Hello all
The weather has just about been perfect here in Florida. I am just loving the sun and warm weather. Even though I have a bad case of hitch itch the weather is making staying here these last few weeks easier. We are not doing much, just hanging around the pool and soaking up the rays. Of course the crowds at the pool are getting smaller and smaller and people leave to head back north to their summer homes. There are more and more empty sites in the park everyday.
On the travel plans, we have made reservations at the famcamp at the Naval Air Station in New Orleans for the last week of April. As much as I am loving the hot weather here and the pool I am getting excited to move on and see new sites.
Safe travels to everyone out there.
Monday, April 2, 2012
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Hello everyone
It has been a long time since my last post and the sad thing to say is that there really isn't much to catch up on. When one first starts out on this lifestyle everyone (including us) thinks every day will be one exciting adventure after another. (and some days are) but more days than not we live our life much like we always have. We just do it from an RV instead of a stix and bricks. It is hard to write about what we are doing. We are living. Now we are planning our summer trip and things are getting exciting again.
When we last spoke we did not have residency set up yet and we were still in Pensacola. Well, we did get everything settled, we now both have 8 year Florida DL and the truck and Serenity sport Fl plates. AND the best part - we can get cheap Disney World tickets.
We have had a beautiful winter here. The weather has been great and we have spent lots of time in the pool and hot tub. We are both sporting nice tans to prove it too.
My parents managed to get down here for 6 weeks and we enjoyed spending time with them. It is too bad they couldn't stay longer. But they are back in Canada again and we miss them.
Here are our plans for the summer. So far, and as any full timer knows, everything is written in Jello, the plan is to leave here around the 20th of April, head to New Orleans for a week, meander across Texas (with a stop in San Antonio to walk the river walk) head north on the eastern side of the Rockies and on up into Canada for the summer. We plan to spend some time in Vegas, The Grand Canyon , Arches National Park, and Yellowstone. Of course there will be other stops along the way. Once in Alberta we will be heading to my sons house were we plan to moochdock for the summer. I supported him for 20 years so he can me for 2 months right? I thought that sounded fair. Two of my boys live in the same area of Alberta and I am quite excited that my daughter is also flying out from the east coast to join us for a week in July.
I would love to head back to Florida by way of heading east through Canada and then south down the eastern coast but that all depends on the price of fuel and what the timing is. Ira has a Dr. appt in late Sept that he needs to make. We can call and put it off for a few weeks into Oct but we do need to make it back by then.
We had a little scare this winter with a spot of cancer on Ira's head. He had it removed and the Dr. said there is a 95% chance of 100% removal. The Dr. feels very good about the procedure but we do have to come back for follow up checks.
We are both loving Florida for a winter month state and even though we are excited about moving on for our summer adventure we are feeling good about heading back here for the winter. We are in the Orlando area which gives us easy access to Tampa, Daytona and of course Orlando.
Life is great isn't it.
Talk to you all soon and until then safe travels.
When we last spoke we did not have residency set up yet and we were still in Pensacola. Well, we did get everything settled, we now both have 8 year Florida DL and the truck and Serenity sport Fl plates. AND the best part - we can get cheap Disney World tickets.
We have had a beautiful winter here. The weather has been great and we have spent lots of time in the pool and hot tub. We are both sporting nice tans to prove it too.
My parents managed to get down here for 6 weeks and we enjoyed spending time with them. It is too bad they couldn't stay longer. But they are back in Canada again and we miss them.
Here are our plans for the summer. So far, and as any full timer knows, everything is written in Jello, the plan is to leave here around the 20th of April, head to New Orleans for a week, meander across Texas (with a stop in San Antonio to walk the river walk) head north on the eastern side of the Rockies and on up into Canada for the summer. We plan to spend some time in Vegas, The Grand Canyon , Arches National Park, and Yellowstone. Of course there will be other stops along the way. Once in Alberta we will be heading to my sons house were we plan to moochdock for the summer. I supported him for 20 years so he can me for 2 months right? I thought that sounded fair. Two of my boys live in the same area of Alberta and I am quite excited that my daughter is also flying out from the east coast to join us for a week in July.
I would love to head back to Florida by way of heading east through Canada and then south down the eastern coast but that all depends on the price of fuel and what the timing is. Ira has a Dr. appt in late Sept that he needs to make. We can call and put it off for a few weeks into Oct but we do need to make it back by then.
We had a little scare this winter with a spot of cancer on Ira's head. He had it removed and the Dr. said there is a 95% chance of 100% removal. The Dr. feels very good about the procedure but we do have to come back for follow up checks.
We are both loving Florida for a winter month state and even though we are excited about moving on for our summer adventure we are feeling good about heading back here for the winter. We are in the Orlando area which gives us easy access to Tampa, Daytona and of course Orlando.
Life is great isn't it.
Talk to you all soon and until then safe travels.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Still in Pensacola
Our two weeks in Pensacola are over but we had to extend...........for how long? Who knows. We finally got the plates for the truck, Ira got his DL and a few days later I was able to get mine. I really don't know how I got mine but I am not going to worry about it. I got one and that is the important thing. We had set up everything to use our mail forwarding as our "residence". Shortly before we arrived Florida changed the law to state they will no longer accept the mail forwarding address as our residence. When Ira got his DL the receipt from the campground was proof of residency and that along with a quickly changed bank statement was all he needed. When I went to the DMV to get mine (being a non-citizen I had to go to the DMV to get my license rather than the tax collector where Ira got his). At the DMV they told me they would not take the CG receipt. HOWEVER they would take the out of state tags from the truck with our Pa address on it. I still am not sure why a document with a Pa address was proof of residency in Florida. But I was not going to argue. When I got to the counter the girl there took the CG receipt as my proof. Go figure! The long and short of it is - I got my license. Or at least a paper version of it. The actual one will come in the mail.
In order to get the tags for the truck and Serenity we had to have the paper copy of the title. Pa only keeps the titles on electronic file. We asked them to fed ex us the paper copy of both titles. They sent the truck one to us by fed ex (which we got the next day) and the trailer one by snail mail to the tax collector. Why they just didn't put them both in the same envelop! So now we wait for snail mail to deliver it to the tax collector. In all this mess I will say the people at Janet Holley tax collectors on Navy Ave. have been more than helpful. They have to stay within the laws of course but they have done everything they could to get us set up. They have been a pleasure to deal with. Even though we are not set up yet whenever we leave that place we leave with a smile on our face.
The weather here has been great. The nights are cool. We leave the heat off in Serenity and just use the electric blanket. The days have been sunny in the mid 70s to low 80s. There is a slight breeze from the water that really keeps it nice.
We have been so happy with the dogs. They are really behaving themselves. There hasn't been a sound from them when we go out. Even when we are here they are starting to ignore other dogs that are being walked around. When ever we go out anywhere we block access to the upper bedroom, close the blinds, close the windows, turn on the air and the TV. I have checked with neighbours when we come home and they tell me they didn't hear anything from them while we were gone. Sometimes they will bark when they hear us outside again but that is fine. They are just excited to see us home again. I think this is going to work out well having the animals with us. It also gets us out walking more.
That is just about all from Pensacola and I hope we will be heading off to Ocala in the next week. Hope to get a chance to meet up one day down the road. Drive carefully out there.
In order to get the tags for the truck and Serenity we had to have the paper copy of the title. Pa only keeps the titles on electronic file. We asked them to fed ex us the paper copy of both titles. They sent the truck one to us by fed ex (which we got the next day) and the trailer one by snail mail to the tax collector. Why they just didn't put them both in the same envelop! So now we wait for snail mail to deliver it to the tax collector. In all this mess I will say the people at Janet Holley tax collectors on Navy Ave. have been more than helpful. They have to stay within the laws of course but they have done everything they could to get us set up. They have been a pleasure to deal with. Even though we are not set up yet whenever we leave that place we leave with a smile on our face.
The weather here has been great. The nights are cool. We leave the heat off in Serenity and just use the electric blanket. The days have been sunny in the mid 70s to low 80s. There is a slight breeze from the water that really keeps it nice.
We have been so happy with the dogs. They are really behaving themselves. There hasn't been a sound from them when we go out. Even when we are here they are starting to ignore other dogs that are being walked around. When ever we go out anywhere we block access to the upper bedroom, close the blinds, close the windows, turn on the air and the TV. I have checked with neighbours when we come home and they tell me they didn't hear anything from them while we were gone. Sometimes they will bark when they hear us outside again but that is fine. They are just excited to see us home again. I think this is going to work out well having the animals with us. It also gets us out walking more.
That is just about all from Pensacola and I hope we will be heading off to Ocala in the next week. Hope to get a chance to meet up one day down the road. Drive carefully out there.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Florida already
We are now stopped for two weeks in Pensacola Florida. The main reason we are here is to get our residency set up. We use Good Sam mail forwarding which is here so this is where we will get our driving licenses and vehicle plates. We are staying at the Blue Angel Recreation Area and have a wonderful water view out the front of Serenity. Too bad our big picture window is in the back. Oh well I will have a nice view when I wake up each morning.
It was such an easy drive here from Charleston down I-95 to I-10 then straight west. We stopped for an overnight at our friendly Walmart and had a great nights sleep.
We got here about noon and set up without any problems. The rest of the day is just sitting around enjoying the sunny warm weather. Tomorrow we head into town to pick up our mail and start dealing with government agencies. I just hope all goes smoothly.
That's it from our home in Florida. Stay safe out there and we will meet down the road one day soon.
It was such an easy drive here from Charleston down I-95 to I-10 then straight west. We stopped for an overnight at our friendly Walmart and had a great nights sleep.
We got here about noon and set up without any problems. The rest of the day is just sitting around enjoying the sunny warm weather. Tomorrow we head into town to pick up our mail and start dealing with government agencies. I just hope all goes smoothly.
That's it from our home in Florida. Stay safe out there and we will meet down the road one day soon.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Charleston SC
Well here we are sitting in Charleston SC. This is my first visit to the city although Ira has been here before when we was in the Navy. The first thing we did when we crossed the state line was stop into the visitor center. We picked up what we could find in the way of information on this area. There were some on visits and tours of plantations. I would like to see a couple.
On our way here we stopped one night at a Walmart. We needed groceries anyway so we decided to do the shopping and sleeping at one stop. I was in bed at 8:30 and slept till 7:30. That is a direct result of spending 5 days sleeping 100 feet from a railway track that had huge lumbering coal trains running about every 30 minutes all night. Every time one went by the trailer shook and the noise drowned out the TV unless we turned it up full blast.
We are in Lake Aire Campground which is much more remote and much quieter. You can hear a train go by once in a while but it is much further away and much more infrequent. Right now the place seems to be quite full but I am hoping that tomorrow with the end of a long weekend many or most of the people here will move on.
Fast forward a week..................... I am amazed at how many people are still RVing. It is mid October and school is in yet this park is still nearly full every night. Every morning lots leave and the place fills up again. I really thought we would be seeing lots of vacant spots by now. It also surprises me how many other full timers there are out there. We have run into quite a few at every campsite we have come to. I guess there are more people living this unconventional lifestyle than I thought.
We made a new friend today. We went to the Charleston Tea Plantation and met this little guy:
He was quite happy to pose for a photo opp. This is the first time I have ever seen an alligator in the wild.
Yesterday we went over to tour the USS Yorktown. It is an old WWII aircraft carrier. About 90% of the ship is open to run around in so it was very interesting.
While we were there we were also able to go aboard an old sub that was tied up. Wow those spaces were tight. I just can't imagine trying to live and work in such tight quarters. The galley gives a whole new meaning to SMALL kitchen. Mind you when I was young enough to actually serve on board one of those things I didn't take up quite so much room. Maybe that would make a difference.
Here are some shots of what we did get to see:
On our way here we stopped one night at a Walmart. We needed groceries anyway so we decided to do the shopping and sleeping at one stop. I was in bed at 8:30 and slept till 7:30. That is a direct result of spending 5 days sleeping 100 feet from a railway track that had huge lumbering coal trains running about every 30 minutes all night. Every time one went by the trailer shook and the noise drowned out the TV unless we turned it up full blast.
We are in Lake Aire Campground which is much more remote and much quieter. You can hear a train go by once in a while but it is much further away and much more infrequent. Right now the place seems to be quite full but I am hoping that tomorrow with the end of a long weekend many or most of the people here will move on.
Fast forward a week..................... I am amazed at how many people are still RVing. It is mid October and school is in yet this park is still nearly full every night. Every morning lots leave and the place fills up again. I really thought we would be seeing lots of vacant spots by now. It also surprises me how many other full timers there are out there. We have run into quite a few at every campsite we have come to. I guess there are more people living this unconventional lifestyle than I thought.
We made a new friend today. We went to the Charleston Tea Plantation and met this little guy:
Yesterday we went over to tour the USS Yorktown. It is an old WWII aircraft carrier. About 90% of the ship is open to run around in so it was very interesting.
Torpedios ready for launch!!
We also spent an evening driving around old Charleston. I wish we could have gotten out and walked more but we couldn't find a spot big enough to park that monster truck of ours.
Here are some shots of what we did get to see:
This is an entryway into a hotel. I think this is so romantic. It just needs a horse and buggy.
Tomorrow we are on the move again. See ya'll down the road.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Virginia
The adventure continues. We have headed south. After hearing the news that my father was doing so well after his surgery we decided to move on further south. After such a wet rainy past 4 months I am still looking for summer. I know it is October but hope springs eternal.
We stopped for a few days at Stoney Creek Campground just outside Staunton. The dogs loved it. They got to run and swim themselves to near exhaustion.
They love to run and we hope to keep them fit and trim.
We took an afternoon to explore the Skyline drive and Endless Caverns. It is the first time I have ever gone into caves like this. It was fascinating.
We stopped for a few days at Stoney Creek Campground just outside Staunton. The dogs loved it. They got to run and swim themselves to near exhaustion.
They had a blast swimming out to fetch the ball. The ball belongs to Shayla and she definitely does NOT want her brother having it.
We took an afternoon to explore the Skyline drive and Endless Caverns. It is the first time I have ever gone into caves like this. It was fascinating.
This the first shot I took as we entered the caverns.
I wish I could take pictures that did the place justice. I am sure you know what I mean. You see something and it takes your breath away but when you take the picture it never looks quite as good.
Today we are in Williamsburg at a much smaller campground. It is very well cared for, cute and very clean. It is close to everything, shopping, dining, entertainment, railway tracks............ We don't get much sleep at night. We are here to visit some old friends of Ira's - Don and Elizabeth. We went out to Olive Garden with them last night. It was great to meet them and we had a wonderful time getting to know them and recalling old time. (for Ira anyway). Ira served with Don many years ago.
Today we are heading out to visit historic Jamestown. My first time in this area so I am sure it will be very interesting.
Have a great day everyone. May we meet somewhere down the road.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Where does the time go?
I can't believe it has been so long since I last posted. Where did the time go? We have been busy since last I talked to you. We did spend the rest of August and the early days of Sept in Canada.
My father got the word that he had to go in for open heart surgery. We stayed as long as we could hoping that he would go in before we left but that was not to be. He has since had the surgery and all went very well. He is home, feeling much better and on the road to recovery. That is one relief. The longest day in my life was the Thursday he was in surgery. It took about 5 hours which felt like 5 weeks to those of us waiting for the call saying all was over and all was good.
On one of our last days in New Brunswick we took a day trip to Kings Landing, a historical settlement depicting life in the 1800's along the St. John River valley. It was fascinating to walk through the houses and see how people lived. Some were more well to do than others. One small 2 room house housed a family with 6 children. Their square footage wasn't much more than we have with Serenity and they had 8 people living in it! How did they do it.
A farm along the St. John River
People are hired to dress and act the part. Here a woman sits in an upstairs window doing some needlework.
A lumber mill.
We spent a day with my daughter Kristi wandering in the small fishing village of St. Martins.
The tide is out! St. Martins is on the Bay of Fundy which boasts some of the highest tides in the world. You definitely must time your departure and arrival with the tides here.
We wandered along the shore spotting some caves in the distance
so of course we had to explore them. 
Then we had to leave our mark. (At least until the tide came in)
IT really was a fun day. I am going to miss Kristi when we leave this area.
Ira and I spent a day wandering the harbour front in Halifax. We listened to buskers doing their thing and watched the boats moving in and out of the harbour.
Another day we spent in Fundy Park. The park is riddled with hiking trails to challenge just about every level of hiker. We took a few of the shorter ones.
Looking towards the shoreline of the Bay of Fundy.
Dickinson Falls, a short easy hike.. 
The covered bridge at Pt. Wolfe.
We revisited out old house to see if the new owners had done anything to it. Of course we didn't see inside but aside of a few flowers outside nothing new has been done. It still looked the same. Even though I don't miss home ownership I hope the new owners take good care of it.
We were supposed to head to 1000 Trails RV resort in Hershey on Friday the 9th but because of flooding we couldn't get near the place. Most of the roads are closed. On Saturday we made a run for it but due to so many closed roads a simple 30 mile trip took an hour and a half and about 60 miles. There is just so much flood damage.
For the next 4 days we attended the RV-Dreams rally. As usual there was lots of food, lots of laughs, lots of information and lots of good times to share with friends both old and new. Thanks Howard and Linda.
Of course we had to attend the RV show in Hershey after the rally. We saw so many beautiful rigs but nothing we liked so much more than Serenity that we wanted to do all the work involved in packing up our home to move to a new one. So I am guessing that means we are pretty happy with what we have.
.
My father got the word that he had to go in for open heart surgery. We stayed as long as we could hoping that he would go in before we left but that was not to be. He has since had the surgery and all went very well. He is home, feeling much better and on the road to recovery. That is one relief. The longest day in my life was the Thursday he was in surgery. It took about 5 hours which felt like 5 weeks to those of us waiting for the call saying all was over and all was good.
On one of our last days in New Brunswick we took a day trip to Kings Landing, a historical settlement depicting life in the 1800's along the St. John River valley. It was fascinating to walk through the houses and see how people lived. Some were more well to do than others. One small 2 room house housed a family with 6 children. Their square footage wasn't much more than we have with Serenity and they had 8 people living in it! How did they do it.
A farm along the St. John River
People are hired to dress and act the part. Here a woman sits in an upstairs window doing some needlework.
A lumber mill.
We spent a day with my daughter Kristi wandering in the small fishing village of St. Martins.
The tide is out! St. Martins is on the Bay of Fundy which boasts some of the highest tides in the world. You definitely must time your departure and arrival with the tides here.
We wandered along the shore spotting some caves in the distance
Ira and I spent a day wandering the harbour front in Halifax. We listened to buskers doing their thing and watched the boats moving in and out of the harbour.
Another day we spent in Fundy Park. The park is riddled with hiking trails to challenge just about every level of hiker. We took a few of the shorter ones.
We left New Brunswick on Labour Day weekend and heading back to Reading Pa. We had some appointments to take care of in the area along with some visits with family. We made a couple of visits to our storage facility to off load a few things we thought we would need and since decided we don't.
We revisited out old house to see if the new owners had done anything to it. Of course we didn't see inside but aside of a few flowers outside nothing new has been done. It still looked the same. Even though I don't miss home ownership I hope the new owners take good care of it.
We were supposed to head to 1000 Trails RV resort in Hershey on Friday the 9th but because of flooding we couldn't get near the place. Most of the roads are closed. On Saturday we made a run for it but due to so many closed roads a simple 30 mile trip took an hour and a half and about 60 miles. There is just so much flood damage.
For the next 4 days we attended the RV-Dreams rally. As usual there was lots of food, lots of laughs, lots of information and lots of good times to share with friends both old and new. Thanks Howard and Linda.
Of course we had to attend the RV show in Hershey after the rally. We saw so many beautiful rigs but nothing we liked so much more than Serenity that we wanted to do all the work involved in packing up our home to move to a new one. So I am guessing that means we are pretty happy with what we have.
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