A Busy November

Events require that you need to return to your legal domicile every so often.  Well, I guess you could work around most things, but for us it is close to family.  We departed Tuscaloosa, AL and headed to Ft Benning, GA near Phenix City, AL our legal domicile shared with our oldest son.  This trip was necessary to pay the annual taxes on our motorhome and to vote in the mid-term elections.  We were able to accomplish these things and visit with our son.  I always like camping at Ft Benning’s FAMCAMP. It is a flat peaceful setting in the woods with frequent machine gun fire, roaring aircraft engines, and explosions in the distance.  Having trained at Ft Benning and served many years in the military, the sounds of friendly forces training are music to my ears. 

 

It was while we were at Ft Benning that I received an email from a fellow I use to work with asking for my resume.  I sent it to him and the next thing I know, I am on a jet to Washington D.C. for an interview.  Wait…what am I doing?  Should we return to the corporate world?  The RV lifestyle is a great way to live if you can afford it. We figured we should explore our options and see where we are led.

Disaster Relief Operations:

The day after we voted, we took off for Wilmington, NC.  Hurricane Florence passed through there about 45 days earlier and many people were still in need of help recovering.  We linked up with the NC Baptist Men as part of the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief organization.  They were conducting recovery operations from a local church that allowed us to park on one side of the parking lot.  One of the men was an electrician and he quickly rigged up a 50amp RV box for us to plug in.  We told them we could give them about 2 weeks of work and they quickly accepted.  They needed an experienced husband and wife to treat homes for mold using a chemical sprayer and fogger.  We loaded all the equipment in our Jeep Grand Cherokee, got our work orders each day and headed out.  Other groups of college kids, high school kids, corporate work groups, and others were assigned the task of tearing out the soaked interior of the homes or cutting up downed trees.  We would go in after the tear out and treat the homes for mold.  Sometimes, we caught up with the tear out groups and were able to jump in and help them as well.  It was a rewarding experience and we made some good friends getting dirty and showing the love of Christ.

We said our goodbyes to the disaster relief friends and headed to Sawnee CoE campground on Lake Lanier north of Atlanta.  We set up here to be able to visit with Pattie’s side of the family for Thanksgiving. Her sister and brother in law are always very gracious to open their home to family and friends.  We enjoyed our time visiting and stuffing ourselves with some great traditional dishes. 

Where are we going next? Where will we spend Christmas? We received an offer for a job, do we accept it or not?  There are too many questions without answers right now.  Like Eugene the jeep in the Popeye comic strip we can go anywhere at anytime.  Lord guide us!

Thanks for keepingupwiththejonesrv!

Six-Month Tour

Mom bouncing back after surgery

We arrived back in Tuscaloosa, AL about six months after we left on our westward journey for the summer of 2018.  It was good to visit with my mom who was recovering from some surgery and tell her about all the things we had seen on our trip and give her a few gifts we picked up along the way.  She remembers traveling to some of the same places when she and my dad retired and traveled the country in their motorhome.  

Mom and Dad enjoying their motorhome

On the way back from Utah, we stopped off in Colorado and spent a few nights exploring the area around Creede, CO.  We had camped at a small NPS campground in a pop-up camper back when our sons were little then again when they were teenagers.  Each time, we took a photo at the same spot.  We hiked to the now closed for the winter campground and took an “Empty Nester” photo with the same backdrop.  

They grow up so fast...Empty Nesters now.

From Colorado, we stopped off for a night in Kansas just to say we camped there and earn our sticker. OK, enough about Kansas.  Next, we headed to Oklahoma to visit some old friends. We met with Mike and Kathy Houlette in OKC and had a great Mexican lunch with them.  Mike owns a metal fabrication business there and we have worked together over the years designing custom off-road accessories.  I told Mike I wanted to add a electric winch to my Jeep Grand Cherokee, but with the tow bar set-up nothing was compatible.  We started looking at it and decided we could design and fabricate a front receiver hitch that would be compatible with the tow bar set-up.  With a receiver hitch up front and one in the rear, I could use a portable winch from either end of the vehicle.  In a few days, we had a prototype built, then adjusted it to a final product and had it powder coated.  It works great and is hardly noticeable when the winch is removed.  Mike asked me to work on updating his web page, so I am working on that.  For now, you can find his business at: www.custom4x4fabrication.com.

Receiver hitch up front provides mounting point for a variety of accessories

We also had time to have dinner with Ed Wright an old Air Force buddy who is still in the area.  It was great to get a chance to talk with Ed and catch up on the areas of the USAF where I use to work.  He even suggested I go by the new Air Force Flight Standards office near Tinker AFB and say hello.  I did and was happy to see more old friends and people I served with still working hard to keep America free.

From OKC, we traveled to Red Bay, AL on our way to Tuscaloosa.  We didn’t need anything major, just wanted to pick up a few parts and get a couple drawers fixed.  So in six months, we covered over 8,000 miles and were blessed not to have any major mechanical issues.  We have been very happy with our 2007 Tiffin Allegro Bus.  

The summer of 2018 is over; but, we were able to see our great country and camp in states we have never been to before.  We want to do it all again.

Thanks for keepingupwiththejonesrv!