[Jim-n-Kathy]

Hello RV friends,
First of all a big Jim-n-Kathy apology for me [Jim] taking so long to send you the final chapter on us bringing our Monty home from Chicago. I know several of you were reading about our adventure and we really appreciated your interest [and help]. We finally arrived home [Folsom, CA] after approximately 22 days. It was our first ever time to own, tow and enjoy a 5th wheel. The trip proved be such fun [and we learned so much from ya'll MOC folks-thank you. And of course some of the daily experiences were diamonds and others were stones. In the diamonds category we had never camped in such luxury prior to owning a Montana. Having everything at our finger tips was so cool. Having everything work like magic was even cooler. One evening in Williams, Az the temp got down to 24F. Our water hose froze solid [I learned what not to do from that experience]. But we stayed as warm as a bug in a rug!. After thawing out the hose with Kathy's hairdryer the next morn- a hot shower fixed us right up.
We towed our new baby through the Petrified forest and that was another diamond day. Somewhere around Clinton, OK [I-40] an incredible 55 MPH headwind came about and stayed with us all the way to Flagstaff, AZ [big stone days]. It lasted for 2-3 days and was so stresful and taxing. In hindsight maybe we should have waited it out. But we didn't so the Duramax flexed it muscles and really earned it's keep for about 750 miles. It did a super job, but sure was thirsty [8 MPH during the wind versus 12 on calmer flatter travel days]. We took 1 day off and camped in the Ozarks. That was great too [even when I nearly sat on a big brown snake-almost another stone]. The entire trip took us 6900 miles [2700 of that was dead-heading as we drove to Chicago to pick up the Monty]. All-in-all the 4 of us [Kathy, me, Sami the Lab and our new friend Monty] returned home safe, a bit road weary, a bit disapointed with diesel prices but still pretty "happy campers".
So what's next? Well, since returning home I moved up the pin box to the upper holes to prevent any more ouches to the PU bed rails. And, I installed an outside propane quick disconnect for our barbeque grill. Oh yeah, had to move the steps up a bit to avoid damage. My neighbor Ken, [Montana owner] walked me through the how-to's of that modification. And yes, the steps did kiss the concrete first [ya had to know I needed some form of motivation!].
So with all that done-we [and Mr.Monty & Mr DDA] are itching to hit the road again. We're planning a few days out in the wild [a bit closer to home this time] in early June.
We sure would welcome any destination sugestions in Northern CA or near area. We are hoping to find an area that is rustic and woodsy with plenty of hiking and recreation/near water [definately not in or close to town] [we used to tent camp in state parks and are hoping to find some close likeness] We love Hook-ups but can live without them [trade off for great wilderness scenery]. If anyone has recommendations-thank you.
take care,
Jim-n-Kathy