2/26/07 What it Looks Like

I received an email the other day from one of our readers asking about our 5th wheel. She wanted to know what it looked like inside. Here's few pictures to show how we are living.

The outside.

This is the kitchen area. I am so

thankful for lots of counter

space!

Where it all gets cooked.

Dining table and my recliner

The bedroom

Dresser drawers and cabinets

Another view

Our computer room

Our bathroom

I THINK THIS SAYS IT ALL......

So there it is. This is what we live in.

Our friend Dale is out of the hospital now and on a strict liquid diet until Friday. We're just glad to have him back in the park.

Last night my puzzle pal, Nancy, and I decided that we won't be doing anymore puzzles now that the winter weather has passed us and it is too nice to be spending time indoors. Now that summer is here (it went to 82 today!) its time to start spending alot more time at the pool.

2/25/07 Yard Sale Day at Suncoast RV

Today is yard sale day at Suncoast Rv Resort. Anyone who wanted to participate only had to sign up for a table and they were in business. You could bring household items you no longer wanted or crafts to sell if that's what you wanted to do.

This is the first one that has been done so turnout was less than they, the organizers, had hoped for. All in all there about 8 or 9 participants. Here are some of their pictures and what they were selling.

This is Linda the park manager.

She had lots of jewelry to sell. Some bought, some she and her husband

made.

Karen, our Canadian neighbor,

sold sweaters she made.

I don't know their names but they

seemed to sell a lot of these little

frogs made out of CD's and felt.

I don't know this ladies name either but these lights are made out of PVC pipe and then drilled in whatever pattern you want with little plastic pieces glued into the holes and then a light wired into it.

These were a few of the "sellers". I saw a lot of people browsing, but I didn't hear how well any of them made out.

This was a day of rest for Bob. He didn't do any work around the place today, he just took a well deserved rest watching TV, playing online pool and I think he even sneaked a nap in while I was doing the laundry.

After dinner I went up to the clubhouse but it was deserted. I guess everyone was home watching the Oscars being awarded. Nancy, my puzzle pal, called and we had the place to ourselves. Do you have to guess what we did? Yep, we started a new puzzle. Here's a picture of the 1500 piece one we just finished.

2/24/07 Puzzle Room and Tackle Box Cleaning

The biggest thing on my agenda today was the cleaning of the library/puzzle room here in the park. The biggest thing on Bob's was cleaning out his tackle boxes.

Bob got an early start on his task and sat at the picnic table outside and completely emptied both of his tackle box. Discarding things he doesn't need anymore, finding things he had forgotten he had and wondering why he held on to some of the things in there for so long. It wasn't long before he was joined by Dave, Karl and Marv. More fish stories were swapped and before the tackle box cleaning was finished I think they solved all the world's problems.

My puzzle pal, Nancy and I cleaned out the library and puzzle room. We seem to spend enough time in there that we thought it only right to get rid of the some of the junk that has accumulated. We got rid of books that were in bad shape, magazines that were months old or that there were multiple copies of and any other stuff that just didn't belong there. We loaded all the books back onto into the shelves in alphabetical order by author and put the puzzles back according to how many pieces they had. Games were all gathered and shelved together and magazines were grouped by type.

We received lots of compliments on how nice it all turned out.

We went out for dinner at the Red Lobster Restaurant down the street. We had never been to one before and we noticed there was always a waiting line so figured it had to be good. Bob was in the mood for lobster so it wasn't hard to pick a place to go. We had a 20 minute wait for our table so we made our way to the bar with the black plastic thing-y that will light up and vibrate when our table is ready.

Settled in our booth, drinks ordered, we sat back to decide what exactly we'll order for dinner. Bob's choice was easily made as he's been thinking about a lobster dinner for the last week or so. I ordered the combo special they have going on right now, lobster tail, garlic shrimp scampi and skewered garlic shrimp. While it was good, it was too much garlic at one sitting for me taking into consideration that they served garlic rolls too. Our young waiter gave us excellent service and Bob thoroughly enjoyed his lobster dinner.

Our friend Dale is still in the hospital and on a strict liquid diet. He is not a happy camper,,,,but a starving camper!

All in all it was a good day in Florida.

2/23/07 Fishing Day for Bob

Our day started before the crack of dawn today. We both got up at 5:30, Bob, because he is going fishing at 6. Me? I'm still trying to figure that one out.

Bob, Karl, Dave and Dale left precisely at 6 a.m. Temp was around 55 degrees and the sky was as clear as could be. After watching them load the truck with coolers, chairs, tackle boxes, poles and cameras I waved them off with wishes of good luck.

I got a few hours computer time in (read that as I played a half dozen games of online scrabble), got a load of laundry done and then headed for the pool.

I truly don't think I've ever seen the sky as blue as it was today. I wasn't the only who noticed it as this was a topic of conversation in the pool area. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. I stayed there for just two hours as I am trying very hard not to burn and peel. I even ventured into the pool and was very glad it was heated to a nice 84 degrees.

By late afternoon I had the fried chicken done, the spuds peeled for parsley potatoes and the ever present Quinn pantry staple - a can of green beans in the pot ready to be cooked. Bob doesn't like frozen and the fresh ones at Walmart were a few days past their prime.

Afterward I sat on the porch and enjoyed the late afternoon sunshine. I sat and listened to what I could hear. The drone of the rush hour traffic on US 19, the occasional door slamming, the hoot owl, the roar of the motorcycle obviously ridden by a testosterone driven rider. I could hear Vi, our next door neighbor, slamming drawers and cupboard doors as she made dinner. Our doors and drawers have "catches" on them so they don't open while traveling and I think Vi thinks she has to slam them in order for the catch to take hold. Or maybe she's mad at Marv.

At ten after six the fisherman returned. It was then that I learned that Dale had gotten very sick and had to call his wife to come get him. Bob drove by to see how he was only to learn they hadn't been home as yet. We're wondering if she has taken him to the hospital. They came home empty handed. They caught lots of fish but no keepers due to their size. They had fun all the same. As I write this they are on the porch telling Marv their fish stories. I just heard that Dave caught a pelican! Evidently the bird flew by just as he casted and when Bob looked over, Dave's pole was practically bent in half. Listening again I then learned that he also "caught" a dolphin but when the dolphin turned over the hook worked its way loose. He cast one time and as the hook and bait hit the water this black heron type bird dove after his bait and took hook and all. Dave didn't catch many fish but he was the leader in birds!

I knew Bob wouldn't be up long after his long day so I made my way to the clubhouse for some puzzle time and to hang out with friends. Nancy and I finished the 1500 piece puzzle that's been on the table for the last four days. All totaled there was probably 10 of us that had a hand in putting the pieces together.

As I came home for the night around ten my phone was ringing as I walked in. It was Karen, Dale's wife. Yes, she did take him straight to the hospital. It seems our buddy Dale has a bowel obstruction. He was resting comfortably and I knew he hadn't lost his sense of humor when I heard in the background, "Don't send flowers or cards, send money!" He's only expected to be in the hospital overnight. We were relieved to hear he'll be ok.

Well, that's it for another day in paradise.

2/22/07 No Sun For Me!

Remember yesterday when you read that I didn't think I had gotten red, as in sunburned, at the pool? Well, I was wrong! I don't by any means look like a lobster but I won't be hanging out at the pool today! I was a little surprised to see just how much sun I had gotten. I don't think its bad enough that I'll peel so this should turn.

Bob spent a few hours cleaning out his tackle box and getting all his gear in order for the fishing trip tomorrow. It has been decided that the guys will leave at 6 a.m.. They'll have a 45 minute drive to the Skyway Bridge in St. Pete's so they want to get an early start.

I puttered around the house for awhile and then made my way to the clubhouse to get some puzzle time in since I couldn't hang out at the pool.

That's about it for today.

2/21/07 A Perfect Day

We woke this morning to blue skies. The weatherman says mid-70's today so chores were taken care of quickly so we could get out and take advantage of this warm weather.

With indoor stuff done we headed out to measure the molding all around our house on wheels so that replacement molding could be ordered. Ours has turned dark in color and we can't get it clean anymore. So we did all the measurements and just as we were taking the last one Bob noticed that there were in fact two different widths of molding so we had to start over. It only took us a few more minutes and that chore was done.

Now what to do with our day.....

Our Michigan friend, Dale, stopped over and he and Bob took off for an automotive parts store to get a replacement hose he needs. I walked up to the clubhouse to see what was going on and saw that the lounge chairs around the pool were quickly being claimed by sun worshippers. I turned right around and headed home to gather all the necessities of sun bathing. With towel, trashy novel, a Pepsi and suntan lotion in hand I headed to the pool. Now since we've had "winter" here the past few weeks even my "farmer tan" had faded so I was starting out with a clean slate so to speak. After settling in on my lounge chair and lathering on the Panama Jack lotion I settled in to the hard work of tanning. It IS hard work! You have to make sure the book you're reading doesn't cast a shadow anywhere, you have to keep turning from one side to the other so one tans evenly and you have to read without sunglasses so that you don't end up with raccoon eyes! I stayed out for about two and a half hours this first time out. I couldn't see where I burned anywhere so I feel confident that I'm on my way to a golden tan. (Hear that mom?)

Bob has invited a few of his buddies to go along on a day of fishing on Friday so the "you shoulda seen the one that got away" stories were flying during the Happy Hour. Our Canadian neighbor, Dave, brought over all the fixins' for strawberry daiquiris so I brought out the blender and made a couple of rounds for everyone. Now I'm not a drinker, the last drink I had was on my 50th birthday and the one before that was on my 40th birthday but they looked so good I decided to partake. It took just one before my lips were numb and I couldn't feel my forehead. One was enough for me, but I have a feeling since Florida is a prime strawberry growing area that this won't be the last one I have before we leave.

After spaghetti and meatballs for dinner I went up to the clubhouse to work on our latest puzzle. Nancy, my puzzle pal from Connecticut, returned from a week long rally so we had lots to catch up on. As a side note, Nancy and her husband Lenny, are going to look for a sticks and bricks home when they leave here in April. In Delaware, our home state. They have a daughter in Dover so that's where they'll settle.

So there it is, a perfect day for us.

2/20/07 Our First Step to Being Texans

Today we took the first step to becoming Texans. Yep, you read that right, Bob and I will be making our legal home Texas. There are several reasons for this, one being that we don't have to get our vehicles inspected UNLESS we go back to Texas. Let me explain. When we leave Florida we'll take a leisurely paced trip to Texas to get driver's licenses, vehicle tags, and voter's registration cards that will for all intents and purposes declare us residents of Texas. Their driver's licenses are good for 6 years and since Texas "understands" full timing in RV's we will not be required to have our vehicles inspected unless we return to Texas. Every year or two we will renew our registration via snail mail. Of course in 6 years we will have to return there to renew our driver's licenses.

Another advantage is there is NO state income tax! Now how cool is that? While workamping in other states we will make so little that with our deductions we won't owe anything in state income taxes.

So today we made a trip to the bank to get our paperwork notarized, copies made and then mailed off all the information to Escapees, a huge organization for full timers, to set up our mailing address. We know our street name is Rainbow Drive and we'll get the number in about a week. All of our mail will go there and they'll forward it to us on a set schedule if we are stationary for awhile or on a demand basis if we are moving around. Now with the house sold and no household bills we won't really get all that much mail anyway. We've also had some things changed from paper mail to electronic mail. Hopefully we saved a tree!

Spring arrived in our section of Florida today! We creeped into the low 70's today and the weatherman says we'll hit the 80's by Friday. He also assured us that the cold weather is behind us and its clear sailing from here on out.

This afternoon Bob worked on polishing the rig again, its almost done now, and I did our laundry and worked on a new 1500 piece puzzle me and the puzzle pals are doing. This kept us busy until the bell rang for Happy Hour.