Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all of you Mom's out there!  Mine was great.  It started with a nice long Skype session with my Mom, that's a video call for those of you who don't skype.  It was great.  Then off to a "T-Ball" game for the twin grandkids.  Had a great phone call with my daughter-in-law and my son along with the grandkids back in Tucson.  Overall, it was a great Mother's Day for me!!!

When we got back to the campground, we have snow and hail!  What's up with that!!!  Thought that weather was done, but not quite yet I guess.  Oh well, the foundation should still be starting on Wednesday!

Then I received this picture.  The ladies of SASS (Saturday Afternoon Stitchin' Sisters) took their "adopted Mom out to a nice lunch!!!  That was so special, it made a HUGE smile come to my face.  A very special Mom and very special friends!  Love you all!!!

Next Step...

We have progress!  We have a septic system almost ready for testing and inspection.  The next is beginning the foundation work on Wednesday.  It is so exciting to see things progress.

These are pictures of the Septic Tank and the Leeching Field... not real pretty now, but it is several feet of dirt, then sand, then sand and all covered by topsoil to be planted with grass.  You'll never see it when it's all done!

 Then we have a day trip for us!!!  We went to the "Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania".  It is gorgeous.  Doesn't look like the one in Arizona at all, but well worth the drive.  There are 55 steps you walk down to the best viewpoint then back up those 55 steps.  Mom, you're going to love this one!

 

Beautiful views of the Grand Canyon of PA!!!

It's started!

Finally!!! The first step has begun.  The excavation has begun.  They finished the house area today, it's all level and ready for the foundation.  Today, the digging and trenching begins for the septic system.  They expect to be done with all the excavation be end of next week and then begins the foundation work, then on to the framing and so on....

We took out the old mail box, it was in very bad shape so we got a new one, bigger too.  Larry's been working away at cutting down'd trees and creating quite a pile of firewood, we should be well stocked for the fireplace this coming winter!  Once they get everything ready for our RV hook-ups, we'll move onto the property.  Can't wait!!!  Well, I guess we will have to wait, but hopefully soon.

Our Property, a few details

OK, we have been spending a LOT of time meeting with the contractor, excavator, the township people, etc.  So, while we wait for all the paperwork and permits to be completed, we are exploring.  As you know, we found Bigfoot.

We BBQ'd at the park we are in.  One of the few days where it hasn't been rainy.  We even had a "tornado warning" for which we packed up and drove off the mountain to our Daughter's house for a few hours until it passed.  No problems when we returned, just felt a little better being at their house.

Here is a picture of one of the two creeks that run on our property.  Where the two meet, we have plans of building a gazebo for a quiet picnic area perfect for reading and just relaxing.  That's a while away, trying to get the house done first.

So, we started some clean-up.  Larry with his chainsaw...

Staking out the house.  Larry, the contractor Lance and his assistant guy, can't remember his name right now.

On our adventures we have seen a LOT of wild turkey, some deer, rabbits, squirrels, woodchucks, and none of them we got pictures of.  Today, we ran across this busy beaver and he wasn't moving very fast, so we got pictures of him.  I've never seen one in the wild before, even while in Alaska.  It was very cool.  We think he weighed about 20 pounds, he was huge.  Didn't have a tape measure to put in the picture... LOL

Jake (the dog) didn't even rouse up to see him.  He's getting way too used to this slower lifestyle back here.

We found Bigfoot!

There is a guy here, actually he is is Alma, which is about 15 miles from us, whose hobby is wood-carving with chainsaws.  He takes a simple log, some big, some small, and makes extraordinary things!  We ran across him in the process of making Bigfoot.  We may have to visit him when the house is done and see what we can get made to put on the front porch... Bigfoot would definitely keep solicitors away... LOL!!!

Our Home until the house is built...

Well, we finally made it!  We are all settled in at a beautiful campground just outside of Covington, PA.  It's about a 15 minute drive to our property and about 25 minutes to our daughter and her family.  The park actually opened up early for us, they don't usually open until mid April, but people are so nice up here.  It seems like they are as excited as we are about us moving here.

The road up to the campground which is on top of a hill is a bit steep, but worth the drive.  Here are the signs that greet you on your journey up the hill.  Hopefully you can read the signs.  They say "The Hill May Seem Steep" "But Oh How You Will Sleep" "With Nary a Care" "In Our Fresh Mountain Air" "Life Is Good At Tanglewood".

Then you arrive at the little Camp Store and entrance to the park.

Then the drive through the park to our campsite.  It is gorgeous here!  I took our dog out for a walk and spotted a group of wild turkey, about 15 of them.  Of course when I yelled back to Larry to look at them, they all scattered and simply disappeared into the woods.  They were very big but they were fast!  We've seen Canadian Geese at the little lake where you can fish and swim.  Also saw some deer tracks, but haven't seen the deer yet.  I'm sure we will probably soon.

Our Trailer is the one in the center of the picture.  It is very quiet and relaxing here.  We've spoken to the excavator, he's ready to start his digging; just waiting on final touches from the contractor then we are ready to build!  Frustrating waiting, but hopefully soon we will get started and soon move the trailer onto our property with all the hook-ups needed until the house is done.

Miss you all!!!  But I gotta admit, I am loving it here so far.  The weather is cool, a little rain shower last night, but we BBQ'd steaks and enjoyed the whole experience.  

I'll keep you posted as things start to look different at the property, hopefully soon.  Take care!

Debbie and Larry, and of course Jake too!

Our first night out of Tucson

We left Tucson on Sunday morning, March 31st and made it to Santa Rosa NM.  We drove 566 miles this first day.  This is where our daughter was born 28 years ago!!  I was so tired after the first day of riding that I forgot to take pictures, but here is a photo of the brochure from our campground.  It was nice, clean and very comfortable.

Our next day consisted of 626 miles through the rest of New Mexico, the panhandle of Texas, all of Oklahoma and we stayed at Fort Smith, Arkansas.  That was a very long day, but a fairly easy drive.  Oklahoma City has the absolute worst freeway of all that we drove the whole trip.  Very bumpy and confusing.  Here are a couple of pictures of the campground there in Fort Smith.

Day three took us from Fort Smith to Lebanon Tennessee.  We drove 532 miles that day.

From Lebanon TN, we traveled 472 miles to Lexington, VA.  What a beautiful campground!  It was the Natural Bridge State Park area.  Another uneventful day of driving.  Larry's doing all the driving, so I get to do all the navigating.  So far, we've only had to turn around twice, I think that's pretty good... LOL.  Here are the pictures of Natural Bridge park... sorry, we didn't take time to actually go see the bridge.  That type of sightseeing will be on all of our other trips back and forth as snowbirds!

The last day was much shorter, from Lexington VA to Covington PA.  Covington is between our property where we will be building and our daughter's home.  It is a great park; they actually opened early for us.  No water yet, still too cold to turn it on, but we have electricity and sewer... that's a plus.  Only a couple of days without water, so it's no biggie, we are just using out of our trailer's storage tanks.

Tomorrow I will post pictures of "Tanglewood Campground" where we will be living for a couple of months.  I have a few pics, but will get some good ones tomorrow... so you'll have to wait until then to see them.

Thanks to everyone for being so concerned about our travels, we're doing great!