May 14th~~18th, DeFuniak, Florida!

We are back in Florida! Arrived at Twin Lakes RV Resort, our last campground on this journey to find a beautiful but empty park! It is just as picturesque as Abita Springs with the tall pines and lakes, but we were alone in the park the first day and then another RV pulled in on the second. So only two campers in a park that can hold twenty-some! It seems to be a well-kept secret around here. Not sure why it wasn't full!? It is a really small park, only about 25 lots with 10 cabins, that helps to keep it serene and quiet. The only noises are the ducks during the day and the crickets and frogs at night. :-) The main attraction here is the boating and fishing, as it has it's own boat launching ramp and parking for the boat trailers. Several fishermen frequent the dock daily.

Destin is only 50 miles away and the weather was beautiful on Tuesday, so we took the Harley for a ride and enjoyed a beautiful day crossing the Choctawhatchee Bay and checking out the beaches of Destin. Such a pretty area. It was perfect Harley weather! Had a nice dinner in town, and hit a couple of shops. But by the time we were ready to head back, clouds had formed and half way home we hit a thunderstorm! Not perfect Harley weather! We had our rain gear in the saddlebags, so we pulled over, donned them and journeyed on! It is a proven fact that if you are a biker...you WILL eventually be a wet biker! :-)

The rest of our time here will be spent relaxing and making plans for our return to Jax. The coach will need to be serviced to fix the issues we developed along the way, so we will make a trip to Wildwood, FL shortly after returning.

We are looking forward to getting back to family and friends and sharing all of our adventures with them. After over 5,200 miles, two months and seven states behind us...it has been a good beginning to our "new normal" of rolling down the road! We are thankful to God for HIS watch care over us!

"Do not be afraid, for I AM with you; be not dismayed, for I AM your God; I will strengthen you I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10

May 10th-14th, Abita Springs, Louisiana

This is by far the prettiest park we have been in, (pics below) the combination of the pines and the lakes made it picture perfect. It was nestled in a quaint town of only 2,000 people and the downtown looked like something out of an old movie. The park had about 70 RV lots, and many amenities available. Staff was super-friendly and welcoming.

By critiquing these parks in the blog, we will be able to recall whether or not we would one day like to return. If we ever travel back to Louisiana, this would definitely be one of our stops!

Having the Kachins here is icing on the cake!

Abita Springs~~ Ocean Canyon

Highlight of Louisiana!

The highlight of this stop was certainly our time spent with our wonderful Kachins! When we booked our campgrounds for this state, we were unaware that Abita Springs was just 25 minutes from Mandeville, where they live!! That, we feel was "God at work"! Such a blessing for us to be able to visit with them!

They were, as they always are, so kind and generous to us during our stay. They fed us, (way too much) :-) They own a Japanese restaurant and the food was not only great, but pretty! Each dish they brought out was a piece of art! When the rain set-in on our first day there, Jewell handed us the keys to her Acura for the week! So generous. They even spoiled me on Mother's Day with lunch out, presents and flowers. We worshipped with them Sunday AM at First Baptist of Mandeville and then that evening, we worshipped with them in their in home Bible Study, which they asked Steven to lead. We all partook of communion together. They had 21 present and the singing, praying and message was a wonderful way to end our week and our time in LA. Such a blessing!

God has so used our Kachins to continue to teach us so many good qualities. Their unconditional love and generosity serves as an example of the teachings of our Lord in today's world. We are always overwhelmed and humbled when we leave them. We are grateful that HE brought them to us and it was so great to re-connect with them on this trip!

Our Sweet Kachins!

May 2nd~~~9th Lake Whitney, Texas

Our first day here, Steven lost a filling out of his tooth, so we had to find a dentist in town who would see us on a work-in basis and accept TriCare. But, God once agin blessed us and he was wearing a new filling by 4PM!

Lake Whitney RV & Golf Resort is an interesting park. It is huge! "330 Acres, The largest full service resort in Texas, with it's own 18 hole (6,200 yard) golf course." It was yet another park that we felt had great potential, but desperately needed some sprucing up! We were told it has recently been purchased by new owners who are promising improvements, so it will be interesting to return one day to check it out!

It seems that in this part of Texas, hail storms and tornados are not uncommon. So the people here house their RV's and their modular homes under a metal shelter. It was a bit eerie to see the openings for the underground shelters on every block. So thankful we never had to run for cover to one!

May 1st~~2nd RV Woes :-(

Woke this morning ready to travel for a couple of days to head to Texas...however the coach would not start! After much frustration and prayer, Steven was able to jump start it and we re-routed our day to the nearest Camping World. We limped into Ft Worth and bit the bullet for 2 new coach batteries, ($300.00) OUCH! Takes a lot of power to move 30,000 pounds of vehicle down the road!

Our coach has taken a beating on this adventure. The flat tire we had earlier was the beginning of repairs in our future. The "March Winds" ripped the slide toppers (covers over the pop-outs) off, so they will have to be replaced. And now the batteries! Cost of doing business, I guess.

The scenery has now gone from vast prairie lands sprinkled with tumbleweeds and Indian reservations to more vast lands sprinkled with windmills and oil wells. I was never fully aware of how much uninhabited acreage there is "out West".

RV-ING CATS!

We have been asked how Maverick & Martina are doing in this new life on the road we are now all enjoying? Well, see for yourself! :-) No stress here!

May 1st ~~~2nd, "All Part Of The Adventure"

Well, May has started off with a bang! We unhooked, dismantled and packed up the coach to start for our next destination...and it would not start. Dead. The two chassis batteries were finished. (Our coach has 2 batteries for the engine, and 4 four the "house"). So Steven had to jump-start it from the generator and we had to re-route our GPS to find the nearest Camping World, which was in Ft Worth. Made us about 2 hours behind our schedule, but we are now the proud owners of $300.00 worth of boxed up power! Should get us down the road!

I wanted to explain the title, "All Part Of The Adventure". It has become Steven's favorite phrase. It actually came from one of Braddock's cartoon characters, Secret Agent Oso. His favorite line is, "It's all part of the adventure, more or less". So every time we encounter a challenge in this new lifestyle of ours, Steven says, "It's all part of the adventure" and I chime in..."more or less!"

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!

April 25th~~~May 1st New Mexico!

The scenery out here is composed of vast prairie lands and Indian reservations. Never knew there was so much uninhabited acreage! Barren for as long as the eyes can see.

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We arrived at Hidden Valley RV Park near Albuquerque, after battling more winds! The winds have been so horrendous on this trip, that our slide toppers (covers over our four pop-outs) have been ripped off and will have to be replaced once when get back to home base. :-(

The park is quiet, and very unkept. Looks like it has a lot of potential but was abandoned years ago and needs much TLC! It has been an education seeing all the different parks, some much nicer than others and most have not lived up to the pictures on their brochures! But thanks to the RV Clubs we joined...most are FREE and FREE is good! :-)

Albuquerque was a short ride away so we went into town for dinner and a movie. Ate at the largest Golden Corral we have ever seen! It was beyond impressive...would have never believed it was a GC!! Also took the tour through an American Indian Culture Center and learned much of their heritage; even watched as several of the existing Indians demonstrated their tribal dances and displayed their wares.

On Sunday we enjoyed a great worship service at Mountain Valley Baptist. It was actually the first church that had a praise band and sang praise songs, most of the congregations we have worshipped with are still singing out of the hymn book. Little closer to the kind of service we are accustomed to. Their pastor went out of his way to welcome us and their people were excited about their building project and new addition, which should be completed this summer.

We have been privileged to pray for and with many brothers and sisters in our Christ!

One of our excursions, we ventured out on the Harley down "The Turquoise Trail" (a 62 mile road that has small towns sprinkled along the way with interesting themes. We ended up in a very eclectic town named Madrid. It was a town consisting of quaint shops filled with anything and everything you could ever imagine and a multitude of eating spots! It was also inhabited by hundreds of bikers! Slightly resembled a mini "Bike Week" in Daytona! We shortly discovered the attraction, after chatting with a local, who told us that Madrid use to be a sleepy, abandoned town until 2007 when John Travolta & Tim Allen showed up and filmed the movie "Wild Hogs" there! She said, "they put Madrid on the map!"

WILD HOGS @ MAGGIE'S DINER!