1976-2008

It all started when my fiance' joined the Army.

In June 1976, straight out of high school, Gary went to Ft. Dix, NJ for Basic Training. By October he had orders for his first duty station-Alaska! I married him anyways even though I didn't want to go to Alaska.

We loved it there at Ft. Wainwright. Of course we were to young and homesick to understand just what a great adventure we had in store for us. We lived there for 1 1/2 yrs and had our daughter, Kristal in 1978. It was an adventure there that's for sure. Sunshine 24 hrs a day in the summer and darkness for 24 hrs a day in the winter, except for the street lights. We were experiencing our firsts of everything as a married couple and took everything in stride. We didn't really think about how different our lives had become from our simple country upbringing back in N.H.

By July of 78 we were transferred to Ft. Hood, TX where our son, Jason, was born in 1979. What a difference Texas was from Alaska! Once again we took things in stride and made the most of it, meeting lots of new people and making lasting friendships.

Then we were stationed at Ft. Bliss, TX (El Paso), Germany (Erlangen) and finally Ft. Devens, MA. By now we were into our 10th year of marrage and wanted a "normal" life so Gary got out of the Army. Well life was alot harder than we thought it could be and Gary reenlisted 2 years later. It was nice to be back home amoungst our relatives but we really missed "the Army life".

As it turned out he joined the Army Reserves and we able to stay in N.H. for another 6 yrs. Then one day out of the blue he calls me at work and tells me we have been reassigned to New Orleans, La. None of us wanted to go there! But we packed up and down south we went. For 4 yrs we tried to make the best of it and finally just had to leave! Gary retired and we moved to TN because it was so much like NH just not as cold and not as much snow. We still had the mountains we loved and the 4 seasons.



These 3 photos are of Cardens Bluff Campground at Watauga Lake in TN.

After almost 9 yrs of the same place we were getting antsy and one day decided to sell everything and move into the camper. We had been living in the camper at Watauga Lake and were the campground hosts there for 2 years so we were pretty much used to the small space of our camper. By now our daughter lived in AZ and we had been out there the winter before and decided that was as good a place as any to move to.

We decided that with Gary's retirement (and no utilities to pay) we could volunteer somewhere and do OK. So he gets on the computer and applies to lots and lots of places, both volunteer and paying positions. The Petrifed Forest National Park (PEFO) in AZ was the place we chose to go to. Gary had always wanted to see it and now he could see it everyday!

We arrived at PEFO Nov. 12, 2008. They had an RV pad for us with most all the ultilities included and we only had to volunteer for 32 hrs a week! I didn't even have to volunteer but I decided I would also. They wanted us to stay at least 6-8 weeks. We stayed 5 mths and loved every minute of it! Well not quite every minute-it did get quite cold and it even snowed some. And we did go through a lot of propane, which they did not provide.

Just as Gary thought it sure was worth coming to see. Here are a few of our pictures that we took while at Petrified Forest NP.

Long logs of petrified wood.

A big piece of petrified wood. You can see where a branch was.
A small piece of petrified wood Gary found at Blue Mesa.


Our Grandson Matthew sitting on a piece of petrified wood.

A piece of petrified wood. You can see where a branch was.

A very colorful piece of Petrified Wood.

The Painted Desert from the Painted Desert Inn at the Petrified Forest.

Elizabeth, Matthew, Brandon & Sam with a Phytosauris Reptile sckull at the Rainbow Forest Museum and Matthew, Brandon & Sam in front of the bentinite clay hills at the Petrified Forest National Park.