Today Chuck was honored with a plaque by LifeSouth Community Blood Centers in Citrus County, Florida to celebrate his having donated TEN gallons of blood, one pint at a time. As you can see by the picture, Chuck is pretty proud of his achievement and says he is looking forward to donating his next gallon. […]
We arrived today in Hoodsport, Washington, a beautiful little (really little) town in Washington State that sits on the Hood Canal, a 600 foot deep fjord that is home to the giant Pacific Octopus and renowned Hoodsport shrimp and some of the best oysters in the country. Wow. We didn’t know that until we got […]
How do you like our bike jerseys? I bought Cheryl her nice new “Wedding Gown” and my “Tux” for this special occasion – our 25th! We were married on the Queen Mary and just had to come back to celebrate our 25th there. What a great ship. I even took my Beautiful Bride to a […]
We are currently camping at City of Rocks State Park in New Mexico. Still in New Mexico?! you say? Yep, that’s right. For some reason, we just can’t seem to get out of this state (well, except for a couple of weeks in extreme West Texas). There were a lot of things we wanted to […]
Today we visited Florida’s Highest Waterfall in Falling Waters State Park located near Chipley, FL in the northwestern panhandle of the state. Wait a minute – did I just say FLORIDA’S highest waterfall? Yes, I did. Who knew, right? The state of Florida is about as close to sea level as one can get without […]
January 1st, 2009 
Chuck 
Happy New Year!
Today is the 1st day of the New Year. I decided to start the new year off right with a short 20 mile bike ride. Felt good to back on the bike. I took Cheryl’s advice and only did a short ride. The temperature was a nice 60 degrees.
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December 26th, 2008 Cheryl 
We’re still Workamping at Riverbend Hot Springs in Truth or Consequences, NM. In fact, yesterday made exactly one month since we’ve arrived. T or C (as the locals call it) is a very small town, though not as small as some we’ve been in – Interior, SD (population 67) comes to mind. It has a lot of potential to be a great resort or tourist town, but it doesn’t seem like the locals are interested. There are a lot of artist and quirky shops, but the downtown area just doesn’t look like much. It really needs a makeover to make it attractive to tourists. Right now the town seems very run down and most of the people we see here are hippie-types or those who escew traditional lifestyles. Nothing wrong with that, but with the hot springs, mineral baths, southwestern arts and crafts, and location (near the soon-to-be Spaceport and between Las Cruces and Albuquerque, NM) it could be so much more. We have never seen so many mobile homes and RVs in storage in one location. You would think that would make the real estate here really reasonable, especially with this economy, right? Wrong. It’s quite expensive. Comparing property here to property in Florida the prices are triple or more for a whole lot less. Anyway, it’s not a bad little town, but after a month we’ve pretty much seen it all and are scheduled to be here for two more months. Hopefully we’ll have some time soon to drive a bit farther away and see some other sights. We have plans to hopefully see Silver City, Carlsbad Caverns, and White Sands Missile range sometime before we leave.
December 25th, 2008 Cheryl Today we decided to drive around instead of just sitting in the camper on Christmas Day. We took off from Truth or Consequences and drove towards Silver City, NM. On the way we ran into a little rain, which turned into snow by the time we got into the mountains and just east of Santa Rita and in Gila National Forest (about two-thirds of the way to Silver City). We stopped and enjoyed a ‘White Christmas’ – something we haven’t seen for YEARS living in Florida for so long. Of course, it wasn’t the blizzards and record snow falls the rest of the country seems to be experiencing right now, but we enjoyed it. Below are some videos of the three of us messing around – definitely not professional cinematography. 
We hope your Christmas was wonderful too.
Christmas Day for the Charleses in New Mexico from C. Charles on Vimeo.
Shadow explores the snow from C. Charles on Vimeo
Empty Downtown Street in Truth or Consequences, NM
On a little side note, seems all of this part of NM is closed up TIGHT on Christmas Day. Nothing we didn’t expect for a holiday such as this in small rural communities, but with the businesses here in Truth or Consequences being mostly tourist related (hot springs and motels) you’d think there would be restaurants open taking advantage of the busy season. But no – everything, and we mean EVERYTHING (including even the self-serve car wash) was closed. We wondered about the people staying in the motels – where did they eat? Only Denny’s on the Interstate was open.
December 12th, 2008 Cheryl 
Minnow the Cat keeping warm on the computer
Chuck and I (and I think even Shadow) are suffering from some pretty nasty head colds right now. I got it first and it’s been over a week since my symptoms started and instead of getting better, I’ve just gotten worse. Now Chuck’s feeling the effects and Shadow’s been coughing as well. I think it’s a combination of the very dry air, some really cold weather lately (down to 24 degrees just the other night!) and all the frequent winds that constantly kicks up the dirt and dust around here. Add to that (for me, anyway, with my allergies) the resident cat here at Riverbend that basically lives in the office at night when I’m on duty and we’ve got the recipe for some serious head congestion. Oh well, hopefully we’ll all be feeling better soon. I’ve got the next three days off to just rest and get over it. Hope Chuck and Shadow get over it quicker!
December 10th, 2008 Shadow 
Shadow napping under her blankets
Alright, whose idea was it to spend the winter in New Mexico because it’s WARM in the southwest? 24 degrees. That’s how cold it got last night. Dad, Mom, and I are always bundled up or huddled under blankets. This camper wasn’t made for cold weather and isn’t very insulated – though Mom and Dad have done some insulating themselves to try and warm things up with a metalic type of bubble wrap insulation that they can cut into pieces and place in strategic areas of the camper – like under the seats and couch in our slide-out, for instance. Next winter I hope they will be better informed. Perhaps we can store the RV and take a trip down to Cozumel for the winter? Desert sand or beach sand… I’ll take the beach!
Until next time – Happy Tails! 
November 14th, 2008 Cheryl 
Today we arrived at our new home for the next three months – Riverbend Hot Springs in Truth or Consequences, NM. We found this position through our affiliation with Workamper News. For the next three months we’ll ‘work camp’ here. I have the night shift and will be running the office checking in guests for the springs and lodging, taking reservations, providing tours, and generally anything and everything that goes along with that. Chuck will help out around the place as needed as well. In exchange, we get a place to park the camper at no cost. Not a bad deal.
So far the people at Riverbend are wonderful and the springs are really nice. It’s the only hot springs in TorC that is located right on the river. All the pools are outdoors, with a view of the local mountain (Turtleback Mountain) and the Rio Grande River. The workamping RV spots are a little tight, but will do. It will be nice to stay in one spot for a little while and catch up on things we need to – especially saving a bit of money.
November 7th, 2008 Cheryl 
We arrived at Natchez Trace State Park yesterday about 4pm Central Time (crossed another time zone – let’s see – that makes the fourth time change overall since leaving FL). This is located just about an hour or so west of Nashville, TN and not too far off of Interstate 40. It’s BEAUTIFUL here. We could easily stay here forever. The RV campground is on Pin Oak Lake and is picture perfect. Too bad we have to be in New Mexico by the 14th or we could seriously stay here the whole two weeks allowed by the park.
Gorgeous RV spaces and views at Pin Oak Lake
The campground is well taken care of and quiet with nice views. The bathhouse is clean and even has a thermostat to control the temperature. The base price is $25 for full hookups with discounts for seniors making it $23 night for us (the discount is a bit more for TN resident seniors). That’s a little more than we normally like to pay, but since we boondocked at truck stops the last two nights, it averages out at to about half that price for us for the two nights we’re staying. We have to say we highly recommend this park and if we’re ever in the area again we’ll definitely stay longer and explore all the trails and activities here.
October 28th, 2008 Cheryl 
Crossing the Finish Line - 26.2 miles
I finished! Yay for that. Unfortunately, if anyone has seen my times on the Marine Corps Marathon site (and the pictures of me running which are awful!) you will have thought to yourself how SLOW can she go?! ;-P However, considering the injury I was dealing with for about the last four weeks, I’m satisfied with my performance. My first goal was just to finish – and I accomplished that. Thank heavens for the GREAT massage therapist I saw a few days ago. In large part due to him, I was able to actually run the marathon (which I was believing I might not be able to do at all) and was in less pain – until about mile 21. Then the pain really started to get bad again so that I had to slow down considerably just to finish, but I did finish. 5:26:29.
With my finisher's medal
The marathon was amazing. SO many people! It really was like a HUGE street party. I’ve read time and time again that everyone who runs marathons should run the Marine Corps Marathon at least once. They’re right. I can’t believe how well it went considering over 35,000 people entered and a little over 17,000 finished. The Marines were really great and the crowds were wonderful and did wonders in keeping you going. I’m definitely glad I did it, but probably won’t do again. The logistics of getting to and around Washington, DC are just not our cup of tea. We like small cities or towns. DC is just too big and crazy for us.
Someday I’ll probably do another marathon though, and hopefully I’ll run it the way I wanted to run this one – comfortable and a bit faster. 
But I’m happy I did it and happy for the charity I ran for. Running Strong is a very motivating and worthwhile cause.
Chuck & Cheryl at the Running Strong tent after the Marine Corps Marathon
My sincerest thanks go out to everyone who supported me in one way or another. And I cannot possibly thank my wonderful husband, Chuck, enough. He always supports me in whatever I do. He’s absolutely the best cheerleader anyone could ever have. I can’t even describe how much it means to me – not just thoughout these months of training and throughout this marathon, but throughout my life. No one could ask for a better husband and best friend.
September 24th, 2008 Cheryl Badlands National Park (Interior, SD) to Mitchell, SD
We went out to Badlands NP again this morning for me to get in my 9 mile run. Chuck also wanted to bike in the park, so he rode as well. We were going to leave today on our way back east, but after spending so much time saving pictures on our hard drives after my run yesterday and then spending time at the Visitor’s Center, we decided to just stay overnight again and leave after my run this morning.
Chuck riding in the Badlands
Chuck started his ride from the parking lot I started yesterday’s run from. It is a steep, steep road from the Visitor’s Center to this area and about a 2 to 3 mile climb, but flattens out to prairie beyond the trails located at the parking lot. He rode north on the Badlands Scenic Highway towards I-90 and back, which is about 16 miles round-trip. Unfortunately, bikes aren’t allowed on the trails here at Badlands NP.
On the way up to our start point I saw a dirt road off the main road, so I ran from the parking lot to the road and gave it a try. Turns out it was a good move, as it went for miles and miles and was a good surface with little climbing. “Old North East Hwy” was its name, but I couldn’t find it on the park maps. I ran out 4 1/2 miles and then back and towards the parking lot start point, which gave me 9 1/2 miles by the time I was done.
A Hurricane in the Desert?
Today marks exactly one month since we began Workamping at Riverbend Hot Springs in Truth or Consequences, NM. Last night and today made us really wonder (yet again) why we chose this part of New Mexico for the winter. The winds were unbelievable! We had steady winds of 25-35 mph with gusts of 50 mph! The winds began yesterday afternoon and built steadily over the rest of the day and night. By 4 am, our camper was rocking so much I really thought we might get knocked over. In this camper we’ve been through a Tropical Storm in Florida and a SEVERE thunderstorm in the Badlands of South Dakota (70 mph gusts) that were nothing compared to this constant buffering of winds. Dale (another workamper who has been at Riverbend for about 17 months now) said it was unusual to have such bad winds this time of year (though not unusual to be very windy – as we’ve found out these past weeks), but it was quite normal for springtime. He said when he first got to TorC he made the mistake of leaving all the windows open in his RV and coming back to find all his blinds trashed after a bout of winds. We had a good laugh comparing our RVs to boats – as the way our RVs were rocking it truly felt as if we were out on the open seas today. Crazy.
[vimeo http://vimeo.com/2535512]