Countdown to Florida

Hi Everyone!

Well, Ken and I have begun the countdown to leaving for Florida.  We can hardly wait.  These 3 months at home have been fun, but it is time for our traveling dreams to continue, plus it is getting too cold here in PA.    We are just hoping that the temperatures will stay above normal until we pull out on Sunday, Jan. 22. 

Last week I had a follow-up visit since my surgery in October, and everything was great.  Matter of fact, the Dr. said he will see me again in May or June for further testing, and that was 2 months longer than he initially said I would need to see him.  Hallelujah!

We hope to get "Willie" back from the dealership on Thursday with all the minor repairs completed and the stolen TVs replaced as well as the door that was crowbarred for the thieves to gain entrance.  Then the fun begins - placing everything back in Willie that was taken out because of the cold weather.  A small price to pay for 7 or so weeks of sun and fun in Florida!

We will be celebrating both of our daughter's January birthdays as well as our granddaughter, Sam, who turns 3 on Jan. 20.  It will be a fun time and a great send off!

Hope to see you on the road!

Ken and Bonnie

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year and I hoped you had a very special holiday season!

We had a wonderful time celebrating with our 2 daughters, their husbands and the 4 granddaughters.  My parents were able to join us too for the Christmas meal on Dec. 24.  It's so much fun to watch the little ones excitement and joy during the holidays.  It adds such a special dimension to our lives.  On New Years Eve we had a party with our card club group, 8 of us who have been meeting once a month to go out to eat and play cards for about 20 plus years.  We were together from 6 to 12:45 and had so much fun eating, playing charades, cards, etc.  So nice to have special friends to share special times.  Numerous years the 8 of us had celebrated New Year's at the beach, but it was nice to spend it around home.

Well, it has been quite awhile since I posted anything, so here goes!

We are still at home in Akron PA but looking forward to leaving for Florida on Sunday, January 22.  It has been such a long time since we have spent a night in "Willie", our 5th wheel.  Our last trip was the very beginning of October.  So, it is time to get back into the vagabond life!!!

About 3 weeks ago, we got a call from some local police asking if we owned a 5th wheel that was being stored at the RV dealer nearby.  Turns out our rig was broken into and the TV's in the Living Room and our Bedroom were taken.  Everything else was intacted.  The thieves left the crowbar in our rig, as it was the last one they had broken into.  Out of all the rigs in the lot, they attempted to get into 5 but only got into 3, ours being one of them.  Fortunately, by the time they got to ours, they had learned how to get the TVs out within any damage to the TV or our rig.  Hallelujah!!!!  So, we will be getting 2 new TVs and a new front door.  They better hurry and get it repaired before the 22nd.

We will probably take 2 days to get to Florida and then head towards the Naples area to meet up with our Canadian friends, Barry and Deb.  They had visited us at our home in Akron in September, so we are looking forward to reconnecting soon!!  The 1st 2 weeks of February we will spend on Pine Island and then the last 2 weeks near Venice Beach, one of our favorite areas.  We love to ride bike there and go to many of the wonderful beaches nearby including Caspersen, Nokomis, and Venice Beach.  The bike trail follows the intercoastal waterway, so it is a beautiful bike ride.  Downtown Venice is so "user friendly" and offers so many quaint shoppes and cafes. Wonderful scones at one of the bakeries.

So, we are getting excited to leave for Florida in about 3 weeks.  We are looking to make reservations at a campground near Naples, so if you have any ideas for that area please let us know.

Have safe travels if you are a snowbird and heading to a warm destination.  Hope to see you on the road!

May 2012 be a special years filled with good health, joy, peace, and many memorable moments.

Be Safe,

Bonnie

Note the gift from Grandma and PaPa.  A CAMPER!!!!

Grandma and PaPa with Bria, Katelyn, Sam, and Cali!

Long Time No Post!!!



Well, it has been over a month since I have posted on our blog.  Obviously, not too many exciting things have happened that I thought I should pass along!  When you spend over 6 weeks at "home", you tend to get into a pattern and routine that becomes very much the same.  We have been busy with my parents, our children, grandchildren, and friends.  Lots of good and fun things, but we still miss our time on the road in Willie!!!

Another reason we stayed home, was a medical issue I had encountered and I needed to see several doctors to decide how to treat the problem.  To make a long story short, I had a growth removed from my bladdar 2 weeks ago, and the pathology report showed that the growth had some Stage 1 cancer cells.  The good news is that I am now cancer free since the growth was removed and the cancer had not spread to the lining of the bladder or any tissue around the growth.  I will be followed closely for the next several years to be certain that no more growths appear, and if they do, they would be treated quickly.  Not looking forward to ongoing cytoscopics, but no prep is needed for them and the procedure is basically pain free.  So, I am thankful that the Dr.'s and I took the 2 symptoms I had seriously and found the source of the problem.  This whole thing was rather frightening since my father was diagnosised with bladder cancer 20 years ago and had has not had a bladder for over 15 years.  Scary stuff!  But, he is still living and doing well.  We are blessed!  Just a side note.  Many people are not aware that many, many cases of bladder cancer are the result of smoking.  We all know that smoking can cause lung cancer, but few are aware of how many smokers end up with bladder cancer.  I was never a smoker, but the Drs. say 2nd hand smoke can also be a factor. I find that interesting!  On to more fun things!

Since we are home, we purchased our Sea Eagle infloatable kayak.  On Tuesday, it was 70 degress in PA (WOW), so we decided to have our friends, Sam and Kathy join us for the day and go to a recreation area nearby to test the kayak, enjoy a picnic lunch, and then take a bike ride.  It was a perfect day.  We are all impressed with the construction of the inflatable kayak, the sturdiness of it, etc.  Unfortunately, we were unable to get the skeg in place, so Ken and I had one heck of a time getting it to stay on a straight course.  I guess the skeg is necessary for easy paddleing and to keep it on course.  We are talking to the folks we bought it from to get the problem solved.  We think it will be a great option for us, but we need more information.

  

Removing the Kayak from its bag!




Inflated and ready to go!







Carrying to the water for
its maiden voyage!



Rowing away but spent alot
of time going in circles. 
Need the skeg!





Returned safe and sound
and DRY!



After the kayaking experience, we enjoyed our picnic lunch and then our 6 mile bike ride on a beautiful trail along a stream.  What a fun and beautiful day spent outside in November!

Walking across the stream on a fallen tree!
Abit of a challenge!

Can't believe we won't be back in Willie till mid January when we head to Florida until the end of March.  Way toooo long to be off the road!


































We Bid Farewell to Harbor View CG and the Colonial Beach Area

Ken and I were up by 7:30 and slowly started packing up for the trip home.  We decided to take our last walk on the 2 mile "loop path" in front of the CG that bordered along the Potomac River.  We have taken many walks along this road and enjoy it every time.  The view of the water is spectacular and the area is quiet and serene.

Then we finished loading everything in Willie and the truck and got "hitched" for the trip.  We stopped by the office and said our good-byes to Jan, Jill, and Sis's husband.  Sis wasn't around this morning so we had said our goodbyes to her last evening.  They are the nicest staff we have learn to know since we have been RVing.  We will miss all of them.  They were hoping we would stay tonight for the retirement party for Mike and Jill.  They have managed this park for 5 or 6 years and decided to retire about a week ago.  Of course, I would have stayed, but being the practical one, Ken said it was time to head home. 

We walked down to Gary and Leesa rig to say our good-byes and let them know we plan to see them again in the near future.  We were on our way to PA by 11:15 and fortunately it was an uneventful journey.  The truck ran so well.  Hallelujah!!!!

Arrived at our house around 3:00 and immediately went to work unloading.  Ken did some raking and mowing.  Welcome back to reality!!  It looks like we will not be doing anymore RVing until we leave for Florida in January.  That doesn't sound right!  We may have to rethink our plans!!!!  Time will tell!!!!!

Our Last Full Day at Harbor View CG!

Today was such a phenomenal day in so many ways!  We got up alittle later (tired from all the driving yesterday) and decided to take a walk around the park.  Ahead of us we noticed a guy walking his 3 dogs who appeared to be staring at us.  As we got closer we realized it was Gary, one of the folks we learned to know at the RV Dreams Rally in Hershey several weeks ago.  What a surprise!  Neither one of us had any idea that we would be at the same park.  His wife Leesa poked her head out of their motorhome to say hi.  We chatted for awhile and then we told them we planned to have a campfire this evening and make hot dogs.  Invited them to join us.  We knew we would have alot to talk about.  Then we walked alittle further and met up with Steve and Chris, folks we have met here at the CG this week who live only about 1 hour from away.  They knew we planned to have a campfire this evening and said if we didn't care they would walk up and join us.  So our evening plans were set.


Ken and I took our 2 mile walk near the CG and talked with a gentleman who was getting ready to haul his boat back to Florida.  He and his wife had some great stories to share with us about some of their boating adventures like boating on the intercoastal waterway from New York to Florida in an 18' boat that they slept on.  Imagine!  Then he shared about his numerous boating trips in Alaska and how closely he shared the waters with 3 killer whales.  It was fascinating.  Amazing what stories you hear when you are out for a walk on a relaxing day!

We drove to get a few groceries and decided to go into Colonial Beach for another look at the area.  When we were there last week, it appeared to be a depressed area with a beach that was in rather bad shape.  Today it looked like a new beach.  Obviously Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee had done so much damage to their beach area.  They now had cleaned off the beach, leveled the sand, and it looked beautiful.  We walked along several of the streets and found a wonderful little market shop that had fresh baked goods, homemade granola, sorbet, soups, salads, etc.  We purchased a wonderful scone - apricot, raisin, walnut, and white chocolate.  Today really changed our feelings about Colonial Beach.  They have lots of activities in the summers, concerts frequently, and many folks drive around in their golf carts on the roads.  Some of the houses remind me of the cottages in our area in Pa called Mt. Gretna.

Then at 6 Gary and Leesa came to our campsite to have supper with us.  We built a large campfire and had hot dogs, potatoes, beans, and of course some wine and beer.  Just when we finished eating, Steve and Chris joined us.  They brought some pumpkin pie and whipped cream.  I introduced everyone to "snake making" using crescent rolls and how to make cinnamon rolls in the cast iron pie maker.  Gary and Leesa have been full timing for about 3 months so we enjoyed listening to their on the road experiences and we all shared some of the trips we have taken and CG's that we should try.  It was such a fantastic evening.  This world is so small and it is amazing how many wonderful people you meet along the way.  We have enjoyed getting to know Steve and Chris and so thankful that we were able to meet up with Gary and Leesa again.  They are hoping to workcamp in the hills of South Dakota next summer and fall.  Who knows, maybe we will meet up with them in that area and they can show us around.  That would be great!!!  We ended our evening around 10:15 with hugs and hopes of seeing each other on the road again in the near future.  Life is good!

Can't believe we have spent 2 weeks in this CG.  The time has past so quickly even with all the truck issues.  But, life is what you make it, and even if we would have known all of this ahead of time, we would have still made the trip.  Sometimes you just have to make lemonade out of lemons!  Why not?????

A Big "Round Trip" Travel Day

I got a nudge about 3:45 this morning.  Ken had been awake for about 45 minutes and wondered if I wanted to get up and get ready to go to PA.  What's a wife to say???  So by 4:15 we were on our way home to pick up our repaired truck and bring it back to VA.

The ride home went very well.  Our only traffic congested area was on Route 83 getting near Route 322.  So we got on the Turnpike and exited at Lebanon.  We actually ate breakfast at the Quinten Restaurant and then went for the truck.  We know for sure that we did the right thing by having the truck towed back to PA.  The cost for the towing, inspection, oil change and repair was less than what the Ford Dealer quoted us for the 1st three things he said needed repair which made it possible for them to see what else needed fixed.  Can't imagine how much that would have cost!!!! 

While home we got to see our daughters and grandaughters, since Lanie was visiting at Jamie's.  We spent about an hour there, took the car to our house, and were on our way back to VA by 11:15.  The truck  drove very well and we were at the CG  by 3:00,, after 3 quick stops.  2 of the managers at the CG came right over when we arrived to make sure the truck was doing well.  How nice when people show concern.

When we left this morning it was 58 degrees, so Ken wore shorts and I wore capris.  It was so much cooler when we got to PA, only 42.  It was sunny and mild when we returned to VA, so 2 more games of shuffleboard.  I have to stop winning or Ken soon won't agree to play!!!

After dinner, Sis, a sweet lady who works here at the CG, knocked on our door and invitied us to join the CG workers at their campfire.  So, we took our s'more "stuff" and spent several hours with Jill, Mike, Jan, Barb, and Sis for some ice cream and s'mores.  Mike, Jill and Jan are full-time RVers, so it was so interesting to talk with them.  All of them have been so kind to us while we have been at the CG.  They invited us to the retirement party for Jill and Mike who have been managers at this park for 5 or 6 year.  They will not be back next year, so a celebration on Sat. night has been planned.  Unfortunately, we are leaving Sat. morning and will miss the fun.  It surely has been a pleasure getting to know all these folks.

A Gorgeous Sunny Day - Finally!!!!

This was a positively fabulous weather day!  Ken and I took a bike ride to the private beach near the CG, Berkeley Beach and sat on the dock just taking in the sun and view.  Back to Willie for a cooked breakfast before heading back to Sandy Point to look for more sea glass.  We were like "kids" again walking the beach and collecting our treasures.  We found almost as much sea glass as the last time we were there. 



The wood "boundaries" on each side mark the width
 of the public beach! Big, huh!



The actual public beach is about 30' wide, probably enough room for a couple dozen beach chairs if they were on top of each other.  But, they entire time we were there, about 2 1/2 hours, we did not see one person on the beach and we walked a large part of the primitive area.  It was so beautiful.

Came back in time to play 2 games of shuffleboard and I was the winner of both games.  It is now the talk of the staff here at the CG, since no one else seems to play and they always want to know who wins.  There are 2 couples, a widowed lady who full-times by herself, and a young local gal who run this CG.  They are so friendly and helpful.  Everyday they asked about our truck situation, and today the one gentleman stopped by to wish us luck for our trip home and back.  They are genuinely concerned.  That makes this place even more special!

Before dinner, we took a bike ride and got a photo of a road over a dam that was washed away during the flooding from Tropical Storm Lee.  They had 22'" of rain in less than 24 hours!  Ken also wanted to get a sunset picture.  He always does that on all our trips.  It was a beautiful, clear evening! 

We are planning to leave early tomorrow morning for PA, get the truck, take the car to our house, and then turn right around and return to Harbor View tomorrow evening.  We figure we will be driving about 9 hours or so.  We just hope we get back here safe and sound and that all of our belongings here in VA will be back in PA on Saturday.