A Week Escape

 This Escapee Park is just the next few towns north from Winston and this is where we escaped to for a week. We originally had planned to go and "rough it" somewhere near Diamond Lake for a few days then stay in Sun River for the rest of the week. As always our plans changed and we decided to stay close to home.

McKenzie's Dad came to visit her for her birthday so we packed up the RV and headed to Timber Valley. This is one of our favorite places to stay and we are actually on the waiting list to lease a lot here. We put our name on the list a few years ago and the waiting list is said to be 5 years long. Now that we have this amazing spot where McKenzie lives I am not sure if I want to lease a lot here. When we signed up we didn't think we'd be living in Winston. My mind is so unsure right now. 

 

Of the great things about this park is how big the lots are, you are not sitting right on top of the lot next to you like some RV parks are . This park is so clean and many of the people here are leaseholders. This is a 55+ park and is super quiet in the evening.

We had a relaxing time and took the dogs on multiple walks around the park. Here are a few more pictures from our stay.

Smoky Skies with the Sun going down

So many Turkeys

The Pups on a walk

They have a nice hiking Trail

Absolutely love the Trees

Found my Gnomey

Our Next trip will happen at the end of this Month! Stay Tuned!

Willow's Maiden Voyage

First off we got a new (to us) motorhome! We went to the county fair to go get Benjamin a Corn dog and left with a contract to buy a motorhome! We didn't plan to go to the fair but when we heard it was free admission we said why not! So that is the story of how Willow the Winnebago came about. We traded Aly the Allegro in for Willow the Winnebago!

Saturday Sept 9th was Willow's Maiden Voyage to the beautiful Oregon Coast. The coast is one of our favorite places to visit no matter what state its in.  So we loaded up the dogs and set out to Florence Oregon. We had reservations at the Thousand Trails RV park (South Jetty). This is our second time staying there. The weather was perfect and much better than the rain we had the whole time we were there two years ago. We love being camped amongst the beautiful trees.

We didn't do too much walking around as we now travel with our Boxer Mix Rayne and she is still healing from a broken toe. We are trying to get her used to being a traveling / camping dog. She hasn't had much socialization with many dogs and she can be quite vocal when she sees other dogs. I guess she's only used to her little Morkie brother Tux.  She was definitely excited to walk around even if it was for a few minutes each time we went out. 

We had a nice 5 days just chilling someplace else for a bit. Back home on the Kent Creek Property until Sept 21 then we head off again to the eastern side of Oregon. Stay tuned to see where were park our home because right now we have no idea where we will stop. 

Across The Country

 Never in our wildest dreams did we think we'd be doing a cross country road trip,  let alone doing it 3 times in as many years!

We left Arizona on April 8th and started our trek. The first few nights we just stopped to let Benny rest from driving. By Sunday we were in Branson, Missouri. 

Branson was a new place for us. This has been a city we've been wanting to visit for a while and we were finally able to make it happen. As soon as we got to the Ozarks, mountains and blooming trees graced us with their beautiful presence. That was our favorite part of the drive. Gone were the boring roads. We stayed in Branson for 2 nights. 

The Branson strip had a Vegas feel but without the strippers and gambling. You want free of discounted tickets?, be prepared to sit through a time share presentation. The agents are super nice and friendly at the beginning but as soon as you say no we won't buy into the timeshare their attitude changes and you've made many people mad. Lesson learned and we'll pay full price next time, Thank you very much!

We checked out the river walk in downtown Branson. They had a water show that had fire features and was synced to music. We also took the Titanic Museum tour and it's still so sad knowing that actually happened. The tour is very informative and has some cool artifacts from the Titanic. At the end you can submerge your finger into 28° water to see how long you would last in the water. I only lasted 50 seconds and Benny lasted a minute. 

We finished our Branson visit with a show called "Anthems of Rock". What an awesome classic rock show! They sang a variety of songs from Journey to Queen and everything in between. We highly recommend this show if you find yourself in Branson.

Ready to rock out!

As we were on the road headed to our next stop we saw a billboard that said "Arkansas' Biggest Natural Bridge". So we took a pit stop to check it out. The docent told us that in the 1800's they used that bridge as a logging road. The bridge is 120 ft long and made of sandstone. It was a nice walk/Hike to see the bridge and it was neat to see the cabins they used. We are so blessed to be able to travel to places like this and see things like this. 

Under the bridge 

The top of the bridge 

Natural Round stone

We are now in Memphis, Tennessee! This is also a new place for us so we will be staying for 2 nights. We are excited to explore and see what Memphis has to offer.

Thank you for reading and please stay tuned for our next stops!

Home Sweet Home Arizona

 

After what felt like forever, we are back in our Motorhome in AZ. Man I sure do miss the RV life! Darn Covid had to throw a wrench into things. Hopefully things will start becoming normal-ish

We left Angels Camp on March 18th and did a last minute visit in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties. We stopped to see my Dad and my 95 Year old Grandpa. Its always nice to visit with them. Being at my grandpas house brings back memories of my childhood and many memories of the times when the family all spent time together. I wish we could go back to those days, especially so I can see my Grandma and my Mom!

Our last minute trip to the coast also had us visiting my best friend Rachel, our daughters Jordan (Phil) & McKenzie (Cody) and Grandbabies Nova & Cruz. Had we not stopped we wouldn't have seen them for a few months, What a blessing it was to spend time with all of them.  Sometimes you need those visits to keep you sane! The grandbabies are already 11 months and the next time we see them they will be a little over a year old and walking! Still can't believe we have twins Babies!!

                         

So now we are here in Congress Arizona just chillin. A year ago we were here in the RV when everything started to shut down so it kind of has that feel of when it all began. Hoping that feeling passes soon! The weather is nice, it has been kind of chilly to be honest! This coming Monday its supposed to be in the 80's and we will be watching a Spring Training game. Id better make sure to keep hydrated! 

Hopefully I will have some updated posts soon! Sometimes its hard for me to form words. Also stay tuned to a road trip we will be taking! 

Our Week in a Nut Shell

Our RVs behind us 

This past week we spent a week parked at the Thousand Trails RV Park in Verde Valley AZ with Benny's childhood friend and his friends wife.

We drove through Sedona but we picked the wrong day as it was busy in town. We stopped by the Chapel of the Holy Cross church which is a church that is built into the rocks. Spectacular views and a place one should visit. 

A  lit Candle for Tia Julie

Sunday we woke up in the desert then went off roading on a trail from Sedona to Flagstaff. It was a long drive but one I enjoyed taking. A bouncy but beautiful scenic road. When we got to Flagstaff we were in the forest and at the end of our drive we were at 10000 feet by the Snow bowl! Its amazing how in a days drive you see the different terrains of AZ.

Following Jeep tours

The Crazy Group 

A healthy Forest

Tuesday we drove to the cute town of Jerome. This little town was an old copper mining town and most the buildings were built into the hillside. In the 1920's the town was populated with over 10,000 people. Now the population is 444.

We also took a drive over the hill and stopped in Prescott. Another cute little town with a lot of cute shops. We had some delicious Pad Thai at one of the restaurants across from Whiskey Row.

Thursday was Thanksgiving and we were Blessed to be Spending the Holiday with our good Friends the Dickson / Neeb Family in Flagstaff! We had a delicious meal and we were bummed that the snow decided not to fall even though it felt cold enough to Snow!

On our final day we drove to some of the national parks. We first stopped at Montezuma's Castle. I have never seen ancient Indian Dwellings before so I was in complete amazement. We then drove to Montezuma's Well. This place also has archaeological remains of cliff Dwellings. Our last stop was Tuzigoot which has the remains of a 3 story pueblo. This kind of history really interests me.

We had an amazing week in the park as well. We joined the other people staying here and we played Wii Bowling on Monday night. Karaoke on Tuesday night, and Wednesday night we played Card Bingo. I think my favorite was our group (crazy group) singing Bohemian Rhapsody!!

I feel we need a vacation from our vacation hahaha I'm so excited and can not wait for our next "vacation". For now we will be parked back in Congress AZ at the North Ranch Ecapees RV Park. Stay tuned !!