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!