Monday, November 12, 2012 to Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Monday, November 12, we moved the motorhome from Bushnell, FL to Port Orange, FL on the East Coast.  We are parked in Daytona Beach RV Resort.  (Last January, we went to the Tampa RV Super Show where we picked up a coupon for a month at a Carefree Resort for $200 plus electric.  The sites are not big, but the price is right).  Larry & Carolyn Jarvis are our next door neighbors for the month.  We started of right with an afternoon beer, and dinner together.

Tuesday, Marilyn and I walked the campground – up, down and around for about 3 miles in the morning. I worked on the chapter 57 membership.  Then we drove to Regions bank so Larry J could make a chapter 57 deposit.  We went for a ride up A1A with a stop at WalMart.  We were able to sit out for Happy Hour because the weather was so nice.

Wednesday, the 14th, Marilyn and I walked another 3 miles in the AM (Clyde Morris Blvd has nice sidewalks, and long blocks between lights).  Larry and Larry got the books caught up for chapter 57, and we grilled pork chops for dinner.

Thursday, the 15th.  Another 3 mile walk.  The weather has turned cool, and misty.  I started working on new websites for the chapters – free sites at Weebly.com, similar to Cindy Devonshire’s – she is the one who suggested Weebly to me.  For dinner, we went to Martin’s Restaurant & Lounge at 2000 South Oceanshore Blvd in Flagler Beach for some of the best prime rib available anywhere.  The regular cut is thick and so big that the 4 of us each brought half home.  Of course we didn’t bring any of the salad, baked potato or veggies home with us.  We plan a return trip before our month at Daytona Beach is over.

Friday the 16th through Sunday the 18th.  The weather continued cool, but we still were able to walk our 3 miles.  Marilyn and Carolyn shopped the area’s thrift stores.  Larry & Larry started computer shopping, and Larry Jarvis bought a replacement for his old XP.  We found an 17 inch HP with Windows 8, 4g of ram, and a 500g hard drive in the right price range.  Of course we both have to learn to use Win 8 on his machine.

Monday, the 19th.  More cool and misty weather – not the beach weather we ordered.  Worked on setting up Larry’s computer.  Marilyn wrapped xmas gifts so we can get them in the mail.  I managed to get Larry’s old printer to work with Win 8.  In the afternoon, we toured the Daytona Beach chocolate factory – wonderful samples.

Tuesday the 20th.  I managed to load MS Office 2003 on Larry’s new computer.  In the afternoon, Healthy Tanks of Titusville, FL came to give our Phaeton a colonoscopy.  Stuff came out, and the monitor lights work again.  We had received a certificate at last year’s SKP ACRE fir the service.  They do a nice job, and even flushed our hot waster tank.  It was time for another dinner out, so, after a winey happy hour, we went to Manny’s Pizza House in Daytona Beach because we had coupons.  The lasagna and spaghetti were delicious, and Marilyn and I have leftovers for Wednesday night.  After dinner we shopped at Target.

Wednesday, the 21st.  We had to get up early and drive back to Tavares, FL for my 10:30 sleep doctor appointment – no problems – see you next fall.  Then we drove to Southeast Power Systems in Orlando.  Our US Gear Auxiliary Brake System in the Jeep had quit working in early October when we were in Blairsville, GA.  It was an electrical power unit – $200 plus installation in just a few minutes.  Then we drove back to Daytona Beach.  Definitely a Manhattan night.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

We have been very busy since I last wrote on October 29th.

On Tuesday, the 30th, we walked in the morning, then went to the dentist for cleaning after lunch.  Then, Marilyn got a Publix fix.  The place where we buy and ship oranges in Sumterville was not open for the season yet.

Wednesday, the 31st, we walked after breakfast.  Our friends, Terry & Phil Tobin arrived and we had a good visit.  After dinner, we went to the clubhouse for BYO wine and cheese to welcome the change in staff at Sumter Oaks.

Thursday, the 1st of November, was the first Florida Escapees lunch at the Golden Corral in Clermont, FL.  We had a good crowd so we had plenty of friends to visit with.  Marilyn’s cousin, Paul, was there with his wife, Peg.  Terry and Phil rode with us.  Back in Bushnell, we picked up our mail – it included a jury summons for Larry in Crestview, FL (our mail service location).  The summons was for 11/26, so I was able to defer it until the 10th of December.  We will only have to cut our month in Daytona by 4 days to get out to Crestview which is near Pensacola.

Friday, the 2nd, we had to get up early in order to get to our Doctor’s by 9am in Eustis, FL.  He said we are still basically healthy.  Still have to wait for the blood test results.  After lunch (finally got a Chick-fil-A fix), we got to go back near our old residence in Mid-Florida-Lakes to visit our old neighbors – Ray and Barbara Handshaw.  It is always wonderful to visit them.

Saturday, the 3rd, we worked around the house in the morning.  After lunch, we drove to the Villages to visit with Pete and Mitzi Hull.  We also made stops at Sam’s Club, ABC Liquors and Home Depot.  Pete grilled chicken and potatoes for dinner, and after dinner they brought out some Pumpkin Pie Cream Liqueur.  It was so good, that Tuesday, we bought two bottles for ourselves.

Sunday, the 4th, we went to visit with Charles and Nancy Elkins.  We had a late lunch at Grillsmiths.  They, and Marilyn each had a salmon filet, while I had a delicious crab and shrimp cake burger. 

Monday, the 5th, I washed the Jeep and motorhome.  We had a social hour with Wallace and Wanda, us and the Jarvis’s.  Marilyn was too tired to cook, so we, along with Larry and Carolyn went to Coyote Rojo for delicious Mexican food.

Tuesday, the 6th, up early so we could once again drive to Eustis, FL.  This time we had blood drawn for blood tests.  Then Marilyn had a hair cut, we did some shopping, put some different flowers in the sconce at Marilyn’s parents’ crypt.  Up to the Villages for an early dinner with Pete and Mitzi at one of the county clubs.  After dinner we all went to the Savannah Center for a Phil Dirt & The Dozers concert.  They put on a wonderful show of 50’s and 60’s music.  After the show, we went back to Hull’s for toasted almonds (3/4 cup of Kahlua, 1/2 cup of Amoretto, and 2 cups of half and half cream).

Wednesday, the 7th, we moved  the house to Paradise Oaks RV Resort in Bushnell, FL for the Escapees Chapter 57 Fall Rally.  After our initial social hour, we went to Howie’s for dinner with Larry & Carolyn.  Wednesday was delicious all you can eat spaghetti.

Thursday, the 8th, was actually the first day of the rally.  Marilyn and I got to start the day by driving to Tavares, FL to have our eyes checked.  We are both getting new bifocal glasses.  I decided to try just the bifocals for easier reading, and will keep my progressives for driving, etc.  Marilyn has enjoyed the bifocals that she got last year.  We were back to Bushnell for lunch, after which I helped with registration, and Marilyn set up the first time attendee’s adoptions.

Friday and Saturday, the 9th and 10th were normal rally days which are always fun.  We did have a CARE Silent Auction.    This was followed by a Hillbilly Costume Contest. 

Sunday, the 11th.  We, along with a large group of Chapter 57 rally attendees,  once again attended the Veteran’s Day Ceremony a the Florida National Cemetery at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 2012.  It was another very moving ceremony.  Here is a collage of attendees.    When asked by the Keynote Speaker, we even had a Medal of Honor recipient stand up to be recognized.  After the ceremony, we all gathered a a park for a picnic of hotdogs, hamburgers and fixings.  I also made a collage of my pictures at the picnic. 

Monday, October 29, 2012

Blog posts may be few and far between for the next few weeks.  Yesterday, we left Jekyll Island, GA, and drove to Sumter Oaks RV Park in Bushnell, FL.  We will be here until the 8th of November, when we move to Paradise Oaks in Bushnell for the Chapter 57 rally.  The trip down was uneventful.  The wind was a little gusty, but manageable.  We arrived at Sumter Oaks in time for the Escapees 4:00 Ice Cream Social (they have ice cream for you to purchase at a dollar per scoop).  Today, we drove to Winn Dixie, our storage unit, and WalMart.  We brought the satellite dish back from the storage unit, and now can watch TV, including the Orlando local stations.

That is all of the excitement for now.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

I was chastised this evening after dinner by Rich Coppens for not having written a blog since the 11th.  The Georgia Tara Travelers (Escapees Chapter 16) lasted from the 11th to the 14th.  We had 5 RVs and a total of 11 people.  It was a nice group.  We had happy hours at 4pm; a delicious lasagna dinner prepared by one of our members; a business meeting on Friday morning; a tour of the Misty Mountain Model Railroad; dinner at Steve’s Steakhouse; the Blairsville Sorghum Festival on Saturday; a fabulous potluck dinner; and finally Hitches and Hugs after a continental breakfast on Sunday morning.

Sunday afternoon we went out to dinner with Mike Berkman.

On Monday, the 15th, we left Blairsville and drove to Columbus, GA via Rome and US 27.  It was the start of a wonderful week with our son, Doug.  He took us out to dinner several times with his girlfriend.  On Saturday, the 20th, Doug, Marilyn and I went to Stone Mountain GA for the Highland Games. They had 28 pipe and drum bands playing on the field at once during the opening ceremonies.

On Monday morning, we left Columbus and drove to the Jekyll Island Campground.  Jekyll Island is one of those places where the super-rich from the beginning of the last century had their summer homes.  Wallace Lewis and several of his buddies organized a week of shrimping, and invited us to join in.  Tuesday evening we all went shrimping, and then gathered for a potluck dinner.  Marilyn was taking pictures with my phone, and had to take one of this pelican.  This morning (Wednesday) some made it back to the beach to start shrimping at 6:30am.  I didn’t make it until about 8am.  After de-heading the shrimp, they were put in plastic storage bags.  Then, this evening it was time to have a shrimp boil.  Here is Bennitt stirring the pot.    Now it is time to lay out the spread, and eat. 

Thursday, October 11, 2012

My last post was dated incorrectly.  It said Wednesday, October 12 and of course that can not be since the 12th is tomorrow – Friday.  As it turned out, the date should have been Wednesday the 3rd.  We had left Red Bay, and were spending the night in Fort Payne, AL.

We left Fort Payne on the 4th, and drove to Etowah River Campground, a Passport America park, near Dahlonega, GA for 5 nights.    This park should never be compared to a resort.  The entrance road, and interior roads are very narrow, dirt, and the Top of the World Highway was smooth compared to these.  The park did have good 50amp service, good water and sewer, but had too many barking dogs.  It was good that we did not spend much time there except to sleep – won’t go back.

Friday the 5th we drove the Jeep to Cumming, GA to visit Pete and Mitzi Hull, and after Margaritas at La Cazuela, we spent the night and continued our visit most of Saturday.

Sunday the 7th in the afternoon, we drove the Jeep to Young Harris, GA to visit Mike Berkman, one of the ushers at our wedding.  Then on Monday, we did our WalMart shopping for the rally.

Tuesday, the 9th,, we finally left Etowah River CG and drove US 19 up to Blairsville, GA to get ready for the Escapees Chapter 16 rally.  Wednesday, the 11th, we did some more shopping.  The rally registrations started out with 9 rigs, and then they started to cancel.  Three have dropped out due to health reasons, which means we have purchased too much food.  Oh well it will still be fun to visit friends.  We did have a good happy hour last night with Dick and Elaine Marshall.

Wednesday, October 12, 2012

Yesterday. we spent our time trying to find out if our extended warranty had approved the work on our slide and water pump.  Finally, after lunch, Cassandra said all had been approved, so we had to track down Pete to find out when we would return to a bay for the repairs.  He said he thought we would be back in about 7 in the morning.  As we were getting ready for our 4pm social at Brenda and Dave Neil’s, Pete said we would be going into Bay 32 instead of returning to Bay 31.  I said it did not matter to us.

Our 4pm social at Brenda and Dave’s included several people.  Bennett and Bea Mason, Marty and Peggy McCauley, Gene and Annette Stout, and Eddy (Bea and Bennett’s neighbor) all gathered under Dave and Brenda’s awning. Brenda said we would not need to have dinner after her h’orderves, and she was right.  We had cheese and crackers, deviled eggs, sandwiches, grapes, pie, etc. 

Marilyn and I went to bed early, because we had to get up at 5:30am to move the motorhome to the bay at 6:45.  We hit Subway for breakfast again.  Here is a picture of our slide while it was being worked on (out and jacked up). 

This morning, they replaced the slide motor, slide shafts, idler shafts, and the water pump.  We tested the slide before we backed out of the bay.  Next, we went back in to site 53 to dump gray, add fresh water and have lunch.  When we tested the water pump, it would not shut off.  We finally ran some water from each faucet, and found out that there must have been air in the lines, because the pump has not run every 10 minutes like it did before replacement.  The best part of this trip to Red Bay was that our extended warranty paid 3/4 of our $1200 bill.  Of course we did spend more money in Red Bay including the 4 new tires on the Jeep, and the oil & lube job on the motorhome.

We left Red Bay around 1:00pm and drove until about 4pm.  We have stopped to spend the night at WalMart in Fort Payne, AL. 

As another friend said, We Are Free (of Red Bay) until we make our next pilgrimage. 

Monday, October 1, 2012

Saturday, we did get to go to the Rattlesnake Saloon with Brenda and Dave Neil.  The saloon is only open Thursday through Sunday during this time of the year.  You get to drive towards Tuscumbia, AL further out into the middle of no-where.  After getting out in their parking lot, you get to ride in the back of their pickup truck down a narrow steep windy trail to the restaurant (if you can call it that).  Here is a picture of people getting out of the truck. 

The Rattlesnake Saloon has outdoor seating under a cave-like area. 

When we arrived, there were no empty tables in the outdoor area, so we went inside. 

After returning to the motorhome, we received a phone call from Camp Red Bay’s campground office stating that we should go to Bay 31, Monday morning at 6:45am to have our motorhome repaired.

Sunday, the 30th, we worked around the motorhome after our walk.  We also went to the Dollar Store for some birthday cards, and Piggly Wiggly for some groceries.

This morning, Monday the 1st of October, I set the alarm for 5:30am, and we went to Bay 31 at 6:45.  After leaving the motorhome, we went to Subway for breakfast.  Most of the problems were fixed quickly, however, we were sent back to our campground site around 9:30.  They said due to cost they had to contact our extended warranty, and wait for permission to do the work, replacing the driver’s side slide motor, tow slide shafts and the water pump.  We would rather continue living at Camp Red Bay if our extended warranty will pay for most of our bill.  We still would like to get out by the end of the week.  I will go back in the morning to check with Billy for where we are in line.