Time With Good Friends

On Saturday we made the 2.5 hour ride to Lake Park GA to spend time with some friends we made last summer at our VT campground. Dick is a veteran of the Korean and Vietnam wars so he got us a site in Grassy Pond FAMCamp.

 This is a great small park, we wouldn't be spending much time here at the campground as Dick and Pat had a few things planned for us while we're here.We have a nice pull thru with a nice sized yard, if we were going to be around for a while it would be a great place to relax.






After setting up we headed over to Dick & Pat's home, they've lived all over the country and in many different countries, aside from being a veteran they were full timers at one time. Among many other things they did after the service they used to deliver RV's around the country. After toddy hour we headed to a buffet dinner at Mama June's then called it an early night.

Sunday we headed to Macon GA to the Aviation Museum, the weather turned rainy during our drive up, as we drove northward we saw lots of motorhomes heading to Perry GA where the FMCA rally was going on. As we drove by the fairgrounds where it is being held we saw hundreds of MH there, looks like they'll have a great turnout despite the weather.

This is one of the planes our friend Dick served on, it was really interesting for Dave to visit the museum with Dick and hear some real life stories. Pat and I looked around for awhile then found a place to sit and talk while the guys viewed the planes. Unfortunately the rain kept up so outside viewing wasn't possible.

We then headed to the base exchange to look around, something we've never been able to do. Dave found some really nice REEF sandals for a good price. We then headed to the Moody AFB commissary where we took advantage of some great prices, even found some Ben & Jerry's ice cream for a reasonable price. 

Monday we took a booze run to the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville FL, Dick had told us this was the place to stock up on alcohol so we did just that, think we're ready for the summer. After that we headed to Lake City FL to Nettles Sausage

where we picked up a case of sausage, the day before while at their home Dick had us try some. I am not much of a sausage eater but this was something I  liked so we wanted to get a supply in. Afterwards we headed back to their home where we had our afternoon toddies and then headed to Pig N Smoke for a great BBQ dinner. Sure wish I had remembered the camera.

Today we spent the morning doing some chores then headed over for our last visit with our friends till we are all in VT again. We took a drive to Valdosta to the South Georgia Pecan Company where we ended up with 6 one pound bags of a variety of flavored pecans. It was then off to a local produce market where we scored some fresh strawberries, tomatoes and vidalia onions. After a wonderful steak dinner served by our gracious host we headed home to get as much ready for our move tomorrow. We are headed to Gunter Hill COE outside of Montgomery for at least a week, it's around 285 miles so we want to get on the road as early as possible.

Pat & Dick

Until next time...

Relaxing in GA

While here in Eastbank COE campground we haven't done much, this campground is so conducive to relaxing the days away. Our zero gravity chairs are set up right on the shoreline and I've spent quite a few hours reading the hours away.

We did get out on the water one day for an hour or so, the lake is really large with lots of bass boats on it, Dave did catch one striped bass while we were out.

We had a cold front blow, there were white caps on the lake and our tenting neighbors had quite the time. While out their screen room started blowing over, along with another neighbor we were able to get it staked down, the owners returned while we getting it staked and were very grateful that we had come over to help out.  The winds continued into the night, by the morning the neighbors had had it, they were packing up a day early.

We spent a day working out our route northward, found lots of state and COE parks to check out and made some reservations at places that seemed to be filling up. Couldn't get into the COE park we wanted near Nashville but found a small one about 45 minutes away.

 Dave has been wanting to smoke a brisket for some time, well we finally got that done and boy was it good. Now I may be partial to our rub but it was the best brisket we've ever had. He is looking forward to entering the rib cook off next year at Gulf Waters, it just took place and our friends there are looking forward to his entry.

Eastbank Campground is just over the border into GA, very nice large sites, you can access the Jim Woodruff Dam from here making for a nice walk, you actually go back into FL to get to the dam. The only issue we had is their notorious ants, we sprayed down anything touching the ground at that seems to have taken care of them.

Until next time...

A Gem of a Day

We’ve been hanging in AL for the last few days, relaxing and enjoying some sunshine, we are in the process of traveling to Lake Park GA to visit friends from our seasonal VT campground. Instead of taking the RV all the way down to the Gulf again we decided to stay in the Foley area, I also knew that Carla and Jerry of Cozy Be Gone were in the area and we hoped to meet up with them.

Friday was a day of catch up, laundry and a few maintenance chores, a bike ride here at Rainbow Plantation and then the weather went downhill, cold and dreary the same as it’s been quite a lot this winter. Can’t really complain or my northern friends will get all over my case, just glad we’re not there to share it with them.

Saturday morning we headed to Doc’s RV Park in Gulf Shores where Carla and Jerry have been wintering over. I’ve been following their blog for awhile, we both sold our houses this summer and started our full time lives, they are from the Decatur IL area, which is near where my folks have settled. Seems Jerry and I had the same job as teenagers, we both were corn detasselers, it was a great way for a young person to earn some decent money in a short amount of time, I rode the bus from NY to IL (alone) for two summers so I could work in IL. After getting a tour of Carla and Jerry’s new rig, they are enjoying having so much more room than they did in their Casita, we headed to the beach. We spent a few hours visiting and getting to know each other while enjoying the activities on the beach.  The sun even decided to grace us for a bit with it’s appearance.

Dave was still looking for his last oyster fix so we headed to Papa Rocco's where we had a fabulous meal made all the better by our waitress Prissy. Dave had a dozen raw and a dozen Cajun oysters, then we shared a Chicken Club Pizza, while enjoying his oysters Dave was rewarded with a small pearl. Carla has a way with words, you can read here account of the day here.

Dave's pearl

Thank you Carla and Jerry we had a great time with you both, looking forward to the day our paths again.

Sunday was a day of rest for us, a nice walk around the park, got the propane tanks filled up and the Chevy gassed (diesel) up for our departure on Monday and a Nascar race to watch.

Our time on the coast is over as we slowly make our way inland in a slow drive northward, we are shooting for an arrival in VT of 4/29.

 Monday after and easy 3.5 hour ride we arrived at Eastbank COE park on Lake Seminole in GA, hope the weather cooperates it would be great to get some paddling in. Our site is huge and right on the lake, think we'll enjoy our 5 days here.  With temps in the 80's we spent the afternoon soaking up the sun and ended it with a campfire.

Until next time…

Winding Up Our Mississippi Stay

Sunday was our last really nice day here, we knew the weather would be changing for the worse so we got one last long bike ride in and walked all the loops here at Buccaneer State Park. Monday and Tuesday were washouts for the most part so we spent the time getting errands done, a few things done inside and just hanging around the rv. We are really enjoying all the space we've gained in the new rv, especially on those cold rainy days of which we've had too many this winter.

Wednesday we decided to get out for awhile, with it still cool we decided to head to the Infinity Science Center, it is here that NASA has tested all of their rocket engines, the tour includes a bus tour of their test facility. Regular price is $10 a person, they do have a few discounts that we didn't qualify for but on Wednesday it's 1/2 price for 55+, the gentleman checking us in said we qualified and I wasn't going to argue. After the bus tour we went back into the visitor center where we found lots of kids obviously on a school trip, we tried to go where they were but it's not a big place so saw the things we wanted then headed out.

After we headed into Waveland and did a few errands and then headed home. We hadn't been home too long when there was a knock on our door, it was Jane and John of the blog Flamingo on a Stick.

I have followed their blog for awhile and had left them a message we were also in Buccaneer, they had been out for a walk and saw we were home so stopped to say hi. Unfortunately forgot to take pictures, after our short visit we started getting the outside stuff taken care for our Thursday move. We did like our stay at Buccaneer but don't know if we'd go back, we came away with some of their infamous bug bites, while they didn't bother us while biking anytime we went outside they did swarm around us.

Thursday we headed to Rainbow Plantation an Escapees park (our first) in Summerdale AL. It's a nice park with really nice large sites, the rv behind us has VT plates (though the truck has MA plates) so you know we'll be checking that out.

 For dinner Thursday night we headed into Foley to visit Lambert's Cafe III home of the throwed rolls, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and had a great meal. We had so much left over we have enough for another meal, we had heard about them on some TV show so had to check them out.

chicken fried steak

hog jowls

Until next time...

Gulfport MS Mardi Gras Parade

Saturday we headed to Gulfport MS, we left here around 9:30 so we could get there early and find a great place to park. We arrived about 10:30 and as luck would have it we ended up parking right on the parade route. Since we had awhile till the parade started at 2pm we took a walk to check out the area, we found a place for Dave to get a crawfish lunch and a Sonic for me to get a burger, we also did a lot of people watching which was quite entertaining as folks were all getting geared up for the parade. We were a few cars down from a family who we talked with a few times, we received offers of beer and food from them but declined on both counts.

My lunch companion!!

Since we were getting lunch from different places we ended up eating in the truck.

At 1pm the road was closed and people started getting their chairs in position, we were asked by one couple if we minded if they put there chairs behind our truck, then we were asked by another couple. Of course we didn't mind the more the merrier. Turns out these two couples were also full timers so we had lots in common with them. The time waiting for the parade to start passed quickly while talking all things rv with these two other couple, one couple Toni & Eddie from Nebraska have been on the road 11 years,  Mike and Lizzie from Hoboken NJ have been on the road since 2010.

While not nearly as lavish as the floats in NOLA nor were than any costumed folks like we saw on TV that evening from NOLA we thoroughly enjoyed our time and made some new friends. Sure hope our paths cross again, have we said lately how much we love this lifestyle and the great folks we are meeting.

Lizzie & Mike

Toni & Eddie

Until next time...

Relaxing on the Mississippi Coast

We've been at Buccaneer State Park in Waveland MS for over a week now and haven't been doing a whole heck of a lot. The weather hasn't been the best but we've managed to get two campfires in, we haven't had any since we were in KS back in November

The days that have cooperated we've gotten 13 mile bike rides in, just outside of the park about 1/2 mile down the road there is a bike path along the beach.

There are still plenty of lots 8 1/2 years after Hurricane Katrina came through that sit empty. 

We've also spent a little time getting paperwork ready for our closing on the Texas property we are buying. That entailed heading into Gulfport a few times for faxing and the notarization of some papers, everything was set and we closed on the 28th. I've gotten our taxes almost done, just waiting for our mail to be delivered which should be on Monday so I can get some final numbers. We've enjoyed some good meals, Dave got his new electric smoker going so ribs were on the menu one night, fresh oysters baked, fresh shrimp, of course some good steaks from HEB (TX) cooked over charcoal and one night we went to the local casino's buffet.

 


 We tried to got to a Mardi Gras parade last Sunday but the weather didn't play nice, not my idea of fun standing out in the rain and thunderstorms for a number of hours. We were told we'd need to be down at the parade route real early to get any kind of good place to view, with the bad weather we opted to try for the following weekend. Today we are headed to Gulfport to hopefully catch their parade.

 

Dave spent some time figuring out why the heat wasn't getting to the living room very well, seems the duct work had some tears in it. He called and talked with someone from Grand Design. Seems there was an initial issue with the furnace and the wires had to replaced, we figure someone got sloppy when the replaced them and that's when the tears occurred. Dave plans to replace it all this summer, it'll be a lot easier for him to instead of taking it in to a shop somewhere. Other than that,a few nail heads not nailed tightly and a few screws not installed quite right (both in the closet) we've had no issues. We've had some doozy of thunderstorms and found no leaks, we are quite happy with our choice in rigs.

Seems like this is a big weekend locally, Friday (28th) the park filled up with lots of rigs everywhere. Last weekend not many folks were here, think maybe the kids have Monday off from school so that may have something to do with it, also some are escaping the craziness that Mardi Gras brings. The office says Tuesday most of them will be leaving, it was quite entertaining watching everyone come in, some of them really need to get some walkie talkie's to help them communicate when they are backing into a site.

So not much happening here just enjoying the warmer weather, thinking of our friends up north suffering through one of the worst winters in decades. We leave Thursday for Rainbow Plantation in Summerdale AL.

Until next time...