Well...it looks like we are on the home stretch for Christmas!  I still have a little shopping to do, all my wrapping needs done...but I know I will get there!  So for anyone out there who is stressing...remember we always get there!   Merry Christmas!  I love this time of year.  I always look at my cashier or sales clerk and say their name along with a Christmas wish!

We did a little bit of decorating in Reba...

My Dad has not been well.  So I spent a good bit of time with him and Mom this week.  He has a 9 mm kidney stone.  He will be 87 two days after Christmas.  Since we have reservations for all of January and February in Florida, we are questioning what we should do?  He will see the urologist again on Jan. 2nd.  At that time I am thinking a decision will be made about wether or not he should have surgery?

I do not want to be selfish, however we have gone though a lot this year and NOW is the time for us to enjoy the fruits of our labor!  So we have decided to go as far as Myrtle Beach till we hear more from the doctor.  That way if surgery is scheduled, we can come home ASAP.  A big thank you to my sister and brother who will help my parents.  This has been a very difficult decision, but it is getting very hard to just be in one place.  One place that is very cold and dreary!  We will be returning to Huntington Beach State Park.  Tatum wants to run on the beach again!

Have a very Merry Christmas!  

The Carolina Clan in 2012

So if you are wondering what we have been up to...we have been having a wonderful visit with all these good people!  We arrived at Huntington Beach State Park in Murrells Inlet, SC on Monday, October 29th for a twelve day vacation.  All of this group have several things in common.  They love the camping lifestyle and they completely enjoy every day of their lives, living each day to its fullest!!! 

 It is so much fun being with this group.  No special agenda,  except every evening we all meet by a grand campfire to share our stories, get to know each other and simply have fun!

On Friday, we set out with our Sea Eagle Kayaks on a wonderful adventure.  At one point after paddling for awhile, we all without planning it, hooked up to each other and sat a spell to visit and share some fresh fruit and snacks.  We became a barge and floated for a little while.  At the end of our adventure we had gone over four miles on the Waccamaw River.                                                                                                                                        

        

Neil and I both had a fabulous day on this our third kayak adventure!  We are looking forward to kayaking all over this United States!

During the day we spent some time on the beach...we quickly found out that "Our Tatum" loves to run and play on the beach!  

Just got to say...Life is good!

Can you hear the ocean?  Have a great day!!!

Reflections....

We are on our way to South Carolina for a much needed vacation and visit with our full-timer friends!   Somehow things have put me into a very reflective mode.  Our first night out we stopped at Misty Mountain Camp Resort just out side of Charlottesville, VA.  We experienced a beautiful drive along Rt. 81 and then Rt. 29.  Views of the mountains and autumn leaves were all around us!  We parked just in time for the campground "trick or treat".  Neil and I always love to see all the children having such a good time.

In the morning I discovered this camper down by the small creek.  Our first camping adventures in an RV began in a 1985 Sunline travel trailer - no sliders,  similar to this one.  Memory #1.

Before we headed out I thought this tire cover had some merit!

So down the road we headed...

Stop number two landed us at the Florence RV Park formerly a KOA.  This just so happened to be where we stayed in 2008, when we were on what we called, "Our Six Week Tour"!  That was our adventure to see if we really could be "full-timers"!  This picture of the pond was taken back then as I walked our Cocker Spaniel, Casey.  Casey is now in puppy heaven.  Memory # 2.

We will be leaving this campground shortly and I feel so many emotions with the weather in PA.  Being away as a full-timer now, I am concerned about our family and friends back home.  It is only slightly over a year since the damage from the tropical storm Lee.  I recall how severely our basement flooded.  How extremely frustrated we were!  And now I do not have those worries, but you still feel anguish for others  going through what you still remember so well.  Memory # 3, 4, 5 etc.

See you soon...stay safe everyone.

One week from today!

On June 8th, we moved from our "stick n' brick"  home to our RV and have been camped out ever since.  One week from today we will start our first full time adventure and head towards South Carolina.   I can not describe how fast the time has passed.  At one point in the heat of the summer with the air conditioner blasting and all the shades pulled down tight, I might have wondered for a moment if we would make it through!  But we did and the fall weather has been so beautiful.

We have gotten quite serious about being ready to travel again.  Neil has finally after over a month gotten his tool box installed and loaded.  It only took three different purchases and a welding  job to accomplish!  Buy the way the two red tool boxes are looking for a new home.  

Then it was onto the basement area...

Not sure how all this will work out!

So meanwhile, I am working on emptying tubs from our soon to be gone storage shed!

 We are determined to not have a storage shed when we leave.  Although, I must admit that we are okay with leaving things at our sons home and Neil's mother's house!  :)  

Psst...don't tell them we are coming over with more stuff!

Have a wonderful friday!

It's October!

Once again I find myself realizing that it has been such a long time since I blogged!  No particular reason, just busy with everyday life.  Even though we are full time RV'ers, we have not travelled anywhere since the transition.  We work during the week, catch up on things on the weekend, visit with family and friend...it is all just like the stick n' brick days!  NOT!!!

We are so happy being here in the campground, having camp fires, walking our Tatum, meeting other full timers and telling our story over and over again!  Constant talking and dreaming about the first days of traveling as a full timer is so much fun!

We have put a lot of effort into changing our RV into our home.  We purchased a new memory foam bed, with all the new stuff to go with it.  That is my palm tree pillow waiting patiently to get to the beach again!  The new bed and bed spread are very comfortable!

So Neil has been busy trying to get the truck area and the basement ready for traveling.  He purchased a new tool box (which did not fit) and now is awaiting a second one.  With new tool trays and wraps he might just get organized before the end of the month.  

So I will leave you with one final picture of the two balloons that we always hang out on our awning.  I do wonder if when we are traveling,  we will still put out so much stuff?  

Neil and I have been spending our Labor Day weekend doing labor!  Not much fun, but very needed. A small leak was fixed on the roof, an ant problem addressed, defrosting of the freezer, a much needed cleaning and lots of talking.  We must purchase a Thousand Trails camping membership in the next few weeks, since ours will expire.  We can not be on our seasonal site without a TT membership.  Last fall we purchased a North East Zone Pass at the Hershey RV Show for $399.00.  We can buy another one or do a buy one get one zone for $499.99,  but we think that special ends today!  We also have a lead on an older Alliance pass that is for sale for $500.00 plus the transfer fee of $1,000.00.  Do any of you have a Thousand Trails membership and how do you like it?  How often do you stay at TT?  As always, thank you for helping us out with information, it is truly appreciated!  Wishing you a wonderful, relaxing weekend!

P.S.  We did get our full-timer's RV insurance and we ordered a new bed for Reba and Neil has ordered a tool box for the back of his truck, Rocky!  Wow!  There is a lot to do when you start out in this lifestyle, but we love it!  Take care.

Sandy, the Sea Eagle's maiden voyage !

Yesterday, we took our Sea Eagle 385 Fast Track out for her maiden voyage.  We were having trouble knowing where we could put the kayak in, since we currently do not have it licensed.  The question being do we want a PA pass or a multiple state license.  We picked the Memorial Lake State Park, which was about thirty minutes from our home.  For $5.00 we purchased a week pass and into the water we went.  Although, the weather was overcast, we had a great first trip and all went well!  We forgot the camera, so we only got a few pictures with our IPad, before we went into the water.  We have decided to name our Sea Eagle - Sandy - after my uncle Sandy, who was retired Navy!   Anxious, to take Sandy...the Sea Eagle (every time I say that phrase, I hear John Travolta singing from Grease) out again on a longer voyage!
Hope everyone had a wonderful Sunday...if you have any advise on kayak licensing, please let us know!

Follow our blog...rockandrollwithus@blogspot.com

Well... writing this blog has been such a long time coming!  Wish I could say "why". but that question will always remain unanswered.   So here is what we have been up to!  The weekend of June 10th, we somehow moved into the RV as full-timer's.  Things were piled every where and between than and now, we have kind of gotten organized?  The ten weeks we had to sell everything and be out of the house is simply a whirlwind.  The truth is I know we did it but it all happened so fast that I bearly know  what happened to all the stuff!  People were all so excited for us, it was probably like riding a wave!

On June 26th, we were officially homeless!  That is what the guy's that Neil works with have named  it, he just smiles!  The transition was difficult, but all worth the end result.  It seems different to us since we are both still working.  On the weekends we settle into a fun campground routine and then it is back to the work week and things seem strange, but no matter it is still a fabulous lifestyle.  We are anxiously awaiting the time when we can pull out of here and start traveling!  Funny, until just recently we would have not been able to close the sliders and travel, because to much stuff was un-organized!

We have a seasonal site at Thousand Trails, Hershey Preserve, but all of our close neighbors come and go from their stick and brick houses.  Although, we know that there are a few other camper's that are working and living in their RV's, we haven't met them yet.

One of our favorite things is waking up every day and while walking Tatum or driving in and out of the park, waving to everyone and saying "hello", greeting each day with a smile.  You know that seems to only happen in campgrounds!

Tatum had  her third birthday and loves the lifestyle!

We love spending our time looking at the lake, bird watching and following the hummingbirds!

Have a wonderful day!

Good Morning.  Happy Monday to everyone!  Thought I'd take a few minutes to check in with everyone and read some blogs.  Really needed to touch base with our full-time friends and our camping buddies!  I am fairly sure I hit the wall yesterday.  Everything is Everywhere now and I really don't do well in clutter!    Must have broke down and cried several times. :(  Neil was busy waxing Reba and I was going through more of the stuff in the attic.  I think it is all the memories and knowing you need to sell the stuff for a quarter or give it away.  This is so hard - so many decisions -all these emotion - but I must say I  have no regrets! So this is my way of getting my smile back and taking on a new day!

Settlement is scheduled for June 26th @ 5:30.  We are still not in Reba (the RV) but we are getting closer.  If all goes well we will be heading  for our new home at Thousand Trails Hershey Preserve by this weekend.  The plan is to get our stuff switched over and what ever is left is for sale or the auction house, storage or goodwill!  We will be having another garage sale on Tuesday, June 12th (best day due to a farmer's market by our stick and brick).  And if enough stuff is left we will have two more garage sales on that Friday & Saturday.  That will leave us nine days for all the cleaning and final fix ups.  Still need to sell a few more big items.  May give our bedroom suite to a consignment shop.  I intend to find out about that today.  A great big thank you for all your blog post.  If you ever wonder if they are appreciated, the answer is a big "YES"!

And on a final note.  Neil would like to know about what type of kayak we should be looking for?  I know a lot of you have Sea Eagles.  Once we are settled in Reba, we want to purchase one and have some fun relaxing!  Have a great day....

Happy "85th" birthday to my mother!  I waited to share this story, so that it would coincide with my Mom's birthday.  Since Neil & I have sold the house, we have been trying to come up with a name for our truck and fifth wheel.  So this is the story of how we came to be named "Rocky & Reba"!  One Sunday afternoon our son, Scott said, "How about Rock & Roll?" And Neil immediately claimed Rocky as the name for his truck.  So for weeks all I could come up with were Adrianne and/or Bullwinkle!!!  Didn't really connect with either of those names.  But Neil was not giving up Rocky.  So as you see I named the blog with Scott's suggestion and I quite like it!  So here is how Reba came about.  As I said my Mom will be 85 today.  She still lives at home with my father, who is 86.  On one of my visits, the caregiver was helping Mom and we always ask her questions about names and places to help her memory.  I ask her the name of her caregiver and she quickly replied "sweety-pie".  Her name is Diana. But she said it with such a big smile, we moved onto my name.   "So Mom, what is my name"?  "Reba" was the answer without any hesitation.   Now that might have upset me, but I know she was just momentarily confused.  She does know my name and who I am,  so the real question is, does she know who Reba McEntire is?  I am not sure that she does, but the more I thought about that conversation, the more I liked the name and the fact that I will love our up-coming full-time lifestyle and every time I say or think of Reba, it will be like a beautiful tribute to my mother.  Have a great day!  Happy Monday!

Let the selling begin...  Yesterday, we sold sold our living room sofa, a fulton, an ottoman and we have a good bite on our king size bed!   This is going to be a wild ride from now until the end of June.  We are filled with all kinds of emotions.  The pendilum swings from planning our new life to OMG what should we be doing next!  Since we are both working, time is limited.  I will be off on Friday and that is when I plan on turning the dining room and living room into the garage sale table staging area.  Hopefully, we will be ready to start the garage sale routine by the first Friday in May.  Thanks for listening.  We are open to any suggestions you may have on "how to move all your stuff - quickly"?  Have a great day!  We are living in America!

Neil and I have some "big" news!  We will officially become "full-time RV'ers"  in about two months.  We have an agreement on our house and should be settling around the end of June! A neighbor knocked on our door after hearing about our wish to sell the house.   Never even had a "for sale" sign out!   We are so excited to move closer to our dream of traveling together and seeing all the beauty of this amazing country!  We will however not be getting on the road for awhile, since we will be continuing to work our jobs over the course of the next few years.  Hopefully, we will be able too be snow-birds again this winter.  So now - who wants to buy something?  We have so much to sell...I will keep you updated on when the next garage sale will be!   Have a great day!