Green Eggs and Ham Rally

              

Gerri and I are attending our first Casita rally. It is being held at Gunter Hill COE outside of Montgomery, Al. There are “eggs, eggs” everywhere, the most we have ever seen. We were able to meet a few people that we have got to know through blogging. We met Jerry and Wanda of http://eggrollings.blogspot.com/ and Lynn and David of http://casitandesert.blogspot.com/. It is really neat to meet folks whose blog you have been reading; it puts the people with their stories.

            

Last night we went down to the pavilion and enjoyed some music being played by some very talented members of the rally. Jerry had built a really good fire and all was going well until the rains came.

              

Those rains lasted all during the night, but sounded relaxing as it fell on our egg. This morning the rains were gone, but we know the cold front was pushing them out. The winds have been strong today as it is bringing in the colder temps.

 

             

We walked around the campgrounds and stopped by to see some friends we met last year. John and Ellen just happened to be in the area and decided to stay at this campground the same time we are here. We picked up right where we left off last time we saw them. A good time with good friends!

              

             

We are looking forward to Thursday as it is suppose to be sunny with the high in the mid 50’s!

A Life Well Lived…and Loved

 

                      

Fourteen and a half years ago Cody came into our lives and boy did he ever make his way into our hearts.  We remember our 4 hour drive to Dublin, Georgia to pick him up as an 8 week old puppy.  We had recently traveled to Wyoming, South Dakota, Colorado and Montana and decided to name him after the town of Cody Wyoming.  As he grew, all he wanted to do is to sit on the sofa with us or even work his way into our lap.  Needless to say, as he got much bigger, the lap didn’t work.

                    

Cody wasn’t a Golden that liked to go fetch or retrieve items, but he did like to play in the yard and roll around on his back.  When he was full-grown, we put him in our fenced in backyard so he could be out and about safely.  He truly loved outdoors when we were at work, and loved spending time with us when would get home.

                   

When Gerri and I went fulltime, Cody made such a great transition from being in the yard to living in our motorhome with us.  Even though the bedroom was small, he would always sleep at the base of the bed on my side or Gerri’s…or even share both bedsides with us.  He was such a grand “fulltime” Golden rv’er.  When we spent the winter at an Escapees park in Summerdale, Alabama, Cody had the time of his life there.  We stayed in a friends backyard and Cody make himself at home with the birdbath…thinking the water was for him.

                  

When we came off the road, Cody stayed in the house with us from then on.  He would be with us wherever we found ourselves in the house.  He loved to walk with us and each night we would go on a walk through the neighborhood and he was so happy.

Wednesday night, Cody had a seizure that lasted 2 hours, and I think he may have also had a stroke.  We gave him Phenobarbital to end the seizure, but Cody never really recuperated. Our vet recommended giving him a few days to see if he would improve, so Gerri and I kept food in him and got water into his system.  This morning we went to talk to our vet about Cody.  When we explained his condition 5 days after his problem, he suggested it was time.  Even though we knew it, it still hurt.  Cody was a part of our family!!!

Our vet came to our home and helped us take that step for Cody and we said our Good-byes to our friend and family member.  Cody epitomized everything about a Golden, he was our friend, family member and a grand companion.  He gave us as much love as we gave him!

Rest In Peace my friend, you so well deserve it!  We Love You!

                

Winter Weather Confusion

 

This winter we have seen some crazy swings in the temperatures.  This past Monday the temps were in the 60’s and then Tuesday we got about 2” of combined ice and snow with the temps dropping into the mid 20’s Tuesday night.

             

             

When we woke up and started our day Wednesday, the highs got up to around 34 with the temps plummeting down to 6 degrees Wednesday night.  Obviously, nothing thaws at 6 degrees.

             

             

With all this snow Gerri and I made sure our birds had plenty of food and they enjoyed their snacks.

                   

This woodpecker was enjoying his fill of shelled peanuts.  Of course we had plenty cardinals around to partake.

                  

                  

                  

Today the temps are climbing into the mid 50’s and will be almost 70 on Sunday.  What a transition.

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.

                 

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.

                     

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

                    

                    

                    

                    

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.

For the Beauty of the Earth…

 

                  

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.

    

                                     

   

                                     

   

                                   

    

                                     

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!

   

                                      

It has been a great week!

Memories

 

                    

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.

                

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.

               

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.

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.

            

            

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.

            

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!!