We Made It To Arizona

We finally departed El Paso at noon and continued our travels toward Arizona. With our late departure we were not sure if we would make it to Congress, Arizona today. However, we arrived a little after nine o’clock and got backed in. Mom & Pop’s came down soon there after for some long awaited hugs. It was so nice to see them. Travel days are not very exciting but seeing Mom & Pop’s was well worth a long travel day.

Monday morning found us waking up late. We just needed a little more sleep than normal. After we woke up and had a cup of coffee it was out the door for me to get our trailer setup. Once we finished getting our trailer setup Mrs. Nancy came over to say hello and then we walked over to their house to tell Mr. Paul hello. We haven’t seen them since we left here last May.

We then unloaded our four-wheeler and Pop’s came by to pick me up so we could run into town so I could fill up our gas cans and buy a new battery for Gina’s four-wheeler.

It was then time for our Happy Hour with Mom & Pop’s. It was so nice to sit outside on their screened porch catching up with all of our happenings. We ate Gina’s taco soup for dinner that she had cooked earlier. We enjoyed a wonderful day with Mom & Pop’s.

Tuesday morning we woke up in time to watch our first Arizona sunrise this year.

What a beautiful sight to wake up to out your back window

Mom & Pop’s came down and picked up all the boxes that we brought down from South Dakota for them. After I got Gina’s four-wheeler running we decided to take a short ride out in the desert.
Of course we didn’t get very far before Gina was stopping and picking up rocks.

Gina and her rocks

Gina having a little fun

We did stop and eat lunch just so we could enjoy and soak up the solitude of the desert. We both love being out here in the desert.

We both had a great time

Before long it was time to head home and over to Mom & Pop’s so Gina could give Pop’s a haircut. While Gina was cutting his hair I was boiling shrimp for our Happy Hour. We enjoyed another great Happy Hour with them. I grilled Baby back ribs for dinner while Mom steamed some vegetables. Another great meal!! We finally said goodnight and headed home to watch the President’s State of the Union address.

Here it is already Wednesday morning. We are up early and getting packed up. We'll be leaving here later this morning heading over to Bouse, Arizona with Mom & Pop’s for a little boondocking. We are meeting up with our friends Jim & Ellie, John & Brenda, Mike & Janna and Rod & Deb. We are excited to have Mom & Pop’s come boondocking with us and are hanging out with all of our RV’ing friends. Stay tuned as I’m sure there will be a lot of stories.


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

A Month of Celebrations

It has been a crazy two weeks. Between Gina’s doctor appointments, getting packed up to leave Louisiana and celebrating birthdays. It has been extremely hard leaving Louisiana this time. It seemed like every time Gina went to the doctor they scheduled another appointment for some other test. We finally got packed up and headed down the road Friday morning. It felt great heading west. However, Gina and I were both exhausted getting on the road. We stopped in Katy, Texas to eat Lunch at Babin’s restaurant and then continued on to Kerrville, Texas before stopping for the night at a picnic area. I woke up early and got Gina back into the truck where she continued sleeping while I drove through west Texas. By ten o’clock she was awake and we decided to stop in El Paso and camp at Fort Bliss RV Park. We needed to restock our pantry and this was our best opportunity. We had our home all setup and shopping in the commissary by three o’clock. While Gina shopping in the exchange, I decided to fill the truck up with diesel since it was only $3.19 a gallon. What a deal considering the cheapest I had seen thus far was 3.29 gallon. After we unloaded our groceries we drove over to see my Uncle Donald that lives here in El Paso. We visited for a little while before saying goodnight and going home for some much needed rest.

Me and Uncle Donald

Now to backtrack a little, January is a big birthday month for us. Thomas, our youngest turned 21 on Tuesday the 18th. Gina’s birthday was Wednesday the 19th and Nicole our oldest will be 28 on Monday the 24th and Dana, my oldest sister’s birthday is the 31st. A whole lot of birthdays makes one wonder what was so special about May to make so many babies???LOL For Thomas’s birthday we could only talk to him but his wife baked him a birthday cake.

Rickey and I are ready to celebrate with the Birthday girls
HAPPY BIRTHDAY GINA and DANA!!!

For Gina and Dana’s birthday, Rickey and I took the birthday girls out to Mike Anderson’s Seafood restaurant for great food and a wonderful time. I would also like to add that Gina was so humbled by so many birthday wishes on Facebook and wanted to me to pass on a thank you to everyone for making her day extra special. The Lord has truly blessed her with such awesome friends and family. She definitely felt blessed and loved on this special day.  Nicole is in New York and will spend time with Shane, her husband. I’m sure he’ll have something special for her. Happy Birthday Sweetheart!!

We have been so busy we still had not got by to see Paw Paw Jack & Maw Maw Sue to give them their Christmas present from us.  We finally got by there on the 14th.

Merry Christmas Paw Paw Jack & Maw Maw Sue

On January 17th Parker our SIL received his white coat as it brings him one step closer to becoming a Medical Doctor. Congratulations!!!

Parker and receives his white coat

Soon to be our two family doctors

Now about Gina and her doctor appointments. In two weeks she had eight appointments / tests done. We got the final results on Thursday afternoon and with the exception of being low on calcium they were all good. I would like to tell more but that would be way too much personal information. The main thing is, her doctors cleared her and we are on the road traveling to see friends.  A special thank you to everyone for all the prayers.

Now on a more sobering note, last Sunday Tressie Foster, our friend died at the age of 42. She was a beautiful young woman in good health. Not only was she a good friend, Gina taught two of her children and Larry, her husband put braces on our oldest daughter and we all attended the same church. She leaves behind her husband of 24 years and three wonderful children, Chase, Brennan, and Lauren. I ask that you keep this family in your prayers. I have said this numerous times but please tell those close to you how much you love and cherish them because there is no guarantee that any of us will get tomorrow.

We'll be leaving El Paso this morning heading further west.  Stay tuned as our adventure continues.

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

Our Children Left and We're Still in Louisiana

Well, I thought I would be writing this update as we were getting on the road for Arizona. However, that is not the case. We will be here for a few more days due to doctor visits for Gina. Hopefully we’ll be on the road next week. So in the mean time we are just slowly getting ready to leave.

After Mike & Janna left we unloaded our truck and trailer of all the rocks and other items that we collected over the last five months. It was quite amusing to watch Gina with the rocks.

Gina kept saying "Look how unique this one is"

Of course she said that a lot, LOL

Gina admiring her rocks and acting like a kid in a candy store

You could have sworn that she just found them as she couldn’t stop herself from admiring them all. On Friday we watched LSU win the Cotton Bowl. Congratulations on their win!!! Saturday we had Nicole, Ashley & Parker, and Rickey & Dana over for Gina’s homemade Lasagna. She also made an extra pan that was frozen so Ashley could take it back with her to Grenada.

First thing Sunday morning Nicole stopped by to say goodbye as she was driving to New York with Zora and Scarlett.

Zora,(the doberman) and Scarlett, (the poodle)

Nicole telling us goodbye

After Nicole left Ashley & Parker stopped by to tell us goodbye with Parker parents and his sister and BIL. Ashley & Parker were heading to New Orleans to catch their flight back to Grenada.

Justin, Paiton, Ashley, Parker, Wanda, & Phil

Parker & Ashley telling us "see ya down the road"

Parker joking with us as we never tell our friends goodbye

Gina hung out at home while I took my dad to IHOP for breakfast for a father and son time before we leave. We both commented to each other that this is the first time that we have been home in Louisiana and our children are living elsewhere. Feels kind of strange but we are so proud of them as they pursue and live their dreams.

Monday morning we were up early for Gina’s doctor appointment. We did not set a date for our departure since we really didn’t know what this doctor would tell her. Well, it didn't go quite the way we had hoped for.  He scheduled her for two additional appointments, one on Wednesday for another test and then one on Monday to discuss results and his recommendations for a path forward. So if all goes well we should be leaving here on Tuesday beginning our trek out west.


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