Walking the cat

Tom walks Kona our cat.  As you can see it's a tough walk. 

Kona hears a bird chirping.

Enjoying his little cluster of grass.

Our other Cat, Circles, does not go outside since he was Feral.  He might want to take off and we don't want to lose him,  He doesn't seem to be concerned with going outside.   

Racing like kids.

Tom racing in a Go Kart

Our friend Tom chasing not far behind.

Sherri (Tom's wife) and I were taking photo's with our cell phones.  This was no easy task.


They sure had fun although my Tom can't move.  His mind is writing checks his body can't cash.  He is paying for this. 

Merry Christmas....

Merry Christmas Everyone....

Tom making his grandmother's Christmas Pudding for the first time.  

Steamed for 3 1/2 hours.  Looks pretty good.  Now he has to make the Hard Sauce.  We'll keep you posted on how it came out.  It has Suet in it so I won't be eating much of this.  (Suet is cow fat) 

Tennessee, Going once, going twice.....Sold !!!!

We have moved ourselves West to Sevierville, Tennessee which is next door to Pigeon Forge and Dollywood at the base of the Smokey Mountains.  Our plan while here is to meet up with some roadie friends who have been traveling also and look for some land.  The purpose of the land is to hang out on it when we don't want to be traveling and to eventually live on when we decide we won't be doing the traveling thing anymore.

Our home location is on the bottom and these are a few of the ones we found to look at.

So we're here in Tennessee looking around at property going from one place to another.  We find this one property on Repass Road last Thursday.  We hadn't been looking for more than a couple of days.  It's 47 acres and really nice, mountain and lake views, grass land, lots of timber.  Then we realize it's up for auction in 2 days.  How much research can we squeeze in one day before the auction.  We need to look at more for comparison.  I am personally really scared when Tom wants to bid on it.

Traveling around from sun up to sun down on Friday we are exhausted and our heads are swirling.  So we decide to go for it and bid on the property.

Aerial view of the property.  The trees on the bottom of the cleared meadows and above the meadow  are the property lines.

The story behind the property was the family was selling it because their father passed away 6 months ago in a tractor accident.  On the way to the auction we're both nervous and excited.  Tom a little more excited than me.  I am just scared.  The auction starts and our property is number 3.  The bidding starts high around $150,000 and nobody bites.  Then it drops some, still no bites.  Finally someone puts a bid in at $40,000.  That goes for a bit and it sits at 50,000.  We put in a bid at 60,000.  The next bid hits at 65,000.00 we bid at 67,000.00.  Another bid at 70,000.00.  Our limit is fast approaching....

We bid 71,000.00 another bid for 72,000.00  we throw in a bid at 75,000.00 it stays.  The other bidders are out.  I am thinking Oh my gosh we're going to get this.  It stays there.  My heart is beating in my chest and my ears.  I almost can't hear what's happening.  We are going to own this.  The bid assistants are pushing the other bidder to bid just a little more.  But he declines.  Everything starts to move in slow motion.  It seems quiet except for the auctioneer doing his thing.

Then bang back to reality I hear a bid for $80,000.00.  My head is pulled back to the sounds of the auction.  The bid assistant is trying to get us to bid more.  Tom and I both say no.  That was our limit, no more than that.  They try to push us and push. We say no and I put the card away.  The property is sold to someone else.   The auction continues and we move on.

Reflecting back we both pleased and a little disappointed we didn't get it.  Deciding it all happened too fast to really have done the research needed to buy it.  If it had been a super deal then it would have paid to it and resell it.  But we did what we could and didn't want to risk any more than that.

Now we keep looking and we know the right one will come along.  We'll know when we see it and that place will feel right.

Off to explore more of Tennessee.

Hey Asheville North Carolina ....We're back !!!

Tom caught some final images of Atlantic City New Jersey in the last few days we were there

What's left of part of the Boardwalk

This area is missing it's Boardwalk

I don't think this person got the evacuation order.

Now we move on....

Our travels have brought us back to a place we love, Asheville, NC.  We really loved this area when we were here last time and thought it would be a great place to decompress after almost 3 months of being kind of on the go.

We left New Jersey on November 26th and traveled through Maryland stopping briefly when we found a wildlife refuge with what else  Bald Eagles for Tom to photograph. This place is number 8 on the top ten list for the US to see Eagles.  We didn't see many as their migration is still in the beginning stage but Tom was able to catch a beautiful sunset and a couple of Bald Eagles.

They were sitting on some kind of food.

After leaving we went South on the 13 and took the RV over and under the Chesapeake Bay.

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel(CBBT) is a 23-mile (37 km) long fixed linkcrossing the mouth of the Chesapeake Bayand connecting the Delmarva Peninsula'sEastern Shore of Virginia with Virginia Beachand the metropolitan area of Hampton Roads, Virginia. It replaced vehicle ferry services which operated from South Hampton Roads and from the Virginia Peninsula from the 1930s until completion of the bridge-tunnel in 1964.

This is why they need a tunnel.

Let's just say driving 20 miles in the RV over water and in tunnels is a bit unnerving.  The tunnel was quite small or it felt that way.  The lights and railing flying past my side of the coach at 55 miles per hour mad for a bit a tense ride in the tunnel.  Tom kept it very steady.  

After making it through we made our way to North Carolina and to Rutledge Lake RV Park.  

http://www.campingnorthcarolina.com/

Coffee and Sam have a great place here in the woods to fun around off lease.  They chase squirrels and can sniff their little hearts out.  

Since we like this area so much we decided to look around for some property to buy.  Not sure if we will make that plunge but if we do, we plan on having it be someplace where we can go to be away from the busy world.  There will be a place for our RV friends to come and hook up also.  Those of you who don't have an RV we'll figure out a way for you to come visit too.  Right now we've decided on Eastern Tennessee.  We'll keep you posted.  This will not mean we'll stop traveling though.

Thanks for coming along on our journey.  Happy Holidays.

Check out The Biltmore at Christmas...

http://www.biltmore.com/media/photo-gallery.asp?cat_id=14

Good Bye New Jersey and Stay Strong....

Today we leave New Jersey as I stated we were released from deployment.  I am happy and bitter now.  We helped some and dangled a carrot of help to others, no thanks to our government.  These people will be rebuilding for years.  A disaster like this brings out the good and the bad in many.  Communities and neighborhoods have come together which is so wonderful to see.  Tempers are beginning to flare in some places as patience is running thin.  No power or heat in some of the hardest hit homes.  People living in hotels for the foreseeable future. Some looting over the Thanksgiving holiday.  Not much more Tom and I can do here so we head south to little warmer weather.  Here a my last images of Superstorm Sandy....

This is the area I worked.  The storm broke through here and that is what caused the catastrophic flooding in the area.  We could not go out this far.  My area we just before the bridge on the way out to the Island.  I found this on the internet to show where the storm broke through.

At the end of the road in Manoloking. 

The roller coaster....

Bye New Jersey...you offered us quite and adventure.  We are tired and ready to move on.  Next photos will hopefully be of some Eagles and our travels through Maryland and Virginia while we head to North Carolina...

Living through a Nor'easter.....

As part of our adventure we can now say we have experienced a Nor'easter.  It was cold, snowy and rainy.  Our roads were closed and it slowed our production down while we were here.  But all in all the Nor'easter wasn't so bad. 

The campground we were in the morning after the Nor'easter. 

The tree branch which came down and blocked the door.  I had to maneuver around it to get out.  The blue car is a rental.  Just missed the RV and that car.  I tried to pull it out but it was way too heavy.

The Hummer was not so lucky. This giant branch came down and took off the passenger mirror.  If you look on top of the Hummer another branch came down on the roof leaving us a nice little dent.  

Another view of the branch which came down.

After this by weeks end we were in the upper 60's.  Mother Nature is very mad at us.  This weather is crazy !!!  

Sorry for the delay in posting.  We'll try to get out now and get some pictures posted of the area.  

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.  

The Jersey Shore Update

Depending on who you talk to was it a Hurricane or a Super Storm.  Doesn't really matter to this person because they lost everything.  

The mass devastation in this area leaves my head spinning.  I can't seem to get my brain to comprehend what these people have lost and the immense suffering that will continue to go on long after Tom and I are gone.  Through it all they have kept their heads up high and been very kind to us as we did our jobs to get them the assistance they needed so much from FEMA.  In the first week the money was coming fast and furious. People were getting help within days of their inspections reaching FEMA.  Maybe it's coincidence, I think not, but after the election the money has dwindled and all but stopped.  Applicants have contacted me and told me they were denied and wanted to know why.  I have no answer as we are simply the collectors of information on their damages and then we submit that to FEMA.  

As the days rolled by and inspections came in we continued our working thinking we were helping.  All the while actually giving people hope of some help only to have it snatched away by big brother.  (I am a bit bitter).  

Based on the applications we were told were coming in we thought we'd be here for at least a couple of months.  The total applications are some where around 300,000.  

This boat was at a dock behind this house on the street.  I have seen many of these. 

We decided to move south to be closer to Tom's area because he was commuting almost an hour each way every day.  So we left the campground this past Monday 11-19-12, where we had paid for a full month without a refund and booked a month about 35 miles south in a place called Bayville, NJ.  We left to do our inspections and upon our return that evening Tom got the call he was released.  Anger, disappointment and sadness does not even describe the full depth of my feelings.   So many more people needed our help.  That's when things began to unravel.  We came to realize that inspections were being held by FEMA until insurance companies made up their minds what they were going to pay.    The sad part about that is that insurance companies are either not paying, not paying much (depending on the policy), taking months to even inspect properties or not calling these poor people back.  So everything is grinding to a halt.  

I pumped out as many inspections as I could yesterday hoping I would get more only to get a call last evening that I was released and I needed to send in any inspections which I had not scheduled.   

Tom went to the office and talked to the owners who were understanding and are now only charging us for a week and we will be leaving here Sunday.  

We have cried with people hearing their stories of riding out the storm, waking up in the night to find 2 feet of more of water on the first floor of their homes, and coming back after the storm to find their lives drowned in contaminated muddy sea water.  The smell in some homes was unreal.  Talking with people who found their photos floating, heirloom furniture completely destroyed, and new remodels just finished all turned to trash.  

One lady found out she had breast cancer the Friday before the storm, was told she had to surgery quickly for it and then lost her entire home all in 3 days.  The tears were plentiful that day.  

Many have terrific attitudes and don't want to take more than they need to get back on their feet.  They just need a little push and that's what we thought we were doing.  I am disappointed and I don't think I can do this again unless it's on a level of simply helping out on a volunteer capacity.

We worked hard and helped some I know.  I wish we could have helped more. These communities are coming together and working together to rebuild.  My heart goes out to New Jersey and the Jersey Shore.  

Don't mess with this neighborhood.

3 1/2 Days and 2100 miles for Deployment to New Jersey

Our trip East started in Rathdrum Idaho on Tuesday afternoon.  We handled our business and appointments quickly and visited my brother and his family.  The first leg of our journey took us through  the pan handle of Idaho and across much of Montana before we turned south and stopped for the night in Wyoming.  Tom did a marathon run that night driving the whole way.

The next day was a long trip across South Dakota and Iowa.  While we were driving we found a generator repair facility in Illinois to have our generator serviced.  With no power in the east we knew our generator was going to need to be used and lately we have had some issues with it turning of and sounding a little labored.  While we went to have lunch the repair facility got us in.  

Upon our return we found out a mouse had set up resort living in the air filter of the generator.  This little pest had gotten into some paper towels and dog food from the under compartments.  The repair guy said it was packed pretty tight around the air filter so the generator couldn't breath.  We'd had 2 mice underneath from Maine but had caught them while up there and all was clear now.  We'll be keeping traps out on a regular basis now.  

We traded driving and had pit stops to walk the dogs and cat box the cats.  We arrived 30 miles inside the Pennsylvania border at 2:30 am Friday morning.  Now with 3 hours sleep we do the final leg.  Everyone will be happy when this bus is parked and set up again ready for living.  

Our final destination will be just Claymont, Delaware to find out where in New Jersey we will be deployed for assistance.  

We'll keep you updated as more details come available.  

The Road Back to the East Coast Begins

As I sit here watching the drifting snowflakes fall on the black tar parking lot we spent the night in I am surprised how far we have come to now be turned around brought back to the East.  We are in Butte Montana this AM after leaving Salt Lake City yesterday afternoon.  While in Salt Lake Tom was recovering from a strained muscle to his back and I was on the down hill side of a cold.  Upon further reflection while there we thought maybe we should have stayed in Vegas where it was warm.  Especially when I woke up one morning to find 3" of snow on the ground.  But we took it in stride and enjoyed the fluffy white stuff for now.

We planned to stay a few more days in Salt Lake City to explore and go to the genealogy library the Mormons have there.  It quite a place.  But alas we did not make it to the library because of a weather system named Sandy on the East Coast.  Maybe you've heard of it by now.

Well being the FEMA inspectors we are the emails started coming in about the possibility of being ready.  Then we got the email which asks us to be put on stand by, when we didn't respond fast enough Tom got a call.  So we are on on Stand By for whenever and wherever this monster hits.  For now it's New York but that could change.  

Well we really need to get to Idaho and our stuff packed away in our truck.  There are some things we don't need on the RV and some we do.  That was the plan to swap out.  So off we go to Idaho and plan on being there for a few days until this thing hits and we see how big it will be.  With the loses to be in the billions we could see work for a whole lot longer than we did for Hurricane Issac.

I guess we'll have a white Christmas this year on the East side of the country.  Not quite what we expected but that's what makes this a great adventure.

Thanks for coming along.

Please go Vote !!!

UPDATE Since Sedona

Since our last post in Sedona we have been a little busy.

We went to Arizona and visited with Tom's kids and grand kids.  Which was a lot of fun.  Although very hot.  The temps stayed in the high 90's for most of that week.  But it was a dry heat as they say.

Leaving Arizona we headed to California on Monday October 1.  Our drive turned out to be a very warm ride.  The desert was a toasty 115 by the time we arrived in Palm Springs.  We had 3 AC's going with fans blowing the air around.  That was simply not enough to keep up with the heat and we were about 85 inside the coach.  Arriving in Anaheim near Disneyland the temps were still around 100.  The coach took about a day to cool off completely.

We spent the week visiting friends, our old neighborhood and handling business.  All in all a busy but fun week.  We don't miss California at all.  The busy pressure cooker of Los Angeles made us both anxious and ready to leave.

After a week we were more than finished and headed to Tehachapi to visit with my nephew Steve and his family and to see my mom.

Leaving there we headed to Vegas for what we thought would be a couple of days but instead we stayed 10 days.  I was able to hang out with my sister and we had some fun.  But ...WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS STAYED IN VEGAS !!!

I can't break my promise but safe to say it was a Wild Time !!!

Headed now to Salt Lake City...

I'll post some pictures soon.  Thanks for coming along.

Sedona Arizona beauty beyond description

A slide show of Tom's photography of the area is coming.  He is currently working on that should be a couple of days as he is a perfectionist.  These images are from my iphone.  We head South to Phoenix tomorrow.

Tom is scoping out the perfect shot.  Telling me the Sherpa what to get from the car.    

From Vermont to Niagara Falls then South and Why

I'll post some places we went to after Vermont and give an update on where we've been and where we are now.   So get your favorite drink and sit back this could be a lengthy post.  

We left the beautiful green of Vermont with the intent of heading West to Idaho along the Northern Route of the US.  Driving across upstate New York was beautiful and I had no idea they grew so much corn and soybeans up there.  Most if not all GMO because it had the name of the seed supplier by the crops.  If you know anything about me you know how I despise GMO's and Monsanto.  But that's for another time and place so I won't go on my rant about how bad they are for you and cause tumors, cancer and organ damage.  

Onto Niagara Falls which was amazing and beautiful.  The day was warm and it was crowded but the falls gave me a better understanding of this planet's power.  We are so small compared to this.  

From the Maiden of the Mist Boat

Above the Falls

From the Canada side.

Beautiful rainbow.

We moved through the state of  New York in just a few days with our goal being Indiana to have few things done on the coach.  If you'll remember last November we were there for a long time having some work done.  This time we needed the desk we had made and installed last year fixed because it was causing the counter top on the kitchen counter to raise up when the slide came in.  Well the shop who did the work was out of business, (shocker), so we went to another place recommended to us.  We were there only 6 days and had the work done, almost.  There is more that needs to be done to the slide but that's for another time.

After leaving there we went to FT Wayne Indiana, why do ask would we go there and not head West.  Well we have become FEMA housing inspectors in our travels.  It's an as needed kind of job.  When there is a disaster in our country like tornadoes, hurricanes, flood or earthquakes we go in and help people who fill out applications for assistance.  

There was a little hurricane which came through around this time if you'll remember named Issac.  We were notified that we were on Stand by to go to Florida possibly and then it changed to Louisiana.  So we headed South.  

When we got to Ft Wayne we saw a coach just like ours (which never happens) and met some really nice people Terry and Kathy who live in Texas.  They were headed south also to go home.  So on our travels south we stop in Lexington Kentucky to cool our heals for a day or so while Issac did his business over the southern states.  While there one of our 3 AC units on the coach went bang and filled the front of the living area with a vapor.  We knew we were in trouble since it was in the high 90's going into Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana.  Tom scrambled to find an AC unit where we were.  Turns out they were manufactured in the town where we just had our work done on the coach.  If only it could have broken a few days earlier.  We made arrangements for one to be shipped to North East Louisiana and to have it installed the day after Labor Day.  All was well, although hot with only 2 AC units, as we made our way South and hooked up with Terry and Kathy again in Tunica Mississippi on Thursday before the weekend.  

As we had moved south we prepared ourselves to go in and do our job in Louisiana by getting rain boots, measuring devices,  and stocking up on food in case there was a problem in the grocery stores.  We sat and watched the storm moving it way up and around.  Then on Saturday evening we got the call to come to New Orleans and we had to be there on Monday.  Oh no, we had an appointment for the AC to be installed on Tuesday.  This was not going to work.  We bit the bullet and went to New Orleans without the AC being installed, knowing we were going to have to have it shipped which meant more money.   

These are photos taken from the RV as we moved into the city:

We made our way south to New Orleans and finding the last 50 amp RV site in town, so we were told, moved into a rough neighborhood just east of downtown.  It was basically a narrow parking lot.  I would have had trouble parking a large truck in here but Tom parked the RV like champ with just 2 turns and he was in.  We were clearly the biggest thing in there. The weather was hot and sticky.  Our clothes stuck to us.  It was 98 but felt like 118.   We did our best to keep the coach as cool as possible by putting fans out to move the air around.  We were able to keep it around 84 inside.  The dogs seemed to be okay with it.  

While in this lovely balmy environment we found a hitchiker who we think wanted out of the park or New Orleans and thought he might hide in our shower to keep cool and wet.  I found him one night when I was ready to shower.  When I touched him he jumped as high as my face and looked me square in the eye.  I screamed and it was something out of a sit com because I was in the shower with the door closed and a frog jumping up and down.  Sometimes landing on my legs or on the wall next to me.  It was actually pretty funny after a few seconds.  I started to laugh thinking of the absurdity of me screaming with this silly little frog who was probably more scared of me than I was of it.  Tom caught it and took it outside to the little pool area where he released it. 

White Lipped Frog

On Monday we arrived at our first meeting and received our equipment.  It took a while for them to get everyone settled and finally around 10 pm we got our first applicants.  Tom got 24 and I got 20.  The next day we headed out to do our job.  Simply verifying the information on their applications.  We did this for about 5 days in some questionable neighborhoods.   But we got to help some people who needed it and some who did not.  While there we were able to get our AC and have it installed but it took until Friday.  Which was good because we were moved to Ponchatoula Louisiana, North of New Orleans.  This was good because we got to get the coach out of that dirty place and into a real campground.  Here we worked for another 5 days with about 45 applications between the two of us.  

Then were told there were no more applications so our time was up.  We were both a little disappointed and wanted to work longer but it seemed there wasn't the assistance given with Katrina so many people were not applying like before.  We made some money and paid for our AC, some fuel and our expenses.   This brings us to September 15th when we left Louisiana and were happy we did.  

Since we were now in the South it didn't make sense to us to head North to get to Idaho without stopping in Texas to see a couple of cousins on Tom's side.   We had a great time visiting and catching up with Larry and George.  After this we moved North and stopped at our new friend's Terry and Kathy's place outside of Ft Worth Texas.  Where Tom got these great shots.  Although I didn't like the whole killing the chicken scene it was nature and I have to respect it. 

Now we have left Texas traveled through New Mexico and have arrived in Camp Verde Arizona as of this writing today Sept 23.  We'll be going to Phoenix tomorrow to see the grand kids and then onto California to catch up with our friends there.  

Hope you enjoyed the update.  Photos of Sedona in the next post are from yesterday.  Now I am caught up and will keep the blog updated.  Thanks for joining us on our adventure. 

Peace...