July 2009

VERY SORRY ABOUT THE LACK OF WRITING IN THE MONTH OF JULY. EARLY IT WAS WRITERS BLOCK AND BEING DEPRESSED ABOUT THE WEATHER AND THEN LOSING THE COMPUTER FOR ABOUT TWO WEEKS.

July 30th Jon had inquired at a local golf course about playing and was told that they had a Thursday morning league there. He went this morning and played with the group and will probably playing the rest of the time we are in the area. Since we don’t start to work till 1 PM he has plenty of time for the morning golf. It is by Somes Sound and there was about 100 yards visibility, so you just hit the ball and went to look for it. We did work this afternoon and the day was pretty good.

July 28th we went out and did a hike up some of the carriage trails to a water fall in the area and along the way we did have some nice overviews, something you don’t get to see on the Carriage Trails. Most of the time on the trails around lakes and through the woods, although you do have great views of the lakes. We did get our rescue disks in the mail and we went to work on the computer, seems like it was an easy repair and we didn’t lose too much of our information. So again it was a good day.

July 27th we went to a Car and Motorcycle Museum that is on the island and they do not have anything that is newer than 1920. What a wonderful collection and so well maintained. After that we went back to the Jordan Pond House as last week Jon bought several items and the clerk hadn’t charged for one. He felt bad about this and paid for the item and was thanked by the clerk and told that not many people would do this. We than went to Wally world and did some shopping and one of the items was Damp Rid to try to contain some of the mold, sure hope that it works. Of course it is raining today.

July 22nd in the late morning we got together with Larry & Sharon and went for lunch at the Jordan Pond House. They are leaving tomorrow and we will sure miss them, as we have had a lot of nice times together. They even wanted to give us a present of their two dogs as they went but we quickly declined that offer, we know that they could not part with those two beauties.

July 21st we arose early as we have a 9:00 am appointment in Bangor which is over an hour away. As we were taking down the window screens we discovered a lot of mold in those areas, so we knew that we had some work to do when we return this afternoon. As we pulled into Webb’s RV in Bangor we met up with Bearlady (Leigh & Lee) and while work was being done on the MH we went out for Breakfast. We had a delightful time as we ate a great breakfast and enjoyed conversing with each other. When we returned they were just finishing up with the recall. When we left there we went to a truck shop to but some fuel filters and antifreeze for the MH. We plan on draining the old diluted anti-freeze with new. Back in May when we had the leak we only put water in at that time. When we returned to the CG we started to clean the MH and used a good bit of Clorox. From setting here under the trees and having so much rain most of the time is sure a breeding ground for mold. Later in the afternoon Larry & Sharon came over and we just sat around and sipped a few.

July 20th it seems like I had a severe case of writers block for a few weeks and just when I thought I would write on the blog the computer went down. I did spend a lot of the day on the phone to try to get the computer working and was told by the techs that we needed to buy several rescue disks to fix the problem. We are also getting the MH ready to move as we are going to Bangor tomorrow to have as recall done on the refer unit. We met up with Larry & Sharon as we went to Cadillac Mt. to take pictures of the sunset.

July 1st a new month and we are hoping for better weather as well. We did get together with Larry & Sharon for the day. First we went out on Frenchman’s Bay on a 4 mast Schooner, Jon did help to raise the sails when we got under way. After that we just enjoyed the peace and calm of a sailing ship, with no engine noise to bother anyone. We got to see some seals and several pods of porpoise enjoying their habitat. We also did a couple of geocaches and then went for lunch. To wrap up the day we went to the Lobster Museum and hatchery, a very interesting time as we got to see a lot of different types of sea animals. We also learned about the perils of lobster netting, from a retired lobsterman. Finally, we went into the hatchery part and saw how they raise lobsters from eggs. On their own when lobsters are laid in the sea less than one tenth of one percent survive and with the eggs raised in the hatchery that goes up to above 45% make it to adulthood. The weather was very good and we saw something strange in the sky, it was round and yellow.

June 2009

June 30th as we awoke we were blessed with the beginning of a nice day. The results are in and in the 30 days of June we had rain for 21 of them. Of the 9 days it didn’t rain the sun was out for 7 of them. Jon did get to do a lot of his chores around the MH and in the afternoon we took a hike on the Island. We came to a very pretty cove and spent some time just watching the tide come in and watching as the boats were going about their business. There was one schooner in the cove and it was anchored there and people were fishing off of it. We did have one interesting moment when a chipmunk came up to Kathleen and started pulling on her jacket as she was sitting on a rock at the beach. We did see a change in the weather today.

June 29th what a miserable day as between the rain and the heavy mist and cool temps we just stayed in and felt depressed. Jon had some outside work to do but it could wait for another day. Even yesterday we shut the store at 12 noon for the day as the weather was that bad. Even as bad as it was it is still great to be here and enjoy what we do have.

June 24th in the morning Jon did some work on our heating system and we thought we had it fixed but there are still some problems with it and hope to get it fixed in the near future. After that we had a lunch set up with Leigh & Lee who are workamping in Bangor. They came down and we met them for lunch. Sharon went along with us and we had a good time. We went to the Mainely Meat Barbeque which is next to the Atlantic Brewing Co. After that we went to a winery and did a wine tasting. Once again it was a good day.

June 23rd Kathleen had an appointment with a local doctor to see about getting help for her back. In the afternoon we had planned on taking a boat ride but, as we watched the weather we decided against it and it was a good decision as we had rain. At Coastal Kayaking we had a pizza party in the evening and we had a nice time there. We also got a chance to meet a lot of our fellow workers. We thought it was rather nice of the owner to do this.

June 22nd as we got started today first we did some errands as we had to get back to the MH by 12:30 to have our windshield repaired, we got a chip in the windshield last week and they made the appointment to have it repaired today. After that we went with Larry & Sharon and visited the Abbe Museum which traces the local native Indian nation. It showed all of the hardships that they endured and how they lived, and how in the last 75 years they made an effort to make stride in maintaining their culture. There are two sites to visit to that are part of the Museum. After that we went to the Jordan Pond House and had a bite to eat, must say when you are in the area this is a must stop.

June 15th today was our first of three days off and we had to go to Augusta VA hospital for more tests for Jon. It was good to have a day off as on Friday when we went to work it was raining so hard that we were told to close up the store at 11:00 am. Saturday was a nice day and we did some rentals, sort of slow right now as it is just getting into the tourist season. Sunday was another rainy day and we did no business, but did give out a lot of information, this day we stayed opened for the entire day and it was quite boring. Back to today; as we made the trip we also stopped in Bangor to have our heater core for the MH repaired, and as luck had it they told us to pick it up on our return trip in the afternoon. It will save us a separate trip up to Bangor as that is about 50 miles one way. We did have a bit of a scare on our return from Augusta to Bangor as we knew we were getting low on gas and when the light came on the next three exits were camping only and had no gas stations. We did make it to a gas station and got $10.00 worth of gas to get back to Bar Harbor where we knew that it was a better price. When we arrived there we saw that they had raised their price .09 cents since the morning. We then went to the second best price station and filled up there and just as we were leaving they were raising their prices. The kicker was when we got home and turned on Fox News (is there anything else) we saw that a barrel of oil dropped $2.00, go figure.

June 9th today we went to Augusta VA Hospital for a problem that Jon has had for about a month now. It was a nice ride as we took Rt’s 1 & 3 across the state, it is nice to travel some of the scenic roads. When we left Bar Harbor it was sunny and about 65 degrees, as we traveled further south the temperature dropped and it started to rain. When we arrived the temperature was 50 degrees and quite chilly as it was raining. We were severely underdressed for the area as we only had shorts and a light shirt on. Once again we have nothing bad to say about the VA and their approach to a traveling couple such as us. Jon did have to register into the system and then went to the emergency room for treatment. Jon had a great Dr. there and it looks like the follow up will be great. We had a rainy ride home and we got back about 8 PM. Even with the rain and the chilly day it was a good day.

June 8th our first day off and we did a few chores around the camper, as Kathleen did some clean-up in the MH and Jon removed the heater core and now has to find someplace to have it repaired. We loaded up the bikes and took a ride on the some of the Carriage Roads in Acadia Park. Such a lovely place and all of the wonderful stone bridges that were built by the Rockefeller’s. They are all built with granite stone and the workmanship is second to none. After that we just drove around a little bit and went to the top on Cadillac Mountain. From there you can see the whole island and the towns on it. Of course we hadn’t taken our camera along so we will have to do it again and take some pictures, the scenery is to nice not to take any.

June 7th this is our last day of work for the week and we look forward to having a few days off. What made it somewhat harder we probably stayed to long at the pot luck last night could have done it in our younger days but as we are getting older we realize we can’t do that anymore. We did have a little incident today as one of the scooters we rent out was damaged, the person driving was okay and it was only damage to the scooter. We just hate to see someone have a problem. We work from 8 am to 6pm and it does make for a long day, but at the same time the job is not that hard and it can easily be handled by two people the majority of the time, at time we do get a run on rentals. As we closed for the day we phoned in a pizza order that is located aside of our main store and we pick it up on the way home. When we got home as we were eating we had to make sure we didn’t fall asleep face first into the pizza. After cleaning up we turned in early and got a much needed good night’s sleep.






















June 6th today was our first day to work alone, as most of our training is complete and we will have to figure it out for ourselves. It is not rocket science though and we are pretty confident that we can handle most of it. We know that we made mistakes, Jon more than Kathleen but as we make those mistakes we learn and go on from there. Last night after work we stopped at the local Hannaford store to by some items that we need for tonight’s pot luck. We were invited to this pot luck and at the same time were asked if we knew what a pot luck was, and as Jon replied he didn’t own a CG and not know the meaning of a pot luck, it was all in fun. LOL. As soon as we got home from work today we made our salad and went to the pot luck just as the lobsters were finishing up. What a great feast it was, and wouldn’t you know that one of the campers here at the park in the summer is a Lobsterman and he had brought in the catch today. As a lot of diners know when you go into a place that you pay the Market Price, well what we paid was the dockside price and a better bargain could not be asked for. We shared three lobsters and that for us was plenty, it did fill us up. Some of the campers bought extra and were going to make lobster rolls the following day. We hope that you enjoy the pictures as much as we enjoyed the lobster. We also had steamed corn on the cob as well and all of the trimmings from everyone at the pot luck.










June 2nd & 3rd we continued our training through Tuesday. We are working with another couple that started the same time that we did. We spent a lot of time in the bicycle shop and were taken to their second store which is not open as of yet, and told what was expected of us. We also had a lot of training on the rental of scooters and how we were expected to do this. On Wednesday the four of us where at the new location and just did a good cleanup and got things organized so it would be presentable and easy to work out of. One employee who worked for the company for several years said “This is the cleanest I ever saw the store.” We were given a lot of leeway as how accomplish it, and were told that since they opened this store late last year no one had really done much with it. Previously it was run for the original store by a lot of very young people that would come down for a day or do and not be fully committed to it. We got it straightened out and are looking forward to get it going. Nothing like having a couple of mature workampers to give a little guidance to some of the younger staff members.

June 1st today was our first day of work. It has been 9 months since we last worked and we were looking forward to start. It did bring about new aches and pains but, we are sure they will be short lived. We have to do a lot of standing and we were not used to it. The job is great and the co-workers are just great to work with, we have met most of them and we feel we are in for a fast summer as the time will probably fly by. At the present time we have to drive about 12 miles to get to Bar Harbor and it is such a scenic drive, with all of the quaint New England fishing villages here in the area. We will be working 10 hour days, but it does seem to go by fast. We did have a small booboo today as we left the coffee pot on all day, this is something we will have to change and not let happen again. To any of our friends that come to the area we can help you with the rental of Kayaks, bikes and scooters.

May, 2009

May 30th as usual it was raining when we arose and continued to rain hard till around 12 noon. The skies brightened up in the afternoon and we took a walk around the CG, only to find a fire going. We were invited in and it was a lot of the people that we will be working with, a great time to get to know them and just have a good time together. It is truly going to be a good summer, not only that there were some other people at the fire that have businesses in the area. So we were introduced to a good group of people. Once again as we say “what’s better then living in a Campground.”

May 28th & 29th on Thursday we did a little sightseeing by going into Acadia NP and went to Thunder Hole, even though we were there at the allotted time it was not a very good showing as the seas were somewhat mild. From there we bypassed Cadillac Mountain as it was fogged in and we will see it at another time. We did go and do some shopping for the pantry and to get some supplies for lunch for next week. Because of the overcast day and pending rain we came home and relaxed for the rest of the day. Sharon did stopover in the evening and told us about Larry and his bout with a sinus infection and that they went to the Dr. and got some medicine. He is in bed and was told to rest for a few days, what a way to spend your days off. On Friday we drove up to Bangor to meet up with the Pages and had a great time, Lee & Leigh are wonderful hosts and we spent some time at their MH and then went out for lunch. As we were in the restaurant the rains started to increase. We drove back to their site and dropped them off, we were going to do some sightseeing but all we would have seen was more rain. On our return trip we had nothing but rain; at a point in time since we had just eaten we stopped at a gas station in any out of the way spot and took a 45 minute snooze. We then continued back stopping at Dunkin Donut’s and got ½ dozen donuts, they were ok but we sure like the Krispy Cream donuts a lot better. After returning the rain did stop and we went out to take a walk around the CG and we met up with another person that we will be working with and their first day is Monday as well as ours.

May 27th after breakfast and cleaning up we went to Bar Harbor, Jon missed a turn off and we did a very scenic route to get there. We stopped in at Coastal Kayaking and Bicycle Rental and introduced ourselves. We met up with several people that we will be working with and did a walk around town. Everyone is very nice and we are looking forward to getting started. This is a very typical New England fishing area and we are totally thrilled to be here for the summer. We then went to Wal-Mart and bought a few items, just as the rains started, the rest of the day were indoor activities only. If any of our blog readers get into this area stop in and see us, we can help get you around the area.

May 26th we woke up this morning and the temperature was 36 degrees, as we looked out we could see the frost on the grass. We went to the dump station, emptied our tanks for the journey today. We did see Paul and we thanked them for the stay and wished them a good summer and also encouraged them to have a good Halloween weekend at the end of the year. Two years ago we gave a little input with the Halloween weekend and they are into it completely. As always we hate to leave for adventures unknown, but that is the spice of traveling and we are looking forward to around the next bend. We went across New Hampshire on good secondary roads and we had a good travel day, we did watch our temperature gauge and we didn’t lose a drop of water the entire trip. Now at a point during the summer, hopefully sooner than later, we will have to remove the heater core and have it repaired. After about a 6 hour trip we got to our summer home at Smuggler’s Den in Southwest Harbor in Maine. We unhooked and set up camp and after a good meal we met up with Larry & Sharon, they are across the street and Larry is working at the same place we will be. We are looking forward to the summer and having a good time.

May 22nd & 23rd arriving here we had some issues with our water leak and the bug problem; also our sunshade fell down from the rough roads that we had encountered. The roads in PA, NY, CT, and lower MA. were terrible with a lot of potholes and poor transfers from road surface to bridges. We did get up Friday to a beautiful new day and we are at the western edge of the White Mountains. The views are just fantastic and being early spring, eveything is so green. As we said, we are mid way up on the western edge of New Hampshire at http://www.scenicviewnh.com/ . We worked here two summers ago and we are so happy to have that wonderful experience. Paul & Carole along with their two daughters and son-in-law keep the place as clean as a pin; they run a great program and are just great people to be around. They make sure that it is kid friendly and give it a family atmosphere. If you are ever in the area we give it a true thumbs up. We did arrive bearing gifts; for the Main man we brought a bottle on Captain Morgan, son-in-law got a case of Yuengling Lager, and for Carole we brought a box of Opera Fudge, now if you are not from Lebanon County, PA you probably never heard of this homemade candy. Do not confuse this with Fudge as it is not and as for the taste when it comes to sweets, it has no rival, far and away the best.
We fixed the problems that we encountered on our trip and did some cleaning on the inside as well. As for the water leak, it is from the heater core that heats the front of the MH while traveling, and also the defrosters. We did a bypass on the water system and corrected the leak, and at a later time over the summer we will remove the core and have it repaired or replaced, seems that we can get to it without too much of a problem. We did get to walk around the CG and renewed a lot of friendships. As a matter of fact we made several rounds and just enjoyed all of the camaraderie. On Saturday night there was a band here and we had a great time, even though we weren’t right at the band site, we were across the road at a campfire. Once again we want to put in a plug for the CG in the White Mountains of New Hampshire http://www.scenicviewnh.com/ and if you are in the area you will enjoy it here. Just another great two days.

May 21st Ah, the day we are looking for, moving day as we start our journey to Bar Harbor. We got a later than expected start as we took our MH in for some work. We had the front wheel oil seal replaced last week and this past Monday we saw that we needed to add some oil to it and that soon after we added the level went down. So we took it back to have redone. We started on our journey at about 10:00 am and it was going fine till we got to Scranton, PA and there in a construction zone was an accident and Rt. 81 was a parking lot. We did manage to get off and proceed through the town to reenter Rt.81 north of the accident. From there as we left Pa. on Rt. 84 just in Port Jarvis, NJ we stopped for fuel, while there we discovered a water leak in the engine coolant system, it was in the front near the heater core. After calling a place and being told that they didn’t have time to do it we decided just to relieve the pressure in the system and go our merry way and keep an eye on the temp gauge. With all of the time lost at several places and events we hit Hartford, Ct. at 5:00 work traffic, took us about 35 minutes to go 3 miles and then just up the road we got into Springfield, Mass. where it took us 25 minutes to go 2 ½ miles. Soon after that while still in Mass. we pulled over to fill the radiator with water, one thing with the MH we have a lot of water on board. We then proceeded into VT. And just as the sun faded over the mountains we got into New Hampshire. We drove the back roads of NH with very poor headlights (the first time we drove the MH at night, and believe us the lights are only for daylight driving) and our windshield full of bug juice which will take a lot of work removing. We arrived at the CG and after setting up Jon went out and talked to some of the campers that we know here. It was a long day and a day to test our patience but we did really well, so after all it was a great day.

May 18th we are nearing the end of our time here in PA. In the last week we have had our MH worked on as well as having the fluid changed in the transmission on the car. Kathleen has been quite busy in fulfilling her Chiropractor appointments. Along with that she is babysitting her granddaughter, and they have been having a great time together. One day last week when she wasn’t going to watch her granddaughter, events changed and she called and asked if she could come out to be with her grandma. Over the past several weeks she stayed overnight several times, she has to do it now as when we come back she will be in kindergarten. Jon has been quite busy as he replaced the boots on the tow bar and generally went over it and brought it back up to specs. One day Kathleen was shopping for food at the local Amish / Mennonite stores also know as chip & dent store, we do a lot of shopping at these stores prior to leaving as we found that their prices are hard to match anywhere. Well when she came home we needed space to store all of the items, we had a space under the table but it didn’t have any shelves so Jon made up some shelves there and we made it a pantry. As we are finishing up we discovered that the problem we had repaired on the MH was not repaired correctly and on the day we are leaving we are taking it back early in the morning to find out what the problem is, and hopefully get it repaired at that time. Over the next few days we have so many meetings with family and friends, and in a sort of nice way we will be happy to get on the road to get some rest. Once we start moving and getting to our work in Maine we hope to be able to make more blog entries.

May 10th “Happy Mother’s Day to all and we wish you a good day. Our plans were to take Jon’s mother to church today but she called early and said that she couldn’t make it. We then went to the church that we usually go to here in PA. We always enjoy going there and it is great meeting all of our friends we have made here. After that we spent time with family and had a great day. Kathleen’s two sons and their wives were there and it just made for a great day and we did a lot of reminiscing and talking about events that are planned for the future. Kathleen’s one son and his family were at Disney World last Oct. and her second son is going in June, and we are planning on going in Dec. So we all had a lot to talk about. We didn’t get home till late in the afternoon and we just snuggled in our MH for the night.

May 6th we are so happy to be back in PA. for our short stay, Kathleen’s granddaughter just loves to spend time here, as she has a lot of friends at the campground especially the play ground area. As we had her the other night she couldn’t wait to sleep with Pokot, that is a wish she has while we are gone. Today was a short time in between rain storms that are in the area, and Jon took advantage of it by playing golf. He played a round with the present owner of the business that he had. They had a great time and got to do a lot of talking about all sorts of subjects. We are happy that they are doing a good job at the Campground, as we know this is not an easy job. As they were finishing up they could feel a new weather front coming in and a few hours later the rains came with at least 1 inch of rain overnight. We have enjoyed visiting with a lot of our family, and this past Monday we were invited to attend a Bible study at Jon’s sister’s place and that was a great time, we will be returning as long as we are in the area. As always; what is better than living in a campground?

May 2nd Just another great day as we had Kathleen’s granddaughter overnight and she was such a fun person to be with. When we get back in the fall she will be going to school and we wouldn’t get to be with her as much. In the afternoon we went to the campground that Jon used to own and spent a lot of time with the campers. It was nice since we renewed friendships and set up some future plans. Seems that a few of them will be going to Disney in the fall and since we are nearby we plan on going there for several nights. Jon was asked about playing a round of golf with the owner and it seems that it will happen in the near future. After we left the campground we stopped for some supper and had a nice drive back home. We are planning on a lot of family time while we are here and our schedule is nearly full, so as always we are enjoying our short visit in the area.

April 2009

April 30th what a great day. Kathleen after a visit to a chiropractor went shopping with her daughter in law and granddaughter; they spent the most part of the day in the Reading area doing a lot of shopping. Jon was up to his usual golf outing with his brother in law and Kathleen’s son. They went to a nice golf course about two miles from the campground and they had a great day, even though it was an overcast day. No rain and no sun. In the evening we had a cookout for Kathleen’s son and family and we all enjoyed the time together.

April 29th Oh! Where does the time go? This has got to be the longest since we updated our journal, just have been so busy. The last ten days in Florida where such a whirlwind of things to do, mainly golf as in the last five day’s Jon played 4 times. We said our good-bys to all of our friends in Florida and several of those meant eating out for a lunch or a snack, our belts cannot take it anymore. We both will have to fast at a later date, yeah right. During this time we also got ready to make our move which we did on the 26th – 28th. We left the resort on the 26th right after church and we drove into South Carolina to stay the night. We found a Wal-Mart that was about 4 miles off of I-95 and it was a very quite night. The next day we knew that we wanted to do a lot of traveling and get to Northern Virginia, we did fix a nice breakfast and after cleaning up we left at a little after nine in the morning. We did have several delays with road construction that was being done and at one point we were in a near panic situation where we had to make a quick stop. We did witness a Cadillac Escalade that had to stop between a row of cars and the guard rail with just inches on either side of her SUV, she was visibly shaken up, but ok. We pulled into a Wal-Mart at about 6:30 and went across the street to CiCi’s Pizza for supper. This was another Wal-Mart that was about 1 mile off of I-95 and was quite, but it was a very congested area. On the 28th we awoke at about 4:30 in the morning and sort of decided to get up and get going, we left at about 6:30 while the traffic in the area was somewhat light and drove across northern Virginia to Rt. 81 and on into PA. where we will be staying for several weeks. We are now catching up with family and friends and enjoying or new views.

April 15th the dreaded tax day, but this year it is a little different as it is combined with Tea Party Day. We did get out to golf today and then later in the afternoon we went and showed our support at a small gathering along Rt. 27 here in Avon Park. There were about 6 of these gatherings along the road for about 12 miles. We were very well received with all of the traffic on the road, a lot of horn blowing and thumbs up. We did have one thumbs down in a two hour stretch, well you always have someone that wants bigger government and higher taxes. According to the latest news and the way we take it we are terrorists. This is from the Department of Homeland Security; just in the last few weeks they released a nine page report and it identifies a lot of flag waving nation loving people. We are Pro-Life. We are against gun control. We like the idea that we can buy a Hunting Knife. Because of these issues we are labeled Terrorist, how do you fit in?

April 12th Happy Easter to all ”He has Risen”. It has been a while since we last wrote, but we have been quite busy here at the resort. With so many activities going on and people leaving we are saying a lot of goodbyes, but also knowing that we will be reunited in the fall. We will be leaving in two weeks and at the present time we are working towards that date. We have been cleaning our home and have also waxed the car and MH to get ready for the summer. Jon golfed in a scramble the other day and the team he is on finished with a 3 over. Not all that good, but they had a great time. Today we are having a dinner at the club house and we know that it will be a fun time as we are having a social hour afterwards. Not much to report at this time so we will say to all have safe and uneventful travels.















April 1st this morning we left to go to Orlando where we met up with Jon’s sister and husband as they are down from PA. to visit their daughter and granddaughter. We met at IHOP for breakfast and then we went to “The Holy Land Experience”. We had a great time there and would recommend it to all. Throughout the day there are several skits set up in the life of Christ, and it is timed that you can follow them. Also they have some movies that play and the largest scale model of old Jerusalem and give a few shows each day on it as to where different historical sites and locations are. They also have a Scriptorium that takes about an hour to go through, another area has the Wilderness Tabernacle set up and they have shows throughout the day. After a long day we went across town and met up with Jon’s other sister and we all had a great Japanese meal, where the chef prepared everything right in front of us. After this we all said our good-bys and drove the 1 ½ hour home. Another great day to get together with some of our family.

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.