Uncle

We got to visit with Chris' Uncle Gene and Eva in Sun City while we were in the Phoenix area.  They live in Sun City during the winter and Prescott during the summer.  They have a lovely house on the water in Sun City, which is unusual for Arizona.  It's surprising to walk out their back door and see their beautiful view of the lake. 
We also got to visit with Charlie.  He runs the place and keeps Gene and Eva busy keeping up with him.  He's a handsome and very happy dog with a personality to match.  What lucky humans. 

Oh Brother part two

Going to include a few more pics of Matt, June and the dogs.  There were two labs and Pilot.  Poor Pilot fell in the pool during all the excitment.  He was able to get to the steps which was 2 feet away and get out.  June's back yard is in full bloom and beautiful. 
The last pic is of Lost Dog Trail just outside of Scottsdale.  Beautiful and a good workout.

June

Oh Brother!

We're staying at my Brother Matt's, and his wife June, place in Scottsdale, AZ from 9 Apr and will hit the road Monday the 19th.  What a great couple to let us use their entire driveway and electricity for these days.  Great company and food with gorgeous weather, grilling and eating outside...can't beat it;  Attached is a picture of their backyard with the pretty flowers, and dogs having fun, you just can't see all the laughing.  Don't think April gets much better than here.  Matt took us on a 5 mile hike on "Lost Dog Trail" a little northeast of Scottsdale with the temperture about 75-degrees and the cactus blooming...got a little winded saying "good morning" to fellow walkers...had to just keep our heads down the last 1/2 mile.  We're off to northern AZ and probably will stay a few days in the Prescott area then Canyon DeChelly then to Utah and the Moab National Park.  We know how to park in driveways now, so watch out for us.

Hot Stuff

From Chris:   We left Corpus on Friday, April 2nd and headed to Kerrville.  It was exciting that we had finally started our new lifestyle and trip.  We stayed at By The River RV park again for one night.  Got to visit with Bill and Cheryl, who we met there in February.  It was nice to see them again and they gave us some good info on where to go and what to do.
Saturday we started out on I-10 West.  It kept getting warmer as we traveled along so Chris checked the weather for Big Bend on her lap top and found that Big Bend was going to be 98 degrees.  Too hot for us.  We'll do Big Bend another time.  We decided to keep driving.  We made it all the way to Las Cruces, New Mexico.  We drove 560 miles that day.  We spent Easter at a nice park called Sunny Acres. 
Monday morning we headed to Tucson.  Great drive.  We were able to get into Davis-Monthan Air Force Base FamCamp.  Got the last pull thru spot.  This campground was rated #1 by US Military Campgrounds.com.  It is very well managed.  They already know what questions you are going to ask and have a routine that answers all of them before you think to ask.  Lots of hand outs and info.  The grounds are well cared for and in very good condition.   Nice dog walking area.  The space between each spot is not as wide as the campground on base at Corpus, but still OK.  We like it here.
Last night we visited with our niece, Jill.  Jill is a photographer for the Arizona Daily Sun.  She took us to a nice Mexican restaurant called El Charro in old downtown Tucson.  We ate outside on the patio.  Very nice evening.  Today we are going to see her house.  It's an old house that had already been updated, yet retains the original feel of the old Tucson.  Hope to get some pictures. 
So, now that we are on the road we've decided to go ahead and send out this blog to all our family and friends. 
While this is not the most exciting of things to read, we hope you will check in once in awhile and see where we are and what we are doing.  Please keep in touch with us either using the comments option on this blog, email or phone. It's important to us that we keep connected to our family and friends.  Next stop: Phoenix/Scottsdale.

Mark Twain Quote

"Of course I met pleasant people, because nothing so liberalizes a man and expands the kindly instincts that nature put in him as travel and contact with many kinds of people."

From Chris:   That pretty much explains one of the main reasons why we are traveling around this wonderful country.  Being in the military for 25 years and traveling all over this country, and to a few other countries, we've learned what Mark Twain discovered in his travels. 
Travel does open up your mind, heart and soul.  You learn to make friends with people who think completly different from you.  Instead of trying to change their mind to match yours, you try to open up your beliefs and let different ideas float around.  It use to surprise us when our beliefs would change because of an encounter. 
And so, with that, off we go tomorrow.  Headed west.  Let's see what we learn.

Last day of work, 1 April 2010

Last month I (Alex) was pretty nervous about givng up my job and income. Now that we're only 4 days from jumping off into the wild blue yonder, our nerves are steady and resolve set to make this a fun adventure. We're remarkably calm and ready.

So, April Fools' Day is my last work day, then Friday the 2nd we're off to Kerrville, TX. ( Pictured left is the skyline of Corpus Christi .)  We'll make a short stop at the local Freightliner company to have a recall for a brake pedal adjustment handle taken care of and to have the rig weighed while it's fully loaded (like its crew). We need to drop off an antique rifle and Civil War pistol at our storage unit in Kerrville. We were going to send them to Bill in Mexico, but it appears Mexico has enough guns down there and you can't even send an old 1860 rifle/pistol to an heir. Then we're off to The Big Bend National Park. It's along the Rio Grande River next to Old and New Mexico. Lots of things to see in a short tourist season because it's either cold or blazing hot most of the year. After 4 or 5 days we'll see about driving to visit family in Arizona.

Enough About Us

What about you? What do you think of this change in lifestyle? Could you do it? Would you even want to do it?
Well, we've gotten all kinds of reactions when we tell someone what we are doing. The spectrum runs from, "Are you crazy? How can you leave your family and friends behind. How selfish.", or "You are going to give up everything to stay in a sleazy mobile home park with trailer trash?" to "Wow, I wish I could do that" and "Tell me how I can do that and travel all over the United States, Canada and Mexico."
To those of you that might be interested in how one would learn about this lifestyle or just because you are curious, here's some info.
Believe it or not there are a million plus people doing this. People from all walks of life.
Most full timers are people who decided that they wanted a change in their life, a big change. They want something more than working to pay for their big house, 2, 3, or 4 cars, tv's, etc., etc. They want to get out from under the normal daily grind and see something new. This means giving up their stick house, usually a job, and the comfort of living in the same familiar place.
There are thousands and thousands of web sites about full time RVing. How to find the right RV, how to test drive it, how to find great campgrounds, how to find the best repair shop and how to set a budget. Really there's so much information all you need is time to learn. And if you are thinking about doing something like this, our advise is to learn as much as you can and take your time before you quit your job and buy a RV off Ebay. Yikes.
Alex and I planned, researched and saved money for 16 years while we were raising our son. You won't need to spend that much time, thank goodness, because there is excellent info out there now. Here, are but a few to start with.

Escapees: http://www.escapees.com/
Discussion board: http://www.rvnetwork.com/
RV Dreams: http://www.rv-dreams.com/
RV Dreams Journal: http://www.rv-dreams.typepad.com/
One of our favorite blogs: http://www.birdingrvers.blogspot.com/

Don't forget to check out the National, State, County and City campgrounds. You'll be amazed at the places you get to see out your window.

Well, we could go on and on but these will get you started and, you won't have to stay in that sleazy park. Have fun.