Photo by The Joneses Gretchen enjoys the sunshine outside our RV. We're leaving Florida April 10 and making our way north, to Charleston, S.C. SLIDE SHOW: Our time in Florida is over — — — View Larger Map
ARCHIVES: You wouldn't believe how beautiful Canada is! Wouldn't change a thing Who knew there was so much to see in South Dakota? Time is flying by — but at least we're having fun! I (heart) Hart Ranch, South Dakota Rallyin' in Goshen, Indiana A special day From friends to work to warmer temps, we're still having fun in Florida Traveling to Texas Finally, we're in Alaska! On the way to Canada Boise sure has changed a lot Escapees Rally in Wyoming Bittersweet trip through the southeast From Boy Scouts to ‘Stars on Ice’ Michigan is full of treasures Arriving in Florida Earning our ears Celebrating Christmas and New Year's in Florida and the Disney Parks Down in the Lowcountry Making our way through Minn., Wisc. and Ill. The holidays in Florida Our time in Lakeland has come to an end Couldn't have had a better time in Omaha! Arriving in Charleston A day with friends from Frederick 'Life is good' in Lakeland, Fla. Leaving Florida, and heading north Our final days in Kentucky Into the Keys Out of Charleston and off to Indiana Dreams come true in Vermont You never know what you'll see or who you'll meet in Alaska Leaving Indiana, but not before taking some of the state's best sites Idaho is full of natural treasures — and moon-like craters, too It's all about the theme parks From prairie country to beautiful views to grand 'ol Yellowstone Thunderstorms, flooding, tornados and a visit with the 'Duke' And so it begins ... Moving days for Greg and his family The gang's all here! Happy to be in Florida again Strawberries, and more strawberries 'The RV Capital of the World' From the beautiful Maine coastline down to southern Connecticut Training for our jobs at Disney World Chillin' out at 'Camp Monaco' Under the weather Back in Florida At long last, back in the area Lots to see in the 'Show Me' state With family and spectacular sights in Hailey, Idaho Look back, look ahead Back in the Lower 48 The cold weather is hitting Florida From Dallas to devastation Back on the road again Leaving Idaho and heading east Beautiful Alaska A memorable visit to Alaska's Kenai Peninsula Watch out for flying dinner rolls

1. To be able to visit with our children and grandchildren
2. To travel our beautiful country

While we haven’t done much traveling yet, except around Florida, we certainly have spent a lot of time with our kids. We spent several weeks including Thanksgiving with Greg’s family, Sandra, Georgia, Kimmie and Kati (Greg was in Iraq at that time), even were able to attend a Christmas concert where Georgia sang a solo. Here we spent Christmas and Easter with Richard and family, Robin, Jordyn and Nick. We also attended several of their functions and stayed many weekends at their house. Ralph helped Richard putting down a wood floor and setting up the "Schrank," which is a German wall unit from that I had in my living room in Frederick.

In July we plan to visit with a niece, nephew and grand-nieces in Idaho, we may see our oldest grandson Oliver in Omaha on the way there, and in September we’ll be in Connecticut to see Dawn (Ralph’s daughter), her husband Ed, Brenden, Amber and Cailey.

Our travel plans after Charleston, S.C., include driving to Elkhardt, Ind., for warranty work and some modifications on our motor home. From there south to Kentucky for Georgia’s graduation and then on to Wyoming for an Escapee (an RV organization) rally.

We have bought into another RV membership – Thousand Trails. It is similar to the Coast-to-Coast membership we already have. Every full-timer we talked to suggested that we do so.

Thousand Trails parks are predominately in the West with a few in the East, while there are more coast-to-coast in the east and only few out west. We were a little smarter in the purchase this time – we purchased it through a wholesaler at about a fourth of the original cost. We pay an annual fee and can stay up to three weeks in a park at no cost. With these two memberships, plus various other discounts, we will have affordable campgrounds fees most of the times. Now, fuel is another story. We have no control over that. But if we lived in a house the high cost of oil would also affect us, just in different areas.

Presently we are at Thousand Trails Orlando, about 20 miles south of Bee’s Resort. On Friday we will move to Thousand Trails Peace River in Wauchula, about 70 miles south of here.

Wow, as I am writing this (Wednesday evening) we heard a loud boom, sounded like something hit a motor home. Everyone came out to look what happened – it was a sonic boom as the space shuttle was flying toward Kennedy Space Center for landing!

Life in an RV is different from living in a house, and then again it is much the same.

Everything is just on a smaller scale and it took some time getting used to not have the room for all the "stuff" we used to have. I miss not being able to buy in large quantities — I was a serious Costco shopper — for economy and convenience.

So, now we go to the store more often, but we do have the time. I had to get used to the washing machine. It is a washer/dryer combination and quite small. At home I had one day a week for doing all the laundry, now I wash most every day because the loads are much smaller and take longer. I have even begun to hang some larger items outside on a clothes line —I haven’t used a clothes line in decades.

Here, where the sun shines most of the time, the clothes get done fast and smell wonderfully fresh. I don’t have as many clothes and shoes in the closet than I used to have, BUT I always have something nice to wear and have shoes to match the outfits — guess I didn’t need as many clothes. Our rule is that when we buy a new piece of clothing or new pair of shoes one older piece has to go. There is only so much room in the closet.

Getting medications or medical care has not been a problem. We are registered with Wal-Mart and can get our prescription filled wherever we are. We had them filled in Frederick transferred to Kentucky, transferred to Clermont and now to a Wal-Mart closer to where we are.

When we were sick with the flu we went to an Urgent Care Center and received good care and the medications we needed. I had some blotches in my face and went to a dermatologist and had excellent care and good medications to cure it. Ralph had trouble with his ear and went to an ENT doctor and had excellent care.

Gretchen, our 10-year-old German Shepherd, is adjusting OK to RV life. In the beginning she had what the vet called Separation Anxiety.

She missed the big house where she had plenty of room to roam about. She has always enjoyed going camping with us, but never did well being by herself in the camper. We now have to put her in a kennel inside the RV when we are gone, which she hated at first, but is now adjusting to it. She loves laying outside in the sun- guess it feels good on her old bones.

What we do miss are our friends in Frederick and the activities we were involved in, e.g. my Bridge ladies, the Frederick Sister Cities Association friends, our involvement in St. Timothy Catholic Church in Walkersville, Ralph’s golf buddies, etc.

We have made several new friends. Some of them we will meet again here next winter, others we will meet at some of the Thousand Trails parks we visit, and Ralph has found a golf partner here. But, the friendships we developed over the years are very important to us and it will be nice in October when we come to Frederick to get together.

All in all we are happy with the decision we made and hope we can stay healthy so we can be full-timing for several years to come.