Just got back from our first RV trip

We just got back from our first camping trip in the new coach. We stayed at a really nice resort in Dade City called Travelers Rest. We met up with my sister Cris and Mike and their RV Club. There were a total of 18 coaches so it was a really nice turn out. We arrived on Thursday and stayed through Sunday. The group is called the Sandpipers and is a club that is part of FMCA. FMCA stands for Family Motor Coach Association. They were a real nice group of people and Andrea and I really felt welcomed.

This was a good first time to become familiar with all of the systems that the coach has. We even managed to do a load of laundry in the
coach. Although the machine is small it will handle our everyday needs. As we travel we will find laundry facilities to take care of the bulk items. We continue to outfit the coach with items that will make us a little more comfortable while trying to weed out what we don't have to have.

We will update our plans as we firm them up. Until then.....

Miles of smiles,
Charlie, Andrea, and Angel

Here we go again - full time RVing

As much as we like it here in The Villages we just feel there is too much of this country we want to see while we have our health and of course all of our faculties. We made the decision to sell the house and all of its belongings and buy our new home on wheels. The motor coach has been named Winnie as it is a Winnebago Adventurer model 38N. With 3 slide outs she truly has all of the comforts of home including a king size bed, washer/dryer, sleeper sofa, and so on.

We have been very busy getting her ready for our travels. As is typical for me and Adrea I am sure we are packing way more then we really need, but what can I say. Perhaps as time goes on we will shed some of the things we thought we would need, but find we just don't use them. We will see how it goes.

Today we dropped off our car to get a Blue Ox base plate attached to the car so we will be able to tow it behind the coach. It makes life simpler when we stop at various points of interest as we head west.

On Thursday we will take the coach on its maiden trip to a campground in Dunellon, FL where we will be meet with my sister Cris and brother-in-law Mike to camp with their RV club. There will be about 18 motor homes in the group. We are excited to make this trip as we will really learn all of the systems on board. This is a lot more complicated then our 36' motor home we used to have.

I will update the blog as often as possible so please enjoy our travels along with us. It will be lots of fun.

Miles of smiles,
Charlie, Andrea and Angel

Ready to hit the road (again).

Well, here we go again. Tomorrow morning we hit the road for Florida. Our goal is to be on the road by 5 AM. This will be our first camping trip in almost a year. Of course this trip will not be quite as comfortable as our previous trips in that this RV is much smaller. However, it has all the things we need, and we are being optimistic that we will be comfortable. The plan is to not spend much time in the travel trailer, but to be outside enjoying the weather and outdoor activities. We are so excited to do this. The weather here in Georgia has been really lousy for over a month, and the thought of Florida sunshine is music to our ears.

The plan as it stands now is we will be spending 2 weeks at a campground near The Villages (south of Ocala). We will be leaving the travel trailer in storage at the campground and head toward Clearwater for a few days so we can see a few friends and spend a few days with my (Charlie's) sister. Then on to Ft. Lauderdale to really enjoy a few weeks of sun and fun with family and friends. More later.

Miles of smiles.

Charlie and Andrea

We have been having a blast here in LA

We are so glad that we made the trip here to LA. The weather has been perfect and the gas plentiful and from what we here less expensive then back east. I guess our timing was pretty good. We traveled with perfect weather the whole trip leaving after Gustav and ahead of Ike. Both of those hurricanes were in the path of our trek west. I guess the travel God's were on our side.

One of our goals to do here was to attend the Bill Medley (Righteous Brothers) concert on Sept. 12. This was the opening act for the season and the start of the programs that Adam as the Managing Director for the Performing Arts Center at the College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, CA has put together. Bill Medley puts on a great concert and was a great start for Adam in his new job. He has a busy season ahead that offers something for everyone so I am sure that this year will be a big success for the college. We couldn't be more proud of Adam's accomplishment.

We have been enjoying our time with Adam, Alma and Amanda. The time seems to be just flying by. This past Sunday we took a trip down to Mexico. It only takes about 4 hours to get there. Of course with numerous pit stops we need to add a little time to the trip. We drove down to Encinada for lunch and then found a condo/hotel on the ocean to spend the night. We got one heck of a deal on a three bedroom, two bath unit for $110 for all of us. The views were incredible. It was the so enjoyable to just hang out and enjoy the scenery and the sun set. We stopped for a lobster lunch in Puerto Nuevo on our way home Monday. It was fantastic.

Our plan is to leave here Sunday to start the trip home. First night will be Flagstaff, AZ and will be stopping in Santa Fe, NM on Monday for two days. We then leave on Wednesday for home. We should be back in Georgia by Oct. 4th or 5th. We sure hope the gas situation is better by then.

I am having trouble attaching pictures for some reason, but I will post some of them in the near future.

Miles of smiles.
Charlie and Andrea

Sedona and Grand Canyon Arizona

Wow to the enth degree!! These two places just blew us away. Anyone that has seen them would know what I am talking about. Those that have not had an opportunity must put them on your list of things to do. We spent two days in Sedona and two days here in Williams, AZ which is the closest town to the Grand Canyon (about 50 miles).

Williams has an interesting history in that the old Route 66 runs right through the town. Today we took a drive to Sycamore Canyon Vista that is a smaller version of the Grand Canyon. It was a real challenge to get to it in that we had to travel on a Forrest road for 17 miles. A Forrest road is quite bumpy so speeds average about 10 to 15 mph. We were the only ones that made the trip today as we saw no one on the way to the Point nor anyone on the way back. If that was not enough time on a dirt road we also took a trip up a mountain road to get to Bill Williams Mountain. The road was about as rough as one could ride on and serpentine for a full five miles. This was a real white knuckle drive going up and even worse going down. The views from the top of the mountain were spectacular so it was worth the drive.

Tomorrow we leave for LA to see Adam, Alma, and Amanda. We look forward to having some idle time for a few days (or weeks). More in a few days.

Miles of smiles.

Charlie, Andrea and Angel

LA Bound

So what has happened with the Murphy's since our last posting in April? Time goes by so fast that it is like a blur. We sold our motorhome back in early July as operating costs were getting a little out of our comfort range. We will be looking for a travel trailer at some point in time to replace the motorhome as we do miss camping and the great people we seem to always meet.

I am writing this blog in our hotel in Amarillo, Texas as we head out to California to see Andrea's son Adam, his wife Alma and baby Amanda. We left yesterday at 7:30 AM in our new SUV. We had traded our Saturn VUE SUV for a Chevy Trail Blazer as we needed to up the size and horse power to be able to tow a travel trailer. As it turns out it is a good thing we upgraded as we have the car packed to the rafters. This is how the Clampett's would have packed if they had an SUV instead of a pickup.

We plan on taking a little side trip to Sedona, AZ tomorrow before continuing our trek to LA as this is something Andrea has wanted to do for many years. Our goal is to be in LA by the 9th or 10th. At this point we don't have a set agenda for our visit here in LA. We have some family and friends that we want to see before we start heading back to the east coast, so no real time line has been established. Perhaps a few weeks or so. I will update the BLOG as events unfold.

Miles of smiles.

Charlie & Andrea and of course Angel

Still loving our new home in Dahlonega, Ga.

We are very much enjoying our home here in Georgia. We are busy every day with either hiking, working out at the gym or doing work around the house. Our first house guests were my sister Chris and brother-in-law Mike. We had met them at an RV Rally a few weeks back (March 14) in Perry, Ga., and spent a few days with them. After the Rally they decided to come up and visit us at the house. They parked their RV in the street in front of the house and stayed with us. It was really great spending time with them.

I'm not sure if anyone is going to read this, but if anyone does I would appreciate your comments.

We are planning a few more RV trips in May and June and will post them after the trips.

Happy trails. Miles of smiles.