Darth Vader Wins

Dave and I saw this epic aftermath of a battle a year ago while walking the neighborhood near Bethlehem Lutheran, in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, where we were parked. 

Clearly, the snowman, the reindeer and Santa did not stand a chance against the powerful light saber wielded by Darth Vader.  

Show a Little Kindness

This dear lady whom I do not know and only spoke to in passing while having morning coffee at McDonald's was so very kind to her customers. She sought out only those who were alone, sat when invited, shared a ready smile and listened.
She had an unhurried manner which was quite refreshing. It was the highlight of my day to watch this gal at work.  
It was a busy truck stop where we had boondocked the night before. I don't remember where - Oklahoma perhaps. Anyway, not everyone is able to put themselves out there, but those who can should. It makes a difference even to those who only observe.

Mouse or Pepper

About a month ago as I was setting the house up after a move, I opened the cupboard where the spices are kept and a Costco-sized container of peppercorns flew all over the place. Doesn't it look like we have a mouse infestation? So, it could have been worse. No mice.

I swept, vacuumed, and laughed.  When my son lived at home, in our stick house, air-soft pellets were the thing!  I would find them in places they had no business being. It was crazy.  


Update:
As we set up our house in every move since this event, I  still find peppercorns. It is worth a laugh. If you live in an RV, you will NEVER need a Costco-sized seasoning of any kind. 

Can you Celebrate That?

In 1969 my family moved to West Bend, Wisconsin, and this house.  I loved my neighborhood and everything carefree about being 10 years old.  Our neighbors across the road had ten kids, the family to the north also had ten kids.  Kick the can, touch football, sledding or biking; there was always a bunch of kids ready for fun. It was a happy time.
Eight years later I went off to college, my family moved and that ended my longest stretch in one home until...
May 1, 2016.  On that day Dave and I celebrated eight years of full-time life on the road with haRVey!  Had anyone ever told me I could claim being the Queen of a triple-slide trailer for more than 8 years I would have laughed. 

The Lord has a sense of humor and so here we are in what we hope is the middle of a great journey that is joyful, hard, satisfying, and right for us.  You just NEVER know where you will end up. 

National Parks

I have a National Parks Pass!! Remember the line in It's a Wonderful Life, when George Bailey says, "I've been nominated for membership in the National Geographic Society"? It is like that - being involved in something BIG.  I am a card-carrying member and part owner of all the National Parks and therefore I must visit them and see how they are doing.  
We try to visit State Parks, too, and hit the trail as often as we can and experience the wonder that is out there.  As the Ranger said when we bought our pass, "Go see stuff!" God helping us, as we ramble along, we will!
  

Yosemite

Glacier 

Joshua Tree - with no trees in the frame 

and the extras... Pacific Crest Trail

Mount Hood - not as glamorous at the top

The Welcome Center at Olympic Peninsula - NOT a through road, although, MANY maps, including our GPS, claim that it is.

The Lighthouse at Cape Hatteras, NC, 

Cuyahoga National Park in Ohio

Here is a listing of National Parks by state. 

The Man Cave!

The Man Cave. How do you build one inside a 5th wheel trailer? Room for the guys to come over and play cards? Watch the big game on the big screen? Sounds great. So, Dave worked off of this template:

Dave soon found some revisions were in order. After all, all one really needs is room for a man to stand in front of his computer while holding a guitar.



Please note the PVC pipe. 
In Dave's case it stands for:
P- personal 
V- venture 
C- creations

When recording, Dave needs to have a little more quiet and haRVey welcomes the great outdoors right inside - neighbors, their dogs, birds, trains, planes - you name it. It calls for drastic measures. 

Most men would not consider drapes as part of their man cave, but in this case pragmatism wins. They are light-weight and easily packed away, and will eventually be sandwiched with sound-proofing materials. When we add some more on the back and side windows, who knows, there may be a little less Ambient Nature in our recordings, although that is very fashionable right now.

"Dave are you there? Hello? Dave?"  He must be recording. (Dave says: "Look for the feet, Sabra!")

OH, CANADA

If I am not in Canada, nor the U.S.A - where am I?

Early May found us singing for the East District Convention of the  Lutheran Church-Canada hosted in Kitchener, Ontario.  

I enjoyed getting to know some of the people. I loved their accent, plus I noticed some interesting things I really like about Canada.

This is a bike rack. I like this.

There are no "restrooms", only washrooms.

In restaurants if you pay with a credit card this little gizmo is brought right to your table and your credit card NEVER leaves your sight. I really like this.

I can't believe it doesn't run out of water. The circled person is noted for perspective which I cleverly cut out of the photo.

Niagara Falls is more beautiful on the Canadian side.