During our time in Baltimore ,Jackie was looking for a job and negotiating so not to  have to pay COBRA insurance rates for 2 months at the tune of $700/month. She  compromised to start work December 11 and orient for 2 weeks and then have the week of Christmas off. So no Savannah and only 1 week with Jackie's parent's. But no COBRA insurance! That is what travel nursing is about being able to be flexible somewhat.

Then we spent 6 days in Virginia Beach seeing friends and doctors. We stayed at Jackie's friend Penny's the whole time. Since we would be in Virginia Beach we thought might as well see all our old doctor's Jackie still is having pain in the ankle she broke 1 year ago. Turns out it did not heal totally straight so bone rubs bone but as long as over the counter pain meds makes it tolerable we are doing nothing. We saw our church friends and friends from where both Rich and Jackie had worked.

On December 7th we left Virginia Beach to get back to Charlotte to pick up the trailer and get to Florida. We finished our packing  and ready to leave by 9am on the 8th. We had to check out and make sure everything was ready for the trip. We spent 1 night in south Georgia at the Jacksonville KOA. This campground in 1/2 mile from the Florida border. Sunday the 9th we stopped for about 2 hours in Flagler to say hi to Jackie's parent's. Then onto Fort Pierce Easy Living RV Park. Since we had not seen the campground any no one is in the office on Sundays we moved into the site they gave us #25.  On Monday we drove around finding where Jackie's work is and where groceries, Wal-mart and the bank are. On Tuesday Dec 11 while Jackie was working Rich moved us to site # 34. This site has a better sun orientation. Since we pay for our electricity we wanted to not have direct sun coming into our big side windows.

We met our neighbor Frank and Zienna. We think they are in their 70's. They use to live in Post St Lucie sold their house and moved into their motor home. They have had motor homes since the early 80's.  Rich likes having friendly neighbors. Saturday we will pack up again and go to Flagler Beach to spend the week near Jackie's parents .

Went to the Carolina Raptor Center where we saw many different Birds of Prey. We got there just in time to get educated on Owls.  This is one to the few center on the east coast that rehabilitates Birds of Prey that have been injured.  What I did not realize was that most of the injuries are from cars.  People throw food out the car window, rodents come looking to eat, and naturally the raptors feed on them, so when they swoop down for lunch they either run into a car or the car runs into them.  Since they do not know what a car is they do not think it is dangerous.  Well 2 weeks from now  Jackie will have complete her assignment . We will depart the Charlotte area and we will be on our way to Baltimore, VA Beach, Savannah, and Florida. Jackie does not have a next assignment as of this time but is looking for a position in Florida.

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As you can see we are in the mountains.  We went to Chimney Rock State Park, Lake Lure, and Great Smokey Mountains National Park.  We rented a 3 bedroom mobile home which allowed us to bring our dogs.  It was a bargain for $70 a night in the middle of nowhere but within 20 miles of everything we wanted to see.  Some friends of ours came from Asheville, NC to the little town of Chimney Rock to meet us for lunch.  They paid for lunch and we then took them on a boat ride on Lake Lure.  So you're wondering , what's special about Lake Lure, nothing really except it was the site of the movie Dirty Dancing starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey. This area is now being turned into an very expensive housing development. We were told they are building the club club house to look like in the movie. The Great Smokey Mountains National Park is a 33 mile stretch of road through the mountains that takes you from North Carolina to Tennessee.  

Today we headed about 60 miles north to the Statesville Balloon Festival.  We even packed up the furry children and off we went, luckily they did let us bring our dogs into the festival.  We got there at about 10am and there were just a few balloons giving folks a tethered ride up a 100 feet or so then back down.  They also had crafts, a dozen wineries, live music and a lot of food.  A couple of Jackie's co-workers showed up at noon and by that time no balloons were up.  We were wondering where they all were.  Then suddenly about 3pm it seemed folks were preparing to setup balloons everywhere.  Just click on the link above to see all of the balloons.  I was surprised just how fast they can get them ready to fly.  From the time they take the ballooon out of the bag, unroll it. blow air into to it, fill it with hot air, and finally take off take less then an hour.  There were 43 balloons that took off in about 1 hour.  Remember I said there was wine here, well Rich couldn't leave without buying a case.  Well next weekend we are off to the mountains

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We went camping at South Mountains State Park. We decided to get away for few days and by the way there is no RV camping at this park.  In fact there are no water, electric hook ups and the potty facilities are pit toilets. Just click on the picture above to see more.  The park has 40 miles of trails and a beautiful waterfall.  Me, Jackie and the 2 furry kids went on what I thought was going to be a 2 mile stroll in the woods.  Ended up being about a 5 mile hike uphill about 1500 feet and of course back down a staircase with several hundred steps.  To say the least when we got back boy did that cold beer taste good as did the next 7 or 8 but who's counting.  Were we sore the next day.  We did hunt down a couple of wineries the first day and bought 10 bottles  so now Jackie has wine to get her through till we leave NC, maybe.  Sometime next month we will be heading north about 50 mills for a balloon festival.

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We have left Texas. We had only planned to spend 3 1/2 months but stayed from Jan 17 until today .1 day shy of 7 months! We drove 300 miles to Monroe Louisiana. Stayed at Pavilion RV Park.  Park did have cable TV and a pool. Was on Lake Katherine. The park had a funny smell. Was very convenient right off I 20. We didn't even unhook for the night. Temp 100 today

We left Austin about 10am and headed for the Dallas area to see Kris and Jimmy, We are staying at a Arlington Texas Campground called Treetop RV Park. Nice park lots of shady trees. Nice big pull-through site. Went swimming in the pool before heading to  see Kristen at her job, Big Johnson's Beer Garden and had dinner with Jimmy in between his poker playing We had excellent food there. Getting hotter in Texas 104 degrees Of course we are shaded so it was 96 in the shade.

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08-12-2007

Saturday August 11: First of all Happy birthday Barbara Burck!                                                                                             Becky graduated with her Master's Degree with emphasis on finance from St. Edward University. What a happy day for her. We walked around the campus some. It is very hot now in Austin now. We have had no rain in over a week and it has reached above the normal high. We went out to lunch to a restaurant named North by Northwest to celebrate with Becky, Aaron, Jeff (Becky's dad) and his family along with Becky's friends Marina, Alex , and Sarah. A very nice lunch was had by all. Saturday evening we thought we would go to see the Congress Avenue bats but because of all the rain we were told they do not come out until after dark for some reason. We had drinks and appetizers at TGIF's and really could not see the bats in the dark. We then went to a favorite restaurant of Becky and Aaron called Zax's and had a wonderful dinner.

Sunday we met Becky and Aaron and a well known place BBQ placed called STUBBS for a Gospel brunch. Good music, good company , good food. Rich then went home to finish packing. Jackie went out with Becky for some mom and daughter time. We went to the Austin Museum of Art to see a photography exhibit.  We ran into a co-worker of Jackie's from DCMCCT at the museum. Austin has become a small world! We then went to the South Congress area of Austin better know as the Bohemian or Hippy section of Austin. Part of the Keep Austin Weird culture! That is what they say around her. Keep Austin Weird. It hit 100 degree for the first time this summer . It is time for us to leave Texas.

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 Jackie extended her contract to work 1 more week. 

On Friday we went to Lakeline mall to find Jackie something to where to Becky's graduation .Kim from work had  Angie and us along with Becky over for a small going away party. 

Saturday, Kevin and Robin were here at the park and they had us over for a very delicious dinner and we introduced them to Ladder Golf. On Sunday, we cleaned and packed some more and  made our list for stuff we need to do before leaving on the 13th.

We finally had a week of very little rain. The temperature here is still below normal.

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Friday our day off together we went grocery shopping and really did nothing is was raining. 

Okay here are some Austin summer statistics: This summer is the wettest since1943. It has rained 34 out of the last 38 days. This is 38th day that is has been cooler then normal. We have not had a single day over 94 and usually there are at least 20 days over 100 degrees. This is the 2nd wettest summer ever on record. 

Saturday we went to Three Dudes Winery  for a Texas barbeque . We always enjoy going there.

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Friday we decided to do a sightseeing day again. We went to New Braunfels, which is near San Antonio,  to Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch. This is a ranch that has been in the same for family for over 100 years. Since 1984 It has been the home for many exotic and native animal species. You drive in your vehicle through different areas as if you were on a safari. You are given a bag of food as you enter to feed the animals . Many animals walk freely through different areas. You are not suppose to hand feed the animals but to drop the food on the ground. We did not want the animals putting their heads in our truck so we did as instructed. The Zebra's, Bison,  many goats and especially the Ostriches try to put their heads right inside your car to get to the food. They also have a walk around area where we saw a male peacock strutting his stuff. The donkeys and giraffes were behind a separate area to prevent the public from being injured from these sometimes very aggressive animals. There is also a petting zoo for the little ones. We did not go to the petting area.  We then headed to San Marcos to a place called Wonder World. There are 4 area to this park and not something we would recommend for a must see while in the area. The entire area is led by a guide. Most of the guides are from the local college Texas Sate University. We started our tour with a tour of Wonder Cave, This cave was created by a 3.5 minute earthquake 30 million years ago. It produced the Balcones Fault, an 1,800 mile line separating the western Hill Country from the flat eastern farmland. Inside the cave you can see the actual crack in the 2 land masses. You can touch all the surfaces because it is not a "living" cave. Snookie ,you would have hated this cave it had many tight spaces. At the end of the cave tour you took an elevator ride up a tower. You can then finish climbing to the top of the tower and see what we were told was the contrasting terrain produced by the Balcones Fault. We guess because of all the trees we did not think the terrain was all that different. From there we took the elevator back down to the "Anti-Gravity House". This is a structure with a slanted floor that gives you feeling of leaning backward. They create an illusion of water appearing to run "uphill". The 4th and final part of the tour which as we stated before had to be totally guided is a miniature train ride to a "petting" zoo. You could get food to feed deer and turkeys the petting part of the train ride. We did see many baby deer there. 

Friday we saw Kevin and Robin again. They brought their motor home to the park again. This time they had the site right next to us. Saturday night we planned a campfire. We had gotten citronella oil and candles to try to keep the big bad bugs away. We got our fire going and put the fan out to keep the air moving also to keep the big bad bugs away. Robin invited us over for dinner. Rich made a salad. We had a nice dinner and while we were eating the sky opened up for a hard down pour! There went our fire plan. The fire kept going but our chairs were all wet.

Sunday we went to see Becky. We went out to lunch. Then went to the Container store looking for a new container for the dogs food. They didn't have what we were looking for. We then went to Whole Foods ,a grocery store that has wonderful produce and fresh meat. We took Becky back home and picked up Lucy her poodle to keep for the week while her and Aaron are away this week at Aaron's family reunion.

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07-08-2007

Jackie contacted her recruiter Kristen @ NOVAPro to start looking for a position to begin the end of August since she only has 5 weeks left on this contract. We were thinking of either New England or somewhere close to Baltimore. Jackie's nursing license is good in 20 states so she wanted to work in a state where she does not need to get a new license. New Hampshire, Maine, Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and both Carolinas are all states her license is valid. With her company she can do a search of where there are positions available. When we looked we chose either New Hampshire or North Carolina. There are jobs in Baltimore, Washington D.C., and 1 in Falls Church, Virginia but after checking there are no campgrounds near any of those places. We then looked into campgrounds in New Hampshire and found most close October 15. This would not work since her contract will go until the end of November. We did find one campground 30 miles from the hospital and we called to enquire about the climate in November and found it snows usually by the middle of November. Jackie does not want to drive 30 miles each way in the snow. So we asked Kristen to submit her for a position at a hospital near Charlotte NC. Since it was 4th of July week, Kristen did not feel that we would hear back until next week but that was not the case. Within 2 hours of being submitted Jackie interviewed via a 45minute phone interview and was offered the position at the end of the interview. Jackie will start working at Carolinas Health System Pineville Hospital August 27th. She will work four 10 hour days a week. No on-call. This hospital is south of Charlotte NC and 6 miles north of South Carolina. WOW so from the time she asked to go to NC in 2hours we found out that will be our next "home". Rich is now in the progresses of finding us a place to park our home. 

We drove to Lake Hills Texas about 2.5 hours away to tour a Thousand Trails camping club. It is a very good concept for someone who is not working and traveling. There are 81 camping preserves in the program with other affiliate parks but unfortunately this will not work for us. We stopped in San Marcos at the outlets again. They have a Coleman store and a Yankee Candle Outlet that we love to stop at. Jackie can never have to many candles. Her favorite are tart  burners.

Robin and Kevin are here at the park again and we are glad to have friend so close! This week Rich installed a new kitchen faucet the kind with the pull-out sprayer and new shower head in the bathroom. He also checked the hot water heater anode and found it totally gone. For anyone who does not know this protects the hot water heater from getting corroded and dying before its time. Rich will need to check this item more often. We really love the new plumbing fixtures! It has rained everyday for as long time. We would love to have a day of sunshine. Not just 1-2 hours in a week.

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06-18-2007

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06-24-2007

We went fishing on Tuesday we knew they stocked Onion Creek with catfish last week. we caught 0.  Then on Friday we went again this time to the lower falls area and Jackie caught 2 catfish with a combined weight of almost 7 lbs. We were told they were not the ones stocked the week before. We used pepperoni for bait as suggested by Tyler a volunteer at the hospital. We went fishing again Saturday and Rich caught 4 small catfish and 3 turtles one being a very big turtle . Jackie this day caught none, Kevin and Robin who we talked about earlier bought a 37 foot motor home and came to stay at the park where we live . We are meeting new friends here. We made them quiche for breakfast . Their 1999 37 ft Dolphin motor home is very nice and we think they did good. They are coming back next weekend. Rich and I have both last 10 lbs. A good beginning.

06-11-2007

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 06-17-2007

Work for Jackie has been getting much busier. Sicker patients. She does like having 4 days a week off. One day from 700am to 745pm she only had 30 minutes of not taking care of patients. She worked over 1 hour to help the staff. She still really likes working there. They are short staffed with the upcoming move.  Last week at church no one knew what time the vet was coming so we arrived at 11am and the vet did not come until 2pm so we went back home for a little bit, The dogs got all their shot updated for $15.00 per dog. they also had some awesome Bar B Q sandwiches. Jackie got her hair trimmed and highlighted and got another 90 minute massage . Rich worked on the Web page again. Still not up and running. Will we ever make it to the internet that is a question everyone is asking Rich. Jackie finished crocheting a blanket for her recruiter Kristen who is having a baby girl. 

06-04-2007

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06-10-2007

 Jackie worked 6 days straight. 60 hours total. She does not like working those long hours. Jackie spent a day with Rebecca. They went to movies to see Knocked Up but 1/3 through the movie there was sound problems so they got their money back . They went shopping and then back to Becky's to watch Dream Girls. We tried a new church down south about 15 miles in Niederwald, Texas Trinity United Church of Christ. They has a guest speaker who caused much controversy We like the church though. They are having a dog & cat vaccination day next weekend. The church is a beautiful little church with many stained glass windows.

05-28-2007

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06-03-2007

Still in Dallas Memorial Day. We won't be going home until the 29th.Went to the Dallas  Natural Science Museum and saw the exhibit Body Worlds. This is a very unusually exhibit that real bodies go through a process called plastination and show all the inner workings of the body both healthy and diseased. It was not what we excepted. The muscles looked like beef jerky we expected them to look more real. Went to the 50 cent movie with Jimmy and Kris and saw Premonition with Sandra Bullock. It was a strange movie. We got home and our house set back up with out problems. Jackie had orientation to the new hospital. It is beautiful. She also was on call and worked 12+ hours Saturday and 9.5 Sunday . They are looking forward to her 2 big pay checks.

05-21-2007

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We went to Dallas for Memorial Day weekend. Rich was able to find us a campground so we packed up our house and headed to Dallas. We stayed in Arlington which was about 30 minutes from Kristen and Jimmy and 60 minutes from Jackie's sister, Donna and her husband Greg's house. We had Jimmy and Kris over for dinner and Kristen would not eat chicken because her mother fed it to her to much when she was little per her. Others don't feel that way. But she did eat macaroni and cheese and had a cheese sandwich. For those who do not know Kristen she needs cheese on everything. We went again to the Dallas Farmer's market this time it was raining not snowing. We spent Sunday the 27th at Jackie's sister's house. Becky and Aaron , Jimmy and Kristen all came. A good time was had by all.

05-14-2007

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05-20-2007

Here at the park if the water is tested to be free of bad stuff you can swim/wade in Onion Creek. Unfortunately a child fell in the creek and could not swim and the dad drowned saving the child.  Kristen lost her job and has to move so we made an emergency trip to Dallas. We stayed at the Rodeway Inn. It was nice and  cheap  if need be we would stay there again. Kris was afraid if we came to help them move we would not come as planned next weekend  We moved them Friday came home Saturday. We are trying to lose weight. Rich has lost 5. I have lost 2.

05-07-2007

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05-13-2007

We took a mini vacation this week. We went to San Antonio. I got an internet deal on the Riverwalk Hilton for $100 a night. We went 1st to Sea World then to our hotel. It had a great view of the goings on the famous Riverwalk. Our hotel had a balcony that was right on Riverwalk. We went to the San Antonio Zoo. We found that the bus would pick us up not far from the hotel and we did not have to drive, By the way to park in San Antonio at the hotel was VERY expensive, We could park our big truck ourselves for $22.00 or they would park it for us for $35.00  per day! Well good thing we chose for them to park it. They could not get it into their garage so it stayed parked out front of the Hilton all weekend. We walked along Riverwalk and took and boat cruise along Riverwalk and walked to the Alamo. Yes her foot has finally healed she is walking all the time now without to much pain.

04-30-2007

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05-06-2007

Went to San Marcos to the outlets again and found a winery named Three Dudes. We really like their wine. especially their Texas White wine. We will be back for  the Crawfish Boil this weekend. We went to Fredericksburg and to many wineries. We walked around downtown. Fredericksburg is known for its German restaurants so of course we had to eat at one, named Altorphs spelling might be wrong. But good food. We spent Saturday at Three Dudes drinking wine and eating very delicious crawfish. It was a good party for one of the owner's birthdays. We kept Lucy again for Aaron and Becky they are going to South Padre Island and Corpus Christi. Becky and Aaron came back from South Padre Island very sunburned. Rich has new work hours and a different job. He is now working 6pm-10pm closing up the park  Sunday through Thursday evenings. He is still off Friday and Saturday. So it is nice since Jackie is also.

04-23-2007

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04-29-2007

Nothing much going on found a great massage therapist and Jackie got a well deserved 90 minute massage. She has been working some extra hours. We are babysitting Lucy the poodle this weekend We took a drive West to Lockhart State Park where there is a 9 hole golf course and went to Palmetto State Park that is known for its wetlands and Palmetto palms Ate at a Restaurant called Blacks known for its Texas Bar B Que. We tried to go to the Austin Farmer's Market but there was a race downtown and roads closed. We have been told this happens often. Bob and Snookie still stuck in East Texas so they will not be coming to see us. 

04-16-2007 

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04-22-2007

Bob and Snookie have been trying to come but they had a truck's engine spew oil all over their 5th wheel  and truck as they were heading into Texas on Interstate 10 so now they are stuck in east Texas to get their 5th wheel painted. We went to San Marcos to the outlets another cold raining day.  We got an email from a guy named Kevin who's wife, Robin works in the OR  where Jackie does and they want to find out about living in a RV and travel nursing. Had a cookout with Becky and Aaron steaks on the grill and somores. Jackie found out who Robin was at work and we met Robin and Kevin and talked for 4 hours about RVing and travel nursing. They want to buy a 5th wheel to.

04-9-2007

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04-15-2007

Hospital Jackie works at going to computer charting she has class for that. Something new again for her, She is learning so much new stuff. The temperature is some day's in the 70's some days in the 40's but raining most days

04-02-2007

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04-08-2007

We are trying to see something new almost every week . We went to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. The spring flowers here are really phenomenal. Nothing anything like it on the East Coast. It does rain often. Before we came Becky told us in rarely rains. Well the Burck's come to town  the drought ends! We went to Dallas to see Jimmy and Kris. Went to the Dallas Farmer's Market . It was very cold. In the 30 and snowing in Dallas. Rich bought Jackie a stained glass rose heart made from special Blenko glass.. Went to movies with them to see Meet the Robinson's in 3D. Becky and Aaron kept our furry friends so we had to pick them up before going home.

03-26-2007

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04-01-2007

 Nothing much going on . Helping Becky and Aaron with their house and working.  Jackie got the new her contract was extended until August 5 ,2007. The State Park says we can stay until then unless someone complains. Went downtown with Becky and Aaron on a double date saw the Austin Bats fly from under the Congress Avenue bridge and had dinner at Zax's. We were not a good position to see the bats really well and were a little late for the show. We will have to see them again before we leave here.

03-19-2007

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 03-25-2007

 Nothing really going on. Jackie was on call all weekend and got called in 2 times. Dianna ,Jackie's boss called to say she can stay at least for another month past April. But she is pushing for her to stay until the hospital moves to the new hospital the end of June.  Where she is working a new hospital is being built with much funding from Dell computers. The new hospital is being built about 5 miles from the old one. It is being built  to be as "green as possible" meaning environmentally friendly with rain collecting systems and solar panels creating enough electricity for it self and to share with the community. It will be the only one in the world or one of the few that has a Platinum rating for environmentally friendly..

03-13-2007

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03-18-2007

Rich got his schedule he will be off every weekend. Yea off the same days!!   Jackie is trying to extend her contract until August since Becky will graduate with her Master's degree. At her work 2 people have left so they are trying to get approval for her to stay. We hiked to the lower falls. It is really pretty here. Did some bike riding.

03-12-2007

Jackie spent her 51stt birthday working . Then we went out to dinner to Macaroni Grill where she was sang Happy Birthday in Italian. Well we guess that is what they sang. Correct tune anyway  Since her maiden name is Murphy she always says she is unlucky so Rich gave her a 4 leaf clover necklace that Rich had placed  pictures of them in it. and some chocolates that of course she loves!

03-05-2007

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03-11-2007

Rich has gotten  a position as a Camp Host at McKinney Falls State Park. This is volunteer position but gives us a beautiful place to live for his 20 hour week work. He is doing maintenance. So that means for now his main job is bathroom cleaning. We moved to the park March 10. March 10 was also the day we had tickets to go to the Star of Texas Fair and Rodeo. Not like Fairs in Virginia there was no one there during the day. We had tickets to see Extreme Bull Riding .For any of you out there that does not know Jackie loves to watch bull wrestling as she calls it. She loves when the bulls are winning! For her birthday the bulls won 50-4. When we came out from the bull riding the fair was jammed packed. What a difference 2 hours made. So we guess in Texas going the fair is a night time activity.

02-26-2007

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03-04-2007

We are starting to do some sightseeing went to Mount Bonell the highest spot in Austin. Jackie's foot still hurts when on it for any period of time. Did hike some at Mount Bonell. It was a little overcast so the view was not as good as a clear day. Rich interviewed at Lowe's. Found a good deal on a quilt at Bed, Bath and Beyond. $130 quilt for $19.99. We love it and it was a good deal! We went to the 79th Annual Kite Festival at Zilker Park. Even had free parking and shuttle . This is a festival that has contest for handmade kites and there were hundreds of commercially made kites. They even had an area where little ones could make kites out of colored trash bags that flew very well.

02-19-2007

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02-25-2007

4 weeks of work completed . Found a local doctor. Dr Jeffree James. We had physicals. We really like our new doctor. We are beginning to navigate around Austin but driving big truck in the city is  not fun.  Worked on Aaron and Becky's house some. We rode our bikes around campground we are really out of shape! I am starting to make an afghan for Rich. Rich got a call from McKinney Falls wanting to know if he is still interested in Camp Host position. We checked to make sure we get cell phone reception. Maybe Rich will be getting a position soon.

02-12-2007

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 02-18-2007

Rich is starting our web page   We see Becky and Aaron often usually to eat. We ate at Becky's favorite Pizza place "Rotten Tomato" as Aaron calls it 's real name is  Rockin Tomato. I got my first pay check as a travel nurse. YEA!!! Becky and Aaron got an electrician in to fix the electricity finally. 

02-05-2007 

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02-11-2007

 Work going well for Jackie. She is not sure pediatrics will be her favorite kind of nursing. The kids are sick and some will die due to their illnesses. She likes the people working there and besides the kids who are really sick she is liking it. Many days after 6pm there is nothing to do at work. She is not use to not being busy. We spent some time with Becky and Aaron. The electricity in their house is still messed up so we did not get much done working on their house.

02-04-2007

 We went to  a UCC church in downtown Austin.  Parking will be an issue here. But the people are very friendly. We met Aaron and Becky at Moonshine Restaurant. It has a great buffet on Sunday mornings. It is the restaurant that Aaron took all the guys to for the groom's lunch the day of their wedding. It is 68 degree's here in Austin 

01-29-2007

 Jackie has finally started working her dream of a travel nurse. Working at Austin's Children's hospital. Working 12 hour shifts Monday, Wednesday and Thursday 8:30 am to 9:00 PM. With occasional call.

01-26-2007

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01-28-2007

Headed for Dallas to see Kris and Jimmy.  Becky and Aaron babysat our furry children.  Kris and Jimmy  took us out Bar hopping and one bar turned Rich away because he had on "running shoes". We stayed at the "courtesy apartment' at the complex that Jimmy and Kris live at. Very nice and only $44.00 daily. It is a very nice place to stay when visiting them. We went to The Fort Worth Zoo. Jackie's foot gave out after about 3 hours. We watched several movies at the apartment and just relaxed. Jimmy and Kris took us to see the neighborhood where they would like to buy a house. Picked up all the stuff that Jimmy and Kris had stored for Becky and Aaron from our old house and delivered it to them. Picked up the dogs and back to "our home" in Austin. Jackie starts working tomorrow.

01-21-2007

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01-25-2007

Spent a lot of time just finding our way around town.  Located Jackie's hospital.  Had a few more things that needed fixing on the trailer.  Took it in to have the AC fixed and the dealer noticed a small tear in the rubber roof on the slide. Everything got fixed under the warranty. So we stayed a few day at the Aaron and Becky's not so  Hilton. Since they had some electrical problems there was no electricity in the bathroom. Shower works downstairs toilet works upstairs. So it was like camping inside a house needing a flashlight to use the bathroom at night.

01-20-2007

Left Livingston and heading to Austin.  We arrived at Oak Forest campground.  Becky came to the trailer and we out for a Chinese dinner.  It is going to feel good to stay in on place for a while.

01-15-2007

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01-19-2007

On our way to Livingston, TX we stayed at KOA's in Florida and Louisiana.  While driving to Livingston  the temperature dropped from 70 to 30 and about 50 miles away we ran into freezing rain. Luckily the roads never got bad and Rich only felt the truck slip a little when we were about 5 miles from Escapees.  When we did arrive got out  back of truck and front of trailer was a sheet of ice.  We tried to get the truck registered but it failed the inspection and that is when we found out duallies must have mud flaps.  Found a Ford dealer who installed the mud flaps. Got truck registered and we both got our Texas driver license. Never did get the trailer registered because no one would inspect it due to wet road conditions so we got all of the info from the tax office on how to mail in for a registration including how much it would cost.  We did take the tour of Escapees and learned all about the mail service.  We also toured CARE Continuing Assistance for Retired Escapees.  Met many people and re-met a guy who we had met last summer on our trip to Delaware

01-11-2007

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01-14-2007

Headed out for Hudson, FL near Tampa to see our buddies Snookie and Bob.  Camping at Winter Paradise and Jackie was  so glad someone helped Rich Park the trailer because the sites were really small.  We met up with Bob and Snookie and went to dinner at a place called Magoos.  We went to Tampa to meet with Jackie's recruiter Kristen and got some more insight into her new job as a travel nurse.  We also went to Tarpon Springs to learn all about the sponge business and we ate lunch at one of the restaurants in the Greek village. Jackie ordered Saganaki for everyone to try.  If you do not know  what it is, it is a Greek flaming cheese appetizer.  Bob has become a world class bicyclist and while training for the Tour de France he came across a really great seafood joint where we had dinner. The day we left got up at 5am ate once more at Magoos and headed for Milton, FL. Jackie drove for the 1st time since November.

01-07-2007

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01-10-2007

Pulled into Flagler Beach 83 degrees. Bulow's Plantation Campground   Attempted to fire up A/C but it didn’t work, fan wouldn’t even come on. Oh well went to see Jackie’s parents.  Came home took anther look at the A/C found bad fuse, replaced it works fine.  Jackie says she is going to win the HDTV dream home in Colorado sell it and buy a new RV.  Mom and Dad came over for lunch.  We went to the outlets did a lot of walking and Jackie's foot got real sore. Saw the Manatees at Blue Springs State Park. We met a couple who also own a Bighorn and knocked on their door to see how they liked it. They say they have only had theirs a couple of months but are really happy with it.

01-06-2007:

Heading out to an overnight at a KOA in SC.  Well the GPS took us on a wild goose chase down a dead end road with no place to turn around.  It took about ¾ of a mile to backup to get out of there.  Come to find out we were only a mile away from the campground.

01-02-2007

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01-05-2007

Left Ashville around 11am heading for Bill Plemmons RV to get some much needed repairs done on our trailer. When we got there Jackie coerced them into putting us up in a trade-in trailer so we would not have put out money for a hotel room.  Trailer troubles got worse.  The one slide is off its track and with all the other repairs we were having the dealer did not know if he could have it fixed by the 5^th.  It was essential we left by the morning of the 6^th to stay on scheduled with all the reservations we made. While finding stuff to do while awaiting repairs we went to Charlotte NC to visit with Linda Reynolds and her husband Biff.  We grow up with Linda and we had a great visit.  Went to a little local pub and had fried pickles for the first time, pretty good.  Went back to check on trailer and no its not ready yet.  Decided to go to Camping World not knowing if we were leaving tomorrow.  We also stopped at several of the wineries in the area.  When we returned we saw our trailed sitting in the parking lot.  We will be leaving in the morning.  The service manager was nice enough to put our trailer in the back and get us hooked up for the night.

01-01-2007

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01-04-2007

Made it to Ashville and met up with our friends Jim and Janet.  During our stay we went out to dinner twice with them and had dinner at their apartment on New Years Eve.. We went to the Blue Ridge Parkway New Years Day. It was 65 degrees, a beautiful sunny day. Jackie is still in her cast so no hiking can be done 

12-30-2006:

We are finally leaving Virginia Beach. We left Indian Cove Resort 6am in the fog!  Got about 5 miles down the road and a car pulled up beside us to tell us we had no lights on the trailer and they almost ran into us in the fog.  After that we also noticed that the electric brakes were no longer connected either.  Pulled off to the side of the road to find that the trailer plug had come loose.  Plugged it back in and wrapped tape around it, it will not come unplugged again.  Lights and brakes now working we are really on our way. Stopped at Frank’s Truck Stop to weigh the trailer and truck (23,300lb).  Had breakfast and headed for Ashville NC.

06-16-2006

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12-30-2006