TUMBLEWEED

Walt Disney World With Rob and Debra

2012-02-02T21:03:00.000-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 82 Lo 56 -- Today was a full and active day! We got up at 7am, which is early for me. We were out the door at 7:30 headed for the Fort Wilderness Campground at Disney World to meet up with Rob and his wife Debra. Rob is an RV-Dreamer friend, and is active in our nightly chatroom. We met him a couple of years ago when he visited us, and today we finally got to meet his lovely wife Debra.

On the way north we stopped at IHOP for breakfast. I had my favorite again, the Hash Brown Stacker. With full bellies we continued our trip and arrived at the entrance to Fort Wilderness around 9:30. Rob was there to meet us with a parking pass, and two resort passes good for the next two weeks. How nice! He rented a golf cart for the day and we loaded up and rode a couple of miles to his campsite. The Fort Wilderness Campground is HUGE... Rob says there's over 800 sites! It's very "woodsy."

We arrived at Rob's site and he showed us around his 4-month old Pinnacle fifth wheel. It's a beauty!

We went inside to meet Debra and got an inside tour of their rig. Then after sitting and socializing for awhile we all piled into the golf cart and Rob took us on a tour of some of the Disney World resorts.

We went to the Campground boat dock and took a ferry across the lake to the Fort Wilderness Resort. It's a rustic looking complex that's built from huge logs, and designed to resemble the big National Park lodges out west.

The central atrium is many stories high with all the rooms' balconies facing the lobby.

In one corner is this huge fireplace that's two stories high.

This is one of two totem poles that rise up on two sides of the lobby. This photo doesn't really reflect it's beauty and bright colors.

Although the lodge is very rustic, outside there's all the modern amenities of leisure, like this swimming pool.

After admiring these beautiful surroundings for awhile, we hopped on another ferry and went across the lake in another direction to the Contemporary Resort, one of the two original resorts that were here when Disney World opened in 1971.

It's a lot more modern looking than the Fort Wilderness Resort. This is a view of the lobby from the monorail track two stories above the floor. Those long white walkways run in front of the hotel rooms.

The monorail runs right through the lobby of the hotel.

We jumped on the monorail to go to our next destination...

The Grand Floridian. (Sorry for the quality of this photo; I took it out the window of the monorail.)

And this place really is GRAND! It's the fanciest hotel at Disney World (and the most expensive at several hundred dollars a night). Walking in from the monorail station we were on a balcony overlooking the lobby. Note the grand piano being played, and the uniformed staff waiting to be "beckoned and called." (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Behind the hotel is a beach, with the whitest sand we've ever seen. It was obviously trucked in from somewhere, probably from one of the beaches on Florida's west coast.

After getting our taste of how the "other half" lived, we re-boarded the monorail and took a ride past the Magic Kingdom...

Space Mountain...

Cindarella's Castle...

And Epcot.

Me and Jim, next to Mickey.

After transferring from the monorail back to the ferry, we crossed the lake back to the Fort Wilderness Campground. Rob and Debra, thanks for your hospitality, and for making this a day to remember. You guys are the greatest!

We said our farewells to Debra as she stayed behind while Rob took us back to our car. We parted with hugs and a promise to get together again, then headed home just as darkness was falling.

What a wonderful day! A whole day at Disney World without spending any money.

Potluck - Bible Study - New Truck Batteries

2012-02-01T17:22:00.001-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 81 Lo 52 -- An update on a couple things...

First, my tooth didn't keep me awake last night, which was surprising for how bad it hurt yesterday. I used warm salt water, peroxide, and even sensodine toothpaste and it calmed down. I ate ok today, so luckily it's ok.

Second, I've had a few inquiries about mom and how she's doing. She's doing very well and the new doctor she saw yesterday took her off one med and put her on half pills for another. Her heart is as strong as a 60-year old's (she's 88). She's doing well and into a routine with my sister. Thanks sis. I'll give updated information occasionally.

We had a salad potluck lunch at noon in the clubhouse. It's our first one since we've been here and the salads were super! Even Jim liked it, and he's not a big "green" food lover. :) I took a broccoli salad and there was only one other salad there that was almost like it. I was surprised there's so many different salads and how good they all were. We'll do that again next month.

Someone brought in a couple of old popup Valentine cards from the 1800's. They were in really good shape.

On Wednesday afternoons there's a Bible study, and up to now we've either forgotten it or we weren't around for it. Today we finally joined the group in the clubhouse for a lively discussion of Ephesians. We really enjoyed and we plan to attend each week whenever we can.

Jim has been having a lot of trouble starting the truck. The battery has been losing its charge while sitting. Today it didn't start so we jumped it again (another reason to have a second car), then he took it to a nearby Advance Auto Parts store to have them check it on their machine. Both batteries were in bad shape. They're about five years old, which is about the normal life span for original batteries. He bought two new ones, so we're in good shape for a few more years.

Jim connecting battery cables to jump his truck. We're glad we have two vehicles.

I sat outside reading blogs till Jim got back, then we both did our walk around the park. I need to do more walking. I go a couple days without doing it then walk a couple days then give up. I was going to go to the pool but all the chairs were taken so decided against it. It's been so warm we keep forgetting it's winter. The rest of the nation looks like it's been a lot warmer too.

We have to get up early tomorrow morning for a day trip to Orlando. More about that in tomorrow's blog.

A Visit With the Dentist

2012-01-31T16:54:00.003-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 70 Lo 50 -- The wind was cool, but the sun was warm, so it depends on where you were if you got a cool breeze or you got really warm. We love Florida.

I went to a dentist in Avon Park last year and really like him, so I made an appointment for today for both me and Jim. Our appointment was at 10:30 and with all the x-rays, checking, and cleaning we didn't get out till 12:00. All I had done was a cleaning, but the gal must have gone too deep in the gum because it's still hurting. I'm hoping no infection sets in. I hate going to a doctor and feeling worse when I leave than I felt when I got there. Jim has to have some more work done, so he'll be going back a couple more times before we leave the area. This dentist does have the latest and greatest in equipment. They can even do a crown with a special machine and it will be done in an hour. Very impressive!

We went to Arby's for lunch, did a couple of more errands, and got home in time to play some shuffleboard with Elaine, Jon, Debbie, Ken, and Rick. It was so nice out. I need to get up earlier to join the 10am shuffleboard group so I can play daily.

I came home and remembered tomorrow there's a salad potluck, so I looked up a couple of recipes and made a broccoli salad to bring. By the time I finished that, it was time for dinner.

We had a ball playing cards last night. We have to actively plan some activities once in while, otherwise we'd never move from the computers. There's so much we do with games, web surfing, or reading that we'd probably never go outside if we didn't schedule some activities. :) I'm so glad we're in an active park with such nice people.

Visit From RV-Dreamer Friends

2012-01-30T20:31:00.003-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 76 Lo 53 -- I didn't get to bed until about 1:30 this morning, so I slept until 9:30 to get my "required" eight hours of sleep. RV-Dreamers Kevin and Arlene drove down from Clermont, about an hour and a half north of here. We met Kevin and Arlene in 2008 at the RV-Dreams Rally in Branson, MO. We last saw them in the fall of 2010 at the Escapees Rally in Goshen, IN.

Arlene and Kevin

They arrived about 11:30. We sat and visited for awhile, then went to lunch at the Blue Lagoon, a local sports bar that has great wings. The service was slower than usual, probably because of the large groups of women that were on a "girls day out." The were loud and boisterous. The whole place seemed really busy and loud for a Monday. But the wait for our food was worth it because it was excellent!

After lunch we stopped at Maxwell's Groves for some of their wonderful orange ice cream. Here's a view of just some of the jams and jellies they sell.

When we got back to the park I took Arlene on a tour of our clubhouse and pool while the guys stayed back at the rig. Inside the clubhouse they were having an oil painting class.

Arelene has been a member of the RV-Dreams chatroom since 2007. Our neighbor Elaine is also a regular in the chatroom, so we walked down to her place so she and Arlene could meet each other.

Arlene on the left, with Rick and Elaine

They wanted to beat the Orlando rush hour traffic so they left around 3pm. We really enjoyed their visit. They're moving over to the St. Petersburg area next week, so we may get to return the visit during one of our trips to Tampa.

The rest of the afternoon we rested, and I got hooked on a movie called "American Nomads." It's a full-length movie about people without permanent homes who travel the country. It covers all social and economic classes, and it was very entertaining. If you're interested it's available online at this link:

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/american-nomads/

I will warn you that there's some rough language in a few parts.

We had a bite to eat before going to the clubhouse for an evening of card games. It's a fun way to meet some new friends and have a few laughs.

Family Visitors

2012-01-29T18:07:00.002-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 75 Lo 55 -- It was chilly this morning when we got up, but the nice thing about this area is that it doesn't take long to warm up. We had a hot breakfast then did some last minute preparation for our special guests. We got everything ready outside for our planned picnic lunch. Then we relaxed and waited, Jim with his Kindle and me with my blogs and games.

Adele and Richard arrived around 12:30. We gave them a tour of the RV and then on a walk around the park so they could loosen up from their trip. It was so nice seeing them again. We last saw them at their place in Maryland this past spring. After visiting a while and letting them rest up from their trip we had lunch. Jim grilled burgers and brats while I prepared baked beans, potato salad and macaroni salad.

Adele and Richard, with Jim filling his plate.

Richard and Adele

They could only spend a short time with us as they had to be at Adele's brothers house in St. Cloud by dinner time. They left about 3:30 and we already miss them. Thank you "Auntie and Uncle" for going out of your way to visit us. We really appreciate it. When we get back to the Maryland area we'll be sure to stop by again.

After they left Jim settled in with a James Bond movie while I went for a long walk around the park. I then sat outside until the sun went down and it started getting cool. The rest of the evening was watching TV and chilling out. What a wonderful day!

Cleaning Up for Special Company Tomorrow

2012-01-28T17:13:00.001-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 73 Lo 52 -- There's times when you just know how good you've got it. This is one of those times. The weather is perfect, the RV parks is perfect, no worries, no concerns and life is very good. That's how I felt today.

Jim's Aunt Adele and Uncle Richard are visiting tomorrow, and I want the place presentable, so we did some cleaning today. We went to Walmart to get some things we need for tomorrow's grilled lunch. We noticed along the way, how much gas prices are climbing. We've had to fill up a couple times this week with all the traveling back and forth to Tampa. Gas was $3.29 on Tuesday, and up to $3.49 today. Could it be bad karma from the recent decision to not allowing the pipeline to be built from Canada to Louisana?

While out, we went for lunch at Taco Bell, then over to Maxwell's Groves for another half-gallon of orange juice. The REAL reason we went there was for some of their excellent orange ice cream. It's so good! We'll miss that place when we leave. After we got home, I put all the food away then finished cleaning the rest of the RV. Luckily it doesn't take long. Jim cleaned up the grill so it's ready. We're really looking forward to seeing Adele and Richard again. We visited them at their beautiful home in the Maryland mountains this past spring. They're on their way to visit their son in Ft. Lauderdale. We're thrilled they're going out of their way to visit us on their way south!

While outside, I noticed a huge sun dog in the sky. It was around the sun as a total extra ring. Sure pretty.

It was beautiful, but some people think that a sun dog is a sign that bad weather is coming. Something to watch for this next week.

I visited awhile with Kathleen, Jon, Debbie, Elaine, Ken and Rick for awhile before getting dinner.

Jim's been having serious racing withdrawal during this NASCAR off season, so today he watched the first couple of hours of the Rolex 24-hour race from Daytona. I read some blogs and played computer games until dinner time. After that we'll settle in for our normal evening of TV and chatting.

Another Trip to Tampa -- Stopping at Lazy Days

2012-01-27T18:59:00.004-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 73 Lo 63 -- It started raining about 6:00, but no storms like predicted. We got up and out the door by 9:30 to go to Tampa VA Hospital Coumadin Clinic for Jim's blood test. We love stopping at IHOP on the way and they had a special dish that I'll ask for every time I go there. It's called a Hash Brown Stacker. It's hash brown potatoes with a slice of tomato, a fried egg, spinach, and hollandaise sauce on it, served with two pancakes on the side. I love a big breakfast! On up the road further we got caught up in a traffic jam. Jim brought up the live traffic on his Droid and saw that it wasn't a very long back-up. It turned out to be a very bad two-car accident. The side roads all around the scene were roped off. The two cars were mangled almost beyond recognition. We're not sure what happened, but we both said a little prayer for those involved.

We made it to the hospital on time, despite having a really hard time finding a parking space. It's really getting difficult to negotiate the parking areas around the hospital due to ongoing construction. Jim's blood test results are right on target, so it looks like he finally has the correct dosage of Warfarin. Now hopefully it'll stay stable.

We had made arrangements to meet up with Gin and Syl at Lazy Days RV, where they are taking delivery of their new Winnebago Journey diesel pusher motor home. The dealer is just a few miles from the hospital and on our way home. We met Gin and Syl a few years ago. They hail from the Raleigh, NC area like us. We searched out their site and found it empty except for their car, which they were sitting in waiting for us. Their new home was in the service bay getting some final touch ups. So we sat and visited in a display model that's similar to theirs. It's a beautiful model with a great floor plan. If we were ever to switch to a motor home, that would be the one we'd want. It was so great seeing them again!

Gin and Syl

Jim had to try out the driver's seat.

After our hugs and goodbyes we headed home. Se stopped at a Cracker Barrel for some dinner, and we got home a little after dark. It's great that it's lighter later.

It was a great day, and seeing our RV'ing friends Gin and Syl made it even better. We're hoping to get together with some more friends in the next month.

"Me" Day for Me and Jim

2012-01-26T16:53:00.002-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 83 Lo 61 -- Jim had a day planned for himself in the Tampa area today. He went to Clearwater to one of the offices of his former employer, Progress Energy, to see some of his ex-coworkers. He made some very good friends while employed there, and two years after he left he still enjoys going to see them. While in the "big city" he also went to a movie theater that was showing "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy." It's a movie that isn't playing here in Sebring, and he's really been wanting to see it. It's not my kind of movie, so it was a good chance for him to see it on his own. I didn't have anything planned while he was gone. I was reading blogs and playing computer games when Elaine texted me that she and Debbie were going to Walmart. I jumped at the chance to go since I needed a few items.

When we left the park we saw a couple Sand Hill cranes wandering around the neighborhood. They are huge!

When we got back from Walmart we had some lunch and then went to the pool. It was very relaxing. I love my new "noodle," I just lean back and relax and float along. There were several people in the pool so we visited and got to know each other. Elaine and Debbie stayed awhile but I came home to clean up a bit. We're going to be gone tomorrow and we're having company Sunday, so I wanted to get a head start on cleaning up the place.

Jim got home about 5pm. He really enjoyed seeing his friends, and he said the movie was excellent. Overall, another nice day.

Kissimmee

2012-01-25T19:01:00.004-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 81 Lo 60 -- We were both up early this morning. In our pre-retired lives I went for a therapeutic massage once a month. I start to get tight muscles in a couple months without massages. My last massage was in September. Jim found a Groupon for half off a massage in Kissimmee. We left at 8:30 for my 10am appointment. When we got to the address, there was no massage clinic there. Jim called the number and luckily the therapist answered the phone and told us she moved and gave us directions. It wasn't too far away, but the additional stress made me REALLY need a massage by the time we found her. Ahhhhhh, now I feel better, no more tight muscles.

Jim also bought a Groupon for a nearby deli, Orlando Slim's Phillysteaks, Gyros, and Wings. It was really good food and I had enough to bring home for tomorrow's lunch. We love Groupons, but they're usually in the bigger cities, like Orlando, Kissimmee, and Tampa. You can check them out at www.groupon.com.

We came home in time to get in the pool for a nice swim, then lay out in the sun. The water is maintained at 86 degrees, and the outside temperature was 81, so the breeze felt cool when you got out. It was just another perfect day.

We joined Ken, Debbie, Elaine, and Rick for the monthly spaghetti dinner at the clubhouse. There was a large crowd there, more than usually attend the potlucks. We got a big plate of spaghetti, with Italian bread, and ice cream for dessert. Elaine decided the spaghetti sauce matched her clothing, so she wore it. As she was leaving the serving line the spaghetti slipped off her plate, went down her blouse, onto the floor and splattered on the wall. We can't take her anywhere! Sorry Elaine, just couldn't resist.

We sat outside Elaine and Rick's motor home for awhile after dinner. It's so nice out tonight, with the temperature in the 70's. We opened all the windows and will stay nice and cool tonight.

Staying Cool -- Coming Back Next Year

2012-01-24T18:49:00.000-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 82 lo 56 -- It was a great night with our windows open to let fresh air in. But it didn't take long for the RV to heat up this morning. Our air-conditioner's compressor quit working, so Jim went up on the roof to check it out. According to him, he removed the cover from the a/c unit and sat there and looked at all the "wires and stuff" for awhile, just like looking under the hood of a car. Nope, nothing looks broken. Seriously, he was told by a neighbor to check for obvious things like mud daubers or a lot of dirt in the works, or any loose or un-attached wires. But everything looked ok.

So he called Stewert's Mobile RV Repair, which is just a few miles south of the park. They have a good reputation for doing good work at a fair price. Amazingly they were able to come out within a couple of hours of our call. John arrived around 2pm and went up on the roof and got to work. He went through his troubleshooting routine, and it turned out to be a minor problem. Apparently something on the main circuit board go out of whack. He disconnected the wire from the main power supply and waited a couple of minutes then plugged it back in. Turns out that on Carrier air conditioners, this resets the whole system, like re-booting a computer. Who knew? We turned the unit on inside and the compressor came on just fine. We got lucky. Now Jim knows what to try if we have any more problems in the future.

Here's John on the roof.

Once we cooled down and we knew the A/C would stay on, we walked around the park and stopped by the office to reserve our site here next year. We're not sure how long we'll be here next winter, but we have our site reserved for 6 months (1 Nov thru 30 April). It didn't cost much more to reserve it for 6 months than it did for 4 or 5, so now we have the flexibility of arriving and departing any time during that period. We really like this park, this area, and the good friends we've made so far. Most of them own park models and come here every year.

We visited with Rick, Elaine, Debbie and Ken for awhile, then Jim went to move his truck from the back part of the park to the clubhouse near us. The battery was dead again and I had to drive my car over so he could jump it. When he tried moving it last week he had to jump it because of our tire pressure monitors being plugged in and running the battery down. We're not sure if the batteries (there are two batteries in a diesel) are shot, or he just didn't run it enough last week to provide a full charge. We're busy the rest of this week, but next week he'll check it out and if it needs jumping again he's going to town to have the batteries checked. So the air conditioner quits, and the truck batteries act up, all in the same week. Even in this great lifestyle you have to be ready for some setbacks.

Jim got the grill out and cooked us a yummy chicken dinner. I love grilled chicken. We settled in for the evening, with wonderful weather and a nice cool RV.

Air Conditioner on the Fritz

2012-01-23T17:59:00.001-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 82 Lo 55 -- It's getting quite warm in the afternoon, and our air conditioner is on the fritz. Jim called a guy who lives here in the park and does RV maintenance on the side. He thinks it may be a bad solenoid that's preventing the compressor from coming on. He doesn't normally work on air conditioners, so he doesn't have the right equipment to troubleshoot it. We're going to call a local RV dealer that has a mobile maintenance service.

We didn't plan anything today. Jim made a post office run and also did the laundry. I worked on the photos we took at the car show and now have them posted on the right under Adelaide Shores Classic Car Show.

The day went fast. We're both cleaning up our computers and doing scans. I read several blogs and checked on those we know that were in the tornado areas last night. That's scary, with the last couple years having tornadoes in January.

It's our turn here in Florida to suffer through all the political commercials on TV. I can't wait till it's over. I wish we could do like Canada does on elections. Give everyone a short calendar window to campaign, then go vote. It's that simple. No fighting, no trashing each other, just tell your views on why you should be president and sit back for the voting.

All is well in our warm part of the nation.

Adelaide Shores Classic Car Show

2012-01-22T19:41:00.004-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 81 Lo 48 -- We were excited about today's car show. It's an annual event here in the park, and we heard so much about it all week. After breakfast we sat and watched the cars come in. We walked over at the 2pm starting time and walked around taking pictures and talking to the owners. They were from all around the area, but most of them are "seasonals" who live up north during the summer. I had a 1975 Camaro years ago that I used to show, and it really brought back memories.

My favorite because it’s Carolina blue. It's a Ford with a Chevy engine.

This 1960 Chevy is a beauty!

This 1956 Chevy won "best in show" based on votes. It's won several trophies over the years and has been featured in several magazines. It was immaculate!

1962 Chevy.

Jim likes '60's muscle cars, and he really liked this 1966 Pontiac GTO.

1963 "split window" Sting Ray.

This is really and oldie!

Another muscle car classis, a 1971 Plymouth Duster 340.

This 1969 Cadillac sure reminded us of how BIG cars used to be.

This couple dressed their dog in a poodle skirt like hers. I didn’t get their names.

A few ladies in poodle skirts had fun dancing to 50's and 60's music.

There were hot dogs and chips for sale by the pool

Inside the clubhouse was an ice cream social.

For more pictures, check out Rick and Elaine's blog.

We had a great time admiring all the cars from the past. We came home sunburnt from the 81 degree heat. We tried to cool down the RV, but when we turned on the AC it made a rattling sound and the compressor wouldn't stay running. Looks like we have some repairs in our future. So we turned on a fan and relaxed the rest of the evening. It was another great day in our piece of paradise.

Defending Myself -- Computer Reformat

2012-01-21T18:18:00.004-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 79 Lo 48 -- I want to defend myself from yesterday's wine. I wasn't anywhere near out of it, just a slight buzz. I know my limits, although it was fun watching others not fairing so well. The spouses seemed to keep the other spouse in check, whether male or female. What a great time and now I have a list of wines to buy without knowing what they'd taste like. In our travels we can get those wines going across the country. I can't wait till next year for another party.

After reading some blogs and emails I got involved in watching Animal Planet Network on TV. I enjoy watching shows about Alaska, but today they had some documentaries about Russia, mainly Siberia, where it gets down to minus 94 degrees in the winter. They showed animals that can live in that cold and how they survive. I'm hooked on those shows. While watching that I played my games both on my phone and the computer. Since we now have fast internet it's been so fun catching up on the fun I've been missing due to slow internet speeds.

Jim's laptop has been giving him trouble lately. It was getting so hot that the fan on it would run all the time, and some of the drivers were failing causing things like the touchpad and USB inputs to quit working. He decided to dig out the restore disks and reformat it today. It took most of the day to back it up, do the restore, and reload all his programs, but he has it back to brand new condition. That was an all-day project for him.

We love being here in 80 degree weather and doing what we want. I was going to go to the pool, but decided I've got it good right here in the RV learning about nature, courtesy of the Animal Planet Network. It was a very lazy day with nothing planned. The classic car show is tomorrow and we're looking forward to watching the cars start to arrive tomorrow morning. So, we'll be outside a lot tomorrow.

I'd Like Some Cheese With That Wine -- Report on the Kindle Fire

2012-01-20T16:46:00.001-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 75 Lo 53 -- Dee and I went to a wine and cheese tasting at the clubhouse this afternoon. Dee enjoyed it. In fact, she enjoyed it so much that I have to do the blog today. :)

Doesn't she look happy?

It was actually quite fun. Everyone brought a bottle of wine from their home state, and a plate of crackers & cheese. There was a table for each represented state. One member of each couple sat and served their wine while the other one walked around sampling everything. Then we'd switch off and the other got to walk around.

There were about 180 people there, so we got to try a lot of wines. It was another example of the great activities here at Adelaide Shores.

If you've been a regular reader of our blog you know that we recently bought a Kindle Fire tablet to try out. Dee tried it out first and quickly determined that she’d rather use herDroid smartphone, so she turned it over to me. I played with it for a few days, and this morning decided to return it for a refund. I thought I’d give a review of myexperience, and some of its good and bad points. Maybe it’ll benefit those of you who maywonder if it would be right for you.

The Kindle Fire (fromhere on I’ll call it the KF) is a tablet computer. The tablet world isdominated by the Apple iPad, which costs $500 and up depending on the size ofthe internal storage. The KF costs $199, which is a great price for what youget. What you DON’T get, compared to the iPad, is any kind of HDMI or USBinputs, no camera, no GPS, and no SD card slot for external storage. It comeswith 8 GB of internal storage, which is enough for storing books, and some musicand family photos. And you have access to the Amazon App Store, with thousandsof free and cheap apps.

I like the overallsize of the unit. Swiping and scrolling and overall response to touches are allvery fast and smooth. It’s very user friendly. Even Dee got very familiar withit right off the bat. But it is a little heavy. (That’s the first thing Deesaid when she un-boxed it.) You’ll be looking for something to prop it on after holding it for awhile (like your knee or the arm of your chair).

I have a basic Kindle, with the black and white e-ink technology, which I LOVE! However, the visual look of books on the KF is much nicer than on the basic Kindle.All of your books are arranged on a virtual bookshelf with the nice colorcovers, whereas on my old Kindle they’re just a list of titles. HOWEVER, on theKF you’re reading on a back-lit LCD screen, which to me is not as relaxing as the e-inkscreen on my old Kindle. And it’s much harder to see the KF screen outside inthe sun. HOWEVER, you can read the LCD screen in the dark, and you can’t do that on the old Kindle without abook light, because it's not back-lit.

Web surfing on theKF is pretty good, if you don’t mind using an on-screen keyboard. But keep inmind, it’s a wifi only device. So you have to have access to a wifi hotspot toget online. In my opinion this is a big minus for full-timers like us. A good portion of the time when we're traveling we have to tether our Droids to our laptops and use Verizon 3G for our internet. You can’t do that withthe KF. You can use 3G on it only if you have a wireless MiFi device, but then you’d belimited to a few GB of data per month. Not good for “power users” like us. Butif you have regular access to wifi, no problem. One other thing about the webbrowser: if you have a lot of sites you like to bookmark, you won’t like theway they’re arranged on the KF. They’re just a long list of site names (orpages full of icons), with no way to arrange them or put them in folders.

Video looks great,and music sounds great (through headphones or earbuds). And photos also lookgreat. It looks just like a 5x7 digital picture frame when you scroll throughyour photos. One thing I don’t like on the user interface is, there’s no hardbutton volume control. To change the volume you have to hit the menu button andmove a slider on the screen. Kind of clumsy. Sound quality through the two verysmall speakers is adequate at best, but not very loud. It's really best to use earbuds or efficient headphones.

Overall, it’s anice device. So why am I returning it? Here’s why:

* It’s not versatileenough to replace my laptop, and it’s too big and bulky to replace my Droid Xfor computing on-the-go.

* It’s primarily ane-reader (and a fine one), with multi-media and web browsing as secondaryfeatures. I have a good e-reader (basic Kindle), and I have an iPod Classic(smaller than a deck of cards) with my entire music collection on it, which I take on my walks.

* Videoisn’t that important to me, especially on a 7-inch screen.

The bottom line is,after the first couple of days I wasn’t reaching for it to play with it. So Inever really “bonded” with it.

Is it for you? Yes,IF:

* You want to save money over a full Android tablet or iPad.

* You do a lot of shopping on Amazon. (The Amazon Store is only a touch away, and access to it is on almost every screen.)

* You’re in themarket for an e-reader.

* You have consistentaccess to wifi for web browsing.

* You don’t mindusing an on-screen keyboard.
* You don't read outside much.

* You want tointegrate your reading, photos, videos, and music on one portable device. (ButI couldn’t imagine taking a KF on a walk... it's not very pocketable.)

* You don’t need/want acamera or GPS.

* You're not a "computer person," and are unfamiliar or afraid of computers.

One last point... another economical tablet of the same type as the KF is the Nook Tablet. It's aligned with Barnes & Noble. I haven't tried one, but I've read that the features and operation are similar to the KF. It costs $250, vs $199 for the KF.

Sorry for being solong-winded, but I hope this information will be helpful to some of you. Thanksfor reading.

Other Blogs - Filling the Calendar

2012-01-19T18:49:00.000-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 74 Lo 52 -- I spent all morning checking the blogs that are on my list (to the right) and some others not listed. I counted them all and it turns out I have 198 blogs that I keep track of. Very few of them are updated every day like ours, so I don't actually READ that many every day. But I try to keep up with them as they're updated, mainly to see where everyone is located. On the R Sanity RV Adventures blog I saw this photo of a "day of the week" clock. We often lose track of what day it is, and this clock looks like the thing to get. Thanks Paul for letting us share the photo.

Jim went to the Avon Park library today, so that was my chance to clean up the RV. I got the sweeper out and Jim was back to pick up our jumper cables. He was going to take the truck, to give it some "exercise." When he got to the truck, there was a beeping sound. It seems he left the Pressure Pro tire pressure monitors plugged in when we arrived here. Sometime since he last drove the truck two weeks ago one of the tires lost enough air to set off the alarm. Apparently it happened long enough ago to run the battery down. One of the park residents was nearby in his truck and he helped Jim get it started. It held the charge fine, so everything's ok.

After sweeping the carpets, I decided to scrub them with Resolve. It took about an hour, and by that time I wanted to be outside so I took a walk and stopped at Debbie's to see if she could come out and play. We visited for awhile and were joined by Elaine. They were both cleaning carpets and cupboards so I didn't stay long. I did some more walking around then came back to the RV, and by that time Jim got home. I worked on the calendar and put in all the dates we need to get appointments done, and visiting throughtout the state. It's almost full until middle of February. I love this area, so many RV'ers are here and we're going to visit a lot of them.

We went to the monthly potluck dinner at the clubhouse. There weren't very many there, but we still had a wonderful meal. We sat with Kathleen and Jon, and Rick and Elaine. I took a picture, but when I stuck the camera's SD card in the card slot on my laptop it got jammed and broke. I've been having trouble with that card slot but I thought I could get it to work one more time. Fortunately that was the only photo on the card so I didn't lose much. Now I need to get another card.

We went back home and settled in for the evening. Tomorrow we plan to go to a wine and cheese tasting at the clubhouse, which I'm really looking forward to.

Still Playing with the Kindle Fire

2012-01-18T18:29:00.003-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 81 Lo 50 -- I tried all day to call the Doctors office I went to yesterday to make another appointment for followup, but I never got anyone to answer the phone. In the mail today I got yesterday's bill and a card with my next appointment on it. Talk about fast mail service! We didn't even leave till after 1:00 yesterday. Too bad not all mail goes that fast.

We didn't do much today. Jim played with the Kindle Fire and loaded some pictures, which turned out really good. He watched some videos and still doesn't know if it's a keeper. If we didn't have our laptops we'd get it in a heartbeat, but since we have them and the Android phones it's still a toss up. We'd always have to have wifi to use it, so the jury is still out.

I got to chat with mom this morning. It's been awhile since I was able to catch her online. She's doing really well at my sisters. She was going out with my sisster for groceries today. Thanks mom, that was great!

We decided to go play pool this afternoon. As we were walking to the clubhouse, Kathleen met us and asked us to play shuffleboard with her and her husband Jon. We played four games and had a great time. A few minutes after we walked home it started raining. We timed that just right. No hard rain here, but other parts of the state had some storms.

We had a quiet night in tonight watching TV and on chat.

Exploring Sebring

2012-01-17T20:13:00.000-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 80 Lo 47 -- It was a great morning, and it was starting to really warm up by the time I got up at 8:30. I had a doctor appointment in Sebring, so we didn't linger around long this morning. My doctor appointment was at 10:30, but when we got there the waiting room was almost full. People had been waiting for an hour. Remember when I mentioned that I don't like waiting? Waiting in a doctor's office is even worse. Jim said we should find me a local doctor since we'll be in Florida during the winter months. I really like him, he has a nice "bedside manner." I hurt my arm in bowling a month ago and it's still not right, it hurts when I do certain things. He said it's more than likely a pulled shoulder muscle. I need to use wet heat and a muscle relaxer and go back in two weeks. If it doesn't get better he wants to do an MRI. We'll see.

Sebring is eight miles south of us. The town is laid out in a big circle around Lake Jackson. We've driven around the lake but never really explored downtown. Jim saw online there's a restaurant downtown called Dee's Place. Well, we just HAD to try it out for lunch! Their food is great. Jim always judges a restaurant by how good their meatloaf is. He tried the open-face meatloaf sandwich, and he pronounced it excellent. I had a cod sandwich, and it also was excellent. The waitresses were wearing t-shirts that had a picture of a licence plate on the back that said CU@DS. I asked our waitress if one was available for sale, and she said they normally don't sell them. When I told her my name is Dee, she went to the back room and found me one. I'll take a picture when I wear it one of these days.

The town is celebrating their 100th anniversary this year.

This is the firehouse, built in 1927.

There's a circle in town with a small park in the middle of it, and many shops around it.

This mural is on the side of a building.

This beautiful building is sitting empty. There's several empty stores and buildings in town.

Some of the shops around the circle. Several of the buildings are registered as historical landmarks.

We went to Walmart on the way home to get some groceries, and while we were there we bought a Kindle Fire. It's the new small tablet that came out recently to compete with the iPad.

Now we have a new toy to play with. We have 15 days to decide to keep it or return it, so Jim will give it a good workout. I tried it out briefly, but I'm not sure if I'd use it since I do everything but the blog and chatting on my Android smart phone. I'll have Jim do a review of it after he learns more about it.

Food Delivery - Wait, Wait, Waiting

2012-01-16T21:58:00.001-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 73 Lo 40 -- We both woke up at the same time this morning and noticed it was really cold. I asked Jim last night if we had enough propane to last the night, since the second tank was still hooked to the grill. He said we'd be just fine. Well, the other tank ran out so it was COLD. He turned on the little heater in the bedroom, and stayed up since it was 7:30. I was wide awake so I got up too.

I ordered some food items from Schwan's, and the truck was supposed to be here between 8 and 10 this morning. We waited and waited, and at 11:00 I called. He was just coming into town. He got here and said he'll usually be here by 11:30. We've ordered food from Schwan's for years, and I remember our family getting food from them when I was a little kid. They have all kinds of food on the truck, and it's great to have it delivered. More info can be found at schwans.com.

You see these yellow trucks all over the USA.

After all the food was put away, I strolled down to Rick and Elaine's. It was really chilly with the wind, but as the day progressed it got warmer. I did my walk, stopped at Jon and Kathleen's to find out if they were ok and when we'll get together. They've been really busy, but since we didn't go to the park meeting this morning they updated me on what's coming up this week. Jim has to move his truck from where it's parked. There's a car show coming in this weekend, and the entire area around the clubhouse will be filled with classic cars.

Jim grilled our dinner and we went down to Rick and Elaine's to play cards. We played Euchre again, and I'm finally starting to get the hang of the game. We got home around 9:30 and watched some TV while I got on chat.

Cool but Sunny Day in the Park

2012-01-15T18:19:00.001-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 69 Lo 28 -- The neighbors said there was frost on the cars this morning. We weren't up to see it. Both of us slept in till 9:00 and it felt good. We did our normal morning routine but a truck from Progress Energy, the local electric company (and Jim's former employer), came next door. It's Sunday, so we knew it couldn't be good. They moved two sites down from us and stopped again. At both places they installed new meters and did some work to the lines. There's been some damage to some of the RV's on our row (including Kenny and Debbie), caused by bad neutrals at the pedestals. We're hoping nothing goes wrong at our site. We do have a good surge protector, but Kenny and Debbie have a surge protectors and they still got damage.

Rick, Elaine and Debbie came down to get me for shuffleboard. Kenny and Jim stayed back to watch football, nothing was going to interfere with their games. We played two games of shuffleboard, then we sat outside at Rick and Elaine's for awhile. Their site is next to a fence that blocks the wind, so it was warmer there than under our awning.

It was a great day in the sun, even with the cool winds. We had a light dinner and watched TV shows the rest of the evening. The rest of the week is going to be busy, there's a lot on the schedule.

We're Loving Our Fast Internet Connection

2012-01-14T18:06:00.001-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 60 Lo 45 -- Neither of us is sleeping well at night. In fact Jim got up at 5am this morning, and I got up at 8:30, which is early for me. I'm wondering if we're getting to that life stage ("old age") when you go to bed early and get up early. It will be a long time before I make it that far, but Jim may be getting there soon.

We love our fast new internet connection. We breezed through all the emails and blogs this morning, and we're enjoying some videos that we haven't been able to watch. I organized all the pictures I took the last couple weeks with labels and dates. I didn't move much today and neither did Jim. Elaine and Rick went to Ft. Myers to see Elaine's sister, so they weren't around. We didn't hear from Debbie and Kenny, so we just stayed in. It was cool and windy today, so we didn't even sit outside.

Jim did get the grill out and cook us up some dinner, but that's about the only productive thing we did today. Jim's watching football and I'm going to chat and play computer games this evening. It's been good chatting with mom on the computer the last couple of days. She's doing well at my sister's and settling in well.

That's about it for a quiet, relaxing day.

Fast Wi-Fi -- Girls Day Out

2012-01-13T20:28:00.005-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 70 Lo 53 -- We forgot to mention last night that we now have a fast DSL internet connection. We ordered it a couple days ago and it was installed yesterday afternoon. Our download speed is 7-9 mb/s, which is much better than the .5 mb/s we've been getting on Verizon 3G. It's great to have blazing (to us) speed to watch videos, and we'll use the Skype a bit more.

For our RV'ing friends, Jim found a really neat website where you can make a map of your travels. It's very user friendly and a nice size.

Jim went to Tampa today for his Warfarin blood test, so I took off with Debbie and Elaine for a girls day out shopping. We went to Beall's in Avon Park, then to the Lakeshore Mall in Sebring. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time.

Elaine is getting checked to see what her "color" is

Debbie doing the same thing

We roamed around several shops buying what we needed, and what we wanted with the thought in mind that if we take something home then we have to get rid of something in the rig to make room. It's what RV'er do (especially full timers). When we got home we all waited for Jim to get home, then we all went out to eat at a restaurant that Jim saw on his way home from Tampa. It's called Orange Box Cafe, and it's only about eight miles up the highway from us. Tonight was seafood buffet night. It wasn't the greatest food in the world, and I doubt it will be in our dining out rotation. But the shrimp was pretty good, and we had a lot of fun.

We spent the evening chilling out and getting caught up on our recorded TV shows. It was a late night last night and we're both tired. We have such a tough life!

Making Plans on the Fly

2012-01-12T21:29:00.001-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 81 Lo 56 -- We normally make plans at least a day ahead and know what we're going to do when we get up in the morning. Not so today. We planned on going to the RV Super Show show in Tampa but gave up that idea at the last minute. We're not in the market for a new RV, so why spend the money?

When we got breakfast we saw a few sugar ants in our cupboards. Not many, but we don't want them getting worse, so when Elaine and Debbie called to say they were going to Walmart I went with them to get some ant killer. When we got back I set out some ant killer around the kitchen. We then decided to go play shuffleboard, then took a swim in the pool. By then it was time to get ready for the pizza party at the clubhouse at 5:00.

Click on the picture to make larger.

Debbie, Rick, Elaine, Dee and Jim. Ken took the picture

The pizza party was great! We paid ahead of time (only $4 each) and it's all you can eat. They bring in the pizzas from Domino's.

There were all kinds of pizzas set out on 5 tables

It's Ken's birthday today, so after the pizza party we went to over to Elaine and Rick's where we joined his wife Debbie to surprise him with a birthday cake and ice cream.

Ken with a candle playing the Happy Birthday

Elaine and Debbie

Jim made friends with Tucker and Lily. They wouldn't come to him till tonight.

We spent the evening looking at pictures and visiting about many topics.

Another wonderful day of food and friends. Not a bad life!

Jiggs Dinner

2012-01-11T20:33:00.001-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 75 Lo 56 -- We thought we'd have storms and rain this morning. We brought in the awning and folded up the chairs. We waited all day and all the rain went either north or south of us. We had about 15 minutes of rain and wind this afternoon, but no severe storms. That's ok, we don't like severe storms in an RV.

We stayed inside and did computer work all day. Jim worked on organizing his iTunes music library, and I played games. Later in the afternoon we went to Elaine and Rick's for dinner. Elaine made what she called a Jiggs dinner. According to Wikipedia:

Jiggs dinner is a traditional meal commonly prepared and eaten on Sundays in many regions around the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Named after a comic strip character, the dish is sometimes spelled Jigs dinner or Jigg's dinner.The meal typically consists of a combination of pickled salt beef (or salt riblets), boiled potatoes, carrot, cabbage, turnip, turnip greens, bread pudding, dressing, pease pudding, and a cooked turkey, chicken or beef roast. Condiments sometimes include mustard pickles, pickled beets, cranberry sauce and butter.

Elaine made it with ham, potatoes, rutabagas, carrots, onion and cabbage cooked in Orange Crush Soda. It was delicious! They also invited their neighbors Ken and Debbie.

Jiggs Dinner

Elaine, Ken, Debbie and Dee

Rick

After dessert of coconut cake we stayed for a couple of hours visiting and laughing then went back to our home for the evening. Thank you Elaine and Rick for a wonderful evening and a great meal!

Running Around Sebring

2012-01-10T21:55:00.001-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 78 Lo 54 -- It's so nice out we didn't stay in the RV very long this morning. We know there will be cold or rainy days so we try to make the best of the good days. I went down to see Elaine to see what they had planned today and we both were thinking of doing errands and getting things done in Sebring. While I was there I took a picture of their setup.

Elaine and Ricks site

Jim did his walk then went over and sat by the pool to get some sun while I visited with Elaine. I haven't walked in a few days, but I figure vigorous exercise in the pool and shuffleboard is enough.

After lunch we took off to run some errands. I've been looking for "pool noodles," those long foam rubber things that you float on. You'd think they'd be everywhere. NOT! We looked in Walmart and various dollar stores, with no luck. They tell us they're not in season. WHAT? It's warm here and we're in the pool almost daily, and they're not sold in Florida because it's winter. There was a pool supply store in Sebring that someone told us about and they had them. Now we're set to play in the pool with our noodles.

While we were out we stopped in at a Century Link office. That's the local landline phone company around here. We wanted to get some prices on DLS internet service. We're so frustrated with our Verizon 3G service. It's pretty reliable, but it's very slooooow! After getting the monthly prices for the various levels of service we left to discuss and think about it. Twenty minutes later, after a couple of errand stops, we went back to sign up. We were given a wireless modem, and on Thursday a technician will be out to connect the service at our site. Then we'll have what for us will be blazingly fast internet until we leave in April. For those interested in the technical part, we've been averaging between .5 and 1 mb/s download speeds on Verizon, and sometimes as slow as .2 mb/s. With Century Link DSL we're supposed to get 10 mb/s. That will be so awesome! We're so excited that we'll be able to make Skype calls to the kids and watch videos without waiting for them to buffer.

After dinner we went to Elaine and Rick's for an evening of card playing. I'm having trouble learning Euchre, so they're helping me with the game. For the first time I think I'm getting it.

We're supposed to have rain and thunderstorms tomorrow, so I plan to catch up on blogs. We'll see. In the meantime we're having a lot of fun in the land of sunshine. What fun!

Fun in the Sun

2012-01-09T17:36:00.000-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 79 Lo 48 -- It just doesn't get any better. I remember the RV'ers back in 2006 saying life was so good on the road. They weren't kidding. It's not for everyone but it sure has made us happy. The weather was perfect and we took advantage of it before noon.

We like getting up and fill our mornings with "at home" things, like reading blogs and emails and checking chats to see if anyone is around. Jim reads his news on the computer instead of newspapers. I'm reading a book on Jim's Kindle, and Jim's reading a book from the local library.

Since Rick and Elaine arrived we're doing a lot more outside. We walk every day but have added shuffleboard, and today we went to the pool for some "bobbing" in the water after playing shuffleboard.

We're meeting more people each day too. Jon knows another RV-Dreams couple that has been coming here for three years in a Mobile Suites fifth wheel, Lindy and Delaine from Tennessee. We went over to meet them today. We talked about their travels and how they came to be here in our park. What a wonderful visit we had, and we're looking forward to all of us getting together again.

Lindy

Delaine

I took the pictures from my phone so they're not the best quality.

After dinner I went over to the clubhouse to play cards with the "pros." I've been in training, now it's time to see if I'm ready for the big time. Tonight we're playing Three to Thirteen and Chase the Ace. Jim decided to stay home to watch the national championship college football game between Alabama and LSU (Go Bama!).

Jim found this somewhere on the internet. It's called "The Real Florida." I thought it was really cute. (Click on it to make it larger.)

With that, we'll leave you for another day.

The Games People (RV'ers) Play

2012-01-08T19:42:00.001-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 79 Lo 45 -- Another glorious day in our part of paradise. We're having a great time with all our new friends. I spent the morning playing computer games and online chatting. People say I need to get a life. Well, now with all the new friends we've met we're getting out more and our "social calendar" is filling up fast.

After lunch Jon and Kathleen picked us up, and Rick and Elaine followed us to Dennis and Pat's house in Sebring. They're the ones who used to live here in the park and then bought a house. They took advantage of the down real estate market and bought a very nice house for a great price. It's a beautiful place. They come to the park quite often to attend some of the events and to see all their friends from when they lived here. They travel to their home in Indiana to spend the summers.

We spent the afternoon cards. I'm learning some of the games that they play here in the park. It's nice to play among a few friends until we get good enough to join the formal games in the clubhouse. So with the shuffleboard, card games, sightseeing around the area, and socializing, it appears I finally have a life. :)

We got home at 8:30. Jim is watching ESPN to get caught up on today's football games. We got a text from our son in Chicago that he's at the Chicago Blackhawks hockey game with our grandson and he's sitting right behind the players' bench. So we're watching the game on TV trying to get a glimpse of them.

Life is GOOD!

Rusty Scalpel Dinner

2012-01-07T20:39:00.002-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 77 Lo 41 -- It's nice to have that cold front out of here and get back to the kind of beautiful days that make Florida so wonderful. We goofed off all morning, then Jim went for his walk around the park. At 2pm we met our friends Rick, Elaine, Ken and Debbie at the clubhouse for a couple of hours of shuffleboard. None of us are any good, but we sure do have fun!

After the games Jim and I returned home to clean up and get ready for one of the events that everyone looks forward to here at Adelaide Shores, the Rusty Scalpel Dinner. Rusty scalpel is a resident of our park named Jim (can't remember his last name) who used to be a surgeon. A physical disability caused him to have to give up his medical practice, so he went to culinary school and became a gourmet chef. Three or four times during the winter season he puts on a full evening of gourmet dining called the Rusty Scalpel Dinner. Jim and his team prepare everything and all you have to do is show up with your dinnerware and drinks. Tonight it was an Italian menu, which started off with appetizers of mozarella sticks with marinara sauce, and antipasto. Then came pasta fazzoli (Italian soup). The main course was chicken parmesan and fettucini, and finally for dessert was pound cake topped with ice cream and berries. Needless to say the food was exceptionally good, and it was served in a leisurely manner. That let us enjoy good conversation with our table mates, and we made some new friends. By the time we finished it was close to 9pm, and we came back to our home stuffed and ready to relax in our recliners for some TV and online chatting.

Another great day of fun here in sunny paradise!

Good Times with Neighbors

2012-01-06T23:17:00.000-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 72 Lo 38 -- It was a great warm up today, all the way from almost freezing to a delightful 72 degrees.

Running the furnace the last two cold nights emptied one of our propane tanks, so Jim went to get it filled this morning. This afternoon we joined Rick & Elaine, and Ken and Debbie for a couple of hours of shuffleboard. None of the four of them has never played, so we did our best to give them some pointers. We had a lot of fun. Our lack of talent was about even with their lack of experience, so we had some evenly matched games.

Debbie, Jim and behind the post is Rick

Ken and Elaine

After a fun three games we all gathered at Rick and Elaine's motorhome for 5:00 happy hour. We left when the sun went down to get a quick dinner.

After dinner Rick and Elaine joined us for a short walk over to Jon and Kathleen's park model home for an evening of cards. Also there was Dennis and Pat, a couple who used to live here in the park but have recently bought a house in Sebring.

Left to right, Dee, Dennis, Elaine, Pat, Jim, Rick and Jon

Jon and Kathleen, our hosts for the evening.

It was an evening dedicated to learning new card games. We learned how to play Euchre, Chase the Ace, and Three to Thirteen. What a great time we had, with a lot of laughs. We're all night owls and it was close to midnight when we finally left for home. What a wonderful day spent with friends, and making new friends.

Movie Day in Lake Wales

2012-01-05T17:34:00.003-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 68 Lo 30 -- It was another night of at or below freezing temperatures, but that's all changing starting today. Nice warm weather is coming our way.

I'm trying to get caught up on reading blogs, but it's not happening. I did read several today. I'm trying to find out how many of our RV'ing friends are in Florida. We plan to go to the RV show in Tampa next Friday morning, then on over to Jim's weekly blood test that afternoon at the VA Hospital.

Today we went to see the movie Mission: Impossible, Ghost Protocol. What a fun movie! Lots of "edge-of-your-seat" action. And Tom Cruise... need I say more, ladies? It was our second attempt to see that movie. We went to Sebring on Tuesday, our normal movie day, but we had some problems with noisy movie-goers, so we got our money back and went today. Also, the movie projection system in the Sebring theater we went to is so old that the picture is very dim. Jim was more upset about that than me, but even I thought the picture was pretty bad. So today we went to Lake Wales, about 20 miles north of us. The theater there is very nice and much more modern.

The theater is in a mall, and we just had to take a walk through the mall after the movie. We were surprised at how few people were there, and how many vacant stores there were. We're not sure if they're in a bad market area or what, but it sure was quiet around there.

We've been visiting with Elaine and Rick in the evenings. They're only about 100 yards down from us on the same street. It's nice to spend time with friends! Tomorrow I hope to go to Tai Chi, and tomorrow evening we're playing cards with some other couples. It should be fun.

Visiting Last Year's Park - Tiny Visitor

2012-01-04T17:48:00.001-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 62 Lo 27 -- This morning's low temperature of 27 degrees broke the all-time Avon Park record for this date. Tonight won't be much better. Jim is leaving the water hose unhooked for another night. That's not a bad thing as it lets us "exercise" the water pump to make sure it works ok. We have the heat pump/furnace set to 68 degrees and we're very comfortable. We love our RV.

We both had appointments today with a dermatologist in Arcadia, which is one hour south of here. Jim saw this doctor last winter, when it was only a half hour from our park in Wauchula. I made an appointment with him this year so I could have my skin checked. Neither one of us has any skin cancer or pre-cancer to worry about thank goodness. But we do have very dry skin so we're to use a moisturizer. That's the downside for being in the Florida sun so much. At least we're getting a lot of vitamin D. We were both glad to come out without any biopsies.

On the way back home we stopped for lunch in Wauchula at a Sonic drive in. It's like the old-fashion drive-ins, but with advanced technology. You park in a space, press a button to give your order, swipe your credit card right there outside your car window, and a few minutes later a girl on roller skates brings out your food. Interesting!

While we were in the area we went by Little Charlie Creek RV Park, where we stayed last year. Surprisingly it wasn't full. We dropped in on our good friends Fred and Martha. We spent a lot of time with them last year. They were happy to see us and invited us in. We visited awhile and got caught up on all the gossip of the park. After an hour or so we bid them goodbye and came home. By then it was close to 6pm, so we decided to have pizza for dinner. There's a small mom and pop convenience store/deli just across the highway from our park. We got some sandwiches there a week or two ago, and the manager gave us a newcomer's coupon good for a free pizza. We used it tonight. Their pizza is very good, much better than your typical Pizza Hut or Dominoes. I'm sure we'll be repeat customers, so their coupon did the trick.

You might be wondering about the "tiny visitor" in the title above. Well, it seems have a cricket somewhere in our door-side slide out, and it gives us a few chirps every once in awhile. So far it's talked to us only during the day and hasn't been bothersome, but we're hoping it doesn't become a night owl and keep us awake tonight.

Here's something I got in an email, and just had to pass it along:

A clever idea!
Due to a thunderstorm, we lost power for about 5 hours. We were scrambling around in the darkness, looking for matches, candles, flashlights, etc. We looked outside, and noticed our solar lights shining brightly all around our patio, stairs, dock, etc. They were beautiful. My wife walked outside, and brought several of the solar lights inside.
We stuck the solar light pipes into plastic drink bottles containers and they made the nicest, brightest, safest, lighting you could ever imagine.
We put one in the bathroom, the kitchen, the living room, etc. There was plenty of light. There are all types of solar lights available. We bought ours at Harbor Freight. We put them all around our yard. They look nice and they do not attract flying bugs like the outdoor lights around our doorway.
The lights we have fit into the small (20 oz) water bottles and they also fit into most of the larger liter bottles. If you need a weight in the plastic bottle to keep them from tipping over, you can put a few of the pretty colorful "flat marbles" that they put in aquariums, and vases. (you can also use sand, aquarium gravel, etc., whatever you have available).
The lights we have were perfect inside our home. They burn all night long if you need them.
The next day, you just take your solar lights back outside and they will instantly recharge and be ready for you to use again any time you need them.
Perfect for power outages, hurricanes, tornadoes etc.

Movie That Wasn't to Be - Friends from Canada

2012-01-03T18:26:00.001-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 50 Lo 38 -- It got cold last night and it's going to get colder tonight. We're doing fine with the heat pump, which switches over to the furnace when it gets to the mid-40's. And we also have a small ceramic heater in the bedroom. It's strange to have the heat pump running, then the furnace kicks in and both of them run for a while at the same time, until finally the heat pump turns off. Needless to say, we're staying warm.

It was a very cool and windy day. And it's Tuesday, which is our movie day. We went to the 2:00 showing of Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol. We take turns picking a movie and this was my week. I've been looking forward to it all week, just to see Tom Cruise. There were about 15 people in the theater, including a family that had a young lady who appeared to be severely mentally challenged. She was quite unruly and loud during the movie. We did our best to ignore her, but it became very difficult for us to concentrate on the movie. We certainly sympathize with those who are challenged in life, and we admire those who care for them. They're entitled to enjoy the same things in life as everyone else. But we finally decided to quietly leave and ask for a refund and come back another time. We thought that would be better than making a complaint to management. It turns out we weren't alone; several couples followed us out for the same reason.

By the time we returned home our Canadian friends Rick and Elaine had arrived in their motorhome. They'll be here for about a month. We met them this past summer while we were in Smiths Falls, Ontario visiting Sandra and Gordon. They drove over five hours today, so I invited them for dinner so they wouldn't have to cook or look for someplace to eat tonight. We hope to show them around and share some park activities while they're here. I can't believe they brought this cold weather with them! :) After enjoying some spaghetti and good conversation, we all went down the street to their motorhome for after dinner coffee and more conversation. A good way to end the day.

Beware of Falling Temperatures!

2012-01-02T15:22:00.002-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 70 low 54, with the temperature falling throughout the afternoon. Today we watched the Rose Bowl parade. I have a special interest in the Rose Bowl Parade each year. I went with our son to the parade 24 years ago as a chaperone with the O'Fallon, Illinois High School Marching Band. I can't believe it's been that long ago. I remember it took a year to raise the enough money to make the trip. It was one of the highlights in our family's lives, and we're so proud that our son got to march in it. I noticed that only one of the network channels broadcast it this year. Back then it was covered by all of the major networks. In fact, several parents were assigned the job of making sure the parade was recorded on each channel, so we were sure to see our band when we got home. The thing I remember most about being there is you can SMELL the flowers. We were able to help put the finishing touches on one of the floats the day before. Parade day was cold and some of the kids got real sick, but they marched anyway. What a memory!

We' re getting low on groceries so off to Walmart we went. When we got back we sat outside to read, but it was getting colder by the minute. It's supposed to get down to the 30's tonight. Jim drained the white water tank and put in some fresh water, so we're ready for when we'll have to unhook from the city water to keep our hose from freezing. We had a couple of cold spells last year so we knew this warm weather wouldn't last the whole winter. But the nice thing about Florida is the cold weather doesn't last more than a couple of days. It should be back to the high 70's by this weekend.

I went for my walk, but it was really chilly and I was glad to get it over with. I converted all our 2011 blogs into a PDF document to add to the previous years. I'm hoping to eventually have all our blogs in one document, and maybe have them self-published as a book when we decide to settle down. Something to leave for the kids and grand kids.

My next project is getting my medical reports in order for the new doctor I'll be meeting in a couple of weeks. Some doctors want a lot of info and some don't want any. I figured it won't hurt to have the information with me for my first appointment.

I have the new event calendar for January, so we have to start thinking about what we want to get into for the new month of the new year.

New Year, New Budget

2012-01-01T18:04:00.001-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 80 Lo 52 -- I added a another blog to my favorites list on the right column of this page today. Rob and Debra are new full timers and they've started a blog called Life is Good. Please check it out and support them with comments, and welcome them to their wonderful new lifestyle.

I got up all excited about watching the Rose Bowl Parade on TV. But it was nowhere to be found! I didn't realize that if New Years Day falls on a Sunday all the parades and bowl games are on Monday. So I have it to look forward to tomorrow.

I worked on the new budget all morning and into the afternoon. It takes awhile to be sure everything is listed, and we're very pleased that we came out right on budget for this past year. I set our 2012 budget for the same as 2011. We should come out the same, or even a little better since we won't have the extra expenses of a trip to Canada this year like we did last summer. All in all, we're quite pleased with our first full year of full timing.

I did my walk and found the park very active. People were washing their cars and working on their RV's or park models. It was a gorgeous day. There's a cold front on its way, and a freeze warning for tomorrow night. So tomorrow we'll add some water to our fresh water tank and disconnect our water hose.

I finally remembered to take a picture of my car's windshield. We keep adding toll readers. We have an EZ Pass for the Midwest and Northeast, and recently added a Sunpass for Florida. It's so much more convenient to just drive past the toll gates on the way to Tampa instead of having to stop and pay.

The day went really fast. I love working with the computer and setting up for the new year.

New Year's Eve

2011-12-31T18:29:00.000-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 82 Lo 53 -- It was one of those perfect days in Florida. We stayed outside a lot today. Jim worked on bug removal on the front of the RV. It's one of those things that he's been wanting to do, but just never seemed to get around to it until now. We had the whole rig detailed in Ft. Lauderdale, but just the trip here got it dirty on the front cap. He also dumped the tanks and changed our water filter. The filter needed changing more than we thought, the water tasted great afterwards!

We sat outside with our neighbors for awhile. She plays Words With Friends on her Ipad. We were comparing words and how some of the letters come up all alike and you can't do much with them. She's got friends and family that play and there's always one that is extremely good at it. I'm finding the same thing, I have a couple of friends that no matter what I do I can't beat them. But for me all the fun's in playing.

I shredded a lot of old papers today. I try to do that during the year, but what I don't get done I do on New Years weekend. It's time to get everything set for the new year. I love starting a new year with a new budget. I also wanted to start out the year with a haircut so I went to Walmart to get that done. Since it's a buzz cut it was only $10. It can't get any faster or better (or cooler). There's a dance at the clubhouse tonight to bring in the new year, but we're staying home with wine and cheese and having a quiet night in this year.

Jim got out the grill this evening and cooked up some pork steaks. It was a perfect ending to a perfect day. We wish everyone a very Happy New Year 2012!

Dinner in the Big City

2011-12-30T21:29:00.001-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 83 Lo 47 -- This morning we drove to the Tampa VA Hospital. Jim had two appointments, which took up most of the day. We left at 9:30 and stopped on the way for a great breakfast at IHOP. It's been a long time since I've been at IHOP. We both ate enough food to last through the day.

Due to getting to the first appointment a half hour early, then having to wait around a lot between and during both appointments, it was almost 4:00 when we finally got done. We had a 5:30 reservation for dinner, so to waste some time we went to the University Mall, which was only a few blocks away, and walked around and browsed some of the stores and people-watched. It's a very typical mid-size mall, with most of the stores geared toward young people. Small wonder, it IS called "University" Mall. (It's adjacent to the University of South Florida.)

We made our way through rush hour traffic to the Arigato Japanese restaurant to use the Groupon that Jim purchased. It's one of those places where the chef puts on a show at your table while cooking your dinner. We had some great table mates, and two couples were very interested in our full time lifestyle. It's amazing how often people tell us, "We wish we could do what you're doing." We try to tell them, if WE can do it, YOU can do it!

The restaurant used to be at another location across the street, but it burned down two years ago. They re-opened in their current location just last week, and they're still working out some kinks. The first table we were seated at had a problem with the grill, so we had to be moved to another table.

Here's the place settings.

The chef sliced the onions, then made this onion ring mountain, before setting the whole thing on fire.

Grilling shrimp and scallops

Shrimp Flambe!

My plate: rice, onions, veggies and Shrimp. The seasoning really made the food delicious!

I forgot to take a picture of Jim's plate. He had a sukiaki (steak) and chicken combination plate.

The dinner was great, and so was the company. We said our goodbye's and headed home. It's late and we're tired after a long day.

They're Pulling in One by One

2011-12-29T18:07:00.002-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 74 Lo 47 -- We were thankful for our ceramic heater last night, it did a real good job keeping us warm in the bedroom. When Jim got up he turned the fireplace on so it was warm in the living room by the time I got up.

Jim went to the local library to catch up on some of the magazines he likes to read but no longer subscribes to. He gave up almost all of his subscriptions. By the time a magazine shows up in our mail service box, and then is forwarded to us wherever we are, it's usually outdated. And it's also more expensive than a normal subscription when you add the forwarding postage we have to pay. I went through some paperwork and did my walk around the park. People were pulling in one by one today. It's going to be a full park for sure. The empty park models are becoming occupied. I'm anxious for the activities to get back to normal at the clubhouse. Things quieted down the last couple of weeks for the holidays.

Tomorrow we're going to Tampa for a medical appointment, and then for dinner at a Japanese restaurant, courtesy of a half-off deal we got on Groupon. So we'll be a little later getting the blog done tomorrow.

It Got Cold Here

2011-12-28T17:42:00.000-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 68 Lo 49 -- Our northern friends sent down a cold wave and it got cold overnight. I forgot to get out the big blanket and neither of us wanted to get up and get it. We just snuggled to stay warm; even Jim stayed in bed a lot later this morning. We'll have another day that's cold then it will warm back up again. Luckily, it doesn't stay cold for long in this area.

We didn't do much all morning. I played a lot of games, then took advantage of the cooler weather and tackled the closet I've been wanting to clean out for quite some time. We both got rid of some clothes we haven't worn in a long time. I'll take them to the thrift shop. I did find a couple more of the stink bugs we picked up in Pennsylvania last year. They were dead, but I bet we'll find a few along the way in out of the way places. I also got the pictures all backed up and I'm now ready for 2012 on the PC.

I keep missing my mom on chat. I'm usually by the computer most of the day, but when she comes on I'm out doing something. Yesterday we went to the movies and today I went walking. Hopefully I'll catch her again sometime this week. She's learning how to use the Kindle Fire she got for Christmas, so I'm happy to see her back online.

It was too chilly to sit outside so we walked then came back in. We're getting more RV's in the park. Only a few spots are left, so there's still more to come in the next few days.

The next huge project is a big one. We want to get a full inventory of what we have in the RV. We'll take pictures of each cupboard, drawer, and closet, then list everything that's in them. Good for insurance purposes.

Movie Day

2011-12-27T19:24:00.004-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 78 Lo 66 -- Cloudy with occasional rain most of the day. I worked on backing up our photos and watched TV, and did a little chatting online. Jim did his walk today in between rain showers. It was real windy at times, so we tried bringing in our awning with the sunblocker attached. It worked great and is very convenient.

Tuesday is our movie day, so we went to see Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. We both really liked it. Jim says he enjoyed the movie more than the book. The theater was pretty crowded today, with most of the people there to see the new movie War Horse. There are a lot of good movies coming out during the next few months, so we'll have plenty to see while we're here. We discovered something funny today. We plan our day around departing at the right time so we get to the movie theater by show time. And then we sit through a half hour of commercials and previews before the movie starts. Oh well, thanks to our smartphones we can play games until the movie starts. :)

We heard from several people that a local sports bar, Blue Lagoon, has great wings. We went to check the place out after the movie. They didn't steer us wrong, they were great, and so was the chocolate-on-chocolate cake we had for dessert.

A cold front is moving through and it was getting chilly, so when we got home we turned off the air conditioner. The rest of the night was spent watching TV shows and chatting.

Learning New Tricks on Google Maps

2011-12-26T17:59:00.001-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 81 Lo 65 -- Fog and cloudy most of the morning, but again it warmed up in the afternoon and it ended up being another sunny warm day. I didn't get up till 10:00. Jim had went over to the clubhouse for the weekly resident meeting at 8:30 and came back before I saw daylight.

I started backing up pictures last night and continued getting them labeled today, then burned them to DVD's. I got side tracked after reading Rick and Gail's blog, seeing where they've landed for Christmas. They have a neat Google map that has their blog icon at each of their stops around the country. I emailed Gail to find out how she did it and she emailed back directions. It took me another hour to figure it out, but now I'll have a small icon of our RV showing each stop on our travels next summer. Thank you Gail. I still need to learn a little more to make our map better, but I'll learn it a little at a time.

Jim did the laundry, and we both did our walks. There weren't very many around, the park is still quiet for the holiday.

Tonight I'll back up some more pictures to DVD's. I'll get the job done before the end of the year.

Merry Christmas 2011

2011-12-25T15:57:00.001-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 88 Lo 65 – The header photo says it all. I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and Santa was good to you. We are like a lot in our age group in that we don't get each other very much for Christmas. We tend to get what we want throughout the year. Usually at some point before Christmas one of us will buy something and the other will say, "That's your Christmas present." Gift-buying problem solved! :) Then we'll get each other a small gift just to have something to unwrap on Christmas day.

Late this morning our older son called us on Skype so we got to see the grandkids. The connection was a little slow, but we saw them with their gifts and noticed how much bigger they are since we saw them this summer.

Around noon we went to the pool for a Christmas day swim, and to take the photo you see above. There were other people there too, thinking how nice it is to be in the pool on an 80 degree day and not out shoveling snow. Sorry to our northern friends for rubbing it in, but this is the reason we have wheels, so we can move to where it’s warm.

It was finally time to head over to the clubhouse for the Christmas pot luck dinner. We were surrounded by around 175 people. We had the best food, and lots of it! There were three large tables full of every kind of food imaginable. And this didn't include the turkey, dressing, and mashed potatoes with gravy, which were served from the counter of the main kitchen. And as if that wasn't enough, there was a fourth table with nothing but desserts. Such a feast! (Click on photos to enlarge them.)

Everyone went all out decorating their tables. The whole place looked so festive!

We were too full to do much of anything else today. Jim watched sports on TV and I worked a little on backing up all of our 2011 pictures to DVD’s and our external drive. I love "putting away" the past year and starting a new year.

Merry Christmas everyone!

The Day Before Christmas

2011-12-24T10:29:00.001-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 77 Lo 60 -- We woke up to foggy and misty weather, but it sure warmed nicely and got sunny later in the day.

I was surprised, as big as this park is there's not very many who decorated for Christmas, and there wasn't a golf cart parade. I spent the morning reading blogs, and one very interesting one was See Ya When We Get There. Another good one is Jackie and Tony's blog. We visited them last year at Davenport, about 40 miles north of us, and they had a golf cart parade while we visited. I love that idea, and other ideas people come up with are so fun. We didn't decorate this year. If we had family around it would have been different, but neither one of us ever go into the mood to get out the box of Christmas lights. And we haven't figured out a good way to attach lights to the outside of the RV. If anyone has an idea, let me know and we'll put them up next year.

We have a big closet where a side-by-side washer and dryer would go if we had them. We have some large tubs in there and I decided to go through them and do some sorting and straightening. I haven't touched them since we started full time. That took a couple of hours. Then it was time for my walk. The whole park was very quiet, no one out walking and very few cars around. It seemed a little eery. I'm thinking everyone was either making tomorrow's dinner, or food for the pot luck, or out shopping.

I played computer games, including a few games of Words With Friends for the few who were online. That's such a great time killer. We also watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, which is one of our favorite Christmas movies. This evening we'll probably watch some more Christmas shows.

Too Hot, A/C Required

2011-12-23T17:48:00.001-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 88 Lo 64 -- For all our readers up north, sorry about the title. It was already really warm when I got up at 9:00. We opened all the windows and turned on the two fans we have, then sat outside all morning. Jim read his Kindle and I played games and read on my Droid smartphone. When we went inside for lunch it was just too hot, so we shut all the windows and turned on the A/C. We notice that when the outside temperature gets to 80 or above it's time to cool the RV down. It's been unusually warm for this time of year. The normal high should be around 71 and it's been right around 80 almost since we got here three weeks ago. But we're not complaining! :)

One activity on the schedule today that I wanted to go to was Tai Chi. There were five of us at the class. I took Tai Chi classes several years ago and I wanted to see if it was easier or harder than it was back then. The teacher was excellent and the moves were very different. I used to suffer from sore and swollen knees when I finished a Tai Chi session. Today we were taught how to shift our weight from our knees to our upper legs and rear end for support. What a difference! I'm planning on going every week. Now I have to practice the moves during the week.

Jim went for his walk then took his truck out for a drive to exercise the engine. It hasn't been moved since we got here. He also topped it up with diesel. It's best to keep the fuel tank full on a diesel to prevent condensation in the tank. At least that's what he read once.

Our son Frank downloaded Skype on his iPhone and called us to try it out. It took a while to get everything configured, but we finally got it working good. We're now set to do a video call on Sunday and watch the grand kids open their Christmas gifts. Technology is great! We're so far away, but still get to be with family on the biggest day of the year.

Jim grilled some chicken breasts for dinner, and they were really good! It's time to relax and get on chat the rest of the night.

Sitting Outside - WIFI News

2011-12-22T18:07:00.001-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 84 Lo 61 -- I spent most of today by myself. Jim drove to the VA hospital in Tampa for his weekly blood test. It got a little on the warm inside today, so I sat outside quite a bit. We have to pay for our electric here, so we're trying to avoid using our air conditioner as much as possible. There was a nice breeze, so it was cool under our awning with our new sunblocker. I was going to clean the carpets, but it was just too hot. I'll wait for a cooler day.

I had a chat on the computer with our younger son in Illinois, and also my mom called. Yesterday she had minor surgery on her back. She's going to be sore awhile, but otherwise she's fine.

There've been a lot of complaints about the park wi-fi. In fact, we heard so many bad reports about it that we decided not to subscribe to it. We use our Verizon 3G for our internet. A representative from the company that provides the park's internet had a meeting at the clubhouse this afternoon. I went over to listen in. She flat admitted that the system in the park doesn't have enough bandwidth for anything but email and web surfing. That means no Skype and no You Tube. That's disappointing, but we're glad about our decision to depend on our Verizon connection.

Jim got back late afternoon. He's right on target on the dosage of blood thinner, so that's good news. We don't have any plans for the rest of the week or the weekend, except for the pot luck dinner on Sunday. We'll play it by ear. That's what's nice about this lifestyle... you don't have to make any plans, and you're available for anything that might come up. I might even start a new family Christmas tradition by taking a dip in the pool on Christmas day.

Shuffling and Strolling

2011-12-21T18:32:00.001-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 79 Lo 59 -- If it gets any better I'll burst. How can life be so grand? It feels so good to get up and not be freezing in December. We were doing our normal morning routine when we had a visit from Jon. We talked with him for awhile, and made plans to attend a Christmas Stroll at his church this evening. More about that later. After he left we both took a walk around the park.

After our walk, I went over to the clubhouse to check out the game of Mahjong. I've seen it played on the computer but never in real life. By the time I got to the clubhouse they had already started a game and I just watched. It looked really complicated to me. I saw a couple people outside with shuffleboard sticks, so I joined them and called Jim and he walked over to join us. We ended up with six of us playing. It felt great getting back to playing shuffleboard. They have the regular group that plays at 8:30 each morning, but that's too early for either of us. I'm going to start a sign up list in the clubhouse to see if we can get a regular group for afternoon games.

After three games with great people, we went back home to get ready to leave for Grace Bible Church in Sebring to attend their Christmas Stroll. Jon and Kathleen, who are participants in the Stroll, invited us to come see it. On the way we stopped for dinner at The Clock Family Restaurant in Avon Park. It was good, wholesome, family food. We'll definitely put them in our rotation of eating places.

We got to Grace Bible Church at 6pm, just in time to join the first tour group. A Christmas Stroll is a guided walking tour through an outdoor drama depicting the events surrounding the birth of Christ. There were seven separate scenes, starting with the first appearance of the Archangel Gabriel, and through the birth of Christ at Bethlehem. Here are some photos Jim took during the Stroll. (Click on photos to enlarge.)

That's a real donkey!

We liked the little "cows" and "sheep" out in the field...

Here they are up close. So cute!

Baby Jesus in the manger.

The three wise men.

This is our neighbor Jon, who was one of the greeters.

It was a very enjoyable evening, made even better by the 70-degree weather. Thanks Jon and Kathleen for inviting us.

Movie Day

2011-12-20T17:30:00.000-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 82 Lo 57 -- All night every time I moved I woke up from being so sore from yesterday's bowling. By the time I got up I moved very slowly, but worked out all the kinks except in my knees. I'll get more limbered up this week. I'll pass on bowling for a few weeks.

Today was movie day so we headed to the movie theater at the Lakeside Mall in Sebring. It's so nice not having to travel as far as we did last year from Wauchula. We're only eight miles away now, and it was about 25 miles last year. The movie we saw, Hugo, was a good one. It was a "heart tugger," and well worth seeing.

After the movie we walked around the mall and came across a dollar type store with bins of all kinds of stuff. It had a flea market vibe to it, and it was neat walking the aisles and checking out all the stuff.

Several people in the park told us about Maxwell's Grove in Avon Park. It's a rustic looking place just east of town and they sell all kinds of citrus fruit fresh picked from their orchards, along with the usual jellies, jams, and sauces. We stopped in on the way home and bought some fruit and - after trying a sample - a half gallon of their orange juice. Their juice is freshly squeezed and tastes sooo much better than store bought juice! It's very smooth and doesn't have that slightly burning sensation that store bought juice has.

Maxwell's Grove Store.

We got home just before dark, got dinner and settled in for the evening.

We're Out of Shape!

2011-12-19T17:39:00.002-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 78 Lo 52 -- We got up earlier than normal, well I did anyway. We went to the weekly Monday morning clubhouse meeting, which started at 8:30. We wanted to get all the information about the upcoming Christmas dinner, and everything else that's going on in the park. I won't go every Monday, but Jim might. I was surprised to see how many people showed up. We got a lot of information, and we met some more people.

We went back to the RV for the rest of the morning, then around 11:30 we left to pick up Kathleen and headed to join about a dozen other park residents for their weekly afternoon of bowling. We haven't bowled in about 30 years and it showed. I have no upper arm strength any more, I'll have to work on that. By the third game I could barely lift the ball. Jim did better, but he was also tired out by the third game. And he also slightly pulled his left hamstring muscle. Are we pathetic or what! We had a really good time though, and the group was wonderful and a million laughs. There's no teams, everyone bowls as individuals. It's all for fun and good exercise.

Most of mine were in the gutter.

Jim had a few strikes.

Part of our group watching the action.

We dropped Kathleen back at her home, and then we went to a little nearby convenience store where they make deli sandwiches. It's right outside our park, and the couple that own it are very friendly. They welcomed us by giving us a coupon for a free 12-inch pizza during our next visit. We got a couple of sandwiches (me a Cuban... I can't get enough of those! and Jim a Philly Cheesesteak) and brought them home. They were delicious! Since I was too sore to do much of anything, I basically rested while Jim did the laundry. By then it was our usual evening of reading, chatting and watching TV. I am going to be so sore tomorrow!

Back to Daily Reports

2011-12-18T15:36:00.000-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 75 Lo 53 -- Jim and I put a lot of work into our last two "recap" posts. Hopefully we covered all the highlights in our second year of travels. It will be great reading it a year from now. We're now starting all over with info and pictures for next year.

I'll go back to Friday and Saturday and tell what we did. People here in the park are so friendly! Our biggest challenge has been trying to remember everyone's name. There's a group called the Happy Hookers that meets at the clubhouse on Fridays. It's not what you think. It's all about knitting and crocheting. I didn't get to go this past Friday but I definitely want to add it to my activity list.

Friday night we went with a group to the local American Legion post. It was their fish fry night, and it was was very good. We had 16 people in our group and we haven't laughed so hard in a long time. One of the couples is from North Webster, Indiana, which is very close to my hometown of Warsaw. They knew my mom and dad many years ago when my dad had his TV repair business. It's truly a small world, and when your home has wheels it only gets smaller.

The name sign we had for the front of the RV was in bad condition from being out in the weather. A neighbor down from us is always out making something with wood, so I asked him to make us a new sign. I didn't expect it right away, but about two days later he brought it to us. I think he did a fine job! Thanks Tom.

We received the sunblocker we ordered for our awning and installed it a couple of days ago. We love it. It reduces the heat and glare of the sun just enough to make it more comfortable when we sit outside.

Looks like Jim is more "comfortable"

Our setup with the new Sunblocker.

Today we both did our walk around the park, then Jim watched football while I chatted and worked with Google+. It's a nice program and works with my Android smartphone real well. I'm trying to figure out how to take pictures and have them go directly to Google+. I'll get it figured out.

It's going to be a fun packed week coming up.

Friday's park activities: Tennis, shuffleboard, aquacise, light aerobics, rug runners, wood carving, happy hookers, dominoes, tai chi, pepper and poker games in the evening.

We Have Two Vehicles, Here's Why

2011-12-17T12:00:00.000-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 82 Low 63 -- Yesterday Dee gave a good generalrecap of our travels during 2011, along with some of our thoughts on the fulltime lifestyle. Today she turned the blog over to me to tell a little about ourdecision to use two vehicles in our travels, and the financial ramifications ofthat decision. When we travel Dee follows behind me in her 1998 Toyota RAV4,and when we get set up at our destination we park my 2007 GMC Sierra Classic3500 dually diesel truck and use her car for daily transportation. For somereason this has been a controversial issue with a lot of our RV’ing friendsever since we started on the road. Some have been very strong in theiropinions, and have tried to “convince” us that we’re mis-guided. But I won’tget into that. I did some addin’, subtractin’, and guzzinta’s based on therecords we’ve kept during the past year. Here’s what I came up with for 2011(through Dec 1):

Total miles towing (traveling from park to park): 6,730 (both vehicles)

Total daily miles in car while truck is parked: 10,751

Here are the assumptions I used:

Avg MPG Truck = 15.5 unloaded

Avg MPG Car = 25.5 city/hwy combined

Avg cost of Diesel: $3.96/gal

Avg cost of gasoline: $3.70/gal

The cost of fuel for Dee followingme for 6,730 miles while towing was $977

(6,730 miles/25.5 MPG = 264 gals x $3.70/gal)

The cost of fuel for using the caras our daily driver for 10,751 “in place” miles was $1,561

(10,751 miles/25.5 MPG = 422 gals x$3.70/gal)

The cost of fuel if we’d used thetruck as our daily driver for 10,751 “in place” miles would’ve been $2,748

(10,751 miles/15.5 MPG = 694 gals x$3.96/gal)

Now let’s compute the fuel costs ofof using two vehicles instead of just the truck.

- We paid $977 extra for fuel by following behindin the car while traveling.

- However, we saved $1,187 in fuel costs by usingthe car as our daily driver rather than the truck ($2,748 for truck minus $1,561 for car)

Intotal it cost us $210 LESS in fuel costs by using the two vehicles ($1,187minus $977).

This savings is a result of thedifference in gas mileage between the little Toyota and the diesel-guzzlingtruck (not to mention the higher price of diesel vs gasoline). So in oursituation, it’s a little more economical to use the car as our daily driver,even with the extra cost of fuel when using both vehicles while traveling.

However,there are other costs in owning the Toyota that wipe out that rather smallsavings in fuel costs. The main one is insurance, which on the Toyota is $520per year. That changes our saving of $210 to a COST of $310. There’s alsomaintenance costs on the Toyota. It’s going on 14 years old, and we’ve spent afew hundred dollars this past year on both routine maintenance and to fix some minorthings that basically wore out. And these maintenance costs will increase overtime.

However,these maintenance costs are somewhat mitigated by saving wear and tear (andmaintenance costs) on the truck, because it’s accumulating less than half themiles it would if it was our only vehicle. And maintenance costs are higher (aLOT higher) for the truck than for the car.

So looking at all this, it lookslike owning, maintaining, and driving two vehicles costs us somewhere between$500 and $1,000 more than if we only used the truck.

So is it worth it? To us, the answeris YES, based on the following intangible benefits:

- It’s more comfortable driving the car every daythan the truck, easier to maneuver and easier to park.

- It FEELS like we’re saving money by driving thecar, only $30+ when we fill up, vs $75+ to fill the truck, for the same numberof miles driven. (The car holds 12 gals of gasoline, the truck holds 36 gals ofdiesel.)

- The truck is very important to our lifestyle. Wetransport our home with it. If it breaks, we’re stranded. It’s nice to be ableto park it and save wear and tear.

- Having Dee follow me while towing has manybenefits, including “blocking” traffic for lane changes, running ahead to checkout entrances to RV parks, and scouting RV parks for the best site.

- We’re both amateur (ham) radio operators, so we’reable to communicate via our 2-way radios we have installed in each vehicle. Sowe can still share the wonder of the sights along the way.

- Dee doesn’t have to suffer the rough ride in thetruck.

- We consider traveling time as 4-5 hours of “me”time. She listens to her music, I listen to my talk radio... nuff said. J

We’ve also been asked about towingour car behind the fifth wheel. That’s just something I don’t want to do, andbesides double-towing isn’t legal in all states. And if we did that, some ofthe benefits listed above would disappear.

So as long as we can afford it (andthe car keeps running), we’re happy with two vehicles. It may not work foreveryone, but it works for us. When the Toyota finally gives up the ghost we’llhave a decision to make as to whether or not we’ll want to invest severalthousand dollars in a new (to us) car. But I’m betting the answer to that willalso be YES.

I hope this will be beneficial toour fellow fiver owners, and owners-to-be as you do your research and make yourplans. Tomorrow we’ll get you caught up on our activities the last couple ofdays. Don’t get too excited though, we haven’t done much. J Cheers! Jim

Recap of 2011 TWO YEARS AS FULL TIME RV'ERS

2011-12-16T13:16:00.001-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 82 Lo 68 -- What a year it’s been! We towed Tumbleweed a total of 6,730 miles in2011. We started the year at Little Charlie Creek RV Park in Wauchula, FL. Thehighlight of the year was our trip to Canada during the summer. It was awonderful experience. We left Florida in April and headed for North Carolina,where we spent several weeks with family and friends. On the way we stopped inCharleston, SC and did some sightseeing. After our stay in NC we started ourtrip north to Canada. We stopped in Richmond, VA to spend some time with Mikeand Terri. They were in the process of selling their house so they can hit theroad full time. They were kind enough to show us the sights of Richmond. Thenwe stopped in Maryland to see Jim’s aunt and uncle, and made our way up throughPennsylvania and New York. It was nice to see Dom and Ellen in Buffalo for afew days. They showed us around and took us to the Anchor Bar, home of the original Buffalo Wings; In mid-June we crossed the border into Canada. I stressedabout the border crossing for weeks prior to this, but it ended up being noproblem at all. We spent two weeks withour dear friends Sandra and Gordon in Smiths Falls, Ontario, and then we spentanother week traveling across Ontario to our re-entry point back into the U.S.at Sault Ste. Marie, MI. We found out that fuel costs were much higher inCanada than in the U.S., as high as$5.05 a gallon (and even higher for diesel). There was a 13% tax on just abouteverything except groceries. The campgrounds were nice, but much more rusticthan we’re used to. At one park in Mattawa, ON we didn’t have any satellite, nolocal TV, and wi-fi only at a picnic table in front of the office. That was along four days! J

After we re-entered theU.S. we spent a week at Sault Ste. Marie and enjoyed watching the big lakescargo ships and tankers go through the Soo Locks. We even got to take a boattour through the locks, one of the highlights of the summer. We then lesurelytraveled back down through the upper peninsula of Michigan, into Wisconsin(where we spent a wonderful week with Karen and Steve), over to Minnesota (tosee our old friends Linda and Chuck), then through Iowa, and into Illinois tospend time with our two sons, their wives, and all our grandkids. What awonderful few weeks that was!

It was then on back to NC in October, where we had to take care of moving my mom into an assisted care facility. That was a trying month for us, but we got everything done. As you know if you've been following our blog, we've since moved mom to Missouri to live with my sister and her husband. She's currently doing well. We then went to spend a week with Jim's family in Beaufort, NC, and then made our way back here to Florida for the winter.

During our travels welearned that we still don’t care for state parks. They usually have too manytrees for our liking. Jim is very good atfinding nice parks along our route without going over four to five hours a dayin travel. We stay one day in between traveling to avoid back-to-back traveldays. Most of the parks we stayed at this year had at least water and electric,and most had sewer too.

We stayed at our first Corpsof Engineer (COE) Park in Iowa, which was very nice. (It was the only park thathad electric only. We had to live on our fresh water tank for a week, which wasno problem.) We stayed at a couple of casinos, and several military famcamps.Our campground fees averaged $25 a night or less. The highest was in Canada at $40-45 anight. Our favorite park is still Pelican's Roost at the Mayport Naval Station near Jacksonville, FL

We still sometimes likemaking reservations, but more and more we’re trying to get used to just callinga day or so ahead to see if sites are available. We haven’t had the courage tojust wing it yet by not calling ahead. If there’s things that interest us inthe area we’re in, we’ll stay a day or two more to check them out. Jim likes tovisit Presidential Libraries and Museums.

Some of our travelinghabits: We gas up before every trip so we don’t have to worry about finding asuitable gas/diesel station on the way. We take a snack and water in ourvehicles with us, which usually is enough to hold us over during our normalfour hour trip. We always make one rest stop, either at a rest area or in asuitable place on the side of the road.

We love meeting peoplealong the way and we always try local foods or dishes. The Beef on Weck in Buffalo,NY, and the Amish noodles in Pennsylvania and Indiana, and Pasties in Wisconsinare just a few of the new foods we tried (and liked). Culver’s is our favorite fastfood restaurant. We just wish they would expand their chain outside themidwest.

We’re often asked why Ifollow behind Jim in my car when we’re traveling. Jim will address that intomorrow’s blog, along with give a financial breakdown of how much the secondcar costs us.

Remember to check theright side of the blog for parks we’ve been to. Thanks for following alongthis year. We appreciate every one of you so much! It’s sometimes a struggle topost every day like we do, but knowing we have loyal readers makes it allworthwhile. We don’t have an agenda yet for next summer, but we have all winterto think about that.

We’ll leave you with alist of places we saw and things we did from April through September:

Niagara Falls,Canada; Anchor Bar in Buffalo (home of the original Buffalo Wings); Three U.S. Presidents’ graves; Camp David, MD (the front gate anyway); NSAHeadquarters in Ft. Meade, MD (very Top Secret place); Ottawa, Canada’s capitalcity; The Big Nickel in Sudbury, ON (it’s a Canadian thing); the Soo Locks; theField of Dreams movie site in Dyersville, IA; Buddy Holly’s crash site memorialin Clear Lake, IA; House on the Rock in Wisconsin; Fort Sumter, SC; Patriot’sPoint in Charleston; All five Great Lakes (one of my bucket list items);Lambeau Field in Green Bay, WI; Wisconsin Dells; Mall of America in St. Paul,MN; Winnebago Factory in Iowa; Spam Museum (wowee!); Hoover Presidential Library; U.S. Grant’s Home in Galena, IL; Old JolietPrison (as visitors, not inmates); Chicago Bears NFL game; St. Louis Cardinalsbaseball game; several minor league baseball games; St. Louis Arch; one of the sitesof the Lincoln Douglas debates in IL; Museum of Edgar Allen Poe.

What a life!

Checking out RV Parks Near Us - First Potluck

2011-12-15T18:02:00.000-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 77 Lo 57 -- We have one day to get our two year recap done so I worked on that most of the morning. I want to do a collage of photos of all the parks we've stayed. It's taking a lot longer then I thought it would, but it's a fun project. When I get it done I'll post on the blog. The time flew by today. I also got to do a voice chat with another friend Sandra in Canada. What a surprise. Thanks Sandra, it was great to hear from you. My mom got on chat today which was really nice to hear from her. Our son also did a quick chat. I love this technology.

After lunch we took a drive to the country outside Avon Park to a couple of RV parks that we're checking out for a friend in Canada. They're coming down in January and wanted us to take some pictures of the parks and send them to them. We found the two they asked about, plus another one that we came across, all on Bonnet Lake. The parks were nice, but a little too far out in the country for us.

We got a few items at Walmart on the way home, then got ready for our first potluck here at Adelaide Shores. There weren't a lot of people, but it sure was nice. We've been invited to go out with a group to dinner tomorrow night. We're slowly getting to know more folks, and we'll be getting out more and doing things in the coming weeks.

The potluck.

Todays activities in the park: Tennis, Shuffleboard, Aquacise, Light Aerobics, Horseshoes, Golf, Line Dancing, Crafts, French Class, Bridge, Cards and Games.

Another Trip to Tampa

2011-12-14T16:34:00.002-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 79 Low 61 -- Another perfect day weather-wise. This morning I worked on our 2nd year recap, which I'll publish in two days. As part of that Jim's running the numbers to see how much having my car adds to our expenses.

A little after 11am we left for the Tampa VA Hospital. Jim was started on the blood thinner Warfarin a week ago due to his atrial fibrillation (AF). As part of the therapy he has to have blood drawn once a week for an International Normalized Ratio (INR) test to monitor his body's response to the dosage of Warfarin. So we drove 80 miles to the Anticoagulant Clinic (they humorously call it the "Coumadin Clinic"). Fortunately the clinic is located about a block from the main hospital, so access and parking was much easier. It's kind of a pain to drive that far just for a blood test. Before we left Jim filled out a request to have our mileage reimbursed, so we'll see how that works out. We checked on the possibility of having the tests done at the Sebring VA Clinic, but since that clinic is not part of the Tampa network they won't do it. Typical government beauracracy. Once the dosage is stabilized he'll only need the test once every couple of months.

On the way home we stopped at a Beall's Outlet store in Bartow. We've heard about Beall's stores, but this is the first time we've been in one. They sell clothes for really cheap, and we each bought a pair of shorts.

I cooked a meatloaf for dinner, then we settled in for our evening of TV and chatting.

Today's activities in the park: Tennis, Shuffleboard, Aquacise, Quilting Club, Light Aerobics, Golf Lessons (free), Wood Carving, Bible Study, Mah Jongg, Chorus Practice, Card Bingo

Tuesday is Movie Day

2011-12-13T17:37:00.000-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 79 Lo 66 -- All of our packages came in and we wrapped them and went to a local mailing center to send them. There wasn't a line, they boxed everything up for us, and we were out in no time. That gave us some time before the movie to eat at Homer's Smorgasbord. We ate there a few times last winter. It's very good food at a great price.

We plan to make every Tuesday "movie day." There's seldom very many people at the theater and today was no exception. In fact we were the ONLY ones in the theater, so we had a "private showing" of the movie Ides of March, starring George Clooney. It was a very good movie about what goes on behind the scenes in a presidential campaign. The acting was great.

On the way home we stopped at a video store that's only about two miles of our park. You don't see as many video stores as you used to, and it's nice having one so close to us. We can see movies on pay-per-view on our satellite system, but they're about $6 each. We can rent new releases at the video store for $2 for two nights. We brought home the latest Transformers movie to watch tonight.

While I was making dinner this evening our 12-year old grandson Kyle texted Jim, and they had a nice conversation going. Jim isn't a big "texter," but he loves doing it with Kyle. It's such a neat way for them to bond with each other. Kyle is really looking forward to Christmas, and he was excited when Jim told him we mailed his and his brother Kendall's gifts today. He's so precious!

Today's activities in the park: Tennis, Shuffleboard, Aquacise, Light Aerobics, Horseshoes, Golf, Computer Club (we want to get to one of these), Texas Hold 'Em, and Bingo.

It's Great Sitting Outside

2011-12-12T17:47:00.000-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 77 Lo 60 -- It was very foggy when Jim got up. It burned off and was cloudy most of the day, with a little shower toward evening. I got all the Christmas gifts wrapped and ready to be shipped out tomorrow. We'll send them by UPS. I think they do a better job and cost less then the Post Office.

We sat outside quite a bit today, and this morning we had a visitor come by to sit with us for a while. Jon is a chatter on the RV-Dreams Chatroom. He came into the chatroom the other night and asked me if we were at the pool party earlier that evening, which we were. He said he put together the name and that we were in Adelaide Shores. He's been at this park the past three years. It's always great to meet someone from the chatroom in our travels.

Jim did the laundry today so I cleaned up the RV. It sure doesn't take long. Afterwards we both went for our walks. It was neat going down to the lake today. There's a gazebo and I watched some little lizards and Geckos playing.

We did some more computer work and worked on our two-year recap.

For the rest of this week I'll list the daily activities each day here in park. The activities start at 7:30am and go to 7:00pm.

Monday:
Tennis, Coffee Hour, Light Aerobics, Shuffleboard (too early for me), Aquacise (pool aerobics), Line Dancing, Bowling (which is in Avon Park), Bunco and Dominoes, Painting, Euchre, Poker.

A Day of Games

2011-12-11T17:23:00.001-06:00

(Avon Park, FL ) Hi 77 Lo 61 -- Rain today, light to heavy at times. It was a great day to stay in and just chill out and that's what we did.

Today was all about games. I played all the computer games that I've been neglecting lately. Words with Friends is my favorite, and I try to keep up with several games at once. I really like it and it's quite challenging. Gardens of Time, Bejeweled, and a couple of other Facebook games. Thanks everyone who plays with me.

Jim is less social so he likes to play Hearts and Backgammon against the computer. But he doesn't play for as long at a stretch as I do. We're able to receive the Miami TV stations so he watched his Dolphins play (and lose) to the Philadelphia Eagles. He fell asleep during the game so I took over the TV and watched a couple of shows. The rest of the afternoon we watched some recorded shows, including a sappy Christmas movie on the Hallmark Channel.

So we didn't move much today except to get something to eat. Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest, right? It was relaxing hearing the rain on the roof. We'll have active getaway days during the winter, but we'll also be relaxing quite a bit and will have days like this, when we do nothing. That is until I get cabin fever, then we'll do some day trips.

Evening Fun at the Clubhouse

2011-12-10T10:35:00.001-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 75 Lo 66 -- Cloudy and a few light showers today. I cleaned out a couple cabinets that needed some attention. I got rid of a few things we haven't used the past two years. I'll continue cleaning out cabinets and compartments a little bit at a time.

Over the last couple of days we received some shipments of Christmas gifts for the grandkids. Only two more are left, and once they get here we'll wrap them and get them in the mail. Little by little it's getting done.

Our neighbor down the row brought by an RV "seating chart" as she calls it. It has the sites and names of everyone in our section of the park. That was really nice. She said she does it every year. I can memorize the names on the chart and then put a face to the names as we meet them. We'll also be set for the block party that will be sometime in next month.

I've added the pictures of our park to the right, under Highlights of 2011. I'll add to them during our stay.

Jim was listening to The Tech Guy podcast on his iPod during his walk, and he heard that last weekend was the 19th anniversary of texting. It's hard to believe it's been going on for that long.

We spent the afternoon surfing the web. I ordered some RV bumper stickers and watched my friend on Latitude as she traveled from NC to Nevada. After dinner we went over to the clubhouse for some entertainment, the Johnny Roberts Comedy Show.

It wasn't exactly Las Vegas quality entertainment, but it was a fun two hours. The guy on the left not only played the banjo, but he was a terrific guitar player. He played the finger-picking style like Chet Atkins.

After the show we returned to our home for some TV watching and online chatting.

Checking Out Clubhouse Activities

2011-12-09T10:42:00.001-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 78 Lo 61 -- Jim got on the phone today to see about getting a Sunblocker screen for our awning. He wasn't able to find one at any RV dealer around. He even tried a couple of Camping World's within two hours of us. So he went ahead and ordered one online from Camping World. It ended up cheaper and there was no shipping charge. It should be here in a couple of weeks. Jim worked on setting up the new table and put out our mat and chairs. Now we're all setup, so it'll probably rain soon. :)

I worked on the budget and setting up the new Excel spreadsheets for 2012, then went to the clubhouse to see what's going on for the month. We already missed a couple activities. There was a salad potluck and a pizza night. We have to keep track what day it is or we'll be missing even more functions.

I noticed there were several people in the pool and saw that the calendar that said there was a pool party from 3-5pm. It was 2:30, so I did my walk around the park, came back to the RV, changed clothes and Jim joined me and we went to the clubhouse. There were several people sitting AROUND the pool, but no one was IN the pool. They swim earlier, then they all gather around for chit-chat and ate finger foods. We met everyone there and a few of them were from my home area of northern Indiana. What a great friendly group! One couple is full time and they go back and forth between Ohio and Florida and see states in-between. They've been on the road nine years and plan on many more.

The pool party is every second Thursday of the month, and yes it's year round.

Everyone brings finger foods. I'll take some next time.

It was a very comfortable 81 degrees, and the pool would have felt really good because the water is heated to 86 degrees. They cover it at 5:00 every night and open it at 7:30 each morning.

Everyone left at 5:00. There's an American Legion in Avon Park that some of the couples go to for dinner on Friday nights. We also learned there's a bowling league, golf matches and about anything else you can think of around the area. There's plenty to do and we'll start getting really active in the next few weeks.

Shopping

2011-12-08T17:50:00.001-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 65 Lo 44 -- It was a chilly night, but our little ceramic heater kept us warm without turning on the furnace. It's only going to be cold a couple of days. I wish Alaska and Canada would keep their cold fronts to themselves and not pass them to the lower 48.

Since we're not moving for awhile we're trying to get into somewhat of a routine. I get up a couple hours after Jim. He reads his emails and news feeds and watches the news before I get up. I grab a cup of coffee, check outside to see what's going on, read my emails and blogs. It's amazing how fast the mornings go, and it's noon before we know it.

After lunch we decide what to do for the day. I wanted to find the sunblocker for the awning today so we started out with that in mind. We checked the one local place we were told they custom make them, but they said they didn't. The next stop was Walmart to see if they had any in their camping section. No luck. So we got some groceries while we were there.

We're finding out that most parks we stay at don't have a picnic table at the site. Jim has been wanting some kind of table to keep set up outside to put the grill on, and to set things on when working in the basement compartments. Walmart has a nice folding table that we bought today. It folds in the middle and is very sturdy when it's set up. We got a 5-foot long one, the middle of three different sizes. It's big enough to hold the grill, and also to eat on.

We're still in search of the sunblocker. We have a few more places to look tomorrow.

An Outside Day

2011-12-07T17:52:00.001-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 83 Lo 56 -- We both got up at the same time today, that's very unusual. Jim got a couple of phone calls for follow-up appointments, and even a call from his primary care doctor to ask how he was doing. I have no idea how those doctors and nurses keep up with everyone. The VA hospital in Tampa is so busy, and if they find time to check up on their patients after they leave the hospital they are amazing people.

I wanted to be outside today, the temperature was a perfect at 83, and we have a cold front coming in tonight which means it will get down to the mid-40's overnight, and tomorrow it's suppose to be around 69. But it's for only one day, then it will be back to the mid to high 70's.

I decided to wash my car. I noticed the outside mirrors were so bad from dirt and salt it was hard seeing anything last night coming home in the dark. It needs a good wax job on it, but we don't have any. I think the last time I washed the car was in April. It sure looks good now. I sat outside for a few hours, then came in and finished the filing cabinet project I started last weekend. From all the shredding I did we're now about 10 pounds lighter. I'm not sure what I'll tackle next. I have a full list to work on this winter.

I walked for 15 minutes but couldn't continue, my hip was hurting too bad. So I sat outside some more. Jim hooked up our sewer hose and dumped the tanks. When we arrive at a new park we always hold off on hooking up the sewer hose until we need our first dump. After that he went for his walk. When he got back we sat together for awhile and talked about how we're loving this lifestyle. We also discussed getting a sun blocker for our awning, one of those screens that hang down from the top to give more shade. Our neighbors came over and introduced themselves. They have a sun blocker that they got years ago, but they said there's a place about a quarter of mile down the road that makes them. We'll check that out tomorrow.

While we were visiting the wind picked up, the clouds rolled in, and started to rain, so we all went in. I made dinner and now we're watching TV and I'm reading blogs the rest of the evening. I'm so far behind on blogs, I want to find out where everyone is spending winter.

Update about mom: all her stuff has arrived at my sister's, a day earlier than scheduled. She now will feel more at home having her own things.

A Day Not Planned

2011-12-06T19:33:00.001-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 81 Low 55 -- Well, today certainly turned out different than we planned. Five years ago Jim was treated for atrial fibrillation (AT). He underwent a treatment to shock the heart back into rhythm (called a cardiovert), and everything has been fine... until last night. While snuggling in bed I listened to his heart, like I sometimes do, and noticed it was beating erratically. So early this morning Jim called his primary care physician at the Tampa Veterans Hospital. He was told to come in right away, so we quickly dressed and made the 80-mile trip to Tampa.

To make a long story short, it was a long day of mostly waiting around, along with many EKGs and blood tests. Jim's condition is "non-symptomatic." In other words, he doesn't have any dizziness, shortness of breath, or feel any heart palpitations, like most sufferers of AT do. So the team of cardiologists (yes, it was a team of three of them; impressive treatment!) decided not to do another cardiovert, and to treat it as an ongoing condition. We were told that about 10 million Americans are being treated for AT, and probably many more have it and don't know it. One of the dangers of AT is an increased risk of stroke or heart attack, due to blood pooling in the heart's upper chamber caused by the arrhythmia. So Jim was given a prescription for Warfarin, a blood thinner. We're not real pleased that he'll be on a blood thinner for the rest of his life, but it's better than getting a stroke or heart attack!

So Jim is fine. He has no limitations on activities or exercising, and his life should continue as normal. We got home around 8pm, so it was a long day. But we're glad the minor scare is over. Hopefully we'll be back to our normal lazy lifestyle tomorrow. :)

A Quiet Day

2011-12-05T19:27:00.001-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 82 Lo 60 -- The weather can't be any better, even with a little bit more humidity today.

This will be a quick post today. Since we're sitting for the next four months not everyday will be exciting or visiting somewhere. I worked on the project I started yesterday of throwing out papers we no longer need from the filing cabinet. I guess it's going to be a three day project.

It was too nice to stay inside, so I walked around the park trying to find the side streets that goes to the fitness building and the clubhouse. We can't walk through RV sites, so it's a longer walk to get to the main buildings. We thought we'd go shopping today, but postponed that too. I guess you can call us lazy.

See ya tomorrow. I'm sure we'll get out and do something.

Started a Project... But Will Finish It Later

2011-12-04T18:44:00.001-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 80 Lo 59 -- It was warm enough to open the door and windows as soon as Jim got up at 7:30. Nice weather. We're hearing it's miserable in the Midwest. I'm glad we got here when we did.

Jim did the laundry today, which always takes awhile because we wait so long and it piles up. If we get into a regular routine to do laundry a certain day of the week, it won't add up to be as much at one time. One pet peeve Jim often complains about: he puts the required number of quarters in the dryer, and when it's finished running, the clothes are still damp. Then he has to put the whole amount of quarters in the machine AGAIN to let it run some more. He likes the machines in the commercial laundromats where you get a certain number of minutes per quarter. Then you don't have to waste money.

I worked on sorting through our filing cabinets. I haven't touched them since we've been on the road, I just kept adding stuff to them. There's two of them, one is for our bills and the other one is all RV'ing paperwork and brochures. We still have all our notes and research from before we bought our rig, it's back to before 2009. I got about a quarter of the way through the first cabinet and just didn't feel like finishing it, so I took a break and checked Facebook. The first entry I read was an RV'ing friend who was working on the same project and was tired of it and wanted to quit. How's that for thinking alike. I thought that was funny. I'll go back to it tomorrow.

I computer-chatted with mom for a while, which was nice. She's been online the last couple days. It's like old times. She's using my sister's computer. She's doing well and we're thankful for that.

Jim and I made a vow to walk at least a mile every day. We usually walk separately because Jim walks a lot faster than me. And we use it for our "me" time; he listens to podcasts on his iPod and I meet and talk to people. Today I started out and met up with another lady doing the same thing, walking her mile. She lives just down from us on the same row and walks daily. She's been here since October and loves the park. She and her husband bought a house on the Florida west coast, so they're back and forth every few days. Everyone is so friendly so far. We're loving it!

Last night we watched the movie "The Bridesmaids." We've heard so many people say how good it was, but I don't have a clue why it was rated so high. I guess I'm just not young enough to relate to that kind of humor. I'm not saying it was bad, just wasn't my type of movie. (Jim liked it better than me, but even he didn't think it lived up to the hype.)

Tomorrow we're going out and about.

Where Did the Day Go?

2011-12-03T15:54:00.001-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 78 Lo 56 -- It was partly cloudy and breezy when we got up, then turned cloudy. But no rain. If the next four months goes as fast as today, I won't get the things on my list done before it will be time to leave.

The first thing I check now when I get up is the park calendar. I don't want to miss anything, but there's nothing planned for this weekend. There's a concert type thing going on closer to Christmas.

Thank you to everyone who plays Word with Friends with me! I can play it while I'm doing my walk. I also used Runkeeper on my Droid to record my walk. It will help me keep on track on my daily walks. I really do love today's new technology. Just think what it will be like in the future!

While on my walk I noticed a lot of park model RV's for sale. If we were close to getting off the road right now, this would be a great place to buy and settle down. It gives us some options in the future... the long away future.

We both played on the computers all day. I worked on photos. It's time to clear out this year's photos and start a new year. I did some sorting, but I also need them tagged. I'll do that another time. I also started working on our two-year recap of our full time journey. We started travelling in March 2010, but we moved from our apartment into our rig on December 16, 2009. That's the date we became full timers.

I didn't have anything planned for dinner tonight, so we ordered pizza. We're going to watch a pay-per-view movie we recorded, "Bridesmaids." We've heard so many good reports on it, so we're looking forward to some good laughs.

More on Adelaide Shores RV Park

2011-12-02T17:47:00.001-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 75 Lo 54 -- After we checked emails, read some blogs, and waited for the day to warm up a bit, we took a walk around the park. We met several people and every one of them gave us a warm welcome and friendly chat. Our first impression about the park is that it's great! There are a lot more people here our age; we're not the youngest ones in the park like last year. The park is huge! It's a full mile around the perimeter, so walking will be great.
(Click on the pictures to enlarge)

This is the horseshoe area.

A large dog playing/walking area.

The trash and recycling area.

The maintenance area. This is where we can check out a mower to cut the grass at our site.

One of the ways into park is on this small private road. Our site is just past the white fence on the right. But it's only one way, so we can't leave the park this way.

The clubhouse with the shuffle board courts on the side.

Inside the clubhouse, with a full kitchen in the back

Outside the clubhouse is the pool area.

It's a heated pool.

There are two laundry rooms.

A small fitness room.

This guy showed off his fancy golf cart. It even has a radio. He said it's a 1999 model, but a new one of this brand costs $20,000. Yikes!

This road goes down the middle of the park down to the lake. It's all downhill, which means it's all uphill coming back! It gives you a good workout.

A short walking path goes from the road to the lake.

The lake area

Our site.

The view out our back window. Not very attractive, but oh well... We can't have everything I guess.

So far, we're very impressed with the whole park. There's a whole lot of scheduled activities during the day, and a few evening things like pot lucks and entertainers. And we've been told there will be a lot more on the schedule starting in January, when the park really fills up. The shuffleboard sessions are early in the morning, so I doubt if I'll play much this year. That's ok, there's so many other things to do later in the day.

When we got back from our walk Jim did some online Christmas shopping for the grand kids. He's so much better than me at finding good deals online. I did the budget for the month. I was counting our money while Jim was spending it. :) We were so busy during October and November that the months just flew by. We're now in one place for a while, so we can relax and enjoy a slower pace for a while. We love it here in another part of that paradise that is Florida.

Arrived at Our Winter Home - Update on Mom

2011-12-01T17:38:00.001-06:00

(Avon Park, FL) Hi 72 Lo 44 -- Another great day for our move. We didn't have to be out until noon this morning so we took our time. But we still got on the road by 10:30, after we said our goodbye's to Chris and Jim of Geeks on Tour. Jim took it real slow winding through the tight confines of the park and out to the main road. That would have been a lot more of a challenge two years ago.

We had a great trip to Avon Park. It was smooth, but of course there was heavy traffic on I-95. When we exited the interstate and headed west toward Lake Okeechobee there was nothing but scrub brush and open cattle fields. It was so great to have my new XM Radio to listen to the whole way. No more searching for weak radio stations! Speaking of radio... We communicate by ham radio when we're traveling and we very seldom hear anyone else on the frequency we use. Today we had someone come on the radio when we got to Sebring. Jim talked with him for a short time and learned there are a couple of active radio networks in this area. We may get on our radios this winter and try to make some contacts.

We pulled into the Adelaide Shores RV Resort around 2pm.

We registered at the office and drove to our site, where we had an "uh-oh" moment. Jim went to hook up the electric cord and saw that the pedestal was locked. A neighbor came over and told us we have to call the local electric company, Progress Energy, to have service started before arrival. Jim used to work for Progress Energy (in North Carolina) and he knew it would be at least one day before they'd come out. He also knew that the meter was already on and all they would have to do is read the meter tomorrow and start our account. That's the way it works with rental units, whether apartment or RV sites - the power stays on and they just "read the meter in." It's called a landlord agreement. So Jim called the office and explained the situation and they agreed to remove the meter lock and let us hook up and use the power in the park's name tonight. They were nice to do that, because it's our fault we didn't take care of this. When we paid our deposit on our site a few months ago they sent a confirmation package that had instructions on starting electric service. We just forgot. :(

Here's our site. Notice how much space there is between the sites.

Looking to the right of our site.

Looking to the left. The tennis courts are nearby.

We read over the paperwork and rules of the park. We discovered that we have to mow our own lawn! We can check out a mower at the maintenance yard, but we're responsible for our area. That's a first for us. This park is closer to town than where we stayed last year in Wauchula. There's lots of stores and eating places in Avon Park. It's also close to Sebring where we go to the movies. We have a nice cement pad for our porch area. We only wish we had a picnic table. The RV sits on grass. There are many "double pad" sites in the park, but they cost extra. There's a railroad nearby, but I don't think it will bother us. We're backed up to a fence with nothing much to look at out our back window. We'll be here until the end of March. I have a list of things I want to get done while here. We'll be taking day trips and hopefully meeting new friends in the park. If you're around south central Florida this winter, please let us know so we can get together.

An update about mom. She's doing well at my sister's so far. She misses her stuff, which should arrive in a few days. My sister has four dogs and a cat and mom says they're all getting along fine with her. They better, my sister is a dog trainer. :) It looks like everything will work out well.

Last Day in Ft. Lauderdale - Tracking Mom's Flight

2011-11-30T19:23:00.001-06:00

(Ft. Lauderdale, FL) Hi 74 Lo 54 -- Everyone around us was talking about the cold front that came through our area last night. It still got up to the mid-70's today, so it wasn't much of a cold front.

Today was a big day for my mom. Regular readers know that a month ago we moved mom into an assisted care facility in Fuquay-Varina, NC (about 20 miles from Raleigh). Mom had a little bit of a rough time emotionally settling into her new home. And during the past month she has gotten a lot better physically. Her back has gotten a lot better. She's now walking without her walker, and even picking stuff up off the floor. She's able to get up and down off the bed without pain. And her mind has gotten a little sharper too. She's back to doing her crafts and card making. She's come a long way.

My sister decided that rather than continue to spend down mom's money for assisted care, she would take her into her into her home in Missouri. She has set up an extra bedroom just for her so she has a place she can call her own. There's a senior center nearby where Sis can drop her off during the day. So today was moving day!

Sis has a good friend who works for a major airline. She arranged to fly with her from St. Louis to Raleigh. While this was happening a mover came to mom's room this morning to pack all her things and transport them to Missouri. Once Sis and her friend landed at Raleigh-Durham Airport they rented a car and drove 40 minutes to Fuquay-Varina to pick up mom. While they were in the air I tracked their flight on flightaware.com. And while they were on the road in their rental car I tracked them on Google Latitude. After picking up mom they drove back to the airport, had some lunch, and did a little shopping before departing about a half hour late on their flight to St. Louis. They landed about 8:30 pm this evening and are currently on their way home by car. So it's been a whirlwind day for all involved! I'm so thankful to Sis and her husband for making such a sacrifice in taking mom in. All of us had an uneasy feeling about not being available for mom on short notice. No matter how good the care is in any facility, it's nothing like the care you get from family. Thanks Sis! And good luck mom, enjoy your new home!

Today is our last day in Ft. Lauderdale. This morning Jim took my car to Best Buy to have our new XM satellite radio installed. Now I can listen to my 60's oldies all the time! When he got back he cleaned the RV tanks and I did some packing up for the trip in the morning. This evening we went over to Karel and Jim's for one more great meal. Karel's Jim grilled some steaks and ribs, and Karel made some side dishes. We brought a fresh pineapple, which we trimmed, sliced, and sprinkled with cinnamon, then my Jim cooked on the grill. Yum... Yum!

It's only 3 1/2 hours tomorrow to our winter destination in Avon Park. We're both anxious to get moving again. But this will be the last move for a while. But if we have to stay in one place for several months, Florida is a wonderful place to stay.

Meeting a Long Lost Cousin

2011-11-29T18:49:00.001-06:00

(Ft. Lauderdale, FL) Hi 76 Lo 62 – I got up real early this morning, I just couldn’t sleep. I got a lot of computer blogs read and games played before the time I would normally get up.

We were looking forward to a planned lunch date today. When we visited Jim's aunt and uncle this past spring, we mentioned we were looking for a financial advisor, and they put us in contact with their son Scott, who has an office on the 15th floor of an office building in downtown Ft. Lauderdale. We signed on with Scott for him to handle our investments, but our "meetings" were always by phone or email. When we emailed Scott that we were coming to this area he immediately invited us to lunch. So today we finally got to meet him in person over lunch at The Cheesecake Factory. It was great getting to know each other, and he and Jim enjoyed comparing family memories. They were both raised in different parts of the country so they never got to meet before today.

Scott

Before we left for lunch we got to enjoy the view from his 15th floor conference room.

Thanks for lunch Scott. It was great to finally meet you, and we hope it won't be the last time we get to see you!

I've been thinking about getting satellite radio in my car. When we're on the road it's really hard to get radio stations that play the oldies I like to listen to. And I'm really getting tire of the few CD's I have. So on the way home from lunch we stopped at Best Buy and bought an XM radio. Jim is going back tomorrow morning to have it installed. Now I'll be able to listen to my 60's music all the time.

We got back home in time for happy hour with Chris and Jim of Geeks on Tour. We have only one more day left here and we wanted to be with them one more time. Jim bought a small PA system to use for the seminars they do at RV rallies. Chris showed how the speaker sounds by singing a little Karaoke.

Jim also showed how easy it is to connect his Droid smartphone to the system and play Pandora radio. It's like a super-big iPod dock.

We sat outside enjoying the evening until the sun went down and it started to get chilly.

We had another great time today. Tomorrow is mom’s big day, moving to my sisters house. I’ll write all about it tomorrow.

Checking Out Miami

2011-11-28T18:48:00.001-06:00

(Ft. Lauderdale, FL) Hi 79 Lo 71 – It rained off and on all night and continued during the morning hours. It never rained hard. In fact a few of the showers were those kind it seems you only see in Florida, where it’s raining and sunny at the same time. I never could figure that out.

Chris, from Geeks on Tour, came over for a few minutes to help me figure some things out with Google maps, like how to embellish the routes I save for the trips we take every year. I have our 2010 and 2011 routes on the right side of the blog. My goal for next year is to have the parks listed and rated right on the map itself. It's just part of some changes I have in mind for the blog next year.

Around noon it turned nice and sunny so we left for a driving tour of parts of Miami. Our first stop was the Versailles Restaurant in Little Havana. We had lunch in a small Cuban cafe in Mayport when we were there, and Jim asked the manager what is the best Cuban restaurant in Miami. He said the Versailles, and he gave us the address. It's on SW 8th St. ("Calle Ocho"), which runs right through Little Havana. We each had a "Cuban" sandwich. It was very good, but I think the one I had in Mayport was a little better. I also had a slice of key lime pie, which was excellent! I've never had key lime pie as good as you get here in Florida. (Click on the pictures to make them larger)

After lunch we took a leisurely drive east on 8th Street through the colorful neighborhoods of the Little Havana Cuban district. It's like you're in another country. It looked like it would be beautiful at night.

Jim and I are big fans of "Burn Notice," a spy show on the USA Network. The series is filmed in Miami, and the main character, Michael Weston, lives in a dilapidated loft on the Miami River. They often show an aerial view of the building during the show. You can find out anything on the internet, including where a TV show's character's home is. Jim looked up the address and we drove over to see it. Driving by it doesn't give much of a view because the building faces the river and you drive behind it. So we crossed the river and walked to a little park that has a direct view of it. If you're not a fan of "Burn Notice" this won't mean much to you, but if you do watch the show, it should look very familiar.

Michael Weston's loft.

In the same area is the construction site of the New Marlins Ballpark, the new home of the Florida Marlins major league baseball team. It's really not that attractive, and it's right in the middle of a neighborhood, with only a couple of parking garages around it that we could see. Should be fun trying to park for a game!

The ballpark will be finished in time for opening day next April, when the Marlins host Jim's St. Louis Cardinals.

We made our way to Biscayne Blvd., the main drag through downtown Miami. We always love seeing the beauty and architecture of the downtown areas of major cities. Miami is one of the most beautiful cities we've seen. The combination of large buildings, and the tropical setting with all the palm trees, makes for some spectacular sights.

Some buildings have the beautiful colors you only see in south Florida.

The building just left of center had some very interesting looking reflections in the windows.

Here it is in close up. Cool, huh?

I like the different geometric shapes.

This is the arena where the Miami Heat NBA team plays.

As we got south of downtown, we came to the Rickenbacker Causeway, which goes over Biscayne Bay to Key Biscayne. It was a beautiful trip that offered some spectacular views of the Miami skyline.

Key Biscayne is very upscale, with nice homes, fancy shopping centers, and high dollar cars all over the place. Sometimes it's nice to see how the "other half" lives.

This Aston Martin went speeding past us. Jim got all excited... he thought James Bond might be driving it. :)

The drive back to the mainland on the causeway made for a nice skyline view.

While driving on I-95 this van passed us...

A closer look revealed it to be "CSI Miami." I wonder if Horatio is inside, with his red hair and sunglasses?

On the way home we had to drive by Sun Life Stadium, home of the Miami Dolphins.

We got home a little before dark. It was a nice afternoon, and we saw some beautiful sights. We both love south Florida, and we'd be very happy settling in this area someday... when we decide to settle... someday... a long time from now... a long, long time from now. :)

Having Friends Over

2011-11-27T17:14:00.001-06:00

(Ft. Lauderdale, FL) Hi 78 Lo 72 -- Karel and Jim, the couple we spent Thanksgiving with, were coming over for a cookout lunch today, so we spruced up around our front "porch," put out our awning, and set up our chairs. We seem to always park our rig so that the afternoon sun shines right on our door side. And today turned out to be breezy but hot, so we ate lunch inside in the air conditioning. (Sorry northern friends, I know you don't have much sympathy for us.) When we get to our winter site in Avon Park we're thinking of getting one of those shades that come down from the end of the awning to the ground. I'm tired of putting out our awning and not seeing any shade under it.

Karel and Jim got here a little after 12:00. Jim grilled some burgers and brats and I prepared the sides. After lunch the guys watched a football game while Karel and I got on Facebook. She lost some of her Facebook info and wanted to know how to get it back. We both learned some new things on Facebook, then just talked.

Karel and Jim

It was a great afternoon. Thanks for coming over guys!.

Thunderbird Flea Market

2011-11-26T17:41:00.001-06:00

(Ft. Lauderdale, FL) Hi 77 Lo 67 -- We wanted to get our RV washed so we asked our neighbor Jim Guld who he would recommend. He introduced us to Max, just a few RV's down from us, and said he'd do a great job. So we hired him. He was here at 10:00 this morning to start work. I went for groceries while Jim stayed here to make sure Max was ok on the roof. (click on the pictures to make them larger)

Max

He worked until 4:30pm and did a wonderful job. The RV looks the cleanest it's looked since we bought it two years ago. It’s shiny nice! Thanks Max for a job well done!

After Max was done with the roof and started on the sides we felt ok leaving him on his own, so we decided to go to the Thunderbird Flea Market, which is only a couple of miles from us. It's one of the biggest flea markets in the state. We went over to see if Chris and Jim would like to go. Chris was involved with some of her computer projects, but Jim decided to go with us. The flea market complex is huge, and includes a 14-screen drive-in theater. There's a huge indoor flea market and hundreds of booths outside all around the drive-in theaters..

A view from the overpass from the parking lot. The yellow building is the indoor flea market. There’s also an amusement park along the one side of the building. It’s open seven days a week, but busier on weekends.

The outdoor flea market. You can see some of the drive-in theater screens.

Neat tables, check out the legs.

Outdoor areas.

Indoor areas.

Both Jims….. No touching guys!

The whole market had a very international feel. There was a huge Cuban vibe, with latin music in the air and many things not found in the flea markets we’ve been to up north. There’s also a huge farmers market, with foods that I've never seen before. The prices were great and I did get a few items.

And I just couldn’t pass this up. Grilled pineapple is great eating.

When we got home I made dinner from Thanksgiving leftovers and we settled down for the rest of the evening. The flea market was a great addition to this weeks activities. There’s more to come in our great lifestyle.

Dinner and Fun with the Geeks

2011-11-25T21:27:00.001-06:00

(Ft. Lauderdale, FL) Hi 78 Lo 71 -- I was hoping to go to the pool but it was just too cloudy and windy, so instead I did some RV cleaning. A total of 40 minutes to dust, vacuum, and re-arrange some things that weren't in their right places from the last couple moves. At the same time Jim did the laundry. It's so much easier and faster to clean while he's gone. When I finished the cleaning I walked over and joined Jim, who was sitting by the pool while the laundry was running. There were a couple guys playing shuffleboard, which brought back memories from last winter's stay in Florida.

There's a Walgreen's next door to the park, so we walked over and got some milk and bought an apple pie for tonight's dinner. Our next door neighbors, Jim and Chris Guld, invited us to dinner. They're RV full timers who run a business called Geeks on Tour. They teach all about computers and other technology to other RV'ers on the road. Jim grilled dinner and we ate under the stars in the beautiful 70-degree evening. Afterward we retired to their motorhome to spend the evening playing Wii bowling. They also showed us how their "Wii Fit" works. You can really get a good workout on it!

My Jim learning the Wii controller, with Jim Guld offering advice. Their cute poodle "Odie" is sitting on the chair watching.

Chris and Jim

It was a fun evening. Thanks Jim and Chris for having us over.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T18:07:00.001-06:00

(Ft Lauderdale, FL) Hi 79 Lo 68 (Yes, that's LOW 68... we LOVE Florida!) -- Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! We're so thankful for so many things, and it's been a great year of wonderful blessings. We're so thankful to be able to live our lifestyle, and for so many friends - both old and new - that we've met this year. We're thankful for a loving and supportive family. And we're thankful for our good health. We're hoping each of you has a great day.

Jim grew up in nearby Margate, and we were invited to Thanksgiving dinner with some of his friends from his growing up years. We visited with Karel and Jim last winter while we were staying in Wauchula, FL, so it was good to see them again. Here are a few photos, mainly for our family members' enjoyment.

Some of Karel's family members

Jim (Karel's boyfriend) and Karel putting the final touches on the feast. Finger licking good!

Chuck, Karel's Jim, Brittany, Kim, Rick, and Rick's wife Dee

We had a great visit. After the scrumptious dinner the guys retreated to the big screen to watch the home team Dolphins play the Dallas Cowboys while the gals cleaned up the kitchen and distributed the leftovers. Thanks Karel for a great meal and for including us in your family gathering.

We returned to our home to watch some TV. And to loosen our belts in private. :)

Traffic - It's TOO Tight!

2011-11-23T18:05:00.001-06:00

(Ft. Lauderdale, FL) Hi 82 Lo 68 -- We were ready to leave Seasons in the Sun RV Park at 10am this morning, but we stopped at the office on the way out to ask about some options for staying here during the winter next year. We spent an hour talking things over with Heather, the park owner. We haven't made a decision yet, but we like what we heard. We want to see how we like it at Adelaide Shores RV Park, where we'll be spending this winter. Needless to say we'll be SOMEWHERE in Florida next year.

The trip down I-95 to Ft. Lauderdale was fine most of the way. We were expecting the traffic to be a lot worse than it was, being the holiday week and all. But it was fine until we got to the West Palm Beach area. Then the traffic picked up a lot and our stress level started to rise. In some areas there was six lanes of traffic and Jim held it at 60 mph while everyone else zoomed around us.

We arrived at Paradise Island RV Park by 2:30. Jim and Chris Guld of "Geeks on Tour" live here during the winter, and my Jim had notified them that we were coming. We met Jim and Chris the first time at the RV Dreams Rally in Branson, MO in 2008. It's great to see them again. We ended up in the site right next door to them. This is a pretty park in the middle of Ft. Lauderdale, but it's very crowded. We're on the end, so that gives us some space on one side.

Jim is maneuvering down one of the roads in the park. It's pretty narrow!

Our site is a pull-thru that cuts across a corner, but we were advised to drive around the corner and back in due to the tight turn it would take to drive forward from the back of the site.

This was the challenge; there were flower pots on the left and a satellite dish on the right.

Jim managed to get the rig backed in, but there wasn't enough room up front to straighten out the truck.

Jim decided to drive around the block and try to make the turn into the site from the back, like a normal pull-thru. The turn was tight, but he did it!

Jim and Chris Guld's Gulfstream "Super C" is right next to us.

The park has well over 200 sites. The main clubhouse has some pool tables, and there is a second clubhouse on the other end of the park with an exercise room and TV lounge.

I'm thinking that on Friday, while all the Black Friday shoppers are clogging the highways, we'll stay in and I'll get in some pool time.

After a walk around the park with the Guld's, I made us dinner and we caught up with blogs, emails and watched TV. It should be a fun eight days here.

National Police Hall of Fame and Museum

2011-11-22T15:53:00.001-06:00

(Titusville, FL) Hi 76 Low 67 -- Dee took a day off from blog writing today and turned it over to me. After our morning routine of checking the news and emails we headed out for an active day. And what a beautiful day it was. I must say the weather is wonderful here, sunny and high 70's to around 80. Perfect Florida weather!

First, here's a few more photos of our park. We both really like it here, and we may check into the staying here for the winter next year. We'll stop at the office and find out the cost tomorrow.

Here's our site.

The pool area.

It's so pretty here.

We drove east from our park about two miles, turned south on U.S. 1 and took a leisurely drive through Titusville and on south through Cocoa. We were on a mission to photograph the hospital in Rockledge where our younger son was born. We'll email the photos to him, he should get a kick out of that.

U.S. 1 skirts the Indian River, which separates the Florida mainland from Cape Canaveral. A familiar sight when looking across the river is the NASA vehicle assembly building, where the space shuttle was assembled before it was transported to the launch pad. It's one of the largest buildings in the world by volume, and you can see it from miles away. Here it is from a normal perspective.

And here it is zoomed in with my telephoto lens.

On the way back north we stopped at the National Police Hall of Fame and Museum in Titusville. Nick Russell, one of the bloggers we both read regularly, wrote recently about his visit there and it really looked like a neat place to see.

The lobby area is full of police cars and motorcycles from years past.

The museum has many exhibits. Some of the things you can see are: memorabilia from the wild west (guns, wanted posters, badges), depression-era gangsters and mobsters (Al Capone, John Dillinger, etc.), and serial killers. Many firearms of all types, including home-made guns and weapons. Information about counterfeiting, crime scene analysis, and drug detection. Here some photos:

I had never heard of a tramp chair. I'll let you read about it. (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Of course, I had to try it out. The whole front is like a big door and closes against you. I couldn't imagine spending a night in that thing!

Look who's in the gas chamber... Dee, what did you do!

Well, since we both had our "sentences" carried out, the electric chair remained empty.

There was even a working guillotine. The sign said the blade was locked, but it also advised against putting your head in it for a photo. Didn't have to tell us twice! (It also said don't touch the blade, but I did... it's sharp!) I like the basket to catch the head.

While we're on the subject of death penalties, I got the biggest kick out of this "death sentence" written by the famous Judge Roy Bean back in 1881. He was quite the wordsmith. How about that fourth paragraph!

One way to start a lively conversation among fifth wheel owners is to ask what brand of truck is best. For all you Ford owners, you'll enjoy this. It's an endorsement of Ford by none other than Clyde Barrow, of "Bonnie and Clyde" fame.

A touching 9/11 memorial included a small collection of debris from the twin towers.

We really enjoyed our visit to the National Police Hall of Fame and Museum. We've had a little fun describing some of the things we saw, but we don't want to forget that the facility is also a monument to those who serve and protect. And the exhibit areas encircled the Law Enforcement Memorial, which is dedicated to those who lost their lives while protecting the peace. To any of our readers who are in, or have been in law enforcement, we salute you!

Tomorrow we're on the road again, heading farther south. This is a great life!

P.S. Sorry for the funky color scheme on part of the above text. We had a technology problem with the update and had to copy and paste some of it from an e-mail backup copy of the blog.

Moving on South

2011-11-21T17:37:00.001-06:00

(Titusville/Mims, Fl) Hi 80 Lo 67 -- It was a very nice day to move south. A cargo ship left the port this morning while we were getting ready to leave, as if to say goodbye. I hated leaving, but we'll be back. It just may be awhile.

We took our time this morning and didn't get on the road till almost 11:00, since it was only about 140 miles down I-95 to the Titusville area. The trip was routine and rather boring, except we saw a few NASCAR haulers and souvenir trucks heading north from yesterday's race at Homestead.

We were stationed at nearby Patrick AFB for four years in the 70's, so we're familiar with the area. We're looking forward to getting out tomorrow and seeing how the area has changed over the years. Our youngest son Rick was born at Rockledge, about 20 miles south of here, so we're going to get some photos for him of the hospital he was born in.

We arrived at Seasons in the Sun RV Resort about 1:30. It's a beautiful park! We have full concrete pads, full hookups (50amp electric, water and sewer), and cable TV if we wanted it (but Jim got our satellite dish up and running). There's lots of room between the sites, and there's a pool, spa, and lots of activities if we were going to be here awhile. But we're here for only two nights.

The clubhouse. There's a pool and spa behind the building.

This view is from the front of our site. Our kind of park... roomy and wide open!

The regular price here is $35.00 per night, but we got the Passport America rate of $17.50, which is a real bargain! However, our total for two nights came out to just under $45.00. Turns out they add a $3 per night "electricity" fee on top of the regular rate. That brings it to about $20.50 per night (plus tax). Still a bargain, but a little deceiving. We also had to pay cash which a first for us.

We decided to eat out tonight and we were both hungry for pizza. Our Garmin GPS found us a place down at the next exit called Kelsey's Pizzeria. It sure was good! We love it when we find a good independent pizza place. The pies are usually so much better than Pizza Hut and Dominoes and all the other chains. After stuffing our selves, and bringing some leftover slices home, we settled in for some relaxation, TV and chatting.

Last Day in Mayport

2011-11-20T16:46:00.001-06:00

(Naval Station Mayport, Jacksonville, FL) Hi 75 Lo 59 -- A gorgeous day, and we have to say goodbye tomorrow morning. We both love this place and it may be awhile before we get back again. We've been on the road almost two years and we've come here twice a year.

There was a pancake breakfast at the clubhouse this morning. It was very good, and several people came over from Osprey Park, the other (long term) RV park here at Mayport.

I spent some lazy time in the RV on the computer while the day warmed up. Jim stayed in to watch the Miami Dolphins game while I walked down to the beach for the last time. It was such a great day and I'm going to miss walking on the beach. I'm hoping to walk at least a mile a day this winter. I do feel better when I walk regularly. I use an app called Runkeeper on my Droid smartphone, which calculates the distance and time of my walks.

The cacti is in bloom.

It was very quiet on the river today. This was the only ship I saw. It's a seagoing barge, and for some reason it went in and out a couple of times today.

The salt spray was bad. I'm glad we didn't wash the RV this week, it would have been covered again in salt. We'll do that when we get settled.

When I got back from my walk there was a lot of emergency vehicles around the clubhouse. It seems a woman had a medical problem of some kind and was taken to the hospital. This afternoon, Jim left to fill his truck with diesel, and moments after he left I heard a gun shot. I thought at first it was it was a blown tire, but looked out the window to see a couple of military police cars and an animal control car. A rabid raccoon was outside our neighbor's motor home. It was having fits and foaming at the mouth, so they shot it. Who says there's no excitement in RV parks? :)

I walked around the park with some neighbors and watched the dolphins before getting dinner. We watched the NASCAR race, which stretched into the evening due to a rain delay.

Meeting New People

2011-11-19T14:42:00.001-06:00

(Naval Station Mayport, Jacksonville, FL) Hi 73 Lo 60 -- The winds died down last night so we had a very comfortable night sleeping. The clubhouse had a craft sale this morning at the clubhouse. They also have an area where you can take your "junk" to get rid of it, either by trying to sell it or just give it away. We have two chairs around our dining table. We also have two extra chairs that fold flat and we store them under the bed. We've never needed two chairs around the table because I turn my recliner toward the table when we eat our meals. So we took one of the chairs over to see if we could give it away, and we did. That gives us more room around the table. And if we have company all we need to do is dig one of the folding chairs our from under the bed.

I walked down to the beach. It changes so much from day to day. Since we've had high winds the sand is higher along the rocks and there's more sea life along the beach. People were picking up a lot of shells, and the fishing seemed good. There were several fish in buckets around the rocks where people were fishing.

Nice view from the rocks.

I talked to a guy while walking the beach that travels the world. He just got back from Hong Kong. He leaves for Thailand in a couple days and is going on a cruise next mongh. It was very interesting to hear where he's been and what he's found interesting in the places he's visited. His favorite place is Australia.

A couple that just came in last night are trying to decide if they want to go full time. They've been in an RV for short trips for several years. The fifth wheel they have now is too small for full time use, so they were interested in seeing ours. I talked to them for at least an hour. I love meeting people at this base. They're so friendly.

I got back to the RV to get some lunch, then we were off to get Jim some shoes. He likes New Balance shoes, but he hasn't been able to find find the model he likes in his size at the PX. He found a New Balance store about twelve miles away, so we went there and they had what he's looking for. He's now a happy "camper" with his new shoes.

When we got back Jim went on a long walk to try out his new shoes, and I stayed in and played games. We have a faster internet connection here so I can finally play games on the computer. So now Words with Friends, Bejeweled, and Gardens of Time are back in my daily routine. We're so happy in our piece of paradise.

It's been a while since I've thanked those of you who regularly leave comments. Sometimes it's hard to keep the blog interesting, so it's good to know people are still reading. Thank you!

Windy Day

2011-11-18T15:59:00.001-06:00

(Mayport Naval Station, Jacksonville, FL) Hi 62 Lo 54 -- It was windy all night and we rocked and rolled, but not nearly as bad as in Beaufort, NC a couple of weeks ago. The wind continued all day today, and with the temperature in the low 60's it was just not a pleasant day.

I spent the morning on the PC. It's amazing how fast the time goes when you're surfing the web. For lunch we went to our favorite local seafood restaurant, Safe Harbor Seafood Market. They have the best seafood around, and also have a fresh fish market on-site. I bought several types of fish fillets for the freezer.

Due to today's high winds the local shrimp boats never left the docks.

After lunch we came home and stayed in the rest of the day. We watched the movie "Sherlock Holmes" on our DVR. Very entertaining and well made. It's amazing how modern movies depict the time periods they're set in. This one was London in the 1800's, and it looked very realistic. The sequel will be in theaters soon so we'll probably go see it on one of our movie days.

It looks like this wind may last another night, then better weather should be here for the weekend.

Beach Time

2011-11-17T16:41:00.001-06:00

(Mayport Naval Station, Jacksonville, FL) Hi 77 Lo 66 -- The storms that came through our area last night weren't as bad as we thought they'd be. The system had some tornadoes as it went through the south, but it lost a lot of its punch by the time it got to us, thank goodness.

It turned into a nice warm, clear day by mid-morning, although a little windy. But it was a nice day to spend some time on the beach.

It was a busy day on the St. John's River. Several Navy ships came in and out of port.

Neither of us did very much today. The RV repair guy we met yesterday came about 5:00 to re-seal some spots on the roof and around the sides. He ended up having to use a flashlight before he finished up. Jim kept a close eye on him and he's very satisfied with the work he did.

One final ship picture... This Carnival ship leaves the Jax port once a week. You can actually hear the caribbean music on board as it floats by. Sure does look like fun!

Visiting Friends

2011-11-16T18:12:00.001-06:00

(Mayport Naval Station, Jacksonville, FL) Hi 83 Lo 68 -- It was foggy when we got up, and it started getting very humid so we turned on the air conditioner to cool things down.

The park events calendar had a social scheduled for this morning, which included a talk titled "Deck Hands". We thought it may have something to do with life on a Navy ship or something like that. But it ended up being a sales pitch for a local RV maintenance company that specializes in roof and seal maintenance. It was good, though, because Jim has been wanting to have our roof inspected professionally. The guy came by our rig and gave it a close going over, with Jim looking over his shoulder. The great news is our roof and all the side areas with caulking are in overall good shape. He did point out a few places that need attention where the caulking was deteriorating or there were gaps in the sealing. His rates were pretty good so we made an appointment for him to come back to make the repairs before we leave on Monday. It was a good learning experience for Jim as he now knows what to look for.

At noon we left to go to pick up Bill and Diane. They're full timers we met last year at Goshen, IN. They're at Kathryn Abbey Hanna Park, just a few miles from us, in their Dutch Star motorhome. It was so good to see them again and spend some time catching up.

Bill and Diane

We went to Mambo's for lunch. It's a Cuban restaurant in nearby Atlantic Beach. We both had "Cubans," Jim's a traditional sandwich and mine a wrap. They're made with pork, ham, cheese, pickles, and a special mustard. It was our first time trying Cuban food, and it was excellent!

Cuban wrap.

Cuban sandwich.

We went back to their motorhome for more visiting, then left and went grocery shopping. I'm hoping this will be the last time we get groceries till we get to our winter site in Avon Park.

We didn't see much ship traffic on the St. John's River today.

This one was an ocean-going barge being pushed and pulled by tugs.

This one has been in the river for a couple weeks. Our neighbors told us it's dredging the inlet. It leaves once in a while to dump it's load of bottom sand somewhere, then comes back for more dredging.

We were corrected in the comments section that the Navy ship in the photo on last night's blog is a Ticonderoga Class Cruiser, not a destroyer as we mistakenly said. Thanks for the correction. We didn't see many ships in our Air Force life. :)

Relaxing Watching the Ships

2011-11-15T15:42:00.001-06:00

(Mayport Naval Station, Jacksonville, FL) Hi 75 Lo 65 -- I put away the little heater in the bedroom. Hopefully we're not going to need it for awhile.

It was cloudy this morning with off and on drizzle, but by noon it was really nice with blue skies and a cool breeze. We didn't do anything at all today except to go out to get some milk. My sister has been working all day making arrangements to get mom from North Carolina to her place in Missouri. She did a fantastic job. She's flying to Raleigh on November 30th to get her. Movers will pack her things that morning and Doris and Mom will board the return flight that afternoon. Great job Sis!

When we got here last night we met our neighbors Nicki and Larry from Buffalo, NY. We love it when we get to stay at a military base. The people are so friendly and outgoing, mainly because we all have something in common, our military service.

We kept our eyes peeled today for ships coming in and out. There wasn't much traffic, but this destroyer came by this afternoon. (Click on the pictures to enlarge)

There's a lot of helicopter traffic around here.

There's some rocks to sit on and watch the action. There's also a lot of fishing from these rocks.

Our site

Our view looking from the front of our rig.

What a great relaxing place! As I write this I can hear the bugle call of Retreat in the distance to signal the end of the workday for our U.S. Navy sailors. Life is good!

Back to Our Favorite Park

2011-11-14T18:47:00.001-06:00

(Mayport Naval Station, FL) Hi 80 Lo 52 -- I got up earlier than normal, so we left Parris Island earlier then we had planned. It was another great moving day weather-wise. We had a great trip south except for one wrong turn. Jim did a great job maneuvering the RV around cars and posts to get back to the proper route. We saw a sign for Golden Corral at an upcoming exit. We knew that veterans got to eat free today for Veterans Day, so we exited I-95 and found a place to park at a nearby shopping center parking lot. When we got to the cashier, military ID cards in hand, we found out that the free meals are only available 5-7 pm this evening. Oh well, can't win them all. We did enjoy our buffet lunch though.

We arrived in the Jacksonville, Fl area around 2:30. Those who have been following our blog know we love Mayport Naval Station. But on the way there is a BIG BRIDGE. I didn't dig holes in the steering wheel with my fingernails this time, but I still wasn't at ease.

Going up

Going down. It's just not the same in pictures. I always white knuckle it at this point.

We got a front row site facing the water like we did the last couple times we've been here. We've been here three times before, so I'll try not to take too many pictures of ships this time. :)

But I can't resist this one. It was leaving port this evening.

It's the beginning of a wonderful week here on the St. John's river, where civilian ships from the Jacksonville port share the same channel with Navy ships. It's amazing.

We're looking forward to watching the young sailors run by our site on their fitness runs. And we're also looking forward to spending time on the nearby beach.

Change of Plans for Mom

2011-11-13T15:40:00.001-06:00

(Parris Island, SC) Hi 74 Lo 46 -- A wonderful day for doing nothing.

I've been asked about mom, so I thought I'd bring everyone up to date. After discussing the matter with my sister and her husband we decided it's time to move mom to Missouri to be with them. Everyone was in agreement (including Mom) that we'd try an assisted living home in NC, the state that she loves. But it's been a difficult adjustment for her emotionally. She needs to be closer to family, and my sister has room for her. We're planning to move her sometime in December. We'll keep you posted.

Our Verizon internet connection was brutally slow today so we didn't do a whole lot of computer work. I walked to Elliott's Beach down the road from the campground and sat on a swing for awhile, then came back to watch the NASCAR race. There's only one more race for this year after today. We know winter is coming when the racing season is over.

Tomorrow we move to Pelican's Roost RV Park at Mayport Navy Base, FL, our very favorite campground. And back to our favorite state, Florida (especially in the winter!).