And the boys tent is missing the rain fly... This is why I wanted to set them up last week...

First night camping... Brand new tent... Thank goodness the emergency cat kit had duct tape...

Sun Set from the house

even if it is hotter than the face of the sun out here most of the day...the sunset from the back patio is amazing!  My cell phone camera is not the best but you can still see how beautiful this sunset really is!

Fixing a flat

Teaching the boys how to change a flat...the dirt roads out here are horrible for car tires and alignments...the tire that we took off looked like it had been in the blender!  it was totally shredded.

Feeding the needy

This is the first shipment of food to arrive for tomorrow's second chance farmers market.  For just $3  donations people can take home 2-4 bags full of produce, frozen, refrigerated and packaged goods.
It takes a lot of work to put on this farmers market, and a lot of volunteers, which it seems there are never enough of here.  The community center serves 50-100 peoples almost a weeks worth of groceries almost every Friday.  The building also serves as a rental facility hosting weddings, parties, church services, study groups and other events.

The lush green landscape

the lawn is so beautiful and lush and green as you can see...this is what happens when living in the desert under drought conditions.  the cute little pool is to keep the doggies cool, although they just think it is a giant water dish and wont go in....  The clothes line there will dry clothes in under an hour on most days...so no worry about fading it is dried and in faster than the dryer would do!
*Sorry it took so long to check in - i did not realize when i was sending the posts from my phone they were going to draft not publishing!

Made it to CA

Made it here last night late - was super tired.  the trip too a bit longer than expected because of many unexpected stops.

Made it to OKC in time for Reggie to stop and have dinner with some friends from when she lived there.  Then we took off to try to get away from all the storms - we drove through several of them.

If you are ever driving route 70 through western Ohio near the Indiana line you MUST some for BBQ at company 7...just turn north off the exit on Rt 70 and it will be on the left. 1001 S. Main Street Englewood, OH

We pulled off intending to go to big boys or Perkins we saw on the highway sign but as we turned into the big boy lot of seemed a bit empty and right next door the BBQ joint had a full lot... So we stopped in... And I am so glad we did! It is unassuming from the curb but inside it is incredible and the food is AMAZING!
From the plaque out front dedicating the flag to all first responders, to the fire truck behind the bar this place is Awesome. There is even an air hockey table in the back to keep the kids entertained!

Even the patrons are friendly, the nice couple at the next table when they heard we had never been here before offered their favorites as well as some history about the restaurant itself. It was built by all local workers around the classic firetruck that stands behind the bar.

We choose to split a full track of ribs I sampled 3 of the six BBQ sauces on the table... I liked the rookie the best s traditional style sauce... My friend choose the chief a smokey sauce. All entrees come with 2 sides we both choose half a baked potato. And a half a potato with half track of ribs was perfect! I would have taken a photo of the ribs before we ate but they smelled too good to pick up the phone...sorry!!

*edited to add photos

Made it through Pennsylvania... 10 more states to go.....

Delayed...

Well my cross country trek has been delayed by Spirit Airlines...not sure I should be surprised their on time track record is not very good - but they are cheap. So now I am up at 5am...waiting for a 9pm flight... when I went to bed like 9 hours ago they were only 45 minutes delayed...clearly that stretched long into the night...as it appears she just boarded about 30 minutes before I woke up...maybe I will try to go back to bed for a bit of a nap... then again all week I have been adjusting my body to getting up early so I am ready to go...hopefully they at least land and disembark close to their currently scheduled time - with no luggage that should not cause much of a delay

On My Way Tomorrow!

I leave tomorrow morning for California to spend some time with Reggie and her kids....It will be a cross country drive to reach CA from NJ....I found it was cheaper to fly my friend one way from CA to Philly and drive with me than it would be for me to get 2-3 hotel rooms across the country ($75 one way on spirit)...We will be driving taking turns sleeping to get to CA it is a 38 hour drive i assume it will take about 40 hours with bathroom breaks and food breaks and such....I will try to post photos as much as i can along the way as well as once we reach CA.

We will hopefully get to go camping on the beach, visit some of the Spanish missions in CA, and maybe visit the grand canyon.

Money is tight and especially since i am having issues getting my payment from one of the companies i work for and have not been paid since April, and each month they give a different excuse as to why they canceled my check...now i have to wait until NEXT month to see if they got it fixed...they will not reissue the check even though the problem is on THEIR end they are withholding my money and blaming it on me even though there is nothing i can change from my end to make it work.

If you would like to help fulfill some of my friends bucket list items any little bit of a donation would be helpful.  There is more information on the gofundme link below.  Thank you