Christmas 2019

                           Merry Christmas and many blessings to you in 2020.

                                       Here’s where our travels took us in 2019.

January, February and March we rolled around the country in our now 1 year old motorhome. Casa Grande, Phoenix, Yuma and Tucson. In January, I turned 71 and Gordon turned 79 years old. We cannot believe we are so OLD. BUT we are still having lots of fun cruising and motorhoming around.  I finally got to attend the Tuscon Bead Show. I have been trying to get there for 20 years. We got a lithium battery and solar panels on our rig, thanks to our friend Tom who installed it all.

 Our son, Garrick came for a visit, in Casa Grande, AZ we cherish our time with him. It is magnificent to see the Dad/Son love connection.

April and May were spent in our lot in Pahrump. We love spending time here. We then drove to San Francisco to attend our daughter-in-laws father’s 90^th birthday. A wonderful fancy and fun evening.

In June we spent Father’s Day and granddaughter Ella’s 9^th birthday in Morgan Hill, San Jose with a few of our kids.  This was a lot of fun. After that we  drove to Oregon we had a nice visit with Elaine and Mel. We had a wonderful time until Gordon fell and cracked his L1 in his back. The doctors gave him a few pills and said we could still travel but Gordon had to do nothing but try to recover. He was in a lot of pain. It took 2 months before he felt better.                                                                                           

July was an awesome month, we spent time in Washington with friends, after that visit we spend more time with other friends in Craig, Montana right up and close to the Missouri river. In August we stayed with friends in Fairway, Montana. They spoiled us to death. Rodeo, concert and showing us all around. We then headed to Medora, North Dakota, this a wonderful surprise. So much history here, I was surprised we hadn’t even heard of Medora before. We want to go back, then off to the Grand Tetons that was a really an adventure.  I got to go on the best horseback ride adventure in Buffalo, Wyoming a bit scary but worth every minute. Friends from Montana came to visit us for a few days. Thanks Gretchen and Frank.

In September we went to Moab, Monument Valley and Sedona, right in the middle of the month our niece gifted us a week at her time share in Flagstaff, Arizona. Wow, we are spoiled. Thanks Dee n Joe. We also spent a fabulous couple of weeks in Show Low, Arizona, one of our favorite spots in the world during summer time. We stayed with our friends Jerie Berry and Phil they have an empty RV lot that they share with us. Planning to be there again this summer.

October we got a new refrigerator in our rig, this was in Phoenix, Arizona at National Indoor RV where we bought our rig. Got to spend a week in Surprise, Arizona with our daughter and fiancé. We then headed towards home to go on a campout with our park. We had a great time in Tecopa, California. Tecopa has many natural hot springs. You can only go in the hot springs nude.

November and December finds us back in Pahrump, Nevada where we love being. We have leased this lot for 20 years.  Gordon who has not driven for about 1 year now has hand controls, he is driving and we are so happy this is available to him. On Thanksgiving our son, Garrick and girlfriend Thuy came for a sweet visit. We had a nice dinner at our clubhouse. The next day my son Wil came too and we all went in the desert to shoot our guns.

Our future plans include being in the San Francisco bay area to attend our son Kevin’s Navy retirement, go on a 10 day cruise leaving from San Francisco. Then to Gordon’s 80^th birthday/family reunion party (January 25^th).  Then who knows where our motorhome, named Meli will take us next.

HAPPY TRAILS,

Merry Christmas 2018

Merry Christmas 2018 from Laura and Gordon. Happy New Year.

I hope that 2018 was a good year for all.  We have many things to be grateful for.

Last year this time (December) we were visiting Gordon’s son Dwayne and his family in Waianae. It was great seeing Gordon’s great granddaughter, Ariel.  After our month in Oahu we went to Hilo to visit Laura’s son Kimo and family for a month also. It was a great visit with them all.  Gordon and I both spent our birthdays in Hawaii and that was fun being spoiled by our sons. It was so cool that Junior (Laura’s grandson) came to visit and so did my great niece Lauren with her so cute Hawaiian boyfriend… We were there for the “THIS IS NOT A DRILL,” IMMINANT NUCLEAR MISSLE ATTACK”. Since we were on the 5^th floor and unable to run to the elevator I told Gordon there is no place for us to go ‘’SO GET TH E ICE CREAM.’’

February, March, April and May we hung out in Pahrump just resting thinking aboutwhat adventures we want to do next while the weather was really nice. Two of our wonderful neighbors, Lynn and Harry build Gordon a fabulous ramp. Elton was a great help too. We are so grateful and cherish their friendships with these dear men.

 June, July and August were excellent. The ten day cruise to Alaska was really nice. We attended our son Kevin and Amar’s 25th wedding anniversary party, it was spectacular.  Then we spent a week in Lincoln, CA with good friends Genie and Fred.  We then traveled to the Oregon Coast that we love so much.  Then we got to visit with some other special friends in Ryderwood, Washington. Molly and Al they were super hosts….but when we see them 2019 they will not have to give their bed up.

Finally we got to Spokane and spent a fabulous week with our daughter, Chryisa…..got to meet our two great grandsons, they are so adorable.

Off to Billings, Montana where we visited friends, Gretchen and Frank, we have been RV friends with them for many years. We are making plans to go to a few country concerts with them and maybe some cowboy poetry which I love.

We got a real surprise when Kimo wanted us to meet some friends of his in Fairview, Montana. Nancy and Mario we both drove 200 miles to meet up.   We really loved our several hour visit with them and we are planning to visit them again in 2019 but we will go to their ranch near the North Dakota border.  Having a hard time waiting for summer to get here.

We then somehow ended up in Buffalo, Wyoming and what a surprise to learn that Longmere was filmed here and just missed the Longmire Days in early August by a couple of weeks. I told Gordon we must be there next year and that is the plan, sure hope it happens. We also met another unique person in the local casino while having lunch. He built some Sheep Sheds and will be putting them on Air BnB in 2019. You can see him online here’s his address www.307sheepwagons.com. We also spent several days in Moab, Utah visiting the National Parks.                        

We spent September and one week in October in Show Low, Arizona before the snow sent us home.  The weather was perfect  until then. We were happy that Garrick came to visit us there, that was so nice we really enjoyed our visit with him. We visited Meteor Crater, Petrified Forest and Windsor, Arizona.  We were surprised to learn that our friend Gail was close by so we arranged to have lunch with her in Windsor.

We got back to Pahrump and we started looking for a new RV, something small and easy for me to handle. We found a 24 foot, class C motorhome with a full slide on the driver’s side. As I write this we have been on a couple of trips and we found that it is perfect for us. We are in Yuma, Arizona and will be here and around the area until late March, then return to the beautiful spring months in Pahrump.

We are thankful for our lives and our adventures we have been able to experience. In January we will have been retired for 24 years and 21 years of fulltiming RVing and two years of car traveling. (it was ok but we love the rv life style where we can sleep in our own beds and we can cook and know what we are eating.

 Thank you, Lord for all our blessings.

Merry Christmas 2018 from Laura and Gordon. Happy New Year.

I hope that 2018 was a good year for all.  We have many things to be grateful for.

Last year this time (December) we were visiting Gordon’s son Dwayne and his family in Waianae. It was great seeing Gordon’s great granddaughter, Ariel.  After our month in Oahu we went to Hilo to visit Laura’s son Kimo and family for a month also. It was a great visit with them all.  Gordon and I both spent our birthdays in Hawaii and that was fun being spoiled by our sons. It was so cool that Junior (Laura’s grandson) came to visit and so did my great niece Lauren with her so cute Hawaiian boyfriend… We were there for the “THIS IS NOT A DRILL,” IMMINANT NUCLEAR MISSLE ATTACK”. Since we were on the 5^th floor and unable to run to the elevator I told Gordon there is no place for us to go ‘’SO GET TH E ICE CREAM.’’

February, March, April and May we hung out in Pahrump just resting thinking aboutwhat adventures we want to do next while the weather was really nice. Two of our wonderful neighbors, Lynn and Harry build Gordon a fabulous ramp. Elton was a great help too. We are so grateful and cherish their friendships with these dear men.

 June, July and August were excellent. The ten day cruise to Alaska was really nice. We attended our son Kevin and Amar’s 25th wedding anniversary party, it was spectacular.  Then we spent a week in Lincoln, CA with good friends Genie and Fred.  We then traveled to the Oregon Coast that we love so much.  Then we got to visit with some other special friends in Ryderwood, Washington. Molly and Al they were super hosts….but when we see them 2019 they will not have to give their bed up.

Finally we got to Spokane and spent a fabulous week with our daughter, Chryisa…..got to meet our two great grandsons, they are so adorable.

Off to Billings, Montana where we visited friends, Gretchen and Frank, we have been RV friends with them for many years. We are making plans to go to a few country concerts with them and maybe some cowboy poetry which I love.

We got a real surprise when Kimo wanted us to meet some friends of his in Fairview, Montana. Nancy and Mario we both drove 200 miles to meet up.   We really loved our several hour visit with them and we are planning to visit them again in 2019 but we will go to their ranch near the North Dakota border.  Having a hard time waiting for summer to get here.

We then somehow ended up in Buffalo, Wyoming and what a surprise to learn that Longmere was filmed here and just missed the Longmire Days in early August by a couple of weeks. I told Gordon we must be there next year and that is the plan, sure hope it happens. We also met another unique person in the local casino while having lunch. He built some Sheep Sheds and will be putting them on Air BnB in 2019. You can see him online here’s his address www.307sheepwagons.com. We also spent several days in Moab, Utah visiting the National Parks.                        

We spent September and one week in October in Show Low, Arizona before the snow sent us home.  The weather was perfect  until then. We were happy that Garrick came to visit us there, that was so nice we really enjoyed our visit with him. We visited Meteor Crater, Petrified Forest and Windsor, Arizona.  We were surprised to learn that our friend Gail was close by so we arranged to have lunch with her in Windsor.

We got back to Pahrump and we started looking for a new RV, something small and easy for me to handle. We found a 24 foot, class C motorhome with a full slide on the driver’s side. As I write this we have been on a couple of trips and we found that it is perfect for us. We are in Yuma, Arizona and will be here and around the area until late March, then return to the beautiful spring months in Pahrump.

We are thankful for our lives and our adventures we have been able to experience. In January we will have been retired for 24 years and 21 years of fulltiming RVing and two years of car traveling. (it was ok but we love the rv life style where we can sleep in our own beds and we can cook and know what we are eating.

 Thank you, Lord for all our blessings.

Merry Christmas 2018 from Laura and Gordon. Happy New Year.

I hope that 2018 was a good year for all.  We have many things to be grateful for.

Last year this time (December) we were visiting Gordon’s son Dwayne and his family in Waianae. It was great seeing Gordon’s great granddaughter, Ariel.  After our month in Oahu we went to Hilo to visit Laura’s son Kimo and family for a month also. It was a great visit with them all.  Gordon and I both spent our birthdays in Hawaii and that was fun being spoiled by our sons. It was so cool that Junior (Laura’s grandson) came to visit and so did my great niece Lauren with her so cute Hawaiian boyfriend… We were there for the “THIS IS NOT A DRILL,” IMMINANT NUCLEAR MISSLE ATTACK”. Since we were on the 5^th floor and unable to run to the elevator I told Gordon there is no place for us to go ‘’SO GET TH E ICE CREAM.’’

February, March, April and May we hung out in Pahrump just resting thinking aboutwhat adventures we want to do next while the weather was really nice. Two of our wonderful neighbors, Lynn and Harry build Gordon a fabulous ramp. Elton was a great help too. We are so grateful and cherish their friendships with these dear men.

 June, July and August were excellent. The ten day cruise to Alaska was really nice. We attended our son Kevin and Amar’s 25th wedding anniversary party, it was spectacular.  Then we spent a week in Lincoln, CA with good friends Genie and Fred.  We then traveled to the Oregon Coast that we love so much.  Then we got to visit with some other special friends in Ryderwood, Washington. Molly and Al they were super hosts….but when we see them 2019 they will not have to give their bed up.

Finally we got to Spokane and spent a fabulous week with our daughter, Chryisa…..got to meet our two great grandsons, they are so adorable.

Off to Billings, Montana where we visited friends, Gretchen and Frank, we have been RV friends with them for many years. We are making plans to go to a few country concerts with them and maybe some cowboy poetry which I love.

We got a real surprise when Kimo wanted us to meet some friends of his in Fairview, Montana. Nancy and Mario we both drove 200 miles to meet up.   We really loved our several hour visit with them and we are planning to visit them again in 2019 but we will go to their ranch near the North Dakota border.  Having a hard time waiting for summer to get here.

We then somehow ended up in Buffalo, Wyoming and what a surprise to learn that Longmere was filmed here and just missed the Longmire Days in early August by a couple of weeks. I told Gordon we must be there next year and that is the plan, sure hope it happens. We also met another unique person in the local casino while having lunch. He built some Sheep Sheds and will be putting them on Air BnB in 2019. You can see him online here’s his address www.307sheepwagons.com. We also spent several days in Moab, Utah visiting the National Parks.                        

We spent September and one week in October in Show Low, Arizona before the snow sent us home.  The weather was perfect  until then. We were happy that Garrick came to visit us there, that was so nice we really enjoyed our visit with him. We visited Meteor Crater, Petrified Forest and Windsor, Arizona.  We were surprised to learn that our friend Gail was close by so we arranged to have lunch with her in Windsor.

We got back to Pahrump and we started looking for a new RV, something small and easy for me to handle. We found a 24 foot, class C motorhome with a full slide on the driver’s side. As I write this we have been on a couple of trips and we found that it is perfect for us. We are in Yuma, Arizona and will be here and around the area until late March, then return to the beautiful spring months in Pahrump.

We are thankful for our lives and our adventures we have been able to experience. In January we will have been retired for 24 years and 21 years of fulltiming RVing and two years of car traveling. (it was ok but we love the rv life style where we can sleep in our own beds and we can cook and know what we are eating.

 Thank you, Lord for all our blessings.

Merry Christmas 2018 from Laura and Gordon. Happy New Year.

I hope that 2018 was a good year for all.  We have many things to be grateful for.

Last year this time (December) we were visiting Gordon’s son Dwayne and his family in Waianae. It was great seeing Gordon’s great granddaughter, Ariel.  After our month in Oahu we went to Hilo to visit Laura’s son Kimo and family for a month also. It was a great visit with them all.  Gordon and I both spent our birthdays in Hawaii and that was fun being spoiled by our sons. It was so cool that Junior (Laura’s grandson) came to visit and so did my great niece Lauren with her so cute Hawaiian boyfriend… We were there for the “THIS IS NOT A DRILL,” IMMINANT NUCLEAR MISSLE ATTACK”. Since we were on the 5^th floor and unable to run to the elevator I told Gordon there is no place for us to go ‘’SO GET TH E ICE CREAM.’’

February, March, April and May we hung out in Pahrump just resting thinking aboutwhat adventures we want to do next while the weather was really nice. Two of our wonderful neighbors, Lynn and Harry build Gordon a fabulous ramp. Elton was a great help too. We are so grateful and cherish their friendships with these dear men.

 June, July and August were excellent. The ten day cruise to Alaska was really nice. We attended our son Kevin and Amar’s 25th wedding anniversary party, it was spectacular.  Then we spent a week in Lincoln, CA with good friends Genie and Fred.  We then traveled to the Oregon Coast that we love so much.  Then we got to visit with some other special friends in Ryderwood, Washington. Molly and Al they were super hosts….but when we see them 2019 they will not have to give their bed up.

Finally we got to Spokane and spent a fabulous week with our daughter, Chyrisa…..got to meet our two great grandsons, they are so adorable.

Off to Billings, Montana where we visited friends, Gretchen and Frank, we have been RV friends with them for many years. We are making plans to go to a few country concerts with them and maybe some cowboy poetry which I love.

We got a real surprise when Kimo wanted us to meet some friends of his in Fairview, Montana. Nancy and Mario we both drove 200 miles to meet up.   We really loved our several hour visit with them and we are planning to visit them again in 2019 but we will go to their ranch near the North Dakota border.  Having a hard time waiting for summer to get here.

We then somehow ended up in Buffalo, Wyoming and what a surprise to learn that Longmere was filmed here and just missed the Longmire Days in early August by a couple of weeks. I told Gordon we must be there next year and that is the plan, sure hope it happens. We also met another unique person in the local casino while having lunch. He built some Sheep Sheds and will be putting them on Air BnB in 2019. You can see him online here’s his address www.307sheepwagons.com. We also spent several days in Moab, Utah visiting the National Parks.                        

We spent September and one week in October in Show Low, Arizona before the snow sent us home.  The weather was perfect  until then. We were happy that Garrick came to visit us there, that was so nice we really enjoyed our visit with him. We visited Meteor Crater, Petrified Forest and Windsor, Arizona.  We were surprised to learn that our friend Gail was close by so we arranged to have lunch with her in Windsor.

We got back to Pahrump and we started looking for a new RV, something small and easy for me to handle. We found a 24 foot, class C motorhome with a full slide on the driver’s side. As I write this we have been on a couple of trips and we found that it is perfect for us. We are in Yuma, Arizona and will be here and around the area until late March, then return to the beautiful spring months in Pahrump.

We are thankful for our lives and our adventures we have been able to experience. In January we will have been retired for 24 years and 21 years of fulltiming RVing and two years of car traveling. (it was ok but we love the rv life style where we can sleep in our own beds and we can cook and know what we are eating.

 Thank you, Lord for all our blessings.

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2017

Merry Christmas 2017

We have been blessed again in 2017, that does not mean everything was perfect but that does mean we are grateful for our lives.

We got all geared up for a five month trip across the USA to visit friends and family that we have met in our 22 years of retirement and traveling. We went on a southern route across America, we visited family n friends in Fort Worth, Dallas, Louisiana and did Florida up and down.  Then to New Jersey, Michigan and Missouri. We travelled to the Carolinas and Tennessee. We travelled over 14000 miles, it was a awesome trip with no problems.  

We bought a Honda CRV that had more space for us and easier to get in and out of.

One of the high lights of our trip was meeting my sister, Lola in Missouri where my twin, Tito, lives and we spent our time reminiscing, laughing and carrying  on. (Poor Gordon) We went to Branson for 5 days and celebrated all our birthdays even though it was none of our birthdays at the time.  My twin and I would turn 70 in January and I would be in Hawaii and him in Missouri so I thought let’s have a birthday party we will never forget and we did. 

We got back to Pahrump in September and had lots to do before heading to Hawaii for two months. 

So we are sitting on the beach in Waianae in December and heading for a month in Hilo in January.

Gordon and I are happy and hoping 2018 will be even better. 

Thinking of getting a small rv I can drive and heading out of town for few months here and there.. 

On Gordon’s birthday, (1-25) we will be retired for TWENTY THREE YEARS.

Merry Christmas and a blessed New Years to you and yours,

Laura and Gordon

2016 in review.....

Happy New Year 2016.......

We have a another fabulous year......travelling and seeing friends and family.

 We sold our Country Coach on January 2015 and what a surprise we don't miss it as much as we thought we would.....we are travelling by car and enjoying this a lot.

 We went on three cruises in 2016......enjoyed them all.....planning a longer cruise in August 2017 for our 35th wedding anniversary (in July) to Alaska...

 We packed up our car and spent the next several months traveling up the coast from San Francisco to Washington to Missoula, Idaho and Reno then SF.....after that we headed to Show Low, Arizona and spent the best ever summer in Juniper Ridge in Show Low, AZ. This was our 2nd year there....

 Our life is changing so much......Gordon is still having lots of problems with his legs, he must have a cane or walker to walk....he has fallen many times.....his feet just don't want to move, the good thing is that he is no pain.....  this is why we gave up the motorhome and decided to travel in our car.

  We spent the month of November in Waianae, Hawaii, our condo was right on the beach and the weather was perfect....Gordon got to meet his first great granddaughter.

 In December we were back in Pahrump, NV.

 We are planning a trip to Dallas, Florida, New Jersey and a few other places in May 2017.

 We are happy and are looking forward to more travel...Happy New Year to you all.

 

Merry Christmas 2015, 21 years retired and traveling, its been great...love living in Pahrump, NV

 MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THE BORNKAMPS’ 2015

In January we spent  several months in Yuma….we went to a really fun party for New Years at the Paradise Casino, there was a lot of food, great music and favors….we danced the night away, it was all free…… We also had our Country coach painted at a very reasonable price in Yuma by Top of the Line…we highly recommend them.

February we spent time in Quartzsite, Arizona, we then came home to Pahrump, Nevada and in

March we flew to Florida to be with my sister, Lola while she made funeral plans for her husband Tony.  They were married over 52 years….very sad….

We joined Armed Forces Vacation Club in April (AFVC) and stayed in a condo in Las Vegas with  friends, Dorothy and Chuck……anyone who has been in the service can join AFVC, it’s free. It was really nice.

May was full of many doctors appointments for Gordon….his left leg was not working right and he is proned to falling…he now has a cane he must use.  Gordon went through so many blood test, MRI’s and nerve conduction test and a spinal tap and they cannot find what is going on with his leg. Very frustrating.

Garrick bought Gordon a wonderful juicer to hopefully help in having a more nutritious diet. We juice everyday now.

June was a fun month, we got an Airbnb room and spent three nights in Long Beach close to where my nephews, Steven and Stevie were and my sister Lola …we had a good time together. Steven and Stevie took us to a fabulous dinner.

July and August was the most fun…..being in Show Low, Arizona in the White Mountains at 6K feet.

We rented a really nice RV lot and spent two months of great weather, golfing, dancing, games, bike riding, cards and I did some pottery.  Cannot wait to go back…not to mention that we met so many people that were so awesome…hope to visit some of them in February most of them are in the Phoenix area.

September we headed for the Pacifica Fog Fest and a reunion with some of high school

 friends in Pacifica, CA. We rented a house for three days….it was so fun….Got to see family in the bay area. We stayed with son, Garrick for a week.

October we headed for the Reno Italian Fest, another great few days with long time friends, Dorothy and Chuck…we met a lot of our family there….really enjoyed our time.

November was really GREAT, a new park model, we are so happy in our new place…

We got to see Rand Paul and Dr. Ben Carson, what a surprise that they came to our small town.

I could not believe the our nephew Joseph would volunteer to come to Pahrump for 3 days and build us a patio, he worked so hard, he brought his big truck and  lots of tools and worked his butt off….we are extremely grateful. 

We had a wonderful visit  from Gordon’s youngest son, Garrick, when he visited us in Pahrump,  he  taught us a few things about our Smart TV which Gordon got last week….a 65 inch curve….oh yeah it’s awesome.

With the purchase of a park model we will be part time travelers instead of full time travelers. We will not stop traveling we will be selling our Country Coach and maybe downsizing or traveling by car or air…

                                                  We are taking a cruise for our birthdays in January.

_{Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Bornkamps}

_{We hope that last year was a good year for you.}

_{JANUARY WILL BE OUR 20TH YEAR ON THE ROAD.}

_{We had a great year of traveling 2014. We spent New Year’s in Atlanta, Georgia watching the Georgia peach drop.}

_{We visited President Carter’s Library. Then we visited Alabama and Mississippi. We spent six weeks in Louisiana (my favorite state). We stayed at St. Bernard State Park near New Orleans for two weeks and another 4 weeks at Betty’s RV Park in Abbeyville for Mardi Gras..(a fabulous time)}

_{In March we visited Alamo, Texas and El Paso to visit family.}

_{In April we moved to our new address, 5150 Oakridge Ave. #44, Pahrump, NV 89048.}

_{June, July, August and ½ of September we were in Union City, CA., to attended}

_{two grandsons graduation and a son’s 50th birthday party.}

_{September 16th we went a 23 day cruise from San Francisco to Sydney, Australia. We stopped  at 5 islands along the way and then spent a month in Hawaii before returning to San Francisco.}

_{November we spent Thanksgiving with family in San Francisco leaving the next day.}

_{Today as I write this we are in Yuma, Arizona spending the holidays.}

_{Much Love,} 

We are still around!

Just a small update......
January 25th, 2015 will be Gordon's 75th  birthday and our 20th year on the road anniversary.