It's Been Awhile, Folks

Wow, it's been a long time and I'm really sorry about that. A lot has happened since I wrote the last blog. So, after Big Fish in the fictitious town of Spectre we headed back to Louisiana to pick up some things, say hello to relatives and drop off some things. We then headed out to Alvin, Texas to say hello to Blaine and Darrian and meet the new baby, they call her "The Bean" but her name is actually Eliana.

San Antonio was the next stop in Texas, there we had the RV wrapped with the logo "Romancing The States". That took about a week to transpire so we decided to stay in a hotel in San Antonio. While in that area we took a walk on the River Walk, it was a very long walk, about 2 miles but so worth it, we were whipped by the end of that one! At night time the River Walk is all lite up so of course we had to take the boat ride and it was so serene and beautiful, with all the lights, people on the patio's having dinner, just beautiful. We had dinner on the Walk as well, a great Mexican restaurant, delicious food and great service.

We visited the Alamo, which was in walking distance of the hotel we were staying in(the name escapes me at the moment).

After picking up the RV, newly wrapped with our Romancing The States logo on, we travelled next to New Mexico. We spent a month there, and in that time we visit the Carlsbad Caverns, which were 750 feet underground! It was a beautiful sight and again, a lot of walking but totally worth every minute! We visited Shakespeare Ghost Town in Lordsburg, NM, where we were able to stay overnight compliments of Harvest Hosts(for free). From there we went to High Chaparral RV park and spent about a month there. For all these sights, Nate made videos, so please visit Romancing The States on YouTube.

From New Mexico we headed to Arizona, on the road we saw many beautiful sights among which was the Painted Desert, which truly looks like a paint brush went through and painted all beautiful pastel colors in the desert. We made a reservation at Cottonwood RV Park per my friends Min and Jim Robinson who have been staying there throughout the winter.

While in Arizona we went to the Grand Canyon, rode the train and had a great time that day.

All these adventures are also recorded on video, if you want to see details go to Romancing The States on YouTube.

What happened next was not so great and I'm not sure how this all happened but I will give the best rendition I can, it's all still a mystery to both Nathan and myself. While in the hotel when visiting the Canyon, we noticed a rash developing on my back, it really wasn't bothering me at the time so we kind of ignored it but by the time we got back to our campsite the rash had spread all over the trunk of my body, under my arms and starting down my thighs. We went to a "Quick Care" and was told it was "rash of unknown origin" and gave me a Medrol Dose Pack. Long story short, I got a terrible reaction from the dose pack, headaches and nausea. In the meantime Nathan starts feeling sick and starts running a temp of 102, so here we are both down for the count, it took two weeks for us to finally get feeling better.

On the upside when we started to feel normal again we found this area in Waddell, Az, where you could climb 300 stairs to the top of Victory Mountain where the view was spectacular. On the day we went it was very windy and cool, I started the climb with Nate and only made it half way, I sat on the steps and enjoyed the view from where I was, watched the people come and go. Some actually made these steps their exercise for the day going up and down several times.

Nate made it to the top and I believe he made a video of this too. A few days before leaving the Arizona desert we were able to spend some good time with Jim and Min having lunch at the Angry Crab, a good day was had by all!

From Arizona we travelled to Joshua Tree, Ca where we stayed for 2 nights on BLM(Bureau of Land Management)boondocking. The days were pretty decent but it did get quite warm. The night sky was spectacular, we had an app on the phone that showed us what was right above us, we saw the Big Dipper and many more constellations which I can't remember off hand.

Stay tuned for the next blog(I hope it won't take me as long as this one did)!

Nevada, Las Vegas, Reno, California(again) and Oregon!!!

Good Day from Balmy Arizona!

Today is the first day since coming back from the Grand Canyon that I have felt

almost human, that would be almost two weeks!

On the way home from the Canyon I started to feel nauseous and had to lay down when

getting home. That "nap" lasted 4 hours! As Nate and I prepared for bed my back was itching more than usual. Nate noticed a rash developing, it wasn't horrible and we thought maybe a bite or something simple. To make a long story short, the rash began to cover my torso and thighs, I went to the Quick Care and got a dose pack of Cortisone. During this time Nate developed a temp and a sore throat. But let me back up, I had made a crock pot Chili a few days before and Nate took a spoonful too soon and burnt the left side of his throat. We thought he would recover but apparently due to the burn he developed some sort of virus and he went to the Quick Care and actually had the same provider I had 😊it was not Strep Throat(as we thought)in fact the Rapid test came back negative.

Continuing on I had finished the dose pack and developed a massive headache with stabbing pain in the temple that lasted about 2 seconds and came intermittently. This sort of headache is called "Ice Pick" Headaches(I'm not even kidding)!

To make a very long story short, my only relief was:

1. Excedrine(my daughter and my husband use this for their migraines)

2. Ibuprofen for the regular headaches(from the steroid)

3. Ice and heat

Nate, on the other hand was unable to eat anything solid so he lived on broth and scrambled eggs. Mouth wash gargles and salt water gargles. He is improving slowly.

I say all the above as a back story to what God showed me today. Nate and I read our bibles daily, even through all this we only missed one day. As we were reading, I felt the

nudge from the Holy Spirit to read Psalm 91. If anyone reads the Bible with any regularity

and even if you don't most people have read Psalm 91. This Psalm describes God's ongoing sovereign protection of His people from the ever present dangers and terrors that surround humanity. The original setting may be that of an army about to go to battle. As I began to read a vision began to take form in my mind. Most of the terrors mentioned in this Psalm

are left undefined, no doubt intentionally so that no kind of danger is omitted from this application. Verses 3-6, 9-11, as I read verse 11 the vision took form, HIS ANGELS. Not Cherubs with soft furry wings and tiny bows and arrows, NO! The angels He showed me were 9-12 feet tall, massive wing span, there had to be at least a dozen and they had flaming arrows and were "encamped" all around our camper, not an open space between them. Psalm 91:9 "Because we have made the Lord our dwelling place, the most High who

is our refuge no evil shall be allowed to befall us no plaques shall come near our camper

for He will command His angels concerning us, to guard us in all our ways"(paraphrased)

This has been a very trying time for both Nate and I, being newly married and ill at the same time. God did NOT let us down, He protected us from what MIGHT have come near our dwelling place. He knew how much we could take and He said ENOUGH

If you have never read Psalm 91, I encourage you to do so, you may get a whole new perspective.

"Wherever you're waking up, whatever time it is, do something for someone else, pay it forward and let's make this world a better place!" Nate~~~~~~

"Remember, be kind to one another, it's a rough world out there, I love y'all" Marion~~~~together we are, ROMANCING THE STATES

On The Road With Nate and Marion

Wow! It's been almost 5 months since Nate and I got married and hit the road!

That's just crazy! If you've read our story, you will know how simply awesome this whole thing is from start to now, I can't say finish because we are far from finished here.

We left Louisiana and headed for Florida where Nate was introduced to my crazy, awesome Florida families. Tim(my son)Melanie(wife) and(grandson)Andrew LaRose, Sara(granddaughter)was sick so she wasn't able to meet Nate. Then we have Gene(son) Maleana(wife)and Max(Gene's step son). My son Douglas, son Matt, his wife Stephanie and

their daughter, my granddaughter Annika.

We stayed at Royal Coachmen RV Resort, at

this time the social distancing and masks were in full bloom. The pool, clubhouse, laundry, library and the work out room were all open but limited to a certain amount of people at a time.

We also stayed at the Winter Quarters in Bradenton for a few weeks and met a sweet couple, actually her and her husband stalked us(I say that in a most loving way). We were leaving to go to the place we love to hate, Walmart and stopped to drop off our trash and she parked right across our path preventing us from going anywhere until she was able to come and introduce herself and her husband. Nathan is used to people recognizing him, but it was a first for me, a very pleasant first I must say, shout out to Debbie and Steve Winters!!

The many places we visited while in Florida, Mote Marine Aquarium, Anna Maria Island, Siesta Key Beach, Marina Jack Sunset Cruise and on our way out of Florida we visited the Automobile Museum in Jacksonville, FL compliments of Harvest Hosts, we actually stayed right on the grounds of the museum.

Our next stop was Georgia where we stayed on the property of Adamson Oaks, Goat and Alpaca Farm.

Another shout out to Harvest Hosts for this amazing night! We toured around this beautiful farm in a Mule, which when I heard the word "mule" I assumed we were going to be traveling on the backs of donkeys! I'm kinda glad I was wrong, I would much rather be in an automated 'Mule". We saw goats, I actually held a brand new baby goat named Rudolph, we wanted to take him home with us but remembered that goats grow up LOL. We chased around an Alpaca named Gandolf, he was quite the snob, wouldn't let us get to close. The owner was so cordial and very informative, we bought a few things including a jar of home made Muscadine Jelly. We never heard of this kind before and it's delicious. We also purchased a bag of freshly hulled Pecans, still munching on those babies!

Next up is Alabama, where we stayed at Jackson Lake Island. This is where the movie Big Fish was filmed in the fictitious town of Spectre, Alabama. We spent the night overlooking this little town and it was within walking distance of our campsite. Unfortunately the inclement weather held us back but Nathan managed to get a few amazing videos out of it. Nathan spent the day in Spectre even in the rain and cold, you just can't keep a good film maker down! In fact. The goats were the highlight to me, they were everywhere, about 70 in all, they were very friendly and even jumped up on you looking for food.

Apparently they are wild goats and a family from the town near there bring food. They sleep under the church where they are sheltered from bad weather. In one video you can see one of them nibbling on Nate's shorts LOL

From there we continued back to Louisiana. This completes our first installment of our trip. Please come back the next blog, in the meantime a reminder from Nathan "wherever you're waking up, whatever time it is, make the best of your day, do something for someone else, pay it forward and let's make this world a better place". From Marion, "Be kind to each other, it's a rough world out there, we love you all".