What a great way to start off a new year. Jerry had a doctor's appointment this morning to address the worsening neuropathic pain in his legs and feet and they are switching medicines and setting up a new treatment plan... and that's the good news. He had his thyroid removed in late 2013 due to thyroid cancer but on a subsequent checkup, they spotted "something" in his neck. They did an ultrasound and measured it. Well, the last ultrasound he got shows it has grown so it looks like the cancer is back. They are scheduling a full body scan to see if there is cancer anywhere else in his body. That means he will get injections every day for 3 days, skip a day then another injection and the actual scan. Hopefully, the cancer is only in one spot and can be dealt with easily. No matter what the outcome, we know the Lord has blessed us and we will always trust Him and praise His name. [72]

The blog was much more exciting when we were full-timing. A new place every week or so, new sites to see, new camper friends to make... ah, the good old days. Winter in Central Alabama is cold and dreary and that is exactly what we are getting. At least we got a few days of cold sunshine this past week, but the rain arrives tomorrow. Cold and wet days means we don't get anything done on the van conversion but we know it will warm up soon enough and we can finish what all there is left to do. Then we can do some more camping and road trips!

We met some folks who built their own tiny house and we went to see it today. It is pretty neat but we're too old and gimpy for a loft bedroom. The couple is in their early 20s and they built in themselves which is quite admirable. They did a great job, far better than we could do. We were so busy looking at it that we forgot to take a picture of it. Sorry about that. [73]

For some reason, we keep leaning towards a trip to Savannah, Georgia and Charleston, South Carolina for our 2016 road trip. We initially thought about heading up the Midwest or Northeast to pick up more states, but a relaxing week or 2 on the east coast sounds really good. There is a ton to see in both cities, a lot of history, which we like. We can even stick out toes in the ocean at Tybee Beach, go see the rich folks on Hilton Head Island, and even get wet at Folly Beach. There are plenty of campgrounds in that area, even some great state parks. This will be much cheaper and more relaxing than a jaunt to Maine and back. We'll see how it goes as summer approaches.

We're about ready to install a microwave in the van. It will just be a small off-the-shelf model from Amazon or Walmart, and we'll build a frame around it to secure it. The RV specific units are 3 times the price just because they claim to be for RVs. Sorry Camping World. This installation will also allow us to finish the upper cabinets. We'll probably order custom doors off eBay once the framing and covering is all done. Making decent looking doors is hard, and they are only $10 each on eBay.

We are so ready for winter to be over. It has been very mild thus far but still, the cold weather really limits what you can do outside. Even cooking a steak on the grill is no fun when a biting wind is nipping at you. Winter is tough on RVers, but you know what they say... [74]