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

Shake Down Cruise to Mississippi, Oct. 2011

1357 miles, 182.9 gallons of fuel, 29 hours of driving, average 7.4 gallons per mile, average speed: 46.8 MPH

What a great trip!  So good to be back on the road again...........even though we had to work while we were gone.  Love our new RV, "Moose" and our rescued English Cocker,  Maddie, did so well.  She loved the parks, the day trips and especially meeting new people.  I hope you get a chance to look at the pictures and please visit the Lucky Dog Rescue link below.  What a truly amazing woman she is!

Well, we took off from Jacksonville and went to Lucky Dog Rescue in Meridian to walk dogs for a day & volunteer to help wherever we could - and then to Tupelo, MS to see where Elvis was born on our maiden voyage or shake down cruise as we called it.  We also spent some time in downtown Historic Meridian, MS... went to the oldest restaurant in Mississippi,  Weidman's.  It was pretty good! 



Overall, I'm very impressed with the Foretravel RV!  It drives better than our Phaeton did because it has a lower center of gravity, a bigger engine and the coach itself is not as tall as the newer RV's.  Once parked, the set up is easy with just one huge slide to slide out in lieu of 3 or 4 and air suspension is used instead of jacks.  It was an enjoyable experience!

Moose - Our New to Us Motorhome (Coach)

Kathy here:  just to clarify, we haven't sat around for a year doing NOTHING!  (see Steve's comments below).  We have been volunteering at our Humane Society, and our "at home part-time" business has become almost full time.  At least we're able to work from home or the motorhome... all we need is a phone and computer :)

After selling our Phaeton last year Kathy and I have discussed many a night how much we missed "being on the road."  Our cocktail hour on the back yard patio ( we call it our "round table sessions") revolved around the question, "What can we do now?"  

To the left was our RV trip log in 2008/2009 when we were full-timers.  After sitting around and doing nothing for over a year, an opportunity presented itself to us!  One of my RV friends ( George and his wife Sandy) decided they were going to sell their "coach" which was a 2000 Foretravel M-4010 U320.  It's affectionately known as "Moose" because the paint striping on the front of the RV kinda looks like a "M."

I've been following George's blog for 3 years and I know how well he took care of Moose, so I emailed him and we started talking about buying something we could "part time" in.  Since they were currently in Maine and we were in Jacksonville, I had no idea if the floor plan would accommodate us because our Tiffin had 4 slides and the Foretravel had one - in the living room and no slides in the bedroom.  
We got word that there was a RV exactly like Moose for sale in Tampa, so we took a little road trip to Tampa to look at it.  We absolutely LOVED it!

Moose has had $31,294 in upgrades accomplished since 2008 so even though he's a 2000, he's practically brand new!  

We intend to enjoy Moose on a part time basis (we already full timed it for 2 years and want to keep a place to come home to) and will be chasing that 70F weather whenever we can.  
Our current plans are:

• Head up to New England or the Great Lakes area in July - August 2012 to escape the FL summer heat which we just can't tolerate anymore.
• Head down to the FL keys maybe in Jan/Feb if it gets too cold in Jacksonville!
• Take trips to TN & SC in the fall and spring to visit our kids.
• Take trips to Meridian, MS where Kathy AND STEVE! will volunteer to help a wonderful person take care of dogs that need help.
• And pretty much just take off and do whatever we want when we want!

Life is grand and we're very lucky to be able to enjoy ourselves while we can :)

Gatlinburg TN April 2011

What a week up in the mountains!  First of all, I have to say this before I forget.  When we finally got settled in our cabin, we did some reviews on restaurants for the week.  Steve searched for "Number 1" restaurant.........................and guess what popped up?  McDonald's earned 5 STARS!!!!!  We haven't been yet; hope we don't need reservations!!!

Christmas At The Burnettski's 2010

Christmas 2010

After being on the road, and all of us spread around the USA, we finally got together at our home for a big Christmas!  It's been a great week and we really overdid it with food and gifts!  But it was fun!!  Steve and have also spent time at the Humane Society, because even though we have Maddie, we haven't forgotten our special friends who haven't found their forever homes yet.  Justin begins his student teaching in January, so we are going shopping today for some "grown up clothes"!  Justin, Mom and I went to St. John's for mass yesterday and he looked sooooo good in a sports jacket!  He already looks like a great teacher!!!!  Fortunately, he was able to do his student teaching (Junior or High School English) right in Newport, TN.  It's about 5 miles from his cabin on the mountain! 

Justin's dad, his wife Lisa and her girls were here for Xmas breakfast then headed to South Florida!  It was a great visit and I was really happy to meet Justin's "other family"!  Lisa, your girls are so sweet and polite and I really enjoyed our visit.  Maybe next time you all are in Florida it wil be nice and warm for you here! 

Hoping everyone had a good holiday and didn't get snowed in or rained out.  It's a sunny day here..............but cold!  So, off we go to shop.  Happy New Year to everyone and I hope it's a good 2011!  Wow does time pass quickly or what?  Next thing you know I'll be 40!!!  Ha Ha!!!

God Bless, Take care and if you have time, please look at the slideshow above. 

Introducing Maddie...

Introducing our new best friend, Maddie!  Maddie is a rescue dog from the Jacksonville Humane Center, is about 4 years old and is a female English Cocker Spaniel.

She's been with us for a week now and is one of the most laid back dogs we've ever seen.  She's house trained, loves walks and only barks once when someone knocks on the front door!  We love her already!