Rolling With Gypsy Rose

Man, we can’t wait to get out on the road! We thought we would’ve been on the road by now (I’m hearing Willie Nelson faintly in the background!) but we’ve been sidelined with doctor visits and procedures, along with me getting my sweet mama to her doctor appointments. Yes, I know all of this is needed but I’d rather be looking at the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, the beautiful beaches of south Florida……you get the idea. We will be hanging here in La Marque, Texas until the time is right.

Speaking of our home base, the park is under new management. Our former manager was moved to a sister park in Conroe, Texas and his son got a job far away from rv park management. It was sad when they left but we still talk to them from time to time. How did we do it before cell phones? Life seemed easier back then, didn’t it?

Enjoy the life you’ve been given! None of us know how many hours, days, years we have on this earth. Tell your loved ones that you love them, give hugs whenever you can. Til next time, I’m Jan and I say, “Follow Your Dreams!”

Yes, I’m still alive and kicking! I really didn’t intend to let this much time lapse between posts but sometimes life just gets in the way! We are still here at Little Thicket RV Park and loving it! Due to several things, we haven’t started our travels yet. But we plan on it real soon.

Our sweet daughter, Becca, finally got her drivers license! (at age 21) When she and I went for her to do the driving test I asked her why she had waited so long. Her answer? “Why did I need to drive when my best friend and my parents did all the driving for me?” She liked being chauffeured around, the little Princess! After about a week of having her license I asked her if she liked driving and her response: “Heck yeah!! I can go anywhere at anytime and I love it!!” She drove down to see us one Sunday, about 30 minutes away from her, and when she left I had a mixed bag of feelings. I was so proud of her, then I was very sad that she really is grown up now. Yes, I shed some tears. What momma doesn’t when her baby leaves the nest!?

She and I are taking a short trip to Louisiana next week to let her experience the slot machines! She is sure that she and I are going to win big. Bring it on!!

Until next time, don’t give up on your dreams. Live life to its fullest!

Dale and I had been wanting to get an RV and travel for quite some time. His parents had a small class C that we borrowed on occasion, and we loved it!  (this was back in the late 1980’s) We would take the kids for a weekend, or school breaks, and go to a little rv park in Orange, Texas called “Oak Leaf Trailer Park”. It had 2 lakes that we would fish in, but NO swimming! No one really knew what lurked beneath those murky waters! We would catch a small fish or two and always caught turtles. Of course we let anything we caught go, right back to where they came from. There were also woods to explore, which we did and thoroughly enjoyed, and nutria to feed. These cute things were very people friendly and the kids had a blast feeding and watching them.

Fast forward to about a year ago. With the boys both married with their own families, oldest daughter having the time of her life in heaven, and our youngest daughter wanting to move into an apartment, it looked like our dream might just have a chance to become a reality! I spent hours scouring the internet for information about different types and styles of rv’s. After I made a list of possibilities, I got Dale involved looking online with me. In looking online at the rv’s, I also researched living full time in one. I found some very knowledgeable and experienced full timers and began following their journeys. And did I learn some things! Full time rv living is different for every family! What works for one doesn’t necessarily work for the other.

Anyway, as we were looking online, and even visited a dealer or two, we were trying to figure out a way to afford this dream of ours! Then on Sunday, August 27, 2017, Hurricane Harvey came uninvited to Texas. We had lived in our home in Friendswood since 1993 and had never had water in our home! Not even close! We were up around 2:00 – 3:00 am and the water had just come up over the curbs. At 7:00 am we checked outside and the water had come up to the front porch. We watched the water rise until about 10:00 when daughter called the police department for a boat to take us to her best friends house, just 2 blocks from ours! (we called the police boat because I have some health and mobility problems.)  The boat got there in about an hour and got us loaded. We were only allowed to bring one backpack and one other piece of “luggage”, ie. plastic bag, purse, etc. They wouldn’t even let us take our 2 small dogs with us! Dale had to flag down a boat later on that day to get him back to the house to get the dogs and a few other things. Approximately 2 weeks later we were back living in the house. It was horrible! Concrete floors, dirt and dust constantly, half walls and no doors. We did hang sheets in the doorways for a tiny bit of privacy. Probably 80% of our furniture was a loss. Just like everyone that was affected by Harvey, we lost a lot.

Ok, we’re sitting in our living room one day and Dale responded to a letter from a realtor who was interested in buying our home, AS IS! The guy came over, walked through the house and looked at the pool, and made us a really good offer! So, we found our motorhome, bought a Mini Cooper to pull behind it, and the rest they say is history!

Thanks for hanging in there and reading this long post! We’ve only been in our new home on wheels for 3 weeks but we are in love with it!! We had to really pare down on everything! Yes, there were some tears shed in the process but it really does feel good to be rid of so much “extra” stuff. Dale and I would like to say to all of you: Follow your dreams, even when others don’t understand.

Hello, and welcome! I had intended to start the blog sooner but life has been a bit hectic! Hurricane Harvey got us! We only got about 8″ of rain but after sitting for 3-4 days, the water soaked into everything. We were able to sell our home, as is, for a very good price which enabled us to finally live our dream…….. of buying an rv, living in it full time, and seeing America. We also bought a Mini Cooper to pull behind us so we would have some way to get around while leaving Gypsy parked.

As we are downsizing and moving stuff into the motorhome, our daughter is moving into her first apartment with her BFF of 9 years. So, we are trying to divide our time between the two! And as expected, daughter has gotten more move-in time than we have. Dale and I visited with Becca on her day off Tuesday, and the apartment is looking very nice! Why is it that while they live with us their rooms look like a tornado blew through but let them get their own place and it looks like a showroom!!

The dogs, Jack and Libby, seem to like their new home! Even though there isn’t as much room to run, or no walls they can walk through*, they both seem happy. I guess dogs are happy as long as they are with their moms and dads, no matter where we go. Dale and I will miss just opening the back door and yelling, “everybody outside to potty”!

*the house has about 2 feet of the sheetrock removed due to Harvey, so Jack and Libby have really enjoyed just walking through walls to get where they wanted to be.

That’s about it for our first blog post. In future posts I’ll tell ya’ll about our adventure getting here, and more about where we are staying for a few months. Stay safe and always follow your dreams!