November 29, 2013

A frustrating day in Englewood, FL

After Thanksgiving dinner at my parents’ house I looked over the store ads for Black Friday ads that were actually beginning on Thursday evening.  I didn’t see anything that I couldn’t live without.   I have been thinking about buying a memory foam pillow but they are so expensive so when I saw that Kohl’s had the pillows on sale and was open Thursday night we headed to the store on our way home.

It was already 10:30PM so I didn’t expect to see so many cars in the parking lot.  I found the pillow I wanted at 60% off and headed to the long check-out line.  Monte noticed that there was only one person checking out at customer service so we went there and were on our way out of the store within 20 minutes of arriving.  Not bad.

 

I think we have a resident squirrel. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This little guy had come to visit yesterday and came back today probably looking for a handout. 

This morning Monte began assembling the satellite dish we had purchased on Wednesday night.  After setting up the tripod, making sure it was level he began the process of trying to find signals.  This involved going inside and out to the TV several times to see if we had a signal.  Nope, nada, nothing!

 

 

After a couple hours Monte conceded defeat for that location and moved the dish near the front of the rig.  He spent another frustrating couple of hours with no luck. When he tried calling the store we bought the dish from there was no answer.

Monte called Dish and ended up on the phone with a tech for over an hour trying different things.  We were only able to receive the HD signal so that is not going to work.

I told him we should return the dish because if he is going to have to go to this much trouble every time we want to use it-it is NOT worth it.

It got too dark to see anything so Monte called it quits for the evening.  I’m not sure what we are going to do at this point.

November 28, 2013

Englewood, FL

It’s crazy but I swear the cold weather is following us.  When we first arrived in Northern Florida the temps were in the 80’s.  Within a couple of days we were wearing sweatshirts and running the fireplace all night.

The same thing happened when we arrived in Spring Hill and now after only one day in Englewood the temps have dropped to the lowest of the year-30s.

Because we have to pay for metered electric we are trying to be very conservative.  We were quite cozy and warm snuggled under our down comforter last night but it was very chilly this morning when we woke to temps in the high 30s.

We turned on our furnace for an hour to take the chill out of the rig.

I went to the screen door to see why our cat, Anne, was whimpering

 only to discover a squirrel had come to visit.  He was sitting on the step looking in. 

In the late afternoon we headed over to my parents house where we enjoyed a fabulous meal. 

My mom did all the cooking.  I offered to help by transferring food from baking dishes to serving bowls.  I placed a tray of stuffed mushrooms on the counter and that is where we found them when it was time to clean up AFTER the meal.  OOPS.

We had so much food that the mushrooms were not even missed.

I feel so blessed this year:

That I am experiencing this amazing lifestyle with my soul-mate, Monte.

That we both are in relatively good health.

That we are spending the holidays with family.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

November 27, 2013

Travel day from Spring Hill

To Englewood, FL

I woke up several times through the night from the sound of the rain hitting the roof. 

 

 

 

 

 

I thought we were going to have to hitch up and drive in the rain but luckily the rain stopped and the sun came out when we were ready to pack up.

 

 

 

The 120 mile drive down from Spring Hill to Englewood was uneventful and we pulled into the RV Park where we will be wintering at 1PM.

We had been given the choice of two sites so Monte pulled to the side at the entrance to the park and got in my car so we could check out the sites.

The first site was gravel and had a concrete patio area but was too small.  The second site (our home for the next four months) was deeper and wider but the ground was mostly dirt and sand now soft due to the rain from the last couple of days.

The site formerly housed a mobile home so the sewer and electric connections are set far back. 

John, one of the permanent tenants who stopped by to offer assistance, told us that he is a volunteer greeter. 

Before we could begin getting set-up, the woman who lives in the mobile home next to our site came out and told us we would have to move over because once we bring out our slides we would be on her property.  WHAT!

Okay, but there is a tree on the site that was going to make moving over difficult.

Monte pulled out and backed in several times trying to position us but the ground was so soft that the thing he feared most happened-he got stuck with the rear tires on the truck just spinning and spitting up dirt.

After placing two wide wooden boards behind the rear tires, Monte tried backing up with no luck.

Monte thought if we unhitched the rig we would have better luck getting the truck out of the rut.  But when we pulled on the hitch handle, after bringing down the landing gear, we couldn’t get the hitch to release because we were on an angle.

This problem was solved by extending the landing gear to take pressure off the hitch allowing Monte to remove the pins holding the top part of the hitch.

 

 

 

 

Without the weight of the rig, Monte was able to easily drive out of the rut.

 

 

 

 

 

After smoothing out the dirt, Monte placed the wooden boards down, backed the truck up and re-hitched. 

I crossed my fingers as Monte backed in and out again that we wouldn’t get stuck again. 

 

 

 

We came close a couple of times but finally we got situated in a position we were satisfied with. 

 

In the middle of all the backing in and out, a crowd of residents began gathering to watch the show.  I am ashamed to admit I was a little annoyed thinking they were there just to be nosy.  BUT, I found out later from John, they had all come over to make sure we knew we were invited to the big Thanksgiving meal being served tomorrow at the clubhouse.  They just wanted to make sure we weren’t going to be alone on the holiday.  YUP, I felt bad for misjudging their intentions.

I had left off with my parents that I would call them when we were set up.  The main reason we chose our current location to winter at was the close proximity to my parents’ house.

When I called to tell them we would be ready to see them after we set up in around an hour, my mom said they were already in the park and would be at out site in a minute.

Getting hugs from my mom and dad was one of the best feelings in the world.

I had a feeling we were not going to be able to get satellite because of the large tree blocking our signal.  And, sure enough, I got that message when I turned on the satellite.  We were able to get all the local channels when I raised our TV antenna.

I was relieved to discover we were able to receive a good WiFi signal as free WiFi is included in our monthly rent.

After saying goodbye to my parents (we will be spending Thanksgiving with them) Monte called Dish up to see what our options were.  They gave us the telephone number of a local Dish retailer located only a few miles away.  It was already after 5PM on the night before a holiday so we really didn’t expect anyone to answer the phone.

BUT, we lucked out.  Richey from HI-Tech Integrated Systems gave us some options.  He said he had to make a service call and would call us back when he was back in his shop. 

By 7:30PM we were already back home after buying a portable dish, tripod and triple LNB. 

We have been spoiled having the roof mounted satellite with self-seeking signals but the biggest disadvantage has been our limitations on where we stay due to trees blocking our signal.  We had discussed buying a portable satellite sometime in the future and had budgeted for the purchase.

Now Monte will have the fun job of setting up the portable satellite and trying to find the signal. 

November 26, 2013

Spring Hill, FL

Back in the beginning of October, when we were in Apache Junction, I wrote that there are two things I really dread-shopping for bathing suits and going to the dentist and I ended up doing both in the same day.

Well, there are two other things I dread, as much if not more than the dentist and bathing suit shopping, and that is a gyno exam and a mammogram.  Yep, today I got poked, probed and prodded at the gynecologist and squished at the imaging center.  Thank goodness it is only a once a year ordeal.

While I was taking care of all that unpleasant business, Monte continued helping out at the church.

In the late afternoon, we went into the church office to drop off a hospitality gift I had picked up at Sam’s Club and then went around saying goodbye.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are leaving in the morning but didn’t want to wait to say goodbye just in case some people were taking an extra day off tomorrow for the holiday.

 

 

  

 

 

 

Unfortunately, a lot of people had already left for the day so Monte will have to see who is around in the morning before we leave.

November 25, 2013

Spring Hill, FL

Knowing that we will only be in our former hometown for a few days we have been taking advantage of some of our favorite places to eat.  This morning we had breakfast out (a rarity since beginning our life on the road) at the Pressbox.  We had a full breakfast that came to $10 with tip.

We also stopped at one of our favorite thrift stores and Monte scored when he found two brand new DeltaTrak refridgeration/freezer thermometers at a cost of $4 each.  Later on, when he researched how much they would cost in a regular store, he found out they run around $55 each.

In the afternoon, Monte finished up some repairs on our house including sealing some loose roof tiles and repairing a leaking outdoor water faucet. 

I browsed through Target, Walmart and Kohls.

November 24, 2013

Monte visiting with church friends in Spring Hill

We are currently “camping” out in the parking lot of the church Monte used to work part-time as the sound tech. 

Wanting to earn our “keep” he volunteered to help out where ever he was needed.  Setting his alarm for 7 brought back memories.  When he still worked at the church he thought driving the one mile from our house was a short trip-this morning he only had to walk across the parking lot.

He really enjoyed seeing many of the parishioners he had gotten friendly with.

 

 

I slept in.  At around 11 Monte came home and asked if it was alright for the youth minister, Robert, to come in to see our rig. 

The next thing I know there was a steady stream of youth coming and going. 

 

 

 

Most of the kids wanted to say hi to our cat, Annie. 

I was a little apprehensive because Annie is not the friendliest cat. 

 

 

But she was tolerant to a point and when she had had enough she took refuge behind the pillow.

November 23, 2013

Bumming around in Spring Hill, FL

 

There is not too much to report about today as we mostly just shopped.  Kohl’s, Walmart, Goodwill and Sam’s Club for their annual Taste of Sam’s where we sampled cheeses, ham, turkey, wine, etc.  There was enough sampling that we were quite content by the time we departed. 

 

 

Farmers market

No matter where we are it feels like home because I have my chair and table with me.

Later in the evening we watched a couple of TV shows we had recorded and ate our leftover Chinese food we had bought the first night we arrived.  I don’t miss too much about living in one place but I have to admit that when we are in an unfamiliar area, I do miss knowing where to get the best pizza or Chinese food. 

November 22, 2013

Tree trimming at Spring Hill, FL house

We planned on devoting the entire day to tree trimming(not to be confused with the fun kind of tree trimming as in decorating a Christmas tree) at the bricks and sticks house we still own but rent out.

We had taken a ride to the house last night to ascertain how much trimming was going to be required.

Bruce, our new tenant, is a really nice guy.  This was our first time meeting him.  When we first decided to rent out the house we met the former tenants, an elderly couple, who really didn’t know anything about simple repairs.  They only rented for a year but in that time every month there was some kind of small repair that most homeowners would be able to handle without calling in a plumber or electrician.  (Example-there was no power in the bathroom outlet that only required pressing a reset button to correct but an electrician was called in at a cost of $60.)

As Bruce walked us around the house (and I felt a strange kind of melancholia from the thousands of memories rushing through my head) he listed a few things he had taken care of (leak in toilet for example) without calling the property manager.  We feel much better knowing someone is renting our house that will not be expecting us to call in an expert to change a light bulb.

We were also relieved to discover Bruce has all the tools we would need to work on the trees.

Bruce even pitched in by helping to bundle the limbs. 

We worked all day and were pleased with how much we were able to accomplish in such a short time.

 

 

 

 

 

Monte worked the roof, throwing the branches down while Bruce and I bundled. 

While he was up on the roof Monte decided to blow out the leaves from the gutters 

After the town picks up the bundled limbs,

Bruce will put a sign on the logs advertising free firewood. 

 

 

 

 

Bruce is such a nice guy that he even allowed us to take showers.  I have to admit it felt strange showering in my old bathroom as a guest.

As we were leaving, Bruce extended an open invitation to use the shower and washer and dryer even if he isn’t home as he never changed the keyless entry code for the garage door.  WOW, now that is trust!

We made it home in time to attend the free showing of Joyful Noise at the church.  Each month the church sponsors a free movie and also offers dinner at a reduced price.  We took advantage of the dinner.  At a cost of $3 each the meal included two slices of pizza, a cold drink, cookies and unlimited popcorn. 

Before the movie began, Monte enjoyed visiting with several people he worked with as well as many parishioners he had been friendly with during the time he worked at the church.

November 21, 2013

Travel day from White Springs to Spring Hill, FL

We really liked our stay here at Stephen Foster St. Park

 and would have liked to stay longer but the site was reserved so we had to move on.

It rained off and on as we drove down Interstate 75.

Our destination was Spring Hill where we still own a home.  We would have liked to sell our house when we decided to full-time but it could have taken months (or years, or never) to sell so rather than sit around waiting we made the decision to rent the house out.

We hired a property manager who handles any issues that arise.  There are several trees on the property that require pruning, one in particular that has branches hanging over the roof, needs immediate attention.

We had the property manager get us an estimate from a tree trimming service.  It came in at over $1,200.  Being that we were going to be in the area, we told the manager to put off the service so we could see how much of it we could do ourselves.

The tenant kindly offered for us to stay in the side drive-way that we had installed when we bought our rig.

When we arrived in Spring Hill we stopped in at the Church where Monte used to work part time and were invited to stay in the parking lot.  

So now we had a choice of two boondocking sites.

We chose to stay at the church located a mile away from our house.

After setting up we took a ride to the house to assess the work.  The majority of the cost for the estimated work that needed done was for low hanging branches on trees that hindered cutting the grass and therefore were not our responsibility.  Trimming the branches of those trees is part of the tenant’s responsibility.

After seeing what was required to trim the branches on the tree over the roof, Monte determined he could handle it with a pole saw.  So that is the plan for tomorrow.