Nicole & Ashley with Gina eating breakfast in Biloxi
While they were enjoying themselves I spent the day with Thomas watching football and continuing to work on our solar power installation.
Time was coming to an end for Thomas to be at home and on January 3rd I brought him to the airport for his flight back to Twentynine Palms, Ca. Gina and the girls got back that night and they had a great time. We had originally planned on leaving Louisiana on January 4th then we moved it to the 8th and then again we moved it to the 10th. It seemed like there was always an issue with the solar installation. Finally on the 8th Gina and I set a drop dead date of January 12th whether or not I was finished with our solar installation or not. On Monday Gina's first priority was to take down all of the Christmas decorations and then get our trailer packed up. We tried not to bring a lot of stuff into the house. However, we still brought a lot of stuff inside our house.
On January 8th we celebrated Nicole’s birthday before we left since we wouldn’t be there for her actual birthday plus it allowed Ashley and Parker to celebrate her birthday to before they left.
Happy 27th Birthday Nicole !!!!
Maw Maw Sue and Paw Paw Jack came over right when she was blowing out her candles so they got to celebrate her birthday too. After we all ate our cake Maw Maw Sue shortened the sleeves on Ashley’s doctor’s coat so it would fit her better.
Ashley & Maw Maw Sue
Ashley flew back to Grenada on January 10th and Parker flew back on Jan 13th. We said our goodbyes and wished them the very best in medical school. They both plan on flying back home in May.
We both woke up early on January 12th knowing that we still had a lot left to do before we got on the road today. I focused on the last few items with our solar power installation while Gina was moving and storing the remaining items in our fifth wheel. We finished around one o’clock and then visited with my dad and Uncle Jim & Aunt Nell for a little while. We said our goodbyes to them and got on the road heading west at three o’clock. Not a great time to leave but we needed to cover 1800 miles in two days if we were to pick up Thomas for Friday morning in Twentynine Palms, California.
We made it to Kerrville by midnight and decided to stop for the night. We just crawled back into the bed of the truck and I was back up at five o’clock in the morning. I put a pot of coffee on and then was back on the road driving by 5:15. The goal for today (Wednesday) was California before midnight. We stopped a few times for potty breaks and to get diesel otherwise it was a non-stop drive. We crossed into California around nine o’clock at night and then stopped at the first rest area. We again just crawled into the back of the truck for another night of sleep. We drove 1,136 miles in 19 hours today but we are right on schedule to be at Twentynine Palms tomorrow morning.
We woke up at six o’clock this morning both feeling pretty good. I turned on the water heater and while the water was heating we enjoyed a cup of coffee together.
The road to nowhere
(really this is to show you that Twentynine Palms is in the middle of nowhere)
We each took showers to get cleaned up before we met Thomas and some RV-Dreamers that we have been trying to catch up to. However, it seemed like we were always about a week behind their schedule. Randy & Pam Warner became fulltimers last year and travel around in their Allegro bus. They were leaving Twentynine Palms this morning but were waiting on our arrival so we could finally meet eachother before they departed for Quartzsite. The only site they had available on base was the site they were in which worked out nice.
Randy & Pam Warner
We got to visit with them for about an hour before they pulled out and we backed into their site. We look forward to spending more time with them next month in Arizona.
Our Campsite at Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Base
We got all settled in for just an overnighter while we waited on Thomas to call us to come pick him up. We drove over to the exchange to see what they had and while we were there Thomas surprised us by showing up there to meet us. After we got our hugs we went back to his barracks so he could bring out all the stuff he had acquired while here at Twentynine Palms. Once he got everything loaded in the truck. We then brought him back home so we could visit for a few hours.
Thomas Cuttin up with us
Around ten o’clock we brought him back to his barracks and said goodnight to him since he was required to sleep in the barracks. We then drove back home and called it a day.
We got up early Friday morning waiting on Thomas to call us to let us know he had been released. He finally called around ten o’clock and by eleven o’clock we were heading west toward Camp Pendleton.
Thomas thinking he's gonna get to drive
(I don't think so)
Gina was fasinated by all the wind mills & the snow covered mountains
We arrived at Camp Pendleton’s Del Mar Beach Campground around three and found out our site was right on the beach.
Our Arrival to Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base
Our Campsite on the Beach
Here we all are on the beach
Our Campsite with our home in it
Thomas & Gina enjoying a nice campfire
We stayed here two days before we moved to another campground located on Camp Pendleton. This campground is located a little closer to where Thomas works and we’re not tracking sand into our home. The forecast called for severe thunderstorms all week and if you haven’t been watching the news last week it rained a lot everyday last week in southern California.
Gina & I hope everyone has a pleasant and wonderful day, enjoying what our Father has so graciously blessed us with.
