New Year Travels

We feel so spiffy now that we have our own blog! We hope everyone enjoys hearing of our adventures. We are grateful for your interest in our lives and appreciate your friendship and love.

We have covered more than 6,000 miles since leaving home January 12th. Our first stop in Santa Rosa, New Mexico was short and uneventful - sleep only. We made it to Becky's house late the next day and had quite a difficult time entering her subdivision with 63 feet of low profile vehicle. We ended up unhooking the RV from the trailer and pulling it in with the Jeep only to find out there was a different and much easier route into the neighborhood that our GPS didn't tell us about. We had a delightful, but unfortunately short visit with Becky's family. Neil really enjoyed seeing their home for the first time.

In Nashville, Tennessee we had only a few hours to see the sites downtown but really enjoyed it although it was FREEZING. We arrived late so everything was closed but we drove by the Country Music Hall of Fame, The Grand Ole Opry and Music Row (even though we're not sure if we really found it or not...)

We arrived in Sebring Florida in the wee hours of the morning. The next morning we were greeted by the warm sunshine and enjoyed our first outdoor breakfast of the trip. The Jensen had a short audition in the morning which allowed us a little time to play in the sun and catch up on some to-dos (including replacing the trailer tire we blew in Oklahoma).

After leaving Florida Neil drove 12 hours straight (with a 1 hour nap on an offramp) to get us to the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge in time for breakfast. We ate cold cereal on the bank of the Mississippi while watching the large ships float the river. Neil took a 45 minute nap and we were on to Lake Charles, Louisiana to visit with families from Neil's mission. Saturday night we met with the Brooks family who live on 80 acres so Neil was able to shoot his handgun for the first time. Neil was quite pleased at how comfortable his handgun felt and surprised how accurate it was for his first time out. He loves his gun.

Saturday and Sunday nights we stayed at the Trahans in Lake Charles and attended church with them in the ward Neil served in. The Trahans used to live in Cameron which is right on the Gulf Coast but their home was destroyed in Hurricane Rita. They gave us a tour of the area and showed us the devastation which was still surprisingly evident. As we drove south to the Gulf we passed debri and even an entire home which had been blown inland several miles during the storm.

Monday morning we said goodbye to the Trahans and enjoyed an unsuccessful alligator hunt at the Sabine Wildlife Preserve on our way to the coast. We played hard on the beach pulling kids on a washed up pallet behind the Jeep. Our final destination that day was Houston, Texas were we spent the night at the ritziest RV park we have yet to encounter. Early the next morning we toured the Battleship Texas and then quickly made out way to San Antonio. We got much more than we bargained for with our visit to the historic Alamo and the Famous San Antonio River Walk. Our tour of the Alamo gave us a new understanding to the Texans yell 'Rememer the Alamo!' Those Texans are something else. Oh and the River Walk - in combining the street performers, the passing gondolas, the southern Texas/Spanish atmosphere, ducks swimming at our feet, and the best smoked Texas BBQ ever, it rivaled dinner at the Blue Bayou in Disneyland. Our magical experiences that evening were a stark constrast to the dive we stayed at in Ozona Texas at the Economy Inn RV Park. Driving through West Texas and New Mexico was every bit as ugly as we had heard about. It made us wonder if the guys at the Alamo really knew what they were fighting for.

The night before and night of Neil's birthday we spent with a friend of the Jensens in Silver City, New Mexico. Neil's birthday was looking to be very drab and uneventful until we both found ourselves in handcuffs kneeling in the dirt with guns pointed at us! Next time we will do more than just ask the local about where we can and can't discharge a firearm!!! And as always, Neil joked his way out of a citation.

We've spent the last week in Arizona and have had the pleasure of spending a lot of time with Neil's extended family. They are such great people and have welcomed us with open arms. We continue to enjoy breakfast in the sunshine, swimming at the RV resorts and a little offroading in the Jeep with the doors off. We look forward to taking the top off the Jeep any day now.