Our Big News!

This weekend I announced to the Sacred Heart Church community that I will be retiring this summer!
Kevin and I have decided that we need to spend more time together- traveling to see our family and seeing the United States! And SKIING  a LOT more!!!
I will miss working for the Church, but I will love even more the time on the road! I've always loved to drive and to see the country....I'll be heading to So Cal on Mother's Day weekend to visit MY MOTHER;  I was looking forward to a long 12 hour drive each way to sing out loud all the 70's music and country songs I know and not drive Kevin crazy...but my Mom worries so much when I'm on the road that she decided to buy me a ticket from Medford to the OC so she wouldn't worry!
I've always loved driving and traveling and especially, camping! I know, I grew up thinking that 'camping' was when we stayed at the Holiday Inn on our trips across country to Rhode Island from So Cal...but I always loved tent camping in the San Bernardino Mountains in So Cal  as a Girl Scout and when I found out Kevin's family were campers, I was all in!
My first trip with Kevin's family in their travel trailer was to Shaver Lake. It was an awesome trip- I knew this was the man I would marry after this trip! We ate lake-caught trout, took 25 cent showers for about an hour, walked a bunch of beautiful trails and slept out under the stars...well, remember, I was 18 at the time. In love- with the outdoors and a man who could start a fire anywhere. (figuratively and literally)
We kept tent camping after that...and a couple of years later, when Patrick was 6 weeks old, we took him tent camping in the Sequoias. I think his love of the outdoors started then....
After many tent camping trips to many memorable places such as Rock Creek, Zion, Santa Barbara and June Lake...we have finally graduated to a travel trailer. OK, I'm in my mid-50's. I've slept on the ground, on a pad, on an air mattress, and seriously, I'm tired of freezing my ass off in the snow and sleeping on rocks. And, I want to be able to drive to see stuff like Farmer's Markets and wine tasting and then, go back to my own little house on wheels so I can pee in the middle of the night without putting my coat on or encountering a freaking GIANT deer at the door of the women's bathroom at 2AM....hello, Zion! I think Pat, Chris and Kevin still remember that scream- like I was being murdered....but that's another story.
Here's our new baby...

It's an 18' Aljo with a walk around Queen bed, a 2 burner stove, a fridge (bigger than a dorm fridge!) a separate bathroom with a toilet and a real shower with a tiny tub (a door to keep the stink contained- ha ha) and LOTS of storage! We are in love...the past week since we've owned it, we've been out in the trailer almost every night, having a drink, eating dinner, dreaming about where we will travel...it has an air conditioner and a heater so the possibilities are endless...although, my friend Patty Kay said, " we don't have anywhere to heat up the Safeway Turkey Dinner for Thanksgiving Weekend in Mammoth"...God, I love Patty! So sure we will be doing the Mammoth Turkey Day Ski/Dinner/James Bond Fest in November 2012!!!
So, wish us well and you will be seeing more....tales from the road...along with recipes perfect for camping or a two burner dinner....and a tour of the Catholic Churches we encounter! By the way, Happy Orthodox Easter!!!