New Year's Eve 2013

Pulling out of the driveway at 1:58. We already came back to the house once to get Darryl's phone and scooter's leash. Not sure how far we will get today since once again, the lights on the camper aren't working so we can't drive in the dark. (They worked yesterday, but not today) Really! what fun would it be if we didn't have something not working. I can't wait to test out the "plumbing" since we have about 6 lbs of caulking squirted randomly around all the pipes. Fingers crossed!

Waiting to leave...

since 9 am!

So happy to be home!!

Our beach. I love it!

H.O.M.E

Long trip. Glad to be here. Lots more trees down from winter storms. Tons of work to do here. Happy to be home!!

Having Fun

...at the KOA campground in Mount Pleasant S.C. with grandson Bram. Despite the rain that started minutes after this picture was taken, we are getting some good one on one play time in with a crazy and fun three year old. Right now he is napping, but in a few minutes will wake up to all the toys he chose for himself at WalMart today. Life is good!

Christ Church Frederica

Episcopal church, st simons island

A garden chair...

Live Oak, Azalea, and Spanish Moss...

On St Simon's Island

Evening with Friends

Arrived

We are back at the Coastal Georgia r.v. Resort. This time we have a very nice site - this is our view! Can't complain at all! We are going in later to have dinner with our friends on St. Simons Island, and if the weather holds out tomorrow we will get to have a beach walk and a tour of the town. Looking forward to it!

Relaxing

in Welaka, Florida at our friend's house. We are on our way back to Rhode Island - slowly. Tomorrow we head to St. Simon's island for a couple of days, then to Charleston for four days. Packing everything up at the boatyard was exhausting, so we are happy to be lazy about getting back home!

Really?

One fire ant, on twenty acres of land, has to find MY FOOT and once again torture me. Thank you.

Here we are...

...being hauled out of the water as the search continues for the source of the clanging. Nothing they have done to this point has solved anything. Notice the *tropical* setting.

**see previous post for reference to tropical...

Will Trade!

That's right. For sale, or will trade for a 14 ft. ladder. There hasn't been any interest from anyone to buy this poor old dinghy, and although it literally came free with the engine we bought Darryl still feels it is worth something. That something being a ladder. We actually already have a ladder, which we need to climb aboard the boat when it is in the work yard or storage area. The problem is it is only a 10 foot ladder, which falls a few feet short of what would make for a comfortable "landing" . The last step up is a giant leap -not for mankind, and definitely somewhat awkward for those of us with short legs. The boat goes back into storage on Friday so hopefully we will make a trade before then.
In the meantime we are still at the boatyard. The little clanging noise in the engine that Darryl is intent on solving has turned into a two week project. And lots of money. They have replaced a bunch of things, ordered more parts, taken out the transmission, ordered more parts, sighed and shaken their heads, put parts in, taken parts out and then ordered more parts. The UPS man has taken to waving to us when he drives by. Today another part has arrived. The boat has once again become a giant floating toolbox, so Scooter and I moved back into the camper which is in a storage area along with a bunch of parked cars, trucks and heavy equipment. In situations like this cruisers are frequently known to use the expression "We are Living the Dream!" - mostly used to refer to what the outside world THINKS we are doing. All in all however, we do agree that for the most part sunny, warm weather trumps the aggravation of boat repairs. The definition of "Cruising" for most of us is simply repairing your boat in a tropical setting. Soon enough we will be home remembering this winter with humor, telling friends our stories while they tell us how they envy what do. And for today? I am just keeping my fingers crossed for that 14 ft ladder!

One Happy Man!

Honda motor for Sale!

We are now the proud owners of a new, 9 year old, dinghy engine. After about a week of searching Darryl finally found this one for sale about an hour and a half north of here. I could hear the screeching of the tires as he left the parking lot yesterday to go and look at it. There seemed to be no doubt in my mind that he would return with it, beaming proudly like the father of a newborn son. As excited as a 3 year old on Christmas morning. It is an old Yamaha 2 stroke engine - that's 2 strokes less complicated than the Honda 4 stroke we spent so much time and effort trying to coax back to life. What is the difference you ask? It boils down to this. One works and the other doesn't. At least for now. He also came home with another dinghy, deflated and rolled in a ball. Really? I have no idea what we are going to do with it. (If it deflates and can be rolled in a ball you won't catch me floating around in it!) And whether they work or not, we now have two engines and two dinghies. I actually feel at this point we are one step closer to being approached by the producers of "Hoarders". Oh well. Off I go to help with the official transferring of the engines. Wish me luck!

Boatyard. Still.

After a brief trip up to Port Hope/Cobourg/Toronto here we are still at the boatyard. It seems while I was away Darryl decided to dig into the engine on the big boat and remove the fuel injectors and the exhaust manifold. Nope, I am not really sure why either, except the engine had been making some "clanging" noises and he hopes by doing some maintenance the "clanging" will go away. In the meantime he had Eric, the yard manager, order some "parts" (really? Parts of what?) which were supposed to come in Friday but BIG SURPRISE did not show up. So here we are waiting. The hope is that when everything is reassembled we will head back to Stuart for a week before we have to come back here and put the boat away again for the spring/summer/fall. In the meantime if you have been hanging on the edge of your seat waiting for news of the dinghy engine (too many engines to look after in my opinion) we got the news from the mechanic that, alas, it seems to be a piston problem or some such thing. Anyway my eyes just glazed over when Darryl started telling me about it. The bottom line is that is going to be just too darn expensive (not to mention impractical) to fix this 15 year old Honda. Darryl's days of voodoo magic to get the thing going are (just about) over. The mechanic said we might have a couple of more weeks limping along with it. Sigh. When we started this cruising thing back in the 90's, I am pretty sure the brochure showed palm tress, sunshine, hammocks and piña coladas! Well, we do have the sunshine. And, while plugged in at the dock, we also have our Keurig coffee maker (YESSSSS!) and a heater for these few days of chilly weather. Add a HONEYBELL orange and life is GOOD!

The good things about the boatyard...

1. Electricity. Lots of it.
2. Hot, hot, hot (did I mention hot?) showers.
3. Having a car.
4. Plenty of space for scooter to run and run.
5. Not having to depend on an undependable dinghy.
6. Having a bicycle.
7. Moose. (I admit it. We like him. And he IS nice to us)

The bad things about the boatyard...
1. Fire ants. (Don't ask!)
2. See #1.

Osprey flying above us

Looking for lunch...

Blue Heron on the St Lucie canal

Ouch!

Oh well

As I write this we our on our way back to the boatyard. After two weeks of problems starting the dinghy engine we no longer have problems starting it. The pull cord broke so now we can't start it at all. Even without the dog we don't want to be stuck on the boat without the ability to get to shore, so back we go. We will probably take the motor to have the cord repaired, but until we can reliably start the thing we are not going anywhere else. Hopefully at some point we can find another (2nd hand) engine. In the meantime I will get laundry done, defrost the fridge and go for bike rides. It IS a beautiful morning and I am glad not to be in the snow!

Farmer's Market

It's official.

We are wimps. That's right. WIMPS! A cold front came through this area yesterday. I knew it was coming because I had looked at the forecast earlier in the week. This cold front was going to bring lots of wind (from a nasty direction), which translates to a bouncy boat and wet dinghy rides to shore. Not to mention of course -COLD! So we booked a slip at the dock here where we could plug in the little heater I keep stashed away for such emergencies. No braving the elements for us. Nope. Personally I am way past that time in my life where sleeping huddled in a ball with a blanket covering everything but one nostril is fun. Not that it was ever fun but it certainly was no big deal when I was younger. So here we are, tied up and plugged in for two days. My friend Jose took it a bit more seriously and booked a room at a hotel when her husband suggested it would be " no big deal" to be a little cold. (After re-assessing the forecast he went too). This morning when we woke up it was a chilly 38 outside (ok folks, remember, we ARE in florida) and a balmy 52 inside the boat. Today the sun is shining and it is very windy - I call it a "crocs with socks" kind of day. (Crocs the shoes...) Right now the farmers market is calling us. It is a short walk away, and I will buy some veggies to put into a nice warm home made soup for tonight. Off to find my socks!

Sunset from the marina...

Scenes from the marina #2

Scenes from the marina...

How Much Is That Doggie....

Scooter in his favorite spot watching us eat dinner. (Before it rained!)

Boating

There are many times during the day you are reminded you are on a boat. The lovely gently rocking motion back and forth, the sporadic clanging of a halyard, the hum of the wind generator and the emergency 2 am drill when you realize it is raining and you have to rush around pulling everything in from the cockpit and closing all the hatches. The 2 am drill happened to us last night. Once everything was soundly secured from the elements we settled ourselves back in bed. Ahhhhh! The gentle rocking of the boat helped us drift back to sleep. And then -SPLAT! A big drop of water on my head. I reached up in the dark to the small little porthole right above me and sure enough it was leaking. No worries I thought. I won't wake Darryl. I will just press a piece of paper towel against it and we will deal with it in the morning. Just a little pressure to keep it -OMG!!! There goes the porthole! Pushed my hand right through it! Now it is pouring rain in the v-berth and the window portion is lying outside on the deck. Fortunately Darryl, sensing trouble and clearly not able to sleep through my cursing, got up, grabbed our trusty roll of "TEAR-AID" and went out and taped the thing back in place. (It will be securely caulked when the weather allows.) After the very loud sigh I heard before he got back into bed I decided the best use for the paper towel would be on my head and not in the porthole. (Note to self - paper towel on head goes on the list of things that remind you that you are on a boat.) Fortunately when I woke up the paper towel was still dry, which is an excellent testimonial for "TEAR-AID" by the way. Today it is still raining which (in case you didn't know) actually shrinks your boat by about 25% by virtue of the fact you are less than 2 feet from your spouse all day. Just Kidding!! It is Valentine's Day!! We will make the most of it! Meaning of course that I will find the chocolate almonds I stashed away a few weeks ago and eat them, I mean share them. While the boat gently rocks....Happy Day everyone!

The day after the blizzard named nemo...

This was part of our morning walk. We certainly are lucky not to be at home, with no power in the cold! Rhode island, as with many states in the northeast, has been declared in a state of emergency. Here in Stuart the only emergency we have had ( other than dinghy engine troubles) is running out of ice for our gin and tonic. Today we are bobbing around on our moorings ball in a pleasant breeze of 15 knots, which is keeping the wind generator active enough to maintain the fridge. Most of the boat chores are done, and as we speak Darryl is doing the dishes. I think my book is calling! I hope everyone affected by the storm stays warm and snug!

On the way to Stuart...

Chilly!

The local weatherman just issued a "snuggle alert" for tonight! How cool is that? Forty six deg Fahrenheit. I love it!!

Sunset

Last night it was lovely. There was a slight nip in the air as a cold front had come through earlier in the day, which made my mid afternoon bike ride quite pleasant. Otherwise we have both been busy enough doing random chores and "getting the boat ready to go" projects. I went to a giant wholesale store (Costco) the other day and $300.00 later all I seemed to have were enough zip lock bags to last until the end of the next Mayan calendar. We are not sure what our plans are for leaving right now because Darryl is trying to supervise the reconstruction of the kitchen at the yacht club which was damaged during hurricane/superstorm sandy. We will likely stay in Florida again this season because of that. I can't complain because aside from all the rain yesterday morning the weather has been better than usual for this time of year. Scooter has a great playmate here named Luke; a lively and very energetic standard poodle. We also have some lively and energetic friends here who help keep us in good humor and well entertained. We will all go our separate ways soon, but in the meantime we share drinks, dinner and boating stories regularly. Sunday we will have a Super Bowl get together even though none of us watch football. Last night we had a mock New Year's Eve party because Jose found a couple of bottles of champagne in a locker on her boat which she wanted to use up. Last Saturday the potluck was cancelled because Moose claimed there weren't enough people - we had one anyway! And so it goes until we all move along in our boats, cars or campers. In the meantime Darryl has chosen today to varnish (the wood on the boat) and I am going to town to get some goodies for Super bowl Sunday. Have a great day everyone!

The Good, The Bad and The Not So Ugly

The good. I have always had a love/hate relationship with Florida. For the most part I love the weather, especially as it has been for the last week. I also love the selection of very inexpensive, very very delicious fruits and vegetables they sell at the roadside stands. Cantaloupe, strawberries, avocados, tomatoes, peppers and - drum roll please - HONEYBELL ORANGES! These are the sweetest, juiciest and most delectable things that could ever pass your lips. Seriously. I discovered them the other day at the fruit stand when my friend Jose watched me put a navel orange in my basket. She grabbed my arm and asked if I had every tried a HONEYBELL. The next thing I knew I was at the register paying for 8 of them. It set me back a total of $1.20. And after I tried one back at the camper I realized Jose had set me up with a new addiction. Since I haven't yet mentioned them to Darryl (is that bad?) I have four more days before I need to replenish my supply.
In the meantime with respect to the "bad" aspect of Florida I do have a few things I could mention but I will skip right to the top of the list. Fire ants. Actually, they take up the top four spots on the list. I thought I had masterfully avoided them this year but alas they found me (I found them) yesterday. That's all I have to say about that.
And now the "not so ugly". It is this bike. A little rusty. A little old. Not that good looking. But I could tell when we went to the Flea Market yesterday that it needed a home. And I need exercise. So it was a match made in heaven. I rationalized that Florida is such a flat state I will actually be able to exercise without having to put too much effort into it. So we loaded it in the car, and when we got it back I "pimped my ride" by adding a basket (donated by Andy from one of his piles of junk. Andy could be a whole other chapter in this blog). And so this morning after my HONEYBELL I am going off for a pedal. Bye!

Weather

So sorry to everyone who is experiencing the cold! As you can see, it never seemed to reach here!

I find it interesting....

...that they refer to boats as "she". They require so much time and effort that they really should be referred to as "he". Just my opinion.
I also find it interesting that in a camper which has clearly been designed for short people, the bathroom mirror is so high that I can only comfortably see my forehead. So I started thinking. And although I have tried, I can't really think of a downside to not having a mirror (aside from wanting to check your teeth after eating a green salad. But that's what friends are for.) I actually find it quite liberating.
Have a great day!

Burning Sugar Cane

In the water

We had the boat launched today. Got into the slip and because there was no wind we put the jib (the yellow thing) on. I like when the boat is in the water because it is much easier to get on and off of it (than it is when it's in the work yard) and so I have a tendency to go over to it more often. I also realized that walking back and forth from the camper to the boat gives my legs some much needed time in the sun. They are frighteningly pale. Everyone else here seems to have a lovely color on their legs (except of course Moose, who always wears pants). The only problem with walking back and forth is that every time I get to the boat Darryl gives me a job. Or tries to. I usually just look at him and say "in a minute, I have to keep moving while I am getting a tan!" and then I move along before he can figure out what I mean. With the exception of helping with the jib I have been quite successful at avoiding boat chores. Not that I am not busy in the camper. Saturday I made cookies in the toaster oven which took the better part of the day because you can only bake 3 at a time. They WERE very good though. Today the outdoor work is not so much fun because they are burning sugar cane a mile away and the wind is such that the ashes are being quite evenly deposited over the entire boatyard. I will post a picture. Other than that we don't really know how long we will be here. Perhaps a week or two. At the least until my legs change color!

Bar-B-Que

We purchased a new portable grill yesterday. I am not convinced we needed one, but it was "suggested" to us that we might. It was suggested (sort of) by Moose, who has never really spoken a word to us. He does talk to scooter, so we knew he was capable of speaking. He says things like "hey Scooter", and "how you doin' today buddy?". And he does wave as he drives by when I am walking the dog on the road, but I sense he is waving to scooter.  Sometime it seems he might have  a chance to talk to us, but then he doesn't. Except for the other night when Darryl was trying to light the grill,from which there were several unassuming "poofs" in a row  accompanied by some small (o.k. LARGE) flames. Moose was coming back to his camper at the time. He stopped, looked at Darryl and said "whada ya tryin' to do? Blow us all up?". That was it. He went into his camper without another word. Darryl and I looked at each other without ANY words. We slinked back into our camper and ate peanut butter sandwiches. The next morning we realized if our chicken breasts from the night before had any hope of having the glorious grilled ending they aspired to we would need a new grill. So I trekked into town and purchased a poof proof, flame proof and moose proof table top bar-b-que. And so far, I haven't heard a (bad) word about it. Grilled chicken tonight!

In the work yard

Yesterday they moved the boat into the work yard where it will spend a week being primped and preened. Everything seemed to have survived the summer here which is pretty amazing considering how hot, humid and wet it can be. What you can't see right now is Darryl, down inside the boat happily working on what I have previously referred to as "boat projects". I never really know what he works on, only that he has tools strapped to his belt, caulking guns and epoxy close by and duck tape at the ready. Once a day he comes back to the camper and mutters something about going to the hardware store, although after years of daily trips to the hardware store I can't possibly imagine what tool or screw he is not in possession of. I usually leave him alone because if the project is NOT going well he NEEDS to be alone, and if it IS going well he feels compelled to explain the entire process to me. (I have to admit, I have learned a lot about the inner workings of boat systems this way.) In the meantime, until the boat goes in the water Scooter and I will continue to amuse ourselves around the camper. As you can see by the picture it is a beautiful day here and it is time to put my shorts on. Have a great day everyone!

Mostly settled

It was a busy day getting things unloaded, set up and put away. It is always a challenge setting things up in a small space when you are coming from a bigger space. But we manage. Most of the time it involves moving 10 things to get to the one thing you need but at least it keeps you in shape. Right now Darryl is on the roof trying to install a new antenna cable. I am not sure how sturdy the roof is, so if I end this abruptly it is because he has fallen through. As with the boat, we do spend more time replacing and repairing things than we do sipping piña coladas under palm trees. That said, it is almost time ... WHOOPS! I hear my name! Time to pull a man off a roof!

We made it

...to the boatyard in Indiantown at 5pm this afternoon. We managed to squeeze into the same spot we had last year, right beside, yes, let us say it together, "right beside MOOSE!" Remember him from last year? If not, read back a bit. This time we backed in to the spot and cleared his satellite dish by at least 4 inches. A huge improvement if I do say so. It is very warm and humid here. It took an hour and a half to set everything up, and once it was done we locked ourselves inside our little roving home, cranked up the air conditioning and sat down. Neither one of us has moved since, much to Scooter's dismay I might add.  His nose has been twitching since we have been here and I think he remembers the abundance of bunnies to chase and armadillos to be perplexed and confused by. Tomorrow we will let him run about as he wishes. Tonight we will all just tuck in and be thankful that the long days of being in the car have ended!

The final welcome!

Waiting to leave

Scooter has been in the car for 30 minutes already. Just sitting there. He always knows when we are getting ready to go and jumps in the car at his earliest opportunity. The record so far for him is one hour and fifteen minutes.

Coastal Georgia r.v. Resort

Lovely place. We were the smallest camper here, to the point that people came by to comment on how "cute" the camper was. Not sure whether to feel complimented or not. We had a great visit with our friends who are renting a condo on St Simons Island. A nice break from what is becoming a VERY long trip.

I love a good WELCOME!

First night in Earl!

Well, we finally settled in to the camper for night number 1. In many ways it is great and in many ways it is not. It gets harder and harder as the years go by to settle in to such a very small space - especially with someone else. Even though it is someone I love! (Has he ALWAYS made all those noises?) We are thrilled to only have two small leaks in the water system to this point, which is an unusually small number considering the camper is 20 years old. Otherwise things are good and we enjoyed a much needed salad for dinner accompanied by some carrot soup I had made before we left. (Kept in the fridge for the trip in case anyone wondered.) At one end of the campground there is a fabulous open space for Scooter to run in and he took full advantage of this. We are all feeling somewhat stiff and sore from the many hours spent in the car but the sun has been shining and the temperature has been rising, both of which help to keep the spirits bright. Tomorrow we will go down to Brunswick Georgia and meet up with some cruising friends who sold their boat last year and are spending the winter on St. Simons island. In the meantime it seems the dinner dishes have not yet washed themselves so I had better get to them. Cheers!

Florence, south Carolina campground

I am feeling the love...

Notes from the road

It is literally impossible to find healthy food driving down interstate 95.

It is hard but not impossible to type while bouncing around in a car.

When heading southbound in a car remember to bring your hat for the nasty blazing afternoon sun.

Crispy fried pig rinds were available, for free with a fill up, at the esso station at exit 69 in Virginia.

Petersburg, Va, is called "the city of readers".

So far today our top speed has been 67mph. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

North Carolina welcome center

Phillip Morris plant

How could you tell?

South Richmond, Va

Yes, we made it. Here. To none other than the red roof inn at exit 69 in Virginia. An obvious popular stop for those wishing to look at, through barbed wire fencing, the Philip Morris ( think cigarettes) headquarters which is a stones throw from us. Ironically this is a non smoking hotel.
And here, at the red roof inn, we had our first crisis of the trip. It wasn't the worst crisis we have suffered through, and I would like to believe how we handled it made us stronger as a couple. Usually in crisis situations one of us is hysterical and/or cursing loudly and the other is calm and manages to solve the problem in a reasonable and timely manner. In this case, I was the hysterical one. Who could be calm knowing we had forgotten to bring a corkscrew for the wine??!? Who?!? Well, Darryl could. Not me. But before I broke down completely he pulled out his trusty Swiss Army knife. With a twinkle in his eye similar perhaps to what a quantum physicist would have when just about to discover the Bang BEFORE the Big Bang, he turned and presented me with an open bottle of wine. Crisis averted. Next one on me! Just hope it doesn't involve the septic tank...

Making the best of a long drive...

A cardinal for Mum!

Washington

.... Monument on the middle right

In Maryland

Gong over the bridge crossing the Susquehanna river. It is a beautiful day. Don't know where we will end up this afternoon, but on a very exciting note we HAVE managed to pass at least one car today. If you have ever towed a camper or driven behind one you will understand how thrilled we were...

On a side note...

I have a sinking feeling that it will take the better part of January for me to digest my Angus burger with bacon and cheese from MacDonalds. Note to self - no more burgers before a 5 day road trip. Hopefully my extra body weight won't affect our gas mileage!

Super 8 mahwah, n.j.

Here we are at the super 8! Two whole hours from from home! We didn't make it very far because our trailer lights don't work, and New Jersey drivers are, for lack of a better word, crazy. So once it got dark we pulled into a hotel. It is nice to know $115. still buys you something these days...
On the plus side we are next door to a Macdonalds, and we haven't eaten at one for about 10 years. Bring on the adventure!

Going across the tappan zee bridge

thank you to my audience!

  

Christmas with family!!

Happy new Year

This is a test. I may have to create a new blog because blogger is not letting me post anything!!

Happy New Year!