DUTY - HONOR - SACRIFICE

MEMORIAL DAY 2023

   On this, the 155th anniversary of what was originally Decoration Day (May 30, 1868) following the end of the Civil War, and would be officially renamed Memorial Day in 1968 by a act of Congress. I would like to pause to recognize those who answered the call of duty valiantly and who bore the cost of freedom without hesitation... This is the true meaning behind Memorial Day... It is sad to think there are generations of publicly 'educated' masses unaware of the origins of their day off...

   There have been hundreds of thousands of the fallen, both here and abroad, wherever the theater of conflict has been engaged around the globe.  Patriots all, selfless individuals who laid their last full measure upon the alter of duty and paid a price we honor, struggle to justify and can never repay. This is the reason for Memorial Day. - GOD BLESS YOUR SACRIFICE.

   And yet many additional Americans will be called upon to answer that future call and be tallied in the multitude of war casualties is almost inevitable, joining those that went before...
On this Memorial Day - GOD BLESS YOUR PATRIOTISM.  

Arlington National Cemetery

    As we observe this most solemn of  National holidays, let us take a few moments to quietly reflect on why we celebrate the day and those who paid the ultimate price for our continued but fragile freedom.

    - GOD BLESS AMERICA.

   Welcome back dear family and friends... I am so pleased to have you follow along with the continuing saga of the Phantom Phaeton. I believe introductions are in order. My name is Walt and my lovely bride is Lanie. We are both US Veterans, we are both retired... me, from carpentry and general construction, having had a successful high-end construction and design company. Lanie started in broadcasting as a radio DJ and followed that with a career as a recording engineer with her own successful recording studio located in scenic Orefield Pennysylvania. We travel with Foxie our companion of 15 years. The old girl (Foxie) still gets excited for 'moving day' and is always ready to travel, new sites and new smells. I am of the belief that Lanie is also always ready to move on to new locations and adventures.

   As referenced in my previous blog, we disposed of our properties back in Allentown, PA and set our sites on getting out there, finally getting the show on the road. We decided on Livingston, TX as the location for our Domicile (Legal Residency) and contracted with Escapees.com for our mail handling services located at Rainbow's End. Always a good place to stop at occasionally while traveling and fulfill our residency requirements.

MOVING ON -  We were in the process of visiting most of the Escapees Co-Op parks located throughout the United States (sans California) in our plan to find a place to utilize as a home base and a place to winter over. We arrived at Lone Star Corral - Alamo Area SKP CO-OP in Hondo, TX (40 miles West of San Antonio) and realized we need look no further. This would indeed be 'Home'... We joined the active waiting list to secure a, as of yet unknown, site that would be coming up in the foreseeable future. In February of 2021 we were awarded (a lifetime lease) our dream location, immediately took possession and commenced to remodel both the exterior and interior of the 'shed' (its' legal description) 

   Have a safe and sober Memorial weekend - Slow on the bottle and safe on the road !

   

WELCOME To My BLOG

   I want to start by extending my warm welcome to the Phantom Phaeton Blog

  This is my first foray into the world of blogging and my main goal is to expose the reader to the full-time RV lifestyle and to the possibilities and experiences that may afford the individual willing to make the leap.  Making the decision to forego the 'sticks and bricks' dwelling and dispose of non-essential belongings (stuff that we had horded... Okay, me, stuff I had horded !)

  I hope you will join us on this adventure... comments and feedback are welcome.

  My amazing bride and I pulled the trigger in the summer of 2017 and purchased a new to us 2011 Forest River Georgetown, class A gasser RV.

We had done a ton of research and watched lots of YouTube videos in an attempt to prepare ourselves for what was in store for us. "ARVIE" provided "everything but the destination" and served us very well for five years. 

   We had grandiose plans of seeing every state in the glorious United States (Excluding New Jersey and California... with just cause) But, we still owned a recording studio and home in Pennsylvania. These two properties took a tremendous amount of time to maintain and that took up all of our spring and summer months. They had to go...

    We closed the recording studio and put the facility up for sale, one down.

  The housing market started to heat up, heat up? The market went insane and we had no intention of missing out on the run. We sacrificed the late spring and summer months of traveling preparing our home for sale. Everything fell into place and we accepted an unbelievable offer the day it went up for consideration. Suffice it to say we made a tidy profit at closing.

    Being 'homeless' was a new experience for both of us but we were headed for the great state of Texas and this new chapter in our lives. 

MORE IN MY NEXT BLOG...