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“Executive Suite” Renovation Phase 1 The Great Outdoors – Titusville, Florida April 21 – 25, 2020

A few months ago, Anna and I made a decision to purchase a property at THE GREAT OUTDOORS IN TITUSVILLE, FLORIDA to complement our FULL TIME RV LIFESTYLE. The purpose for the location was to provide a place to seasonally park our rig, but more importantly, to secure a level of PERMANANCE in this area, which we call home. We are in the process of RENOVATING our EXECUTIVE SUITE to allow our family and friends to visit FREQUENTLY. By the way, a huge shout-out and thank you to Gary and Susan Bonneau for all their help and encouragement throughout the renovation. Covid, go away, friends and family, come on in. We will leave the lights on for you!!!!!!!

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    Gary & Susan Bonneau – March & April 2020 RV Life Transition (Bonneau House Sale & Move, Wickham Park – Melbourne, Florida, Class “A” Motorhome, The Great Outdoors – Titusville, Florida, Building New Home)

    Anna and I are DEEPLY BLESSED to have incredible friends, GARY & SUSAN BONNEAU, and to be walking side by side with them as they journey into the AMAZING WORLD OF RV LIVING!!!! This is a very significant and wonderful life change for them, and is a change that Anna and I know quite well. Their journey has included selling their showcase home in Melbourne, donating or selling a significant portion of their belongings and moving the balance into storage, purchasing a Class “A” motorhome, and contracting to builder to build a new home in THE GREAT OUTDOORS located in TITUSVILLE, FLORIDA. Keep in mind that they are doing this while Gary is still working full time, and this change will allow them the flexibility to travel freely as we so love to do. Wow, I must admit that Anna and I are exhausted just watching them go through this rigorous process. We are assisting them in any way they need or we can. This is total de-ja-vu for us as we witness their transformation, allowing us to relive the wonderful events of our move 1 ½ years ago into the full time RV world. This post is the first (house sale, move, RV purchase, Wickham Park) of two in series, providing in a general sense, chronological pictures of their journey from OUR perspective. We love you Bonneau’s!!!!!

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    Leah Carrol – Camping With Grandpa & Grandma Wickham Park – Melbourne, Florida April 7 – 10, 2020

    Anna and I have been super blessed the last four days to have our amazing, GRANDDAUGHTER, LEAH CARROLL, “camp” with us in what she calls our “BARBIE MOTORHOME”. She had the absolute TIME OF HER LIFE while she was here, quarantined in nature. She interacted with a variety of animals, up front and personal, including wild turkeys, gopher tortoise’s, squirrels, bunnies, a variety of birds, turtles, ducks and lizards. We walked, hiked trails, went to Tables Beach near Patrick Air Force Base, rode bikes, went to a socially distanced birthday party, visited the park’s 4H petting zoo, and completely exhausted ourselves playing while she was here. There is nothing better than spending time with family, especially spending time with your super-duper, amazing grandchild, PRICELESS!!!!!

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    Viera Elks Induction Ceremony – Viera, Florida March 16, 2020

    Today I attended a formal initiation ceremony hosted by the VIERA ELKS CHAPTER located in VIERA, FLORIDA and was proudly sworn into the BENEVOLENT & PROTECTIVE ORDER OF THE ELKS. It was an absolutely wonderful evening being chosen to join the GREATEST FRATERNAL ORGANIZATION in the country, a tremendously civic minded and giving organization, as well as a CHRISTIAN ORGANIZATION. As a member of the VIERA ELKS we have full access to all the Elks lodges across the country, many of which have ACCESS FOR RV RIGS to park and enjoy their lodges as well, which is of huge interest to us. Enjoy the initiation pictures!!!!

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    Air Force – Airman First Class Braedon Clark (Technical School Graduation – Texas) March 9, 2020

    Have you ever been SO PROUD of someone and felt like you just have to tell the whole world about it. Anna and I are SUPER PROUD PARENTS and feel just that way. We are truly amazed by the wonderful growth and maturity we have witnessed in our son, AIRMAN FIRST CLASS BRAEDON CLARK, since joining the UNITED STATES AIR FORCE. Honestly we COULD NOT BE MORE PROUD OF BRAEDON!! He absolutely loves what he is doing. His dedication and accomplishments throughout Basic Military Training and Technical Training have been evident to his instructors and everyone who knows him. He will move to his first full time position in the Air Force tomorrow at a base on the U.S. eastern coast. To stay within the Air Force security guidelines, we are purposefully not divulging the details of his new assignments and/or location. WAY TO GO BUDDY. KEEP UP THE FANTASTIC WORK!!!!!!

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    Cape Canaveral, Florida – Boeing Rocket Launch December 20, 2019

    Anna and I were recently invited to view a recent BOEING ROCKET LAUNCH, up front and personal, from the closest vantage point available to the public, and by invitation only. A huge thank you goes out to our great friend, Leslie Day, who works at the Cape, for this incredible opportunity and experience. What an amazing feeling of excitement to be so close to the launch site, and experience the extreme bright light at liftoff and the loud thrust noise coming across the water shortly afterward. The launch was scheduled for an early lift-off at 6:30AM, requiring us to arrive at the Cape at 5:00AM. To experience a lift-off in the semi-dark was extra special as the light from the booster flames lite up the entire sky in a matter of seconds. We were also able to watch the rocket’s trajectory for a longer period of time, even past the second stage lighting. What a treat, and what a thrill to have witnessed this unique event up front and personal!!!!!!!!

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    The Great Outdoors – Titusville, Florida (Our new RV Community Home) December 10, 2019 to Present)

    Great news, to complement our RV traveling, “nomad” lifestyle, we have also PURCHASED PROPERTY in the wonderful RV COMMUNITY of “THE GREAT OUTDOORS”, located in TITUSVILLE, FLORIDA. Our new RV pad and guest suite provide us with a level of seasonal permanence here in the CENTRAL, COASTAL FLORIDA area, near many of our family members and friends. As so-called “SUN-BIRDS”, running from the extreme summer heat and humidity here in Florida, WE PLAN TO TRAVEL FROM THE MID SPRING TO MID FALL TIME FRAME EACH YEAR, to travel, investigate and thoroughly enjoy this beautiful and impressive country of ours. We INVITE ALL OF OUR FAMILY MEMBERS & DEAR FRIENDS to join us at our new property while we are in town. We are traveling now, but will be back to THE GREAT OUTDOORS FROM APRIL 15 to MAY 15, after a month’s stay at Wickham Park in Melbourne, where we stay from March 15 to April 15, at the tail end of our current Florida trip. We will leave on May 15th for our seasonal trip through the central United States to Michigan, then eastbound through parts of Canada, and ultimately traveling into Maine and down the eastern seaboard of our country. Praise God, we are truly and deeply blessed!!!!

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    United States Air Force – Airman Braedon Clark (Basic Military Training – Lackland Air Force Base) October 1, 2019 to Present

    We are so INCREDIBLY PROUD of our son, BRAEDON, who chose a new and exciting career path in the UNITED STATES AIR FORCE. He did extremely well through his BASIC MILITARY TRAINING at LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE in San Antonio, Texas, excelling in every aspect of his training. His graduation was over the Thanksgiving holiday, which Anna was able to attend. Braedon continues to do well as he deep in the middle of his job training at SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE located in Wichita Falls, Texas, near the border of Oklahoma. As you can imagine, the specifics about his position in the Air Force cannot be discussed on Social Media. Braedon will move into his military position soon at LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE located in Hampton, Virginia. We couldn’t be more proud of him and his accomplishments!!!!!

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    Charleston Marine Life Center – Charleston, Oregon Simpson Reef – Coos Bay, Oregon August 8, 2019

    This morning we learned all about the seaside ESTUARIES which sustain an abundance of both marine and wildlife along the coastal Oregon shoreline. This afternoon, we complemented that experience by visiting the truly awesome CHARLESTON MARINE LIFE CENTER in CHARLESTON, OREGON, located in the southwestern coastal region of the state.  We were able to view live sea life up and close, including a variety of colorful SEA ANEMONIES, OCHRE SEA STARS, weird SEA CUCUMBERS, a plethora of interesting FISH, various CRABS, SEA URCHINS and more. Check out the picture of the huge and armor shell, protected PUGET SOUND KING CRAB. I sure wouldn’t want to run into him in the ocean!! The Marine Life Center also provided us with fantastic interactive displays and bone structures of DOLPHINS, SEA LIONS, HARBOR SEALS, various WHALES, and again so much more. Lastly for the day, we took the experiences about the estuaries and sea life we had just learned about and visited SUNSET BAY. The stunningly beautiful bay was outlined by impressive cliffs, and provided a perfect view of the CAPE AREGO LIGHTHOUSE located near the town of COOS BAY, OREGON. Proceeding down the road, we stopped at the SIMPSON REEF OVERLOOK. You have never heard anything like this in your life. Many hundreds, if not over 1,000, CALIFORNIA SEA LIONS, STELLAR SEA LIONS (up to 700 pounds), NORTHERN ELEPHANT SEALS (up to 16 feet and 1,800 pounds), and HARBOR SEALS, were barking and roaring below us. The noise was deafening, but was so incredible to witness. What an amazing day!!!!!

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    Prairie Creek State Park, Northwestern California Redwoods National & State Parks (Lady Bird Johnson Grove & Berry Glen Trails) July 30, 2019

    Today’s venue was to HIKE a fairly difficult set of trails into the mountains in the PRAIRIE CREEK STATE PARK nestled in the REDWOODS NATIONAL AND STATE PARKS, established in 1968. We hiked the LADY BIRD JOHNSON GROVE & BERRY GLEN TRAILS. The 6 ½ mile hike, started with the BERRY GLEN TRAIL which traversed at times what seemed to be straight up for an elevation change of 1,200 feet. The COASTAL REDWOOD FORESTS were absolutely magnificent, with large clusters of stunningly tall, and in many cases, surprisingly wide redwood trees. An interesting fact, only THREE PERCENT of the ANCIENT REDWOODS are AGED OVER 1,000 YEARS and EIGHTEEN PERCENT live between 701 AND 999 YEARS of age. The oldest “old growth” redwoods attain an astonishing age of over 2,000 years. The forest floor was blanketed by large, dark green ferns that in many cases were above my shoulder height, and in some areas they attained heights over 8 feet. It is also amazing to see how many of these massive redwood trees are still living, and actually thriving after fires have hollowed out big sections of their lower core. Keep in mind that these trees can grow over 370 feet and carry a weight of over 1 million pounds. Ask yourself, how does such a tall, thin structure stand for thousands of years considering it is constantly subjected to fires, wind storms and earthquake activity in the area?