What an amazing summer! We have been very blessed to be able to move at a snail’s crawl from Pikeville, KY (where we left you last) up along the Ohio river through more of Kentucky and the Ohio River Valley as we were headed for Maine and lobsters…
Well – plans do change.
We are members of a site workampers.com that sends out a daily post with work opportunities all over the country and all kinds of jobs. From working the sugar beet harvest in North Dakota to bear watching guides in Alaska to Yellowstone and Maine and Florida and – you get the picture.
Just about the time we had Pittsburgh PA in our sights there was an ad for a couple to run the RV park for the Indianapolis State Fair for the month of August for what we thought was a lot of money. We called and they gave us the job! So we turned around, headed back through the mountains again, and meandered towards Nashville before turning north towards Michigan.
The gig in Indianapolis is in August. I imagine it will be very hot!
We are looking for a certain fifth wheel to upgrade to a bit more room. There is one outside Asheville, and one in New Carlisle, Indiana which is where we are headed now.
Isn’t is fun to be able to turn on a dime and change your whole plans? We really still want to go to Maine!
If you know of anyone who might be looking for a great fifth wheel RV we have to sell ours first. It is a little embarrassing but we have a for sale sign on the back so people on the road can see it! Since the RV campground for the fair has 240 spots and there is a fairly good turnover for the three weeks we will be there, we hope to sell it then…
Here is a compilation video of what we are seeing as we travel. Hope you enjoy it!
Summer thunderstorms fly down the Kentucky mountains where generations have taken coal from deep within while I work on another video of our travels. Please let us know if you like these!
Did you see this video of Shelly swimming with the dolphins in Islamorada?
We are in Pikeville, Kentucky – home to the Hatfield and McCoy clans and feuds from not that long ago. It is interesting how we end up in places like this as we have no preconceived ideas or plans – we just go where we go! Another fascinating thing about Pikeville is how they cut through a mountain to move the river and the railroad away from town – and in the process became the second largest earth moving project in the country while saving the town from the repeated, disastrous floods from the river! I love stuff like that! We are staying up on that cut on the right of the image…
We have our RV up for sale as we have finally found one a little newer and just a little bigger. If we sell fine – if not that is fine too. Every move we make north takes us further away from the one we like but we go with what comes!
We are loving the mountains, the hiking, the scenery and the pace after working hard for most of the last 6 months. And we intend to keep this pace up as long as possible! We do not like the ticks. Period.
One of the questions we get the most often is “What is the place you like the best?” And the answer is “all of them”.
Easter Sunrise Service
Every single place we have been to had something about it. (Well except for cities – we really are not fond of cities!) What makes these places so great is the ability to leave them. Islamorada in the Florida Keys is a magical place. Our RV spot was on nice thick green grass, surrounded by palm trees, a banana tree on one side, the ocean and a beach area on the water 200 feet away. Temperatures range from 60 – 90 with warm, balmy breezes almost all the time. It was almost perfect.
But then we started thinking about mountains, and cooler weather, and green trees… and decided it was time to move on. Now we are excited to be on the road, seeing more great places with another awesome place to compare. How cool is that?
Isn’t everything relevant? If you can’t compare where you are to somewhere else – would it not become just ‘normal’? Maybe this is why we travel so much. Every place is new. Every place is different with new sites, sounds, weather, people and things to do.
Today we are in western North Carolina in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains just east of Asheville and it is glorious. And different.
Shelly’s Mom is nice enough to put up with us while we have the fifth wheel in for some needed repairs to slide-outs and waste valves covered by an extended warranty so I don’t have to do it! The truck transmission is getting a new, deeper pan and a going over and the rear brakes on the truck gets new pads before we head up through the mountains towards Maine.
The very rough plan is to slowly make our way through the Blue Ridge up into Tennessee, on into West Virginia, Virginia, western PA, western New York and then on up to New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine. Looking at a map it looks like it might be cool to check out the Canadian Maritimes, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. All new to us. We have no deadlines and no commitments from here on out so we are free to make whatever stops, turns or changes present themselves!
We have less room than before on the RV with the addition of a 1 year old American Chocolate Lab Shelly is training to service. Her goal is to train Daisy to be a scent dog of some kind – peanuts, bed bugs, who knows? Daisy is cute but she sure is a handful of energy!
There has only been a small travelling break since last July. We worked in Grove, Oklahoma, then renovated and sold the boat in Texas for ExceptionalWarriors.org, on to Ft Pierce, Fl to rebuild the 58 Hatteras, and finally four months in Islamorada renovating a 52′ Bluewater yacht from hurricane damage.
Although it helps to build the cruising kitty, there is a cost. I seemed to have had a run of accidents in the last year or so – starting with a knee issue from teaching snow skiing in New Mexico, to blowing myself out of a dingy with a gas explosion and a skilsaw accident in Islamorada. We both could use a rest period. We don’t heal as fast as we used to!
While in Islamorada, Shelly got the opportunity to swim with dolphins in Theater By The Sea. This park was right next to where we were staying (we walked or bicycled around it at least twice day!) and it turned out to be one of the most rewarding things she has been able to do. It was very interesting spending time with the sea lion trainers and comparing training notes!
As May turns into June and temperatures in western North Carolina climb into the mid 90’s, we find ourselves waiting for parts for the RV over a beautiful Memorial Day weekend. As we remember those whose died fighting, and those families left behind, we are even more grateful for what we have.
Today the RV is in the shop being repaired. We hope to be on the road to Tennessee later today and on our way again. In the meantime, we took the opportunity to wash, compound and wax all 35 feet of the RV. It looks nice but the arms sure feel it!
Goodbye beaches and hello cooler weather and mountain hiking!
Just a quick update! Life is very challenging here in the Florida Keys in the winter.
It is kinda hot so we have to run the AC more than we would like. The banana bush outside our window has way more bananas than we can eat. The fresh shrimp, mahi mahi and smoked wahoo prices are getting a little high. And there are way too many snowbirds!
But we would still rather be here! 😉
I’m sure you understand?
Here is a short video to let you see where we are staying. Looks like we might be here through April or so – then the idea is to make our way up to Maine to check out the lobster. Sounds like a good idea to us!
One of the main reasons we write these updates is the enjoyment from looking back and appreciating where we have been. It sort of solidifies the experiences. It is too easy to just keep on moving and put the past in the past!
Check out this google maps history of places we have used in maps in the last two years. That is so many miles and so many experiences!
For some reason, (maybe we did not use maps as much) but it really does not show our travels well from Florida back up into NW Oklahoma, back down through Galveston Bay and across to Florida again.
And that is where we pick up the story.
Last post we were heading east out of Texas towards south Florida again. Because it took longer to remodel and sell the boat I was working on in Texas, we had a deadline at Thanksgiving to meet. In New Orleans, a couple of hours was quite enough and it was nice to get some seafood and take it home to eat!
The damage remaining from Hurricane Michael to be seen just by driving across I-10 was unbelievable. They still had not cleaned up the trees down on sides of the interstate over a year later.
One of the best parts of traveling is the places we get to stay. Often we are only one of three or four RVs in the whole park! In and set up by 130 or 2, go round up some firewood for the evening camp/cook fire, and sit back to watch the sky do it’s sunset and night star dance! Here is a slideshow of some of our favorites!
Thanksgiving was spent at Ian’s house in Valdosta Ga, where much fun was had by all with their virtual reality toys. Shelly really got into the music game. It is truly amazing how far gaming has come since the day of Pong! I hope this video can play for you. This is the first time I have tried inserting a video like this. What you see on the screen, Shelly is immersed in inside the virtual reality headset. It is awesome!
We pointed the RV south to Stuart Fl and back to the Hatteras motor yacht we had worked on in the Spring with a goal to get it in the water and moved to a marina. All went fairly well and we were able to get the bottom epoxied and painted, and in the water in just a couple of weeks.
Then Shelly flew off to Seattle for a conference with her work with Atlas Service Dogs while the owner, Goose and I worked on the engines and generator enough to take a nice day trip up the Intercoastal Waterway to Ft Pierce Fl.
It had been over 25 years since running a 60 ft yacht but it was like riding a bicycle!
Our rv spot in Ft Pierce was in the same place as the marina, right on a little causeway a mile from the beach. Awesome! That first week we started some projects and made sure the boat was happy being in the water and then hooked up and headed north for Christmas in North Carolina.
Three days (and three state parks) later we pulled up into the mother-in-law’s drive in-between rains. I came very close to getting very stuck in the grassy yard and spent much time trying to rake and shovel in the deep ruts. Then it started raining again!
On the way out of town, I had a VA appointment in Asheville, so we left a bit early to miss the next huge rain and spent the night down on the Broad River. When we arrived that afternoon, the river was 3 feet below the banks. It started raining – again. In the morning the river was coming up under the RV! We decided it might be time to hook and and leave! You can see the water coming up behind our wheels. Scary.
I felt for all those permanent RV dwellers who seemed oblivious that the river was rising that fast – and if fact there was a video later in the day of a 5th wheel RV like ours floating down the Broad River!
Ft Pierce welcomed up back with sunny warm weather and lots of work to do. We got to a point in mid January where the boat was up for sale, and had been seen several times and it just did not seem financially feasible to put much more time and money into her. What to do next? Too cold to head north!
So – as seems to often happen – we got an invitation to head down to Islamorada in the Keys where there was another yacht needing some work and an open RV space for us to stay. Here we are back in the keys again! We even drove to Marathon and played softball for old times sake!
It looks like we will be here for at least a few months. But thoughts are already turning to Maine for the summer!
And finally we wanted to share this really cool drive through these tress on the way to the beach in Hobe Sound Fl!
A salt and pepper shaker combo on our table started a conversation you might find interesting.
Shelly and I have found that gratitude is amazing experience. Being grateful for everything you have creates more to be grateful for!
Our conversation turned to the people who have made such a difference to us, and have played their very crucial role to allow us to live a life we are so very blessed to enjoy.
(As we are in Islamorada in the Florida Keys camped next to a banana tree on the ocean sidewatching the sun set in a balmy 71 degrees!)
One of the people who came to mind was Michael Moore in Atlanta. Without Michael, we might not have been able to financially finish building High Country Stables. Michael was so supportive and helpful in several endeavors during our time in Atlanta, as well as being almost an uncle to the boys as they became Eagle Scouts and young men. Thanks Michael!
Rick and Mary Grubb also played instrumental parts in our lives in Atlanta. Without Rick there might not have been a farm at all. He supplied all the slate and literally tons of chicken manure fertilizer to help make our rings, roads, stables, and pastures a reality. And he was a great friend. Thanks Rick and Mary! (And we sure hope you are spending time in HHI!)
David Bates has become a friend while helping us along our rv travels. We are praying for the best outcome with his health challenges. David introduced us to his brother Paul here in the Keys and we are super grateful for both of these wonderful people.
Tim and Liz Tate out in Red River New Mexico took us in and made us feel very welcome and wanted for our winter out there. We surely hope to see them soon.
David White came into our lives and has helped us in ways hard to understand. (But Dave does!)
And those shakers are the coolest thing. When we were sailing, salt always soaked up the salt air and required lots of rice to stay fresh. Our good friend Dr Angel Tribuno gifted us these cool shakers that have collapsible lids to keep moisture out. She was also there for us our whole time in Atlanta as our Chiropractor and medical guru as we were rising two boys. Friends like Angel are very hard to come by.
There are so many more like Wade and Nickie, Joe and Sue and so many more. Including of course our boys who have made our life so fulfilling.
We are so very grateful to each and every one of you. Thank you!
And that is our update for today. Be grateful. It opens gates you would never believe possible.
We are working on our next travel update. Yes we are still traveling!
