I Bad!!!

DeBary, FL.

49 deg. rain, no wind.

Forecast = Showers early, then cloudy in the afternoon. High 62F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%.


Yeah!!! I know, I'm Bad!!! It's been over a month since I've last posted, but to be honest, there hasn't been much interesting happening here. First there was Christmas and everything went fine. Laura, Lindsey, Anna, Ashley and her friend Chris came over Christmas morning and everyone enjoyed "finger food" and then opened presents. It seemed like everyone had a good time.

Jim and Linda spent New Year's Eve watching TV until after midnight. (Nothing exciting to write about).

On the 5th of January, Kevin, (the local handyman), and a friend came over and installed new flooring in the kitchen and dinning area. The old stuff was some peal and stick vinyl tile and it was coming loose in places and breaking up in other places. The new flooring looks really nice don't you think?

Yesterday morning, Jim and Linda took Lila and headed over to Thonotosassa, Fl. (which is over near Tampa), for Dave and Dee Dee's fish fry. You long time readers will know that Dave and Dee Dee are part of the "Illinois Bunch" that come down to Florida in the winter and spend the summer's at their homes up in Illinois. Actually, Dave and Dee Dee are the last of the Illinois Bunch that still travel. We lost Gordy a few years ago and now Denny and Bev have sold their Motorhome, so Dave and Dee Dee are the only ones left that have  RVs and still travel. :-(

Anyhow, Dave does a lot of fishing  during the summer, up in IL. Then it is frozen and he and brings the fish down to Florida each year. Then some time after the first of the year, they invite a whole bunch of people from the park where they winter in and have this big fish fry. In years past there have been as many as 50 people there, but this year, the count was down to 30 or so. The weather may had had something to do with it. it was kind of cold, cloudy with some wind, making it kind of uncomfortable to be sitting outside for too long.

This photo taken before most folks arrived.

 
Both Jim and Linda said that the fish was great though, and so was all the other food that the other folks brought.

When Jim and Linda returned here last night, they were both beat, but both said that they really enjoyed seeing Dave and Dee Dee again, and all the others that they knew from times that we used to stay at the park when we were full-timing in our Motorhomes.

That pretty much brings us up-to-date. Both Jim and Linda seem to be doing well. Jim has doctor's appointment with the chemo Dr. in the middle of February for a check-up and then, unless something's wrong, (and he doesn't expect there's anything), the next doctor's appointments for both Jim and Linda will be in April.

Hope all of you are doing well and I'm really sorry about not posting sooner.

Oh, and those of you who called or e-mailed to see how Jim and Linda were doing, Thank You!!

Did you know that on this date in 1963 - The first members to the NFL's Hall of Fame were named in Canton, OH?


Woof!!!

It's Been Awhile Again

Rantoul, IL.

82 deg. clear, NE wind @ 3 mph.

Forecast tonight = Some clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 69F. Winds light and variable.

Tomorrow = Partly cloudy in the morning followed by scattered thunderstorms in the afternoon. High 87F. Winds light and variable.

It's been awhile again and I hope I can remember what's all happened since I last posted.

Let's see now!!! On the 19th, Linda had appointment with her primary care doctor. All went well and except for still having to get a blood test, (scheduled for this Friday), she was given a good report.

On the 21st, Jeff, (Jim's son from Portand, OR.) called to say that he and Heather would be flying to Illinois for a short visit and that he and Heather would like to come here to the CG on the 12th of September to visit!!!! It's been about 4 years since we've seen them, so it'll be really great to see them, even if it is for only part of 1 day!!!!

On the 23rd, Jim had an appointment at Dr. Gandhi's office to get a scan of his optic nerves preformed. Since then he has heard from the Dr.'s office that all is well, and his glaucoma seems to be under control.

On the 25th, Jim and Linda took Big RED and headed up to Peotone, IL to see Denny and Bev, (part of the "Illinois Bunch"). They have decided to sell their Winnebago Brave Motorhome because of health problems that will not allow them to travel anymore. :-(  That's too bad, we've always enjoyed their visits here to the CG when we were here. They really enjoyed seeing them again and are looking forward to seeing them again in years to come.

The weather around here hasn't been too great!! :-( We've had temperatures in the upper 80's to low 90's with high humidity. When it wasn't too hot to sit outside, the bugs would drive you inside, either that or it was raining, with lots of thunder and lightning. In fact it's rained so much that we're close to setting a rainfall record for the month of August in Illinois.

The weather guessers are saying that the weather should improve for the upcoming Labor Day weekend though. As of Thursday they're forecasting cooler temps and lower humidity and are guessing that it will stay pretty nice throughout the holiday.  

I hope so!!!!

That pretty much brings us up-to-date. Dave and Dee Dee, (another part of the "Illinois Bunch" are planning on coming here to the CG on or about the 8th of September. That should be fun.

Jim has been working on a trip plan for when we leave here and head, first out East and then down to Florida. It now looks like we'll be leaving here on the 21st of September, getting to Mike's, (near Raleigh), on the 28th, Joe's (in Virginia Beach), on the 13th of October, Myrtle Beach on the 26th and arriving back at the house on or about the 1st of November.

As always, this is all written in pencil and yes, Jim still has the big eraser!! ;-)


Did you know that the first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union? The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on September 5, 1883.

Woof!!!

Last Days In Forest City

Forest City, NC

65 deg. overcast, no wind.

Forecast = Some clouds this morning will give way to generally sunny skies for the afternoon. High 82F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph.


Our time here in Forest City is coming to an end. It's been really great seeing Roland and Louise again, and once again, the visit has gone by too quickly. There's been a lot of visiting and renewing of their friendships, some great meals that Louise put together and a nice meal at a local Seafood Restaurant yesterday evening.

I don't think that there's anything special planned for today, probably just more visiting. Roland talked about maybe going to a Harbor Freight store, but no specific plans were made.

Oh!! Jim took a few photos yesterday.

This first one is of a view from the road. That large roll up door used to be where Roland and Louise's motor home, "Big Herb" used to stay during the summer when in this area. I miss Big Herb, but he now lives with a very nice couple who are able to full-time and I'm sure he's happier than he was sitting in a storage lot or in this garage most of the year, since Roland and Louise can't travel much anymore.

This photo was taken looking towards the North from the driveway. Can you see those mountains in the center of the photo? (You can click on the photo to enlarge it to see it better). Up there somewhere is where we'll be going to the rally. :-)

As much as Jim and Linda have enjoyed visiting with Roland and Louise, they're really getting excited about heading to the RV-Dreams Rally in Marion, NC. Jim checked the GPS and it looks like it's only about 35 or so miles up there and the little gal, "Tilly", that lives inside of the GPS is telling him that it should take less than an hour to get up there.

Tomorrow morning, (Friday), we'll be leaving here and heading up there. We'll probably be getting there somewhere between 10:30 and 11:30.

Did you know that Memorial Day was first called “Decoration Day” because of the practice of decorating soldier’s graves with flower?

Woof!!!

Happy Mother's Day and Virginia Beach, VA To Williamston, NC To Moncure, NC

Moncure, NC.

68 deg. Overcast, light rain at times, no wind.
Forecast = Showers and thunderstorms. High 79F. Winds ENE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%.

Happy Mother's Day to all you Moms out there, I sure wish I could call my mom and wish her a great day. :-(

I miss you, Mom!!!!

After lots of hugs, we left Virginia Beach Thursday morning at about 10:10 and retraced our route back to Pierce's RV Park in Williamston, It was 12:40 when we pulled into the park, but we did stop in town to buy Big RED a nice drink of that good old #2 diesel fuel before we arrived there. We traveled 121 miles.

The trip was un-eventful, the weather was good and we made fairly good time.

As soon as we pulled into our site and had the electric hooked up, the stabilizer jacks down and the slide out, Jim dumped the tanks that were very, very full. After putting away the sewer hose and connections, Jim came in, got cleaned up and took a nap. ;-)

For dinner, Jim cooked a couple burgers on the grill while Linda put together some salads. After eating the rest of the evening was spent watching TV.

Friday morning, the weather was still nice, (even though the weather guessers had been forecasting rain), so we got an early start on our travel day. It was only 9:15 when we pulled out of the CG in Williamston and started heading West on US 64. We crossed I-95 at Rocky Mount and then continued over to the Raleigh area where we took I-440 around the South side of the city and then turned SW in US 1. Following US 1 brought us down past Apex, (where Mike and Gina live) and to Moncure, NC where Goodwin's RV Campground is located.

It was just 11:35 when we pulled into the park so it took us about 2 hours and 20 minutes to travel the 136 miles over here. Not too bad considering the Raleigh traffic and construction on I-440.

Oh, and it never did rain on Friday as foretasted!!!!

We really like Goodwin's RV Campground. It's a small park and I'm not saying that you couldn't get a 40 foot MH or a large trailer in here, but It'd be pretty tight and you'd have to be a pretty good driver. Once you get into a site, they're quite large, but the trick would be getting to and into the site.

Marc Goodwin is a really friendly guy and usually helps everyone get into the sites, but when we arrived, Jim called him and he was busy elsewhere, so he asked Jim if he thought he could get into the site that we were in last time? Jim told him that he could, so he backed Nora into the site and after a little while Marc came by, welcomed us back to the park, talked with Jim for awhile and collected the rent for the 10 days that we'll be here.

Jim has already taken some photos of the park. Here's a couple of them. This first one is of the road coming into the park.

Our site viewed from out near the road

Looking across the road from the front of Big RED

Looking out from under the awning towards the front of the site.

As you can see by the photos, it's very hilly in this park. The first time you come into the park down the road shown in the 1st photo, (the photo only shows about 1/2 of the hill), you think, "What am I getting into here?", but there is some room to maneuver once you get a little farther in. Although it's very hilly, the sites are quite level and Jim only had to put one board under Nora's left side tires.

Oh, and you see those woods behind our site in the 2nd photo? We've already seen a fox back there and I know from the last time we were here, there's deer back there too!!!

Wildlife!!!!!  I like Wildlife!!!!! ;-)

Woof!!! Woof!!! Woof!!!!

Did you know that Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia who started Mother's Day celebrations also filed a lawsuit in an effort to stop the over- commercialisation of Mother's Day? She lost her fight.

Woof!!!

Can You Be Flexible?

DeBary, FL.

63 deg. cloudy, Wind NW 6 MPH Gusts 26

Forecast = Mostly cloudy with showers likely. Highs around 68°F. West wind 8 to 15 MPH, gusting to 21 MPH. Chance of precipitation 70 percent.


Can you be flexible?

NO!  NO!! Not your body!!!

Can you be flexible enough to Full-time or even part-time for 5 or 6 months of the year? If you've been RVing for any length of time, I'm sure that you've had to be, or learn to be flexible with your plans.

Many years ago, when we first started Full-timing, we learned that you'd better allow for a mishap or two, anytime you're traveling or even staying in one place for awhile. Things just happen and there's nothing you can do about it.

If you can't adapt to these mishaps or delays and change your pans, you probably better not plan on RVing too much. Sometimes you can make up the time you lost for repairs or other unforeseen circumstances, but sometimes you just have to make a major plan change.

One of the first years that we were Full-timing, we had an accident in a parking lot South of Orlando. Jim made a hard right turn, the back of the MH swung out and hit a new Jeep Liberty and tore up the Jeeps fender and the plastic bumper on the back of the MH. It was the fist thing like that that had happened, Jim was really upset with himself, and to be honest, I thought our Full-timing days were over!!!

That little deal cost us 2 or 3 weeks of travel and a lot of plans had to be changed. We had to be flexible!

Then, there was time time that we were on our way to Oregon, via the northern route, (US 2). We were in the middle of  Montana, (about 20 or 30 miles East of Havre in the middle of nowhere), when the diesel engine just up and quit!!!!

Jim got it going again and we limped into Havre where a CG made space for us and a great mechanic worked on the MH for almost 2 days, but still didn't find the problem. To his credit, he knew he didn't find the problem and he only charged us for a few other minor items he found and repaired.

To make a long story short, we went to many different mechanics, (even a authorized repair shop), but no one could find the problem. Jim finally determined that if he didn't run anything electrical except the engine, the engine would keep running. We visited with Jeff and Heather in Oregon, but then instead of going down the coast and to a bunch of National Parks, we headed back to Florida where a very good mechanic, Lester, found the problem in about 30 minutes and repaired it for about $150.00!!!

A very big change of plans! We had to be flexible!!!!

As most of you know, back in August 2013, while we were in Illinois, Linda was diagnosed with cancer. We scrapped all our plans, headed to Florida and spent the next 11 months down here where Linda had surgery, chemo and radiation treatments. It also marked the end of our 12 1/2 years of  Full-timing.

A major change of plans!! We had to be flexible!!!!!

This summer, we were planning on going back out to Oregon again. But, Linda's eye problem required us to change our plans, yet again. It's OK though, we'll head up to Illinois to our favorite Campground and enjoy the summer there. Through the years, we've had a lot of bumps in the road, with that really big bump back in 2013. By comparison, this is just a little pebble in the road.

Another change of plans!! But it's OK, we're flexible!!!!!

Are You????

Did you know that there are 2,734,102 miles of paved public roads in the United Sates, with an additional 1,324,245 miles of unpaved public roads?

Woof!!!

NC To VA, A Detour, Construction and A Great Meal

Virginia Beach, VA.

61 deg. mostly cloudy, SW wind @ 3 mph.
Forecast = Sun and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 81F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph.

By 9:30 yesterday morning it had  warmed up nicely so Jim went out and dumped Nora's black and gray water tanks. They weren't anywhere near full, but because we were heading to Joe's house in Virginia Beach where there are no sewer hookups, they needed to be empty.

Again, because it was going to be a short travel day, we didn't leave until 10:45. We were planning on going back to US 64, take it East for just a short distance and then take US 17, North. Well, when we got to the ramp going onto 64, there was 1/2 of a new double-wide Mobile Home stranded about 1/2 way up the ramp, with traffic backed up to the road that we were on. ;-O

It didn't look like anything was going to get moving anytime soon, so Jim continued on down the road, made a u-turn at a crossover and headed back into Williamston on Business 17. Williamston is not a big city, so actually we breezed right through town and picked up 17 just North of the city.

The whole thing probably only cost us about 10 minutes more travel time. :-)

Now, if we still were traveling in a Class A Motorhome, we would have not been able to make that u-turn and it probably would have taken us much longer to get turned around. So, I guess there are advantages to having a smaller unit like a Travel Trailer.

Once on US 17 and heading in a Northerly direction, we followed it all the way up to Virginia Beach where we turned East on I-40. For about 3 miles before we came to I-40, we hit major construction on 17. They're in the process of building a new bridge and road over a waterway, (to eliminate a steel lift bridge), It looks like this construction will last a long time, so I'm guessing that it will last for a year or two.

Once through the construction and onto I-40, it took us around the SE side of the city and to I-264. Following 264 towards the beach brought us to Lynnhaven Parkway, ( about 3 miles from the beach),where we turned off of 264 and took local streets to Joe and Nancy's house.

It was 1:15 when we pulled up in front of their house. so even with the detour and the construction, it only took us 2 1/2 hours to travel the 124 miles over here.

Neither Joe or Nancy were home when we arrived, so Jim just backed Nora into the driveway and got her unhooked and set up. Joe, Nancy and Amber arrived home later and then after visiting for awhile,  everyone enjoyed a great short rib crock pot meal that Nancy had put together early in the day. Then because everyone was tired, Jim and Linda came back out here about 7:30 and watched TV until bedtime.

So, unless something unexpected happens, we'll be here for the next 9 or 10 days. We're hooked up to a 20 amp outlet, so by turning almost everything else electric off, we can run the AC if it's hot and use the little electric heater and the furnace if it's cold. (They're forecasting highs in the lower 50's and lows in the mid 30's for Saturday). :-(   There is a place where Jim can dump the gray water tank  but not the black water tank. By using the facilities inside of the house as much as possible, there shouldn't be a problem.

Did you know that in Medieval Europe, owls were thought to be witches, and to hear an owl's call meant that someone was about to die?

Hoo!! Hoo!! ;-)

Lots Of Visiting With The "Illinois Bunch" and Cataract Surgery Today

Rantoul, IL.

51 deg. cloudy, no wind.
Forecast =  Mostly cloudy with isolated storms. Highs around 64°F. South wind 1 to 7 MPH. Chance of precipitation 60 percent. New precipitation amounts up to one quarter inch possible.

Not a whole lot going on around here except a whole bunch of visiting. Friday, Dorthy drove down here to the CG and stayed until early evening.  The Pot Luck went off without a hitch and everyone got plenty to eat. The only thing that could have been better was the weather. It was cloudy and quite cool with some wind. :-(

Saturday was sunnier and a little warmer, but there was still some wind, so if you were in the shade, it felt pretty cool. That, of course, didn't stop everyone from getting together around the campfire or inside of Denny and Bev's motor home to visit though.

Also on Saturday, Dave found out that the furnace in his trailer wasn't working. After some investigation, he found a wire shorted out down by the furnace. The wire was rerouted, but the furnace is now making some noise from the fan, so he'll probably have to take it back to the dealer for repairs.

Yesterday was very nice with lots of sun, temperatures in the upper 60's and almost no wind. Linda spent most of the afternoon over at Bev's, visiting and Jim, Denny and Dave spent the afternoon visiting and solving all the problems of the world. ;-) Dee Dee went shopping with her daughter who drove down here from her home, somewhere North of here.

For dinner yesterday, Jim and Linda and Denny and Bev decided to have Pizza for dinner. So, they ordered a Pizza from Monical's Pizza. After a little while, Big RED took Jim and Denny to pick it up and bring it back here to Denny and Bev's.

Again, the pizza was very good and they all enjoyed even more visiting and catching up on this last year's happenings.

Linda was getting pretty tired, so Jim walked with Linda back here to Nora and then went back to visit some more with Denny and Dave who had started another campfire.  

After visiting for awhile Jim came back here and then he and Linda watched "Da Bears" win a pretty good game over the 49ers.

This morning, Denny and Bev and Dave and Dee Dee will be packing up and leaving. Then, about noon, Big RED will take Linda and Jim down to Urbana so that Linda can have the Cataract Surgery on her other eye. Linda is not looking forward to the surgery, but is looking forward to seeing a little better out of that eye. (This is the eye that has the diabetic damage.)

Hopefully everything will go a little quicker at the hospital this time and she won't have to wait so long.

Did you know that the muscle that lets your eye blink is the fastest muscle in your body? It allows you to blink 5 times a second.

Woof!!!

Laundry Day and A Cook-out With Hank, Selene, Mike And Terri

Rantoul, IL

64 deg. fog, no wind.
Forecast = Partly cloudy with isolated storms. Highs around 86°F. Heat index around 91°F. South wind 5 to 15 MPH, gusting to 17 MPH. Chance of precipitation 40 percent.

As soon as Linda was finished with breakfast yesterday morning, she and Jim dug out all of the dirty clothes and sorted them into loads of laundry to take to the laundromat. After sorting Jim took the bags out to Big RED and then he and Linda headed over there.

It's more expensive to use the laundromat than it is to do the laundry here at the Campground, but it takes much less time than it does here with only 2 washers and 2 dryers. In fact, Jim and Linda were only gone about an hour and 45 minutes before Big RED brought them back.

After they returned, Hank and Selene stopped by to ask Jim and Linda if they'd like to come to a cook-out around 6:00? Of course they said "Yes"!

During the afternoon, Jim and Linda put all the laundry away, took naps and then Linda cooked some green beans with bacon, (Thanks, Hank and Selene for picking up that can of green beans for Linda at the store),  :-)  Then, around 6:00 they headed next door.

Jim did remember his camera, so he did take a couple photos. (You can click on them to enlarge if you'd like).

Terri, Mike, Hank and Selene enjoying the meal and conversation.

Selene, Linda and Hank who was heading for more great food. 

I was watching out of the window and it sure looked like everyone had a great time, visiting and eating. After eating, Hank started a campfire in the fire ring between their MH and Nora and they all gathered around and talked and talked.

Jim and Linda came back here around 8:00 because the bugs were starting to bug them, but I think Mike and Terri stayed awhile longer.

The rest of the evening was spent watching TV, before going to bed after the news.

Thanks, Hank and Selene for having the Cook-out. Jim and Linda had a great time. ;-)

No big plans, so far, for today. Jim has an item ordered at Ace Hardware that needs to be picked up and there should be mail waiting at the post office. They're forecasting possible rain and T-Storms later, so he'll probably do those things this morning.

Did you know that today is 'Black Cow' Root Beer Float Day?

Woof!!!

Full-Timing RVs and Trucks

DeBary, FL
.

58 deg. clear, no wind. 

Forecast = Sun and clouds mixed. High 83F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.

Being that nothing important is happening, I thought I'd create a collage of the RVs and trucks that we've had since we went full-timing back in 2001. 

In the top left corner there's Mariah. (You can click on the photo to enlarge it). She was the 1998 35' Winnebago Chieftain gas engine motor home that Jim and Linda had when we started full-timing June 1, 2001. They had purchased her in 1999 and she served us well, taking us all across the lower 48 states many times and even up to Alaska and back in 2002.   

The center photo on the left side is TTT a 1992 Nissan pickup truck. (Mariah named him TTT for Tiny Tin Truck).  He also was with us right from the start and followed along behind Mariah for many, many miles. He really took a beating from all the gravel on our trip to Alaska and in 2004 developed some major mechanical problems, so in April of 2004, Jim traded him off for CLT, (Lower left in the photo), a 1996 Nissan pickup, (Named Cute Little Truck, also by Mariah). CLT's truck bed was the same as TTT's so it was possible to transfer the bed cap from one truck to the other without any modifications.

In 2005, Mariah developed some major structural problems so Jim and Linda traded her for Myrddin, (a 1992 40' Beaver Marquis diesel pusher). (Top right in above photo)

Myrddin was beautiful inside with a handcrafted cherry wood interior and was probably the motor home with the interior that Jim and Linda liked the best. Myrddin had his problems though, and on the first trip out West in 2005 we had major problems with the engine stopping all of a sudden and doing that, during the whole trip out west and back. Jim and Linda took him to many RV repair shops along the way, but no one could figure out what was wrong. 

We finally made it back down to Florida where a mechanic named Lester, at a shop in Lakeland Florida figured it out. Come to find out, it was an intermittent short in a 12 volt electric motor that powered the vacuum pump for the dash heater.  

The problem was fixed, but Jim never had faith in Myrddin after that. 

In 2011 on our way to the RV Dreams Rally in Sevierville, TN, Myrddin again developed an engine problem. This time it was a misfire condition. We made it to the Rally and then after the rally, Jim tried to find someone who could figure out what was wrong. Every place he called, he was told that they no longer had the diagnostic  equipment to check his engine out. Jim finally found a CAT dealer in Bristol TN who had the equipment and repaired the problem, which ended up being a loose wire on cylinders 3 & 4 injectors. 

At this same time, there was also a problem with Myrddin's furnace. When they tried to order the needed parts, they found out that they were almost non existent. It was at this time that Jim and Linda started to look for a newer RV.  

In May of 2011, Jim and Linda found Emrys, a 45' 2000 Newmar, London Aire diesel pusher motor home at a dealer in central Illinois.  (Bottom center in the above photo).

Linda named him Emrys, and he was also very nice inside, but didn't have the fit and finish of the woodwork that Myrddin had. When Jim and Linda purchased him, there were some problems that the dealer said that they would take care of. Well, come to find out, they just patched him together to get him out of the door, and once we were on the road, things started to go wrong. : (   (This dealer has since, gone out of business).

Again, Lester, (the mechanic and his crew down in Florida), came to the rescue and soon most of the problems were repaired and we were on our way. : )

Emrys was huge at 45', great to drive down the Interstates, (steady as a rock), and great to be living in with his 2 slideouts, but neither Jim or Linda had any idea just how much more those extra 5' of length would restrict where we could camp or go. He was no fun at all on hilly, twisty/turny roads, (like U.S. 101 up along the Oregon coast), and we found that many of the campgrounds along the non-Interstate roads could not accommodate such a large RV.

Jim and Linda adjusted our travels though, and soon we were traveling on almost all Interstates and staying in only the larger parks.

I still don't know just what happened to make Jim decide that he thought it was time  to stop full-timing and to buy a house again, but during the winter of 2012/2013, he told Linda that he thought it was time to stop. Now, before they started full-timing, they made an agreement that if one of them ever decided that it was time to stop full-timing, they would tell the other, discuss the reasons, and then stop if that person still felt the same after the discussion.

Well, as most of you know, they did buy a double wide manufactured home down in DeBary Florida. It's in a gated community and there is absolutely no place to park a 45' motor home, much less even get it through the entrance. They do however, have a storage lot within the community where a smaller RV could be stored.

So, the search was on for a smaller RV.

It didn't take long before Jim and Linda found Bobbie T., a 27' Class B motorhome, (lower right in the photo), at a nearby RV dealer that would take Emrys in on trade.

During the summer of 2013, we took Bobbie T, with CLT hooked behind, and traveled from FL to IL by way of Virginia Beach, VA and Apex, NC. At Linda's regular Doctor's appointment in August, she was diagnosed with cancer.

At that time, we came down here to Florida and moved into the Double-wide manufactured home so that Linda could have surgery and treatments, thus, officially ending our full-timing lifestyle in August of 2013.

Since we've been here in Florida, Jim and Linda have traded CLT for a 3/4 ton Dodge pickup, and sometime before fall, will be either selling Bobbie T, or trading her in on a trailer of some kind. The reason for this is that Bobbie T. is not doing well over in the storage lot and Jim is worried about what kind of condition her engine and other chassis parts will be in after such a long period of non-use.

So, that's the vehicles that we've had while Full-timing. We've had a great time traveling all over the lower 48 and up into Alaska and would have liked to full-time longer. But, as we all know, things don't always work out the way we wanted them to.

Did you know that American Eddie Eagan is the only person to have won gold medals in both the Summer and Winter Games? He was a boxing champion in the 1920 Antwerp Games, and also won gold at the 1932 Lake Placid Games in the team bobsled event.

Woof!!!

Happy Groundhog Day and Big Changes

DeBary, FL.

64 deg. light fog, no wind.
Forecast = Foggy this morning, then partly cloudy this afternoon. High 82F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.

Happy Groundhog Day!!!!!

Linda's still doing fine, but she has been extremely tired since her last chemo treatment and has almost no energy at all. She's also been having some dizziness, which is also part of the Chemo side effects.

Until yesterday, there hasn't been much happening around here. Just normal everyday things. But, yesterday, after Jim and Linda had come back from Walgreen's, Jim showed Linda a photo of a truck that he had been looking at on the Internet.

Why has Jim been looking at trucks, you ask?

Well, I've heard little bits and pieces of conversation between Linda and Jim lately, (in fact for the last month or so), that neither of them were real happy with how Bobbie T was working out for them. You see, they both have admitted that they thought that she would work fine, but they had made a mistake when they thought that the very small bathroom, the lack of a comfortable place for Jim to sit and relax and a tight bedroom was something that they could deal with.

On top of that, since Linda has this medical problem and will not be able to travel as much as they had planned, it won't be good for a motorized RV like Bobbie T to  be sitting for long periods of time. In fact she already has one brake caliper hanging up and will have to be taken someplace to get that fixed before she can be used again.

So,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  Jim and Linda have decided that a medium sized travel trailer or 5th wheel would serve them better and be more suited to the type of traveling that they will be doing in the future. Now, of course, CLT couldn't possibly pull either one of those types of RVs, so Jim has been looking at 3/4 ton trucks to take his place. They hadn't planned on doing any trading this soon, but CLT is going to need some work real soon, (new tires and a power steering pump for sure), so rather than spend money on him, it was decided that now was the time to trade if they could find a suitable truck.

Like I said, Jim has been looking at trucks and a few days ago, he found one that he liked, at a price that they could handle. So, yesterday afternoon, they headed over to Gibson Truck World in Sanford to look at it.

Well, it turned out to be almost exactly what Jim was looking for in a truck. It's a 2006 Dodge Ram Laramie Crew Cab with a 5.9 Liter Cummins Diesel engine. And, it's RED, just like my sweater!!!! ;-) It only has 49,000 miles on it and both Jim and Linda said that it looks like it just came out of the factory. It also has a Carfax Report with it and the dealer is giving it a 1 year bumper to bumper warranty!!

But wait, there's more!!!! The dealer is also giving them 12 months of free scheduled maintenance on the truck, up to $1000.

It also has all it's past maintenance records and it is certified as being a 1 owner vehicle.

Did I mention that it's RED?????

This is a photo of it that I got off of the dealer's website. It sure looks nice to me!!!.

Jim and Linda will be picking it up sometime this next week, as soon as they can get their finances together. :-)

Did you know that according to National Climatic Data Center, Punxsutawney Phil, the most famous of all the Groundhog Day groundhogs, isn't very good at his job, having picked correctly only 39 percent of the time?

Woof!!!!

Did I mention that it's RED????

What Are They Thinking????

Rantoul, IL.

62 deg. mostly cloudy, N. wind @ 10 mph.

Forecast = Partly cloudy, high of 77 det. Breezy with winds from the NNE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 30%.

Yesterday morning, just after I posted the blog, this diesel pusher Dutch Star RV, (about 40' long, pulling a toad), came down the street in front of me from the back end of the park. I'm a little ways from the road that goes in front of the park, but when he passed in front of me, he was still going like he was late for the most important appointment of his life!!!!

In fact, I'm sure glad his brakes worked well, or he would have overshot the road and ended up in the cornfield on the other side!!!!

What the heck were these people thinking???? There are older people out walking their dogs, people going to the bath house, and even a few children in the park. If any one of them would have stepped out onto the street, there would not have been any way that the driver could have stopped that 30,000+ pounds of metal and fibreglass from running over them!!!!!

I've seen this way too many times in an RV Park or CG. People blasting around with their RVs, trucks or cars, not even considering what would happen if a child or someone stepped out onto the street. Think, people, Think!!!!! How would you feel if you ran over someone just because you were going too fast to stop in time? Is it really worth the extra minute or two that it would take you to get to your destination? Is a persons life worth saving those couple of minutes????

I think not!!!!!

To those of you that drive slowly in RV Parks and Campgrounds, I apologize for this rant. For the rest of you, I hope you think about what could happen if you don't slow down.

All day yesterday, it looked like it could rain, but the only time it rained was later in the evening and then there was another little shower overnight. Jim managed to get a little done outside. One thing that he did was to take the cover off of Bobbie T's Onan generator and spray some dry lubricant on the carburetor linkage.

You see, it was time to exercise the generator, (Jim exercises it every month), and the last time he ran it, it didn't seem to want to hold a real steady speed like it should.  But, this time, after he lubricated the linkage, it ran like a charm, even when he put a good load on it. After he finished with that, he changed out the water filter and dumped the tanks.

He also spent some time talking to Ron, who owns the Newmar Mountain Aire RV off to our left. Ron and Marilyn come her for awhile almost every summer and through the last couple years, Jim has become friends with Ron. I don't think that they solved any world problems, but they do seem to enjoy visiting with each other. ; )

In the next couple days, Jim and Linda will need to purchase some "essential" groceries and go to the laundromat to wash clothes. I don't think it matters which one they do first because both things are getting to the critical stage. : )

Did you know that Calvin Coolidge, our nation's 30th president, was born on July 4th, 1872? He is the only president to claim this honor.

Woof!!!

A Friend To The Rescue and Plans Are Made

Rantoul, IL.

66 deg. clear, W. wind @ 7 mph.
Forecast = high temperature 82 deg. partly cloudy, NW wind @ 10 to 20 mph. 30% chance of rain.

What would humans do without friends? Oh, I suppose they'd muddle through, but it sure is nice when a friend comes to the rescue.

Dave, (One of the Illinois Bunch) that many of you will remember from previous posts, has been reading this blog and knew that Jim was thinking about going up to the Elkhart area to try to get the slideout problem taken care of. Well, Wednesday, Dave sent Jim an e-mail telling him about an RV Repair shop that he has used that is located in Middlebury, IN. Because he knows the owner, he had the owner's cell phone number and told Jim to go ahead and "drop" his name if he wanted to.

Jim really didn't have any idea of who to contact up there so this was a very welcome suggestion.

Yesterday morning, Jim called the number that Dave had given him and talked to Larry at Fox RV Inc. in Middlebury, IN. After talking to Larry about the slide problem plus a few other minor items that could use attention and then telling him when we would be in the area, Larry checked his books and said that he could get Bobbie T in to work on her on the 9th of July.

Wow!!! That's the day that Jim had originally planned to get up to that area and would give Larry plenty of time to work on Bobbie T. before he needed to take her up to White Pigeon, MI. for an appointment that Jim has made with Quadra Mfg. to have "Big Foot" levelers installed on the 12th!

Jim was very impressed with Larry. He seemed very knowledgeable about Bobbie T's slideout system and also seemed to know exactly what to do to check and repair the other minor problems that Jim told him about.

So, , ,  ,  ,  , now the plan is complete and I can tell you all about it. : )  We'll be leaving here on Monday, the 8th of July, (right after the 4th of July holiday weekend), head up to Middlebury for the appointment at Fox RV on the 9th, spend a few days doing touristy things in the Middlebury/Shipshewana area and then head up to White Pigeon on the 12th to get the levelers installed.

From there, the plan is to head on up into Michigan, cross the Mackinaw/Mackinac (?) bridge up into the U.P of Michigan, head across the U.P towards the West, stay at a CG that is right on the North end of  Lake Michigan,  near Manistique for at least 1 week, (probably 10 or 11 days), then head into Wisconsin to see Linda's brother, Glenn, (who lives way over on the Western edge of Wisconsin), before turning South and returning here to Rantoul, arriving back here sometime around the 10th of August.

Of course there are things that they want to see and places they want to go along the way, but I don't have all the details of that. I'll be sure to keep you posted on anything I find out though. ; )

Oh, and don't forget, all these plans are written in pencil, and Jim still has that big eraser, so everything is subject to change. ; )

A Point to Ponder : You need only two tools. WD-40 and duct tape. If it doesn't move and it should, use WD-40. If it moves and shouldn't, use the tape.

Thanks, Dave.

Woof!!!

378,432,000 Seconds and 7,865,906,291 inches

Rantoul, IL.

63 deg. partly cloudy, W. wind @ 10mph.

Forecast = Today: Mostly cloudy with scattered showers. Highs around 75°F. South wind 12 to 17 MPH, gusting to 24 MPH. Chance of precipitation near 85%. Precipitation amounts between one quarter and one half of an inch possible.
Tonight: Partly cloudy with scattered showers. Lows around 57°F. West southwest wind to 12 MPH. Chance of precipitation near 65%.

12 years
144 months
624.7 weeks
4,380 days
105,120 hours
6,307,200 minutes
378,432,000 seconds

126,146 RV miles traveled.
218,497,386 yards
655,492,190 feet
7,865,906,291 inches

It sure doesn't seem like 12 years and 126,146 miles, but 12 years ago today, Jim, Linda and I moved out of their house in Peotone, IL and moved into their 35' Winnebago Chieftain Motorhome and I can't believe all the sites we've seen and how many miles we've traveled!!!

I can still remember that first night, out in the driveway of the house. It was exciting, scary, weird, I had a lot of trouble sleeping, and did I mention scary?

Much of the furniture was already gone, and what wasn't, was sitting in the middle of the dining room waiting for someone to come and pick it up or for Jim and Linda to deliver it. The house had been on the market for some time, but had not sold yet, so Jim and Linda rented it out with the understanding that the people had to move if it did sell.

At that time, 2001, there wasn't much information available as to what the costs of full-timing would be, Cell phones and computer air cards were brand new or non-existent and basically unusable in most parts of the country. About the only way to keep in touch with anyone was by Pay Phone or a little device called "Pocket Mail" that you held up to the pay phone receiver to transfer messages over the phone lines. Phone Calling Cards were a big thing because if you had one and dialed in all the numbers on the pay phone, you got a better cost per minute rate.

I could go on and on, but the fact is that in those days, it was much harder to keep in touch with anyone, and you pretty much just "winged it", until you figured this full-timing thing out for yourself.

Did I mention that it was scary?

The first year I don't think many plans were made. We pretty much just went where the road led us. Then, after 9-11 and a health scare for Linda, it was decided that in 2002, we would go to Alaska, while we could.

What a trip!!! It's one I'll never forget!! : )

I don't remember just when it was, but the house finally sold and then Jim and Linda were completely free from any major obligations.  What a relief!!!

We had some great times and some not-so-great times. Fun times and sad times. But when you weigh it all out, in the end, it's been a great ride and I'm sure glad that Jim and Linda brought me along. : )

The rest, as they say, is history. As most of you know, Jim and Linda bought a double wide manufactured home down in Florida this past winter. As of now, they have never slept or stayed in the house though, so they're still considering themselves full-timers.

All of that will change when we get back down to Florida in November, because at that time, Jim and Linda will park Bobbie T in the storage lot and we'll all move into the house.

I guess after that, we'll be "Part-Timers". : )

But, we still have about 5 1/2 months that we're going to be full-timing, and who knows where we'll go or what we'll see in that time.  I'm looking forward to every second and every inch of it!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : )

Did you know that the average lead pencil can can be used to draw a line 35 miles long?

Woof!!!

Downsizing

Rantoul, IL.

64 deg. overcast, SSW wind @ 13 mph.

Forecast = Today: Partly cloudy with scattered storms. Highs around 84°F. South wind 13 to 19 MPH, gusting to 28 MPH. Chance of precipitation near 65%. Precipitation amounts up to one quarter inch possible.
Tonight: Partly cloudy with isolated storms. Lows around 68°F. South southwest wind to 16 MPH, gusting to 23 MPH. Chance of precipitation near 45%.

Some of the folks that Jim and Linda know, have asked them what it's like to move from a 45' diesel pusher to a 27' class B motorhome?

Well, it's kind of like when they first went full-timing, selling their house and moving all of your belongings into a RV. Only this time, they didn't have to give away all of the "stuff" that they had in the 45' MH, they just put whatever didn't fit in the 27' MH into the double wide down in Florida.

I think one of the biggest challenges of downsizing RVs has been the reduced space to move around, without being in each other's way. For instance. If Linda is doing anything in the kitchen, whether it be washing dishes or cooking, she has to move before Jim can get to the bathroom or the bedroom, or even get to the refrigerator, for that matter.

Another thing that has changed is the fact that they no longer have all their "stuff" with them. Just the other day, Jim needed to change a fitting on one of the water hoses, but because of outside storage limitations, that container where the replacement fittings are in, is back at the house. So, Jim had to buy a fitting at the store.

Food storage is another big issue. There are fewer cabinets in this RV than in any RV that we've had since we went full-timing almost 12 years ago. That means more trips to the grocery store and buying smaller quantities of food and supplies, like paper products and even snacks. This refrigerator is also smaller than any we've had in the last 6 years or so, and that means less space for meat, frozen vegetables and ice cream.

Also, there's no ice maker in this refrigerator, which is a big minus for Linda. (She likes ice in anything she drinks except coffee). : )

And, of course, everything else is smaller too. Like the bathroom, bedroom and closets.

Oh, and Linda really misses her washer/dryer. : (

But, before you start thinking that Jim and Linda are unhappy with Bobbie T., I want to assure you that they are not!

There are many good things about a smaller RV, such as ease of getting into and out of small campgrounds, not worrying if a CG is going to have a large enough site,  less steps to get into and out of the RV, ease of driving through congested areas, handles twisty/turny 2 lane roads better that a large RV, and has much less area to clean, both inside and out.

As far as the lack of storage space, I'm sure that once we get back to Florida, Jim and Linda will make changes of what to bring along on our next trip. There are items that they brought along this time that were not needed, so they can be left at the house and other items brought instead.

It's just going to take some time to figure it all out.

Oh, and one more thing. When we first went full-timing, we traveled mostly on 2 lane roads, avoiding the Interstate highways as much as possible. We stayed in State Parks, COE parks, municipal parks and little "mom and pop" type parks. Through the years, mostly because of purchasing larger and larger RVs, we have not been able to comfortably do that any longer.  Both Jim and Linda have missed that type of travel and those type campgrounds and want to get back to that style of traveling again.

Already, when we came from Florida to Virginia this time, we stayed off of the Interstates as much as possible. And, every trip plan that Jim has been working on since we got Bobbie T. has been made utilizing as many non-Interstate highways as possible.

He's even been fooling around with a trip plan for another trip back out to Oregon, that by my estimation, would be on about 90% U.S. and State highways. ; )

If Jim and Linda would not have bought the double wide down in Florida, I think that they would have kept Ermys for at least another year or 2, but then, I'm sure they would have traded him off for something smaller. (Something around 35'). Emrys was just too large for the type of campgrounds and travel that they like.

They would not have gone as small as Bobbie T's 27' though. Both of them agree that for them, she is just  too small to live in full-time.

Did you know that on this date in 1955 - "Billboard" reported that "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" was the most popular song in the U.S?

Woof!!!

It Wasn't Allergies and Remembering Illinois Winters

DeBary, FL.

62 deg. partly cloudy, NW wind @ 9 mph.

Forecast = Today: Sunny. Highs around 70°F. Northwest wind to 19 MPH, gusting to 28 MPH.
Tonight: Mostly clear. Lows around 45°F. Wind chill around 39°F. West wind to 15 MPH, gusting to 21 MPH.

Well, I guess it wasn't an allergy condition that Jim has had the last few day. Guess how I know????

Now, Linda has it, and I've never heard of catching allergies from someone else!! : (   Linda didn't feel too well Saturday night and then when she woke up yesterday morning, she had very sore throat, was sneezing and blowing and just felt generally crummy!!! : (

So,  ,  ,  ,  neither she or Jim did much yesterday. Both napped from time to time, sat and watched quite a bit of TV and in general, just kicked back.

I was watching the news yesterday and they were forecasting a lot of snow for the Midwest. I can remember the winter before I went full-timing with Jim and Linda, (winter of 2000-2001), and sure am glad that they've decided on Florida to buy a house. . In this 1st picture, everything was covered with ice. It sure was pretty, but it did a lot of damage. : (

Then, after the ice melted, we still had the snow to deal with. This is poor Mariah sitting along side of the garage at the place where we lived. (Mariah was the Winnebago Chieftain Motor Home that Jim and Linda had when we started full-timing).

I remember those days well. Jim outside shoveling show and knocking ice off of the edge of the roof so that when the snow melted, the water didn't damn up behind the ice and run back up under the shingles and come inside of the house.

Not once, have I missed that kind of weather!!!

What got me thinking about all of this was the forecast I heard on TV and the fact that Dave sent Jim and e-mail the other day saying that they were just about back home in Illinois, but the weather forecast was for snow and he wasn't too sure that he wanted to continue heading in that direction.

I think that maybe he and Dee Dee should have stayed down here for awhile longer. ; )

Hope you made it home safe, Dave.

Did you know that the U.S. has the highest dog population in the world?

Park Rules and A Good Visit With Very Good Friends

DeBary, FL.

36 deg. clear, no wind.

Forecast : Today: Sunny. Highs around 72°F. North northwest wind to 7 MPH.
Tonight: Clear. Lows around 48°F. East southeast wind to 7 MPH.

I spend a lot of time just looking out of the windows of the RV and so I see a lot of what's happening in the Campground. One of the things I've noticed is that the campground rules don't seem to apply equally to everyone.

Case in point:  If you remember, there's a little grass island in the middle of the main road going through this park. This is where they set up the Christmas Decorations during the holidays. On each side of the island there is a sign saying, "keep off of the grass, no pets allowed". Most of the people in the park obey this rule and walk around the island on the roads. But, every day, this one guy comes by with his 2 dogs, walks onto the grass and lets his dogs do their "business".

Now, I'm trying to figure out what this guy's reason is for doing this. He walks right past the signs each time. Either he can't read, he just doesn't care, he's ignorant, or he thinks he's above the rules and doesn't have to follow them!!!

In any case, it really burns me to see him get away with this day after day!! And what burns me even more, is that the manager of this park lets him get away with it!! Yep, I have seen the manager drive by on his golf cart when this guy is standing on the grass island with his dogs and he doesn't say anything!!!

What good are rules if you don't enforce them? What kind of message does this send to all the other RVers in the park? Should anyone else follow any of the rules in the park?

OK, enough of that!!!

Roland and Louise arrived about 8:30 yesterday morning. After h and h, (hugs and handshakes), they came in and checked Bobbie T out. I think they liked her because they had some very nice compliments.

After talking for awhile and catching up on what's been happening, everyone got into Roland and Louise's car and headed over to the house to check it out. Again, it seemed like they liked the house and what Jim and Linda have done with it.

Once they were finished checking out the house, Linda and Louise stayed at the house and talked and Jim and Roland headed over to LaMesa RV so that Roland could check out some of the RVs there, and try to get a handle on what would work for he and Louise.

Roland found a couple of Class B motor homes that he thought would work for them, and of course the salesman wanted to close the deal right there and then, but Big Herb, (their Winnebago Journey motor home),  is still up in the RV garage in North Carolina, and Roland's not ready to trade right now anyway.

After leaving the dealership, Roland and Jim went back to the house, picked up Linda and Louise and then headed to Gram's Kitchen, for lunch. After still more conversation, then came back here where there were more h and h before Roland and Louise headed back down to Frostproof and to their double-wide.

All in all, it was a very good day with very good friends. If it works out, we may be able to swing by their house in NC for a few day later this spring, on our way to Illinois.

Did you know that a bee needs to flap it's wings 250 times per second to remain in the air?

Woof!!

I've Messed Up Already

DeBary, FL.

54 deg. clear, ESE wind @ 8 mph.
Forecast = Day: Partly cloudy. Highs around 77°F. South southeast wind 6 to 14 MPH, gusting to 19 MPH.
Night: Mostly cloudy with scattered showers. Lows around 66°F. Southeast wind 7 to 13 MPH. Chance of precipitation near 45%.

Well, that didn't take long. Already I've messed up!

How did I mess up? Well instead of writing about Jim and Linda having problems with space restrictions in their new motor home, I should have told you about how the whole changeover at the dealers went first.

Oh well, better late than never.

On Thursday morning, (the 7th of March), Jim pulled Emrys out of this spot and hooked CLT behind of him. From there, it was only a short drive to LaMesa RV where we pulled up to the office parking area. Jim and Linda both went inside and talked to the salesman, Steve, and then headed to the new motor home for the walk-through and to make sure everything worked. After the walk-through, they headed back into the office and signed all the papers, making the deal final.

Once the papers were all signed, one of their drivers drove the new motor home to the KOA over in Sanford and we followed behind in Emrys. Once there, the driver backed the new motor home into a site and Jim pulled Emrys into the adjoining site so that the entry doors were side-by-side, making it easier to transfer their belongings from the  inside.

This was at no cost to Jim and Linda.

It was about 12:25 by the time both motor homes were parked and Jim and Linda started transferring stuff.

They both worked very hard until about 6:00 and then just collapsed.  By this time they had moved enough of their belongings to the new motor home that they were able to spend the night there. Then, by 7:00 on Friday morning, they were both up, and after having something to eat, went back to work.

By 10:00 they had everything transferred and were ready to leave the KOA and to head back here to Highbanks. It was at this time, when Jim hooked CLT up to the back of the new motor home that he found out that none of CLT's rear lights worked!!!

Now, being that the lights worked when hooked up to Emrys, it was evident that there was a problem with the light connector on the new motor home. So, Jim called LaMesa and asked if it would be all right if we stopped by there to have them checked out. They agreed and by 10:20 we were on our way back to LaMesa RV.

Once at LaMesa, 2 mechanics came out, checked and rewired the connector and some other wires, and then, after making sure everything was working, we were back on the road, arriving at Highbanks at about 12:30. (Again at no cost to Jim and Linda)

It was about 15 miles from here to the KOA in Sanford and of course another 15 miles back here to Highbanks. The final odometer reading on Emrys was 71304 miles, and the beginning reading on the new motor home when we left the KOA was 8285.

Yesterday, (Sunday), Jim and Linda didn't even go over to the house. Both were tired so they re-organized a few things here in the motor home, took naps and watched the NASCAR race on TV. After the race, Jim cooked a steak on the grill for he and Linda to share, Linda cooked some carrots and heated up some left-over rice inside and then both sat down and had a nice quiet dinner. ; )

Today, I think Laura is coming over to see the new motor home. She called last night and if she has time, she'll come.

Did you know that it's a fact that puppies sleep ninety percent of the day for their first few weeks?

Woof!!

Quite An Adjustment

DeBary, FL.

Day: Partly cloudy. Highs around 77°F. East wind 7 to 16 MPH, gusting to 23 MPH.
Night: Mostly clear. Lows around 57°F. East wind 5 to 13 MPH.

It's been quite an adjustment for Jim and Linda. I was with them when they sold all their "stuff" and moved into their first motor home which was 35' long and I think that even after they moved many of their things into the house, it's just as hard to move from Emrys into this 27' motor home.

The thing that they're having the most difficulty with is storage space. They're used to the big basement compartments and the many and large cabinets and drawers that were in Emrys. In fact even after moving a whole lot of things to the house earlier, yesterday, they took 3 more totes full of things to the house because there just wasn't room.

Another thing that is proving difficult is the overall lack of space for them. Everything is smaller and they always seem to get in each other's way.

I don't think any of these problems are insurmountable but it will take some time to adjust.  

On another note, I think that we're the "talk of the park" here at Highbanks. Everyone that comes by wants to know if Jim and Linda really traded off that big MH for this small one? (I think most of them think Jim and Linda lost their minds).

Jim's been telling some of them that he took the big one to the truck wash and it shrunk!! : )

I had a little adventure the other day. Jim and Linda didn't know it, but I stowed away in one of the totes full of things that they were taking to the house. I hadn't been there and being that I'll probably be living there about half of the year, I wanted to know what it was like.

Here, I'm up on the back of the sofa looking out of the window. You don't see a whole lot, just the neighbor's house.

Then, I went over to the patio door and looked out. I couldn't see much there either.

Oh well, I'll have much more time to explore. To me, the place is huge and It'll take me awhile.

Jim did take a few photos of this new, (to us), motor home yesterday, but didn't load them onto the computer yet. I'll post them when he does.

Did you know that Dogs with little human contact in their first three months typically don’t make good pets?