Mar 16, 2012 - Back in Maryland

We returned to Maryland on March 1, but I have just now found a few minutes to add to the journal. It hasn't seemed that busy, but each day keeps slipping into the next. We are staying at Ramblin' Pines in Carroll County and will be here until April 6 or 9 before heading out to Santa Fe. The forsythia is in bloom, and I see that the willows are beginning to show signs of a delicate spring green. Fat robins are exploring for either worms or nesting materials, and with daylight savings time in place, the evenings are longer. With such a mild...

Jan 5, 2012 - A farewell to 2011 and a welcome to 2012

We are now ready to begin our second year of traveling and will have lived in our RV full-time for almost four years. Christmas made us a little wistful when we thought of not being able to host family gatherings in our home (which we still consider ours in our heart). But there is also a sense of relief that our sons and daughters-in-law are now enjoying Christmas in their own homes and are embracing us with a lovely blend of new and old traditions. On New Year's Eve, we celebrated my sister's youngest grandaughter's birthday (Maya). My...

Sep 17, 2011 - Charlie is home

We are all breathing a sigh of relief. Charlie is now home with his family. He is not completely out of danger, but he is getting better every day. Angela and Mike have arranged for a pediatric nurse to visit to monitor his progress, and all reports have been positive. It's still important for someone to watch him constantly so that he doesn't panic during a coughing spell and compromise his breathing pattern. The whole family is taking shifts, but Ange and Mike are taking primary responsibility, especially during the night. There is a CPR...

Sep 11, 2011 - Charlie's personal battle

It has been another frightening week. Baby Charlie developed a cough and began to have difficulty breathing. He is now at Johns Hopkins pediatric intensive ward diagnosed with whooping cough. Fortunately Mike and Angela did the exactly the right thing and drove him to the pediatric emergency room as soon as they sensed something was not right. They are now taking 12 hour shifts so that one of his parents is always with him. Both sets of grandparents are filling in to help with Tyler and Sofie. Charlie's whooping cough is at an early stage,...

Aug 28, 2011 - Nature Unleashed

August 28, 2011 Alan and I are sitting in our RV with the remnants of Hurricane Irene still tossing the treetops. We are at our a campsite at Ramblin’ Pines and are looking out at the debris piled around us. Fortunately we were far enough west of the hurricane’s center in Ocean City that the impact was not serious. Several trees fell here, and there are leaves and small branches scattered everywhere, but our campsite was pretty much left unscathed. We were actually supposed to return to Patapsco Valley State Park today, but Claudia alerted...

Aug 26, 2010 - Cedar Creek RV Park

We agreed to pay for expedited shipping but by Wednesday the best they could do was get the turbo, out of Denver, in on Friday afternoon. Service doesn't work on Saturday or Sunday, so Monday would be the earliest they could install. We had dry camped for two days and needed to replenish the water and dump. After consultation it was decided that it would be safe to move to an RV park close by. Glen Beck was having his DC rally and everything close to the water was booked. We were lucky to find space at the Cedar Creek Family Campground....

Oct 30, 2008 - Connecting in Maryland

Our stop in Maryland was to connect with family and reconnect with a friend from the past. We hadn't seen Tony's brother for several years. He came to us, and we enjoyed several hours of catching up. We also went to Frederick and got together with a friend we hadn't seen in over 30 years. She had been a student of Sue's her second year of teaching, so there are only about 6 years difference in age. She had also lived with us briefly in NY. It was like we had only been apart for a short while. She has been a long time resident of Maryland...