Wherever I Go

I know it has been forever since I last updated, and there were some really good stops in May which I will attempt to go back and catch up on soon, so keep checking back! But while I only have a few minutes before waking the girls and getting ready to roll out of Hilton Head (where we have been since June 1 and are quite sad to be leaving...again), I thought I'd share one of our travel-day traditions: the departure song. We got this idea from another full-time RVing family, the Lundys (who keep a much better blog than I do - check it out at www.lundy5.com). After searching and debating for awhile, we happened on our song, and we all agreed it fit. I am rather embarrassed to say that it is a Hannah Montana song, but here it is:

Wherever I Go

Here we are now
Everything's about to change
We face tomorrow as we say goodbye to yesterday
A chapter ending but the story's only just begun
A page is turning for everyone

So I’m moving on
Letting go
Holding on to tomorrow
I’ve always got the memories while I’m finding out who I’m gonna be
We might be apart but I hope you always know
You’ll be with me wherever I go

So excited I can barely even catch my breath
We have each other to lean on for the road ahead
This happy ending is the start of all our dreams
And I know your heart is with me

So I’m moving on
Letting go
Holding on to tomorrow
I’ve always got the memories while I’m finding out who I’m gonna be
We might be apart but I hope you always know
You’ll be with me wherever I go

Its time to show the world we’ve got something to say
A song to sing out loud we’ll never fade away
I know I’ll miss you but we’ll meet again someday
We’ll never fade away

So I’m moving on
Letting go
Holding on to tomorrow
I’ve always got the memories while I’m finding out who I’m gonna be
We might be apart but I hope you always know
You’ll be with me wherever I go

After that, lately we have been playing and singing "Living on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi (nice and loud on our awesome surround sound) followed by "Lemonade" by Chris Rice. A strange mixture, I know, but it's what pumps us up for the road ahead and reminds us of how very blessed we are to be taking that road... :)

April's travels and pics

We started slowly and close to home by staying in Sun City's RV park for the first 10 days of April. From there we went to Hunting Island State Park in Beaufort, SC. It remains the most beautiful of campgrounds I have been to, and it was fun to camp next to Mom and Walt for part of that time :)

Next we went up to Charleston for about 24 hours. Jon and his dog Koda joined us. The rock climbing, dining out, and wii tournament were all good, but watching Jon's tent (empty) blow into the lake and him having to retrieve it on one of the boogie boards was priceless. Unfortunately, we were laughing too hard to get a picture or video of that particular memory, so these will have to suffice:

Once leaving South Carolina amidst tornado watches, we arrived at Jekyll Island, GA at a naturally beautiful but crowded campground. Bicycling with the dogs in their baskets was a highlight, as was the sea turtle museum/hospital.

From there we went down to Ormond Beach, FL for one night to visit with Jeff and Erin Ash and family. We helped them open their pool and their beautiful new summer kitchen, and the children got along as if they had been lifelong friends :)

The next day we moved on to the Orlando area. We stayed in a nondescript RV park in Clermont, and I visited an ultrasound school in Celebration which may offer distance learning again by the time I am ready to go back to school. But the highlight of that 24-hour stop was a place Erin Ash had told us about in Longwood: Rebounderz! It is a trampoline play place and fun was had by all three of us. Here is a video:

The following day we headed to Tampa to an RV park which is also a sizable service center/dealership/retail store. That was Easter weekend and we met up with the Davis family - friends from the RV rally in January. They have two girls the same ages as Annalise and Talia, and it was a wonderful, relaxing time. We look forward to this summer when they become full-time RVers and hopefully we can meet up again :)
And thanks to Donia, who made Easter egg coloring possible...

After a week in Tampa, the girls and I drove down to Ft Myers to meet up with two different families. My friends Jill and Vince from Pensacola were there with their children for a wedding, and my friend Kimber who is a full-time RVer was there with her daughters. We only saw Jill and Vince briefly as they had a busy wedding schedule to follow, but we have been at their house in Pensacola for almost a week now - but more about our adventures here in the next update... While in Ft Myers, Talia turned 10! We celebrated by doing some parasailing from Ft Myers Beach with Kimber and her girls.

So, while all our destinations have been interesting and fun in various ways, for me it is meeting up with friends and family that makes the best memories.:)

Birthday on the Road!

It's been awhile since the last post. Since then the RV has been in for it's first service appointment, which is a little different than taking your car in for service. It's more like being homeless for a day! Fortunately, I have a warranty plan which took care of all but the deductible. Unfortunately, I did not find out until last night (my first time driving Howie in the dark) that my headlights do not work! Actually, it's only the low beams that do not work. High beams provided light, but not enough that any of the motorists I passed flashed their brights. Lucky for me, I then arrived at the home of my friends Jill and Vince in Pensacola, and Vince is extremely handy in the building and repairing department. He has narrowed down the problem to a relay or a fuse and should be able to fix it tomorrow. He also lowered my driver's seat to it's original factory-installed position, removing the 3" block a previous owner had remounted it on. This is a repair the service center refused to do due to "liability issues" with modifying a driver seat. I had argued that the seat had already been modified, and that they would only be restoring it to its original, safe position, but they didn't see it that way. So huge thanks to Vince! I am hoping this improved driving position will help alleviate the swelling and pain I've been having when driving... If not, I guess it's "granny socks" for me on driving days - lol!

On a more celebratory note, Talia turned 10 on the road! She is the first of us to have a birthday since moving into Howie. No, I did not attempt to bake a cake. Considering the size and efficiency of Howie's oven, the heat of Ft Myers, and the vast array of yummy options nearby, California Pizza Kitchen and Haagen-Dazs won out.

For the inedible type of treat, the girls got to go parasailing for the first time. Just like my Aunt Jean described it: flying without the plane :) They both loved it, and it was even more fun to be able to do it with friends Elaina and Neva who are also on the road full time. Here they are just lifting off the boat...

And there they are at the end of 900' of rope!

Happy Birthday Talia!

Next time: gas prices and the cost of RV travel...

The Speed of Life on the Road

What a difference a week can make. Some things are the same: I am still very excited about the adventure, I still marvel at the kindness of strangers and the general "goodness" of people we encounter, I am still on a very steep learning curve, and I still long for friends and family. But there is one very important difference. I am realizing the value of slowing down.

Somehow I thought it would be a good idea to be in a different place four days in a row last week. Duh! It was exhausting! Not that I didn't have good reasons for scheduling it that way, but they weren't good enough to outweigh the exhaustion caused by packing up, driving, and setting up daily. When I first considered this adventure, I firmly believed that I could drive an RV as well as any male - that it did not require great feats of strength. And I was right. But driving is the easy part. It is the maneuvering, attaching and loading of the tow dolly, the strapping on and ratcheting of the car's tires, and the lifting and securing of the bikes on the rack that require strength... fortunately, not more than I have. But I can tell you that after doing it four days in a row, I was ready to park and go nowhere for awhile. Lucky for me, we were meeting friends here in this campground and have done just that!

Lesson learned: fewer locations, longer stays. I am determined not to carry my over-scheduling habit with us on this trip and burn out 2000 miles from home. I want my kids and I to enjoy this adventure and each other, so it's off to google calendar to make some adjustments to the itinerary... speaking of which, some of you have expressed an interest in meeting up with us along the way. I am attempting to put my google calendar on this blog so you have all our info in one place. Please know that it is subject to change until/unless I know someone is joining us :) But please join us!!!

Things I have learned recently:

Raccoons like to use awnings as a playground

I love wind - except when I'm driving a motorhome

There is a lot to learn/remember about tow dollies (ugh!)

I prefer campgrounds without cable TV

Thirteen-year-olds can have much better ideas/solutions than I do

Singing = Happiness: I got a 2-hour serenade today :)

A campfire and s'mores are the perfect ending to a day

Dogs are great travelers

Happy Camping!

Leaving the Lowcountry

Although we have been living in Howie (the name for our RV - short for Home On Wheels) for more than two weeks, we have still been seeing friends and family while staying fairly local. Tomorrow, that changes. Tomorrow we leave South Carolina for a place we have never been before: Jekyll Island, GA. The adventure begins. While all three of us are looking forward to this adventure and the incredible chance we have to make memories, that excitement is countered by the fact that there are dear friends and family that will be sorely missed - you know who you are! On the other hand, we look forward to soon seeing others who live beyond Beaufort County :)

And as we leave Hunting Island State Park and Charleston, I have to wonder if it's possible to find anywhere more beautiful than the South Carolina lowcountry... sigh