A Sunny & Warm Florida Winter

They say once you've spent a winter in Florida... you're hooked.  (They are right!) We spent a fun week in December with Jeanne & Chris (sister & brother-in-law) just before Christmas.  What a great way to spend the holiday - with family and sunshine!

Sisters Debbie & Jeanne just outside the condo & our RV spot on Miramar Beach
(Destin, FL)

A beautiful view from Jeanne & Chris' 14th floor
hotel room (condo)

Chris & Jeanne at one of our favorite
Destin restaurants - "The Back Porch"

In January, we headed south to Clermont, Florida just outside of Orlando for a few weeks (chasing the warm temps & visiting with friends Joe & Carolyn) and then continued south to The Glades RV park in central Florida near Lake Okeechobee. We hadn't ventured that far south before. Pretty nice! Not very far from either the Gulf or Atlantic coasts. While there, we took a day trip over to Sanibel Island. Beautiful spot but traffic was horrendous. We're definitely becoming fonder of the smaller, more rural communities where the living is slow and easy!

Harley's not sure what to think of the
huge Sandhill Cranes (Clermont, FL)

The rat race - Steve & Harley down by the
river & marina near Lake Okeechobee, FL

Next we headed over to Ft Lauderdale. We'd heard about a huge Calvary Chapel church there and wanted to visit.  Most of the Calvary Chapel's we've been to across the nation have been very small so it was intriguing to find a large one. We stayed at the Aztec RV Resort which turned out to be an interesting experience. Almost everyone there were French Canadians who spoke little-to-no English so it cut down a bit on our socializing. But what a beautiful spot! It felt like we were living inside the Botanic Gardens! Too bad about the crime rate in south Florida, though.... seemed like there was a murder every night on the 10 o'clock news. We'd heard that about Miami, but it seems it's not much better in Ft Lauderdale.

Aztec RV Resort in Ft Lauderdale, FL

From there we headed back north again to Kissimmee (also near Orlando) to meet up again with sister Jeanne for the 3-day "Orlando Prophecy Summit." In addition to being students of the Bible, we spend a good deal of time specifically studying Bible prophecy & end-time events. Our favorite cable TV program is "Prophecy in the News" hosted by Gary Stearman who also hosted the summit. It was a fabulous conference with 24 "rock star" speakers. It was a who's who of prophecy scholars! The days were long (early morning to 10:30 at night) but we were riveted by all the information presented. We were familiar with most of the topics, but with this lengthy of an event, we felt like sponges absorbing a huge data dump. Fabulous!

Just arriving at the spectacular SeaWorld Renaissance Hotel

Host Gary Stearman (on the right) from the weekly TV
show "Prophecy in the News"

Jeanne at the book table with speaker, author and
researcher L.A. Marzulli

Steve enjoying a conversation with a fellow attendee before
one of the presentations 

Debbie & Steve with front row seats!  More than 2,000
people attended the conference.  Multiple presentations ran
concurrently which sometimes made it hard to choose!  

You can read more about the conference by going to www.prophecyinthenews.com

On April 1st, we arrived in St. Augustine, Florida on the Atlantic coast. It was our first time there as well. We'd only booked two nights but it was love at first sight... it's a place we definitely want to come back to and spend more time. Our campsite was right on the beach and dogs are allowed!!!  A slice of heaven!

These pics are from a walk in the woods in Canadys
(near Charleston) South Carolina.  

Springtime in the South!

Harley, Willie and Jimi are still loving life on the road!

We are currently in Charlotte, North Carolina for 3 weeks and looking forward to heading westward for our annual visit to Denver in June.

Until next time... we send our LOVE to all and hope to see you soon!

Steve turns 65!

Greetings from the happy travelers!  We are back in our favorite spot - Destin, Florida for a 3-month stay. We'll be here all through the holidays, leaving around Jan 15th. Our friends Carl & Carol from St. Louis, Missouri are here so we're in gooood company!

Our favorite beach -- @ Camp Gulf in Destin, Florida

Steve just turned over the big 6-5 on Oct 27th.  We had to celebrate with something exciting!  We thought a helicopter ride would fill the bill.  Steve had been in one at least once before, but it was my first time.  I couldn't stop saying "Wow.... wow... WOW!   It was breathtaking and exhilarating.

Happy Birthday, Steve!

Ready for takeoff

We flew up and down the coastline and saw sea turtles, dolphins, manatees and small sharks.  The water was so shallow and clear near the shore.  Pictures just can't do it justice.  It felt like we were flying so low and could see SO MUCH!

The beautiful Emerald Coast of Destin, Florida

Here is Camp Gulf - our fall/winter home.  We're parked in the center section
(diagonal to the shoreline) and roughly the 3rd row back from the shore. Kind
of hard to see our RV behind the palm trees. 

A pod of dolphins near the shore

Near the harbor at the west end of Destin

Catching up since our last post - while we were in Pennsylvania in early September, we visited the Sept 11 Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville.  What a scenic spot for such a horrific event.

The marble memorial wall where all the crew & passengers names are engraved

The debris field where the plane disintegrated.

Entering the long pathway alongside the debris field,
looking toward the memorial wall.

We also visited the small town of Somerset, PA and surrounding area where my ancestors first settled after emigrating from Russia and Germany. The town as well as this graveyard was teeming with "Berkey's" (my maiden name).  The land of my forefathers... very beautiful country.

Visiting graves of my ancestors who died during Civil War days in Somerset County, PA

Just before returning to Destin, we'd stayed for a month in Foley (just north of Gulf Shores) Alabama. We had a great spot in an "RV Resort" (lah-tee-dah!!) that was quite tropical and made for a very pleasant stay.  And the beaches (about 12 minutes away) were nearly as pretty as Destin's.

Bella Terra RV Resort - Foley, AL

Did I mention Life Is Good?!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!!!!

We loved the tiny (inch-long) tree frogs!

The Northeast Loop

Since our last post, we've covered a whole lotta territory!  We filled in a lot of the great northeast - seeing New England for the first time.  Since we first set sail last year on our endless land cruise, we've now seen 35 of the 50 states in our motorhome.  

These are the 35 states we've visited so far - America the Beautiful!

After leaving Denver on July 5th, (for our annual summer visit) we headed to Nebraska. It seemed like the entire state was COVERED with corn fields!  But it actually made for a really pretty drive. We stayed in the small northeastern town of Pender, NE where we had our Blue Ox tow bar serviced. What a peaceful and pretty little town! Then it was on to Cedar Rapids, IA to see friends Don & BJ (Don being an old colleague of Steve's). We stayed in a cool place called the "Amana Colonies" which is a mostly German community with GREAT restaurants and shops.  And more corn fields! 

Next we headed through Illinois, past Chicago and landed in Sawyer, Michigan for a week or so on the southeastern shore of Lake Michigan.  We stayed at the "Kamp Across from the Dunes" right on the lake. Wow - we really didn't know what to expect and did not have a mental image in mind. It was great!! Nice beach that almost felt like being on the ocean. The dunes allowed us to climb really high up for a great panoramic view. Can't believe I didn't have a camera for that one!  Duh!!!  Our VERY good friends Joe & Carolyn joined us there.  Good times!

Always ready for a good time!

This is Michigan???  Indeed. 

 

Carolyn & Joe enjoying a nice sunset with us at the dunes
on Lake Michigan

Next, we headed to Toledo, Ohio - really venturing now into uncharted territory - for us anyway. We visited our friends Tom & Eileen who are restaurateur's we met while in Destin, Florida. We had a scrumptious dinner at their restaurant that's been in their family for several generations. Mmmmm. Good food!! Thickening waistlines.  :o(

From there, we went to Niagara Falls.  It was fabulous! We've always wanted to see the falls and it most certainly did not disappoint.  On the first day, we explored the American side.  

Really close to the water!

This is taken from the American side of the falls

The American Falls (viewed from Canada)

The next day, we crossed the border to see the Canadian side where you really get spectacular views from across the way.  

The Canadian Falls - picture taken from the top of a tower.
You can see the Maid of the Mist (boat) getting a close up look.

The view of the American falls from the Canadian side

Sweethearts enjoying life!

Underneath the falls - must have rain gear!

After seeing the falls, we enjoyed a beautiful drive through upstate New York.  We stayed a few nights in a gorgeous park near Schenectady (north of Albany).  Next, we drove through Vermont and New Hampshire (or as the locals say... New HAMPsha) and landed in Portland, Maine.  Steve had been hankerin' for some fresh Maine lobster so sure enough - we got our fill.  Steve loved the seafood, but me... not so much.  Never been much of a seafood lover.  The RV park wasn't our favorite either but we enjoyed seeing the sites in downtown Portland.   

Eastern Promenade - downtown Portland, Maine

The view from the deck of DiMillo's
restaurant (fabulous food!) & marina

 

Last week, we headed down to the Catskills in New York.  We stayed near the town of Catskill (apparently the name means something like "bobcat creek") and had a good time walking main street.  Charming little town. Not far from Woodstock, NY.  

The cat that ate the canary

Downtown Catskill, NY

And finally... here we are at Jonestown, Pennsylvania - near Harrisburg.  All in a days' work, herding cats 'n dogs. Life is good!

Near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.  Part of the daily routine having fun with the kids - Harley, Jimi and Willie.

Until next time... may the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. 

May the sun shine warm upon your face; the rains fall soft upon your fields... 

and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.