Darrell's Chair Archives 2010-01

From Darrell's Chair
January 2010 Entries

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"From Darrell's Chair" Archives

This page will be used to share my thoughts with you as I sit in my chair and contemplate the daily events that take place during our fulltiming journey. Hopefully you will enjoy the entries, learn a thing or two, and have some chuckles along the way as Judy and I continue "Wandering America".

Sunday, January 31, 2010 - Rainbow Plantation, Summerdale, Alabama
We're back!!! We returned after a two hour drive from DeFuniak Springs arriving at the Plantation just after 11 o'clock. Norm and Don came over and helped me get my "leveling pads" installed and now the rig sits nice and level on our home site. Thanks guys, that's one job I can scratch off the "Ta Do" List.

Yesterday afternoon was spent getting set up and taking a katt nap. Nothing exciting but it sure seems nice to be home after our ice patrol duty. Speaking of ice patrol, this winter just isn't giving up. Our son and is wife were homebound yesterday. They have four inches of snow on top of nice icy roads which makes driving in the Murfreesboro / Nashville area treacherous. Glad we're back here in warm sunny Alabama, well, maybe not so warm and sunny but, at least, there's no icy roads with snow on them.

We were invited over to Don and Gloria's for a snack and schmooze along with Mike, Gerri, Norm, and Linda. What a great evening of doing what we love to do best - visiting with our extended family. This was the first time that we had met Mike and Gerri face to face. We've emailed each other over the past couple of years and just knew that one day our paths would cross. They are great people and we look forward to spending some time with them over the next few weeks.

Not sure what today will bring - it's just wonderful to wake up and have no agenda for the day. We do want to get over and visit Randy and Terry and will join in with the Sunday Evening Ice Cream Social. Today will be sort of a free day before the routine begins. After that, I'll know where to find Miss Judy if I need her, she'll be basket weaving at the clubhouse. She'll know where to find me if she needs me, I'll be hanging off the of the RV somewhere taking care of business. We look forward to that routine once again.

Saturday, January 30, 2010 - Juniper Lake RV Park, DeFuniak Springs, Florida
So, what's next? Yesterday I picked up a dozen 4"x4"x8" solid concrete blocks to embed in the ground on our ERPU lot at Rainbow Plantation. These will be under the tires of the rig so that it will be "self leveling" as we back into position. The tires sunk into the ground the last time that we were "home" so I decided that this would be a good solution. Therefore, that will be the first job out of the job jar when we arrive this morning.

Next, I need to re-create the old "Ta Do List". There are several maintenance items that need to be taken care of on both the truck and the RV. The most significant is to get an injector replaced in the truck. All the cleaning and additives didn't work and the darned thing now is smoking worse that ever. We need to get this taken care of before it starts coughing and spitting up diesel fuel leaving us sitting along the highway somewhere watching the traffic pass by. Another maintenance issue, when we were "camping out" in the Tundra this past month I managed to break the bath water dump valve. It was cold and it didn't want to close easily so I used my foot to push it in and managed to bend the rod (well duh, what was I thinking?). I have extra valves so I will need to spend a day under the coach replacing it; oh boy, how much fun that will be!!!

Then there is a list of enhancements that I want to make on the rig. I have never liked the way the water hose connects to the coach; there's just enough angle on the connection that it is very difficult to tighten. Once it has been tightened, it is just as difficult to loosen. Also, when the hose is cold it is difficult to roll it up tight. There is a space in the basement (above the water heater) where I can mount an electric hose reel with 50' of hose. It is right next to where all the water connections are so that this would not be a very difficult installation. I would have to install a port in the bottom of the rig for the hose to come out and in; this, too, would not be a very difficult job. Once completed, all I would have to do is pull the hose out to the desired length and connect it to the water bib. To bring it back in again I would just have to undue it from the water bib and push a button for it to coil itself nice and tightly around the reel. Don't know why I didn't think of this earlier.

Another issue that "bugs" me about set up is side to side leveling. Currently I use boards to put under the tires on the low side to get the rig level, however, if after settling, the rig becomes unlevel then the only way to re-level is to hook up, push back off the boards, add thicker boards, and pull back up again. Generally I can use 5/4 decking boards to level so we are not talking more than an inch or inch and a half height difference from side to side. A couple approaches to the problem are: One, install individual air fill connections to the air ride system thereby allowing me to fill one side more than the other (or reduce the air pressure on one side while increasing it on the other). I'm not sure that there would be enough "lift" in the air bags to level the rig. Another solution is to buy a couple scissor type leveling jacks and place them on the frame just in front of the tires. Then all I would have to do is crank down the side that needs to be raised. These will carry 7,500 pounds each with the weight at the axles being around 6,000 pounds per side. Camping World sells these for $70 per set; would be relatively easy to install, and "should" allow for quick leveling. Right now, I am leaning to solution number two.

If you think back to "sub-cold" weather camping in Tennessee then you'll remember that we had our sewer pipe freeze up. There is a section of sewer pipe that is exposed to the elements and I ended up wrapping it with a heat tape. I've been pondering possible solutions to this issue and have come up with the best and easiest solution to fix that problem - don't go to those places where your sewer hose will freeze up. However, this "past winter" didn't make that an easy task. We would have had to have gone to the Florida Keys, or the Texas Valley, or southern Arizona. Be that as it may, I think that is the solution that I'm going to stick with. After all, we've had the rig for five years and this is the first time that we've had that problem. Plus, by replacing the bath water dump valve it should keep the bath water in the tank and not allow it to sit in the sewer pipe therefore eliminating this problem.

I still have the computer desk and the kitchen cabinet modifications to do along with a growing number of maintenance issues. Plus, it will be time to hand wax the entire coach and make note of any other issues that need to be taken care of as well. So, while Miss Judy is fully engaged in her basket weaving endeavors I will have plenty of endeavors of my own to keep myself busy for quite a while. As you all know, the "Ta Do" List continues to march on; when you strike off one item, another one or two show up to replace it. With all of that going on, who needs a hobby???

Well, it is time to hit the road again so we'll see ya tomorrow from Rainbow Plantation in Summerdale, Alabama.

Friday, January 29, 2010 - Juniper Lake RV Park, DeFuniak Springs, Florida
We got up early yesterday morning, I don't know why, but, it was 5:00 o'clock and five o'clock Charlie (a.k.a. Alex) didn't have anything to do with it. After some coffee and computer time we began to get ourselves ready to roll. We visited with Gene and Judi to say our farewells and then ventured over to say good bye to Mike and Peggy. They were both getting ready to roll as well. You can read about their travels on their blogs - Scratchin' the Itch and Maineiacs in Motion.

Originally we had planned to stay over at the Corps of Engineering Park at Lake Seminole but with rain in the forecast we changed our plans and chose to stay in the DeFuniak Springs area (plus, we wanted full hook ups - we're wimps ya know). There are two Passport parks here, one is the Sunset King RV Park which is a large campground and the other is Juniper Lake RV Park which only has 21 sites. In reading the RV Park Reviews we decided to give the smaller one a try. Although it doesn't exactly have the "it" factor it is a nice park with owners who go out of their way to make you comfy (I wouldn't have been surprised if Bill showed up last night to tuck us in and leave a chocolate on our pillows).

The trip was uneventful, just how we like them, however, it was a six hour ride; something that I wasn't quite up to par to make. I was getting pretty tired and ready for a nap by the time we arrived. It sure will be nice when this "cold thing" makes its way out of my lungs and my stamina returns.

We are staying here for two nights and will only have a three or less hour drive to get home on Saturday. The rain forecasts are moving to the right which means that we may end up driving home in the rain (we had anticipated rain on Friday and clear on Saturday). I want to install some concrete pads on our site for the RV to sit on so I hope that any rains have cleared out before we arrive home. There's a Lowes in DeFuniak Springs so we'll go and pick up the pads today that way we'll have them on board when we get back. Then all I'll need to do is get a shovel to dig up a little ground and put the pads down before backing the rig into position.

Each little town has its own story so we'll poke around a little to see what we can find in DeFuniak Springs. Judy wants to do a little basket weaving stuff at home and I would like to do a short walk around the campground and lake so that ought to occupy our time for today - We'll be to the Plantation tomorrow, Yay!!!

Thursday, January 28, 2010 - St. John's RV Park, St. Augustine, Florida
I was a good boy and Miss Judy shared some of her cookies with me. They were absolutely positively to die for!!! They were oatmeal cookies made with chocolate chips, raisins, peanuts, and peanut butter in them. Yum, Yum, Yum!! Judi said I needed to branch out from my plain old home made chocolate chip cookies with walnuts in them and she was right. More cookies, give me more cookies; yum, mum, um, yum.

I'm not as chipper as I would like to be and still have a lingering cough but I'm getting there. It's a good thing because today is the mad exodus from St. John's RV Park. Gene and Judi are headed to Daytona Beach area and Mike and Peggy are heading for Homosassa area while Judy and I are heading for DeFuniak Springs area. We'll be seeing Mike and Peggy again in about a week and a half when they arrive at Rainbow Plantation.

In spite of being "under the weather" it has still been a good few days here in St. Augustine. We three couples have shared our dinner meals together each day and enjoyed good conversation along with great fellowship. It has provided us with lots of fond memories of our time together here in St. Augustine. What better way to live life then spending time with friends, sightseeing, and eating our way across the country. It just doesn't get any better than this.

Speaking of friends, we have old and new friends that we can't wait to see again back at Rainbow Plantation. Norm and Linda, Don and Gloria, Randy and Terry, Ron and Ruth, Bill and Kathy to just mention a few and let us not forget all our neighbors on East Traveler Street. Then there's Mike and Gerri who we've yet to meet as well as others that we don't even know at this time. Mike and Peggy will be joining us again shortly; Ah, yes, life is good.

We bid Gene and Judi farewell and in the words of the old traditional Gaelic blessing: May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face; the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand. We look forward to our next get together somewhere down the road, hopefully it won't be too awfully long until we meet again.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010 - St. John's RV Park, St. Augustine, Florida
Well, at least I'm on the mend even though I didn't get any home made chocolate chip cookies with walnuts in them. Gene got cookies, but I didn't get any!!! When Gene read my journal entry yesterday he mentioned to his Judi that that sounded really, really good. So, she jumped right up and made him a batch. Too bad his mother didn't teach him how to share. In any event, I'm recuperating.

Now, before you think that my Judy is a big meany for not baking her sick husband some home made chocolate cookies with walnuts in them, you need to know that we went on a little outting with Mikee and Peggy yesterday afternoon and that's why she didn't get to bake me some home made chocolate chip cookies with walnuts in them. However, another thing that is really good at curing a cold is a good slice of pizza and that's just what we had at Pizza Time on St. George Street in St. Augustine. That's got to be the best pizza that I have ever had, I'm almost tempted to go back there again today - you're just going to have to take my word for it that it is that good.

Our little outting took us back to the Castillo de San Marcos where I learned that my old person's pass is good for a car load of people (which I knew) or myself and three others while walking in (which I didn't know); therefore, Mike and Peggy along with Miss Judy and I were given free passage into the fort. Wow, that's a low price!!!

From the fort we visited the Nombre De Dios Mission and then returned home where I immediately took a half hour nap. Mike and Peggy invited Gene and Judi, and Judy and me over for some burgers prepared on the grill. We took the left over chili and had a nice little visit until I "hit the wall". I just ran out of gas and had to get home to lay down for awhile. Yes, I'm recuperating but I'm still lacking in energy - another couple of days should get me back to normal, what ever that is.

Tomorrow we're heading home, that is, Rainbow Plantation. Due to my bout with the cold we didn't get to Kennedy Space Center nor did we get to visit with Don and Debra (sorry guys). We'll just have to catch those things on another trip to Florida; after all, we'll need to have an excuse to come back for another piece of pizza at Pizza Time.

Not sure what we're doing today, most likely laying low so I'll be able to drive four to six hours tomorrow. We hope to lay over at Sunset King RV Park in DeFuniak Springs, Florida for a couple of nights, however, we may not be able to get reservations as they tend to be busy this time of year. It would only be about a three hour drive from there to Rainbow Plantation on Saturday morning. We're more than ready to "get along home, Cindy, Cindy, get along home!!"

Oh, by the way, Gene did share some of his cookies with Judy and Peggy, now I just need to convince Judy that I'm deserving to partake in a couple of her home made oatmeal cookies with raisins in them. I'm not being whiny any more dear, really I'm not!!!

Tuesday, January 26, 2010 - St. John's RV Park, St. Augustine, Florida
Wow, the last couple of days are just a blur. My body continues to ache after the marathon bed experience on Sunday. Yesterday, I didn't do a whole lot either - actually, I have no idea what I did. It must have involved a lot of sleeping, however, I do remember some people showing up in Halloween masks at one point. I thought that they might be coming to take me away.

However, it was only Gene and Judi with surgical masks. We had them along with Mike and Peggy over for a chili supper last night. I was feeling better by then but was still ready for beddy by eight o'clock. Miss Judy did all the work while I stayed out from under foot (that's not an easy task for me). The chili was delicious along with the home made rolls straight from Walmart. Desert was butter pecan ice cream with Oreo cookie sticks; that'll make ya cold go away!!

We had planned to go to Kennedy Space Center but it's an hour and a half drive from here and the way I'm feeling, I don't think I could stand all the excitement. I think that I'm just going to sit around the house and take it easy these next couple of days to see if I can't get some of my energy back. It will be short bursts of activities with long blasts of resting/relaxing/napping in between. Move over Katie and Alex, dad's going to join you in your daily routine of eating and katt napping (only I'm not going to eat off the floor).

Judy has been busy playing nurse, cleaning house, cooking, doing the laundry, and working on a basket weaving project. I offered to help but she would just spin me around and send me back to my chair or to my bed. She says that I'm whiny but I can tell you that I never whine. I may not feel good but I don't whine, never have whined and I never will whine; it's all in her imagination.

One thing that would really help me get over this cold is a nice batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies. They have great medicinal benefits especially if they have walnuts in them. Chocolate chip cookies have been known to cure a whole host of illnesses and they definitely get rid of a bad case of the whines.

Tune in tomorrow to see if Darrell gets his chocolate chip cookies and to see if he moved any further then from his bed to the recliner. Until then, be sure to hang in there, spring is on its way.

One last comment, the cookie thing ain't looking to good right at the moment. All y'all need to pray for me.

Monday, January 25, 2010 - St. John's RV Park, St. Augustine, Florida
I deemed that this flu bug, cold, or whatever it is to be gone before this morning but it just ain't cooperating. Yesterday I managed to out sleep the katts; that is, I slept for about eighteen hours out of the last twenty four. I woke up this morning with an extremely sore body from laying in bed for so long and I haven't been able to get comfortable at all this morning. However, I keep dozing off in the recliner in spite of the pain. I'm afraid that I'm going to have to lay low for another day - that wasn't in the agenda!!!

Other than that, there isn't much new to add this morning. Miss Judy has written in her corner once more so that will give you something to read while I'm on the mend.

Sunday, January 24, 2010 - St. John's RV Park, St. Augustine, Florida
My mother told me that there would be days like this. I've been coming down with a cold over the past three days and doing drugs to get rid of it. When you're tired and not feeling well small things seem to have a way of dampening your spirits. Yesterday, I forgot to pull the wheel chock out from between the coach's tires there by losing it somewhere in the campground. The coach would only move a few feet before "spitting it out" so it should have been right on the ground in our campsite, however, I didn't even realize it until I was setting up the coach here at St. John's. A quick phone call back to Gord revealed that it was no where in sight. There was a rodeo going on at the fairgrounds with "tons" of people all over the place so someone now has a very expensive tire chock.

The site that we have at St. John's is not level and I had to lower the front of the coach far more than normal. For some reason whenever I'm wearing a hat I loose perspective when "ducking" under the front of the coach and rapped my head into it. I saw stars - I just have to quit wearing a hat while setting up. I'm getting tired of unlevel sites; it's way too much work to level the coach but, at least, it's a 50 amp full hook up site (something that we've only had for four days since leaving Rainbow Plantation. Further, the dirt is soft so after getting the coach level it began settling so it is no longer level. The only way to level it is to hitch up, pull forward, and put some boards under the tires - not gonna happen. On top of that, I keep blowing fuses in the front leveling jacks which probably means that the electric motor is going to need to be changed out - hopefully it holds out until we get home next week.

The truck is smoking worse than ever but it continues to run just fine while we're on the road, however, it is unnerving. We'd thought that we had taken care of the problem but obviously we haven't. Just one more thing to tend to once we get back to 'Bama.

The last straw was this morning when Alex decided to play with the cord to Judy's computer while she was online. He bit through it rending it useless. If Judy had a S--- List he would be right at the top of it - he's certainly going to be in the dawg house for a while. Fortunately we have another adapter assembly thanks to our good friend Norm Payne who donated his old one to our cause.

Okay, so you see that living the fulltime RV lifestyle is not always peaches and cream. Like Alexander, we have "the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days!" However, the good news is that they are few and far between. And sprinkled right in the middle of them are the good things that we enjoy so much like getting together with Gene and Judi last evening.

Judi prepared us a nice chicken and mushroom soup which absolutely hit the spot with this chest cold that is setting in. We started off with wine and appetizers and chatting and laughing. Then their neighbors, who are brand new fulltimers, stopped by for a visit. They invited us over for a tour of their brand spanking new Americana fifthwheel which was very nicely done. Then we came back to G&J's for dinner and more chit chat. It was a great evening with good friends which definitely lifts your spirits and reminds you that things are good in deed.

Well, it's time for me to quit whinning, go do some drugs, and go back to bed. Need to whip this cold thang before Mikee and Peggy show up tomorrow.

Saturday, January 23, 2010 - Flagler County Fairgrounds, Bunnell, Florida
It's all over. It was a lot of hard work and we are tired but, two weeks went flying by and it's all over. This was absolutely an extraordinary build with extremely talented people. We meshed together in a way that I would have never thought possible. There were no whiners on this build and everyone worked together extremely well. The team easily accomplished three week's worth of work in nine working days.

At noon time we gathered at the Flagler County HFH headquarters for our thank you dinner. The meal, as were all the meals for the past two weeks, was very good. Last evening we all gathered for our last "Happy Hours" (a little longer than an hour) until we were driven inside by a fog bank moving in off the ocean. It was another appetizer buffet with plenty of goodies spread across two tables. One of our team members, Bill, brought out is guitar and sang several songs; he used to sing on a local radio show in New Jersey and is a very good singer.

This morning we're off for our final meal together - breakfast at Perkins in Palm Coast, Florida. Then Judy and I will break camp and head back to St. Johns RV Park in St. Augustine.

Friday, January 22, 2010 - Flagler County Fairgrounds, Bunnell, Florida
Yesterday's journal entry was late due to a hiccup in my computer. While I was writing the entry I got a blue screen telling me that the computer was having a data crash in 20 seconds - it counted down and went black. I turned off the computer, waited about a minute, and turned it back on. I then got the screen that told me that the computer had not shut down properly asking me for how I wanted to reboot. Not really knowing what had happened, I selected "safe mode". The computer came back to life but with a limited desktop so I did a restart. Everything seemed to be working just fine so I went back and re-wrote the journal entry, however, when I went to publish I got an error message and I could not publish.

So, I decided that I should probably do a system restore. I selected January 19th but ran out of time before it completed the cycle. Now, had I had presence of mind, I could have grabbed Judy's computer and published but, I was wrapped up in trying to undue whatever the problem was. Once we got home yesterday afternoon I did publish using Judy's computer but then did a test publish using my computer. Everything seems to be working fine now but, I still don't know what exactly the problem was so that's a little unnerving. In any event, I'll just keep on keeping on and hope that it was only just a hiccup.

Today will be a real short day as there is only a few "finish up" items left to do. Six to eight people can knock it out in about a couple of hours. We are way ahead of where John had hoped that we would be by the end of the build. Because of the weather, the crew that was contracted to put up the trusses is holding off until Saturday and Sunday but, come Monday morning the house will be in really good shape.

We were done by 2:30 yesterday afternoon just beating the rain which began falling once we got home. I took a shower and got back home just before the skies opened up. Because of the thunderstorms we weren't able to congregate in our nightly "Happy Hour" circle - how sad. But, I can tell you that it felt awfully darned nice to sit back in our recliners and stare at that black space in our entertainment center. Actually we have begun picking up a few stations so we have been able to watch the local weather and CBS news.

Mikee's on the road again. He awoke his Winnie from the winter wonderland and he and Peggy are currently in Charleston, South Carolina. They will be getting to St. Augustine on Monday. Gene and Judi arrived at St. Augustine yesterday afternoon (they just barely slid in under the severe storm line). So, we'll be getting together for a mini rally next week right here in the great state of Florida. Wahoooooo!

Well, it's getting to be time for me to go and punch the old clock for the last time. Miss Judy got laid off yesterday afternoon so she is staying home today and playing Suzy Homemaker. As I said earlier, we only need about eight of us to finish up so not everyone is going to be on site today. All I can say at this point is, "We (the team) did it and I'm satisfied".

Thursday, January 21, 2010 - Flagler County Fairgrounds, Bunnell, Florida
Today will be a bonus day; yesterday we brought house number three to the point that John was hoping to achieve by Friday. So, we are going to install some Tyvek, windows, and doors; all jobs that were scheduled for next week. Also, I thought that we were going to do the roof trusses, however, those are being contracted out to a crew on Friday. Had John known ahead of time the expertise of our group he most likely wouldn't have contracted an outside crew to do that job. Oh well, we're all pooped so a slower pace over the next day and a half won't break our hearts.

Our Care-A-Vanner crew ages range from the youngest members being 56 up to those in their 70's with the majority of the group being in their 60's. Even still, we can out work and out perform most of "the kids" - those being in their 30's and 40's (not the professional home builders but volunteers). What we lack in endurance we make up for in experience. We may not move as quickly as they do but, we make every move count.

Not only can we out perform "the kids" on the job, we also know how to have one heck of a "Happy Hour". Knowing the rain was in the forecast for tonight we had a grand finale "Happy Hour" last night. It was almost a buffet, well, actually it was a buffet of appetizers. We sat around in a big circle just enjoying each others company. The great thing is that we will be seeing many of these folks again real soon.

Gord and Helen will be doing a Care-A-Vanners build in Mobile for the entire month of February so we plan on getting together with them while they are there. Ray, Marie, Jerry, and Linda will be spending a month at Gulf Shores State Park in March so we'll get to see them again. Jim and Leslie pass through our area from time to time because Leslie's sister spends the winter in Gulf Shores. Dennis and Tricia live in an RV community in Crossville, Tennessee and have invited us for a free stay (they have RV sites within the community). We hope to stay in touch with the others so that should our paths cross again we can get together - who knows, maybe we'll come together again as a group for another Habitat build.

Well, it time for me to get ready to go to w*rk so we'll see ya on the flip side.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - Flagler County Fairgrounds, Bunnell, Florida
Wow, I can't believe it. I came home totally exhausted. When I say totally exhausted, I mean exactly that. I literally had to take myself by the back of the pants and drag myself into the house. I took off my w*rk clothes, they laid right where they dropped, and I flopped onto the bed to stretch out. I just laid there until I mustered up barely enough energy to put on some duds and waddle over to the shower. I can't begin to tell you how "soooooo goooood" it felt to have that hot water flowing down over my aching pudgy little body. I came home from my shower "sort of, kind of" rejuvenated. At least with enough energy to sit outside with our friends and be sociable. By the way, Miss Judy wasn't a whole lot better off than I was.

Now, for the good news. We did get back on schedule, however, we didn't get ahead of schedule. By the week's end we should be ahead of what John was hoping to get done this week on house number three. This house is for Shannon who is a single mom with a teenage son. She works at a state prison, a job that she doesn't really care for but it provides her with a paycheck. Her house plans are identical to the one that is being built for James and Valerie.

Even though our bodies ache and we are tired beyond belief, it is still nice to see the excitement in these people's faces. They are people who could never have dreamed of having a home of their own without the help of organizations like Habitat for Humanity. It just gives you a good feeling to know that you are doing something very special for someone in order to make their dream come true.

We spent the evening sitting around in our "Happy Hour" circle while swapping stories, sipping our wine, and partaking in a few appetizers. What a bunch of great people to be around. Three more days and then we'll all be going our separate ways but, somehow, I think we'll be bumping into a lot of these people again some where down the road most likely on another Care-A-Vanner build.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010 - Flagler County Fairgrounds, Bunnell, Florida
Yesterday morning was a Habitat for Humanity awareness kinda day. We began by setting up in the local High School parking lot and volunteers from the community came out to help nail together wall sections. There were, also, things for kids to do - cardboard houses and that sort of thing. John, our site supervisor, ordered up enough lumber to build seven wall sections and it turned out to not be enough. He should have planned on building all 14 exterior wall sections. Even though it was fun and helped the community become more familiar with Habitat, it put us behind schedule.

The community event ended at noon so we loaded up the trucks, they fed us pizza, and we headed out to the build site to erect the sections. Today we have to shift into second gear (maybe even third gear) to get back on schedule but, knowing this crew as I do, I don't think it will be a problem at all. I'd almost bet that by the end of the day we'll not only be back on schedule, we'll most likely be ahead of schedule again. I'll let you know tomorrow.

Other than that, we sat outside after w*rk and enjoyed each others company (another chat and chew). This really is a great bunch of people and a special bunch of Care-A-Vanners. I don't know if it would ever be possible to get us all together on another build again next year but, I certainly wouldn't mind joining this group again.

After pizza and snacks, Judy and I weren't hungry for any dinner - not a very nutritious diet though. This morning I plan on having a good breakfast as I think we are having Subway sandwiches today (Five, Five Dollar, Five Dollar Foot Long). We got spoiled last week with complete dinners from Martin's Seafood Restaurant. In any event, our food budget isn't taking a beating; just our bodies.

Oh, one good thing. It turns out that there is a (note the word "a") shower here on the Fairgrounds and the caretaker upon learning about holding tanks in RVs said, "I bet you guys would like a shower!" "Ya think?" So he left that area of the restroom facility opened for us. Now, that means that we have to be nice and share - there's 19 of us and 1 shower, however, it is a large shower so I suggested that five of us could march in a circle and scrub each others backs. For some reason that idea seemed to fall flat. We had all signed a pack to not shower for the entire two weeks so that no one would out stink the others. We were now able to tear up that pack and it sure did feel good to have a nice long hot shower yesterday afternoon. Well, that's it for today. Signed Stinky in Bunnell (not any more!).

Monday, January 18, 2010 - Flagler County Fairgrounds, Bunnell, Florida
We're Wimps!! That's right, there's no since denying it, there's no since hiding it. We're Wimps, true and pure, through and through Wimps. Since we left our nice comfy nest in Summerdale, Alabama we've learned a few things about ourselves.

First of all, we want full hook-ups most of the time; not all of the time but most of the time. Since we left Rainbow Plantation waaaay back from God knows when, we've only had a sewer hook-up four days out of the last five weeks. We're tired of spit showers, laundromats, and using public restrooms.

When we want a shower, we want a shower - a nice looooong hot one without worrying that the water will come bubbling up out of the shower drain around our feet. I borrowed a blue boy the other day to dump the bath water and I adamantly can tell you that owning one is not in our future.

When the clothes basket is full, we want to just open that round little door in our Splendid 2100 and toss our clothes in it and wait two and a half hours - viola, clean clothes. No riding around town looking for a laundromat with machines that just washed who knows what; then hanging around there for two hours while spending ten bucks.

When we have to go pee we just want to walk upstairs and use our nice clean comfortable Sealand toilet; not walk across heck's half acre to find a potty or a tree to use. Pine cones are rough on the behind and they just don't disolve well in any septic system. I don't know, but do palm trees have cones?

Secondly, we're not TV addicts but do like to catch the local news and weather. There are also a few shows that we do like to watch, not many but a few. And Sundays were made for worship and sports, however, here at Flagler County Fairgrounds we have no television coverage, that's zip, nada, none at all. After eight days we're getting just a little tired of looking at that black space in the middle of our entertainment center and would like to see it come to life.

Thirdly, we like a couple of hours to wake up, drink coffee, and play on our 'puters in the morning. This being out the door by 7:30 in the morning has got to go!! Our alarm katt goes off early enough in the morning but lately we've had to wake up on our own at oh-dark-thirty and get his Ragdoll body up and going. The only good thing about that is that it's pay back time - what goes around, comes around, Alex. However, I would just as soon roll over and catch another hour's worth of z's.

Fourthly, we miss Larry's home cooking and the camaraderie of all our friends back home. Did I say back home? Yep, Rainbow Plantation is definitely our home. If we were to settle somewhere today, it would be at "the Plantation". We could be just as happy as extended RVers as being fulltime RVers. We enjoy both the social aspect of living in a community and the freedom to roll at will. Rainbow Plantation provides us with both.

So, in conclusion, we are Wimps. We want the finer, more convenient things in life. Roughing it is not in our gene pools. If we are going to rough it, we want to rough it very, very smoothly with things like sewer connections, television (all three of them), time in the morning to do our thang, and being surrounded with lots and lots of friends. We'll be seeing ya real soon 318 East Traveler Street, we'll be seeing ya real soon.

Sunday, January 17, 2010 - Flagler County Fairgrounds, Bunnell, Florida
Being that yesterday was a rainy day we didn't do a whole lot. After a leisurely morning of getting up, having coffee, playing on our 'puters, and having a late breakfast, we went to a laundromat and did the laundry, picked up some stuff up at the store. We took an afternoon nap followed by a walking about the "campground" to visit with some of our fellow Care-A-Vanners for a few minutes. Then we came home for dinner and last evening we watched a movie before hitting the hay. It was a lazy kind of day indeed, however, I guess we needed it.

This morning the storms have passed and the clouds are giving way to the sunshine. We're going to take a drive to the Daytona Beach area this afternoon but, this morning we need to hitch up and dump tanks. I need to work on the bath tank valve as it is sticking and I bent the push/pull rod trying to push the darned thing back in last Sunday morning when it was so cold outside.

Well, that's our story and we're sticking to it. Tomorrow it's back to w*rk so, in the meantime, we'll see ya on the flip side.

Saturday, January 16, 2010 - Flagler County Fairgrounds, Bunnell, Florida
When we got home from w*rk it was almost one o'clock. After a hard week at w*rk we were both more tired than we thought for; w*rking at installing flooring is tiring. It's just that there's a lot of bending down and/or getting up and down. Floors are waaaay to close to the ground and down under your feet, they should raise them up so you could w*rk on them while standing up!!

Anyway, we spent the afternoon around the house. The "bath water" needed to be emptied so I borrowed a "Blue Boy" to relieve a little pressure from that tank; Sunday we need to hitch up and go to the dump station to dump all the tanks. Then I went to get a hair cut, however, the barber shop was closed and I didn't feel like running all over "Heck's half acre" looking for another one; therefore, mission not accomplished.

Last night we went out to dinner with the entire Care-A-Vanner group to a restaurant over on Flagler beach. It was a fun evening and the food was good, however, the waitress was a grump and then she spilled some juice from the shrimp scampi on Judy when clearing the table; needless to say Miss Judy was not a "happy camper". It was just an accident but being that the waitress had been Miss Grumpy all evening and was just grabbing stuff off the table (not being the least bit careful) didn't help.

Last night I finished writing the last section in the Travelogue, had it proof read by Judy, and published it. Well, that wraps up another day in the life of the Wandering America entourage. Not sure what today is going to bring, other than rain - maybe, a nap!!! Another week of w*rk and then we will be retired once again but, last week was a good week and we have enjoyed this build; especially working along side our fellow Care-A-Vanners and getting to know each of them better. They are absolutely a great bunch of people that we are more than happy to call friends.

Friday, January 15, 2010 - Flagler County Fairgrounds, Bunnell, Florida
I think we've done it! I hope we've done it! It certainly would be nice if we've done it! I think we've finally beat the cold front that has lasted for the last three weeks. We saw temperatures in the high sixties yesterday afternoon and woke up to a 48 degree reading on the old thermometer this morning. It may even creep into the seventies today - "Happy Days Are Here Again, Skies Above Are Clear Again, So Let's Sing A Song Of Cheer Again, Happy Days Are Here Again!!!"

We met the future owners of the second house yesterday. They are a young couple with two daughters who are almost Catia and Kalina's ages; however, they didn't have the girls with them. James and Valerie joined in with us Care-A-Vanners working on their home. They were eager to learn the "tricks of the trade" and look forward to home ownership. We can't help but be happy for them as they are going to have a really nice home in a very nice neighborhood.

For the past few evenings we've been sitting out in a circle munching on goodies and getting to know each other better. As with any RVing group, there are stories of past travels, talk of future travels, with lots of laughter along the way. Unique with this group is the sharing of past Habitat for Humanity builds; there's a whole lot of experience with this group. Everyone agrees that so far this has been a very special build with very special group dynamics. What a great bunch of talented people.

This morning we'll put the finishing touches on house number two. We'll be done by noon so "they" are giving us the afternoon off. I'm not sure what we'll do this afternoon but I'm sure we'll think of something, after all, it isn't often that you get a half day off from w*rk. And, since the weather is supposed to be sooooooo good, it will have to be something outside with shorts and sandals on. Yep, I said shorts!!! I wore shorts to our gathering last evening, just hate them long pants. Anywhoo, you'll just have to come back tomorrow to find out what we found to do, I can't wait to find out myself.

Thursday, January 14, 2010 - Flagler County Fairgrounds, Bunnell, Florida
Hey, we're slowly beginning to feel the warmth; this is the second morning in a row where the temperatures were not below freezing. Yesterday it was 33* and today it is 36*. I know, whoopee, a whole 3 degrees but, at least, it's heading in the right direction, however, at this pace it will be the 4th of July before it gets back to normal. The weather katts are telling us that we'll see the 70s by this weekend. Sure hope they are right. If they are, I wonder what I'll have to write about then?

Yesterday was a good day, a small group of us went over to the first house to finish up the wood flooring while the remainder of the group went to house number two to start installing ceramic tile. We'll finish that house today leaving a pretty skimpy work load for Friday. When scheduling the work they, in this case John, have a fairly difficult time since they never know the skill level of the Care-A-Vanners who are about to show up. In this case we have a high level of highly skilled people; that's every single one of us. On top of that, there's not a dead beat in the bunch and no whiners either. No baby sitting going on here!!!

I thought that I would be extremely sore this morning as I spent most of the day yesterday on my hands and knees. Have you ever noticed where they put the floor? It's under your feet; therefore, you have to get down on your hands and knees to work on it. I spread the "thin set" on the floor while Marie and Judy placed the ceramic tiles in place. We did an entire bedroom in two and a half hours - what a team!! Except for the bathroom and some cutting of tile from a couple of the bedrooms, the whole house is done.

Today we will be grouting and installing the base board throughout the house and we should be just about complete with house number two leaving little to no work for Friday. I'm sure "they" will think of something. We could get an early start on framing the next house provided the lumber is on site but, with this crew we could w*rk ourselves out of a j*b if we aren't careful.

After w*rk a few of us gathered around out side with some hors d'oeves for a chat and chew. Not only are these people great to w*rk with, they are, also, fun to be with. This lifestyle just continues to bring more and more people into our lives than I could have ever dreamed possible. Did I ever tell you that one of the best parts of this lifestyle is the people you meet and the friends you make. I think I may have mentioned it a time or two.

The only ones who get television here at the fairgrounds are those with satellite dishes. Judy and I are the only ones with a WIFI signal, via our Verizon air card, which we are sharing with our closest neighbors. Anyway, we found a website (hulu.com) where you can watch television shows over the internet so, last night we watched a couple of the old Newhart shows. The ones where he and his wife Joanna run an inn in Vermont. Remember Larry and his brother Darrell and his other brother Darrell? I must say, those were funny shows where you actually catch yourself LOL (laughing out loud). I sure wish that there was something else on TV rather than rape and murder and "reality shows" that are unrealistic. Me thinketh that we will be visiting hulu.com often.

Well, it's time for me to go wash my chubby little body and put some glad rags on for another fine day at w*rk. You know, a bad day at w*rk is better than a good day of goofing off - at least, when it is this kind of w*rk with these kinds of people.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010 - Flagler County Fairgrounds, Bunnell, Florida
Alex was exceptionally "frisky" this morning, however, he didn't get us up early so we "over slept"; that means that we'll be a little rushed. It happens from time to time even if you are retired fulltimers.

Not really much to report about this morning. We didn't get all the wood flooring down on the house we were working at yesterday so a small group of us are going back this morning to finish up. The rest of the group will go to another work site to start putting down the flooring in that house. That one will be 100% ceramic tile so there will be quite a bit of layout work to begin with this morning. We will join them at noon time.

The lunches, if you want to call them that - they are actually dinners, are being provided by a local restaurant and they have been good. We have such a large meal that we've been bringing the soup and salad home for our evening meal. Works out great, we get two meals for the price of one and that price is free. Between that and a $5.00 per night campground fee, the old budget will be doing good for these two weeks.

We've not made any plans for after the build. One thing that I want to do is visit Kennedy Space Center and we have some friends in the area that we would like to see if we get a chance. The Tampa RV Show would have been fun but it is this week and two and half hours away. Saturday we'll have to "break camp" and go dump our tanks - there is a dump station here on the fairgrounds. Then we need to go to a laundromat to wash the clothes, so I guess the Tampa RV Show will need to be put in our bucket list for another year.

Things are starting to warm up, it didn't go below freezing last night. Hopefully this "cold front" that has been stalled right on top of us is heading back north where it belongs. We're still hoping to see that "promised" 70 degree weather by the weekend, however, the warm weather is supposed to bring rain with it. At this point we don't care about the rain as long as it gets warmer!

Well, ta ta for now and keep the greasy side down.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010 - Flagler County Fairgrounds, Bunnell, Florida
What a great bunch of people we have in this Care-A-Vanner group. I had forgotten how much fun it is to participate in these projects. The future homeowner, Ruth, was on site with us all day yesterday. She is a single mom with two teenage daughters who lost her husband to cancer a while back. She is soooooo grateful to all who have helped her get back on her feet and make homeownership a reality for her family.

Our site supervisor, John, was very happy with the amount of work accomplished in one day. We did far more than he expected to have gotten done but, the really pleasant surprise for him was the quality of the workmanship. We have some very knowledgeable and talented people on this build. Everyone on the team is a good worker and capable of working alone or contributing in a team effort.

Yesterday I manned the saw cutting the wood for three teams that were laying flooring in the bedrooms while Judy worked with a team of three others laying the wood flooring in the master bedroom. There were two other teams that laid ceramic tile in the kitchen, bathroom, laundry room, and in front entry of the house. By two o'clock in the afternoon all the flooring was completed in those areas. Today we'll do wood flooring in the livingroom, dining room, and down the hall way, grout all the ceramic tiling, start installing base board throughout the house, and install all the hardware on the kitchen and bathroom cabinets. When we leave today this house will be just about complete with just the heating/cooling and some other odds/ends to be completed.

When you see the joy on the face of someone like Ruth you just have such a good feeling inside. Most all of our friends have owned their own homes and know the excitement of being able to move into those homes. But, without Habitat for Humanity people like Ruth would never be able to experience that excitement. On top of that, often they are living in substandard conditions that are unsuitable for raising their families. This is truly a blessing for them.

Habitat for Humanity is not a free ride. The receiving families are not just given a house. First they must qualify for a home, then they must contribute (volunteer) 300 hours of their time, next they must pay the mortgage (which is relatively small and interest free), and lastly they must maintain the home and property. "Habitat for Humanity; not a hand out but a hand up!"

Don't feel that you have to be an experienced home builder to participate in a HFH build; they can use everyone's help. It's not uncommon to have people in training as a house is being built. Actually, what is uncommon is to have a group of people like we have on this build. So if you think that this is something that you would like to do, don't hesitate. Either visit a local affiliate or go to the HFH Care-A-Vanners website to see where the builds are, select one, and sign up. When you come face to face with the Ruths of this world you'll be glad you did. It does the heart good!!!!!

Monday, January 11, 2010 - Flagler County Fairgrounds, Bunnell, Florida
Here I sit at Oh-Dark-Thirty with tears running down my cheeks having just looked at the thermometer. The cold snap of 2010 continues; it's friggin' 28* outside here in sunny Florida. I'm crying because I gave all of my long johns to Goodwill three years ago along with my wool pants, winter jackets, knitted hats, mittens, and scarfs. The idea was to travel in the north during the summer and in the south during the winter thereby avoiding the coooold. Today, for the 11th day in a row of this new year, I will have to dress in layers of short sleeved shirts and short pants in an attempt to keep my shapely body warm.

The RV is sucking through propane like a herd of kids grazing their way unattended through a cookie jar. Even the katts are complaining about the chilliness of their castle on wheels. They give us the look of, "Why the he-- don't you do something about all this foolishness?" I guess they are tired of breaking the ice out of their water dish just to get a drink. But I don't think they should be complaining though, at least we didn't give their fur coats to Goodwill three years ago.

I wrote to my representatives asking them to do something about this global warming thang. I told them that I wasn't sure what was wrong, where it went wrong, or who caused it to go wrong, but it's broken and I want them to Just Fix It. I don't care how, Just Fix It. The sooner the better, Just Fix It. I figured that there's enough hot air in Washington to heat the whole nation if they would just send it our way - so Just Fix It!!! Just Fix It!!!!

Anyway, we departed St. Augustine at a little after nine yesterday morning and arrived at the Flagler County Fairgrounds at around quarter to ten. Gordon and Helen from Ontario were already here having arrived on Friday. They (who ever they are) just finished this "campground" on Thursday. There are ten brand spanking new water and electric only sites lined up in a field. It certainly would have been good to have had sewer hook ups as we like nice long hot showers after a day of cutting wood and pounding nails. One other draw back is that you have to watch where you are walking, this is a fairground, after all, and what do fairgrounds have? That's right, farm animals - with all the horse sh-- spread around here, for a minute or two, I thought I was in Washington, D. C..

The rest of the "crew" came rolling in throughout the day with the last arriving right at 3:30, just in time to head out for the four o'clock dinner and orientation at the HFH offices in Bunnell. We have a great bunch of people who greatly enjoy doing Care-A-Vanner builds. There is one couple that this is their first Care-A-Vanner build, however, they have done local HFH builds in the past. As for Judy and I being the leaders, this build should be a piece of cake; everyone pretty much knows what to do.

It was a good gathering last night with everyone getting to know each other a little better. We have a couple from Ontario, a couple from Indiana, a couple from Maine, a couple from Massachusetts, a couple from North Carolina, a couple from New Jersey, a couple from Tennessee, a single lady from Michigan, a single lady from Maryland, and, of course, a couple from Texas by way of Alabama (us). And, there are at least two dawgs and two katts here as well. This is just another great way to meet new people and make new friends.

We'll be working on four different build sites over the next two weeks throughout Flagler county with the closest being about 10 miles from the Fairgrounds. Today and tomorrow we'll be doing flooring at two of the houses (build 58 and 59) which are nearing completion, then we have some sod to lay at another (build 60). Next week we will start framing up another house (build 61).

I guess I had better get my chubby little body (I know, in my case that's an oxymoron) moving as we need to leave here around 7:30 in order to be on the build site at eight. This should be a fun two weeks, the local affiliate people are just great as are the Care-A-Vanners. So see you tomorrow from warm and sunny Florida - one can only hope!!!!

Sunday, January 10, 2010 - St. John's RV Park, St. Augustine, Florida
Sheesh, somehow I got off track with my dates and would have remained a day short and dollar off if it hadn't been for one of my faithful readers, George, who emailed me to let me know about the errors of my ways. Thanks George.

Yesterday we just "stood" inside and watched the thermometer drop - will someone please go back north and close the darned door!!!! I may not be thin skinned but, I'm sure as heck thin blooded. It gets kind of ridiculous when you see the penguins flying to Florida for the winter. If this keeps up I'm going to have to go on eBay and buy some ice skates.

Being that it was a cold winter's day, Miss Judy got busy and made me a batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies with walnuts in them. Now, one of the best things about homemade chocolate chip cookies with walnuts in them is sneaking some cookie dough right out of the bowl when the Missus isn't looking - I only got caught twice!!! The next best thing about homemade chocolate chip cookies with walnuts in them is eating a couple of them right out of the oven. And, one last best thing about homemade chocolate chip cookies with walnuts in them is having a few dozen around the house for between meal snacks, however, that's not part of Weight Watchers weight reduction program - good thing that I'm not on that!!!!

I spent most of the day working on the St. Augustine Travelogue; going through all the pictures and processing them through Picasa then saving them to the Travelogue picture file. I have a love/hate relationship with Picasa in that I love the way you can edit and enhance each picture but, hate the way Picasa does it's own thing when it comes to saving/filing your pictures. Anyway, I go through all the pictures and select the ones I want for the Travelogue and copy them into a "working folder". Then I process each picture through Picasa to enhance the quality, do some cropping, and/or straightening the picture if necessary. Next I do a "save as" into a Travelogue picture folder for the specific month; i.e., Pics 2010-01. When all of that is finished the pictures are ready to be inserted into the Travelogue as it is written.

There are four steps that I use when writing a Travelogue. First, I do all of my research and write all of the background/historical information into the Travelogue page. Secondly, I pull in the pictures and add any additional and/or personal comments supporting each photographed event. Thirdly, I will reread and spell check the Travelogue. And, Fourthly, both Judy and I do a final editing of the completed Travelogue after which it is ready for publishing.

Now, I have said all of that just to say this; I didn't get the St. Augustine Travelogue completed yesterday. I have two remaining sections left to complete and will have to work at it over the next few days as time permits. All the research is done and all the pictures are inserted; I just have to finish writing the two sections. As you know, we hitch up and head out this morning for the Bunnell Habitat for Humanity build which we are leading. Most of today will be spent getting set up, greeting the other volunteers as they arrive, and doing an orientation dinner/overview this evening. Tomorrow we will put hammer in hand and begin the project. I hope to squeeze a little time out here and there to finish up the Travelogue over the next couple of days - I definitely want to have it published by the middle of the month.

It finally happened, the valve for the bathroom (shower, washer/dryer, vanity) failed. At least it has "failed" in the open position and being that we have a second "check" valve in the system it is no big deal, however, I will need to change it out when we get warmer weather. That entails removing one of the underbelly panels and insulation to gain access. I have extra valves and the bathroom one is the easiest to change out but, I sure as heck ain't gonna do it while freezing my assets off. It always seems like things have a tendency to break when it's coooooold outside. Like Nick said, "RVing in cold weather sucks."

Well, it's time to get this show on the road - see ya tomorrow from sunny, but coooooold, Bunnell, Florida. They say it will dip into the teens tonight - that's double brrrrrrrrrrr!!!

Saturday, January 9, 2010 - St. John's RV Park, St. Augustine, Florida
We did exactly as was planned; went to Wally World for groceries and stayed home for the rest of the day. It was an overcast day with rain on again, off again. Temps were in the high forties but, the dampness was penetrating. Bottom line is that it was not an overly exciting day.

Today will be another stay at home day. We'll clean the coach and get things ready to "head 'em up, roll 'em out" in the morning. I will work on the Travelogue and hopefully publish it before day's end. Judy has a list of things that she wants to accomplish, some of which include my help.

Basically, we are sitting back and relaxing while enjoying this cooooold damp weather inside in front of the fire place. Tomorrow we will get to meet a whole new group of friends as we all gather at the Flagler County Fairgrounds for a two week Habitat for Humanity Care-A-Vanners' build in Bunnell, Florida.

Friday, January 8, 2010 - St. John's RV Park, St. Augustine, Florida
Ahhh, that's better!!! We got a reprieve yesterday and began to thaw out a tad; we were even able to sit out in our lawn chairs for a little while yesterday afternoon. But, it will be short lived as most of you very well know. Another thing the coooold weather has brought us is a increase in oil prices; diesel fuel jumped from $2.84.9 to $2.95.9 overnight. I just don't understand how that can be justified; it's just plain price gouging but, we have no representation in Washington, D.C. looking out for the interest of "we the people".

We visited Castillo de San Marcos yesterday afternoon where I finally paid for my "old age" pass (America the Beautiful Senior Pass). We would have paid for it at the Cape Cod National Seashore but we were there in the off season and they weren't charging for entrance into the park. Both Judy and I got a ticket which is good for seven days so we can go back again and again, however, the fort is not that big. We had thought of going back when they are firing the cannons but the weather in supposed to be nasty over the next couple of days - we'll just have to decide that later (they only fire the cannons on Friday, Saturday, and Sundays).

After visiting the fort we returned to St. George Street to enjoy walking around the town with a little warmer weather. Being that we really enjoyed Pizza Time's pizza so much, we returned there for lunch. We really, really, really loved their Romana pizza. It is a New York style no sauce pizza made by brushing an olive oil and garlic mixture over the crust with lots of chopped fresh tomatoes, ham, fresh basil, and red onions topped with mozzarella, Romano, and asiago cheeses. It is "Oh so gooooood!!!!", "Mmm-mmm good!!!!", and "Yummy, yummy!!!!" all at the same time.

Miss Judy has met her sightseeing WSL (weekly saturation limit) so today will be a "Walmart shopping followed by stay at home" day. Now that we have a full hookup site we have some laundry to finish up and need to start getting things ready for living the next two weeks on water and electric only, no sewer hook ups. Also, we want some time to work on our hobbies, do a little reading, watch a movie or two, and just generally relax. We enjoy visiting new places and seeing new sights but, we, also, like our "down times" as well.

Thursday, January 7, 2010 - St. John's RV Park, St. Augustine, Florida
We started our day with computers and coffee, chatting occasionally, to kill time while waiting for it to warm up enough to go outside and play. The game plan for the day was to visit the Flagler Presbyterian Church, Flagler College, Lightener Museum, and do a little more walking about St. George street. We had lunch at Pizzalley which has very highly rated reviews - it was excellent pizza at very reasonable prices, however, we liked the Pizza Time's pizza better. Who'd thunk that we would come to St. Augustine to eat pizza rather than find some nice little European restaurant featuring Mediterranean cooking; that's what happens when you become budget driven.

Charles and Ethel Henry joined us at our house for a chat and chew or, as Charles billed it, a "chat and cheese and shrimp and share." It was nice to see them again and we enjoyed our appetizers along with a little "twine" before heading out for dinner at Barnacle Bills restaurant. Barnacle Bills has good entrées at reasonable prices and you get plenty to eat but, we're spoiled, they don't hold a candle to Big Daddy's. It was a great evening and we had a wonderful time visiting with Charles and Ethel. Only hope it doesn't take us another two years to connect again.

Today we're moving from site A-11 to site A-2 and then we're going to visit the fort Castillo de San Marcos. If we have enough time after visiting the fort we may drive out to the St. Augustine Lighthouse which is on the north end of Anastasia Island. Wish it was a little warmer so could we spend some time at the beaches - oh well, we need to leave something for next time.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010 - St. John's RV Park, St. Augustine, Florida
Yesterday was a great day of sightseeing, although coooooooold. It wouldn't have been so coooooooold if the wind hadn't been blowing but, with that wind it blew the coooooooold right through us. Okay, enough about the weather as I know most of you are dealing with it too and many of you have it much worse than we do.

Around noon time we drove into St. Augustine and grabbed the sightseeing train for a tour of the city. We really recommend this as one of the first things you do; it's a great way to get "the lay of the land" and make notes of the things you want to spend some more time visiting. There is two different tours available, the trains and the trolleys. The trains are $6.oo less than the trolleys, however, the trolleys price includes a museum tour as well. Both have about 22 stops throughout the city where you can get on and get off the tour. The tickets for both are good for three days and they both provide free parking at several different locations which certainly makes it well worth the price if you are visiting for several days.

If you take the trains, try to get on one of Kristen's tours. She is very knowledgable about the history of St. Augustine as well as very entertaining - we stayed on her train for the entire tour. After the tour, we visited the Nombre de Dios park and did a walk along St. George street stopping at Pizza Time for a couple of slices of some of the best New York style pizza we've ever eaten - expensive but good. By then we were getting coooooooold so we headed back to the truck, ducking into the visitors center for some heat on our way back.

Today, we'll go back and visit some of sites we noted while on the train. It's supposed to be a little colder today but little to no wind which should make it a little more tolerable. We'll spend a couple of hours today and a couple of hours tomorrow sightseeing and will get to see everything we want to at this time. You'll be able to read more about our St. Augustine visit in our Travelogue that will be published by the end of the week.

By the way, we are staying at St. Johns RV Park (Passport America park) which is just off I-95 at exit 311. When we arrived we were only able to get a water/electric site for three days, however, yesterday we lucked out and were able to get a full hookup site on Thursday for another three days. They accept the Passport price for up to a month which makes it a nice place to stay when visiting St. Augustine. We highly recommend that you make advanced reservations to ensure that you'll be able to get a site as there are only a few available for short term stays.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010 - St. John's RV Park, St. Augustine, Florida
We finally found some 50 degree weather so we are closing in on our ideal winter temperatures of the high 60's to low 70's. However, it seems that the cold weather may have hitched a ride on our rear bumper as the temperatures dropped into the mid 20's last night. They are even predicting colder temperatures in the days to come with snow as far south as lower Georgia by week's end. Yep, global warming has set in for sure; me thinketh that Al Core is a kin to Chicken Little.

Today and tomorrow we are going to do sightseeing in St. Augustine; we'll take a tour of the town followed by a little walking about town. The tour pass is good for three days and you can get off and on the tour at various stops around the city so today we will take the full tour first making notes of what we want to see. Then go back tomorrow and get off at the stops we have noted. Also, the Spanish Fort Castillo de San Marcos is high on our list of things to see and we may want to give the Fountain of Youth a try; although, I think they may have determined that it is ineffectual. It's worth a shot though!!!

We have been in touch with Charles Henry and will be getting together with him and Ethel before the week is out. They're planning a dinning experience for us as there are hundreds of good eateries in this area. I'm sure that he and Ethel will choose well but, as always, the socializing will be the best part of the meal. It will be good to see them again as we haven't seen them since March of 2008.

Hope you keep warm. And, "that's all I have to say about that!!"

Monday, January 4, 2010 - Twin Oaks RV Park, Elko, Georgia
Okay, did the heat tape work? Well, yes and no. Yes, the heat tape thawed out the sewer pipe but, no, it didn't thaw out the additional valve that I had installed at the end of the sewer pipe. I ended up taking the valve apart in order to operate it - fortunately this proved to be an easy task even in 14 degree weather.

Now, for the rest of the story. After I had taken apart the valve I saw solid ice in the sewer pipe. I thought, "Oh great, all of the work of installing the heat tape and the darned thing didn't melt the ice!" Do you remember when "mom" used to make homemade jellies and jams? And she used paraffin wax to seal the top of the jar? That's what had happened here; the heat tape had melted the water in the pipe but not right behind the valve so a 3/8" thick ice block remained. Once I "tunked" it with a screw driver it gave way then I removed the ice and the problem was eliminated.

So, it was back to where we started from yesterday morning and by quarter after nine everything was packed up, hitched up, tanks dumped, and we were on the road. It was an uneventful trip, however, when we reached the exit for McKinney COE park the truck thermometer read 30 degrees. After the last few days that just wasn't going to do it so we kept driving south until the thermometer hit 43 degree and then pitched our tent there with the door facing east so we could catch the morning rays. That's still nothing to write home about, after all, 40 degrees is only refrigerator weather but, after the past few days of living in a frozen food locker it just had to be an improvement.

We ended up about three hours south of McKinney at Twin Oaks RV Park in Elko, Georgia (just south of Perry, Georgia; a Passport America Park and one of the better ones that we have been in, I might add). It took us exactly seven hours of Interstate driving to get here but, we sure are glad to be out of that below freezing weather.

Today we'll move even further south to St. Augustine in hopes of picking up another 10 to 20 degrees. Originally we had planned to take four days to make this trip, however, from this mornings news it looks as if the entire east coast is suffering from this c*ld snap. To quote our RVing buddy who said in his blog, "RVing in cold weather sucks!" Couldn't agree with you more, Nick. We're running from it but not sure we can hide from it.

In the mean time, keep warm and don't do anything I wouldn't do! See ya tomorrow from the Sunshine State.

Sunday, January 3, 2010 - Cedars of Lebanon State Park, Lebanon, Tennessee
Yep!! We tarried waaaaay too long in Middle Tennessee. We woke up to seeing snow falling all around us - only accumulated maybe a quarter inch but, it was snow none the less. We decided to go to Cracker Barrel for breakfast and see what the weather was going to do (don't want to be driving in snow with these suthenahs - they don't handle inclement weather very well at all). Once we had a warm meal in our bellies things had improved immensely so the count down to getting underway began.

We went through the entire routine, put the puddy katts in the truck, and ran through the check list. All systems go!!! We headed for the dump station to empty the tanks. Uh-Oh, Houston, we've got a problem. We have about 4 feet of sewer pipe that extends from the heated underbelly and is fully exposed to the weather. On top of that we have a leaky "dump valve" on our bath water holding tank. Put the two together and what do you have? Water in the exposed portion of sewer pipe with temperatures in the teens (it dropped down to 17 degrees yesterday morning) which equals a frozen sewer pipe. We were unable to dump our tanks!!!

Now, we could get underway without dumping but we are very weight conscience. We have a 60 gallon potable water tank and I filled it twice which means that we have 120 gallons of water on board. At 8.3 pounds per gallon that means that we have an extra 1000 pounds of weight. We travel with our tanks empty and still exceed the Combined Vehicle Weight Rating of the truck by 400 pounds - an additional 1000 pounds of weight would be totally unacceptable, let along unsafe at any speed.

So, the solution was to pull back into our site, go to Lowes and purchase a heat tape, and install it onto the exposed pipe in hopes that it would melt the water in the pipe by morning. Did it work? I don't know, I haven't ventured out into this 12 degree weather to find out - I need another cup of coffee (or two) before sticking my nose outside to find out. Probably need some additive in my coffee as well to keep my pipes from freezing.

No matter what, we're getting outta here today, this global warming thang is bringing even colder weather to the area over the next few days; then on Thursday they are predicting 1" to 2" of snow! By then we'll be in Florida sun bathing on the beach. Enough is enough already!!! We've had a whole year's worth of BRRRRRR and it's only the third. Now it's onto Georgia. See ya down the road!!!

Saturday, January 2, 2010 - Cedars of Lebanon State Park, Lebanon, Tennessee
I fear we tarried too long. It was nice to see Mike and Sheila again and spend time with them, however, the temperatures have turned frigid. When we came home last night it was 20 degrees; overnight it managed to drop into the teens and this morning, as I sat here writing this entry, it began to sn*w . We'll be getting underway (if we get underway) with gloves on this morning - Brrrrrrr is the word!!!

Last night we said good bye to the grand daughters (and their parents). We'll be seeing them again at the end of April when we return for Mary's wedding and Jackie's college graduation but, for now, we'll be seeking shelter in Florida looking for the Fountain of Youth and warmer weather. Today we're heading for McKinney Corps of Engineers park in Acworth, Georgia. It is a beautiful campground that sits on the shores of Lake Allatoona and honors my old person's pass (America the Beautiful Seniors Pass). However, the temperatures won't be all that much warmer than the have been here; maybe 10 degrees warmer if we are lucky.

We'll be getting a late start as I have to go get fuel for the truck and we have to stop to dump the tanks on the way out (I may have to shovel the driveway). That's the one big disadvantage of this state park - no sewer hook-ups. When we stay for a week and a half, like we did this time, we have to conserve water. We have three holding tanks of 40 gallons each and one potable water tank that holds 60 gallons. I take my showers at the bath house while Judy does "Navy showers" and we use the campground "facilities" as much as possible to conserve on water usage. During our ten day stay we only used 90 to 100 gallons of water ( I filled the potable water tank twice); therefore, I would have to say that 10 days would be our limit before having to dump tanks.

With a generator, potable water, and holding tanks we are capable of "weathering the storm" for at least a few days. I still plan on installing an inverter/charger this spring that will enable us to use battery power for over night situations - that will improve our overall versatility and adaptability. A man just can't have enough toys!!

Well, I reckon I'd better get moving and start readying our "Little House on the Wheels" to roll down the highway. So, in the meantimes, "Happy Trails to You Until We Meet Again!"

Friday, January 1, 2010 - Cedars of Lebanon State Park, Lebanon, Tennessee
Although I don't like to see my life flash before my eyes, I guess I'm happy to be looking at 2009 in my rear view mirror. After the financial "debunkle" of late 2008, 2009 became a recovery year for us. Even though we made it through pretty much unscathed it certainly looked very tenuous a year ago. As we reviewed our finances last January we faced a shortage of funds to make it until my official retirement date of September 1st and had to cut our budget by 15%. We weren't really sure if that could be done but learned that this lifestyle provides us a lot of flexibility. By "hunkering down" we actually shaved 17.5% off our annual budget while still acquiring a new mattress and six new tires for the truck and RV. Also, by workamping one more summer we were able to put some additional funds into our "emergency" savings account.

The past couple days we have been reviewing our 2010 budget and things look a whole lot better than they did last year at this time. Although the concept of living on a fixed income is new to us, we have all of our bases covered. We'll need to use the "pay it forward" concept in order to ensure that money will be there for the months where our "out go" exceeds our "in come" but, at least, there will be enough money for food every so often. One thing that we discovered is that there won't be enough money for us to travel as much as I thought we wanted to, however, there will be enough money for us to travel as much as we really want to. To be honest with you, after about six or eight weeks of traveling we are ready to go "home" and settle down for a little while.

So, now that we are nice and comfy with our 2010 budget, it's back to our daily life. Matthew had yesterday off, poor Jackie had to w*rk, so we went out to lunch with Mike and Sheila and Matt and the kids. We went to Jim and Nick's BBQ; the food was alright but it certainly doesn't measure up to Williamson Bros. in Marietta, Georgia. Because it was a rainy day, we went back to Matt and Jackie's house and "hung out" watching a couple of movies. We did Chinese take out for dinner last night and celebrated New Year's Eve until the ball dropped at 9 o'clock (after all, it was 12 o'clock somewhere!!!). Then Judy and I came home to spend some time with our kids (Katie and Alex) before turning it at around 10:30. Before we knew it, another decade laid behind us.

Today we're going to spend this morning doing chores around the house before going back to Matt and Jackie's, it's still cold and misty outside. We've enjoyed spending time with Mike and Sheila, just like old times; just wish we had more time. They are leaving in the morning as are we; they're heading north in search of more cold and snow while we'll head south in search of clear skies and warmth. The weather dudes are predicting highs of a whopping 29 to 30 degrees in this area - I'm telling ya, we just gotta do something about this global warming "thang".

Well, I hope you are not waking up this first day of the new year with a headache. A hangover is not my idea of a way to start out a brand new year but, if you have one, I wish you a speedy recovery from your self induced affliction. Be Safe, Have Fun, and God Bless.

Happy New Decade!!

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