Hanging Up the Keys

Well, we've done it.  Denny and I have signed a contract to purchase a dollhouse in The Villages.

To many people the house that we are buying would be very small but after living in a RV for fifteen years we think it will be very comfortable and cozy with room to stretch our legs, which is kind of a big thing.

I have to admit, The Villages is not a place we would have thought to check out if it hadn't been for our friends Don and Vicki.  I remember years ago my parents requested information on the development but never came down to Florida to check it out.  I had always envisioned living by the beach or near the mountains when we finally settled down but after seeing all the healthy, active and youthful seniors here Denny and I decided that this would be a good place for us.  You see, we both have a family history of dementia and we wanted a place where both our minds and bodies would have the opportunity for stimulation and with 32 free nine hole executive golf courses on the grounds along with 2,000 clubs of various interests, swimming pools and rec centers in every village (plat) and plenty of walking/biking/golf cart trails we should be able to stay active.  

Originally we had given ourselves this final year to travel but housing prices are going back up as are mortgage interest rates so making a decision to purchase now seemed wise.  In addition, The Villages will stop building new homes within the next two years so home prices will only continue to rise.  Thus our decision (for once) was not a gut reaction but a logical one and boy is that weird for us!  That actually made it harder because Denny and I do go with our instincts and we had to sit down and discus all the pros and cons of this area versus what our dream location had been.  Because you see, at this point we won't be able to keep Black Beauty and The Beast so we won't be traveling for a while.  And that is a bit difficult to wrap our minds around.

So next month we'll be homeowners once again.  However I can assure you that at some point, the RV Vagabonds will hit the road for at least some part time travel on a much scaled down level.  Because we're still curious as to what is around that next bend in the road.

 

Will I Make 2,000?

My original post title was going to be "Hanging Up The Keys" but when I saw that after this post I am only ten posts away from hitting 2,000 total posts since I started this blog I changed my mind.

Two thousand posts--that's a lot of blather over the years.  It's probably also a good place to end after eight years of blogging about our full time travels in our various RVs.  Certainly I've enjoyed sharing our stories of life on the road and posting photographs of some of the great people we've met and places we've seen.

But as you all know, Denny and I have been searching for a place to settle and we've found it.

But that's another post. ;)
 

Unintentionally Rude

To the gentleman who stopped by yesterday as Denny and I were breaking camp--I'm sorry.  I know you came down to tell us you had been reading my blog for years and wanted to chat.  Unfortunately Denny and I were on a tight schedule yesterday as we had an appointment in a town two hours away and needed to get to our next campground and get at least partially set up before we had to get to our appointment so we didn't stop to talk with you as we normally would have done.

So again, I apologize; we're normally not rude folks but we just didn't have the extra time to chat this time around.  Perhaps we'll run into you again--if you see my wi-fi network online again please give us another chance to make your acquaintance.  We love to meet new people and exchange views on the RVing lifestyle.  This time it was just bad timing.

Happy Trails!

A Walk in the Park

 Denny and I are staying at a campground that's far from shopping, museums, golf courses, attractions, activities--well, pretty much everything.  We're here to visit with friends who are workamping for the season at this very quiet, very new campground that has little going for it other than a great view of the night sky and nice sized camp sites.  After two weeks here of a promised month long stay, the two of us just had to get out to do something so I picked a morning drive to Manatee Springs State Park, about 55 miles away.  The storms that had been predicted for the day were passing well north of us and I thought it was a good time to take advantage of a rare warm day.

 

A six dollar entry fee allows you access to several miles of biking/hiking trails as well as the opportunity to scuba dive.  The park is home to one of the largest fresh water springs in Florida; between 35 and 150 million gallons of water flow from the spring each day.  The water is crystal clear and there is a system of aquatic caves in the limestone below the water.

A handicap accessible boardwalk leads out to the Suwannee River where the manatees gather to feed.  Cypress trees and tall pines line the walkway from the beginning to the spring to the outlet at the Suwannee.  There's even an area roped off for swimmers for those brave enough for the cool, clear water--and the alligators that may lurk in the area.  Although today the only carnivorous types we found were the black vultures

Better eyes than ours spotted two young deer resting far back in the trees.  The older was well camouflaged with a coloring that was the same dull brown of the trees while this younger fawn was a richer brown and a bit easier to see, especially once he stood up to watch us all watching him.

But my primary reason for coming was to see the manatees.  And we did see a couple, but they were about 100 yards out from us in the wind-whipped waters which made them difficult to see.  When the sun came out and the wind slowed for a moment you could pick out their shape as they rose to the surface to breathe but once the water got rough again the manatees blended in as just a pale shape.

So I've cheated and included a couple of shots from our visit to the Homasassa Springs Wildlife State Park from a few years ago.  There the waters of the Homasassa River are shallower so I was able to get a better shot of these gentle creatures.  Click to enbiggen 'em, folks.

Below is a manatee rolling onto his side.  They seem to like to interact with humans, although this has a downside; many hundreds are gouged and maimed by boat propellers annually.

 Of course, part of our fun today was running into a young couple who are taking a year off from their everyday life and traveling by RV with their two young children.  The mother is homeschooling the kids, using their travels for the geology, history and geography lessons.  So Denny and I offered our suggestions of places they might like to see or the kids would enjoy (noticing a few eavesdroppers at the same time ;))  They were thrilled with the information and we were glad to be able to encourage their interest in the RV lifestyle.

This park does have a few water and electric campsites tucked away in the trees.  It's a beautifully quiet park this time of year and a nice place to spend a few hours to reflect, watch for manatees, swim, fish, hike or just sit and watch the aquatic plants wave in the clear spring water.

Just pick a day when the wind isn't blowing.  Sigh.

Living on Beach Time

 Once we left Myrtle Beach, Denny and I made a brief stopover in the Savannah, Georgia area to visit River Street near old Savannah.  The roadways in the photo below show the rock that paves the roads here; the rock itself was the rock used for ballast in sailing ships that brought cargo and goods to Savannah.

 Cargo ships still travel the river in Savannah, bringing stack after stack of containers full of goods to the port.

 After a couple of days of adjusting to the lack of the sound of surf outside our bedroom windows we moved on to the Flagler Beach area.  Here we're three miles from the beach instead of 50 feet.  *Insert sad face emoticon.*

But it's a lovely beach of cinnamon colored sand created from crushed coquina shell.  Not only does it line the beaches, but it can be found in large formations guarding the tee boxes and along some of the fairways at the Halifax Plantation Golf Course.  Plus coquina was used to build the Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine, Florida which is about 45 minutes up the road.

Denny and I have been wandering around the general area here checking out houses, townhouses and condos.  Upon reflection, we feel we would be comfortable here because it's a bit less touristy than most beach towns.  But once again as we started making plans to look seriously at homes we backed off once we got to talking about the places we still wanted to see out west.  Thus we're going to tuck this area in the back of our minds and prepare ourselves to head out in a few days.  We have some friends to visit here in Florida and a couple more beaches to visit not only here in Florida but in Alabama and Mississippi as well before we head north to visit kids and take care of medical/dental check ups before turning Black Beauty's nose to the northwest.  A vague checklist of things to see/places to go includes Banff National Park in Canada, the Tetons, the Oregon coastline and, well, who knows?  For now, all we know is that we're going to give this lifestyle until the end of the year before we start looking at houses again.  That is, once we've done a "are we really ready to settle down?" check again.

Wrapping Up 2012

The photo above is the very first photo I took in 2012.  Sunset in Arizona.  Me taking a photograph of a sunset--go figure.  I guess I should start a blog post about our year's travels with a photo of a sunrise but oh well.

 
First, the boring facts; we traveled 7,019.9 miles this year with The Beast.  We started the year in Arizona and ended it in South Carolina.  We visited the Pacific Ocean coastline and have stayed three months on the Atlantic Ocean coastline.  During our cross country travels Denny and I stayed at forty-three different campgrounds in eighteen states.  Of those forty-three campgrounds, twenty-two were membership campgrounds or affiliated with our member parks so we either stayed for free or at a greatly reduced ($10 a night for example) price.  Of the remaining twenty-one parks, I'm sure probably one third of those were Passport America parks where the cost of the stay is discounted at 50%.   We don't boondock, dry camp or spend the night in Walmart parking lots.  When counting up our restaurant stops I was surprised to see that Denny and I tried one hundred and nine different restaurants, cafes, diners or bars over the course of a year.   Hmmm, I can see right now where we could cut our expenses a bit!  I think Denny and I managed to play about ten new golf courses before I injured my back.   And as is usual with The Beast, we had numerous repairs to be made to the furnace, to leaking slide outs, lights, propane regulators and hoses and right at the end of the year the microwave/convection oven blew for the second time in one year (thank goodness for extended warranties.)

Ah, but the good part of traveling by RV comes next; we saw full moons over the ocean, over rivers, over lakes and over the desert.

Over the past year Denny and I have seen birds and critters and flowers galore, except when we specifically went to see something special like the Antelope Valley Poppy Preserve where there were no poppies.  Sigh.  At the Mesa flea market in Arizona Denny splurged on a pair of 20 x 70 binoculars and boy have we had fun with those.  They allow you to see rock climbers and soaring birds and things you just wouldn't be able to see normally or with a regular pair of binoculars.

  

During this year's travels in California we were finally able to see the Lone Cypress and to drive Seventeen Mile Drive in Monterey.

After fourteen years on the road we finally made it to Yosemite National Park.

And the Reno/Lake Tahoe area.

I rode a duck for the first time in Wisconsin Dells.  It was there that I slipped and fell, ending up with compression fractures in two vertebra which ended our travels for six weeks while we saw a back surgeon and had our normal check ups with our family physician and dentist in Ohio.  Because it was so uncomfortable for me to ride in the truck for the long distance to our hometown from our campground Denny and I didn't get to visit with as many of our friends and family members that we would have liked.

After the back surgeon cleared me for travel Denny and I headed north to visit both sets of sons and their families before turning the nose of the truck towards Myrtle Beach.  Our intent was to check out homes in the area as a possible location to settle down, but when we found a place that we liked Denny and I found ourselves getting cold feet about the whole idea of staying in one place.  Together we realized that there are still coastlines to explore, lakes to picnic beside, bends in the roadway to follow.  Yes, if we bought a house we could always fly or drive to other areas and stay in motels but traveling in a RV allows us to take the cat with us without worrying about her care (or if she's clawing her caretaker to shreds), sleep in our own bed, cook local produce in our own kitchen and enjoy having a different view out of our windows every week.

So while we will continue to look at houses as we travel I have a sneaking suspicion that at the end of next year we'll be nestled among the saguaro cacti with a view of the Superstition Mountains out of the rear window of The Beast.  While missing the sound of the surf at Myrtle Beach.  And so it goes....

Blogging Blahs

I was tempted to entitle this post "Nothing Amiss, Simply Remiss" but I may have used that one already.  Certainly I was a bit surprised and also a bit appalled to see that I hadn't posted anything since we left Wilmington, Ohio around the 27th of September.  I guess it's simply a case of the blogging blahs.  I am nearing 2,000 posts and it's been seven and a half years that I've been posting here and I think I just got a little burned out.

It certainly doesn't help that we have been maintaining a lower profile because my back hasn't gotten any better since my slip and fall and quite honestly that is beginning to concern me.  If nothing else, it's keeping me from playing golf and that, to quote my mother, "p*sses me off".  Kind of a private joke and it needs to be said with extreme emphasis on the "P".

Since Denny and I pulled out of the Thousand Trails park in Wilmington we have visited with our youngest son Darby and his wife in central Ohio where we celebrated Net's birthday along with her parents.

Next we headed up into New York where we visited with our oldest son, his wife and our granddaughters.  I make sure the girls help out with whatever meal I cook there, simply to teach them how to read and follow recipes.  Despite the faces I think they enjoy it.

Of course there has to be a little goofiness and showing off for the camera by the youngest granddaughter.

Upon leaving Denny and I took the red road route down to Myrtle Beach, staying one night in a beautiful campground in Bedford, Pennsylvania.  We agreed that we'll have to come back here when we can stay longer to do some exploring and just kick back and enjoy the scenery.

Once we arrived in Myrtle Beach we had just the one day to get set up and the chairs pulled out before Darb and Net arrived to stay a week in Myrtle Beach with us.  Of course we yanked out the hide-a-bed sofa soon after we purchased The Beast, so Denny and I rented a park model trailer for the kids.  Since I'm a "get up at the crack of dawn or earlier" kind of person and the kids....well, not so much, this works out better.

Fortunately we had good weather for the most part while they were here so campfires were enjoyed, along with the occasional adult beverage.

For physical therapy purposes I talked Denny into allowing me to buy a folding bicycle.  There are one thousand campsites in this campground so a bike makes it easier to get to the office, the camp store and the indoor swimming pool.  I love this little thing, and we also picked up a carrying case for it so we can put the bicycle in the back of the truck or inside the trailer when we move and not worry about scratching anything up.

There haven't been a lot of spectacular sunrises this year, although I've taken several shots of the state park pier/south Myrtle Beach skyline under a variety of weather conditions and at different hours that could be an entire series of photographs on their own.  When we first arrived there were a lot of military planes including cargo planes and fighter jets that were practicing "touch and go" landings and take offs from the airport just up the road from us so we've been seeing a lot of planes up close and personal here.

This year I managed to take over a thousand photographs of the American Heart Association Heart Ride on the Beach that occurs at the end of October/first of November.  This year there were 1,200 horses from 22 states and even a few from Canada.  There were supposed to be horses from 34 states but apparently a lot of folks cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy.  Not surprising although it didn't hit us here. 

I have taken a lot of photographs of the brown pelicans here, trying to get the perfect shot of a group of them skimming the waves like flying surfers.  I'm still working on it.

And of course, I spend a lot of time walking Patches, or rather I spend a lot of time standing around while she investigates every bush, hole and waving stand of grass.  And yes, I'm as bored as I look.  Denny caught me.  I'm also trying to be good about going to water aerobics for the stretching it provides my back.  If nothing else, it feels good to be in the warm water on cool mornings (it's an indoor pool because nights get much too cool here to keep the outdoor pool open). 

So we've pretty much been living on beach time; not doing much of anything and enjoying that just fine.  My back still isn't up to playing golf so we just do a little walking around the campground.  I did ride along with Denny when he played golf this week and it made me a bit anxious to get back out on the golf course but I'm just not ready yet.  The back still grabs me if I move to quickly or twist suddenly so winding up to swing a golf club just doesn't get it yet.  

Tomorrow our RVing friends Don and Vicki arrive.  They will be staying a couple-three months so we'll overlap a month if all goes as planned.  Plenty of time for some fun.  And maybe a blog post or two.

Head 'em up, Move 'em out!

Six weeks and two days--that's how long we've been here.  We've seen doctors and dentists, Denny has had his back adjusted and I've had my boobs smashed (October is coming up; have you gals scheduled your mammograms?), we've been issued medications for Denny's new diagnosis of diabetes and told by our family physician to check out the Zone Diet to follow along with beefing up our pretty much non-existent exercise routines.  We haven't made a lot of extra trips into our home town so we missed seeing a few folks this time around.  My back wasn't up to it for a long time and then time got away from us.  

We've sampled local sweet corn, green peppers and tomatoes, picked up goetta and favorite meats at the butcher shop in Cincinnati where Denny's family has purchased meats for the last sixty-five plus years.  Our favorite local restaurants and eateries were visited and enjoyed and we picked up cans and jars of foods that we can only get here.  And we found a supplier for bitter lemon--at least for the times we visit Cincinnati.  We'll still be out of luck once we leave here so we stocked up.  We've shared meals, laughter and hugs with friends and family, avoided getting poison ivy while walking the cat (a biggie for me) and watched the leaves slowly start to change colors.  It's time to go.

Next up is a visit to see our youngest son near Columbus, Ohio and then the two of us are off to the Niagara Falls area where we'll be based to visit our oldest son and his family.  There are chores planned for Denny there and maybe a day of golf with his son.  From there we turn the nose of the truck southward again, taking a few days to work our way down to Myrtle Beach, where we'll plant ourselves for three months.  That's an incredibly long time for us to stay in one place but fortunately our youngest son and his wife will be coming down for a week-long visit and then our friends Don and Vicki are going to show up in December so we'll have a month together before Denny and I decide whether to stay longer or move on.  Because at this point I haven't decided where we're going once we leave Myrtle Beach, only that we won't be heading anywhere north until all chances of snow have passed. Then, who knows?

In the meantime, it's time to be like a tree and leaf.  Ba-dum-dum.

Adjusting

I don’t exercise.  If God had wanted me to bend over, he would have put diamonds on the floor. - Joan Rivers

Over the past few weeks both Denny and I have had to do a lot of adjusting.  After Denny's episode with the kidney stones we discovered that he is pre-diabetic so we are learning by trial and error what foods will affect his blood sugar.  Of course normally we pretty much eat whatever we want and so this is a big adjustment for Denny and to keep him on track I am trying to eat the same way.  When you get right down to it, a pre-diabetic way of eating is very similar to the Atkin's diet so that's familiar to me.  The instructions for someone who is pre-diabetic are pretty simple; lose weight, watch what you eat and make sure you exercise.  Ah, exercise.  That's the tough one.

And so we are trying to get out to walk.  A few trips to the chiropractor have made that much easier for Denny as he was having issues with his hips.  Now he can walk much more easily.  I was told by the ER physician in Wisconsin that the best exercise for my back after the compression fractures started to heal was to walk.  So it's win-win for the RV Vagabonds.

Denny has indeed lost weight; he is doing not only his chores around the rig but mine also.  It's amazing how the simple everyday movements and chores involve bending and/or twisting and those are two things I cannot do at this point.  Thus, Denny has taken over my chores also and he has lost weight to show for it.  The good news is, he has discovered that now his knees don't hurt as much going up and down the stairs.  So there is a benefit to all this, but I'm sure he'll be glad when my back brace comes off and I can resume some of the housework once again.  Heck, I can't wait either!  

So that's why we've been flying under the radar lately.  We drive into town to see doctors and family but basically are hanging around the campground which doesn't make for exciting blog reading.  It will be a few more weeks before we hit the road again so I'll only be popping in here occasionally.

Happy trails!

 

Time to Sit a Spell

The Beast had its repairs completed; some to our satisfaction, some not.  Lesson learned, we will no longer use our dealer's service department for service and repairs.  'Nuff said there.

It feels good to be back at our "home" campground in Ohio, knowing we don't have to pick up and move again for a few weeks.  The burden for all of that has been on Denny because so much of the packing and up getting the rig hitched up involves bending and kneeling which is something I am not capable of nor allowed to do at this point.  Thus to be able to stay in one place for a bit is nice.

This morning I've shooed Denny off to drive back to my hometown of Kettering to meet with what I call the Liar's Club--a group of our retired co-workers from the PD who meet every morning at a local big box store that has a small coffee shop.  The b-s flows so quick and deep when those guys get together that one needs hip waders to stick around.  That's a good change of pace for my guy, since he's been my rock for the last two weeks.  Both of us could use a tiny breather from each other after all we've been through together during that time.  I promised him faithfully I would behave myself and not try to do things I shouldn't be attempting.  So it's me, the computer, my Kindle and the cat until he returns.

Next Wednesday I'll see an orthopedic surgeon to find out where I stand with my spine (yeah, yeah, I know; upright) and when I can start physical therapy and begin a more normal routine of small chores and bending activities.  We're also going to our family physician to have Denny take a glucose tolerance test since his blood sugar continues to be high.  This visit to our home area is basically to allow us to heal and get ourselves back to "normal" although we may have to accept the fact that we'll both have a new "normal" from this point on.  So be it.

Basically I guess I'm saying things may be quiet on the blog unless I decide to pull out some photos from our travels pre-blog (which I started in May of 2005).  No promises, but we'll see.

Safe travels to our RVing friends and Happy Trails to all the rest of you.

Ducks at the Dells

Denny had visited the Wisconsin Dells area years ago (many, many years ago) and had taken a ride on the Ducks and wanted to share that experience with me.  I chose the Original Wisconsin Ducks ride and the boat ride to the Upper Dells for our day tripping experience.

The "Ducks" are actually World War II vehicles that were code named "DUKWs";  the D stood for the year 1942, the U was for amphibious utility vehicle, the K for front wheel drive and the W for the twin rear-driving axles.  Naturally the servicemen quickly nicknamed the vehicles "Ducks".  The DUKWS were invented as landing craft for bringing troops to shore from ships and were first used to land troops in Sicily and continued to be used throughout the war both in Europe and in the Pacific.

After the war, area businessmen in the Dells purchased a "Duck" for use in hauling tourists around through local forests and the Wisconsin River as an innovative, fun way for people to see the area.  The idea caught on and the Original Wisconsin Ducks company has over 90 amphibious vehicles and there are several competitors in town who also provide the service.  I asked if there was a difference in the companies and our tour guide/driver informed me that the Original Wisconsin Ducks was the only company that owned woodland access in town; the other companies pretty much have to travel on local roadways.

The Duck ride consists of some travel through woods and canyon areas, some river travel and a fun splash down into Lake Delton.

 The Ducks ride lasts about an hour and after we were brought back to the downtown Wisconsin Dells area by Duck shuttle Denny and I walked down the two story flight of stairs to wait for our boat trip up the Wisconsin River.  Again narrated by a tour guide, this peaceful two hour trip up river is interrupted by two brief stops to walk around a bit and stretch your legs (and buy souvenirs and food).    

 Black Hawk Rock, named for its supposed resemblance to a Native American tribal member.  Can you see his profile below?

 Stand Rock, made famous by Henry Hamilton Bennett, a photographer credited with inventing the stop action photo.  His photo of his son Ashley leaping across the gap between the ledge and the rock column below is known world wide.  Today, for the entertainment of the tourists who are brought here by boat, a German Shepherd makes the jump.

 This is simply a shot of the Trojan Horse ride at a local amusement park that is near the entrance to the Original Wisconsin Ducks ride.

  While we were out grocery shopping I noticed movement in a nearby field and zooming in with the camera I realized I was seeing my first sandhill crane in summer plumage.  He really was well camouflaged in the dry grasses.

I'm glad we had this one great day in Wisconsin--the rest of the week, not so much.