RV DAYDREAMS

DECISION TIME

2012-01-29T10:22:00.000-06:00

Although mostly the "same ole, same ole" is the status quo; I thought I would post an update. We have been mostly working, coming home to our motorhome in the evenings, relaxing and preparing for the next day of work. Exciting life style eh?

We have been going to the "sticks and bricks" on weekends to sort through some of our belongings and prepare to get rid of a lot of stuff. I still have not taken any steps towards the major repairs to our house, I am trying to decide if I should have the repairs accomplished or sell the house "as is" at a discounted price. I know the quicker I sell the house, the quicker I may be able to retire and travel a whole lot more.

Another decision I am wrestling with concerns where to have some warranty work done on our coach. I have taken it to a local service center that will do the work, but I don't know if I am getting the same quality of work that I would at the Tiffin factory. I need the front heat pump checked out, a leak at the bottom of the entry door solved/repaired, the dining room slide checked out/adjusted, and as of late the home entertainment system repaired (HDMI cable came apart). I have to wonder how long it would take at Red Bay and if I would need to take one week of leave or two??

That is just a quick summary of what is happening in our lives presently. We hope to take another leisurely weekend trip soon (we sure need it). Until next time may God bless us all.....

Repairs, Adjustments and HIGH Data Usage!

2012-01-21T10:37:00.000-06:00

Time for an update. We had a pleasant (except for Dallas traffic) and productive trip to Hickory Creek COE park. Camping World in Denton installed our new sleep number bed and we are both happy with it (still trying to find my number). We made it back to Barksdale AFB Famcamp (home base for now) on Monday afternoon. We have settled back into a routine of up early, off to work and then home around dark for dinner, maybe a tv show and bedtime. Oops forgot to mention, all the time counting down to the weekend!

We still love our new home on wheels, although we keep finding minor things to get repaired or adjusted. I discovered the fantastic fan in the front bathroom does not raise by the power button, only manually (probably a connection loose). The front heat pump seems to only put out cool air, no matter what the temps are outside (i.e.: above 45 degrees). One problem I found may not be so minor. Every time it rains there is water in the bottom of our door, the metal threshold part. I cannot find where it is coming from and the techs at Bayou Outdoor Service Center thought they had it solved and repaired, but the next rain has proved them wrong! It may be time to plan a trip to Red Bay.

We have not had satellite hooked up as of yet and I am still trying to decide which service to use. Dish has the “pay as you go” service. You buy the receiver then pay for 1 month at a time with no contract. I am leaning in that direction, but discovered the prices they quoted did not include “HD”.

Cheryl and I both love surfing the internet, so a good connection is important for us. I purchased a “cradle point” router, and plugged my AT&T air card into it. It is a good connection, good signal and we both surf with our laptops at the same time. Three weeks into using this setup I received a “high data usage” warning email from AT&T. Now we don’t watch a lot of streaming videos or movies, just facebook and blogs mostly. I am trying to determine how we used almost 5gigs of data! The new billing period began the 13th of January and on the 18th I received another warning ( I am at 3.5gigs)!! We have been watching our usage carefully and I just cannot figure out what is happening. Maybe I have been hacked! I am using WEP2 security with the default password (maybe I need to change that). The router stays on 24/7 also, wonder if it uses data by just being on? I need to figure this one out soon or change data plans to 10gigs.

Well that is our update for now. Hope to follow up again soon. GBY

Decisions

2012-01-16T07:03:00.000-06:00

I thought it to be about time for an update. We have been real busy trying to prep the house to sell, settle into the motorhome and working at the same time. There have been some changes in our plans as of late. We discovered that we have a major problem with our sticks and bricks house that will alter our plans a bit. The problem could come with a repair bill of about $25,000. We are trying to decide whether or not to repair the house or just try to sell it “as is”, knocking the repair cost off the asking price. Either way I will lose a significant amount of my equity, resulting in us working for a while longer to make up loss.

The news was devastating at first, but we are now putting it in perspective. We are still going to travel as much as we can until we retire and then enjoy our retirement even more once we are able to travel. It will give us time to adjust to our new lifestyle and put away some funds. I may need the extra time to figure out where the heck in the motorhome we are going to put everything!

I have also been a little busy trying to learn all the systems on the coach. I learned we had a propane regulator that was sludged up and had it replaced after a cold night with no heat. The experience also taught me that heat pumps only work until it gets really cold! Speaking of heat pumps, also found that our front heat pump only puts out cool air, no matter what the outside temperature. Looks like more warranty work needs to be done. I did find a local dealer that will cover the warranty work on Tiffins, although I didn’t purchase from them.

These few problems we have experienced are topped off by the fact that our bed is not really comfortable. It is an “RV Comfort “and is basically a mattress with springs covered with a small amount of foam. We went and purchased a mattress topper which helped a little. Now we are thinking of purchasing a “sleep number” bed from Camping World; I just have to make the time to head to Denton, Texas (our nearest Camping World).
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Ok, I am writing this paragraph after a week from writing the above paragraphs (no I don't procrastinate). We are at Hickory Creek COE near Denton, Texas. I have an appointment this morning (Jan 16) at Camping World, to install a sleep number bed. We could not tolerate the existing mattresses any longer!

We love it here at Hickory Creek, it is one of our favorite camping spots (so far). We have been here since Saturday afternoon and wish we could stay for a while, but alas I have to work to get that sticks and bricks sold.

I have to get the coach ready to roll for our appointment so I will try to post an update later.............

NEW RV, NOW WHAT?

2011-12-04T11:14:00.013-06:00

The largest step to realizing our dream has finally been taken and we have purchased our fulltime RV. We spent two weeks at Lazy Days RV in Tampa Florida making our purchase and getting all the little adjustments and tweaks taken completed, then I put that bad boy on I75 headed north.

I had never driven a motorhome before until the one day class that Lazy Days conducts, so my driving experience was very limited. All seemed to go well headed up I75 and then I headed west on I10. We decided to stop for the evening, although still early, in Tallahassee Florida at Big Oak Rv Park. The park was fairly nice and we spent the evening nice and snug in our new home.

Our next travel day we ventured further along I10 and experienced our first truck stop refueling $$$!!! This days travel was longer (more than we intended) and we finally landed at a KOA in Baton Rouge Lousiana for another snug night in our new home.

Upon arriving in Shreveport Louisiana we proceeded to show off our new home to our family. The kids loved the motorhome, however the grands were a bit leary. It seems the question was raised, where will we have our Thanksgiving and Christmas gatherings papa? I reassured them all that the house is not sold yet and we will continue the traditional holiday gatherings there. Now when the house sells I guess we may have to start some brand new traditions.

After the visits from all the family, we headed for the Barksdale AFB Famcamp to park our new home. We will park here for a while to get our new home set up. I need to decide on which satellite service and have it installed. I also need to set up for internet with a cradle point router. We are slowly loading our clothing and some other things onto the home, hmmm not as easy as I thought!

Of course we may feel like fulltimers and retirees, but we are not quite there, so it was also back to work we went. :(

I have been negligent in posting some pictures of our new home, here are a few:

FINALLY WE TAKE THE PLUNGE!

2011-11-16T20:04:00.001-06:00

Hello family and friends, tonight I finally take time to post our big news. After much consternation, thought and prayer, we have taken the plunge and purchased our RV! We are elated, exhausted and very thankful. It has been a busy week and a half here in Tampa, Florida.

We arrived here on the 5th of November, only to find that the motorhome we were looking to buy already had a buyer. The buyer had placed a deposit and was waiting for his credit approval and something else to come together for him. There were no other Allegro REDs that we were interested in on the lot. We had resigned ourselves to head back home after spending some time on a couple area beaches and doing a little sight seeing.

November 8th we got a call informing us that the previous buyers financing had fell through and wanting to know if we were still interested. We were. I still almost lost the purchase during our negotiation process, I got a might stubborn with my figures. I finally relented (a little) and the purchase was made :)

Next came all the paperwork, and the walk-through inspections resulting in the infamous punchlist. We had a few items on our punchlist, things that needed adjusting and touching up. We have been here ever since getting those items accomplished.

I think we finally have them all done and we will being heading back towards Louisiana tomorrow or Friday. Those that are interested in seeing our new home, check out the pictures in my previous post, that is the one. I will post new pictures later as well. Tonight we are happy, but exhausted.

More to follow...... Life is good.... God is good. ;)

PLAN IN PROGRESS

2011-10-01T11:09:00.000-05:00

Once again I had lapsed into the work grind and routine, not taking time to update my progress in obtaining our RV. We have been busy at work, yet taking time to shop around and research some motorhomes. I have received some invaluable advice and tips from other RVers who have experienced our same questions in shopping for an RV. Many thanks to Al and Karen for some wonderful pictures and information about a motorhome (we think may be the one) at Lazy Days in Florida.

The motorhome we think may be the one is a Tiffin RED 38QRA. It has the rear bath option with an additional 1/2 bath included. It also has a residential fridge. We like most everything about this coach, with some reservations concerning the large "ushaped" dinette setup. Who knows we may like that too once we see it up close and personal

One other thing I would consider changing (eventually) is the couch/sleeper. I would much rather have a couple of comfy recliners in it's place. I am just not sure that is possible, I guess it would depend on the style and size of recliners. When watching tv, we like to sit head on with the screen and the smaller the screen the closer we like to sit!

This motorhome has three TVs and automatic satellite, now I have to decide which satellite service provider to use. I also need to research and see what will be needed to ensure we have satellite service no matter where we roam.

Presently we are planning a trip to Lazy Days to see this motorhome and possibly bring it home :). There are a lot of decisions to be made for this plan also. Do we drive our car, packed with items we need for the stay and return trip in the motorhome or do we fly with bare minimum suitcases? If we drive Cheryl will have to follow me back to Louisiana in our Toyota Camry which is not towable with four wheels down. If we fly, we ride back together, assuming Lazy Days sells us the coach at my price. This should not be a major decision, especially after "the major decision" to buy or not buy!

Another consideration in our decision making is that we have never even rode in a motorhome before, much less driven one! Hmmm, maybe trying to tow a car on my first experience driving a motorhome would not be a great idea anyway :). I will take the driving course they offer once we decide to make the purchase! I may be quick to learn; I used to operate some heavy equipment during my military service, let's see, how many years ago...

Well we are doing our best not to stress out with all the decision making and "what ifs". If anyone has advice, tips or recommendations, feel free to chime in, I need all the help I can get!

WE NEVER KNOW WHEN......

2011-08-14T11:11:00.000-05:00

Wow what a week! It was an eye opening emotional kind of week. Tuesday a friend and coworker of mine had a siezure coming back from a jobsite, just before he entered our office! He had a massive heart attack.

God was certainly watching over him during this trial, just as he was walking to the front entrance a group of medically trained firefighters (one a CPR instructor) was just leaving our building. They had been in a training class in our conference room. The instructor of the group began CPR immediately and is credited with saving his life.

The ambulance arrived just in time for the EMT to use the de-fib equipment when his heart stopped beating, thus saving his life again! He was then transported to a nearby hospital; while in route I am told his heart stopped once again. They saved him once more and eventually Tuesday evening installed a stint into a 95% blocked artery.

He was critical for a couple of days, with a possibility of some brain damage. Today he is conscience, doing good (for someone surviving a massive heart attack) and it appears there may be little or no brain damage.

God has worked miracles in his life! My friend is 48 years old and until now a lot healthier than I (or so we thought)! Wednesday there were a few calls to the office wanting to know how I was doing! It seems as news spread through out the base that someone in my section had a massive heart attack, there was a lot of assumptions made that it was the old diabetic guy (me)! It is a shocker that it is the youngest in our office, the guy who goes to the fitness center three time a week and is more than 10years my junior!

Cheryl and I are re-evaluating our retirement plans and looking for ways to move the dates up! Until next time....

Shopping for a Motorhome

2011-08-06T09:32:00.000-05:00

We had a great week of vacation last week and really enjoyed spending time with our sister Sue. We stayed on the go and it is a good thing we were real active, because we were constantly dining out! We sure do miss our sister. Cheryl has known her since birth, I was priviledged to meet her when she was 13 years old. The three of us went everywhere together, Cheryl's parents insisted!

Well we are back to work, the same ole grind. We are making time to research and shop for a motorhome though. We found a motorhome we like at Lazy Days in Florida (online of course).
There are a few features in this motorhome that we are not sure we like though. The "ushaped" dinette seems to be a bit much for just Cheryl and I, however would be very convenient when the grands are traveling with us. The white upholstery is scary for the same reason as the aforementioned grands. Also there is no place to put any recliners unless you remove the couch, thus losing a bed (also inconvenient because of the aforementioned grands. Other than that, we like this one:

View all Get your own

We are still here and daydreaming!

2011-07-28T11:35:00.000-05:00

We are still here, working hard and striving to reach our goals for fulltiming. Our lives have become a daily routine of rising at "0'dark thirty", heading to work and getting home with time left for dinner and a made for tv movie!

We do manage to sneak in some fun once in a great while. This week we are both on vacation and enjoying the company of our sister from South Carolina. It is so great to be able to spend time with her, she is a lot of fun. She is hoping to return mid September to help Cheryl and I shop for an RV at the Dallas RV show. She has a vested interest in what we buy, since she plans on traveling with us a whole lot!

We are looking at Tiffin motorhomes, since I saw Joe and Sherri's a while back. It seems I hear a lot of good things about the Tiffins. I am wanting a rear engine diesel (RED), but we will have to see how the ole savings account is faring at the time. We hope to buy no later than November, but may have to wait until January or February to increase the savings.

Anyway I wanted to finally post to let everyone know we are still here and still daydreaming about the RV lifestyle. I will close with some pictures of our "stay-cation" with our sister here in Shreveport.

STILL SEARCHING FOR THAT PERFECT RV

2011-03-04T09:55:00.000-06:00

As my last few days of "rest and recovery" wind down, I am taking advantage to the time to continue my research into RVs. I should say as my last few days of "rest" wind down, I will still be recovering, however I return to work on Monday :( ..... The doc realizes that since I am a "desk jockey" I can do my job with one arm and half a brain .....lol

Since this is the second rotator cuff surgery (the first on the right shoulder) and my tendency to attempt to exceed my physical limitations, we have decided to explore the motorhome option. It has been said that setting up a motorhome can be a lot less physically demanding than setting up a fifth wheel.

Here is my first choice in the motorhome choices:

Well maybe if I sell the house, everything in the house and the truck, then negotiate about 80% off the dealers invoice price............ :)

God bless us all.......

GETTING WELL, TIMES TWO

2011-02-28T09:17:00.000-06:00

Hi all, just checking in to let you know I am still here and getting better everyday. I am referring to the recent surgery and not just my ego! I failed to mention in my earlier post, Cheryl has fallen victim to the flu :( and has had a tough time with it. She has been improving with medication (tami-flu). It has really been challenging around here with my being benched with one arm and her being down with the flu, but we are both getting well :)

One silver lining is that I have had plenty of time to think and ponder our future plans while being mobility impaired. I say it is a silver lining, however it could just be perplexing and dangerous! :) I have been giving a lot of thought concerning the "fulltiming" lifestyle. I have also been reading a lot of blog articles concerning the lifestyle and my attitude has changed a bit! I think I am re-evaluating the importance of being deemed a "full timer" and thinking maybe we may just want to be deemed as "any time we wanna goers" LOL. Now that classification needs a little work, doesn't quite sound as catchy as "full timer", but maybe it will catch on ;) ....

The decision to sell or not sell the house may be a mute point. Since the market is whacked right now, we may be better off to set our sites on something less expensive for our rig and keep the house. We would be in the sticks and bricks from November until about February, then hit the road in late Feb to destinations to be determined. Once we are living this lifestyle, we can then determine if we want to sell the house or make any adjustments necessary. :) ...... Now these have been my random thoughts and could change with my next mood! Cheryl is like-minded and will be happy just to hit the road, no matter what we decide..lol

Well I have rambled enough for today. If anyone has any opinions on my rambling thoughts, please let me know. I need all the help I can get! God bless us all......... :)

BODY REPAIRS GOING WELL

2011-02-19T14:07:00.000-06:00

For those that may not know, I had some "bodywork" done recently. No, there was nothing wrong with my truck or Rv, the body that was worked on was mine :) The repairman did an excellent job and it would seem the repairs were successful (thanks Dr. Shane Barton). I have been sitting , sleeping and generally living in my recliner since the second of February and I am going stir crazy!

I did leave the recliner and house to go to physical torture twice already. Those were interesting trips. The first was easy enough, all I had to do was lay there and let the PT move my arm in all directions while watching me wince and make painful faces. Now he did a little of that on the second visit, but then he hooked me up to a rope pulley, a handle in each hand, then had me torture myself by pulling my left arm above my head! Those people are sadistic. I cannot believe they talk me into torturing myself and then I even pay them lots of money to do it! Oh well, as I have said earlier, oh the humor of a complicated mind...lol.

Well I have been sitting around the house for nearly three weeks now and you would think it would be a sort of preview of what retirement would be like. I kind of messed that up by setting up my home computer system to remotely connect with the servers at work and enabling me to work at home (man I dedicated). I don't think this absence from the office is a fair indicator of what retired life would be like, especially since I couldn't get off my rear bumper and do anything much! I guess in the next couple of years, I will just have to try the real thing instead :)

Until next time friends... God bless us all

PAINFUL TIME OFF

2011-02-15T14:43:00.000-06:00

Wow, once again it has been a while since my last posting. It never fails, I either get busy or lazy and end up procrastinating on the blog posting. This time though I have an additional excuse of being incapacitated. I am recovering from some surgical repairs to my left rotator cuff and trying to learn to operate with one arm for a while. Thank God that this time the surgery was on the left rotator cuff and I am right handed. :)

This will not be a lengthy post, because for some odd reason being able to use only one arm has reulted in my ability to type and I have succumbed to typing with only one finger! It is like my brain has made a special rule: one arm limits me to one finger? lol. Oh the humor of being a "complicated" person. Never mind my ramblings, I am also under the influence of some strong pain drugs ;)

I thought that being "layed-up" for a couple of weeks would give me an opportunity to catch up on some of my preparations for fulltiming, however the first week and a half after the surgery I was only good for comic relief to others! I was able to get some organizing done today and got rid of a bunch of paperwork that has been piling up. I was pretty happy about accomplishing something to uphold my status of "preparing to fulltime" and all with only one arm too! :)

Until next time, God bless us all..........................

GOOD INFORMATION

2011-01-20T06:34:00.000-06:00

I don't post a lot during work weeks, however I wanted to give a special thanks to all who have given advice, information and encouragement concerning our decisions that we face. I am discovering there are a lot of others that have went through this process and also a lot that are facing the same decisions. Thank you friends for all your advice, information and support.

I don't have a lot of time to post this morning and I would like to acknowledge all the comments that were received on the previous post. Anyone that is facing similar decisions in their fulltime transition, I encourage you to check out the comments. Thanks again.............. God bless us all :)

HARD DECISIONS

2011-01-17T11:40:00.000-06:00

I have had a great "lazy long weekend" doing nothing but surfing the computer. I have also been doing a lot of thinking about upcoming decisions concerning my retirement or resignation (decision 1), buying a fifth wheel or motorhome (decision 2) and keeping the house or not (decision 3). I have always thought those would be easy decisions to make when the time came, however the time is here and I now know otherwise!

Decision 1, retire or resign. Why is this a decision, well if I retire it means I wait until March of 2015 to finally be free to travel when we want and not based on our work schedule. It also means the difference of collecting some additional pension money or not. The pension money would be about $350. a month, since I only would only have 10 years in that pension plan. If I did wait on that pension money, with rising fuel prices, it may equate to a tank of fuel for the rig! However is it worth working another 4 years to get it? I don't think my laziness is a factor in this decision; I have literally had a job since I was 15 years old (if you count the working in cotton fields, make that 12 years old!)

Decision 2, fifth wheel or motorhome? I know it is a personal preference thing. Cheryl and I both love the Mobile Suites fifth wheel and the Fleetwood Voyage motorhome. If we go with the fiver, we are also looking at a truck, cost could be as high as $130k. If we go motorhome, cost could be as high as $220k (we would cap it at that). Another consideration other than cost is health. I have a couple of health problems, will they effect my ability to setup a fiver? I am scheduled to have rotator cuff surgery on my left shoulder in a couple of weeks (fairly routine). I am not the macho male I used to be!

Decision 3, sell the house or not. I believe fear is a factor in this decision. Our house is relatively small, 1450 square feet. We bought it in 1997 and have some equity built (depending on the market). However we still have some mortgage left also! Emotionally (a term not used a lot by us macho males), selling it would be like cutting ties with our past life. We do want to get out there and travel, see America; we do not want to cut ties with our past life. Our family is important to us and at times it seems they are really dependent on us. Maybe we should just keep the house and use it as a home base?

I know that these decisions may not seem like a big deal, however they have been wieghing heavy on my mind lately. It helps to write about them and I am sure it would help to hear opinions and advice.

Until next time... God bless us all...............

WHAT'S NEXT?

2011-01-16T11:04:00.000-06:00

That is the question on my mind for the past couple of weeks. What is the next step in our journey to change over to a fulltime (or most of the time) RV lifestyle? I know what the answers should be, yet know I find it sort of intimidating to be at the point where I need to make life changing decisions. We have reached our financial goals, no debt (except the house) and now I can easily go out now and finance a fulltime rig and even make a decent down payment. On the other hand I can put the house up for sale, wait a year and a half, then tap into our retirement savings and house equity to pay cash for the fulltime rig. Then there is the question of our 22 year old son who decided to move back in with us and start school! Things get complicated, its time for prayer :)

WHOA, SLOW THIS HORSE DOWN.....

2010-12-18T11:11:00.000-06:00

Ok, so I have gotten too busy again and not posted for a while. What can I say except, whoa..... slow down! Usually we start slowing the pace of things at work in December, however this year it is not the case. I guess they are freezing our paying but firing up the amount of projects we have! Oh well, it will not be too much longer before I will save them some money....... by retiring!

Just wanted to let everyone know we are well and still having our rv daydreams. I will try and post again soon. In the meantime here are some pics to prove our life is not all work and no play.

God bless us all..................

THANKSGIVING, MORE THAN A HOLIDAY

2010-11-25T07:52:00.000-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving all. This is the day we have set aside to reflect on all the blessings we have received from God. It sometimes seems we have made it a holiday of parades, feasting and shopping, which is all a part of it, but let us not forget the true intent of Thanksgiving.

On August 1, 1620, the Mayflower set sail. It carried a total of 102 passengers. On the journey, they set up an agreement, that established just and equal laws for all members of the new community, regardless of their religious beliefs. The ideas used in the Mayflower Compact came from the Bible. The Pilgrims were a people completely steeped in the lessons of the Old and New Testaments. This early foundation for the laws of this nation were built on the pilgrims faith in God!

President George Washington first proclaimed Thanksgiving to be "set aside" as a day to recognize the blessings of almighty God in the following proclaimation:

General Thanksgiving

By the PRESIDENT of the United States Of America

A PROCLAMATION

WHEREAS it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favour; and Whereas both Houfes of Congress have, by their joint committee, requefted me "to recommend to the people of the United States a DAY OF PUBLICK THANSGIVING and PRAYER, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to eftablifh a form of government for their safety and happiness:"

NOW THEREFORE, I do recommend and affign THURSDAY, the TWENTY-SIXTH DAY of NOVEMBER next, to be devoted by the people of thefe States to the fervice of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our fincere and humble thanksfor His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the fignal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpofitions of His providence in the courfe and conclufion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have fince enjoyed;-- for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to eftablish Conftitutions of government for our fafety and happinefs, and particularly the national one now lately instituted;-- for the civil and religious liberty with which we are bleffed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffufing useful knowledge;-- and, in general, for all the great and various favours which He has been pleafed to confer upon us.

And also, that we may then unite in moft humbly offering our prayers and fupplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and befeech Him to pardon our national and other tranfgreffions;-- to enable us all, whether in publick or private ftations, to perform our feveral and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a bleffing to all the people by conftantly being a Government of wife, juft, and conftitutional laws, difcreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all fovereigns and nations (especially fuch as have shewn kindnefs unto us); and to blefs them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increafe of fcience among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind fuch a degree of temporal profperity as he alone knows to be beft.

GIVEN under my hand, at the city of New-York, the third day of October, in the year of our Lord, one thousand feven hundred and eighty-nine.

(signed) G. Washington

Obviously there was no such thing as political correctness involved in the day of that proclaimation! President Washington was not worried about the actions of the ACLU!

As we enjoy our feasts of today, watch the parades and football games, let us take time to pray and thank our Father in heaven for all he has blessed us with as a nation and as individuals. Until next time... God bless us all .. and Happy Thanksgiving :)

WHEELS CHOCKED FOR A WHILE!

2010-11-20T11:17:00.000-06:00

We had a great and relaxing time camping at Rocky Point. Shortly after arriving at the "sticks and bricks" things tried to become stressful again! I opened the slide out to unload (something us vacationers have to do) and suddenly it came to a stop, a clattering noisy stop! I went outside to find my slide out room motor lying on the ground! Something had jammed the slide and the end result was the apparently powerful motor sheared off the housing and driving gears. Needless to say that old familiar enemy we call stress started creeping into my body! I did not surrender to the enemy, instead I "called in" (aka: prayer) for reinforcements. My reinforcements arrived and took the form of faith and assurance that all was well.

Cheryl and I finished unloading the not so long trailer and I took on the monumental task of manually closing the slideout room. It was certainly not an easy task, it was accomplished regardless. I visited Southern RV this past Monday and they made an appointment for me the bring it to them on Thursday, which I did uneventfully. They gave me a call yesterday and give me an estimate of $775.00. This estimate is for a new motor, aligning the slideout and all labor involved. The parts will take about two weeks to arrive and then they will schedule the work. Thank God this happened during a period when we normally don't camp anyway :) .. It should be ready after the holidays and we will begin planning some weekend outings again :) .

Anyway that is the recent misadventures of Don and Cheryl. We are still preparing our house to sell and getting things ready for our transition to a fulltime RV lifestyle. We should be able to start shopping for our truck around the March time frame and then the RV about 5 to 6 months afterwards. I will try to keep everyone posted on our progress.

Until next time, God bless us all ............. Have a happy Thanksgiving, remember to give thanks to God our father!

CAMPING, RELAXING & RENEWING

2010-11-11T15:16:00.000-06:00

Ok, I was starting to get caught up in that w**k frame of mind again, to the point of where it is first and foremost in my thoughts. The only remedy for that is to get the camper ready, hitch up and go camping! Friday morning (5 Nov) I did exactly that; I got the not so long trailer out of storage, got her ready and took off for Rocky Point COE (Corps of Engineer) campground on Lake Wright Patman in Texas. Cheryl had to w**k, but as soon as she finished her day, she picked up two of our grandkids and joined me at the lake. When we finally got settled in on Friday, it was dark and getting quite cool, however the kids had a great time playing games inside.

Saturday morning started with Papa’s famous pancakes and sausage, which are some of the best pancakes you’ve ever eaten (according to Papa). These pancakes are special; they are made from a store bought mix and cooked by me (which makes them special).

After breakfast we went out to experience the great outdoors. The temperature had risen from freezing to above 50 degrees, so we enjoyed the heat wave. Nana and I enjoyed the heat wave by sitting in our loungers and watching as the kiddos rode their scooters up and down the roads laughing and being energetic to no end! :)

From 2010-11-06

It turned out to be a great day and the kids had a blast. We ended the day with a campfire and toasting marshmallows. They were pretty tired from all the outdoor activities and by the time 10pm rolled around we were all asleep with visions of campfires and toasted marshmallows dancing in our heads! :)
Sunday morning was warmer and the sun was out doing a nice job of warming the campground. We started the day with more of Papa’s famous pancakes. :) There is usually Sunday morning worship service here at the campground pavilion at 10am, however there was none this Sunday morning, so we worshipped on our own, enjoying the beautiful day God made for us. :)

From 2010-11-06

Later in the morning, our youngest grandson (Brendan) arrived with my oldest daughter and son-in-law. Brendan is only 4 years old, although he looks to be 5 or 6 years old and he has more energy than the other two combined! :) He says he would like to camp too, but he has never spent a night away from home before and since we are over an hour and a half from his home, we figured it was not a good time for his first camp out.

From 2010-11-06

Brendan had a great time with his sister and cousin. We had hotdogs cooked on the grill, then a nice campfire to toast marshmallows again. We even took a hike along a nature trail, but when we got deep into the woods, we spotted someone moving through the woods ahead wearing an orange vest. This is the time of year that when you spot someone in the woods in orange vests, it could be a hunter, so our better judgment kicked in and we reversed course to head back to the campground! Now why would a hunter be allowed into an area where there is a campground and a nature trail? Oh well this is Texas……

After a great day with family, they began their journey home and then it was just Cheryl and I for the rest of this week! We have been relaxing and renewing our spirit for the past three days. It has been great to have no certain time to be anywhere and nothing to do (literally since the aircard for the computer died and dvd player decided to quit too!). :)
It is now Thursday and I am writing this with intentions of posting it when I can get near a WiFi hotspot. I don’t know what is wrong with my aircard but I think it has something to do with it being under AT&T service! I am contemplating switching to Verizon and getting a Droid X. I think I could use the Droid to tether my laptop and therefore would not need an aircard? Anyway I need to do something different for better WiFi service!

Well that is about all I can think of to write about for now. We will leave here Saturday to take the not so long trailer back to storage until our next trip :( Until next time, God bless us all…………………………….

NEW TIRES AND WHO NEEDS A DISHWASHER?

2010-10-24T09:33:00.000-05:00

It has been a fairly uninteresting week, but kind of costly. I noticed as I was driving to the cursed place (sometimes known as workplace), that my truck was riding quite a bit more roughly than usual. Once I had "Big Red" parked I took a look at the tires to see what was different. Of course, being the picture of fitness, limberness and good health that I am, I could only see the portion of the tires that did not require crawling beneath the truck to see. The tires didn't look that bad to me, but I did notice that one of them seemed to look as though it bulged a little in the middle of the tread. I decided it was best to take them to a tire shop to have them checked out. As it turns out that was a good decision! The belt had seperated in the tire and the steel from the belt was starting to wear through on the inside edge where I failed to inspect. It would have been easy if I had a lift like the tire shop! I ended up having to buy two new tires for the rear, the two on the front still looked good. Anyway the total cost was $449.64!!

On a brighter note and maybe the only interesting part of the week, my granddaughter was in a school play. She is my little princess!

From 2010-10-19

She did really well in her role and even had some speaking parts. We were all really proud of her.

So much for the best part of the week, now let me tell you some more of the uninteresting stuff. We have been having problems with our dishwasher and no, I don't mean Cheryl, the automatic dishwasher! We spent a portion of our free time shopping for a new dishwasher, wow, those are expensive too! We considered doing without one since we are planning our fulltime dream anyway and that may include selling the house. We have decided however that the house will sell better with a dishwasher. Ok, maybe we are just too lazy to wash our dished by hand? I guess we will have to do that anyway when we are living in our RV!! Anyone out in RV fulltime dreamland have an automatic dishwasher (dh does not count!)??

Well so much for another boring week in the life of Cheryl and Don. I will give you time to recover (or wake up) from this post, then I will try and post again next week. Until then, May God bless us all...........

PLENTY OF FRIENDLY HELP

2010-10-15T15:27:00.000-05:00

WOW…..a big thanks to everyone who offered insight and advice by commenting on last week’s post concerning our indecision in choosing a fulltime rig! A special thanks to Donna for putting a “special” shout out on her blog, 2takinga5th, and got us plenty of responses :).

The advice and experiences of those that have “been there, done that” is always invaluable. I see that there are pros and cons to buying a fifth wheel; then there are about the same number of pros and cons to buying a motorhome! When it comes right down to it, personal preference and lifestyle seems to be the main driver of the decision. Cheryl and I are going to eliminate the stress involved in the decision making process and just buy one of each! :). Anyone know where I can get a loan for a new Phaeton motorhome, a new 38ft Mobile Suites and a new Ford 450 Super Duty truck? Hope my kids don’t read this, they will have to pay off the loan after I’m gone!! :).

This past week I actually took some steps to further our dream along. I began the daunting task of sorting, filing and disposing of years of saved paperwork. The shredder got a good work out , as did the scanner. I scanned a lot of important documents and keepsakes into files for the computer. I have been working on this task all week and I am not nearly finished.

I have also joined Escapees RV Club in order to start “networking” with the experienced fulltimers out there. :) I discovered the magazine and newsletter the club provides has a lot of useful information also. I signed up for the discussion forum and although it is not as friendly as the RV Dreams forum, it was still a good one. I found out on their website that there is a “Boot Camp” coming up soon at the Rainbow Park in Livingston Texas. I would love to attend and meet some fellow RVers, plus attend some useful classes on fulltime related subjects. However, we have reservations to stay at a COE park in Texarkana that same week. Oh well maybe there will be another one soon. :) Well that is about all the ramblin’ I can do at one time without getting a headache :) . Until next time.., God bless us all…

REFLECTIONS

2010-10-09T18:18:00.001-05:00

It has been a while I know, we have been working hard and long. Hopefully all that hard work is going to pay off soon and we will being buying our fulltime RV! I have been so busy that I have become "unplugged" with my RV Dreams and the planning process. I hope to remedy that situation and lunge forward with my plans!

I am wondering if I have become greedy, you know the old addage, "How much is enough? Just a little more!". Well maybe I have become caught up in that mindset. I keep re-hashing budgets and excel "what if " sheets, but cannot decide, "How much is enough".

Cheryl and I have been shopping, researching and attended the Dallas RV Supershow last month. We have been thinking we are set on a Mobile Suites fifth wheel, but still have thoughts towards the Winnebago Journey motorhome. If there is anyone left out there that still reads this blog (after months of inactivity I understand if there is not) any advice is appreciated. I am going to try and post my thoughts more often!

DISASTER HITS CLOSE TO HOME

2010-06-12T08:33:00.010-05:00

By now everyone has probably heard of the flash flood disaster in Arkansas. I learned of it yesterday via a phone call from a former co-worker, telling me that one of the missing families are related to him. The whole family was lost except for the mother. There was another family from Shreveport that was lost, all except the mother. I am praying for those two mothers and their families. I cannot begin to imagine what they are going through.

This tragedy really hits home, since we are campers and have been considering a weekend trip to the same area in the near future! I keep thinking, how could this have been avoided? Do you suppose weather alert radios would have helped? The news reports say escape routes were limited. I wonder what I would have done, if at around 3AM, I was awakened by my weather radio with a flash flood alert. Would I have presence of mind to load up and leave or would I have had time to leave? These questions are haunting me.

Some would say that kind of thinking is unnecessary worrying. I believe thinking about these things is necessary planning. I need to be ever mindful of possible hazards in the areas I camp, especially once we are traveling fulltime. Owning a weather alert radio is one step, but the next step is planning the actions necessary in the event an alert happens. When I pull into the campground questions should include: What are the weather conditions possible for this area at this time of year? What actions should I take if an alert happens during the night or day? Where are my escape routes? Will I have time to hookup or do I just take the truck? Where is the nearest shelter? Hmmm this is beginning to look like a possible checklist!

I know that some questions will not have answers, but the more possibities and questions I consider beforehand, then maybe the more prepared I will become. Of course I realize that when the unexpected happens, all checklist and prepared actions can become useless or just plain forgotten. When it comes down to that, we are in God's hands.

Until next time, may God bless you and keep you safe............

TIME FOR REFLECTION

2010-05-30T10:52:00.005-05:00

Freedom is not Free. Exactly what does this mean? This country has a long history of brave men and women who have sacrificed all to pay the price for our freedom. From the time of our founding fathers signing the "Declaration of Independence" we have had to fight for our freedom. A freedom that it seems is taken for granted today. Brave men and women have fought and died for our freedom, that I believe we are letting slip away from us today. We need to never forget our long hard journey to freedom and never stop defending our freedom from all kinds of threats, from foriegn powers, terrorists or radical government policies that ignore the will of the people!! Let us remember those who have fought and died for our freedom, honor them not only this weekend, but daily as we live in the greatest country to ever exist. May God bless America and my prayer is " May America bless God"...........

A LITTLE CLOSER AND MORE FOCUSED

2010-05-16T10:48:00.017-05:00

We are another week closer to fulfilling our dream. I had an easier time at work this week because my attitude has changed. I still give work the time and effort needed to do a good job (I am just built that way), however I do it realizing that I am working towards a goal. I know I will be leaving the 9 to 5 (or I should say 7 to 5) soon.

My afternoon and evenings have been consumed with getting things ready for to hit the road. I cleaned out my backyard storage (junk pile) this past week, getting rid of a lot of stuff. We are continually downsizing and planning. I am spending more time on the internet searching for deals on trucks and RVs. I am also reading the blogs and forums more to make sure I pick up all the tips/advice that I can digest.

While doing all these things to get ready; I am also reminding myself that life is going on around me and to have some fun while I am at it! I have a great family that is always a source of love and laughter, let me share some laughter. My oldest daughter is a yard sale shopper, she simply loves Saturday morning sales. Yesterday she is out shopping along with my grandaughter, Hayley and grandson Brendan who is 3-1/2 years old. They are at a particular yardsale and the people happen to have a large bass boat parked off to the side of the driveway. My daughter is looking and Brendan happens to wander over by the boat. He reaches out and touched the boat, looks at the lady and says, "How much for this?"

I guess he did inherit some of my genes!!

Brendan

Lots of Love and Laughter.......... because everyday is a gift from God. Til next time GBY

GETTING BACK IN FOCUS

2010-05-08T10:05:00.007-05:00

I have had some "revelations" lately, things I have inwardly always known, but seemed to haved lost my focus on them. I got caught up in my job again, a coworker retired and somehow it was assumed that I would pick up his contracts and "keep the ball rolling". I have had to double my work and because of my work ethic really put all my concentration into work. Cheryl and I have not even been on a weekend camping trip since the first week of March! I have not been looking at RVs or planning for our future goal of fulltime RVing for quite some time.

Recently I have started feeling really run down, tired and "down-hearted". No more, it is time to get back into the dream and started re-prioritizing my life! I have set my goal to buy our truck and RV in 2011, then start trying to sell our house. I will work, with the proper perspective, while I march consistently toward this goal. I will force myself to slow down and not be pressured so much at work. I am trying to come to grips with the concept of not "being the best" at what I do at work and instead putting my best efforts into my life outside of work.

Having said that, I hope to write more on the blog, because it helps me to stay focused. It really helps to hear from others and how they have reached their goals or how they are staying focused on the dream. If I seem to start drifting off the path, feel free to let me know!

As always, first and foremost, may God lead me in all that I do, Until next time, keep the faith fellow dreamers.............

SENIOR VERSION OF JESUS LOVES ME

2010-03-24T13:15:00.003-05:00

Here is a new version just for us who have white hair or no hair at all. For us over middle age (or even those almost there) and all you others, check out this newest version of Jesus Loves Me.

JESUS LOVES ME

Jesus loves me, this I know,
Though my hair is white as snow
Though my sight is growing dim,
Still He bids me trust in Him.
(CHORUS)
YES, JESUS LOVES ME.. YES, JESUS LOVES ME..
YES, JESUS LOVES ME, FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO.

Though my steps are oh, so slow,
With my hand in His I'll go
On through life, let come what may,
He'll be there to lead the way.
(CHORUS)

When the nights are dark and long,
In my heart He puts a song..
Telling me in words so clear,
"Have no fear, for I am near."
(CHORUS)

When my work on earth is done,
And life's victories have been won.
He will take me home above,
Then I'll understand His love.
(CHORUS)

I love Jesus, does He know?
Have I ever told Him so?
Jesus loves to hear me say,
That I love Him every day.
(CHORUS)

If you think this is neat, please pass it on to your friends. If you do not
pass it on, nothing bad will happen, but you will have missed an opportunity
to "reach out and touch" a friend or a loved one.

God Bless Us All!!!

DID THE SAINTS WIN THE SUPERBOWL AGAIN??

2010-03-21T14:09:00.014-05:00

Well that is the only explanation I can think of for snow in Shreveport, LA in late March!!

From ANOTHER SNOW DAY

We got up this morning at 7am, we like having time to sit and enjoy our coffee before getting ready for church, and just happened to look out the back door window to discover the snow. It is not sticking to the ground it is too warm. It is a kind of nice instead of rain.

I guess the snow is the big news for us, otherwise this past week was one of working, stressing over work and more working. We are so looking forward to retirement and traveling, but for now it will have to suffice to read about our friends that are already fulltiming. Keep those blogs a comin ya'll!!

Until next time, God bless us all .............

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY

2010-03-17T10:52:00.008-05:00

Paddy was driving down the street in a sweat because he had an important meeting and couldn't find a parking place. Looking up to heaven he said, 'Lord take pity on me. If you find me a parking place I will go to Mass every Sunday for the rest of me life and give up me Irish Whiskey!'

Miraculously, a parking place appeared.

Paddy looked up again and said, 'Never mind, I found one.'

Father Murphy walks into a pub in Donegal, and asks the first man he meets, 'Do you want to go to heaven?'

The man said, 'I do, Father..'

The priest said, 'Then stand over there against the wall.'

Then the priest asked the second man, 'Do you want to go to heaven?'

'Certainly, Father,' the man replied.

'Then stand over there against the wall,' said the priest.

Then Father Murphy walked up to O'Toole and asked, 'Do you want to go to heaven?'

O'Toole said, 'No, I don't Father.'

The priest said, 'I don't believe this. You mean to tell me that when you die you don't want to go to heaven?'

O'Toole said, 'Oh, when I die, yes. I thought you were getting a group together to go right now.'

Paddy was in New York .

He was patiently waiting and watching the traffic cop on a busy street crossing. The cop stopped the flow of traffic and shouted, 'Okay, pedestrians.' Then he'd allow the traffic to pass.

He'd done this several times, and Paddy still stood on the sidewalk.

After the cop had shouted, 'Pedestrians!' for the tenth time, Paddy went over to him and said, 'Is it not about time ye let the Catholics across?'

Gallagher opened the morning newspaper and was dumbfounded to read in the obituary column that he had died. He quickly phoned his best friend, Finney.

'Did you see the paper?' asked Gallagher. 'They say I died!!'

'Yes, I saw it!' replied Finney. 'Where are ye callin' from?'

An Irish priest is driving down to New York and gets stopped for speeding in Connecticut .. The state trooper smells alcohol on the priest's breath and then sees an empty wine bottle on the floor of the car.

He says, 'Sir, have you been drinking?'

'Just water,' says the priest.

The trooper says, 'Then why do I smell wine?'

The priest looks at the bottle and says, 'Good Lord! He's done it again!'

Walking into the bar, Mike said to Charlie the bartender, 'Pour me a stiff one - just had another fight with the little woman.'

'Oh yeah?' said Charlie, 'And how did this one end?'

'When it was over,' Mike replied, 'She came to me on her hands and knees.'

'Really,' said Charles, 'Now that's a switch! What did she say?'

She said, 'Come out from under the bed, you little chicken.'

David staggered home very late after another evening with his drinking buddy, Paddy. He took off his shoes to avoid waking his wife, Kathleen.

He tiptoed as quietly as he could toward the stairs leading to their upstairs bedroom, but misjudged the bottom step. As he caught himself by grabbing the banister, his body swung around and he landed heavily on his rump. A whiskey bottle in each back pocket broke and made the landing especially painful.

Managing not to yell, David sprung up, pulled down his pants, and looked in the hall mirror to see that his butt cheeks were cut and bleeding. He managed to quietly find a full box of Band-Aids and began putting a Band-Aid as best he could on each place he saw blood..

He then hid the now almost empty Band-Aid box and shuffled and stumbled his way to bed.

In the morning, David woke up with searing pain in both his head and butt and Kathleen staring at him from across the room.

She said, 'You were drunk again last night weren't you?'

David said, 'Why you say such a mean thing?'

'Well,' Kathleen said, 'it could be the open front door, it could be the broken glass at the bottom of the stairs, it could be the drops of blood trailing through the house, it could be your bloodshot eyes, but mostly ...... it's all those Band-Aids stuck on the hall mirror.

Until next time God bless us all.............

STILL ALIVE AND KICKING

2010-03-14T11:25:00.009-05:00

Yes I am still alive and kicking. Although it seems that my job has kidnapped me and taken over all aspects of my life!! I aim to take my life back and put the job back into the proper level of importance it belongs (low). The job is only a means to an end for me. I need another good year in order to reach some financial goals and then it is time to gather what I need for the next phase of my life (a fulltiming RV!)

Cheryl and I finally got to take another break, it was our anniversary. We had made reservations to spend a few days at Hickory Creek COE campground to celebrate our 40th anniversary. We arrived on Saturday morning (6 March) and after setting up the "not so long trailer"; I began to check out the RVs around us. I noticed a Carri-lite fifth wheel just across the way that looked familiar. I told Cheryl I thought that might be Joe (speedy) and his better half. I called Joe to find out his location, lo and behold he was my neighbor. It was kind of funny, he asked me where I was and I told him to look out his bay window.

We got to spend some time with our friends, which we enjoyed very much. It seems we have a lot in common, including relationships with our kids and grandkids! It would seem that all RVers have a lot in common. Anyway the conversations were good, the company was great and we hope to do it again soon.

It was also suggested during this visit that I should consider resuming my blog. I had all but given up on writing due to a lack of time and the fact that all I ever had to write about was working long hours. I am going to try to make time every week toand write about where we are in our quest to become fulltimers. I may only be writing to one reader that hasn't given up on me, but I will endeavor to write anyway. It is hard because I am the shy type .

Until next time God bless us all.............

TRAVELING ONCE AGAIN....

2009-10-07T06:57:00.024-05:00

We are finally on the road again and traveling (although for just a short time). After returning from a great time at Hickory Creek COE with wonderful friends, we both returned to work and the usual mundane routine. My routine was not quite so mundane as it is end of fiscal year close out and all my service contracts had to be renewed for the coming fiscal year!! Well enough about work, Presently I am back on a vacation, visiting with my favorite sister-in-law in South Carolina

From Sue

Back in the day when Cheryl and I were dating; I was only allowed to take Cheryl out if Sue was allowed to go along. At first I thought, bummer, but pretty soon I began to realize how lucky I was to be going out with two pretty girls instead of one! We were so young that it seemed we all "grew up" together and even when I was allowed to date Cheryl without Sue she usually tagged along anyway. We were like "the three musketeers" or is that the "three mouseketeers"?

From Sue

Hey guys the one on the right is single (not the one on the left).

Now let me introduce you to another pretty girl in my life, this is my great niece, with special interest on "great", Kenzie:

From MYRTLE BEACH SOUTH CAROLINA

Needless to say she had a great time and so did her mom, Jodie (also my niece of course).

From MYRTLE BEACH SOUTH CAROLINA

We had a great time and I will post more later, but now it is time to go have more fun. Until next time God bless us all.............

THE REST OF THE STORY

2009-09-27T07:52:00.020-05:00

Seven days of work can make one weak. I could not resist being poetic

This is Sunday morning and I am home, back into the routine and mundane and as you can see I have not been making time to post once again. We had a yard sale yesterday, no one bought the house, but we got rid of more "stuff".

I sure miss being at Hickory Creek and I anguish about it everytime I read my friend's blogs about the great time they are having! :) I really am happy they are having a great time, but you guys save some great times for when we can join you.

We are back here working, but getting ready to go too. I am not going to write about it since it is so depressing! Instead let me continue the story of our adventures at Hickory Creek COE. I left off with us having dinner with Mike and Leslie at Chili’s on Wednesday evening. We had a great time and some pretty good food. We had met Mike and Leslie at the RV Dreams Rally back in June 08, so it had been over a year since seeing them. We picked up right where we left off, joking, talking and enjoying ourselves just as if it were just yesterday since we had last met!! It is great to have friends such as these two.

The next morning, after finding out the RV show opened at 10am, we picked up Mike and Leslie to head out, after some iced coffee from McDonalds something Leslie introduced to Cheryl for the first time (thanks Les! ). We found the show with no problem, except for the fact it was misting rain, but we were able to tour some units on the inside right away. These were mostly motorhomes and we just could not find a floor plan that we felt would meet our needs. The weather cleared a bit and we toured some on the outside also, however the humidity was getting the best of us so we ambered back inside after a short while.

From Hickory Creek

Notice I am the only one wore out by all the climbing into all the rigs!!

All in all I will have to say I was a bit disappointed in the show this year. We were told that a lot of last year’s vendors did not show up this year. It was evident in the number of units on display. About the only thing that peaked our interest was the Mobile Suites and they also had some nice Montanas. I am going to get a good look at an Excel and then try to decide. I believe we are swinging toward the fifth wheel as our RV home instead of a motorhome.

When we left the show, we were getting a little on the hungry side, so we commence to look for lunch. We ended up have soups and salads at Olive Garden which hit the spot on a rainy and dreary day. We left Olive Garden and decided to head to camping world, where we knew we could unload some of our excess money (less weight to haul back home ). I only bought some tire covers for my new tires on the not so long trailer, they were 2 for the price of one. After that it was on the Walmart, we wanted the total fulltimers experience, so Walmart was mandatory!

Once we arrived back at the campground, lo and behold Rollie and Gina had arrived . We stopped by briefly to visit and later made plans to get together later.

once again I must leave the story unfinished. I have to get ready for church. I will continue later, until then God bless us all..........

AT LAST, CAMPING AGAIN!

2009-09-17T07:56:00.007-05:00

It has really been too long since we were camping in the "not so long trailer", but finally here at Hickory Creek COE north of Dallas Texas.

From Hickory Creek

We started prepping for the trip on Monday. We took the trailer out of storage and moved into the famcamp on Barksdale AFB. We then began to load the "not so long trailer" and we even spent the night there (although only about 20 minutes from the sticks and bricks). I worked Monday and Tuesday, but Cheryl was off so she shopped the commissary Tuesday and loaded the fridge. I did have to take some time off to go get new tires the trailer, since I discovered I had one with a bald spot on the inside of the tire!! :( .... Wow, I thought I was keeping a close watch on them! Anyway about $400. later we have no tire worries (so far). :)

Wednesdays trip was only about 4 hours, but very tiring since it was all driven in the rain. Dealing with I35 through Dallas was not very relaxing either! Overall though the trip was uneventful and we enjoyed it regardless of the negatives :) We arrived at Hickory Creek COE and was pleasantly surprised with the park. After coming off the hustle and bustle of I35 and being in the thick of busy-ness, crowdness and mid-city bustle; it was as if we had instantly arrived in the country with wildlife, beauty and surprisingly quiet! It is like an oasis surrounded by big city life.

After setting up, we found Mike and Leslie Kennedy's site. Mike and Leslie are fulltimers and fellow RV Dreamers. Although we had not seen them in over a year, it was no time at all and it was as if we had never parted company! We sit and talk so much that we loose track of time! We finally determined that cooking dinner was not in the cards, so we decided to go out to eat (not a rare decision in our case) and ended up eating at Chili's. It was a great time all around and a great ending to a long day.

Well that takes us up to Wednesday and it is now Saturday. I have been so busy having fun I have not had time to write. It is ironic that it is usually working that keeps me too busy to write! I took this time to write, but now it is time to go have more fun, so I will write about Thursday and Friday later (that is when more RV Dreams family arrived). Until then may God Bless us all .................

RARE DAY TODAY!

2009-09-03T11:56:00.006-05:00

Ok, I know I said I would try to not take so long to post, so much for that effort! This is a rare day, I am off from work and even more rare I was wondering what to do next!! I signed on the dusty ole computer to read some blogs and the realization hit me, I have a blog too! Thanks Penny for the reminder .

I actually called in this morning, I am not feeling "up to speed" (no pun intended Speedy). I have plenty of sick leave so why not? Needless to say I have been doing hardly anything besides working lately and it is beginning to take its toll on my energy levels. Gee I am still a young man I am not supposed to "run out of gas" so quickly!!

In my last post I told of our rescueing "Boid", a wayward Cockatiel that found the sanctuary of our home. Boid has had a hard time adjusting to her new environment and at most times seems a little unfriendly. I do hold her some, she bites me but with little force, seeming to just tell me she doesn't like being held! Cheryl doesn't even try to hold her, especially since Boid caused her much pain in the rescueing of Boid!! Boid does keep us entertained sometimes with her whistling and mimicking, however after discussing what we will do with her during our travels I think we may be looking for a good home for Boid :(

We will be heading to Hickory Creek COE campground on the 16th of September and while we are there (only about 3 days) we will be attending the RV Show in Dallas. We will also be able to visit with Joe and Sherri, Rollie and Gina, possibly Mike and Leslie and hopefully more (the more the better!). We will be in site 44 if anyone wants to visit, just knock first so you won't catch me in my boxers!

We are getting very close to meeting our financial goals and we are ready to start some serious looking for the RV setup for our fulltime lifestyle. I believe we could buy within this next year, depending on if we decide to sell the house or not. Sometimes it seems like a "no-brainer" then traditional thinking intervenes and we doubt our decisions once again!

Well I guess I had better get ready to go meet Cheryl for lunch. She is working today, bless her heart. I will post again! Until then God Bless you all....

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY

2009-07-14T10:35:00.012-05:00

Well, as for the title of this post, that is my story and I am sticking to it! Cheryl and I have been working, painting, visiting with family, rescuing Cockatiels, more working and more painting. We have not been out in the rv in so long, I think I may have forgotten everything I ever knew about rving.. .. We did stay in the rv for two nights, sitting in our driveway, while we painted our bedroom. Cheryl said it was just not the same for some reason?

The last time I posted (ages ago) we had family visiting from Kentucky. We had a great time visiting with them and they left after a long weekend with us. They were headed to San Francisco with a lot of interesting stops in between. It would be great if they would blog about their travels, but they are too busy having fun! Anyway after spending some time with them on their motorhome, Cheryl made the comment. “I could live in this!”. Wow, I thought we were set on a Mobile Suites or an Excel (thanks Rollie), but now the better half is thinking about motorhomes! I hope it becomes clear to us soon, I think we may be buying within the next year!
Well I don’t have a lot of time, things are getting crazy here at work. Global Strike Command is setting up headquarters at Barksdale and a lot of the contracts needed for required services in preparation are on my desk for action. Wow, life is interesting to put it nicely!

From 2WILDFLOWERS

Before I go I really need to tell you about our Cockatiel we rescued. We spotted her (or him?) sitting on the side of pool, unsuccessfully trying to get a drink of water. I took her out a bowl of water and got close, but she would not let me touch her. We spent the better part of 2 hours trying to lure her to us. I had dug up a travel carrier we had for our puppy and was going to try to lure her into it. Cheryl was standing on the pool deck and suddenly the bird flew and landed on her shoulder! Cheryl without giving it much thought, reached very quickly to her shoulder and “grabbed” the Cockatiel. The scared to death Cockatiel, without giving it much thought, latched on to one of Cheryl’s fingers with a death grip!! She did manage to get the bird in the carrier before bleeding to death! It was not funny to either Cheryl or the Cockatiel, at that time, however I had a real good laugh after we determined both would live!

From Boid

I had intended to save the bird, keep it in the carrier until the owner could be found. It has been a couple of weeks and after looking at the local vet offices, watching the newspapers and looking for posters, still no owner. I broke down and bought a cage, feeders, toys, etc. and started calling the cockatiel “Boid” (borrowed from Tioga George). Boid is over his initial trauma of “meeting” Cheryl, , wellll for the most part, she still will not sit on my finger, but at least she doesn’t take it off.. ..

Anyway, looks like our guest, Boid, may be with us for a while. It is not bad, we keep discovering that she is entertaining. We were sitting watching TV one night, when out of the blue, Boid starts whistling the theme from the “Andy Griffith Show”. ! We have not had the show on lately, so she had to learn that from her former owners! She wolf whistles a lot, dances on the perch a lot, but no one can touch her as of yet. I do get her to use my finger as quick step on her way to the other side of her cage. She only threatens to bite me once in a while, but if I don’t back off, she doesn’t bite hard.. ..

Well enough about Boid, although she is one of the few exciting things to happen in our lives lately. I will try to not be so long in posting, but remember, I am not free of those chains called work …. Yet!
….. Till next time God Bless.

RELATIVELY SPEAKING

2009-06-14T09:14:00.014-05:00

From CAR MUSEUM

Alright a little excitement (for us anyway), Aunt Margaret and Uncle Donald are visiting from Corbin, Kentucky! We have not seen them since September. They are traveling across country in thier Winnebago Adventurer and we were on thier list of "must see" people, places and things :) .. Donald and Margaret Flowers are two extraordinary people who have lived fascinating and extradordinary lives. Both are former military, Uncle Donald is retired USAF and Aunt Margaret did not stay in to retire. Margaret is a registered nurse and retired from the state of Kentucky. They have raised thier children, three of them, and now they are traveling and enjoying life (sounds like they should be part of the RV-DREAMS family. :)

Saturday we decided to visit Jefferson, Texas and shop for antiques. It was a good time all round, but I thought the highlight of the trip was a visit to a car museum. Here are a few pictures I took (my favorite is the 57 chevy).

We also stopped at a little cafe that specialized in "cornbread sandwiches". Everyone tried some cornbread sandwich and the conclusion was that they are good! The bowl of chicken and dumplings were good also :) .. It took an awful lot of will power to reign in my appetite, but moderation prevailed!

After returning to Shrevport, we visited with them to around 11pm and didn't get to bed until almost midnight. We are getting together a little later for a family cookout with all the kids and grandkids here to visit with them. I guess I better get off the computer, go take a nerve pill :) and get ready for the crowd to arrive! Until next time......... GBY

INDECISION

2009-06-07T10:08:00.006-05:00

I spent 24 years in the military and in my mind indecision is a bad thing! Lately though I am having trouble making a decision. Which RV do I want to live in for a few years of my retirement life?

I thought we had decided on the Mobile Suites, but more information has come to light and I am again researching fifth wheels. I am currently trying to find out all that I can about Excel fifth wheels. All of you that own Excels please let me know how you like them, what you like about them and what you aren't that fond of about them. I need all the information and help I can get!

My brother in arms, Rollie Thurston decided on the Excel (he has no problem with indecision) He and his better half, Gina seem to be well satisfies with the choice. Check out there adventures at All Because Two People Fell In Love. Don't you just love the title?

If there are other choices out there that you would like to recommend, please let me know. At this point I am getting closer to that time to buy and still no firm decision.

Enough whining for today, till next time, God Bless You All.........

REFLECTIONS AND DAYDREAMS

2009-06-04T17:37:00.005-05:00

I guess everything is back to “normal”, I am back at work, Cheryl is back to work and our little mini vacation is just a memory. :( … It was a great weekend that began because of a phone call to the DRV factory in Indiana. We have been wanting to look at some Mobile Suites fifth wheels to price and scope out the features, but could not find any in our local area. I decided to call the factory to see if I could locate the nearest dealer and spoke with the regional sales manager for this area. He informed me that the nation’s largest Mobile Suites dealer was Gauthier’s RV in Lafayette, Louisiana. I planned this past weekend trip and we after setting up at Poches’ Fish n Camp, we found Gauthier’s RV. Now I was told this was the nation’s largest Mobile Suites dealer, but he only had one Mobile Suites on the lot and it was sold! He informed that particular floor plan did not sit on the lot very long. He was kind enough to allow us to tour that one and we carefully proceeded to take a look. We loved the unit, it has all the features we are looking for and more. It even has a leveling system that they call the “level up system” that is hydraulic and levels the unit side to side. Cheryl and I both are thinking that we have found our fulltiming home, but wait a minute, there is a downside; the unit list for $120,000…….. !! There still may be hope though, the sales manager told us the unit we were looking at went for $85,000. How can that be? Either someone is very good at negotiations or our sales manager is using a little psychology in trying to sale us a unit!
After looking at the unit, inside and out, we sat for a little bit and talked with Rocky, the sales manager. He seemed like a nice guy and genuine. I told him I was a while away from buying and that I have get the proper sized truck first, then draw a few more paychecks, then I can talk serious about buying. He told me that was typical and that a lot of folks do it the same way. He said he could order ours from the factory, with our options and choices, then it would probably take a while to come in anyway. I think that Cheryl and I will be ready to buy sometime after October of 2010. :) ….. In the meantime I have to plan and look for a truck that will easily tow the 14,300lb (dry wt) fifth wheel (and look good doin it!) Any suggestions?

Once we had toured the Mobile Suites, we just settled down to some fishing and relaxing at Poches’. It turned out to be a fantastic weekend and I am hoping to return one weekend real soon to fish and relax. In the meantime we are working, preparing the house to sell and daydreaming about being on the road fulltime! ;)….. Till next time God Bless.

FINALLY, SOME TIME OFF

2009-05-30T11:34:00.005-05:00

Well I finally get a break! Cheryl and I have been so busy with work over the past couple of months, we are more than ready for a relaxation weekend. Recently I had called the DRV factory in Indiana to get the names of some local dealers for Mobile Suites. The regional rep told me the nations largest Mobile Suites dealer is in Lafayette, Louisiana. We decided that we are interested enough in looking to take the four hour trip to check it out. So we were looking at places to stay near Lafayette and we found one I recognized from previous blogs I had read by fellow dreamers. This is where we are:

From Poches Fish n Camp

We are at POCHES FISH N CAMP. It seems like a great place to relax, fish and unwind. Speaking of fishing, I am going to grab my gear, sit out back and fish a while. I will post more later. GBY

AIRSHOW AT BARKSDALE AFB

2009-05-14T09:24:00.009-05:00

Hi all, I am alive and well! I have been just snowed under with work lately. Last weekend was airshow weekend at Barksdale AFB and I was heavily involved in the preparations! We have an airshow every year to coincide with the "Holiday In Dixie" festival here in Shreveport. The Navy Blue Angels were here again this year and put on a spectacular airshow. I did not get pictures of the show itself, however I did get some pictures up close while they were on the parking apron.

Well that is not the only excitement I have had in my life recently, My grandson, Nicholas was baptized! I am elated that he knows and accepts our savior! :)

From NICK'S BAPTISM

Well till next time, God Bless you .......

SATURDAY CARTOONS

2009-04-25T10:42:00.004-05:00

It is another Saturday morning and I love my Saturday mornings. I mean what is there not to love? I get to sleep late, if i can sleep :) .... then I get to sit in the recliner, drink coffee and read RV blogs! :).... This morning I also get to watch cartoons, the grandboys are with us for the weekend, so it is cartoon Saturday. Now I normally don't watch cartoons, but when the grands are around and they are on the tube, I realize they are fun to watch :) A little levity and nonsense can be rejuvenating........

Other than my watching cartoons this morning there is not much else to report, except we are both still working hard. We were off yesterday though, Cheryl had an endoscopy procedure. She got sedated with Demarol and had a pretty restful day after the whole "camera down the throat" thing! :) .... Anyway since I was her escort, I had a restful day too, after the "sit in the waiting room" thing...

Well I have goofed off long enough, time to get up and start some yard work... Till next time, GBY .............

TORNADOS AND TOMATOES

2009-04-20T14:30:00.006-05:00

Wheeew, I know this post is long overdue, but man have I ever been busy. . A little violin music please and maybe some cheese with this wine! :) .... I was busy enough as it is, but on April 9th tornados came to Shreveport/Bossier and made my life a good bit more hectic... I knew from watching the weather that morning that we had a possibility of some severe thunderstorms, but in the evening it didn’t look that bad outside, so I dismissed it from my mind... Cheryl and I sat down to watch a movie we had on DVD and know the title wasn’t “Gone With The Wind”! ... Well the movie ended and I switched back to regular local tv and lo and behold the weatherman was on and showing a tornado warning for our area. .. The warning cone looked as if it were in familiar territory and after looking at it more closely, I realized our house was right in the center of the warning cone path!! :( ... We started to head to a bathroom in the center of our house, but I cannot stand the thought of being shutup in the bathroom and not knowing what is going on outside and around me.... I headed for the back door and looked out to see a lot of wind, and nickel sized hail (some nickels and some dimes), but no tornado... After a little while it calmed a bit and there was nothing but hard rain and plenty of it! ..
Thank you father for watching over us and keeping us safe.

After continuing to watch the weather we were warned twice more of tornados and one of those decided to visit Barksdale AFB... It seems the one in our area kind of skipped right over us and touched down again a little further down the road, but the one at Barksdale touched down in a couple of places on the base. ... Although the tornado downed a lot of trees, especially on the golf course, there was not a whole lot of major damage to facilities. ... Unfortunately it was our service contractors that have to take care of the tree removal and debris cleanup, so I have been real busy lately.

I did not have my camera with me when I was out and about, but I did get a couple of pictures taken by a friend three days after the tornado hit the base and cleanup was in progress:

From Tornado Damage

Our house did not sustain any damage, other that a few limbs down in the yard. At least I will have a good supply of camp firewood for a while. :) .. ..

I was able to take time out from tornado recovery to visit with the grand kids and kids for Easter. I needed the break and the kids were great, Thank God for my family.

From 2009-04-11-1826-42

The littlest one hunted those eggs real hard and soon after he was out for the count!

From Drop Box

I have also been able to plant a few tomatoes after the Easter break. I planted some in five gallon buckets, along with some peppers. I also planted three plants in “Topsy Turvey “ planters. I don’t know if you have ever seen them on TV or not, but the plant grows out of the bottom of the container. I will let you know how that turns out. ;) ..

From 2009-04-11-1826-42

On top of all that I continued to get the house ready to sell. I painted one of our bedrooms, changed the light switches and receptacles to bright white ones. I still need to replace the out-dated light fixture and hang new closet doors (we removed them long ago). As slow as I am working it will take another year to have the house ready! At least I am working toward my dream :)

Well I need to get busy….. till next time……. God Bless us all.

ANOTHER SATURDAY AND CHORES

2009-04-04T10:04:00.004-05:00

Well it is Saturday and once more the weekend is upon us. I have a lot of chores to get done today, but so far I am sitting here reading blogs, drinking coffee and daydreaming! This week was not so tough at work as I am waiting on some of the contracts that I have written to be reviewed before I can continue the process. It has been a long week of things going wrong at the ole sticks and bricks though. One day Cheryl returned home and tried to open the garage door, when it failed to open she tried the button on the opener another couple of times. I pulled in behind her and tried my opener a couple of times also. We both assumed the power was out and I proceeded to search for the hardly ever used front door key. I found the key, unlocked the door, but it would not open. The treshold seal on the bottom of the door was bind the door. Between twisting the door knob and "shouldering" the door to get it open, I broke the throw bolt on the door :( .. I finally got in the blooming house though! It turns out the power was not off, the spring on the garage door had broken! Not only that but all the trying to open the door without the support of the spring had pulled the motor loose from the brackets and tore the arm loose! :( .. Now I know how to install a spring, but between finding the spring, buying it, then installing it (especially the tensioning part) and trying not to fall off another ladder, I decided to call Overhead Door to repair it. A few hours and $145.00 later, my garage door is now working. :) I got the front door closed and deadbolted, I have to replace the lockset on it today.

The morning after those mis-adventures, I went to fill the coffee pot and behold no water! I thought it was a water outage (notice a trend of blaming public utilities?) but soon found the water to be working in the rest of the house. It is something stopping the flow on the kitchen faucet. I will find out here in a few minutes as I go down my chore list! :0

Now I would rather spend my day getting things ready for us to go fulltime. I guess in a way (or at least I feel better thinking so) we are still getting the house ready, we can't sell a house with a broken faucet or front door lock now can we?
GBY

WHENEVER FRIDAY COMES..........

2009-03-27T14:54:00.001-05:00

Woohoo……. I made it to Friday again :) ….. I feel exhausted today, mostly because I was up at 0430 this morning with problems (I won't offer too much information again). I am feeling better though and although they tell me we are in for a "severe weather night " tonight and rain again tomorrow, I am looking forward to this weekend. :) …..

I will probably spend a good part of this weekend getting my tax information together. Yes it is true, I have procrastinated in filing our taxes. I will probably have to pay some more, so I was not in a big hurry. Maybe our president will give me a tax break as part of the stimulus package, I will not hold my breath waiting on the government to rescue me!! I do anticipate them telling me when I can have my lights on and what color vehicle I am allowed to drive though! Well enough of that, just thinking about it gets my blood pressure going up. I better hurry and buy my fulltime RV before they regulate us so much we will not be able to buy one.

On a more cheerful note, I learned (in the chatroom) that the dreamers are planning another gathering in a few months in Rockport. When I told Cheryl, her response was, "don't care what it takes, get me there!". Well I guess I have my marching orders now don't I? :)

I am still at work and the clock says it is time to pack up and go……. See you later, maybe tonight in the chat…… who knows…. GBY

ALMOST FRIDAY

2009-03-26T17:48:00.004-05:00

What more can I say? It is almost Friday and after a boring week of work, I am looking forward to a weekend of relaxation and unwinding! Unfortunately, the weatherman is telling me we will probably have severe weather (in Louisiana that means tornados) tomorrow night and rain on Saturday :( Oh well, I will still get in the relaxation. :) ...

Cheryl had to go to an annual meeting for the credit union where she works. I am supposed to go also since I am a member, but I had something for lunch that didn't agree with me and I am home trying to get it out of my system. Ok, maybe that was too much information....... It is too bad I am missing the meeting, they have free dinner and door prizes :) of course I don't feel like I could eat anything and I never win door prizes... or contests ..... or million dollar lotteries.

If it sounds like I am whining, well I may have been, but I realize how much God has blessed me. Sometimes I have to vent, then I am reminded of how blessed I am. Anyway, thanks for reading my friends and I am cutting this short for now ( I will not give too much information this time)..... Please check back soon. GBY

MONDAY, MONDAY…JUST LIKE ANY OTHER DAY

2009-03-23T17:05:00.006-05:00

Well after a productive weekend of cleaning out the backyard, cutting limbs and cutting grass I am not so “blue” at coming back to work! It felt good to get those chores done though, because I know it is all in preparation for getting the house on the market and retiring :) …

My day started at 0530 hours (did I mention I work for the military?) and first order of business was coffee of course. I have a couple of cups of starter fluid as I prepare for the day. I also have a healthy regimen of Insulin, blood pressure meds , glucophage and of course some vitamins for dessert. I normally wait one hour after the diabetes meds before having some instant oatmeal (usually at my desk) for breakfast. Hey, if I could figure out how to get a boiling pot of water at my desk, I could have the omelet in a freezer bag for breakfast :) …

Once I have taken care of the important stuff, I turn to the computer, open AutoCad on one screen and Excel on the other screen, Outlook in the background and then the race is on! I review a facility drawing, breakdown the service task called for in the contract, then place the square footage in the proper column of the spreadsheet and my estimate has begun. About 30 minutes later, someone will usually pass by my desk and wake me up :) ….. zzzzzzzzzz.

Why do I work so hard?:

Work

Can anyone tell me?:

From Work

One of my favorite times of the day is lunch time. I sometimes will take a walk around the base, sometimes go to the fitness center, and a lot of times I’ll go downtown to have lunch with my sweetie :) … bottom line is I get the heck out of the office!

Finally, sometimes it comes painfully slow, but my most favorite time of the day will roll around, quitting time :) ……. Woohooo… It takes me about 25-30 minutes to drive home. Once home I am usually so exhausted I don’t do much, but find that recliner and turn on the laptop to read the blogs. I have so many to read that usually I don’t have time to post to my this blog, I usually don’t have that much exciting to write about and now that you know a little more about my typical day, you can see what I mean :) … But hey, hang in there, don’t quit reading my blog yet, maybe tomorrow I will try to write about Cheryl’s typical day!! Til then……………….. GBY

MEMORIES

2009-03-21T09:10:00.007-05:00

Hey all, I decided to post twice this week, wonders never cease! Actually I was browsing through some of the photos I had taken on our trip to Kerrville and I realized I had not posted them. I don't know if anyone is interested in seeing them, but here are some great memories for Cheryl and I :) ..

Hey Speedy, if you are out there, you look like you were mad in the one picture. Were you losing or what :) .. anyway my focus was supposed to be on the beauty behind you :) ...

Anyway, it is Saturday and I have a whole list of chores to get done. I so them happily because they are all in preparation to get the house ready for the market!! I may not be as close to getting on the road as a lot of my friends out there, but I keep chugging along like the little engine that could :) .... until next time GBY

JUST DAYDREAMING

2009-03-20T12:06:00.006-05:00

Well here I am back to work it is all I can do to stop daydreaming! Since the great time I had in Kerrville, all I am thinking about is how to finish this work stuff early and hit the road in an RV :) .. Every once in a while someone will stroll past my work station and glance at the spreadsheet on my screen and they probably think I am working hard! The reality is I have probably been on that same sheet for an hour because I am just staring at it while I daydream :)

Cheryl and I talk a lot about the wonderful time we had with friends at “the gathering”. We aren’t exactly social superstars, but somehow we manage to socialize well with fellow RV Dreamers. We were married as youngsters and immediately started having children right out of high school (we had two before we found out what was causing it) :) .. Anyway we have been “family types” all our lives, until the last one left home about a year and a half ago. Since the military kept us moving a lot, we didn’t really make a lot of close friends, we just became a tight knit family. Now that we are an empty nest, we are enjoying going out and meeting new folks and making new friends. I just know we will make a lot of friends once we are fulltiming :)

Well enough raving for one day, I have to get some work done GBY all …………….

THE GATHERING

2009-03-11T19:37:00.008-05:00

I think it is time for me to catch up on my posting. We arrived at Buckhorn Lake Resort late Sunday afternoon after a beautiful drive through the heart of Texas. It was a great drive, but long and tedious. After we set up the camper we joined a group of "Dreamers" on the club house patio and were properly greeted. Kathy was making some delicious looking real strawberry drinks and I was thoroughly tempted to endulge in one, however the Rum involved was enough to deter me from drinking one. We all know how I get when I get a little rum in me.... :) just kidding, I cannot drink a lot of alcohol for health reasons, I may have a small glass of wine once in a while, but that is it. So Kathy if you are reading this, thanks for the offer and please don't be offended because I declined. If I hadn't thought it to be rude on my part I would have asked for a virgin drink, those strawberries looked good. :)

Anyway, we had to do the Walmart run for some groceries and things, then get gas in Big Red, and explored the area a little. Well I explored the area a little too thoroughly and started ignoring "Lola" (our gps) and the next thing I know we were lost in America!! :) Lola got tired of me ignoring her recalculations and locked up on me and by the time I got her reset, we were deep in the hill country and in the dark!! :) She finally got us home after I started listening to her again. Cheryl says that is just like me to not listen to a female trying to tell me which way to go :)

As a result of our late escapades, we missed the smores by campfire get together on Sunday evening. We were fortunate enough to make the "heavy hors devoures" on Monday evening however :) Now it was supposedly heavy snacks, but man that was quite a spread. I probably gained a pound or two that night!!

Tuesday Cheryl and I struck out for New Braunfels and then San Antonio. We visited New Braunfels to go to Camping World and revisit Oma's Haus, a great German restuarant we found a few years ago. Thefood was as good as we remembered it to be! :) We also visited Landa Park on the river.

We took off for San Antonio after that and walked the river walk. Soon I was tried of walking so we took the boat tour. It was a good tour with some informative narration. The only thing that would have been better would have been if they could have dropped me off at the truck instead of taking me right back where we started!

Well we got back into the campground to find out we had missed a birthday party held for Brenda, our Canadian dreamer. We were sorry we missed it, they look like they had a blast! Happy Birthday Brenda......

Wednesday morning it was about 36 degrees and raining like crazy! :( We stayed home all day and the resort looked deserted. I did have to make a propane run, we are going through it quickly trying to heat our little camper!

This morning we slept in until 8:30, had breakfast and finally saw some fellow dreamers outside (the rain has subsided). Leno visited with us for a few minutes as well as Rollie. Cheryl and I decided to visit Fredericksburg, so off we went. I will post about that visit later, now I have to get ready for an outing with fellow dreamers.

Until next time....GBY...

NO, I HAVE NOT DISAPPEARED

2009-03-05T17:03:00.005-06:00

Contrary to what most of you may be thinking, I have not disappeared from the face of the earth. :) I will use the same excuse as always for not posting, " nothing happening but a whole lot of work"!! Cheryl and I have both been leaving at daybreak and getting back home after dark. Once we are home, we cook some dinner, catch up on email, maybe watch a tv program (we love the show "24") then off to bed.

Tomorrow is Friday again, woohoooo.... and to top it off we are getting the rv ready to leave Saturday morning for Kerrville for the "Gathering of Dreamers". This is a group of really nice folks that have become acquainted on the RV Dreams website and cannot wait until the next rally to get together again! We can hardly wait to get on the road!

Well Cheryl just walked in and I need to get up and help her get dinner started. I hope to post more while on vacation, or at least take some pictures to post :). I will post again once we are on the road, maybe Saturday evening. God Bless you all.....

GREAT WEEKEND FOR DAYDREAMING

2009-02-16T11:14:00.008-06:00

WOW.. a long weekend with an RV show to boot! We started our weekend by dining out after we both ended our workdays. During dinner we planned our weekend activities, which included and RV show, quick visits with the grandkids, dinner and movie and of course some relaxation.

Saturday moring we slept in until around 9AM, then sat around drinking coffee and having some breakfast. We then went to Walmart to pick up the grandkids some little valentine's gifts, then on to present them. After the visits, we headed to the RV show. It is held every year by Bayou Outdoor Sports Center and they only show a few RV brands that they sell, mostly Thor products. We did see a few that attracted us, the only close to full time fifth wheel was the Grand Junction, and it is a beauty, however has some faults, ie very little storage room. Here are a few pictures of our visit.

There were a few motorhomes in the show as you may can tell from the slideshow and we tended to migrate towards them more than the fifthwheels. Hmmm does this mean we are leaning towards a motorhome? Who knows? We still have a lot of time to think about it.

Well we left the show and headed for the movie theater. One thing we forgot about was the Mardi Gras parade this weekend. We had no desire to go to the thing, however in my effort to get us to the movie theater, I landed us slap dab in the middle of the traffic headed to the parade. It was bumper to bumper and we fought traffic for an hour and a half. That was long enough to make us miss our movie. Since we missed the movie, we headed to Ruby Tuesdays for dinner. After dinner we headed home as it was getting late for us (9PM) :)

We did finally get to the movies Sunday afternoon, after another visit to the RV show (yes we are RV show addicts) :) By the way, if you get a chance to see the movie "Taken", go for it, an excellent movie! Till we meet again.......... GBY

2009-02-08T13:52:00.005-06:00

Ok, I know it has not been a week, but I have something to post. I went to my grandson's birthday party yesterday and it was a blast! I took a few pictures and wanted to post them here for family and friends. Enjoy..... :~)

NICHOLAS AARON PAYNE... 8YEARS OLD
Nick is the one in the light blue shirt (opening gifts)

The lovely little princess, again in a light blue shirt is my one and only granddaughter. The youngest grandson, loving on a slice of pizza and wearing a dark blue "Wolverine" shirt enjoyed the eats and so did the oldest grandson, wearing the light gray "Auburn" shirt. Happy Birthday Nicholas!

ANOTHER WEEK CLOSER

2009-02-07T10:26:00.006-06:00

Here it is another week gone by and another week closer to our rv dreams.. :) I guess I have become a weekly blogger, not by plan, just lack of time or laziness (maybe a little of both). Sometimes I just feel like all I have to write about is work and that is just boring as heck to most anyone who is out there traveling in their rv and enjoying life to the max!

This time of year I am leaving for work before it is daylight and since I have started a new project, it seems most days it is dark when I get home. I am not getting a lot of things done around the house in preparation to sell it. It is probably a good thing I have some time before selling. In fact I hope the housing market will improve before that time!

I was researching some of my options for leaving work and it seems I will not be eligible for the pension until February 2015. I am not willing to wait that long, so I guess I will be leaving without a pension as soon as I reach those financial goals!! I think that will be sometime in the next two to three years. In the meantime I will be sticking to a budget and hoping the stock market recovers to around the 14,000 point mark before then also :)

Speaking of budgets, I am trying to adjust mine to fit in a trip to Kerrville in March, then to South Carolina in September and Kerrville again in October, not mentioning several weekend camping trips to Rocky Point. I love the trips we have planned, but I don't want to slow down reaching our financial goals. The trip to South Carolina is to visit family, the one in March to visit RV Dreams family, then again in October for the rally! Oh well Cheryl just loves working overtime anyway!! :)

Well I have been lounging in this recliner since 7AM and it is now 10:45AM, I guess I better get up and get ready to go to my grandson's birthday party at the local skating rink. Hey, how would you like to see some pictures of me skating? I may get some uploaded, it depends on if they have WiFi at the hospital or not.. :) GBY

I LOVE SATURDAYS

2009-01-31T12:26:00.004-06:00

Woohooooo it is Saturday again, my favorite day of the week. I got up around 0700 hrs, fixed a pot of french vanilla flavored coffee and some gravy and biscuits, I then sit around on the computer here until now (1228 hrs). I get to catch up on the RV blogs, RV Dreams forum and I am even taking time to post on my much neglected journal! :) I spent some time working on my financial accounts and budget also. This was important work because it is my blueprint to becoming a fulltimer. The budget is going well and I am getting closer to reaching my RV Daydreams, paycheck by paycheck!

I am going to finish up this little update and get to work on a "fix-up-the-house-so-I-can-sell-it" project. Today it will be sheetrock repairs and hole patching in one of the bedrooms. Although I am an engineering technician, I will need much prayer!! Till next time, GBY.......... Doncat

Don't Worry

2009-01-28T18:19:00.006-06:00

Yes, I am still alive and kickin’. Sometimes it is a chore to try and make time to sit and write a post. I have been very busy lately at work and after working long hours, when I get home I can only manage to spend some quality time with my better half, then off to bed. Is that violins I here in the background?
Anyhow, things have been pretty routine around here, except for work. I thought we were going to have some icy weather this morning, but we dodged that bullet by a hair! It was cold and breezy with ice on some bushes, but nothing on the roads or bridges and more importantly no downed power lines! It is still cold and the wind feels like a knife cutting through you. It must be nice to be able to hitch up your house and drive it to a warmer climate! I sure hope to find out one day.
Cheryl says hi and we are both working towards the day we can meet you all out on the road. Until then and until I find another few minutes to sit and write, God bless you all……………………

JUST CHECKING IN

2009-01-19T12:06:00.007-06:00

Hey, just checking in to let everyone know I still have an internet connection (so far). We have been having a good holiday weekend that included an outing with the "grands" yesterday. We took the three younger ones to the aircraft museum on Barksdale AFB and they had a ball. The oldest "grand" stayed home and watched football with his dad. I wish I had taken the camera, but alas, I did not. The youngsters wore me out running around the airplanes, but I needed the exercise anyway!

I made a slight change to the website, I had to remove my PayPal purchase buttons for the "Stable Tablecloth". I had a customer from Canada order one and evidently I did not have the system set up correctly, it did not include the shipping cost in the billing. The shipping cost to his address in Canada was about as much as the cost of the tablecloth! He decided to wait for an upcoming visit and save some shipping cost. Maybe he will just drop by Shreveport to visit and I will give him a discount :) Anyhow just to let everyone know I still have a few tablecloths and if you would like one just shoot me an email. I am going to rework the PayPal "thingie" and maybe get it back on the site soon.

Well it is really nice outside right now and I believe Cheryl and I are going out for a walk. See ya next time..........

Computer Problems and RV Improvements

2009-01-16T18:21:00.006-06:00

I know it has been a while since my last post, I have been having some aircard problems, coupled with a laptop problem (trouble seems to come in pairs). I am finally able to get back online and do some catching up! I broke my aircard by plugging a booster antenna into it; actually it was unplugging it that did the breaking. When I unplugged the antennae, the connector came out of the aircard, in other words I ripped its guts out! I sent the aircard off to be repaired and have not heard any status or estimated return date as of yet.

Other than the unfortunate computer problems, things have been mostly routine. I am writing a couple of new service contracts at work and it is keeping me pretty busy. Seems like I leave for work before daylight and get home after dark!

I did find the time to install our newly acquired Oxygenics shower head and new faucets in our trailer. It was not a hard task, however I highly recommend that if you ever have to install a new faucets; always ensure the water connections are straight threaded and use teflon tape or plumbers putty. :) I screwed one of the connections on cross threaded and while Cheryl watched the plumbing I went out to cut on the water, in about a second flat I heard her yelling, “cut it off, cut it off” ! Water had sprayed all inside of our cabinets where the access was located. Oh well, after drying all that out, everthing else seems to be working great. The shower head definitely has more pressure :) .

One day this past week we were on the way home and spotted a Select Suites fifth wheel sitting in a parking lot with a for sale sign in the window. Of course we had to stop and take a look! It is a 2007 Select Suites TK3, 36ft long. It was locked of course and we could not see the inside, but besides being a bit dirty the outside looked good. We took down the phone number and gave the owner a call. It seems they just want the “pay-off” amount of $47k. We still have not made an appointment to look at it yet, but it has peaked our interest. The only problem is getting a truck that will pull the thing! I have a 2002 GMC Sierra 2500HD and I think the tow capacity is 11,000lbs. I don’t believe is enough. Anyway we are trying to make up our minds whether to even look at it or not. :)

Well I have bored you enough for this time, hopefully it will not be as long before I can bore you again :) or maybe something exciting will happen soon (like my winning the lottery or something) and I will have something interesting to write about ;) Until then God Bless You...

SHEDDING "STUFF"

2009-01-05T10:16:00.009-06:00

We had a great weekend and spent some time getting rid of "stuff". What a liberating feeling! Cheryl and I were both surprised that it wasn't that hard, or at least not emotionally like we thought it would be, but still physically exhausting. We gave all of the stuff to our oldest daughter, who will sort through it and keep what she would like to keep. She will also have a yard sale to make some bucks :) Cheryl and I decided we didn't want to go through the hassle of a yard sale right now, since we spend all week working and my daughter could use the money more anyway.We still have a ways to go in getting rid of a lifetime of stuff, but now we feel great starting our preparations for fulltiming :) We know where the rest of the stuff is going, some in storage, but most to our children as "hierlooms".

Well it was a great holiday season, and a productive weekend, but now it is back to making a buck. I am on a financial plan that will have us ready for the road in 2 to 3 years, depending on the market and unforeseen expenses. I need to rush the plan, because I think my health may give out before the money! Cheryl and I are working hard to accelerate the plan :)

We are also still trying to decide on an RV, fifth-wheel or motorhome? My health issues may play into that decision also, for example; athritis has set into my left hand (probably due to a past injury) and I cannot grip much with my left hand. How will that effect my ability to set up a fifth-wheel versus a motorhome? Of course I have to take into consideration that new technologies are out there that help us to "work smarter" and not so hard. Wow, this is not an easy decision for us, hopefully some of our RV friends out there will give us plenty of good advice and make it easier :)

In the meantime, I am making a few repairs to the travel trailer to make it more enjoyable for couple of more years. I need to replace the tires before I make another "long haul" trip. I hope to do that before March and then maybe I can make "the gathering" in Texas :) I recently order new fixtures for our shower, which included the much acclaimed Oxygenics shower head. I am not as handy at making repairs as my friend Speedhitch, but hopefully we will make our trailer comfortable enough to last us another couple of years until we buy that ...... uh whatever we decide on :)

Once again I have run out of time....... Until next time GBY :)

LATE REPORT

2008-12-28T11:14:00.047-06:00

Well they say "better late than never". What does that mean and who exactly are they? I don't know, but I am finally getting back to posting about our family adventure at Christmas at Roseland!

These family get togethers serve as a reminder to live for today and tomorrow will take care of itself. Sure, I dream of the day that Cheryl and I will travel fulltime in an RV, but I also realize how precious each and everyday can be.

Well enough of the deep philosophical thoughts, back to the adventure! It was quite a night for us, the gardens were decorated beautifully and the kids were thoroughly amazed with lights. The youngest, Brendan, was also "energized" and quite a handful! He will take off running and he is hard to catch. I am thankful his dad was around to do all the running after him. Check him out in these pictures:

Can you tell that someone always has to have a hold on the little guy? Oh, but he is worth the effort though. He loved the decorations, in fact this one he loved so much he tried to eat it!

Yes, the little guy had fun and so did my other little blessings. Check out my little princess, Hayley:

and here she is again with my little prince, Nicholas (he would hate it if I called him that!):

Now here they are showing their "true nature" as goofs:

The "rumored to be adults" had fun also, mostly just because of the kids. Meet my oldest daughter and the mother of Brendan, Sheila:

and here is my youngest daughter, Crystal:

of course most of you know the love of my life, Cheryl:

The adventure would not be complete without visiting Santa:

We even got the little guy to visit with Santa. I am not sure but I think he was a little leary of the jolly ole elf, what do you think?

Here are a few more pictures:

We all had a wonderful time and look forward to many more. I am going to post again this week with some pictures of our Christmas. I hope I am not boring anyone to death out there :) Until next time remember:
EVERY DAY OF LIFE IS A GIFT FROM GOD

CHRISTMAS IN ROSELAND

2008-12-20T17:35:00.008-06:00

I should of titled this post "Blessed is Papa" and here is part of the reason why:

Need more proof? Here is more:

and yet more:

Well now that I have bragged about how blessed I am and offered proof, I have to go for now! I have company (some of those blessing) and I am going to finish this later. So stay tuned and I will tell you all about the great time we had Friday night at Christmas in Roseland..............

ENDEAVOR VISITS

2008-12-15T09:45:00.020-06:00

Hi Everyone. Once again I have been remiss in posting and this time there were things happening outside my everyday routine! :) Not only did I get to work with excel spreadsheets and other exciting things, but the space shuttle Endeavor came to Barksdale AFB for a rest stop on it's way back home. :) Here it is coming in for a landing (riding piggyback of course):

From SPACE SHUTTLE

Here she is again, making her way to a parking spot. I wonder if the pilot will have as hard a time finding one as we do at Walmart during Christmas shopping season? :)

From SPACE SHUTTLE

Let's zoom in for a closer look, hmmmmm... looks like she needs a wash job after the trip. Anyone know if there is a Blue Beacon Truck Wash around here? :)

From SPACE SHUTTLE

I picked up my grandson to come over and look at the space shuttle and he wanted to see it take off. He thought it would be cool to see it rise off the back of the 747 that was carrying it!! He is 7 years old, I am a little older and I was thinking the same thing! :)

Cheryl has been busy shopping in all her spare time. Noticed I didn't say Cheryl and Don.. :) Normally we are inseperable, however I do have my limits :)

That is about all the excitement I can stand in one post, so until next time:

MERRY CHRISTMAS
AND MAY GOD BLESS US EACH AND EVERYONE....

HOLIDAY SEASON

2008-12-06T08:51:00.008-06:00

Thanksgiving has come and gone, but it is only the beginning of the holiday season. We love the holidays, especially Cheryl. She loves decorating with lights, snowmen, singing santas and all kinds of stuff. Her eyes brighten and she is like a kid in a candy store! I love watching her enjoy the season. MERRY CHRISTMAS CHERYL :)

Speaking of decorating, the grands (and Cheryl) had a ball decorating the tree on Thanksgiving day. I was a little "under the weather", so I forgot to take any pictures. The whole family was over and being with them helped me to feel better :)

Since I am having to write this a little along, it is now Monday. Woohoo I get to go to work! Up at 5:30AM, why not I wasn't sleeping very well anyway, shower, shave and off we go. What a beautiful sunrise over Shreveport this morning, pinks, purples and shades of blue. Don't ya just love Mondays........ yeah I know, I've done gone over the edge!! :)

I get here this morning to find I have to start two new declining balance spreadsheets and try to figure out why my funding is short on a service contract. Man where else can you have this much fun and get paid too?? Well I better get busy and I will try to post more later. I will also try to get some pictures included. Would you rather have pictures of the sunrise of the spreadsheets?

Remember, every Monday is a gift from God! :)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

2008-11-27T10:14:00.010-06:00

A very happy Thanksgiving to all and may God bless us each and every one. I love this time of year, the beginning of the holidays and time for family get-togethers. I love my family and I truly believe that since we all share the same heavenly father we are all family, HAPPY THANKSGIVING FAMILY! :)

I have so much to be thankful for and at the top of the list is the grace of God. Without God's grace life would be harsh, bitter and unbearable due to my weak and sinful nature. Through God's grace I am forgiven and recieve the blessings of the Father. Thank You God.

Of course also at the top of my list of blessings is my beautiful wife of nearly 39 years, Cheryl. She has stuck with me through difficult times and wonderful times alike, always there to care for me and love me. How can I not love someone who can put up with me! :)

My family, starting with my two daughters, then later in life my son, growing to two son in laws, then four grandchildren, then recently a daughter in law is truly the foundation of my life. I have the most wonderful family I can imagine and they make me feel like I am the center of their lives also. I love my family. :)

There are plenty more blessings in my life, such as my friends in the RV DREAMS FAMILY. I have met many decent and caring friends and pray that I will meet with them often in future travels. :)

To my extended family I say:

HAPPY THANKSGIVING AND GOD BLESS YOU EACH AND EVERY ONE

JUST ANOTHER DAY AT WORK

2008-11-19T10:38:00.016-06:00

Well here I am again, back at work and having a ball! Now if you believe that I have some swamp land in Nevada I would like to sell You!!!

Don't you just love those "rosy" cheeks? A lot of people think I drink a lot because of my redness, but it is caused by a skin condition known as Roscasea. On the other hand, rambling a lot while posting in a blog is caused by drinking a lot ;) .....Just kidding, unless drinking a lot includes iced tea :)

I guess one good thing about not having a lot of readers is I can ramble on and write nonsensical and no one complains! Hey check out these pictures that someone emailed me.

Since I am in the picture posting mood ...... my son came over and we all decided to go into town Saturday night, here we are just before leaving........

Again, I am just kidding, it is a photo I found while browsing my photo album, we don't get dressed like that except for church, marriages, funerals, funerals related to marriages and hangings.. :)

Well before I get too silly I guess I will quit for today and get back to work.... remember every day is a gift from:

MONDAY, MONDAY

2008-11-17T08:49:00.004-06:00

Thank you God that I am healthy enough to be able to work. I have to keep reminding myself of that gift as I go from this:

to this:

and back to work after a week of camping!! :)

I would never claim to be happy to return to work, but it is just another step in my journey to full time RVing. :) I will post more later and let you know how things went on my first day back in the salt mines. I know you all will be a lot more interested in my adventures at work than in those of Howard and Linda traveling the heartland!!

Anyways, keep remembering..... Every day in every way is a gift from God......

A WEEK IS NOT ENOUGH!

2008-11-14T14:04:00.007-06:00

From VETERANS DAY CAMPOUT

Well tomorrow will be a week that we have been here at Rocky Point Campground and we both feel it is just not enough! We could stay another week, just doing nothing in particular besidees relaxing. It has been perfect, even the weather really. Saturday night was cool and made sitting around the campfire that much more enjoyable. Sunday was relaxing and cool also, then the rain started coming in on Monday and hung around on Tuesday. Those were the days we read, cruised the internet, napped and ended up doing some laundry. Wednesday was damp then a little sunshine and Thursday was great, although we ended up making a trip to Walmart for some supplies.

We were re-entering the campground coming from Walmart when we noticed a firetruck leaving. Our first thoughts were, "did we cut everything off?" and then as we rounded a curve we spotted it, a motorhome burned down to the chassis! There was a couple with a child sitting on the curb nearby talking with park rangers and firemen. Thank God they were not hurt, but how sad that they lost the motorhome and all on it. The host at the campground gate told us the couple had just drove in, paid to dump only and left. They didn't get far. :(

I didn't have the camera with me and it probably wouldn't have been appropriate to stop and take pictures anyway.

As we pulled into our campsite, we spotted 4 fawn at the edge of the woods, just what we needed to cheer us up a little. Again no camera handy, but maybe they will show up again before our time is up. Anyway the wind is starting to pick up a little, so I think I will go out and put the awning in, just to be on the safe side. Until we meet again, remember every day of life is a gift from God...........

From VETERANS DAY CAMPOUT

OUR ANNUAL VETERAN'S DAY CAMPOUT

2008-11-11T09:31:00.002-06:00

We have begun a tradition about 3 years ago of camping out for Veteran's Day week. I am a veteran so that is how I reward myself. :) This time we are camping at Rocky Point COE in Texarkana, Texas. It is one of our favorite places to camp due to it being only about an hour and a half from home. We get to spend more time camping and less time traveling, even though we enjoy the traveling part too! (We loved driving to Branson for the rally).

This trip started out great on Saturday and Sunday, perfect weather, nice and cool in the evenings, then started the raining last night. There were chances of severe storms, which thank God never happened (yet). It has been raining steady so far today, but we enjoyed sleeping late, taking our time getting out of bed, drinking a pot of coffee, then breakfast. Now I am having fun blogging, thanks to my new ATT aircard. :)

Normally I would not be able to get on the internet, but now I have the card! I am mostly happy with the card, but presently it keeps connecting to a 2G network instead of a 3G network and seems slower because of that. Huh?

At any rate we are going to be here until Saturday, maybe Sunday if the weather clears. I may even get to try some fishing too. Is this a little taste of retired life and fulltiming or what? :) Everyday of life is like a gift from God.........

NOW I AM A PAINTER!!

2008-11-10T17:04:00.007-06:00

Well I rubbed the paint down to the bare metal trying to get the black streaks off, so there was only one option, I became a painter!! I did not even use a spray gun, I just bought some premium rustoleum gloss white in spray cans and went to town on the bare areas. the paint is uneven in spots, but you can't really tell unless you get up close and look for it. Here are some pictures. What do you think?

BEFORE:

From RV PAINTING

AFTER:

From RV PAINTING

STATE FAIR DAY

2008-11-03T19:12:00.015-06:00

We had a great day at the Louisiana State Fair with the kids and the grand kids. I love watching the little ones having fun, smiling and laughing, it is truly a blessing. Instead of a lot of words, I will let some pictures do the talking.....

From STATE FAIR

Even "NANA" was having a blast!

From STATE FAIR

Every day is really a gift from God........

NO MORE BLACK STREAKS!!!!

2008-11-02T07:53:00.007-06:00

HIP, HIP, HOORAY!!! We cleaned the black streaks from our rig. OH NO, we cleaned the paint off as well!!

From HALLOWEEN

We worked hard all day Saturday to clean our little house on wheels. I guess we worked a little too hard on some areas! We are both up this morning, feeling sore and achey, having a hard time trying to decide to get out of our recliners to get ready for church. I we only have an hour left to get there, better cut this short. I will leave you with some pictures of some of our "grand" trick or treaters.....

From HALLOWEEN

QUICK UPDATE

2008-10-31T14:10:00.001-05:00

Hey it is me again and in less than a week this time! I just thought I would update everyone as to what is happening in my life this week. Well for starters we were in the RV Wednesday afternoon and it became a little warm inside, we were generating a lot heat cleaning the place. I turned on the air condition and all it would do was squeal at me then knock off! Guess you probably see this one coming, we took it in to our local RV dealer, two days and $510.00 later we have a working AC again!

We are going to work on getting the outside clean this weekend. It has a lot of black streaks! I think these corragated sided RVs are harder to clean because they seem to get more black streaks than the fiberglassed ones. I was thinking about taking to the truck wash, but after spending $500 on repairs, I just don’t want to spend a $150 for washing (they don’t even wax!).

Anyways, I am typing this at work and I better knock off for now, since the boss is in the area! Until next time…..

STILL HERE, JUST TOO BUSY

2008-10-28T17:37:00.007-05:00

Well I guess everyone has probably has given up on my blog, I have not posted in while. I am still here, alive and well. I have just been so busy and a little down hearted about the direction of the market and our government. I am so tired of politics I could just throw something at the TV set!! Is the majority of the population accepting the way our government is running things? Those guys are supposedly representing us, so I just figured the majority must be accepting what they are doing with our country. I have got to come up with a better way of letting them know without question that I don’t agree with them!

What is so scary about the whole situation is that our RV Dream keeps moving further down the road. I have got to start that dream without debt and a nest egg to sustain us, but that is becoming more difficult to achieve. I refuse to give up though, I will just have to work harder to achieve my goal.

On a lighter note, we got to spend a three day weekend camping at Rocky Point Campground just outside Texarkana. It was the first time I have moved the travel trailer since the RV Dreams Rally in June. We had a great time with our youngest grandson, granddaughter and oldest grandson. It did get kind of hectic occasionally, but hey that what kids do. Unfortunately it was hectic enough that I only got a couple of pictures.

From CAMPING WITH THE GRANDS

I apologize for not posting enough, but my life consist of working everyday and then coming home to the same routine, day after day. I will try to post more, so don’t give up on me, keep checking in once in a while.

FINANCIAL UNCERTAINTY?

2008-09-30T11:47:00.002-05:00

The sky is falling, the sky is falling…… or is it? This has certainly been a time of confusion and could surely lead to a lot of uncertainty. Cheryl and I checked our retirement accounts and found that the values overall have dropped over $8,000. Our first inclination was to reduce our investments that come from our paychecks automatically. However I truly believe that the sky is not falling and the markets will recover, so instead I am thinking of increasing my investments before this “sale” ends!! :)

I figure that bailout or no bailout, the markets will recover and the value of my shares will increase even more. The only question is “ How long will it take for the market to resume growth?”. The answer to that question will certainly determine my retirement date and subsequently my fulltiming date. I had originally planned to retire in February 2012, now if the market takes longer to recover, that date may slide a couple of years. It may not effect my retirement date, but how I plan to retire, debt free or having to borrow for my fulltime RV.

Oh well, any way this situation plays out, I still have to work a while longer. I thank God for every day I am able to get out of bed and take myself to work! I thank God even more for those brief excursions into the world of RVing, such as the rallies and RV DREAMS get-togethers!! :)

Till next time……………..

BACK HOME AND BACK TO WORK

2008-09-28T17:30:00.010-05:00

Well we are back at the ole sticks and bricks after an interesting "vacation". We should have figured the whole trip was going to be different due to how it started. The night before we were to leave we had plumbing problems in our kitchen, wetting our cabinets underneath the sinks. Rather than taking the time to replace the faulty plumbing and disposer, I elected to just cut everything off and leave it until our return. Upon our return the particle board bottoms of our cabinets were swelled and the doors would not shut. Oh well I needed a project to help me pass the time :)

The trip to South Carolina went well..... except for the outrageous price of a hotel room. I don't think I will be traveling without our home on wheels again!! We stayed with Cheryl's sister and it was great to see her again after 3 years. We spent hours talking, laughing and just enjoying each other. Then on Sunday we met with the rest of the family for a short but heartwarming reunion. We saw members of Cheryl's side of the family we had not seen for years. What great fun.

Later in the week, we went to Myrtle Beach to visit with our niece. We started the trip a little late and we rode with Cheryl's sister in her car, therefore we did not get to see all that we wanted. We did not even take time to see the ocean. No big deal though, Cheryl and I used to live there for 7 years. :)

The trip home was uneventful and the overnight stay in a hotel, once again expensive. When we arrived at the house not only did we find the results of the plumbing problem, but we found problems resulting from the power being out for 4 days. It seems that Hurricane Ike wanted us to know he had been here! Food had thawed and ice had melted, ending up on the vinyl floor! Oh well, as said, I needed something to keep me busy......

The highlight of the week came Friday. I was at my desk, slee..oops working and noticed an email that arrived, concerning some free concert tickets available for some of hard working military types. I was quick to respond and as a result, Cheryl and I ended up going to see RASCAL FLATTS on tour!!! What a fantastically great concert! Not only did we get RASCAL FLATTS, but also Taylor Swift was a special guest. Taylor sang for about an hour, then RASCAL FLATTS sang for 2 hours. Any and all frustration we had just melted away as we listened to the extended version of "ME AND MY GANG" and memories of the RV DREAMS rally had us dancing. We will always remember the rally and now we will always remember the concert! :)

From RASCAL FLATTS

OUT OF TOUCH IN SOUTH CAROLINA

2008-09-17T17:34:00.002-05:00

Hi All... We are safe and sound but completely out of touch as far as the internet is concerned. Our hometown, Lancaster South Carolins, has no wi-fi hotspots and the family we are staying with thinkd the internet is sometning you wear in your hair at night!! I will post again once I get back to civilization!!! Until then...........

LONG DAY ON THE ROAD

2008-09-11T20:42:00.003-05:00

Today we started our trip to South Carolina to visit with Cheryl's sister and attend a small family reunion. I say small because there will only be about a dozen or so family members attending.

Our trip got off to a slow start as we started packing the car at about 0730 (7:30AM). Cheryl was washing a load of dishes in the dishwasher and when she went into the kitchen for something, she found water all over the floor! I seems the dishwasher drains through the garbage disposal and that technical marvel is busted, broke, kaput and leaking like crazy!! We had to postpone loading the car and clean up the floor. I made sure the diposal was finished leaking and posted an "out of order" note on the dishwasher so the kids would not use it if they come over while we are gone (they like to raid the fridge). After all that we finally got on the road about 1030...... :(

We are traveling on I20 and it was going pretty smoothly. I set the cruise on 73mph and we were making pretty good time. We did run into a heavy rain shower on the east side of Birmingham, Alabama. We reached Anniston/Oxford, Alabama around 1800 (6:00PM) and after 3 hours packing, mopping and working on the plumbing; then about 8 hours of driving I was tired to the bone. We decided to do something we have not done in years.... we checked into a Holiday Inn Express! I was shocked at the price, but too tired to squalk..... oh how I miss not having my RV!!

Well I guess I had better get some rest and continue my journey in the morning. Until then........ Happy Trails.

GETTING BACK TO NORMAL

2008-09-05T16:59:00.003-05:00

The title may be a bit of a misnomer, those that know me tell me I never have been normal! Well Gustav came and went, we are still here. Other than having to work long hours and being exhausted as a result, Gustav did very little damage to Barksdale AFB and the Shreveport area. After all my work to ensure that FEMA would be able house an operations center for a sustained period, they are packing up and standing ready to head to the east coast! After all the work to ensure that numerous shelters were available and useable on the base, they are no longer needed. Thank God!

Now it seems that after Hanna, there is Ike and the possibility that after hitting the tip of Florida, Ike may head to the gulf. We are scheduled to leave for South Carolina about the time Ike gets to Florida, you better believe we will be keeping an eye on the projected path!

I am curious, those fulltime RVers on the east coast or south Florida, do you plan on hitching up and getting out of the area before the storms hit? I wonder what I would do in that situation…. Hmmm. In my travels around the base today I drove through the FamCamp area. The place is packed with RVs parked in the grass next to regular sites, sharing hookups. These are mostly folks from south Louisiana that hitched up and got the heck out of dodge before Gustav. Most have sticks and bricks, but happened to have RVs also. They are comfortable in our FamCamp, but anxious to get back to survey the damage to their houses. The only thing holding some of them back is reports of no power in their areas.

On to other subjects; I noticed Howard is considering a site in Colorado for the next RV DREAMS rally. I would love to attend a rally in Colorado in June, that would be do cool…. :) I have already been mapping out the trip, it is over 900 miles from Shreveport. I will pass through the Dallas area, so maybe I can join up with Speedy there and have us a convoy…… :)

Tomorrow is a special day, it is Cheryl’s xxth birthday!! I am buying her a new rocking recliner, shhhh.. of course there will be a card, flowers and a special dinner (a gift I can enjoy also).

Until next time….remember, every day is a gift from God..

TRIP PLANNING, DENTAL WORK AND HURRICANES

2008-09-01T18:24:00.011-05:00

I know, I barely post once a week and this week I am late! It had been a busy and unusual week on all levels.

Cheryl and I have been planning a trip to South Carolina to attend a family reunion and visit with her sister. We are planning on leaving on the 11th of September and returning on the 20th. We were going to take the travel trailer, but Cheryl's sister really wants us to stay with her so they can spend every minute together. They will probably sit up late at night talking and giggling like little girls!

Amidst all the trip planning, Thursday rolls around and I had the much dreaded dental work that was scheduled. It involved a lot of scary things like needles, noisy grinding and cutting type tools, more needles, a lot of gause and disgusting stuff that I will not talk about here. Anyway as of today, I can just now talk and eat normal, oh and I still have a smile .... :)

So, I am home Friday, trying to recuperate and I keep getting calls from work! It seems that because of Hurricane Gustav, FEMA is setting up a center of operations at Barksdale AFB and it seems that no one but poor old Don is capable of organizing the logistics of getting them set up! I kept receiving calls all weekend, the last call was to notify me that although the base will be closed tomorrow (except for mission essential personnel) due to the hurricane headed straight for us here in Shreveport, I need to come in anyway. All of a sudden I am mission essential personnel, not essential enough for a promotion, just enough to have to head into work through high winds and flooding rains! I am not bitter, I just think it is ironic.... :)

It is now about 7:20pm on Monday night and I am sitting in my recliner and watching the weather channel on tv, while at the same time looking at the increasing winds and clouds out my back window. I think we are going to get wet! I just pray there are no tornados. I will try to post again soon to let everyone know how this plays out. Till then, happy trails...............

TOO BUSY OR TOO LAZY?

2008-08-24T12:10:00.004-05:00

It has been a busy week, with lots of work projects and medical appointments in between! There is not a whole lot of anything to write about, unless you want to hear about my upcoming dental surgery... nah it is too scary to talk about. I am highly allergic to pain and suffering, which I always relate to any dental visit!!

I know I should post more, but by the time I get home from my day of work (and/or medical appointments) and read all my favorite blogs (about 18 of them), then it is time for bed..... :)

Cheryl and I have been thinking a lot lately about our transition into fulltiming and a timetable. The out of pocket dental expenses and upcoming trip to South Carolina will affect the timetable a little, but not that much. I always figured there would be variables in my plan. Now I need to decide how soon we need to buy the fulltime RV? We both wish we had it to take on the trip to SC. :)

Oh well, I guess we will get the travel trailer ready for the trip and be happy with what we have. I do need to clean it up though, the roof is due to be cleaned and treated again. I also need to clean the black streaks on the sides. Does anyone know the best way to clean black streaks on aluminum sided trailers? I have used different cleaners and solutions, along with some hard scrubbing, until I am losing paint in some areas. Do the smooth sided RVs get black streaks as bad as the corrugated aluminum sided ones? I heard that RVs that have automotive type paint do not streak as bad.

Well I guess I best sign off for now, Cheryl wants to go and visit with the G-kids for a little while. That always brightens my day!! :)

Until next time.......

ROUTINE STUFF, WORKING AND DENTAL PROBLEMS.....

2008-08-17T14:57:00.004-05:00

Hi Everyone. We are still here, staying really busy with mundane, boring everyday things and still working. I guess that is really a good thing, considering that is what I need to do to reach my ultimate goal of hitting the road fulltime and debt free! I have even come to terms with being passed over for the other job. I am focused on the ultimate goal of becoming debt free and getting out there with all my fulltime friends!

I had a lot of my annual medical appointments this past week and found out that getting older is not for wimps! According to my cardioligist, I need to cut out stress, change my diet, get more exercise and lose some wieght. Sounds like a prescription for fulltime RVing!

Then came the dentist, she was the bearer of some unsettling news, I have a bad infection in my lower gum. My being a diabetic makes this a more serious problem than if I were not. She suggest a dental surgery which is going to set back my plan to financial freedom a couple of months. Sure wished I had some dental insurance!

Well there is not a lot more to report, maybe we will do something a bit more exciting this week! Until then, here is some more pics from the past.......

CHALLENGING WEEK

2008-08-09T09:52:00.004-05:00

Hi Everyone, yes I am still here. I know I am getting behind on posting, been a busy week at work... :( ... This week was depressing for me until I reminded myself what is important at this stage of my life.

The week started out with my finding out I was eliminated from a list of applicants for a new position I was seeking. The position I applied for is one that I hold all the qualifications for and also have experience in the field. I was knocked off the list of candidates due to a technicality involving time in grade requirements for federal employees. What a bummer! Then to top things off, I find out the likely candidate has none of the other qualifications, and no experience, but he meets the time in grade requirements. Wow, sounds like the system is broken! On top of all that I was given a project that involves a lot of work skills (use of Autocad and PrimeVera software) that is not usually required of someone in my paygrade! Does it sound like I am tired of working?

I started letting these events depress me, then I was reminded, my career is reaching the end. My purpose in life is changing. I no longer have to climb the corruption ladder, oops I mean corporate ladder, in order to provide for my family. I am ready for the next phase in my life, which I am hoping is to travel this great country. :) ... I am soooo ready.

Well that is enough of my griping and complaining about me. I think I will reflect on the happier times, like the time Cheryl and I spent at Shady Pines RV park in Texarkana. They have a little pond for fishing at the park and we had a ball hauling in the "panfry" size fish. :)

THIS WAS BEFORE I GOT MY STABLE TABLECLOTH!!

HAS IT BEEN A WEEK?

2008-08-02T08:58:00.004-05:00

Wow, another week gone by in the life of Don and Cheryl! It was a week of trying to control my emotions as I dealt with unreasonable requests. Has Don lost it? If not I sure have come close! I have been working around the government long enough to realize, they don't care how you make it work, just make it work. Well enough of my griping. :)

It was good to reach the end of the day on Friday and just sit out on the pool deck, sipping on an iced tea, watching our family of hummingbirds. :)

AND FINALLY:

Ok, it is Saturday morning and Cheryl and I are debating on either a road trip or late afternoon fishing trip..... hmmm air conditioned car or river bank at about 100 degrees? I don't know, will let you know later......... GBY

JUST WANDERING--- A DAYTRIP

2008-07-28T17:32:00.012-05:00

After the lousy week we both experienced, Cheryl and I decided to load the Toyota with some essentials (cold drinks, GPS and camera) and hit the road! We didn’t have a specific destination in mind, just needed to get away for a little while. We started out on I20 and headed toward Texas, every bit of a 10 minute drive from the house. After crossing the state line, we stopped at a rest stop (I know 10 minutes driving and we stopped), mostly so Cheryl could pick up some of those prized travel brochures. :) Since we were so close, we decided to check out Ellie’s RV Park. I had been seeing it advertised on websites and blogs a lot lately. We were not impressed with Ellie’s. It is right on the interstate, sites are close and facilities are minimal. It may be a good overnight stop to rest a few hours on the long haul?

We then decided to head for Lake of the Pines and check out the RV campgrounds. It was a beautiful day and the drive through the Texas countryside was relaxing. It was getting hot outside, but with the help of Mr. A/C we stayed cool enough (a little of Tioga George writing style). :) The first campground we visited was a Corp of Engineer park named Buckhorn. We had been there about 4 or 5 years ago, but man it has changed! They have added sites and it seems a little more compacted. There are sites that still have space between and the views are great. There were plenty of folks out enjoying the water on this hot and humid day.

We then went across the dam and visited another COE campground, Brushy Creek. The sites here are a bit close too, but again you can find a couple with adequate space. I kept noticing the picnic tables and the various ways folks were securing their tablecloths :) , man they need the stable tablecloth, I should have brought a few with us! :)

After checking out those campgrounds, we started back across the dam to head into Jefferson, Texas. Before we got across the dam, we spotted some people fishing in the spillway and decided to drive down to check out the action. We saw a few people fishing, no catching, just fishing.

I spotted this one guy holding a bow and arrow, watching the water intensely. Suddenly he drew back the bow and cut loose with an arrow! He then reeled in a large fish, couldn’t tell what kind from where I was standing. I wish I had caught that on camera! He had a line on the arrow, attached to a reel on the bow. I watched a while longer and he took one more shot, but missed.

This family was also catching a few “mini whoppers”. :)

We didn’t watch the fishing too long, it was long past lunchtime and my stomach was growling. We drove into Jefferson and began our search for lunch. Jefferson, Texas is a quaint little southern town with mostly turn of the century buildings, vintage style lamp posts, elegant old churches and some of the streets are brick. The architecture around the community is Greek Revival, Neoclassic, Victorian and Italianate. Now before you get too impressed with my abounding knowledge, I read all that on a sign. :)

We passed a few little café s in the downtown area, but it wasn’t until I came upon “The Hamburger Store”, with the parking lot packed with cars, that we decided, “this is the place to eat”. The Hamburger Store at 101 North Market is a unique little café specializes in hamburgers of course, but not only the regular run of the meal burgers, they also serve specialty burgers such as avocado bacon burgers. Of course you know what we ordered? We had the chicken fried steak (always have to be different) :) They also have homemade meringue pies with the meringue mounded on the pie like a small mountain! I had to steer clear of those, but they did look delicious!

Another aspect of this unique little café is that every wall in the place was covered with one dollar bills that patrons had pinned to the wall. The waitress told us that started back with the evacuees from hurricane Katrina were sheltering in the area. It seems that a pastor that had a group of evacuees there had taken a love offering for the owner of the café for his kindness and help. The owner would not accept the offering, feeling the evacuees needed the money more. The pastor being persistent brought his group in and they all pinned money to the walls. Now customers are writing messages on the money and still pinning it to the wall. I started to pin the tip to the wall, but didn’t have a pin, besides if I did the waitress probably wouldn’t get it.:)

The local "tour bus"

The town meeting place:

We were on the way out of Jefferson when we spotted one more RV campground. We thought this one was especially unique (check out the bath house). :)

I would have taken some pictures of the RVs parked in the campground, but there weren't any that I could find. :)

Until next time, remember each day of life is truly a gift from God, unwrap your gift slowly and enjoy every minute.......... :)

LONG SAD WEEK

2008-07-26T09:10:00.003-05:00

Hi everyone, yes I am still here, still working and still dreaming. :) It has been a week of sadness though, we lost some brothers at arms in the B52 crash at Guam. Five of them, the regular crew members, were from Barkdale AFB where I work. One of them, the Flight Commander, Major Chris Cooper was the fiance of one of Cheryl's good friends that she works with at Barksdale Federal Credit Union. She attended the memorial service with her yesterday. It was a beautiful, but sorrowful ceremony with many remembrances of the crew members and thier lives. Please pray for the family and friends of the these men who served to defend our freedoms.

Today is Saturday and in spite of our grown children all having different plans for us today, we are going to take a daytrip. We feel like we are in a "depression" with all that has been happening this past week and need to get away. I am taking the camera and hope to have something interesting to post by Monday! :)

Until then remember.... life can be short and the time we have is a gift from God.. Enjoy your gift :)

ANOTHER GREAT DAY...IT'S FRIDAY!

2008-07-18T11:34:00.003-05:00

I guess it is about time to catch up on what’s been happening in my day to day life. I am finding that making time to post can sometimes be difficult. It sure will be great to be able to slow down and smell the roses (that is on a day when my sinuses are not clogged!). It seems that all I am able to do is get up at “o dark thirty”, get ready, go to work, dodge the boss all day, get ready to go home, cut the grass, trim the bushes, clean the pool, eat some dinner, and go to bed to get ready for the same routine the next day! Sound gloomy?
There is hope! It is Friday and the long awaited weekend has arrived…:) whoopee!!! I get to sleep to about 8am and hang out in the pool! Also we have been planning a weekend camping trip for the near future… more hope. I found out there is a “get-together” of some of the RV-DREAMS family in March, in Texas… close enough for me to attend …. :) absolutely more hope!

This past week I received notice of a community meeting scheduled to discuss the offers that are expected from an oil company. It seems there is a large pocket of oil that was discovered beneath a large portion of our region. They call it the “Haynesville Shale”. It seem s folks are expecting to make a lot of money on mineral rights and selling property. Now there is some hope. Let them offer to buy my property! I will be out of here so fast it will make them dizzy and I will even throw in the furniture… :)!! I have a puny ¼ acre lot with a sticks and bricks, but because of the mineral rights; I will be asking above appraised value. Most likely, they will only offer to buy the mineral rights; then drill within a mile or two from our community. Who knows what the future may hold?
lately I have been burning the candle at both ends (so to speak)… :) When I start feeling that way it is time to remember each day is a gift from God and not to be wasted, but enjoyed. I found a quote which conveys that idea rather well; I think it was George Carlin who said,

“We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.”

Until next time…………………

TABLECLOTHS ANYONE?

2008-07-13T10:29:00.006-05:00

It has been a week since I posted and I have probably scared off everyone with boring pictures. :)... I will not have another family picture day for a while, so hang in there.

I wanted to tell everyone about my newest "undertaking". While at the RV Dreams Rally in Branson, I saw the tablecloth Howard and Linda were using and naturally I wanted one. I went back into the journal and found the link they had posted for obtaining one. Howard is so good about giving those sources out to us wannabes. :)... Anyway, long story short, the guy who was selling them has retired and he gave me a link to the only other place he knew to get them. The company was located in Canada and would not ship to the United States. :( ... However after a little more research, I found the inventor and after making a deal with him, I now have more tablecloths than I can use!! :) ... So I guess I am going from posting boring pictures of my family to selling "STABLE TABLECLOTHS". :)

I don't envision making a million or two on this business venture, just want to make these available to fellow RVers and campers that would like to have them. These are made of heavy duty vinyl and have water fillable jackets along each seam that really makes it tough for them to be blown off the table.

The tablecloths are available in red, blue, gray and biege. I am selling them for $14.95 plus shipping cost. You may use the Paypal link at on the right side of the page, specify the color you want in the comments or email me for alternate arrangements.

Other than the new business venture, which started with my yearning to own the new tablecloth, nothing new is really happening. We keep listing things we need to get done and so far we have a lot of lists! Not much work towards completing those list though. It seems that by the time we get home from working, we only want to relax. The weekends seem to be the only time we can get anything done. Anyone else have this problem? Oh well, if I sell enough tablecloths, Cheryl and I can quit work, buy that $300,000. motorhome and travel!! :) ....... When that happens satan better start shopping for cold weather gear! :)

LAZY SATURDAY

2008-07-06T13:21:00.014-05:00

After all that excitement yesterday, we were worn out! :) Cheryl and I both slept in until almost 9am, that is rare. We prepared some eggs and bacon with our regular fix of coffee. We finished breakfast and then went to the pool deck to watch the hummingbirds and finish our coffee. The pool looked so inviting, we decided to take a morning swim. No pictures were allowed. :)

I know a post without pictures can be more boring that usual, so I went back into my archives and found some more pics of the family. I figure this will help introduce them.

My son, Matthew and oldest grandson, Anthony:

"The Teenager", Anthony:

"The Son-in-Laws", Ron and Harrison, Harrison is the hairey one! :)

My oldest daughter, Sheila:

Papa with Brendan:

Nana with Brendan:

Princess, aka: Hayley:

Anthony:

Crystal and Hayley:

Harrison (in the background), Crystal and Nicholas:

Nicholas:

ok, are you still awake out there? Well I guess that is enough of that! :) Until next time, remember, "Live every day like it is a gift from God" :)

CELEBRATING AND RELAXING

2008-07-06T12:27:00.015-05:00

Our holiday weekend began with Cheryl and I sleeping late, until about 8am. Two of our grandsons spent Thursday night with us and of course they awoke hungry. We had a nice pancake breakfast complete with coffee for Nana and Papa. Cheryl and I finished our coffee on the pool deck while the boys watched some morning cartoons on TV. The excitement never ends around here! :)

A little after noon or so, my two daughters, their husbands, our granddaughter and youngest grandson arrive. My son shows up later (just in time for the food) to complete the family gathering. We spent the day grilling brats, burgers and playing in the pool. About 8pm we gather everyone together drove downtown to the river front for the fireworks show. It was a pretty good show, but I mostly enjoyed watching the kids enjoy the show.

Here is most of the family:

We found a nice site to park ourselves and watch the show. My youngest grandson was more interested in the "choo choo" that passed on the nearby tracks. :) As the show got started he seemed annoyed at the noise.

This is Nana and Papa's "Little Big Man", Nicholas, the next to the youngest grandson:

Papa's "Little Princess", Hayley tells Nicholas something astounding?

Nana and Papa's "Little Man", Brendan, our youngest grandson:

Our oldest grandson, "The Big Guy", Anthony. He is one of those (teenagers)! :) My youngest daughter, Crystal, and her husband, Ron.

My oldest daughter, Sheila, seated next to Cheryl and wearing a red shirt. My son in law, Harrison is always hard to catch in a picture, because he moves around too much! :)

Just a big kid at heart:

Well that is how we spent Independence Day, celebrating and relaxing. Until next time let me leave you with this advice, "enjoy every day as a gift from God!" :)

Just Another Typical Day

2008-07-02T17:02:00.012-05:00

I just started this blogging thing and already I have fallen behind in posting! It has been just another typical day in my life, the third this week. :) I told you this may not be that interesting, but let me tell you about my typical days.

I usually awake sometime between 0530 and 0600 (5:30am and 6:00am for civilian types). I get myself ready and head to Barksdale AFB, a place I like to call my “second home”. I hang out there and every couple of weeks they give me a paycheck, whether I want it or not. :) Of course I always seem to want it! Barksdale is home to the B52 bomber, known for taking care of business in places like Iraq and Afghanistan.

My day is never complete until I make a visit to the FamCamp. Our FamCamp was recently renovated with new concrete pads, full hook-ups and a new office, lounge, showers and laundry. If you have access to the base and plan on staying in the area, I highly recommend this RV Park. The new sites that were built are all 40 feet long and they are concrete. The fees are $14.00 per day, $90.00 per week or $350.00 per month with a maximum 30 day stay. There is also Wi-Fi available at the sites for free! The only drawback is the B52s flying over during the day can get quite noisy; we shrug it off and term it “The Sound of Freedom”! If you would like more information on the FamCamp and other recreational opportunities on Barksdale AFB, visit this link: www.barksdaleservices.com/outdoor.

Approximately 1630hrs (4:30pm), I head back toward the “sticks and bricks”. I generally term this as my “honey-do” time. :) I get started on “the list”, which these days consist of tasks to get us ready for fulltime RVing. :) Some of the tasks may be items that need repair around the house or making it more appealing to potential buyers when the time comes. Lately we have been gathering and preparing “stuff” for yard sale or eBay. I will be so glad to get rid of “stuff”!! I firmly believe that “stuff” had cluttered and complicated our lives. It amazes me the “stuff” I have accumulated and harbored in case “someday” I will need it and most of the time, “someday” never arrives!

After working a little on “the list”, it is time for dinner and maybe a little couch potato time in front of the TV. If the sun has set and we have had to use artificial lighting for an hour, then it is past our bedtime! ;)

I have been pleasantly surprised at the comments to my first post and the words of encouragement on the forum from my fellow RVers and friends. Thank you and keep me informed on what I am doing wrong (or right). :)

Well that is typical day in the life of this wannabe fulltimer. Now you can see why we become obsessed with the fulltime RV lifestyle, especially after reading my blog and comparing it to fulltimer’s blogs such as www.rv-dreams.com. :)

Amateur Writings

2008-06-29T17:12:00.005-05:00

Well I finally decided to join the crowd and try my wings at blogging. I am no writer, but I was told to just type like I am holding a conversation with someone around a campfire, that I might can do! There is not a lot in my life that is very interesting, since I am still working to reach my financial goals (elusive way of saying to pay off debts). I will try to keep the posts interesting by writing a lot about my preparations to fulltime RV and my views on the lifestyle as I live it vicariously through the blogs I read.

I would like to introduce you to my true love, childhood sweetheart and wife of 38 years, Cheryl.

Cheryl and I share the same daydream, that of living and traveling fulltime in an RV of our choosing. We are both love to travel, see new things and yearn to see all of our great country. I served our country for 24 years in the United States Air Force and saw a lot of the world in the process. I am now ready to see and enjoy the country that I served.

rv-dreams.com is one of the blogs I read and has had the greatest impact on my desire to become a fulltime RVer. I have been reading Howard and Linda's blog since it's inception and quickly found myself addicted to the daily postings. Thank you Howard and Linda for opening your lives for all of us to read about, you have been an inspiration to me.