@017-06-28 Out of Florida, and out of Alabama

We left Sumter Oaks oon the 19th, and spent the night at the Perry FL Elks. Their 50 amp plug did not work, so we plugged into 30amp power. The following morning, we changed our plans, and headed to Red Bay. A few miles south of Montgomery, our serpentine belt broke, so our first motorhome tow took us to Thompson CAT in Montgomery. Repairs were swift, and we were on our way again in the morning, arriving in Red Bay late Friday afternoon (too late to see Norris for scheduling.)

Sunday, we drove out to the Coon Dog Cemetery. It looked very nice with flowers and US flags on every grave.

Monday morning, about 6:10AM, we got a call to be in bay 32 to have the roof re-caulked. That job done, but we decided that we needed to have the driver’s side jack replaced. At least it was still in the 2 year warranty. But we were unable to get into another bay on Monday.

Tuesday, we got up early, but no call. At ten, we took the house to Bay Diesel for engine and chassis service. After lunch, we went to Bay 42 to see if we were going to get in. They said come on. They replaced the jack, an air valve, and the sway bar grommets. Done, so we drove out to Custom R.V. Inc. to get get the starter batteries so they would charge on shore power. That plus 2 new starter batteries plus a couple of other items.

Finished, and we left Red Bay at 2:10PM. We are spending the night at the mTexas T TV Park in Cornersville, TN.

We are back on the road.

Hugs, Larry & Marilyn

2017-06-21

 

Yesterday, we drove from the Perry FL Elks to Falling Waters State Park in Chipley Florida. It rained all day and night due to tropical storm Cindy.

 

Today, the rain let up after lunch, so we went to see the Falls, and then shopping at WalMart.  The falls are the highest in Florida, dropping 73 feet into a sink hole. All of the rain provided a lot of water flowing over the falls.

 

 

Hugs, ‘til later.

2017-06-19 On the road again

We are getting a late start on travels due to medical problems, but we are rolling. We left Sumter Oaks this morning around 10:30am, and drove to Ocala, FL where Cummins Southeast Onan serviced our generator.After lunch we drove to the Elks Club in Perry, FL for the night.

 

We have about a week to kill before our appointments in Red Bay, AL with Bay Diesel and with Brannon.

 

Leaving there we go to New York to visit Carolyn Jarvis for the 4th of July, followed by visits with my family in Oswego, NY; the Gifford's in Saratoga Springs; then to Burlington, and finally to West Town,NY before heading back to FL in September.

 

Hugs, ‘til later.

2017-04-01 Long time since Wrote

 

It has been a long time since I wrote a blog, and it will be late June before I write another one. All will be explained in this blog.

It all began last spring when my PSA test went to 4.2 and my VA primary care doctor said I needed a biopsy. The initial urology date was scheduled in May where I was told that i needed a biopsy since i had been in Vietnam where \\=-][gent Orange had been sprayed. Biopsy after Labor Day showed low-moderate cancer.

The rest of the fall was filled with other doctors including knee replacement on Halloween, followed by physical therapy which finished in late December. I forgot to mention that we bought a 2016 Lincoln MKX in September, and were glad that we had. The front doors on the MKX are larger than the ones on our 2008 Jeep Liberty, which helped my new knee. We also visited friends in Florida, and our Escapees friends at Sumter Oaks.

Winter brought visits to my VA urologist followed by a spring visit to my oncologist to decide on, and to schedule treatment. Forty-five radiation treatments at the Tampa VA (46 miles one way) start on April 11th. and last until June 16th.

My knee has healed fine. So I had no problem walking around Busch Gardens to attend their Real Music Series concerts.

Hitch itch is getting bad. We have not stayed in any other campground so long since we began living fulltime in our motorhome. We arrived end of August before our snowbird friends migrated to FL, and we are stuck in FL 2.5 months after they all leave. However, Marilyn and I decided I should have these treatments now instead of waiting to see if it grows.

Hugs, and I will type more this summer after we leave FL.

Merry Christmas

Since I last blogged this summer, I thought using our Christmas would work as catchup. Merry Christmas 2016 Dear Friends and Family, 2016 has been quite a year for us. It started with a wonderful Family Christmas at Doug’s in Columbus, Georgia. Bev joined us with her boyfriend, Gene, and 2 dogs. This made for a full house, as Doug always had a couple of dogs. Luckily everyone got along. The rest of our winter and spring were busy with activities both here at our park (SO, Sumter Oaks) and with friends. We left FL in Mid-April to attend SKP-ACRE (an area RV rally in Sevierville, TN). Larry and Cindy traded jobs, so Larry is now treasurer – what else is new!!!). After leaving SKP-ACRE, we left the motorhome in Gaffney SC for some maintenance, drove to drove back to Doug’s to rent a U-Haul trailer to take some furniture to Bev’s in Trotwood, OH. That’s part of our big news – Doug moved to Williston, VT (near Burlington) where he is now a supervisor. After dropping off the furniture, we drove back to SC to pick up the motorhome so we could go back to FL for a doctor appointment. Leaving FL again, we drove to Red Bay, AL to have a new jack system installed, another one had broken in April. Now, our summer travels could begin. We left AL, and headed for Cape Cod, MA. We had a reservation for the month of June. Of course, as they say in RVing, getting there is half the fun. On the way, we stopped at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch in Hurricane Mills, TN. Next stop was a few days North of Knoxville, and a visit to Oak Ridge, TN and WWII’s Manhattan Project. We then drove to Pottsville, PA for a tour of Yuengling Brewery – the oldest family run brewery in the US. Memorial Day was spent with friends, Terri & Phil Tobin in Westtown, NY. Then on to Cape Cod with 1 mishap. The base plate that holds our tow bar to the Jeep came loose and pulled the bumper off the Jeep. This meant that Marilyn had to drive the Jeep, without front signal lights, from the NY/CT border to Cape Cod, while Larry drove the motorhome separately, Our month on Cape Cod was wonderful. We visited Provincetown, Martha’ Vineyard, Plimouth Plantation, Sandwich, and the Adams’ homes in Quincy, among other things. We had the Jeep fixed, ate lobster several times, and relaxed. Our campground was just across the street from the ocean, so Marilyn enjoyed walking on the beach. Next stop was Saratoga Springs, NY, to help Marilyn’s cousin Paul celebrate his 90th birthday. Then we drove to the Burlington, VT area to visit Doug and attend our Escapees RV Club’s National Rally – Escapade. We were anxious to see Doug’s new apartment. It is a brand new, 3rd floor apartment with a beautiful view. It has an underground parking space, and is only about 1 mile from his work, both of which will be great this winter. We attended the Escapade, and announced the door prize winners again. It was nice because we got to stay a few extra days, and spend more time with Doug. W even went to the Stowe, VT beer Festival. Off to Maine next for another RV Rally – Lobsterfest. Need we say more – good food, great friends and lots of fun! Now it was time to start South, as Larry had a VA Dr appointment right after Labor Day. Of course, there were detours along the way. We spent a couple more nights with Doug, followed by a weekend with Larry’s sisters and family in Oswego, NY; from there it was on to North Tonawanda, NY to visit friends, Larry & Carolyn Jarvis, followed by an overnight stop to visit Bryan & Jane Rose. Our last westward stop was in Trotwood, OH to see Bev and Gene. It was a nice but stressful visit because Gene was in the hospital with severe abdominal pain, which required surgery (he is fine now. Once we got back to FL, the DR rounds started. We had the usual stuff – physicals, dentist, eyes, etc. plus VA and Ortho appointments. Larry had a full right knee replacement on 10/31, spent one night in the hospital, and was sent home to home health care, and home physical therapy. He Is doing well as of Thanksgiving, but still has several weeks of outpatient therapy. We spent Thanksgiving with Marilyn’s cousins, Paul and Peg, and other relatives and friends. It was delicious as always. We have no special plans for Christmas, as we do not go north in winter. So we will join in the activities here at Sumter Oaks for Christmas and New Year’s. We hope this finds each and every one of you in good health while you enjoy this Holiday Season. We wish you all the very best now and throughout the New Year. A Very Merry Christmas to you all. Love, Marilyn and Larry

2016-08-05 Friday, Elks Lodge 371, Lewiston, Maine

This is a nice Elks Lodge site. They have one 30 amp electric site, and we were lucky to be the only RV here. WE arrived with empty waste tanks, and a full fresh water tank. There is room for boon docking. We will stay for 3 nights before moving to The Pumpkin Patch in Hermon ME for the Escapees Chapter 3 Lobster Fest rally.

During the Escapees National RV Rally (Escapade), Marilyn and I were responsible for giving out door prizes on Sunday, Monday and Wednesday nights. The early staff collected national and local door prizes. We collected the door prizes from the vendors selling their wares at the Escapade. Then we sorted the gifts into groups of approximately 20 prizes per night with values of %50 aor more. So we had 60 plus groups of 1 to 4 door prizes per group for fun half hours of door prizes. Once our jobs were taken care of, we shopped the vendor area, attended some seminars, and had fun meeting new and old friends. Here is Marilyn reading the rules for the drawings (note: Robert is in charge of pulling the tickets from the drum for Marilyn to announce the winners).. My job was to pick and describe the prizes.. This is a fun job, as people come up and say, I know you, you gave out door prizes but you didn’t call my name.

Even though Escapade was over, we still stayed to spend time with Doug.

We finally said goodbye to Burlington on Monday, August the 1st. We drove across Vermont into New Hampshire, AS we were leaving Vermont, we saw our first real Eastern US Moose on the side of the road. As we were driving into Gorham, NH, Marilyn received a phone call from Mary Olsen. She, Garry and Sarah were behind us. We pulled into a parking lot for hugs. Later, we arranged to take the Cog Railway to the top of Mount Washington the following day.. We all made it to the top of Mount Washington.. After getting to the top, it was not easy for me to climb down over the rocks.

On Thursday, the 4th, we moved to the Elks Lodge in Lewiston, ME, and today we shopped at LL Bean in Freeport, ME. Marilyn found a rain jacket, and I have new shoes.

Hugs, and Type at you later.       

2016-07-18 Shelburne Camping Area

My last blog was June 26, 2016 while we were still on Cape Cod. Since then we have done a little sightseeing, visiting friends and relatives, and moving to Vermont for the Escapees RV Club’s Escapade (national rally).

After leaving Cape Cod, we drove to Bellingham, MA for a week including the 4th of July. We also met Jack and Pat Mulhall for a late lunch at Jack’s Abby Brewery – great lunch and delicious beer. We also took the train in to Boston to tour the State House, and the old State House..

From Bellingham, we moved to Gansevoort, NY to spend time with Marilyn’s cousins (Gifford Family) and to support Paul at his Pre-90th Birthday celebration..

Then on Wednesday the 13th, we moved to the Shelburne Campground to visit our son Doug who moved to Burlington, VT in May. Yesterday, we took the scenic boat ride on Lake Champlain aboard the Ethan Allen III.. We saw the two Burlington Harbor lighthouses. . Burlington looks great from the water..

Wednesday we move to the Essex Junction Fairgrounds to start getting ready to give out door prizes.

Hugs, and type at you later.