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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.
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.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
We took our first trip this past weeknd to Village Creek State Park. It is just southeast of Wynne, AR. It is a beautiful park with two lakes - Lake Dunn and Lake Austelle. The park consists of three different rv parking areas with one being geared towards those with horses. The visitors center has a nice gift shop and a theater room that shows films on "The Trail of Tears", and the history of the park as well as other state parks.
This was a "learning" trip for us. We couldn't get our stove, the hot water heater, or the antenna to work. We believe this is mainly operator error - lol. Also the microwave was a little flaky. We realized that our sewer hose wasn't long enough so we just used the bathhouse across the road and let our grey water tank hold until we got ready to leave. Then we just backed up and then let our tank drain with the short hose. We have decided to take our rv to a dealer and let them go through it and show us how to use the gas appliances since we really didn't want to mess with it too much and blow ourselves up.
In light of all the little "issues" we had, and the fact that it thunderstormed with tornado warnings all weekend, we felt it was an ok first trip. Here are some pictures we took on Sunday morning after the rains stopped.
This was a "learning" trip for us. We couldn't get our stove, the hot water heater, or the antenna to work. We believe this is mainly operator error - lol. Also the microwave was a little flaky. We realized that our sewer hose wasn't long enough so we just used the bathhouse across the road and let our grey water tank hold until we got ready to leave. Then we just backed up and then let our tank drain with the short hose. We have decided to take our rv to a dealer and let them go through it and show us how to use the gas appliances since we really didn't want to mess with it too much and blow ourselves up.
In light of all the little "issues" we had, and the fact that it thunderstormed with tornado warnings all weekend, we felt it was an ok first trip. Here are some pictures we took on Sunday morning after the rains stopped.
Grandbaby Blayke watching Grandpa fish on her first camping trip.
Tatianna tring to catch a fish.
Grandpa baiting the hook.
Me Mark and Tatianna at the fishing hole.
Tatianna testing the water.
Tatianna trying to decide to go for it.
Sweet baby Blayke enjoying the sunshine. (And her Binky :)
The Visitor's Center at Village Creek State Park. Wynne, AR. It also has a Discovery Room Museum.
The swimming hole just down from our RV. A beautiful site. :)
Our Rv in the distance from the swimming hole. The playground and bath house are just to the left. It was a great spot to park.
Our RV amongst the beautiful trees in a nice pull through site.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Hi! I’m Blayke Elizabeth and my Grandpa syas it’s time to start Blogging. I’m only 6 months old but I am at my mommy’s laptop so here I go. He says it’s never too young to learn. I dunno, what do you think? I would love to go with Grandpa and Grandmommy RVing, but my mommy will not let me go cause she would miss me. Silly mommy.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
One of the hardest things in life to do is wait. We are not naturally creatures of patience. Especially in today's world of instant gratification - waiting is a hard thing to do. The Bible tells us that if we "Wait upon the Lord" our strength will be renewed, we will mount on wings as eagles. But once again the Lord has directed me to Lamentations 3. You know it is God talking to you when he keeps you in a specific book or verse in the Bible. Lamentations 3 has come at me in several different ways over the last couple of weeks. Today, as I was thinking about timing, I was remembering the above verse, but as I did an internet search on scriptures about waiting, guess what popped up! Lamentations 3:25, 26, "The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord." WOW! Not just wait, but QUIETLY wait. I take this to mean without grumbling! OUCH!
While in Tulsa this weekend visiting good friends, we thought how cool it would be to drive back in a new truck to pull our RV. The truck we have will do the job, but it is getting old and needs a few things done to it. So, we spent a lot of our time at dealerships looking and actually filling out paperwork for financing. If we were to get it NOW, we could finance it and then pay it off when the house sells. This really gave me a sick feeling, especially since this will be my last week at my job. After praying about God's direction, we put our "excitement" emotions on the back burner and decided to not purchase a truck at this time. Whewwwww. What a relief. No worries about how to make that payment! BUT WE SURE DID SEE SOME PRETTY TRUCKS!
Bottom line is this: When the time is right, the right truck and the right RV will be there for us at the right price. It will be in God's time and not ours. We will wait upon the Lord.
While in Tulsa this weekend visiting good friends, we thought how cool it would be to drive back in a new truck to pull our RV. The truck we have will do the job, but it is getting old and needs a few things done to it. So, we spent a lot of our time at dealerships looking and actually filling out paperwork for financing. If we were to get it NOW, we could finance it and then pay it off when the house sells. This really gave me a sick feeling, especially since this will be my last week at my job. After praying about God's direction, we put our "excitement" emotions on the back burner and decided to not purchase a truck at this time. Whewwwww. What a relief. No worries about how to make that payment! BUT WE SURE DID SEE SOME PRETTY TRUCKS!
Bottom line is this: When the time is right, the right truck and the right RV will be there for us at the right price. It will be in God's time and not ours. We will wait upon the Lord.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
There are many clichés that could fit here like when life gives you lemons make
lemonade, but I’ll skip them. As we have mentioned in previous sessions, I had a
stroke a year ago, and a smaller TIA a week or so ago, so my health is an issue for us.
But I am fortunate and have to say that there is a God and he has blessed me in
so many ways, not the least in letting me be alive today. What I want to say today is
that while I have lost a lot of my health and some abilities, He has allowed me to be in
the “position of freedom”. This means that while we are not wealthy people, we now
have the income through my disability, and since I can’t and don’t have to go to work,
we have the time to be free and adventure out on this journey. And again I will give all
of the credit and my thanks to God. Hopefully while on the road we will be able to come
across opportunities to help other folks who are in need. I hope that everyone reading
our blogs know that we wish each of you were on the road with us, and to
remember that when life throws you a curveball, or lemons, make some lemonade
out of it. Great things can come out of bad times. I believe this stoke of mine was the
prelude to the best times of our lives. Caution, Great things ahead!
lemonade, but I’ll skip them. As we have mentioned in previous sessions, I had a
stroke a year ago, and a smaller TIA a week or so ago, so my health is an issue for us.
But I am fortunate and have to say that there is a God and he has blessed me in
so many ways, not the least in letting me be alive today. What I want to say today is
that while I have lost a lot of my health and some abilities, He has allowed me to be in
the “position of freedom”. This means that while we are not wealthy people, we now
have the income through my disability, and since I can’t and don’t have to go to work,
we have the time to be free and adventure out on this journey. And again I will give all
of the credit and my thanks to God. Hopefully while on the road we will be able to come
across opportunities to help other folks who are in need. I hope that everyone reading
our blogs know that we wish each of you were on the road with us, and to
remember that when life throws you a curveball, or lemons, make some lemonade
out of it. Great things can come out of bad times. I believe this stoke of mine was the
prelude to the best times of our lives. Caution, Great things ahead!
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