9/5–9/23/2012 Catching Up…

I hate when I do this!  I have every intention of writing daily or a least every other day and then ….and then, life happens.  Or, perhaps life is boring at times and there just isn’t anything to write about. Or, perhaps I just get lazy.  Yeah, throw some of that in there too.  So I’m not even going to try to play catch up on a daily basis.

Our time here is coming to a rapid close.  Our work at the marina was done as of the 8th of September.  Actually, make that the 7th because it rained all day on the 8th and we didn’t have to work.
Our last visit to my parents has come and gone and it was a crazy four days.  On the Wednesday we were there we went to the America’s Largest RV Show,,,or at least that’s how it was billed, in Hershey, Pennsylvania. 



Actually, I thought the Tampa was much larger.  I guess there were a lot of RV’s packed in that lot though.



We didn’t go there to buy one.  There was no need to do that because we have been negotiating for the past 6 or 7 weeks with five different RV dealerships up and down the eastern half of this country.  Yep, we bought a new 5th wheel and  yes, we just bought a new one two years ago this month.  So why are we buying a new one already?  Well, we are totally unhappy with the Carriage Cameo that we bought.  Every month, no exaggeration, every month something was breaking.  When you spend this much money on an RV you shouldn’t have to fix something every month.  It also doesn’t help that the Carriage company that built this piece of crap went out of business this past December.  Goodbye warranty!  We talked long and hard about this and we decided to bite the bullet and trade up and get Mobile Suites by Doubletree.  When we leave Delaware we’ll head towards Knoxville, Tennessee to pick up our new home.  To say that we are dreading moving everything we own from our present RV to the new one is an understatement.  But it has to be done.  We praying for nice weather, we’ve done this in the rain once and its no fun!

When we returned from the RV show I dropped Bob off at my parent’s and took off for the Elks Lodge where I’m a member.   I especially wanted to go this evening because my friend Judy is heading up a project that she learned about from this blog.  Last winter in Mission, Texas I was a part of a group that made mattresses for the homeless out of material and plastic bags.  She read the post and said, “I can do that!”  Has she ever!  This group has already made over twenty mattresses!

Bags of every color, unfolded, fluffed and then stuffed by these wonderful ladies for a wonderful cause.



Judy (L) is just running with this project!  She’s also taking it to her church.



Debbie used half a pool cue to push the bags all the way into the baffles.

Karen made a connection with a local company that will provide the material for free.  I believe this company makes slipcovers and all the material they have left over on a bolt that isn’t enough for another job but big enough for a mattress or three is given.  They reduce unwanted inventory and this group has plenty of material, it’s a win-win for everyone, especially the homeless who are going to get beds!

Hopefully, now that summer is over and more members are getting back to the lodge on a more regular basis, the group will even grow.