Tag Archives: Family

Spring Updates!

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It’s been a minute since we’ve actually been able to enjoy the North Carolina Area again. Since arriving in early February, both Austin and I have been on the go! If I look at the calendar, it’s been a whole 13 days that I’ve slept in my own bed. Austin sometimes gets weekends but it’s not many more days than that.

So where to we start? How about the coincidence that we found side by side parking spots for our first trip out of Asheville Airport even though we arrived at different times/different days! That was fun. With AVL being our current home base – we’ve got the option of whatever American flights work at the airport 15 minutes away, or the option of driving to CLT (1.5 hours away) which we’ve also done a few times.

We do love the location of the RV Park though – it’s small, quiet, and has all the amenities we could need. Including a separate mailing address for all our Amazon packages… yeah – that hasn’t stopped.

After our Disney Trip in weirdly cold Florida, I was off to Phoenix for the next installment of the Travel & Adventure Shows on Feb. 11th and what would be my longest stint of the year of nonstop work. 33 days to be exact. It was a doozy, with Austin traveling Monday-Friday, and me jetting Wednesday-Monday we wouldn’t get to see each other in person until March 13th.

We had one of our Aqua Center Managers in town for the Phoenix show – so we got to take him on the road with us for sales calls, hosted hikes, and everything that falls under what a BDM does all day. One of those experiences happened to be ICE arriving to the parking lot just after we pulled in to visit a Dive Shop. You see these things happening on TV and I honestly didn’t expect to see it in Arizona – but that’s my privilege speaking, I know that. We hustled into the dive shop as the agents were kind of trying to get us to clear the area (rifles pointed at a guy in his car, who was already stopped and had his hands out the window). Lucky for us, the shop’s indoor pool area has a window screen image on the outside so we were able to bear witness to the event unfolding, and the location of the stop was not lost on us [Purified Ice Machine]…. It probably didn’t help that the guy driving was potentially antagonizing the agents with “F*ck ICE” spraypainted onto the hood of his car… We couldn’t hear what exactly was happening and we didn’t see them take the driver off but they must have, as eventually everyone left and only the car remained…

So after multiple sales calls we then made Ale (the St. Lucia Dive Center Supervisor/Manager) work the booth with us all weekend. Talk about major peopling.

I selfishly also talked him into doing the Wave Cave hike with me before the show on Sunday morning and man was it an excursion! A totally worthwhile one though!

A quick redeye flight back to NC gave me just Tuesday to follow up on my emails, do laundry and toss all those same clothes back into the suitcase before I was off on Wednesday for Chicago, I now understand how Austin feels every week living out of the same clothes and same suitcase. I did have to add a winter coat to the packing list (it’s a wonder how I didn’t get sick) as the weather was calling for snow. Our Aqua Center Manager Mikhael from Sandals Grande Antigua was joining me for the Chicago show and when I told him to “pack your parka and gloves!” he reminded me that he did not own those… so I packed him mine.

Another whirlwind weekend with sales calls, our BDM’s time and hosted evening events before the Travel & Adventure Show. It was great to have the resort team presence in town to see what we actually do on the road – how we drum up business, and how much effort actually goes into getting the client down to the resort. That’s where they pick up the workload and create the whole Sandals Experience.

Mikhael had been requesting chocolate lava cake to see if it was as good as Mario’s Restaurant on resort and we finally found it on our last night, at Fogo de Chao, which was another first experience for him. All in all, our happy [native] Jamaican experienced his first snowfall, his first McCormick & Schmicks dinner, his first sales calls, his first Travel & Adventure Show, and his first Brazilian Steakhouse.

Chicago to Asheville flights were a little more abundant, and I was able to get home for a day and a half this time. Wash, rinse, repack and Wednesday I was off to Miami.

I had to fly into Miami for a night to pick up a branded Sandals wrapped car from HQ, and then make our way up to Fort Lauderdale area. Jody-Ann from the Director of Watersports office joined me for this leg and it was another full week of running. Travel Advisor Meetings, evening hosted dinners, local evening events (I got to present again!), and then all day at the shows. I did get the sweetest surprise as we checked into the hotel late Thursday night – Austin had sent flowers to the front desk for me so I got a sweet reminder each morning as I woke up. The girls in line behind me did that little *gasp* “that’s so sweet!” and one on the phone made the meme joke:

To which I turned around, flower vase in hand and said “nah, get you a robotics engineer” which got a few laughs and a “that’s SO true”. 🙂

I was able to fit in a little family time on the next turnaround, now that we have made it to the first weekend of March! That meant I was cross-country hoofing it to LAX where Abby, Greg, Mom & Dad were all having a merry week or so full of tennis, wine tasting, and San Francisco fun. I managed to meet up with them in the evenings since this final batch of Travel & Adventure shows didn’t have aqua center attendees with me.

It has become a bit of an obsession with the Disney Pins, and I thought “well I’m already HEEEERE” so I talked them into hitting up Downtown Disney and collected more trading pins (that let’s be honest, most likely will not get traded).

I had the time without having to worry about the BDM or the Aqua Center Manager, to actually hit the road again and visit some more dive shops in the area that I hadn’t made it to in previous years. This year I was able to drop a flyer that included a promo code to the weekend’s show!

There just so happened to be a Duck’s game as well! We were all properly outfitted and the game ended in an overtime shootout for a Ducks WIN!

The show went off without too many hitches, besides the unfortunate event of a gentleman losing his balance and toppling into one of our banners – which in turn snapped the screws out of the bottom of it. We pivoted and propped it up for the next day, but good thing there were 3 BDMs in California at one point! There were plenty of replacement pieces for the next shows.

Instead of having my first weekend “off” from shows back at the camper, Austin and I decided there was no better time to be looking for our second home than the present… Weirdly enough my connecting flight out of PHL was actually a BUS, apparently that’s a thing. I was not prepared for that, had I known better – I would have just waited for Austin to arrive to PHL later in the day and hopped into the rental car with him. Live & learn!

And by second home I mean…. a liveaboard boat/yacht/motor vessel – whatever you want to call it. So we met up in Bear, DE to take our first steps on board a potential home.

First up! A Navigator 46′. We’ve been looking at it’s listing for a while and needed to get a feel of the amount of space onboard. We’ve also been following a family of 4 who are on a similar boat (a 48′) and vlogging their experiences sailing down the east coast.

A great first boat to look at, as we thought we might be willing/able to take on some of the projects noted in the listing. When we walked through it, it just seemed to be a little more than we wanted to chew on our first bite. So we took it as experience and will keep looking.

We had to skedaddle back to Charlotte for the weekend as Austin was the canvas for his tattoo artist at the Villain Arts Show! The were taking care of that large bicep’s empty space and making major work of it. Saturday I dropped him off around 10am before the doors officially opened and took myself over to walk my old stomping grounds in SouthPark Charlotte. When I arrived back (using my free radio station winner tickets) I got to see where their work was getting to and wander around all the booths. I found myself a bunch of stickers and a new lotus flower silver ring!

His artist, Phil, truly is incredible and this was drawn entirely freehanded. If you’re in the Charlotte Area and feel like making the trip up to Mooresville – definitely give Overkill Tattoo a call.

I had also booked myself one of those new head spa appointments nearby, and was super excited about it. It sadly didn’t live up to the expectations in my head so I don’t know that I’ll need to do another :/

We returned to the show on Sunday as requested so Austin’s arm could be entered into the final awards round. Surprise Surprise….! He won 1st place in Medium black & grey!!

So proud. So excited. Can’t you tell?!

We were both out again on Monday, Austin early in the morning, my flight wasn’t until later… getting me back into the swing of Travel & Adventure Show season. I was headed back down to Miami to give a new proposal to my boss before checking out another boat with Uncle Dave & Aunt Judy (it was a no from us), and cross-country jet setting again, but this time to San Jose!

I had less time in San Jose than on previous trips thanks to a delayed arrival in Miami. Remember that weird week/Monday where all the cold front weather came through dumping weird snow, rain, etc. on the East Coast and shutting down airports?! yeah – I was caught in that too. My flight was delayed at 4:27am, it originally was supposed to depart 12 hours later and ended up being fully cancelled by the end of the day. Luckily I was able to hop a different flight but that meant overnighting on my own dime in Charlotte, and then taking ANOTHER connecting flight to Raleigh before I could get to Miami. We’re flexible here, and I’ll take all the loyalty points thankyouverymuch.

We were alerted earlier in the week that we’d have a double booth for this show – so I finally got to break out my Amazon putting green and make a game out of our appearance! A lot of attendees liked the interaction, with the [thankfully] counted few that argued with us about wanting a golf ball…. seriously, they’re $2.50 at WalMart, that’s where I got these. Go get your own – cheap-o’s.

We’ve finally made it to the last week of March with the Dallas Travel & Adventure show looming ahead! I was on a flight through DFW from San Jose, CA Monday morning, and coincidentally enough Austin was arriving in Dallas for work that week! I decided it was silly to take my flight back to AVL just to turn back around and be back in Dallas on Wednesday so I headed down to baggage claim to request my bags and waited about 30 minutes for them to appear at a different gate. Then I cancelled my ticket and pulled out my book to wait for Austin to pick me up so we could spend a couple days in the same place! I was also able to get work to swap my rental car pickup to the following day so I hopped a ride back the next evening and planned a road trip to Houston dive shops.

We HAD to find all the Buc-ees!

We did some shopping in the area at Cavender’s, and of course Academy. Our go-to when we were in the house for something to do/somewhere to go. And then we had probably our best experience at Medieval Times ever! Dinner date for the Green Knight Win!

Because there were 3 shows happening that weekend in Dallas, I was running all over the Fort Worth and Denton areas for sales call meetings, dive shop visits, and to pick up banners for the show setup on Friday. I headed in to the convention center to be surprised that we were given a double booth with no notice! Good thing I had my full setup from the San Jose show and didn’t go home! I wasn’t planning to bring my big show bag with me for this one!

While these shows get thousands of attendees, I actually started tagging how many people stopped in the booths to chat, starting with Phoenix. After the Dallas show I can confidently say we’ve spoken to 1,119 consumers and 258 Travel Advisors in the last 2 months.

I was finally able to get a shortened week at home with the Easter holiday quicky approaching. So it was the perfect time to run the ‘ol Young animals to the vet for updates, visit with Papaw a bit, and watch the classic Brendan Frasier’s George of the Jungle.

Everyone got a clean bill of health outside the fact that Charlie has put on a little weight… Vet says “it was a hard winter” and our next year of flea/tick/heartworm medications. What else would you do with Good Friday off but…. yup, hop a flight to Jacksonville, FL to look at 3 more boats! [can’t stop, won’t stop!]

Austin found a flight that connected into mine from Charlotte to Jacksonville AND he gave me his first class upgrade #spoiled. We had 3 appointments booked and naturally they’d all be in different Floridian cities…

First up: a 1985 Gulfstar 49′

While beautifully updated, it just wasn’t the right fit for us yet. We hopped into our rental and set off for a stuipdly unplanned Orlando Disney Springs stop so I could feed my pins addiction. Seriously, what were we thinking – it’s SPRING BREAK. IN ORLANDO.

SO. MANY. PEOPLE. I almost wished for the cold Orlando we’d just had in January again! BUT I got my pins, and we made out with a few chasers! Our next boat appointment was the following morning in Tampa.

Boat 2: the Kha Shing 53′ Tarquin Trader. [our front runner so far]

She’s definitely a big boat, but so far she’s checking all our “want” boxes! She’s got that “Big Deck Energy” about her and an engine room Austin can comfortably access with his wide shoulders.

We treated ourselves to some Chicken & Waffles, a Jameson Breakfast, and a Bloody Mary at the marina’s Dockside grill (we love a good Dockside!) before jumping in the car for a 3 hour drive back across the state to Stuart, FL for our 3rd boat showing.

Boat 3: 1990 Yachtfisher 48′

There are some insanely beautiful elements to this one. I especially love the bar there in front of the kitchen and the wide bedroom space. Our challenges here were that she was taaaallll, so you felt the sway and the listing more so than other boats. The access points onto each space would also pose challenges; they were more ladder style than steps and that would not be fun to navigate on a windy/rough seas day, or when bringing groceries onboard. Also – the idea of walking through the owners cabin/stateroom from the swim deck wasn’t my favorite.

Because we were able to get to the 3rd showing about 2 hours early, the broker got to make cocktail hour with his family and that put us in the perfect timing to catch the 8pm flight out of Orlando to Charlotte so we could get home more conveniently. We had originally planned to drive it (9+ hours) so we could be at Papaw’s for Easter lunch. We also recognize how cool a life we live to be able to just hop on a plan when we feel like it. Hooray Points!

Austin again gave me his first class upgrade and I celebrated with a sparkling wine for a weekend well done.

Our Easter Sunday consisted of seeing Austin’s family + Papaw and the dogs. We got up early and prepared the last few elements of lunch; Brown Sugar Glazed Ham, scratch mashed potatoes, brown sugar roasted butternut squash, fruit salad, deviled eggs, etc. I was also forcefully [not really] shoved [asked nicely to help] into the side by side to drive Austin up and down a trail by the house while he chainsaw-ed overgrown limbs from the banks… It started off well enough, it ended with me overstimulated and crying from exhaustion as the previous weeks finally came crashing down.

This week I’m trying to find the balance back in my work as I lead up to the final Travel & Adventure show of the year, Denver. This will be the shortest time I’m spending in a place because travel doesn’t slow down just because these shows end and I’d like a moment to breathe.

I’ll FINALLY get on island for the first time this year at the end of the month for a Sales Meeting, and I’m making my masquerade mask into my tiara to match my gown. Full outfit to be revealed later!

We’ve got 4 weekends left before the camper gets picked up to head to Alexandria Bay. We still have to do some cleaning at the Tennessee Property, finagle how we’re getting the bins left over at Mom & Dad’s here in NC, coordinating cars for our drive up, and attempting to get to some Nibling’s spring games… all before May 15th.

Wish us luck!

Home sweet HOME!

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The update we’ve waited 4+ months for, is FINALLY HERE!!

We tried to do this the second to last week of January and it didn’t work out, so we went to Disney instead for a very special 7 yr old’s first time, and re-scheduled for February.

I went through the rabbit hole of Disney Pin Trading last year and got the kiddos involved at the park this trip. I’ll proudly be displaying my pins in the camper from now on (and yes, Austin got some Star Wars ones too).

We are OFFICIALLY in our camper, back in North Carolina! After a lot of back and forth with Camping World Hendersonville, and some last minute issues needing a second look, we confirmed pickup for Friday, February 6th and made our way to NC.

I spent Tuesday & Wednesday packing after work hours to ensure all our stuff fit in our beloved 27 gal black & yellow bins (they were on sale for $7.99 at Costco – YAY!) and I loaded as much as I could into the Tacoma. I had a bloodwork appointment for my annual at the ass-crack of dawn Friday Morning so I drove down Thursday and Austin was able to fly into Charlotte late-late Thursday evening. The original plan was to pick him up from CLT airport around 11:30pm, but sadly, his flights from the mid-west kept being delayed and he made it to the hotel via uber around 1:30am. I was already in bed.

Friday morning we were up before sunlight for my appointment and I was able to work from the car as we drove to Papaws house to pick up the ’99 Ford that we originally used when we purchased the camper. The 350 was requested to be returned so this is what we had… it didn’t come without it’s own challenges, of course… because apparently we have to learn EVERY LESSON all at once.

This ’99,while keeping sentimental value and still being in great working shape (usually) – had been left in the cold for juuuuust a bit too long in the mountains and the batteries were completely drained. (She’s about to be a Cali truck) Austin also learned that the Highway Tire & Auto we had left it with for service (you know, back in MARCH 2025, and didn’t get back until October 2025) “replaced” his deep cycle, cold weather batteries that he spent good money on with regular ole batteries… he was NOT happy about that.

First he tried the jumper box we always carry with us. Not enough juice.

Then he pulled Papaw’s tractor over to jump it (it’s a 24v system 7.3L engine vs. a 12v like regular cars) the tractor gives it a little more juice and it attempted to turn over but again, not enough juice. He used all the starter fluid he could find, and then finally brought the Taco down…

Taco jumper cables attached to 1 battery, tractor attached to the other, and after 2 hours and a few more tries with more starter fluid she FINALLY turned over. We were hoping to be at Camping world by 12pm… we finally got there just after 2pm. Once we got her started, we never turned her off – you stay idling big girl.

After a walkaround inspection, flipping a couple extra switches (to make sure lights work), and trying all the slides, we were hooked up and ready to head 15 minutes south to the campground.

The ’99 looks like a tonka truck pulling this mammoth. It wasn’t a super smooth pull (his bed airbags were also disconnected by the mechanics….), but we made it! We’re already planning to pay a company to pull this up to the river again for the summer season so we’ll just be driving our own personal vehicles instead of purchasing a new/used truck. More convenient/easier for our needs.

Saturday we had our appointments at Overkill Tattoo to celebrate our return to NC, finish Austin’s sleeve and spend a little of my bonus on us. The guys here are extremely talented – we love all of them.

Austin’s additions for this arm were the connecting piece with the elk, and Papaw’s mayfly to Mamaw’s flower, he’s keeping them on his left side.

I took the plunge on a rib piece I wanted to remind me of my Daddy Tom (P-51 Mustang, the Daddy Tom Dollar, and a Rum Swizzle – he was stationed in Bermuda for the Korean War). The other side has Poppy’s Celtic Triquetra, so I’ve got both grandfathers by my side.

We returned late Saturday, exhausted and healing. Sunday was another “run” day and we headed to the Tennessee Storage to pick up a few of the necessities to put back in the camper – hoses, kitchen supplies, bathroom items, etc. This load-in will be much more calculated for me, our first time packing the camper I was just trying to get stuff OUT of the house so we could sell it. Now I’m able to actually see what we need and what wasn’t used at the River to bring less back in. Little by little we’ll get all the pieces together but for now, we’re just happy to be HOME.

We spent more time Sunday with Papaw, eating Long John Silvers and playing with the pups. We’ve been SO grateful that he’s been loving on Charlie for us for so long – it’s the best place for Charlie to be, with Papaw and Sassy. But we do miss him. I was craving the family recipe of Beef Stroganoff (comfort food) Sunday night so we ate late – just in time for the Super Bowl Halftime Show.

I stole this skillet from mom I think when I moved to New Orleans over a decade ago. It’s my favorite kitchen gadget ever, although we did just by a brand new air fryer that does many additional things (our Oven doesn’t hold a constant temperature here so I’m still getting used to it). Now it’s just getting re-organized, learning the little oddities of the camper – like the heat pump not liking to work in below freezing temps (we have a propane furnace and additional heating elements too), and setting ourselves up for the upcoming weeks. I’ve got a lot of travel happening February – March and we won’t see each other till March 13th with our overlapping schedules. I need those airline miles to keep my Platinum Status for the year! At least we have our house back and can go little by little moving back in.

Austin flies back into VA this upcoming Friday to pick up the rest of the stuff we left in mom & dad’s garage, and the cat. For now, the Starlink is setup and working like a charm, the washing machine is washing, and the Olympics are on the TV. It’s a great start to a new month and a new week.

Camper & Updates

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We’ve been bunking with mom & dad in VA for the month of October while we awaited Keystone’s driver to pick up our rig. While we did have the space in A. Bay until October 13th, we had a wedding in Lancaster, PA I had a work trip, and then our Jamaican Vacation was scheduled so it was time to pack it up (yet again) and make the moves down south.

The wedding in Lancaster was a hit! And we had been able to repack (for the umpteenth time) the camper into those black & yellow Lowe’s bins that we’ve come to love so much… With items at Mom & Dads, In condo 4 at A. Bay, and leaving one of the trucks parked at Grandma’s house in Syracuse we just about emptied the entire unit!

September 26th Austin flew back into Syracuse and rented a car. We headed to Grandma’s house (I had breakfast with her that morning!) to pull all the stuff out of the Tacoma in her driveway, reload into the rental and start the 6+ hour drive to VA. I had the F-350 loaded down bed to roof with all the last bits & pieces and we caravaned down 81. We passed quite a few accidents on the way down, but came through unscathed.

The driver was supposed to pick up the camper the week of Sept 29th. We waited, and waited, and waited for the driver to let us know he was on his way/there to pick up the camper – and he finally showed up Oct 3rd. Apparently he tried a few excuses with Austin to say he wasn’t sure he could pull it because of a “toolbox in the bed of his truck” and “he couldn’t find the camper” (it’s kind of hard to miss…) and Austin set him very straight. So the camper was picked up and driven the 12 hours across NY and into Indiana where we waited for more updates.

We have no idea what the camper looked like once it made it to Keystone – they didn’t send any photos but we did get an update (finally) while in Jamaica that it had arrived and they were doing their own inspection of all the elements as they don’t rely on Camping World’s reports.

We were hoping to have the camper back by November as we have a space reserved in Hendersonville, NC Nov 7- mid May…. but that was obviously wishful thinking. We are glad they are doing their own full blown inspection and not relying on Camping World, they’ve already noted that they’re replacing pretty much the entire fiberglass exterior sheeting, interior wallpapering/walls that were cracking, the front entertainment center cabinetry, and a new back ladder (apparently it’s bent?!), and they’re adding flex adapters to the front area that will actually allow the unit to flex as it should when on the hitch. We’re hoping we get the update that they’ll be re-welding all the connections that we saw were broken as well once they get that front cap off again for those flex pieces… It sounds to us like there have been MANY issues like ours with this particular model and they’ve had to fix more campers than expected which is why we have not paid a penny out of pocket for fixes past 2 new tires. When it’s all complete which sounds like another 6-ish weeks…. (3-4 weeks before they get it IN to the production line, and another 2 weeks working on it) they’ll then tow it down to Hendersonville’s Camping World for us where we’ll pick it up.

After the Pennsylvania Wedding, I had a trip up to Ohio to cover some events for work where I presented and met with new advisors and got more interest for diving at the resorts! Because it was just a 2 nighter, I packed myself in my backpack and caught a quick flight from Dulles.

It’s been great to be around close family – as it allows us to get to the nibling’s sports games and take advantage still of walking into town for experiences. We celebrated our house sale & the money being deposited – which we then turned around and wiped out some debts, and invested with our financial advisor! We also finally decided on an eBike and it arrived for Dad and I to put together!

Mom also called Dad and I to jump into some Pickleball at the local gym they’re members of as they needed a few extra players. It’s only my 2nd time actually playing games and I’ve got to get my swings under control – I tend to hit it long A LOT. BUT I’m running my butt off getting to stuff and burning ALL the calories haha!

It was just about Jamaica time!! So we packed our suitcase (and Austin’s backpack – because he’s weird) for a 6-night stay at Sandals Negril with friends! It was Austin’s & our friend Sandy’s birthdays, what better way to celebrate!

We were immediately spoiled on arrival in Jamaica – the resort team (who I emailed ahead of time and told them we were coming) put us in a beautiful butler villa (without the butler service) that had it’s own backyard and pool!! We figured out in Antigua back in 2020 that we are definitely room pool people, Austin gets uncomfortable just sitting on the beach in the heat and either has to have something fun to do, or be in the water.

I, on the other hand, am perfectly fine with a book and a beach chair soaking up all the sun…. I finished that book on the 2nd afternoon and had to steal Austin’s book for the next 3 afternoons. Thanks Babe!

We also got some diving in!! I finally talked Austin in to completing his Invasive Species Tracker Certification which “legally” allows him to hunt lionfish!

He’s a natural and got about 5 on the follow up dives we did! We also got to do a super cool dive called the Throne Room where you descend through a crack in the coral formation and come out in a opened coral cavern.

Hangry Austin – Happy Austin!

We had a fabulous time on a worry free vacation in beautiful Jamaica. Did some professional resort photos (our first since our wedding), and I even got to practice my bubble rings on dives 🙂

We had planned to fly back into Syracuse for Punkin Chukin weekend in Clayton, NY but plans changed and we swapped our flights to fly into Charlotte to spend time with Austin’s family instead. It was fun to watch him & his brothers run around like kids again, especially when they caught glimpse of a black bear running across the ridge! (its black bear hunting season and they all SPRINTED off to try to get it).

After stopping by the Tennessee storage unit and seeing if we could cut the locks off (we couldn’t), we headed over to see Mamaw & Papaw and of course Charlie. He’s a happy pup there and has gained probably 15lbs with Mamaw’s cooking.

A 6.5 hour drive from Marshall, NC back to Leesburg had us arriving back at our current home base just around 11pm. Austin was headed out on a flight to Canada for the week Monday and I was back in office to follow up on all the vacay emails that came in. Plus prep for DEMA Show which is the largest trade dive show of the year! This year it’s in Orlando and is only a few weeks away!

Mom & Dad arrived back home from Punkin Chukin to a full house – Meg & the Niblings were riding bikes and it was the perfect fall day to kick the training wheels off Knox’s bike and get him riding like the big kids. He was a little nervous to start but had a whole fan club cheering him on and he GOT IT!

I’m super grateful to be here for moments and memories like these. He was so excited to be a full blown bike rider that we all took our first big family bike ride up to the park across the street!

It’s been a trying year for me and Austin – but we are so lucky to have family support everywhere that is open to helping us. We’ve had so many good moments among the craziness and I wouldn’t want to trade any of them.

One final happy update for me – I finally applied for my Master Scuba Diver Certification with PADI! While this isn’t necessarily a “certification” in the same sense as most – it does have a few requirements:

  1. Complete your Rescue Diver Certification
  2. Complete 50 Dives
  3. Complete 5 Specialties
  4. Submit application with all those elements & receive a new card!

So I did!

  1. Rescue Diver Certification completed 2022
  2. 214 Recorded dives to date
  3. Specialties Completed: Deep Diver, Peak Performance Buoyancy, Emergency Oxygen Provider, Digital Underwater Photographer, Boat Diver, Enriched Air Diver, Full Face Mask, Invasive Species Tracker

On to the next adventures!!

Is no news, good news?

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The old saying is “no news is good news” but is that really true?

For some instances, like working from home and not hearing from your boss, sure no news is good news – “the squeaky wheel gets the grease”. That’s where you don’t want to be the squeaky wheel… But knowing our camper (with the wonky wheel and the cracked leaf spring already) has been at the Camping World in Cicero since June 21st and WE keep having to call in for updates – not so great.

We are in a temporary solution currently – Aunt & Uncle’s old camper (that they sold to their neighbors) needed a place to be stored, and we needed a place to stay here in Alex Bay. Win-Win since we already paid for the whole summer in a permanent RV site up here! We’ll be able to utilize this camper for a few weeks until the owners are ready for their vacation in it.

After we dropped our unit off on that Saturday and waited a few hours – we had no great update. We finally called the following Monday (June 23rd) to be told “we’re going to do a flex test this week” requested by the manufacturer, which in non-mechanics terms is to determine just how much the frame is moving from point A (not being hooked up) to point B (when the hitch is fully attached). And they asked if there was anything we wanted to grab out of the fridge/freezer since they were keeping it hooked up for us (its a residential fridge – the freezer was full). So we came back down the 1.5 hour drive and grabbed a few more things hoping it would only be another week or so.

By June 25th hubby emailed again asking for an update and we were told the flex test would be performed on the 26th (5 days after drop off). So we waited… It worked with our itinerary as we would be headed back into the Syracuse area for Uncle’s retirement party that Friday – we also commandeered a room in their house for that few days.

33 years in the Sheriff’s Department! Well done Uncle Chris! We joined Aunt Becky and the rest of their family to surprise him on his final morning outside the department with cinnamon buns and mimosas before the big party that evening with all family and friends.

We love a celebration! Especially when the WHOLE crew gets together.

Since we had to drive past Camping World on the way back up to the river that Saturday, Hubby and I left early so we could stop to get an update. Mind you, it’s now June 28th and they’ve done the initial diagnostic and a flex test – no fixes. We get a little bit of information that day and start packing up more items from the camper that we need for basic living. They talk a little bit about the flex test and as a non-engineer, I can’t tell you what is “acceptable” frame flex, but when they told us that our frame’s flex was a 1/2 inch change – they didn’t say it with a smile or upbeat attitude.

We grabbed more items out of the fridge and freezer, it’s been “no problem” keeping it plugged in out front for us and we head back up to the river for a weekend of boat lounging and relaxation. Brother, Sister-in-law, Big Sister & the kids were up for the party so EVERYONE got to do some fishing!

Now it’s June 30th, and at 5pm-ish we get a snarky email from Camping World telling us the manufacturer wants additional inspection of our camper and that means they’ll need to move it from the front of the building (could be that day, could be a few days from now). No problem – had we been communicated with about that ahead of time, we would have taken care of everything, but after hubby’s rough Monday travel day (3am alarm, flight delays & cancellations, a 9+ hour drive instead, and luggage that made the plane but not him….) we were in NO mood for the tone perceived within the email – you be the judge and tell us if we were too sensitive –

“You will have to clean out the remaining food that is in the fridge and freezer in the event we have to unplug it for an extended period of time. We technically do not allow customers to keep food in their camper as we have to unplug it and move it from time to time. I was being nice under your circumstances but now that we have to run further inspections, the fridge and freezer will need to be properly cleaned out.”

The first email drafts back were NOT polite. Husband, while usually a teddy bear himself – has no-fluff in his emails – that’s an engineer for you. But we finally came to a seething with sweetness re-write of “no problem, be there tomorrow” response. So I drove down again to remove all the freezer & fridge contents and pack more long-term needs, you know – the cases of wine, a bottle of tequila, my bag of brand new books, work brochures for sales calls, laundry baskets, two right shoe only black sneakers…. essentials 😉 With them being SO nice to keep our camper plugged in this whole time, it was frustrating to open the fridge to see no light on, and walk around the camper to confirm that it was NOT actually plugged in, and that the batteries were most likely dead from the extended power outage.

I clearly didn’t check to make sure I had a full pair… I just grabbed the sneakers that were next to each other in the closet.

A quick stop at WalMart on the way back up set us up for the rest of the work week ahead of the 4th of July holiday. With more friends and family coming to the river, we were able to donate some of the freezer food anyway to the weekends festivities!

So here we are, 16 days after the initial camper drop-off (which we DID have an appointment for, mind you) and no good news. I did happen to ask during our visit “is this going to be a one test a week kind of thing? Because while we do have a temporary solution, if it’s going to take more time we need to find a longer term solution” and was told that they have explained to their manager & techs that we are a “rush” due to our circumstances. We’re only here till September and if I don’t get to be in my OWN, 8-month-new-to-me camper (or a replacement), it’s going to be a frustrating pill to swallow.

They’re telling us (as of Thursday, July 3rd) that they’re going to have to remove the entire front cap of the camper to asses the welds on the frame, how long that’s going to take – another question for the universe. We figured it’d be a skeleton crew for the holiday but we’re about at that stage where we’ll start calling every day or every other day for updates until we get a solution.

Our house is still on the market in NC, so as a worst-case scenario we could always move back in there but we’re VERY much enjoying the freedom we currently have. With the occasional heart rate spikes – everyone’s blood pressure here is pretty relaxed.

Welp…. the hits just keep on comin’

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That break I was hoping for – nope. WHOLE lotta nope there in nopeville.

We pick back up after we’ve brought the camper back to Mom & Dad’s house for 24 hours on Friday to load up and get ready to start the haul to NY… No issues there thank goodness (no complainer either) but 2 unmarked police cars did happen to drive by….

So we pull out of VA just before 6am and work our way up to I-81 to stay on the straight and narrow for our drive. GPS keeps saying 81 is closed so It’s trying to take us a different way which was just fine. We had our 3pm appointment at Camping World of Cicero so we still had plenty of time to keep the speed limit (usually under) and stay in the right lane.

A couple stops for fuel and bathroom breaks and by 1:25pm we were pulling into Camping World Cicero. Unfortunately… this is where the bad news begins to pile on.

Since leaving VA with our back drivers side camper wheel still at an odd angle – I noticed this when we left NC on 6/14/25. When we pulled the camper to the house November 9th, 2024 (yeah it took them that long to work on the items we asked for) the camper has not moved and I was in the truck with hubby originally. So we didn’t know anything was amiss until this first pull.

Also, that crack in the front wood at the entertainment center that we asked about in October and were told “It’s fine, there’s nothing that can be fixed with that” so it wasn’t written down on the ‘We Owe’…. is worse, and the OTHER side is now cracking. This points us to thinking there is frame flex.

The above annoying/unsightly but something I could look past crack, Now looks like this….

This crack was the reason we reached out for a service appointment in the first place and spoke to Keystone Corporate. We attempted to schedule mobile service from Keystone’s contacts – but all 3 were unavailable.. Our first attempt at a service appointment was in Manassas, VA – but their first appointment availability was July 20th, the first mobile guy was a little curt on the phone and said “I’m not doing that right now”, and the second mobile guy was “unavailable”. We tried.

When we pulled around at Camping World Cicero, we checked-in noting that we were early, but had an appointment. They asked if we were okay leaving the unit until Tuesday to be diagnosed which made us gulp. In talking to Kim originally in their office the previous Monday, we had been back and forth on appointment dates, so the note that Saturday’s they don’t do same-day diagnosis for waiters, was missed. They were able to squeeze us in and we headed out to the camper to take some photos….

We were met with the right side slide-out somehow having wedged itself out… the slide portion of it is supposed to be on the INSIDE.

Not sure how that happens on the far left corner of the slide out while we’re headed down the road with no bumps…. physics isn’t on our side for that one and the wind keeping it in line. That back wheel? Oh yeah, the leaf spring is broken…. (We’re asking them if they can investigate to see if it’s been broken for a while or within the last 2 weeks – hubby says you can tell by the amount of rust that may be on it). Then we noticed all down the drivers side of the camper, the gaps at the bottom of the storage compartments that were flush originally, now have almost an inch of space between the door and compartment outer. There are cracks INSIDE the camper now on the corners of both front living space bump outs (significant cracks – 6+ inches long). The silicone seals around a lot of the storage compartments and water sealant spaces are cracked – Kim noted that these “fixes” were not done properly because they’re not even lined up with how the original camper should be. There’s a weird wiggle in the frame/fiberglass directly behind the ladder at the back of the unit that wasn’t there before, oh and the 3 self-tapping screws that were under the tongue holding the fiberglass around the brand new installed hitch were rolling around in the bed of the truck…. did I also mention that the original water pump was leaking when we first took it home?

I cried.

Our whole current life is packed in that camper. Thankfully we have family here and we have help (which is hard for me to accept – but 1000% appreciated).

Our next steps were to get all the photos taken, parts priced out, and submit it all to the elite coverage warranty we purchased through Camping World/Good Sam originally. We also purchased the full/maximum coverage insurance through Camping World/Good Sam so we SHOULD have two options…. ideally speaking. The wait is what’s killing me the most – we have no control over what’s happening next. Hubby did call the Statesville location on Saturday before they closed to give them a heads up that we are facing some BIG problems and that we may be calling back much more heated. He’s keeping a level head, I’m all up in my emotions. That GM appreciated the call. for now.

So that’s where we are – waiting to hear back from warranty and Camping World. To then decide if they will fix everything, or if we have to submit through insurance. It sucks. I am emotionally exhausted. But it is totally out of our control.

On the positive side – we got river time on Aunt & Uncle’s boat so that took our minds off of the shit-show for a little while. Hubby got to fish (and caught some bass!), we floated, relaxed for the weekend, and are picking up the workweek fresh.

Please send positive energy. We are in dire need of it.

Better A Silly Girl with a Flower…

Family, Fun, Holidays, Vacation, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Than a silly boy with a horse and a stick… Tournament of Roses time! Continue reading Better A Silly Girl with a Flower… →

Another Year of Memories

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2016 has been a challenge… Continue reading Another Year of Memories →