RAIN FOR TEXAS!!

Finally Texas gets rain, as you can see above how dry and dead the grass and trees are, and as in the top photo dried up lakes, that is a boat ramp in the picture, ramp to nowhere, there were seashells laying all over where the lake use to be, very sad! We not only couldn't have campfires but couldn't even grill with charcoal, if you are caught watering your lawn or washing your car you are fined! Hopefully they got enough rain to help bring back the green and lakes!
                                            For anyone that ever plans on traveling like we are, here are the books I used everyday...WOODALL'S CAMPGROUND DIRECTORY..which has most of the campgrounds listed by each interstate exit you are on, has prices, phone numbers, amenities and directions..THE NEXT EXIT..tells what is at each exit you pass, helpful when you need gas...AAA TRIP TIX CAMPGROUNDS.. for each state you go thru plus it tells which ones have the AAA discounts, we used the trip tix maps for awhile but many times we went off the beaten pass way to see more, (that's where the GPS came in handy), it tells where campgrounds are that Woodall's might have missed and is listed by city not by interstate, which helps when you want to find a campground near the town you plan on stopping in, ESCAPEE'S TRAVEL GUIDE...this is a real good book on campgrounds, free and low cost places to boondock, cost with your discount for being an Escapee member, which I recommend, plus have a GPS and an Atlas! Thank God we have a pull-out drawer on our dash because I would have all these books in use at all times! I also had my camera/camcorder ready also!  Laptop came in handy too, I would look up a campground we plan on staying in and call to see if they had any pull-thrus available and double check on the prices, sometimes they are cheaper or more expensive! I have been planning this adventure for quite awhile and went to many full-time RV sites and got a lot of advice plus what books to get and also how to pack our MH, what items of clothing to take, minor repairs on the MH, etc. We didn't head out for our life in an RV without a lot of preparations!  We are totally portable, we have a satellite dish so we can watch TV anywhere(learning how to get it to work yet but getting better, plus a lot of help from other RVers),a Verizon wireless card so I can get internet anywhere and cell phones so we are in constant contact with family(works 99% of the time, but not here in Lexington), I also have my E-bay buisness, I have brought in about $400 since we left a week ago, trust me that helps with the gas and groceries!  As you can see there is a lot to get ready before taking off to live our dream!  Plus we are living and learning as we go, everyday we discover something new and that is what makes it so exciting and fun!
                                                   We stayed here at Sonny's RV in Lexington for 2 days  to rest, do laundry, give the motorhome a break and enjoy visiting with the other RVer's and believe me they are very friendly and helpful, most everyone comments on our Dolphin Motorhome, they love the dolphins on each side, we have had someone even take pictures of it, I have always loved dolphins and it seemed like the perfect motorhome for us, had everything we wanted and the dolphins represents freedom to me, there are 3 dolphins...one is Craig..one is Me and one is Lenny, lol! We had a few hidden problems we had to fix before we left but everything is running like a charm now! We will be pulling out of here sometime today and finding one more campground to stay in for a couple days before we finally pull into MissionBell for 6 months, we want to clean the mh before we get there, hopefully we can find a truckwash along the way, if they allow washing motorhome with the drought going on, plus we want to shampoo the carpets and wash the windows, we want to pull into our new home with pride!
                           Well, gotta go find a post office to ship out 7 packages then come back and help break camp and hit the road again!! So until next time! 
                                              
        
                                                           

WE MADE IT..WE ARE IN TEXAS!!!

Well, here we are in Sulphur Spring's "Cooper's Lake State Campground!" Beautiful state, even with all the damage from the drought, miles of dead trees, brown grass and dried up rivers! You know you see it on TV and hear about how bad it is, but to actually see it is sad, I feel for this state! But it is still beautiful here and the friendliest people you will ever meet, everywhere we stop to get gas or at rest areas someone walks up to us and starts talking and asking us questions about where we are going or where are we coming from, like when we got to our site, we were trying to get a signal on our satellite, so Craig walked over to our neighbor's site and asked what they had their dish set at, well, they not only told us how but came over and spent an hour trying helping us, never got it to work because we have a bunch of trees right in front of our site, so we thanked them and we all set at our picnic table and just talked about life!  Now that's what I'm talking about!!! We seen our first amadillo about a 100 feet from our motorhome, I got my camera out, zoomed in a got a good picture of it!
                                    Had to run our air for the first time today, just think about it, Sunday when we left Michigan we were using heaters or the furnace to keep warm, couple states later we were sleeping with the windows open, now we are running the air!  Was pretty warm too, about 95 degrees when we got here, we were both sweating like pigs, I told Craig we need to get use to it if we are going to be here for 6 months, he said it will get cooler as we move into the fall and winter and I guess he is right, tonight it is about 75 degrees, good sleeping weather!!
                                    The river we are camped in front of is down so much from the drought that about 500 feet of it has cracked ground and there is a boat dock that goes to nowhere because the water has receded so far back, I looked down as I was walking to the lake and saw all these huge seashells everywhere, so I picked enough of them up to clean up and mail back to the grandkids, they love anything that has to do with nature, better then t-shirts! 
                                     We kind of rushed getting here, but now we can slow down and stay at this campground for a couple of days or any other one we see that we like because we don't have to be in Mission for at least a week!  Guess will get ready for bed now, all this excitement has made us both sleepy and we want to get up early because we heard that deer are out and about early in the morning and we don't want to miss that and hey, maybe I will even see Mr. Amadillo again!! So until the next time, Good Night All!    P.S.  Believe it or not but the pictures above are two separate pictures, the Welcome to Texas picture was taken as we passed by in our motorhome and the armadillo picture was taken in front of our campsite, it looks like one picture, lol!

ILLINOIS, MISSOURI, ARKANSAS!!

Stayed in a beautiful Campground last night, right on the lake, had internet (but used my own, much faster) cable, direct hook up for water and sewer, showers and laundry facilities, we bought some charcoal, charcoal lighter and some wood so we could BBQ and enjoy a fire, well, that didn't happen, Craig was so exhausted he fell asleep on the couch, so I let him sleep while I did all my shipping and handling on e-bay, plus did some more listing, so it was a relaxing night! But had a rough beginning today, had to have Craig unhook the truck so I could get to the post office and drop off my ebay packages, then driving around for 45 minutes looking for it, finally I found it and they told me they couldn't take my packages because the labels were printed as shipped from Bay City not from Illinois, so I had to go back to the MH and cancel the postage, took them back to the Post Office and had them mail them for me and put the campground zip code down, now it will take up to 14 days to get my postage refund back in my paypal account! Live and learn! So by the time I got all that done it was 12:30 before we hit the road! So we pushed it today and kept going until we hit Arkansas, wasn't much to see anyways except going over the Mississippi River bridge, that was so cool, but my camera died so I had to get pictures with my phone, hopefully I can get them posted on here, gotta figure that one out yet! Time to get my new expensive camera out and learn how to use it! Oh and the temperature today was in the high 70's with beautiful weather for the last two days! We finally decided to go to the first campground we came to in Arkansas, we were so tired and ready to relax! Well, we found Grizzly's Campground, I called and he said it would be $25 a night, I told him we had a Good Sam's, Escapees and AAA card, he said he only takes Passport but would give us a break and let us have a site for $12.50, I said cool, we will be there in 15 minutes, well, the good news is we get cable, internet, direct hook-up for sewer and water, laundry facilities and showers but we are parked in the back of a trailor park with a view of a dead corn field, I am sure glad we got it for only $12.50, but the review (only had one) said it had the cleanest showers and laundro-mat they had ever seen, they liked it so much they stayed 2 days, ummm, we may too because we got laundry to do and showers to take,so we will see what tomorrow brings!  We were laughing so hard when we were pulling in that I know the owner thought we were nuts!!  What a fantastic adventure, we had a rough start with the MH needing some repair and making us having to turn around and get it fixed, plus an emotional good-bye to the kids, grandkids and friends, but the MH is running perfect and it's been all good since we left Bay City! We thank God everyday we are able to do this and pray to him to help us to keep going! We can't quit smiling and we are seeing sides of each other that we haven't seen in years, there has been so much stress from his surgeries and taking such a financial cut in our income because he had to go on social security disability, fear about should I retire or shouldn't I, but I know it was the right choice now, I was told to never look back on what choices I have made, just look ahead and keep going! As we are getting ready to turn in for the night next to a dead corn field I feel that we made the best choice! So until tomorrow and another adventure, Good night!

HOPING TO BE OUT OF INDIANA BY DARK!

My nephew Brian said Indiana is a long boring state and he was right! Not much to see but fields, but  at least we made it this far! Stayed at Pokagon State Park, beautiful park, but tight getting into our spot, we just fit with the dingy (towed vehicle) still hooked up, plus couldn't get our satellite to come in, so I listed some e-bay items, then found out I could watch tv on the computer (thanks Courtney)! Stayed up past 11 watching my shows, then went to bed and couldn't sleep! So slept in until 8! Craig wanted to be on the road by daylight, but he let me sleep in, then even made me a big breakfast! We are parked in a black walnut grove, I thought acorns were loud when they hit our roof, walnuts sound like baseballs hitting, plus poor Lenny, he almost got hit by a couple while out doing his business! Craig said the showers sucked, they are so small that his clean clothes got wet because there was nowhere to put them, lol, I'll wait until the next campground to take mine!  I could take a shower in our motorhome, but we don't carry a lot of water because of the weight, but if worse comes to worse, I WILL take a shower in here and he can just replace it at the fill station!! Despite all the negatives, this is a beautiful state park and we only paid $17 to stay here! Well, gotta get dressed and hit the road, so until next time, hopefully in Illinois, I believe another boring state, but we will see, every state is interesting in it's own right!!

HERE WE GO AGAIN!

Ok, had a rough start when we discovered a transmission leak, so headed back to Bay City to our mechanic, still under warrantee, just the loss of gas money and time, :(, but better safe then sorry! But the up side is we got to spend more time with family! :)!!! Was homesless for a couple of nights, well, not really, they let us stay in our Dolphin while it was there, scenery wasn't the best, we were right across from my old work place Bay Metro, lol, so everyone got to see that we were having trouble!  Another great thing is we hit some great rummage sales, got a lot of merchandise for e-bay and some great finds for the grandkids, will be busy listing for a few days! We stayed the night at the Finn Rd. campground, I listed e-bay and Craig cooked supper and enjoyed a nice fire!  Had some loud and rowdy campers last night, they were all elderly, lol, was good to see the old folks partying away to the wee hours of the night, didn't bother us, we were so exhausted that we slept through it!  We plan on being on the road by at least 10:00 am, gas up and head out once again! Will let you know this evening where we are and may even add a few pictures, so pray and wish us luck!  Will update this evening in Indiana!

DEPARTURE DAY!

Woke up to hear the geese flying overhead and realized we will be following them today!  Had my son Matt , his wife Courtney and grandkids Kennedy and Hayden over last night for a wienie roast, shed a few tears as we all hugged, but I told them it's not good-bye it's "hey, I'll see you in the spring"! Mixed feelings, happy,sad,excited, anxious, scared, challenged but ready! Leaving town around 2:00! Keep us in your prayers, this is the start of living our dream!  Got a lot of work ahead of us before we leave, packing, dropping things off at the house, picking more things up and then figuring out how to get it all in the motorhome, deciding what chairs to take, I want all four and he said no, just pick two, lol, one of the many little disagreements we have had, but we end of laughing and I usually get my way! So to our kids and grandkids we love you all and will miss you everyday, this is harder for us then you will ever realize but it's a dream I have had way back when I was married to your Dad, we always said when we have raised the kids and are retired let's run away in a motorhome and see the world, well, I know he is smiling as I continue on with our dream, funny thing is that when I mentioned this dream to Craig and almost fell out of his recliner and said OMG, yes, that has ALWAYS been my dream too, so here we go following that dream! So be good, take care of yourselves and stay out of trouble, lol, we will be praying for you's everyday!

ON THE ROAD FINALLY!!

The day has arrived, we officially left Oscoda Friday afternoon after living in our motorhome in our dear friends backyard for 2 months! Had a fantastic time, had family and friends come up and see us while we were there! My best friend of 36 years came up and spent 3 glorious all girls days with Annette and I,  stayed in the house with them while Craig stayed in the motorhome, not sure if he was being kind or didn't want to be around 3 silly old gals acting 16 again! We all got our hair cut, colored, hi-lited by Peggy, even Craig got in on that, then we rented movies and watched all girl flicks, we talked and shared memories until we laughed and cried into the wee hours of the night, not to mention over eating and even had a few Pina Colatas!  Thanks to Annette, Barry and Richard for allowing us to park our big rig there and enjoy the sunrises, beach and most of all..the great hospitality they showed us! We cried and hugged when we left knowing we wouldn't see each other until next year!
                        We pulled into Bay City State Park late Friday afternoon and was surprised to see the campground packed, I asked the ranger why it was so busy this time of year and she told me it was Halloween weekend where kids got to decorate pumpkins and cookies, play games and go trick or treating, just about every campsite was decorated for Halloween, there was a prize for the best decorated site, they had us right in front of the playgrounds, which we would normally avoid, but with the grandkids coming Sat. it would be perfect.  We sure picked a great weekend to be here since our kids and the grandkids will be here to see us off before we head for Texas Wed.! Thank Goodness I have Halloween costumes I sell on e-bay, the kids all got to dress up and go trick or treating, we bought 240 pieces of candy for Craig to pass out while I walked around with the grandkids and he ran out about 15 minutes before it was over! Had a weinie roast and then hugged and kissed them good-bye, I did good and didn't let them see me cry until they left, that was hard especially with the little 3 year old knowing he wouldn't understand where Papa and Nana are!  It was an emotional day but rewarding, we both collapsed in bed by 10:00!
                                    Tomorrow we are taking the motorhome in to have some last minute minor repairs made, drop off and pick up some things in the garage, get some laundry done, mail some sold ebay items off at the post office, etc. then Tues. Craig has a doctor appointment at the vet's hospital and I have some business with my doctor, and Wed. I have my mammogram at 1:15, don't want to miss that, gas up both vehicles, pick up the mail for the last time and check on everything one last time,  then we are going to try to see the kids, grandkids and family one more time before we leave.  Phewwww!  Hoping to be out of Michigan by evening when we rest for the night!
                                           So wish us luck as we start our vagabond lifestyle and pray we have God as our co-pilot and have all good luck, until the next time, Good Night and God Bless!