tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81790435581237875772024-03-05T07:21:36.173-05:00Trails of SerengetiWe are part-time workampers. We are enjoying what we do and the places that we go.
This will not be written to every day as we do work and don't have any thing to put in. We will try to keep it up as timely as possible. Please excuse any and all misspelled words and grammar.Serengetihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14916641746181725186noreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8179043558123787577.post-86715743804549769712012-04-12T20:34:00.003-04:002012-04-17T08:32:01.159-04:00April 2012April 11th well as time flies and keeps us in the past we will try to update our journal. March was total “Madness” for us as we had so many functions going on, and a lot of times on the same day. We had going away parties for several couples on the same day Jon had a men’s accountably luncheon at the church, also we had another going away after bowling after Jon golfed in the morning. We had a party to celebrate the golf year, as our group did not attend the party that the resort had. For several reasons it was decided last year not to attend that banquet, as our group was never accepted into the graces of their leadership, sort of like "third graders with gray" hair. Another day Jon golfed early so that he could get home to shower and then go the bowling alley to bowl with the group from the resort. It was the annual “No-Tap tournament style” day to finish the bowling year. Jon had bowled one time this past season, back in Oct., but any way for the 4th year in a row he bowled a “300” game and had the high series of the day with a 787, after that the resort had the bowling banquet at “Homers restaurant”. After that we continued to meet up with friends at different functions. In a period of 9 days we were at the legion 7 days and we have to mention two of them, one was a State Fair type of day were they had all kinds of games and prizes for the members, we had planned on going for an hour or so and wound up staying for about six hours. We had Easter dinner there as well and what was supposed to be two hours was about 5 hours, Jon sort of got a booby prize as the last number drawn and a lot of prizes of much less value were given away and probably as an after thought he won a 17 lb. ham. Yesterday Jon went to play his last round of golf and the plan was as soon as he got home to get the motor home and bring it up to our home, nope didn’t work out that way as the neighbor across the street was having their lawn dug up and resodded and all of the equipment was in the way, so we did a lot of other things and after they were finished for the day we brought up the MH and cleaned and started to set up our summer home. On Tuesday we finished loading the MH and left at about 12 noon and went up to Camp Fountain and spent several hours visiting with Jon’s sister and brother in law. We then left and after getting on to Rt. 95 North we got as far as Jacksonville were we pulled into a rest area that has nighttime security, even better then Wally world as we weren’t tempted to spend any money. We now pray that the rest of the journey is a safe one.<br /><br />April 12th we got started on the road at 8:00 am and proceeded through Jacksonville with very little problems as it was the morning rush hour and some road construction, we were out of Florida by 9:00 am. Along the way we spotted a car carrier with two men unloading a car from the trailer and we were wondering why, well in about a minute or two we realized that a little further up the road was a “weigh station” and they were making themselves legal. As we continued north, we started to get an “engine warning” and “stop engine” light on our dashboard and the further we went the more it blinked also the engine seemed to run a little sluggish. We were paying close attention to our “oil pressure” and “water temp.” gauges and they were alright, we even pulled into a rest area and did a diagnostic check and no codes showed up. We continued on our merry way and it continued to become worse, so after some thinking we thought that we might need to change the fuel filters. Three years ago we had bought some and had put them inside one of the bay doors, we even knew just where they were. We than pulled into a truck and filled up with fuel at $4.069 per gallon also at the same time added some conditioner and than proceeded to the rear of the parking area and changed the filters. After about a 30 min. job we fired up the motor and let it idle and after about 10 seconds we went to rev up the motor and it stopped and on the next two tries it wouldn’t start, so we sat about 30 seconds and it fired up and we revved it up several times and all was normal, so we let it idle for a few minutes and when we went to pull out Jon said “oh no” Kathleen said “what’s the matter” and Jon replied look at the fuel sign, and it read $3.999 per gal. Glad to see it come down but it could have happened about 1 hour sooner. We continued north with no sign of any blinking lights on the dash and all is well again. We went to Smithfield, NC for the night to Wally World and as we were parking Kathleen got out making sure we were alright which we were. She also reported that the time is now to get out of the shorts and polo shirts, so we put on jeans and tee shirt and socks and shoes, reality has hit us we are going north and it is cooler. God was with us another day and we are truly riding in his hands and we thank him every day. Another good day in the MH/camper, should be at our summer camp spot by tomorrow.<br /><br />April 13th we left Smithfield, NC around 8:00 am and had an uneventful day of travel if you can<br />call three wrong turns okay. One of the turns we wound up at the local landfill/recycle center, the second one we had made this wrong turn two years ago, so we knew were to get back on track and the third we were sort of in the wrong lane of traffic in the afternoon rush hour traffic in York, Pa. The office closed a 5:00 pm and we made it to the resort with about 1 min. to spare. We got unloaded and set into our site for the night and tomorrow we will do some more setting up. We think it will take a while to warm up as we still have our Florida blood and we are now dressing in layers, and to think we got rid of our Carhart’s years ago! It will get better and the weekend forecast is looking good.<br /><br />April 16th it has been a very busy four days, as we are meeting with family and we even had Kathleen’s granddaughter stay over on Friday night, she just couldn’t wait for us to arrive so she could camp out. Jon spent time with his granddaughters and is working on having them staying with us this summer, we will have a great time. On Saturday we had to replace the sewer valves on the MH as we had a constant leak on the trip north, it was the gray water valve but since we had to replace one we did both as it takes about 1 ½ hours just to get to the valves. They are behind the water valve control panel and until you remove that you can’t see the valves. Another day we had a nice visit with Kathleen’s oldest son. And on Monday since we still had off, we repaired a leak that we had in our hot water/heater system, after that we washed the MH, the car and the golf cart that we have for the summer. So tomorrow we are off to work. It is a great<br />day in the campground. God Bless.Serengetihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14916641746181725186noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8179043558123787577.post-88311574777169895612012-03-12T16:16:00.002-04:002012-03-12T16:19:43.197-04:00March 2012March, 7th we haven’t added to this journal for quite a while. We really have been quite busy here at the resort, with Jon playing golf several times a week and Kathleen bowling and involved with her knitting and rug making. During the second week in January our friends Jeff & Shirley started to move into their Florida home and we went up to help them unload some of their items, also got together with them for a round of golf. That same day we had the Wine & Cheese party here at the resort. It so happened that after the Wine & Cheese party we had the after party here at our place. The next day we received a call from Jon’s sister that our mother had just passed away. In less than 4 hours we were packed and on our way to Pennsylvania for about 6 days. Even though we went for a tragic happening, a lot of good came out of it and we got to spend a lot of time with family and friends. February 1st we went to the Canadian Snowbird Fest and had a great day with a lot of entertainment and laughs galore, it was a great day. Valentine’s Day we spent time with Jim and Dee as we went to a winery and a small produce farm/store (it is their first year here and we are helping them explore the area), after that we went to Hotel Jacaranda for a very good Valentine’s Dinner. Near the end of February we went to Busch Gardens again and got to see Peter Noone and Herman’s Hermits, once again we were not dissatisfied, it was a great day. And now here it is the beginning of March and we just got back from the Strawberry Fest, with a lot of great food and how could we not pass up on the simply delicious Strawberry Short cake. Also on stage today was the one and only Lee Greenwood and Louise Mandrell, and what a show they put on. Getting back to the sports we are involved in we are both doing a lot better at times, now if we could only improve on that.Serengetihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14916641746181725186noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8179043558123787577.post-6845959246086988912011-12-19T06:40:00.006-05:002012-01-04T21:01:00.458-05:00December 2011<div><div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJZ8O9eYSPSIEIYAgdgGZ2wY-j9dfSH9UIubVNQLLlhg4GqvRfFCe1hkCXqxfKNHrOq5tB20OvMKtoKpGyuFAa6yWGywEV6sdCorXKt76qUT-5Xi74dCS3G2ik5UmiRWzlxwamXrfU9XM/s1600/12-19-11_2403.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 320px; height: 240px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5687806058642293426" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJZ8O9eYSPSIEIYAgdgGZ2wY-j9dfSH9UIubVNQLLlhg4GqvRfFCe1hkCXqxfKNHrOq5tB20OvMKtoKpGyuFAa6yWGywEV6sdCorXKt76qUT-5Xi74dCS3G2ik5UmiRWzlxwamXrfU9XM/s320/12-19-11_2403.JPG" /></a><br /><div><br /> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div>Dec. 18th boy does time fly, we can’t believe that it has been over a month since we last reported here. Just too much to do as Jon plays golf 3 times a week, and Kathleen is back into swing with her activities, along with her trips to the fitness center several times a week. Jon uses the exercise room here at the park and attends them at least 5 times a week. Along with dinners here at the park and also potlucks at the church, include in that we get together with friends and stray at times. Since we have been here we’ve met up with some great new friends, and our circle is getting bigger all the time. As for Jon’s golf, he has good days and some not to good days but all days are great with friends and the weather. Kathleen is making great improvement in her bowling, as she is learning some of the finer points of the game. Again the league is great here as we do not have any teams and you bowl with different people each week, it is a great social event. Finally this year we did decorate our house for Christmas and it was so nice to do this while dressed in shorts and tee shirt, also again this year we are involved with the “Christmas Stroll” at our church. This will be starting on Monday thru Thursday in the evenings. Kathleen made some great costumes for us this year and the director is very pleased with them, she can make anything on a sewing machine. Trouble is that after she made the costumes she put the machine away and the shelf fell down 20 seconds later and destroyed the machine. We will have to look after Christmas for another one. We are pretty well caught up with our Dr.’s visits, we both got our yearly checkups and Kathleen had some more eye work done, although Jon has one more with his thyroid problem, and that will be in January. </div></div></div></div>Serengetihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14916641746181725186noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8179043558123787577.post-91118176171381813792011-11-07T10:44:00.000-05:002011-11-07T10:45:08.744-05:00Nov. 2011Nov. 5th well it is about 2 weeks since we have been at our winter home and things are going just great. When we arrived we could see all around the park as it was pretty empty, but that has changed as more and more people are coming for the winter. We’re back to stimulating the local economy, we are fixing up our place and this includes getting our medical exams, eye exams and Kathleen is getting a dental exam. We also had some curb-n-scape installed around our palm tree, had some reupholstering done in the MH, in the process of buying a new headboard for our bedroom and getting a custom frame made for the painting we had commissioned last spring. Talking about the painting, it seems like we always run into a last minute project and that being the year we had the sod installed it was one third installed when we left and didn’t see it completely till we returned the following fall. Same with the painting. It was delivered the day before we left. Hopefully this year we can do everything early and enjoy it during our winter stay. Also in the past two weeks we met up with a lot of our friends and started our winter schedule, Jon golfed several times and is getting back to his three times a week routine. Jon made a decision not to really do much bowling, but to golf instead. We met up with Al & Joann at the bowling alley just to socialize and he bowls an 181,191, 266 set. Our schedule is filling up with the park, legion and church calendars to be considered and we already had one double booking. Just another time period we are enjoying at a campground/resort in Florida.Serengetihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14916641746181725186noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8179043558123787577.post-64392704206832553192011-10-02T11:03:00.015-04:002011-10-29T08:21:54.530-04:00Oct. 2011Oct. 26th we didn’t need to get an early start today so we relaxed a little bit. We both took a walk around the resort which is a distance of 1 ¼ mile. Later Kathleen opened up a work out membership, and today was her first day, upon returning she was thinking she would be sore and stiff tomorrow. While she did that, Jon went to the MH and removed the items that we are going to have reupholstered. After that he got out the bicycles and put air in the tires and rode each one of them around the park to make sure all things work. In the afternoon we took the parts to the upholstery shop and from there we went to have Kathleen’s eyes checked for glasses. It was discovered that she didn’t need glasses but will need laser treatment to remove a film that developed on the back of the lenses after her cataract surgery two years ago. This is considered “normal” and is a relatively easy procedure. While she was in there Jon did some shopping. We got back together and went to get a bite to eat prior to going to our Wednesday night Bible study. Upon returning home we had another great day in the campground/resort.<br /><br />Oct. 25th what a busy day we awoke to today. First we went down to the office and officially checked in and paid for our early arrival and MH storage. After that we took some more items to the MH and picked up some things we forgot to remove. We left the park and our first stop was at the local Chevrolet shop to ask about an oil change, since we have about 5000 miles on it and the oil monitor says we are at 65% before a change. We were told that we are good till it gets down to under 30% and that some go as much as 12,000 miles between changes. After that we went to the Verizon store as Jon’s phone gave up the ghost, has to charge it every day and it dies overnight. He did something different as when most people get another phone they up grade but, no he downgraded to strictly a phone, no frills. From there we went and bought a head board for our bed, next stop to return to the local upholstery shop that did the work when we changed our MH last spring, we wanted to complete the job this year. We were so happy that we did this, because they are closing their doors at the end of the year. From there we went to the local orange grove for juice and to buy some local honey, we found out that by using local honey where ever you are it will help with the local allergies. We then came home and got cleaned up as we were meeting with Jeff & Shirley this afternoon. They have been looking at properties in Fl. for well over a year now and have made several trips down here to look. Well, we think that they found the place this time, it is a 4 year old home that was never lived in, in a gated community with lots of amenities for the residents there, also in a very nice location and near to a lot of shopping areas and restaurants. We are so glad for them and hope that is works out for them. The four of us then went out to Manny’s Restaurant and had a great meal, the amount, quality and price was fantastic. We returned home tired and worn out for the day but realize how great it is to be in a campground/resort in Florida.<br /><br />Oct.24th after arising Jon put in a new socket for our wash line (actually a single pole with four arms extended) this is an easy job as the soil is all sand and just set the pipe at the place you want it and put a hose in the pipe and turn the water on and push down the pipe. Also in the morning we went to the office, only to find out that the office person had another appointment this morning. We moved our MH to the storage area along with the tow dolly; we probably have the longest MH in the storage lot and hope that it goes well. We did have a challenging time getting both of these in one area. We located the people who mow our lawn over the summer and paid them for a job well done. In the afternoon, Jon went to play a round of golf with Paul, Floyd and Dennis. It was a great day and the weather was just perfect. During that time Kathleen went shopping and got a new coffee pot and some decorative items to set on our new computer desk/hutch along with personal items. After our evening meal we washed the car and took off several weeks of grime from being towed behind the MH. As we are settling into our winter digs we are so happy to be in a campground/resort.<br /><br />Oct 23rd this morning we got back to our church family, after the event that we faced back in Pa. it really felt good to be back around old friends, and this was the proper setting. We returned home and continued to clean out the MH and get our winter home set up. At the present time we are awaiting a lot of the people in the park to return for the winter and the place is somewhat deserted. We have met some new campers here as well. In the afternoon we set up out computer desk/hutch that we brought from Pa., it is over 4 ft. high and over 5 ft. long. We had been lugging this around for about three weeks and finally got it home. We spent all of the afternoon setting it up, as you know part A to part B type of thing, and this had a lot of parts. It looks good and it will function very well for us and the décor couldn’t be any better. After that we lounged around and watched some TV, although Jon couldn’t stay awake and took an early exit for the night. The last few days were long and we did accomplish a lot of work. Once again we are happy to be at our winter home and as always it great to be in a campground.<br /><br />Oct.22nd this is our last day of travel and we were happy to get to our winter home. Jon couldn’t sleep and was up by 3:30 am even though we hadn’t planned to leave till 8:00am. We left out of Wally world and we do say, that it was very quiet and a nice place to stay, we got back onto I-75 till the Fl. Turnpike and from there we took Rt. 27 at Claremont as this would take us to our park. We do have to say it is a very scenic route but the conditions we had were the worst we had the whole journey. Even though it is a divided multi lane road the roadway is narrow with a lot of hills and way too many red lights, well maybe we got used to the interstates. We both fueled up about 20 miles from our winter home and Floyd had his brake hang up again. Using his levelers he raised the front end and kicked the tire and it loosened up. Arriving home we found the yard to be in great shape, as we had mowing service and also weed control, it is well worth it. Two years ago it was the worst lawn in the neighborhood it is one of the nicest now. Upon opening we found the place as we left it with no surprises, and we started to unload and set up our place. What a major challenge, didn’t know we had so much stuff, this is crazy. We arrived a little before noon and at 4:00 we had company and sat and chatted for a while. After that we did a Wal-mart, gas, and Wendy’s run. After we ate, which first consisted of clearing off the table, we hooked up the TV and set up our Wi-Fi account. By this time we were tired out and stated we could clean out the rest of the MH and car tomorrow. It was a busy day and a great day to live in a campground/Resort. Must say here we were so lucky to have the Lord with us through our journey and we blessed Him every day. Tomorrow we will be back with our church family and continue to praise Him.<br /><br />Oct. 21st we sort of took it easy this morning as we decided to get a later start. After arising to a cold MH, because we hadn’t run the furnace at night we awoke to an inside temperature of 53 degrees. Last night the heater didn’t work and it gave us an Emergency Shut off alarm. After checking in the manual we saw that the coolant level in the furnace was low and we added coolant at 10:00 pm last night. Any way it worked great this morning when we turned it on. We left our Wally world site and continued our journey south planning to travel about 330 miles, this included losing an hour as we reentered the Eastern Time zone. After going through a few small towns we pulled into a rest area and upon stopping we could smell hot brakes. After looking around we discovered that Floyd’s one front brake was tight and very hot. Using his leveling jacks we tried to turn the wheel which was tight. Jon got out a hammer and drift pin and through the wheel gave it a few smacks on the calipers which loosened up the wheel. The rest of the day at all of the rest stops we entered we checked the wheel and all was fine. We traveled to Ocala, Fl. at a Wally world to stay for the night. This is a good stop and there is a Bob Evans in walking distance and we had dinner there. Once again being in a campground (even if it is Wally world) is great. This will be our last night in the MH till next spring, <strong><em>Yahoo we are in Fl.</em></strong><br /><br />Oct. 20th as we got up this morning we realized it was going to be a major travel day for us. We had laid out our route and as we weren’t sure of the roads it was going to be an adventure. We left Memphis heading south into Mississippi and went across the northeastern part of the state into Alabama. Even though the road was a divided 4 lane road it was a rough road. At this time of the year you could still see the cotton in the fields as it had not been harvested yet. Entered Alabama in the northwest part of the state going towards Birmingham, only to discover that the interstate ends about 5 miles before connecting to another interstate. And of course being adventurous we failed to follow the signs as it looked like the road was complete. Well, we wound up going through a small residential area and some folks were probably wondering what we were doing. We really didn’t lose much time and when we got back on the correct route we stopped at an almost closed up mall area and had lunch. From Birmingham we went south to Montgomery and headed in a south east direction to the town of Troy. We did the Wally world thing for the night. We must say that the road from Montgomery to Troy was by far some of the best road we were on and also of the nicest scenery we saw all day. After getting our dinner at the Subway in Wal-Mart and setting up tomorrow’s route we returned to Wal-mart to pay for our spot (that is, we went to do some shopping). It is not a campground but it is still great to be in the MH wherever we are parked.<br /><br />Oct. 19th we got an early start and we are now on Plan B as to the lost day yesterday. We left Branson and headed south on Rt.65 to I-40 and went through Little Rock continuing East to Memphis. Rt. 65 traveling south was a bevy of roads, as we had 4 lane divided, 4 lane undivided and two lane roads, but as it went through the Ozarks it was a pretty drive, especially at this time of the year. We decided to stay at a campground tonight as Floyd & Mary are celebrating their 54th wedding anniversary today and wanted something better than a Wally World stop. We stayed at the Memphis-Graceland Rv Park, and as we were checking in they told us about Marlow’s, which is famous for their ribs. We called for a reservation and pick up service; they offer a free pick up in a Pink stretch Cadillac Limo that takes you to the restaurant from the park. We had a great supper and we are sure that they won’t forget about this year’s anniversary for a while. After that we returned to the park and set up our travel plans for tomorrow. We look at this as another one of God’s plans; if we would have not been delayed by one day we would have missed this great event. Life is great when you live in a campground.<br /><br />Oct. 18th what started out as a travel day turned into a no travel day. As we were ready to go Floyd & Mary’s MH parking brake would not release. There is a small hydraulic system that is used to overcome the parking brake assembly and it would not run. After trying to find a simple solution and not coming up with any they then called a repair service, which said they could be here in the early afternoon. In the mean time we removed the pump motor and took it to the repair shop only to discover that this was not the problem, and at that time we also found out that they were coming out at that time which was 3 hours early. When they arrived they disconnected the parking brake and had the MH taken back to the shop to work on. Long story short they found a loose ground wire which caused a relay to fail. Cheap part to replace, but a large labor bill. Floyd related that he has had a lot of problems with this system, and also said through other information so do a lot of other people with the Workhorse chassis. Floyd & Mary did not get back to the campground till 5:00 pm and we decided to stay here another night as it was a stressful day for all of us. Also we changed our route to get back to Florida, and we will start early tomorrow morning. The day was what it was but as always it is great to be in a campground.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNaQl8GVFDDrFWvW98-6eAXoC3Qg5p4NLkZ9wRlcioa-aEGlVc5MENtZXOAzTRNUgTRe5JmA_h7gz-UpYkVQ_kow_3R0PCxFOnIgISTaVwlSEAlhIsYPfYS3DAaWS7dpXcr5JB2P8EWn4/s1600/10-17-11_2394.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664819862543585602" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNaQl8GVFDDrFWvW98-6eAXoC3Qg5p4NLkZ9wRlcioa-aEGlVc5MENtZXOAzTRNUgTRe5JmA_h7gz-UpYkVQ_kow_3R0PCxFOnIgISTaVwlSEAlhIsYPfYS3DAaWS7dpXcr5JB2P8EWn4/s320/10-17-11_2394.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSj21n1Z2AVSVbNVyN1nwa6GXsJMJqKPUSDdWBTutK6OxIT2sdtgtmaLrvGule6pLi7o-aCiEH7GOeZ7vcMbubpDdaxuMWb-9grZF-C67KKw-HszAqJnpJnrGH4puB2DnzwhS3MNptDSo/s1600/10-17-11_2389.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664819300877009682" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSj21n1Z2AVSVbNVyN1nwa6GXsJMJqKPUSDdWBTutK6OxIT2sdtgtmaLrvGule6pLi7o-aCiEH7GOeZ7vcMbubpDdaxuMWb-9grZF-C67KKw-HszAqJnpJnrGH4puB2DnzwhS3MNptDSo/s320/10-17-11_2389.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div>Oct. 17th this morning the four of us went out and did a little geocaching, Floyd and Mary hadn’t done this before and we thought that they would enjoy it, which they did. We went out and quickly found three caches, two of them being micros, and one being a reg. size (ammo box). Since they were in the area before they got to see some places the usual tourist doesn’t see, which is one of the reasons we like to geocache. When we are in a new area we like to find a few if we can. After that we both did some cleanup work around our campsites and MH as tomorrow we will be heading out and the forecast is for rain, so we will get as much outside work done today as we can. Later in the afternoon we went to “Mel’s Hard Luck Diner” for dinner, this is a great place to eat and all of the servers are singers that are either in shows or had been in local shows, and every 10 to 15 minutes one of the servers will sing a song and they sell their CD’s there also. After that we attended the Lee Greenwood/Louise Mandrell show, once again great seats, not front row but row 7. We totally enjoyed the show, as with all the shows we attended. Jon had an idea several days ago and bought small ‘American Flags’ that we waved during Lee’s singing of “God bless the U.S.A.”. We did meet up with Lee after the show to have him sign our flags, and he related to us he saw us waving the flags. We all got to talk to Lee and to relate some stories we had about him over the years. We have to say that our stay in Branson was super, and this is a very God fearing place, right smack in the middle of the Bible belt. Every show had God and country presence involved and this is truly a family friendly area. In all of the shows we attended we never heard an off color joke or even reference to one, not so like the sin centers in other areas where you cannot take your family members to. We even discovered that the restaurants are fair and reasonable for a tourist area. As this is our last night in town we would like to say thank you “Branson” for the great and wonderful time. Life is great in a campground no matter where it is.<br /></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664440273967059650" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcrSqR72fhcuB-rga_GPHOYzvATN5Gr3yUvSNNV5V6b5ZcRZEDafQMeFI5Vu1hdps6VBTGAbKUbG_vcJSDR7TeWl84Bf5QH4mCjv6S-CzuJWvE0d-nEGMqbqUYLyp9YdmPphfpm5HLbTU/s320/1016111451a.jpg" border="0" /> <span style="font-family:arial;">Here we are with Yakov, it was a great show, trouble is a phone </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">should be used as a phone and not as a camera. You get the idea.</span><br /><br />Oct. 16th we (that is the four of us, Floyd, Mary, Kathleen, Jon) had an early start this morning as we had decided to attend a local church, we went to the 9:30 am service and even though the attendance was low it was an energetic audience. The building was built in the past year and they had just finished painting the past week. There was an 11:00 am service and this could have been a larger service. After that we went looking for a place to get breakfast, first we went to the local Bob Evans, which had a 1 hour wait, than we went to a diner in old Branson which had a line ½ block long. After that, in which our stomachs overrode our brains we stopped at a buffet and paid way too much for terrible food, in which we ate too much so that it would the last meal of the day. Quickly we went to Wally world again for a quick stop; leaving there we went to an afternoon show. We attended the “Yakov Smirnoff” show, we were very lucky as we had front row seats, with some of the perks being Floyd got patted down and later we all got to shake his hand and have pictures taken with him. His show was fantastic. He is a great comedian and he also told his story of immigrating to the US from Russia and becoming a US citizen. He is very patriotic and loves the USA. He is also an artist and one of his paintings was copied onto the side of a large building in New York near ground zero. After the show we met with Ron & Shirley for some light snacks, and just to have a great visit. We knew that we had to say good-by and it is always hard to do, but at that same time we also know we will meet up again. That is one nice thing about being a workamper and getting around the country, where friendships cover many miles. We got back to the campground and it is great to live in a campground. </div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div>Oct. 15th getting ready in the morning we left the campground around noon, since the other day we discovered that our tickets were cancelled we wanted to get a head’s up on any other possible problems. So we went to the box offices of the two remaining shows we had and 1 of those was cancelled as well, luckily we got it all straightened out and we have tickets in hand. We than drove to Old Branson and after a stop at an Ice Cream Parlor, where my I say we got a parking place right in front of, we had a quick snack. After that and what made the parking place an extra treat, was that the town was totally full and it seemed that a lot of people were enjoying the great weather. We walked down to Branson Landing and enjoyed walking through the bouquet shops in the area; the town did a very good job to make this enjoyable area. We returned back to the campground for a few hours and later we met up with Ron & Shirley for dinner and after and very good visit we decided to go see “Six” but, unfortunately they didn’t have any 6 tickets together, as a matter of fact they only had 6 scattered throughout the theater. At that time we went to another theater and got 6 tickets together for the “Haygoods” and what a wonderful, exciting and electrifying show it was. After the show we parted ways with Ron & Shirley and returned to the campground. As always it is great to be staying in a campground.<br /><br />Oct 14th after arising and getting breakfast we unloaded the “utility van”, which is what we call the car as we are in travel mode, and then we went to a car wash and got at least 95% of the dirt and grunge off. By doing this we could do some of the driving in the area. We received a call in the morning that Andy Williams was sick and if we wanted to cancel that show we could and get all of our money back or come to the show in its revised form, we chose to cancel. We then got in contact with Ron & Shirley to line up the show “Six” and to have dinner with them prior to the show. At about 11:30 am we left the campground and did a quick stop at “Wally World” and then we went to the Titanic exhibit. The Titanic exhibit was a wonderful tour and we all enjoyed it very much, there was so much information it was amazing, we would like to thank Kathleen’s ex for steering us in this direction. After we completed this event we had a late lunch, early dinner at the local “Cracker Barrel”. Mary wanted to get an Oak Ridge Boys CD, so this was a good excuse. After that we decided to get our tickets for the nights show since we were in the area. It was a good thing that we did since they had cancelled our tickets as someone along the line put in the wrong date. With a lot of help at the box office it was all taken care of, and we thank them for that. They were happy that we came in the afternoon and not prior to the show to get our tickets, as it would have been worse in the rush of the night. We returned later for the “Shoji Tabuchi Show” and a wonderful show it was, we were all totally speechless as to what we had just seen. The performers Shoji surrounded himself with to put on the show was amazing. We then returned to the campground and as usual we had a great time.<br /><br />Oct.13th as we are getting used to the new time zone after breakfast we did some sightseeing and a quick stop at a Wal-Mart. Later we had a lite lunch at a “Steak-n-Shake” location. After a slow start we had a great meal and a good time, we then continued our sightseeing. We returned to the RV park to rest up for tonight’s show. We hadn’t any show lined up for tonight but, we have workamper friends that are working in the area and we got a great deal on tickets for “The Oak Ridge Boy’s”. Our workamper friends, Ron & Shirley who we worked with in Bar Harbor, Maine, and us had a great reunion as is always when we meet up with friends across the country. These are some of the reasons these long distance friendships are great. After returning to the RV Park and turning in we just had a great time in a campground.<br /><br />Oct.12th after arising and cleaning off the windows of bugs we headed out before 9:00 am. We really liked this location as it was quite and easy on and off, as we headed towards St. Louis we did encounter rain for a short period. We were going west as the storm was coming east and we felt the difference in temp as we went through the front. We made one fuel stop along the way for Floyd and Mary’s MH, along with the usual stops at rest areas. We checked into the Turkey Creek Escapee’s RV Park in Hollister, which is next to Branson, and set up camp. After that we loaded into the Watson’s car and found a pizza shop for lite diner and rehash the day’s events. When returning to the park we all turned in for an early night. Different campground, but still great to be camping.<br /><br />Oct. 11th we left the campground around 9 this morning and headed out by going south to Cincinnati and on to Louisville to connect with Rt 64 West. In Cincinnati we really learned, by the hard way the differences of flat towing and dolly towing as we got into a situation at a gas station where we had to remove the car and unhook the car dolly, only to have a very slow pump where we only got $100 worth of fuel. From now on we have to revise our thinking about truck stops and fuel up where we have more room. We made stops at every rest area along the way as per Floyds Doctor’s orders. The stops were good, and gave us a chance to stretch our legs and to chat a while. We made it to Mt. Vernon, IL and we parked at a Kohl’s which is next to a noisy Wal-mart. Tomorrow with the good Lord’s help we will get to Branson, Mo. We are not at a campground but it is still great.<br /><br />Oct 10th we got a little later start today then usual, but is wasn’t a long day’s drive. We did stop for breakfast at a Cracker Barrel, which is unusual for us but once a year or so isn’t too bad. Also it was pretty empty and for a change the service was good, because I usually say “good food, poor service”. We then continued our journey to the southwestern part of Ohio and pulled into the Frontier campground at about 1:30 to meet with Floyd and Mary. As we set up camp Kathleen started doing some wash and Jon took care of outside work. After Floyd came back from a doctor’s appointment, where he was given the thumbs up after his recent surgery, we went out for dinner. It was almost like we hadn’t seen each other for six months, as we got right back into our friendship. Later two of Floyd and Mary’s sons came by to say good-by and we had a campfire and sat around it for a while and enjoyed the company. Tomorrow we start our journey to Branson, but for today it is a great day in a campground.<br /><br />Oct 9th what a great day to start our journey, we took Rt. 30 mainly across Pa. at a slow easily pace. When we left the eastern part of the state and it was very green, but as we went further west we could see the beauty of the fall foliage. The only reason we could think of for the eastern part being green was all of the rain that they had in Sept. It was the wettest Sept. in history. We did have a couple little events during the drive, it was the first time that we used a tow dolly as compared to flat towing as we did previously and this lead to a difference in our towing. Also the new car is somewhat heavier than our old car. We went 286 miles today and parked at the Cabela’s in W Va. We got a quick bite to eat and then did some shopping at Cabela’s. Okay we are not at a campground tonight but it was still a great day.<br /><br />Oct 8th oh what a busy week. Kathleen spent three days working at what will be our jobs for next year; she wanted to sort of get a feel of the operation. At the same time Jon was getting the MH ready for our journey, going to Ohio then to Branson, Mo for a few days and then to our Florida home for the winter. In between all of this Jon had his yearly check up at the Lebanon VA and had a visit with his granddaughters. Both of us attended a soccer game that was played by Kathleen’s granddaughter and we visited with Jon’s mother and said our 6 month good-bys. Last night there was a dance at the campground and we attended and just had a wonderful time as we said our good-bys to all of our friends there. We are going to miss all of the people here and at the present time the weather is just perfect, with morning lows in the upper 40’s and the afternoon highs in the mid 70’s. We know that this will change and turn into frosty mornings and much too cold for us. And once again it is great to live in a campground.<br /><br />Oct 2nd oh how time flies! Since we wrote last we decided to use a tow dolly instead of flat towing our car. We bought one and replaced the tires and then Jon wired up the dolly and car. We attended a family reunion in September and we also toured the Yuengling Brewery in Pottsville in Pa. As school started, Kathleen lost her babysitting job with her granddaughter and they both miss that. As we were getting into the fall season and looking forward to our fall trip back to Florida, we had a rude awaking. While working on a Saturday morning as Jon went into the shop he was met with a disturbing situation that involved the campground owner. At that time we made a decision to leave post haste. We moved to Red Run Campground for our remaining three weeks in Pa. During that time we did secure a position at a nearby resort for next summer. Jon has gotten to spend a little more time with his granddaughters and renew some of his friendships and get in a little bit of golf. Kathleen has gotten a chance to spend more time with her granddaughter, also she has worked several days for the campground that we will be at next summer. Even though the weather is quite rainy as in the highest rain fall in history we are having a great time in the campground.</div>Serengetihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14916641746181725186noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8179043558123787577.post-84595925984224531292011-07-20T21:03:00.001-04:002011-07-20T21:03:35.712-04:00July 2011July 20th this is the story of a major development that we just went through. On July 10th Jon was returning from visiting his granddaughters, and was traveling the Pa. Turnpike on cruise control at 70MPH when all of a sudden the car surged and the RPM’s shot up. He pulled over and lifted the hood to find transmission fluid being shot out of the vent. After getting off of the Turnpike he stopped at an Auto Zone to see if there were any other issues. They were very helpful but couldn’t do anything, at that time he drove the car home very carefully and a 40 minute trip took over 1 Hr. The next day Monday rather than Jon playing golf he took it to a garage and they referred him to a transmission shop, he called and was told that they don’t work on Saturn’s. At that time he called another shop and was told the same story. The third shop we called could work on it but it would be the following Monday the 18th. We took it to the shop on that day and they gave us as bad report in that it would cost between $2000 to $2400 to repair it, and getting the parts could be a problem. This comes about because of the Earthquake and Tsunami and melt down of the nuclear plant in Japan. Since the American made Saturn has a Honda engine and transmission. At that time we decided not to have it repaired but to get another car, we set our sights on a Ford Escape and spent a lot of time on the internet. Today we arose and did a lot prayer into leading us in the right direction, after that we visited a few web sites that we seldom visit and saw that the Ford has all kind of problems. We then went to pick up our Saturn and talked to the mechanic and he told us to run away from the Ford as it has a Mazda transmission in it and has a lot of problems when being flat towed. We than turned our sights to a Chevrolet Equinox (ugh!), anyway we went online and shopped for a Chevy. This afternoon we became the owners of a 2011 Chevy Equinox, to pick it up on Friday. That’s our story and it is still a great day in the campground.Serengetihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14916641746181725186noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8179043558123787577.post-1297759660149751142011-06-04T07:43:00.001-04:002011-06-04T07:43:53.766-04:00June 2011June 1st Jon got up early and played a round of golf. After that, he stopped to get some parts that were needed at the campground. When he got back we went to visit his mother, and we did have a good visit as his aunt Miriam was there as well. After that we made a few stops and we also stopped at Kathleen’s son’s place for a short visit. We then had supper with Jeff & Shirley, as we hadn’t seen them since they were in Florida. We had a great time together and it just went too fast, we then came home safely. Just another great day at a campground.Serengetihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14916641746181725186noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8179043558123787577.post-82306450710651677522011-05-23T07:50:00.003-04:002011-06-04T07:42:35.183-04:00May 2011<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifu1xurDx9TXHGlkpJlrRP36Etv-LXfGZ4eFI3u95fO9wGiq1hdBfHP-rvYI0fy_GZnjpYc_uP7HHZ0AGZXyHPFDbP-IekZUEWV9NxoWlxGI6MkIP6BAj_h-mvpsUqRmz2caIXAliQCxI/s1600/5-31-11_2324.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5614327220395572450" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifu1xurDx9TXHGlkpJlrRP36Etv-LXfGZ4eFI3u95fO9wGiq1hdBfHP-rvYI0fy_GZnjpYc_uP7HHZ0AGZXyHPFDbP-IekZUEWV9NxoWlxGI6MkIP6BAj_h-mvpsUqRmz2caIXAliQCxI/s320/5-31-11_2324.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div></div><br /><div>May 31st We arose early and did some touring today. A funny thing happened today as leaving the campground we turned left and drove about ½ mile and discovered that our gas tank was empty and we knew there were no stations going west for at least 35 miles, so we turned around and went back 5 miles and filled up. Upon going west we decided to stop at a local fruit stand and buy some produce, so at that point we were about 45 minutes behind our original schedule. We then stopped for breakfast in Spring Run and found a great place that had good food at very a reasonable price. We drove to Shanksville to visit the Flight 93 Memorial for our fallen heroes on 9/11/01. It is a very somber place and at the present time it is under construction and is scheduled to have this phase finished by 9/11/11 and total completion by 9/11/2014. After that we drove to Indiana, Pa to tour the James Stewart Museum. Even though he was a great actor, he considered his military duty more important and throughout his life he visited his home town often. We then made our way home, stopping at both a NAPA store and Wal-Mart. So once again it was a great day.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtK8Q5WW1fhbyH5577X7F6wr6ucnE21NpiYB0gdpTxhvjH0bC9jNKVZ1hMdCvvLV1-GkJEpsS7fdNdvMybvb8lSCkxZMUfY2lyXb6wvrGlpN_jmr7CEVWdW_BlIZ8sQgHeUUgo_KhXUAA/s1600/0522111226a.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5609950111146545826" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 256px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtK8Q5WW1fhbyH5577X7F6wr6ucnE21NpiYB0gdpTxhvjH0bC9jNKVZ1hMdCvvLV1-GkJEpsS7fdNdvMybvb8lSCkxZMUfY2lyXb6wvrGlpN_jmr7CEVWdW_BlIZ8sQgHeUUgo_KhXUAA/s320/0522111226a.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAOqpzC4PyOXBI-8XRXLpyFouehDvQqFvR-F2EXayslRAbun1yPULahfkXad5aNOknZf5dYopKr_xKY_VCQ1cFPEkNF6DnftLa96_08TmwQwwFL98izy21gYHFO8DztiO3pncNZ2JB9dw/s1600/0522111240a.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5609949852457106914" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAOqpzC4PyOXBI-8XRXLpyFouehDvQqFvR-F2EXayslRAbun1yPULahfkXad5aNOknZf5dYopKr_xKY_VCQ1cFPEkNF6DnftLa96_08TmwQwwFL98izy21gYHFO8DztiO3pncNZ2JB9dw/s320/0522111240a.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div>May 22nd after work yesterday, and it was a long day, we left around 8PM and drove to Kathleen’s son’s place where we stayed overnight. We arose early and 5 of us went into Lebanon to be extra townspeople in a movie that is being shot there. The movie is going to be about the Blue Eye Six, which is local story in our hometown lore. Kathleen, her son and granddaughter, are decedents of one of the famed Six. It was a long day with a lot of hurry up and wait, but a great experience for all of us and we had a good time doing it. We sure would like to see this become a big screen event, as it has a lot of story behind it. After that we stopped in to see Jon’s mom for a short visit and than we did a quick Wally World stop before heading home. Arrived at the MH in the late afternoon and just relaxed after a long day.</div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div>May 16th we did a lot of driving today as we went to Easton to get another bumper for our car and also on the way back we got an estimate to have our car repaired. While still in Florida when we were on our way to the Bay Pines VA Hospital we were rear ended at a red light. We received payment to have it repaired, and now we are getting everything together to have it done. When we returned home Jon replaced the bumper assembly and just has to put on the step guard another day. Even though in was a rainy day it was a good day to get everything done and it is great to be at a campground.<br /><br />May 2nd well we did our Cabela’s thing yesterday and we had a great time and bought some great items, best of all didn’t cost a thing. Today was the first day of work for Jon and he got reacquainted with a lot of the shop and also learned some of the new items brought into the shop along with new challenges that are up coming. He started to install lights in the one area of the shop that were purchased over the winter; he will finish up that job tomorrow. At the end of the day as any first day of work after a lay-off of 6 months he was sore and tired. Kathleen had the day off and will be in the office tomorrow for her first day. She did take this off day to go shopping at her favorite store here in Perry County. She does have a few other shops to go to but they can wait till another day. As again another good day at the campground.</div></div>Serengetihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14916641746181725186noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8179043558123787577.post-1375775426308256382011-05-23T07:47:00.001-04:002011-05-23T07:49:57.745-04:00April 2011Apr 30th we traveled up to Paradise Stream which will be our summer home. It was a great campground homecoming as a lot of the seasonal campers stopped by and greeted us and caught up on all that happened over the winter months in all of their lives. We did manage to get the camper set up for the summer; it is good to have everything ready for our time here. We did have one incident and that was the living room slide out came out about 12 inches while we were driving and we had to keep it retracted several time in the last 15 miles. We found a leak in the hose and will have to repair it prior to leaving. Tomorrow we plan on going to Church and then do some visiting with the family. We also plan on doing our yearly Cabela’s shopping spree which will be a free event as we save up our points. It was a great day at the campground.<br /><br />Apr 29th wow so much time has passed since we last wrote to the journal. The last 4 months were such a blur as we had visitors come and visit and/or stay at our place. Back in January during the car show we were visited by two friends of ours, one was the first we got to meet and the other one we worked with while in Maine. Also, during this time Kate’s brother died (he lived in Ocala). She came in for the funeral, and she came down and stayed for a night. At that time she was looking into buying a park model here in the future. In late January Ron and Kay were in the area and we spent a few days with them and showed them our part of Florida, that also include going to the local vineyard and tasting of the wines. Later Jeff & Shirley came down for a week and they as well are looking to buy in the area, not really here at the park. Dennis and Pat bought a place south of Sebring, they got a real good deal as the brand new house sat empty for 4 years and was sold by the bank. Our friends and group of people that we hung with did a lot of different things that included going to the Canadian Snowbird Fest, spending way too much time going out to eat, and just generally having a great time together. We had our schedule of Monday bowling basically stop in February as we could just not fit it in, as we had the guests stopping by and also Kathleen was starting to prep for some surgery that was done in March and she didn’t bowl the rest of the year. On those Mondays Jon golfed and that had him going out 3 days a week. Jon did go back after a six week layoff and bowled the No Tap Tournament our group has and bowled a 300 with an 802 series. On March 23rd we went on a 3 day cruise to the Bahamas with Jon’s two sisters and niece and their spouses and Jon’s great niece, Gracie was along. We had a great time and it was good to be with some of the family. Also during this time we replaced the carpet in the motor home and had the sofa reupholstered along with the window frames and valances done. We stayed active in our church activities along with Sunday services; we went to the Wednesday evening Bible study. On the 23rd of April we started our journey north. The first day’s journey got us to Camp Fountain in Orlando, where we had a great time with the Fountain’s. We left there on Easter Sunday and drove north to the Charlestown, SC area for the night and then we continued to the Outer Banks of NC for two nights and toured the area. We found Kitty Hawk and the Area of the Wright Brother’s first powered flight very interesting. We then traveled further North to Harper’s Ferry WV. We are in a campground in MD. That is between a railroad yard and a very swollen Potomac River, as they had a lot of rain in the last several days, storms that came across the country and killed about 340+ in its wake. Today we toured Harper’s Ferry and determined that we had underestimated our time here to tour the area in its entirety. We just briefly touched on the town itself, while we toured the Antietam Battlefield and spent a lot of time at the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. We then went back to the campground and started to make preparations to travel tomorrow.Serengetihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14916641746181725186noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8179043558123787577.post-78164749566058724522011-05-23T07:46:00.000-04:002011-05-23T07:47:38.097-04:00January 2011Jan 4th as we start a new year we are mostly keeping to our same schedule, which is bowling on Monday’s, Jon golf on Tuesday and Thursday and Kathleen with arts and crafts along with the Happy Hookers on Fridays. Today as soon as Jon was finished with golf we went up to Lake Wales and met up with some of our workamping friends at Bob Evans. We had a delightful evening and it was good to renew friendships, sometimes we don’t do this enough. One thing that we all agree on and that it is great to live in a campground.Serengetihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14916641746181725186noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8179043558123787577.post-36551066424924319832011-01-04T07:43:00.002-05:002011-01-04T07:45:04.568-05:00December 2010<div>Dec 30th can’t believe that it has been over a month since we last posted, or even wrote to our journal. A lot has happened and I could easily blame “Face book” for my lack of writing, but I won’t. Going back we had our Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners the club house and they were wonderful meals, both times we helped with the making of mashed potatoes. There was a period of time between Thanksgiving and Christmas that we had 4 pot lucks (three were church related and one at the park) and 2 fish fry’s in a 9 day period, no wonder we can’t lose any weight. We were also involved in a”Christmas Stroll” that was presented by our church and we had about 2000 people attend in a 4 night stint. Well signing off for this year and may everyone have a “Happy New Year”.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5558310718070977922" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGqec5rL1LUrpK4OtvoBR9_gJSXjohW4oohnJVYoSYSTnXFPA_gj-G1DJjQI0NcRrztIJ621KAwsDOMgYbASlHpa6hwcBhgx9CajzyzcAQyul0yXjKhvx0E6B-DCPeGozDQnuhLxa_ZOQ/s320/Jon_and_Kathleen.JPG" border="0" /></div>Serengetihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14916641746181725186noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8179043558123787577.post-87859747809424152392010-11-06T11:52:00.004-04:002010-11-23T09:53:50.505-05:00November 2010<div></div><br /><div>Nov 22nd well we just finished up several busy days. We got back from Disney Wednesday morning and unpacked the MH and put it back into storage. We then went and picked up the blinds that we had ordered and started to install them. On Thursday Jon golfed and when he returned he had the foursome help move the furniture out of the rooms to have the new carpet installed on Friday, and after that we attended the pot luck at the club house here in the park. On Friday prior to the carpet installers coming, Jon installed the rest of the blinds as the rooms were bare and had unlimited access. Kathleen met with the weekly knitting/crochet group here and handed in an afghan she has been working on for two winters. The group supports “Project Linus” which provides blankets for hospitalized children. She came home and promptly started another one which she hopes will not take so long to complete! After the carpet was installed we had our friends come in and help move the furniture back. With this finished we then went to the American Legion for their monthly fish fry, we were not disappointed as we did this last winter and it is still just <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIVAHSOhZvJbOZdXLkj7UL_xqS1I2Jlro0rkJgdpYyVoXZSbIXzvA_uP43Gk2pGSqj5ME1ckeZ5pzpmuONQPPIOqqHjabz9R2uiFV1Fx0DWb9x3B63sdeYe3ymE6rPXeSkJwspyb5CX1w/s1600/Legiongolf2-1120.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542758095800520946" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIVAHSOhZvJbOZdXLkj7UL_xqS1I2Jlro0rkJgdpYyVoXZSbIXzvA_uP43Gk2pGSqj5ME1ckeZ5pzpmuONQPPIOqqHjabz9R2uiFV1Fx0DWb9x3B63sdeYe3ymE6rPXeSkJwspyb5CX1w/s320/Legiongolf2-1120.JPG" border="0" /></a>as good. On Saturday Jon was in a golf tournament held by the Legion, and as it happened with being at the right place at the right time we had our picture taken and it was put in the local paper. Since this tournament starts with a Bloody –Mary and your cup is refilled after a few holes we had a great time. We did have it set up as Jon drove the foursome that morning and Jane picked up Kathleen and the ladies drove the men to the Legion for a lunch and the results of the tournament. We finished with a 1 over and the winners had a 6 under, we were really happy about the way we played. That evening we attended the dance at the club house and finished off a great day. Sunday we went to church and after that did a little shopping, wanted to buy a canister sweeper for the new rug. After that we relaxed in the afternoon. Sunday evening we went to a combined church service with two other churches in Sebring. It was a great time for all in attendance. On Monday we went bowling and Jon really doesn’t want to talk about it as he had a really bad day, on the other hand Kathleen had a great day and beat Jon two out of three games, Jon was happy for her. We play cards on Monday nights and the people were talking about “Dancing with the Stars” and since we never really watched it when we came back we did vote several times for Bristol, since we hope that she wins and gets a little retribution for the crap her and her family had to go through with the liberal biased media. As you can see we had a very busy time, but still great to be in a camping resort.<br /><br />Nov 17th we just got back from three great days in Disney World. We took the motor home and stayed in Ft. Wilderness. There were several other couples from Jon’s campground in Pa. that were there also and we all had such a good time. It was a little different this time as we didn’t have any big dinner’s together but we just ate at the smaller café’s that are around the park. Also we rode more of the rides that are for all ages, whereas before we mainly rode the more thrill seeking ones. As we said before this is the number one entertainment capital in the world bar none, and we enjoyed it. We returned to our Avon Park home and unloaded the camper, filled it with fuel and stored it away for the winter at a storage place we have in the area. Also on Wednesday morning we got the call that our blinds were finished and we picked the up and plan to have them installed before the new carpet is installed on Friday, as we said before we are helping the economy in the area. Good to be back at the resort and once again it’s great to be at a campground.<br /><br />Nov. 5th what a two weeks we had, as we got to our Florida home everything was good, we opened the door and it was just as we left it. Then we had to get to work as the sod that was new and we hadn’t seen was over growing the new sidewalks that we had installed. So it was off to stimulate the economy, as we bought an edger and also a pressure washer to clean the siding. After Jon edged the lawn, we needed two new sprinkler heads since he cut two off with the edger. It didn’t stop there as we wanted to replace several panes of glass, and also strip all of the windows and repaint them. Then we went and bought new carpet and furniture, the carpet will be installed before Thanksgiving and the furniture is supposed to be here around the beginning of December. We also bought new blinds for 8 windows and they should be here in two weeks. During this time Jon ran a new receptacle to the rear of our house for the sprinkler system and also to add an additional receptacle for outside use. Beside all of this Jon went to get new glasses to replace the ones he lost this summer, and wound up buying two pair, one for reading and general inside use and a as second pair of sunglasses that have a small area for bifocals to be used on the golf course and just general outside use. So as you can see we are doing our share to help the area economy. We did get back to our church and met up with a lot of friends we left in the spring. It’s another great Florida day and a great day in a CG (Resort).</div>Serengetihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14916641746181725186noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8179043558123787577.post-30087059929861937362010-10-01T18:51:00.002-04:002010-10-27T07:45:48.691-04:00October 2010<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_NIGFP_jDguYbKbFjJuOBfQU17IFcfg-PIMR_IoTSz687evhk5Q32ybprZrxtv3H2i3iwdQjpGZndqQDbL0ayzXtI6ydeD9bBGUHVBrTDBND7lU2hWiD8SQHsOXs0YzIZ92yFnBsixyY/s1600/10-23-2010_2060.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532690591825509810" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_NIGFP_jDguYbKbFjJuOBfQU17IFcfg-PIMR_IoTSz687evhk5Q32ybprZrxtv3H2i3iwdQjpGZndqQDbL0ayzXtI6ydeD9bBGUHVBrTDBND7lU2hWiD8SQHsOXs0YzIZ92yFnBsixyY/s320/10-23-2010_2060.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><br /><div><div>Oct. 23rd twas a sleep-in day as we didn’t plan on going anywhere till after noon. So during the morning we started to stow things away and made ready for an early start tomorrow morning. We went to Wal-Mart to buy a few items and then we went to Stone Mountain Park, once there the first thing we did was to climb up the mountain. Great views from there as we are not sure how far you could see but it was forever and we were somewhat fortunate that it was a clear day. We don’t know how high it is but it is a mile walk to the top. After that we selected a spot on the Mall to watch the laser light show that was to start at 8:00 PM, which it did. The show was fantastic and the audience was large, it is something that we would advise anyone to see. When we first got to the parking lot we were parked pretty far away and it was some what lucky that Jon forgot the camera, because when he went back to get it he improved our parking spot and after the show we drove right out. And for that size of a crowd we had figured we would be in traffic for an hour or so. On the way home we stopped at the Wal-Mart gas station and filled up as it was about 10 cents a gallon less then we had seen, also we scoped it out to see if we could get through to fill up the motor home as it is about 15 cents cheaper there, as we will fill up in the morning. Another good day of campground life. </div><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9OSjrMZYxNlTXTmvP8Fgq80v0z1oFn5b27kGZvrlOqtmngRU6z59zL9EozlZYb-DdX09kHu1ehwpOJgEuPHP3XuLU0b8sXz3uHHkDow1esG0QYEhAkSySgJeDOEsJm5Bw8xc7n52DY70/s1600/10-22-2010_2035.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532689634732183298" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9OSjrMZYxNlTXTmvP8Fgq80v0z1oFn5b27kGZvrlOqtmngRU6z59zL9EozlZYb-DdX09kHu1ehwpOJgEuPHP3XuLU0b8sXz3uHHkDow1esG0QYEhAkSySgJeDOEsJm5Bw8xc7n52DY70/s320/10-22-2010_2035.JPG" border="0" /></a>Oct. 22nd we arose this morning and got ready for a day of seeing Atlanta. We went in to Atlanta during rush traffic so you can imagine that drive. First we toured the CNN Atlanta Office which is their home office. It was a 55 min. tour and we got to see the workings of this news agency, although we have to admit that we probably saw more of this network today then we have watched them in the past 4 years. Just give us our FOX NEWS!! After that we went to tour the Coca-Cola world headquarters and had another enjoyable tour. It was great to see all the artifacts and memorabilia that was acquired by them, also had our pictures taken with the Polar Bear. Here again as Jon stated “I can’t remember the last time I drank a Coca-Cola” and he didn’t drink one today but we both did try several different drinks from around the world made by this company. On our way back to the parking garage, which was never more then 8 blocks from either of these places and only cost $6 for the day, we walked through the Olympic Centennial Park. While walking through here we thought about the dearly departed Richard Jewel who alerted the people about a bomb, and then went to a zero as he was falsely charged with setting the bomb in place and finally being cleared on all charges. All the agony that this man went through because of his heroic actions. We left Atlanta to go back to the campground but made a wrong turn and went a different way to get there, and of course it was the afternoon rush hour, but we did fine. We then stopped to get a few items and had a nice dinner at Chili’s, before returning to our camper. Another great day in a campground. </div><br /><br /><div>Oct. 21th we took our time in moving out of the Talladega area as we only had about a 2 ½ hour drive plus we were going back into the Eastern Time zone, so we gained an hour. We got into Atlanta and got into our site which is about a mile from Stone Mt. We also picked up some brochures of things to do in the local area, and did a little shopping. Jon made some more rods to hold our cabinets closed, we have had some for years but we needed some extra ones. We have found out that they work great while we are on the move, and keep the cabinets secured. This all came about as years ago we had the cabinets come open and the results were broken dinnerware and silverware all over the floor. We got set up and have a new view for the next three days, and once again it’s great to be in a campground.</div><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikbl3AiHOAHIVSBKBCsABT9m9muLkmJI3PqiEtasq6ANoqBUUaH8A9k4Jn5b_C3SuVsH-_vt7kR2YZirVVtBkusKPMFA7PDclAIJKfMl4I303UoEQ7GTyghQYl_7xy2iue1bqkf3Bfu0A/s1600/10-20-2010_2001.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532688799193555618" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikbl3AiHOAHIVSBKBCsABT9m9muLkmJI3PqiEtasq6ANoqBUUaH8A9k4Jn5b_C3SuVsH-_vt7kR2YZirVVtBkusKPMFA7PDclAIJKfMl4I303UoEQ7GTyghQYl_7xy2iue1bqkf3Bfu0A/s320/10-20-2010_2001.JPG" border="0" /></a> Oct. 20th we really got a good night’s sleep as it was well past 7 am before Jon got up, (he is usually up well before 5). We guess our bodies needed this extra rest time and we enjoyed it. We got ready to tour the Talladega superspeedway and the adjoining museum that includes the Racing Hall of Fame. It was a great tour and we fully enjoyed it as this is the fastest track on the Nascar circuit and also the largest; details to numerous to mention. After that we drove into Anniston to see the town and their Historic district but somehow it is still in need of repair. We stopped to shop and eat out which is a rarity for us. We then returned to a relaxing night in our summer home which is in a camp ground and it is great to be here. </div><br /><br /><div>Oct. 19th we took a slow start today as we only had a 5 hour drive plus we were going across a time line into central time and gained an hour. We arrived in the Talladega area and got set up and then went to the track to get some information as to times that they are open. Getting back to the camper we set up our satellite dish so we could view TV. We just had a relaxing evening and turned in early. New scenery and it is still great to be at a campground.</div><br /><br /><div>Oct. 18th we arose early and were on the road by 7:25. Since the road we had planned to take out of the valley has a lot of bridge repair going on we took a different route. We went through the Sherman’s Valley and over the Mountain into Path Valley. As we went over the pass we saw several deer and it was also good as they saw us. Path valley which at best in some places is less than 10 miles wide is such a beautiful area and the leaves are changing and were a very spectacular sight. We followed this down into Maryland and crossed the Mason-Dixon Line before getting on Rt. 81. We followed Rt. 81 through the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and it was a very gorgeous sight, as the leaves are starting to change. We continued into Tennessee, and stopped at Knoxville for the night. We went into Wal-Mart to buy some items and pick up a sandwich from Subway. It was a long day, all in daylight and we traveled about 540 miles, more then we like, but we also like to get a major part of the drive on the first day. Even though we are not in a camp ground, it was a great day. </div><br /><br /><div>Oct. 17th well, yesterday we finished up our job here at Paradise Stream and we attended the Monster Mash Dance and had a great time, as we were some of the few that had costumes on. In the past two weeks Jon’s cousin and her husband came up to visit at the camp and we had a nice evening. Today we left early and went to church and then visited Jon’s mother and bade farewell till next spring. After that Kathleen spent the afternoon with Sammie and also went to Donnie’s place for a visit. Meanwhile Jon went to spend the afternoon with his two granddaughters and they also had a good time and all were told that we would see them next spring. After that we had supper with Jeff & Shirley and had a good time. We then went back to the campsite and loaded up the car and connected it to the motor home, while we were doing this Jim and Pam visited with us and we bid a fond farewell to them. They hope to make it down to Florida and visit us over the winter, as well as Jeff and Shirley will be down in February. It was a good day but, hard at times to say good-by and see you later. </div></div></div>Serengetihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14916641746181725186noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8179043558123787577.post-21163968609418777732010-10-01T18:50:00.001-04:002010-10-01T18:50:54.537-04:00Sept, 2010Sept 22nd Wow, it has been so long since we updated our journal and so many things did happen. As usual we were plenty busy doing our work here at the campground and this does take up so much of our time, as we say we came here to work so that we can play all winter. We attended a baby shower for Kathleen’s step daughter that was quite unique in that just prior to the opening of the gifts the baby’s parents got married there; it was so good to see this. We also attended Jon’s family reunion held in Lickdale. This was the first time he was there since the mid nineties, he had a great time and met up with some family members he hadn’t met before. We also spent a weekend with Kathleen’s brother in his Delaware weekend hide away. We had a great time there and we also did some shopping for our pier display we are making up for our Florida home. While in Delaware we visited with Fox & Linda and since it has been a while it was a cherished time that we were together. At the present time we are getting ready to make our move to Florida and we are getting supplies together. Hopefully it won’t be a gap of this size between postings, but time flies by when living in a campground.Serengetihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14916641746181725186noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8179043558123787577.post-78893120760623676202010-08-08T11:13:00.000-04:002010-08-08T11:14:02.244-04:00August 2010August 1st usually we do not write about our work and our usual routine, the last several weeks where a regular routine but today Jon did something different. We arose, went to church and then stopped to get a quick bite. Kathleen went to visit her son, at that time Jon went to his daughters place and spent time with his granddaughters. When he got there, Alexis was not feeling too well. He just visited for a while and she started to feel a lot better. They then went to look for two geocaches to no avail but said they would try another time. They went bowling and had a great time and the girls had some good scores. The girls behaved very well as they sat at the bowling alley and did not disturb those around them. They got several complements from the people next to them for their bowling technique and style, looks like their mom and dad are teaching them good bowling as well as good manners. Jon had a great time and the grand’s did as well.Serengetihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14916641746181725186noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8179043558123787577.post-30481570147793231242010-07-14T11:12:00.001-04:002010-07-23T18:33:10.028-04:00July 2010July 20th last evening we attended the viewing of Jon’s uncle and today we went to the funeral. As most families it is a time get together and renew times with family members we haven’t seen in a while and to meet family that we hadn’t met before. Jon’s uncle was a hard working person and he was a member of the American Society of Safety Engineers and also at a time was Chairman of the Board of the Keystone Region Rolls-Royce Owners' Club. He had a Bentley and a Rolls-Royce, now both of these were quite older and by no way were they the cost of a new one, but they were in excellent shape and highly appealing. After his retirement, he had a unique hobby of driving many important officials and celebrities in parades throughout the East Coast. Some of his riders were Willard Scott, Pat Sajak, Gary Sinise , and even Mickey Mouse. These facts were very minor in his life as he was the head of a wonderful household that opened their doors to many wayward children and continually were involved in the Student Exchange Program. These exchange students were given many opportunities throughout their stay with the family. Two of his children gave wonderful testimonies as to their father, about a family that never had a argument or even raised words with each other. We wish the best to Jon’s aunt and to the family in the coming years. And to Frantz, we know that you are in a better place and we hope to see you once again. <br /><br />July 8th we were quite delighted today as Jack Gallagher stopped in for a quick visit. We met Jack and his wife Nancy at Scenic View Campground in New Hampshire where they are seasonal campers. Jack was on his way back from Ft. Campbell, Ky. After picking up his granddaughter who is going to visit them for a while. We gave him a tour of the campground while Sammie and Ashton went to the playground and had a good time. He was only here for about an hour but it was a great visit. It was another hot day as the temperature hit 104 today and we try to stay hydrated and cool. Another good day in the campground.<br /><br />July 7th what a wonderful day we had yesterday, as we had some visitors from Jon’s old campground. Mike & Sharon and Randy & Lynn came for a visit. We sort of planned to cook some sausage and hot dogs over a fire, but the afternoon temperature was at 104 degrees and it was too hot to be outside so we stayed indoors and had cold cuts and fruit. It was a very enjoyable visit and we all had a great time. We took them for a tour of the campground and to say they liked it is probably an understatement. Later in the evening Dave and Missy brought Sammie up to the campground as she will be staying for the next 4 nights. We also took them for a tour of the campground. It was a real good day and at the end of the day we were all quite tired.<br /><br />July 6th so much has happened since we last made an entry to our journal as we have been quite busy with the jobs around the campground. We spent a lot of time getting ready for the July 4th weekend and when it did come we were busy with all of the activities and work in the store. In the last couple of weeks we did our work and on our days off we would visit Jon’s mom and also watch Sammie, got to say that she really likes coming and spending time at the campground. One job that Jon has coming up soon is the installation of Wi-Fi in the campground, and he is looking into several different ways of doing this. In the past several weeks we finished burying the electrical conduit and water lines in the mini golf course that is being built here. When it is finished it will be quite nice, most likely it will be next year. Hopefully when we have the Wi-Fi installed we can keep more update on the journal as now we have to tear down the laptop and take it up to the office to get on line. Kathleen does check our mail while she is working, on the office computer and tries to keep up some that way. Just wanted to say that it has been terribly hot and dry here. Yesterday we had temps of 104, as for the rain we didn’t have any good rain since the day we arrived here in May. Still though it is great to be at a campground .Serengetihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14916641746181725186noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8179043558123787577.post-71563977494838877912010-06-07T19:17:00.003-04:002010-07-14T11:12:23.832-04:00June 2010June 17th we had the day off and we journeyed down to Lebanon and area as we had several things to do today. First we stopped at a local cemetery to get a paper that Kathleen had a space there; this comes from a division of property from her divorce of four years ago. We didn’t realize that we would have to sit through an hour plus of sales pitch to buy caskets, vaults, opening and closing and markers. After saying “NO” many times we were able to leave. After that we went and picked up our Heater core for the motor home. We had it repaired in Maine last year and at that time Jon was leery of the job, and his fears came true on the drive up from Florida. This time it is a good job and Jon can see the difference, the job in Maine was bad but we probably can’t expect anything else from there. We did a little shopping and then we went to Donnie’s place as Mel is in from Washington visiting and we wanted to get to see her before she went back. Between their schedule and ours we were happy to spend an afternoon with her. Later in the day Dave and his family arrived and we had a cook out, and as always the food and family get together were just fantastic. We had a safe drive home and again it was a wonderful day. <br /><br />June 13th Jon went to work for a few hours as he cleaned the pool and finish up repairing the mower that has been broken down, we had just received the parts and now it is fixed. Kathleen and Shirley then went to Harrisburg to pick up Sammie and we are going to watch her overnight and take her home tomorrow. While they were gone Jeff and Jon had set up a tee time for a course in Carlisle which is about 30 minutes away. They thought it was a great course and that it was very golfer friendly, wide open and didn’t penalize you for slightly poor shots. When Shirley, Kathleen and Sammie returned they went to the pool for the afternoon. When the golfers returned a fire was going and we cooked over the fire and had a nice visit. It was a great day and all of us had a great time.<br /><br />June 12th we worked today and did our normal duties. Later in the evening our friends Jeff and Shirley checked in to camp here. They just came up from Tennessee where they vacationed for a week in the Great Smokey Mountains. We were looking forward to seeing them and as Kathleen was working Jon gave them a tour of the campground. We did get to sit around the campfire and have some adult drinks for a while as we all were worn out for the day.<br /><br />June 8th back at work for the day as Jon started by doing the pool cleaning and testing, while Kathleen was in the office and store for the day as the owners were away for most of the day. After cleaning the pool area Jon pressure washed the deck around the store, trying to get up the old ice cream stains. During the course of the day a neighboring Amish farmer came in to bale some of the hay that he has cut several days ago and we took some pictures of him and his wife as they baled the hay. Hope that you enjoy the pictures. We also had the chance to get a deck for our site but in the end we decided it was not in our best interests to get it. We then came home to start a camp fire to cook our food in the open and as you all know food cooked over a campfire is hard to beat. Just another good day at the campground. <br /><br />June 6th (D-Day) throughout the past several days we worked at the campground and did our normal duties. Today we arose and went to church and had a good time being around the people there. After that we stopped for a bite to eat and then took off for the Raystown Lake area as Kathleen had never been there. We didn’t know if we wanted to go or not as the weather was changing and we hit rain and saw the effects of high winds that went through the area. Luckily we got to Raystown Lake as the front had moved through and it was a beautiful day and the wind and rain were settled. Must swear that the area has a high population of house boats and we saw hundreds if not thousands of pontoon boats on the water. We picked up several brochures as in the future we might do an overnight pontoon boat rental; at least it is wishful thinking. As we returned home we stopped at the dam breast overlook and just marveled at the beauty of all of the area. We had a safe journey and it was another great day.<br /><br />June 2nd we had off yesterday and today. Yesterday we spent a lot of time around the camper fixing things up and ordering parts, we needed spare parts for the heater since we put in a new filter and nozzle, also removed the diagnostic center to ship back to the factory and replace some of the gas lift cylinders on our basement doors. Today we went back to our home area and visited with Jon’s mom, did some shopping, babysat Sammie and also met up with Jeff and Shirley for dinner and had an enjoyable time. We had a safe journey and returned to our little spot here at the campground.Serengetihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14916641746181725186noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8179043558123787577.post-45414260548353099742010-05-02T17:16:00.006-04:002010-06-07T19:17:45.948-04:00May 2010May 31st well the last day of the Memorial Day weekend and it was a busy day at the store for a while as ice cream was dipped, slush puppies were made and reservations were made for next year. Jon worked mostly outside but did come to the store to help for a time or two, while Kathleen was inside all of the time, except to come out to look for Jon. Later in the day Jon and Bob went to wrap wood as a lot was sold over the weekend. Today was Jon’s birthday. Jon also got a call from his cousin who lives in California and they had a good talk and exchanged a lot of family information, it is sort of funny how if you talk 3000 miles away you can learn stuff. Once again it was a good day and great to be at a campground.<br /><br />May 30th we are catching up on our journal as the past several days we were getting ready for the Memorial Day weekend as we went from an almost empty campground to every site filled and long hours of work throughout the weekend. Jon did get to talk to both his sisters and mother the other day as they were finishing up on their pajama party. Jon’s one sister came up from Florida and his other sister who is still recovering from her operation picked up mom and took her to a Hotel for the night and they had a great time. We would of liked to see them but that was not possible, as we were quite busy here. His sister from Florida flew up on Friday and returned Sunday, so we know that she had a busy weekend to say the least. Jon drove the hay ride on Saturday and that went from 2 to 6 pm, as after going through the campground they go to a local farm and get to see the animals there, and some great scenery along the way.<br /><br />May 24th we left early to go down to Lancaster County. Our first stop we picked up two 55 gal drums of fire wood, this comes from a planning mill and makes great starter wood as it is hard and dry, best was the cost of .50 cents per barrel. We loaded this in the back of the car and it filled it up. From there we visited Jon’s mom and had a nice visit and got an update on all that is happening in the family, and a lot is happening that is for sure. We then went to Kathleen’s son’s home as she is going to babysit Sammy for the afternoon and Jon is going out for a round of golf. Kathleen bought some PENNSYLVANIA STRAWBERRIES, something she has been craving for the past several years. They are indeed the best! We then returned home in time to unload the car, stack the wood and reload the car with everything we took out yesterday. Kathleen cleaned the strawberries and made shortcake, which we practically gobbled up. We got all of that done in time to sit down and watch the final episode of “24” which is one of the few TV shows we watch with any regularity, we are saddened that this was the last of the series, but at least Jack wasn’t killed! Another great day and the Lord was with us during the day.<br /><br />May 23rd as we got up we drove the hour to get to the church that we attend while we are usually in the area. We hadn’t been there since we were in Pa. as for the first several weeks we were in the Lancaster area and the drive was just too far, so we went to a local church in that area. After church we sat around and caught up with a lot of friends and had some nice chats. We then went and did some shopping, buying some tomato plants and zucchini that we can plant in a small area that is on our site. After shopping we went out to get a bite to eat and used some of the gift cards we got from Kathleen’s family for Mother’s day and for helping them do some spring cleaning. We then returned home and weeded our very small garden. Jon plans to grow his tomatoes in a pot that is 2 feet off the ground and hopefully protected from the animals in the area. The other day Jon found a double sheppard’s hook and Kathleen is putting some flowers in that. We then unloaded the car as we are going to visit tomorrow. Another great day to be at a camp ground.<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476851218039493010" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiurxnxNhdPQPV-Hzf-BLvoV8-wQm4c4iHhSqqhs3vw0udUgrnnkqs1p4OuDw6F5lpzoNLWcGDjNrCbM1j-rqLHXfrFsM05bGSCrteq675D4F36x5TxB-aTtdIyfjeVJG6FdLg0L7Xe1bQ/s320/5-27-10_1890.JPG" border="0" /><br /><br /><br />May 22nd today was the day we had worked for the last several days and that was to complete the solar panel we made to heat the pool water. It is about 8ft by 16ft and has about 600 ft. on poly tubing inside, painted black and a plastic covering on it. After getting it out of the shop with much fan fare we got it on the skid loader and moved it to the pool house and set it on the roof, put it into position and secured it. We than drilled two holes through the wall for the piping and will connect it another day. While inside the office Kathleen is making a lot of progress in the computerized reservation system, as it takes a while to set up and make all of the data input. We had a good day and found out that we would have the next two days off.<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476853698502810802" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVSTHcaSbj1Xw2Dx83jJNnyntcBSU93ga07jo3WMDXeIBnHq6tiESJe2g1mJqAcR-dCzN4uePTbprkBBbdNQQYxA_qW-hn_K7mB9T5qfhottHHz9UVrFX0EgqYX2pLvyfQb7xe9W815m4/s320/solar+panel+a.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><br />May 17th we awoke to another day off and we had planned to drive to Lebanon for the day, and wouldn’t you know it we got lost less than 10 miles from the campground, as we are still learning the area and we paid for it, Ha-ha . Then when we were about 5 miles from our first stop Jon discovered that he left his wallet back at the camper and had .73 cents with him, so it was Kathleen to the rescue to pay for the day. Our first stop was Millers Restaurant where a cup of coffee is still a dime, we had breakfast there and as usual it was more than you can eat and the price is quite low. We then went to Kathleen’s brothers home for a short visit and then to see Jon’s mother and had a nice visit there as well. After that we did a short stop to do some internet work as we still can’t get it at the campground. We arrived at Kathleen’s son’s place as she was going to babysit Sammy for the afternoon; Jon decided that he would get in a round of golf and hopefully make it before the rains came. He finished up and went back and picked up Kathleen and then we started to drive back to the campground. We didn’t get far till the rains came and we drove home in the rain, made it back alright and were all snuggled in for the night and got ready to watch “24”. Just another great day.<br /><br /><br /><br />May 16th we arose this morning with the day off. Even though we had off Jon went up and did work on the pool as we are getting it ready for opening on Memorial Day weekend which is quickly coming. We also decided that we needed to do some work around the camper, as we never really got set up as it was raining when we got here and we were working ever since. In the afternoon we traveled to Carlisle to do some shopping and one was to buy parts for our leaking hot water base board system. When we came home we started a fire so that we could cook our dinner, it is so great to be able to cook over an open fire.<br /><br /><br /><br />May 13th the day dawned better then the last few and it was somewhat warmer. Jon started out by working on a road roller to repair the vibration feature of the roller, after doing some basic checks he found that the switches were bad and he fixed them and then made a cover for them so they are protected from the weather. After that he worked on one of the skid loaders to secure the hydraulic lines from becoming cut while being operated. He then helped to cut wood to make a solar heater for the pool, which we hope to have in the near future. Kathleen was in the office and was working on the new reservation system and working out some of the bugs, as well as learning the way the office works and to become knowledgeable in its operation. After that we went to Newport to get supplies which is about a 20 mile drive, and while there we even treated ourselves to a stop at Subway. It was another good day and we are feeling the pains of getting back to work, after a 6 month layoff, it does feel good.<br /><br /><br /><br />May 12th in the morning we met with the owners, and got started; mainly Kathleen in the office/store complex and Jon was shown all of the utilities layout. We both jumped right in as Jon was driving the dump truck in the cleanup of an old building. It was a cool damp day and you needed to be dressed warm. After that Jon was taken to the local building supply store and was introduced to them and that he had authority to made charges for the business. It was a good day.<br /><br /><br /><br />May 11th Jon arose early this morning and drove up to Jonestown to get a haircut from his brother in law, and catch up on all of the gossip in the area as Jonestown is a small community and the barber usually gets all of the information in town, probably more informed than even the mayor. After that he went to breakfast at Miller’s Restaurant, still the home of the 10cent coffee, where each and every cup is 10cents, they also prepare some monster meals at very reasonable prices. Now this is not gourmet food but just great good down home cooking. He then returned as Kathleen was getting the inside ready to be moved, after all of the prep work we moved out at about 10:45 am, we traveled the scenic back roads and had an nice easy drive. About three miles from our destination it started to rain and even after an hour of talking to the owners and other staff we decided to unhook the car and start to set up, even in the rain. We are level, have water, electric, sewer and even set up the dish for TV. After that we just sat in for the night and watched it rain. It was still a good day in a campground and now we have new scenery.<br /><br /><br /><br />May 10th this is our last full day in Stevens, Pa and we have truly enjoyed being here. We got a start on packing up for our short 2 hour journey tomorrow, always good to get an unrushed time to make sure everything is done. After that Kathleen went to baby sit Sammy after she came home from kindergarten and they had a great time at her house. They played in the basement and kicked the soccer ball around outside as Sammy’s mother slept, as she works the midnight shift. This has been a great help to her over the past several weeks. Jon went out in the wind and played a round of golf. When he had last checked there were no golf courses in the area were we will be working this summer. It worked out that Kathleen’s son brought her home as she would have had to wait well over 2 hours for Jon to pick her up. Jon did get home later and also did some relaxing from the day.<br /><br /><br /><br />May 9th “Happy Mother’s Day” what a great time we had today as Kathleen’s two sons had a nice Mother’s day feast. Actually it took several people to bring it all together as all kicked in a little bit. Her oldest son had it at his place and his wife’s dad supplied the meat, which was filet minion thinly sliced that took about 4 minutes to grill. It melted in your mouth as well as the rest of the dinner. We just truly loved being with the family and being that we are nearby this summer we hope that we can make even more gatherings. We want to send out our wishes to all that they had a Happy Mother’s Day.<br /><br /><br /><br />May 8th as usual this morning Sammy woke up starving. We all managed to eat and get the day started. Sammy and Kathleen went to the playground after the rain stopped and Jon did some e-mails and caught up on some internet stuff. We have to go to the camp office to get on the ‘net’. Dave came to get Sammy and we made a camp fire and roasted some hot dogs and even had some s’mores. After that Dave loaded up Sammy’s toys and bicycle to be taken home as she wouldn’t be here anymore as we are leaving in a few days. We then went to visit Jon’s mom at the home as they were having a Mother’s day event a day early, it was very nice and we got to spend some quality with her, always great to be with family. In the last several weeks that we are in the local area we have had a lot of talks with her and it is wonderful, we won’t be that far away this summer so we can stop in for a visit when we are near. She will be 93 this July and we are so happy that she is in good health. We came back to the MH and went to a Saturday night service at church as we have plans for tomorrow. Another great day of camping.<br /><br /><br /><br />May 7th this morning we went to Sammy’s school where her class, along with the rest of the school, had a “Race for Education” and each class had sold pledges and then had to run for ½ hour around the baseball field. It was probably 250 yards or more per lap and we are thinking that she did this for a least 5 or 6 times. Not bad for a kindergarten student. After that we went to Dave & Missy’s place and helped them do some spring cleaning, Kathleen trimmed a lot of bushes and trees while Jon looked at an air conditioner unit that was beyond repair, so they replaced it instead. The new unit was slightly larger and took a little time to get in place. After that we went to Elmer’s place and had a pork and sauerkraut dinner and just had a great visit. Sammy was a little nervous about going but that lasted about 5 seconds. They had just returned from a western trip and they saw many of the same sights that we had in 2008 and it was nice to talk about them. After that we came home and Sammy stayed for the night.<br /><br /><br /><br />May 6th as we awoke, we had a lot to do today first we went to visit with Jon’s mom, and a delightful time we had. After that Jon dropped Kathleen off to babysit Sammy and Jon went to play a round of golf. It was good that the day was nice, even though windy because Jon’s golf game was not all that good. Actually it was the putting that really left him down. He played with Jeff and two other men from Jeff’s workplace. Playing golf in the area as opposed to playing in Florida is quite different as the grass is a lot lusher here and it does make a difference. He then went back and picked up Kathleen as she was tired out from babysitting. Kathleen had taken Sammy to two different playgrounds and just plain tired her out, not to tell you there is a lot of play in Sammy. We did a little bit of shopping and came back to the MH to prepare a later than usual dinner. Another good day here at the campground.<br /><br /><br /><br />May 5th another beautiful day as we awoke this morning. After the morning chores Kathleen went to babysit Sammy, but today she took her to the campground that we stayed at in the past. Sammy has some friends there and it was great to watch her play with them, after that they had ice cream at the camp store. Kathleen then took her to a playground in her home town and she met several friends there, hopefully she was one tired girl after that and Daddy and Mommy had a relaxing night. During this Jon stayed around the camper and did some internet work catching up on e-mails and the like. He also lit a campfire so that we could cook our dinner for the night. Sure is a shame that he can’t have his granddaughter’s as we know that they would like the playground and enjoy the campground setting. It was another great day.<br /><br /><br /><br />May 4th in the morning Jon repaired the heating system in the MH and as he finished up Kathleen went to pick up Sammy and brought her back to the campground. Sammy really enjoys coming here to play and she has a great time with the other children here. After returning her home we started a fire and cooked over it, isn’t it great to cook over a camp fire. Another great day and the weather is nice and drying everything up.<br /><br /><br /><br />May 3rd yesterday we attended church and it was our first time at this church, and we totally enjoyed it. Jon kept saying that it was not your typical conservative Lancaster church service as it was quite lively. The rest of the day we just lounged around the campground. Today we awoke to the end of a rain storm were we had in the area of about 3 inches of rain. Jon was going to play golf this afternoon, but all of the area courses were closed because of the weather. Kathleen babysat for Sammy in the afternoon and Jon went to see his mom, trouble was she was not there as she had an eye exam and Jon’s sister had taken her to the Doctor. We the n met up with Jeff and Shirley for an enjoyable dinner. After that we came home and had a great day.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />May 1st finally the day Jon was looking for and that is to say he is now on Medicare and has some insurance, the next thing is to try and find a doctor that will treat him. In the late morning Sammy called and said she would like to come out for a while and we went to get her. She has a lot of friends here at the camp and they were glad to see her. During that time Jon went back to his old campground and met up with Fox & Linda as it has been a while since we last saw them, he went out on Mike’s raft and they visited on it in the middle of the lake. Later in the day we met up with Kathleen’s two sons and their families at Pizza Hut for dinner and then we had reservations at the local bowling alley to bowl. We all had a great time and it was a lot of fun being with family enjoying the night together. Sammy had a few great games and we were happy to see her do so well. Another great time and a great day at a camp ground.Serengetihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14916641746181725186noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8179043558123787577.post-84495767705954868042010-04-13T10:08:00.003-04:002010-05-02T17:15:55.061-04:00April 2010April 30th a beautiful day dawned and before 8, Jon was out the door to a local Golf Course and played a round, his first since we got to Pa. When he returned we walked around the camp and watched as many people were enjoying the games and events that they have here. We got a call from Sammy, and she said she wanted to stay home today as she was tired. She had a field trip at school where she went to the Hershey Zoo and Chocolate World. With her decision we made plans for ourselves and decided to again visit Jon’s old campground, we had a great time meeting up with people that were not there last time we visited them. It was a great way to finish the day.<br /><br />April 29th we finally arose to a nice day and we decided to get some chores caught up on today. Jon worked on the water system in that he put a bypass around the hearer core that we can drive the motor home to our job site without leaking any water; over the summer he can remove it and hope fully have it repaired correctly. He also cleaned all of the jacks from the accumulation of dirt that built up on them; also he found that the system needed fluid, so he got the necessary oil to fill it up. In the mean time Kathleen was preparing a meal that we will be taking to Dave & Missy’s home tonight to celebrate Dave’s birthday even though a bit belated. We had a great time and the evening went by so fast and the meal was just so good; it was fit for a king. We returned home knowing it was a great day.<br /><br />April 28th after arising to a cool damp windy day and getting bundled up we went to see Jon’s mom and after looking around for her we found her in the beauty shop in the home. As she was getting her hair done and under a dryer we decided to cut short our visit, any way it would soon be her lunch time. Since we had a little time to spend we went looking for a crock pot for the motor home, we have a large one at the Florida home but we wanted a small one for here. We than went to pick up Sammy for the afternoon, and as well we took Missy to get their Jeep as it quit running on Monday. As always Sammy had a great time playing here at the campground and enjoyed the afternoon, we wanted to fix her something to eat so Jon started a camp fire and we roasted hot dogs and also some s’mores. Kathleen took Sammy back to meet up with her mother and Jon stayed back and cleaned up the dishes of the day. Oh, the rough life of living in a campground.<br /><br />April 27th today we did some shopping, since Sammy was not going to be here today we thought it would be a good day to shop. It was a chilly damp day and she could not have gone to the playground anyway. The first place we went to was an Amish store; some call it a chip-n-dent store but they have great deals and we bought some items that will last for several months and some of the things we will use right away. They also deal in a lot of bulk items and we can get them at a fraction of the standard price. We then returned and stowed in all on board and our next place to go was Cabela’s where we had about $160.00 in credit, so it was a shopping excursion as we bought jackets, shirts and some camping supplies. We use the Cabelas credit card for everything and they give us a 1% credit on all items that we buy so once or twice a year we make a trip to their store and have a free day; can’t beat that. Later in the day we had a special friend visit us and just had a wonderful time as we related stories that happened to us over time gone by. Just another great day at a campground.<br /><br />April 25th after arising and doing chores around the motor home on a rainy day we went to visit Jeff & Shirley. We were able to get on the net and we uploaded our journal from there as well as catching up on some e-mails. After that we retired to the family room and played several games of cards, Kathleen was victorious in all of the of the games, she just couldn’t be beat. They then fed us and we just had a great afternoon. We then drove back to the camp in the rain and turned in for the night.<br /><br />April 24th we had breakfast and made sure that Sammy was full as when she got up she said “that she was starving” so we made sure she was fed. Kathleen than took her to the playground and Jon was watching the Canopy rope/ zip line here at the camp. They were training new guides and going through all of the stages, we are looking into doing this in the near future. Later in the day we went to Kathleen’s son’s place and along with her other son we had a great time together and we are planning some future events. After that we went to the campground that Jon had owned, were we met up with a lot of our friends and just had a great evening and caught up on a lot of things happening there. Just another reason to have a great day in a camp ground.<br /><br />April 23rd in the morning we finished cleaning all of the windows on the inside as well as cleaning the screens. We then left to go visit Jon’s mom and had a nice visit, after that we picked up Sammy and brought her to camp. She is staying for the night and as always just enjoys it here. Later on Jeff & Shirley came to visit as we had a camp fire going, later on the five of us walked around the area with Sammy as our guide, since she camped here before. She knows the playground very well, also gave her a chance to ride her new bike. She met a lot of new friends while playing and just had a wonderful time. Here at the camp they have a zip line canopy ride that lasts over 2 hours and Jeff & Shirley and we are looking to do this before we leave. It was another great day, only it could be a lot better if Jon’s granddaughters were allowed to visit and stay with him, we are sure that they would have a great time.<br /><br />April 22nd Jon got some wood in the morning and after that we cl<br />eaned all of the windows in the motor home. We then went and picked up Sammy, she has kindergarden in the morning and we get her after that. Kathleen bought her a new bike as she out grew the one she had and she can keep it here while we are in the area. We then visited Jon’s mom and had a nice time before returning to the camp site. While Sammy and Kathleen went to the playground Jon started a fire till they returned. We roasted hot dogs and made some s’mores, what a great meal and it has been so long since we cooked on a fire. After taking Sammy back home we retired for the night and that was the end of another great day.<br /><br />April 21st after doing a few chores around the motor home we went to see Jon’s mom and had a nice visit and at that time Jon’s aunt and her son came to visit as well. Jon’s aunt and son were checking out the faculty as her husband has to be moved into a nursing home, because of some disabling problems he had over the course of the past month. After that we went and visited with Kathleen’s son and daughter in law and of course Sammy. We took Sammy for the afternoon and brought her back to the site as she just loves to play here at the campground. Where we are her family camps at during the year and she shows us where everything is at. We then returned to their home and had a great supper and a visit after that, it is great to get back to the family for a while.<br /><br />April 20th we again left in the morning soon after sunrise and headed to Pa. which is our destination for the summer. We weren’t on the road no 30 minutes and we discovered that our heater core was leaking again. We had this repaired in Maine last summer and either it was a bad repair job or the core is just too bad to be repaired. Jon loosened the radiator cap to reduce the pressure in the system and we continued our journey with an eye on the temp gauge the rest of the way, it worked and we completed our trek with no problem. We settled in and set up our site and got everything going that we need for now, so once again it was a great day.<br />April 19th we awoke early and left on our journey north and at that time we decided that this would probably be the last day for shorts and sandals for a while. It was a good driving day and we didn’t have to stop for any construction, but in Georgia we went through several construction zones and the cattle chutes. We actually went a lot further than expected because of this, and even as we passed through states we never stepped foot in them as in a motor home we switch drivers in a rest area but never get out. It is great that we both drive and it gives each other a time to relax and maybe even catch a quick snooze. We made it to the Richmond area where we found a Wal-Mart off of the beaten path and had a quite night.<br /><br />April 18th the reason that we are here in because we are invited to a baby shower for James and Katy. While we were playing yesterday they were busy decorating for the shower, but we did lend a small hand today to get ready for the event. It was a great shower as well over 40 people were in attendance, and we were surprised to see so many young men there, friends of both. We played several games and then the excited couple opened their presents, and they made out very well and we can tell that the baby will have a great start and will have a lot of love from the parents and family. After the shower we hooked up and took off and wanted to get a few hours in before night fall, we made it to Jacksonville at a Wal-Mart that we had stayed in last fall while in the area.<br /><br />April 17th we met up with Mike and Kathy, friends we made two years ago at Disney World as we journeyed into The Magic Kingdom. They were never here before and we were sort of their guide. I hope that we did a good job. The place was full and we had planned on meeting at 10 am but it was closer to 11 am till we met up. We did get around the park and we saw everything that we were interested in, as a few of the more strenuous rides did not fit into our plan, and we have ridden them before. It was a great day and till we returned back to the motor home is was past 9:30 pm and a full day for all of us.<br /><br />April 16th two days ago we started to load up the Motor home, we took two loads down to where we have it stored. In the afternoon Jon took the car for an oil change and then we were invited to a happy hour that lasted 4 hours and we had a great time with the other 9 people there. Jon took a break from the loading as he played golf yesterday morning. In the afternoon we went and pick up the motor home and brought it back to the resort to finish loading. Today as we finished with that chore and we can only hope that we didn’t forget anything. Also today we had to work around the workers at the park as they were putting in our new sod, we did get to see a little of it and hope that it will grow this summer into a new lawn for next year. After saying all of our good-bys we left and went to Camp Fountain in Orlando as we will be here for the next two nights. We had dinner with Jon’s sister and brother in law along with their son and daughter in law, after that we had a great time visiting. The trip was good and also short and we could just get the feel of being on the road.<br /><br />April 13th well so much has happened since our last entry, as we look back on the 19 of March. We had our Golf banquet and it was again a great time and we ate way too much. March 20 Jon went out and played a round of golf with Dennis as he has been reluctant about playing, the next day we attended a very good church service as it was Palm Sunday, the theme being the anguish that Jesus went through on the cross for our sins. Then on the 22nd we had a fun day at the bowling outing and we had a 9-pin no tap tournament, and once again this year Jon has a 300 game (9 real strikes and 3 were 9 pin hits), later that day we had our bowling banquet at the local smorgasbord and filled up. From then on we have had nothing but block parties, appreciation diners, going away parties and any kind of food event you can think of. This is not a place to come to and diet. In the past few days we had concrete poured around our park model and new shirting installed, wow does it ever make a nice new appearance. While it was in the construction period Jon installed some new water valves and a new spigot near the front. We have a few days here and then we are returning to Pa. for our summer job, and we are looking forward to that. We will be close to family and hope to spend time with them. Sorry about the time between posts and hopefully it will be better this summer.Serengetihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14916641746181725186noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8179043558123787577.post-40200398796666264442010-03-17T21:18:00.003-04:002010-03-18T07:12:47.684-04:00March 2010<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_2eyO40Wc7J2rHHeEFZRvYVvTZxr6GajeK6CUfJYoGbWbEiXxIBViTE3JE-oE2tpQGouMXFYdZA-MzDm-udSrs-u3Q8iOBfdbQ8jpqqtbZsjPzaDVmvdEX8LWlXOnm8bZlRJPcP2MNxM/s1600-h/3-17-10_1856.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5449930174761654594" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_2eyO40Wc7J2rHHeEFZRvYVvTZxr6GajeK6CUfJYoGbWbEiXxIBViTE3JE-oE2tpQGouMXFYdZA-MzDm-udSrs-u3Q8iOBfdbQ8jpqqtbZsjPzaDVmvdEX8LWlXOnm8bZlRJPcP2MNxM/s320/3-17-10_1856.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYt_cGvh7goslq76nSKKNBQSH-wZ5vW-19YHnKwM77MxGFlpNmhvZxqlQdu_QbhOTA9-ZGXqo5Kb1u4oMvJPzViLu3gomAgDv5gitpT_ULY7_dQr2Vjmjuqm7ZYQxsFWyJr1k2rdhEU6E/s1600-h/3-17-10_1838.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5449929824173972834" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYt_cGvh7goslq76nSKKNBQSH-wZ5vW-19YHnKwM77MxGFlpNmhvZxqlQdu_QbhOTA9-ZGXqo5Kb1u4oMvJPzViLu3gomAgDv5gitpT_ULY7_dQr2Vjmjuqm7ZYQxsFWyJr1k2rdhEU6E/s320/3-17-10_1838.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:100%;"></span></div><br /><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:100%;"></span></div><br /><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:100%;">March 17th well a month has go past so quickly that we didn’t get a chance to do any writing. During this period of time the weather was not that good and there were days when we just stayed indoors because of the rain and cold. We were busy as we had several friends visit during that time, first Randy & Lynn were down from Pa. and we had a great time as they were here several days and we did quite a lot together. It was a shame though that the weather did not cooperate as it was chilly and wet most of the time but we did manage to get a day in at Disney and we did as well do some other activities. Another day was spent with Al & Joann and we had a good time with them for a day along with several other people here in the park. Got to stop all of this eating and drinking as we will so have to buy new clothes and or start to go on a diet. We also had Mike & Kathy over for an afternoon and it was the same day as the park car show, and what a show it was as there were about 50+ cars at the park. Today we had the St. Patrick’s Day Parade at the park and the effort put forth by both of us won us 2nd place in our category and a nice gift.</span></div></div>Serengetihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14916641746181725186noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8179043558123787577.post-25962914233688312822010-02-16T18:38:00.001-05:002010-02-16T18:38:54.781-05:00February 2010Feb. 16th so much time has gone by since we last posted. What happens is that this was originally a travel journal and since we are not traveling and sort of involved with daily chores and events it gets forgotten. We ended the last entry with the phone call, we had stated that we went to the Snowbird Extravaganza and had signed up for a lot of stuff . Well, we were called and informed that we won a cruise. We did have to go to Orlando and listen to a 90 min. sales pitch. We made a full day out of it as in the morning we went to Disney World till about 2 and then went to the meeting and after that we met with Jon’s sister, niece and their families and had supper with them, it was a full day and an enjoyable one. The next day Jon went to play golf and his foursome were to tee off second on a par three and another foursome from the park teed off in front of them, as Jon was standing behind those teeing off he witnessed a “Hole in One” what an awesome sight. One Friday we had Jon’s Aunt over for a visit and it was as enjoyable time, after that we did a little shopping and Kathleen started to get a severe migraine headache. We wound up taking her to the hospital and they administered a shot and watched her vitals for 90 minutes after that sending her home. That next day we filled her prescriptions and she remained in bed for about 20 hours that day. The following day she was fine and we went to church, that was also super bowl Sunday and we were invited to our friends place to watch it. It was a great game and we really enjoyed it, all though our hosts probably didn’t as they are from Indiana. On Tuesday the 9th Jon went to play golf and got rained out after 3 holes and also on that day Kathleen had several friends over to make casserole carriers. Later in the week we spend some time working on our costumes for the ST. Patrick’s Day parade that is here at the park. This past Sunday we had a real treat, at our church we had Shelby Dressel sing. She is currently on American Idol, we do not know how she made out and even if she is going back to Hollywood. She has orders not to say anything about the show till it’s completion, as we don’t watch AI we don’t really understand the fuss. We do know that she is a Christian and has a very beautiful voice, and is a delightful person and is from Avon Park. We wish her well in whatever she does. Later in the day we went to Downtown Disney to meet up with Jeff and Shirley, we walked around there and then we went to Capone’s for the Dinner theater show. It was a great show and we were so entertained for the evening. It was a great way to spend Valentine’s Day, but just think that 81 years ago Valentine’s day was not to good for several of Al Capone’s thugs as they were gunned down.Serengetihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14916641746181725186noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8179043558123787577.post-9727507886615753852010-01-24T12:42:00.001-05:002010-02-01T09:29:57.628-05:00January 2010Jan. 31st what a great week we just had. Along with our regular schedule we did some exciting things this week and one being on Wednesday we along with Dennis, Pat and Kate went to the Snowbird Extravaganza that was held in Lakeland, about an hour’s drive from here. It is put on by the Canadian Snowbird Association, we not being Canadian called and found out it is open to all, and what a wonderful time we had. The doors opened just as we got there a 9 AM and we went through the vendor’s area picking up information and ideas, and also signing up for free prizes that cover a host of things, mostly to get you on a mailing list. At 10 AM we went to one of the three areas that were set up for entertainment and we didn’t have to move as every 30 minutes a new act came on stage. We did move between 2:30 and 3 PM to go to a different stage area to see a few acts that weren’t held in the area we were at. This went on till 4:00 when everything shut down, and all this was free and the only cost was $5 for parking. After the show we did some shopping and then went out for supper at a great little fish camp and had some great food. On Thursday evening we had a great Ham & Bean dinner soup here at the resort. Friday evening we went to a local YFC dinner and it was so refreshing to see and hear a lot of the stories of the youth in the area. Here in Highlands County the local YFC has access to the schools and it is a great way to introduce God to their lives. We have been going to our local church for over a year and during that time we knew our Director of Student Ministries, but it turns out we didn’t know him at all. He was involved with some of the events on the stage and we saw how the young people were drawn to him and he to them as well. We knew that he was a very good football player in college. We did a web search on him and we came to find out that he is the lead singer in a Christian Rock band that does concerts all over the country and that just last year they had a song that was number one on the charts in Christian Rock music. He really is a great fellow and we are happy to have him in our church. On Sunday after church we had Dennis, Pat and Kate come up to our place to play cards. Our original plan was to go bike riding but the weather didn’t really cooperate as it was cloudy and never got above 65 and the air was damp. We had a great time playing games as this afternoon we played Apples to Apples, around 4:30 we decided to go out to eat and went to another area eatery and enjoyed the food. There are so many places to dine out in the area we will probably never get to all of them. Oh, and by the way on the way to the restaurant Kathleen got the phone call, and as Jon is driving he couldn’t figure out why such a serious call on a Sunday afternoon, We will have to get back to you later about the call. <br /><br />Jan. 24th wow does time fly or what, it has a month since we last wrote in this log. Let us start by wishing everyone a Happy New Year; we had a nice party here at the Resort, nothing like walking home after a party. We have been quite busy in our activities and also for the fact that Kathleen has come through her cataract surgery very well. She is still adjusting to not wearing glasses; she will be getting a pair that will be used mostly for reading. We have also been involved a lot with our church, in that we have been doing more with the members, and this is very good for us. Just the other day we were heading to Disney and by about 2 seconds we were in front of an accident, and because of some moves we did in the mile or two before this we know we would have been involved. As for the accident since we were in front of it and didn’t really see anything we kept going as there were a lot of cars behind it. Also in the past several weeks Jon didn’t miss any golf from the cold weather and as a matter of fact golfed a few extra times as we didn’t bowl because of Kathleen’s surgery. We did go to one of the gourmet diners here at the park and we had a great time as always For this dinner we had bought some wine down from Pa. that we were going to the Wine ‘n’ cheese event, but we double booked that day and we had the wine at the dinner. The event we had booked was to see the Calgary Fiddlers, and what a fine show they put on. They consisted of 14 fiddlers all from the ages of 14 to 18 and they knew how to play. Kathleen won a free CD by answering a question that was posed to the audience and that was “What’s the difference between a Violin and a Fiddle?” It is a great CD and we played it while we went to Okeechobee to meet up with fellow workampers and geocacher, we met along with Kate and had a nice lunch and then did several geocaches. They were just a few shy of 5000 caches and we hope that they got enough to get to that milestone. Hopefully it won’t be this long for our next entry and till then everyone have a good time. Oh!, Kathleen’s answer to the question was; “A violin has strings and a fiddle has straaannngs.”Serengetihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14916641746181725186noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8179043558123787577.post-25015088966689849492009-12-23T08:45:00.008-05:002009-12-26T11:11:22.846-05:00Decenber 2009<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrcKD98dRUiRo59mjPFxZadcNdGHnly1ZyXrdWndkC0dNpaiIO71fH-ukCNrQAmQPN_j6litak2u3c1MrOifPKEKEJxIUJ58sBpJhnFNnp0Q8m2c6rVss4-QVTWrq9durVHseYbu4m_n0/s1600-h/Christmas+Diner_1730.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419577326337350210" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrcKD98dRUiRo59mjPFxZadcNdGHnly1ZyXrdWndkC0dNpaiIO71fH-ukCNrQAmQPN_j6litak2u3c1MrOifPKEKEJxIUJ58sBpJhnFNnp0Q8m2c6rVss4-QVTWrq9durVHseYbu4m_n0/s320/Christmas+Diner_1730.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM3TwiH51XcnP8XPijw9xghfQnKNbqlj0zOafZ1Kb25UpsnWPlawhM3Vx2xXVu_Tm7ONgSEcOF02ggao_ijnhFufRbf_y9alnoD87ftoM8GLVN2wAN6vIndADJNQCXy1YlbuKVr7tr0GY/s1600-h/Christmas+Diner_1723.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419577097340167522" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM3TwiH51XcnP8XPijw9xghfQnKNbqlj0zOafZ1Kb25UpsnWPlawhM3Vx2xXVu_Tm7ONgSEcOF02ggao_ijnhFufRbf_y9alnoD87ftoM8GLVN2wAN6vIndADJNQCXy1YlbuKVr7tr0GY/s320/Christmas+Diner_1723.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><br /><br /></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div> </div><div> </div><div>Dec. 25th Merry Christmas, we attended the “Candlelight Service” last night at our church and it was great. The leaders of the church are so filled with the spirit and it overflows in the congregation. There were 3 services and each one had over 350 people in attendance. We have said for a while that we were so blessed in finding this place of worship. Today we were doing some cooking and baking for the Christmas dinner here at the resort, in the middle of it the stove stopped working and we had to cooking the potatoes in an electric roaster. It all came out alright and we were thankful that we weren’t preparing one of the turkeys. Jon’s sister and Brother in law came down from Orlando to enjoy the feast with us and we did have a great time. Debbie brought us homemade Whoppie pies (yum,yum) and a deviled ostrich egg; one egg filled a whole tray. We think that they were impressed with the dinner and the set ups, and as usual we ate way too much and we also brought a lot back home. As we sit back and reflect over this past holiday season we are so grateful for the person that we have helped in this time of the year, and it is that which gives us our most satisfaction. We thank you Lord for giving us your son to take away our sins and to make this a better place.<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418429189159881458" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFB6Czmy1gRCRwdS5TjuoMwxQMhFkm27WkSzKSCj9pv4yLWp2ZvOfdDEjnYn8eOQB03NJGdnYyV5mu1a3tUVTjmTX0WAeRTVAW_GTn30It2pnWKVYGK6sYc8WF6AUe55t52i3em7Z6_Ak/s320/Disney_1701.JPG" border="0" /><br /><br /><br /></div><div></div><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div></div><div><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivcep36sSsvO1_q-xwfglJ9LUq8USwOMnEiBnViZ4eSvyXuH6TDLgKcduB0xtUBfSabbWoZbfzZsV990DkG071gTm1-sDp4__-Wn0IptaOShy5lUcpFUKlrztIx_ZH3sfKJSd_s8PxWSw/s1600-h/Disney_1700.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418428888770530530" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivcep36sSsvO1_q-xwfglJ9LUq8USwOMnEiBnViZ4eSvyXuH6TDLgKcduB0xtUBfSabbWoZbfzZsV990DkG071gTm1-sDp4__-Wn0IptaOShy5lUcpFUKlrztIx_ZH3sfKJSd_s8PxWSw/s320/Disney_1700.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div><br /><br /></div><div></div><div><br /><br /></div><div></div><div><br /><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNPuFEBSFVGNOfwWWL9O2bvtv-TPvQkhO7zpgdabJTGssB7yo1kbPa4Q2j3q3jX_bVRX17RAWfMa2am82BbZS0PehgV07zdA0X7_iBeSPhGYjahtes5nsRi8cSgZPkWq70q62kaHmJ_pg/s1600-h/Disney_1692.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418428316579524386" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNPuFEBSFVGNOfwWWL9O2bvtv-TPvQkhO7zpgdabJTGssB7yo1kbPa4Q2j3q3jX_bVRX17RAWfMa2am82BbZS0PehgV07zdA0X7_iBeSPhGYjahtes5nsRi8cSgZPkWq70q62kaHmJ_pg/s320/Disney_1692.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><div><br /><br /></div><div></div><div><br /><br /></div><div></div><div><br /><br /></div><div></div><div><br /><br /></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div>Dec. 23rd we have spent way too much time away for the journal, as we are busy doing a lot of other things. In the past month we bought 1 new window for the house and installed it. Right after Thanksgiving we needed to repair the heater part of the A/C to heat the house and in that time we had a cool spell, and of course it went down on a Saturday and no way to get the part till Monday. It was lucky that Jon could repair it. On Dec. 11 a group of nine went to a holiday concert featuring the Heartland Pops, Heartland Community Orchestra and Heartland Community Chorus, featuring traditional Christmas Music, excerpts from the Messiah and a grand finale of the Hallelujah Chorus. It was a very inspiring concert and helped to put us in the Christmas spirit. Also in the past month we went to Disney World and bought a residence pass, and what a good deal as the bad economy hit them as well in that we got a 12 month pass and it is good for 15 months, which will take us into March of 2011. The following weekend we returned to Disney for three nights as about 20 of our friends from PA, NJ & DE came down and we had a great time. They did have a problem getting back as a big snowstorm had moved into the area. Also in the past month we attended several functions with our church and it is good to get back into the group and help out as much as we can, we were very fortunate to find this church last year and they help the community a lot in this time of need. We still do our bowling, golf and other activities here at the resort, plus in the last few weeks we started to attend the card games in the evening, they usually have them on Monday, Thursday and Friday nights and play a lot of different card games. Around the house we are in the midst of cleaning the driveway as over the years it got very dirty with ground in rubber and oils, we would like to paint it in the future. We also need to get some weeding done before the weeds that over. Kathleen is doing better as she is now over her coughing that we think is due to allergies and at the present time she is having cataract surgery. Yesterday she had the right eye done and will get the left one done next week. Already she sees a big difference in her sight. We would like to wish everyone a <span style="font-family:arial;color:#990000;"><strong>“Merry Christmas”</strong></span> and a <span style="font-family:arial;color:#009900;"><strong>“Happy Holy Season.”</strong></span></div></div></div>Serengetihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14916641746181725186noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8179043558123787577.post-78222297534828126792009-11-02T09:12:00.006-05:002009-11-25T17:51:34.849-05:00Nov. 2009<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir6_s7fWAphaY8aQrgZU8_LgC4xxftyjC8BzNWh37pOXlxPHEQ0TosAph0d50DHs7uUnRq0tqP_Nq3NvTQbfFZ2Icf-uOOaKHa4ZmoJuaczCvo_zdBCQG3dZACuhv_o8-aMrRde4P0KLE/s1600/DSC03852.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408176817418840594" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir6_s7fWAphaY8aQrgZU8_LgC4xxftyjC8BzNWh37pOXlxPHEQ0TosAph0d50DHs7uUnRq0tqP_Nq3NvTQbfFZ2Icf-uOOaKHa4ZmoJuaczCvo_zdBCQG3dZACuhv_o8-aMrRde4P0KLE/s320/DSC03852.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFBDeRSFUvwQ3O5hqXeLXRi-j9Mjbssvw9x-2j5dEFcq-I-3hfq1IRwHt_e7necdvMJpwgZZfFDDuEtAePILotUfonoFBflO07QrKrddwn9BSznSEtKMF0HMEMO3a0_xq2UigUpKz0Hb8/s1600/DSC03851.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408175597836926530" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFBDeRSFUvwQ3O5hqXeLXRi-j9Mjbssvw9x-2j5dEFcq-I-3hfq1IRwHt_e7necdvMJpwgZZfFDDuEtAePILotUfonoFBflO07QrKrddwn9BSznSEtKMF0HMEMO3a0_xq2UigUpKz0Hb8/s320/DSC03851.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><div>Nov. 25th wow we don’t realize how time flies on by as it was 10 days since we updated our blog/journal. We have been busy as on Monday’s we bowl and Tuesday’s and Thursday’s Jon golf’s. Kathleen is kept quite busy with fixing up our new home. She is also getting ready for the nutrition class on Monday’s which start next week. We washed ½ of the home and then the rains came and we will finish up when they stop. At the present time we are getting ready for Thanksgiving. Turkey day we are going to Jon’s sister’s relatives and from what we hear quite a few people will be there; I guess that’s why we are having ostrich for the meal. We would like to wish all a” Happy Thanksgiving” -- the best part is Florida style, which means it, is warm. We are adding a few pictures to this entry and hope that you enjoy. Just another good day.<br /><br />Nov. 15th we went to church this morning, and it was great just to be back with a lot of friends that we made over the past year. We hadn’t realized how much we missed them till we returned today. We also were happy to be in the presence of Pastor Andrew and the sermons that he gives, as he preaches right from the text of the Bible. After church we did a little shopping for some things we needed to get done and we are well on our way to making our home the way we want it. Jon went to connect the DirecTV today with some of the existing cable in the house and he could not get a good signal. We called for a service tech to complete this task, this is the first time that Jon couldn’t get it tuned in. It was another exhausting day as we continued to put the place together. We will sleep well tonight and as always it is a good day in Florida.<br /><br />Nov. 14th the first think we did this morning was to wash the MH and the toad as they were quite dirty from the journey down. Jon had washed the roof of the MH back in PA and all of the salt residue from ME was on the sides. After the washing, it once again looked like a new rig. We then went shopping to get items for the home and we did very well in our adventure. We are sure you all know how it is when opening up a new home. This is the third day in a row that we put in some long hours, in a few months everything will be to our liking. It was a great day in Florida.<br /><br />Nov. 13th the dreaded Friday the thirteenth, for us just another day of unloading and getting things in place for the winter months. What we want here and what goes there all day long, but we did have a good time and knew that it is for the future and we will be better off.<br />Nov, 12th we wanted to get an early start and we were on the road by 7AM; this was after a short visit with Eddie & Debbie over coffee, as we bid them farewell and knew that we would see them for Thanksgiving. We arrived at Adelaide Shores RV Resort a little after 8AM and got to take a look at the park model we agreed to buy. After a look we were overwhelmed at all it had to offer. We made settlement and started to unload the MH. Can you ever believe the stuff you can accumulate over a few years, we could fill up the park model twice and it is three times the size of the MH. We had Dennis, Pat and Kate helping us unload and bring items into the home. After getting all the stuff in the fun part started in which we had to find a place for the items. It was a long and tiring day; I guess we are not fulltimers any more but just part timers. Another good day in the camping world.<br /><br />Nov. 11th we awoke early and continued with our appointments. We had to be there early in the morning and go back for a follow up in the afternoon. Every think went fine and at 3 PM we left to go to Orlando to meet up with Jon’s sister to deliver a sewing machine and other articles that we transported for her. We had a nice dinner with Eddie, Debbie, Angie, Larry and Gracie, after that we returned to Debbie’s place and had a short visit as we were camping in her driveway. It was a good day and a very stressful one as well.<br /><br />Nov. 10th as we noted in yesterdays journal we were on the road before 6 am, and once again we realized just how weak our headlights are on the MH. We were grateful that we only had to drive less than ½ hour till sunrise. We stopped for fuel right before we left Ga. and filled up and then drove about 30 miles to Jacksonville were we had some appointments today. We were very lucky that where we are going they had some RV parking and we were early enough to get a spot. After the appointment we learned that we needed to be there the following day, so at that time we called Adelaide Shores and informed them about our delay in getting there. It would be alright and out transactions that were to be done in person on Wednesday could be done by mail on Thursday. We then found a Wal-Mart about seven miles away and set in for the night. This place was very quiet and we got a good night’s sleep. We are so happy that all is working out and that our journey so far has been safe and all things are working out.<br /><br />Nov. 9th what a great Wal-Mart location in that we had a TV signal and we also had Wi-Fi in the parking lot and it was quite. We continued our journey today and had an uneventful drive, would like to say at this time it is overall the best condition that Rt. 95 is in for the most part. The only major construction was in Ga. And within a year or so we will probably see 6 lanes throughout all of the state. We pulled into another Wal-Mart and in contrast it was a real contrast as the RV’ers that were there were abusing the privilege of the lot. With at least 4 units there with all slides out and on jacks and disconnected from the pull trucks, not only that they had their chairs out in a group sitting in a circle, plus a trucker there had his rig running all night. Around 7:30 another MH pulled in right next to us and started his generator and ran it all night, at about 10:30 because of the fumes from the diesel generator we moved to the rear of the store where we knew we could stay till about 5:30 or so as this was the area of the shop. At about 5:30 am we moved back to our original spot except to the other side and we left out MH run with the exhaust right at their bedroom slide, and as Jon was preparing the car for travel the hood slipped out of his hand and slammed shut and when he pressed the remote to lock the car he held it too long and the horn went off about 4or 5 times.<br /><br />Nov 8th we awoke and started to finish up what little packing we had to do, and connected the car which we say when connected it is our cargo trailer. After checking that all of our connections were complete and correct we left Lickdale CG a little after 8am. Being on the road for about 10 minutes a car passed us and waved and it was Jon’s sister as they were going to church. When we passed the church we gave a blast on the air horns. Kathleen did a lot of the driving and all day she took us across the state lines, out of PA, through MD and WVA and into VA were Jon took over through most of VA. Kathleen then took over into NC and then Jon finished the first day’s journey to a Wal-Mart in NC where we stopped for the night. We did a little shopping at Wally world, put up the TV antenna and tuned in the NASCAR race and had some TV for the night. We couldn’t sit in the living room/kitchen area of the MH as we are filled up transporting stuff that we cleaned out from Jon’s mother’s apartment, some of it is going to Jon’s sister in Orlando and we are taking the rest with us. It was a very good day and a safe day on the roads, more then we can say for a lot of the deer we saw that were killed on the roads; one looked like a 10 point buck.<br /><br />SHOCK OF THE DAY: While Jon was pumping diesel fuel and Kathleen was waiting inside the store, an elderly man who could hardly talk and walk bought two packs of cigarettes that cost $12. A younger gal bought two cartons of cigarettes that cost $85. We are so glad we do not smoke!!<br /><br />Nov.7th well all week we have been busy getting ready to travel south to Fl. for the winter. Kathleen babysat Sammie 5 days this past week and she stayed overnight Friday night, it is such a blessing to have her and she is such a wonderful granddaughter. During the days we went out and did a lot of our winter shopping as we went to a few Amish stories to buy supplies, you can really get great deals on canned and boxed items at a fraction of their normal price. We visited Jon’s mom every day and know in our hearts that she is in a very good nursing home, and that her ailments are not as bad as we originally thought, and she is better now as she cannot live alone any more. We met with some of our friends this past week and the waist line shows it, this too we will have to get over. We see some exercise in the future and trying to eat less. Today we had some of Jon’s mom’s grandchildren go through her apartment and pick out what they wanted, to clean out the apartment. It is a sad day for America today with the passage of the health care bill that just opens up new ways for lawyers to strangle us with bad lawsuits. We are looking forward to going south as it is getting cooler all the time here. Just another great day at being a fulltimer on the road.<br /><br />Nov. 1st we went to church in the morning and we didn’t stay to socialize as we had to get back and get ready to have a family gathering with Kathleen’s sons and their wives. We had a Lobster dinner at Dave’s place and just had a great time in talking about what happened over the summer and what our future plans are. They were happy for us as we told them about us buying a Park Model in Florida and about our plans on working in Pa. next summer. This way we will be able to spend more time with them throughout the summer. After that we went to see Jon’s mom for a while, then returned home for the rest of the evening. Today we set the clocks back an hour and after the day we had yesterday we needed it. Another great day in the CG.</div></div>Serengetihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14916641746181725186noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8179043558123787577.post-89748781529886356592009-10-05T12:01:00.008-04:002009-11-02T09:11:26.965-05:00October, 2009<p><u><span style="color:#0066cc;"></span></u></p><p>Oct. 31st we went to a pancake and sausage breakfast this morning as Elmer got us some tickets, it was a benefit for the Lions Club. After that we met with Jon’s brothers and sisters and went through the items at mom’s apartment, since she is in the nursing home she will not need the apartment and we are dividing up her processions to be passed down through the family. Next Saturday the Grandchildren are going in and hopefully take the rest, if not what is left are going to charity. In the late afternoon we had a dinner at a local diner which was set up for some months. This was going to be a get together of all of the children but since all of the events in the past three weeks it put a cloud over the get together. After the meal which was attended by about 40 people we all went to the nursing home and took some pictures with Jon’s mom. The one granddaughter Kelly is a professional photographer and she got us all set up for the photo shoot. After that Debbie & Eddie, along with James and Katie came out to the CG to go the Halloween Hayride. It was a busy day and all in all a good day. </p><p>Oct. 26th wow, does time fly and we were so busy over the past two weeks. On the 12th Jon’s mother became quite disoriented and we took her to her Dr. and had some tests done. After two nights at her daughter’s place she went back for a follow up at the Dr’s office and from there she went to the hospital. She was in the hospital for 8 days and then she was placed in a nursing home. We only missed seeing her one day and along with our other visits and appointments time has been a blur. Over the course of two weeks Jon rewired the MH to the car and also removed the starter and had it rebuilt. Kathleen has been very busy with getting the MH ready to travel down south. We have cable here at the CG but a lot of the time it is just an advertisement for DirecTV, so we did hook up our converter box to get over the air digital TV. Also during the last week Kathleen has come down with a cold and that is taking a toll on her and she spent about 2 days just lounging around as we all know how a cold knocks you down. Along with everything else she likes to have her granddaughter at least 4 days a week, and that takes a toll as well. It is still great to be in a CG and enjoying the day.</p><p>Oct 12th we arose at 3:45 am in anticipation of getting to PA. We didn’t leave till about 6:30 and we decided to go to Cabela’s first as we were too early to get to the CG. After setting up we went to see Jon’s mother and catch up on the summer and enjoy some time with her. After that we went to Kathleen’s son and visited for a while and we also picked up Sammy as she like’s to be with us and enjoys her friends here at the CG. She will staying for the night and she will be sleeping with Pokot . We did have a good day and we retired quite early. </p>Oct 11th we were on the road by 7:10 am and did a lot of driving today, we also took a lot of scenic route and did slow down our travel time, along with we did not want to pay to use Interstate 95 in Maine and New Hampshire as these are toll roads and we refuse to pay if we don’t have to. We also drove across Rhode Island into Connecticut on a very scenic route, we were 10 to 14 days too early for the foliage in this area. We made it into New York and pulled into a Wal-Mart for the night. We were on the road for about 11 hours and all driving was safe.<br /><br />Oct.10th we spent the day getting ready to pull out, we had decided to take our time and get everything cleaned up and made ready to travel. We had some wood left over and we had a fire to use it up. At the CG there was an October Fest and we did walk over to the craft tent and looked at the items, nothing that we could use though as it was all cold weather garments and a few wall hangings. We decided that we didn’t want to do any beer tasting as a tasting plastic cup was $25.00 and we felt that it was way out of line. Over the course of the summer we tasted a lot of these brews and to us they are not very good at all. We turned in early so as to get an early start. Another good day in a CG.<br /><br />Oct. 8th & 9th these were our last two days on work, there was very little business and the days were very boring and long. The bright spot of both days is that we had supper with Elmer & Phyllis. We enjoyed both evenings and had a good time.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><u><span style="color:#0066cc;"></span></u><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmjgO-78bTTaRtJi5lSwzCZSWzkI_20xDPIgpZl40QR0OrXrtPI92275t8Ep5F9ihyIycp6TOhl-rGPbMP7So7_I2i0UhUpSCYCaQQvcqW2dbBLRPsNDAD9jX69WtmIVhbRbbv22SZlvg/s1600-h/Oct.+6,+09_1495.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390193046102669794" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmjgO-78bTTaRtJi5lSwzCZSWzkI_20xDPIgpZl40QR0OrXrtPI92275t8Ep5F9ihyIycp6TOhl-rGPbMP7So7_I2i0UhUpSCYCaQQvcqW2dbBLRPsNDAD9jX69WtmIVhbRbbv22SZlvg/s320/Oct.+6,+09_1495.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Oct 6th we met up with Elmer & Phyllis in the morning and we drove to the south side of the western part of the island and walked to Seal Head Harbor Lighthouse, we actually walked to both sides of this lighthouse and the eastern side is a set of steps leading down to the rock where you must navigate them. You need to be very careful at this point as we see a potential for injury here. From there we took a hike out past an inlet and through the woods, it was a relaxing walk and for a change on this island pretty level. After that we headed to Bar Harbor as they had a Lighthouse boat tour set up, also at that time we were planning on going along but as we went to the ticket counter we discovered that is was sold out. As they went on the boat we took a 2 ½ hour trolley tour and had a nice trip around the park, which was also narrated and we learned a lot more about the island. The timing was good as we both finished with our tours within five minutes of each other. We then went up on Cadillac Mt. for the sunset and it was another great sunset as we took many pictures. After that we came back to the MH and had supper and at that time a great story came up. The high school that we all attended had a great band director and a few weeks ago the school auditorium was dedicated in his name and Elmer played in the ceremony along with about 140 other musicians from days gone by. The band director had retired in 1986 and we don’t know why it took this long to make this dedication. Elmer had been in contact with Harlan Daubert over the years and he a few other members held some early practices, even Mr. Daubert was directing some of them. Elmer went on to say how the practices grew in size as they continued. Elmer told of the careers of some of the students that came out of this fine program and how Mr. Daubert prepared a lot of them for the rest of their lives. We had a great day and finished it up with a great story. Mr. Daubert, your lifelong dedication is an inspiration to many.<br /><br /><br /><br />Oct 5th we spent most of the morning either cleaning up around the MH or checking all systems for a go on Sunday when we are leaving this place. In the afternoon we headed over to the pier where the lobsterman come in and as we waited about 15 min. we saw one coming in. We asked him if he was selling and for how much and we were told $5.00 each, than we asked if he could do 12 for $50.00 and he said that was no problem and we got the dozen. We then returned to the MH and cooked them all up and vacuum packed and froze them for later enjoyment. In the evening we were invited along with the rest of the employee’s to our owners home for a meal. We had a good time at his home and enjoyed a delicious meal. When we got home Kathleen talked with her sister-in-law and made some plans for the next few days. Another good day on the road.<br /><br />Oct. 4th we found out a lot of things about our job over the last couple days, as to when the store will be shut for the winter and how the weather is affecting it. We left early on the 3rd and the store was closed on the 4th because of the rain. Since both Ron & Shirley and us were off we got together and played a few games in the afternoon and then went and got a bite to eat. Elmer & Phyllis are on their way here and we will be with them over the course of the next few days. As of now we will be working this Thursday and Friday and Ron & Shirley are working on Saturday & Sunday. If that is the case we will be leaving on Sunday for the journey home, hoping to get there on Monday afternoon. The foliage is really starting to come out here and we hope to be able to get out and see it, we are sure that we see a lot on our way south. Over the course of the last several weeks and days we have a lot of irons in the fire and we cannot report on them at this time, till it comes to fruition, more on that later.Serengetihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14916641746181725186noreply@blogger.com0