Catching up 2018 - Jan - December

The blog has been on hiatus for so long, it may take a bit to catch up but we plan to be posting more regularly in 2019. While we did take time off from posting our blog, if you have been following us on Facebook you know 2018 was very busy for us! 

We sold our American Eagle coach and moved into a different way of living when we purchased a 5th wheel and a semi truck to pull it.

New rig is a Volvo VNL 730 to pull our Jeep and our 2014 DRV 38 SKSB3. There have been pros and cons of making this change up.  One of the biggest adjustments was/is having to make periodic (or as Brett says "frequent") stops for breaks as there are no bathroom facilities in the truck and Susan does not sit still well for hours at a time. 

Over last winter Brett was not seen much as he spent most of his time in the shop. He has always been a hands on kind of person and could not just sit idly by. It started with daily trips to the shop to supervise the bed build but ended with Brett assisting the fabricator. They planned, built, revised and probably crossed their fingers a few times. Then there was  measuring, cutting, grinding, welding, re-measuring and LONG LONG days. In the end there were a few additional modifications but we have a bed that meets our needs and allows us to trailer the jeep while pulling the camper. 

The build process: 

Brett worked side by side with Dwayne (our fabricator) to make sure they were both satisfied with the end result. Both men are perfectionist so the process was a little slower than we had planned and it took about 2 months for the build. 

The first test load - looks like it could work! 

Locked and loaded - ready to go home from the shop. 

Far less intense than building a truck bed but just as exciting was the new camper. It was an adjustment in many ways and we are thankful to our good friends the Kirbys for helping us with the delivery, initial set up and moving of all our belonging! We have more inside storage but less storage outside than we had in the motorhome. This required us to reconfigure and decide what we really need and what can go into storage.

Staged décor - not ours

Having a kitchen with counter space has been one of the best changes - Susan loves using the island to cook from and having a gas cooktop again. We have changed a few things to "make this our own" such as - we removed the far recliner and added a kitty tower so Kona and Boomer can climb and relax as well as we do. 

Susan has  also added some personal touches with decorations that are uniquely ours aka "Redneck Chic" which equates to a homey feel that we both are comfortable with.  

Travel in 2018 was much slower than in 2017.  In March we started our journey when we left Texas to spend a few days in Oklahoma. We visited with family as we stopped to see Mom (Bridget), took a drive up to visit with Raymond and LouAnn and even managed to attend a surprise birthday celebration with the Harrell sisters. 

April found us in Tennessee for a month. Susan was looking at new campers  - yes, Susan and not Brett this time! No, we were not really thinking of changing again soon but then soon is a relative term and could mean anything from a few days or weeks to months or years (another story for another blog). 

Our April home was at Deer Run RV Resort just outside of Crossville, TN. The sites were HUGE!  We had enough room to park the camper, jeep and the truck and still have space for the picnic table and Susan's hammock. The owners were friendly, the park clean and the rates affordable. It did snow a couple of times but it was spring near the mountains. 

During our time in TN we met up with the Kirbys and other "friends" - many were people we have talked with through various forums, pages and Zello but we had not actually met until we all attended the East Coast Rally for heavy duty trucks. Virtual friendships morphed into actual real life friendships and many campfires were enjoyed by the group. 

Of course there was Jeeping! Susan worked and Brett went out to play.... LOL. In all fairness, he offered to wait for Susan to have a day off but she pushed him out the door. So a convoy of jeeps gathered and they headed off to the Catoosa Wildlife Management Area  http://www.morgancountytn.gov/tourism/catoosa_wildlife_management_area.php for the day - or rather a couple of days as there was too much fun to be had for them to just go once. 

Another jeep exploration was to Windrock Park http://www.windrockpark.com/. Susan did tag along for this trip and the entire day was spent on the trails. 

As April wound down, we watched our friends depart one by one as we settled in for a few days rest before heading east. May arrived with itchy feet and off we went. We hit North Carolina on May 2nd for a month stay in the Hickory area. Our first night in town we were visited by our friend Steve and our daughter came in for dinner. We had many plans for May - some that we completed and others we saved for another time. 

May and June were dedicated to relaxation and time with our daughter and friends. We stayed in Hickory for a month - and of course Brett went Jeeping. Then June found us in Ohio for a time before we turned and made a quick trip back to Oklahoma - quick being slow travel over a week as we like to take our time. 

July had us ordering a new camper before we left Oklahoma - (still a story for another blog). We spent three weeks in Missouri visiting our son and Susan's family and then another eastward turn. We stopped over in Paducah, Kentucky for some sightseeing, and yes, another day of Jeeping and exploration. 

August found us back in North Carolina with plans to help our daughter move. That move didn't happen as planned but we were able to enjoy another good visit and spend more time with friends in the area. 

We made it to Hershey, Pennsylvania in September for the Hershey RV Show - something we had been wanting to do and can now say - been there, done that and may or may not go again. It was a huge show and the number of rigs was overwhelming but looking leads to.... well another blog LOL 

We moved back to Oklahoma at the end of September and stayed there until shortly after Christmas. It was great to spend so much time with Mom (Bridget). We spent days hiking at Brushy Lake Park, took care of annual medical appointments and got our camper ready to sell - yes, the new DRV that we bought at the beginning of 2018 was going up for sale...

As you know, this is not our normal blog - only a few pictures and links to what we have seen and done. We have had many request to restart our blog and so will be making a few more catch up blogs in the coming weeks. 

Until then, see ya from another area soon.