Goodbye Louisiana Hello California

To bring in the New Year Gina took Ashley and Nicole to Biloxi, Mississippi for a girl’s weekend. Their main reason was to go by Keesler Air Force Base commissary and exchange for a little shopping.

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.

December in Lousiana

Wow, it’s been a busy month back in Louisiana. Gina and I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and A Happy New Year. We pray that Gods blessings will be bestowed upon you and your family during 2010.

I would like to thank all of our blog followers for the emails inquiring about our status and wanting to make sure we were both alright. I would have written something sooner. However, I was consumed with our solar electrical installation beginning from early morning to it getting dark every day. The first two weeks I had to work around the rain and the final three weeks I had to work around the extreme cold in Louisiana. Gina and I are both doing fine and yes, we are finally back on the road enjoying all the rain in southern California. Now that we are finally settling down I decided that I would try to bring everyone up to date. Instead of one really long entry I decided that I would catch you all up over the next few days. It will be mostly pictures just to give you a glimpse of what we have been up to last month.

Here's a picture of the finished project.
(I will do a separate entry on our electrical system)


Solar Panels mounted on top of the truck in the raised position


Gina and I with Brandi

Gina and I attended Brandi's commencment ceremony as she was awarded her BA in Education from South Eastern Louisiana University. Brandi was our oldest son's girlfriend and will always have a special place in our hearts. She will forever be a part of our family. We love her very much and are extremely proud of her.

Later that evening Gina and I, along with Nicole and Shane attended a graduation party for Brandi.

Brandi and Gina

Brandi was hired to teach at Denham Springs High School. She gave me and Gina a tour of her new classroom. Brandi and Gina minds were tossing around ideas for decorating her classroom.

Brandi in her Classroom

After Brandi and Gina had spent several days up at the high school her classroom was finally done. Gina really enjoyed the special time helping Brandi prepare her classroom for her students. She is going to be an outstanding teacher!!!

Ashley and Parker along with their dogs Jada & Sophia flew home from Grenada. They both finished another semester of medical school and we were thankful that they were able to be home with us for the holidays. In celebration for Parker's birthday, Gina made homemade lasagna and made a brownie birthday cake.

Thomas and Gina

Thomas flew home from 29 Palms, California December 19th and will have to report back on January 3, 2010. Now that all of our children are home it's time for making memories with our family.

Me, Thomas and Gina on our way to church in celebration of Our Saviour's birth.

Gina with our daughters Ashley Jenkins and Nicole Young. Then Wanda Jenkins with her daughters Paige Seals and Paiton Achord. They had a girl's day planned. First it was breakfast at a restaurant named the "Broken Egg" then they all went and got their hands and feet pampered by getting manicures and pedicures. They all had a fun and relaxing day.

Here I am playing Santa Claus. Gina thought it would be a nice idea since I had grown a beard during the month of November. Really I was just tired of shaving for awhile.

We gathered at my brother-in-law and sister’s house for our traditional family Christmas get together. It was especially nice this year with seven great grandchildren. We all had a great time and I really enjoyed playing Santa. I’m not sure who had more fun, the kids or the adults laughing at me.

Here is Ashley with her cousin Stephen. They are the same age and have always been real close. In reality they are more like brother and sister than cousins.

Thomas telling Uncle Rickey what it’s like to be a Marine and what it’s like being stationed in Twenty-nine Palms, California.

Ashley making up for lost time visiting with Aunt Dana.

Nicole and Shane holding my niece’s newest baby, Danny Lopez

As they say all good things must come to an end. It was nice not shaving for six weeks but I was really getting tired of the beard. Ashley had asked me when she got home if she could shave my beard before she left and I said ok. It was one of her Christmas wishes.

Not only did she shave my beard but she got carried away and included shaving my mustache too. I told her that since she got to shave my mustache too then she would have cut my hair too. Here is the finished look. Gina said that I look 15 years younger. What do you think???

Thomas sitting in front of the fireplace Christmas morning trying to wake up and get warm before opening presents.

Nicole and Shane opening presents and Nicole showing off her new coat.

Ashley and Parker along with Sophie having fun opening their presents.

Thomas admiring his new ostrich boots with Angel being content laying in his lap.

Ashley and Nicole posing with Santa

OH, it’s Dad not Santa

Christmas morning after we exchanged gifts with our children we all loaded up in the truck. Now picture me as Santa driving my truck around town Christmas morning. Everyone on the road either waved or blew their horns. As we drove into the Seals subdivision children would be out playing with their new toys and then they would see me (Santa). They would either have shocked looks on their faces or they would run to get their parents.

After driving through the subdivision we finally arrived at Josh & Paige Seals home. It’s a Seals tradition for Josh to make homemade waffles for everyone on Christmas morning. Gina had prearranged our Santa visit. So for the next few hours I greeted the neighborhood children with candy canes and posed for pictures.

We were all having so much fun so we stopped by Shane’s parent’s home for a visit. Dave and Chris Young are proud grandparents of Evangeline Young. Her parents are Judy and Brandon Young, Shane’s oldest brother. I posed for pictures with Evangeline who is nine months old. Gina and I enjoyed catching up with everyone and talking to Jessica and Cato about RVing. They are living fulltime in a fifth wheel while they work.

It was such a joyful morning visiting with family and friends. We all had so much fun with me as Santa that we decided to make this our new family tradition. Next year Gina will join me as Mrs. Claus. Our day was definitely filled with memorable moments that we’ll always treasure.

Well this about sums it up for the month of December. Just to bring everyone up to date. We are camping at Lake Oneill, located on Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base which is between Los Angeles and San Diego, California. Thomas is only working about 20 minutes away from us so he has a buddy drop him off in the evening. I think he comes here every evening just to see what mom has cooked for him. I think Gina is spoiling him by cooking all of his favorite meals. Plus it’s been an extra treat that he gets to spend the night with us.

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

In Louisiana For The Holidays

Thursday through Tuesday
December 3 – 8, 2009

We got on the road at 9:20 after we said our goodbyes to all our friends. We were going to stop south of Houston. However, after talking to our daughter about the weather forecast for Friday morning which was snow and cold. We didn’t want to get stuck so we decided to drive through Houston and then since we were only 3 and a half hours from our house we just decided to drive on. We arrived at our house in Denham Springs, Louisiana at 8:40. Only a 720 mile day. I keep telling Gina that I havt to stop these long travel days. Anyway we decided to just sleep in our trailer since it was late and it had been a long day and we both just wanted to relax after our drive.

Friday morning after we woke up we went inside our house and made coffee. Once we finished our coffee I got our trailer turned around and backed in to its place since rain & snow was forecast for later this afternoon. We didn’t have anything planned for today since we knew it would be a day of visiting family. First, Uncle Jim stopped by and while he was there my sister stopped to pick Gina up and have breakfast together at IHOP. Around noon my brother stopped by and then a few minutes later my dad stopped. Gina arrived back home with my sister and we all visited for a while. Of course we took some pictures.

Me and My Dad


My brother, dad, and Uncle and of course me


Gina with her favorite Dads

While my dad was there Gina sweet talked him in going to get her some firewood so she could enjoy her fireplace. My dad got back with a quarter of a cord which should last us while we are here for the holidays. Gina then left to go shopping for a little while and then stopped by Wal-mart to pick up a few items. Once she arrived back home we got ready to grill steaks since Nicole & Shane, Rickey & Dana and my dad were coming over for dinner. We enjoyed a great dinner that consisted of steaks we bought during our stay in Nebraska and baked potatoes. After dinner we just sat around a glowing fire in our fireplace talking, visiting and watching it snow outside.

Gina says there's nothing like chatting by a warm fire


Shane, Dana & Nicole keeping warm by the fireplace


Dana showing her excitement with the snow falling


Shane & Nicole enjoying the snow


A little snow on our truck

We enjoyed a great day with family.


First thing Saturday morning once Gina woke up was she had to go outside and take a picture of our house so everyone could see that we really do get snow down south. Of course most of it had melted by the time she woke up.

Our House with just a little snow left on it

After Gina's picture taking I dropped her off at the beauty salon to get her hair done. I then went back home and took the Christmas tree out of the attic and put it up. I didn’t decorate it, I only put it up. Decorating is what Gina’s enjoys. Nicole picked her up at the beauty salon so they could spend some mom and daughter time together. Really it just gave Gina an excuse to go shopping for Nicole’s Christmas presents. I spent my time getting our DirecTV dish set up so I could watch some football. The satellite dish is mounted on my roof and after going up and down over twenty times and still not able to receive our local channels for some reason so instead I went down to my sister’s house and watched the SEC championship game between Alabama and Florida with Rickey, my brother-in-law. After the game was over I went back home to wait on Gina. Once she got home we went back down to my sister’s house to watch the Nebraska and Texas game. Another great game and I was disappointed that Nebraska didn’t win but it was close. Bo Pelini has done an outstanding job in the two years that he has been there. We then went back home and went to bed. I had a great day watching college football while Gina enjoyed her day shopping with Nicole.

We woke up Sunday morning and after we had our coffee we went over to MawMaw Sue’s for lunch and to visit with them for a little while. We then decided to stop by Nicole & Shane’s house to visit with them and I got to watch the ending of the Saints game. What a great ending. Can you believe the New Orleans Saints are 12-0? I sure wouldn't believe it. We then went to Wal-mart so Gina could buy two poinsettias for the house. Once we got back home we went up in the attic to get all our Christmas stuff down. We then sat back and watched a little TV while eating leftover Taco soup before going to bed.

Monday morning after we woke up and enjoyed our coffee Gina was off to drop Zoey off to get groomed. She also had a doctor’s appointment for Zoey but due to traffic in Baton Rouge she couldn’t make the appointment so she rescheduled it for tomorrow. While Gina was gone my brother stopped by to use my computer to get online. After he did what he needed he helped me get my satellite dish aimed correctly so I could start receiving our local channels. I had it close but close wasn’t good enough. He left to go back home and I checked on the shipping of my solar equipment. I got one item today but I’m still waiting on the rest. The weather has been nasty since we arrived back to our house Thursday night. Gina finally made it back home after it took her over an hour to go seven miles. If you don’t know it already I’ll tell you that you do not want to be driving through Baton Rouge after three o’clock in any direction. My dad stopped by and we worked on the design for mounting the solar panels. All I need to find now is a 30 inch linear actuator. This will allow me to tilt the solar panels up to 60 degrees automatically. I may not need to tilt them. However, I want to have the ability to hit a switch and they tilt automatically. Once my dad left Gina and I just relaxed on the couch watching Carrie Underwood’s special show on TV while listening to it rain cats & dogs outside. It has rained every day here in Louisiana since we got here and I’m getting really tired of it. I feel trapped. We still have one more day of it then hopefully we’ll have a few days without rain.

Tuesday morning we didn’t have anything planned other than Gina had to take Zoey for her vet appointment at 11:30. She went by herself while I watched it flood around our house. I don’t know the official rainfall. However, there were a lot of roads flooded out including three roads around our house which only left one way out. After Zoey’s vet appointment she dropped Zoey off by the house and then went to Hobby Lobby to do some more shopping. By early afternoon it looked like most of the rain had left the area. I decided to go visit some friends that own a tire / automotive shop. I wanted to see if they could get me some tires for our four wheeler. Anyway they didn’t have what I wanted. However, I still had a good time visiting with them. They own and operate the most honest and fair tire and mechanic shop that I know. From there I went back home. I received another piece of electrical equipment for my solar system. Slowly but surely all of it will get here. Gina finally made it home around six o’clock and we grilled chicken breasts to go with homemade Alfredo sauce. We enjoyed a nice dinner together. After dinner we discussed some of our plans for the next couple of weeks. Most of our plans all depend on and center around getting our solar system installed before January 4th. Other than that we just relaxed before going to bed. Tomorrow will be a decorating day for us. Gina wants to finish decorating our house for Christmas.

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