The switch is done

We are at the Wekiva Falls KOA, in Sorrento, Florida, about 5 miles from the La Mesa Dealer.  We got here Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning we headed over to La Mesa.  Our original appointment was at 10:00 AM, and we were there until about 3:30.....long day.  After a couple of

hick-ups with the paper work we were finally finished.  The dealer had already taken the new Motor Home over to the camp ground, so all we had to do was hit the road. 

 

We get to the campground and there they are, parked side-by-side, almost door to door.  After we got half of  a brain working again, we decided to pull the old RV out and back the new one in, so we can get it hooked-up and pretend we live in it.  We shuffled the RVs carried enough stuff to live for the night and called it home.....yea.

 

Door to Door parking
with a rug from one to the other

Wednesday, let the fun begin.  We had put the RVs door to door, so out of one and into the other.  As you can only imagine, Brad can carry faster that I can put away.....his answer is to just put it in a cupboard and deal with the organization later....I don't think so!!! 

Can you say a mess!!

 

 

Now, can you say Disaster?

And then we went from bad to worse.  It took most of the day, starting about 8:00 and finally getting finished about 4:00, but it's in the RV and actually packed in where it will stay (ha, ha).  I don't know about the rest of you, but once we are living here 2 weeks, it will get rearranged  to a more usable layout. 

 

We got finished, called La Mesa and they picked up the old RV.  We went for a stroll, showered and then had steaks for dinner.  Brad struggled to stay awake until about 8:30, me I made it until about 9:30, and it was a struggle.  Today we are still happy with the purchase and getting ready to leave the campground.  We are headed back to Shawna's to load up the rest of our things (oh-no) and then off again to who know where.  Looking forward to doing some camping again.

 

Diane and Brad

Stress

OK.  The shopping is done, but now for the stressful stuff.  We have unloaded a bunch of stuff that we don't use everyday or need for about a week, most of the tool boxes and fishing gear are in the garage and we are planning on picking up the new RV, Tuesday or Wednesday.  They are doing somethings trying to pay off the old RV, which the loan is a 2nd mortgage and not tied to the RV, so not sure what they will or can do......wait and see.

We are leaving here tomorrow and going to a campground about 10 miles from the dealer.  We need to be there at 10:00 AM on Tue and not sure what the traffic will be like getting there, and we really never get moving all that fast in the morning.  We are both getting a little anxious, nervous and excited, all at the same time.  Me, I haven't been sleeping, stressing over where I will put everything and how it will be packed (but we all know I'll redo it 3 times before I'm happy), so every night I've been sleeping restlessly. 



Madison and McKayden
with Nillie and Spice

We have done a little running around, looking a different campgrounds and shopped for a few things for the RV, but mainly just putz'ed around here, in the yard, raking and cleaning things up for the Lucero's.  We have had dinner with the O'Donnell's and enjoyed spending time with all of them.  The farms at both the Lucero's and O'Donnell's keep growing, this is Vanilla (Nillie) and the mini donkey, Spice with the kids. 

At the Lucero house tonight the farrier was here to work on Ashley's horse(Inka) and then we had Chili for dinner.  Len has made a video for the little piggie he rescued, if you get the chance, try to watch it 'http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z-uO5TPQfM'.  We'll try to keep you all posted on our pick up, just wish us luck.

Thanks, Diane and Brad

Shopping.......Done

OK, we finally did it.  Broke down and bought a RV.  We did a lot of shopping, looking and looking and shopping and finally called a place back on Sunday....never thinking they would meet our offer, but surprise, surprise, after about 10 phone calls, they did.  (Much easier over the phone than in person).  So today we got to go look it over and make an appointment for picking it up...January 29, 2013.  It is an Itasca Meridian, 2006, not new, but very new to us.  Now we can't wait to pick it up.  The dealer is about an hour away and we need to be there by 10:00 AM, so we are taking ours over Monday to a park near by, where they will bring the new one over to us so we can spend the afternoon swapping our things.  I have attached a link with pictures, so feel free to comment.  Wish us luck, Diane and Brad

 

https://picasaweb.google.com/115574168101787483704/ItascaRV?authkey=Gv1sRgCOi8vebBnZ3_iQE#

Shopping in Sumterville

OK,  not much happening here in Florida, RV shopping, RV shopping and more RV shopping.  Yes, we are about tired of it. 

 

Wednesday we went to Ocala and stopped at a couple of places.  We found a nice 05 Dolphin at Camping world, but the carrying capacity is only 1,000 pounds, what we have now has a 3,000 pound capacity.  We then went to another place and found 2 we really like, but didn't have time to talk with anybody and decided we would come back on Thursday.  We left there and headed out to Morgan's soccer game.  Good game they were tied 1-1 and went into overtime, but they ended up losing.  Not bad for their first time in districts.  We ended up not getting home until about 8:00, tired and brain fried.

 

Thursday we headed back to Ocala and looked at the couple RVs that we had found the day before.  We decided to talk with a sales person, but in the process of walking around the lot......made discovery.  It looks as if they buy wrecked RVs, probably at auction, bring them here, repair them and sell them......we left.  So we just went and found a Starbucks, walked around the square in Ocala and enjoyed some non shopping time. 

 

Friday, up and moving we are doing a 2 hour drive to San Mateo to look at another RV, Winnebago 36G.  Looks nice, shows some age, but it is a 2005, not bad.  So we tell the guy we will talk about it and get back to him.  Well, we just get tired of the stories, listed as garage kept, one owner.....not.  We did a car fax and no real problems, but it was just bought at an auction in July of 2012, and of course the guy who has it sitting on his lot, didn't think so, he picked it up from the owner who has always owned it.  So we call Lazy Days RV dealers, since their emblem was on the back.  They actually had it listed as dated inventory (older that 6 months) and they sold it at auction in July 2012.  Now what.  If we get that one, then we have to sell our RV ourselves........do we want the headache.  So we decided to sleep on it.

 

Saturday we get up, neither of us having slept very well and decided we really weren't comfortable with the guy selling the Winnebago, stories just don't add up, so no deal.  Back to shopping, off to the Bushnell RV show to look at a Winnebago there, but it is sold....oh well.  We stopped at Shari's a couple of times and left the dog out and fed the pigs (they are at a soccer tournament out of town), which is a nice break.  Back to our place and dinner with the Lucero's.  Tomorrow Ashley has a horse show, but we aren't going as she starts at 8:00 AM.  Back to the RV and veg for the night, we are tired of shopping and out brains are exhausted.

 

Well here it is Sunday morning and the Lucero's are all gone.  I made breakfast and Brad is working on some things with the RV.  No shopping today, just rest and relaxation, but we will keep you posted on the rest of our expeditions.  Diane

Sumterville at Last

Saturday we got up and headed out to another Camping World to look at RV's, nothing to interesting, so back home and slowly start packing up things to move in the morning.  They were having a hot dog and ice cream get together, but with they way we have been feeling, we stayed in not wanting to make the others at the campground sick.

We actually got
to Sumterville Sunday evening about 5:00.  Got set up and then out to the Coyote Rojo for dinner (great Mexican Food).  It was the Lucero's, O'Donnell's (plus one) and the McCurdy's for a total of 14, they ended up opening up the back room for us.  The food was good and the company better, but by 8:00 exhaustion was setting in.  Back to the RV, finished getting things set up, then off to bed. 

 



The only pipe wrench
Brad can find

Monday we got up and then headed into Bushnell for Breakfast, stoppped at the local fruit stand for strawberries and OJ, then from there we headed back to camp, cleaning and laundry on the schedule.  First we emptied the refrig, carrying everything up to the house, then start to defrost the refrig.  Then on to the rest of the chores, but alas, no water, so Brad ended up working on that until about 2:00 in the afternoon while I tried to rest (ha, ha).  He finally got the water working, so one load of laundry in, clean the strawberries and scrub the bedroom and bathroom, and last but not least the refrigerator.  We got all that done about 5:00 then headed up to the house to see what is going on for the night but no body's in sight.  Back to the RV, and waited until we see headlights coming in the drive, back to the house.  Shawna and the kids are home, so we sit down for a dinner of ham and potatoes.  Len finally showed up about 8:00, carrying a box.....with a 1 day old pot belly pig inside.  The poor things' back legs didn't work so they had taken it to the vets office to be put down, but the softy (Dr. Len) couldn't do it, so now he has a home at the Lucero Farm.


Baby Pig

We got up this morning and back to a different place in Bushnell for Breakfast.  The over to the O'Donnell's for a visit and off to look at more RV's.  Now that the Tampa show start's tomorrow, some of the RV's we wanted to look at are there, figures.  So back home and time for a dirty job for Brad.  I forgot to mention, yesterday he headed into Shawna and Len's Camper, and found they had left food in the refrigerator, and it has been turned off for months.  Len's parents are coming in from New Mexico early February, so Brad is going to help them out and clean out the mess and scrub the refrig.  I would help, but then he would just have another mess to clean up, so I made lunch and am now working on the blog.  Shari has invited us over for dinner tonight, so I'm not sure what the rest of the day will bring.  More to come.  Diane

Mayport at Last

PA Campground

We got to Mayport yesterday about 12:30.  Brad left the campground about 10:00 and headed over to get his new id, he called checked in at the gate and was headed to PSD, so I left
about 11:00 and headed over with the RV.  I get out side the gate and called Brad, no answer, I get half way to the campground, pull into a parking lot and call again, still no answer (I swear at this point I am going to throw his phone in the ocean).  So I head back to the campground and my phone rings (no cell phones while driving on base allowed), so I grab it put it on speaker and yell that I am outside the office

Mayport, Florida

......look outside.  Well, we finally hook up and they take us over to Osprey park, about 3 blocks from the ocean front camp ground....but hey, I think we like this one better.  Bigger sites, quieter and very nice neighbors. 

We get hooked up, have something to eat and I stretch out on the sofa, where I managed to nap most of the afternoon.  Brad did some laundry, stayed out side (away from me) and made burgers for dinner, then I was back on the sofa.  I think I headed to bed about 8:45  all propped up with about 4 pillows, just so I can breath. 

Walk/Drive-up Starbucks

We got up this morning and go outside, enjoying the sun and warm weather, first we have been able to since we left PA.  We had breakfast, and then headed out, first to the only drive-thru, walk-up only Starbucks, on the east coast, a little strange, then off to Camping World of Jacksonville, FL to look at a couple of RV.....nothing exciting.  Stopped and had lunch at a drive through BBQ place, not bad, then Wal-mart, yuk, then last but not least the Fresh Market.  We get back to camp, 2 more loads of laundry and grilled cheese w/tomato soup for dinner.  We are both wore out and exhausted and it's only 7:00.  Early to bed again, maybe we'll feel better in the morning.  Diane



Florida or bust

We finally made it.  We got to our campground, right over the Florida border about 4:00 this afternoon.  We left South of the Border about 10:30 and were headed to Lake Harmony Campground in Georgia, when we had a blow out on 95.  About 1:00 the outside rear tire on the passenger side blew, luckily we were only about 1/2 mile from a rest area.  We pulled in, called the Good Sam Road Side assistance and they were to be there by 2:15.  We waited until about 2:30 when Brad called again and, oh no, everybody thought somebody was doing something when nobody was doing anything.  So we started the clock all over again.  OK now the time is 3:30 until they should be there. But, wait the guy is now on another call he can't make until 4:30.   We called Lake Harmony and explained our situation, no problem, then disconnected the car and I head south to find the first campground to pull in.  I left Brad and found a KOA about 15 miles down the road, checked in and parked in our campsite.   Back out, no grocery store, drug stores for 20 miles down 95....no I did not go.  I stopped at the gas station and got Brad some Coors Light and put it on ice.  Back to the campground to wait.  I called my dad and talked with him for about 1/2 hour when Brad finally called(5:30) and said he was heading down the road.  I called dad back with the status then went up to the office to wait for Brad.  He finally arrived about 5:45, got set up, then up to the office to order a pizza, no chicken on the grill for us tonight. 

 

Well we survived.  I have been fighting a dreadful cold and after a couple of beers settled on green tea and bed at 9:00.  We got up today and didn't head out until about noon, Brad now has a sore throat so we are both moving slow.  We finally make it out of SC and even manage to get through GA, where I did see my token armadillo and then hit Florida about 3:30.  Our camp ground is only about 10 miles inside the border, so we park, get set up and I head off to the grocery store while Brad stayed behind to hook up the grill and get dinner started (yes chicken tonight).  We finally get to eat about 6:00 and now are both just sitting here vegging, fighting these colds is no fun. 

 

Tomorrow we are heading in to Mayport Navy base, Brad first to get a new ID card and me, I'll follow about an hour later with the RV.  Wish us luck, Diane

South of the Border, SC

We left NC yesterday after packing up, getting propane and hooking up the car we finally got on the road at 10:30.  The weather report was 30% chance of rain, which started as soon as we were on the road, just a rainy gray day.  We were heading to Joint Base Charleston when I remembered that Brad's Military ID is expired, so we needed to change plans.  While on the road, Brad notices a sign for a Camp World in Fayetteville, NC, so I get on the internet and doesn't it figure, they have a RV we want to look at.  So the new place we picked is South of the Border, SC. we pulled in and scheduled a two night stay.  Not to bad of a place, rather old and showing it's age, but great spots and lots of shops and restaurants to walk to.  We had dinner early about 4:30, then headed back to camp in the pouring rain.  We were all set up so we gathered up the laundry and through a load in the washer.  After that we were walking the loop around the park, finding many people from Canada who could only nod after they said 'Hello', because they only spoke French (I want to know how they checked into the park).  We were at the far end of the park and guess what.....yes the rain started again, but we were already damp, so no need to hurry.

 

 Monday, 7 Jan.2013

It was nice today. Sunny almost 60, actually 57, but it felt good.  We had breakfast at the SOB dinner. The food was good, but nothing special, and then we headed up route 301 to look at some rv's at Fayetteville RV.  The ride was really nice, the RV's  very, very limited.  We returned cleaned up the RV, yesterday I found a nest (mouse or something) in the one storage bin.  Plus with the rain we had tracked a lot dirt in the RV.  Brad made burgers on the grill.  The first time grilling since Oct.  It was nice.  Tomorrow we are headed to Fort Hunter out side of Savannah.

 

 

 

Roanoke Rapids, NC

Well yesterday we got up moving slow after the drive and hook-up problems the night before.  We didn't go look at any of the RV's we had listed, but we did do a tour of Roanoke Rapids (not much to see).

We stopped and ate lunch at a place called Mayflower Seafood in Roanoke Rapids.  It was about 1:30 and we were hungry but even Brad got a little bit more than he expected.  Hidden on this plate, are french fries, hush puppies rings, white fish, all buried under the pile of small shrimp.  He managed to eat the fish, shrimp and I helped with the hush puppies, the french fries were not touched.  I only ordered a serving of shrimp, so it all worked out.  Needless to say, we only had a light snack for dinner.

Our plans changed a little bit as we wanted to go look at RV's on Friday, but we weren't moving very fast, so plan on that tomorrow.

Saturday we got up had breakfast and made the 2.5 hour drive to the RV dealer.  We had 4 or 5 we were interested in looking at.  We decided that they have a pretty good photo guy, as he must have touched-up the originals, they looked great on the compute, but in person......ugh.  Not a bad day, we took one route out and a different one back, enjoying the ride.  Back home we had chicken wraps for dinner and plan on heading further south tomorrow. 

On the Road Again

We we survived our cold stay in PA.  We arrived in Dillsburg in early November, and from there Brad went up to the Ochenrider Camp and did a week of archery hunting (no luck).  Then back to Dillsburg, a Lasagna dinner with the O'Donnell clan, and hanging out for Thanksgiving (Great dinner at Debs).  Then back to the Ochenrider Camp for the first day of rifle season.  Tony and Glen were there Monday and Tuesday and Brad and I stayed until Thursday.  Brad managed to get a doe....me I missed.  We were back up for the last weekend, but again, no luck.  Oh well, the Brown family just didn't get as much venison as they had hoped.

In the mean time Brad worked a couple of days at the tree farm, always an enjoyable time, and me, I finished the Christmas Shopping, Cookie Baking and the dreaded wrapping.  Things got shipped to the kids in Florida, packed by the FedEx store, and the only time we had things break in transit (lesson learned, pack them myself).  Christmas and dinner with Shane, Alysha and the Brown Family one day, then the Angeli Family Dinner the next day, lots of cooking and good food and time spent with family and friends.  (a Special 'Thank You' to the Shirk's for allowing us to use their house for entertaining the O'donnell's and the having Christmas with Shane and the Browns)

We had a very nice New Years Eve with the Shirk's and the traditional pork and sauerkraut dinner at Christine and Thom's on New Years Day, all very good and another enjoyable time with family and friends.  We managed to get a few other visits in before we left and I had a couple of teary good-byes. 

We finally got on the road Thursday morning about 10:30.  Not a good start, things are frozen, very little water in the holding tank and the hoses were to frozen to fill, but we left and made it to NC.  We parked Brad hooked up utilities and stepped in that reddish  clay mud.  I cleaned that up and then noticed that we had  no electric in half of the receptacles.  Brad worked for a hour before dinner and a hour after dinner, first it was the receptacle, then breaker, then with receptacles hanging out of the wall and the panel box half tore apart when Brad figured out it was the plug on the power pole.  Never was anything wrong with our camper.  Anyway we are in Roanoke Rapids for two nights then headed south to ?????, (we haven't decided yet).  I'll try to keep posting and get some pictures for the blog, it is good to be back.  Diane