A Year in a Day

Geez, I just realized that it has been almost an entire year since I've updated my blog.  We left off with McKenzie graduating from basic training in San Antonio.  Since then.....

Mom and I stayed for another two weeks in San Antonio.

We had a great time eating and shopping our way through Texas.  We tubed the Comal river, caught a pepper festival, and checked out the old missions and botanical gardens.  It was so much fun to get to hang out with my Mom.

After leaving San Antonio, Todd and I headed to Boise for a month.  We had a good time and managed to get in a  kayaking trip down the Boise River.

Our next stop was the Portland area.  We hiked Multnomah Falls and enjoyed peak blackberry season.

In keeping with our propensity to visit a part of the country in the off-season, we headed north to Anacortes Washington.  We stayed right on the ocean at Fidalgo Bay Rv Park.  Although is was cold and wet most of the time, it was nice to use the Tommy Thompson Trail to get outside and get some fresh air.

After being cold for nearly 30 days straight, we decided to head to sunny California.  We found Durango RV Resort on the river in Red Bluff.  This was quite the resort complete with a hot tub that we made full use of.  Red Bluff is such a cute town and was within walking distance.  We happened to get there just in time for First Friday and were treated to wine and hors d'oeuvres while we shopped on Main St.

Next, it was back to Quartzsite Arizona to spend Christmas with the folks.  Little did they know we would end up squatting in their driveway for three months.

I love being around retired people.  They aren't all stressed out by their jobs and they get to spend all their time having social events.  Jam sessions, get togethers, happy hours, atv rides, and anything else you can think of to keep you entertained, it's going on in Quartzsite.

During our travels, we decided it was time to buy another house and settle down again.  We chose Spoknae to be our new home.  We love that we have access to civilization yet there is plenty of outdoor activities to keep us busy.

We bought a fixer (something we said we'd never do again) that has an amazing view of the city.  I think it should keep us out of trouble for a few years anyway.

We also have added a new member to the Harrop family.  Parker Justin Harrop was born to Justin and Christina in April.  I'm pretty sure he is the cutest baby I have ever seen.

His Grandpa is pretty good lookin' too.

McKenzie is now stationed in Albuquerque. New Mexico.

She has become a responsible adult and is making a wonderful life for herself.

Off We Go Into The Wild Blue Yonder

Our next stop was in San Antonio for McKenzie's Basic Military Training graduation.  If you would have told us our daughter would join the military I would have laughed, but that's exactly what she did.

She graduated with honors and we couldn't be more proud of her.  Graduating with honors also means that you get an extra day off to spend with your family until you ship off to tech school in Whichita Falls, TX. 

Great-Aunt Joyce, Grandma Naylor, Aunt Dana, and Uncle Lyle were all able to come to San Antonio for the festivities.

We also celebrated McKenzie's 19th birthday that we missed while she was in Basic.

After weeks of intensive training, Kenzie was ready to take it easy.

Georgetown, Texas

Georgetown was just a random stop on our way to San Antonio that turned out to be a very pleasant surprise.  Just like most Texas towns, Georgetown's historic town square offered quaint shops and historical markers. 

 

Round Rock was only 15 miles away, so we rode the bike over to catch a Round Rock Express basesall game. 

 

Since Austin was only 30 miles away, we drove down for the day to check out the scene.  Austin was nice enough to allow us to wander around their beautiful Capital Building.

 

Texas is H-O-T in the summer.  We found this park in the middle of Georgetown that created a great water park by damming the river enough to make a swimming hole.

What a relaxing way to beat the heat.

Portland Japanese Garden

We flew to Vancouver, Washington to take a look at a potential house and decided to spend the day at the Portland Japanese Garden.  The gardens were beautiful and neatly groomed. 

 

 We spent the day wandering through the 5 acre garden.

World of Coke

Although we don't drink soda anymore, we decided to check out the history of Coca Cola at World of Coke in Atlanta.

We were treated to a tour of Coke history and memoribila minus the part about it being developed in a drug store using drugs.

At the end of the tour, we were each given a cup in a room that was filled with soda machines.  We tried 80 sodas from around the world.  Some were wonderful and some, like Beverly, were terrible.  One was called Menthe and tasted like sweet mouthwash.  I had to use the Pineapple one to get rid of the taste.  They gave us each a bottle of ice cold Coca Cola on our way out via the gift shop. 

Stone Mountain, Georgia

We spent a few days near Atlanta, Georgia in Stone Mountain Park.  Stone Mountain is the largest single piece of granite in the country.  There was a 1.5 mile hike to the top of the mountain, but we found the Swiss cable car was a much faster option.

There was a great view of the Confederate Memorial Carving.  It is the largest relief sculpture in the world. 

We went for a spin/cruise on the Duck.  It is a 1940's Army amphibious truck.

We spent some time geocaching and have reached 100 finds.

We joined every field trippin' sixth grader in the area for the Sky Hike.  I figured that if they let children on it, it must be safe and easy....wrong.  It was scary and challanging but lots of fun.

Weatherford, Texas

We heard there was going to be a get-together in Weatherford, so we left our rig in Orlando and flew to Texas.  Over the years, I have learned to appreciate being able to spend time with our families.  We were also introduced to the wonderful game of Lasso Golf.  Todd is a natural.

Savannah, Georgia

I was really excited to see Savannah, Georgia.  I love historical places, and Savannah has a bunch of them.  We camped in Skidaway Island State Park, but spent most of our time in the Historic District. 

 Anyone who loves "budda" knows that The Lady and Sons restaurant is owned by Food Network's Paula Deen.

Savannah was once a bustling port town and one of it's leading exports was cotton. 

Goods were loaded onto wagons and were paraded down this street.  The Factors (buyers) would walk out on the catwalks and bid on the wares below. 

The streets and many buildings in the district are made of stone.  Its interesting because Savannah is made of sand and clay.  Can you guess where the stones came from?  They were brought in on ships that used them for ballasts.  The stones were unloaded when a ship took on its cargo.

We found that a good way of maximizing a tourist opportunity is to find the local trolley tour.  The drivers give us a history lesson while driving us around the town. 

Rachael of Oglethorpe Tours seemed to have a rebellious streak when she suddendly pulled over in front of this church and said, "I'm not supposed to do this, but you've got to see this.  I'll circle the block and pick you up in ten minutes."  The church was as spectacular as she said.  Thanks for the detour Rachael.

Dallas, Texas

We left our rig in Orlando and hopped a plane to Texas to visit relatives I haven't seen in years.  We happened to be near Dallas, so we decided to make a day trip there before we left.  We just parked downtown and set out to see the sites.  We found ourselves in the middle of a downtwon cattle drive.

This one looks like he might have mad cow disease.

Todd abusing some random abstract art we found in the square of City Hall.  We decided it looked more like dinosaur fossils than art.

This is the window the Lee Harvey Oswald shot President Kennedy from on November 22nd, 1963.  It currently is the Dallas County School District's Administration building. 

We spoke to a man who claimed he was there and that the shots came from behind me on the grassy knoll.  I love a good conspiracy.

Cedar Key, Florida

Cedar Key is another happy discovery we made while surfing the internet for RV parks.  Our camp site was next to the water and we were treated to amazing sunsets almost every night.  Cedar Key is a clam farming town and has the feel of an Alaskan fishing village.  It's very quaint and friendly.

We put the life jackets on the dogs and kayaked across the ocean to Atsena Otie Key.  Once an island village, it's now an island with nothing but a cemetary. 

We had a great time playing on the white sand beach.

Florida Keys

We had been waiting until we made it to the Keys to have Key Lime Pie.  The locals told us that if we wanted the best, we had to go to Kermits.

When we saw the Food Network filming there, we knew the locals must be right......and they were!

We can now say that we've been as far as we can go North and South.  South is much warmer.

This is where it all started for Jimmy Buffet.  He used to play here for tips.  Funny how life turns out sometimes.

This is one of many beautiful sunsets at our RV park.