Remember that when you leave this Earth, you can take with you nothing that you have received, only what you have given, a full heart enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice and courage. -St. Francis of Assisi

Monday, January 31, 2011

Attitude Adjustment

Ok, I am not a negative person, I usually don't worry about things. I have always been good at coming up with solutions and making adjustments to whatever comes my way.

When I think about some of my recent blogs, I feel like I have been whining and worrying. I think the weather has made me impatient for the changes that I am making.
I wanted something to blame when things aren't moving along fast enough.


  As long as I continue to work towards my goal,
 I need to let things fall into place and happen on their own time.

Normally I don't watch much TV, in fact I think it's been off for about two weeks, until today. I usually just have the radio on all day long.  Now I'm watching all of the hype about the weather. Is it better for them to tell us ahead of time, or is it better to just let it happen?

I have a lot to be thankful for,
so I am going back to being grateful for what I have.

The truth is that most of the things
you'll end up worrying about
will work themselves out
regardless of how much you worry.



Sunday, January 30, 2011

Please don't snow....

The weatherman is predicting

a "historical" weather event

Here's to hoping that the weather pattern shifts before it reaches us.

I should have left when I had the chance!!!
This is definitely the last winter I spend in the Midwest.
2 to 4 inches of snow on Monday
and 7 to 13 inches of snow
Tuesday evening into Wednesday morning
and 50 mph winds

I hope you are staying warm and dry
wherever you are

Stay tuned for details:

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Rocky Mountain Sky

WANTED:
Blue Skies & Sunshine

Today......... C Ab i     F e Ve R
         Need to get out of cold, damp, cloudy  Illinois



                                                             




Counting down the days
until I can get back to Colorado

Friday, January 28, 2011

I've always wanted to..........

buy an old barn
and maybe 2 or 5 acres
just enough to have flower and vege' gardens
and maybe a few fruit & nut trees

Not a barn full of animals
I've always been a wanderer,
and would have to hire someone to care for them.

maybe some barn cats
and a few chickens

Not an old farmhouse,
I could build a small apartment in the barn loft.
A small home and a big yard
is what I prefer.

I'm hoping to find this while I am traveling around the country.
I could add some RV hookups and use it as a home base.
I'm not sure where I belong, where to call home
and hope that a piece of land will find me 
while I am on the road.

Thanks to my new followers
just me thinking out loud here.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Words to live by

Ten Commandments for Daily Living

Take More Risks

Listen to Your Dreams

Take Time Out

Simplify

Say NO to the Conformity Monster

Say YES to Fuzzy Boundaries

Trust Your Gut

Honor Your Goals

Play Often

Dance
**********************************
Live Your Life Out Loud!!!

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Another Journal

Sorting and cleaning,
Finding memories and wondering
why do I have all of this stuff
and what am I gonna do with all of it.

Grandpa Vic & Grandma Mary 1949

Found another journal of a trip that my Grandma Mary took:
There is no one to ask about these trips, from the mention of my Grandpa and friends, I'm assuming there were 4 on this trip to Florida and back.
I did not find a record of expenses for this trip.

9/23/1950   Left Chgo at noon got to Carbondale about 7 P.M. it was so cold we nearly froze had dinner about 8 P.M. at a very nice restaurant
9/24   got up at 6 a.m. went to church 7 o'clock mass got out at 8:15 had breakfast, left there at 9 a.m. got to Memphis 1:30 P.M. had dinner at Schwerin & went sightseeing for a few hours saw the new bridge over Memphis & Arkansas, also where they are making the River over   ???
9/25   Left Memphis at 8 a.m. had lunch in Vicksburg, Miss.   Tenn & Miss along Sugar Cane and rice plantations & saw some beautiful evergreen & Palm trees got to New Orleans in early P.M. got a nice motel & cooked our supper, we went downtown and visited a real Old St. Louis French Cemetery & St. Louis Cathedral one of the oldest in the country then we toured some of the French Markets
9/27   Continued on our tour of the French Quarters, took a walk through Maisons Dept. Store, had lunch at a very old French restaurant - Arnands, then Laura and I went in a souvenier shop & I bought salt & pepper shakers for Rita (my mom), came home and dressed went to Antoines for dinner
9/28   Saw Pontchartain Lake. Had lunch in Pensacola, Fla. drove thru the Mobile Tunnel. Spend the night in Tallahasse the Capital of Fla. nothing of interest there just the capital bldg. & a University.
9/29   had lunch in St. Petersburg saw Webb City, saw the fountain of youth, a square that looks like a park beautiful palm trees & flowers it is mostly occupied with old people of the town & all the business places have benches outside their stores where you can sit & rest, left there and drove around Tampa Bay a beautiful drive all the way to Sarasota, had double cottages there for the night with kitchen, bedroom & shower and a very large porch.
9/30   Left for Miami stopped at Ft. Myers & saw Edisons old place a beautiful sight, then we drove about 100 miles thru the Everglades a beautiful scenery, the only occupants along here is Indian Reservations, got to Miami in the afternoon
10/1   We went to 9 o'clock mass Little Flower Parish then went swimming in the afternoon we went sight seeing and visited Laura's sister-in-law
10/2   We drove to Key West went swimming in the Ocean had lunch at a Spanish American Restaurant, stopped & fished in the Ocean on our way back caught a dozen fish
10/3   went for a boat ride all around the Bay boat named 7 Seas, saw the fishermen come in with their catch which wasn't very good.
10/4   Drove in to see Laura's sister-in-law took her to rent herself an apt. had lunch at Byrons went to Crandon Park and had a picnic supper and swimming in the ocean.
10/5   Drove John & Laura to Aunts, we went sight seeing & had luch in Miami Beach
10/6   We went downtown in Miami went shopping and in the afternoon we went swimming 
10/7   We went to Palm Beach and West Palm beach drove along by the Ocean for miles, came to a city called Juniper, bathed in the Ocean near Juno by the Sea we all got sunburned & we picked about a bushel of sea shells along the shore
10/8   We went to church stayed around the house all day, we were too burned to go swimming again
10/9   Left Miami went to see the singing tower the big trees,Cyprus  Daytona Beach, Marine Studios saw sharks there at the ocean spend the night in St. Augustine the oldest city in the states.
10/10   saw fountain of youth the oldest school oldest buldings slave markets & fort right on the Ocean. That day we left for the Smoky Mts. went thru Jacksonville, Fla. had luch at Way Cross, Ga
 Vic (my grandpa) lost his hat. Stopped at Dublin, Ga. stopped overnite at Uncle Remos Cabins
10/11   Had breakfast at Clayton, Ga. Lunch at Bryson City, N.C. rented a cottage there for 2 nights visited Cherokee Indian Reservation had lunch there. Went to New Found Gap  about 6000 ft. abouve sea level also Indian Gap went to the highest pint in Tenn. the new Clingman Dome, then back to our cabin, had dinner
10/12   stopped at Gatlingsburg, Marysville,  drove for miles along the Calderwood Lake and visited Fontana Village and Fontana Dam and had dinner at Robbinville, N.C. & drove 3 hours in the dark, saw one bear, drove back and spend the night at Bryson City
10/13   next a.m. left and spend the night at Richmond, Ky,
10/14   left Richmond went thru Lexington, Covington, Ky. & Cincinnati then Indianapolis spend the night in Frankfort, Ind then Home.

I'm typing these journals as they are written, she wrote her notes in small spiral notebooks.

Hmmm....... I also have a drawer full of small spiral notebooks that I wrote in on trips with my husband. I would write down the time we left, and keep track of the mileage, cost of fuel and the names of places we ate at and visited and also info about the cabins or motels we stayed in. We stayed in campgrounds, if they had cabins. We did not travel by RV.  We owned a 32' travel trailer in the 90's, but it was parked at a campground and never towed.  It was a summer "cottage". After our daughter graduated from High School, we sold the trailer and started taking road trips. We mostly went south and west.  In 2008 he wanted to go to Arlington National Cemetery so we headed east. We also did one road trip to Florida for Christmas in 2001 when our daughter lived there.  So, I still have a lot of states to visit.

Do you keep track of things in a notebook, or do you just type as you remember it into your blogs/journal?

Enjoy your day, Teri


Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Gas or Diesel

The RV I am considering is diesel, and I'd like your thoughts on which you prefer.

I'm considering a 2007 Winnebago Itasca Navion 23H. Dodge Sprinter 2.7L Mercedes.
I have seen several of these for sale, model year 2006-2009, they changed the floorplans each year and the engine changed to 3.0L----- is that better than the 2.7?

I think the Navion is supposed to be of a higher quality than the Winnebago View or The Gulf Stream Vista Cruiser Mini.

Could I fit a folding bike in here???

I need something that is pretty dependable, I don't want anything real old.

I like the idea of having a jeep for running around, and figure I could add a toad later.
I don't want to go crazy adding a lot of extras........................
I am supposed to be simplyfying my life.
Solar panels would be nice, but I don't plan on doing a lot of boondocking right away.
I think I'll travel around for awhile to visit friends and family. Then in the Spring of 2012, I may do some Workamping or Volunteering, I should have hookups at those locations.

Thanks for any thoughts or ideas you have on this subject.

Enjoy your Day, Teri

Monday, January 24, 2011

Lists

I have been doing a pretty good job of clearing out the house, I'm nowhere near done, but have made some progress. Things that I don't want/need are being moved to the garage. I will be having a huge garage sale in the spring. After all of this stuff is out of the house I will begin painting and fixing things up, so that the house will be ready to sell.

HELP:   411:   assistance needed
I need some help with lists for the RV. I remember reading about a list of tools to take in the RV. There were also checklists for setting up and getting ready to leave. I did not bookmark these pages when I read them and I'm hoping that maybe someone can give me some links to these sites.

A small bedroom in my house has some built in cabinets, I am using these to hold things that I am planning to take with me in the RV. I'm hoping that by limiting what I take to these few small cabinets that I won't end up overloading the RV.

My husband had a lot of tools, and I want to make sure I keep the ones that I may need along the way. I don't want to sell or give-away a tool and then have to repurchase it.  Of course, I am not able to do any mechanical/engine work but I am able to do some repairs/maintenance and I am willing to learn how to do more.

Enjoy your day, Teri

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Footprints

Some people
come into our lives and quickly go.........
others stay for awhile.

Those who move our souls to dance
leave footprints on our hearts
and we are never, ever the same.


Saturday, January 22, 2011

Travelin' Genes

The gypsy blood comes from somewhere..............

Found some of my Grandma Marys travel journals.
I'm scanning them and passing them on to someone else in the family to keep.
    
 Mary McKeogh born Tipperary, Ireland on May 25, 1896.
Emigrated to the USA from Queenstown, Ireland
on the vessel Olympic
 arrived at the port of NY on the 18th day of Sept. 1911


September 22, 1951  Left Chicago at 8am,
drove thru Kentland, Attica, Rockville, Terre Haute, Vincennes and Evansville, Ind. Madisonville & Hopkinsville, Ky. Spend the night in a lovely cabin -Rock City Tourist Court, Hopkinsville, Ky.
9/23 Went to St. Peter & St. Pauls Church for 7 o'clock mass, had breakfast then we drove thru Clarksville & Nashville, Tenn. had lunch in Decatur, Ala. drove thru Columbia, Pulaski, Tuscaloose had dinner at Eustaw, Ala. and spend the night at a motel there
9/24 Had breakfast at Pachuta, Miss. and drove thru the Mississippi Natl Forest about 75 miles all beautiful pine trees. Got to Biloxi about noon got a lovely cottage, Rosemary Terrace between Gulfport and Biloxi. Stayed around fishing for a couple days.
9/27 Went to New Orleans had lunch at Antoines
9/28 Rented a boat at Ocean Springs and caught lots of fish and a couple Oysters stayed out 7 hours.  Nora (her sister) and I got awful sunburned.
9/29 Caught a lot of crabs right in front of our cottage then went to Biloxi shopping.
9/30 Went to 10 o'clock mass Immaculate Conception Church.
10/1 Left for Pensicola, Fla. rented a cottage at Gulf Breeze, Fla. Santa Rosa Sound went fishing, swimming every day, went to St. Michael's Church 1st Friday 8 o'clock Mass and 7 o'clock Sunday
10/7 and then a trip about 100 miles along the Gulf stopped at Silver Beach
10/9 Left Fla. stopped at Montgomery, Ala. had lunch in Auburn, Ala. and visited the Natl. Forest spend some time in Atlantic, Ga. and the night in a motel Marietta, Ga.
10/10 Stopped at Chattanooga, Tenn. went on a tour of Rock City $1.50 on Lookout Mt. drove to the top of Ski Hi Tower a hotel on Lookout Mt. then to Chickamagua Point Pk 10 cents admission had pictures taken on Umbrella Rock. had lunch back in Chattanooga, Tenn. on our way to the Smoky Mtns.

I could not find the rest of the journal to find out about the trip back home.
She recorded the cost of the motels:

9/22   Rock City Tourist Court Hopkinsville, Ky  $7.00
9/23   Hoffman's Tourist Court Eutaw, Ala.   $5.00
9/24   Rosemary Terrace Gulfport, Miss. $30.60
10/1   Gulf Breeze Cottages Gulf  Breeze, Fla.   $25.75
10/8   another night at Gulf Breeze $5.15
10/9   Marietta Motel Marietta, Ga     $7.21
10/10  Myers Court Bryson City, N.C.   $6.00
10/11  Colonial Cottages Follette, Tenn.  $6.00
10/12  Cooper Motor Sales Inc Motel Franklin, Ind. $7.00

I enjoy looking at these papers to see what she did, I found some old papers from when she came to the US from Ireland.  I also found some passports. I did not find any photos from this trip.

Do you have wandering ancestors?

Friday, January 21, 2011

The Climb

Love this song
"The Climb" by Miley Cyrus
It describes the journey I'm on right now

I can almost see it
That dream I'm dreaming

Every step I'm taking
Every move I make feels
Lost with no direction
My faith is shaking

But I gotta keep tryin
Gotta keep my head held high

Rocky Mountain National Park          October 2005
There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's about the climb

The struggles I'm facing
The chances I'm taking
Sometimes might knock me down
But no, I'm not breaking

I may not know it
But those are the moments that
I'm gonna remember most, yeah
Just gotta keep goin

And I, I got to be strong
Just keep pushin on

'Cause there's gonna be another mountain.................
Rocky Mountain National Park                 October 2005

 
Thanks to my new followers
for joining my journey
 this blog will be a travel journal
but for now it's a journal of my journey to fulltime RV'ing
and of other changes going on.


Thursday, January 20, 2011

Be Happy!


I found an interesting little book titled "BE HAPPY".
Live Happier with Yourself and Others - published in 1958

"This work is designed to show you how you can solve your problems."
      "It is based on scientific findings."

There are only 4 chapters:
Money - how to take care of it.
Love - how to meet it
Marriage - how to cope with it
Happiness - how to achieve it.

I think its strange that it is scientifically based, and how about the idea of "coping" with marriage.
It also seems that the book is directed towards men.

What makes you happy?

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Baby Steps

Today I am going to a Widow's Group Dinner at a local restaurant.
I have avoided these dinners in the past.

Through email with some of the members, I have discovered that one of the members belongs to a "Camping Club"
So I have decided to go and meet with her.

Meeting with someone with similar interests should be a good step on this journey.
Thanks for listening.

Enjoy your Day, Teri

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Quotes

Change your thoughts
and you change the world.

For success,
attitude is equally as important
as ability.

Letting go of possessions
bares the endless
possibilities of living

Climb High,
Climb Far
Your goal, the sky
Your aim, the stars

Determination
 is at the heart
of any
great achievement

Write It Down
Make It Happen
Live Your Dreams


Monday, January 17, 2011

Books

I need a 12-step program
for my BOOK addiction

What do you think? Is saving books and magazines and travel brochures and other papers an addiction?

They are heavy and I'm tired of moving them around. Is it necessary to keep them after we read them?
We can read them on the internet, or on a Kindle, or listen to them on an IPod.

It seems that I kept adding more bookshelves to the house, to keep more and more books.
I don't think I have ever read a book more than once.

I have sold some back to Amazon and take some to the library for the library book sale.
I'm trying to save money, so I have not been buying new books.
When I donate books at the library,  I check out what they have for sale. I always end up taking a few home because they only charge 50 cents for a hardcover and 25 cents for a paperback?
How could I not buy a few?

Denver Public Library

How do you keep yourself from hoarding books in the RV???

Enjoy your Day, Teri

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Sharing



Remember to be gentle with yourself and others.
We are all children of chance and none can say
why some fields will blossom while others lay brown
beneath the August sun.
Care for those around you.
Look past your differences.
Their dreams are no less than yours,
their choices no more easily made.
And give, give in any way you can,
of whatever you possess.
To give is to Love.
To withhold is to wither.
Care less for your harvest
than for how it is shared
and your life will have meaning
and your heart will have peace.
               -Kent Nerburn

****************************************************
Blogging is sharing your experiences
to help others on their journey.
I have learned alot from my fellow bloggers
Thanks!
Teri


Saturday, January 15, 2011

Scanning Memories

5/17/06 email to my family
3000 miles, two blizzards, one hail storm and a bear tried to eat my car. Anyway, we are back safe and sound, we had a great time and want to go back and see more. The weather wasn't that bad we may have had one day of bad weather, the Black Hills seems to have it's own micro climate. We drove down to somewhere in Hobo Jobo Wyoming to meet the kids for a day and a half everything is fine with them. Here are a few pics I thought you may enjoy.                  Stump..........






My husband did all of the emailing, he would joke and kid everyone, but keep them informed of our travels.  (AND HE PRINTED TOO MUCH STUFF)  I used computers all day long in my office and had no desire to use one at home. My office was less than a mile from my house, so I did not even keep a computer at home.  I sold my business in January of 2008 so that we could travel more............

We always traveled in May because I am a self-employed tax accountant and I always needed to "run away" after April 15th. We rented a cabin in the Black Hills for a week and as a Mothers Day surprise, we took a detour to Glendo, WY.  My daughter & her hubby live in Denver and we met about half way. When they went back home we drove back to the cabin in SD. I kept telling my husband - "this would be so much easier in a RV, we would not have to backtrack". We could have taken a different route home from Wyoming.

Ahhhh.... memories   trying to preserve some here on the blog

Scanning pics and papers.
Anyone have suggestions for scanning 35mm negatives and prints?

Can't take it with me and don't want to saddle my daughter with a bunch of boxes.

Enjoy your Day, Teri


Friday, January 14, 2011

Attitude

This blog and all of the wonderful feedback has motivated me to get moving.  I want my house sold and to be on the road before the next winter in Chicago.  I have spent too much time sitting around and feeling sorry for myself. I have been sorting and purging this morning. I have tons of little quotes and notes, etc. I'm going to post some of them here before throwing them away, that way I can go back and read them without having a lot of clutter.

Attitude
by Charles Swindoll

The longer I live
the more I realize
the impact of attitude on my life.
Attitude to me,
is more important than facts.
It is more important than the past,
than education, than money, than circumstances
than failures, than what other people say or do.
It is more important than appearance,
giftedness or skill.
It will make or break a company..a church..a home.
The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday
regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.
We cannot change our past...
we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certian way.
We cannot change the inevitable.
The only thing we can do is play on the string we have,
and that is our attitude....
I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me
and 90% how I react to it.
And so it is with you...
We are in charge of our attitude.

Enjoy your Day, Teri

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Family

Thank You Everyone
I woke up this morning to discover
that I had been adopted into
a big caring family.

I was so pleased and happy to discover all of the comments
and all of the followers.
It is a comfort to know that there are so
many friendly faces out there.

We are SouthSide Chicago
White Sox Territory




The snowy pics were taken
with an Olympus Camera
in Feb. 2009
I was the helper, carrying tripod and camera bag
with lenses and filters and taking notes
On sunny winter days we walked around the forest preserves

My daughter currently has his two digital cameras
My daughter Diane lives in CO
with her husband Karl
(see pic on sidebar)

She has taken some great pics with the Olympus
he also had a Sony, she is intimidated by it.

Maybe I'll give it a try while I'm on the road.
No time right now to learn how to use it.
* * * * * * * * *
What type of camera do you use?
I've seen some great pics on these blogs.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Snow Birds

I like winter scenery

But, I can't wait to
 get out of this icebox!!!
* * * * *

I wanna be a SnowBird

I've lived in the Chicago area
my entire life and am looking forward
to spending a winter
on the beach
or in the desert

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Dreams

Last night I had a strange dream
I was happy during the dream and it felt comforting
and I actually remembered the dream, which is rare
I think that the dream is a result of starting this blog
This blog is a form of therapy to help me finish grieving and to start on a new journey

The dream was Stump and me swimming around with otters
laughing and doing flips and being silly

I researched this dream and this is what I found

The otters represent the ability to 
deal easily with changing life events or emotions -the River of Life

also, the ability to swim with skill to meet the
ever changing moods & feelings
without "drowning"

The skill in seeing what is under the surface of your everyday life and mind
the ability to draw nourishment out of the hidden depths


Monday, January 10, 2011

What's in a Name

If Stump didn't agree with
something I was thinking or doing or saying
he would say
"well, maybe that's the way it is in Teri World"

He often said that I lived in my own little world
I am often quiet and a mystery to others

Everyone feels that I am very independent
and don't need anything from anyone
and although I can take care of myself
that doesn't mean I want to be alone.

I think that the RV community
 is exactly what I need

 
  So, here is to new journeys in "Teri World"
           


Sunday, January 9, 2011

Tortoise

Diane and Karl
sent me a Tortoise Totem
a pretty little piece of pink quartz

I'm hoping to have my tortoise home soon,
 and will keep this totem on the dashboard
 as a reminder of their support.

Tortoise: they represent independence,
travel, and the ability to not be tied down
or chained to one place as they carry their home
with them wherever they desire.

The Tortoise symbolizes
fortitude and perserverance.
In both Sioux and Chinese culture
it represents birth and new beginnings.
It also means longevity, protection, support, wealth and prosperity.

This is a new beginning, as this dream of traveling
 around will be a solo trip. In October 2009
I suddenly became a widow and will have to
continue on this journey by myself.
Hopefully my husband is looking over me
and will help me get through the
challenges that I am sure to face.

We had 33 great years together and
many trips over the past 10 years
but not in a camper, we drove and stayed in
cabins or motels. The best and last was our
2009 trip to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon
and then to Zion, Bryce & Arches N.P.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Today

Today is the first day of the rest of your life.

Don't put off til tomorrow
what you can do
t o d a y!!!

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * 

My GOALS for 2011

Simplify & Organize My Life

Make Healthy Choices

Sell My House

Buy a Small Motorhome

Spend a Few Months at the Beach

Produce a Steady Stream of Income



Drake Tax Software

Overnight stays in these states:

Overnight stays in these states:
It is the sandstorm that shape the stone statues of the Desert. It is the struggles of Life that form a person's character ~ Native American Proverb