JimBob, Miss Bette and Buster On The Road

Day 18- Hanging out in Tucson, Sentinel Mountain Park, dead people, and a TPMS

2012-02-20T17:16:00.001-05:00

Bette got up early to head over to the hospital. I did Lander stuff until about 10 or so.

Bette got back, and there seems to be a good report on Jerry's surgery, along with the need for further work which isn't life threatening- so it's a good thing.

I ran over to the Wal Mart corner grocery for a few necessities, then stopped by Verizon to determine that basically they totally misrepresented our new purchase and program to us, then went to a cemetery, then over to The "Big A" mountain in town.

Then I stopped by Camping World and picked up our new tire monitoring system, well, 2/3rds of it since they were out of the 2 pack of sensors I need for a full 6 tire system.

Sentinel Mountain Park is right across from downtown Tucson, and is a traditional visiting spot for U of A students, since there is a big Red,White and Blue A on the top of it- You get to drive right to the top, and see some beautiful vistas of the city and the valley.

The City to the south, we are out there somewhere at Lazy Days right off of I-10.

The City to the North- Downtown, or what there is of it, is just to the right center- Only about 5 tall buildings in the entire city.

Here's what it looks like from I-10.

This is the Big A, from the bottom of it, you'll have to go with me on this one.

This is what the monitor looks like for the tire monitor system we got- Tells me the tire pressures, temperatures, and alarm if running hot, or if there is a blowout. Glad to have it, and thanks TC for the suggestion.

I see dead people again- This time Joey "Joey Banannas" Bonanno - a real life gangster

At the Holy Hope Cemetery, He's second from the right, and his wife is also there.

He immigrated to the United States in his 20s and began to work as a muscleman for the large New York gangs of era, most under Joseph (Joe the Boss) Masseria, and Salvatore Maranzano. When both were murdered in 1931, Bonanno was appointed as boss of the Brooklyn-based Bonnano Family, which he exerted control over until his 1968 retirement. Bonanno expanded into countless rackets, many spread out across the entire U.S. and Canada. Despite his later claims of having bossed an honorable, drug-free criminal organization, he was known as one of the largest Mafia narcotics traffickers in the nation. The Mafia leaders who were bothered by Bonanno's direction were part of the NYC Commission, and they objected to Joe planting "flags" all over so-called open-cities such as Florida and Arizona. After long tensions with the other bosses, Joseph decided to put his son, Bill, in charge and to run the family from his home in Tuscon, Arizona. The Commission found this in poor taste and banished both Bonanno and his son from New York, aswell as stripping them of their power in Brooklyn. Joe & Bill Bonanno avoided further tangles with the law until 1979, when the FBI raided their home and convicted Joe of obstruction of justice for trying to compromise his son's Fraud indictment. Both went off to prison for short terms, but were essentially free by the mid-1980s, when Joseph got himself in trouble again. In 1983, he penned his autobiography, "Joe Bonanno: A Man of Honor," which described the inner-workings of the Commission aswell as his own Mafia family. He was last released from prison in 1986 after serving 14 months on a contempt charge.

Burial:Holy Hope Cemetery & Mausoleum Tucson

Plot: Altar of St. Thomas, section 7

Liz, our service writer said this morning that she feels pretty confident that the parts are in the air to us and should get here tomorrow, and if all holds well, the repairs should start on Wed, be through in one day, or into Thursday as a cushion- Which is fine, since we are planning to leave on Friday anyway- fingers crossed. 64 and sunny as I type this at 3:16 pm today.

Day 17 A lunch bomb instead today

2012-02-20T09:41:00.001-05:00

Well, the new tires are on, and the front wheel bearings are packed, so there is some progress there.

We met up with the Voyager crowd and headed up to some very upscale part of Tucson and rubbed shoulders with the swells while they picked over their stuff in the "farmers market." Which means two dollar expresso, range fed this and organic that, and lots of beautiful people talking about thier latest trip to Bali or where ever. And lots of dogs- and designer jeans and mountain wear and Uggs.

We went to a place called Union Public House for lunch, and it was another bomb- 17.00 for a split hamburger, that was overcooked, and a "salad" that had one crouton, one small slice of tomato and the rest was all bibb lettuce and spincach.
also took over an hour to get our various foods out. And true to form, the bill was wrong when it was brought out here too.

Bette got up at dark thirty this morning and headed over to the hospital to be with Judy and Jerry, I'm manning the fort here at Lazy Days to see about the coach, and if the parts are or are not on the way or here or what, so we can start the repairs and hopefully be on our way Friday morning to Las Cruces, we shall see.

Day 17 A breakfast bomb and new shoes for the RV

2012-02-18T20:35:00.002-05:00

Headed over the Interstate this morning at 0930 to meet up with Jerry and Judy at Mimi's cafe for breakfast, and it bombed pretty much. Took about an hour to get 3 dishes, they didn't fix one order correctly, we had to keep asking for coffee and tea, and it took another 10 minutes to get the bill paid. They were totally out of control. Not typical of Mimi's we've visited before, but won't be revisiting here.

They took the coach in the bays this morning and put on our two new front steer tires, some nice new Michelins. They also repacked the front wheel bearings, since the coach crossed 30,000 miles on the trip.

Tomorrow, we are being picked up and going to a Farmer's market, and then brunch- so that will be a nice day.

We found out today the parts didn't arrive Friday as they should, and in fact may not even been on order- so we may now have to wait until Tuesday or Wednesday to get the repairs made, still hoping for a Friday leaving date to be back on schedule.

Monday, I'm going to pick up the new tire pressure mounting system, and the new power surge protector and may have the coach weighed.

Day 16- Park 176, Coronado NM, and Bisbee and Tombstone

2012-02-17T18:58:00.001-05:00

Originally thought I might make it over to Organ Pipe Cactus, but it was raining a little when we got up, so I decided instead to do the planned trip to Coronado National Memorial, with side trips to Bisbee and Tombstone.

About a 190 mile day in very scenic mountains, desert landscapes, and rain off and on. There was a dusting of snow at the higher elevations- beautiful!

Coronado was, well, not much. It's a pretty deserted piece of ground, with a small visitor center, a movie, which was well done, and that's about it. The park is big on hiking, period. The road is basically in and out.

I got one stamp, the 25th anniversary was not out to get, and a pin and a medallion, then I headed about 25 miles up to Bisbee, Arizona.

This is an old timey historical Western town, that has evolved into a high dollar artsy-crafty store front town, surrounded by a huge open pit mine.
I window shopped, couldn't find a pin, and moved on.

The town is literally built into the hills. It dates from about 1880 or so.

This is the main street of shops- Beautiful things, lots of original art.

From there, another 25 miles or so up the highway to Tombstone, which was a bit of a bust- It was drizzling, and I couldn't find a parking space so I basically passed on this stop- They were getting ready to stage the "gunfight", so it was a bit busy, which is why I think I couldn't find a space. I moved on- no pin.....

Just outside the Interstate on the way back to Tucson, I stopped at a Subway and had a salad, then stopped at a Wal Mart to get some socks, and some pens and a notebook to keep notes. Got back to Voyager to pick up Bette at about 215.

Today was a "free day" at Lazy Days, waiting for parts to arrive, which most of them have and did, including the tires, I think. I'll check again in a few minutes- They may put the tires on tomorrow if they did get picked up- and the other work will start Monday. No rush. Our friend Jerry goes in for his operation at 0600 Monday morning, so Bette will stay with Judy and I will man the ship here.

May rest up tomorrow, the big rodeo starts soon, want to see that- and I may do some local things tomorrow- I just have Organ Pipe Cactus to visit from here in Tucson, as we will stay in Willcox on the way back home to visit Ft Bowie and Chiricahua.

Also, forgot, I drove by Fort Huachuca, where my pal Dan was stationed at one time in his Army career, doing secret stuff.

This is for you pal....

Day 15- A 2-Fer Park Visit

2012-02-16T17:13:00.000-05:00

Today, since we are in the holding area waiting for our parts to come in, I did about a 150 mile round trip up to the Casa Grande Area, well Coolidge, Arizona actually, with a stop along the way at Picacho State Park to pick up a De Anza Trail Stamp.

Picacho Peak was a lovely site, it is actually a climbable peak, I was told- Yikes!

I was able to get 3 stamps that were listed, plus a nice hiking staff medallion.

From there, up the road a piece to the Casa Grande Ruins National Park- not much to see there, but the did have a nice film that explained the deal with the park and the why of it. Got 4 stamps there, after a bit of effort, and also a pin and a hiking staff medallion also.

I also got credit for a visit to the Hohokam Pima National Park, Since the Pimas won't let anyone access the park. So now I am up to 173 parks.

Blogged further about the visit over at the National Parks page:
http://jimbobsnationalparks.blogspot.com/

Tomorrow, think I will run over to Organ Pipe Cactus park, which is a bit of a hike, but I need to knock it off the list- I'll be setting a new one way record to visit a park, I think its like 154 miles over there, but it's pretty scenery, so it's a good thing.

Tonight, we are packing dinner in over to Jerry and Judy's and Ed and Jan will be there also-

Closer, Closer, Closer.......Waiting, waiting, waiting

2012-02-15T17:36:00.000-05:00

We are now in the "holding" area next to the service facility here at Lazy Days, after a busy day of diagnostics, discussions and decisions.

Lets see:

The tire problem has been addressed: turns out it was the right front tire and man was it rivered!!! There was a big knot in it, which was the thumping we heard at 63 mph. No danger, just a worn out tire, or on the way to being way worn out. Lots of cupping too. The diagnosis was that it was from underinflation- Seems I had them at about 100 psi, they should have been 115 or so.
We will replace the 2 front tires with new Michelins. They were 5 years old anyway, so within the range of replacing. The rear tires are still in good shape.
Relieved to discover that is wasn't a shock/alignment problem.

Learned an embarrasing lesson today, I thought we were equipped with a PSI tire monitor on my dash, turns out it was for the air tanks! Note to self, invest in a tire pressure monitoring system, which we will get this afternoon perhaps.

The door scissor has been changed out- the gasket is still on order, to be here soon.

The Inverter replacement has been approved by the warranty company, and it is on order. We will invest in a surge protector also.

The board for the air conditioner repair is on order, and is on the way.

Soooooo, they moved us this afternoon to the Holding Tank area for parts arrival, which is just outside the service area. We have 50 amp electric and water, so we are good to go.

I authorized 2nd day air shipment for the parts, so they think they will be here by Friday, but we are fully expecting to not start the work until at least Monday, may do the tires tomorrow or Friday if they come in.

We cancelled off our reservation at Voyager, where we were booked in until the 24th. Far as we know now, they are fine with us staying here until then, which is a super courtesy to us. They are very casual here about "hanging out." They don't mind at all if you stay with the coach in the service area, leave the dog in the coach, etc etc etc. They are for sure customer oriented here!

Weather warmed up a bit today, high in the mid 60's. Lows will be in the mid 40's.

Bette went over to Voyager today to help Jerry with a stepping stone, and will go shopping with Judy tomorrow- I am headed north to Casa Grande Ruins National Park, and Pichico State Park for a De Anza stamp.

Basically lost one day of travel- which I will make up on Sunday I believe, so we're good to go.

Found out there is a huge rodeo being staged while we are here- for sure will check that out.

Coach Update...

2012-02-14T17:19:00.002-05:00

It's now 3:13, and the diagnostics have been pretty much taken care of.

The door hinge part was in stock, but there is a trim piece that needs to be ordered.

The mother board for the front roof air conditioner is bad- it wasn't the control, as we thought- there is not a board here in town, and one has been ordered.

The Inverter is blown. There is not a new one in town, they will be ordering one.

We are still waiting for the chassis guy to drive the coach to see about the wobble.

The insurance coverage folks won't do their final approval until all the diagnostics are done- so we have to wait until the wobble is diagnosed before we can continue.

When that is done, we will learn what they will do about shipping costs, if we want them 2nd day air we will have to pay for it.

We bought a battery charger, and will be buying a surge protector to prevent this sort of thing happening again.

We will be spending the night outside the repair bay, hooked up, and with all facilities we think, until tomorrow at least.

We may be liable for the diagnostic costs- that may be in the area of 300 or so- the other repairs are looking about 3000, covered by the repair insurance we think.

Travel plans are messed up, but at least we will have the coach back to good to go.

Happy Birthday, Arizona!

2012-02-14T17:13:00.000-05:00

Today, the state of Arizona is 100 years old! They have been having lots of neat centennial stuff in the papers lately, very interesting history of this state.

Good thing I knew the way to Lazy Days

2012-02-14T13:40:00.001-05:00

Last night, we woke up at midnight, and discovered we had lost power to the coach, and smelled an ominous burning smell- looks like we may have fried the Inverter-

We had the park maintainence fellow check it out at 7 this morning, and they discovered the power to their portal was good, so it had to be our coach.

So, we headed 7 exits down I-10 to Lazydays, and they took us right in, very pleasant folks here- Our technician is Fred, and he is one of their best, and has been very diligent tracking down the source of the problem.

We also decided to have them go ahead and attack the short list we had developed, a front door scissor jack problem, an air conditioning control failure, and the front tire wobble- they might not get to it all today, but we can stay overnight with no problem.

So, I lost a day of travel, no worries, can make that up- and may have to loose another day tomorrow.

Fred peering into the Inverter cavity-

Our spot in the shop- Our guy is also working on the coach next to us, also a Diplomat, with a Hydro-Hot problem.

Stay posted, probably be here tomorrow too.

Day 12 Monday, Local Tuscon things

2012-02-13T17:09:00.001-05:00

Woke up early this morning, like 3 am or so, couldn't get back to sleep, so I worked on Lander stuff, got caught up- then at 0930, Jerry and I went over to Lazy Days to pick up a part he needed, and I got 2 replacement light bubs.

Then, we went across the Interstate to Kimo Sports Complex, home of the New Tucson Padres, AAA affiliate of the big club. Beautiful field, got a ball a pin and a T shirt.

Then I dropped Jerry back off at the compound, and then headed downtown to the campus of the "U of A", which is what they call the University of Arizona here. (Wildcats) Huge campus, and I visited the Arizona State Museum on campus, and got a pin for the University.

The Museum had lots of interesting Native American artifacts-

Go Wildcats!

Tonight, we're having another Rolling Thunder Dinner, this time at Ed's motor home. Hot dogs and leftovers from last night.

Tomorrow,. I'm off to Coronado National Park, Bisbee, and Tombstone, Arizona.

Day 11- Sunday- Quick trip to Saguaro West

2012-02-12T15:53:00.001-05:00

This morning at 0930, Jerry, Ed and I headed about 15 miles over to the Saguaro East part of Saguaro National Park. Got 4 stamps there, and a pin.

We stopped in at the Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum, but there were long lines to get in, so we bagged going there for now, and also bypassed Old Tucson Movie Ranch because the girls said they wanted to see it also.

We stopped in at LazyDayz to see if the parts department was open, but it wasn't, nor was their restaurant, so we came back and met the girls for lunch at our own Voyager restaurant.

Tonight, we are going to Jerry's and Judy's for happy hour/grilled hamburgers.

Tomorrow is local baseball day, and I may run over to the Univ of Arizona for some visits over that way, including the Arizona State History Museum.

Bad Buster Scare!!

2012-02-12T01:59:00.002-05:00

Tonight, around 745 or so, Buster scared the bejesus out of us, he basically fainted on the floor of the coach, and wobbled, and I thought he was having a stroke- his breathing became very shallow, and he laid down and I thought was dying before our eyes.... He became very listless, but then after a few minutes, he seemed to be somewhat better.

We frantically searched for a 24 hour vet, and fortunately, found one 8 miles away, we called and they said to bring him right over... we did, and had the great fortune of finding that particular outlet, the Southern Arizona Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Center.

They took him right in, and checked him out, and fortunately, he seemed to rebound to his old self pretty quickly.

Our instructions are to monitor him for the next day or so- so Bette cancelled her plans for tomorrow, and will hang out locally with Judy to do a dog watch.

They took a blood sample and will send it off for a complete CBC doggie style just to make sure and give us a baseline for his care.

By the time they brought him back to us, he was glad to see us, even with his shaved front paw where the took his blood!

Got home by 930. $384 dollars poorer, but richer in the fact that he seems to be ok.

Day 10- Busy visiting day with bonuses

2012-02-11T20:00:00.001-05:00

Slept in a tad until about 830 this morning, then we got a call from Judy sort of changing up plans that we had made last night, no worries, so off I went for my day of touring. I was able to get two bonuses in today-

First, about 50 miles south down I-19 to Tumacacori National Monument. This was a very nice interpretation of the early Franciscan and Jesuit missionary work. I reported about it over on the National Parks Blog:

http://jimbobsnationalparks.blogspot.com/

I got three stamps here, including one for the De Anza trail, and two pins and a hiking staff medallion.

Then, about three miles up the road to the Tubac State Park headquarters for an additional De Anza Trail stamp. It was a madhouse getting there, as they were having a big time art show, and basically the town was overrun. I had to get by several state troopers, several state constables, and volunteers, trying to convince them I didn't want anything to do with the art show, and just wanted to get to the Park Headquarters. Bette and Judy are wanting to go to the art show tomorrow- I'll take a big pass on that.

On the way back up I-19, I hit my second Border Patrol stop, and they were pulling Mexican nationals out of vans and busses right and left- think they would know better- They also had a drug dog sniffing about.....

On the way back, I noticed the sign for the Titan Missle museum, so I made a quick stop there, interesting artifacts, and there is an actual silo there you go through. Got a pin for the effort..

Got back to the coach around 1230, had a quick sandwich for lunch, then headed off to the bonuses for the day, Saguaro National Park (West division), and Pima Air and Space Museum.

Saguaro is what it is, a National Park dedicated to the Saguaro Cactus- had a nice VC and there was a movie.

Pima Air and Space was huge. I actually didn't have enough time to get to it all- I took the 6 dollar tram ride, which takes you through the outdoor displays of about 1 hundred aircraft, including some rare and unusual specimens. They also are affiliated with the Davis-Monthan "boneyard" tour, which is where about 6000 former military aircraft are just sitting out in the desert- going to try to see that next week.

This is the Pima Air from above

This is the boneyard, they take you through in a bus

Got lots of pins and hiking staff medallions today, and have now visited 170 National Parks...

Not sure what we'll do tomorrow- Bette has mentioned a Wal Mart run- I'll probably do another park somewhere. Monday, I will be checking on the baseball venues to see if they are open to get balls and pins, and there are lots of other stops planned.

Huge Trip Change......

2012-02-11T19:39:00.000-05:00

We learned that our pal Jerry has had his surgery rescheduled for Feb 20th, so after Bette and I talked it over, we decided to stay here in Tucson for at least another week until Feb 24th to be a support team for Jerry and Judy.

After looking hard at the schedule, we've decided to drop the San Diego portion of our trip off, and will head back towards Florida on the 24th. We'll probably fly back out to San Diego in April or May when we get back.

I will be taking several longish day trips from our Tucson base to knock off the Southern Arizona National Parks that we had planned to visit, and its doable- Longest one is about 3 hours away, but it will be cheaper in the car anyway....

We'll pick up some major chunks of time, so we'll just slow down our return a little, and maybe something else will come up-

Love planning in Jello! Fortunately, we didn't have to cancel any reservations, we are now pretty much learning that we probably shouldn't make reservations on a short trip......

Day 9 On Schedule in to Tucson- Side visit to Gila Cliff Dwellings

2012-02-10T22:52:00.001-05:00

Got up early this morning and left the KOA at 0700 in the car to run 90 miles up the road to see park # 169, Gila Cliff Dwellings NM.

I blogged about it over at the National Park Blog
http://jimbobsnationalparks.blogspot.com/

Got back to the coach about 1145, then chugged over to Tucson on I-10- and arrived at Voyager RV resort at about 2:30.

This place is huge! It's a camping resort machine, about 1600 spaces or so plus a division of stick built, plus a division of park models, plus a section of manufactured, just plain huge. It's a mini city!

We have a very nice huge pull through and we are all set up and snug.

After we set up, we hooked up with our pals Judy and Jerry, and made plans for tomorrow, and then dinner for tonight.

They gifted us with the nicest "new motor home warming gift, a hand made clock and stained glass... we so love it and it will become a cherished part of the coach- It sits on the counter beautifully, and was so thoughtful...

There is a beautiful personalized engraved plaque on the top:

We headed out to dinner at a local famous place, the Silver Saddle Steakhouse, and glommed on lots of steaks.- Jerry ate a 24 oz one!!!!
Mucho delicious.

Tomorrow, we are planning on heading south, to Tubac so the girls can go to a big art show, and for me, headed to Tumacacori NP, and then back to Tubac State Park for a pair of trail stamps.

Day 8 Guadalupe Mtns NP, El Paso and Lordsburg

2012-02-09T21:36:00.000-05:00

Today we made 306 miles in 3 segments:
First, we drove 36 miles from our overnight in White City at the entrance to Carlsbad Caverns National Park and visited my 168th park, Guadalupe Mountains National Park.

The lore of this park is the rugged mountain range, and the "majesty that was the Wild West."

I posted a full version of the visit on the National Parks Blog:
http://jimbobsnationalparks.blogspot.com/

Then, we made our way a hundred miles or so over to East El Paso, Texas, so TC could stop in about a problem he was having with a control panel on his new coach- We had lunch at Denny's, then they took the coach in, and determined he will need to have a part probably shipped to him, so we decided to continue on and wound up at Lordsburg, New Mexico for the night, just shy of the Arizona border.

Here we are waiting for his coach to be taken in....

We are in at the Lordsburg KOA for the night, gravel pull through, full hook up-
forgot to snap a photo before it got dark....

Tomorrow, TC and Jeanna are going to up anchor and head on over to Anthem, Az and I'm going to run up the road about 70 miles to the Gila Cliff Dwellings NM, which is out of the way, but this is the one time I will be near it, so I got permission to go for it.

Weather abated today, think the high was in the middle 60's. Supposed to be near 30 tonight though. Warmer tomorrow we hope, as we will head on over to Tucson and arrive in the middle of the afternoon we hope and begin our visit with Jerry and Judy.

Had a terrific caravan with TC and the lovely Jeanna, we truly enjoy them- and look forward to our visits with them- they will be at their grandchildren's for a couple of week visit.

Mad Dash to Carlsbad Caverns....

2012-02-08T21:28:00.001-05:00

What a day! We left Lewisville at 0600, only because that was the earliest we could get out of the gate, and drove 518 miles today and have encamped for the night just outside of the entrance to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico.

We literally hauled buggy the last 100 miles or so, as we were trying to make the Caverns in time for the last elevator ride down, which was at 330. We got to the counter at 327!!!!

We very much enjoyed the next 45 minutes touring the Big Room, and then I got two stamps, and 3 pins.

This park is a revisit for me, as I visited it back in 1962 with my family on the way to my Dad's assignment in South Carolina.

The Big Room did not disappoint, and it was a nice, if quick tour. I wrote about it over on the National Park Blog:

http://jimbobsnationalparks.blogspot.com/

We are staying the night in a place called White City Campground, which is a non fancy gravel pit with good electricity- which is fine, its level, and we're all comfy- Supposed to be cold again tonight, near 34 or so.

Since we came this far today, we sort of fiddled around with plans for tomorrow, and it looks like me may go ahead and see Guadelupe Mountain NP, and White Sands as well, which will then knock off three days and about 250 miles on the return trip, so Bette is happy about that. In return, we may now run up to Phoenix/Cottonwood/Prescott to see the Strissels, since Bev has had an emergency surgery yesterday, and we would like to see their grands too.

So that will be a good trade. See if we can do it, shouldn't be a big deal.

Love traveling with TC and Jeanna- We had a long day today, but it was an easy one, and we had dinner tonight at the world famous

"Velvet Garter Restaurant and Saloon" I kid you not, but actually, we had a wonderful meal, even if we were the only ones in the restaurant!

The online reviews really tanked the place, but we were very very happy with our meals. Bill for 2 was 14.89!

So tomorrow, we are wheels up at 0800- first stop, Guadelupe Mountains National Park.

Day 6 Quiet day in Lewisville

2012-02-07T17:19:00.002-05:00

Kept the decks clear today in case TC called, and he did at 0830, and I headed over to his place to help him get his rig road ready for our trip tomorrow. We de-winterized his coach, and also ran it over to McClains to see about a potential jack warning buzzer which turned out to be a non issue we hope.

Then, we gathered up Jeanna and rode up and got Bette and headed over to a local Cracker Barrel for lunch and trip planning.

As for trip planning, we defined our goals for the trip, 3 days, decided to head over to Carlsbad New Mexico tomorrow for the first leg- Then, pretty sure we will stop in at Carlsbad Caverns for a quick visit now, instead of doing it on the return trip, then go over to Deming New Mexico the second day, then on into Tucson on the third day-

We decided to leave early, about 6 am, so we can beat local Dallas/Ft. Worth traffic- so we will be off early!

Raffa/Legg Reunion at Olive Garden!

2012-02-06T21:53:00.000-05:00

After I got back from my mini field trip, we headed over to Frisco and joined up with the Raffas and the Leggs at Olive Garden for a treated dinner- thanks Nancy and Pat!

Everyone looked fine, and fit- Pat retired this year, and it was great to see him rested up, well sort of. Natalie and Paul's children are beautiful, and growing, they are 9 and 7 now.

We laughed, ate, and had lots of hugs when we parted, they are our favorite neighbors of all time.

Got an email from our Pal TC and we will be meeting up most probably for lunch tomorrow and start our planning for our trip over to Tucson starting Wednesday morning.

Day 5 Circle Tour of Fort Worth and Grand Prairie

2012-02-06T15:23:00.000-05:00

Woke up after a chilly night- (36 or so) and after Bette fixed yummy eggs for breakfast, I headed out for a three stop visit to some places that were on my list-
First stop was an off season visit to see the Fort Worth Cats - second time I had visited here, and this time, I was able to get a ball and a pin.

Le Grave field has been the home of the Cats since 1898!!!

From there, I headed on over to visit the gravesite of Lee Harvey Oswald, which was located in Shannon Rose Hill Cemetery in sort of rural Fort Worth.
I was able to drive in to the grounds, and located the site with the help of a photo on Find a Grave.

The marker, as you can see, is plain, and is actually a replacement marker. Not sure what happened to the original one.
Here is the Find A Grave website for Mr Oswald: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=781

Here is what the original marker looked like-

On the day he was buried, reporters had to serve as pallbearers- I'm not sure what ever happend to his wife-

After that visit, I headed about 9 miles up the road to the home of the Grand Prairie Air Hogs- and Independent team of the American Association. They play at a beautiful new complex just off I-30.

I was able to get a ball for here, but they didn't have a pin.

I've decided to reopen my baseball blog page also, and will do more thorough reports on my baseball visits here:

http://jimbobsbaseballtours.blogspot.com/

Happy to have you visit there and check it out!

Later this afternoon, we're off to Frisco, Texas, to visit with our pals the Raffas, our former next door neighbors at Plano, and then dinner at Olive Garden.

Tomorrow is open for now, expecting to hear from our travel pal TC about plans for heading over to Tucson together.

Day 4 in Dallas- I see Dead People......

2012-02-05T20:01:00.001-05:00

My Aussie mate, Gazza introduced me some time ago to the notion of paying homage to celebrities by visiting their final resting places. Over the years on his visits, I have dutifully shuttled him to spots around the states- and seen some interesting gravesites.

We have been helped along of course by the website "Find a Grave", which has like 75 million records of dead folks, and directions on how to locate them generally.

http://www.findagrave.com/

I fired off an email to my pal Gazza to let him know I was heading on down to Dealy Plaza and checking out the 6th floor museum, that I wrote about yesterday, and he of course wrote back about his visits to the graves of JD Tippit, and Lee Harvey Oswald, as he is a true Kennedy Assination student-

Well shoot, says I- maybe I should do that, and while I was at it, I also looked up the records for Metro Dallas, and found amazingly that there is a cemetery in downtown Dallas called Sparkman/Hillcrest Memorial Park that is chock full of famous, near famous, and normal folks.

So, I had some time this afternoon after we relocated, so off I went.

Well, the place is right on a main street in the Highland Park area of Dallas, and has about 88 acres of space, including a huge mausoleum that must contain thousands of crypts- It reminds me of the park in San Diego where my brother Mike is buried, huge, huge, huge.

It's on multi levels, and I was the only person there for about an hour or so that I searched for what I was looking for.
Here is what the inside of the facility looks like-

According to Find A Grave, there are 70 or 80 "famous" people interred in this park, including Tom Landry, Mary Kay Ash, Mo Connelley, the tennis star, Les Elgart, music, Greer Garson, actress, Lamar Hunt, Herbert Marcus, Clint Murchinson, John Tower, Mickey Mantle, and several others.

The main building was busy with what looked like several funerals, so I did a self guided tour, as opposed to getting a map and being able to go right to the places.

The mausoleum was fairly well marked as to sections, and I quickly found the final resting place of Mickey Mantle and his family.

He is actually buried with his wife, Merlyn, and two of his sons. If you look closely on top of Mickey's plaque, you can see several pieces of memorabilia that persons paying respect have left, rocks, lots of pennies, and such. '

This statue and an autographed photo of Mickey was in the corner. It said, Best Wishes, Mickey Mantle on it, not sure if a fan left it, or the family did. It was remarkable that it was there- and a nice memory. I was impressed that the respect clearly shown was evident throughout the cemetery-

This is the view of the entire family plot, his two sons are buried below their mother and father. There is room for one more spot, not sure who might be headed there.

He was one of the greatest, for sure- I never did get to see him play in person-

Here is the wiki page for him if you would like more information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mickey_Mantle

Down the hall from the Mantles, I found the Marcus family- this is the founder of the Nieman-Marcus retail chain that was so famous in Texas for so many years

Herbert was the "godfather," and his sonStanley were also very active in the business. They were legends in the retail business- When I was in retail in Dallas, we regularly paid homage to the home store with a visit, just to see how it was done in style....

They were always famous for their Christmas Catalogues, and featured his and her gifts, and outrageous other presents, available at high cost!

Here is the wiki page for them: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nieman_Marcus

I was also able to locate the site for Clint Murchinson- which actually was in a "plain" location out in the general population of the cemetery.

Murchinson was a co-founder of the Dallas Cowboys, but later lost his fortune

Here's the Wiki for him: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clint_Murchison,_Jr.

I looked in vain for Tom Landry and Greer Garson, and Mary Kay Ash, but were not able to locate them.

Tomorrow, I'm off to Fort Worth to check out a baseball venue, and will see if I can get to Lee Harvey Oswald 's site, then may try to get to JD Tippit on the way to Grand Prairie for a baseball visit if they are open also.

Record short move today to Lewisville

2012-02-05T19:21:00.000-05:00

We left Destiny Dallas this morning at 1030 or so, and drove 7.1 miles down I-35 East/South (confused?) to our spot for the next three days, Lake Lewisville City Park which as you might guess, is on Lake Lewisville, about 16 miles north of the LBJ Beltway in Dallas.
Here was our spot at Destiny:

We are now in space 68 at Lake Lewisville, where we have stayed several times in the past, can't beat its senior rate of 9.00 a night for full hook ups, and convenience to Dallas and Fort Worth...

Resting in tonight, tomorrow, I'm going to head on down to Fort Worth to check out a baseball venue, if they are open, and also one at Grand Prairie - then we are due at the Raffas over in Frisco at 5pm, then a family dinner with the Raffas and the Leggs. Our favorite all time neighbors.....

Over to Corinth Texas - Metro Dallas until Wed.

2012-02-04T20:36:00.002-05:00

Since we were a day ahead of schedule, we sort of leisurely slunked into Dallas today, 160 miles all told, in from Longview Wal Mart to our home for just tonight, the Destiny Dallas RV Resort in Corinth, Texas- It's about 20 miles north of Downtown Dallas. We have a nice spot, had to pay 38 dollars, but it was worth it to get full hook ups. It's right next to I-35, and there is considerable road noise, but we'll sleep through it I imagine.

After we got all set up, Bette called her old boss Hazel, and she agreed to come over and visit, and we wound up going out to Chili's just down the road for dinner- She brought along her cousin- Edna, and we had a terrific visit.

Right after we set up, an awesome rig pulled in next to us, and I had never seen one like it before. The coach is a 41 foot triple axle 5th wheel, and there is a custom built, newly invented towing device as you can see- The tow truck is a specially equipped big dually, and the rig is customed built to accomodate the extra height. The owner and I talked about the set up for several minutes, and the claim is the extra braking ability, coupled with the fact that the towing is basically independent of the truck, which is pretty cool. The owner says he loves it, but you do have to watch out and make sure it doesn't jackknife on you- Well yeah!!

As mentioned, I made a return visit to the 6th floor museum at Dailey Plaza in downtown Dallas this afternoon, pretty sure I had not been there since we used to live here in 1988- and they have done lots of changes, all for the good.

Paid 12.95 senior rate to get in, and they hand you an audio headset thingie to take the tour, which sort of forces you to go at their pace. The story is presented in several displays, but they would not let any photographs be taken, no cell phones, etc etc., so I can't convey what it looked like, nor does their site seem to have many photos...

This shot is from the website for the museum.

Tomorrow is an open day- I checked in with my local pal TC, and he's busy until Tuesday, pretty much, and we will get together then to plan our trip over to Tuscon/Phoenix together.

Monday, we will be visiting the Raffas, unless we run over there for Super Bowl tomorrow- I also have a couple of baseball site visits on Monday, Grand Prairie and Ft Worth.

May do some local gravesite visits tomorrow, too.

Day 3 Made it to Dallas/Corinth, on the way downtown

2012-02-04T14:34:00.001-05:00

We got a space at the Destiny RV park on I-35 north of Dallas, got in and all set up, and re-propaned, and now, I'm going to hustle downtown to the 6th floor museum at Dealy Plaza downtown. Update later tonight.

Slogging through the Monsoons, Day 2 over to

2012-02-03T20:59:00.000-05:00

Just as we woke up this morning at 0615, we heard the pitter patter of rain on the roof- That turned into 366 miles of driving, monsoonal rain that we drove through for most of the day today! Didn't help when we made two stops for National Parks, got drenched, or when we had to walk the dog. Ugh.

We covered 366 miles, stopped twice for a revisit to the Vicksburg, Mississippi National Military Park, and then another stop at the Poverty Point National Monument in Louisiana. That is my 168th park.

For today, we averaged 8.7 miles per gallon, used 41 gallons of fuel- and did our 366 miles. We were out for 10 hours, 11 minutes, of which 8 hours and 16 minutes were moving. Our moving average was 52 mph, and our overall average was 42 mph.

We settled in at the Wal Mart at Longview, Texas. We're 300 feet from what seems to be a major rail road track, so I'm guessing we may have a visit or two tonight...

I've decided to reopen my National Park and Baseball Blog sites again, so I'll do a further report on the 2 National Parks we visited today there. You can visit that site here:
http://jimbobsnationalparks.blogspot.com/

I'll post the details of the visits to Vicksburg and Poverty Point there.

We are now only about 3 hours from Dallas, and we will for sure get in a day early. I called Lewisville, and they don't have room for us for the early arrival so far, we'll call later- Might have to stay at McClains, or find an Elk's club or something, or may just Wal Mart it again.

Here's a Buster's eye view of our road today, I-20 most of the way. This was towards the end of the day, when the rain finally cleared.

2012-02-03T20:43:00.001-05:00

Well, we had another one of our famous trip changes! Wednesday, Bette suggested that we go ahead and bring the coach up and start the load in for the trip, which had an original leave date of Friday.

We loaded a good bit Wednesday, then took it easy, then on Thursday, we really got it loaded up pretty well. We had planned our traditional "last supper" with local Coquina folk, but around 11, we got a call from one couple who called out sick. Shoot.

Porter and William had since decided that they will be house sitting for us while we are gone, so they came over around 1130- So, we decided to do a "last lunch" instead, and ran down to our favorite local famous place for lunch, Jim's. Had a fabulous lunch-

By then we had decided, since we were loaded up, we might as well head on down the road- since traditionally the first day is a long slog, and we thought we might as well break it up, maybe get to Tallahasse, or Quincy or such.

We left Coquina at 1:45, and headed West- well, 11 hours and 7 minutes later, we pulled into the Wal Mart in beautiful Hattiesburg, Mississippi!

It was a smooth trip, and while we usually have an aversion to long days, and certainly driving at night, since this was Interstate and dual lane highway for 97% of the trip, we just kept boogieing on.

We made a fuel stop at a Flying J,

We did make several rest stops, Buster pee stops, and stopped once for Subway sandwiches for dinner.

When we got to Hattiesburg, we crashed and slept like logs until 0630 this morning and then headed out again.

Beautiful weather on the trip, temps about 70 most of the day, high 50's at night.

So now it looks like we may get into Dallas a day early.

Bad bike crash!

2012-02-01T11:38:00.000-05:00

My baseball/golf/coffee buddy Don had a bad bike crash Monday night while coming to the clubhouse- landed on his face, stitches in two places, his poor eye is swollen shut, shoulder and knee wrecked and sore. I feel his pain! Fortunately, doesn't seem to be any permanent damage, and he'll be a while on the mend, but should recover!

Also today, our resident electrician stopped in to finish the garage wiring project, which will give Bette 4 more electrical outlets for her new shop area. That pretty much finishes off the garage project! Just in time, since we are leaving Friday for a month and a half!

Introduced P and B to the Lion

2012-01-30T15:17:00.001-05:00

Went down to Flagler Beach and introduced Porter and William to the Golden Lion, then had a leisurely drive back up A1A, then stopped at the big Thrift store, buying nothing, then, on a whim, showed them the fabled St Augustine Lighthouse.

Busy week this week, last minute editing then packing on Thursday, the electrician is coming Wednesday to wire up the garage, and then we leave on Friday. Thinking we'll have a "last supper" with our Coquina buds on Thursday night.

Slow week

2012-01-28T10:38:00.002-05:00

Not much happened this week, sorry for the non posting.

Bette had her colonoscopy and got a clean report, so that worry is gone-
Today, we're going to the Golden Lion with Porter and Bill-

Next Friday, we begin our trip to California- start packing soon and editing.
Still waiting on the electrician to come wire up the garage, maybe Monday.

Play time with Porter, Bill and Bexar

2012-01-22T11:13:00.000-05:00

We had a super "Florida retired this is what we do on Saturdays" day- as previously mentioned, breakfast, followed by a fun visit to the flea market, then fooling around at the house most of the afternoon, think Porter got in a couple of loads of laundry, loving on the lovable Bexar, the wonder dog- then out to Harry's (where else) for dinner, then we "did the street" for a while, then walked along the ICW back to the car, all in by 8 pm. We are so retired!!!!!
Note how milleneal Porter and Bill are, as we were seated, they were looking over reviews of the place on line... Bill chose an online recommendation that was not on the menu, and scored! Harry's NEVER lets us down!!!

Heard from Dan and Kippy down in Miami metro, they are settled in, and at the NC State/Miami basketball game as we speak, for a noon tip off. Thier son Chris is the something Athletic Director at State, and came down with the team.

Posted some schoolwork just now, getting ahead, and working on finalizing jello plans for the California trip, now just 13 days away!

Coquina pal Jerry undergoes the knife tomorrow, good luck buddy, thinking good thoughts on ya- Semper Fi. He's in Tucson and we'll seem them for a week starting Feb 10th.

Found a pin on St George street from the Pirate's Museum to add to the Florida pin collection....

Went to Home Depot this morning and picked up the supplies to have the garage all wired up properly with additional outlets and having the water heater installation tidied up by a "professional" (off the books) electrician.... Then, maybe, after some more organizing, that will be all set- Post photos of that deal later. Hopefully, the house is now just about finished as far as alterations. Got it pretty much like we want it.

Beautiful weather here now, highs to be near 80 for the next couple of days, hope Steve calls me to go fishing!! Hear the redfish are running like mad.....

Bingo Bust

2012-01-21T14:35:00.001-05:00

Didn't win at Bingo. We both came within 1 square a couple of times, but no luck.
This morning, we picked up Bill and Porter and went to Village Inn instead of McDonalds, yummy. Then we went to the flea market, I found 3 good Roosevelt era books, and we're all vegging out at the house this afternoon- They've all gone to look at houses - We're going to head downtown to the street and Harry's tonight for dinner.

2012-01-20T17:51:00.000-05:00

Tonight is Bingo night at the ballroom, woopee! May not be a lot of folks there since they changed the date, and a lot of our regular table are out of town this weekend.

Enjoyed golf yesterday, but paying for it today, back is very very sore. I had about three pars, and a few bogies, and several "others" I almost sank a shot out of a bunker for a birdie, so maybe I should take it up again.

Beautiful weather the last few days, tomorrow, we're going to play with former colleague Porter and her fella Bill as they are in town camping for a couple of weeks, planning on McDonalds and flea market- Looking very forward to that.

Did lots of school work today, today was "friday turn your work in day." Had my usual suspects of late, no shows and such- oh well, its their money.

Bette had her stitches out today from her other hand operation, and her frozen shoulder rehad seems to be working some, although like me, the therapy is worse than the original pain- but she's working through it.

Went to our insurance agent today and did a good audit of coverage, found 40 dollars worth of stuff I didn't need, and we agreed the other coverages were right in the wheelhouse. It's amazing how to me it seems folks just are sort of ho hum about their coverages, and or worse, have no real idea what is covered and what is not. Our lesson learned was when Bette was rear ended by a kid with minimal insurance and that was an ordeal.

Next Tuesday night, I'm going to induction or induction training not sure which, at the Elk's club in Palatka. They offer camping at many of their national locations, so we will be taking advantage of that starting with our trip in the next two weeks.

Golf Today, and busy planning the California trip

2012-01-19T11:32:00.001-05:00

Made a plan to try another round of golf today, hope my back will stand up to it.
Playing next door.

My Lander classes have been up and running for a couple of weeks now, and I am now back in that routine, some days are very busy, 8-10 hours of grading and commenting on papers etc, some days are light. Great class load this semester, and the students are turning in outstanding work. Lovin it!

Been busy this week too doing more research and noodling out the upcoming trip to Dallas, Tucson, and San Diego- I have been accepted as a member of the Elks Club, so that opens up a big source of places to stay- We also renewed our Passport America membership, and RPI will be renewed too, even though we lost out it seems on some of their properties due to some sort of fight they were having with Thousand Trails.

Went out to dinner last night with the Coqina group, the Kingstons and Colagiovannis, had a super dinner, and much fun. Had an issue settling up with our gift card, but got it fixed, thanks to the Dusenbergs for the gift card to Longhorn!

Safely back to Coquina

2012-01-15T16:33:00.001-05:00

Left Pasco at about 8 or so, after breakfast at McDonalds- got a worry when we started up, had another "alternator failure" warning light, and were prepared for the worst, but when we restarted the coach, it went away- so I guess we're clear. We did run the heat pumps all night, and I was afraid we may have shredded another fan belt on the alternator. But no sign of it on the 158 miles home, so I guess we are ok. Got 8.4 mpg again, and got ourselves unloaded in record time, since Bette has a new system of loading up the car the night before/morning of departure, then all we have to do is unload the cold stuff in the street before we move the coach into storage. Works perfect for shorter trips-

Back to the Coquina routine tomorrow- coffee in the morning, Haircuts on Tuesday, Bette to mah jong, setting up the garge, blah blah blah. We leave for California in 2 weeks or so.

Another Canadian from far off

2012-01-14T13:34:00.001-05:00

Florida, along with Texas and Arizona, and of course California are magnets for Canadians during the winter months, but its rare to see one on this side from Beautiful British Columbia!

Downtown Tarpon Springs

2012-01-14T13:32:00.001-05:00

Even though we had come to this area practically every year for the last several years, we never had gone to "downtown" Tarpon Springs. Tarpon Springs was the sponge boat capital of the world for a long time, and sponge boats still operate here.. There is a street in town that is right next to the canal out to the bay- and lots of colorful shops and eating places. We were in a bit of a hurry, but I did find a toy boat for the toy boat collection, complete with sponges on it.

Here's a sample of the fishing fleet:

Another visitor from far off...

2012-01-14T11:18:00.003-05:00

Actually there are a couple of PEI plates in the park- Haven't had a chance to talk to them as yet, hope to before we leave tomorrow

Quick repair job- thank goodness for handy men!

2012-01-14T11:18:00.001-05:00

Early yesterday morning, our power suddenly went off. Rat farts. We thought it might have been in the park's pedestal, and had visions of having fried our coach system with a power surge, perhaps.

A visit to the office got us Mike the park handyman, who checked the pedestal out, and decided it was a bad plug on our end. Yikes.... We had visions of pulling up, heading over to the closest Camping World or something similar and replacing the entire power cord or something similar- something in the 4-6 hundred dollar range of course.

Emter Al, a half year resident of the park who is a retired electrician/electrical engineer/ electrical everything man. Saved!!!! We went over to a local electrical supply place, and for 32 dollars, got a replacement plug. Al then came over and after about 15 minutes, we rewired the new head on, and all is well again. He wanted to charge 10 dollars, but we paid him more, mostly in gratitude! He really knew his stuff, and we were happy to have an expert be close by. He didn't even mind having me as his electrician's helper! Turns out the prongs in the old head had worked loose, and it wasn't able to make a connection between the 2 legs for 50 amp service. All is warm and toasty and fine in the coach again.

Random Tampa stuff

2012-01-14T11:10:00.000-05:00

This was a shot from the downtown Tampa pier, which as I said before is apparently being torn down, or at least totally going to be redone. Below is a shot of Pelican Pete- there were several of them dive bombing the waters around the pier for lunch.

2012-01-13T13:10:00.000-05:00

As we headed into Wal Mart this morning, we were startled a bit by these 2 large cranes just sauntering along- Must have escaped from Busch Gardens just down the way.... Beautiful birds about 5 feet tall each. This is as close as I could get- they had beautiful coloring on their heads.

Funny bumper sticker in the park today

2012-01-12T17:01:00.004-05:00

"Save Montana- Have an anti-hunter spayed or neutered" Right.

Big Carnival Ship at Tampa Docks

2012-01-12T17:00:00.001-05:00

This fair sized Carnival Cruise Line Ship was docked next to the American Victory this morning- suspect it will be pulling out tonight- There were lots of folks milling around the dock area- including lots of nannies wheeling kids around- Must be the life.....

Tampa Firefighters Museum- Not so much.

2012-01-12T16:56:00.001-05:00

Stopped in at the Tampa Fire Fighter Museum, and I was literally the only one in the building. And to be honest, it was pretty much a disappointment- but it was free. The museum is on one floor, and they have 2 older pieces of fire trucks, and a big communications display, but that's about it. Clearly, the museum is used to bring children in and teach them about fire fighting and related subjects. The gift shop was closed.

An old picture on the wall

USS American Victory Ship at Tampa Bay

2012-01-12T16:52:00.000-05:00

I spent about a long hour or so going all through the good ship USS American Victory, which is a WWII era cargo ship. Victory Ships were somewhat different than Liberty Ships, in that they were "built to last" Seems Liberty ships liked to break apart.

This ship was in excellent shape, way better than the Red Oak Iowa that I visited out at San Francisco. The ship is actually still sea worthy- On 24 March, they are actually doing a 4 hour nostalgia voyage!

The ship was commissioned early in 1945, and the dropping of the atomic bombs sort of cut her career short. The ship spent its life doing rescue missions throughout the world. It was towed to Tampa in 1999, and underwent a big drydock operation in 2011. They really are doing good work here.

Tampa's YBor City

2012-01-12T16:39:00.003-05:00

Got me a terrific little history lesson today- Back in the 1880's or so, Tampa was a sleeply little fishing village of maybe 400 people or so.

Along comes a fellow Mr YBor, who came up this way from Key West, after he had left Cuba because of a revolution there- Within a short time, the cigar industry had boomed to over 4000 people and Tampa became the epicenter of cigar making in the United States. The industry flourished until the depression, and then, with the inroads that cigarettes made, faded out in the late 40's and 50's. The YBor area faded badly, bad crime came in, people left for other work, and the area fell into disrepair.

Urban renewal decimated the area, and a lot of the buildings were knocked down. Then a dedicated group of folks committed themselves to redoing the area, and today, the YBor city part of Tampa is very vibrant. I went to the Museum, which is a state park Museum, and they have some restored casitas that the workers lived in- At one time there were several hundred of them- a real company town.

The workers were from several areas, Cubans, both light and dark skinned, Spainards, Germans, and others.

Within the area, there were several big social clubs that dominated the area culture. The men would work in the cigar factories from 7 am to 5 pm, go home, change and eat, and then go to the club several nights a week, and on Saturday night, there were dances and entertainers- What a grand life it must have been!

Add caption

This was one of the original social clubs, this one was for folks from Cuba.

This was the original YBor cigar factory building.

A factory scene. the workers could come and go as they pleased, smoke as many cigars as they liked during the day, and could take cigars home for the evening. Average pay was 50-70 dollars a week, and a good roller could do 125 cigars a day.

This is 7th Steet, the Main Drag of town- There are several cigar stores, eateries, and shops... pretty cool area.

I was able to get a pin at the museum.

A 2 for 5 day- Yikes

2012-01-10T14:25:00.000-05:00

I know I know better, but I went ahead anyway and made some stops today before calling, and boy did I hear about it from the co driver.
First stop: Bright House Field, home of the Phillies spring training, I needed a pin and ball- Field was open ok, but the gift shop was closed until Jan 12, complete with a sign that said "sorry for any inconvenience." I was plenty inconvenienced....

Since it was only 5 miles or so away, we headed up to Dunedin to try and catch the Toronto Blue Jays training field, Florida Auto Exchange Stadium- it too was open, but only for ticket sales, the store was not. So now I am 0-2. Co driver is not happy.

Undaunted, we headed over to downtown St Petersburg over the big causeway, and headed for the Armed Forces Museum- and of course, it was closed Monday- locked up actually. Now I am 0-3.

Well, I knew Haslan's Book store would be open- trouble is, we both didn't like Haslans last time, and it wasn't any better this time- their prices were way too high.

By now, the day was sort of going downhill, I was getting the supreme lecture on bad planning, the dog was about to suffer permanent damage from heat stroke, (it was almost 80 here today), and so forth. In a gallant move, we headed to the St Petersburg Pier- that would be a triumph we thought.

NOT- it is so boring the city is going to tear it down- and no wonder really, it isn't a big tourist draw- No candle to the Chicago Navy Pier, that's for sure.

We were back to the coach by about 2 and rested up.

At 6, we headed over to go out with Scott and Sheila, and wound up having a super fun meal at Cracker Barrel, which we love anyway. They are fine and in good spirits, Scott is retiring on March 31st- so he's looking forward to that.

Today was a repeat of yesterday- I headed to my first stop for the day, the Tampa FireFighters Museum and discovered that I had left without my wallet. So today's plans were scrapped. Wound up going to Big Lots where Bette found some storage stuff for her stained glass and some craft stuff.

Tomorrow at least, I know we are going to the big RV show- Might go down to Tampa Bay again if the show isn't as big or as interesting as we want.

Easy run on down to Tampa...

2012-01-08T14:47:00.002-05:00

Left Coquina about 8 this morning and did the 160 miles or so on down to Lutz and arrived right at noon. We got checked in with not much problem, and they assigned us space 83- which is sort of in an open area of the park, backing uto some permanents. We had to repark so we could get sat reception, but all else is good.

We got a chance to use our shiny new custom made jack stands that my SC pal Dave designed and built, and they are the bomb. Our site is in a kind of loamy sandy grass area, and these babies work in spades!!!

Here's a shot of our site: before we had a neighbor in a trailer pull in about an hour after we set up:

We're vegging out for the day, taking advantage of the beautiful 79 degree weather here- tonight at 5 they have a park hamburger/weenie cook out, so we'll head on over for that.

Lots of local things on the agenda to go see and do while were here.... in addition to visits with Bette's brother and cousin. Some baseball venue visits also...

We did two stops on the way down, fuel at TA (254.00) and a rest stop for Buster...

New Shop Construction in Progress

2012-01-07T14:41:00.001-05:00

Bob the Builder and Carl finished up the garage project Friday afternoon, and Bette has been busily puttering around with her new plan. Think this is the last major house project for a while- She is very happy and it looks pretty good, and will be swell when its all finished out.

Loading up for Tampa!

2012-01-07T14:37:00.000-05:00

Starting the load in for Tampa- Looking to head out around 8 or so in the morning- be out for a week- looking forward to good weather and vegging out.

Best fishing trip yet, except for the end..

2012-01-06T16:45:00.001-05:00

My fishing buddy Steve asked me to go out this morning, it was a bit chilly and very foggy when we started, about 45 degrees, but it later burned off and was a beautiful day with flat calm Intercoastal seas. We had our best trip of the three so far, caught 7 Redfish, about a dozen speckled trout of various sizes, a flounder and a bluefish. Really enjoyed it, except for when we were docking, I slipped and took a huge hard fall on the boat slip landing, seems the barnacles were all slimy and gooey, and I did a number on myself- Sliced my hand up with numerous cuts, but at least I landed sort of squarely on my back.. Promise I will be sore tomorrow.

Bette nailed her carpal tunnel surgery

2012-01-06T16:39:00.002-05:00

We had to wait a couple of extra hours because some guy's knee operation went longer than planned, but Bette really did much better this surgery. We went in at 1030, but they didn't operate until almost 2- We were home by 4 She worked all day fixing her garage and stuff, so she is fine.

Gearing up for Tampa

2012-01-03T13:57:00.002-05:00

This Sunday we'll be heading down to Tampa for a week to visit the big RV show, and visit with family and take in a few sites- It will be a busy week getting there, Bette has her other carpal tunnel surgery Thursday morning before we go first, and we're supposed to have Bob the builder come and do our garage set up before then too, but he's already two days late....

Had a big nasty cold front run through this morning, and it is for sure the coldest yet this winter season- plus the wind is blowing. Had to get out my quilted shirt to go to coffee this morning...

Notice that is says its supposed to be 27 tonight- Have to run over to the coach tonight and make sure we don't have a lot of water on board- don't want it to freeze up. The 15 mph winds don't help any.

Also been working on finalizing the February trip out to California and back- looks like we can squeeze in about 25 more National parks, plus several baseball venues if I'm lucky- Hope we have warmish weather for the trip-

Almost a hole in one.....

2012-01-01T08:35:00.000-05:00

We were enjoying our 2nd annual visit from our former New Jersey neighbors, the Van Praaghs, who stop in on their way back up to Jersey this time of year from a trip they take down to the Naples, Fl. area.

We are happy to have them join us for a day or two, and this year, in addition to our usual trip downtown and dinner at Harry's, John and I decided to run next door and play 9 holes of golf.

Now I haven't played in about 2.5 years, since my nerve damage sort of defeats trying to do a golf swing, but I went ahead and gave it a try-

Turned out to be fun- the weather was perfect, 75 degrees, sunny- and we were joined by a father son team, with the son being a 7th grader who could play really well.

I wound up having a good time, and hit this shot below on the first par three on the 9, a hole of about 165 yards. Thought it was fairly good shot, then saw this when we walked up to the green.....

It for sure was about as close as you can get!!! Think it was 3 inches or so.
Surprisingly enough, on the other par 3 on the side, I also hit it close, about 9 feet, but lipped out the birdie putt. So I played the par 3's pretty well......

Played with the same ball the entire 9 holes, and that is always a plus.

Fairly sore this morning, but I may just have to play some more soon.

The Van Praaghs left just now, and will take 2 days to get back to New Jersey- we'll be seeing them in August when we are up in their area.

Gadget day for Bette and me.

2011-12-29T12:56:00.001-05:00

Today the mail lady bought a treat I got for Bette, a new Rockwell Versa saw. She loves it.... thank you Amazon!!!

We also headed over to Home Depot, and got ourselves a new fancy showerhead, that we saw on one of our favorite shows, "I want that!" It a Kohler Flip something or other

That sort of got installed after some proper coaching and assistance from Bette,
here are the directions that came with it:

Well, not really, but you get the idea.......

Then, we located a Mint Vaccum, at Bed Bath and Beyond, which is a robot cleaner, which we now need since we installed all wood floors in the house... they had lots of them, I had looked in several places in Anderson before Christmas, to no avail..

We were gifted with a Shark Steam Cleaner also for Christmas from Tina and Tony, and after much effort, we located the cleaning pads also at Bed Bath and Beyond, so now were set for that to do the tile floors at home.....

So it was a productive trip. $400 plus, but a happy wife is a happy life.

Finally, we went to Michaels, which anymore is a two or three time a week stop for us, and Bette found some special notecards for a friend.

A big bucket list item yesterday..

2011-12-29T12:35:00.000-05:00

For around five years of so, I have followed the blog of a couple from Louisville, Ky, Howard and Linda, and they have set up "RV Dreams" and do a super job of writing about the full time lifestyle, and have lots of great information about finances, workkamping, and such.. Several times over the years, we have been close to them, but never made the connection- They pulled into St Augustine and are staying about a mile or so from us, so we snuck in yesterday and finally got to say hello- They are as nice in person as they are on the blog!
We snagged a dinner date with them tonight downtown- along with another couple they knew from the area-

Would have loved to have made their rally this spring out in Rockwall, Tx, but we'll not be close then. shoot.

Moving the pin collection around

2011-12-27T17:12:00.000-05:00

I decided to move the pin collection around a little, since we brought back a bookcase from SC this trip. I first moved the National Park pin collection over my desk- Its by far the largest of the collections, and represents the 167 National Parks visited so far....only 230 more to go!

I regrouped all the state pins we've done so far into 2 groups- so now it looks much more centered, I think.

Gee, guess we've been a few places and seen a few things.... got two big trips coming up this year to add to the collections..... and now I'm doing lighthouses in a serious way, as well as different grave sites... always something to find....

Some of this summer's baseball booty

2011-12-27T17:06:00.002-05:00

This is 30 of the 40 or so baseballs we got this summer on the trip- The rack was built, but hasn't been installed just yet- The top row is a category of what I am calling specialty balls, which are generally commemorative balls from places we visited, or balls that are issued by teams that describe "the road to the show", which is a logo display of all the teams in their progression to the majors, from rookie to the Big League Club. The first ball on the left on top is an International League AAA ball, which shows all the teams in that league, then a Negro Leagues Museum ball from Kansas City, then the gold one 3rd from the left is one Cooper and I got at Cooperstown in 2007 when Tony Gwynn and Cal Rypkin were inducted, the 4th ball is one from Alcatraz prison, the next one is one of the Presidents of the US, the next is a ball from the state of Colorado, then one from the Taft National Monument, then one from Grand Teton National Park, then a Sox ball from Wrigley Field, the day we were there it was Mayor Daley day, and the last one on the top row is a Road to the Show ball from the Greenville SC Drive, for the Red Sox Organizaton.
On the Second row, left to right, we have Boise Idaho Hawks, Cedar Rapids Kernels, Chattanooga Lookouts, Omaha Storm Chasers, Sioux City Explorers, Rockford River Hawks, Missoula Osprey, River City Bandits, A Road to the Show Ball from the Independent Atlantic League of Baseball, and lastly a Great Falls Voyagers ball. Bottom row left to right is Beloit Snappers, River City Rascals, Lincoln Salt Dogs, Helena Brewers, a Road to the Show ball from Cedar Rapids, Kansas City T Bones, Jackson Generals, Iowa Cubs, Clinton Lumber Kings, and the Gwinnett Braves. Whew!

2011-12-26T17:29:00.000-05:00

357 or so miles, lots of traffic, especially on I-95, but no accidents nor construction, we left at 0735 and got in at 2:55. Took a different routing this time, since there was a known detour around Harlem, Ga this time.

Brought back a small load of stuff, including a bookcase, so I spent some time rearranging the office this afternoon.

Glad to be back in the warmth, and sunshine. Saw a gaggle of wild turkeys at the pond just now, so we are officially back in Florida!

Or whatever you call a group of 4 Wild Turkeys...... Beautiful colors....
Back to the routine tomorrow, Bette has to go back to PT, and is SO not looking forward to that, and I have to get my classes ready for Lander, we start back up on 9 January.

Happy birthday to granddog Beau

2011-12-25T12:07:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was our granddog Beau's 4th birthday. He is a sweet little pup- and loves, loves, loves his mommy.

Christmas 2011

2011-12-25T12:05:00.001-05:00

Got up at 0730- which is reasonable for our older age, and headed over to the house to see the opening of presents...

Cooper was pretty thoroughly pleased he got his jersey of his idol

Brandon and his new tablet- which they do allow in school-

How to be Grandfather of the Year

2011-12-25T11:59:00.001-05:00

Get a pair of special custom made Nike soccer cleats for your biggest grandson- They even have his name on it.....

He will be the snappiest on the field.... His Uni is purple, btw.

Christmas Eve Breakfast Tradition

2011-12-24T12:05:00.002-05:00

As is our custom, we all piled into the cars and headed up to Jackies for our Christmas Eve breakfast- it was yummy- then we headed over to the mall, so Bette could get some total non essentials at Michaels.

Rest of the day will be devoted to total vegging out.

Off to Anderson today

2011-12-23T19:43:00.000-05:00

Hung out this morning for a while while one of my brightest former students who just graduated from Lander in History dropped by and took me up on my invitation to help herself to as many books as she might like from my library. I was happy to have her avail herself of books that will be of use to her I hope in her teaching career, and felt really good that she found lots she liked.

Tina, cooper and I headed over to Anderson today to fill out some Christmas shopping needs. Went to the Mall, stopped at a Subway on the way over for lunch, and managed a stop at a Marble Creamery for some ice cream.

Saw this beautifully restored or either well-kept vintage Bentley at a stop light- all right hand drive and all. Quite an example of a wonderful auto.

Suspect we'll rest easy tomorrow- not much to see or go do.

Catch up stuff

2011-12-22T16:46:00.001-05:00

Cleaning day at the pond- the day before we left, the resident anhinga bird and a big egret took advantage of the nearly 80 degree weather to preen....

One of the bigger gators we've seen so far dropped in for a visit- he was quite a large fellow... spent most of the day leisurely floating around.

This is Bette's latest stepping stone that she created for our neighbors across the street, its's their 3 cats, obviously....

This pretty fellow strolled around for an hour or so.

Today, Bette and I headed over to the dentists for a cleaning, both of us got a clean report- then a quick McDonald's for breakfast, then Bette ran over to Newberry to see Megan and have lunch with Lina- the boys and Tony and I went over to La Hacienda for a nice Mexican lunch.

Got a phone call from former colleague Porter who is visiting in town, so we'll grab a dinner tomorrow perhaps. Yea!

Tony is grilling fillet mignons tonight....

Up to South Carolina for Christmas

2011-12-21T14:28:00.001-05:00

We decided to head on up to Carolina a day earlier than originally planned so we could make dentist and dog appointments... so we stuffed the car.. jeez we're only going for a week, but we brought up a table, and also a big compressor for our pals Dave and Bev to use.. 374 miles and about 8 hours later, we pulled into Saddle Hill.

According to the Fit's on board computer, we averaged 39.3 miles per gallon. Wow! Started out as a beautiful traveling day, desintegrated into a bit cold and rainy by the time we headed out for dinner...

We stopped for fuel at a Flying J, and then did lunch at a subway in Swainsboro.

Think it was near there, I noticed a repurposed old Coke bottle factory building, these little bottle plants used to dot the south, we had one in Newberry, that I remember seeing being used back in the middle 60's, before they consolidated all their operations, beautiful old buildings with the Coke logo..

Made it to Saddle Hill about 4, boys were glad to see us... and we them. We all headed out to our traditional O'Charley's welcome home dinner, and had a nice family meal.. sorry for the picture quality.. and Brandon as usual didn't want his photo taken....

From there, the boys and I headed to our annual tradition of going to Lander University in town to see the High School Christmas Classic basketball game.. Saw 1.5 very good games, on the boys side...

Might go back tonight as see the championship game.. think Cooper wants to go.

This morning, the menfolk got up and went to the Little Breakfast place for breakfast, then the boys and I went out to Game Stop so Brandon could get a game he wanted, then later, Cooper and I headed over to the YMCA so he could work on his basketball shooting, then he and I went to lunch at McDonalds.

Bette has been over at Bev and Daves all morning, working on patterns and hanging out. Buster went to get groomed this morning, as well as Beau.

Everyone is vegging out here at the house- Tina is working today, so I imagine we'll be on our own for dinner,. then maybe the basketball game.... Still raining off and on.

Another rare plate

2011-12-19T18:17:00.001-05:00

Saw this plate today in the hospital parking lot when we went to visit a friend from Coquina. Have not seen this one before- pretty plate!

24 inches of Keeper Redfish!!!

2011-12-19T14:34:00.005-05:00

Went out with Steve on the Intercoastal, over by the Airport, and hit a pocket of redfish, caught 5, of which we could keep two. Mine was the biggest of the day. Fun trip!!

We're heading off to SC a day earlier than planned, leaving in the morning.

Carpal Tunnel? no big deal

2011-12-15T16:04:00.001-05:00

Bette pretty much sailed through her first surgery today- We'll see how good she feels when the local wears off- 2 hours in the facility, about 10 minutes or so for the actual surgery- She has her PT tomorrow for this and her shoulder, that ought to be not fun.

Bingo tomorrow night!

3 Inches of Partly Cloudy today, then to the Golden Lion

2011-12-12T09:08:00.000-05:00

Ugh- heard the pitter patter of rain starting about 3 this morning, followed by the mini deluge. We've had 2.5 inches so far, and they are calling for more before it passes through- Good news is that it is 60 or so outside...

Today is our monthly jaunt on down to Ormond Beach to the Golden Lion for lunch with our Coquina pals.... Guess we'll eat inside today!

Cooper called this morning to say hello, and that he was going on a school trip to Philadelphia in the spring- Long trip for a 6th grader! Glad he will be getting the experience.

Also up this week is several Doctor visits for Bette for her shoulder and her carpal tunnel stuff, and one for me for a follow up to the heart doc- then Friday is Bingo. We are so retired!

Now, we learn of Carpal Tunnel for Bette!

2011-12-08T18:40:00.001-05:00

Bette went for her nerve conduction test today and was unpleasantly surprised to learn a new diagnosis of dual carpal tunnel in both hands... yikes! She'll have to have dual surgeries on both arms, and goes back next Wednesday to see how quickly she can start- the good news is that according to the Dr, it's "not major surgery", and recovery is "only three weeks." One side is much worse than the other, he said.

I worked on the ball rack project today, and we decided to modify it since we were having such a struggle to assemble our original plan- so I'll wind up with two racks, each with two rows of balls.

We went out and did several chores this afternoon after the Docs, and met up with Dan and Kippy for a yummy dinner at Crispers. Dan and I had the trios, love that dish!

Big Liar's club breakfast in the morning.....

Bette joins me in frozen shoulder land

2011-12-07T18:10:00.001-05:00

Went to the Sports Medicine Doctor today that I saw for my frozen shoulder last year and Bette was diagnosed with pretty much the same thing, good news was she doesn't seem to have any torn rotator cuff worries, and an onset case of the frozen shoulder.
Same course of treatment I had, muscle relaxers, which don't work, she won't take pain medication, so that's out, and starting next week, she gets to go the the PT's (Physical Terrorists) upstairs.
3 weeks of PT, and if it isn't any better, a cortisone round, and then more brutality upstairs, which should do the trick, if she will religiously do her PT- we'll see.

We had a win today, (with a $15.00 tip) and got the trash fellows to pick up all of our residue from the flooring installation, so that worked out good. We took our overage of stuff back to Home Depot this afternoon, and were like $238 to the good there.

Then, off to Wal Mart for fill ins, and her medication. She goes tomorrow to see Dr Lal for her nerve conduction test for her tingly fingers, I suspect that is connected to her neck operation of last year.

Made some progress on the ball rack today, cut the side supports and painted the whole rig that we have so far, and sanded it. Suspect we'll work on that again tomorrow.

Have to run a friend's daughter up to Jacksonville airport tomorrow, so that will knock out three hours or so.

Friday morning is the big annual pancake breakfast for the liar's club coffee group, we have like 45 or so signed up for that- that will be fun.

Green light from the eye Doc

2011-12-06T11:20:00.001-05:00

Got a good check up at Dr Nelligan's this morning- eye pressure was reduced 25%, so the glaucoma is in check he says. Next visit is now 4 months out. Bob and Carl continue to finish out the trim work and little details on the house project, predict they'll be done by today.

Started the ball rack project yesterday with Frank Schmidt, got the boards cut,and half way measured for the ball dimple cuts- will work on that this afternoon I believe.

Got the new XM radio very cleanly installed in the Fit yesterday, very happy with that job- surely not one for a non professional- I started to get more that worried when he began to unsnap the front dashboard, using pry bars and such, so I quit watching and went back inside- sure enough, when I came back out an hour later, it was a perfect clean neat installation, no wires visible, and set up exactly the way I wanted. Way cool, another thing off the list- and I feel better for having a pro do it, and helping the local economy to boot.

Bette will be off to mah-jong after lunch, and we'll enjoy the beautiful sun shiny day today.

Floor project almost done, busy week

2011-12-05T10:52:00.001-05:00

Bob and Carl are working today to finish up pretty much the floor project, they are doing the last bedroom, and then after lunch I suspect they will start installing baseboards.

Today at noon, I'm going to have the new XM radio installed in the Honda, want to have it done "professionally" as opposed to just having wires hanging around..

Bette is off taking a friend to the Doctors just now, and then I have a follow up Eye Dr appt tomorrow, and then Wednesday, she has to go see about her shoulder problems.

Tomorrow, I believe I will be starting on my baseball rack project with my neighbor Frank- if I can squeeze it in-
Friday morning is the annual pancake breakfast for our coffee club, so I'll be helping in the kitchen for that.

Nice weather this week, although they say a cold front will hit by the midweek or so, that will be after some 80 degree temps.

New house project zipping along

2011-12-01T12:42:00.001-05:00

Bob and Carl arrived Wed to start the newest house project, new flooring for most of the house. We opted for a manufactured laminate, which most folks put in down here- Bette really likes how it looks, Buster not so much, he can't get his footing, nor can he get up on the couches... We'll have to find area rugs, surely-

Bette also has a list of about 8 other things for them to do, which I predict they won't do, but we'll see. They have lots of other big jobs lined up, and everyone wants it done before Christmas of course.

We're off to Doctors today, Bette for her very sore arm/shoulder, and me for my sinuses- see if we can change up medicines to make it work better.

Random Cooper shots from Miami

2011-11-27T14:39:00.001-05:00

Had to shoot this, it was at Coopertown, after all.

Gator handling...

During the airboat ride- we were out in the everglades, for sure in about 2 feet of water.

Bonus stop, the Miami Homestead super speedway- they had just had the final race of the year there 2 days before.

View from the Dante Fascell Visitors Center for Biscayne National Park beautiful site....

Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas on the jumbotron rockin it out at Dolphins Stadium- what a show!!!!!

Safely back from Miami- back to routine

2011-11-26T15:50:00.001-05:00

Thursday, we headed on over to Miami Beach, since Cooper was dead set on swimming- so into the protected ocean he went at Bal Harbor area. We also had lunch at a McDonalds- since It was Thanksgiving, most places were closed, so we headed back early to the motor home, then at 430 we headed out to a Golden Corral that was open for Thanksgiving dinner- What a madhouse! long wait on line, but once we got in, there was plenty of food- We were all pretty tired, so we went back to the motor home and crashed. Friday, we drove back the 305 miles without much effort- no wrecks, not much traffic- this morning, sadly, Cooper and Tina headed back home after breakfast at McDonalds- we just got a call they got home safely- We had a super visit.

Today, after McDonalds, us and the Colagiovannis went to the big annual craft show down at Francis Field- third time we've been, same vendors, didn't buy a thing- then the Colagioviannis called and wanted to see if we wanted to go down to Palatka for lunch, so we did that down to Corky's, which is a local famous place- had a nice split burger. Stopped at County Line produce on the way back for a load of fresh produce, which they have a lot of down here.... now crashing at the house after a long week. Back to the routine.

Wow Wednesday!

2011-11-24T10:26:00.001-05:00

We first headed down to the Dante Fascell Visitor Center for the Biscayne National Park near Homestead Florida- really beautiful site and visitors center- right on the ocean looking into the open ocean, and several miles up the way, you can see downtown Miami.

Biscayne is my 167th park to visit out of 397 National Parks.

Downtown Miami off in the distance from the dock on the VC

Tpyical of the views here- Hurricane Andrew totally wiped out this area and it took about 5 years to recover. 25-30 Billion dollars worth of damage, and 175 mph winds.

Then, we headed over to downtown Miami Beach and walked the streets of South Beach for a while, mainly so Cooper could go to the store Dash, which is owned by the Kardashian sisters.. Not much there, for sure.

We ate at a very good pizzeria for lunch- then we headed on over to the American Airlines Arena, home of the Miami Heat, who of course aren't playing and may not play like the rest of the NBA this year. We found a jersey and pants for Cooper, and I got a pin.

From there, we still had time to kill, and decided to try to see the new Miami Marlins ballfield- found it easy enough, it's right downtown, but it is still under major construction, so we couldn't access it. Have to try again...

We're scheduled to go to a ballgame here on April 1st with an exhibition game between the Yankees and the Marlins.

Then the highlight of the day/night- we had told Cooper we had a stadium tour lined up for the Miami Dolphins stadium- in fact, we had tickets for a Black Eyed Peas Concert!! Also on the bill were Sean Kingston, T-Pain, Cee Lo Green, and a couple of others. Wow- the Peas are some talent! Each one of them had several turns to display their abilities through solos, and the group together was awesome. This was their "final" concert for a while- they are taking a break.

Probably 40,000 folks there, it wasn't a total sellout, and we got perfect parking right out of the front gate. Here's some jumbotron shots...

Today, we are vegging out, headed back over to Miami Beach, so Cooper can try the ocean, and then we'll find somewhere to have a Thanksgiving dinner.. Head for home tomorrow back to St Augustine. It's been a perfectly super trip- nice campground, motor home in perfect working order, perfect weather, and lots of room for us all. Life is good!!!!

Tuesday- Big Cypress, Everglades, and the Train Depot

2011-11-22T15:44:00.001-05:00

Got up early this morning, ate breakfast in the coach, and we hit the road about 0830 as planned- headed down and over to the Oasis Visitors Center for Big Cypress National Preserve, got several stamps and a pin.

Then, went over to the Shark Valley Visitor Center for Everglades National Park, and got several stamps there also and again, a pin.

Then, we decided to take an airboat ride, which was pretty cool- Cooper, Tina and I and about 18 other mostly foreign tourists went out on a 40 minute ride throughout the swamp area- saw several gators, and lots of bird life. Very much enjoyed it.

Tina and Cooper on the dock.

Cooper wrangled a gator....

A pair of wood storks- beautiful birds

Big fat land locked gator they had on display.

Then, we stopped at a Subway for lunch, then we went to the Gold Coast Railroad Museum, so we could see the Presidential Railway Car, but it wasn't there. Nuts- didn't say that on their web site. We did see several other nice older cars on display, and got a pin.
Tonight, Cooper and I are going to a Miami University basketball game...

Off to Miami!

2011-11-21T20:43:00.001-05:00

Cooper and Tina arrived safely on Saturday, versus Friday night- We vegged out most of the day- went out to eat at Applebees- Sunday, we took it easy pretty much, Cooper Bette and I headed to McDonalds for breakfast, then we stopped by the Flea Market and found a couple of things, Bette always does- then back home so Bette could take our neighbors to church, then we watched Football and loaded the motor home for the trip.

This morning, we ran back up to McDonalds for breakfast and by 0830 or so we were on our way to Miami. Good news, the Fit seems to tow very well- hardly notice its back there, plus our fuel milage is better, think it has to do with the fact that the Fit weighs a lot less- Got 8.9 mpg on down to Miami.

We got into Pembroke Pines, where we will stay for the week, and got all set up. We made a quick run down to Wal Mart for some hook ups for Coopers video game, but we couldn't get it to work just yet.

Had supper, then everyone is watching tv- nice park here, a county park with 50 amp, sewer, concrete pad, and all paved. Its located on a large lake/lagoon.

Got lots of things planned for the trip- tomorrow, we're running over to visit several places in Big Cypress National Preserve and Everglades National Park as well- then Cooper and I have seats for a Miami University basketball game.

Wednesday, we're running down to a couple of spots in Biscayne National Park, then stopping at the Gold Coast Railroad Museum, to see Pres Roosevelts old private railroad coach, then over to South Beach and DASH for Cooper- He's a big Kardashian fan.

Thursday, we'll head back over to the Miami Beach area and take in the local sites, should be quiet since its Thanksgiving.
Friday, we'll head back to St Augustine.

Here's our spot at Pembroke Pines....

2011-11-19T11:29:00.001-05:00

Bob and Carl's little pantry project was finished this morning. We now have a spiffy new storage space in former dead space between the laundry room and our closet in the master bedroom. I'm hoping Bette will use this to store her craft junk, as it has pretty much taken over the kitchen. We had a disaster when we started to clean up today's taping dust, for some reason, the shop vac spewed out all the dust she vaccumed and now the house is in a dust fog. Wonderful.

Lots of room to store stuff- I opted not to paint the drywall- its just a closet... maybe we'll paint it later.

Cooper and Tina did not come last night as planned, which made us feel better- didn't want them driving at night so much- They left SC this morning around 8- so they should be here around 3 or so.

As a result of that, we didn't go to the big yard sale- which is probably fine, since I am losing the fight to not have the house cluttered- There seems to be several new unauthorized piles of stuff in the house these days.

Fit ok for towing, but it was a chore!

2011-11-18T14:40:00.001-05:00

Finally retrieved the Fit from the welding shop today, after two tries, and a parts chasing trip down I-95- Saved about 250 dollars all told- They did a nice clean job, and a very good job of securing the wiring harnesses for the lights on the Fit, as opposed to just running the wires down the chassis like they did on the Malibu. We had to take the coach down to the shop to change out a fitting on the hookup- but the lights worked fine the first time. Bette is a tad nervous about towing the Fit for the first time, which we will do Monday - but we'll follow directions and it will be fine.

Bob and Carl were set back a tad from the original schedule on the pantry project, due to the mud for the taping not setting up quickly, so they will be at work tomorrow- Carl managed to leave a very fine layer of sanding dust all over the back room and kitchen today- ugh. After Thanksgiving, they are to head back and start on reflooring basically most of the rest of the house.

Cooper and Tina will be leaving SC in a short while, not sure if they are leaving at 330 right after school or at 530 when she gets off of work... they have about a 6-7 hour drive down here to Florida. Suspect we may bag going to the yard sales tomorrow as planned, and stay local since the workmen will be here- Sides, Coop and I can go to McDonalds like we used to....

Coolish and rainy and cloudy most of today, very windy also, but it is supposed to be near perfect weather the rest of the week.

2 days to Cooper and Tina!

2011-11-16T12:59:00.001-05:00

Two more days before Cooper and Tina make their way down from Carolina to spend a week with us down in Florida! We'll be going to the big downtown lighting ceremony on Saturday, then Monday, we're heading down to Miami Florida area until Friday-

Bob and Carl Before.....

2011-11-16T12:32:00.001-05:00

Our latest reno project involves breaking through the wall of our existing laundry room into our bedroom closet and creating a pantry of sorts, and then redoing the shelving in the bedroom closet- Bob and Carl the village handymen, surprised us with a visit yesterday, and this morning we got materials, so we are on our way. After Thanksgiving, they will start on the project to put down wood laminate flooring for most of the rest of the house. The garage project will be last.

Busy week, lots of stuff

2011-11-15T11:31:00.001-05:00

Went to the movies last night with the Colagiovannis and then over to Applebees for dinner, great movie, not so great dinner..

The movie, which was directed by Clint Eastwood, was done very well, I thought. Very excellent production values, terrific costuming and make up, as Hoover and Tolson aged in the movie. Hoover was at once hated and loved, and was at the least, a mecurial person, who ultimately had too much power. The movie addressed some dicey material as it had too, and in my opinion, left it up to the viewer to decide the importance or non importance of the situation.

Because I got one, Bette decided to get a new I phone 4s. It arrived yesterday, early, and she took it to get activated this morning. Predictibly, she is in a complete snit trying to figure out her new phone, and is totally afraid of it, and I'm sure hates it. She has been trying for the last half hour to figure out how to download an app she wants... Total fail.

Our new Sirrius radio also arrived yesterday- Haven't had time to get that set up yet, will try to get to that today.

I took the Fit over to the welding place to have the baseplate put on, and they just called me to say that they did not have the wiring harness that they thought they had, and it will be Friday before they can put it in- grrrrr. we are supposed to be leaving Monday for Miami.

We had Bob the builder finally show up to start our latest new projects for the house, which are to build a pantry and redo most of the house in flooring- Bette also has work in the garage for him to do. Suspect we'll get the pantry done this week, the flooring sometime after that, and the garage after the first of the year.

Friday, we're off supposedly to the 72 mile garage sale on Route A1A, but have to wait now for the wiring harness to come in.

Busy busy busy....

The plane! The plane! No, the blimp...

2011-11-11T10:01:00.001-05:00

I was busily working on morning stuff at the desk, and heard this large racket outside, which I sumised was but one thing, and presto! I was right- The Good Year blimp on its way to some event... Took a long time to fly to the horizon, as there is a pretty brisk wind outside.. It flies in an interesting porpoise effect as it moves along, up and down at a rather sharp angle... Another Florida experience!!

New Fit in the driveway

2011-11-10T17:41:00.001-05:00

Bette stopped by the dealership today and learned that the car had been delivered, they hadn't called us- She came and got me and we proceeded back to the dealership, and almost had a stroke.

As we were chatting, we asked about some of the details about the car's towability- and the salesman sort of blanched, and went to look for directions, and then came out and told us that the car couldn't be towed 4 flat for the 2012 moldel.

This was after we specifically had this understood, had brought the new towplates, blah blah blah. I flushed, I sure, then just got up and walked out.

Bette was left to sputter her complete frustration, and we left. They were going to try to find a 2011 Fit, which we told them we didn't want, and were going to call us.

Well, they did call us, and turns out that in fact the car can be towed 4 flat, and there are in fact instructions in the owner's manual-

So now the deal was back on- we spent a frustrating hour and a half trying to get the salesman to show us where the fuse was to tow the car that had to be pulled, and he had no idea, then we had to sit through a dealer attempt to sell us long term maintainence stuff, extended contracts, stain repellent, low jack retrieval systems, etc.

We finally left the dealership with the car.

On a side note, Bette went back for the third time to the imagining center and got the all clear today- as we thought we would.

The new tow plates are due to be delivered tomorrow at the house, and we'll have them put on Monday, I reckon- the new Sirrus radio should be here soon also.

Slowly, we are breathing normally, and will move on and be ready to tow the car down to Miami on Nov 21 when Tina and Cooper arrive and we head on down.

Off to the hospital to call on neighbor Helen, who had an 11.5 hour procedure fusing 4 vertebra on her back yesterday.

Went fishing today-

2011-11-09T17:53:00.001-05:00

My neighbor Steve has a boat, and works as a guide up in Maine during the summer, and luckily, he asked me to go fishing with him this morning, we headed out about 0745- hit the water, and had an enjoyable day of fishing, but of course I forgot the camera, then totally forgot my new I Phone has a camera!

We actually caught several fish, Steve is truly a professional and is really getting to know these waters pretty well- We caught about 10 spotted sea trout, 3 of which were "keepers", at least 19 inches long. I also caught a croaker and a brim looking fish- and had another large fish break the rig, and lost him- a true one that got away story- we think it might have been a big flounder or maybe a redfish-

Looking forward to the next trip, and I'll be sure to take pictures this trip.

Rock and Rollin along

2011-11-08T16:29:00.000-05:00

Well, lets see- first, visit to eye dr reveals I have something he called "Stage 1 Glaucoma" which isn't too much of a surprise, I had been monitored for this for several years, seems my optic nerves are all jangly and there is too much pressure, and if not abated, I may loose my vision in 20 years or so- for now, eyedrops to relieve the pressure, and another visit in 30 days.

Next, broke down and got an I phone 4s! Really, really happy about that, and I got a 100 dollars off, so it was affordable. Love the new phone, first apple product for me, and I really like it- did I say I like it?

Got a white 32 gb phone-

Next, the new car apparantly didn't come in today as it was scheduled to, or it came in and they are still getting it ready, or whatever- they didn't call us one way or the other, so no new car.
Next, we got an Onyx Sirrius Radio which is a car/home version, because the Fit's radio wasn't Sirrus ready- They had a deal where you got the radio free, which was like an 80 dollar value, and I had prepaid for a year of service with the old radio, so it was about a wash.

Next, I called Blue Ox directly and saved about 400 dollars on the baseplates for the Fit to be towed, now have to shop around to find someone to put them on and wire it up before we leave for Miami on November 21st. That should cost in the neighborhood of a couple of hundred.

Have my consultation with the cardio guy tomorrow with regard to the stress/systimibi test, expect that will be a no brainer-

Had a nice visit at Golden Lion with the Golden Lion bunch,

It was a windy but sunshiny day- Also went to Sat supper at Harrys with the Kingstons- and split a sirloin steak that was yummy

Bette sold a few things at the craft fair, so good for her, and I did lots of school work this week, and my two classes for next semester have already had enough students sign up for them today, which was the first day of registration to be "official" classes, so that's good- Lots of oldtimers signed up for my history of journalism class-

Just a couple of more weeks, and Cooper and Tina will be down for a week and we will head on down to Miami metro area in the motor mansion for a visit.

Just routine Florida stuff-

Happy Florida routine

2011-11-02T10:18:00.000-04:00

Today, we will be heading down to Flagler Beach with 3 other couples for our Florida routine of lunch at the Golden Lion. It is a nice drive of about 25 miles, along the beach, and we usually sit on the patio outside if it isn't too chilly, its about 70 right now, and the wind is blowing, so they may have the heat pots out... Love the fish tacos!

Yay, another trip!

2011-11-01T14:19:00.002-04:00

Turns out there is a 5 day RV super show down in Tampa on Jan 11-14. Turns out Bette's brother and cousins live in New Port Richey, Fl., about 22 miles away- turns out Thousand Trails has a deal for their campground in Lusk, Fl, about 16 miles from the show for that week . Bye Bye! Lots of other attractions in the area- We did a trip there last January also-

Busy day at the pond

2011-10-31T17:34:00.001-04:00

Full disclosure, think this is the last two days- it rained very hard for most of the morning, but as I was working on school stuff in the river room this afternoon, we had a nice variety of visitors....

This fellow had distinctive coloring, ugly spindly legs, and a pretty beak, I thought, also the pond is looking nice and clear these days.....

Flash update, our neighbor dog, Molly Elizabeth has made almost a full recovery now from her run in with the golf cart a week or so ago- no hippity hop in her step, and her wounds have healed up nicely. Her mommie sadly is not doing so well, really in pain, and has a major back surgery coming up soon, so Molly will be bunking in with us we think....

The anhinga bird was back, not as his usual spot, since the white egret was there, so she plunked down on our stump to air out her feathers and pose for me- interesting coloration on this pretty bird also....

Pretty sure this is a blue heron, and it was just plain majestic as he strutted up and down the length of the far side of the pond looking for morsels to eat-

This was shot just a minute or so ago, and is a long shot of the baby gator that has been hanging out for the last few days.. He will stay on the bank all plunked out, then once or twice, he'll cruise the pond- but mostly he just suns himself... not sure how often a fellow like this would need or want to eat- or how much it takes to keep them happy little gators..... This one is maybe 3.5 to 4 feet, I would reckon....

Just read up about a super RV show down in Tampa Jan 11th- 15th- May head on down to catch that and see Bette's cousins in New Port Richey while we're there.

Big Air Show Sunday!

2011-10-31T11:21:00.001-04:00

Learned that there will be a big air show up at JAX NAS next weekend- 100th anniversary of Naval Aviation show- Group of guys from Coquina will be going up- Ought to be a big and excellent show. Lots of photo ops, I hope. The Blue Angels will be there at 230- not sure we'll stay that long...

Already with the trip changes!

2011-10-30T14:54:00.000-04:00

Got some good advice from my pal Texas TC, so we are changing up the planned trip to California a little- he advised that the "northern" route can sometimes get snowbound before May- so we decided to come back pretty much the way we went over, except come back through Phoenix. Also added a little sightseeing around El Paso to include a little loop trip to several New Mexico National Parks, and added Big Bend and Armistad National Parks to the list- We confirmed that our friends Jerry and Judy will be out in Tucson while we are there, and they are hoping to join us for a trip over to Palm Desert to see friends there. So it's going to be a terrific trip!

Talked Bette into a new trip!

2011-10-29T15:20:00.002-04:00

We normally go out to California every February, to see my Mom and Judy Williamson. Bette agreed that we would take the motor mansion this trip instead of flying.... so we'll do a combination trip of long days of driving to get there, and sandwich several 4-5 day stops in between to see folks we know in that part of the world- Be out from about 5 February to 15 March. That will change up our summer trip a little, and we'll now leave for Greenwood about the last week of May, then pick up Cooper and head for the Maine coast as planned there.

Still be able to squeeze in some National Parks along the way, and also, at least a couple of spring baseball games in Phoenix area while we are there. We'll also visit friends in Dallas, Tucson, Prescott Az, Palm Desert Ca, and San Antonio along the way.

New toad for 2012....

2011-10-29T15:12:00.000-04:00

The commander has spoken. We are saying goodbye to our Malibu and hello to our new Honda Fit. We liked Jerry and Judy's CRV Honda this summer, so we went to look, and we wound up getting this little guy- A fair deal, nice dealership, and we will mount a new towbar in a couple of weeks.

It may get as much as 35-39 mpg on the highway, which is way better than the Malibu did. It had to struggle to get 22- because we had the 6 cyl engine in it.

Slam Dunk at the Heart Docs I reckon

2011-10-27T11:52:00.001-04:00

I actually did 13 minutes on the treadmill yesterday, then did my nuclear study, and didn't seem to have any issues... they will be reading the tests today and give me a call- so we can put all that stuff on the back burner.

Cooper called at 705 this morning, and wanted me to check out seats for the Miami Heat while we are in town over the Thanksgiving week- I had written that off, but he assured me they will settle this weekend... Me, I'm still not sure, when I went on their web site,, they do have a game scheduled with Atlanta on 22 Nov, which I thought was pessimestic, but they weren't any tickets available on line. So guess we'll have to wait and see. Maybe we can go see the Miami Hurricanes play basketball....

Not much doing for the rest of the week- Bette has Mah Jong today, and then there is Bingo tomorrow night- We found out today our friends Bev and Dave are not coming down over the 5th of Nov as planned, Dave may have to have back surgery... poop.

I may get agressive and start the racks for the baseball displays in the next couple of days.... don't feel like paying 365 plus shipping for the big one I saw on line.....

Not much to report....

2011-10-25T18:17:00.001-04:00

Let's see- our neighbor Ralph came home from a week's stay today, and is feeling much better- Our neighbor Helen came home from the hospital but is headed back so she can have we hope a needed operation- and we still have her little dog here with us- Molly has made a very nice recovery, and spends her days resting and being very quiet.

I go in tomorrow for my bi annual stress test and nuclear test- it will go over two days, starting at 1030.

Made some plans for Coopers visit which will take place on November 21st- and we're pretty much all set for that.

Looked at the schedule and motels for the spring baseball trip for Florida today, got a lot of work to do on that trip- and I also looked at the Cactus league schedule for our trip to Arizona and California in March- Looks like we'll head into Phoenix to start, maybe do some National Parks and a baseball game venue (there are 9 in Phoenix area alone and 2 in Tucson, and then head on over to San Diego- we also have friends to see in Palm Desert- so that trip may extend out to a week and a half or so.

Did a lot refinements and fine tuning for this summer's trip also- trying to spend more time in Maine, and New Jersey and also get in all we want to see in other places- Plans are to spend lots of week long visits this trip.

Next week, we'll start our visits down to the Golden Lion again, looking forward to that, for sure!

Busy Times at Murray's Nursing Home

2011-10-21T17:51:00.001-04:00

Our neighbors continue to fall like the temperatures here... Our across the street gal has had a bad back for some time, and finally, gave up the ghost and agreed to have herself checked in at the hospital, where she'll be for a few days. No worries, we agreed to baby sit her sweet dog, Molly. I've been walking Molly every night anyway, since she can't get around- well, the neighbor lady also volunteered to take her for walks, and of course, while she has Molly out, she wasn't aware Molly chases bikers and walkers, and in this case, a guy who terrorizes the neighborhood by racing his big dog up and down the street using his golf cart as a walker. Well, Molly went after him, and got smashed. Immediate expensive trip to the Vets, and she now has two lacerations on her legs, and is stove up a little, she's getting along better today, but we were lucky.. Geez.

Molly is now safely recovering in our living room, if you look closely, you can see the two cut areas on her left front and right rear legs. She has cleaned them up totally, and is actually walking around a bit. She was pretty groggy yesterday from being stitched, and we are predicting a complete recovery. She is a sweet little dog.

Love Blue Herons and pretty sunsets, had both in the last 24 hours:

Got pretty well expressed through our Wed Doctor tours, Bette for her mammogram and me for the cardiologist, I have a routine stress test next Wednesday. Down here, they combine the stress test with the Systemibi nuclear study, so I get both done at the same time. Presuming that will all come back fine. My numbers continue to be in record low areas.

Made campground reservations for the November Miami trip, so that's all set, we'll be there from Monday to Friday of Thanksgiving week, looking forward to Tina and Cooper being with us- We're staying in what is supposed to be a very nice county park in Pembroke Pines, about 25 miles north of Miami. Also plan to do 3 National Parks, tour Sun Coast field, home of the Dolphins, tour the new Marlins baseball stadium, and Cooper wants to go to the Kardashian store, and of course, we'll have to go to South Beach!.

Tomorrow is Saturday routine day, coffee club, then the Flea Market, and the produce man shopping, then grocery shopping. We won't go to the Golden Lion this week since Kippy is still under the weather and the Colagiovannis are heading out of town.

Got the schedule for the Spring Major League Baseball trip, and think we have settled in on what we may be doing for that- Involves a trip in late March and the first couple of days of April down to Melbourne, Jupiter, and back through Orlando to see 5 games, be out 4 nights for that one. It's become our "men's" tradition- this year, may have 4 or more guys...

Cold this morning, coldest day of the year so far, about 43, and stayed kind of coolish for most of the day...

Time floats on by

2011-10-18T12:12:00.001-04:00

Didn't realize it had been a few days since my last post, obviously we are in the "retirement" mode.... but that doesn't mean lots of things aren't happening.

Lets see- this has been a bad week for illnesses, passings of friends, and such..
tomorrow, a large group of us will be up in Jacksonville for the services of liar's club member Gordon who passed last week. Our neighbor has been very much under the weather and is at the hospital as we speak, and I will be going to pick him up shortly... our pal Kippy has a bad crud disease that she picked up while on the road home from Ohio, Sheriff Foster's dad passed away, and some other friends are under the weather.. On the good side, I was able to actually speak to my brother Dan for the first time in about 4 months, and he is home from the hospital recuperating at my brother Bills house in Atlanta.

We've been planning the Thanksgiving trip with Cooper and Tina, looks like we'll be heading on down to Miami on the train for 4 nights... looking forward to that.

We're also looking into adding Tuscon Ariz on the Feb/March trip, so we can throw in a visit with Jerry and Judy and the Strissels in addition to heading out to California to see mom...

We are waiting on Major League Baseball to release the spring schedule for Grapefruit League Baseball, so we can plan that trip...

Bette and I got a A on our report cards from the semi-annual Doctors visits this week, I have a follow up cardiologist visit Thursday, may do a stress test, since I haven't had one in almost 2 years, but all my numbers were rediculously low...

Friday the car goes in for service, and the Colagiovannis return back again from a funeral trip to Mass. this week also... So dinner for them Thursday, I believe.

Hopefully the Kingstons will be back on their feet soon, so we can do our pilgrimages to the Golden Lion again soon.

Life moves on apace.... Bette is stupid busy in the garage shop doing crafts for the craft show... and the weather remains perfect, except for today we are supposed to get drenched this afternoon....

The pond continues to attract...

2011-10-12T10:40:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, our anhinga bird made his or her first return, and took advantage of the sun to dry its feathers, they get in this pose for hours at a time, then take off. This bird, or others have been on our stoop for two or three years now.

I noticed a gator for what seemed to be a long time in the same place, and discovered it was simply asleep- as you can see by the photos.. He took about a two hour nap right in front of the window.. then ambled off. Notice his eyelids are shut....

This little guy, which is a plover, I think, decided it was time to take a nap too, so he snoozed for an hour or two....

This fellow was ambling along the shore, and then waded in and got him or her self a fish snack.

Pretty day at the pond...