2010

Planning the Wedding

2010 finally arrived. We were happy to put 2009 behind us and we were anxious to get married. After several serious discussions we eventually settle on a wedding location in Phoenix, Arizona. I know what you're probably thinking... We lived in Alabama, how is Phoenix Arizona a good location? Allow me to elaborate.

Our work in Alabama was coming to an end so we knew that we would soon be looking for new jobs. We were also tired of Anniston. It was time for some new scenery so it was perfectly fine with us that the job site was ending. The majority of Butch's family is located in Maryland and Massachusetts. So, if we decided to tie the knot in either of those locations then all of my family would have to travel from Mississippi. If we chose to have the wedding in Mississippi then it was visa versa, causing all of his family to travel. It just didn't seem right to choose a location that benefited only one side of the family.

Honestly, I didn't want to plan a wedding at all. I tried to talk Butch into going to the court house and spending the money on a big fat honeymoon. He wasn't buying it so we kept comparing pros and cons.

Venues were more than I was willing to pay so we began looking at outside locations. An outside wedding meant the possibility of rain ruining our special day so, after another long discussion, weighing pros and cons, and the process of elimination we finally decided on a wedding location, Phoenix, AZ.  Butch's Mother, Rita, lives there and the chance of rain in Phoenix is almost non-existent. Throughout our travels we have been fortunate enough to live near all of our family, except Rita. We have never worked near her so we only see her during arranged visits. We thought why not take the wedding to Rita. It solved so many problems. And so it was, we were to be wed on April 11, 2010 in Mesa, AZ. (a suburb of Phoenix)

The time finally came to leave Anniston and we thought we would take advantage of a little down time before making our way to Phoenix for the wedding. So, in February of 2010 we packed the RV and headed North to visit family in Belcamp, MD.

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Belcamp, MD

Belcamp, MD (790 miles)  This was the first time we had ever traveled with the RV. Up to this point we had only lived in the RV; never moved it. My hat is off to Butch because that RV was huge and he really stepped up to the plate learning how to pull the RV. I can say with 100% certainty that I could not have pulled the RV safely and maneuvered it the way he did. It was nuts. We were excited to soon be married, start the next chapter in our life, and visit family. Everything was packed tight and we hit the road for our first journey as RV'ers.

This thing was ginormous.

Wow. I can't believe we really did this.

This was my smaller set up. I drove the little rig and kept the dogs with me.

Our motorcycles were secured in the trailer I was pulling.

We left Anniston AL headed north in February. This made for some interesting weather along the way. We hit heavy snow in Virginia and were forced to pull over for the night. The sun was setting and the roads were quickly covering with snow so considering everything we owned was being pulled behind us, we weren't willing to take any risks driving in snow. Over the years of traveling together and following each other across the country we've learned that hand held radios make the trip easier because you don't have to wait on a call to connect or fumble with the phone. You simply pick up the radio, push the button and have instant contact. These radios were particularly handy during this inclement weather. I clearly remember the intensity of trying to find a safe place to pull over, dealing with the snow coming down, the roads becoming unsafe, trying to communicate to each other and not loose it completely. It was stressful.

We finally arrived at the camp site in Maryland. Getting set up at the camp ground is normally a huge pain in the butt and this time was no different. You have to find the connections for your water and sewer hoses, park just right so the hoses reach, release from the truck, level the RV, etc. You get the idea. Sometimes the water and sewer connections aren't conveniently placed. In this particular case the entire camp ground was covered in snow so we couldn't even find the holes we were trying to line up with. After a long trip patience sometimes run thin during the set up process. Everything was covered in snow and I remember saying "how in the world are we going to do this?" The water and sewer connection could have been anywhere within a 15 foot area and moving tons of snow to locate the connections was not ideal. God must have known I was stressed because the first area I kicked clear was exactly where the connections were. It was so awesome and I felt so proud of myself for finding the connections! :) Thankfully Butch's brother had arrived to welcome us to Maryland so I wasn't needed for much of the set up process. My niece, Alana, and I just tried to stay out of the way and keep warm while the men did the hard work.

After a few days in Maryland the sun popped out, the snow melted and we woke up to a flooded RV lot. Literally, it was totally under water. There is never a dull moment for us.

Our flooded front yard.

From left to right. Jason, Butch's brother. Jay, Butch's Cousin. Josh, Butch's Cousin and Butch. They were all packed in the back of the RV playing video games. Too funny. (Butch is drinking a green tea, not a 40 ounce!)

During our stay in Maryland our chihuahuas decided to eat the stuffing out of a stuffed animal causing them toxic poisoning which ended in a $800.00 trip to the vet where they were hospitalized for the night. It was so scary for us. All in all, they are part of the family and we'd pay the $800.00 three times over again to make sure they are safe.

On the way home from the hospital with their little bandages.

Poor little puppies.

This was the stuffed animal they ate. Rescue dog was put to rest.

We were only in Maryland for two weeks but so much happened in two weeks. Butch found a suit and had it fitted for the wedding, I had my dresses altered, the dogs tried to kill themselves, the RV park flooded, we sold both motorcycles and turned them into a Polaris RZR, visited with Family, etc.

Riding motorcycles on the street just wasn't for me anymore so back in Alabama I decided I was selling my motorcycle. Butch was free to keep his motorcycle and ride it but he decided not to if I was set on selling mine. He began researching for a new way to entertain ourselves and stumbled upon the Polaris RZR that has side-by-side seating for us to ride off-road together. We got extremely lucky and were able to sell both motorcycles while we were in Maryland and purchased the RZR.

Our new Polaris RZR

When the time came to leave Maryland we loaded the Polaris in the back of the RV and left the orange truck and cargo trailer behind. We were setting off to get married and had no idea where our next job would land us so we took the chance and left our extra vehicle and storage trailer behind so we could travel to Arizona in the same vehicle.

The Polaris in our house.  HA! This is the day we left Maryland heading to Arizona.

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Avondale - Mesa, AZ

Mesa, AZ (2,351 miles) If you were to drive from Maryland to Arizona straight through it would take a mere 36 hours but we planned to take our time on the way to Arizona. Our first stop was to enjoy our new Polaris at an ATV park in Clay City, KY. The park website said they were RV friendly and we called to verify. I believe they should have specified "small" RV friendly. 

It was extremely stressful trying to get to the ATV park. The closer we got the more country the roads became and we were towing a 39 foot RV that's 13 feet tall. NOT COOL! Several times we discussed just turning around and to top it off we missed our turn and had to turn around in a church parking lot. That parking lot was even very small. I was in the road blocking traffic and watching for power lines while Butch tried to maneuver the behemoth RV. We always told ourselves, "we'll look back and laugh at this," and now we are.

When we finally arrived at the park the owners were so nice and everything worked out wonderfully. The riding was amazing. There were miles and miles and miles of wooded riding areas and we had a really great time. 

An amazing time together.

I'm from MS. I like to get muddy. :)

Even Ruger got to ride. He actually didn't mind.

 Another beautiful ending to a great day filled with wonderful memories.

 The RV Park was dry camping only. This means no water hookups or electricity. We used the generator on the RV for power but we never stored water in our tanks so we had no way to shower. After riding for hours in the muddy woods we were pretty messy. We figured we'd just take our shower stuff and find a truck stop or even rent a roach motel and use the shower if needed. 15 minutes down the road we found ourselves in the nearest town. We use our iphones as GPS on a daily basis and we were having no luck finding a truck stop and there was only one hotel in town so it was time to resort to old school ways and actually speak to a real person for suggestions. I explained our predicament to a lady at wal-mart and she directed us to a popular rock climbing place called Miquel's with pay-as-you-go coin operated showers.

Why not, right? I was like a kid checking out these showers. I never knew something like this existed so I was pretty excited to try it out. The showers had a light timer so you had to shower and wave your arms every few minutes or you'd find yourself showering in the dark. It was comical trying to bathe and wave your arms at the same time. It didn't take long to get dressed when the shower time was over because it was brrrr cold but I was thankful to be clean and still really excited about the nifty showers!

The infamous showers.

Nothing fancy but we were able to get clean.

Coin box and timer for the shower.

There were hundreds of campers when we arrived. Apparently this is a popular place.

After a day of fun in the mud we were back on the road. The following day we found ourselves in a stressful situation in Northern Texas where ran into a crazy snow storm out of nowhere. We weren't ready to stop traveling this day but Mother Nature had different plans for us. The snow was coming down quickly and the roads soon became too dangerous to continue traveling. We exited the first chance we had and got lucky finding a neat Route 66 gas station where we were able to get sandwiches for dinner and find shelter. We had to park behind the gas station to shield ourselves from the wind. It was insane and there were reports of big trucks being overturned by the winds. Our huge, rectangle RV acted like a wind sail and trust me when I say it's dangerous if it gets windy.

I filmed this crazy little truck sliding around the parking lot that evening. I actually filmed him because he was sliding too close to our RV and I told myself I would have proof when he smashed into us. :) Too bad I deleted the video and don't have it for you now.

We cuddled with the puppies and enjoyed some DVD's because that's the only option we had. Trying to leave the following morning was still nerve racking because the overpass we needed to drive over in order to leave wasn't exactly cleaned off yet. We assessed the situation for a while, had some gas station breakfast, and finally made a break for it. Our freakish storm was over and we were safely on our way again.

This was the photo I snapped on my iphone during the storm.

After our snow storm extravaganza we drove through Nothing, AZ (population 4) on Route 66 and  I thought this was just hilarious. I found this on the internet... The town sign once read, "The staunch citizens of Nothing are full of Hope, Faith, and Believe in the work ethic. Through the years, these dedicated people had faith in Nothing, hoped for Nothing, worked at Nothing, for Nothing.” Though abandoned by May 2005, Nothing now has a working pizza parlor, with hopes for future establishments.

HAHA!

Our dogs are very well traveled. Ruger travels like a rock star. He loves our gypsy life! Cassie, well... she's Cassie.

We finally arrived. Welcome to Sunny Arizona. Butch's Mother, Rita and her boyfriend Dave, quickly came to visit and we showed off the RV, had some wine and were able to catch up. The RV park in AZ was huge and it was nothing like what we left behind just a few days before in Maryland. We went from snowy and wet to hot, sunny desert.

All set up in Arizona.

The sunsets in AZ are beautiful.

We still had time to spare before our big day so we spent our days doing whatever we wanted. It was awesome. I did some tanning so I could achieve "off white" before our wedding day, we finished up final details, enjoyed the Razor in the desert, visited almost daily with Butch's mom and Dave and just tried to relax before family started to arrive for the wedding.

If you've read our entire blog then you might remember how Butch and I made the road trip to visit his mom 5 years earlier right after we met. Riding 4-wheelers in the desert and getting to know each other in 2005 was amazing for us so it was really awesome to bring it full circle back to Arizona to tie the knot in 2010. We knew exactly where to go for great riding and our RV park just happened to be right down the road from endless miles of desert fun. We rode our Polaris in the exact same locations we rode 4-wheelers 5 years before and this was really special for us. .

Just doing what we do together.

You can see me in the mirror. Funny!

Let the festivities begin. Family began to arrive and the vacation rental wasn't ready yet so we spent the Friday night before the wedding at a local resort/hotel. All of our immediate family on both sides were there and we had the most amazing time just sitting by the pool, visiting, eating and reminiscing.  I couldn't have been more at peace.

From left to right, my family - Sister, Dessa. Mom, Jamie. Dad, Downey. Brother, Keith.

I love, love, love this picture of us three. Now that I'm looking back at it I should print this.

While sitting by the pool this Friday night my dad and I witnessed some crazy loon physically assaulting his wife and we called the cops. All of our family went to find food and only dad and I were there for the adventure. We had been watching these people fight through the window for a while. You really couldn't help but watch them. They were screaming and throwing stuff and the guy started getting physical. We were trying to mind our own business until the guy opened the door, threw the woman out on her butt, and slammed the door hitting her in the back of the head. She was crying hysterically and it was at this point when we both jumped up and ran over to her. This guy had taken it too far and we had seen too much to ignore it anymore. We immediately called the cops. Both the man and woman were obviously intoxicated but the woman left the scene to avoid the cops and I followed her to get an accurate description of her car for the cops. She was too drunk to walk straight (literally) but she drove away while crying hysterically. This baffles me. The craziest part of all this drama was seeing these two holding hands walking down the side walk the next morning. I will never understand!

Darius arrived on Saturday just before we were checking out of the hotel to go see the vacation rental where we would be married and spend the next week. He hadn't had a chance to check out the Razor yet so Butch made time especially for the two of them to go ride in the desert. Butch and his brother Jason also went but I wasn't there so I don't think he has any photos of it.

So stinkin' cute.

The loves of my life.

This is the vacation rental we rented for our wedding. I explained earlier why we decided on the vacation rental versus a venue and overall it worked out amazing.

The big day was finally here. It was time to marry my best friend and I couldn't have been more happy. The whole day was absolutely perfect. Everyone began getting ready early that morning and the whole day was flawless.

My beautiful sister.

Getting my hair did! :)

My sister brought a handkerchief that was hand made by our Great Grandma Clara as my something old.

To say the least, she made me cry. It was incredible.

My handsome Groom and his brother getting ready. This day was truly perfect.

We started getting ready in the early morning but before you know it "before" pictures were finished and it was time. I was incredibly emotional. It was special that my father was there to walk me down the isle, (I'm a big daddy's girl) and everything was just so perfect and overwhelming. I turned into a big cry baby. Well, right before it was time to start we all turned into big cry babies!

They were happy tears filled with emotion. I promise! :)

The man that we hired to marry us was nothing short of perfect. This is him and his wife on the right. They came in and said NO TEARS, it's time to get married! So, we did a 1, 2, 3, let's get married!!!! It was hilarious and it did help for a minute or two.

Let's do this!

And we're right back to emotional.... waiting to open the doors and walk to my groom. Seriously, I just started crying. I can't look at these photos without crying.

 Ok... side note... I'm so serious, that last photo got me. I'm crying now. Remember Nina, the photographer friend who became the new mommy for our Italian Greyhound, Tido? Well, she was our photographer for the wedding. I recently thanked her again and I can't say it enough, thank you for capturing these precious moments. Almost 2 years later and I'm still crying when I look at them.

I love that I was really laughing here.

Let's go!

And I'm finally with my groom. It's time!

And you may kiss your bride! WOOT!

We were being announced as Mr. and Mrs. - Look at Darius patting Butch on the back. Hilarious!

Meet Mr. and Mrs. Mendes!

Taking a minute to regroup.

The reception began directly after the wedding in the back yard. A few people changed into more comfortable clothes, Darius was in the pool and all the adults began drinking, eating, and relaxing. Butch's brother, Jason, worked his magic on the grill and Chuck (Butch's Father) assisted in mixing drinks and getting the party started. The Mendes family doesn't play around when it's time to party. When we returned from our after the wedding photos with Nina everyone was comfortable, eating and hanging out. This is exactly how I wanted it.

I love this photo. I just had to add it.

We also planned our wedding around Darius' school schedule and set our wedding date in accordance with his Spring Break. He was actually there for our entire honeymoon. Our time with Darius is limited and it's important that he be a part of our life. Every day is a honeymoon for Butch and I and we travel the world doing as we please so having Darius with us for our honeymoon week really wasn't as crazy as it sounds.

We lounged in our super rental and enjoyed the pool, left over food and drinks. Our good friends Joe and Katy drove in from Las Vegas, NV and we offered them to stay longer so they actually hung out with us at the rental house for a few days after the wedding. It's so funny for me to think that we still had a full house for our honeymoon but we wouldn't have wanted it any other way. We played pool, swam, ate leftovers, hung out and just overall lounged together and it was a great time. The only thing I regret is not dragging them out of the house to go site seeing! :)

CLICK FOR MORE WEDDING PHOTOS

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Las Vegas, NV

Mesa, AZ (281 miles) All the wedding fun was over and it was time to find a new job. Offers were slim and our savings were dwindling so when Butch was offered a "permanent" position in Las Vegas, NV we took it. 

The drive from Arizona to Las Vegas was nothing for us. However, our arrival to Las Vegas proved exciting. We had researched RV parks before leaving AZ but for reasons I can't remember we ended up spending our first night at an RV park located directly on the strip. Yep, my new husband drove our 39 foot RV right down the Las Vegas strip. I was beyond nervous but as always, Butch pulled it off. He drove that huge RV in places I would have never dreamed it would go.

Do you see the Circus Circus behind the RV?

The photo above also makes me laugh. Butch and I were recently remembering how crazy it was pulling the RV down the Vegas strip and how the dogs escapes from us while we were trying to set up. We were normally pretty good about keeping an eye on the dogs while we're setting up and making sure the door was always shut but this time someone messed up and the dogs were FREE. We found them 3 rows over happily chasing birds. It was the funniest thing when it was all over and we put them safely back inside.

My first mission in Vegas was to visit the strip. Butch wasn't so excited but I know that things change quickly for us and there was no possible way I was going to miss out on the Vegas strip. We quickly learned that ordering drinks without playing slots costs $63.00 for two rounds. NOT COOL. So, we slowly paid a slot machine and got the next one for almost nothing. HAHA. Live and learn.

We spent two nights downtown and quickly relocated to a more affordable RV park in Northern Las Vegas. Our new place was a gated RV park with a swimming pool. 

Trying not to bake in the Las Vegas heat.

The heat was unbearable. It was absolutely miserable. After living in Vegas it is my personal opinion is that no one should ever live there. Vegas is a place to visit, not a place to live! I'm sure people normally just stay inside through the summer in Vegas. However, we couldn't cool our inside either so we just stayed hot. Our RV proved almost impossible to fully air condition in the intense heat. We were parked on pavement and the temps were well past 100 degrees. RV's apparently aren't insulating to handle this type of extreme heat so the cold air would not stay in the RV. We purchased a larger air conditioner for the back room and it ran non-stop but the RV was still uncomfortable during the peak hours of the day.

Butch started work and I continued looking for work. Soon after we arrived in Vegas I was offered a position in New Jersey. This was actually exactly what we needed because it was a very short term job which meant I wouldn't be gone very long and it was very close to Maryland so I would be able to retrieve the truck we left behind a few months earlier. The plan was for me to fly to New Jersey and then drive the truck and trailer back to Vegas. Things always have a way of working themselves out because when we left the truck and trailer we had no plan as to how we would get it back. In our lifestyle you can't always make plans. You just do what you need to at the moment and figure the rest out later.

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Picatinny Arsenal, NJ

Picatinny, NJ (Flew there and drove 2, 569 miles back to NV) I felt so lucky to get this job. It was exactly what we needed. The day I flew out Butch and I were walking to the gate and realized my seat number was A2. They booked me in first class. WOOT! I was so excited. I was flying in style and I loved every moment of it.


My girlfriend, Diana, was on this site also and she was already there working so she picked me up from the airport and showed me the ropes. Her and I had arranged to share a room which was awesome. We get along perfectly and we could save money splitting the room and food. I was so pumped. Everything was working out great. 

We did room together. However, not for long. Diana's dog, Max, decided he had other plans. This dog is seriously Houdini. I've never seen anything like it. He broke out of whatever type of crate she put him in. It was insane. Max threw a full on party while we were away at work! One day he actually escaped from the hotel room. He pawed the door until he got it open and took himself on a walk. He was determined to be FREE. He was a bit strong spirited for my taste so I ended up getting my own room. Diana and I still shared a work truck, hung out together, worked on the same team and were at the same hotel. Being away from home was easier having Diana around. 


My number one priority was to get our truck and trailer from Maryland so my first week-end I reserved a rental car and drove to Maryland to pick up the truck and trailer. Our good friends Donald and Renata picked me up from the rental car company and took me to the truck. I spent the night at my brother-in-law's house and visited before I returned to NJ.

Baby Bella came to pick me up too. :) I heart her. She had a little cookie left on her cheek here :).

My return to NJ proved interesting. This is the first time I had ever had the responsibility of the 16 foot trailer without the help of Butch. I do perfectly fine pulling the trailer, as long as I don't need to backup. When I returned to my hotel I literally almost got stuck trying to park the trailer. I know the "idea" behind backing up a trailer but I just don't have it down. I was a mess. So, I improvised and took it to a wide open parking lot across the street and disconnected. Even disconnecting and re-connecting was a task. 

Butch always sends me great photos of the dogs while I'm away. I heart him.

NYC is only a short train ride from NJ so Diana and I planned a trip. We spent the entire day doing whatever we wanted and it was really awesome. We attempted to make it to the Statue of Liberty but it didn't work out. We took a cab all the way there and realized we'd be spending half our day waiting in line so we both agreed it wasn't worth it.We got to see and do plenty of other stuff this day though.

Chilin' in our NYC Taxi.

We ARE this cool.

This bull was in the movie Hitch with Will Smith. Hitch was Butch and my first date movie so I needed a picture.

HAHA. No caption needed.

Don't forget. I was actually in NJ to work. So, I did a little of that too. 

This is me getting ready to blow some stuff up! :)

Diana and I getting ready to blow up some projectiles.

Sometimes the Ordnance isn't the dangerous part of our work sites. Many times we are watching out for heavy equipment, falling debris, building materiel, trip hazards, etc. Well, in NJ we had a Bear Hazard. For real... big, fat live mamma bears in our grid. It was absolutely insane. We were working away when Diana yelled out BEAR! I quickly dropped everything and RAN for safety. The way I see it is the bear is going to grab whoever is closest and it wasn't going to be me. This day the visitors consisted of a mamma bear with her cubs. They decided our work area would be a great spot for an afternoon nap so we got sent home for the day.

After this you can imagine we were on the look out for Bear. A few days later while chatting with our Safety leader he all the sudden got serious and said "hey guys"... I could tell by the tone of his voice there was a bear behind us. He didn't even get it out of his mouth before I was heading for safety. He was attempting to keep us calm but both Diana and I knew exactly what was happening. This time was too close for comfort. This bear was about 3 good leaps behind us. I think he was just curious but this was enough for me. It became serious. The company wouldn't provide us bear spray and there was really nothing we could do if the bear decided to eat us! Thankfully the job ended soon and no one was eaten by the bears but it was truly nerve racking.

My little adventure was over and I was anxious to get back home to my new husband. I was so, so, so proud of myself when I lined the hitch up to the truck the first try and I did it ALL BY MYSELF! It's the small things in life! 2,569 miles is a long, long trip and I was about to head across the US (again) but this time I was pulling a 16 foot trailer and I needed to drive straight (no backing up) the entire way.

I stopped in Nebraska to see an old boss of ours who was in the hospital after a traumatic work related injury. He was well medicated so who knows if he even remembers my visit. Nonetheless, it was good to see him. Parking at the hospital wasn't too difficult. I always looked ahead and parked with plenty of room to drive straight out. However, this time there was a snag. I accidentally drove into a parking lot the wrong way and found myself blocked in by one of those automatic arms. I had to go inside, explain myself and then wait for maintenance to come and turn the key so the arm would raise. HAHA! Luckily I didn't block any traffic and nothing crazy happened. This was the only mishap during my entire trip back across the US so I have no complaints.

Mapquest says this trip should take roughly 40 hours. If you drive 8 hours a day this trip should take 5 days. I made it home in 4 days and that's including the stop in Nebraska. I also assure you I was not speeding. I couldn't speed while dragging the trailer behind me. The last day I drove about 16 hours straight. I guess I was ready to be home with my new husband! 

I was back in the land of heat and all was well for us, except that he was not loving his job in Las Vegas. He was working there for less than a month before he saw glaring signs that it was not going to work out for him. With Butch growing quickly unhappy and the stress of empty bank accounts after the wedding I was feeling the need to get right back to work.

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Weirdness in Vegas

Butch and I took several riding trips while we lived in Vegas. We took the Polaris to the mountain tops. It was the coolest (literally) experience because it was over 100 degrees in Vegas and we would drive 40 minutes to higher altitude and we needed sweatshirts to ride. This was the best thing ever for us because neither of us loved the Vegas heat. It was like our little escape. 

Awwww... cooler temps!

Looking for animals.

This was a really cool location.

Gorgeous and relaxing.

We had some great times on this thing.

Now for the weirdness part. We were riding miles and miles from any civilization deep in the desert and for whatever reason we failed to take a gun with us this day. We could go for lonnnng distances on the Polaris and we had tanks of gas strapped to the back so we could go even further. We would turn on our music and just roll out. Normally, we don't do things like this without protection from animals and crazy people. It would be the one time we don't take a weapon that something weird happens.

We had just finished our lunch and we were in "chill" mode just casually driving and checking out the desert. We rounded a corner and saw a 4-wheeler tipped over, 2 frantic men, and a lady who was clearly in shock. The path was blocked with their crashed 4-wheelers so we had to stop. These people were also deep into the desert. We found them about 12 miles from the closest exit. 12 miles on a 4-wheeler takes a while. 

We are survivors (hehe) so we were skeptical of these people and we needed to make sure the situation wasn't some crazy scam where they were going to bash our heads and steal out motorcycle. Butch or I neither one jumped out to help at first. We assessed the situation, counted people, and tried to take it all in quickly. When we saw the ladies bone hanging our of her arm we figured it was pretty serious and not a scam! 

Butch came around to help this lady and about the time he got to her she collapsed. She went completely limp. She was noticeably in shock, confused and wasn't quite sure what was going on. I don't know how long they had been there before we arrived but they had been there long enough to make a makeshift sling and "set" her arm. Yep, that's right. These geniuses "set" the bone for her and this is why the lady was in shock. IDIOTS! Her arm was mangled. It would have been less mangled if they would have left it alone.

The guys who were with the lady that crashed were trying to figure out how they were going to get the injured lady back because they had all 4-wheelers and no cell phones so I feel like they would have been totally screwed if we didn't come along. They also had no water. We sat the lady in our Razor, strapped her in, gave her some water and Butch drove her back while I drove one of their 4-wheelers. It was a long, nerve racking trip. These people constantly freaked us out. It was a really, really weird feeling the whole time like something just wasn't quite right but we couldn't just leave this lady for death while she bled out in the Vegas desert. 

It gets better... This picture was of our Polaris now pulling one of their 4-wheelers. It ran out of gas on the way in. So, even if these people didn't crash they would have still run out of gas back in the middle of nowhere with no cell phones and no waters. They truly were just not smart people.

If you look to the right hand side of the photo there is another Polaris. This was the passerby's who I snagged. When we saw other people I stopped them and told them what was going on and asked them to please stick with us. They were also confused and weirded out but with my charming ways I coaxed them into staying with us. The people who crashed were leading us back to a spot we had never been to before. Our exit was the opposite direction. We had no idea what was waiting on us and they were giving us the strangest vibes so we just wanted to be as safe as possible. 

Upon arriving at their location one of the guys said he was going to get the car so the injured lady could take herself to the hospital. REALLY? Her bone is hanging out of her arm and an hour ago she was fainting. You want her to drive herself 40 minutes to the nearest hospital. No big deal, right? I'm telling you, these people were weird. We told them we needed gas before we ever headed out because we had gas to get us back to our location, not an hour the wrong way. So, they gave us their gas, and we headed out. Don't you know these jerks never so much as said the words "Thank you" to us. Not a one of them thanked us for saving their lives. CRAZY!

We quickly thanked the guys that stayed with us and we rolled out. We vowed not to stop for anyone else that day no matter what happened!

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Brawley, CA

Brawley, CA  (307 miles) I was offered a position in Brawley, CA for 6 weeks. It was an overtime project for 60 hours per week which meant I was going to the CA desert to work non-stop for 6 weeks. Things were working out well because this was our plan all along. Butch would stay put in Vegas and we'd call it home while I traveled around to short-term positions when needed.

Living in the RV and dragging it all over the world was just not proving as great as we had hoped so we made the decision to sell the RV. We had posted it for sale but had no serious inquiries. When we were finally settled on selling the RV we couldn't get rid of it soon enough. Our love for the RV life was gone, to say the least. 

I made my way down to the desert to Brawley, CA. I want to take a minute to show you exactly where I was... 

The yellow dot is Brawley, CA. The yellow line is the Mexican border. It felt like I was already in Mexico. It was the craziest place. You could actually see "The Fence" that is the border between USA and Mexico. I had photos of the fence from the highway but I think I deleted them because I couldn't find them when I went searching. It was pretty cool to see this place. It was like we were already in Mexico because Brawley was very Mexicoish!

HOT!

The desert was also VERY hot. Working outside in this heat all day took a little getting use to. They started our work day as early as possible so that we could work during the cool hours but we were working 10 hour days and 6 days a week so avoiding the heat just wasn't possible.

Butch was lucky enough to get offered a job on this site as well so he ditched the job in Vegas and headed down. I was so happy to have Butch there with me and the dogs. In our industry you have to make decisions fast. We knew that this job wouldn't last long and then we would both be out of work again. It was a choice we had to make. Many times we have to make decisions knowing that our future in uncertain. Things always work out.

HAHA... nice face. We had a team cookout and this is Butch's excited face.

We got to find really, really cool ordnance in Brawley. This is one of my favorite work photos of me.

This is me with a LIVE  MK83, 1,000 pound bomb, dual fuzed.

After Brawley we went quickly back to Vegas where we left our RV parked. Darius was arriving for his summer visit with us and we were pretty excited to get back and pick him up. In true Vegas form we took him immediately to the Vegas Strip. When Darius arrived he walked outside and said "Welcome to Vegas, the world's largest oven." So stinkin' funny. I asked him frequently which state/location he likes best and he still answers with "Vegas." He loved his time in Vegas.

My handsome boys at the aquarium.

Doing what they do best... Mess with each other! :)

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Columbus, GA

Just a short 31 hour drive back across the country.

Columbus, GA  (1,956 miles) If you remember, Butch no longer had a job in Vegas as he had to take the Brawley, CA position. We were on the search for a job again. Luckily it didn't take long and we were offered a position in Columbus, GA.


This is the first time Darius had ever moved with us. We had our hands full with this move. 2 trucks, a cargo trailer, RV, 2 dogs, and a kid. We were like the modern day Beverly Hillbillies. It was quite a long trip for Darius. He watched a lot of movies on the laptop, slept, played his video games, made lots of weird noises and tried to keep himself sane during the drive. Recently, I asked the now 14 year old, what his fondest memory of that trip was and he said stopping at the truck stop for the night where we parked in the very back and camped out in the RV. This was really cool for me. We made awesome memories for Darius and shared a little part of our life with him.

We drove right through my home town, Tupelo, MS, on the way to Columbus so we were able to stop and visit. This was awesome. My family was able to see Darius again and we spent the night and hung out. Thankful for the small things.

Upon arriving in Columbus, GA we just couldn't escape the heat. GA is also miserably hot in the summer. We already knew several people that were at this work site. It's funny how our world works. We travel thousands of miles across the US to a new work site and when we show up we already know people there. My parents were on this site again too. We had someone to check in on Darius while we were working, people to have dinner with and it felt like we were already settled. It's a weird life we life but a fun one!

Summer time with Darius was over and we drove him back to Tampa but this was not the last we would see of Darius while living in GA. Flights were cheap and quick from Tampa to Atlanta or Columbus so we saw Darius frequently in GA.

Many, many hours in the car together.

 We spent Thanksgiving 2010 in Cape Cod, MA with Butch's family. Currently, as I write this (May 17, 2012) we haven't been back to visit Butch's family since. We had a wonderful visit and we were able to take our photo in front of the Mendes rock as a married couple. This was a big deal for us.

This rock is in front of Butch's Grandparent's house. This pic went out in Christmas cards this year.

Our little niece, Alana. We were showing how tall she was getting.

On the Cape Cod Beach in Thanksgiving... brrr!

Family. I heart you Josh.

Some of the Mendes men. We had a really nice visit.

We decided that the RV was never going to sell as long as we were living in it. So we found an apartment, cleaned out the RV and put it on consignment in Anniston, AL at the place we purchased it. Living in an apartment again was so great. It was also convenient for Darius' visits because we had way more room.

We had Darius for Christmas this year and were able to go spend time with my family in MS again. We took this GA job so that we could be closer to my family and Darius. Anytime we have a choice of location we always pick the best location for our family and son.

G-Pa Catfish has the best wrapping skills ever! There is something special about a Mississippi Christmas. haha!

Christmas in GA. We spent a lot of time with Darius in GA.

Quality time with dad.

Use your man strength son!

Visiting with my MS family.

Practicing with my camera. It's amazing how much I've learned since these photos.

We borrowed this Christmas tree from the apartment lobby. Haha!

And so, this finally concludes 2010. It took me forever to complete this year on the blog. I'm hoping 2011 goes quicker so I can get caught up and blog things as they're happening for us.

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Miles Traveled

It's getting really hard to calculate all the miles at this point so I think I will begin calling this section "Places Lived" instead of "Miles Traveled." We lived in 19 locations from 2005-2010 and I may have missed one or two short jobs. I just added in Butch's short time in Myrtle Beach, SC which I failed to blog about back in 2007.

• College Station, TX
• Alexandria, VA
• Bucroe Beach, VA
• Avondale, AZ
• Sidney, NE
• Jacksonville, FL
• Denver, CO
• Elkton, MD
• Seneca Falls, NY
• Culebra, PR
• Belcamp, MD 
• Myrtle Beach, SC 
  
• Savannah, GA
• Anniston, AL
• Avondale, AZ
• Las Vegas, NV
• Picatinny, NJ
• Brawley, CA
• Columbus, GA
  

MORE COMING SOON!