Last stops before Port A

We pulled into Ray Roberts Lake State Park on Thursday to spend a long weekend with our friends Fred and Vickie Porter.  Mentioned them a couple of times in our blog, but haven't given the full "how we met" story.

We started full timing at the end of December, 2010.  We spent our first winter in Tucson.  In December of 2011, we decided to stay in the Coastal Bend of Texas at Sea Breeze RV Park in Portland, TX.  They advertised in the flyers they had a Happy Hour on the porch of the Clubhouse at 4p.  Connie and I went up there early with a cooler full of beer.  Nobody there.  Decided to go inside.  Nobody.  Waited till 4:15p and made the call to leave.  Here comes this couple with a cooler and a bottle of wine.  This should be interesting.  We went inside and talked, drank and laughed until 8:30p or 9 that night.  We've been hanging out together ever since.  We've met in different places around the country.  We've met their family.  They've met ours.   We've always kept in touch, and hope we do for a long time.  Really treasure their friendship.

They're currently park hosts at this State Park north of Fort Worth along I-35.

We never have to have "something to do".  Just our company and conversation is plenty. 

Our dogs get along great with their dog ("Izzy").





We turned them on to College Football a few years ago when we took them to Ole Miss and the Grove to tailgate.  Put out a spread for Saturday's RV Tailgate that included BBQ Ranch Dip (using some of the BBQ sauce from Kansas City), Salsa dip (using some of our Salsa from Sioux Falls), Crockpot Tailgate Sandwiches, Bugles Mix, and cocktail wienies.  Snacked all day, it was great.

Pulled out around 9:30a from the State Park and drove down to New Braunfels (Hill Country Cottages and RV Park).  Monday, should have about 200 miles to get to our winter home of Pioneer RV Park in Port Aransas.

Back to TX -- the Ohio Leg

We left Timber Ridge Campground Monday to begin our journey back to Texas.  Really enjoyed our summer there.  Had lots of "Davis time" this summer and are so appreciative our their generosity over the summer.  Will miss those smiling faces.

Drove down to Columbus and stayed a night at the Cross Creek Camping Resort.  Since we were there last, they instituted a "no pet fence" policy which sucked, especially for Tangy.  We were going to go the ignorance route and put it up any way, but with just a one night, we figured we'd fight that battle on another stay.

We went to the Winking Lizard Westerville to meet with our friends Craig and Sandy, Dave and Jean and were surprised by Connie's cousin Lisa and her friend Wendy.  Had a great time, even though the Indians (a theme) lost AND I forgot to take a picture of our table.  Great catching up, they've been such good friends.

Tuesday, we headed to the hub of the universe, Wilmington, OH.  Stayed in our normal spot at Caesar Creek (saw a lot of deer!), went in to visit Connie's Dad Oz and his wife Betty.  Surprised them with a visit from Bethany and Kingsley.  Went out for pizza at Generations Pizza before retiring back to the rig and K's first overnight "camping" experience.  All went great except it rained hard around 3a and the vent window didn't automatically close when we went to bed.

Wednesday, we got moving slowly, but ended up at Frisch's for brunch with Oz and Betty, then back to the rig before Bethany and Kingsley had to take off for home.  A great time.

We headed out late Wednesday afternoon to check out an RV park for our Ohio Heartland Rally next August.  Looked like it's going to be a winner, and I hope to finish up details with the managers today.

Finally, it was off to the Little River Cafe in Oregonia.  It's owned by a Barb and Todd Holmes.  Barb and I were in homerooms together since Junior High, and Todd and I lived in each other's back yards.  Was a nice place with a live band, fireplace (which we needed!), and good food/drinks.  Met with Rich and Kim, Randy and Shelley, and even Barb made time to come out and see us.  Again, great catching up and experiencing their place.  Got home to watch the Indians lose.  😩

Today, we leave Ohio for the last time in 2017 and will make our way to Elizabethtown for an overnight, a couple of nights in Nashville before three nights along the mighty Mississippi.

Back from our cruise and updating our migration to Texas post Harvey

We went cruising just as Hurricane Harvey was making landfall in Texas right at our winter home.  It was a real roller coaster, and quite honestly, dampened a bit of our enthusiasm and focus on our cruise.

We still had a great time.  I'll be blogging about it for the business soon at this link.  Connie wore out a few times, but overall her latest treatment with the epidural and Gabupentin have really helped with her pain.

Finished today readjusting our plans for going back to Texas.  Going to push things back about 3 weeks, take a slightly adjusted route (skipping Paducah, KY and Santa Claus, IN) and rolling down to Nashville.  After Nashville, we'll head over to West Memphis and resume our original route.

We'll leave now October 10th from Timber Ridge and hopefully arrive at Pioneer RV Park on October 23rd if they can accommodate us.  If not, we'll find someplace west of Corpus that can until we can get back to Port A.

Here's what our adjusted map looks like:

Here's a link to see the actual sites.

So we'll be here a little longer.  Have a few more fires.  Get the heaters out.  Enjoy Buckeye Football and pumpkin & Oktoberfest beers.  Life is still good.

Announcing our 2017 Fall Trip to Texas Route

We have most of our reservations made, so it's time to announce our trip to Texas this fall.

Are we passing through your town??  Let us know, we'll do dinner or at least get together!

Trying out a few new things (Santa Claus, Indiana!), a few things we're used to (Tom Sawyer's Mississippi River Park), and a couple of casino RV parks -- one we've been to (Ameristar in Vicksburg), one we're going to try out (Diamond Jack's in Bossier City).  Haven't been to Paducah or the Land Between the Lakes for years.

I wish we had a "go to" that was Northeast of Houston.  Going to try this place, it's about the third or fourth different place we've tried.

Vacation is Over

It's been a while since our last post.  We have been busy enjoying my vacation from treatments.

As noted in our previous blog, we had a great time making our way to Texas.  It took us 7 weeks to get here!

Time to get back on the treatments.  The diagnostic scans were done in early November.  For the most part, they show that most areas are stable.  There are a few new areas in the lungs and minor progession.  However, the doctor feels they are not very concerning.

So, with that news, we are going to continue on the hormone pill that we started back in August and combine it with Herceptin infusion.  This is a drug that I had received previously and tolerated it with minimal side effects.

Going to get this started tomorrow.  Treatments will be every 3 weeks.

Hope everyone enjoyed the Thanksgiving holiday.  We had a good time and good food here at the park.  Met some really nice folks!

Had a couple of days of cooler weather.  It inspired us to get out the Christmas decorations.  We will be moving to our normal winter spot in Rockport on the 20th.

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!

Taking a break.......

No, not from blogging.  We've already done that.  Wow, last post was June 16th?  I'm sure all of you have been concerned.  No need to be, we've just been hanging in Ashtabula.

Connie met with her oncologist today who said that because there's no progression that's concerning him from her most recent scans.  Her treatment today was postponed and he's going to give her a month off from chemo.  We're very happy to say the least.

Which, of course, leads to our exit from Ohio back to Texas.  Dr. Aponte, who we had been seeing since the onset of her diagnosis in 2013, has left Corpus Christi and moved to San Antonio.  She's out.  We had been considering moving to a doctor who had a branch in Rockport, so now he's in.

Right now, we're in the process of sending him all the documents from the Cleveland Clinic so that he can make an informed decision as far as moving forward since he'll be calling the ball.  When to do that is the big question!  Do we travel now to Corpus knowing that we don't have anything here for a month?  Do we wait here until we meet with her Ashtabula Oncologist in a month?

Stay tuned!

Mt. Pleasant to Alexander, AR

Didn't really do much in Mt. Pleasant.  Was awoken night #1 to the sound of my fridge beeping and saying there was no flame.  That was weird, because it should have been running on electric.  Instead, for however long, it didn't flip over to AC and sucked out all of my propane.  I wasn't happy, especially knowing that the temps were going to be dropping like a rock in the next few days and the fireplace wouldn't keep up with it.  Ran over to the Mt. Pleasant KOA (looked like a dump, too) and got propane in one bottle, then Monday en route to Alexander, Arkansas (which is just south of Little Rock) I got the 2nd bottle filled at the Flying J.

I left a little earlier than planned on Monday because some Jack Wagon NEEDED to get on the road early (like started at 6:30a) and had to make sure his diesel was warmed up.  The ride here up I-30 was miserable.  Drove into a north wind and a driving rain the whole day.

Got to Cherokee Lakes RV Park around 2:30p after a leisurely stop at the Flying J since the guy didn't know how to run the propane machine and a lunch stop at a rest area with the girls.  Was a little bit of an issue because there was no signage where the GPS brought me, only a locked gate and No Trespassing.  I drove a little further, pulled off into a Volunteer Fire Station and called the joint after seeing on the Passport America site that, yes, it was gated and in a nature preserve.

The guy said he "didn't expect me so early."  I told him about the Jack Wagon, and I'll be damned if in walks Mrs. Jack Wagon!  They had come to the same park.  After we exchanged hello's, I told the owner "I'll bet they got here before me, didn't they?"  Sure enough, next morning, I'm up at 7:30a mainly because the sun comes up here at 6:30a, and they were already gone.  I don't get it.

I've gotten a little of chippy stuff done here for work, fixed some website things, updated our phone system, etc.

 This being my last "leisurely" stop before I start a run of "in day 1, stay day 2, out day 3", I decided to do a little cooking.  Smoked a Boston Butt and two chicken fryers on Tuesday, along with using my blueberries for a Blueberry Bread.  Freezer is full, everything came out wonderfully.

4 bags of pulled pork, 5 bags of cut up
chicken ready for the freezer.

Sloopy has been absolutely miserable.  First, its been cold.  Never a good thing for her.  Second they don't allow X-pens here.  So, she's constantly wanting out to lay in the sunshine, and doesn't understand the sentence, "they don't allow X-pens here."

Here for one more day, then we take off for West Memphis, AR (where I KNOW they allow X-pens.]

Sanger to Mount Pleasant

I had a great time in Sanger, TX at the Wagon Master RV Park.  Was a little bothered when I arrived and none of my non protected outlets were working.  Turns out there was something wrong in the pedestal that the park couldn't fix on their own with the 50 amp outlets, so I ran on 30 amps for the week.  Not a biggie.

Tuesday was another father/daughter day as Bethany had the day off so I went into Arlington to pick up her and a co-worker and we were off to Fort Worth.  Connie and I had been there before, so had some local knowledge.  Bethany was like "Finally!  I've been here almost a week and THIS is what I was expecting!" as we went to the Stockyards.  Had to stop at the Stockyards Hotel and have a Buffalo Butt Beer <link> while Bethany and Matt (or maybe it was Dan?) sat in saddles at the bar.

We stayed for the 4p cattle drive which I had a movie of, but something happened that I can't view it now.  <sigh>.

After the Stockyards, we headed down to Sundance Square and Riscky's BBQ which was fantastic eats.  Amazingly, it was started by two immigrants.  If you like good BBQ at a good price ($9.99 AUCE ribs???) and you're in Fort Worth, have to give it a big thumbs up.

Wednesday & Thursday were "work nights" as I was happy to go to Miguelito's to have dinner and a beverage with some cruise clients.  All great folks, and we certainly appreciate their business.  Connie and I used to do a "Client Appreciation Tour" every summer as we tried to figure out whether this full time RV'ing and keeping a business going was able to work.  This really brought me back to those good days.

After my Thursday night dinner (which was pretty early), I came back to the rig to share my last evening in Sanger with the two best card players in Texas (just ask them....), Fred and Vickie.  Played, drank and giggled through about 6 games of 3 handed hearts.  Fred killed us, both in the game and with his remarks.

Got away early (for me) Friday morning and put about 150 miles behind me.  Planned stop here in Mt. Pleasant, Texas at the Ramblin Fever RV Park.  Instantly got in trouble as I put up the dog pen for the girls and was told by "the guy" that I couldn't do that.  Didn't matter that it wasn't in the rules, he said.  So I took it down.  Just as I'm finishing setting up, the owner comes by and says "Mr. Sams (sic), I don't care if you put up your little dog pen."  So I put it up again.  That was fun in 80 degree heat.

I'm here till Monday, when we move again.  Thanks for visiting!

Some time in North Texas

Connie and I left Copano Bay RV Resort last Friday the 28th of March.  Our friend Karen had come down and she rode with up to San Antonio with us.  We stayed at the Stone Creek RV Park.

Friday night we saw the Alamo and walked the Riverwalk.  Always enjoyable, especially when its good and warm!

Saturday morning I took Karen to SAT for an early morning flight, then Connie and I went to the Valero Texas Open.

Got an itsy bitty bit of TV time behind Matt Kuchar on 16th green.  (That's me in the red hat!)

Texas State Capitol

Governor's Mansion

On Sunday, we rolled on to Austin, TX and stayed at Oak Forest River RV Park. We spent the day going to the State Capitol, the Governor's Mansion, Franklin's BBQ (it was closed), SoCo and 6th Street.  Austin's an incredibly different town.  They've passed a law making it illegal for stores to use throw away bags, regardless of paper or plastic.  Horrible for me.  Went to the store twice, forgot to take bags twice.  Ugh.

Our site at Oak Forest River

Wednesday, we made the rather uneventful trip to Santo, TX and Coffee Creek Resort for the North Texas Heartland Owner's Club rally.  Knew many of the people, met some more great owners.

Went out Wednesday night to the Natty Flat Smokehouse, that also had the largest rocking chair in Texas.

 Thursday, I went out with a couple of guys for some golf, then just hung around the rig.  Friday, the official opening day of the Rally, we went out to dinner at a Catfish Diner.

Saturday was the beginning of splitsville.  Opened the morning by helping cook bacon for the Rally's breakfast.  Around 10:30a, I took Connie to Dallas Love Field for her afternoon flight back to Ohio.  When I returned, we had a potluck dinner and I returned to the rig to watch the Final Four.

Our daughter, Bethany, was working at AT&T Stadium for the Final Four, and Sunday was her day off.  I drove back over to Arlington, and we had an enjoyable afternoon seeing some sights of Dallas (Texas Book Depository, downtown, etc.), then went to the NCAA's Fan Fest called "Bracket Town.".  Had lunch at a rather eclectic little diner, then headed back to the rig after dropping her back at the hotel.

Today (Monday) was getaway day from Santo and on to Sanger, TX and the Wagon Master RV Park. <link>  Pretty short ride, but I held off leaving to miss the traffic from the Texas Motor Speedway who had their race delayed.  Never touched the brakes the whole time.  Looked like there were PLENTY of good seats still available.

Was my first solo tear down, drive and set up.  Things went very well, and I felt very prepared.

Till next time!

Beginning to get some structure

All the doctors have gotten together, and we've got some clarity.

We will keep on plan and head to Santo, TX Wednesday where we'll join a Heartland Rally with 28 other RV's.

Connie will fly out to Cleveland from Dallas on Saturday, then have her Cleveland Clinic consultation in Ashtabula on Tuesday morning.  Our friends Don and April are going to pick her up and keep her overnight on Saturday, then our good friend Lenny is going to keep her for most of the month of April.

Park where we stay isn't open until May 1st, and I'm not going to pay $351 for a week or $1053 for a month at Indian Creek at Geneva on the Lake.  (I paid $300 A MONTH in Texas).  So, I'll hang around Dallas for a week, then make a slow trek north.  Here's a link to my framework map.  Everything is a "soft plan".

I've had a 26' boat in 6'-8' waves by myself from Eastlake to Fairport Harbor.  I was with others, but keeping a hand on the throttle and a hand on the wheel, I couldn't answer them on the radio when they kept asking me if "I was OK?"  That was scary.  This shouldn't be a big deal.  Already had a few offers to ride shotgun which I appreciate.  I've scheduled no overnights and go.  I'll do at least two nights at each stop.

That's the start of the adventure.  Hope you'll keep Connie in your prayers.

They Will Tell The Good News Over The Phone......

The "not good news" requires a visit to the office.

On March 24th, I went in for a follow up CT Scan of the chest and pelvic area.  Doctor wanted to see how the new treatment was working.  Was to get the results on April 9th at my scheduled visit.  Blood work was all coming back good, so we were only going to be required to go every 2 weeks instead of every week.  Great since we were getting ready to make a mini road trip to see more of Texas.

Was able to enjoy a nice dinner (March 25) at Moby Dicks in Port Aransas with our Heartland Owners Coastal Bend group.  While there, I received a call from the doctor wanting us to come in the next day.

As we expected, the news was not good.  The cancer has progressed in the lungs (larger and more) and a new area was found on the liver.  The doctor is recommending changing the treatment again to be even more aggressive.

Options are to start the treatment here in TX on April 9th (and stay until June for monitoring ) or head back to OH for the new treatment there.  We chose the second option.

At this time, I am waiting for the doctors in OH to get the information and schedule the necessary visits and treatments.  I will fly back as soon as we have more details from the Cleveland Clinic.  Bob will be heading back solo with the rig.

We will be passing along information as it becomes available.

Thanks again to all our friends and family.  We certainly appreciate all the love , support and prayers!

And.....we're back

Sorry we haven't posted for a while.  Not for lack of news or Connie updates.  I'm going to give you the cliff notes in reverse order.

Connie's changing treatments as of last Monday (2/3/14), going to a TDM1 treatment which we hope will be as effective, but not have the side effects of the terrible hand-foot syndrome.  Horrible stuff.  She had some nausea and was overall just tired after this past Monday's treatment, but her hands and feet are almost back to being her age, rather than those of a 120 year old.

We returned from a cruise aboard the Carnival Magic with our daughter and Connie's Dad who's staying here through the 11th.  Way too much fun.  Hope you can click this link to see all the pictures.

Our daughter Bethany and our son in law James were here for the week between Christmas and New Year's.  Weather wasn't the best, as it has been currently for Connie's Dad's visit.

Now to the future.  Spent most of the day today coming up with my first draft for our getaway from Texas.  We'll actually leave Copano Bay RV Resort on the 28th of March when our monthly rate is up and head up to Santo, TX for a Heartland Rally.  Back to Copano Bay for a few days while Connie has a treatment on the 9th of April, then heading back to Ohio.  Hoping to be in Ashtabula by April 29th.

Our map is located here.

Will try to be back before another two months elapse.

Medical Update

Been a while, so we thought we should update everyone on the latest medical info.

I've had several scans/MRIs since we left Ohio.  The chest/abdominal scan in August had some differences, so they wanted to get another look in October.  That was our first order of business here in Texas.  Due to some communication breakdowns or un organization, we did not get those results until today's visit.  Can't tell you how frustrated we both were.

I was also due for follow up Brain and Spine MRIs.  Finally was able to get those scheduled before today's appointment.

The doctor here wanted to check how the heart is handling the treatment, so I had an echo done last week.  Results show the heart is doing well.  Love getting good news!

The other results are not so clear.

The chest/ab scan shows mixed response to treatment.  The larger masses have diminished in size, but the overall number of metastases have increased.

The brain appears to be stable.  (Insert joke here.)

The spine still has signs of disease with no changes to note at this time.

So,  with all that, the doctor is recommending that we stick with the current treatment plan and retake the scans again in February to see how things are going.

Now, time to get ready to relax for the holidays.  Merry Christmas!

September - Where Does the Time Go?!

Once again, it has been a long layoff from posting.  We have had a lot going on in the month of September.

For starters, we made a visit to Wilmington on the 4th.  Nothing special, just checking in with my parents.  We spent time together enjoying the time together.

Sloopy offering her love and support.

As it turns out, that would be the last visit with Mom.  She unexpectedly passed away on September 13.  So, another trip to Wilmington.  We stayed a couple of days to help Dad with some of the paperwork stuff.    The Clinton County Senior Center had a wonderful potluck for us after the services. Was nice seeing friends and family - despite the circumstances.

Down on the farm.

During some down time, we had the opportunity to visit the farm where my maternal grandparents lived.  The dogs (Sloopy, Carmen & Tucker) really enjoyed running around and checking out all the new smells.









Back to Ashtabula.  The weather has certainly turned more to Fall.  We have had some nice afternoons that have allowed us to sit outside and watch some baseball and of course, college football.  A few visits from friends have made those afternoon and evenings very enjoyable.  All this gave us great excuses to use the new smoker grill.  Yum!


Sad time of year as we have taken the raft out of the water and put it in storage.  This year, we will leave it here since we have not made much use of it in Texas.

Yesterday, I had a followup brain MRI.  The good news is that the big tumor had not grown.  The bad news is that it had not shrunk,  either.  The doctor wants to take another check in 2-3 months, so we will have that done in Texas.  Next up is the followup spine MRI on Friday.

Folks here at Kister Marina are starting to pack up and head home for the winter.  We too, are starting to get organized for our trip south.  At this time, our departure date is scheduled for October 11.

Go Buckeyes!

Three Days, Three Doctors....

We'll back up to Wednesday which was a scheduled (our only) appointment with our Oncologist.  Everything looked good with the blood work, but couldn't figure out what was causing Connie's problems with her ears.  Seemed to be clogged a lot.

Scheduled an appointment with the Radiation Oncologist, who said that even though radiation treatments have stopped, the radiation is still working.  One of the things they "tickled" was the main tube (that I can pronounce but not spell) and that's probably the culprit.  We scheduled a visit to an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist.

Sitting here now, hoping its not going to be anything other than needing a good cleaning.  Connie did have some damage to her inner ear caused by the radiation, which prevent things to properly drain.  Better now, follow up in another couple of weeks.

Seems the longer we stay in Texas the more Doctors we see.....

Time is Flying By

Hard to believe it has been over a week since our last update.  Good news it that there has not been a lot to report since then.

The weather here in Rockport has been warm, but overcast.  So, not much sitting out in the sun.  However, that is good too since I am now supposed to limit my time in the sun.  :-(  Those that know me well, know that is going to be a challenge.  We saw evidence why it is necessary when we were working outside (on an overcast day) and in no time at all, I was getting sunburned on the back of my neck.  Sounds like the sensitivity will continue even after the radiation affects are over.

One side effect that no one seems to be able to address is my ears.  They said the tops would be sensitive and peeling like a sunburn, but they can't explain why I am having issues with the inner ear.  Very annoying!

Today was a visit to the medical oncologist.  Sounds like the lab numbers were ok and we can proceed with the next dose of Herceptin in a week.

Since all that has fallen in to place, we have more firm plans for our return to Ohio.  Looks like we will be leaving Texas on or around May 4.  It will take us at least a week to get all the way back to Ashtabula as we drive only short distances and will spend some time in Wilmington to visit the folks.

Well, that's all I have to report at this time.  Thanks for all the love and prayers!

A Relaxing Day in TX

Nice day here in South Texas.  Woke up to cool temps (low 50s), but sunshine.  Bob had to go take care of the "check engine" light issue with the truck.  It ended up not being covered by warranty, so he was able to get in to a local garage and get it taken care of first thing.  He was back in time for lunch.

My morning was once again spent on the phone with the prescription insurance company asking why I still did not have (and would not have) my medication today.  UGH!!!  They say, it will be delivered tomorrow - heard this for a week now, so we'll see.

He also put in a very full day of work for the travel agency.  Being busy is a good thing (for several reasons).

Since I was feeling pretty good today and the sun was out (warmed up to low 70s), we spent the afternoon outside visiting with our friends.  Soaking up the sun while I'm still allowed to do so.

One of our friends from the rv.net Kerrville rally stopped by to see us today.  Was a short, nice visit with txbobcat.

Our friends are cooking dinner tonight.  Nice change of pace for us both.  Right now, just watching what looks like to be another awesome sunset over Salt Lake.

Tomorrow will be the visit to the cardiologist.

Thanks again for all the prayers.  They are much appreciated!

Almost there!

A lot of driving got us to Schulenburg RV Park from the Gulf Coast Elks RV Park.  

We had hoped to go to the Houston Elks Lodge and park there for a few nights, see some sights in Houston, etc. but the Inn was full.  All 10 sites were tapped with one RV dry camping in the wings waiting for a spot to open.  Really surprised (and disappointed) as its the first time we've been shut out.

We were going to meet our friends Fred and Vickie in Houston, but with the tenuous situation, we decided to move Plan A to Schulenburg which was a little further down I-10 for us and about the same distance for them.

Thankfully, it was an uneventful ride.  Enjoyed our one night at the Cajun Palms RV Resort.  We'll have to revisit this park.  It's a destination unto itself.  Not sure what all is around the area, but will be worth a re-visit some day.

Got through Houston fairly easily, hitting it around noon.  Got here around 2:30p, while Fred and Vickie came in around 5p.  Had another (of our many) enjoyable evenings last night.  We're heading to the Spoetzel Brewery today for a brewery tour.

Sunday will be getaway day and we'll be back to Sea Breeze RV Resort in Portland Texas for the winter.

Just did the calculations.  Since we left in May, we've done a smidge over 4,000 miles.  Whew!  We're ready to put it in park for awhile.

It's not about making friends.....it's about keeping them

Tuesday will end a chapter for us, as we'll be parked more than 20 miles from Fred and Vickie for the first time since early December.  Strange as it sounds for the two of us who've been on the road since 2010, it's a little hard to imagine.

We've met their family, they've met ours.  We've met their friends, they've met ours.  We've shared meals, drinks, shuffleboard, hearts, euchre, spades and more laughs than should be allowed.   We've each heard each other's 'stories' probably more than once.

Almost everywhere we've been, we've made friends.  Some we keep in close contact with, probably the majority we don't.  One of the things we thought from boating that would carry over would be the relationships that we made at each Boat Club, each port town.  RV'ing is so transient, that it doesn't work nearly as well or as often.  However, we still have to realize we're in our infancy of fulltiming, and many of those boating relationships happened after visiting the same place time after time.

This weekend will be our last for quite awhile, and I'm sure it will be full of more memories.  Then, Tuesday, they'll head East while we head North on Wednesday.

We plan on meeting up again this October, wintering again 'somewhere' in South Texas again.  Between now and then will probably keep in closer contact than any of our other acquaintances along the road to date.

So this long chapter isn't really ending, it's really to be continued later.  So far, though, it's been hard to put down.

Registering the Raft

We try to follow the rules.  Really, we do.  But sometimes, being technically nomads, the rules aren't really made for us.

Got our registration materials for our raft from Ohio in the mail as our stickers expire at the end of this month.  However, we aren't residents of Ohio, we're legal residents of South Dakota.

Shouldn't be a big deal, right?  Wasn't for the truck or the RV.  However, SD doesn't title or register inflatables.  Texas wants us to register here (regardless of where we live) if we are going to be on TX waters for 90 days or more -- plus the outboard engine.

So, we've got SD to register our raft, but we have to fill out four forms, send a $20 cashier's check, and all kinds of 'stuff'.  Still not sure how this is going to come out.