New Truck 12-11-10

We are finally down to one vehicle.
We got rid of our Chrysler and Jeep and bought a truck. Our last 2 trips I had to follow Kirk in my car while he towed the Jeep. He really missed me riding with him and being able to get him drinks, food, snacks, etc. while he was driving. And I got tired of staring at the back of the RV for 1500 miles. So now we are both happy. I get to ride and wait on him, and also go to the bathroom whenever I want without stopping at some "questionable" places to relieve myself. I think Lily and Chuy are happy also, except for the fact that they can't sit in my chair during the travel times now.

Some of the Boats in the Christmas Regata River boat parade in St Augustine

The picture to the lower right is of the Christmas decorated street near the river. The decorated boats were awesome.

Fort Matanzas in St Augustine

Matanzas is Spanish for "slaughters" as European nations fought for control of the New World. The fort was constructed to help protect St Augustine from the British. It is the oldest masonry fort in the continental United States. St Augustine is the oldest city in the nation.

St Augustine 30th Annual Christmas Regata Boat Parade 12-11-10

This is taken from the upper, outside deck of a Mexican restaurant. We were freezing our hiney's off, but it was worth it. We had a perfect view of the inlet where the river boat parade would be at dark.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2010

As I write this, there are 9 days left till Christmas. I am filled with many different emotions this time of year. Kirk and I will be spending Christmas together here in Ormond Beach, FL. We miss our children but realize it's not possible to always spend Christmas with them. They are all adults and scattered all over the U.S. They have their own families and we are grateful for that. Also, this is our first Christmas living in our RV. I miss my big decorated tree and all the decorations. I miss my big oven and all the baking and smells. I miss watching Kirk hang the lights all around the house. I miss my friends and neighbors. But, I would miss the life Kirk and I have right now more. I have my convection oven and can bake the few things that we really enjoy. We don't starve. I have my fiber-optic tree in the dashboard of the window. It's beautiful. We will get to visit our kids and spend more time with them as we travel. We keep in touch with our family, friends, and neighbors and are enjoying the new friendships our travels have given us. What I have to remember is that Christmas isn't about all those "things" that I miss, but about Him and what He has given me....and all of us. So in reality, those "things" don't matter. They are just memories that were built over the years....good one's at that. We are building new memories now and I wouldn't trade that for all the "things" in the world.
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! and please remember why we celebrate this glorious day.

Sunday drive to Bulow Plantation

Beautiful Drive into the park.

Bulow Plantation State Park is only a few miles north of Ormond Beach where we are staying. This park houses the historic sugar mill, a few hiking trails, Bulow Creek (they rent canoes) for canoeing and fishing, and a beautiful drive into the park. Fairfield Oak tree, a 2000 year old tree is about 6 miles from Bulow. You can take one of the hiking trails that will take you to see this tree. It's beautiful. Pictures don't do it justice. The history of the Bulow sugar mill is very interesting. The mill itself was set on fire by the Seminole Indians. The U.S. government went in to run the Seminoles out and take them to a reservation. Major Bulow's son, John, attempted to prevent this, but the government took him prisoner. I'm sure I'm slaughtering this information, but it's close. You can google the history of Bulow Plantation and get the whole story.

Bulow Sugar Mill history

Bulow Plantation, Palm Coast, FL 12-5-10

Grandchildren

On November 12, 2010 Carrie (Kirk's daughter) gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. They named him Dakota. Dakota was welcomed by his parents, brothers: Kyler, Kael, and Brayden, and sisters Taylor and Jasmine. Big family!! This makes 12 grandchildren for Kirk and I. It is also making it more challenging for us to decide what to give everyone for Christmas. Now gift cards are nice and easy, and I'm not above giving them (and have done so many times). But I really do like to try and think of something to give for Christmas and birthdays that I think they will enjoy. I wish I were more creative, but oh well that's just not me. I surprise myself when I come up with something cool. Our grandchildren are scattered all over the U.S. Our children are fairly reliable when it comes to letting us know what their interests, hobbies, likes, dislikes, etc are. We also have "adopted" grandchildren that we love dearly. Did I mention that we have another grandchild on the way? Bella is going to be a big sister in May of 2011. Pictures of grandchildren to come soon.

EPCOT CENTER ORLANDO FLORIDA 11-20-10

Ady at resort beach

Gymnasts in China

Susie, Robyn, Alice, Kristy, and Adyson

Kirk and I at entrance of Epcot.

On Saturday 11/20/10 we drove to Kissimmee, FL just a little over an hour from where we are staying. The girls (Kristy, Robyn, Adyson, and their roommate, Susie) were in Florida for a week staying at a timeshare resort in Kissimmee. They were doing 5 days at Disneyworld, so we decided to join them on saturday. We decided to go to Epcot. It was a beautiful day and except for one very, very, unpleasant ride we all had a good time. We enjoyed most of the rides and events, and walked through the many countries. We enjoyed listening to the British Invasion in London along with Adyson getting Alice in Wonderland's autograph. We enjoyed the gymnastics troupe in China, the drums in Japan, and dinner in Morrocco. At the end of the evening we totally enjoyed the ILLUMINATIONS light and laser show over the river. It was awesome. After leaving Epcot, we stayed the night with the girls at the resort and went to downtown Disney the next day. We had a great time with all the girls.

Kennedy Space Center 11/13/10

Kirk and I took a day trip to Cape Canaveral, FL on Merritt Island to visit the Kennedy Space Center. We had a great time. It was nothing like what I thought it was going to be. I purchased our tickets online the night before at what I thought was a good discount, only to find out when we got there it was the same price as the Senior Citizen price (55+), which we already qualify for. Oh well, no big deal. We saw 2 IMAX movies. One about the Space Station and the other about the Hubble satellite. We went on the shuttle simulator ride. A very short ride that you would not want to be any longer. The rocket garden was awesome displaying all the rockets to date that have been used in the space program. We saw the launch pads (there are 2) from a distance. You can buy an upgraded ticket which will take you to the launch pads and also allows you to have lunch with an astronaut. We learned the history and tons of information regarding the space program. If you ever have the opportunity to visit Kennedy Space Center, please do. There is much more to see and do than what I mentioned here. We ran out of time so did not get to see the Astronaut Hall of Fame. We were there for almost 6 hours and did not get to see everything. Our ticket did allow us to return another day within 7 days, but we won't be able to this time. Well worth the money!!

Our trip to Kennedy Space Center.

Kennedy Space Center 11/13/10

Kirk and I with our new friend at NASA.

The Rocket Garden at NASA.

This is called The Crawler. It carries the shuttle from the building to the launch pad 3 miles away. The trip takes 8 hours.

NASA..the space shuttle and rockets are built in this building. Cape Canaveral, FL (Merritt Island)

St Augustine and Ponce Inlet 10/30/10

Lighthouse at Ponce Inlet Sunset from outside seating at Down the Hatch restaurant on Ponce Inlet

The Fountain of Youth in St Augustine

Kirk and I drove North along the East coast to St Augustine. Not so much for the tour, but to drive around and find places that we would like to visit while we are here. It is only about a 30-45 minute drive, so will be easy to get back to when we have the time. St Augustine is a quaint town. It is the oldest town in the nation. San Marcos Fort, Matanzas Inlet, Flagler College, the Fountain of Youth, and many unique shops are just a few of the attractions in St Augustine. That evening we drove south along the east coast to Ponce Inlet for dinner at Down The Hatch. Now this is a pretty cool place. Prior to seeing a beautiful sunset, we were able to see a few dolphin in the inlet. The lighthouse on the inlet was also nice!

Minnesota trip 10-19-10 to 10-24-10

Lunch at Cocoa Beach after Kirk picked me up at the Orlando airport.

Adyson's Girl Scout troop served at the Women's Prayer Breakfast that I was able to attend in MN.

My beautiful girls, Bella and Adyson.

Bella at the Aquarium in the Mall of America.

After only spending 2 days in Florida I (Reina) flew out of Orlando Int'l airport to Minnesota. I really miss the grandkids (my kids too) and like Kirk says "she has to get her grandbaby fix". Bella (Ben and Nicki's daughter) was staying with the girls as Ben was in harvest and Nicki was going to classes for her work. So I was able to spend time with little Bella. She has grown so much since I saw her in July. She is so happy and fun. We took her to the Aquarium at the Mall of America. I was so sad to have to see her go back home, but I know her mom and dad missed her too. She is going to be a big sister this coming May, 2011. I think it is great that her and her sibling will be so close in age. Adyson was a joy as usual. She is in Girl Scouts (Brownies) now and loves it. I also got to see her in her swimming class. Her Brownie troop served the Women's Prayer breakfast the saturday I was there, so we all signed up to go to support her. I also won the big door prize at the breakfast...how fun! We did so many things while there, but I did miss Kirk and was glad to be home. When Kirk picked me up at the airport we drove to Cocoa Beach and had lunch, then drove over to the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral. We didn't get to tour the Center as it was close to closing time, but will go back when we can.

Headed toward Florida 10-15-10 to 10-17-10

We left Mission, TX 10/15 and headed East. Unfortunately, we have not sold our Chrysler, so I had to follow Kirk all the way to FL. The car is not towable and we have our jeep that is towable. So, fortunately, we have 2 cars while we are here. Our first stop was Vinton, LA. We found a nice little RV park just off I-10 and stayed the night. While there, we had excellent cajon food at a local restaurant (sorry, but I don't remember the name). We left the next morning and stayed that night in Gulf Shores, AL. Now that's a place that is very difficult to spend just one day. We stayed at the State Park which is great and drove downtown to the Shrimp Basket. Some of the best shrimp I've ever had. While at the restaurant a lady at the table near ours asked if we wanted tickets to the Brad Paisley concert for the next night......UGH!!.....I had to say no because we were leaving the next morning. For a brief moment I thought about staying one more night just to go to the concert, but it really would have thrown us off our schedule. She was giving them away as she was also leaving that night. She did manage to give them to one of the waitresses. The beaches are awesome at Gulf Shores. We will definitely go back when we can spend more time. After reluctantly leaving Gulf Shores, we headed toward our destination. We arrived at Flagler Beach, FL near where I would be working, and spent the night at Beverly Beach RV Resort on the beach. We were staying there only one night as the next day we would look for a park/resort where we could stay for the 3 months that I would be working here. Flagler Beach is awesome. We ate at one of the restaurants on the beach (The Golden Lion) with outside seating (most have outside seating that overlook the ocean). The people we've met so far are so nice and informative. We drove around and searched for an RV Resort the next day and found the Encore RV Resort in Ormond Beach. It's a nice sized park with everything we need and only 15 minutes from my work.

Nate and Lindsey's Wedding 10-10-10

One week before we were to leave The Valley in Tx, Nate (Kirk's son) and Lindsey were getting married near Houston, TX. Kirk and I drove there for the weekend (it's about 6 hours one-way). We did not have enough time to take the RV so we found a great place to board Lily and Chuy (they love this girl, she trims their nails, bathes them, takes them for long walks, lets them be together in a room of their own instead of a kennel, and even expresses the glands...ewww! All this for $15/night per dog) and headed off in the car for The Woodlands, TX. The wedding was very small but lovely. I do believe they are a wonderful match and really compliment each other. Nate's mom made all the flowers and did a great job. Nate and Lindsey's good friends (Aaron and Misty) graciously opened their home for the reception. The preacher did an awesome job marrying them, and the weather could not have been more perfect. Best Wishes Nate and Lindsey!

End of 1st assignment

The wall separating Mexico from Texas. This was just a few miles from where we were staying in Mission, TX.

An aloe field. I thought this was so cool.

Looking over the wall at the border at the Rio Grande River.

It was very common to see drive-thru stores and water stops. Totally NOT safe to drink tap water here.

Today was the last day of work of my 1st travel assignment. I have totally enjoyed working with everyone at the pediatric clinic. I will miss them, however, I consider it a privilege to have met them all and look forward to our lasting friendships. Kirk said most of his good-byes to the RV resort staff and some of the residents who stuck around for the summer. I believe they even tried to bribe him into staying. We knew when we started out traveling in the RV that it would be hard to leave some places. But the idea of our traveling is just that, to travel. We are really looking forward to our travels and meeting even more interesting people and seeing interesting places and things. Some of the pictures I am posting with todays blog are specific to this area. Because the drinking water is not that safe, most people buy their water from the windmill stands that are just about on every corner. It is also very common to see drive-thru liquor and convenience stores. We did go to the border and take pictures of the Rio Grande River along with the border wall. This was only a few miles from where we were staying. If there are home owner associations here, we didn't see any. It is very common to have horses, goats, etc in one's yard. This is mainly in the Mission and Penitas area. McAllen is much better. We also drove by aloe plant and cactus fields which were kind of cool. Well, we take off tomorrow (10-15) for Florida. I just signed a contract for an assignment in Bunnell, FL. working in a SNF. I got so attached to the kids here that it will be hard going back to adults, but it's all part of the journey. We haven't sold the car yet, so I will be following Kirk all the way to Florida. Not ideal, but hopefully we can sell it there.

Hatch Chili Weekend at Rudy and Bev's 8-2010

The finished product. I believe right around 100 half-pint jars of chilis.

The roasted peppers still very hot and ready to be cleaned and prepared for canning.

At the market watching our chili's being roasted. The sounds and smell are incredible.

Our Hatch Green Chili's ready to be roasted.

The chili's are in. We arrived at the market, sign in, and get ready to pick up the chili's.

Okay, I'm a little out of order here. Don't know how I could have forgotten to post one of the best annual events ever......the canning of Hatch green chili's at Rudy and Bev's house. For the past 3 years we have driven up to my brother's house in Southlake, TX and canned some of the best chili's ever. Every year my sister-in-law, Bev and brother Rudy order the chili's for the next year from a farmer's market near Arlington. The staff take their trucks to Hatch, NM and pick up the chili's and return to TX. There is a huge festival week or so in Hatch, NM during the chili harvest. However, when there is no festival going on, the town is dead, there is nothing going on and nothing to do. Would love to go during chili fest though. The market mails a postcard to let you know what weekend your order will arrive and when you can pick it up. Once there, you sign in and then you can go in the back (outside) and watch them roast the chili's in the huge cages. After they are roasted, they are placed in big garbage bags where they steam. By the time you arrive home they are easy to prepare for canning and your car will sustain the heavenly smell of chili's for quite some time. Everyone digs in the sink basins to skin and clean the peppers which generally takes several hours (we get 4 bushels). Bev is the master canner, so while the other 3 are cleaning (she helps with that too) she will prepare the jars and place in the pots of boiling water. Rudy helps with this too, but Bev is definitely in charge of this particular process and we all don't mind a bit. When removed from the boiling pots we all hope and pray that all the jars "ping", which they do. Rudy and Bev are great hosts and we always have a wonderful weekend. We get to take a dip in the pool (even though this year the water was 95 degrees because of the heatwave), enjoy some wine (Kirk had tea), good food (Rudy always makes his green chili stew for this weekend), great company, and even got to visit with their son Dustin, his wife, Courtney and their handsome son, Henry. We are very blessed to have such a wonderful family. On August 18th Rudy and Bev celebrated their 37th wedding anniversary. Happy Anniversary!

Labor Day Weekend 2010

Kirk and I got to take the RV for a drive this Labor Day weekend. We had not moved it since coming to the Valley in July. We were able to get reservations at Pioneer RV Resort in Port A for the long weekend. It was a really beautiful weekend. We did get some rain in the mornings, but that would clear up and turn out to be a great afternoon and evening. Karin, Dylan, and Ava were able to join us on Saturday and stayed till Sunday. I think they had a really good time. We really enjoyed having them. Ava and D are getting so big. It's amazing to see the things they are doing now. They had been to the beach once before and really enjoyed themselves this weekend. I saw my first water spout this weekend. A little shopping for souveniers on Sunday afternoon completed their weekend. Kirk and I really enjoy the beach. We are really looking forward to the Florida assignment and hope to get a lot more beach time in.