01/09/2016

Oh my my my….


We had planned on writing a fun and exciting blog about our safe and relatively uneventful trip from Virginia to Florida. Sort of like our blogging friend, Ingrid’s post. But, “oh my my my,” to quote our favorite detective, Lt. Joe Kenda!

Love the rural nature of this campground
Departure from Hidden Acres Campground
Hitched and ready to roll

It was just one of those journeys. We were fleeing the cold of Virginia, heading south to Florida to start our winter wanderings. Our destination was 858 miles (1380.82 kilometers), or a little over 13 hours if you drove the speed limit and made no stops (in a car, not a motor home 😁). We decided to stop overnight at two campgrounds on the way. While we needed to get to Florida to help my mom, we were also in a hurry to get to warmer weather.


But we will not travel foolishly and we always hope take little time enjoy the journey. First stop was Florence, South Carolina, which is a tad farther than we prefer at about 337 miles (542.349 km). The second stop was in St. Mary’s, Georgia, approximately 263 miles (423.257 km) and our final leg to Avon Park, Florida at just over 260 miles (418.429 km). As most full-time RVers will say, we prefer to only go 150-250 miles a day. Periodically, we make an exception. And every morning, we do have prayer time and ask for travel mercies on our journey (along with a few other requests)! So here is how the trip went:

Monday, January 4 We are starting 2016 with our RV odometer at 24,633 and our car at 38,837. (As an aside, we bought both in May 2015. Both are used. The RV reading was 21,958 and our car was 23,000. So in seven months, it’s easy to see we’ve about gone 2,675 miles in the RV and 15,837 in the car, which included a trip to Illinois and back to Sebring without the RV.)

Remembering we only bought the RV seven months ago, not driving it or tearing it down the six weeks we were in Virginia meant we were a bit rusty.  Thankfully, on January 1, we had a “shake down” trip. We had to drive it to “The Tire Shop” at a Flying J Travel Center in Ruther Glen, VA. It was not too far away and we had to figure out why one tire was going flat. It was a valve stem issue. They also checked the air pressure on all tires, inflating them evenly at 110 pounds and confirmed all looked fine. In fact, every time we have it in for service, we ask for opinions on the tires since they were five years old. We also decided to get weighed on the CAT scales. We actually weighed less than the original owner, who only used it for recreation. These scales don’t weigh each axle, so that is something we hope to do in the future at one of the rally’s where it is offered.

This “dry” run to the tire store helped our confidence on starting the journey and tearing down camp. Now we just had to remember how to hook the car up. Note: it was very cold at 34 degrees as we were hooking it up. We realized we were leaving just in time as it had been a mild winter up until this week and was to get down to 16 that night. We just had weather in the low 70s.

Long story short, Bill was behind the RV waiting for me to pull the car up. I drove as close to him as he directed me – for the tow arms to reach the car. I was waiting for him to tell me to pull closer or back up a bit. It looked like it was ready for him to hook it up. So I jumped into the passenger seat to do something. But not realizing I was on a slight decline, I put the car in neutral (that’s how we get it ready to “flat tow.” Can you guess what happened next? The car began to roll into Bill! Poor guy thinks I am driving it into him (my my my)…and then he sees me jump out from the passenger’s seat to the driver’s seat to put the brakes on! Not a good start to our journey. Was this a sign of things to come?

We arrived at the Swamp Fox Campground in Florence, SC in about five hours and 40 minutes! Hardly any traffic, so an uneventful trip so far.  The weather was much colder than we had hoped for, but we were ready. We now have a heater hose attached to our water hose in freezing weather and we took other precautions for a possible freeze.  We didn’t unhook the car, which is a real time saver.  We were both exhausted and it was just too muddy and cold out to take a walk. That is never good for me, Debbie. I need my daily walks!

Tuesday, January 5 The next morning, as we broke down camp, we started the car to warm up for at least 5 minutes as the directions say.  And off we went. We are really praising God as we moved down the road as the traffic was minimal both days. And what a surprise, it was still so cold! And sadly, we had agreed to accept a 30 amp site as we didn’t think it would be so cold. That means we have to watch running too many things at the same time, like an electric heater, Keurig and toaster!

Driving around Jacksonville
Interstate 4, before the road construction

Since we stayed two nights, Bill unhooked the car at the office check-in area. And guess what, the car battery was dead! Not to name names, but  the person who started the car said he had trouble turning it off. It’s a keyless start ignition….AND we always turn everything OFF whenever we stop it, radio, heater/ac, whatever. Once he got it charged up (which turned out to not be an easy task as there was no 110 power close by for his battery charger), the wipers and radio were both on! Strange…

So we begin setting up. We needed to run an electric heater as we began carefully preparing dinner. We then ate and took  a walk! Soon after coming back inside, the circuit blew. We thought we misjudged the amperage. We began using more caution as we proceeded to move around inside.  Then the circuit blew again. Bill went outside only to learn the entire camp was dark. There was a campground wide problem, but we all were told it would be fixed within the hour. Brrrr, it was so cold and we were grateful we could run our generator. And in an hour, all power was restored and off to sleep we went.

Wednesday, January 6 Our day off from traveling. Bill lived in Jacksonville, Florida before we were married. He loved Florida, after relocating from Pennsylvania for the warm weather. He has many fond memories there, so whenever we get the chance to stop there, we do. So our plan was to go have lunch at the Metro Diner, visited by Guy  Fieri. Bill saw that show and knew he had to try it. We visited it soon after. We had to go back….well, he had to go back. We are not foodies but I am less than he is….and he is on the hunt for the world’s best hamburger. He didn’t try one the last time there, so this time, he did. His opinion?  He said if only the bun had been grilled, otherwise, one of the best ever.

Campground logo, owned by an Australian!
Part of the mile walk out to the gazebo
View back towards the campground
Water is so peaceful!
Flavor of Australia!
More Australian!

Sadly, the weather was not conducive for a walk on the beach at Little Talbot Island. We have walked on it when it was cold and when it was windy. We just weren’t in the mood to do it again on this day. So we searched for a place inland, with no success. We did know we could get a decent walk in around the campground, so we returned home and took a good walk. We just ran out of daylight! So this was a relatively mild day with a great meal out. And there was time to hook the car up, so it would be ready for the morning.

Thursday, January 7 The weather wasn’t bad, so we managed to start off without incident. We ran the car and were careful to warm it up, put it in neutral and turn it off properly. Traffic was not bad again. Since we had driven to Jacksonville the day before, we knew the better route to take to avoid construction. We hate traveling exclusively on interstates, but to make time, we had to on this journey south. We have traveled on I-4, around Orlando, many times. We knew we had to be on it in midday to avoid any type of “rush hour.” We did pretty well, but the road construction seemed extra annoying this time. The road was so torn up with “detours” around patch work. And going 60 mph while not getting blown off the highway by the big rig trucks who manage to go much faster!

They day was still very overcast but we were starting to feel warmer. We had worn our winter coats at the last rest stop. We made it off I-4 and onto US Highway 27/98 for the last leg of the journey. The sun actually started to burn off the clouds. We are actually “cruising,” just enjoying how smooth the actual driving was going. No real traffic issues!  I’m on social media and posted this picture, saying how great the trip was going:

Finally, seeing some sunshine!
And the weather report was encouraging.

And then it happened:  BANG! Bill hollers, “what happened?” Then, “I can hardly keep the RV on the road!” And I’m praying out loud, ‘Lord, help us!” My ears are ringing, it sounded like a shotgun went off right at my head.  Oh my my my….

Blow out!

Our tire….Blow out!

Bill was driving 60 mph on this north/south rural highway which is heavily traveled by tractor trailers. But they seem to come in groups. We were approaching an overpass and by now we realize a tire blew. I am so serious, we need divine intervention as Bill is hanging on to the steering wheel for dear life.  There is nowhere to safely to pull off the road – if he could even pull off and the fear of stopping right over a blind spot is terrifying.  But over the overpass we go and he’s still on the road. And miraculously, there is a turn lane!

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Let us count the miracles this day: This happened on an open stretch of road. The traffic seemed to clear off the road for us. Bill kept the rig on the road. We didn’t fall off the overpass. We weren’t on I-4 or I-95 for that matter! A professional driver on his day off saw us and came to offer assistance. He checked our rig over and said we only needed a new tire. We should be good to go – at least to our destination which was about 20 miles away. The damage was minor. The weather was beautiful!

I had read Genesis chapters 22-24 on this morning. One story really stuck with me, about Abraham when the Lord told him he would have to sacrifice his son, Isaac. The Lord was really just testing him to see if he would obey him completely. When the Lord stopped him at the last minute and provided a ram, “Abraham bowed down and worshiped the Lord.” And this scenario was repeated. Every time the Lord answered his prayers, Abraham bowed down and worshiped the Lord. That was about all we could do….

For tips on how to handle a blowout, check out this site which has links to a few videos:

http://www.safe-t-plus.com/tire-blowouts-myths-truths/

PS  Our car looked fine after the incident. The next morning when we came out to get in it, the windshield was cracked!

Anyone else every live through a blowout? I actually had one in a van.  That was an interesting story, but later….

01/06/2016

2015 TumbleLees Blogging in Review


I saw another blogger, Christina, share her report and liked the idea! What I plan to do is focus on my most active commenters and encouragers to thank them and give them a shout out! The rest of the report is below and it is a bit interesting.

Vibrant – I just wrote about Anand on my personal blog, so won’t repeat…just visit that blog to see how this amazing man from India and I connected!
placestheygo – Pam and John, two retired teachers living the full-time RV dream, traveling, hiking and enjoying life to the fullest!
Wandering Dawgs – This couple calls themselves life-long Bull Dog fans! They don’t travel in their RV full time, but they sure have a lifetime of great traveling they have done!
Ingrid – She and her husband are also full-time RVers, living the full-time RV dream! Ingrid also has a personal blog with cooking tips and healthy recipes and she is one amazing photographer. They enjoy hiking as much as we do, too!
littlenuggetbignugget – this sweet mom, Jasmin, captured me as she counted down to the birth of her second little nugget! She caught my attention as I watched my own daughter doing the same.

___________________

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2015 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 4,300 times in 2015. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 4 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

01/05/2016

2015 Year End Summary Review


boomerang

Boomerang

We haven’t been as good at blogging in the second half of this year. At least we can catch up with a review of our year. The main thing we’ve learned is that we probably misnamed ourselves, The TumbleLees. Perhaps the Boom-a-Rangers would have been better!

We had high hopes of visiting many more places and states by now. Instead, we have re-visited some of our favorite places. Much of our travel this year included trips to help family, especially to our daughter’s home to help welcome to the world our second grandson in August 2015; selling our first RV and buying our second one in May 2015; and, exploring many state parks in Florida. In spite of not traveling to more states, we have had a GREAT year.

Here are some of our stats:

In 2015, we slept in an RV 331 nights (several family visits for a total of  34 nights away from our RV) for a total of 697 nights in a camper since we started in September 2013.  We moved in and out of 31 campgrounds in 2015 with a total of 70 since we started. We hit a glitch in keeping up with the mileage as our truck was wrecked and we didn’t get that mileage before it was turned over to the insurance company as a total loss. Wow, that sure doesn’t happen every year – but it was very timely as we had just sold the 5th wheel it towed. We can guesstimate we drove the truck 10,000 miles between Jan and May 2015. We know we towed our 5th wheel a total of 12,000 miles from September 2013 to May 2015.

Our biggest hike ever, 9 miles in Callaway Gardens, Georgia

Our biggest hike ever, 9 miles in Callaway Gardens, Georgia

If you know us, you know we love to hike! But we haven’t been very good at keeping a written journal of our hikes. But I do use the Map My Walk (or hike) app. While it didn’t work for every hike (either battery went dead or we were in an area without any cell phone towers), it calculated we hiked or walked on at least 220 occasions, for at least 608 miles in 10,686 minutes! Sure wish I had kept the stats of our hikes for the past 12 years. ;-{

Our 28' Keystone Cougar XLite 5th wheel and F-150 Ecoboost Ford Truck.

Our 28′ Keystone Cougar XLite 5th wheel and F-150 Ecoboost Ford Truck.

The first half of the year was pretty wild as traveled and we tried to sell our 5th wheel to upgrade to a motorhome on our own. Whew, that was a real chore, but it all worked out perfectly. The full details are here and here. Traveling in our 5th wheel, from January to May, we visited 20 private RV campgrounds/resorts, one KOA, and 8 State Parks (in Florida). Of these, seven were repeat stays. We learned we love camping in state and county parks as this was the first year we managed to do so. We also figured out there are some state parks with sites to fit a 40′ motorhome.  County parks may be a different story as we have learned. You can’t accept the word of the person who answers the phone…..

We bought our Class A motor home, a 2010 Tiffin Phaeton QTH 40′, in May 2015 as well as our flat tow, a 2013 Cadillac SRX. As of December 31, 2015, Bill drove it 2,613 miles. We slowed our pace down considerably, considering we were averaging 2,000/month in the 5th wheel!  We visited 11 campgrounds total: eight private parks and then three unique experiences in the 40′ bus, one more state park in Florida, one County Park in Tennessee, and one Service Center in Red Bay, Alabama.  We stayed in two repeat campgrounds, near our daughter and at Myrtle Beach.  While we did fit into the County Park, we realized it may be more of a challenge than we thought. We were told they could handle a 40′ motorhome, but the lots were not very level as depicted in this photo:

Lake Marion County Park, Jasper, Tennessee

Lake Marion County Park, Jasper, Tennessee. Normally, we don’t need that step!

We also had many family visits, which were both good and sad. We spent time with Bill’s mom, with Bill helping his brother select an assisted living facility for her in Illinois near his brother.  This visit is not on the map since we didn’t take the RV. We visited my mom and stepdad three times in Sebring (home base) as he battled cancer. Sadly, he lost the battle on December 2, 2015. We are so grateful we had the flexibility to spend as much time with him as we did! And the good and best family times were with our daughter. We were there for her last months of what turned out to be somewhat of a difficult pregnancy, then we were there for the birth of our second healthy grandson. Our daughter stayed home with him for three months. We traveled some during this time. Then we returned to watch him for six more weeks.  He was 4 1/2 months old when he went into daycare and we had to head south. That was a lot of family time. And we managed to visit some dear friends along the way.

Click below to read the posts about some of the exciting places we visited: (The numbers signify the campground stay since we began.)

68) Pirateland, site 158, 5401 S. Kings Highway, Myrtle Beach, SC, 29575 Dates: 10/7-11/11/15 (34 nights)

65) Waynesboro North 340 Campground, Eastside Highway, Waynesboro, VA 22980 Campground office: (540) 943-9573.   6/22-24/201

62)Allegro Campground, Red Bay, AL 6/11-6/18/2015

53)Talbot Island State Park, 12157 Heckscher Drive, Jacksonville, FL 32226. Phone: 904-251-2320. Site 16. 3/21-25/2015 (4 nights)

52)Torreya State Park, 2576 NW Torreya Park Rd., Bristol, FL 32321. Site: 008. 3/17-21/2015. (4 nights)

51)Ochlockonee River State Park, PO Box 5, Sopchoppy, FL 32358. Sites: 024 & 027. Phone: 850-962-2771. 3/14-17/2015 (4 nights)

50) Blackwater River State Park, 7720 Deaton Bridge Road, Holt, Fl 32564 Phone: 850-983-5363. Sites 024 & 020. 3/8-14/15. (6 nights)

49) Topsail Hill Preserve State Park, 7525 W. Scenic Highway 30A, Santa Rosa Beach, Fl 32459 Phone: 850-267-8330 Site, Loop: 083, 102 3/4-8/15. (4 nights)

48) Fallings Waters State Park, 1130 State Park, Chipley, Fl 32428 Phone: 850-638-6130. Site 017 Dates: 2/27-3/4/2015 (5 nights)

47)Florida Caverns State Park, 3345 Caverns Road, Marianna, FL 32446 Phone: 850-482-1228. Site 006, BH1 Dates: 2/23-27/15 (4 nights)

46) Crystal Isles RV Park, 11419 W. Fort Island Trail, Crystal River, FL 34429. Phone: 888-318-1243
Dates: 2/19-23/15 (4 nights)

44) Tampa East RV Resort, 4630 McIntosh Road, Dover, FL 33527 (866) 786-6298. Dates: 1/13-20/15 (7 nights)

In spite of all these great camping and hiking experiences, we have had to rely more and more on the Lord for our strength as we met the many challenges this year. We were blessed to be able to attend church nearly every Sunday, missing only two or three times due to our travel schedule. The last time we had such a challenging year was in 1999 when not only did my dad succumb to cancer, but I also lost my dear brother-in-law, who was truly like a big brother to me.  He entered my life when I was a struggling 7th grader. He tutored me when I was failing English. During that year, the lesson we learned was that God was in control even when life seemed out of control! These verses became more and truer to us this year:

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. Proverbs 19:21

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

12/28/2015

Growing Old Together!


I wrote this on my personal blog. But it fits here under our marriage category!
And I always pray when I learn of another couple divorcing. My heart aches for them. We understand. We’ve been through it. And then we had a miraculous reconciliation! That’s our hope and prayer for all concerned!

Debbie L's avatarReal life....

Previously used in Arpita’s Life as guest blogger.

We’ve been members of and active in three churches. In the last church, I was on the visitation team. I loved visiting our shut-ins and people who just needed a friendly visit. Most of those I visited were on the elderly side, generally, 80 and older. I relished the wisdom they shared as we talked. Several of them said things to me that I’ll never forget and some I want to model into my old age!

One very dear man was bordering on depression. He had been such an active and very giving man. Always wanting to help others. He also used to do visitation, but now, he was the one in need. As we talked about his days growing up on a farm, he said he wished he knew he would live to be so old. He would not have played so…

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12/24/2015

Silent Night Holy Night!


Merry Christmas!

Debbie L's avatarReal life....

Merry Christmas!

We’re listening to Christmas music as we prepare for our Christmas Eve tradition, attending a candlelight service at our church. Which led to us talking about our favorite Christmas songs, and then our favorite Christmas memories.  What are your favorite Christmas songs? Favorite Christmas memories?

We have enjoyed (as a compromise since our taste in music is different) listening to Mannheim Steamroller’s Christmas music. Bill commented today, the only problem with just instrumental music, the younger generations won’t learn the words, which have GREAT meaning behind them.

Bill’s favorite childhood memory of Christmas time was going ice skating. We moved a lot, so we didn’t have set traditions. I honestly can’t think of a favorite memory as a child. But a tradition we started with our daughter was going out one night before Christmas to look at all the lights. And since he doesn’t like hot drinks, we…

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12/12/2015

A tribute to my step-dad


Beautiful couple!

Beautiful couple!

What a blessing Clifford Duncan was to our family. He and my mom married in July 2003. Mom was beginning to lose her vision, but he gave her a new vision: Travel!

My mom and dad were married 54 years when he passed. Cliff and his first wife, Hazel, were married 49 years when she passed. So both knew the joys, tribulations and blessings a long marriage brings. Losing his wife was difficult. Talk about lonesome! He told me he prayed for a wife. And did I ever imagine my mom was praying for a husband? No, but in spite of living near family, she was lonely and with her loss of vision, her life was becoming more lonesome.

So that was the scenario when my middle sister and Cliff’s oldest daughter “fixed” them up after he had recently lost his wife to cancer. He and Hazel traveled extensively in an RV around the country, including to Alaska in a motor home! They started small and owned about every type they make. My parents owned a travel trailer, but they kept it in an RV resort. Mom always wanted to take it on the road, but my dad was a home body….so she finally got on the road with her new husband.

They dreamed of traveling cross-country together.   While Cliff and Hazel traveled extensively, it was mom’s dream. Mom especially wanted to make it to California to see one grandson and his family. He and his wife had four children, but it had been years since she saw them. Did I mention their ages? Mom was a spring chicken at the age of 79 and Cliff was on the older end of 69!  You really couldn’t tell they were 10 years apart in ages. Oh, if mom could see and read this, she’d be mad I’m telling her age (she’s now 92). So shhhhh…..

They began their journey, after selling his home, to be full-time travelers. And at the time, that was the last thing we ever dreamed of doing, ourselves (ha and look at us now). But we did admire them. My middle sister and her husband bought a Class A motor home and traveled with them for a while. And much of the time was spent in Florida so my husband and I would ride our motorcycle to visit them.

Full Time Travelers

They weren’t on the road long when they began to think they needed “roots.” Cliff had heard about a place in Alabama, where you could own your land and have full hook ups for your motor home. I said, gently, at your ages, you may want to live near one of your six children! Mom had 3 and he had 3. Well, since we lived in Florida, I always say we won that lottery! They moved near us. And my middle sister bought a snow bird home there was well. And eventually, Cliff’s oldest daughter and her husband semi-retired and moved there as well. So we had lots of great family times and especially for the holidays.

We kids helped put on a  beautiful and simple wedding. Then we entered the life of a blended family with six adult children.

Wedding Party

I loved Cliff right away because one thing he told me early on was that he reads the Bible every morning and had since 1994. And then he began reading it to my mom every morning. He was a regular church attendee as well. Mom always wanted the continuity of church membership. Cliff became such a wonderful blessing to her, how could I not learn to love him like a dad? And at my age, that was not going to be easy, but we quickly bonded.

Cliff and mom became active in their new church.  It had an outreach ministry to the community with a used clothing store. They worked in it faithfully until it closed.  I can’t begin to say all they did, but they were very active until recently. They even began to bowl with a group of friends from Sunday school. Imagine my nearly blind mom bowling. Yep and she wasn’t too bad.

Their days of traveling in the motor home soon came to an end after mom suffered a serious fall in one of the parks. It was so sad to see them have to slow down, but at their age, it was worrisome to all of us kids to know they were on the road full-time. They really didn’t plan their trips, just started driving, and then used an RV membership to find a place to stay over.

Eventually, Bill became more vocal about wanting a motor home, so Cliff helped him want it even more. They could talk for hours about the dream. We fell into a rhythm, where we mainly were together for the holidays. They did take occasional trips and eventually, their favorite place was Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

We did little things for them around the house that were difficult for them. In particular, I helped maintain Cliff’s computer. He amazed me at how he liked to stay up with everyone via email. We even got him and mom on Facebook to better stay in touch with family. But mom really struggled with it due to her vision loss. Bill considered him a friend.

Cliff was a real patriot. I love seeing the American Flag hanging outside of homes. It seems the only people who fly the flag were in the military. And that was Cliff. He served a tour of duty in the Army.

What was there not to like? He and mom were very loyal to each other. But they never imagined Cliff would pass first. But he did have a number of health issues. He is survived by five siblings, with only two siblings older, and he was the first to pass.  He was just so engaged in life, it was just hard to hear that he was terminally ill. He was diagnosed the end of March. He called each of us kids to let us know. We were in Talbot Island, Florida at the time, getting ready to head to Virginia, to be at our daughters April 1. What should we do? We didn’t think long about it. We turned our rig around and headed south and spent a week with them.  It was tough. He was told he had two months to live, maybe six if he took treatments. He decided to fight it and survived over eight months.

We also managed to visit them over Mother’s Day, then spent a month with them in September. We all thought the end was near, but he seemed to improve and the hospice nurse finally said he could last six more months or even six years. So he had a second chance and he began to get out and walk as well as change his diet to help his body heal from the radiation and chemo. He began to gain weight and felt like eating out again.

Life was good…and then, a few weeks ago, he became miserable with pain. The hospice nurse came and had another nurse come to help him. They ended up sending him to the Emergency Room. He took a turn for the worse….and in about two weeks, he quietly passed from this world into the arms of Jesus. My oldest sister traveled there to help mom as my sister and I were unable to go help. But we were there in prayer. Mom stayed with him in the Good Shepard Hospice House for the 10 days he was there. My oldest sister traveled there to be with her as his local daughter had a prearranged travel obligation arranged with her sister. They were both with him over Thanksgiving. They thought they would see him when they returned. But no, he didn’t make it.

So now to reflect. Just like my dad when he was terminally ill, he never cursed God for the disease. And more important, like Job as told in the Bible. Both accepted their fate. And Cliff kept his faith to the end, saying he didn’t understand it, but he accepted it. He and mom tried their best to be prepared, but there is just no way to really prepare for the loss of a loved one.

We seek our solace in the Bible. We understand life is short. And our bodies are only temporarily here on this earth. We know we will be reunited for eternity.

 LORD, make me to know my end And what is the extent of my days; Let me know how transient I am. Psalm 39:4

So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Philippians 1:21

12/09/2015

An update, sort of….


IMG_9627

2015 ICE, Gaylord Hotel

Phew, what a journey we have been on since we first attempted to leave Myrtle Beach. Since purchasing our 40 foot Class A motorhome this past May, we’ve really tried to travel at a leisurely pace. But things keep coming up to hinder our desire – or to cause us to hasten our journey. While we do completely enjoy our new spacious and luxurious home (but with a minimalist theme), we miss our nibble X-tra Lite 5th wheel that handled speed a little better.

Here is a synopsis of our journey from mid-November to today (December 9, 2015.)

Arrival:  We wrote about our difficulty getting out of Myrtle Beach here to arrive at our current location. We are near our daughter and her family (including our two precious grandsons).  Our total stay will be about six weeks.  While we averted a major disaster (and those of us in the lifestyle know that is always a possibility), the worst part is we arrived here a bit un-rested to begin helping our daughter as she returned to work after three months of maternity leave. The oldest is now two years old and three months and the baby is three months old. At our age (eligible for social security), we don’t have the energy we would prefer to have as we care for these precious boys. We’ve heard being grandparents helps keep a person younger. We are sure hoping for this!  Anyway, we wanted to arrive a day ahead to set up camp and get “acclimated” to our new environment – from the beach to a forest-type campground. And REST from the trip. Since we didn’t have that luxury, we set up “camp” quickly and then headed off to pick up our two-year-old grandson from daycare. Once at home, we packed his overnight bag and he spent the night. He loves our motorhome and we love having him spend the night. Rest is over-rated, right?

Getting in the swing of things: Aside from wanting to be with our daughter and her family for the holidays, our main reason for being here is to take care of our infant grandson while our daughter returns to work. We don’t want the baby in daycare until as long as possible….so we hope to have him ready for daycare by the end of December/early January.  While we wished we could keep him out of it, his parents both work and we just can’t do it at this time. Bill told our daughter before she had children, he would not help her raise them….but he is eating his words a bit….he can’t get enough of them and time will tell what happens down the road….

New adventure:  In the past 10 years, at any of our church congregational events, I was usually seen holding a baby. What a great legacy to be known as a lover of babies! And the greatest privilege was to be asked to help take care of 6-week old infant twins. That really got my juices going to one day be a grandma. And people told me frequently I would be a wonderful grandma. So when our first grandson was to arrive, we did change our lifestyle to see him more (sold everything and began traveling full-time).  Aside from being present at the birth of #1 grandson (and subsequently #2), we also took care of #1 for a month to also keep him out of daycare a little longer after our daughter returned to work. What a time of joy and special bonding that was! But at this same time, Bill was beginning to live his dream of traveling. And I was on board, but I’m very torn….I want it all!!!

So we are now watching #2 grandson as we did with #1. But we are two years older. And sadly, we are now 30 minutes away from their house, rather than the 10 minutes the first time.  So all that to say, the JOY of this new baby is like an adrenaline rush! I am getting up very early to be at my daughter’s house by 6:15. In essence, I put in a 12 hour day, not including the commute. While here at the house, since he does sleep a lot, I help with housework, laundry and shopping. Bill is the chief cook! And then we play and enjoy our grandsons to the fullest.

We love our daughter tremendously, but honestly, we don’t remember all these fun times with her as we are having with our grandsons.  Since we both also worked full time, we just don’t remember much about her early months and years. So how wonderful now as grandparents, we get to experience the awe and wonder as we watch these babies and toddlers go through as they explore life.  We are cherishing our time here, but it is winter and cold….so we will depart the end of December or first of January for warmer climates.

Grandson #2 is helping us etch into our minds the beauty of birth and dependence of precious children on the adults around them.  It is like a new adventure with #2!

How is our new home handling winter?  When we bought our 5th wheel, a sticker by the entrance door said, “Polar Pack.” And we latched on to the statement while the salesman warned us, it didn’t mean it could go much below freezing. And we discovered it didn’t like freezing weather as our pipes froze on us as we fled south last January.  Remember the polar vortex that hit the east coast of the US?  We couldn’t outrun it….

We are happy to report we are very pleased with our new home. While it doesn’t have any type of “polar pack,” it has better insulation. We have been able to keep it toasty warm for our grandsons when they come to stay overnight. That is huge! We also learned a few lessons last winter. For one, we now have an insulated and heated water hose. We also did learn a few other tricks for surviving in freezing temps. I’ll save that for a later post….after we bonafide survive this winter!

What are our fun adventures besides our Monday-Friday routine?  During the week, we also still have our own responsibilities, like processing the mail, balancing the checkbook, seeing doctors for routine stuff us older folks have to deal with, grocery shopping, and for Bill, to keep our vehicles clean and shiny! We are constantly asked if our home is a 2015 or 2016! Everyone is shocked it is a 2010! Yep, Bill keeps it polished! But come the weekend, we do want to have fun with the family.

Here are some links for a sneak preview about the fun we have been having: We started out with our visit to the ICE 2015 Christmas at the Gaylord National Resort;  a day trip to the Shenandoah National Park to hike; a return to Williamsburg, a family tradition; and more!

We are also enjoying our Sunday morning times of corporate worship at Spotswood Baptist Church. We especially love attending church during the Christmas season. It just makes it really Christmas, singing Christmas carols and hymns about the birth of our Lord and Savior! I wrote a blog, here, about this past service.

So that is all the good. Sadly, we also experienced the sad part of life. I remember being told as a child, there are three things you can count on in life: births, death and taxes.

Bill and I have already experienced the death of our dad’s.  I was so blessed to have a dear step-dad, Cliff Duncan when my mom remarried after being alone for five years.  Mom did pretty well, but she began to lose her sight. And then my middle sister and his oldest daughter “fixed” them up. He had recently lost his wife.

Cliff loved traveling in an RV. He and his first wife traveled extensively around the country, including to Alaska in a motorhome! They started small and owned about every type they make. My parents owned a travel trailer, but they kept it at an RV resort. Mom always wanted to take it on the road….so she finally got on the road with her new husband.  My tribute to him..

There is A Time for Everything
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:3-8

11/12/2015

Getting Hitched: “Flat Tow” our “Dinghy” or TOAD


Happy campers!

Our motorhome and toad, fully hitched.

For those who were following our journey last May and June, you will know this is a big deal for us. If you do not know what we are talking about in this title, it all has to do with driving a motorhome and towing an automobile behind it.

Our home is 40′ and is on wheels. When we park in a new location, we need a vehicle (referred to as a dinghy or toad) to drive around in, such as to the store, to church, to go sightseeing, etc. We bought our motorhome in May and until we came to Myrtle Beach in October, we couldn’t find anyone to hitch us up! So I’ve followed Bill while he drove the motorhome for about 2,200 miles:  from Cocoa, Florida; to Troy, Alabama; to Red Bay, Alabama; to Jasper, Tennessee; to Bristol, Tennessee; to Waynesboro, Virginia; to Milford, Virginia; to Florence, North Carolina; to our current destination, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. That means we put 2,200 unnecessary miles on our car.

I was upset when I saw this ugly bar on the front of our new (used) car!

I was upset when I saw this ugly bar on the front of our new (used) car!

There are several ways to tow a vehicle: Trailer Tow (i.e. put a car in a utility trailer), Dolly Tow (two front tires on a dolly while back wheels spin) and Flat Tow (our choice to have all four wheels down).  There are many professional and good quality articles on this subject.  Trust us, we’ve read them all and watched many YouTube videos on “how to.” We did our research. We knew what we were getting into…but until we actually did it, we didn’t know what we didn’t know. (Understand?) So we hope by sharing our experiences, it might help someone else. We hope you’ll laugh with us, now that it’s over. During the process, a few tears were shed. 😂

We also watched a number of videos which helped us learn more about towing. We also have talked to so many people about their hitches and how they like how they are towing their vehicle. But no one shared a story with us like what happened to us. One thing we have learned in this RVing lifestyle is that everyone has a story of something crazy happening to them. This is one of our crazy stories.

First, just to let you know how the name “toad” came about:  Tow-ed = toad.  And dinghy is affectionally what little boats are called. So it’s a play on words.

The hitch is on the back of our motorhome.

The hitch is on the back of our motorhome. It’s a Falcon by Roadmaster. It came with our motorhome.

Once we knew we were buying a motorhome, we formed an opinion, we would “flat tow.”  That means we would have an (ugly) tow bar on the front of the car, attached to a hitch on the back of the RV.  By flat towing, we probably would have to make modifications to our car.  But the downside to a dolly or trailer, is that you have to “store” them and possibly have to hoist around, park and stash when you are on a campsite. Not every campsite has the room for them. But somehow, everyone makes it work. Bill has a back issue, so we just decided we couldn’t handle having to hoist either around. Yes, Bill does the heavy lifting in our family. Plus, I have a few back/neck issues, too.

Hooking the hitch to the tow bar.

We did test drive a few jeeps (probably one of the most popular Toads) a few months earlier when we first thought about changing from a truck and 5th wheel RV to the motorhome. We loved the Jeep Grand Cherokee. It was everything we needed and more. Spacious (we wanted to carry four adults and two children), comfortable and more than anything, easy to flat tow. BUT, we later learned, they don’t get the best gas mileage and for long trips (which we’ve done three times since owning it), and it’s really not “luxury” comfortable. With our back issues (and aging bodies), we need a comfortable ride. So we compromised.  The vehicle we bought, a crossover SUV and car, Cadillac SRX, will only fit four adults and one child. Or three adults and two children. But we first eliminated all the other flat towable vehicles before we even thought about the SRX. There is a yearly on-line publication that says which cars are flat towable. The slogan for our motorhome is “Roughing it smoothly.” And that fits us with our little Cadillac!

We stayed in Myrtle Beach for a full month, not only to enjoy a month at the beach but to get our car and RV “hitched.” Parts have to be ordered but we learned, no one wants to hook up a used “hitch.” Except Camping World. And Myrtle Beach was our first location since buying our motorhome that had one. We also needed to have our washing machine replaced, which they did.  We were very happy with that install, so thought the hitch would also go smoothly.

Lots of wires.
Not an easy job.

Well, we were a bit concerned when it took twice as long to rig the car up to tow. We had “face plates” installed, modification to the bumper and grill, installation of a bracket for the “invisi-brake,” made connections for the air brakes,  installed a wiring harness, and probably a few more things I don’t know about (or understand).  In the end, it took a day and a half on the car and 1/2 day on the RV.  So all in all, we spent four days of our 35 days in Myrtle Beach in the waiting room at Camping World, which includes the washing machine install and then to fix that which didn’t work properly on our car. And that is what this post is about. Something had to go wrong, right? Or this would be boring – although it probably is unless you want flat tow one day.

We have learned a lot from other full-timers, but especially one young couple. They not only live in an RV full-time, traveling all over the US and Canada, they are also working professionals. In fact, they inspired us to give ourselves a catchy nickname: The TumbleLees. They are Jason and Nicky Wynn or “Gone with the Wynns!”  Here is their video to learn from my (Jason’s) mistakes, and “How to Properly Connect and RV Tow Car.” We watched these several times, when we started our education on what we were going to do and then while we were getting our hitch set up.

So we now have the set up we’ve wanted. We’re educated. Bill is confident in his ability to hook the toad up. I’m learning and watching….and praying all goes well!  When it took them so long to rig the car, we both had a few misgivings. But Camping World guarantees their work.

Hitched and on the way out of the campground!

Hitched and on the way out of the campground!

We do try to travel without pressures and for this to be adventure travel, right? Well, not all adventures are fun. It was time to leave and our daughter has made a lot of preparations for us to come visit. She has our grandson counting down the days (he’s learned to count to 10! Smart guy). And we are ready to go.

So once we are all hitched and rigged to go, we tested the lights. Humm, the blinkers are not working. But the lights are on. Then we tested the brake, brake lights not on. And there is a beeping noise in the RV.  We called Camping World and they said to bring it on in. So off we go.

We arrive and Bill is exhausted from the 10 minute, five-mile drive. He doesn’t say anything to me, but he is wondering if our 360 diesel engine can tow.  😖 Upon arrival, we looked at the car and see smoke pouring out of the front tires (brake area).  YIKES! We begin to panic. Bill says get me a cup of water, it looked like a fire could start. I grabbed our cups of water, then he throws the water on the wheels like it was a campfire.  It hardly affects the smoke, so I ran back and got a pitcher of water.  Slowly, the smoke stopped.  Our Service Writer then tells us to unhook the car so they drive our RV into a bay.

Wouldn’t you know, it won’t unhook!  (We have since learned, that is a common problem. You just need a drift pin and a hammer to knock out the pins.) The hitch seemed frozen and the brakes appeared to be  gone, pedal to the floor. We are thinking worst case scenario. I posted a plea for prayers on FaceBook. This can’t be happening!

We were prayed up, praying daily for the Lord’s protection – oh, I’m sure that is what happened…HE did protect us! What if the blinkers worked ok and we just thought the beeping sound was how it is supposed to be? What if we just went on the nearly 200-mile drive we planned to travel? That would have been a disaster. So in reality, disaster was averted.

Camping World was very busy, every bay tied up when we arrived. But the Shop Foreman took our job to get ‘er done. It turned out that the air brake flow was one way. When the RV brakes were on, the car brakes were off. And when the RV brakes were off, the car brakes were on. It took about 5 hours to diagnose it and repair it.  Fortunately, the car brakes were fine, just overheated, and we are now on the road to our daughter’s home. She’s a bit sad as her maternity leave is ending and she wanted to hang out with us a few days before she returns to work. It’s so great to be loved and your only child wants to spend time with you!

So in the end, what lesson did we learn? Expect the unexpected! And what does the Bible say about planning? We have to have faith, we may have been spared something worse. It just wasn’t our time to leave Myrtle Beach.

You can make many plans, but the LORD’s purpose will prevail. Proverbs 19:21

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Sunset after we settled back into the campground, on this Veterans Day! Loved seeing the flag flying.

11/08/2015

The Wind on Myrtle Beach


sand-windWe’ve had so many “lookers” at our last post about the Horses On Myrtle Beach, thought we’d also talk a bit about the wind and more.  Especially, since early this morning, we were wakened up to wind gusts to 32 mph! The wind is not the friend of recreational vehicles.

What beach doesn’t have the wind? Actually, it’s a good thing as it keeps the mosquitoes away, for the most part. It helps with a cool breeze on those really hot, sunny days. But for our four times now in Myrtle Beach, granted, during the fall and winter, the wind has kept us from actually sitting on the beach and reading a book.

After our first time here, the post is located here, Bill actually considered settling down here in Myrtle Beach when the time comes to move back into the brick and sticks lifestyle. In fact, we know a couple from our former church in New Jersey who bought their “retirement” home here. The wife is still working, but they bring their children and grandchildren here from time to time on their vacations and holidays. The husband comes periodically alone. We met up with him on once such time. He gave us an inside view of living here from a retiree’s perspective.

What we have liked: for the most part, moderate temperatures; walking on the pristine, white sandy beach (we can easily do five miles a day); the Brookgreen Gardens and state parks; the professionalism and helpfulness of various businesses we have interacted with such as bank tellers, clerks at Walmart (sorry, but us full-time RVers have no choice but to be faithful Walmart shoppers….), twice we had to visit a “doc in the box” which gave excellent service, and most recently, Camping World really stepped up to the plate for us! But even more importantly, we have really liked the various churches we have attended.

What we have not liked: As our most recent post says, the 1,200 horses on the beach over a five day period. In January, they post what the dates they will be here. It is a fundraiser for the American Heart Association, so we don’t like to slam the cause. But we make sure we don’t stay here during that event as it impacts the campgrounds.

While it isn’t all that annoying, the constant helicopters riding along the beach for only $20/ride and the airport.  But our friends love having the airport here, it’s just that occasionally, the planes fly low. I can never get my camera up in time when a low one flys overhead during our walks. But here is the best I could get:

Flying out of Myrtle Beach Airport Flying out of Myrtle Beach Airport. This is actually a positive as we do like to be near airports. But maybe not this close….

And another thing we aren’t so keen on are the weather extremes! Granted, we’ve only been here in the fall and winter, so what should we expect? Maybe not such high highs then low lows! We’ve been here twice in October, once in January and once in March. I decided to take a historical look at just THIS month, our current stay. What is cool is this website will let you look at any dates, months, years or customize it. Granted, there is NO snowfall in this, but remember, we are home based out of Florida. That means we don’t like snow….

Averages for October 7 to Nov 8, 2015 Averages for October 7 to Nov 8, 2015. NOTE: Maximum wind gusts of 32 mph!

We were awakened at 4 am this morning, which made me want to write this post. Bill had to go outside to put in our little window awnings (we only have two). I checked the weather app at that time and it said the wind was 22 mph from the north. But see what the averages were:

This was from this morning This was the averages from this morning. NOTE: that’s when it hit at 32 mph.

We were actually delayed in arriving here for this current stay. We wanted to be here a few days earlier than October 7, but we had to wait for the remnants of Hurricane Joaquin to settle down. Our neighbors here arrived the day before the rain started. They were then rained in for six days. When they checked the “flooding” outside their camper door, it was 10″ deep. But that was an unusual weather event. What location doesn’t have those?

So to be fair, let’s compare this same month to our favorite beach location when we lived in Florida, Vero Beach. And note, the highest wind gusts were 37 mph! YIKES!

VeroBeachMonth

So I guess, all in all, we don’t have THAT much to complain about. We have decided this is NOT where we will settle down, however. Why? We’re too far from the reason we now do what we do….

(Spoiler alert: We actually settled down and moved here, February 1, 2019.)

These two rocked our world! Two years old and six days old
Big brother feeding little
11/06/2015

Horses on Myrtle Beach!


IMG_9132

The very thought that I could ride my horse on the pristine white sand beaches along the gently rolling surf gave me goose bumps. I snapped this picture Thursday morning.

Ah, that sounds so romantic, doesn’t it? There is an allure to beaches and horses. When we went on our second honeymoon in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, we decided to go horseback riding. But decided against the beach ride for some reason.  Instead, we ended up on the side of a mountain on a very narrow path. But that’s not related to this post….

Honeymoon in Ocho Rios

Honeymoon in Ocho Rios

Did you know 1,200 horses take over the beach for five days to raise funds for the American Heart Association Beach Ride? We didn’t either, but we did know there was some horseback riding on the beach. This is the 34th year of this fundraiser. And allegedly, they have raised over $3 million dollars. There is no question, this is a worthy cause. Who hasn’t been affected by a family member or friend who has suffered from heart disease? I know we have lost a very dear relative to an early death due to a heart attack.

In the promotional information for this fundraiser, a woman shares her “testimony” in the left-hand column, “A Rider’s Perspective” in part when she first heard of the event:

The very thought that I could ride my horse on the pristine white sand beaches along the gently rolling surf gave me goose bumps.

We wanted to stay in Lakewood Family RV Campground this year. We visited it last time we were here and learned they have a nightly price of $25 if we stayed 30 days or longer. This is for full hookup (water, electricity, sewer and WiFi). While that is a bit higher than our desired per night price, to be on the beach, you expect it pay more $$$.  We generally don’t make reservations until the day before or day of our arrival. We are pretty astute about “prime time” and we know October is considered off season here.  So what a shock when we were told they were booked solid over the last weekend we wanted to be here.   Little did we know what a HUGE blessing it was that we were not able to get that reservation! We don’t want to be negative about this event, but there are a few problems.

We are actually “next door” to Lakewood, staying in PirateLand RV Campground. As it turns out, they also have the same price for 28 days or more.  And then we quickly learned this campground is actually better for our needs. For one, the campsites are bigger. And that is important now that we have a 40′ motorhome! But even better, the beach is so much wider and flatter.  We’ve walked up this beach for 2 1/2 miles, then back for a 5-mile walk nearly every morning. And this is worth paying a bit more per night!

IMG_9133

This is at the very end of PirateLand’s ocean front.

The horses began to arrive on Wednesday, a very rainy and dreary day. But Thursday morning, it was a glorious day as you can see from the above picture! We didn’t really think about walking with horses when we got on the beach, but realized quickly, we were glad we were there early – only because we are watching high tide.  And not many horses were, yet. You can see the horses do affect the beach. For a few horses, it wasn’t bad, until you begin to see horse manure! And they do like to poop on the beach….So the romance was over….But who can blame them? Doesn’t this look like fun?

IMG_9144

This was on our way back Thursday. The sun disappeared. Doesn’t this look like fun?

We stopped and talked to two women at one point. They were from New York and were appalled that the riders didn’t have to clean up the manure. Or that the horses didn’t wear bun-bags! They have to in New York apparently. And then they weren’t the only ones who were concerned. Other people we saw said it didn’t seem right dog owners are fined if they don’t pick up after their dogs.

IMG_9148

This was interesting to see on the beach! Can you see all the trampling caused by the horses now? The beach is really affected.

So now you may have guessed, all these horses can cause a bit of a disturbance to non-horse back riders. So aside from the trampling, which really impacted our ability to walk comfortably on the beach, and dodging all the manure, there were a few other issues. So much for the “pristine white sand.” We loved her thoughts for us as we walked barefoot on the beach….

If you read the info on the AHA website, they tell the riders a few things to do to make this a good experience for everyone. For one, they HAVE to clean up the manure at their campground sites…but not on the beach. Interesting.

Then they are told to not “cowboy” on the beach. Which means running the horses, etc. And as groups approach people on the beach, to all go to one side of them, not to put the people in the middle. The horses may not know how to properly react in this new situation. So we had a few “confrontations.”

Beach Walking

These riders were our first “scare” as they were at a slow gallop and a bit too close for comfort.

Not being horse people, it was unnerving. The first day, we heard the sound of galloping approaching us and one of the horses neighing. While there were only two riders this time, they were a bit too close for our comfort. So now we are being cautious. We managed ok until our 4th mile. And then we hear galloping again, but this almost sounded like a stampede! There were more than two and I glanced behind to see them heading right towards us! So I tried to jump out of the way (I am a bit of a jumpy person anyway) but in the soft, trampled sand, I couldn’t. I actually “fell” into Bill.  I was glad he could handle all my weight! Then the horse back riders nearly come to a stop right in front of us! What’s going on????  This was very upsetting. But the last straw was the cowboying.  One rider, as you can see below, was running his horse in “circles.”  We were trying to stay in one path, but the horse, seemed to want to get in our path, so we moved, then he followed….Are you getting the picture?

IMG_9147

Cowboying!

Ok, we’re not happy campers. In the beginning, we were very friendly, but by the time we finished our five miles, we didn’t even want to look at these riders. So we vowed the next morning to get out earlier and not have to share the beach. So today, we did better, got out before the herd…and it was better.

We talked to a neighbor of ours as we came off the beach. He said he was in Lakewood last year during the event. He said it was so crowded, he couldn’t leave the campground to get groceries. And even worse, he couldn’t even walk around the campground for five days! He told a few other stories about what a nightmare it was to be there and not be a horse person.

We don’t want to be negative about this event, but think about it! When they started this 34 years ago, Myrtle Beach in 1981 was a little-known destination. It wasn’t until the 1990’s that it began to grow. However, according to the Myrtle Beach Tourism website,

The Myrtle Beach Metropolitan Statistical Area was listed as the ninth-fastest growing area in the nation, according to U.S. Census Bureau statistics released in March 2011. The area has grown 37 percent over the past decade.

We’ve decided that 1,200 horses on a little beach area and all us beach goers don’t really mix very well. And we aren’t even addressing the potential ecological problems of all the manure and urine. One person said he wouldn’t go in this water for at least 6 months!

We hope and pray common sense begins to reign and this event is moved to a more remote location. So our recommendation, do your research if you are not a horse person. Don’t be here during this event! We’ll plan to not be here next year if they are at the same time….

If you are a horse person and want to attend, please read the literature and follow the instructions!

IMG_9169

This is their day two, beautiful weather. High tide was coming in at 4:00 pm so we thought no horses would be on the beach. So we are in beach chairs as this group ride by….

11/05/2015

The Blogger Recognition Award


Blogger Recognition Award

Once again, we are so honored! Thank you again, our dear friend, Anand of Blabberwockying. Anand has turned into such an amazing blogger, spreading love and light around the blogosphere! His nickname is “Thinker” and to spend any time in his “comments,” you will see he is a very insightful thinker, willing to share his knowledge, to create beautiful posts and to bring out the best in other bloggers!

But what can we say? We drafted a page to say we are now Awards Free….but it was never published. These are such great honors and great ways to really get to know new bloggers, to find new bloggers to follow and to increase the number of followers. Now that I’m (Debbie) taking Blogging 101 (again), we are exposed to lots of new bloggers.  And this award is a good one for them!

Today is our last day to accept such an award. Just due to time constraints, we just can’t continue with these. But we also can’t resist sharing the love!

Here is the intent of this award:

I know what you may be thinking: “But (insert name of nominator)! There’s already awards like this out there. Ever heard of the Liebster Award? Sheesh.”
Yes. There are plenty of other things like this out there. But, in my opinion at least, there can never be too many. Why? Because these little awards are a small gesture of goodwill that have a big impact on the people who receive them.
When you say, “Hey! I’ve nominated you for so-and-so award! Congrats!” and give one of these simple little pictures to a fellow blogger, you’ve probably just made that person’s day. You’ve inspired them to keep writing posts. You’ve given their confidence a little boost, and helped to make them feel that they are a part of this community. You’ve made them happy by being generous and showing your appreciation. There’s nothing better than that.
So, when you start thinking these awards are silly, or that they’re just annoying chain letters (they essentially are chain letters, but with a good purpose), remember that they aid in keeping the spirits of bloggers high, and they can also help get them just a little bit more exposure. They’re also great for establishing relationships between blogs and their authors. All in all, these simple pay-it-forward awards do a lot of good for the community.
With all of that said, how can you participate and do your part?
If you are nominated…

Here are the rules once you accept (and you are free to ignore, decline or just acknowledge) this award:

Select 15 other blogs you want to give the award to. (Many modify this and only nominate 5 or so).

  1. You cannot nominate yourself or the person who has nominated you.
  2. Write a post to show your award.
  3. Give a brief story of how your blog started.
  4. Give a piece of advice or two to new bloggers.
  5. Thank whoever nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
  6. Attach the award badge to the post (right-click and save, then upload.)
  7. Comment on each blog and let them know you have nominated them.
  8. Provide a link to the original post on Edge of Night.

How did this blog start? We had a story to share, how we divorced and remarried. It was truly a miracle from the Lord! It breaks our heart as we hear of couples divorcing or being miserable. We were there and now we are so grateful after 40 years of being married, to now be together as grandparents to two adorable grandsons.  Once our first grandson was about to be born, we had to change our lives to be closer to them. Our solution was to become full-time RVers. And now the blog focuses on our minimalist lifestyle and how we “travel” full-time!

New Bloggers (this is too good to try to recreate. From Anand): 

Give and you will be given. Don’t hold back words of appreciation and kindness ever. Hesitate to criticise. Don’t judge, we are all fallible and learning from our mistakes.

Blogging is socializing. No difference whatsoever. Take a genuine interest in people. Blogs are dead-weights without bloggers.

Participate in discussions in comment sections of blogs you like. Address people with names. Participate in discussion forums and give sincere feedback to your fellow friends. If you do this you will neither run dry on inspiration, nor fall short of motivation and support. The Alumni forum is one such forum where active engagement in discussion, feedback and light-hearted chattering happens. Feel free to drop by and join as an author over there!

Follow the followers. If someone follows you, they deserve to be followed. With trial and error you will come to know which blogs appeal you more and more. There is no harm in creating a blogosphere where you have lots of followers but a few visitors who comment. Expansion is out of love, contraction is out of fear. Exposure isn’t possible unless you expand!

Participate in the Blogging University Courses–especially in the Blogging 101 and you will get to meet many good blogging friends. Blogging and life will become better if you keep interacting actively!

And the nominees are these amazing bloggers, many of them new:

  1. Elihus Corner. I may have nominated you before, but I couldn’t confirm this! You are one of my favorite bloggers. You are a daddy to three children, you love your wife, but more than anything, you love our Lord Jesus and you blog to share His influence in your life – to help others know and see Him!
  2. Thoughts of a Train Wrecked Pineapple. Carlos is another favorite blogger. I am intrigued by young bloggers and he is young, in college! He is a fabulous writer, thinker and artist! I know him more as the first two….but his training and desire is to be an artist first and foremost, but not without the other two (or 10) talents he has!
  3. My Dappled Path is a new blogger I just found, per suggestions on how to find bloggers with similar interests. Her blog is just beautiful! I’m looking forward to getting to know her more as I begin following her!
  4. The Truth Lover I don’t remember how I found this blogger. But she/he is like-minded – and very anonymous! This person really wants to focus on our Lord, God, the Creator of the Universe, our Savior, Jesus. This is one blogger I try to never miss a post reading.
  5. The Bottom of a Bottle This is another blogger I somehow stumbled upon. I love his testimony and his dedication to his Deliverer! I just love it when someone hits rock bottom, at the bottom of the bottle in this case, and then RISE up to learn to LIVE! Hallelujah! This is an inspiring and talented blogger! He has something for everyone!
  6. What have we done now! Such an interesting couple from two small towns in the heart of Alaska.  They have a desire to travel and see new things as well as taste really new, and sometimes weird, things! They’ve been to at least 21 countries. Check out their blog and join their amazing adventures.
  7. Earthly Traveler is a new blogger I’ve discovered. He shares the same passion I do about the Bible. I really connected with him when I read this statement:
    “I realize that no matter how many times I read the Bible, I can never fully exhaust the truths and treasures that lie in it. Just like the grace and mercy of our God, His love, care and compassion, and the blessings He’s poured out on us His creation. But as I read my Bible each time and meditate on God’s Word, I always come to know more about my Saviour, God’s will, God’s plan. And all the more I know of these, the more I feel at peace. The Lord is Lord, He is in control—of this generation, and of the new earth to come.”
  8. Deeper Roots. I recently started following Beth’s blog. She is another person who has the same passion for the Bible, for God’s Word. After she retired from 30 years in church administration to now attending seminary and devoting herself to the study of God’s word while she also writes and teaches. Her goal is to grow deeper and stronger roots! Sounds like my kind of journey!
  9. Honest Me. This young mom is revealing her inner narrator! I love her honesty and creative writing skills. She has a weekly feature, Tuney Tuesdays. What a treat as she combines music to what is going on!
  10. Culturally Curious This is a classmate from the current (November) Blogging 101 course. This naturally curious mom and teacher wants to learn the story about every person she meets as well as the story behind inanimate objects! Like me, she has lived in and traveled quite a bit.
  11. Journey to Blessings. Another classmate, David, is all about sharing the blessings of our Lord. I really like his tag line: “Life, its challenges and how we can touch others.”  His blog is relatively new, but he seems like a pro. Such a beautiful and polished blog. I look forward to following him.
  12. Third Culture Wife. As I move along with my Blogging 101 assignment to visit new blogs, I found this lovely wife! I’m so excited to have spent some time reading her blog. Only to learn something so cool: I’m a TCK! That’s right, it helps explain my wanderlust! She explains about being third cultures, wives, kids, etc. I won’t give away the answer, you’ll have to read her blog!
  13. My Travel Middle East. Oh, my, another woman I will learn from. I’m loving the Blogging 101 assignment to try to find new blogs to follow. I’m looking for International Travel posts to reblog on my one blog….so I had to re-blog one of hers! She has fabulous pictures and is really capturing the beauty of the middle east!
  14. Party of Five is another blog by a mother! She is a blogging 101 classmate. I love her tag line: “Life at home, in the Woods and wherever we travel ~ it’s always a party of five!” So you can see why this wanderlust would be attracted to her blog. And the mothering part, is the greatest role in the world!
  15. Wisdom from the Harts!  I’m not sure why the Lord has given me a desire to learn about Autism. But I’ve stumbled on a few blogs that have helped me see this is not a “horrible problem” as it seems mainstream media plays it up to be. Granted, I’ve been ignorant and saw a documentary that terrified my husband and I as our daughter has accepted her pediatricians recommendations to vaccinate her two sons. I now have great peace about it and am loving the blogs I read about amazing parents learning how to help their children be the best they can be! Isn’t that every parent’s goal? This is a blog to follow along and learn how amazing her son is, explained in her tag line: “The Unexpected Joy of Raising an Autistic Playwright.”

Well, after all of this, how could I not want to continue to participate in Blogging Awards? Well, I guess it is time management.  So for those of you who wish to decline, I would recommend you post this some place obviously on your blog! And follow Anand’s and my advice, visit other blogs, comment often and encourage comments on your blog!

AwardFree

With that said, how about giving me some feedback about this award, as this was a real labor of love, love of the blogosphere! May God bless each and everyone!

11/02/2015

The scoop on Myrtle Beach!


We took our grandson to Brookgreen Gardens

We took our oldest grandson to Brookgreen Gardens in October 2015

There is more to Myrtle Beach than the beach! But it’s taken us a while to figure that out. For us, the beach is the main attraction.  If it wasn’t too far from Fredericksburg, VA, this is a location we would consider living in once we get off the road. But as far as I am concerned (Debbie), that (getting off the road) won’t happen anytime soon!

We’d love to hear your thoughts about Myrtle Beach. Have you been? What did you like besides the beach? If you haven’t been, what have you heard about it, or what do you imagine it is like?

This is our fourth stay in Myrtle Beach in an RV (recreational vehicle). We wrote one post about our first time here, and two short posts here and most recently, here. Although we have mentioned it in a few other posts, we have never really shared more about the essence of this town.

Usually, where ever we go, we love to learn about the history of the area. For some reason, Myrtle Beach is one area we initially didn’t after a quick search of Trip Advisor for Myrtle Beach didn’t show any cultural museums of interest to us. Little did we realize we could have expanded the search to surrounding communities.  But we were focused on the beach as it is amazing!

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What an eye opener when we decided to learn more about the area to write this blog. I’m not sure why we didn’t discover this website before.  Here’s a summary from the website, but do be sure and visit it and watch the five-minute video of a quick history of the area.

Early History. The area’s first inhabitants were the Waccamaw and Winyah Indians, who named the region Chicora, meaning “the land.” Kings Highway – a major thoroughfare through the Myrtle Beach area – began as an Indian trail long before Europeans settled along the Grand Strand. Later, this trail became the route from the northern states to Charleston and Savannah. These first inhabitants are the subject of the oldest and perhaps most elusive stories. While much has been written about Native Americans, documented facts about local tribes in the Myrtle Beach area are scarce. Physical evidence of their existence and way of life has been more forthcoming, however, as arrowheads, pottery, and other artifacts continue to turn up.

Spanish Settlement. Early attempts by European explorers to settle the Grand Strand were disastrous. Spaniard Lucas Vasques de Allyon founded the first colony in North America here in 1526, but the settlement was ravaged by disease, and the inhabitants perished within a year.

English Settlement & Colonial History. A new chapter in the area’s history and lore was introduced after English colonists settled in the area. Suddenly, goods and supplies needed to be imported and exported across the ocean. By the 1700s, scores of pirates had taken to the high seas to intercept cargo vessels and make off with the goods. The South Carolina coastal waters were especially productive for pirates – and the coves and inlets along the Grand Strand provided great hiding places for these marauders. Pirates who became local legends include Edward Teach, called Blackbeard because of his coal-black beard, and Drunken Jack, who was left behind on an island with a huge stash of stolen rum – and was rumored to have died with a smile on his face. Meanwhile, English colonists formed Prince George Parish and laid out plans for Georgetown, the state’s third oldest city, in 1730. Surrounded by rivers and marshlands, Georgetown became the center of America’s colonial rice empire.

Initial Development. Until the 1900s, the beaches of Horry County were virtually uninhabited due to the county’s geographical inaccessibility and poor economy. Near the turn of the century, the Burroughs & Collins Company – a timber / turpentine firm with extensive beachfront holdings – began developing the Myrtle Beach area as a resort. In 1901, the company built the beach’s first hotel, the Seaside Inn. At that time, oceanfront lots sold for $25, and buyers received an extra lot if they built a house valued at $500 or more. Previously known as Long Bay, Withers, or Withers Big Swamp, the fledgling beach community was simply called “New Town” – until the Horry Herald sponsored a contest to officially name the area. Mrs. F.E. Burroughs – wife of the founder of Burroughs & Collins – won with the name “Myrtle Beach,” which she chose for the many wax myrtle trees growing wild along the shore.

Further Development & Expansion. In the 1920s, a group of businessmen began building an upscale resort called Arcady, at the north end of the community. Arcady featured the present Pine Lakes International Country Club — home of the Strand’s first golf club and birthplace of the magazine Sports Illustrated — as well as the legendary Ocean Forest Hotel. Several major developments took place along the Grand Strand during the 1930s and 1940s. In 1936 the Intracoastal Waterway was opened to pleasure boats and commercial shipping. During the 1940s, an Air Force base was established and used for training and coastal patrols during World War II. The base was closed in 1993. The Myrtle Beach Pavilion was built in 1949, and the historic band organ and carousel were installed in 1954. Myrtle Beach was incorporated in 1938 and became a city in 1957.

Hurricane Hazel & Reconstruction. In 1954, Hurricane Hazel demolished buildings and trees along the Grand Strand, clearing the way for new hotels and homes. During the rebuilding phase of the 1960s, a golf boom began, with new courses being built each year. The number of golf courses along the Grand Strand now totals around 115.

Modern History & Development. The Myrtle Beach Convention Center, which houses the official South Carolina Hall of Fame, opened in 1970. During the 1970s, new construction in the area topped $75 million, and the permanent population tripled. In the 1970s and 1980s, construction of attractions, homes, retail shops and other amenities increased steadily, paving the way for another boom in the early 1990s. The Grand Strand currently attracts over 14 million visitors and thousands of new residents to the area, each year. The Myrtle Beach Metropolitan Statistical Area was listed as the ninth-fastest growing area in the nation, according to U.S. Census Bureau statistics released in March 2011. The area has grown 37 percent over the past decade.

It took a few days when it just wasn’t “beach” weather to finally research the area and discovered there is much more in the surrounding areas. So far, we have really only explored four areas:

  1.  We visited historic Georgetown  when we were here in March 2014. We arrived in summer clothes, coming from Florida, so quickly had to bundle up. We were excited to discover there was the Georgetown County Museum (our favorite type).  We drove the nearly 30 miles.  It was a very brisk and cold day. We parked a bit far from it, imaging limited parking. Not smart as we had to fight the cold wind, trekking our way there….only to learn, it was closed on Mondays. And so are most county museums.  Fortunately, we remembered there was another even smaller museum which gave us tours of three historic houses as well. The main thing we learned was the history of the rice plantations. We didn’t know that this area was the rice capital of the US until after the Civil War. We enjoyed strolling around town and waterfront as the wind didn’t seem as strong by the time we were visiting the other locations. This is a very small town and historic district. We did enjoy it but haven’t ventured back to the county museum. Click here if you would like to see a photo album of our pictures.

2.  We love gardens and Brookgreen Gardens doesn’t disappoint. If you don’t mind a few nude statues mixed in.  The initial cost may seem high, $15, but that is good for seven days. And we recommend visiting it over a few days. We spent two leisurely days here twice when we were in the area. Our grandson was oblivious to the statutes but loved the open green spaces, water fountains and the zoo. The gardens are also known as a public sculpture garden which displays  the figurative sculpture works of American sculptors, including many pieces by Anne Hyatt Huntington.

Registered as a National Historic Landmark, Brookgreen Gardens is a wonder of native flora, fauna, and American sculpture. Considered by many to be the jewel of the Grand Strand, Brookgreen Gardens has been delighting visitors since its creation (and donated land) in 1931 by Anne and Archer Huntington. Located off Highway 17 in Murrells Inlet, the entrance is conveniently marked by a larger-than-life statue of a horse and rider.

Among the nine-thousand lush acres of South Carolina history and lowcountry landscapes you will find the most significant collection of outdoor figurative sculpture by American artists in the world. At Brookgreen Gardens you will learn about the rice plantations of the 1800s and the Gullah culture of the enslaved Africans who worked them. Guests are able to see animals in scenic enclosures that respect the animals and the surrounding environment at the Lowcountry Zoo and Native Animal Habitat. The little ones will love the Butterfly House and the Peace Garden Room for Children along with the fountains, reflecting pools, and hidden pathways. There are plenty of open, green spaces to enjoy a picnic or lay back and watch the clouds go by at Brookgreen Gardens. Guests can explore all Brookgreen Gardens has to offer on foot, by boat tour or by the Trekker tour vehicle.

3.  Across from the gardens, on the beach side of Kings Highway, is Huntington Beach State Park. The Huntington’s donated this land as well and helped to create Brookgreen Gardens. A portion of Brookgreen Gardens is a nature reserve, and another section is leased to the state for Huntington Beach State Park. The gardens, historic plantation sites, and their adjacent residence ‘Atalaya Castle‘ are a National Historic Landmark, and on the National Register of Historic Places. Sadly, it was a dreary day when we visited and we don’t have any pictures. But this is a lovely and quaint place to explore the lives of the Huntington’s. They were kind and generous people.

4.  We explored the area by driving around. Looking at condos and villa’s for sale (we really like the area), drove around North Myrtle Beach and to the Boardwalk and Flywheel.

Myrtle Beach FlywheelWe’ve only been here in off season, October, January, and March. We can’t imagine what it must be like during the summer season. There is very little traffic except at some shopping and highway intersections.  After looking all around, we really like staying in the area we have stayed the most, Pirateland. We are between Surfside Beach and  Myrtle Beach State Park. There is also a nice hike in the State Park.  The beach is just wonderful, but we do have to watch the times we go walking. The beach does “shrink” during high tide.

Since we are here in the off-season, many restaurants and activities are closed. We aren’t golfers. But did you know this area started the “golfing packages?” Hotel stay plus golfing? It’s also a fisherman’s paradise. And now we have learned there is kayaking, so we do hope to try that next time.

The biggest disappointment to us, as non-foodies, are the restaurants. We don’t eat out much, but when we do, we would like a good meal. That has been lacking here. Except we did have to eat breakfast out when we took our motorhome in to have our washing machine installed. We ate at the Omega Restuarant and it was superb! It is open for breakfast and lunch.

One other distractions are the $20 helicopter rides along the beach and near the airport. We hear the helicopters and jets flying over when we are out on the beach. Our grandson loves to shout and point AIRPLANE, so we noticed them more when he was here.

Grandson pointing and shouting, AIRPLANE!

At Brookgreen Gardens, our grandson pointing and shouting AIRPLANE!

Finally, we have enjoyed the church services we have attended here. Last winter, we met up with a man we attended church with in New Jersey. We attended his church and had lunch. We did like that restaurant but can’t recall the name of it.  We really do feel close to the Lord here because we are outside and on the go most of the time here. We love hearing the ocean slapping the beach!

Psalm 96:11-13 Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy; they will sing before the LORD, for He comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in His truth.

10/31/2015

Final Awards!


thank-you

Where do we begin? We are overwhelmed with the kindness and support of our new friends/followers/followees in the blogosphere. We’ve never intended this blog to be more than our own memory bank of our travels (previously marriage blog) and to help friends and family keep up with us.

We were helped by other bloggers as we took off on our adventures. So we want to share our adventures in hopes of helping others who may be curious about traveling full-time while living in a Recreational Vehicle.

We go in spells where we have limited wi-fi, so we couldn’t respond quickly to some nominations. In fact, initially, we chose to turn the nominations down.  But we never posted this was “An Award-Free” blog. And now, we just saw and realized what has happened…we have more nominations than we have the ability to properly respond. But we are working on it. In the meantime, we hope this will prevent anymore nominations and will help us spread the love!

We hope to acknowledge every wonderful person who has nominated us.  And sadly, we just can’t think of how to nominate others per each set of rules. So we will modify this a bit and hope to capture the essence of these wonderful “encouragers!” Be warned, we do plan to start shooting out nominations….

First, we will start off with a like-minded grandma, a great grandma, even!  Thank you, dear Oneta Hayes, my Sweet Aroma friend! Thank you for the Creative Blogger and Blogger Recognition Awards. Go here to read more (I especially like today’s post on Plow up the fallow maybe fertile ground and look around to learn more about this amazing woman who has so much to share!

Blogger Recognition Award
Creative Blogger Award

Two accomplished (both aspiring writers) and wonderful bloggers honored us with the Sunshine Blogger Award. The first one by Starting the Climb, whose tagline is “Trying to get a little better at life every day.”  She’s young and is searching for her role in life. She reminds me so much of myself at her age. She needs lots of love and encouragement so stop on by and give her a cheer!

And the second person is becoming a real blogosphere friend! We have much in common since we are of the same generation. Her posts are always so informative….she actually has two blogs. One she is using as an aspiring writer (Shh, Maddy is Writing) to help her writing skills (which are excellent) and the other is geared towards us older folks. And she has the knowledge and skills for anyone at any age to learn something new! She also interviews various people to further expand her repertoire, including us in her series on Retirement! I’ve enjoyed reading about others journeys into retirement. And then a favorite feature is her Sunday Beach Combing, on the Internet.  Wow, she comes up with amazing things….and I share some with my daughter! Go here to read about the Sunshine Blogger Award.

Sunshine Blogger Award

Sunshine Blogger Award

Fun Simplicity has such a warm and welcoming blog! She realized she couldn’t name one blessing last year. And now she is dedicated to nothing but posting blessings. I love the name of her blog, “I care U care.” Thank you for also nominating us for the Blogger Recognition Award and visit the award nomination here and look around her beautiful blog!

One Lovely Blog Award
Blogger Recognition Award

If you haven’t come across our dear blogosphere friend, Vibrant Anand, also known as @Thinkerv0, then you are missing on  HUGE blessings! He is so amazing, a relatively new blogger. Many of us met him in August in the Blogging 101 WordPress course. He is the best encourager and blogger! His posts are always full of such amazing photos (he gets them from several free pictures sites) and wisdom.  His signature, “Love and Light,” is so endearing and I (Debbie) want to steal it from him! We’ve already thanked him here, but then he went on to offer a few more awards. He nominated us for the Creative Blogger Award, the Premio Dardos Award and the Versatile Blogger.  And then the Infinity Dreams Award is so beautiful. See the nomination here.  And that wasn’t enough, the lastest award is about my favorite as it is just for being who we are and doesn’t ask much else. The details are at the bottom of this post and serve as one of the greatest honors ever!

The Infinity Dreams Award
Respect Award

You don’t have to do anything for the Respect Award.

You can choose to copy the Award Picture and give the award to the people who have earned your respect or you can do nothing.

This is his way of saying thank you. You have earned my respect.

The respect award is an award created by Robert Goldstein.

Dear Anand, we re-nominate you for the Respect Award!!!

And followers, please offer suggestions on how we can pass all these wonderful awards along! If you know of someone worthy of an award, let us know. We plan to start nominating others to “share the love!”

10/27/2015

Update on our minimalistic lifestyle


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Our 2010 Tiffin Phaeton QTH and 2013 SRX in Bristol, TN

Our original post on becoming minimalists seemed to gather lots of interest.  We know this lifestyle is not for everyone.  But this may help others who plan to become full-time travelers or just want to simplify their lives. My young friend, Arpita, asked for an update as she transitions into her new minimalistic lifestyle.  Check out her series, as we really like the way she is doing her “research” as she took on this new way of living, as a working professional! She is NOT in an RV nor is she in the United States.

I have been wondering how it may look to others to say we are minimalists but yet live in what many would consider a “luxurious” 40-foot motorhome and drive a Cadillac (granted it is a small crossover, SRX). Both are used, BTW. What appears to be minimalistic to one person may mean something else to another.

What does minimalism mean?  I decided to see what the “official” definition was, but the word has really evolved over time. So here is the one definition which really suits us.

When you call a person a minimalist, you’re describing their interest in keeping things very simple.  A minimalist prefers the minimal amount or degree of something. (Source.)

And the minimal “amount” of something we prefer are possessions or stuff! Less stuff, less stress. Less stuff, easier to clean. Less stuff, more discretionary money (to spend on grandchildren, tithing and donations to others). Less stuff, easier to move!

Our Tiffin motorhome slogan is “Roughing it Smoothly.” And that is our lifestyle.  We both started working at young ages and have enjoyed long-term careers. It only seems natural as we age, we would want to enjoy the comforts of our home.

Worthless stuff

The last of the stuff we had to throw away!

This past month (September 2015), we finally closed out our storage locker.  And sadly, as we think about how much money we spent to store these items, we only walked away two categories of “things:”  Our lifetime of photographs, to be scanned and digitized, were removed from the albums; and our “Lifetime” brand pots and pans. We bought them when we were first married. They were too big and heavy to carry in the 5th wheel but now fit nicely in our motorhome. We just think about all the money we wasted on stuff that in the end, had no meaning or place in our new lifestyle.

So here are the advantages we are now enjoying as we have officially downsized:

  1. We are more nimble! We’ve had a few occasions where we had to lock up our home and drive to various family members homes to help them as they faced some challenges. It was so easy to pack our personal items since we didn’t have to search through the clutter to find our suitcases and then to pack.
  2. We often think we are doing our only child a favor. She’ll never have to clean out our home like we did for our dads. Bill’s parents had never moved, so it was a house full of nearly 50 years of memories and stuff. My dad was a bit of a pack rat. While my parents moved a lot, dad always had lots of stuff!
  3. When we suddenly had our toddler grandson for 11 days, we didn’t have to put stuff away. Our home is basically baby-proofed!
  4. Bill took a course in college called the “biology of disease.” It made him want to live in a really CLEAN home! It is so easy to keep our home clean and to actually wipe things down, dust, vacuum, etc.
  5. I’ve never really been one to “feather” my nest. I was more focused on a career and parenting my daughter.  I do look at lovely homes, beautifully decorated. But we’ve just never been able to do it ourselves. This has helped us really get rid of our stuff.
  6. FREEDOM! We are not slaves to needing to shop to buy stuff. It helps that we are not shoppers.
  7. We are more or less penny pinchers. We wanted to retire young, so we learned to spend less. And that includes not eating out. So our minimalism runs over into our eating habits. We do like to eat healthy since we plan to live into old age! And cooking at home seems to help our health.
  8. We love to be active and on the go. One reason we wanted the motorhome over our 5th wheel trailer was so we could do laundry much easier. Having everything self-contained, which includes eating at home and doing laundry on our schedule, means more time to go sightseeing, hiking, long beach walks and family time. We’ve wanted to incorporate another fitness activity such as kayaking. We just haven’t been able to figure that one out. I now have a “Fitbit” watch which has helped me see, we are indeed active. I hit 10,000 steps regularly!
  9. We only get our mail twice a month and we have been able to reduce our mail to the minimum. When I was a little girl, I liked to play “office.”  Go figure. Anyway, I’ve always had an office in our homes. And they were full of office work, paperwork, just too much stuff. I attended a seminar on how to eliminate clutter in our lives – mainly focusing on paper.  We shred nearly everything after we verify it’s accurate. We will only keep the supporting documents needed for our tax returns. We’ve now eliminated the need for my once beloved office!
  10. And finally, there are the financial benefits of this lifestyle. It sickened us as we saw how much stuff we accumulated that really wasn’t necessary or needed. At our age, and now as retirees, we are looking at what is REALLY important in life. And for us, to maintain our health, spend as much time as possible with our grandchildren, visit other family and good friends as we travel and to really enjoy the fruits of our labor by seeing this beautiful country! And after we do all this, we hope to do some international travel.
Ecclesiastes 12:8 & 13

One of our favorite books in the Bible concludes with these verses. And are so appropriate to how we want to live our lives! This is our view as we walked on the beach today, 10/27/15.

 

10/26/2015

Changing Our Minds, Part 3


  • ChangeIs it possible to change after a crisis? According to one scientific study, not many people do. This research was conducted on 3,700 people (for more research on “change”, visit National Institute for Health.) Actually, I’ve attempted to quote the pastor at the church we attended last week,

Could you change if it was really important? A study of 3,700 people who were diagnosed with high cholesterol determined only one in 10 can….They were told for their health, they need to take one pill a day. By the 3rd month, 1/2 had stopped taking the pill to lower it. Then, a year later, only 1/3 continued to take the life-saving medicine. The reason? The pills reminded them they were sick. So the bottom line was, they didn’t resist the change, they resisted being changed.

We couldn’t believe the sermon this week sounded like what we needed from the sermon the week before, Changing Your Minds. Maybe this is what I (Debbie) need to really make that final change I have been struggling with for over 40 years!

To be very honest, I’ve noticed I’m not the only wife with this “problem.” Bill was happy to hear I really am serious about tackling this with our new lifestyle. Those 400 or so square feet we now live in means we REALLY need to get along. And for the most part, we do, almost all the time. If you’ve read some of our first posts about our marriage (we divorced after 13 years only to experience a miracle and remarry a year later), you’d know we are like most married couples. We started out thinking we are the perfect couple and we will have the best marriage ever. And then eventually, reality hits and again, like most marriages, we began to experience the common issues men and women have. Disagreements.

When we remarried, we vowed we would do it right the second time and we honestly gave ourselves over to the Lord for His guidance. We recently shared as guest bloggers on Aprita’s World, what we feel is about the best advice we can give young marrieds. So you would think we have the perfect marriage now.

Well, we are working on it and as our last post shared, there is hope if we allow the Lord to work in our lives. So the challenge the week after the sermon was to see how it played out. And then we had another “detour” to our vacation in Myrtle Beach. This time, our daughter needed some help. The solution was for us to drive 400 miles one way to pick up our oldest grandson. We actually had tried to get her to come for a week with both grandsons, but we know traveling with a newborn and an active toddler wouldn’t be easy.

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We had a great time with him, but our focus was purely on him and only him! So no time for me to see if I had really changed, but something told me, I hadn’t. As we dealt with him, I couldn’t help but ask, “Lord do I act like a two-year-old toddler when you are trying to get me to do the right thing?” You know what I mean, “I want to do it MY way!” Oh, our patience was tested. We worked as a beautiful team, keeping him safe and helping explore a new world, the beach, and gardens.

Off to church, we went on Sunday, taking him along to enjoy the church nursery. He had a grand time and we got what we needed, the sermon topic was “Principles for Change.” We chuckled as we read the bulletin, God had a message for us again! But the scriptures seemed an odd place to focus on change, or were they?

Mark 2:2-12

The healing of the paralyzed man

This familiar story is about the paralyzed man who had so much faith, he asked his friends to take him to see Jesus. However, he didn’t realize how hard it would be to see him. He was in a crowded building and the only way in was to make a hole in the roof and be lowered into the presence of Jesus. And the friends did exactly that. The result, Jesus knew of the man’s great faith and said,

Verse 5. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

Verses 11-12. “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

The sermon continued. Through the power of God, we can change. We become new creations. Old things become new. Much like this paralyzed man. Didn’t he experience change? Our lives change, too, when we meet Jesus. Bill and I have both changed drastically since we both met Jesus in our younger days. But it is a life long process to get to where we want to be. To really change! We know we have to want to change. But I’ve wanted to change this “quirk” and it’s taken longer than we want. Come on Pastor, help me see what more I need to do!

We have to ask, how do we prepare to change? Much like the paralytic. The first principle is to be surrounded by friends and family with faith. He had four friends he trusted and depended upon! And then as we met the Lord, we first need to allow our hearts to be changed. And that is acknowledging we are sinners and are in need of a savior. Jesus clearly saw the man’s heart and his faith. So his sins were first forgiven and then he was able to walk.

Psalm 103:2-3 Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases….

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

We need to ask ourselves, who are my friends? W hat is their faith? Do we realize our faith can be seen, so do we see their faith? Let’s go back to verse 5: When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” And like these four men, their faith was evident. Let’s look at some Proverbs for wisdom about our friends:

Proverbs 13:20 Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.

Proverbs 22:24-25 Do not make friends with a hot-tempered person, do not associate with one easily angered, or you may learn their ways and get yourself ensnared.

In other words, if you want to see positive changes, you want to be surrounded by people of faith who are wise! I’m thankful my husband is very wise! And we are blessed with friends and family who are also living for the Lord.

This paralyzed man needed friends to help him. Then he caught their faith as they brought him to Jesus. No one wants to be a bother, but to change, we need to bother others. To confess our sins not only to God but to each other.

The process is to first seek the PARDON or forgiveness. And that was what he did, by approaching he Lord, even if on a mat! Then to accept the POWER of the Lord, “take up your mat.”  And finally, allow Jesus to work from the inside out. First the forgiveness and then he could walk!

So how do I apply this? Today, we had to miss church due to the round trip to return our grandson. Instead, as we rode, we talked and talked….about this matter!

So here are some notes from our discussion. I wish I could have taped it. We do talk about the state of marriage a lot. Because we are surrounded by married people. And we want the best for them…but like us, they need to WANT the BEST for their marriage.

Here are a couple of thoughts from our discussion:

  • Interesting how our culture wants marriage for all. But it is only for the alternative marriages that the media seems to promote. If we want to talk about a covenant marriage as designed by our Creator, if we are a believer in the God of the heavens and earth, then we are seeking to be married as God intended it.
  • When a man talks harshly to wife, he is called an abuser. When wife does it, she’s “just a nag.” Men say they don’t hear their wives when they are nagging them. Have you noticed, you don’t hear jokes about wives tuning out husbands, but wives say it all the time. Oops, I do accuse Bill of not hearing me. So maybe I am a bit of a nag at times. I need to watch my what comes out of my mouth. Instead of saying, “Bill do this or that!” Say, “Bill, would you mind doing this or that?” Geez, is that all I need to do?
  • As we finalized our minimalism – After 40 years together, about all we kept were our family pictures. They define who and what we are. When people divorce, what happens to the pictures? We decided when we divorced, we would give them to our daughter. How do you think she would have enjoyed them? Looking at all the fun times we had? Would she feel joy or sadness? Happiness or heartbreak? We’re so thankful we are continuing to make family memories in our pictures.
  • We don’t teach children how to be married. They pick it up watching parents and world around them such as TV. What kind of marriages are being promoted? All we can do is pray our daughter sees our marriage as different from what is promoted. In fact, we are so happy to say she has told us more than once, she is so grateful she was raised by two parents who love each other, and her. And now that we have grandchildren, this is even more important as we help her as needed.
  • Going deeper, Bill no longer lets me tell him what to do anymore! Now that’s the CHANGE I needed. He’s a grown man, a college graduate, who graduated with honors as he likes to remind me!
    He asked me, “Do you know how it makes me feel when you try to direct me? Is there something wrong with me?” Oh NOOOOO!!!! I’m so blessed I have such an honorable and wise husband. What’s wrong with me that I continue to do this?
  • Fortunately, we have a desire to succeed! We want it all!!! So I just have to ask for forgiveness, once again. This is not the first attempt at this….but this is the last.

My dear husband, please forgive me once again for telling you what to do. I’ve really worked on this and I’m sure I get it now! Friends, will you hold me accountable?

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Aren’t we happy grandparents? With our two month old grandson this weekend.

For more about the Change our Lord wants accomplished in all mankind, visit http://thelordiswithus.com/2015/10/27/the-new-true-self-must-increase-the-outer-man-must-decrease/

10/21/2015

Changing our minds, Part 2


IMG_8543 (1) Our site on Saturday. Forgot to take a picture with the blue sky!

Warning: This post contains sensitive matters related to our marriage and spiritual lives.

We arrived in Myrtle Beach on Friday, October 9. The weather was beautiful, as it usually is after a storm. In this case, Hurricane Joquin. We liked our site and got settled in quickly. Then off for a three-mile walk on the beautiful beach. We had a wonderful sunset and visited with neighbors. All and all, a great first day.

Saturday, the rain began. Could this campground handle it? While there had been some flooding with the hurricane, it had dried by the time we arrived. And yes, thankfully it and the area survived another full day of rain. We managed to get in another three-mile walk before it started. We decided with as many campers we saw, we best get to Camping World and see if they would be able to install a new washing machine. YES, as busy as they were, they booked us in on Monday morning at 8:00.  Hooray! For those who’ve followed our journey into buying the motor home, you know this is a BIG deal. (One main reason we wanted the motor home was for the washer and dryer capabilities. “Sharing” them in some campground laundry mat is less than ideal. When we bought it, we were told they both worked. But the washer didn’t….and that is fiasco is documented here.)

We were starting to decompress, so how great we were able to walk six miles in our first two days!  But we didn’t really talk about where we would go to church in the morning, which we normally do the night before. We did like the church services they have at this campground, so I assumed that would be where we would go.

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We woke up early and over breakfast, Bill suggested going to a “real” church. It comes out he was a bit tentative about the campground service. I googled First Baptist Churches (seems the best go to for us of late) and discovered their services were 8:30 or 11:00. If we hurried, we could make it. So we began to hurry. Debbie more so than Bill. You see, I want to do what he preferred. I’m fine where ever, as long as we go. But really, what is “church?” It’s not a building. It’s us!

While our new home has lots of space, it can get a bit tight if we are both in a hurry to go somewhere, like church. And we did have a collision this Sunday! It was really my fault. I was “directing” Bill (and that’s my 40-year-old quirk). He didn’t appreciate it….so long story short, we couldn’t make it to the 8:30 service. So off we went to the 9:00 campground service.

IMG_8540 The “church” service is held in the Rec room, next to the campground store.

What a surprise to see it was packed. The first row was open and we arrived right before 9. Of course, we got the prime seats! Bill is an introvert, so he hates having to walk in front of everyone…We had a welcome song and we really felt comfortable being in a church full of people like us, travelers, campers, and “visitors.”  Then Chevelle Turner led us in “Let’s Just Praise the Lord” and “People Need the Lord.”  Her voice is amazing and these songs were old time favorites. Then let the preaching begin.

I was on the edge of my seat as I knew the Lord has a special word for us since we had our little “collision.” And it wasn’t just bumping into each other. It was grating on each other’s nerves! Isn’t that how Sunday mornings are for everyone? LOL

Sermon title, “Changing Your Mind” and it was so geared towards, me, Debbie. (Maybe Bill will feel the same for himself. He hasn’t said yet!)

The texts were from the book of Romans and italics are mine for emphasis of this blog:

Romans 12:2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

And Romans 8:5-9

Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.  The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.  The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.  Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.

Ok, so these seem like some pretty scary scriptures, but I knew we were in for a challenge. And we knew this was the message we needed to hear. So true confessions time, again. Very few people know a side to me (only close family) that we affectionately call, “little Larry” after my dad. Dad was a brilliant man, IQ wise, but socially, he struggled. He would fly off the handle over the little things. Needless to say, I tend to get irrational with Bill on rare occasions, but what happened this morning was one of those times. I KNOW I need to change my mind….

The pastor started out by telling us these scriptures mean it is a continuous process and it occurs from the inside out. The mind is described as housing our attitudes, thoughts, feelings, actions. These things are learned as babies are not born prejudice or with bad thoughts. Medical doctors can’t explain this process, but scientists have been intrigued for centuries.

Phrenology Photo credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Phrenology1.jpg

I’m thinking this sermon must be for Bill. I have a great attitude about life, my thoughts and feelings are lined up with scripture….but the action part….OK, so I act up every once in a while. But for my very patient and kind husband, that every once in a while is a real thorn in his side!  Bill, on the other hand, has the actions down pat.  But his family background has ingrained him with a bit of negativity….but he can better explain it. We are both poking at each other during sermon points, as in to say, “that was for you!”

Let me just outline what the sermon was about, which, in essence, is that it’s up to us and our desire to change and be transformed.  But how do we do this?

  1.  We need to harness our desires. As we move from our past sinful life, we will allow the Lord to work in our hearts and minds.  We will want to be more like Jesus. He gave several examples of what that looks like, but the best was how King David expressed how he was longing for God’s presence, praise, joy, fellowship, and expressed confidence in God’s salvation. (Psalm 63).  He was a man after God’s own heart as stated in Acts 13:22 “After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.'”
  2. Deny ourselves (this statement is one reason why Christianity is unpopular – but it really works in our lives AND motor home) and pick up His cross (today, we view the cross as a cherished symbol of atonement, forgiveness, grace, and love) as we learn how to manage our thoughts.  Actually, being married is also a great way to learn to deny ourselves as we seek harmony and learn to put our spouse’s needs ahead of our own! But I digress. He used Elijah as an example. We all go through trials and testing of our faith as he did. We learn in 1 Kings 19 that Elijah just had a mountain top experience, but then when word was told to Queen Jezebel, she sought to have him killed. And this is where Elijah’s thinking process is skewed. Why would God abandon him now, after all He enabled Elijah to succeed and do? In essence, it’s not about ourselves as it wasn’t about Elijah.

Ok, I’m pretty satisfied so far and realize I need to do some mind changing things. Remember, I’ve confessed I was the one “directing” this morning. So now, Pastor, tell me HOW do I change my mind?

First, begin by monitoring our thoughts, such as worry, anger, covetous and negative thoughts. (But I’ve mastered these! I never get angry….oops…Guess when I told Bill what to do it wasn’t in the kindest way.) He continued by asking, “Isn’t it a downer to be around people full of these actions?” Remember if you are thinking these things, you are going to ACT on them.  Again, King David is worth quoting here, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.” Psalm 139:23  The Pastor recommends saying this DAILY! How many times have I prayed this? I know I have READ it more than a dozen times since I have read through the Bible at least that many times since 2004.

Second, process life through the eyes of the Lord!  “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him….” 2 Chronicles 16:9a  I love seeing the world through my two-year-old grandson’s eyes. They are filled with wonder as he explores this world! Ah, to translate that to seeing the world through the Lord’s eyes!

Fearless Awe and wonder at life at age two!

Two more great scriptures is to bring this together are: “Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD himself, is the Rock eternal. You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast because they trust in you.” Isaiah 26:3 & 4

Finally, he closes the sermon with these great diaries to help us see how “attitudes” can be so easily displayed. I had hoped I could find this on the web, and yes, here is a great closing, from here:

The Dog’s Diary

8:00 am – Dog food! My favorite thing!
9:30 am – A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40 am – A walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:30 am – Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00 pm – Milk bones! My favorite thing!
1:00 pm – Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
3:00 pm – Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
5:00 pm – Dinner! My favorite thing!
7:00 pm – Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
8:00 pm – Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!
11:00 pm – Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!

The Cat’s Diary

Day 983 of My Captivity

My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength.

The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet. Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts since it clearly demonstrates my capabilities. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a “good little hunter” I am. Bastards!

There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of “allergies.” I must learn what this means, and how to use it to my advantage.

Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow, but at the top of the stairs.

I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded. The bird must be an informant. I observe him communicate with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe. For now …

I drafted this last Wednesday. Then we got a phone call from our daughter that she needed some help as the two-year-old had an infection the baby could easily catch. So what do we do? We drive the 5 hours to get him. We spent the night and brought him back, but the return trip was seven hours. He needed to stretch his legs and run around! So he’s now been here with us for a week. And we haven’t changed yet, so guess we now need Change Part 3….up next!

10/15/2015

Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest


To break up our beach adventure, here’s The Places They Go’s amazing blog. Here they are near Big Pine, California. These pictures are incredible. Who knew California had scapes like these!

placestheygo's avatarOh, the Places They Go!

Bishop, CA

On Sunday we made the short trip from Lee Vining to Bishop, CA, a distance of about sixty-three miles and are set up in Highlands RV Park for a week.

Rte. 395 looking west with Highlands RV on the right

On Monday morning Dave and Sue joined us for a visit to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest outside Big Pine, CA.  We drove south on Rte. 395 for about twenty miles, then turned east on Rte. 168.

Looking east on Rte. 168 toward the White Mountains

Rte. 168 is a nicely paved two lane road that frequently undulates while it twists and turns heading into the mountains.  At one point for about a mile it narrows to just a bit over one lane in width.  Fortunately traffic is sparse and we didn’t meet anyone heading west.

The “narrows” of Rte. 168

Thirteen miles up (and we mean “up” as…

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10/14/2015

We’re in Myrtle Beach!


Matthew 11 28 MATTHEW 11:28

We’re on “vacation” or are full-time RVers ever on vacation? Isn’t our life one big vacation now?  No matter, this place is one of our favorite places to rejuvenate. We thought you might enjoy some pictures of the ocean and our campsite. We haven’t had a chance to see the fall foliage at Brook Green Gardens. But we will. All we’ve done so far is organize our motorhome, get our washing machine installed, washed clothes, and taken long walks every day. More to come!

Myrtle Beach State Park Pier
Low tide
Our site, # 158
Beautiful Egret looking for food.
They do beach erosion repair as needed.
This Egret is checking out this fisherman’s catch
The Egret didn’t get too close, but he wanted a bite!
Near Springmaid Beach
Drainage at Myrtle Beach State Park
10/11/2015

Changing our minds!


This post will be a bit different from just traveling. We are back on the road, so a bit about putting our rig in and then out of “storage,” the crazy journey here on a road we never want to drive the motorhome on again, the crazy weather since arriving…and a marriage issue….

On September 16, as we left our daughter’s home in Virginia, we had an unexpected trip down to Florida for a few weeks to help my mom out. Because we needed to get there by a certain date and had planned a month at Myrtle Beach (for the monthly rate discount), it would not have been fortuitous to drive the motorhome 800 miles. Our solution was to drive it nearly 1/2 way, park it in Florence, SC for the three weeks to a month, and then we’d only be a few hours from Myrtle Beach. Aside from the fact Hurricane Joquin belted Florence and along with much of South Carolina, this was the perfect plan.

Thankfully, since we had a relationship with the owners at the campground, they allowed us to use a 30 amp receptacle so we wouldn’t have to disconnect our batteries (Bill was researching this) and then throw out much of our food in the freezer and fridge (we do love our residential fridge) and leave the doors open. We felt at peace leaving our home but sure were unnerved as we watched the weather reports. We did call and they assured us the campground was fine where we were parked.

Stored in Florence

I took this snapshot as we drove out of the campground.

Things turned out better than we expected during our time helping my mom. It was a rewarding time for the family. And Bill had time to finally sort through and clean out our 5′ X 10′ storage locker. In the end, we didn’t have anything valuable enough worth paying the rent on. We just were sorry we didn’t have more time when we sold our home. But as they say, it is what it is!

We were ready to pick up our motorhome on October 6, a Tuesday. But then there was that hurricane, and I-95 was shut down for miles, before and after Florence. We waited another day. Not only did the roadways begin to open up, but we had great news for my folks. So we quickly packed up and headed to Kingsland, GA to spend the night. The roads and weather were still a bit iffy, although the campground told us we could come on up.

As it turned out, we did have to take a 60-mile detour, which also cost us 60 minutes. But in the grand scheme of things, it was OK. We since found the right website which would have better prepared us. Here are a few pictures showing the route (and traffic) of our detour.

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Traffic back up for a short time.

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This sign was confusing as we were looking for I-26.

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This sign made more sense to us.

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Finally, our destination, Florence, SC.

We happily reunited with our motorhome. And thankfully, the electric stayed on the entire time, so no rotten food! Everything worked. Since it has been a grueling trip with the detour, we decided to spend the night. We needed fresh vegetables, so off to the store we went. And we were able to scope out the highway for our departure. Southbound I-95 was still closed and that was our preferred route to the beach. Now what to do?

The next morning, try as we might, we depended on our new GPS that lets you set it for an RV. We think it knows Bill doesn’t want to drive in a town with lots of traffic and narrow roads.

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This is what we got!

We were in this type of traffic for nearly an hour. The good news is that although Bill thought he was going to lose his mirrors, he drove beautifully and no white knuckles. Finally, we began to see daylight, we would arrive at the beach this day!

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The entrance to Pirateland and to check in.

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Not an easy campground to maneuver in. That’s Bill turning onto the road to back into our site.

We are finally here, our long-awaited trip to the beach. If you remember, we love the beach and that was really what helped solidify our relationship when we first began to date – if you can call what we did date! We really met, fell in love and got married within a few months!

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Bill won’t pose for a picture, so I just said, “Hey Bill” and snapped this as he turned around!

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This is why we like Myrtle Beach! It’s the beach!

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Now, I’ll happily pose….but I usually have too much paraphernalia. We walked three miles our first time out!

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We sat outside with our neighbors and chatted as the Lord gave us a picture show!

Next up, what do we mean, “Changing our minds?” And what does this have to do with our marriage?

10/10/2015

Too much going on to write….


Here’s why you haven’t seen many of our travel posts, from Debbie’s personal blog.
We’re in Myrtle Beach and hope to visit interesting places you normally don’t think of from a beach resort! We’ll be off the beaten path. Is there anything in particular you’d like to learn or see regarding this beach resort?
“Many are the plans in a person’s heart,but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” Proverbs 19:21

Debbie L's avatarReal life....

As usual, my blogosphere friends inspire me. I just read this post, responded and now this post is born!

You may have noticed not a lot of posts lately. I’ve taken the liberty and re-blogged a few great international travel blogs. And I’ve been inspired to blog about some treasures we found as we closed out our storage locker in our home base.

IMG_7595 Our 2-year-old loves to copy what he sees his grandpa doing….cleaning the wheel!

So here is why:  We spent close to 3 months camped near our daughter’s home. We arrived on June 24, 2015, and departed September 15, 2015. I used to keep a daily diary to remember and possibly recreate these times in a blog. It didn’t happen – the diary, that is. The reason for this off the road adventure, yes, an adventure, was to help our daughter get through the end of…

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10/09/2015

Hiking to Parker Lake and Some Hot Water


Two of our favorite hikers, who blog and post pictures beautifully! Join us in this fabulous journey!

placestheygo's avatarOh, the Places They Go!

Lee Vining, CA

On Wednesday morning we drove south of our RV park here in Lee Vining to explore the June Lake Scenic Loop,  a loop road about 15 miles long that passes by a number of beautiful lakes.  But first we needed to fill the Jeep’s tank with fuel, a painful experience in the mountains of California!

Ouch!

About twelve miles south of Lee Vining we turned west on to the loop road.  After about a mile the road crests a hill and June Lake comes into view.

June Lake

At the Boulder Lodge we stopped to get a close-up view of the lake.  No need to guess where the lodge gets its name.

A few miles further around the loop we spotted some water spilling over the rocks above us.  A little research revealed it to be Horseshoe Falls.

Horseshoe Falls from a distance

A closer look reveals the waterfall…

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10/07/2015

Award: Premio Dardos


This is so overdue. We have been recognized and honored to be nominated for a number of awards. To be honest, I’ve seen so many beautiful and well thought out acceptance blogs, it’s a bit intimidating. But what a blessing when I’ve read the acceptance blog by Jodee Sterm of Reverent Devotion.

So what’s the deal with this whole blogging award thing? It may seem insignificant for some, but there is something special about being recognized by another blogger for your efforts and capturing the heart of your blog. I am going to take a tip from Lula Harp, who was also nominated for a number of awards. She decided to modify the rules in order to manage the process!

Now to recognize each person who nominated me, to nominate others and a little about this award:

Premio-Dardos-Blog-Award

Premio Dardos means “Prize Darts” in Spanish, and represents cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values that are transmitted in the form of creative and original writing. WOW, what an honor for a well-respected and very popular blogger, Vibrant Anand of Blabberwockying to nominate me for this award (as well as a few more….)  Visit his blog to see some of the most beautiful posts that touch on all aspects of life with some of the most vibrant pictures I’ve ever seen!

If I have nominated you, follow these three rules to accept:

1. Include the Premio Dardos Award image.
2. Mention the blog that nominated you and add a link to it.
3. Nominate 15 blogs that you consider worthy of this acknowledgment and the reason you nominated them. (I’m going to nominate 5 for each award to make this work….I hope!)

These are five bloggers I have connected with on some level. Their versatility represented in their cultural, ethical, literary and personal values that come out in their creative and original writing have been inspirational to me. And if you decline this nomination, it is OK! I understand. In fact, one person I wanted to nominate has an “Award Free” icon on her blog to let us know, she’s not into this. Not everyone is….but we’ve decided to play it forward and participate!

  • Kathy Simmons of Shangri-La.  This wife and mom of two boys and a toy fox terrier is an amazing photographer. She blogs about every topic imaginable. With humor and love!
  • Bob Ramsak of Piran CafĂŠ. Bob is a professional, so not sure if he will be interested in this award. He’s a reporter, photographer, digital nomad and blogger driven by a lust for travel, art, culture and justice. He’s visited 54 countries and writes something and takes pictures every day.
  • Travel Magnolia – She loves to travel, eat and take photos, although she says not always in that order! She has traveled to 47 countries. She is an amazing photographer and shares her reviews about restaurants, lodging, and sightseeing recommendation!
  • Hums of Sum – Is there anything she can’t blog about! I love younger bloggers and she is an artistically inclined edgy engineer in her early twenties that often ponders about questions on human nature and the meaning of life.
  • Elihu’s Corner – Elihu is a Hebrew name that means “My God is He.”  He is a follower of Christ and writes these things to proclaim God’s power and majesty. Thousands of years ago, a young man named Elihu listened as older men spoke and misspoke about God and His purpose. Elihu, being younger, held his tongue. Finally, he could not restrain himself any longer. He felt compelled to proclaim the awesome, unfathomable nature of God.

Congratulations on capturing our attention and sharing your hearts! We connect with others of faith, those  travel bloggers who share our wanderlust, photographers who love to capture life digitally, and just plain creative individuals who share their lives.

God loves each of us as if there were only one of us. ~ Augustine

 

09/25/2015

Last Days in Park City


This blog has something for everyone! We’ve never been to the beautiful state of Utah. What a great post to give us a taste, and as usual, beautiful photos!

placestheygo's avatarOh, the Places They Go!

Park City, UT

Friends Steve and Joan (FOSJ) have been spending the last few months working with a company that surveys roads for the Bureau of Land Management.  They are currently in Nephi, UT, about 75 miles to the south of Park City.  We emailed back and forth about getting together and, since they have never been to Park City, they volunteered to drive up for the day.

Steve and Joan

Once they arrived we drove to the north of Park City to visit the Utah Olympic Park.  During the 2002 games the park hosted the bobsled, skeleton, luge, ski jumping, and Nordic combined events.  Today it serves as a training center for Olympic and development level athletes.  We visited the park about ten years ago and enjoyed watching summer aerial training.  Fortunately there were skiers training again, so we were able to watch more jumpers.

The many slopes

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09/24/2015

Liebster Award


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It’s an honor for your blog to be nominated for an award by other bloggers.  The first time I was nominated was for my personal blog, Lifetime Of Forgiveness.  Please click here to learn more about this award if it is new for you.  And for purposes of this post, I am writing this as Debbie.

We don’t want to stifle the award and we do want to play it forward. The Liebster Award is to honor new bloggers or bloggers with less than 200 followers. We started this blog in 2011, but never really noticed how many followers we had – we were blogging for ourselves, family, and close friends. We had maybe 20 followers – and as of today, 195. We’re almost ineligible for this honor!  We are pleased this blog has morphed into something strangers are now interested in. So in that regard, we do want to pay it forward!

So we owe thanks and appreciation to two other newer bloggers: Lacie of See You Starside, who also likes to hike, and Jasmin, a young mom of LittleNuggetBigNugget.  Lacie found us on our post about becoming minimalists. And we connected in several other areas. Here’s a little bit about her from her blog: “My name is Lacie and I’m a quarter-lifer from Georgia. I’m an introvert who uses my blog as a way to get some social interaction without having to see the face to face judgment of those around me.

“I love nature and hiking, and thanks to my parents, I have quite the sense of wanderlust. I devour books like no one’s business. I can cook a mean chocolate pie, sew a quilt for a new baby, fix most basic car problems, and listen to your issues like your teddy bear.

“In short, I am a complex person and I have, much like my blog, quite the list of interests. I believe that everyone has a story to tell and they are all important. This is my story. Sometimes it’s funny, sometimes it’s sad, but it is mine, and it is true.”  I’ve enjoyed many of her posts and we are in essence, classmates in Blogging University. So it has been fun watching her grow in her blogging capabilities. I love her honesty!

Jasmin and I connected over our love of babies! But we have several other connections. This is a bit on her “About page” which shows some other areas we’ve connected: “I am 27 years old living a less-than-perfect life In Southern California, trying not only to make my life beautiful, but also see the beauty in it all. I’m a pessimist living in an optimist’s body. Sounds odd, doesn’t it? Well, this is what happens when you spent your high school years in therapy because you were depressed, on meds, and suicidal. Really, just feeling lost and out of place. If you stick around, you’ll see I’ve come a long way, but you’ll also see there are random moments of anxiety and depressive thoughts, and that’s just the aftermath of my teenage years….”

For me, these awards are all about encouraging one another, encouraging one another and sharing each other’s talents with others. I tried to make sure they have not be nominated for the Liebster Award, but I may have missed it. No matter, it is worth your while to  take a look at their blogs. So without further ado, we’d like to nominate these bloggers:

  1. Starting the Climb: I’m really drawn to young bloggers who are searching for meaning and purpose. This a one such person, who wants to help others! Why not check her out and give her a follow!
  2. Sweet Aroma: We are like-minded and her blog is full of the sweetness and goodness of our Lord’s creation!
  3. The Lord is with us: Another like-minded blogger whose heart searches for the same things as mine! I look forward to her refreshing posts!
  4. The Truth Lover: Oh, there might be a theme here, another like-minded blogger with a similar passion!  This very diversified and focused blogger has something for everyone interested in seeking the truth about life!
  5. A Backpacker’s Diary: This young man is an amazing photographer and observer of life. His insights are challenging and his views refreshing.
  6. RA for Beginners: This is an educational and encouraging blog by a young lady learning how to navigate life with her rheumatoid arthritis (or as she says, one swollen joint at a time).  Her beautiful blog is worth a stop by and follow!
  7. Reverent Devotion: Another young like-minded blogger. I look forward to her posts for my daily food encouragement!
  8. Words From One Heart: Another young lady with a similar focus, from France so English is not her primary language. I admire these bloggers who can write in another language.
  9. On RVing Time: Sharon is an accomplished writer, but this is a new blog site. Of course, we share the love of RVing, so she has much to share that interests us!
  10. Voyager of Freedom: This is an irresistible blog, so best to just quote from About: “They tell me it’s important to never forget who you are or where you come from, the rest is all irrelevant. For that reason I have done a lot of soul-searching and began on the quest to discover who I am spiritually, while never forgetting what I have already learned. I don’t know where life will take me, or how I will make the journey, but no one will ever take away where the journey began. That’s why I love to write; I write about everything: emotions, society, the things that I’ve experienced or felt but can’t explain., love, life, friends, politics or even oneself or others. My goal as a writer is to be perceived as the Artist that can write the unspoken words of your soul.”

If you chose to accept this award, please click here for the rules. Or you can modify them a bit as I am going to do.  I like it when bloggers just share random facts about themselves! So please give us at least 10 random facts about yourself, your blog, or something that is not necessarily on your About page or blog site!

God never said that the journey would be easy, but He did say that the arrival would be worthwhile.” Max Lucado

 

09/23/2015

Fall Foliage and the Fabulous Flat Tops Wilderness


I’m making so many new friends in the blogosphere! Here is another awesome post about one of my favorite states to live and vacation in, Colorado! Aren’t these pictures fabulous and the history of the area so interesting?

travel magnolia's avatartravel magnolia

Trappers Lake, Flat Tops Wilderness Area, Meeker, Colorado Trappers Lake

As Joni Mitchell observed in her classic Big Yellow Taxi, “Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.” The vast wilderness encountered in the United States west even through the early 20th century has been eroded by development. Fortunately, the National Parks and National Forests along with many state and local agencies have preserved enough open spaces for visitors to enjoy.

Trappers Lake, Flat Tops Wilderness Area, Meeker, Colorado One of the 110 lakes in the Flat Tops Wilderness

While people are familiar with Yellowstone, Yosemite and Glacier National Parks, leading to traffic jams, overflowing parking lots and other annoyances, there are terrific destinations waiting to be explored, such as Sheep Creek Canyon (see previous post Rocky Mountain Road Trip) and the Flat Tops Wilderness Area in northwest Colorado.

Trappers Lake, Flat Tops Wilderness Area, Meeker, Colorado Heading to Big Fish Lake

In three days of fishing, horseback riding and hiking, we saw virtually  no one…

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09/22/2015

Awards awards awards!


WOW, we just didn’t realize so many people have recognized the heart of this blog. It shows that it is easy to lose track of comments from others.  We want to thank the following for nominating our blog for a few awards: Laci, Jasmin, Meggan, Saint P, and Vibrant (Anand)! I’m going to reply with a post to each over the next few days to keep this post at a manageable length.

It is so nice to be thought of in a special way, especially when going through some tough times.  We are off the road for about a month. We are re-blogging some other travel blogs of couples we have been “following” (and inspired by) since we began RVing (short for Recreational Vehicle traveling). But something has happened that made me decide to add to the focus of our Travel Adventure blog. It’s time to play it forward and share my new blogosphere experiences.

Quick history: When we began to dream about buying an RV and traveling, we found a few blogs which really inspired us. We began to follow them and realized we had much in common with them (our love for adventure and hiking)….so we have a special blogosphere “commenting” relationship! We’ve never met, but we could hang out around a fire pit and talk for hours, like old lost friends!  You will notice, we are re-blogging a few of their blogs. So I guess I won’t say much more, except they are amazing bloggers and adventure travelers – and have lots of “followers.” BTW, we are all retired and are in somewhat of the same station in life – so that helps with our commonality! Check out their sites: the Lowe’s, Ingrid & Al, Pam & John, and the Wandering Dawgs!

I realized I needed to enhance my (our) blogging, so I signed up in one WordPress Blogging University (BU) course, Blogging 101 in July (when we were again off the road). I only did about 1/2 of the course but met some wonderful bloggers. I then signed up to take it again the next month and enter a whole new world of fabulous bloggers with huge hearts!  In BU, you do learn to help and support each other, to read and comment on each other’s blogs, to help each other to find our ways in the blogosphere.

Thanks to Blabberwockying, authored by Anand, who is also known as Vibrant, I’ve been pushed over the edge to finally say, I’ll ACCEPT!!! Anand and I live in two totally different worlds, but we still have much in common. I can’t say enough good about him, except to say he is an amazing person.  And he has nominated us for three awards!

These awards are such an honor to receive. It means another blogger has seen the heart and soul of a fellow blogger and then nominates that person/blog to recognize the efforts put into the blog. I was not going to accept them on this blog because it didn’t “feel” appropriate since our focus narrow and to a specific audience (family and friends). I did accept one on my personal blog – the blog that really needs help to survive, but it is about my heart and soul!  A young man who I have very little in common with, except for the blogosphere, nominated me for that first award. I’ve become more or less a grandma to him (a major cheerleader for his work) and he in turn, has taken me under his wing to help me improve my actual blog look! What fun this has all been.

So now to go over my nominations. Because I have five, I am going to modify the rules a little. But first, let me thank each person as I draw you to the post that grabbed their attention to honor me:

In reverse order (to be determined), the latest award nomination, The Versatile Blogger Award nomination for our blog details are here.

Award Rules:

If you are nominated, you’ve been awarded the Versatile Blogger award.

Thank the person who gave you this award. That’s common courtesy.
Include a link to their blog. That’s also common courtesy—if you can figure out how to do it.
Next, select 15 blogs/bloggers (I’m modifying to seven) that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly. ( I would add, pick blogs or bloggers that are excellent!)
Nominate those 15 bloggers (or less) for the Versatile Blogger Award — you might include a link to the original site.
Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself.

7 Random Facts About Me (Bill is choosing to not participate):

  1. I’ve lived in three countries: USA, Germany, Japan
  2. I’ve traveled and/or worked in six countries: Mexico, Canada, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Pakistan
  3. I’ve had fabulous layovers in four countries: Tokyo (felt like home), London, Singapore, Abu Dhabi
  4. I can only speak English, but can talk gibberish with my sister.
  5. I have lived in seven USA states: Wyoming, Colorado, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Alabama, New Jersey, and Florida.
  6. I can’t count how many states I have traveled in. One day, I’ll try to count them. The goal is to drive our RV to all 49 states on our continent.
  7. I’m a wanderlust!

Definition borrowed from Wikipedia: The term originates from the German words wandern (to hike) and Lust (desire). The term wandern, frequently misused as a false friend, does in fact not mean “to wander”, but “to hike.” Placing the two words together, translated: “enjoyment of hiking”, although it is commonly described as an enjoyment of strolling, roaming about or wandering.

My Nominees…

I’ve selected these people because I see so much versatility in their blogs! I wish them continued success in their blogging and in their earthly existence!  Congratulations to each and it is your choice to participate. No hard feelings if you can’t accept, or don’t want to accept. But I do want you to know, I’m following you and look forward to watching your blog grow!!

  1.  Shine Positive Power! This young lady is amazing, encouraging, and so versatile with her posts.
  2. Just a bunch of Nuggets: Another young lady and blogging mom. We connected right away. I love nuggets!
  3. Oh, My Glai! When I think of versatile, this is the blog! Another young lady, and relatively new blogger that has so much to offer and share!
  4. Elihu’s Corner. This dad is a wonderful role model to his children and shares his timeless and Biblical principles that help all of us!
  5. See you starside. There are just certain bloggers with whom instantly click. This is another young lady that is doing all she can to create a very versatile and wonderful blog!
  6. Think Outside. Once you see this young man’s blog, you will know why we clicked. Another very versatile blogger and adventurer!
  7. Lydia and I also had an instant connection. She is also very versatile and has so much to offer!

There are a number of others I want to see recognized, so stay tuned as I catch up on our awards. Lots more to share!

You are valuable because you exist. Not because of what you do or what you have done, but simply because you are. –Max Lucado

09/20/2015 Gallery

Roaming Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado


Since we’re not traveling, might as well continue to share some of our favorite bloggers and RV travelers fabulous posts. I lived in Colorado for six years, from about 4 years old to 10. My childhood memories were captured here! Then I took my husband there for vacation twice, in September (and we did go to Pikes Peak and experienced a blizzard) and he fell in love with it as well. We can’t wait to take our RV there. One day…..

Lowes Travels's avatarLowes Travels

We’re back in Colorado, and this time we’ll hang around the central and western areas of the state until the threat of nasty weather runs us off to warmer grounds.  The first time we stayed in Colorado last spring we were enthralled with the beautiful scenery around us, and the many iconic outdoor places to explore and visit.

On the current migration toward our southern winter destination we’re climbing over the Rockies on I-70.  Our first stop includes a long-anticipated visit to Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP).

Boyd Lake State Park A morning crescent moon (with Venus nearby) appears  at Boyd Lake State Park

A 5:30am wakeup at our home base at Boyd Lake State Park in Loveland gave us an early start toward RMNP, which allowed us to avoid the crowds for several hours.  Leaving before sunrise also rewarded us with an alpenglow as the sun slowly rose to awaken the sleeping giants:

Alpen Glow

Some 4-legged morning greeters were on hand as we entered the park:

Elk, Rocky Mountain National Park Our greeters…

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09/19/2015

Real LIFE


I just noticed we’ve made 100 posts on this site and can’t really celebrate it. Here is an update from my (Debbie’s) personal blog on why you may not see any travels for the next few weeks.

Debbie L's avatarReal life....

It’s been hard to do much blogging, so decided to just explain what is going on. We’ve seen about every life event this year, with the best and most recent, the birth of our second grandson. And we just joyously celebrated our first grandson‘s second birthday a few days before his baby brother was born.

We are living a life most dream of: Loving our lifestyle as full-time RVers, traveling to and fro as we please (or do we?). We even selected a nickname to define our dream, calling ourselves the TumbleLees. A play on the word tumbleweeds with our last name, Lees.

You can catch up with our travels on our one year anniversary and itinerary on our joint blog here: TheTumbleLees. We wrote this anniversary post just two months ago. And at that time, the reality of this year had not yet hit us….

We mentioned…

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09/16/2015 Gallery

A few days in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia


Here is another Travel Adventure blogger we follow. She’s in our territory here and this is a must visit place next time we are in the area! Enjoy another view of the Blue Ridge Parkway and Appalachian mountains.

Wandering Dawgs's avatarWandering Dawgs

Fall was in the air when we arrived in Virginia. In just a few days we went from hot and muggy to crisp and cool. Our shorts and tee shirts were traded for jeans and sweatshirts. The air conditioner was turned off and the windows were open to let the fresh air in. And the best part was campfires at night.

We love to stay at Claytor Lake State Park in Dublin, Virginia when we visit our daughter’s family. We had a great time hanging out with our grandkids in their new home and meeting their two new kittens. Watching our granddaughter’s swim team practice and our grandson’s soccer game were the highlights of this trip and the reason we came up here.

Morning walk at Claytor Lake State Park Morning walk at Claytor Lake State Park

Sadly, we couldn’t spend every minute with the family so we spent some time exploring the area. This was our…

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09/13/2015 Gallery

So much to do in the Black Hills of South Dakota


One day, we will make it here…and hopefully, with our two grandsons if their parents will let us have them one summer! I know their parents will want to come, too, though. Hope we can work it out!

Lowes Travels's avatarLowes Travels

When there are many things to see and do in an area, we try to prioritize what we would like to experience and accept the reality that we can’t do it all.  Leaving a few items unchecked gives us a good reason to come back and enjoy the area again.

Such was the case here in the Black Hills area.  Our wildlife encounters were just half the fun.  Then there were monuments to marvel at, historic towns to visit, scenery to take in, amazing geologic formations to enjoy and a little history to learn.  And I must not forget one of the most important activities – hitting the trails!  So much to do in so little time – and to think we were here for two weeks!

First, the monuments –

With more than 175 miles of mapped and surveyed passageways, Jewel Cave National Monument is the third-longest cave in the world.  To get underground we joined the…

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09/04/2015 Quote

Jones Run Falls Trail, Shenandoah National Park


It’s been over two months since we’ve had a great mountain hike. So we were chomping at the bit to get back to one of our favorite places to hike, the Shenandoah National Park.  Since we were rusty, we didn’t plan to maximize our time for the hike. But as it turned out, our Lord knew best and HE ordered our steps on this date (September 2, 2015).

We're on Interstate 64, headed from Gordonsville to the Shenandoah National Park

We’re on Interstate 64, headed from Gordonsville to the Shenandoah National Park

We love hiking in this park. We’ve hiked here many times and it may be one of our favorite go to places for excellent hiking. In fact, we’ve driven the entire distance of the scenic Skyline Drive in our truck, pulling our 5th wheel. Read about the start of that trip here.  While we loved the experience, relished the beauty and fabulous panoramic views, we learned it’s not really ideal for RVs for a few reasons. Although we met others in their campers, actually dry camping there and we did think for a few minutes how cool that would be. But we’re addicted to our full hook ups (water, sewer and electricity).

Main reason we wouldn’t do it again or recommend it for motor homes,  are the very winding roads and the impatience of other drivers. The speed limit is normally 35 mph (for 100 mile trip, that’s a bit slow) but people push 45 easily. The Blue Ridge Parkway further south, into North Carolina, is 45 mph for the most part. And it is every bit as beautiful.

A little description about of these scenic drives, as they get mixed up (and we were mixed up) until we drove the entire length of the Skyline (Virginia) and parts of the Blue Ridge Parkway (North Carolina for simplicity). These are certainly some of the most beautiful roads in America! Starting at Front Royal Virginia, just 75 miles from Washington, DC, you drive south west for the next one hundred and five (105) miles down to I-64. This is called the Skyline Drive and is on the “top of the world” in the Shenandoah National Park on top of what’s called the Appalachian Mountains.

The building of the Skyline Drive was started in the middle of the summer in July 1931 and was one of the first scenic highways ever built in the United States. After you drive the 105 miles of The Skyline Drive you will then be on The Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP) which has a forty five (45) mile-an-hour speed limit and continues south west for the next Four Hundred and seventy (470) miles to Cherokee North Carolina. We’ve only driven and hiked on portions of this fabulous drive. Here we are on a favorite hike at the top of the BRP.

The highest point on the parkway (south of Waynesville, near Mount Pisgah in North Carolina) is 6053 feet or above sea level on Richland Balsam Mountain at Milepost 431

The highest point on the parkway (south of Waynesville, near Mount Pisgah in North Carolina) is 6053 feet or above sea level on Richland Balsam Mountain at Milepost 431

And since I have it handy, one of our clearest days to show the type of panoramic views from a top of the Appalachian Mountains. Sadly, the weather was a bit gloomy to get a great picture on this day.

Our favorite view!

Our favorite view!

For this trip, we really hoped for at least a six mile hike to a beautiful water fall. There are 75 waterfalls off of Skyline Drive, and all are accessed via outstanding hikes. As we were on our way to Mile Post 84, we saw a bolt of lightening. Then we looked at our GPS which shows radar and weather. Thunderstorms predicted by 4 pm. It was only 1:00 so we decided we had time for a good hike, but decided we better not go for a long hike. I quickly looked at the map we were given when we entered the park.  There is a fee to enter the park, but it is FREE for us now that Bill has an “America the Beautiful” pass.  Bill remembered seeing there was a waterfall at Jones Falls Run, Mile Post 81. So we pulled over there as soon as we saw it. At least we would hike to a beautiful, but smaller waterfall at 32′. We had hoped anyway. 

SouthernSkylineDrive

We were aiming for Mile Post 81, but stopped at MP 84

We stopped and examined the trailhead map. One thing we love about this park is how well it’s marked and the quality maps provided when you enter the park. It looked like we would get in at least 4 miles and it was a pretty steep descent, about 1,000 feet, meaning a rough ascent but that is what we like  – a challenge. We prefer to start low and go high, but not today! Either way it is a challenge.

Trailhead for Jones Run Falls

Trailhead for Jones Run Falls

When we arrived at the parking lot, there was a Minnie Winnie Class C motorhome and one car. Hiking during the week means you will see fewer people, which we always love – solitude. So down we began our ascent. Starting out, it was a nice path, but it began to get rocky and lots of roots. That always makes it more challenging. A family of five approached us, a mom, dad and three girls, ages about 8 to 14. They said they couldn’t make it to the falls as they had to get the girls home. They looked pretty beat, so we knew the return hike would be a challenge.

Starting off easy

Starting off easy

It wasn’t long before we saw the owners of the Minnie Winnie, a husband, wife and their dog. They also said they didn’t make it to the falls. We thought this was strange as it was only two miles there. So we kept on, enjoying the solitude. We were approaching two miles when we ran into two college students from Prague, Czechoslovakia. There we on their last holiday before their senior year. They first visited New York City and wanted to hike on this trail! We asked them if they saw the falls. They said they had, but they did the entire hike from MP 84 and saw the Doyles River Falls. By now, we realized the Jones Falls must be dried up! We enjoyed talking to them but they said they needed to finish their trail as they were on a much longer hike and the weather was beginning to turn.

Jones Falls Run

Dried up!

We use “Map my Hike” GPS tracker so it soon advised us we had completed two miles. The falls were supposed to be at 1.7 miles, so we knew it had dried up. We really felt good and decided we would go on at least another 1/2 mile for a full five mile hike. But within a minute, we heard a loud crack of lightening! We’ve been caught in a storm in the past. We were not prepared for this, we we immediately turned and began a fast pace back, up up up the mountain. The lightening kept us motivated. But we hit a few very rocky areas and could only go but so fast.

Bill going strong! But in the very rocky area.

Bill going strong! But i the very rocky area.

Ah, but the ascent caught up to me and had to take a break, just 1/2 mile from the top. And of course, I am praying for the Lord to protect us. We could handle getting wet, but not stuck by lightening!

IMG_7764

Just had to take a quick break! We were flying UP hill!

So in the end, we were a-ok and made it into the car safely. But it wasn’t 10 minutes when the heavens opened up and a serious storm started!

For our complete photo album, click here to Flickr.

“O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endures for ever.” Psalms 107:1

09/03/2015

Shenandoah Crossings Resort, Gordonsville, Virginia


The Lodge

The Lodge – where we checked in.

We really didn’t know what we were getting into when we booked our time here! In our last post, we said we were rusty and yesterday, we could have rusted out! Our next post will explain further and will be about our hike to Jones Falls Trail in the Shenandoah National Park, off of Skyline Drive.

We pre-paid for a four day, three night resort stay in this BlueGreen Vacation property, allegedly located in the foothills of the Shenandoah National Park. We would be “refunded” our money for enduring a two hour presentation about the resort.  It was easy to tell we were not buyers as they had us fill out a questionnaire about our vacation styes and preferences. We have lived on “vacation” for the past two years! So for our punishment, they made us endure a full three hours.  However, we will say that the presentation was excellent – but really more for young families. They missed the mark with us and retirees should exempt from the program. However, we did see lots of retirees here. Maybe they will share it with their families….but for us, it would not be cost effective.

Our view

Our view from our backyard

We were also rusty in that we didn’t really scope out the area. We usually know exactly what we will be able to do when we pick an area to stay. And we usually check the weather so we know when the best days are to hike. But for us, we ended up only being able to hike on our day three due to our obligatory two three hour presentation. It turned out to be a bad weather day we learned once we hit the Shenandoah National Park!

Cabin next door

Cabin next door

To see our complete photo album about Shenandoah Crossings, you can visit it here, on Flickr.

So with that all said, here are the pros, cons and review of the resort and campground.

Pros:  There are a lot of activities on site for children, probably from ages 2 to 17. Most are shown in our photo album on Flickr, but in summary, Putt Putt, swimming pool, splash park, playgrounds, horse back riding, tennis, tether ball, corn hole, horse shoes and more. We did see people on bicycles but they were struggling as it is hilly. There are several laundry rooms, but you probably have to drive to them, unless you are in the campground. Best part, they are FREE! Wow, what a deal.

If you don’t have pets and really don’t appreciate dogs barking and cats meowing (or pigs squealing as our neighbors had last week) this place is for you. We noticed no dog poop to walk around, but then we hit the horse manure….but that’s under the cons….If you love wine and wine tastings, this is also a great location. That’s about the main thing to do close by if you want an outside activity from the resort.

We can speak about our cabin, it has everything you would want for a great cabin camping experience. Really nice towels for bathroom, kitchen and the pool. Comfortable beds with linens and pillows. The kitchen is fully stocked with utensils, dishes, cook ware, outdoor grill with all utensils (they are under the sink), paper towels, dish soap, dishwasher soap, salt and pepper shaker, even two servings of delicious coffee grounds. You just need to bring your own aluminum foil, baggies, etc., condiments and food. Nicely appointed and it looks like a working wood fireplace. We didn’t try it.

Swimming Pools area

Cons:  Our big deal is to be able to take nice walks and long hikes. Our first day here, we didn’t see the on-site hiking or walking trails. It looked like you would have to walk on the road and most vehicles seem to exceed the 15 mph speed limits. Day 2, I was desperate for a walk and said I did see people walking around the laundry area (near the stables). So the good news is that we managed a challenging three mile hike around the campground (where I took most of the photos), but the bad news is that a good stretch of it meant we had to tip toe around horse manure. On day three, we did have to drive to the Shenandoah National Park for a great hike…but it took us 1 1/2 hour to drive 64 miles to the trail head we selected. That was a real bummer as it was advertised as being in the foothills.

Stables

Stables

If you want to eat out, it was recommended to drive to Charlottesville. It is at least 30 minutes to get there. This is a very rural area, so the speed limits and roads dictate you don’t go anywhere fast. We don’t enjoy eating out, so we had to pick between Walmart Super Store or a Food Lion to shop for groceries. We had no idea they had such a nice grill, so off we went for steaks, etc. It took at least 30 minutes to go 16 miles to go to Walmart. We thought it would have more variety. We were pleased with our rib eye steaks, corn on the cob, baked potatoes (I had a sweet one), mushrooms, onions and fresh salad. For our second night, we brought an easy meal. And our third night, Bill bought a frozen pizza and I had left over homemade manicotti (made by our son in law) with fresh salads.

And of course, if your pets are like your children, you can’t come here. In fact, if pets were allowed, our daughter and family would have joined us for a day or two. We were told, NO PETS. But then when we walked around the campground, we saw several there.

RV Campground:  It looked deluxe, but pricey. All sites were flat, concrete pads, outdoor grills, picnic tables and some had hot tubs (presidential suite). Great area for children and within a short walk to the swimming pools, splash park, Fitness Center, General Store and more.

Campground Site

RV Campground

Would we return here? No, it’s not for us. But was it nice and would we recommend it? Only if you fully understood what you were getting into.  So our lesson learned? Let’s go back to scripture as we usually bathe our travels in prayer….

“Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.” Proverbs 19:21

09/02/2015 Quote

A new adventure – we’re rusty!


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Grandpa meeting his first grandson!

It was the birth of our first grandson that catapulted us into RVing. We needed a solution to visiting him since we lived in Florida and he was in Virginia. We wrote about it here. So fast forward two years and we’ve now welcomed our second grandson into the world! In between their births, we’ve stayed traveled between 66 campgrounds, with 49 of them being the first time we’ve camped there, and we are now at approximately 474 nights in a camper.  And we are changing how we travel now that we have a motor home.

We had to do a cost benefit analysis of how we were traveling and we’ve read about other full time travelers doing the same. Bottom line, we are slowing down between campgrounds. To get the best rates, we need to stay a minimum of 7 days and the absolute best rates are for 30 day stays. We have learned the more you set up and tear down your camper, the easier it gets. We’ve now done it so much, it’s second nature. BUT, we’ve now realized we are rusty when it comes to traveling to a new location.

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And this is where we are now. We made reservations through our Choice Hotels membership right before grandson #1 was born. And I got “hood-winked” so to speak. I spent $199 for a four day three night vacation in Myrtle Beach. We knew it was a nice area and had plenty of great campgrounds. So we really wanted to let our daughter and her husband stay in the hotel and we would just camp there for a mini vacation for them. And as part of the deal, we would get back a $200 Mastercard Gift card for listening to a two hour presentation. It sounded good at the time, but we never could coordinate that trip and grandson #2 came along. So the deal was about to expire and we found out there was another resort close by where we could stay, Shenandoah Crossings in Gordonsville, VA. It’s at the foothills of the Shenandoah National Park. This was where we discovered we loved to hike between 2003 and 2004. You can read about our one year of monthly hikes here. Ah sweet memories….so here we are!

We decided to leave our RV. It was just cheaper to leave it and stay in a cabin in this resort. We actually had planned to drive here in the motor home after it was time to leave our daughter and grandsons. But long story short, this deal was about to expire and we need to stay a little longer to help them out. And besides, who could leave this bundle of joy so soon?

Baby brother!

Baby brother!

Next up, our adventures at Shenandoah Crossings, rusty as they are! But let us not forget this important scripture as we move on….

Is not wisdom found among the aged?
Does not long life bring understanding?

Job 12:12

08/31/2015

My pet peeve! @#%!&


Might as well share my personal post here. We are on a road trip so I’ll have an adventure to write about in a few days. Here’s what was happening in our Hidden Acres Campground. Anyone else with me?

Debbie L's avatarReal life....

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I’m not sure if the term “pet peeve” is actually accurate. I did some research and couldn’t really find a better term. Hopefully, whoever is reading this can help me come up with a better term after you see where I am coming from. Here is the definition:

Pet peeve: a continualsource of personalannoyance. 
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, Š 2010 K DictionariesLtd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

So then I looked up annoyance….it didn’t help much. Oh well…..

I don’t know when I decided I didn’t appreciate being around people who use curse words. I do know I went through a stage where I may have used some curse words. In fact, I have warned people if you hear me cursing, you know something is REALLY wrong. I call it “righteous indignation.”

Perhaps it happened to me in college. I…

View original post 581 more words

08/23/2015

Our latest adventure!


Grandson #2

Don’t we look happy?

Words just can’t explain the JOY of a new born baby, especially when he was delivered before my eyes (Debbie) last night, August 22, 2015. He is his big brother’s twin, born nearly two years apart, born at the same hour, weighing nearly the same as well as the height! What fun we are going to have! And we thank God for his safe delivery, for how excellent his health is and how strong our daughter was to endure so much pain. Fortunately it was only for a few hours.

Our #1 grandson was with his paternal granny. Yay, she and her fiancĂŠ had a great time with him and the family puppy dog (nine years old but a 9 pound miniature dachshund). It’s great to have family close by to help out.

What was wild was that Bill ran errands while my son-in-law, daughter and I were in the labor and delivery room. And as is his tradition, he ate dinner at the local KFC. Poor guy, he doesn’t enjoy the finer things in life! Anyway, introvert that he was, he had his Sudoku book as his dining partner. Went into the far corner and settled in his world of escapism while he waited for #2 grandson to be born.

So an older man, age 91 and his new 79 year old friend came over to sit NEAR him. And a conversation was struck up. It started talking about the song playing, by Skeeter Davis, “Why.”  Bill was familiar with it and in fact, we knew her from our days in the ministry. Then the topic switched to politics and Bill gave him a great education. Then Bill learned their story.  They just met. He was widowed in April. They both have adult children, grand children and even great grandchildren, but none of their children want to help them out. So they are both alone in the world and found each other. They counted their pennies and hired a taxi for a date out for dinner. The woman admitted she was depressed and really struggling in life. They each barely have enough money to live on and don’t have the where with all to locate help.

When Bill picked me up from the hospital, the first thing he said was how blessed we are to not only have each other, but to have a daughter we know will always look out for us – as we have done for her all these years and now help with our grandsons. So all the JOY we felt was tempered by the situation of two lonely strangers who coincidently sought him out.

He gave them several suggestions and they were so appreciative he was so friendly towards them. It was as if they were still in their own awkward stage of a new relationship. This morning, as we prayed together and for our daughter and her family, we also prayed for this couple. Our hearts ache for them as we have so much joy with our daughter and grandchildren.

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“Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding?” Job 12:12

08/13/2015

How we became minimalists….


Cow pasture behind the Bays

A view on one of my walks around a campground. Simplicity!

I’m taking Blogging 101, a free course offered by WordPress. It’s really good, but if only we had unlimited data or free wi-fi. That has held us back.  It takes some time to go through the exercises, but eventually, I hope to learn things that will translate into a better blogging experience.

One real huge benefit is to meet and make new “friends” with others who also have a passion sharing their life experiences. One of my new friends, Arpita, a fellow traveler, asked me to write a blog on how to become a minimalist after she read my other blog (click here). Since we are still playing the waiting game, waiting for grandchild # 2 to appear, we needed something to blog about that was related to our lifestyle. You see, this blog is as much for us as anyone. We want to record our memories here to help us later in life…or tomorrow when we can’t remember what we did today! LOL

We never really intended to become minimalists until we had been married 30 years and we were on our 11th move. We suddenly realized we had been carrying some of the same boxes through all the moves and never even opened them. But let’s backtrack to August 19, 1989. We remarried after being separated and divorced for a year. We rededicated ourselves not only to each other but to the Lord. We had a simple and small wedding but were blessed to have a church and lots of new friends help us. The most pivotal aspect was a simple song we selected to have sung at our wedding, from these scriptures: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness. And all these things will be added to you.” Matthew 6:32 In context, these scriptures were saying to not worry about what you wear and what you eat. God knows what you need and He will provide them.

And then, we helped both of our mom’s after our father’s deaths downsize and move out of their homes.  Bill’s dad passed in 1996 and my dad in 1999. Our 12th move was in 2004 and that was when we purposed to become minimalists.  We downsized OK, but the small Florida home we first bought wasn’t spacious enough. So we backslide on our minimalistic lifestyle and bought a bigger home….We really tried to be minimalists, but somehow, we still held on to too many things. For me, it was my books. For Bill, it was tools and Harley motorcycle stuff.

The event that finally got our attention and we realized we had to just get rid of everything was soon after we bought our first Recreational Vehicle (RV) on September 4, 2013. We bought a small and extra light 5th wheel. In other words, we couldn’t take much stuff with us. We suddenly realized it was the perfect minimalist lifestyle for us.

X-tra Light 5th Wheel

It sold in May 2015

Bill was more concerned with HOW to get rid of everything. So he began reading the blogs of full-time RVers to see how they did it. Many either kept a house full of stuff and had relatives or friends keep an eye on things, or rented a storage locker for the valuables they couldn’t part with. Some stored things at family’s homes. And it all just looked like a process.

For me, I just never really cared for much stuff. I’m not a shopper so I wasn’t attached to much stuff. Perhaps the fact that I moved a lot as a military brat had this impact on me. But my books! Oh, how I hated to get rid of them. But I knew they had to go. I had given most away  during our 12th move. Bill especially hated my books because he was the one who had to move them! So I really downsized to 1/2 of a bookcase that fit in a closet. These were really valuable and hard to part with books. But I knew how he felt, so I just said they had to go!

Bill’s turning point was when someone expressed an interest in his motorcycle. WOW, I never thought he would part with it. But he realized he couldn’t do both, RV and ride his bike. This was HUGE….and it was his turning point. Once he sold it, nothing else mattered to him.

2006 Harley Ultra Classic

2003 Harley Ultra Classic

Our daughter was in the process of selling her small two bedroom townhome and moving into a four-bedroom house with three bathrooms. That was our perfect solution to giving her some family heirlooms and some of our favorite furniture.  We also gave some furniture to other relatives that were also family heirlooms. And then we had a huge garage sale over two days and just emptied the house, which had sold in a week with a closing date in a month.  It made it so easy for us.

Due to the lack of sufficient time to really sort through what we thought were irreplaceable, family things (that no other family member would want), we rented a 5′ X 10′ storage locker. These were things that you don’t really sell….and Bill’s cherished big TV (it’s a man thing isn’t it?)! He just wasn’t ready to say we wouldn’t have a house again within the year. So after paying rent for about six months, we realized some things wouldn’t store very well.  We really just prayed over what to do and ended up donating these valuable things to families in need and to a youth ministry that holds yard sales to raise money to pay the rent.  But we still had to pay storage as we hung onto some valuable pictures – to us and our kitchen wares. So next time we go back to Sebring, we plan to clean out the locker.

We are loving our VERY simple lifestyle! We love our time and not having stuff helps us have more time for the things in life that really matter now that we are grandparents and travel full time.

Photo shoot with grandson

A minimalist grandma’s photo shoot with grandson.

Click here for an update on our Minimalistic Lifestyle!

08/05/2015

How do we like our new motor home?


Our grandson loves it!

Our grandson walking beside it in the campground.

Usually, we get inspired to write our posts. Since we’re sort of “hanging out” and waiting for the birth of our second grandson, not much to write about. Our adventures have been plenty of time with our precious grandson. And even more time preparing for his sibling. Due date is August 15. But our first grandson appeared 5 days early…..we actually hope second grand baby arrives late, and on August 19….more on that later!

Anyway, oh yes, it’s working out great! So what do we really like?  BTW, these are photos I took for our grandson’s parents. And then that helped inspire the post. Sorry for the poor quality – he’s not still for very long!

1) Our new motor home is nearly toddler proof! He loves spending time with his Mee-maw and Pee-paw (how those names come out of grandma and grandpa, but it’s what he calls us) in our motor home. When his mom saw one of these pictures, she said he’s “tarzan” and I will say, he loves OUTSIDE. Yep that’s about his favorite word.

2) The living area. A full sized super comfy leather couch and two leather Euro chairs with ottomans. We really only need one, as Bill prefers the couch and I prefer the chair. Before, we had a small couch that wasn’t that comfy and the two chairs were my size. As Bill said, the furniture was “dainty.” Not made for a man 6’2″. I honestly don’t know how he did it, other than he really likes the life style.  Of course, our grandson loves the euro chairs and ottomans!

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3)  The kitchen!!! Wow, so many new things for us to enjoy: residential refrigerator so LOTS of room for all our home cooked meals; ice maker (Bill has to have his glass full of ice); freezer drawer on the bottom; and, water filter and cold water spigot (it’s on the inside so that’s a bit of a bummer). We have a slide out counter/drawers for more counter space, for when we are both cooking and for bigger meals. So much storage in two pantry areas and plenty room for all our pots, pans, bowls, etc.

His mom said he looks like Tarzan in this picture! He loves exploring and seeing the new places he can crawl into!

4) Dining area.  Our grandson learned to sit in a “big boys” chair with us. So the high chair is now ready for his sibling.  We really like the table and chairs. AND a bonus, there is a computer compartment beside where I sit, so it easily becomes my “office!”

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Note the chair in the back ground. It’s covering up the light switches. Not sure why the switches are at toddler level!   Our grandson really likes his grandpa’s scrambled eggs. He’s digging them up!

5) The king bed and bedroom. We sleep like babies on our all foam mattress. We also have a ceiling fan. We like to sleep in a cool and dark room. So we’ve got it! Our 5th wheel had a short queen and no way to make it dark once the sun came up. Well, we did finally improvise and hung a blanket over the window each night and kept the doors closed. Sometimes it got a bit warm….

6) The “bathroom” situation is so much better. We can each do what we have to do without interfering with the other. In other words, we can both get ready for early church at the same time and get out the door by 8:30. That’s a big deal! Before, I used the campground bath house!

7) We have tons of storage space! Now we regret getting rid of some of our belongings, but not really. We were used to living in an extra light RV so we had to keep it simple. We still will benefit from not being overloaded. And now that we know not only our grandson loves it, but now our son-in-law can’t wait to take a trip with us. So I guess all that storage space will come in handy for their things…and babies come with a lot of “things!”

Life will really be grand when we get our new washing machine installed.  That is our one huge disappointment that ours didn’t work after being told by the previous owner it did; and then, all the time spent trying to repair it while at the Tiffin Service Center was wasted. We will have to wait until we make it to a better location with a Camping World close by to have it installed. Tentatively, that would be in October when we hope to spend a month in Myrtle Beach. But all our plans are really made day by day….

So closing thoughts, as we count our blessings for this lifestyle, come from a blog I just read. I’m taking WordPress’s Blogging 101 to work on my personal spiritual journey blog, Lifetime Of Forgiveness. I am having a hard time finding time to blog on our travel adventure blog, let alone work on it (also because of limited wifi)…But I am enjoying reading lots of other blogs of new bloggers that are sharing about their journeys in life. Many are young, some are aspiring writers in high school, many are college students, some in the midst of their careers, many are looking towards retirement, or like us, in our retirement years. One of my favorite new bloggers is just 18, her name is Jessica (maybe that helps) and we share the same faith. She reblogged the below blog today, so I want to do the same. And as I looked at my pictures and our new home, I couldn’t but help notice how perfect it is for us! (Click on notice for the full blog or read the excerpt here – and the bullets are mine):

  • I noticed that your hair has a hint of red to it in the sunlight.
  • I noticed that you’ve been thinking a little more today.
  • I noticed how you organized your bookshelf.
  • I noticed that you woke up earlier today than normal.
  • I noticed your shirt.
  • I noticed the color of your nails.
  • I noticed the kindness of your words to that person.
  • I noticed how hard you tried last week.
  • I noticed your bookmark was in chapter 12.
  • I noticed your eyelid was quivering during dinner.
  • I noticed the smell of your new lotion.
  • I noticed you’re becoming stronger.
  • I noticed you went a different way today.
  • I noticed you wanted to talk.
  • I noticed your smile.

“What do you notice about those in your life? Some of the most gripping verses in the Bible describe the ways that God notices us. When you rise, when you lie down, your hair, your tears, your heart, your words, your desires, your needs, what’s in your pantry, where you climb, where you fish, what you eat, your hiding places, your home, your work, your gifts, your joy, your love, your efforts, and on and on.

“Part of being more like God is to give others the gift of noticing. It’s one of the simplest, yet most powerful actions we can do to fortify relationships and bring people together. In fact, it was the very first thing that God did when humanity hid itself from him in the Garden of Eden. God noticed Adam and Eve were hiding (Genesis 3:9). This was the first step toward bringing them back into relationship with him.

“Notice those you care about.”

07/22/2015

Do we live our faith?


BrickWallThis will be a two part blog as we share a look back into our marriage as we face another huge disappointment in our decision to upgrade to a motor home. Actually, it’s not another, it’s a continuing disappointment that hit a brick wall today.

Everyone we talked to about upgrading to a motor home knows one of the main reasons was to have our own washer and dryer. While we have tried to make the best use of our time while using the campgrounds facilities, it does always crimp our precious time. As we all know, the more fun you are having in life, the faster time flies by, right?

So back to our time at the Tiffin Service Center in Red Bay, Alabama. We thought we made it clear how important it was to have a working washing machine; and, how disappointed we were the previous owner said it worked. We were very green at owning a motor home and repairing/replacing appliances. BUT, in our 40 years of marriage, we do know a thing or two about washers and dryers. We went through so many, we finally bought a set of Maytags. They lasted 15 years before we sold our sticks and bricks home last year.

Today, our new Maytag washing machine was going to be delivered and installed at the campground. We were so excited as we also bought a five year extended warranty at a great sale price (ordered over the 4th of July sales). That gave us the assurance it would last at least five years! We did a lot of research about this purchase, so we thought, and were so happy today arrived.

So back to the marriage aspect, part two of this blog. We used to be very active with young married couples in a marriage ministry in one of our former churches. To be able to do this, we became very transparent in our own marriage and even took a few Bible studies focusing on marriage. One of our favorite authors, marriage counselors and speakers is Gary Smalley. In looking for a link to his works, we found out that his one son, Greg Smalley, has followed in his footsteps.

It was an interesting read as today, we relived a moment that Gary Smalley had with his then young son, Greg. We can’t agree exactly this marriage moment played out, but we agree this is the essence of the story. Gary and his wife bought a brand new Class C motor home. We understand all the excitement that goes with this and the hope of have a great time – soon after the purchase.

When Gary and his young son arrived home, they saw the overhang to the garage smashed in and the motor home seriously damaged.  Gary just sat for a few minutes with his eyes closed while his young son was staring at him. He finally looked at his son and asked why he was starting at him. Greg said, “Well dad, you preach and teach husbands how to treat their wives with respect. I’m just watching to see how you’re going handle this!”  Gary knew he had to dig deep, so he went in and embraced his upset and sobbing wife. He held her tight and told her how much he loved her and he was grateful it was just brick and mortar and that she was ok! Wow, we loved that story when hear it about 25 years ago and we relived it today.

WasherWallToday when we woke up, when we realized the 24″ washing machine would not fit between the 21″ space through our bathroom area to the the washing machine.  And that’s when Bill had to dig deep and embrace Debbie and tell her he loves her….You see, Debbie overruled Bill at the Tiffin Service Center when he said he wanted a new washing machine. Debbie pinched pennies and let the service technician help us save a few $100. And now, we still don’t have a washing machine. But at least the dryer works!

If you’re a husband and would like to know more, here’s a great read:

IfHeonlyKnew

Wives, what do we have for you? Probably Debbie’s favorite book to help her in her relationship with Bill:

PrayingWife

 

07/15/2015

It’s our one year anniversary – as Full Timers!


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Sorry, repeating a picture. We don’t have many good ones of the two of us. And this was a milestone, Debbie’s only time to travel in the new motor home.

We never dreamed this is how we would live in retirement! Where has this year gone?  It has flown by and we are so glad we have a way to remember what we’ve done. And this has been a banner year!

We have made amazing new friends! We use RVillage to keep up with each other and of course, follow many who blog (they’re listed on our side bar if you use the internet to read this.) We want to plug one couple we met in person and then they became our mentors in helping us buy a Class A motor home. Their help was invaluable!  They still work and earn a living on the road. One of their skills is to help create and manage websites! Check them out here: USA-RVNomads.

So here are the highlights in the nutshell with our reflections:

On July 16, 2014, we officially sold our sticks and bricks home! And we’ve never regretted it nor missed a day of our once called “dream Florida pool home.”  We absolutely enjoyed it and lived life to the fullest, but it became an anchor to our new life style.

In August, we celebrated our grandson’s one year birthday! And what a great celebration we had.

In December, we learned we will welcome another grandchild into the world, come August, around the same time as our first grand child. They will be two years apart, meaning we have a toddler now and a baby on the way.

January 7 – 8, 2015, we experienced our first “pipe” freezing (sewer pipe. We let water drip all night…but not a big enough drip)! Although when we left Myrtle Beach the year before, at about the same time, it was 16 degrees, but no pipes froze.

Sad and good news: Sad news is that three of our close friends/family members have been diagnosed with cancer. Good news is we are grateful this lifestyle has allowed us to visit them. The hardest part of this lifestyle is being away from family in their times of needs. Somehow, we trust the Lord to help us be there for them, if not in person, in prayer!

We stayed in 9 state or county campgrounds, which was something we had really wanted to try. And we can say we really liked the experiences. However, we’ve learned one downside. Debbie used to never get ticks or tick bites. She experienced her first one in Blackwater River State Park. And then she maxed out by having 8 in Suwannee River State Park. Ah, but what is a tick if you get it off right away? And that is now our goal to be more vigilant and to SPRAY with tick repellent. We thought we learned our lesson when Bill got a bull’s eye from his one while staying in our former “home” campground near our daughter, the KOA Fredericksburg.

Boondocking – We’ve decided we could only go a week at the longest without sewer hook ups (based upon our state and county park stays), but we can’t imagine going without electricity (now that we have a residential refrigerator (we can’t live with out it since we normally cook at home) and we have a washer (new one ordered and to be installed around July 21, 2015) and dryer.

We’ve added two states to our regular South Eastern travel zone, expanded from Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida to include Alabama and Tennessee.  This was a huge goal, but we fell short as we had planned to include Kentucky in our travels. We know there is still so much to see in these few states, but one day, we do plan to head up to the northeast, to the southwest, midwest and northwest. OK, to all 47 lower states. Alaska, well, we probably will just take a cruise there after following some other bloggers who are traveling there this summer!

Of the 41 campground stays this year, 30 were new ones for us since we began traveling in an RV.

Biggest milestone, was selling our 5th wheel and buying our Class A motorhome (a dream come true for Bill), a Tiffin Phaeton, 40′ QTH! And both of us going on social security….😁

Walnut Creek RV Campground, Troy, Alabama

Walnut Creek RV Campground, Troy, Alabama

Reflections:  1)  Now that we have a motor home, we will stay longer and have fewer campground stays each year! 2)  We’ve decided to avoid KOAs as they seem too expensive for the value for us. We do like them and we have stayed in them quite a bit. But the discount just won’t pay for us now.  3) We’ve learned to be comfortable in this lifestyle, no matter for an overnight stay to a month long stay; or if in a 30′ X-Lite or a 40′ luxury motor home.  4) We’re in this for the long haul! We will keep going until we find a place that we say, “this is where we want to settle down.”

These are our campground stays for this year, numbered from 66 (total since we began in September 2013) down to 25. An * indicates we have stayed there before. We have linked the blogs written as well as links to the campground reviews we’ve written. The previous 24 stays were from our first year, but only as “extended” stay campers. As of this date (July 16, 2015), we have now stayed a total of 495 nights in our RVs. We have included links to our blogs when written about specific locations, links to our Campendium Campground Reviews, and a snippet of our experiences:

66) Hidden Acres Family Campground, 17391 Richmond Turnpike, Milford, VA 22515, 804-633-7592 6/24/15 – the present. This seems to suit us as it is a little closer to our grand son and his family (our daughter). We basically use the full hook up services and Debbie gets in an average of a two mile hike nearly every morning. And their is a sweet church close by that we are starting to plug into as we know we will be back.

65) Waynesboro North 340 Campground, Eastside Highway, Waynesboro, VA 22980 Campground office: (540) 943-9573. 6/22-24/2015. We couldn’t find a better “deal” but still felt we paid too much for our stay. We really thought we could easily find hikes nearby, but it was not to be. Most were about 40 minutes drive and for us on a short time frame, wasn’t ideal. We’re not sure if we will return. See our review of this park here.

64) Shadrock Campground, 2537 Volunteer Pkwy, Bristol, TN 37620,(423) 217-1181. 6/20-6/22/2015. This is a basic campground. It has full hook ups. The location is great and there is so much to do in Bristol. We’re sorry we couldn’t spend more time here, so we will return one day! See our review of this park here.

63) Marion County Park and Lake, 9696 US 41, Jasper, TN, 423-942-6653. 6/18-6/20/2015. While the setting is stunning, it is a bit distracting to hear and see interstate traffic. The trip here was absolutely the hardest trip we’ve made….can’t wait to blog about it. We had to make two u-turns and a part fell off it while in a torrential rainstorm…See our review of this park here.

62) Tiffin Allegro Campground, 7th St NW, Red Bay, AL 35582. (256) 356-2769. We loved our time here while our motor home was being worked on. The wealth of information we learned from other owners and the service crew was just what we needed as new owners. We WILL return, probably for our yearly maintenance. See our review of this park here.

61) Red Bay Self Serve RV Park, Red Bay, AL 5/19-6/18/2015. We’ve arrived to have our Phaeton worked on. We also took a road trip to be with family while our Phaeton hangs out, waiting it’s turn for service. See our review of this park here.

60) Walnut Creek RV Park, 222 County Road 5516, Troy, AL 334-482-3532 5/18-19/15 (one night). Too bad we don’t have time to stay longer. Just a sweet location for our 3rd stay in our Phaeton. Click here for a blog on our stays here, Suwannee River State Park and Sonrise Palms Christian RV Park.

59) Suwannee River State Park, mailing address: 3631 201 Path, Live Oak, FL 32060 386-362-2746 5/16-18/15 (2 nights). Our second location in our Phaeton. Woohoo, we fit into a State Park! Who cares that Debbie had 8 ticks and Bill had two, we got in lots of great hiking!

58) Sonrise Palms Christian RV Park, 660 Tucker Lane, Cocoa, FL 32926 321-633-4335 5/14-16/15 (2 nights). Our first campground in our new home, a 2010 Tiffin Phaeton, 40 QTH. The beginning of our trip to take it to the Tiffin Factory, Red Bay, Alabama.

The below travels were in our 5th Wheel, Keystone X-Lite 30′ Cougar

Our campsite at Little Talbot Island State Park, Jacksonville, Florida

Our campsite at Little Talbot Island State Park, Jacksonville, Florida

57) R & D Family Campground, 22085 Sparta Rd, Milford, VA 22514 804-633-9515, 4/2-5/4/15. here

56) *Swamp Fox Campground,1600 Gateway Road, Florence, SC 29501 (843) 665-9430 dates: 4/1-2/15 (one night). We wrote a blog, “This isn’t how we prefer to travel” that covers our time here, Walkabout Camp, Buttonwood Bay and Talbot Island State Park.

55) Walkabout Camp & RV Park, 742 Old Sill Rd., Woodbine, GA 32569 (912) 729-4110 3/31-4/1/15 (one night)

54) Buttonwood Bay, 10001 US 27 Highway South, Sebring, FL 33876. Phone: 888-232-1442. Dates: 3/25-31/15 (7 nights)

53) Talbot Island State Park, 12157 Heckscher Drive, Jacksonville, FL 32226. Phone: 904-251-2320. Site 16. 3/21-25/2015 (4 nights)

52) Torreya State Park, 2576 NW Torreya Park Rd., Bristol, FL 32321. Site: 008. 3/17-21/2015. (4 nights)51)Ochlockonee River State Park, PO Box 5, Sopchoppy, FL 32358. Sites: 024 & 027. Phone: 850-962-2771. 3/14-17/2015 (4 nights)

51) Ochlockonee River State Park, PO Box 5, Sopchoppy, FL 32358. Sites: 024 & 027. Phone: 850-962-2771. 3/14-17/2015 (4 nights)

50) Blackwater River State Park (and part 2), 7720 Deaton Bridge Road, Holt, Fl 32564 Phone: 850-983-5363. Sites 024 & 020. 3/8-14/15. (6 nights)

49) Topsail Hill Preserve State Park (and part 2), 7525 W. Scenic Highway 30A, Santa Rosa Beach, Fl 32459 Phone: 850-267-8330. 3/3-7/2015. (4 nights)

48) Fallings Waters State Park, 1130 State Park, Chipley, Fl 32428 Phone: 850-638-6130. 2/27-3/3/2015. (4 nights)

47) Florida Caverns State Park, 3345 Caverns Road, Marianna, FL 32446 Phone: 850-482-1228. 2/23-27/2015. (4 nights)

46) Crystal Isles, (part 2 and part 3) 11419 W. Fort Island Trail, Crystal River, FL 34429. Phone: 888-318-1243. 2/19-23/15

45) *Back to Buttonwood Bay, Sebring, Florida. See #25 for our 1st stay at Buttonwood Bay. Here for a month, from 1/20-2/19/2015.

44) *Tampa East RV Resort, 4630 McIntosh Road, Dover, FL 33527 (866) 786-6298, 1/13-1/20/2015. We came to attend the Florida RV Super Show. We have decided it is time to upgrade to a Class A Motor home for a multitude of reasons. Hopefully we will be able to blog about it! We are having so much fun, it is hard to find time to blog!

43) *Ocala Sun RV Resort, 2559 SW Hwy 484, Ocala, FL phone 352-307-1100, 1/11-13/15. We visited friends in Ocala.

42) *Jacksonville North / St. Marys KOA, 2970 Scrubby Bluff Road, Kingsland, GA 31548, Phone: 800-562-5220, 1/8-11/15. We decided to return to Talbot Island and relax near the beach. We thought we would see some sun….it was fleeting!

41) *Swamp Fox Campground,1600 Gateway Road, Florence, SC 29501 (843) 665-9430 1/7-8/2015. We drove 353 miles to escape the polar vortex…but we didn’t go far enough. In spite of all precautions, water dripping, our pipes still froze! It took 2 hours to get them unthawed with a heat gun!

40) *KOA Fredericksburg, 11/20-1/7/15. Family time!

39) *Pirateland, (rank 5) 5401 S. Kings Highway, Myrtle Beach, SC, (843-238-5155). 11/12-11/18/2014. We’re here for some R & R after 21 days of “work” back home and before we head to our daughter’s home. We’re looking forward to special family time, but Bill will be continuing the inside painting of their new home.

38)* Savannah South KOA, (rank 2) 4915 US-17, Richmond Hill, GA, 31324 (912) 756-3396 11/11-11/12/2014. We forgot about the noise in this campground. Last time, it didn’t seem so bad, but we’ve decided we can’t stay here again. It is a VERY nice campground, but there are a lot of “permanent” residents who still work. So the traffic starts at 5:00 am and starts back up at 4:00 pm. They drive faster than the posted speed limit which makes a lot of noise, the highway (I-95) was louder than last time, and we lost count of how many times the trains went by! Yawn….so sleepy….

37) *Buttonwood Bay, (rank 5) 10001 US 27 Highway South, Sebring, FL 33876. (888-232-1442). 10/21-11/11/2014. We traveled back here as this is our “home” of record for a number of appointments, to partially clean out our storage locker (lesson learned: don’t store electronics and things of value in lockers without climate control. We were blessed-we think everything is OK, but we donated everything of value. We also visited with family.

36) Ocala Sun RV Resort, 2559 SW Hwy 484, Ocala, (rank 5) FL PHONE 352-307-1100 10/17-10/20/2014 (3 nights). Very nice campground with full amenities. We have friends in Ocala, so our time here was with them.

35) E-Z Stop RV Park, 181 SW Howell Rd, Lake City, FL 32024. (rank 3) Phone 386-752-2279, $23 10/17-10/18/2014 (1 night). Location was good for an over nighter. Has full hook ups but that is about it. Although the owner/manager is also a barber. Debbie needed a touch up and was very pleased! Although close to Interstate 75, you couldn’t hear the road noise.

34) SANTA ROSA SOUND RV RESORT, (sadly rank 1. This is a BEAUTIFUL resort but I never could sleep due to highway noise) 8315 NAVARRE PKWY., NAVARRE, FL 32566, Phone: 850-936-4791, 10/13-17/2014 (4 nights)

33) LAKE PINES, 6404 GARRETT ROAD, MIDLAND, GA 31820, (rank 4) Phone: 706-561-9675, 10/8-10/13/2014. This was a basic park with full hook ups, a nice laundry room, friendly and helpful staff, and interesting things to see. We need to write a blog of our adventures here! WOW, saw some great things and ran into friends also in an RV from Sebring! (It’s a small world.)

32) The Great Outdoors RV Resort, (rank 5) 321 Thumpers Trail, Franklin, NC 28734,(828) 349-0412, 10/2-10/8/2014. WOW, this is one of the best resorts. It truly had everything, from excellent Wifi (owner used to have hotels so he knows how to do wifi right), good cable TV, fabulous laundry room, exercise room, showers, and the sights were breathtaking. We had friends visit so we ate out some. We need to write this one up with pictures. We had some fabulous adventures here.

31) Moonshine Creek Campground, (rank 5) 2486 Dark Ridge Rd, Sylvia, NC 28779,(828) 586-6666, 9/27-10/2/2014, PA $12.50-19.5032). This was an interesting campground. Pretty basic but it did have nearly everything you need. The laundry mat was small. There was a railroad track right beside us, but only ran twice a day. The views and adventures were excellent here. We need to also write this one up.

30) Green Mountain Park RV, (rank 3) an Encore Resort, 2495 Dimmette Road, Lenoir NC 28645. Telephone: (888) 318-1243. 9/20-9/27/2014. I need to blog about this and the rest. We started out on the wrong foot here and it set the tone for some disappointments. We had a hard time getting a site and setting up. This is what I would describe as basic. The laundry room was a drive away. But we met new friends that we now follow who are also full timers and we have lots in common!

29) *Mayberry Campground (rank 5) 114 Bunker Road, Mt. Airy, NC; Telephone: 336-789-6199. 9/15-20/2014. This is such a relaxing area, we had to return! It is also just 5 hours from our daughter, or 6 hours if we take the quiet back roads. Which we did! See # 21 for more details. I need to write this one up too. So many adventures here!

28) *KOA Fredericksburg, (rank 4) We are becoming disenchanted with them! 7/18-9/15/2014. We need to find another campground in the area.

27) Four Oaks RV Resort, (rank 2) 4596 U.S. Hwy 301 South, Four Oaks NC 27524. 7/17-18/2014. Mainly a stop over. The staff was very nice, but no amenities nor was anything nearby. Very isolated location.

26). Savannah South KOA, (rank 5) 4915 US-17, Richmond Hill, GA, 31324 (912) 756-3396 7/16-7/17/2014. This was a trial to see if it would be OK when we tour Savannah. Can’t wait to go back!

25). *Buttonwood Bay, (rank 5) 10001 US 27 Highway South, Sebring, FL 33876. (888-232-1442). 7/8-16/2014.  We are returned here to finalize the sale of our sticks and bricks home!

To see the rest of our itinerary, visit here.

So how should we celebrate our anniversary? Geez, we feel we live a life of celebration so what more can we do? Just continue to enjoy our travels and our very special times with our grandson – and our daughter and her husband….we sort of over look them, don’t we?

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”

Philippians 4:4

07/09/2015

The Journey to Bristol, Tennessee and beyond….


We have to include a selfie of us enjoying this day to the fullest!

We have to include a selfie of us enjoying this day in Bristol to the fullest!

We have embraced the full time RV lifestyle. And we appreciate being retired, not being in the daily grind. But for whatever reason, it seems we have been in the daily grind since May 2, 2015 (day our truck was totaled).  However, on April 24, we also received very sad family news. The news helped us keep things in perspective….A dear relative was given the news of a terminal illness with only months to live.  We were so blessed to be in the area twice since then, so we were able to go visit him. And of course, we’re praying for more opportunities….

But since May 2, while it has been all a constant stress and strain, it’s all working out to the good: buying and selling our homes on wheels, having the insurance claim settlement over the wreck of our truck (no injuries), learning how to drive a 40′ Class A motor home, buying a car that can be “flat towed” and not being able to find anyone to configure the car to be towed, taking a two week “side” trip in our car up to Illinois to visit Bill’s family to help begin the process of his mother moving into assisted living…and then about 10 days of our motor home being in and out of the shop for repairs.

So with all that stress, we had hoped after we left Red Bay, we would enjoy our travels to our next destination, and in our dream motor home….And as with most RVers, we prefer to only go 200-250 miles a day. And we’d love to stay at least a week at each location. But there just doesn’t seem to be enough time for this luxury. We at least kept our drive at our limits while we strategically stayed in locations on the way to enjoy the journey.

From Red Bay, AL, to Jasper and Bristol, TN, to Waynesboro, and finally Fredericksburg, VA

From Red Bay, AL, to Jasper and Bristol, TN, to Waynesboro, and finally Fredericksburg, VA. Allegedly 780 miles.

We were heading back to Fredericksburg, Virginia to spend time our grandson, await the birth of our next grandchild (due August 15, 2015) and help our very pregnant daughter and her husband prepare the nursery.

As we wrote in our last blog, ““No More Doubts” we thought we were now comfortable with our new home on wheels. Well, maybe we spoke to soon! Let’s just say, the trip to Bristol was pretty harrowing because of a terrible weather system, coincidently a tropical depression named “Bill.”  Heavy rains and high winds.

After about 100 miles on our way from Jasper to Bristol, Tennessee, we stopped to fill up while we also sought refuge from the weather.  So we also  desperately looked for a campground nearby. It was too grueling to drive in the heavy rains and wind. But we were also short on time….we wanted to get to Bristol as we knew it had lots of great places to hike and explore….so the rain finally let up and Bill said, “let’s press on.” So we did and we were so glad. We found a real gem in Bristol!

We love learning about the history of our nation but also about more current things to help make our country, and it’s landscape, better. We had no idea what we would learn or stumble on in Bristol, Tennessee. Of course, we knew about the National Forests (so great hiking) and the speedway, but fortunately, while Bill is a “car guy” he’s not really into watching races….We love nature and the outdoors, so that is where we focus.  Tennessee is famous for it’s great hikes and water falls. Sadly, there weren’t any hikes close enough for us to try during our short stay. But we discovered something interesting about the Tennessee Valley Authority and where we went, we had a blast!

Bill discovered there was an island nearby – how could we resist seeing an island near mountains? So off we went to Osceola Island….not realizing, it was near a dam and that’s where we found a real gem! So after a stroll around the island, and looking at a strange sight, we learned so much…The strange sight was an earth and rock dam, 285 feet high and 1,600 feet long, with a generating capacity of 38,500 kilowatts.

We had no idea we were in such a strategic location, either.  The South Holston Dam is located 50 miles above the South Fork Holston River’s confluence with the North Fork Holston River (which forms the Holston River proper). The dam site is situated in an area where the river descends out of the Appalachian Mountains and enters the upper Holston Valley. The dam and the Tennessee half of its reservoir are surrounded by the Cherokee National Forest, and the Virginia half of the reservoir is surrounded by the Jefferson National Forest. The reservoir includes parts of Sullivan County in Tennessee and Washington County in Virginia. The city of Bristol straddles the Tennessee-Virginia border a few miles northwest of South Holston Dam. So what is unique about this dam?

In 1991, TVA built a weir (a unique structure that if you arrive at the right time, you will see multiple ‘water falls’ ) below South Holston Dam to add oxygen to the river when the hydropower plant isn’t generating electricity. Oxygen-rich water helps create a sustained habitat for aquatic insects, vegetation, and fish.

South Holston Reservoir is on the South Fork Holston River in northeast Tennessee. It extends 24 miles east of the dam into Virginia. Construction of the dam began in 1942 but was halted in favor of other wartime construction efforts. Building resumed in 1947 and was completed in 1950.

South Holston is operated for several purposes, including flood damage reduction, power production, aquatic ecology, and augmentation of the flow of water during drier periods.

The South Fork Holston River is home to an annual spring migration of white bass. Locals say that when the serviceberry and dogwood bloom, the white bass run.

A footbridge from the parking lot below the dam leads to Osceola Island and its one-mile-loop wildlife trail. Early in the morning or late in the evening are the best times to sight waterfowl, deer, and other wildlife.

We said we will have to come back to this area….we were only there for two nights.  Here are a few pictures from the Shadrack RV campground (and our review), the view when we left church on Sunday, our drive to Osceola Island and finally the South Holston Dam. To see more, click here to see more photos of this beautiful location on Flickr.

Our home and auto
The drive to Osceola Island.
We attended church and when we came out, this was the view!
On our way to the Dam
Bill walking around the island, taking photos.
Heading to the Dam, which is made from earth and rock.
From the Island, sitting on a bench, we could see what looked like a dam. Later we will look from there to this spot.
Walking on the dam. This side views the South Holston Lake and the other side, we look to the Island and can see where we sat.
This lake was stunning and was the hidden gem we discovered!

After this quick stay, we then headed to Waynesboro, Virginia, approximately 245 miles, where we again stayed for only two nights. Fortunately, even though we traveled on Interstate 85, the beautiful weather made this leg of the journey more tolerable. But Bill has decided he hates being the slowest vehicle on the road and being passed by other vehicles as big and bigger than we are.  At least, this is another great area, near the Blue Ridge Parkway and Appalachian Mountains. So he had to focus on the prize!

While we thought the campground was pricey, and no discounts, it was satisfactory. To read our review, click here.

This time, we were close enough to some great hikes, so we just decided to look for the best possible hike. We absolutely love the Virginia Appalachian Mountains, because we are so familiar with them and there are such great views and usually great water falls. We selected White Rock Falls Trail, which would be a 5 mile round trip hike. We didn’t realize it also met up with the Torry Ridge Trail, which is where we ended up hiking to. These trails were off of Mile Post 18.5 off the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP). We learned you have no cell service or GPS on the BRP so I couldn’t use our “Map My Hike” app.

We have no idea how far we actually hiked as we went beyond the initial Falls Trail we started on. We had a great hike, but the falls were disappointingly small, in fact, we went beyond them because we couldn’t imagine they were the 30′ falls we read in the description of the hike.

We had to find something beautiful, after all, we were in the Appalachian mountains! So up we went and what a work out in the end. And the reward was well worth it. Here are a few pictures of this hike:

Our campsite.
Checking out the trail options
So we can remember where we were!
Bill taking a picture of the 30″ falls
The Falls! Can you see them?
So we began our ascent up….
And we made it!
Trying to show the depth and these dogs were tired!
This was our reward!

 

We didn’t mention, this whole journey also included numerous conversations with Tiffin Service Center. One of the main reasons we felt we needed to upgrade to a motor home was to have a washer and dryer. We are so active and on the go, we need to not waste precious time waiting for washers and dryers! And we had seriously downsized our wardrobe for our “extra lite” and very small 5th wheel. So long story short, while we paid too much to have a 5 year old washer fixed, Tiffin was only trying to save us money. In the end, the aggravation and the fact I did have to wait to do laundry, they refunded us all our money on the repair. We’re now waiting on our special order and we sure hope it works out!

So now our focus is on our arrival to the Fredericksburg, VA area and at least two months with our grandson and his parents! We will help get the nursery ready for his sibling, paint the guest room, and just help around the house while we enjoy our little lad, Colin!

Normally, he comes running when we pick him up from day care. This day, he wanted to keep climbing!

Normally, he comes running when we pick him up from day care. This day, he wanted to keep climbing!

Next up, we will celebrate our one year anniversary as full-timers. We sold our “dream” Florida pool home on July 16, 2014. We don’t miss it at all!

06/20/2015

No more doubts….


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He appears so confident!

While Bill never doubted he could drive a 40′ motor home, he had serious doubts after the first trip.  We purchased it in Cocoa, FL, then drove to Suwannee River State Park, Live Oak, Florida then to Troy, Alabama and then to our final destination of Red Bay, Alabama. Read about that journey here.

He said starting out on I-95 North was not the best way to get broken in. But once we turned west on I-10, he was a bit more confident. And then things went pretty well until we got close to Birmingham, Alabama….reminiscent of I-95 North. But worse! And then things were ok from there to the border of Mississippi and turning north to Red Bay, taking Mississippi County Road 23. That’s where Bill’s white knuckles about had it! It’s a very narrow, winding road without any berm for safety if your wheels go off the road (like when another big truck passes you and you need to move over close to the edge of the lane).

After a really wonderful experience in Red Bay, we needed to start figuring out how to get to our next destination, Fredericksburg, Virginia. Bill really wasn’t looking forward to the mountains, or driving in rain. But since we needed to get there as soon as possible (we spent 4 days longer in Red Bay than would have been ideal), we had to carefully select the route. So lots of time went into finding the “perfect” route for the first leg of the journey. There were three routes to pick from between Red Bay and Jasper, Tennessee. The fastest and shortest route went around Huntsville. Strike that route. Next was to go slightly north. Or take a longer route, but avoiding the major cities, more of a southern route. So we picked it, thinking it would not be in the mountains. At best, we should be there in four hours, plenty of time to still enjoy the day and take a good walk since we left at 9:00 am. (The mountains show up in this pic, but not on our original map…or at least we didn’t see them.)

Route

It SHOULD have been approximately 180 miles and 3 1/2 hours from Red Bay to Jasper, TN.

We are starting out with our new navigation system (Garmin) in the RV with Debbie still following in the car with the relatively new navigation in the new (old) Cadillac, SRX. Wouldn’t you know we couldn’t get them to match, so it was a bit confusing.  Bill decided to just read the paper directions we printed. But he forgot he was still trying to get comfortable and couldn’t grab them while driving….So we missed that first turn!

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A sign said, “Visitor’s Center” ahead…

Debbie’s navigation system recalculated and recalculated and recalculated.  So she called OnStar which is a courtesy with our car purchase. They tried to recreate the trip for her – but Bill had the paper directions and Debbie could only say “southern and avoid big cities.”  Bill was following and really doesn’t like to talk on the phone (no hands free set up for him). Debbie decided to pull into a “Visitor’s Center,” Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge, to talk about the route.  We did get to talk….and then….

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No Visitor’s Center in view!

OOPS, this means Bill had to make a U-turn as there really wasn’t a visitor’s center as Debbie had hoped. At least not near the road. We both took it in stride…at least the weather was good and the road was flat (as in no mountains).

We jumped on I-65 and headed north, noting it was now going to take about 4 hours to get to Jasper.  So we thought we would only lose 30 minutes. But it was such a beautiful day and we were happy to be in Tennessee….life is good, we’re thinking….

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Bill was happy saying he now had 1,000 miles under his belt. That makes Debbie VERY happy!

Tennessee is a BEAUTIFUL state! Debbie couldn’t help but snap a few photos with her iPhone, driving safely of course……

Just beautiful blue sky and rolling hills….

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Debbie is thinking, “Look at all these sights we are just blowing by….but our grandson is calling our names….”

But then there was a detour off onto County Road 41 off of CR 65. We thought we were heading to I-24.  So long story short, it began to rain heavily and we’re lost in spite of our GPS systems and OnStar. Well, let’s say, Debbie was lost and Bill wanted to go one way but Debbie insisted on following OnStar’s suggestion. Fortunately, Debbie pulled into a good area for a quick conference call and a U-turn….while talking on the phone, Bill says, “Oh no, my wiper blade just fell off.” Did I mention it was raining heavily?

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Oh no, my wiper blade just fell off!

Debbie is a woman of prayer. So as she pulled into this turn lane for the U-turn, there were only a few cars, then suddenly a lot of cars! So she pleaded with God for safety while Bill hopped out to put the blade back on (fortunately we had just stopped at the right time and place for it to land) and Debbie had to do the same – to take a picture. This was starting to get funny….to her….

And the trip just now got interesting. We’re not sure how it happened but we got on the type of road Bill said he’d NEVER drive on. One of those narrow county roads with lots of switch back curves, in the mountains with little to no berm and “cliff’s” on the other side of the road, with lots of pick up trucks in a hurry to go no where. And it’s raining….No pictures but it was scary and Debbie was in the small car!

But then, we got to the top of the hill and now it is a four lane highway…BUT and also 6% grades…AND runaway truck ramps, three of them! This is not good for Bill….and it’s back to white knuckles.

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At least it’s not raining now!

This may be a bit long, so time to bring it to a close! Somehow, we found this quaint little county park, Marion County Lake and Park, right off of the Tennessee River! Our review here.

It only took us six hours, rather than the 3 1/2 we hoped it would be. So much for a relaxing and enjoyable afternoon. The sites were not clearly marked so we initially pulled into the wrong site. It wasn’t a real level site, so one tire didn’t quite touch the ground, but we had no choice and were just too stressed to try to re-park the motor home again. But somehow, we decided it was so beautiful, we had to take a walk around the park.

We were the only motor home. There were many trailers and 5th wheels near us and on the other side, lots of tenters. We had water and electricity. There was a dump station near the office. It was a nice of enough of a location to stay two nights…and we needed that time to “chill” out!

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Our site, # 28 A & B. Debbie is more relaxed than Bill.

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View from our RV

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Another view. That bridge is I-24, going over the Tennessee River.

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We walked over two miles, taking about 45 minutes walking time..

And then we met an interesting young man who just dedicated his life to Jesus – and who happened to be from Wyoming, near where Debbie was born. Not many people are from Wyoming….

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Two fellow Wyoming-ians!

Aspen said he never knew anything about Jesus. He was homeless at the time, just traveling with a tent and on his bicycle when he came to the know who Jesus is in Chattanooga. He was robbed twice there. Not that he had much, but his dad had given him a really nice tent. He said the Lord said He would be provided for, He just wants him to cross America and spread the news of His Gospel! So please pray for Aspen and his journey.

“The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.”
Proverbs 16:9

After all this, Bill said he no longer has any doubts he can drive the motor home in just about any condition. But we really need to watch the weather.

Our second day there we took a great hike, nearly five miles, around Foster Falls! Photos for that are uploaded here, onto Flickr.

So guess how our next trip went? Heading to Bristol, Tennessee.…

06/17/2015

Final Week with Tiffin Motorhome Service in Red Bay


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Our site, # 18, between our new friends!

We’ve sure enjoyed our time in Red Bay, Alabama. We’ve had others tell us there isn’t much to do here, but it depends on what your definition is of fun!

We will agree there isn’t much in the way of entertainment, night life, or a great selection of restaurants or shopping. But for us, we love to cook our own meals, we only shop for what we really need and between Amazon.com and Walmart, we are kept stocked. We love the Lord’s creation, there is a lot of that here.

I just read a review of the play Les MisĂŠrables in our home town. The most famous quote from this iconic movie is, “And remember, the truth that once was spoken: To love another person is to see the face of God.” (Victor Hugo). We must admit, our belief system demands we love others. So we do love people, or at least try. Some are more lovable than others….but who couldn’t love all these lovely people! They have been so patient and kind. You never hear them lose patience with any of us, but yet, so many of us lose our patience with them.

What we have found here that we’ve never found before is a WEALTH of information from other Tiffin owners.  That has been refreshing.  And the people we are meeting has been energizing.  Everyone has a story, so talk about entertainment, just to hear some of the stories will keep you laughing or crying!

So back to our diary! We did have a technician install a hard-wired surge protector for us over the weekend. There are some jobs it’s easier and faster to “hire” out.

Monday, June 15, 2015  We got a break from the early morning assignments.  This day, we hade a 49 mile road trip one way for another “good will warranty” repair.  For about 3 years, Tiffin used plywood in the wet bay area, and we were one of the units that needed it replaced. Our appointment was at 10:30.

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Happy to head out at a “reasonable” hour!

Debbie finally got to ride as a passenger (the car is not set up to flat tow as of yet) and she loved the comfort of the passenger seat. And it was a gorgeous drive in the rolling foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.

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Bill was so much more relaxed. No white knuckles today!

The location was at Kimbrough Automotive & A/C, 75 AL-157, Tuscambia, AL 35674, telephone 256-381-0797. The GPS can get you close but it won’t get you there for the last few miles. Another customer told us what to do but it didn’t make sense when we got close. So we called Kimbrough and they told us exactly what to do, but Bill didn’t hear the directions fast enough…..so he had to make his first U-turn! Now that was exciting but it put us back on the road in the opposite direction! So while we thought we’d be early, it was about 11:15 when we pulled in. They thought our appointment was at 1:30 so they were just happy to see us!  Here is a picture of what to do:

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Follow 157 to Moulton and Cullman where 20 & 72 split. THEN turn left immediately into Kimbrough.

They are remodeling the building so we sat in a brand new lounge that needs a bit more work. But the chair and couch were comfortable. It was about a three-hour repair. It is just amazing we are getting this work done under the “Good Will Warranty.” Bob Tiffin has a wonderful reputation. His quality of workmanship seems to be a dying art.

We arrived back at the Service Center too late to get any more work done. We still need a few little things and one more big job.  But we enjoyed the rest of the day.  Bill wiped down one side and the front of the coach.  Debbie was able to get in a long walk and visited with the neighbors. We know we will have another early morning so we didn’t stay out late.

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Bill’s hobby, polishing our new home!

Tuesday, June 16, 2015 – This day is crunch day! Time for our main slide floor to be replaced, so we arrived in Bay 47 at 7:00 am. We were never told how to prepare, but we heard we’d need to remove a few things. The technician helped us and then we went to the customer lounge until 11:30. Debbie walked by it to get a few pictures. It’s a bit unnerving seeing your motor home wide open! That is the back of our residential refrigerator. And the slide is laying on its side with the dirty looking canvas. The crane lifted it off. It would have been fun to watch it going on and off, but at least we saw how it came together on the factory tour!

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Our Coach with the main slide taken off.

We were told it would be done at 11:30, so we checked in with Shane, our original tech who ordered the parts for our washing machine and entrance light panel. His boss was standing there, so he arranged for it to be brought to his bay for the final touches. Oh how hopeful we are that we will be done today and can head to Virginia tomorrow. Our daughter checks on us regularly to see when she can expect us. Being 8 months pregnant and working full-time is not easy with a toddler. And we miss him!

We were able to stay in the coach while Shane and his assistant worked inside. The work was completed by 3:00. He said our paperwork would be completed in about 40 minutes, so we drove the coach back to our site and set up.  Debbie put a load of laundry on – but had trouble getting the washer to work.  Shane came over after giving a few suggestions via text message. But by then it was working.  Debbie is a happy camper!  About 40 minutes later, we went to get our final bill.  We were very nervous about how much all this work would cost…..But we were so HAPPY and amazed at how low the bill was. No wonder there is so much brand loyalty! The most expensive thing was the exhaust pipe. It was a miracle it hung on until we arrived here.

We went home ready to plan our trip to Virginia. We have to go through the mountains so need the best possible route.  The drive to Kimbrough was a great opportunity to practice riding in the hills and using the engine brake. And since we got up at 5:30, we were ready to relax for the evening. Actually, we were both too tired to try to take a walk. It is hard work hanging out while people work on your home!

While we were cooking dinner, we noticed the air conditioner didn’t seem to be working right. Debbie came up with lots of excuses/reasons. But Bill was concerned there was still an issue. It was one thing we had looked at – and they said it was in the sensors so they were replaced.

Wednesday, June 17, 2015  We woke at 5:30.  Bill didn’t sleep well, concerned about the A/Cs. He wanted to talk to a technician.  But Debbie said, “It’s time to go!” It felt like they were working to her. But Bill warned about “feelings.”  He said you need common sense. But nevertheless, we got ready to go. After trying to get the GPS set for our first location, Jasper, Tennessee, Bill started the coach up….and the front jacks would not retract. This was an issue we had looked at several times as it was a continuing problem since we bought it. Long story short, we spent the day waiting to get a call to bring the rig in for both the A/C and the jacks. And to not embarrass Debbie, she had to shake up a supervisor as we had not phone call by 2:00. So we had new jacks put on by 3:00 and now we have to spend another night to have the A/C looked at….will we ever leave Red Bay?

Thursday, June 18, 2015  We were up again at 5:30. We really want to leave but we would like to resolve the A/C issue. So we got ready and were ready for a phone call to be in Bay 7 by 7:00 am. But after a relaxing breakfast and time to think (and feel the A/C) we decided to leave and start heading east. So Bill went over to talk to the Shop Foreman. He said they were booked today anyway, so it would be another day. So our paperwork was processed and ready to us to settle this new bill with in 40 minutes.  Bill returned home to prepare to move. Debbie went to the Tiffin Parts Store (near the laundry room) to get one more thing. The prices there are sold at dealer cost! And then she checked out with the service cashier and then again at the Campground office. The stay this last night was gratis since the jacks were a “do over.” But the jacks cost as much as the new exhaust pipe. We know it was the right thing and we feel confident we will be good to go for another year.  We plan to return yearly for our annual service.

So off we headed to Jasper, Tennessee. We decided to make it an easy day to recover from the stress of the early service work and dealing with the same issues over and over.  To us, it wasn’t that big of  a deal as everyone is only human. We do feel we will be better customer’s next time.  So our next blog will be a bit entertaining as we share how this easy 3 1/2 hour trip turned into six and it was anything but easy! And one part fell off in the middle of a torrential rainstorm.  We heard there is a serious storm called “Bill” going across several states….so stay tuned!

Our final thoughts:  We have learned so much these past few weeks. Several things apply to owning a motor home and the full-time lifestyle – as well as coming to the Tiffin Service Center. First, you really need to be flexible. Patience is invaluable. And probably the best attribute is to have a sense of humor! But for us, it’s also all about our faith. That keeps us grounded and when we feel so helpless and out of sorts from things out of our control, we can just trust the Lord that He is in control and somehow, things will work out for the best!  We loved our time in Red Bay and can’t wait to return!

 

06/16/2015

Fun while in Red Bay, Alabama


Tishomingo State Park

Tishomingo State Park

We needed some fun after a grueling week, talked about here. We are so grateful the culture of the Tiffin Motorhome enterprise is so upbeat and friendly, but it was a rough week.

Whatever we do, where ever we are, we do look to have fun! But we are really pretty boring people. First and foremost with us is enjoying God’s creation, from beaches, to mountains, to flowers to babies – especially our grandson and our soon to be second grandchild! We can’t wait to bring our grandsons along with us one day….

While we are traveling, our favorite activity is to go hiking, especially in the mountains, state parks or wherever there is challenging terrain and we love to take very long walks on beaches (especially Myrtle Beach or Topsail). At a minimum, we both like to walk at least two miles a day wherever we are.  We also both enjoy history, so that means visiting local museums. And who doesn’t enjoy a beautiful botanical garden or any gardens? But Bill also enjoys keeping his vehicles clean and polished! So we found a few things we could do to enjoy our time in Red Bay, Alabama while we get our new, but old, motor home repaired and spruced up to suit us.

HIKING:  The first thing we do in a new area is search out places to hike. When we arrived here, we did a google search and discovered what appeared to be the closest place was 40 miles away. We decided when we first arrived, we didn’t have the time to drive that far. So Bill went out and walked all around town, looking for a place I could walk. I can’t walk very long on sidewalks/concrete. He saw alot and enjoyed the quaint town, but found no green spaces. Little did we know, the Allegro Campground and Service area has plenty of asphalt and dirt roads, so we enjoyed lots of walks around the grounds and surrounding neighborhoods. I use Map My Walk app, so calculated nearly 15 miles in the short time we’ve been in Red Bay, excluding the two day hikes.

We discovered on our drive back from Illinois, that Tishomingo State Park, Mississippi is only about 10-15 miles away! We were so happy to discover this.  The day we were having our Cap Rails switched out, a day long process, we planned to enjoy the day in the woods. We dropped the motor home off in Bay 17 at 7:00 am. It was foggy out, so we hung out in the Service Lounge while the sun burned the fog off. We needed to be back by 2:30, so we headed out around 10:30. (It’s easy to lose track of time. We have spent a lot of time getting to know new people.  You get to talking and a few hours can slip by!)

This park is located right off the Natchez Trace Parkway, at milepost 304, located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. It is “steeped in history” and has fabulous scenery (why we love State Parks). There have been archaeological excavations that confirmed the presence of Paleo Indians as early as 7000 B.C.  The park is named after the leader of the Chickasaw nation, Chief Tishomingo. The famous Natchez Trace Parkway is the premier highway of the early 1800s and as a modern scenic highway, runs directly through the park. What also makes this park unique is the landscape of massive rock formations and fern-filled crevices found no where else in Mississippi. Yes, we hiked in Mississippi – which borders Red Bay! Here are a few pictures from our nearly 5 mile hike:

Entrance
Pioneer Cabin
Diverse Terrain

We couldn’t wait to go back…so on Saturday, we headed back over. But we were delayed as we found someone to install a part for us that would be cheaper to do rather than have it installed during our servicing. So we didn’t spend as much time there as we would have liked, only hiking about three miles. It was also the hottest day of the year and we felt it! Here are a few more pictures, but click here (Flickr) to see all our pictures from the park.

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Our Phaeton would fit on this site!

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Entrance for the tour.

TIFFIN FACTORY TOUR: We had no expectations for this tour. But this was nothing we could have imagined! They ask you to be there by 9:15 and they start at 9:30 sharp. You are asked to sign in and put on eye protection they provide. Then you are give a headset and receiver. They have coffee and restrooms. Be prepared to stand and walk for nearly two hours! We were shown a short video as an introduction and then each of the two tour guides introduces themselves and starts with additional history. We then walked over to the factory, or at least one building to start learning how Tiffin’s are made.

We started the tour with history: In 1941, Bob Tiffin’s father Alex started Tiffin Supply Company, a lumberyard and general merchandise store in Red Bay, Alabama. From that business start-up, two more generations of Tiffins and more than 50,000 RV owners have profited by Alex Tiffin’s strong sense of customer service. Bob joined his father at Tiffin Supply, which sold just about everything needed to build and furnish a house.

In 1965, Alex Tiffin and a handful of investors bought a state-of-the-art cotton gin, when cotton was still king in Alabama and much of the South. The operations manager quit before the first bale arrived for ginning. Alex turned to his 23-year-old son Bob, who took to the cotton business, machinery and management like it was second nature.

Soon he had the gin operating at ten bales an hour. He still marvels at the way the gin was engineered. Looking back years later, Bob smiles about his abiding fondness for anything mechanical — especially something that rolls.

As the cotton gin became a steady contributor to the Tiffin enterprise, a new manufacturing operation came to the area. The Commodore Company opened plants to build manufactured housing and recreational vehicles. Many of their supplies were purchased from Tiffin Supply Co. The Tiffins learned more and more about their new customer and its products. After three years, the Commodore Co. called it quits, closing its doors. Always eager for a new challenge, the Tiffins purchased the facility, and Tiffin Motorhomes was born.

The tour then started in what used to be the cotton warehouse. We were reminded that Bob Tiffin doesn’t like to build new when he can “recycle” a building! This warehouse is now where they process all the lumber and prepare it for the wood cabinets and any wooden trims! Yes, they make the cabinets by hand and we saw it in action. We didn’t need to wear face masks, but I wouldn’t recommend anyone take the tour that has breathing problems and can’t stand for nearly two hours. 

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Wood preparation shop

We then moved outside and walked over to the Chassis center. There was an outdoor presentation of the four chassis before going inside to see how they are engineered. The welding shop was near by, but we couldn’t see inside. We saw how the wood shop has grown and will now expand into the Chassis center.  There is some transition with the chassis’ as they build some themselves and others are from Freight-liner.

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Outdoor chassis presentation, moving from the wood shop to the chassis shop.

We were warned we would begin to wonder when we would see the motor homes actually being built, and indeed, we began to wonder. So into the actual “factory” which is not necessarily like an assembly line, but is divided into 12 separate departments.  What was most interesting is that each part has a unique six digit number. If you want to watch your coach being built, those numbers will be fun to keep track of and watch.

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Note the head sets and standing! We are entering the shop where they begin production. Note the # 6, #5, & #4 – that’s where the parts move from site to site.

From here we watched how they prepare the exterior walls. This was fascinating and using state of the art equipment. Then we saw how they prepare the countertops and then the plumbing. Next was to see how they prepare the wiring for the units.  Amazingly, approximately 3 miles of wire is put into the largest units! We were then able to see how the plumbing and wiring is installed into the chassis. The next step is seeing how the tile floors are assembled and then lifted onto the chassis.  The coach is now ready for the interior walls and cabinets. It was fun seeing how they move the units around, going from station to station.  

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After interior walls, plumbing and electric, time for the outside walls

The next phase is to install the exterior walls, using cranes. And then the roofs are prepared, including the air conditioners  and then set on top, again, using cranes. The slide-outs are assembled first, and then installed on the chassis. The front unit is also assembled with glass before being installed. Next step is to prepare the coach for paint. Currently, the actual painting is done in Belmont, Mississippi. We were all encouraged to go there to watch, but they don’t give tours. By now, the tour was over, but we were invited to go inside and look at the new models! We didn’t dare do this as we want to stay happy with our 2010!  We finished the tour looking at the 1975 Allegro on display for nostalgia’s sake!

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It was so sad to see the yellow and green faded out shag carpet….we had it in our second house! We’re really old!

You can watch a short you-tube video of the tour, which included painting the coach. Our complete photo album from the Tiffin Factory tour also on Flickr:

RED BAY MUSEUM: This is a very small and quaint museum. Usually when left alone, we can spend at least 2-3 hours in this size. But we were the only visitors and the tour guide wanted to accompany us through it. He said he was a “transplant” and didn’t really know the history very well. So he couldn’t answer too many questions. But was a musician so he really keyed in on all the “famous” musicians who visited the town, and especially the Tammy Wynette exhibits. While Bill has a lot of untapped musical talent, he wasn’t that interested…and I have little to no musical talents so I wasn’t interested in famous musicians for the most part.  Just sayin’….

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Bill hates having his picture taken, but he hates taking pictures with my iPhone even more!

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We hate seeing a “church” in a museum and pray it doesn’t come to this one day….but these were donated when the church was updated!

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Red Bay celebrated it’s centennial in 2007

CHURCH: We always make it a point to attend church on Sunday.  And for some reason, we keep picking on the First Baptist Churches – or rather, we keep feeling the calling to attend their services. We have never been disappointed and the message always speaks to our hearts. The message this week was on God’s faithfulness and it drove home how good and kind He has been to us! And to this town.

This is really a little sleepy hallow, except for this HUGE RVs that drive around town….While on our way to the Tiffin Tour, we were diverted from the route….I could see a police officer hunkered behind his vehicle, weapon drawn. I immediately thought it was those fugitives who escaped from prison in New York. But no, it was a drug addict that took 5 hostages in the local pharmacy. The pharmacist was an amazing woman, who happened to be a member of First Baptist Church (as was the owner of it). She was able to get the customer’s freed and stayed with the shotgun bearing addict.  He just wanted drugs, so she complied and gave him what he wanted…and maybe a little more. Once he was out, she took the shotgun and turned it over to the police….of which there were about 50 by then! So the message really had special meaning for this congregation and town as they were all called to pray for a safe turn out!

What even made this Sunday better, was that we met a couple here that needed a ride to church. Their car was in the shop. So what a blessing to get to worship with like-minded believers and get to know them and their work. They are full-timers, too. But they just sold their 5 acre farm-ette – the wife’s dream was to have chickens and grow all her own vegetables….but she just felt ready to give it up and go full time and serve the Lord in various ministries. They belong to “Campers on Mission.” Did I mention they were in their early 70s?

The sermon was taken from Lamentations 3:22-23:

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

06/15/2015

Tiffin Motor Homes, Allegro Service Center continued


June 15, 2015, Red Bay, Alabama

Allegro Tiffin Service Center

Allegro Tiffin Service Center

We have learned a number of very valuable lessons while in Red Bay. And we’re finding out we have to write things down to remember them, so here is our short diary. We know we will be back here for our service annually, if possible, and don’t want to forget this experience.

We have made many new friends and learned important things about operating our motor home. As well as how to maneuver the Tiffin Allegro Service Center.

This is a brief diary of the work performed:

May 19, 2015 – arrived from Walnut Creek RV Park, Troy, Alabama. Checked into Red Bay Self Service RV Park located at 717 4th Street Northwest, Red Bay, AL 35582 (telephone number 256-668-0526).  Went to the Allegro Service Center (which also has the Allegro RV Campground on campus) to sign in and gave them our list of “20 items” we needed to have repaired. We were told someone would come see us the next day to go over the list.  ADVICE:  Bring your VIN and odometer if you are “off site.”  We had to go retrieve them and was back before they closed at 7:30 pm. You are given a booklet, “Guest Guide,” with all the information you need to survive your time here. However, it looked like it contained TMI so we didn’t read it and later realized we needed it! For one, if you take the Tiffin Factory Tour, there is paper in the booklet to take to the tour hosts and have them fill it out. They will reward you with one free night of camping.

May 20, 2015 – at 8:00 am, Norris (a 40 year employee with Tiffin) knocked on our door to go over our “list” which at the time contained 20 items, but we added 3 things over night.  He was a real blessing to talk to as we were still overwhelmed from the trip to Red Bay the day before and maneuvering around the Self Service RV Park (we didn’t know what we were doing when we pulled in there) and checking in.  He put our minds at ease and assured us all will go smoothly. And it really did!  About 2 hours later, we had another Tiffin employee bring us a sheet to put in our window showing the three things we needed repaired under the 10 year “Good Will” warranty.  And finally about 1 pm, we had another technician come and talk further about our “list.” We were told it would be about 3 weeks before they could get to us. We said we would be gone two weeks and would leave the RV. He asked us to leave the ignition key and if things opened up, they would bring it over and start the work.

May 21, 2015 – June 7, 2015  We left our RV at the Red Bay Self Service RV Park, paying $300 total for 3 weeks with for full hook up. Normally, it’s $20/night, but you get a discount for longer term parking.  We drove up to Illinois to spend time with Bill’s mom, brother and his family. We had a great time, but were anxious to get our RV fixed up and back on the road.

On June 4, 2015, we got the phone call that they brought our unit over to the Service Center to begin looking it over.  Our Technician was named Shane (same as our son-in-law), so we liked him immediately! He talked to Bill for nearly 20 minutes going over the list again. We said we would be back there on June 7. He said good, bring our home to Bay 34 at 7 am. We are not early morning people….

Monday, June 8, 2015 –

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We pulled into Bay 34 at 7:03 am, yawn! It wasn’t easy, but we were so excited to start the work, we made it, but had an issue with one of the automatic jacks. And since we didn’t look at the “Guest Guide,” we weren’t sure where Bay 34 was! The provide a nice color map so you can see the best way to arrive at your bay.

Shane showed us the few minor things they had started to work on as well as an inspection to see if we needed these problems repaired: Cap Rails replaced, Tank Floors replaced (wet bay issue) and Slide Out Floors repaired. We do need them all fixed/repaired. And all would be done under the “Goodwill” program. This was the very reason we bought a Tiffin!  Bob Tiffin stands behind his product and gives a 10 year guarantee on the structure of his motor homes.  We spent the day hanging out inside our RV and even ate our breakfast while they worked.  We invited them to join us, but maybe if we had fresh donuts they would have had one or two! How nice we were allowed to not only be in the Bay, but inside our “home” to help oversee some of the smaller things we needed repaired.

BillIMG_6142 and I took turns “getting out and about” so I used my time to take a nice walk around the complex and into the neighborhood. I loved starting out by the cow pasture! This is a very diverse town….we also hear the roosters crow each morning.

The main issue this day was to figure out what was wrong with the washing machine. There were so many items on our list, we were there all day, until 3:00 pm. The washing machine had bad intake values, so they were ordered. On the previous Thursday, Shane had also ordered a new panel for our light panel board as you enter the home. Bill talked to the factory rep about our “moldy-looking Diamond Shield, which was not a promising discussion.

The technicians installed an air duct in the closet; figured out the dryer had a 15 amp circuit breaker instead of a 25 amp (now we know why it kept “popping”); put in new sensors in the thermostats; put on new wiper blades; fixed water filter cover in the refrigerator; tried to fix the electric steps; attempted to fix the latching system on the bay doors. They scheduled work for a new navigation system, to add Maxx air covers, and switch our satellite system from Dish to Direct TV. We were exhausted at the end of the day!

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Day 2, Bay # 40 Going up on lifts

Tuesday, June 9, 2015 – We’ve now learned the routine is to get a phone call by about 3 pm the day before and you are told to arrive at a certain bay by 7:00 am the next day. As we said, we are not morning people and try to not have any early morning appointments….  We were hoping all our work will be done in a few days…. This day was to fix the jacks that weren’t leveling. We were starting to have problems with the air bags filling up, but they couldn’t find that problem. But they discovered our exhaust pipe was about to fall off, repaired the muffler strap and replaced our two exhaust tips. This was a short day in the bay.

Since we couldn’t stay in the coach, this was the perfect time to take the Tiffin Factory Tour, from 9:15 to 11:00. We really enjoyed it and will write a separate blog about it. We got a phone call as the tour was ending (at 11:00 am) that our rig was finished in this bay. There was no more work scheduled for the day, so we went to Bay Diesel to see about getting them to service the diesel engine. They were booked.

Tiffin Factory Tour

Allegro Visitor’s Center

Wednesday, June 10, 2015 –

Bay 17

Bay 17 – Cap rails being replaced

Time for our first “good will” warranty work, to have our cap rails replaced. These rails finish off the roof panels and join the walls and roof together.  This would be an all day job and we couldn’t remain inside the rig, or even in the bay. So off to take a hike! We went to Tishomingo State Park, near Belmont, MS and enjoyed a wonderful 4.16 mile hike that took 1 1/2 hours! It is right off the Natchez Trace Parkway, which was on our motorcycle bucket list to ride. Oh well, we are getting over that chapter in our lives and are enjoying our motor home adventures!

We are also enjoying getting to know the technicians that work hard to do the best possible job. They are carefully screened before they are hired.  This day, we had a veteran from the Army working on our rig. He service two tours in Afghanistan. What a privilege to meet him!

We had a change of heart about the Diamond Shield. We looked at other products, but decided to go with what Tiffin had been using. So the Diamond Shield Representative came by our camp ground and removed our moldy product. We were fortunate as it came off without any damage to the paint. We think part of the reason was it had been sitting in the hot sun.

Thursday, June 11, 2015 –

Bay 32

Bay 32

Wanda is the woman to get to know. She arranges all the Bay assignments and keeps the Service Department busy.  We got to know her because we kept having so many issues. And we were VERY glad we were here to get all these problems resolved.  We also let her know our very pregnant daughter has been patiently waiting for this process to be over so we can head to Virginia and help her out.  So we are doing all we can to help keep the service moving along, without being obnoxious….Wanda  saw we were staying “off site” so she suggested we move onto the Allegro Campground, which is where the Bays are. So we moved over!

Our next work assignment was to report to Bay 32. We hoped to figure out why our hydraulic system was not working properly. When we start the motor home up for the day, there is an “air leaking” sound and it takes longer than it should for the air bags to full up. What an education we are getting about owning a motor home! So we reported to Bay 32. We had hoped the parts would also be in as this bay was set up to finish the washing machine and install the light switches panel as well. But that wasn’t going to happen. They thought it needed a new valve. In essence, nothing else was accomplished.

So off we went to Bay Diesel & A/C, Inc., 1127 4th Street Northeast, Red Bay, telephone: 256-356-8803, to get the engine and generator serviced. They were booked but said if we just dropped it off for the day, they would get it done. That worked for us as we wanted to see the Red Bay Museum. It opened at 1:30 and we were done by 2:30. We thought we would get a phone call from Bay Diesel when they were done. We decided to go sit in the Service Center Lounge and wait – it’s so interesting talking to others who are also having service done. We have made some new friends and the environment is perfect! But by 4:00 pm, we decided we would just go to Bay Diesel as they certainly would be done soon. Long story short, we arrived to see our motor home locked up behind the gates and no one around. We called the telephone numbers on the business card – no answer.

Bay Diesel

Locked in at Bay Diesel

We panicked a little….this is our home, our dinner was in the refrigerator and it was where we planned to sleep for the night. We called Tiffin for some help, but they didn’t have any other phone number. So we decided to try to find the police station and ask for their help….after all, this is a small town. We saw a police officer on the way there and he helped us out. We got a hold of the owner and he sent an employee to let our motor home out! He said just come settle our bill the next day. We sure love this little town and were very pleased with the work done at Bay Diesel!

Friday, June 12, 2015 – 

Diamond Shield Bay

Diamond Shield Bay

Today we hoped to get the Diamond Shield (Bay 44) installed in the morning. Then go to the Muscle Shoals location at 12:30 to have our wet bay floor replaced. But we got a phone call to report to Bay 40 to have our hydraulic system repaired.  We actually had a hard time getting the motor home aired up to drive the short distance, and it was noted as a priority to repair. Fortunately, Diamond Shield could hold off for a short time. In the end, it took until the end of the day for Diamond Shield to be put on and it was discovered the hydraulic issue was a computer programming problem. It was allegedly fixed while in Bay 44. We later learned they were not able to fix it via the computer program. ;-{

We took the weekend off, sort of, and were able to enjoy the area. So stay tuned to see if we ever get everything fixed and finished…..our daughter is checking on our progress every day!

Here’s a few photos of the Allegro Campground, located right at the Service Center. Note the blue sky and it is HOT and dusty. Otherwise, for the price (free if you have a new one, $10/if you are having warranty work, and $20/night for older out of warranty homes.  There are about 90 full hook-ups but some have to just have electricity or even boondock. It was fully packed last night.  There’s no doubt, it’s so convenient. And social. We are learning so much from experienced owners.

Pulling into the Campground and Service Center
As you drive in, keep going straight. We’re site # 18
While I was out walking, Bill was “polishing” all the dirt off!

I think it’s time to stop this tedious blog and move on to a blog about the fun we have also been having! This week was exhausting, harder than when we actually worked our 40 hour work weeks! We did do a few fun things, but the stress of getting the bay’s assigned and trying to make sure everything was done properly hampered too much fun! But all in all, we have loved meeting so many fine people who work at Tiffin and do their best to provide quality motor homes!

“Whatever you do, do it from the heart for the Lord and not for people. You know that you will receive an inheritance as a reward. You serve the Lord Christ.” Colossians 3:23-24

 

 

05/21/2015

One Word Photo Challenge: Hot


After a very cold winter, traveling from Virginia (January 7, 2915), back to Florida (January 9, 2015), back to Virginia (April 2, 2015), and finally back to Florida on May 7, 2015, we never were “hot” until this day, May 18, 2015. We traveled from Cocoa, Fl (and never were “hot” there) to Troy, Alabama. Well, except for a short time the day my hubby crawled up on the roof of our new home to inspect it:   So on May 18 in Troy, Alabama, it finally hit 90! We settled our home into it’s site, and then took a two mile hike around the beautiful Walnut Creek RV Park. We were covered in sweat, but no close ups! After our hike, we went inside to start dinner. We heard a whirlwind and then a crack. Looked out the door to see the destruction of this once perfect tree!  Our hike around the lake:  Where we were (in our new home):  Husband took this pic of a sweaty me with this new beautiful sign: And that was our hottest day for longer than we can remember! We’re Floridians because we like it HOT!

05/20/2015

Tiffin RV Service in Red Bay, Alabama – The Beginning


RoughingItSmoothly

The case cover that holds all of our manuals

Bill has his own reason’s for preferring the 40′ Phaeton QT. For me, Debbie, it was the testimony of an owner who brought their new “used” Class A motorhome to the Tiffin RV Service Center in Red Bay, Alabama. They bought it from a private party, like us. They planned to update a few things. While the technicians were going over their rig, they discovered there were a few recall issues. The main one was fixing the wet bay area and another was a slide floor. And at no charge, it was covered by Tiffin’s “Good Will” warranty. This made me really like the brand!

Since we were buying an older motorhome, 2010, we felt we should bring it back to the mecca (using the definition) “any place that many people visit or hope to visit”) of Tiffin. We heard good things about the service in Red Bay, but we also heard there is usually a wait. Since we were trying to meet a family obligation after buying it, we wanted all the information we could get about the process.

So first things first, we googled “Tiffin RV Service at Red Bay, Alabama.” Sadly, there wasn’t much information about it. But a few bloggers shared their experiences, which weren’t all that favorable.  So far, we are thankful we have had nothing but a positive experience here.

We did find two interesting blogs about other Tiffin Owners experiences:  RVWanderlust and 2toTravelPhaeton.  Neither blog prepared us for the drive to Red Bay, nor how overwhelming it is when you first check in!  Part of us being overwhelmed was Bill’s inexperience in driving the motor home while I was either leading us in the small towns, or following Bill on the highways. 

Whenever we need to learn about something, we think it’s best to go right to the horses mouth.  Since we couldn’t find the answers on the internet, we called the Service Center at (256) 356-2769.  A technician in the Service Department said they don’t make appointments, it’s “first come first serve” and the current wait was anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks. You arrive (must come in person) check in, and when it’s close to our “turn,” you’d get a phone call to bring the RV in.  In other words, we could make a two week family visit while the clock ticked.

I also asked about camping. They have camping on site, but you cannot leave the RV there – like we would want for two weeks. The technician emailed me a list of the local campgrounds, which was also a bit overwhelming because there were so many.  (I suddenly had visions that Red Bay was really a big city!)  Anyway, how do you pick one that will be the most convenient, etc.?  We figured we would find a place to park the RV and then just drive around and look for the “best campground.”

Thankfully, we pray every morning and ask for the Lord’s help and guidance. We actually “stumbled” on what became the best possible park for us! Somehow, the GPS went a bit haywire and I (Debbie) was leading Bill. So while it told me to go one way, I was following the signs to the Tiffin Service Center. I knew Bill was stressing out after the harrowing drive on a very narrow and winding road (for 23 miles). I needed to find a place to park….and then I saw a sign, “RV Park.”  I honestly didn’t realize what we pulled into, but it turned out to be the best choice, Red Bay Self Serve RV Park!  Their telephone number is (256) 668-0526 and the address is 717 4th Street Northwest, Red Bay, AL 35582.  We parked here from May 19 – June 11, but for nearly 2 weeks, we were not there, just the RV.

We felt safe there as there were enough other Tiffin Owners, the owners check the lot daily and it’s in a good area. Also, unbeknown to us, it is very close to the Service Center, just a few blocks within walking distance, so the Tiffin Employees can also easily come by.  We’re not sure if they go to the other “off site” campgrounds, but when we said this was where we were staying, the response was, “Good, employees can come there.” And they did!

Red Bay RV Park

Red Bay Self Service “RV Park”

By the time we arrived to the Tiffin Motorhomes Service Center on May 19, to get our “number” the wait was down to 3 1/2 weeks! We now could easily work around this with our scheduled family trip (to spend time with Bill’s 94 year old mom). We signed in, and planned to leave in two days.

We also needed to find someone to add the tow bar to our car and take care of some additional business. And Bill needed a day to unwind after his harrowing 720 mile journey in four days! We checked into the Service Center, also known as the Allegro Campground (which has many stipulations) and were a bit overwhelmed. They gave us a “Guest Guide” that was full of everything we needed to know and more. But the main thing was that when we drove our car there, but didn’t know we needed the VIN and our odometer reading. So we had to rush back, get that and then filled out the questionnaire. We had written out our list of 20 items we wanted looked at, so we provided it to them as well. We were told someone would get up with us to go over the list…but we didn’t expect Norris from Tiffin at 8 am the next morning! And two other Tiffin employees also came to check on things to finalize our “list.”  We were so impressed and ready to head out with confidence we made the right decision to bring it back to it’s birthplace!

This is where we parked for our time at Red Bay.

This is where we parked for our time at Red Bay. We’re on the right side with our car in the middle. There is a church behind us, but the steeple looks cool over the “Self Service Office!”

To be continued, a diary of our time at the Tiffin Service Center. We hope and pray we will be as happy when we leave as we were when we first arrived! Or go to our Fun  in Red Bay blog post.

“Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that He has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun.”

Ecclesiastes 9:9

05/20/2015

Learning to drive our new motor home


May 20, 2015, Cocoa Beach, Florida to Suwannee River State Park, Florida to Troy, Alabama.

TestDrive

The test drive!

Red Bay, Alabama is the home of Tiffin Motorhomes. Every owner seems to try to visit at least once in their RVs lifetime. It’s hard to believe we are here, now (May 19, 2015).

After years of dreaming of owning a Class A Motorhome, Bill finally talked Debbie into owning one. Actually, it didn’t take much after living in our 30′ Xlite Cougar 5th wheel for nearly two years. It actually suited us and we hated to trade up as it was so easy to maneuver and we found out we could get into any Florida State Park we wanted. That was a huge goal for us, to start staying in state and national parks.

For whatever reason, it took until this past March to finally try the state parks. And we were hooked. But then, we also realized we needed a little more comfort (king sized bed for his 6’2″ length – how did he sleep in a short queen bed for so long?); wanted a bigger refrigerator since we eat most meals at home; and finally, wanted a washer and dryer.  Having our own will help us manage our time better.  Generally we are on the go once we get settled in our site. Of an evening, is when laundry can easily be done.  It’s no fun being out in the dark with the bugs, or if there are only one or two washers/dryers, it can be very hard to do.  We love this lifestyle and have learned to go with the flow so I (Debbie) made the best of it!

Bill has driven about anything a non CDL driver can drive. He was a Snap-on Tool Dealer for a few years, so he regularly drove that big rig. He drove my step dad’s Class A once a short distance. He was not intimidated. But Debbie on the other hand, said if he wants her to help drive, her limit was an arbitrary 35′ model.

After looking at many motorhomes and more importantly, talking to owners, we settled on a few brands we would consider. We decided we had to buy used as we didn’t want to pay top dollar and see it loose $10,000s as you drove it off the lot. Since Bill is very handy, we felt we could handle a few issues. And then, even brand new ones come with issues.  In the running were the brands: Tiffin, Newmar, and Fleetwood. But the model we liked the most, the Tiffin Phaeton 40′ QTH seemed to have everything we really wanted at the price point we were willing to pay.  It recently has also been the most popular selling model for two years running. So long story short, the day after we sold our 5th wheel, we got busy searching for ours and found it the next day. Not that we hadn’t already been searching….for months actually. But until we sold ours, anything we found was simply enjoyed as “window shopping.”

Cloudy

Driving away from the owner’s home.

We detailed the drama up to the actual purchase in our last post. And there was drama until we drove it away from the seller. That is a very sad story and one we will regret to our dying day, unless we can reconcile with the seller. Let us suffice it to say, buying and selling a home is very stressful on all accounts. And at our ages…we all have aging parents, new grand babies and our own health concerns thrown into the mix.

So finally on May 14, after a tense seven days of waiting for the financing to be finalized (we will never recommend Essex Credit, a division of Bank of the West as a place to go for full timers who do not own a home), also buying a new car, and visiting Debbie’s mom for a surprise Mother’s Day weekend (and her dear husband we both love as our “step-dad” – he’s in the battle for his life), we drove away in our new motor home.

Bill did test drive it for about 20 miles. They gave us a few briefings which were more than generous, but we didn’t have that final briefing like how do you turn on the navigation system, how do you work cruise control, and to check to make sure the washer/dryer worked. It was represented to us that everything worked. The only issue was the dreaded “diamond shield” that has made many an elegant coach look old and ready for the dump. Fortunately, it wasn’t as bad as we have seen and Bill feels confident he’ll get it off, buff it up and it will look as good as they day it went out in the world “for sale.”

We just drove a few miles to a campground near the seller’s home. Everything seemed to work ok on the way there, but there wasn’t any challenge, like rain. As we settled in, we began to discover a few things didn’t work, such as the washing machine. And our list began to grow and by the time we arrived here, we had 19 things on the list!

We had decided we were going to take it back to the factory for a good going over (to make sure any recall matters had been taken care of).  Our travel plans included going to see Bill’s mom, brother and family in Illinois by May 21, 2015 (so we felt the clock ticking daily). Red Bay is only a five & 1/2 hour drive from their home, so we planned to take it there, check in (there is a 4 to 6 week wait and it’s first come first serve), drop it off in a nearby campground while we wait our “turn.”

Storm

Storm near Birmingham, AL

As many other full – timers, we all seem to say we prefer only going about 200 to 250 miles for an ideal travel day. We plotted it out, first stop Suwannee River State Park, Live Oak, FL (243 miles) and then to Walnut Creek RV Park, Troy Alabama (223 miles) and then to Red Bay (261 miles) for a total of 721 miles. This seemed reasonable. What we hadn’t counted on was the heavy traffic, the GPS not working in the Rig (Bill was spoiled with the fabulous navigation system in our Ford Truck) and then rain….and the wipers not working properly!  Bill said this entire trip has been a “white knuckle” experience. So much for me (Debbie) ever wanting to drive it!

The next blog will tell about what to do once you arrive in Red Bay and how this experience is. We’ve heard great stories about it….but just from our initial arrival here, there is a lot you don’t know until you get here. And it seems like no one wants to tell you about it! Let’s just say, it’s been an adventure of it’s own!

Debbie was following in our new car. We took a photo of each site we stayed in on our way to Red Bay, Alabama:

Site 40

Sonrise Palms Christian Rally & RV Park – Had to back in. The owner helped and gave us some good tips

Site9

Suwannee River State Park – a bit of a challenge to back in but we did it!

IMG_5410

Walnut Creek RV Park – third time is a charm. Easy pull through site!

So this scripture can illustrate how our trip went….There were moments of little faith, but in the end, it worked out!

 “He replied, ‘Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.’ “ 

Matthew 17:20

Up next, a series on what Red Bay is all about for Tiffin Owners!