2014 Journey

Yes, time certainly flies, as this year marks the beginning of a whole new decade of motorhoming journeys throughout the USA and Canada.

When we bought our first motorhome in 2004 we thought that perhaps 5 or 6 years would satisfy us, nevertheless as each journey ended we found ourselves eagerly looking forward to the next one. So 2014 begins our eleventh year of motorhoming journeying in North America.

The descendant's of Margie's late father, Ross Argau Niederer, are scattered far and wide, with nearly half now residing outside New Zealand. By happy coincidence nearly all of this extended family, together with their spouses and children, are in New Zealand for this festive season. We therefore host a "Cousins Reunion" at Mokoia Road on New Year's Day, with 56 attending this unique, historic event. It will be long remembered, and we are especially delighted when our grandchildren declare it to be the highlight of their two-week stay with us.

The following day the Welburn and Boyd families visit the film-set village of "Hobbiton" [of Lord of the Rings fame] which has become a very popular destination for tourists and Kiwis alike. Welburns continue on to Auckland where they will spend several days catching up with old friends'

On 3 Jan 2014 the Boyds fly back to Melbourne, later we drive up to Auckland to farewell the Welburns as they wing their way home to Ottawa on 6 Jan 2014.

Our niece Ella and her husband Matt have been visiting from London, and overnight stay at Lake House as they do a grand tour of their NZ kith and kin. Using our bikes they cycled our regular early morning 21 km bike ride, kayaked the glorious glittering lake, enjoyed some exciting rides on the luge, followed by a peaceful walk through the Californian Redwoods at Haumurana.

Margie's cousin Keith and his wife Margaret have been touring in their campervan, and they roll up for an overnight stay on our "forecourt". The kayaks are put to good use, and we have a great catch-up on family news.

We are delighted that Ethan, Fergus and Varick are going to saty with us for a further week. Their parents are busy back in Melbourne, so they boys fly over unaccompanied on Air NZ where they are utterly chuffed to have been upgraded to Business Class!

The week is filled with tennis,kayaking, bike riding and Monopoly, plus a few games of Texas Hold'em, which the boys have learnt through their IPods.

During this week Fiona, Stuart and their three children stay for two nights before heading back to Edinburgh, Scotland. A further opportunity for the cousins and second cousins to build on their relationships.

At the end of their holidays when everyone has flown off, we reflect on the success of the past few weeks; how much we enjoy the young people around us; and how empty the house feels when they've gone!

Our own three children, plus many of their cousins, now live overseas, so the tyranny of distance means family social occasions are both difficult and expensive to arrange. Nevertheless the last few weeks saw a succession of happy family gatherings and outings. and we hope that memories from them will prove long lasting.

We agree that seeing so many family members having fun together was the best Christmas present one could hope for.

Margie's friend Carolyn is celebrating her 70th birthday in Auckland, and we are delighted to attend the joyful party her family have arranged for her.

The annual Round the Lake Cycle Race [42.3km marathon] arrives. We are nowhere near the class of the serious competitors, but our early morning rides into the city 3-4 times a week [21km round trip] have given us confidence that we can comfortably complete the course, albeit in a more modest time-frame.

The day presents perfect conditions, we have peanut butter sandwiches in our pockets for sustenance, we're all ready for the gruelling ride! There are a few other "just for fun" riders like ourselves on the road adding to the enjoyment. Pleasingly we finish within our target time [2 hrs 30 min] without stopping to eat the sandwiches! What we found really impressive we was when, a few km short of the finish line, a group of prime competitors whoosh past us as they complete their SECOND circuit of the course.

Louise arrives for a short visit, and Margie and her share some precious mother/daughter time.

Margie's brother Warwick visits from London. He is immediately taken with the view from our balcony so out come the watercolours. There is something about Warwick - he has us laughing at every thing ["the Laughing Club he calls us"].

It is school holidays in Melbourne and the Boyd boys arrive unaccompanied to spend a week with us. In addition to the usual tennis, kayaking, etc, we now have remote-controlled helicopters, which are a big hit. Visits to Wingspan [a bird of prey centre where they get up closeto a karearea, the NZ native falcon] and the trout hatcheries are fascinating. The Rotorua Luge is again punished, plus the boys have their first golf lesson from the pro at Rotorua Golf Club.

Easter. Lotta, our Swedish "daughter" for a year in 1990 as an American Field Service exchange student, visits with her husband Spencer and their two sweet children [Eskil and Selma]. The weather turns ghastly, but the company is lovely.

The Marathon. The 50th annual Round the Lake Rotorua Marathon has arrived. The original Rotorua Marathon attracted 9 entrants. This year there are almost 10,000, including one of the runners from 50 years ago! The 42km full marathon is the main event, however there are now also half and quarter marathon races, plus races for walkers over the same distances. This variety no doubt is a major factor in the popularity of the event.

Margie has entered in the Half Marathon Walk and has been training for some time. Her friend Chantal, an experienced marathon competitor, is running in the Full Marathon, and arrives in Rotorua with a group of friends for support. We are all proud [and a little in awe] of the magnificent performances both Margie and Chantal display in their respective races, and celebrate their efforts that evening over a most sociable dinner back at Mokoia Road.

Margie completes the 21km Walk in 3 hrs 25 mins, comes 460th out of 720 [much younger] competitors. [She says, "not bad for a 68 year old who has never done anything like this in her life before,"]

We drive to Napier to visit Bob's brother David and his wife, Velma. Then on to Wairoa to call on his sister Ellen Rose for a catch up before our imminent departure back to the USA to continue our RVing adventures. In Napier we also enjoy an evening of great camaraderie and humour when five members of Bob's platoon in Vietnam [3 Platoon, Victor 3 Company] join us for dinner at the RSA.

Fly to Coolangatta, Australia, to attend the 50th anniversary of Bob's Class Graduation from the Australian Army's Officer Cadet School. It is a great reunion and also most gratifying to find, 50 years on, more than half our 1964 graduating class arrive to celebrate the occasion.

To USA. Depart Auckland for Kansas City to begin our 2014 Journey. After retrieving our vehicles from storage we enjoy a few days relaxing in and around Kansas City, including purchasing and setting up a new Lenova Yoga laptop. The laptop is fascinating, but Windows 8 is quite a learning experience!

Heading off towards Petosky, Michigan, our route takes us east across Missouri, crossing the mighty Mississippi River at St Louis, and we remember Judy Garland singing "Meet Me At The Fair"- the song that referred to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition World Fair in 1904, which was held to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the start of the Lewis and Clark Expedition that actually commenced at St Louis. Then drive the breadth of Illinois into Indiana. Whilst driving through Indianapolis we [inadvertently] traverse one long, leafy street that had rows of magnificent mansions on either side. Not quite Palm Beach, but still very impressive, and not the normal thoroughfare for a big rig!

We are less impressed some miles north of Indianapolis when we realise the outside right rear tyre is flat. In our eleventh year of motorhoming, this is our first puncture, so we can't complain. Motorhomes do not come with spare wheels. The manufacturers' rationale for this policy is that as most drivers of a motorhome are likely to be in the older age group, they would find the spare wheel far too heavy for them to comfortably manage.

A quick phone call to our Good Sam Emergency Recovery Service soon has a strong and capable fellow happily fitting a replacement tyre. We much appreciate his hard work in fixing us up, all we had to do was pay for the cost of the tyre. The locating of a mobile repairer and the cost of his services are all covered under the insurance fee of $200 pa we pay to Good Sam.

Four days after departing Kansas City we arrive at the lovely Bay Harbor Resort in Petoskey. Having stayed here at this time in previous years we catch up with other regulars with whom we made friends. Thus we enjoy a great week of socialising, plus Bob gets in some golf. On the Fourth of July we cycle to the attractive small town of Harbor Springs to watch the parade.

As in previous years a huge crowd turns out to enthusiastically and happily celebrate their national day. When some boat displays pass by a pleasant fellow next to us asked if we had boats in New Zealand. Margie gently explained that NZ had in fact won the Americas Cup, twice! Google it!

Our time in Petoskey is all too short, and it's hasta la vista baby! Time to again make tracks for Ottawa. On our way we stop in Flint, Michigan, to get some repairs done to our Internet satellite dish.

In Ottawa, Ontario. Arrive back at our spot at Recreationlands Campground, overlooking the Ottawa River. In Ottawa the Welburns have purchased the house dirctly across the road from their first home. Their "new" home needs substantial renovations, but it is much bigger and will better meet the needs of their growing family.

We are especially taken with how the children have grown since we saw them last Christmas back at Mokoia Road. Anna is now taller than her Grandma!

The Welburns are flat out with their renovation programme, and we are delighted to help where we can, offering our tuppence worth selecting bathroom fittings, tiles, colour schemes, etc. Overall, a joyful experience going around the various showrooms with our lovely, capable daughter, Victoria.

It is school summer holidays and the children have a busy programme involving soccer training and soccer tournaments, girl guide camps, staying with friends, etc. plus many days when some of them sleepover with us in the motorhome, or we go together to visit various attractions in the region. Tor spends most of her time painting the interior of their new home.

During this period we also enjoy meals and outings with our good Ottawa friends, Suzanne and Peter.

The month passes all too quickly, the Welburns go for a week's holiday camping at Sandbanks [they will move into the new house on their return], whilst for us it is time for Westward Ho The Wagon, bound for Los Angeles, some 4000 km away.

The Boyd boys are flying unaccompanied on Qantas from Melbourne to spend two weeks with us in the motorhome. We have three weeks to make the 4000 km journey to Los Angeles, This allows us a few breaks along the way, so we stop for several days at a favourite place, South Haven, Michigan, where we again ride the Kal-Haven [Kalamazoo to South Haven] cycle trail.

We cross the Mississippi at Hannibal [Huckleberry Finn country], and by late afternoon Kansas City comes into view. A few days at the wonderfully convenient Worlds of Fun RV Park then it's back in "the office" heading west through huge swathes of cornfields, thence desert prairie, against a palette of brilliant blue sky.

Eventually the town of Colorado Springs comes into view. Although we intend to stay here for a week, the two RV parks we check out have the "cheek by jowl" effect and therefore do not appeal, so we move on. Crossing the Rockies [highest point of road is 10,500 feet] is awesome, and one has to pay careful attention to the motorhome's revs and engine temperature on the many long and steep climbs.

Impulsively we make what turns out to be a good decision, to stay a week in Grand Junction, Colorado. Here we ride our bikes for miles along the Colorado River and revel in a visit to the Colorado National Monument, where the landscape consists of plateaus and canyons with towering masses of naturally sculpted rock; big, bold and brilliantly coloured.

Eventually we roll into Las Vegas, where their Pyramid, Eiffel Tower and fabulous buildings such as Bellagio and Excalibur take one's breath away with their sheer audacity.

After years of navigating only by map, Tor had encouraged us to finally buy a GPS, and this little bossy britches becomes worth its weight in gold as it helps us navigate the challenging road system through and around Los Angeles in their never-ending rush hour. We arrive at the Pechanga Resort [recommended by fellow NZ Tiffin RVers, Bev and Richard] at Temecula, a large town some 150 km from LAX.

From here we spend several days reconnoitering the area so we are ready to go when Ethan, Fergus and Varick arrive on Qantas from Melbourne.

After a 14 hour flight from Melbourne they land at LAX early in the morning of 20 Sep 2014, so it is back to Pechanga to introduce them to Playtime, their digs for the next two weeks, then time for them to sleep and recover for our planned trip together.

Our road trip kicks off with us driving to Las Vegas to show the boys the glitz and excitement this unique city offers. Two days later we are tramping through the the surreal landscape of Bryce Canyon, illustrating a quite different aspect of the USA.

Next, the astounding views of Monument Valley, followed by a visit to the Four Corners Monument, where one can stand on the precise spot where the State boundaries of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah all intersect. From there we visit the Mesa Verde National Park and inspect the fascinating cliff dwellings that were home to the Puebloan Peolple from around 600 to 1100 AD.

Heading back to Los Angeles we are following the line of old Route 66, but of course the Grand Canyon is an unmissable event.

On returning to Los Angeles we book into Orangeland RV Park, only a few minutes from Disneyland. Two full days of Disney fun, excitement and great memories.

The boys learnt a lot about America, they learnt about Abraham Lincoln, they learnt about some of the First Nation people, and about some of the magnificent National Parks in the USA. Each boy kept a diary to record the memorable, fun times they could look back on. They were happy, enthusiastic and helpful and everyone got on well together. All too soon the holiday came to an end, and we were back at LAX seeing the boys off back home to their Mum and Dad.

We consider ourselves so fortunate to have been able to share such a memory-creating time with some of our grandchildren.

Next day all seems so quiet, however the day is spent getting the vehicles ready for storage. Instead of driving all the way back to Kansas City to our usual storage at Sub Tropolis, we have found an RV storage facility in Los Angeles that offers excellent facilities. We store both vehicles and head for LAX for the comfort of an AirNZ flight back to Auckland.

After 38-40 C temps of California, we suddenly have to dig out our jackets and jerseys on arrival back home. Nevertheless, glorious Spring has sprung in our garden at Mokoia Road with rhododendrons and camelias lighting up the landscape, and tulips in full bloom. Everything is in good order so no worries. And we are terribly grateful to our neighbours for looking after things.

We quickly adjust to life by the lake, gardening, lawn mowing, cycling into the city for morning cups of coffee. Our passports are due for renewal, and we are pleasantly surprised at how smoothly this can now be done, entirely online. Our ten year USA visas are also due, which requires a trip to Auckland for a face-to-face interview at the USA Consulate. All proceeds well and we are again primed for next year's adventures.

Ethan's school in Melbourne finishes the year two weeks ahead of the school his younger brothers attend, so he flies over on AirNZ to keep company with us. Cycling with Grandma, riding the Luge, helping in the garden and around the house, reading books....... its great having Ethan to stay for these few days, and we eagerly look forward to when he returns, complete with his family, later in the month.

The Boyds arrive to spend Christmas and New Year with us at Rotorua. We especially enjoy listening to Varick, a budding pianist, as he practices for his exam, plus teaches himself "The Entertainer".

The boys compete to see who can make the most attractive display as they string coloured lights through various trees and bushes around the house. Our usual pursuits of tennis, cycling, kayaking, interspersed with Monopoly and all the Indiana Jones DVDs, keep everyone active and entertained. One night it is off to the movies to see the latest [and final] Hobbit movie, "The Battle of The Five Armies".

We are so pleased to have a large gathering of family members to grace our lunch table. As well as the Boyd family, we welcome Valda, her son Warwick, his wife Eileen plus their children. Also Eileen's parents, plus her brother Tim, who have just arrived from Boston on a surprise visit! Turkey, ham and all the trimmings!

This lovely gathering reminds us how fortunate we are to be part of a warm and supportive family group, therefore we precede the meal with the blessing Margie's grandfather always used on family occasions, thus establishing a family tradition: