Enjoying family...

Are y'all wondering we're we've been?  After traveling from coast to coast, we are enjoying a long visit with my family.  We haven't had an opportunity to have such a nice, long, unhurried visit since I joined the Air Force in 1990.  The kids are having a blast playing with their uncles and aunt and grandparents, doing farm chores, going to the library and on field trips, and stretching out from our time in the RV.  We've had a blast on the RV adventure, but we all are enjoying a little "normalcy" in routine and seeing people that we know and love.

The road is calling to us to come out and explore, but we have a couple more weeks in Northern California to enjoy first.  We're seeing the first signs of spring here and look forward to traveling again as a new season arrives.

The blog will be updated as I find the balance between sharing and preserving memories...while also in the process of making them :)

Current location... California!

Boy howdy, have we been on the move!  Yup, I'm a few stops behind in details and pictures.... but here is where we are currently:

Camping out with the giant sequoias in the foothills of the Sequoia National Park!

We will be on the move again Sunday, heading to Auburn, CA to visit with my family.  We'll be staying in northern California through March, visiting my family and seeing the sights.  We're looking forward to hanging out in the same general location for a few weeks.  We'll get the blog caught up and the camper scrubbed down :)

If any friends or family in the northern California area would like to visit sometime over the next few weeks...give me a shout!

Cruising towards our last Texas stop...

The spontaneous trip to Del Rio was so fun, we decided to continue our spontaneous adventure to El Paso.  We planned to make an overnight stop in Alpine, TX so that we could run down to Big Bend National Park.  Since we headed down to Del Rio, we were no longer traveling I-10.  Instead, we traveled Hwy. 90...and there is pretty much nothing on the long stretch from Del Rio to Van Horn on I-10!


So, do you think Hwy. 90 is a long stretch of boring???  (Drag out a map of Texas, find Del Rio and Hwy. 90 west... and join us as we cruise this stretch of highway...)

It's all a matter of perspective...there are actually quite a few surprises on this road!

Pulling through Immigration Check Points is always good for getting your adrenaline pumping...
Will the canine go crazy when smelling the RV and make the Border Patrol want to look inside????

You can count Border Patrol agents along the road...

Driving over a hill you discover a breathtaking view...
Pecos River

Finding the first saguaro!!!

"Caravaning" with other RVers....

Spotting a UFO during the day near the town of Marfa!!!

Upon closer inspection, we learned that it is an Aerostat---it's an early warning system for unidentified aircraft flying near the border.
(You can learn many interesting things when traveling with a retired Air Force officer!) 

Make sure to take a pit stop in Langtry, population 40 ....to learn about Judge Roy Bean, "The Law West of the Pecos."   Click here to learn about this character

Judge Roy Bean's Saloon AND courtroom!

Bellying up.....

There were morals in the Wild West :)
I love it... no LOUD cussing and NO spitting

Well....we were having so much fun being spontaneous that we did not even check the weather forecast.  This is important since the one thing Jon does not want to do is drive the RV on snowy/icy roads, checking the weather is always part of our planning.  


So check this out... we were cruising down Hwy 90 with the air conditioning on, enjoying our spontaneous adventure, when I called ahead to Alpine to make a reservation.  We were told that a SNOW STORM that was on its way in that very night!  After saying, "No way!" a few hundred times, we had a decision to make.  Stay in Alpine for 2 or 3 nights instead of 1 or make a run for El Paso...adding 4 1/2 more hours onto our day.  We decided that we would go for El Paso.  We learned that El Paso also had the same snow forecast!  That would be ok though, since we'd already be at our destination.


Our desire was to stay at the Ft. Bliss fam camp in El Paso.  The only problem with most military fam camps is that they are first come, first served.  Ack... I like reservations!!!  We called ahead at noon to see if they had any slots available... they had 3.  


We prayed that God would hold one slot just for us.  So we started our mad dash to El Paso... at a blistering speed of 55 mph.  About 45 minutes outside of El Paso, one of our children said they needed to go to the bathroom.  We asked them if they could hold it because there was no time to spare.  We had to get to the fam camp to secure our spot, as we had no back-up plan and the weather was starting to turn cold and rainy.  That child exercised great sacrifice for the family, allowing us to arrive in El Paso without a bathroom stop.


We pulled in... Jon jumped out to see about site availability and the child jumped out to take care of business :)  


I prayed for a slot, but I was still a tad stressed.... you can read it all over my face!  (Jolie took this picture while we were waiting to hear if we got a site and I planned on deleting it.  However, now I'm glad that I have it... as it tells a story.)

Did we make it in time???  Did we get a slot???????

YES!!!  Yay... we made it!!!!  Do you see the truck in the window over my shoulder???  He pulled up LESS THAN A MINUTE after us... he did not get a slot.  Why?  BECAUSE WE GOT THE VERY LAST SLOT!!!!!!!  We were so full of gratitude that God answered our prayer!  It meant so very much to us that we would get a site at the fam camp while staying in El Paso.  He cares even about the little things.

A little ceremony and gift to the hero child that made us getting the slot possible!!!
Thank-you Daniel for preferring your family over your own comfort :)

We enjoyed our spontaneous adventure to Del Rio!  We learned to enjoy the journey and surprises that this amazing adventure brings.  However, we still check the weather forecast :)