Turkeys and Coon Dogs

 We are at the Tiffin Motorhomes campground in Red Bay, Alabama. Paul wants to get some custom paint done to the motor home and we have a few warranty items to get fixed.  Going to the Tiffin factory and campground (called Camp Red Bay) is a pilgrimage most Tiffin owners make at least once.  We will see a motor home like ours being built. learn a lot about taking care of the coach and the campground, albeit not pretty (its an old landing strip) is very accommodating and fun.
Tiffin is known for their customer service.  They confirmed that for us by providing Thanksgiving turkey yesterday for all the "campers" and we had a pitch in dinner.  Its not like being with family, but it was very, very nice.  And no clean up to do!
Today we went to the Coon Dog Cemetery about 16 miles from the campground.  It is a beautiful place, way off the main byways.  Read the history if you have a chance. It was a lovely,touching experience.    www.coondogcemetery.com.

Cosmopolitan Coons

Many graves had the dog's collars, untouched and unbothered for years.  Some collars had lichens growing on them and the brass name plated had turned a verdigris color.

I bet it is beautiful here in the colorful seasons.

Love the name….

The first dog buried here was in 1937.
Most of the dogs were 10 to 13 years old when they died.  I think God gives dogs shorter lives than humans because when they die, humans are reminded that they have experienced pure love.  

Our home on wheels

I thought you might be interested in how hard life is for us on the road.  We are really roughing it.  Please put us in your prayers.
Here are some photos of the coach, taken from the brochure.  I just can't get the lighting right so I thought I'd  borrow photos.

I have an induction range, convection oven/microwave and a dishwasher.  Smudge and Willow serve as the garbage disposals.

King size, sleep number bed.  That's the tray Paul uses to serve me breakfast in bed.

We have three large flat screen TV's with surround sound and blue ray,  We are in the process of getting satellite .  We have a large outside TV.  Life is rough...

My bathroom. Washer and dryer is in this area.  Paul has a half bath.

I fix dinner like this every night.  Especially the cloth napkins.  LOL

Pauls favorite place to have coffee.

My favorite space, although usually I am outside with my iPad.

Sleeper bed for company.

Pull out island for my gourmet cooking.

View from bedroom

Faux fire place/ heater and we have heated floors.
 Is that Smudge sticking his tongue out at me?????

View from drivers seat, back.

Finally!

Its been a long time since I posted on this blog because we have been very busy!  We had been contemplating living full time in our motor coach and traveling the US and Canada for a few years.  The freedom and peacefulness of travel at our own pace, with our own home with us, has appealed to us since we traveled in our first RV last December.  We love the simplicity…..can't own or carry a lot of possessions.  We love being at nature and seeing new vistas when ever we want, with no packing or unpacking.  And I love the sense of adventure that Paul and I have always enjoyed.

I  mentioned to a neighbor in Indy that I could live in the coach full time but I hated to leave our lovely home and garden unattended for very long.  A few weeks later the neighbor asked if we considered selling and we said we might.  The neighbor had some friends that wanted to live on the lake….could they see the house?  Fast forward…the neighbors friends loved the house and offered us a cash amount that we had to consider.  After a months worth of pondering, we made the leap and decided to sell.

What and emotional journey….telling the Indy kids and grandchildren, saying goodbye to friends, selling all our possessions keeping just enough to put into a 5 by 10 rented storage space.  Letting go became easier as time went by but tears were shed.  I never doubted that I wanted to make the move to full time living in a 43 foot motor home though.

We took a breather from selling things and went to the Smokies in early October, to attend a seminar on full time RV living.  I was so glad we went!  We learned about how to handle mail, maintenance of the coach, choosing a domicile, insurance, emergencies, internet and satellite technology etc. while traveling.  Its all quite easily handled…..  and we made life long friends at the seminar.

So here I sit, on our third day of full timing and I can tell you that we made the right decision for us.  We have much to look forward to, much to learn about our country, and much to talk about with each other.  I am sure there will be days that I will question this decision, but right now, in this moment, I am
thrilled to be on this path!

A group of new friends, met in the Smokies.  Some are full time and others are thinking about it after they retire.

Our view.  

Pauls first tattoo.

On the way home we stopped and parked right on a stream.

Life is good!

Leaves were just beginning to turn.

Gorgeous!