1) eMail dated 2011.08.07
Here it is August already and we are still in Sparks. Things are moving right along though. We officially retired on July 15th and are now only consulting via cell and email as needed. We’ve been practicing camping with the 5th wheel to work out the bugs and it’s back in the shop having some minor warranty work done and also having a second air conditioner installed.
We had put the house up for sale but had little interest. We did however have one older couple that wanted to lease as they weren’t quite ready to buy and we decided that would be our best option for now. So we must vacate the house by September 1st! We are starting to sort through our stuff to decide what goes with us, what could sell and what should be tossed out in preparation for a garage sale.
We were very lucky that Daniel wanted Foxie (our dog who doesn’t travel well).
Now we are looking for a good home for our 2 cats, D.K. and Chukar. D.K. has long hair and is black and white. Chukar is gorgeous and is grey and white. Please let us know if you or someone you know would like to adopt. These are great cats!
We would like to invite anyone who is interested to our retirement party which will double as a pre-garage sale. No gifts please, just bring cash and a big truck! Friday 8/19 from 4pm to 7pm. Dinner, drinks and haggling. Please let us know if you’re coming…
I’m sure I could tell you much more about our stay but it’s been so long ago it’s disappeared from my memory. I do remember, however, that our next stop was in Santee (about 20 miles east of San Diego) where we planned to stay for a whole month! That sounded so good. Just relax, regroup, revitalize. This traveling and visiting thing was hard work! Santee Lakes is a very nice campground. We would definitely consider returning here to workcamp for a season.
We purchased an awning shade and also a new flag.
It’s kind of pet friendly. Dogs are okay at two of the seven lakes!
Next stop was a visit to Jackie and family (Bob’s niece). For some odd (lazy) reason Bob didn't take any pictures of our visit to share. What’s up with that? Sounds like they are doing well and adjusting to their new life in Arizona. Hope to visit both Jackie and Chris (Bob’s Nephew) when we head back that way next March (hopefully) for MLB spring training.
2) eMail dated 2011.08.24
The last couple of weeks has been CRAZY! and very hard work! The moving sale was a huge success. We started preparing the Sunday before and quickly realized we needed to rent a lot of tables. We ended up using nine 8’ and three 6’ tables. We filled both the tops and underneath all the tables plus we had stuff in the side yard in addition to all the furniture in the house. In retrospect it was insane to plan a retirement party/pre-garage sale at the same time. It literally took all week long to sort, move and price everything. But the hard work paid off, most everything sold and we only have a small amount of junk to donate. They will even come and pick it up.
Apparently we should have had a moving sale years ago as we met so many nice neighbors. Who knew?
One neighbor picked up the TV on Sunday afternoon and we weren’t able to get the lap top to play a movie. Bob went into withdrawals (just kidding). The house was empty, dirty and echoing, so we decided to move out of the house on Monday. We packed up the cats and just enough stuff to move the trailer to a local RV park. That was a good choice. Now we’ve been going to the house every morning to pack and move the stuff we are taking with us. The afternoons are spent putting away and organizing. We’ve been talking about “full-time RVing” for months but failed to realize that we would have to MOVE one more time before we could start. I hate moving!
The cats didn’t do well on their first ride in the coach. Opened the door to vomit! and two scared kitties, but they are slowly getting used to their new home. We took a walk around the RV park last night and saw cats on leashes outside of THREE different RVs! Since we didn’t have any takers for the cats they are going with us and we will see how it goes. It just tears up Bob to hear them meowing and see them unhappy. I’m a little more hard core and figure they’ll adjust, they’re just cats!
We plan to leave Sparks next Monday the 29th! Still lots to do before we go…
Love to hear from everyone so drop a line if you can.
3) eMail dated 2011.08.31
Day 10 finds us at Stockton Delta KOA in Lodi California.
Time to recap…
We moved out of the house on Monday the 22nd. Stayed at Sparks Marina RV Park for our first seven days of full-timing. VERY clean place. Kind of weird though. Pavement, concrete pads and astro turf. It was quite warm and we were able to test out the new air conditioner (works well). Still have doubts about the original one as the fan never turns off. Will have to research that.
We did a walk-thru on Sunday with the new tenants and turned over the keys. Chuck and June are quite nice and gave us a plaque for our ladder. We already had one from when we joined the owner’s club so it was cool to find out that Chuck and June own the business that sells these!
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| All Who Wander Are Not Lost |
That night Daniel came over with Foxie for a BBQ and visit. It was good to spend some time with him before we left. On Monday morning we got going early. Everything went smoothly. Put the cats in the bathroom while we brought in the slides and then let them out hoping that would keep them calmed down. Three hours to our next destination… Stopped at Gold Run rest area. Checked on the cats and could only find Chukar. D.K. must be hiding so we’ll have to find him later.
Bob missed the turn for the RV park. It’s not so easy finding a place to u-turn a 39’ 5th wheel! Finally made it to the site. Still no D.K. I searched everywhere I could think of and couldn’t find him. He’s not making any noise either. We called the Sparks Marina RV Park reported the cat missing and we also posted it online. We just couldn’t understand how he had escaped though. We were so careful. Boy did we feel sad.
We went to Bob’s parents house for dinner that night. Had a nice visit with Mom and Leon. Good spaghetti and chocolate cake! Invited them over to our place for a BBQ on Wednesday (tonight). Arrived back at the trailer (should we refer to it as the coach?) went into the bathroom, sat on the commode to do some business and heard meowing! As I was asking Bob if Chukar was meowing I saw a paw reach out from under the bed. It was black and white! It was D.K.!
Now you must understand that there isn’t really an “under the bed” like a real bed. There is a box of sorts with a piece of plywood on top of it and then a mattress. The plywood has a section which lifts up providing only a small amount of storage. The rest of the area is taken up by the slide mechanism. One, how did the cat get under the bed? And two, how were we going to get him out? We ended up moving the mattress and had to unscrew the plywood to gain access. But all is well and we think he just enjoyed a nice long nap in there!
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| Looking out of the screen door |
We leave tomorrow for Cloverdale. Thanks to everyone who replied to my last email; Brad B, Kenny, Mom and Leon, Rick, Bekki, Janice, and Maureen.
Until next time then…
4) eMail dated 2011.09.14
Day 24: Wow Time just zips on by. Last update had us headed for Cloverdale. Heard from Doug W. with “All the reviews for the KOA said it was tight and small”. So, of course went online to read the reviews and found the worst one was from folks who had arrived in the dark. I couldn't imagine doing that at this stage in our travels! Double checked our reservations and the campground information and decided to shrug it off… Lucky for us it was summertime and the bridge was open shortening our ride from the freeway from 6 to 3 miles. Granted the three miles were quite interesting. Didn't know which way to go at any given intersection but for the KOA “this way” signs. Very narrow country road next to vineyards. Then this sign…
Bob starts to brake and says OH GREAT! I tell him to keep going. Easy for me to say, I’m not driving that big house!
Then this sign…
We took these pictures at dusk but arrived in full daylight! The road was tight and twisty but really not that bad. The following signs cracked us up though…
HINKY DINKY PARLEZ VOUS, CHEER UP FOLKS, YOUR SEARCH IS THRU
Our site was huge and faced the pond. It was SO quiet and pleasant. And then the Labor Day crowd arrived. Kids everywhere! Dogs too. Nice park though.
We spent three days visiting with Diane and Kathy (Bob’s half sisters) and Jim, Kathy’s husband. We laughed so much! Always a good time with them.
Off we go to San Francisco RV Resort in Pacifica. It was foggy and wonderfully cool! We’d been dealing with 90° highs for too long. This “resort” is mostly filled with permanent residents. Think “trailer park”, which is exactly how Dan (Bob’s brother) was referring to it. THEN he called our rig a TRAILER! Can you believe it? We told him very snootily that we prefer to call it a “COACH”. Ha!
So the sites are paved (think parking lot) and are about 15 feet wide. Our coach is 13-1/2 feet wide with the slides extended. Couldn’t even use our awning, not that we needed it. The saving grace was the view out the living room window… Just a few feet from a 60 foot high cliff and ocean waves breaking.
The guy in the motor home next to us didn’t care for how close we parked. L We didn’t understand. There was at least an inch and a half between our slide outs! Seriously! Dan and Mary (Bob’s sister) both live in Pacifica as well as Bob’s good friend from high school, Jim. We thoroughly enjoyed visiting with everyone.
At “the dock” Pedro Point…
Jim’s pet bird
This is a fake palm tree. The neighbor used a light pole and added a wire cage, then tied palm fronds to it. Had to install it with a crane!
This takes care of days 11 through 17. We have lots more pictures to share from Santa Cruz so I think I’ll continue this dialogue with separate email.
Thanks to all who replied to my last update: Brad B, Mike L, Kenny, Rick, Bekki, Doug W, J & K, Sheri, Jackie and Family, Janice and Bob, Mary, J. Christie, Bob H, and Maureen B
5) eMail dated 2011.09.28
Yes, it’s been a long while. Writing this dialogue just seems like work. Sitting at the laptop, listening to the cars go by and the waves crashing on the seashore… Yeah, life is rough.
Spent a week at Scotts Valley just up the hill from Santa Cruz. Dave, Evelyn and David (my brother, sis-in-law and nephew) came for a bbq. They live in the bay area and it was their first look at our new home. Julie (friend from kindergarten) and Doug (her husband) also came by to visit. Very nice to see everyone and catch up! Also ran into Rick and Nancy (from Truckee) at Aldo’s at the harbor in Santa Cruz. Amazing!
Toured Capitola…
Did you know that Santa Cruz is NOT very dog friendly? No dogs on the wharf or most beaches! They even had a ban on dogs DOWNTOWN. What? No dogs even on the sidewalks? Crazy right? So we avoided downtown like the plague. Later found out they had temporarily lifted the ban for 3 months. Too late!
We found one beach for Willie. He loves the beach and always makes us laugh!
Bob’s man cave, note the tv…
Enough for now… Your friends, currently at Malibu, Kim (and Bob)
6) eMail dated 2011.09.28
Fresh from lunch at the Paradise Cove Beach Cafe. The sign says “lots of parking”. What they fail to mention is that you have to pay for it AND no dogs allowed, even in your vehicle. Well screw that! We made Willie hide in the back seat while we were there. Ha! Also had to spend $20 to get the ticket validated so we would only have to pay $3. We really went there for the free t-shirt that I had a coupon for. So really it’s pretty much as expected. Food was good and the beach view was great! T-shirt’s not bad either.
More pictures anyone? Back to the beach in Santa Cruz…
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| Cliff Art |
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| Two Guys and a Gal? |
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| Retired Machinist? |
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| And a Lighthouse... |
Our next stop was Paso Robles (Day 26) for our first Owners Club Rally! We had a total of 10 rigs. This picture shows 7 of the 10.
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| 3 Landmarks, 3 Bighorns, then us at the end |
It was interesting. Not that most of you care but our GMC was in the minority for pulling the group’s rigs.
As some of you have noticed I haven’t mentioned the cats recently. That’s because they are adapting quite well to their new abode! This is D.K. saying…What? Why shouldn't I hang out in the bathroom sink?
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| What? |
Note to Marlene - No the cats haven’t managed to sneak out the door yet!!! It’s been close a couple of times though.
Day 29 - Travel day to Ocean Mesa RV Resort in Goleta just west of Santa Barbara. Made an appointment to stop at Trailer Hitch in Nipomo (where we bought our coach). Bob was having a hard time with the holding tank sensors among other issues. Left the rig for them to look at and went to Pismo Beach to kill some time.
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| Lunch @ Pismo Chowder House |
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| Loved the wall murals! |
Oh and the clam chowder bread bowl was to die for!
Back at Trailer Hitch. They checked stuff out but couldn’t do any work because the parts would take too long to arrive and we are “on the road”. So our best bet is to wait until we reach the San Diego area where we will be spending a month. Oh, well. So far our experience with RV service departments has not been good. The people either have a superior attitude, are defensive, or are just plain grumpy. What’s up with that?
It is so cool to hear from everyone after sending out an update! Thanks Marlene & Leon, Josh L, Cindi, Pat and Steve, Rick and Nancy, RJ and Maureen, Mike L, Sheri, Julie C, Steve, Kenny, Jackie, Nancy, Denise, Keith, Ron, Bob H, Bekki, J & K, Bob & Janice, Judy, Paris (the dog) and Chuck (the husband), Chuck and June, and Mary!
Until next time…
7) eMail dated 2011.10.18
Mad dash to Elkhart Indiana! Now that you’re wondering what that means I’ll leave you hanging and start to get caught up!
Last you knew we were headed to Santa Barbara. Stayed at Ocean Mesa for a week where I celebrated my 51st birthday. Got a massage, card and flowers from Bob (After strong hints)(He’s my man!) and also went to lunch at the beach. Again nice view, good food and a fancy cocktail.
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| One of these was all I needed! |
These are some pictures from the area…
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| Another cool sign |
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| Resident Red Tail Hawk |
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| Fish Art |
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| More Fish Art |
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| Gull with Fish |
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| Octopus Art |
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| Mission Church Doors |
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| Morning Walk |
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| Willie with a sand beard Posing for us! |
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| Chalk Art on Pavement |
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| Flowers is September! |
This takes care of Days 29 through 35 (9/19 - 9/25). Next stop Malibu…Stay tuned for more information on our trip to Indiana.
Nice to hear back from RAUL, PHIL, SUMMER, BRAD A, KENNY, JUDY AND CHUCK, JACKIE, NANCY R., MATT, BOB H., KEITH, DOUG AND CAROL, RJ AND MAUREEN, BRAD B., BING, RON G., MIKE L., DIANE, BEKKY AND FRED, BOB AND JANICE, ANDREA AND ED AND RICK!
8) eMail dated 2011.10.21
Elkhart, Indiana is home to our rig's "RV Manufacturer". It’s also the place we have to go to get some warranty work done. Apparently if there is some flex happening in the nose of the fifth wheel it must be fixed at the manufacturer’s service center. So there you go… What’re you going to do?
Days 36-38 (9/26-9/28)
So back to the update. Remember I’m behind so go back a few weeks (or several) and you will find us at Malibu. Doesn’t the name just sound so nice?
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| Malibu... |
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| Our coach is second from right |
The RV park is across the PCH and up the hill from the ocean.
We didn’t do a whole here. Walked to the beach, had lunch at the restaurant down the hill and took pictures. The weather was fabulous!
Ah, Malibu…
Next update will be on our stay at Newport Beach. And the one after that will be on our stay at Santee Lakes (San Diego). And the one after that on our mad dash to Indiana!
Special mention goes to Julie who finally caved in to the pressure to respond!!! YOU GO GIRL! Hahahahaha!
Jackie loved the sand beard, Brad B said to go to a Notre Dame football game while we’re in Indiana, Nancy and Russ love the fish art and said the picture of Willie is priceless! Matt said we should go to the 49er vs. Washington Redskins game on Sunday Nov 6th and gave us the link for tickets! Got a weather report and good will from Bob H., Steve wanted to know if we’d be coming his way through Kansas (no). Mom and Leon were surprised to see a picture of us in AZ on Facebook when they thought we were in San Diego. Kit checked in from the Eastern Sierra’s. Raul said HOLA. Kat and Jim are confused about where we are. Rick wants to know why we are going to Indiana and is waiting to share his news with me (punishment?, payback?) Rj (who is extremely FUNNY) says “Indiana, NOOOOOOOOOOOO, Sorry, a little North Dakota flash back for me.”
Signing off from Springfield, Moosouri.
Kim (and Bob)
p.s. Tomorrow we move on to Illinois and then Elkhart on Sunday
9) eMail dated 2011.11.03
Day 74 finds us on I-77 South in central Ohio. I’m updating in the truck as we have a long travel day today. It’s been almost two weeks since my last confession. Wait! I mean last update!
Please note: names have been changed to protect the guilty...
So we were on our way to Elkhart, Indiana. We arrived on a Sunday, parked the rig at a campground 1-1/2 miles from the hotel. We made three trips lugging our stuff to and fro. WHAT A PAIN! It was decided we were definitely NOT having fun. Got the cats settled in (under the hotel bed hiding). We had a one bedroom suite with a full kitchen minus an oven. Got up Monday morning and went to hook up the coach. Wanted to be at the RV Factory before 8am. Did you know the sun doesn’t rise until after 8 in that part of the country? It was nice and dark for us as we hooked up and tried to find the place. Realized too late we should have scoped it out the night before. Couldn’t find the address without stopping, getting out of the truck and walking up to the buildings. We had to wait for 8:00 for the customer service people to get to work. Finally announced ourselves and "Dirk" comes out to greet us with a blank (deer in the headlights look) and asks “Why am I at a loss?” Bob and I looked at each other with a look that said here we go AGAIN! Had to bring the guy up to date. "Raylan", our first contact, got us all set up during his last week with the company. He was unable to hand us off to anyone in particular. I had called the Friday before and spoke with "Sal" who said just ask for me or "Dirk" when you arrive. They have a serious lack of communication going on there.
It really only got worse from there. The nose of the fifth wheel was flexing and causing separation at the seams on both sides. We had a problem with the furnace/air conditioner thermostat and the ladder in addition to a list of minor issues that we had accumulated during the weeklong trip. We left the coach for an expected 3 - 4 days and returned daily to check on the progress. I think we went over our list item by item with three different people.
Now we had a few days to kill. Went to the RV Hall of Fame. How very exciting! No, really it was interesting. At last we were told it was ready for pick up on Friday and yes they had the reimbursement check ready. We arrive at the pickup area and can see that they hadn’t cleaned our coach. It was extremely dirty from all the body work dust and rain bay testing. We were at the end of our ropes at that point and this put us over the edge. Bob was furious! We didn’t even care to do the walk-through, we just wanted to hook up and leave. Then I noticed that the seam on the passenger side was separating again. NOT GOOD. They also warned us in an off-hand comment that they weighed the pin (front) of the trailer and it was dangerously close to the maximum recommend weight and we should be careful. WHAT? Then "Dirk" talked us into sharing our feelings with his boss.
Off we go back the office. After an unsatisfactory conversation with "Tony" (who by the way didn’t introduce himself until asked and then only with his first name) . UNPROFESSIONAL to say the least. We gathered to look at the problem out in the parking lot and they said we should leave it for a couple of hours so they could take another look at it. At the repair shop the guy tells us to check back with him on Monday around 10 or 11 o’clock. So we had to go back to the office to talk to "Tony". Yes, he says, leave it for the weekend. We told him we wanted the coach cleaned before we picked it up and this is what he said. “You have to understand how "RV Manufacturer" works. This is the factory and we don’t have a way to clean it. We don’t have a wash bay” He was serious! Unbelievable!
Well here’s a couple of pictures. I’ve been long winded and didn’t even finish the story. I promise I will in a couple of days.
Kim (and Bob)
p.s. We will be in Myrtle Beach SC on Saturday 11/5 for at least a week!
10) eMail dated 2011.11.05
Ok, where was I? Ah, killing more time in Elkhart, Indiana. First though I forgot a couple of things on the last update… We were able to tour the "RV Factory", not the whole factory, as it is spread among several buildings. They had a sales guy give us the tour of the line that builds our model. He must be a really good sales guy if his enthusiasm counts for anything. The “factory” wasn't very impressive even though they claim to have 8 to 10 coaches a day coming off the line. How can you have a good quality system? OSHA would have a field day!
I also forgot to tell you what happened the Wednesday morning before the Friday when we didn’t pick up the coach. Here is a copy of the email message I received from "Dirk":
Good Morning Kim, it has been brought to my attention that it has been blogged of what "RV Manufacturer" is doing for you concerning incidental charges incurred with your repair. This is an arrangement that we make on a case by case basis with each customer so I would kindly ask that you remove anything posted to the public concerning incidental charges outside of the repair itself that we are taking care of. If you have any questions feel free to contact me on this.
First off I haven’t been blogging. Just sending these emails. Secondly, did anyone inform me that these incidental (I’d say substantial) charges we are incurring were a big secret! NO! I think it was at this point that I started getting PO’d. It took us awhile to figure what may have driven this email. On the day we arrived Bob saw another "RV Manufacturer" coach at the hotel next to us. He ended up talking with the owners and found out they also had an appointment for service. All of the details were discussed. They had water damage on their six year old rig. For some reason the factory was picking up the cost of the labor but not the parts. They probably told "RV Manufacturer" what they had heard and asked for a better deal on situation because Bob spoke with the guy later in the week and he said "RV Manufacturer" decided not to charge for the parts!
Yes, killing time…
Went shopping at the Apple Store for a new phone. Verizon now carries the iphone. I’m now the proud owner of an iphone4. So far it’s pretty cool. The map app is much better than I had before. The camera works great too! Lots to learn though. Had a very good salesman there. What a refreshing change. He suggested visiting Amish Acres and also touring Notre Dame. We did both although our experience at Amish Acres was subpar as Bob wasn’t into it. He thinks “those people” are just out there and he couldn’t see paying $17.95 each for a family style lunch and paying another $12.95 for a tour. So we didn’t. But then he wanted to know what their deal was but I told him “I don’t know and we’ll never know now because we didn’t do the tour!” On Sunday we went to Notre Dame. It was cloudy and cold. We walked the campus and took a couple of pictures. Lots of brick!
Monday rolls around and we send an email to "Dirk" at "RV Manufacturer" recapping what we expect should be done to rework the rework. Guess what? We get an automated response that "Dirk" is out of the office. He must not have wanted to deal with us again! So we were referred to "Raylan". Guess what? He has no idea what is going on with our coach! Had to explain everything again! He calls and says the coach is supposed to be done that morning between 10 and 10:30. Really? How is it that the repair done on the other side is a 3 day job but for the this side it’s not? It’s also amazing how those people can listen to your requests and then just ignore all but one item? Had to ask over and over again to have all the issues addressed. Didn’t hear from them until 2:30 saying that the coach would be ready in 20 minutes or so. At least we weren’t pissed off anymore, just resigned to the situation. Wait, wait and wait some more. They made a better effort at cleaning this time. The inside was acceptable. The outside was better but still a mess. "Tony" (I like to call him Mr. Personality) made an better effort to be nice. They had to order some parts for the ladder and we have to wait for the reimbursement check this time but we finally drove away with our coach!
Back to the hotel. Had to rearrange everything before we could start moving back in. We spent the night in the hotel and left for Rittman, Ohio (to visit Janice and Bob Gould) the next morning. More on Bob and Janice and our visit next time.
Playing house in Myrtle Beach (YEAH)
11) eMail dated 2011.11.12
On a brighter note here are a few pictures of Caden, our Grandson, playing soccer during our visit to Mike and Julie’s in Irvine, CA. It was very good to spend time visiting as we don’t have the opportunity very often.
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| Caden, 3rd from left (with his eyes closed) |
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| Caden running! |
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| Mike and Caden #9 |
Caden is unbelievably bright! Very sharp, what a good kid!
We stayed at Newport Dunes while we were there. Went on a long (too long) bike ride on the back bay loop. I wasn’t quite up to ten miles on my first outing of the year. It would have been so much easier if it was flat and I was mentally prepared. I thought we were doing a short 2 miles!
Met a couple of new full-time RVers parked next to us. They had the cutest little Airstream…
They pull this with a Cayenne. So they’ve named them Salt and Pepper. They plan to tour Europe!
(Hi Kit and Alan!)
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| Big Country and Salt |
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| Sunset was beautiful! |
Here are pictures taken in the park.
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| Our site #300 |
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| The Rig |
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| Go niners! |
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| View of one of seven lakes |
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| Another lake... |
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| Walking Path |
The cats are really enjoying the CATIO.
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| D.K. and Chukar in the catio |
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| Chukar is just gorgeous! |
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| Dog Friendly Beach |
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| Found a bug... Not that we were looking for one! |
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| Underpass Art |
Tomorrow is a travel day, very short, as we head to Charleston, South Carolina. Really enjoying everybody’s southern accents here. Just cracks us up!
Sorry too lazy to mention everyone who responded but please know I really like to hear from you!!!
So now we have a new truck, well almost new (it had 3700 miles on it) and a lot less money…
12) eMail dated 2011.12.04
A good friend (actually someone I met just briefly) sent me an email yesterday wondering what’s up with us. It’s been so, so long since our last update…
So here I am back at the keyboard instead of planning what to cook, cooking, eating, going for a walk, riding the bicycle, hanging out at the tiki hut or the pool, chatting with neighbors, taking Willie out to do his business, reading a book, reading the news, cleaning the trailer, doing dishes, doing laundry, paying bills, petting the cats, taking pictures, grocery shopping, clothes shopping, sightseeing, listening to Bob talk about his fishing trips, walking on the beach, making reservations for RV parks, watching TV, or listening to channel 961 on dish network and RELAXING!
So enough about me. This is what’s been up with us since leaving Elkhart, Indiana.
OHIO- November 1st and 2nd
Visited with friends, Bob and Janice Gould in Rittman, Ohio, where they now live. We met them through the local Harley Owners Group in Reno. Great people! Several years ago they moved to Alaska and we hadn’t seen them since. Janice said we could park our rig in their driveway but didn’t mention it wasn’t flat. No matter, we put blocks under the tires (at my insistence), and set-up to dry camp. Janice tried hard to get us to stay in the house but I thought it would be better for our animals if we stayed in the trailer (no I’m not calling it a “coach” right now). We have a clock that projects the time and outside temp on the ceiling above our bed. Good to know, right? Well it stopped projecting sometime during the night. What that means is we lost 110 power. So it seems our solar/inverter/battery system is not working properly. Bummer!
Bob and Janice were very good hosts, taking us out to eat and sightsee. Lots to do in Rittman, Ohio! Went to a cool hardware store. Unbelievable how much stuff they have, room after room after room.
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| Outside the store |
Bob Gould had the audacity to take Bob Dance to Quaker Steak & Lube. This after I told him how Bob won’t eat at restaurants with gross names (think Gastro Pub and Fat Burger). Pretty funny.
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| Quaker Steak & Lube |
Now Janice is just plain crazy fun. Unless you start Sarah Palin bashing! Must be all that time she spent in Alaska… We are really glad we were able to fit them into our plans (thanks "RV Manufacturer"!).
West Virginia- November 3rd
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| Blew right through |
Virginia- November 3rd and 4th
Stayed two nights to regroup and get the rig back in shape. Experienced our first truck wash. Cheap! Saw our share of vibrant fall colors. Really started noticing a change in folk’s accents.
South Carolina - November 5th through 16th
Stayed a week and a half at Ocean Lakes Campground in Myrtle Beach. Had a great site just one site from the beach.
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| Front Door View |
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| The Beach |
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| Sunrise |
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| Another sunrise Looks like a sunset to me |
We toured Brookgreen Gardens. What is Brookgreen Gardens you say? It is a garden museum, founded by Archer and Anna Hyatt Huntington in 1936 to preserve the native flora and fauna and display objects of art within that natural setting. It is also a National Historic Landmark with the most significant collection of figurative sculpture in an outdoor setting by American artists in the world and has the only zoo accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums on the coast of the Carolinas. Okay I got most of that off their website http://www.brookgreen.org/ blah, blah, blah
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| Scary |
This sign led us to believe that the alligators, snakes and insects can read as we didn’t encounter any on the paths. We saw our first alligator and venomous snake on the pontoon boat tour and took lots of pictures of the grounds, sculptures and zoo animals.
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| Dancing Naked Men |
Look closely, these are naked dancing men. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
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| Example of other sculptures |
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| Many Large Oaks |
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| Water Moccasin |
This guy was chasing our tour boat. Seriously the captain had to take off so the snake couldn’t get in the boat!
Remember when I mentioned the "RV Manufacturer" people said our pin weight was on the high side? Well this was a real concern for us because most of our belongings were in the hotel or piled in the back of the trailer at the time. We knew we really needed to weigh it. We tried on our way to Ohio and was told they didn’t do axle weighing. So we put it off. While we were in Myrtle Beach Bob decided to upgrade the new air-ride hitch to the larger size. We would need to go to the Estes Express terminal north of Charleston to exchange it. Plans were made. He also looked at bigger trucks when he went to the GMC dealer to have the oil changed. I probably shouldn’t have let him go by himself. They had a 2011 GMC 3500 Sierra Denali dually in black that they tried real hard to sell him. What a story! Glad I wasn’t there. I hate dealing with car salesmen.
Stayed outside of Charleston at the Oak Plantation for 4 nights.
On our trip from Myrtle Beach to Charleston we finally managed to weigh the trailer. Quite an accomplishment when you’ve never done it before. At least that’s how it felt. Found out the rear axle of the truck was over the maximum by 1340 pounds! It didn’t take long for us to decide to trade-in our truck for the 1 ton truck Bob had looked at in Myrtle Beach. We had a very long day exchanging the hitch at Estes, traveling two hours to the GMC dealer, buying the truck (takes forever), THEN having a shop install the new hitch and drive back to Charleston. Whew!
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| Ah, the dually |
Georgia - November 17th
Florida - November 18th Fort St. Lucie
Florida Keys - November 19 to present!
We are staying in Marathon at Grassy Key RV Park for a month. As of today we’ve been here 16 days and are enjoying it very much. The weather was quite warm and humid when we arrived but has changed to not as warm or humid lately. It can be very breezy and that helps to keep the “no-see-ums” bugs away. Highs are 75 to 85 with lows 60 to 70. We’ve only had rain a few times. It got down to 60 a few days back and everyone was complaining about the cold! What wimps! Anyway it’s very hard to get into the Christmas spirit with this kind of weather. Should we “bah humbug” it?
So now you know what’s up with the Dance’s… Living large in the Florida Keys!
p.s. more on our stay here next update.
The marina as viewed from tiki hut
The tiki hut
Color in the sky
Iguanas at the marina
Papa Iguana!
Jack’s boat
Jack and Diane
Jack and his boat
Out fishing
FISH ON!
Happy Jack!
Our first boat parade
The fuzz
Party boat
Goofy Captain Bob
Just a little tattoo for Bob to remember his Florida Keys fishing days
Is that Bob? Long haired, tattooed and drinking a BEER? He also has a good tan!
Typical Beach
Not many people
Everyday occurrence
Waiting for handouts
Water sports on Key West
Tarpon waiting for food on Islamorada
13) eMail dated 2012.01.16
Happy New Year! Long time eh? It’s been so long that I received the following text message:
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My reply:
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Boy that sure cracked me up! Gotta love that Janice!!!!
So, what HAVE we been up to? Last update we were half way through our stay in Marathon, one of the middle keys of Florida. Cons - Hot, humid, biting midges. Pros - Ocean, gulf, beaches, palm trees, 97 degree pool, Jack and Diane, tiki hut, fishing on a boat numerous times (Bob), meeting new people. The pros have it!
These are pictures taken during our stay at Grassy Key RV Park.
The marina as viewed from tiki hut
The tiki hut
Color in the sky
Iguanas at the marina
Papa Iguana!
Jack’s boat
Bob had the good fortune to meet Jack who was staying at Grassy Key RV park for six months. He had a boat and LOVED to fish. One thing lead to another and Bob was Jack’s new fishing buddy. Met his wife Diane and enjoyed their company for a fish fry, Christmas boat parade, a bar-b-q and FISH TACOS! I love taco’s. Just ask Jack!
Jack and Diane
Jack and his boat
Out fishing
FISH ON!
Happy Jack!
Our first boat parade
The fuzz
Party boat
Goofy Captain Bob
Just a little tattoo for Bob to remember his Florida Keys fishing days
Is that Bob? Long haired, tattooed and drinking a BEER? He also has a good tan!
Typical Beach
Not many people
Everyday occurrence
Waiting for handouts
Water sports on Key West
Tarpon waiting for food on Islamorada
Had to go to the southernmost point in the continental USA! Only 90 miles to Cuba! Is that a good thing?
Next update will cover our visits to the Everglades, our stay in Naples and Disney World. Want to hear from YOU! I’m happy with ALL responses so feel free to reply with one sentence or even one word.
Word!
Life is good!
Cool!
Bad Ass!
Wish I was there!
Are just a few choice choices!
Kim (and Bob)
p.s. we are currently at Wilderness RV in Silver Springs Florida just west of Ocala National Forest until 2/12
What a good boy!
Typical landscape
Lots of boardwalk paths.
Birds
Birds
And more birds
Air plants growing on trees
Alligators
Our site!
Rental kayak trip (That’s Willie complete with life vest in the crate)
Which way do I go?
Bob can use it to fish with too! (and has)(and caught fish)(can’t blame lack of fish catching on the vessel - Kit!)
Our maiden voyage was from our “back Yard” into the lake. Finally spied the resident gator on the bank.
We found a crate the same color as the kayak. Bob cut a couple of slots in the bottom and attached it with the existing bungee set up. Of course we added a blanket. Willie’s such a trooper!
Through the Mangroves we go
So peaceful
Slow for the manatees (not us, the boats with motors!)
Wow
Dolphins!
Our next boat?
Tower of Terror. So fun I rode twice. Bob wimped out and took a pass.
Look close, that’s me on the ride.
Took 15 minutes for Bob to get this shot.
Pink Flamingos
A giraffe
Man made tree of life.
Funny that Bob choose this moment during the parade to take a photo.
14) eMail dated 2012.01.23
Dang 49ers!
It was MOST EXCELLENT to hear from: Josh, Janice, Raul, Sheri (and Tom), Steve H, Mike L, Dianne, Jackie and family, Ken, Kit, Bob H, Rick, Cindi, Jim & Kat, RJ & Maureen, Summer, Denise, Kristine, Steve G, Nancy and Russ, Guy, Michael, Lisa, Ajax & Maggie, AND Hank and Carol! Hopefully I didn’t miss anyone…
Still here in Silver Springs, Florida until 2/12. No plans yet for our next destination other than we are heading to the gulf side of Texas. Any suggestions?
Missed a picture of Willie last email.
What a good boy!
Before we left Marathon Bob thought it prudent to check the air pressure on all the tires. Seems innocent enough. After some time he comes to me confused. He was trying to determine how much air pressure should be in the truck tires and discovered the tires are not all the same. Get this, the truck was sent to American Luxury Coach (ALC) for customization by the owner of the dealership and upgraded tires were installed. Some fancy 10 ply heavy duty tires, EXCEPT 3 of the 6 tires installed were light duty.
AND here we go again! We contacted the dealership and was put in contact with the owner of ALC. He contacted the tire distributor and said they would ship 3 new tires. Bob was not at all happy about this. His view was that it was a new truck and all the tires should be equally new (or worn). But it ended up being the best they would do. Since we were a long way from Myrtle Beach we agreed to have the work done at a dealership, familiar with ALC, on our way to Disney World. About 3 weeks later! We were assured it would be safe to travel and so we did.
Off to Miami Everglades Resort south of Miami (Dec 19th - 22nd)
We spent one day at Everglades National Park enjoying a Ranger lead walk and meandering through the east and southern end of the park by car. The other day we shopped at Costco. Was kind of going through withdrawals.
Typical landscape
Lots of boardwalk paths.
Birds
Birds
And more birds
Air plants growing on trees
Alligators
So many pictures! I think I’ll devote the next update to our stay over Christmas and New Years in Naples… Stay warm!
15) eMail dated 2012.01.23
Hey bet you didn't think you’d see another one so fast! It is a very pleasant 79 degrees with a slight breeze. All the weekenders are gone and it’s very quiet. Sitting outside listening to music and writing to you…
While we were in the Keys a couple of people highly recommended a place called Silver Lakes in Naples. So I checked it out and made reservations to stay two weeks over the holidays. It is an ownership park where every site is privately owned. Some have park mobiles on them, others Class A motorhomes, 5th wheels or trailers. Many sites are empty awaiting their owners visit or, like ours, waiting to be rented out. The grounds are very pretty and highly maintained! Three pools, a couple of club houses and an executive golf course. Lots of activities, if you are into that. (we aren’t) Oh they also have a few small lakes complete with resident alligators, turtles and birds. Everybody was super friendly. The city of Naples is also very nice. It was definitely a great way to spend two weeks.
Our site!
We decided to buy a kayak there. (Sorry Jack, I think you’d rather see Bob buy a real boat) We made a couple of visits to kayak stores and found one with extremely knowledgeable sales guys. It just so happens this store carries Hobie Cats! Bob says they are the crème de la crème of kayaks. What really sold us was the “Mirage Drive”. It is a device which allows for peddling versus paddling. But first we rented the model we thought we wanted. Had to make sure we could take Willie along.
Rental kayak trip (That’s Willie complete with life vest in the crate)
Which way do I go?
The next day we made the purchase!
Bob can use it to fish with too! (and has)(and caught fish)(can’t blame lack of fish catching on the vessel - Kit!)
Our maiden voyage was from our “back Yard” into the lake. Finally spied the resident gator on the bank.
We found a crate the same color as the kayak. Bob cut a couple of slots in the bottom and attached it with the existing bungee set up. Of course we added a blanket. Willie’s such a trooper!
We then got busy kayaking. We returned to Everglades National Park, this time on the west side, and kayaked out into the bay. Our main focus was on not getting lost! So much Fun!
We also explored The Rookery. It was only a couple of miles down the road and it was so cool!
Through the Mangroves we go
So peaceful
Slow for the manatees (not us, the boats with motors!)
Wow
Dolphins!
Our next boat?
Geez, I ran out of room again! Next dialogue Sanibel Island and DISNEY WORLD!
Kim (and Bob)
p.s. I haven’t mentioned the cats lately because they are doing so well!
16) eMail dated 2012.02.07
It’s cloudy and cool today so it seemed like a good idea to kick back on the couch with the laptop and put together an update. We are still in Silver Springs, Florida but will be moving to Cedar Key, Florida on Sunday. Only about 80 miles west. Looking forward to kayaking and touring the island on a golf cart. Apparently that’s the thing to do!
I so enjoy the responses from everyone. One person has been really paying close attention and wrote the following:
Let’s see if I have this right, Bob’s taking the truck to Disney World to get tires?
That's a real estate agent laying on the bank by the building on the lake?
The wild life pictures are from Costco?
You’re using Willie as a lure to draw in the big, big one for Bob to catch?
Oh, so, so FUNNY!!!!
So back to our day trip to Sanibel Island (1/3/12) - When we were in Myrtle Beach we ran into a lady on the beach while we were gathering seashells. She said she was from Sanibel and told us we should go there as it has a reputation for an abundance of shells. So we did!
On our way we stopped at a dog friendly beach. Willie loves to run on the beach and we are always on the lookout for one.
Fun! Now off to Sanibel. It cost six bucks to cross the causeway! Had lunch at the Blue Giraffe
Next, to the beach for shells and found other interesting things.
It’s NOT what you think! Although we don’t KNOW what it is!
And yes there were a lot of shells to be found!
Disney World (1/5 - 1/12) We stayed at the Walt Disney World (WDW) campground, Fort Wilderness. It was very nice. Lots of trees and landscaping. Generous sized sites. But lots of noise. We could hear the race car noise from the WDW speedway. Most evenings we could hear the sound from the outdoor movie and every night there were one or two sets of fireworks. Very loud. Good thing Foxie (the dog that doesn’t travel well) is with Daniel. She really didn’t like fireworks! Also Bob had to live without satellite TV because of all the trees. We now make it a point to consider when looking for the next place to stay.
We were able to meet up with Matt, one of our former employees, for breakfast. He was in town for the Disney World Marathon. Very good of him to take the time to see us!
Tower of Terror. So fun I rode twice. Bob wimped out and took a pass.
Look close, that’s me on the ride.
Took 15 minutes for Bob to get this shot.
Pink Flamingos
A giraffe
Man made tree of life.
Funny that Bob choose this moment during the parade to take a photo.
We had tickets for six days and went to the parks for five of the days. It took two weeks to recover!
What? Did you say “but what about Willie? Surely he’s not allowed at WDW”. No, he’s not!
Day care at Best Friends Pet Care here we come…
Willie sent us an email from camp with this picture:
For those of you following the story line, we successfully had the tires replaced on the truck on our way to Disney World.
We’ve been looking at the calendar and trying to plan our trip home (west). Originally we planned to be back for a dentist appointment in early April. But now it will be early May. Seems we’re not in much of a hurry. Nice huh?
Kim (and Bob)’s excellent adventures!
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