Gettysburg Farm Campground

Our drive into Pennsylvania from Virginia was very picturesque. We followed Hwy 301 over the Potomac River on into Maryland. I don't mind saying that my butt went a little water tight as we kept climbing the incline on the bridge to the middle of the river for what seemed like far too long. The sensation is a little different sitting so much higher in a motorhome. All of a sudden those railings between us, the edge of the bridge and the river far below looked a little weak. But we made it in one piece and then from there it was pretty much clear sailing on Interstates on up into PA. Traffic was moderate but moved right along the whole way until we turned off I-83 at York, PA onto Hwy 30.

This was our first time at Gettysburg Farm and we really like it. It is located west of York at 6200 Big Mount Road and is an actual working farm. The park was about half full. Big gravel sites with full hook ups for our motorhome. It is early in the season and things are just getting going. In fact, some of the work camper staff only arrived last week. Lots of animals and things to do for the children. We even ran into some people we met at Thousand Trails parks in Florida the past two winters.

Yesterday, Chris and I drove into the Amish area in Lancaster county and visited the village of Bird-In-Hand. We were here two years ago on a tandem cycling trip to Hershey and really enjoyed the experience. We ate at the Plain and Fancy Farm on route 340, half way between Bird-In-Hand and Intercourse. I won't bore you with my warped sense of humour but there are a few place names around here that bring a smile to my face. Fabulous food and plenty of it is all we can say. We took advantage of two $3 discount coupons that we found in a local brochure, so the price for dinner was really quite reasonable.

After that we toured the back roads for a few pictures and then stopped at the Amish Village in town for a tour of an authentic Amish farm. The photos you see here were taken at the farm which is now right next to a Target store mall on route 340.

We learned yesterday that we may have hit a wrinkle for crossing the border as well. It appears that Lazydays did not send the required documentation to the border crossing at Ogdensburg, NY in a timely fashion. They overnighted it yesterday so it should be there sometime this morning if all goes well. Everything I have read online at RIV.ca says that documentation must arrive at least 3 days prior to the vehicle being imported into Canada. We plan to cross on Wednesday afternoon, so hopefully that will be enough time for them to let us proceed on our way. If not, Chris will head back to Ottawa in our toad, so she can work on Thursday and I will wait at the border until I can cross. Stay tuned.

TTN Chesapeake Bay

We left Walterboro, SC around 7:30 am yesterday to grey skies and a little light rain but things soon brightened up. Temps were noticeably cooler than the Tampa area, so that was a welcome relief. The drive north on I-95 was uneventful with the exception of one or two slow downs, but certainly nothing major. Looks like some repaving is underway in South Carolina. Anything would be an improvement to the shake, rattle and roll on some stretches. We stopped at the Flying J in Latta, SC at Exit 181 and found diesel for $2.039, the cheapest since Florida. Then it was clear sailing on up to I-64 East and then onto Hwy 33 on into TTN Chesapeake Bay, where we arrived just after 4 pm. Pretty easy drive of just under 400 miles. Only thing wrong with the Phaeton was the lack of power to our two 12v sockets on the dash, but that shouldn't be too difficult to remedy. Both fuses are fine just no juice flowing, so I may have to pop off the dash cover and have a look behind to check the wiring.

We set up in a site right behind our friends Ken and Faye and were already for our first social call by 5 pm. Ken is still laid up, recovering from knee surgery and his mild heart attack. He looks good though and was happy to see us pop by for a visit. We made sure not to stay too long though.

Faye was kind enough to arrange a pickleball game for us this morning with Artie and Debbie from Ormond Beach, Florida. Chris and I were up early and fit in a nice run out the main access road to the Hwy 198 turn off before coming back for pickleball. We enjoyed meeting new people and playing again. Hopefully we can keep up the games as we go west from time to time.

We drove into Gloucester this afternoon to have a look around. Artie and Debbie suggested we stop at Trader Joe's on Jefferson Rd to pick up some fresh fish and a few groceries. Also picked up a six pack of Kennebunkport Blueberry Wheat Ale. We are just about ready to sit down to some grilled mahi mahi and salad with beer chasers for supper. Anyone care to join us?

Walterboro, South Carolina

We awoke at 6 am to another hot and sunny day in Tampa and were all ready to get going by 7 am. We had planned to pack up the Phaeton and move it out to the main parking lot at Rally Park so I could have the toad all hooked up and ready to go for when our driver showed up. Not "our" driver in the chauffeur sense of the word, but our driver who would do the out of state delivery to Valdosta, GA for us, so we wouldn't have to pay the Florida state sales tax. Anyway, Jack, showed up about 30 minutes early, so we left right around 7:30 am, which suited us just fine. Jack was the same driver we had for our Bounder delivery back in May 2007. What a great guy and so knowledgeable too. I was a sponge and soaked up any advice he chose to share. Chris sat on the sofa reading her book. We were in Valdosta before noon and on our way to Brunswick, GA on I-95 after seeing a Notary Public and a quick bit of lunch. We pulled into the Flying J at Brunswick, where we were originally going to spend the night, at 2:30 pm, but decided to push on to Walterboro, SC instead. Skies were blue, so why not.
Our phaeton drives like a dream. Much quieter and smoother running than our Bounder with very nice captain and co-pilot seats. I think the tag axle makes it handle much better on the highway. We averaged 60 mph most of the way and never budged at all when semis went by us in either direction.

We hit some serious thunderstorms in Savanah, GA as you can see from the pictures above. Temperatures must have dropped at least 20F because of the rain. It rained so hard, it washed off all the kamikaze love bugs that had impaled themselves all over our windshield in Florida. Better than a car wash or pressure washer.

So here we are back at the Super Walmart at exit 57. Only three RVs here tonight. Supper is done and we get to watch some satellite TV and some season finales before bed. We'll make it to the Chesapeake Bay Thousand Trails park east of Richmond, VA tomorrow night and spend a few days in that area before pushing on into Pennsylvania.

Fort Desoto

Chris and I spent last night camped in the parking lot at Lazydays again. We waited for overnight delivery of a circuit board for our energy management system. Unfortunately, we learned after lunch today that the part did not arrive, so Lazydays has kindly put us up at the Rallypark across the street at no cost. Hopefully the part arrives Wednesday. In any event, we will stay here until Thursday, when Chris flies back to Ottawa from Tampa. Makes no sense to drive to Thousand Trails in Orlando tomorrow afternoon, only to have to run her back to the airport in Tampa on Thursday.

We were up before sunrise this morning and drove out to Fort Desoto in St Petersburg. We spent a few days here last year on our tandem bicycle and really enjoyed the beaches. Today, we both had our cameras going. I caught this snowy egret on the fishing pier mooching a few scraps of fish from the guys fishing on the pier. We enjoyed a morning of warm sunshine after a stormy day yesterday. The top shot was taken looking north from the fishing pier as well.

On The Road Again

Well, I am just about all packed up and ready for the short drive up to Lazydays in Tampa tomorrow. Planning on hitting the road before 10 am which should put me in Lazydays' parking lot around noon. Lots of time to drop the motorhome, unhitch the Vue and head for Tampa airport to pick up Chris. Hoping Lazydays will only need Monday to repair the electric on our water heater. Then it is on up the road to Orlando for a couple of weeks. We'll be staying at the Thousand Trails park on Hwy 27 just north of 192.

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Merry Christmas

Pictured above is our dashboard tree and a few prezzies of course. Through the windshield and sun screen, please notice our parked Vue, green grass and the street we live on....all without snow on them! Almost 80F yesterday, but it rained quite heavily over night. We spent Christmas eve watching the original Christmas Carol with Silas Marner on television, while Chris performed her reflexology magic on my feet. I think I dozed off two or three times as usual.

We are having Christmas dinner with our good friends Jim and Jane at the Peace River Thousand Trails park. Many of our friends from last year are back there for Christmas again this year including, Ken and Faye, Stan and Sally, and Dennis and Barb as well.

Hoping all our friends and readers enjoy a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

TTN Orlando

It rained quite heavily in South Carolina last night. We were up early and hit the road at 7 am after a bit of breakfast. Skies soon cleared and the roads dried off nicely. Traffic on I-95 was moderate until we hit Orlando. We cruised at 60-65 mph the whole way and only had to slow down for a little bit of road construction north of Brunswick, Georgia. Diesel was a little more expensive at the Flying J there at $3.139/gallon cash sale. Still a far cry from what we say last winter. I figure this will be my last fill up until we head back to Ontario in the spring. All together we spent less than $1000 on fuel to get south and that included filling with propane before we left Ottawa as well.

Chris used the slow cooker and had a roast with potatoes and veggies on slow cook all the way into Orlando. It smelled heavenly. We ate lunch on the road while driving to save us a little time.

We pulled into Thousand Trails just after 1:30 pm. Check in was at the ranger station instead of with guest services. I guess that will change next week. The ranger told us to go find a site and then come back and tell him where we set up. G loop was pretty well full, so not too many 50 amp sites available there. We did find a nice level 50 amp site at E59. We set up quickly and were happy to see that everything is working properly. I wasn't sure if the water heater worked on electric or not as we had used mainly propane on the way down. But it is working just fine.

We walked over to play a little pickleball around 3:30 pm or so. There weren't too many players, but enough for a few doubles matches. Neither of us had played since last spring and were both a little rusty. We were both pleased with how well we played considering the extended layoff. We didn't play too long, opting to get back into it slowly.

We'll be here until Wednesday around noon when we'll pack up and hit the road for Sebring. Temp here in Orlando today was 27C or 80F.

Walterboro, South Carolina

We hit the road from TT Chesapeake Bay just after 8 am this morning and enjoyed an uneventful drive south on I-95 into South Carolina. Another sunny and quite warm day on the road. Traffic was relatively light which I was expecting for a Sunday. I-95 was in great shape until we hit South Carolina. The first 50 miles or so were the worst wash board road I have ever traveled. Good thing we had everything stowed and properly secured. We managed to find diesel for $2.939/gallon at the Flying J in Dillon, SC. They must have just dropped their price before we arrived because we pulled into the RV pumps and were quickly joined by a line up of RVs.

We pulled into the Walmart at Exit 57 in Walterboro, SC around 5 pm. There we already about 10 RVs parked for the night. As I write this entry, we are now up to about 30 RVs and about half of those are from Quebec and Ontario. We have never overnighted at Walmart with this many RVs, maybe 3-4 at the most. Signs prohibit overnight parking for trucks but RVs are permitted.

Supper consisted of fried chicken from Walmart and one of Chris's great tossed salads. I tried to buy a case of beer but apparently liquor sales are not allowed on Sundays in South Carolina. I thought the clerk was pulling my leg at first, but she was dead serious. However, one of our new Quebecois neighbours kindly offered each of us a beer which went down way to easily.

Early to bed tonight and then on to Orlando tomorrow.

Sunrise on the Piankatank

We both slept the sleep of the dead last night. Two long days of driving certainly takes it out of you.

I was up at 6 am in order to get out for some photographs. The above photo was taken with my new wide angle 17-40mm zoom lens. This is the boat launch on the Piankatank river at TT Chesapeake Bay. Two guys and a young boy were on their way out bass fishing this morning. They worked on getting that boat launched for almost 30 minutes before it finally slid from the trailer. I thought it made for an interesting photograph.

No pickleballers to play this morning unfortunately. Our friends, Ken and Faye, were not in the park because Ken had hip surgery earlier than was originally scheduled. Faye reports he came through it well and is firmly on the road to recovery with TV remote in hand:). Way to go Ken! Not too much NASCAR now.

We took a run into the Walmart Supercentre and Bank of America in Williamsburg this afternoon to do a few errands. The drive was very scenic. Leaves are still very colorful on the trees. Looks like chili on the menu for supper at the TT restaurant tonight. $3.00 per person and we don't have to mess around with dishes afterwards. Sounds pretty good to me.

We worked out our itinerary for the drive on into Florida this afternoon. We'll hit the road early tomorrow and try to get as far as Walterboro, SC following I-95. Hoping to stay at a Walmart or Cracker Barrel there. Then on to Orlando for two nights (Nov 3rd and 4th) before heading down into Sebring on Nov 5th. Looks like about 400 miles each day which should be doable depending on traffic.

For those of you interested in the weather down here. 22C today. We are both back into shorts, Ts and sandals. Cool at night but great during the day.

TTN Chesapeake Bay

We were up and on the road by 9 am this morning. We were initially going to go east and south towards Baltimore and Washington DC but decided against that because of the stories I had read about traffic in and around DC. Instead we headed west on 322towards Harrisburg and then south on 15 through Maryland into Virginia where we passed through Leesburg and Warrenton. We picked up Hwy 17 south all the way to 198 and on into Chesapeake Bay, arriving at 5 pm. The drive was a little onger than we had planned but that is because we were on some busier roads too.

Chris spied a Five Guys Famous Burger and Fries along the way, so of course we had to stop there for lunch....and it was fabulous! Temps are quite pleasant down here. Hoping to get in some pickleball tomorrow morning if all goes well. We'll spend two nights here before packing up and heading on south. Lots of snowbirds here for a few days before moving on. We had a few kids at the RV trick or treating but not many. Early to bed tonight. Hoping to get up in time to photograph the sunrise in the morning.

Diesel fuel is coming down. Prices are very reasonable in Virginia. I filled up at $2.93/gallon at Hornes on the way along Hwy 17 at US 301. I expect it will be more as we go south though. Must be taxes or something.

TTN Hershey

We left Ottawa at 9:15 am under clear and sunny skies and crossed into the USA at Ogdensburg. We followed Hwys 37 and 11 southwest until we hit I-81 south. Then it was clear sailing all the way into Pennsylvania. Lots of snow in the fields on the way through NY state, certainly more than we had in Ottawa. We stopped at one rest area to let Buddy out for a stretch. Chris prepared a cold lunch that we we ate while driving. We motored on into PA and stopped at the Flying J in New Milford for fuel. Diesel was $3.299/gallon, which works out to $0.87/litre. Add in exchange rate and there isn't much difference between diesel prices in PA and Ottawa. We are expecting the cost of diesel to go down the farther south we go. Regular unleaded was around $2.89/gallon with some selling for less than that in places. If memory serves, we were paying over $3.00/gallon in Florida last winter, so prices have definitely come down.

We arrived at the Thousand Trails park in Hershey, PA around 6:45 pm. We set up quickly and had a nice supper before calling it a night. Our Bounder performed flawlessly and we averaged about 8.4 mpg towing our Saturn, so I can't claim about that. We are here for only one night and hpe to be on the road by 10 am tomorrow morning. The park closes for the season at noon on Sunday. Lots of people in the park but it is so big, that finding a vacant 30 amp spot wasn't a problem.

The on duty ranger told us that Allen Mattson is working here as a ranger. We met Allen and his wife, Ida, while staying at TTN Peace River. Hoping to see them briefly before we pull out tomorrow morning.

Time for a little shut eye. Tomorrow should be a 6 hour drive on into Chesapeake Bay if all goes well.

Sorry no pictures for you today.

Full Time Job

Boy, when it rains it pours!!!

Chris has been looking for a job ever since we got back from Florida basically. She had heard nothing for almost two weeks even after dropping resumes at quite a few places. Then out of the blue she is called for not one, but two positions; a part time RN job at Ottawa General and a full time job at CHEO. Even though she did not want full time, in the end it was the only logical choice to make. Longer hours, but far better pay and benefits as well.

So the plan for the foreseeable future is as follows. We will set up our motorhome at a local Ottawa campground beginning July 20, 2008 and basically use that as our home base until we head for Florida in November. We may repeat our 2007 winter plan and just jockey back and forth between TTN Orlando and TTN Peace River or we may decide to look at an extended stay at TTN Orlando or perhaps even Tanglewood in Sebring. Given the full time position, Chris would return to Ottawa to work through the winter while I would just have to put up with the inconvenience of spending the winter in Florida sans snow. Oh what sacrifices I must make! Chris is planning on coming down to Florida regularly, as time permits over the winter, on days off and for holidays.

We have secured a local storage site here in Ottawa for whatever we decide to keep from this house. Looks like it is time to start packing and selling off what we don't need between now and Jul 31st.

Last Day Here

My niece drove down from Washington DC to see us this afternoon and to join us for supper. We spent an enjoyable afternoon together catching up on the last 18 months she has been attending school in the USA. She has just finished her Masters and graduation ceremonies are next week. Way to go Erin!!!!

After Erin headed back to DC, Chris and I took one last stroll with Buddy around the Chesapeake Bay park. It really is a nice park on a fantastic bit of water. I forgot my camera but managed to snap this picture with a cell phone. Love sunsets!

Things are packed up and we are ready for an 8 am departure tomorrow morning. On to Pennsylvania and Roaring Run Resort.

TTN Chesapeake Bay

We were up early this morning getting packed up and hit the road out of TTN Forest Lake shortly after 8 am. Today's route followed I-85 out of North Carolina and into Virginia where we picked up I-95. Once we reached Richmond, we ducked over to I-295 before turning east on Hwy 64. We continued over the York River onto Hwy 33 and then followed 198 to the resort. The drive was very scenic. Parts of I-85 in northern North Carolina were in very bad shape. There was some construction but traffic moved along very well.


We settled on a 50 amp site at Chesapeake Bay for an additional cost of $2/night. Temps have gone up considerably in the last two days so we figured why not splurge. We took site C-38 opposite the pickleball courts. They even have pickleball listed at 9 am on the daily activity schedule, so we shall see tomorrow if anyone else here plays. The pictures above are of the preserve's boat and fishing dock on the Piankatank River. We went for a stroll around this afternoon and saw a few people out fishing.

The park is about half full. Lots of room in the 50 amp section (C loop). The country store here is the best we have seen at any Thousand Trails location so far. The two pools are still empty of water and not scheduled to open until Memorial Day. That seems to be a familiar theme at the parks. There is wifi in the park. Chris managed to access it easily on her iPod from our Bounder. Unfortunately, we seem to be in a dead zone for my Tracfone as it receives no signal. Their coverage map shows this area to be covered but for some reason my tracfone doesn't agree with that.

The park put on home made pizza for supper tonight. Ours was excellent and definitely worth the $10 we paid.

Hoping my niece will be able to make it down from Washington DC for a visit while we are here. Thinking of checking out colonial Wiilliamsburg if time permits as well.

Forest Lake Is Great

We took Buddy for a walk around the park last night after supper. I snapped a few pictures of this really nice little lake. Not sure what type of fish are in it but they are big suckers! We saw a few at the surface while gazing out from our vantage point on the bridge. Easily 3-4 pounds.

It was very peaceful here last night until about 5 am this morning when every bird in North Carolina decided to gather outside our bedroom window to see who could chirp the loudest. They even woke up Buddy, which is very difficult to do, unless of course you bear gifts....of the food variety.

After breakfast, we donned our runners and went for a great power walk around the park. We were in among the trees for most of it, following the myriad of trails they have here. Chris's shin is still a little too tender for any running, especially on gravel roads and dirt paths. The walk was fabulous! Excellent place for trail running.

We also played a little one-on-one pickleball when we got back. Guess who won? Heh Heh Heh! You can see from the picture that the courts are in great shape. Great place for a future tournament perhaps? Any takers?

As mentioned yesterday, the park is only about half full and some amenities are not up and running yet because it is too early in the season. Presently, the country store is only open on weekends so we won't be able to check it out at all, given that we leave for Chesapeake Bay tomorrow morning. Grounds and maintenance crews are busy getting ready for another busy summer.

Should be on the road early tomorrow. GPS says driving time will be about 6 hours.

TTN Forest Lake

We were on the road by 10 am this morning. We only had a short 200 mile drive today, so we left a little later than usual.

Most of today's drive was along I-85. We stopped at the Flying J in Blacksburg, SC to top up with diesel fuel and unleaded for the Vue. Diesel was down to $3.979/gallon ($1.05/litre), the lowest we have seen since last fall. Unleaded was $3.429/gallon ($0.905/litre). Still considerably lower than in Canada. We also checked out a Waffle House for lunch. Enough said on that one. Won't be stopping there again anytime soon.

The drive was great. Traffic was moderate and moved along quite well. We stuck around 55-57 mph and just watched the countryside roll on by, averaging a whopping 9.3 mpg!!! Not bad really when you consider how heavy we are and pulling another vehicle as well. Doesn't take long to blow through $200 or more at the pumps either and of course that will increase the further north we go. Oh well, it is still a great life! We heard truckers are doling out over $1000 per tank full these days. Ouch!!!

We arrived at Forest Lake just before 3 pm and were able to check out a bunch of different sites because the park is only half full. We found two nice sites near the pickleball courts. We couldn't get level on A-20, so we opted for A-18. As you can see from the photo, we are in a well treed site, so no Canadian satellite TV for the two days we are here. Antenna works great though, so we will survive.

The park is very well laid out among Carolina pine trees. The 2 outdoor pools are not open until Memorial Day. Too cold anyway. Last night, it got down to 36F here!!!! Brrrr!!!!!! This afternoon we were closer to 70F.

According to our Garmin Nuvi 760 we are 800 ft above sea level and our GPS coordinates are:
N 35 degrees 51.625', W 80 degrees 23.823'. Punch those numbers into Google Maps for a good idea of where we are.

Our Verizon U-720 modem works well from the confines of our motorhome. NationalAccess though, no Broadband.

Lastly, I added a traffic meter to the blog yesterday. It displays a list of where people accessing our blog are from. I thought it would be neat to see that info. Please sign our guest book too when you drop in. Repeat entries are fine. You don't need to leave an email address if you don't want to, but all comments would be greatly appreciated.

TTN Carolina Landing

We packed up things last night and even had the Vue hooked up in preparation for an 8 am departure this morning. We hit the road right on time and headed up I-95 to the Flying J at Brunswick, GA. We headed inland on US 25 to Hwy 1N and then onto the Thompson Highway (Hwy 17). We stopped at a Walmart in Swainsboro and had lunch in the parking lot. We continued north along Hwys 17 and 77 until we reached I-85 where we turned east into South Carolina. Carolina Landing is located only about 4 miles into South Carolina on the shores of Hartwell Lake.(The yellow 5 on the map. We left from number 3.) It rained on and off for the first half of the drive. The drive was fabulous. Quiet roads doing 55-60 mph, averaging just over 8 mpg. We saw alot of Georgia countryside. This is definitely a beautiful state. Lots of forests along the way today but not the big trees we see up north. One thing we couldn't help noticing was the amount of closed, as in "no longer in operation", gasoline stations. There must have been at least 10 closed down stations on our route which was a little over 300 miles. A sign of the times perhaps.


We pulled into Carolina Landing at 3:30 pm and were quickly checked in and shown to our site, A-7. It is in the 50 amp section, so that cost us an extra $2.00 per night for our stay. We weren't sure how hot it has been or will be while we are here. Having the 50 amp will let us run both a/c units if needed though. Our site is on a fairly steep hill but we managed to level ourselves without any problem. Sites are small but nicely kept.

We took Buddy for a stroll around the campground before supper. We found a petting zoo on the grounds. Buddy got along very well with this goat and rooster. Not sure he knew what they were but it was fun watching them interact.

The shot above is of the outdoor basketball court which also doubles as a pickleball court. Apparently it is used by some campers. The court has 6" inch high grass growing up through cracks in the cement. The net is actually a badminton net mounted on two poles that are not even cemented into the ground. Meanwhile, across from the main entrance sits an abandoned double tennis court just like the one in Orlando, except this one has no nets. We don't think pickleball, or tennis either for that matter, are big hits here but we shall see tomorrow.

There is a nice quiet country road outside the main entrance that leads into an affluent residential neighbourhood on the edge of Lake Hartwell. We are hoping to do a walk/run to the lake and back in the morning. It is quite hilly, so should be lots of fun.

Looking forward to 2 nights here and then on to Forest Lake, NC.

Route Home

Here is our proposed route from the Thousand Trails Preserve in Orlando back to London, Ontario. We will take our time heading back, stopping for 2-3 nights at about 5 different sites along the way. We'll have a chance to check out 3 other TT preserves as well as 3 ROD locations.


Diesel prices are certainly on the rise of late. Presently, we are seeing $4.19/gallon and we will surely see prices approaching $5.00/gallon on the way home. The motorhome is still a great way to travel though. We have all our things with us. All we'll need is food and fuel.

I've put in a new picture on home page, rather a map of which states which have visited so far. We'll add more, as well as provinces, as our adventures continue.

Chili in Florida

Last night was our turn to host our first potluck supper. Chris was busy most of the day making two pots of chili, rice, biscuits and three bean salad. We had to borrow a second slow cooker for the chili. As you can see from the photos, it was quite a feast. Our pickleball friends also provided, cakes, enchaladas, chip with homemade dip, three cakes, fresh fruit, etc.

We sat around for about two hours enjoying great food and great company. You will notice that everyone is wearing jackets and long pants. That is because it has cooled off considerably over the past 2 days. Day time highs have barely reached 70F with strong winds, while overnight temps were in the upper 40Fs. All that is supposed to change tomorrow thankfully.


Today was a busy day on the fitness front. We both played pickleball this morning. I also got in a quick mile swim in the pool before lunch. Then after some lunch, Dennis and I played against Rich and Larry beginning at 2 pm. They are going in a tournament soon and needed practice playing together. We had some great games in very windy conditions. It is surprising how much different the game is when the wind blows.

While we played, Chris walked out to the post office along Hwy 27 to mail a birthday card. Hwy 27 is very busy multi-lane highway. She was even honked at by two truckers while walking on the sidewalk. Good for her ego ..... and mine. That's my girl!!!

Bob and Julie, as well as Stan and Sally, head for points north tomorrow morning. Thousand Trails Orlando is clearing out as well. Lots of empty spots available now. We are already making plans for a pickleball tourney at TTN St Clair this summer. Many of our friends from Florida should be there.

Park Model Home

We have spent the last 3 days in this park model home at Thousand Trails in Peace River. The one we were supposed to go into was unavailable for our stay because the previous occupants had medical problems and had to extend their stay. So instead of going in unit P-16, we are in unit A-22. Actually, we saw this park model unit brought in on a low bed semi trailer back in January. The unit is used but functional, however the outside skirting and permanent entry staircase are not yet in place. It is definitely a challenge getting used to this after being in our Bounder for the last 4 1/2 months. We miss our home! Oh well, it is not the end of the world.

Our Bounder was to be in the bodyshop at Lazydays, April 1-3. They called yesterday afternoon saying it had just gone in the bodyshop and it wouldn't be ready until Monday afternoon. Apparently Lazydays decided to do the a/c repair first instead of the bodyshop work. So looks like we are staying in the park model for another 3 days. I will deal with Lazydays on Monday regarding the extra cost of accommodations their delay has caused us.

On the positive side of things, our son sent us an envelope from home via Express Post on March 20th at a cost of $21.50. Well it just arrived in Wauchula today! Fifteen days to get here!!!! Think I shall have a chat with Canada Post when we get home as well.

We continue to play pickleball everyday, although there are fewer people playing now. We were also back in the river fossil hunting again yesterday afternoon. The water is cool and refreshing and welcome relief to the afternoon heat we have been experiencing for the past week or more. No major finds yesterday except for the top of a tibia bone. Hard to say what type of animal it is from though.

So this weekend will be low profile, awaiting the return of our motorhome on Monday afternoon. We'll then head up the road to Orlando where we'll be until April 25th.