Met an RV-Dreams Friend - Picked Up Truck

(Wauchula, FL) Hi 68 Lo 52 -  What a great day!  The first thing we both do when we get up is read the emails and blogs (and Jim reads his news feeds).  A while back I received an email from  Gail and Dan, an RV-Dreams couple that we met in Branson in 2008. Gail said they're coming to Wauchula for a few months and will be staying here in our park. This morning I got another email from her saying they moved in yesterday and she can see us from their front window.  For the new readers, RV-Dreams is a website, and informal "family," started by Howard and Linda Payne, a corporate couple who quit their high paying jobs, bought a fifth wheel, and hit the road full time back in 2005.  We've read their blog, RV-Dreams Journal, every day since 2007.  They've been very inspirational to us and a source of encouragement as we transitioned into the full time life.  We've been to two of their RV-Dreams Rallies, in 2008 in Branson, MO and 2010 in N. Myrtle Beach, SC.

I spent a couple of hours talking with Gail and Dan, catching up on what they did from the 2008 rally to now. They've been on the road for about three years and are in the process of fixing up their home to get it ready to sell. They live in their Class A Mandalay full time, and their house is empty.  It's great  to meet up with them again.  They will be here, parked about 200 feet from us until the end of March.  I'll get pictures tomorrow.

We picked up Jim's truck.  We were hoping at least some of it would be covered by the power train warranty, but no such luck. They found a slightly bent cross member under the front end, which they said put pressure on the transmission housing causing the seal to leak.  We know we didn't hit anything hard enough to cause the frame to bend, so it must have been that way when we bought the truck (used).  They assured us the bent part won't have any effect on the ride or handling (and it hasn't so far in over 20,000 miles).  So it was a big chunk of money going out for the first of the year. But it's all fixed and ready for our summer travels.

We played shuffleboard a couple hours.  The shuffleboard group is up to 16-20 people.  The regulars said soon there will be more players than the courts can accommodate, which means there will be "sit outs" for each game.

It sure is good to have Gail and Dan here, and we're looking forward to meeting other new friends as they arrive for the winter.  I'm a social butterfly and love to meet people, so this is the perfect life for me!  Tomorrow we're going to Arcadia, which is about 25 miles south of here. It's somewhere we haven't been yet, and it will be nice to go south for a change instead of north.