Kerrville TX

Good morning all!! or is it Y'all! :-)

    In the hill country of Texas, it is a beautiful place, I would definitely have to turn into a cowgirl here, but not sure if i would want to live here. However, there are snakes around here too, much to my surprise, there was one on my walk that i take each morning. I'm told he is a rat snake, I guess he is suppose to be one of the good ones. I don't care how good he, just so he stays away from me!!! EWW!  There is another small town NE of here called Fredricksburg. Cute little town with antique shops and a quilting haven. Beautiful things, and a nice bistro for lunch. Going to be hanging around here until Thursday, and then 3 more stops to our destination, Green Valley for the winter. Hope this note finds everyone well!!! Take care!

Love Annie!! <3

Buckhorn Lake Resort, Kerrville, TX

Well, we're back in Kerrville again. After leaving Florida, we were planning to drive along I-20 until we got to the west side of Texas. We did that to a certain extent, stopping in Dothan, AL, Meridian, MS, Monroe, LA, Canton, TX and Ranger, TX. The plan was to keep heading west across Texas on I-20, but we couldn't find any campgrounds, were we could get a reservation, west of Ranger. So, we headed south to Kerrville, where we've stayed twice before. The most interesting part of the trip from Ranger to Kerrville was the condition of the roads. We had been told by one of the RVers, that we had met, that any of the roads in Texas would be fine while towing a trailer. I didn't really believe him, but found out on that trip that he was completely accurate. The state roads between little towns, out in the middle of nowhere, were amazing. Much of it was 4 lane or 3 lane with a passing lane on one side or the other. Almost no potholes and hardly any bumps. And, beside that, there was hardly any traffic. We could go for miles without seeing another vehicle.

So, we're back in Kerrville again. It's still the nicest campground we've stayed in and we've been in about 20 so far. I really like the area because it's half way between the deserts of the west and the temperate area. It's in what's called Texas Hill Country. In a lot of ways it reminds me of North Georgia, just not so many trees, but not stark like New Mexico. You start to see prickly pear cactus here, but still have green grass and rivers with water in them. 100 miles west of here there won't be hardly any trees, the river beds will be all dried up and there will be lots of cactus and scrub brush.

At any rate, we'll be staying here for a week, leaving on Thursday. After that, two stops before Green Valley, AZ and 5 or 6 months of staying put. It'll be interesting to see how we feel about that come January or February. We both seem to get the urge to move after a couple of days or a week at the most.

Bradenton, FL

Hello everyone!

      I know its been a while, but where has the time gone! I don't know how I worked before, it seems like there is always something to do and the days just fly by! We have been in Bradenton FL for the last month, coming here from AZ, we were stranded in Texas, because of a Tropical storm, now we are in FL and we can't get through Texas, because of Hurricane Harvey, and man its a bad one. It rained here for like a week straight, thank God there was just flooding, but not nearly as bad as it is in Texas....poor people. We are planning on leaving next Wednesday, and start our journey back to Green Valley, AZ, where we plan on staying for the winter. Obviously, going to be taking a different route. I'm looking forward to different scenery and new places to visit. I have to be better about my blog updates....sorry for the long absence, :-)

Hope this note finds everyone well!!!!

Annie <3

Montana 5th wheel upgrade

And.....yet another upgrade!! I assure you this is going to be the last!! We decided to upgrade to the Montana because we are not ready to commit to buying a house yet, we are not sure where we are going to settle yet, so we are just going to keep traveling a bit yet. Might as well do it in comfort! :-)
Right now we are in Bradenton FL. and its going to be a rainy 10 days! Not used to this much cloudiness for so long....:-)

Hope all is well with everyone!!

Love, Annie

Red Shoes RV Park, Kinder, LA

Well, I guess we haven't done a post in a long time, so, it's probably time to do another one. We're in Kinder, LA at a park that's part of an Indian casino. The facility itself is quite nice. Large rv sites, a lake, tennis courts and, of course, the casino. The weather has been warm, upper 80's, with some fairly heavy rain on Thursday and really humid. Getting used to the humidity again after Arizona and west Texas has been interesting. Everything outside is wet in the morning.

What's been strange is the dramatic culture change between the western half of the journey and the eastern half. When we were out west, people in the parks tended to be pretty friendly. People waved at you all the time, were friendly in the stores and, many times, wanted to stop to chat. East Texas and Louisiana have been quite the opposite. No one waves or says hi. In the stores and restaurants many of the staff are downright surly. And boy, are the campers different! At this campground lots of people drive in with their trailers or buses and have another smaller trailer on the back with a golf cart. I can't remember the last time I saw so many grossly overweight people. Also, all of the campgrounds have rules about no noise after 10 p.m. Well, that is pretty much ignored here. That, along with the beer bottles scattered around in the morning.

We only have a bit over 400 miles to go to get to Florida, but I'm afraid we're going to run into the same thing in eastern Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and north Florida. If so, this is going to stop being fun in a big hurry. We're going to be staying in this area until Wednesday to avoid the 4th of July traffic and then probably the next stop will be Biloxi MS, then Florida.

Honestly, if we encounter the same sort of attitudes in Florida, we're liable to head up to Wisconsin for awhile and then go back to Arizona in the fall. The last couple of weeks have just been such a disappointment.

Green Valley RV Park, Green Valley, AZ

Arrived in Green Valley. All set up and ready to cool down a bit. Annie did all the driving to because I wasn't feeling well. She did a fantastic job. 220 miles in all. We'll be staying here for a month to get some rest and recuperate. We've been on the road, solid, for over 4 months, so it's time to take a break. All totaled, we've driven about 5000 miles.

Buckhorn Lake Resort, Kerrville TX

So, I woke up really early on Saturday, confused as to where we should go when we leave Kerrville. We're almost exactly half way between Arizona and North Florida. We've had Florida as our goal from the beginning, but we were really impressed by Green Valley, AZ. So, when Sue got up, I really surprised her by asking whether we should head east or west. To say the least, she was shocked,since I've been talking about going back to Florida for the last 12 years.

Anyway, we've decided to go back to Arizona. Probably, to stay for a month. We're going to spend some time looking at houses and getting more familiar with the area. If we find something that we really like, then great. Otherwise, we'll start driving east again and get to Florida mid to late summer. Either that or we'll head to Wisconsin for a bit and then back to Florida in the fall.

Have we gone crazy? Possibly! But, we are getting older and we're RETIRED. So, we can do anything or go anywhere we want and we don't have to be in any hurry.

Nitewynd

Kerrville, TX

Good morning from Kerrville TX ya' all!!! This has got to be the biggest state yet! As of yesterday we have traveled 500 miles through TX, and we only made it through half of the state so far!!! Amazing, beautiful country with rolling hills and panoramic views. We are staying at an RV Resort called, Buckhorn RV Resort, the best one yet, by far. In fact we are planning on staying here for a week. They even offer fishing, but what you catch, has to be returned. The grounds are beautiful and well maintained. They also have 2 swimming pools...heated. Will post pictures later seeing as though we just arrived yesterday.

This picture shows a bridge you can cross, however, it is for members only. Beautiful little cottages with high end RV bus'. The Texans sure know how to live!!!

Hope this note finds everyone well....stay tuned ya'all!!  :-)

Annie <3

Sahuarita AZ.

Good morning from Green Valley AZ. Arrived here on Wednesday, much closer to the border of Mexico. We are visiting with my Sisters', brother-inlaw and sister-inlaw, Russ and Carol Walden. They live in a retirement community, called Quail Creek. We had dinner with them on Wednesday night. What a beautiful home they have! They also took us around and showed us the grounds, etc. I could not believe, they actually have a building that is just for arts and crafts!! Everything you can image........pottery...quilting....Lapidary arts..scrap booking.....wood working...drawing...photography. If your bored its your own fault! There is just so much to do, and of course golf. Today we are going for a ride, with Russ and Carol to Tubac, its about 30 miles south of here. I have heard its a cool little artsy town with shops and restaurants, looking forward to that too. So far AZ has been really nice and in some ways its more appealing then FL. The weather has no humidity, but yes, very hot. If you don't drink enough water, it can sneak up on you, and you can get heat stroke. Its been bothering Myles more then it has me, but then I always drink a lot of water. Also, the home sales here are a lot more reasonable! That shocked us....what you can get for the money is astounding. We are planning on leaving again on Monday, and our next stop is Deming NM. Hope to attach pictures soon, having trouble with the internet....stay tune!

Hope this note finds everyone well!!

Annie <3

Casa Grande AZ

Good morning all from Casa Grande! Arrived a few days ago, once again beautiful country! Had a nice visit with Myles' Aunt and Uncle from Mesa. Took us to the top of South Mountain on Wednesday, and got a glorious panoramic view of Phoenix, Tempe, Mesa. You could see for miles. However, the ride up to the mountain was a little winding, curvy ride, just was glad I was not driving, you could tell that Uncle Don had done this before.. :-) Lots of out of town guests!

 Yesterday we went to Canyon Lake and went on Geological cruise. The boat was called The Dolly Steamboat. Its basically a reservoir, and feeds the city of Mesa...interesting. Other points of interest were, desert bighorn sheep, way off in a distance, and bald eagles. Was a really relaxing day.

Today we are going over to Sun City to visit a friend of mine, Randi, she is from Seattle and has been staying there for a couple of months. Going over to spend the day with her and have dinner and return tomorrow. Tuesday our plan is to go to the Tuscan area, must likely Green Valley.  We have heard from the locals, Tubac is suppose to be a really cool little artsy town with shops and more points of interest, and of course good shopping....:-)

PS. Pictures to follow when we have better cell service.....:-)

Hope this note finds everyone well!

Annie <3

Arrived at our next stop, Yuma, AZ. I was here like 30 some yrs ago and boy it has tripled in size!! The temperatures have definitely increased since we left Seattle. Yesterday and today is suppose to reach the low 90's! Whew! Have been doing water aerobics in the mornings, what a good way to start the morning! Did a little site seeing yesterday. Went to an old mining town about an hour north of here. Yes, it was a warm one, but the down side of this trip was there was a 10 mile stretch of gravel road to get there! That was not fun....had to go like 10-15 miles in hour to avoid pot holes. We did come upon a couple from Canada, that had a Ford F150 truck with 2 back tires....flat!! That road was awful! We stopped and gave them a bottle of water and they said they had called a AAA tow truck about  2 hrs ago. I felt so bad for them, but the only thing they wanted was the water. I think they were afraid to leave their truck unattended.

Tomorrow our plan is to leave for Mesa, outside of Phoenix, staying for a week. Going to be visiting with friends and family.

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Hope this note finds everyone well....

Annie <3

Good morning! This posting is a little late....we arrived in Hemet CA on Thursday. The place we are staying at is called Golden Village Palms RV Resort....beautiful place. We are about 80 east of San Diego, hoping to take a day trip to the ocean this week. I do love RVing, however, I do miss my washer and dryer... :-(  Did some laundry the other day, had 3 loads, came back with 2!! Somehow, someone, must of got a little confused and thought my sheets looked just like theirs!!! Also, half of the washers were not working properly, and my other load got stuck in the washer for like an hour and a half....needless to say I spent most the the day doing laundry!!! The moral of the story is do not sit around the pool when doing laundry....never unattended!! Lesson well learned!

I have to say, I did drive that big Ford 350 pulling the Foxy Lady on Thursday coming here, around LA, not through it, but I think I did pretty good, we arrived safe and sound....I think my Dad would have been proud of me!! (he was a truck driver) :-)

Our next stop is going to be Yuma AZ, probably leaving on Thursday, the 14th. Its only going to keep getting warmer...we might have to change our route to the North in a bit...stayed tuned, hope everyone is well.

Annie <3

Hello! Just arrived in Lost Hills CA...it is 85 degrees! whew!! not used to these temperatures! Only staying here for one night. Leaving early in the morning, heading towards San Diego. Staying in a small town called Hemet, CA. Its was highly recommended by a few people along the way, thinking of staying there for maybe 2 weeks. Pictures to follow... :-) Hope everyone is well!

Annie <3

Lake Comanche Resort, CA

We've arrived at Lake Comanche after about 4 hours of driving. Today, Annie drove over half the way and being her first time with the trailer, she did fantastic. It wasn't an easy drive either, because the wind picked up in the late morning and keeping the trailer on the road is no easy task. I took over just north of Sacramento and covered the last 80 miles or so, mostly on narrow back country road. We had to detour onto one because a tree had fallen and was blocking the road. The detour was only just wide enough for the trailer, so it was a bit spooky.

This park is huge and we are in an area called miners Camp. We're right on a point, overlooking reservoir.

I've already seen an number of bald eagles, both adults and adolescents. I tried to get a picture, but they were too far off. The trailer and truck are at the very end of the road so, we get a great view.

Probably, more pictures and details tomorrow, getting tired after a long day, so time to sleep.

M

Mountaingate RV, CA

Heading out of Redding this morning and going to a campground near Lodi. That will put us straight east of San Francisco by about 100 miles. We'll be staying at a place called Comanche rv Resort which has a number of lakes, one of which is used to supply most of the drinking water to Oakland. Hopefully, pictures to follow later.

Redding, CA

Good morning! finally made it to Redding CA. Beautiful country, got through Mt Shasta, gorgeous views! Here until Thursday then on to the Sacramento area, hoping to get in some winery's, Napa Valley. Excited to see more of California, its actually been my first visit. Also, looking forward to some more sunshine.   Stay tune for hopefully more postings and pictures. The first 2 pictures are for Shasta Dam and the 3rd one is of Shasta Lake, near Whiskeytown, CA. The last picture is of Annie, the truck and trailer. It was taken within sight of Mt Shasta, just over the border into California.

Love Annie <3

Portland/Woodburn RV Park, Woodburn , Or

Still in Woodburn, OR. Planned on leaving for Grants Pass, OR near the Oregon - California border today. But, guess what? It's raining, again, yet, still, and windy. So, we're going to stay another day. Hopefully, leaving tomorrow.

Woodburn, OR

Good morning my fellow peeps!! I'm writing to you on this snowy day the 6th of March! Yes, that's what I said SNOW! We are still around the Portland area, about 30 miles south. The good thing is that I am getting some quality Son time...Eric just arrived last night...late. We are planning on meeting for breakfast this morning, at a place called Slappy Cakes. Adam has been wanting to go there, and it was his request for his birthday, so with weather permitting, we are suppose to met at around 10-10:30. I guess what is special about this place is that you make your own pancakes!! Cool! We will see... :-) As far as our plans for moving on, we are hoping with weather permitting, we can leave on Saturday the 11th of March. However, the way the weather is looking now it doesn't look too promising. :-(  To be honest, I think we will be around here for another week. Oh, well, look at it this way I get more Son time!! :-)  The place we are staying at now is pretty nice and right next door is an Outlet Mall....if anyone knows me, I could do some damage there!! But I have been good, however, I did indulge in a new purse, Myles bought it for me for my birthday. An adorable little black Coach purse, smaller then I normally get, but more practical. Anyways, enough about the purse. It is nice here and a nice variety of restaurants in the area. I especially love this little town north of here called Wilsonville, about 13 miles, but its the cutest little town. If we were to ever think about retiring here, that's the place I would want to be. It just has that small town feel to it, but then you are only about 20 min. from Portland too.

I have been cooking in our Trailer, but nothing extravagant. You are a little limited. So far, chicken, and pasta's. I have not used the oven, but soon. However, I did make some chicken thighs in the crockpot last week and those turned out pretty good. Made the trailer smell yummy.  I do love to cook, and I do miss it, so I will be experimenting soon. Stay tuned for my cooking experiences!! Hope everyone is well!

Love, Annie <3

Portland/Woodburn RV Park, Woodburn , Or

Saturday, February 26 - Finally left Tenino, WA and drove into Oregon. A little over 130 miles . This was our first medium long day of pulling the trailer, even though it was only around 3 hours of actual drive time. Not surprisingly, I was more than a little nervous. The first part of the drive was quite easy because we had about 15 miles on a two lane road, which surprisingly is easier than on an interstate. That gave us a chance to get used to towing again, a little bit. The first part on I-5 wasn't bad because there wasn't much traffic and the road was fairly smooth. There was a rest stop about 40 miles on, so we took the opportunity to stop for a couple minutes just to relax. Then about an hour later, we were both getting hungry, so started looking for a truck stop. Found a place called Rebel truck stop and had lunch. Huge burgers at a very reasonable price.

As we started getting closer to Vancouver, WA, the traffic started to get heavier, although still going highway speed, and the road got a lot more bumpy and with more curves. That, along with getting passed by more and more trucks made the driving more challenging. I like to drive with the cruise control on so that I don't have to fiddle with the gas so much. Anyway, there was one bridge we went over that had a long gradual curve and was quite bumpy. The trailer started swaying around some and we discovered that the truck has built in sway control. It canceled the cruise and slowed down to get under control.

Getting into and thru Portland was actually easier than expected because of some heavy traffic. I would have thought that would have been more difficult, but it wasn't because we were going slow again. After that, we only had about 15 miles to Woodburn. Got a nice pull-thru spot in the park which is next to an outlet mall. We spent a little over an hour getting set up again and then got to relax. We were both exhausted.

Sunday, February 27 -  rain, rain, rain and cold. Did a little shopping, but generally took it easy. Tomorrow, we'll probably go to the mall and look around. We plan on staying here for two weeks. Both Adam and Sue have birthdays in that time, so we'll be celebrating both.

M

Hello! Its been a while since i wrote anything....January was not very kind to us...once again we had set backs... came down with a bad cold and was snowed in for a couple of days. The weather this year has been a challenging, I guess leaving at this time of the year wasn't the best choice. But sometimes timing isn't always on your side. But, anyways, we have been in a little campsite just outside of Olympia for the last week and a half. Its called Offut Lake Resort, its on a lake with a descent restaurant called Lady of the Lakes. However, we had a bit of a problem with our Wifi and phone service. Which also means limited TV....well, a good thing is that I have learned to play Dominoes and Backgammon!! And we actually talk to each other!!! :-) We are hoping we can venture on this weekend, if weather permitting. Supposedly OR is facing some flooding. Wish us luck!! Another thing is if we had more miles under our belts we would feel more comfortable traveling..but hopefully that will happen soon. Come on Spring!! with all of this rain we have been having a little cabin fever, thank God our trailer is really comfortable and warm and cozy! Stay tuned for more blogs...over and out...hope this note finds everyone well!!

Annie <3

Offut Lake Resort, Tenino, Wa

Monday, February 13th -  Well, we've finally made it onto the road. On Monday, we left the safety and boredom of Larkspur Landing Hotel in Factoria, WA and headed for the RV dealer in Sumner. It took awhile to leave the hotel because we had managed to, somehow, collect even more stuff while there. Once we got it loaded into the truck, we were off. We arrive in Sumner a little before noon and prepped the trailer for departure. We got a little bit of help from the dealer, but not all that much. Anyway, after hooking up and getting a little bit of guidance from the dealer we headed out with only a little over 50 miles to go to Offutt Lake. We didn't get more than a couple miles when we found that the trailer was swaying all over the place. So, Sue called the dealer and got them to come and give us some roadside assistance. Turns out that a couple of bolts on the hitch assembly weren't tightened down. Got that fixed and off we went again. 

The drive to Tenino wasn't too bad, although, the traffic was heavier than I had hoped for on my first attempt pulling the new trailer. It's about 1500 pounds heavier than the old one and 4 feet longer. I could tell too because the truck was working a lot harder. I did find that pulling it wasn't all that bad, just had to start getting used to it. Like I saw in a YouTube video, it's a lot more comfortable driving on two lane highways than on the interstate. Less worry about changing lanes and merging traffic. Traffic circles, though, are not fun. The only place along the way that was a little scary was when we had to go under a narrow railroad bridge that was 12'6", while our trailer is 11'7". We made it under OK and only had a couple miles to go to the campground. Once we got here, the owners helped us get into our site which, fortunately, is a pullthru. It took a good hour to get the trailer in the right position,  leveled, stabilized, water, sewer and power hookups and finally, the truck disconnected. 

Leveling the trailer was more challenging than expected because the one side was a bit higher than the other. I managed to do it completely backwards the first time and had to do it again. Also, the campsite slopes slightly from front to back and I found that the tongue jack wasn't long enough to get disconnected from the truck. So, now I know why rv'ers carry big wooden blocks around with them. In the end it all worked out fine and we were actually stationed at the first of many campgrounds on our long trip to Florida. We plan to stay here for a least a week, maybe two, depending on the weather. All the comforts of home except no cell service, minimal WiFi and minimal TV. I think Sue is going through withdrawal. 

Tuesday, February 14th, valentine's day - spent the morning getting organized in the trailer. Trying to figure out where to put clothes, medicine, cooking supplies, making up the bed (which was a bit of a challenge due to the tight confines) and just figuring out how to work the appliances on the trailer and figuring out where the light switches are. Had valentine's dinner at Lady of the Lake restaurant next to the campground. Lobster for both of us, very well prepared, nice environment. We may go back on Wednesday because they have $5 fish and chips. Sounds like a good deal. 

Wednesday, February 15 - woke up to rain and light wind. I can't figure out how to use the awning when it's windy and raining. I'd like to have it out a bit to keep the rain off the kitchen slideout, but I'm a little concerned about the wind whipping it around. 

Getting closer to our departure....

Well, Monday, the 6th of Feb. is our launch day..pray to God everything goes smoothly. Tomorrow is signing papers for our new little home, and the walk through....just like buying a home again, except its smaller and on wheels! Still things to do, but it will be so nice not having to live in a hotel any longer, however, it has kind of prepared us for living in small spaces.. :-) Saturday we will also be selling our 2nd car (I'm going to miss it a little) but we only need one car now. So things are finally starting to fall into place. I am looking forward to traveling and seeing the country...stay tune for future blogs!!

So many details

It's amazing how many things have to be taken care of when preparing to become even a temporary full-time RVer. Selling your home, downsizing all your stuff, deciding what to keep and what to throw away, what to do about the furniture, the list goes on and on. Once you move out of your permanent residence, technically, you don't actually live anywhere, so you have to think about things like: how do I get mail, what about doctors and prescriptions, where is the RV registered and the car or truck? What about insurance for the vehicles?

Fortunately, there are quite a few people that have done full-timing before and a number of businesses exist to help make the process easier. For mail, we're using the GoodSam mail forwarding service. We decided to use that one because it is located in Crestview FL and accepts any kind of mail or packages.

One of the bigger challenges is that banks and investment firms require a "normal" home address. You can't use the address of a mail forwarding service. This is due to the Patriot Act. Apparently, the only solution is to use the address of a relative or friend. Even this gets complicated because new credit cards are only sent to a "home" address, which means your friend has to forward them to you. Be sure to set up ebilling whenever possible so that there is no other mail from these organizations. As a matter of fact, set up ebill for anything you can.

I'm only going to touch on health insurance because I still haven't figured it out. Since you aren't staying in one place, you won't really be able to have a primary care provider and you have to be sure that the insurance provider operates in every state that you may visit. If you have an understanding doctor you may be able to get prescription refills while on the road. However, if tests are needed from time to time, the doctor will need to place an order in a location that you plan to be in. Also,  make sure that you use a national pharmacy so that you can get refills wherever you are located.

We're finally getting close to getting on the road. We pick up our new trailer in six days, so there are only a few more details to take care of. 

Annie's first thoughts

Hello Everyone!! This is Annie! (Susan)..a nickname by some of my family members. This is my first attempt at writing a blog, never even kept a diary as a young girl. So here goes. I wanted to start with some of the experiences we had with purchasing our first RV. We thought we did a lot of research and thought we knew exactly what we were looking for. Sometimes you don't realize it until you are actually in it a few times. What we ended up buying was a Minnie Winnie...

beautiful little trailer inside, bright, skylights, open concept. What we did find out is that it is not  constructed as well as we thought, not insulated as well as we hoped. So back to the drawing board! We realized seeing as though we are going to be traveling cross country and encountered a few different climates we decided we needed something with better insulation and also more storage! My God! downsizing is overrated..that was more difficult then I thought, but we did it! So, what we ended up doing was purchasing a different trailer... an Artic Fox 28F....about 4 FT longer and a lot more storage!! Now I know we will be a lot more comfortable in our new RV, if we are going to be living in this thing for at least 6 mos or more, might as well do it in comfort.....like my sons call our camping....Glampering! Well, this is it for now...stay tuned to our upcoming adventures!! Over and out!! :-)

An Introduction

Welcome, we're Susan and Myles. We've just, finally, reached the retirement point in our lives. We are about to embark on quite an adventure, for us anyway. We're leaving the Seattle area and heading south, most likely, to Florida. Doesn't sound like much does it? You see, we're not just moving all of our "stuff", like normal people. Nope, sold all the furniture and anything else that won't fit in a box. It's a travel trailer for us. Again, not very exciting. Lots and lots of people have trailers or RV's. What's different, at least a little bit, in our case, is that we're brand new to RVing.

So, this blog is going to be a record of our travels, our challenges, the places we like and don't like, the mistakes we make and, hopefully, the fun we have. Hopefully, you'll follow our travels and leave your comments. We'd love to hear from you.