Heading north

  Well it's been awhile since we blogged. Ray said it was my turn, so here it goes...
We watched the fireworks in Live Oak on the 4th. We decided to leave FL on the 6th of July hoping the holiday traffic wasn't heavy.

 We left by 9:00 and drove the back roads through FL, GA and into AL. We made it to the town of Troy, AL for the night. In the morning we headed north taking more back roads. Alabama has some hills and curvy roads but the drive was beautiful. We made it to Athens at the top of the state.

 Seeing how it was the weekend, we decided to spend 2 nights. On Saturday we drove over to  State Park. It's on the Tennessee River and has a marina, lodge, campground and restaurant.

 Our next drive was only 190 miles. We made reservations for 4 nights at Poole Nob ( COE park) southeast of Nashville. After we arrived, we met up with Jim & Nanc ( fulltime RV friends) for dinner. It was great seeing them and catching up on their travels.

Ray, Jim, Nanc

 We thought we were going to leave all the hot weather in FL but we were wrong. Nashville area had there hottest week while we were there. We didn't feel like walking around downtown in the heat. So we just relaxed at the campground.

 One day we did take a ride about 20 miles south to Stone River National Battlefield. Very informative visitor center on the battle which was one of the Civil War's bloodiest encounters. The park preserves a small part of the original battlefield. Points of interest can be reached on a self-guided auto tour. you can hike or bike the route.
 We left that area and continued our travels north. We did take the interstate for awhile and then went on more back roads. We have been getting used to the new rig and pulling the jeep.
 We have been at Rend Lake Corp Park in southern IL. This is a very large body of water with many campgrounds ( COE, state park and private) boat launches and day use areas.

Onward north we planned a visit with camp host friends from Arizona Bob and Rose, they summer host at Shabbona  Lake State Park just south of DeKalb, ILL. We had a great time catching up with them. Shabbona Lake is one of Illinois better fishing lakes and the campground is pretty nice. Note they do not allow lake swimming so no need to pack your speedo's. haha.

Shabbona Lake

Dinner with Rose & Bob

The Next Big Adventure

Hi all,
 The Fourth of July is fast approaching, hope you have some great plans to celebrate. Y'all remember to keep safe as them roadways will be packed.
 Wendy last left you with a teaser of some big changes coming our way. Well we done it, with a tear almost literally in my eye, we traded in the Excel RV and dually truck. This definitely was not in the plan but with my health issues we needed something easier to pack up and go. I looked at it as making the decision now sooner rather than later. Wendy keeps saying it's just a new adventure path for us.
 We figured we will be holding up here in Florida more and all we do in it is sleep and watch a little tv. The new unit also had to be something Wendy could handle setting up and driving.
 So what did we get?? We downsized quite a bit going to a small 25 foot Jayco Melbourne with 2 slides. We figure it will make some nice trips while we winter here and be a little easier to set up.

 We looked til our heads hurt but coming back to this unit. A big requirement to me was comfortable seating and this unit had added theater seats.

 To ease some of the pain Wendy allowed me to get a Wrangler Jeep as our tow vehicle. Something I have been wanting for some time.

Off for a ride with Mandy & Pat

 To do the switch, we emptied the 5th wheel and truck here. Let me tell you there was no way we thought we had so much stuff in that 5'er. We loaded the 4 wheeler up and made several trips to an extra bedroom in the house. Pat and Mandy couldn't believe how much we had. I thought we downsized five years ago but this is crazy. A storage shed may be in our future.

Part of the STUFF

 And then the fun of putting in what we wanted in the new little guy. Wendy would take a box of stuff out and then bring half of it back.

So now we can get on the road again, it has been fun here on the farm but not where we want to spend the summer months. (Temps have been in the low 90's.) We are grateful to Amanda and Pat for there open arms allowing us to stay as long as we needed. 0f course they will be the ones missing the good dinners Wendy had ready for them.

Sugar & Spice....newest members of the farm

 Our only travel plans are to meander up to Wisconsin and some much needed time with family & friends there.