January 7, 2014

Englewood and North Port, FL

Today was kind of a slow news day-Monte installed a receiver that my Dad had ordered on-line while I shopped,

 including a stop at a party store,

with my Mom.

January 6, 2014

Englewood, FL

My Dad will be turning 80 this month and to celebrate we are having dinner out on the day of his birthday and my Mom is hosting a party at the Elk’s Club later in the month.  She asked me to come up with some ideas for place cards and centerpieces so Monte and I did the rounds beginning with Joann, continuing on to Hobby Lobby and then to Michaels. 

Later in the evening, while I was preparing dinner, we heard a noise.  When Monte went outside to investigate he discovered a tree branch had broken off and landed on our roof.  Luckily it didn’t do any damage. 

January 5, 2014

North Port, FL (Dinner with Family)

One of the perks of staying at a park close to family is being able to take advantage of their laundry room.  My parents had invited us for dinner so we took along our three loads of wash.

As we were loading the car this squirrel came to visit.  I thought he was really cute but when he began to creep closer and closer to me I actually began to get a little nervous.

 

 

Monte thought it was funny. 

 

 

 

 

He knelt down and called to the little guy. 

While he was looking in one direction, a second squirrel came up right next to him.

 

 

 

 

 

We had a very enjoyable evening sitting around chatting after a delicious meal of lasagna, salad and garlic bread.

January 4, 2013
Englewood, FL

It was really cold through the night but it was SUPPOSED to warm up to in the 70’s during the day.  It didn’t so Monte and I pretty much were couch potatoes.  In an effort to save money we kept our jackets on but finally in the late afternoon we brought out our little space heater and put it on for an hour to take the chill out of the rig.

At around 8PM we decided to bundle up for our short walk to the showers and were pleasantly surprised when we opened the door to the rig and discovered it was warmer outside than inside.

Back home, Monte shared his piece of pumpkin pie with our cat Annie who has a sweet tooth just like her “daddy”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Update:

Back on December 27^th, I included in my post information about a new litter we bought, Dr. Elsey’s Ultra Precious Cat litter. 

We are very pleased with the new litter.  It has very good clumping properties and there is NO ODOR.  Whoopee!

I had been a little concerned that Annie would not take to the new litter but, from day one, she jumped right on in (literally) giving us her seal of approval.

 

January 3, 2014

Englewood, FL

It was quite chilly this morning when we woke up. 

It had rained during the night so Monte swept off some of the water that had pooled up on the slide toppers and then climbed up on the roof to sweep off pine needles.

A birds eye view from the top of the rig:

 

 

 

It had been at least three months since we filled our propane tank so we knew we had to be getting close to empty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Because it was chilly we turned on the heat to help empty the tank.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The afternoon was spent doing chores including grocery shopping, a stop at the library and the post office.

We took a walk around the park after dinner.  It was cold enough for me to regret not wearing a hat and gloves.

Back home, we watched an interesting movie, About Time.  The main character, Tim, learns that the men in his family have the ability to travel through time.  Tim cannot change history, but he can change what happens and has happened in his own life.  During the course of the movie there is a series of “do-overs” changing the outcome.  He marries and has a daughter. 

When Tim’s sister crashes her car after a fight with her bad-news boyfriend, Tim takes his sister back to the night just before she met her boyfriend changing the outcome.  When he returns to the current time, he discovers the do-over for his sister, through the butterfly affect, meant that instead of a daughter he now has a son. 

Tim’s father explains that once a child is born traveling back to a time prior to the child’s birth stops that child from being born.  To have his daughter back, Tim must let his sister meet the bad-news boyfriend and have the crash. 

The only thing I will say about the ending, not wanting to ruin it for anyone who hasn’t seen the movie yet, is that a heart-wrenching choice has to be made.

The movie got me thinking about what things in my life I would "do over" if I could.  HUMMM?

 

 

January 2, 2014

Englewood, Florida

Englewood Farmer’s Market & Dinner with Family

We strolled through the Englewood Farmer’s Market located on Historic Dearborn Street.  It is held every Thursday from 9AM to 2PM.

 

 

 

  

 

One vendor had his pet pig with him.  How cute! 

 

We stopped at Taco Bell to pick up cinnamon twists to bring to my brother’s house for dessert. 

I knew he and his wife, Margaret, were going to be serving chicken enchiladas so I thought the twists would be a perfect complement to the meal.  Monte had to taste just one to make sure it was good.

I had decided not to make any resolutions for the New Year, but if I was going to, one of the things I might have included was drinking less wine.  

I kind of overindulged a little so I was glad I hadn’t made a resolution to drink less wine because I would have already failed on the second day of the New Year!

January 1, 2014

Englewood, FL

We spent a very pleasant New Year’s Eve with my parents at their house.  Mom made a delicious dinner that included ribs.  YUM

She also baked an apple cake.  Monte thought he was going to sample it before dinner but my mom wasn’t having any of that!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dad entertained us by playing his keyboard.

After dinner we watched the movie, The Internship with Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson.  It was hilarious. 

Not wanting to be on the road with the party-goers, we left by 10PM and were home by 10:30. 

 

The party at the clubhouse was in full-swing as we passed it on the way to our site.  Judging by the amount of scooters there it was packed. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These people have the right idea-no worrying about overindulging and then driving.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first day of the New Year we finally took our bikes off the rack. 

I’m embarrassed to say we have been here a full month already and haven’t ridden our bikes yet.

We plan to make up for lost time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monte had to add air to the tires.

Are we ready?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yep-let’s go.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The place we are staying at is located on a major road so when we exited the park we turned down the first residential block so as not to be riding in heavy traffic.

 

 

 

 

 

We rode past beautiful homes on Bayshore and took a detour on a vacant lot that is for sale. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not a bad view—I wonder how much they are asking for this little slice of paradise?

Altogether we rode a little over 4 miles.  Good enough for our first time out in a while.  

 

 

 

EVEN THOUGH WE WILL BE AT THIS SITE UNTIL THE END OF MARCH, BEING THE PLANNER THAT I AM, I BEGAN RESEARCHING PLACES WE WANT TO EXPLORE THIS YEAR.  WE HOPE TO TRAVEL UP THE EAST COAST. 

BUT BEFORE WE CAN BEGIN EXPLORING WE ARE GOING TO HAVE TO WORK A COUPLE OF MONTHS TO TRY TO RECOUP SOME OF THE UNEXPECTED EXPENSES WE INCURRED THE PAST YEAR AND THE OVER BUDGETED RENT WE ARE PAYING WHERE WE ARE WINTERING.

IF ANYONE HEARS OF A WORK-CAMPING OPPORTUNITY IN THE NORTHERN PART OF FLORIDA, GEORGIA OR THE CAROLINAS FOR THE MONTHS OF APRIL AND MAY, WE WOULD APPRECIATE HEARING ABOUT IT.  THANKS