The Keys! Where are The Keys???

Oh, yeah. They're hung up. Yes, after nine years of full-time RV living, we are hanging up the keys. We've decided it's time to get an apartment and live a “normal” life. HA! Actually, we've got a couple more months of living in our RV because the apartment won't be available until the first of September. So, we'll spend the summer at Cedar Lake Campground in Dover, PA as usual. But, we'll be doing a lot of shopping – not my favorite thing! Our daughter, Lindsay, will be in charge of that. LOL

So, what brought about this big change, you ask? A couple of things. I have been feeling the pull of settling down for about a year now, but figured I had a couple more full-timing years in me. And then, my mom and dad had some health issues this past winter that made me begin to rethink our lifestyle.

I have fabulous parents. They have loved me, my sister, and our families without reservation and unconditionally. I have thanked God regularly for giving me the parents He did. And now I need to give back to them. For the past nine years my sister, Paula, has gone the extra mile when one of our parents has been ill. She's taken off work; gone to doctors' appointments; you know, just been there. And never, never has she made me feel that I wasn't doing “my part.” So now? It's time for me to do my part.

My parents will be 85 and 80 this year. I am fortunate to have them still with me. And I want to take advantage of the time I have left. I want to be able to jump in the car and be with them in a moment's notice. Yes, I know I can always fly home from wherever I am, but that isn't the same. I don't want to have to think, “should I go”? I want to be able to just go.

And that's the reason. I am grateful to have a husband who loves me and my parents enough to put aside his first choice and support me in this decision. Randy would RV 'til he dropped dead. Seriously, he would. But, he loves my parents and knows how important they are to me. So, he's fully on board.

God gave me a huge gift when He gave me Randy as my husband.

We aren't giving up the RV. As a matter of fact, we already have a trip to Disney World scheduled for October! But, we don't anticipate traveling over the next year because we want to see what this living in a stix and brix is gonna cost us. 'Cause it's gonna be different. But, we do plan to travel as we can. We still haven't gotten to the Northwest and we want to do a big Northeast trip as well. So, that's in the future plans.

Keeping in touch with our RVing buddies as well as those friends we've made along the way will be a priority. I'm grateful for Facebook, blogs, and email.

Speaking of blogs, ours will go dormant with this last post. There's no reason to continue with “Guiler Travels” when the Guilers aren't traveling any more! :) So, please check in with us via email or Facebook.

Until we meet again, enjoy the journey!

Lots of Family Time

We had a lovely time visiting with my folks. We didn't do a lot of “special” stuff, we just enjoyed being with them. Which was the whole point of being there, wasn't it.

On Father's Day we ventured out to make a couple of visits. First, to my niece, Megan's. She recently added to our family in the form of one gorgeous baby girl, McKenna Blake. Even though McKenna had been born May 25, my folks had not been up to see her due to my dad's illness. And, of course, Randy & I hadn't seen her, either. Needless to say, McKenna has continued the McNeil grandbaby tradition of being adorable. :)

McKenna & her big sister, Ryleigh

Great Grandma & McKenna

Our next stop was my sister's. Our other niece, LuAnn, and her family were down from New York. LuAnn's little one, Amelia, had just turned one year old and we were celebrating her birthday. Again, Randy & I hadn't met Amelia yet because LuAnn's visits hadn't coincided with our being home. I was so glad we were finally able to spend some time with them. And Amelia is another adorable grandniece!!

Monday, June 17, was our last travel day for awhile. We left my folks' and had an easy 4.5 hour drive to our campground in Dover, PA.

We're settled in for the summer. As always, we are enjoying time with Jason, Lindsay & Reagan. Already we've kept Reagan for the evening so that J and Lins could get out to a movie. We're looking forward to more of that. Right now, we're house- and dogsitting for them while they are on vacation.

This coming Tuesday Darrell & Judy will be traveling through on their way to Maine. We'll get to spend the day with them. And that's always a good time.

More news to come soon . . .

From Sea to Shining Sea

Well, really from the bay to the ocean, but that doesn't have the same ring to it! :)

We arrived at Breezy Point Campground in Maryland on Thursday after an easy six hour drive. Normally, six hours is just too long a drive, but it went fairly quickly that day. We got ourselves set up with no problem and enjoyed our view. Let me tell you – these sites are on the beach! We settled ourselves in for the next five days.

 

 

On Saturday we picked up Ginny and Tommy to stay with us for the night. Unfortunately, Chuck wasn't able to come because they were having vehicle issues and he needed to use the time to work on their truck. It was so good to have the kids with us. We didn't do much (and Tommy was as bored as a 14 year old could be!) but we enjoyed being together. The weather wasn't very cooperative at first, but the sun soon came out. And Sunday, Tommy finally joined with the folks next to us in hunting for “treasure” in the bay – sharks' teeth and such.

All too soon it was time to say good-bye. Sunday afternoon we met Chuck at Ledo Pizza for dinner, after which it was hugs good-bye. We're hoping to get together at least one more time before their big move to Colorado. We're gonna have kids strung out all over!

Sunday night and Monday were nasty weather days. We were fortunate we only had rain. Other areas in MD saw tornadoes touching down! That is not supposed to happen here!

Tuesday dawned clear and it was time to break camp. These sites are water and electric only, so the campground offers pump out service on Fridays and Tuesdays. Worked out perfectly for us! The service came at 6am; yeah, it was a bit early, but that meant we got on the road early. By 8:30am we were pulling out of the campground, heading to my parents' house on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

Again, God graced us with an easy travel day – and only 3.5 hours at that! We pulled up in front of my parents' house about 11:45am. Just in time for them to take us to lunch. How's that for timing!

Oh, my. How wonderful it was to hug on Daddy & Mommy! Daddy had been hospitalized last month for pneumonia and dehydration and then was sent home with oxygen 24/7, so I have been very concerned about him. He looks fabulous, though! Mommy is doing well, too. Although she's tired as she's been “on duty” since Daddy's been ill. Hopefully, we can take some of that off of her for a few days.

We're looking forward to our visit here. We'll hit the road one last time on Monday when we head to PA. We'll have more news for you on our future plans later.

Such a tease, I know!

Until the next time . . .

Spending Time with Good Friends

We left Bonifay last Saturday about 10am. Had to stop and get a tire replaced on the RV before we could hit the road. So very grateful for Randy's vigilance in keeping our RV in good shape. He found out the tire was leaking so we could get it fixed/replaced before an incident could happen on the road. And we all know how ugly that can be!

After two nights and three days on the road, we arrived in Winterville, NC on Monday. Our good friends, Dan & Debbie, live here and we're having a great time catching up. It's been a couple of years since we've seen each other, but our friendship is one of those that time apart means nothing. We share lots of history and always have a good time together.

Yesterday was a gorgeous day so we piled into Debbie's convertible and took off for Washington, NC. It's a little town that sits on the Pamlico River. Lots of boutique-type shops (which hold no interest for me!). It's draw for us was the walk along the river. Very picturesque. And it has some beautiful historic homes, too.

Today, Randy and I are gearing up for another travel day tomorrow. Doing laundry is the big item on the to-do list.

Tomorrow we'll have about a six hour drive to southern MD to Breezy Point Campground in Chesapeake Beach. It's the closest campground to our eldest, Ginny and her family. We'll get to spend a few days with them before they make a big move to Colorado. Happy for them, a little sad for us. But, it just means we've got to get out there sometime!

Until the next time . . .

… And We’re Done

Today is our last day in Bonifay. Tomorrow morning we will hitch up and get on the road after living in one place since mid-October. That is the longest we've been in one location since we became full-timer Rvers just about nine years ago. Whew.

But, it is with very bittersweet emotions that we leave. Bonifay has become another place we've called home. The people here have embraced us and made us feel like family. Our workamping at Florida Springs RV Resort was very good for us, financially and emotionally. Andy & Alicia, our employers, have become friends. God provided a church home for us in First Baptist, Bonifay and we found lifelong friends there, too.

So, as excited as we are to be back on the road, heading toward family, it is hard to say “so long” to those we are leaving behind. Such is the life of the full-timer.

However, we did our good-byes in style. Today is Randy's birthday as well as one of our friends, Becky. So, eight of us got together and went out to dinner to celebrate Randy and Becky in addition to it being our last time together.

Clockwise from “12:00": Tom, Robert, Betty, Randy, Earl, Becky & Carol

These people have loved us and we would go out to dinner after church every Sunday, so how else would we say good-bye!

We had a lovely dinner with great friends. And we carried on the conversation back at Tom & Carol's house. When it was time for our good-bye hugs, there were a few tears as well. We will miss these folks.

We pray that one day we'll get back here and renew these friendships. Until then, there's always Facebook, email, texting, and good old-fashioned telephone calls!

Until the next time – from the road!

A Few Weeks???

My last post said I'd check back in a few weeks and that was April 3! Well, I guess four or five weeks qualifies as “a few.”

I apologize to those folks who regularly check for an update on my blog. I haven't meant to disappoint you or leave you hanging, it's just there isn't much to write about when you're in a routine of doing a whole lot of not much! I work four days a week and Randy escorts our guests to their sites while also making sure the RV stays in shape. We go to church twice a week, going out to eat with friends afterward.

That's our routine. It doesn't change much. See why I haven't bored you with a blog post?

But, now we've only got three weeks before we hitch up the truck and begin our trek to PA. We are due in PA on June 17, but we're making a few significant stops along the way.

We are finally going to St. Augustine! I've wanted to explore that city for a long time and now we're going to have a day to do that. Then, we're stopping in NC to get a couple of days with good friends, Dan & Debbie. We haven't seen them in at least two years! Way too long.

We're also gonna spend a few days in southern MD so we can get some time with our oldest grandchild, Tommy (and his parents!) before they move to CO this summer. Then, it's on to the Eastern Shore of MD to visit with my folks.

Whew! A whirlwind 17 days of good times. I am soooo ready to be with family. This is the longest we've sat in one place since we've been on the road.

Before that can happen, though, we've got three weeks left to enjoy our Bonifay family. We have made some wonderful friends here and will miss them.

Once we're back on the road, I'll be posting a bit more frequently. Thanks for checking in and staying with us!

Until the next time . . .

It’s April

That's about all I got. :) We continue living the quiet life here in the Florida panhandle. And that's okay!

I was busy these past couple of weeks with rehearsals for our church's annual Easter Passion Play. For the past 31 years, the choir, along with lots of others, perform five times through Easter weekend. It's exhausting and exciting at the same time. By Sunday evening, I was beat. But, it was a fabulous weekend as we saw many people's lives changed because of the Gospel. That's what it's all about – seeing people understand their need for Jesus. Powerful.

Randy continues to handle the daily stuff of life in an RV while I work in the office of the park. He’s such a great guy!

So, we begin our last two months in Florida. The weather is getting to be what we want in Florida – flip flops and t-shirts!

I'll check in again in a few weeks!