Sometimes we just shake our heads at how much we enjoy this time of our lives. We are most fortunate and we know it. We don't take it for granted. This is a bonus and we know it. Among the biggest blessing of this lifestyle is the many people we encounter week after week.
We heard it said a couple of weeks ago when Scott remarked, "We see way more friends and family now than when we lived in our house in Florida".
The same is true for us.
We left Virginia Beach in June and drove a day and a half before we got to Maynardvile TN. While there we visited with Joan and Mike and their kids. Michelle and Jeremy are both working and they have a high schooler (Noah) and one in graduate school (Kayla). We also got to see neighbors Helen and Bill and Mark and Lisa. It was a good visit.
Next made our way to Kentucky. While there, we connected with our daughter Kelly's friend who used to live in Virginia Beach. It was good to see Becca and her daughter Parker. We got to see airplanes from a viewing area at the end of the runway in Cincinnati. We had a picnic lunch then drove in tandem over to the Creation Museum in Kentucky. We had never met Parker and hadn't seen Becca in years.
After our time there, we drove on to Alum Creek State Park outside of Columbus Ohio. We planned it so that our time there would coincide with Jeff his son Caleb's summer league baseball tournament. They travelled with the team from home in Fairfax VA, where we lived before we launched into this lifestyle. That was fun to see them!
After Ohio we continued north to Lansing Michigan for our Habitat for Care-A-Vanner build. We were twice blessed there with family and friends. Great-niece Kayla (from Tennessee) was moving into her apartment to start her graduate studies at Michigan State. She and her family (Michelle, Jeremy, Noah) were there to help her move in. Great timing - during the same week as our Habitat build.
Also while in Lansing, RV friends Marge and George camped with us at the Ingham County Fairgrounds. They were in Michigan and made it a point to come over to where we were so we could see them for a couple of days. We met them in Key West in our second year of full-timing and have crossed paths many times since. It great to see them.
After Lansing, we drove east to Port Huron, MI. From there we drove over to see Bill and Marg (Meghan's parents). We saw them last winter in Lakeland FL. It was great to go over to Petrolia again. Bill and I played a round of golf with Pam and Marg in carts and then had a nice lunch at the clubhouse.
While in Port Huron, we drove our car south toward Detroit and met friends Lisa and Rod for dinner on the picturesque St. Clair River. Always good to see those two!
We had another Habitat build scheduled and drove over to Sioux Falls SD for it. We always like going to Sioux Falls because longtime friends Steve and Therressa live there. We got to see them a few times during our two weeks in town for the build.
We also got to see Bonar and Christa. We had dinner together one night and ice cream down at the Sioux Falls Park another day. Hopefully we'll see them again where they winter in Fort Myers FL.
We met fellow Care-A-Vanners Dave and Jo Ann for the first time. Interesting enough, I had corresponded with Brenda since she is the national Care-A-Vanner registration POC. And we met her and Kit for the first time.
Years ago I got an email from Carole who follows the Roadrunner Chronicles. She asked a question about full-timing and saw my post on 'Come help us on the Sioux Falls Care-A-Vanner build' and signed up with husband Scott. That was pretty cool to meet these folks.
From Sioux Falls, we ended up in Seneca, Kansas for the eclipse viewing. Friends from years ago in Fairfax VA, Mark and Alisanne, saw our travels on FaceBook and he asked us to join them for the eclipse at their beautiful cabin in Blue Springs, Nebraska. It was great to meet up with them for lunch followed by time at their cabin. We also got to see their daughters Carissa and Stephanie (and their kids) at the lake. What a great time!
Before we got to Seneca, Bruce saw the blog and sent me an email indicating he and wife Jacque were RVers and lived in Seneca. We were able to meet them for the first time and have dinner together to share stories. It was fun.
Now here we are in Albuquerque with Reid and Amy. Cousin Linda and husband Jim are not far away in Corrales and we hope to see them while here.
Tomorrow we are going to Santa Fe for a day trip and will see RV friends Steve and Karen and do the tourist thing in town and probably grab some lunch.
I hesitated about going through all this kind of thing but I wrote this for a couple of reasons:
- I want to look back and be able to remember the good folks we saw and met during our travels this summer, and
- I also wanted to give folks an idea of one of the main reasons we like this lifestyle so much. We keep running into people and meeting new friends. Not to mention all the other stuff that goes on during this adventure...
Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!
Showing posts with label MI. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MI. Show all posts
Saturday, August 26, 2017
Saturday, July 22, 2017
Rocking It In Williamston Michigan with HFH
We wrapped up our week of the 'Rock the Block' neighborhood engagement effort in Williamston. Throughout the week we were involved with projects at six different homes in the neighborhood. We also had one or two Care-A-Vanner (CAV) teams out at the new build site in Lansing.
It was a new experience for all of us. Many times we work as a single volunteer unit on one or two homes. This time, the affiliate had us merry up with new groups of volunteers who came out each day to work on the neighborhood projects.
It was a fairly large effort and Pam and I were very impressed. The affiliate has a great group of leaders who organized and participated each day. They marshalled the efforts of a lot of people on all the projects and got us swimming in the same direction for a productive and successful week.
These things don't happen without a great planning and execution.
Kudos to the affiliate for pulling it off well.
It all starts from the top. Vickie - the Executive Director and lead cheerleader was on site every day. We don't see that often. She somehow made time to kickoff the daily meeting and joined us for lunch each day and was exceptional. Its easy to see why this affiliate is one of the best we've had the privilege of working with.
Next -- the affiliate team (in no particular order) was great.
Sami, the Volunteer Coordinator communicated with us early on and sent everyone a welcome packet. And got our T-Shirt sizes so we were ready to roll first thing on Monday morning.
Caroline, the 'Rock the Block' project coordinator (she has other roles in the affiliate I'm sure) was the perfect person to be in charge. She was tireless in getting us prepared from the start. We had tables set up for each volunteer organization and CAV team each day so they knew where begin.
After the initial welcoming and announcements, we had a brief description of the day's goals and work. Next we had a safety brief, and headed out to our house which were all within walking distance.
Each site had the equipment (ladders, paint, drop clothes, fencing etc) on site as well as a notebook of information for the house/project leader. It took a few minutes to divide of the workforce at each project and determine who was going to work on.
Some examples included: painting the garage, digging up weeds and replenishing the flower bed, scrape the brick work, removing (demo) the old garage door or fencing), getting on the post hole diggers etc. There was a lot to do.
Ron was the man. He was the Construction Supervisor for us and went to each site to make sure everyone got on track early and then he revisited each home to keep the plates spinning all day long. And then he worked on and off at the hardest site each day to do the difficult stuff. Some of that included putting up the scaffolding, showing us how to set a true string line for the fencing and getting everything plumbed.
Shawn was a ball of energy and we got to work with him one day on the job that required scraping and painting on the scaffolding and ladders around the house. He spent the day making sure everyone had what they needed and also hustled all day long. He was fun to work with and is a real asset to the construction team.
Julie is brand new to the HFH affiliate but got involved early and engaged with our campground in problem solving an issue we had the first day with no access to the restrooms and showers. Someone at the fairgrounds inadvertently locked us out and she heard us talking about it and made a couple of calls and made sure we were taken care of before we even got back to the campground. We appreciated that kind of initiative.
The 'Rock the Block' neighborhood effort ended on Friday with a volunteer group from Home Depot walking around the seven or eight streets we were on. They knocked on doors and asked if they could mow people's lawn. No strings attached. A twenty minute nice thing to do for people that live in the area. Very nice touch. Shawn headed up that one and they had done probably 15-20 lawns before lunch time.
A very import feature of this effort was the main meeting facility where we had coffee and donuts each morning, our lunches (which were provided every day) and our wrap up end-of-the day meetings.
The Williamston United Methodist Church graciously provided the facility and allowed us to 'take over' their fellowship hall the entire week. A big thanks too to their Hospitality Committee who served up all the food each day and especially Pastor Julie and here staff. They were all great. We didn't get a chance to meet everyone but everyone we did (including Brenda) were exceptional.
Here are a few photos from the week:
Daily morning registration and meeting at the Williamston UMC.
Finishing the painting at the Cedar house.
A group shot and work at the new construction site.
At the end of the week we all went out to dinner which was a memorable event.
It was fun, we all got a lot done for the neighborhood and met some great folks. Pam and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
That's all for now on the Roadrunner Chronicles. Thanks for joining us.
It was a new experience for all of us. Many times we work as a single volunteer unit on one or two homes. This time, the affiliate had us merry up with new groups of volunteers who came out each day to work on the neighborhood projects.
It was a fairly large effort and Pam and I were very impressed. The affiliate has a great group of leaders who organized and participated each day. They marshalled the efforts of a lot of people on all the projects and got us swimming in the same direction for a productive and successful week.
These things don't happen without a great planning and execution.
Kudos to the affiliate for pulling it off well.
It all starts from the top. Vickie - the Executive Director and lead cheerleader was on site every day. We don't see that often. She somehow made time to kickoff the daily meeting and joined us for lunch each day and was exceptional. Its easy to see why this affiliate is one of the best we've had the privilege of working with.
Next -- the affiliate team (in no particular order) was great.
Sami, the Volunteer Coordinator communicated with us early on and sent everyone a welcome packet. And got our T-Shirt sizes so we were ready to roll first thing on Monday morning.
Caroline, the 'Rock the Block' project coordinator (she has other roles in the affiliate I'm sure) was the perfect person to be in charge. She was tireless in getting us prepared from the start. We had tables set up for each volunteer organization and CAV team each day so they knew where begin.
After the initial welcoming and announcements, we had a brief description of the day's goals and work. Next we had a safety brief, and headed out to our house which were all within walking distance.
Each site had the equipment (ladders, paint, drop clothes, fencing etc) on site as well as a notebook of information for the house/project leader. It took a few minutes to divide of the workforce at each project and determine who was going to work on.
Some examples included: painting the garage, digging up weeds and replenishing the flower bed, scrape the brick work, removing (demo) the old garage door or fencing), getting on the post hole diggers etc. There was a lot to do.
Ron was the man. He was the Construction Supervisor for us and went to each site to make sure everyone got on track early and then he revisited each home to keep the plates spinning all day long. And then he worked on and off at the hardest site each day to do the difficult stuff. Some of that included putting up the scaffolding, showing us how to set a true string line for the fencing and getting everything plumbed.
Shawn was a ball of energy and we got to work with him one day on the job that required scraping and painting on the scaffolding and ladders around the house. He spent the day making sure everyone had what they needed and also hustled all day long. He was fun to work with and is a real asset to the construction team.
Julie is brand new to the HFH affiliate but got involved early and engaged with our campground in problem solving an issue we had the first day with no access to the restrooms and showers. Someone at the fairgrounds inadvertently locked us out and she heard us talking about it and made a couple of calls and made sure we were taken care of before we even got back to the campground. We appreciated that kind of initiative.
The 'Rock the Block' neighborhood effort ended on Friday with a volunteer group from Home Depot walking around the seven or eight streets we were on. They knocked on doors and asked if they could mow people's lawn. No strings attached. A twenty minute nice thing to do for people that live in the area. Very nice touch. Shawn headed up that one and they had done probably 15-20 lawns before lunch time.
A very import feature of this effort was the main meeting facility where we had coffee and donuts each morning, our lunches (which were provided every day) and our wrap up end-of-the day meetings.
The Williamston United Methodist Church graciously provided the facility and allowed us to 'take over' their fellowship hall the entire week. A big thanks too to their Hospitality Committee who served up all the food each day and especially Pastor Julie and here staff. They were all great. We didn't get a chance to meet everyone but everyone we did (including Brenda) were exceptional.
Here are a few photos from the week:
Daily morning registration and meeting at the Williamston UMC.
Working on the garage doors, siding and new door installation on Leasia St.
The owners at the Putnam House and Ron
Work on the Putnam house and garage
Work at the White house on the fence.
It was fun, we all got a lot done for the neighborhood and met some great folks. Pam and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
That's all for now on the Roadrunner Chronicles. Thanks for joining us.
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
Habitat for Humanity Built in East Lansing Area
Yesterday was the second day on our Care-A-Vanner build with the Capitol Region (East Lansing and Williamston) area Habitat for Humanity affilliate.
We have 10 Care-A-Vanners on site and we were joining another four groups of volunteers to work on two projects on older homes as well as a new construction effort. Here is a look at some of the work we were involved with:
Joel and Teri worked on this two day project with local volunteer Tom. They removed the front face of the garage which had lots of wood rot and damaged studs. They replaced the studs, trimmed out a new door frame, rebuilt the garages doors, installed the new door and returned the garage to its former glory.
Here Ron (one awesome local lead assistant construction supervisor) is discussing progress and the work with the home owners.
Meanwhile we had a couple of CAV teams over at the new construction site framing and raising some walls.
Vic and Susan along with granddaughter Chloe and friend Addy were on site as well as Terry and Dee who assisted local volunteer lead Denver on the new house.
Not sure exactly how old it really is but they talked about pictures of it in the 1936 newspaper.
We are part of teams that are working on scraping and/or power washing the entire house and garage and then repainting the brickwork on the house and all of the garage.
The back side of the house was coming along nicely. We found that two coats of paint is needed and it was starting to look pretty good in places.
Meanwhile the garage was a little different story. We got two coats on the front of the garage and almost all of the rest of it had one coat of paint. A lot of work had been done on this house and garage on the first day.
It was a lot of old fashion elbow grease with a wire brush.
It was another great day on the job.
We have 10 Care-A-Vanners on site and we were joining another four groups of volunteers to work on two projects on older homes as well as a new construction effort. Here is a look at some of the work we were involved with:
Here Ron (one awesome local lead assistant construction supervisor) is discussing progress and the work with the home owners.
Meanwhile we had a couple of CAV teams over at the new construction site framing and raising some walls.
Pam and I joined local volunteer David and were involved three groups of folks from area companies and churches who painted this old house.
Dave was nice enough to help us grab a momento of our time at this house.
We are so impressed with the leadership here on the build. They have really organized each projects so well! They have materials on site for us and have really thought through the details so the volunteers can get to work. I don't think we have lost any time waiting on tools or materials.
Plus they really know how to incorporate new volunteers into a productive work force. Very well done by the folks at the Capitol Region Habitat for Humanity affiliate. It creates a smooth flowing and enjoyable atmosphere so where people come out for a day to volunteer from their regular jobs, they can look back with a sense of accomplishment.
Thank for joining us today on the Roadunner Chronicles!
Tuesday, July 18, 2017
Rock the Block!
Pam and I are on a Habitat for Humanity Care-A-Vanner (CAV) Build with 8 other RVers. We have four rigs and are camped at the Ingham County Fairgrounds in Mason, MI which is about 11 miles from our main location for the build.
The CAVs are RVers who show up to a scheduled Habitat Build and participate along with the local volunteers. The plan for this week is to help neighborhood families with projects around their home as well as working a few days on a new build.
Habitat for Humanity has had a number of neighborhood revitalization projects in addition to building new homes. The revitalization effort here in east Lansing (Williamston MI actually) is called Rock the Block!
HFH here has engaged with 7 different homeowners to do some painting, mowing, porch and deck repair and a couple of other items. We are working alongside a couple of different volunteer groups each day to get the projects done and we also have some folks that are working on a new house that is going up on the west side of town.
We broke up into our assigned groups and had a great day of productive work and a lot of fun.
We are off to a great start. The event is very well organized and everyone on team is enjoying it.
Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!
We are off to a great start. The event is very well organized and everyone on team is enjoying it.
Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!
Monday, October 3, 2011
Roadrunner Financials - September 2011
Roadrunner Recap
We like the city RV park in Port Huron because it is right across the border from Petrolia, Ontario where our son's in-laws live. We always like to visit Marg and Bill. From there we went south to Dayton OH and the home of the excellent Air Museum. And we got to see our friend Diane.
Good News Areas We Are Under Budget
Biggest Expenses
Our biggest costs for the month were for upgrades, repairs and our SD registration for our Roadrunner and Honda.
Large One Time Cost Items
Our biggest expense for the month was for our residential refrigerator. We got a newer (pure sine wave) inverter, replace our old batteries with Life Time marine quality no maintenance ones plus all the labor to remove the old refrigerator and dispose of it. At $6706 it is worth every penny!
Monthly Average
We completely blew our averages with this month's purchases. My hope is that over the next 6 months we will adjust and be able to get it back down to around $4,000 a month.
I have often said this is more of a tracking tool and an estimate than a budget -- this month's spending proves it. That's what our spending looked like for the month. Thanks for taking a peek. Hopefully they provide help or entertainment of some sort... If you'd like a free copy of the spreadsheet I use, drop me a note and I will be glad to send it along.
Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!
We like the city RV park in Port Huron because it is right across the border from Petrolia, Ontario where our son's in-laws live. We always like to visit Marg and Bill. From there we went south to Dayton OH and the home of the excellent Air Museum. And we got to see our friend Diane.
- Port Huron Township RV Park, Port Huron MI
- Bass Lake Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton OH
- Allegro Campground, Red Bay AL
- Roadrunner RV Resort and Campground, Maynardville TN
Here's an interactive map that shows where we traveled. You can click on the letters and it will tell you the location.
During the month you can see we drove about 1130 miles in the Roadrunner making our way from the Detroit area, to Dayton OH and then on to Maynardville TN.
During the month you can see we drove about 1130 miles in the Roadrunner making our way from the Detroit area, to Dayton OH and then on to Maynardville TN.
Good News Areas We Are Under Budget
Biggest Expenses
Our biggest costs for the month were for upgrades, repairs and our SD registration for our Roadrunner and Honda.
Large One Time Cost Items
Our biggest expense for the month was for our residential refrigerator. We got a newer (pure sine wave) inverter, replace our old batteries with Life Time marine quality no maintenance ones plus all the labor to remove the old refrigerator and dispose of it. At $6706 it is worth every penny!
Monthly Average
We completely blew our averages with this month's purchases. My hope is that over the next 6 months we will adjust and be able to get it back down to around $4,000 a month.
I have often said this is more of a tracking tool and an estimate than a budget -- this month's spending proves it. That's what our spending looked like for the month. Thanks for taking a peek. Hopefully they provide help or entertainment of some sort... If you'd like a free copy of the spreadsheet I use, drop me a note and I will be glad to send it along.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Roadrunner Financials - August 2011
Roadrunner Recap
In August we made our way from Grand Forks ND to the Detroit MI border town of Port Huron. We left Grand Forks after a few days and went to a Care-A-Vanner Habitat for Humanity build in Brookings SD for two weeks.
Then we saw friends in both Sioux Falls SD and Council Bluffs IA (near Omaha NE).
We did a good job with things this month. Although we put some miles on the Roadrunner, we were still under our budget which is always nice.
Good News Areas We Are Under Budget
RV Maintenance, Campgrounds and One Time Costs were those places where we saved the most.
Biggest Expenses
We replaced our grill for a Weber grill which cost $148. We also both got work boots which cost $265 for both.
Large One Time Cost Items
Our iPad cost us $918.
Monthly Average
We were a little over this money but we went crazy and spent money on some big ticket items. Not that we didn't want them or need them -- but those four things accounted for our biggest expenses.
That's what our spending looked like for the month. Thanks for taking a peek. Hopefully they provide help or entertainment of some sort... If you'd like a free copy of the spreadsheet I use, drop me a note and I will be glad to send it along.
Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!
In August we made our way from Grand Forks ND to the Detroit MI border town of Port Huron. We left Grand Forks after a few days and went to a Care-A-Vanner Habitat for Humanity build in Brookings SD for two weeks.
Then we saw friends in both Sioux Falls SD and Council Bluffs IA (near Omaha NE).
- Grand Forks AFB ND
- Larson Mfg Parking Lot, Brookings SD
- WH Lyons Empire Fairgrounds, Sioux Falls SD
- Horseshoe Casino, Council Bluffs IA
- Port Huron City Campground MI
Here's an interactive map that shows where we traveled. You can click on the letters and it will tell you the location.
Good News Areas We Are Under Budget
RV Maintenance, Campgrounds and One Time Costs were those places where we saved the most.
Biggest Expenses
We replaced our grill for a Weber grill which cost $148. We also both got work boots which cost $265 for both.
Large One Time Cost Items
Our iPad cost us $918.
Monthly Average
We were a little over this money but we went crazy and spent money on some big ticket items. Not that we didn't want them or need them -- but those four things accounted for our biggest expenses.
That's what our spending looked like for the month. Thanks for taking a peek. Hopefully they provide help or entertainment of some sort... If you'd like a free copy of the spreadsheet I use, drop me a note and I will be glad to send it along.
Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!
Friday, July 9, 2010
Roadrunner Financials - June 2010
Roadrunner Recap
We are still reeling at the lost of Meghan and at Haas Lake. We spent the entire month of May and June here. She died the end of April and we are here to figure out how we can help Adam and decide where we will be heading next. It looks like we will be staying in Canada and attending Meghan's brother's wedding in Sarnia in August.
Good News Areas We Are Under Budget
We were under budget in diesel fuel and RV maintenance.
Biggest Expenses
Our biggest expenses were in the area of campgrounds, yet we were still under budget.
Large 1 Time Cost Items
Our largest one time cost item was for our own entertainment - we bought a Wii system! We get to go bowling, play tennis etc. Also, we got the Wii Fit disc which goes through some great balance and fit
Monthly Average
We were pleasantly surprised to see that we were $302 under budget. Since this is our first month of year 2, we don't have much of an average yet. When compared to our monthly average during Year 1 ($4,029) - we were about $500 under what we have been running during the last year.
That is a look at our finances. Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles! Thanks for joining us. Until next time...
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Getting Ready
We spend a good part of the day getting ready to break camp and head north on Friday AM. That meant cleaning things and packing up.
The biggest job I tackled all day was to wash our Honda, Kelly's Solara, and Adam's Pathfinder. I also put a coat of The Solution on them so they are cleaned up and ready to go.
We will tow the Honda; Kelly will leave her car in near Detroit with Rod and Lisa; and Adam will drive the Pathfinder.
I was finished with the hoses so I separated them, wound them tightly and repacked them in the crate and stowed them back in the basement.
It was pretty convenient to have them hanging on the post for the last three months right next to the water spigot.
The grill needed a good scrub before I put it away so I did that too.
I am anxious to see how our new bike rack works. I hope they get more protection since they are right near the back of the roadrunner now.
I mounted them and put the protective bike bag over them, and then checked the other basement compartments to see if I had most everything put away snugly.
I am getting there...
Next, we had dinner outside by the campfire and topped it off with smorz.
It was another beautiful evening on the lake.
That wrapped it up for us on the Roadrunner Chronicles. Thanks again for viewing!
The biggest job I tackled all day was to wash our Honda, Kelly's Solara, and Adam's Pathfinder. I also put a coat of The Solution on them so they are cleaned up and ready to go.
I was finished with the hoses so I separated them, wound them tightly and repacked them in the crate and stowed them back in the basement.
The grill needed a good scrub before I put it away so I did that too.
Next, we had dinner outside by the campfire and topped it off with smorz.
That wrapped it up for us on the Roadrunner Chronicles. Thanks again for viewing!
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