Tuesday, March 31, 2009

"200"

I was surprised to realize that I had 199 posts up until now. Wow, where has the time gone ? In some ways it seems like we've been full-timing for much longer than we have been and then in other ways it seems like a relatively new experience for us.

We arrived here in Baton Rouge on Monday afternoon and was 78 degrees today. My mom, back in PA, whom I talked to on Monday afternoon said it was a whopping 32 degrees there and she is ready for some springtime temps. Linda and I certainly do not miss the cold or snowy weather. We do miss our friends and family but with cell phones and the internet, it closes the gap on the distance between us. Speaking of technology, my posting may be a little erratic for a while. Our computer is acting up again and at times you can't even see the font on the screen due to the distortion. Not sure what the problem is...tonight the "s" key wants to hang up and add way more letters than there should be.

The part of Baton Rouge that we are in is a little creepy. We are on the east side of the city and it appears that this side of town has seen better days. We did find that there is a Sonny's BBQ just 1.2 miles down the road from us...had lunch there today. Linda found out, while dining at Sonny's, that you can carry a firearm in Louisiana and not have to conceal it. Learned this from the guy with the pistol hanging from his belt having the "all you can eat chicken special". Made me eat my catfish lunch a little faster than normal....he says it's a deterrent to crime. Hmmm....I know I'm not gonna snatch any chicken off his table.

Linda started work tonight.....3-11 shift at nursing home about 40 minutes from us. She called at 11:30 and wasn't done yet...might be a short (sleeping)night for her. Doesn't sound like the other employees were very cooperative. The next two days she works at two other facilities. She likes variety....we'll see how it goes.

Well guess that is all for now...gonna catch up on other web stuff while the computer behaves.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Elberta German Sausage Festival


While Linda was over doing laundry this morning, one of the ladies in the park told her about the German Sausage Festival going on today in nearby Elberta. Sounded like a good time so we got on the motorcycle and headed out for the festival. This is a fundraising event for the local fire department. They make the sausages locally and then they cook them off over these hot coals. It must be a very popular event as there was a huge crowd of people there lined up to buy them. I can't attest to how good they might be since we didn't eat them but we did have an awesome apple dumpling. A flaky crust, wrapped around a hot juicy apple, cinnamon sauce and vanilla ice cream on top. Yum !!

There were alot of different craft and food vendors there. This was kind of interesting. This guy used an antique engine for this grist mill. If you look under the silver colored chute, there are grits and corn meal coming out. Each drop from a different area of the chute.

There was also entertainment.....two different locations where there were bands playing. We really liked these guys. Look at the one guy playing the stringed toilet seat. They played some zydeco and old time music that was a lot of fun to listen to. What a fun event this was ! The rain quit just in time for them to have a beautiful day. The area was pretty soggy from all the rain we've had so they had lots of straw down on the ground to cover the puddles but it was still really soupy. It didn't dampen people's spirits though.

On the way home Linda took pics of some of the flooding. We actually had to drive through water that was running over the road at one point. I ordinarily wouldn't do this (especially on motorcyle), since you can't see the road surface but I was right behind another car and could follow him through to know that the road was not washed out. Had to pull my legs up to keep from getting soaked but it was kinda fun. It wasn't that deep....

Tomorrow we'll start packing up stuff to leave on Monday. There was a good breeze blowing today so it dried the ground out a bit around our rig but we still need to take up the patio mat...get it dry and pack it away. Supposed to be chilly overnight tonight....down to 45 degrees. That is really unusual as it's typically in the 50's or low 60's overnight. Will warm up though during the day so we can accomplish what we need to before heading out Monday morning for our site in Baton Rouge.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Here we go again.....

Wow, last night was really wild as far as storms go. Started around 3:30 a.m. with horrendous lightening and thunder. Boomer was really nervous and panicking. As the storm intensified Linda came down to sleep on the couch so the dogs would settle down. I got up and we all took up residence on the couch as the rain pounded down and the lightening was cracking all around us. The storm kept up for quite a while. I think it was around 5:30 when I finally got back to bed.

This morning, on the news, we learned that a twister(or winds of some sort) had touched down in Robertsdale (the next town up from us). A roof collapsed on one house....a gazebo was picked up and scattered across the yard...trees brought down, etc. There was some pretty scary devastation done just a short distance from here. Tonight they are saying it is supposed to be worse than last night, with a chance for large hail (haven't had any of that yet). It has been thundering most of the day with some rain showers this evening but nothing too bad yet. We'll see how the night goes.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Leaving soon....

Well, guess who had a tummy ache today and didn't feel well ? Yep, Schroeder. Something about my jelly filled confection that didn't set well with him as he was sick first thing this morning and has been sleeping and lounging around most of the day. Linda even gave him a pillow to lay on and covered him up with a blankie....(you know she feels sorry for him if she does that)

In the meantime, it's been raining off and on all day. Last night we were under a tornado watch and the same goes for tonight...is on till 1 a.m. Rained really hard overnight and the boys were wigged out. Looked like a swamp around here until the rain stopped and the ground could soak it all up. Linda is over at the activity center tonight playing bingo. Will be her last chance to play before we leave.

At this point we are planning on leaving here on Monday for Baton Rouge. Linda is scheduled for an orientation on April 1 at one facility and another facility the next day. We need to get things put away outside and it's supposed to rain till Saturday. Sunday is supposed to be nice so we'll use that day to get ready to hit the road. Is only about a 4 hour drive to Baton Rouge so that will be nice....leave here Monday morning, get there mid-day and have time to set up.

We've been keeping an eye on the news about the Red River flooding to get a sense of whether it might be declared a disaster, should there be widespread flooding. If it is declared, will be interesting to see if I get put on standby to be deployed. Am hoping that I will be. Just hope the timing is such that we've gotten settled in at Baton Rouge. I will keep you posted....

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Back to the Museum

Today was the day that we were going to go watch the Blue Angels again in Pensacola but a rain front moved in. It rained during the night so we figured that they probably wouldn't be flying today so we didn't get up early to go. We wanted to go back and check out the Naval Museum in greater detail as we didn't get to do that last week so that is what we did today. The parking lot was packed with cars but once inside you didn't sense that there was that many people there. Very easy to get around to see the displays and what great ones they have. Linda and I think that this is one of the most well done museums that we've seen. And when you consider that it's free to get in....what a great place for people to go and experience history !

We watched a fascinating video on how pilots were trained during WWII to keep up with the rapid production of aircraft (one plane per hour was being assembled at one time) for war. Two large cruise style boats were purchased and the upper decks removed to make a carrier style vessel. These boats were placed on Lake Michigan and prospective pilots were sent there after basic orientation to get 8 take-offs and 8 landings in before being sent to combat. Consequently there were many mishaps...planes falling off the side of the ship...missing the deck and landing in the water, etc. The planes they used for training were ones that were "disposable"..... they had seen combat and could be sacrificed. Three of the rarer planes that had gone into the lake were recovered from the bottom of Lake Michigan , restored and placed in this museum. It was a fascinating video and a part of history that I was not aware of.


Hey us RV'ers can relate to these "navy shower" rules....

There is so much content here and so many great displays to see that you can spend hours looking at all of it. We had a great time looking around and would highly recommend it.

On the way back through Foley, Linda wanted to stop and check out the Foley flea market. Upon first entering, I thought it was a really huge building filled with junk but once I got a quarter of the way down one aisle I started to see all of this ornate furniture that you totally do not expect to see in a place like this. The place is packed with it too. King size beds with ornately carved columns for legs and ornate canopies. Marble tables....leather sofas, etc. It blew our minds...The one bed was like $7000 and the likes I've never seen in any furniture store....let alone a flea market type place.

When we first entered there was this heavenly aroma that hit you. As I was leaving I went into this area off to one side of the entrance and there was this small Mexican bakery. They had an amazing assortment of goodies there and I asked the young lady to explain some of the different confections. In this picture, see the reddish colored item on the right...3rd shelf down. Strawberry filling inside two sides that had a texture a little more coarse than normal cake consistency. I took a little nibble but wrapped it up to eat later as we wanted to go to Summer Scoops" for some ice cream.
Finished off a great day "exploring" by going to "Scoops" and sharing a banana split with Linda. Got back to the truck and wondered why there was a shredded bakery tissue near my seat. Oh yeah...remember that little pastry item I was saving for later? The only remnant was the strawberry jelly on Schroeder's chin.....He's a rascal !

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Rain is moving in.....

Today we went out to get some errands done before the storms move in. Linda needed to get some papers notarized for her nursing agency and get those mailed off. Picked up a few things at Wal Mart and then drove a little ways out of town to a roadside produce stand (Linda got information on this place from an EMT standing in line next to her at Wal Mart) to buy some veggies. We've been suffering from "Webster Withdrawal" since leaving Florida and our weekly run to Webster Flea Market for great fresh veggies. Nothing like that around here but we picked up a few things at this stand...."B" size potatoes that I made into potato salad, some large tomatoes that we sliced for sandwiches and we also got some pears and bananas. This will be a short term "fix" till some things come into season.

We're getting closer to knowing where our next destination will be. The agency has given her a choice of Lake Charles or Baton Rouge, LA. Since we know from last investigating campgrounds in Louisiana that the pipeline workers tend to have all the parks filled up, we thought we'd check for a site before picking which town we'll go to. Linda called around and there seems to be room in Baton Rouge so that is the choice. We should know more specifics in a few days.

In the meantime, rain is moving in overnight and it's supposed to rain for the next 3 or 4 days. Might be a good time to go investigate large indoor venues like museums and the nearby outlet stores.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Camping World...

Had an appointment, at Camping World, at 8:30 this morning to get valve extenders put on the inside of the dually on our truck. We resorted to this after trying to install several different ones ourselves. Holy Cow, what a tight space ! Not only was it near impossible to get anything in the slim opening between the outer and inner tire but then to screw something onto a valve stem that is pointed at an awkward angle....whew..our fingers were not tiny enough nor nimble enough and I was creating way too many new vocabulary words in trying to attempt it so I made an appointment to have the "pros" do it. Don't ya just hate having to pay a "professional" to do something that you feel you should be able to do ?" Just burns me up but like Clint Eastwood says, "A man's got to know his limitations" and I sure know mine...if something's gonna work, it will usually be on the third attempt.I gave this three tries and it wasn't workin'.

So, the task that they told me would take thirty minutes took about an hour and a half. At least I didn't have it as bad as the guy I was sitting and talking to from North Dakota...he had made this morning's appointment last week but when he showed up this morning they didn't have him on the schedule. Mind you this is on top of them "attempting" to order the parts for him two different times and him having to wait close to six weeks to finally get the parts in for his truck (getting new helper springs on his pick-up. He had an appointment, like I said for 8:30, but at 9:15 his truck will still sitting where he had left it out front. They finally took it in. He was still sitting in the lounge when I left. Nice guy....learned about the great game in N. Dakota...pheasants, deer, elk, turkeys...but no bear.

The job on the valve extenders seems to be fine but I wonder how common the problem is that my fellow RV'er had this morning. Failure to place orders for parts that a customer orders...failing to call the customer when the parts come in...not putting the customer on the schedule. Not a good way to create "happy campers" in your customers AND perhaps a contributing factor in why Camping World (as part of Affinity)is on the "bottom rung" report with a high likelihood of failing within the next year. Hmmm....time will tell what happens to them. Maybe they should contact AIG and see if they can help them out.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

What were they thinking ?

On TV tonight was a show on how our country got into the whole mortgage mess. Over the past few months I have seen a number of people on shows try to explain the specifics of how we got to this point (everyone from Bill Clinton to Suze Orman) but no one explained it with the clarity and down to earth description as they did tonight.

There were a number of people on the show, from various levels of involvement in this mess, that gave specifics on what these mortgage companies did. Some were whistle blowers and one guy actually went to jail for his participation in falsifying loan documents. Some examples of what banks stooped to by giving out these bogus loans were... Falsified applications where income amounts were cut and pasted to make someone's income look higher than it really was. Huge incentives to salespeople to sell "dirty" products (mortgages that are clearly not a good match for the applicant). Threats to honest bank officials reviewing these mortgages who questioned the viability of the loan.

A big snowball of GREED (at all levels), deceit and corruption permeated the whole system. The kick-off point for the whole process, that is very baffling to me, is why some of these people applied for mortgages they clearly were not qualified for. Don't people go to a bank with some ballpark number in their heads of what they can afford each month ? Why would a person making $50,000 a year ask for a $600,000 mortgage ? DUH ! Several of the people on this show got mortgages for which they clearly were doomed. What were they thinking ? Many of them never even read the loan documents to see that instead of the fixed interest rate, they had asked for, that they were actually being given a variable rate.

So the calamity continued...on up the chain...mortgage companies didn't care whether the applicant could pay them back or not cause the mortgages were sold to other companies. Let someone else worry about it. And the mortgages were sold as investments on Wall Street with over inflated ratings because banks had never faltered before so just give them a AAA rating. So the whole thing, from start to finish, was built upon a house of cards.....until the point came where the whole system came crashing down. Overinflated property values....lending to people who should not have been given loans...corrupt mortgage companies selling products that they could make the highest commission off of and on and on it went....

Now our country is paying the price and it will take a long time (and a lot of money) for us to recover from this. Where is the integrity and honesty that used to drive American business? What happened to the days when business was done with a handshake and you knew that the person was true to their word? What happened to people taking responsibility for their actions? Troubling times ahead for our nation......

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Throw Momma from the .....

Our computer has been on the fritz for the last few weeks and really decided to be unruly yesterday so consequently no post since Thursday.
Yesterday we went out and about and did some errands. While at the local Dollar General to buy some Dove knock-off soap (just kidding) Linda bought Boomer a new baby. Boomer's old baby was a small rhinoceros that he disemboweled probably a good year ago and he's been carrying around the "shell" of it gently in his mouth....tossing this lifeless carcass in the air only to have it drift down to the floor without much fanfare. Now he has a little teddy bear (a leftover from Valentine's Day that he's already ripped the "I Love You" heart off of) that he can toss, carry around and rest his chin on. Awwww.....

Today we went to the train museum in Foley where they have a miniature train display. They are open on Tuesday, Thursdays and Saturdays from 10-2. What a great place ! They have a large room set up with multiple train tracks (I counted at least 8)and all types of automated things going on in the display. They put on a show for about 20-25 minutes where they showed off the automation. In the little miniature fire house, you could see the firemen through the window slide down the fire pole...the door go up and the fire truck drive out to the burning building in the next block. Really cute. There was so much detail to this display. All of the items were donated to the city and once they had all the items, it took them 14 months to assemble the whole display. They continually add new pieces....billboards that light up...a grain elevator representing the mid west, a miniature Breyers ice cream sign that lights up, etc. It is free and you can tell that the men who take care of the display have alot of fun in maintaining it and showing it off for young and old alike.

When we left the train museum we headed out Rt. 98 to find the cheese shop we'd been told about. What a popular place this is ! A small home-made sign, on Rt 98, points you down a side road to the lane where Sweet Home Farm sits. You can see the cows grazing in the field and apparently they use their milk to produce an amazing line of cheeses. The selling takes place in a building about the size of a milkhouse. The parking lot was tiny and since we were driving Bertha, we drove in and back out again and parked near the road. People were lined out the door of the selling area (shed/milkhouse). We squeezed in to get a glimpse of what was inside but it was too crowded for me and I left to go look at this guy. From what I could see, through the sea of bodies, they had uniquely flavored cheeses like garlic, onion, etc. They are only open on Fridays and Saturdays and from the size of the crowd, they have quite a business.

We drove back into town and had lunch at Firehouse, grabbed some groceries from Wal Mart and headed home. Oh yeah, here's another sight from our day out....the low tech version of Alabama AC... Sure hope he's got seat belts if Momma's gonna ride in that thing.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Slippery Revelations

A local news channel reported a story that had both of us shocked. They went to different dollar stores and purchased all the different types of soap that they could find and then took them to a lab for testing. When you think of soap you think of something that is sanitary and a way to rid yourself of germs. That isn't what they discovered.

When they tested the Dove knockoff bar they found it was loaded with bacteria. Tests showed that instead of washing off the germs, the soap loaded hand washers up with germs. Most of the colonies were ordinary skin bacteria, but a few of the bacteria showed they could cause diseases like staph infections. The results shocked scientists. Scientists say they were expecting to see one or two colonies from a sample and from the brand tested they found thousands.

The problem is an ingredient called Sodium Tallowate, which is a common name for cow or pig fat. If the component is not processed in a completely sterile environment, the results can be both disgusting and dangerous. Doctors say the best way to make sure the soap you are using is safe, is to buy an American brand of liquid soap that uses a pump. What an eye opener this story was !

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Blue Angels


Vicki and Bob came over and picked us up and we left around 7:00 this morning to drive to Pensacola so we could watch the Blue Angels practice session. Was still foggy as we crossed this bridge and the sun was trying to break through the fog.

Today wasn't a true practice for the team. Since the team just returned to Florida, today was a chance for them to do "spotting"....get the lay of the land and get visual landmarks to aid them when they do their maneuvers. There were only four planes up today. Usually there are six planes in formation.

Three of the four pilots today are new members of the Blue Angels. Next week they will begin their regular acrobatic practices with all six team members. We're coming back next Wednesday to watch them. The viewing area is held behind the National Naval Aviation Museum. A lot of people came out today to watch.
After the practice session the pilots went into the museum to sign autographs.
Here the commander of the team is getting ready to sign my program. Vicki asked him if his mother knew what he was doing since he appears so young. He said he's been flying for 19 years and she still doesn't like him doing it.
On our way back to the field to watch them resume flying, Vicki spied a camera crew from the local TV station off to the side and went up to them and asked if they needed to interview people for what they were doing. He said "Sure" and proceeded to set up, with his cameraman, and asked Vicki and Bob a bunch of questions while filming it. (It made it onto the news...She's a Star !)

After the autograph session we went back out to watch the pilots do solo flights. After watching that for a little while we decided to leave and go get some lunch. Went to Sonny's and had a wonderful lunch. I loved EVERYTHING that was on my plate...catfish, cole slaw,baked sweet potato and the cornbread was out of this world !

Started back to Summerdale and decided that we needed ice cream, after seeing a sign on the highway for "Scoops", to cap off a wonderful day. Found it in downtown Summerdale...


What a cute little place ! Done in an old time theme of neon, checked floors, red stools and the rear bumper of an old car on the wall, it makes for a nice stop to grab a sundae, ice cream cone or even a burger.
As we left Scoops, we noticed this young man in a nearby parking lot doing wheelies on his motorcycle. We weren't sure if he was practicing for a stunt show or just goofing around but we pulled in and watched him until the chain came off his bike and he was out of commission. What a full day and such fun. We can't wait to go back next week to get the full affects of the Blue Angels show as they do their aerial acrobatics. Will post more pictures next week....

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Plan C

No, I'm not talking about picking a Medicare plan here. Yesterday Linda asked the nursing agency, that she's been working with, for something definitive that she had the position in Louisiana. The rep said that anyone she's ever sent to this facility has been accepted and left it at that. Today she got a call that the April 9 orientation has been canceled. After yesterday's response (or lack of one), Linda had started inquiring about other positions with different agencies. Good thing....as now she's back to the drawing board. The downturn in the economy is impacting the health care profession too....Today she's been fielding calls from the reps, from all these agencies she applied to, to see what they have open. We'll keep you posted on how things go.

Tomorrow we're going to Pensacola, with Vicki and Bob (from Amazon), to see the Blue Angels practice. Should be alot of fun. They practice for about an hour and then they come to the Naval Museum, where we will be, to sign autographs. We're excited ! Wish I had a video camera so I could tape some of the highlights of their practice. Hopefully I'll get some pictures.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Water Everywhere.....



I'm starting to feel like the Ty-D-Bol guy with all this rain. Has been raining here for three straight days and the ground is saturated.







"Ya think there's a little clay in the soil here ?"

This picture was taken before the rain started. We went by there today and there was a small swimming pool on the lot. With such heavy clay content, it doesn't soak in...just stands there.



"The Bridge Over No Water"
This is the bridge to no where. It sits a short distance from the clay lot. It sits on the corner of a lot, near the road, but isn't over a stream or anything. Just sits there. Perhaps now with the rain, there might be something running down the cement culvert running under the bridge. The rain is supposed to be moving out tonight and tomorrow we'll have sunny skies and temps in the mid 70's. Should be a beautiful day !

Sunday, March 15, 2009

New Site is up....

The new website is up....This site combines our interest in the physical, mental and spiritual side of the total being. My goal is to provide resources and information on a variety of things related to these areas.

One of the topics featured on this site is on reiki. I first learned of reiki many years ago when I took my kids to an Open House that was being held at the college where I used to work. We went to the Health Sciences building and were looking around at the various exhibits. They were starting a workshop in one of the rooms on reiki.....something I knew nothing about.

Mind you that on this day, I was having a horrible case of bursitis in my shoulder. I couldn't lift my arm up away from body without a great deal of pain in my shoulder. I had suffered from this, off and on, during my ten years in the baking profession.....from kneading and pounding on dough but I don't remember what caused the flare up on this particular day.

We sat down in the room and listened to what the woman was saying about reiki.....none of which I remember. She asked for someone to demonstrate on and I volunteered. I laid down on a table but didn't tell her anything about my shoulder being incredibly sore. She placed her hands above my shoulder area and left them there for a short while. When she finished, I sat up and got off the table. When I tried to move my sore arm I did so as if there had never been anything wrong with it at all. I couldn't believe it. I hadn't felt anything miraculously different while she had her hands there....no tingling...no warmth....no nothing. But when I moved it around; something I hadn't been able to do at all that day, it moved freely and effortlessly. I became a believer and decided I needed to learn more.

Since then I've taken a reiki class myself and ironically enough the instructor was the same woman who had held the workshop many years earlier. Strange, huh ? I've used reiki on myself and on Linda for a variety of ailments. I'm not a reiki master....that takes multiple levels of training but reiki is something that is very interesting to learn about and can have a profound impact on healing. If you'd like to learn more about topics such as this, check out the new site http://thetotalbeing.blogspot.com/

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Money Saving Idea ?

Someone recently sent me an e-mail with this information in it and I thought it worth sharing so you can ponder it:

"The Proposal"

When a company falls on difficult times, one of the things that seems to happen is they reduce their staff and workers. The remaining workers must find ways to continue to do a good job or risk that their job would be eliminated as well. Wall street, and the media normally congratulate the CEO for making this type of "tough decision", and his board of directors gives him a big bonus.
Our government should not be immune from similar risks. Therefore: Reduce the House of Representatives from the current 435 members to 218 members. Reduce Senate members from 100 to 50 (one per State). Then, reduce their staff by 25%.

Accomplish this over the next 8 years (two steps/two elections) and of course this would require some redistricting.

Some Yearly Monetary Gains Include:

*$44,108,400 for elimination of base pay for congress. (267 members X $165,200 pay/member/ yr..)

*$97,175,000 for elimination of their staff. (estimate $1.3 Million in staff per each member of the House, and $3 Million in staff per each member of the Senate every year)

*$240,294 for the reduction in remaining staff by 25%.

*$7,500,000,000 reduction in pork barrel ear-marks each year. (those members whose jobs are gone. Current estimates for total government pork earmarks are at $15 Billion/yr)

The remaining representatives would need to work smarter and improve efficiencies. It might even be in their best interests to work together for the good of our country! We may also expect that smaller committees might lead to a more efficient resolution of issues as well.

It might even be easier to keep track of what your representative is doing.

Congress has more tools available to do their jobs than it had back in 1911 when the current number of representatives was established.(telephone, computers, cell phones to name a few)

Note:
Congress did not hesitate to head home when it was a holiday, when the nation needed a real fix to the economic problems.

Summary of opportunity:

$ 44,108,400 - reduction of congress members.

$282,100,000 - for elimination of the reduced house member staff.

$150,000,000 - for elimination of reduced senate member staff.

$59,675,000 - for 25% reduction of staff for remaining house members.

$37,500,000 - for 25% reduction of staff for remaining senate members.

$7,500,000,000 - reduction in pork added to bills by the reduction of
congress members.

$8,073,383,400 per year, estimated total savings. (that's 8-BILLION
just to start!)

Big business does these types of cuts all the time.

If Congresspersons were required to serve 20, 25 or 30 years (like
everyone else) in order to collect retirement benefits, tax payers could save a bundle. Now they get full retirement after serving only ONE term.

Personal Comment: You learn in basic college management classes that when technology is introduced into the workplace and efficiencies are achieved that the first place cuts should be made is in middle management. No one would seem to be more "middle management" than our Senators and representatives. They need to learn to work smarter and not harder, like the rest of us have had to do with the going gets tough. I would bet that there haven't been a whole lot of staff cuts over the years up on capitol hill. Not that this idea would ever get off the ground but is interesting to think about.

List of Defunct RV manufacturers

According to this mornings edition of RVtravel.com, here is the most recent list of RV manufacturers who have filed bankruptcy or who have filed Chapter 11. It's a sad state of affairs for the RV industry but to be expected in an economy such as we have now where only the strong will survive.

RV manufacturers out of business
Alfa Leisure
Ameri-Camp
Bigfoot
Chinook/Trail Wagons
Dolphin
Extreme RV
Fleetwood trailer division (closed for good)
King of the Road
National RV
NuWa Industries
Pilgrim International
Sun Valley Inc.
Sunline Coach
Teton Homes
TravelSupreme
Weekend Warrior
Western RV, Inc

Companies that have declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
Country Coach (Factory closed)
Fleetwood (Still building motorhomes and manufactured homes)
Monaco (Factory closed)
Rexhall (Bankruptcy, still operating)

There is talk, in this same news letter that Affinity, the parent company of The Good Sam Club, Trailer Life, Camping World and a bunch of other RV related things is not expected to last out the year. Fleetwood is the most recent addition to this list but I don't think it will be the last. Rough times are still ahead for the RV industry.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Family Update

Linda got a call this morning, from her brother Roy, that her older brother Bob had a heart attack this morning. We haven't done much during the day...drove to the post office to check for mail but nothing yet. Called to check on a tracking number and found out that our mail service had forgotten to mail it out but will send it right out today. The most recent news, on Linda's (Linda B)brother is that his one artery was completely blocked, they put two stints in and he is OK. He was out walking this morning when it happened. Good thing he had his cell phone with him so that he could summon help.

In other news I'm working on another web site that deals with health, whether it be physical, psychological or spiritual. It will have some neat interactive things on it for hands-on learning and links to other sites and resources with good tips on healthy living. Will continue work on it over the weekend and maybe it will be ready to go early next week.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Fairhope, Alabama

This afternoon we drove towards the coast to the cute little town of Fairhope. It's an artsy town with neat shops and the Fairhope Historical Museum. We went into the museum and there were some interesting items on display. This picture shows the accomplishments that one of the early mayors passed during his term (I believe it was from 1912 - 1914). Click on the picture to enlarge it. Looks like a pretty aggressive agenda of accomplishments, don't you think ? More than our modern day congress accomplishes with its bi-partisan bickering.

It appears that there must be a wealthy clientele of folks that live in Fairhope. I've never been in a thrift store, as they had here, where there is an extensive selection of furs and stoles for sale. Hmmm....
Once we left town we drove down to the coast where the beach was and there was a very nice park.There was this huge fountain at the entrance to the waterfront park and this sign showing all the wintering birds that come to the area. We drove down the coast for a little ways, looking at the nice houses along the shore. We circled around and came back down rt 32 and stopped at Coastal Haven campground to check it out. I got a quick look at it as we went past it, on the way to Fairhope, and it looked nice and clean...with concrete sites so we wanted to check it out. We drove in and went to the end of one row and came around to the backside of the office. I noticed a woman walking along behind our truck but didn't pay much attention. When Linda and I got out of the truck to go in the office and get a brochure we heard someone holler to us. Turned around and that woman who had been following us was Linda from the Amazon campground in Coffeyville. Seems her and her husband have been staying there for a while. Right across the street from her is where Vickie and Bob are staying (unfortunately they weren't home)....we were so surprised to run into them there and got a chance to find out where Vicki and Bob are staying as we want to visit with them while we are in the area. Small world....Seems the last month or so has been like an Amazon Old Home Days...bumping into the folks we worked with in Coffeyville. What fun !

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Quiet Day...

We spent most of the day just hanging around the house. Linda had a nursing webinar at 1:00 so after that finished we headed to the post office to check for mail and then we decided to drive around. We went in the opposite direction, from where we had driven before, to check things out. We found the Camping World store....which our friends Bobbie and Jim had taken us to when we first arrived but since we were new to the area when they took us, we didn't realize it was up this way. Went in and bought a couple things and continued on up the road. Drove through Robertsdale where we saw a Habitat for Humanity Restore....a store where building supplies are sold for a lot less than you'd pay in a regular store. These supplies come from contractors, demolition crews and stores who donate the items to Habitat. Habitat uses the funds, from selling these items, to help fund their building projects for needy families.

We bought some ice cream and ate that while we drove back home. Another great day weather wise....might be some rain coming by the weekend.

Linda is still waiting to be confirmed for the job in Natchitoches, LA. I got some good news yesterday. My fingerprints came back from FEMA clear so I can be deployed any time now. 81 days till the official start of hurricane season but that isn't the only disaster we cover. Roughly 90% of the disaster work is due to floods. On PB's website, you can see the states where there are active declarations. Even though considerable time has passed in some of these states, it can take a while before an area becomes "inactive".
We're watching the show, "Lie to Me"....an interesting show about body language and the art of telling whether someone is lying or not. It's a great show ! Hope you had a great day and have an even better one tomorrow.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Fort Morgan, Alabama


Today Linda and I took the motorcycle to Fort Morgan, which is down near Gulf Shores....way out on the tip of the coast. As a coastal fort it was designed to control the main ship channel into Mobile Bay. With its star shape it could put a heavy concentration of artillery fire on an enemy fleet as it approached. There are only a few structures that remain of the 100 structures that existed in its heyday. Construction on the fort began in 1819 and it was completed 15 years later. The fort was even used during WWII but after that was deactivated in 1946.

It was a gorgeous ride out to the Fort, which is 37 miles from our campground. The temps were in the 70's today...blue skies and a light breeze. Since the fort is located on the coast, we walked down to the beach after we toured the fort. This is not a public beach so no groomed white sand....actually there are still washed remnants of recent hurricanes on the beach. As you look off the coast, there are lots and lots of oil platforms as far as you can see.Standing on top of the fort I counted at least 20 platforms that I could see. I wonder how many of them are operational since I know some of them were impacted by the last coastal storm to come through here.
When we left the fort, we headed back towards Summerdale and stopped at the Coleman camping Outlet, The Old Town Pottery store and the Gulf Shore tool store. Had fun looking at gadgets and gizmos in all the different stores we went in. Got home around 5 p.m....
Tomorrow our friends leave so we got to spend a little time with them this evening before they pull out in the morning. We wish them safe and wondrous adventures ahead !!

Monday, March 9, 2009

A Day for Errands....

Today Linda and I needed to go out and run some errands. Went to the post office and then met the gang at Firehouse Subs for lunch. Great food and neat atmosphere.










Since Jim is a retired fireman, he felt right at home.

After lunch we all went to Billy's Seafood, just down the road a ways. Fresh seafood that they catch daily and sell in their shack by the water.




They had XXJumbo shrimp, still with the heads on that were REALLY huge. They had red shrimp that I'd never seen before. There were about 6 different sizes of shrimp, scallops, alligator meat, many different types of fish, crab meat, etc. Linda and I got some "Ling" fish, which the guy said is really mild tasting and we also got 2# of shrimp (the size in-between gigundo and teeny weenie). Our friends Jim and Bobbie told us that the best way to freeze shrimp is to get a "sucker machine", from Wal-Mart so our next stop was to go to Wally World and get this magical device so that these magnificent specimens of seafood don't get freezer burnt before we can devour them. This handy machine is made by Reynolds and runs less than $8 at Wally World. Linda came home and packaged the shrimp up into meal size packages. You know you're in a real fish store when you walk in the door and the smell of fresh fish is so overpowering it takes your breath away...Whew ! Funny though...after just a few minutes I could finally breathe. Can't wait to try the fish and shrimp. Didn't have any for supper tonight. When we stopped at Wal-Mart we also bought a loaf of crusty French bread and we've eaten about half of the loaf since we got home so didn't have much of a supper.

While we were out we also got our empty propane tank filled...ran almost $21 for the 30# tank...Was $15 in Florida so a bit higher here. Nice though that the night time temps here have been in the 50's so we haven't had to run the furnace at all like we did in Florida. I'll take higher prices and not running the furnace over cold nights and cheap propane.

So that was our first trip to town since arriving here. Not much on tap for tomorrow. Probably just touch base with our friends before they head out on Wednesday. Will be our last chance to see them for who knows how long. They will be missed !

Sunday, March 8, 2009

These are a few of my Favorite Things...

I thought I'd do a post on some of the things in our rig (whether an option or just something we have with us)that make daily living so much more enjoyable. For our fellow RV'ers, the explanations aren't necessary but for non-RV'ers hopefully it will explain their function and how they operate. Click on the highlighted "topics" for more info and pictures.

1)Our Fantastic Fans: We have one of these in our kitchen area and one in the bedroom. On days where it's warm outside but not sweltering, to need the actual air conditioner on, we can run these to pull in fresh air or or reverse them to exhaust cooking fumes. They operate by wall thermostats, that can be set according to what temperature you want in the room. We love the fact that they have rain sensors on them so we can run them while we are away and if a shower comes up, they will shut off and close when they feel the raindrops. Makes it really nice for our dogs...keeps the rig cool but we don't have to worry if it storms while we are away. We also love the one in the bedroom at night. You can turn the thermostat down to put it into what I call "stealth" mode.....super silent....but when you open the little windows next to our heads, you have a stream of fresh air coming in all night long. It's wonderful and makes you sleep like a baby !

2) Green Veggie bags: Since we are vegetarians, it's important that if we buy a whole bunch of veggies that they stay fresh until we get them all used. These bags do that. We had fresh broccoli heads today that I bought a couple weeks ago and they were as fresh as the day I bought them. Great way to ensure your money doesn't go to waste before you can cook the food.

3) My recliner: I'm not a couch person...like to have my feet up and stretched out when I'm watching a NASCAR race. Peterson Industries, the maker of our Excel 5th wheel, makes all of their own furniture and the recliners are super comfy. Nuff said...

4) Silicone cookware: One thing that RV'ers don't have is the luxury of tons of storage space. Recently we've begun changing over our plastic colanders and baking pans for the soft, pliable silicone ones. We now have a pop-out colander (great spacesaver), silcone muffin pan, loaf pan, bundt pan, round cake pan and square cake pan. They all take up a fraction of the space the hard sided ones would have. They are great.

5) Our Motorcycle Lift and "garage": We love having our motorcycle with us. Not only does it give us one other mode of transportation but riding is a passion that Linda and I have enjoyed our whole lives. Is also great to have an enclosed area where we can store the bike and keep it out of the weather. The skirt wraps around the front of the rig where the bedroom overhang is....making a small garage for storage.


6) Big foot hydraulic levelers: Is easy to get set up and level with a hand-held control that extends or retracts the four "legs". Each leg can be operated independently or you can operate all simultaneously. With the large round base on each foot it makes the rig very stable.


7) Pivot-Ez Sewer Hook-up: No mess...no fuss. A pivoting container that holds your sewer hose so no need to disconnect your hose and figure out where to stow it. Just unscrew the end cap, pull out your hose and hook up to the sewer hook-up at your campsite.

8) Our desk area: We have a large work area that holds our scanner/printer and has ample storage. We chose to have a hanging file drawer instead of the electric fireplace to hold our files and create two other cupboards for storage. We're glad we opted for storage.


9)Shoe Cabinet: With storage space at a premium and shoes taking up so much space, we found a compact cabinet that holds alot of shoes. It sits just inside the door of the rig so we keep shoes handy but tucked out of sight.

10)Day/Night Shades: Wasn't really familiar with these type of blinds before we got our rig but we love these shades. Can total put up to let light in the window....put day shade down to filter the direct sunlight....put the night shade down over the day shade and gives a second layer that darkens the room and provides privacy to the interior occupants. When we worked the night shift at Amazon and used the night shades it totally darkens the room for a peaceful sleep. With the night shade down, it also keep the hot summer sun from penetrating and warming the room up even more. Not just for RV's....would be great in a house where you want to control the amount of sunlight entering a space or want to control amount of privacy you have.

These are some of the handy items that make full-timing easier. If you're an RV'er, post some of your "favorite things" in the comment section so we can share ideas.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

New Orleans

As I left off in the last post, Linda was waiting to hear if we need to depart for Louisiana for an earlier start to her job. Turns out the woman, at the hospital, whom Linda's rep was leaving voicemails for all day....had left work at 1:00 on Friday. It wasn't until she asked to speak with that woman's supervisor that they found this out and no decision can be made without this woman's say so. So, we will stay here until her April orientation or if something else is worked out for an earlier start. Bummer !

Linda returned from her trip to New Orleans about 6:30 on Friday evening. All went smoothly (and rather quickly) on getting her temporary nursing license so then off Linda, Colette and Jim went to explore New Orleans. Was a tad tricky finding a parking spot for Bertha...she's bigger than your average breadbox ! Once they finally found a place, then they took Jim's TomTom in hand and made their way to Coop's Place for lunch.



A favorite place with the locals, they feasted on shrimp po-boys, gumbo and fresh cut fries. For dessert they went to Cafe Du Monde and had beignets...


It was interesting for Linda to be in New Orleans and see what changes Katrina created. She and I were there one month before Katrina hit and spent a great deal of time walking around the city so when images of various area landmarks came on the TV, during the disaster, we would say..."We were just there". There is still alot of clean-up needed and it's sad to say that after so much time has passed. Like in this picture, there are still piles of debris in some neighborhoods.

She saw vacant lots, where all that remained were concrete pads....houses with boarded up windows and houses with the roofs still missing. Hospitals with chain link fence around them....closed up and abandoned. A city that has a long way to go to get anywhere close to what it once was.
Even though some of the city was depressing, overall she had a great time with Jim and Colette in New Orleans...laughing and sharing good times and great food. Makes for a fun day when you have friends along to lighten the day.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Natchitoches Bound.....

Linda left with Jim and Colette around 7:30 this morning to drive to Metarie, LA so Linda could get her temporary nursing license for Louisiana. While en route to the State Board of Nursing, she got a call from her nursing agency saying that there is a vacancy in the March 9 orientation due to another nurse backing out. We just got here yesterday and paid for a month...Oh Boy ! We are now waiting for her rep to present her info to the hospital in Natchitoches (pronounced Nak a tish)to see if she can fill that seat, this coming Monday. Linda is 3.5 hours away from me so I got on the phone and started calling campgrounds down there to see if there is a site available. I found a site so we are good in that regards. I stayed home today to finish setting the rig up for our stay here. Got the bike unloaded...skirting on the front...all the putting away that needed to be done. Got that all accomplished but now I might be gathering it all up this afternoon and loading it up again to leave tomorrow. My thought is that we might as well grab this opportunity while we can....The way the economy is...you don't know if something might happen to the April openings that they won't be there when the time comes. Linda needs to know today...We have 462 miles of traveling ahead of us if they will take her for Monday's orientation. Will post more once we know more...

Thursday, March 5, 2009

We've arrived in Summerdale, Alabama

Left Ocala on Wednesday around 5 p.m. Parts didn't arrive until 11:30 so by the time they got all the bushings installed and the alignment done, it was the end of the day. The guys did a great job though...we would certainly go back there again to get anything done on our rig.
We hit the road and got to Tallahassee around 8:15. Stopped at Pilot, got fuel, took the dogs for a walk, then grabbed a bite to eat with Linda's nephew, Bryan. They had a great time catching up over supper.

We left Tallahassee and drove a while longer before pulling into a rest stop for the night. Got up this morning and finished the second leg of the trip to the Escapee park here in Summerdale. Park was full so we started to set up in the dry camping area but then the manager came by and told us someone had just left so we could set up on site #7. It's a great site....a shade tree on each side of us. Huge sites....and beautiful singing birds in the trees just outside our door. We met up with our friends Bobbi and Jim and went out to get the lay of the land. There's a lot more around here than I had anticipated there would be. Just about any store you'd want within a short drive and all sorts of restaurants. Bobbi and Jim took us to the Shrimp Basket where we met up with Dennis and Colette (our other friends from Amazon)for a great shrimp dinner.

We had a great meal and a lot of laughs over dinner. Tomorrow Linda has a busy day. She needs to drive to Metarie, just outside of New Orleans, to get her Louisiana nursing license. Jim and Colette want to ride along to take in the sights. Should be an fun day.