The catch up, not Heinz

At the Erie Canal museum, Syracuse, NY
The last remaining lock load building of all the great canals
in the country that were engineering marvels of their day..

Have not fallen off the face of the earth, but have been east and now  home for a month  preparing for next departure to Alaska and playing at catch up with yard work, domestic activities, local community,  friends,  financials, and my blog.    Peculiar testament to how things change, advance, or become more complicated is  that my actions now five years down the highway of life  from when I first started of this blog are not matching the original intent. Not synced as the term is between my phone and tablet.   I created this blog with the intention of it faithfully being the place where I would record our travels at the time we were traveling, so friends and family could track us.  Silly thoughts I had back then because today with life's twisty turns, there is little to no family and those who are do not read this blog. And blogger is undergoing traaaansformations too that require adjustments with some of my software.  Friends track our escapades on Facebook, which is easier to access from my smart phone or tablet as we travel.  Heck it's easier to post a quick line or photo to Facebook while we are at home too.  While Facebook cannot replace blogging, although some FB users treat it as their blog and post on and more, FB has earned its place as the easiest way to stay in touch.  One of those techie changes.  

We had a great trip and a different rally experience at the Syracuse Good Sam RV Rally,  then explored previously unvisited parts of very rural north eastern PA  before swinging back down to home town.  But not once did I post onto this blog the entire time we were gone, you already know that..  We arrived home June 28 and am just now getting my blog on.  Our round trip in motor home with tow car was 2459 miles over 7 states, just about 43 hours driving time in the

Muddy pond and wet hillside 

motor home,  consuming 311.1 gallons of diesel at $1216.45.  There is still over 3/4 of a tank of diesel left  awaiting the next trip.  We did something we usually avoid which was driving toll roads which invested $129.40 in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, New York and Pennsylvania. It was faster moving over all and since this was a destination trip not so much for sight seeing along the way we took the pay route. We also drive a big rig that does not scoot easily down back country lanes and with changing weather conditions and rains, we  did not want to risk getting off the  main interstates and encountering roads  flooding or bridges washing out  as was happening in the east and midwest this June.  

Storm clouds ahead view  from the
windshield

I am not opposed to toll roads, because I like the idea that users pay for the privilege and non users do not.  But it  really does not work that way, everyone pays and still the infrastructure maintenance is questionable..  The states collect the tolls and who knows where that money goes because parts of Interstate 80 through Ohio are some of the worst roads in the country.  And then there is my home state of Pennsylvania, where it must be a continuous governmental employment program, roadwork always,  that Pennsylvania turnpike is ever in transition. .  

I have enough digital photos to fill another album and that is another activity for when?  I have complicated my life with these  digital photos, which  while certainly preferable to the old days when  we had to wait for development of photos, I now have flash drives full of pics.  Here again my intentions are to edit, organize  them into albums, and perhaps publish a book or two on Shutterfly,  but my  reality does not catch up to my intentions. Please pass the  Heinz, maybe a good squirt of red here and there would do it.

While many things happened that will provide good stories later continuing the Facebook teasers, I share a couple photos now and am back to what was my  task at hand on the computer, bringing our Quicken up to date with financial postings.   It"s too easy to click and stray the keyboard when sitting in front of the computer and well my lack of  discipline or my wandering attention span take quick advantage of the flick of the mouse.  

Mt Laurel in bloom  Stillwater, PA
This is the Pennsylvania state flower which  I had not seen let alone
smell the bloom for probably 50 years. 

Our coach aka rig not quite set up but
 we just got in ahead of the storms
for that day in Indiana 

.

I was not kidding about the storms and rains this
trip,  here are some dark clouds moving right
in as we stopped for the night in Decatur Indiana.
Midwest downpour is about to begin.