Pennsylvania and Panama

Before Stu, my late husband and I spent several years living in the Allegheny National Forest in north central Pennsylvania. It's a beautiful part of the country. We've done a little exploring there, here are some photo links to enjoy.

• 2008 Staying in McKean County PA
• 2009 Misc TN/VA/PA/MD Travel Pics
• 2011 Visiting Coudersport PA & Surrounding Areas
• 2011 Grand Canyon of PA and area
• 2011 Visiting Friends in Marshburg PA
• 2011 Visiting Dave and Anne, Warfordsburg PA

I'm hoping we can make another run through the area on our way from the Gypsy Journal Rally in Celina, OH this September back to Maryland.

BONUS: Panama Cruise

I'm so lazy....

I love it here!

Just being lazy.....

I love it here!

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Only two days left to enter my giveaway!

[learn about blog hops]

TAKE A PEEK AT SOME OF THE SITE PRIZES
 
SEE THE GRAND PRIZES

It's here! The biggest blog hop of the summer kicks off today. There are 70 Independent Authors participating in the Summer Splash Blog Hop.  Authors like Cheryl Bradshaw, C.J. West, Angela Muse, Julia Crane, S.L. Wallace, Steena Holmes, Allen Schatz, Tracy Sumner and many more. Mysteries, Romance, Horror, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Thrillers are all represented.

Each site, including mine, has a different contest and offers their own prizes. Some area scavenger hunts, some want comments, some use sites like RaffleCopter to track entries. Stop by each one to read about their hop and enter their contest. You can hop to all the individual sites from this page.

To enter mine, visit this page. Please be sure to pass this amazing contest along to your friends. Many, many chances to win a wide variety of prizes.

My Prize Offerings

Remember, the contest ends at midnight July 31st so you have plenty of time to enter (and some sites allow daily entries). Good luck and remember to pass the word to all your family and friends. The more the merrier!

Lazy Morning

I love it here!

Options, Opinions and Oregon

We are blessed to be able to live the full-timing lifestyle, it provides us a multitude of options. We can move every day, flitting from place to place like hummingbirds. Or we can opt to stay for longer periods, maybe a week, a month or several months. We can snow-bird and spent half the year in one spot and the rest in another similar to the geese migrating south for the winter.

I think we have become quarters in the last year or two, mostly out of necessity. We've been spending 3 months in the south, 6 months in TN (fall and spring) and 3 months in the northeast. Wondering what bird does that?

The good thing is that we have the option, the ability to move when we need or want to. Don't like the weather? Move. Don't like the scenery? Move. Don't like the neighbors or their opinions? Move. Life is good!

BONUS: Oregon

Settled in!

Just a quick update....we moved to Fire Lily Base Camp yesterday. Got settled in....twice, had to move forward 4-6' to get satellite signal for DirecTV. Power and water working perfectly! We have a little phone service that pops in and out so if anyone needs us, the best thing is to send us email or text.

Here are a few photos...

We moved to our property!

Just a quick update....we moved to Fire Lily Base Camp yesterday. Got settled in....twice, had to move forward 4-6' to get satellite signal for DirecTV. Power and water working perfectly! We have a little phone service that pops in and out so if anyone needs us, the best thing is to send us email or text.

Here are a few photos...

Nature and New Orleans

One of the wonderful side benefits of the RVing lifestyle is visiting spots where we can view nature in all it's glory. We've been to Yellowstone National Park several times, Glacier National Park, Zion National Park, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, Joshua Tree National Park, Grand Tetons National Park and the Grand Canyon to name just a few spots.

We've seen black bear, grizzly bear, osprey, eagles, deer, antelope, elk, mountain goats, big horn sheep, whales, sea lions, dolphins, gophers, prairie dogs, ground squirrel and yes, even the elusive moose. I'll let you search through the links above to see what you can spot. ;-)

BONUS: New Orleans & National D Day Museum

Water, Power, Phone lines in the ground!

Yup, all the major utility lines are in and, except for the phone, are operational. We won't connect the phone until we come back in November since there is a $25 disconnect/reconnect fee (each instance)...at least that is what we took away from the last conversation. We will verify that this week and if it turns out to be $25 total, I think we'll hook it up now. Why? Because we can get DSL and won't have to worry about an Internet connection.

Here are some photos of the utility line installations. The water was run behind the shed and the power/telephone in front.

We had another truck load of crush run gravel brought in and put on the back half of the drive. Once we have moved in, we'll get another load brought in for the front half. The one thing we would do differently next time, get the utilities run first!

 

The last photo shows how we have blocked off access to the property (thinking ATVs) until it grows back up.

We are moving to the property in the morning!!! Can you say excited? The only downside will be lack of cell and Internet service. But for five weeks, we can deal.


Still rolling,
Stu and Donna

Gypsy Journal Rally - a Reminder!

Forty days, that's all there is until the next Gypsy Journal Rally, this time being held in Celina, OH. We haven't made enough of these, family and life got in the way. But this one is a must do this time around. We're too close to NOT go!

Multiple great sessions each day, vendors galore and lots of evening fun....we like to call this the UN-Rally because it's much more personal than the huge Good Sam and FMCA type rallies. For only $125 you get four nights of camping and admission to all rally events. That said, the rally is being held at a fairgrounds, you will get power and electric but the electric might be 20 or 30 amp. The few 50 amp sites are reserved for those with medical issues that have special requirements.

Check out our previous rally posts:

• 2010 -  Rally Roundup...Moving Down the Road
• 2010 -  The Gypsy Journal Rally
• 2010 -  First few days in Elkhart, IN
• 2010 -  Gypsy Journal Rally....reporting in!
• 2008 - Casa Grande, AZ & the Gypsy Journal Rally
• 2008 - More from the Gypsy Journal Rally
• 2008 - It's over?

As you can see, it's a great time for all. Hope to see you there...we will be helping with the parking crew as plans stand now.

Don't forget....only seven days left to enter the big Summer Splash Giveaways.

Montana, Micro-Brews and Motorcycles

We like our micro-brews and try to visit as many as we can. We've been a bit lax lately but here are some of our past visits in various states:

• VT - More Vermont travels....and breweries.
  
• ME - Another good day of riding....
  
• LA - Today was free beer day....
• MT - On our way to Glacier National Park...
  
• MT - Missoula to Butte Update
  
• AK - Cruise to Alaska - Day Eight - Seward
• AK - Day Fourteen: Victoria, B.C. Canada
• UT - Oh the places we've seen...take 2

Of course motorcycling is one of our biggest passions. When we got together, I had sold my last motorcycle and Stu had his first (since dirt bikes as a kid). I am on bike two and he is on bike three since then. I think these are our last....unless I move to a trike someday.

We've been on some amazing rides and been to some fun events since we met in 2008. Here are just a few samples.

• Gillette WY Updates - Escapade, SOLOS & Motorcycle...
• Yellowstone - Day Two
• Yellowstone - Day One
• Red Helmets Ride
• Family, Motorcycles & Northern Kentucky
• Rock Hall Bike Fest
• A great day for riding...
• Sturgis Roundup.....
• First day at Bike Week
• 10th Anniversary Ride to Remember 9/11

BONUS: Montana

A few meanderings and a HUGE giveaway contest!

First, we haven't relocated to our property yet, most things are done but we need to schedule the final electric hookup with the power company and we need to get another load of crush run gravel laid down on the driveway. I will be updating the property blog in the next couple of days with more photos of the work.

Regardless if these are done or not, we will be moving there on Thursday. The campground will be full starting Friday with participants in the world's longest yard sale. This is the 25th anniversary of the sale and Jamestown will be a zoo....LOL!

One other thing to pass along....I am holding a giveaway on my writing blog. The prizes include a bracelet, Amazon Gift Cards and free copies of my e-books. You can enter daily until July 31st, the giveaway ends at midnight. There are 70 authors participating in the giveaway, each with their own prizes. The host site is has some great grand prizes including two Kindle Fires.

Check it out and enter to win some of these amazing prizes while you find some new Independent Authors to read. Oh, and pass the link on to all your family and friends! Remember, on my giveaway page you can enter daily for more chances to win my prizes!

Log Homes and Las Vegas

Anyone who has followed us for a while, knows that we plan to build a log home on our property in TN for when we hang up the keys (at least for full-timing). We have an RV site on the property and hope to get in utilities in this week, allowing us to move there from our current campground.

We don't have any firm plans on when we will build but that hasn't stopped us from visiting log home shows and even taking a factory tour with one company (who is our current choice of builder). We got Log Home magazine for a while but it was more ads than substance so swapped it out for one on scuba diving. ;-)

BONUS: Las Vegas - trip one (and two following posts) and trip two

Kites and Klassics

Okay, so I fudged a bit on the spelling of Klassics, but since that's a BONUS....LOL!

Kites - we're not into kiting but we did take in a huge kiting event at South Padre Island the winter we spent in Mission, TX. You can see a lot more photos here and some videos here.

BONUS: Klassic, cars that is....6 shows!

Utility installation started

Stu headed out to the property around 10 am yesterday to meet with the excavator who is putting in our water and electric lines. The contractor had initially planned on taking the shortest route from the pole at the end of the driveway, back to the other side of our shed.

Well, that didn't happen thanks to a huge rock just under the surface, close to the pole. After discussions about going aerial, he and Stu determined that they would trench across the end of the driveway and then up the shed side.

Not a problem...until they hit the water line.


Two hours later, repairs done, they continued work.

The water line was done and the freeze-proof hydrant installed. The trench for the power is done. Tomorrow they plan to put in the conduit, electric line, post with 30/50 amp plugs and then get it all inspected. We're not clear on when the inspections get done, time-wise, so it looks like we'll book our last week here at Maple Hill RV Park.

Stu took a lot more photos but they're on the camera in the truck...and it's pouring. More later!

Still rolling,
Stu and Donna

JELL-O, Joshua Tree, Jackson and Jerome

We are retired. We are full-timers. We set out plans in JELL-O, watery unset  JELL-O at times.

We had planned to have our property set up for our RV two years ago. We are almost there. We actually hope to move next week!

We planned to ride Route-66 in the spring of 2011 but we changed that to the fall.  That got changed when we brought Sadie into our lives and we wanted to wait till she was older, so we moved it to May of 2012. Twin granddaughters graduating high school meant moving it to Sep-Oct. Nope, not going to happen, got an important wedding to attend. We are determined to make it in Sep-oct of 2013, keep your fingers crossed for us!

We've had our planned changed due to family health, our health and the weather. How about you?

BONUS: Joshua Tree, Jackson and Jerome

Video of our shed install

Stu put together this almost 5 minute video of the shed installation. He added a little music to try to drown out the constant noise of the hydraulics on the trailer. LOL!

Still rolling,
Stu and Donna

Interests and International

After a short hiatus, we're resuming our A to Z of US posts. Check out the Blog Archive for the letters A through H.

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Between us, we have a wide range of interests. We both love music and in a previous A-Z post we mentioned music events. Theme parks are high on our list, especially Disney. Stu and his late wife had a tradition of taking grandkids to Disney when they turned five (sans parents). We have continued this tradition, taking Joshua and Olivia to Disney in October 2010. We've also done one day visits as we did in 2009 for Stu's birthday, he got in free.

We buy season passes to Dollywood since we are in TN every spring and fall (as well as summer this year). We've managed several visits and really enjoyed seeing it at Christmastime last year.

We couldn't talk about interests without mentioning my writing and Stu's renewed interest in scuba diving.

• My writing website
• My Write Spot blog
• My Write 4 Ten blog
• Stu's Scuba gear
• Stu's Scuba photos/videos

We have tried geo-caching and decided it just wasn't for us. Now that Stu's knees are better, I know we will be doing more hiking when we get back to traveling more. I bought some beginner jewelry making supplies but admit that has taken a backseat to my writing.

What are your interests?

BONUS: Cruise to Panama Canal

Will we make it?

I know, you're wondering if we'll ever make our ride. We are determined to go Sep-Oct of 2013. I'll turn 66 that September and it would be great to ride Route 66 at age 66. If we don't make it then, I fear I will be riding on the back of Stu's trike, rather than riding my own.

Speaking of Stu's trike, he traded in his 2009 for a brand-spanking new 2012. It's gorgeous! He moved most of his accessories over and saved the faring from the 2009 for our future pole barn on our property in TN.

Here are a couple of shots of his new bike....







He still has to put the hitch for BRAT on this trike and we have to start re-acclimating Sadie to riding. She loves it but isn't as good about staying put in the seat bag. Her nails really do a job on the paint so we're looking for alternative means of restraining her.

Anyway, that's the latest for us and our plans!


Ride safe,
Stu and Donna