Category: Campgrounds

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October 17 – 26, 2022 Sun, Sharks, and Spooks? at Myrtle Beach Ocean Lakes Family Campground

It was time to just settle a bit. We’ve been “adventuring” for nearly three years, and have traveled a lot these past few months. After reflecting on our life and that this is the year of our our 50th Anniversary we decided that we should take some time to just rest and “recover” for a spell. We made reservations at Myrtle Beach – a favorite of ours from days gone by. But for the first time we were staying at a beach side RV Resort – who knew what we were going to encounter?!?

We left Lake Hartwell, SC following the Juice Plus conference in Atlanta and began our trek to Myrtle beach. Lorree had a zoom conference call the day before – always ready to connect with her Juice Plus people! We took advantage of Buc-ee’s along the route (of course we bought those delicious brisket sandwiches! Yummm!

We were ready for some down time – sunshine and sea shore camping, here we come!

On the road looking ahead – it appears to be the “highway to heaven”!

The SUN! We can still feel the warmth and relaxing nature of sand, sea, and sun! The dunes had previously been wiped out by hurricane Ian a few months ago – but they had already rebuilt them and were now waiting for new dune grass growth to occur. Oh the white sand!

The SHARKS! What?? As Dennis was relaxing on the beach watching the kiddo’s and other waders playing in the waves, a guy right next to him caught a 54 inch shark – from the same area where those kiddos were swimming! Yikes! The crazy part is that if it had been less than 54 inches he was required to return it to the ocean!?! Some regulations are crazy!

The SPOOKS! Who knew that it was so close to Halloween that the park was entertaining a Halloween decoration, costume, and parade event this weekend?! Everyone (but us) had come prepared for the event – we just stared and took pictures!! Some scary stuff!!!

The campground resort was great, although a bit tight in parking sites. We did OK and enjoyed our spot. The large swimming pool, slides, lagoon, and lazy river were beautiful – just too cold and/or closed during the time we were there. We were thankful for the days of sunshine and beautiful beach – they never close!

Wow! They had over 850 RV sites plus 300 rental cabins, lodges, and multi-family housing units. And as I shared before it was a bit tight! We took a picture out of our back window – wondering if we were going to be hit! We had to roll up our awning to give them a few more inches! They did well and no-one had any damage. With all paved roads, this was definitely a golf-cart type resort… we purposely chose to walk!

YIKES! …and then the SPOOKS came out! The resort advertised a Halloween dress up & parade for each weekend in October (we didn’t know…?!) That’s one reason the campground was so full – camping people book this place a year in advance for this event!

It was a lot of fun. It was great to see people interacting again after the National COVID Lockdown. There were so many smiling faces, laughing kids, friendly strangers, and very creative golf carts decked out for the 2 hour parade! We even got a treat out of the deal!

The highlights for us….

We can still hear the waves and the birds and feel the fresh warm breezes – so nice!

Ahhh – the beach! Not crowded, full of fresh air, colors, warmth, and relaxing moments!

And then a great date! …remembering the songs and bands from 50 years ago!

Great times and great memories! We’re so thankful and full of love for each other! …and we love our adventures – still making those memories!

Before we leave the East Coast, we’re headed a bit south to meet up with some Juice Plus friends and partners. We’re enjoying living such a healthy life, full of energy, and to be able to share a thriving business together with some great friends!

We stayed at Skidaway Island State Park just outside of Savanna, GA. It was another great place to park, rest, and enjoy the scenery.

We even had fresh lemons just outside our door!

In nearby Savannah, we really enjoyed a lunch with Kim and Sharon at the Green Truck Pub. Sharon won an award with the JP Company and we were delighted to deliver it to her! We also met up with Lucy at the Oak 36 Kitchen for a delicious evening meal and some catch up time.

We are so thankful our travel lifestyle that keeps us connected to so many friends and family along the way!

Time to pack it up and move on down the highway. We are ready to get back to work at our next SOWER’s project in Alabama. We know there’s amazing adventures ahead! Meeting new friends, helping at a youth & family camp, seeing Tate, Kimberly, and the girls, and a race track adventure! Check it out next!

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July 18 – 21, 2022 On our way to Maine – Michigan camping with the Grandkiddo’s and travel to New York State.

On our way, we spent a night in Indiana so we could color that state on our map, and then we arrived in Niles, MI. It’s always a bit like coming home each time we visit since we lived here for over ten years.

“Can the grand’s spend the night in Papa and Nana’s RV?” YES! We had a fun evening camp-over with Jeremiah, Asia, and Faith, and we all fit very nicely! Love making these memories!

From sundown to sunup – we never had a dull moment. This camp spot was only 10 minutes from Ray & Sarah’s house and had all the activities, indoor and outdoor, that we could want.

And best of all – the Blue Gills were hungry in the morning! We caught 13 nice size ones and threw many smaller ones back. YUM – we had a fish fry back at the house that evening!

We love to help our kids whenever there is a home project to do – Sarah wanted her laundry room rearranged so it would be more efficient and take up less space. Ray & I were able to figure things out to re-route the drain and the power supply in order to move the washer, dryer, and sink. Sarah was smiling pretty big when we were done!

….and then Chef Ray appeared with his smoker and select choice of meats! He blessed all of us with tender smoked “Dinosaur Ribs” and “Pig Shots”. So tasty (my mouth is watering again as I write this!) He certainly has developed into a gourmet smoke chef! Thanks Ray!

We enjoyed a great game of “Life” with Jeremiah and Asia. We kept saying, ” this isn’t the way REAL life is” …so much money coming in and very little going out – NOT! So we had the opportunity to share some real life lessons and experiences, we had a great time!

The days came and went so fast – but we packed in a lot of adventure, love, hugs, and smiles while we were there (even Jasmine seemed to enjoy our visit!)

Gotta keep moving if we’re going to get to Maine on time!

On our way out of Michigan, we stopped to enjoy a great breakfast and reunion with Ernie & Gail Shrock at the Das Essenhouse in Middlebury, IN. It’s always fun to re-connect with our SOWER friends as we travel – such a blessing to have these close-hearted friends all over the USA! We served together at Gospel Rescue Mission in Tucson, AZ in March of 2022.

Then the road trip to New York State. We traveled through Ohio close to Lake Erie and then crossed a corner of Pennsylvania into New York. While we enjoyed the scenery, driving through a few big cities having some sharp turns kept us alert.

We arrived at our next stop in Plattsburgh, NY. So amazed to find an available “couples bench” on the lake for us to enjoy a spectacular sunset. God continues to bless us on our 50th anniversary excursion year. So many moments of quiet solitude to pause and reflect and be amazed of God’s glory in our lives!

Tomorrow we cross over to Vermont – never been there before! What’s ahead for us?

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April 23 – 30, 2020 Back to Colorful Colorado and amazing friendships!

We learned that Colorado was “opening up” somewhat from the COVID-19 regulations. We said goodbye to Arizona – we’ll be back to visit the Saguaro National Park and many other places when the opportunity comes up. We’re looking forward to familiar home-turf and seeing our many friends and family, with or without masks & hugs! Its been 8 months since we launched our RV life adventure… no regrets – we love it!

On our way through Tucson into Phoenix we stopped for a one-nighter at Matt and Jayle’s house. It was fun to catch up on family news, see the girls, Abby and Lizzie – and of course the puppies!

We traveled Route 66! This gas station brought a flood of memories; the old gas pump and an A&W with authentic draft root bear! We noticed the price of regular gas was dropping (2.14 here). We saw gas as low as 1.43 in some places! As we traveled through New Mexico we enjoyed the wide open landscapes with big sky views!

In Colorado safe and sound! Oh what a blessings we have received! Our friend Jesse from Penrose, CO has a place that he built to include RV hook-ups! We are “camped” a few miles east of Canon City and can enjoy the beautiful views of mountains and sunsets in the western skies!

Our first weekend, we were delighted to attend our home church again and see a lot of our friends – through our car windows! This is quite the novelty, having church in the parking lot because of COVID-19 regulations (no more than 10 people can congregate and must maintain a 6 foot “social distance”). We estimated that there were over 100 attending – honking and waving at each other before and after service. It was so good to hear Pastor David preach again! He got excited when people would honk instead of saying “Amen”! What a fun and refreshing morning gathering together and being encouraged with God’s Word!

After church we helped Jesse and Barbara host a birthday party cookout for Mat. We tried to hold to the “rule of 10” and social distancing (don’t tell about what you see here -LOL!) We roasted corn on the cob and grilled Elk, Bison, and Beef burgers – so good! We had such an amazing day hanging out with our long time friends – it was one of those days that will be a memory for a long time!

Jesse and Barbara have mules and donkeys! We watched how they care for them every day and how the animals loved the interaction (and their feeding times!). Lorree wanted to ride so Barbara prepared Milton for Lorree. It was a great time, and beautiful to watch during the sunset that evening.

Ye-Haw!

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March 12 – 18, 2020 PLANS CHANGED! We’re going to El Paso, TX and then……??

South Llano River State Park, TX was our next stopover for one night. The weather was warm and we had visions of floating and wading in the river to cool off and relax! (This was advertised on their web page). But when we checked in, they told us that all river activities had to end daily at 3:00 pm due to the effort to encourage wild turkey roosting on their nature preserve…we had arrived at 2:30 pm. Pretty disappointed about that. We did enjoy another nature hike, they had bird blinds set up so you could hide and record different birds coming and going – pretty cool.

EXIT AHEAD!

We had to change our planned route for COVID 19 Regulations!

EXIT AHEAD! News about the Corona virus had been circulating since early February, but not a lot of attention was given to it – at first! Now we learned that the April Juice Plus LIve Conference in Phoenix, AZ had been canceled! We also learned that ALL of our reserved campsites in New Mexico and Arizona had been canceled and money refunded. We scrambled to make a new route – so far Texas was still open – but we needed a place to “shelter-in-place”, but where? This was another opportunity to trust God and watch how He would direct and provide for our every need! His “exit” plans always work out for good – we’ve earned this truth over and over throughout our lives. God IS good!

We stayed at Fort Stockton, TX for a couple of nights. This allowed Lorree to work at ROH on Monday. We got to experience the worlds 2nd largest Road Runner in downtown Fort Stockton! There were lots of yucca plants along the highway – finally got to get a picture close up for comparison of the size! We never had these in La Junta, CO!

EL PASO, TX!

Lorree helped out driving across Texas – sooooo many miles to travel! We travel with all of our “gadgets” turned on; Garmin GPS, Google Maps, rear view camera behind the trailer, nothing’s going to surprise us (ha! ha!) Lorree tried to eat that semi!

We were able to make reservations at the Mission RV Park in El Paso, TX. Very nice park (even though we were just located just off the interstate and parked on a gravel “parking lot”). We enjoyed using their swimming pool and hot tub a couple of times! We were thankful for a place to stay for a few nights – we learned that other campgrounds were closing and telling people to leave ASAP. RV’ers are scrambling all over the nation to find a place to hunker down. Never imagined we would be faced with this when we started our new lifestyle!

We sure eat good when we get to settle down for a few days! The camp store sold ice cream – so we HAD to try the famous Blue Bell Ice Cream – YUM!

El Paso sits right on the boarder of Mexico. We drove by a section of the boarder wall that President Trump is building. Pretty impressive – not an eye-sore. We could actually see through it – but it would be pretty hard to climb over!

We went on a day trip to the mountings right outside of El Paso. We ended up at Franklin Mtn State Park. The new rules allowed for day visits and hiking, but no overnight camping (?…go figure!) We never saw any of the famous blue bell blooms (too early – usually in April they say), but we saw lots of the yellow Buttercups and Indian Paintbrush plants. Beautiful landscapes!

Aztec Caves Trail – looked like a nice moderate hike – we set out on a new adventure!

This hike about did us in – except that we were wise to stop, rest, and take our time! We were at about 5,300 ft elevation. It was about a mile to the caves with an elevation change of about 600 ft. We realized that although we thought we were “in shape” we needed more work on that! It was a bit treacherous coming down because of the steep path and the loose rocks, so glad we have walking sticks! We had a great day!

On the way home, we drove along side the boarder wall and came across this mile-long line of semi’s. They were going into Mexico – we don’t know if this is an everyday occurrence or a slow down of border crossing because of COVID 19.

Getting some Vitamin D and ultra violet light to keep the virus far away! The warm sunshine felt so good!

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February 27 – March 3, 2020 From Florida to Anniston, AL

Old Pavilion RV Park, Perry , FL

After our SOWERS Rally and work projects we had a month to travel and explore more of the country. Our first stop was an effort to camp on the beach. Well we did -sort of. It was a nice spot that catered to fishermen. The tide was very interesting as it came in during the day and out at night – quite a movement of water!

Our spot was right on the edge of the water/beach. We immediately were reminded of Christ as we looked out and saw a hand made cross with John 3:16 written on it. Everywhere we go God reminds us that He is with us!

Essentially we relaxed! After two months of working and the tension of getting our truck fixed – we were blessed to have some down time. We didn’t do much but we commented that we enjoyed not having a schedule for a few days. Some rest for our souls!

White Oak Creek Park, COE, Eufaula, AL

This was a great overnight camp spot on our way to Anniston. This was spot No. 1 – It looked a bit unlevel – but we were able to level the trailer with no problem.

It was peaceful and quiet by the lake – very few other campers nearby. Lots of grassy area by the lake.

Looking at the trees nearby, we noticed this ivy growing up the truck of the tree. Pretty and delicate – so uniform!

Anniston, AL We get to see our kiddos!

We’ve arrived! It was good to spend time with family again – we even remembered how to park our trailer 🙂

We had fun playg g

We had fun playing games with Emily & Jessica.

After a trip to the chiropractor for both of us, we enjoyed a field trip to the Museum of Natural History – very interesting and great exhibits!

These girls have a lot of energy and play so well together. We saw grat improvement in their front/back flips!

Love these girls – Tate & Kimberly as well! So glad we were able to spend a few days with them before heading West!

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December 29 – January 3, 2020 Southern Palms RV Resort – Florida finally!

We were able to find an “RV Resort” very close to our next SOWER Project, only 35 minutes away 🙂 It was nice – but very close RV spaces. We had to utilize the space across the road from our spot in order to back in. We met our neighbors right away as they all came out to watch me back it in. UGH! We nipped the RV bumper of our neighbor with our trailer (while he watched and smiled) – no damage to his rig, but we lost a clearance light cover. (This is the same day as our truck -crunch on the highway!) Getting “spooked” about driving – just want to park it for a while. The neighbor was a great guy, after he learned of our eventful day, he gave me a man-hug and said “no problem” (Thank you God for sweet forgiving people you put in our lives!)

The next day we just hung around the RV park and “re-settled”. There was a couple that walked by and saw our damaged truck. They stopped to ask about it – and then shared that they had a great repair experience with a local Chevy Dealer (VanGannaway’s Chevrolet). It was like God was directing every step for us – That’s what He does!!

The gentleman in the bright shirt above is Bob. He happened to walk by – came over to say Hi and just plopped down in the adjacent chair by me and started talking (and talking, and talking…). He is a Christian, and had a lot to say about the world and how God was evident all around us, and was eagerly solving all the worlds problems with scripture. We had a great visit – it was so good to have a conversation about spiritual things!

The next day, we went for some “Fun-in-the Sun! We signed up for a two hour Cat-Boat Adventure. These boats were like a paddle boat – but with a 15-hs engine on the back! It included a tour of the Mount Dora Canal. Famous for a scenic water canal that winds though live oaks, connecting a couple of Florida lakes.

These fun little boats had some pick up and go! We flew from one end of the lake to the other – it was hard for our group of four couples to stay up with the tour guide – he was a lot of fun!

There were some pretty interesting sights along the way. We saw lots of wild life – even some bald eagles! We really enjoyed getting outdoors and doing something fun – we would do this again!!

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December 27-29, 2019 Reed Bigham State Park – Turtles!

Still in Georgia – traveling south to Florida. We stopped for a couple of nights at another GA State Park. This one had a huge lake with many hiking trails.

We set up camp and just relaxed (with some camp cooked meals of course!)

On one of our hikes we learned about Gopher Tortoises. These are fairly big turtles that dig some pretty big and deep burrows under ground. When the turtles are done with the “holes” other wild life move in and make use of them. Pretty interesting!

It was a beautiful area and very relaxing. Next time we can explore more trails!

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December 22-27, 2019 Fort Yargo & Christmas at Tate & Kimberly’s!

From the sea – we moved “inland”. Nearby Atlanta, GA there is a beautiful State Park called Fort Yargo. We were delighted to be in the forest again and the beautiful pines. We found out that we were only a mile outside of downtown Athens and nearby Bethlehem – with all of its busy city activity and traffic! This was our “base-camp” for the Christmas Season. We left our Travel Trailer and spent two days and a night in Anniston for Christmas!

We joined Tate & Kimberly and girls to their Christmas Eve service which included a candle light service and communion. The Church of the Highlands has 22 campuses scattered around Alabama – mainly centered at nearby Birmingham (Main Campus). Each campus hosts their own live service with the message streamed in from the main campus. Very upbeat and joyful, friendly people and solid message!

I wanted to remember this moment so here is a portion of their opening celebration! -they let it all out 🙂 It was good to be invited to join in with the joy, the praise, and the celebration of our Savior arriving on earth – what a moment that must have been!

We had a great time being with the “fam” – we played games, ate snacks, and Lorree photo-bombed the girls! !

The rest of our family had fun sending each other pictures and smiles for Christmas! We are so blessed to have a family that loves each other and stays in touch!

Some of the fun opening presents!

After presents and lunch – we enjoyed playing with the new gifts – lots of smiles and laughter!

We had a great Grilled Salmon dinner with all the fix’ns! Tate & Kimberly invited some close friends and families over to join us. We also got to be with Buddy & Cindy Ward for Christmas Day – it was great fun and fellowship!

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December 11-15, 2019 A bit dreary inside and out -General Coffee State Park, GA

As we drove through Georgia, we saw more and more cotton fields. It was harvest time and the cotton was being gathered and put into these very large cotton bales. It was amazing to see these lined up for miles!

So, Dennis decided he was hungry while getting gas. The thing is he ordered this! How was he expecting to eat this while driving? Good thing he has a willing (and gracious!) wife!

This was a very wooded and peaceful state park. We have been blessed with many scenic camping spots! The next few days were forecast to be rainy and colder (40-50’s).

We stayed dry and warm in our trailer. We’ve come to really like our home on wheels – it fits us just right!

Oh… Lorree just didn’t feel good for a couple of days. She had a fever and sleep most of the time. She did feel better on and off and continued her Christmas sewing work – if was good to see her up and at-em when she had the energy!

Dennis was able to get caught up with the blogging. We didn’t get outside much, but we accomplished a lot while indoors. Looking forward to some sunshine again!

Its amazing what a day of Christmas “cheesy” movies and some hot chicken noodle soup will do for ya! Lorree was up and making cinnamon almonds before long!

This was a nice place – we’ll have to consider coming back when us and the weather are bright and feeling good!

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December 8-11, 2019 The Mounds! Kolomoki State Historical Park, GA

This was another peaceful spot – and we were very curious as to what “the mounds” were all about. We learned through the visitor center, short film, and museum that the man made mounds are here left over from the Kolomoki peoples who built them for burial ceremonies and temple worship.

The main Temple Mound was quite impressive considering it was built with dirt by hand. There is a nearby ravine that is thought to have been created by the removal of dirt, bucket by bucket, for this mound!

We had quite a bit of rain and colder weather here. Lorree took advantage of the down time and started sewing Christmas gifts. Dennis waited until after the rain to wash the truck – first washing since we bought it!