How can I start this blog?  It feels like there are some encounters that are far bigger than you are.  This is one of those.  Two days ago Lyndyl looked out our window and saw a 70 year old man struggling to put up his tent.  The wind was getting up pretty good, so he went out to help.  I sat in our trailer and blogged while Lyndyl did this.  When my husband came back, he said, "You have to meet this guy!  He grew up in Czechoslovakia under Communist rule.  He has been stuck in the United States since October.  He came to see his daughter who lives in Washington, then they shut down the borders into his country because of covid."  I was fascinated!  I want to know more.  Nosey me.  I met him, and I listened to him talk.

Before 1990, Czechoslovakia was under Communist rule.  Josef's father was high up in the Communist Party.  His father was in Washington during the Cuban missile crisis.  Oh my!  Josef was 20 years old at this time, and he said that came to the United States and fell in love with the Cowboys because of Bob Hayes.  He has always been a Cowboy fan.  He loves Texas.  Anyway.  Josef grew up under the Communist "privilege."  He got to shop at different places than the ordinary people, and he got to read magazines and newspapers.  He was allowed to get an education.  He became a dentist.  Others were not allowed these opportunities.  He said that under Communist rule, from the time a child could talk, they were told that America was bad and Russia was good.  All Czech people grew up brainwashed, and if they thought any different, they didn't say it because they would lose their job or worse.  They never even talked to their children, because their children might say something, and their future would be ruined.  If a teacher wanted to believe in God, she would no longer have a job.  He said that to this day the older people still believe that Communism is the way - his generation.  I asked him how he escaped, and he said, "I could see what was happening."

So in 1990, the Russian Communist Party rule fell.  Countries separated.  Czechoslovakia became the Czech Republic, a parliamentary democracy.  During this time, if you knew the right people, you became very rich.  His cousin was one of these people.  He said at the fall of Communism, businesses were way undervalued.  His cousin bought a furniture company for $6,000 and two years later sold it to IKEA for $18 million.  The whole time we were together Josef talked about this cousin.  He was so concerned for him.  He said that just before Easter this year, his cousin's best friend was killed in a helicopter crash in Alaska.  He said, "You can look it up," and we did.  The March 29, 2021 headline read:  Czech Billionaire Is Among 5 Killed in Heli-Skiing Crash Near Alaska Glacier.  Petr Kellner (his cousin's best friend) was listed as the wealthiest man in the Czech Republic.  Forbes has him worth $17.5 billion.  Josef's cousin and Petr Kellner were born one day apart, and they did everything together.  Petr was also one of the ones who knew people during the fall of Communism.  He bought all of the insurance companies for $60 million, but no one knows where he got that money.  I did the math. These two men are 56 now.  They would have been in their mid twenties during this transition.  Joseph also said that if his cousin had had his green card, he would have been in that helicopter.  I could not understand all of the details, but this cousin is in the United States without a green card.  He can't go back to the Czech Republic or he will lose all he has worked for.  He is stuck, and he can't do anything for fear that he will be caught.  There are also people - lawyers - who are blackmailing him.  He is in a hard place. Josef's heart is broken for his cousin, and he wants to help.  Josef knows that God is the only One who can help, but he doesn't know how to get his cousin to turn to God.

Back to Josef's story.  Twenty years ago his wife passed away.  This left him very confused.  Then six years ago, he was invited to a retreat, and there he met God.  Or he said, "God found him." His life changed.  Hallelujah, thank you Jesus!  But he still does not understand.  What about the different religions?  Joel Osteen?  Mormans?  I just told him to trust the Bible and what it says, but when listening to men, face Jesus with your heart wide open, and ask Him, "Is this the truth. God will lead you. Jesus is the answer, not a man."  So he stood there with heart-wide-open to let God do whatever He wanted to do.  There is such a strong desire in him to follow Jesus.  He is amazing.  So I prayed for him, and he sat there and received.  Thank you Jesus!!!

So last night I woke up praying for this man, that God would make him a clear witness for His glory.  I prayed that the spirit of wisdom and understanding would enter his heart to lead him and guide him into all truth.  I prayed for a five minute harvest.  That's what Twyla Wallace saw in a dream - seeds planted and five minutes later, there was fruit.  I prayed for boldness and courage to speak the truth in love.  I prayed for the Spirit to descend with power over the Czech Republic and that hearts would be wide open to receive.  I prayed for the fire to fall to purify that which is impure in the Czech Republic - light and truth and mercy and grace.  Freedom.  Joy.  Peace.

This morning Josef came and drank coffee with us.  It is his desire that I meet with his cousin.  He thinks his cousin could hear me, so I pray!  God, you said that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but NEVERTHELESS, nothing is impossible with you.  Do the impossible.  God, send Your Spirit.  Send Your mercy and grace.  Send Your kindness that leads to repentance.  Send hope and a future.  Send peace.  Send comfort.  Send joy.  LORD, we need You to do what none of us can do.  Rescue.  God, I am asking for an open door.  In Jesus' name.

Yesterday, Josef went to the North Rim to see if he could rent the Lodge for a month so that Petr Kellner's family can come together to find peace.  This man's death is like a hornet's nest.  There will be many people who get stung.  LORD, I ask that You orchestrate deliverance.  I am asking that in Jesus' name.  AMEN

For all my praying friends, would you help me pray for this man and his country.  I do not think that it is by accident that we me.

Blessings to you,
​Terri

I try not to blog but once a week, but so much has happened in the last couple of days, and I want to record it.  I don't want to forget anything.  We left New Mexico on Wednesday, May 26th.  We had a flat tire that morning in Farmington, so it took us a while to get started.  We had just left Bisti Badlands, which I thought was so spectacular.  I am from west Texas - flat country.  Even rock formations fascinate me.  But as we left the badlands, the landscape changed.  Out of nowhere massive rock formations loomed in front of us.  It was incredible.  It was Bisti Badlands, but on a grand scale.  Then we drove across all of northern Arizona.  We did not know where we were going to stop, we just knew we were heading west.

I have to backtrack a little here.  I have a friend, Annabeth Martin, who thinks that our trip is prophetic.  She sees things in a way that I do not.  When we stopped at Dolores, Colorado on the Dolores River, she said, "Dolores means sorrow."  Later my son told me that Dolores means "pain."  So Annabeth wanted me to anoint the Dolores River.  She said that the LORD has come to anoint us with the oil of joy and the oil of gladness.  It is true, He has, and He has already anointed me.  In Isaiah 53, I understand that on the cross, Jesus bore our pain, and He carried our sorrows.  So that river that is over 250 miles long, is a river of pain and sorrow.  If flows straight through Indian territory.  I started to pray and prophecy over Indian nations.  So when I told Annabeth that we had stopped at the county line of Dolores and Montezuma at that bridge to anoint the river from that point - close to Rico, she said, "When you enter the badlands, call them good."  Say what?  We had already left the badlands, and I didn't do that.  I messaged Annabeth, "Girl, you see in a way that I don't see.  You have to teach me."   She then said, "I keep hearing, 'Take your shoes off, you are standing on holy ground."  OH MY!  So I started to pay attention.

All of northern Arizona is beautiful.  Massive rock formations.  But it is also desolate.  Not much can grow on this land - it is all Indian land - Apache and Navajo.  I can tell that because it is colored purple on my map.  Then I looked at where we were going - toward Page, AZ.  The town before Page is called Bitter Springs.  The Indian reservations stop just short of the Colorado River.  Did they get a raw deal.  Probably.  I told my husband, "I want to stop at Bitter Springs," and we did.  I took off my shoes, and I cried, "Holy!"  "Dry bones, hear the Word of the LORD."  "Breathe O four winds on these slain that they may live."  "Graves open up."  "Live!" "Bitter water, become sweet."  "LORD, send light into a dark and desolate land.  Heal the land.  Set the captives free.  Heal the broken hearts.  Set at liberty those who are bound.  Beauty for ashes!  The oil of joy for mourning!  A garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they may be plantings of the LORD for His glory."  "O send out Your light and Your truth.  Let them lead them.  Let them bring them to Your holy hill and to your tabernacle."  HOLY!  In Jesus' name.  HOLY.  HEALED.  WHOLE.

So I want to include the pictures of me standing barefoot prophesying.  I also want the pictures that I took from our truck as we were traveling northern New Mexico and northern Arizona.  After leaving Bitter Springs, we passed Marble Canyon before we even realized we were there.  All we really saw was a Motel, but it had a large parking lot and a couple of campers in the back.  When we saw that it was another 44 miles to Jacob Lake, we decided to turn back.  The man at the motel pointed to a road right beside us that led to a campground.  OH MY GOODNESS!

OH THE PLACES WE GO!

LEE'S FERRY:  Lee's Ferry is in Glen Canyon National Park, so with our AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL pass, we pay half price -  $10 per night.   We have no hookups, but there is a dump station right here,  There is also water at the dump station, so it is very convenient for us.  There are 50? campsites with covered tables and fire pits here.  There is also a bathroom.  Right now there are only about ten campsites taken, and it is Memorial weekend.  The park ranger said that this is the best kept secret around.  No one knew about this place until a couple of years ago when they opened the upper part of the Colorado River to kayaks. 

Lee's Ferry is the point where all of the rafts that float down the river through the Grand Canyon enter.  That trip is 270 miles long and will end up at Lake Meade near Las Vegas, Nevada.  Cool, huh!  We happened to be down on the river when a couple of groups were starting the trip, so we asked a lot of questions.  They say that there is a two year waiting list to take that trip.  I don't know how much it costs.  This is also the only? place you can enter the Colorado River around here.  Everything is regulated, so you can't even enter the river up at Page.  

Most people think that you have to have a permit to get on the river, but you don't if you go upriver.  We talked to the Park Ranger, and he gave us the scoop.  This river is a grade A fishing place - brown and rainbow trout, and until two years ago, it was a fisherman's paradise.  We talked to one man who had been fishing this river for 25 years.  He was not happy with the kayaks.  So you can paddle upstream, like we were doing, or you can hire some outfitters to take you the fifteen miles upstream to the dam, then float the river down.  Many people camp along the banks, so you can take as long as you want.  From what I understand, if you don't have a kayak, you can rent one for $100 per person, and they will take you upstream and let you out.  If you have your own boat, they say it costs anywhere from $65-$75 to have them take you.  Is that per person?   I don't know, but it would be worth it.  But from what I understand, you have to have a reservation.  One of the guys at the dock gave me a list of people who do this:

Backhaul outfitters:
Dave Trimble (928) 380-4504
Rae Lynn (435) 899-9717
Mike Haws (928) 587-3682
Mike Roth ((28) 719-1048

Then just down from the campground, there is a place called, The Beach.  It is a beach.  A sandy beach.  Cold water! Hot weather, and cold water. So cool!  This place is also 130 miles from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  We are going to go there tomorrow, I think.  But it is so much colder there.  We rode our motorcycle to Jacob Lake, and it was 60 degrees.  It was 95 when we left Lee's Ferry.  We have to have our coats, and we have to leave early.  Then it is only 110 miles to Zion National Park.  When we go there, we may just take the motorcycle and a tent.  We want this to be our home base for a while, but I want to do some hikes in Zion.

OH THE PEOPLE WE SEE!

PAT & DENNIS:  I don't know their last names, but Pat and Dennis are brothers.  Pat Lives in Minneapolis, and Dennis lives in Houston.  Pat flew into Houston over five weeks ago, and they took a train to El Paso.  They then got on their bicycles and went from El Paso to Tempi, AZ (426 miles).  Then from Tempi, AZ to Cedar City Utah (479 miles).  Then they were going to fly home from there.  They ride from 40-50 miles per day.  We fixed breakfast for them Thursday morning, then we passed them on the motorcycle as we rode to Jacob Lake.  We gave them some of our water.  Then we brought them cookies on the way back.  These are two neat people.  I wish we would have had more time to get to know them.  And we don't even know their last name.  Lyndyl is on the phone right now asking Randy if he wants to ride bicycles.  Randy laughed.

MICK AND GINA SWAPP:  Yesterday we decided to put our canoe into the river and paddle upstream.  Our last experience left me a little concerned.  So we thought that we would see if we could do it.  We probably paddled upstream about a mile when I could feel my legs burning, so we pulled over to the sandy beach so that I could put on my pants.  That was when Mick and Gina pulled up around the bend from us.  Their dog, Denali, a Great Pyrenees, met us first.  So sweet!  Then we just hit it off.  Mick knows so much!  He use to be a river guide.  He designed and built the boat they were driving.  It is made for long trips.  They have taken it down the Colorado several times.  He was a wealth of information, but most of the time he was speaking a foreign language to me.  He said names and terms I had never heard before.  I could not take it all in.  He also use to work as the manager? of the power plant that was here.  He knew all about the river and how it provided electricity for much of California and Arizona, but they have been in a drought for a long time, and he thinks that unless they get rain, Lake Powell will be too low to provide the electricity.  He thinks there will be blackouts by the end of summer.  He also sings.  He gave us a CD.  Fascinating.  Then Gina!  Wow!  She is a marvel.  She cans.  Shoots elk.  Processes.  She works hard and is prepared for anything.  She and Mick work as a team.  We loved them.  So then they just said, "Do you want us to take you upstream a few miles?  Heck yes!  - Although I was still a little nervous after our last canoe trip.  They took us al the way to Horseshoe Bend and showed us all the people up there who were taking pictures.  When we get to Page, I am going to take a picture from the top.  So cool!  I am hoping we connect again.

RV LIFE:

It has been averaging 95 degrees here at Lee's Ferry.  It is hot, like Texas, but there is nearly always a breeze.  We don't want to run the generator more than we have to, but we are just fine.  Lyndyl starts out sleeping on the couch because it is cooler, then he comes to bed.  We will see what happens when it gets hotter.

MOMENTS THAT TAKE MY BREATH AWAY:

The ride up to Mesa Verde again. 
The ride up and down the Colorado River.  Oh my goodness!

We are now on the road out of Farmington, NM. Rough road. We are headed toward the North Rim of the Grand Canyon - we think. We stopped at Denny’s this morning to get breakfast, and when we got through, our back tire was flat. Luckily we were only two miles from Discount Tire because when Lyndyl put the spare on, it was nearly flat, too. Discount Tire replaced our tire for $37.00. Yay!

We left Dolores, Colorado yesterday morning and drove to the Bisti Badlands. The drive there was so cool. Jutting out of the ground were random rock formations. I need to post some of the pictures. Crazy, amazing. I am looking at one now. All around Shiprock, NM and Farmington, NM are such amazing rock formations. Then we spent the night at the Bisti Badlands. Oh my goodness! So cool! I am so glad we did this, but it was a lot of walking. We met Phil Rolnicki in the parking lot of Bisti, and he walked with us and pointed out landmarks so that we could get where we needed to be. If it were not for him, I don’t know that we would have ever found the rock formations. He walked with us about a mile and a half before he turned around. I am so glad he was our guide. Other than Phil, we only saw five other people. This place is massive. The temperature was in the 70’s or low 80’s yesterday, so it was good, but if it was a hot day, this would be difficult.

RV LIFE:

THE THINGS WE NEED AND DON’T NEED: When we started out, we thought we would need our fire pit and wood. We love to cook outside, and we love to sit by a fire, but we found that there is a burn ban nearly everywhere, and the wind gets up so fast and blows so hard. We don't want to take a chance on anything catching fire. So right now we have a dog cage filled with firewood (I know!) and covered with a tarp (to keep the wood that we don’t burn dry), and a fire pit in the back of our truck. We have used this fire pit only a couple of times. We have used instead, our two burner propane cooker. We also thought that we would need lots of propane. We have three 20 pound bottles for our camper and one 20 pound bottle for the cooker, but we also have a 100 pound bottle in the back of the truck - just in case. That’s the way we roll. - Can I stop and mention here that we just crossed over into Arizona, and the roads are so much better! - Back to propane. It goes a lot further than we thought. We have only filled up one bottle since we left Brownwood. We also bought a new trailer brake control. Coming out of the mountains at Cloudcroft was hard on our braking system. Now we know to shift into low gear, and the new braking system for the trailer is awesome. Lyndyl has said several times since he installed it that it was a good investment.

BATH TIME: I have had several people ask me about taking a bath. When I was at home, I would use all of the hot water - forty gallons in my bathtub. I love to take a bath - not shower. That is the way I get warm. So when we started doing this RV thing, I didn’t know how this would work. We have 40 gallons of water, and that is all, and only 6 gallons of hot water at a time, so I put one inch of hot water in the small bathtub, and I get in. Then I adjust the shower to wet my hair, and I turn off the water while I wash my hair and my body, then I turn on the shower and rinse off. If it is cold, I have the small heater in the bathroom with me, but that was when we had electricity. I know that for many of you, this is too much information, but this is part of RV life. My husband does not bend well, so he can’t get in the tub. He showers. But the shower is SMALL, so when he turns around, the curtain goes to the outside of the tub. The first time he showered, we had water flowing into the bedroom. I need to interject here that I have been to Africa where women carry jugs of water on their head for miles. That is all the water they get. As I am downsizing, I think of other people and other places. We are spoiled rotten.

OH THE PLACES WE GO:

DURANGO-SILVERTON TRAIN: We took the train to Cascade Falls. That is a 5 hour round trip. There is also a train that goes all the way into Silverton - nine hours. The weather was iffy, so we chose the shorter of the two. The first half of the trip was through the town area, then we stopped halfway to pick up some more people. I don’t know what the name of that stop was, but if we were to do this ride again, we would get on there. From that point on, it was spectacular! We rode the open train. I think we saw more than the people in the closed cars. What we did not see going, we saw coming. The train ride cost us $187.

RICO: We rode our motorcycle to Rico one afternoon . Such a pretty ride. This is an old town. There are plenty of places to boondock along the Dolores River. It is gorgeous. I wanted to stay.

BOGGY DRAW; We went back to Boggy Draw to bike. This time we rode the Maverick Trail. We both liked this so much!!! It was shorter, but harder than the 199 trail. We both had to stop at the top of each incline. We had to push our bike in some places. We are so out of shape. We would both do that ride again!

BISTI BADLANDS: One of the places I wanted to go from the beginning was the Bisti Badlands. I saw pictures on Pinterest. It did not disappoint. One of the concerns we had about going was getting lost. Nothing is marked. But we met Phil in the parking lot, and he came with us to point out landmarks. He said that if we always follow the washout draw (where the bushes grow), it would take us back to the entrance. He also pointed out a plant on the horizon over the entrance. You can see that for miles, so between the washout and the plant, we always had our bearings. Then he pointed out two black buttes over to the right. The twin black buttes are the beginning of where all of the really cool rock formations start. We had to walk a long way before we came to these buttes. But to tell you the truth, anywhere you look, it is breathtaking. Like walking on the moon. Take water. Good walking shoes. A hat. Don’t go in the heat of the day.

OH THE PEOPLE WE SEE:

LINDA JAMES: When we were pulling into the Indian museum at Dolores, a lady started running to get out of our way. Of course that was a conversation starter. This lady was 78 years old, and she was a hoot. She was from Montana, and when her husband died when she was in her 60s, she decided to take off. She said that all of her husbands died of self-defense. She has an RV and has been on the road ever since. She loves Dolores, and she keeps going back there. She loves to hike. She talked about Ice Lake on Silverton Hiking Trail. She said that the hike is tough, gaining lots of elevation, but she said around every bend is another water fall or lake or view. She said it is breathtaking. I want to go!!!! When we looked this hiking trail up, we found that it was closed. In March there was a fire. Someday, LORD willing, I will hike that trail. After all, if a 78 year old woman can do it, so can I.

PEOPLE WE KNOW FROM BROWNWOOD, TEXAS. Ya’ll, there is the neatest couple who live in Brownwood but who have 35 acres in Dolores, Colorado near Boggy Draw. When she saw my post about bicycling in Boggy Draw, she messaged me. They were in Dolores. Oh my goodness, and they invited us over to eat. I wish I had taken more pictures. We drove up to their place, and there was a log cabin in the middle of a meadow. Ute Mountain was their view from their front porch. This man built this whole house with his two hands. It is not quite finished. He only gets to work on it when he comes to Colorado, but! Gorgeous! I took some pictures, but later found out that these two are kind of private people. All of my pictures had them in it, so the only pictures we have of their place, I took when we were leaving. It was the outside with lights on. I wish I had a picture of the place from the road. Paradise! And the meal was awesome.

PHIL AND BERNADINE ROLNICKI: We met Phil and Bernadine in the parking lot of Bisti Badlands. They were camping. When I asked if they knew the area, Phil said that they had been there five days. They meant to stay only two, but loved the place. They are originally from Chicago, but lived in Michigan for several years. While they were in Michigan, they had a 40 foot boat that they played in the great lakes. Sometime in there they exchanged their boat for an R-Pod RV, and they moved to Santa Fe. They go when they want to go. I am so glad we met them. This stop would not have been near as pleasant if we had not.

LYNDYL MET A GUY in the Bisti parking lot. He was sitting in a half tent in a chair. In front of him was a BMW. That’s what my husband thought. It was not. It was a Russian Ural. The guy went on to tell us the history of the German/Russian motorcycles. Then he and Lyndyl went around the pickup to throw away trash. This man then told my husband his story. This man worked in electronics. It was his business, and it was pretty big. All of his parts were made in China, so he just moved to China. This made things easier, but it was a hard place to have a business, but the man said he had several contacts in China that made it easier. While in China, he met his wife. She was a doctor. In China, mandatory retirement for a female is 50 years old unless she is a professional, then it is 55. There were only government run hospitals, but when she retired at 55, there were private practices. She worked three more years, then the man (I wish I knew his name.) got a Naval contract with his electronics. To get the contract, he had to move back to the states, so they moved. While Lyndyl was talking to this man, he asked him about my friend Tia Moen. For all of my theatre friends, Tia worked for Azle school district until last year when she took a theatre job in China. She posts on Facebook, and I am intrigued with the pictures she posts. But in all of her pictures, I see no people. I am like, “Where are the people?” Well, this man said, “I know what it is. In China, for a governor to advance in the government, he has to show progress. So this man said that there are many ghost towns. Building after building, luxurious - with no one living in them.” Is that so? I don’t know, but that is what the man said. I am sad that I didn’t get to hear his story. I would have known his name and age. Man. It is so cool to hear all the stories. Another life lived.

THE PRICE OF IT ALL:

WEEK 3:
Gas $48.97
Food $146.53
Groceries $52.68
RV Campground $288.26
Entertainment $316.26
Souvenirs $118.79
Parts $104.11
TOTAL $1,075.60
​
This is a lot of money for us. We eat out a lot, and we are doing things that we want to do, things that in the past, we said no to. I want to give a clear witness to how much this life actually costs.

5/18/21 OUR RV ADVENTURES:

We have now been on the road for two full weeks. I know that for some people that is not much, but for us it is. This week has been different from last week in that we are staying for two weeks at an amazing RV place on the Dolores River. It is much easier to be hooked up to electricity and water all the time and to not move every few days, but my heart wants to go into the woods and camp by rivers and look out into meadows and onto mountains. That’s just me. I want to boondock.  But, when I told my family about this wonderful place, 

RV CULTURE: The thing that I have found while at this RV campground is that there is a different group of people - an RV culture. Most of the people we have met here are full time RVers. They have been living out of their RV for from 3-7 years without going home. Most do not have another home. Nearly all of the people that we meet are our age or older. Some live on a fixed income, so they do the WorkAmp (work camp) program or they boondock. There are about twelve couples who work this campground. They clean the cabins, do landscape, work the office, etc. They work three days and are off three days - about 20 hours a piece per week. They get their rent, electricity, water, butane, and laundry furnished as well as making minimum wage. It is not a bad deal. Every campground has its own rules and perks. One couple who works here is going to work in Alvin, Texas this winter. All the man has to do is keep the pool clean. She doesn’t have to do anything, and they get their place paid for. The only problem with this is that they have to commit to 6 months per place. If you work the State Parks, you only have to commit to 2-3 months at a time. This could be an alternative to high rent.

THE RIVER: This campground is right on the river. AMAZING! So we decided to test out our canoe. The problem is that a canoe takes on water. We didn’t know that, and by the time we rode out the last of the two mile stretch, our canoe overturned, and we had to drag everything to shore. So we decided to invest in an inflatable kayak. We didn’t want a kayak at first because it hurts Lyndyl’s shoulders to row above his head, but on a river, there is not much rowing - mostly guiding. I think it will be fun. I will let you know. The kayak should be here on Monday, the day we leave.

HIKING/BIKING: Because this place is so amazing, we messaged all of our kids and told them that they should come. Cloud and his family took us up on it. So fun! There is so much to do here, but after I told the story of riding the river, they didn’t want to do that. Haha. So we went hiking. So much fun. There are tons of hiking/bike trails in this area. We went on Boggy Draw 199. It is a 9 mile hike, but we only made it about 2.5 miles in before people were wanting to turn around. After Cloud’s family left, Lyndyl and I took our bikes down to Boggy Draw and rode that same trail. WOW! We are soooo out of shape. I had to stop at the top of each hill to catch my breath, but by the time I had ridden nine miles, it was getting easier. This trail took us mainly through the woods. We want to go back and do another trail that is 11.7 miles. This is the way to exercise. I love it, but man am I sore.

RV LIFE:

I think we have about figured out how to do this. Our black water/gray water works. Yay! We are very comfortable. Everything else works, too. We thought that we would cook outside on our fire pit because that is what we do at home, but we have an outdoor butane two burner stove that is amazing. We love outdoors.

OH THE PLACES WE GO:

DOLORES RIVER RV CAMPGROUND: I would recommend this place to anyone. This is a great place and a great location. It is close to so much, and it is on the river. Apparently the only months you can float this river like we are doing is in May and June. After the snow melts, the river becomes a trickle. I think. That’s what I read.

BOGGY DRAW: If you take Hwy 31 out of Dolores toward the mountains, you will come to Boggy Draw Trail Head road. Turn right and go till you come to the parking lot of the trail heads. So many places to go. Hike. Bike. Please take your mountain bikes! Fun! After we got through riding the 199 trail, we took our pickup around on the road 527. It is legal to camp for up to 14 days anywhere off of this road. Oh my goodness! The meadows. The woods. I want to go, but we have already paid for two weeks at Dolores River RV. If we had only known. Do you know what I think it is? Our back wall opens up to whatever view we want. I don’t want an RV campground view. I want that meadow with yellow flowers blooming everywhere.

MESA VERDE: Wow! Wow! Wow! Mesa Verde is only about 20 miles from our campground. Then it is 20 miles to the top of the mesa. Mesa Verde is one of the reasons we chose Dolores to camp. It is very close. The ride up to Mesa Verde is spectacular. I would put it in the same category as the Million Dollar Highway. Steep. Scary. Spectacular!!! Then the history! The cliff dwellings! The Indians! So much!

OH THE PEOPLE WE SEE:

It is funny that the people we meet here in the campground we don’t get to know as much. I don’t know why. We meet people who go back into their trailers. Nice people. I just didn’t get to know them. The only memorable person I met was today at Walmart. The woman checking us out was older, and it looked like she was hurting, but she smiled. I asked her how she felt, and she said her body is getting older, and it is doing whatever it wants to do. As I left, I gave her my card, and I asked her if she had worry in her heart. She became animated, and said, “Well, heck yes.” So I asked her if she wanted it to go away, and she said, “Yes! And all of this other stuff, too.” She pointed to her stomach. I think that was what was hurting. I took her to Jesus, and I said, “Say you are guilty of worrying.” She did, and she started kind of dancing. I told her to go to my website, and I told her that if she would give Jesus her worries and her fears, her physical symptoms will go away. I believe that with all of my heart. I will probably never see her again. I don’t even know her name.

WITNESS HIM NOW:

I want to record what I see God doing. I think He worked in the lady in Walmart. I am not sure, but I know that He is working in me. Sunday morning, my friend Annabeth Martin called early and woke us up. She said, “Do you know what is going on?” No. What? Then she told me about all the bombing that were happening in Israel. Then she just started talking. She sees things that I do not see. Everything she sees, points her back to what God is doing. But what she said was, “Jesus was a prophet. Jesus was also the prophetic work, and Jesus is the fulfillment of all prophecy, and because Jesus lives in us, He is fulfilling prophecy through us. This is the mystery - Christ in you, the hope of glory!” Oh my goodness. This ministered to me. It is not what I do. It is Christ who lives in me. Prophecy is being fulfilled. Wow! God encouraged me that morning.

Then Annabeth, who thinks our whole trip is prophetic, said, “Do you know what Dolores means?” No. “It means sorrow, but you are anointed with the oil of gladness and joy. Go and pour oil into that river of sorrow.” So I did. I put Frankincense oil into the river before we got in. Then my son said, “Do you know what Dolores means? In Spanish it means ‘pain.’” So in my mind, there is something going on with pain and sorrow. In Isaiah 52-53, we understand that Jesus bore our pain and He carried our sorrow. I started to pray. Then I started seeing all the Indian history, and my heart reached out to the pain and the sorrow in this nation. LORD, thank you for all that You did. Now, heal! In Jesus’ name. Then I began to think about the Indians. The pain and the sorrow. And I began to pray.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

I want to record our costs. We started our trip on I want everyone to know what we are doing. So the first week went like this:
WEEK !: (5/4-5/11)
Gas $299.10 ($2.87-$3.39 per gallon)
Food $219.28
Groceries $96.85
Vineyards/Alpaca Farm $138.00
Parts: $81.35
RV Parks $81.35
Park Passes: America the Beautiful $80.00
TOTAL: $1109.87. (miles driven 1300.3)

WEEK 2: (5/12-5/18)
Gas $10.75 (motorcycle)
Food $47.89
Groceries $271.59
Parts $56.12
RV Parks - Dolores ($44-$49 per night) $293.26
TOTAL: $679.61. (miles driven 76)
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I did not put in the cost of our trip - kayak $509.

5/10/21 OUR RV ADVENTURES

From the beginning of our RV adventures, I had visions of pulling up beside a river and camping, hiking, biking, etc. like we did last August when we went to Pagosa Springs, Colorado. But how does that happen? Is it feasible? Possible? Where? Lots of questions. So while we were at the KOA Campground, Dave mentioned this place at the bottom of the hill outside of Alamogordo. It is amazing. We love it. We boondocked (stayed on public land without water or electricity for free) from May 7-9. We found out that this land is not BLM (Bureau of Land Management), but DOD (Department of Defense). I don’t know how legal we are to be here. Oops. But, apparently we can stay on any public land (BLM) anywhere in the United States for free. Boondocking is an option if we can figure out how to make it work.

NEW MEXICO STATE PARKS: We rode our motorcycle up to Oliver Lee Memorial State Park which is a mile east of where we are staying. This park is amazing. It only has electricity and water, no sewer hookups, but the landscape is amazing and the RV spots are private, far apart with spectacular views of the valley and mountains. To stay in a state park in New Mexico costs $10 per night with no electricity and water, $14 per night with water and electricity, and $18 per night with full hookups. The problem is that a lot of the state parks and national parks are already full. You have to call way in advance to get a spot. We are kind of fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants kind of people, but it looks like we are going to have to plan a little to make this thing work.

TEXAS STATE PARKS: While I am talking about state parks, I want to let you know what happened in Texas. When I posted the cost of staying the night at Brownwood State Park, Robin Horton told me, “Go now and get a yearly pass,” so I did. I think it was $70 for a yearly pass and $25 for a secondary pass. I got both, but I think I should have only gotten one. Lyndyl’s pass would have been good for both of us. When I did that, they reimbursed $32 for the two day stay. SWEET!

NATIONAL PARKS: We also went to White Sands National Park. AMAZING! And we got an AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL pass. Any family can purchase an annual pass for $80 per year and it will get the entire family into any National Park. For us, because we are over 62, we got a lifetime pass for $80. SWEET! Without the America the Beautiful pass, the White Sands adventure would have cost $20 for our motorcycle. Tonight we are going back to see the sunset!

BOONDOCKERSWELCOME.COM: We joined this group for $50 per year. I think the way this works is that if you have a piece of property that could accommodate RVs, you offer your property, and other people offer their property. It doesn’t cost anything unless you use electricity. Then it is a $10 donation.

RV LIFE:

BLACK WATER: OK. I know that I talk a lot about poop (black water) when I blog about RV life, but ya’ll, this is for real. We thought that our gray water valve was the one that was not closing, so my husband replaced that, but the black water valve was also stuck. CRAP! So while we stayed at the KOA and had plenty of water to wash everything out, my husband and Dave tackled the problem. They fixed it, but come to find out, our water sensors were not accurate either. It showed that our black water was always full, so we dumped. But we are never suppose to dump until the black water is at least 3/4 full. If we dump before it is full, the stuff won't flow out. Well! According to Dave we were creating the mountain of doom. A pile that grows higher and higher and gets harder and harder. And to top all of that off, I was conserving water, after all we only have 40 gallons. This is a place I can cut back on using our limited supplies. Oops! Now I know better. I will use lots of water rom now on. We think we have this fixed now, and my husband bought some sort of gadget to stick down the toilet with the water hose attached. They cleaned everything out. By the way, my husband anticipated having to work on black water, so he put a SEPARATE hose in the back of our truck for that. Now we are not going to dump so often. I will let you know how that works.

BOONDOCKING: We boondocked a mile down the hill from Oliver Lee State Park. This is about 10 miles out of Alamogordo off of Hwy 54. We loved it. Not many people were there the first night, but Saturday night, more and more cars came. These cars came and stayed the night and left. On Friday it was 95 degrees with the wind blowing. We were comfortable, and by the time morning came, we were cold. We also figured out the lighting situation. I told you that we had to run the generator twice a day to recharge the battery. We stopped turning on the lights where there are 5-7 on a circuit and started just turning on one when we needed it. While we were at Alamogordo, we only charged the battery once. I have to tell you that to have all lights off at night with just the candle burning is glorious. The stars! The lights! While we were there Friday and Saturday at dusk, we saw something in the sky. It was a string of lights in a row, evenly spaced, that looked like stars. They moved through the sky in a straight line and disappear. As one disappeared, another entered this space. We could see five or six at a time, and this lasted for about 20 minutes each night, and then they were gone. Satellites? I don’t know, but it is worth noting.
My heart is torn. Since leaving Alamogordo, we have seen several places that we would have loved to stay and explore. The Box out of Socorro, NM is one. The alpaca farm is another. Then we passed the valley of fire, but couldn't stop because we have to be someplace at a certain time. We don’t want to make reservations, but we are afraid not to.

OH THE PLACES WE GO!!!

WHITE SANDS NATIONAL PARK. Wow! Wow! Wow! There are not enough exclamation points. White Sands National Park at sunset took my breath away.

CLOUDCROFT, NM. We rode Hwy 130 from Mayhill to Cloudcroft. Glorious! There was an RV place right out of Mayhill on 130 that we would have probably stayed at if we had known, but if feels like our footsteps are ordered by God. We are listening to people and going where they say go. It is fun! We also loved Dave’s Cafe. We ate there twice. I would eat there again.

HIGH COUNTRY ALPACA RANCH, Techado - Fence Lake, NM: We searched Harvest Host and Boondockers Welcome to find a place to stay while on our way to Dolores, Colorado. This alpaca ranch came up. I am glad it did. We met John and his delightful place. If we did not already have reservations, we would have stayed longer. John just lost his wife of 40 years in March and I wanted to wrap my heart around him to keep him safe and comfort him.

OH THE PEOPLE WE SEE!

DAVE AND MARY are the two that we hung around the most. Dave helped Lyndyl with the black water problem, and he had very helpful hints about RV living. He has been living in his motorhome for 20 years. He has stayed at the KOA for the 7 years. He knows a lot. He also took us to Cloudcroft and showed us around. Mary is Dave’s friend. She is 74 years old, and she is fixing up a 5X10 cargo trailer into a camper. She was also boondocking at the same place we were. Dave drove his motorhome out there, too, so that he could help Mary fix her camper up. We ate supper with them and took them both up to White Sands to see the sunset again last night. Neither one of them were as impressed as I was.

BRITA pulled her van into the space across the street from us at the KOA. She is 79 years old. She is a retired systems analysis person. She retired at 75. Wow. She lives on a lake somewhere in the Fort Worth area, and she has been a lot of places. She loves to travel, and most of the time, she travels by herself. She has been to over 300? Countries. That seems like a lot, but that is what I think she said. She was coming back from California where she went to see her daughter and her family. She had a bed in the back of the van. She opened the doors to let the breeze in, and she talked of putting screens over the doors for when the mosquitos come. Seventy-nine years old. Wow.

SAM AND MORGAN. Now this couple was fascinating. It was their age. Nearly everyone we meet is our age or older, but I met Sam on his birthday. He turned 35 on May 6th. Morgan is 34. Sam was an aeronautical civil engineer. I think Morgan remodeled houses? But she subs it all out. (I think this is right. Lyndyl was the one talking to her.). Anyway, they got tired of the rat race. They quit their job, sold their house, bought a pickup and a camper. They said they had a trip planned to go to Europe that got canceled twice. When they got the refund, they bought the camper. They said that all they want to do is see beautiful things and enjoy each other. Oh my goodness! They are the ones who insisted that we see White Sands at sunset. They have been living in their RV for seven months. They said it is averaging them $800 per month to stay in places, but this includes water and electricity. They said that if they every need to go back, they will, but for now - no. They are from Georgia, but they have a Florida address. They said that there are only three states that allow you to be a resident without living there. Florida and Texas are two of them. They get their mail sent to Florida and then forwarded to wherever they happen to be. They can also get a drivers license from Florida which is pretty important.

PAT SARGENT. Pat Sargent was a lady in one of the stores I went into at Cloudcroft. She is 74. Divorced 30 years ago and raised four children by herself. She travels a lot, but she has lived in Cloudcroft for the last eight years. Now her heart is turning back to the Houston area so that she can be around family. LORD, guide her footsteps. Go before her and prepare the way. Be her rearguard. I am asking this in Jesus’ name.

PETER. While we ate at Dave’s Cafe the second time, I noticed a young man limping with a cane. He had two children and a dog (who peed on the post right beside us). He came past several times and ended up sitting down on a bench right across the fence from us. I asked him about what happened to his leg. He said that seven months ago a large glass table fell on his leg below the knee. He has no feeling from the knee down, but the nerve damage is so bad that he is in pain all the time. He said the pain medicine they gave him doesn’t work, so he doesn't take it. He talked about having them cut his leg off to relieve the pain, but the doctors said that he may still have fantom pain for the rest of his life. My heart went out to him. When he got up to leave, I asked him, “Do you know Jesus?” It took him by surprise. He said, “Yes. I pray.” I don’t know if he knew what I was talking about, but I asked him if I could pray for him. He said, “Yes.” I called down heaven over that man. Grace and mercy. Light and truth. Unfailing love. Healing - as his soul prospers, may he prosper and be in health. I don’t know if he was able to receive or not. Later, when I was reading the Bible, the LORD said that if I ask anything according to His will, He will give it to me. I thought of Peter. I prayed for Peter according to God’s will. Then it occurred to me that if two agree as touching anything it will be given to them from heaven. If Peter’s heart agreed with mine, God will move heaven and earth for that man. He will be healed in more ways than he could ever imagine. If his heart did not agree with mine, he will go home unchanged, and he will have a vague memory of a crazy lady who stopped him on the streets to pray for him. LORD, rend the heavens over this man. Send Your Spirit. Draw him to You. Let his heart open wide to receive Your goodness. Let righteousness and salvations come with power. Let mercy and grace lead the way. Heal him. I am asking this in the mighty name of Jesus. AMEN

JOHN FIFIELD: John is 72 years old. He was a musician most of his life, playing in bands. He also taught school sometime in there. But 15 years ago, at 58 years old, he and his wife Carolyn bought that piece of property out in the middle of nowhere in NM. He had always wanted to farm. He raises alpacas and Great Pyrenees, and he has a little store there on his property. Since his wife died, it is just him running the place. His heart is broken. He loved her so much.  LORD, God of comfort, come with power.  Heal his heart.  Bring him joy and peace.  In Jesus' name.  AMEN

WITNESS HIM NOW

I want to record what I see God doing. I want to be a faithful witness to His glory. But what I am seeing happen right now is inside of me. Even though my heart’s desire is to share the goodness and grace of God, the LORD is telling me, “I didn’t send you to save anyone. I sent you to love them.” He is teaching me to listen to people and to love them right where they are. To value. To honor. To encourage. To love whoever He sends. We don’t choose. He does. This week we loved on Dave and Mary and John. It was glorious.

MOMENTS THAT TOOK MY BREATH AWAY!
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White Sands at sunset.
The heart of a loving husband who is grieving over his wife

​OUR RV ADVENTURE: May 5, 2021

We finally got off! Yay. We ended up staying in the Brownwood area for two extra weeks. We had to close on a house before we left. It was good that we stayed. We worked out some of the bugs. This RV living is a learning adventure. In the two weeks we were home, we:

*. Changed the front jack. $150 We got stuck in the State Park with the jack problem.
*. Fixed our bed with two old comforters underneath a pillow top mattress pad. The bed had springs in it. Not comfortable. I originally had a 2 inch foam mattress over it, but the foam killed Lyndyl’s back. This is much better. $49 for the mattress pad
*. Fixed the water heater. It was rusted and would not strike. WD-40
*. Fixed the leak in the gray water. Dirty job. $25 for parts. But we found out that we need to do the same for the black water. It is still leaking. Yuck! Lyndyl bought the parts today. $53
*. We attempted to make a mosquito netting for the back wall where the ramp folds down. We like this door open. We used netting and magnets. It’s not there yet, but it will be. $125

So we started our adventure yesterday. We drove to Reddy Vineyards in Brownfield, Texas because this was half way to Cloudcroft. It was an amazing place with amazing wines. We are a member of Harvest Hosts. This membership allows us to stay overnight free at a ton of vineyards and orchards, etc. We just have to purchase something while we are there. That is not hard.

We got up this morning and headed toward Cloudcroft. But where? We don’t really know where we are going or what we are doing. We talked about it and decided to start with a KOA Campground. The only one around here is in Alamogordo. They only had a spot for two days, but no spots for the weekend. Where do we go next? Dave knew.

Dave works at this KOA. He has for five years. He is nice. He thought we were lost, and he tried to help us find our way. When we unloaded the motorcycle, we found that the kick stand had poked a hole in the floor. Oops. Then our couch would not lower. Oops. Dave came over to check on us. We had blown a fuse. Easy fix. So we start talking to Dave about places to stay. We told him that we really wanted to go off grid - boondock. He then told us about a place sixteen miles from here that not many people know about. It is amazing. We will spend at least five days there when we leave this campground. We can make it five days without having to dump our water. We will come back to this KOA to dump. At that time we will decide whether we want to stay longer in this area or move on.

OH THE PLACES WE GO!

5/4/21 Reddy Vineyard in Brownfield, Texas. Free with a Harvest Host membership
Amazing wines. Lovely place
5/5-6/21. White Sands KOA in Alamogordo, NM. $40.23 per night

OH THE PEOPLE WE SEE!

Dave. 70 years old. Lives in a 40’ motorhome. Drives a Harley Sportster 1200. He has a trailer hitch on his Harley that he can haul plywood on. His wife died in January. He will leave this campground in June and head to Missouri. He is going to take us on the backroads of Cloudcroft on Friday. He is excited to have someone to ride with.

WITNESS HIM NOW!

What I have seen God do in the last week has been inside of me. When we were leaving the State Park, it was drizzling rain, our camper jack got stuck with us in the middle of the road going into the campground. It would not go up or down, so we could not move. Lyndyl took out a fuse and told me to go to Jack’s Place to see if they had one. On the way there the most INTENSE JOY filled my heart. It took my breath away. I asked God, “What is this?” And He took my thoughts to this scripture: “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for GREAT JOY.” James 1:2. Oh my goodness! This is so amazing. I knew this scripture, but I had never experienced this scripture.

Then another thing happened to me. I am not a very emotional person. I never have been, so when I feel emotions, I stop to ponder. The other day it felt like some of the people that I love most in this world were rejecting me. This was not the first time I had felt this way, but it was the first time that I felt the emotions. A deep sorrow and pain filled my heart. So I began to pray for these people. 1 Timothy 2:1 says, “I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them, Intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them.” Even though I felt better, the pain and the sorrow were still there. I know that these are spirits, so I said, “God please forgive me for allowing these spirits into my heart.” And I heard the LORD say to me, “I want you to know Me. I want you to know Me in the power of My resurrection and the FELLOWSHIP OF MY SUFFERING. I want you to be conformed unto Me even unto death, even death on the cross.” Wow! Jesus suffered. I am going to know a part of what He went through. I think we are all going to know God is ways we never dreamed possible.

SO FAR:
553.7 miles
$140.89 gas
$91.93 food
$56.61 groceries
$54 vineyard
$57.52 parts
$81.50 RV park
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I have never done this before - kept up with what we spend and what we do. I want to do it on this trip.

OUR RV ADVENTURE:

April 22, 2021: I am sitting in my new home at Brownwood State Park. It is kind of cold, so I am snuggled up on my couch. My husband has gone to town to get some hose extensions to drain our black water, so I have a few minutes to blog. I want to start at the beginning.

In February my husband wanted to take me somewhere for my birthday. He chose Galveston. That happened to be the week when the entire country froze. That week my husband mentioned ‘TOY HAULER’ for the first time. A Toy Hauler will allow us to take our motorcycle with us as we travel. This is very important to my husband. It makes his soul sing to be on a bike, so every trip we make is made on a motorcycle. RV life had never even crossed my mind or his mind, but as we slid into Brownwood on a sheet of ice, there was a Toy Hauler sitting in the lot across from Commerce Square. We bought that RV the next day. It all happened so fast, but it feels right. I would recommend BIG COUNTRY FORD - RV Sales to any person looking to buy an RV. Jim Coley held our hand and walked us through so much. He is still doing that as we become familiar with what it takes to keep this thing going. I think if we had bought from an individual or from a large dealership, our camping experience would not be so smooth. I still can’t believe that we are about to do what we are about to do!

RV LIFE:

We bought our RV without knowing anything about anything, and God protected us. From what we understand now, not all RVs are the same. Jim says that the fiberglass sided ones are much better. They are built with metal studs instead of wooden ones. All I know is that what we bought is a quality made RV. It is a 2012 Keystone Raptor. After we looked at the camper for the first time, we went and looked it up on the internet. It had very good reviews, and the price they were asking was good. We paid $17,800. The owner who had it before us kept it in a garage, and you can tell he took pains to maintain it. I would do research before purchasing an RV. Not all are equal.

I have spent the last month or so moving stuff from my house to the camper. I found that it is very important to have a place to put everything. Look at the picture I posted of my living room. I have baskets and crates under the couch for our shoes and drinking water and potatoes/onions. Beside the chair I bought an end table that stores stuff and it acts as a step stool so that I can reach the items in the top cabinets. This end table is where my books/computer/paperwork are stored. Next to the lamp, my husband built me a little pantry. It holds can goods that I can easily get to while the other cans are stored in crates in the cabinets. It also has hooks for our outdoor cooking, and it is a place to put my diffuser - which also acts as a night light. This space works very well for me. If you look at the picture of the hats/coats in our bedroom, you can see that I have a very tall skinny shelf on our end table. This helped SO much! On the shelves you can see plastic containers. I ordered these from Amazon - Chef’s Path. These are the best. I ordered the large package (48?) ($78?), and I have used every one of them - sugar, coffee, flour, medicine, sewing, oils, etc. These are a must! They stack. We move the table to the outside because I like the roominess of the living space without the table, but we needed something to eat on when inside, and the end table is too heavy to use. I went out in my backyard and found the table with the lamp on it. It will do for now. I think we can find something more functional. Then I bought a tapestry for the back wall. This wall is a drop down ramp for the motorcycle to load. When we were in Leakey, I noticed that when the back wall is up, it has tire tracks on it. I thought that I could paint a mural on that wall, but it would still have tire tracks. I found this little wall tapestry on Amazon for $17, and I used bungees to attach it to the wall. This makes me realize that I can get any piece of material - I love color - and change the look of my room. My favorite, though is to have that door open. It is like an outdoor oasis. Then the last thing I did was to bungee some curtains over the couches. They had snap on covers, and I knew that wouldn’t work for me, so I had some odd material and bungees - curtains. Then I made the top bed with a pillow top mattress pad and down filled comforters and pillows just in case we ever have guests. The couch will also make in to a queen bed, and I have comfortable bedding for that one, too. As far as I know, we are set to go.

So far the only problems we have had with our camping experiences are with the black water. Yuck! Jim told us to not dump the black water until it is at least 3/4 full. So we are suppose to dump the black water first, then the gray water. That helps clean it out. While we were in Leakey, the gauges showed 3/4 full, so my husband went to dump it. When he opened the valve, the water came and hit him in the face. Oops! Oh my goodness! I couldn't watch. Come to find out, the gray water (thank you Jesus, it was the gray water) valve was stuck open, so we cannot dump without having to deal with that water first. My husband has been trying to get the parts to replace the valves. He is still trying to get the right parts. So we came to the state park last night because we have to have a place to dump. When we got here, the hose was too short. Oops! So we have been going to the restroom at the park’s facilities because we don’t know what will happen if this stuff gets too full, and our gauges show full. So this morning Lyndyl went to town to buy two extensions and an extra water hose - just in case we are to need these things along the way. He just dumped, and it was easy, but the gauges still show 3/4 full. He just now came in and said that he hooked the water hose to tank flush valve - this worked. Our tanks are empty!

OH, THE PLACES WE GO!

Fabis Primitive Campground
Brownwood, Texas
$10 per night - no more than 3 nights
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Zubers River Camp On the Frio
April 16-18
2429 CR 350
Concan, TX. 78838
830-232-5205
$55 per night?

Our first camping trip was to the hill country. It was glorious! Amazing place! Amazing weather! Amazing family! Look at the pictures. This place is on the Frio River. It is just down from Garner State Park on the opposite side of the bank. You can walk into the state park. I don’t know if you are suppose to or not - probably not. But the hiking! Swimming! Canoeing! Tubing! Cold water!!!! Clear, beautiful, cold water. I would go here again and again and again and again!

Home
April 19-21
6371 Safe Haven Lane
Brownwood, Texas. 76801
$0 per night

We had plans to leave for Cloudcroft, NM on the 20th after we got back from Leakey, but that didn’t work. We are in the middle of closing on a house. We are going to stay in the Brownwood area until the sell is final. Sheri Wells, our realtor, said that could happen next week, so it makes sense to just park our RV on our property and wait. We are in the process of building a cover for our RV. Lyndyl has run the water out to it, and the electricity is close. We could stay there except for two things. First, we have no place to dump our stuff yet, and we have already rented our home to Dustin, my brother Rusty’s son, and his new bride Kelsi. So! This is different. We need to not stay there because I have a tendency to think that I can go get this or that or go use the washer. And besides, we have the black water we needed to get rid of! So now we are at the State Park - but only for two days because it is completely booked on all weekends. You have to call way in advance to get into to the state parks.

Brownwood State Park
200 Park Road 15
Brownwood, TX76801
325-784-5223
$25 per night - It cost us $70 for two nights, but I don’t know why.

Oh my goodness! Brownwood is such an amazing place. We use to come here all the time when we lived in west Texas. We spent many summers on the lake skiing, and we have lived here for over 20 years, but we have not experienced and enjoyed this place like we should. Now we are going to take some time and do that. This morning we hiked and as soon as I finish this, we will go bicycling. Then this afternoon we will go see Cason play baseball in Coleman. I have to post pictures of the hike.

OH THE PEOPLE WE SEE!

Today when we went riding bikes we met Lee from Georgia. He is 73 years old riding his Silver Wing Honda across country. He is staying in a tent at Brownwood State Park. Brrrrr! He left Georgia April 1st, and he is touring until sometime in July. He had an amazing story. Two years ago he spent 5 months in the Philippines. He fell in love with the island and the people, and he put a hefty deposit on a condominium overlooking the ocean. He then came home and sold his house, his Gold Wing, and everything he had. He had a ticket in his hands to leave for the Philippines on July 1st of last year. Covid shut it all down, and that country has still not opened for people to come back in. He had no place to go. He is now waiting. He has to make some sort of choice by July because he said he does not want to tour in the cold. He said that his claim to fame is that he has ridden his Gold Wing through every state except Hawaii and every providence in Canada. WOW! He said his favorite was Nova Scotia and then another place in Canada that is just past Glacier National Park - Banff, Canada. He says that we still can't cross the Canadian border. If possible, I want to go there. Glacier National Park is on our to do list.

WITNESS HIM NOW:

I want to record what I see God doing. This weekend when we were at Leakey, my husband was riding his motorcycle behind our son. A deer ran out and hit him. It killed the deer, but didn’t touch my husband or his motorcycle. This is not the first time this has happened. Lyndyl was riding close to our home a couple of years ago when he spotted a deer on the side of the road. He was watching that one when another deer, a large buck, headed right toward him. He could do nothing. The deer jumped over him. He could smell him. Then there is the time when a turkey hit me in the face. It took off my helmet, but didn’t touch me. The LORD has His hand on us both. It is evident. Nothing is going to happen to us until it is time.
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I want to blog about our RV adventure.  I want a written record of all we do.  I posted on my Facebook page that our adventure started on April 16, 2021, but it really started May 4th.  We were delayed a bit. I want to copy and paste my beginning posts here, then I will use this blog to keep a record.

APRIL 16, 2021:  Today our RV adventure begins. We are going to spend the weekend in Concan with Shade and Caity, then if all goes well, next week we will take off for 6 months? If anyone is interested, I will blog along the way. We don’t know what to expect. We have never done anything like this before. Today we are hauling both Lyndyl and Shade’s motorcycles in the RV. Look at the video. Lyndyl said he will never do that again. Then look at the odometer. That’s right. 441,371 miles on our 2004 Dodge diesel. We will keep you posted.