susan found a new client, though he doesn’t quite fit her niche of post-depression mothers.

El Paso – Finally found some civilization after experiencing a whole lot of nothin’ between San Antonio and El Paso. In El Paso we discovered the official bar of El Paso for the Minnesota Vikings at a Tony Roma’s. We also hit a traffic jam at a gas station on the way out of town. That may have been because they had the cheapest gas we have seen in all our travels. We paid $1.66 that day. Can you beat that? $1.66 is a big deal when you have a 75 gallon gas tank that has worse gas mileage (8 mpg) than Scott’s parent’s station wagon and Susan’s dad’s Lincoln had when they were growing up.

Tucson (and Minnesota) – We found a lovely RV park. So lovely in fact we decided to stay there for a month. This RV park had wireless Internet access (which Scott loves) and desert hiking trails (which Susan loves). It was also full of snowbirds who come here year after year, some of them more than 10 years. We’re amazed at the camaraderie and the activities they have there like bingo, creative writing, and crafts. It’s quite entertaining. On game night we learned how to play Mexican train, Crazy Louie, and 3-13. (If we visit you, you’re probably going to get asked to play 3-13 because now we’re hooked.) One night we ate dinner at a restaurant that was showing the Minnesota Gophers (college hockey team) on TV. It’s just strange to run into Minnesota sports all the way down South. Another reason the RV stayed put for a month is that Susan went back to Minnesota to visit her brand new nephew. Congratulations to Julie and Tony and the families!

Now, we realize that everything is relative and so is the definition of warm weather. When we say warm weather, we mean shorts weather. Others we know see warm weather as meaning that your car locks don’t freeze up. In the interest of rubbing it in, we took a hike on Christmas Day in shorts and a t-shirt. Life is rough.

Albuquerque – Here we visited Susan’s friend, Diane and her daughter, Carly. We had fun dancing at a Rock & Roll nightclub, but the weirdest thing is that it snowed on us. The only time so far in our travels. Didn’t we leave Minnesota to get away from this?

Sedona, Carefree, Wickenburg, and Prescott, AZ

Quartzsite, AZ – This place is amazing. It is one big flea market just on the AZ side of the CA border. It’s a small town with a few hundred residents which adds thousands of RVs during the winter months. The Dollar store on steroids. Full of junk you never knew you needed.

Los Angeles – Here we visited Scott’s brother, Jeff, an actor and screenwriter, and assisted at two coach’s trainings. L.A. was extremely inhospitable. Between the constant rain, traffic, smog, and trouble finding a place to park the RV, we were eager to move on.

Los Olivos and Solvang just north of Santa Barbara, CA – Beautiful rolling hills here were such a contrast from the big city. We discovered another contrast when we visited a client of Susan at a wonderful, rustic boarding school, which happened to be across from Michael Jackson’s “over the top” Neverland ranch. We also stopped in this area because it is where the movie, Sideways, was filmed. We visited many of the wineries and other places in the movie including an ostrich farm. While tasting the wine at Kalyra, the owner shared with us the riveting story of how Miles and Jack came to meet Stephanie at his winery (for those of you who have seen the film).

Santa Rosa – Here we visited with Scott’s sister, Julie and her family. We enjoyed seeing Paul and Matthew race on their motorcycles and enjoyed celebrating Julie and Paul’s 40th birthday with them.

Napa and Sonoma – One of Susan’s great passions is wine so Susan was in heaven here. We visited a number of wineries and pretty much had a great time getting shnookered while discussing the merits of Pinot with the rich and semi-famous.

Whew! There is lots more we could have said including meeting a drunken cowboy on horse back who wouldn’t pick up his poop, getting blocked in at a gas station by a stupid cowboy in a huge RV, and playing Mexican Train with a windy cowboy. So, if you would like to know more details, feel free to give us a call (hint, hint).

See Scott and Susan in person:
In the next month we are planning to visit Portland, Vancouver, and Bellingham & the Walla Walla area in Washington State. We’re then heading back to Minnesota with a stop at Mount Rushmore along the way. If you’re around them parts, give us a call and stop in.