Family Pics: Justin, Ashley, Nellie, Ebin, Declan and Braxton, Newport, TN Nov.2012

More family pics.  One day, I hope all the kids will know us thru this blog.  I miss you all every day and can't wait to come back to Tennessee!!!!  This is my little Princess Nellie who I love dearly (all of you kids I do; it's a chick thing)

Meeting Nellie and Ebin

Here is the link to the slide show from the first time I met Declan's brother and sister, Nellie and Ebin.  It was the best family visit ever!!!!

Click here to see pictures

Declan Howe's Brithday 11-6-2012

Born November, 6, 2012 at 1:58 am, Morristown, TN.  The happiest moment ever.  Welcome my little prince and Grandson, Declan Howe.  I am your "Mia" and we will meet this weekend.  I can't wait to hold you in my arms.  I get to meet your sister Nellie, and your big brother Ebin too!  I know they will take good care of you and watch out for you always.  Listen to your brother - he will know the ropes!  You have a wonderful Mommy and Daddy and they love you all so much.  I can't wait for the next few years of you growing up and learning the world, and learning how to save and rescue animals with me!  Also, your other Grandparents are animal rescuers too!  So it's in all 3 of your kid's DNA. I hope that when you are older you will read this blog and learn all about Mia and Papa Steve and what we did and where we went before you were born.  I love you sweet little Prince.. see you this weekend!!!!

Click HERE to watch a video of when Kathy first met her new Grandson.  Very touching!

Avoiding Hurricane Isaac & Heading Home

8/29/2012: Here we sit in Ludington, MI and our summer trip is all but over as we start the drive home tomorrow.  The only trouble is... we don't know where Hurricane Isaac is going to be when it gets done with New Orleans.    Hopefully we can avoid the rain.  We shall see!

Most of our friends know that we were full-timers in 2008-2010 when we in our Phaeton.  We had discussed the possibility of getting into a RV ( but at least 42' long) full time again, but this trip completely changed our minds!  We had forgotten how much work it is when you travel in a RV ( keeping things running and clean), how much strain it can be if or when things break ( how much will it cost to get it fixed?), and the fact that maybe we're just too freaking old for this kind of travel for extended periods of time now?  HA!

After all the small towns we have been to on both coasts, and now along the shores of western Michigan, they just seem to all run together and everything becomes "the same." 

Anyway - we love our Foretravel but because we actually do have a house to come back to, we will only be using "Moose" for shorter trips to see our kids or as an escape device to just get away for a week or two.  No more 3 or 4 month trips!   Besides, it's hard to work from a RV too.  Internet access can be spotty and even Verizon can't have a signal everywhere! 

                                          Here's a summary of our 2012 trip:

Overall, the trip went smoothly as far as our RV is concerned.  We had no break downs!  The canvas cover on the slide ripped a little, but that will be easily fixed when we get back.  It was fun to drive this 450HP rig through the mountains too!   SO much faster up hills than our 2008 Phaeton!
I think Kathy & I have decided that this was our last "summer" trip.  It was so hot over most of the country it became a nuisance to our travels because it was simply too hot to sit outside or even walk around some of the local towns.  Since we also work from our RV, it became a PIA to answer phone calls or get internet access when we were off the beaten path.   We're going to use our RV for shorter trips here on out.  To visit our kids, ( and upcoming grand kids) and to just get away from it all for a week or two.  When we go, it'll be in the spring or fall when the tempatures are below 80F though!  No more 90+ temps for us.  Too old for that stuff :)  Changing to a plane ride to Maine, rent a car for a week and eat lobster until it makes us sick - then just fly home.  Simple.

Mackinac Island, MI

8-7-2012: Today we boarded our dog at a local Doggie "spa", hopped on the Shepler's Ferry and rode it to Mackinac Island.  A small island located a few minutes from Mackinaw City, it's a place where people go to buy fudge, ride a bicycle, take long walks, or spend the night in $400 per night hotel rooms.   We opted to buy some fudge :)

There are NO cars allowed on the island so bikes or horses are the only means of getting around.  Thousands of people walking around, tons of fudge shops and other gift shops and dozens of restaurants wore us out after 3 hours.  Kinda like walking around in Disney World. Fun place to visit, but now we can say, "Been there, done that."  No need to repeat it.
The weather is beautiful now.  Finally.

Petoskey, MI

Well, we made it to Petoskey, MI which was our goal for a few weeks in August while summer winds down.  The weather is great!  Highs in the 80's and in the 60's at night. Perfect!  Apparently Petoskey is also the "summer vacation spot" for the entire state of MI as there are tons of people here, lot's of traffic on the main highway, and a line at every restaurant.  We don't mind though.  it's a very pretty part of the country and we have a great spot to stay so we're just chillin and goofing around.  More pics here.

Our spot for 3 weeks.

South Haven, MI

WHAT???  Again??  It's 100 freaking degrees here today (7-17-12)!  In MICHIGAN?   I give up.  

Sunny Brook RV Resort

SH Family CG.

7-23: OK - no more complaining about the heat.  It is what it is.  We stayed a few days at one our favorite parks, South Haven Family Campground for 4 days and then moved 2 miles up the road to Sunny Brook RV Park  where we got a free one week stay.  Because it's free is the only reason we stay - that and we can't find a spot to camp up north if we leave early.  The sun shines on the porch side of all the RV's here in the evenings which means everyone moves their tables to the front of their RV between 4pm and 9pm to sit in the shade. Sunset at 9pm or so.  HA!   Another week here, and off to Ludington, MI for 4 days and then Petoskey for 3 weeks.  Across the Upper Peninsula and then back down through Wisconsin.   After WI, we're making a bee line to see our kids, and then home.  

Mark Twain and Hannibal, MO

At last!  The heat wave has gone and the temps are more comfortable.  YEAH!!  In the low 90's and that's a whole lot better than 100+.
We are visiting Hannibal, MO to see where Mark Twain worked when he was writing.  We are staying in a nice RV park in Quincy, IL just across the Mississippi River because it was the nearest place that could take us considering our size. 

There's not a lot of exciting stuff to say other than we're basically hanging out here until Sunday when we arrive in South Haven, MI and one of our favorite camp grounds where we stayed in 2008.  Looking forward to cooler temperatures too!

Branson, MO July 2012

Whew!  It's STILL hot in this part of the country.   Temps between 98 and 104 degrees so we are trying to do all indoor stuff :)  Today we saw a Tribute to Neal Diamond show and the guy was really good.  We recommend it.  Our second show was watching rescued pets to tricks. Weeee!

Deck next to the RV.  Nice!

We have and AWESOME camping spot at a KOA here.  Nice shade, our own private wooden patio and fire pit - but of course no fires! HA!   Because this area is under a severe drought, there won't be any July 4th fire works around here tomorrow.  Lot's of disappointed kids I'm sure, but better safe than sorry.
There is still a lot of evidence of the tornado that hit Branson in Feb 2012.  Hotels, restaurants & other businesses that had their roofs torn off or more.  Branson, like many other places across the country has also been hit hard by the bad economy and it's obvious that a LOT of the businesses that were destroyed by the tornado just packed up and left.  Empty buildings everywhere.  So sad.  This has been going on since 2008 when we first started traveling the country - lot's of closed businesses.  Hate to see that.

BRANSON SUMMARY
We've been in 100+ heat for a week and we have eaten out more times in the last week than in the last 6 MONTHS because it's just too darn hot to cook - either inside or outside.  Whenever we eat out, we're constantly reminded WHY we don't like restaurants anymore... the food usually sucks.  The exception in Branson would be Dannas BBQ and Burgers which positively had the best burger and fries I've had in years.  Even Kathy ate almost all of hers and the burgers are HUGE!  The BBQ looked great too, but we didn't have the time to try their BBQ.
Branson is a tourist destination that caters to country western or Christian gospel type people.  That's simply not our speed so Kathy & I have no need nor desire to ever come here again.  Been there, done that kind of situation.  Oh yeah - the traffic is awesome too!  Takes you 10 minutes to go 1/10 of a mile.  People were literally walking faster than we were driving! HA!  We're glad we came because it WAS on our bucket list, but now we can cross it off!

And now - it's off to Hannibal, MO to see Mark Twains house, then we'll be on our way to Michigan and cooler weather!

Hot Springs, AR

Whew!  Is it HOT here!  It was 106F on our first full day and of course it set the "all time record heat" for the month of June EVER!   It's all we can do to keep cool when we're outside, but thankfully Moose is so well insulated that the two AC's manage to keep the inside a cool 70F.  Quites amazing actually.

Here's what our camp looks like -->  As you can see, all the grass is just scorched.

Kathy managed to get a day at one of the historical Spas down town so she's feeling better!  Dow town Hot Springs is a very cool place with lot's of shops and eateries.  We would love to visit this place again - perhaps in the winter though :)

Click here to see more pics of Hot Springs.

Summer Trip 2012 - off to Michigan

Well, back on the road again... finally, after all the repairs and "modifications" done so we would have a fully functioning office in "Moose".  Left Jax on June 19 and we spent two days in Pensacola meeting some friends and overdosing on oysters... I love Gulf Coast Oysters!  We had a great spot on the "crik" with beautiful sunrises.  I accidentally saw one when I got up too early one day.

Another long day on the road west, to Vicksburg, MS.  Steve does all the driving, which I feel badly about but he doesn't like the way I drive a car, much less the motorhome.  So, we ended up at a decent Casino RV Park............Ameristar Casino right across the street overlooking the Mississippi River.  I actually won $150.00 on a 50 cent slot (I only put in a $10.00 bill).  So that little win covered dinners and lunch here.  Too too hot to grill out......around 95°!!!! and NO shade. 

We did the downtown Vicksburg today and the riverfront.  I know there are lots of pictures, but it's really a cool downtown.  The 32 murals run along the riverfront street, all done by local artists. 

Took Maddie to the Vicksburg Historical Battlefield Park.  We love that Civil War stuff........it's a 16 mile self guided tour in your own car.  You call a cell phone number and get a narrated story of the battle of Vicksburg, which was crucial for those Yankees to sieze in order to win the war (so they SAY they won).  Really a somber site is the graveyard.............thousands upon thousands of markers where both Union and Confederates died.  We did the Gettysburg tour 4 years ago and I think we've seen enough battlefields for a while.

On our way to Hot Springs, AR for a week.  Staying on the river again, WITH shade trees.  We want to see the historic Bath House Row and I want to find a spa!

Cheers!!!

One Week get Away

Kathy & I took a little "get away from the house" trip at the end of Jan.  We felt we needed another shake down type of cruise and we also worked while we were  there.  We stayed a week at Port St Lucie, FL.  While we were there, the gray water valve broke so we took a little trip to a RV repair shop in Lakeland, FL to drop off the RV and get some other work done.
Miles - 567