My present location
Photos of my travels

I always travel with my companions, Georgia and Michael.  They prepare my meals, take me for walks and most importantly, play with me.  I am always glad to get to Rest Stops so I can meet new people to play with.

We began our extended travels from Dallas, Texas in late May, 2000. During the following six months, I visited 13 western states and traveled over 15,000 miles. Click here for details of my first season on the road, including my broken foot.  For details of my winter of 2000-01 click here.  During the 2001 travel season, my objective was to have visited 30 states.  Click here to find out how I exceeded my own expectation.  During this time I had my first visit to Canada.  Then Michael took a series of photos of me watching a jet ski in Michigan that he wanted to share with you in the Focus of an Irishman.  During our 3rd year we changed from the Airstream to a Safari Motorhome and revisited a number of the western states visiting locations I had never seen and traveled east to Tennessee.  Click here to get more details.  2004 was a mixed bag, with Melissa graduating from St. Edwards University with a Masters Degree, Michael's father passing away and Melissa and Lance getting married.  2005 had trips around Texas, Hurricane Rita, Michael nearly completely severing his finger when the strap for the large awning broke, and the 3rd Annual DataStorm Users Rally.

In January of 2006, Michael and Georgia bought a 44' Newell Coach, took trips to Arizona, Oklahoma, and back to Kerrville, Texas for the 4th annual DataStorm Users Rally.

In May of 2007, we got good news and bad news.  First the good news.  Melissa is pregnant.  YEAH!! Unfortunately Georgia had to have shoulder surgery.  She was determined that we were still going to travel so off we went to Las Vegas to visit friends.  Then to Salt Lake City to meet with MotoSat on planning for the 2007 DataStorm Users Rally.  Then visited Iowa to see the John Deere Pavilion and the Iowa 80 Truck Stop, the world's largest truck stop.  Then across Illinois and Indiana to Michigan.  We spent a week at the Traverse Bay RV Resort attending the Newell Rally.  Everyone loved me, of course.  Georgia has not been recovering from her surgery as quickly as we would like.

After the Rally, we traveled to Decatur, IL to visit friends I hadn't seen in 6 years.  Unfortunately, my little buddy Angus has since died BUT they had 3 more Great Danes.  Shamus and I didn't get along too well (that Alpha Dog thing) but Devon and I got along fabulously.  Devon had just had A puppy 6 days earlier and he was SOOOOO cute.

After too short a visit in Decatur, we headed to St. Charles, MO to see more friends.  We also saw the Chain of Rocks Bridge on Historic Route 66.  The bridge was closed in 1967 but reopened to foot traffic in 1999.

We traveled back to Miami, OK to the Newell Coach plant to have our annual maintenance done on our Newell.  They just LOVE me at Newell.  I have added some of the photos of the manufacturing facilities at Newell.  The Newell staff are GREAT!!  We then drove to Hot Springs, Arkansas.  Boy it is hot in this part of the world with the heat index in the 110-115 degree range virtually every day.  We then traveled to Opelousas, LA to see our good friends Morris and Vicki.  A trip to Louisiana is never complete without visiting Vanessa.  Thanks to Vanessa, we got to eat lot's of good seafood (yes I like seafood).  Then we traveled to Lake Charles to visit Lessley and Taylor.

Then back to Texas.  Georgia and Michael both had jury duty to serve.  This time Georgia got selected for a criminal jury.  After relaxing for a while, we traveled to Houston to see all of our relatives there.  I got to play with Griffin and Sparky again.  I always enjoy that.  Then we were off to see Melissa and Lance in Austin.  That is always fun.  I did tell you that Melissa is going to have a baby didn't I?  Afterwards we detoured to Kerrville, one of my favorite places, to see John and Sheryl.  Michael and Georgia visited the Wildseed Farms east of Fredericksburg where they grow seeds for wildflowers (well DUH!!).  Georgia's shoulder continues to heal very slowly.  We then headed to north Texas for a much too short visit.  Only got a chance to see a small fraction of Michael and Georgia's friends but we did the most important thing, we visited Bob and Donna at Tenderland Farms, my birthplace.  We then traveled to Abilene, Texas to see our friend Ron and Sparky.  Sparky and I enjoy spending time together.  You may recall that Sparky is a Pug that I have known most of his life.

Then off to Colorado.  We traveled up through Lubbock, Happy, Amarillo and Dumas, Texas. through Boise City, Oklahoma and on into eastern Colorado.  We visited Lamar, CO on the way to Golden and boy was it windy.  I like Colorado, it is cooler than Texas and you know how I hate hot weather.  I get to see Holly, a Golden Retriever, every day.  You know, I sure hope they didn't name Golden, Colorado for Golden Retrievers.  That would be so unfair.  Is there an Irish, Colorado?  I don't think so, although there is an Irish Mountain in Oregon.  Don't you feel smarter now?  Since we have a dear friend that attended Colorado School of Mines, I sent Michael out to take some photos to share with all of you.  I got to play with Taxi in Castle Rock.  I had a new experience in Colorado Springs.  I was taken to a car wash.  Actually, it was Smudge Car and Dog Wash.  They have two pickup beds inside that have been converted  to bath dogs.  Michael bathed me and it wasn't bad but I rarely like water.  What a let down, I got a bath and Michael and Georgia when to the Royal Gorge, Air Force Academy, and Garden of the Gods. 

Then it was off New Mexico.  We saw churches, OLD churches, and Los Alamos.  I didn't get to go to the Bradbury Science Museum but I liked the photos Michael took.  South of Albuquerque we visited the Very Large Array.  This is a set of 27 satellite dishes used by Radio Astronomers.  Each dish is 82' in diameter.  That's even bigger than I am.  I was glad to get down to lower altitudes as we headed to Tucson.  In Tucson, we attended the DataStormUsers Rally.  I thought it was great because I had Holly to play with staying next door.  Then back to Kerrville.  We attended Melissa and Lance's baby shower.  I got to meet and greet the guests and I know they enjoyed that. 

In December, Melissa decided that baby Brandon needed to visit everyone in person so off we went to Austin.  We spent about a week in Austin so Michael and Georgia could get to hold their first grandchild.  I think they liked that as much as being with me.  I know that is hard to believe.  Then back to Yuma for New Years.  We certainly had an eventful 2007, especially with the birth of Brandon and we are looking forward to a wonderful 2008.

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Photos of my travels

States I Have Visited - 31
Canadian Provinces I Have Visited - 1
Total Miles Traveled - 81,409