New RV & Big Trip - April 20, 2012 - July 10, 2012

April 20, 2012 - May 4, 2012

Returned to the home area for more time with family before heading out on what we are calling the "Big Trip". And guess what? We bought a larger RV - a 2012 Jayco Eagle 5th wheel and enlisted our kids help to “move“. Moving all of our worldly possessions from a 27' to a 40' - took more effort than you can imagine even though it was just steps between the two rigs! Couldn't have done it without Sara and Mac’s help! So, the big dream is a reality - we are full-time RV'ers and about to set off on what‘s to be the first of (I hope) many big trips!

Here is a bit of a bullet-point recap of some of the things we did.  We drove 8,199 miles!  Diesel averaged $3.76 per gallon and we averaged 12.7 mpg.  With club discounts, etc. we averaged paying about $25.00 per night for camping - sometimes in lovely campgrounds with palm trees and pools and once with painted tires used to enchance landscaping!  I don't have photos of some sights and people (I often forgot to take pictures being "in the moment") but the memories are going to last a lifetime.  Visiting grand destinations doesn't begin to compare to the time spent with family and friends - those are the most precious memories!

May 4, 2012 - July 10, 2012 - The Big Trip

• Galveston, TX - Visit my favorite sister & brother-in-law
• Seguin, TX - Visit friend, Liz
• Brownfield/Slaton/Seminole/Wellman/Lubbock, TX - Visit Larry's family & friends 
• Tombstone, AZ - Realistic re-enactment of the Shoot-Out at the O.K. Corral
• South Rim - Grand Canyon
• North Rim - Grand Canyon
• Merced/Atwater/Lincoln/Watsonville, CA - Visit cousins and aunts and their families
• San Francisco/Golden Gate Bridge - Arrival of my brother
• Yosemite National Park
• Lake Tahoe, CA
• Petaluma/Sonoma & Napa Valleys
• Bodega Bay/Bodega, CA - site of Alfred Hitchcock's filming of The Birds
• California Coastline - stunningly beautiful!
• Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve
• The Petrified Forest, Calistoga, CA
• Sequoia National Park
• Las Vegas, NV
• Hoover Dam
• Cloudcroft, NM
• Hobbs, NM - visit nephew and family
• Brownfield, TX - visit Larry's Dad, family & friends 
• Brownwood, Texas - great Underwood's BBQ
• Adler, TX - no it's not a real place but it's a Top destination - Grandson City!

Again, a few photos:

Travel day in new Jayco

Shoot out at the O.K. Corral

Grand Canyon





Grand Canyon hellicopter ride



Brother, aunts & cousin







Cousins

Golden Gate Bridge - 75th anniversary

Old family photo of Golden Gate Bridge - 1966

Wine Tour

Beautiful California Coastline



Romantic!



Schoolhouse & Church featured in "The Birds"

My meeting with Alfred Hitchcock





Cousin & wife

Armstrong Redwoods

Sequoia

More giant sequoias

Las Vegas, NV

Relaxing!

Cloudcroft, NM nesting hummingbird

Let's keep in touch!

Grandson City events