Our Motorhome is for Sale

I've noticed that there are still some people checking my blog - how nice of you! We are not rv'ing anymore and are now totally settled in a stick-n-brick house.

I decided to post this entry just in case someone looking at it is in the market or knows someone who is in the market for a beautiful fully loaded '05 Allegro Bus, 40', triple slide. You can see a complete ad for it at:

www.motorhomesforsalebyowners.com

The ad # is 53775

We are at a point where we will consider any reasonable offer we get. So, if your looking for a great motorhome go take a look then contact me through the ad. Thanks

The End Of The Road

As the saying goes, "All Good Things Must Come To A End", so it does for us.

I'm going to keep this short as it's emotional for me still. I loved rv'ing so much and was not ready to come off the road. Dean on the other hand, I believe, was ready and due to his health issues I knew in my heart it was time.

Upon our return in January from Montgomery we were fortunate to find a nice three bedroom/two bath patio home for rent and the beginning of February began the moving process. The house is located in Fairhope, AL and we are within one mile of all his doctors and the hospital so it's very convenient. We also have three grocery stores and a big Wal-Mart within 4 miles. I believe we will be happy here.

As of today, we are moved in and have procured more stuff! Oh how I hate that, but going from 400sf into 1570sf, it was needed. Suze & David donated some furniture so we didn't have to buy everything. The next item will be a bedroom suit for us. We have a bed and chest of drawers but that's it. Those three drawer plastic things from Wal-Mart come in handy.

The bus is empty and every time we go to it I get tears in my eyes. I feel like a big part of my life is over and I'm not sure where to go from here. It's like a hole in my heart. Next week I won't have to worry about seeing the bus much as we are taking it to Carpenters Campers in Pensacola to put on their lot for sale. I just pray they find a buyer for it quickly.

Once I feel a little more settled, I'm going to have to find something to do. I'm not sure at this point what it will be but I've been praying for God to lead me to something to help with all the time I'll have. I know I don't want a job or anything that is totally structured like a job so most volunteer positions will be out. Besides, with Dean, I can't commit to something with structure.

We are located about 8 - 10 miles from Rainbow Plantation so if any of our rv'ing friends happen in this area, please call. We would love to see you.

I want to thank all our rv'ing friends for the wonderful memories that you were part of during the past almost 6 years and for your friendships. I am so grateful that we did have the time on the road that we did as we had the opportunity to see so many beautiful places in these great United States.

So, I close the door on this part of my life and open the door to another.

I probably won't blog much if at all. Most of you know that I'm on Facebook so I'll see you there. Till then.......

Off The Road For Awhile

Good Morning!

I just noticed that I had not updated the blog for over a month - yikes! I guess the only reason I can give is that not much has been happening except staying busy running to doctor appointments.

Because of ongoing issues with Dean's health, it looks like we will be off the road for awhile if not permanently. Since we will not be doing any traveling in the near future, I will not be updating the blog.

I want to thank my faithful followers for stopping by and traveling with us by way of the blog. It has been a neat source for me to relay our wonderful experiences during the past five and one half years! What a ride it has been and I thank God every day for allowing us the opportunity to see such beautiful places during this time, places that we would never have been able to experience if we had not done this.

Should I do any blog updates in the future, I'll post on Facebook that I've done so. I know most of you frequent there and will thus be notified.

To all our traveling friends - Travel Safe and to all - God Bless.

The Wedding - Done!

As you can tell by the title, the wedding day is over. The couple of days prior were hectic and tiring but the end result was well worth it.

Thursday, Suze, Dean & I worked at getting the backdrop up. We used 8 X 10 white tarps from Wal-Mart, tying them in place with bridal net ribbon on a wire that David had put up. We managed to get about half done - very time consuming.

Later in the afternoon Tim & Cheryl arrived from New Iberia, LA. That night we all went out to dinner at Sommers Place, a really good place to eat in Montgomery. What a great time we had. It was so good to see Tim and Cheryl again.

Friday morning we met back at the "house" to finish the decorating. The rest of the backdrops went up quickly since there where two more there to help. Tim was so helpful, putting the lights along the top of the backdrop, running the extensions and anything else that needed done! Cheryl and I took on the task of decorating the arch (pre-lit) with more of the netting and ivy vines. I think we did a great job and thanks to Cheryl, I didn't have to climb on the ladder - she took care of doing the top of the arch.

Suze was busy helping with the backdrops, helping Ann who was the caterer and anything else that happened to pop up that needed done.

Shannon had errands to run during the morning and David had to be at the school till around 11am.

By 3pm the backyard had been transformed into a wedding wonderland - perfect for a sunset wedding!!!

At 6:30 the wedding began and went off without a hitch, well, almost. Taylor who is Shannon's son, walked her down the aisle and was supposed to stand by David but he either forgot or wasn't told and went to sit with friends. A few min. later he did return to stand by David and all was good.

Because it was a backyard wedding, Morgan & Brooke had passed letters out to all the neighbors - front, side and back, informing them of the wedding that would take place and that there would be a reception following with music and that every effort would be taken to attempt to hold the noise level down and end at a decent hour. Well, no problem except the neighbor directly behind has children who came out into their back yard right as the wedding was beginning and tried to peek through the fence and where talking loud saying stuff like "look, they have fire over there" (the torches). Well, Brooke finally said toward the fence "Be Quiet!" It worked, no more kid chatter - way to go Brooke!!!

When you look at the pictures that I posted at Picasa you will see a few of the unity candle. There were actually 6 candles. One for each of the children, Brooke, Taylor & Morgan to use to light one each for David & Shannon. They in turn used theirs to light the big unity candle. A very nice touch, blending two families to one.

The reception was nice with great food. Dean and I stayed till around 8:30 pm then left since we were exhausted. We were told that the party went on till just after midnight. I couldn't have held up that long - old age I guess.

Saturday morning we went back to the house to bid David & Shannon farewell as they left for their honeymoon cruise. I forgot my camera so no pictures of them or the painted truck! Morgan & Brooke did a fine job of decorating the truck that they left in. I'm sure David found a car wash to go through not far down the road. Suze took pictures with her cell phone and when she gets them posted on Facebook, I'll tag a few so ya'll can see them.

After the happy couple left, we all went out for breakfast at Chappy's then back to the house to begin the clean up. Funny how it takes days to decorate and only a few hours to undo it all.

Since Saturday was Dean's & Tim's birthday, Suze cooked a great meal of tri-tip peppercord roast beef, homemade noodles, peas, cole slaw and pickled beets followed by birthday cake. It was also for me since my birthday is Monday. Thanks Suze - your the best daughter anyone could ask for.

This morning Tim & Cheryl left, headed to MS to see his sister, Robin, who is having some medical issues, then on back to New Iberia, LA. It was really great that they could come up for the wedding and birthday's. Especially nice that he could spend his and his dad's birthday together.

The next couple of days will be relax and get errands done, then on Tuesday we will head for Fairhope for a couple of months. Tons of doctor appointments to get out of the way.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to peek at the wedding pictures.

Till next time - Safe Travels....

We're Back In Alabama

After a wonderful three weeks plus in Elkhart, IN where we spent a lot of time with good friends we are now back in Montgomery, AL. We left Elkhart on Wednesday and arrived in Montgomery yesterday, Friday. The first day we overnighted at Columbus, IN. so that meant a long day yesterday, over 500 miles. Shame on us!!! But, I'm glad to be here and parked with no road running in the motorhome for a couple of weeks.

The one thing that I don't like is the heat. The temperatures were so nice up north and still so hot here. Oh well, in another month or so I'll probably be wishing for some warmer weather.

We will be staying in Montgomery till the 11th of October when we will move on south to Fairhope and start our round of doctor appointments - uck. The main reason for staying here right now is that our son David is getting married on the 8th of Oct. We are so happy for him. Wouldn't miss celebrating this special day for anything.

I will be getting some pictures posted to Picasa this week. They are from several weeks ago but I couldn't upload them because of bad campground wifi. I hope you enjoy them.

Don't know when I'll be back to post, probably after the wedding with a few pictures, I'm sure.

Till then, safe travels.....

A Bit Behind!

Oh my gosh, I guess I didn't realize how long it's been since I've posted out here. Sorry folks.

I'll attempt to catch you up but the best part that I haven't written about is vi sable in pictures at Picasa. They tell a better story than I do!

We left the UP with Elkhart, IN as our destination with a couple of stops along the way. We made the first stop Grayling Army Natl. Guard Base in Grayling, MI. This base is the largest ANG base in the US. It is very large with lots and lots of barracks. There was a small post store that had a few grocery items along with some normal BX items. The base is situated along a nice size lake where they offer swimming and boat rentals. No, we didn't do either as the temperatures were in the mid 70's and lows in the 50's. Perfect weather.

We stopped at Grayling for a chance to catch up on laundry and some grocery shopping. We found a wonderful laundromat. I know, that sounds strange, is there anything as a wonderful laundromat? This one was brand new and had front load washers which I really prefer now. I just wish all laundromats where as nice and clean as this one was....I know, dream on.

After a couple of days in Grayling we got back on the road again heading to Hudsonville, MI which is about half way between Grand Rapids and Holland, MI.

We stayed at Baldwin Oaks Campground which was not bad but..... I hate campgrounds that nickle and dime you to death! The senior rate was listed as $29 a night which wasn't to bad but until they finished adding on the EXTRA expense for 50 amp and air conditioning it ended up at $34.00 a night! I had called in advance to our arrival and nothing was said about the additional add on's. I know, we could have moved on but this is where I wanted to be so we stayed. I just have to wonder why they can't set their rates at one price and be done with it!

We stayed in Hudsonville several days and while here drove over to Holland, MI. It was another one of the places I had on my bucket list. I realized that it was not the right time of year to really get the full effect of a place named Holland, tulips were not blooming, but I also realized that this would probably be the only chance to get there.

We visited the Deklomp Wooden Shoe & Delft Factory first. Very interesting place to see the famous Dutch wooden shoes being made. Of course they sell them as well for about $40. Did I buy a pair - no. I can't believe that wooden shoes that don't give at all can be that comfortable. But, it was fun looking at them.

The Delft ware was absolutely beautiful. They have their own artists that actually do the hand painting right there on premises and you can watch if one is working when you are there. Considering that they are hand painted their prices were not bad and they had some really different pieces like a windmill that had a light in it and the blades actually turned.

After a lot of ooohhh'ing and awww'ing we left empty handed. No place in the motorhome for this stuff!

From there we went to Windmill Island Gardens. Another touristy place. The big attraction here is the DeZwaan (the swan) Windmill. It is an authentic Dutch Windmill. We also got to watch some authentic Dutch dancing by a group of high school girls. Very cute.

As I mentioned above, pictures tell a better story so be sure to go take a look at my Picasa web site.

We arrived in Elkhart at Elkhart Campground a week ago yesterday. We hadn't planned on attending the Gypsy Journal Rally this year but since we arrived prior to it's start...well, why not?

Dean and I attended several interesting seminars on digital photography, using Picasa, and genealogy. I upgraded my Verizon air card to the MiFi. We had a great evening's entertainment listening to McKinney Washtub Two, a husband and wife duo. Very good music, not the run of the mill stuff though. The first song was titled Geritol Gyspy's - and it got better from there - lol.

Our first day at Elkhart Campground, Terry (of Terry & Dale) fixed our slide for us. We owe him a big thanks and he settled for a hot fudge sundae from Micky D's. He's a cheap repairman, huh?

Since we've been here we have spent some good times with friends and family. My cousin Muffet (Dot) and her daughters and son came over yesterday for a picnic. We have been out to eat a couple of times with Anne & Henry and our new friends Bob & Marie. Bill and Dianne stopped by yesterday and went to dinner with us. Of course we saw Marcia and Joe at the rally along with several other acquaintances. Even saw a couple that were at Coastal Haven RV Park in Fairhope, AL last winter - small world!

So, I think I've about caught back up. Whew! There is nothing "big" planned for about a week, so I probably won't be back till then. Hope you all have a great Labor Day. Be sure and check out the pictures and till next time......Safe Travels

Soo Locks

Yesterday was a beautiful day with lots of sunshine and cool temperatures. A perfect day to visit the Soo Locks with Sandy & Ken!

Would you believe we spent almost 5 hours in Sault St. Marie? We drove to the Look Out Tower but decided not to go to the top. None of us wanted to spend the money. Maybe because the casino has taken to much?? LOL. We then went on down to the lock area. Going through the security we were told that the next ship would be going trough about 1:30 pm so decided to go have some lunch first.

After being directed to a restaurant with good pasties only to find it was closed on Sundays, we walked back to the Lock View Restaurant. I had the whitefish basket and Dean had his liver and onions. Ken had the same as me and Sandy has a pastie. It was much smaller than the one the guys had earlier this week and she said it wasn't as good, but wasn't bad.

After lunch, we walked back to the locks where we waited almost a hour waiting for the ship that didn't actually get to the locks till 2:15. It's neat watching a big ship go through. The difference in levels at these locks is 21 feet so it is either raised (as this one was) or lowered that amount. We also watched a small pleasure boat and a tour boat go through the locks.

On our way home it was time for Ken's and mine ice cream fix so we stopped at McD's for a sundae. Ummm good.

It was a great day and we will miss spending time with the Berry's. They left this morning heading toward the Pictured Rocks area. I know that they will enjoy it there, we sure did.

Tomorrow we depart for the lower portion of Michigan. We will be spending two nights at Grayling Natl. Guard Base and then three nights near Holland, MI. This coming Sunday we will be heading to Shipshewana, IN for a few days then on to Elkhart for a layover during the Labor Day week (end).

I probably won't post till after we've been to Holland, MI so it will be maybe a week. Don't give up on me, I'll be back.

I've posted pictures of the Soo Locks at Picasa - go take a peek.

Till next time... Safe Travels....