Cheers!

Sitting in one spot for awhile has given us time to reflect. And, on this last day of 2010, we’ve taken some time to reflect on these most memorable last 365 days.

2010 was our first full calendar year as fulltimers. With just shy of a year and a half of life on the road under our belt, this was the year when this lifestyle became our normal life. We’re still newbies and far from experts, but this life some folks call strange or absurd has become absolutely normal. And, we like it that way.

With 13,000 miles or so on the new moose’s odometer, it would be easy to think this past year was all about the places we’ve been. And, we’ve been to some great places. We played in a giant sandbox, spent a month visiting our old home state of California, enjoyed a summer month in one really cool spot in Idaho, discovered that even the northernmost parts of our country can be really hot in summer, finally laid eyes on Niagara Falls, walked over to Canada for the second year in a row, made a beeline back to Kansas City, spent two days at chassis school followed by two fun weeks in the hills of Tennessee, became honorary citizens of Forest City, Iowa, (OK, we’re kidding about that!) spent a holiday month in Kansas City without freezing our butts off and found a wonderful winter home in the hills of Texas.

But, as wonderful as all of the places of 2010 have been, this year has really been about people. Our most notable reflection about this year is the people we now know as friends who were strangers just a year ago (or less!).

2010 was the year we met Pat and Ed, Mike and Penny, Jerry and Maxine, Eric and Karla, Steve and Debbie, Sherry and Sharon, Al and Priscilla, Joe and Judy, Anna and Gale, JoAnn and Doug, Leno and Kevin, Donna and Nolan, Chuck and Kathy, Mark and Dortha, Ed and Marilyn, Carl and Linda, Gary and Francile (and their whole family), Bob and Molly, Nora and Howie, Sandie and Jim, Linda and Denny, Jim and Ellie, Phil and Joy, Merikay, Sandy and John, Mike and Leslie, Judy and Emma, John and Ann, Len and Mary Ellen, Chuck and Anneke, Sue and Paul, Craig and Anne, Gary and Vicki, Lisa and Tony and Tez and Rick, Cindy and Ken, Darrell and Judy and Gene and Judi, Jenny’s other half Don, Brenda and JB.

And we were worried fulltiming would be a lonely lifestyle!

We had the good fortune to reconnect with fulltiming friends Mac and Netters, Rod and Deb, Gypsy and our Godfadda Gordon and Juanita. It was a real treat to camp with Steve and Cathy after meeting them last year in Kansas City and seeing them as new fulltimers this year.

This was also the year we met our virtual friends Bruce and Margie, only to lose them in a tragic and senseless act a few months later. We also lost my crazy relative Leonard, from whom we inherited our RVing genes. The most precious loss, of course, was Paul’s mom. We miss her, especially during this holiday season.

As we ring in the new year at our park’s celebration this evening, we’ll raise our glasses and toast the wonderful people who make our great life on the road richer than ever. We wish everyone who reads these words a new year of health, happiness, prosperity, fun and adventure.

Cheers!