MERRY CHRISTMAS

Currently in Kerrville TX (Low 24 Mostly Sunny and Cooler High 53) 

We would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!! Bob got very good news for this Christmas when he found out his thyroid was benign. 

Here is one of the cards we sent out this year.

This is the note we sent with the cards.  

"We had another great year of full-timing, we call it the ‘medical, UFOs, Colorado, family, friends, and medical again’ tour. Jo’s neck and back pain are always with us but she just said she was going to live her life and enjoy this great country as much as possible. We have blogged (http://bobandjotravelblog.blogspot.com/) throughout the year and following our blog is the best way to keep up on us. Our photos of all the places we have visited since we began fulltiming is at http://www.flickr.com/photos/bobandjotravel/sets/. Here is a brief summary of what has happened in our lives over the last year, both planned and unplanned. 

We spent last Christmas at our normal winter spot in Goodyear Arizona. Then in early January we had to leave due to health insurance coverage for Bob and yet another ObamaCare insurance policy. The only insurance Bob could get this year was an HMO based in Texas so we headed off to Kerrville in the Hill Country. We traveled faster than normal with short stops along the way. Once we got to Kerrville we established ourselves with a bevy of doctors until late March. We then headed to our UFO portion of our trip – Roswell New Mexico and the International UFO Museum. Here is where the unplanned nature of our travels reared its ugly head again. We lost some of the underbelly of our fifth wheel which we had replaced during an extended stay in Albuquerque. That was not at all bad as it allowed time for our friends Bob and Wilma to join us there and for multiple eating out journeys to our favorite places to eat. We also met up with our friends TC and Linda who had us over for a wonderful meal and companionship. 

From Albuquerque we headed north and spent a month in Colorado where we visited the Great Sand Dunes National Park, the springs near Pagosa Springs and Mesa Verde National Park. We followed that up with a week in Moab Utah and then it was back to Colorado where had yet another unplanned event. The high pressure pump failed on the F-350 and we limped along the last few miles to Rifle Gap State Park. Luckily Columbine Ford worked us right in so we didn’t have to extend our stay. Rifle Gap was followed by a couple of weeks in the Denver area. 

Family figured in as we headed to Nebraska and Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas and Texas. We visited Jo’s nephew and his family in Lincoln Nebraska and then went to central Iowa for Bob’s family and friends. We then headed to the Kansas City Missouri area where we met up with Jo’s family and friends. We also met up with our old unplanned nemesis, this time for the inverter and other repairs. We had enough time in the KC area to allow for all those repairs to be completed. After Kansas City Bob met up with a cousin in Arkansas and then one in Texas. The highlight of our trip to Texas though had to be our stop in Waco where we saw first hand the ‘Fixer Upper’ empire. Chip and Joanna Gaines have revitalized the industrial area near a couple of old silos with shopping, dining and a bakery. Then it was back to medical stuff as we headed back to Kerrville although we got a great friend surprise when our friends Bob and Wilma surprised us with a visit on their way to Arizona. We had a great time during their short stay. 

We jammed a lifetime of vacations into this year but there is still so much more to see and do. Next year we plan on heading out as soon as Bob can travel after his thyroid surgery. We plan to again visit “The Soo” then hit the Midwest in the fall on the way back to Denver for Bob’s Beryllium testing. After Denver it is off to Texas for the winter."

We hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!! 

Till next time,

Bob and Jo