Summer Land Cruising

Hi everyone!  The land cruise continues... recently we stayed for several weeks in New Bern, North Carolina.  This is a great little historic town on an inlet off the Atlantic coast, with many fun tourist-y things to see.

Touring the Tryon Palace was like stepping back into the 1700's - furnished with period furniture, clothing, pottery, etc. Surprisingly, it looked very similar to pictures I've seen of the very early 1900's. I guess things didn't change much before the industrial revolution. We're told that George Washington campaigned in New Bern and stayed a few nights in a local mansion.  

Tryon Palace - royal governor's mansion & gardens that was built and
 used before Washington's presidency... "where Governor's ruled and    
George Washington danced."                                                                          

New Bern was the birthplace of Pepsi-Cola.  Here's the very spot of it's humble beginnings - originally named "Brad's Drink".  This is located in downtown New Bern.

The architecture throughout the town was phenomenal and we visited a very cool old Civil War era cemetery.

After New Bern, we visited Greensboro, NC (where I'd attended a conference once) -- still as pretty as I remembered.

Then on to Charlotte.  We loved this beautiful city!  We visited the Billy Graham Library there. What an amazing, humble man of great integrity.  The library tour was fantastic and we'd recommend it to anyone. His life and legacy is captured with many photo's, candid videos and artifacts on display. And the gardens around the library were so peaceful - really beautiful.

Pictured here is the Billy Graham Library on the right (opened in 2007) and his childhood home on the left.  

Next we stayed for a spell in Asheville, NC just down the road from Charlotte in a more mountainous region very near the Great Smoky Mountains.  What a pretty little town surrounded by hills covered with deciduous trees. We'll probably return when the fall colors are at peak.

The photo's below were taken along the Blue Ridge Parkway just outside of Asheville.

Steve & Harley standing at the highest point in North Carolina

Then we headed to Chattanooga and then on to Nashville.  The weather was rainy for the few days we were in Nashville, so we really didn't get to tour the town like we'd hoped.  Maybe next time!

As we started to make our way back home to Denver, we headed through Kentucky & Illinois and on to St Louis, Missouri where we visited a colleague of Steve's. We drove right past the arch and stayed at a lovely KOA campground just outside of town.

We made a wrong turn in the Magic Bus (ughhh!!!)
 right in downtown St Louis by the arch, but quickly
recovered and made it safely to our destination!

Next we drove across Missouri and on to Topeka, Kansas.  I was fortunate to be able to say hello to one of my oldest friends, Allyn who lives in nearby Lawrence.  She's as sweet as always.

Pals since the 1st grade!

After a quick stop in my hometown of Russell, Kansas - we made it "home" to Denver for our annual visit with family & friends and doctor's appt's.

We had fun sailing with friends Buck & Janice who own a sailboat & live near Chatfield Reservoir which is one of the spots we stay each time we visit Denver.

My first time on a sailboat!  Steve's 2nd time.

Chatfield Reservoir

Janice & Buck on their boat

Until next time - so long and happy trails!!!

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.