Homosassa Springs, Feb 2013

Took off for 3 days, just about 150 miles from home.  Day one, great.............went on a boat ride with Maddie!  We had a private tour up the springs to where the manatee go in the winter and the sick and injured ones are cared for at the Wildlife Refuge Center there.  Days 2 and 3, not so much.  I Kathy) got the worst case of the flu ever.............anyway, home now and back to work.  Going to see Justin and the family in April with Mom, so she can meet Declan for the first time.

Pics of Homosassa Springs and Maddie's 1st Boat Ride

New pics of Justin and Family Feb 2013

Oh, how I miss you all so very much.  I love these pics.  Three sweet sweet little angels, right Justin and Ashley????  See you all soon, Mia.  My other 2 Prince's, Ebin and his little brother Declan.  You're going to be a wonderful big brother Ebbie!!! 

Click here to see pictures of angels

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.