A day in a life...

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

From Ford dealer...

Our day started with driving an hour from Delaware Water Gap (leaving the beautiful Poconos) to Goshen, NY/Healy Ford to work on TB Free and it's little battery problem.  Thanks to the wonderful guys there they replaced the alternator and sent us back on our way in the afternoon.  

to Woodstock...

Peace!  posing at the monument on the original site w/an actual attendee of Woodstock

Since we had many hours to spare we took a drive to Bethel Woods, NY (as suggested by a friend - thanks, Bill!) to see the original site of Woodstock, the most famous rock concert in history.  

to a Wal-Mart parking lot...  

What should have been a 4 hour drive from the dealer ended up 6 hours but only to find ourselves still 2 hours away from Cape Cod due to a constant torrential downpour.  So....we had no choice but to park the rig in a Wal-Mart for the night (not a word, Dwight & Mel!).  

TB Free (left) - Wal-Mart truck (right)

Now we sit with our coffee and tea blogging from the parking lot - who would have thunk it!  

Catch you on the Cape.  Happy trails!  

 

 

Living the Dream!

It's hard to believe it's been almost 2 weeks since our last post.  I know, many of you are wondering what in the world we are doing that we can't post more often.  Hey, we're busy!  We've got lots of trails in the Delaware Water Gap area to cover, lots of biking trails to cover and don't forget the Delaware River.  We've spent most of our days hiking this incredible National Recreation Area to see the many beautiful waterfalls and lush forests.  We even had the pleasure of seeing a black bear on one of our hikes on the New Jersey side.  What a rush!  Unfortunately he didn't hang around long enough for a photo shoot.  :-(

 

 

 

Dingmans Falls w/Brenda & Joe

We've also spent time on the McDade Recreational Trail on our bikes.  This isn't like the Rail Trails we are used to back home (as we quickly found out when we had to push our bikes up some pretty big hills).  Take me back to my mountain biking days!  This trail runs 31 miles along the Delaware River with great views of the river and lots of variety in the woods.

We had a great float 10 miles down the Delaware River one gorgeous day.  It was nice to see the landscape from a different perspective.  We were fortunate enough to see 4 Eagles during our float - what majestic birds.  The river was crystal clear and the perfect temp for a swim along the way as well as for a picnic waterside.  

Deer, deer and more deer!  We see deer daily, many times in our campground and even right next to our site.  We also see groups of deer every time we drive down to the trails or to the store.  They are not afraid of anyone.  We actually are now bored with them and don't even stop to take pictures (we already took more than enough!).  These guys pictured above are part of a bachelor herd of 10 that we see almost every day either lying down in the woods by the road, grazing in someone's yard or just hanging out by the road.  They are amazing!  They were a little nicer than the bear and did allow us a wonderful photo shoot. 

We truly feel we are living the dream and remind ourselves of this almost daily!  We're not taking for granted what we are doing as we know we are very fortunate to have this opportunity.  Ahhh...home sweet home! 

Til next time...happy trails! 

FAQs

1.  Where are you going next?  Tomorrow we leave for the Poconos for 2 weeks, Cape Cod for 2 weeks, southern Maine for 3 weeks (3 days will be spent in Baxter to hike in the park and climb Katahdin), NJ shore for 2 weeks and then we'll see where we end up after that.  Although, even this plan may change if we find we love an area and need more time to explore.  That's the beauty of this adventure...we can change our plans as long as we can book a campground!

2.  Is there anything you miss that you don't have with you anymore?  NO!  We love living simply.  You'd be surprised at how little you can manage with and we even have lots more than the bare necessities.  

3.  Have you killed each other yet?  Seriously, this is a question we get frequently.  I know, some have told us there is no way they could live so closely with their spouse but so far we are loving it!  Not saying we don't bump into each other and get into each others way, but we have enjoyed this time together.  We don't spend that much time inside the RV but more time in the great outdoors.
  
4.  Do you plan to sleep in a Wal-Mark parking lot?  I confess, we do.  It's a simple way of getting a quick rest on the way to a far off destination (plus...this is on Tom's bucket list!).  

5.  How long do you plan to be on this adventure?  We originally told ourselves one year but then thought why should we put a limit on it.  If in 6 months we are not enjoying it then we will settle back down.  If in 5 years things are still going great then we'll keep going!  We've heard so many stories of people intending to do this for a year and then 10-15 years later they are still "full-timers".  We'll see how it goes for us.  

If you have another question don't hesitate to send it our way.
Happy trails!   

Sky Ride at Knoebels

    

Our days...

People ask, "what have you been doing now that you're retired?"  Well, we're not truly retired as I do still work part-time and we'll get odd jobs along the way.  But here's what we've been doing recently:

Pike2Bike - if you like to bike you need to check out this trail close to Breezewood, PA.  It's an old section of the PA Turnpike turned into a bike path but now noted it's closed and "enter at your own risk".  The sign does not deter many as there were 6 cars in the lot on the Friday we ventured out.  It's a 17.1 mile round trip ride (out and back) going through 2 old tunnels.  You must have a headlamp or strong bike light as the tunnels are pitch black.  A little eeerie at first but a very unique ride.  One tunnel is 3500ft. long and the second is 6800ft. long (just over one mile so there is no seeing the other side when you enter).  On this ride we were fortunate enough to see a group of 5 coyotes and 1 deer up close.  It was also prime raspberry picking time so I had many stops along the way to fill my belly.

It's been a little too hot to bike and hike every day so we've spent lots of time poolside.  Tom finished a little project of building us a PVC drying rack which hangs on the back of our rig (ha - that's RV talk for our home).  We enjoyed the family reunion at Knoebels and also had our grandkids for a sleepover which included fishing, catching minnies, lots of pool time and of course ice cream eating!  We've spent much time over the past few weeks enjoying time with family and friends and what we are doing is finally starting to sink in as we say our goodbyes (boo hoo). 

We're wrapping up our last few days close to home and prepare to head out to the Poconos on Tuesday.  Happy trails!        

Moving on...

We know...it has been a while since our last post.  Hey - we've been busy now that we're not working!  :-)  Four days at the beach, bike riding, picking raspberries, visiting with friends & family...  

How wonderful the beach was and what timing.  We didn't plan it this way but we ended work June 30 and July 1 then celebrated our 5 year anniversary on July 5.  What a celebration of the next phase in our lives.  For those who don't already know, I surprised Tom and finally changed my name to Poremba.  It seemed very appropriate given the new life we are taking on as well as 5 years of marriage under our belts. 

So now to the moving on part.  I post this as we're sitting by the last campfire in our current campground (yes, it is 90 degrees but we just had to!).  Tomorrow we pack our home and head west for a long drive of approximately 5 miles to Thousand Trails.  It is hard to believe we have been living here since May 22 as the time has flown by.  We truly feel this is now our home (TB Free - the RV) and neither of us miss the house or all of the maintenance which goes along with home ownership.  Packing this time should be a breeze compared to packing up the Mount Gretna house!  It is going to take some trial and error to figure out what is safe in its current  place and what might go flying off the counter or table if the brakes are hit too hard. 

We'll be in the area until July 26th trying to spend as much time as possible with dear friends and family.  Saying goodbye has not been easy but we know we'll be back in this area many times as this truly is our home.  Saturday we will enjoy a Poremba-side family reunion at Knoebels Park and then our last visit to our favorite cabin outside of Hegins where we were engaged.  It will also be sad to say goodbye to this special place but know we will find many of these special places along our travels.  After that a few days in Jim Thorpe for some hiking and time with family.  Ahhh...so far this is all we had hoped for!  See you soon!