WE HAVE MOVED

Our blog has officially moved to it's new address: http://burkhartsabroad.com and we will no longer be updating this page.

Head on over and follow us there - we are excited to share our adventures with you. 

See you there!
Keith & Tarah

Headed to the DR to Party like a Rock Star... Kind of...

Thanks to some close friends we met in Mexico (Hey, Annette and Vince!), we will be staying at the Hard Rock Punta Cana for the next week. We got a great deal with lots of credits to use at the resort, which we plan to use on the spa, so relaxing is the only thing on the agenda. We are looking at this as a wellness vacay. You know, eat well, gym, pool, and spa... Yeah, there will be drinks but we are hoping to focus on wellness and not overdo it on this trip. We have to get back on our weight-loss journey and this feels like a great place to start!

This will be our first trip to the DR and I was a bit surprised when Keith said he had no interest in leaving the resort. He is all about just relaxing. Fine by me!

I'll be posting pictures on our Instagram account, so make sure to check them out! See you in a week!

We are Changing our Instagram

For the last year we have been living a Keto lifestyle and I have been maintaining an Instagram account to showcase the foods we eat and how to best live Keto. Well, I still plan to do that but I am expanding it to be more about our travel AND Keto.

I would love if you would take the time to come and follow our Instagram account @theburkhartsabroad - it will allow me to post more pictures about our travel. This blog only gives me so much space for pictures and we take a TON of pictures...

While we are at it, you can also follow me @tarahburkhart or Keith @retired.early.pruvin.it

Hope you'll follow us and let us know if there is something you would like to see.

RV'ing to Orlando to see the Kings

We are on the move, yet again! We headed back to Orlando but this time with Annie Too. We are meeting up with friends, Rob & Kris King. We are excited to spend a week hanging out with them and seeing what kind of trouble we can get into with them!

Good Morning from Ocala

Ft.Myers Beach Fun

Our time at the beach was really enjoyable. Tricia, Hector and family stayed with us both weekends in the condo. It was fun spending time with them and the kids. Most days we swam at the pool or beach, the kids and men played ping pong or pool while the girls relaxed by the pool or watched movies. We grilled out, went to a few restaurants but all in all just enjoyed laughing a lot!

Since we weren’t able to have the condo for Tricia’s birthday, we celebrated early. We took the adults on a sunset cruise on the water where Michelle and Rafael joined us. That night was so much fun, lots of drinks and even more laughter!!

The guys were hilarious, but then again, this is always how they act together.

On Tuesday night I was happy to be able to meet up with my ex-step brother, Matt, and his wife. We spent several hours catching up, sharing old stories about childhood and laughing. It was nice to see him and I enjoyed the time spent with them. Really hoping the relationship will grow as I miss him and his sister from my life. ❤️

The next day we had to pack up and head back to Ocala for a few nights before we hit the road for a mini trip to Orlando with the pups and Annie Too. We plan to see Rob and Kris and ride some rides at Universal. Can’t wait!!

Visiting Family in Naples

On Wednesday, we drove down to Naples to see my Aunt and Uncle. Keith was able to get in another golf day but this time with my Uncle and two of his friends. I was able to find a Groupon for them at Eagle Lakes Golf Course, which according to them, was a great deal. So off they went to play 18 rounds of golf in the hot sun.

My Aunt and I spent the day shopping and then finished it off with a glass of bubbly. We mainly stuck to the Home Goods and Marshall's so I could find some home items for the RV. Spoiler alert, I did!

The guys came back exhausted and hungry so we headed to the beach for dinner and drinks. I had the second best Bloody Mary I've had on this trip. The golf course in Ft.Myers is still the winner! 

It was a great day but we were both tired and ready to crash. Thanks family for having us - we love you all!!

Visiting Family in Parkland

While we are in Florida we wanted to also find time to spend with some family who also live in the state. Last time we were here we tried to see my cousins in Parkland, but were unable to get down there. Thankfully this trip, we made it happen!

So, On Monday, we headed South. They took us to a cute little ocean side town where we went to this dog friendly restaurant, the Nautidawg Marina Cafe. It was in such an adorable area, the weather was great and the company was perfect. I forgot to snap pictures but I did get this shot of the cute Easter egg colored homes on the street. Doesn't it look like a happy place?! It was a great day and we can't wait to go back down and visit them again!

Side note... I hadn't ever been to the Parkland area but it appears to be a lovely town. Sadly, as most of you know, they have had some really horrible times with the Parkland shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. My cousins kids were in school during the shooting and have become huge advocates for the March For Our Lives movement and we couldn't be prouder of them!

Please take some time to support the Never Again movement and the March For Our Lives. They are making some amazing steps forward and we support them. 

#neveragain

Seeing Friends is Why We Are Here

The whole idea of traveling to Ft.Myers was purely about seeing friends and family. Yesterday and today were perfect days to do just that.

First off we had the opportunity to see an old boss of Keith's from the Coast Guard. He and his wife, plus 3 friends met with us for dinner. We met right outside Sanibel Island at a bar called Bimini Bait Shack, which was super cool! They had live music on an elevated stage, the bar was an actual fish tank with live fish and the seats were swings. 

Today, my best friend of 25+ years and her family joined us at the condo for a day of beach time, grilling and swimming. The kids played ping pong and pool before we grilled burgers for lunch. Then we all walked over to the beach to watch the guys and kids wrestle and bury Hector in the sand. Keith forgot how old he was and chased the kids all over the beach - pretty sure he is going to be sore tomorrow! ;)

We all walked away sun burnt and happy and I can't wait till they come back next weekend for THE WHOLE WEEKEND. It's going to be so much fun!!

Golfing in Ft.Myers, Florida

Keith has been wanting to golf and sadly our last attempt in Ocala didn't pan out, so I planned him a golf day thanks to Groupon at Myerlee Country Club.

I managed to book him a tee time for the early afternoon and we were under the impression it would just be him and me driving the cart. Well, we showed up and Keith was paired with a high school kid on Spring Break. His grandpa decided to tag along so he drove their cart and I drove ours. 

It was an insanely windy day (see video below) so to say they played poorly would be accurate but I am sure Keith would say he at least had fun. Thankfully around the 8th hole we managed to get the best Bloody Mary I have ever had in my life. They were 2 for $5 or 6 for $11 - STEAL OF A DEAL!

We grabbed two for the rest of the course and then after the 18th we headed back for 2 more. We may need to go back before we leave just for the drinks.

HomeExchange in Florida

When we decided to leave Mexico for awhile, we signed our home up for HomeExchange and Love Home Swap. I wasn't really sure what to expect but I did know a few folks who used both sites and loved the experience.

To say we have been thrilled with it to date would be an understatement. It has allowed us the opportunity to travel more than originally planned without having to pay for hotels. 

Recently, we traded our Mexico home for a condo in Ft.Myers Beach for two weeks. The owner of the condo will be headed to our home a bit later in the year for the same amount of time. I had reached out to several places in the area a few months ago in hopes of finding someplace for us and the dogs to go so we could visit with friends for longer than a weekend. The only person who was interested owns a really cool condo right off the beach. Sadly, dogs weren't allowed so we had to leave them with my mom, which thankfully she didn't mind. 

Here is a tour of the new condo we get to stay in for the next few weeks!

As of right now, we also plan to visit Amsterdam in July and Paris in September through HomeExchange and Love Home Swap. I can't wait to see what else we do this year and next!

Where else should we go?

We ARE Roller Coaster People

Keith and I spent a day at Universal Studios in Orlando on Sunday and contemplated going again Monday but decided to run errands instead. We rode a total of 10 rides. Our two favorites were The Mummy and The Rockin’ Rollercoaster. We aren’t as young as we used to be so 10 was the max we could handle... Hogwarts is GREAT but I found myself closing my eyes many times due all the motion making my head hurt...

Anyways, Orlando was really fun. We loved the Orlando RV Resort and will go back again. It’s clean, huge, has a fenced dog park and close to shops. We joined Thousand Trails and are very glad we did  - it's saved us a ton of money!! Ask us more about it, if interested. WE LOVE IT!

On pack up day we both admitted we were sad to leave. The silver lining is we are going to Ft.Myers to see our besties for 2 weeks. A tattoo or two may even be planned... we shall see!

With all of our travels I try to be as thrifty as possible. I cook a lot and I buy experiences from Groupon so we still get out and see things. (Use my link and you'll get $10 Groupon bucks). We have several rounds of golf, mani/pedi’s, a sunset cruise and a distillery tour scheduled so far. We gravitate towards wine tastings, spa days, trying new experiences... What do you like to do on vacation?

As Willie Put it... On The Road Again

Cheers, love!

We have been bitten by the RV camping bug, that’s for sure. We got back to Ocala after a week in Myrtle Beach and we’re instantly planning our next outing. Joining Thousand Trails has been a game changer as it’s allowed us to just reserve spots in campgrounds nearby for “free”. It’s suffice to say it’s already paid for itself. 

We are planning an outing to Universal Studios with our friends, Rob and Kris, in April. Being FL residents, we got a great deal on 3 days versus 1. So, after a few days in Ocala, we decided to go stay closer to Orlando so we could start using those days. We had been given 2 free nights at a campground 45 min from Orlando to go listen to a timeshare sales pitch. We went! 

The pitch was the usual 2 hour deal, we said no thanks and collected our free lunch, $50 gift card, $25 Cracker Barrel gift card and vouchers for 2 nights elsewhere and 21 days of free camping. Not too shabby!

We had hoped to stay one more night for free to go to the park but were told it was $45 a night (we didn’t buy, after all) so we looked up Thousand Trails and booked 3 nights for $0 which is 30 minutes from Universal. Winning!

We packed up the pups and we are heading to Orlando for some roller coaster fun! See ya soon! 

Myrtle Beach for the Win

As you know we were in Myrtle Beach for a week visiting friends. So, one of the highlights of the trip is we ended up trading in Annie for a larger model. We spent a day looking at campers and found one at Camping World we loved. Plus, throw in an offer we can’t refuse and we walked away with a 34’ Rockwood 2902WS. This thing has 2 slides, an actual shower we can move in, outdoor kitchen, more counter space, bigger fridge, fireplace, queen size pull-out sofa bed, a queen size bed not jammed in the wall, tons of storage and loads of space for Lionel. We named her ‘Annie Too’. I’ll post more about her later.

Besides upgrading our digs, we also explored the area with our friends. For Kris’s birthday we spent the day eating, drinking, visiting a cemetery to visit the haunted grave of Alice Flagg, we attemped wine tasting (apparently the last tasting is an hour before closing and they wouldn’t honor our Groupon, I wasn’t happy), an amazing seafood buffet full of crab legs, and watching karaoke at a local beach bar. That was just one day. I think she had a great day - we were thrilled to have been apart of it! 

On our last day, we had tea at a southern plantation owned by a signer of the Declaration of Independence. But not to be forgotten, we also had pedicures, massages, the guys played golf twice, shopped many times and enjoyed an array of non-Keto food and Jell-O shots. I’d say it was a great trip, but now it’s time to get back to Keto!

Since we are now pulling a larger RV we opted to stay a night at another campground mid way home vs driving the 8 hours, which would end up being longer. Plus we were on the move so much in Myrtle Beach we wanted another night to enjoy our new toy. We stopped in a small town in SC called Yemassee, which has pretty much nothing but gas stations. Our campground is fine but I think I’ll be removing it from our return list... no WiFi, nothing close, no grocery stores. Its part of our Thousand Trails membership so its “free” but I think we’ll find something closer to Savannah for our May trip. 

We aren’t surprised, I think others are, but we are loving RV life! ❤️

Shagging in Myrtle Beach

Get your head out of the gutter, the shag is a dance in South Carolina! If you saw the movie Shag you would know what I'm talking about. (Side note, I loved that movie and want to go see the movie sights while here...).

Anyways, we drove 7/5 hours from Ocala, FL to get here and we are glad we did. It was a lovely reunion with friends from Mexico, Rob and Kris King. We are staying in the very large RV resort, Ocean Lakes Family Resort. Being that it is off season it isn't packed at all, which is nice. We are right near the beach so a nice breeze is always blowing.

For our first night we started with margaritas at their RV. However,  after our beach walk we opted to head into town for drinks and appetizers. It wasn't a late night as we were exhausted but I anticipate several longer evening ahead of us this week. 

I googled 'odd things to do in Myrtle Beach' and found a few places I'd like to go. I found 2 wineries (one with a white Merlot), tea at the home of a Declaration of Independence signer, a restaurant with goats (the goats may be on vacation though since it's winter), Shag lessons, Alice Flagg's grave and a fried bologna sandwich. Might have to check a few of these out.

I'll post more at the end of our trip about what we ended up doing. If you have suggestions, send them our way. Happy travels!

Crazy Car Conversations on a Long Drive

Two Months of RV Travel

For the months of May and June we plan to hook up the travel trailer (Annie) and hit the road. Our plan is to explore the entire East coast.

Here is our route as of right now. I had to break it into two maps as Google Maps would only allow so many stops... It's like they don't realize people may want to track A LOT of routes, as in a vacation that has many stops. I know we aren't the first to come up with this idea.

Here is Route 1 from Ocala, FL to the Portland/Boothbay Harbor, ME area.

Here is part 2 of our trip from Portland/Boothbay Harbor, ME back to Ocala, FL.

We plan to see several friends along the way. If you are on our route, let us know!!

Visiting Friends in Ft.Myers

Keith and I have been staying with my Mom for several weeks so we decided to give them a break, and us, and head South to see friends for the weekend. The dogs even came along... Gotta love La Quintas!

We arrived on Saturday afternoon, checked into our hotel and then headed straight to Hector and Tricia's house to meet up. Their daughter Naomi had a dance competition all weekend so we decided to tag along. We had no idea what we were in for... LOL! 

We met Michelle at the school and grabbed seats for everyone. The competition had over 300+ girls dancing to various styles of dance. I believe the first night was mostly solos, but I'm not positive. Naomi did an amazing contemporary dance solo - we were so proud of her! 

After all the dancing, we headed back to their place to chill out, socialize while enjoying pizza and wine. Michelle's boyfriend, Rafael, met up with us and the night turned out to be a lot of fun! FYI: I have known these ladies since 4th grade!!

Sunday we headed to Cape Coral to see Michelle's new home, which is beautiful! Then back to dance competition. It was groups on this day and there were hundreds of performances... Naomi's last was was number 410. Her team won several platinum's and did an amazing job! 

After dance we all just went to dinner and ended the night with tons of hugs and pictures. We love those guys so much - we look forward to seeing them again in late March for 2 weeks.

Ocala Life is Slower Than We Are Used To...

No offense Ocala, but I can see why some call you Slocala. There really isn't a ton to do here. While you have beautiful horse farms and lots of acreage, there really isn't much to do besides going out to eat, seeing a movie, swimming... 

Keith and I have been trying to stay busy these last few days while getting a lot of errands checked off our list. Get trailer registered, check. Get car registered, almost checked. Oil change, check. Car inspected, check. Get hair done, check. Spend time with Mom, check. Get out of the house and move, check. Watching a puppy, check.

We still have several items on the list not completed and we are hoping to get a few more checked off today before we head to Ft.Myers to see friends.

I have been an avid Groupon user these last few days trying to find a few fun things for us to do next week and not spend much money. Right now we have a winery visit, golfing and massage scheduled. 

Yesterday, we went to the RV show here in Ocala that runs through the weekend. Being that we went during the week and on the first day it was just $5. For 3 hours we looked at tons of RV's trying to see if we could finding something that would work better for our little family since our current RV is a wee bit too small for all of us. We are actually thinking of leaving the dogs in Ocala for the 2 month journey so they won't be uncomfortable/we won't be uncomfortable. I made a video... of course.

So yeah, Ocala is a bit more on the slow pace side and more errand driven but only a few more days till we hit the road again and head to Myrtle Beach. Adventure awaits!!

Annie Gets a Seahawks Decal

Our RV came with a Falcon decal but we requested it be removed so we could add our own... We tried to honor our favorite team and our live for Mexico!

We Made it to Ocala

We spent a total of 5 nights in the trailer and figured out real fast that 1. it’s too small for the 4 of us, 2. it needs more counter space, and 3. the shower is too small. We are already talking about upgrading... 

First off, after we left Nashville, we headed to Destin to see daughter Tristian. She was there for a modeling shoot camp. We were able to see her each day, which was really nice. We even got to have dinner at the house and meet some of her friends and the organizer of IBMS. It was nice to see what it is she loves doing.

After visiting with her, we packed up and drove to Ocala to my mothers home. We have been there getting our affairs in order (tags for the car and trailer, setting up a few appointments and hoping to attend an RV show in a few days). You know, important stuff. Keith did add a decal to our trailer - I’m working on posting that video shortly. 😉

I’ll try and update the blog when interesting things happen. We may head to see friends this weekend in FL. Then in a few weeks we head to Myrtle Beach to see friends Rob and Kris in the RV. It will be our first RV road trip with friends! 

Our First Night in the RV

We arrived in Nashville around 4pm at Nashville Shores RV Park. Keith quickly setup everything with only the hot water heater giving him a bit of frustration. The first setup was a bit stressful but after he got the pilot light lit and had some time to relax, it felt do-able. The dogs weren’t really sure what to think of the space. Lionel looked displaced due to his size. We had planned to use the table but that plan quickly changed. I removed the table and made Lionel his own cubbie. Once he has his own space he stopped pacing and relaxed.

We had planned to go eat dinner out with friends but the plan changed and we went to their home instead. This plan was perfect as it great to see their new home plus it was more relaxing than a restaurant. Thank you to Sonia and Tommy for opening up their home to us. As always, I love seeing and spending time with them! Another great surprise was having Melissa, Brian and their daughter, Grace, join us. We all had the best time in college so I’m always happy to see them and catch up! Lots of wine and laughter made for a terrific evening!

We headed back to the RV around 10pm and fell asleep rather quickly. The bed is a queen but we decided to sleep on it horizontally so we had more room. We both agreed we slept pretty well so we may try it again tonight... our feet hang off but I think that’s ok, we both sleep somewhat balled up. The dogs slept great, so there’s that...

This morning Keith went to Starbucks rather than making coffee. We will eventually “cook” but today wasn’t that day. He then came back and we slept till 10am. Tonight we head to Murfreesboro to see friends! ❤️

Long story short, things have gone well but we do know one thing... Next one will be much bigger!

The Maiden Voyage

Want to Join Our Community for Exclusive Content?

We recently learned about Patreon and loved the idea of building a small community where we can share more exclusive content of videos, the dogs, more posts, gifts for support and hopefully more... You can see our page here.

Keith & I started a page where we will post a lot of the same content on here but we'll also post more videos that have been edited and share our adventures more in depth. No pressure to join but check it out and see for yourself - maybe you will find it interesting enough to join. Yes, it does help support our travels and that is always a plus.

It could be a huge flop (very likely) and no one signs up, but no worries, that won't stop us from traveling. 

What do you think? Is it lame? Great idea? Please let us know!

Making Our Travel Trailer Cozy is My Jam

Here’s how I spent my Valentine’s Day! ❤️

Frank Gets a New Transmission & Keith Has a Mission

Since we have no legs to stand on, at the moment, we found a transmission guy through my family’s referral who will be putting in a new transmission. That’s around $4,5000 for those of you wondering... we aren’t thrilled at all but our adventure requires a truck so we are doing what needs to be done to move forward.

Keith, on the other hand, has a new mission. He’s taken to social media, reached out to the BBB, emailed the Chrysler CEO and then some. We feel the dealership has acted unethically to not stand behind a product they sold us. They knew why we bought the vehicle and what we needed. To top it off they told us it was a Harley Davidson edition. It’s not. It was just up-badged to appear to be so... when we test drive the truck Keith noticed a spitter and they guy claims he took it back and looked into, claiming it wasn’t anything major. After driving it again it appeared to be fixed and we were told it was just b/c it was cold.

We take responsibility for not taking it to a mechanic but is it wrong to want a reputable dealership to sell products they’ve tested and checked? Hell, to stand behind the products they sell! I don’t think we are asking for something unreasonable. We hadn’t even owned the truck a week! Do what’s right Capitol Chrysler!

I Spoke Too Soon...

Ok, so our first major bump has occurred... on the way back to my Dads from picking up Annie, Frank decided he didn’t want to tow and started sputtering. Thankfully we made it... My brother-in-law has a diagnostics scanner so Keith ran a scan and it seems we got a “gear 5 incorrect ratio” alert. What does that mean you ask... well, it means that our transmission has to be rebuilt. 😳

We called the dealership and they refuse to do anything. They weren’t kind about it, just blew us off. We’ve owned the truck about 6 days and it needs a new transmission. That’s insane! Missouri’s lemon law doesn’t apply to as-is used cars and we were offered no warranty when we signed. It’s been a nightmare!

DO NOT USE CAPITOL CHRYSLER IN JEFFERSON CITY, MO!!

Our Children Meet

The day has finally come. (Insert cheering here!) 🥰 We drove up to Buckeye RV to pick up Annie today and sadly it was a very cold and wet day. That’s ok, nothing is getting us down! Once we arrived we realized she was still outside in the cold weather and hadn’t been taken into the garage to be inspected so that meant we had to wait for about four hours. Not ideal, but we waited. Thank god for cell phones...

Once she was ready, we were given a walk through to see how everything works. I, of course, made a video!

We did have a few moments of “is she big enough now that we have a truck” but it passed. We are in love with her and ready for all the adventures ahead!

Our first adventure begins on Friday as we head to Nashville for a few days. Stay tuned to our adventures and please feel free to comment, especially with well wishes. We are going to need them as this is new for both of us. I’m sure we’ll have some bumps along the way... but let’s hope for nothing major! 😉

It’s a Girl!

It’s been a busy week! We welcomed a new boy to the family (our truck, Frank) and now we welcome a girl, Annie. We bought Annie back in November from Mexico. My father went to look at her to make sure she was what we were looking for (price, bathroom, room for the dogs...). She’s around 1,600lbs and 21ft. Of space. What do you think of Annie?

It’s a Boy!

We have been struggling with the idea of buying a truck to pull our travel trailer or using our current SUV to pull it. Our car can tow 3,300lbs and the Travel trailer is 1600, with non of our stuff in it... today we finally made the decision to buy a used truck.

We looked at several trucks and, after many hours, decided on a 2013 Ford F-150 that we found in Jefferson City at Capitol Chrysler. We have named him, Frank. Hopefully Frank will give us many great years of towing capacity. He’s capable of 11,000lbs. Way more than we need but it opens us up to an upgrade in travel trailers in the near future. 

UPDATE: Capitol Chrysler sold us a lemon and refuse to do anything. We do NOT recommend using them for anything!!!

Remodeling Is For The Birds

For me (Tarah), remodeling a home is pure joy. I love picking out the colors, decor, layout, furniture, decor... you name it! For Keith, it’s pure stress. Now I love this man more than life itself but I constantly put him in this situation. He always agrees. By the end of it he’s stressed and saying never again.

On this trip we decided to redo our drab laundry room and guest bedroom closet. Both were dull and ugly. We were going to hire a painter but to save money, I did it myself. I am really proud to say, it turned out great! We went to Home Depot with a plan but then saw the Behr 2019 color winner, which is this amazing blue. So, the plan changed! We had originally wanted to do a shiplap peel and stick wallpaper but come to find out our walls are textured and the wallpaper won’t stick.

Next up, the closet. It was a hot mess! The previous owners just had a big board shelf for luggage. No place for hangars or clothing, drab walls and the light didn’t work. I opted to paint the walls my new favorite blue, we added a shelf and clothing bar, added a dresser, a rug and a very fancy chandelier light. Classy! I didn’t take a before picture but I assure you, it was bad. What do you think of the update?

Finally in Lake Ozark

We made it to our condo, The Blue Cat Condo. This is what we woke up to - isn't it beautiful?! We are here for a little over a week and then we head to Ohio.

While here, we have to get the place finalized and ready to be rented for the high season. We have just a few things left to do and I am sure we will post pictures.

Have a beautiful day!

Visiting Friends in Texas

Now that we are back on US soil we headed for Paige, TX to see two friends from Mexico, Haril and Karen. They were so kind to offer a place to stay with our two dogs. Plus, they planned a full day of awesome sights in Austin.

Austin is a really cool city with lots of unique local art and eclectic shops. After roaming around getting coffee, candy and having lunch, we went to tour the capitol building to learn the history behind Austin and Texas as a whole. It was a great day and it made me realize we need to visit Austin again for a longer trip.

The next day, Keith and Haril did some target shooting while Karen and I stayed in and caught up. It was a lovely visit and we look forward to seeing them again very soon.

Next on our agenda was heading to Ft. Worth to see more friends from Mexico, Vince and Annette. On our drive up Annette had mentioned we should stop by Magnolia Market to check it out as it was on the way. Since I am obsessed with home decor these days, that is exactly what we did. If our car wasn't already completely full I may have walked out of there with more than a few candles...

Oddly enough, we were close to the site of the Branch Davidian location in Waco, TX. We had just watched a documentary on it, so I wanted to go and pay our respects to those who lost their lives and gawk at it a bit as I was curious. It is currently still owned by some survivors and it seems they still operate a church there. It was sad, odd, interesting and creepy all at the same time. We just drove in and drove out - we never got out of the car. There is now a new church building built in the location of where the compound once stood and you can see some of it's footprint. After gawking and stopping to see some cows, we headed to see our friends. 

We met with them at their home where the dogs were very excited to see their pugs again and had a great time playing. That evening all of us we went to dinner with two more friends from Mexico, Greg and Amy, at a really tasty Tex-Mex restaurant (what can we say, we all love Mexican food?!). 

The next day we went to explore Ft. Worth by going to the stock show. We started petting animals at a petting arena and then moved on to the bigger animals - I even had my picture with a 1,400lb steer named Outlaw. The day was really fun and introduced me to a world I wasn't familiar with at all. Keith enjoyed himself and left wanting a truck. We JOKED that maybe in 5 years we will end up in Texas with a giant truck living next to Vince and Annette. Who knows... ;)

The next morning we had a delicious breakfast with our friends of home made biscuits and gravy (not keto) and then we hit the road to Missouri. We had a 8-9 hour drive ahead of us and then a week to relax in one place. We are looking forward to getting there.

Driving Through Mexico

For Keith and I to start our 15 month journey, we needed to drive 4 days through Mexico back to the US. We were both a bit nervous of the unknown as we've heard good and bad reports from friends who have done the drive before. I was most worried about being pulled over by the police and shaken down for money. I prepped for the worst and I am happy to report, we had zero issues. When we do this again, we will do exactly what we did, drive over the weekend and leave super early in the mornings and be done by 4pm.

We started in Akumal and drove the first day for about 10 hours. After seeing thousands of animals (dogs, goats, bulls, monkeys...), an encounter with 2 street dogs that I lured away from us with milk bones, many cenote sized potholes, overcast skies, lots of rain, 4 security checkpoints (none of which made us stop. They loved the dogs though!), tons of street side food vendors, 2 cappuccinos, crazy drivers and great tunes, we made it to Villahermosa in 9 hours and 40 minutes. We went straight to our hotel and decided to just relax in our room due to the dogs and being exhausted. I ordered a domino's pizza, with the help of the front desk, and it was a lazy night of TV. 

We woke up early to get on the road to Puebla, which was over 7 hours. The day seemed so much longer longer than the day before, even though it wasn’t. We drove on a very long boring highway that was only country side, gas stations and fruit stands. No small towns to see. We saw parrots on sticks for sale, the car was X-rayed 3 times, we went through 2 checkpoints, 8 tolls with the most expensive one being $213 pesos. There was more traffic due to construction. Our day started with horrible drivers in Villahermosa and ended with horrible drivers in Puebla. We did manage to get a Starbucks before we started today and that was good - no coffee crankies for us! Our hotel was cute but it was the WORST bed we have ever slept in. 

The next morning we woke up early so we could get on the road to drive around Mexico City (around, not through) on our way to Saltillo. We made it to Saltillo safe and sound - I think this was the day we were most worried about due to having to find Arco Norte and just not sure what driving around Mexico City would be like. The trip included our first train sighting, many many MANY factories, only 2 checkpoints, a ton of police on the roads, the biggest toll at $355 pesos 1 birthday froofroo coffee drink (I turned 42!), a buffet dinner sign for 65 pesos ($3.42), 1 discussion on cacti vs cactus's, donkeys and goats, the many “cafes” along the highway and several highway fires... 8.5 hours down. 

The border was just 3 hours from Saltillo! The drive was a boring drive with lots of mountains and desert, Saltillo is a cute town but there is NO booze on Sunday and most restaurants were closed. We had 1 checkpoint with no one really manning it, we saw 1 dead horse on the side of the road 24 miles from the border (that was a horrific sight!!), the final cost for all tolls was $113.62 USD, at immigration we were the only people there, and we were never asked to see any of the dogs paperwork... 

32 hours and 35 minutes later, we arrived! The whole trip was 2,780 kilometers! 

Would we do it again - YES. It really wasn't as bad as we had expected at all. IF you have any questions on the drive, tolls, where to stay, etc... Just ask!

We Had a Photoshoot for Our Home

Since we plan to rent our home while we are traveling, we asked to have a photoshoot done of our home versus using the photos we were taking from our cell phones. 

I spent most of yesterday cleaning and getting everything put away. We even packed the car a day ahead of time.

Early this morning our property managers came along with the photographer. They brought flowers, wine, food to make it look as if you were setting up for breakfast... It looked a lot better than what we had done. Hoping these new photos help entice people to want to say in our luxurious home in the Riviera Maya. 

Once we get our hands on the new photos, I will post them. For now, here are the old ones... The photos shown here are still from our phones but of the nice style touches they added to make it more "homey". What do you think?

My DNA Results

I found the results to be pretty interesting. It also appears they have identified 279 genetic variants that can be traced to the Neanderthals. 

Not sure how I feel about that...

Gas Shortage in Mexico Could Affect Our Drive

A friend of mine recently reached out about a friend of hers who was driving through Mexico on his motorcycle and ran out of gas due to the gas shortage in Mexico happening now. Since Keith and I plan to drive for 4 days through Mexico I started searching for way to know who does and does not have gas on our route. 

Thankfully, Google to the rescue. It seems Google has added a feature to their maps where you just type in “¿Dónde hay gasolina?,” “¿dónde no hay gasolina?” and it will show you who does or does not have gas. I tried it and it's pretty cool!

There are also 4 apps that can also help with this and this article tells you all about it - I downloaded two of the 4 (Gasoapp and Gasolina MX), so here's hoping that we don't run into any issues along the way. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we are a bit nervous of the unknown.