This is my first entry and what I hope to be the greatest adventure of my lifetime. Bev and I have retired and are going to hit the road in the RV and see the country. Most of what we have is packed, that is,things that we’re going to keep. We’re not going to keep a lot of things, we’re just gonna keep the necessities, pictures, records,recordings,that kind of thing.

Picked up our new motor home today. \240It’s a 2019 Thor Freedom Elite 28ft. \240Bought it at Camping World in Apolo Pa. \240First Time driving something like this. I even drove through downtown McKeesport with no problems so I think I’m gonna be good with this thing.

First day with the new motorhome. Got water and electric connected to it at the barn so she’s good to go. I did have to get an adapter to adapt from 30 A to 15 A. We will be living in it most days until we close and move along. \240Started moving our stuff into it. Finding it challenging to find where to put everything. \240Bev is learning how to use the new kitchen.(And I thought the house kitchen was small)!😳

Bev’s first time driving the RV. She did a great job other running a red light. 😂🤣watch for it in the video. \240She drove from the house to Lauren’s.

This picture shows everything we now own except our 2012 Ford Focus. \240Only 3 of the U-Boxes have anything in it. They will go off to storage until we need them. \240We went with U-Haul because they guarantee delivery to almost anywhere in the US. \240Probably be a few months(at least) before we need them.

The day is here. \240The house we have lived in between mom and dad and us since 1975 is sold and we are off to new adventures. \240The new owners are really great people and feel very good about them purchasing the place. \240We think we will have a future relationship with them. \240They found that the living area of the house had rafters not trusses, so they removed the ceiling from the living, kitchen, and dining room area. \240They tore out all the walls including the kitchen. \240They will have vaulted ceilings after the remodel. No doubt it will be gorgeous!

This is our very first camp site. \240Seemed like a good place to try things out.

For the next 3 nights we will be at Pocomoke River State Park in MD. \240It’s about 40 minutes from our daughter Alana in Ocean Pines. Our oldest grandson Timmy’s 12th birthday is Sunday. \240He nor Evan have any clue we bought the RV and are here for his day. \240They were told they were going camping for the weekend but thought it would be a cabin. \240While looking for our site on the campground Timmy made the comment they might be in the wrong area because they were not seeing cabins but campers. \240He saw grandma first and was pleasantly surprised to find us. \240Looking forward to a great weekend.❤️

What a great day with the family. \240The boys brought their skate boards and bicycles and roamed all over the campgrounds. We all walked around the lake area and enjoyed all the great views. \240Tim took the boys fishing. \240Timmy was the only one that caught anything but was too small to keep.

Food! \240Tim made breakfast taking bacon, hash browns, egg, and cheese wrapped in tin foil over the fire, good stuff. He made coffee over the fire in a perculator and it was really good. \240We made hobo pies for dinner. \240It’s 2 slices of bread with pizza sauce, cheese, and what ever other toppings you want put is a sandwich press and cooked over the fire. \240Bev and I had s’mores for the first time.

We had a great day. \240Timmy said it was the best birthday ever. \240That comment alone makes everything worth it.

It’s Timmy’s actual birthday day. \240We had a mint chocolate chip ice cream cake. A fun time!

Yesterday we left Alana‘s Maryland heading for the Chesapeake Bay Tunnel. Never traveled that road before but now I have. It was definitely a little weird thinking I’m under the water in a tunnel but it’s only those two tunnels in there about a mile long so it really wasn’t all that bad kind of went and went down come back up the other side. Once we left Maryland we went into Virginia and then to North Carolina for the evening. \240

Today we couldn’t resist stopping at Pedro‘s. We were there with the girls and spend the night back about 20 years ago at least. Looks like it’s been remodeled since then it looks a whole lot better than I did then. Didn’t spend any time just wanted to see what was happening and so I moved on a long period. \240The night before we spent our first night in a Walmart parking lot in Nashville NC. Wasn’t bad at all it’s actually a good place to spend the night if it’s only for one night. We are in Rocky Mountain gap North Carolina .

Today was the worst traveling day that we’ve experienced. First we went through the heart of Atlanta Georgia about 10:30 am. \240Not as bad as I thought it might be. \240It rained and the wind blew all day and it was miserable traveling in it. I think we were seeing some of the effects of the hurricane that came up out of New Orleans that night. Again we stayed in a Walmart parking lot in Grove,Mississippi. We definitely got some storms that night while we were there. We are almost in an accident! A pick up truck pulling an empty trailer come onto the feeder road and did not see us. He missed us by inches! I had to lay on the horn to get him to see that I was there. It was such a difficult day that we decided about 5 o’clock or to just call it a day.

Finally got to my brother Kip’s house in Grapeland Tx. \240He actually lives in Agusta which is 10 minutes away. \240He really lives out in the boonies. He has 36 acres that includes a pond and a 3600 sq ft home. \240He has a lot of wildlife like snakes, coyotes, road runners, armadillos, and wild hogs to be careful of. \240During the day there isn’t much problem but if you go into the fields at night you had better take a powerful gun. \240Kip takes his Judge with him.

He is recently divorced and with all the issues with selling the property and fiance problems we had it was a great time for healing for all of us. \240

He can’t get a cell signal and his internet is furnished using a satalite dish. \240It was like being back in the days of modems, really slow. \240The nearest town is Crocket Tx about 20 miles away. \240Crocket is the country set of Houston county, the poorest county in the state.

Today was a very sad day for the family here in Grapeland Tx. \240The trusted family friend Ginger had to be put down. She had been suffering from cancer for a while. Everything was done to make her comfortable. She was 14 years old and \240very loved. What a great dog! She will be missed!❤️❤️❤️

My brother asked me to help with the sound at his church. So I go to a Thursday night rehearsal and find their bass player won’t be there that night or Sunday morning. \240They asked if I would set in. \240Not sure how my hand would do from the stroke but I said I will try. \240I had a little trouble but I was able to play with the team. \240First I have played since the stroke so I’m coming back. \240Also first time I worked with my baby brother Kip in a band setting. \240I ended up playing 3 Sundays in a row.

We have also met some wonderful people! We were quickly accepted into this very genuine, Godly group of people. \240We spent a few evenings in the study of Gods word. They are great examples of Christian living. \240You never know, we may end up living in Grapeland because of these people.😉

Big doin`s in Crockett, TX. Christmas on the Square. Another great day!

Thanksgiving at Marcella’s. First time all of the Coldiron siblings have been together for the holidays in almost 40yrs. \240As far as the Texas clan is consernd only Tyler and Addie were missing.

Sedona

Cave Creek, AZ

Sedona, Arizona. What a gorgeous place!

Scottsdale, AZ

Grand Canyon

We parked for the night in a vacant lot across from a truck stop. \240About 2:30am we were awoken from our slip because a truck had clipped the top of one of the slide outs. It was pretty scary because it really shook the RV. \240Luck the damage didn’t cause any mechanical issue. \240We did not get the truck that caused the damage but our insurance will cover it.

Medina Lake is a man made reservoir on the Medina river just west of San Antonio Tx. \240Because f drought conditions the lake was down more than 30ft. \240Between that and the restrictions implemented because of COVID there wasn’t a lot to do. \240We enjoyed the peaceful and quite along with the wildlife in the area. \240The dear were very friendly. \240Gave us a chance to just wind down for a few days. \240This was our first camp site using the Thousand Trails program.

I went to high school at the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston tx and graduated in 1979. I wanted to meet up with an old friend of mine, Mark Tripplet and his wife Brenda. \240Mark was in the vocal department and I was in media but we were both were interested in audio engineering. \240We hadn’t seen each other since July 1980. \240

We met in south Houston and the travel was the worst so far. The was at least 30 miles of construction on I-10 going into Houston. \240Although we took a beltway around the city is was still the worst traffic I have ever seen. \240People weaving in and out and doing dangerous speed, bumper to bumper. \240I got in a middle lane, kept my distance, and rolled also.

It’s back to Kip’s for the rest of the year. \240He lives on FM227 which is one of the oldest roads in Texas that goes to Augusta the site of the Edens-Madden Massacre of Houston Country in 1837. \240One s3ction of the road is very windy. \240The curves go left then right. \240Ledge down has it the road was built that way to aviod being hit by arrows during Indian attacks.

Christmas Eve.

Cajun Palms

Crawfordville Louisiana Ken

Terrie and Louie

Brock

Pioneer Village

Lunch with the McGraw’s.