We’ve been very busy in the last 6 weeks!  We left Fairfax, VA on August 23rd headed back west to pick up the RV (stored it at Jeanne’s brothers house in Oregon) to start our adventures again. We knew we only had about 6 weeks before we had to head back to Virginia.  We are going on a cruise with our friends Jim and Tom and then Jeanne is having back surgery to fuse two discs in November so we will be hanging in Fairfax, VA and with Jane’s mom in Appomattox for her recuperation.  For this blog we decided to list the places we visited and some pictures.  Our goal is to hit all the national parks (58 of them) and so far we have made it to 30 of them!!  We have been incredibly blessed to travel for most of our time together (35 years in May) to other countries but it is amazing to see our own country and it has so much to offer.  Again we feel blessed and are grateful for all these adventures.

On our trip back to the RV we visited 6 different places:

Cuyahoga Valley National Park – Ohio

Fargo, North Dakota

Geographical Center of North America – Rugby, ND

Believe it or not Rugby, ND is the geographical center of North America. Think about that! As big as the US is, you have to go all the way to ND to be in the center of North America which of course covers the US, Canada and Mexico!  It’s amazing to think about!

Theodore Roosevelt National Park – North Dakota

Grand Tetons National Park – Wyoming

Yellowstone National Park – Wyoming

Crater Lake National Park – Oregon

Avenue of the Giants – California

We made it back to the RV, hooked up and took off for more adventures. Our first stop was back to California to the Avenue of the Giants. This is where the tallest trees in the world reside.  They are enormous and beautiful!

Redwood State & National Parks – California

Oregon Coast – spectacular!!

We left California and headed up the Oregon Coast on our way to Washington State to visit Olympic National Park. We also got to see Paul Bunyan and Babe the blue ox!

Tillamook Creamery – Oregon

Olympic National Park – Washington State

Otto Jennings Clift – Great Nephew

We were fortunate to meet our newest member of the family – Jane’s niece (Sarah) and her husband (Jeremiah) had a little baby boy on August 31st. We left Olympic National Park and headed to Tacoma, Washington and spent about an hour and a half with them (which wasn’t enough) holding, cuddling and loving our new great nephew. 

Mt. Rainier National Park – Washington

City of Rocks National Preserve – Idaho

Visit with our friends Brenda and Jerry at their ranch – Touche, Washington

Brenda and Jerry live on a beautiful ranch near Wawa, Washington where they have 8 horses and one really big bull named Johnny!  Johnny is very shy and really loves Brenda but we had the opportunity to meet all the horses and Johnny and feed them apples and various vegetables.  Codey loved being here because they have a dog bathing station in their garage.  The first time we walked into the garage, he walked right up the steps and got into the bathing area.  Needless to say, before we left Brenda gave him a bath which he LOVED!!  This was his first introduction to horses and he did well.  Brenda is a barrel racer so we met the horses she uses for this.  They are all so sweet!

Lake Owyhee State Park – Oregon

We put this in here because it was quite the adventure getting to the camp ground.  We turned on the street our GPS directed us too and after about a mile thought, “this can’t be right”.  It was a beautiful drive through deep canyons, narrow roads and a beautiful river.  Pulling a 30 foot trailer through these roads was scary and we felt sure we were on the wrong road. However, we had no where to turn around so we had to continue on hoping to find our destination.  Low and behold the road led us right to the camp ground right on the lake.  It was beautiful yet scary as HE–!!  We decided we’d like to go back and spend more than one night here and enjoy the scenery and lake now that we know what we are in for!

Arches National Park – Utah

Yes, we explored another national park which we love to do!  These parks are spectacular and there’s no question as to why they have been designated national parks.  Their beauty and majesty are breath taking for sure! The second day we were here, we got up at 5am to get to the park and catch the sunrise.  It was worth the trip for sure!!

Canyonlands National Park – Utah

Another awesome national park.  This one truly had canyons all around as well as trails and major winding roads to drive into the canyons.  As you can see on the pictures below of the roads they were very winding, scary and narrow.  We started down one of them and when we made it to the part of the road that had craters that would swallow our truck we decided to turn around before messing up our truck and backs!!

Capital Reef National Park – Utah

Another beautiful national park!! This park had an orchard of apples, pears, peaches, and almonds. It was a “pick it yourself” orchard so we went and got apples and pears.  Along the edges of the orchards there we deer just hanging out and not the least bit afraid of all the folks in the orchard.  I’m sure that had to do with they could have all they wanted to eat at any time!! We realized that apples cooked in the insta pot were the best!!

Scenic Route 12 – Utah

We left Capital Reef National Park headed to Bryce National Park and took Scenic Route 12 which is 122 mile long Utah state highway designated as “A journey through time scenic byway and an All American Road.”  It was a beautiful, scary (looking over cliffs), winding road and pulling a 30 foot trailer wasn’t easy but again, worth it!! We were fortunate to be there in September so the leaves were changing.  They were vibrate orange, yellow and purple colors!!

Cedar Breaks National Monument – Utah

We realized that the camp ground we were staying at was not far from a national monument so decided to explore and again well worth the trip! When we returned to our camp ground we notice the truck beside us was from Virginia. They also had the identical camper!  We started talking with them (middle aged couple) and they were from the northern neck of Virginia but had lived in Alexandria for 26 years before retiring!  They asked if we knew a certain person in Fairfax and it happened to be our pastor at the church we attended for close to 30 years.  The two of them went to college together.  We sat and talked for 2 hours one night – what are the odds of meeting someone from Virginia that has the same camper and know the same person and in Utah!!  Seven degrees of separation for sure!!

Bryce Canyon National Park – Utah

Yep, another spectacular national park!!  Bryce is known for it’s crimson colored hoo-doos (spire shaped rock formations) and is a perfect place to catch the sunrise and sunset!

Petrified Forest and Painted Desert National Park – Arizona

We left the RV in Las Vegas in storage and headed back to Virginia.  Our first stop was at the Motel 66 (on old route 66) so we could visit this national park!  The park had various locations of petroglyphs (an image craved, incised or scratched into stone in ancient times) and beautiful petrified wood with various colors.  There was even an old Studebaker in the park on a site where old route 66 used to cross. We drove as much of route 66 as we could to see what it had to offer!! Codey Bo was made a Bark Ranger at the park which basically means we promised to keep him on a leash, keep him calm and pick up after him.  It was sweet and as usual he was the bell of the ball with everyone petting him and giving him loves along the way!

Albuquerque, NM; Amarillo, TX and Oklahoma City, OK

From here we drove to Albuquerque, NM and as luck would have it we were there at the same time as Balloon Fiesta!!  We got up at 5am and drove to a local state park to see the balloons ascend into the sky.  Unluckily, there was too much wind and fog for the balloons to take off, so the pictures below are not ours!  We did see about 6 of them take off but no more.  We left that day and saw on the news that the next day they were able to ascend – so we missed it!  It was exciting to be there nonetheless. We headed to Amarillo, TX from Albuquerque, NM and stopped at Cadillac Ranch and Slug Bug Ranch. These are public art installations and structures in Amarillo, TX.  You can’t go through Amarillo and not stop.  Both are right off Old Route 66 and very well attended by many!! 

When we arrived in Oklahoma City, Jane and Codey continued driving on to Virginia while Jeanne stayed and did some work in Oklahoma and Nebraska and flew home the following week.  We are at our BFF’s house in Fairfax for a few days, then will head to Jane’s mothers house in Appomattox to prep her house for Jeanne’s recuperation. We ask for you prayers for the surgeon and for a quick recovery. We have alot of things planned in the next several months including medical and fun!  We hope to be back on the road in the camper by May 2020!  Blessing to all!

More of California and high gas prices…

We left Joshua Tree on May 27th and headed to the San Diego area.  We stayed in a nice regional park called Sweetwater located in Bonita, CA.  It’s about 20 miles from downtown San Diego! We absolutely LOVE San Diego and if weren’t for the high cost of living, high gas prices, earthquakes, and too far from family and friends back east – we would live there!  Just a few reasons we can’t live there, but all significant!  The weather in San Diego is awesome year round and if you’ve never been, we encourage you to visit and explore.  While there we visited new friends (met on the Greek trip in April); did some geocaching and much to Codey’s delight visited two or three dog beaches.  Oh, that’s another awesome thing about San Diego – dog beaches.  They are amazing.  We visited Old Town San Diego, Balboa Park (where the planes coming in seem close enough to touch!), Coronado Island, and a very nice winery.  We also met up Mike and Judy whom we met on the Greece tour and Mikes daughter Rose and her partner Susan.  We had a grand time and feel these folks will be lifelong friends.

Los Angeles area

We left San Diego and headed to Los Angeles – we know what you are thinking – “HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND DRIVING A 30 FOOT TRAILER INTO LOS ANGELES”.  Well, we were smart enough to get a campground outside of LA and not have to get into too much traffic getting to the campground.  We stayed in Simi Valley/Tapo Canyon which is a beautiful area outside of LA.  On the way to LA, we visited with another friend Jason and his daughter Lily.  Believe it or not, Jane babysat Jason and his sister when she lived in Richmond, VA.  We met in Fresno where they live.  It was so awesome to see him but it did make Jane feel pretty old since she used to babysit him and now he has his own family with a 15 year old daughter!!  Of course we drove into LA multiple times for various reasons.  Our main purpose for coming to the LA area was to be at the finish line of the AIDs Lifecycle ride from San Francisco to LA.  Our nephew Jason was riding in it and we wanted to support him in as many ways as we could and that meant being at the finish line when he finished.  We are so proud of him for the funds he raised to fight AIDS/HIV and for the 545 mile bike ride.  The good thing is when he finished the ride he could actually still walk and sit down!  OUCH!  That’s a long time on a little bike seat.  He said that the trip was hard but a trip of a lifetime and he made new friends and feels he will do this every year for many years to come.  We also visited another friend we met on the Greek trip – Beatrice.  She had us over to her lovely home for dinner – it was so great to see her again and meet her family.  As usual we did a great deal of exploring in the LA area as well.  We went to the La Brea tar pits, the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab and we can’t leave an area without some geocaching.  We also took the time to drive the Pacific Coast Highway which was surreal!  The unfortunate thing was it was a cloudy, rainy and gloomy day – but we still saw the beauty of the ocean, the waves, the cliffs and the surfers! Another nephew Zach and his wife Vera live in Altadena and he works at the Jet Propulsion Lab as an engineer.  Right now he is working on the Mars Rover that is set to head out in February 2020 on its way to Mars.  It was so exciting to see the lab and know how awesome it is that Zach is a part of the making of the Mars Rover!!  So proud of him as well.

Heading north…

After a week in the LA area we headed north to Yosemite National Park (our 12th national park to visit).  This is one of those places just like San Diego, if you haven’t visited the park, you must make time to do so.  Put it on your bucket list and go!!!!  It’s truly amazing what God has done to make this country beautiful – seeing all these places takes our mind off the worries of all the not so good things happening in our country at this time.  We were fortunate to hang out with Jeanne’s sister Becky and brother in law Joe for a day in Yosemite.  They were in the area from North Carolina to see Jason (their youngest son) come across the finish line as well.  The waterfalls and the river were rushing from all the snow melt.  We were lucky the second day there that we saw rock climbers on El Capitan! We don’t need to say anything more about Yosemite, just look at the pictures to get an idea of the beauty!!

Further north we go…

We left Yosemite and headed up to Lassen Volcanic National Park (13th national park). We only stayed a couple of nights in this area as we were headed to Ashland, OR to Jeanne’s brothers house.  We still explored as much of Lassen NP as we could.  That means we could only drive in one mile of the park because they were still plowing the snow off the roads further up – in JUNE!!  It was beautiful, nonetheless.  Codey especially enjoyed rolling in the snow mounds.  Right next to snow mounds were sulphur pits. On one side of the road was a 6 foot tall snow mound and on the other were sulfur pits boiling they were so hot.  It was a bit confusing to see them so close to each other.

Ok, we continue to go north...

Now we are headed to Ashland, OR where Jeanne’s brother Carry and wife Linda live in a beautiful log cabin on several acres.  We parked the RV there to store while we made our trek across country to spend about 6 weeks house and pet sitting for a friend, seeing doctors and most importantly visiting friends and family.  While on our trek home we stopped in Winnemucca, NV; Salt Lake City, UT (visited the Mormon Tabernacle); Denver, CO (were we visited our other nephew Carl and girlfriend Jessica and some of Jeanne’s former colleagues from American Water Works Association & and Rocky Mountain National Park – 14th one); Salina, KS; St. Louis, MO; Lexington, VA and finally Fairfax, VA. We were able to drive through Rocky Mountain NP as they had completed the plowing; however there was still plenty of snow on the sides of the road.  When we made it to the top (12,000 feet) it actually snowed in mid-June.  Nothing like standing in a snow fall with shorts, t-shirt and sweatshirt on. LOL!   It took us 7 days to travel across the country.  Thankfully without pulling the trailer we could do the speed limits posted.  We don’t take the trailer over 60 mph for safety while towing.  Most of the pictures taken while riding across country were water towers, so we won’t bore you with those. But here are some pictures of interest from our travels.

While in the Fairfax area, we have experienced some issues we didn’t expect to including Jane having a kidney stone from HELL and needing to wait and see what the treatment will be before heading back across country; Jeanne and Jane’s significant back problems; and Jane’s need for an ankle replacement, just to name a few.  We were excited to have good reports from the dermatologist and dentist!! Woohoo!  While here we will attend Jane’s 40th high school reunion in Richmond (it’s so surprising it’s been 40 years – perhaps it’s from being a child prodigy – NOT!!).  Our hopes are to head back across county around the 5th of August, pick up the RV and explore the pacific northwest and visit more friends along the way.

So far we have been to 28 states, put 36,000 miles on our truck and visited 14 National Parks.  We celebrated our full first year as full time RVer’s!  Looking back we have enjoyed ever minute of it and are grateful to have this opportunity.  Life is too short, so get out there and explore this beautiful country!!  Until next time….God Bless!

April 30th – May 4th

Into the depths of HE–, Not really!!

We left Arizona and headed towards Death Valley National Park.  We chose to do this park in May hoping it wouldn’t be the depths of He–! We were right and the temperatures were not too hot.  We made a smart choice (this time)!  We stayed in the parking lot of a Casino in the middle of no where but it had full hook ups (for those of you who aren’t familiar – this is camper speak for having water, electricity and sewer hook ups for the trailer) and was pretty much empty – maybe 5 other campers.  We also had a statue of a cow right next to our site!  It was a good choice because it was 7 miles from the entrance of Death Valley National Park.  We spent a couple of days exploring the park and it was fantastic. If you remember the product 20 Mule Team Borax, this is the place where it was first mined.  We went up 5476 feet above sea level and 288 feet below sea level in one park. It’s hard to believe that a desert can be beautiful as opposed to just hot and sandy!!

Ash Meadow National Wildlife Refuge

Very close to our campground was the Ash Meadow Wildlife Refuge where we spent a day exploring as well. It is a protected wildlife refuge located in the Amargosa Valley of southern Nye County, in southwestern Nevada. It had Crystal Springs which is a natural spring that outputs 2800 gallons a minute of water. You know we had to go here since it had to do with water!!  At least is was something more than a water tank which as you’ve read before, Jeanne has Jane take pictures as we are traveling up and down the road of water tanks! We were introduced to the “Pup” fish which this particular species is only found in this place.  They are so tiny you really can’t see them but the Ranger told us about them! This is a great place to go if you are a “birder”!

 

May 4th – 8th

We drove right to the edge of Glory

During this time we camped on an Indian reservation and the site was awesome!  New campground with full hook ups (remember what that is from the above post) and nice large sites.  We came here in order to explore the north rim of the Grand Canyon and Zion National Parks.  When we arrived on the 4th we were told that the North rim didn’t open until May 15th.  Needless to say we were not happy.  We mentioned this to another camper and he told us about a way to get to the north rim by driving 61 miles (one way) to a part of the north rim that is rarely visited!  The North and South rim have over 6 million visitors a year whereas this part gets 5000 visitors a year. Tuweep or Toroweep is the route we took.  OMG!  It was quite the drive!  Since it was a drive that isn’t frequented much and there’s no cell service, Jane texted her sister before leaving the campground and told her where we were going and the route.  Jane said she’d let her know when we got back to the camp site and if she didn’t hear from us by that time, call the Calvary!   We were told that if you sustain a flat tire on this route that a tow would cost between $1000 – $2000!!  Thankfully our truck is a beast and it raises up to “off-road” and has 4-wheel drive high and low!  We had to use all the bells and whistle to get to our destination.  The first 58 miles were bumping and on a dirt road with ruts but the last 2.7 miles was an adventure in and of itself!  It took us 45 minutes to do the last 2.7 miles.  We drove over rocks, ruts, boulders, cracks and dirt!  Talk about putting button holes in your seat. On the way up there was a ranger station that had restrooms and we both said, “no, we are fine”.  About half way through the 2.7 miles we both were wishing we had stopped to go potty!  Thankfully at the top there was a restroom or as Jane says, “we would have to pop a squat behind a bush”!  We were the first ones up there for the day and were followed by another truck that happened to be three Park Rangers!  They stayed about 30 minutes and we stayed about 1.5 hours.  We figured if we were going to drive that we were going to stay a while.  We were up there by ourselves – had lunch and just enjoyed the beauty.  There were no bars or any barriers to keep you from the edge – except Jeanne!  She kept telling Jane to get back from the edge!!!  There have been deaths here from people getting too close to the edge and a gust of wind takes them over the edge to a 3000 foot fall.  Jane didn’t get that close – believe it!!  Of course it would have to have been hurricane force gust of wind to take her over the edge but didn’t want to risk it!  LOL!

Sandstone cliffs of cream, pink and red

Zion National Park has numerous paths where ancient native people and pioneers walked, huge sandstone cliffs and a narrow slot canyon. Zion’s has a unique array of plants and animals as well.  Unfortunately, many of the national parks don’t allow pets so we drive around the park roads and see what we can.  In most of the parks, there are driving routes throughout the entire park and Zion NP does as well but most of the roads you have a take a shuttle bus.  Needless to say, we did as much as we could with Codey in his seat of honor in the truck.  What we did see was spectacular and awe inspiring! 

That’s alot of pink and sand

Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park is a state park of Utah, located between Mount Carmel Junction and Kanab. The park features coral-hued sand dunes located beside red sandstone cliffs. Jeanne and Codey took a walk up several sand dunes to experience the soft & cool sand.  Jane can’t walk on sand due to a bum right ankle, she was the photographer!!

Pipe Spring National Monument

Right across from our campground was this awesome part of history.  Pipe Spring National Monument is a United States National Monument located in the U.S. state of Arizona, rich with American Indian, early explorer, and Mormon pioneer history. We took an afternoon and walked through to learn about the history of this unique place that had numerous ruins to explore. 

May 8th – 12th

Another swimming pool for Codey and talk about red clay mud…

We left Kiabab and headed to Lake Mead Recreation Area.  Codey enjoyed this location particularly because after all it is a lake – a big one! While at Lake Mead we of course spent time at the lake and we explored the Valley of Fire State Park which is a public recreation and nature preservation area covering nearly 46,000 acres. The state park derives its name from red sandstone formations, the Aztec Sandstone, which formed from shifting sand dunes 150 million years ago.  These sands dunes were truly a sight to behold.  Virginia may have red clay mud but it ain’t got nothing on the Valley of Fire!

May 12th – 15th

Oooooh – how scary – NOT!

During this time we stayed at the Calico Ghost Town & Campground.  Calico is a ghost town and former mining town in San Bernardino County, California.. Located in the Calico Mountains of the Mojave Desert region of Southern California, it was founded in 1881 as a silver mining town, and has been converted into a county park.  The town does have several stores that remain open for tourist, so being the good tourist we took a walk around the town and rode the railroad around as well. 

May 14th – 19th

Sequoia & King Canyon National Parks

We stayed in a campground that was up a loooong twisting road.  Our GPS took us up a road named Dry Creek Lane.  Not until we got to the campground did we find out that was not the best way to go.  It was narrow, winding, and scary road, especially when pulling a trailer! The road started out fine with two lanes then eventually when to a narrow, barely there twisting road with blind curves all the way up.  We got 5 miles to the gallon going up as we were pulling our 30 foot trailer.  Needless to say, when we left we went the “correct” way even though it was long and twisting as well but at least two distinct lanes.  The national parks were awesome and beautiful.  The Sequoia NP was at a higher elevation than King Canyon and we explored every bit of it.  It was absolutely spectacular (We’re running out of adjectives to describe the places we’ve been, just suffice it to say, they were all amazing, spectacular, awesome, awe inspiring, fantastic, fabulous, etc…you get it, we’re sure).  During this trip we saw: rushing river water, waterfalls, wildlife, enormous trees, a rainbow, SNOW, (yes, snow) and lots of mountain ranges. 

May 19th – 22nd

We were leaving Sequoia headed to Big Bear Lake; however we called the campground only to find out that in order to get there we needed chains on the tires due to snow!  Not a chance!!  We were stuck in traffic going about 5 miles per hour and looking for another place to go and Jeanne said, look up River Run RV park.  Jane asked where this was and it was off the next exit from where we were.  We pulled off and stayed in Bakersfield, CA for a couple of days before heading to Joshua Tree.  Big Bear Lake is holding our reservation for a year in hopes that we can get there another time!

May 22nd – 27th

We are currently in Palm Springs/Joshua Tree KOA campground.  Our reason for setting up here was to explore Joshua Tree National Park.  We did this the 2nd day we were here and it was simply beautiful.    We decided that this area must have been the original Bedrock from the Flintstones.  “Flintstones, meet the Flintstones, they’re a modern stone age family, from the town of Bedrock they’re a place right out of history; let’s ride with the family down the street, through the courtesy of Fred’s two feet”!!! (Now we know that’s going to be your ear worm for the next few hours – LOL!!)  We didn’t run into Fred, Wilma, Barney, Betty, Bam-Bam or Pebbles, but we are certain they were there somewhere!! We also took a day and explored Palm Springs. While there we saw Sonny Bono and Lucille Ball just sitting on a bench.  We loved Palm Springs and even went and looked at a house that is for sale…who knows??

Wow, that was alot for a month.  We appreciate ya’ll reading our blog.  We wish ya’ll were with us!!  We leave Joshua Tree and head to the San Diego area, Los Angeles, Yosemite NP, Lassen Volcanic NP, then on to Jeanne’s brother’s house in Ashland, Oregon where we will store the RV and drive across country back to Virginia to spend the month of July and attend Jane’s 40th high school reunion (we know, it’s hard to believe it’s been 40 years).  Hope to see ya’ll when in Virginia.  We never forget how blessed we are to be able to do this.  We are incredible grateful for the time and adventures to see all God has to offer in this great country!!  Codey is on his picnic throne to let you know he has once again claimed this campground as his own.  Until next time….

Greece & Turkey!

We stored the RV in the Phoenix, AZ area (again) and headed on a land and cruise tour of Greece and Turkey!  We feel very blessed to be able to live this life and explore.  We try to take nothing for granted and thank God daily for all our blessings!

We flew into Newark, NJ on April 10th and met Jane’s sister Cindy.  We spent the night in Newark as Jane’s mother flew in the next day.  The night in Newark was a experience in an of itself.  We secured a hotel room not far from the airport knowing we wouldn’t be staying very long as we arrived at 9:30pm and Jane’s mother came in at 9am the next day.  We should have knew that the hotel we picked was not where we should be staying.  First, it advertised that it was 3 miles from the airport whereas it was really 25 minutes.  Secondly, when we arrived by hotel shuttle there was another patron having a screaming match with the receptionist and the receptionist was behind what looked like bullet proof glass.  We  attempted to leave but a young lady in the front lobby and the shuttle driver convinced us to stay. When we booked the room it was just two of us and then Jane’s sister decided to come in at the same time so we called about a month before and asked for a room with two beds and were told there were none.  We decided to continue with our reservation as it was a King deluxe which came with a sofa.  When we got to the room, it was filthy everywhere and the floor was uneven!!  By this time it was 11pm.   We noticed the sofa was a pull out sleeper and asked for a set of sheets.  The receptionist said she’d get housekeeping to bring us some.  After ordering dinner from McDonald’s (which was delivered on a bicycle) because it was the only place open, we realized we received no sheets.  Jeanne headed to the reception area and asked about the sheets.  The receptionist was on the phone with the manager and he said “no sheets”!!  Needless to say, it takes a lot to upset Jeanne but when she got back to the room, we packed up, called for another reservation at a much better and much more expensive hotel, called an Uber and headed out.  The receptionist and shuttle driver wanted to know where we were going.  We told them we were leaving.  It was then the receptionist said “come back in, I’ll give you a room with two beds”.  REALLY?? Are you kidding me???  Needless to say, this hotel did not get a good review on Trip Advisor.  The manager responded and essentially took no responsibility for the actions of his staff or himself!  If you want to know what hotel send us a private message because you do no want to stay there, even for a hour!!

After a lovely stay at a better hotel we headed back to the Newark Airport to get Jane’s mother from her flight.  We then headed into NYC where we stayed in a very nice Hampton Inn in Manhattan!  We decided that being this close to NYC, we wanted to stay a couple of nights and see Broadway shows.  We say Frozen and My Fair Lady!  Both were awesome!  We also took a tour of the United Nations which was very interesting, even for Jane who doesn’t usually like this sort of thing!!  

After a fun couple of days in NYC we headed back to Newark airport to catch our flight to Greece.  Our tour was with Smartours (headquartered in NYC) as we have taken 2 other trips with this company and we had a blast.  We arrived 3.5 hours early as instructed (much to Jane’s mothers chagrin – she’d rather get to the airport and walk onto the plane – Old school ways!).  It was a good thing we got there early to check in because between Jeanne, Jane’s mother (Joyce) and sister there are 4 hip replacements, two knee replacements and one shoulder replacement (not to mention Jane’s ankle fusion which has metal too) so it takes a good bit of time to get through security!!  We met some of the folks going on the trip with us as we all headed onto the plane for a 11 hour flight to Athens.  Of course it was an over night flight, leaving at midnight and arriving in Athens, Greece at 5pm!  Sleeping on a plane is never easy (especially without adult beverages or medication)!!

Upon arrival in Athens, we met our tour guide Granville who was excellent and just so much fun to be around.  There were 31 of us on the tour!  After a good nights sleep we loaded onto our tour bus and headed to the cruise port where we boarded the Celestyal Cruises Olympia ship on our way to various places in Greece and Turkey.  Our itinerary was great and the tour had us up early and to bed late seeing as much of the country as possible in the 5 days we had on the ship.  Our itinerary included: Athens, Mykonos, Ephesus, Patmos, Rhodes, Crete, Santorini, Delphi and Olympia.

Athens, Greece

First night in Greece we had a nice authentic dinner at a local restaurant as recommended by our tour guide. The restaurant was within viewing distance of the Parthenon! 

Mykonos, Greece

Our first stop on the cruise was Mykonos and unfortunately it poured rain, but we pulled out our umbrellas and headed out to see the sites!! We did have some breaks in the rain but that just created “rivers” down the roads.  Needless to say, our shoes were soaked.  Thankfully most of us brought a couple of pairs of shoes – except Jeanne!!  It was quite a sight watching her dry her shoes with the hair dryer!! 

Kusadasi & Ephesus, Turkey

The cruise ship stopped in the port of Kusadasi and we headed on our bus tour to Ephesus. Here we toured the ancient city of Ephesus.  This is where Paul spoke with the Ephesians and to whom he wrote the letters which is the book of Ephesians in the Bible.  Jane and Jeanne were fortunate enough to take this tour in 2012 and in this trip we saw new archaeological finds.  There are ongoing archaeological digs which reveal more exciting finds each year! Its a fascinating city which shows an extraordinary depth of understanding of engineering and planning.  Needless to say, Jeanne is always interested in the water systems in ancient cities.  They had running water and sanitation removal over 2000 years ago.  While Jane was very much interested in the ruins, she of course paid a great deal of attention to the stray dogs that hung around.  They are stray however the staff takes care of them so they all have collars and are well fed and cared for!!  That’s a good thing because Jane couldn’t figure out how to get them all on the plane home! Of course every where we went there was shopping where you could pretty much find any souvenir you wanted including “Genuine Fake Watches”!!

Patmos, Greece

We visited St. John’s Monastery and Grotto (Cave) of the Apocalypse.  The cave is believed to be where St. John received his visions from Christ recorded in the Book of Revelation. This is now an active church. We also walked around the town of Patmos which was way up above the harbor providing beautiful views of the entire city. 

Rhodes, Greece

In Rhodes, we visited several sites with ruins – The Acropolis of Lindos and the Citadel of the Kights and the Grand Master’s Palace. One of the ruins we visited had peacocks running around the entire place. Rhodes was a beautiful city that had lots to offer the tourist.  We fit a lot into a few hours but it was spectacular. 

Crete, Greece

We didn’t have a lot of time in Crete but while there we visited the Palace of Knossos which has a maze of 1,500 rooms which is linked to King Minos and mythic characters such as the Minotaur and Labyrinth.

Santorini, Greece

We visited the beautiful Island of Santorini.  This is an utterly breathtaking island. It has whitewashed houses, narrow streets and outdoor cafes that line the steep cliffs.  We visited the Oia Village which is on the very top of the islands. 

Delphi, Olympia and Athens, Greece

We completed the cruise part of our tour and headed back towards Athens passing through several cities on the way including Delphi, Nafpatkos, Mycenae, Arachova and Olympia.  These small cities and towns have narrow streets, housing that sit high on the side of a mountain, fabulous restaurants and very kind people.  Olympic village was fascinating and awe inspiring to think and see where the Olympics started so many years ago. Our final stop was in Athens where we visited the Parthenon! If anyone reading this has the opportunity to take a tour of Greece and Turkey we encourage you to do so.  They are beautiful countries that have so much history and so much to offer visitors. We enjoyed meeting our new friends on the tour: Howard, Judy, Mike, Pricia, Roy, Barbara, Alan, Cindy, John, Harv, Gail, Mark, Marian, Kim, Summer, Lynn, Beth, Beatrice, Luisa, Stephanie, Sylvia, Donna, Kim, Audey, Sherrie, Peter and Janice!  

After a great tour we headed home on a 10 hour flight to Newark, NJ. We stayed the night at a local hotel, then we all headed our separate ways.  Jane headed back to Phoenix whereas Jeanne headed to Fairfax, VA to spend some time with her mother who wasn’t doing well.  Thankfully she is doing better and fighting hard to gain her strength back.

Once Jeanne returned to Phoenix we loaded up the RV and headed to Death Valley National Park area.  We have several places scheduled in the next 6 weeks before heading back to Virginia for the month of July.  We’ll report on the upcoming weeks soon!  We hope you all are enjoying our blog and our adventures.  We feel blessed that we have the opportunity to do this.  We do miss our family and friends and look forward to see you all soon!  Until next time….

 

Caribbean Cruise

We met our BFF’s in Ft. Lauderdale for an 8 day cruise to various locations in the Caribbean.  We had an awesome time in St. Maarten, St. Kitts, San Juan, PR and Grand Turks!  After the cruise we all stayed a couple of days in Ft. Lauderdale in order to visit with our friend Mark Fox and see a spring training game where the Nationals beat the Cardinals – 11 to 3!  Woohoo!!

The Good, the bad and the ugly…

Okay, it wasn’t so bad or ugly!  We helped our niece Jennifer out so she and her hubby could go visit her mother and sister in Mobile, AL by babysitting the twins (7 year olds) and the youngest child (5 year old).  We did this for 5 days.  Jeanne said this was the hardest she has worked in a long time.  We don’t know how Jennifer and Dustin do it but by the time we got them up, dressed, fed and dropped at school we were exhausted. Getting them home from school, homework done, fed dinner and to bed by 8pm was no less than performing a miracle.  There were melt downs, crying fits and temper tantrums, but Jeanne and I kept telling each other it would be okay and we didn’t need to react this way!!  LOL!!  We had fun and now have some great memories with these little squirts.  The best memory for Jane was when Dax gave her a birthday present made from legos.  This little guy loves everything about ships and trains.  We got a lesson every day about the Titanic and why is sank, how it sank and what could have prevented it from sinking. He made the USS Aunt Jane and made her a homemade card.  The gifts were so sweet!!

Jentry (5 year old) received an award for student of the month and we attended the ceremony.  We were honored to attend. 

Jentry’s teacher said she knew when her mother was home because Jentry’s hair looked good and stayed in the same style all day. Needless to say, we were not skilled at braids, pony tails or even brushing hair!  Or for that matter, dressing them for school (plaids and stripes don’t go together??)  We would walk them to and from school with our dog Codey.  Reid would tell all his friends to come over and meet “our” dog!  It was adorable.  After the 5 days of babysitting we were very tired but felt good that no one got hurt and we all still loved each other!!

Red Rocks, Monuments, a Castle, Winding and Bumpy roads

We left the Phoenix area and headed to Sedona, AZ where we stayed for a week.  What an amazing area.  We explored as much of the area as we could. We took several hikes in and around the Red Rocks.

Other areas we explored were the Tuzigoot National Monument, Montezuma Castle which is in the side of a mountain and we took an off road jeep tour through the canyon.  Our guide for the jeep tour told us that it’s hard to purchase land in Sedona because a lot of celebrities were buying up the land including Denzel Washington, Oprah and Lady Gaga.  We were bummed because we were ready to buy a piece of land, but they got to it first!  What an absolutely beautiful place.

Sin City!!

So we left the beautiful area of Sedona and headed to Las Vegas which has some pretty exciting places to explore as well!  And we’re not talking about slot machines, craps, dancing ladies or blackjack.  Our friend Melissa flew out to spend some time with us and we had a blast exploring the Hoover Dam, Red Rock Canyon, Fremont Street and the Neon Museum. We also visited one of Jane’s former employer/friend Carol and her husband Ron.  Despite the reputation that comes with Vegas meaning what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, we are able to tell you what we did and saw while there and didn’t need bail money!

Prior to leaving Vegas, Codey Bo got sick and required a vet visit.  The vet diagnosed him with pancreatitis!  Needless to say, we are worried about him.  He stayed in the vet for a day where he was given pain meds, antibiotics and IV fluids.  He continues on antibiotics and appears to be feeling better!  Thank God!  We left Vegas and are now in Parker Dam, CA for 10 days.  Our camp site is right on the Colorado River.  We know Codey is feeling better as he is eating and spends time in the river floating around!  Silly boy!  He has to stay on a low fat diet and no people food.  We struggle more with that then he does!!  Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers as they are working!!!

We head back to Phoenix, AZ to store the trailer while we take a trip to Greece with Jane’s sister and mother!  We are blessed to do all the travels domestic and abroad!  Next blog when we get back.  Until then, enjoy  life!!

Its been a while since we have updated the blog, so decided it was time.  We left Seminole Canyon Park and headed to Maverick RV Park in Lajitas, TX which is where we visited Big Bend National Park.  It was spectacular and beautiful to behold.  The RV park was really nice and the weather was cold at night and warm during the day.  Sunsets were magnificent. We visited Terlingua Ghost Town in Texas.  It was fascinating and understandable that it is called a ghost town. We met the “mayor” of Lajitas which happens to be a huge goat!! This area was right on the border of Mexico separated by the Rio Grande.  One of the stops in Big Bend was right on the Rio Grande and some of the Mexicans had a small table in the middle of the river.  On the US side there’s a path down to the river where you could order Mexican food and they would make it on the shore line.  Once the food was done they would meet you in the middle of the river where you paid for your food.  We unfortunately didn’t make the trip down to the river as the path was very steep much to Jane’s disappointment as she wanted authentic Mexican food.

Carlsbad Caverns

If you haven’t taken a trip to New Mexico to see Carlsbad Caverns, we recommend you plan a trip.  It’s so amazing to see and walk down into.  We decided to walk down into the caverns which by time we were done, the pain searing in our thighs was immense, BUT WORTH IT!! We walked down 800 feet in elevation. It was so amazing we went twice in order to see as much of the caverns we could.  We stayed at a RV park that was right at the entrance to the caverns but the park was essentially a parking lot with full hook ups.   That worked for us as we didn’t stay in the RV much due to our desire to hike, explore and geocache. The pictures don’t do it justice but wanted to post some anyway!

While staying in Carlsbad area we also took the opportunity to visit the Guadalupe Mountains National Park – we were too close not to visit.  Our hope is to visit all the National Parks in the country.   We have done a pretty good job so far but there’s more to go.

We left Carlsbad Caverns and headed to Las Cruces, New Mexico in hopes of visiting a friend who moved there about 20 years ago but unfortunately couldn’t find him despite our numerous attempts.  We did have an address and drove by his house in hopes that he would be outside.  We figured it would be creepy to stop in unannounced.  So no luck!  While in that area we visited the White Sands National Monument (White Sands National Monument is in the northern Chihuahuan Desert in the U.S. state of New Mexico. It’s known for its dramatic landscape of rare white gypsum sand dunes. Trails through the dunes include the raised Interdune Boardwalk and the Dune Life Nature Trail, dotted with interpretive exhibits on wildlife and other features. Dunes Drive is a looped road from the White Sands Visitor Center to the dune field), which proved to be another awesome venture.  We also took a ride to Truth or Consequences, NM. Never did figure out why it is called this but it was a fascinating little town. In true fashion, Codey claimed the RV site his by taking over the picnic table.

From New Mexico we headed to Arizona.  We stayed in Benson, AZ which was about 30 miles from Tucson.  We experienced our coldest evening at 19 degrees. Thank goodness we have an all weather RV so we were toasty during that cold evening.  We drove to Tucson and went to the Seguaro National Park (Saguaro National Park is in southern Arizona. Its 2 sections are on either side of the city of Tucson. The park is named for the large saguaro cactus, native to its desert environment. In the western Tucson Mountain District, Signal Hill Trail leads to petroglyphs of the ancient Hohokam people. In the eastern Rincon Mountain District, Cactus Forest Drive is a loop road with striking views of the desert landscape).  We visited both the east and west side of the park.  The tallest cacti we’ve every seen!  We also visited two of our friends who now live in Tucson.  Greg Polling (from Northern Virginia) and Jane’s former boss from the early 90’s – Jan Galvin.  It was great fun! While having lunch with Greg we say a road runner – beep, beep.  Great memories of the Road Runner and Wylie Coyote cartoon.  Didn’t see the ACME company anywhere however.  We did visit Tombstone, AZ which was a cool town that had western duels throughout the day.

We left Tucson and headed to Queen Creek, AZ (a suburb of Phoenix) to stay with Jane’s niece Jennifer and her family for a couple of days.  After that we stored the RV at a local storage place and headed to Ft. Lauderdale (we flew and didn’t drive) to meet our BFF’s for a Caribbean cruise for 8 days.  We had a blast.  After the cruise we came back to our niece’s house where we house and babysat our great niece (5) and nephews (7) for 5 days while their parents took a well needed vacation!  Needless to say the cruise and babysitting is a blog entry in and of itself.  So after we catch up on sleep we will make an addendum to this blog to include the cruise and baby sitting!  Until then, take care all!

NOLA!

We left Mobile, AL and headed to New Orleans, LA.  We stayed at a campground that said it was the closest to the French Quarter.  It was still 6 miles away!  Essentially it was a dirt parking lot with hook ups, which for the time we were there that was fine.  We only stayed two nights and met up with three friends – Mary Gugliuzza and Elisa Speranza (both water people) Elisa’s partner Jon and good friend Lorraine.  Lorraine just returned from full time RVing for three years. We picked her brain and we were especially excited to hear about her RV trip to Alaska which is on our bucket list!  Mary came to visit us at our RV which was great to show our “home” to someone!!  That way they know we are not living “on the land” but really “glamping” (camping with glamour)!!   Jeanne, Mary and Elisa talked water for a while – you can take the girl out of water (retirement) but you can’t get her to stop talking about it! We also saw our good friend Bill Disley whom we’ve known for 30+ years.  He recently moved to New Orleans.  It was fantastic to visit with him and catch up.  He lives in the French Quarter and works as a server at a swanky restaurant. He loves it!! 

Windy West Texas

From NOLA we headed to Texas.  Our first stop was at Lake Livingston State Park.  What a beautiful lake.  Unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate and it rained most of the time we were there.  We were able to get in a few hikes and bike rides and of course a walk to the lake numerous times. The weather did provide us with some spectacular sunsets!  It was quite chilly there and windy (we know, we know – nothing like the cold snowy weather that some of you have had).  Codey took to his perch on the picnic table so it was the perfect opportunity to brush him which he loves.  He is doing well since surgery.  His breathing is so much better yet we have noticed he isn’t able to take the long walks we have done in the past – he gets tired very easily.  Health wise he is doing well but after all he is a “old man” of 11.5 years.  He loves to ride in the truck and occupies the entire back seat.  

San Antonio

We headed to a local campground near San Antonio, TX.  Jane has never been here so we made sure it was part of our trip through Texas.  It was a bit rainy here as well but towards the end of our stay is cleared up which allowed us the opportunity to do the Riverwalk, a river cruise and of course seeing many of the historical sites – “Remember the Alamo”.  As many of you may remember prior to us leaving Mobile, AL Jeanne had an tooth ache which required a root canal and a temporary filling.  The dentist told her she would need a crown within a month.  So, since we were in a larger town she saw a dentist in San Antonio and got her new crown – and what a lovely crown it is – and expensive!! Now she is out of pain and can eat on that side of her mouth.  Since arriving in AL and Texas, Jane has been having sneezing fits and what felt like a perpetual runny nose.  So she decided to see an allergist to see if she was allergic to something that caused this.  Jane did tell the doctor if she found she was allergic to dogs, don’t even tell her cause it wouldn’t matter.  There will be a dog(s) always in her life!!  Thankfully there were no allergies just irritants and mostly from things indigenous to AL and TX (wet weather stuff and certain trees and in Texas she’s sure it the Dallas Cowboys that are the irritants!!). A steroid shot and a few squirts up the nose and she was all better.  We spent a good part of a day in San Antonio doing the tourist thing which included a ride up to the top of the Tower of the Americas.  Jane faced the wall of the building as it went up a million feet (well it felt like it). Once on the top she did fine!!  We walked around town and saw a beautiful old chapel and walked in.  A gentleman was there playing the piano and invited us to sing with him.  I think he was quite surprised when we sang and harmonized.  He kept saying, “let’s do another verse.” He was very complimentary to both of us for our singing voices!  We hiked in a national forest while there which was so nicely done and the trails were clean and had easy terrain.  On the way back we stopped at a local convenient store and as we left Jeanne turned onto the road back towards our campground only for both of us to realize she was going down the wrong side of the road!  Head lights were coming at us, so without even a blink of the eye, she turned onto the median and drove to the correct side of the road. Very calmly she said “thank God we had a truck to get over the median”.  With our jaws open we both burst out laughing, knowing we were okay.  A little excitement in our day!!

Waco, Texas

One of the first days in San Antonio, Jeanne said, “want to drive to Waco?”  She knew Jane’s answer would be yes as she loves the HGTV show, Fixer Upper with Chip and Joanna Gaines.  Waco just happens to be where their show is taped and their Magnolia empire is including a bakery, shop, garden and other things shown on the show.  It was a 3 hour drive but well worth it.  One of the folks on their show is Jimmy Don who makes metal signs.  We purchased two of the signs and as it happened, as we were walking to the truck to leave – Jimmy Don was across the parking lot at his shop.  We headed over there and chatted with him for 30 minutes.  He signed our signs we purchased as well.  We had a great time talking with him.

Seminole Canyon State Park

We headed west to Comstock, TX and stayed at the state park there. This park is right on the border of the US and Mexico which is separated by the Rio Grande.  It was an awesome park with large sites and the campground sat on top of a hill so when it got dark we could see so many stars and it was amazing!!  No ground light to block the star light!  Staying here also gave us a beautiful sunset and a beautiful sunrise every day.  We also experienced lots of wind while there, up to 40 – 60 mph.  It shook the trailer and gave us a bit of a scare, but we survived as did the trailer.  Thank God!!  We hiked down into the Seminole Canyon with one of the park rangers one day and saw petroglyphs which were estimated to have been on the rocks for over 4000 years.  We also rode our bikes down a 6 mile trail to the Rio Grande – it was spectacular.  

We left Seminole and headed further west and are now in Big Bend National Park area.  We are staying in Lajitas, TX which if also right on the border of the US and Mexico.  That being said, we need to finish this up so we can go explore this area for the next blog.  Take care all!  We miss you and if you are close to our adventures we will definitely give you a call to get together.  Until next time…

Happy New Year to all our families and friends.  We’ve had a wonderful holiday having spent our time with Jane’s sister Cindy and our niece Whitney and family.  Watching a 9 year old open her Christmas presents is quite a feat!  Our great niece Breanna was certainly blessed as we all were.  Santa gave her a hover board and she hasn’t walked anywhere since – she hovers everywhere (at least until the battery dies after 4 hours). Evidently, another fun thing for 9 year olds is making slime. Bre has introduced us to various types of homemade slime which as far as we are concerned looks like snot!! We had a wonderful Christmas and Santa rocked this year as he gave us lots of gift cards for gas!  That fat man in the red suit really knows what we need and of course so do our families. It was nice being with family this holiday but also hard missing other family members and friends.  For the first time since leaving in July we experienced some homesickness.  This is the first Christmas in 57 years, Jane hasn’t been with her mother for Christmas.  Thank goodness for FaceTime!! 

We left Gulf Shores, AL and are currently at the Meaher State Park in Spanish Fort, Alabama which is about 10 miles from our family in Mobile.  We spent most of our time with them and not at the RV.  It’s nice to occasionally have a full size shower, kitchen, bedroom, family room, dining room, etc…. LOL!!  We had copious amounts of rain so staying at a house is much nicer then the RV during rain.  As mentioned before we do love staying in state parks and when the rain stops we took some awesome walks and enjoyed the beauty of the area.  Below are pictures from Gulf Shores and Meaher State Park. It’s wonderful being able to experience the beauty God gives us through the great outdoors. 

After three days of rain we finally took a long walk around the state park which has docks out onto the water.  During this particular walk it was foggy and we were able to get some pretty cool pictures to share.

Codey is doing so much better now that he can breath better.  We’ve taken longer walks with him and he did well and didn’t struggle to breath.  We are so happy that he is feeling better.  We had to purchase one of those dog bowls that looks like a puzzle as a way to slow down his eating.  He’s not too happy about it but manages and has no problem eating everything in the bowl, just much slower.  It’s important since his surgery that he eat slower as to not choke. We are grateful to all of you for your positive thoughts and prayers during his illness, surgery, treatment and recuperation.  

As we reflect on this past year we clearly feel blessed. So many wonderful events happened this year that have made our lives richer and fulfilling.  Jane’s retirement after 30 years with the state of Virginia; Jeanne successfully completing her 3 year term with the American Water Works Association; selling our house of 26 years; living our dream of traveling the country in an RV; Codey’s successful surgery and recovery; Jeanne’s tooth infection and successful treatment;  repairs to the RV and having the funds to pay for all of this (a true blessing); visiting with family and friends; meeting new friends; safely traveling to 17 states and over 17,000 miles on the truck; and the anticipation of heading west to other states to explore (Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona – scheduled so far through April).  We feel so blessed and grateful and thank God daily for this.  We pray you all have a blessed and prosperous 2019 and if you are in our path of travel, we hope to see you soon!  

We are sitting in the RV with the weather at 44 degrees outside.  We aren’t in Florida but not far from it in Alabama!  So no more sunshine state – maybe a sunshine state of mind!  Now, we aren’t complaining (too much) because we know many of you are dealing with lots of snow and much colder weather.

We spent 3 days more than expected in Jacksonville, FL getting work done on the RV.  We were hopeful that the awning over the slide would take a day.  Well, while there we decided to do a “leak” test and it was found that we had 12 leaks around windows, doors, roof and the front of the RV.  Needless to say, we had to get this repaired and it took longer than one day. Jane’s cousin Joan lives in Jacksonville, so we had dinner with her while there and did some catching up. It was great to see her.  We dropped off the RV on Tuesday and stayed in a hotel for 3 nights.  A large repair bill later we headed for Topsail Preserve on Friday, November 16th.  Topsail Hill State Preserve was awesome. We spent time walking the trails, bike riding to the beach and of course geocaching.   

As many of you know our Codey Bo was diagnosed with Laryngeal Paralysis (Lar Par) about a year or so ago. While in Topsail we took him to a local vet as we noticed he was getting worse and having more difficulty breathing. The local vet was fantastic and referred us to the  Auburn University vet school (she is an alumni).  When it’s hot and humid and when he gets excited he struggles to get breath in (as if he is breathing through an opening as small as a straw). We found that we couldn’t take him for long walks or hikes which we miss so much (and so does he).   

On November 20th we left Topsail and headed to Gulf Shores, AL to stay at the Luxury RV Park for 30 days.  Jane’s sister and niece live in Mobile, AL so we are spending the holidays with them.  The RV park is very nice and it’s 3 blocks from the beach.  We have been taking walks to see the sunset which is absolutely beautiful.  We spent Thanksgiving with Jane’s niece Whitney and family.  Jane’s mother flew down to spend a week with her sister so we all hung out and thankfully didn’t get into enough trouble to need bail money!  We decorated the RV (as best as we could). Our Christmas tree is about 8 inches high and sits on the dining table, but at least it’s a tree.  

We took Codey Bo to Auburn Vet Clinic Tuesday, December 4th to be evaluated for surgery for the Lar Par. Well, that was quite the experience.  We met with a 4th year vet student, a vet intern and the clinical director.  They did a thorough exam on him which took about 2.5 hours.  We were getting quite nervous waiting to know what was happening.  Finally when they came out to talk with us, we were informed that Codey has lots of lumps and dumps that had them very concerned.  They didn’t say the “C” word (cancer) but strongly implied it. The vet gave us several options on how to proceed and we chose to do the needle biopsies on all the lumps to make sure they were okay. Bless his heart, Codey had a hard day.  They biopsied 11 lumps, did x-rays of his abdomen and chest and an ultra-sound of his abdomen.  God blessed us with good news – all the labs came out negative for cancer!  We firmly believe this surprised the vets big time!  So, we take him back this Thursday the 13th for a surgical consult on surgery to fix the Lar Par.  If he is approved we are hopeful they can do the surgery on Friday.  It’s a 3.5 hour drive from Mobile to Auburn and sitting and waiting sucks!  For now he is taking medication to keep him calm (trazadone) so he doesn’t get anxious and cause his breathing to be difficult.  He isn’t himself which is hard on him and us.  We pray all goes well at the next appointments.  As you can see by the picture below, Vets need to stick with medicine and not shaving.  His belly looks funny!

Jane’s sister came and spent a couple of nights with us at the RV.  We went to a couple of Christmas Markets and the movies.  Gulf Shores has a Christmas parade every year and the parade goes right down the road in front of the RV park.  We saw the parade up close and personal.  As you can imagine, most of the floats were made from boats – after all we are at the beach.  There was candy, frisbees and beads being thrown.  And our personal favorite was from the sanitation  department float – they threw rolls of toilet paper!!  My sister was able to stock up from this float.  We wish they would have thrown toilet paper we could use in the RV, but no such luck. 

Well, we have rambled on for awhile now and need to finish up.  We move to Meaher State Park on December 20th which is closer to Mobile (in Spanish Fort, AL) and will spend Christmas with the Mobile family.  We will be in Mobile, AL until January 3rd and then head to New Orleans, LA for 3 days, then on the Texas in various locations.  We’ll report more about that in later blog posts.  We didn’t do a Christmas letter this year, but we are sending out a card with the blog address which gives a good update of our adventures. 

Oh, we are officially Florida residents now.  We have secured a RV mail box in Crestview, FL and have FL driver’s license and will be registering our vehicles soon.  It’s a less expensive place to “live”.  

Until next time… Happy Holidays and God’s blessings to you all!  Love and miss you!!

Florida is truly the sunshine state – hot sun, hot pavement, hot weather, hot everything. Not that we are complaining, we can assure you of that.  For those of you who aren’t experiencing the heat or sun – sorry! 

We left the border of GA/FL and headed down the Atlantic side of the state and stayed for 3 nights at the Wickham State Park campground in Melbourne, FL, which was awesome.  They had lots of hiking trails, biking trails, a dog park, lots of geocaches and lots of wild animals.  We spent much of our time hiking and geocaching.  We did take a bike ride during the middle of the day which wasn’t too smart as it was hot, hot, hot!!  We have found that state, town and county parks are the best as they tend to have large RV sites with full hook ups as well as great trails and dog parks.  Codey very much enjoys that!  The pictures show some of the wild life we encountered while on our bike ride.  Nothing scary, just really cool!

From Melbourne we headed to Naples, FL and stated at the Club Naples RV Resort. This is the first “resort type” campground we stayed in.  Needless to say, it wasn’t what we were used too. The resort had an activities director, a large pool, tennis courts, pickle ball courts, shuffle board and horseshoes!  While we were there the park continually filled up with “snowbirders”.  It was obvious that these folks knew each other and had been snowbirding together for years.  We definitely felt like outsiders.  However, everyone was very nice!  While in Naples we spent a good bit of time with our friends Tracy and Stephanie who moved here from Northern Virginia in 2014.  It was great to visit with them and they are great tour guides.  We did a good bit of geocaching (of course) (Jane has wounds to prove it – the hazards of caching) and found an awesome dog park on the beach in Bonita Springs.  Codey was in his element and so much that we visited this dog park twice once we found out about it.  

After leaving the dog beach Codey was exhausted but he had a blast!  The pictures are of him riding back to the campground in the truck.  Now you can all see how exhausted he was!!

Not only did we visit with Tracy and Stephanie, we also re-connected with friends Deb and Michelle.  We met these lovely ladies while on a cruise in 1998 and remained friends since!  They live in Cape Cod area but have purchased a home in Ft. Myers.  They just happen to be here on a weeks vacation during the same time we were here!  It was great to see them in the flesh as opposed to on Facebook!! 

We have to tell you a funny that happened while here.  When we go hiking and geocaching, Codey goes with us.  There are times when he lays down while we are hunting for the cache. Therefore he lays in all kinds of terrain including the woods and the forest.  That being said, he will often times get little bug bites on his belly and around his man stuff.  Well, he was itching quite a bit and Jane asked Jeanne to get the cortisone cream (which we’ve used on him before and it works beautifully).  She came back with the tube of what we thought was cortisone.   Needless to say, Codey’s “peepee” smelled minty fresh for a few days.  Jeanne had grabbed a tube of crest toothpaste and we didn’t notice until we had nearly rubbed it all in.  Bless his heart!  He didn’t seem to mind as he continued to lick it off until we could get the real cortisone on!  LOL!!  We laughed so hard we thought we’d bust!!

We left Naples and are now in Dunnellon, FL in Rainbow Springs State Park campground.  As mentioned before we love state park campground.  We have taken hikes, done some geocaching, and went swimming in the river. The river looks like the waters in the Caribbean – crystal clear to the bottom – just spectacular.  

A highlight of this trip was meeting up with Jane’s childhood friend Janet and her husband Mark.  They live close to Orlando and met up half way to have lunch and re-connect.  It was awesome to see them. 

We are now in Jacksonville, FL at a local Starbucks (using their wifi so we can get this done and published) waiting for some work to be done on the RV.  We are getting an awning installed over the slide out.  We find this necessary because when acorns hit the top of it it sounds like gun fire and to hear that in the middle of the night isn’t pleasant!!

We head to Top Sail Preserve on the panhandle of FL from here. Until next time Codey says “hi” from on top of “his” picnic table….