My RV-Dreams Family is Wonderful

Today was a very easy day if you consider I spent a total of ten hours in meetings. Which I knew it would be like that so I was prepared. With so many emails and comments on both this blog and Facebook it was easy since I spent most of my time during the meetings playing with my blackberry. I did get a full night sleep last night which if I hadn’t it would have been a very hard day to stay awake. I called Gina at a 8:45 this morning and she was just waking up. She stayed up until after midnight putting fresh corn away. I believe the total count was 211 quart size bags and she gave some to my brother and sister, so she doesn’t know exactly how many she did but she is tired of looking at corn. Here are some pictures from Monday and today to show you just a little of the corn. She did get help from my dad, my brother, Aunt Nell, Uncle Jim and Parker.

The First Ears of Corn


The First Counter Full


Another Counter Full


Dad and My Brother Jimmy


Jimmy and my Dad posing this Time for the Picture


Uncle Jim Working Hard


Aunt Nell Cleaning the Corn


Parker and Gina Working Hard


Parker and Gina posing this Time for the Picture


Parker has Corn Coming out his Ears

We all love corn so we should have fresh corn for awhile.

Now about about today being my Birthday. I received more Happy Birthday wishes than I have ever gotten before. I would like to say thank you to you all. Most of those were from our RV-Dreams family. Which brings me to a topic that I want to write about today. Howard & Linda Payne is a couple that are exactly the same age as me and Gina. They started a website RV-Dreams that educates individuals about the life of full time living in an RV. Their website is the most informative of all websites when it comes to preparing and what to expect if you decide to become a full time RV’er commonly called a "Fulltimer". I first came across their website in March 2006 and I do not believe I have missed a day of reading their daily journal. In fact, I believe I have read every word on every page of their website. I'm sure that when they set out on this journey of RV living that they never believed that they would have created a family this large. I really have no idea just how big it has become. I know Howard has stated the number of forum members at over 1400 members and it seemed like he said last year he averages over 1000 views of their journal every day (I apologize if I'm wrong on the numbers but I didn't feel like going back to verify the numbers). Since they started writing their daily journal he has only missed one day of writing that I can recall. I really want to talk about the family he and Linda created. It’s pretty common knowledge that people who go camping are different. Generally speaking, RV'ing is like stepping back in time when you could leave your house unlocked and you never met a stranger. Those things are true within this family. However, this family is very large but we all seem to find a way to communicate with each other just as you would communicate with someone in your immediate family. Granted I know a lot of the RV-Dreams family members even though we have never met face to face. It’s amazing to Gina and I on just how close we have become with so many. We met Howard & Linda in November 2007 while they were at Tickfaw State Park. This was a classic example of knowing someone even though we had never met them. Here is a picture of them when we met them for the first time.

Howard & Linda Payne

We also attended the first RV-Dreams rally in Branson last year and had a wonderful time with not just Howard & Linda but most of the RV-Dreams family at that time.

I guess I didn’t communicate very well yesterday about writing in this blog. I have no intent of stopping. I really enjoy writing but some days Gina & I just don’t do anything and I think no one wants to read about me going to work then coming home and eating followed by going to bed. Even though I find that routine and boring you all seem to like knowing that. So rest assured I'm not going to stop writing anytime soon. I do feel bad when I fail to write an entry for a day. Since I’m sure there are those that look forward to reading my blog just as I look forward to reading theirs. So to wrap this topic up, this family of Dreamers is a very tight knit group of people that have become very close in that we share our good times and bad with eachother. I encourage all of you if you don’t already, to follow Howard & Linda in their journey, please be careful you might start liking what you read and everyone here will tell you, once you get the bug for RV’ing it’s impossible to cure other than becoming one of us. I also encourage you to follow the links on the left side here who we consider our family and once you go to their blogs you will find more links to other Dreamers. (I really need to add more links to all the ones I follow, but you could say it's just as easy following someone else's link). The family that Howard & Linda has created just keeps growing larger and larger.

I really had a very mellow day, it could have been better if my bride would have been here to celebrate it with me but she had corn to take care of but really she has a beach trip planned for later this week. In closing, all the comments made my day both here and on Facebook. I just became a member of Facebook last week because RV-Dreams created a group on there and I wanted to see what it was all about. I will admit that working twelve hour days and writing this blog doesn’t leave much time for Facebook or chatting online with other Dreamers. I’m just tired when I get home in the evening.

Thanks for a Great Day and I feel so loved by everyone!!!

Until tomorrow, Gina & I hope everyone has a pleasant and wonderful day, enjoying what our Father has so graciously blessed us with.

Happy Birthday to Me

Monday
June 8, 2009

This was one of those mornings that I wanted to throw the alarm clock when it went off at 4:45. It seemed like I just went to sleep. I had to get up and go to work but I knew the way I was feeling that it would be a long day with me accomplishing very little. When I’m tired there is just no way for me to concentrate and my memory is almost nonexistent. This was just one of those days that I was probably stealing money from the client since I did about three hours of work and tried to stay awake the remaining nine hours. I might be exaggerating a little but I didn’t do as much work as I normally do that’s for sure. I talked to Gina and she was at Uncle Jim’s harvesting corn just as planned. She did have Ashley & Parker helping for about an hour but they had errands to run so their time was limited. She did bring Zoey to the veterinarian this afternoon and she has a really bad bladder infection with a strong possibility of having kidney stones. She even changed the food she eats so we’ll have to wait to see how she responds.

I finally made it through the workday and made it home. I spoke to Gina briefly but she was still working on putting corn in the freezer I decided to let her finish. Today was another first for me and Gina. It was the first time in our marriage that we have not had a landline phone. We haven’t really used it much the past two three years but just kept it for some unknown reason but it became history today. I spoke to Thomas this morning as he was on his way to the airport. He sounded real excited but I know that will change by this time tomorrow. I’m sure we all remember when we finally made that break away from our parents and we could say “I’m on my own” at least I did and I can say without a doubt I never knew how good I had it growing up at home until after I was on my own.

I really was undecided on what to eat tonight so I opened a can of green beans and a can of new potatoes and mixed them together. It was quick and I wanted to write this blog entry tonight. I never write at night because I like to relax but I have meetings tomorrow which will not allow much time for me to write it in the morning and it’s my birthday tomorrow so I’m taking a break from writing. That’s about it, not a very exciting day unless you consider the large donation that we left at the animal hospital but we have to take care of our babies. Please don’t think I’m conceited just because I announced that it’s my birthday (ok I might be a little just joking LOL) but I want to make sure Nicole and Ashley don’t forget that it’s my birthday. That’s it for today pretty boring but our family and everyone else in Lousiana says they like reading about our boring days so I guess that means we’ll keep writing about our boring days. I'm sure they will get more exciting as we start our traveling. And with that we wish all of you Safe travels if you're heading down the road to that favorite campground. Enjoy it while you can.

Until tomorrow, Gina & I hope everyone has a pleasant and wonderful day, enjoying what our Father has so graciously blessed us with.

It's Official, The Nest is Empty

Sunday
June 7, 2009

Today was bittersweet with both joy and sadness. Thomas left for bootcamp this afternoon which caused emotions to run high for our family. On the opposite side we are so happy for Thomas making a decision to serve his country. Today we officially became empty nesters. A new phase for Gina & I and one step closer to realizing our dream of traveling. I’m not sure how Gina will do tomorrow since this will be her first day with all of her children on their own as adults. We did get some pictures of Thomas leaving. I must tell you that while I was in the Navy I was a recruiter and I witnessed hundred's of goodbyes some good and some bad but today's goodbye was a good one at least while he was there. I could write a book about some of the goodbye's. I guess that could be a topic one day sitting around a campfire with friends.

Thomas with his Recruiter


One Last Family Photo with Thomas as a Civilian

(next photo he'll be a United States Marine)


Proud Parents

As soon as Thomas left I got on the road toward Aransas Pass, Texas. Nicole and Gina went to the store to buy steaks. They decided to have steaks and baked potatoes for dinner. Ashley took a nap and Parker & Shane rented a movie. They all set down and watched a movie, (they didn’t tell me the name of it) and after the movie ended Nicole put the steaks ont he grill since Parker and Shane were glued to the Lakers and Magic basketball game. They all left and went home after the game and Gina called me to let me know that they all left. I finally arrived back home at 10:30. By the time I had the electricity connected to the truck, water turned on to the RV, and the truck unpacked it was after eleven o’clock. I called Gina to tell her good night and that I was going to bed. Now the only problem with a long drive and getting in late is my eyes are tired but my body has all this stored up energy from just sitting for hours and falling asleep is difficult for me. I last looked at the alarm clock at 12:16 so I guess I fell asleep around that time.

All in all today was a Wonderful and Joyful day. Gina and I feel very content knowing that we have raised our children to the best of our abilities and a whole lot of help from God. They are now all on their own and all we can do now is watch them and rejoice with them as they receive the fruits of their labor. This is very fulfilling for us as parents, as I'm sure it is for all parents. However, that’s not to say we don’t long for them to be that small child, totally dependent on us. For us we just get older and they grow up. Well that’s it for the day.

Until tomorrow, Gina & I hope everyone has a pleasant and wonderful day, enjoying what our Father has so graciously blessed us with.

Wishing Thomas the Very Best on Starting his Life as a Marine

First, I would like to say thank you for the comments about my previous entry on marriage. I would like to clarify that Gina and I do not care if someone gets divorced because that is something that happens in life. However it is sad to us to see our friends part ways. The point that I was trying to make was, we don’t care why it happens nor will we choose sides. We just want to stay friends since we were friends before and we would like to stay friends afterwards. We acknowledge and know that it takes two people to fall in love it just as it takes two people to part ways. Enough said about relationships and our friends. Gina and I love this life of RV'ing and the people we meet along the way and cherish the memories we have enjoyed and look forward to seeing all of you down the road to make more memories with.

I guess I need to catch everyone up since I have not posted since Wednesday morning. Not much has happened to write about since I have only went to work every day and Gina has been working on moving our stuff around in the house. I drove back to Louisiana Friday afternoon and got home around 8:30. This would be Thomas’s last weekend at home before he leaves for the Marine Corps and working on becoming a Marine. Gina and I just wanted to spend some time with him before he leaves.

We all woke up around eight o’clock Saturday morning and Gina and I enjoyed our coffee outside together. Gina’s garden is looking so beautiful. She has some plants that did not produce flowers last year but are blooming this year. Here are a few pictures of them.

A Beautiful Flower growing in the Pond

Another Flower called "Lily of the Nile"


Another Beautiful Flower

We called Dana & Rickey to come down and eat pancakes and bacon with us so we could talk about our upcoming trip to the Grand Canyon. We have progressed our plans and bought our tickets for the train ride from Williams, Arizona to the Grand Canyon and reserved a spot at the Pet Day Care for our babies, Angel & Zoey and Rickey’s baby Addison. We decided that they would meet us in Aransas Pass on Thursday and we will leave Friday Morning, June 19th. Our first stop will be Saturday in Albuquerque to visit the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center Museum then leave Sunday toward Williams with our arrival there on Monday. We want to stop and see the Petrified Forest along the way so we will stop somewhere near there on Sunday. We expect to arrive in Williams on Monday and taking the train ride on Tuesday. That is as far as we have planned since we decided that after the Grand Canyon we will just plan the remaining trip as we go with no set itinerary other than being back in Aransas Pass on Sunday July 5th. Follow along and you can see how the trip comes out.

Once they left Gina put a pot roast in the crock pot to cook all day. Everyone is coming over tonight for dinner to spend a little time with Thomas before he leaves. Right after Gina put the roast in the crock pot Nicole showed up. She has a full day planned of baking. Soon after her arrival Shane arrived and then Gina and Nicole went to the store to pick up some groceries while I visited with Shane. Uncle Jim came by the house and we all talked for a while. Shane left to go see his parents and then Uncle Jim left as Gina and Nicole were getting back to the house. Nicole started her baking. She made a cheesecake, two keylime pies, a peach cobbler and a dessert called “Death by Chocolate”. Sometime in the afternoon Ashley & Parker showed up and Ashley baked oatmeal & raisin cookies along with some chocolate chip cookies and a pan of brownies while Parker watched LSU beat Rice in the NCAA baseball super regionals. I must clarify that all this baking wasn’t for us. Most of the baked treats are for an auction at church tomorrow to raise money for a mission trip to Mexico for a young woman at church.

It was finally time to eat that roast that we had smelled all day cooking. We had roast & gravy, mashed potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, and fresh corn. Now if that wasn’t enough we still had a lot of dessert to eat which Nicole had baked today. I don’t know why we are not 400 hundred pounds around this house since everyone here can cook and bake really good.

Let’s see we had everyone in our family to include Dana & Rickey for dinner. Shane was in the Marine Corps so we got to hear about his boot camp stories to Thomas.

All of us Laughing and Telling Stories about Thomas

We laughed and laughed since we all know Thomas and we all said that we wished we could be a fly on the wall to see him humble himself at boot camp. Especially since he is so headstrong. I guess we shall see how things come out in three months. He should be graduating sometime in September. That about wraps up what we have been doing, we’ll all say our goodbyes on Sunday as he heads down to New Orleans before flies out to Paris Island, SC on Monday. I’ll be driving back to Aransas Pass on Sunday. We have had a wonderful weekend and wish the best for Thomas as he begins a new chapter in his life called the “United States Marine Corps”

Somewhere in there I forgot about Gina taking corn off the cob and putting it in the freezer. Gina has a full week of this planned as Uncle Jim has approximately 500 feet of corn planted in his garden ready to be picked on Monday & Tuesday. He will pick it and shuck it while Gina cleans it and removes the kernals off the cob and then puts it in bags for freezing. This is only half of his corn because he still has another 400 feet of corn that should be ready for picking around the beginning of July. So as you can see Gina will have a very busy week. However, her reward will be on Friday she heads to Gulf Shores, Alabama for a weekend of fun on the beach. Well that’s about it and there are things that I need to get done before I get on the road later today. You all take care and for those on the road Safe travels.

Until tomorrow, Gina & I hope everyone has a pleasant and wonderful day, enjoying what our Father has so graciously blessed us with.