Travel Update

Our family/friends have returned to Indy in the middle of an ice storm and snow storm. They have 11 inches of snow but are safe and sound.

Debbie and Kenny (That is a picture of them on Nassau.) left Florida on Monday after ten days of fun in the sun. We also had a little cooler weather than normal, but it still wasn't the icy mess they had back home.

Debbie and Kenny arrived in Florida on Friday the sixteenth. We left for a cruise to Nassau on Monday and returned on Friday the twenty-third. We were pampered, waited on, and it has taken two days for us to get back in the swing of normal life. (If you can call living in a motor home normal.)

I have always wanted to go to Atlantis on Paradise Island. We had played with the idea for a turn of the century trip in 1999 but the cost was much more that we could afford at the time. Well, guess what!! Paradise Island is only a taxi cab drive away from the cruise ship dock in Nassau. So, Debbie and I took a taxi to Atlantis and walked all over the place. We saw three aquariums, beautiful sandy beaches, and three swimming pools. That place is amazing. I kept thinking how much fun our grandchildren would have had. They would love this place.

Our next stop was Coco Cay...Royal Caribbean's private island. They also had beautiful sandy beaches and Debbie, Bill, and I went looking for sea shells. Bill walked further than he had in a long time and the cushion of the sand and water didn't aggravate his bad knees.

We arrived home on Friday in time for Bingo. We didn't win anything, but it was good to be home. Crystal River had a cold spell while we were gone and our neighbor Dee covered our plants so they wouldn't get damaged by the frost. We did lose a few leaves, but the plants will be fine. Thank you Dee.

Debbie and Kenny love to see nature in its natural habitat. We have seen moose, elk, and bear in Alaska together and while in Florida Debbie wanted to see manatee and alligators. The paper has had several pictures of the manatees at Three Sisters. So I asked around to find out where we could see manatees. Three Sisters could only be reached by boat, so we went to King Bays Road bridge and sure enough, we saw lots of manatees as they moved back inland.

The spring keeps the water at a constant 72 degrees and the manatees like to stay around Crystal River until the Gulf warms up, usually in April. So you might just see us hanging over the bridge periodically. It is the best free entertainment you can find in town.

Today the ladies attended a pajama Avon Bingo party. We all went in our PJs and if you won you could pick an Avon product. It was fun. One lady came with brush rollers in her hair. I know I'm showing my age, but no wears those anymore, do they? It was cute.

Bill stayed around the coach and did odd jobs. He fixed a leak in the water hookup, fixed a fishing pole, cleaned the fresh water holding tank, and put Sta Bil in the boat motor.

Tomorrow we can play again.

As with any home there is maintenance. Thursday it was the bathroom shower and today it is the outside of the coach. We are expecting company next week and are getting everything spic and span for them. I have heard that you don't clean up before company comes you clean up after they leave. BUT, we need to do this now so we can play while they are here.

After taking a bicycle ride to the dam, which is about three miles away, Bill decided to wash the coach. This is a picture of him on the roof. Several neighbors came by to "encourage" him and "solicit" help on their rigs. Bill just smiled and continued.

Tonight the campground is having a cowboy night. They are preparing ham, beans, and cornbread for dinner and then a community campfire with country western music. It should be fun.

Yesterday was the first day of our Bible Study. We are studying Beth Moore's "The Beloved Disciple". It is about John. We had ten ladies who were dedicated enough to come at 9:00 a.m. They unanimously agreed that nine a.m. was too early...next week we are going to begin at 10 a.m.

Two ladies who had signed up didn't make it. One lady had a doctor appointment on Tuesday and ended up in the hospital until late Friday afternoon. The other lady used her GPS to get to the campground and it took her off on a sandy road where she quickly got stuck in sugar sand. After calling AAA, the tow truck loaded her van and then it got stuck and had to call another tow truck for it. A tow truck for the tow truck...I bet that doesn't happen often. Both ladies are fine and are planning to attend next week.

Then it was on to Bingo after a visit with friends and dinner. There were lots of people. I think all the snowbirds are here now and the place was packed. I won twice, which is unusal for me, but I'll take it. I bought Bill breakfast this morning with some of the money.

It is supposed to 75 degrees today, so I'll leave you now to enjoy the sun. Wish you were here.

Believe it or not it was rainy, windy, and cold in Florida, so I decided to bake. Someone signed up to bring two pumpkin pies to the Christmas pitch-in, but didn't, so I baked two pumpkins pies today and delivered them to the people who were disappointed that they didn't get pie on Christmas day.

I know it is a little late, but it has been too warm to have the oven on. It is going to be cold again tomorrow, so I'm making oatmeal cookies for some neighbors.

Bill obtained his wrestling certification for Florida and is officiating high school and middle school wrestling while we are down here. He did this in Indiana and the extra money helps. While he was gone I took down the Christmas decorations, took a walk, and made brats for supper.

It was a lazy day but beats working. I do miss my friends from work though. If you see them, tell them I said hi and to stay warm.

Yesterday, we went to Bartow, Florida to visit our friends Dave and Jean. We have known them for about 42 years. Dave was Bill's mentor in Hawaii during our first year of marriage. They are also from Indiana and have just started fulltiming.

We had a wonderful visit. We talked, enjoyed the 80 degree weather, took a walk around the campground, and went out to eat. They have many fellow Escapee friends staying in the same campground, but have to move the end of February. We are lucky enough to have them coming to our campground in Crystal River for the month of March. Can't wait.

Today, I told Bill that I would put the Christmas decorations away, but was too busy. It will have to wait until tomorrow. Oh, well...they might just stay up until March. Who knows. It was just too beautiful outside to stay inside.

This entire adventure started with a trip to Alaska to see Bill's sister, Nobie, who took us camping in a truck-over-camper. We had a ball. We played cards, cooked hamburgers in the rain, fished for salmon, and watched moose wonder through the campground.

Back home, we decided to purchase our first motor home. After Bill did the leg work and narrowed the field of choices down to two we bought a 1995 33 foot Fleetwood Pace Arrow. It had no slides but felt so comfortable when we were in it. We used it for the next four years on weekend fishing trips, family reunions, and an occasional vacation with friends.

We loved these trips so much that we thought it might be fun to do this fulltime. What a concept. I searched the internet to see if anyone else was doing this and believe it or not it was not a new idea. There were thousands of people living this way. Many had been doing this for years and were willing to share their trips, mistakes, and budgets. (My biggest worry.)

I started researching this lifestyle two years before our target date by following websites and reading books. Bill often asked me why I was doing so much research and I just told him that I didn't want to wait until the last minute.

We were able to sell our house in 2006 and lived in an apartment for the next year until I reached full retirement age. Bill had retired eight years earlier from a job with the city after 32 years and was working with my cousin doing home improvements.

We began thinking about a new rig at the 2007 RV Show in Indianapolis. If we were going to go fulltime, we just might need more storage and a little more room to move around in.

We looked at lots and lots of new RVs at the show. We fell in love with a 2007 Bounder with a rear bathroom and two slides. The price was a little high even with our trade-in, so we passed. A week after the show was over we received a letter from a salesman who said that they had a 2007 model just like the one we wanted that had been traded for a new Pace Arrow. It had 970 miles on it. Bill decided to go talk to the salesman, and we ended up purchasing this used Bounder.

We now felt that God had sold our house and had provided the coach, so He must be ok with the idea of us wondering this wonderful world.

My last day of work was September 28, 2007, and we took off on Saturday, September 29, 2007. Our first destination was the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. It was a wonderful experience. We even worked on the crew of one balloon. It is hard to imagine that out of 700 hot air balloon none are alike. We highly recommend a visit.

We originally planned to travel for two years and find a lake to settle down on, but we have now traveled for 15 months and don't plan to stop anytime soon. This past summer we traveled 9500 miles out west. Next summer we will workkamp in Wisconsin, and then wherever God leads us.

This is an amazingly beautiful country, and we plan to see as much of it as the Lord will allow. Can't wait.

My First Entry

Today, January 2, 2009, Sandy came over to help set up this blog. Friends have been asking to hear about our adventures and thanks to our new friend Sandy they will now get to keep track of where we are and what we have been up to.

We have been fulltiming for over one year now and love it. I hope to encourage others to reach for your dreams and have fun. There are so many wonderful, beautiful things in this country to see...just go for it. You won't be sorry.