| Friday, November 30, 2007 Yesterday began with breakfast in the clubhouse and then we visited College of the Ozarks which is a very unique college, the Ralph Foster Museum in which is an excellent display of wild animals, and Branson Landing that is a nicely laid out and decorated shopping mall. Last night we attended the Presley Jubilee which is a wonderful variety show. The weather was beautiful and we had a marvelous day. We will have pictures and give you more of the details in our next travelogue. Today will be another busy day so I.m going to be short; it's time for me to get a shower and get going. See ya tomorrow. Thursday, November 29, 2007 Let the good times roll!!! Last night was the HOP kick off catered dinner and today we start with a "hot" breakfast then a tour of the College of the Ozarks and the Ralph Foster Museum followed by several hours at Branson Landing (the shop-a-holics will enjoy that). This evening we will be going to our first show which is the Presley Jubilee. I will write in more detail about the Branson tour in our next travelogue, so stay tuned. Katie and Alex are good travelers, for katts, but they enjoy staying in one place for several days before getting back into the truck. They ride in the truck with us as we have all of the accommodations for them in the back seat. There's food and water, a litter box, a sheep skin to lay on, a little katt house for scratching on, and a large carrying case with a blanket in it. The carrying case is seat belted in and we prefer that they ride (and sleep) in there but it is not mandatory. We, also, put a towel on the center console so they can come up with us on occasion. We are thinking about putting in an in-motion satellite system with a television and surround sound system and serving "in flight" snack so they can watch their favorite shows in comfort as we travel along ;-). Anyway, they have been quite content to "stay put" here in Branson for a few days and not get back into the truck. Speaking of them, you haven't heard from them lately so they are working on an article to be included in the website's Article section. They are quite slow at writing as it is hard to keep them focused. If I didn't know better I would think that they were ADD. I'm not exactly sure what they are writing about but I think it is going to be on selecting an RV. Of course, this would be entirely from their purr-spective and would include all of the options that a katts would need to become fulltime RVers. It should be quite enlightening and I will let you know when they publish it. Alex has continued to feel pretty good. He must have just gotten some sort of a bug but has remained himself since leaving Alabama so hopefully it has passed. They both need to go to the vet for some shots as soon as we get back to Rainbow Plantation so we'll have him checked out at that time to make sure that he doesn't have some kind of infection. But he is eating well, getting into things, pestering his sister, and being quite active so those are all good signs of a healthy kitty. Wednesday, November 28, 2007 Hip, Hip, Hooray - it is warm enough for me to wear my shorts today! Well, yesterday afternoon, anyway, and maybe later today. I don't like long pants, socks, and shoes anymore so I get all excited when it's warm enough to put on my shorts and sandals. They are so much more comfortable and "freeing" to wear. I know, it doesn't take much to get me excited. Anyway, we did our own mini tour of Branson to get the "lay of the land". It's not exactly as I pictured it in my mind. I thought it would be more like Pigeon Forge, Tennessee in it that it would be a straight strip with a six lane highway and all of the "shows" lined up. But, it is built on the hill sides with the shows scattered all around a four plus mile area. It makes it a little nicer however the traffic flow is more congested especially at the intersections. Quite picturesque when viewing it from a distance. We stopped at Dunkin Donuts for some of their coffee, I love Dunkin Donuts coffee, then we stopped at Stone Hill Winery to pick up some wine. The winery will be included on our tour but there will be 70 people touring with us and we figured that there might not be enough time for wine tasting. We like to take our time and be able to ask questions about the wines as we taste them. When there are a lot of people you don't get that opportunity. Later we worked on our Christmas Letter, filled out application forms for workamping at Acres of Wildlife in Maine this coming summer, and a did little other paperwork that has been piling up. This morning I will be working on our next travelogue and will wash the dirt off the front of the RV. This afternoon is registration, happy hour, and a catered dinner with the tour group. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day starting 8:00 AM and ending around 11:00 PM. There will be a lot crammed into the next four days - at least we won't be bored. Tuesday, November 27, 2007 After six plus hours of driving we arrived safe and sound at Turkey Creek RV Village. We tend to dilly dally along the way so it took us longer than normal to get here, but we did enjoy the ride. Route 65 is a hilly winding road that goes through the Ozark Mountains. It was an overcast grey kind of day so the scenery wasn't as pretty as it could have been but the views were still pretty. Turkey Creek RV Village is just around the bend and across the river from Branson in the little town of Hollister, Missouri. It is a nice little campground with around 70 sites which are pretty "compact" to say the least. There will be 38 rigs joining our tour group which means that there will be around 70 people. It should be a lot of fun and we are looking forward to Wednesday afternoon when everything kicks off. GPS is a handy little tool to have but it can be misleading at times. Especially at intersections that have been reconstructed. Naggie Maggie, that's what we have named it, kept telling us to turn left but there was no left turn. We had to exit right and then turn left but it was obvious to us so it wasn't a problem, however. there are times when that could spell trouble. How about when you are in rush hour traffic and you make your way to the left lane just to find that you needed to exit to the right. There is no redeeming yourself at that point, it will be "Off route, recalculating!!" for you as you look at your exit from the side window. For the most part we a satisfied with unit but know that we cannot fully rely on it, the trick is to know when it's pulling your leg and, by the way, don't use it if you are traveling on April first. Monday, November 26, 2007 We drove and we drove and we drove. I keep saying I'm not going to do it again, but I do it anyway - "Oh, wretched man that I am". We drove eight hours to Memphis, Tennessee on Saturday not because that was our plan but because we just didn't find anywhere we wanted to stop and spend a couple of days. Rain was in the forecast so we decided that wherever we stayed we would there at least two days until the rain passed. As we drove along we got excited about spending an extra day in the Memphis area, gotta get some of those world famous B-B-Q ribs. So we pressed on and we are now sitting in Tom Sawyer's Mississippi River RV Park where we can look out our back window and watch the barges going up and down the Mississippi River. Now how cool is that? That in itself makes it worth the drive! Yesterday was a "Rain, Rain go away" day - actually the southeast needs all the rain they can get so I guess we need to embrace it. It didn't bother us anyway, we have learned that every day is to be enjoyed in spite of the weather so drove into Memphis to visit Beale Street. Beale Street is to Memphis what Broadway is to Nashville. Broadway is the "home" of country music whereas Beale street is the "home" of the blues. So we went walking in the rain sightseeing along Beale Street where we feasted on B-B-Q ribs at the Blues City Cafe - Yummy, Yummy!!! We'll have some pictures and more about our visit to Beale Street in our next travelogue. Today we will continue our journey to Branson. It is only a little over five hours from here so we will drive straight through. We will be staying at Turkey Creek RV Park which is another Escapees Park and meeting up with the tour group on Wednesday. Saturday, November 24, 2007 Alex is being Alex again, getting into everything, pestering his sister, just plain being Alex. We don't know what was wrong with him and the vet wasn't opened yesterday. Maybe just hearing about going to the doctor scared him well again, I doubt it though. But the good thing is that he is being himself and he feels better. We wouldn't have wanted to travel with a sick kitty. We are ready to roll and will be leaving this morning in order to get out of town before the storm that is coming in off of the Gulf of Mexico hits land. There will be plenty of rain here for the next two or three days. We may end up spending a few days in the Memphis area if the storm comes that far north and catches us. Anyway, we have plenty of time to make it to Branson without pushing it and the katts will be happy to know that we won't be having three back to back traveling days. After sitting for six weeks there is a lot of things to do to get ready to roll. I spent the better part of yesterday packing up and putting things away. We will be traveling a little lighter thanks to having the shed. I took everything that we will not need for this trip out of the RV. I can see that once we get back I will need to do a "weeding out" and get rid of some items that we are not using. A shed can contribute to the "pack rat" syndrome that we all seem to possess. Before we know it we start accumulating "stuff" again. Can't let that happen, can we? Well, I better get moving - literally!! :-) Friday, November 23, 2007 Today will be "getting ready to rumble" day. Tomorrow we will leave for Branson. We were planning to leave today but Alex has been sick and we are hoping to get him to the vet this morning. He's much better this morning so maybe whatever bug he had has passed but it won't hurt to get him checked out. There's a severe weather warning for Saturday night through Sunday so it's a matter of getting out of here in the morning or waiting until Monday. If we leave Monday we will need to drive three back to back days to meet up with the tour group in Branson on Wednesday and the katts don't like that at all - can't say that I do either. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner yesterday. It was fun trying other people's "traditional" Thanksgiving dishes and sharing our table with "new" friends. There were about 160 of us altogether with 13 turkeys prepared. We had mashed 'taters with gravy, stuffin, yams, several different salads and casseroles, green beans, rolls, cranberry sauce, and, of course, apple and pumpkin pies. We took some of our Georgia Winery wine to sip with our meal. As always, there was lots of talking and laughing with live music provided after dinner for our entertainment. Another friend of ours just traded his fifthwheel for an American Eagle motorhome so I bought his Rotochok wheel chocks. Not only do these chocks hold the RV in place, but they help stabilize it while we are parked (less swaying). I negotiated for a heavy duty tripod to be included in the purchase of the Cedar Creek but it had remained in storage until this fall. I had picked it up when we were in Tennessee and brought it with us to Alabama. Between the tripod and the wheel chocks the RV is very stable with very little swaying movement. Another friend of ours has an anti-sway system installed on his front jacks and is very pleased with that, so there are several options out there for minimizing the sway in your fifthwheel. These are a couple more things that I would suggest you consider putting on your "must have" list for fulltiming. Thursday, November 22, 2007 Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!! Today we will be joining others at the clubhouse for our dinner. It will be a type of pot luck Thanksgiving Dinner with the Park providing the turkey and gravy. Hosts have been assigned to each table and has coordinated the meal with each of the people who signed up for that table. So, at this point I have no idea what we will be having along with our turkey other than what we are bringing. Judy is taking a Patterson traditional salad and I am making the stuffing. I'm sure that there will be plenty to eat and it will be mm-mm good. You can be assured that no one will go away hungry. So, again, Happy Thanksgiving and be sure to take some time to give thanks. Wednesday, November 21, 2007 Well, what can I tell ya? Yesterday was another one of those days that ended with a fire and friends. We just can't get enough of this life. But before setting fire to some wood we had gone into town to buy some more shrubs. Each of the sites are surrounded by shrubs and there are a couple of "gaps" in ours so we wanted to fill them in. Lowes had azalea bushes on sale for $10 each. They will grow to be about 4 to 5 feet tall and about 4 feet around. That will fill in the blank spaces just fine and it will give us some flowers about four times a year (plus they stink pretty when the flowers are in bloom). "If I were a rich man" we could do a lot of landscaping. Our neighbors, J. and Hiedi, have put in raised bed flower gardens, azalea bushes, some small trees, etc.. It looks like a master gardener class took place over there. But, they have had their site for over three years now and have added to the gardens each year so I'll just have to be patient do a little each year. While we were out we stopped in at Leisure Time RV to look at the new Newmar motorhomes. The Dutch Star has always been one of our favorites but again we come to the fact that we are fifthwheel people. We prefer the fifthwheel floorplans to motorhomes; fifthwheel layouts just seem to give us a more "homey" feeling. We did look at a Newmar Torrey Pines fifthwheel which is very well built but we are content with what we have and besides, as pointed out above, I am not a rich man. Today I will plant the shrubs while Judy gets her hair cut and goes grocery shopping. Then we will both work on getting ready to roll to Branson. We'll be leaving on Friday or Saturday depending on the weather forecasts. Also, Judy is going to make a couple of pies for tomorrow's dinner and I have to make the stuffing. We're looking forward to sharing Thanksgiving dinner at the Escapees' Clubhouse with all of our RVing buddies. So happy Thanksgiving everybody, we really do have a lot to be thankful for. Tuesday, November 20, 2007 I don't generally talk politics in this journal but this morning I'm just gonna. I just finished reading "Rise to Rebellion" by Jeff Shaara and now it is very clear to me why the war in Iraq will remain a quagmire. We never hear of any leaders in Iraq who have a vision for freedom or independence. Men like John Adams, Ben Franklin, Sam Adams, Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and numerous others who were willing to set aside their personal lives to serve a central cause. It was not easy and it was not quick. It took over three years of dedicated work on their behalf in order to end up with the Declaration of Independence. But they were focused and they were diligent and they pressed on when others would have quit. Further, the majority of the colonists wanted independence. The voters from all the colonies, even those colonies whose leaders were "more conservative" about breaking ties with England, supported the independence movement. Unfortunately, we don't see or hear of this kind of spirit in Iraq. I have never been a supporter of the decision to go to war in Iraq and could clearly see the Administration's charges were being trumped up in order to make the case for war. I believed Ambassador Wilson's assessment of the situation in Iraq and felt that the United States needed to remain focused on fighting Al-Queda and eliminating Bin Laden. There has never been peace in the middle east and there never will be. There are far too may extremist factions that have no tolerance for those who do not believe as they do. And this is just how things will continue to play out in Iraq unless the citizenry of that country unites behind a central cause and strong leaders, who are willing to set aside their personal lives for that cause, rise up to meet the challenge. We, the United States, cannot just march into any country and hand them their freedom; they have got to want it and they have got to be willing to sacrifice for it. There should have been that kind of movement in place before this country ever set foot in Iraq. Without that spirit things will just fall into anarchy. We are very fortunate in this country to have had men and women who were willing to make that kind of sacrifice. Those men had vision and have created for us a foundation that keeps us from loosing our way. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the Unites States keeps us on track as we move through time. Without that kind of foundation it is almost impossible for any country to stand for very long. In the future we need our leaders to be men and women with a working knowledge of the history of our great country and who understand how the principles of freedom and independence work before we go marching off to war. Okay, so now I got that off my chest. Now I can get back to RVing but I look forward to reading Jeff Shaara's next book entitled "The Glorious Cause" which will probably stir up a whole 'nother set of emotions. Oh well, that is what keeps us young, alive, and vibrant. Monday, November 19, 2007 Worship is a central part of our lives and yesterday was a grand day by any standard of measure. We really, really, really enjoy our church in Fairhope. It has a contemporary worship style with upbeat music and messages that are very relevant to today's culture. Pastor Bill has spent the last seven weeks teaching about heroes and yesterday's message was about Jesus being the ultimate hero. Each week we leave church having been challenged to be living role models of our Christian faith. People notice what we do more than they listen to what we say. So, as Paul taught us, we are to be "doers of the Word". Our church is made up of two campuses, the one we attend each week in Fairhope and another one located in Belforest, Alabama which is ten miles further north. Yesterday we had a "Block Party" at the Celebration Campus in Belforest. There was hay rides, face painting, pumpkin designing, a petting zone, two large bouncy houses, firetrucks on display, old cars on display, and a nice turkey dinner with all of the fixings. Judy and I manned one of the bouncy houses - boy, where do those kids get all of that energy? After all of the festivities we all moved inside for an evening of worship. The event was well attended and a good time was had by all. So now know you why it was such a grand day. Judy has added another entry in Judy's Corner explaining what "Baggy Omelets" are. I referred to them as omelets in a bag which is incorrect, I guess. They are called "baggy omelets" and depending on what you put in them they could be referred to as "dirty baggy omelets". In any event they are mm-mm good. Saturday, November 17, 2007 The weather is warming up again and we are going to have a neighborhood breakfast this morning with "omelets in a bag" being the main course. We'll all meet at Clyde and Sarita's where Clyde will have a big pot of water boiling on the gas burner and a nice camp fire burning just for ambiance. Everyone else will bring other "goodies" as well to share making this a big breakfast buffet. Judy is making some sausage and cheese biscuits that are yummy and will compliment the omelets just fine. As always, it will be lots of fun with plenty of conversation and laughter - there are no desperate housewives on this block!!!!! Other than breakfast I will continue reading Jeff Shaara's book "Rise to Rebellion" which is a historical novel of the American Revolution. I enjoy history and to read it in novel form makes just that much more palatable. There is a second novel in this series entitled "The Glorious Cause" which is setting on my coffee table waiting for me to finish the first book. Michael Shaara, Jeff's father, wrote "The Killer Angels" which was a Pulitzer Prize winning classic about the Civil War. Jeff added two more novels "God and Generals" and "The Last Full Measure" to complete the Civil War trilogy. I enjoyed those three novels as well but am enjoying this one even more. Being a New Englander many of these events took place right in my back yard and while reading this series I am making notes of the places I want to visit during our next trip to the Northeast. All of the above are great books of which I can highly recommend for your reading pleasure. Friday, November 16, 2007 It got cold last night, dropped into the high 30's and left a light frost on the ground for this morning. The fleece blankets kept us as "snug as a bug in a rug". We kept the furnace set at sixty and it came on a couple of times but we just pulled those blankets up around our noses and it was toasty warm. Thank you Penney's for putting them on a two thirds off sale. We purchased a coupon book for restaurants and other attractions in Baldwin and Mobile counties which covers the Gulf Coast of Alabama. It only cost $12 so we'll break even after having dinner today at Sea-n-Suds. Sea-n-Suds is a restaurant located on the pier in Gulf Shores; you actually have to walk out the pier to get to the restaurant. We are going with Jerry and Diane who "live across the street" from us (sounds like we have a house in a neighborhood, doesn't it?). They have been wanting to go and invited us to join them; can't imagine saying anything but yes. Several people have told us that it is a great restaurant with a great view - we shall see. I just love my oysters and shrimp - yum, yum! I wonder why I'm not losing any weight? Thursday, November 15, 2007 Whew, was it windy last night. We felt like a couple of babies in a cradle. Our nice warm weather has departed for a couple of days. It will be in the 60's during the day and slowly warming back up to the low 70's by Saturday. Brrrr, that's cold. We like it when it is in the high 70's or low 80's. I guess I'll have to find my winter parka. We've had two other East Traveler Street residents arrive. We had met Chuck and Jan last February and had plan to me up with them this summer as they were going to be workamping in Vermont. However, they ended up workamping at a campground in Pownal, Maine called Blueberry Pond Campground. They left the morning after Labor Day and we arrived the afternoon after Labor Day. We never knew they were there until we saw Jan's T-shirt with the Blueberry Pond logo. As we were talking about it our other neighbors, Ron and Connie, chimed in that they had been there in October as well. How funny, three of us on East Traveler Street in Summerdale, Alabama were at this small campground in Pownal, Maine within a month of each other. Had we known we could have scheduled a family reunion!!!! Just another "Small World" experience. The gatherings are increasing in size. Bob and Pam had a fire in their fire pit last evening and before you knew it there was a dozen people, all chatting their heads off and laughing up a storm (that's probably where the wind came from last night). What fun, this is the socializing part that we just love about our lifestyle. It is fun to travel and see new things but it is also fun to have a "neighborhood" full of friends who love getting together just to enjoy each other's company. Having this site at Rainbow Plantation is one of three legs of our lifestyle - socializing while the other two are traveling and workamping. Yes, we are going to have to continue doing some workamping along the way - yuck!!!. But it sure beats w*rking for a living. Judy has written another entry in Judy's Corner about her "basket weaving" endeavors. Wednesday, November 14, 2007 My job for yesterday was to find us someplace to visit and that mission was accomplished. Within five miles of the Park is Weeks Bay Estuarine Research Reserve. It is an Estuary which is a semi-enclosed body of water where fresh water from rivers mixes with salt water from the oceans. Weeks Bay is one of 26 protected areas that have been established across the United States for long term research. We had a nice afternoon and you will be able to read more about our visit in our next travelogue which we will publish by week's end. In preparation for the cooler temperatures during the winter and the increasing price of propane we purchased some fleece blankets which we will use as sheets. We slipped these onto the bed to try them out and they are absolutely wonderful. We had considered a heated mattress pad and an electric blanket but years past we had an electric blanket get so hot that it burned my foot which was probably a good thing because it could have resulted in a fire if gone undetected. Needless to say, we are not impressed with electric blankets. However, we have heard from a few people that the heated mattress pads are really nice but I can tell you that once you slip between the fleece "sheets" you are just as warm as toast and they feel so nice next to your body. Best of all, they require no electricity to operate them, just good ol' fashion body heat does the trick. We plan to keep the night time temperatures down this winter in an attempt to conserve on fuel usage, not just for the budget but for the environment as well. Our generation was the first to start thinking "green" back in the late 60's and early 70's. President Nixon signed into law the National Environmental Policy Act on January 1, 1970. The preamble reads: "To declare a national policy which will encourage productive and enjoyable harmony between man and his environment; to promote efforts which will prevent or eliminate damage to the environment and biosphere and stimulate the health and welfare of man; to enrich the understanding of the ecological systems and natural resources important to the Nation." So it is up to our generation to continue being among the leaders in the "green" movement looking for ways to conserve our ecological system. Regardless of what many people think, fulltime RV's use less energy than the average American home (See Norm Paynes short story entitled "Fulltimers are Conservatives" that he wrote back in 2002). We RVers just need to look for more ways to be be better conservatives in the future. "And that's all I got to say about that." Tuesday, November 13, 2007 It's a little overcast this morning but that makes for a beautiful sun rise. "Pink skies at night, sailor's delight. Pink skies in the morning, sailors take warning." We will take warning, however it doesn't look to threating. This morning Judy is going to some of the craft classes at the clubhouse and this afternoon we are going to do some sightseeing. Not sure what so my task while she is "basket weaving" will be to figure out where and what. There are a couple of things that I would like to see in the area and we will include the information in the next travelogue so you will be able to read all about it then. Other than that, there is not much happening this morning. So it's back to watching the sun rise and drinking coffee before we get our showers and have breakfast. Hope you all have a great day. Monday, November 12, 2007 Today is Veteran's Day holiday, yesterday was actually Veteran's Day. In any event we need to take time to think about the freedoms that we have and the sacrifice that was made in order for us to have those freedoms. Men and women across the ages have sacrificed in order that we can live free in this great country of ours. We are free from the tyranny that dictates the daily lives of people in many of the world's countries. We are free to choose our lifestyle, our work, our play, how we worship, and where we want to travel in this country. Let us not take for granted those freedoms. It cost time and hard work even to the point of the death in order for us to have them. Freedom is not free and we need to be thankful to those who sacrificed so that we can enjoy it. So, a great big THANK YOU to all of the men and women who have put on the uniform in order that we can live in the "land of the free". Yesterday was another great day with beautiful weather but it was our time of worship that made it so special. We really enjoy our church here in Fairhope, Alabama. Jubilee Shores Methodist church is not your run of the mill Methodist church. Pastor Bill and the team put a lot of work into our worship time in order that we can step aside from our daily lives and be ushered into the presence of God. It is a holy time indeed with worshipful music, times of reflection, and a challenging message. We feel the Holy Spirit moving in our midst each Sunday and leave feeling uplifted with a challenge to live Godly lives throughout the rest of the week. We are definitely better Christians having worshiped together at Jubilee Shores. Finally I got my oyster po-boy. A bunch of us went to Big Daddy's for dinner last evening. Big Daddy's is a nice little restaurant located right on the Fish River. It is only a couple of miles from the RV Park (which makes it way to handy) and has good food and live music. You can eat inside or out on the deck overlooking the river. Being that the band was out on the deck we decided to eat inside so we could talk. Another couple arrived on East Traveler Street yesterday, Ron and Connie, so they joined us for dinner. It was good getting to know them as well as chatting and laughing with the entire group. This was a wonderful way to finish the day. Today it is off to Pensacola, Florida to finish up our Christmas shopping. We want to have all of the gifts bought, wrapped, and ready for delivery before we get back to the Nashville area after our trip to Branson. That way we can hand deliver the gifts to the kids and our sweet little grand daughter when we arrive. There is a shopping mall plus all the other major stores in Pensacola which is about thirty miles away. Hopefully we will be successful and complete the mission as shopping is not high on my list of fun things to do. ;) Saturday, November 10, 2007 It's that time of year when we start reviewing our expenses and developing next year's budget. Boy, did we spend a lot of money last year. We actually lived within our total budget for the daily living expenses but we waaaaay over spent in two areas - dining out and household goods. We enjoy dining out but when we hit the road we didn't think that we would eat out as much, however, that just wasn't the case which goes to prove that you will live pretty much the same way as you did before fulltiming. The truth is that we are both are good cooks so the meals that we prepare at home are often far better than what we get in a restaurant but we do enjoy trying new foods. So, we will do two things here, one is to increase our budget item for dining out and the other is to restrict our dining out to an average of once a week. This should satisfy both the budget and our enjoyment of trying new foods as we travel. Household goods is the category where all of our "one time" purchases fell and for the first couple of years we'll spend more on those "one time" expenses while we make the transition. Things like the cabinet doors that we installed under the desk, a new HD television, our WIFI set up, the shed for our site in Alabama, etc. So if you are getting ready to go fulltime realize that there will be extra purchases in the first couple of years. Some of them you know upfront and others you will bump into along the way. Camping World is a great place to find things that you didn't know that you couldn't live without. There will be a few more things our second year but it will begin to taper off - after all, we can only load so much into our wheel estate. We will increase this line item a little and probably end up overspending again. "Discipline, Pa, Discipline!" Bottom line is we expected our budget to be around $36,000 for the year and we came in at just under $40,000. We are not going to increase our budget for 2008 but will rearrange several of our budget items. This will force us to reduce the spending overall due to the rising costs of "everything" driven by higher oil prices. Also, we expect that our investments will be taking a hit over the next few months, so belt tightening will be a necessity. Oh yes, we are going to have to workamp again in 2008 (yuck!) and probably in 2009 (yuck, yuck!!) to supplement our savings, but that is what we had originally planned to do anyway. Remember, we are not retired, just quit w*rking and I will not be able to start drawing my pensions until September of 2009 so then we will get a pay raise and maybe we can quit w*rking altogether. In the meantime, three to four months of workamping a year beats a fulltime J-O-B any day of the week, you betcha!! So there you have it for Saturday, ten November twenty aught seven. Friday, November 9, 2007 We watched the news the other night and oh boy, can't say we'll do that again anytime soon. Oil prices are escalating, housing market is heading south on a rocket ship, Pakistan is turning upside down, the dollar is in a free fall, the stock market is diving, and Brian Williams is all gloom and doom. This may not be the end of the world but you can see it from here!! Where's Chicken Little when you need her? Last night we sat around the fire with friends drinking wine and eating snacks. There was laughter and gaiety and just plain enjoyment. If the world is coming to an end then I would rather encounter it while sitting around a campfire rather than listening to Brian Williams scare the h--- out of me. At least I can go peacefully and without the stress and worry. My grandmother used to say that there is no sense worrying about things that you can't do anything about. Jesus taught us to not worry about tomorrow. I know, some of you think that this is the equivalent of putting your head into the sand, but running around with my heart in my throat isn't going to solve the world's problems either. If there's something that I can do, then I will do it; otherwise I will just ride it out with a glass of wine, good food, and the company of my friends. Being debt free allows me the freedom to think this way. When I had a mortgage and car payments this kind of news would cause me great stress and worry, but what's the worst thing that can happen to me now? I'll take a financial hit to my investments which could mean that I will need to get a part time J-O-B. Shucks, I would have to bring that up - now I have got stress!!! Thursday, November 8, 2007 It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving is just around the corner and it is time to start making plans for dinner. This year, instead of turkey, I thought it would be nice to have lasagna with a Ceaser salad and garlic bread - but that dawg won't hunt. So we signed up to join Dave and Sharyl Tholen at their table here at the Rainbow Plantation's clubhouse. How it works is each table has a host and you sign up for the table you want to join for dinner (each table accommodates 10 to 12 people). It costs $2 per person for the turkey and gravy which is provided by the park while the host is responsible for coordinating the rest of the menu for the table. Then everyone brings a dish or two past in order to complete the meal. Right now there are 8 of us signed up for our table. Norm and Linda Payne are on the list in hopes that they will be able to be here by Thanksgiving. Norm has just completed some radiation treatments for a cancerous cyst that he had removed a couple of months ago and, needless to say, he is a little on the weak side right now. But he is a real trooper and we are praying for a fast recovery so we are looking forward to sharing Thanksgiving dinner with him and Linda. Now all we are looking for is another couple or two to join us as it is going to be an enjoyable dinner with wonderful fellowship. This will be definitely be a first for us. Wednesday, November 7, 2007 We joined the posse yesterday. Yep, that's right, we are now in pursuit of desperadoes in the Gulf Shores area. The posse is known as the Gulf Posse and it is the local chapter of the Escapees RV Club of which we are members. The desperadoes that we are chasing are good times, rallies, and other get togethers. The chapter meets once a month at the Original Oyster House restaurant in Gulf Shores and holds two rallies each year - one in the spring and one in the fall. The next rally will be in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in March of 2008 and most of the Posse members either reside or spend a several months a year here at Rainbow Plantation. Rallies, caravans, and the like are great ways to meet other RVers and share experiences. You will always hear of great new places to visit as well as some places to stay away from - not every town is RV friendly. New friendships are born which continues to grow your never ending circle of friends acquired in this lifestyle. These are people that you will generally run into again somewhere down the road and many of them will get added to your email list so that you can stay in contact with them. There is always good times and good food involved to enhance the experience and many rallies offer various seminars to increase your knowledge as well as introduce you to new ideas. In any event, we are now Posse members and will be attending the November meeting this coming Monday. Diet or no diet, an oyster po-boy will be had and, oh yes, we have some coupons for a free cup of the Oyster House's special seafood gumbo. Life just can't get any better than this - good friends, good food, and good times. As Katie and Alex would say, "this is just purr-fect!!!" :) :) :) Tuesday, November 6, 2007 Oprah is one of those people that Judy and I admire greatly. Although she rose up out of poverty and created a multi-million dollar enterprise she has never forgotten her roots. As a result, she continually gives back to society or as the movie puts it "Pays It Forward". However, we are not very addicted to television and only see her show occasionally. We especially enjoy it whenever Dr. Oz is her guest. Dr. Oz makes more sense than any other doctor when it comes to preventive medicine. Yesterday he was talking about taking back our youth and it dawned on me just how relevant this lifestyle is to staying young. Dr. Oz said that we should get in 10,000 steps a day which is about 5 miles of walking. We have been walking 3 miles each morning before breakfast and have decided to add another lap to our walk (one lap around the park is one and a half miles). Also, he pointed out the necessity of vitamin D3 which we get from the sun and stated that we need about 15 minutes of direct sunlight each day which we get everyday that it is not raining. He explained the importance of vitamins A, B, C, and E so we will do our "homework" to find out what the daily recommended allowances are as well as the natural sources for each of these vitamins and then find ways to include them into our daily regimen. I definitely need to loose some weight and by Dr. Oz's calculations I could be losing 10 to 15 years off my life because of my weight. Wow, if I loose the weight I could add years to my lifetime which would give me more time to enjoy my grand children, to travel, and to just be in good health. Stress is another killer but this lifestyle gets rid of most of the stress (not all - there are times of stress especially when driving in heavy traffic with the fifthwheel attached). So, reducing stress, diet, and exercise are the keys to a long life but we've known that all along. Dr. Oz just has a way of bringing it all home to roost, so to speak. The problem is that it is "easier said than done". It takes determination and hard work to change our daily habits; hopefully I'll be able to pull it off this time!!! Monday, November 5, 2007 We will be truckless this week while the truck is in for repairs. We could rent a karr but what fun would that be? It will be nice to have to sit at home and not go anywhere for a whole week. We become so dependent on our vehicles and even get stupid about owning them. Because we have a vehicle at hand we do not think ahead. The minute we think we need something, it's into the vehicle and onto the road to retrieve it. Then a few hours later we think of something else and it's into the vehicle and on the road again. Last week we had to think ahead for this week and, hopefully, we have diligently gathered our supplies for the week. If we think of something that we didn't get then we'll have to go without it and put it on the list for next week - or, heaven forbid, we just might have to walk to the store! It would probably be a good thing if we all set our vehicles aside for a week once in a while just to help us be less wasteful. With oil supplies dwindling (??? or at least getting more expensive) it just might be necessary to cut back on our vehicle usage. I hope not, but we do tend to waste a lot of extra fuel by not being as assiduous as we should be. By all of us forcing ourselves to go without a vehicle for a week (or at least a few days) it would help us be more creative and reduce our dependency on them (and on oil). We just might get more exercise and lose a few pounds - like the man said "If your dawg is fat then you're not getting enough exercise!" Europeans have used bicycles and foot leather to get around for centuries and it hasn't hurt them one bit. The fulltiming lifestyle is just ripe with opportunities to do the same. Just maybe we'll do this again in the future - I hope so!!! Saturday, November 3, 2007 I finally made the appointment to get the truck fixed. Do you remember the "Great Ka-Thud" that I wrote about last spring while we were in Florida? I had planned to get the truck fixed when we got to New York but never did. Well, it was a good thing I didn't because I had another great idea. And you've heard the old saying, "Just because I said it was a good idea doesn't mean it's gonna work!" Well my good idea didn't work. I figured that in order to help stabilize the RV while we are parked here at Rainbow Plantation I would put some concrete blocks under the front jacks. That way I wouldn't have to extend the jacks so far and it would help to keep the RV from moving. Well, experience is a very good teacher and now I have got a little more teaching under my belt. Wouldn't you know it, those concrete blocks are not as strong as I thought they were and the weight of the RV crushed them - the result? Another Great Ka-Thud. I had not pulled the truck out from under the front of the RV and when the blocks crushed the RV came down onto the back of the truck - again! Anyway, now that I am finished dropping the RV onto the back of the truck, I figured it was about time to get the truck fixed so Monday it goes in for repairs. The insurance will cover the work (minus the deductible) and the incident will not be classified as "an at fault" accident. Therefore, there should be no premium increases due to this claim. Some insurance companies would classify this as a comprehensive claim while others consider it a collision. There are two categories of collision, at fault and not at fault. If you have an at fault claim then your premiums will increase, however, under the not at fault or comprehensive claims premiums do not increase as a result of the claim - they just increase naturally every year because the insurance companies are poor (don't get me started on the insurance ripoff game). Anywhoo, just a couple pieces of information for you to file away for future use and hopefully you'll not need them. Friday, November 2, 2007 Wow. it's Friday already! You know how I know that? Because we have a Day clock on the wall. It doesn't tell us the time, just what day of the week it is. Time is irrelevant, but for that matter so is the day. My calendar starts with Sunday and then goes to Saturday, Saturday, Saturday, Saturday, Saturday, and Saturday. Judy will ask, "Is it time to get up?" to which I reply, "I don't know, is Alex acting up?". Or she will ask. "Is it time to eat?" to which I reply, "I don't know, are you hungry?" or "Is it time to go to bed?" "I don't know, are you tired?". You kinda get the picture. But we do need know the days because that's how we determine when Baked Potato day is or when Ice Cream Sundae day is or when Omelet in a Bag day is or when Big Daddy Grill day is and so on. But you can always tell what time it is; when you see the crowd gathering, then you know it is time. Or when your eyes are closing and you keep jerking your head, then you know it is time. Or when Alex starts his morning antics, then you know it is time. Life can be so simple, why complicate it with a clock? Thursday, November 1, 2007 You'll notice that this page has a new look. I have decided to archive the old entries before this page will take six weeks just to publish. The longer the entry the longer the publishing time, it's as simple as that. When I publish each day the system has to publish the entire page, even though most of that page has already been published. So if I keep the entire journal on one page then eventually the publishing process will be greatly slowed down. I wasn't sure if I should keep the old entries or just delete them. I wouldn't think that most people would ever go back to reread them and I'm not sure that I will ever have need for them again but at least they are there just in case. I can always delete them later if I decide that they are no longer needed. Well, here we are already staring Thanksgiving square in the face, unbelievable!! It's November 1st, where has 2007 gone??? Along with Thanksgiving comes Christmas shopping. We have already shopped for our children and grand children in New Hampshire so we only have three children and one grand child to go. Anyway, before we know it we will be setting our sails to journey through 2008. What will next year bring? With tornadoes, fires, droughts, $94 dollars a barrel oil prices, and a shaky stock market things might look a little bleak. But we are in Christ and know that our future is secure. Also, we are debt free and we are mobile, which gives us great flexibility to adjust to most circumstances. Providing our health remains good then we certainly can weather most storms that come our way. We are big advocates of debt free living. When you have debt you are in bondage to that lifestyle and do not have a lot of options at your disposal. I will be the first to admit that it was difficult to give up the "stuff" that we had worked so hard to acquire in order to achieve this simpler lifestyle, however, I would never want to return to our previous way of life. It is waaaaay to nice to be "free to move about the country" at will. |