Business Travel and Maiden Voyage in our New Camper

I've been traveling a lot for business the past few weeks but last week I actually went somewhere besides Marietta, GA. I attended a conference in Salt Lake City, UT. It was absolutely gorgeous there in the Spring. The mountains surrounding the city were still capped with snow and the spring flowers were in bloom. Just beautiful.

My one treat for the week was visiting the Family History Library. It is the largest genealogy library in the world. Unfortunately, I didn't have nearly the enough time I wanted to spend there. And, also, I didn't score any major data that I was hoping for but enjoyed the research nonetheless.

Me outside of the Salt Lake City Temple

After I finished in the library, I took a tour of Temple Square. Of course, I never realized I had Mormons in my family tree until I started doing genealogy research. But, it was still an interesting tour to take even if a person doesn't have familial ties to the Mormon church. I even had my own personal tour guides. They got a laugh when I asked them if they were polygamists. :-) I knew that would get them going. I was glad they had a sense of humor.

Weekend Trip

I flew home last Friday and then drove to Cordele, GA, to meet Jeff, Rachel and Anna at Georgia Veterans State Park. It was our first trip with our new Fifth Wheel camper. We had a great time. The weather was beautiful and I was so happy to be back home with my family. On Saturday, we drove to Albany and visited the Flint River Aquarium. The girls also played at the river walk area in the water and at the playground before we returned back to Cordele.

We enjoyed a great weekend together. I'm happy to report I won't be traveling anywhere for business over the next three weeks. It's good to be back home.

Our New Tenement On Wheels

Our new 5th wheel camper doesn't have near the amenities that our Class A motorhome did, but it isn't too shabby either. There are four bunks in Rachel and Anna's bedroom. It has a lot of storage.
Jeff was nervous about driving it home but he didn't have any issues and he backed it into our driveway and backyard with no issues either.
I can't wait to go camping next weekend.
Unfortunately, I'm leaving again to go out of town for business again tomorrow. I'm flying to Salt Lake City tomorrow morning and will be gone all week. I'll be ready for a relaxing trip with the family when I get home.

One half of Rachel and Anna's Room

Kitchen area

The table and sofa also become beds if we needed extra sleeping space.


Exterior (has a grill and outside shower). Awning is not out in this picture.

Happy Easter

The resurrection gives my life meaning and direction and the opportunity to start over no matter what my circumstances. ~Robert Flatt

We wish our family and friends a happy and blessed Easter.

Spring Break 2009

It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.~~Alan Cohen

After much thought, we decided to put our RV up for sale. The reasons varied.

We haven't been able to go camping as often as we'd like so the investment was large compared to the utility of it. We've had it for almost 3 years and it was getting to be about time for routine maintenance...new tires, new batteries, etc. On a 40-foot RV, you can imagine that wasn't going to be cheap. And, the bigger reason was the floor plan. Now, that the girls are older, we desired a floor plan that provided some privacy for them. Having said all of that, we decided we loved camping too much to give it up all together but that we preferred to find an option to give us a better floor plan with less investment overall.

So, we put our RV up for sale just to see if we'd get any nibbles. And, we did. We sold it last Wednesday. In it's place, we planned to purchase a tow vehicle and either a fifth wheel or camper. We have already purchased the tow vehicle, a 2008 F-250 crew cab diesel pickup truck (So, we can still use "Stop and Smell the Diesel.") With all of the rebates, etc. we were able to purchase it at a great price. Jeff traded in his jeep at the same time so the truck will be his daily driving vehicle. We already have some ideas of the replacement we'll get for the RV but we've just got to find some time to go look and select it. That's been hard to do with me traveling so much for business as of late.

Jeff's New Truck

The negative about selling the RV when we did was that it almost hosed up our spring break plans. We had camping reservations at Top Sail Hill Preserve, Florida. Without a camper, those reservations weren't doing us much good. We would've just cancelled the trip but Gail and Harold, my mother-in-law and father-in-law, also planned to travel there and camp as well. So, we were left scrambling at the final hour trying to find a place to stay. We lucked out and found the perfect rental home located less than 1 mile from Top Sail. So, Jeff and I were able to ride our bikes to visit with Gail and Harold at the campground. And, the girls stayed with Harold and Gail most nights with Anna sleeping on the sofa in our cottage the final two nights. The cottage we stayed in was called the "Green Gecko." This little cottage was perfect for just two people. However, due to the cold weather, all of us congregated here several evenings to enjoy the hot tub and to cook dinner. I highly recommend renting from Bert, the lady who owns the property, if you're in need of a place convenient to the beach in the Santa Rosa Beach, FL, area.

The Green Gecko

Rachel and Anna holding puppies outside of Yoder's Gift Shop

We stopped for dinner at Yoder's in Montezuma, GA, on the way down to the panhandle. The food was yummy as always! Rachel and Anna enjoyed petting some puppies that they had outside for sale before we hit the road again. We drove back roads going to Florida and we were surprised by the number of roads closed due to flooding. It had been raining quite a bit in GA over the past couple of weeks but we didn't anticipate that. Luckily, it didn't slow our progress too much. Sadly, it appeared several families were flooded out of their homes.

Unfortunately, the weather never really warmed much while we were in Florida so we didn't get to enjoy the beach nearly as much as we'd hoped. We had one really good day, the day after we arrived. The remainder of the time was windy and cold. But, any day away from work is a good day so I'm not going to complain.

We all ate way too much. We especially enjoyed Miss Lucille's Gossip Parlor (coffee, pastries, ice cream, etc.) Although, Rachel and Anna were a bit put off by a sign that they read inside Miss Lucille's. But, that didn't stop them from wanting to go back the next night for ice cream again. It's a good thing we are all well behaved. :-)