RVing soothes my Control Freak Soul

Well, actually, I prefer "organized" to "control freak", but most of the people in my life seem to prefer the latter adjective. After one month in Livingston Texas (just north of Houston), we packed up and moved to San Antonio yesterday. It takes us about an hour to get Betty ready to travel. Because our home travels with us, we have less stuff --- and a LOT less clutter. Everything has to be put away before we travel. Everything off the counter tops. Nothing on the floor. It forces us to be neat and organized. So, yesterday as we were preparing to leave, I realized that I love our new clutter-free life!

-- Happy Amanda in San Antonio Texas

5 Hours in Crazy

Living full time in an RV means that I don't have my favorite (and trusted) hair stylist nearby. I wear my hair long so I can go longer between haircuts, but I still need to find someone new to cut and highlight my hair every 2-3 months.

Taking the advice of a fellow RVer, I Google the town I'm in along with 'Best Hair Salon' and look for good reviews. This week, I found a local hair salon with two good reviews for Cindy (not her real name). I called and booked an appointment.

Two days ago, I drove to the hair salon which is in a stand-alone building on a stretch of 2-lane blacktop highway outside of the small town we're in. I expected a normal 2-hour highlight and haircut. Instead, I got 5 hours of crazy. Here's what happened:

1:33 pm -- I arrived a few minutes past my 1:30 appointment time. The front door was locked. Weird. I could see people inside, so I knocked. Cindy (not her real name) answered the door and let me in. We introduced ourselves to each other. Cindy explained that there was an attempted robbery the previous evening, so she's keeping the door locked. Cindy said she had to finish up with her current customer (a man), and she asked me to have a seat. 

1:51 pm -- Cindy is still working on the same gentleman's haircut. She was trimming around his ears when I arrived, so I had mistakenly figured she was almost done. I text Terry:

• 21 minutes after my start time and I'm still waiting

2:05 pm -- Cindy finishes with the gentleman's haircut. He pays and leaves. Cindy locks the front door behind him. Now, it's just me and Cindy in the shop.

2:10 pm -- Cindy has been talking about the attempted robbery and is visibly upset. She tells me she needs a smoke and starts fishing around in her overly large handbag. She can't find her cigarettes and accuses her Mother of stealing her last cigarette. Cindy informs me that we are going to have to drive down the street to get more smokes. I agree because I want her calm while she's doing my hair. And, what the heck - I'm up for an adventure.

2:15 pm -- Cindy rummages around in her handbag and eventually locates her car keys. She locks up the shop and we go out to her truck. I clear a couple of toy rifles off of the passenger seat and the two of us get in. Cindy doesn't put her seat belt on, she just tucks it under her left leg. We drive about a mile down the road to a drive-through cigarette store. Cindy has to take her left hand off the steering wheel a couple of times in order to grab her seat belt and tuck it back under her left leg. Cindy buys one pack of cigarettes (cash) and we return to the shop.

2:30 pm -- We're back at the shop -- standing outside. Cindy rummages around in her handbag and eventually locates the shop keys. Cindy says she's been up all night crying about the attempted robbery. At this point, I'm thinking of leaving.  I offer to come back the next day, but Cindy says no. I stay because I have an important meeting next week and I want my hair to look good. I'm here -- let 's get it done. We go into the shop, and then I go out back with Cindy while she smokes her cigarette. Cindy is still taking about the attempted robbery.

The Attempted Robbery Story: Two twenty-something men entered the shop just as Cindy and Beverly (not her real name) were locking up at the end of the day. One man asked to use the phone. Cindy pointed to the front desk phone, but he said he needed her cell phone so Cindy handed it to him. The other man asked to use the rest room and headed towards the back of the shop. About 30 seconds later, a cop walked in and asked the man what he was doing there. The guy with Cindy's phone said his truck broke down. The cop asked where his truck was -- and his story quickly fell apart. The cop called for back up. Five or six cop cars showed up with their lights and sirens going. The cops asked a lot of questions and arrested the two men. Cindy was so upset that she called her Mother and asked her to come and drive her home. When Cindy's Mother arrived at the shop, she went to use the bathroom and a drug pipe fell out of the toilet paper roll. Both men had drugs on them, and one had a large bowie knife.

2:35 pm --  Cindy tells me she is worried that customers will stop coming to the salon because of the attempted robbery. I tell her that random bad stuff can happen anywhere. Cindy calls the police and asks if the two guys are still in jail and they tell her yes. Cindy seems greatly relieved. Then, the police call and ask Cindy some questions. She seems upset. After she hangs up she tells me that she hopes the cops don't find out that she never paid for her speeding ticket. She mentions this several times during the afternoon.

2:40 pm -- Cindy has been calling me 'Sugah' and 'Baby Girl'. She asks me my name again and I tell her. We discuss what I need done. I tell Cindy I just want some new highlights and a trim. She looks at my hair, tells me its damaged and that more highlights will just "melt" my hair. She suggests a 'shadow' with 'stripes' -- which is dark underneath and chunky stripes of color on top. I'm up for a change, so I agree. Here's a couple of examples of a 'shadow' hairstyle:


2:45 pm -- Cindy pins about half of my hair on top of my head, and applies dark brown dye to the lower half. A police car pulls up in front of the salon and Cindy unlocks the front door. The cop and Cindy discuss the attempted robbery while I sit with dye in my hair. The cop tells Cindy he can't find her in the system. He asks for her driver's license and she tells him some story about 'a different name'. The cop asks who I am, but Cindy can't remember my name. I introduce myself to the cop. The cop explains that he just happened to be driving by the shop the previous day when he saw "two meth heads" heading towards the shop. He couldn't think of any reason why they would be going into a beauty salon, so he turned his car around, entered the shop and stopped the robbery. Eventually the policeman leaves and I remind Cindy to lock the front door behind him.

2:50 pm  -- Cindy resumes working on my hair and starts applying the highlights. She explains that "dye stops but highlights don't", and that highlights can melt hair. I am increasingly nervous about the constant interruptions, the fact that Cindy is not setting a timer or paying any attention to the time, and that my hair might melt. Cindy tells me again that she cried all night and didn't get any sleep and she asks me to keep track of the brown dye vs. blonde highlight sections. I also notice that the brown dye and blonde highlight chemicals are sitting in identical bowls next to each other. I become increasingly terrified that Cindy is going to dip into the wrong bowl, or that I'm going to forget if she's on brown or blonde. Each time she starts a new section, she asks me "brown or blonde?", and then giggles when I answer.

3:00 pm - Cindy's phone is buzzing constantly with incoming calls and texts. Each time, she states that she's not going to answer it, then she stops working on my hair and answers it. Around 3:00, she can't find her phone, so she asks me to call her phone number. I do and she locates her phone.

3:15 pm --  Cindy notices my eyebrows are blonde and slaps some brown dye on them. A few minutes later she asks me how they look and I notice she missed about 1/2 inch of each eyebrow. She paints more brown dye on them.

3:30 pm -- This is the time I should have been done. But alas, Cindy is still working on my hair and we get more interruptions. Her son has been calling her about money. Cindy tells me she may have to leave me alone in the shop (with the dye and highlight chemicals on my hair) while she runs out to wire money to her son. Thankfully, a relative of the owner - let's call her Sally -- stops by with her dog. Cindy asks Sally to send money to her son via "Walmart to Walmart because it's the cheapest".  But, Sally says the lines are too long at Walmart, so she suggests another store. Sally calls the other store and tells Cindy that it only costs $12 to send $100 at the other store. Walmart to Walmart costs $10 for $100. I'm thinking that either method is exorbitantly expensive and would never do it that way. Cindy calmly says, "Oh, $12 that's not bad" and she hands Sally $112 cash. Sally and her dog leave the shop. We lock the front door again.

3:45 pm -- More of the attempted robbery story comes out. The salon owner's 22-year-old grandson Charlie (not his real name) was at the shop the day before rummaging through the drawers. Cindy is pretty sure the two guys who showed up to rob the place are friends of the owner's grandson. The owner is clueless about her grandson's real character. Cindy keeps talking about how the two guys might have hurt her if the cop hadn't shown up. Cindy also tells me that Charlie's Mother died in a car accident. Then, she says "Don't ask me how she died". I'm thinking "you just told me -- in a car accident". Cindy proceeds to tell me that when Charlie was little his Mom and Dad had split up. His Dad convinced his Mom to try to patch things up and invited her to go somewhere in the car. The Dad got the car up to about 50 miles an hour and then jumped out of the car. The car slammed into a tree and killed Charlies Mother. Charlies Dad is in jail for murder. Charlie was raised by his Grandmother. Charlie also has a 23-year-old cousin (or friend?) who is on life support in the hospital. Cindy thinks one of his friends gave him antifreeze along with, or instead of, his drugs.

4:00 pm -- After hearing all these stories, I'm getting worried about Charlie coming back to finish the robbery or to harm Cindy. I'm also worried about what Cindy is doing to my hair. I think about asking Terry to come and sit guard while she finishes, but I have the truck and Terry is at the campground with no vehicle. I text Terry:

• Still here. Should be done at 5:30
• Long story to tell you

4:15 pm --  More stories while Cindy works on my hair. She says "Did you hear about the "Smith (not their real name) Donuts murder?". I said "no", so Cindy proceeds to tell me that the Smith family owns the donut shop two doors down and that "they don't believe in banks." Two years ago, the family's 18-year-old son was taking a nap in his room when his Mother, Father and 16-year-old brother came home. The 18-year-old heard someone fighting with his Dad so he went out to investigate. Two men were in the process of robbing the family of their cash, the 18-year-old tried to help and one of the robbers shot and killed him. Cindy says at least no one was killed at the hair salon. I glance over to make sure the front door is still locked.

4:20 pm -- Cindy has been taking smoke breaks in the back yard of the shop. At one point she goes to the back door, laughs and says "Oh, the back door has been unlocked for the past hour"


4:30 pm -- I am becoming increasingly scared. I text Terry:

• Me: Any chance you can bum a ride here? 
• Me: My battery is about to die
• Terry: No don't see how why?
• Me: I'd feel safer if you were here
• Terry: Huh? Why?
• Me: Attempted robbery here last night. 2 druggies in jail. One still loose.
• Me: It's getting dark. Just me and Cindy here.
• Terry: Have your pepper spray? Have someone walk out with you. Is she packing heat?
• Me: No. Don't know.
• Terry: Call me
• Me: Now? Can't right now. (due to the chemicals in my hair)

4:40 pm --  With chemicals and foils all over my head, I unlock the front door, go out to our truck and retrieve my phone power cord. I go back inside, lock the front door, and plug my phone in. At least I'll have a working phone so I can call 9-1-1 if needed.

4:45 pm -- Cindy removes the foils, washes the chemicals out of my hair and tells me how beautiful I'm going to look. She tells me (again) that I'm going to look 10 years younger. She laughs and says "the price of beauty is pain".

5:00 pm -- Cindy mixes up some "toner" all the while muttering about what an excellent chemist she is. She warns me to never let anyone put a 30x something-or-other on my head because it will melt my hair. She said she's using a 20x something-or-other. Cindy applies the toner and leaves me with my head in the washbasin while she goes out for a smoke and more phone calls.

5:15 pm -- While I'm prone at the wash station, Cindy starts cleaning up. She tallies up my bill on a little piece of blank paper and informs me the total is $198. $10 for the eyebrows. $10 for the hot oil treatment, etc. Cindy gallantly informs me that she is taking $50 off my bill because "it has taken so long". She asks me "how does $148 sound?" and "Are you paying cash?" There are Visa and Master Card logos on the wall, so I tell her I'd like to pay by credit card. She said that won't work, so I offer to pay by check and she reluctantly agrees to accept my check.

5:20 pm -- I don't remember what happened around this time. More horrifying stories. Cindy still working on my hair. Me still scared.


5:50 pm -- Cindy finishes putting the hot oil treatment on my head.  She wraps my head in a plastic bonnet that ties under my chin and puts my under the hair dryer "for ten minutes". I send a text to Terry:

• Under the dryer. Will be here another 25"
• She's packing. Cindy said to tell you she's sorry for taking so long

6:05 pm -- I've been under the hair dryer for 15 minutes and Cindy in on the phone. I get up, interrupt her and tell her it's been 15 minutes. She says "That's ok, you can be under there for 20 minutes". I tell her I'm done, so she ends her phone call and washes the hot oil out of my hair. Cindy tells me (again) that the color has come up perfectly and that I'll look ten years younger. I just want to go home. Cindy says it will take only 10 minutes to cut my hair. All I need is the ends trimmed. I tell Cindy that I'll just let it air dry -- no need to blow it out. I want to go home!

 6:30 pm -- Finally done! It's dark outside. Cindy locks up the shop and we walk out to our trucks together. As I'm getting ready to put the truck in reverse, I look over and Cindy is signalling to me. I roll down my window and she hands me two of her business cards.


Before Cindy:

After Cindy:

A little bathroom remodeling project

Before

The bathroom in our new DRV 5th wheel came without a backsplash -- probably because the bathroom has a curved wall making the installation of a traditional Corian or tile backsplash impossible. 

Of course, I've been worried about the wood wall getting wet.

I recently learned about Smart Tiles from the Facebook group "Full-Time RVers". Smart Tiles are self-stick vinyl tiles that are made to look like ceramic tiles. Terry and I purchased some at Home Depot for $30. While Terry cooked the turkey on Thanksgiving, I installed the backsplash. It took me just over an hour. No more worries about our wood getting wet and moldy!

After

- Amanda in Beaumont, TX

Thanksgiving in an RV

Our first Thanksgiving in Betty was a huge success! We're camped at the Gulf Coast RV Park in Beaumont Texas. Terry prepared a feast of 11 dishes with no problems. He cooked the turkey in our convection microware/oven and the side dishes in the propane oven. It's handy to have double ovens during the holidays!

Getting ready to stuff the turkey.

Lord of the Rings and a fire in the fireplace.

The only thing missing was our families. While we missed everyone, we are thankful that we can travel around the USA to visit our far-flung children and grand children.

Our smallest turkey ever (only 10 pounds) -- ready to carve.

The table is set. Time to eat!

- Amanda in Beaumont, TX

Paper Towel Advice!

We brought our favorite paper towel holder from home and mounted it in Betty. It is made out of wood and it matches the cabinets. To change a roll of paper towels, we have to unscrew one of the wood ends, replace the roll and screw the wood end piece back on. This takes longer than just popping the roll off, but we don't do it often so it's OK.

The only problem we have is it sometimes unrolls while traveling. I thought it would be fun to ask the Facebook Group "Full-Time RVers" for advice. Two days ago I posted this: "Silly question: How do you keep your paper towels from unrolling while traveling?"

Surprisingly, 163 people offered advice!

Some of my favorites:

• Tie a ribbon, shoe string, whatever around it while driving.
• We put a rubber band around it.
• Turn your roll around wherre its from top instead of bottom same with TP doent unroll as eaisly
• Little piece of scotch tape .
• Cut the ends off of a two liter soda bottle. Slit down one side and wrap the plastic sleeve around paper towels. 
• Viva dies not roll...our RV experience.
• Stand up countertop holder....no problem.
• Chip clip
• Mine are on a roll just like that and never had that problem. Lucky me! But Dick just said that's cause I buy the cheap ones, and they are not soft. LOL!
• Squeeze the roll so that the cardboard cylinder inside is not round. We do that with tp also . Works great
• I tuck the a sheet in the end and it stops it from rolling
• Rubber bungee cord. 
• Get a cat. he'll roll that right up for you
• Put them in the cabinet 
• A Velcro strap - this Velcro sticks to itself and it is Great! 
• I use a soft hair scrunchie. slides over roll when traveling and slides over to use roll. color matches kitchen

 And my very favorite:

• super glue

Who knew so many people who be interested in paper towels?!
 
We are going to try the 'tie a ribbon around it' solution. 

  
 - Amanda in Livingston, LA (Just outside New Orleans)
  

The Real Florida

I've traveled to Florida for vacations my entire life. The beaches, Miami, Walt Disney World, the Everglades, various cruise departure cities, etc. But, I never saw the "real Florida" until now.

We stayed in the Swanee River State Park in the Florida panhandle. I loved the wild things we saw growing during our short walk around the park.

    This looks surreal to me.

- Amanda posting from Livingston, LA.

All the little girls....

... want to come with us. As we drive around the country visiting our family, we've started to notice a trend. Every one of our grand daughters and great nieces (who are old enough to talk) has very seriously asked to come with us when we leave their town. The girls are 3 to 10 years old.

At first, I just thought it was just a sweet granddaughter who was reluctant to say Good Bye to us. But, it's happened 6 times now. So, there is more to it. We have several theories:

• They see our fifth wheel as a real-life play house
• They want to experience the joy of an adventure on the open road
• They like the idea of a permanent vacation with no school

When we asked the girls why they want to go with us, we get a response along the lines of "Because! Please, please, please can I go?"  One granddaughter burst into tears when her Mother said 'No'.

The boys haven't asked to go. I wonder why?

What do you think?

- Amanda at Suwannee River State Park in northern Florida

How do you move your chairs?

After we told ten-year-old Jade that the sides of our RV move in and out, she asked us how we move our chairs. I explained that the chairs move with the side of the RV, but I'm not sure she understood. So, I made a video!

An RV "slide" is a small room with 3 walls. The entire "slide" (floor, ceiling and three walls) moves in and out with the push of a button (and some pretty powerful hydraulics). It is kind of amazing.

This is Betty with her "door-side slide" in. As you can see, the kitchen table is right up against the center island. Behind the table are our two recliners (e.g. the chairs Jade asked about).

This is Betty with the same slide half-way out. Notice that the wall, and the two recliners, are in front of the couch.

Here is my video of the slide moving out. It's a bit shaky because I was holding my phone with one hand and the slide button with the other.

- Amanda in beautiful Savannah, GA

Difficulties with GPS, Pull Throughs and Soap

Yesterday was quite a day. Terry does an excellent job of researching campgrounds, making our reservations and planning our route. We are very, very careful to never put ourselves in danger by driving under low bridges, or getting into a place where we can't turn around. However, after driving for 5 hours yesterday, our GPS gleefully told us that we had arrived at our destination, but Don Carter State Park (Gainesville, GA) was nowhere in sight. Yikes!  We were on a narrow 2 lane road near Lake Lanier with no place to stop or turn around. We continued to drive for miles -- passing under a barely high-enough bridge (which wasn't on our planned itinerary) before finding a place to safely stop. When we did, we discovered that our GPS had taken us to 5000 Browns Bridge Road instead of 5000 N. Browing Bridge Road. What?! Apparently, when Terry input our destination yesterday, the GPS helpfully offered the wrong address and Terry selected it without noticing the slight difference in the road name.

So, we drove another hour and finally reached Don Carter State Park. Don Carter is a brand new state park on Lake Lanier and it's beautiful. We selected a nice, paved pull through site with a view of the lake. The pull-though site we chose had a slight curve. Getting Betty perfectly positioned on the site took us another hour because the paved area was narrow and Betty's wheels went off the blacktop on the left side. Once off the blacktop, they sunk into the soft earth and driving forward and back created a ditch -- with a tree stump at one end.The campground host (a professional truck driver with 35 years of experience) helped direct Terry so that we did get out of the 'ditch'.

I headed inside to put out the slides and the first thing I discovered was that the hand soap dispenser in our kitchen hadn't been stowed properly (my fault!). During our drive, it bounced off the counter, landed on the carpet and soaked the carpet with soap. Cleaning that up took nearly another hour. Lesson Learned. "Stow soap dispenser" is now on our Exit Checklist.

Our day ended on a high note when sister Cheryl and Jeff stopped by and picked us up for dinner. We had a delicious dinner at a nearby Mexican restaurant, and then went back to Cheryl and Jeff's where brother Steve Thompson joined us. Steve was driving from New Orleans to Wilmington, NC and planned his stop so he could see us!

 - Amanda (Gainesville, GA)

We have been asked several times about where we have been so is our route since we left in early August .... we did stay in Betty for the month of July at Riverside campground in Montgomery PA.

   

this map will change some as we progress south from Savannah, GA

First haircut in 3 months!

A couple of years ago, I decided to let my hair grow long so that I could have long hair one more time before I die. And, since most older women have short hair, I decided I'd go for the 'aging hippy' look. Then, we decided to go full time RVing, and I realized another benefit is that I don't have to wash and blow dry my hair every morning. I wash it every 3 days and let it air dry in it's natural curly state (saves time and energy). Not having short hair, also means I don't have to get it cut every six weeks (which saves money).  Also, I was a bit worried about finding a good sytlist and being able to book an appointment while we're traveling.

Before we left Williamsport, I asked Connie to highlight my hair in such a way that it wouldn't be too noticeable as it grows out. She did an excellent job, and I happily went 3 months without a haircut or highlight. This week, I decided it was time. I found a small salon about 3 miles away from our campground and booked an appointment online. Now, I have a fresh cut and I'm blonde again -- maybe a little too blonde. This time it may not look as nice as it grows out. We'll see.

- Amanda (Holly Ridge, NC with 4G Internet)

We're streaming now baby!

As mentioned in a previous post, we have been living with severe Internet data restrictions.  We've been getting 20 GB of data from Millenicom for $89.99/month, but Verizon just bought Millenicom and is shutting them down on October 31st. Millenicom uses the Verizon Network, but charges about 1/2 of Verizon's pricing. Since RVers depend upon Verizon for Internet, this news sent everyone on our Full Time RVers Forums into a tizzy.

Luckily, Verizon is running a 'Double Your Data' promotion this month. We took our Millenicom Jetpack into a Verizon store 2 days ago. The Verizon employee had never heard of Millenicom. She got the store manager - he had never heard of Millenicom either. He warned us that switching the SIM card in our Jetpack would not work if our Millenicom Jetpack was already in the Verizon system. But, the Verizon computers didn't have any record of our Millenicom Jetpack, and switching the SIM card did work. We upgraded to 40 GB/month for $150 and we walked out of the store with our Jetpack showing 40 GB/month. Switching the SIM card caused us to "lose" the last week of our October Millenicom pre-paid data -- approx 5 GB, but we didn't want to wait until the end of the month and risk missing the Verizon Double Your Data pricing.

With 41 GB of data (the 40 GB we purchased plus 1 GB of free data that came with Terry's new phone) to use in the next 12 days (the end of our billing period), we've been streaming videos like crazy. When we left home, we had been watching "The Good Wife", but had only reached Season 4. Now, we're ODing on "The Good Wife" and should be able to catch up to the current season before we hit 41 GB and the end of the billing period.  Life is good!

- Amanda (Holly Ridge, NC with 4G Internet)

The One Thing We Miss.....

What would you miss if you sold your home and nearly everything you own?  We are very happy and comfortable in our fifth wheel, except for one thing. What do you think it is?

• Family?  Nope. We didn't have any family members near our home in Central Pennsylvania.  As a matter of fact, we've seen our family more in the past 4 months, than in the past 4 years!
• The House? Nope. I've only missed the house once. It was a rainy day and I remember how we used to go out on our covered back porch and watch the rain storms move across the mountains. 
• The Land? We had 1.5 acres with awesome views of the mountains near the Susquehanna River Valley. I though I might miss the privacy offered by 1.5 acres, but I haven't so far. Our fifth wheel is designed for full time living and is very well insulated. When the windows are shut, we don't hear anything going on in nearby campsites.
• Our Friends?  Our friends, like our family, live all over the USA. We are enjoying seeing them as we travel. We do miss the new friends we made in Williamsport. But, we are keeping in touch via Facebook and we hope to see them again during our travels.
• Our Stuff? No.We have exactly what we need with us -- and not a bit more. We don't miss all of the stuff we sold and donated. As a matter of fact, life is a lot simpler and freer without all of that stuff.
• Two cars? Full time RVing means sharing one car (or in our case, a truck). I've had my own wheels since I was 18. And, like everyone, I value the convenience and freedom of having my own car. But, sharing one vehicle has been really painless for us. No problem!
• Cable TV? Not really. Many campgrounds have cable TV and if not, we have been picking up excellent quality digital TV with our antennae (free) or watching some of the 300+ movies Terry brought with us.

Any other guesses?

The answer is unlimited high-speed Internet. When you live in a sticks-and-bricks home, your cable connection provides limitless high-speed Internet. We used to stream NetFlix movies or TV series nearly every evening at home. We can't do that anymore! Streaming one movie can chew up 3 to 5 GB of data. We are living with a severe data limit of only 24 GB per month -- shared between our two smart phones, our two laptops and our tablet.We're making it work so far. Verizon just purchased our data provider (Millenicom) so we will probably be switching data plans before the end of the month when Verizon's double data offer expires.

-  Amanda (struggling slow Internet on the edge of a Verizon coverage area and a very weak campground wifi) near Holly Springs, NC

Where am I? What day is it?

During the past week, I slept in my own bed every night, but woke up in four different States: Illinois, Kentucky, West Virginia and North Carolina.

Our new traveling RV life, combined with Terry's retirement and me working part time means that our old routine of waking up in the same place every day, and moving through a regular Monday through Friday work week is gone.

Now, I'm trying to make a game of it. Upon first awakening I thank God for another day and try to remember where I am (City and State) and what our campsite looks like -- before I open my eyes. So far, so good.  Terry and I are both having a bit harder time remembering the date and the day of the week. It just doesn't matter so much anymore.

We may need to get one of these clocks. Thanks Chris Wallace for the suggestion!

- Amanda (Holly Springs, NC)

Off to see our family

In order to see most of our family this year, we will be driving 5,000 miles! It's crazy. We have family from coast to coast. And, from Florida to Wisconsin. It's really nice to travel with our home, but it is slow. We probably won't see our Florida and Wisconsin family members until sometime next year.

We left Pennsylvania in July and we hope to be in San Diego by late January or February 2015.

- Posted by Amanda, Litchfield, IL (Near Catherine, Tom & Lincoln)

ON THE ROAD TO TEXAS

Wow what a time! We finally left Michigan. Here are a few things that have happened in the last few days .....

Before we left Grand Rapids we bought 2 chairs and picked them up a couple days later in Novi  ....

From this                          

To these                            

Of course it took a couple of hours to assemble both chairs and ottomans, but it was well worth it. 

When we left Wednesday morning there were 15 to 20 mph winds from the west so we were a little apprehensive about leaving.  However I watched a couple of rigs pull out so, I thought "ok what the hell".  It was not so bad on the road, the winds were not as high as we'd expected.

We spent our first night outside Joliet Illinois in a Casino RV park Called Hollywood Casino. It is a nice place with great water pressure. 

We're currently in Litchfield, IL -- half way between St Louis and Springfield at a nice little RV park. To our surprise, we found out there is a bull riding competition scheduled for Saturday. This is a point ride so it should be a good.  More on that later

Friday ----- Drove up to President Lincoln's tomb in Springfield Illinois

             Lincolns Tomb

                               

Funny thing: it has rained since we arrived, except for the time we spent at the tomb. After we left the tomb, it starting raining again.  

Tomorrow we are off to see my brother's daughter Catherine, her husband Tom and their 6 month old son Lincoln.

Our adventure continues .........