Busy, Busy, Busy and Packing Up

DeBary, FL.

78 deg. clear, NE wind @ 8 mph.

Forecast = Scattered showers and thunderstorms. High 88F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 40%.


Jim and Linda have been really busy since I've last posted. They've been gathering things up, packing them and then seeing if there''s enough room in Lily to get them into her trunk. They've just about got it figured out though and as of yesterday afternoon, have decided that they'll be able to get everything in. :-) 



In fact, about 2/3 of Lily's trunk is already packed!! 

We will be leaving here tomorrow, (Sunday), and will take 6 days to get up to Champaign, IL. We'll probably spend a couple of nights somewhere in Alabama, but like always, it's written in pencil and Jim was sure to pack that big eraser of his. ;-) Actually, I don't think that Jim is going to have problems as far as stamina is concerned, he's been doing a lot the last few days and seems to have quite a bit of energy. 

I'm getting really excited about going on a "'Road Trip". I've never been on one in a car, and don't really know what to expect. I suppose I'll have to ride in the back seat, but i'd really like to be able to see out of the windows. Also, I've never been in a Motel, so that'll be another new experience for me. I guess it's going to kind of a re-learning experience for Jim and Linda too. Jim says that he thinks the last time he and Linda stayed in a Motel was way back in 2001, just before we moved into Maraiah, their 35' Winnebago MH!!

So,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  a new adventure begins. I don't know how this will go, but I'm sure we'll work it out somehow. At least it's not as scary as when Jim and Linda sold almost everything they had and went Full-Timing. Living out of suitcases for an extended period of time, (probably about 3 months), will have it's challenges, but we've always been able to overcome them in the past. I don't see why this should be any different. 

As for me, I'm READY!!!!!

A Quote to Ponder, "One man with courage makes a majority."  Andrew Jackson

Woof!!!

A Treasure Hunt and A Cookout

Rantoul, IL.

54 deg. clear, no wind.

Forecast = Clear in the morning, then partly cloudy. High of 77F. Winds less than 5 mph.

I've decided try to cut back on that forecast section above. It was so long that even I didn't want to read it  when I went back to review the bogs. Besides, depending on what part of the country you're in, the forecast for the night may very likely change anyway. : O

Thursday, neither Linda nor Jim felt like doing too much, so it was decided that they would just take a ride somewhere. Since Linda had said something about it the other day, Jim suggested that they head west of Rantoul and see if they could find that little cemetery out in the country where a few of Linda's ancestors are buried. They had found it once, quite a few years ago, but had forgotten exactly where it's located.

So, ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  they took CLT and headed in the general direction.

CLT said that it was like being on a Treasure Hunt!!!! Both Jim and Linda had an idea of where the cemetery was located, so they started looking for familiar roads and landscapes that would help them. When they got about 4 or 5 miles West of Rantoul, Jim turned South on a blacktop road that he was pretty sure headed the right way. After 3 or so miles on that road, they turned West on a small blacktop road, but after following it for a short distance, decided that that was not the road they wanted.

About this time, they came upon a couple of farmers who had stopped along the road to talk to each other, so Jim stopped and asked them if they happened to know where the Jersey cemetery might be located. He described it to them and told them what he and Linda could remember about it, such as it being located at the crossroads of 2 small blacktop roads and being on the SE corner of the intersection.

After some thought, one said that there was one like they described, just about 2 miles from where they were and gave Jim and Linda directions to get to it. (Gotta love these friendly farm folks).  ; )

So, following the instructions given, Jim and Linda found the cemetery, and it was just like they had remembered.

As you can see, someone still takes care of the cemetery and cuts the grass regularly, even though there is no longer a church here. There's also evidence of some of the remaining markers being re-set.

This is the marker that Linda and Jim were looking for. You probably can't see it in the photo, but there are names and dates on both of the sides that you can see. One side gives the information about Linda's Great Grandmother, and the other side is for her Great Great Grandmother, both from Linda's father's side.

Evidently times were hard in those days, so they used the same marker for both women.

After Linda got the information that she needed for her Family Tree program, she and Jim enjoyed a leisurely drive through the country, back here to the Campground.

Oh, and they now have the GPS location and the road sign numbers from the intersection where the cemetery is located. ; )

Yesterday, not much happened. Jim went to the Rural King store and picked up a few things and then later, got some weed killer from Louise and sprayed the weeds that are growing up through the gravel in our site.

Today, Paul and Louise, (the campground hosts), are going to have a cookout!! Don't know what they're going to be cooking out on the grill, but knowing Louise, I'm sure it'll be really good. : )  Linda is going to make a desert to take over there and I'm sure that some of the others from the park that Louise invited will also bring food.

Sounds like a P A R T Y !!!!!!!!!

Did you know that on this date in 1786 - In New York City, commercial ice cream was manufactured for the first time?

Getting Ready To Leave, Dinner With Laura And Lindsey and Saying Good Bye

DeBary, FL.

53 deg. clear, WNW wind @ 9 mph.
Forecast = Today: Partly cloudy. Highs around 73°F. Northeast wind to 17 MPH.
Tonight: Mostly clear. Lows around 59°F. Northeast wind 5 to 14 MPH, gusting to 19 MPH.

Bob, (the yard man), called yesterday morning and told Jim that he was going to be over at the house to continue doing some of the yard work that he and Jim had talked about. He said that he also had some ideas about what to do with the areas where the bushes will be removed from and was wondering if Jim could come over and they'd talk about it.

So, about 10:30, Jim took CLT and headed over  there.

Bob had some very good ideas and those ideas along with some of Jim's input, resulted in a plan. : ) While Bob was working on the yard, Jim went inside and continued getting the house ready for it's summer hibernation.

Since Laura wanted to come to the house to see Linda's "4 poster Bed", she stopped by and picked Linda up from Highbanks and brought her over to the house right after lunch. From what Jim and Linda said, it sounds like she really liked the bed. Linda also put a load of laundry in the washing machine when she got to the house and then she, Laura and Jim sat and talked for awhile and made plans to go to Gram's Kitchen for dinner.

Once the laundry was done, Laura headed for home and Jim and Linda came back here to Highbanks.

About 5:30 Jim and Linda took CLT and headed over to Gram's where they met Laura and Lindsey. After a nice dinner and some visiting, it was time to say "Good Bye". : (   Laura and Lindsey have been great help during these last few months and like always, (when Jim and Linda are leaving one of the "kids" house), it was a very emotional time.  : (

We'll be back in the fall though and maybe next winter things won't be so busy and there'll be more time for visiting.

Today, Jim and Linda will be going back to the house for awhile. Linda has one more load of laundry to do and the final steps of closing up the house will be done. Then, they'll come back here and continue getting Bobbie T ready for travel.

Hopefully in times to come, this will all go more smoothly, but since this is the first time for getting the house ready for hibernation and getting Bobbie T ready for travel, it's been kind of nerve wracking. I'm sure things will be forgotten, but hopefully it won't be anything too important. Bob said that he'd keep an eye on the house and Laura will be stopping by from time to time, so both Jim and Linda feel the house is in good hands.

As far as Bobbie T is concerned, after full-timing for about 12 years and dealing with all the things that have happened, Jim and Linda feel that they can pretty much handle anything that could come up.

So,  ,  ,  ,  ,  unless something very unusual happens, we'll be leaving DeBary tomorrow and starting on yet another new adventure.

Wish us luck!!!

Did you know that it take 8 minutes and 17 seconds for light from the sun to reach Earth?

Woof!!!