New Home, New Friends, New Adventures

After 3 weeks in Mesa, Arizona we are on the road again...

We stopped in Palm Gardens Retirement Park in Mesa to thaw out after a long Montana winter. After a few days of walking the park, meeting some of the residents and enjoying the fellowship; we purchased a little home! Next winter we will join the other residents, as " snow birds" from Montana.

One of the best things about traveling is the people you meet. Mesa proved to be a treasure trove of new friends and fun activities to be a part of.
The older gentleman we bought our new home from, will be a forever friend. A dairy farmer from Michigan, father of 5 boys and grandfather of 16, was a joy to visit with. We promised to make the house our "HOME" and share some times of joy and love with others.
As the days passed we re-united with friends from our stay 3 years ago, and made new ones. We left town with phone numbers, addresses and promises to keep in touch; until we return next fall.
A writing class full of incredible women and led by a former English teacher was a bonus find for me. It provides a new opportunity to be challenged and learn from others.
The Arizona 'Grand Ol' Oprey" dinner theater provided an evening of good food, laughter and fun.
Finding the Mesa Swap Meet served to quench the need for shopping. Four tents, each a quarter mile long, filled with sales goods of all kinds, gives the opportunity to "shop till ya drop."
Sitting outside in the evenings, watching the airplanes overhead and the full moon through the tops of the palm trees we found peace.
As the time to leave approached we knew our decision to add an Arizona address to this new chapter in our lives was a good thing :)

After moving out of the motor home, we spent 3 nights making a new house, a home! Then it was back to the motor home and  'on the road again!'
 After  a short day of travel we find ourselves in Deming, New Mexico at the 81 Palms Resort for a night of rest.

Tomorrow we will fire up our home on wheels and add another day to this 50th year adventure.

Checking out Arizona

                                                                                                                                  

We traveled from Vegas down to Earp, CA almost 4 weeks ago, where we met up with a high school friend.  

Meeting up with old friends in new places is such fun. Friendships made in high school seem to have matured as life has taken us each on our own journeys and we have gained new perspective and priorities.          
Earp is a little community close to Lake Havasu a more familiar destination for the snow birds.

We pulled our motor home in beside George, facing the water, and set up camp for a couple days. There is something about water that calms the spirit and the renewing of old friendship brings jSeveral hours of refreshing memories and draining a couple pots of coffee we toured the area, and discovered a couple local eateries. Nothing demonstrates the personality of a community like a meal among the locals.
The wild burros roaming the countryside were a novelty to all the visitors young and old.
After a couple days in Earp, we secured the inside an hit the road again and headed toward Mesa, Az.
Ya know the old saying, "Home is where the heart is" we are proving again that that is indeed a fact.  In our years together we have lived in many different styles of homes, including very small and large houses, a camp size trailer, a tent (with 4 children) and now a motorhome. Through each adventure we have found that all it takes to make a dwelling a home is love and a willingness to share it.
A pot of coffee, a seat and an open door proves to be a key. When the kids were home it was often an offer of playtime to another Mom and her kids, a dinner shared with friends, or a s-more made over an open campfire.
In Mesa we have found neighbors from "home" are enjoying the sunshine and break away from normal life as we are and new adventures are shared. Our first week in Mesa was spent sharing time and fellowship with neighbors from our home site in Montana and from a small community close by.
While shopping at a nearby grocery and choosing a melon a woman close by commented on how her father used to grow them in Oregon. Of course I asked "Where in Oregon" well, that led to us learning that we had both lived in the same communities in both Oregon and Montana. A small world we live in indeed!!
The RV Park we ended up in, has proven to be a "home away from home. " We have connected with old friends and collected a bunch of new ones to add season and joy to our lives..
Swimming, a workout room, hikes around the neighborhood and a gospel music jam have been among the many activities we have shared. I have begun my training for the 3Day in San Diego so a walk along the water canal has provided a quiet peaceful and beautiful trek.
Cactus and roses blooming in March have added a bit of splendor to the view, while walking the dogs under a sky filled with stars and lighted by a full moon never cease to bring a feeling of awe and wonder.

                                                                                                      
So the search for a home base has begun...will it be in a place surrounded by desert, but offering the beauty of sunshine and roses in the winter...or a home surrounded by the mountains (offering snow covered peaks) and lakes with clear blue water calling me to sit,rest and soak in the peace of it all, or someplace yet unexplored??
My peace comes when I choose to remember that God has promised, that He has a plan for my life and "He will be with me WHEREVER I GO"! The greatest joy is knowing that He has control of the GPS and has my destination set!

From East to West and Ocean to Ocean

It has been a while since I set with some time available to put a few words on the page. Life is so different at this time in my life that sometimes I just have to pause and contemplate the happenings.
Right now we are in Oregon...the last few days I have awoke in the mornings and honestly had to take inventory of my surroundings and remember what STATE I am in. :0)  HONEST!!  (I keep assuring myself that it has nothing to do with age!)

The last time I wrote we were still in Florida and on countdown for returning to the land of frost, snow and ice. Otherwise known as Montana.
The last week before boarding the plane, we made a list of the things left to do and places to go. The highlight was a cruise on the Inter coastal Waterway. We were mesmerized at the sight of all the multi-million dollar homes,  incredible landscaping and the peace of the river. Upon returning to the dock the captain did a drawing from the passengers and guess whose name was called. Yep, Laura Moody, tickets for another cruise with no expiration date.  Florida 2015??
A walk on the beach, collecting shells, wading in the water was another bonus day. A beach which just five weeks earlier was hardly worthy to be called a beach. After five weeks of dredging and pumping sand a new beach was created and we could hardly believe we were in the same spot.
Our time in Florida was such a blessing and more fun than I could put into words. Memories created, new friends made and a vast supply of Vitamin D...compliments of the sun. The last few days we spent walking in the sunshine, laying in the sun by the pool with soaking up as much warmth as possible the desired goal.
Emotions were mixed as we pulled out the suitcases and packed to leave our little spot in paradise. The freedom from all the responsibilities that pull us in normal life had been a chance of rest and healing that God surely knew we needed. The generosity of a friend had been a gift beyond measure.
We flew from Fort Lauderdale with a temperature of 85 degrees only to land in Missoula, MT with a temp of 17. The drop of temperature was held at bay as we were met by the smiles, hugs and love of our son and grandchildren. Nothing warms the soul of a Mom or Dad like the hug of a child or grandchild! We reconnected quickly and then headed to bed...our bodies were still on East Coast time.
The following day we spent organizing the motor home for travel and getting a full fledge welcome home from the dogs.
With another winter storm on the horizon we decided to leave our home on wheels, roll the car off the dolly and take the car back to Kalispell to reconnect with additional family and friends.
Hope to rescue the motor home from the winter wonderland and head to warmer climate was dashed with more snow and ice in the forecast as our time in Kalispell came to a close.
Flexibility being our word of the day we re-packed our bags and headed to Oregon. A short visit with my sister and then on to the Oregon Coast.
                                                                                                                                                                     From the Atlantic to the Pacific. We love our oceans and the diversity between the two.  The warmth and white sands of the Atlantic to the cold and storminess of the Pacific. Winter is so different on the beaches of the two coasts and yet what a joy to walk in the sand of each and to observe the power that lies behind those waves.                                                                                
 Today as we walked, our attention was drawn to the destruction of a barrier built to protect the foundation of a motel sitting high on a hill, much like the beach destroyed in Florida. Cold or warm the results of the power of the waves are the same. Man made barriers will bow and bend to the to the power of nature and the hand of the Creator.
As if given a smile from heaven on our last day by the sea we walked in sunshine! Morning will find us once again packing our bags with plans to meet up with our daughter and family. Then head north to hook up with our home on wheels, unpack the suitcases, and settle in to life on the road surrounded all we call our own!

Home IS where the heart is!

Home is Where the Heart Is....

I have been contemplating that a lot in the past month. After selling our "house" several weeks ago it has  been made clear to me once more that it was just that..a HOUSE.

HOME, you see, goes with you where ever you are.

In the 46 years that I have been a wife and then a Mom home has taken on many shapes, forms and sizes. I have nested in an apartment, camp trailer, tent {with my husband and 4 children] a beautiful house and now will be settling into a motor home for a few months to come.

The past month has found us in "temporary" housing..offered by the kindness of our neighbors. Finding ourselves surrounded by someone else's treasures has been both a blessing and challenge all wrapped together. The most amazing thing happened each time a friend or family would walk through the door, "Welcome to OUR HOME!!" The excitement of seeing one another and the love shared transformed the unfamiliar to all that really matters, bringing the warmth to the heart that only being home can do.

With most of the familiar treasures from life packed and stored it is an opportunity to incorporate some of the old into smaller forms of itself bringing that "look" of HOME. The comforting thing is knowing that minus the room, minus the "things" the love and hugs of family and friends will assure that we will never be "HOMELESS."