Back To Work...

We finished our trek from Summerdale, AL to Texas and have arrived at our first assignment of the year in Fulton (next door to Rockport). We spent last night with our friends Bobbie and Jim at their gate. They provide gate guarding services at an oil well in central Texas. Here's a picture of all the equipment that enables them to be self sufficient at their site. They have a large generator that operates about 23 hours a day, a large fresh water tank and a sewage disposal tank. Pretty nifty, huh.

We were able to park our rig right in front of theirs, which made it so handy for cooking meals, etc. We introduced them to the Whole 30 challenge foods we've been eating such as ghee and coconut oil. Linda cooked up gulf shrimp in ghee, along with veggies for our supper. Yum ! We had such a great time catching up with them. We left this morning and drove the two hours here to Blue Lagoons. Tomorrow we need to meet with all of the parks and get the ball rolling on the job. We'll be here for the next five weeks.

Weather was cloudy and drizzly on the way here today. Supposed to be in the high 70's tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing the beauty of the area under sunny skies.

Fort Morgan

  Yesterday we took the trike out and rode down to Fort Morgan, about an hour's drive from the campground. We wanted to go for a ride and our neighbor mentioned about the drive out to the Fort so I thought that might be a good place to go. Once we got there and I remembered what it looked like, I remembered what a neat place it is to take pictures. So many arched doorways and old wooden doors make for some interesting shots. It was really chilly yesterday so we had several layers of clothes on. Being that the Fort is right next to the ocean and was a primary means of defense from attacks from the sea, it gets quite a bit of wind there. This Fort was used off and on for over 100 years to protect our country during different wars. And to think they built it for $50,000, I would say they got their money's worth out of it. If you ever get in the Gulf Shores area, be sure to look it up. It's way out on the point, near Dauphin Island (you can take a ferry over there). It's a neat facility to see that played a big role in American history.

On the way back to the campground, we stopped by Billy's Seafood and bought 2# of shrimp. We ate half of them last night, cooked in ghee. Oh my, were they incredible ! They don't taste anything like the stuff you buy in the store.We're going to polish off the rest of them tonight. Been running our little electric heaters to stay warm. It's been dropping into the 30's at night. To think that 10 days ago we were riding the trike in shorts and tank tops and now we need five layers, is crazy. I prefer the shorts type of weather. We've been watching the temps, down in Port Aransas, and it's been staying in the 60's during the days and usually in the 50's at night. Just one more week and then we'll get back to work.

Naval Museum in Pensacola

Yesterday the weather was cold and windy so we thought it would be a good day to go to Pensacola and spend the day indoors at the Naval Museum. Besides being a great place to hang out indoors and experience new things it's FREE. One of the new exhibits is Hangar One, which houses Marine One, the Presidential helicopter of President Nixon and Ford. You were able to walk up inside the entrance of the helicopter and look back through it to see how the Presidents might have spent their time on board.

 

 

 

Not horribly spacious inside Marine One but enough room for a few people to sit with the President. I think now with Bo on board, it would make for tight quarters.

As I mentioned in a previous post, we were hoping the Blue Angels would be practicing while we are here but they won't be here till March. One of the staff members, at the museum, said that when they are in town the museum gets 15,000 visitors to the museum daily. They are a huge draw for the museum.

One of the exhibits shows small town USA life, as it was during wartime. There are storefronts set up and another area where it feels like you're walking through camp, where the soldiers are set up with their bunkers and tents. For those of you who aren't familiar with boondocking and how to conserve your supply of water, this best sums up what you need to do as far as showering goes:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After we left the Naval Museum, we stopped by the lighthouse for a quick picture. It was way too cold and windy to do any more than that.

We grabbed some lunch at Red Robin and then found a great organic food co-op in Pensacola. Picked up a couple of items that we haven't been able to find (unsweetened coconut flakes and ghee (clarified butter). Such a nice store and they are getting ready to do a big expansion. We'll have to check it out the next time we come to the area.

Outlaw Lover

The nice thing about I-10, across Florida, is that there are rest areas about every 30 or 40 miles. Yesterday, at lunchtime, we pulled off at a rest area to have some lunch. As Linda went out the back door, with Boomer, she was approached by a woman who was in the Class C next to us. She, her husband and four daughters are from Canada and have been traveling throughout the US for the last several months. They have a thirty some foot Class C that they are traveling in and towing their car. She said they didn't have enough room and she had just found the Damon Outlaw (like ours) on-line the previous evening and wondered where she could see one. Along came us to park right next to them.

She came into the rig and had a ton of questions for us. Typically we wouldn't put the slide out at a rest area but we put it out so she could see the amount of space. Linda asked her several times if she wanted to go over and get her husband so he could see the inside. She said, "No, if I like it that's all that matters." I guess it's a "Happy Wife, Happy Life" sort of thing.

I told her about the two new models that are coming out for the Outlaw, which actually have room for more to sleep than ours does.

The new models have an optional patio rail for the ramp....something that might be perfect for a family like theirs. The new model also has the drop down bed over the front seats, like the older Simba motorhome used to have. She was so excited to see one an Outlaw in person and get to check out the storage capacity. She said that if they were to buy something here, they'd have 60 days and then they'd have to be back in Canada to register it and get it inspected. They can only stay in the US for 6 months and then they need to return.

I gave her the link for the irv2 forum, where several Outlaw owners are great about sharing tips and modifications that they've done to their Outlaws. Several have created the patio effect on their own and put a screen across the back so the bugs can't get in. What a sweet set-up, backed up to a pretty stream or body of water. It makes for an extension to your living area.

Encounters like this are neat and a great break in our day. We're happy to share our experiences with others and provide resources for them. What great memories they are making with their daughters...on the road, Livin' The Dream and exploring this great country.

Hanging Around the Plantation...

We arrived in Summerdale, AL this afternoon at Rainbow Plantation....one of the Escapee parks. We love this park and the area. Driving through Robertsdale, on the way here, gave me that warm and fuzzy feeling like when you go home. I think it's because the sites are big enough that you have room to stretch out and not be on top of your neighbor. We were hoping the Blue Angels were in Pensacola, doing their winter practice, but they are in California. Last time we were here our friends Vicki and Bob took us to see the Blue Angels and then we ate at Sonny's BBQ. A great time with great people !

To catch you up on how our rig repair went, they figured out that we had a bad compressor. Luckily, they had the right one in stock and they put a new one in and we were on the road at 12:30 p.m. Thank goodness it was under warranty cause it was $563 just in parts cost to fix it. Once again we have cold air...yippee ! We left Orlando and headed east to get on I-95. We drove to the rest area near Mims and stopped for the night. In walking around the parking area, we discovered that there was a lower lot that only had one truck in it. I walked from the lower lot back up to the top lot and discovered this sweet parking spot near the picnic area. Big enough for us but no other trucks which meant a quiet night of sleeping ! It was wonderful. A great place to boondock for the night if you're traveling north on I-95.

Yesterday we got on the road and took I-95 to 40 and took that west to I-75. That was a really nice drive....not congested but like a drive through the countryside. Trader Joe's opened a new store, a few weeks ago, in Gainesville and when I googled a satellite version of it, it looked like we could park the rig there. Sure enough, we got there and found a place for the rig. It's a large parking lot with stores around the perimeter of the lot. Picked up a bunch of stuff we needed from there for our Whole 30 challenge and hit the road. The other cool thing, for our RV friends out there is that it's within .5 mile of the interstate. If you're going north on I-75 and exit, don't let your GPS tell you the store is on the right....it's not. It's on the left, just past the Publix plaza. Stocked up on 3 buck chuck (wine) for after our Whole 30 challenge...gotta celebrate dontcha know.

Ok, fast forward....we've arrived in Summerdale. Temps are expected to be in the high 60's and 70's. Slight chance of rain in the next couple of days. The trike is unloaded and we hope to get some riding in. We've paid for a week but might stay right up until we need to leave for work in Texas. That's the other awesome thing about this place. You don't have to give a definite date when you want to leave. It's a first in - first out park so worst case, you stay in the boondock area for a night till a spot opens up. We're here for at least a week...It's all good.....

What Was She Thinking ?....

We left the Keys on Sunday and started to make our way north. We had an appointment at a Ford dealer, in Orlando, to get some routine work done (15,000 mile check, oil change, rotate front tires,etc.). We spent the last two nights at a Passport America park on Lake Toho (there's more to the name but this is the abbreviation). Nice little park for $15 per night. It's called Lake Toho RV Resort and it's close to Kissimmee and about an hour from Orlando.

Yesterday we went to visit an RV Women member who we had contacted. Linda will send out an e-mail to RVW members, when she knows we'll be in their area so we can get together and meet more of the members. Usually very few of them respond to our calls or e-mails but we're so happy that Rene did. As we found out in meeting her, she is a gifted photographer and does some amazing things. One of the really cool things she does is use a 1972 Polaroid camera...the kind where the picture shoots out the end of the camera and develops as you watch it. She told us the history of the man who created the Polaroid camera and how those "developing on the spot" pictures came about but that's another whole story. OK, so she has some tools and as soon as the picture comes out of the camera she starts working on the image (before you can even see it). She embellishes the image with what appears to be brush strokes that kind of softens the image. The results are pretty remarkable. She also does glass fusing, works with latex, takes amazing large images and does unique stuff with those large prints and I could go on and on. Really neat stuff from a really neat lady ! Go to www.renegriffith.com to see her website and some of her images. You might recognize some of her stuff because it's on postcards, housewares, calendars, stationary, prints, etc. Since we're on this Whole 30 challenge, we packed a picnic lunch of the stuff we can eat and had a little picnic lunch on her back patio. Fun times ! It's so neat to meet people on the road and make connections with people you might never cross paths with.

So, like I mentioned at the top of the post, we had this appointment today at Greenway Ford, in Orlando. An 8:00 appt for which a woman called last night with her friendly reminder. Our GPS said it was an hour's drive from the campground to here, so we got up at 6 to have time for our breakfast (an important start to our day on the Whole 30 challenge) and break camp to get here in time. Traffic was worse than I had imagined it would be and we were 15 minutes late but had called when we knew we wouldn't be here at 8. I think when I pulled out of the campground this morning, I must have attached a giant sign to the front of the rig that said, "Please pull out in front of me any chance you get" cause there were several of these close calls. The biggest, "What was she thinking?" came when we were approaching an intersection and a woman decides she wants to be in my lane and then stop in the road. How I got the rig stopped in time is beyond me. I think I must have stood on the brake pedal cause I could hear stuff sliding in the rig (that normally stays put). The dog dishes slid from half way back in the rig up the rig to just behind our seats where the vinyl ends. Holy Cow ! We arrived at the garage and I was still shaking from the experience.

We get the rig checked in with the service guy and go to the lounge to do some work. About 9:45 we drive the car up to Wal-mart and down to Sams's Club to get some things. We get back to the dealership and around 1:30 I go in to check on the status of things. Kevin said he would check and find me with an update. He comes back in a few minutes and tells us that they can now begin to start work on the rig. Linda and I were shocked that they had not even begun work on the rig after having it for 5.5 hours. He explained that they only had two bays....blah blah blah. We said why didn't you tell us last night to come in at noon if work was backed up and you wouldn't start it when we arrived ? We had made our appointment several weeks ago due to our travel schedule of knowing we'd be coming through here so this lassez-faire attitude really irked us. No explanation...just we're starting it now but we can't look at the AC problem (a new item on the list was the dash AC didn't blow cold air) for another several hours. Long story short: we have a leak in the ac system (probably been there from day 1) and they have injected dye to find it. We are sitting in their parking lot. Hopefully tomorrow they will find the leak and fix it. Hoping they don't have to take out the unit and ship it away to get it fixed, instead of something simple like an "o" ring. On the bright side, if there is a better time to have this happen, it's now before we get back to work and our work schedule is really tight. Sadly, there are very few service calls where I can remember that things go smoothly, on time and you're on your way. Seems to be lots of hiccups in the repair business. Probably why I hate coming to a garage to get work done.....I was going to say that it's like going to the dentist but I don't mind the dentist at all. I would much rather go to the dentist and I will be doing just that in the near future (lost a filling the other day). Man, it's always something!

Before the big game.....

I thought we were going to miss all the craziness, coming through Miami, driving today but no cigar. For those of you who aren't into football, tomorrow is the super bowl of sorts for college football and it's being played in Miami. We've never driven through Miami before and all the high rise skyscrapers were pretty impressive. The whole skyline was filled with them. Oh, and the traffic was horrendous. Maybe it's this way on a normal day but it seemed to take forever to get through the stoplights on 1-North and make our way to 95-North. Was sure happy to see the interstate !

We have stopped for the night at a rest area in Fort Pierce. We are headed to the Orlando area to get some routine service done on our rig and then mosey towards Alabama. I'm sure we'll have the crimson tide pushing us along but hopefully they'll get home before we are headed their way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Was neat to see Miami...I'll think fondly of it when I watch CSI-Miami next time but I think in the future I'll take the toll road and bypass all the city lights and traffic. Sure enjoyed our time at Jolly Roger RV Park, in Marathon, Florida. Nice facilities, beautiful waterfront area and super nice people. And if you have Passport America, you get 1/2 off their regular rate for 5 days. They had just opened up a new area in the park for Passport America rigs and the sites were decent size, grassy and easy to get into. Would certainly stay there again if we go back to the Keys. On our way off the Keys, we took in all the water views our brain could hold. Gonna miss that....haven't seen water quite that beautiful before.

Will head out in the morning and head north a little bit. Keep moseying down the road....

John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park

Linda and I took the hour ride north to the coral reef state park. The park was created to protect and preserve a portion of the only living coral reef in the continental US. The park extends three miles into the Atlantic Ocean, is approximately 21 miles in length and adjacent to the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. The park was named after one of the early proponents of the preservation of its reef, John Pennekamp. Pennekamp was a Miami newspaper editor who also helped establish Everglades National Park.

Inside the visitor center, they had an movie that went over all the different types of coral, vertebrates and sponges. It was pretty impressive....I've never seen so many different types of coral. They also have a 30,000  gallon saltwater aquarium, with many of the coral types on display and nature exhibits. They have nature trails and we took one of them through the mangroves.

 

They have snorkeling and glassbottom boat tours available. When we were walking along the shore, it was really sad to see all of the plastic crap that had washed up on the beach. Our tour guide, in Key West, told us about the plastic vortex out in the ocean where every piece of plastic winds up. We saw pictures today of that plastic junk pile in the visitor center...it's pretty disgusting. Many of these plastic items are harmful to sealife cause they get entangled in the plastic or they eat it and it kills them.

Look at this bird....he was sitting under the stream of water in the birdbath. Stayin' cool...

Another great day in the Keys....temp was close to 80 today. Got a sprinkle of rain mid-day. Maybe tomorrow we'll check out the pool here at the park. It's a new pool that they can heat or chill, keeping it just the perfect temperature. Hope everyone has a great weekend !

Our Day in Key West....

Yesterday we took the trike to Key West to spend the day. What an awesome ride it was. It took us 90 minutes each way and I had to keep reminding myself that it's January because we were riding in shorts and a t-shirt. We followed another Damon Outlaw for a while then he pulled off on one of the many parking areas along the coast. We pulled up alongside of him and chatted for a bit. He has a 2005 Outlaw and had been to the bowl game in Florida. Like so many of us, he loves his Outlaw. I was hoping that he was one of the guys from the irv2 forum, where fellow Outlaw owners talk about their rigs but he wasn't. He carries two motorcycles in the garage but his model only has the front entry door...no door into the garage.

When we got to Key West, we bought tickets for one of the trolley companies and took the hour long cruise around town. It was informative and a great way to get a feel for the layout of town.

Here's one of the old buildings near the trolley starting point.

Real estate is very expensive, as you'd imagine for this area. We drove by a beat up "fixer upper" that recently sold for 1.8 million. It looked like some of the abandoned, boarded up houses you see along the highway. Oprah has a house on an island, across from Key West (I forget what the guide said it was called). Here's the famous "southern most point" in the U.S. It's where you're 90 miles from Cuba and 150 miles from the closest Wal-Mart. A cruise ship was in port so the line for a picture with this marker, was way down the block.

Home with an "eyebrow" roofline (covers the second floor windows)

The island of Key West is actually bigger than I thought it would be. I think the tour guide said that they enlarged the size of the island by  using landfill to widen it. The beach area (and other businesses) occupies the area where the cemetery used to be (the caskets of the original occupants got washed out to sea in one of the hurricanes). Due to the coral reefs offshore, there are no waves on their beach. A bummer for folks with boogie boards...

NOAA has a hurricane center here. The average temperature here is 77 degrees and that was just about what yesterday's temp was. It felt sort of humid but in a weird way. Perfect for the ride down and back...even after the sun went down.

Saw the Hemingway house, the lighthouse and Mallory Square, where the street performers come out and do their thing. We loved the wild chickens that run around all over the place. Several had baby chicks in tow. Can say that we've "been there - done that" in regards to Key West. For me, the three hour ride to and from was the best part. Amazing ride along the water and over the many bridges to get there. Loved the tranquility and turquoise water !

Today we sat outside the rig and read, enjoyed the breeze and warm temps. Tomorrow I think we're going out on the bike again. Can't get enough of those water views...

Marathon, Florida

We left North Fort Myers this morning and drove to Marathon, Florida...part of the Keys.We went to a bonfire and New Year's eve party last night at the resort and had a great time. We've made lots of new friends and look forward to coming back at some point to visit everyone that we met.

The weather was sunny and warm today...perfect for our drive. We stopped at a visitor center, that was part of Big Cypress Park to stretch and take a quick break before driving the rest of the way. The canal next to the visitor center was just full of gators. They were soaking up the sun on any rock they could get themselves draped over.

Having never driven to the Keys, I was worried that it was a boring drive like I-75 is in north Florida. It's not....in fact it's a great drive. You drive past a number of Indian Villages, with their thatched roof huts, through Big Cypress Park and past gorgeous waterways. It's a beautiful drive and very enjoyable, even though in many places, it's just a one lane road going each way.

The water is just beautiful here. A pretty turquoise color, glistening in the sun.

We saw this house, along the shore,  and it looks like one that may have been on HGTV's extreme homes show. With it's rounded shape, I bet it stands up well to any hurricanes that come through.

We arrived at our campground...Jolly Roger Campground at 1:45 and got set up. We have a back in site so we uploaded the bike, before backing in, so we'll have to ride on our excursions. The park is right on the ocean and the rigs along the seawall have an amazing view. There is a small grassy area, overlooking the ocean that is called Tiki Island and that is for tent campers. Wow, is that a sweet spot to be. You have a front and center spot to watch every night's sunset.

 

A View along the seawall....

He's waiting for his supper, near the fish cleaning station....

Linda got in to see how warm the water was...she said it was a little chilly. We walked down to catch the sunset, over the water and it didn't disappoint. Tomorrow we're headed to Key West for the day....