December 31, 2014

A Year in Review

December 2013 and the first three months of 2014 we spent at Oak Grove Mobile Home and RV Park in Englewood, FL.  We chose this park for its close proximity to both my brother’s house only a mile away and my parent’s house less than 20 miles drive.

January was kind of a lazy month but we did get in bike rides and a hike at nearby Manasota Scrub Preserve. 

 

 

It was great being able to help celebrate my Dad’s 80^th birthday party at the Elks Club.

 

 

 

I enjoyed mulled wine, a new and pleasurable experience for me courtesy of friends of my parents, Frank and Ruth. 

 

 

 

We also spent time visiting with family:

 

 

 

 

Dinner at my brother’s house.

 

 

Afternoon with Monte’s daughter and grandkids.

 

 

We "bumped" into Howard and Linda Payne of RV Dreams at the Tampa RV Super Show

 

February was jam packed with adventures including a week spent at the RV Dreams boondocking rally.

 

 

We enjoyed nightly campfires.

 

 

 

BBQ hot dogs prepared by our host, Howard Payne.

 

Daily breakfasts at the Solo Café consisting of several solo female full-time RVers including some wonderful ladies we met back in September 2012 in Harrisburg, Oregon at the RV Dreams Rally. 

 

It was great catching up with Gina, DJ and Kyra who prepared different breakfast cocktails each morning.

We opted to join the group on the boat ride to Cayo Costa State Park where we spent a lovely afternoon.

With heavy rains forecast it was great to be able to use the property owner’s large barn to have our pot luck dinner.  The other half of RV Dreams, Linda Payne gave the okay to start eating.

A small group opted to kayak-the weather was picture perfect.

That evening we all “pigged” out, literally at the pig roast.

The weeklong fun concluded with a hilariously entertaining and informative show and tell session.

 Unfortunately, the good time we had the previous week ended on a sour note as we had an accident.  We had an appointment to have new landing gear installed at RV Merchandising scheduled for the next morning.  We had arranged to stay in their parking lot overnight so we would be ready for our early morning appointment.  Monte ran into a culvert that was not clearly marked.

 

If it wasn’t for the kindness of a stranger who pulled us out of the culvert we would have had to call AAA.  At this point we were sure how much damage we had to our independent suspension system on the rig.  We found out later it was quite extensive.

 

To add further aggravation the installation of new landing gear that was supposed to take a few hours ended up taking two full days and cost us almost $900 more than our estimate.

Since embarking on our new life on the road lifestyle my favorite expression has become, “It is always something.”  Sometimes it is more than something, it is a lot of somethings.  My car died in my brother’s driveway.  I had it towed to the closest AAA service station who informed me the timing belt had broken causing damage to the engine.  The estimated cost of repair could exceed $3,000. 

 

We opted to sell the car and purchase a used Jeep with a 90 day warranty.  The radiator (not covered under the warranty) had to be replaced two days after we brought the car home.  I was hoping this was not going to be an omen of things to come.

 

We finished the month with a lovely afternoon of kayaking at Stump Pass Beach SP with my brother and his wife.

In March we took a ride to Shark Valley Everglades National Park with up close encounters with alligators.

 

 

We celebrated Monte’s birthday.

 

 

 

 

On a trip to Venice Beach Monte helped a fisherman untangle a fishing line that got stuck in a pelican.

The end of the month we moved a short 50 miles from Englewood to Little Manatee River State Park in Wimauma, our new home for the next four months.  We had some unexpected expenses and needed to work camp a few months to try to refill out travel piggy bank.

Volunteering in the maintenance department Monte painted.

Using my Cricket machine, we both made signs for the upcoming Spring Fling at the park. 

 

 

During the event we were assigned to direct visitors to parking sites.

Monte either fixed or performed maintenance on the several of the park vehicles including the mule, tractor, club cars and the GEM car.

He also donned protective clothing against mosquitoes and cleared trails and grated the canoe launch.

After painting a storage room I helped Monte erect shelves in the same room.

Two days a week I worked in the Ranger Station answering phones, checking in campers, selling ice and firewood and renting bikes, canoes and kayaks.

I also periodically cleaned the bathroom in the meeting room.

During the month of April we enjoyed seeing my nephew Adam and his wife Danielle who were visiting from Spokane. 

In an effort to save money, we spent most of April either working, or just biking, hiking and kayaking at the park.  We did spend one day at Anna Maria Island.

  I really like bike riding but didn’t do it as much as I would have liked to because my mountain bike was uncomfortable putting a strain on my back.  So in May I bought a cruiser so I could sit upright.  We spent one day at Alafia State Park riding the bike trails.  The trails are really suited more to mountain bikes than cruisers but I managed to keep up with Monte.

During a prescribed burn at the park, Monte had to climb up on the roof of our rig to hose it down to prevent damage from the ash raining down.

We attended a dinner party at the home of Wolfi and Helen, longtime friends of my parents.

In keeping with tradition, we celebrated my birthday in June enjoying a delicious dinner at Applebees.

Monte’s daughter Jenny and her sons, Bobby and Nicholas, spent the day with us.  We entertained them by taking them on the back trails in the mules.   The trails were very muddy due to recent heavy rains. They loved sloshing through the mud and were thrilled with the jolts when we dipped into hidden ruts.

 

In June I had extensive dental work done to the tune of $8,000.  Ouch-that hurt physically, mentally, emotionally and financially! 

 

At the end of June we discovered a leak in our bedroom slide.  Monte spent hours using needle nosed pliers painstakingly pulling out all the little tacks holding the carpet down. 

 

 

 

We had to tape plastic sheeting on the outside to allow the wood to dry but prevent more water from entering during rains.

After a few weeks, when the wood had dried, Monte worked on repairing the damage done to the bedroom slide. He marked the area on the wood he needed to cut out to square off in order to put in a filler piece and applied the piece using Gorilla Glue. 

After applying a filler and sanding, he applied contact cement to the wood on the bottom of the slide and on flashing and finally cemented the outer membrane.

Timmy, Monte’s other grandson came to visit for the weekend. 

We took him kayaking and explored the back trails on the mule.

We were happy to still be in Florida to able to join in the celebration of my Mom’s 81^st birthday.

After being in the same place for four months we were happy to be back on the road again in August.  We spent the first couple of days at Stephen Foster SP, one of our favorites Florida State Parks.

We moved on into Georgia staying at Al Sihah Shrine Park in Macon. 

The RV Park is basically a large field but it did have a full hook-up.

 

 

While the area we toured Ocmulgee National Monument

 

 

 

 

and Andersonville National Historic Site

We had a lovely spot at Jim Miller Park in Marietta, GA

 

 

 

Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park.

In Chattanooga, we stayed at the Camping World RV Park. 

 

 We took advantage of the free transportation in Chattanooga to tour the city. 

 

 

 

 

 

We also toured Chickamauga National Military Park

Chattanooga National Military Park.

We were happy to discover that Tennessee State Parks gives a senior discount even to seniors who are not residents of the state.  We had a large site at Cedars of Lebanon State Park, a short distance from Nashville.

After a couple of hours touring the Tennessee State Museum

we enjoyed listening to the sound of Grandpa’s Cough Medicine, a bluegrass band from Florida at Layla’s. 

 

  The delectable aroma of BBQ drew us into Jack’s a local favorite. 

 

We strolled down the District area to walk off our huge meal but after a short time I was ready to leave.

 

  I had had enough of the crowds and the strong urine odor blending

 in with cigarette smoke. 

Our next destination was another Tennessee State Park but when we arrived the only site they had available was too small for our size rig.  When Monte called his friends, Bob and Jill, in Wilmore, Ky (who we were scheduled to visit the following day) they said come on over.  We ended up moochdocking in the parking lot next to their home for a few days.  They even allowed us to plug in. 

As a thank you we took Bob and Jill out to dinner to the Beaumont Inn Owl’s Nest, a quant little out of the way place and a nice change of pace from a chain restaurant.  The food, as well as the company, was very good.

We didn’t get very far when we departed Wilmore as we ended up having to take our truck in for repairs at the Dodge Dealer in Nicholasville, KY.  Because parts had to be ordered we ended up staying in the parking lot overnight.  Luckily for us, the lot adjoins the Nicholasville Fire Department. 

 The guys ran an extension cord to an outdoor outlet and even allowed us to use their showers. 

Our truck was finally ready in the late afternoon.  We traveled to Greenwood, IN arriving after dark at the Camping World.  We had stayed there back in August of 2012 so we knew they had several spaces with electric hookups.  The parking lot was full when we arrived so we were relieved to get the very last spot available.

We had an appointment at Mor/Ryde for Monday morning so they could inspect the damage that was caused to the independent suspension system when Monte drove into the culvert back in February.  While Mor/Ryde does have some electric hookup sites in their parking lot, we knew they didn’t have a dump station.  So Saturday night we stayed at the nearby Elkhart County Fairgrounds so we could take advantage of the dump station.

Sunday we moved over to the Mor/Ryde parking lot.  Monday they began inspecting the rig.  The damage was quite extensive. 

 

Monte put in a claim to our insurance company and OMG, they covered it.  Just prior to leaving Mor/Ryde we bumped into Linda and Howard Payne who were stopping in to make arrangements to have work done the following week.  The last time we saw Linda and Howard was in Florida in February at their boondocking rally.  What a small world!

When we left Mor/Ryde we traveled then entire day to Mill Creek COE Campground in Berlin Center, OH.

We had a great spot right next to the rest room-handy since we planned on staying 2 weeks and the site did not have a dump station.

 

While in the area we rode our bikes, took hikes and attended the Canfield County Fair.

We also enjoyed our time at the Cuyahogoa Valley National Park.

After crossing the state line into Pennsylvania we settled into Bald Eagle State Park in the town of Howard.

One of our outings included a trip to Penn’s Cave.

Toms River, NJ at the Surf n Stream RV Park was next on the agenda. 

It was short drive to Atlantic City. 

Monte is not really into gambling so while I was enjoying the slots he checked out the boardwalk.

 We spent a pleasant afternoon in Seaside Heights, where substantial portions of the boardwalk had been damaged in October 2012 as a result of Hurricane Sandy.  The Casino Pier and Funtown Pier suffered major damage, with sections of both piers torn apart.  Powerful storm surges and waves caused many of the rides to collapse into the ocean.   Repairs to the boardwalk were completed on June 21, 2013. 

We just happened to plan our visit during the 33^rd Annual Clownfest weekend.

The main reason we had come to this area was to visit with my son, Ryan, who lives on Long Island.  When I researched how much it would cost between gas, diesel and tolls to take our rig and Jeep onto the Island we decided it would be better to stay in New Jersey and just go onto the Island for the day.  We had a wonderful visit and were happy to meet his girlfriend, Jen.  Both Jen and Ryan are Nassau County Police Officers. 

When we got back on the road we headed for Kinzers, PA where we stayed a few days at Roamers CG.

 

Our adventuring took us to Wilmington, DE

New Castle, DE

Intercourse, PA

We chose the next campground, Artillery Ridge, for its close proximity to Gettysburg National Military Park.

One of my favorite places to visit is Washington, DC.  I had been to the Nation’s Capitol many times but usually for just a couple of days at a time.  I wanted to stay an extended time so I was thrilled, when during my research, I discovered a County Campground in Maryland, just a short 30 minute drive into downtown Washington.  AND, as a bonus, the senior rate was only $13/day.  Normally a stay is limited to 14 days but because, for most of our stay, we were the only campers, we were allowed to extend our stay to 17 days.  

During our stay we spent a day exploring Rock Creek Park by bike.

It was just a short ride to the National Zoo where there is NO entrance fee.  Our favorite at the zoo was the Giant Panda Habitat.

Another day was spent at Arlington National Cemetery.  The highlight of the tour was the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

A short drive away is the Marine Corps War Memorial.

Most of one day was spent at the National Air and Space Museum.

 We walked across the National Mall to the National Museum of American History. 

We splurged on parking in one of the parking garages nearby.  We wised up next time we went into the city by parking at the Jefferson Memorial and using our bikes to get around the city.

Jefferson Memorial

FDR Memorial

MKK Jr. Memorial

WWII Memorial

Our timing to visit the White House couldn’t have been worse.  It was shortly after a man had scaled the fence and actually got into the house.  As a result the barriers had been moved further away from the fence.  White House tours are available but request for tickets have to be submitted through one’s Member of Congress.  Requests can be submitted up to six months in advance and no less than 21 days in advance.

We weren’t able to get tickets to ride to the top of the Washington Monument.  The tickets, available at a kiosk near the monument, are free but are limited and are usually gone very quickly early in the morning.

The Korean War Veterans Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

Reflecting Pool

Vietnam Veterans Wall

We ended September with a trip to Baltimore to tour Fort McHenry.

Our last day in Washington DC was spent at the Museum of Natural History and

The Museum of the American Indian.

Before leaving the area we visited Fort Washington in Maryland.

We spent a week at Rudd Creek Recreation Area in Boydton, VA where we just chilled with an occasional bike ride and hike.

Another week was spent at Holly Point Recreation Center in Wake Forest, NC.

We began noticing a change in the weather especially down by the lake.

Our day at the North Carolina State Fair was jam packed with entertainment including a performance by the bluegrass group, Midnight Call.

When we saw the absolutely beautiful campground at Cheraw State Park in South Carolina we were disappointed to discover they were booked up for the weekend so we would only be able to stay a couple of nights.  BUMMER

At Givans Ferry State Park in Ridgeville, South Carolina we were able to stay an entire week.  The park was just okay-we chose it because it was only an hour’s drive into Charleston.

Fort Sumter National Monument

Fort Moultrie

Charleston Ghost Tour

Hardeville RV Park, our next campground, was chosen because it was less than half hour to the heart of Savannah. 

While staying at Hardeville, Monte had to install a new driver door regular on our Jeep.  Thank goodness he is so handy or it would cost us a fortune to have someone else do these repairs.

We parked at the Savannah Convention Center and took advantage of the free ferry to cross the river to the waterfront area. 

 We spent hours just walking around the city browsing in shops and sampling free food restaurants used to lure in patrons. 

The final campground we stayed at in Georgia was Walkabout in Woodbine, GA.  The campground, that offers a Passport America membership discount for up to two weeks, is small with only 40 full hook-up sites.

Walkabout is a family owned and operated campground.  According to their website, Troy & Suze moved to America from Australia in 2006 with their 4 children with the dream of owning a family run business that would allow them to be “home” with their children.

It was quite cold during our stay at Walkabout.  We only ventured out one day to visit a couple of quaint small towns including St. Mary’s, GA, and Fernandina Beach, FL.

I had planned on us staying at Gold Branch State Park in Keystone Heights, FL for only a few days because I saw on Reserve America that they were totally booked for the upcoming weekend.  BUT when we arrived Monte mentioned we would be work camping at Little Manatee River State Park in December.  The ranger on duty, who just happened to be the volunteer coordinator, asked Monte if he wanted to work for the month of November.  So, a few days turned into a month.

Monte worked mainly in the shop repairing and maintaining vehicles.

I was pretty lazy.

And so was our cat, Annie.

We did go for several bike rides.

And hikes.

We also made a day trip into St. Augustine.  Monte and I had been to the city many times in the past so we just spent a little time at the Castillo de San Marco National Monument and walked around the town going in and out of shops.

One of the things we really enjoyed doing at Gold Head Branch SP was geocaching.  There were quite a few in the park.

One geocache had us scrambling down a ravine--this was one of the "treasures."

While at Gold Head, we discovered the floor on the bedroom was wet again.  Monte though the water might be coming in when it rains through the window in the slide.  He took the window out, cleaned the old caulking off and re-caulked.

He also thought the water might be coming in from the screw holes that attach the slide toppers to the slide.  So he removed the slide and caulked the holes before screwing the screws back in.

Another project we accomplished during this time was to repair the leak in our toilet.  This was accomplished by installing a new toilet seal.

December 1^st we returned to Little Manatee River State Park.  Over the course of the next few months, we have several commitments in the area including doctor and dental appointments so it is a blessing to be able to work camp at this time.

Our return to the park coincided with arrival of the new Park Manager.  We helped him unload his moving van.

The next day, while Monte helped the Park Manager move a few things around, I set up his kitchen for him placing post-it notes on the cabinets so he would know where things had been placed.

Monte dove right into work repairing and maintaining the park vehicles.

Socially, the month was very busy beginning with a party to celebrate Angelo’s (a friend of my parents) 60 years in America having emigrated from Italy. 

I had a little too much of the good stuff!

Monte and I celebrated our 11^th anniversary with dinner at Applebees.

I helped my brother and sister-in-law host a party for my parents’ 60^th wedding anniversary.

Monte and I attended grandson Timmy’s Holiday Concert.

And we attended a brunch hosted by Wolfi and Helen, long-time friends of my parents.

The year ended with mixed blessings.  I took Monte to the hospital when he complained of chest pains-it turned out to be a good move because he ended up having a stent placed in a blocked artery on Christmas Eve.

We spent most of Christmas day in the hospital waiting for the doctor to discharge him.

It was such a relief to have him home.  As a result of his medical condition we will have to alter our lifestyle.  But, like all new things, eventually whatever we have to do will become our New Normal.  I don’t really think I take Monte for granted but for sure, after all that has happened, I will definitely be grateful for every day we have together.

Annie was happy to have her "Daddy" home too.  She had stopped eating while he was gone.

The last Sunday of the year was spent with family as a belated Christmas, exchanging gifts and just enjoying the beautiful Florida weather. 
Happy New Year!