RAIN!! And TV Stars!

January 17, 2013

   

Today the cold front is starting to come through South Florida.  It got up to 81 today but was very cloudy and we had real rain in the afternoon.  It was the first real rain we have had, in the day time, since leaving NJ in August.  Today also breaks the record heat wave South Florida has had.  It has been above 80 each of the past 15 days which is a new record for South Florida at this time of year.  The next couple of days including the weekend are to be in the mid-70s with a chance of rain.  I actually like it to be just a bit cooler and mid-70s looks good to me.  The overnight is still in the low 60s so that’s still good.

Ugly day.  View from our dining table window

 We did mostly inside stuff today as there wasn’t much sun.  I worked on a budget spreadsheet that I created a couple of weeks ago.  I actually like creating spreadsheets and playing with data. We really needed to start this budget because we were just winging it since leaving NJ.  We were sort of like, “we need to get to these destinations so whatever it costs, it costs.”  Well it cost a lot and that sort of travel for us is not sustainable.  I did work out a budget before we left but I really didn’t know at the time just how we were going to live this life.  Now that we have the jaunt across the country under our belts and we are sitting still we can put together a travel schedule and budget that works for us. 

I also rewired the sound system with the TV.  We were moving so fast from August to December that we didn't know how to use the TV with the surround system.  Well, after we figured that out, I broke one of the audio cable connections off in the TV receptacle.  I was lubricating the bracket that allows the TV to pull out and swivel away from the wall.  So I pulled the TV all of the way out as far as the bracket would let me.  That, was not a good move!  The RCA audio cable has a center pin that when pulled too hard sideways can and did break off in the TVs connection.  What a pain in the ass!  I finally pushed the broken pin up past the top of the connection inside the TV using a small pin.  After that I used a new audio cable I bought from Radio Shack and completely rerouted all of the cables so that they would not put stress on the connections.  That little job took almost 2 hours! 

Back of TV after rerouting the cables.

The pin broke off the white RCA connector in the TV!

In the afternoon Patty went to her first Physical Therapy session for her elbow.  This is related to the bike fall she had back in September in Ohio.  The elbow has healed but she has what is called epicondylitis (golfers elbow) now.  Seems that she did not heal right and she has some pain when she moves the arm in certain positions.  She will go to PT 2 times a week for the next 4 weeks. 

We still have not done the air boat ride in the Everglades.  It’s just been too hot!  We decided to put that off until next week when the temperatures are to be in the 70s.  That’s one of the good things about this lifestyle; we can do things when we want to do them.  It’s also sort of hard to leave the resort.  For us, having a pool a hot tub and bike/walking paths is enough.  Anyway, it’s enough for right now. 

We may be TV stars soon!  That’s a real big maybe though.  We got an e-mail from a club we belong to, RV-Dreams, giving us information about an RV reality show that is being filmed this month.  Seems this company is putting together a pilot show to see if there is interest in making a series.  We filled out the paper work on-line and were contacted within an hour to  make a video and upload it by tomorrow, Friday.  Patty and I did a practice run and will do the real video on Friday.  The video is be no longer than 4 minutes and it is to be like a conversation telling about ourselves.  I don't think we have any real chance at being in this show as we are just way too ordinary.  We are thinking though that the nudist element might help us to be less ordinary. 

Tomorrow I am planning to complete our Taxes and do the video. 

Stay tuned!

Relaxing in the Sun and slowing down

Monday, January 14, 2013

It’s been a few days since I made a post.  We are getting into a pattern now that we are stationery.  So far, no variation in the weather. Every day it's around 65 when we get up and 82 by noon and mostly sunny.  We get up around 7 am which is the same as when we were in the S&B.  We have coffee and do the Internet (news, Facebook, check other BLOGs).  After that we have breakfast around 9 am and then we either walk or ride our bikes for about an hour.  Then we either go to the pool, play Bocce, Patanque, or Shuffleboard or all of the above.  Just about every 3 days we go out of the resort for something.  Lastly, every 2 weeks we wash clothes.  

We've been planning our travels after we leave Florida in June.  We have also been slowly doing a little further planning for the Disney vacation with my son and daughter-in-law and the Grandkids at the end of May.  Seems Disney has started this new service where each person gets a wrist band that has all of the person’s info in it.  It will allow you swipe the band for park entrance, food, and for quick access to the rides, very cool!  However, this new item hasn't been finalized yet.

Today we went out of the resort to get miscellaneous stuff like water, an Rx, and cash a small check.  We also went on a 6.5 mile bike ride where I could check on my spider.   I found a very large spider along one of our bike paths last Thursday so I introduced Patty to it today.  Tonight we are having something a little different for dinner, country pork ribs.  I usually do beef short ribs but decided to do the pork for something different.  After dinner we will probably do our usual and go to the hot tub/pool for a while.

Patty taking the point as we bike

View from one of our walks around the Vista View Park across
 the street from our  resort.

Part of our walking path.

Donkeys for sale along one of our bike paths.

My friend the spider.  It's been here since last Thursday morning.

Nice bike next to the entrance to the local Publix.

Sunset last night.

Tomorrow we are planning to go on an air boat ride in the everglades.  We are also taking our bikes so we can ride on the 15 mile loop there as well.  The bike is just a maybe as we will see what it is like first.  Don’t want to get eaten by an alligator!


Stay tuned!

New Year’s Eve,the Beach, and Date Night

Sunday - Friday December 30 – January 6, 2012  

 We are still getting accustomed to living in one place again.  This is now the longest stay we have had yet at 18 days.  However, this is what we really wanted to do when we started.  We wanted to stay in one place for a week to a month at a time.  We wanted to settle in and feel like a local in as many places as possible, really get a feel for the area and the people.  That’s happening here now, we are starting to feel like part of the park community and we can navigate a lot of the surrounding area without the GPS.  I do have to say though that moving around is very addicting.  I’m surprised that I like the driving as much as I do.

Christmas decorations we found on one of our bike trips.

We celebrated New Year’s Eve here at the park.  Patty caught my cold so we didn't stay long after dinner and went back to the RV.  Patty fell asleep in her recliner and I watched the tribute to Dick Clark on TV.  It’s always sort of sad when an icon dies like Dick Clark.  As you get older there are fewer and fewer icons around.  I guess at some point we will be the icons.  That reminds me of the line by Mick Jagger when asked why he doesn't stay home and become a pillar of society; He said “We checked around and couldn't find any communities  still needing a pillar”.  I did make it to midnight and the New Year 2013.  I woke Patty up and gave her a kiss.  Then it was off to bed for us.

The pool area set up for the new years eve Party.

Our New Years Day feast of Steak, Baked Potato,
and  parmesan Asparagus.

We decided that we would go to our favorite beach here on Thursday.  One of our new friends here, Rose, came along with us.  It was a really great day.  The temperature was 83 with just enough breeze to make it very comfortable.  Even the water was nice at 75.  We met up with some old friends from Sandy Hook as well as many friends we have come to know over the years here in Florida.  We got back just at dark around 6 pm.  We ended the day with a meal of crab legs again and some hot tub time before bed time.

Stuff for the beach.  First time we went to the beach in
Florida with our Sandy Hook stuff.

Our beach, Haulover, was also affected by the hurricane Sandy.  The hurricane was no closer than 300 miles from the beach, but it pushed out really big waves.  Also like in NJ/NY it made the tides here much higher than normal.  For those that know the beach, the high tide and waves turned the beach into an island just like what happens at Sandy Hook.  Also, the inter-coastal water came in all the way to the ticket booth in the parking lot.  Again, like Sandy Hook, Haulover now has 4 feet of extra sand.  However Haulover had the sand added in height.  You actually walk up when you enter the beach now and the beach is about 8 feet higher than the water.

Friday we had a date night.  We had a restaurant gift certificate from our mail forwarding service for referring a couple. Thanks Donna and Alan Ferguson!  We picked a casual local seafood place here in Davie about 3 miles away.  It was great evening for sitting outside to eat.  It’s hard to believe but the temperature last night at dinner was still 77.  I had a wonderful piece of Salmon and Patty had just OK ribs.  We still had a great time though.  All the outdoor tables had old wooden rocking benches, which was unique.  After dinner we did our usual and went to the hot tub before TV and bed around midnight.

Tomorrow I believe we are going to take a long bike ride early before it gets too hot. Stay tuned!

Sun, Lights, Laundry, and King Crab

Wednesday - Saturday December 26-29, 2012

The last few days I have had a cold, really sucks!  Seems it is finally going away now.  We really haven’t done much except just relax.  We did get laundry done on Wednesday which was the first since we left the north.  Thursday we went out and got wine and found King Crab Legs on sale for $16 a pound!  We bought 2 pounds of the legs and ate them on Friday night.  Friday we went to Wal-Mart to try and get after season Christmas lights with no luck.  We did however get three 16 foot blue rope lights.  We put them up on Friday afternoon with a timer so they come on and go off automatically.  They look really warm and inviting at night.

Our Chinese rose is doing real well.  At last count it had 12 blooms on it with 4 in full color now.  Up north we have only had maybe 2 full blooms a year.

This  frog appeared on a window near the hot tub Saturday night.  First time we have seen on of these in the wild.

Next event is the New Year’s Eve Party here at the RV park.

I have been thinking that I would figure out just what we have done since full time RVing for the end of the year.  Just finished that and I am thinking that I will do a summary of our year in 2013 as we have done a lot!  

2012 Statistics:

Remodeled a Bath room in January

Remodeled a Family room in January

2 week Florida Vacation in April – May

Repaired a Septic line in May

Had mold removed from attic in May

Rented a truck and hauled house stuff to Indiana in May

Rented a truck and moved in to the beach house in May

Got Driver’s licenses in South Dakota in June

Sold a house in June

Bought a Big Ass Truck (BAT) in June

Bought a 40 foot 5^th wheel in June

Began living in the RV August 4^th

Number of Campgrounds: 35

·         Miles Traveled:

o   RV: 7,226

o   Truck and RV combined: 9,100

Number of States: 16 Camped, 20 Traveled, and Mexico Traveled

Average number of days at each Campground: 4

Campgrounds:
Name:	Dates:	Address:	Number of Nights:
Rob & Cindy’s	8/4-15/12	Keyport, NJ	11
Cortland's Country Music Park	8/15-17/12	Cortland, NY	1
Cinderella Camp Ground	8/17-26/12	Grand Island, NY	9
River Trail Crossing	8/26-28/12	Butler, OH	2
Sugar Creek Camp Ground	8/28 – 9/4/12	Crawfordville, IN	8
Cutty's De Moines Camping Club	9/4-5/12	Grimes, IO	1
Sunny Meadows Campground	9/5-6/12	Elm Creek, NE	1
RV World Campground	9/6-8/12	Rawlins, WY	2
Pony Express	9/8-12/12	Salt lake City, UT	4
Garrity RV Park	9/12-13/12	Nampa, ID	1
Scandia RV Park	9/13-16/12	Bend, OR	3
River Bend RV Resort	9/16-27/12	Harrisburg, OR	11
Guaranty RV Sales	9/27-28/12	Junction City, OR	1
Crater Lake Resort	9/28 – 10/1/12	Fort Klamath, OR	3
Klamath RV Park	10/1-4/12	Klamath, CA	3
Sonoma County Fair Grounds	10/4-7/12	Santa Rosa, CA	3
Marin RV Park	10/7-11/12	Greenbrae, CA	4
Summerville Almond Tree RV Park	10/7-13/12	Coalinga, CA	2
Caliente Springs	10/13-17/12	Desert Hot Springs, CA	4
La Paz Valley RV Park	10/17-19/12	Quartzsite, AZ	2
Roe and Don’s House	10/19-22/12	Phoenix AZ	3
Destiny RV Resort	10/22-24/12	Goodyear, AZ	2
Kofa Ko-Op	10/24-30/12	Yuma, AZ	6
Phoenix Metro RV Park	10/30 – 11/2	Phoenix AZ	3
Sundance 1	11/2-4/12	Casa Grande AZ	2
Dream Catcher RV Park	11/4-5/12	Deming, NM	1
Saddleback RV park	11/5-6/12	Balmorhea, TX	1
By The River RV Park	11/6-8/12	Kerrville, TX	2
Houston East RV Resort	11/8-10/12	Houston, TX	2
Mardi Gras RV Park	11/10-13/12	New Orleans, LA	3
Rivers Edge RV Campground	11/13-15/12	Holt, FL	2
Yogi Bears Jellystone Park	11/15-16/12	Madison, FL	1
Ponderosa RV Park	11/16-17/12	Kissimmee, FL	1
Sunshine Holiday MHCC Resort	11/17-19/12	Fort Lauderdale, FL	2
Non-RV: RV & Truck Stored in FL	11/20-26/12	Buffalo, NY Area	6
Non-RV: RV & Truck Stored in FL	11/27 – 12/6/12	Crawfordsville, IN/ Indianapolis, IN	10
Non-RV: RV & Truck Stored in FL	12/7-8/12	Newtown, PA	1
Non-RV: RV & Truck Stored in FL	12/8-14/12	Keyport, NJ Area	6
Non-RV: RV & Truck Stored in FL	12/14-17/12	Buffalo, NY Area	3
Seminole RV Resort	12/18-31/12	Davie, FL	14

Stay tuned!