Don't Touch the Glass!

In an effort to stave off Alzheimers, Joanna and I tackled the crossword puzzle in the Tampa Bay Times. I don't believe I have ever completely finished a puzzle in my entire life, but together we did it! This togetherness is important as tomorrow is our 50th anniversary. We had a wonderful party back in August, but tomorrow is the actual day.

We will celebrate by going out for lunch and then a quiet evening here on the bus. We have become lunch people as the thought of driving at night to go out for dinner in a strange town with very aggressive drivers is unnerving. People in St. Pete seem to be in a great hurry. Lots of racing cars weaving through traffic.

Tomorrow is moving day as we are changing campsites. We couldn't get the same site for a whole week. Good thing we are moving because evidently the Loud family has moved in next door.
Between them and the thumping of falling acorns on our roof when the wind kicks up, I am ready for a change. Our next site is waterfront so that is good!!

Today we spent the day with Richard and Sylvia in downtown St. Pete visiting two glass galleries. Pretty impressive stuff and I have some pictures to prove it. Some of the pieces sell for over 9,000 dollars! I spent the afternoon trying not to trip, keeping my arms close to my body, and resisting the urge to reach out and touch some of this stuff.

We went to lunch at the Moon Underwater and the fare was excellent. Joanna and I had delicious Haddock sandwiches and I got some tasty bean soup. Richard drove us around town and we had some laughs along the way!

Have Bike Will Travel!

One of my goals on this extended winter vacation is to get in better shape. To that end I am trying to walk for a half hour each day. Now that we are in one place for a while I also decided it was time to get out the bike. And so the last two days have involved some riding in the Ft. DeSoto area. Florida has wonderful bike trails and this place is a prime example.  Pedaled about 5 miles yesterday and a couple more today. Chilly day today made riding a bit of a challenge. We are only in the fifties so if you are reading from up north, enjoy the fact that 50's here is cold and damp and feels like 40's up there.

Did some research on the best places to eat in St. Pete. "The Frog Pond" topped the breakfast list so today we went. Big disappointment!!! Maybe we can hit a culinary home run sometime in the next few days! Here are some bike riding pictures. This area is surrounded by water.
A nice beach for a walk during warmer days!

 My mighty Schwinn! (Courtesy of Mary Ellen)

 I need to do some fishing if it warms up!

Friends

Chapter 10 - We spent Monday (11/26) visiting with Dick and Sylvia McKean who are wintering here in St. Pete. We got to see their well-appointed southern hideaway and then Richard took us for a ride around town. We ended up in charming old Gulfport at O'Moody's rest. on the waterfront for lunch.  We always have fun with the McKeans and will get together later in the week to visit some museums. Here are a few fight eyes of the afternoon.

The Jewel

Since we left home on November 8th, we have had one goal in mind: We need to be in St. Petersburg by November 25th. The reason being that we have a hard fought reservation here at Fort DeSoto State Park on the tip of the St. Pete peninsula. We will be here for a week and it is clear we have made the right choice! This is just about the nicest park we have ever been in. I will be posting many "fight eyes" of our adventures here.
But lets start with Sunday evening. We were relaxing and I was reading a great Wilbur Smith book, when suddenly we heard not one, but two great horned owls calling outside our motorhome.

 I decided to head for a look-see even though it was dark. They were clearly on my campsite in the live oaks. I didn't have a high beam flashlight but a neighbor did and lo and behold... a giant female was perched on a lofty branch hooting to her smaller mate. He remained out of site as he answered and what a treat! We got to spend 5 minutes with this splendid animal before she spread giant wings and moved on. Great horned owls mate for life and can live up to 28 years!! While doing a little fun research I discovered that I can attract owls to Woodlawn by building my own owls nest. Cant wait! Say goodbye to all those chipmunks in my yard at home!

i'll just have to remember not to let Teddy and Scamper outside! Here is our campsite:

It is quite secluded for a park and surrounded by towering oaks.

Here are a few local sites. Many of the campsites are right on the water. 

 Hibiscus!

It has a key!!!

Chapter 8 -

We spent November 24th heading for Sumter Oakes in Bushnell. It felt good to cross the border into Florida as we headed toward I-10 and then 301. This road takes you through the infamous towns of Starke, Lawtey, and Waldo. Their speed traps have caught many unaware drivers over the years, including me! I once got stopped for doing 25 mph in a 20. Imagine that! Long story but I did not get a ticket! My advice is to never break the speed limit on 301 south to Ocala.

We had another low battery car lock up today on the Ford. I was cussing myself for not leaving a window open when Joanna appeared with wonderful news. Hidden in my key fob is a secret key that allows you to unlock a hidden door lock on the driver's side. Who knew? Those people at Ford are brilliant!!!! Locked door problem solved and I feel a little idiotic.

I put a battery charger on the car to see if a low battery might be the problem. It is now fully charged. If problem recurs it might simply mean we need a new starting battery. Time will tell.

Anyway who cares? We are in Florida, it is warm, and we are on Easy St.!

Sumter Oakes is a quiet place with many trees and bordered by cypress swamps nearby.

Thanksgiving!

Chapter 7 - Thanksgiving in Georgia

We spent a rainy Thanksgiving in Georgia after an uneventful trip down from South Carolina. It may have been raining but we were finally warm with temps in the 70's. We are staying at the Walkabout campground, owned by an Aussie! "Good eye might!" The campground is located in Woodbine, Georgia. Hmmmm...that name Woodbine rings a bell but I can't quite place it.

Owners Katy and Troy put on a Thanksgiving dinner that was terrific! That meant a great deal to us old timers far from home and missing this normally special time with family. We met some nice folks and had a more than pleasant evening! We liked this park and will plan to return.
Lining up for the delicious buffet!

 A special Happy Thanksgiving to my family at home!!! We miss you!

South Carolina

Chapter 6

We headed for Palmetto Shores RV Park in Summerton, South Carolina on Wed. November 21st. It was a beautiful day, sunny in the 60's. A great day to travel! We thought it might be a bad traffic day so we left New Bern very early (5:30 AM). Would there be a challenge today? Unfortunately, yes. Joanna has an app on her phone that is tuned into our "Toad".  (Our towed vehicle which is a Ford Fusion). Anyway, after several hours of travel, she gets a message indicating the battery in the Ford is running low. I pull into a rest area and find out that yeah, it is low all right. So low that I can't even unlock the doors to get in with the key fob. So much for modern technology! Unless I can get inside, we are going to be permanently tethered together. This shouldn't happen as I have a power supply coming from the motor home to keep the Ford charged. Evidently somehow the battery was being drained.

Time to find a Ford dealer. I asked our computer wizard (Joanna) to hook us up with a location.  Within minutes, Joanna had us heading to a dealer nearby. Thank goodness it was a weekday and the dealers were open! We arrived and a nice man came out with a thick coat hanger like thing and within seconds he had our car door open. A little juice from my motorhome generator and we were back in business. Needless to say, I decided to leave the window open a crack so we could reach inside if necessary. Later I inspected things and decided either it had been a loose connection or perhaps the heat had been left on in the Ford.

We arrived safely at Palmetto Shores and spent a restful afternoon. Then we headed to the on site restaurant for ribeye steak and sweet potato fries. Yummy!! Here are some park pictures with a great sunset.  Georgia is next!!
A very pleasant campsite on a beautiful sunny afternoon.

 On our way to the restaurant with Lake Marion in the background.

 Homeward bound with sated appetites.

"These eyes..."

Chapter 5

I have had some eye problems during the past year. My vision has improved but I am finding it very difficult to drive at night. I have tried my best to make our "bus trips" in short leaps so we don't end up driving at night. This is working out nicely most of the time. More later...

We spent November 16-20th in New Bern. We had some trouble finding a place to stay as the city is full of contractors working on restoring this shattered community to its former glory. Joanna got us into KOA so we had a convenient location.

I had planned to take some pictures of all the destruction but it seemed I was always driving. There is a great deal of damage, but I guess you will have to take my word for it. I have only one completely useless picture I took on a gray day looking out over the Neuse River at New Bern. Here it is:

I need to get better at taking "fight eyes". I don't even have any pics of all my dear New Bern friends that we spent time with. Again I am sorry!

We saw Elizabeth Brinkley and Jenny Carter and we all went to my favorite restaurant: Arturo's
The best Mexican food in the United States!!! So thankful to be able to call these two great ladies our friends!!

We went to church on Sunday and worshipped with many dear friends there.

We visited with our former next door neighbors, Ed and Mary Ann Klebaur. Their house got flooded (as did our former home) but they are well on their way to recovery, thank goodness.

We went to dinner with the Klebaurs, and neighbors Al and Elena Muenster on Sunday night at Paula's Rest. They have a new site. Dinner went fine but as we were leaving, WELL AFTER DARK, I pulled out into the wrong lane and had to do a quick 360 to keep from killing us. Like I said, no driving at night.

We live in upstate NY but a large chunk of our hearts remains in New Bern!

Raleigh and my Cuzzint

Chapter 4 -We spent November 14-16th in Raleigh with Claire. Been promising a visit and finally delivered. We had a great time! The bus was quartered at the State Fairgrounds. A nice park! Claire came over for Breakfast at Wade's our first morning, and then we headed out to see her beautiful new home. She has a sweet setup and we applauded her new digs!

Jill and Adam brought the family over for a wonderful chicken parm dinner. Wyatt, Sawyer, Cora, and Hudson are a real treat and we enjoyed getting to know them. We had not seen Jill and Adam since they were married 11 years earlier. We'll have to make sure we don't let that happen in the future by making more visits. Raleigh was easy to get to and we did not have to get on dreaded I-95 to get there. We took 81 to 64 to 29. All good roads! A good way to get south!!
And here is a nice family shot:

 Claire's beautiful new home

 Joanna and Claire take in Celebrity banner

On Friday we just hung out and took a walk. We also took a shot at fixing  a cranky garage door. When we left, Claire's door was no worse off.

More Challenges!

Chapter 3- More challenges!

On Monday, November 13th, we left Netcong, NJ and headed south to Stephens City, Virginia. Time to visit former Pulaski mayor Constance Haas. Connie welcomed us with open arms and a wonderful dinner! (We also had a manhattan and Connie made me my first ever stinger. Woo hoo!).

We always enjoy our visits there but this time there was a little "speed bump". The short version of the story is that shortly after dinner, Connie had an "event" that looked a lot like a seizure. Joanna was panicky and ran to get me out of the shower. I hustled out in my bath towel and nothing else, (That in itself might have done Connie in!), all the while trying to remember the words to "Staying Alive" the BeeGees tune you are supposed to use when giving CPR. Anyway, she was coming around when I got there and within a few minutes she was ok. Whew, no chest pumping for me! (I would never have been able to keep that towel around me.)

We resolved to call the doctor in the morning who then instructed us to take her to the emergency room for some tests. So we had a nice visit together as we spent a good part of the day hanging around the Winchester Hospital waiting for tests to be done. At home that evening, Joanna and I decided to hang around another day to be sure Connie was OK.

The next morning her son, Ron, arrived on the scene. At the same time we learned of an approaching snow and ice storm. What to do? With Ron there we decided to make a break and head south. It was the right decision as the next day they received 6 inches of snow and ice and we would have been stuck!! And so with a late start we headed to Raleigh to spend some time with my "cuzzint" Claire.
Good trip down and we arrived at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds safely.

Doug to the rescue and a trip to LV

Chapter 2 -

November 9-11 2018

So we were in Netcong, New Jersey with no car. Memorial gathering for Pete Lawless Saturday on Long Island. Car due to be ready Saturday afternoon. No way I am making it. This also means that my planned visit with my 2nd grade teacher, Joanie Forbes, would not take place.

But wait...here comes Doug DeRancy to the rescue! Since Doug was coming down from Cortland on Saturday morning,  he agreed to stop and get me. Saved by my good buddy!

Joanna would stay with the motorhome in Netcong while Doug and I headed for Low Cost (Locust) Valley and the get together. Saturday was indeed a great day, except that 20 minutes after I got into Doug's car, I realized I had left my wallet in the motorhome!!!! Thank goodness for Doug who bailed me out a second time by loaning me 300 bucks to pay for taking Joanie Forbes and Ellen Minette, our former music teacher in elementary school, out to dinner. The trip down went well and we even had time to stop at the Valley Tea Shoppe (Buckram Stables) to have lunch with Patti and Ned Currie!!

The Pete Lawless event went very well and my friends Barry McBride and Don Barclay, among others, gave great eulogies. It was great to be with long time friends.

Then it was on to Joanie Forbes' house to pick her up. We visited for a bit and headed for Bayville to pick up Mrs. Minette. Twin Harbors was the venue for our dinner. I had a total blast with these legendary educators!!

I got to sleep at Joanie's house on Saturday night. It is a carbon copy of the house I grew up in. Technically I was sleeping in my own room. Since Joanie has never remodeled, it was truly like being  at my home in the 1950's. Now let's see, how many steps is it from my bedroom to the bathroom with my eyes closed? Did I tell you I got to walk the old neighborhood the next morning? All the initials in trees are still there from the fifties.

Doug drove me to East Stroudsburg on Sunday where I picked up my car and we parted. Thank you Doug! I love you man!

The first picture is of the Pete Lawless gathering. The 2nd is dinner at Twin Harbors in Bayville. Ellen is on my left and Joanie on my right!
Below is a picture of Miss Forbes's house. Exactly how my house once looked.

 The next picture is of my house today which has been greatly remodeled!!!

 The entrance sign to Eden Roc Dr. My childhood paradise!

The 2018-2019 Adventure Begins!

Chapter 1: We left Pulaski on November 8th with spirits sky high. We we're headed to "paradise" after missing our vacation in 2017-18 due to health reasons.  By the end of the day our high spirits had been dashed and we were down  in the dumps!
We we're trying to get by an oversized vehicle on I-80 which wasn't even trying to stay right. As a result, I had to brave the left shoulder of the highway. 
That proved to be a mistake. Soon people we're driving by us and waving frantically. Never a good sign when you are on the highway. 
I pulled off the rush hour roadway and stopped, getting out with nervous anticipation about what I would find. 
Stood at the back corner of the car, carefully avoiding the whoosh of vehicles passing by as I gazed at my left rear tire. It was pretty bad! The tire was pretty much gone and we were riding on the rim. Shades of Clark Griswold I thought! 
If those nice people had not signaled us with frantic windmilling arms, how far would we have driven shooting Sparks like a bench grinder? 
The tow truck arrived within an hour. My Ford Fusion Energi has no spare, so it had to be towed for a visit to the nice people at Firestone in East Stroudsburg, pa., where we received the bad news. 
They could order a new rim from Ford for 800 bucks which would arrive on Saturday, or I could get an after market rim for 400. Also, 2 tires were damaged, not just one. 
Decisions.. decisions. Even though the price was laughable, time constraints forced us to choose the expensive option. By the way, Matt, our friendly Goodyear assoc., gamely tried to locate a used Rim with no luck. We ended up with 4 new tires and one kept for a potential spare. 
We eventually made it to our destination about 9 pm with no car and no way to get to Long Island on Saturday for a classmate memorial. More later in chapter 2 starring Doug DeRancy

This is our 50th year of marriage and we are blessed. Joanna and I stayed at home the past winter due to various minor health issues. Now we are hoping that these are behind us and that we can hit the road again in November. We are planning to head down the east coast and spend time on both Florida coasts. 

This is me, Steve the mighty fisherman. We have a terrific salmon fishery here in Upstate NY on what else but the Salmon River.