Houston, we have lift-off

January 28, 2012
Our first night as a true fulltiming family was spent at Colorado Lake Thousand Trails in Columbus, TX. Its about an hour outside of Houston. We were excited to be able to use our Thousand Trails membership. It was a great camping resort with many activities for us to do. We love to play mini golf.

Beckey's Cafe Pie

 After a few rounds of mini golf we headed off to check out the little town of Columbus, TX. On the campgrounds map there was a little ad for a cafe called Beckey's that claimed to have good pie. Being the pie lovers that we are, we headed there first. The ad was right! Beckey's has great pie! We tried the millionaire, pink lemonaide and the chocolate cream. Delish!!  Our bellies were filled and sweet tooth sweetened, so then it was time to check out a bit more of this cute little town. We stopped at Kay Klauber Candies and each got another little sweet treat. This little candy shop makes all their chocolatie goodies right there and had many options to choose from. We each came out with our favorites and devoured them just outside. :)

 This neat little log cabin was just across the street from Beckey's.

While walking around we came to a great bead and metal art shop. The girls and I decided to start "traveling bracelets". We bought our bracelets and first beads there. So many to choose from, but we finally narrowed it down. Pictures to come.





So we loved Beckey's Cafe pie so much that we decided to go back the next day for lunch and the again for breakfast. It was equally delicious.

We enjoyed our time at Colorado River until Feb. 3rd. We then headed to the Blue Bell Ice Cream Factory and took the wonderful tour. We learned quite a bit about the ice cream making process and were rewarded at the end  with a free scoop of ice cream. Yum!

 After devouring our yummy reward we headed out to Livingston, TX and became official fulltimers! We signed up with the mail forwarding service Escapees! I was so excited! We had done it! We were on the road and now had a way to get our mail. Our next big destination was New Orleans, LA!!

New Home and Life

Life happens so quickly. Especially when its a new way of living. Its been a couple months since I've updated and so much has happened. I'm sure it'll take me a few days to update everything, but i'll give it a try.

 After we brought our new home back to Texas, we parked in on this great piece of property for a couple months. I came across an ad on Craigslist about an RV site just outside of town (San Antonio). I called and we went out and met the owners and saw the site. We loved it right away and were able to move out there just a few days later. It was 5 acres and the owners lived there, along with having 5 RV sites that they rented out.They had 2 horses, 2 calves, about 15 dogs and just as many cats. They let the kids run around, without many restrictions. It was a great place for us to start our new adventure of living in a much smaller space. We really enjoyed our time there, but knew it was quite temporary. 

Towards the end of January we knew it was about time to start our life on the road. We had been dreaming, praying, planning, learning and preparing for almost 2 years. Everything was coming together. Doors were opening. The road was calling. Well it actually felt more like it was screaming!! When it feels like that you still have a choice. Go running in the opposite direction, sticking fingers in the ears, screaming "I'm not listening!" OR jump feet first into what ever lay ahead, knowing that you may fall flat on your face but still having the faith and determination to try. We chose option two. 

Spiffing up Tawanda to hit the road

 
 'Til next time,
Jenn

Pictures

 We celebrated Kanon's birthday a couple days early, since we would be gone to pick up the trailer on his actual birthday. He wanted Fun-da-middles cupcakes, but Aunt Tricia didn't have a cupcake pan. So we made it into a cake. It was pretty good still.

We left Corpus Christi at 6am 11/25/11, heading out on our trip to VA. We were greeted by a great sunrise a few hours later.

 Big bridge over the lake.

 "Way down yonder on the Chattahoochie"

Made it back to Texas 11/29/11, with trailer in tow.

 3200 miles, drove through 13 states in 5 days. It was a crazy trip, but so worth it!

Inside the new home

 

I am finally figuring out how to upload pictures to the blog, since I take most of my pictures on my phone. It's a definite learning process with the blog. But here is a few pictures of our new home. This is our awesome dinette that we all can actually fit at. Dad sits on a little stool at the table. Its nice to be able to eat dinner together.

 From the back of the trailer to the front.

 Our kitchen area. We have bought a wooden stove cover, that I can also put over the left side of the sink when I'm cooking to create more counter space. It actually works out really well.

 We've got two sets of bunks, so all the kids have their own bed. The girls picked out new comforter sets to go on their new beds. The boys really like the comforters they already have, so they decided not to get new ones. Eventually we'll make little curtains for each bunk, so they can close it off when they want some privacy.

 Lynne snapped this the day we bought our trailer, just before we pulled out of the Hollomans street. We are so blessed to have met them and have the opportunity to buy our new home.

Down the road a couple hours, we camped for our first night at Yogi Bears's Jellystone Park in Emporia, VA. It was almost dark when we pulled in and dark when we pulled out in the morning, but it was a nice pull through spot. We got a free glow in the dark key chain from here. I love that we'll always be able to remember where we stayed our first night.

 

Until later,

Jenn