One of the greatest treasures we inherited from Steve's Mom may not look like much but as the old adage warns, "Don't judge a book by its cover!"
This tattered ledger covers Ross and Betty's RV adventuring from 1993-2014. In it, each road rambling was documented with a paragraph or two about what was happening in their day, where they stayed, what/where they ate, and sometimes, even the weather was commented on. What an insight into the open highway that was such a huge part of their lives together.Because we all loved to travel via our motorhomes, caravanning together, we are featured in many of her journal entries. I will need much more time to go through this treasure trove of remembrances but for now, I'm just sharing her Trip #14 from 1998, where we met up with them in Florida.We had been on our own explore since April 25th. After traversing the southern states, we found ourselves in Tampa, meeting up with them on May 2nd, 8 days after our departure. The folks had left Temecula on March 19th and did not return until May 29 (and people wonder where we learned to do long trips).This was an interesting trip because each RV detoured, separating and then reuniting. But for the most part, our memories were made in Florida.The photos you see here are ones I photographed from my scrapbook from that trip. We did not have digital in 1998 so I hope you can grasp just how magical this trip was even if the photos were captured through a plastic sheet protector.Of course I had to mail something at the Ochopee Post Office, the smallest operating post office in the United States. Measuring a mere 5.7 m2, it is a tiny shed which used to be a storage facility for irrigation pipes of an adjacent tomato farm. It was converted into a post office in 1953, after a fire destroyed Ochopee's previous post office and there it still was. So fun.My in-laws knew how to camp in style. According to Betty's notes on this campground, "all spaces are owned with half on the water with Tiki huts and boat docks. To own one costs $225,000 each! Rent is $55-65 per night." Pretty amazing.This captures a very funny story. The newspaper reporter was doing a piece on what Moms were doing for Mother's Day. Since I was in the water, he approached Betty. She pointed him to me and the boys and wouldn't you know it, we were on the cover of the weekend edition of The Key West Citizen (May 8-9, 1998). What a special souvenir.
A highlight for the boys, on any trip, was a sleepover in Grandma and Grandpa's RV. When our younger son flew home to say goodbye to his grandma, those memories were the ones he passionately shared with her. We are continuing this tradition with our grandbabies. It makes my grandma heart so happy.
After Florida we traveled north together. In Virginia we separated as we were going to my nephew's graduation from UVA and the folks were going to get a new boat in Indiana. Their souvenirs were decidedly more expensive than ours!We all ended our respective adventures christening the new boat during our three days in Lake Havasu.One of Mom's posts read, "We so enjoy our time with Steve and Denise. They love to do everything!" We were truly taught by the best. Thomas Campbell's quote is one of my favorites, "To live in the hearts we leave behind, is not to die." What a treasure this tattered ledger is.
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