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FAMILIES ON THE ROAD
FULLTIME FAMILIES ON THE ROAD
About Me
- mholmes969
- I grew up as an only child... but today I have a large family with 4 grown children, 7 grandchildren and #8 on the way! I spent 30 years in the IT industry. I am now on disability after suffering a stroke in February of '09 and hoping to make the best of my situation by traveling full time in an rv with my wife and my 6 year old granddaughter that we are raising.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
My oldest daughter, Devon, came over today and we visited the storage room. UGHHHHH. We made a little progress. We piled some things to through away and sorted through some items to go to her house, and some items to go to each of the other kid's houses.
We toted the 2 big tubs full of 32 years worth of photos back to the house along with the box with all the baby books and memorabilia in it. We made a small dent in sorting some of the pictures. It was very overwhelming. I have decided I need to purchase 5 containers to sort them all in. One for each of my kids and one for me.
We decided that we need to back the truck up to the storage room and load all of Kathryn and Hannah's stuff up and deliver them to their homes. We already plan on taking Joel's to him when we go to Tulsa during Thanksgiving. This should leave very little in the storage room. At that point we should be able to get to the other stuff and decide what is trash and what needs to be stored in Devon's attic. (Then I need to go help Devon clean out her attic so she can store my stuff! LOL)
Anyway... this is one small step towards getting ready to launch on our full time travel adventure after Christams!
We toted the 2 big tubs full of 32 years worth of photos back to the house along with the box with all the baby books and memorabilia in it. We made a small dent in sorting some of the pictures. It was very overwhelming. I have decided I need to purchase 5 containers to sort them all in. One for each of my kids and one for me.
We decided that we need to back the truck up to the storage room and load all of Kathryn and Hannah's stuff up and deliver them to their homes. We already plan on taking Joel's to him when we go to Tulsa during Thanksgiving. This should leave very little in the storage room. At that point we should be able to get to the other stuff and decide what is trash and what needs to be stored in Devon's attic. (Then I need to go help Devon clean out her attic so she can store my stuff! LOL)
Anyway... this is one small step towards getting ready to launch on our full time travel adventure after Christams!
Friday, October 15, 2010
We sat down and made a list of the things that must be done and when they must be done by in order to hit the road after Christmas. It is a little overwhelming, but if we break it down into small bits we can do it. Our first trip will be to Florida for the month of January. Then back to Arkansas for a 90th birthday party. Mark really wants to be in Florida, but the distance of travel for one month is a killer fuel cost-wise. But hopefully we can do some boondocking to offset some of the cost. Passport America membership will help some, but a lot of parks in Florida do not accept it during the winter months... imagine that! LOL
Anyway... we are getting excited, But shhhhhhh... I still have to tell my boss I'm leaving! :)
Anyway... we are getting excited, But shhhhhhh... I still have to tell my boss I'm leaving! :)
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Every week I get to see and meet more and more people that struggle to get a grip on hunger and the eonomy. The last two weeks were in counties with 400 plus people waiting in line for hours waiting to get food. On some of my days I am not handing out for USDA, I go to help at a food pantry here in Jonesboro, that hands out to the needing without judging. That is something I do not like. Judgement. That is a big reason I like to work at this one. The lady that heads this one, talks to individuals one on one, and will double up on food when she detects the need. I really believe she can decerne the difference in needs. Once when I was there, a Man came in with his daughter and granddaughter. He said my daughter ande her child were hungry and he was unable to help them today. THAT IS WHY WE ARE HERE AND DO THIS PEOPLE! Then, the other day a lady came in in tears, she said her husband had been laid off, there are very little jobs to be offered here, and her kids were starting to feel the hunger now. Sometimes, you have to know when to ask for help, and it can be the hardest part.
Enough of my soapbox. We did nearly 1000 people in two counties in the last 10 days. The further south in the Northeast part of Arkansas the more food for kids we gave out. I would think one of two things are happening here economically. Either the younger people are getting without jobs, or more and more grandparents are raising kids. In both cases the economy is worse there. And white, black, or hispanics have no bearing. They are pretty even accross the state.
Enough of my soapbox. We did nearly 1000 people in two counties in the last 10 days. The further south in the Northeast part of Arkansas the more food for kids we gave out. I would think one of two things are happening here economically. Either the younger people are getting without jobs, or more and more grandparents are raising kids. In both cases the economy is worse there. And white, black, or hispanics have no bearing. They are pretty even accross the state.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
After our setback from Mark's 3rd stroke, we are still planning on hitting the road full-time. I went back to work at the Food Bank of Northeast Arkansas as the Program Coordinator. I am over the Commodity Distribution, the Sr. Pack Distribution, and the Backpack Distribution. Mark is coming with me volunteering to give out food. This has helped his recovery very much. Although he has improved and has actually gained weight, his risk of another stroke is still pretty high. He still has 2 completely blocked arteries that can not have anything done about them. Hopefully his medicine will keep the other two main arteries to his brain clear.
The job itself is a stressful one. There is lots to do and deadlines to meet. We have seen an increase in the hungry folks out there. Not a good sign for our economy. This has increased our desire to travel cross country helping wherever we can - volunteering at Food Banks, Soup Kitchens, and any where we can be of assistance and encourage people. The plan now is to hit the road right after Christmas. Of course our first stop will be in Florida, hopefully far away from the cold winter weather.
We plan to go to Mountain View, AR in a couple of weeks to meet up with another couple on the road full-time. I have been keeping up with several Families On The Road via the FOTR website, their blog sites, and on Facebook. It keeps me motivated!
Our next RV trip will be to Tulsa to visit our son and other lifetime friends over Thanksgiving. Then off to Branson for that weekend. I have reservations at the Mingo RV Park in Tulsa and the Branson's Ozark Country Campground. While in Branson we will be joining Passport America to save 50% on many of our camping ventures. I can't wait to see Silver Dollar City in Christmas lights! I have wanted to do this for YEARS!! We will be sure to update our blog after visiting these two campgrounds.
If we get to Tulsa in time the day before Thanksgiving, we may start on establishing our Oklahoma Domocile by getting OK tags and licenses. Then we will get our insurance transfered to OK. The main reason for this is the homeschool laws in OK. The other reason is because our son lives there and can be our mail service. :) But also Oklahoma is where we plan to settle once we decide we are done with RVing fulltime.
I guess this is enough blogging for today. We will definitely update again soon. :)
The job itself is a stressful one. There is lots to do and deadlines to meet. We have seen an increase in the hungry folks out there. Not a good sign for our economy. This has increased our desire to travel cross country helping wherever we can - volunteering at Food Banks, Soup Kitchens, and any where we can be of assistance and encourage people. The plan now is to hit the road right after Christmas. Of course our first stop will be in Florida, hopefully far away from the cold winter weather.
We plan to go to Mountain View, AR in a couple of weeks to meet up with another couple on the road full-time. I have been keeping up with several Families On The Road via the FOTR website, their blog sites, and on Facebook. It keeps me motivated!
Our next RV trip will be to Tulsa to visit our son and other lifetime friends over Thanksgiving. Then off to Branson for that weekend. I have reservations at the Mingo RV Park in Tulsa and the Branson's Ozark Country Campground. While in Branson we will be joining Passport America to save 50% on many of our camping ventures. I can't wait to see Silver Dollar City in Christmas lights! I have wanted to do this for YEARS!! We will be sure to update our blog after visiting these two campgrounds.
If we get to Tulsa in time the day before Thanksgiving, we may start on establishing our Oklahoma Domocile by getting OK tags and licenses. Then we will get our insurance transfered to OK. The main reason for this is the homeschool laws in OK. The other reason is because our son lives there and can be our mail service. :) But also Oklahoma is where we plan to settle once we decide we are done with RVing fulltime.
I guess this is enough blogging for today. We will definitely update again soon. :)
Monday, August 9, 2010
The Lake was great! It was very big. The Promised Land Resort had lots of ammenities. The setup spot was not as great but very adequate. It was gravel and not very level, but every thing else you could want. There was a swimming pool, a rec room with a pool table and ping pong, and lots of deer! Even Tatianna saw one. It was her first white tailed deer she ever saw. At least that is what she told me. We rented a pontoon from the resort at a very reasonable rate. We used two 6 gallon tanks of fuel and went several miles up the lake. Tatianna had lots of fun jumping canonballs off the pontoon into the lake. By the way this is in north central Arkansas and was very clear. It had about 35 feet visability in the water. That is VERY clear. I think Lake Norfork which is next to it, on the other side of Mountain Home, AR ( the town near us) is even more clear. We weren't good on catching fish, but that is us not the lake. Maybe Phyllis will put some more here and post some pictures. -- Mark--
Monday, July 12, 2010
Well we've been to 2 states camping now. Just north of the Arkansas border is Doniphan, Missouri and the Current river. KC's was the place. They had an RV and tent park where everyone either fished or floated the river. Most RV'ers also pulled a boat. There were a lot of boats, but it was really great. We would do it again! We did the float trip in a raft. Blayke did not come on this trip. It was me, Phyllis and Tatianna. With of course Tobi, the Dog. Everyone loved Tobi. Phyllis will put pictures up soon. We made some good friends, John and Jeanette from the Saint Louis area who go to Florida in the winter, as well as people from Manila and Paragould, Arkansas, and Carbondale, Illinois. While this camp did not have paved or concrete pads, it was level and was better at making friends than Village Creek.
We grilled, and we built a fire and made smores, all the while we did not break any bone,s nor shed any blood. (I know that seemed boring) We didn't even run into any snakes! Tatianna did catch lightning bugs and a fuzzy wuzzy worm.
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