March 2009

March 21st early in the morning we went to a local flea market to get some golf balls, since we depleted our supply that we got last fall. We came back and had breakfast, and after that we set up our DirecTV dish. The local cable at the park has to be the worst we ever encountered and we had just about enough of watching snowy television. After that we made up a shelf that can be installed over the steering wheel while we are parked, we got this idea last week from Boogity. After we ate we picked up Craig & Ginny and made our way to the local Lawn Mower races, Jon wore a hat that had a little camo on it just to fit in. It was a good show as they had about 25 mowers there, with about 5 or 6 classes. Seems that they run mostly for trophies, as we didn’t get too much information. We were in the stands and they did not sell any kind of program, we are sure that there are rules for the different classes. The one race was won by a 12 year old, in the adult classes some of the mowers reached speeds of at least 60 MPH. The fellow that won the adult race had a 2 cylinder motor and as it came down the track it really sounded good. All of the races were started with a LeMans style, where the drivers stood across the track at the start and ran across to start their mower and take off; the starts were different but sometimes a wild way to get going.

March 17th Happy St. Patrick’s Day. We did a few chores around the camper this morning and just sort of lulled in wait for the parade here at the park. Jon had an idea for a costume for the parade that he got together over the last several days. Kathleen was wondering where he came up with the items to put it together. Well lo and behold he won one of the first place prizes and it just happened to be another gift certificate to a restaurant. After that we went and played a round of golf just to help us with the waist line. It was another fine day in FL.

March 16th we usually don’t write about our weekly activities but as we went to bowl today, when we started they announced that it was going to be a No-tap style scoring. That being said Jon had a really good day as with the help of the scoring system his second game was a 300 and he only needed the help with 4 strikes, the other 8 were natural. It was quite a setting that everybody stopped bowling to watch him roll the last three strikes. That evening we had the bowling banquet at Homer’s restaurant and as it is a smorgasbord we over ate. Maybe we can start our diet when we leave, or soon before we run out of clothes that fit.

March 15th after going to church we were entered into a St. Patrick’s bowling tournament at the lanes where we bowl on Monday’s. We did just so-so as we finished up in the middle of the pack. In the evening rather than going to the Sunday night movie here at the resort we went to an area in the park to watch the space shuttle liftoff. We were quite surprised as about half of the park was there to watch. It was a great liftoff as we watched it get to Africa or wherever, but it was great to watch.

March 14th we didn’t sleep very good as the resort is surrounded by several nursery’s and between running generator’s till 1 in the morning and then starting up watering pumps at 5 in the morning didn’t work to well with us. After getting our showers and eating breakfast we went to Key Largo and met up with Johanna & Israel. They are working at John Pennecamp State Park, they showed us around and we really enjoyed it and are thinking of coming back in the fall for a few nights just to enjoy what they have to offer. We had a nice visit and exchanged a lot of information, as we headed out we hope to meet up with them in Maine this summer. From there we headed west on the Tamiami Trail and took an air boat ride and just had a great time. Kathleen got a chance to pilot the boat and it made the day for her, the smile on her face was priceless. Our pilot was just a bit on the cowboy side as he operated the boat and made for a great ride, and we would do it again in a heartbeat. After that we had a 2 ½ hour drive home and were totally exhausted. As we unpacked and cleaned up we knew we had a tiring day.

March 13th well here it is another Friday the 13th and we are planning about a 4 hour journey. We are going south to the everglades to meet up with Larry & Sharon (we will be working with them this summer in Maine.) We got to their location around one in the afternoon, and found out just how desolated an area it is, although it is near Miami and not nearly as isolated as we were last summer. It is quite nice and has a lot of wildlife in the area, we enjoyed the visit and saw the work that they accomplished over the winter. The National Park Service would like to open this area as a primitive camping area next year and they did a great job at cleaning up the sites and walkways throughout. They fixed us dinner and then we had to leave as we got a site near Miami to pitch our tent for the night. We got to Miami Everglades resort, which is a Legacy Park and for a tent site with no electric it was way over priced. It is a fenced in area and we felt very safe.

March 7th Jon went to a men’s Church breakfast early in the morning and didn’t get back till about 9:45, it was a very good time and got to know some more of the people that go to our church. Since they hold 4 services each weekend we only get to see about 1/4th of the congregation, events like this held build the fellowship in the church. We than left at 10:00 and drove about 2 ½ hours to Homosassa Springs to spend a great afternoon at the wildlife state park there. Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park is a great place to get in touch with nature; first they transport you to the park entrance by either boat or tram. They have 6 manatees there and an underwater viewing station, as you watch them there are also countless thousands of other fish. From there we continued around the park and observed a lot of other animals that are native to Florida. That is except one as they have a Hippo that was grandfathered in the system from the previous owners; this Hippo is a star as it appeared in the old movie “Daktari”. After that we drove down to Sarasota as we were meeting a few of the workampers we were with last winter. We met a CiCi’s Pizza and were surprised as Ron & Pat were there, we knew the others but this surprise was really great. We had a great time as we spent nearly 2 & ½ hours together, it was one of those times when no one wants to leave. Leave we had to since we still had about an hour and a half drive. To all we got home safely and once again another great day in Florida.

March 6th we got together with Craig & Ginny and we went to Plant City for the Strawberry Fest. The weather was great and when we were in the sun just a bit warm. Once we got parked and entered the first place we went to was the strawberry short cake area. Here you can make your own strawberry shortcake, we started with the short cake than added the strawberries and finally we put on real whipped cream, as we neared the end an attendant added a large strawberry and gave us sticker to put on. From there we got some strawberry kabobs which were large strawberry’s on a stick covered with chocolate, which you had your choice of either white or brown or a mix of chocolate. We did a little walking around and then we went to the Dennis Lee show. What a great show as it lasted for an hour and they completely entertained the audience with their songs and skits and the pure nature of it. This was for the price of admission. We continued on and caught a few other attractions and after that we got a bite to eat, and as always at a fair the prices are high, but we were enjoying the day. We went through the Exhibits building and looked at all of the crafts and items that were made by the entrants. They had a cake decorating area that was great, but all of the displays were great. After that we bought a sign to put on the MH, we then called it a day and made our way home. At one point on the way home we came across a bad accident and wondered about the condition of the people in the car. Just another great Florida day.

February 2009

Feb. 22nd we stayed overnight at Eddie & Debbie’s place and as we awoke and got dressed Debbie got a phone call from her neighbor that a crane had just taken a large fish out of her water garden. As Debbie ran out of the house she saw the crane and we know that if she would have had a gun it would have been the end for the crane, as it was it was the end of one of her prized fish. We had breakfast and then we went to play a round of golf, the weather was great and we had a great time together. After golf we went to Cracker Barrel for an early supper. At this time we realized that we forgot a disc that Debbie burned for us that had our wedding pictures and pictures from Larry’s party, just too many voids in our brain and this was missed by four people. On the way home we did stop at another Target store, did our shopping and exhausted the gift card. As we had a store only gift card, in these times we wonder how long a store will be in business and like to redeem them as soon as possible. We than had a safe drive home and soon after we got home we went to the clubhouse and watched the Sunday night movie, every Sunday they will run a movie at the clubhouse. Once again, good to spend time with family.

Feb 21st we fixed breakfast using some of the food left over from the wedding, and after cleaning up we drove to Orlando. We had gotten a $50.00 gift certificate to Target and we stopped at one mid way to Orlando and as we walked around the store we could not find anything to buy. Isn’t it a terrible thing to have $$$ and not know how to spend it. We then went to Eddie and Debbie’s place for a short visit, prior to going to Larry’s birthday party. It was a surprise birthday party for Larry; it was a great party as there were about 45 people there. As the party got going we sang happy birthday to Larry and he then started to open a lot of gifts, and of course our minds were not with it, we left our card back at Eddie’s place in our car but we did remember to take his gift along. Later in the evening as the younger generation was doing Karaoke some of us senior citizens crashed the party and joined in and for a while stole the show from the kids, but after about an hour we gave it up. It was a great time and we are glad that we were invited.

Feb. 18th well it was the day we were looking for
and a very hectic day it was. We started out by making breakfast for Jeff & Shirley here at the camper; it was so nice to be able to sit outside to eat. After that Kathleen & Shirley went shopping, which turned out to be more or less window shopping. At that time Jon was giving Jeff some Motorhome 101 as they are buying a motorhome on their way home from Florida. Later afternoon Jon & Jeff went to the local Wal-Mart and picked up the meat & veggie trays that we ordered, and also some drinks for the party after the wedding. After four o’clock Craig & Ginny came over and we went to the gazebo to do some decorating, we had planned on lighting candles around the area but because of the prevailing winds that was not possible. After we finished up with that we got changed into our wedding clothes and Jon went to the main parking lot to meet with Jeff & Jackie (pastor and his wife), also parking there were Debbie, Eddie, Angie, Larry, Mike & Kathy. As Jon went down to the gazebo he was welcomed by his Aunt Minerva as she was sitting in the gazebo, we had invited her but we hadn’t heard from her, it was so great to see her there and it made our day. We got everybody to the gazebo and got ready for the ceremony. With about 40 people in attendance we started on time and as the ceremony was finishing, it went from daylight to sunset and it was a spectacular sight as the Lord painted a great picture. We hosted a party afterwards for all of our guests and we had a great time.

Feb. 17th Our good friends from PA, Jeff and Shirley, arrived at our place before noon. We gave them a short tour of Adelaide Shores and then went out for a round of golf at the Country Club of Sebring. The day was beautiful and we had a great time. After golf we went to a local pub for dinner and visited for quite a while. They’ll join us tomorrow for breakfast and help with the wedding preparations.

Feb. 14th quite a lot to catch up on as we are into a routine here and miss out on keeping up with the journal. A little over a week ago we had a cold snap and during that time Jon came down with a chest cold that set him down for about three days, two days he didn’t go out of the motor home. On the third day, being the kind sharing person he is, he gave it to Kathleen and she had a head and throat cold. She was at the point that she missed bowling and golf for the week. We are both getting better at the present time and are doing a lot of preparation for the wedding. We ordered the food and bought some decorations for the food table, we are looking forward to the day. On Thursday Jon along with 3 other men from Sun-n-Fun RV Resort went to Daytona for the day, they had a great day and the racing was equally as good. Kathleen stayed at the resort and had plenty to do as she helped to make salad for the night’s pizza party. After that she decorated a T-shirt with studs as they had a “Studs for Duds” activity. On Friday Kathleen and Ginny went out and did some more shopping for decorations for the Gazebo, while Jon stayed in the park and did a few chores and then met up with a neighbor for a few afternoon beers. In the evening we went to a Legends Show at the local Community College, what a show as it started at 7:30 and lasted till 11:00 o’clock. Individually, we saw better impersonators, but overall it was a really, really good show and we were glad we went.

January 2009

Jan. 31st today will be a little different as we are not just writing about today, but things that happened during the past week. On Monday while at the weekly bowling outing we signed up to bowl in a tournament to be held on Super Bowl Sunday. This is nothing new to Jon, but Kathleen’s first and as it is only a small in house tournament it will be a good experience. It’s not how we do but, just to have some fun. On Tuesday we went to a breakfast at Dot’s Restaurant with about 50 other Pennsylvanians that are here at the park and it was a good time had by all. After that we decided to go to a 9 hole Executive golf course and we walked it twice as we need to do some exercise. Being a short course it gives both of us chances to sharpen up our games. Wednesday we did our usual morning golf lesson and in the afternoon we continued with our pre marriage counseling at the church and following that we went to the court house and applied for our marriage license. Thursday Jon went to play golf with his usual foursome and Kathleen went and shopped, as this works out great for the two of us. After golf Jon’s golf friends usually stop at the American Legion, and this day Jon joined the Legion. In the late afternoon we went to a Ham and Bean soup at the club house, and probably ate too much of a good thing, also while there we were invited to diner the following night at the Hotel Jacaranda in Avon Park. On Friday it rained most all of the morning and we just were lazy inside, we did get our mail today and were excited to get it as we both had some concerns with different issues. In the evening we went out to dinner and it is a historical building that was built in the 1920’s and has a lot of history. Saturday we did some work around the camper and went to the Rusty Scalpel dinner at the club house. As you can tell this retirement thing is a lot of work.

Jan 25th, we along with Craig & Ginny went to the Highlands Hammock State Park and along with 5 other workampers we had a nice day and totally enjoyed the comradery of the workampers. Those in attendance were Boogity, ORKirk, and Kilogram. It was a time of talking about different situations in the realm of workamping. The day was great and we had a large pavilion with electric at our disposal, it was a pot luck type of meal and as everyone knows campers don’t lack for tasty food. In the late afternoon after arriving back at our site we did some preliminary work for a change of site tomorrow. The site we are on is going to be a park model and we just had to move around to the rear of out old site, we are much better off as at the present time we have sun all day and after tomorrow we will mainly have shade all day.

Jan 20th we changed our Tuesday routine. In the morning we went to an executive golf course and only played 9 holes. This was our first time there and after we found it, we enjoyed the course, it was cool in the morning and as we finished up the wind was also picking up. We had tickets for an afternoon matinee show at the South Florida Community College in Avon Park. The show was for Mark & Clark, who are twin brothers and they have a great handle on playing the piano. Through the years they performed on a lot of TV shows and also Las Vegas and Atlantic City. The show that they put on was fantastic and we really enjoyed it. Along with their playing they added a lot of light comedy to the act. Their repertoire included music from the 40’s through the 90’s.



Jan. 17th we went up to Orlando today and visited and played a round of golf with Jon’s sister and brother-in-law. One thing that we must say is we were followed by a group if very rude and uncaring golfers. We were a foursome and were following a foursome that was very slow which we didn’t have a problem with, being retired we are not in a hurry ourselves. Well anyway the three some behind us were teeing off prior to us hitting our second shot and we had golf balls flying all around us. At one point in time we said to them that they hadn’t hit us yet and to try again. We know that someone reported the group in front of us to the ranger and they were told to speed up their play, and then we were told that the ranger had told them this. We said we were more concerned about the people behind us. Back to our visit with Debbie - after golf we went out and had dinner together and just caught up on a lot of news about both of our families. She has a fine young son doing his duty in Iraq with the U.S. Marines and will be there till May, and at the present time he is in the field sleeping in a tent in the cold desert. We do pray for his safety every day and await his safe return. Once again it was a good day.

Jan. 11th we attended church in the morning. Since we are here for six months and we picked this church, we could not be happier as it has been more than we thought it would be. It is a very friendly place and besides going just on Sunday’s we have been helping with the Angel Food Ministries boxing up food once a month. Also we have gone to several senior dinners at the church. After church there was a Hot Rod show here at the resort. It was held in conjunction with an Ice Cream Social. It was a great afternoon and the weather was fantastic. Later in the afternoon we helped Craig & Ginny with their computer, in setting up a few things on the internet. In the evening we went to the movie of the week here in the resort.

Jan. 10th wow can’t believe that we hadn’t written here in a week. The weeks just go by with our daily routine, which is usually bowling on Monday after a lunch with the neighbors, golf on Tuesday, golf lessons on Wednesday morning, golf on Thursday morning, usually Fridays and Saturdays are open, then Church on Sunday. Back to today as we went along with Craig & Ginny to Lake Kissimmee State Park for the day. On Saturdays and Sundays they have a “Cracker” cow hunter in the park giving a talk on the life and duties of the “Cracker” in the 1870’s. It was quite interesting and we did learn a lot. We took a walk around the park and went up an observation tower to view over the lake. With Craig & Ginny we did some Geocaching and we thing that they are getting the bug, only time will tell. The picture is Jon with the “Cracker” Cow Hunter.

Jan. 3rd in the morning we went to a local flea market and also did some exploring in the area as Kathleen has a Medical appointment and we drove to the area. For the evening meal we once again attended “The Rusty Scalpel” here at the resort and totally enjoyed the meal. This week it was a “Greek” dinner and as before it was great. All we can say is we are doing more good eating than time in the exercise room, we keep on trying to watch our weight but it is a battle. It is a battle that is being held at bay, although it not that easy.

Jan. 2nd we got together with Craig & Ginny and we went to Lake Placid. What a great day as in town they have over 40 murals painted on the sides of buildings. We walked throughout the town finding the murals and the biggest majority had hidden items painted into them and we had to find the hidden items. Luckily we found a shop and bought a book that showed the location of the murals and a history about each one. We found a great place to eat and plan on going back in the near future.

December 2008

Dec 28th what a great day we had. After our morning exercise Jon went to pick up his Aunt Minerva in Sebring. Debbie and Harvey and their spouses came down from Orlando and we just had a great time. We were together for over 5 hours and we did a lot reminiscing from both sides of our families. Talked about some of our escapades that we did as kids and our growing up years. We fixed some burgers and hot dogs along with snacks and desserts, as we talked and picked at food all day long. Diets went out the window as this is Christmas week. After taking Aunt Minerva home we attended a dance here at the resort. Just another good day to be had.


Dec. 25th MERRY CHRISTMAS we had a great day as we went up to Orlando in the early morning to be with Jon’s sister and her family, along with Jon’s brother and sister-in-law who came down from PA for two weeks. We had a great time together and totally enjoyed the day. We all laughed and laughed as we told stories about our antics and growing up years on the farm in PA. We viewed a video that was made for “Tiny” by the funeral home. If you remember that Tiny passed away just before Thanksgiving and it was Jon’s brother who was at his side for his last 100 days. They both needed this vacation and they are enjoying it. Their one daughter was so worried about them as it was the first time for them to fly. We all had a great time as this was probably the first time the three of the family got together for Christmas. We also learned that Jon’s niece that lives down here showed up at her parents’ house unexpected in PA. Her husband was dressed as Santa and her daughter was in a big box and when Jon’s sister answered the door she didn’t know Santa, but her granddaughter jumped out of the box, how great is that for a Christmas story. One we are sure will not be forgotten for many years.

The following was read at Tiny's funeral to the Ensminger family from Tiny.

To my Dearest family,
Some things I’d like to say but first of all, to let you know, that I arrived okay. I’m writing this from heaven. Here I dwell with God above. Here, there are no more tears of sadness: here is just eternal love
Please do not be unhappy just because I’m out of sight. Remember that I’m with you every morning, noon and night. That day I had to leave you when my life on earth was through, God picked me up and hugged me and He said, “I welcome you”
It’s good to have you back again: you were missed while you were gone. As for your dearest family, they’ll be here later on. I need you here badly; you’re part of my plan. There’s so much that we have to do, to help our mortal man.
God gave me a list of things that he wished for me to do. And foremost on the list, was to watch and care for you. And when you lie in bed at night, the day’s chores put to flight. God and I are closest to you…in the middle of the night.
When you think of my life on earth, and all those loving years because you are only human, they are bound to bring you tears. But do not be afraid to cry; it does relieve the pain. Remember there would be no flowers, unless there was some rain.
I wish that I could tell you all that God has planned. But if I were to tell you, you wouldn’t understand. But one thing is for certain, through my life on earth is o’er. I’m closer to you now, than I ever was before.
There are many rocky roads ahead of you and many hills to climb. But together we can do it by taking one day at a time. It was always my philosophy and I’d like it for you too…that as you give unto the world, the world will give to you.
If you can help somebody who’s in sorrow and pain, then you can say to God at night…”My day was not in vain”. And now I am contented... that my life has been worthwhile, knowing as I passed along the way, I made somebody smile.
So if you meet somebody who is sad and feeling low, just lend a hand to pick him up, as on your way you go. When you’re walking down the street, and you’ve got me on your mind; I’m walking in your footsteps only half a step behind.
And when it’s time for you to go…from that body to be free, remember you’re not going…you’re coming here to me.

Ruth Ann Mahaffey (author)

Dec. 20th what a great day is turned out to be. First we went to our church and helped pack boxes for Angel Food Ministries. Today was pick-up day and along with about 200 other helpers we got the job done without any trouble. This is the first time that we got a box ourselves and it will sure help the monthly food budget, as what we got for $30.00 will feed us for over a week. On the way back to our site we stopped at Craig & Ginny’s to show them what was all in the box, as they are interested in getting one next month. When they saw the contents it was a sell and we think they will be getting one next month, this is a great program and we a thankful that we can help. We just rested in the afternoon and got ready for our Gourmet meal that we signed up for at the resort. We have in the resort a surgeon that retired 14 years ago and about 6 years ago he attended culinary school to follow a passion he had for years to be a chef. In the past week he interviewed for help, and we were in the running but were not picked, and he added 6 more to his staff. The meal was a 5 course Italian cuisine meal that lasted over two hours, and to say a meal is wrong as it was a fantastic event, not only a meal but socializing with fellow residents here at the resort. We got to meet more people here and are finding out every day how much of a family that this place is becoming. It was a great day; and we know we will have to get to know the exercise room even better.

Dec. 19th what a great day, the weather was just perfect and along with Craig & Ginny (co-workampers at S-N-F from last winter) we went to the Bok Tower Sanctuary. We had such a wonderful day and it seems that each time we go it gets better, at this time of the year they have Pinewood all decorated for Christmas and every room is like going into a Christmas Shoppe. Pinewood when it was built was on an adjacent property and was built by Mr. Buck who at that time owned Bethlehem Steel Corp; for his winter house, the craftsmanship in the build was fantastic. Since that time and two owners later it has been added to the Bok Tower Sanctuary. Just the laid back serenity peacefulness of the area is great. We spent over 4 ½ hours at the tower and gardens and probably didn’t really want to leave. It is built on the highest land mass in FL and the tower itself goes up 205 feet and houses 60 bronze bells that are played over the course of the day, and at this time of the year it is Christmas music. If you ever get to central FL and have a day to spend and relax this place is great therapy and enjoyment. We could go on and on about this place, but we will return here again.

Dec. 17th we went to our golf lessons in the morning as this will be our last one till January. We than got ready to go to Downtown Disney as we were to meet up with some friends that we hadn’t seen it quite a while. We meet up with Bill & Kathy at Raglan Irish Pub and had a great time with them, and enjoyed a great meal and drinks. We made plans to get together again in the near future.

Dec. 12th Jon went out golfing as yesterday after three holes the skies opened up and it rained for most of the day. The course told the group to return today and start over again, and we thought it was a nice gesture on their part. In the afternoon we went to a meeting to help an in house chef to prepare a dinner once or twice a month. It was more of an interview for the jobs that are available, if one of us is picked the other one will have the opportunity to go to all of the meals for the rest of the season. After the meeting we went to a local opening of a Winn-Dixie, We had enough food to feed us as they were handing out samples, along with wine and cheese, and deserts we had a great time. They also had a jazz ensemble playing in the store and it was a festive time. Just another great day in FL.

Dec. 10th we had our golf lessons this morning, it is a three hour lesson and we have learned so much by taking them. The best part of this that it is free till the end of the year and starting the New Year it will be $3.00 per person per week. The same couple that gives the lessons also sets up all of the weekly outings for the resort at several golf courses. We both play golf on Tuesdays and have lessons on Wednesday and usually Jon plays on Thursdays as well. In the afternoon our good friends Mike & Kathy came over and visited with us and Craig & Ginny. Mike & Kathy worked with us last winter in Sarasota and returned back for another year of work. They just got to FL from MI and were happy to be here as all of the cold weather came early in the north. We did have a great time visiting with them and we are hoping to get back together with them along with Ron & Pat.

Dec. 7th after going to church and returning back to the resort Johanna contacted us. They are also workampers and at the present time are eroute to a job in Key Largo. They are at a nearby town for a few days and we like to get together with other workampers. Craig and Ginny went along with us and we went to visit in the afternoon. Israel, Johanna, Craig and Ginny will be working at the same location next summer, Craig & Ginny have worked at this place for several years and it was good to meet new coworkers. We will be about 175 miles from where they will be next summer and maybe we can meet up with them. We all went out to get something to eat at a Chinese restaurant.

Dec. 3rd we had our weekly golf lessons that go from 9am till noon, we still can’t get over the information that we are gaining. Kathleen had lessons before and Jon never did, but this is such a great help to both of us. After we got back to the resort we decided to take a walk and welcome Ginny back from her trip to Mass., and she told us of her journeys as this was the first time she ever flew, it was a good time. After that we were walking around and started to talk with another couple we met here, Dennis & Pat and we found out that they were also going to the performing arts center at the local college for tonight’s performance of “The Three Red-neck Tenors” and they said that they drive tonight. What a great performance that the red-neck tenors put on, it was a two and one/half hour show and there was a red-neck story behind it. We are lucky to be this close to the center as they have a lot of shows lined up for the winter season.

November 2008

Nov. 30th we went to church this morning, the church that we are attending has 4 services on the weekend and those are Saturday evening and on Sunday an 8:30, 10:00 and 11:30. We had chosen to attend the 8:30 service and as we did we also found out that this is the more traditional service and as we prefer the older hymns this is good for us. After church we stopped for breakfast (which we seldom do) and then went shopping at Wal-mart for food, to our surprise here was a weekend between Thanksgiving and Christmas and we got a front row parking spot. In the afternoon we went to visit Jon’s aunt that lives in Sebring, they are in the middle of a house restoration and it is coming along great and when finished will be just the way that they want it. What a great visit we had as Jon has not had a lot on contact with Minerva for years, we just learned so much about her. We did meet up with her in Washington back in June and she gave us a copy of her poems, we now found out she is on her second novel, and continues to write. She is not published but we still would like to read her work. She showed us a list of all of the books she read from 7th grade in school and at one time she had over 3000 books. Since Aug. she has read a dozen books, this along with her painting, which we saw some of her work, keeps her quite busy. We parted and she sent about 6 books with us to read and we know we will get together again soon.

Nov. 27th “HAPPY THANKSGIVING” what a wonderful day, as we arose this morning and took our walk around the resort we could smell all of the aromas of the day. As they were fixing many turkeys for the feast, they out sourced the cooking to a lot of homes and it was an aroma all around the park. We walked in the club house and they were fixing the stuffing there and that was great. As we got back Kathleen prepared a dish for the food line and that made a wonderful smell in the MH. When we did go to the dinner that fed over 200 people, we noticed that there was enough food for probably 350 people. We had invited Craig to sit with us and we supplied the wine (which seemed to be the choice of drink), Craig’s wife Ginny is still up north in Mass. With her sister who just had an operation and will be away for a few days yet. As most of you are aware we full-timers spend holidays on the road and we enjoy the road family we have and the people around us. It is always nice to spend time with your biological family but that is not always the case, so being around extended family is great. After the meal it was either one or two things; take a nap or go out and do some exercise to work off the meal, we took a nap.

Nov. 26th today was a very sad day, we lost a close family friend who was as close to the family as any can get. He was Jon’s brother’s best friend from high school. John (Tiny) Leffler played Santa for the family as our family was growing. He was always fun to be around and he made those around him laugh, that was if you were in the local police force and he was driving his El Camino and were chasing after him. Even if the local police had fits over him, they all came to be his friend. Tiny was much too young to pass on and will be sadly missed by all. He made his peace with the Lord and when our time comes we will see him again.

Nov. 22nd we went to our church to do some volunteer work, as we packed boxes of food for Angel Food Ministries. This is a great bargain as you can get enough food to feed a family of four for a week for $30.00. It was a lot of work as the church packed nearly 1500 boxes and we each did a part towards it. It the afternoon Jon’s aunt Minerva called and we set up a date to meet, she stays in Sebring in the winter which is much better then Washington. After that we just had a relaxing day.

Nov. 19th in the morning we went to the free golf clinic that is held every Wednesday at the resort. The clinic was held at River Green GC and it was so much more than we expected. It lasted for three hours and had a lot of group and personal instruction. As the one instructor put it you are here to work on your golf swing, not the results. As we know once the swing is better defined the results will get better. We had a 1 o’clock appointment to have an oil change; it turned out to be a good experience. As well as changing the oil and filter they also checked lights, wipers, tire tread depth and air pressure and all of this for $15.00. In the evening we went to card bingo again and even though we didn’t win we were close several times and we had a good time.

Nov. 17th in the morning we went to the club house, as on every Monday they have coffee and donuts with a weekly meeting. It is set up to pass on information and to get ideas to help make the resort more enjoyable. A lot of the residents are on different committees to help make the resort run better. Monday is our bowling day and it is just whoever wants to bowl goes to the local alley together and bowl. It is a good time and we get to meet a lot of new friends. Kathleen went to a nutrition class in the afternoon. The instructor, Jayne, gives nutrition tips and information. Each week the group will meet and prepare a meal together, to be divided and taken home to enjoy.

Nov. 15th this morning the resort had a sausage gravy & biscuit breakfast and we had an enjoyable time, not only with the meal but with our fellow residents. Kathleen than put a crock pot meal together that we will enjoy later. Jon’s sister and niece came down from Orlando and the four of us played 18 holes of golf, what a great time as the weather was great and the company was the best. This was the first time that we played on this course, it is a fairly long course and we could not believe the layout as there is sometimes up to a 1/4 mile between holes. After we were finished we came back and have a nice visit and a good meal from the crock pot. We plan on getting together a lot more while we are here. After the last two days we retired early for the night as our bodies are not what they used to be.

Nov 14th after breakfast we wanted to find out more about our departed mouse, and now for the rest of the story. Since catching and disposing of the critter we were concerned that when we got him, a whole wedge of Decon poison was gone, but no further evidence of his family so we went to the basement and removed all of our storage containers and naturally in last container we found his nest. All of the poison was there along with some Cheerios and spaghetti were there, we knew that he was into these food products and we had thrown them out last week. We now feel better knowing he was alone. In the afternoon we picked up Craig & Ginny and went over to Titusville to view the Shuttle launch and it was a two hour drive, we found a spot at a city park that was on the water edge and from a distance we could see the launch pad. It fired right on time and was a beautiful sight, it was near full moon and as the shuttle rose it went past the moon what a great show. Upon leaving it was a four hour journey back and it took three hours just to get to Orlando (50 miles) as the traffic was stop and go all the way.

Nov 12th in the morning we did a few small jobs around the camper, also Kathleen went to her daily aquacise workout in the pool. We then went across the street to River Greens to play a round of golf. We had called and it was a shotgun start and we were paired up with another couple, what a great way to meet new friends. We found out that this couple also camped at Adelaide Shores in the site next to ours a few years ago, they asked us to say “Hello” to some of our neighbors. After diner Kathleen suggested that we go to bingo and Jon sort of drug his feet on it. Well wouldn’t you know the big winner on the night was Jon as he won 1 game and then split another bingo and on the last bingo of the night, which cost double to play split the coverall. At a quarter a game and about sixty people not to bad.

Nov.9th we found a church that we will be attending while here in FL. We had a nice time there and met some new friends. After that we came back to the resort and took it easy, later we had Craig & Ginny over for dinner which was some of the chili. We had a good visit and then the four of us went to the club house for the Sunday night movie which this week was “The Bucket List” . We had seen it before but we just had to see it again as we really enjoyed it.

Nov. 8th was another great day as we awoke and Jon started to fix a large pot of Chili in the crock pot. We than did some more cleaning and went to the club house to check on upcoming activities. Jon finished up his online class for a part time job. After that we biked over to Craig & Ginny’s (we worked with them last winter and they were as dissatisfied there as we were, plus we were looking for different places this winter and they found this place first and informed us and we are glad that it worked out) for a short visit. We had other guests in the afternoon that we first met online at workamper.com, and then at the Gypsy Journal Rally in Ohio. Larry & Sharon are going to be camp hosts in the Everglades this winter; we did take a walk to the lake and sat down to eat some good chili. After a great visit we then went to the Dance at the club house and had a great time, as well the entertainment was great.

Nov. 5th we got the mouse and it does make us feel better, it was only one but we still have the poison and traps set for any more that might be aboard. This is our first full day here and the park is great. Still haven’t seen the sun but we know that it will show up sooner or later. We did go out to Wal-mart which is only 2 miles away, which after this summer is an adjustment that we have to get used to. As a matter of fact being in the middle of all of the commerce here is an adjustment from the summer in Montana.

Nov. 4th we finished our trip to Avon Park and got in the afternoon and set up. Still didn’t get the mouse but we know he is here. Craig and Ginny came over to our site and we visited for a while, we worked with them last winter and they found this park as we were both looking to go to a new park for the winter. We are glad that we will be together again, and hope to have a great time here. The drive was a good drive all of the way even though we have yet to see sunshine, the last we saw the sun was on Saturday.

Nov. 3rd a long day of travel and we don’t like to travel this far but because Jon made an error in setting up our cable connection we have to be on site in Florida by Wednesday morning. We traveled about 600 miles and spotted at a Wal-mart that is right aside of the interstate. We shopped in the store to get supplies to fight the mouse. We set out poison and several traps.

Nov. 2nd it was just a great day as we enjoyed the friendship at Camp Fox, as Linda’s mother and brother were there. Also their neighbor was at the fire which we had going all day. We will have to make a good load of wash as the smoke from the fire is in our clothing; it does smell good but will probably turn to wood when we have a load of wash. We bid farewell to Fox & Linda in the evening as they had to go to work early and we were leaving early as well. We did find out when we got back to the motor home that we had an extra passenger, the trail of a mouse was spotted and we knew we had a job on our hands.

Nov. 1st after a great breakfast we went to the “Punkin Chunkin” and just had a great day. The event was saying that there would be about 70,000 people and because of the great weather we think there was more than that. The air cannons were great and while watching them Kathleen got a phone call from her brother saying that he was there and we found him about 50 ft. away, it was a surprise that he was there and it was not planned on his part but he had to come to the area to fix a leak in his Delaware home. As we were watching the catapults’ a few of them literally fell apart as they were getting ready to make their launch. We did see a world record with one of them. We came back and started a fire. After dinner we stayed at the fire as some of Fox and Linda’s friends came and we had, as always a great time.

October 2008

Oct, 31st we had an early breakfast with Jeff and Shirley and while there we saw several other people that we hadn’t seem in a while and we said hello and good-by to them. After Kathleen had her appointment for a medical test, we got ready to leave. We discovered that our awning wasn’t working and we decided to wait till we got to Florida to repair it. We topped off with propane and also filled up the fuel tank to start the journey. We then drove the 3½ hours to Camp Fox or as we call it “Our Delaware Home”. We had a great time visiting with a usual gathering, we know that in three weeks it will be very full here for the annual Christma Tree lighting, we did this last year and had a great time and we hate to miss it this year. We are hoping that we can do it another year.

Oct. 30th it was a day of saying good-byes, all day we were saying good bye to friends and family and it was a hard day all around. Upon saying good bye to Tiny we left with the deep feeling that this would be the last time we see him here on earth, we do wish the best for him and hope we see him in the spring. We saw Jon’s mom, Kathleen’s brother and a few of his sons, also Kathleen’s son and daughter-in-law and her granddaughter.

Oct. 26th we went to church and bid farewell to a lot of our friends there. In the afternoon we went to Kathleen’s son’s home and had supper with them and we enjoyed the visit. It was also a sad time as to say good bye to friends and family.

Oct. 25th we went to a pancake and sausage breakfast that was put on by the local Lions Club, it was very good and we also did a lot of socializing with a lot of people we hadn’t seen in quite a while. After that we went visiting to our friend that has cancer, he had several visitors and we all had an enjoyable time. We will get to see him one more time before we leave. After that we started to go to Red Run CG but on the way we stopped at an Amish store along the way and loaded up on our supplies. We got to the CG in the afternoon and did a lot of visiting before Jon helped out with the Haunted House; it was a slow night as the weather was terrible and we finished up quite early. Once again we had a great day. We want to thank all the campers at the Campground making us feel at home.

Oct. 22nd got an early start as Jon had a Dr.’s appointment and while he was there Kathleen ran some errands of her own. After going out for breakfast we went to a bike shop and got some parts for our bikes. Later in the afternoon Kathleen took her granddaughter to visit with some of her old work friends, just another cool day in PA. We are now looking forward to moving on to warmer weather.

Oct 20th Jon had a early blood test and after that went to visit with his mother, at the same time his one cousin was there and they all had a good time just making small talk. In the afternoon we went out and hit some golf balls at the local driving range. Just sort of a lazy do not much of anything day. As we can feel the temps getting lower we are looking forward to going South in the near future.

Oct. 19th we went to church this morning and had a great time visiting with some of our friends there, also we had Kathleen’s granddaughter along and she meet a lot of new friends. Later in afternoon Kathleen’s granddaughter was picked up by her parents and they were recuperating from yesterday’s football game at Penn State. We than went to visit a very sick friend prior to us going to Kathleen’s brother house for dinner, we had a great time just finding out news on the local front as he is a the small town barber.

Oct. 18th as we had Kathleen’s granddaughter we slept in for the morning and were late getting up and moving. In the afternoon Kathleen and her granddaughter did a lot of the Halloween activities here at the CG. Jon in the afternoon went to Red Run CG and helped with the haunted house that was built. Also while there he went to a birthday party that was held for one of the campers there. The haunted house was very good again and some of the costumes were just fantastic, as always all involved in the haunted house were up to the task and made it a great time. Both of us will be going next week.

Oct. 17th we left early this morning as Kathleen had a Dr.’s appointment and prior to that we did some shopping at an Amish store. We tend to find a lot of good deals at these stores and we also but a lot of bulk items there as well. While Kathleen was at the Doctors, Jon went to shop at Wal-mart. Than the both of us did a little shopping of two chairs. We would like to replace the chairs in the dining room of the MH, and we have been looking for a while and we might even be looking while we are in FL. In the afternoon Jon went down to Red Run CG to help with the haunted house and just meeting up with old friend and some of the weekend campers he hasn’t seem in a while. Kathleen got her granddaughter today and she will have her for the weekend as Kathleen’s son and daughter-in-law have season tickets for Penn State and are going up to State College and camp for the weekend, they are all excited as Penn State plays Michigan and hope to break their losing record against them. In the afternoon Kathleen along with her friend and granddaughter went to a RV Resort and did some swimming in the indoor pool. It was a long day for the both of us , but it was another great day.

Oct, 16th another great day in PA, Jon and his brother-in-law went and played a round of golf at Tree Top GC. Had some good holes but overall not as well as I would of liked. Just started to make some changes in the swing and hand position, can see where it will make a big improvement as I get on to it. As for now it is a little different but I can already see a difference in distance. In the evening Jon went to the local VA and picked up a CPAC machine to help him to sleep better at night. The problem has been a lot better in the last 1 ½ years than it was prior to that time, it is not a good thing to stop breathing while you sleep.

Oct. 15th we had and morning meeting with our financial advisors this morning and even though the market is way down we are not as bad off as we thought, we even decided to do a little more buying. In the afternoon we took Kathleen’s granddaughter on her first Geocaching adventure, she enjoyed walking in the woods and finding the treasures, we think that we got her hooked. Jon sure would like to take two other little girls Geocaching, but we doubt that will happen. In the evening we went to the Elton John concert at the Giant center. The concert was a big disappointment, way too loud and couldn’t even hear EJ as he sang. We had our seats changed and it helped somewhat, but we left early, wishing we had stayed home and watched the Presidential debates instead. We had attended two other concerts in the last two years and they were quite enjoyable as it was not nearly overbearing loud.

Oct. 14th the dreaded day at the dentist. It was our semi-annual day for our checkups and all went well as they gave a good report and to return in the spring. After that we went and bought some upgrades for the computer, Jon then installed them and it made quite a difference. In the evening we had to prepare supper for our bed ridden friend, it was a labor of love that we could do this for him and Jon’s brother who is staying with him. We had a nice visit and tried to keep his spirits up at this time, he will have many hard days in front of him.

Oct. 13th Jon went down to help set up a haunted house for Red Run Campground and had a good time working there and enjoying all of the friendship. Kathleen was babysitting her granddaughter and in the evening we got together with some of our friends and went to Sight & Sound. It was Jon’s first time there and he enjoyed it a lot. It is such a great theater that is set up for shows that include animals. They sure do make a fantastic stage play with it and if anyone can make the show it is worthwhile.

Oct. 12th we took Jon’s mother to church and had a great time there. Because of scandals in the church in the not to recent past, attendance is way down and a lot of people are waiting to see what happens at the church. We enjoyed the church and the people that were there are real friendly and we just had a good time. In the afternoon we went to Kathleen’s sons home and spend a while looking at photo’s of their trip to Disney World, they just got back on Friday and made up a photo album on Saturday, Kathleen’s granddaughter did have a fantastic time as she did all of the Princess things and got a lot of autographs. After that we went to visit another friend from the campground and just caught up on a lot of information from the local area. We showed our pictures from the summer and they were received with great admiration.

Oct 11th another great day as we went to the campground that Jon used to own, it was great to renew old friendships with the campers. We got there in the afternoon and stayed though the evening and into the dance that they had. It was just a great time to be had.

Oct 9th took Jon’s mom to the pain clinic and she got a shot to block her hip pain. It helped right away as she could go up steps a lot better. We than took about a 1 ½ hour drive to meet with some more friends. They own a business in the mountains and it is such a beautiful area, as some of the leaves are changing. We took some information from another friend of both of ours. We were given a tour of the property and just had a great time together. In the future we will see if our plans would permit us to stay there. On the return trip we visited with a very good friend in the hospital. At the present time all we can do is be there for him, as the medical staff can not do any more for him. He is remembered in all of our prayers.

Oct. 8th this past Sunday Kathleen had to prepare for a medical test that is scheduled for Monday. She did very well and after the test was told that all is well and she was good for another ten years. Jon was driving his mother around on Monday morning to Dr. appointments that she had. Tuesday we were back cleaning up the MH , that is still from Montana and we also changed the Generator oil and filter, and changed the spark plugs in the car. While changing the spark plugs Jon dropped a plug down in the front of the car and had to remove the front of the car to retrieve it. It’s not hard to remove and only takes about 10 minutes, we are glad that it is that simple. Tuesday evening we met with some good friends for supper and we had such a great time catching up on the events of both of our journeys. We spent over two hours together and we had picked a restaurant that wasn’t all that full. On Wednesday Kathleen had another Dr. appointment for some tests, following that we took Jon’s mother to another Dr. visit. We are glad that Jon’s mother has a lot of medical visits while we are at home as we came take some of the burden off of Jon’s sister and she can spend more of her time baby sitting her grand sons. After we took Mom back home we had a tee time for a round of golf with another good friend and is was an enjoyable afternoon. Finished up with supper with our friends and it was just a great day. So far since we have been here Jon has played golf at least once a week.

Oct. 4th we went out for breakfast this morning after that Kathleen went to visit with her friends and Jon went to a midget football game. He had a good time and got some pictures of his granddaughters. After that we came home and just had a nice afternoon together. Finished staining our bench that was given to us by Glenn & Chris when we left Montana. It is a great little bench that is 4 ft. wide and comes completely apart for travel and can be stored in the back of our Vue. After the hectic month we had last month it sort of feels strange just to relax and do maintenance on the MH. We have been walking around the campground and making new friends and renewing old friends and just generally having a good time.

September 2008

Sept. 30th can’t believe that it has been a week since our last entry. We are falling into a daily routine as Kathleen babysits and Jon does some repairs and fix ups. During the last several days Kathleen had a bad head cold and as the weather was bad, a lot of rain we just sort of stayed in and relaxed for several days. Also on Thursday we visited an old family friend as he is now recovering from an operation and at the present time he started cancer treatments. We also continued to make the upgrades on the MH that we hope to help with the living style. Yesterday the weather broke and it turned out to be a nice day, Jon went out and played a round of golf with some friends. They had two threesomes that played 18 holes finishing up near dark.

Sept. 23rd we did some clean-up and repair on the motor home in the morning and then as Kathleen’s granddaughter came Jon left to play golf with Kathleen’s son at one of the local courses. In the evening we visited with Kathleen’s brother and viewed pictures and just had a great time, it was a long day and rest came very easy.

Sept. 22nd Jon went to do some shopping for items to do some work on the motor home and to install the equipment we bought at the Rally last week. He also had to do some banking and he stopped in for another visit with his mom. Kathleen started to babysit her granddaughter as she will be doing that while we are in the area, they have a great time together and this time we are parked next to the play ground. We went to the hotel in Grantville for supper and had a meal fit for royalty, just another good day in our lives.

Sept. 21st we attended church and had a good time seeing a lot of friends. We couldn’t spend a whole lot of time after church as we were invited to both of Kathleen’s son’s home in the afternoon. We had a great time visiting and catching up on the families, we ought to make a video on our travels and show it so that we don’t leave out any information. Later in the day we went to “Cabela’s” to get our chairs and to pick up a set of flannel sheets. It is a shame that Jon’s daughter won’t meet with him as he has tried to make contact and is rebuffed at all times.

Sept. 20th we finished our journey to PA and we got to the local CG at about 1:00 pm were we set up for our month stay. After setting up we went and visited Jon’s mom and had a good time. Upon leaving, Kathleen’s son called as they were returning from the Penn St. football game and they met us at the CG and we got pizza and had a nice visit, Kathleen got to see her almost 5 year old granddaughter. It was a very good day and we were glad to be back in our home area.

Sept. 19th we are leaving the Rally today and it is another great event that we leave with sadness as a lot of the friends we made we possibly wouldn’t see again, that is the way of fulltimers and RVer’s in general. We will keep up with some through their blogs. As we left we had our Motor Home weighed and were quite happy with the results, the front was balanced on both sides and the rear was 50 lbs. more on the driver’s side. One little problem was that the rear was just a little overweight, but so is America Ha-Ha. We drove across Ohio to Columbus and than got on Rt. 70 into West Virginia were we stopped at a new Cabela’s. A new exit was created for Cabela’s and they are still doing a lot of construction in the area. We are still looking for chairs and this being the 3rd Cabela’s we stopped at, the chairs we wanted were not in stock but they called the store in Hamburg and they have them and will put two away for us. We can pick them up next week. We than drove to the Wal-mart in Somerset, Pa. for the night, did a little shopping to pay for our site, He-He. We did remap our route as the little we were on the turnpike we felt we paid to much money, so we are taking another way which is about 35 miles longer and still save some $$.


Sept.18th after coffee & Donuts we took the first session off to get some things done around the Motor Home. Jon was working with Mac McCoy “The Fire Guy” on getting a fire extinguisher for the engine compartment, since the regular ones he sells would not fit. After a lot of ideas Mac came up with a salutation and it will work fine. At that time Kathleen was baking dessert for tonight as “Boogity” invited over for supper tonight. We attended classes the rest of the day and picked up a lot of information that will be useful in this life style. We than went to “The Boogity Express” for supper and had a nice visit, we will be working together next summer and it looks like it will be a lot of fun. We had the last of the door prizes tonight and everybody over the course of three days got a door prize plus more, with the ending of this event we returned to the motor home as it is the end of the rally. During the day we did wish Nick the best for the future and thanked him so much for the rally.


Sept. 17th we went to the coffee and donuts and as usual we meet some more great RVers there. After that we attended one class and than we did a local Geocaching, than went to the local Wal-Mart for a few items. Since we had got gift certificates for a small milk shake at Wendy’s we stopped there for lunch. When we returned we bought an Electrical Management System and set up our time to get weighed on Friday. We attended class in the afternoon and picked up some pointers and useful information. We than got ready for the pizza party that was held for the Rally which was followed by a show by “One More Time”. We sat in a group from “RV-Dreams” and had a nice evening, just a great day at the Rally. Have to say that since we have been here it has been so relaxing and our sleep has been very good.


Sept. 16th in the morning the day started with coffee and donuts and we another couple (Donna &Bob) who we found out that we had meet her best friend in Montana this past summer at the Workamper cookout at LoneHurst CG. We had a full day of classes and learned or passed on information. We looked at two items we feel that we are going to buy for the Motor Home and that being a Electrical Management System and a engine mounted fire extinguisher. It will make our home safer. In the evening we went to the door prize event and we won a free RV weighting gift certificate, we will get the coach weighted on Friday before we leave. Also we have been looking for several people from another web site and one couple that was setting across from us and won a prize was one of those couples and we went up to them afterwards and while talking to them the other couples came up as we all got together. We are planning to get together at the pizza party on Wednesday. The one couple did come over in the evening and we had a nice talk and wouldn’t you know they are parked right across the field right in front of us. Another great day at the Rally.

Sept. 15th we did some morning clean up and chores and met some more of the people here at the Rally. The activities started at 2:00 PM and we started with the Rally events and other than a break for supper we didn’t get back to the Motor home till 9:30 PM. It was a good day and for us it is a much needed down time.

Sept. 14th as we awoke to a new day we really liked the New Lisbon CG, it was very clean and all of the campers were very friendly. We did some more clean up and jus a relaxing morning. We left and stopped about a mile away for breakfast at the local truck stop and we than filled up with fuel. The fuel was advertized at $3.899 and we thought we were getting a good but, when we went in to pay for it they charged .239 cents for tax on top of that which we found out later that is the way Indiana does it. All we can say is that is the last time for fuel in Indiana. We arrived at the Gypsy Journal Rally a little before noon and got set up before Ike got here. We would say that we got maybe ¼ inch of rain but we had a lot of wind, every body at the rally came through without and major damage just a lot of downed limbs and branches. Till 7:00 PM it was all over and getting back to normal.

Sept. 13th upon leaving St. Louis and crossing the Mississippi River we felt good about this, also as it was the first time we saw the Gateway to the West Arch. We continued through Illinois and into Indiana about 25 miles from the Ohio border. It was a good day for a drive and we had no rain as we know Hurricane Ike is somewhere near us. After we stopped we started to clean up the motor home, we had a dust from the summer and it was a long over due for a clean. The weather was dry but very humid some thing we have not experienced over the summer.

Sept. 12th, we woke up to rain and we started out from Great Bend in the rain and we drove about 1 hour till we got to Rt. 70 that will be our main road for the rest of the journey. We drove in the rain for about six hours till we got east of it. We tried calling several Wal-Marts in the St. Louis area and none of them allow overnight parking. Coming into St. Louis we found a Campground and stayed for the night. We did go to Cabela’s looking for chairs, but with no luck. This Cabela’s is in a mall setting and is not even close to the one in PA. in size and items on display. We did stop at a nice Cabela’s in Utah and it was a very good store. After looking at the situation in St. Louis we can understand why there is no over night parking at the major stores, as there is no room and space is at a premium.

Sept. 11th, another full day of travel ahead of us as we figure about 425 miles. It was a really good weather day and the drive was good. We got to Great Bend, Kansas we found the local Wal-Mart and set in for the night. Soon after we stopped it started to rain.

Sept 10th, we arose early this morning as we are now heading east to get back to PA. We had to go into the park to fill up with fresh water, which as we drove up there was no one in line and we connected to fill. It took about 20 minutes to fill and the line grew as we were filling, upon finishing we left and went out the East side of the park and took a few Pictures along the way. We than headed across the northern part of Arizona towards Four Corners on Rt. 160 which is very picturesque. We stopped at Four Corners and did the picture thing and also had lunch, after that we followed Rt. 160 into Colorado and went up over Wolf Creek Pass which is near 11,000 feet high. The motor home did a fine job going up and than back down. We stopped for the night in Alamosa, CO at the local Wal-mart.

Sept. 9th we awoke and after breakfast we packed some packs with water and snacks. We took off for the Grand Canyon, there we got on a shuttle bus and went first to Yaki Point From there we boarded the bus and went to the Eastern end of the Rim Trail and walked the trail as far as we could to the west. It was a great day as there were a few clouds in the sky and the temps were in the low 70’s. We did get to see a rain storm that was in the canyon and on the North Rim, we never got a drop of rain from it. We than did some shopping and on the way home we did one Geocache. Getting back to the campsite we build a fire and roasted some hot dogs for supper. As we had no TV service we just relaxed and read some books.

Sept. 8th upon awaking we start to get the MH ready for travel, we stored everything and brought the slides in. We than met Jim & Peg for breakfast and had and enjoyable time and said our good by’s. We left Boulder City headed south out of Nevada into California and finally into Arizona. We went from a low elevation of about 1500 feet to almost 7000 feet in today’s journey. We checked into Ten-x CG near the Grand Canyon, a nice CG that has all paved roads and sites even though the sites are somewhat narrow it is still spacious. It is in the Kaibab National Forest and because we have the Senior Pass the cost is $5.00 per night. Since we had the Senior Pass a little over a year it has saved us Hundreds of dollars and the cost was only $10.00. After setting up and fixing something to eat (which was a take home box from the night before) we drove the 10 miles to see the Grand Canyon, since Jon saw if before he watched Kathleen’s expressions as it was her first time at the Canyon. We could go on about the beauty here but words cannot describe the area. We than went to the IMAX theater to watch the story about the Canyon. The high temp we saw today was 101.

Sept. 7th met Jim & Peg and we went for breakfast and then we did the tour of the Hoover Dam. As I was here before and this was Kathleen’s first time we were both amazed at the structure and the hardy men that built it. We spent quite a bit of time there and just enjoyed seeing the construction of the new bridge that is being built over it. The bridge is named to honor two of our country’s hero’s, one being Mike O’Callaghan a past governor of Nevada who lost his leg in Korea, and the second one for Pat Tillman from Arizona who lost his life in Afghanistan, Pat was not the first choice as John McCain was the first choice as he refused saying he is not here for personal gain but to serve others. He not only talk’s the talk but he walk’s the walk, he’s got our vote as he is for real. After that we introduced Geocaching to Jim and Peg as we went looking for 5 caches and found three, one of those we didn’t even go looking for. We think that they got the fever. After that we did some shopping in Henderson and had Supper. We returned to the MH and visited for a short while. It was a great day and was great to be with some of out distant relatives. High temp today was 111.

Sept 6th after a very good nights sleep we got an early start, after about an hour on the road we stopped for fuel ($3.91/gal) and at Cracker Barrel for breakfast. We were surprised at how empty it was as this is Saturday morning and only about 1/5 of the parking lot was full and most of that was for the store sidewalk sale. But than again it is in Utah and we know it is a very fugal state. We continued on towards Las Vegas and to the Canyon Trail RV Park in Boulder City. After setting up we met with Jon’s cousin and his wife and had a great time together. We ventured into Vegas and went to Fremont Street to watch the overhead light show. Prior to the show we ate at Tony Roma’s and had a very good meal. While waiting to be seated Jon put $2.00 in a slot machine and Kathleen invested $1.00 in a machine, Gambling urge satisfied even though either of us hit anything, Priceless. After the meal we walked the four block area and watched several of the street shows. Probably what got our attention the most was the spray painting artist, as their work was great. After watching two overhead light shows we returned back to the CG. High temp for the day was 108.

Sept. 5th we left Moab area and headed towards Capital Reef NP and all we can say what a gorgeous drive. When we got to Hanksville we headed west on Rt. 24 to Capital Reef NP and the scenery was WOW, don’t know of any words to describe it, also we did see some Coyote alone the way. When we got into the Park we stopped at the orchard, as we are in the harvest time of the year, and picked peaches and apples. You could pick all that you wanted for $1.00 per pound, and we picked 20 pounds worth, now it is time for Kathleen to make different items with them. After that we took Rt. 12 towards Bryce Canyon, maybe it was a mistake or good luck as we got to elevations as high as 9600 feet with some 14% hills. Not the best route for a 40 ft. motor home pulling a car as it was a pull going up and as we started down we encountered some cattle on the road. We thought we had enough fuel for the day but with the hills we encountered we had to stop. As we were taking on fuel the lady at the station was somewhat in awl that we came over the mountain and than told us about the next part of the journey. More mountains and at one part for about 300 yards the road was 20 feet wide with no guard rails and several hundred foot drop off on either side all this going down hill. At this point the view was out of this world as well as the rest of the way to Bryce Canyon. At Bryce Canyon we parked the motor home and took the shuttle to Bryce Point, from there we walked 1 ½ miles to Inspiration Point, the views along the way were awesome. We than headed to Rt. 15 to find a Wal-mart to stop for the night as we were totally wiped out. We do have to say that what we saw in the last two days is more than we could ever expect to see in that time period.



Sept. 4th we first went to Canyon Lands NP and explored the area, as we didn’t want to take the car on the dirt roads we only stayed with the paved roads, also we didn’t take any hikes of over one mile as we had a time issue. Such a wonderful area and with so many different sights. At around noon we returned to the Motor home and had a snack and than went to Arches NP and did the sightseeing trip as well. It is hard to believe that there is this much beauty in this area, we knew that the Wall arch fell down about a month ago, but there a so many more and the weather is making new ones all of the time. We are so glad that we have the Senior Pass for the National Park system as it would be costing us a fortune in fees. We than went into Moab to do some window shopping and a little refreshment, tomorrow we leave this area and travel across Utah.


Sept 3rd We left Bingham City, Utah and traveled south 290 miles to the Moab, Utah area. The drive was uneventful other than all of the new scenery that we encountered. It was so nice having cell phone service and also having that service in the campground, as we did not have that luxury during the summer. We made several calls throughout the day to family and friends, just to catch up on the news. Hopefully we don’t use up all of our minutes, LOL. We set up the Motor home on BLM land at the Horse Thief Campground. Just a beautiful site as we are on top of a bluff and it is like we could be in an RV commercial. We set up the Direct Tv dish so that we could watch Sarah Palin, the new VP make her speech at the RNC this evening. After that we ventured into Moab to fill up with gas and to get some information in the area. We did find out that the campsite is 1700 feet higher than the town of Moab.

Sept. 2nd this was our last day of work at Wilderness Edge. We worked till 1:00 pm and got ready to leave. We left at 2:30 and started our trip south, as we were going out of the canyon we took notice that the tops of the higher peaks were getting snow covered. When we got there in May the snow was on the mountains and melted by July, now after 6 to 7 weeks the snow is returning and it is like a new rebirth/season for the mountains. We traveled about 5 hours and stopped in Bingham City, Utah at the friendly Wally world. We went to Sonic to eat and the Dollar Tree store and then we hit Wally’s and spend a lot of time in the store. Kathleen went one way and Jon went his way each to get items on their list we than met and did our general food shopping as we had our shelves bare upon leaving the retreat. It is such a gorgeous view in the parking lot as we are right up against the Bear River Mountain Range.

Sept. 1st while we have one more day of work at this was a little different in that we got about 1/2 inch of snow this morning, we kept kidding them that if we knew it would snow we should of left yesterday. It was a cold blustery day and the fall season is setting in. In the evening the owners took us out to a very nice Inn for a fare well diner. There were worries as we went to the Slide Inn which is along the Madison River. The day before the gates of Hebgen Lake dam were compromised and the river is very high. They even had an alert in Ennis which is about 50 miles away the day before in the event of flooding. The dam itself is ok but some of the 75+ year old wooden gates failed. It was a fun time and at the same time it turned sad as we said some good-bys to Glenn & Chris who have been wonderful managers, that is the hard part about workamping in the good-bys that come after a short work period. Glenn & Chris be well and have a great and long journey through life.