Is it desert or dessert? It doesn't matter because there is only 9% humidity!



     Captains Log Stardate: Somewhere just before the 11th month! Hard to believe we are close to the one year mark...and since my husband is slacking and not updating our blog, I have taken over! (Just kidding, I told him I would do this one.)  Its has been a busy month since leaving our camp host position in Texas. We left behind an amazing group of people who were more like family than coworkers, as well as awesome people we met who came through the campground. So...until we meet again!

     People have often asked us what this journey is really like and the pros and cons to being a full time RV family. Well, let me fill you in: Grab your tissue, this could sappy! Lets start with the downside to traveling across country because this side of the list is very short: meeting people and then watching them drive away. Some of you may have noticed that we are slightly friendly...let me just say it...we love people! We love meeting people and hearing their stories and what brought them to whichever part of the U.S. we happen to be in. As you may have guessed, we are meeting and becoming buddy-buddy with many Social Security aged retirees; these people have lived! I could listen all day to stories of old war times, marriage, kids, grandkids, dogs, and places they have traveled. By the way, I certainly hope I age as gracefully as some of these wonderful people we have met. During a recent conversation with our new neighbors (they even gave us their address in Oregon and we definitely plan on dropping by!), Mr. R mentioned he is 68 years old and I think my mouth dropped open a bit...he couldn't be a day over 50 in my eyes. Talking with people who are close to our age is pretty funny as they cannot understand how Dave is "retired" and traveling in an RV. We love to share our family story and the amazing way God has worked in our lives and carried us to this point in the journey. Wait, wasn't I talking about the negative side of RV life? It would be talking and sharing life with people along the way and then leaving and not knowing if our paths will cross again. But this 'con' to full time RVing is also on my positive list because we are meeting soooooo many wonderful people and families. One couple mentioned they were a bit concerned that our children may be missing out on a 'community' aspect as we are never in one place to grow roots. But within the same evening and after listening to our stories from this journey, they decided we are giving them a chance to be a part of a community at each place, even if its for a short time. We volunteer, go to church, join libraries, and most importantly...invest our time in our family and others around us!

     The rest of the pros to traveling and living in an RV are no brainers: We get to see this beautiful country with our kids!  We are showing them the places they are learning about. We have traveled to the birthplace of the United States, walked in the footsteps of those fighting the American Revolution and Civil War, and been able to see how people lived as recently as 1000 years ago.  We get to see the vast difference in landscape just by traveling across Texas! And if you take your kids to NYC, they get to see women with bikini bottoms on and 'painted' tops! Ah, the great American culture! Another pro, simple living...I can vacuum in our house in 5 minutes! Sure we still have clutter, but its pretty quick to clean up. And lastly, yes we do get on each other's nerves and need alone time, but its the same if we had more space to spread out in. We actually enjoy spending time together!
     And now to get back on track...we will residing in Tucson, AZ until the middle of June. We are here to play baseball! Our kids love sports and Zachary is a great baseball player and we could not have him miss another season. We have been blessed with a great coach and look forward to this season. We are loving the sunshine (still trying to figure out if we like 9% humidity!), but also love when the clouds come because apparently there is such a  thing as too much sun! The beginning of March was crazy with getting settled in and then Zachary and I went home to IL for my beautiful friend's wedding. We have met more wonderful people, been to the Davis-Monthan Air Show, found a national Park (and earned another Jr Ranger badge!), visited with the kid's Canadian Grandparents and even extended our Canadian family.  We have rceived library cards, been stargazing, found a great base chapel, created a campground Easter Egg hunt with another full time RV family and still included another, and of course we are still getting some school time in as we get near the end of our third year of home school.  You guys thought people who camped full time would be relaxing!

Side trip to Rockhound State Park in New Mexico on the way to Tucson.

$.29 bowling leap year specials

A wonderful couple feeding Zachary's astronomy passion.  Mr Dick gave about 3 hours this night (and countless others) to teach! 

Snack time...and the ability for Caleb and daddy to make jelly for the neighbors. 

Making Kumquat jelly.

Relaxing with super cool puppies and their parents.

Bath time for Scooby!

Kamryn...aka...dog walker.  I tell you, the girl has a future!

"Big guns" Caleb

The new and old flying together...5 generations apart.

Pilots in training.

Photograph By Dave's Photography!



A showstopper for daddy...the F-35.

Al showing the kids how to get oranges and grapefruits from his tree.



Caleb and Kamryn working to get the loot!

Hanging in Mesa, AZ with our Canadian family.

Pickleball anyone? Z was a natural of course!

For all your telescope needs, visit Starizona, an amazing astronomy store!  We  had a great time meeting and speaking with Mr Dean.  He has patented machinery that is now on the International Space Station!  We were in this place forever! 

Living on a base means 5pm retreat...and Kamryn loves to run outside and listen with her little hand over her heart :)   (She even does it inside, at the dinner table, if we are eating and she can't get up.) 

New friends over for playtime.  This was another full-time family that we met. 

World's cutest pilot trainees!

 Giving it our best Top Gun stare at the Pima Air and Space Museum.  (Dave says the guy is a twit but it is Kelly's favorite movie!)

A wonderful day with wonderful people.  This was one of the day's favorites...so much history!

She may be camera shy...

Aviation education day thanks to Mr. Dennis.

She liked this one because it was pink...who's daughter is she??

Part of the boneyard.  There is a very cool history about this place and it can be seen on Google maps.  There is even a reason why some of them are dismantled and left to lie in pieces. 

Kamryn's playdate.

Caleb and his new friend during art time in our yard.

Waiting patiently for pizza night with our friends.

The traditional egg dying picture with a shirtless Kamryn.

Waiting patiently for the 1st annual (and only probably) Davis Monthan RV Easter Egg hunt!

Lets find those eggs!

Our new friends Mr. and Mrs. "Nanuk of the North" and sweet Molly (and they love kumquat jelly!)

The park ranger said to blow on the leaves for a potent smell of cresote...he was right!

The amazing Saguaro cactus. Seriously, these things are amazing and this one is at least 150 yrs old!

Another cactus...can't quite recall the actual name of this beauty but there were so many different colors in the desert.

Zachary learned that this tree does not have leaves so the green bark handles the process of photosynthesis.

Yep, this is one tall cactus!  These things are amazing! Dave claims to maybe have seen the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote here...

We found rocks and happen to have monkeys, so it was a win-win.

Mommy, Caleb and Kamryn hanging out at in the desert.

 We still love each other, even in the desert.

Another Junior Ranger badge in the bag.  We things think this is #41!  Kamryn got hers also but was too tired to get out of the truck.

So being in Tucson, Az hasn't been all that bad; we have met some great people.  Dave continually sees what he calls, "The best plane that the military has ever flown (the A-10, they are stationed here.)  We attended a sunrise service for Easter and then we were invited to a dinner that evening.  Dave and I are going to begin teaching the youth at church this week.  We have met a number of folks (it just seems that most of them are from Oregon!) that we hope to put on our agenda of travels.  We've also had the opportunity to allow Zachary to be a part of the base Youth Center.  He gets to be involved in everything from playing pool to being involved with the 4-H Club.  He also loves that the skies are so dark and so much can be seen in the night sky.  We are also loving the opportunities that the Lord is giving us here and pray that they next few months (baseball season!) will continue to be as great as the first month here!  If we could play baseball in South Mississippi when it is 100 degrees and 90% humidity...we can surely play baseball in 100 degrees with 9% humidity!

Watch for another post "very soon"...

Until next time...