Yep, we're back home!

I've had a couple people point out that I never finished my blog for this trip. Sorry about that! Anyway, we got home last week and spent a few days cleaning out the RV and getting it ready for the next trip. I did about 400 loads of laundry - all the linens, blankets, etc - and Dave tackled the vaccuuming - and with three pets in the motor home for four months, that was a BIG job. We are not TOTAL pigs - we DO vaccuum on the road - but we do a DEEP clean when we get back - and there is pet hair in every teensy little nook and cranny. But we love our pets and couldn't imagine traveling without their companionship. Anyway - we came home to shades of brown and gray - that's what you get in early April and we've made a big decision about next year. We're going to try to stay on the road until the end of April rather than the end of March. We plan to spend the month of April moving north through Georgia or Alabama and up into Tennessee. Since it was early spring when we went through this year, it would be full spring one month later. (We watched the Masters Tournament in Augusta and it sure looked like beautiful weather down there!!!!) We'll probably look for Corps of Engineer parks to stay in for the majority of April. For any of you who are thinking about doing some traveling, and if you like campgrounds, the Corps of Engineer parks are wonderful! They're always right on the water, since they are typically built on the reservoirs behind Corps of Engineer dams on major rivers. And, what's really cool for us "old folks" is that once you hit 62 you can get a senior pass that will save you 50% of your camping fees - so that means you can normally camp for $10 or so per night. So the way we look at it, for an extra $300 or so, we can stay on the road for an extra month - groceries are groceries and the route home will require the same amount of gas either way, so it's really just the extra camping fees. So - we're going to do it! Anyway, in spite of how much we love our trips, it's always nice to get back home to our friends and family. We saw my mother last week, which was really nice, and I'm heading down to see Brenda and her family in a couple weeks, which I can't WAIT for! And I'm back working at Kerkstra - it was so nice to see everyone there and I'm so lucky to have had the opportunity to work for them on the road and then come home and continue to do some work for them - what a blessing! So life continues to be good - and we're already looking forward to getting back on the road for the Indy 500 at the end of May. And for all of you who followed my blog and sent me so many nice emails, thank you and I'll send you all a link next year for our 7th trip! Love, Gail and Dave