Wheeling through Paradise

This was going to be the "hallejulah we found a home" post, and it will be momentarily, but first let me gripe about my photos. Not too long ago, I purchased a lower end HP Chromebook. In hindsight, I discovered the device lacks some things that I automatically reach for, such as touch screen. D'oh. I really dislike the touch pad, so I bought a mouse. Easy, peasy.  And most importantly, a camera. Where is it??!!  My biggest challenge has been uploading photos from my mobile to the Chromebook. What I thought would be a simple task has had me totally perplexed. The distraught me. I have spent countless hours trying to figure out why this is an issue, but I won't bore you with the details. Verizon can't figure out it out either. They said "call Hewlett Packer". When I received the Chromebook, I was excited to see a camera lens above the screen! Then confusion set in, as there wasn't a corresponding view finder on the other side. No camera, I guess. Fast...

  Life has been a whirlwind. Here's why. This past fall we pretty much had decided we'd buy a cargo trailer, and build our own RV. Everyone is doing it, it seemed, and it was intriguing to us as the cost would be low (or COULD be low depending on how you went about it), as the builders we could ensure great quality, and we would have the personal satisfaction of creating something pretty monumental, our home on wheels. We rolled out our plans. Our apartment lease in Kerrville TX was up end of December so we would drive out to Arizona to free camp in a big family tent on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land and spend time visiting with my sister Harriet in Tucson. As well, we'd be with our friends Alan and Charlene who were on a tiny "island" of gravelly BLM land in Tucson. They, too, are full-timers, and travel/live in a beautiful motorhome we affectionately call The Mansion! Our goal: tent camp in AZ (Tucson and Quartzite) until April 1 when we'd be ready to ...

 Greetings on a chilly and rainy Tucson day! This is our sixth day on BLM land on the west side of the city. Happily this is free camping, but with a 14 day limit. However, we could return again after camping on other BLM land at least 25 miles away. That's the rules! This spot is gravel and scrubby vegetation, with mountains surrounding us on all sides.  We're living in a 12 person tent, us and four cats! The cats have adapted beautifully. So far they haven't shredded our temporary home to bits! You're probably questioning why we're tent camping instead of "wheeling" our way across country. We are definitely in the market for a new RV and we're in high speed research mode! Although we liked Kerrville TX, we once again realized we don't like being tied down to a "brick and mortar" home.  We also are looking at a fifth wheel style RV, rather than a pulled travel trailer like our Rpod was. In a fifth wheel, also known as a "goose neck...

 We want to say hi and welcome to old friends and new. Those who know us may remember our previous blog, Podding in Paradise, that followed our travels around America in a R-pod camper.  Well, we are onto another adventure around America, and points beyond once our world is rid of Covid-19. A little history about us first. Michael and I met through cycling.  His love of cycling was contagious that by the time we married we were already planning a bicycling adventure around the country. Affectionately known as Odyssey 1, we headed out on two wheels to ride around America. This experience lit our footloose fire, and generally speaking, we have never been content to stay in one place for too long without hitting the road in some fashion. OK, Cape Cod is one exception; we found it easy to live there for almost 14 years.  Since Odyssey 1, there have been several more! We've done road trips around the country by car and in 2014 bought our first camper, a sweet little teard...