February 2010

Feb. 16th so much time has gone by since we last posted. What happens is that this was originally a travel journal and since we are not traveling and sort of involved with daily chores and events it gets forgotten. We ended the last entry with the phone call, we had stated that we went to the Snowbird Extravaganza and had signed up for a lot of stuff . Well, we were called and informed that we won a cruise. We did have to go to Orlando and listen to a 90 min. sales pitch. We made a full day out of it as in the morning we went to Disney World till about 2 and then went to the meeting and after that we met with Jon’s sister, niece and their families and had supper with them, it was a full day and an enjoyable one. The next day Jon went to play golf and his foursome were to tee off second on a par three and another foursome from the park teed off in front of them, as Jon was standing behind those teeing off he witnessed a “Hole in One” what an awesome sight. One Friday we had Jon’s Aunt over for a visit and it was as enjoyable time, after that we did a little shopping and Kathleen started to get a severe migraine headache. We wound up taking her to the hospital and they administered a shot and watched her vitals for 90 minutes after that sending her home. That next day we filled her prescriptions and she remained in bed for about 20 hours that day. The following day she was fine and we went to church, that was also super bowl Sunday and we were invited to our friends place to watch it. It was a great game and we really enjoyed it, all though our hosts probably didn’t as they are from Indiana. On Tuesday the 9th Jon went to play golf and got rained out after 3 holes and also on that day Kathleen had several friends over to make casserole carriers. Later in the week we spend some time working on our costumes for the ST. Patrick’s Day parade that is here at the park. This past Sunday we had a real treat, at our church we had Shelby Dressel sing. She is currently on American Idol, we do not know how she made out and even if she is going back to Hollywood. She has orders not to say anything about the show till it’s completion, as we don’t watch AI we don’t really understand the fuss. We do know that she is a Christian and has a very beautiful voice, and is a delightful person and is from Avon Park. We wish her well in whatever she does. Later in the day we went to Downtown Disney to meet up with Jeff and Shirley, we walked around there and then we went to Capone’s for the Dinner theater show. It was a great show and we were so entertained for the evening. It was a great way to spend Valentine’s Day, but just think that 81 years ago Valentine’s day was not to good for several of Al Capone’s thugs as they were gunned down.

January 2010

Jan. 31st what a great week we just had. Along with our regular schedule we did some exciting things this week and one being on Wednesday we along with Dennis, Pat and Kate went to the Snowbird Extravaganza that was held in Lakeland, about an hour’s drive from here. It is put on by the Canadian Snowbird Association, we not being Canadian called and found out it is open to all, and what a wonderful time we had. The doors opened just as we got there a 9 AM and we went through the vendor’s area picking up information and ideas, and also signing up for free prizes that cover a host of things, mostly to get you on a mailing list. At 10 AM we went to one of the three areas that were set up for entertainment and we didn’t have to move as every 30 minutes a new act came on stage. We did move between 2:30 and 3 PM to go to a different stage area to see a few acts that weren’t held in the area we were at. This went on till 4:00 when everything shut down, and all this was free and the only cost was $5 for parking. After the show we did some shopping and then went out for supper at a great little fish camp and had some great food. On Thursday evening we had a great Ham & Bean dinner soup here at the resort. Friday evening we went to a local YFC dinner and it was so refreshing to see and hear a lot of the stories of the youth in the area. Here in Highlands County the local YFC has access to the schools and it is a great way to introduce God to their lives. We have been going to our local church for over a year and during that time we knew our Director of Student Ministries, but it turns out we didn’t know him at all. He was involved with some of the events on the stage and we saw how the young people were drawn to him and he to them as well. We knew that he was a very good football player in college. We did a web search on him and we came to find out that he is the lead singer in a Christian Rock band that does concerts all over the country and that just last year they had a song that was number one on the charts in Christian Rock music. He really is a great fellow and we are happy to have him in our church. On Sunday after church we had Dennis, Pat and Kate come up to our place to play cards. Our original plan was to go bike riding but the weather didn’t really cooperate as it was cloudy and never got above 65 and the air was damp. We had a great time playing games as this afternoon we played Apples to Apples, around 4:30 we decided to go out to eat and went to another area eatery and enjoyed the food. There are so many places to dine out in the area we will probably never get to all of them. Oh, and by the way on the way to the restaurant Kathleen got the phone call, and as Jon is driving he couldn’t figure out why such a serious call on a Sunday afternoon, We will have to get back to you later about the call.

Jan. 24th wow does time fly or what, it has a month since we last wrote in this log. Let us start by wishing everyone a Happy New Year; we had a nice party here at the Resort, nothing like walking home after a party. We have been quite busy in our activities and also for the fact that Kathleen has come through her cataract surgery very well. She is still adjusting to not wearing glasses; she will be getting a pair that will be used mostly for reading. We have also been involved a lot with our church, in that we have been doing more with the members, and this is very good for us. Just the other day we were heading to Disney and by about 2 seconds we were in front of an accident, and because of some moves we did in the mile or two before this we know we would have been involved. As for the accident since we were in front of it and didn’t really see anything we kept going as there were a lot of cars behind it. Also in the past several weeks Jon didn’t miss any golf from the cold weather and as a matter of fact golfed a few extra times as we didn’t bowl because of Kathleen’s surgery. We did go to one of the gourmet diners here at the park and we had a great time as always For this dinner we had bought some wine down from Pa. that we were going to the Wine ‘n’ cheese event, but we double booked that day and we had the wine at the dinner. The event we had booked was to see the Calgary Fiddlers, and what a fine show they put on. They consisted of 14 fiddlers all from the ages of 14 to 18 and they knew how to play. Kathleen won a free CD by answering a question that was posed to the audience and that was “What’s the difference between a Violin and a Fiddle?” It is a great CD and we played it while we went to Okeechobee to meet up with fellow workampers and geocacher, we met along with Kate and had a nice lunch and then did several geocaches. They were just a few shy of 5000 caches and we hope that they got enough to get to that milestone. Hopefully it won’t be this long for our next entry and till then everyone have a good time. Oh!, Kathleen’s answer to the question was; “A violin has strings and a fiddle has straaannngs.”

Decenber 2009

Dec. 25th Merry Christmas, we attended the “Candlelight Service” last night at our church and it was great. The leaders of the church are so filled with the spirit and it overflows in the congregation. There were 3 services and each one had over 350 people in attendance. We have said for a while that we were so blessed in finding this place of worship. Today we were doing some cooking and baking for the Christmas dinner here at the resort, in the middle of it the stove stopped working and we had to cooking the potatoes in an electric roaster. It all came out alright and we were thankful that we weren’t preparing one of the turkeys. Jon’s sister and Brother in law came down from Orlando to enjoy the feast with us and we did have a great time. Debbie brought us homemade Whoppie pies (yum,yum) and a deviled ostrich egg; one egg filled a whole tray. We think that they were impressed with the dinner and the set ups, and as usual we ate way too much and we also brought a lot back home. As we sit back and reflect over this past holiday season we are so grateful for the person that we have helped in this time of the year, and it is that which gives us our most satisfaction. We thank you Lord for giving us your son to take away our sins and to make this a better place.

Dec. 23rd we have spent way too much time away for the journal, as we are busy doing a lot of other things. In the past month we bought 1 new window for the house and installed it. Right after Thanksgiving we needed to repair the heater part of the A/C to heat the house and in that time we had a cool spell, and of course it went down on a Saturday and no way to get the part till Monday. It was lucky that Jon could repair it. On Dec. 11 a group of nine went to a holiday concert featuring the Heartland Pops, Heartland Community Orchestra and Heartland Community Chorus, featuring traditional Christmas Music, excerpts from the Messiah and a grand finale of the Hallelujah Chorus. It was a very inspiring concert and helped to put us in the Christmas spirit. Also in the past month we went to Disney World and bought a residence pass, and what a good deal as the bad economy hit them as well in that we got a 12 month pass and it is good for 15 months, which will take us into March of 2011. The following weekend we returned to Disney for three nights as about 20 of our friends from PA, NJ & DE came down and we had a great time. They did have a problem getting back as a big snowstorm had moved into the area. Also in the past month we attended several functions with our church and it is good to get back into the group and help out as much as we can, we were very fortunate to find this church last year and they help the community a lot in this time of need. We still do our bowling, golf and other activities here at the resort, plus in the last few weeks we started to attend the card games in the evening, they usually have them on Monday, Thursday and Friday nights and play a lot of different card games. Around the house we are in the midst of cleaning the driveway as over the years it got very dirty with ground in rubber and oils, we would like to paint it in the future. We also need to get some weeding done before the weeds that over. Kathleen is doing better as she is now over her coughing that we think is due to allergies and at the present time she is having cataract surgery. Yesterday she had the right eye done and will get the left one done next week. Already she sees a big difference in her sight. We would like to wish everyone a “Merry Christmas” and a “Happy Holy Season.”

Nov. 2009

Nov. 25th wow we don’t realize how time flies on by as it was 10 days since we updated our blog/journal. We have been busy as on Monday’s we bowl and Tuesday’s and Thursday’s Jon golf’s. Kathleen is kept quite busy with fixing up our new home. She is also getting ready for the nutrition class on Monday’s which start next week. We washed ½ of the home and then the rains came and we will finish up when they stop. At the present time we are getting ready for Thanksgiving. Turkey day we are going to Jon’s sister’s relatives and from what we hear quite a few people will be there; I guess that’s why we are having ostrich for the meal. We would like to wish all a” Happy Thanksgiving” -- the best part is Florida style, which means it, is warm. We are adding a few pictures to this entry and hope that you enjoy. Just another good day.

Nov. 15th we went to church this morning, and it was great just to be back with a lot of friends that we made over the past year. We hadn’t realized how much we missed them till we returned today. We also were happy to be in the presence of Pastor Andrew and the sermons that he gives, as he preaches right from the text of the Bible. After church we did a little shopping for some things we needed to get done and we are well on our way to making our home the way we want it. Jon went to connect the DirecTV today with some of the existing cable in the house and he could not get a good signal. We called for a service tech to complete this task, this is the first time that Jon couldn’t get it tuned in. It was another exhausting day as we continued to put the place together. We will sleep well tonight and as always it is a good day in Florida.

Nov. 14th the first think we did this morning was to wash the MH and the toad as they were quite dirty from the journey down. Jon had washed the roof of the MH back in PA and all of the salt residue from ME was on the sides. After the washing, it once again looked like a new rig. We then went shopping to get items for the home and we did very well in our adventure. We are sure you all know how it is when opening up a new home. This is the third day in a row that we put in some long hours, in a few months everything will be to our liking. It was a great day in Florida.

Nov. 13th the dreaded Friday the thirteenth, for us just another day of unloading and getting things in place for the winter months. What we want here and what goes there all day long, but we did have a good time and knew that it is for the future and we will be better off.
Nov, 12th we wanted to get an early start and we were on the road by 7AM; this was after a short visit with Eddie & Debbie over coffee, as we bid them farewell and knew that we would see them for Thanksgiving. We arrived at Adelaide Shores RV Resort a little after 8AM and got to take a look at the park model we agreed to buy. After a look we were overwhelmed at all it had to offer. We made settlement and started to unload the MH. Can you ever believe the stuff you can accumulate over a few years, we could fill up the park model twice and it is three times the size of the MH. We had Dennis, Pat and Kate helping us unload and bring items into the home. After getting all the stuff in the fun part started in which we had to find a place for the items. It was a long and tiring day; I guess we are not fulltimers any more but just part timers. Another good day in the camping world.

Nov. 11th we awoke early and continued with our appointments. We had to be there early in the morning and go back for a follow up in the afternoon. Every think went fine and at 3 PM we left to go to Orlando to meet up with Jon’s sister to deliver a sewing machine and other articles that we transported for her. We had a nice dinner with Eddie, Debbie, Angie, Larry and Gracie, after that we returned to Debbie’s place and had a short visit as we were camping in her driveway. It was a good day and a very stressful one as well.

Nov. 10th as we noted in yesterdays journal we were on the road before 6 am, and once again we realized just how weak our headlights are on the MH. We were grateful that we only had to drive less than ½ hour till sunrise. We stopped for fuel right before we left Ga. and filled up and then drove about 30 miles to Jacksonville were we had some appointments today. We were very lucky that where we are going they had some RV parking and we were early enough to get a spot. After the appointment we learned that we needed to be there the following day, so at that time we called Adelaide Shores and informed them about our delay in getting there. It would be alright and out transactions that were to be done in person on Wednesday could be done by mail on Thursday. We then found a Wal-Mart about seven miles away and set in for the night. This place was very quiet and we got a good night’s sleep. We are so happy that all is working out and that our journey so far has been safe and all things are working out.

Nov. 9th what a great Wal-Mart location in that we had a TV signal and we also had Wi-Fi in the parking lot and it was quite. We continued our journey today and had an uneventful drive, would like to say at this time it is overall the best condition that Rt. 95 is in for the most part. The only major construction was in Ga. And within a year or so we will probably see 6 lanes throughout all of the state. We pulled into another Wal-Mart and in contrast it was a real contrast as the RV’ers that were there were abusing the privilege of the lot. With at least 4 units there with all slides out and on jacks and disconnected from the pull trucks, not only that they had their chairs out in a group sitting in a circle, plus a trucker there had his rig running all night. Around 7:30 another MH pulled in right next to us and started his generator and ran it all night, at about 10:30 because of the fumes from the diesel generator we moved to the rear of the store where we knew we could stay till about 5:30 or so as this was the area of the shop. At about 5:30 am we moved back to our original spot except to the other side and we left out MH run with the exhaust right at their bedroom slide, and as Jon was preparing the car for travel the hood slipped out of his hand and slammed shut and when he pressed the remote to lock the car he held it too long and the horn went off about 4or 5 times.

Nov 8th we awoke and started to finish up what little packing we had to do, and connected the car which we say when connected it is our cargo trailer. After checking that all of our connections were complete and correct we left Lickdale CG a little after 8am. Being on the road for about 10 minutes a car passed us and waved and it was Jon’s sister as they were going to church. When we passed the church we gave a blast on the air horns. Kathleen did a lot of the driving and all day she took us across the state lines, out of PA, through MD and WVA and into VA were Jon took over through most of VA. Kathleen then took over into NC and then Jon finished the first day’s journey to a Wal-Mart in NC where we stopped for the night. We did a little shopping at Wally world, put up the TV antenna and tuned in the NASCAR race and had some TV for the night. We couldn’t sit in the living room/kitchen area of the MH as we are filled up transporting stuff that we cleaned out from Jon’s mother’s apartment, some of it is going to Jon’s sister in Orlando and we are taking the rest with us. It was a very good day and a safe day on the roads, more then we can say for a lot of the deer we saw that were killed on the roads; one looked like a 10 point buck.

SHOCK OF THE DAY: While Jon was pumping diesel fuel and Kathleen was waiting inside the store, an elderly man who could hardly talk and walk bought two packs of cigarettes that cost $12. A younger gal bought two cartons of cigarettes that cost $85. We are so glad we do not smoke!!

Nov.7th well all week we have been busy getting ready to travel south to Fl. for the winter. Kathleen babysat Sammie 5 days this past week and she stayed overnight Friday night, it is such a blessing to have her and she is such a wonderful granddaughter. During the days we went out and did a lot of our winter shopping as we went to a few Amish stories to buy supplies, you can really get great deals on canned and boxed items at a fraction of their normal price. We visited Jon’s mom every day and know in our hearts that she is in a very good nursing home, and that her ailments are not as bad as we originally thought, and she is better now as she cannot live alone any more. We met with some of our friends this past week and the waist line shows it, this too we will have to get over. We see some exercise in the future and trying to eat less. Today we had some of Jon’s mom’s grandchildren go through her apartment and pick out what they wanted, to clean out the apartment. It is a sad day for America today with the passage of the health care bill that just opens up new ways for lawyers to strangle us with bad lawsuits. We are looking forward to going south as it is getting cooler all the time here. Just another great day at being a fulltimer on the road.

Nov. 1st we went to church in the morning and we didn’t stay to socialize as we had to get back and get ready to have a family gathering with Kathleen’s sons and their wives. We had a Lobster dinner at Dave’s place and just had a great time in talking about what happened over the summer and what our future plans are. They were happy for us as we told them about us buying a Park Model in Florida and about our plans on working in Pa. next summer. This way we will be able to spend more time with them throughout the summer. After that we went to see Jon’s mom for a while, then returned home for the rest of the evening. Today we set the clocks back an hour and after the day we had yesterday we needed it. Another great day in the CG.

October, 2009

Oct. 31st we went to a pancake and sausage breakfast this morning as Elmer got us some tickets, it was a benefit for the Lions Club. After that we met with Jon’s brothers and sisters and went through the items at mom’s apartment, since she is in the nursing home she will not need the apartment and we are dividing up her processions to be passed down through the family. Next Saturday the Grandchildren are going in and hopefully take the rest, if not what is left are going to charity. In the late afternoon we had a dinner at a local diner which was set up for some months. This was going to be a get together of all of the children but since all of the events in the past three weeks it put a cloud over the get together. After the meal which was attended by about 40 people we all went to the nursing home and took some pictures with Jon’s mom. The one granddaughter Kelly is a professional photographer and she got us all set up for the photo shoot. After that Debbie & Eddie, along with James and Katie came out to the CG to go the Halloween Hayride. It was a busy day and all in all a good day.

Oct. 26th wow, does time fly and we were so busy over the past two weeks. On the 12th Jon’s mother became quite disoriented and we took her to her Dr. and had some tests done. After two nights at her daughter’s place she went back for a follow up at the Dr’s office and from there she went to the hospital. She was in the hospital for 8 days and then she was placed in a nursing home. We only missed seeing her one day and along with our other visits and appointments time has been a blur. Over the course of two weeks Jon rewired the MH to the car and also removed the starter and had it rebuilt. Kathleen has been very busy with getting the MH ready to travel down south. We have cable here at the CG but a lot of the time it is just an advertisement for DirecTV, so we did hook up our converter box to get over the air digital TV. Also during the last week Kathleen has come down with a cold and that is taking a toll on her and she spent about 2 days just lounging around as we all know how a cold knocks you down. Along with everything else she likes to have her granddaughter at least 4 days a week, and that takes a toll as well. It is still great to be in a CG and enjoying the day.

Oct 12th we arose at 3:45 am in anticipation of getting to PA. We didn’t leave till about 6:30 and we decided to go to Cabela’s first as we were too early to get to the CG. After setting up we went to see Jon’s mother and catch up on the summer and enjoy some time with her. After that we went to Kathleen’s son and visited for a while and we also picked up Sammy as she like’s to be with us and enjoys her friends here at the CG. She will staying for the night and she will be sleeping with Pokot . We did have a good day and we retired quite early.

Oct 11th we were on the road by 7:10 am and did a lot of driving today, we also took a lot of scenic route and did slow down our travel time, along with we did not want to pay to use Interstate 95 in Maine and New Hampshire as these are toll roads and we refuse to pay if we don’t have to. We also drove across Rhode Island into Connecticut on a very scenic route, we were 10 to 14 days too early for the foliage in this area. We made it into New York and pulled into a Wal-Mart for the night. We were on the road for about 11 hours and all driving was safe.

Oct.10th we spent the day getting ready to pull out, we had decided to take our time and get everything cleaned up and made ready to travel. We had some wood left over and we had a fire to use it up. At the CG there was an October Fest and we did walk over to the craft tent and looked at the items, nothing that we could use though as it was all cold weather garments and a few wall hangings. We decided that we didn’t want to do any beer tasting as a tasting plastic cup was $25.00 and we felt that it was way out of line. Over the course of the summer we tasted a lot of these brews and to us they are not very good at all. We turned in early so as to get an early start. Another good day in a CG.

Oct. 8th & 9th these were our last two days on work, there was very little business and the days were very boring and long. The bright spot of both days is that we had supper with Elmer & Phyllis. We enjoyed both evenings and had a good time.






Oct 6th we met up with Elmer & Phyllis in the morning and we drove to the south side of the western part of the island and walked to Seal Head Harbor Lighthouse, we actually walked to both sides of this lighthouse and the eastern side is a set of steps leading down to the rock where you must navigate them. You need to be very careful at this point as we see a potential for injury here. From there we took a hike out past an inlet and through the woods, it was a relaxing walk and for a change on this island pretty level. After that we headed to Bar Harbor as they had a Lighthouse boat tour set up, also at that time we were planning on going along but as we went to the ticket counter we discovered that is was sold out. As they went on the boat we took a 2 ½ hour trolley tour and had a nice trip around the park, which was also narrated and we learned a lot more about the island. The timing was good as we both finished with our tours within five minutes of each other. We then went up on Cadillac Mt. for the sunset and it was another great sunset as we took many pictures. After that we came back to the MH and had supper and at that time a great story came up. The high school that we all attended had a great band director and a few weeks ago the school auditorium was dedicated in his name and Elmer played in the ceremony along with about 140 other musicians from days gone by. The band director had retired in 1986 and we don’t know why it took this long to make this dedication. Elmer had been in contact with Harlan Daubert over the years and he a few other members held some early practices, even Mr. Daubert was directing some of them. Elmer went on to say how the practices grew in size as they continued. Elmer told of the careers of some of the students that came out of this fine program and how Mr. Daubert prepared a lot of them for the rest of their lives. We had a great day and finished it up with a great story. Mr. Daubert, your lifelong dedication is an inspiration to many.



Oct 5th we spent most of the morning either cleaning up around the MH or checking all systems for a go on Sunday when we are leaving this place. In the afternoon we headed over to the pier where the lobsterman come in and as we waited about 15 min. we saw one coming in. We asked him if he was selling and for how much and we were told $5.00 each, than we asked if he could do 12 for $50.00 and he said that was no problem and we got the dozen. We then returned to the MH and cooked them all up and vacuum packed and froze them for later enjoyment. In the evening we were invited along with the rest of the employee’s to our owners home for a meal. We had a good time at his home and enjoyed a delicious meal. When we got home Kathleen talked with her sister-in-law and made some plans for the next few days. Another good day on the road.

Oct. 4th we found out a lot of things about our job over the last couple days, as to when the store will be shut for the winter and how the weather is affecting it. We left early on the 3rd and the store was closed on the 4th because of the rain. Since both Ron & Shirley and us were off we got together and played a few games in the afternoon and then went and got a bite to eat. Elmer & Phyllis are on their way here and we will be with them over the course of the next few days. As of now we will be working this Thursday and Friday and Ron & Shirley are working on Saturday & Sunday. If that is the case we will be leaving on Sunday for the journey home, hoping to get there on Monday afternoon. The foliage is really starting to come out here and we hope to be able to get out and see it, we are sure that we see a lot on our way south. Over the course of the last several weeks and days we have a lot of irons in the fire and we cannot report on them at this time, till it comes to fruition, more on that later.

September 2009

Our fellow workampers: Ron & Shirley








$950.00Painting,Oh,well

Queen Victoria

Sept. 30th on this past Monday we had intended to drive up north to look at the foliage, and as we got out of Ellsworth we saw that it hadn’t happened yet and rather than drive up for no reason we turned around. On the way back into Ellsworth we stopped at the Verizon store as Kathleen wanted to get a new phone. The reason for this is that she had to charge her phone every day, I had the same model as she did but back in the spring I dumped mine in the dish pan and then I went to a back-up. I also had charging problems with that same model as well. Turned out we both got new phones, this time different models, her’s is a little more advanced than mine, as it has a keyboard. We then did some shopping and returned o the MH. Tuesday we didn’t have anything planned so we just worked on the MH, we had some cabinet doors and drawers that to be reglued and secure the bottom tracks. Other than that, it was a lazy day. We got up Wednesday and went into Bar Harbor. After eating breakfast at Two Cats we went down to the pier, as it was the maiden porting for the Queen Victoria. There was a lot of fan fare as bands played, an antique car show on Main St. and entertainers at several places in town. We also did some shopping and enjoyed the festivals. As we walked past an Art Display we saw a painting that was selling for $950.00, and I thought that I could probably paint that with a couple of spray cans of different shades of blue, I really believe I don’t have a eye for art. We stopped in at the shop where we work and visited with our co-workers Ron and Shirley. We have enjoyed working with them and feel privileged to know them. They will be heading to their home in Arkansas after the Bar Harbor gig is finished in a couple of weeks. In the afternoon we went to the docks to buy some lobster and we waited for an hour. No lobstermen showed up so we put that plan on hold (sometimes a plan doesn’t come together). In the evening we turned on the TV to watch the continuing Ken Burns series about the national parks, this is a wonderful and educational series. Just another couple of days enjoying full timing.


Sept 22nd well to catch up in the past week as I have not posted anything. We are still enjoying our time here and in the past couple of weeks we found out about buying lobster on the docks as the lobstermen bring them in. Last week we bought 7 lobster for $25.00 and this week we bought 6 for $25.00, on each occasion we took them home and cooked them up and vacuum sealed them and froze them. Also on each of those days we have a lobster dinner, and they were some of the best, for at this time of the season the shells are getting harder and the lobster is growing into the new shell. As for the frozen meat we are going to have a meal when we get back to PA and share with family and friends. Today we took a bike ride around Jordan Pond and stopped at the restaurant there and had a sort of lunch/dinner, and as always it was great, after that we came home and just chilled out as the weather is definitely getting cooler and we can feel that summer has left us, we did enjoy about 3 weeks of summer. Like to have Al Gore try to explain to us about global warming as we just experienced the shortest, coolest summer we ever had. Just another good day to be in a campground.

Sept. 15th we left the motel and headed in Kennebunkport area and drove around to the Bush Summer Cottage; we also did a walk around the town. After leaving this area we went to Cabala’s and did some shopping, we like the line of equipment and the way the chain is operated. After that we did the Wal-Mart thing and then made our way home, taking a different route home and decided that this is the way we will leave next month for our journey back down south. We got back to our home and it was another great day.

Sept.14th this morning we took off for the Portland and Kennebunkport area. We took Rt.1 which is along the coast of Maine, is a slow but scenic drive and we enjoyed it very much. We did a tour of Ft. Know which is built on the banks of the Penobscot river, built over the course of 25 years in the early 1800’s and after competition never fired a shot. After it was built there were no invasions in the area. The workmanship is superb and it is really in good shape, made mostly of local granite by some great craftsman. We are probably the only people to stop in Freeport and not go to LL Bean store. We did shop in other stores in the area and got some good deals. After that we stopped in to see our friends Craig & Ginny in Saco, we had a great visit and just got caught up. They will be going to the Myrtle Beach area for the winter and it might be a little time till we see each again, this is something in this lifestyle that it sometimes goes a while in between visits. We than got a room for the night in Biddeford area and got a good night’s sleep.

The area were yesterday's tradegy took place

Sept. 9th we awoke and after breaking down camp and leaving the CG area we had breakfast at the same place we were last night. From there we went to the Eastern most point of the island to the East Quoddy Lighthouse, at the time we were able to walk out to the lighthouse as it was low tide. To do this we went down a set of ladders and across a very rocky path to another ladder were we went up to a separate little island and across a bridge to another island and at that point we went down another ladder and across a rocky path to the third island were the lighthouse is located. We could only do this at low tide as when the tide comes in it rises 40 feet and the passage is impossible. It was very unfortunate that a person lost his life yesterday as he tried to go across between islands through the water, and with the strong currents that we saw today we can see how this can happen. We also watched a lot of whales in the area for the best part of the two hours we were there. We are guessing that at least 24 whales were in the area and they were diving most all of the time, we didn’t get any pictures of them as you didn’t have time to focus on them. We had a safe trip home and it was another great day.

Sept.8th we left early this morning to go to Campobello Island in New Brunswick, Can. This was the summer home of former President FDR. His cottage had 18 bedrooms with a total of 34 rooms. Once again it was an elegant place and the up keep is impeccable, we toured this first and after that we set up our tent in the Herring Cove Provincial Park. This is a very nice clean, quiet, well run campground. We had a list of geocaches that we had arranged to take us around the island; we have done this in the past and also again on this trip and it is a great tool to take you to locations that are not on the tourist guide. We just thoroughly enjoyed the rugged coastline and the beauty of the thick forests. We did several geocaches in the forests and were surprised at the softness of the forest floor, it had anywhere from a 1 to 3 inch sponge effect to it. We then had supper at a local restaurant, returned to the campsite and retired for the night.

Sept. 7th we did some cleaning up around the camper and did some shopping. In the afternoon we went to a lobster fishing dock and found a returning lobsterman and we bought lobsters on the dock. The price was unbelievable and this must be a so called secret, one that the so called co-workers of ours never told us that we could do this. They always told us to buy from the campground which cost us twice as much. We did have a great lobster dinner along with corn on the cob and potatoes. This was the first Labor Day that Jon had off in at least 15 years and we had a great day and celebrated it.

Sept.6th we left early for work this morning for the express reasons to see the Explorer of the Seas as it was in port for the day. This is one of the largest cruise ships in the world with over 1180 crew and can carry over 3110 guests. We went to the loop road in the park to get a good view. We had a very good day at work and it was quite busy most all day, at the same time we knew that is was close to full moon as we had a lot of customers that just didn’t have a clue. Why is it that Common Sense is a thing of the past, is at times an understatement?

Part of the Fuselage

Sept. 1st we arose to temps in the low 40’s, as we said yesterday we did get a tarp to put over the openings. We had our electric heater as well and we were quite warm during the night. After breakfast we went to Greenville and along the way we saw a Mama moose and her calf in a bog and got a picture of them. We then stopped at the welcome center and along with several suggestions that were mentioned, one was a B-52 bomber crash site on a mountain nearby in 1963. So we decided to go look into this and found the site and visited the memorial to it. Of the 9 man crew, two got out alive, the other 7 perished in the crash. There was 5 feet of snow on the ground at the time and the temperature was at -30, the one survivor was ejected in his seat and remained in it till he was rescued. After that we did several Geo-caches and took in the area before we left for home. It was another good day and we were happy to get home safe and sound. Looks like we have a lot to clean up tomorrow.

August 2009

Aug.31st we left this morning for the Millinocket, Me area as this is in the shadow of Mt. Katahdin. It was a pleasant drive up and we had a safe trip. When we went to check in at the CG it was closed for a short time as they went to the Post Office. We then went to do a Geo-cache and came across a great view of Mt. Katahdin across a lake, the mountain was about 25 miles away and is such a impressive sight. Just as we found the geo-cache and were leaving on some loose stones Jon said to be careful not to fall, at that same time Kathleen was falling; luckily only a little bruise and a slightly skinned arm. We got back and checked in to the CG and set up our tent and then proceeded to Baxter State Park. We walked a trail that took us to a lake at the base of the mountain and really got to see it up close. This is the northern most point of the Appalachian Trail. After that we went back into town to get something to eat and a few supplies for the tent. Since we have a summer tent we got a tarp to cover the openings and we heard the temps were going down tonight. Another good day of sightseeing.

Aug. 30th we usually don’t talk too much about work but, today was a really good day as we got to talk with several people that are full timers and or wanabes. Since today was a slow day and a lot of people just came in for information we had time for a chat with several of them. Then there was this one fellow that is the world is only for me and no one else cares, we all know the ones. He had a very high SUV and it was rather hard for the two of us to load a 120 lb. kayak on the top of it which we did and he didn’t even help to tie it down. On the return trip it was only his short wife and the two of us to unload it and we asked the wife where he was, she said that he thought there would help at the shop to unload it, which it is not and that he was at the Golf course. Now the Golf course is less than 5 minutes away and he would have been delayed less than 15 minutes. As well even the wife didn’t know how to open the rear door to get rest of the equipment out. He is just so worried about his wants that no one else mattered, including his wife. After work we got home and did a lot of packing for tomorrow’s trip.




View of the coast.

Aug.29th just want to catch up on what we have been doing over the past week. We were working last weekend when the tragedy happened at Thunder Hole. Reading the paper for the past week and hearing about personal accounts of the event, it seems like a rogue wave came ashore and washed about 20 people into the water. Sadly, a 7-year-old girl went under and was not found for a few hours. She did not survive. During the early part of the week we did a lot of repair on the MH, one of the main jobs was to finish up on the coolant system. We replaced all of the coolant and filters in the cooling system. We then replaced the hydraulic supply tank as the old one had a leak, it didn’t really leak that much but we were seeing more and more fluid on the ground. On Thursday we went to supper with our coworkers Ron & Shirley, since we all work at the same store and when they have off we work and vise versa. Because of this we decided to get together on Thursdays and have a visit and a night out. Today we only worked 4 hours as it had started to rain around 3 AM as TS Denny is making its way up the coast. Around 4:30 we went to Thunder Hole. When we were there before we never got to hear much of a sound, well that all changed today as the seas were rough and the tide was coming in. Today when we were there it was booming and we got some great pictures of the waves coming in. Where you usually stand was blocked off and that area was being covered with water. At the present time as we sit here it is pouring outside as we are as close to Denny as we are going to be. Even though it is wet outside we had a great day.

Aug 20th we met up with Jeff & Shirley and went to Grumpy’s for breakfast. This is such a nice setting which overlooks Southwest Harbor, plus the food is very good, after that we returned to our MH to get ready to go to work. After work we met up with Jeff & Shirley at Mainly Meats for dinner and enjoyed our last night with each other. We hate to see them go but we all have our jobs and we do cherish the time we have together.

Aug.19th we put on our hiking boots and along with Jeff & Shirley we hiked to Long Pond, it was a nice day for a walk, not to hot but just right. We stopped and munched on some blueberries along the way. In the afternoon we went on a tour at the Atlantic Brewing Co. We enjoyed this very much and although we didn’t buy any of their beers or ales we did buy some of the mustard that they are involved with making. Later in the afternoon we returned to our site and had a lobster cookout and just really enjoyed the meal, after that we just sat around the campfire and had a good evening. Another good day

Aug 18th as we awoke Jon was feeling great and we went and got some kayaks and went out to Eagle Lake. We probably did a good 5 miles around the lake and had a great time doing it. We were so lucky to see an eagle at the lake and to get within 100 feet of it; we didn’t want to scare it off so we gave him space and didn’t get any closer. After that we went to Beach cliffs for a short hike of about ¼ mile, the views are spectacular. We did spend a short amount of time here as it was up over 90 degrees again today. We decided that a dip in Echo Lake was the thing to do so we went swimming. After cleaning up and eating dinner we went out near Otter Point with some wine, cheese and crackers. Just another great way to end a good day, plus no one felt bad today.




Aug 17th we got up early and after getting ready and waking Jeff & Shirley we went up on Cadillac Mt. to view the sunrise, and a spectacular sight it was and to top it off we were one of the first along with the others on the mountain to see the sunrise this day in the whole United States. After that we had planned to eat at a restaurant in Southwest Harbor, but they were closed and we ate back in our own MH’s. Well we think that summer is here as the temperature went over the 90 degree mark. Jeff, Shirley & Jon had a tee time and played in the heat. On the back nine Shirley was getting to feel poorly as she was experiencing heat exhaustion, she did make it through ok and we finished up with no more problems. Later in the afternoon we all went to the Jordan Pond House for a light dinner and after that we walked some Carriage Trails to a waterfall. After starting our walk in the wrong direction we made a course correction and made it fine from there. During this time Jon was feeling quite poorly and we don’t know if it was the heat from the morning and or something that he ate. After the walk we did go Southwest Harbor to get a Blueberry pie, unfortunately they were sold out. We went back and visited with Jeff & Shirley for a while. It was a good day even at times maybe Jon didn’t think so.




Aug 16th this being the last day of work for this weekend we had a young fellow come in to rent a bike to go to the top of Cadillac Mt. We told him that most all of our customers ride the carriage roads and that since he was from Florida this is higher than any were in FL. Well he did the ride and took a picture up on top of the mountain and forwarded it to us and we are sharing it here. After work we brought one of the company vans back to the park so that it could be inspected the next day, Jon was confronted by the grumpy old man that works at our other store about the call we made for some help. Seems that he was upset by the way we talk, and it doesn’t fit well with him, can’t please everyone so Jon just walked away to defuse the situation. We then went to Jeff & Shirley’s site as they had prepared dinner for us. We enjoyed the visit and had a nice time till the bugs ran us away. Another great day.


Aug 14th as we returned from work we were happy to see that Jeff & Shirley made it here safely and we had dinner together. We threw a few burgers on the grill and started a fire and got down to some needed update on each other. We are deciding what we will be doing the next several days. They will be here for the next week and it is quite ironic that they got here a day after Mike & Sharon and Fox & Linda left. We were friend starved for several weeks we have some good friends here two weeks in a row. We have made friends all over the country but here in Maine it is a different story.

Aug 13th we meet up with Mike & Sharon and Fox & Linda at Grumpy’s in Southwest harbor for breakfast. We had a great time and we just enjoyed each other’s company, after spending time there we went to get ready to go to work, and they took off exploring the west side of the island. We did meet back up with them after work and then we followed them to the cottage that they had rented. We said our good-bys and went home as they were getting ready for the trip back to Pa. and De. It was a much needed friend’s fix as when Larry & Sharon left we don’t know many people at the CG. We do get together with Ron & Shirley but as they work the opposite of us we don’t get to see each other socially. We do try to get together at least once a week.

Aug. 12th in the morning we just took it easy around the MH and did a lot of clean-up from the past few days. It was a good day to relax and sort of rest up for the afternoon activities. Later in the afternoon we met up with Mike & Sharon and Fox & Linda as we had a light dinner and then we went on a lobster boat nature cruise, it was on the LuLu. We started out to raise a lobster trap and when we got into the area we spotted an Eagle and within a few minutes it was accompanied by second Eagle, what a great sight as the two Eagles just roosted there as we took some pictures. After a talk by the captain on lobsters, and he did cover everything in the lobster field, it was very interesting and informative. From there we went out to Egg Island and saw a lot of seals in the area lying out on the beach. We also witnessed another Eagle coming to this island and all of the sea gulls went airborne as the eagle approached. As we were returning the captain told us some of the stories of the cottages on Mt. Desert Island. As we were coming into the harbor the sun was setting and it was the end of a wonderful cruise. We then went and had some dessert and visited with our friends at their cottage and after this short visit we returned to our MH. Another great day on the road.

Aug.11th we got together this morning at 9:45am for a ride on some of the Carriage trails, we had booked this several weeks ago and just thought it would be a great way to be able to get Mike out to the trails. Mike has worked for the last 22 years moving appliances, and at this time he has a lot of trouble just walking a short while and in the next month he is scheduled to have surgery. The Carriage that we were on held 12 people and was pulled by Joey & Rex who weighed in at about 1800 lbs. It was a 2 hour tour and we visited 5 of the bridges in that time. The bridges were built by the Rockefellers in the past 70 to 100 years ago and the beauty and construction is amazing. After that we went to the Jordan Pond House for a light lunch, here again we are so glad that Kathleen made reservations as the place was packed. Upon leaving we went to Thunder Hole and listened to some very small thunder as we might have been a little late and we probably would have needed a rougher sea, for a better effect. We then went to Otter Point and just sort of sat or laid out on the rocks and enjoyed the afternoon. Later we all returned to our campsite and we prepared and ate a lobster feast, beside the lobster we had corn on the cob from PA and cooked small red potatoes, what a meal. We sat around the campfire into the evening and just had another great day.

Aug. 10th we met up with Mike & Sharon, Fox & Linda a little after 8:00 AM as we went out on a Whale watching tour, Glad that we dressed warm for as we got out in the Bay of Maine it got rather cold. It was a rough ride as the seas were a bit higher than was expected and a lot of people on the boat did not have a good experience and probably didn’t care if they saw whales or not. We did get to see 6 different whales and a young lady who was in charge of tracking whales pointed out that we saw one that hadn’t been seen before, whales have different marking on their rear fin that can be used for identification, much like humans have finger prints. We also went to Puffin Islands and got to see about 100 puffins, we always thought that they were bigger than what they really are. Upon returning we went to the Jordan Restaurant in Bar Harbor and had something to eat. After that we did a little grocery shopping and they returned to their cabin to change. We did meet up again on top of Cadillac Mt. to enjoy the views from there; you can never get too much of this. After this we all went back to our campsite and fixed hot dogs and burgers and just spent the rest of the evening enjoying the time. We have good days and sometimes we have even better days.


Aug. 9th we got an early start today for work as we are excited that we have friends coming. Although we worked all day we met them for dinner after work and we just totally enjoyed the evening. It is so much fun on catching up on times that we were apart. We went to Rt.66 for dinner and after that we went to their cabin that they rented outside of Bar Harbor. We didn’t get home till much after 10:00 pm and at that time we were totally exhausted.


Aug 5th after going to the Post Office again we did some hiking in the area, one place that we went was up on the cliffs of Beech Mt; it is such a lovely area and the views are just fantastic from up there. We watched as the people below us were swimming in Echo Lake, we just don’t feel that the water gets warm enough for us to go swimming. We cleaned up our grill as that as well as everything else is getting a severe case of the mold, we completely stripped it down and did a good job of shinning it up. We also made contact with an employer about next summer’s job, more about that in the future as nothing but initial contact was made and anything in the future is several months out. Oh! And by the way we did have a few drops of rain today but not enough to settle the dust. Hey, wait a minute what dust, but it didn’t make it any muddier.

Aug 4th This morning we went into Bar Harbor and took a ride on Oli’s Trolley, it was only the one hour tour but we did get a tour of a lot of the old mansions on the east side of the island. It also took us to the top of Cadillac Mt; we learned a lot of facts about the area on this tour. After we finished the trolley we just walked around Bar Harbor for a while to get to know the area, even though we work here there are a lot of places we didn’t get to see, we are always asked a lot of questions about the area and we don’t have the answers. A lot of the reason for this is the fact that we had so much rain and on our days off we stayed out in the MH. We did some grocery shopping after that as to get stocked up for the next several weeks.



Aug. 3rd we just took it easy today and worked around the MH, trying to get caught up on some of our work and getting ready for our company over the next two weeks. We did some shopping at Wal-Mart, along with going to the Post Office. We went to the Legion for Supper as we usually try to do this once a week. They put on a supper three times a week and we like to get to one of them.