Yuma!

Yes we finally got outta of Beaumont and on to Yuma.  We made our usual stop in Fort Stockton, Texas but this time found a different RV park.  The Hilltop RV Park is nothing fancy, but great for an overnight or two.  The sites have adequate spacing and paver type patios.  It is pretty much a big gravel parking lot, all pull thru and fairly level.  Like most of the parks we have stayed at this trip, we found the place to be almost full with construction workers.  They do seem to keep their back row open (about 6 to 8 sites) for folks like us,  just passing through.  The park is well kept and the owners could not be nicer.  They are in the process of expanding and we will definitely make this a regular stop on our route as long as there is room.  Oh...we also found a great little diner, The Sagebrush Cafe, Billy says they serve the best country fried steak he has had in a long time!  LOL!

From Fort Stockton we made our next stop Las Cruces and stayed at the Hacienda RV Park.  This is a great park and has big sites, most pull thru and level.  We always have to head down to Old Mesilla to our favorite Mexican restaurant La Posta de Mesilla, the meal was great.  But I can't tell you how disappointed we both were when we were told that they were out of their fried ice cream.....how the heck do you run out of  fried ice cream...thank goodness the tequila was plentiful!

Next stop was Tucson....we always stay at the Lazy Days, which is now a KOA, and I always splurge on a 'grass' site so the dogs can have one last bit of real live grass under their paws before Yuma.

 Finally arrived in Yuma and have now settled in here at Del Pueblo.  They had a big welcome back dinner and we got to meet the new owners (the park sold last August) and managers.  Very nice folk, who seem to be doing a lot to improve the park and activities.   We hope the place continues to be the well kept, active park it has always been!  I was thrilled when the new manager told me not only could I teach watercolor, but also acrylics...and they were going to allow me to teach in the larger Rec Center.  We were so cramped in the small center at the back of the park!  This will allow me to open up the class to more students.

So I'm back to playing bumby ball and line dancing and riding my bike!  Every night has a Happy Hour or two or three...LOL!  I can't tell you how great it is to know that we are truely free....NO MORE HOUSE...to worry over.

Life is GOODE!

Baton Rouge.....hmmm....what can I say except that the traffic and roads are horrible!  Went to the Zoo last Tuesday.....this guy had a lot to say....

I think he was warning me about the traffic here in Baton Rouge!  It is clear the infrastructure here can no longer handle the amount of traffic and the bridges are down right scary!  It takes forever to get anywhere.

  We stayed at the Lakeside RV park...not a bad place, but very tight spacing.  You just feel a bit 'cramped' here.  We left Friday and headed to Beaumont, Texas....again the roads and traffic were bad.  We like to stop at about the halfway point on our travel days and we couldn't even locate a rest stop until we hit the Texas border.  The rest area was under construction and very busy (everyone stops there it seems) but we made it work and finally made our way to the Hidden Lake RV park in Beaumont.  Do ya notice a theme here....just can't seem to get away from water and they always want to charge you extra!  I can't even see the dang lake from my site...guess that is why the place is called 'hidden lake'...Ha! 

This is our site in Beaumont.  We do have a pull through, but you can see there is a 'back end' site up against our pull through.  Don't care for that at all....kinda like a 'jack-n-jill' site where you share your yard with your neighbor.  We are finding that rv sites are hard to come by these days.  We have been fulltiming for 8 yrs and never made reservations and never had a problem.  This year and last we have noticed that we need to at least 'call ahead' to see if they have vacancies and 9 times outta of 10 they are down to their last two or three sites so we go ahead and reserve.   I don't necessarily think more people are traveling, I think more folks are 'living' in rv parks.  Most of these folks have job sites that 'move around' or that are involved in some type of seasonal work.  So we are finding that many parks only have a handful of sites they keep open for travelers and they fill up fast. 

Looking at the weather, it seems we will have to stay here a bit longer then expected.  That hurricane is pushing a ton of weather into the Houston area and we don't want to get caught up in all that mess!  Travel safe y'all!

We left Tampa and started our journey west.  Our first night was spent "way down upon the Suwannee river...." at the appropriately called, Suwannee River Rendezvous Rv Park in Mayo Florida.  Nothing too special, but great for an overnight or two.  This was our second stay at this park and it is a Passport America park so...can't beat the rate.  We did venture into the town of Mayo and found a quaint little cafe called 'The Great Southern Biscuit Company'.  Wow!  Had the best BLT of my life there!  Bacon, lettuce, and fried green tomatoes on a freshly baked biscuit....so good!

Back on the road and Ya know that feeling....the one where ya been listening and following that little voice on the GPS.  He is taking you deeper and deeper into the country side....narrow, little winding roads...left, right, left again.  You are starting to feel a little doubtful, a little nervous.  Does this guy know where he is taking us.  I mean, seriously, does he know we got 40 foot of fifth wheel behind us.  Ya just can't turn those things around anywhere...and then there is this sign that tells you a bridge is coming up.  A bridge that has a load limit of 3 tons.  "Hey, do we weigh more then 3 tons?" I ask my hubby.  "Oh yeah!" he says.  Well crap! We really didn't have much choice at this point....so over the bridge we went.  It was a small bridge and definitely in need of repairs, but we made it.  Suddenly that nut on the GPS says, "the destination is on your right".  We both look right....right into an open field full of nothing.  Well crap, again!  NOW WHAT!  Keep going and fortunately...after 1/2 mile...the destination was on our right!  Yippee!

Summerdale, Alabama Rainbow Plantation Escapee's park.  This is our first stay and it is a very nice and welcoming park.  The sites are very spacious, full hookup and some are 50amp.  We are in lucky number 13.  It is a 50 amp site and backs up to a county road, but road noise is minimal and we like not having anyone behind us.  Nothing but tall Pine trees.....smells like Christmas. 

As you can see...the sites are primarily grass...a little dirt under the trees.   Still, all in all a great site to sit and enjoy the fall breezes.  I'll admit the Florida heat and humidity were starting to get to me.  I'm loving the cool nights here and the 70's in the daytime!        

Yesterday we went down to Foley....only about a 10 minute drive.  There we found a walmart and a couple of other grocery stores, plus a very big outlet mall...tons of shops.  But the best find was a Lambert's.....'home of the throwed rolls'.  If you have never been to one I encourage you to do so.  Fun experience....good 'down home' cook-in and yes, they really do throw rolls at you! Don't be on a diet....though...we are talking about fried, smothered in gravy, and full of buttery richness!  LOL!

Tomorrow we are back on the road....headed toward Baton Rouge!

October Already

Good Lord....is it October!

YEs the house is sold, yes I had a fabulous time at my nephew's wedding.  Well, except for one little mishap.  I managed to sprain my ankle at the reception...I won't go into details....I'll just leave you with the image of my son and daughter-in-law helping me down the street, "Outta the way, broken Mom here!"  Funny boy!

We are currently in Florida....Tampa at the Bay Bayou RV resort.  What a lovely park...ample spacing and a wonderfully warm and inviting pool!

We have been here almost a month and it will be moving on in a few short days.  Starting our journey west to Yuma for the winter.

I know I've mentioned our desire to buy a motorhome...well we came very close to owning one.  At the last minute, we realized neither of us were having 'good' feelings about the whole process and called the dealership and 'backed out' of the purchase.  It was like a huge weight had been lifted from our shoulders.  Yes...I'm a little sad it didn't work out, but also so much wiser about the whole process.  It may not be for us and we may need to just stay right where we are at....happily rolling along in our fifth wheel!  No more 'house' worries......after 8 long yrs.....we are finally FREE!

Moving Forward....

Ah life.....what a rush....YES!

Closing on our house is just a few short days away.....I'm so nervous.....won't be happy till that 'check' is on our hot little hands....LOL!  We just about have the house 'cleaned out'.   Yes, I know we have not lived there for a long time, but we still had a few things in storage there.  The garage was the absolute worse.  Everything that nobody knew what to do with went there to live.  Poor Billy...we had so many left over paint cans...and you can't just throw them in the trash.  They have to either dry out naturally or you can mix in kitty liter or oil dry to hurry the process along.  Bill chose the oil dry and it works great....he just had a lot of cans to empty!  Then there are those that are solvent based.....actually those where easier.  He just had to take them to the appropriate disposal facility...sign a few papers and be done.  I don't think either of us will ever save another can of paint.  I'll just take a photo of the 'paint formula' and save it for future reference if need be.

On a happier note.....I just finished a Pet portrait....meet Nuchi a lovable and totally adorable Yorkie....

I keep calling him my little Prince...because he has a very Princely attitude....LOL!

We will be leaving Lafayette very soon now and heading to Richmond VA.  My nephew is getting married!  I just love weddings.....such a great celebration of love and life!  Plus...there will be dancing....and y'all know how I LOVE TO DANCE!

I can't hardly believe that I'm saying this.....but....as of last night we have an accepted offer on our home.  A full price....clean offer!  We are so relieved and yet still a little nervous.  Although we don't expect any surprises with either the appraisal or the inspection....ya  just never know.  Our closing date is set for Aug 28, just a few days before we will be leaving for Virgina for my nephew's wedding.  Finger's crossed that all goes according to plan!

We have been full timing for over 7 yrs.....for a variety of reasons we just couldn't sell the house.  It is going to be so wonderful to continue our full time journey without the burden and worry of what will need to be repaired or replace next....although I think in the past two years we did replace just about everything that could be replaced.  New roof, new furnace, new water heater, new garage door and opener....the list goes on.  The only downside to the sale is Capital Gains....because we have not lived in the house for the past 7 yrs the government in all its infinite wisdom seems to think we owe them money from the sale.  It was never a rental....our son continued to live there.....and we own no other property with the exception of our fifth wheel.  Unfortunately, none of that makes a difference....the key wording in the tax law is 'owner occupied' so we are 'screwed' on that one.  We have made some improvements over the years....trying to locate all those receipts so we can at least minimize our tax burden.  BUT....we are not going to let that dampen our spirits.....still doing the 'happy dance'....just get us to the closing table, put the check in our hands,  and we'll be  'happy campers'!

Now we have an opportunity to seriously look into that motorhome idea we have been a thinking on.....LOL! 

Indiana.....Let's Do This!

It has been a whirlwind of activity around here in good ole Indiana.  Mostly it has rained, rained, and then rained some more!  The big news is my son and his beautiful bride have purchased their first home.  I spent the last week helping them to get some painting done before they moved in this past weekend.  I was; however, smart enough to "lay low" on actual moving day.  They had plenty of help.....younger and stronger....then me.

Now that the 'kids' have moved out, we can sell our house.  Of course, we have a bit of 'sprucing up' to do before we place it on the market.  It seems the last few years have been particularly hard on our ceilings.  Ceiling lights have been moved and/or replaced, we moved the utilities to the garage which left a few rather large holes in the ceiling, and someone (not naming any names here) managed a bit of a slip in the attic which resulted in a rather large crack in a bedroom ceiling.  Then there is Mesha....my beloved granddoggy....who decided to do a bit of chewing on some of our woodwork.  A bit of 'touch up' painting may also be necessary.  At any rate, the next couple of weeks are going to be pretty intense because we plan on putting the 'for sale' sign up right after the July 4th holiday!  Wish us luck!

Marshfield, MO

Well here we be in Marshfield, MO....we only spent one night in Texola and then on to Tulsa where we spent a couple of nights waiting for the rain and weather to pass.  Marshfield is about 20 minutes west of Springfield Mo.....where we found a Culver's!  Culvers is home to Butterburgers and frozen custard....we have one back in Lafayette and just love the food.  They are hard to come by out west....so it was a long deprived Culver's winter....LOL!  Tasted so good!
We decided to 'hang out' here in Marshfield at the RV Express, right off  I40.  Nice sites...back ins and pull thurs.....

Nice big concrete pads, but you are a little close to your neighbor.  Plus you are right next to the interstate....so there is road noise, but we didn't find it too bad.  Things quiet down in the evening and night time hours.   Our reservation back in Indiana doesn't start til May 4th so we decided to stay here 5 nights.  Our next stop will be a familiar campground in Litchfield Illinois called Kamper Kompanion.  We have stayed there several times.  It is literally in the middle of nowhere, but a great overnight stop and it is also a passport america park.....$17.50 a night Sunday-Thursday.  We will spend just one night there and then it is back to the ever lovely AOK in Indiana.  Not our favorite place to stay, but pretty much the only game in town....and they know it!  Oh...if you want a little more info and some photos of Tucumcari check out my Art Blog.

Tucumcari, New Mexico....

Yes...we made it out of Sedona and on down the road to Albuquerque and now we are in Tucumcari New Mexico.  That is a mouth full so I started calling it TuCan City!  LOL!  Interesting little place on the historic route 66 highway.  Had a fabulous dinner at Del's Restaurant....great salad bar included with the meal.  Billy had his fav Chicken Fried Steak and I had a NY strip.  All very tasty and modestly priced.  The town itself has seen better times, but they seem to be hanging in there with a few more restaurants and a couple of tourist type shops.  We are headed out to another interesting restaurant called "KIX"....a 50 style diner for breakfast!

We are at the AOK...nothing special, but certainly fine for a night or two.  The winds have  been really bad......25 to 30 mph with 50 mph gust.  Looks like rain is on the horizon as well.  Plan on staying put one more night then we are on our way along I40 to Texola, Oklahoma.  Keeping an eye on all the nasty weather.....hoping to avoid the bulk of it. 

If ya want to see some of my Albuquerque zoo pics and a little about Jerome AZ  and the Ghost Town click on the link to my art blog.

Sedona

We certainly have enjoyed our visit here at the Distant Drums Rv park.  The layout was a little different and there are some tight turns.  In fact, we are still not sure just exactly how we are getting out of the site we are in.....

 They give you the street signs in English and the native language.....neat!

We are on a corner lot...you can see that it is kinda a jack-n-jill set up, but your neighbor's rear only comes up about 1/4 of the way.  Unfortunately we can't just "pull out" the turn is too tight either left or right and the street ahead is a dead end with no turn around.  So I think our plan will be to pull forward down the dead end street and then back up into the street on our right.  Then we can make the turn!

Lot spacing isn't bad...but once the truck is parked you don't have much 'patio' room for chairs and such.

The surrounding view is pretty awesome!
We took a day and headed over to Red Rock State Park....truly spectacular views there

Birds are lively and everywhere!
Yesterday we headed over to Jerome....what a neat place that was.  I have a ton of photos and I'll share some next post......

North we go....

Today we head north to Camp Verde and an rv park called Distant Drums.  Before we go, we are going to have our rig weighed here at North Ranch.  We are both really worried about the numbers.  We know we are over....but by how much?  Could get scary....we shall see.

Much to do.....so I'll sign off now.

North Ranch

Well here we be at North Ranch and it has been a very good week.  We reacquainted ourselves with the little town of Congress and Wickenburg.  Wickenburg seems to be a growing community which does have an interest in the Arts.  Next time we come, I'm hoping to have an opportunity to check out the Art Club.  They have their own building and offer classes as well as exhibits.

North Ranch itself doesn't seem to have changed much.  It is still a very friendly, well maintained community.  We saw several 'lots' for sale, some vacant and some with small homes and we did meet with a realtor to talk with her about the area.  I don't think we are quite ready yet, but eventually this is probably where we will end up.  At first we both thought we would like to be 'out' in the country on at least an acre of ground, but we really like the sense of 'community' here in the park. 

Many of our rv friends have also settled here in North Park.  In fact, last night we were invited over to Jim and Ellie's home for happy hour and a fish fry.  We meet some "new" rv friends and had a wonderful meal.  I hear this kinda thing goes on quite often here!

We will say our goodbyes and be heading up to Sedona on Tuesday.  Looking forward to doing some hiking there and checking out the beautiful scenery.

The Trip back to Indiana

We had planned to spend the summer out west this year, but things have happened back in Indiana which require us to be there sooner...rather then later.  The first event..a happy one...our son and daughter-in-law are in the process of buying their first home.  It is quite the house and their closing date is set for June 1.  So happy for them and us because this means we can now sell our home.  Back to Indiana we go earlier then expected to get our home on the market and hopefully sold before the end of summer! 
Unfortunately our next bit of news was not so wonderful.  My step father is having some health concerns which require my attention....we have to be back in Indiana by the first week of May to deal with those issues. 
As of now, we plan to leave Yuma on the 8th and travel to Congress Az.  We have been wanting to make our way back to North Ranch (Escapee's Park) for a while now so that will be our first stop on our journey.  Then I think we will head up to Sedona and spend a few days there before heading east to Indiana.
It has been very busy here...as usual....many goodbye parties, hugs and waves as day by day a few more of our Yuma friends head out.  We will be one of the last to go and the park is already like a ghost town! 
It has been a great winter!  I'll leave you with a photo of my latest pet portrait.  This is Rosie the sweetest little pup that was adopted from a shelter here in Yuma.  Her portrait was my gift to them for adopting Rosie and giving her a wonderful forever home.

and in response....they gifted me with this beautiful handmade quilt made by Rosie's mom!

I can't tell you how surprised I was and truly touched by their generosity.  On the back is a little handwritten note thanking me for the portrait!  I will treasure it always.....

Parties and a Float Trip down the Colorado

Our time is growing short here in Yuma!  Our last dinner/dance is coming up this weekend.  It is also our neighbors Birthday so I'm going to be baking cupcakes today to add to the celebration on Saturday. 

I've been teaching watercolor classes here at the park and yesterday my students surprised me with a little gift!  A big ole bottle of Patron....HA!  They know me so well!  I'm gonna miss those girls.

Sunday a bunch of us are doing a float trip down the Colorado River.  I've floated down the Tippecanoe back home in Indiana, but the Colorado will be a first for me.  We found a place here that rents out the tubes....including cooler tubes for our beverages!  We park our vehicles 'downstream' and then they will haul us by bus 'upstream' where our adventure will begin.  I think there is about 40 of us going and it is about a 2 to 3 hour float depending on how many 'stops' you make at the little beaches along the way.  I know we will have fun and it is going to be hot.....looking like the 90's on that day!

We also have a big 'farewell' party planned here on our little street.  Our street is lovingly known as "Rowdy Row".....and we plan on living up to that reputation at the farewell party!  Yes....I do believe my bottle of Patron will be making an appearance that day and you know there will be dancing in the street too!

We plan on pulling out of Yuma April 8th.  I thought we might head over to Disneyland, but our budget is a little deflated after putting on the rest of the window awnings and we had to purchase a new tire monitoring system.  So we have decided to spend a little time in Congress AZ at the Escapees park.   Then in early May we will head over to San Diego......meeting up with family.....and checking out the zoo! 

It has been a great winter here in Yuma, but I'm ready to move on.....

LET THE ADVENTURES BEGIN

I will just let the photos do most of the talking.......

My Valentine's Dance Date.....no Billy wouldn't come....he is just not the 'party animal' I am....LOL!

Mardi Gras Bound......YUMA style!

Lots and lots of Jello shots!

Shrimp Boil Feast!

Dancing to the beat!

Going for the Gold.....as in Mardi Gras Gold coin......LOL!  Yeah, Billy stayed home again!

So that's how we 'party' here in Yuma!

Good News all round!

Most of you probably already know this.....but the hand is not broken!  Just a lot of bruising and some soft tissue damage, but it is healing nicely on its own!  I'm even back to playing bumbee ball!  YAY!!

Now for an update on the Cosmo Boy.  We ordered him a set of wheels and y'all should see our boy go.....Here are a couple of photos

He really is doing fabulous!  Still has some use of his back legs, but a doggie physical therapist suggested it was time for the cart.  So happy we made the decision to order one for him.  We have no idea how much time we have left with our sweet boy, but we are determined that he have the best life ever!  We ordered this hot rod cart from a place called Eddie's Wheels.  Very caring and supporting folks....I highly recommend them to anyone in a similar situation.  We are back to taking walks and playing in the doggie park.  Cosmo is one popular pup here at the RV park.....ya just gotta love that face!

Made it through the Holidays!

Very busy during the holiday season this year......lots of parties and dancing....had a blast! 

We have had several days of 'winter' weather here in Yuma, temps dipping into the 30's at night...brrrrrrr.  Of course that is when our furnace and our portable fireplace decided to go belly up!  Yup...both at almost the same time.  The fireplace was a loss, but Billy was able to buy and replace the circuit board in the furnace.  It took a few days....and we were a bit chilly here in the fiver, but we are all toasty warm now.  Things are looking up though and temps are climbing back into the mid to high 70's.

I've had a little mishap....many of you know I love to play a sport here in Yuma called Bumbe Ball....kinda a cross between tennis and volleyball.  We play it on the tennis court with rackets and a larger, softer ball.  There can be up to 5 people a side which makes it a really fun time....until you make a bad decision and go after a ball you should have let go on by.  Then something like this happens......

They can't tell if it is broken as of yet....too much swelling.  I go back for more x-rays on the 13th.  Hoping it is just a bad sprain....I can still move my fingers and thumb, but there is a lot of bruising and swelling...so who knows!  Of course, it is my right hand and I am right handed.

Right before my little mishap...I agreed to teach a watercolor class here in the rv park.  Yup...I'm still gonna teach.  Met with all my students yesterday and everyone is game to continue even though 'teacher' may have to learn to demo with her left hand!

Cosmo update for those of you that follow along....you remember he is our wire fox terrier with the neurological problem.  Sadly he is slowly loosing mobility in his hind legs.  We were very fortunate that one of our friends here in the park has a daughter who practices animal physical therapy.  She came for a visit over the holidays and suggested it might be time for Cosmo to be fitted for a wheel cart to assist him.  So.....we have one ordered and should be here sometime late January.  I'll post some photos...we sure hope he adjust to it because it will make his life and ours so much easier.  She also showed me some exercise to do with him to help keep his joints and muscles a bit stronger.  What a blessing for her to share all this with us!

All righty then....I think I've worn myself out typing on the keyboard for now.....

Have a great day!