Tuesday, August 7, 2018

Good morning! What a fun time we had with Randy and Dawn last night ... that may be why I’m so worn out now. Mark got right into his job across the street putting the pool back into shape. Now, while I’m at the dermatologist he’s washing the RV.  We just might get it parked later on. 

It’s one of those “waiting” days. Fortunately I don’t have an infection, but lots of inflammation and redness from a nickle allergy. Platinum earrings is what the doc recommended. She phoned in a prescription to my Walgreens where I went and waited half an hour just to be notified it wasn’t in stock. So, I headed home and put on a dose of collodial silver as was also recommended by the dermatologist. 

Here’s the picture the dermatologist took ... yup, my ear lobe is red and swollen and stings like a 🐝. Sorry for the crummy picture, I thought she was just taking an ear pic. Haha. What a mugshot. 

When I got home, I loaded the Walmart odds ‘n ends in the rig then we parked it ... first try! Mark is really great at handling this big beast. 😜

We had a big salad for dinner and an hour later, wine and homemade burgers. Delish. I phoned RanDawn after dinner and they were as tired as me today. Randy’s doing his daily exercises so we know he’ll be better soon. Step by step, day by day. Dawn’s doing a great job keeping everything together and running smoothly while he recovers. 👍🏻  (Mark remembers it wasn’t easy from my knee surgeries! 🙄) 

Sue and Wayne had a nice day at the lake and took the doggies for a ride to Kenora. Larry F. arrived for a few days visit. He’s in the area to celebrate his 70th birthday with his daughter in Winnipeg. (The last time we saw him was with his wife Maggi (now divorced) a few years ago.) 

Tonight, Mz BeeZee’s on my lap and Robbie at my feet. Life is good. We’re nearly back to normal after our fun trip. 

Are you ready for some Elvis 🕺🎶?

Ooohhhhhh ... 🤣 ... that’ll give ya nightmares. 

Monday, August 6, 2018

This morning, we were up bright and early. It was hot, getting to 90° during the day. Mark took our eBay packages to the post office and gabbed with postmaster Sherry. (She likes to know what’s in all of the packages.) 😂 After that, Mark went to Pep Boys and eventually got the Dodge truck tire patched ... free; with a $10 tip. (It was a roofing staple.)

While Mark was doing that, I vacuumed and cleaned the rig and put the clean sheets on the bed then emptied the rest of it. Other than lubeing the bearings, it’s pretty much ready for bed. Sweet. 

Randy had therapy today but felt well enough for company tonight.  So, we went to Randy & Dawn‘s for a great chicken dinner. Dawn did all the cooking as Randy is still recuperating from his knee replacement surgery. She made stuffing stuffed chicken, cheesy cauliflower and rice. (Delicious!) Randy’s doing great just today using a cane to get around. Of course his knee is still swollen, it’s not three weeks yet. We sat on the back patio for an hour before dinner. He does periods of standing and sitting just to keep active. We had lots of shared stories and laughs. 

Tomorrow, I have an appointment with the dermatologist about my ear lobes. Yes, they’re still red and itchy. Hopefully I will get more medication and a quick cure.  

Sunday, August 5, 2018

Good morning. It’s a warm sunshiny start to the day. I’m having a lazy morning before packing up to head home. We’re so glad we finished our waylaid vacation with a campout with the VIP club. It’s been fun. Here’s pictures from last night’s GRW sponsored dinner. 

Mark, me, Brenda and Mark. Dinner was Chicken, Shredded Pork, Beef Brisket, Mac ‘n Cheese (WOW!), Potato Salad, Coleslaw and assorted desserts. 

Foreground, Karen and Ray 

The Momentum table ... Monica and family 

Our MC, Pete. Mark and I had lots of fun playing the Vegas games. We lost all our chips, on purpose as we did not want to bid on anything and bring more stuff into the RV. LOL. As it was, I got rid of a new beach cover-up that I had bought but not liked when I got home, and Mark’s propane campfire, used once in Fort Lauderdale and hauled about the entire country. Ha!

No, it’s 1020 in the morning and I am packed up, the dogs are hooked up, and we are just waiting for Mark to finish up before we begin our ride home.

Back home, we unloaded, opened mail etcetera and now it’s Wine:30. Cheers. More tomorrow!

Saturday, August 4th, 2018

Good morning! We had a great sleep ... nearly 10 hours! Say what? Mark cooked up a bacon feast with cheesy eggs for us then pumped up the spare tire on the Dually. Now it’s RELAX TIME until 1 o’clock when pool volleyball begins. (I’m a cheerleader on the sidelines until I see the dermatologist on Tuesday!) 

Hahaha ... isn’t that the truth. 🤣

Here’s what’s going on with the VIP group today ...

Well we bobbed around the pool with “adult” beverages for 3 hours, we back and fed/walked the kids then back to the clubhouse for dinner and fun. My item is a swimsuit coverup and Mark’s is a propane campfire 🔥. (His will receive BIG BIDS!) It should be F U N .

Mark bonked his head on a cabinet door; yes the same one that gets Randy and Pete showed his sympathy. Hahaha. 

The games are underway.

It’s 9 o’clock and we’ve had dinner plus played roulette. Craps and Black Jack. We’re waiting for the auction to start! 

Friday August 3, 2018

Good morning Florida sunshine; we’re glad to see you! 🌞 It’s 9:10 a.m. and we’re on I-10 cruising along at 64 MPH. 

I saw this on Facebook ... funny but sad! 

OMG ... what a sense of humor this fellow has! 

While we’re rolling along I’ll catch you up on family happenings. 

Great-niece Crystal and daughter Avery are loving summertime! Avery turned 5 last March. 

Cousin Miles is 3rd from left. Ballet obviously keeps him happy at age 13! Kudos!

Pam flew in to see new Granddaughter Anna Juliet arrive. 

Congratulations to new mom and dad Allie and Dan. 💕

Blue skies, nothing but blue skies ... 😎

We stopped for fuel in Jacksonville with 132 miles to go. Mark needed a 2nd coffee this morning ... it’ll be half ‘n half HIS style ... half coffee half hot chocolate!

ICW at Jacksonville. 

Arrived at Seasons in the Sun RV Resort, Site 126. We hadn’t shut the engine off when Pete & Karen appeared on their red golf cart. Right away Pete spotted a bubble on our outer Dodge dually tire! Darn, those are nearly new! There’s a Pep Boys in Titusville nearby. So tonight’s fun is happy hour from 5-6 compliments of GRW ... then at 6 o’clock a Taco potluck party. Mark happened to have the ingredients, so we’ll be all set! 

Happy hour and dinner was loads of fun. We sat with some new members Mark and Brenda who live nearby this campground. They bought a travel trailer and after three weeks traded it in on a motorhome. After that, their first trip was to Indiana to visit his ailing aunt for two hours. Then, they began the trip back. There’s always a story. Dinner was good ... plenty of meat and cheese for tacos! Desserts were plentiful as were drinks. Mark and I were too tired to go to the campfire tonight. We will have to miss the Smore’s on the annual Smore‘s Day. Really! Who knew? 

While I tidied up after dinner, Mark changed the tire on the Dodge. He found it had a roofing staple stuck in it. It’ll be in for a patch tomorrow. 

That’s it for us for tonight. Talk talk talk tomorrow. 

Thursday, August 2, 2018

Cheers! THAT was quite the driving day! Whew. We packed up in the pouring rain and left Creekwood RV resort at 9 o’clock this morning. Instead of going the roundabout way that the GPS brought us 10 days earlier, we went to the left and through the town of Helen which seem to save us about 10 miles. Mark was happy with that. Within 45 minutes we were on a four-lane highway and not those twisty mountain roads with no shoulder. Traffic was light. 

Most of the drive was in light rain but we did have some downpour miles too. We were pretty impressed with the drivers overall. Not one person was using their four-way flashers while driving in the rain. We’re not in Florida yet, are we?

No 4-way flashers! Wow! That must be a Florida thing!

In the midst of the rainy malstrom Mark spotted Bo-Hunk moving coming from Georgia to Florida ...

Welcome! Everyone loves Florida! 

SEE ... Florida Welcomes You. 😎 (Well WE were happy to see the border; we had a great time in Georgia, but Florida’s home!)

Up north, Sue was shopping in Kenora while Wayne and grandsons Kyle and Gavin went fishing. 👍🏻 Hopefully there’ll be a fish fry for them. 

RanDawn called when they got back from Randy’s therapy session today. He’s doing well ... got his stitches out today! Step 4 ✅. Tomorrow they’re off to Daytona to stay at a fancy-schmancy hotel on the beach! Enjoy! Yeah, it’s a work-weekend for Dawn and Randy’s still in recovery mode, but a change of scenery. 

In other news, Bob & Jill moved into their new home in Oakbank. Congratulations 🍾 ... celebrate! How does Sadie like her new yard? 🐾💕 We want pictures! 😜

So we pulled into Lake City Campground at 4:45 just as the thunder rolled. We settled in Site #2 and cooked a pizza and drank wine. (The doggies had chicken thighs, garlic mashed potatoes, cauliflower, carrots and broccoli cooked in broth.) Hmmm, who runs this restaurant? 🐾💕😂

Wednesday August 1st, 2018

Good rainy daze from Helen, Georgia. The good news is we slept from 10 to 8:30 this morning! The rainy weather is perfect for gettin’ some 💤. 

So, the forecast for this area and Asheville where we’re going tomorrow is for flash-floods. We have a booking at Wilson’s Riverfront on the notoriously flood-prone French Broad River. What to do? Being Asheville you have to book RV sites nearly 6 months ahead of time as it’s a hot-spot for summer mountain camping. 

We went to lunch in Helen at the old Hofbrau Haus Restaurant GI Pub on the Chatahochee River There were a few tubers bobbing down the river ... and a lone white flip flop. Hahaha. Everyone that went past us had shoes on! (???) It was flowing faster today. 

Warnsteiner Pilsners, 2 rounds, German pretzel with beer cheese dip, 2 Reuben sandwiches and generic fries with tip ... $81.00 😲 

Back at the RV a decision was reached. The latest forecast is for TEN DAYS of rain and flash flooding from here to the coast. Asheville has been hammered for 3 days already and trees washed down on Paula’s mountain road (already.) I phoned Wilson’s ... he’s open today ... I called Bear Creek (booked,) Rutledge Lake (booked) ... Asheville KOA West (booked) ... ☹️. SO ... I called Wilson’s again and canceled. His reply, “So you’re not a water skier ⛷ then?” 😂 It’s back to Florida tomorrow; 525 miles to home. 

I phoned Sue today while we were in Helen. (Phone and internet is sketchy at our campground.) It’s cold (October-like!) on this first day of August at their cottage and going down to the 40’s overnight! Yikers.

Next, we talked to RanDawn and the cat’s outta the bag! 

DAWN CAN COOK! Look at this gorgeous meal prepped for Randy! Yum yum yum 😋. We told them about our plan change ... they will be in Daytona for Dawn’s update (work) training. Randy had a big day at therapy and more tomorrow. That’s the ticket after knee surgery. 

Well that was our day. Now it’s Wine:30. Ta Ta TIL tomorrow. (It’s really pouring now; quite tropical.)