Visitors and Views

We have had a fun couple of weeks here in the Moab area. First off our daughter Kendra and her friend Derian drove down from Fargo, ND. for a visit. We took them on some hikes and also to Canyonlands National Park and Arches National Park.

                                                         Island in the Sky, Canyonlands

At Arches

We took them on the Moab Rim hike and the hike to Delicate Arch. Then the weather turned sour on us and so we just kind of hung out for a couple of days while it rained and rained. So after there visit Lisa and I did the hike to the Hidden Valley. That was pretty amazing and very strenuous.

Hidden Valley

Then Lisa's sister Heidi and her son Nyle drove over to visit.

Thier cute little camper van

So we did a few more hike. The portal overlook which has a great view of Moab  and also to the fantastic hike at Fisher Tower. That would have to be my favorite so far. It is unbelievable  how the scenery changes just a few miles away from Moab.

Fisher tower

Heidi and Nyle stayed 2 days and then headed back home to Steamboat Springs. Then the rains hit us again so we have been inside catching up on other things. Good news though, We applied for a job at Amozon and we got it. That will start in September and shall be quite challenging in its own right.

So that is our life for the last 2 weeks. Lot's of hiking and visiting with family. Evan though our time with people may be short, the quality of the visits is much better.

Till the next adventure.

The Genie is out of the bottle

We quit (notice I didn't say retire) our jobs April 4th 2014. That was the start of our whirlwind of a year we had. I say whirlwind because it went so fast and so much happened. Deep breath, here we go.

I had a big 50th birthday party/going away party April 5th at our house. Then we went to Florida for a week with my daughter and her friend. They thought that they wanted to move there but later on changed thier minds. In the middle of April We went on a 3 week trip, heading to Tennessee for an RV Dreams rally. After the rally we headed up to Pennsylvania to see an old friend. Someone I hadn't seen or heard from in 30 years. We were roommates in the Air Force at Cannon AFB. We then headed home in May and put our house up for sale. It sold in 3 days.

So now we have to start the giant purge. Move our daughter into her new place. Garage sales. Craiglist items, donate stuff and get out of the sticks and bricks by July.

In August we finally hit the road for good. We slowly made our way south because the only plan we had was that we where going to spend our winter in Florida. We stayed at some very nice campgrounds in Missouri, Arkansas and Mississippi. In Florida we stayed at St. George Island which we just loved and then moved to Cedar Key. We liked Cedar Key a lot and came back later on. We stayed at Fort Wilderness on Disney property (bucket list item) and our kids then flew in and stayed with us for a week. That was Sept. Then back to Cedar Key for Oct. and Nov. We spent Dec. and Jan. in Debary Fl. , a week in Arcadia Fl. and then we started moving west for our first job in Moab Utah.

So that is our year in a nut shell. Of course we did quite a lot of stuff in those months and stayed in many cool campgrounds, but to go over it now would take to long to blog about it.

So now I hope to be able to explain our journey in more detail than I could have on Facebook. I hope you enjoy and maybe even discover new places in America that you may want to visit and explore. We can't wait for what we hope to find out there.

In the beginning.......

What possesses two moderately good looking people such as ourselves to want to sell our nice house and move into an RV with 350 Square feet of living space? We had good jobs, we have our health, a nice house in a good neighborhood, great kids (who need to discover thier own paths) and a community where we have lived nearly all our lives. Why? Well let me tell you.

Work first.
Our jobs where good. We came from the Fargo, ND. area of the country. The bad economy or recession never affected that area. So jobs were plentiful and not enough people to fill them. Cost of living is low. So no big incentive for company's to pay large wages. So we figured that if we ever had to get off the road, we could pick up where we left off in the job market. Also all the retirement benefits wasn't enough to keep us working until we turn 65. There's a chance you may not even make it till you retire. We just didn't want to be one of the millions of people to say"if only" or "what if?".

Health.
We are both healthy and want to stay that way. We figured that the RV lifestyle would be a healthier lifestyle for us. We love hiking and biking, and just being out in nature. Also we are at that age when a simple doctors visit could be life changing. Nobody knows how long they have  before somebody starts singing "Drop kick me Jesus through the goal post of life".

Our house.
Our house was a nice house. I did a lot of improvements to it. We raised two wonderful kids in it and has many fond memories. But in the end it is just 4 walls and memories go with you. They don't stay in the house if you leave it. Possessions are just that, possessions. Some people get so attached to thier things and can't imagine life without them. Not us.

Our kids.
Our kids are probably the biggest regret that we leave behind. But they are both great people and they need to spread thier wings on thier own. Sure, we could have kept our house and let them live in the basement but what good would that have been for either of them or ourselves. All it would have done is cause conflicts and resentments and that wouldn't benefit anyone. The quality of the time that we spend together now is 100% better than what it could have been. Mainly because we know it is limited.

Community and I am adding friends and family.
We could have stayed in our home, in our town only because it was familiar or comfortable. We have always been wanting to travel and see new things. Besides there are the frigid winters in Fargo. Its like living in the Arctic circle in the lower 48. Our friends and family will always be there for us and we for them. I hope. Everybody has thier own lives to live. And everybody has to live it the way they see fit.

So these are the reasons for why we should get out and travel. Experience new things, meet new people and explore this great big beautiful country of ours. There is so much out there that most people never see. We have been on the road for nearly a year now and we have seen so much and have met so many new people and have become good friends with some. Campers are some of the friendliest people you will find.

Next post will be of the last year that we spent on the road.

Step one was to get the blog started. Easy peasy compared to step two. Where to start. A lot of people when they start thier new life on the road they start blogging from day one. We didn't do that, we have been on the road for nearly a year now. So do I go back and start from the beginning or start from this point? When I say start from the beginning, I wouldn't go day by day, but rather a short synopsis of the last year. I don't want to bore you with tiny little details like the day I touched my first Armadillo or naming a Manatee Hugh. So just trying to get that figured out and also enjoying the time with our daughter Kendra and her friend Derian who drove down to visit us from Fargo ND.

This is a test. If this had been a real blog it would have been informative and maybe humorous. Trying to get this set up so that those people that think I should be blogging can have a place to read the adventures of the MNdrifters. Also I will have a better format of explaining our adventures, rather than posting on Facebook. I hope you will enjoy and if not don't read it. :-(