Jeff and Jan Towne
45 Countries, 49 states and still counting. jeffjant
The photo to the left, with Jan holding a Koala, was taken at a wild animal park in Kuranda, near Cairns Australia.
We are Jeff and Jan Towne of Colorado Springs, Colorado . We have been traveling since we got married 45 years ago. We were both born and raised in Quincy MA. I graduated from Northeastern University in Boston in Electrical Engineering. In 1969, I got into computer programming and stayed with it until I retired. We moved from Boston to Colorado in 1970. In 1978, we moved to Heidelberg Germany. In 1986, we moved to Huntington Beach CA. In 1993, we moved back to Germany and lived 2 years in Augsburg and 2 years in Mainz. In 1997, we returned to Costa Mesa CA. In 1999, I retired early and we moved back to Colorado.
We have three sons, in LA, Cleveland and Spokane.
In the US, we travel in a 1999 Bounder 35 foot motorhome, but we also fly often to see the grandkids We have visited 49 states and so far we have avoided Iowa, because has never been on our route.
We visited most of the countries while living in Germany for 12 years.
Jeffreytowne.com is loaded with family photos and photos from all of our trips.
I have a personal web page: www.JeffreyTowne.com
I have a business web page: www.JeffscomputerServiceCS.com
Travel Blog Posts
February 21st 2011
The rain on Thursday and Friday caused the river to overflow and the campground flooded. This is not an uncommon event here. There is a natural sandbar that blocks the river. It is against the law to break the sandbar and only Mother Nature can do that. Friday afternoon the marsh was flooded. About 9 am, one of our host neighbors knocked on our door. He had already closed up his fifth wheel and his site was under about 6 inches of water. A few minutes later I went with Mike another host in his cart to survey the situation. The road was clear, but there was a lot of water in the campground. About 1 hour later we got the word to evacuate. The water was about 100 feet from our site, which is one ... read more
McGrath State Beach Jan-Apr 2011
Published: January 10th 2011North America » United States » California » Oxnard
January 10th 2011
Onward to McGrath State Beach, Oxnard CA -Day 3 We made it. The third day we drove from Kingman AZ to Oxnard. We got the beach at about 2 pm. The motorhome ran great the whole trip. We had sunshine and mild temperatures the whole trip. The park had been closed due to flooding, but we were able to go directly to our site. There were still areas that are flooded. If there is another large rain storm we may have to evacuate to a day use park in downtown Ventura. Gas is about $3.40 per gallon. We saw one gas station in the desert for $3.70 per gallon. We filled the motorhome tank for $208. I guess gas prices are predicted to only go up. Today, Sunday we drove to have Christmas with our Granddaughters ... read more
McGrath State Beach Jan-Apr 2011
Published: January 5th 2011North America » United States » California » Oxnard
January 5th 2011
Onward to McGrath State Beach, Oxnard CA This is the beginning blog for our three month stay at McGrath State Beach in Oxnard CA. Last year we were camp ground hosts at San Eliso State Beach in Cardiff By The Sea, about 30 miles north of San Diego. We had been scheduled to be hosts this year at San Eliso State Beach, but the ranger in charge decide to put another volunteer in charge of host scheduling. We were supposed to be hosts in January and February of 2011. In October we discovered that the new host coordinator had canceled us for 2011. I guess he had friends that wanted our time. Oh Well! I then got back on the internet and got contacts for all of the state beaches in southern California. I was contacted ... read more
Merry Christmas from Northern Washington
Published: December 25th 2010North America » United States » Washington » Colville
December 25th 2010
I am restarting my travel blog, because we will be traveling from now until mid April. If you do not wish to get updates when I update my blog, send me an email and I will remove your name from my contact list. We left home last 2 days ago (Wednesday). We took a 7:30 am flight to Denver and then on to Spokane. We were lucky, because at noon on Wednesday, a small plane crashed at the Colorado Springs Airport, killing its 2 occupants and the airport was shutdown for over 2 hours. Those with connections through Denver were bussed to DIA. We have been having a strange winter. We have had more 50 degree days than below freezing days. We have had 2 very small snowstorms with maybe 1” total for the 2 storms. ... read more
July 2nd 2010
I wanted to post a final entry on the Bermuda trip. Pre planning Costs: Flights: $20 Used United Airlines frequent flyer miles Hotel: $75 at Newark airport (typical rooms are $250) Cruise: $500, amount saved by trading a Timeshare week Trip: Took a voluntary bump from Colorado Springs and got $800 in free United Airlines Tickets. Had perfect weather the entire cruise. It was about 72 degrees and sunny. Had a motor scooter accident and got a sprained ankle. The sprain force me to relax for the remainder of the cruise which pleased Jan immensely. Because of my bad knee, I had packed a cane and lots of Percocet, which made the remainder of the trip much better. Post Trip: Used the $800 in United Airlines Coupons to buy ticket so Spokane for Christmas. Total cost ... read more
June 7th 2010
This is my second and final blog entry, because the first access to internet on the ship cost me almost $20. I don't need internet access that much. When you read this, we are home The second day, Monday, of the cruise was at sea and a quiet day. The third day, Tuesday, the ship anchored off shore near the town of St. George. We had to take a 30 minute ferry ride to the island. We decide to rent motor scooters for the day and tour the island. Bermuda is a string of many islands with bridges connecting the inhabited islands. We were almost to the other end, when it happened!! I came around a corner and there was a car stopped in the road. I don't remember exactly what happened but the next moment, ... read more
Getting there IS not necessarily half the fun.
Published: May 31st 2010North America » Bermuda » Saint George
May 31st 2010
We are now on the ship heading to Bermuda. On Saturday we flew to Newark. We had a 11:30am flight from Colorado Springs to Chicago. The flight, which was full, loaded on time but then the fun began. The captain, who should be fired, announced that the plane was overweight and 8 people would have to get off before we could take off. In Colorado it is common for flights to be weight restricted, because of the heat and altitude. It was supposed to be 90 that day. The weight problem should have been calculated before we loaded the plane. The poor gate attendant was now responsible to get 8 people off in a very short time. I got off with my papers along with a few others. I needed to get to Newark, a major ... read more
May 5th 2010
We left the beach on May 1st. We stopped 2 nights in Las Vegas. We had not been there in about 6 years. We spent the first night watching the overhead rock music presentation on Fremont Street. We looked at the new casinos from the car windows and spent the afternoon in the Bellagio with friends, Jean Merritt and Deb Clayton, breaking even on the gambling ($30) and seeing the amazing Conservatory and its spring flower display. In spite of the all of the over the top garishness, there are pockets of beauty. The best part of the Las Vegas visit was seeing the new bridge over Hoover Dam. If you have ever seen the dam, the road to the dam is winding, steep and 2 lanes. There is a new road and amazing bridge over ... read more
April 21st 2010
We have one more week at the beach. Two months has gone by fast. We have checked out the other beach parks and have decided that this is the best park to host at. So unless something changes, we will be back here next February and March. The only down side is the $1000 in gas to drive the motorhome here and back. Last week we became real tourists. We drove 16 miles north and took the San Diego commuter train from Oceanside to San Diego. It is a one hour trip and is right on the beach and winds through a beautiful canyon just outside of San Diego. We had a great lunch at a Greek restaurant and then took the train back. It cost $6.50 round trip for seniors. There is a large wetlands, ... read more
April 3rd 2010
We started our second month on Thursday 4/1. The first month was really great. Some warm days and some rain, but NO SNOW. Here are some of the sneaky things that the campers have done. In the morning shift we work from 6 am to 1 pm. Our first task is to check for vehicles that came in the night before and didn't pay. About 1/3 of the sites have full hookups. Today we found 2 sites running long extension cords to the next site that had hookups but no occupant. We wrote them up and unplugged them. We went back about 1 hour later and they had plugged in again. I was told by the head Ranger that they can be ticketed for theft of government property. It seems that all fines are $68. If ... read more
jeffjant
| Joined | December 4th 2009 | Trips | 8 |
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Our Great Adventure Continues
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Trips
Russia Easter Week 1984
April 20th 1985 -» April 30th 1985
Australia & New Zealand
November 1st 2008 -» December 16th 2008
Cape Cod, Boston, Maine, Cleveland
May 10th 2009 -» May 30th 2009
Olympic National Park and Vicinity
August 15th 2009 -» September 15th 2009
San Elijo State Beach, San Diego CA
March 1st 2010 -» April 30th 2010
Bermuda Cruise
May 29th 2010 -» June 6th 2010
McGrath State Beach Jan-Apr 2011
January 1st 2011 -» March 31st 2011
McGrath State Beach Jan-Apr 2011
January 1st 2011 -» March 31st 2011
April 20th 1985 -» April 30th 1985
Australia & New Zealand
November 1st 2008 -» December 16th 2008
Cape Cod, Boston, Maine, Cleveland
May 10th 2009 -» May 30th 2009
Olympic National Park and Vicinity
August 15th 2009 -» September 15th 2009
San Elijo State Beach, San Diego CA
March 1st 2010 -» April 30th 2010
Bermuda Cruise
May 29th 2010 -» June 6th 2010
McGrath State Beach Jan-Apr 2011
January 1st 2011 -» March 31st 2011
McGrath State Beach Jan-Apr 2011
January 1st 2011 -» March 31st 2011
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