Time has Flown & Much has Happened

The last time we sent out a blog was after our Summer Vacation 2011 rolled to an end.  We are sending this edition out to allow you the chance to catch up to where we are – and how we got here!

Let me first say that we are excited to have a new website and blog format to keep all our family and friends informed about our travels and other activities.  We thought the web site conversion process would quickly pass, but it took on a life of its own and lasted more than a year.  Jack designed and wrote the previous web site, but both a trusted computer professional (Our Son Turner), and Jack thought the old site had become stagnant and cumbersome.  Turner said he could easily provide us with a new site.  I think he said something like, “It won’t take any time at all.”  But (bless his heart) life got in the way.  So… here we go!

Clemson’s fall football season started right after we returned from our 2011 summer trip – everyone knows we don’t let anything get in the way of our football season.  The exception: Our daughter (Chrissy) gave birth to our first grandchild (Emily)- appropriately on Labor Day.

Turner finished grad school (Digital Communications) at Clemson University, found a place to live, was selected for a job (one-year contract) in Greenville, South Carolina.  His fiancé (Courtney) graduated (Psychology – Counseling) from Clemson, and then they got married.

We sold our Discovery motorhome in March, 2012, and then ordered our new Tiffin Phaeton motorhome (see the blog and our TigerBus page on the website).  In April 2012, our Daughter (Sarah) gave birth to our second grandchild (Langston).

We spent a few days with Langston and his Mom and Dad in Tennessee and then Jack took off to Red Bay, Alabama for a little over a month overseeing the building or our new motorhome.  After taking delivery of the motorhome in May 2012, we piloted it on its maiden voyage to Franklin, NC to shake out the bugs.  In June 2012, we traveled to Michigan for the remaining of the summer (see blog post) – what a phenomenal trip!  Courtney soon started grad school, and then… you guessed it – football season was here again.  We enjoyed taking our new motorhome to Clemson University for the football season.  We have a fantastic tailgating spot right on the Seneca River near the West End Zone of Death Valley.  Turner soon became more involved in his job, he was given additional responsibilities, and also granted a permanent position.  Whew!!!

This past month we were able to take the motorhome to Cataloochee and Maggie Valley in North Carolina, and one of regular stomping ground (Cades Cove) in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park near Townsend, Tennessee.  Now as spring has set in and summer approaches, our web site is complete.  I have to say many thanks to Turner for all of his help in developing our new fanningout.com web site.  It is not only easier to manage, but more engaging for the reader.  There are numerous links throughout the blog posts and the web pages that can provide you with additional information about the subject matter.   If you take a few minutes to look over the web site, you will see the great job he did.  I am proud of him – as I always am.

Jack just returned from a ten-day visit to the Tiffin factory service center in Red Bay, Alabama to have our motorhome checked from end to end.  It has a clean bill of health and is only waiting for us to get in and turn that key!  That pretty much brings us to now and offers some convoluted explanation of “why” you haven’t heard from us for some time.

We will soon be traveling on an eight to nine week trip to Colorado and Utah.  Our good friends from Florida (Curt and Cathy) will meet up with us during our journey and complete the trip with us.  We will do our best to keep in touch with you during our travels.

Click Here to view additional photos related to this blog.

As always, we hope to see you down the road!