2009 Abbott Family Christmas Letter

 

As 2009 draws to a close, many of us take time to reflect on our accomplishments and happenings of the past year, to take stock of our many blessings, and to take a quick peek at what the New Year may have in store for us. Mary Lynn and I have been blessed many times over this year as we traveled around North America in our RV. We left Maryland in early January, taking time to visit MLA’s sister in New Orleans before slowly working our way west. After attending the largest gathering of RV’s in the US held in Quartzsite, Arizona, we moved to Casa Grande, Arizona, which is about 45 minutes south of Phoenix.

And that’s where we spent the winter, enjoying the bright Arizona sunshine and warm weather. One highlight during our ‘winter’ stay was rafting through the Grand Canyon on the mighty Colorado River. After a wild day of rafting in 47 degree water, we were whisked to the top of the Grand Canyon in a helicopter. Truly amazing.

We decided to spend our summer traveling through Alaska with our good friends Mary Anne and Dave as our travel buddies. We began moving north in mid-April, taking almost a month to explore the beautiful state of Utah. Utah is home to some of the most spectacular desert scenery in the country including Zion, Bryce, Moab, and Arches National Parks.

We joined Mary Anne and Dave in Montana, crossed in Canada, and after briefly visiting Banff & Jasper we headed for the southern-most tip of the Alaska panhandle, where we boarded an Alaska Maritime Ferry in Prince Rupert. The inside passage of Alaska is truly breath taking in it’s scenic beauty and wildlife displays. Seeing the islands and towns from the deck of a ship is a great way to take it all in. After the ferry trip north we drove almost 4000 miles in Alaska, making a huge loop and driving on almost every paved road in the state.

During our Alaska adventure, Christopher, his wife Rachael, and Scott flew into Anchorage and stayed with us for a week. Most of the time was on the Kenai Peninsula, where we enjoyed hiking, fishing, rafting, and sight seeing. What a great time, made even better by having some of our children join us.

The week flew by and, after everyone returned home to the ‘lower 48’, Mary Lynn and I spent another month working our way out of Alaska, eventually driving the RV down through the Yukon Territories, a small part of Alberta and most of British Columbia before emerging back into Montana. We arrived back in Maryland in late August having driven ~ 15,000 miles and after being gone for 9 months… Wow!

We worked like crazy to get the house back on the market however I’m not sure why we were in such a rush. It seems there are very few serious buyers – little wonder since half of the homes on the market in Maryland are foreclosures, which has driven prices down substantially. Oh well, hopefully it will sell in the spring

Christopher & Rachael, after getting married in July of 2008 have been busy with work and the church. They bought a new house over the summer and it was finally ready for them to move into in early October. We can’t wait to take the RV to Oklahoma and see their new digs.

Scott & Diana are engaged to be married in September of 2010. Both are working long hours, saving up in order to buy a home together. We are so happy for the two of them.

Kasey Lynn is at Towson University and is doing great. She is maintaining a high GPA and has one year left ; she should graduate in December of 2010. We are so proud of all she has accomplished this year.

Jenna Kate has just transferred to Towson University for the Spring 2010 semester where she will complete the last two years of her degree. She has been battling health issues for many years and has finally been diagnosed with narcolepsy, a sleeping disorder. While it means a tough battle ahead of her, at least we finally know the cause of her health issues. She is doing a terrific job of coping with the many medicines required while balancing a demanding school schedule.

 

All in all, our family has had another wonderful year with lots of activity, adventure and excitement. Despite a challenging year for the economy and our wallets, our family is doing well and we are fortunate to be in good health. We have many, many friends and relatives who love and care for us, our health is good and our blessings are many. We are looking forward to another year of travel and hope to see many of you along the way. Send us an e-mail. Pick up the phone and call. Heck, throw a rock with a note tied to it if you have to but please, please stay in touch.

Love to all!
Dale, Mary Lynn, Christopher & Rachael, Scott & Diana, Kasey Lynn, Jenna Kate, and Dobbie the Wonder Dog

PS: If you want you can go to www.daleandmarylynn.blogspot.com to read about our travels in 2008 & 2009. Or follow along with us as we start another RV adventure in January 2010 after the new year. Also our new mailing address is:

110 E Center Street #605
Madison, SD         57042

 

 

Monrovia, Maryland: Peak Fall Color Peaks Our RV Travel Urge

Mary Lynn and I have been enjoying our time back in Maryland. We have the house up for sale and are awaiting a buyer so we can get back on the road.

Unfortunately there are not a lot of buyers in our price range at this time. Most of the people who have looked at our house recently still have a home they need to sell. Actually the entry level part of the market is moving pretty well as first time buyers take advantage of the First Time Buyer Tax Credit of $8,000.

That has the $300,000 and under market moving and shaking however homes priced over $500,000 are moving pretty slowly.

Oh well. We have decided to stay here in Maryland through Christmas, and then, whether the house is sold or not, we are hitting the road again.

The weather here has turned cool as it does every year in the fall. The leaves have reached the maximum color change and have been rapidly falling from the trees. The temps during the day are usually in the low 60’s and the lows in the low 40’s. As nice as it has been Mary Lynn and I have been feeling the urge to head south.

 

Most of our time and attention have gone into getting the house in shape for showing to prospective buyers. Mostly this is a process of removing any decorating character and/or style, removing any personal effects, removing any color, removing furniture, removing clutter – basically the ‘experts’ have you remove any sign that people actually live in the home. Place looks great even if a little sterile.

While back in Maryland we have been connecting with our many friends and family members. We are so busy I joke with MLA that I don’t know how I found time to work.

Sooo, while we are home we plan to work in a few trips – mostly day trips although a few locations may allow us to stay away for a few days. Place we want to see are Monticello, Mt Vernon, Deep Creek and Hampton House; plus we want to see Williamsburg and New York City decorated for Christmas. I might even take a photography course or two.

Most of these pictures are from our trip to Chincoteague Island in Virginia, truly a beautiful and relaxing place. Our friends Patty & Craig live on Chincoteague in a beautiful turn of the century (last century, not this one) home that they have restored with loving care. Plus MLA’s mom lives on the mainland just across from the island so it’s a place we love to visit.

In any case, enjoy yourself and be safe. Be sure to join us in late December/early January when we fire up the RV and head south.

See Ya!

Daytona Beach, Florida: Biketoberfest -- What a Week!

I'm writing this from the comfort of my home in Maryland. Yesterday, my buddy Skip & I drove back to Maryland from Daytona Beach, Florida, after a fantastic week of motorcycles, parties, great rides, motorcycle races and more motorcycles.

Total attendance seemed to be lower according to vendors and traffic enforcement officers, maybe 100,000 bikers, although the local tourist boards claimed much higher attendance of 175,000.

I don't think so -- and the vendors I spoke with told me repeatedly that, whatever the number of Biketoberfest attendees, bikers were not spending as much money this year as they had in previous years.

Still, even if it was 'only' 100,000

bikers, that's still a lot of bikers in one place. Lots of crowds, plenty of beautiful motorcycles and beautiful women, tons of motorcycle gear and accessories; it is an incredible sight to see. Spending appeared to be down on everything except for food and beer; I've never seen so many beer trucks making multiple deliveries during the same day.

Skip and I took a number of rides throughout the greater Daytona area, however, no matter where we went riding, somehow Skip always managed to work a cruise down Daytona Beach's Main Street into our agenda.

Main Street is where a number of restaurants and bars are turned into wild party spots with throngs of motorcyclists crowded together into a crazy patchwork of food, drink, motorcycle accessories, body painting, sexy lingerie, music, leather, roaring motorcycles, flashing police lights, sparking chrome, beautiful paint jobs and of course the ubiquitous t-shirt shops.

Lots and lots of t-shirts. At least 75% of all t-shirts at a bike rally are black t-shirts. WHile ther are lots of other colorful options, motorcyclists seem to be drawn to black t-shirts. Every imaginable style, size, pithy quote and/or manufacturer's logo can be found, but always tons of black t-shirts.

Yep, Main Street in Daytona is like no other place around. It's where everyone goes to see and be seen.

As far as I'm concerned cruising main street is a pain. It's basically an incredibly noisy, eight block long traffic jam with constant stop and go traffic, all under the watchful eyes of dozens of police. However Skip loved the fact that thousands of people were all watching the bikes go by.

Of course, almost every motorcycle rider thinks their bike is one of the best looking bikes around and Skip is no exception; he had special lights installed on his Harley that change colors and he was convinced everyone in Daytona needed a chance to admire his ride floating along on a cloud of colored light.

And, now that Skip has shaved his head, he looks like an incredible bad ass. He's not but he sure has the 'bad ass look' nailed.

I'd rather park my bike and walk through the bars and venues than drive through on a motorcycle. For me, Main Street is people watching heaven. First of all, almost all of the bartenders are female and, working on commission, each one does their best to attract as many motorcyclists to their bar as possible. It's the ultimate use of clothing (or lack thereof) as a weapon. And what can I say -- it works.

And motorcyclists themselves are a fantastic subject if you enjoy people watching. You'll see every size, shape and color -- and that's just the hair. The guy in the picture above was not the only person rocking a mow hawk, even if he did have to resort to a stick-on version. Many motorcyclists revel in being seen as a unique individual and are willing to wear, say and do just about anything.

Over the weekend the weather took took a 15 degree dive; the high for the day was only 65. After a week of hot and humid weather the cool weather was actually pretty refreshing. Great for riding and even better for watching the motorcycle races at Daytona International Speedway. Saturday was an 8 hour endurance race and on Sunday they held the finals for all pro and semi-pro classes.

I was finally able to get the pin stripping done on Scott's motorcycle and it looks fantastic to see the Road King back in full fighting trim.

Sunday night we took our last ride around 'the loop' (and of course down Main Street for Skip) before loading the motorcycles into the trailer. Another great meal at Billy's Tap Room and we got to bed early knowing full well that the 5 am alarm would be a shock to the system.

We were on the road by 6 am and flew up Interstate 95: Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and finally Maryland rolled under our tires. Even though we had a fantastic time at Biketoberfest it was great to be back home. And a whole lotta fun to show Scott his bike was in great shape.

I would definitely go again. Sturgis, Bike Week and Biketoberfest -- you can't go wrong if you like to party -- or even just like to observe a party.

See Ya!

Daytona Beach, FL: Bike Races @ Daytona International Speedway

Daytona Beach, FL: Custom Motorcycles

Daytona Beach, FL: Bikers Stream Into Daytona

Today, Thursday, is the first official day of Biketoberfest this year. It is scheduled to go from Thursday am to Sunday evening. The number of bikers has been pretty low for the last two days however today the number of riders has swelled dramatically.

Still too soon to declare this years event a success but it's starting to look a lot better. Hopefully bikers will continue to flood into Daytona Beach -- the local economy could sure use a good jolt.

I did see a couple of good looking RV parks right on the ocean. Well, the parks didn't look all that great but the view of the Atlantic Ocean through your front windshield/living room window is killer.

Skip caused a bit of a stir back at his house in Maryland. Yesterday he went to a barber shop for a haircut and had his head shaved. Then he sent a picture of his newly naked head to his family back in Maryland.

Yep, quite a stir, quite a stir.

Truthfully, Skip's shaved head looks pretty good on him. He tried to get me to shave my head but I told him no way.

Actually I told him if I had a receding hairline like he did I would have shaved my head long ago. However I'll save shaving my head for the time when my full head of hair goes away.

Early this morning Skip and I went for a walk several miles down the beach. I'm always amazed at how may people are up and about in seaside communities. I was also amazed at how hot it was so early in the am.

On the way back we stopped for breakfast. Skip had to drag me out of the air conditioning to walk back to the condo.

Then we got cleaned up and took a nice ride north to Flagler's Beach and beyond. Great ride and wonderful scenery of the Atlantic Ocean.

See Ya!

Daytona Beach, Florida: Daytona Beach Rocks! (& Rumbles)

I'm in sunny, warm (& humid) Daytona Beach Florida. Twice a year Daytona is home to a large motorcycle event where hordes of motorcyclists descend like locusts. Just like locusts they arrive suddenly, in large numbers, eat & drink everything in sight,and then quickly vanish, only to be seen at the same time next year.

Unlike locust they leave a lot of money behind so local businesses are always glad to have bikers attend in large numbers.

Daytona Beach has been home to Bike Week, one of the largest motorcycle events in the country for decades. Held in late February/early March, Bike Week has arguably been the most popular motorcycle event in the world. Only the rally held in Sturgis, SD comes close in size and popularity.

Of course there are lots of motorcycle races at Daytona International Speedway that I hope to attend and get some pictures of the racers. I also plan to go to some of the custom bike shows and get pictures there.

So what do you do when you own the most popular motorcycle event held in the spring? You start a similar event in the fall -- which brings us to Biketoberfest, held in mid-October. Started in 1992, the event is now the third largest motorcycle festival in the country, just behind Sturgis and Bike Week.

My buddy Skip and I drove down on Monday, hauling our bikes instead of riding. I prefer to ride to events like I did with Harley's 100th anniversary party in Wisconsin, however Skip needs to bring some furniture back so we brought his trailer. Drive takes about 12 hours, slightly more when your travelling with Skip, the original 'tiny tanks'.

In any case, the weather has been mostly sunny with a few clouds and a even fewer showers. We are enjoying lots of riding as well as seeing the sights. Lots and lots of great sights.

We take rides during the day, take a swim and get cleaned up at the condo in the late afternoon, before heading out for an evening ride and dinner. Last night was at the famous (or infamous) Iron Horse Saloon, one of several 'must do' locations here in Daytona. Lots of food, beer, music and of course, motorcycle riders of every type, size and description. all enjoying a huge, non-stop party.

Skip had special lighting installed on his Harley. These lights provide a really special look at night. The kit allows different colors to be displayed and the lights can be set to blink or randomly change colors, etc. If you ride with red or blue lights, especially if you have them blinking on and off, the police will give you a ticket for impersonating a policeman. Wow!

I have tried to get my hands on the remote so I can change Skip's lighting as he's going down the road but so far he has kept the remote locked away! You never know, I may yet get a chance to get him pulled over.... only time will tell.

See ya!