Monumental Road Trip – Introduction

Yep, we did it! We took two weeks and one day to drive from Catalina AZ to Orlando FL. As anyone who has done something like this knows not everything can be prepared for or anticipated, and the best perspective is “expect the unexpected.”

The first hurdle was hubby working 12 hour days right up to our departure. That made things hard to get ready and I hate packing for him! I mean seriously, I never get things quite right, so…this waited until the absolute last moment – like, the middle of the night before we planned to pull out at 7am. We packed the truck and the trailer, hooked the trailer (here after referred to as Daisy,) filled the truck with gas and managed to be on the road by 9am.

Ok so we tried!

Two weeks is quite a while, but in retrospect I brought way too many clothes and shoes. I know part of my rational was I would be in at least two different climates so I wasn’t sure what to bring. Our stop in eastern Tennessee would be during winter, with cold rain and fog, but central Florida would be warm spring tropical so you tell me – what would you bring?? Another thing that was big were the amount of tools hubby brought. Those filled the back of the truck. He and Aaron had plans to do a bunch of stuff to the 5th wheel while we were in Florida and since hubby has way more tools than son he brought them along. I’m talking shop vac, a ladder, a bag full of tie-downs, three tool boxes, etc., you get my drift.

It was a fun trip. The best part is always the humans who are part of the adventure. We learned some history, saw a musical production, roamed three DisneyWorld parks, and spent too much money $$$, but we had a good time and didn’t fight too much. 😉👍

Cheers!

-N

I’m Back!!

Well fantastic followers, after two weeks and nearly 4,000 road miles later I am finally back online and ready to blog. I have a ton of photos and stories to share with everyone. Still getting the pics downloaded and sorted so it will probably be a series of blogs.

Hubby and I had fun visiting (in order round trip from Arizona) New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, ending back home in Arizona of course.

Our sweet little 15 foot travel trailer we have fondly named “Daisy” performed exceptionally well. She is a vintage 1982 Sport and we look forward to sprucing her up. We got a lot of attention and great comments about her.

We spent a week with Aaron and Chelsea. Hubby and son working on some RV repairs, going to Epcot, Magic Kingdom, and Animal Kingdom at DisneyWorld, watching Chelsea be excellent in a production of Beauty and the Beast, and eating way too many donuts!

Our place and our pets were well cared for by Heather Herman, with help from Kristopher and Trinity. It was such a relief not to have to worry about anything. Millie was crazy to see us again, and Cleo was mildly interested that we returned.

I finished the laundry, we’ve got most of everything put away, Daisy is cleaned out and now it’s the getting back to normal.

More to come!

Cheers!

-N

Give it to a busy person, yeah right!

Well, yeah, that’s what it feels like. Last week, this week, next week – not enough days and lots to do. February 2019 has decided I’m on it’s radar.

This month was Charlie’s birthday, my niece Kali’s birthday, my nephew Austin getting ready to deploy with the US Army, reconnecting with a precious young family, my niece Danielle’s bridal shower, hubby flew to Reno, doctor appointments, eye surgery, hair appointment, waxing appointment, weekly Bible study, truck repairs, travel prep…yeah it’s been busy in this short month.

Dang, that explains my loss of sleep!

The biggest event was the reason for the trip to Reno. My father-in-law passed away 31 January, and Hubby went up to help his two brothers clear out dad’s apartment. It was an unexpected passing, and Chuck cherishes in his heart he was the last person to talk to him. They chatted on Saturday a couple of times, and then during his sleep and he suffered a catastrophic stroke. He lingered unconscious for four days, and passed peacefully.

Charlie’s birthday celebration was rescheduled a couple of times because of circumstances, but he didn’t care as long as he had a party. The weekend after his birthday party he came down to Catalina and it snowed! He dug it.

We had a last minute gathering to give a loving deployment send off for my nephew Austin. Lots of love and hugs and promises of care packages. Pizza, beignets, and cake along with music, laughing, conversation and photos.

So now the month is over, the last appointments to be attended, and a look forward to March.

Cheers!

-N