After a wonderful Thanksgiving with family in South Carolina, we drove to Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores, Alabama to spend the month of December. We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that you will have a wonderful Christmas. Cherish your family. Take time to share your love with family, friends, and people you don’t even know. We continue to ask for your prayers for our family members who are fighting serious health problems. We learned Friday of another cousin with possible cancer. That makes four. We know God is still healing and He is in control.
We really enjoyed this year’s Thanksgiving with family. And the smoked turkey.
December is a good time to be here. The weather is usually really nice although we have had a few cold (by our standards) days. And there are fewer people here than in the other winter months.
One of the first things we do when we get to the park is go pick up a pound or so of steamed shrimp and eat it immediately.
So far we have made it to the beach all but one day.
Since we arrived we have seen the Blue Angels practicing, the bald eagles, many other birds and this one gator who decided to brave the cool weather today.
The park has many miles of trails for us to hike and bike.
Earlier this year we bought a 1000 piece Advent puzzle. Inside the box are 24 small boxes, each containing a few pieces. We are supposed to only work one section of the puzzle for each day in Advent. So far we have held to that.
As part of our Christmas decorating we maintain a decades long tradition started by Max’s mother of filling the little mugs with Raisinets. And we like Raisinets.
Sorry for the long absence. We have been busy, just haven’t told you about it yet. In addition to regular RV maintenance and repair, we spent one week in Alabama for our annual medical appointments.
While in Alabama we attended a hilarious production of “Exit the Body” by the Covered Bridge Players in Oneonta.
We have continued to clean up trees in South Carolina.
Moving large pecan log
It took about half a day to get this cedar stump out of the ground
One of our debris piles by the road
The day before we headed back to Alabama for our annual medical appointments, the state contractor came by and picked up one load of debris. The rest is still there.
We spent a few days with our friends from 1 Strange Adventure at our favorite RV Resort, Talona Ridge. We always enjoy our time at Talona in Elijay, GA. The trees were not at peek but it was still a very nice and relaxing visit.
We enjoyed getting together with our RV friends and learning about solar power.
Potlucks are always fun
Sunrise at Talona Ridge during the men’s Bible Study
We visited the RiverBanks Zoo in Columbia, SC.
Sea lion checking out Anne
We got to watch them feed the sea lions.
Galapagos Giant Tortoise
Still cute but not like seeing them in the wild.
This tiger got up and posed when we walked by.
A komodo dragon is not something you want to run into if you are afraid of lizards. This one is about 6′ long.
And we spent part of a day at the Pioneer Days in Lincolnton, GA.
The owner of this tractor was also born in 1929.
The sawmill demonstration was very interesting.
We hope you all have a great Thanksgiving week. Be careful out on the roads and just remember to be thankful everyday for we are all truly blessed.
After leaving Selma, on our way to South Carolina we made a too brief stop to visit Anne’s brother south of Atlanta. We had a great time visiting some sights around Peachtree City, sharing meals and catching up.
City Hall Fountain in Peachtree City. The tubes gradually fill with water, then tip forward and spill the water.
Since we arrived at Max’s brother’s house we have been enjoying our time here catching up and clearing trees downed by Hurricane Helene.
One of many trees down at Max’s brothers house. We were actually very blessed that none of the trees fell on the house or on our motorhome that was parked there.
Spending our days cutting up trees …
… and hauling to the roadside.
The tree in the picture above pushed to the right-of-way for pickup
The four of us did take a weekend camping trip to North Carolina to see the Carolina BalloonFest in Statesville. We camped at Blake Farms RV Resort which is a small family-owned campground. There are large full hookup gravel sites, a short hiking trail, and all the miniature golf you want to play – at no charge. There is also a general store. We recommend it to anyone needing a campground in the Statesville area.
Our campsites at Blake Farms RV Resort
Free minigolf at the campground
Saturday was our day to spend at the BalloonFest. We were up early to be able to see the first balloons go up at about 7:30. There were about 25 balloons in the morning flight and there was a competition to see which pilot could drop their streamers closest to the center mark. Later in the day there was a mass ascension of balloons and later still there was an evening glow. It was a day of great fun. We particularly enjoyed the special shape balloons.
Mass ascension
Evening glow
One of our favorites
Another favorite
Three of the cutest balloons
Being photobombed at the BalloonFest
We are back in Johnston currently, still working on trees and enjoying time with family.
Last weekend was shortened due to working on Friday with the Fannie Mae employees. Saturday became our usual Friday meaning there was laundry to do and groceries to purchase and the team went to Hancock’s Barbecue for an early supper. Excellent barbecue! It was worth the schedule change to be able to work with the FM people. On Sunday, we welcomed one additional team member, Dave, for a total of nine Nomads. We began the work week much like we ended last week, working with the Fannie Mae employees. The FM folks from last week left on Saturday and a new group of about 25 arrived on Sunday. They were just as enthusiastic and fun to work with as our first group last week. At the request of our construction coordinator we again divided the team to four houses and accomplished much more work than if we had only worked in our traditional role. On Tuesday evening the NOMADS were invited to the closing dinner of the Fannie Mae SERVE360 project. The FM leaders were very appreciative and complimentary of NOMADS assistance and are interested in possibly pursuing additional joint projects in the future. The NOMADS members were also very complimentary of the working partnership, and we were sorry to see the FM members leave. It was such an amazing way to meet new people of different cultures and be able to share our life and faith stories.
This is the finished siding from last week.
… and laying out a new piece of paneling for the bathroom …
… then cutting it to fit.
Our Serve360 friends were eager to take on any task, such as patching a hole in a wall …
… painting the kitchen ceiling …
We had a great time Tuesday evening telling the Serve360 folks how Christ works through NOMADS to help others.
On Wednesday morning the team resumed normal operations with members working in two houses. We continued to work at Marie’s home and were pleased to present our first Selma Bible to her on Wednesday afternoon. Bible presentation is always a highlight of the week. There were just a few small items to be completed on Marie’s home – items that couldn’t be completed until the paint was dry. Next week’s team plans to complete those items Monday morning. Since we worked last week on Friday, Wednesday was our last workday and we turned leadership over to Carolyn and Gene and departed Selma on Thursday morning. Please continue to remember the Selma team in your prayers as there is still much work to be done.
While we worked on Ms Marie’s house, other team members installed laminate flooring at a house two block away.
Dave spreading adhesive for the bathroom flooring
The almost finished bathroom
Bible presentation for Ms Marie
NOMADS team picture for this week
We will be back in South Carolina for a few weeks and hope to have some fun adventures to share. Until then, stay safe and always remember to try to make someone’s day a little brighter by showing Christ’s love.
We had to go back to our property in Alabama before going to South Carolina. While there we were blessed with a display of the northern lights.
RVing With a Purpose 