A Tough Nut To Crack

Linda and I are finishing up our stay here in Fort Myers, Florida. We got some rain the last two days. We went with our friends Vickie and Suzanne to have lunch at Mel's Diner and then to try and catch a glimpse of the burrowing owls. Lunch was great but when we drove to the neighborhoods where the owls have staked out areas in the fields, we couldn't find a single owl. These owls are on the protected list and their areas are marked by four white stakes around their underground dens. There are perches inside each area and as the girls explained, usually this is where you'll see the owls sitting. No such luck. Linda and I drove by there today too and didn't see any.

On Saturday we went to the fleamarket to stock up on veggies. On Tuesday we're starting the Whole 30 plan, which we learned about from my daughter Becky. It basically purges your system of all chemicals, sugar, processed foods for a period of 30 days. You eat items that would look like what our great grandparents ate....foods without additives. Veggies are a big part of the plan. We got lots of great stuff at the fleamarket, including a coconut. I asked the woman attendant what she knew about them and she said "not much". She said to get a green one (the brown ones are for planting). So for $1 we got a large coconut and opening it, was on my 'to do" list this morning while I watched my political shows. I figured I might as well crack a nut while I watched a bunch on TV.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I charged up my cordless drill and sanitized my big drill bit. I drilled a couple of holes in the end of the coconut so I could drain the milk out of it (when the juice is first taken out, it's clear. It thickens and clouds up as it ages) Then I took my large chef's knife and tried to cut into it. That wasn't very successful so I went after it with the drill again. I drilled a number of holes the length of it and then took my knife and "connected the dots". I flipped the coconut over and put a couple more holes in it. I took my wedge shaped tire iron and drove it into the holes and finally got the whole thing opened up. Whew ! It was dang tough work. I couldn't believe how small the actual coconut was inside. The grassy covering is excellent protection for the internal shell. Since the drill had gone through the brown shell and into the meat, it got flecks of the shell in there. I scooped all of the coconut flesh out and put it in the colander and washed it in the sink. I've got three snack bags full of coconut to snack on (coconut milk and coconut pieces are in our plan). I'm glad we only paid a dollar for it cause it took a heck of a lot of labor and experimenting with to get it open. Hope your Sunday morning was more productive than mine was.

As we exit the resort, we sometimes get a glimpse of the wild pigs playing in the ditch out near the highway. Yesterday when we went out, there wasn't just one but two adults and four baby piggies. I know they are a huge nuisance and people around here hate them but the babies sure were cute. Here's a picture I took with my phone. Here piggy piggy....

Tomorrow is New Year's eve....we have a get together here at the resort to go to and then we pull out Tuesday morning and head to Marathon till the 6th. Looking forward to exploring the area down around Miami and the Keys. Hope everyone has a safe and wonderful New year's eve.Wishing you all a healthy and prosperous 2013 !

A Fun Visit...

Becky arrived, from Boston, Monday afternoon to spend a few days with us. We relaxed the rest of Monday, enjoying the sun and warm temps. On Christmas morning, I made double chocolate and banana nut muffins. We went for a walk around the park, went to see the movie Les Miserables and then drove out to Sanibel Island/Captiva. The movie was great and I must say I think this is the first time I've ever gone to a movie on Christmas day. I couldn't believe how busy it was. It was pretty driving around the Captiva area...cute shops and beautiful beaches. Again, I was surprised how many people were out on the beaches, having picnics and just hanging out. Sanibel is known for the wonderful shelling along the beach. The shells lay in piles all along the water's edge, where the high tide has deposited them. Many people go out in the wee morning hours, once the tide recedes to look for intact, neat shells. We didn't find any of those but it sure was fun to see all the massive piles of them and pick through them. We drove through the "Ding" Darling Wildlife Preserve and saw a bunch of white pelicans and other birds in the bay areas.

 

Yesterday, we went on one of the Babcock Ranch Adventure Tours. The bus that our group took out on the ranch is shown above, with us standing on the loading platform. Our tour guide drove us around on the ranch, explaining the history of the ranch from the purchase of the 91,000 acres back in the 40's. The swamp areas were purchased for five cents an acre and the good land for twenty-five cents and acre. Pretty cheap land, don't you think ? Here's a picture of the turkeys running to meet our bus, along the route. Our tour guide had some corn on board and boy, did they love it. You should have seen how fast they were running to get to us. It was really cute.

Our guide had this little guy on board to show us and tell us about alligators. She let us touch his tail on the top and underside. He was so soft and it didn't feel at all like I thought it would. We drove out through the swamps and got to see lots of his full grown cousins. One fella was chomping on something he had just caught in the water and was thrashing around just over the side of the bridge where we could watch him. There were also lots of pretty birds in the same water hole as all the alligators....quite a neat sight. It was a fun tour.

 

 

When we left the ranch, we drove to the Manatee Park. Our timing was impeccable as the ocean temps were only 66 degrees, so the river in the park had lots of manatees, seeking the warmth of the water. Any temps 68 degrees or less and the manatees can die from the stress of the cold so they seek the inland rivers that are warm. The hard thing is that the seagrass they need for their daily diet is found out in the ocean and not in the river. When we had stopped at the Manatee Park last week, the ocean temps were warm enough that they were out feeding. Apparently the two cold days we had and the cold night temps recently have cooled down the ocean temps and forced them inland. It was fun to see them poke their noses out of the water as they'd surface from resting, to get their lungs full of air before sinking again. What a neat sight !

We crammed as much as we could into Becky's visit with us and had such a good time. We drove Becky to the airport this morning, concerned she might have a delay due to all the storms in the northeast. We had checked her departure time, before leaving the house and all was fine. We said our goodbyes and left the airport only to have her text us when we were only about a mile away. When she got to the ticket counter, checking in, they told her her flight was delayed by two hours. We drove back and picked her up. We went to a diner and got something to eat, figuring it was going to be a long day. She never did get to fly out till almost four this afternoon.....her original departure time was 11:50 a.m. She's back home now, safe and sound in Boston and we had a wonderful Christmas vacation while she was here. We wish all of our kids and family could join us at holiday time but know that isn't possible, as they have lives of their own and work obligations. We cherish the time we do have with them. We hope that all of our friends and family created wonderful Christmas memories like we did. Here's wishing a grand finale to your 2012 !

A Life in Review...

We've been here since December 1st and before we know it, it will be time to hit the road again. One of my goals was to do some things that would be part of my retirement ritual (when I do eventually retire) such as writing and working on learning how to play the guitar. I haven't gotten as far with the guitar as I would have hoped to. I'm still trying to work on it. I bought the Chord Buddy (a device that attaches to the neck of the guitar and makes forming the chords easier) and it has helped with learning the chords. I'll keep working at it.

With the end of the year as a time usually set aside as a time for reflection, this project seems sort of appropriate but covers far more than just a year.On the writing front, I am working on something called "The Book of Myself"...a Do It Yourself Autobiography in 201 questions. I started it last year and set it aside. I've been working on that and find myself writing several hours on my free days and I'm half way through. It is a document that will be left to my kids so that they will have an understanding of my upbringing, my thoughts and my life. I've read recently of documents that are becoming popular called "Ethical Wills" and I think this is similar in that it shares your beliefs, ethics and values with your loved ones. For those of you who do not have ethical wills, I would encourage you to create one as your living legacy for your children. Think of your own childhood and how much of a blank slate your parents' own history is to you. We try our best to instill good values in our kids and hope that they become good productive citizens in our world. Wouldn't it be nice to continue that legacy by leaving this document for your kids or grandkids so they might know more about you and what you believed in ? I think it's something that they would truly cherish.

It has been really neat to think about and answer the questions in this book. It has brought back so many memories that were buried way down in my brain. Not bad memories, but ones that make you go hmmmm...and ponder on that memory for a few minutes from your past. Truly a trip down memory lane....

Cruisin'....

The time here is flying by, although it seems like we just got arrived here. On Monday I had to go for some additional films and an ultra sound on my right breast because something showed up on the mammogram I had done in Virginia Beach that they didn't like the looks of. I was supposed to get it down the previous Wednesday but the films had not arrived yet from Virginia for them to compare things to. Took the additional pics they needed and did the ultra sound and found that everything is fine.

Tuesday we had our friends Vickie and Suzanne over for dinner and we learned how to play Five Crowns, an interesting card game. Linda and I play Skip-O throughout the day but I think we'll buy this game, if we can find it. It makes you think a little more than Skip-o and will make for something different (utilize a different part of our brain perhaps). We had a great time with the girls. They are also staying here at the resort.

Last night we went on our sunset party cruise. We were supposed to go last week but due to the weather system moving through, it was cancelled. We had purchased the tickets on Groupon and essentially got a 2 for 1 deal ($24 for 2 tickets). We had the choice of a dolphin cruise or a sunset party cruise. We set sail at 5:30 and headed out of the harbor. We hadn't gone very far when the captain made the announcement that he was experiencing some engine trouble and needed to go below and change out a propeller. After about 15 minutes or so, he had that taken care of and we were on our way.

We sailed past the yacht club and the area where all the shrimp boats are docked.

 

 

 

 

 

We sailed out to Sanibel Island and sat there till the sun set. We also got to watch several dolphins playing around the boat.

There were only about 16 people on board so we could walk around, to either side of the boat, to check out the sights and not get in anyone's way.

It was a beautiful night for a sunset cruise. It was a little chilly on the warm but a light coat was all that was needed. This weekend the temps are supposed to drop into the 60's so we're glad we went last night instead of this coming Saturday. After the boat docked, we walked over to Nervous Nellie's on the water in Fort Myers Beach and had dinner. They had a guy singing and playing his guitar on the patio and it made for a really nice end to the evening.

As a follow-up to other news, I think I mentioned that Linda and I had blood work done in VA Beach and both of our cholesterol levels are higher than what they should be. In lieu of going to the doctor and getting Linda on a statin drug, we're going to see if using Red Yeast Rice will help. It has the same ingredient in it that statin drugs like Lipitor, etc. have in them but the one we've chosen to take also has CQ-10 and Milk thistle in it. Milk thistle aids the liver in dealing with the active ingredient that is hard on your liver and the CoQ-10 is good overall for cardiovascular health. We're going to try this for a couple months and then get our bloodwork done again and see if her cholesterol has come down. Last week Linda also had a sleep test done, using a home testing kit. Having listened to her breathing, while sleeping, there are times when I can count a significant number of seconds where she isn't breathing. At my urging, she sent for the machine and did the at-home test. A  little computer device straps to your chest and it tests your oxygen saturation, number of respirations, etc throughout the night while you sleep. Here she is after her night of testing before we took the machine off of her. We mailed the machine back and they pulled the data out of it and e-mailed us the results. It's a pretty comprehensive report. She had 17 instances during the night where she quit breathing. Her O2 saturation dropped to 84% at several points when her brain isn't getting as much oxygen as it should cause she quit breathing and it shouldn't drop below 90%. And the number of snoring instances was 1,411. Based on the 17 times that she quits breathing, that puts her in the moderate level of sleep apnea. What happens is that either her tongue drops back in her throat blocking the airway or as we age the skin gets floppy and obstructs or collapses the airway. Since she is always tired, during the day, I suspected that this was due to lack of real, sustained sleep. If I would watch her sleep, when she has one of these snoring episodes, she awakens herself and changes position constantly throughout the night, never getting into a deep REM sleep. My suspicions were confirmed with the test so she ordered a CPAP machine so she can have a restful sleep and the O2 saturation her brain needs throughout the night. It arrived in the mail today and tonight she'll use it for the first time. Since we travel throughout the US, and at so many different elevations, we got an automatic machine that senses what elevation we are at, senses what amount of pressure she needs and will record the data so adjustments can be made in a month or so. She got a nasal pillow mask that has minimal stuff on her face so she shouldn't really know that it's there and not be hard to get used to. I am excited for her to finally get a good nights sleep so that she feels refreshed in the morning instead of still tired. I'll report back in a few days and let you know how it going.

Florida

We've had folks ask about our site here and what it's like. The ladies in yellow house own the lot that we are on and have it available for rent for lady RVers. When the resort first opened, it was 2/3 lots for RV's and 1/3 lots for homes. The lots for RV are big enough for houses so many of the people who bought an RV lot originally ended up putting a house on it so the number of RV lots has been greatly reduced. The house on the right of us is up for sale. These ladies also own an RV lot here in the resort that they just listed for sale. The clubhouse is quite large and has different activity rooms. Behind the clubhouse is a large pool and hot tub. Both overlook the lake which has a large fountain in the middle of it. It's really pretty at night because the fountain is lit up. The front entry gate is right behind our site so we are at the front of the park in a loop off of one of the streets. For our northern friends, I put a picture on facebook yesterday of our redneck lanai. We were sitting outside but about 2:00 pm each day the sun gets really hot and doesn't provide any shade on our patio so we decided to move indoors to our garage. To still enjoy the summer breeze, I unlatched the back door (ramp of the garage) so it was open partway. Down here, the screened in porches are called lanai (pronounced la-ni). We were able to enjoy the breeze and still had our TV in the garage....like I said a redneck lanai.

Yesterday we went to Fleamaster Flea market about 7 miles away. It boasts 900 booths there but it didn't seem all that huge. Most of the items are the types of things we have no interest in (glittery clothes, tourist t-shirts, junk stuff, etc.) but it was nice to walk around and look at things. We did stock up on veggies. Wow, they sure do grow 'em big in Florida. The avocados were the size of large softballs and the vendor said these were small ones. The lemons are 3x the size of the ones you usually get in the stores. We got zucchini, yellow squash, red peppers, lemons, limes, avocado and onions for $7. Some good eating for the coming week....

In one area of the market, a vendor had hydroponic gardens for sale. They are about five tiers high and a drip line puts nutrient water into the top container and then it drips down to the one below it and so one. It was really cool but a little pricey. You buy the system and decide what plants you want to put in each tier. in one area, they had rows and rows of strawberry plants, growing like this, and it was a pick your own strawberry patch. They were all growing hydroponically and you just took a container and walked through the rows picking ripe berries. It was very cool !

I promised you a picture of the pool where the dogs practice jumping. Here it is...we took Boomer back yesterday to play in the  off leash park and he also wanted to go swimming again in the fountains so I thought I'd grab a picture. No jumping dogs but you can see the platform where they jump from. Today we took Boomer to a vaccination clinic. just across the road at a grooming shop, and got his shots up to date. We wondered why any time we've wanted a vet to trim his nails or do anything, they had to give him a check-up first (which always adds a chunk of money to the cost of whatever you went in for). This vet told us that it's a federal regulation. Ok, now it makes sense. He gave us some advice about flea meds (the drops have no effect in Florida or most southern states) and said if Boomer needs any meds for the next year, to just call him and he can ship it to us.

Dance tonight at the clubhouse. Open House for the art house tomorrow....probably laundry day too. Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

The Week Thus Far...

On Tuesday night we had thunderstorms and massive downpours overnight, creating a night of little sleep. Boomer was a nervous wreck because it was so loud in the rig with the rain beating on the roof. I moved from the bed, to the couch, then back to bed with Boomer following me everywhere I went. His poor heart was beating so fast...he was petrified. Much needed rain for the area since Tom and Nancy had said that there hasn't been any rain since October. I'm sure the plants were very appreciative.

We took Boomer to the dog park about a mile down the road from our resort. There are two sections to the park, one is a members only area and the other is open to the public. The members only side is an agility training park, with a large above ground pool for training dogs in distance jumping and all the typical props for agility competition. There were several people working with their dogs on the pool deck and it was so fun to watch. Wish I'd gotten some pictures to post here. Some of the dogs could really jump a long ways out over the water. Boomer did take advantage of a concrete pool area, just outside both dog parks. It was so hot and humid the day we went so he really enjoyed it. He just laid down in the water and soaked it all in.

Wednesday night we were supposed to go on a sunset cruise but the captain called in the morning and said he needed to reschedule us. I thought maybe it was due to the unsettled weather and the cold front passing through but that night we didn't have any bad weather at all. We're set to go next Wednesday...

Today we drove to Manatee park to check it out. We're planning on taking Becky on the 26th and wanted to see where we pick up the kayaks. We didn't see any manatees today but we did see a dolphin right in front of where we were standing at the fishing pier. The manatees like to hang out in this area because there is a power plant that feeds the river with warm water. The temp of the river was 81 degrees today, whereas the ocean was 72. When the water reaches 68 the manatees face cold stress and need to get to warm water. So when the ocean temps cool down, they head for the warm inland rivers as a means of survival.

 

 

When we left Manatee Park, we took a drive to Pine Island. On one end of the island is Bokeelia, where there were beautiful, waterfront properties and on the other end of the island was St. James City. At the point, where you cross over onto the island, is the cute little village of Pine Island. There are brightly painted shops and businesses that make the whole area so cute. We just loved the whole area and the ocean views were amazing. So many of the streets, in all three towns, had inlets where people could dock there boats right at their back door. The neat thing about the island is that it's not densely populated. There are many nurseries for palm trees on the island, which makes a beautiful backdrop as we drove around and takes up much of the acreage on the island. We really liked the area and our afternoon ride around the island.

Tomorrow we're off to Fleamaster's flea market ! They advertise that they have 900 shops there so lots of walking is on tap for us. We have tickets to a dance on Saturday night and Sunday there is an open house, here at the resort, for a new art workshop that is opening. A house was put on a 35' x 45' lot and will now be a meeting place for art activities. We're looking forward to seeing it. Stay tuned....lots to see and do in the days ahead.

Saturday

Had another fun filled day on Saturday with friends Tom and Nancy at their home in Venice, Florida. They fixed a great lunch of pulled pork, cole slaw, baked beans and corn bread. We picked up some little desserts of Napoleans, Raspberry Cake and Ganache cakes for dessert. After lunch they drove us to Mayakka River State Park where we saw alligators and a huge assortment of birds. This park is one of Florida's oldest and largest state parks. We hiked through the woods to see what the  natural habitat probably looked like before Florida was overrun with snowbirds. It's so fascinating to see all the contorted ways the trees have grown over the years, whether blown over by a storm only to grow horizontal or with all kinds of twists and turns to get to the sunlight. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After we explored the park, we drove to downtown Venice which has a lot of cute shops and restaurants. With its palm tree lined streets, it reminds me of the old pictures of Hollywood. We got to the Venice beach just in time to experience an amazing sunset.

We watched as the sun sat on the horizon for a moment and then slipped below the water. A sailboat was passing in front of us and made for a pretty silhouette against the sun. It was so pretty ! A beautiful ending to a fun day.

On a sad note, we got word that our friend Leroy Marler passed away. We met and worked with Leroy and Bonnie when we first went on the  road and worked for a couple of months at the Care Center at the Escapees park in Livingston, Texas. He had an internet newsletter that he sent out for a while and he was known as the "South Mouth", with his great Cajun sense of humor. He loved LSU and followed them faithfully. He became a resident at the Care Center due to his heart problems and poor health. We took him out to dinner last December and had a great time with him. Same ole Leroy....full of stories and always had a smile on his face. He'll be missed...

 

Today it was around 83 and fairly humid. We didn't do much...watched a little football. Getting caught up on some things. Oh, by the way, my thyroid test turned out fine. All numbers were within normal ranges. Linda's test results weren't as good. We need to get her to a doctor and see if they can get her on some meds as her LDL, cholesterol and Lipoprotein(a) is too high. I have one more test tomorrow to get taken care of and I should be finished up with tests....thank goodness.

Having a Ball....

Last night we went to visit Linda's aunt and uncle, who have a place in Fort Myers. They are only 30 minutes from where we're staying so we wanted to squeeze in a visit before they left to go north for the holidays. They are leaving Sunday to go back to Ohio. We had such a good time ! They have a beautiful condo on the 9th floor, overlooking the water. We're talking 180 degrees of water views. Here is the sunset as seen from their back patio. They bought their place and gutted it to the studs. The tile work is amazing and done by a true artisan.

We had a wonderful meal and a lot of laughs. So great to see them and their new place !

Today we took the bike two hours north to Tampa and met our friends Wendy and Cindy. Wendy was flying back from a business trip in San Diego and arriving in Tampa today. We had purchased a Groupon deal for food at a Tampa restaurant called ABC Pizza so we all met there for lunch. We had a great white pizza with shrimp, feta and crab. Yum ! Our deal was to get $20 worth of food for $10 so a great way to save some money when you need to eat lunch somewhere anyway. There also was a Groupon deal for a two hour Segway tour of Tampa for $30/per person. Wendy and Cindy are pros at Segway, having done it five times before. We were novices but it is so easy to learn and so much fun to zip along in the city and cover so much more ground than you can do on foot. I'm hooked ! Will certainly look for great deals for Segway tours in the cities that we will be visiting in the future. While our tour guide wasn't well versed in the historical nature of the city, like I would have thought he would have been, it was still fun to see the different attractions and sights of the city. We zipped around the University of Tampa and saw the historic buildings there with their Moroccan flavor and spent most of our time along the Riverwalk (so  many cities have them now). It was a gorgeous day, once we got to Tampa and perfect for sightseeing. On the drive up, we donned pants over our shorts and jackets cause it was downright chilly but once we arrived the sun came out and it was perfect. Finished up our tour around 3:30 and made it back to our rig by sundown. A great day with friends.

New Cushions

While we were working in Mocksville, we called on an upholstery shop and asked if they could do anything about the horrible cushions we  have in our booth. The cushions hang way over the front edge, which pulls them off the seat, once you sit on them for a while. They also compress down to nothing and you might as well be sitting on a board as sit on them. We hate them and have from day one !

The ladies at Twins Upholstery were awesome to deal with. We took measurements and pictures of our current set-up and took the cushions to them. She said the poly foam that the manufacturer used in the cushions is about as cheap as you can get. She put in new #50 premium foam and cut the cushions (and fabric) back so as not to overhang so much.

You can't even tell that they've been cut down and resewn. They did a fabulous job and it is so much more comfortable to sit at. We use the booth a lot. We play cards at the table, I work on the laptop (like I am right now) and spend most of my time here. Before my back and butt would be killing me cause the foam was so horrible. And we felt they were really reasonable. Cost us $170 to get them both done. We didn't think about it but should have gotten some of that same new foam for our couch. It probably has the same cheap foam that the dinette had....we opened it up to look at it and the foam has tears in it already after just one year of use. Cheap crap ! So happy to have the dinette fixed. Highly recommend Twins Upholstery in Mocksville,NC if you need any type of slipcover or upholstery work done.

 

BEFORE                               AFTER

First Week of Vacation

 

 

 

 

 

We arrived here late afternoon Saturday and it's been pretty busy since then. We walk for an hour each morning and try to walk again in the evening (just got back from doing that). We've tried our hand at pickleball and that was loads of fun....want to get back to doing that again. I'm trying to line up things to do while Becky is here and I've got all those things figured out. We went today for blood work at Lab Corp. They work in conjunction with Econo Labs so that people are able to get reduced cost blood tests done for tons of different health issues. I wanted to check to see if my thyroid is still running high so I ordered that test for $44 and Linda wanted to see how her Lipoprotein(a) is doing as compared to three years ago. Her test was $66.These prices are more than half of what they would normally be priced if paying out of pocket and since we have high deductibles, they would not be covered under our insurance anyway. The results get mailed or e-mailed to us in 24-48 hours. If my thyroid is still high, I guess I will go to a local clinic and get a prescription for the necessary meds to get it under control. For anyone that knows me, I don't like taking meds and it really burns me to have to do it. I've always been pretty healthy and don't take any prescriptions. Since I haven't been able to find any holistic way to bring it down, I will take meds. It would be foolish for me not to, since continued high levels can lead to heart issues or stroke. My mom had her thyroid out when she was in her thirties. She's never taken any medication for it since having it out;which seems really odd but apparently her body adapted to not having it. She said she thought that her grandmother or someone on her mom's side also had thyroid issues so perhaps its something hereditary. I have some other tests coming up on Monday so getting all our health stuff in order while we're in one place. Let me tell you that getting records forwarded and appts made when you are a full-time RVer is no small feat. I have spent two days making arrangements for one test. It's the one down side to moving so much and not having a primary care doctor.

We are staying at a women's resort in the Fort Myers area in Florida and it's so close to everything but also on a road that isn't crazy busy. The resort is set way back in; unseen from the main road and has a gated entrance. Everyone is decorating for Christmas and it's so much fun to walk at night so we can see all the houses lit up. A mile down the road we have an AMC theatre and the afternoon matinees are $5 per person (I couldn't believe it). We went this afternoon to see Lincoln. It was very good....a little long and dry in some places but moving. There's also an Applebee's in that same plaza. We had the 2 for $20 deal there the other night and it was yummy. We're only about 40 minutes from the beach, close to all sorts of things. There's a brand new Publix at the next intersection down the road from us so it's very handy to get groceries. The resort has so many activities scheduled every day that there is no reason to be bored while staying here. Tomorrow night we are going to meet with Linda's aunt and have dinner with her. Friday we're going to meet our friends Wendy and Cindy down in Tampa and have pizza at a really unique place (they make a crab, shrimp and feta pizza that sounds amazing), then take a two hour Segway tour of Tampa. The girls have done Segway tours before but Linda and I haven't but have been anxious to try it. Lots to do in the coming days...

Weather has been amazing....in the 80's every day with a soft breeze. We took the bike out today and there was a little bit of rain while we were in the theatre so had to towel off the bike before driving home. We have to pinch ourselves to remember that it truly is December with temps like this. More later...

On Vacation

We left Mocksville, NC on Friday morning...headed to Fort Myers, FL for a month's vacation. The job in Mocksville isn't finished until the other rep team, we worked with, finishes up the renewals on our park. That should happen early this week and then we can package the job and send it in. But right now we are on vacation and loving it. We drove as far as the Florida border Friday night, stopping in Kingsland, Georgia to surprise our friends Amie and Marlene at the park they are working.

We got to park next to their rig but neither were home when we got there. We heard Amie coming on her little scooter and ran out to hide behind the car. She pulled up at her site, looked at our rig, looked at our car and then we jumped out and surprised her. She was so surprised ! She said that when she saw the rig and where it says "Whitehorse RV" across the back of it, she thought I know someone that owns a rig like that. Marlene was also surprised as we sat in their rig and surprised her when she got home from work. We all went out to eat at a little cafe, down the road from the RV park, and had a great meal. If you look at the picture, you'll see a plate of fried green tomatoes as one of the appetizers we had. That is a garlic cream cheese spread in the dish in the center. Yum ! Linda and I both had the angus burger that was on a whole wheat roll with fried green tomatoes on top, caramelized onions,and garlic cream cheese spread. The combination of all of those flavors was amazing  and just melted in your mouth. For dessert, we tried the caramel, walnut brownie (made with Giardelli chocolate) topped with ice cream and whipped cream. Boy, it was good !

If you look in the picture, behind me, you'll see a guitar. They have two guitars there that people can pick up and play while hanging out at the restaurant. People can come and play chess...it's a great gathering place. Amie treated us to a couple of songs while we waited for our supper. We had a great time with our friends....it was so good to see them.

Saturday morning we had free waffles that the KOA makes. A great start before getting on the road. We left about 9:15 and arrived in Fort Myers, Fl at 3:15 p.m. I love Florida but that is one boring drive. All interstate with not much to see. Maybe it was a matter of me feeling "I just want to get there" that made the drive so long. We got settled in on our site (I'll take some pictures and post next time), got our visitor badges from the clubhouse and took a tour of the community with the lady we worked out our rental with. By the end of that, we were exhausted and went to bed around 8:30.

Weather is beautiful here...going to be in the low 80's for the foreseeable future. We had the windows open last night and it was awesome. Seemed so nice that we didn't have to worry about the water freezing and waking up to 30 degree temps. Going to soak it all in and enjoy it.

Catching Up...

With Thanksgiving being on Thursday, we needed to get our work time put in early in the week so as not to lose much time. On Wednesday we met up with our friend Judy for breakfast at IHOP. It's been almost two years since we've seen Judy. Judy's mom was a resident at the independent living senior center where we worked and we got to know Judy when she'd come to visit her mom. She is so much fun to be around and we had a great time catching up.

Right after breakfast, we went by the store to get a couple of grocery items for me so I'd have food at the rig while Linda was gone (with the car). Got the shopping done, dropped me back at the rig and she headed out for Virginia Beach for one last visit with her kids and grandkids. She will return Saturday afternoon...come pick me up and then we have more people to visit in the area.

A few weeks ago, Oprah had been the celebrity anchor on Good Morning America (while Robin is out for her bone marrow transplant) and they had some "deals and steals" on items that she loves. One was a book, called The Untethered Soul - the journey beyond yourself by Michael Singer. I bought it and had it shipped here, to the campground in Mocksville, NC so it would be here when I arrived. It came last week and I started reading it...finished it today What a great book ! It's been a long time since I've picked up a book (can't keep my attention that long) but this one was great. It's about spirituality but it breaks things down into a lot of "Aha" moments and into concepts that you never thought of before. It's a book that would be applicable, whether you believe in God or not, because at the center of each of us is a unifying thread of energy that ties us all together. It covers thoughts from across a spectrum of beliefs but they all boil down to the one universal point of how to obtain the untethered soul. I've never heard of this author, Michael Singer, but his educational training is in economics. He has a nice way of addressing what can sometimes be a hard to understand concept (if you've read any in-depth books on spirituality, you'll know what I mean - sometimes they talk in circles). It's the kind of book that really gets you to thinking and hopefully live life in a more meaningful and "present" manner.

Boomer and I have been enjoying daily walks around the campground and getting things done on the rig. Although he's not much help, he is a great companion while I defrost the frig and wax the rig. I've tackled almost everything on my "to do" list. Linda's back tomorrow night so I will have pictures to post of her trip. Her son-in-law returned from his Navy training (been gone a couple of months) and his family is sure thrilled to have him home. He hasn't had much time at home over the last year, with his wife and kids, so wishing them a wonderful holiday season filled with great family memories together.

Mendenhall Plantation

On Saturday we met up with our friends Wendy and Cindy for lunch at Fresh Manna...a small cafe with great home-made food in Jamestown, NC. We all decided to have breakfast, even though it was 11:30 because they serve it all day and everything on the menu sounded great. Linda had a veggie omelet and I had sausage gravy and biscuits, along with home style potatoes. Everything was great and it was good to catch up with the girls.

After breakfast we went about a mile down the road to Mendenhall Plantation. This is a Quaker homestead that was pivotal in this part of North Carolina. The Mendenhall family had migrated to Jamestown, from Chester, PA in 1762. Jamestown was named after Richard's (the one who build the homestead) grandfather James.The Mendenhall homestead serves as an interpretive center of the "Other South" of non-slaveholding  and peace loving people. In fact, this homestead served as a training center for blacks to learn a trade so that they could be self sufficient when released from slavery. Although there is no clear documentation, it is believed that Richard and his family were part of the underground railroad. The homestead had around 100 blacks working on the farm, originally as slaves, but left as free men with money in their pockets and trained in various trades.

We had the privilege of having the curator of the plantation serve as our personal guide. Usually it is a self guided tour but he told us so many neat stories about the farm and showed us things we never would have seen by ourselves.

 

 

A false bottom wagon that was used by the Quakers to transport blacks up north to freedom.

 

 

 

 

 

It was very interesting to hear how the house was laid out to make best use of the fireplaces, to see the architectural details and some of the old furnishings. It was a fun day spent with our friends and a great place to meet (we each drove an hour to meet in Jamestown) and spend part of the day.

On Sunday, we drove to Zionville, NC (close to Tenn. border) to see the beginnings of a community that is being built in the mountains. They've had snow already as we saw remnants of it in the ditches and along the roads. It was a great drive and a fun adventure but an area that was a little too primitive for our tastes. We did get to enjoy a great lunch at a Mexican restaurant in Boone on our way back home. A fun weekend with lots to check out and learn about. What neat discoveries did you make this weekend ?

 

 

 

 

Temps have been very chilly...at night it gets into the 30's and today it was probably in the high 40's. Too chilly for our tastes....looking forward to moving south.