Bryce Canyon

Hello everyone - these are just a couple of the many pictures I took today at Bryce Canyon Utah - this place is absolutely amazing!!!! I can not begin to describe the absolute beauty and the pictures can only tell part of the story - this is truly a place that has to be seen to be appreciated. We are only a relatively short drive from the Grand Canyon, but I would say that there were only about 1/16 the number of people here that there were at the Canyon.

Yesterday we drove quite a distance and then spent probably 3 hours at the Canyon. Then we had another 3 to 4 hour drive to find a place to stay for the evening. We finally set up camp around 8:30 our time - that would be around 11:30 EDT. Then we ate dinner and I was ready for the hot tub - that sure felt good - very relaxing and we were then able to come in and go to bed and sleep.

This morning we were up at 6:30 our time (our bodies haven't quite adjusted to this new time yet) and were on the road by 8:00 - drove about 4 hours and decided to stay here at Bryce in a lovely campground. We figured we would have a leisurely day at Bryce and then come back into camp and have a quiet evening. We did splurge tonight and actually went out to eat for the first time on this trip. Dan had an all you can eat buffet (is that any surprise to anyone??) and I had the Bar-B-Que Ribs. They were wonderful and so many that I brought half of them home. (Boy, was I popular when I walked in the door - the puppies smelled those ribs and I was their best friend - however; they didn't get any!) The meal ran $43.00 plus tip but it was worth it to have a meal out after a week on the road.

We talked to our "boss" in Idaho today - and we will start up that way starting tomorrow - we will plan on being there on Friday - Salt Lake City tomorrow - Idaho Falls Thursday and into West Yellowstone on Friday. We are sorta getting anxious to get there and see what things will be like - we think we are going to be right on the river - I'm even excited about getting there.

Well, I'm going to close for tonight. Take care all and keep the comments coming! (BTW, thanks Kim for the information on my computer - it will come in handy in the future.)

Day 5 - The Grand Canyon

Hey everyone - Look- I downloaded a picture!!!!! Actually my favorite guy in the whole world figured out how to download my pictures - so over the next few days I'll go back and add pictures to my previous blogs so they will make more sense to everyone.

Well, if you haven't figured it out yet - we were at the Grand Canyon today - it was awesome!!!!! However, it was a rough day on the road and we are finally at our campsite - and they have a pool. Guess where I'm heading - yep! Plus they have a hot tub!!!! Yahoo!!!! I'll share more about our adventure today at a later time - I'm going in the pool!!

Day 4 - Sunday - June 21

Happy Father's Day to all those father's out there. Today has been a much better day than yesterday was - first we actually were in our camp spot by 4:00 MT today - took a nap and we have just fixed the broken door - we (I mean Dan actually - but I did hold the flashlight!) had to take the surround around the door apart and Dan had to cut a hole in the pantry area to be able to get to the screws in the tract - but all is well and the door is back up and Dan promises he will fix the hole in the pantry wall.

We are camped in the middle of the desert - I am NOT kidding! We are right outside Winslow Arizona at a state park named Homolovi Ruins State Park - the air temperature outside is currently 87% with 5% humidity. The wind is constantly blowing. You can see for miles and miles with nothing around but tumbleweeds, dirt and rocks to look at. I guess you could say is it interesting scenery, but not what Dan and I would call beautiful (but then that is just our opinion).

We stopped at Wal Mart in Gallup New Mexico today and bought some hamburger meat and buns - we plan on cooking out on the grill tonight. We expect the temperature to drop dramatically after the sun goes down, but that probably won't be until around 10:00 our time. I took some pictures of the buttes and mesas as we were riding down the highway today and hope to post some of these pictures soon (thanks Melissa for calling me about the computer, but I can't find the owner's manual - probably in the storage room in Dowling Park - okay, sometimes I'm not that bright - BUT, I have emailed HP and asked them how to download pictures on the computer and hopefully I will get an email back soon). If not - we'll go to a Best Buy and ask - that's where I bought the computer - or if anyone out there has an HP Pavilion Entertainment PC and know how to upload photo's PLEASE let me know.

Tomorrow we are headed to the Grand Canyon and we are going to start "playing" as Dan puts it. We hope to also go the Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park before heading on up to Idaho. I'll take lots of pictures and WHEN (not if) I'm able to download I'll look into posting a link to a site like Picassa or Snapfish so you will be able to see more than just a couple that I would be able to download onto the blog.

Everyone have a great week and keep coming back - I'll try my best to stay current with our activities. I'm even going to get serious and start talking money real soon. (For example, I wouldn't recommend doing this and have expenses at home - we are starting this adventure debt free - everything we own is paid for from the truck to the camper - we have extended warranties on both and we have a credit card for fuel which will be paid in full each month. Now neither the truck or the camper are brand new - they are both 2008 models, but they both look brand new and with the extended warranties we should be covered for anything major - but that was a $60,000 +/_ expenditure we made in the last couple of months (the month of May to be exact). We were fortunate in that we were able to do this thanks to some savings and the sell of the house in Dowling Park. We even have a little bit of a cushion in a CD and I hope to be able to save money while we are in Idaho. Actually our goal is to live on our retirement checks from the state of Florida - Dan and I are both retired educators and put Dan's Social Security check and the annunity check into savings. That means we will be living on $2,500.00 a month and saving about the same amount. Our biggest outlay will be fuel - so we will see how that goes. I am keeping track of every little penny we spend and I'll create a budget that I'll share when I have more figures. In the meantime, you have an idea of what we are trying to do. We'll share the ups and downs as we go along.

For those that are reading - thanks for coming along on our adventure - we would love to hear from you - so send those comments to us.

Day 3

Today has been a comedy of errors! But before I tell you about the adventure we had today let me update you on yesterday. I intended to write last night, but I was hit with a mystery ailment that we still don't understand. Everything was going fine - we traveled across the rest of LA and into Texas - we headed for Lake Arrowhead State Park right outside Wichita Falls, Texas. We found the park with no trouble - pulled in (actually had a pretty good site for backing into). I got out of the truck and came inside the 5th wheel and all of a sudden I was dizzy and light headed and thought I was going to pass out. I had to sit in the chair and not move my head. If I looked down I thought I was going to pass out. Sooo, Dan ended up fixing dinner (hot dogs) and he cleaned up the kitchen. After I ate I made it to the bed and I went to sleep with the help of three tylenol PM's. Woke up this morning and all was good. We have no idea what it was, but I'm certainly glad that it didn't last long.

The campsite was sure different - I took some pictures and once again IF I ever find out how to load them on the computer, I'll post some. We drank our coffee and ate some cinimmon toast then packed up and started on our way. Our goal was to make Santa Rosa State Park in New Mexico. Things started out pretty well - the road was good and not a lot of traffic. We did run into a lot of rain and it was windy all day, but Dan said it really didn't affect the way the truck and trailer handled. We made it to Santa Rosa around 4:30 mountain time (6:30 to you guys back east). We thought we were going to have an early day - HAH! We had "Francis" (that's the name we have given to our Garmin GPS) on and 'she' was directing us to the campground. We started to get a little worried when we were headed down a single lane dirt road headed off into the sunset - passing under a railroad bridge that we could have reached out and touched the support posts. But, we trusted Francis - she had never failed us before. 3.5 miles down this dirt road 'she' tells us to turn hard to the left - well, guess what - there was NO ROAD TO THE LEFT - there was nothing but open prarie. Thankfully, a local had seen us going down this road and had come after us. We stopped and talked to him and he told us we were NO where NEAR the state park. Anyway, he helped us get turned around and back down the one lane dirt road we went. After about 30 minutes we finally find the state park and guess what - they don't have any opening for tonight!!!!! Back in the truck and down the road we went. What else could possibly happen???? OH, Plenty!

We get back into town - stop at McDonald's to eat (did I mention we hadn't eaten since we ate that cinammon toast this morning?) got back out on the Interstate and start west - well, in New Mexico gas stations are few and far between and those with diesel are even further apart. We are down to 20 miles of fuel left when we finally spot a gas station that has diesel - out in the middle of no where - price $2.79.9 a gallon - $100.00 later we are back on the road - still have no idea where we are going to stay - it is getting late when I finally spot a KOA in a town named Miorarity. We stop - I go in to check us in and when she tells me the rate for one night I almost fainted - how about $50.00 - can you believe it!! Well, after we get parked and set up we open the camper door and find that the door that separates the living room from the bedroom and bathroom has come off the track. Now, I need to go see if I can help Dan fix the door.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day - but, today's adventures will certainly be something we will be talking about for years to come!!!! Have a safe and happy Father's day!

The Adventure Begins

At 7:30 am this morning - June 18th- Dan, Sam, Jessie, and I pulled out of Advent Christian Village and began our new adventure. If I was a little more tech savy I would post the picture our friends took of Dan and I in front of the camper right before we pulled out, but I haven't figured out where to plug in my memory card to my new computer yet - maybe I could hear from one of my daughters and they can fill me in on all this stuff.

No one prepared me for the feeling of complete fear that overcame me as we were completing the final preparations this morning. I was excited, yes, but also absolutely scared to death! As long as I don't think about the fact that this 5th wheel is the only home I have - I'm fine. I'll get used to the idea in time - it's just a little scarey for now.

The day went pretty well - we did have a 45 minute traffic delay right outside Lafayette, LA which put us into camp a little late (around 8:30 local time), but I have fed Dan and the girls and my Chicken and Dumplings are getting cold (I fixed them in the crock pot yesterday so all I had to do was warm them up in the microwave - pretty smart huh!)

The truck is getting awful fuel mileage (about 9 miles to the gallon) but Dan says we didn't buy the truck for the mileage - and other than breakfast and the campground - we didn't spend any money - we stopped at a rest area and I fixed a couple of sandwiches in the camper and we ate outside. This let the girls run around some and they were much better after we got back in the truck.

I think we are going to stay on a somewhat southern route and do a little site seeing on our way - will let you all know more about where we go later. I'll sign off for now - it's late and I need to finish eating. Let me know what you think and all you folks back "home" - we miss you already! Love to all.

The end is in site

Well, the house is empty and all cleaned - tomorrow is the closing. Dan is working on his tools and figuring out what he wants to take with him and what will be stored. The 5th wheel is finally straightened up and I actually cleaned it today - ran the vacuum, swept the floor, dusted the furniture, and cleaned the bathroom. We still don't know when we will leave Dowling Park yet exactly - it will be either Wednesday or Thursday of this coming week.

Now, where are we going?? Well, at the end of May we were thinking we would be going to a state park in Northeast Georgia - Bobby Brown State Park. We were all set to host in the state park for a couple of months. Hosting at a state park means you will be greeting and helping fellow campers as well as doing general cleaning - cleaning campsites when people leave and keeping the bathhouse clean. For performing these chores you are provided a full site campsite at no cost. Then we received a phone call from the park manager. It seems that the state of Georgia has been hit hard by the recession and has changed some of there parks to "honor system" parks which means that there will be NO paid staff on site and the camp hosts would have to perform more duties (which was not a problem) and there would be no help if needed for about 45 minutes - as the closest park with paid staff would be 40 miles away. Dan and I talked about this and since this would be our first experience at hosting we were a little worried. When out of the blue, we received a phone call from a park we had applied to before applying to Georgia parks. We were offered a position where we would work 2 days a week and only have to greet visitors and maybe a little light dusting. Not only would we be given a full hook up site we would be paid a small salary ($15.00 each per day) and milage from our campsite to the cabin where we will be working. So, where is this wonderful place you might ask???? IDAHO! Yes, I said Idaho - actually, right outside West Yellowstone. We are so excited about this that we can hardly stand it. We will be staying and working at Johnny Sack Cabin from the end of June until the second week of September. I'll keep you posted on what we do when we are not working - since we only have to work 2 days a week we will be doing a lot of site seeing.

Also, this is my first post using the "air card" - we will see how much of my KG's on my air card this will take - but it will be a lesson for me to see. I still haven't posted any pictures yet, but I will in the near future.

More on the financial end of this endeavor will come next week, along with our impression of our first days on the road. Should be interesting!

Hollow

The house if just a house now. It isn't "home" any longer. All the personality is out of the house and it is just four walls and a roof. I'm very surprised how quickly I have disconnected - it just isn't my home any more.

The last weekend in May we went to Lakeland with a load of furniture for our children that live there - 3 of our 4 - and attended our oldest granddaughter's high school graduation. We also checked out a RV resort close to Lakeland to see were we will stay when we come back in November. Things went well until we discovered we forgot the bed that we were suppose to take to our youngest daughter. Which meant they had to come up here this past weekend for one night.

We come back to Dowling Park a week ago Sunday - picked up the new 5th wheel a week ago today - came back and started loading it with our stuff. We moved it to the RV park here in the Village on Wednesday morning and have been staying there ever since. It is now "home" and I think we will be very comfortable once everything gets settled.

This past week we went through everything that was left at the house - had our HUGE moving sale on Friday and Saturday - my friend Joyce and I packed up everything that did not sell yesterday afternoon and right now I am waiting for the truck to come and pick it all up. We did really well with the sale - all the big stuff sold except the living room couch and the swivel rocker. Not too bad considering it rained off and on the whole weekend.

We have just about gotten everything out of the house now, we still have a few things that will be going to my mother's house in Atlanta and a couple of things that is going to my oldest daughter in Atlanta. Those will be loaded in a U-Haul trailer on Wednesday and we will leave on Thursday morning - set things up in Atlanta, spend the night, and come back here on Friday. Rest on the weekend and close on the house next Monday. So far, everything has been going on schedule - I just hope it stays on schedule.

Some things have changed as far as where we will be going and how long we will be there, but I'll save that for my next post - keep you guys in suspense. Tomorrow I will do laundry and go through the pantry. When the housekeeper comes on Wednesday EVERYTHING should be out of the house and I don't want to come back in after tomorrow.

We have changed all our direct deposits to our bank in Lakeland - we have our address ready to change - when we leave here we are going to have to make a trip to Pensacola - this will be our new home base address and we discovered that Dan's drivers license will expire on his birthday in August so we will have to make a little detour and have his license renewed (mine also probably) renew our tags and change our regristration for voting to the new address. Just a few of the little things that you may not think about having to do. We have also taken care of all the insurance needs on the truck and 5th wheel, notified our credit card company that we will be traveling so they don't put a hold on our account (which they have done in the past because of the charges in different cities). I've also gotten an air card for my computer - but I'm using the internet at the house right now - I mean I'm paying for it until the 15th I might as well save my time on the air card until we leave.

I'll sign off for now - just know that this is not the part of this transition that I have not been looking forward to - I've read that most people take a year or more to make this transition - we are doing it in 6 weeks and believe me - it's HARD work and many decisions have had to be made quickly. Maybe for us it's better to do it quickly and not drag it out, but I wouldn't recommend it to everyone! Let me go see if there is something I need to pack - Oh! Dan is calling me, he's hungry - why am I not surprised!