Springtime in The South

Hello friends & family!  We are slowing down our posts as we settle into a more comfortable pace, staying a bit longer at each site. Currently we are in the small historic town of New Bern, North Carolina.

For a long time, we've been looking forward to exploring the Deep South and now that we're finally here... we love it! Beautiful green landscapes, flowering trees and shrubs, bumblebees the size of baseballs, wonderfully friendly people and a slower, more peaceful pace to life. Ahhh... just what we wanted.

Beautiful Azalea's everywhere

Near Augusta, Georgia 

The Bible Belt indeed - scenes like this are everywhere

A few weeks ago, we finally completed the remodel work on our coach that had been planned for some time.  We needed a better space for our computer setup so we returned to Red Bay, Alabama (Tiffin Motorhome manufacturer) and had the work done by a great craftsman - Chris Berry.  He did an outstanding job, seamlessly matching new cabinets and countertops to the originals.

The finished product - added cabinets below the window & computer desk

AFTER remodel

BEFORE remodel

After leaving Alabama, we traveled through Guntersville (visiting friends there) and headed to Augusta, Georgia (gorgeous!!!) and then on to Savannah. We were actually staying at a beautiful park across the sound in Hilton Head Island, SC but drove back to Savannah to enjoy a fabulous lunch at Paula Deen's restaurant & take in the River Walk downtown.  

Then we headed north to Myrtle Beach.  We had a great time on the beach there (dog friendly!) and enjoyed the sites at Murrells Inlet. A real highlight at Myrtle Beach was our visit to the local Calvary Chapel. Outstanding pastor and service there. We always look for Calvary Chapels and most all of them have been great but this one was especially invigorating.  We hope to pass that way again to visit.

On April 15, we celebrated because we'd gotten our tax returns completed (ugh!!) and also because we'd arrived at a long-awaited destination -- New Bern, NC.  More on that later. 

Reflecting back on our first year on the road, we are still pinching ourselves feeling so richly blessed by God. This simpler lifestyle is so wonderful and has allowed us to reassess our priorities. 

Steve and I have drawn much closer to God, and to each other this past year. We now spend a great deal of our time studying the Bible and worshiping together. We find incredible peace, comfort and excitement for the future in the scriptures. All this despite the frightening trends and developments in the world. 

We so enjoyed the recent epic mini-series on The Bible and had fun re-reading each story portrayed. We are also learning so much on Bible Prophecy regarding End Times. Wow - America needs to wake up and pay attention! We are on the threshold of the great tribulation. Can anyone deny that we are seeing a rapid escalation of horrible, tumultuous events?  Earthquakes, wars & rumors of war... it's all described in detail in the Bible.  And to think it all originally started with God's covenant with Abraham of the Promised Land - Israel. And now it's all about to hit the fan and reach the climax of the prophetic story.

Israel - the Holy Land is in the news daily. Things are about to explode in the Middle East, nation rising against nation. And we are closer than ever to a one-world government, a one-world economy and even a one-world religion.  Read all about it in the book of Revelation. The Bible is absolutely reliable and infallible. But there are also many great scholars & information is plentiful. We are finding an avalanche of tremendous programming on cable/satellite TV as well as in books on prophecy and current events. The Internet can be of some use but you have to be careful to avoid the meaningless commentary that's out there (often disputing validity but failing to offer evidence) and instead focus on the studies of the actual historical records & scientific evidence. One of my other favorite sources is the NRB network, but it's only on DIRECTV. There's no better use of our time, and nothing so important as to gaining understanding of what is happening in the world right now and why it's happening... and most of all -- to BE READY for what's about to unfold. 

Back in January when we were in Orlando, my sister Jeanne and I visited an attraction called the "Holy Land Experience". They've replicated many scenes from the Holy Land in Israel such as the original Garden of Eden, the Temple Mount, Old Jerusalem, the birthplace of Christ, the site of the crucifixion and resurrection, the Garden Tomb, etc.  AWESOME.  Here are a few pics...

The Great Temple of the King (destroyed twice) - a third and final temple will be rebuilt in Jerusalem on the Temple 

Mount (very soon - watch for this event!). This is the spot where the anti-christ will stand and claim to be the Messiah and will indeed deceive many! (See Matthew 24:3-5) The great deception is coming and is already in the works. (Ask me about this!!) This will happen before Jesus returns to this very spot for the battle of Armageddon and then to reclaim the earth, renew it and begin His rein for a thousand years. Of course this will be AFTER the great tribulation.  

A replica of the boat used by Jesus and disciples in the Sea of Galilee

There was an amazing wax museum. Pictured 

here is Jesus sweating blood (Luke 22:44) 

the night before the crucifixion.

     He is coming back soon - BE READY!

A 45-foot, historically correct replica of Old Jerusalem & the 

Temple Mount as it was in the time of King Herod

Winter Fun in Florida

We are back in Destin, Florida anxiously awaiting spring. It's been a bit chilly and rainy at times here in Destin for the last couple of weeks so we are feeling a little bit of cabin fever at the moment. However, in January, we spent a few weeks in the Tampa/St Pete and Orlando areas and enjoyed mostly 70 to 80-degree weather. We visited friends in both places and once again met up with Jeanne & Chris (sister & brother-in-law) while in Orlando.

Debbie and sister Jeanne just south of Cocoa Beach at one of the
 few "dog beaches" in the area.  Harley loves beach-combing!

After we returned to Destin we met a really nice couple, Tom & Eileen from Toledo, OH who were parked next to us. We enjoyed spending some time with them & they've invited us to stop by when we pass through their state later this year.

Our friends Robert & Margaret from Tulsa, OK came to Destin for a visit so Steve & Robert played a round of golf at Burnt Pine Country Club (pictured here) on Valentine's Day morning.  Then the four of us had a lovely dinner at Tommy Bahama's.

The 13th green with the Choctawhatchee Bay behind & to the right

We have big plans for March. After a quick stop in Alabama to have a computer desk & additional custom cabinets installed in our motorhome, we plan to head east through Tennessee and North Carolina.  We'll go through places like Chattanooga, Rarity Bay and the Great Smokey Mtn's in Tennessee, and then on to Asheville, Charlotte, Fayetteville & New Bern in North Carolina. We plan to see the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte and will attend a Matt Redman concert (Steve's favorite Christian singer/songwriter) in Fayetteville on Easter Sunday.  New Bern is on the Atlantic coast and is the setting of most of the Nicholas Sparks novels that I (Debbie) love to read.  Should be fun!

Until next time, cheerio!

Happy New Year

From our house to yours, we wish you a Happy New Year!  We enjoyed our first Christmas in our new home on wheels - complete with a miniature Christmas Tree. We can't believe that it's been nearly a year since we began living full-time in our coach. God's been so good to us.  We cannot foresee what's to come in 2013, but we fully plan to continue to enjoy one day at a time as if it's our last.

Ho Ho Ho 

Steve recently had his head shaved for convenience
prior to some skin cancer treatment.  He's now
re-using his childhood nickname "Butch".

Meow-y Christmas

We are currently staying for a few weeks in Tampa, Florida where we're visiting old friends and as always, making new ones.  We plan to head to Orlando for a stay Jan 13 - 27.  After that, we'll head back to Destin, Florida for the month of February.  Come spring, we plan to explore more of the south - primarily North & South Carolina.  We'll post more as our adventures unfold.

May God bless you and our nation in 2013!

Beach Bums Living the Dream

Life's a BEACH!  We're here in Florida now, but to catch up on where we left off... we finished up in Red Bay, Alabama where we toured the manufacturing plant for Tiffin Motorhomes (very impressive) and had a great experience getting a lot of rather minor service work done. My brother Fred told me it's as if a motorhome has to withstand an earthquake on a regular basis.  How true! Lot's can rattle & loosen but we're rolling along again like new.

After Red Bay, we followed our RV buddies Joe & Carolyn to Gadsden, Alabama. Gadsden is near Joe's old stompin' grounds so he showed us the ropes. Who knew Alabama was so beautiful!  We stayed at River Country Campground and were parked just a few feet from the river pictured below. What a pleasant stay!

The view out of our front window

How romantic!

Loved the weeping willows

After staying 3 nights further south in Greenville, Alabama we headed to our holiday destination... Destin, Florida. We'll be here through Dec 15. Our friend Robert Martin told us about Destin and another friend Buck Wenger told us about this RV park in particular (Camp Gulf). What a great place!!!  Destin is just an hour east of Pensacola in the panhandle of Florida so the shore faces the Gulf of Mexico to the south. I hear Destin has the world's whitest sand beaches. The water is so crystal clear and surprisingly warm. They refer to the area as the Emerald Coast. The waves are fairly calm and gently lap the shore... and the sand is so very soft, it feels like cake mix just out of the box!

We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  We're feeling very blessed with our stress-free life. We enjoyed a terrific Thanksgiving dinner with the other RV residents here (well over 100 of them), many of whom return year after year for the holidays. The RV park is not as crowded as we expected and the weather is GREAT. It's been in the 70's this week and feels like endless summer. We could get used to this! We definitely plan to make this a regular stop in our travels.  It feels so good to sit still for awhile rather than being constantly on the move. We'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story...

Our home in paradise (for a month anyway) - this picture taken just a few yards from our RV spot

Having lunch at a nearby seafood restaurant - the Whales' Tail

The 1st couple days were cloudy, but the sunshine soon returned   

The sand is sugar-white and soooo soft!

We're really close to the shore... here's the view from our bus! 

Heavenly skies

Parasailing (no... not us, we're happy to watch
from below)

The water's warm!!  After the first day, we ditched the sweaters & broke out the tank tops, shorts & flip flops.

A slice of heaven... walking along the shore

The water is amazing - crystal clear & fades emerald to azure

There's an air base nearby - lots of aircraft

I think we could stay here FOREVER

You HAVE to go to the beach every evening to watch the sun sink into the ocean.  Ahhhhh..... life is good.

Snowbirds Heading Cross Country

We've been on the road & on the move since the last post... but not all that much to "write home to Mom about". This post is dedicated to our dear friend Joe who reminded us that we are DELINQUENT in posting our updates! Thanks, Joe. We needed that little kick in the pants.

Let's see -- left off in California... in Fresno, we had a nice (but short) visit with Steve's sister Bonnie and her hubby Scott. Then we headed to L.A. (Anaheim & Garden Grove) to see more family. It was also a very short, but pleasant visit. We stayed in a cool RV park across the street from Disneyland. Then it was on to San Diego (El Cajon & Alpine) to see our niece Kathi and her hubby Dean, as well as Rita (our sister-in-law who was married to Don - Steve's late brother). All were well and it was so good to see everyone again.

Steve & Bonnie (siblings)

From there we started the long trek east cross-country. We wanted to hit Denver as we began to make our way toward Florida (where we'll spend the holidays this year) so we headed northeast, staying just one night in the Mojave desert at Barstow. Wow - dry. Next day... we crossed the southern tip of Nevada and on into Utah. We stayed a few nights in Cedar City (just east of St. George). What a pretty little city! Very nice. The next stop was Grand Junction, Colorado.

Willie & Jimi enjoyed bird-watching in Grand Jct.

The fall colors were really starting to come out by this time. Our drive through the mountains and into Denver was really pretty.

Fall colors near Vail, CO

The snow guns were busy manufacturing snow for the upcoming ski season

We took care of vet, doctor & dentist appt's while "home" in Denver but as usual, wished we could have stayed a bit longer to see more of our friends & family. We stayed at our favorite park in Denver and it was especially lovely with the trees if their full autumn glory!

Cherry Creek Reservoir (state park) in Denver -- the fall colors were at peak

After leaving Denver, we headed straight to Tulsa, Oklahoma to see our friend Robert.  Just spent a couple nights there and then it was on to Memphis. We ate at a featured dive from "Diners, Drive-ins & Dives" (emphasis on DIVE)... but the food was good. Southern BBQ.  Mmmmmm. We were actually in West Memphis (Arkansas) and stayed at the Tom Sawyer RV park which was right on the mighty Mississippi river. Nice & slow living there... we felt like singing "waaaay down upon the Swaneee River... "

We watched the HUGE barges go by. Nice place to visit, but probably wouldn't want to live there. We swung by Elvis's Graceland. We would have taken the tour but didn't feel it was worth the 60 bucks they wanted to get in. Nice to see the famous front gate, yard & front of the house, though.

From Memphis, we headed southeast across Mississippi and right now we are in the little town of Red Bay, Alabama. It is where they manufacture Tiffin motorhomes (like ours).  We are waiting to have some work done - mostly cosmetic. It's an incredibly busy place, so we might be here for a couple of weeks while we "wait in line" for service. We were so fortunate to meet up with our very special friends here - Joe & Carolyn who we originally met in Sioux Falls.  They are also full-time RV-ers like us. We enjoyed dinner together a couple of times & got caught up on each others' lives.  (Love you guys!) They have hit the road again to parts unknown but we plan to see them again soon.  Probably in January.

We'll post again from sunny Florida.  We should arrive there by Nov 15th. So long for now!

The Oregon Coast, Redwood National Park and Twin Lakes, California

Updates from Debbie...
Steve and I have been feeling so very blessed to be living this life. Catching up on the last few weeks, we have felt like we're living inside a picture postcard or scenic calendar! We give thanks daily to our Creator for the majesty of this incredible land.  We just left Twin Lakes, California which is a couple hours south of Lake Tahoe.  So beautiful and peaceful.  We met up with extended family there - Chuck & Louise Lewis and their son Steve as well as other family friends.  Good times!  Steve went fishing with the guys and we both enjoyed the quiet.  No internet or satellite reception. I'll use that as my excuse for being slow to update this blog! It was a great time to catch up on reading God's word (my favorite pastime).  It never fails to put things into perspective for me by painting a clear view of the bigger picture.

Driving alongside of Twin Lakes, California on the way to our camp site 

Here's Harley running thru a stream near our campsite

We saw deer everyday outside our window

Today we are in Sparks, Nevada (spending just one night), en route to Fresno, CA to visit Steve's sister Bonnie and her hubby Scott.  Scott's been very ill and Bonnie has a broken wheel so we hope to bring them some cheer and offer our moral support.

On the road today, we drove past a wild fire near Topaz Lake in western Nevada.

There was a helicopter overhead dropping water

We were held up on the road awhile and eventually passed the fire trucks & firefighters right there beside the freeway

God bless and keep the firefighters!

We spent a restful day in Red Bluff, California at a pretty new RV resort that was incredible.  Each RV slot had a well manicured lawn, beautiful landscaping, immaculate grounds, plenty of space and every amenity you could ever want. And it was a gated community!

Fountains at the Durango RV Resort 

It bordered the scenic Sacramento river

We spent nearly two weeks with my sweet sister Jeanne and her groom of 44 years (Chris) in Oregon & California.  We'd been planning this rendezvous for quite some time and it certainly lived up to our hopes & dreams!  Earlier this week, we all stayed a couple days at Crescent City, CA on the beach just south of the Oregon border.  The little town was awfully gray... actually pretty blah but the redeeming quality was its close proximity to the famous Redwood National Park. Wow!!!! I've always wanted to see it but it really surpassed my expectations.  The Redwoods are the worlds' largest trees and stand in excess of 350' and can live up to 2,000 years!  Apparently there are no forest fires there -- too moist, I guess. What a fabulous day we spent among these unbelievable trees.

My sister Jeanne and me

Steve looks (and feels!) like a speck

Chris & Jeanne

Gasp!

The fog and clouds were heavenly

As magnificent as the Redwoods were, it was actually an afterthought to our original plan of spending a week on the beach at Lincoln City, Oregon.  It's Jeanne & Chris's favorite vacation spot.  We stayed in an RV park near their rented Condo that opened right onto the beach.

Chris & Jeanne right outside their condo's sliding glass door

We enjoyed it too!

We had a fabulous time together.  One day we drove to Newport, Oregon (on the coast just north of Lincoln City) and saw the sights like this lighthouse pictured below.  We ate clam chowder at Mo's local diner.  Another day we toured the Tillamook Cheese factory in... you guessed it - Tillamook, Oregon. Free samples! And a great little cafe with super yummy ice cream made right there in the factory. Darn, forgot to take a picture there. 

The Yaquina Head lighthouse built in 1873

Before we got to Lincoln City, Steve & I had a great time in Astoria, Oregon - the northern most city on the coast.

We ate awesome fish & chips (tuna!) from the Bowpicker in Astoria, Oregon

This was another awesome RV park we stayed at in Astoria, OR called the Lewis & Clark Golf & RV Resort.  Our campsite felt like it was on the fairway!  It was one continuous greenbelt adjacent to the course but there was a stream and blackberry bushes that separated the RV's from the actual golf course.  We will definitely stay here again if we're ever back this way in the future. 

This was our first glimpse of the Oregon Coast

Until next time -- take good care and enjoy life!