September 2013 - Visiting our Kids

El Paso, Texas - Our visit with Jeremy, Amanda and the boys was brief as the kids were really busy and did not have much free time.  We were able to go to our grandkids football practice in the evening.  During the day, John and I enjoyed swimming in the large pool at Mission RV Park. It was nice as we were able to relax.


Abilene, Texas - Our visit with Bill, Lorilee and the girls was great and we stayed three weeks.  We stayed at Abilene State Park, where Lorilee works, so we saw her daily. We went for walks, hiking, bird watching and rode our bikes, which was overdue.  We saw so many animals but our favorite was a little armadillo, we named him Arnold (Arnie). 
While here, would you believe she talked us into volunteering as Camp hosts at the park, as they needed help.  So of course, we enjoyed volunteering.  We sure enjoyed our time helping out. Abilene State Park is a really nice park and lots to do. We an do that again!


We spent time with the family having dinner (s), going to the movies, church functions, going to the balloon festival and just enjoying each others company. We surprised Paige at her job and took pictures of her as a cosmetologist. The man she was cutting hair was really complimenting her which of course made us proud grandparents.

July, August and September 2013

July 26 thru August 2, 2013 
We are going to try to update our blog for the last few months.  After leaving Maine, we left back to New York and stayed in Corinth, NY for a couple of days.  Nice Thousand Trails park and we had a great site by the lake.  We continued our journey to Gasport, NY to Hartland RV Park.  This was a very nice small park near Niagara Falls. While here we took advantage of touring as much as we could.  We Loved Niagara Falls, both U.S. and Canadian sides.  We visited Olcott Beach Lighthouse, Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, Maid of the Mist, Cave of the Winds, the Aquarium, Whirlpool Park, Terrapin Point and the area.  We loved the time here and the weather was great.

August 2 thru August 5, 2013
We decided that we would start heading to Colorado to see our kids and family for a month or so.  We stayed 1 night in Marengo, Ohio at Cardinal Center RV  Park.
Then 1 night in Effingham, Illinois at Camp Lakewood Campground.
Onto Oakgrove, Missouri where we had our oil changed on the rig.
We wanted to visit our friends Vicki and Steve Raine in Topeka Kansas so we stayed a couple of nights at Deer Creek Valley RV Park which was very nice.  Steve and Vicki took us touring the town and all went to eat.  We had to top the day off with DQ.
August 6 thru August 15, 2013

We arrived in Colorado and enjoyed our short stay in Falcon, Colorado.

 We were able to see some family and friends. Kallie had dinner for all of us and Krysta, Candace and Lexi came to see us. 
We were able to keep Lil Derick and Tristan and took them bike riding.  What a great time with these boys. While at the park, I ran into an acquaintance, Bernadette Harbert. 
 We were able to go to a Mason family picnic at the park and saw Johns Uncles and Aunts, to include his sisters, Nadine and Carol.

 We also had the pleasure of visiting with Evelyn, Elijah, Josie and Claude before we received a shocking call that our nephew, Eloy passed away. 
We had to leave and left to San Francisco for three weeks.


August 17 thru September 1, 2013
Arrived in California and stayed in Pacifica, Ca. at San Francisco RV Resort.  This was right on the ocean, however, this was not a Resort.  Our sister Janie arrived the same day we did from Greeley, Co.  We were very glad we were there for Eloy and the family.  Eloy Cliffords service was very nice indian tribal of sort.  A young indian danced and sang for the ceremony.  There were so many folks there and we met many plus some nieces and nephews.

While there we went to Santa Cruz boardwalk; SF mission area; Chinese Gardens; Traveled the ocean coast highway; Montara Lighthouse; Pigeon Forge Lighthouse; San Clemente Lighthouse.  Ate a lot as well!!
I also lost my phone while cruising, so I was lost for a few days.
 

Outdoor World Campground - Massachusetts and Rhode Island

John and I joined Thousand Trails for $525 for 2 zones.  The zones cover the Southeast and Northeast areas of the U.S. Wished we would have joined earlier.  Anyway, we bought in and stayed a place called Gateway to Cape Cod in Rochester, Massachusetts for a week 7/12 - 7/19/2013.  This definitely is a campground and lots of weekend campers.  Lots of amenities here, but the campground is no resort, however the location was great for more touring. 

Cape Cod, Rhode Island and other Massachusetts area.  Here we went to Hyannis and enjoyed the JFK Museum and Jamestown Museums.  This part of the coast has beautiful water, windmills and lighthouses.  We love those lighthouses. Cape Cod area we went to see the Nauset Lighthouse, Eastham Lighthouse and Three Sisters.

Beautiful.  Then off to  Beaverton Point Lighthouse in Jamestown, Rhode Island was gorgeous as well as the Plum Beach Lighthouse.  The Cape Cod National Seashore was wonderful and we were able to get into the Beach with our America the Beautiful card.  We have to remember to use this more often.We so enjoyed this area and would love to come back.  We did lots of touring as usual.  But that is our life and we love every moment.  Thank you God.

 

Traveling Amish Country and visiting our friends, Polly and Gerry Donovan

We traveled to Kinzer, Pennsylvania and stayed at Roamers Campground.  This was in amish  country and it was so beautiful here.  We toured the area and bought some of the jams and salsa made in this area.  The amish fields, barns and all the buggies were interesting to see in person.  We respected the amish and will not post pictures of them, especially not their faces.

After visiting Pennsylvania, we left to Connecticut and stayed at Nelson's Family Campground in East Hampton, CT.  We were so happy to meet up with friends that we met in Texas.  Gerry and Pauline Donovan were our neighbors at Drifters Resort in Rockport Texas.  Their kids live in this area so they came down for the summer.
We were delighted with some wonderful meals cooked by Polly.  Lobster was awesome and we so ate too much.  Never say no to home made cooking.
They took us touring the Connecticut seashore and we took a boat ride to see the Thimble Islands.  What a wonderful tour.  Seniors ony $8 each.We love our visit and look forward to seeing them again in our travels.

June 2013 - Travels In Florida and Aruba

The month of June was our time to relax and wait for our overseas trip to Aruba.
We stayed at Paradise Oaks Golf and Resorts in Bushnell, Florida.  During the summer they have monthly special rates of $199 a month.  This was a beautiful park and this is where we picked up our hitchhikers, the green frogs.  So small but oh  so loud.
Meanwhile we toured the area and 1st of all went to the Villages near us.  Lots of them and tons of retirees.  Not ready for this lifestyle.
We toured Homosassa Springs Ellie Schiller Wildlife state park, What a great place to go and see all the manatees.  Recommend this place to all you travelers out there.
We also met up with Miguel and Caroline Rosario, whom we know through family in Colorado.  They took us to lunch and we had a great time with friends. 
Our trip to Aruba was planned on June 15th thru the 22nd, so we did a lot of bike riding and swimming at the resort.  The temperature was in the 90's and it was so humid.  We did a lot of swimming.
Aruba came and went.  The Resort was huge and we had 3 beds 2 kitchens and 2 bathrooms.  We could have taken the family.  Aruba was beautiful and we did lots of touring.  Renting a car and going around the island was an adventure.
At the end of June we then left to Hardeeville, SC and stayed there to tour the area in Savannah, Georgia. We took the Oblethorpe Trolly tour through Savannah.  We were able to see so much of the history.  It took us 2 days to see the area.  Tybee Island was beautiful and we loved the lighthouses.  So much we saw.
We then left the area and met up with more Colorado friends in St. George, S.C. The Cox family.  I went to school with Louise in Pueble County H.S.  Had not seen her over 50 years.  We met her husband, Steve and their granddaughter, Taneal.  It was great visiting and catching up.  We left and then headed to Washington D.C. Area.
No pictures will be posted on this blog as they are in a flash drive that we have packed and I will post them later.

Washington D.C. - 6/30/2013 - 7/8/2013

We arrived at Louise Cosca Regional Park in Clinton, MD.  This was a campground with no sewer, but electric and water was good enough for the week. Decided to stay outside of Washington, D.C. while we toured.  We parked our car at the subway station and rode the subway into our designated areas in Washington.
Our 1st visit was to visit with our niece, Unique Dilworth, who is a nurse in the D.C. area.  We met at Carolina's Kitchen in Largo, MD and had dinner.  It was great to see family.  She was so ecstatic to see us and us her as well. She was off to a church camp so we were lucky we got to spend the evening with her.
We then toured the Washington D.C. area.  We saw all the monuments, Arlington Cemetery, and the Smithsonian Institute.  There is so much to see and I advise folks to allow a week to visit.  This place is amazing and most of it is free.  Touring these historic sites and monuments will always have a special place in our hearts.

Remainder of May 2013

Traveled to Destin, Florida and stayed at Geronimo RV Resort (not a resort). This area sure does have the emerald beaches, as we were told.  We love the ocean color and powdery sand. This is a great place for families as they have lots of activities.

While in Destin, we had the pleasure of visiting friends from Colorado that are stationed in the Air Force, in the area.  Vanessa and Seth live in Navarre, Florida and recently purchased their 1st home.  These kids are doing great and have a beautiful home.  We enjoyed spending time with them and going to Destin for lunch.  They also took us to Sandestine Resort where they got married.  It was beautiful and we could not believe all the hidden treasures (shops and restaurants) inside the resort.  We had a great time and appreciate them taking time to show us around.  Loved visiting friends.

We left Dentin, Florida on the 25th of May to our next destination which will be Bushnell, Florida until we leave for our Aruba trip in June.  We so love this life.

Thanks Dear Lord for Bless us with this Life.!!!