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Friday, June 24, 2011

Another Milestone

Stix n Brix
Clayton, NC

Just a quick post to say Whoo Hoo!!  I have worked my last night shift...ever!!!  Sure, I still have 5 more weeks of day shift, but only 4 of those weeks will be in uniform.  My last week (only 3 days of 12 hour shifts) will be devoted to clearing out my "stuff" and final paperwork.  I still can't believe that I am this close to that finish line.  It won't really hit me until a few weeks in to retirement.  Until then, I'll just do a little "happy dance" instead of an all-out "skip and go naked". :o

Thanks for dropping by, and enjoy each day of your life's journey by finding beauty in the ordinary.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Internet Finds

Stix n Brix
Clayton, NC

I want to welcome our newest followers, Sara who has a blog and is anticipating going fulltime in a couple of years and Doyle and Terri who are living historians and have several blogs.

I have been following several blogs over the past few years and wanted to share with my readers some of the interesting sites and information that I have recently found.  Most everyone in the rv blog world is familiar with RV-Dreams.  It is a great site set up by Howard and Linda who are some of the nicest folks in the world.  I recently discovered Wheelingit which is Nina and Paul’s blog.  It is chock full of information too.  Both of these sites do wonderful campground reviews when rvparkreviews isn’t quite enough.  Laurie and Odel have a wonderful blog and have set up a separate blog reviewing the campgrounds where they have stayed.  There are other bloggers who have done this and I may do it also when we finally hit the road to help us remember where we’ve been.  Another site that Gin likes for "techie" stuff is Jack Mayer.

One of the things that I have often thought would be helpful is a central website for all of the National Parks, National Forests, COE Parks, State Parks and other public campgrounds.  I’m not talking about Reserve America either.  Well Nina had a link to US campgrounds that looks like it may be very helpful in our trip planning.

Other things that I have gleaned from my reading but you may want to double check before accepting as fact pertain to State Parks.  Some Ohio State Parks accept Passport America discounts.  Alabama State Parks offer monthly rates during the winter.  They also offer senior/disabled discounts.  Arkansas State Parks offer half price for disabled persons.  Louisiana State Parks may honor the National Park Senior/Access Pass.  You may have to be a resident to get some of these great discounts.

Many State Parks add a day use fee per person along with the cg fees.  If they offer an annual Park Pass like Texas does, it will offset this added fee after a few uses.  New Mexico State Parks offers an annual Camping Permit so that you don’t really have to pay for camping.  You pay a small fee for electricity only.  If you stay in their parks, it’ll pay for itself in 23 days.

These tidbits of information can help stretch a buck and the blogs and websites are definitely worth checking out.  Anyone else want to share some of their great internet finds?

Thanks for dropping by, and enjoy each day of your life’s journey by finding beauty in the ordinary.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

The Three R’s

Jordan Lake State Park
Poplar Point CG site #E106
Apex, NC

We have finally made our escape, if only temporarily.  Everything is under control at the house so we decided to take Wanda for a ride to indulge in the three R’s.

Prior to January, I’ve worked a schedule that was basically 3 weeks on duty and 1 week off.  We enjoyed that week off in the MH.  This is the first time that we have been “weekend warriors”.  After working all night Thursday, we left the house about 8:00am and drove an hour to Jordan Lake.  We didn’t even bother to hook up the Suki, instead, we carried our two e-bikes.  There is one loop that doesn’t require reservations and all of the good waterfront sites were taken.  That’s ok because there is a nice swimming beach within the park.  The e-bikes sure came in handy for that.  Here’s our really nice shady site in the woods and some nearby Trumpet Vine.

IMG_0458  IMG_0456

Shortly after getting set up in our secluded site, we heard the deep throaty growl of a DP approach us.  We looked up and it was a Winnebago Tour with a four-door Jeep Wrangler in tow.  It may take 2-3 years of saving up, but we plan to get a Tour when we upgrade.  In the meantime, Wanda sure is nice to have.

We have enjoyed taking it easy this weekend.  We have slept late each morning, eaten an easy frozen meal and bag salad when we were hungry, and swam (floated) when we were hot.  We haven’t had internet so that feels a little strange.  We really needed this weekend here at the lake.  Oh, and the 3 R’s?   Rest, relax, and reconnect with each other and nature.  Mission accomplished!

Thanks for dropping by, and enjoy each day of your life’s journey by finding beauty in the ordinary.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Officially on the Market

Stix n Brix
Clayton, NC

IMG_0445 IMG_0452

Yep, we’ve got a sign in front of the house so it’s officially listed on the market!  It’s funny when we talked with the realtor and she said that our cul-de-sac is not found on any MLS listings.  That’s when we realized that all 7 houses here were pre-sales and we’re all original owners.  We were the first on this road so I guess it’s only right that we will be the first to leave.

We took another big step yesterday when Eric came to pick up the waverunners and do the paperwork at the bank.  He has a 14 year old daughter and an 11 year old son whom he was going to surprise.  He’s a nice fella and I’m sure that his family has already enjoyed them since it’s been so hot the past few days.  We decided not to get a photo of them as they were being hooked up to his truck.  Gin had a tougher time letting these go than I did.  They sure did give her a sense of freedom on the water.  We’ll miss them but they were kind of a bumpy ride and made us feel real sore.

We haven’t taken a trip in Wanda in quite a while and we really need to.  Maybe we can sneak away for a couple of nights at the lake later this month.  That might be a good time for an “open house”.

Thanks for dropping by, and enjoy each day of your life’s journey by finding beauty in the ordinary.