Sunday, July 29, 2012

September-December 2010

For several months I've talked about getting started on this.  I've put it off long enough.  I'll start  by backing up to the beginning of our adventures.

We started living in our fifth wheel in April 2010 while we were still at Heavenly Hills Christian Camp and preparing for retirement.  It took a tremendous amount of downsizing and it was difficult to get rid of some of the things.  One day God led me to read Ecclesiastes 3:6  "...a time to keep and a time to throw away."  I wrote that out and put it on the wall where I could see it as I sorted through "stuff."  That summer was a mix of emotions--sad to leave the ministry and home we had known for 27 years, but excited as we looked forward to the next stage of our lives.

On September 7, we made our first trip with the fifth wheel to the Cotillion Gardens in Felton, CA for three days.  Danielle, Josh and Megan camped with us and stayed in a cabin.  We went to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk and Monterey Bay Aquarium.  After this little trip, we went back to Heavenly Hills to finish getting the fifth wheel ready for full-time living.

On October 2, 2010, we were finally ready to leave Twain Harte and start our new life on the road.


We stopped in Southern CA to see Becky and Bob (Kent's sister and brother-in-law).  Then we went through Arizona, New Mexico, and into Colorado.  In Colorado we rode the Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge Railway.


The stop in Colorado to see Kent's mom and my brother and sister-in-law (Dan and Sue) was longer than planned when Kent had a major mishap setting up the fifth wheel.   When repairs were completed, we headed to South Dakota.  

On Monday, November 15, we established our residency in South Dakota.  Our vehicles are registered in SD, we have SD driver's licenses, and we are registered voters.  Our mail goes to a mail forwarding service (hence the PMB in our address which stands for Personal Mail Box).  Twice a month we contact the service to send our mail to a campground where we are living, or to a relative or friend's home if we are near someone we know, or to "General Delivery" at a nearby Post Office.

These are photos taken at Falls Park in Sioux Falls, SD.



From SD, we went back through Iowa and then to Missouri.  We spent a night with my uncle and aunt (Bob and Mary).  Another aunt and uncle (Letha and Ronnie) and some of Bob and Mary's family came over.  

From there, we went to Columbia where we left the fifth wheel.  We travelled with my mom and sister, Debbie, to Branson for Thanksgiving.  On the way, we met up with my other sister and her husband, Dorcas and Gary, at the Cave Restaurant in Richland.   The elevator wasn't working and we had to climb the  outside stairway (43 steep steps).  The rooms were actually inside a cave -- great atmosphere and food!
  

After dinner it was on to Branson.  On Thanksgiving Day, we went to a couple of craft malls and then at the Imax Theater we saw a film on the McFarland family history in the area.  In the evening we had fun at the Dixie Stampede Christmas Dinner Show.   The next day we went to the old downtown Branson, then to the Outlet Mall.  That evening we went to the dinner theater in Eureka Springs, AR for the Texans' Christmas Show.  Saturday morning, Kent and Gary went to the Veterans Museum and a Car Museum.  In the afternoon we all went to the Yakov Smirnoff Christmas Show.  Then we went to Christmas on the Trail, a chuckwagon dinner show.  After the show, we drove the Trail of Lights which ended at Inspiration Tower.  The ride to the top gave a fantastic view of the city and all the Christmas lights.  Sunday morning we attended worship at the Little Opry Theater where Leroy New, the performer who does the tribute to Hank Williams, is the pastor.  After lunch, we went to a Southern Gospel performance at the Grand Country Theater.  We left Branson that evening and went back to Debbie's.  Kent want back to Columbia and Dorcas and I went to mom's for a couple of days.

From Missouri, we went through Illinois and Indiana to get to Ohio to spend time with Danielle, Josh, and Megan.  While there, we got a call that Kent's mom had passed away.  We went back to Missouri to pick up the fifth wheel and headed back to Colorado. 

Most of December was spent cleaning out mom's condo and getting it ready to sell.  Friends let us park the fifth wheel on their property since we were staying in the condo.  While in Colorado we were able to spend time with my brother and sister-in-law.  For Christmas we flew to St. Louis to see my mom.  Dorcas, Gary, and Debbie were also there.  We returned to CO on New Year's Eve Day. 

From September to December we had been in 13 states and had eaten at 2 restaurants featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.

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