Trails of Serengeti

December 2011

2011-12-19T06:40:00.006-05:00

Dec. 18th boy does time fly, we can’t believe that it has been over a month since we last reported here. Just too much to do as Jon plays golf 3 times a week, and Kathleen is back into swing with her activities, along with her trips to the fitness center several times a week. Jon uses the exercise room here at the park and attends them at least 5 times a week. Along with dinners here at the park and also potlucks at the church, include in that we get together with friends and stray at times. Since we have been here we’ve met up with some great new friends, and our circle is getting bigger all the time. As for Jon’s golf, he has good days and some not to good days but all days are great with friends and the weather. Kathleen is making great improvement in her bowling, as she is learning some of the finer points of the game. Again the league is great here as we do not have any teams and you bowl with different people each week, it is a great social event. Finally this year we did decorate our house for Christmas and it was so nice to do this while dressed in shorts and tee shirt, also again this year we are involved with the “Christmas Stroll” at our church. This will be starting on Monday thru Thursday in the evenings. Kathleen made some great costumes for us this year and the director is very pleased with them, she can make anything on a sewing machine. Trouble is that after she made the costumes she put the machine away and the shelf fell down 20 seconds later and destroyed the machine. We will have to look after Christmas for another one. We are pretty well caught up with our Dr.’s visits, we both got our yearly checkups and Kathleen had some more eye work done, although Jon has one more with his thyroid problem, and that will be in January.

Nov. 2011

2011-11-07T10:44:00.000-05:00

Nov. 5th well it is about 2 weeks since we have been at our winter home and things are going just great. When we arrived we could see all around the park as it was pretty empty, but that has changed as more and more people are coming for the winter. We’re back to stimulating the local economy, we are fixing up our place and this includes getting our medical exams, eye exams and Kathleen is getting a dental exam. We also had some curb-n-scape installed around our palm tree, had some reupholstering done in the MH, in the process of buying a new headboard for our bedroom and getting a custom frame made for the painting we had commissioned last spring. Talking about the painting, it seems like we always run into a last minute project and that being the year we had the sod installed it was one third installed when we left and didn’t see it completely till we returned the following fall. Same with the painting. It was delivered the day before we left. Hopefully this year we can do everything early and enjoy it during our winter stay. Also in the past two weeks we met up with a lot of our friends and started our winter schedule, Jon golfed several times and is getting back to his three times a week routine. Jon made a decision not to really do much bowling, but to golf instead. We met up with Al & Joann at the bowling alley just to socialize and he bowls an 181,191, 266 set. Our schedule is filling up with the park, legion and church calendars to be considered and we already had one double booking. Just another time period we are enjoying at a campground/resort in Florida.

Oct. 2011

2011-10-02T11:03:00.015-04:00

Oct. 26th we didn’t need to get an early start today so we relaxed a little bit. We both took a walk around the resort which is a distance of 1 ¼ mile. Later Kathleen opened up a work out membership, and today was her first day, upon returning she was thinking she would be sore and stiff tomorrow. While she did that, Jon went to the MH and removed the items that we are going to have reupholstered. After that he got out the bicycles and put air in the tires and rode each one of them around the park to make sure all things work. In the afternoon we took the parts to the upholstery shop and from there we went to have Kathleen’s eyes checked for glasses. It was discovered that she didn’t need glasses but will need laser treatment to remove a film that developed on the back of the lenses after her cataract surgery two years ago. This is considered “normal” and is a relatively easy procedure. While she was in there Jon did some shopping. We got back together and went to get a bite to eat prior to going to our Wednesday night Bible study. Upon returning home we had another great day in the campground/resort.

Oct. 25th what a busy day we awoke to today. First we went down to the office and officially checked in and paid for our early arrival and MH storage. After that we took some more items to the MH and picked up some things we forgot to remove. We left the park and our first stop was at the local Chevrolet shop to ask about an oil change, since we have about 5000 miles on it and the oil monitor says we are at 65% before a change. We were told that we are good till it gets down to under 30% and that some go as much as 12,000 miles between changes. After that we went to the Verizon store as Jon’s phone gave up the ghost, has to charge it every day and it dies overnight. He did something different as when most people get another phone they up grade but, no he downgraded to strictly a phone, no frills. From there we went and bought a head board for our bed, next stop to return to the local upholstery shop that did the work when we changed our MH last spring, we wanted to complete the job this year. We were so happy that we did this, because they are closing their doors at the end of the year. From there we went to the local orange grove for juice and to buy some local honey, we found out that by using local honey where ever you are it will help with the local allergies. We then came home and got cleaned up as we were meeting with Jeff & Shirley this afternoon. They have been looking at properties in Fl. for well over a year now and have made several trips down here to look. Well, we think that they found the place this time, it is a 4 year old home that was never lived in, in a gated community with lots of amenities for the residents there, also in a very nice location and near to a lot of shopping areas and restaurants. We are so glad for them and hope that is works out for them. The four of us then went out to Manny’s Restaurant and had a great meal, the amount, quality and price was fantastic. We returned home tired and worn out for the day but realize how great it is to be in a campground/resort in Florida.

Oct.24th after arising Jon put in a new socket for our wash line (actually a single pole with four arms extended) this is an easy job as the soil is all sand and just set the pipe at the place you want it and put a hose in the pipe and turn the water on and push down the pipe. Also in the morning we went to the office, only to find out that the office person had another appointment this morning. We moved our MH to the storage area along with the tow dolly; we probably have the longest MH in the storage lot and hope that it goes well. We did have a challenging time getting both of these in one area. We located the people who mow our lawn over the summer and paid them for a job well done. In the afternoon, Jon went to play a round of golf with Paul, Floyd and Dennis. It was a great day and the weather was just perfect. During that time Kathleen went shopping and got a new coffee pot and some decorative items to set on our new computer desk/hutch along with personal items. After our evening meal we washed the car and took off several weeks of grime from being towed behind the MH. As we are settling into our winter digs we are so happy to be in a campground/resort.

Oct 23rd this morning we got back to our church family, after the event that we faced back in Pa. it really felt good to be back around old friends, and this was the proper setting. We returned home and continued to clean out the MH and get our winter home set up. At the present time we are awaiting a lot of the people in the park to return for the winter and the place is somewhat deserted. We have met some new campers here as well. In the afternoon we set up out computer desk/hutch that we brought from Pa., it is over 4 ft. high and over 5 ft. long. We had been lugging this around for about three weeks and finally got it home. We spent all of the afternoon setting it up, as you know part A to part B type of thing, and this had a lot of parts. It looks good and it will function very well for us and the décor couldn’t be any better. After that we lounged around and watched some TV, although Jon couldn’t stay awake and took an early exit for the night. The last few days were long and we did accomplish a lot of work. Once again we are happy to be at our winter home and as always it great to be in a campground.

Oct.22nd this is our last day of travel and we were happy to get to our winter home. Jon couldn’t sleep and was up by 3:30 am even though we hadn’t planned to leave till 8:00am. We left out of Wally world and we do say, that it was very quiet and a nice place to stay, we got back onto I-75 till the Fl. Turnpike and from there we took Rt. 27 at Claremont as this would take us to our park. We do have to say it is a very scenic route but the conditions we had were the worst we had the whole journey. Even though it is a divided multi lane road the roadway is narrow with a lot of hills and way too many red lights, well maybe we got used to the interstates. We both fueled up about 20 miles from our winter home and Floyd had his brake hang up again. Using his levelers he raised the front end and kicked the tire and it loosened up. Arriving home we found the yard to be in great shape, as we had mowing service and also weed control, it is well worth it. Two years ago it was the worst lawn in the neighborhood it is one of the nicest now. Upon opening we found the place as we left it with no surprises, and we started to unload and set up our place. What a major challenge, didn’t know we had so much stuff, this is crazy. We arrived a little before noon and at 4:00 we had company and sat and chatted for a while. After that we did a Wal-mart, gas, and Wendy’s run. After we ate, which first consisted of clearing off the table, we hooked up the TV and set up our Wi-Fi account. By this time we were tired out and stated we could clean out the rest of the MH and car tomorrow. It was a busy day and a great day to live in a campground/Resort. Must say here we were so lucky to have the Lord with us through our journey and we blessed Him every day. Tomorrow we will be back with our church family and continue to praise Him.

Oct. 21st we sort of took it easy this morning as we decided to get a later start. After arising to a cold MH, because we hadn’t run the furnace at night we awoke to an inside temperature of 53 degrees. Last night the heater didn’t work and it gave us an Emergency Shut off alarm. After checking in the manual we saw that the coolant level in the furnace was low and we added coolant at 10:00 pm last night. Any way it worked great this morning when we turned it on. We left our Wally world site and continued our journey south planning to travel about 330 miles, this included losing an hour as we reentered the Eastern Time zone. After going through a few small towns we pulled into a rest area and upon stopping we could smell hot brakes. After looking around we discovered that Floyd’s one front brake was tight and very hot. Using his leveling jacks we tried to turn the wheel which was tight. Jon got out a hammer and drift pin and through the wheel gave it a few smacks on the calipers which loosened up the wheel. The rest of the day at all of the rest stops we entered we checked the wheel and all was fine. We traveled to Ocala, Fl. at a Wally world to stay for the night. This is a good stop and there is a Bob Evans in walking distance and we had dinner there. Once again being in a campground (even if it is Wally world) is great. This will be our last night in the MH till next spring, Yahoo we are in Fl.

Oct. 20th as we got up this morning we realized it was going to be a major travel day for us. We had laid out our route and as we weren’t sure of the roads it was going to be an adventure. We left Memphis heading south into Mississippi and went across the northeastern part of the state into Alabama. Even though the road was a divided 4 lane road it was a rough road. At this time of the year you could still see the cotton in the fields as it had not been harvested yet. Entered Alabama in the northwest part of the state going towards Birmingham, only to discover that the interstate ends about 5 miles before connecting to another interstate. And of course being adventurous we failed to follow the signs as it looked like the road was complete. Well, we wound up going through a small residential area and some folks were probably wondering what we were doing. We really didn’t lose much time and when we got back on the correct route we stopped at an almost closed up mall area and had lunch. From Birmingham we went south to Montgomery and headed in a south east direction to the town of Troy. We did the Wally world thing for the night. We must say that the road from Montgomery to Troy was by far some of the best road we were on and also of the nicest scenery we saw all day. After getting our dinner at the Subway in Wal-Mart and setting up tomorrow’s route we returned to Wal-mart to pay for our spot (that is, we went to do some shopping). It is not a campground but it is still great to be in the MH wherever we are parked.

Oct. 19th we got an early start and we are now on Plan B as to the lost day yesterday. We left Branson and headed south on Rt.65 to I-40 and went through Little Rock continuing East to Memphis. Rt. 65 traveling south was a bevy of roads, as we had 4 lane divided, 4 lane undivided and two lane roads, but as it went through the Ozarks it was a pretty drive, especially at this time of the year. We decided to stay at a campground tonight as Floyd & Mary are celebrating their 54th wedding anniversary today and wanted something better than a Wally World stop. We stayed at the Memphis-Graceland Rv Park, and as we were checking in they told us about Marlow’s, which is famous for their ribs. We called for a reservation and pick up service; they offer a free pick up in a Pink stretch Cadillac Limo that takes you to the restaurant from the park. We had a great supper and we are sure that they won’t forget about this year’s anniversary for a while. After that we returned to the park and set up our travel plans for tomorrow. We look at this as another one of God’s plans; if we would have not been delayed by one day we would have missed this great event. Life is great when you live in a campground.

Oct. 18th what started out as a travel day turned into a no travel day. As we were ready to go Floyd & Mary’s MH parking brake would not release. There is a small hydraulic system that is used to overcome the parking brake assembly and it would not run. After trying to find a simple solution and not coming up with any they then called a repair service, which said they could be here in the early afternoon. In the mean time we removed the pump motor and took it to the repair shop only to discover that this was not the problem, and at that time we also found out that they were coming out at that time which was 3 hours early. When they arrived they disconnected the parking brake and had the MH taken back to the shop to work on. Long story short they found a loose ground wire which caused a relay to fail. Cheap part to replace, but a large labor bill. Floyd related that he has had a lot of problems with this system, and also said through other information so do a lot of other people with the Workhorse chassis. Floyd & Mary did not get back to the campground till 5:00 pm and we decided to stay here another night as it was a stressful day for all of us. Also we changed our route to get back to Florida, and we will start early tomorrow morning. The day was what it was but as always it is great to be in a campground.

Oct. 17th this morning the four of us went out and did a little geocaching, Floyd and Mary hadn’t done this before and we thought that they would enjoy it, which they did. We went out and quickly found three caches, two of them being micros, and one being a reg. size (ammo box). Since they were in the area before they got to see some places the usual tourist doesn’t see, which is one of the reasons we like to geocache. When we are in a new area we like to find a few if we can. After that we both did some cleanup work around our campsites and MH as tomorrow we will be heading out and the forecast is for rain, so we will get as much outside work done today as we can. Later in the afternoon we went to “Mel’s Hard Luck Diner” for dinner, this is a great place to eat and all of the servers are singers that are either in shows or had been in local shows, and every 10 to 15 minutes one of the servers will sing a song and they sell their CD’s there also. After that we attended the Lee Greenwood/Louise Mandrell show, once again great seats, not front row but row 7. We totally enjoyed the show, as with all the shows we attended. Jon had an idea several days ago and bought small ‘American Flags’ that we waved during Lee’s singing of “God bless the U.S.A.”. We did meet up with Lee after the show to have him sign our flags, and he related to us he saw us waving the flags. We all got to talk to Lee and to relate some stories we had about him over the years. We have to say that our stay in Branson was super, and this is a very God fearing place, right smack in the middle of the Bible belt. Every show had God and country presence involved and this is truly a family friendly area. In all of the shows we attended we never heard an off color joke or even reference to one, not so like the sin centers in other areas where you cannot take your family members to. We even discovered that the restaurants are fair and reasonable for a tourist area. As this is our last night in town we would like to say thank you “Branson” for the great and wonderful time. Life is great in a campground no matter where it is.

Here we are with Yakov, it was a great show, trouble is a phone
should be used as a phone and not as a camera. You get the idea.

Oct. 16th we (that is the four of us, Floyd, Mary, Kathleen, Jon) had an early start this morning as we had decided to attend a local church, we went to the 9:30 am service and even though the attendance was low it was an energetic audience. The building was built in the past year and they had just finished painting the past week. There was an 11:00 am service and this could have been a larger service. After that we went looking for a place to get breakfast, first we went to the local Bob Evans, which had a 1 hour wait, than we went to a diner in old Branson which had a line ½ block long. After that, in which our stomachs overrode our brains we stopped at a buffet and paid way too much for terrible food, in which we ate too much so that it would the last meal of the day. Quickly we went to Wally world again for a quick stop; leaving there we went to an afternoon show. We attended the “Yakov Smirnoff” show, we were very lucky as we had front row seats, with some of the perks being Floyd got patted down and later we all got to shake his hand and have pictures taken with him. His show was fantastic. He is a great comedian and he also told his story of immigrating to the US from Russia and becoming a US citizen. He is very patriotic and loves the USA. He is also an artist and one of his paintings was copied onto the side of a large building in New York near ground zero. After the show we met with Ron & Shirley for some light snacks, and just to have a great visit. We knew that we had to say good-by and it is always hard to do, but at that same time we also know we will meet up again. That is one nice thing about being a workamper and getting around the country, where friendships cover many miles. We got back to the campground and it is great to live in a campground.

Oct. 15th getting ready in the morning we left the campground around noon, since the other day we discovered that our tickets were cancelled we wanted to get a head’s up on any other possible problems. So we went to the box offices of the two remaining shows we had and 1 of those was cancelled as well, luckily we got it all straightened out and we have tickets in hand. We than drove to Old Branson and after a stop at an Ice Cream Parlor, where my I say we got a parking place right in front of, we had a quick snack. After that and what made the parking place an extra treat, was that the town was totally full and it seemed that a lot of people were enjoying the great weather. We walked down to Branson Landing and enjoyed walking through the bouquet shops in the area; the town did a very good job to make this enjoyable area. We returned back to the campground for a few hours and later we met up with Ron & Shirley for dinner and after and very good visit we decided to go see “Six” but, unfortunately they didn’t have any 6 tickets together, as a matter of fact they only had 6 scattered throughout the theater. At that time we went to another theater and got 6 tickets together for the “Haygoods” and what a wonderful, exciting and electrifying show it was. After the show we parted ways with Ron & Shirley and returned to the campground. As always it is great to be staying in a campground.

Oct 14th after arising and getting breakfast we unloaded the “utility van”, which is what we call the car as we are in travel mode, and then we went to a car wash and got at least 95% of the dirt and grunge off. By doing this we could do some of the driving in the area. We received a call in the morning that Andy Williams was sick and if we wanted to cancel that show we could and get all of our money back or come to the show in its revised form, we chose to cancel. We then got in contact with Ron & Shirley to line up the show “Six” and to have dinner with them prior to the show. At about 11:30 am we left the campground and did a quick stop at “Wally World” and then we went to the Titanic exhibit. The Titanic exhibit was a wonderful tour and we all enjoyed it very much, there was so much information it was amazing, we would like to thank Kathleen’s ex for steering us in this direction. After we completed this event we had a late lunch, early dinner at the local “Cracker Barrel”. Mary wanted to get an Oak Ridge Boys CD, so this was a good excuse. After that we decided to get our tickets for the nights show since we were in the area. It was a good thing that we did since they had cancelled our tickets as someone along the line put in the wrong date. With a lot of help at the box office it was all taken care of, and we thank them for that. They were happy that we came in the afternoon and not prior to the show to get our tickets, as it would have been worse in the rush of the night. We returned later for the “Shoji Tabuchi Show” and a wonderful show it was, we were all totally speechless as to what we had just seen. The performers Shoji surrounded himself with to put on the show was amazing. We then returned to the campground and as usual we had a great time.

Oct.13th as we are getting used to the new time zone after breakfast we did some sightseeing and a quick stop at a Wal-Mart. Later we had a lite lunch at a “Steak-n-Shake” location. After a slow start we had a great meal and a good time, we then continued our sightseeing. We returned to the RV park to rest up for tonight’s show. We hadn’t any show lined up for tonight but, we have workamper friends that are working in the area and we got a great deal on tickets for “The Oak Ridge Boy’s”. Our workamper friends, Ron & Shirley who we worked with in Bar Harbor, Maine, and us had a great reunion as is always when we meet up with friends across the country. These are some of the reasons these long distance friendships are great. After returning to the RV Park and turning in we just had a great time in a campground.

Oct.12th after arising and cleaning off the windows of bugs we headed out before 9:00 am. We really liked this location as it was quite and easy on and off, as we headed towards St. Louis we did encounter rain for a short period. We were going west as the storm was coming east and we felt the difference in temp as we went through the front. We made one fuel stop along the way for Floyd and Mary’s MH, along with the usual stops at rest areas. We checked into the Turkey Creek Escapee’s RV Park in Hollister, which is next to Branson, and set up camp. After that we loaded into the Watson’s car and found a pizza shop for lite diner and rehash the day’s events. When returning to the park we all turned in for an early night. Different campground, but still great to be camping.

Oct. 11th we left the campground around 9 this morning and headed out by going south to Cincinnati and on to Louisville to connect with Rt 64 West. In Cincinnati we really learned, by the hard way the differences of flat towing and dolly towing as we got into a situation at a gas station where we had to remove the car and unhook the car dolly, only to have a very slow pump where we only got $100 worth of fuel. From now on we have to revise our thinking about truck stops and fuel up where we have more room. We made stops at every rest area along the way as per Floyds Doctor’s orders. The stops were good, and gave us a chance to stretch our legs and to chat a while. We made it to Mt. Vernon, IL and we parked at a Kohl’s which is next to a noisy Wal-mart. Tomorrow with the good Lord’s help we will get to Branson, Mo. We are not at a campground but it is still great.

Oct 10th we got a little later start today then usual, but is wasn’t a long day’s drive. We did stop for breakfast at a Cracker Barrel, which is unusual for us but once a year or so isn’t too bad. Also it was pretty empty and for a change the service was good, because I usually say “good food, poor service”. We then continued our journey to the southwestern part of Ohio and pulled into the Frontier campground at about 1:30 to meet with Floyd and Mary. As we set up camp Kathleen started doing some wash and Jon took care of outside work. After Floyd came back from a doctor’s appointment, where he was given the thumbs up after his recent surgery, we went out for dinner. It was almost like we hadn’t seen each other for six months, as we got right back into our friendship. Later two of Floyd and Mary’s sons came by to say good-by and we had a campfire and sat around it for a while and enjoyed the company. Tomorrow we start our journey to Branson, but for today it is a great day in a campground.

Oct 9th what a great day to start our journey, we took Rt. 30 mainly across Pa. at a slow easily pace. When we left the eastern part of the state and it was very green, but as we went further west we could see the beauty of the fall foliage. The only reason we could think of for the eastern part being green was all of the rain that they had in Sept. It was the wettest Sept. in history. We did have a couple little events during the drive, it was the first time that we used a tow dolly as compared to flat towing as we did previously and this lead to a difference in our towing. Also the new car is somewhat heavier than our old car. We went 286 miles today and parked at the Cabela’s in W Va. We got a quick bite to eat and then did some shopping at Cabela’s. Okay we are not at a campground tonight but it was still a great day.

Oct 8th oh what a busy week. Kathleen spent three days working at what will be our jobs for next year; she wanted to sort of get a feel of the operation. At the same time Jon was getting the MH ready for our journey, going to Ohio then to Branson, Mo for a few days and then to our Florida home for the winter. In between all of this Jon had his yearly check up at the Lebanon VA and had a visit with his granddaughters. Both of us attended a soccer game that was played by Kathleen’s granddaughter and we visited with Jon’s mother and said our 6 month good-bys. Last night there was a dance at the campground and we attended and just had a wonderful time as we said our good-bys to all of our friends there. We are going to miss all of the people here and at the present time the weather is just perfect, with morning lows in the upper 40’s and the afternoon highs in the mid 70’s. We know that this will change and turn into frosty mornings and much too cold for us. And once again it is great to live in a campground.

Oct 2nd oh how time flies! Since we wrote last we decided to use a tow dolly instead of flat towing our car. We bought one and replaced the tires and then Jon wired up the dolly and car. We attended a family reunion in September and we also toured the Yuengling Brewery in Pottsville in Pa. As school started, Kathleen lost her babysitting job with her granddaughter and they both miss that. As we were getting into the fall season and looking forward to our fall trip back to Florida, we had a rude awaking. While working on a Saturday morning as Jon went into the shop he was met with a disturbing situation that involved the campground owner. At that time we made a decision to leave post haste. We moved to Red Run Campground for our remaining three weeks in Pa. During that time we did secure a position at a nearby resort for next summer. Jon has gotten to spend a little more time with his granddaughters and renew some of his friendships and get in a little bit of golf. Kathleen has gotten a chance to spend more time with her granddaughter, also she has worked several days for the campground that we will be at next summer. Even though the weather is quite rainy as in the highest rain fall in history we are having a great time in the campground.

July 2011

2011-07-20T21:03:00.001-04:00

July 20th this is the story of a major development that we just went through. On July 10th Jon was returning from visiting his granddaughters, and was traveling the Pa. Turnpike on cruise control at 70MPH when all of a sudden the car surged and the RPM’s shot up. He pulled over and lifted the hood to find transmission fluid being shot out of the vent. After getting off of the Turnpike he stopped at an Auto Zone to see if there were any other issues. They were very helpful but couldn’t do anything, at that time he drove the car home very carefully and a 40 minute trip took over 1 Hr. The next day Monday rather than Jon playing golf he took it to a garage and they referred him to a transmission shop, he called and was told that they don’t work on Saturn’s. At that time he called another shop and was told the same story. The third shop we called could work on it but it would be the following Monday the 18th. We took it to the shop on that day and they gave us as bad report in that it would cost between $2000 to $2400 to repair it, and getting the parts could be a problem. This comes about because of the Earthquake and Tsunami and melt down of the nuclear plant in Japan. Since the American made Saturn has a Honda engine and transmission. At that time we decided not to have it repaired but to get another car, we set our sights on a Ford Escape and spent a lot of time on the internet. Today we arose and did a lot prayer into leading us in the right direction, after that we visited a few web sites that we seldom visit and saw that the Ford has all kind of problems. We then went to pick up our Saturn and talked to the mechanic and he told us to run away from the Ford as it has a Mazda transmission in it and has a lot of problems when being flat towed. We than turned our sights to a Chevrolet Equinox (ugh!), anyway we went online and shopped for a Chevy. This afternoon we became the owners of a 2011 Chevy Equinox, to pick it up on Friday. That’s our story and it is still a great day in the campground.

June 2011

2011-06-04T07:43:00.001-04:00

June 1st Jon got up early and played a round of golf. After that, he stopped to get some parts that were needed at the campground. When he got back we went to visit his mother, and we did have a good visit as his aunt Miriam was there as well. After that we made a few stops and we also stopped at Kathleen’s son’s place for a short visit. We then had supper with Jeff & Shirley, as we hadn’t seen them since they were in Florida. We had a great time together and it just went too fast, we then came home safely. Just another great day at a campground.

May 2011

2011-05-23T07:50:00.003-04:00

May 31st We arose early and did some touring today. A funny thing happened today as leaving the campground we turned left and drove about ½ mile and discovered that our gas tank was empty and we knew there were no stations going west for at least 35 miles, so we turned around and went back 5 miles and filled up. Upon going west we decided to stop at a local fruit stand and buy some produce, so at that point we were about 45 minutes behind our original schedule. We then stopped for breakfast in Spring Run and found a great place that had good food at very a reasonable price. We drove to Shanksville to visit the Flight 93 Memorial for our fallen heroes on 9/11/01. It is a very somber place and at the present time it is under construction and is scheduled to have this phase finished by 9/11/11 and total completion by 9/11/2014. After that we drove to Indiana, Pa to tour the James Stewart Museum. Even though he was a great actor, he considered his military duty more important and throughout his life he visited his home town often. We then made our way home, stopping at both a NAPA store and Wal-Mart. So once again it was a great day.

May 22nd after work yesterday, and it was a long day, we left around 8PM and drove to Kathleen’s son’s place where we stayed overnight. We arose early and 5 of us went into Lebanon to be extra townspeople in a movie that is being shot there. The movie is going to be about the Blue Eye Six, which is local story in our hometown lore. Kathleen, her son and granddaughter, are decedents of one of the famed Six. It was a long day with a lot of hurry up and wait, but a great experience for all of us and we had a good time doing it. We sure would like to see this become a big screen event, as it has a lot of story behind it. After that we stopped in to see Jon’s mom for a short visit and than we did a quick Wally World stop before heading home. Arrived at the MH in the late afternoon and just relaxed after a long day.

May 16th we did a lot of driving today as we went to Easton to get another bumper for our car and also on the way back we got an estimate to have our car repaired. While still in Florida when we were on our way to the Bay Pines VA Hospital we were rear ended at a red light. We received payment to have it repaired, and now we are getting everything together to have it done. When we returned home Jon replaced the bumper assembly and just has to put on the step guard another day. Even though in was a rainy day it was a good day to get everything done and it is great to be at a campground.

May 2nd well we did our Cabela’s thing yesterday and we had a great time and bought some great items, best of all didn’t cost a thing. Today was the first day of work for Jon and he got reacquainted with a lot of the shop and also learned some of the new items brought into the shop along with new challenges that are up coming. He started to install lights in the one area of the shop that were purchased over the winter; he will finish up that job tomorrow. At the end of the day as any first day of work after a lay-off of 6 months he was sore and tired. Kathleen had the day off and will be in the office tomorrow for her first day. She did take this off day to go shopping at her favorite store here in Perry County. She does have a few other shops to go to but they can wait till another day. As again another good day at the campground.

April 2011

2011-05-23T07:47:00.001-04:00

Apr 30th we traveled up to Paradise Stream which will be our summer home. It was a great campground homecoming as a lot of the seasonal campers stopped by and greeted us and caught up on all that happened over the winter months in all of their lives. We did manage to get the camper set up for the summer; it is good to have everything ready for our time here. We did have one incident and that was the living room slide out came out about 12 inches while we were driving and we had to keep it retracted several time in the last 15 miles. We found a leak in the hose and will have to repair it prior to leaving. Tomorrow we plan on going to Church and then do some visiting with the family. We also plan on doing our yearly Cabela’s shopping spree which will be a free event as we save up our points. It was a great day at the campground.

Apr 29th wow so much time has passed since we last wrote to the journal. The last 4 months were such a blur as we had visitors come and visit and/or stay at our place. Back in January during the car show we were visited by two friends of ours, one was the first we got to meet and the other one we worked with while in Maine. Also, during this time Kate’s brother died (he lived in Ocala). She came in for the funeral, and she came down and stayed for a night. At that time she was looking into buying a park model here in the future. In late January Ron and Kay were in the area and we spent a few days with them and showed them our part of Florida, that also include going to the local vineyard and tasting of the wines. Later Jeff & Shirley came down for a week and they as well are looking to buy in the area, not really here at the park. Dennis and Pat bought a place south of Sebring, they got a real good deal as the brand new house sat empty for 4 years and was sold by the bank. Our friends and group of people that we hung with did a lot of different things that included going to the Canadian Snowbird Fest, spending way too much time going out to eat, and just generally having a great time together. We had our schedule of Monday bowling basically stop in February as we could just not fit it in, as we had the guests stopping by and also Kathleen was starting to prep for some surgery that was done in March and she didn’t bowl the rest of the year. On those Mondays Jon golfed and that had him going out 3 days a week. Jon did go back after a six week layoff and bowled the No Tap Tournament our group has and bowled a 300 with an 802 series. On March 23rd we went on a 3 day cruise to the Bahamas with Jon’s two sisters and niece and their spouses and Jon’s great niece, Gracie was along. We had a great time and it was good to be with some of the family. Also during this time we replaced the carpet in the motor home and had the sofa reupholstered along with the window frames and valances done. We stayed active in our church activities along with Sunday services; we went to the Wednesday evening Bible study. On the 23rd of April we started our journey north. The first day’s journey got us to Camp Fountain in Orlando, where we had a great time with the Fountain’s. We left there on Easter Sunday and drove north to the Charlestown, SC area for the night and then we continued to the Outer Banks of NC for two nights and toured the area. We found Kitty Hawk and the Area of the Wright Brother’s first powered flight very interesting. We then traveled further North to Harper’s Ferry WV. We are in a campground in MD. That is between a railroad yard and a very swollen Potomac River, as they had a lot of rain in the last several days, storms that came across the country and killed about 340+ in its wake. Today we toured Harper’s Ferry and determined that we had underestimated our time here to tour the area in its entirety. We just briefly touched on the town itself, while we toured the Antietam Battlefield and spent a lot of time at the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. We then went back to the campground and started to make preparations to travel tomorrow.

January 2011

2011-05-23T07:46:00.000-04:00

Jan 4th as we start a new year we are mostly keeping to our same schedule, which is bowling on Monday’s, Jon golf on Tuesday and Thursday and Kathleen with arts and crafts along with the Happy Hookers on Fridays. Today as soon as Jon was finished with golf we went up to Lake Wales and met up with some of our workamping friends at Bob Evans. We had a delightful evening and it was good to renew friendships, sometimes we don’t do this enough. One thing that we all agree on and that it is great to live in a campground.

December 2010

2011-01-04T07:43:00.002-05:00

Dec 30th can’t believe that it has been over a month since we last posted, or even wrote to our journal. A lot has happened and I could easily blame “Face book” for my lack of writing, but I won’t. Going back we had our Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners the club house and they were wonderful meals, both times we helped with the making of mashed potatoes. There was a period of time between Thanksgiving and Christmas that we had 4 pot lucks (three were church related and one at the park) and 2 fish fry’s in a 9 day period, no wonder we can’t lose any weight. We were also involved in a”Christmas Stroll” that was presented by our church and we had about 2000 people attend in a 4 night stint. Well signing off for this year and may everyone have a “Happy New Year”.

November 2010

2010-11-06T11:52:00.004-04:00

Nov 22nd well we just finished up several busy days. We got back from Disney Wednesday morning and unpacked the MH and put it back into storage. We then went and picked up the blinds that we had ordered and started to install them. On Thursday Jon golfed and when he returned he had the foursome help move the furniture out of the rooms to have the new carpet installed on Friday, and after that we attended the pot luck at the club house here in the park. On Friday prior to the carpet installers coming, Jon installed the rest of the blinds as the rooms were bare and had unlimited access. Kathleen met with the weekly knitting/crochet group here and handed in an afghan she has been working on for two winters. The group supports “Project Linus” which provides blankets for hospitalized children. She came home and promptly started another one which she hopes will not take so long to complete! After the carpet was installed we had our friends come in and help move the furniture back. With this finished we then went to the American Legion for their monthly fish fry, we were not disappointed as we did this last winter and it is still just as good. On Saturday Jon was in a golf tournament held by the Legion, and as it happened with being at the right place at the right time we had our picture taken and it was put in the local paper. Since this tournament starts with a Bloody –Mary and your cup is refilled after a few holes we had a great time. We did have it set up as Jon drove the foursome that morning and Jane picked up Kathleen and the ladies drove the men to the Legion for a lunch and the results of the tournament. We finished with a 1 over and the winners had a 6 under, we were really happy about the way we played. That evening we attended the dance at the club house and finished off a great day. Sunday we went to church and after that did a little shopping, wanted to buy a canister sweeper for the new rug. After that we relaxed in the afternoon. Sunday evening we went to a combined church service with two other churches in Sebring. It was a great time for all in attendance. On Monday we went bowling and Jon really doesn’t want to talk about it as he had a really bad day, on the other hand Kathleen had a great day and beat Jon two out of three games, Jon was happy for her. We play cards on Monday nights and the people were talking about “Dancing with the Stars” and since we never really watched it when we came back we did vote several times for Bristol, since we hope that she wins and gets a little retribution for the crap her and her family had to go through with the liberal biased media. As you can see we had a very busy time, but still great to be in a camping resort.

Nov 17th we just got back from three great days in Disney World. We took the motor home and stayed in Ft. Wilderness. There were several other couples from Jon’s campground in Pa. that were there also and we all had such a good time. It was a little different this time as we didn’t have any big dinner’s together but we just ate at the smaller café’s that are around the park. Also we rode more of the rides that are for all ages, whereas before we mainly rode the more thrill seeking ones. As we said before this is the number one entertainment capital in the world bar none, and we enjoyed it. We returned to our Avon Park home and unloaded the camper, filled it with fuel and stored it away for the winter at a storage place we have in the area. Also on Wednesday morning we got the call that our blinds were finished and we picked the up and plan to have them installed before the new carpet is installed on Friday, as we said before we are helping the economy in the area. Good to be back at the resort and once again it’s great to be at a campground.

Nov. 5th what a two weeks we had, as we got to our Florida home everything was good, we opened the door and it was just as we left it. Then we had to get to work as the sod that was new and we hadn’t seen was over growing the new sidewalks that we had installed. So it was off to stimulate the economy, as we bought an edger and also a pressure washer to clean the siding. After Jon edged the lawn, we needed two new sprinkler heads since he cut two off with the edger. It didn’t stop there as we wanted to replace several panes of glass, and also strip all of the windows and repaint them. Then we went and bought new carpet and furniture, the carpet will be installed before Thanksgiving and the furniture is supposed to be here around the beginning of December. We also bought new blinds for 8 windows and they should be here in two weeks. During this time Jon ran a new receptacle to the rear of our house for the sprinkler system and also to add an additional receptacle for outside use. Beside all of this Jon went to get new glasses to replace the ones he lost this summer, and wound up buying two pair, one for reading and general inside use and a as second pair of sunglasses that have a small area for bifocals to be used on the golf course and just general outside use. So as you can see we are doing our share to help the area economy. We did get back to our church and met up with a lot of friends we left in the spring. It’s another great Florida day and a great day in a CG (Resort).

October 2010

2010-10-01T18:51:00.002-04:00

Oct. 23rd twas a sleep-in day as we didn’t plan on going anywhere till after noon. So during the morning we started to stow things away and made ready for an early start tomorrow morning. We went to Wal-Mart to buy a few items and then we went to Stone Mountain Park, once there the first thing we did was to climb up the mountain. Great views from there as we are not sure how far you could see but it was forever and we were somewhat fortunate that it was a clear day. We don’t know how high it is but it is a mile walk to the top. After that we selected a spot on the Mall to watch the laser light show that was to start at 8:00 PM, which it did. The show was fantastic and the audience was large, it is something that we would advise anyone to see. When we first got to the parking lot we were parked pretty far away and it was some what lucky that Jon forgot the camera, because when he went back to get it he improved our parking spot and after the show we drove right out. And for that size of a crowd we had figured we would be in traffic for an hour or so. On the way home we stopped at the Wal-Mart gas station and filled up as it was about 10 cents a gallon less then we had seen, also we scoped it out to see if we could get through to fill up the motor home as it is about 15 cents cheaper there, as we will fill up in the morning. Another good day of campground life.

Oct. 22nd we arose this morning and got ready for a day of seeing Atlanta. We went in to Atlanta during rush traffic so you can imagine that drive. First we toured the CNN Atlanta Office which is their home office. It was a 55 min. tour and we got to see the workings of this news agency, although we have to admit that we probably saw more of this network today then we have watched them in the past 4 years. Just give us our FOX NEWS!! After that we went to tour the Coca-Cola world headquarters and had another enjoyable tour. It was great to see all the artifacts and memorabilia that was acquired by them, also had our pictures taken with the Polar Bear. Here again as Jon stated “I can’t remember the last time I drank a Coca-Cola” and he didn’t drink one today but we both did try several different drinks from around the world made by this company. On our way back to the parking garage, which was never more then 8 blocks from either of these places and only cost $6 for the day, we walked through the Olympic Centennial Park. While walking through here we thought about the dearly departed Richard Jewel who alerted the people about a bomb, and then went to a zero as he was falsely charged with setting the bomb in place and finally being cleared on all charges. All the agony that this man went through because of his heroic actions. We left Atlanta to go back to the campground but made a wrong turn and went a different way to get there, and of course it was the afternoon rush hour, but we did fine. We then stopped to get a few items and had a nice dinner at Chili’s, before returning to our camper. Another great day in a campground.

Oct. 21th we took our time in moving out of the Talladega area as we only had about a 2 ½ hour drive plus we were going back into the Eastern Time zone, so we gained an hour. We got into Atlanta and got into our site which is about a mile from Stone Mt. We also picked up some brochures of things to do in the local area, and did a little shopping. Jon made some more rods to hold our cabinets closed, we have had some for years but we needed some extra ones. We have found out that they work great while we are on the move, and keep the cabinets secured. This all came about as years ago we had the cabinets come open and the results were broken dinnerware and silverware all over the floor. We got set up and have a new view for the next three days, and once again it’s great to be in a campground.

Oct. 20th we really got a good night’s sleep as it was well past 7 am before Jon got up, (he is usually up well before 5). We guess our bodies needed this extra rest time and we enjoyed it. We got ready to tour the Talladega superspeedway and the adjoining museum that includes the Racing Hall of Fame. It was a great tour and we fully enjoyed it as this is the fastest track on the Nascar circuit and also the largest; details to numerous to mention. After that we drove into Anniston to see the town and their Historic district but somehow it is still in need of repair. We stopped to shop and eat out which is a rarity for us. We then returned to a relaxing night in our summer home which is in a camp ground and it is great to be here.

Oct. 19th we took a slow start today as we only had a 5 hour drive plus we were going across a time line into central time and gained an hour. We arrived in the Talladega area and got set up and then went to the track to get some information as to times that they are open. Getting back to the camper we set up our satellite dish so we could view TV. We just had a relaxing evening and turned in early. New scenery and it is still great to be at a campground.

Oct. 18th we arose early and were on the road by 7:25. Since the road we had planned to take out of the valley has a lot of bridge repair going on we took a different route. We went through the Sherman’s Valley and over the Mountain into Path Valley. As we went over the pass we saw several deer and it was also good as they saw us. Path valley which at best in some places is less than 10 miles wide is such a beautiful area and the leaves are changing and were a very spectacular sight. We followed this down into Maryland and crossed the Mason-Dixon Line before getting on Rt. 81. We followed Rt. 81 through the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and it was a very gorgeous sight, as the leaves are starting to change. We continued into Tennessee, and stopped at Knoxville for the night. We went into Wal-Mart to buy some items and pick up a sandwich from Subway. It was a long day, all in daylight and we traveled about 540 miles, more then we like, but we also like to get a major part of the drive on the first day. Even though we are not in a camp ground, it was a great day.

Oct. 17th well, yesterday we finished up our job here at Paradise Stream and we attended the Monster Mash Dance and had a great time, as we were some of the few that had costumes on. In the past two weeks Jon’s cousin and her husband came up to visit at the camp and we had a nice evening. Today we left early and went to church and then visited Jon’s mother and bade farewell till next spring. After that Kathleen spent the afternoon with Sammie and also went to Donnie’s place for a visit. Meanwhile Jon went to spend the afternoon with his two granddaughters and they also had a good time and all were told that we would see them next spring. After that we had supper with Jeff & Shirley and had a good time. We then went back to the campsite and loaded up the car and connected it to the motor home, while we were doing this Jim and Pam visited with us and we bid a fond farewell to them. They hope to make it down to Florida and visit us over the winter, as well as Jeff and Shirley will be down in February. It was a good day but, hard at times to say good-by and see you later.

Sept, 2010

2010-10-01T18:50:00.001-04:00

Sept 22nd Wow, it has been so long since we updated our journal and so many things did happen. As usual we were plenty busy doing our work here at the campground and this does take up so much of our time, as we say we came here to work so that we can play all winter. We attended a baby shower for Kathleen’s step daughter that was quite unique in that just prior to the opening of the gifts the baby’s parents got married there; it was so good to see this. We also attended Jon’s family reunion held in Lickdale. This was the first time he was there since the mid nineties, he had a great time and met up with some family members he hadn’t met before. We also spent a weekend with Kathleen’s brother in his Delaware weekend hide away. We had a great time there and we also did some shopping for our pier display we are making up for our Florida home. While in Delaware we visited with Fox & Linda and since it has been a while it was a cherished time that we were together. At the present time we are getting ready to make our move to Florida and we are getting supplies together. Hopefully it won’t be a gap of this size between postings, but time flies by when living in a campground.

August 2010

2010-08-08T11:13:00.000-04:00

August 1st usually we do not write about our work and our usual routine, the last several weeks where a regular routine but today Jon did something different. We arose, went to church and then stopped to get a quick bite. Kathleen went to visit her son, at that time Jon went to his daughters place and spent time with his granddaughters. When he got there, Alexis was not feeling too well. He just visited for a while and she started to feel a lot better. They then went to look for two geocaches to no avail but said they would try another time. They went bowling and had a great time and the girls had some good scores. The girls behaved very well as they sat at the bowling alley and did not disturb those around them. They got several complements from the people next to them for their bowling technique and style, looks like their mom and dad are teaching them good bowling as well as good manners. Jon had a great time and the grand’s did as well.

July 2010

2010-07-14T11:12:00.001-04:00

July 20th last evening we attended the viewing of Jon’s uncle and today we went to the funeral. As most families it is a time get together and renew times with family members we haven’t seen in a while and to meet family that we hadn’t met before. Jon’s uncle was a hard working person and he was a member of the American Society of Safety Engineers and also at a time was Chairman of the Board of the Keystone Region Rolls-Royce Owners' Club. He had a Bentley and a Rolls-Royce, now both of these were quite older and by no way were they the cost of a new one, but they were in excellent shape and highly appealing. After his retirement, he had a unique hobby of driving many important officials and celebrities in parades throughout the East Coast. Some of his riders were Willard Scott, Pat Sajak, Gary Sinise , and even Mickey Mouse. These facts were very minor in his life as he was the head of a wonderful household that opened their doors to many wayward children and continually were involved in the Student Exchange Program. These exchange students were given many opportunities throughout their stay with the family. Two of his children gave wonderful testimonies as to their father, about a family that never had a argument or even raised words with each other. We wish the best to Jon’s aunt and to the family in the coming years. And to Frantz, we know that you are in a better place and we hope to see you once again.

July 8th we were quite delighted today as Jack Gallagher stopped in for a quick visit. We met Jack and his wife Nancy at Scenic View Campground in New Hampshire where they are seasonal campers. Jack was on his way back from Ft. Campbell, Ky. After picking up his granddaughter who is going to visit them for a while. We gave him a tour of the campground while Sammie and Ashton went to the playground and had a good time. He was only here for about an hour but it was a great visit. It was another hot day as the temperature hit 104 today and we try to stay hydrated and cool. Another good day in the campground.

July 7th what a wonderful day we had yesterday, as we had some visitors from Jon’s old campground. Mike & Sharon and Randy & Lynn came for a visit. We sort of planned to cook some sausage and hot dogs over a fire, but the afternoon temperature was at 104 degrees and it was too hot to be outside so we stayed indoors and had cold cuts and fruit. It was a very enjoyable visit and we all had a great time. We took them for a tour of the campground and to say they liked it is probably an understatement. Later in the evening Dave and Missy brought Sammie up to the campground as she will be staying for the next 4 nights. We also took them for a tour of the campground. It was a real good day and at the end of the day we were all quite tired.

July 6th so much has happened since we last made an entry to our journal as we have been quite busy with the jobs around the campground. We spent a lot of time getting ready for the July 4th weekend and when it did come we were busy with all of the activities and work in the store. In the last couple of weeks we did our work and on our days off we would visit Jon’s mom and also watch Sammie, got to say that she really likes coming and spending time at the campground. One job that Jon has coming up soon is the installation of Wi-Fi in the campground, and he is looking into several different ways of doing this. In the past several weeks we finished burying the electrical conduit and water lines in the mini golf course that is being built here. When it is finished it will be quite nice, most likely it will be next year. Hopefully when we have the Wi-Fi installed we can keep more update on the journal as now we have to tear down the laptop and take it up to the office to get on line. Kathleen does check our mail while she is working, on the office computer and tries to keep up some that way. Just wanted to say that it has been terribly hot and dry here. Yesterday we had temps of 104, as for the rain we didn’t have any good rain since the day we arrived here in May. Still though it is great to be at a campground .

June 2010

2010-06-07T19:17:00.003-04:00

June 17th we had the day off and we journeyed down to Lebanon and area as we had several things to do today. First we stopped at a local cemetery to get a paper that Kathleen had a space there; this comes from a division of property from her divorce of four years ago. We didn’t realize that we would have to sit through an hour plus of sales pitch to buy caskets, vaults, opening and closing and markers. After saying “NO” many times we were able to leave. After that we went and picked up our Heater core for the motor home. We had it repaired in Maine last year and at that time Jon was leery of the job, and his fears came true on the drive up from Florida. This time it is a good job and Jon can see the difference, the job in Maine was bad but we probably can’t expect anything else from there. We did a little shopping and then we went to Donnie’s place as Mel is in from Washington visiting and we wanted to get to see her before she went back. Between their schedule and ours we were happy to spend an afternoon with her. Later in the day Dave and his family arrived and we had a cook out, and as always the food and family get together were just fantastic. We had a safe drive home and again it was a wonderful day.

June 13th Jon went to work for a few hours as he cleaned the pool and finish up repairing the mower that has been broken down, we had just received the parts and now it is fixed. Kathleen and Shirley then went to Harrisburg to pick up Sammie and we are going to watch her overnight and take her home tomorrow. While they were gone Jeff and Jon had set up a tee time for a course in Carlisle which is about 30 minutes away. They thought it was a great course and that it was very golfer friendly, wide open and didn’t penalize you for slightly poor shots. When Shirley, Kathleen and Sammie returned they went to the pool for the afternoon. When the golfers returned a fire was going and we cooked over the fire and had a nice visit. It was a great day and all of us had a great time.

June 12th we worked today and did our normal duties. Later in the evening our friends Jeff and Shirley checked in to camp here. They just came up from Tennessee where they vacationed for a week in the Great Smokey Mountains. We were looking forward to seeing them and as Kathleen was working Jon gave them a tour of the campground. We did get to sit around the campfire and have some adult drinks for a while as we all were worn out for the day.

June 8th back at work for the day as Jon started by doing the pool cleaning and testing, while Kathleen was in the office and store for the day as the owners were away for most of the day. After cleaning the pool area Jon pressure washed the deck around the store, trying to get up the old ice cream stains. During the course of the day a neighboring Amish farmer came in to bale some of the hay that he has cut several days ago and we took some pictures of him and his wife as they baled the hay. Hope that you enjoy the pictures. We also had the chance to get a deck for our site but in the end we decided it was not in our best interests to get it. We then came home to start a camp fire to cook our food in the open and as you all know food cooked over a campfire is hard to beat. Just another good day at the campground.

June 6th (D-Day) throughout the past several days we worked at the campground and did our normal duties. Today we arose and went to church and had a good time being around the people there. After that we stopped for a bite to eat and then took off for the Raystown Lake area as Kathleen had never been there. We didn’t know if we wanted to go or not as the weather was changing and we hit rain and saw the effects of high winds that went through the area. Luckily we got to Raystown Lake as the front had moved through and it was a beautiful day and the wind and rain were settled. Must swear that the area has a high population of house boats and we saw hundreds if not thousands of pontoon boats on the water. We picked up several brochures as in the future we might do an overnight pontoon boat rental; at least it is wishful thinking. As we returned home we stopped at the dam breast overlook and just marveled at the beauty of all of the area. We had a safe journey and it was another great day.

June 2nd we had off yesterday and today. Yesterday we spent a lot of time around the camper fixing things up and ordering parts, we needed spare parts for the heater since we put in a new filter and nozzle, also removed the diagnostic center to ship back to the factory and replace some of the gas lift cylinders on our basement doors. Today we went back to our home area and visited with Jon’s mom, did some shopping, babysat Sammie and also met up with Jeff and Shirley for dinner and had an enjoyable time. We had a safe journey and returned to our little spot here at the campground.

May 2010

2010-05-02T17:16:00.006-04:00

May 31st well the last day of the Memorial Day weekend and it was a busy day at the store for a while as ice cream was dipped, slush puppies were made and reservations were made for next year. Jon worked mostly outside but did come to the store to help for a time or two, while Kathleen was inside all of the time, except to come out to look for Jon. Later in the day Jon and Bob went to wrap wood as a lot was sold over the weekend. Today was Jon’s birthday. Jon also got a call from his cousin who lives in California and they had a good talk and exchanged a lot of family information, it is sort of funny how if you talk 3000 miles away you can learn stuff. Once again it was a good day and great to be at a campground.

May 30th we are catching up on our journal as the past several days we were getting ready for the Memorial Day weekend as we went from an almost empty campground to every site filled and long hours of work throughout the weekend. Jon did get to talk to both his sisters and mother the other day as they were finishing up on their pajama party. Jon’s one sister came up from Florida and his other sister who is still recovering from her operation picked up mom and took her to a Hotel for the night and they had a great time. We would of liked to see them but that was not possible, as we were quite busy here. His sister from Florida flew up on Friday and returned Sunday, so we know that she had a busy weekend to say the least. Jon drove the hay ride on Saturday and that went from 2 to 6 pm, as after going through the campground they go to a local farm and get to see the animals there, and some great scenery along the way.

May 24th we left early to go down to Lancaster County. Our first stop we picked up two 55 gal drums of fire wood, this comes from a planning mill and makes great starter wood as it is hard and dry, best was the cost of .50 cents per barrel. We loaded this in the back of the car and it filled it up. From there we visited Jon’s mom and had a nice visit and got an update on all that is happening in the family, and a lot is happening that is for sure. We then went to Kathleen’s son’s home as she is going to babysit Sammy for the afternoon and Jon is going out for a round of golf. Kathleen bought some PENNSYLVANIA STRAWBERRIES, something she has been craving for the past several years. They are indeed the best! We then returned home in time to unload the car, stack the wood and reload the car with everything we took out yesterday. Kathleen cleaned the strawberries and made shortcake, which we practically gobbled up. We got all of that done in time to sit down and watch the final episode of “24” which is one of the few TV shows we watch with any regularity, we are saddened that this was the last of the series, but at least Jack wasn’t killed! Another great day and the Lord was with us during the day.

May 23rd as we got up we drove the hour to get to the church that we attend while we are usually in the area. We hadn’t been there since we were in Pa. as for the first several weeks we were in the Lancaster area and the drive was just too far, so we went to a local church in that area. After church we sat around and caught up with a lot of friends and had some nice chats. We then went and did some shopping, buying some tomato plants and zucchini that we can plant in a small area that is on our site. After shopping we went out to get a bite to eat and used some of the gift cards we got from Kathleen’s family for Mother’s day and for helping them do some spring cleaning. We then returned home and weeded our very small garden. Jon plans to grow his tomatoes in a pot that is 2 feet off the ground and hopefully protected from the animals in the area. The other day Jon found a double sheppard’s hook and Kathleen is putting some flowers in that. We then unloaded the car as we are going to visit tomorrow. Another great day to be at a camp ground.

May 22nd today was the day we had worked for the last several days and that was to complete the solar panel we made to heat the pool water. It is about 8ft by 16ft and has about 600 ft. on poly tubing inside, painted black and a plastic covering on it. After getting it out of the shop with much fan fare we got it on the skid loader and moved it to the pool house and set it on the roof, put it into position and secured it. We than drilled two holes through the wall for the piping and will connect it another day. While inside the office Kathleen is making a lot of progress in the computerized reservation system, as it takes a while to set up and make all of the data input. We had a good day and found out that we would have the next two days off.

May 17th we awoke to another day off and we had planned to drive to Lebanon for the day, and wouldn’t you know it we got lost less than 10 miles from the campground, as we are still learning the area and we paid for it, Ha-ha . Then when we were about 5 miles from our first stop Jon discovered that he left his wallet back at the camper and had .73 cents with him, so it was Kathleen to the rescue to pay for the day. Our first stop was Millers Restaurant where a cup of coffee is still a dime, we had breakfast there and as usual it was more than you can eat and the price is quite low. We then went to Kathleen’s brothers home for a short visit and then to see Jon’s mother and had a nice visit there as well. After that we did a short stop to do some internet work as we still can’t get it at the campground. We arrived at Kathleen’s son’s place as she was going to babysit Sammy for the afternoon; Jon decided that he would get in a round of golf and hopefully make it before the rains came. He finished up and went back and picked up Kathleen and then we started to drive back to the campground. We didn’t get far till the rains came and we drove home in the rain, made it back alright and were all snuggled in for the night and got ready to watch “24”. Just another great day.

May 16th we arose this morning with the day off. Even though we had off Jon went up and did work on the pool as we are getting it ready for opening on Memorial Day weekend which is quickly coming. We also decided that we needed to do some work around the camper, as we never really got set up as it was raining when we got here and we were working ever since. In the afternoon we traveled to Carlisle to do some shopping and one was to buy parts for our leaking hot water base board system. When we came home we started a fire so that we could cook our dinner, it is so great to be able to cook over an open fire.

May 13th the day dawned better then the last few and it was somewhat warmer. Jon started out by working on a road roller to repair the vibration feature of the roller, after doing some basic checks he found that the switches were bad and he fixed them and then made a cover for them so they are protected from the weather. After that he worked on one of the skid loaders to secure the hydraulic lines from becoming cut while being operated. He then helped to cut wood to make a solar heater for the pool, which we hope to have in the near future. Kathleen was in the office and was working on the new reservation system and working out some of the bugs, as well as learning the way the office works and to become knowledgeable in its operation. After that we went to Newport to get supplies which is about a 20 mile drive, and while there we even treated ourselves to a stop at Subway. It was another good day and we are feeling the pains of getting back to work, after a 6 month layoff, it does feel good.

May 12th in the morning we met with the owners, and got started; mainly Kathleen in the office/store complex and Jon was shown all of the utilities layout. We both jumped right in as Jon was driving the dump truck in the cleanup of an old building. It was a cool damp day and you needed to be dressed warm. After that Jon was taken to the local building supply store and was introduced to them and that he had authority to made charges for the business. It was a good day.

May 11th Jon arose early this morning and drove up to Jonestown to get a haircut from his brother in law, and catch up on all of the gossip in the area as Jonestown is a small community and the barber usually gets all of the information in town, probably more informed than even the mayor. After that he went to breakfast at Miller’s Restaurant, still the home of the 10cent coffee, where each and every cup is 10cents, they also prepare some monster meals at very reasonable prices. Now this is not gourmet food but just great good down home cooking. He then returned as Kathleen was getting the inside ready to be moved, after all of the prep work we moved out at about 10:45 am, we traveled the scenic back roads and had an nice easy drive. About three miles from our destination it started to rain and even after an hour of talking to the owners and other staff we decided to unhook the car and start to set up, even in the rain. We are level, have water, electric, sewer and even set up the dish for TV. After that we just sat in for the night and watched it rain. It was still a good day in a campground and now we have new scenery.

May 10th this is our last full day in Stevens, Pa and we have truly enjoyed being here. We got a start on packing up for our short 2 hour journey tomorrow, always good to get an unrushed time to make sure everything is done. After that Kathleen went to baby sit Sammy after she came home from kindergarten and they had a great time at her house. They played in the basement and kicked the soccer ball around outside as Sammy’s mother slept, as she works the midnight shift. This has been a great help to her over the past several weeks. Jon went out in the wind and played a round of golf. When he had last checked there were no golf courses in the area were we will be working this summer. It worked out that Kathleen’s son brought her home as she would have had to wait well over 2 hours for Jon to pick her up. Jon did get home later and also did some relaxing from the day.

May 9th “Happy Mother’s Day” what a great time we had today as Kathleen’s two sons had a nice Mother’s day feast. Actually it took several people to bring it all together as all kicked in a little bit. Her oldest son had it at his place and his wife’s dad supplied the meat, which was filet minion thinly sliced that took about 4 minutes to grill. It melted in your mouth as well as the rest of the dinner. We just truly loved being with the family and being that we are nearby this summer we hope that we can make even more gatherings. We want to send out our wishes to all that they had a Happy Mother’s Day.

May 8th as usual this morning Sammy woke up starving. We all managed to eat and get the day started. Sammy and Kathleen went to the playground after the rain stopped and Jon did some e-mails and caught up on some internet stuff. We have to go to the camp office to get on the ‘net’. Dave came to get Sammy and we made a camp fire and roasted some hot dogs and even had some s’mores. After that Dave loaded up Sammy’s toys and bicycle to be taken home as she wouldn’t be here anymore as we are leaving in a few days. We then went to visit Jon’s mom at the home as they were having a Mother’s day event a day early, it was very nice and we got to spend some quality with her, always great to be with family. In the last several weeks that we are in the local area we have had a lot of talks with her and it is wonderful, we won’t be that far away this summer so we can stop in for a visit when we are near. She will be 93 this July and we are so happy that she is in good health. We came back to the MH and went to a Saturday night service at church as we have plans for tomorrow. Another great day of camping.

May 7th this morning we went to Sammy’s school where her class, along with the rest of the school, had a “Race for Education” and each class had sold pledges and then had to run for ½ hour around the baseball field. It was probably 250 yards or more per lap and we are thinking that she did this for a least 5 or 6 times. Not bad for a kindergarten student. After that we went to Dave & Missy’s place and helped them do some spring cleaning, Kathleen trimmed a lot of bushes and trees while Jon looked at an air conditioner unit that was beyond repair, so they replaced it instead. The new unit was slightly larger and took a little time to get in place. After that we went to Elmer’s place and had a pork and sauerkraut dinner and just had a great visit. Sammy was a little nervous about going but that lasted about 5 seconds. They had just returned from a western trip and they saw many of the same sights that we had in 2008 and it was nice to talk about them. After that we came home and Sammy stayed for the night.

May 6th as we awoke, we had a lot to do today first we went to visit with Jon’s mom, and a delightful time we had. After that Jon dropped Kathleen off to babysit Sammy and Jon went to play a round of golf. It was good that the day was nice, even though windy because Jon’s golf game was not all that good. Actually it was the putting that really left him down. He played with Jeff and two other men from Jeff’s workplace. Playing golf in the area as opposed to playing in Florida is quite different as the grass is a lot lusher here and it does make a difference. He then went back and picked up Kathleen as she was tired out from babysitting. Kathleen had taken Sammy to two different playgrounds and just plain tired her out, not to tell you there is a lot of play in Sammy. We did a little bit of shopping and came back to the MH to prepare a later than usual dinner. Another good day here at the campground.

May 5th another beautiful day as we awoke this morning. After the morning chores Kathleen went to babysit Sammy, but today she took her to the campground that we stayed at in the past. Sammy has some friends there and it was great to watch her play with them, after that they had ice cream at the camp store. Kathleen then took her to a playground in her home town and she met several friends there, hopefully she was one tired girl after that and Daddy and Mommy had a relaxing night. During this Jon stayed around the camper and did some internet work catching up on e-mails and the like. He also lit a campfire so that we could cook our dinner for the night. Sure is a shame that he can’t have his granddaughter’s as we know that they would like the playground and enjoy the campground setting. It was another great day.

May 4th in the morning Jon repaired the heating system in the MH and as he finished up Kathleen went to pick up Sammy and brought her back to the campground. Sammy really enjoys coming here to play and she has a great time with the other children here. After returning her home we started a fire and cooked over it, isn’t it great to cook over a camp fire. Another great day and the weather is nice and drying everything up.

May 3rd yesterday we attended church and it was our first time at this church, and we totally enjoyed it. Jon kept saying that it was not your typical conservative Lancaster church service as it was quite lively. The rest of the day we just lounged around the campground. Today we awoke to the end of a rain storm were we had in the area of about 3 inches of rain. Jon was going to play golf this afternoon, but all of the area courses were closed because of the weather. Kathleen babysat for Sammy in the afternoon and Jon went to see his mom, trouble was she was not there as she had an eye exam and Jon’s sister had taken her to the Doctor. We the n met up with Jeff and Shirley for an enjoyable dinner. After that we came home and had a great day.

May 1st finally the day Jon was looking for and that is to say he is now on Medicare and has some insurance, the next thing is to try and find a doctor that will treat him. In the late morning Sammy called and said she would like to come out for a while and we went to get her. She has a lot of friends here at the camp and they were glad to see her. During that time Jon went back to his old campground and met up with Fox & Linda as it has been a while since we last saw them, he went out on Mike’s raft and they visited on it in the middle of the lake. Later in the day we met up with Kathleen’s two sons and their families at Pizza Hut for dinner and then we had reservations at the local bowling alley to bowl. We all had a great time and it was a lot of fun being with family enjoying the night together. Sammy had a few great games and we were happy to see her do so well. Another great time and a great day at a camp ground.

April 2010

2010-04-13T10:08:00.003-04:00

April 30th a beautiful day dawned and before 8, Jon was out the door to a local Golf Course and played a round, his first since we got to Pa. When he returned we walked around the camp and watched as many people were enjoying the games and events that they have here. We got a call from Sammy, and she said she wanted to stay home today as she was tired. She had a field trip at school where she went to the Hershey Zoo and Chocolate World. With her decision we made plans for ourselves and decided to again visit Jon’s old campground, we had a great time meeting up with people that were not there last time we visited them. It was a great way to finish the day.

April 29th we finally arose to a nice day and we decided to get some chores caught up on today. Jon worked on the water system in that he put a bypass around the hearer core that we can drive the motor home to our job site without leaking any water; over the summer he can remove it and hope fully have it repaired correctly. He also cleaned all of the jacks from the accumulation of dirt that built up on them; also he found that the system needed fluid, so he got the necessary oil to fill it up. In the mean time Kathleen was preparing a meal that we will be taking to Dave & Missy’s home tonight to celebrate Dave’s birthday even though a bit belated. We had a great time and the evening went by so fast and the meal was just so good; it was fit for a king. We returned home knowing it was a great day.

April 28th after arising to a cool damp windy day and getting bundled up we went to see Jon’s mom and after looking around for her we found her in the beauty shop in the home. As she was getting her hair done and under a dryer we decided to cut short our visit, any way it would soon be her lunch time. Since we had a little time to spend we went looking for a crock pot for the motor home, we have a large one at the Florida home but we wanted a small one for here. We than went to pick up Sammy for the afternoon, and as well we took Missy to get their Jeep as it quit running on Monday. As always Sammy had a great time playing here at the campground and enjoyed the afternoon, we wanted to fix her something to eat so Jon started a camp fire and we roasted hot dogs and also some s’mores. Kathleen took Sammy back to meet up with her mother and Jon stayed back and cleaned up the dishes of the day. Oh, the rough life of living in a campground.

April 27th today we did some shopping, since Sammy was not going to be here today we thought it would be a good day to shop. It was a chilly damp day and she could not have gone to the playground anyway. The first place we went to was an Amish store; some call it a chip-n-dent store but they have great deals and we bought some items that will last for several months and some of the things we will use right away. They also deal in a lot of bulk items and we can get them at a fraction of the standard price. We then returned and stowed in all on board and our next place to go was Cabela’s where we had about $160.00 in credit, so it was a shopping excursion as we bought jackets, shirts and some camping supplies. We use the Cabelas credit card for everything and they give us a 1% credit on all items that we buy so once or twice a year we make a trip to their store and have a free day; can’t beat that. Later in the day we had a special friend visit us and just had a wonderful time as we related stories that happened to us over time gone by. Just another great day at a campground.

April 25th after arising and doing chores around the motor home on a rainy day we went to visit Jeff & Shirley. We were able to get on the net and we uploaded our journal from there as well as catching up on some e-mails. After that we retired to the family room and played several games of cards, Kathleen was victorious in all of the of the games, she just couldn’t be beat. They then fed us and we just had a great afternoon. We then drove back to the camp in the rain and turned in for the night.

April 24th we had breakfast and made sure that Sammy was full as when she got up she said “that she was starving” so we made sure she was fed. Kathleen than took her to the playground and Jon was watching the Canopy rope/ zip line here at the camp. They were training new guides and going through all of the stages, we are looking into doing this in the near future. Later in the day we went to Kathleen’s son’s place and along with her other son we had a great time together and we are planning some future events. After that we went to the campground that Jon had owned, were we met up with a lot of our friends and just had a great evening and caught up on a lot of things happening there. Just another reason to have a great day in a camp ground.

April 23rd in the morning we finished cleaning all of the windows on the inside as well as cleaning the screens. We then left to go visit Jon’s mom and had a nice visit, after that we picked up Sammy and brought her to camp. She is staying for the night and as always just enjoys it here. Later on Jeff & Shirley came to visit as we had a camp fire going, later on the five of us walked around the area with Sammy as our guide, since she camped here before. She knows the playground very well, also gave her a chance to ride her new bike. She met a lot of new friends while playing and just had a wonderful time. Here at the camp they have a zip line canopy ride that lasts over 2 hours and Jeff & Shirley and we are looking to do this before we leave. It was another great day, only it could be a lot better if Jon’s granddaughters were allowed to visit and stay with him, we are sure that they would have a great time.

April 22nd Jon got some wood in the morning and after that we cl
eaned all of the windows in the motor home. We then went and picked up Sammy, she has kindergarden in the morning and we get her after that. Kathleen bought her a new bike as she out grew the one she had and she can keep it here while we are in the area. We then visited Jon’s mom and had a nice time before returning to the camp site. While Sammy and Kathleen went to the playground Jon started a fire till they returned. We roasted hot dogs and made some s’mores, what a great meal and it has been so long since we cooked on a fire. After taking Sammy back home we retired for the night and that was the end of another great day.

April 21st after doing a few chores around the motor home we went to see Jon’s mom and had a nice visit and at that time Jon’s aunt and her son came to visit as well. Jon’s aunt and son were checking out the faculty as her husband has to be moved into a nursing home, because of some disabling problems he had over the course of the past month. After that we went and visited with Kathleen’s son and daughter in law and of course Sammy. We took Sammy for the afternoon and brought her back to the site as she just loves to play here at the campground. Where we are her family camps at during the year and she shows us where everything is at. We then returned to their home and had a great supper and a visit after that, it is great to get back to the family for a while.

April 20th we again left in the morning soon after sunrise and headed to Pa. which is our destination for the summer. We weren’t on the road no 30 minutes and we discovered that our heater core was leaking again. We had this repaired in Maine last summer and either it was a bad repair job or the core is just too bad to be repaired. Jon loosened the radiator cap to reduce the pressure in the system and we continued our journey with an eye on the temp gauge the rest of the way, it worked and we completed our trek with no problem. We settled in and set up our site and got everything going that we need for now, so once again it was a great day.
April 19th we awoke early and left on our journey north and at that time we decided that this would probably be the last day for shorts and sandals for a while. It was a good driving day and we didn’t have to stop for any construction, but in Georgia we went through several construction zones and the cattle chutes. We actually went a lot further than expected because of this, and even as we passed through states we never stepped foot in them as in a motor home we switch drivers in a rest area but never get out. It is great that we both drive and it gives each other a time to relax and maybe even catch a quick snooze. We made it to the Richmond area where we found a Wal-Mart off of the beaten path and had a quite night.

April 18th the reason that we are here in because we are invited to a baby shower for James and Katy. While we were playing yesterday they were busy decorating for the shower, but we did lend a small hand today to get ready for the event. It was a great shower as well over 40 people were in attendance, and we were surprised to see so many young men there, friends of both. We played several games and then the excited couple opened their presents, and they made out very well and we can tell that the baby will have a great start and will have a lot of love from the parents and family. After the shower we hooked up and took off and wanted to get a few hours in before night fall, we made it to Jacksonville at a Wal-Mart that we had stayed in last fall while in the area.

April 17th we met up with Mike and Kathy, friends we made two years ago at Disney World as we journeyed into The Magic Kingdom. They were never here before and we were sort of their guide. I hope that we did a good job. The place was full and we had planned on meeting at 10 am but it was closer to 11 am till we met up. We did get around the park and we saw everything that we were interested in, as a few of the more strenuous rides did not fit into our plan, and we have ridden them before. It was a great day and till we returned back to the motor home is was past 9:30 pm and a full day for all of us.

April 16th two days ago we started to load up the Motor home, we took two loads down to where we have it stored. In the afternoon Jon took the car for an oil change and then we were invited to a happy hour that lasted 4 hours and we had a great time with the other 9 people there. Jon took a break from the loading as he played golf yesterday morning. In the afternoon we went and pick up the motor home and brought it back to the resort to finish loading. Today as we finished with that chore and we can only hope that we didn’t forget anything. Also today we had to work around the workers at the park as they were putting in our new sod, we did get to see a little of it and hope that it will grow this summer into a new lawn for next year. After saying all of our good-bys we left and went to Camp Fountain in Orlando as we will be here for the next two nights. We had dinner with Jon’s sister and brother in law along with their son and daughter in law, after that we had a great time visiting. The trip was good and also short and we could just get the feel of being on the road.

April 13th well so much has happened since our last entry, as we look back on the 19 of March. We had our Golf banquet and it was again a great time and we ate way too much. March 20 Jon went out and played a round of golf with Dennis as he has been reluctant about playing, the next day we attended a very good church service as it was Palm Sunday, the theme being the anguish that Jesus went through on the cross for our sins. Then on the 22nd we had a fun day at the bowling outing and we had a 9-pin no tap tournament, and once again this year Jon has a 300 game (9 real strikes and 3 were 9 pin hits), later that day we had our bowling banquet at the local smorgasbord and filled up. From then on we have had nothing but block parties, appreciation diners, going away parties and any kind of food event you can think of. This is not a place to come to and diet. In the past few days we had concrete poured around our park model and new shirting installed, wow does it ever make a nice new appearance. While it was in the construction period Jon installed some new water valves and a new spigot near the front. We have a few days here and then we are returning to Pa. for our summer job, and we are looking forward to that. We will be close to family and hope to spend time with them. Sorry about the time between posts and hopefully it will be better this summer.

March 2010

2010-03-17T21:18:00.003-04:00

March 17th well a month has go past so quickly that we didn’t get a chance to do any writing. During this period of time the weather was not that good and there were days when we just stayed indoors because of the rain and cold. We were busy as we had several friends visit during that time, first Randy & Lynn were down from Pa. and we had a great time as they were here several days and we did quite a lot together. It was a shame though that the weather did not cooperate as it was chilly and wet most of the time but we did manage to get a day in at Disney and we did as well do some other activities. Another day was spent with Al & Joann and we had a good time with them for a day along with several other people here in the park. Got to stop all of this eating and drinking as we will so have to buy new clothes and or start to go on a diet. We also had Mike & Kathy over for an afternoon and it was the same day as the park car show, and what a show it was as there were about 50+ cars at the park. Today we had the St. Patrick’s Day Parade at the park and the effort put forth by both of us won us 2nd place in our category and a nice gift.

February 2010

2010-02-16T18:38:00.001-05:00

Feb. 16th so much time has gone by since we last posted. What happens is that this was originally a travel journal and since we are not traveling and sort of involved with daily chores and events it gets forgotten. We ended the last entry with the phone call, we had stated that we went to the Snowbird Extravaganza and had signed up for a lot of stuff . Well, we were called and informed that we won a cruise. We did have to go to Orlando and listen to a 90 min. sales pitch. We made a full day out of it as in the morning we went to Disney World till about 2 and then went to the meeting and after that we met with Jon’s sister, niece and their families and had supper with them, it was a full day and an enjoyable one. The next day Jon went to play golf and his foursome were to tee off second on a par three and another foursome from the park teed off in front of them, as Jon was standing behind those teeing off he witnessed a “Hole in One” what an awesome sight. One Friday we had Jon’s Aunt over for a visit and it was as enjoyable time, after that we did a little shopping and Kathleen started to get a severe migraine headache. We wound up taking her to the hospital and they administered a shot and watched her vitals for 90 minutes after that sending her home. That next day we filled her prescriptions and she remained in bed for about 20 hours that day. The following day she was fine and we went to church, that was also super bowl Sunday and we were invited to our friends place to watch it. It was a great game and we really enjoyed it, all though our hosts probably didn’t as they are from Indiana. On Tuesday the 9th Jon went to play golf and got rained out after 3 holes and also on that day Kathleen had several friends over to make casserole carriers. Later in the week we spend some time working on our costumes for the ST. Patrick’s Day parade that is here at the park. This past Sunday we had a real treat, at our church we had Shelby Dressel sing. She is currently on American Idol, we do not know how she made out and even if she is going back to Hollywood. She has orders not to say anything about the show till it’s completion, as we don’t watch AI we don’t really understand the fuss. We do know that she is a Christian and has a very beautiful voice, and is a delightful person and is from Avon Park. We wish her well in whatever she does. Later in the day we went to Downtown Disney to meet up with Jeff and Shirley, we walked around there and then we went to Capone’s for the Dinner theater show. It was a great show and we were so entertained for the evening. It was a great way to spend Valentine’s Day, but just think that 81 years ago Valentine’s day was not to good for several of Al Capone’s thugs as they were gunned down.

January 2010

2010-01-24T12:42:00.001-05:00

Jan. 31st what a great week we just had. Along with our regular schedule we did some exciting things this week and one being on Wednesday we along with Dennis, Pat and Kate went to the Snowbird Extravaganza that was held in Lakeland, about an hour’s drive from here. It is put on by the Canadian Snowbird Association, we not being Canadian called and found out it is open to all, and what a wonderful time we had. The doors opened just as we got there a 9 AM and we went through the vendor’s area picking up information and ideas, and also signing up for free prizes that cover a host of things, mostly to get you on a mailing list. At 10 AM we went to one of the three areas that were set up for entertainment and we didn’t have to move as every 30 minutes a new act came on stage. We did move between 2:30 and 3 PM to go to a different stage area to see a few acts that weren’t held in the area we were at. This went on till 4:00 when everything shut down, and all this was free and the only cost was $5 for parking. After the show we did some shopping and then went out for supper at a great little fish camp and had some great food. On Thursday evening we had a great Ham & Bean dinner soup here at the resort. Friday evening we went to a local YFC dinner and it was so refreshing to see and hear a lot of the stories of the youth in the area. Here in Highlands County the local YFC has access to the schools and it is a great way to introduce God to their lives. We have been going to our local church for over a year and during that time we knew our Director of Student Ministries, but it turns out we didn’t know him at all. He was involved with some of the events on the stage and we saw how the young people were drawn to him and he to them as well. We knew that he was a very good football player in college. We did a web search on him and we came to find out that he is the lead singer in a Christian Rock band that does concerts all over the country and that just last year they had a song that was number one on the charts in Christian Rock music. He really is a great fellow and we are happy to have him in our church. On Sunday after church we had Dennis, Pat and Kate come up to our place to play cards. Our original plan was to go bike riding but the weather didn’t really cooperate as it was cloudy and never got above 65 and the air was damp. We had a great time playing games as this afternoon we played Apples to Apples, around 4:30 we decided to go out to eat and went to another area eatery and enjoyed the food. There are so many places to dine out in the area we will probably never get to all of them. Oh, and by the way on the way to the restaurant Kathleen got the phone call, and as Jon is driving he couldn’t figure out why such a serious call on a Sunday afternoon, We will have to get back to you later about the call.

Jan. 24th wow does time fly or what, it has a month since we last wrote in this log. Let us start by wishing everyone a Happy New Year; we had a nice party here at the Resort, nothing like walking home after a party. We have been quite busy in our activities and also for the fact that Kathleen has come through her cataract surgery very well. She is still adjusting to not wearing glasses; she will be getting a pair that will be used mostly for reading. We have also been involved a lot with our church, in that we have been doing more with the members, and this is very good for us. Just the other day we were heading to Disney and by about 2 seconds we were in front of an accident, and because of some moves we did in the mile or two before this we know we would have been involved. As for the accident since we were in front of it and didn’t really see anything we kept going as there were a lot of cars behind it. Also in the past several weeks Jon didn’t miss any golf from the cold weather and as a matter of fact golfed a few extra times as we didn’t bowl because of Kathleen’s surgery. We did go to one of the gourmet diners here at the park and we had a great time as always For this dinner we had bought some wine down from Pa. that we were going to the Wine ‘n’ cheese event, but we double booked that day and we had the wine at the dinner. The event we had booked was to see the Calgary Fiddlers, and what a fine show they put on. They consisted of 14 fiddlers all from the ages of 14 to 18 and they knew how to play. Kathleen won a free CD by answering a question that was posed to the audience and that was “What’s the difference between a Violin and a Fiddle?” It is a great CD and we played it while we went to Okeechobee to meet up with fellow workampers and geocacher, we met along with Kate and had a nice lunch and then did several geocaches. They were just a few shy of 5000 caches and we hope that they got enough to get to that milestone. Hopefully it won’t be this long for our next entry and till then everyone have a good time. Oh!, Kathleen’s answer to the question was; “A violin has strings and a fiddle has straaannngs.”

Decenber 2009

2009-12-23T08:45:00.008-05:00

Dec. 25th Merry Christmas, we attended the “Candlelight Service” last night at our church and it was great. The leaders of the church are so filled with the spirit and it overflows in the congregation. There were 3 services and each one had over 350 people in attendance. We have said for a while that we were so blessed in finding this place of worship. Today we were doing some cooking and baking for the Christmas dinner here at the resort, in the middle of it the stove stopped working and we had to cooking the potatoes in an electric roaster. It all came out alright and we were thankful that we weren’t preparing one of the turkeys. Jon’s sister and Brother in law came down from Orlando to enjoy the feast with us and we did have a great time. Debbie brought us homemade Whoppie pies (yum,yum) and a deviled ostrich egg; one egg filled a whole tray. We think that they were impressed with the dinner and the set ups, and as usual we ate way too much and we also brought a lot back home. As we sit back and reflect over this past holiday season we are so grateful for the person that we have helped in this time of the year, and it is that which gives us our most satisfaction. We thank you Lord for giving us your son to take away our sins and to make this a better place.

Dec. 23rd we have spent way too much time away for the journal, as we are busy doing a lot of other things. In the past month we bought 1 new window for the house and installed it. Right after Thanksgiving we needed to repair the heater part of the A/C to heat the house and in that time we had a cool spell, and of course it went down on a Saturday and no way to get the part till Monday. It was lucky that Jon could repair it. On Dec. 11 a group of nine went to a holiday concert featuring the Heartland Pops, Heartland Community Orchestra and Heartland Community Chorus, featuring traditional Christmas Music, excerpts from the Messiah and a grand finale of the Hallelujah Chorus. It was a very inspiring concert and helped to put us in the Christmas spirit. Also in the past month we went to Disney World and bought a residence pass, and what a good deal as the bad economy hit them as well in that we got a 12 month pass and it is good for 15 months, which will take us into March of 2011. The following weekend we returned to Disney for three nights as about 20 of our friends from PA, NJ & DE came down and we had a great time. They did have a problem getting back as a big snowstorm had moved into the area. Also in the past month we attended several functions with our church and it is good to get back into the group and help out as much as we can, we were very fortunate to find this church last year and they help the community a lot in this time of need. We still do our bowling, golf and other activities here at the resort, plus in the last few weeks we started to attend the card games in the evening, they usually have them on Monday, Thursday and Friday nights and play a lot of different card games. Around the house we are in the midst of cleaning the driveway as over the years it got very dirty with ground in rubber and oils, we would like to paint it in the future. We also need to get some weeding done before the weeds that over. Kathleen is doing better as she is now over her coughing that we think is due to allergies and at the present time she is having cataract surgery. Yesterday she had the right eye done and will get the left one done next week. Already she sees a big difference in her sight. We would like to wish everyone a “Merry Christmas” and a “Happy Holy Season.”

Nov. 2009

2009-11-02T09:12:00.006-05:00

Nov. 25th wow we don’t realize how time flies on by as it was 10 days since we updated our blog/journal. We have been busy as on Monday’s we bowl and Tuesday’s and Thursday’s Jon golf’s. Kathleen is kept quite busy with fixing up our new home. She is also getting ready for the nutrition class on Monday’s which start next week. We washed ½ of the home and then the rains came and we will finish up when they stop. At the present time we are getting ready for Thanksgiving. Turkey day we are going to Jon’s sister’s relatives and from what we hear quite a few people will be there; I guess that’s why we are having ostrich for the meal. We would like to wish all a” Happy Thanksgiving” -- the best part is Florida style, which means it, is warm. We are adding a few pictures to this entry and hope that you enjoy. Just another good day.

Nov. 15th we went to church this morning, and it was great just to be back with a lot of friends that we made over the past year. We hadn’t realized how much we missed them till we returned today. We also were happy to be in the presence of Pastor Andrew and the sermons that he gives, as he preaches right from the text of the Bible. After church we did a little shopping for some things we needed to get done and we are well on our way to making our home the way we want it. Jon went to connect the DirecTV today with some of the existing cable in the house and he could not get a good signal. We called for a service tech to complete this task, this is the first time that Jon couldn’t get it tuned in. It was another exhausting day as we continued to put the place together. We will sleep well tonight and as always it is a good day in Florida.

Nov. 14th the first think we did this morning was to wash the MH and the toad as they were quite dirty from the journey down. Jon had washed the roof of the MH back in PA and all of the salt residue from ME was on the sides. After the washing, it once again looked like a new rig. We then went shopping to get items for the home and we did very well in our adventure. We are sure you all know how it is when opening up a new home. This is the third day in a row that we put in some long hours, in a few months everything will be to our liking. It was a great day in Florida.

Nov. 13th the dreaded Friday the thirteenth, for us just another day of unloading and getting things in place for the winter months. What we want here and what goes there all day long, but we did have a good time and knew that it is for the future and we will be better off.
Nov, 12th we wanted to get an early start and we were on the road by 7AM; this was after a short visit with Eddie & Debbie over coffee, as we bid them farewell and knew that we would see them for Thanksgiving. We arrived at Adelaide Shores RV Resort a little after 8AM and got to take a look at the park model we agreed to buy. After a look we were overwhelmed at all it had to offer. We made settlement and started to unload the MH. Can you ever believe the stuff you can accumulate over a few years, we could fill up the park model twice and it is three times the size of the MH. We had Dennis, Pat and Kate helping us unload and bring items into the home. After getting all the stuff in the fun part started in which we had to find a place for the items. It was a long and tiring day; I guess we are not fulltimers any more but just part timers. Another good day in the camping world.

Nov. 11th we awoke early and continued with our appointments. We had to be there early in the morning and go back for a follow up in the afternoon. Every think went fine and at 3 PM we left to go to Orlando to meet up with Jon’s sister to deliver a sewing machine and other articles that we transported for her. We had a nice dinner with Eddie, Debbie, Angie, Larry and Gracie, after that we returned to Debbie’s place and had a short visit as we were camping in her driveway. It was a good day and a very stressful one as well.

Nov. 10th as we noted in yesterdays journal we were on the road before 6 am, and once again we realized just how weak our headlights are on the MH. We were grateful that we only had to drive less than ½ hour till sunrise. We stopped for fuel right before we left Ga. and filled up and then drove about 30 miles to Jacksonville were we had some appointments today. We were very lucky that where we are going they had some RV parking and we were early enough to get a spot. After the appointment we learned that we needed to be there the following day, so at that time we called Adelaide Shores and informed them about our delay in getting there. It would be alright and out transactions that were to be done in person on Wednesday could be done by mail on Thursday. We then found a Wal-Mart about seven miles away and set in for the night. This place was very quiet and we got a good night’s sleep. We are so happy that all is working out and that our journey so far has been safe and all things are working out.

Nov. 9th what a great Wal-Mart location in that we had a TV signal and we also had Wi-Fi in the parking lot and it was quite. We continued our journey today and had an uneventful drive, would like to say at this time it is overall the best condition that Rt. 95 is in for the most part. The only major construction was in Ga. And within a year or so we will probably see 6 lanes throughout all of the state. We pulled into another Wal-Mart and in contrast it was a real contrast as the RV’ers that were there were abusing the privilege of the lot. With at least 4 units there with all slides out and on jacks and disconnected from the pull trucks, not only that they had their chairs out in a group sitting in a circle, plus a trucker there had his rig running all night. Around 7:30 another MH pulled in right next to us and started his generator and ran it all night, at about 10:30 because of the fumes from the diesel generator we moved to the rear of the store where we knew we could stay till about 5:30 or so as this was the area of the shop. At about 5:30 am we moved back to our original spot except to the other side and we left out MH run with the exhaust right at their bedroom slide, and as Jon was preparing the car for travel the hood slipped out of his hand and slammed shut and when he pressed the remote to lock the car he held it too long and the horn went off about 4or 5 times.

Nov 8th we awoke and started to finish up what little packing we had to do, and connected the car which we say when connected it is our cargo trailer. After checking that all of our connections were complete and correct we left Lickdale CG a little after 8am. Being on the road for about 10 minutes a car passed us and waved and it was Jon’s sister as they were going to church. When we passed the church we gave a blast on the air horns. Kathleen did a lot of the driving and all day she took us across the state lines, out of PA, through MD and WVA and into VA were Jon took over through most of VA. Kathleen then took over into NC and then Jon finished the first day’s journey to a Wal-Mart in NC where we stopped for the night. We did a little shopping at Wally world, put up the TV antenna and tuned in the NASCAR race and had some TV for the night. We couldn’t sit in the living room/kitchen area of the MH as we are filled up transporting stuff that we cleaned out from Jon’s mother’s apartment, some of it is going to Jon’s sister in Orlando and we are taking the rest with us. It was a very good day and a safe day on the roads, more then we can say for a lot of the deer we saw that were killed on the roads; one looked like a 10 point buck.

SHOCK OF THE DAY: While Jon was pumping diesel fuel and Kathleen was waiting inside the store, an elderly man who could hardly talk and walk bought two packs of cigarettes that cost $12. A younger gal bought two cartons of cigarettes that cost $85. We are so glad we do not smoke!!

Nov.7th well all week we have been busy getting ready to travel south to Fl. for the winter. Kathleen babysat Sammie 5 days this past week and she stayed overnight Friday night, it is such a blessing to have her and she is such a wonderful granddaughter. During the days we went out and did a lot of our winter shopping as we went to a few Amish stories to buy supplies, you can really get great deals on canned and boxed items at a fraction of their normal price. We visited Jon’s mom every day and know in our hearts that she is in a very good nursing home, and that her ailments are not as bad as we originally thought, and she is better now as she cannot live alone any more. We met with some of our friends this past week and the waist line shows it, this too we will have to get over. We see some exercise in the future and trying to eat less. Today we had some of Jon’s mom’s grandchildren go through her apartment and pick out what they wanted, to clean out the apartment. It is a sad day for America today with the passage of the health care bill that just opens up new ways for lawyers to strangle us with bad lawsuits. We are looking forward to going south as it is getting cooler all the time here. Just another great day at being a fulltimer on the road.

Nov. 1st we went to church in the morning and we didn’t stay to socialize as we had to get back and get ready to have a family gathering with Kathleen’s sons and their wives. We had a Lobster dinner at Dave’s place and just had a great time in talking about what happened over the summer and what our future plans are. They were happy for us as we told them about us buying a Park Model in Florida and about our plans on working in Pa. next summer. This way we will be able to spend more time with them throughout the summer. After that we went to see Jon’s mom for a while, then returned home for the rest of the evening. Today we set the clocks back an hour and after the day we had yesterday we needed it. Another great day in the CG.

October, 2009

2009-10-05T12:01:00.008-04:00

Oct. 31st we went to a pancake and sausage breakfast this morning as Elmer got us some tickets, it was a benefit for the Lions Club. After that we met with Jon’s brothers and sisters and went through the items at mom’s apartment, since she is in the nursing home she will not need the apartment and we are dividing up her processions to be passed down through the family. Next Saturday the Grandchildren are going in and hopefully take the rest, if not what is left are going to charity. In the late afternoon we had a dinner at a local diner which was set up for some months. This was going to be a get together of all of the children but since all of the events in the past three weeks it put a cloud over the get together. After the meal which was attended by about 40 people we all went to the nursing home and took some pictures with Jon’s mom. The one granddaughter Kelly is a professional photographer and she got us all set up for the photo shoot. After that Debbie & Eddie, along with James and Katie came out to the CG to go the Halloween Hayride. It was a busy day and all in all a good day.

Oct. 26th wow, does time fly and we were so busy over the past two weeks. On the 12th Jon’s mother became quite disoriented and we took her to her Dr. and had some tests done. After two nights at her daughter’s place she went back for a follow up at the Dr’s office and from there she went to the hospital. She was in the hospital for 8 days and then she was placed in a nursing home. We only missed seeing her one day and along with our other visits and appointments time has been a blur. Over the course of two weeks Jon rewired the MH to the car and also removed the starter and had it rebuilt. Kathleen has been very busy with getting the MH ready to travel down south. We have cable here at the CG but a lot of the time it is just an advertisement for DirecTV, so we did hook up our converter box to get over the air digital TV. Also during the last week Kathleen has come down with a cold and that is taking a toll on her and she spent about 2 days just lounging around as we all know how a cold knocks you down. Along with everything else she likes to have her granddaughter at least 4 days a week, and that takes a toll as well. It is still great to be in a CG and enjoying the day.

Oct 12th we arose at 3:45 am in anticipation of getting to PA. We didn’t leave till about 6:30 and we decided to go to Cabela’s first as we were too early to get to the CG. After setting up we went to see Jon’s mother and catch up on the summer and enjoy some time with her. After that we went to Kathleen’s son and visited for a while and we also picked up Sammy as she like’s to be with us and enjoys her friends here at the CG. She will staying for the night and she will be sleeping with Pokot . We did have a good day and we retired quite early.

Oct 11th we were on the road by 7:10 am and did a lot of driving today, we also took a lot of scenic route and did slow down our travel time, along with we did not want to pay to use Interstate 95 in Maine and New Hampshire as these are toll roads and we refuse to pay if we don’t have to. We also drove across Rhode Island into Connecticut on a very scenic route, we were 10 to 14 days too early for the foliage in this area. We made it into New York and pulled into a Wal-Mart for the night. We were on the road for about 11 hours and all driving was safe.

Oct.10th we spent the day getting ready to pull out, we had decided to take our time and get everything cleaned up and made ready to travel. We had some wood left over and we had a fire to use it up. At the CG there was an October Fest and we did walk over to the craft tent and looked at the items, nothing that we could use though as it was all cold weather garments and a few wall hangings. We decided that we didn’t want to do any beer tasting as a tasting plastic cup was $25.00 and we felt that it was way out of line. Over the course of the summer we tasted a lot of these brews and to us they are not very good at all. We turned in early so as to get an early start. Another good day in a CG.

Oct. 8th & 9th these were our last two days on work, there was very little business and the days were very boring and long. The bright spot of both days is that we had supper with Elmer & Phyllis. We enjoyed both evenings and had a good time.

Oct 6th we met up with Elmer & Phyllis in the morning and we drove to the south side of the western part of the island and walked to Seal Head Harbor Lighthouse, we actually walked to both sides of this lighthouse and the eastern side is a set of steps leading down to the rock where you must navigate them. You need to be very careful at this point as we see a potential for injury here. From there we took a hike out past an inlet and through the woods, it was a relaxing walk and for a change on this island pretty level. After that we headed to Bar Harbor as they had a Lighthouse boat tour set up, also at that time we were planning on going along but as we went to the ticket counter we discovered that is was sold out. As they went on the boat we took a 2 ½ hour trolley tour and had a nice trip around the park, which was also narrated and we learned a lot more about the island. The timing was good as we both finished with our tours within five minutes of each other. We then went up on Cadillac Mt. for the sunset and it was another great sunset as we took many pictures. After that we came back to the MH and had supper and at that time a great story came up. The high school that we all attended had a great band director and a few weeks ago the school auditorium was dedicated in his name and Elmer played in the ceremony along with about 140 other musicians from days gone by. The band director had retired in 1986 and we don’t know why it took this long to make this dedication. Elmer had been in contact with Harlan Daubert over the years and he a few other members held some early practices, even Mr. Daubert was directing some of them. Elmer went on to say how the practices grew in size as they continued. Elmer told of the careers of some of the students that came out of this fine program and how Mr. Daubert prepared a lot of them for the rest of their lives. We had a great day and finished it up with a great story. Mr. Daubert, your lifelong dedication is an inspiration to many.

Oct 5th we spent most of the morning either cleaning up around the MH or checking all systems for a go on Sunday when we are leaving this place. In the afternoon we headed over to the pier where the lobsterman come in and as we waited about 15 min. we saw one coming in. We asked him if he was selling and for how much and we were told $5.00 each, than we asked if he could do 12 for $50.00 and he said that was no problem and we got the dozen. We then returned to the MH and cooked them all up and vacuum packed and froze them for later enjoyment. In the evening we were invited along with the rest of the employee’s to our owners home for a meal. We had a good time at his home and enjoyed a delicious meal. When we got home Kathleen talked with her sister-in-law and made some plans for the next few days. Another good day on the road.

Oct. 4th we found out a lot of things about our job over the last couple days, as to when the store will be shut for the winter and how the weather is affecting it. We left early on the 3rd and the store was closed on the 4th because of the rain. Since both Ron & Shirley and us were off we got together and played a few games in the afternoon and then went and got a bite to eat. Elmer & Phyllis are on their way here and we will be with them over the course of the next few days. As of now we will be working this Thursday and Friday and Ron & Shirley are working on Saturday & Sunday. If that is the case we will be leaving on Sunday for the journey home, hoping to get there on Monday afternoon. The foliage is really starting to come out here and we hope to be able to get out and see it, we are sure that we see a lot on our way south. Over the course of the last several weeks and days we have a lot of irons in the fire and we cannot report on them at this time, till it comes to fruition, more on that later.

September 2009

2009-09-02T14:05:00.025-04:00

Our fellow workampers: Ron & Shirley

$950.00Painting,Oh,well

Queen Victoria

Sept. 30th on this past Monday we had intended to drive up north to look at the foliage, and as we got out of Ellsworth we saw that it hadn’t happened yet and rather than drive up for no reason we turned around. On the way back into Ellsworth we stopped at the Verizon store as Kathleen wanted to get a new phone. The reason for this is that she had to charge her phone every day, I had the same model as she did but back in the spring I dumped mine in the dish pan and then I went to a back-up. I also had charging problems with that same model as well. Turned out we both got new phones, this time different models, her’s is a little more advanced than mine, as it has a keyboard. We then did some shopping and returned o the MH. Tuesday we didn’t have anything planned so we just worked on the MH, we had some cabinet doors and drawers that to be reglued and secure the bottom tracks. Other than that, it was a lazy day. We got up Wednesday and went into Bar Harbor. After eating breakfast at Two Cats we went down to the pier, as it was the maiden porting for the Queen Victoria. There was a lot of fan fare as bands played, an antique car show on Main St. and entertainers at several places in town. We also did some shopping and enjoyed the festivals. As we walked past an Art Display we saw a painting that was selling for $950.00, and I thought that I could probably paint that with a couple of spray cans of different shades of blue, I really believe I don’t have a eye for art. We stopped in at the shop where we work and visited with our co-workers Ron and Shirley. We have enjoyed working with them and feel privileged to know them. They will be heading to their home in Arkansas after the Bar Harbor gig is finished in a couple of weeks. In the afternoon we went to the docks to buy some lobster and we waited for an hour. No lobstermen showed up so we put that plan on hold (sometimes a plan doesn’t come together). In the evening we turned on the TV to watch the continuing Ken Burns series about the national parks, this is a wonderful and educational series. Just another couple of days enjoying full timing.

Sept 22nd well to catch up in the past week as I have not posted anything. We are still enjoying our time here and in the past couple of weeks we found out about buying lobster on the docks as the lobstermen bring them in. Last week we bought 7 lobster for $25.00 and this week we bought 6 for $25.00, on each occasion we took them home and cooked them up and vacuum sealed them and froze them. Also on each of those days we have a lobster dinner, and they were some of the best, for at this time of the season the shells are getting harder and the lobster is growing into the new shell. As for the frozen meat we are going to have a meal when we get back to PA and share with family and friends. Today we took a bike ride around Jordan Pond and stopped at the restaurant there and had a sort of lunch/dinner, and as always it was great, after that we came home and just chilled out as the weather is definitely getting cooler and we can feel that summer has left us, we did enjoy about 3 weeks of summer. Like to have Al Gore try to explain to us about global warming as we just experienced the shortest, coolest summer we ever had. Just another good day to be in a campground.

Sept. 15th we left the motel and headed in Kennebunkport area and drove around to the Bush Summer Cottage; we also did a walk around the town. After leaving this area we went to Cabala’s and did some shopping, we like the line of equipment and the way the chain is operated. After that we did the Wal-Mart thing and then made our way home, taking a different route home and decided that this is the way we will leave next month for our journey back down south. We got back to our home and it was another great day.

Sept.14th this morning we took off for the Portland and Kennebunkport area. We took Rt.1 which is along the coast of Maine, is a slow but scenic drive and we enjoyed it very much. We did a tour of Ft. Know which is built on the banks of the Penobscot river, built over the course of 25 years in the early 1800’s and after competition never fired a shot. After it was built there were no invasions in the area. The workmanship is superb and it is really in good shape, made mostly of local granite by some great craftsman. We are probably the only people to stop in Freeport and not go to LL Bean store. We did shop in other stores in the area and got some good deals. After that we stopped in to see our friends Craig & Ginny in Saco, we had a great visit and just got caught up. They will be going to the Myrtle Beach area for the winter and it might be a little time till we see each again, this is something in this lifestyle that it sometimes goes a while in between visits. We than got a room for the night in Biddeford area and got a good night’s sleep.

The area were yesterday's tradegy took place

Sept. 9th we awoke and after breaking down camp and leaving the CG area we had breakfast at the same place we were last night. From there we went to the Eastern most point of the island to the East Quoddy Lighthouse, at the time we were able to walk out to the lighthouse as it was low tide. To do this we went down a set of ladders and across a very rocky path to another ladder were we went up to a separate little island and across a bridge to another island and at that point we went down another ladder and across a rocky path to the third island were the lighthouse is located. We could only do this at low tide as when the tide comes in it rises 40 feet and the passage is impossible. It was very unfortunate that a person lost his life yesterday as he tried to go across between islands through the water, and with the strong currents that we saw today we can see how this can happen. We also watched a lot of whales in the area for the best part of the two hours we were there. We are guessing that at least 24 whales were in the area and they were diving most all of the time, we didn’t get any pictures of them as you didn’t have time to focus on them. We had a safe trip home and it was another great day.

Sept.8th we left early this morning to go to Campobello Island in New Brunswick, Can. This was the summer home of former President FDR. His cottage had 18 bedrooms with a total of 34 rooms. Once again it was an elegant place and the up keep is impeccable, we toured this first and after that we set up our tent in the Herring Cove Provincial Park. This is a very nice clean, quiet, well run campground. We had a list of geocaches that we had arranged to take us around the island; we have done this in the past and also again on this trip and it is a great tool to take you to locations that are not on the tourist guide. We just thoroughly enjoyed the rugged coastline and the beauty of the thick forests. We did several geocaches in the forests and were surprised at the softness of the forest floor, it had anywhere from a 1 to 3 inch sponge effect to it. We then had supper at a local restaurant, returned to the campsite and retired for the night.

Sept. 7th we did some cleaning up around the camper and did some shopping. In the afternoon we went to a lobster fishing dock and found a returning lobsterman and we bought lobsters on the dock. The price was unbelievable and this must be a so called secret, one that the so called co-workers of ours never told us that we could do this. They always told us to buy from the campground which cost us twice as much. We did have a great lobster dinner along with corn on the cob and potatoes. This was the first Labor Day that Jon had off in at least 15 years and we had a great day and celebrated it.

Sept.6th we left early for work this morning for the express reasons to see the Explorer of the Seas as it was in port for the day. This is one of the largest cruise ships in the world with over 1180 crew and can carry over 3110 guests. We went to the loop road in the park to get a good view. We had a very good day at work and it was quite busy most all day, at the same time we knew that is was close to full moon as we had a lot of customers that just didn’t have a clue. Why is it that Common Sense is a thing of the past, is at times an understatement?

Part of the Fuselage

Sept. 1st we arose to temps in the low 40’s, as we said yesterday we did get a tarp to put over the openings. We had our electric heater as well and we were quite warm during the night. After breakfast we went to Greenville and along the way we saw a Mama moose and her calf in a bog and got a picture of them. We then stopped at the welcome center and along with several suggestions that were mentioned, one was a B-52 bomber crash site on a mountain nearby in 1963. So we decided to go look into this and found the site and visited the memorial to it. Of the 9 man crew, two got out alive, the other 7 perished in the crash. There was 5 feet of snow on the ground at the time and the temperature was at -30, the one survivor was ejected in his seat and remained in it till he was rescued. After that we did several Geo-caches and took in the area before we left for home. It was another good day and we were happy to get home safe and sound. Looks like we have a lot to clean up tomorrow.

August 2009

2009-08-06T10:50:00.015-04:00

Aug.31st we left this morning for the Millinocket, Me area as this is in the shadow of Mt. Katahdin. It was a pleasant drive up and we had a safe trip. When we went to check in at the CG it was closed for a short time as they went to the Post Office. We then went to do a Geo-cache and came across a great view of Mt. Katahdin across a lake, the mountain was about 25 miles away and is such a impressive sight. Just as we found the geo-cache and were leaving on some loose stones Jon said to be careful not to fall, at that same time Kathleen was falling; luckily only a little bruise and a slightly skinned arm. We got back and checked in to the CG and set up our tent and then proceeded to Baxter State Park. We walked a trail that took us to a lake at the base of the mountain and really got to see it up close. This is the northern most point of the Appalachian Trail. After that we went back into town to get something to eat and a few supplies for the tent. Since we have a summer tent we got a tarp to cover the openings and we heard the temps were going down tonight. Another good day of sightseeing.

Aug. 30th we usually don’t talk too much about work but, today was a really good day as we got to talk with several people that are full timers and or wanabes. Since today was a slow day and a lot of people just came in for information we had time for a chat with several of them. Then there was this one fellow that is the world is only for me and no one else cares, we all know the ones. He had a very high SUV and it was rather hard for the two of us to load a 120 lb. kayak on the top of it which we did and he didn’t even help to tie it down. On the return trip it was only his short wife and the two of us to unload it and we asked the wife where he was, she said that he thought there would help at the shop to unload it, which it is not and that he was at the Golf course. Now the Golf course is less than 5 minutes away and he would have been delayed less than 15 minutes. As well even the wife didn’t know how to open the rear door to get rest of the equipment out. He is just so worried about his wants that no one else mattered, including his wife. After work we got home and did a lot of packing for tomorrow’s trip.

View of the coast.

Aug.29th just want to catch up on what we have been doing over the past week. We were working last weekend when the tragedy happened at Thunder Hole. Reading the paper for the past week and hearing about personal accounts of the event, it seems like a rogue wave came ashore and washed about 20 people into the water. Sadly, a 7-year-old girl went under and was not found for a few hours. She did not survive. During the early part of the week we did a lot of repair on the MH, one of the main jobs was to finish up on the coolant system. We replaced all of the coolant and filters in the cooling system. We then replaced the hydraulic supply tank as the old one had a leak, it didn’t really leak that much but we were seeing more and more fluid on the ground. On Thursday we went to supper with our coworkers Ron & Shirley, since we all work at the same store and when they have off we work and vise versa. Because of this we decided to get together on Thursdays and have a visit and a night out. Today we only worked 4 hours as it had started to rain around 3 AM as TS Denny is making its way up the coast. Around 4:30 we went to Thunder Hole. When we were there before we never got to hear much of a sound, well that all changed today as the seas were rough and the tide was coming in. Today when we were there it was booming and we got some great pictures of the waves coming in. Where you usually stand was blocked off and that area was being covered with water. At the present time as we sit here it is pouring outside as we are as close to Denny as we are going to be. Even though it is wet outside we had a great day.

Aug 20th we met up with Jeff & Shirley and went to Grumpy’s for breakfast. This is such a nice setting which overlooks Southwest Harbor, plus the food is very good, after that we returned to our MH to get ready to go to work. After work we met up with Jeff & Shirley at Mainly Meats for dinner and enjoyed our last night with each other. We hate to see them go but we all have our jobs and we do cherish the time we have together.

Aug.19th we put on our hiking boots and along with Jeff & Shirley we hiked to Long Pond, it was a nice day for a walk, not to hot but just right. We stopped and munched on some blueberries along the way. In the afternoon we went on a tour at the Atlantic Brewing Co. We enjoyed this very much and although we didn’t buy any of their beers or ales we did buy some of the mustard that they are involved with making. Later in the afternoon we returned to our site and had a lobster cookout and just really enjoyed the meal, after that we just sat around the campfire and had a good evening. Another good day

Aug 18th as we awoke Jon was feeling great and we went and got some kayaks and went out to Eagle Lake. We probably did a good 5 miles around the lake and had a great time doing it. We were so lucky to see an eagle at the lake and to get within 100 feet of it; we didn’t want to scare it off so we gave him space and didn’t get any closer. After that we went to Beach cliffs for a short hike of about ¼ mile, the views are spectacular. We did spend a short amount of time here as it was up over 90 degrees again today. We decided that a dip in Echo Lake was the thing to do so we went swimming. After cleaning up and eating dinner we went out near Otter Point with some wine, cheese and crackers. Just another great way to end a good day, plus no one felt bad today.

Aug 17th we got up early and after getting ready and waking Jeff & Shirley we went up on Cadillac Mt. to view the sunrise, and a spectacular sight it was and to top it off we were one of the first along with the others on the mountain to see the sunrise this day in the whole United States. After that we had planned to eat at a restaurant in Southwest Harbor, but they were closed and we ate back in our own MH’s. Well we think that summer is here as the temperature went over the 90 degree mark. Jeff, Shirley & Jon had a tee time and played in the heat. On the back nine Shirley was getting to feel poorly as she was experiencing heat exhaustion, she did make it through ok and we finished up with no more problems. Later in the afternoon we all went to the Jordan Pond House for a light dinner and after that we walked some Carriage Trails to a waterfall. After starting our walk in the wrong direction we made a course correction and made it fine from there. During this time Jon was feeling quite poorly and we don’t know if it was the heat from the morning and or something that he ate. After the walk we did go Southwest Harbor to get a Blueberry pie, unfortunately they were sold out. We went back and visited with Jeff & Shirley for a while. It was a good day even at times maybe Jon didn’t think so.

Aug 16th this being the last day of work for this weekend we had a young fellow come in to rent a bike to go to the top of Cadillac Mt. We told him that most all of our customers ride the carriage roads and that since he was from Florida this is higher than any were in FL. Well he did the ride and took a picture up on top of the mountain and forwarded it to us and we are sharing it here. After work we brought one of the company vans back to the park so that it could be inspected the next day, Jon was confronted by the grumpy old man that works at our other store about the call we made for some help. Seems that he was upset by the way we talk, and it doesn’t fit well with him, can’t please everyone so Jon just walked away to defuse the situation. We then went to Jeff & Shirley’s site as they had prepared dinner for us. We enjoyed the visit and had a nice time till the bugs ran us away. Another great day.

Aug 14th as we returned from work we were happy to see that Jeff & Shirley made it here safely and we had dinner together. We threw a few burgers on the grill and started a fire and got down to some needed update on each other. We are deciding what we will be doing the next several days. They will be here for the next week and it is quite ironic that they got here a day after Mike & Sharon and Fox & Linda left. We were friend starved for several weeks we have some good friends here two weeks in a row. We have made friends all over the country but here in Maine it is a different story.

Aug 13th we meet up with Mike & Sharon and Fox & Linda at Grumpy’s in Southwest harbor for breakfast. We had a great time and we just enjoyed each other’s company, after spending time there we went to get ready to go to work, and they took off exploring the west side of the island. We did meet back up with them after work and then we followed them to the cottage that they had rented. We said our good-bys and went home as they were getting ready for the trip back to Pa. and De. It was a much needed friend’s fix as when Larry & Sharon left we don’t know many people at the CG. We do get together with Ron & Shirley but as they work the opposite of us we don’t get to see each other socially. We do try to get together at least once a week.

Aug. 12th in the morning we just took it easy around the MH and did a lot of clean-up from the past few days. It was a good day to relax and sort of rest up for the afternoon activities. Later in the afternoon we met up with Mike & Sharon and Fox & Linda as we had a light dinner and then we went on a lobster boat nature cruise, it was on the LuLu. We started out to raise a lobster trap and when we got into the area we spotted an Eagle and within a few minutes it was accompanied by second Eagle, what a great sight as the two Eagles just roosted there as we took some pictures. After a talk by the captain on lobsters, and he did cover everything in the lobster field, it was very interesting and informative. From there we went out to Egg Island and saw a lot of seals in the area lying out on the beach. We also witnessed another Eagle coming to this island and all of the sea gulls went airborne as the eagle approached. As we were returning the captain told us some of the stories of the cottages on Mt. Desert Island. As we were coming into the harbor the sun was setting and it was the end of a wonderful cruise. We then went and had some dessert and visited with our friends at their cottage and after this short visit we returned to our MH. Another great day on the road.

Aug.11th we got together this morning at 9:45am for a ride on some of the Carriage trails, we had booked this several weeks ago and just thought it would be a great way to be able to get Mike out to the trails. Mike has worked for the last 22 years moving appliances, and at this time he has a lot of trouble just walking a short while and in the next month he is scheduled to have surgery. The Carriage that we were on held 12 people and was pulled by Joey & Rex who weighed in at about 1800 lbs. It was a 2 hour tour and we visited 5 of the bridges in that time. The bridges were built by the Rockefellers in the past 70 to 100 years ago and the beauty and construction is amazing. After that we went to the Jordan Pond House for a light lunch, here again we are so glad that Kathleen made reservations as the place was packed. Upon leaving we went to Thunder Hole and listened to some very small thunder as we might have been a little late and we probably would have needed a rougher sea, for a better effect. We then went to Otter Point and just sort of sat or laid out on the rocks and enjoyed the afternoon. Later we all returned to our campsite and we prepared and ate a lobster feast, beside the lobster we had corn on the cob from PA and cooked small red potatoes, what a meal. We sat around the campfire into the evening and just had another great day.

Aug. 10th we met up with Mike & Sharon, Fox & Linda a little after 8:00 AM as we went out on a Whale watching tour, Glad that we dressed warm for as we got out in the Bay of Maine it got rather cold. It was a rough ride as the seas were a bit higher than was expected and a lot of people on the boat did not have a good experience and probably didn’t care if they saw whales or not. We did get to see 6 different whales and a young lady who was in charge of tracking whales pointed out that we saw one that hadn’t been seen before, whales have different marking on their rear fin that can be used for identification, much like humans have finger prints. We also went to Puffin Islands and got to see about 100 puffins, we always thought that they were bigger than what they really are. Upon returning we went to the Jordan Restaurant in Bar Harbor and had something to eat. After that we did a little grocery shopping and they returned to their cabin to change. We did meet up again on top of Cadillac Mt. to enjoy the views from there; you can never get too much of this. After this we all went back to our campsite and fixed hot dogs and burgers and just spent the rest of the evening enjoying the time. We have good days and sometimes we have even better days.

Aug. 9th we got an early start today for work as we are excited that we have friends coming. Although we worked all day we met them for dinner after work and we just totally enjoyed the evening. It is so much fun on catching up on times that we were apart. We went to Rt.66 for dinner and after that we went to their cabin that they rented outside of Bar Harbor. We didn’t get home till much after 10:00 pm and at that time we were totally exhausted.

Aug 5th after going to the Post Office again we did some hiking in the area, one place that we went was up on the cliffs of Beech Mt; it is such a lovely area and the views are just fantastic from up there. We watched as the people below us were swimming in Echo Lake, we just don’t feel that the water gets warm enough for us to go swimming. We cleaned up our grill as that as well as everything else is getting a severe case of the mold, we completely stripped it down and did a good job of shinning it up. We also made contact with an employer about next summer’s job, more about that in the future as nothing but initial contact was made and anything in the future is several months out. Oh! And by the way we did have a few drops of rain today but not enough to settle the dust. Hey, wait a minute what dust, but it didn’t make it any muddier.

Aug 4th This morning we went into Bar Harbor and took a ride on Oli’s Trolley, it was only the one hour tour but we did get a tour of a lot of the old mansions on the east side of the island. It also took us to the top of Cadillac Mt; we learned a lot of facts about the area on this tour. After we finished the trolley we just walked around Bar Harbor for a while to get to know the area, even though we work here there are a lot of places we didn’t get to see, we are always asked a lot of questions about the area and we don’t have the answers. A lot of the reason for this is the fact that we had so much rain and on our days off we stayed out in the MH. We did some grocery shopping after that as to get stocked up for the next several weeks.

Aug. 3rd we just took it easy today and worked around the MH, trying to get caught up on some of our work and getting ready for our company over the next two weeks. We did some shopping at Wal-Mart, along with going to the Post Office. We went to the Legion for Supper as we usually try to do this once a week. They put on a supper three times a week and we like to get to one of them.

July 2009

2009-07-02T11:19:00.010-04:00

VERY SORRY ABOUT THE LACK OF WRITING IN THE MONTH OF JULY. EARLY IT WAS WRITERS BLOCK AND BEING DEPRESSED ABOUT THE WEATHER AND THEN LOSING THE COMPUTER FOR ABOUT TWO WEEKS.

July 30th Jon had inquired at a local golf course about playing and was told that they had a Thursday morning league there. He went this morning and played with the group and will probably playing the rest of the time we are in the area. Since we don’t start to work till 1 PM he has plenty of time for the morning golf. It is by Somes Sound and there was about 100 yards visibility, so you just hit the ball and went to look for it. We did work this afternoon and the day was pretty good.

July 28th we went out and did a hike up some of the carriage trails to a water fall in the area and along the way we did have some nice overviews, something you don’t get to see on the Carriage Trails. Most of the time on the trails around lakes and through the woods, although you do have great views of the lakes. We did get our rescue disks in the mail and we went to work on the computer, seems like it was an easy repair and we didn’t lose too much of our information. So again it was a good day.

July 27th we went to a Car and Motorcycle Museum that is on the island and they do not have anything that is newer than 1920. What a wonderful collection and so well maintained. After that we went back to the Jordan Pond House as last week Jon bought several items and the clerk hadn’t charged for one. He felt bad about this and paid for the item and was thanked by the clerk and told that not many people would do this. We than went to Wally world and did some shopping and one of the items was Damp Rid to try to contain some of the mold, sure hope that it works. Of course it is raining today.

July 22nd in the late morning we got together with Larry & Sharon and went for lunch at the Jordan Pond House. They are leaving tomorrow and we will sure miss them, as we have had a lot of nice times together. They even wanted to give us a present of their two dogs as they went but we quickly declined that offer, we know that they could not part with those two beauties.

July 21st we arose early as we have a 9:00 am appointment in Bangor which is over an hour away. As we were taking down the window screens we discovered a lot of mold in those areas, so we knew that we had some work to do when we return this afternoon. As we pulled into Webb’s RV in Bangor we met up with Bearlady (Leigh & Lee) and while work was being done on the MH we went out for Breakfast. We had a delightful time as we ate a great breakfast and enjoyed conversing with each other. When we returned they were just finishing up with the recall. When we left there we went to a truck shop to but some fuel filters and antifreeze for the MH. We plan on draining the old diluted anti-freeze with new. Back in May when we had the leak we only put water in at that time. When we returned to the CG we started to clean the MH and used a good bit of Clorox. From setting here under the trees and having so much rain most of the time is sure a breeding ground for mold. Later in the afternoon Larry & Sharon came over and we just sat around and sipped a few.

July 20th it seems like I had a severe case of writers block for a few weeks and just when I thought I would write on the blog the computer went down. I did spend a lot of the day on the phone to try to get the computer working and was told by the techs that we needed to buy several rescue disks to fix the problem. We are also getting the MH ready to move as we are going to Bangor tomorrow to have as recall done on the refer unit. We met up with Larry & Sharon as we went to Cadillac Mt. to take pictures of the sunset.

July 1st a new month and we are hoping for better weather as well. We did get together with Larry & Sharon for the day. First we went out on Frenchman’s Bay on a 4 mast Schooner, Jon did help to raise the sails when we got under way. After that we just enjoyed the peace and calm of a sailing ship, with no engine noise to bother anyone. We got to see some seals and several pods of porpoise enjoying their habitat. We also did a couple of geocaches and then went for lunch. To wrap up the day we went to the Lobster Museum and hatchery, a very interesting time as we got to see a lot of different types of sea animals. We also learned about the perils of lobster netting, from a retired lobsterman. Finally, we went into the hatchery part and saw how they raise lobsters from eggs. On their own when lobsters are laid in the sea less than one tenth of one percent survive and with the eggs raised in the hatchery that goes up to above 45% make it to adulthood. The weather was very good and we saw something strange in the sky, it was round and yellow.

June 2009

2009-06-02T07:55:00.012-04:00

June 30th as we awoke we were blessed with the beginning of a nice day. The results are in and in the 30 days of June we had rain for 21 of them. Of the 9 days it didn’t rain the sun was out for 7 of them. Jon did get to do a lot of his chores around the MH and in the afternoon we took a hike on the Island. We came to a very pretty cove and spent some time just watching the tide come in and watching as the boats were going about their business. There was one schooner in the cove and it was anchored there and people were fishing off of it. We did have one interesting moment when a chipmunk came up to Kathleen and started pulling on her jacket as she was sitting on a rock at the beach. We did see a change in the weather today.

June 29th what a miserable day as between the rain and the heavy mist and cool temps we just stayed in and felt depressed. Jon had some outside work to do but it could wait for another day. Even yesterday we shut the store at 12 noon for the day as the weather was that bad. Even as bad as it was it is still great to be here and enjoy what we do have.

June 24th in the morning Jon did some work on our heating system and we thought we had it fixed but there are still some problems with it and hope to get it fixed in the near future. After that we had a lunch set up with Leigh & Lee who are workamping in Bangor. They came down and we met them for lunch. Sharon went along with us and we had a good time. We went to the Mainely Meat Barbeque which is next to the Atlantic Brewing Co. After that we went to a winery and did a wine tasting. Once again it was a good day.

June 23rd Kathleen had an appointment with a local doctor to see about getting help for her back. In the afternoon we had planned on taking a boat ride but, as we watched the weather we decided against it and it was a good decision as we had rain. At Coastal Kayaking we had a pizza party in the evening and we had a nice time there. We also got a chance to meet a lot of our fellow workers. We thought it was rather nice of the owner to do this.

June 22nd as we got started today first we did some errands as we had to get back to the MH by 12:30 to have our windshield repaired, we got a chip in the windshield last week and they made the appointment to have it repaired today. After that we went with Larry & Sharon and visited the Abbe Museum which traces the local native Indian nation. It showed all of the hardships that they endured and how they lived, and how in the last 75 years they made an effort to make stride in maintaining their culture. There are two sites to visit to that are part of the Museum. After that we went to the Jordan Pond House and had a bite to eat, must say when you are in the area this is a must stop.

June 15th today was our first of three days off and we had to go to Augusta VA hospital for more tests for Jon. It was good to have a day off as on Friday when we went to work it was raining so hard that we were told to close up the store at 11:00 am. Saturday was a nice day and we did some rentals, sort of slow right now as it is just getting into the tourist season. Sunday was another rainy day and we did no business, but did give out a lot of information, this day we stayed opened for the entire day and it was quite boring. Back to today; as we made the trip we also stopped in Bangor to have our heater core for the MH repaired, and as luck had it they told us to pick it up on our return trip in the afternoon. It will save us a separate trip up to Bangor as that is about 50 miles one way. We did have a bit of a scare on our return from Augusta to Bangor as we knew we were getting low on gas and when the light came on the next three exits were camping only and had no gas stations. We did make it to a gas station and got $10.00 worth of gas to get back to Bar Harbor where we knew that it was a better price. When we arrived there we saw that they had raised their price .09 cents since the morning. We then went to the second best price station and filled up there and just as we were leaving they were raising their prices. The kicker was when we got home and turned on Fox News (is there anything else) we saw that a barrel of oil dropped $2.00, go figure.

June 9th today we went to Augusta VA Hospital for a problem that Jon has had for about a month now. It was a nice ride as we took Rt’s 1 & 3 across the state, it is nice to travel some of the scenic roads. When we left Bar Harbor it was sunny and about 65 degrees, as we traveled further south the temperature dropped and it started to rain. When we arrived the temperature was 50 degrees and quite chilly as it was raining. We were severely underdressed for the area as we only had shorts and a light shirt on. Once again we have nothing bad to say about the VA and their approach to a traveling couple such as us. Jon did have to register into the system and then went to the emergency room for treatment. Jon had a great Dr. there and it looks like the follow up will be great. We had a rainy ride home and we got back about 8 PM. Even with the rain and the chilly day it was a good day.

June 8th our first day off and we did a few chores around the camper, as Kathleen did some clean-up in the MH and Jon removed the heater core and now has to find someplace to have it repaired. We loaded up the bikes and took a ride on the some of the Carriage Roads in Acadia Park. Such a lovely place and all of the wonderful stone bridges that were built by the Rockefeller’s. They are all built with granite stone and the workmanship is second to none. After that we just drove around a little bit and went to the top on Cadillac Mountain. From there you can see the whole island and the towns on it. Of course we hadn’t taken our camera along so we will have to do it again and take some pictures, the scenery is to nice not to take any.

June 7th this is our last day of work for the week and we look forward to having a few days off. What made it somewhat harder we probably stayed to long at the pot luck last night could have done it in our younger days but as we are getting older we realize we can’t do that anymore. We did have a little incident today as one of the scooters we rent out was damaged, the person driving was okay and it was only damage to the scooter. We just hate to see someone have a problem. We work from 8 am to 6pm and it does make for a long day, but at the same time the job is not that hard and it can easily be handled by two people the majority of the time, at time we do get a run on rentals. As we closed for the day we phoned in a pizza order that is located aside of our main store and we pick it up on the way home. When we got home as we were eating we had to make sure we didn’t fall asleep face first into the pizza. After cleaning up we turned in early and got a much needed good night’s sleep.

June 6th today was our first day to work alone, as most of our training is complete and we will have to figure it out for ourselves. It is not rocket science though and we are pretty confident that we can handle most of it. We know that we made mistakes, Jon more than Kathleen but as we make those mistakes we learn and go on from there. Last night after work we stopped at the local Hannaford store to by some items that we need for tonight’s pot luck. We were invited to this pot luck and at the same time were asked if we knew what a pot luck was, and as Jon replied he didn’t own a CG and not know the meaning of a pot luck, it was all in fun. LOL. As soon as we got home from work today we made our salad and went to the pot luck just as the lobsters were finishing up. What a great feast it was, and wouldn’t you know that one of the campers here at the park in the summer is a Lobsterman and he had brought in the catch today. As a lot of diners know when you go into a place that you pay the Market Price, well what we paid was the dockside price and a better bargain could not be asked for. We shared three lobsters and that for us was plenty, it did fill us up. Some of the campers bought extra and were going to make lobster rolls the following day. We hope that you enjoy the pictures as much as we enjoyed the lobster. We also had steamed corn on the cob as well and all of the trimmings from everyone at the pot luck.

June 2nd & 3rd we continued our training through Tuesday. We are working with another couple that started the same time that we did. We spent a lot of time in the bicycle shop and were taken to their second store which is not open as of yet, and told what was expected of us. We also had a lot of training on the rental of scooters and how we were expected to do this. On Wednesday the four of us where at the new location and just did a good cleanup and got things organized so it would be presentable and easy to work out of. One employee who worked for the company for several years said “This is the cleanest I ever saw the store.” We were given a lot of leeway as how accomplish it, and were told that since they opened this store late last year no one had really done much with it. Previously it was run for the original store by a lot of very young people that would come down for a day or do and not be fully committed to it. We got it straightened out and are looking forward to get it going. Nothing like having a couple of mature workampers to give a little guidance to some of the younger staff members.

June 1st today was our first day of work. It has been 9 months since we last worked and we were looking forward to start. It did bring about new aches and pains but, we are sure they will be short lived. We have to do a lot of standing and we were not used to it. The job is great and the co-workers are just great to work with, we have met most of them and we feel we are in for a fast summer as the time will probably fly by. At the present time we have to drive about 12 miles to get to Bar Harbor and it is such a scenic drive, with all of the quaint New England fishing villages here in the area. We will be working 10 hour days, but it does seem to go by fast. We did have a small booboo today as we left the coffee pot on all day, this is something we will have to change and not let happen again. To any of our friends that come to the area we can help you with the rental of Kayaks, bikes and scooters.

May, 2009

2009-05-04T08:17:00.011-04:00

May 30th as usual it was raining when we arose and continued to rain hard till around 12 noon. The skies brightened up in the afternoon and we took a walk around the CG, only to find a fire going. We were invited in and it was a lot of the people that we will be working with, a great time to get to know them and just have a good time together. It is truly going to be a good summer, not only that there were some other people at the fire that have businesses in the area. So we were introduced to a good group of people. Once again as we say “what’s better then living in a Campground.”

May 28th & 29th on Thursday we did a little sightseeing by going into Acadia NP and went to Thunder Hole, even though we were there at the allotted time it was not a very good showing as the seas were somewhat mild. From there we bypassed Cadillac Mountain as it was fogged in and we will see it at another time. We did go and do some shopping for the pantry and to get some supplies for lunch for next week. Because of the overcast day and pending rain we came home and relaxed for the rest of the day. Sharon did stopover in the evening and told us about Larry and his bout with a sinus infection and that they went to the Dr. and got some medicine. He is in bed and was told to rest for a few days, what a way to spend your days off. On Friday we drove up to Bangor to meet up with the Pages and had a great time, Lee & Leigh are wonderful hosts and we spent some time at their MH and then went out for lunch. As we were in the restaurant the rains started to increase. We drove back to their site and dropped them off, we were going to do some sightseeing but all we would have seen was more rain. On our return trip we had nothing but rain; at a point in time since we had just eaten we stopped at a gas station in any out of the way spot and took a 45 minute snooze. We then continued back stopping at Dunkin Donut’s and got ½ dozen donuts, they were ok but we sure like the Krispy Cream donuts a lot better. After returning the rain did stop and we went out to take a walk around the CG and we met up with another person that we will be working with and their first day is Monday as well as ours.

May 27th after breakfast and cleaning up we went to Bar Harbor, Jon missed a turn off and we did a very scenic route to get there. We stopped in at Coastal Kayaking and Bicycle Rental and introduced ourselves. We met up with several people that we will be working with and did a walk around town. Everyone is very nice and we are looking forward to getting started. This is a very typical New England fishing area and we are totally thrilled to be here for the summer. We then went to Wal-Mart and bought a few items, just as the rains started, the rest of the day were indoor activities only. If any of our blog readers get into this area stop in and see us, we can help get you around the area.

May 26th we woke up this morning and the temperature was 36 degrees, as we looked out we could see the frost on the grass. We went to the dump station, emptied our tanks for the journey today. We did see Paul and we thanked them for the stay and wished them a good summer and also encouraged them to have a good Halloween weekend at the end of the year. Two years ago we gave a little input with the Halloween weekend and they are into it completely. As always we hate to leave for adventures unknown, but that is the spice of traveling and we are looking forward to around the next bend. We went across New Hampshire on good secondary roads and we had a good travel day, we did watch our temperature gauge and we didn’t lose a drop of water the entire trip. Now at a point during the summer, hopefully sooner than later, we will have to remove the heater core and have it repaired. After about a 6 hour trip we got to our summer home at Smuggler’s Den in Southwest Harbor in Maine. We unhooked and set up camp and after a good meal we met up with Larry & Sharon, they are across the street and Larry is working at the same place we will be. We are looking forward to the summer and having a good time.

May 22nd & 23rd arriving here we had some issues with our water leak and the bug problem; also our sunshade fell down from the rough roads that we had encountered. The roads in PA, NY, CT, and lower MA. were terrible with a lot of potholes and poor transfers from road surface to bridges. We did get up Friday to a beautiful new day and we are at the western edge of the White Mountains. The views are just fantastic and being early spring, eveything is so green. As we said, we are mid way up on the western edge of New Hampshire at http://www.scenicviewnh.com/ . We worked here two summers ago and we are so happy to have that wonderful experience. Paul & Carole along with their two daughters and son-in-law keep the place as clean as a pin; they run a great program and are just great people to be around. They make sure that it is kid friendly and give it a family atmosphere. If you are ever in the area we give it a true thumbs up. We did arrive bearing gifts; for the Main man we brought a bottle on Captain Morgan, son-in-law got a case of Yuengling Lager, and for Carole we brought a box of Opera Fudge, now if you are not from Lebanon County, PA you probably never heard of this homemade candy. Do not confuse this with Fudge as it is not and as for the taste when it comes to sweets, it has no rival, far and away the best.
We fixed the problems that we encountered on our trip and did some cleaning on the inside as well. As for the water leak, it is from the heater core that heats the front of the MH while traveling, and also the defrosters. We did a bypass on the water system and corrected the leak, and at a later time over the summer we will remove the core and have it repaired or replaced, seems that we can get to it without too much of a problem. We did get to walk around the CG and renewed a lot of friendships. As a matter of fact we made several rounds and just enjoyed all of the camaraderie. On Saturday night there was a band here and we had a great time, even though we weren’t right at the band site, we were across the road at a campfire. Once again we want to put in a plug for the CG in the White Mountains of New Hampshire http://www.scenicviewnh.com/ and if you are in the area you will enjoy it here. Just another great two days.

May 21st Ah, the day we are looking for, moving day as we start our journey to Bar Harbor. We got a later than expected start as we took our MH in for some work. We had the front wheel oil seal replaced last week and this past Monday we saw that we needed to add some oil to it and that soon after we added the level went down. So we took it back to have redone. We started on our journey at about 10:00 am and it was going fine till we got to Scranton, PA and there in a construction zone was an accident and Rt. 81 was a parking lot. We did manage to get off and proceed through the town to reenter Rt.81 north of the accident. From there as we left Pa. on Rt. 84 just in Port Jarvis, NJ we stopped for fuel, while there we discovered a water leak in the engine coolant system, it was in the front near the heater core. After calling a place and being told that they didn’t have time to do it we decided just to relieve the pressure in the system and go our merry way and keep an eye on the temp gauge. With all of the time lost at several places and events we hit Hartford, Ct. at 5:00 work traffic, took us about 35 minutes to go 3 miles and then just up the road we got into Springfield, Mass. where it took us 25 minutes to go 2 ½ miles. Soon after that while still in Mass. we pulled over to fill the radiator with water, one thing with the MH we have a lot of water on board. We then proceeded into VT. And just as the sun faded over the mountains we got into New Hampshire. We drove the back roads of NH with very poor headlights (the first time we drove the MH at night, and believe us the lights are only for daylight driving) and our windshield full of bug juice which will take a lot of work removing. We arrived at the CG and after setting up Jon went out and talked to some of the campers that we know here. It was a long day and a day to test our patience but we did really well, so after all it was a great day.

May 18th we are nearing the end of our time here in PA. In the last week we have had our MH worked on as well as having the fluid changed in the transmission on the car. Kathleen has been quite busy in fulfilling her Chiropractor appointments. Along with that she is babysitting her granddaughter, and they have been having a great time together. One day last week when she wasn’t going to watch her granddaughter, events changed and she called and asked if she could come out to be with her grandma. Over the past several weeks she stayed overnight several times, she has to do it now as when we come back she will be in kindergarten. Jon has been quite busy as he replaced the boots on the tow bar and generally went over it and brought it back up to specs. One day Kathleen was shopping for food at the local Amish / Mennonite stores also know as chip & dent store, we do a lot of shopping at these stores prior to leaving as we found that their prices are hard to match anywhere. Well when she came home we needed space to store all of the items, we had a space under the table but it didn’t have any shelves so Jon made up some shelves there and we made it a pantry. As we are finishing up we discovered that the problem we had repaired on the MH was not repaired correctly and on the day we are leaving we are taking it back early in the morning to find out what the problem is, and hopefully get it repaired at that time. Over the next few days we have so many meetings with family and friends, and in a sort of nice way we will be happy to get on the road to get some rest. Once we start moving and getting to our work in Maine we hope to be able to make more blog entries.

May 10th “Happy Mother’s Day to all and we wish you a good day. Our plans were to take Jon’s mother to church today but she called early and said that she couldn’t make it. We then went to the church that we usually go to here in PA. We always enjoy going there and it is great meeting all of our friends we have made here. After that we spent time with family and had a great day. Kathleen’s two sons and their wives were there and it just made for a great day and we did a lot of reminiscing and talking about events that are planned for the future. Kathleen’s one son and his family were at Disney World last Oct. and her second son is going in June, and we are planning on going in Dec. So we all had a lot to talk about. We didn’t get home till late in the afternoon and we just snuggled in our MH for the night.

May 6th we are so happy to be back in PA. for our short stay, Kathleen’s granddaughter just loves to spend time here, as she has a lot of friends at the campground especially the play ground area. As we had her the other night she couldn’t wait to sleep with Pokot, that is a wish she has while we are gone. Today was a short time in between rain storms that are in the area, and Jon took advantage of it by playing golf. He played a round with the present owner of the business that he had. They had a great time and got to do a lot of talking about all sorts of subjects. We are happy that they are doing a good job at the Campground, as we know this is not an easy job. As they were finishing up they could feel a new weather front coming in and a few hours later the rains came with at least 1 inch of rain overnight. We have enjoyed visiting with a lot of our family, and this past Monday we were invited to attend a Bible study at Jon’s sister’s place and that was a great time, we will be returning as long as we are in the area. As always; what is better than living in a campground?

May 2nd Just another great day as we had Kathleen’s granddaughter overnight and she was such a fun person to be with. When we get back in the fall she will be going to school and we wouldn’t get to be with her as much. In the afternoon we went to the campground that Jon used to own and spent a lot of time with the campers. It was nice since we renewed friendships and set up some future plans. Seems that a few of them will be going to Disney in the fall and since we are nearby we plan on going there for several nights. Jon was asked about playing a round of golf with the owner and it seems that it will happen in the near future. After we left the campground we stopped for some supper and had a nice drive back home. We are planning on a lot of family time while we are here and our schedule is nearly full, so as always we are enjoying our short visit in the area.

April 2009

2009-04-03T12:05:00.010-04:00

April 30th what a great day. Kathleen after a visit to a chiropractor went shopping with her daughter in law and granddaughter; they spent the most part of the day in the Reading area doing a lot of shopping. Jon was up to his usual golf outing with his brother in law and Kathleen’s son. They went to a nice golf course about two miles from the campground and they had a great day, even though it was an overcast day. No rain and no sun. In the evening we had a cookout for Kathleen’s son and family and we all enjoyed the time together.

April 29th Oh! Where does the time go? This has got to be the longest since we updated our journal, just have been so busy. The last ten days in Florida where such a whirlwind of things to do, mainly golf as in the last five day’s Jon played 4 times. We said our good-bys to all of our friends in Florida and several of those meant eating out for a lunch or a snack, our belts cannot take it anymore. We both will have to fast at a later date, yeah right. During this time we also got ready to make our move which we did on the 26th – 28th. We left the resort on the 26th right after church and we drove into South Carolina to stay the night. We found a Wal-Mart that was about 4 miles off of I-95 and it was a very quite night. The next day we knew that we wanted to do a lot of traveling and get to Northern Virginia, we did fix a nice breakfast and after cleaning up we left at a little after nine in the morning. We did have several delays with road construction that was being done and at one point we were in a near panic situation where we had to make a quick stop. We did witness a Cadillac Escalade that had to stop between a row of cars and the guard rail with just inches on either side of her SUV, she was visibly shaken up, but ok. We pulled into a Wal-Mart at about 6:30 and went across the street to CiCi’s Pizza for supper. This was another Wal-Mart that was about 1 mile off of I-95 and was quite, but it was a very congested area. On the 28th we awoke at about 4:30 in the morning and sort of decided to get up and get going, we left at about 6:30 while the traffic in the area was somewhat light and drove across northern Virginia to Rt. 81 and on into PA. where we will be staying for several weeks. We are now catching up with family and friends and enjoying or new views.

April 15th the dreaded tax day, but this year it is a little different as it is combined with Tea Party Day. We did get out to golf today and then later in the afternoon we went and showed our support at a small gathering along Rt. 27 here in Avon Park. There were about 6 of these gatherings along the road for about 12 miles. We were very well received with all of the traffic on the road, a lot of horn blowing and thumbs up. We did have one thumbs down in a two hour stretch, well you always have someone that wants bigger government and higher taxes. According to the latest news and the way we take it we are terrorists. This is from the Department of Homeland Security; just in the last few weeks they released a nine page report and it identifies a lot of flag waving nation loving people. We are Pro-Life. We are against gun control. We like the idea that we can buy a Hunting Knife. Because of these issues we are labeled Terrorist, how do you fit in?

April 12th Happy Easter to all ”He has Risen”. It has been a while since we last wrote, but we have been quite busy here at the resort. With so many activities going on and people leaving we are saying a lot of goodbyes, but also knowing that we will be reunited in the fall. We will be leaving in two weeks and at the present time we are working towards that date. We have been cleaning our home and have also waxed the car and MH to get ready for the summer. Jon golfed in a scramble the other day and the team he is on finished with a 3 over. Not all that good, but they had a great time. Today we are having a dinner at the club house and we know that it will be a fun time as we are having a social hour afterwards. Not much to report at this time so we will say to all have safe and uneventful travels.

April 1st this morning we left to go to Orlando where we met up with Jon’s sister and husband as they are down from PA. to visit their daughter and granddaughter. We met at IHOP for breakfast and then we went to “The Holy Land Experience”. We had a great time there and would recommend it to all. Throughout the day there are several skits set up in the life of Christ, and it is timed that you can follow them. Also they have some movies that play and the largest scale model of old Jerusalem and give a few shows each day on it as to where different historical sites and locations are. They also have a Scriptorium that takes about an hour to go through, another area has the Wilderness Tabernacle set up and they have shows throughout the day. After a long day we went across town and met up with Jon’s other sister and we all had a great Japanese meal, where the chef prepared everything right in front of us. After this we all said our good-bys and drove the 1 ½ hour home. Another great day to get together with some of our family.

March 2009

2009-03-07T09:45:00.011-05:00

March 21st early in the morning we went to a local flea market to get some golf balls, since we depleted our supply that we got last fall. We came back and had breakfast, and after that we set up our DirecTV dish. The local cable at the park has to be the worst we ever encountered and we had just about enough of watching snowy television. After that we made up a shelf that can be installed over the steering wheel while we are parked, we got this idea last week from Boogity. After we ate we picked up Craig & Ginny and made our way to the local Lawn Mower races, Jon wore a hat that had a little camo on it just to fit in. It was a good show as they had about 25 mowers there, with about 5 or 6 classes. Seems that they run mostly for trophies, as we didn’t get too much information. We were in the stands and they did not sell any kind of program, we are sure that there are rules for the different classes. The one race was won by a 12 year old, in the adult classes some of the mowers reached speeds of at least 60 MPH. The fellow that won the adult race had a 2 cylinder motor and as it came down the track it really sounded good. All of the races were started with a LeMans style, where the drivers stood across the track at the start and ran across to start their mower and take off; the starts were different but sometimes a wild way to get going.

March 17th Happy St. Patrick’s Day. We did a few chores around the camper this morning and just sort of lulled in wait for the parade here at the park. Jon had an idea for a costume for the parade that he got together over the last several days. Kathleen was wondering where he came up with the items to put it together. Well lo and behold he won one of the first place prizes and it just happened to be another gift certificate to a restaurant. After that we went and played a round of golf just to help us with the waist line. It was another fine day in FL.

March 16th we usually don’t write about our weekly activities but as we went to bowl today, when we started they announced that it was going to be a No-tap style scoring. That being said Jon had a really good day as with the help of the scoring system his second game was a 300 and he only needed the help with 4 strikes, the other 8 were natural. It was quite a setting that everybody stopped bowling to watch him roll the last three strikes. That evening we had the bowling banquet at Homer’s restaurant and as it is a smorgasbord we over ate. Maybe we can start our diet when we leave, or soon before we run out of clothes that fit.

March 15th after going to church we were entered into a St. Patrick’s bowling tournament at the lanes where we bowl on Monday’s. We did just so-so as we finished up in the middle of the pack. In the evening rather than going to the Sunday night movie here at the resort we went to an area in the park to watch the space shuttle liftoff. We were quite surprised as about half of the park was there to watch. It was a great liftoff as we watched it get to Africa or wherever, but it was great to watch.

March 14th we didn’t sleep very good as the resort is surrounded by several nursery’s and between running generator’s till 1 in the morning and then starting up watering pumps at 5 in the morning didn’t work to well with us. After getting our showers and eating breakfast we went to Key Largo and met up with Johanna & Israel. They are working at John Pennecamp State Park, they showed us around and we really enjoyed it and are thinking of coming back in the fall for a few nights just to enjoy what they have to offer. We had a nice visit and exchanged a lot of information, as we headed out we hope to meet up with them in Maine this summer. From there we headed west on the Tamiami Trail and took an air boat ride and just had a great time. Kathleen got a chance to pilot the boat and it made the day for her, the smile on her face was priceless. Our pilot was just a bit on the cowboy side as he operated the boat and made for a great ride, and we would do it again in a heartbeat. After that we had a 2 ½ hour drive home and were totally exhausted. As we unpacked and cleaned up we knew we had a tiring day.

March 13th well here it is another Friday the 13th and we are planning about a 4 hour journey. We are going south to the everglades to meet up with Larry & Sharon (we will be working with them this summer in Maine.) We got to their location around one in the afternoon, and found out just how desolated an area it is, although it is near Miami and not nearly as isolated as we were last summer. It is quite nice and has a lot of wildlife in the area, we enjoyed the visit and saw the work that they accomplished over the winter. The National Park Service would like to open this area as a primitive camping area next year and they did a great job at cleaning up the sites and walkways throughout. They fixed us dinner and then we had to leave as we got a site near Miami to pitch our tent for the night. We got to Miami Everglades resort, which is a Legacy Park and for a tent site with no electric it was way over priced. It is a fenced in area and we felt very safe.

March 7th Jon went to a men’s Church breakfast early in the morning and didn’t get back till about 9:45, it was a very good time and got to know some more of the people that go to our church. Since they hold 4 services each weekend we only get to see about 1/4th of the congregation, events like this held build the fellowship in the church. We than left at 10:00 and drove about 2 ½ hours to Homosassa Springs to spend a great afternoon at the wildlife state park there. Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park is a great place to get in touch with nature; first they transport you to the park entrance by either boat or tram. They have 6 manatees there and an underwater viewing station, as you watch them there are also countless thousands of other fish. From there we continued around the park and observed a lot of other animals that are native to Florida. That is except one as they have a Hippo that was grandfathered in the system from the previous owners; this Hippo is a star as it appeared in the old movie “Daktari”. After that we drove down to Sarasota as we were meeting a few of the workampers we were with last winter. We met a CiCi’s Pizza and were surprised as Ron & Pat were there, we knew the others but this surprise was really great. We had a great time as we spent nearly 2 & ½ hours together, it was one of those times when no one wants to leave. Leave we had to since we still had about an hour and a half drive. To all we got home safely and once again another great day in Florida.

March 6th we got together with Craig & Ginny and we went to Plant City for the Strawberry Fest. The weather was great and when we were in the sun just a bit warm. Once we got parked and entered the first place we went to was the strawberry short cake area. Here you can make your own strawberry shortcake, we started with the short cake than added the strawberries and finally we put on real whipped cream, as we neared the end an attendant added a large strawberry and gave us sticker to put on. From there we got some strawberry kabobs which were large strawberry’s on a stick covered with chocolate, which you had your choice of either white or brown or a mix of chocolate. We did a little walking around and then we went to the Dennis Lee show. What a great show as it lasted for an hour and they completely entertained the audience with their songs and skits and the pure nature of it. This was for the price of admission. We continued on and caught a few other attractions and after that we got a bite to eat, and as always at a fair the prices are high, but we were enjoying the day. We went through the Exhibits building and looked at all of the crafts and items that were made by the entrants. They had a cake decorating area that was great, but all of the displays were great. After that we bought a sign to put on the MH, we then called it a day and made our way home. At one point on the way home we came across a bad accident and wondered about the condition of the people in the car. Just another great Florida day.

February 2009

2009-02-14T08:54:00.009-05:00

Feb. 22nd we stayed overnight at Eddie & Debbie’s place and as we awoke and got dressed Debbie got a phone call from her neighbor that a crane had just taken a large fish out of her water garden. As Debbie ran out of the house she saw the crane and we know that if she would have had a gun it would have been the end for the crane, as it was it was the end of one of her prized fish. We had breakfast and then we went to play a round of golf, the weather was great and we had a great time together. After golf we went to Cracker Barrel for an early supper. At this time we realized that we forgot a disc that Debbie burned for us that had our wedding pictures and pictures from Larry’s party, just too many voids in our brain and this was missed by four people. On the way home we did stop at another Target store, did our shopping and exhausted the gift card. As we had a store only gift card, in these times we wonder how long a store will be in business and like to redeem them as soon as possible. We than had a safe drive home and soon after we got home we went to the clubhouse and watched the Sunday night movie, every Sunday they will run a movie at the clubhouse. Once again, good to spend time with family.

Feb 21st we fixed breakfast using some of the food left over from the wedding, and after cleaning up we drove to Orlando. We had gotten a $50.00 gift certificate to Target and we stopped at one mid way to Orlando and as we walked around the store we could not find anything to buy. Isn’t it a terrible thing to have $$$ and not know how to spend it. We then went to Eddie and Debbie’s place for a short visit, prior to going to Larry’s birthday party. It was a surprise birthday party for Larry; it was a great party as there were about 45 people there. As the party got going we sang happy birthday to Larry and he then started to open a lot of gifts, and of course our minds were not with it, we left our card back at Eddie’s place in our car but we did remember to take his gift along. Later in the evening as the younger generation was doing Karaoke some of us senior citizens crashed the party and joined in and for a while stole the show from the kids, but after about an hour we gave it up. It was a great time and we are glad that we were invited.

Feb. 18th well it was the day we were looking for
and a very hectic day it was. We started out by making breakfast for Jeff & Shirley here at the camper; it was so nice to be able to sit outside to eat. After that Kathleen & Shirley went shopping, which turned out to be more or less window shopping. At that time Jon was giving Jeff some Motorhome 101 as they are buying a motorhome on their way home from Florida. Later afternoon Jon & Jeff went to the local Wal-Mart and picked up the meat & veggie trays that we ordered, and also some drinks for the party after the wedding. After four o’clock Craig & Ginny came over and we went to the gazebo to do some decorating, we had planned on lighting candles around the area but because of the prevailing winds that was not possible. After we finished up with that we got changed into our wedding clothes and Jon went to the main parking lot to meet with Jeff & Jackie (pastor and his wife), also parking there were Debbie, Eddie, Angie, Larry, Mike & Kathy. As Jon went down to the gazebo he was welcomed by his Aunt Minerva as she was sitting in the gazebo, we had invited her but we hadn’t heard from her, it was so great to see her there and it made our day. We got everybody to the gazebo and got ready for the ceremony. With about 40 people in attendance we started on time and as the ceremony was finishing, it went from daylight to sunset and it was a spectacular sight as the Lord painted a great picture. We hosted a party afterwards for all of our guests and we had a great time.

Feb. 17th Our good friends from PA, Jeff and Shirley, arrived at our place before noon. We gave them a short tour of Adelaide Shores and then went out for a round of golf at the Country Club of Sebring. The day was beautiful and we had a great time. After golf we went to a local pub for dinner and visited for quite a while. They’ll join us tomorrow for breakfast and help with the wedding preparations.

Feb. 14th quite a lot to catch up on as we are into a routine here and miss out on keeping up with the journal. A little over a week ago we had a cold snap and during that time Jon came down with a chest cold that set him down for about three days, two days he didn’t go out of the motor home. On the third day, being the kind sharing person he is, he gave it to Kathleen and she had a head and throat cold. She was at the point that she missed bowling and golf for the week. We are both getting better at the present time and are doing a lot of preparation for the wedding. We ordered the food and bought some decorations for the food table, we are looking forward to the day. On Thursday Jon along with 3 other men from Sun-n-Fun RV Resort went to Daytona for the day, they had a great day and the racing was equally as good. Kathleen stayed at the resort and had plenty to do as she helped to make salad for the night’s pizza party. After that she decorated a T-shirt with studs as they had a “Studs for Duds” activity. On Friday Kathleen and Ginny went out and did some more shopping for decorations for the Gazebo, while Jon stayed in the park and did a few chores and then met up with a neighbor for a few afternoon beers. In the evening we went to a Legends Show at the local Community College, what a show as it started at 7:30 and lasted till 11:00 o’clock. Individually, we saw better impersonators, but overall it was a really, really good show and we were glad we went.

January 2009

2009-01-04T14:48:00.011-05:00

Jan. 31st today will be a little different as we are not just writing about today, but things that happened during the past week. On Monday while at the weekly bowling outing we signed up to bowl in a tournament to be held on Super Bowl Sunday. This is nothing new to Jon, but Kathleen’s first and as it is only a small in house tournament it will be a good experience. It’s not how we do but, just to have some fun. On Tuesday we went to a breakfast at Dot’s Restaurant with about 50 other Pennsylvanians that are here at the park and it was a good time had by all. After that we decided to go to a 9 hole Executive golf course and we walked it twice as we need to do some exercise. Being a short course it gives both of us chances to sharpen up our games. Wednesday we did our usual morning golf lesson and in the afternoon we continued with our pre marriage counseling at the church and following that we went to the court house and applied for our marriage license. Thursday Jon went to play golf with his usual foursome and Kathleen went and shopped, as this works out great for the two of us. After golf Jon’s golf friends usually stop at the American Legion, and this day Jon joined the Legion. In the late afternoon we went to a Ham and Bean soup at the club house, and probably ate too much of a good thing, also while there we were invited to diner the following night at the Hotel Jacaranda in Avon Park. On Friday it rained most all of the morning and we just were lazy inside, we did get our mail today and were excited to get it as we both had some concerns with different issues. In the evening we went out to dinner and it is a historical building that was built in the 1920’s and has a lot of history. Saturday we did some work around the camper and went to the Rusty Scalpel dinner at the club house. As you can tell this retirement thing is a lot of work.

Jan 25th, we along with Craig & Ginny went to the Highlands Hammock State Park and along with 5 other workampers we had a nice day and totally enjoyed the comradery of the workampers. Those in attendance were Boogity, ORKirk, and Kilogram. It was a time of talking about different situations in the realm of workamping. The day was great and we had a large pavilion with electric at our disposal, it was a pot luck type of meal and as everyone knows campers don’t lack for tasty food. In the late afternoon after arriving back at our site we did some preliminary work for a change of site tomorrow. The site we are on is going to be a park model and we just had to move around to the rear of out old site, we are much better off as at the present time we have sun all day and after tomorrow we will mainly have shade all day.

Jan 20th we changed our Tuesday routine. In the morning we went to an executive golf course and only played 9 holes. This was our first time there and after we found it, we enjoyed the course, it was cool in the morning and as we finished up the wind was also picking up. We had tickets for an afternoon matinee show at the South Florida Community College in Avon Park. The show was for Mark & Clark, who are twin brothers and they have a great handle on playing the piano. Through the years they performed on a lot of TV shows and also Las Vegas and Atlantic City. The show that they put on was fantastic and we really enjoyed it. Along with their playing they added a lot of light comedy to the act. Their repertoire included music from the 40’s through the 90’s.

Jan. 17th we went up to Orlando today and visited and played a round of golf with Jon’s sister and brother-in-law. One thing that we must say is we were followed by a group if very rude and uncaring golfers. We were a foursome and were following a foursome that was very slow which we didn’t have a problem with, being retired we are not in a hurry ourselves. Well anyway the three some behind us were teeing off prior to us hitting our second shot and we had golf balls flying all around us. At one point in time we said to them that they hadn’t hit us yet and to try again. We know that someone reported the group in front of us to the ranger and they were told to speed up their play, and then we were told that the ranger had told them this. We said we were more concerned about the people behind us. Back to our visit with Debbie - after golf we went out and had dinner together and just caught up on a lot of news about both of our families. She has a fine young son doing his duty in Iraq with the U.S. Marines and will be there till May, and at the present time he is in the field sleeping in a tent in the cold desert. We do pray for his safety every day and await his safe return. Once again it was a good day.

Jan. 11th we attended church in the morning. Since we are here for six months and we picked this church, we could not be happier as it has been more than we thought it would be. It is a very friendly place and besides going just on Sunday’s we have been helping with the Angel Food Ministries boxing up food once a month. Also we have gone to several senior dinners at the church. After church there was a Hot Rod show here at the resort. It was held in conjunction with an Ice Cream Social. It was a great afternoon and the weather was fantastic. Later in the afternoon we helped Craig & Ginny with their computer, in setting up a few things on the internet. In the evening we went to the movie of the week here in the resort.

Jan. 10th wow can’t believe that we hadn’t written here in a week. The weeks just go by with our daily routine, which is usually bowling on Monday after a lunch with the neighbors, golf on Tuesday, golf lessons on Wednesday morning, golf on Thursday morning, usually Fridays and Saturdays are open, then Church on Sunday. Back to today as we went along with Craig & Ginny to Lake Kissimmee State Park for the day. On Saturdays and Sundays they have a “Cracker” cow hunter in the park giving a talk on the life and duties of the “Cracker” in the 1870’s. It was quite interesting and we did learn a lot. We took a walk around the park and went up an observation tower to view over the lake. With Craig & Ginny we did some Geocaching and we thing that they are getting the bug, only time will tell. The picture is Jon with the “Cracker” Cow Hunter.

Jan. 3rd in the morning we went to a local flea market and also did some exploring in the area as Kathleen has a Medical appointment and we drove to the area. For the evening meal we once again attended “The Rusty Scalpel” here at the resort and totally enjoyed the meal. This week it was a “Greek” dinner and as before it was great. All we can say is we are doing more good eating than time in the exercise room, we keep on trying to watch our weight but it is a battle. It is a battle that is being held at bay, although it not that easy.

Jan. 2nd we got together with Craig & Ginny and we went to Lake Placid. What a great day as in town they have over 40 murals painted on the sides of buildings. We walked throughout the town finding the murals and the biggest majority had hidden items painted into them and we had to find the hidden items. Luckily we found a shop and bought a book that showed the location of the murals and a history about each one. We found a great place to eat and plan on going back in the near future.

December 2008

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Dec 28th what a great day we had. After our morning exercise Jon went to pick up his Aunt Minerva in Sebring. Debbie and Harvey and their spouses came down from Orlando and we just had a great time. We were together for over 5 hours and we did a lot reminiscing from both sides of our families. Talked about some of our escapades that we did as kids and our growing up years. We fixed some burgers and hot dogs along with snacks and desserts, as we talked and picked at food all day long. Diets went out the window as this is Christmas week. After taking Aunt Minerva home we attended a dance here at the resort. Just another good day to be had.

Dec. 25th MERRY CHRISTMAS we had a great day as we went up to Orlando in the early morning to be with Jon’s sister and her family, along with Jon’s brother and sister-in-law who came down from PA for two weeks. We had a great time together and totally enjoyed the day. We all laughed and laughed as we told stories about our antics and growing up years on the farm in PA. We viewed a video that was made for “Tiny” by the funeral home. If you remember that Tiny passed away just before Thanksgiving and it was Jon’s brother who was at his side for his last 100 days. They both needed this vacation and they are enjoying it. Their one daughter was so worried about them as it was the first time for them to fly. We all had a great time as this was probably the first time the three of the family got together for Christmas. We also learned that Jon’s niece that lives down here showed up at her parents’ house unexpected in PA. Her husband was dressed as Santa and her daughter was in a big box and when Jon’s sister answered the door she didn’t know Santa, but her granddaughter jumped out of the box, how great is that for a Christmas story. One we are sure will not be forgotten for many years.

The following was read at Tiny's funeral to the Ensminger family from Tiny.

To my Dearest family,
Some things I’d like to say but first of all, to let you know, that I arrived okay. I’m writing this from heaven. Here I dwell with God above. Here, there are no more tears of sadness: here is just eternal love
Please do not be unhappy just because I’m out of sight. Remember that I’m with you every morning, noon and night. That day I had to leave you when my life on earth was through, God picked me up and hugged me and He said, “I welcome you”
It’s good to have you back again: you were missed while you were gone. As for your dearest family, they’ll be here later on. I need you here badly; you’re part of my plan. There’s so much that we have to do, to help our mortal man.
God gave me a list of things that he wished for me to do. And foremost on the list, was to watch and care for you. And when you lie in bed at night, the day’s chores put to flight. God and I are closest to you…in the middle of the night.
When you think of my life on earth, and all those loving years because you are only human, they are bound to bring you tears. But do not be afraid to cry; it does relieve the pain. Remember there would be no flowers, unless there was some rain.
I wish that I could tell you all that God has planned. But if I were to tell you, you wouldn’t understand. But one thing is for certain, through my life on earth is o’er. I’m closer to you now, than I ever was before.
There are many rocky roads ahead of you and many hills to climb. But together we can do it by taking one day at a time. It was always my philosophy and I’d like it for you too…that as you give unto the world, the world will give to you.
If you can help somebody who’s in sorrow and pain, then you can say to God at night…”My day was not in vain”. And now I am contented... that my life has been worthwhile, knowing as I passed along the way, I made somebody smile.
So if you meet somebody who is sad and feeling low, just lend a hand to pick him up, as on your way you go. When you’re walking down the street, and you’ve got me on your mind; I’m walking in your footsteps only half a step behind.
And when it’s time for you to go…from that body to be free, remember you’re not going…you’re coming here to me.

Ruth Ann Mahaffey (author)

Dec. 20th what a great day is turned out to be. First we went to our church and helped pack boxes for Angel Food Ministries. Today was pick-up day and along with about 200 other helpers we got the job done without any trouble. This is the first time that we got a box ourselves and it will sure help the monthly food budget, as what we got for $30.00 will feed us for over a week. On the way back to our site we stopped at Craig & Ginny’s to show them what was all in the box, as they are interested in getting one next month. When they saw the contents it was a sell and we think they will be getting one next month, this is a great program and we a thankful that we can help. We just rested in the afternoon and got ready for our Gourmet meal that we signed up for at the resort. We have in the resort a surgeon that retired 14 years ago and about 6 years ago he attended culinary school to follow a passion he had for years to be a chef. In the past week he interviewed for help, and we were in the running but were not picked, and he added 6 more to his staff. The meal was a 5 course Italian cuisine meal that lasted over two hours, and to say a meal is wrong as it was a fantastic event, not only a meal but socializing with fellow residents here at the resort. We got to meet more people here and are finding out every day how much of a family that this place is becoming. It was a great day; and we know we will have to get to know the exercise room even better.

Dec. 19th what a great day, the weather was just perfect and along with Craig & Ginny (co-workampers at S-N-F from last winter) we went to the Bok Tower Sanctuary. We had such a wonderful day and it seems that each time we go it gets better, at this time of the year they have Pinewood all decorated for Christmas and every room is like going into a Christmas Shoppe. Pinewood when it was built was on an adjacent property and was built by Mr. Buck who at that time owned Bethlehem Steel Corp; for his winter house, the craftsmanship in the build was fantastic. Since that time and two owners later it has been added to the Bok Tower Sanctuary. Just the laid back serenity peacefulness of the area is great. We spent over 4 ½ hours at the tower and gardens and probably didn’t really want to leave. It is built on the highest land mass in FL and the tower itself goes up 205 feet and houses 60 bronze bells that are played over the course of the day, and at this time of the year it is Christmas music. If you ever get to central FL and have a day to spend and relax this place is great therapy and enjoyment. We could go on and on about this place, but we will return here again.

Dec. 17th we went to our golf lessons in the morning as this will be our last one till January. We than got ready to go to Downtown Disney as we were to meet up with some friends that we hadn’t seen it quite a while. We meet up with Bill & Kathy at Raglan Irish Pub and had a great time with them, and enjoyed a great meal and drinks. We made plans to get together again in the near future.

Dec. 12th Jon went out golfing as yesterday after three holes the skies opened up and it rained for most of the day. The course told the group to return today and start over again, and we thought it was a nice gesture on their part. In the afternoon we went to a meeting to help an in house chef to prepare a dinner once or twice a month. It was more of an interview for the jobs that are available, if one of us is picked the other one will have the opportunity to go to all of the meals for the rest of the season. After the meeting we went to a local opening of a Winn-Dixie, We had enough food to feed us as they were handing out samples, along with wine and cheese, and deserts we had a great time. They also had a jazz ensemble playing in the store and it was a festive time. Just another great day in FL.

Dec. 10th we had our golf lessons this morning, it is a three hour lesson and we have learned so much by taking them. The best part of this that it is free till the end of the year and starting the New Year it will be $3.00 per person per week. The same couple that gives the lessons also sets up all of the weekly outings for the resort at several golf courses. We both play golf on Tuesdays and have lessons on Wednesday and usually Jon plays on Thursdays as well. In the afternoon our good friends Mike & Kathy came over and visited with us and Craig & Ginny. Mike & Kathy worked with us last winter in Sarasota and returned back for another year of work. They just got to FL from MI and were happy to be here as all of the cold weather came early in the north. We did have a great time visiting with them and we are hoping to get back together with them along with Ron & Pat.

Dec. 7th after going to church and returning back to the resort Johanna contacted us. They are also workampers and at the present time are eroute to a job in Key Largo. They are at a nearby town for a few days and we like to get together with other workampers. Craig and Ginny went along with us and we went to visit in the afternoon. Israel, Johanna, Craig and Ginny will be working at the same location next summer, Craig & Ginny have worked at this place for several years and it was good to meet new coworkers. We will be about 175 miles from where they will be next summer and maybe we can meet up with them. We all went out to get something to eat at a Chinese restaurant.

Dec. 3rd we had our weekly golf lessons that go from 9am till noon, we still can’t get over the information that we are gaining. Kathleen had lessons before and Jon never did, but this is such a great help to both of us. After we got back to the resort we decided to take a walk and welcome Ginny back from her trip to Mass., and she told us of her journeys as this was the first time she ever flew, it was a good time. After that we were walking around and started to talk with another couple we met here, Dennis & Pat and we found out that they were also going to the performing arts center at the local college for tonight’s performance of “The Three Red-neck Tenors” and they said that they drive tonight. What a great performance that the red-neck tenors put on, it was a two and one/half hour show and there was a red-neck story behind it. We are lucky to be this close to the center as they have a lot of shows lined up for the winter season.

November 2008

2008-11-06T06:00:00.007-05:00

Nov. 30th we went to church this morning, the church that we are attending has 4 services on the weekend and those are Saturday evening and on Sunday an 8:30, 10:00 and 11:30. We had chosen to attend the 8:30 service and as we did we also found out that this is the more traditional service and as we prefer the older hymns this is good for us. After church we stopped for breakfast (which we seldom do) and then went shopping at Wal-mart for food, to our surprise here was a weekend between Thanksgiving and Christmas and we got a front row parking spot. In the afternoon we went to visit Jon’s aunt that lives in Sebring, they are in the middle of a house restoration and it is coming along great and when finished will be just the way that they want it. What a great visit we had as Jon has not had a lot on contact with Minerva for years, we just learned so much about her. We did meet up with her in Washington back in June and she gave us a copy of her poems, we now found out she is on her second novel, and continues to write. She is not published but we still would like to read her work. She showed us a list of all of the books she read from 7th grade in school and at one time she had over 3000 books. Since Aug. she has read a dozen books, this along with her painting, which we saw some of her work, keeps her quite busy. We parted and she sent about 6 books with us to read and we know we will get together again soon.

Nov. 27th “HAPPY THANKSGIVING” what a wonderful day, as we arose this morning and took our walk around the resort we could smell all of the aromas of the day. As they were fixing many turkeys for the feast, they out sourced the cooking to a lot of homes and it was an aroma all around the park. We walked in the club house and they were fixing the stuffing there and that was great. As we got back Kathleen prepared a dish for the food line and that made a wonderful smell in the MH. When we did go to the dinner that fed over 200 people, we noticed that there was enough food for probably 350 people. We had invited Craig to sit with us and we supplied the wine (which seemed to be the choice of drink), Craig’s wife Ginny is still up north in Mass. With her sister who just had an operation and will be away for a few days yet. As most of you are aware we full-timers spend holidays on the road and we enjoy the road family we have and the people around us. It is always nice to spend time with your biological family but that is not always the case, so being around extended family is great. After the meal it was either one or two things; take a nap or go out and do some exercise to work off the meal, we took a nap.

Nov. 26th today was a very sad day, we lost a close family friend who was as close to the family as any can get. He was Jon’s brother’s best friend from high school. John (Tiny) Leffler played Santa for the family as our family was growing. He was always fun to be around and he made those around him laugh, that was if you were in the local police force and he was driving his El Camino and were chasing after him. Even if the local police had fits over him, they all came to be his friend. Tiny was much too young to pass on and will be sadly missed by all. He made his peace with the Lord and when our time comes we will see him again.

Nov. 22nd we went to our church to do some volunteer work, as we packed boxes of food for Angel Food Ministries. This is a great bargain as you can get enough food to feed a family of four for a week for $30.00. It was a lot of work as the church packed nearly 1500 boxes and we each did a part towards it. It the afternoon Jon’s aunt Minerva called and we set up a date to meet, she stays in Sebring in the winter which is much better then Washington. After that we just had a relaxing day.

Nov. 19th in the morning we went to the free golf clinic that is held every Wednesday at the resort. The clinic was held at River Green GC and it was so much more than we expected. It lasted for three hours and had a lot of group and personal instruction. As the one instructor put it you are here to work on your golf swing, not the results. As we know once the swing is better defined the results will get better. We had a 1 o’clock appointment to have an oil change; it turned out to be a good experience. As well as changing the oil and filter they also checked lights, wipers, tire tread depth and air pressure and all of this for $15.00. In the evening we went to card bingo again and even though we didn’t win we were close several times and we had a good time.

Nov. 17th in the morning we went to the club house, as on every Monday they have coffee and donuts with a weekly meeting. It is set up to pass on information and to get ideas to help make the resort more enjoyable. A lot of the residents are on different committees to help make the resort run better. Monday is our bowling day and it is just whoever wants to bowl goes to the local alley together and bowl. It is a good time and we get to meet a lot of new friends. Kathleen went to a nutrition class in the afternoon. The instructor, Jayne, gives nutrition tips and information. Each week the group will meet and prepare a meal together, to be divided and taken home to enjoy.

Nov. 15th this morning the resort had a sausage gravy & biscuit breakfast and we had an enjoyable time, not only with the meal but with our fellow residents. Kathleen than put a crock pot meal together that we will enjoy later. Jon’s sister and niece came down from Orlando and the four of us played 18 holes of golf, what a great time as the weather was great and the company was the best. This was the first time that we played on this course, it is a fairly long course and we could not believe the layout as there is sometimes up to a 1/4 mile between holes. After we were finished we came back and have a nice visit and a good meal from the crock pot. We plan on getting together a lot more while we are here. After the last two days we retired early for the night as our bodies are not what they used to be.

Nov 14th after breakfast we wanted to find out more about our departed mouse, and now for the rest of the story. Since catching and disposing of the critter we were concerned that when we got him, a whole wedge of Decon poison was gone, but no further evidence of his family so we went to the basement and removed all of our storage containers and naturally in last container we found his nest. All of the poison was there along with some Cheerios and spaghetti were there, we knew that he was into these food products and we had thrown them out last week. We now feel better knowing he was alone. In the afternoon we picked up Craig & Ginny and went over to Titusville to view the Shuttle launch and it was a two hour drive, we found a spot at a city park that was on the water edge and from a distance we could see the launch pad. It fired right on time and was a beautiful sight, it was near full moon and as the shuttle rose it went past the moon what a great show. Upon leaving it was a four hour journey back and it took three hours just to get to Orlando (50 miles) as the traffic was stop and go all the way.

Nov 12th in the morning we did a few small jobs around the camper, also Kathleen went to her daily aquacise workout in the pool. We then went across the street to River Greens to play a round of golf. We had called and it was a shotgun start and we were paired up with another couple, what a great way to meet new friends. We found out that this couple also camped at Adelaide Shores in the site next to ours a few years ago, they asked us to say “Hello” to some of our neighbors. After diner Kathleen suggested that we go to bingo and Jon sort of drug his feet on it. Well wouldn’t you know the big winner on the night was Jon as he won 1 game and then split another bingo and on the last bingo of the night, which cost double to play split the coverall. At a quarter a game and about sixty people not to bad.

Nov.9th we found a church that we will be attending while here in FL. We had a nice time there and met some new friends. After that we came back to the resort and took it easy, later we had Craig & Ginny over for dinner which was some of the chili. We had a good visit and then the four of us went to the club house for the Sunday night movie which this week was “The Bucket List” . We had seen it before but we just had to see it again as we really enjoyed it.

Nov. 8th was another great day as we awoke and Jon started to fix a large pot of Chili in the crock pot. We than did some more cleaning and went to the club house to check on upcoming activities. Jon finished up his online class for a part time job. After that we biked over to Craig & Ginny’s (we worked with them last winter and they were as dissatisfied there as we were, plus we were looking for different places this winter and they found this place first and informed us and we are glad that it worked out) for a short visit. We had other guests in the afternoon that we first met online at workamper.com, and then at the Gypsy Journal Rally in Ohio. Larry & Sharon are going to be camp hosts in the Everglades this winter; we did take a walk to the lake and sat down to eat some good chili. After a great visit we then went to the Dance at the club house and had a great time, as well the entertainment was great.

Nov. 5th we got the mouse and it does make us feel better, it was only one but we still have the poison and traps set for any more that might be aboard. This is our first full day here and the park is great. Still haven’t seen the sun but we know that it will show up sooner or later. We did go out to Wal-mart which is only 2 miles away, which after this summer is an adjustment that we have to get used to. As a matter of fact being in the middle of all of the commerce here is an adjustment from the summer in Montana.

Nov. 4th we finished our trip to Avon Park and got in the afternoon and set up. Still didn’t get the mouse but we know he is here. Craig and Ginny came over to our site and we visited for a while, we worked with them last winter and they found this park as we were both looking to go to a new park for the winter. We are glad that we will be together again, and hope to have a great time here. The drive was a good drive all of the way even though we have yet to see sunshine, the last we saw the sun was on Saturday.

Nov. 3rd a long day of travel and we don’t like to travel this far but because Jon made an error in setting up our cable connection we have to be on site in Florida by Wednesday morning. We traveled about 600 miles and spotted at a Wal-mart that is right aside of the interstate. We shopped in the store to get supplies to fight the mouse. We set out poison and several traps.

Nov. 2nd it was just a great day as we enjoyed the friendship at Camp Fox, as Linda’s mother and brother were there. Also their neighbor was at the fire which we had going all day. We will have to make a good load of wash as the smoke from the fire is in our clothing; it does smell good but will probably turn to wood when we have a load of wash. We bid farewell to Fox & Linda in the evening as they had to go to work early and we were leaving early as well. We did find out when we got back to the motor home that we had an extra passenger, the trail of a mouse was spotted and we knew we had a job on our hands.

Nov. 1st after a great breakfast we went to the “Punkin Chunkin” and just had a great day. The event was saying that there would be about 70,000 people and because of the great weather we think there was more than that. The air cannons were great and while watching them Kathleen got a phone call from her brother saying that he was there and we found him about 50 ft. away, it was a surprise that he was there and it was not planned on his part but he had to come to the area to fix a leak in his Delaware home. As we were watching the catapults’ a few of them literally fell apart as they were getting ready to make their launch. We did see a world record with one of them. We came back and started a fire. After dinner we stayed at the fire as some of Fox and Linda’s friends came and we had, as always a great time.

October 2008

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Oct, 31st we had an early breakfast with Jeff and Shirley and while there we saw several other people that we hadn’t seem in a while and we said hello and good-by to them. After Kathleen had her appointment for a medical test, we got ready to leave. We discovered that our awning wasn’t working and we decided to wait till we got to Florida to repair it. We topped off with propane and also filled up the fuel tank to start the journey. We then drove the 3½ hours to Camp Fox or as we call it “Our Delaware Home”. We had a great time visiting with a usual gathering, we know that in three weeks it will be very full here for the annual Christma Tree lighting, we did this last year and had a great time and we hate to miss it this year. We are hoping that we can do it another year.

Oct. 30th it was a day of saying good-byes, all day we were saying good bye to friends and family and it was a hard day all around. Upon saying good bye to Tiny we left with the deep feeling that this would be the last time we see him here on earth, we do wish the best for him and hope we see him in the spring. We saw Jon’s mom, Kathleen’s brother and a few of his sons, also Kathleen’s son and daughter-in-law and her granddaughter.

Oct. 26th we went to church and bid farewell to a lot of our friends there. In the afternoon we went to Kathleen’s son’s home and had supper with them and we enjoyed the visit. It was also a sad time as to say good bye to friends and family.

Oct. 25th we went to a pancake and sausage breakfast that was put on by the local Lions Club, it was very good and we also did a lot of socializing with a lot of people we hadn’t seen in quite a while. After that we went visiting to our friend that has cancer, he had several visitors and we all had an enjoyable time. We will get to see him one more time before we leave. After that we started to go to Red Run CG but on the way we stopped at an Amish store along the way and loaded up on our supplies. We got to the CG in the afternoon and did a lot of visiting before Jon helped out with the Haunted House; it was a slow night as the weather was terrible and we finished up quite early. Once again we had a great day. We want to thank all the campers at the Campground making us feel at home.

Oct. 22nd got an early start as Jon had a Dr.’s appointment and while he was there Kathleen ran some errands of her own. After going out for breakfast we went to a bike shop and got some parts for our bikes. Later in the afternoon Kathleen took her granddaughter to visit with some of her old work friends, just another cool day in PA. We are now looking forward to moving on to warmer weather.

Oct 20th Jon had a early blood test and after that went to visit with his mother, at the same time his one cousin was there and they all had a good time just making small talk. In the afternoon we went out and hit some golf balls at the local driving range. Just sort of a lazy do not much of anything day. As we can feel the temps getting lower we are looking forward to going South in the near future.

Oct. 19th we went to church this morning and had a great time visiting with some of our friends there, also we had Kathleen’s granddaughter along and she meet a lot of new friends. Later in afternoon Kathleen’s granddaughter was picked up by her parents and they were recuperating from yesterday’s football game at Penn State. We than went to visit a very sick friend prior to us going to Kathleen’s brother house for dinner, we had a great time just finding out news on the local front as he is a the small town barber.

Oct. 18th as we had Kathleen’s granddaughter we slept in for the morning and were late getting up and moving. In the afternoon Kathleen and her granddaughter did a lot of the Halloween activities here at the CG. Jon in the afternoon went to Red Run CG and helped with the haunted house that was built. Also while there he went to a birthday party that was held for one of the campers there. The haunted house was very good again and some of the costumes were just fantastic, as always all involved in the haunted house were up to the task and made it a great time. Both of us will be going next week.

Oct. 17th we left early this morning as Kathleen had a Dr.’s appointment and prior to that we did some shopping at an Amish store. We tend to find a lot of good deals at these stores and we also but a lot of bulk items there as well. While Kathleen was at the Doctors, Jon went to shop at Wal-mart. Than the both of us did a little shopping of two chairs. We would like to replace the chairs in the dining room of the MH, and we have been looking for a while and we might even be looking while we are in FL. In the afternoon Jon went down to Red Run CG to help with the haunted house and just meeting up with old friend and some of the weekend campers he hasn’t seem in a while. Kathleen got her granddaughter today and she will have her for the weekend as Kathleen’s son and daughter-in-law have season tickets for Penn State and are going up to State College and camp for the weekend, they are all excited as Penn State plays Michigan and hope to break their losing record against them. In the afternoon Kathleen along with her friend and granddaughter went to a RV Resort and did some swimming in the indoor pool. It was a long day for the both of us , but it was another great day.

Oct, 16th another great day in PA, Jon and his brother-in-law went and played a round of golf at Tree Top GC. Had some good holes but overall not as well as I would of liked. Just started to make some changes in the swing and hand position, can see where it will make a big improvement as I get on to it. As for now it is a little different but I can already see a difference in distance. In the evening Jon went to the local VA and picked up a CPAC machine to help him to sleep better at night. The problem has been a lot better in the last 1 ½ years than it was prior to that time, it is not a good thing to stop breathing while you sleep.

Oct. 15th we had and morning meeting with our financial advisors this morning and even though the market is way down we are not as bad off as we thought, we even decided to do a little more buying. In the afternoon we took Kathleen’s granddaughter on her first Geocaching adventure, she enjoyed walking in the woods and finding the treasures, we think that we got her hooked. Jon sure would like to take two other little girls Geocaching, but we doubt that will happen. In the evening we went to the Elton John concert at the Giant center. The concert was a big disappointment, way too loud and couldn’t even hear EJ as he sang. We had our seats changed and it helped somewhat, but we left early, wishing we had stayed home and watched the Presidential debates instead. We had attended two other concerts in the last two years and they were quite enjoyable as it was not nearly overbearing loud.

Oct. 14th the dreaded day at the dentist. It was our semi-annual day for our checkups and all went well as they gave a good report and to return in the spring. After that we went and bought some upgrades for the computer, Jon then installed them and it made quite a difference. In the evening we had to prepare supper for our bed ridden friend, it was a labor of love that we could do this for him and Jon’s brother who is staying with him. We had a nice visit and tried to keep his spirits up at this time, he will have many hard days in front of him.

Oct. 13th Jon went down to help set up a haunted house for Red Run Campground and had a good time working there and enjoying all of the friendship. Kathleen was babysitting her granddaughter and in the evening we got together with some of our friends and went to Sight & Sound. It was Jon’s first time there and he enjoyed it a lot. It is such a great theater that is set up for shows that include animals. They sure do make a fantastic stage play with it and if anyone can make the show it is worthwhile.

Oct. 12th we took Jon’s mother to church and had a great time there. Because of scandals in the church in the not to recent past, attendance is way down and a lot of people are waiting to see what happens at the church. We enjoyed the church and the people that were there are real friendly and we just had a good time. In the afternoon we went to Kathleen’s sons home and spend a while looking at photo’s of their trip to Disney World, they just got back on Friday and made up a photo album on Saturday, Kathleen’s granddaughter did have a fantastic time as she did all of the Princess things and got a lot of autographs. After that we went to visit another friend from the campground and just caught up on a lot of information from the local area. We showed our pictures from the summer and they were received with great admiration.

Oct 11th another great day as we went to the campground that Jon used to own, it was great to renew old friendships with the campers. We got there in the afternoon and stayed though the evening and into the dance that they had. It was just a great time to be had.

Oct 9th took Jon’s mom to the pain clinic and she got a shot to block her hip pain. It helped right away as she could go up steps a lot better. We than took about a 1 ½ hour drive to meet with some more friends. They own a business in the mountains and it is such a beautiful area, as some of the leaves are changing. We took some information from another friend of both of ours. We were given a tour of the property and just had a great time together. In the future we will see if our plans would permit us to stay there. On the return trip we visited with a very good friend in the hospital. At the present time all we can do is be there for him, as the medical staff can not do any more for him. He is remembered in all of our prayers.

Oct. 8th this past Sunday Kathleen had to prepare for a medical test that is scheduled for Monday. She did very well and after the test was told that all is well and she was good for another ten years. Jon was driving his mother around on Monday morning to Dr. appointments that she had. Tuesday we were back cleaning up the MH , that is still from Montana and we also changed the Generator oil and filter, and changed the spark plugs in the car. While changing the spark plugs Jon dropped a plug down in the front of the car and had to remove the front of the car to retrieve it. It’s not hard to remove and only takes about 10 minutes, we are glad that it is that simple. Tuesday evening we met with some good friends for supper and we had such a great time catching up on the events of both of our journeys. We spent over two hours together and we had picked a restaurant that wasn’t all that full. On Wednesday Kathleen had another Dr. appointment for some tests, following that we took Jon’s mother to another Dr. visit. We are glad that Jon’s mother has a lot of medical visits while we are at home as we came take some of the burden off of Jon’s sister and she can spend more of her time baby sitting her grand sons. After we took Mom back home we had a tee time for a round of golf with another good friend and is was an enjoyable afternoon. Finished up with supper with our friends and it was just a great day. So far since we have been here Jon has played golf at least once a week.

Oct. 4th we went out for breakfast this morning after that Kathleen went to visit with her friends and Jon went to a midget football game. He had a good time and got some pictures of his granddaughters. After that we came home and just had a nice afternoon together. Finished staining our bench that was given to us by Glenn & Chris when we left Montana. It is a great little bench that is 4 ft. wide and comes completely apart for travel and can be stored in the back of our Vue. After the hectic month we had last month it sort of feels strange just to relax and do maintenance on the MH. We have been walking around the campground and making new friends and renewing old friends and just generally having a good time.

September 2008

2008-09-02T09:25:00.000-04:00

Sept. 30th can’t believe that it has been a week since our last entry. We are falling into a daily routine as Kathleen babysits and Jon does some repairs and fix ups. During the last several days Kathleen had a bad head cold and as the weather was bad, a lot of rain we just sort of stayed in and relaxed for several days. Also on Thursday we visited an old family friend as he is now recovering from an operation and at the present time he started cancer treatments. We also continued to make the upgrades on the MH that we hope to help with the living style. Yesterday the weather broke and it turned out to be a nice day, Jon went out and played a round of golf with some friends. They had two threesomes that played 18 holes finishing up near dark.

Sept. 23rd we did some clean-up and repair on the motor home in the morning and then as Kathleen’s granddaughter came Jon left to play golf with Kathleen’s son at one of the local courses. In the evening we visited with Kathleen’s brother and viewed pictures and just had a great time, it was a long day and rest came very easy.

Sept. 22nd Jon went to do some shopping for items to do some work on the motor home and to install the equipment we bought at the Rally last week. He also had to do some banking and he stopped in for another visit with his mom. Kathleen started to babysit her granddaughter as she will be doing that while we are in the area, they have a great time together and this time we are parked next to the play ground. We went to the hotel in Grantville for supper and had a meal fit for royalty, just another good day in our lives.

Sept. 21st we attended church and had a good time seeing a lot of friends. We couldn’t spend a whole lot of time after church as we were invited to both of Kathleen’s son’s home in the afternoon. We had a great time visiting and catching up on the families, we ought to make a video on our travels and show it so that we don’t leave out any information. Later in the day we went to “Cabela’s” to get our chairs and to pick up a set of flannel sheets. It is a shame that Jon’s daughter won’t meet with him as he has tried to make contact and is rebuffed at all times.

Sept. 20th we finished our journey to PA and we got to the local CG at about 1:00 pm were we set up for our month stay. After setting up we went and visited Jon’s mom and had a good time. Upon leaving, Kathleen’s son called as they were returning from the Penn St. football game and they met us at the CG and we got pizza and had a nice visit, Kathleen got to see her almost 5 year old granddaughter. It was a very good day and we were glad to be back in our home area.

Sept. 19th we are leaving the Rally today and it is another great event that we leave with sadness as a lot of the friends we made we possibly wouldn’t see again, that is the way of fulltimers and RVer’s in general. We will keep up with some through their blogs. As we left we had our Motor Home weighed and were quite happy with the results, the front was balanced on both sides and the rear was 50 lbs. more on the driver’s side. One little problem was that the rear was just a little overweight, but so is America Ha-Ha. We drove across Ohio to Columbus and than got on Rt. 70 into West Virginia were we stopped at a new Cabela’s. A new exit was created for Cabela’s and they are still doing a lot of construction in the area. We are still looking for chairs and this being the 3rd Cabela’s we stopped at, the chairs we wanted were not in stock but they called the store in Hamburg and they have them and will put two away for us. We can pick them up next week. We than drove to the Wal-mart in Somerset, Pa. for the night, did a little shopping to pay for our site, He-He. We did remap our route as the little we were on the turnpike we felt we paid to much money, so we are taking another way which is about 35 miles longer and still save some $$.

Sept.18th after coffee & Donuts we took the first session off to get some things done around the Motor Home. Jon was working with Mac McCoy “The Fire Guy” on getting a fire extinguisher for the engine compartment, since the regular ones he sells would not fit. After a lot of ideas Mac came up with a salutation and it will work fine. At that time Kathleen was baking dessert for tonight as “Boogity” invited over for supper tonight. We attended classes the rest of the day and picked up a lot of information that will be useful in this life style. We than went to “The Boogity Express” for supper and had a nice visit, we will be working together next summer and it looks like it will be a lot of fun. We had the last of the door prizes tonight and everybody over the course of three days got a door prize plus more, with the ending of this event we returned to the motor home as it is the end of the rally. During the day we did wish Nick the best for the future and thanked him so much for the rally.

Sept. 17th we went to the coffee and donuts and as usual we meet some more great RVers there. After that we attended one class and than we did a local Geocaching, than went to the local Wal-Mart for a few items. Since we had got gift certificates for a small milk shake at Wendy’s we stopped there for lunch. When we returned we bought an Electrical Management System and set up our time to get weighed on Friday. We attended class in the afternoon and picked up some pointers and useful information. We than got ready for the pizza party that was held for the Rally which was followed by a show by “One More Time”. We sat in a group from “RV-Dreams” and had a nice evening, just a great day at the Rally. Have to say that since we have been here it has been so relaxing and our sleep has been very good.

Sept. 16th in the morning the day started with coffee and donuts and we another couple (Donna &Bob) who we found out that we had meet her best friend in Montana this past summer at the Workamper cookout at LoneHurst CG. We had a full day of classes and learned or passed on information. We looked at two items we feel that we are going to buy for the Motor Home and that being a Electrical Management System and a engine mounted fire extinguisher. It will make our home safer. In the evening we went to the door prize event and we won a free RV weighting gift certificate, we will get the coach weighted on Friday before we leave. Also we have been looking for several people from another web site and one couple that was setting across from us and won a prize was one of those couples and we went up to them afterwards and while talking to them the other couples came up as we all got together. We are planning to get together at the pizza party on Wednesday. The one couple did come over in the evening and we had a nice talk and wouldn’t you know they are parked right across the field right in front of us. Another great day at the Rally.

Sept. 15th we did some morning clean up and chores and met some more of the people here at the Rally. The activities started at 2:00 PM and we started with the Rally events and other than a break for supper we didn’t get back to the Motor home till 9:30 PM. It was a good day and for us it is a much needed down time.

Sept. 14th as we awoke to a new day we really liked the New Lisbon CG, it was very clean and all of the campers were very friendly. We did some more clean up and jus a relaxing morning. We left and stopped about a mile away for breakfast at the local truck stop and we than filled up with fuel. The fuel was advertized at $3.899 and we thought we were getting a good but, when we went in to pay for it they charged .239 cents for tax on top of that which we found out later that is the way Indiana does it. All we can say is that is the last time for fuel in Indiana. We arrived at the Gypsy Journal Rally a little before noon and got set up before Ike got here. We would say that we got maybe ¼ inch of rain but we had a lot of wind, every body at the rally came through without and major damage just a lot of downed limbs and branches. Till 7:00 PM it was all over and getting back to normal.

Sept. 13th upon leaving St. Louis and crossing the Mississippi River we felt good about this, also as it was the first time we saw the Gateway to the West Arch. We continued through Illinois and into Indiana about 25 miles from the Ohio border. It was a good day for a drive and we had no rain as we know Hurricane Ike is somewhere near us. After we stopped we started to clean up the motor home, we had a dust from the summer and it was a long over due for a clean. The weather was dry but very humid some thing we have not experienced over the summer.

Sept. 12th, we woke up to rain and we started out from Great Bend in the rain and we drove about 1 hour till we got to Rt. 70 that will be our main road for the rest of the journey. We drove in the rain for about six hours till we got east of it. We tried calling several Wal-Marts in the St. Louis area and none of them allow overnight parking. Coming into St. Louis we found a Campground and stayed for the night. We did go to Cabela’s looking for chairs, but with no luck. This Cabela’s is in a mall setting and is not even close to the one in PA. in size and items on display. We did stop at a nice Cabela’s in Utah and it was a very good store. After looking at the situation in St. Louis we can understand why there is no over night parking at the major stores, as there is no room and space is at a premium.

Sept. 11th, another full day of travel ahead of us as we figure about 425 miles. It was a really good weather day and the drive was good. We got to Great Bend, Kansas we found the local Wal-Mart and set in for the night. Soon after we stopped it started to rain.

Sept 10th, we arose early this morning as we are now heading east to get back to PA. We had to go into the park to fill up with fresh water, which as we drove up there was no one in line and we connected to fill. It took about 20 minutes to fill and the line grew as we were filling, upon finishing we left and went out the East side of the park and took a few Pictures along the way. We than headed across the northern part of Arizona towards Four Corners on Rt. 160 which is very picturesque. We stopped at Four Corners and did the picture thing and also had lunch, after that we followed Rt. 160 into Colorado and went up over Wolf Creek Pass which is near 11,000 feet high. The motor home did a fine job going up and than back down. We stopped for the night in Alamosa, CO at the local Wal-mart.

Sept. 9th we awoke and after breakfast we packed some packs with water and snacks. We took off for the Grand Canyon, there we got on a shuttle bus and went first to Yaki Point From there we boarded the bus and went to the Eastern end of the Rim Trail and walked the trail as far as we could to the west. It was a great day as there were a few clouds in the sky and the temps were in the low 70’s. We did get to see a rain storm that was in the canyon and on the North Rim, we never got a drop of rain from it. We than did some shopping and on the way home we did one Geocache. Getting back to the campsite we build a fire and roasted some hot dogs for supper. As we had no TV service we just relaxed and read some books.

Sept. 8th upon awaking we start to get the MH ready for travel, we stored everything and brought the slides in. We than met Jim & Peg for breakfast and had and enjoyable time and said our good by’s. We left Boulder City headed south out of Nevada into California and finally into Arizona. We went from a low elevation of about 1500 feet to almost 7000 feet in today’s journey. We checked into Ten-x CG near the Grand Canyon, a nice CG that has all paved roads and sites even though the sites are somewhat narrow it is still spacious. It is in the Kaibab National Forest and because we have the Senior Pass the cost is $5.00 per night. Since we had the Senior Pass a little over a year it has saved us Hundreds of dollars and the cost was only $10.00. After setting up and fixing something to eat (which was a take home box from the night before) we drove the 10 miles to see the Grand Canyon, since Jon saw if before he watched Kathleen’s expressions as it was her first time at the Canyon. We could go on about the beauty here but words cannot describe the area. We than went to the IMAX theater to watch the story about the Canyon. The high temp we saw today was 101.

Sept. 7th met Jim & Peg and we went for breakfast and then we did the tour of the Hoover Dam. As I was here before and this was Kathleen’s first time we were both amazed at the structure and the hardy men that built it. We spent quite a bit of time there and just enjoyed seeing the construction of the new bridge that is being built over it. The bridge is named to honor two of our country’s hero’s, one being Mike O’Callaghan a past governor of Nevada who lost his leg in Korea, and the second one for Pat Tillman from Arizona who lost his life in Afghanistan, Pat was not the first choice as John McCain was the first choice as he refused saying he is not here for personal gain but to serve others. He not only talk’s the talk but he walk’s the walk, he’s got our vote as he is for real. After that we introduced Geocaching to Jim and Peg as we went looking for 5 caches and found three, one of those we didn’t even go looking for. We think that they got the fever. After that we did some shopping in Henderson and had Supper. We returned to the MH and visited for a short while. It was a great day and was great to be with some of out distant relatives. High temp today was 111.

Sept 6th after a very good nights sleep we got an early start, after about an hour on the road we stopped for fuel ($3.91/gal) and at Cracker Barrel for breakfast. We were surprised at how empty it was as this is Saturday morning and only about 1/5 of the parking lot was full and most of that was for the store sidewalk sale. But than again it is in Utah and we know it is a very fugal state. We continued on towards Las Vegas and to the Canyon Trail RV Park in Boulder City. After setting up we met with Jon’s cousin and his wife and had a great time together. We ventured into Vegas and went to Fremont Street to watch the overhead light show. Prior to the show we ate at Tony Roma’s and had a very good meal. While waiting to be seated Jon put $2.00 in a slot machine and Kathleen invested $1.00 in a machine, Gambling urge satisfied even though either of us hit anything, Priceless. After the meal we walked the four block area and watched several of the street shows. Probably what got our attention the most was the spray painting artist, as their work was great. After watching two overhead light shows we returned back to the CG. High temp for the day was 108.

Sept. 5th we left Moab area and headed towards Capital Reef NP and all we can say what a gorgeous drive. When we got to Hanksville we headed west on Rt. 24 to Capital Reef NP and the scenery was WOW, don’t know of any words to describe it, also we did see some Coyote alone the way. When we got into the Park we stopped at the orchard, as we are in the harvest time of the year, and picked peaches and apples. You could pick all that you wanted for $1.00 per pound, and we picked 20 pounds worth, now it is time for Kathleen to make different items with them. After that we took Rt. 12 towards Bryce Canyon, maybe it was a mistake or good luck as we got to elevations as high as 9600 feet with some 14% hills. Not the best route for a 40 ft. motor home pulling a car as it was a pull going up and as we started down we encountered some cattle on the road. We thought we had enough fuel for the day but with the hills we encountered we had to stop. As we were taking on fuel the lady at the station was somewhat in awl that we came over the mountain and than told us about the next part of the journey. More mountains and at one part for about 300 yards the road was 20 feet wide with no guard rails and several hundred foot drop off on either side all this going down hill. At this point the view was out of this world as well as the rest of the way to Bryce Canyon. At Bryce Canyon we parked the motor home and took the shuttle to Bryce Point, from there we walked 1 ½ miles to Inspiration Point, the views along the way were awesome. We than headed to Rt. 15 to find a Wal-mart to stop for the night as we were totally wiped out. We do have to say that what we saw in the last two days is more than we could ever expect to see in that time period.

Sept. 4th we first went to Canyon Lands NP and explored the area, as we didn’t want to take the car on the dirt roads we only stayed with the paved roads, also we didn’t take any hikes of over one mile as we had a time issue. Such a wonderful area and with so many different sights. At around noon we returned to the Motor home and had a snack and than went to Arches NP and did the sightseeing trip as well. It is hard to believe that there is this much beauty in this area, we knew that the Wall arch fell down about a month ago, but there a so many more and the weather is making new ones all of the time. We are so glad that we have the Senior Pass for the National Park system as it would be costing us a fortune in fees. We than went into Moab to do some window shopping and a little refreshment, tomorrow we leave this area and travel across Utah.

Sept 3rd We left Bingham City, Utah and traveled south 290 miles to the Moab, Utah area. The drive was uneventful other than all of the new scenery that we encountered. It was so nice having cell phone service and also having that service in the campground, as we did not have that luxury during the summer. We made several calls throughout the day to family and friends, just to catch up on the news. Hopefully we don’t use up all of our minutes, LOL. We set up the Motor home on BLM land at the Horse Thief Campground. Just a beautiful site as we are on top of a bluff and it is like we could be in an RV commercial. We set up the Direct Tv dish so that we could watch Sarah Palin, the new VP make her speech at the RNC this evening. After that we ventured into Moab to fill up with gas and to get some information in the area. We did find out that the campsite is 1700 feet higher than the town of Moab.

Sept. 2nd this was our last day of work at Wilderness Edge. We worked till 1:00 pm and got ready to leave. We left at 2:30 and started our trip south, as we were going out of the canyon we took notice that the tops of the higher peaks were getting snow covered. When we got there in May the snow was on the mountains and melted by July, now after 6 to 7 weeks the snow is returning and it is like a new rebirth/season for the mountains. We traveled about 5 hours and stopped in Bingham City, Utah at the friendly Wally world. We went to Sonic to eat and the Dollar Tree store and then we hit Wally’s and spend a lot of time in the store. Kathleen went one way and Jon went his way each to get items on their list we than met and did our general food shopping as we had our shelves bare upon leaving the retreat. It is such a gorgeous view in the parking lot as we are right up against the Bear River Mountain Range.

Sept. 1st while we have one more day of work at this was a little different in that we got about 1/2 inch of snow this morning, we kept kidding them that if we knew it would snow we should of left yesterday. It was a cold blustery day and the fall season is setting in. In the evening the owners took us out to a very nice Inn for a fare well diner. There were worries as we went to the Slide Inn which is along the Madison River. The day before the gates of Hebgen Lake dam were compromised and the river is very high. They even had an alert in Ennis which is about 50 miles away the day before in the event of flooding. The dam itself is ok but some of the 75+ year old wooden gates failed. It was a fun time and at the same time it turned sad as we said some good-bys to Glenn & Chris who have been wonderful managers, that is the hard part about workamping in the good-bys that come after a short work period. Glenn & Chris be well and have a great and long journey through life.

August 2008

2008-08-05T09:34:00.000-04:00

Aug. 29th it is our last day off and we took advantage of it by packing and getting ready to start or eastward journey. We took a boat out for several hours on Cliff Lake and just took in all of the beauty of the area. Probably the last time we get to see it. While on the lake we got mooned, in that a pontoon boat with about 12 people on board was fishing on the lake and a young girl went to the rear of the boat and sat on a 5 gallon bucket to do her business. We were probably about 75 yards away and it didn’t seem to faze them. Some time your see more wild life than you want to.

Aug. 26th clean up began as we know that it was a success by the amount of garbage that was generated. LOL. Even though it was a great event we were surprised at how respectful was, in that everybody chipped it to help us out. We still had to get to clean up 4 units as they were rented out for Sunday. We even surpassed that as we worked a little ahead. We wish the bride and groom a long and happy life together

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Aug. 22nd & 23rd we are getting ready for a large wedding that is taking place here. The wedding party had the entire place booked for Friday & Saturday nights. There was a bachelor party pt. #1 Thursday night at the lake and the party goers spent the night at the lake in tents and as they awoke on Friday morning it was 28 degrees. Didn’t seem to faze them and it continued on through Friday night, not at the lake but at the retreat and they stayed in the cabins that night. Again on Saturday morning the temp was 28 degrees. Picture taking lasted for over an hour and they used a lot of the rustic buildings for a back drop. The wedding was beautiful as a large tent was erected and aside of that the ceremony was in the round, such a picturesque event.

Aug. 20th we have the day off but with no plans except to work on the Motor Home. Just a lot of little things that need to be taken care of. We did mention earlier that we wanted to do three things while here in Aug., the 3rd think was to rent an ATV but after going up to Sawtell this past Saturday we decided against it as it is so dusty and dry here it is not worth the time. We saw a lot of people driving the ATV’s that were all bundled up to protect against the dirt we felt we would pass. In the evening we decided that we wanted to go to see the IMAX movie Lewis & Clark, since we saw Yellowstone the other day and saw the trailers for this movie we were not disappointed.

Aug. 18th we went into Ennis just to relax and we did play some golf, as this might be the last time we get to play here. Probably was close to 90 degrees and we are glad we weren’t out in the heat of the day. After that we stopped for a snack and did a walk around town to do some window shopping. We than went to do some grocery shopping and got gas. Upon leaving Ennis as we looked south about 40 miles away we could see a lot of smoke from the fire that is burning in Idaho. As we were about 20 miles from Wilderness Edge we could start to smell the smoke, and as we were about 6 miles from Earthquake Lake we could not see the mountains that surround it, because of the smoke. We are hoping that it doesn’t burn north into Montana or we will have an early leave.

Aug. 15th This turned out to be a bitter/sweet day, as in the morning I was attaching the bikes to the car the owner here, Janet stopped to tell me that RT & Donna had to leave as Donnas’ son had to have a heart operation. As we were talking she mentioned if we knew of any workampers in the area that might fill in for them along with some other ideas on how to replace them. I than found Kathleen who was already talking to Donna, as we wished them the best and we found out that they were leaving tomorrow. As it was our day off and we had the bikes loaded up we took off and on the way out of the retreat we meet Chris and were informed that she was going to put some food together for a farewell party that night, we told her when we were at the store we would call her to find out if she needed anything. We than went towards West Yellowstone but instead we went to Island Lake, ID to go to Sawtell Mountain. It is a drive of about 6 miles on dirt and near the top as you are going around corners looking across your hood you see nothing but sky as the road is narrow and the drop offs are long, also no guard rails. What a view from the top as we were over 9900 feet up. You could see over Yellowstone NP as well into the Tetons NP, we could probably see 75 miles in a lot of directions if not more. Coming down was no picnic either as it was probably worse than going up. We than went to see the Pages’ at Lonehurst CG and told them about the job opening at the retreat, they said that they would think about it. We than went into West Yellowstone and as the bikes were covered in about 1 inch of dirt we changed our plans and did a couple of Geocaches and than went to the IMAX theater. After that we did some shopping, at this point it was 5:30 and we headed back to the retreat. Getting home and unpacking we received an e-mail from the Pages and Leigh is going to take the job for a few weeks. It made Donna feel a lot better knowing that someone was taking her place, we than had a great Farewell Party with nine people attending. John (a very good guest and friend) Janet, and her husband John, Chris, Glenn, RT, Donna, Kathleen and Jon. The day was long but all in all it was a good day and we wish RT & Donna a safe and uneventful when they leave tomorrow.

Aug. 13th while this was a day off for us we took on a job to stain the cabin of the managers here at the retreat. They have a Cabin about 6 miles from the retreat, and as they put in a lot of hours here we decided that we could handle this job for them. We started out in the morning and as the sun came up it got rather warn, but as the day wore on a North wind set in and we could feel the chill in the air. Even though it is mid August we know that cold weather is around the corner. We did check our voice mail in the afternoon and received our messages. We had one positive message for a job next summer; we will talk more about it later if we decide to accept this position. We will say this now, it is in an area we would like to go to for a season. It was somewhat unusual for us to work on our day off, but a few extra bucks always helps.

Aug. 12th after work today we along with RT & Donna went to a workampers outing at Lonehurst Camp on the shores of Hebgen Lake. There were about 20 workampers at the event and everyone had a great time. As we all travel around the country it is nice to meet up with some of our peers. It was set up by the Page’s and they did a great job, and got a lot of pictures. Many of use would of stayed longer if it was not for the mosquito’s, after the wind died down they came out in force and drove everyone off. We look forward to seeing some at another time.

Aug. 9th as we had off today we decided to try a restaurant that was suggested to us for breakfast, this was not a very good choice as we had a long wait, the food was so-so and it was rather expensive. We than went to the visitors center at Earthquake Lake and had an enjoyable time there. This is about the earthquake that happened in 1959 and killed 28 campers that were camping in the area that night and how the side of the mountain came down to the other side of the canyon wall and created an unwanted lake. From there we went to Virginia City and took a steam engine ride to Nevada City and back, our return trip was delayed by about 15 minutes for an afternoon thunder storm. Returning to Virginia City we went to a ole time photo shop and got some pictures made as old western vigilantes, it was a lot of fun but I don’t think look the part. We than went back to Ennis, got a bite to eat and did some grocery shopping before heading back to Wilderness Edge. Not really a great weather day as in was rainy, damp, and cooler than it has been for a while.

Aug. 8th after work it was mail day for us so we decided to drive out the 4 miles of dirt road to the mail box. My original thought to ride the bikes but, as we got to the mail box it was raining very hard. On the way back, and not having a camera, we saw a Mountain Lion as it came out of the brush onto the road about 50 yards in front of us. At first it didn’t realize we were there and starte to walk down the road, when it sensed us he leaped back into the brush and hide behind a tree and watched us. As we pulled up even with him we sat there and we both were watching each other. We looked up towards the top of the canyon about 100 yards away was an Elk grazing on the side, and all of this with no camera.

Aug. 6th we were working today and as we said before that we are surrounded by BLM and grazing land. About 40 head of cattle got through an opening in the fence and got into pasture they were not supposed to be in. The managers called the ranch and we knew that it would be a while till they got there. We got on the golf carts and rounded them up and drove them back through the canyon into there own pasture. When we took this job didn’t think we would be herding cattle, it was great.

Aug. 3rd we started in the morning to tidy up the MH and repack some of our equipment, throwing out some old and making better use of space. After that we went Geocaching as there is a cache about 4 miles from where we are parked. We have use of rental boats here at the retreat and we took a boat on Cliff Lake the would get us closer to the Cache. After mooring the boat we hiked 1 ¾ miles to the cache. It is a beautiful area and the hike was awesome. We passed through a meadow that is only for animals in the wild as it was totally flat about 700 feet across and ¼ mile long with a creek flowing through it. We didn’t see and wildlife, but we did see a lot of signs of wildlife. After returning we took a ride around the entire lake which is several miles in length. It was another great day to be full timing.

Aug.1st we have three things that we want to do while in Montana and today we did two of them. First after getting ready and leaving the MH we drove two hours through the North West side of Yellowstone to the town of Gardiners. On the way we did stop to look at Mammoth Hot Springs and as we were driving around the parking lot loop we spotted a bear and as we watched we saw it get startled turn around run back 15 – 20 feet and jump 5 – 6 feet in a tree. It than looked around came out of the tree and in a fast trot continued on its way. Now I am thinking if the bear was that scared what should I be wary of? Back in Gardiners we first went to a dude ranch and did a two hour horse back ride. Now it has been many. many years since we were riding and our bones and muscles reminded us of our age. After that we went back to town and changed into swim wear as we did a two hour, eight mile white water rafting excursion. There were three rafts and 9 people on each raft. The guides were great and made the trip a lot of fun, the one raft had a squirt gun on board and they would get close to the other two rafts and wet them down. At a short rest on the side of the Yellowstone River, Jon snuck around the rafts and stole the squirt gun as we all hopped into our raft and took off. Can you imagine the oldest person in the whole group steeling the squirt gun diving into the river and swimming to the raft? This did set up quite a few water battles and the original raft got the squirt gun back, but Jon was a target the rest of the trip he loved it. After stopping in West Yellowstone for a few groceries and a bite to eat we returned home. On the way home we saw a lot of smoke coming over a mountain less than 20 miles as to where we are parked, we did find out latter that it is a managed fire.

July 2008

2008-07-31T20:59:00.000-04:00

July 28th we went to Bozeman today and bought new tires for the car, yes we got Tiger Paws by Uniroyal. While we had the tires installed we walked to a local Café for breakfast, it didn’t look to good on the outside but inside was very nice and decorated in western favor the food was great also. We than did some Wally World shopping as it is 100 miles from where we are and we don’t get this chance to often. We didn’t have a plan for the day as we happened to see a movie theater and decided to see a movie. The one we picked was Mama Mia, it was a very enjoyable flick and we both had a good time. We than drove back to Ennis (50 miles) and played a quick 9 holes of Golf. Naturally we left the camera in the car, as Jon teed off of number two hole we saw a Buck, Doe and twin Fawn Antelope. Kathleen had to wait to tee off as they were less than 50 ft. in front of the ladies tee, it was an awesome sight. After the golf we did some more shopping for cold items at the grocery store. The drive home from Ennis (50 miles) was spectacular sight as the sun was setting and the sky was slightly overcast, at a few places the sun was bright on the mountains and made them look as they were covered in gold. Thank the Lord for his beauty.

July 27th the cowboys arrived for a round-up of the cattle. We are surrounded with grazing fields and BLM land, and a number of herds are in the area. We have corrals onsite and they are bringing in about 1000 head over the next two days. Tonight we had a late night Steak Fry, fresh steaks that if they are 18 ozs it is the runt piece, got to talk to several of the cowboys and thanked them for the work that they do, Putting meat on the table. We are members of PETA (People Eating Tasty Animals).

July 27th we watched as the cowboys brought in the cows and were amazed at how well the dogs worked the herd. On Monday when they finished they discovered that about 85 head were missing and they went back out to get them, it was well after 11:00 o’clock till they were finished. They were back in the Saddle early Tuesday morning, not a life that I would cherish, but being out in the open they are enjoying it to the max. It is such a shame that some big fat dude sitting in New York is making more money in selling the cattle than the cowboy is.

July 23rd & 24th At the spur of the moment, since we had two days off together we are going to do an overnight trip to Teton NP. On the way to Jackson we did some geocaching and one of the caches was above the Teton Pass, from here we could see quite a lot of the Jackson Hole area. On the way there we called half a dozen hotels to find a room, thanks to our DeLorme Street Atlas we had the names, addresses and Phone numbers of these places. Upon arriving in Jackson we checked into our room, even after having trouble with the key. We than drove to Teton NP and made a lot of stops at places of interest, also we got a lot of information on things to see. We returned to Jackson and went to the Million Dollar Bar and Steak House, what a great meal. After that we took a walk around Jackson and enjoyed the town. At about 11:30 PM we found out why this place had rooms. There is a Bar next door and after it closed everyone was in the parking lot to do whatever, talk or tussle. This kept Kathleen up and she was at the window making sure they would not destroy our car. Someone called the police and it broke up at about 1:15 AM, as usual Jon slept through it all. Upon rising on the 24th we went to Teton Village for breakfast, from there we went to Jenny Lake South and took the boat across the lake. We than hiked to Hidden Falls, it is one of the nicest falls we have seen also while there we saw a training class for rock climbing as they have a school near by. From there we hiked to Inspiration Point which is about 420 ft above the lake. The views are just fantastic from there, the lake in front of you and the Teton’s directly to your back. From there we hiked back around the South end of the lake to the parking lot, total of the hikes a little over 4 miles. We quickly changed and headed to Colter Bay as we were going to do a boat cruise, the day before we inquired and were told that this never sells out. When we got there after much waiting we were indeed informed that it was SOLD OUT, for the time we wanted to go and that other time were open. We than left and drove through the North end of the Teton’s into the South Entrance of Yellowstone. Having been to a lot of this area before we drove straight to West Yellowstone. We visited the Bear & Wolfe Discovery Center, we spent well over an hour there, but you could spend nearly a day there as we didn’t go to any of the movies. After this we ate and did some shopping before we returned to Wilderness Edge.

July 18th we went to Ennis today, we had cleaned out our closets and were taking the clothing to The Nearly New Shop. This is a volunteer shop and all of the proceeds go to the town. We made our phone calls from here as well, Ennis is 50 miles from Wilderness Edge and is the first place we can get Cell phone reception. We also got brakes for the car and Jon can get them on in another day or so. We finally go out to play some golf, first time since April back in PA, and the score showed that we are rusty. Went to the store and did some shopping and went back to camp.

July 13th we headed out to hike to the CD and we did hike for about 1 ¼ mile and didn’t come across it, we now realize that we didn’t go far enough. We also tried to drive to the area only to realize that this involved a long hike. After spending a lot of great time doing this we did some geocaching. We were a lot more successful at geocaching. We will have to spend more time at the CD in the future.

July 12th after work Glenn and Chris invited us to go along with RT and Donna and we went to the cliffs of Cliff Lake. We had a great ride out and such great views, and from the top of the cliffs we were awestruck with the scenery. We all had a great time and just enjoy being here.

July11th we left early before 7 am and drove through Yellowstone (where we saw some baby elk) and went to Cody, WY. Out of Yellowstone we entered Shoshone National Forest. What a gorgeous drive. We saw different rock and mountain formations that we didn’t knew existed. Naturally we did some geocaching and had a good day. We stopped at the “Buffalo” Bill Cody Dam and saw how it was built. We drove around Cody for a short time and then went north and took a scenic bypass. Such an understatement as scenic bypass for this highway. Neither one of us has any adjectives left to describe this part of WY. Also the Nez Piece Indians used this trail to run from the Army in the late 1870’s. We than stopped at Crooked Creek and had a good supper and did some shopping, it is a great little MT. cowboy town. We than entered Yellowstone through the Northeast gate driving through Lamar valley as there is a lot of animals in that area. We were looking for bear, moose or wolves and didn’t see any. When we got back home it was after 9 o’clock and we were tired and worn out.

July 9th we drove into Ennis (50 miles one way) and did some shopping and also stopped at the local Golf course. We didn’t play just got some information. We also revisited Virginia City again and just had a nice relaxing day, nothing special but a very good day.

July 5th had the day off and did a lot of cleaning on the MH as we unloaded it and swept out the compartments. This was a lot of dirt from the journey out. And of course when every thing was out of the MH and flash storm blew up and it started to rain pretty hard. We got it all away and we were soaked. So much for life on the road, it is a good life.

July 4th Went into Ennis today and had a wonderful day. At 10 o’clock in the morning the Annual 4th of July parade kicked off and it lasted 1 hour and was such a great small town parade. The town boasts 860 people and there were thousands of people there. After the parade we had a bar-b-que Buffalo burger lunch as the Lions Club had a fund raiser in one of the towns parks. We than drove out to the fairgrounds and bought reserve seats for he rodeo. We had great seats that were about 30 feet from the gates, all the action was in front of us. During the rodeo it was quite windy and it took a toll on the roping events, the wind was constant at about 25 MPH and had some heavier gusts even though the temps were in the low 90’s.

July 1st Today we visited the canyon and water part of Yellowstone NP. As usual we did several geocaches along the way. Discovered that most of Yellowstone is in a giant crater and that there are many, many craters within in it. Such an awesome place as all kinds of geological areas. Visited a lake that drains into two different rivers and that the two rivers go to two different oceans. Spend a lot of time at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and saw how the park got it’s name as the sides of the canyon are yellow in color. We did have a hard time today as we did some caching and we had picked some earth caches, these are like doing home work and it takes a lot of the fun out of it.

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June 2008

2008-07-30T23:29:00.000-04:00

June 27th we drove to the Virginia City/ Nevada City area to do some sight seeing. What a beautiful drive and an area rich in history. Learned about the vigilantes, and the # 3-7-77 which to this day is worn on the shoulder patch of the MT State Police. Also learned aboutGeorge Ives and how his trial and hanging changed the face of justice in the area. As usual with geocaching we went to some of the out of the ordinary places. It was a nice day and at the end we had a bite to eat at the Wolfe’s Den.

June 24th We enjoyed the day a Yellowstone, we saw bear (black & grizzly), Wolfe, elk, goats and a host of other animals. We drove up to the Mammoth Hot Springs area and also to the Tower-Roosevelt area. There is so much beauty and such a diverse type of area. Again we did some geocaching and it took us to places we would not normally go to. It was a long day but we enjoyed it, on the way home we stopped to eat and get a few groceries.

June 21st Elmer and Phyllis returned and the stayed in a Rustic cabin near to where we are parked. We spent the evening together watching videos and playing cards. They are leaving early in the morning to drive back to the Jackson Hole area.

June 17th Elmer and Phyllis are leaving today and going to Glacier NP. We did a little geocaching and did a tour of Quake Lake area. After that we went to Boseman to do some shopping as the nearest Wal--Mart is there, which is still 100 miles one way. After doing all of our errands we stopped for supper in Ennis and till we got back it was 8:30 pm. We decided that before we make that trip again we will have to be desperate.

June 16th Along with Elmer & Phyllis we went to Yellowstone NP for the day. We mainly went to the geyser area and just saw so much and learned as much. Took a lot of pic’s and at the end of the journey we watched “Old Faithfull” erupt. We stopped for a great supper and when we returned we all were exhausted.

June 15th Elmer and Phyllis got her in the afternoon and the resort put them in Saddlehorn, which is about the best in the resort. When we finished up with work we spent the evening with them

June 10th We continued our trip back in we had Sun, Snow and rain. We did take a little detour to do some sightseeing and it was very pretty, and as we keep saying “awesome”. Did a little shopping to refill the shelves and had a bite to eat before getting back.

June 9th Leaving the Gilara’s we proceeded to return to Montana. We hit some rain, Snow and sunshine. We had a good travel day and did a little sight seeing where we crossed the Columbia River, we also marveled at the beauty of Eastern WA. We stopped for the night in St. Regis, MT.

June 8th After getting up, packing and getting breakfast we went to visit with two of my cousins, Jerry and Paul Gilara. They live next to each other in Black Diamond, WA. First about Jerry, (last I saw him was about 40 years ago) he is married and has five children. Him and his Wife, Mary came to WA. where he worked for Boeing for a short period of time. He than got a job at a small machine shop and he started to buy into that company, the company shut down because of labor problems. He being one and two other owners started a new company that makes control valves for high reach equipment. At the present time they employ over 220 people. He has just sold he share of the company and retired. On a personal note he owns a plane and has his commercial license, he also taught himself to speak and read Russian. Jerry took us on a plane ride. Aunt Minerva is living with Jerry and she stayed up the night before and made us a book of her Poems, Drawings and Needlework. Paul our most gracious host who put us up for the night is a occupational nurse and safety coordinator for a Genie plant. Several years ago he held the same position in a Kenworth plant, the same plant that Gray Ridgeway (Green River Killer) work at the same time. We had a great time with this visit.

June 7th We couldn’t believe how long we slept in the morning as we told Deb we would help with setting up the party, but we overslept and barely made it in time. We did have a good time and spend the afternoon there.

June 6th We got up and had breakfast with Donnie and then met up with Mel and Jarret and just sort of hung out. Sort of a lazy, rainy afternoon, and than we went to the Tacoma Dome for graduation services. The City of Tacoma needs to work out a lot of entrance and exit plane to move cars into the area. Probably over 5000 people to attend the graduation and they omly opened on door in the building. The graduation was great and we had a great time.

June 5th We got up and had breakfast and took off to see Mt. Rainer, we drove around the whole mountain and saw a lot of sights, but never did see the mountain as it was a rainy, snowy, overcast day and at a lot of the time we could not see 200 feet up. For dinner we met up with Mel and Jarret for dinner and enjoyed this time as they are very mature for there age, totally enjoyed the time together.

June 4th We arose this morning and after eating a continental breakfast at the hotel we did a tour of the Boeing plant, it is amazing at the size of the buildings as it is the largest building in the world. We were stunned in that there was more computer work going on that physical work and at the fact that how components are out sourced. From there we did a Duck tour around Seattle and got to see a lot of sites and learned a lot of information. We were lucky on the tour that it stopped raining for a period of time. We than took a ferry to Bremmerton and got to our hotel room, after switching rooms because of a animal smell we meet up with Ron & Deb for dinner. It was a good day.

June 3rd We got up this morning and started for the Seattle area, we stopped to wash the car and we hadn’t gone five miles and were in road construction, after that as we continued we were directed to take a logging road for about 45 miles, so much for the wash job. It was a great drive with lots of scenery which we would of never seem on the interstate. At about 11:30 we stopped for breakfast in a small town (no not a Bob Evans) and had a delightful breakfast, from there we continued up over some high passes that went through some snow and finally got back on I-90 we continued through Eastern Washington and marveled at the rolling plains of the state, than through the Columbia Valley and into the mountains in Western Washington. We stopped at several exits before we found a motel to our liking.

June 2nd just what a fantastic day sight seeing as we saw goats, bears, deer in there habitat. The Road to the Sun is not opened yet and all of the sights we saw of God’s creation were wonderful. We are planning on coming back in September as we only got a small peek as to what this place has to offer. .

June 1st we left for Glacier National Park, we had a great drive and we are awed by all of the sights we see around every corner. We checked into a Motel 6 for two nights and went out and had a geat dinner.

May 2008

2008-07-30T23:28:00.000-04:00

May 31st Jon’s birthday and he had the day off, Kathleen did work on that day. As it was John, the owner’s birthday on Thursday they had a large family gathering and all of the workampers were invited to the party. Jon was included in the birthday celebration just like family. It is a great feeling. We had to get packed for our trip to Washington for the graduation of Kathleen’s granddaughter.

May 28th, 29th, 30th, Spent time working, Jon mainly on the site up grading and Kathleen doing housekeeping. The 30th we went to West Yellowstone and meet up with Buffaloman and Bearlady.

May 27th after about a 225 mile trek we arrived at Wildeness Edge Retreat and meet just some great people. From the owner Janet, and to the managers Glenn & Chris, also fellow Workampers R.T. & Donna. We got set up for a couple days as we will have to move when we leave this weekend as the site are being up graded.

May 26th we left this morning and had a nice ride to Billings, Mt. where we parked at the local Wal-mart for the night. We did are final shopping there, and filled up our shelves to the top.

May 25th we went and toured around the town of Deadwood. It was great to see how the town survived over the course of 140 years. One thing that we like is that all of the revenue from gambling in the town goes to the preservation of the town, also that they do not allow any bets in access of $100.00. We came back and started to pack for our trip tomorrow, as we are heading in to Montana.

May 24th as the rain stopped and we had another great day we went to Wall Drug. Didn’t think a whole lot about all of the hype over it, we think that South of the Border is bigger. Although Wall Drug does sell better quality items. We also toured the petrified forest in the Black Hills, this is a great geographical site and we totally enjoyed it.

May 22nd and 23rd we did nothing as it was a hard rain in the area, receiving over 4 inches of rain. The area was in a drought and this was the most that they had at one time in years.

May 21st we drove and geocached the Spearfish Canyon. What a beautiful sight to see, and by geocaching we got to see even more of the area. We had supper with some fellow workamping friends the “Rvingmillers”. We had a great time and spend over two hours together and just talked about common topics that mean a lot to workampers.

May 20th we drove to the country’s first Memorial, Devil’s Tower, What an amazing site. There is not enough that I could say about the awesome beauty of it. We probably saw about 20 climbers on the tower, maybe 40 years ago I would of tried it. On the way home we stopped at the Vore Buffalo Jump where the Indians drove the buffalo into a pit and if the fall did not kill them they could finish the job with there bows. The bones of an estimated 20,000+ buffalo are there.

May 19th we mover about 60 miles to Rush no More CG and spent the day working around the MH. We also did a run to down town Sturgis, to do a little shopping. Spent the rest of the day relaxing around the MH.

May 18th we attended a local church in the morning, it was a very personal experience as being a small town they knew the regulars and the visitors. Made us feel right at home. In the afternoon we did some walking and a geocache. Later in the day we meet up with Travelingal from the WK forums at the local Perkins Restaurant and had an enjoyable three hour visit. It is so wonderful to meet up with other Workampers. We have casually met a lot of other Workampers on our journey.

May 17th in the morning we went to the Crazy Horse Memorial, what a great sight. We watched workers drill and set charges that would set off by Ann Currie from the Today Show on Monday. We also spent a lot of time just touring the facility. In the afternoon we drove the Needles Highway to Custer State Park, another beautiful drive and the Park is just awesome with all of the wild life and the natural setting.

May 16th we traveled to the Black Hills and to Crooked Creek CG as we tour the sights in the area, we monitored the transmission and all is well. In the afternoon we went into Rapid City to pick up our mail and meet the people that do our service, at the same time we registered to be able to vote and also get an absentee ballot. In the evening we went to Mt. Rushmore and did the tour of the place and stayed till the lighting of the faces, it was a wonderful sight and we can not believe all of the sights that we have seem over the past couple days.

May 15th after checking the fluid level in the transmission we saw it was very low and when we went into Mitchell to do some sightseeing we picked up fluid and other supplies. After adding 5 qts. Of fluid we than hooked up and started our journey to the Badlands, at a rest area we stopped and checked the fluid level again and saw that we needed another 4 qts. of fluid. We finished our leg of the journey with no more problems with the transmission. In the late afternoon we did a tour of the badlands and what an incredible area, more than we could ever expected to see. We stayed in the Badlands till night and watched as they transformed with the sunset.

May 14th leaving Amana Colonies we traveled through Iowa on our way to Spencer to pick up a Select-Air Comfort mattress. We took all secondary roads and totally enjoyed the country, we had planned on staying the night in Spencer. With out any reason to stay in Spencer we decided to move on and go to Mitchell, SD. On the way to SD we went into part of Minnesota for a while, on this leg of our journey we took the interstate system. We arrived at Family-e-Fun CG for the night, at that time we discovered that we were having a problem with the transmission in the MH.

May 13th As we left Springfield we met with Jerry and he took our mattress, we than headed across Illinois and into Iowa. Again we took secondary roads and just marveled at the beauty of our great country. We stopped for the night at Amana Colonies, after setting up we did some geocaching. We would like to come back to this place as there is so much to do and learn in the area. Just a nice place to be.

May 12th meet wit Jerry & Lois for a lunch of “Horseshoes” which are served in Springfield. Quite tasty and the one that we split was plenty. We than went to the Lincoln Museum and learned about the time of Abe Lincoln. Jerry than took us out to the Springfield Mile race track and it was very impressive. We ate a light supper and returned to there place to enjoy the evening. We made plans to meet Jerry the next morning to discard our mattress, other than that we bade farewell abd will see the in Florida next winter.

May 11th we left in the morning for a drive to Springfield to visit our friends Jerry & Lois. The drive was again on a lot of secondary roads and the scenery was wonderful. We met Jerry & Lois for a Sunday Soup and spent the evening there, it was a great time that was had by all.

May 10th we took two classes each in the morning and than attended the closing ceremony, we won a autograph book by Gaylord Maxwell. We than hooked up, eta a light lunch and headed out for Illinois where we spent the night in a great little community park in Carmi. We had a good day and a great drive as we took a lot of backroads.

May 9th another day of classes and again we each took 4 a piece. After attending the classes we are discovering that they are geared more towards a new camper. They are informative and focus on things that we know, but just make us reremember the issues. Would not suggest the class for fulltimers.

May 8th we took the MH to have it worked on and made it back by the first class. Each one of us attended 4 classes today and gathered a lot of information. We had to cut the last class short as we had to pick up the MH. We were well pleased with the work on the MH and to think that they only charge $65.00 per hour. Rained most all day but, after supper it stopped and we could put the hitch and bikes back on the MH.

May 7th we moved over to Western Kentucky University for Life On Wheels and got set up and than did some shopping in the afternoon. We did fine one Geocache in the parking lot. We also went to the opening ceremonies.

May 6th we drove around the area a while to just get our bearings, we tried to find Dwight Embry’s garage and couldn’t find in so we called them and were told it was on the other side of town. We did locate them and were impressed with the place. Kathleen took her driving course in the afternoon and did excellent. After that we just walked around and met some of the people.

May 5th we finished our journey. It was the first time that I drove out of the eastern time zone can’t believe it that I never did this before. We pulled into Bowling Green KOA and it seems to be a gathering place for a lot of the Life On Wheels people. The weather for driving both days was just great.

May 4th we started early and drove 450 miles which is much too many but we are pushed to get to Bowling Green. We got within 20 miles of the W Va. / Ky. Border till we stopped, that will leave us with about 300 miles to go.

May 3rd just totally enjoyed the day renewing friendships and for the evening meal we had the steak fry at Red Run.

May 2nd We did some last minute shopping to get supplies for our trip out west. Jon went to the old bus stop and met up with some friend’s there. Later in the day as campers came in we got to see a lot of friends.

May 1st we babysat Sammie for the last time this visit and packed up to go to Red Run for the weekend. We had a good trip down and we used our new toy, the DeLorme Street Atlas for the first time and it works great. When we got set up at Red Run we were visited by some of the neighbor’s and had a nice time.

April 2008

2008-07-30T23:27:00.000-04:00

April 27th we had a cookout for Kathleen’s family Donnie and his family and Dave and Sammie as Missy was missing as to not feeling well. Also there was Elmer and Phyllis. We picked a day but the weather would not cooperate as it was cool and dreary. We started to say a lot of goodbyes as we are leaving on the 1st

April 25th we picked up mom from the hospital and took her home. I had heard that my daughter and granddaughters were going to visit her this evening. I greeted my daughter before she came into the building and I didn’t know if she would stay or leave, she stayed and I got to spend over 1 hour with the girls it was a great time and I also got some Pic’s.

April 23rd we found out today that Mom will be coming home from the hospital on the 25th. This is good news and she is healing very well.

April 21st in the last several days we mainly worked around the MH and Kathleen was babysitting Sammie. We are getting ready for our long trip, we continue to repair or modify different things on the MH.

April 18th we went to Blue Mtn. Golf course and enjoyed a great afternoon of golf. In the evening we met up with Jeff & Shirley for supper and later enjoyed a campfire with them. Another great day.

April 17th as the days pass we are in a routine as Sammie is here and I usually get to the Hopsital once a day. We are also spending time on fixing up the MH. We have discovered that we need to take care of some problems and today we called a garage in Ky. for repairs. All of the local shops are filled till after we leave so we had to made plans while we are on the road.

April 12th we picked up Sammie and with Jeff & Shirley and Devlin their grandson we went to Circle M in Lancaster for the afternoon. We enjoyed the indoor swimming pool and the water slide.

April 11th we were invited to Elmer and Phyllis’s Place for supper and we had a wonderful time talking and playing cards. Quick footnote Mom is doing better each day and we get in to see her each day.

April 9th Mom’s surgery took longer than expected, but all is fine and we stayed there till she got into her room. She was put in ICU mainly for observation as to a slight heart problem.

April 8th Took mom into the hospital today which at this time will be for at least a week, surgery will be tomorrow and we hope that all goes well.

April 7th Kathleen will be baby-sitting Sammie for the next several weeks and she is such a joy to have around. She likes the playground the best along with her bike. Talked to Grace (mom) today as to when she must go to the hospital.

April 6th finally made it back to church, as our first Sunday in Pa. and was nice to meet old friends again. We were invited to Jeff & Shirley’s place of supper, and we had a great time with a lot of stories.

April 5th we reached Pa. where we will spend several weeks, Wegot set up and went in and spend some time with Grace. Dave & Missy along with Sammie came over tonight with pizza and we have a great time with them.

April 4th much to long of a day of driving but we did want to get a good step into getting to Pa. We made it to Va. And enjoy a good peaceful night of sleep. Finally got some internet and realized that our Credit Card was compromised by someone in Detroit, Mi. Called the CC Co. and had a stop put on it, Will have to be issued a new card.

April 3rd after checking in the MH for service we went to play golf and enjoyed the day, When we were finished, they had the MH finished and we continued our trip North. We got into South Carolina till evening and we stayed at another CG that was along I-95.

April 2nd meet with Mike & Kathy for breakfast, seems that all we are doing is eating and saying good by. They had their truck in the garage for some work and were told in would not be ready till early next week. We also hooked up today and headed for Jacksonville, where we will have some service preformed on the MH. We had a nice slow trip up to J-Ville and enjoyed the night next to the by-pass at the Cummins shop.

April 1st we went golfing with Debbie & Eddie and had a great time. After golf we meet up with Nora, Woody, Larry, Angie and Gracie for dinner, it was a great time till we had to say our good-bys.

March 2008

2008-07-30T23:26:00.001-04:00

March 31st just spent a lot of leisure time doing nothing. Taking a mental break from our winter job.

March 30th Nora, Woody Angie, Larry and Gracie came out to the park in the morning for a short visit. Latter in the day we all went to Debbie’s and Eddie’s place and had a cookout and played games in the afternoon. It was great having family time.

March 29th we left Sun-n-Fun and drove up to Moss Park in Orlando for 4 nights. We had a reservation for three nights and took a chance that they would have an opening for tonight. They had one site left and it was a Handicap site that was larger and had a concrete pad (what a shame). We than meet with Debbie and Eddie and had a great night.

March 28th our last day of work. Sheila didn’t really want to see or talk to us, she is terrible. We had a great time with ou fellow workers and bid them farewell. Dorothy, (Troy and Tristan) Mike, Kathy and ourselves went to Ci Ci Pizza and had a great time.

March 27th we went to a meeting asked for by Deidre’ about all of the problems that we had with Sheila. We gave her our letter and than talked about the problem. She wanted to know what would get us back, our reply was not next year maybe after that. She stated that changes would be made. In the afternoon we attended the bowling banquet and had a great time. I won a gift certificate to Jr’s Packinghouse Café, we than gave this to Dorothy as she had a tough year.

March 26th we played golf with Jerry and after that we met up with Lois and went to Jr’s Packinghouse Café to eat. Can’t believe we didn’t know about this place sooner as it was great.

March 22nd we along with Mike & Kathy went to cracker Barrel for brunch with Kathleen and Mary (Priscellia). This was a great time to be had by all, we met and talked like we were friends all of our lives.

Mar. 8th to the 12th we looked at other RV. Resort in the area of Arcadia, Bowling Green and Avon Park. We picked a real nice park in Avon Park, Adelaide Shores RV Resort and we will winter here next year. We will take the winter off and just enjoy the place. For the past several weeks we have not done much of any thing other than work, bowl and play golf. We have decided that the 28th will be are last day of work and we will leave the following day. We thought that we were happy when we arrived at this place, but after working here we will be a lot happier to leave. We have been going to Arcadia to play golf as we really like that area.

Mar 4th we along with Mike & Kathy went to the Strawberry Festival for the day. For the price of admission we got to see several shows and had a great time. We will go again when we are in the area.

Mar. 1st we went to Arcadia to look for a place to stay next year. We are pretty sure that we will take the winter off and spend our time in Fl.

February 2008

2008-07-30T23:25:00.001-04:00

Feb, 28th did our bowling thing and we think that we are getting back on track. To bad the season is over in two weeks.

Feb. 27th went to play some Golf in Arcadia again with Jerry, Lois, Lindall, and Sandy and had a great time.

Feb. 25th I usually don’t talk about work but, today we ran into the worst left mess we ever encountered. At the park they had some circus people here that worked the Sarasota circus and we have never seen such a mess. I raised pigs as a teenager and they were cleaner than these people. I will not even call these people pigs as it gives a bad name to pigs.

Feb. 23nd Went to a local flea market and did some shopping and than finally took out our Kayak for a maiden voyage. The Kayak did a great job, we didn’t get wet and after about I hour we came back. We loaded up and on our way home it started to rain, timing is everything.

Feb. 21st before we left we played a couple games of shuffleboard. We than made our way to Orlando to Downtown Disney as we were going to La Nouba, Cirque Du Soleil. We did a little shopping and than went to the Rain Forest to OVER eat the food was very and the helping were huge, we than made the mistake of getting dessert. When we came out it was raining and we had to go to the other end of Downtown Disney for the show. As for the show there are no words that I can think of to describe it, other than I would go again and again and I am glad that we got to see it in this lifetime. While the four of us were there no one spoke a word as we all were speechless.

Feb. 20th Had a painful procedure this morning at Sea Pines Va. Hospital. Got through it ok and had good news and was told that hopefully medication was all that I needed. We got back and when Jeff and Shirley got there we went to play 9 holes of golf. Probably one of the hardest nine holes I ever played because of my morning test. We finished off the evening by going to the pool side bar here at the park to eat and get drinks. We were going to play shuffleboard but the rains came and washed that out.

Feb. 19th after work we packed up and went to Siesta Beach with wine, cheese, and crackers to watch the sunset. The sand at Siesta Beach has to be some of the finest in the world. We were in for an additional treat as the sun set in the west a full moon was rising in the east. What a beautiful night, except for the Sea Gulls.

Feb. 18th Jeff and Shirley got here today and we just took a nice walk around the park, we went to the poolside bar to eat and drink. Had a nice time and a lot of good conversation.

Feb.16th back to Baypines again for hopefully the last test. Came home and did a lot of cleaning as Jeff and Shirley will be arriving on the 18th.
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Feb. 14th we got our kayak today, it only tok six weeks from the initial order. It will be a couple days till we get to use it.

Feb. 13th back up to Baypines for more tests, after that we took a slow leisurely drive down the golf coast. Just an enjoyable day in Florida.

Feb.9th we got up and went to play shuffleboard at a daily tournament and lost big time, these players are very good and take the game seriously. We again to Mayyaka park to ride bike and it is such a beautiful place, quite and tranquil.

Feb. 8th with our kayak issue settled and to our favor as we got all of our money back we ordered another one. Same model and accessories but with upgraded seats at an increased cost of $20.

Feb. 6th we went with our neighbors Jerry & Lois) again to Arcadia for golf. Also playing was Lois’s cousin and her husband (Lendall & Sandy) after golf we all stopped to eat, it was a great day.

Feb. 2nd We went to the Big Cat Habitat with Jerry & Lois. What a great time we had and got to see the bears, lions, and tigers. They put on quite a show and we got our picture taken with a white tiger.

January 2008

2008-07-30T23:24:00.001-04:00

Jan. 30th we went to arcadia for the day and played golf there. It is such a nice peaceful area and the course was very pretty. We both even had good days score wise as well. This was the first time we got to play since we played with Eddie and Debbie.

Jan. 27th Oh, the long drawn out days of the winter. We like the area and the park we are in but the job itself has a lot to be desired.

Jan. 23rd after not having and success with getting our kayak we started to investigate why it was not sent. We went through e-bay and paypal and also called our credit card company to expatiate the problem.

Jan 17th we started on our bowling team and meet up with our partners (Emory & Ida) we will have a good time bowling.

Jan. 16th we went again to the Va. Hospital in Baypines for another appointment and was informed that they will be doing more tests. Had to put in some time tonight at Woodland Hall for a Murder Mystery dinner, All we did was plate food and clean-up.

Jan. 12th went to another beach today and just walked around and had a good time, also went to the “St. Armands Circle” and strolled through the countless boutiques in the area. A very nice area but to say the least a bit pricey. Went to a local lake as they had some kayakers there, when we get ours we will probably start here before we go to the inlet.

Jan. 10th we went to the Job Fair in Lakeland for the day and got to meet a lot of great people there. These are some of the people that we read on the forums and it was nice to put a face on them. We are sure that they wanted to get a face on us because we show our tiger on the forum.
Jan. 9th had to return to Bay pines Va. For some more tests and we just had a great day and we are still amazed how well it hospital is run. We had to do some shopping for some articles we needed and just enjoyed being in Fl. For the winter.

Jan. 5th the weather really warmed up nicely and we walked the beach at Siesta Key, probably some of the smoothest sand we ever saw. It is supposed to be one of the finest beaches in the country and we can see why. Kathleen saw a Verizon store and had wanted for a while to upgrade her phone. We went in to look around and she picked out a camera phone, when the salesman came back he had two one for each of us. At this point we now have two new camera phones.

Jan. 3rd we went bowling with the Sun N Fun bowling league as our last week of being subs.

Jan. 2nd we went to the Va. Hospital in Bay pines, for some medical checkups. We did find that they have a great system and we were in and out in two hours. This was registration, meeting with the nurse and doctor going to the labs for blood and urine tests, and also getting meds at the pharmacy. The cold spell hit us good and of course we had some issues with the heat, same problem as last spring. We are going to have to get some spare parts and fix the unit. We jumped out the bad sensor for now and know how to manually operate the system. We went to E-bay today and bought a 330 Sea Eagle inflatable kayak.

Jan. 1st to start the New Year we worked as this was a scheduled day, we did enjoy our pork & sauerkraut though. We did have a cold spell come in today and the temps are going down to the 30’s.

December 2007

2008-07-30T23:22:00.000-04:00

Dec. 29th Debbie, Eddie & James came over for a visit and we had a great time as we showed them around the resort. We played several games of shuffleboard and sat at the pool side bar. Debbie also got to buy a seat for her bike.

Dec. 27th we joined a bowling league at a local bowling ally that is for the RV Resort only. We are lucky as we have off on bowling days. Kathleen was especially happy as she had a 190 game.

Dec 26th we were playing shuffleboard and we watched other people how it play it correctly, we were asked to play in a game of shuffleboard contest with about 30 other people. We are very new to this.

Dec. 22nd we went to a local State Park and did some biking and as usual we missed a biking trail and wound up on a hiking trail and it was very bad as the sand was soft and 1 to 2 inches deep. We did have a good day as we saw turkey, deer and wild pigs.

Dec. 20th we went to see the Royal Lipizzaner Stallions at their winter headquarters. They put on free shows every Thursday, Friday & Saturday through April. It was a great show and lasted about 1hour and 20 minutes.

Dec. 15th we went to the Bok Singing Tower in Lake Wales and spent the day there. While also at Lake Wales we went to Spook Hill. Dec. 18th to the 21st we spend hours on the phone with the new computer as our e-mail was receiving but not sending. With each tech we were doing the same thing over and over. Finally we got a senior tech and he had us shut off a program in the Acer and that took care of it. Seems that we had two anti-virus programs running and we didn’t need two.

Dec 7th we were taken on a little informational tour with the sales dept. We were also introduced to the $3.00 lunch while on duty, two soups, salad bar, and an entrée. We changed our eating as this will be our big meal so that we don’t have to cook in the evening. Will save a lot on food bill and also save a lot of time.

Dec. 5th & 6th we spend both of these days Christmas shopping and getting the presents ready to be shipped.

Dec. 3rd was our starting day at Sun N Fun and we met some fellow workampers. We are going to enjoy the winter stay here as the overall setup is much more than we expected. We also got our schedule and that being we work Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Friday.

November 2007

2008-07-30T23:21:00.001-04:00

Nov. 28th we moved from Orlando to our winter home in Sarasota at Sun N Fun RV Resort. When we arrived the first thing we did was spent about 1 ½ hour at the car/RV wash to clean the rig & car. The next couple of days were spent getting to know the area and setting up for the winter.

Nov. 26th We left Savannah going south to Orlando; we are staying at Moss Park, which is a County Park that Debbie secured for us. What a great location as we saw several types of wild life. Eddie and Debbie came to visit us and we went out for supper and had a great evening.

Nov. 25th We did the tour of Savannah, and what a great time it was to see this beautiful old town so rich in history. After the tour we proceeded to Tybee Island and along the way we stopped at Fort Jackson and Fort Pulaski. Once again we are thankful for our decision to buy a senior card (which cost $10.00 for the rest of our days need to be 62) as this is a National Park and we got in for free. This is the place that new and modern technology happened during the Civil War. When the fort was completed in 1847 it was deemed invincible, and at the beginning of the Civil War it was occupied by rebel forces. The Union forces set up a siege from over two miles away with a new Rifled cannon. The rebel forces did not have a cannon that was capable of firing that far and the new cannon tore the fort apart with ease. The siege was over in thirty hours, and sends a shock wave through the rebel army. Robert E. Lee at one time helped in the building of he fort and said that it could not be breached. We than ate on Tybee Island and returned to the MH to start to pack of the next part of our trip south.

Nov. 24th We made the journey to Savannah and set up camp. We did a quick trip into Savannah to the local visitors center, as to plan our trip for the following day. As we were talking to one of the persons at the desk we were advised that in about two hours there was a lighting of the Christmas tree along with a parade of boats in the river, and to be topped off by fireworks. We decided and went to River St. and ate at the Shrimp Works and by the time we were finished eating the ceremonies were just getting started. The lighting of the tree took very long, with a lot of speeches and singing. The parade of lighted boats of all sizes and shapes was fantastic, and each boat had thousands of lights on them. We did forgo the fireworks as we were tired from the long day and wanted to get back to our MH.

Nov 23rd We went and did some geo-caching in the area, and once again saw sights that we normally would not of seen. We walked around at Barefoot Landing; we were quite surprised that it was not very busy as this is Black Friday. We returned to NASCAR Speedtrack and saw that it was very busy and we decided not to stay. As the weather was getting cooler we than returned to the MH and started to get ready for the next day’s trip. In the evening we went to the Legend’s Show and had a very enjoyable evening. While at the show we saw Jerry & Lisa Bartlebaugh from Bartlebaugh Amusements who were camper’s at Red Run. Once again Kathleen said that I know people everywhere we go.

Nov.22nd We did the Thanksgiving dinner at the CG, as we sat by the window we were right next to the Atlantic Ocean. The view as well as the campers there it was a great time

Nov. 21st went and played a round of golf, as it was a great day to be out. We also went to the NASCAR Speedtrack and ran some go-carts.

Nov. 20th Arrived in Myrtle Beach for 4 nights. Staying through till Saturday just enjoying all of the things to do in the area.

Nov. 19th we drove to North Caroline for the day as we head south.

Nov. 16th We left Lickdale CG and went to Camp Fox for three nights, to say we had a great time would be a gross understatement. Friday night fire was about 10 people and the Saturday fire was at least 25 people. We left there on Monday morning and we were told that back in Lickdale they had snow.

Nov 12th Jon spent several days getting Ed & Luann Brandt’s Motorhome ready for the winter. We installed insulation around the bottom, checked the batteries and some other tasks o make their winter better. Ed is on chemo and radiation treatments and can not travel this winter, if they could they would be in Florida.

Nov 10th we attended a Thanksgiving supper at Kathleen’s sons place. Both of her sons were there and we had a great time. The grandchildren were well behaved and pretty much took care of themselves, that left time for the adults to just enjoy the evening.

Nov. 8th we were invited to supper at Jon’s cousin Joan. We have a wonderful time as her and Bob do a lot of traveling and we traded a lot of stories. They are very interested in going on a trip to Israel that the church is getting up.

Nov. 7th we painted Kathleen granddaughter’s room. It was a good day and the task was just the project we needed to pass away some of our time while we are here.

Nov. 4th left at 5:30am and picked up Jeff & Shirley and headed to Delaware for the World Championship Punkin Chunkin. We got there at 10:00am and met up with Fox & Linda and we had a great day. It was a perfect fall day and the weather was great. We watched, as the air cannons were chunkin punkin’s well over 4400 feet. We did see a few catapults that sent punkin’s over 2200 feet. We had a short visit with Fox & Linda before the trip home. We got back at 8:30pm totally exhausted.

October 2007

2008-07-30T23:20:00.001-04:00

Oct. 19th we went to a movie in Reading, which was titled “The Blued Eyed Six”. It is a movie about a murder and hangings held in Lebanon County, Pa. in the 1878. We enjoyed the movie, but after the movie was a panel discussion with six of he actors and the Kreider twins (producers). We enjoyed the discussion more than the movie, as Kathleen is a descendant of one of the men that did the deed and was hung and Jon is a third cousin to the Kreider twins.

Oct. 12th got to meet a lot of old friends and are getting ready to fore fill a lot of medical appointments. Ed and Luann Brandt are two sites away and they just started to fulltime about a year ago. Eddie just had a reoccurance with cancer and we do wish him well and hope that they can get back on the road in the future. We are helping them to get their motorhome insulated for the winter in Pa., hope it is a mild winter.

Oct 11th we continued our travels to Lickdale CG in Pa. In the Tremont area it took us 2 ½ hours to travel 5 miles because of an accident. Made it in about 6 pm and set up camp.

Oct. 10th we left Scenic View at 6:30 am and went to Chichester Camping World for tires on the motorhome. As per prearrangements we met Sandy Thompson there to pick up our old tires. She was probably there less than 15 minutes total. We than headed out to Masschutes for the night. Upon checking in we bought into Passport America as we do plan to travel and it should save us $$.

Oct. 5th – 8th we worked and stayed at the campground, bidding farewell to a lot of campers and are making ready to move. We will miss this area and hope to get back to visit in the future. The Clark Family treated us to a farewell dinner at the Woodstock Inn, it was a wonderful time.

Oct. 4th we went on the Hobo Railroad for a foliage tour. It was about 1hour and 20 minutes long and the foliage was not yet at peak. The ride over and back on Rt. 118 was very colorful and we enjoyed that.

Oct. 3rd we did one geocache that we had tried several times before and we found this time.

Oct. 2nd for the next couple of days we are just getting the motorhome ready for our journey south.

September 2007

2008-07-30T23:17:00.000-04:00

Sept. 27th thru 30th the owners at the campground took a weekend of camping and we watched over the campground. It was a very light weekend and there were no problems at all.

Sept. 25 another beautiful fall day with a high blue sky and just a few wisps of clouds in the sky. We took to the golf course and totally enjoyed the day. The foliage is changing every day and the carpet of cover is different everyday. The temps were in the mid 70’s it was great, except for the high golf numbers. Tiger is safe from us.

Sept. 24 we did nothing other than go to Wally-world as we were recuperating.

Sept. 23 WE DID IT!! Starting at an elevation of about 1350 ft. at 7:30 am we hiked up towards Little Haystack Mtn. We took the Falling Waters Trail, which is 3 miles. Along the way we encountered some fantastic water falls and totally enjoyed them. On the way up we did a short side hike to see Shinning Rock. What a gorgeous site it was and the views were great. When we reached the peak at 4790 ft. the temp was in the mid 50’s and the wind was steady at about 30 mph and we would say that there were gusts of up to 50 mph. The sky was clear and we could see as far to Maine, Vermont, New York, Massachusetts, and Canada. We than turned north and hiked 3/4 mile to Mt. Lincoln which has a elevation of 5089 ft. This is the Franconia Ridge Trail and is part of the Appalachian Trail. We had packed sandwiches and snacks and ate them here. The food was good but the view was nothing short of spectacular. It was a high, clear sky and as it was late Sept. the foliage was just starting to appear. After lunch we continued north for .9 mile to Mt. Lafayette, which is at an elevation of 5260 ft. Of all the trails we were on today 90% were rock, and the hiking was not easy. From Mt. Lafayette we watched several gliders in the area as they were having a great time their selves. We than headed west on the Greenleaf Trail 1.1 miles to the Greenleaf Hut, here they serve as a rest stop for hikers and can do overnight quarters for the Appalachian hikers. We took a short rest and than headed south on the Old Bridle Path Trail 2.7 miles. We were so happy that we didn’t come up this way as it is very steep and at places you have to sit to slide down. We took a short stop at an area that looked like an auditorium that was rock formation and could seat from 20 to 25 people and had a snack. We continued towards the car and it seemed like we were not going to make it before darkness set in. We have got to be the slowest hikers on the mountain. When we got to the car it was 6:30pm still with some light. We drove home and went to bed.

Sept 18th we moved our MH to another site so that we could clean the roof and paint it. Also to clean the rest of the MH and the awnings, it had gotten really bad under the trees. Kathleen did most of the work as Jon was doing some extra jobs for Paul & Carol, had to put railings on Becky’s porch and replace the roof.

Sept. 10th, 11th, and 12th only to have it rain most of the time. We did set up an appointment at Camper World in Chichester to get new tires on the MH. We will be getting them the day we leave here.

Sept. 7th we went out geocaching and came up zero, if we have time we will try to find these caches.

Sept. 6 we went and finished the Franconia bike trail, as we only have one car we had to park at different lots and wound up doing the trail twice. We than did some geocaching and hiked to the top of Artist Bluff, what a gorgeous view and to think we would never of done this if not for geocaching. We also did some other caches that day. One that we enjoyed stated at a community park, as we had to get clues for the coordinates from monuments in the park. We did learn a lot about the history of the local veterans in the area. It was today that Kathleen commented about her bike that it was not shifting; we discovered that it was not assembled correctly and we repaired it. Thank god that they don’t work for NASA.

August 2007

2008-07-30T23:16:00.000-04:00

Aug. 31st we picked up Kathleen’s new bike, we did take it on a bike path but because of rain we had to stop our biking.

Aug. 28th we left early for a trip to Northern Maine. Was mostly a geocaching adventure and it turned out to be a wonderful sightseeing journey. We keep on saying that geocaching takes you to places less traveled and to see sights that are not on the regular commercial venue. We got to see a couple of great waterfalls that were fantastic. In the campground we did meet up with Rich and Barb from New Jersey and spent the two nights talking with them. They would like to become fulltime campers, in about 2 years.

Aug. 24th on a scheduled day off we were asked to work as Becky (the owner’s daughter had a baby, it is their first grandchild) so we swapped days off as we did not have a problem doing this as they are very good to us.

Aug. 22nd we went to Laconia to order a bike for Kathleen. We than did some geocaching and sightseeing around Lake Winnipesaukee. We especially liked the town of Wolfeboro “known as the oldest resort town in the U.S.”. We walked around the town and the boat piers and just enjoyed the whole area. After leaving Wolfeboro we did get to the “Castle in the clouds” what a great area as you can see the mountains meet the lake. Rather than going home and cooking we ate at Walter’s Basin in Holderness, as we had a table with a view to the lake.

August 21, John & Linda Vandermark came over from Vermont for a visit. They showed us a great when we visited them, so we had to return the favor. After a short chat we drove over to and drove the “Kanc” as it is a breath taking drive. We stopped at several overviews and also at Royal Gorge. From there we went to Mt. Washington and took the auto road to the summit. For those that have been on the auto road, you know the experience but for us first timers it is an experience. At the summit the views were spectular as it was a great day. We were very fornicate with the weather as it was 50 degrees on top and less than 5 MPH wind speed, it was advertised that you could see 100 miles. On the drive home we came through Franconia, past the remains of the “Old man of the mountain” and stopped at the Woodstock Inn for supper (a place that I would recommend to any one). It was such a great day, as we bid good-bye with a tear. They are going out west in a month and we will be going that way in spring and we hope to meet soon.

August 16, “WE FOUND IT” Over the course of the last several months we have been getting information on the location of a crashed B-18A bomber. It crashed in Jan, 1942 on the side of Mt.Waternomee, 7 crew on board and five came away alive. For more information go to: http://www.logginginlincoln.com/Page2.html. This was no easy task, and we did try before we had a GPS. At that time we went as far as we could without getting lost. Today we had the GPS and hiked the first mile on a great trail to a clearing. After that the trail was an overgrown logging trail from the turn of the last century. We knew that the bomber was a mile from the clearing and after hours hike of 1 mile we were still a mile to the bomber. At that point we went across the mountain towards the bomber. Half of the time we should have had a machete as the limbs, bog, rocks downed trees and any other obstacle in the way. It took us 4 hours to get there. The last 3oo feet we found a trail. It was great when we came to the area and across the last obstacle there was a flag at the spot of the plaque, made us feel good. The elevation here was 2747ft. We are entering the GPS coordinates at the plaque: N 44 00.514 W 071 46.919. We spent some time in the area as we knew the crashed over a wide area, and would not be able to see all of it and we had to start our journey back. The trail we found we used to go back but let us say it is not a trail but only paint marked on trees. We followed it for a mile and realized that it was taking us away from the clearing we had to get to. We than turned through the forest to continue our hike and finally got to the clearing. As we were here before we knew we were home free. If we were asked today to do it again, NO WAY. Maybe tomorrow we will feel better about it. After this was all over and getting home and cleaning up. We treated ourselves to supper at The Twig, and also Sky King was having open mic that evening. So we enjoyed a few songs before leaving and crashing at home.

August 15, Went back to Laconia to return the bike that was lent to us. We ordered a new bike for Kathleen and were told it would take a week, in the mean time the distributor exhausted their supply of “07” and are awaiting shipments of the “08”. The bike shop loaned us a bike for the Bar Harbor trip. We than played a round of golf on a par three executive course.

Aug. 10th as we awoke and prepared breakfast and broke camp upon leaving the campground we encountered a camper that I knew at Red Run. We spent a lot of the day exploring Mt. Desert Island before we left and we did find 4 geocaches today that took us all over the place. Got back to New Hampshire a 10:00 pm that night.

Aug. 9th we did a Wal-Mart run to get an air mattress for the tent. We also did some more geocaching and went to places the normal traveler would not go on the island. Did some sightseeing, as the skies were perfectly clear. Rode the bikes around Eagle Lake about 6 mi. We than went on our prearranged Whale watch and what a great time that was. We spotted one whale that was feeding in a school of fish near the surface. We were watching him for well over 30 min. As we returned to shore another lobster dinner was just yelling for us and we enjoyed a great feast.

Aug. 8th we went to Bar Harbor, Me. Drove in rain all of the way and set up our tent in the rain. Because we couldn’t see anything we did do some geocaching. This is a great activity as it takes you to places one would never go to. We found two caches today and then we went for a lobster dinner. We went to Abel’s and had a great dinner. After that the sun came out and we went to Bar Harbor to do some shopping and sign up for whale watching. Returned to Hadley’s Point campground as the winds increased greatly after trying to spent the night in the tent we moved into the car because of the noise. Not a very good night’s sleep.

Aug. 3rd in this heat we stayed low and did some geocaching and found a great cache in a limestone kiln in NH. Went looking for a second one but the heat got to us and we went back to the pool.

Aug. 2nd we went to the Polar Caves in Rumney, NH and spent some time there, it was very enjoyable and exciting. With all of this hot weather again we hit the pool.
Aug. 1 Took a short hike to a waterfalls just to sit in the falls and enjoy, but with the lack of rain in the area the most you could get wet was the bottom of your feet and the falls were dried up. With this we went back to the campground and jumped into the pool.

July 2007

2008-07-30T23:14:00.000-04:00

July 31st we didn’t have anything to exciting set up for this week. We went to Lincoln to get some information for the future as to the whereabouts of the crashed B-18 bomber, and we were successful in getting some GPS coordinates. Also obtained some more hiking information and bought a great trail map of the White Mts. Area.

July 22nd we met Eddie & Debbie along with Mom for breakfast at the Quentin House. In the afternoon we had Mom’s 90th birthday party at the Quality Inn in Lebanon. What a great time was to be had by all. I cannot put into words what a great party it was. In the evening we went to Dave’s place for a cookout and a good time with her family.

July 21st we met Dave at the Mt. Lebanon cemetery to fine the burial plot of Charles Drews. Leaving there we went to Donnie’s home to meet with their family, Kathleen’s oldest granddaughter was in from Washington State. After the visit we went to Spring Side pitch ‘n’ putt golf course. In the evening we visited Jeff and Shirley for an evening of relaxation.

July 20th we found our 1st Geocache, we than took Sammy to the playground in the morning, later in the afternoon we went to Green Dragon to shop and than to Red Run Campground for a visit.

July 19th in the morning I golfed with Woody at Monroe Valley, in the afternoon I had a great visit with Jim & Peg Denier, Harvey Lengle and his sister Linda this was at my sister Nora’s home. On this day Kathleen took her granddaughter’s shopping to the outlets in Reading, and they had a great time.

July18th we stopped at Cabela's in Hamburg to do some shopping and than did a lot of errands (credit union, banks, gift certificates, etc.) also visited with some family. It was quite an exhausting day.

July 17th left to go home to Pa. For a special visit, just took the car and not the MH. Sort of a bad move as we could not find a motel room for the night in the NY/NJ area.

July 12th we went to Plymouth and saw Plymouth Rock and saw the Mayflower II, did a little shopping. Our journey back we passed Gillette Stadium where the New England Patriots play. We could not get in, as there was a lot of construction in the area. Coming back through Boston we again went through the Big Dig and went back to New Hampshire. While on our travel we went to New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon. Back to the campground and go to work. Friday the Thirteenth was an unlucky day for a local moose as it was hit and broke it’s spine. The police took care of putting in out of its misery, and gave the moose to some of the seasonal campers in the park. They spent two days butchering and on Sunday they cooked up several pounds of meat. As we were somewhat apprehensive as to the taste of moose we did try it and it was delicious, we did get several pounds for the freezer and cannot wait till we have a moose supper. If you get a chance it is good eating.

July 11th we started the day to drive out and see Cape Cod and we needed to find a diner for breakfast, we came across a place that looked good and had a lot of cars around it. Had to be a good restaurant or a Wal-Mart. Grumpy’s restaurant is a fine place to eat, while we did have a 10 min. wait and we were lucky as people who came later waited 30 min. Leaving there we went to the Brewster General Store and what a find as people were sitting outside on the deck reading their morning papers. For the regulars each has an old post office type mailbox for their own personal morning paper. We than stopped at the Strawberry Patch gift store and browsed for a while. Continuing out the Cape we stopped at Ellis Landing and Rock Harbor. We also stopped at several beaches along the way and did arrive in Provincetown and visited the Pilgrim Monument. On our return trip back we stopped at a restaurant and had some clam “chowda”, and it was great. Back at the campsite we had hot dogs and enjoyed the evening.

July 10th drove down to Boston and did a day of sightseeing and did the Old Town Trolley Tour, what a great tour as they have 18 stops throughout the city and at any stop you can dismount and get back on different trolley. (Trolley’s run about every 15- 20 min) We parked at the Charlestown Naval Yard and toured the Constitution before we started our tour, as this is stop #3. At stop #5 we got off and walked around the area of the Old State House, Boston Massacre, Old South Meeting house, Faneuil Hall. Reboarding, we stayed on the tour for a while and enjoyed the driver/guide and the information that they gave us. We did get off at stop #9 and walked around the outside of Fenway Park, maybe was expecting more as this park with all of it’s fabled tradition sits in the middle of town with very little or no parking even some of the bleachers are built over the streets. Getting back on the trolley we than went to stop #13 Copley Square/Newberry Square which features the Trinity Church and the Boston Public Library. We than reboarded the tour and changed trolley’s at #1. At #2 we dismounted the trolley and walked to the Paul Revere House and followed the Freedom Trail to the Old North Church (did the church tour). Followed the trail to Copps Hill Burying Ground, than walking we went to the Bunker Hill Monument, walked up the 294 steps to the top and enjoyed the view of Boston. We walked back to the car and proceeded to Shawnee State Park via the Big Dig through the center of Boston and set up our tent.

July 5th, we returned to the states and stopped in Vt. for breakfast. We found a quaint little bed & breakfast on the shores of Lake Champlain that was so serene and peaceful we could of stayed forever. A waitress at the bed & breakfast told us about the Snow farms vineyards down the road, and as we were going to stop at a winery we decide to try this one and it was a great find. After leaving the winery we made our way to Waterbury, Vt. and when in Waterbury you go to Ben & Jerry’s for the tour and ice cream. With much will power we did leave and go down the road to Cabot Vt. and again when in Cabot you go to the Cabot Cheese and Butter Factory. We did not take the tour, as it would have been an hour wait for they were that busy. Moving on we went back into New Hampshire and we stopped in Bath. There is the oldest continuous operating General Store in the country, from as far back into the 1700’s. Any one going into that store receives a free piece of fudge. (It was some of the best we ever ate). As we got to our home we were quite weary and tired. We did get everything stowed away till next week.

July 4th We took a shuttle bus into Montreal and did a tour of the city, which needless to say is magnificent. After the tour we had three hours to do whatever we wanted. As it started to rain when we returned to our tent and for the rest of the night and we stayed mostly dry as we did had a few leaks, we endured.

July 3 Left early in the morning to meet up with John & Linda Vandermark in Burlington, VT. We decided to stop for breakfast along the way and in the state of VT. They do not list facilities along the interstate so we got off at the Montpelier exit. As there were no restaurants at the exit we drove into town to find a restaurant. We stopped at the J. Morgan Steakhouse for a wonderful meal. This place is almost in the shadow of the capitol building. This has got to be one of the most picturesque capitals in the country. With it’s golden dome in the back drop of the lust green mountains. We do know that it is the smallest. We met up with John & Linda and we took a 1 1/2 ride on the Ethan Allen III on Lake Champlain, what a breath-taking event. We also toured the Lake Champlain Chocolate Co. We went to eat at the Shanty that overlooks the port of Burlington. From there we went to Montreal, Canada and set up our tent for two nights.

June 2007

2008-07-30T23:13:00.000-04:00

June 28th we biked some more of the trail at Franconia Notch State Park. This is a lovely bike trail with all of the wonderful scenery. Our GPS unit came in today as we feel it will help us with our hikes and we want to get started in geocaching, which will take us to new locations.

June 26th we went up on Cannon Mt. Which is the mountain that the Old Man on the Mountain was on as it fell in May of 2004. We enjoyed the views, as the summit is 4180 feet up.

June 21st we played 18 holes of golf and as we are not very good we don’t look for that good round but are happy with a few good hits. We do really enjoy being out in nature and enjoying life.

June 19th we did a hike to “Light on the mountain” did not find the downed bomber on this trip. Will have to get more information as to the whereabouts of the crashed B-18 from over 60 years ago.

June 12th we hiked the Welch/Dickey Mountain trail, which is a 4 1/2 mi. hike. It is a very steep rugged, rocky trail and at points it has jagged drop-offs. The two summits are 1/2 mi. apart with a 300 to 400 dip in between the two. 14th we biked some of a trail at Franconia Notch State Park as I say some of it as we found out that our bodies are getting older.

June 8th we hit the golf course, also got some information to work at Sun –N-Fun for the winter in Florida, and back to work for the weekend.

June 7th we rested our weary bones.

June 6th we hiked up Mt. Moosiluke 4802 high, great hike beautiful scenery and cold at the peak, while there an A-10 did a fly around

June 1 Elmer & Phyllis came up and we went to several waterfalls and also saw a moose up close.

March, April, May 207

2008-07-30T23:08:00.000-04:00

May 31st we went to Saint Gaudens National Park and bought a senior pass for the national park system.

May 30th we hiked to Franconia Falls approx. 6 miles.

May 23rd went to Manchester and toured the city and in the evening went to a Hershey Bears hockey game and the bears won.

May 10th we are getting ready to open up the campground. Took some small driving trips around the state.

May 3rd got word that Kathleen’s niece passed away in Virginia We went to Virginia on the 6th for the funeral and returned to Scenic View on the 9th with a cracked windshield that happened in Scranton, Pa.

May 1 started our new first workamper job.

April 29 left Lickdale Campground for our summer job at Scenic View Campground in New Hampshire.

March 30 left our plaza apartment and moved into our 40 ft. safari motorhome. Moved to Lickdale Campground for the month of April. Made the car ready to be towable such as brake systems and electrical lights. Also made camper ready to move such as cabinet closures and wine glass holders. Aproxmently April 11 the heating system stopped working and after calling hydro-hot they overnighted a part as we replaced the part it did not fix the problem, again called hydro hot and we short cut a thermostat and they send another part, if was replaced and worked fine.