It has been a long time since we last posted a blog, so there is a lot to catch up on…
We arrived home from our 2020 summer travels just in time for Hunter’s seventh birthday. As you might imagine, there was only close family at his party. Thank you COVID! In lieu of a kid’s party, we took both boys for a weekend trip to Glen Rose, Texas about two hours from where we live. Our trip included a visit to Fossil Rim Safari Park, where they hung out the truck windows and stood on the center console so they could stick their heads out of the sunroof, while they fed the animals and had a great time. Cooking hot dogs and marshmallows over the campfire was fun, but not nearly as great as poking the fire with a stick and then waving the stick around or banging it on the ground to spray sparks. The plan was to go to Dinosaur Valley State Park (the actual primary reason for our visit since they both love dinosaurs) the next day, but there was a dump truck load of dirt in the RV park right beside the trailer and they loved playing in the dirt. I gave them plastic containers and kitchen utensils to play with and they spent hours on that hill. We had to repeat the campfire and have the exact same dinner as the night before so they could do it all over again. While we were gone, Alex and Ashlee did a complete remodel on Hunter’s room with an Avengers theme. He was really surprised and very happy with his new room. 
After all the RV problems we had during our 2020 travels, we started looking at buying a new 5th wheel trailer. DRV Suites makes a toy hauler, called a Full House with better quality than the Grand Design Momentum we bought in 2014. Of course, the MSRP was also about 60% more. They have a few different floor plans for their Full House trailers and I had 3 mandatory requirements:
- a second bathroom in the garage which doubles as a guest room
- a Washer/Dryer (no more laundromats!!)
- a residential refrigerator.
A Denton dealer had a couple of 2021 models and we chose an LX455 floor plan. We went several times to measure everything, so we could figure out how to organize our stuff and be sure it would work. On the day we returned to finalize the deal, we took one last walk through. While we were in it, a Full House JX450 model was delivered, so we popped in to take a look at it. I fell in love immediately, even though it did not have the second bathroom, the larger kitchen was too wonderful to pass up. Bill could tell by the look on my face I wanted to buy this new one.
I am a fast decision maker and rarely look back at what we “could have” done. He on the other hand, researches and looks at every angle before making an informed choice. Even after the thing is done and there is no going back, he reviews the other options that were not taken, which was basically what he did in his job. This usually results in the best possible outcome, but it can make for a long process. On this occasion, he just went with it, and we bought the JX450 on the spot.
Our new home has full body paint and is made of solid wood rather than particle board. It has nice light-colored woodwork and walls and none of the weird patterned fabrics most RV’s seem to have. It is 3.5 feet longer (at a little over 45 feet total) and weighs 24,000 pounds (5,000 more than the Momentum which means we also needed a new Truck – yeah).
Hopefully, you will never know what a pain in the butt an RV fridge is to live with full time. Ours was a double but it was still way too small, had no ice maker, got warm when the weather was warm, formed condensation in containers in the fridge and built up frost on the walls and in containers within the freezer. It had to be defrosted every month and unless you are as old as I am, you will not even know what defrosting is. Residential refrigerators and ice makers are AWESOME! So is having my very own washer/dryer.
I got to pick out new curtains and bedding since we now have a king size bed. We had to get a new couch because we don’t like RV couches, and our current couch was too deep for the new slide out. (Lucky Alex and Ashlee who now have our previous couch). It has now been six months and I am still telling Bill frequently how much I LOVE this new trailer! (I love it too but I definitely don’t love RV dealer. It has been a royal pain to get our upgrades installed. In fact, even after 3 return trips, the awning for the living room slide out that we ordered).
won’t be installed until we get back in September).
Our 2014 F350 truck was not rated to pull the weight of the new trailer, so we were forced to upgrade our truck too. The new 2020 Ford F350 is black and matches the trailer and can tow more than 30,000 lbs. It came with a lot of nice upgrades including a front camera that comes in really handy when driving such a big vehicle all the time. It is the only transportation we have besides the motorcycles and parking a 22 ft long vehicle is challenging at best.
Next up was Maverick’s birthday, and he of course had to get his room redecorated as well. He chose a Spiderman theme and loves it. Alex, Ashlee, Hunter and Maverick all tested positive for COVID one week into November. Thankfully they did not have any symptoms other than Ashlee losing her sense of taste for a couple of months. Apparently, that happens to women more often than men. Thanksgiving dinner was cancelled since they couldn’t come, but two days before Thanksgiving they all tested negative so we scrambled to buy the food and pulled it together. Although my mom was still in lockdown at her assisted living facility, it was great to be able to have a mostly normal Thanksgiving Day.
For Christmas, we took the kids to see “Radiance! Holiday Light Spectacular” where we drove through some great displays, including light tunnels. The kids again got to hang out the windows and moon roof while enjoying hot chocolate. They love getting to go with us so all three of them can sit beside each other in their car seats while we drive. It is very noisy! On Christmas Day Bill dressed up in his Santa costume and we went early to wake the boys and watch them open their gifts. My mom’s assisted living center fortunately was one of the first places to get vaccinations, so they started allowing us to take my Mom out, and we were able to bring her to Sami’s house where we all had Christmas dinner and everyone got to enjoy the beautiful weather. It was a long day, but so nice to be able to spend it with the whole family.
January and February were spent in Florida as usual, a month in Punta Gorda allowed us to relax and we played golf a couple of times a week, as well as enjoying the pool. On February 1st while moving to Orlando, we got notified by Denton County that we had an appointment in two days at the Texas Motor Speedway to get our first vaccination. When we called them back, it sounded like we would still only get only two-day’s notice if we asked to reschedule and they had no idea when that would happen. We decided to fly home, which ended up costing about $1,000 for last minute air, hotels, and a rental car. The vaccination system at the speedway had been set up with consultation with Chick-fil-A and it worked great! We had our Pfizer shots and were driving away in about 30 minutes and that included the 15 minutes we had to wait after the shot to be sure we would not have an allergic reaction.
Back in Orlando, we resumed playing golf and spending time at the pool. Mid-February we rented a five-bedroom AirBnB for a long weekend and flew all the kids in for a day at Disney’s Magic Kingdom. The day was cloudless and beautiful with temps in the sixties. The park was more crowded than expected given Disney claimed to be limiting the number of guests but everyone had a great time and the kids were well behaved even in the lines. The mask police were in full force and would not even let you take them off long enough to take a photo, so I only took a few. Our rental had a heated pool and a game room so the kids had a blast at the house as well as at the community pool where they had a kid’s play area and a lazy river.
Since our vaccinations were on Feb 3rd, we knew they could schedule the second shot as early as the 24th, so we packed up and started home the same day the kids flew back. Sure enough, part way home, we got the text informing us of our appointment on the 24th. It is really nice that we no longer have to worry about COVID since I had really bad asthma as a child and still see a pulmonologist routinely.
March in North Texas was still a bit cold for our liking, but at least we missed the awful ice and below zero temps they had in February. We spent a week in Belize at a dive resort on Turneffe Atoll, about a 90-minute boat ride from Belize City. Our ocean front cabana was beautiful, but they had those terrible no-see-ums in the sand and they love to bite me. We knew this before we came and bought two kinds of oil for $40 to mix and use as repellant, but apparently I did not put enough on because they ate me up anyway. I spent one whole day in the room, so I was really glad the room was nice, popping Benadryl and putting anti-itch on all my bites. They drove me crazy! The water was also a bit chilly for me at 78-79 degrees, which makes the diving not as fun, but it was good to be in the water again. While we did not see anything unusual, we did see quite a few sharks up close and personal as well as turtles, moray eels, and eagle rays.
When we got home, Bill decided it was time for me to take some golf lessons. To this point I had been coached by Bill and managed to hit the ball most of the time, which was well enough to enjoy playing with him. I went once a week for about eight weeks, and of course we started with Step 1…this is how you stand. I practiced a lot, and by the time we headed out for the summer I had a whole new swing, so hopefully I will be able to build on what I learned. It is a lot of steps to keep in my old brain.
In April it was Elderly’s turn for her 5th birthday. It was a really nice day and she had a small party in the park across the street from her house. Sami invited a little boy that they knew from her pre-school who happened to also live in the neighborhood, and they were so cute together. Elderly chased him around the park and posed for me with her arm around his shoulders. Adorable! As a special treat we took her and the boys for an overnight stay at Great Wolf Lodge, where they have an indoor water park. They all loved the wave pool and the lazy river, that wasn’t very lazy. The room had a bunk bed for each of them and they thought that was awesome.
On May 1st my mom turned 91, and we had a surprise party for her. Fifteen people came, some from out of town. As usual we packed every moment of the last week with family and preparations for our summer travels. The whole family went to PF Changs for Mother’s Day, where you can never order enough dumplings to feed this group. Then on our last day in town I went with my Mom, Sami, and Elderly to a local tea room. Elderly was so excited and darling, she loved the fancy tea cups and plates. She is such a girly girl and at the same time so outdoorsy. We will miss them terribly, but it is also nice to be on our own again.
Now we are heading to the east coast, where we will begin our four-month summer trip in Augusta, Georgia. Our route travels along the gas pipeline that was hacked, so hopefully finding gas will not be a problem. The plan is to make our way east and north from there to be in DC for the 4th of July, and then Canada in August. That is IF they have opened the border and they are not requiring a quarantine. At this point, while the US is pretty much back to normal, with most people not wearing masks, Canada is still in complete lockdown. Even though they have almost the same percentage of people vaccinated, everybody is supposed to stay home except for essentials, and they are not even supposed to see family. Nothing is open except for groceries and drive thru food. We will travel that way with the hope that things will change, if not we will re-plan just like we did last year.
…Bill and Dessa
Our Family Photos All family and flowers. 🙂
Your family is so lovely. It sounds like you are living a great life. I am proud of you for making adventurous choices. Sending our love to you both. Delynn