To Those I Love-Happy New Year

"My Wish"

by Rascal Flatts

I hope that the days come easy and the moments pass slow,

And each road leads you where you want to go,

And if you're faced with a choice, and you have to choose,

I hope you choose the one that means the most to you.

And if one door opens to another door closed,

I hope you keep on walkin' till you find the window,

If it's cold outside, show the world the warmth of your smile,

But more than anything, more than anything,

My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,

Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,

You never need to carry more than you can hold,

And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,

I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,

Yeah, this, is my wish.

I hope you never look back, but ya never forget,

All the ones who love you, in the place you left,

I hope you always forgive, and you never regret,

And you help somebody every chance you get,

Oh, you find God's grace, in every mistake,

And you always give more than you take.

But more than anything, yeah, and more than anything,

My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,

Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,

You never need to carry more than you can hold,

And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,

I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,

Yeah, this, is my wish.

My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,

Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,

You never need to carry more than you can hold,

And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,

I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,

Yeah, this, is my wish.

This is my wish

I hope you know somebody loves you

May all your dreams stay big

HAPPY NEW YEAR MY LOVES

Oh the Places We've Been in 2014

Who am I that I ache for places I have never seen? Who yearns for destinations I have never known. That wanderlust plagues me and carries part of my spirit in its outstretched hand. She who dreams of places yet unseen, of moments not yet occurring, of feelings long since felt. She who feels homesickness for distant adventures.  A far-sickness that gnaws on the core of who she is.  She has a need to find the place, the time, the where that she is meant to be. Fernweh is stamped upon her soul. -M.M.

It's that time of the year again.  Time to look back and remember what a wonderful year we have had. And more importantly to be thankful for that time.  Magical moments (like the moonrise over Joshua Tree); funny hysterical moments (like the frog on my face); meeting new friends moments  like Scooter; yes even those challenging medical moments.  We know how blessed we are and we thank God and the Universe every single day.

Having these views to come home to-seriously how lucky are we ?  Very very very.... I love putting together the end of the year video.  It's so much fun to look back and remember the beauty we experienced; the friends we made along the way and the food !  It was very hard to narrow down the photos for this one-so many were cut that I wish I could have saved.  And wait until 2015 and our trip to the Canadian Maritimes.  I'm warning you now, It will probably take at least 3 videos to wrap up 2015.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.  Get yourself a drink and sit back and share our adventures from 2015..enjoy.  And Happy Trails to all my friends..safe travels.

Thinking Present Moment but Can't Stop Dreaming

Friday Favorites

I would much rather be on the road right now instead of browsing the Internet !  But since I'm browsing I thought I would look for some little things to make our time in Ruby a little sweeter ♥

Everyone likes to personalize their own space and I'm no different.  When we first dressed Ruby up it was with a beachy, aqua colored theme.  But my cute little flip flop design quilt needed washing way too often-and that got old very quickly.  So now we are going for a grey and red color scheme. Once I finish with my little personal touches I'll share the finished product with you.  Until then, these are a few of my favorite things that I have discovered while looking for ideas for  Ruby !  Enjoy.

Love these hooks from West Elm-sweet outdoor theme 

Gorgeous glaze on these rice bowls from Blue Sky Pottery Company. I confess, I bought a set and love them,eating stir fry has never been more luxurious !

This would look great hanging somewhere in Ruby ! Beautiful work by maechevrette ,find it at her Etsy shop

How sweet this would be for your picnic table ? They have matching napkins too at Anthropologie

And I'm lusting after this blanket for those cold winter camping nights !  From one of my favorite catalogs: Sundance

Or this one from West Elm:

And last but not least,these beautiful earrings made by my friend Monica from Just 5 More Minutes. She's so talented and has now opened her Etsy Shop

To my fellow campers and Trekkers, what are you doing to personalize your little space ?  Share your ideas.  And to those of you out on the road...Happy Trails and Safe Travels.

It's Been Quite a Ride

Ruby's last night in Washington

I don't know where the time goes.  I remember when I was 12 years old,sitting on the hammock with our next door neighbor,desperately wishing to be 21.  At 12years old, 21 seemed a whole lifetime away.  And now in the blink of an eye 3 years has passed so quickly.  It was 3 years ago that we started our journey with Ruby.  A lifestyle change we have embraced with our heart and soul and one we wouldn't change for anything (well only to have our family with us ! ).

When I signed into my Roadtrek Facebook group this morning, Mike Wendland (our fearless leader)  had posted a montage of his travels in 2014-take a look at it, it's beautiful.  But it reminded me that I had forgotten to post our 2013 adventures and here we are almost at the end of 2014.  It's always so much fun and so heartwarming to look back on our time together.  And I love sharing so here  is 2013.

If you missed the original video of our first year-2012, here it is:

Wharariki Beach, New Zealand-Throwback Thursday

A little of the gorgeous scenery we passed on the way to the beach.

What great memories I have of New Zealand.  And this was one of my favorite hikes while we were there.  The owners of the inn we stayed at recommended this hike, Wharariki Beach to Cape Farewell, to us and I shall be ever grateful for that recommendation. ,

When we first arrived we couldn't believe we were going to end up on the beach.  The hike started out through the green grassy hills.  Honestly, I felt like we were in Scotland.  We saw no other hikers-only the sheep.  And for a  little bit there we thought we were going to get blown away-the winds were so strong, it was hard to keep your balance on the pathway.

But oh the rewards !  One of the most beautiful deserted beaches we have ever seen.  The sand was swept all over from the winds still going strong and the waves were crashing on the shore. Just breathtaking.

Our dream is to return to New Zealand some day, rent a camper van for 2 to 3 months and drive all over both islands. Until then, I look back with fond memories.

Happy Trails my fellow daydreamers.

Fernweh

Fernweh-wanderlust, a desire to travel, a longing for far off places....

I have a bad case of Ferweh !   I'm part of a Roadtrek Facebook group and everyone has been posting photos,maps and stories about their travels and I'm missing Ruby and being on the road.

I know some people would kill to be where we are right now-on the beach in our condo.  Don't get me wrong,it's beautiful and I love it-but I truly have wanderlust in my soul-filled to the brim and feel such a strong pull towards the open road.  I'm afraid Jim is going to have to chain me to the deck to keep me from running off .

I'm trying desperately to live in the present moment-remember my mantra-this is the best moment of my life-and I don't want to miss it while I'm  longing for other places.  Those of you who love life on the road know exactly what I mean.

I've been keeping busy-occupying myself with laying a new bathroom tile floor; organizing closets; cleaning out Ruby; trying to get back to my walking routine and experimenting with meals we could cook on the road.  And I'll be working from home from Amazon by the end of the month.  If you remember that was my last job before I retired.  I contacted them to see if I could just do seasonal work from home and I could and will.  I'll be taking calls for customer service from the end of October through mid to end of January.  That will give me some extra spending money for a lens I would love to add to my equipment in anticipation of our trip to the Canadian Maritimes in 2015. There I go again thinking about 2015 !

By Benson Kua from Toronto, Canada (Sunset at Halifax Harbour  Uploaded by tm) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

I do admit I have been spending some of my free time daydreaming and planning the trip.  We are hooking up with our Roadtrek friends for Mardi Gras in Gautier,MS in February and will head north from there.  We plan on visiting friends and family in  Tennessee, North Carolina, Maryland,
Pennsylvania and Michigan.  Once we leave Michigan we will head to Canada and even find the time to stop in at Ruby's birthplace-the Roadtrek Factory in Kitchener,Ontario. Then onto Toronto and Montreal.  We hope to be in New Brunswick in May; Prince Edward Island in June; Nova Scotia in July; and Newfoundland and Labrador in August.  We don't want to just see the tourist highlights but want to get to meet the people and spend time with them-we never know if we will get that way again!

By Jcmurphy at en.wikipedia [Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons. Gros Morne , Newfoundland

We will leave Newfoundland in September and wander back through the Maritimes on our way to New England.  We plan on spending October in New England then heading south towards home -might make it home in late October,early November or even early December-who knows what the road will bring !

Photo and verse from Moon Guides

OK, back to the present moment-working on paying bills-what fun.  To all my fellow travelers-I'm with you in spirit as you walk through the woods and feel that crisp Fall air; or as you wander along the seashore enjoying the warmth of the sun on your face; even when you experience that little shiver from the cold as you sit around your campfire at night.

“What is that feeling when you're driving away from people and they recede on the plain till you see their specks dispersing? - it's the too-huge world vaulting us, and it's good-bye. But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies.” 

― Jack Kerouac, On the Road

Looking forward to our next crazy venture beneath the skies..safe travels and Happy Trails friends and fellow wanderers.