Hi-Ho Hi-Ho, over the mountains we go....

I don't know for sure, but I think the reason we ended up driving over so many mountains in New York and then into Pennsylvania is because Randy "needed" to take pics of the Buffalo Bills stadium. Heading that direction changed our route through our GPS by a lot. Oh, and in case anyone is wondering, yes, driving to take pictures of an NFL stadium on opening day, does increase your drive time, no way around it.

The scenery that we were able to enjoy was amazing! It was so beautiful. I tried to take a few pictures so that everyone could see what we saw. I don't know how they turned out, but hopefully they are good enough. This drive was one of out prettiest. I definitely could handle seeing that everyday.
We made it to the Hershey preserve before dark. There is a very large RV show in Hershey that is going on while we are here. This has made it hard for us to extend our stay. They are expecting to be at full capacity a few days after we our arrival.

Niagara Falls- More than a great view

Niagara Falls is one of the Seven Forgotten Natural Wonders of the World and one of the Top 10 Natural Wonders of the World. For us to get to see the Falls was a glorious and mesmerizing moment. We did have a funny moment when Landon sees a squirrel and gets excited and wants us to take a picture. We got a little laugh out of that since we could see the mist rising up over the railing and hear the beginning of the roar of the falls. I am sure that we were all full of anticipation over what we were about to see. When we peaked over the railing we saw mist rising high from the falls, water crashing to rocks below, water rushing and swirling below, and lots of people there to see the same thing we were (a lot were visitors from other countries). It was really awe-inspiring. We looked around the visitor center and found where to buy tickets for us to ride on the Maid of the Mist. To get to the Maid of the Mist you have to pay to go onto the observatory (kinda tricky). Randy got some really neat pictures from up there but I wasn't the most comfortable. If you walk out on it, to the edge, you end up being suspended out over the water and rocks, more than 200 feet. When you are ready, you ride down an elevator to the bottom. There you get your poncho and get in line for your boat ride. It was quite amazing to be on the boat, feeling the spray of the waters and hearing the massive rush as the waters went over and collided with the water and rocks below. Randy took a little video with the camera so you can hear the sound of the water. If you can, click on it and listen and watch. I think it is about 2 minutes long. (Our digital camera can only take videos that around 2 or maybe 3 minutes long)
We went onto Goat Island (I believe that is the name). You cross a couple of bridges and can go out to an island. There is an area where you can stand over Bridal Veil Falls. The area is really beautiful up there. I wasn't expecting it to be so breathtaking. I am so glad that we took a little detour and made it up there.
The couple that helped teach us pickleball invited the girls over to make a bead project, well, the lady, not really the man. The boys ended up making a necklace too. She sat there and helped them pick out the beads and taught them how to make a beaded necklace. It was great. The kids had a great time. She also gave the girls stuff to make a charm bracelet and let the boys take fossilized shark's teeth. She made the kids day and they all had the biggest smiles ever on their faces. Barb, if you happen to read this, thank you so much!
Well, we are off to Pennsylvania now. I hope to be updating the blog again soon!

New York, land of vineyards

We managed to make it to New York without an incident. We are getting much better at packing up and leaving. Our first time to pack up and leave took most of a day, now we are down to about 5 hours total. Western New York is beautiful. The countryside is quite picturesque. Farms, old houses, vineyards, fields of crops, and hills, or mountains to us Texans. I had no idea that New York state had such a pretty side over on the western part of the state. And to think we almost missed seeing it. Randy found out that we were just 2 1/2 hours away from Niagara Falls from our current campground in Ohio, so we made reservations through our RPI membership to stay at Niagara's Lazy Lakes. We didn't make record time, although I think record time won't happen for a while, maybe never while we are pulling the camper. The kids are all filled with excitement to see the falls, and to be honest, so are mommy and daddy. I never really thought I would actually make it up here. While we were at 1st Baptist of Jefferson Ohio, they had a few backgrounds on their projector screen. One of them was a picture of one of the falls. Randy leaned over and whispered to the boys that we were going to see the falls in a few days and the looks on their faces was priceless. They are quite excited about the prospect of seeing such a large waterfall. I can't wait to see what their response is really like.
Oh, and the couple who did most of our pickleball teaching are here at this campground too. They say that you are often running into people you meet at other preserves.
I will post more later- it seems most of blogging is done going down the road, the internet is usually pretty fast and I don't have to fight anyone for the computer. :-)

OHIO 1st Baptist Church of Jefferson

We went to church both Sundays in Ohio. One Sunday was a church sort of in the middle of nowhere. By the time the preacher was done, we weren't quite sure what he believed. So, the next Sunday we decided to try another church that was advertising in the family center. This one was 1st Baptist of Jefferson, Ohio. We went to Sunday School and it was so nice. The kids really enjoyed it (last Sunday, during church, the kids watched Hannah Montana). They enjoyed being with kids and learning from great teachers. Randy and I also enjoyed our class. We then went into the sanctuary and learned that they also had a kids class available during the service if the kids wanted to go. The people, the church, they were so friendly and welcoming. Not only did we get some excellent teaching, we were also surrounded by people who were so kind. Pastor Gary had a great lesson on time and our days.
We were invited to their evening services. During the summer they meet at a member's house. We asked the kids if they wanted to go and they all unanimously agreed, yes. We were a little late because there was a potluck at TT. This evening was spent singing. The kids got to see the kids they met earlier that day and play and we were able to visit with some of the adults. The singing was great. One man sounded a lot like Johnny Cash and and wrote his own songs. One guy had everyone join in on his two songs, one was Are You Happy. The kids loved that one but the second on, the kids sang and sang days later. It was a take on The 12 Days of Christmas- this was The 12 Days of Summer. He said he needed volunteers and walked right over to us and gave us a small piece of paper. It said, 12 Campers Camping. We felt it fit us perfect.
We visited with the people when the singing was over. They were some of the nicest people we have ever met. They reminded us of the members of our home churches (TX and WI). When we were about to leave, they prayed for us. We are so thankful that we went to 1st Baptist of Jefferson.
If we were looking for a home church in the area, we would definitely be looking there. If you are ever in the area, drop by and tell them we said hi!

OHIO

We stayed at a campground called Kenisee Lakes in Ohio. We managed to get a good system going there. We would have breakfast and get the dishes washed by 10 am (that may not sound like a feat, but believe me, it is). I would drive Randy up to the family center where he would work. The internet was faster than what we could get on the aircard, so he needed to be up there to get decent internet. I would head back and then the kids would start school. At some point I would get lunch started. We would all load up and head back up to the family center and eat lunch with Randy. That was around 1:30-2:00. We found out that if you want to meet people, this is the place to do it. We met so many interesting people up there, were able to share what we were doing and our faith in Jesus. There were so many nice people there. I am so thankful Randy had to go up there and work. The kids loved it there too. They played games and puzzles, got to fish and go out in rowboats, and we all learned how to play pickleball. These "older people" sure know how to play pickleball. I said that I need to find some younger people to play with, maybe they won't be so good.
We also found out what it was like to be pinching pennies while OTR. That was a bit of struggle but also a test of our faith. Are we willing to go to the end, not give up when things get tough? Are we willing to do what He has called us to do? Or are we going to bail out?
We are still keeping-on, keeping on, putting our faith, trust and hope in Jesus Christ.
We have a few pics of Ohio but we didn't do much outside of the campground. One, because of lack of funds and two, there wasn't much to do. Ohio gave us a chance to stay put for two weeks, meet a few wonderful fulltimers, spend time as a family and see where our faith really was.

Life at the speed of where

As in, where do the days go? Life seems to be moving at fast forward speed for us. I will make this one short because I have Ohio to blog about but I didn't want to leave out my final post about Michigan.
Have you ever been going in a direction that you knew was the direction that you should be going, the one that God wants you to go. But, at some point, a little doubt creeps in. Well, it was starting to happen to me. Not that it should have at all. I guess, a little (or a lot) of my flesh creeping in. One night, not too long before we were to leave, a man stopped by our site. He is a Christian who was getting started to embark on a journey similar to ours. He ended up being a huge encouragement to us. His name is Neal Smith and is a Christian singer. We chatted for a little while and God ended up using us to encourage him and vice versa.
Our stay in Bear Cave was enjoyable, fun and encouraging. We have pics coming soon. Sorry for the delay in getting those up. We need a moderately fast connection to upload those, but we haven't had that yet.
Up Next: OHIO!