At the Lodge to Post

Well, I came up to the Lodge this afternoon to be able to post on the blog. I still can't get any reliable signal at the RV - we are down in a hollow and I can't get an air card signal (but I can still get cell phone - never had that happen before) and we can't get any TV signal (wouldn't be able to even if we had the satellite). I don't know what we are going to do about the satellite - probably nothing; although Dan has talked about me calling to see if Dish has a "vacation" package also - some people have told us that they do. If they do, then we could go ahead and get the satellite back and then just put it on vacation for now. I don't know what to do really - I want to have TV but we aren't going to be able to get it here one way or another. Who would have thought, with us this close to town that we would be having problems - guess I have been away from the mountains for too long!

Tomorrow we start training - as I said I am going to be working in store - so, I have to learn about all the merchandise and how to work the cash register and close up. We will have training on Monday and Tuesday, then orientation on Wednesday. Then we will see what our schedule will look like. It should be interesting - I think the biggest problem is going to be the TV issue. I really don't miss it that much - I will come up to the Lodge (they have TV's in the common areas) and see if I can watch the final Bachelor episode tomorrow night, but if I don't it won't be a big deal.

Tomorrow, after training we will go into Cleveland and see if we can find a cell phone booster for my air card. I have been told that the booster will allow me to pick up the signal - I certainly hope so - really the computer thing has been the biggest issue here in my opinion. It is just a real pain in the you know where not to be able to get on line. I didn't realize how much I depend on the computer - from getting the local weather to playing "Farmville" - yes, that is my main past time. (If you know of anyone who wants to be my neighbor let me know - I'm always needing new neighbors! LOL!)

We have met all the other hosts here - in fact, we came up to the Lodge for dinner last night as one couple left today - That's the reason I had the short post last night. It was fun and we had a good time - lots of laughter! I am looking forward to getting to know everyone around here - it certainly seems like a good crew to work with so far. I'll keep you posted.

In case you are wondering - the picture at the beginning of the post was taken out the back window yesterday morning - there were five deer that feed through yesterday - they were just in the back of the unit. I was quite surprised that they were that close.

Yesterday we spent most of the day getting the campsite set up - we got the garage up - the solar lights out (I gave those to Dan for Christmas and this is the first time he has put them out). I have a tablecloth on the picnic table and the St Patrick's Day flag out also. I also spent some time doing laundry in the unit - I washed jeans and hung them out on the new "clothes line" - they didn't get completely dry - but close enough that when I put them in the dryer in the house they dried in just a little while. I also did two other loads and dried them in the dryer also. Then I did three loads today - one I hung out (Dan's flannel shirts) and the other two I did in the house. I will put his shirts in the dryer tonight just to soften them up and finish drying them, in case they aren't all the way dry yet. We'll see how that goes, but it is nice to have everything all caught up again.

I think that I have you pretty well all caught up now. Hopefully, I will have the air card booster tomorrow and I can post at the "house". Will let you know about that tomorrow. I will also fill you in on how training goes and when we will have our schedule. Hope you all had a great weekend and those of you that have to go back to work tomorrow have a good week. (Oh, by the way, it is suppose to snow here on Tuesday. Wouldn't that be something! If it does, I'll be sure to take pictures for you.)

Well, I need to run - have to go home and cook dinner! Take care and -------------------

I'll talk to you tomorrow (hopefully from home!)

Major issues with internet

I am having major issues with the Internet here - I think we will go the first part of next week and see if we can find a booster antenna for my computer. I really don't understand what the problem is. I have great phone service, but the air card just won't work. I really didn't think we would have TV (which we don't) but we have been told that we might be able to pick up Dish Network (here we go again!). I'm just not sure what we are going to do.

This is going to be very short and sweet - hopefully we will get this issue straight and I will be able to really do some posting like I usually do - I even had pictures today of the deer that were right behind the unit but I am afraid to try and post them with the issues I am having.

I'll try and post tomorrow, but if I don't I hope you will understand and keep checking with me - I will, hopefully, get this straight!

You guys take care and I'll talk to you soon!

Unicoi State Park

Got up this morning in Madison Georgia to a temperature of about 27 degrees! Guess what - the water line was frozen (well, duh!). Thanks goodness I had fixed the coffee pot last night so all we had to do this morning was turn it on and wait for the water line to thaw out. We even had some cable so we were able to watch TV this morning. Dan got the water line thawed out and we both had showers (and I even washed my hair) and I got the kitchen cleaned up - everything repacked and we were on the road by 10 this morning. Not too bad.

We stopped at "our McDonalds" in Cornelia, Georgia and had lunch - the tempertature was sure not going up much and the wind was wicked coming straight out of the north. We pottied the pups (Jessie sure doesn't like cold weather - poor baby just shivers while she is trying to go potty) then we headed on out toward Unicoi. The traffic was not bad so we were not slowed down at all by that.

We arrived here around 2 this afternoon - checked in at the lodge and received all our paperwork. We found our camphost spot and took our time getting set up (even though we were both about to freeze to death!) since we are going to be here for two months we wanted everything done correctly. After we got everything set up - and Dan was doing something outside - I went in and got everything unpacked and put back where it belongs. Then I cleaned - really cleaned - mopped floors, vacuumed carpet, cleaned the kitchen and bathroom, dusted - the whole nine yards. Now, everything is nice and neat and clean.

We got our first month schedule in the paperwork we picked up today - and Dan is mad at me. They have me working in the camp store (out of the weather) while he is working in the campground. Well, he does love to be outside so he will certainly have the chance. It is just with this weather it is a little cold - but it will warm up - at some point in time. Anyway, we will have training Monday and Tuesday of next week and orientation on Wednesday. Our work schedule is sorta funny - we don't have set days that we work so it will be a little difficult to keep track of what we are doing - I'll have to post the schedule somewhere that we will be able to see it.

After I got the house clean we went down to the camp store just to look around and met one of the volunteers (Susan) that also works in the store. We looked around and it is a nice little store with crafts, firewood, and a few groceries. It should keep me busy. We also met the host that is right next door to us (Don) and he and his wife also have a dacshund only their's is a male named Chester. Our girls have not met Chester yet - so I'm not sure how that will go, but what are the chances that the people right next door would also have a daschund????

Now, we come to the problem - at the unit we do not have any internet service - the air card will hook up, but there is just not a strong enough signal to do anything - so, I'm not real sure how this is going to work. How am I posting this you might ask? That is a very good question - Dan just insisted (yeah right!) that we go to the Lodge for dinner tonight - they had Rainbow trout and Dan just had to try it out. Well, in the Lodge we have WiFi so I'm sitting here in the dining room and posting on my blog. I don't know if I will post like every other day or if I can write the blog on word, then come up and cut and paste it on the blog - that way I won't be herevery long. I'm not sure how I'm going to handle it, but I will let you know as soon as I do. (Plus, I don't know how I am going to handle my "farm" on Farmville, but I'll figure it out!)

Well, I think that is all I have to post for tonight - we are settled for a couple of months. Hopefully tomorrow I can take some pictures of the park and our campsite. We don't have everything set up yet - we don't have the shelter set up with our rope lightening, and I'll just have to get things "homey". I'm sure I'll come up here tomorrow to post and probably Sunday too since we don't start training until Monday. In the meantime, I hope that you all are staying warm (thank goodness we got our coats out of storage!).

I'll talk to you tomorrow (hopefully!)

On the Road Again!

Well, we got the unit down to the dealership this morning at 8:30. Then we went down to Cracker Barrel to have a little breakfast. It was so cold this morning that we didn't worry about the pups being too hot - we were worried that they might be too cold - so we made sure we parked in the sun and had their blanket and pillow out so they would have a place to get in the sun and stay warm. After breakfast we ran into town and fueled up ($2.72 a gallon instead of $2.96 out by the interstate). Then we went down to Target just to kill some time - we did pick up some bug spray (we were looking for some that is 100% deet for Alaska and they had some) and a table runner for the dining table in the unit. Then we went by Atlanta Bread Company and picked up a loaf of Cinnamon Raisin Bread (yummy!). By the time we got back to the dealership they almost had the work done on the unit.

They were suppose to put covers on our two fantastic vents and a cover on the vent in the bathroom as well as replace the shelves in the living room - well, due to the position of the satellite receiver on the roof they could not put a cover over one of the fantastic vents, but that's okay - we just won't be able to use it if it is raining because it will rain into the unit - really not a big deal. Everything else was fixed - I also got the additional shelves for the freezer and I repacked that side of the freezer and what a difference it makes - a good move! The dealership is also ordering a new circuit board for where the room slides are - they work okay with our remote but if you try to use the board on the actual unit it doesn't work. So, they are ordering the circuit board so that will be fixed. They will mail us the board and Dan will be able to install it (not difficult to do). Anyway, everything was done and we were out the door by noon.

Since the unit was finished so early, we decided to go ahead and start out toward Unicoi today - so we left right away and headed north on I-75. We stopped at the Camper's World in Byron, Georgia (just outside of Macon) and we picked up a few things - I got a clothes line, and Dan got his generator (a Honda - those of you who camp understand the importance of a Honda - for those that don't it is SUPER quiet). Dan also got a plug that you can use on two 30 amps plugs and go to a 50 amp - it will be nice in some campgrounds that don't have 50 amp service. We also picked up a new Good Sam Atlas. Then we headed north again.

After we got through Macon we turned onto 129 and still headed north. We traveled up to 441 and then headed toward the big city of Atlanta (don't worry - we will NOT go through Atlanta - we will be going around). We found a pretty nice little private campground near the junction of 441 and I-20. We will be able to make it into Unicoi tomorrow fairly early in the afternoon and get the unit set up. That will be a good thing.

I don't have much else to report tonight - we had a good day on the road. Hope all of you are having a good week - we have heat and a coffee pot for in the morning - all is good in the Mihlfeld unit tonight! Ya'll take care and -----------------------------

I'll talk to you tomorrow (from Unicoi State Park) !!!!!

Oh what a wicked web we weave!

Sorry I didn't post last night. Dan and I went over to a friends home for dinner (our sweet goodbye!) - have a fabulous meal and great company. However; after dinner I started feeling a little ill - so Dan and I left to come home. When we got home I got sick and then I went to bed. I think it had to do with my having a headache for a couple of days. Anyway, I went to bed and slept the night away and feel much better today.

Dan and I got up this morning and packed everything up and headed up to Lake Park. We didn't have any problems getting up here and getting set up ------then the trouble began. As we all know, we canceled Dish Network for DirecTV and they were suppose to install the new receiver today - the operative word here is "suppose". As I said, we got here with no problem, and I called DirecTV to give them our lot number. About 10 minutes later we get a phone call saying that the installer says we don't have the correct equipment - that the satellite on our unit will not pick up HD. Well, to make a long story short I have an argument with the installer - who hangs up on me and I call the DirecTV people and cancel the whole thing. So, now we don't have any satellite system at all. We called Dish and we can start our service up with them again - they will cancel the cancellation fee BUT we have to buy our equipment (around $149) and then they will charge us a $25.00 fee to turn the service back on. Well, we have decided to wait and see what we will have available when we get to Unicoi. If we have cable, then we will be fine. Of course, if we are under a lot of trees it won't matter if we have the service or not, because we won't be able to pick up anything anyway. So, we will just have to wait and see what we will do.
So much for all our great plans huh????

Tomorrow morning we will take the unit to the dealer between 8 and 8:30. We will have to find something to do for about four hours - plus we will have the pups with us. The dealer said they should be finished by about 12:30 or 1. I'm sure we can find something to do - we don't need to go to Wal Mart (did that tonight) nor pick up dog food (already did that too), so I'm not really sure what we will do, but like I said I'm sure we will find something to do.

Then we will have to decide if we are going to stay here another night - as originally planned - or start the trip up to Unicoi. We know that we won't make it all the way tomorrow (I don't want to get there after dark) but we have talked about going to Veteran's State Park which is in Cordele so about 2 hours up the road. We also have talked about going to Camper's World and look for a couple of things (like my folding clothes line) but I'm not sure if we will do that or not.

So, I guess what I am saying is we don't know what we will be doing tomorrow or tomorrow night. I'll fill you in as soon as I know. Hopefully you guys are having a great week and -----


I'll talk to you tomorrow!

More rain - Really???

Rain - really - just what we need - not. We have had rain just about every other day since we have been back up here in Dowling Park. Plus, now the weathermen are talking about freezing temperatures again! Come on - enough already! Of course, in just a couple of days we will be heading north a few hundred miles and I'm sure it is going to be cooler in the north Georgia mountains than it is in north Florida (although I wouldn't guarantee that!). Anyway, let's just say that I am very glad that I brought sweaters back from the storage room with us. Plus, let's just say that I won't be sad when spring FINALLY shows up!

We did go into town today - first we went by Lowes and Dan bought a hook to put on the wall for his cowboy hat (you know Dan and his hats!). Then we went to the insurance company to pick up the declarations page to send to the new insurance company (it shows that we have not been without insurance). Anyway, while I was there I told them that I would be cancelling the insurance with them. Of course, they wanted to "talk to us about our insurance so they could see where they could improve". Funny how they always want to "talk" when you say you are going to cancel. Doesn't do any good - I'll call and cancel it tomorrow. Really, they don't offer full time RV coverage for the unit and that is what we need - so it really doesn't need to be "talked" about.

After leaving the insurance company we went into Wal Mart (our usual stop). We just needed a couple of things - and as usual we walked out with over $100 worth of stuff - all stuff we 'need' of course. We did pick up a few more groceries than I thought we needed, but it is all things we will use - like coffee, and coffee creamer, and grape juice, etc. Then, of course, there is the sporting goods stuff that Dan can't live without - and I did buy some new body lotion (heat and dry skin - they just seem to go together).

Once we got home and got the groceries put away - I did the laundry. Now, I am going to complain about something. The last two weeks, when I have done laundry, someone here in the park has gone in and taken my laundry out of the washing machine and stacked it on the counter when it is finished. To me, that is a lack of respect. I would never take another person's laundry out of their washing machine - no matter if I had to come back two dozen times before they had taken their clothes out. I have NEVER had someone wait more than 5 minutes when a washing load finished before coming to put it in the dryer - and then for someone to take my clothes out - well, it just sorta makes me very angry. I haven't had that problem in any other park the entire summer, nor in this park until this new group came in. Anyway, I'm done complaining - and I won't have to worry about any more since I won't be doing any more laundry here!

Well, I don't really have anything else to report - so I guess I'll sign off for tonight. Tomorrow we will packing up so we can get a fairly early start on Wednesday morning - we do have to be in Lake Park pretty early so we can get our DirecTV hooked up (yahoo!). Hope you guys are having a good week and -----------------------------

I'll talk to you tomorrow!

Quiet Sunday

Woke up this morning with another headache (a front is suppose to be coming in and I feel it!) but I took some medicine and by noon it was pretty much gone. However, we decided to just take it easy at home today. I did do a little straightening up this afternoon, but not too much.

Our friend Patty and her husband Dino came by this afternoon and visited for a little while. It was nice to see them again - we had gone to their house for dinner Friday night, but they wanted to come by and see us one last time before we leave on Wednesday. They stayed for about 45 minutes to an hour and we laughed and talked and just visited and enjoyed the time together.

I cooked dinner tonight - Chicken Enchilada Casserole. Not too bad - actually I like it - not too spicy but still has a Mexican taste. Cleaned up the kitchen and have the coffee ready. This has been a laid back day and a laid back night.

I really have a hard time thinking that we will be leaving in just a couple of days. It happens every time we get ready to leave. It seems like we are going to be somewhere forever and then all of a sudden it is time to leave. Tomorrow I need to get the laundry done and the house cleaned up. Dan will work on some stuff outside getting ready - like cleaning the grill and putting the rug and chairs away (unless it's raining - then we will wait until Wednesday morning to put that stuff away, so we don't track dirt in the house).

I don't have much else to report - I hope you all had a good weekend. Melissa, Dan and I enjoyed the video of Brady - she sure seemed to enjoy the water - can't wait to see what she does this summer in the lake! You'll have to post more video's so we can keep up! Dana - make sure you keep em' straight at the hospital - we know you will! LOL!!! Everyone have a great week and -------------------------------

I'll talk to you tomorrow!!!

Starting to get ready

We did not do what we had planned to do. We were suppose to take Bud, Joyce, and Jewel down to Neil and Carol's for the afternoon and then we were going to go out to eat in Cedar Key; however, we weren't able to do that. Joyce called last night and told us that she and Bud were both ill and would not be able to go. We called Jewel and since Bud and Joyce couldn't go we decided that we wouldn't go either. Then Dan called Neil to let him know that we wouldn't be down today. Oh well, maybe another time.

We did go to see the CPA today - it didn't turn out as well as I hoped, but at least we don't have to pay that much. The salary I got while working part time here in the Village last year messed us up. I didn't make enough bi-weekly to have taxes withheld, but the total was enough to mess with our total income. Anyway, it is one of those things that you learn as you go - we won't have that problem this year since we don't get paid for what we do now. Not getting paid is okay - we love what we are doing and, at this point, I wouldn't trade it for anything! What we do get is so much better than pay (plus we don't have to worry about the tax man)!


What did we do the rest of day you might ask? Well, we started getting ready to leave next week. We cleaned out the truck and got the back seat all set up for the trip - we have to have the stuff for the pups and we figured we would pack some rain jackets where we can get to them in case it is raining when we are ready to set up camp. Then we cleaned up and straightened up the basement again (it sure does get messed up easily). We haven't put the grill up yet (in fact we used it tonight) and Dan still has a couple of chairs out along with the rug. I don't know if he will want to pack it up since we are suppose to get some rain on Tuesday - we'll have to wait and see what he decides to do.

Then we went over to Neil's garage and straighten that up - we had our hitch there - which is now back in the truck along with Dan's extra tool boxes and our two extra 5 gallon fuel tanks. BTW, we decided that we are going to purchase one more of the fuel tanks which will give us an extra 15 gallons of fuel. That should be enough for the trip - we should be able to find fuel before we use all of that. Dan has a few other things that he needs to take to Neil's, but he will wait until either Monday or Tuesday - as Neil and Carol are suppose to come up for the day. Everything else is put away. We still have some pictures and candles in storage in one of their closets along with my dad's grandfather's clock. I don't feel bad leaving things with them - I know that they will take care of anything they have and I hope that they can use anything that we leave with them.

Tonight I fixed dinner - well, okay, Dan fixed the chicken on the grill, but I fixed the Southwestern rice and mixed vegetables along with a salad. We will have some fresh strawberries a little later for dessert. The kitchen is cleaned up and the coffee is ready for in the morning. I think I have it all under control. I don't know if there is anything worth watching on TV tonight - maybe I'll see if Dan wants to watch a movie.

Okay, now I'm going to say something to the girls - I know that you all are busy and probably what we are doing doesn't interest you - but it would be nice just to get a little note from you sometimes. That is all I'm going to say. I hope you all are having a great weekend and --------

I'll talk to you tomorrow!!!

Dinner with friends

Today we went over to Lake City and did our running around there. We went to Wal Mart and I got my nails done - you know I'm new to this nail stuff, so I ask a lot of questions. Today I just had to have a "fill in" and they changed to nail color. I have been very impressed with the nail polish - I had the acrylic nails put on about three weeks ago and the polish had not chipped or flaked at all. The only reason I had to have them done again was because they had grown. Anyway, as you may recall, the reason I am doing acrylic nails in the first place is because of the one nail that is split. Hopefully this will repair that nail (plus I like the way they look in the meantime!).

After I had my nails done we looked around the store for a few things - first on the list was the heater - not a heater to be found in the store. I think this is the wrong time of the year to be looking for a heater. All the stores are putting out fans and air conditioners so I don't think we are going to be able to find a heater. We were able to find some more business cards and return address labels, but I couldn't find the file folders I wanted (who would have thought that Wal Mart would not have plain ole file folders).

Of course, while I was having my nails done, Dan found all kinds of things that "we just had to have" back in the sporting goods department. We did get a mosquito repellent Therma Cell - and also some repellent to put on as well as two mosquito head net. I know we won't need this stuff until we get to Alaska, but we learned while in Idaho, if you wait until you get were you need it you are going to pay about twice as much as you should. Dan will store this stuff down in the 'basement' until we need it, but it will be nice to know that we have it when we do need it. I picked up a couple of things that I needed for the salad I was going to take to our dinner engagement tonight and then we came home.

I signed online and did some research about guns and taking them into Canada - Dan has a shotgun he wants to take with us and wanted to make sure that it was legal - I was able to print out all the paperwork that he has to fill out to 'declare' the gun when we cross the border. He will not be taking any of his other guns with him - and to tell you the truth - I don't know why he wants to take the shotgun, but as long as he is legal then that's between him and the Mounties.

I also did some research on the ferry that we will need to take from Haines to Juneau - and found that there is one ferry that goes directly from Haines to Juneau in 2 hours and 15 minutes. So I called and make reservations - Dan had to go out and measure the length of the unit WITH the truck attached. The reason why I wanted to go ahead and make the reservation is these ferries are not that big and they fill up fairly quickly - AND they only run this one special ferry (the one that does the trip in 2 hours) for two days between Haines and Juneau - then they move it to another run. So, to make a long story short, I wanted to make sure that we were on this particular ferry. Yes, there are others that make the run, but they are about 2 to 3 hours longer and the price is the same. So, we figured that it would be better to take the fast ferry for the pups. I called, reservations are made and tickets are purchased (a little under $400 - not as bad as I thought it would be). One more thing I won't have to worry about.

Then, this afternoon the couple that we were going to meet at our friends that wanted to talk about full timing stopped by. They were interested in seeing our unit - so we invited them in and I showed them around and we sat and talked for a few minutes. I hope that we gave them some good information. After they left I put together the salad and then we headed over to Patty and Dino's for dinner. Another couple from the village that do some RVing was also there and we had a nice evening talking and getting acquainted. I think that we do things a little differently than the other couple and I would imagine it would be good to get two different perspectives on the idea of full time RVing if you were considering the change in lifestyle. As I have said before, I sure wouldn't advise anyone to do it the way we did - just jumping in so quickly. (Not that we hadn't had camping experience before, but we didn't take the year or more that many people advise you to take to plan on becoming full timers. We decided the first of April that this was something we wanted to try - we sold our house (a miracle in itself in this market) and were on the road to our first assignment on May 18th - six weeks start to finish - WOW!)

We were home about 9 and I am about ready to go in and read for awhile before going to sleep. I hope that you all had a good week and are looking forward to a good weekend. Take care and ----

I'll talk to you tomorrow!

Doctor and CPA

Yesterday afternoon Dan went to the doctor and I went with him - just to make sure I got the right story. I am very pleased to report that all his blood work came back excellent - his blood pressure was good 137/82 and his cholesterol was also good - total 168. Everything looked good and after going over all the reports and stuff I left the guys to do their thing. We do have to have some blood work done while we are in Alaska just to stay on top of things - but that is fine, it's just something that needs to be done.

This morning we met with the son of a lady that lives here at the village for breakfast. He lives in Alaska and is a licensed guide. It was very interesting talking to him and hearing his take on what we can expect on our trip. (Including what the road conditions should be when we are there in May - we should be fine as far as snow on the road goes and the weather should be very good also.) Here's hoping! We have his email address and he has ours so we are going to try and stay in touch while we are there. Of course, he is close to Denali which will be about 800 miles away from where we will be, but it will be nice to stay in touch with a "native".

Then this afternoon we met with the tax guy - but we still aren't ready to sign on the dotted line. We didn't have some of the figures that, hopefully, will save us a little. Anyway, we got those figures to him this afternoon and we should have our return on Saturday. I think we are going to have to pay - but, hopefully, not much.

Tomorrow we are going to go into Lake City and do a little running around. I will go to Wal Mart and get my nails done and then we have a list of things that we want to pick up. One thing will be another little heater. The one we keep in the bedroom has quit - we bought this one a couple of years ago and it worked fine until last week. Then it will work a little then it will quit, then it will come on again. Anyway, to make a long story short, it is not reliable so we want to replace it as I am sure we will need a small heater in Georgia and Alaska. Then there are a few other minor things we need to pick up.

Tomorrow night we are going over to a friend's house for dinner. They are having another of their friends over who want to pick mine and Dan's brain about full-time RVing. It should be an interesting evening. I'll let you know how it goes.

If I have time tomorrow I also want to start working on getting the February figures compiled and the bank account balanced - it should not be that difficult this month. I think I did a better job of keeping track of things. With the new insurance on the RV and truck I don't think we will be putting any money in the saving account this month - but I'm hoping I won't have to take any out of savings. We'll just have to wait and see.

Well, I don't have anything else to report today - I hope all of you have had a good week and----

I'll talk to you tomorrow!

Back to the Blog

I know that it seems like I took a vacation, and maybe that's what I'll call it, but I find it hard to blog when we are away visiting people. Honestly, I tried to blog the first night we were down in Lake Placid, but it was late and I just couldn't seem to get it done. Anyway, I'm back now and I'll fill you in on all that we did in the past week.

First, we left last Wednesday morning. Our goal was to be out of here by 10 or 10:30 - which was a very lofty goal since we had not packed anything, didn't have the truck loaded, or really hadn't done anything to prepare for the trip. So, Wednesday morning Dan went over to Neil's and got the suitcase while I took my shower. When he returned I packed the suitcase, got the pup's stuff together, cleaned the kitchen, straightened the 'house' and then was ready to go pack the back of the truck with all out "stuff" to go to the storeroom in Lake Placid. We came back by here after loading (which only took about 20 minutes BTW), picked up the dogs, and headed out. We did not make the 10:30 goal, but we weren't that far off leaving at 11:05. I didn't think that was that bad considering we hadn't done anything before that morning.

The trip down was uneventful except for the fact that it takes a long time to drive from here to there (a little over 5 hours) so we were not there before Melissa finished her work day at school and was home. As soon as we got there we picked up the key to the storeroom and went and unloaded everything. That actually took longer than packing because we had to rearrange some things to get the new stuff in but we also knew that we wanted to spend a little more time there going through some clothes and things that we have stored (I decided that I was going to need some more sweaters and a heavier coat than what I had here at the 'house' and Dan wanted a special coat of his to take with us to Alaska - but we saved that for another day.) By the time we got back to Melissa's house Justin was home from work and we decided we would go out to eat at No Frills Grill. Melissa said that she was going to stay home with the dogs because she was having some stomach issues (I'm really getting worried about that as it seems to be reoccurring frequently) so it ended up just being Dan, Justin, and I going out to dinner. I had my usual 'wet burrito' for dinner which I think is really good. After dinner, we just sat around and talked for a little while before the kids went to bed since they had to go to work the next day.

Thursday Dan and I were going to go into Bartow and have the truck serviced - we decided that we would also have them change the transmission fluid when they did the service although it wasn't required until we reached 60,000 miles. Dan figured that would happen somewhere in Canada and he said he would feel better pulling the unit if the truck was completely serviced. So I told him to go for it. When we got up we decided that I would stay at the house with the dogs and he would go in and get the service done. While he was gone I did a few loads of laundry for the kids to try and help them out a little. Dan was gone most of the day and after everyone got home we had a nice quiet night in - with Melissa cooking dinner (homemade chicken strips), I cleaned up the kitchen while the guys went out and sat by the fire pit for awhile.

Friday we had to go back into Bartow since Dan did not go to the bank or to the school board to change our address and the other buisness we needed to do. So, back into Bartow - first the Bank where we found out the bank manager that we always work with has been transferred to another branch in Northwest Lakeland, but we did everything we needed to do there (which wasn't anything major other than changing the address to the mail service and making sure that the credit card would not have a hold put on our account while we are in Canada later this summer), then it was lunch at Zaxby's (I love their Big Snack Meal), before heading down to the school board office to handle some insurance stuff and changing our address there on all our stuff (including the records in Tallahassee). They have assured us that the insurance snafu has been straightened out and we won't be getting someone else's information anymore. Hopefully that will be true.

When we got back down to Lake Placid Dan decided that he wanted to go by the houses that we had spotted back in November that looked like they had been deserted and were probably going to go into foreclosure. We went and, at one of them, the yard had been cleaned up some and there was a notice on the front door that the house was in foreclosure. We still don't know when it will go on the market, but it looks like it is a couple of steps closer. The other house was still all overgrown with weeds and grass - it was like trying to walk through a jungle to get to the front door. The mailman was going down the street while we were there trying to get some information - so I walked out and talked to him. He did let me know that the house had been deserted for over 2 years and that the people that had owned it (or still own it) went through a very bitter divorce. He didn't know the whole story and he didn't know if one of the couple still had the house or what the story was - so that really didn't help us. We did walk into the back yard where there is a pool that you can just walk up to - it is full of water. I can't believe that the neighbors haven't complained or the city hasn't done something especially with the pool the way it is. I would think that would be a hazard. Anyway, while we were talking to the mailman he told us about another house down the road. It is not on the canal, but the price he gave us was a really good price -so we went by and looked at it from the outside. Dan decided that we would call the real estate agent that Melissa and Justin used and go look at this place (just because of the really good price). The place was not bad - it would need some work and the kitchen would need to be completely gutted, but IF you could get it at the right price it might be worth it.
Anyway, to make a long story short, the agent found out that the people were holding out for full price and we just didn't think the place was worth full price especially with the work that needed to be done on it. However, Dan decided he wanted to look at a couple of places on the canal that we knew was for sale to compare and see what the prices were.

Saturday morning Dan, Justin, Melissa, and I met the agent at a house and went through it. In all we probably looked at about 5 or 6 houses. A couple of them were really very interesting and I would not mind having them, but we think the prices are too high on all of them. I'm sure part of the reason is the current owners bought them when the market was high and they are just trying to recoup their money. However, some of them were in really BAD shape - with major foundation issues - big HUGE cracks in the walls and sloping floors - one even had weeds growing in one of the bedrooms where the house had separated from the foundation. We told the agent that we would stay in touch and asked her to keep an eye out for the two houses that we really like the outside of that had been deserted - but to tell you the truth - unless it was a VERY good deal - Dan is not ready to buy a 'sticks and bricks' yet. He said that he would be worried about the house the whole time we were on the road and we aren't ready for that. (I guess I'm just afraid that when we are ready for a 'sticks and bricks' again we won't be able to afford anything.)

Anyway, after looking at the houses we left the kids and headed into Lakeland to see Dana and Cara. We spent the afternoon with them - going to each of their houses for a little while - Dan gave some tools to his grandson Matthew and watched him ride the motorcycle (yes, the infamous one that I will not get back on again!) Then we met both families at Five Guys and Fries for a early dinner/late lunch at 4:30. After eating and visiting for a little while there - Dan and I along with Dana and her family went to Target to pick up a folding table that Dan and I had looked at to take with us in the unit. We were able to get a discount with Cori (our granddaughter) who works at Target - it saved us 10 %. Then we headed back to Lake Placid and were happy to get there before 9 pm. Melissa had kept the pups for us and it sure made the visiting easier not having to worry about them.

Sunday morning was a lazy one - with everyone sorta taking their time getting 'woke' up. Dan went up to Publix and picked up some donuts for breakfast (boy, were they good!) and then we went over to the storeroom to do that rearranging and looking for the things that we wanted to take with us to Alaska. After a couple of hours we had everything done that we needed to do and were back at the house with the kids. Melissa and I watched a movie (Love Happens - which was pretty good and a cute movie to watch on Valentine's Day) and then we watched the Daytona 500 - which lasted ALL day due to some track issues. Justin's mom came over with Justin's niece - Gracie - and spent about an hour. Sunday was really just a laid back day with not a lot going on. Justin went and picked up a couple of pizza's for dinner and we all watched some TV before heading off to bed - since the kids had an early day and Dan and I had to be up early to get the dogs to their vet appointment. We told Justin bye before heading to bed since he had to leave around 5:30 Monday morning (even though we had to leave early we didn't have to be up THAT early).

Monday, everyone (Melissa, Dan, the pups and I) was up and ready to leave the house by 7:45 - actually Melissa left about 7:15 and Dan and I were out the door by the 7:45. Into Lakeland again - this time to the vet's office to make sure we have the correct paperwork to get the puppies in and out of Canada twice this summer. They didn't require any shots - they were all current, but we did want to get them checked out (their annual) before we leave for the summer. Dr. Latter said they were in really good health (they weigh 14 and 21 pounds - I think that's a little heavy - but they haven't been getting any exercise -but then neither have I). It was nice to see Dr. Latter - we have know him for YEARS and my oldest daughter worked for him for awhile before she went back to Vanderbilt for her Master's degree - he was also our neighbor for awhile before we moved to North Carolina). He asked about all the girls and we visited for a little while before he moved on to other clients and we headed out.

Then we ran by Dana house to see them again before heading home. We talked to Dana about a piece of property adjacent to their house that might be for sale. It is a very small piece of property, but it already has a septic and well on it and it might be perfect to build a Katrina cottage on it (Lowes has these cottages that would be perfect for this small parcel - you can see the plans on the Lowes website under Katrina cottages if you are interested in seeing what we are talking about). If the price was right, we MIGHT be interested in doing something there because of the price issue. Anyway, we'll just have to wait and see what could be done. When we left Dana's Dan decided that we would not travel by interstate but go the "scenic" route instead and visit a couple of our friends on the way home. So, we went by Don and Theresa's house in north Lakeland and spent a little while with them (they are going to try and come out to see us while we are in Alaska this summer) then we headed for Neil and Carol's house in Gulf Hammock. We spent just a little while with them - we were there in time to watch Neil butcher a hog he had killed (that is always fun) and I took the pups over to see Joann - she is the one who kept them when we went on the cruise. We will be back at Neil and Carol's later this week but I'll save that story for a later day.

We got home fairly late - we were able to go over to the "Gopher" for dinner since I didn't have anything in the house to eat before coming in and crashing - Dan was able to get the cable hooked up to the TV (remember we had stopped the Dish service before heading down to Lake Placid) and I was able to watch the Bachelor before going to bed. (I know, I probably could have blogged then, but I was really tired and it doesn't take a lot of energy to watch that show). I am really going to be ticked if he picks one of the girls he has in the final two - but I think that is who he is going to pick - oh well, it's him and not me!

Tuesday Dan was suppose to have his doctor's appointment, but they called and changed his appointment until today (this afternoon) so we went in to Live Oak and went to the grocery store - we had to pick up a few of the basics - you know milk, eggs, bread - the kind of stuff that you let go when you are going to be gone for a week. I also was able to have the pictures developed that I wanted to use to make a scrapbook of our "adventure in Idaho" this past summer. I'll be working on that at night and on days that we aren't working until it warms up some! Yesterday afternoon I spent a lot of time going through clothes and repacking stuff - Dan and I both cleaned out some things that we will not be using and are going to donate them here at the village. We made room for the stuff we brought home with us from the storeroom and got rid of things that we didn't wear all of last summer and things that just wore out (you know when you wear the same clothes over and over again they wear out much faster). I also spent a lot of time on the phone yesterday with DirecTV making sure that everything was correct on our account. I really started to get upset, but after just letting things settle down last night and calling again this morning, everything worked out just fine.

Today we are doing laundry and Dan has his doctors appointment this afternoon. I will be anxious to see what the doctor says about his blood work. We are still working on the weight issue - we didn't do too well on the trip eating lots of things that is not on our diet (donuts anyone?). Dan gained over 4 pounds and I went up a little over 1 pound. We are back on the diet now - I fixed roasted chicken, broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots, and a salad for dinner last night. I'm going to fix some Bar-b-que for lunch today - so it's back to trying to cut the fat out of our diet.

Well, I think I have you guys caught up - I know this is a long post and maybe I should have divided it up - but I appreciate you hanging in there with me. I'll be back to posting everyday again. We are leaving here a week from today - hard to believe - heading up to Lake Park, Georgia to have the work done on the unit before heading off to north Georgia for our next working assignment at Unicoi State Park a week from Friday. I will keep you posted on the trip and all that happens there. I am ready for Spring to be here - it is really cold here again today - high is only suppose to get to around 50 with the wind blowing. I'm really tired of this cold, wet weather (it rained on us down in Lake Placid and it rained on us on the way home)! Some of our friends in Franklin have posted pictures on Facebook showing all the snow in our old neighborhood - it sure is pretty. Dan says that if we are going to have the cold weather he would like to see some snow - at least it would be pretty to look at.

I'm going to sign off for today - hope you were able to read all this. Take care - stay dry and more importantly - stay warm! In the meantime -------------------------

I'll talk to you tomorrow!

Sorry!

Okay - I'm sorry I haven't been on and blogged lately - well, almost a week. I'll get back on line and catch everyone up tomorrow - it's just been busy and hectic around here. I WILL get back to it first thing tomorrow! Hang in there with me PLEASE!

Down in Lake Placid

I know that I haven't blogged in a couple of days, but it's late tonight and I'll not going to get into a lot of details tonight. I just wanted to let you know that we are fine and things are going well. Dan went into Bartow today and got the truck serviced. I stayed here at Melissa's and did some work and kept the pups. We will go back into Bartow tomorrow and do our business at the bank and the school board.

Hang in there with me and I'll get everything updated and back on track in a couple of days. It's a little hard to post here, but I'll fill you in on everything later.

Take care and

I'll talk to you later!

A Change in Plans

There has been a change of plans for this summer. Yes, we are still going to Alaska - just not where we first thought we were going. Let me explain. I have been very open about my hesitation of going to Deadman's Lake - I mean, talk about remote. I wasn't sure I was ready to go without cell phone or Internet access. I really didn't mind the generator, or the tank with the water - but the idea of being out at this campground in the middle of nowhere Alaska with no way to contact anyone IF there was a problem. That was a whole lot scary! So, the other day when we were looking at places for the fall and winter I just happened to see a different position in Alaska. I asked Dan which he would rather do and he told me to apply for the new position - which I did. Saturday we got a formal application in an email with the request that we fill it out and send back as soon as possible. I filled it out on line and emailed it back to the ranger that afternoon. I figured we might hear something sometime this week.

Yesterday, at 7:45 Alaska time, we got a phone call. Well, to make a long story at least at little shorter we talked to the Ranger - we were offered and we accepted the new position. I called the volunteer coordinator at Deadman's Lake and explained why we would not be there - which she understood and told us that if we wanted to try it again another year just to let her know. So, I'm sure you are asking were we are going instead. Well, we are going to - Juneau. Actually we will be the campground hosts at the Mendenhall Lake Campground - our view will be of the Lake and Mendenhall Glacier (not a bad view). We will be 13 miles out of town and we will be there from the end of May through Labor Day (September 8th). So we will be there much longer and Dan is very happy about that, plus we know people that live in Juneau so that will make things better too! We won't be completely isolated and friends and family will still be able to come see us (there is an airport in Juneau - I mean, it IS the capital of Alaska after all!) So, I'm excited that we won't be so isolated and Dan is happy that we will be in Alaska for a little more than three months. Some people may wonder how we will get the camper to Juneau since there are no roads in - well, I'll explain that later in a different blog post.

Tomorrow we will be leaving for Lake Placid - Dan actually wanted to get an early start but we haven't packed our clothes yet nor have we loaded the back of the truck. Dan will have to go over to Neil's and get a suitcase (we thought we had left one here at the unit, but he says he can't find it in the basement). While I am packing the suitcase he will be putting the stuff up from under the awning (grill and chairs). Then we will go over to Neil's and load the truck. Our plan is to leave Dowling Park by 10 - 10:30. We'll see if we meet that deadline.

Sorry I didn't post last night - but I just wasn't feeling too well and I decided to just go to bed. Hope you understand. I will be taking the computer with me when we go down to Lake Placid so I will be able to post while down there. We will be going up to Bartow, probably on Friday, to take care of some business there at the bank and the School Board (changing our mailing address). Then on Monday the pups have their doctor's appointment. It should be an exciting and productive weekend.

We met with our CPA this morning and he is suppose to have our taxes done on the 18th - right before we leave for North Georgia. I'm a little apprehensive to see what he comes up with - I will happy if we don't owe anything this year. I'll be overjoyed if we can actually get a refund. Guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Well, I don't have that much else to report for tonight, so I will sign off. Hope everyone is having a good week and ----------------------------

I'll talk to you tomorrow!!!!

Well, well , well, the Saints did it!

Congratulations have to go out to the Saints - they played a great game and they certainly deserve the win tonight. Yes, it's true that I was cheering for the Colts, but I certainly was NOT against the Saints. I like Drew Brees and the coach so I'm not upset. It was certainly a lot closer than the final score showed. The interception sealed the deal for the Saints. So, like I said - Congratulations!

Today was a pretty quiet day - I cooked the pork shoulder that Neil had given us earlier in the week. So now we have a refrigerator full of meat - chicken, Boston Butt Roast, and the pork shoulder that I fixed today - Maybe I can freeze some of the meat for future use. We went over to Jewel's tonight for a Low Country Boil and let me tell you, that was GOOD!!!!! I took a couple of salad's over - a tossed salad and some cole slaw. It sure was some good eating!!!! Dan and I came home in about the middle of the third quarter and I got our kitchen cleaned up. As soon as I sign off tonight it will off to bed for me.

Tomorrow we are going to go over to Neil's and see if the things we are going to take down to Lake Placid will fit in the back of the truck instead of having to get a trailer. Dan thinks it will - we'll have to see. It sure will make the trip easier if we can, but if not, we'll work it out.

I'll also, probably try and get the laundry done so I won't have to worry about it while we are getting ready to go down to Lake Placid. We are talking about MAYBE going down a couple of days earlier. I'll have to call Melissa to make sure it will be okay with them (since we are staying at their house), but Dan would like to go down on Wednesday instead of waiting until Friday. There are a couple of things we need to do with our address change (bank, school board, insurance, etc.) and it would be easier to do in person instead of by mail - especially the school board. To tell you the truth they are a pain in the you know where to get anything changed. Well, I'll let you know after I talk to Melissa tomorrow.

I really don't have anything else to report today - I hope you all had a good weekend and that you will have a good week next week and --------------------------

I'll talk to you tomorrow!

Busy, Busy, Busy

For me not knowing yesterday what we were going to do today we ended up being VERY busy. Let's start with this morning - I mentioned last night that today was Market Day. We went down to the Village Square and looked around (not much was really happening with vendors) then we went in to breakfast - 2 eggs over easy, hash browns, 2 sausage patties, and whole wheat toast ($12.00 plus a $2.00 tip). Then we went down to where they had the grills set up and bought a whole pork butt roast and a whole chicken that had been cooked on the grill ($16.00 total) not too bad. Then we went down to the Annex and just looked around - just to see what was going on. Didn't buy anything. So, we came home and put the meat in the refrigerator.

Dan wanted to go to Valdosta - he wanted to look for the screen enclosure to go on our outdoor room (all we had was the solid curtain sides). He also wanted to look at Lowe's and Home Depot - just to look, and to update our membership at Sam's club. So, we took the pups out and then we headed for Valdosta.

First place we went was Target - we found the side screen curtains (and they were on sale - Yahoo!) I also found a couple of movies that we picked up (Sleepless in Seattle and National Treasures 2). We spent a little over $60.00 on all the stuff there. Then it was off to Home Depot - Dan just wanted to look around - nothing in particular. Couldn't find a single thing to buy there so, we left and went to Lowe's. Dan wanted to look at the toaster ovens there - we had seen one at the Lowe's in Live Oak and he thought he might want it. However, when we got there and looked at it he decided that wasn't what he wanted after all. Well, we ended up getting a drip tray for the kitchen, a basket for between the front seat of the truck (to put the maps and books in - you know, Next Exit and Milepost) and a book of house plans (don't get excited and don't ask questions). That was a little over $20.00.

Our final stop today was Sam's Club. Dan thought that we needed to renew our membership, so that was our first stop once we got inside. However, our membership is good through September of this year. As we were starting to look around a person from Direct TV was in the store and we went over and talked to him. Well, to make a long story short - we signed up for Direct and will cancel Dish Monday (after the football game). Direct will get connected on the 24th of February when we are up at Lake Park. Dan is so excited!!!! One of the things that convinced us to go ahead with switching, even though we are going to have to pay $215.00, is Direct is giving us a credit on our account for the first year that will pay the $200.00 - so our service will only cost us $30.00 for the first year - and I think the thing that really swayed us was - when we go into Alaska we can put the satellite on "vacation" and only have to pay $5.00 a month for the three months we are there. So, yes, we will be out $215.00 at the beginning, but I think that Dan will be happier -and if we had to pay for Dish, which we won't be able to use, while we are in Alaska at $70.00 for that same three months we would pay the amount of the penalty anyway. We had planned on cancelling Dish when we went into Canada and have to pay the penalty then - we are just doing it a couple of months early. So, it will all work out - PLUS I made sure that everyone knew - right up front - that this was a full time RV account - no problem. (That is refreshing in itself.) After we got all that paperwork filled out, we went ahead and got a few things - boneless, skinless chicken breasts, chicken salad, salad stuff for tomorrow, pears, and some plums. (right around $60.00).

Today turned out to be a fun day in which we were able to accomplish quite a lot - some of which we didn't have any idea we would do now. Plus we only spent about $200.00 total. Now that sure made it a good day!

We are still working on our work schedule - I'll let you know what is going on as soon as I know for sure. In the meantime - I hope you have a good day tomorrow and that you will be happy with the result of "the game" - whatever it may be. Take care and ------------------------

I'll talk to you tomorrow!

Bag Sale

Today Dan and I went over to the Rumph Pavilion and worked from 10:00 until 1:00 at the bag sale here in the village. Today was only for employees, volunteers, and residents of the Village while tomorrow the sale will be open to the public. There was more stuff there than you could ever imagine and it was all just clothes and books. The 'bag sale' meant that when people came in they were given a plastic bag (you know, like a Wal Mart bag) and whatever you can get in the bag was $3.00. There were people that were able to get a whole "lotta" stuff in a Wal Mart bag. Even though it was raining Dan and I had 77 bags of clothes go out the door in our three hour shift. Not too shabby. I even found a couple of things myself - a couple of sweaters, a sweatshirt, and a shirt. I really didn't try and fill a bag - I just don't really need anything (I really didn't need the stuff I bought).

After we finished with our shift we went to the cafe for lunch - then I did a little "shopping". I just walked through the two little gift shops here in the Village. I did buy a sympathy card for one of our friends. Lynn's husband passed away yesterday with cancer. They were our neighbors here in the Village, living right next door to us. Jerry had just retired a little less than a year ago and found out he had cancer right after we sold our house and 'hit the road'.

Tomorrow is Market Day again - it is always the first Saturday of the month. The rain should all be gone by tomorrow and there should be a good turn out as long as it is not real cold. Last month there were not many people there and not many vendors, but that was right after Christmas and it was really cold. As I said, hopefully tomorrow will be better.

I fixed the boneless pork chops for dinner tonight - actually Dan fixed them on the grill while I fixed a baked potato (which we split) and I had a salad while Dan had asparagus which he heated on the grill with the pork chops. It was really very good. Tomorrow I'll fix the pork shoulder in the crock pot and then Sunday (Super Bowl Sunday) we are going to go over to Jewel's for a Low Country Boil (Yummy!!!)

I don't really have anything else to report tonight so I will let you all go - have a good weekend and --------------------------

I'll talk to you tomorrow!!!!

Paperwork

I feel like I have been sitting in front of this computer all day - well, maybe I have. I have done a lot of paperwork today - filling out paperwork, filling out job applications (gotta find us a job for the fall and winter of this coming year!), moving pictures to two different flash drives (one is a small one that I will use to take the pictures I want to scrapbook from our trip out West and the other is a large flash drive that I transferred all 1400 pictures from the summer to so I could get them off my hard drive on the lap top).

I filled out applications on line for a lot of different positions - will just have to wait and see if any of them work out. Some are in Oregon and some are in Texas (yes, I said Texas girls). We are trying to figure out what we are going to do next winter and we are not sure yet. We might not come back to Florida next winter - if we are going to try and work out west next year it would make sense fuel and mileage on the truck to stay in the west - so, work either in Arizona, Nevada, or Texas. So, I did find a couple of things that interested us in Texas so I applied. It is definitely NOT a done deal yet, but it doesn't hurt to cover your bases.

I filled out the paperwork for Alaska today and we'll get that stuff in the mail either tomorrow or Saturday. We also reopened out mail account in Pensacola - we can't ask our friend to be getting our mail all the time - that is just too much to ask. So, I called the mail service and reopened our account there. Now, I'll just have to get in touch with everyone and write letters and change addresses on all our accounts - credit cards, school board, insurance (that's always fun - NOT). I think it will be worth it in the long run - it's just getting it all done - that's the pain in the - well, you know where.

We have to work tomorrow here in the Village, so I'm not going to stay on line long and bore you with my ramblings. I hope you all are doing well - try and stay dry tomorrow - it is suppose to be raining all day in Florida and Georgia - I think you guys in Texas had it today (or maybe it was yesterday). I'll let you know how the sale goes tomorrow.

Talk to you then!

What did I do today????

I'm not sure what I did today, but I was extremely busy! I did do a load of laundry in the unit - yeah for the washer and dryer! I also sorta of slept in (didn't get up till almost 9). I had had a bad night - a little stomach problems that worked itself out - and I didn't go to bed until after midnight - so not getting up till 9 is not that bad.

Of course, I straightened up the unit and took my shower and washed the dishes - that's just normal stuff. I did some farming on Facebook (one of my guilty pleasures) and did some research on possible places to work after Alaska - we just have to decide what part of the country we want to be in. We also called Good Sam about insurance on the rig and the truck. The insurance we have through State Farm is really just collision - and it does not take into consideration that we live in our unit full-time. This insurance does. It is a little more expensive than what we are paying now, but it does cover the rig like a homeowners policy would with liability and coverage after the unit is parked and not hooked to the truck. Of course, if we also cover the truck the combined rate is cheaper (multi-policy discount). Also, if - God forbid- we should have an accident there is only one deductible instead of two. We will discuss it a little more, but I think we will probably go with it (oh, BTW, it is underwritten by GMAC insurance company - so I think it is pretty dependable).

Then we went over to see Bud and Joyce for a few minutes then went by Jewel's house, but she wasn't home (we had bought her some Cinnamon-Raisin Bread at Atlanta Bread Company in Valdosta yesterday, but hadn't been able to catch her at home - she sure is a busy lady!). We came back to the house and by then it was time to eat. Dan said he didn't feel like cooking the pork chops on the grill and wanted to go to the "Gopher" (the little grill here at the village) for dinner. We did and I think we did fairly well with what we chose to eat - Philly Cheese Steaks sandwiches (I know - but at least the meat was grilled instead of Fried!). While we were eating guess who walked in - yep, Jewel. She came over and ate with us and then she came by the house so we could give her the bread.

Tonight I have been doing more research on the computer and that has been our day. Oh, Dan did work in the basement some - he was putting up some holders for his fishing rods on the walls of the basement and working on getting all his fishing tackle moved to his new tackle box. I'm not sure what we will do tomorrow - probably more of the same. Friday we will work at a "bag" sale here at the Village from 10 in the morning until 1 in the afternoon. It should be interesting - I'll let you know on Friday.

I don't have anything else to report - all you people that are working - your half way to your weekend - hang in there. For the rest of us - just stay warm and dry and ------

I'll talk to you tomorrow!!

Valdosta

Sorry I didn't post last night - don't have much of an excuse except that I was just tired. Anyway, I'll fill you in on yesterday and today.

First, let's start with yesterday. We went over to visit with one of our friends here in the village, Jewel. We hadn't seen her but once since we've been here - so we wanted to go over and just visit for a little while. Jewel needed some help with her SUV - she had a bad tire - so, Dan drove here car to Perry to the tire dealer while Jewel and I followed in her truck. Once we dropped the SUV off we went out to lunch. A really good meal, but I ate waaaaay too much - that's one of the reason's I don't like buffets - but it sure was good!!!! After we ate, we went back to the tire dealer and found out that there wasn't anything wrong with the tire. So, Jewel drove her truck back because she had to take a little side trip to Mayo and Dan and I took the SUV and went to the Super Wal Mart in Perry. We picked up a few things there (we only went in for a half gallon of milk and walked out with $160. worth of stuff. Then we drove back to the Village - dropped off Jewel's car and came home. About an hour after we got home Jewel dropped off a bowl of beef roast w/ potatoes and carrots (one of Dan's favorite meals). He really enjoyed his dinner - thanks Jewel!

Okay, now I'm going to back track even more - let's go back to the Pro Bowl - do you really want to call that a football game????? It was closer to a tag game. Nobody was really tackling - I know that they don't want to get anyone hurt, but come on. If they are going to play a game that way they should call it a Powderpuff game - come on man! Enough of that - on to today.

Carol and Neil came in yesterday and this morning they picked us up at 9 am. Dan had already gone and had his blood work done and we had already had breakfast and coffee. Carol and Neil wanted to go to the shoe store where we bought our shoes that we had purchased before the cruise. They also wanted to get some new shoes and they thought that was the best place to go. Dan and I also decided that we would buy a second pair and keep to use while we are gone this year. We have been told that the shoes are good for six months if you wear them all the time (which we do) and we are going to be gone for about eight months - so we thought we would get another pair each.

After we left the shoe store we ran by the Atlanta Bread Company and picked up some cinnamon raisin bread for us, Jewel and Bud and Joyce. Then it was off to Books a Million to look for Dan some more books (which he did not buy any - go figure). No money spent at the book store so then we headed for Cracker Barrel for lunch. (We all had chef salad's - which were really good!) Then we came home. After getting home Dan went over to Neil's and they went through the tools that we still have in the garage at Neil's house so we know what we are going to take down to Lake Placid. They decided that there will quite a few things that will be left here so Neil can use them while we are gone and Dan will have access to them when we come back to the Village. (Now our total load will be less - YEAH!)

Tonight I fixed dinner - Dan wanted a hamburger - so I had some in the freezer - we ran to the little grocery here and picked up some buns and some frozen potatoes which I cooked in the convection oven. It was a quick easy dinner. Kitchen is now clean and the coffee is made for in the morning. We have watched NCIS and now I'm not sure what we will do the rest of the evening - read?????

We have no plans for tomorrow - at least as far as I know right now - but with us you never know. One of our friends sent us pictures of their new unit - congratulations to Donna and Ted - I'm sure that you will really enjoy your new Hitchhiker.

That's all I have to talk about today - hope you guys are having a good week so far.

I'll talk to you tomorrow!