9-29-09 Tuesday (Stoned Dude)

I’ve been labeling/tagging/categorizing our trip photos.  Among the tags are wildlife, flowers and just added – humor.  This enables me to pull up the photos of a specific tag.  From just a year on the road I have 6,192 photos/videos of which 120 are of flowers, 188 are of wildlife, and 355 are humor.  The humorous are fun signs, wacky poses, goofy whatevers.  The point is, there are a lot of them.  I took my favorites and put them into a video.

Manny came today and fiberglassed the bottom of the tub/shower.  The fumes were awful.  At times I felt nauseated and at others stoned.  We opened the roof vents and that helped quite a bit.  Manny had to do some sanding as well which created a dust mess that thankfully was contained within the bathroom.  I even had to wipe door knobs and hinges.  Everything had a layer of dust!

Above/Below: Before and after shots.

A trip to Costco today:

Imagine having to wait 15 seconds in an emergency?  I bet if there was a disaster, that would be a lawsuit.  15 seconds is long enough to wait for a microwave!

9-28-09 Monday (Hotels & Resorts)

Tomorrow we have Manny coming to repair the tub. It will be a 2 day process. Depending on fumes or disaster area-ness, we’ve booked a room at Jim’s Grandmothers. We hear the accommodations are uh, errrr, real accommodating.

Because we’re such swell pet owner’s, we’ve taken Clea & Jag to Jim’s Mom’s. There, they will spend 2 glorious nights at the “resort” where 2 large dogs can terrorize them. 1 of which, Bobbi, looks like she’ll eat them but wags her tail a lot and tries to squish them with her paw. The other dog, Bailey, doesn’t care and would rather just lick people. Jim had to remove various decorative items from plant shelves throughout the house. On a previous stay, Jag would find away to hang out from the shelves above, and probably tease the dogs that watched from below.

Dasher will stay with us at Grandma’s. We can never tell if he misses his kitties or if he secretly rejoices in their absence.

Above: Caged kitties Clea (L) and Jag (R). Dasher supervises.

The photos below are of a beautiful sunset drenched sky. Florida does have some awesome sunsets and cool looking skies.

9-26-09 Saturday (Guest Parking)

In yesterday’s entry, I forgot to mention the flooding.  Again.  We had just returned home from Starbuck’s, drove into the RV park, and found our road deep in water again.  Jim carefully drove through it, we took off our socks and shoes and carefully walked to the RV.  It was so deep, and once again the patio rug and trash can was floating.  We scooped up the dog, walked to the Jeep and drove up to higher ground to walk the dog.  Of course, as we were walking him it started raining again. 

Today, we met Ann & Morgan for lunch at the Blarney Stone.  They have awesome burgers and fried zucchini. 

Yeah, it always seems to be about food but – later in the evening we met up with Steve & Barry for dinner.  Their primary residence is in Indiana and they had just purchased the house across the street from us while we had ours up for sale!   We met them at their house, where they gave us a tour of their latest decorating adventure.  These guys know style! They were only here for the weekend.  Their next trip will be November.

Above: This was our house.    The landscaping is a little overgrown.

 Above: Their house is a courtyard home.  This is the cabana which is a complete guest suite.  They have a kitchenette set up, a sitting area, and a full bathroom.  It’s beautiful.

 Above: The hot tub pours into the pool.  This is all within the courtyard.

 Above: Statue of David as you enter the courtyard.

 Above: Dining area.

 Above: Master suite.  It’s luxurious and has a huge bathroom.

 Above: Living room.

After the awkwardness of me running around their home and snapping photos, we went to the Elephant Bar Restaurant.  It’s a chain and we’ve never been to it.  Jim and I both had the Crispy Teriyaki Chicken. 

Above: Barry (L) & Steve (R)

 

Afterwards, a swim in their pool and a dip in their hot tub.  It was like being at a resort.  I wonder if the motorhome will fit in the driveway?

9-25-09 Friday (Caramel Frapasnob)

It’s funny, fellow blogger, Alix, recently posted about her trip to the mall and the annoying sales people at the kiosks.  I won’t go into that too much since I blogged about it back in December (here) while at a mall in Portland. 

Seeing the kiosks, and remembering how disturbed Alix was about these things, I decided to text her the above photo.  Kind of like a haunting I suppose.

Later in the day we met up with Mike, Dave and David for dinner at Ruby Tuesday.  Dinner was fair at best.  If I go back, I’ll try something else.  Jim and I generally don’t care for their menu but figured there was something we’d be happy with.  The funniest was a trip to the Beall’s Outlet (clearance) store.  Well just look at the photos.

As a first for Jim & I, the 5 of us hung out at Starbucks.  The weather was nice so we sat outside.  I had my favorite there, a Caramel Frappuccino.   I’ve only had 4 or 5 of these.  I don’t want to become hooked on Starbucks.  I’ve heard people on cruises say they could die for a Starbucks.  I’ve seen people get too snooty over Starbucks.  I’ve seen people spend way too much money on Starbucks.  Starbucks are everywhere.  Jim and I saw a skit on TV about having a Starbucks in a bookstore.  To top it, they were going to put a Starbucks in a bookstore with a bookstore inside of that.  Or a Starbucks inside a Starbucks.  And for Alix?  Maybe a Starbucks kiosk inside of a Starbucks.

Me?  I’m happy with my Folgers.  Afterall, it is the best part of waking up… with Folgers in my cup.

9-24-09 Thursday (Making The Cut)

Shopping!  OK shopping on a budget but still.  We went to Kmart and our eyes lit up – clearance clothes.  The sign said 40% off but as typical with Kmart, things were mismarked.  Actually, most of the time nothing is marked in Kmart.  Anyway, the clothes were WELL over 40% off.  Joe Boxer swimsuits, $3.59.  Several t-shirts at .90.  Cargo shorts $4.79.   All in all, we got 2 swim suits, 3 t-shirts, and a pair of cargo shorts for $15.87.  Not bad, huh?

 

 

Above: 3 woodpeckers are in this palm tree!

 

After Kmart and bird watching, we popped into a Tuesday Morning and I spotted the above treasure.  Don’t you need pancakes cut perfectly?  Aren’t pancakes so difficult to cut?  Try the Snap Jack.  Or not.  Duh.

We went to Jim’s Grandma’s for some Chinese food (very fattening) and Phase 10 playing.  Jim won!

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to make pancakes…

9-23-09 Wednesday (Redemption)

Anyone who knows Jim, knows that he does a great job of saving money or getting free stuff.  He’s always getting credit card points or Diet Coke points and then redeeming them when something good comes along.  Tonight we made use of some freebies.  We saw Final Destination for free with some AMC certificates tonight.  The deal also included free beverages which is always nice, since the purchase of said drinks usually includes an application fee and mortgage.  We did have to buy popcorn though.  For the price of popcorn, we could have bought a popper.  Really. 

I remember when the theater was new.  Now?  Well, our movie time was the ONLY showing at 4:50 for this movie.  I suppose it’s on it’s way out of the theater.  As we walked the corridor to theater 13 (spooky), we passed an abandoned concession stand.  No, really, abandoned.  All fixtures were removed, only counters remained.  Pretty unsightly.  The theater was and remained empty.  It was just us for the movie.  The movie was advertised to be 3D.  I ran to the operating concession stand and asked if the movie was 3D (if so, where’s my glasses).  This theater wasn’t equipped with that.  Fine.  I wondered if the theater is equipped to be open much longer either.  The movie was predictable and too similar to it’s predecessors. 

After our non-3D movie, we went to Macaroni Grill with a gift card we got from  some other points.  We were seated, and almost left after feeling neglected by a server.  Servers were all around.  Which was ours?  Where is he/she.  Finally, an overly friendly “I’ll be with you in a moment” statement from Dani.  Overly friendly, you ask?  Well, yes, that fake sarcastically friendly type.  The problem was, that it was all the way through, to her core, and genuine.  Scary.  I think she’s going to snap some day and snatch a baby or something.

We did something different.  We ordered salads to help fill us up.  Then we got Dani to bring us some take-out containers before the meal even came.  We split our portion in half immediately upon it’s arrival!  I’m glad you asked - Jim and I both love the Penne Rustica.  Oh, and that’s what we had.  We split a loaf of bread and then split a second into our doggy bags.  We still ate too much. I’m sure.  At least it was half the portion.

 

I’m not finished with “free” stuff yet.  We stopped into a Publix for a couple of things.  This store has a DVD rental kiosk.  It wasn’t a brand we’ve used before.  It was a new Blockbuster DVD unit that was celebrating it’s arrival with free movie rentals.  The code to get a movie for free was posted on the machine. 

9-21-09 Monday (Formulas)

We’ve extended our stay at this RV park for another month.    The rent is $50 higher ($400) for this month than last month ($350).  After we paid, Jim read in the resorts newsletter a $350 special for October so they refunded $50.  Each month, the rent increases with it’s highest being $1200 in January and February!  Sheesh!  We won’t have to worry about that price for a couple of reasons.  One is we can’t afford that.  Second we have to be out by October 30th because they are completely booked for November and later.  We’ll try a different park or possibly head North a little.  We’ll see.

I’ve mentioned my homemade sausage McGarret’s in previous posts.  Today I finally figured out the calorie counts.

37.5 = Egg beaters

41.6 = 2% Pepperjack cheese

80.0 = Veggie  Sausage (Morning Star Farms)

100.0 = English Muffin

    7.5 = Fat free milk

-------

266.6 Calories Vs McDonalds version at 450 calories = 184 calories less.

Speaking of calories, Jim steps on the scale just about everyday.  I don’t bother.  I think once a week is enough.  We’re both not happy with our slow results.  I should say lack of results.  Maybe because we’re not on a real strict diet?  What’s changed since the last time we lost weight?  We work out more than ever.  Most of the time, 7 days a week, an hour of cardio.  Add to that weight lifting.  What’s wrong?  Maybe too many cheat days.  We go out to dinner with friends and have no self control. 

Ya know, I don’t even care about the pounds.  I care about the inches.   I say that but it’s what I use to measure my success… or lack thereof.  If my body was shaped like Michael Phelps but I was 200 pounds, would that be bad?  Well, I guess none of that matters since I don’t have Michael’s build.  I can dream, can’t I?

9-19-09 Saturday (Loser!)

We’ve been so awesome about doing cardio every day for an hour but today we skipped it.  We had a lot going on and I think we could have squeezed it in somewhere but I think a break is nice too.  We met Jim’s Mom and Stepdad for lunch at Longhorn.  I decided to try something different.  Parmesan encrusted chicken.  Fail.  Why do I try new things at familiar restaurants?

Above: Spotted at the restroom entrance.  I was so unsure of what these things were and am glad the sign was there to clear things up.

With our trusty coupon in hand, we took the car to the car wash.  Sparkling with a side of thrilling.

Above: Clean wheels…

 Above: Jim awaits his car.

To further kill some time, we went to Sam’s for a gigantic-enormous 950 pack of bar soap.  Maybe not quite that large, but still.  I continued to preach to Jim about the lack of space we have and that for the probable low amount of money we saved, buying the soap at Walmart in a smaller quantity might have been better.  I lost.

We met up with Carl & Tim, left our car at a Lowe’s, and drove with them to the Seminole casino.  We gambled a little, ate dinner, and gambled a little more.  Jim, Tim and I lost money.  I don’t know about Tim but Jim & I lost more money than I’d care to mention although it sounds bad when I lump it together for the 2 of us.    Individually, not so bad.  We’re usually more careful but these damn 2 cent slot machines are tricky!  Actually for what we lost, I think Carl tripled or more in winnings.  He did quite well! 

Above: Carl playing Star Trek slots.