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After years of experimentation and planning, BPC has hit the road. On Friday, May 17, 2002, we relocated the Bartlett’s Peak home office—in fact, the whole Bruce/Bartlett home—into a 39' fifth-wheel travel trailer, pulled behind a new medium-duty truck customized for full-time living on the road. Check back here for occasional progress reports as we travel the country in a state-of-the-art mobile office!

September 22, 2003 Independence, MO
Spent a great weekend in the Kansas City area. The Renaissance Fair was in town, so we took in the sights. Then we had a barbeque with my sisters in Lawrence on Sunday. Plans have changed again--we'll stay in the Midwest until after the holidays, since I'll have a Kansas City meeting in January.

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Susan, Cory and Samantha (a little girl whose mother DIDN'T want to ride an elephant) mount up at the KC Renaissance Festival.

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And no, I wasn't CHICKEN--but I had the camera! And isn't Susan looking great? She's lost 70 pounds since the first of the year!

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Sister Gwen in the dining room of her beautiful new house in Lawrence.

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The Lawrence, Kansas Aussie pack--from left, that's Zachary, Autumn, Maddie and Sky Valentine. (There's nothing wrong with Autumn's eye--the camera just caught her in a blink.)

September 6, 2003 Tinley Park, IL
Back in the Chicago area for a short visit with family and friends before we head to the Southwest for the winter. We plan to rendezvous in Tucson in October with some fellow RVers, one of whom happens to be Cory's cousin. Haven't picked our route yet, but we'll go by way of the Kansas City area, since I now have two sisters in that area!

September 3, 2003 Mackinack Bridge, MI
Today was a beautiful day to be driving through the Upper Peninsula. Traffic was quiet...and so were my passengers.

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Here's how the big bridge looked from inside the B.A.T.

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The road was familiar, so my navigator went off duty.

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Ever wondered how three dogs fit in the backseat of the B.A.T.? They get a little cozy.

August 15, 2003 Sault Ste Marie, Michigan
Well, we've done it. For several years now, we've spent several weeks each summer here in the Sault, shopping for a house that would eventually be our home base when we're ready to stop traveling full-time. This summer was no different...except that we finally found one. Much of July was spent waiting to close, and August will be fully devoted to readying the house for occupancy by a renter. We plan to rent the house until we're ready to make the transition from full-time RVers to snowbirds, which we expect will be at least two to three years away. We won't be spending winters here in the U.P. until our health or finances make it impossible to escape!

So our plans to visit the eastern seaboard this summer have been postponed. We've lots of time, after all.

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The front view of our new home--the house faces south, the best direction when the Canadian border is only a mile to the north.

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The house sits on a double lot, so the yard is HUGE! This view is taken from just inside the northeast corner of our back fence. The screenhouse is 14x14 inside, screened all around and glassed on every wall but the south (facing the sliding patio door off the family room). It's also wired and has a light and ceiling fan. It will be the perfect spot to host summer barbeques.

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Primary requirement--there must be room for the 5er! As you can see, we stayed quite comfortably in the front drive (after one of Cory's cousins came out and added a 50amp plug outside the garage for us--until then, it was HOT without A/C.) The silo-like structure to the right is the original Sault Ste. Marie water tower, constructed in the 1860s, and behind the trailer you can just see the spire and roof of the Seventh Day Adventist church, which owns the empty land to the east of our house.

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The family room was our biggest project--the only wall that wasn't wood paneled was papered...badly. We tried to strip and paint, but finally gave up and paneled it with this striped wallboard. Turned out nicely...

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The kitchen is very large. The electric range will eventually have to be swapped out for gas, and we'd like to find a way to lighten the dark color of the cabinets (without painting--they're oak), but the layout is convenient and there is plenty of room for ALL Cory's appliances and gadgets. At the far right end is a closet that contains the washer/dryer.

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The dining room is small, but we've never had one before, so we love it! At the left is a built-in computer hutch--handy for the high-tech cook!

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The living room is large and well lighted. Note the built-in bookcase near the hallway and the ceramic tiles at the entry.

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The smallest of the three bedrooms took up a good bit of our rehab time. The closet needed to be stripped of shelving, repainted, and a rod rehung. And these built-in cabinets were looking a bit sad. This is the BEFORE...

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And this is the AFTER!

June 16, 2003 Sycamore, Illinois
Oursemi-annual trip to "home base" has been a busy one, so far. We've had lots of appointments to keep (doctor, dentist, lab, service on the 5er, etc.) and, of course, lots of friends and family to visit. Even though our stay has been a little longer than first planned, we're still having trouble getting everything done. Tonight, we're hoping Shano will be able to visit his aunt Jo and get a haircut...he's looking WAY too shaggy to take to the North Woods!

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We had Cory's nephews for a week, and naturally, we went to the water park. Ask Cory how she enjoyed the ride!

May 17, 2003 Grain Valley, Missouri
Our one-year anniversary of hitting the road passed quietly and almost without notice. We were in the Kansas City area, visiting with sister Susan as her work schedule permitted.

We remarked on the 15th that the anniversary was coming, then on the 19th that it had passed...and both agreed that it hardly feels like we've been traveling for a full year.We're still having a great time, still looking forward to the next destination, still making notes on the things we didn't see or do in every area so we can see and do them "when we come back." And there are so many places we want to go back to...

Archives--click here to read about our earlier adventures

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