08-30-08 Saturday (Who Stole the Sausage?)

On today's Party Weekend Schedule was a gravy and biscuit breakfast that Jim wanted to attend. It was until 11am, we made it at 10am. There weren't may people there. Jim was a little disappointed that it wasn't sausage gravy but as he realized, it didn't say it would be.

On the way back to the coach we stopped off at Clay and Jack's. We sat for a few smokes, and toured their 18' tow-behind. Surprisingly spacious except for 2 large dog crates for the 4 Italian Greyhounds that took up the entire floor space in front of the couch. The bed was in a corner; they said it was hard to get in and out or even make it. The decor including woodtones that were used were very nice. I think they told us they paid 10,000 for it new. Not bad. With a kitchen and small bathroom, and dinette booth, it seemed to be adequate for the average person.

Jim chose to have one of those awake for 2 hours and nap for 3 hour days, so I ventured to the pool by myself. I hung out with Janet, (beautiful 52 year old woman in a small towable next to us) and her friend Chuck of Chuck and Tom who are on the other side of her. Apparently they are neighbors other than the campsite and come up here about every other weekend. As I was frying in the sun and pool, jello shots and punch were constantly pushed on everyone. How could I resist, afterall it was a pool party. The owners laid out many craft supplies for people to use on their hard hats. Mine was at the coach and I didn't bother. Jim and I had bought some supplies to decorate them but we never got around to it.

Dinner and then a poolside big screen movie night to watch "What Happens In Vegas" which was a good movie. After the movie, back to socializing and relaxing until 4am. It was a great day.

08-30-08 Friday (Let the partying begin)

Ahhhhh, a Friday. We started our day by planning out a shopping list and menu. Then, with a trip to Wal-Mart for the weeks groceries. I even texted Mike from Wal-Mart.

One of the owners stopped by for some chit-chat and gave out the Party Weekend Schedule of events. In hand, he had some plastic hard hats that were for us to decorate on Saturday with a competition following on Sunday.

The campground, although it isn't the nicest facility-wise is awesome with outgoing people. The owner's are very friendly and make sure the events they put together create interaction. Tonight is the Meet & Greet. There were about 30 people enjoying spiked punch and jello shots. Rich and Steve (friends from the night before) introduced us to Clay and Jack because they have 4 Italian Greyhounds that they bring with them. It was fun to compare doggy characteristics with them.

Later in the evening, when the Meet & Greet pretty much broke off, we had Clay and Jack over to the screen room. The screen room seems to be a big hit and with our spot lights and porch lights, everyone seems to know we're the big rig at the top of the hill. Clay and Jack have a 2006 18' tow behind that we later toured on Saturday.

08-28-08 Thursday (A Tale of 2 trees)

We departed Beaufort, SC and arrived at Canon, GA to "In The Woods", a themed campground. Of course, this didn't happen without some minor delays. I guess most of these campgrounds are off the beaten path. The GPS directed us to turn onto Casey Court but the street sign read Casey Court pvt. We saw a few houses up the street and decided not to take the road because it said "pvt". The GPS rerouted us and at the next street up was another "Casey Court pvt" with a road that looked even worse. We started up the generator so I could power up the laptop and router and then visit the campground website. Windows Vista wanted to check this and that on the laptop before I could do anything. It seemed like eternity. (not the cologne, but that would have been better). Jim and I barked out orders to one another, both being stubborn about taking suggestions. If there had been a "Fred's Mobile Divorce Service" van in the area, we would have been in line. Anyway, I pull up the website and read the instructions, Jim tries to follow them but they don't seem right. The directions include TAKE THE SECOND CASEY COURT. Turns out, long story short, I was reading them coming from the opposite direction, the road is a circle but one is RV inaccessible, etc, etc, etc. Geez, I look at this paragraph and think to myself, Garret, I often call myself that, should I break off into a new paragraph? Looks awfully wordy. Nahhhh. OK, so we arrive, SMOKE BREAK! then I start removing the hitch and the braking system for the Cherokee while Jim checks in.

A new paragraph just because I'm getting dizzy. Alright, so Jim ATTEMPTS to park the RV while I follow in the Cherokee. He drives up this short hill between 2 trees and gets a little too close to the tree on the left. The awning is an inch away from hitting the tree. The bumpy road causes the coach to sway side to side. He's only got a 1/5 of the coach to pass the tree and we realize it may be a bad idea. An employee comes over to offer his opinion. 3 of us discuss the options. I don't know about Jim but the DUH flag above my head waves, just begging for more people to crawl out of the woodwork and help us. Luckily, no one else came. Jim was able to back the RV up and retry the approach which worked better. A couple of guys who have stayed at our site in the past recommended coach positioning for minimum leveling. We now refer to the 2 trees as "Jim's Trees". I know, so darn crafty, what will we think of next. (Keep reading the blog and you'll find out).

After the setup of the RV, the 2 guys (Steve and Rich) came back and invited us up to their porch party. They had a brand new 40 something foot diesel pusher. I was fortunate to see the inside and it was amazing. Marble, tile, etc. 1.5 baths. They have a large wooden deck (they leave it parked here all the time and use it as a weekend getaway) complete with up lighting built in, landscaping around and a flat screen TV that slide out from the RV itself. Way cool. I drooled. Jim declined the tour, he didn't want to be tainted and further jealous than he already was.

Sorry, no pictures, it was too dark and I'm too busy with work and, oh nevermind.

08-27-08 Wednesday (Frippin' boney Fripps)

After we retrieved Dasher from "jail" we set out for some sight seeing. We started our trip, with dog in tow, to see old downtown Beaufort. We parked downtown near a marina, and walked along the water through a beautiful park called "Waterfront Park". I know, how ingenious is that name. We stopped off at a icecream/sandwich shop for lunch. They even gave us a bowl for Dasher to drink from. They were very hospitable.

We drove to Fripp Island which is a private resort Island so we didn't go through the guard gate. The drive there was great, there's many islands to drive through just to get to Fripp island. Fripp is a very well known name in Beaufort and dates back to the 1800's. There were many roads named with Fripp in it. As another side note, Jim's uncle, last name Dowling was also prominent in Beaufort and googling these names brings up several hits.





On Hunting Island (there's no hunting permitted there), we drove through another state park and I saw this giant spider, got out and snapped a picture of it. I later found out from Aunt Patty that it's called a Banana Spider and even saw another in her yard. They are down right creepy looking. I included my picture even though it's blurry but I found another off the web to insert here. Ick.





I will tell you that Beaufort is RICH in historical sites, and state parks. It's amazing, it seemed like every block had something to look at. I wonder, where the hell all the people live....



OK, here's a strange thing. We stopped at this place called "Chapel of Ease" and Jim had to pee (that's not the strange part, trust me.) He went beyond the chapel to the back of the woods and as I'm standing there with the dog, I notice bones on the ground. I shouted the info to Jim who saw them as well. There was an arm with fingers, a pelvic bone and a spine in 2 places. I snapped some photos. The arm looked like it had clothing attached near the wrist. We didn't disturb them, decided we should stop at the fire department on the way back to tell them. We didn't want to call 911 nor did we know where the sheriff was located. Anyway, we toured the rest of the area including a crypt where it looked like 3 Fripps were entombed at one time. The chapel as well as many other ancient places were built with "tabby". I googled it and here's more background: Tabby, a type of concrete made from burning oyster shells to extract the lime, was the earliest form of hard surface building material in Beaufort County. In fact, Beaufort County was the heart of tabby production on the east coast. St. Augustine FL was the only other area known to utilize this laborious process to construct walls and buildings.






Fort Fremont was a Fort we walked through. Located at the southwestern tip of St. Helena Island in Beaufort County, Fort Fremont was constructed in 1899 to defend Port Royal Sound and the Naval Station located at Parris Island (which became the Marine Corps Recruit Training Depot in 1906). I didn't take any pictures, it was one of those "you've seen one fort, you've seen them all".



We went home to meet Aunt P and give her the RV tour. A few donuts later we showed her the pictures of the bones. What happened to the fire department visit, you ask? We forgot. Aunt P knew the sheriff department's phone number by heart so I placed a call to them. Aunt P wanted to see the bones in person so on the way to her house we stopped at the Chapel of Ease again. She looked at the bones and she saw a skull nearby but an animal skull. The piece of clothing I thought I saw on the wrist was some skin and fur upon closer inspection. I wondered if the Sheriff had come by and kicked the skull over to the other bones. Both Jim and I didn't see one hours prior. I was almost bummed it was an animal. I thought I had helped solve an unsolved mystery or something. I guess it's back to using my secret decoder ring.....


We finished the evening at Patty's with delicious garbanzo bean soup shared with Patty's son, Joab, his wife Jennifer and their 3 kids, Elizabeth, Joab the 4th, and Jacob. Jim says Joab's kids were much better behaved than Joab was when a child.
Here's some humorous photos I took during the day trip:



Tomorrow it's off to Canon, Georgia where we'll be staying at "In The Woods", a themed campground.

08-26-08 Tuesday (Mmmmmm donuts)

Wow, what a busy and fun day. Aunt Patty had suggested taking us to Charleston to visit an old working plantation available for tours, including their gardens. Well, we didn't make it. We were slow moving this morning, and then had to assemble the screen room, which all put us behind schedule. We left without eating, picked up Aunt Patty and then asked if she had eaten. She was runnin' on empty too so we headed to Charleston and planned to stop at her favorite BBQ restaurant.

On the way there we boarded Dasher for the day/night at "Burton Feed & Seed". It broke our heart to do that since we've never boarded him but we had too. Charleston being about 1.5 hours each way, plus the tour, it was too long to leave him without being walked. It was like letting go of a child on their first day of Kindergarten. I just keep telling myself that he's having the time of his life, humping, playing and eating.


We made the next pitstop at Wood Brothers Store in Green Pond for a potty break and some refills. They had humming bird feeders all around outside and the humming birds were truly loving it.






Next stop was lunch at Melvin's Ribs & Que. Yummy, and besides it won best ribs, 10 years in a row. Wow, we were full, I had ribs, collard greens with hot pepper sauce, steak fries, and corn bread. Mmmmmm good. What did everyone else eat? Who cares, mine was tasty and I'm the author!






Eventually it was about 3:30 and we decided it was too late to make the plantation, but we had fun in other ways. Go one, read more, what else do you have to do. Maybe get the spider web off your light fixture....



Onward to Camping World to return a leaking hose. No, not the part Jim broke. While there we bought more stuff than we needed and then looked at a few new coaches. I don't know how much these things were but I was drooling. They were gorgeous.



On the way home to Beaufort we toured "The Battery" in Charleston.

More info: White Point Gardens, also known as the Battery, sits at the southernmost point of the Charleston peninsula, where the Cooper and Ashley Rivers let out into the Atlantic Ocean. Originally opened in 1837 as a public park, the Battery was fortified during the Civil War to protect the city against Union troops. The Battery is also home to some of the city's most lavish residences, including the historic Edmonston-Alston house, the Calhoun Mansion and the Palmer Home (also known as the Pink Palace). The houses along the ocean were the big beautiful tri-level homes with the giant porches. Awesome.






Next was a drive through "Old City Market" where we were able to purchase our Christmas ornament souvenir. Old City Market info: The land on which the market sits was donated by a wealthy Charleston family in the early 1800s to be used as a marketplace. The main building, Market Hall, was erected in 1841. Modeled after a Greek temple, the building houses the Daughters of the Confederacy Museum. Behind Market Hall, four open-air buildings span from Meeting Street to East Bay Street, near the waterfront. The market originally sold foodstuffs, including meat, fish and fresh produce grown locally. Today, more than 100 vendors sell everything from local foods to souvenirs. The most celebrated residents are the ladies who weave and sell sweet-grass baskets. The craft of basket-weaving, passed down from West African slaves, is considered one of Charleston's most vibrant traditions.




A drive to "Rainbow Row". Concern for the needless destruction of historical buildings inspired the forming of the Society for Preservation of Old Dwelling Houses, in 1920, still functioning today as the Preservation Society.In 1931 Dorothy Legge purchased 99 and 101 East Bay, beginning the renovation of the area between Tradd and Elliot Streets. Originally these mid-1700 homes had been the center of commerce; merchants had stores on the first floor and lived on the floors above. Neglect over time left these valuable buildings in a state of disrepair. The purchase and restoration by Mrs. Legge inspired others, and today this beautiful array of homes is known as "Rainbow Row".These old row houses are very popular to Charleston. They represent the very first style of Charleston homes and are portrayed in the story of Porgie and Bess.









To end our fun day, we went to Krispy Kreme. Yum! It was a small factory there. Kinda cool. Onward to drop Aunt Patty home. Check out the video on how the assembly line works.




Funny, with all the trips to Wal-Mart, I couldn't resist popping this in the blog. Thanks John!This news just in: All of the Wal-Marts across Alabama sold out of ammunition as of yesterday. A reliable source said that one of the purchasers commented that while Russia may have invaded Georgia, they sure ain't doin' it to Alabama.

08-25-08 Monday (A real nyce lunch)

Early to rise... we disassembled the screen room, but all the outdoor stuff away and departed Lumberjack's in Unadilla, GA.

Funny, not too far down the road on I75, Jim decides to exit to get a donut. Off to a Pilot gas station we go. They cater to truckers which is great for us given the size of our home-on-wheels. It was a lot of work to get in there, and we parked with the truckers for what seemed 20 miles away from the store itself. I asked if this was going to be worth a donut. We ended up getting Arby's and bringing it back to the coach. Nice, 1 night was dinner at Camping World in North Fort Myers and this time lunch at a Pilot Truck stop in Georgia. I rekin' we shur no how to liv it up.

Before I forget, on the leave a comment page I hopefully left easy instructions to comment without signing up for anything like gmail.

This is the first time I've started a blog entry while we're traveling down the road. Clea isn't as entertaining about bridge clearance. She's gotten used to it. During pouring rain, with wipers on, she still laid on the dash quietly. Now if I could train her to move her head like a bobble-head doll.......

We arrived to St. Helenas Island, SC and setup the essentials such as the awning, and shore lines. Jim over tightened a sewer connector so we'll have to venture to.... wait for it.... wait..... WAL-MART. Yay! Instead of a US map of our journey's, I was thinking of contacting corporate Wal-Mart and asking for a large Wal-Mart wall map. With stickers, but of course. We'll do the Wal-Mart trip later, for now it's off to Jim's Aunt Patty's house.



After a delicious pork chop dinner, smothered in gravy (everythings good with gravy), we ventured off to Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart saved the day again.


{Dasher napping during the trip to SC}

08-24-08 Sunday (Coy koi?)

We got up late today. Probably a side effect of drinking the night before? Hmmmm, you decide. It was actually sunny so we put our patio mats out to dry in preparation for tomorrow's relocation. I went to the pool, Jim decided to stay behind. Turned out he had to help 2 guys with a trailer who had hitch problems. The hitch came off the ball. (Jim is working for good karma).



Meanwhile back at the pool, I chatted with other pool goers along with hottubbers as I migrated between the 2 when it was too hot or too cold in the waters. Jim later showed up and we
continued socializing then realized it was a little after 5pm. Jim had brought some left over bread with him so we could feed the coy KOI (thanks Mike). They didn't come to the surface when I went to the pool. On the way back Jim fed the no longer coy Koi while I snapped photos and video of it. I was told that the other pond has VERY large catfish in it and there is food on the small dock next to it.


By the way, I haven't called friends or family much from here because of the lousy reception. I'd have to stand in one spot outside the RV to get 2 bars and those of you who know me can attest to my walking and talking phone habit. Kinda like Jim's awake and diet coke habit. (Jim called me a bitch when I read this paragraph to him, as he put yet another 2 liter in the refrigerator.)

Time for bed, tomorrow is a 4 hour drive to Beaufort, SC. Got that Al?

08-23-08 Saturday (Other people at last!)


Another day of rain. 90% chance today. Sure wish I gambled. I think I saw the sun peeking out so I pointed it out to Jim but it was gone. We had cabin fever and decided to go out to shop. NO silly, not Wal-Mart. We went to Home Depot. That's a man's store. Yeah, we're not sure why we were there either. Anyway, so we picked up a spot light to stake in the grass for future campgrounds. It was so dark here we won't be able to tell if a Chupacabra runs off with the dog. Please visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chupacabra for more information on this fascinating beast. We bought a few other things but nothing too interesting.

After doing nothing all day we treated ourselves to steak dinners at the on-site cafe. (Doin' nothing is very tiring).


{Humorous video I found}

We ended the evening by going to the on-site night club "Lumber Yard". There was about 15-20 people there.

08-22-08 Friday (Maps and naps)

It was a freakin' rain day again. We did pretty much nothing. Jim affixed the "states we visited" map on the side of the RV. Looks pretty empty. Florida and Georgia is all so far. We figured we'd just fill in the states that the RV has been to although we may have been there in the past.

Since the blog has been uneventful lately, Jim has reminded me of something humorous that I left out when we first arrived here. Prior to backing the RV into the site, we disconnected the Cherokee. I stood at the site to direct Jim. He didn't move the RV and finally screams out that it won't move out of park. He's panicked, I'm slightly panicked. I eventually scream out, "is the engine running?" The engine was not running. Whoops. Since the generator was running, it's kinda hard to hear the engine independently.

Jim napped, I played video games. I took Dasher for a walk where he managed to come face to face with an armadillo. I didn't see it in the deeper grass but apparently, Dasher did. I yanked him back, reeled him in, BUT then the armadillo ran 2-3 feet toward him so I dragged the dog away, by running in the opposite direction. The dog managed to snap at the armadillo but didn't get a hold of him. A few sites away, Dasher found another he wanted to "play" with. I didn't let him come too close. There's some huge coy and turtles in the lake here. The coy come right to the surface of the water at the foot bridge and beg for food. I thought about taking Dasher to see them but he'd probably try to dive in. Maybe another day when it's NOT raining.

{Lazy pets: Jag, Dasher & Clea}

Shortly before 11pm, we shit, showered and shaved. We DROVE (too muddy) up to the on-site dance club. It's supposed to be open but it was NOT. So back down the hill to the RV we went. We surfed the Internet, played video games and then the power went out between 12-1am. It tried to come back on but not quite. It was pitch-black outside. The lighting in the coach is 12V so it stays on.I played a video game on laptop battery power. We decided not to start the generator since it was only 72 degrees but it was starting to get warm in here so we opened the windows. My laptop battery died, we sat in the screen room for a while and decided to go to bed. The power outage was for about an hour. The power finally came back on, off to bed we went.






Here's what the campground looks like. I snapped a photo of the map:

08-21-08 Thursday (Rain, rain, go away...)

Jim washed the Cherokee, he didn't care if it was going to rain. Shortly after, you guess it, it rained.

It rained alot here on and off. It was sunny, we walked to the pool, it started raining. We went in the pool anyway, it rained harder, it stopped, the sun came out and rained again as the next set of clouds rolled in. Thanks Fay, I'm sure its your fault. After that patched stopped, we got out and decided to head back to the RV for lunch, and of course we walked in the rain.

It still feels like we're the only ones here. I'm hoping it gets busier this weekend but of course it's supposed to RAIN.

We ventured out once today for ANOTHER trip to Wal-Mart. I think we're not happy until we've visited each one. Maybe by the end of this trip, they'll dedicate one to us. Slow, peaceful day of nothing much.

08-20-08 Wednesday (NBC)

We did some small projects and cleaning up around and in the RV. After lunch I walked Dasher and saw an armadillo. I've never seem one up close, especially one that wasn't smooshed roadside. After the dog walk we drove some trails here at the resort and saw a peacock (we were told by the office that there are 2 here) and then we headed into town (as tiny as it is), to shop at Harvey's supermarket. Not nearly as large as a Publix, but they did seem to be a large chain. They had a lot of Harvey's store brands but interestingly Food Lion brands on a lot of stuff too. I'm guessing they are one in the same. My Crystal Lite was $5 for a 4 pack to make to 2 frickin' gallons. Damn..... sounds like another trip to.... you guessed it, Wal-Mart. We'll save a trip to Wal-Mart for tomorrow.






{It's a little blurry, I had to zoom}







{Not the NBC peacock}

We finally went to the pool. By the time we walked there, it had started to rain and the sun was hiding. The pool was a little too cold without the sun so we hit the hottub for a while. We peeked into their cafe window, saw where the dance club is and saw the tiki bar. All of this is closed and opens on weekends.

08-19-08 Tuesday (Una who?)

We made it to Unadilla, Georgia. No problems other than once again, the GPS was taking us to the wrong place. Jim is about ready to fling it out of the window.

This place is gorgeous. Fountains, cabin rentals, log cabins, pool, night club, cafe, etc. They even sell park models and such. It's awesome. This place puts Camp David to shame. We setup the screen room (it takes a while to set everything up), relaxed a while and then grilled some delicious chicken. At checkin, we were told there's only a few people here but it will fill up starting Thursday.




{Small 1 room cabins for rent}
{View of our RV from a distance}
{A better picture of the Cherokee}
{Beautiful scenery at this RV Resort}
{Hammocks all over the place}
{The finished setup}

08-18-08 Monday (Head for the hills!)

It's been a nice visit here in Inverness but with Fay coming, it's time to move on. We were supposed to be here until next Monday. The park has emptied out quite a bit. The manager on site said we were the only ones here. Well that would explain why we haven't seen anyone here today.


We saw a deer on the road leading out and were able to sit in the Cherokee and watch it eating the brush.


{Pictured above: Woodpecker above our awning}


It's been uneventful for the past few days but that's what we needed for a change. We never installed the screen room because we figured we might have to leave early. Jim was able to reorganize the fresh water hoses and buy some quick connects. We also bought some patio lights to hang (but we didn't bother yet) out on the awning. They're those wicker ball end type lights.


We went to Wal-Mart 2 days in a row, stopped at a Big Lots today as well. Yay. We got our menu planned out for the week and purchased the necessary supplies.


The water here has tasted terrible even with a water filter. I've quit drinking it. We bought some bottled water today, so lets hope I don't have parasites partying in my intestines. If I hear music, I'll let ya know.



{View from our RV}

08-16-08 Saturday (Off with(out) a hitch))

We got up fairly early this morning. We disconnected from the shore lines. Jim connected the Cherokee to the RV. I connected the Even Brake to the Cherokee brake pedal. In the RV I couldn't get the monitoring system to power up. We found out it the power outlet (12V (like a cigarette lighter))) had no power! We looked for fuses for the chassis oriented items but couldn't find a panel. I took out all the owner's manuals and started looking it up. The book mentioned a panel under the instrument panel and we still couldn't find one. We almost went to Radio Shack to buy a power converter. Jim then remembered from looking at a different RV that the panel is literally under the instrument panel. He pulled up on the panel (where the speedo and displays are) and sure enough it was hinged with a little prop rod. We found that the 12V wasn't even connected. Jim had to get a tool or 2, but got in connected. We're on our way!







We met Morgan and Ann at Perkins for lunch, where they surprised us with a care
package. Homemade cookies, Atlas (packaged cute) , banana bread and lots of gift cards for restaurants. Jim must have complained about my cooking! Ann brought a small jar of peanut butter to put on pancakes. It was so good with butter, peanut butter and syrup. YUM! She likes crunchy, I would have preferred smooth. Next time I'll just ask Perkins for peanut butter (the server said they have it).


The drive to Inverness, FL was fairly uneventful. We saw a deer and the same ole surrounding we've seen tons of times prior.


While in motion, we lock the cats up in the bedroom. We decided to let Clea out. She jumped on the dash and walked back and forth, meowing. Jim said he could see right over her. She was panting. It was funny. Especially when we approached an underpass, she'd think it was going to hit her and then flinch or jump off the dash. I have a video of it. She eventually settled down and laid on the dash, enjoying the sights.







For the 2nd time, the GPS has screwed up directions. This time, using a Point of Interest I uploaded (I won't trust them anymore), we needed to make a right turn but it snuck up us and Jim missed it. He tried to turn into a parking lot, but wasn't able to clear a pole. The rear end of the RV and Cherokee stuck out in the road. He tried backing up but as he knew, the Cherokee wouldn't cooperate. We clogged up a lane for about 10 minutes while we rushed to disconnect the Cherokee from the RV. One disconnected we decided not to reconnect, I'd just drive it and lead the way. We got lost, the GPS took us on dirt roads, neighborhoods, etc. I looked up the campground website and plugged in the coordinates directly to the GPS and suddenly we were 10 miles away whereas previously 1 miles. What a mess.


As we approached the campground a good span of the road was a horrible dirt road with tons of holes. I didn't mind it in the Cherokee but Jim wasn't having such a good time doing 3-5 MPH. We arrived about 15 minutes before closing. We set up all but the screen room, relaxed a little, and then we cooked. Delicious porkchops on the grill. We went to the pool for a while and then back to more relaxing in the RV. The campground seems nice. Large beautiful oak trees all over. Looks like the entire place is shaded by them. The concrete pads are all colorfully stamped with nice designs. Tomorrow we'll need to go to the grocery store for some supplies. We've been told a Winn Dixie is about 6 miles away.









8-15-08 Friday (Excitement & sadness)

Our last day in Fort Myers for a while. We took down the screen room which took a little longer than expected. We had to play around with the available space to store it but we'll be faster next time.



We had dinner at my mom's along with my family for goodbyes. Later in the evening Jim went to his mom's and I picked him up there, as we left the BMW behind in her care.



Ya know I wasn't emmotional at all, but as I type this, I guess it hit me. I'm teary-eyed. I guess it doesn't help that Jim wanted me to add a Rascal Flatts video to this entry entitled "I'm Movin' On". It's a nice song, I hope you'll enjoy it.





8-13-08 Wednesday (Poor dog, buy this!)

Today was bring the dog to the vet and get whacked $170.00 day. I'm sure it's an official holiday somewhere, check your calendar. He has some scabs on his ear tips, and dry balding spot on his head. After walks he rolls around on the carpet and couch. I figured no-seeums and such were bothering him. I have some stuff to put on him that is heartworm and flea/tick all in one that the vet prescribed last visit. I haven't used it yet because he wasn't ready for heartworm meds yet and I didn't want to OD him. The vet took some scab scrapings, went to a microscope and said it wasn't mange or mites and he's probably hyper-sensitive to bugs. So she pulls out meds. 1 for topical to heal the raw spots, 1 to spray before a walk that's all natural and repels bugs and the 3rd is a pill to give him when he's itchy. Of course it all totalled $170.00.

I'm not sure why doctors and vets can get away with pushing drugs and procedures on someone with the end surprise cost factor. Is it because we'd feel bad to skimp out on medical care for our pets and feel guilty? Do the vets do this knowing most people won't say no? When I have asked for the price prior to treatment they say, "I don't know, I think it's around xxx, I can go ask at the desk and let you know." Being in the automotive service industry, I've had customer's flip out if it was ANYTHING over the price you gave. I think I was in the wrong business. Pricing menu at a Vet's office:

Heartgard = Surprise
Exam = You're not gonna let your pet suffer are you?
Meds = If you have to ask, you're very selfish.
Flea spray = You'd be able to afford it if you didn't buy a motorhome.

I was thinking the other day of how the older folks were retired and would always say, "I'm on a fixed income." Well for 99% of the population, income doesn't fluctuate unless you're on commission so therefore they too are on a FIXED income. Hello. So I was wondering if on my travels, I could say, "I'm retired and on a fixed income." Will people feel bad for me and throw discounts at my feet?

OK, OK so anyways my Mom and Dad came over, we went to La Casita while Jim finished up on more of his mom's projects. Amazing, I didn't have much to blog about but managed to make your eyes dry and tired. Get over it.

Oh, I talked about watching the blackwater draining and thought of something humorous. The other day we bought a clear connector for the sewer hose. It's just a 5" pipe section. It's so you can see when the line is showing clear waste but off course a by-product is watching a turd float through the tubing. I was like, "great we can watch crap float by. Oh look, a piece of undigested corn." Ewwwwwwwwwwww.




We've been having a lot of power problems. The 30amp plug melted and the park receptacle fried. The 50amp (with an adapter to 30amp) has been marginal. The voltage meter in the coach is always low and borderline red zone. The park personell repaired the 30amp but we stayed on the 50amp. Today I bought a $500 autoformer: It slices, it dices, it... oh, well not all that but here's what it does per the ad: Avoid brownout damage by boosting the park voltage to your RV. Autoformers have increased capacity, with a fully automatic 10% boost when needed. Internal transformer increases volts and lowers amps, while sophisticated circuitry monitors power levels and boosts if power is less than 117 volts. Includes park power diagnostic light, as well as boost indicater lights for both lines, spike and surge protection and polarity and ground test functions.



It works! Voltage is much better! It's well into the green. It also told us that even though they repaired the 30amp side, it isn't good to use so we're using the 50amp side.

8-12-08 Tuesday (Anyone got a match?)

Jim went to his Mom's house to do a bunch of projects she wanted done before we left town. He took the cats with him so that the linoleum guy could make flooring repairs without the cats all up in his business or trying to escape every 5 minutes. $75.00 the linoleum is done. I called Jim to see if he wanted me to pickup the cats. I could tell he was having a bad day, he replied in that slow motion angered-annoyed voice, "That would be great, if you were going to tell me that something else went wrong, I was going to instruct you to get the dog, turn the gas on and leave the RV." POOF. Apparently all of his projects weren't working out quite right. I went to his mom's, helped with a few projects, ate all of her junk food and then went home to prepare for company.

Kevin called me the other day because he missed our farewell party. I knew I had the wrong email for him but I knew Bruce's was fine. Their invitation was sent to both emails but never received so tonight we had Bruce, Kevin, Mike and Dave over for dinner. Nothing fancy (how fancy can it be in a trailer park?) Some burgers and good company.

I went to Publix, and picked up a sale flyer to have on hand for grocery shopping. So Jim decided to look through it and spotted a recipe for "Beanie Weenie Pizza" which is pizza with baked beans, hot dogs and other stuff on it. Sounds gross, but that's not what's funny about it. There's a suggested wine notation. "A crisp, light-bodied Australian white wine such as Alice White Chardonnay, which has tropical fruit flavors..." So I envisioned Jim outside the RV, me inside preparing the pizza and screaming out the window, "Jim, c'mon in this here trailer, your Beanie Weenie pizza is gittin' cold, and the wine is gittin' too warm." Picture it, you may laugh. I guess if I run out of material, I'll pick up a Publix ad.

8-11-08 Monday (No nap for you!)

The other day we found a gouge in the kitchen linoleum. I discovered it was from old staples under the slide that damaged the linoleum when the slide was retracted. Fortunately Jim was able to remove the staples and you can barely see the damage.

Today was also dump the black water (toilet water tank). That almost went down without problems.... almost. It didn't seem to empty 100% but I flushed several times and added laundry detergent and that seemed to take care of it. Now if you remember, I've mentioned that gray water (sink, shower) valve stays open while we're hooked up to sewer. Black water should stayed closed until it's about 3/4. Then, close the gray water and it will fill quickly after 2 showers and some dishes. Then open the black water valve, once emptied, open the gray water valve. The gray water helps to flush out the hoses of chunks (ewwwwwwww). Then close the black water, leave the gray water open and start all over. Jim forgot to leave the gray water open so at the end of his shower, there was a 1/2 inch of gray water in the tub. Not a catastrophe.... we'll get the hang of it some time.

For the first time since we've been in the RV, Jim decided to take a nap. Well, try to take a nap. Both a/c's just won't work at the same time. We turned off everything, switched the fridge to propane and it seemed to work for a short time but then the main tripped.

Jag just puked in like 4 different spots. On the carpet. I CANNOT WIN. Who's hiring, I think I need to work 10 hour days to get my sanity back. Excuse me while I go scrub carpeting.

I finished scrubbing, and cooked dinner. Or burned dinner would better describe it. Then we watched, "The Long Long Trailer." Funny movie.

8-10-08 Sunday (Where to?)

Here's our itinerary thus far. On Saturday August 16th we ship out.



Fort Myers, FL to Inverness, FL (8-16-08)

Inverness, Florida to Beaufort (St Helena), SC

Beaufort, SC to Cannon, GA

Cannon, GA to Villa Rica, GA (staying in Delta, Alabama)

Villa Rica, GA to Greenville, TN

Greenville, TN to St. Louis, MO

St. Louis, MO to Salina, KS

Salina, KS to Pike's Peak, CO

Pike's Peak, CO to Ouray, CO (9-21-08)



I'm skipping the dates, some are just a day, others a few days and some sites for a week or 2. My blog will indicate when we've moved on.



Today was farewell to Ryan. He drove back to Pt. Charlotte to see his mom and from there returned to St. Pete. It was a great visit and we even got a swim in at the pool.



Dinner at La Casita (great food, and owned by a great guy), with Ann and Morgan (Jim's mom and stepdad). We returned to the RV for dessert where I prepared a marvelous raspberry twist (OK, it was from Publix, but nonetheless tasty). Ann and Morgan shared their experiences and recommendations of what to do and see at the 4 corners area of the country. (Google it if you don't know what that refers to).