MY VETERAN'S MEMORIAL!

Sergeant Michael Frederic May gave his life in honorable service to his country. He committed himself to God, Honor, and Country in keeping with the tradition of Special Forces soldiers. He died with his teammate, William Anthony Evans, as an American hero.
June 7, 1947 to March 2, 1969
POB: Vassar, Michigan
On November 8, 1991 a group of former Special Forces soldiers met at the Bruce VFW Post, St. Clair Shores, Michigan to form a Michigan branch of the United States Army Special Forces Association (SFA). The small group of charter members elected a board of officers to lead them. The newly elected board, President Bob Slivatz, Vice-President Al Davis, Adjutant/Secretary Dewey Laguire-Quinn, and Treasurer John Southard responded to a desire to adopt an identifying name for the new SFA Chapter LV. They led other founding members, Dick Shevchenko, Steve Adolph, Mike Reyes, Charles "Bud" Asher into the chapter's initial course of business to adopt a personal identity. Steve Adolph proposed the Chapter 55 adopt the name of Michael F. May, Michigan's only Special Forces soldier to never return from the Vietnam War. In a vote taken that day SFA Chapter LV became known as the Michael F. May Memorial Chapter.

Christopher E Esckelson

Vassar, Michigan

December 28, 2006

Age Military Rank Unit/Location 22 Marine Cpl USMC Reservist Saginaw , Michigan

Killed while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq . Vassar post office will bear name of town son who gave his life in Iraq Vassar Postmaster Stacey Middleton, right, hugs Michelle "Mitzi" Hill, mother of late Marine Cpl. Christopher E. Esckelson of Vassar, during a dedication ceremony Tuesday that named the Vassar Post Office after Esckelson. "I still cry every day," said Michelle "Mitzi" Hill, 49, the fallen Marine's mother, of Tuscola County's Juniata Township.Mitzi Hill, a 23-year employee of the U.S. Postal Service, works as a mail carrier in Vassar, walking a 12-mile route each day. The late Marine's father, David E. Esckelson, 49, of Vassar, donned the dog tag his son wore when Cpl. Esckelson died in Iraq. David Esckelson also wore his late son's desert camouflage "cover" cap. "It's hard on us, but an event like this is all good," David Esckelson said. "You have to look at it that way. "I'm just trying to remember my boy, and not let him be forgotten." Two different era's, two different wars, two different hero's,  both from Vassar, my home town!  I went to school with Mike May and he was a friend of my first husband Rollie and mine! He died 37 years ago, his body was never found or returned! Vassar remembers him by having the Mike May Memorial Race every year and with a plaque by the water fontain in downtown Vassar! Christopher Esckelson was killed in action 5 years ago, serving with the 1st Battalion of the 24th Marines in Iraq, he died around 2:45 p.m. Wednesday, three days shy of his 23rd birthday. In honor of Chris they named the Vassar Post office after him, his mother has worked there for 25 + years! His father passed away about 2 years ago! I remember sitting with my Dad as he laid in the hospital about a week before he died, I was talking to him and noticed him staring out the window and when I asked him what he was staring at he said "the flag, look how it waves in the wind, isn't it beautiful" I looked at it and then back at him and he had tears in his eyes! I thought to myself, I finally seen the flag thru the eyes of someone who fought and seen many die in honor of our country, I have never looked at our flag the same since! As we travel I thank all our vets for protecting this great country and our freedom! NEVER FORGET THE SACRIFICES OF SO MANY!

"We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us!"

I know this life-style isn't for everyone and have been asked several times "why or how did you's decide to become full-time rver's?" I know a lot of this is has already been posted in earlier postings but I have been talking to a lot of full-timers here and love listening to their stories and how and why they decided to go full-time and they all say the same thing, it wasn't an overnight decision, I tell them it wasn't for us either! I also get a lot of friends asking how do they get started, the first thing I tell them is that it isn't for everyone, you have to have a desire to travel, be able to let go of material things, learn to live in a small place and learn to walk sideways, lol, but most of all you and your spouse have to share the same dream and be able to get along in small spaces, there is no escape!  The first time I even heard about people who actually lived this life-style was about 5 years ago when a fellow employee was retiring and I noticed he had his house up for sale and was having an auction sale to sell all his belongings, then I heard he bought a new MH, I asked him what in the world was he doing and where is he going to live, he said "we are going to live in our motorhome and become full-time rver's" I said how are you going to support yourself? He said "we are going to be workampers until our house sells" and then he explained where they were going and about their first job, I was hooked from that time on! Craig had been retired for about 3 years already and he asked me "so what are we going to do when you retire?" I told him I wanted to sell everything including the house and buy a motorhome and be full-time rver's, he almost fell out of his recliner, he said "that is something I have always wanted to do too, but would have never asked that of you"!  Then I started researching on the internet and reading books about it, joining rving sites, reading full-timer's blogs and looking for a motorhome and at first we talked about should we buy a motorhome, fifth-wheel or a travel trailor, what would be the best way to go, so I talked to a friend that had a motorhome and he said that he likes the motor home because you get more storage and you don't have anything to unhook or back in, what he liked the most about a motorhome is that when you get to the campground and it is raining you don't have to get out and set up camp until the rain stops, I asked him about gas mileage, he said that if you buy a big gas eating truck to tow your fifth-wheel or trailor then you are stuck driving that everyday but with a motorhome you park it and use your tow vehicle to do your site-seeing in and in the long run you may end up saving money, so that settled it we decided on a motorhome, I also talked to my father-in-law about what size to buy, he has owned large motorhomes for years, he said that you are going to get 8-9 miles to the gal. no matter what size you get, you might get a little better gas mileage with a 20' then a 36' but it isn't worth the space you lose to save a buck a gal. So that is how we decided on a motorhome!  I knew we could not afford a new motorhome so we looked for the best used one we could get for our money, the first one we looked at was this beautiful 36'  1997 dolphin with dolphin decals on both sides, I have always loved dolphins and fell in love with it and so did Craig, he loved all the storage in the basement and the big 12' slide but I didn't want to buy the first motorhome we looked at, so we looked for another 6 months, drove all over Michigan and nothing came close to the price or quality of that Dolphin, so we bought it! We also found out that 1997 was the last year the made the Dolphin with actual dolphins on the side! So then we started to tell friends and family, most thought we were nuts, some envied us, some followed our example! From the time we decided to do this our life was never the same, we ate, talked and slept full-time rving, I would sit there and start crying when we talked about it, Craig would say why are you crying, I would tell him that I was so afraid it would never happen, he said yes it will, think positive!! Financially it was going to be a challenge and we knew it, we knew if we didn't sell our house right away it was going to be tight and nothing in Michigan was selling, so we started looking for someone to housesit, someone we could trust with our home and furnishings, thank God for Facebook, a dear friend had just left her husband and was interested in housesitting, she would take care of all the expenses except the taxes and insurance! Once we made this decision it seems like everything fell into place for us! We told our grandkids that we were only going to be gone for 6 months in the winter and we would be back in Michigan to spend the summers with them! We love Michigan and will always go back there to be with family and friends, Michigan is beautiful in the spring, summer and fall, there are still things we want to see and thanks to my friend Malia, who I met online thru a full-time rving site, I realize that I miss Michigan and need to revisit a few places and discover a few others, strange thing is that Malia is from Texas and visiting my Michigan as I am from Michigan visiting her Texas!  But my real drive to live this life-style is my parents, they loved to travel and were always gone and all they had was a 20 + yr. old motorhome to travel the flea markets of Michigan and in the winter they drove their older conversion van to travel out west, I remember watching their video's after they passed and I got to see a side of them that I never knew, they laughed alot and kidded back and forth with each other, there was even a little flirting going on, they were living their life to the end! 

                                             Well, at least our Motorhome is newer then this!

                                                                   Us living our Dream!

MY DAD!

MY MOM!

      Yep this isn't the life we planned when we got married but it is the life we want to live! Oh, we still fight but it lasts about 5 minutes and then we move on, yeah, it's tight in this motorhome but we love it, everything is in it's place and there is almost a place for everything, yep, money is tight and we live on less money then we ever have and it get's scary at times, but it's worth it to live our dream, we can't wait to sell the house so we can relax a little more about finances, so glad we paid off most of our credit cards, but the house taxes and insurance takes a big hunk out of our monthly income! But we are doing just fine and living every moment of this crazy dream of ours! Today we are doing nothing, I am going to get out one of my books and start reading it, Craig is going to do one of his favorite things by dozing in and out as he watching old movies or sci-fi! Lenny is going to do what he does best, stare out the window and growl at everyone that goes by!
                                                                      So until next time have a great day!

DON WES GIANT FLEA MARKET!

Went to the Don Wes flea market today to find some tie-down clamps for our canopy, we have it tied down to the ground and staked but we still need clamps to keep it from flapping! We were there for about an hour or so and didn't see half of it, the pictures above are from just one dealer, I would have took more but they were giving me funny looks so I put the camera away!  We did find what we were looking for and for half the price we would have paid at Camper's World.  We plan on going back when we got more time to just wonder around, Craig bought some tomatoes and Mexican spices! I seen some awesome purses and things for the grandkids, there was absolutely everything you could think of there!
                   Been putting our resume's together and adding a few more things to it. Really like this place and thinking of applying for next year to come back, but also want to see different parts of the country too, so just looking at all our options!
                                                 We played card elimination last night, didn't win but was still fun, today they had an ice cream social but we had such a late supper that we were both way to full to go! Maybe next time!  Never have to worry about having anything to do here, always something going on! I brought several books to read and haven't got to one of them yet! 
                                                      Going out for an evening walk, so until next time God Bless!!

SOME OF THE BEAUTIFUL CACTUS AND PLANTS AT MISSION BELL!

                                           This are my favorite group! So many different kinds!

                                         These are by the office and on the way to the pool,
                                             that is an Aloe plant in the front!              

                                             Now this is so much prettier in person, it is
                                             about 3' tall and is green with little purple flowers
                                             inbetween the rows, the top looks like a whole separate
                                              plant, this is another one of my favorites ! 

                                       One of my favorite cacti, it is bigger then a basketball!

                                                                  Beautiful red bush!

                                                      Not sure what that is but it sure is pretty!

    The front of the huge Friendship Hall and Ball Room! Some of the Palm Trees are so tall I couldn't get them in the all in the picture!

                                       Oh My, I see a Reflection of a Michigan Rose! ^

                                                So many different varies in one little yard!

                                       Check out these cacti, I think that is a Christmas plant
                                         in the back,  but don't quote me on that!

                                                                Isn't this little yard beautiful?

         This last plant is from Hawaii, the lady that has it doesn't remember the name of it but she said it is the plant that the Hawaiian's make lei's out of!

                                Thought I would walk around the park today with Lenny and get some pictures of my favorite cacti and plants!  Would have got a lot more but Mr. Lenny had a picker in his foot and refused to walk any further until I got it out, which isn't easy because he thinks I am the one causing the pain and he kept nipping at me, but I finally got it out, you see among these beautiful plants are yucky burrs, one other problem I had with Mr. Attitude is that he wanted to pee on the plants I was trying to get pictures of, so I couldn't stay too long at each site because I didn't want him getting a cactus thorn in his, well, you know what I mean!
       We had a free pizza today from Papa Murphy's Pizza, they gave a bunch of coupons to the Mission Bell office to pass out to all the workampers! Another one of the perks!  It was different then any we have ever had, you tell them everything you want on it then you take it home and bake it yourself! Aside from the fact that the oven heated up the whole MH, it was pretty tasty! Helped to have a couple ice cold beers with it too!
                                             We went to bingo last night and didn't win a dime, but it was still a lot of fun, it is only .25 cents a card, it was over around 8:00, time enough to get home and watch our shows, besides we had to work in the morning! Our last day for 4 days, went pretty fast! 
                                               We love it here so much, I was mentioning to Craig that I understand how people come back here year after year, the only complaint I have about this place it that it can be pretty windy at times and they could use a little more rain because it is so dry!  Finally after 3 weeks we don't feel like we are on vacation and will have to leave for home soon, it feels more like a way of life now, except we don't have none of the worries that comes with taking care of a home, so much relaxing time, but strange thing is we are always busy, but it is doing things we want to do not what we have to do!  We planned on going to shoot some pool at around 2:00 and just realized it is 4:30 already, you have no idea what time it is because you don't care, lol!
                                           Well, gotta go, I guess we are headed for the pool hall! Until next time, God Bless!
                                             

IS FULL-TIME RVING RIGHT FOR EVERYONE?

The more we live this life-style I question myself less and less about did we make the right choice! Lots and lots of folks dream of "full timing" as this life-style is called. But is full-timing for everyone?
Last count there is over a million North Americans that are full-timers, living permanently in their RVs with no permanent address. Many are retired, many work part of the year, just long enough for a  a few extra bucks to keep them going for a few months or a year or so, some campwork a few hours a week to pay for their full-hook up site and that is what we do, work so we can afford to live where we want not where we have to!
A large number of engineers, construction workers, writers are fulltimers, living in their motorhomes and traveling from job to job. It's a very efficient means of handling the housing problem, especially if you would otherwise be moving a lot to relatively brief work sites.
For some retirees, they have the blessing of not having a house to maintain or house payments, insurance or taxes to pay, we can't wait to sell our house so we will be free of these burdens, right now we feel chained to our home until it is sold. Housecleaning is so much easier and quick, there's no lawn to mow, there's no snow removal problem in the winter. And the scenery is wonderful. Every day we can enjoy the scenery that city folks would pay for if they could buy it at all, and for us it's free. And about the time we are tired of it, we can change it!  One great thing about workamping is you don't have to leave in 14 days like at most campgrounds, we get to stay for at least 6 months, we are in a resort setting so we have use of a heated pool in the winter, entertainment weekly, pancake breakfasts, bingo, Texas Hold em, shuffle board, golfing, pool leagues, ice cream socials, etc. plus we get to met new people every day from all over this great country and a lot from Canada, some with beautiful diesel pushers, trailors, fifth wheelers, old motorhomes, small motorhomes, there is a fifth wheel next to us that I believe use to be a horse trailor, there is a van or a Class B that is built on a van chassis with an elevated roof, so you can stand up inside and there are the park models that many who have decided to make them thier winter homes or some it's their permanent home!  I have met a French Canadian with an thick french accent, he has an older motorhome, oh, I'd say about 20 years old or older, he has this beautiful painting on the side of mountains, clouds, lakes, etc. I couldn't help but stop by and ask him about it, he said that he hired a local from around here a couple of years ago and the guy showed up at 8 am that morning and was done in the later afternoon, he used waded up newspaper and paste (I think, he spoke in very broken english) to give the painting a 3-D look, the painter only asked for $250 but he was so impressed he paid him a lot more, not sure how much more because I couldn't understand too much, lol! But he was as proud of that motorhome as the guy down the road from him with a $300,000 diesel pusher! Then there is the money, you have to have an adequate source of funds to make this work! You'll need a minimum of about $8,000 a year to live comfortably, less if you're into living without eating out everyday or wanting to pay to go to every tourist trap along the way, and even more if you want to be able to spend freely. Your spending of money will have to be more disciplined, but you'll need to have a steady supply of small amounts of cash and enough cash reserve for emergency vehicle repairs. Your vehicle is your home, so learn to live with less things and have a plan in mind in case something happens and incase your home needs to go in for repairs, we were fortunate when that happened to us, we talked the repair shop into let us plug in and stay in it until it was fixed, it helped that my son worked for them also, but most wouldn't allow that because of insurance reasons!. Full replacement cost insurance is a really good idea. If you plan on working, you'll need a vehicle that is acceptable to most RV Park operators, and that means a factory built motorhome and one that is newer, we are fortunate to be in a park where they are not so fussy. You'll also need a steady source of workamp jobs, I go thru workamp, vagabonds, KOA worker site, etc. we are looking constantly for our next gig, never too early to start looking. You will need to be self-reliant. You'll need to be able to change a tire, check your vehicle's vital fluids, fix a leaking roof, repair broken plumbing, etc. or have someone you can count on to help you with these things, we had my son Matt and his place of employment do a lot of these things. But once you are out there on your own and you have a leaking faucet and you have to call someone to fix it and everything that else that needs repairing well, you better think twice about full-timing. You could be hundreds of miles from anyone who could fix it for you. Even if you knew where to find someone, and all your propane is leaking from a loose fitting, or your roof is leaking in a pouring rain, you'll need to fix it right away, you normally don't have the option of waiting till you can find someone to do it for you. Well, anyways, just a few things to think about, but to tell you the truth we have had pretty good luck so far but we also had everything gone thru before we left home, Craig won't leave without being 100% sure everything was mechanically sound and when we get back to Michigan we will have it gone thru again! Just a few things to think about if anyone thinks of doing what we are doing and for anyone who has been following this blog know that we have had our problems but our desire to live our dream keeps us going and remember we are still new at this! Well, gotta go and get ready to go listen to the band tonight!  So until next time God Bless!

TRICK OR TREAT AT THE RESORT!

Passed out candy at the resort on Halloween night, we were told that we can expect around 200 kids, well after about 45 min. I was beginning to wonder what was going on, one car at a time, a few kids at a time, I was giving hand fulls of candy thinking they weren't coming, even the experienced residents said they didn't think they were coming this year! Well, all of a sudden they were coming in truck and van loads, all sizes, babies to very tall children, monsters to princesses, superheroes to cartoon characters, all cute! I started running out of candy after generously giving out handfulls earlier! The cute witch next to me had bags full, so she shared with me! I bet at least 250 kids showed up!  I dressed as a witch as did 2 others, so one was the the good witch, the other was the bad witch so I told them I was the moody witch, good and bad!  At exactly 6:30 everyone headed for the party at Trade Winds, the hall was packed, hard to find a place to set, but we ended up sitting right across from a couple from Canada, loved listening to them talk, they started full-timing last year and love it, they sold their huge home and bought a doublewide trailor and a motorhome, but after spending one winter here at Mission Bell they sold the motorhome and bought a park model, they take their time coming here every year and do a lot of site seeing! The resort served hot dogs, baked beans, lemonade, tea and coffee, cupcakes and ice cream cones for dessert, we even got to play a game, best costume prizes were given out also! So much fun, thanks to Audry, Scott and Cynthia, good job!  I was feeling a little sad because this would be the first Halloween not seeing my grandkids dressed up, but we did have an earlier Halloween with them at the campground in Michigan, plus my son sent pictures of the kids all dressed up! 
                                                                   Well, gotta get ready for work, so until next time have a great day!!

VETERAN'S WAR MEMORIAL OF TEXAS!

hn

Eli

tone, James LWatkins, Travis E.

oung, Marvin R.

We went to the Veteran's War Memorial of Texas today!  Located in McAllen about 5 miles from us, well, we went a lot further then that because our GPS took us in the opposite direction and we went about 15 miles out of the way! But we finally found it and it was very touching and worth the trip! It honors the sacrifices made by an estimated 1.4 million Americans serving in all the wars involving the United States from the American Revolution to the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Sculptor Douglas Clark has created several sculptures of famous World War II scenes and a tribute to the women of the military!  A series of nine bronze plaques tell the story of the Korean War. Another Sculpture honors Medal-of-Honor recipients.  The names of 3600 Texans who died in Vietnam are listed on a black granite wall.   The newest wall to be added to the Veteran's Memorial of Texas honors those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the latest conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan! This is the dream of Col. Frank Plummer, U.S. Army (Ret.) and other Valley veterans.
                                                       Tonight we will be passing out candy to 200-300 kids, they will be allowed to enter the park, we will be set-up in front of the Ball Room here at Mission Bell and they will have the Trade Winds residents sitting at the entrance way to the park, then afterwards there will be a little Halloween Party at the Trade Winds for the adults, food will be provided, best costumes will be judged! I'm not sure if I am going to dress up or not, couldn't find anything around here, might just wear a witch hat and dress in black! 
                                                     Weather has been perfect, dips down to the high 50's at night and gets up to the 80's during the day, sunshine everyday!
                                                         Well, until next time! Enjoy the pictures!