November 19, 2015
~Demo Day~
Today we arrived at the dealership to do a thorough walk-thru of our new home! We met Nate, our demo guy and he proceeded to show us each and every square inch of our RV. The entire day was filled with questions and answers as well as moving our stuff we brought into the RV.
At the end of the day when we should have been heading to our first campground, we were informed that our truck wasn’t back yet from having the tow kit added. The day prior we dropped the truck off and then the service department took the truck to the company that would install the tow kit. We were told the truck would be ready by the end of demo day. So since the truck wasn’t back yet the dealership allowed us to stay on their lot until our truck was returned the next day. Nate moved our RV to a different location on the lot, but after he parked it he noticed the fuel gauge was reading empty. He knew there was fuel in the RV because he had just filled it prior to demo day. This would be the first of many issues we were going to encounter along the way.
So we spent the first night in our new home on the dealership lot. Not quite the beginning we had planned on, but at least we weren’t somewhere down the road, stranded at a rest stop with a fuel gauge problem. We ended up spending four nights on the dealership lot, we had water and electric, so it wasn’t like we were suffering. The fuel gauge problem was fixed, along with a tile replaced in our bedroom after a crack was discovered. Oh and I failed to mention we are coming back to Orlando in December because both security lights on the outside aren't working.
Monday, November 22nd, during rush our traffic we take off with our truck in tow, headed for Midland, GA!
November 24, 2015
~Our first campground~
We made it! Arrived today in Midland, GA at the Lake Pines Campground. Beautiful and quiet, this campground was definitely a breath of fresh air after spending four nights in the dealership parking lot.
They put us in their largest pull through site, however when we arrived our neighbor’s truck was partially parked in front of our spot so Sonny couldn’t pull through. He had to go the road in front of our site and back in. For his first time, he did an amazing job.
We made some new friends! Within an hour of setting up the coach in our campsite, we met neighbors on both sides. An older couple from Iowa, another couple from Florida (originally from Texas, and our most friendliest neighbors here, a couple from New Jersey. They have all shared tips and tricks that have worked for them to help make our future travels easier. We know more about these neighbors than any other neighbor we have had living in sticks and bricks homes. Another reason why I am glad we chose to live this lifestyle.
Taz is adjusting well. His first ride which was seven hours from Orlando, FL to Midland, GA was a good one. He moved around the RV a few times, couldn’t really find the perfect spot. He has settled in nicely at our campsite and has proven to be a very happy camper!
This campground was also a top pick for us because it is about a 5 minute drive to Sonny’s parent’s house. We have been spoiled by many homemade meals from his mom, our bodies will need to recover after we leave here. Our plan is to stay until Monday, November 30th, then we head to Savannah, GA to see some friends.
November 26, 2015
~Happy Thanksgiving~
Our plan for today was to drive up to Atlanta with Sonny’s parents to his sister’s house and enjoy the yummy dinner she prepared. His other sister and her four boys came down from Missouri, so we were excited to see everyone.
While I was getting ready, Sonny was getting something for me from underneath in our basement. He comes back to the door and tells me we have a water leak. Everything in our first bay is soaking wet! Water is consistently dripping from a line in under our first slide where our refrigerator is located. His dad showed up and we pulled all of the stuff out from underneath. I called the Entegra emergency line and was so very thankful someone answered. We explained the problem and they quickly guided us to where the shut off valve for that line was. It turned out to be the water line that goes to our refrigerator for the water and ice in the door. So the water leaking has stopped, but all of our stuff in that first bay along with the slide out tray and the carpet beneath are soaking wet. We lay everything out to dry, the neighbors lend us a fan to help dry it out underneath, and we begin the clean up. Thankfully it was just water!
So my in-laws head up to Atlanta for turkey dinner and Sonny and I stay back to clean up the mess, not really how we planned to spend Thanksgiving. Later in the day as we are patiently waiting for the basement to dry I suggest to Sonny that we should get a wet/dry vac to get up some of the water because it will take days for it to dry out. We borrow a shop vac from his dad and we begin to extract as much water as we can. Hopefully we got it all, but the sliding tray may need to be replaced if it ruined any of the plywood under it. Did I mention this bus is under warranty! We have been told by many fellow RVers that there will always be something that needs to be fixed. There are a lot of working parts to an RV and since we bought it new, we are the ones working out all the kinks.
We have so much to be thankful for today; we are safe, happy, and healthy! Also, we got to spend the day together rather than apart as we did many holidays in the past. The water leak we encountered is thankfully under control and we can continue to live comfortably in our new home!
November 29, 2015
~Happy Birthday Sonny~
Today we celebrate Sonny’s birthday! Spent the day hanging around the campground and getting ready to depart tomorrow. We enjoyed a great meal prepared by Sonny’s mom along with ice cream cake to bring back memories of when Sonny was a kid.
We did encounter a couple more issues with the RV. Our awning will not fully extend and our audio unit for the outside tv is not working. These aren’t major issues but it would be nice if everything worked as it should. Once we get to Savannah we are going to call Entegra to get them fixed.
November 30, 2015
~Savannah Bound~
We are on the road again, headed to Savannah, GA. We have changed our trip plans a little since we ventured out, mainly because of some of the issues we had with the coach in the beginning. We were supposed to be headed for Destin, FL but pushed that out due to the weather. Can’t enjoy the beach if it is 50 degrees and raining. So we will be headed to Destin in a couple of weeks.
We arrived at the Savannah South KOA late in the afternoon. We are settled into a nice spot at the front of the campground and as of right now we plan to spend a week here.
December 1, 2015
~Mobile RV Repair~
The campground recommended a mobile rv repair service so we contacted Entegra first thing to get someone out to our site so we can finally use the water and ice from our refrigerator.
So I may have mentioned this before and have read it on other forums, Entegra’s customer service is very helpful and they do address the problems to get them resolved. Although we have been a little frustrated with finding different things not working or malfunctioning, it is good to know that the manufacturer works hard to make their customers happy.
It is pretty cool that there are mobile rv repair services out there that will come to you. It is still hard to imagine this as being our home since it has wheels and an engine. But if you think about it, it would be extremely inconvenient and difficult to take this monster to a repair shop if something goes wrong.
December 2, 2015
~Finally Filtered Water~
The mobile rv repair company sent out a repairman today to fix the cracked water line. He cut out the bad part of the line and replaced it with a steel braided line that wouldn’t get kinked each time the slide came in. We can now have good tasting water from our refrigerator.
It is amazing how accustomed you become to filtered drinking water. The time that we were without the filtered drinking water we were using the city water to fill the Keurig and make sweet tea with, but to us it always tasted funny, like it was over chlorinated. When we were kids we always drank water straight from the tap and it didn’t harm us one bit. Now we can’t go without bottled water or filtered water.
December 4, 2015
~First Friday~
We spent the past few days shopping and picking up items we needed for the coach, but this evening it is time to check out downtown Savannah. After our friend Sarah got off work we headed to dinner at a Cuban restaurant and enjoyed some tasty vittles, followed by a stroll through City Market. It was also First Friday in Savannah so there was a lot of things going on down on River Street.
The night ended with a stop at Mabel’s bakery for a cupcake and coffee. My Starbucks’ spoiled husband doesn’t know how to order coffee anywhere else but Starbucks. On the menu was a latte or espresso, but next to espresso there were flavors listed. He orders a caramel espresso. I am sure the lady helping us was a little surprised by his order, anyway her face made it seem that way, but she proceeded to fulfill his order. Sonny was a little confused when he got his coffee cup with a shot of espresso and caramel flavor. Our friend Johnny saved him from having to gulp down the strongest cup of coffee he has ever drank by asking the lady to fill the cup with cream and sugar. He was finally able to enjoy what he is used to drinking, a latte!
I must confess that before this all happened with the coffee, I managed to drop my expensive cupcake on the floor before we even got to sit down to enjoy them. So even though Sonny was a little embarrassed about his coffee order, he had to admit to the lady at the counter that I dropped my cupcake and proceeded to buy me another. No matter where we go, we always seem to make it memorable one way or another.
December 5, 2015
~Christmas Parade~
Sonny and I headed to downtown Savannah again to watch the Christmas parade on River Street. We first stopped at Kayak Kafe for an early dinner then walked to River Street to secure a viewing spot. The parade was ok, there weren't any floats as I thought there would be, just cars and trucks decorated with lights, a few trollies, and about twenty decorated jeeps. So this wasn’t the highlight of our trip, but at least we can say we watched a Christmas parade.
The night ended with another trip to Mabel’s but this time for her famous macaroons and two cups of regular coffee, no fancy caramel flavored espresso!
December 6, 2015
~Sick Of Being Sick~
Did I mention that Sonny and I have been fighting off colds since we first got the RV, going on almost 3 weeks! It probably doesn’t help that we spent two nights strolling Savannah in the cold, living in less than 500 square feet, and spend 24/7 together….I think we just keep passing it back and forth. Just when I think one of us is getting better, we wake up sick again.
So today we stayed home, Sonny slept most of the afternoon and I prepared our first real dinner in the RV. I used all my pans; I only have two, the convection oven and the microwave. The dinner turned out great and I didn’t really miss cooking in a big kitchen.
December 9, 2015
~Tybee Island~
I skipped a couple of days because they were pretty uneventful, just the two of us trying to get over these darn colds.
We thought we could use some fresh air, so today we went to Tybee Island. We got kind of a late start but eventually made it to the Island. First we climbed the lighthouse. Not sure how many steps but as you can see from the photos, this lighthouse it pretty tall. The view from the top was breathtaking.
After we climbed to the top of the lighthouse we took a little stroll on the beach. The beach at Tybee Island is not one that you would walk around barefoot on in my opinion. There are a ton of broken sea shells along the beach, but that is okay it is still the beach and the view is amazing. I have posted some pics on the Photos if you want to see for yourself.
December 10, 2015
~Hilton Head Island~
Nothing like waiting until a couple of days before leaving to check out the area’s hot spots, today we head out to Hilton Head Island. First stop, the outlet malls…there are two on the way to Hilton Head and yes we went to both. What was going to be a quick stop, turned into almost 3 hours of shopping. We had fun and found some good deals so it was worth it.
Next stop, the beach. The beach at Hilton Head is much cleaner than Tybee Island, there were fewer broken sea shells to walk through. We strolled along the beach for about an hour, the weather was amazing, so hard to believe it is the middle of December and I am at the beach. I took some pics of the water, it was beautiful, check them out on the Photos page.
We hadn’t eaten all day and our friend Johnny suggested One Hot Mama’s BBQ. Barbecue is the one thing that Sonny and I can always agree on and never get tired of. Dinner was good, we purchased a couple of collector mugs for the coach because Sonny is getting tired of drinking out of plastic cups. Plus we are always suckers for souvenirs.
Speaking of souvenirs, I wanted to find a spoon for my mom and a magnet for myself so after dinner we headed back towards the beach and stopped at the Coligny. The only problem is the stores were starting to close because it is the off season. We found one still open and while we were looking for magnets and spoons we noticed they had lighthouses on them. I love lighthouses, so Sonny asked the clerk if there was a lighthouse on the island. Of course there is! Next stop, the Lighthouse.
We found the lighthouse and even though it is now dark, thankfully it is the holidays and the lighthouse was covered in lights. I posted a picture of it on the Photos page.
December 11, 2015
~Destin Bound~
Today we checked out of the Savannah South KOA after calling it our home for 10 days. Check out our video of this great KOA.
We stopped to top off our fuel after leaving the KOA and it was a good thing we did. Another leak! As Sonny was fueling he noticed water coming out of our basement. This isn’t normal. He opened the one of the basement bay doors and water is spraying out of a line all over our stuff. It is the same water line that we just had repaired. I called the RV repair service that originally fixed the line and since they were nearby they offered to meet us with their shop vac. We pulled into an Outlet Mall shopping center parking lot and unloaded our stuff again. Why do these things happen at the most inconvenient times?
As our stuff is laying out in the parking lot drying, the repairman started to clean up the water for us and then tried to figure out where the leak was coming from this time. The part of the line that was repaired was fine, but another portion of the line burst when we pulled our slide in. They said that they couldn’t fix it and the entire water line would need to be replaced. So when we get back to Orlando we will be having work done on our slide which houses the refrigerator. That ought to be fun!
After a two hour delay we are finally back on the road. First stop, Florida Welcome Center for some free orange juice and a ton of reading material.
Do I drive? I drove the RV one time during our initial test drive, it was a little intimidating but I did it. Have I driven since we been on the road full time? No! Sonny has been doing all of the driving and he has been doing an amazing job. He has maneuvered us around a small Walmart parking lot without hitting anything or scratching the coach or truck. A few curbs were nudged and driven over, but that is to be expected. We are in a 45 foot monster towing a full size truck.
Sonny is able to cruise down the highway between 65-70 mph and pass other vehicles without flinching. If I were to get behind the wheel, we would cruise no faster than 60 mph and stay in the same lane the entire trip without passing anyone. If we weren't towing a vehicle then passing another wouldn’t be so daunting. However, we can’t see our truck behind us. When it comes to passing another vehicle you hope you have cleared the other vehicle with enough room to get over, put your blinker on and go for it. That is the part that scares me the most.
December 12, 2015
~Hello Destin~
We finally made it to Destin, about a week late but we are here. The park we are staying at is called Geronimo RV Resort. It is small, but the staff is very nice and accommodating. This isn’t a busy time in Destin so we don’t have any neighbors yet.
After we got our RV set up it was getting close to late afternoon so we decided to head down to the beach. We drove to Fort Walton which is about 10 minutes from our site and went for a sunset stroll on the beach.
The sand was everything that Sonny had promised me it would be like. I have never walked in sand so soft. It felt like I was walking in brown sugar. The only thing that I had a hard time getting used to was the smell of dead fish. I don’t know if it is always like that or just that night, but it was pretty strong. We walked along the beach until we found a perfect spot to sit and watch the waves come in while the sky changed colors during a beautiful setting sun.
December 13, 2015
~Wind, Wind, and more Wind~
Today is a very windy day. The sky is grey and gloomy but that isn’t going to stop us. We were told when we checked in that the beach is only two blocks away so we decided to see for ourselves.
Two blocks exactly, the beach awaits. Not a soul was on the beach because the locals consider it winter and it is too cold for tourists. We battled the wind and watched the waves because we drove a long way to see the Emerald Coast and white sandy beaches.
December 14-17 2015
~Can’t get enough of the Sand~
We tried to make the most out of our days in Destin, however the weather was not real warm beach weather. We did try to make it to the beach at least once a day and put our feet in the sand. I think my favorite part of this trip was sitting on the beach alongside my amazing husband with our feet in the sand watching the waves come in. I could possibly do that all day long.
There were a couple of days during our week in Destin that weren’t warm and sunny. When the days were crappy we took advantage of our location which was less than 5 minutes from an outlet mall. We did some shopping one day and then on another day did some tourist shopping. We couldn’t leave Destin without some souvenir mugs….mine just happened to be from a cute breakfast spot called Another Broken Egg. Their mugs were perfect for my collection and if they weren’t $18 a piece I would have taken home more than one. It was so hard to decide on a color when they had about 10 colors to choose from.
December 18, 2015
~Staying a few more days~
Our original reservation was only through the 17th, but the dealership in Orlando couldn’t take us on the 18th so we decided to stay a couple more days in Destin. Not a bad spot to be stuck in, just wish the weather was a little more pleasant.
Our extended stay also meant we could visit my favorite breakfast spot, Another Broken Egg. And for Sonny it meant we could finally see Star Wars. We found a nice theater that surprisingly wasn’t too busy for such a popular movie. I’m glad we finally got to see it because any time they talked about the movie on the news, Sonny would turn the channel so it wouldn’t spoil the movie.
December 20, 2015
~Orlando here we come…AGAIN~
I wanted a week in Destin and I got it! Next time we go I will be sure to check the weather for days above 80 degrees. I would have sat on the beach all day if the weather was warmer.
Today we are headed to Orlando, then to the dealership tomorrow. The water leak we had the day we left for Destin is getting fixed along with a couple other minor issues. Our appointment is at 8:00 am tomorrow, so we are driving to a rest stop 10 miles out to stay the night.
Our drive was pretty uneventful across the Florida panhandle. Sonny is becoming more and more comfortable driving our home with every mile. So proud of him.
December 21, 2015
~Let the fixin’ begin~
Here were are again, parked in the lot of the RV dealership getting some major and minor issues resolved. Our hope was to be in and out in one day but unfortunately nothing goes as plan so we will be staying another night. The good thing about it is that it doesn’t cost us a penny to stay, I will take a free night whenever we can get it.
The water leak is finally fixed, the security lights are finally working….now we can finally enjoy our home. Tomorrow we are headed to our home for the next few months.
December 22, 2015
~Orlando SW KOA, our temporary home~
Today we arrive at the KOA campground just southwest of Orlando, about 20 minutes from Disney World. We plan to stay here until Sonny is finished with is training in Dallas which should be the end of February.
Our site is pretty nice and we met our neighbors who are from North Carolina, Bob and Becky. They are an older couple, and Bob reminds me so much of my dad, I feel like we were put next to them for a reason. Bob is very experienced at full time rv life so he offers pointers now and then to help us out. They are both the kind of people that will do anything for you if you need them.
Besides being so close to Disney World we have a Target and JCPenney very close by, within 5 minutes and a Publix down that road about 10 minutes away. Publix has become my new favorite grocery store, there homemade bread is amazing.
December 23, 2015
~Disney Springs~
Our Christmas present to each other this year were 3 day passes to Disney World. Sonny has been waiting his entire life to go to Disney World and since we are staying only 20 minutes from the park, this was the perfect time. What used to be called Downtown Disney, Disney Springs was our warm up to the next three days. We didn’t know anything about Disney Springs until our new neighbors, Bob and Becky mentioned it. Disney Springs is free and is basically shopping, restaurants, and a theater. I believe there is also a bowling alley and maybe another fun spot for kids.
We spent about a half day here getting our t-shirts to wear while we attend the parks, and ate an expensive lunch at Planet Hollywood.
Next stop….Disney World!
December 24, 2015
~ Disney Christmas - Day 1 - Hollywood Studios~
We got up bright and early today with plans to enter the park at 8:00 when they open for guests not staying on property. If you stay on property you can enter the park an hour earlier. We stood in line for about a half an hour when we realized that the park wasn’t opening until 9:00. I think they started letting guests in around 8:45.
I was pretty amazed by the park, I didn’t really know what to expect. There weren’t too many people in the park that early in the morning but as the day progressed it did get pretty crowded. Whenever Sonny talked about going to Disney World I always objected because I don’t like theme park rides. But in order to make this an enjoyable Disney Christmas for Sonny, I agreed to ride on every ride that he wanted to.
We learned about the Fast Pass prior to going so the night before we selected our Fast Pass rides. We had a Fast Pass for Tower of Terror, Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster, and Star Tours. I am not sure I really enjoyed Tower of Terror, I’m not crazy about dropping. The Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster was cool, but being upside down isn’t a favorite for me, it was brief though. Star Tours was okay, seems like a lot of hype for a simulator ride. After we used up our Fast Passes we got another one for Fantasmic later in the evening.
We walked over 8 miles in about12 hours, I think we covered every square foot of the park. We got to take pics with Chip and Dale, Pluto, Chewbacca, and Darth Vader. We also watched the Indiana Jones Stunt show, Lights, Motors, Action stunt show and if they allowed adults to participate in Jedi training, we would have done that as well. It is cute to watch the little kids fight Darth Vader.
Before the Fantasmic show we headed over to Streets of America to see the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights which were amazing. I will post the quick video we took to our Photos page. So fortunate to have gone this year since it will be the last year for the Osborne Lights.
Fantasmic is a very cool show, great way to end a very long but memorable day at Hollywood Studios. I have pics of the show which I will post to the Photos page.
December 25, 2015
~Disney Christmas - Day 2 - Magic Kingdom~
With barely enough time to let our bodies rest from our day at Hollywood Studios, we are up early and hitting Magic Kingdom by 8:00. We thought it would be pretty cool to spend Christmas Day at Magic Kingdom, but so did everyone else. The park was so busy from the moment it opened and seemed to get busier as the day went on. I have never seen so many people in one place. Washington DC wasn’t even this crowded on Fourth of July.
Our Fast Passes for today were for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Space Mountain, and Pirates of the Caribbean. We tried to get a Fast Pass for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train but there weren’t any available the day before or the day of. Despite the crowds we tried to get the full experience of Magic Kingdom by visiting all the attractions that had little to no wait times. These included, “Its a small world”, Haunted Mansion, the Tomorrowland PeopleMover, Christmas Parade, and lunch at Be Our Guest Restaurant.
Before this day came to a close we visited a shop towards the front of the park where we met a really nice cast member. We were going to leave early in the afternoon because it was hot and there were just so many people. We felt that we saw everything we wanted to see so we considered heading over to Epcot. However, plans changed after we met this cast member. We were looking at watches, which we ended up buying, but before that we had a nice conversation with the cast member about the parks, what to see and do at each park. She advised us that on Day three we should see Animal Kingdom first then ride the bus back to Epcot and finish the day there. We weren't even planning on going to Animal Kingdom because I thought it would be like a zoo. She told us the “must see/do” at both parks so it only made sense to give it a try.
After we took up about an hour of her time asking about the parks and pin trading, she proceeded to detach a pin from behind her tie. This pin was very special because it is only given to cast members and she received it at this year’s Christmas party for the cast members. You can’t buy this pin anywhere. Sonny was intrigued. He wanted to know more about the pin trading because we had seen several guests with lanyards full of pins. This would start an endless hunt for pins to begin collecting.
You can buy all sorts of pins, but we decided to collect the ones of the rides we went or the shows we saw. This amounted to a lot of pins. We originally only purchased one lanyard, but the amount of pins from the rides and shows from Day 1 and Day 2 were starting to add up. You can also trade pins with other guests or cast members. The cast members can’t say no if you ask to trade a pin but you can only ask two cast members a day. Sonny was now on the hunt for pins to trade with cast members. By far his most prized pin was the one we received from the cast member at the watch store.
This wasn’t a traditional Christmas Day for either one of us, but it will be one we will never forget. From the rides to the shows to the new found obsession with pin trading, this has been a very memorable Christmas.
December 26, 2015
~Disney Christmas - Day 3 - Animal Kingdom and Epcot~
Last day of our Disney Christmas and once again it started very early. Last night we took our pins that became an obsession and placed them on the lanyard. The only problem now is we have too many for one lanyard. So our goal after we get to Animal Kingdom is to find another lanyard.
We drove and parked at Epcot since we would be finishing up at that park later in the day. We took a bus to Animal Kingdom from there. First stop at Animal Kingdom was the Kilimanjaro Safaris. We boarded an open-air safari vehicle and began our ride through the safari. It was early enough in the morning that all the animals were out and about eating and roaming. We were able to see so many animals on this ride and the weather couldn’t have been more perfect. Once again I have posted the pictures on the Photos page. They turned out great.
After the safari ride we wandered around the park in search of another lanyard and of course more pins. We did do some fast passes for Animal Kingdom but it wasn’t too busy so we really didn’t need them.
Believe it or not but my favorite ride was Expedition Everest, in fact we rode it twice back to back. It’s a roller coaster, but nothing too crazy. Another ride I really enjoyed was in DinoLand, I can’t remember the name of it but it reminded me of a childhood carnival ride. We also took in a few other attractions like the Dinosaur prehistoric tour, It’s Tough to be a Bug!, The Tree of Life, and Festival of the Lion King. We were also able to have our pictures taken with Mickey and Minnie which was the icing on the cake.
We spent about half a day at Animal Kingdom then headed over to Epcot. By this time in over two days we have walked almost 15 miles and spent 12-13 hours a day at two parks. I was a little worn out by the time we got to Epcot, so it was a little harder for me to really enjoy the park.
While at Epcot we went to Mission Space, Soarin’, Spaceship Earth, Test Track, and walked around the World Showcase. We (mainly me) chose to eat dinner at San Angel Inn Restaurante inside the Pyramid. Sonny would have rather eaten another type of food, but since he is so good to me, he usually lets me decide. After dinner we wandered around the World Showcase and tried to visit each country.
By the end of our three day Disney Christmas we walked hand in hand over 23 miles. Each mile was worth it as we created amazing memories together at the happiest place on earth!
December 27, 2015
~REST~
Rest, Rest, and more rest. Oh and a quick trip to Lowes.
December 30, 2015
~Mom is here~
My mom arrived today to stay with me while Sonny is away in Dallas for training. This is her first time to Florida so we plan to see as much as we can while she is here. I am sure you are all wondering where she will sleep since we don’t have extra rooms in our home on wheels. The couch has a pull out bed that surprisingly when it is unfolded there is still walk room to get around the bed to the front of the RV. My mom is used to RV living as she and my dad lived full time in a fifth wheel as well as an RV. It will be nice having her here with me to fill the time while Sonny is gone.
January 5, 2015
Headed to Dallas
Today, Sonny and I are headed to Dallas for the beginning of his training with Southwest. The first couple of days Southwest invites the spouses to join so we can learn about the benefits and be introduced to the company that our spouses will work for.
For the next two days we will be listening to various presentations, learn about the company, and tour their headquarters. Sonny and I are very excited about starting this new chapter in our lives. Working a civilian job will be a change for Sonny, but I have a feeling he will enjoy it. We are looking forward to what the next 20 years has in store for us with Southwest.
January
~Some Good Days, Some Bad Days
Rather than update daily on what is going on in and around the RV, I will just some it up in one entry.
January was a month of many good times and a couple not so good times. Mom and I are having such a great time together, exploring Orlando and the surrounding area. So far we have ventured out to a local flea market which is quite large and very popular around here. Mom picked up a few treasures to take back home and I was able to find a couple for myself.
Another daily adventure took us to Tampa which is a beautiful area and somewhere that Sonny would love for us to live one day.
This was not a good month for our cat, Taz. He is about 14 years old and we rescued him when he was 1. He has been a great addition to our family and with every move we made with the Air Force he adjusted very well. For the most part he was a very healthy cat, a little wild and crazy at times, but never a dull moment. We knew that moving him into the RV and traveling around might be an adjustment for him, but we knew eventually he would acclimate. The first month in the RV was good, he wasn’t crazy about the traveling part, but once we settle into a place he was happy. After we settled in Florida the end of December his health started to decline. We noticed various coughing/wheezing spells that went from occasional to daily. Another change was his weight, he went from a hefty 14 pounds down to under 10 in just a few weeks. Long story short, after a couple vet appointments it was determined he had lung cancer. Both of his lungs were full of tumors and there wasn’t anything that could be done for him. The decision to let him go wasn’t an easy one, but I knew he would rather be chasing our dog Lady around in Heaven than be here with his struggling to breathe. On January, 23, 2016, Taz joined his sister Lady and I imagine they are both overjoyed to be reunited again.
Shopping, shopping, shopping! That pretty much sums up our month of January. There are about three outlet malls here so we visited one and spent most of the day there. Where we are staying is way to close to Target and JcPenney’s so it seems like we are always in one of those stores. Mom has doubled the amount of clothes she brought which led her to buying another suitcase to get her stuff home.
The end of January I went to Dallas to visit Sonny for the weekend. This was my very first flight going standby. I have a lot to learn about this process as I have always flown with a ticket confirming the flight I would be going on. I didn’t have any issues, in fact I was able to fly on the flights I wanted to without getting bumped.
We had nice time in Dallas, the weather was unseasonably warm. Mom stayed back at the RV and hung out with our neighbors Bob and Becky. My brother was a little concerned about my mom being left here alone in a strange place, but unless you have stayed in KOA park or any other type of campground you don’t realize that it really is a safe place. You are surrounded by a lot of very friendly people that have at least one thing in common with you, they either live full time in their RV or they just really enjoy camping. When you pull into a park it is like the outside world of hustle and bustle just disappears. There is an immediate calm and you see people and pets walking around the park. Most of the other campers are extremely friendly and will go out of their way to help you if you need it. It is definitely a different type of lifestyle but one I think I am going to enjoy very much.
February
~ Three Months of RV Livin’ ~
We are now three months into the RV life! Sonny has been gone for most of it but for a very important reason. He is finishing up his training with Southwest and will be officially flying for them by the end of the month. My mom and I have been holding down the fort, taking care of the daily duties, which aren’t many.
For the most part, February has been a busy month. Mom and I went to Cocoa Beach on February 3rd. This was mom’s first time being at the beach since she was just a young girl. She loved it! In fact, she says it was her favorite thing we did the whole time we were in Florida. The weather was beautiful, a little windy but that is typical by the water. We enjoyed a drink on the pier and took a selfie with a pelican. This will be a very special memory that I share with my mom, thankful we were able to visit the beach together.
Since Sonny couldn’t come home for Valentine’s Day, I decided to make another trip to Dallas to spend it with him. I flew out on Monday and returned on Wednesday. I think I am finally getting the hang of this flying standby stuff.
After I returned from Dallas, the KOA was having a yard sale in which campers could sell some of their stuff at their site. Mom and I decided to sell some of our crafts; she sold crocheted dish clothes and I sold my scarves. Mom did sell a few dish clothes but I only sold one scarf. Pretty hard to sell scarves in Orlando.
Sonny returned home the weekend of the 20th and began his first flight with Southwest on the 24th. He flew for four days out of Orlando and for the month of March he will be flying out of Phoenix.
On February 29th, we (Sonny, Mom, and I) began our 4 day journey across the lower half of the United States.