A Great Week

The weeks events started on Tuesday with the Venture Out Boat Club's fishing tournament.  I was able to go out with Blane and compete in my very first fishing competition.  What a day it was.  We came home with 27 fish.  The days catch included two Cerro Mackeral which won 1st and 2nd place in that category.  Wow!  It was great.

Wednesday brought a visit from a great friend and his wife.  John Jelinek has been a friend on mine since our days in high school.  Now that's a long time ago, for sure, and yet there are times when it seems like yesterday.  What great times we had remembering the  events and conquests of so long ago.  Yes, we still can remember that far back.  Mary even said that we are like two peas in a pod.

John and his lovely wife Mary came for a short power packed three day visit.  They arrived here on Wednesday just as I arrived home from a day out fishing.  It was a great welcoming.  We caught 20 yellow tail snapper and Jon's eyes got bright at the prospect of him being able to go out and catch some himself.  The rest of the night was spent getting settled, planning the three day visit and attending the boating club's dinner.  He and I bought some 50 /50 raffle tickets with the hopes of hitting it big.  Low and behold we did win the 1st place pot.  With our winnings, we decided that we'd stimulate the local economy the next day during our tour of Key West.  Nothing like a free days outing.

So Thursday was spent seeing the sites of Key West.  There were some places that Mary wanted to definitely see.  First there was lunch and Sloppy Joe's Bar.  As usual, the food was really good and the music and crowd lots of fun.



The second stop was Hemingway's House for a tour.  That entailed a great 10 block walk which helped get rid of a little of the lunch.  The tour of the house was a fantastic literary history lesson.  They even have the famous 6 toed cats.  They are currently numbered at 42 free roaming cats. That man sure lived life to the fullest but had a tragic ending for sure.

From there is was an 8 block walk back to the famous, yes you guessed it, Matheson's for the frozen chocolate covered Key Lime Pie on a stick.  Mary and I had ice cream and Rose shared some of mine.  John ate the pie with gusto.  We also had to stop for our picture at Mile Marker 0.

It was then time for a walk through the shopping area and then on to Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville Cafe.  Crazy busy with the cruise ship being in port.  Then again this is a tourist party town and everyone is here for the winter time.

Now it was time to start heading to Alonzo's on the wharf for the tarpon feeding at 5 PM.  Today was a little different though.  The tarpon were there but so were a mass of pelicans.  It was a fight for the food and for the most part the pelicans won.  So much for seeing the ferocity of the tarpon.

I said it was time for our feeding at Alonzo's also.  They have a great deal on their menu each day.  All of their appetizers are 1/2 price along with ALL the drinks from the bar from 4 PM till 6:30 PM and we were here at 5:10 PM.  We wound up having more food on the table than we could eat.  Oh well, that just means leftovers.  We ended the day spending just a little over our winnings of the previous night.

Then there was Friday, a day for the women and a day for the guys.  Mary and Rose started with Yoga and then time at the pool catching the warmth or the sun's rays.  It was a great day for just being quite and sharing good time together.

Tim & John joined Virgil on his boat for a day trying to bring home dinner.  Well, they sure did bring dinner home.  After about 6 hours, they came back with 29 Yellow Tail Snapper and 2 Grunts.  That turned out to be about 10#'s of fish fillets.  Virgil & Jo joined us for a great supper of fish, biscuits, steamed vegetables, salad and ice cream for dessert.  What a bountiful feast it was.

As far as the fishing went, John turned out to be the winner of the day by catching the most fish.  It was really a lot of fun seeing the look on his face as he pulled in the first three fish before anyone else caught anything.  What a fantastic time with great friends.

Saturday morning came way too quick for us.  Rose and I had our work cut out for us as we volunteer to serve at the pancake breakfast every other week and this was our day to help out.  John & Mary slept in and then joined us for breakfast before coming back to pack up for their trip back to Ft Meyers to catch their plane to the cold up north.  It was a sad time for us all.  However we are so fortunate to have been able to share this precious time with John & Mary.  We thank them both from the bottom of our hearts.

Mom's Visit

Time sure does go quickly when you're having fun. Our grandson, William, left us after a wonderful two week visit on January 4th and here it is February 6th.  A lot has happened sine then for sure.  The fun part is we're smiling the majority of the time.

After William left, we had a few days to go through the rig and get everything put back to normal.  We moved some things around so that he would have places to tore his things while he was here.  Now we had to get ourselves setup for Tim's mom's upcoming visit.  She was with us for 15 days starting on January 10th.  It was wonderful being able to spend this precious time with her.  We are very thankful and greatly appreciate it.

After picking mom up from the airport, we immediately introduced her to The Gieger Key Grill and their great dinner fair and a fantastic sunset.  It brought back memories for her of her and dad"s visit to us in Spain and watching the sun set over the ocean there.  Great memories for us, for sure.

The next day was set for mom and Roseann to compete in a Mah Jongg tournament.  Well mom won at her table as was rewarded with her trophy pen.   That was just the start of many days of her and Rose enjoying Dominoes and Mah Jongg game times.

Then on the 12th, we were able to celebrate her 91st birthday.  What a great treat for us and special to us all.  Her phone was buzzing all day as family called to wish her well.

There were football game parties, game nights, quite times, hot tub soaks and good sharing times.  There was also the morning exercise Yoga class on Tuesday and Friday that we attended.  The Friday TGIF gathering gave us good food, entertainment and meeting friends.

There was site seeing around Key West starting up at the southern most point in the U.S. picture.  There was food at Sloppy Joe's Bar and frozen Key lime pie on a stick at Matheson's.

We were also able to attend a seafood festival at the park in Key West and sample great food and, of course, ice cream.  Mom was able to do some shopping too.  It was a fun day for all.


Most of all, there was our time to go fishing.  Mom fished from the dock that was 5 ft behind our rig and from the nearby bridge.  She did really good fishing from the dock but she kept complaining that they were all small.  So it was to the bridge we went.  There she did extremely well at feeding the fish.  It's a little difficult for her to feel the fish biting.  I briefly thought about going out on a boat but quickly gave it up because of the current weather condition making it a little rough.






Before we knew it, her time with us was over and it was time to take her to the airport.  It was a special day.  We know our time of having her with us on this earth is getting shorter and we will cherish these moments forever.

After mom left, we just sat back, took a deep breath and got the rig back to normal.  Well almost normal.  There was something left behind that needed to be mailed to her.  Oh well, we were happy that is wasn't anything really big and heavy and we were able to include a little gift from the Keys.

Now we are fully back to normal and waiting for the fishing tournament coming up on Tuesday.  The weather has really been bad lately giving rough seas so this will be an interesting time.  No one has been able to go out and scope out the good fishing spots.  I've joined the boat club and was able to get a ride with one of the members.  This will be a fun time for sure.  They will be giving only two very small prizes for each category but the more important thing will be bragging rights for the winners.

Caught Four, Landed Two, Kept One

Well the fishing was just that, fishing. It was supposed to be, according to Windfinder.com, a really nice day for fishing. The winds were going to be low, small waves and sunny. I guess one out of three isn't bad. It was sunny for sure. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. The temperature was a little on the chilly side though. It started out around 61* with low winds. The temperature gained only a few degrees but the winds really picked up and the seas got really choppy.

I wound up hooking four fish, one broke the line really quick. The second one came really close to the boat before it chewed though the line. Then came number three which turned out to be a blue fish but it was too small. Oh well, next time I guess. About 30 minutes later after much tossing about, the big strike came. The pole was bent over and the fight was on. I was out about 100 yards, the current was running fast, and I was pulling against the current. Oh what fun it was. It turned out to be a solid 18 inches, a good keeper. That was it for the day. Oh well, next time.

Life has been good here in the Keys. We've made new friends and met up with some old ones. We are also awaiting visits from my mom and a high school friend and his wife. These friendships and our activities are what make our life exciting. We are feeling really special in being able to share in the excitement of accomplishments of those around us. As we look back on our life, so many times we recognized happenings but didn't acknowledge them. Today we are able and excited to take the time to share in and enjoy the excitement of others lives rather than just recognize it.

Happy New Year!

Wow! When I said we were busy here in the Keys, I didn't realize how fast time passes here.

Our grandson William came to visit us here on December 19th and it's now time for him to go back home tomorrow. We have had a ton of fun with him. I will admit though that I wasn't quite prepared for the eating habits of a growing twelve year old. There were only a couple of times when he finally said, I'm full. Success, I thought. Fat chance. One hour later, he starts grazing again.




While he was here we celebrated Roseann's birthday, went deep sea fishing for dolphin, went Yellow Tail fishing on a boat, fished off the bridge and from behind our rig in the boat canal.






We played Dominos, swam in the pool, sat in the hot tub, and visited with our friends Jo and Virgil. He made some friends here in the park and they would do the kid things like ride bikes, play "man hunt" at dusk, climb the coconut trees, and be kids.


We visited the aquarium, where he was able to find out some information about his life's dream from the people working there. We also introduced him to a frozen chocolate covered Key Lime Pie on a stick from Matheson's. Matheson's is also the home of the biggest and best hot fudge brownie sundae anywhere.









We introduced him to the world of snorkeling, riding on and driving boat small boats on the ocean. Yesterday we went to the Dry Totugas. It's 70 miles, 2 1/2 hr ride from Key West by boat. It was a long day finished off by a great meal on Big Coppit Key.




His last day here in the Keys is getting him prepared to go back to Albuquerque. It's windy and cold here now with more on the way. Tonight it's supposed to get down into the 40's. Ugh! I just may have to turn on the heat.

Besides all this, I also sang in a Christmas Cantata with a choral group in the keys. You can see a video here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lS_Uf0l2c_Q&feature=g-upl&context=G26a5cf4AUAAAAAAAAAA. I also continued my cooking breakfast pancakes on Saturday morning for the RV park breakfast. Along with all the other activity, we had to change sites here in Venture Out RV Park on January 1st. That was the start of our New Year after a night of partying with friends.

I will close for now with a wish for all for great health, safe travels, prosperity in love and work, and the realization of all the blessings we receive each day from The Lord above.

Busy in the Keys

I guess the old adage is true, when you retire, "When Did I Find the Time to Work?"is the mantra of the day.  Each day as the sun sets, we turn around and look at each other and ask, "Is it Bed Time Yet?" or "Where Has the Day Gone?"

Morning typically will bring out the cooking in me.  It's my time to get the day started for us with a great breakfast.  Nothing better than starting the day with energy for what's to come.  I'm a firm believer that in order to perform well, the body needs good fuel.

While cooking, it's usually the time for the sun to rise.  We make it our special time to thank God for bringing us and our family and friends safely through the night and ask for a bountiful day.

We have volunteered to help out every other Saturday morning with the Venture Out pancake breakfast cooking.  That means we are up at 6 AM to go and get things ready to start serving at 8 AM.  By the time we are done cleaning up, it's almost 10:30.  Then it's home to wash up and get rid of the vanilla pancake essence.  Saturday is also our day for a little exploring around the Keys, along with any other day we feel like going.

Then during the week, there are the regular things like morning walks, bike rides, water aerobics, catching up on the latest national & political news, emails, telephone calls to family & friends, laundry, dominoes, mah jongg, cooking gourmet meals, up-keep on the RV, reading, and of course, fishing.  It's amazing how the time just seems to fly accomplishing all this and more.

Then there are the special events.  Our church here, St Peter's, recently had a friend of theirs, Jim Trainer, from New York here for a visit and a night of Christmas entertainment.  It was a lot of fun joining him in singing Christmas carols.

For the Christmas season, I joined a choir and will doing a Cantata  at three different venues this month, including St Peter's, Venture Out and the Methodist Church.  I guess that's being ecumenical in the season.  It sure does take a lot of practice to get it sounding decent.

We have also decorated the RV inside and the area outside with our lights.  Many people in the park have decorated their units really nice.  We enjoy it all.

Oh, I mentioned fishing as one of the occupiers of my time.  Virgil & I went out on Wednesday for about 6 hours and came back with these fish.  The one I'm holding is a Mutton Snapper that was 28" long and weighed in at 11 lbs.  I must say that it was a really fun day.  I also caught 2 others that we threw back because of size and caught 3 others that never made it on the boat.  I came close on one that we identified as a dolphin but the other two are unknowns.  Oh well, maybe next time.

Then there is just sharing good times with our friends here in the park.  It always amazes me on how different the RV community is from the one that we lived in in the different cities. It this community, people get out and meet others through their walks around and just in the daily activities outside.  In the city community, people were more apt to get inside the house and stay there.  Here, life is more outside and prone to interaction with each other.  It would be nice if more communities were like this.  It reminds me much of the times when I was growing up and people spent more time visiting with neighbors and out and about.

I guess the lesson we are learning is that there is so much more to life than just work and we are glad that we have this great opportunity to experience it.

The rest of this month will be even busier with birthdays, family visits, community holiday happenings along with daily life.  Hopefully we'll also be able to a little more fishing in with everything else.

A Very Special Day, Our 47th Wedding Anniversary!

Today was a very special day for us as we celebrated our 47th wedding anniversary.  We've had all sorts of weather changes, rain, wind rough seas and this evening with cooling breezes, calm seas and sunshine ending a wonderful day.  I guess it was much like our life has been thus far.  It all started some 47 years ago in Berwyn, Ill at St Odillo;s Church when I said "I DO".  Oh wait, I think I meant to say "Yes Dear".  Just kidding.  This has been a wonderful partnership in life. 

It's been a wonderful journey with Roseann at my side.  Together we have shared some incredible times and events, too numerous to list.  Today we get to share this day with our friends Virgil & Jo.  Virgil & I went fishing for a while (or is it fed the fish) and Roseann & Jo played Mah Jongg. 

We all went for dinner to No Name Pub on Big Pine Key.  It was built in 1935, has wonderful food and their walls & ceiling is covered with one dollar bills.  You can check them out  at www.nonamepub.com.  We opted for a spinach lobster dip w chips, garlic bread w marinara sauce and then a Royal Pub Pizza.  This 14" pizza was enough for the 4 of us and was really really good.  We finished it off with Key Lime pie, of course.  It was a great night of fun & laughs for all.  Then it was time to go home for entertainment.  I'll leave that part of the story to your own imagination.  Suffice it to say that we laughed and enjoyed ourselves immensely.  

We are looking forward to many more years together.  So far we are blessed with great health both body & mind.  We pray that it continues that way as we travel together on our journey of life that began this day 47 years ago when two teenagers promised each other their hearts and had dreams that seemed crazy then but are being lived out today.  Thank you!

Thanksgiving Dinner for 80 People

Thanksgiving day started like most days we've seen so far here in the Keys. We were given a spectacular sunrise.  I used to think that only the mountains in the west provided gorgeous scenery.  I've changed my mind and have seen the flat sea do the same.

We lazied around this morning.  We had coffee on the patio watching the sunrise and had a simple breakfast because we knew what the afternoon was to bring.  We were going to attend a potluck Thanksgiving dinner at St Peter's Catholic church in Big Pine Key.  It was a great time to meet some of the parishioners from the church.  There were 80 people at dinner.  I cannot begin to tell you how great the meal was.  Everyone brought the best dishes and the roasted and fried turkey was so tasty.  It truly was a meal fit for a king for all who were there.

It turned out that we met a lot of people from the RV park that we are staying at, which was good.  I especially enjoyed meeting Margaret & Bob.  They have been married a really long time and shared their success story with us.  At 92 Bob still fishes commercially and enjoys life to the fullest.  What an inspiration they are to Roseann and I.  We'll definitely be seeing more of them and Sarah and Ken during our stay.

Sarah and Roseann play Mah Jongg with some other ladies a couple of afternoons a week.  I think that I'll be "shanghied" into learning this new game soon (in between fishing, swimming, walking, water aerobics and oh did I mention fishing).

Again, we are blest on our journey with new people entering our lives and becoming a new thread in our tapestry of life.  How wonderful to have this experience.  We are so grateful to all for sharing themselves in our lives.

Full Timing Lifestyle Blessings

We are often asked how we like this lifestyle of not having a place we call home.  We are most asked about the holidays and sharing of those special days or birthdays, graduations, marriages, and births with our families and especially the grandchildren.  There are always more questions than answers but the one answer that keeps coming up the most is that we are following a dream and fulfilling a promise I made some 47 years ago to Roseann.  I asked her "Marry me and I'll show you the world".  Well here we are exploring the world and enjoying each day.

I was reminded this morning, by an email from a friend in Colorado that we made from this lifestyle, about the gifts that we have received from this lifestyle.  The people that we have met and the friendships that have ensued from those meetings are beyond value.  We cherish each one of them and hold them dear in our hearts.  The friends are from all parts of the USA and Canada and yet we always feels their presence either through meetings on the road, phone calls or emails.  They are always close by.

We have also encountered God's creation up close.   This was our sunrise two days ago.  It lasted long enough for me to get 2 pictures.  That shaft of light pointed right at the door of our "home".  What a way to begin our day.

We also have encountered some fun times with God's creatures.  While we are here in the Keys, I am able to go fishing right behind us in the canal.  Some of the fish are just not what I want but there are those who want whatever I want to throw back.  We named this one "Mikie" because he will eat anything I give him.  He knows that he'll at least get one.

This is why we travel, The friendships, the beauty of the land and God's gifts to us, our world.

Friends - We Are Blest With Many.

This has been a great year for us in reconnecting with our friends from Saudi Arabia and Hawaii.  Since September of this year, we have met up with 3 of our friends from Saudi Arabia either in person or via Skype.

Lorne & Shelly live just outside of Dallas and we stayed with them and then with Jon & Mary Lou in Brownwood, TX.  We had met them in Saudi and had stayed in touch all these years.  Then we met up with Rich & Judy, from our Hawaii days, in Marietta, GA.  The memories they all brought back were fantastic.

Then through the wonders of the internet, yesterday we were able to spend almost an hour talking and seeing our friends Glenn & Judy in New Zealand.  That was a fantastic time.

Friends are chosen by each other.  It is a blessing for us to have been chosen by these people to be their friends.  We must say "Thank You" for this blessing.

It Was a Hard Days Work!

We are in the Florida Keys At Venture Out because of our good friends Virgil & Jo Allmond. We visited with them here this past February. They had invited us to consider coming here for the winter months this year instead of going to the Rio Grande Valley in Texas. It sure was the right decision.

Virgil had a boat in storage this past summer and when he went to pick it up, he found that someone had stolen the motor. A few bummer days followed until he found "Doll's Dusky" while he was parked in Ft Lauderdale. I rode with him up to Ft Lauderdale to pick his "new" boat. WOW! It is great. The next couple of days were spent getting things cleaned up and set for the Coast Guard inspection. It was then time to try out the boat for fishing. The first day was kind of a "dry" run. We hooked a few but didn't them into the boat.

We then waited for a few days until the wind died down and hit it good. We started in 90' of water with no luck. Then after and hour we shifted into 60' of water and it was jackpot. We hit 14 Yellow Tail snapper for 9 lbs. of fillets. It sure made for a great meal with some headed to the freezer for later.

It's a New Day in Paradise!

As you can see, it has been some time since our last post and a lot has happened. We are currently parked at Venture Out Resort in Cudjoe Key, FL. We wake up and get to see the sun coming up from the ocean and stream it's light into our living room. It is a blessing that we are able to experience this beauty.

So what's happened in the time since our last post? We have continued our travels around the country and have met some very wonderful people, renewed old friendships, visited great places, and we're able to participate in some milestone events.

We've stayed in some awesome RV parks and some overnight spots were one night seemed to be forever. Fortunately there were only a couple of those and they are our list of "No Stays". Our favorites thus far and in no particular order are the Air Force Academy, Creede, CO, Ft Sam Houston RV Park @ Canyon Lake, TX, Bentson Palms RV Park, Mission, TX, South Padre Island, TX, Kirtland AFB, NM, Ft Myers Beach, FL and Cudjoe Key, FL.

To help a little on the geography, Cudjoe Key is at mile marker 23. That means we are 23 miles from Key West and all it's excitement. The place where we are parked looks over the Atlantic Ocean. I step out our door of the RV and walk 10 feet beyond the rear of the RV and drop my fishing line into the boat canal. We are able to have a 35 ft boat park at our spot. Who knows what'll happen while we're here.

Some of the milestone events that we participated in were seeing the Brickyard 400 up close from the infield of the track, being at the Grand Ole Opry when the Oak Ridge Boys were inducted into their membership, being at Graceland for the anniversary of the death of Elvis, and being with my friend Virgil when he picked up his new boat, a fully decked out used 2004 Dusky 233.

There were also family milestones that occurred. Our granddaughter Jessica graduated from high school. Considering all that she has been through in her life, we were thrilled to able to witness and celebrate that great day. Then there was the wedding of our grandson Mac to Jenifer. As far as I'm concerned that was the 4th best wedding I ever attended, ours, our daughters and his. The only problem with it is that it means we are definitely getting older. Although we are not feeling it at all.

Our health has been blessed. Rose and I are feeling extremely well. Our biggest issue is finding all of these excellent restaurants around the country. It means that we really have to exercise more than ever. I'm sure that we'll get plenty of that here in the Keys.

Well enough for now. We are going to work harder at keeping up the blog on a regular basis. We've had many requests from our friends who want to share our travels.

May 19 - Albuquerque, NM

We were once again settled in at the Sierra Vista RV park along with our host & good friend Joy. We enjoy staying here and helping her out when ever we are in town.

Becky is getting better as the days go by. She is doing her exercises very religiously. Hopefully she'll recoup faster than expected. She can drive next week. HURRAY!

We were also able to spend some extra time with our faith sharing group. Bob Rodgers is on the recoup from his fall, thank God. He's really looking good. He did not recommend his method of weight loss though. I tend to agree with him too. It was good to see everyone else too.

This was a lot of time for visiting with friends and family. We spent an afternoon with my uncle Rich & aunt Joyce. This was the first time that they saw our setup. It was a fun afternoon for us catching up on family news.

Then there was our time spent with Larry & Roz Gibble. We haven't laughed this much in a long time. Larry sure had a big smile on his face when we went for a ride in the truck. He's a Volvo car enthusiast and is currently restoring an older Volvo. He really is meticulous about it too. He does that in between his 100 mile bike rides with Roz. They have this really neat tandem bike and just finished the "Santa Fe 100". My butt is sore after 10 miles. I can't imagine 100 miles.

We popped in at Missy & Gerald Simnacher's place to see their remodel project. Oh how it reminded us of our big project. They had the kitchen down to the studs and then some. It's going to turn our really good. To our surprise the person doing the remodel was an old friend of ours.

Dinner with Fabian Gagnon & my mom was again a fun filled evening. It was laughter and remembering the good times we all have had together. Besides Fabian is a really good cook.

Then there was dinner with mom & Joy. Mom surprised us with our special quilt. WOW! What a mom. We will cherish it forever. It looks great on our bed too. It really dresses up the place.

Mom sure hasn't forgotten to cook either. As always we were treated to a great meal. We are truly blessed to have her still with us and for us to be able to share some really great times with her. We have the "million dollar" memories of our times with her. We wish her many more years of good health and thank her very much for all that she has done for us through out her life.

It seems like all we did was visit friends and eat. We had a special treat when we visited Mike & Chelsea. He taught us how to make bar-b-que grill pizza. It was soooo good. That's the only way to eat pizza as far as we're concerned. Those others will never taste the same again.

We were able to get some time in with my brother Stan & his wife Joyce. They were hiding out from the kids. As he said he just needed to get away for a little bit. I just can't understand why with two teenagers home for the summer. Ha Ha. I remember those times well of needing a little peace and quite.

Well now it's time to pack up and get on the move, finally. We are getting anxious to head up north for our summer excursion. Besides it's supposed to hit 100* this week in Albuquerque.

May 13 - Moriarty, NM

It's time to get some annual maintenance completed at RV Sales. There's not much to do but I like to have Ralph and his crew do the things that need done for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, they are real good at what they do. They know their stuff. If they spot something that I've missed, they will let me know and fix it. There are also things they can do that I can't because they have the equipment.

This is also the weekend for the annual "flea market" at RV Sales. They open the lot to the community people to have a place to have one huge sale. It also helps on their exposure. We were able to help with answering questions about our setup and what it's like to live full time in the RV. All in all a fun time for everyone.

Sunday and Monday was spent visiting friends from the surrounding area, Kathy & Robert Andrews. We have known them since the mid 80's and have watched their son grow up into a fine young man. Rose worked with Kathy for many years at the New Mexico Organ Donor Services.

By Wednesday afternoon all the repairs and maintenance was completed and it was time to head back to Albuquerque.

May 4 - Albuquerque, NM

We arrived back in Albuquerque before the high winds blasted the highways once more. It was great to come back and visit with our good friend Joy and her 2 dogs Sammy & Foxy and the 2 cats George & Tizzie. We were amazed at how we were greeted by the animals. They just made themselves right back at home. We continually find George on our doorstep. I think he's trying to edge his way into our home before we move on again. I don't think so. There is just not enough room for George in this rig.


Our 1st visit was to the Smart car dealership to show them just how their Smart car was transported on the back of BigBit. Carlos was happy to see the setup and took his share of pictures. We hope that it'll help with his sales.


Then it was time to unload. We now have a good feel for the time it really takes us to unload because this time we didn't have a large gathering watching us and asking questions. I was surprised that we were able to unload in just under 40 minutes. That's setting up the ramps, unloading the car and then storing all the equipment. It wasn't a contest to see how fast I could do this but just a measurement of the time it takes to unload the car. Loading the car adds about 20 minutes to the time.

There must have been something in the air this past week causing people to lose teeth. Our 2 granddaughters had their wisdom teeth pulled and Roseann had her last wisdom tooth pulled. This all happened over a three day period. Our granddaughter here in Albuquerque, Anna, had the worst time of all. It caused her to miss three days of school because of a swollen jaw. No fun.


Then our daughter Rebecca had to have surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff in her right shoulder. UGH! Not anything I want to have done soon. They tell her that she could have full function back in 3 -4 months. I know that she'll do it too. She's tough when it comes to rehab. I watched her rehab a busted up knee from skiing a long time ago.

Then it was Anna's confirmation day. It was busy from the start because now we have been charged with getting the kids to school. Yea, remember Rebecca just had surgery and no driving for a while. School, then errands with my mom, then my errands, visit with and show our friend Arnie Bigbit, pick up Anna from school, take her to the dentist for a check on her braces, pick up her friend for a visit at her house, take her friend home on our way to church at 6 PM for the confirmation service at 7 PM, save seats for the rest of the family who will be there around 6:45 PM. The service ended at 8:40 and I was there at 5:50. By my calculations, that's 2 hr & 50 min on the hard church bench. I hope that gets me a higher and softer seat some place when I die. My backside sure was flatter after that. What I really learned today, is that being a mom or dad never ends and is truly a labor of love. My hat is off to all the mom's ( dad's too) who have to run around and do all the things I did today plus HAVE A JOB. I salute you!

Thursday morning. It's moving day for us. The rig needs some annual maintenance and a few minor additions & repairs. It's out to RV Sales for Ralph & his crew to do their magic. I have to remember though that we still are driving the kids and helping to take car of our daughter. Oh oh, I think I'll be putting some miles on LilBit. Thank goodness for good gas mileage.

April 27 - Alto, NM

After leaving the Excel RV rally in Las Cruces, NM, we traveled to Ruidoso, NM to meet up with our Full Time RVing mentors, Mel & Karol. It's been about a year since we last spent some good time with them. We are looking forward to a week of lots of laughs.

This has been a winter to remember for sure. We have not been able to find a "winter haven" where we could spend our days in shorts enjoying nice balmy weather. Here we are at Little Creek RV Park in Alto, NM and it has NOT been shorts weather. I guess we'll keep our long pants & warm jackets available a little longer. The weather had cooperated a little. The sun was out most of the time except when we experienced 60+ mph winds, rain, hail & snow. Did I say snow? For sure because we awoke Sunday morning to 2 inches of snow. It was absolutely gorgeous. The only thing we missed this time here was seeing the deer near our rig. In our past visits, the deer were all over the place. We saw deer in town and there were fresh signs of deer in the parks but they not to be seen.

Alto, NM is a suburb of Ruidoso and is just very beautiful. We were able to spend Thursday morning exploring one of the famous sites of the area, the Spencer Theater for the Performing Arts. They offer a comprehensive tour of the facilities every Tuesday & Thursday morning. We were amazed that such a facility would exit in this small mountain town in New Mexico. The more we travel around this country of ours, we are finding little treasure like this "hidden" under our very noses. We are still learning just how to approach each stop with greater a curiosity.

After a week of fun, laughter and just great times with our friends, it's time to move on to Albuquerque, NM for more closs time with family and friends. It'll be good to visit with everyone.

April 20 - Las Cruces, NM

It's time for the Spring Excel Rally. Each spring & fall, the Excel Owners Club of New Mexico has a big get-together for a weekend. Some of the owner will come early and stay later, if they can. We can, so we did.

We arrived on Tuesday mid-afternoon, got everything setup and unloaded the car. That's becoming a real crowd gatherer. The official time of the rally if Friday through Sunday, so there are only a few people here.

We were able to see our friends, Joy & the MacAlexander's that evening. It was a time to catch up on all of the happenings with each other. God my side hurt from all of the laughing. They are all a really great bunch.

Then our friends Mel & Karol arrived from their winter home in Arizona. It's always great to see them and share stories. Mel is going to be one of the seminar presenters this weekend on "tips & tricks" of owning and maintaining an RV.

Then we took a side trip to Deming, NM to visit the St. Clair winery. You can get wine there straight out of the cask into your own jug. We had them mix the wine and walked out with our own special blends. Now the best part is that there are no added sulphates in the wine. That means that Roseann can enjoy a glass every so often. Total cost of this fine wine is $3.25 / qt.

Thursday start to bring in more & more rigs. All in all 60+ rigs showed up and we had a great time. I spent a lot of time answering questions about our setup with the truck and car. People were really surprised to find out what bottom line costs were to do it the way we chose. Now that they know it's affordable, we just might see more big rigs on the road as rv tow vehicles.

We received some good news from our friends Daryl & Cindy this week. They are going Full Time in their rv after they leave the rally. They go back home, pack things up and move on down the road. We'll see them in early June as they begin their journey north to South Dakota to get their driver licenses.

I was able to get the truck washed and waxed while there. That's always a trick because the truck is 13.5' tall. Getting to the top and waxing it gets to be a challenge. A lot of people got their rv's washed and waxed while they were there. A company comes around and makes everyone a special deal. For a lot of folks, it's a lot easier for someone else to do it.

Monday came fast. It's now time for us to load the car and be ready to close up tomorrow for the move to our next stop on our journey to enjoy the sights and sounds of the U.S.

March 26 - Ft Sam FamCamp, Canyon Lake, TX

We sure are glad that we are retired and able to be very flexible with our schedule. Three weeks into our five week stay in Mission, TX, we received a call from our daughter Jean telling us that she was going to have surgery the next day. She had had previous surgery and there were some complications that developed from that time. Nothing serious but it was going to keep her down for a couple of days and needed some help.

Well, that afternoon we loaded up the Smart car in getting ready to move up to Canyon Lake the next day. Wouldn't you know it too. The weather was finally warming up really nice after a cold winter. Fortunately we were heading just a little north and there would be some fishing. I hadn't been able to do too much up to this point in Texas. It's just been too cold and rainy most of the time.

On our way to Canyon Lake, we seemed to have picked up a extra piece to our rig. Just on the south side of San Antonio, we went through a highway construction zone. We have no idea what happened but when we stopped, we found this piece of rebar stuck in the front of the trailer. I have no recollection of going over anything in the road. We were very grateful that it didn't penetrate any further because it possibly could have gone through a propane tank. I just perish the thought of the possible consequences of that event.

We were very fortunate to get a great spot at Ft Sam Houston's FamCamp at Canyon Lake near Jean's house. I say fortunate because it is a 1st come 1st serve facility. There are no reservations taken. Ada, Jim, Billie and their spouses and the rest gang were really great.

We also had a little more excitement there than we needed. Early Friday morning, I was sitting watching the morning news and I heard the fire engine sirens in the distance. I was thinking that they were on the main highway. Well the siren kept getting louder and louder. When I looked out the door, I saw it coming down the access to the park. I ran out of our rig and saw a bunch of my neighbors at a rig three doors down with fire extinguishers in hand and smoke just pouring out the side of the rig. Not what anyone ever wants to see. It seems that the refrigerator caught fire. It was due for a recall fix the following Monday. Needless to say they didn't need that appointment on Monday. Instead they had one with the insurance company. The rig was a total loss.

We made sure that Jean was well recouped and we had good times with our granddaughter, Jessica, and our grandson Mac & his girl friend Jennifer. Mac's a pretty good cook. He learned a lot from working at the Olive Garden. I learned that pasta is pasta and nothing else. Every time I used another name, I was reminded that we were having "pasta".

Fishing was good. I caught enough to have a good fish fry for us and the family and then still have enough in the freezer for about 4 more meals. The fish were crappie, large mouth bass, perch, catfish, & carp (I threw that back). Roseann finally said that we had enough and if I caught any more I had to throw them back.

We got to go to Austin and visit with our friend from Albuquerque, Sherry. She's doing very well and really enjoys Austin.

We also visited with our other FTing friends, Alan & Ann, who came down to Canyon Lake from their current stay in Austin. We always enjoy our time with them & sharing our adventures.

Everything is now OK with Jean. It's time to head out and go the Excel rally this coming weekend in Las Cruces, NM. We are really looking forward to that. We'll get to see our good friends, Mel & Karol, as they get back on the road after hunkering down for the winter south of Tucson. We have the Smart loaded and we'll leave in the morning, Monday.

As you can well see, Roseann sure has a big smile on her face when she is driving BigBit. She's actually getting very good at it. Shifting is still in need of more practice but time behind the wheel will cure the ills.

March 20 - Mission, TX

We are now half way through our stay in Mission, TX. It has really been nice here. The weather is finally clearing and warming up. We have actually been able to spend some time in the sun at the pool except for today. We are able to have great times in the picnic area which is right across from our rig. The grounds here are very well maintained.

Last week Wednesday we decided to go to Albuquerque and get some needed doctor visits done. We flew in and stayed at our daughter's house and helped her celebrate her ??? birthday on Thursday. It seems like yesterday she was born in Idaho Falls.

Thursday morning we were "treated" to SNOW. We've been trying to get where it's warm with sunny weather this winter to no avail. It was nice to see the snow though. It was a typical snow for Albuquerque and by the afternoon it was all melted. We also had snow off and on throughout the day on Sunday. I'm sure glad we brought our winter clothes with us.

On Saturday Roseann, my mom and I were able to see Anna in a club volleyball tournament. That sure was a very very long day. They took about 9 hrs to finish. WOW! Anna's team, Blaze, came in 2nd. I think they're really good for just starting the team in the club ball arena.

On Sunday, our son-in-law, Joel, was given command of the New Mexico Air National Guard's Air Craft Maintenance Division. We sure are proud of him. He's done very well for himself. Now he's is charge of making sure that the F-16's are ready to go and do their job for our freedom. Thank you Joel for your dedication and service.

Rebecca recently retired from the New Mexico Air National Guard as a Captain after 25 yrs of service. It seems like yesterday that I swore her into the Guard and she was starting college. We're really proud of her accomplishment of going from enlisted to officer. Not many people are able to do that in the military. Without a doubt both Rebecca and Joel have sacrificed much in order that the rest of us can continue to enjoy our freedom.

We came back home to Mission late in the evening on Monday. Now we are hoping for warm & sunny weather for the rest of our stay. However, here it is Saturday and the wind is up gusting to 35 mph and it's 62* with clouds all over the place. We're still optimistic though that the sun will come out real soon.

The RV parks here are starting to clear out. With Easter around the corner, more and more people are starting to head back home. Also the Canadians are starting to go back home because of the 6 month rule for them. We'll be here until after Easter and then start heading up north through Las Cruces, Albuquerque and Colorado Springs.

We also spent a day in Progresso, MX. It's a very small border town who's main industry is dental work for the foreigners. I'd swear that there were 100's of places to get dental work done. Then there are the pharmacies and the knick knack shops. We did meet our friends, Tom & Donna Clapham, there for lunch though. It was good food and lots of fun.

March 2 - Mission, TX

Today was moving day. We left Alamo, TX and moved all of 24 miles west to Bentsen Palms RV Park in Mission, TX. We didn't load LilBit because it was too much work for such a short distance. It is right next to the World Birding Center Headquarters and the Bentsen Rio Grande State Park. We are looking forward to hearing all the sounds of the birds as we walk around the area.

The rest of our stay at Casa de Valle RV Park was better with each day that the weather got better. It finally got good enough for us to spend some quality time in the pool and hot tub.

We were also able to spend real good times with other Excel owners. It's always great to hear of their travels around the country, where they stayed, about the local area and the people they met.

This was the fifth time we had to hitch the big truck to the trailer and it went really well. Roseann sure is good at guiding me into the hitch. She reminds me of a ground crewman guiding an airplane into the gate. She's right on the money.

Hopefully we'll be seeing some warmer weather without all of the wind real soon. I'd like to be able to put the awning down, sit out and listen to the sounds of all the birds around us.

Where has the time gone?

I decided to get back on track and continue to journal our travels. As you can see it's been a few months since my last post. A lot has happened to us and the family during this time. I'll try to catch you up on the last few months events.

We spent all of September in Creede. CO. What a wonderful time we had watching the fall changing of the Aspins happen right before our eyes. When we got there everything was an emerald green. Then by the 2nd week, the green started to fade and the yellows, oranges and brown hues started to appear. Every morning we'd walk out of our door, look up to the mountains and just be amazed by the glorious colors. It was great to see the full thing happen.

There were 2 Excel rallies held while we were in Creede. First it was the Colorado group and then the New Mexico group. All in all there were some 80 Excels there over the 2 weeks. We really had a fun time with everyone. We even made plans to catch up with a few during the winter in the Rio Grande Valley.

The fishing in Creede was fabulous. Our fridge was full of Rainbow trout when we left Colorado. We finally finished it all just a few weeks ago. It sure was good.

We then spent October and November helping our friend Joy Sierra get her house and property ready for sale. We were able to stay on her property with our rig during this time. It was great to help her achieve what almost seemed like an impossible task. We sure made a lot of runs to the dump. I actually wore out two sets of leather gloves.

With all that was going on we just had to take a 'vacation'. early November found us in Cancun at our favorite place on the Mayan Riviera. We were there for a week with our good friend, Barb & Howard, from MN. We were very lucky to being missed by the last hurricaine. It passed just to the east of Cancun. We wound up with two days of rain and then a lot of clouds during the week. We were able to take a side trip to the Mayan ruins. That was really something to see. All in all, it was a nice break from making 'dump runs'.

October also brought a big change to us. While we were in Creede, we met Virgil & Jo. They are also Full Time RV'ers and use a HDT to pull their 5th wheel. Needless to say, I asked for some help to get some questions answered about their setup. We had some issues with our truck during our recent trips through the mountains of Colorado. I was beginning to think that we were going to have to look at a larger truck to insure our safety in pulling our trailer.

Well, we wound up buying a new truck, selling our old truck and buying a Smart car all within a two week period. The Dear Lord had taken care of everything for us. We just knocked on the doors and they flew open real easy. We found a '06 Volvo 670, 465 hp, 13 speed, that was really clean in Rochester, MN. I flew up to see it and wound up buying it. From there I drove it to Herrin Welding in Kilgore, TX for a make-over.

Larry Herrin did his magic so that we'd be able to put the Smart car on the trucks back and haul the trailer wherever we went. That was a six week project and finally finished up the 1st week of December. Roseann and I drove out to Kilgore in the Smart car, LilBit, and picked up the truck, now named BigBit. We loaded LilBit on the new bed and headed back to Albuquerque to pick up our 5th wheel. Two days later we were off to New Braunfels, TX to see our daughter Jean and her family for the holidays.

We spent Christmas with Jean and Marshall's family. What a fun time we had. We stayed at Fort Sam Houston FamCamp for the time. I tried fishing but it was just too cold.

We left for Corpus Christi on December 28th. We needed to get warm. Were we ever in for a surprise. Rain, Rain, Fog and more Rain. We spent the month of January there and only had about seven nice days where we were warm. UGH! No fishing in Corpus Christi. Every day that was nice we went exploring the area.

We did find that we could get all the fresh shrimp that we wanted to eat. That was a huge benefit for both of us. We did have fun though, even with the foul weather. On January 28th we headed further south to Alamo, TX in the Rio Grande Valley for hopefully warmer weather.

Well that brings us up to the present. We are now at the Casa de Valle RV park in Alamo, TX. Guess what? The weather hasn't changed. It is still rainy & foggy most of the time. It's been a little warmer here but still not warm enough. This weekend is supposed to be sunny and warm. We can only hope.