What's So Special About June 29?

Jeannie in Maine

It's our one year anniversary of full timing! We left Indiana last year on June 29 for Maine and here we are one year later on the opposite side of the country, in the state of Washington.

Massachusetts

What have we learned this past year? I asked Eldy and he couldn't think of anything but that's because I put him on the spot, he needs time to think about loaded questions like that. Okay...fast forward to awhile later and here's what he said: "Well, I've learned to drive a diesel and some things about the maintenance involved, we've got some great apps to help us plan our travels now, and when you are life partners with an ADHD post menopausal woman, you learn to keep your mouth shut more times than not!" Well, that's not exactly what he said, he was teasing me about when I asked him what has he learned about living with with someone 24/7 in a tiny, small space on wheels.

What are our most memorable moments? Too many to count....We've driven amazing scenic drives, seen the beauty of the desert, had close encounters with alligators, climbed mountains, kayaked beautiful rivers, seen the local sights both historical and amusing, ridden a bobsled at the Olympic track, zipped down a zip line, tasted American cuisine all over the U.S., or as Eldy says, "eaten our way across America."

We've hiked to so many waterfalls we've lost count, met Santa, and done some silly things that we can laugh about now but weren't so funny at the time--like doing a full U-turn in front of a toll booth with motorhome and car in tow with a cop watching, pulled into a scenic vista with car attached only to realize that we didn't fit and the car was hanging out onto the highway, then we BACKED UP onto the highway. We've driven downtown congested Bar Harbor, Maine on July 4th weekend by accident with motorhome and car in tow...(Sparky, the LD/spatially challenged navigator screwed up), and we haven't shared the few time we've scratched the motorhome. Our perceptions of America have changed in good ways...Arkansas? Who'd want to go there? For the scenery! California?--traffic, smog, and overpopulated... But the smaller towns and beautiful wine country more than make up for it.. But when you see all this, (photos below) it more than makes up for the difficult times where we've gotten on each other's nerves or stressed because we didn't find a place in time before it got dark, you know, little stuff like that....

Jeannie and Santa in Arkansas

I had a great little slideshow of our favorite photos over the past year. It was in my draft, and then refused to work, then disappeared! RATS! So I'll put in a few of our favorites in collage form from lots of different states and if I can get Imageloop.com to respond, I'll stick in the blog in the next day or two Bummer! It took me a long time to load those photos!

Thank you for everyone who reads us.....thank you for following us on our journey. We hope you will continue to find us interesting or funny or maybe just ordinary in our quest to see this beautiful country of ours and how we see our world in our motorhome. We count our blessings every single day that we can do this while we are healthy. We don't have a lot of money, but you really don't need a lot to live frugally while traveling and still be able to enjoy doing things wherever you go, we are proof of that. A retired factory worker and a retired school teacher, we're still learning about our world, traveling in our 40 foot Tiffin Phaeton. See you on the road for many more years to come, we hope!

Safe travels and best wishes to everyone in hopes that they can live the life of their dreams....

Jeannie and Eldy