I have been very lazy about bringing this up to date so I am going to try and catch up since June 6, 2016.
 I think I told you what we were going to do but have not updated.

We had a great visit in Holland with lots of old friends and then returned to Indianapolis on Friday June 17, I think was the date.   Ally and Noah were going to leave to go to Louisville Ky for the weekend for BASKETBALL of course and we were going to keep the girls and grizzly.
Friday night we had just a busy night of taking Bella to a swim and slumber party however she didnt want to stay overnight so we pickup her up about 9 pm.   Then we proceeded to the motorhome with all three girls and the dog for Sophia's first night of sleeping in the MH.,    Everything went great and everyone slept good.
Saturday we just had a lazy morning of watching  Finding Nemo and then just played outside most of the day.    Papa made them a sprinkler system of PVC pipe to run through.,   Our second night in the MH was a little more eventful as Grizzly wanted to steal Papa's socks and gloves.   Had to get up a couple of time to get him straight. Sophia was a little stinker wanting to sleep on a couch by herself and then changed her mind but Papa made her stick to her first decision.
Sunday we went shopping for a little while at Kohls and played outside again and then Mom, Dad and Noah got home.
I was and still am having major back issues so I wasn't doing a whole lot of anything.,
Monday was just a normal day with gymnastics, basketball practice etc.
We were going to leave on Tuesday morning but had an issue with the tow car so long story short we took it to the Ford place and $600 later find out we can't tow it without dropping the drive shaft. The transfer case motor had gone bad. We finally got it back on Thursday and headed out around noon and spent the night in Charleston WV in our favorite Wal Mart.
Got home Friday afternoon after driving in all that rain which has caused major flooding in WV but we were far enough North that it didn't bother us.
Chris and Jessica had LOTS of company and a week of celebrating his 40th birthday. They included so in all the activities of eating etc.   One of the couples was from Maine and they brought wonderful fireworks so on the Saturday of the 4th weekend we had a great display.    Sunday we all collapsed and Monday we spent with Bryant and Julie and family for his 50th birthday.

Tuesday morning July 5th we left at 6:15 am and drove straight thru to Greer SC to Bill and Deb Dorris house to buy their 2011 Jeep Liberty which had been their tow car. They sold their MH and got a 5th wheel. We decided not to put anymore money into the Explorer.
On the way back at the Flying J we had a low air pressure problem and spent about 5 hours in the parking lot with someone working on the BUS,  Got that fixed and made it home on Friday. Then Larry decided there might be another problem so on Monday we went up to Burdette's house in order to get the bus to Carter Cat EARLY the next morning.   Ok as oh now the BUS is running great and should be as we have spent about $1500 dollars on it but honestly it hasn't cost us that much over the years.

Next was a trip to Tennessee to meet Ally and her three girls for a week.   Sophia and Ally stayed in a cabin in the campground and we were in MH and the girls were at a gymnastics camp.   It was fun but I was having a terrible time with the back.

Now we are home and I have had two epidurals in my back and may have some relief but not much.  Not sure what the next step is.   I have spinal stenos  and a bluging disc.

We did go to Duncansville Pa for four days to Paula and Rick Parkers to meet up with Jeff and Sharon Lawrence and Beth and Don Hickman.  Had a good time.   They were kind enough to get me a wheelchair so I could go with them on tours.  I walked some but just could not do all of it.
We went to the Flight 93 memorial, Johnstown Flood Museum and the Horseshoe Curve railroad and a museum in Altoona.

We are home now until next weekend when we go to Williamsburg with the ODC group .
Seeing Doctor again on Wednesday hopefully with some answers.


'

Back in Virginia ( for a short time) June 6, 2016

We arrived back in Virginia on April 23 and of course have been BUSY every since.

After getting settled back in the shop we started to unwind.   Jessica came over with Chole to say hello.  The girls were with their Dad so we didn't see them until Sunday and Chris is in Boston working an outage.

Virginia has been very wet this spring and it has continued to rain just about all of month of May.  Getting grass cut was almost impossible.We also got some gravel for the driveway which was really needed.  Thanks Shane.
We stayed home a couple of weeks and then went up to our friends Linda and Randy Burdette's house so that Larry could polish and wax their motorhome. He does a great job and Randy pays well.


Spent Mother's Day with Bryant, Julie, Madie and Taylor along with Jack and Billy from the SHMC group.   Had ribs and everyone was happy.
Tuesday of that week we went to Amy's for dinner and to hear Madie play and sing. She hosts open mike night for people to come and get experience.   Sharon Bowen and Sandy Fred joined us for dinner.

After going back to Louisa we started getting ready for the next trip.
We left on Monday May 23 and drove Charleston WV to our favorite Wal Mart.
On the Indy the next day. We attended Noah's graduation from 8th grade at St. Matthew Catholic School.   It was quite the ceremony.   THursday we had Sophia all day. Took her to gymnastics then lunch at Steak and Shake and did some errands.   She just loves to do things with Papa, she just lets me tag along with them.

Friday morning we left for Mason Mi to visit our friends John and Judy Switalski.   Judy is being treated for a form of stomach cancer and I just had to go to see her.   We have been friends since 1973.Their son  Jack and his daughter Beth came to visit also along with Judy and Chuck Lasater .

Sunday morning we drove on over to Adrian Mi to work the next week with Habitat. We met three couples that we had not worked with before.   I didn't get to do much as I am having severe back issues which I will address when we get back in Virginia.

Now we find ourselves moving again on Monday June 6 over to LaPeer Mi teach a two day safety class for Habitat.   We are in a nice little campground and getting ready to teach.

After this we will go to Howell to visit Barney and Laura Rogers and then on to Holland Mi for a few days before going back to Indy to keep the 3 girls for the weekend as Ally and Noah will be going to Louisville Ky for a basketball tournament.  Doug will join them there on Friday night after having been on a two week training with the Army at Ft. Bragg.

After this we are heading back to Virginia until the third week of July for a trip to Crossville Tn along with Ally and the girls to attend a week gymnastics camp.  

HEADING HOME 4-20-16

After arriving in Indy on Sunday afternoon we enjoyed a great early birthday dinner for Bella at the Olive Garden.  
Monday was another very busy day as usual with practices for Noah at baseball and basketball and the girls both had gymnastic practice. Oops forgot that Sophia had a gymnastic class that morning.
Tuesday Larry and I took Sophia to school and then did lots of errands.  Met Ally for lunch and then it started all over again with picking up kids, a baseball game for Noah and then basketball.
Wednesday morning we left heading to Charleston WV to prepare for a 2 day  teaching of a safety class for Habitat .
Thursday finds us in class all day with a great group of Habitat people.  We will finish this tomorrow and head to Virginia on Saturday.

I think we both are ready to get home.
Jessica and the girls seem to be ready for us to arrive.  For some of you that don't know we have our house leased out to a really nice couple and their kids plus an exchange student who is from Belgium living with them.   We are so thankful for great people enjoying our home and that they like for us to come back and use the shop area for a while.

REFRESHING TIMES FOR THESE OLD PEOPLE March 21, 2016 thru April 8, 2016

We left Zypherhills, Florida on Monday morning March 21 and had a very safe and no eventful day of travel to Americus, Georgia
Sharon and Jeff Lawrence were there to say hello while they are playing tourist in Andersonville and other Civil War places.
Laura and Jeff Walker from Michigan are also here and we worked with them on Tuesday finishing up projects at the Global Village which we had visited in Dec. 2015 and saw what a state of disrepair it was in.   It was refreshing to see what two teams of CAV's had done with over 2000 hours of work.
Mary and David Vanderveld are here as Mary is head of the CAV's and we worked with them on Wednesday.   David and Larry worked on some door repairing and I helped Mary fold 750 tee shirts.
Never want to see another shirt to fold.

Thursday found us on the road again to Bainbridge, Georgia to my hometown for the Easter weekend. We visited with Keith and Carolyn Newberry as we always do while there.   It decided to rain Friday thru Sunday but we still had a great time. Got to have lunch again with "aunt Florence" who is a sister to my wonderful Juanita Humphrey, whom we lost several years ago.

Monday we traveled back to Americus to help Mary and David out on Tuesday to look after their dog, Molly as David was having some medical procedures done Macon and didn';t know when they would get home.   We cleaned the motorhome and Larry worked on taxes some.

Thursday we left for Tuscalooa, Al to start another build on Monday April 4 for two weeks. We stopped in Opelika Al to have a visit with my sister in law, Mollie CLoud and be able to go to the cementery where my brother is buried.   Arrived in Hoover Al at the RV Park so we could visit for the next few days with Dick and Angela Pace.   We have been friends since 2000. Met in a rv park in Predio Key Florida.   They usually are in FLorida and we see them there but due to some illness they were unable to be there this season so we made a point to visit them.
After arriving in Hoover we also found out that Larry and Tracey Saulsgiver other rv friends had been in Opelika while we were there but did not know that.
We did a little shopping on Friday, looking for the right outfit for me to wear to our granddaughters wedding in Oct.   Angie and I seem to always have good luck with clothes for me.
Saturday we just chilled, went out for a bite and then watched basketball.
Sunday morning we moved on over to Tuscaloosa and met our other CAV, Ginger and Rick Rembold from Oregon and we are having a wonderful week.
Us old folks are tired but getting back into the grove.

Tomorrow we are going to explore downtown Tuscalooa and get back to work on Monday.
Next Saturday we are heading to Indy to see the GRANDS, who have been in Florida at Anna Maria Island all week for their spring break.   Doug, Noah and some friends drove down last Friday and Ally and the girls flew down on Sunday morning as Kate had a gymnastics state meet last Saturday. They are having a great week and heading back home soon.

Lots of Changes have taken place. Feb 7 thru March 14, 2016

This is going to be a hard post for me to write as things have changed so with Larry and me with Habitat for Humanity here in Dade City, Florida.
The Habitat Affiliate has been near and dear to our hearts since 2008 but we started to notice a few changes last year and actually had some reservations about coming down again but had already committed to December through March and thought it can't be worse than last year.LET me tell you if you have a GUT feeling about something GO WITH IT.

We as Care A Vanners have always enjoyed getting together after work and discussing the workday and sharing some snacks and along with a "Happy hour" drink if someone so desired.  Well we were told at the beginning of the the first build that we could get together but not ask people to bring a snack.   Whatever.   There were three couples that were not signed up with CAV and all they wanted to do in the afternoon was drink, play cards and stay up late and party.  There was a New Years Eve party held and it was not good.   Too much drinking, loud and obnoxious
The safety on the job site was less than what it should have been and just was not what Habitat is all about.     Larry and I tried to talk with the powers that be such as the Executive Director and got no where.   Later he came back to us and stated that we were the problem causing the tension so we decided it was in our best interest to leave.   There was one person on the job site who thinks he knows everything there is to know about building and he is dumber than a box of rocks.  However he has got people SNOWED.   He and his wife sabotaged us big time,.

Now that I have expressed my negative things I will tell you all the good things that have come out of this,

First of all we both realized how tired we both were and how much we both needed downtime.  However the day after moving to another RV Park I flew to Indianapolis to be with Ally for a week.
Arriving to 4 inches of snow was fun but we had a good week and then I came back to Florida.
Larry and I have been trained as Master Safety Trainers for Habitat and have been asked to go different places to train the Affiliates to have competent safety persons on the job site. We have two sessions scheduled so far, one in Charleston WV and another in Lapeer Mi.  We are excited about that. Also we have decided that we need a new adventure for 2017 and plan to go west.   We have already been contacted by several CAV that we have worked with before wanting to know where we are going and if they can join us.

One of my favorite sayings is  "When God shuts a door he opens a window" and he has certainly done that.

Madison Halstead our 17 year old granddaughter flew into Tampa Fl. last week to visit with us for two weeks.   We have had lots of adventures including the Strawberry Festival in Plant City Fl and tomorrow we are going to Tarpon Springs and doing a boat cruise to an island to do some shelling.
Thursday we will go to Myakka City to see the Lipizzaner Horses in training. She is such a joy to have around all us OLD people.   We borrowed a guitar from a friends so she could play while here.

She flies back to Virginia on Sunday and we leave for Americus, Ga then Easter in Bainbridge, Ga, then Tuscaloosa Al for a 2 week build and then on to Indy to see the Grands and then Charleston WV and then HOME for about a month.

Later.

Jan 2016 thru Feb 6 2016

Here I am again running behind on my postings.

We did start work on Jan 3, 2016  to finish up the last week of the CAV Build that Jeff and Sharon Lawrence were team leaders for.  Things have been rather slow getting started here in Dade City Florida this year as they were not ready for us.  There have been some changes in personnel at the Office of Habitat. Not sure for better or worse but there is a lot of tension here.

Larry and I have enjoyed visiting with my cousin Janice Pope Brockmier and her husband Jerry and also having lunch with a high school friend Nancy Wilson Benton.  We are trying to do some fun things year rather than work all the time.  Last week we took the day off and went to Homosassa Fl to a restaurant called the Freezer that has the BEST steamed shrimp I have ever eaten.  Plan to go back again soon.

I have another week here before flying to Indianapolis to spend a week with Ally and the kids.   I am ready to see the Grands.,

This has been a good week for us with good things happening with two of our grandchildren.   Taylor has been offered a job at CVS Drug Company which is much closer to her house than where she was working and certainly has more future for her and Noah was accepted at Cathedral Catholic  High School in Indianapolis.   I don't know who is more excited Noah or his Mom.  It is still so hard to believe that that he will be in High School in the fall.  

Not much else to report other than Madie Halstead another granddaughter will be joining us in Florida in March for a couple of weeks.


Later

Septmber 2015 thru December 2015

Wow, hard to believe it is Jan 2016 and I haven't updated the Big A Bus since September 2015.

Well here we go.

September found us in Adrian Michigan doing another Habitat Build and having a great time reconnecting with old friends and meeting new ones.
After this we went back to Indianapolis for a few days to get another grandchild fix and then back to Virginia.  It was a miserable trip home with rain all the way due to a Hurricane brewing on the East Coast.
We arrived home on Oct. 3rd and were greeted by our renters to a great dinner and then we were history for that night.
NOW the fun begins with doctors appointments, wood cutting, a house warming for Taylor and Anthony, catching up  with things at church etc.
A camp out in late Oct. with the Old Dominion Cardinals was fun .
Celebrated Christmas early with Bryant and family before heading out again.

This trip was to Louisiana to do a 10 year reunion build for Katrina and also to train us for Disaster Rebuild teams.
After this we spent Thanksgiving in Indianapolis with Ally and Family and got to help decorate her house for Christmas.
Next we headed to Bainbridge Georgia to visit Carolyn and Keith Newberry. My wallet was stolen and that was a MESS.   After cancelling all the credit cards, getting new drivers license etc the BITCH that stole it returned the contents MINUS the money and the wallet.   Hope she enjoyed the money and the $5 wallet.  
We then attended a week of Master Safety Training in Americus at the HFHI offices and what a week.   My brain was on overload after that.
We returned to Bainbridge a week later for a couple of days and was able to visit with several high school friends and also people we had not seen in about 40+ years at a Christmas Party at Ann Reynolds Griffin's house.   Fun Fun.
Then on the 14th of December we arrived in Dade City Florida to do Habitat until late March.

We had Christmas and New Years with RV Care A Vanners and still missed being with family.

The good Lord willing next year we can be with family.   Just not start our travels so early.

Now it is Jan 3 and we are getting ready to start work tomorrow but plan on having some fun along the way.