Tom and Karen Duncan

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We became full-time RV'ers when I retired March 1, 2006. We started on the East coast of the U.S. and arrived on the West coast in 2009. We are traveling the U.S. to sights we've never seen before! Adventure-bound to National Parks. and beaches with stop-offs to visit friends and family.



Travel Blog Posts


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April 18th 2013

We begin our journey north to Cottonwood, Arizona. The landscape is painted with desert flowers. We're at one of our favorite Thousand Trails RV resorts. As often as we've been here we still find new places to visit. The Chapel of the Holy Cross was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. It is a Catholic church; however it welcomes visitors of all faiths. Built into the red rock landscape of Sedona, visiting it is a very spiritual experience. While taking the short hike to the entrance we saw a rock climber way up high on the face of adjoining rocks. I bet the view from the top is outstanding! It is good to meet up with old friends. Happy to see our friend Kat, who has rebounded after losing her husband. A bonus for us are her ... read more



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February 22nd 2013

We are enjoying the sunshine this winter in Arizona. It's nice to be off the road for a few months. We've made new friends and are helping to get pickleball established at Casa Grande RV Resort. The resort has a teacher, Tony, come in once a week. However, since none of the snowbirds here are "Thousand Trails members," the sport is new to most of them. A friendly crowd and I am so happy Tom is playing just about every day. Me? I continue to work hard NOT to make PB the center of my universe. I definitely drank the Pickelball Kool-aid. Many of our new friends are leaving soon so we had a PB tournament to cap off the winter. So fun. The tournament started at 9:30 in the morning and about 6 pm we ... read more



Desert Rats!

Published: December 26th 2012North America » United States » Arizona » Ehrenberg
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December 18th 2012

We stopped at Coach Care in Phoenix to get the motorcoach's annual service. We found ourselves in the middle of an eight-lane interstate with semis merging left and right. Sandwiched inbetween, we got side-swipped twice. Our first (and hopefully last) traffic event. Even though our passenger side-view mirror was hit, in Tom's words, "We're still alive!." Thank you Lord. Since that didn't kill us I mapped us to Ehrenberg and reserved a Kawasaki ATV for a day of play. Steve Berns, the General Manager at River Breeze RV Resort graciously offered to show us his desert. Now the cost of this was very reasonable even BEFORE Steve offered to come. He really knows this part of the desert and showed us a thrilling afternoon. Reminicsent of ATVing with our friend Kat at Verde Valley Thousand Trails, ... read more



The Western Frontier

Published: November 23rd 2012North America » United States » Texas » Pecos
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November 20th 2012

The cartoons of yesteryear included one called “Pecos Bill.” While in Pecos, Texas we visited the museum and found out there really was a Pecos Bill cowboy. There was also a Tom Duncan! (I’ve included a picture from 1869. You can judge if there is a resemblance.) The town of Pecos was once a thriving cantaloupe farming area but today is almost a ghost town, except for the oil roughnecks. We stayed at an Escapee RV park with very few of us Escapees and almost all oil contractors. Taking our time traveling west after a 7,000 mile summer it feels good to just camp-out for a while. We took a day to visit Fort Davis, elevation 4,900’. The mountain pass is called "Wild Rose Pass." Settlers took it to avoid the flooding which occurred periodically on ... read more



Steer Thru' Texas

Published: November 8th 2012North America » United States » Texas » Dallas
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November 6th 2012

They say once you're out of Texas, you are half way to where you are going...........so we are almost there. We've seen more oil pumps, cottonfields, windmills and long-horn cattle than in any of our travels. We had a wonderful visit with Tom's son, Mike and our daughter-in-law, Donna. No surprise that Mike enjoys the smokin'/grillin' thing like his Dad. He grilled a wonderful dinner for us in his "Green Egg." Tom would go buy one, for sure, if we could travel with it. We spent the weekend doing what many families do-- FOOTBALL! Amazing to find all four of us loving football! I have a picture of the campground we stayed at in Dallas below. Let's just say it isn't our usual venue. It will take us three more weeks to get out of Texas. ... read more



Missouri and Oklahoma

Published: October 1st 2012North America » United States » Oklahoma » Grove
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September 28th 2012

Not all of our travels are the glamorous types. We are also living out here. I mention this because we bought new tank monitors at the FMCA rally and planned on having them installed there. However, bad weather was headed that way and the installer had more business than time so we arranged to meet him in Sadalia, Missouri where an Escapee Rally was scheduled. (Escapees is a full-timer RV club. We belong to them but did not go to their rally.) As many of you have heard me say, this motorcoach is like a trophy wife. She did not disappoint me. The installation took 4-1/2 hours because our floor plan is not typical.$$…ching ching. We scheduled an appointment at Camping Word near Springfield, MO. The appointment was to troubleshoot the new Roadmaster auxilary brake we ... read more



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August 29th 2012

Our trip was really from the ridiculous to the sublime but I felt quoting Napoleon should be accurate....so first we camped in Illinois at Corps of Engineer Parks (ridiculous) and then off to Indianapolis for a Family Motor Coach Rally (sublime) of more than 2,000 coaches. We found some beautiful COE parks in Illinois to spend time in while waiting for the FMCA rally. Obama had spent wheel barrels of money to upgrade the parks. Electric was upgraded to 50 amp, which our coach appreciates. In two parks a 5,000 sq ft Visitors Center was erected which made the one (yes, one) ranger on duty quite comfortable. Oh, they also put in aquariums. So as seniors we can camp at $12 a night with full hookups. Thank ya'll for your stimulus tax money! Pheuuu! Hissy fit ... read more



DRY Kentucky

Published: July 30th 2012North America » United States » Kentucky » Bowling Green
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July 23rd 2012

Leaving Gettysburg we stopped a few days at a West Virginia State Park. We enjoyed shady walks which masked the 100 degree weather and high humidy. Intending to stay 3 weeks at Thousand Trails in Wilmington, Ohio, hail storms and low-voltage in the park chased us out of Ohio the next morning. We wanted to visit family in NE Ohio but will have to save that for a differnt year. We found a Corps of Engineers Park outside of Louisville, Ky, set up camp, and planned for a quiet respite until our daughters in Bowling Green could spare some time for us old foggies. The Wax Campground was quite isolated. We found out the closest grocery store was 50 miles, AND we were in a three-county dry (as in no wine) area! The two-week stay was ... read more



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July 6th 2012

We stayed in a wonderful, albeit busy, Gettysburg Battlefield Campground. It was just 3 miles from the battlefield. 50 amps and the satellite TV worked. Although it was as hot as everywhere else, shade trees kept us comfortable. We bought the auto tour CDs and took our time exploring. I had just read Scharra’s Killer Angelsand felt up to the challenge of Tom’s historical acumen. We toured on the 149th anniversary of the battle. It was like visiting a 25-square mile graveyard. Certainly the National Cemetery was impressive—officers and non-coms buried shoulder to shoulder with no distinction of rank. They were all heroes that day. To us it seemed that this was a testimony to what bad leadership results in. General Robert E. Lee insisted on rushing the high ground and running his soldiers through an ... read more



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June 22nd 2012

We couldn't head up the coast without stopping in the Carolinas. We initially stayed at the KOA (Exit 88, Gold Hill Road) so I would be near the medical facilities for a routine procedure which doesn't bare mentioning. Princess was at the height of flu-type symtons (in peoples terms) along with her dementia. On to more pleasurable topics. One of the highlights of our stay for me was a visit to Continental the Americas, formerly Continetal Tire, formerly General Tire. My working days revisited, except they are in a modern, new building in Fort Mill, SC. Since I retired 6 years ago I was just expecting two or three friends to say "Hi" to. Joannie blocked out part of her morning to give me a tour of Customer Service. She replaced me as the Manager and ... read more






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