Sometimes we look at sights in nature but don't really see. While hiking in the woods the other day, it became a realization that we need to open our heart and eyes to see the beauty of the simple things in nature with each season. There is so much order and purpose in His creation. God has given us awesome beauty in this world to see and enjoy... if we would but stop to see and feel it. Join us as this blog is about stopping to see the real beauty around us...to touch and feel it... "Through the Lens".

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Sunday, December 22, 2013

A Little of this and Little of that…and A Merry Christmas

It has been a few weeks since our last outing which says there hasn’t been a lot going on in the camping part of our lives lately…but that is soon to be changing as we have a road trip planned after the first of the year.

We have kind of been tweaking our egg a bit since our last outing.  We have added a Paha Que screen room with the rain fly for more outdoor room which we are anxious to use.  It is the 10x10 size and it will add so much more protected room.

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On a funnier note, we have gone from a full bed to twin bed and back and forth, but, for now, have decided on the full bed sleeping arrangement.  So many choices, I don’t know what to do.  When we purchased the egg from the previous owner, they had modified it to accommodate a wider twin bed and had the foam/memory foam to go with it.  Since then, we bought the Spa Sensations full size mattress and now have the ability to have either sleeping arrangement.  As Casita owners know, you can even have king bed sleeping arrangements.  We have 2 Shihtzus that travel with us and one is 16 years old and feels she has to sleep with us….

On another good note, our son is engaged and has set the wedding for a spring time date…actual day coming later.  We are excited for him and happy for her.  Raegan is a really nice young lady and blends so well in our family.

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We are all ready for Christmas and have enjoyed getting the house decorated and seeing all the colors of Christmas.

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Gerri and I want to wish all of you and your families a very Merry Christmas.  May we always remember the true purpose of the season.

Monday, November 4, 2013

For the Beauty of the Earth…

 

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Gerri and I decided the time was right, the weather was good and the leaves were at their peak in the north Georgia mountains, so…off we went.  Destination, Cloudland Canyon State Park, journey…the view and serenity of the trip!  When we got there the first of the week, there were not many campers but was told they were full for the weekend.  Being that we enjoy less of a crowd, we left before the weekend arrived and enjoyed a very quiet and beautiful week at Cloudland. 

We drove on the road so lined with beautiful trees to the lookout area, hiked some of the trail and just enjoyed the beauty of the trees at this season of the year.

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We just kind of hung out in the park and enjoyed being… with the exception of the strong winds and rain Thursday night.   We meandered back home Sunday only to discover our backyard full of the same beautiful colors that we had left in the mountains…God’s beauty is everywhere!

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It has been a great week!

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Memories

 

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We haven’t dropped off the face of the earth, just a bit detained.

During our trip to pick up our Casita, my mom suffered a severe case of shingles and an arthritis attack in her lower back. Being that she is 93, both events took a toll on her. She spent about 5 weeks in the hospital and rehab. My brother and I decided that mom needed to be in assisted living but allowed time to lead mom to come to that conclusion herself. It is better that she was able to come to that conclusion instead of having that decision made for her.

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Mom had lived in the same house for 65 years, in fact, my folks built that house…it was the home we grew up in. My brother and I have been going through the process of closing down our home of 65 years, and it has not been easy. It seems, at times like this, memories flood your heart and thoughts…I am so glad Gerri was there with me to help in this task. She has been great helping me keep a good perspective through this.

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Well, mom is happy in her new surroundings and has so many different activities through the course of the day to keep her busy and active. It has been a good thing for mom and our families.

We close on mom’s house the first week in October and soon thereafter, the house will be torn down to build 2 condos.

When all that is done, we will be getting back out in our Casita and doing some traveling and chilling.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

On the Road Again…but not Fulltime

 

I figured it wouldn’t last!! RVing, camping, hiking, photography and you name it…..just gets in your blood. As you know, we stopped full-timing and decided to buy a neat little house in Lagrange, Georgia. We have had a ton of fun “fixing” it up. We have painted, updated the kitchen with granite counters, painted cabinets and purchased new appliances. We ripped out carpet exposing nice hardwood floors and tiled our sunroom. We bought some really neat antique/period pieces of furniture. It has been fun!! We LOVE our home but we miss traveling in an RV.

We always planned to return to the road in some fashion or another. We have looked at various RVs and methods of travel. We have talked about what we want and came to the conclusion that we really, truly missed camping. We found that when we full-timed we really didn’t “camp.” We lived in our motorhome and we traveled in our motorhome. We volunteered and hosted in our motorhome and best of all we met some of the most amazing people while full-timing in our motorhome. Now we just want to hike, take pictures in nature, visit amazing places and make awesome memories. We want to sit outside by a campfire and fall asleep and wake up at 4 a.m. because we were so relaxed we just drifted off in our recliners. We DON’T want to spend lots of money, we just want a camper that is well built, unique and simple. No more huge 40 foot diesel pushers for us!! Soooo we have decided on getting a Casita!! A Casita or “egg” as they are lovingly referred to, is a molded fiberglass trailer. It is small but has all the things we need to achieve the above mentioned goals. It will allow us to move, hike, take pictures in nature, visit amazing places and make awesome memories. It allows us to sit outside in our Lufuma recliners and relax. Best of all, it will allow us to remain close to the wonderful friends we made when full-timing and make new friends in the Casita Community.

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We have purchased our “new to us” Casita from a nice couple in Cincinnati, Ohio. This is their second Casita and it has been well loved and cared for with many options added to it. Of course, we will add others and tweak it to become more us. We went to Cincinnati last week and took possession.

This isn’t exactly what we thought we would end up purchasing but after doing much research we feel this fits us to a tee!! It is small and will take some adjustments on our part but we are so excited to be able to travel via RV and get out in nature once again.

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We won’t be posting on a regular basis as we did when full-timing but will post with pictures whenever we are out in our Casita. Looking forward to reconnecting with our blogging friends and making new friends in our next chapter of RVing!!