Okay. The tech came out last evening and spent four hours trying to get us up and running with no success. It seems they switched satellites on us and for some reason they were denying us access to the only satellite that we could get a decent signal from.

Yesterday we tried our hilltop again, but the wireless connector stubbornly refused to cooperate. It reminded us of a string of Christmas lights, blinking alternately green and red.

Right now I am sitting in a laundromat in Laramie, Wyoming. We’re in town to wash clothes and bedding and restock our grocery supply. Rick just got off the phone from the satellite provider and we think we may have it figured out. Of course, we won’t know until we get back to the cabin and try it out, but then you realize we don’t have cell phone coverage any more so if something goes wrong we can’t call them and ask questions. Very frustrating. Keep your fingers crossed. I have some great photos to share with you!

photo: view looking toward Laramie from just down the road from the cabin

Hello from the cabin! We don’t have internet yet but hope to on Thursday. Right now I am sending this from the nearest hilltop where Rick’s wireless connection works, albeit very slowly. Twice per day we drive until we can get a signal to check our email and connect with the rest of the world.

The cabin is peaceful. Many flowers are in bloom, the weather is warm and sunny and the dogs are having a great time sliding down the one remaining snow bank.

My eyes have had to adjust to the high altitude sun and the lack of lush greeness that is New Jersey. Here the high prairie has its own beauty, but it’s different.

I hope to blog a lot more once we have a connection from the cabin itself and not the nearest high point.

Until then ...

I am blogging from Des Moines, Iowa. We are passing by newly formed “lakes” right now. There’s a lot of standing water out there. Looks more like a bayou than anything else at the moment. Incredible. And downright scary for some of these people only feet away from being engulfed. They say the river here crested last night, and with no further rain, it has stabilized.

Our detour took us about 60 miles out of the way to the north, to Dubuque and over. I wish I could tell you it was a pleasant diversion, but it was not. Although it was a divided highway, it was not Interstate driving. Poor Dubuque’s roads were clogged with all of us “I-80ers” but they couldn’t have minded too much since we saw several signs like the Burger King we passed by was displaying saying, “Welcome I-80 Travelers!” At least someone could benefit from our miserable drive from Dubuque to Interstate 35.

We fought strong broad-side winds the whole way. Not much fun. The whole thing put us back about two and one-half hours of travel time.

We passed field after field with what we could only assume were planted with crops. It was difficult to tell since they looked more like rice paddies than farm fields. Swollen rivers and streams were nearly at bridge levels and had spilled over their banks to create new ponds and lakes. Oh, those poor people. While we were merely inconvenienced by our little detour, these people have lost their homes and more. So sad. And we didn’t even get close to Cedar Rapids where the worst flooding occurred. It’s going to take a while for the ground to absorb all the excess water. wow.

We’ve stopped in Omaha, Nebraska tonight. We had hoped to get further, but being buffeted by that wind today and having the extra hours spent going out of our way, we just couldn’t put the cats, dogs or ourselves through anymore car time. Tomorrow we hope to make good time and arrive at the cabin before dark. I may not blog for a few days until we can get our satellite internet up and running. Until then ...

I am taking advantage of cell phone broadband and typing from the car. We just passed Chicago where there were signs that I-80 is closed from Iowa City to Des Moines so we are going to have to detour around the flood zone. Should be interesting. We did hit some rain yesterday in Ohio, but nothing severe.

We’ve left the wooded hills and mountains of northern New Jersey and Pennsylvania behind. Instead we have more open farm land. So far the trip has been easy. The cats are resigned to their kitty crates today, unlike yesterday when Sam would meow mournfully every time we stopped. The dogs have also settled into the rhythm of travel and are asleep cozy in their crates. As for me, I guess I am resigned to my passenger seat. Even though Rick is driving I am driving too. You know how that goes?

There seems to be less traffic. Maybe it’s due to the higher gas prices. We certainly are seeing very few motor homes on the road. We hope to make it to mid-Nebraska today. We’ll see how much the detour slows us down.

That’s it for now. Have to return to my job as co-pilot. Maybe more later if I get bored ...

Hi to all that might either read or stumble by my humble blog. Today we are starting our vacation journey back to our remote cabin in Colorado. I hope to blog from there, but as yet our internet connection is a bit, shall we say, “up in the air.” We hope to have internet starting on Monday, but if that doesn’t work we have to wait for a technician to come on Thursday. If we are successful, you will see a new header instead of my “new” Jersey Girl one. It will say “elevation 8,600” which is where we will be living.

Our neighbors at the cabin (Donna & Larry) went to our cabin today and saw a big bull moose right next to our cabin. Plus, a cow moose just gave birth the other day a short distance away. We hope they show up so we can bring you video and photos, but can’t promise, of course. Nature takes its own course.

So, we’ll either chat while we are there, or I will see you on the flip side in two weeks time. Please check back for updates!

Oh, and do wish us luck getting across the country in one gas-guzzling Suburban filled to the brim with stuff, two humans, two dogs and two very unhappy (at least until they reach their destination) cats. We hope to dodge tornados, floods, and all the other stuff going on in the past week in the mid-section of the country.

photo above taken from our cabin driveway looking towards Bull Mountain.