On the road home

Monday we got up, finished packing, pulled out, Brad heading to the fuel station and I headed the fruit stand for oranges and the last of the good strawberries we would have for a while.  We finally, met up, got everything put away, hooked up the car and were on the road about 10:30.  What an ugly

Front window view!
Beautiful!!

day to pull out, I think for the first hour or 2 we had some pretty hard rain, but once we hit the Gainesville area, that cleared up and it was pretty easy sailing from there.  We headed up 301 to A1A looking forward to the leisurely 2 lane country road drive before we hit 95.  What a shock, it is now a cleared way back 4 lane  road....kind of sad, but still better than route I10 to I95.  We stopped in GA at exit 1 to finishing fill the Moho, $1.60 off a gallon of fuel, for our shopping at Winn-Dixie needed to be used and there was a station there we knew we could get in and out of fairly easy, $32.00 saving, was well worth the stop.  Back on the road, heading to Lake Harmony RV Park, and nice little place we had found a few years ago......oh, what a change and disappointment.  Most of the people there looked like they had moved in and weren't leaving any time soon.  We were parked at the front of the park, with a view of the lake out the front window....sad to say, that was the only good part of the place, I guess we'll be crossing that one off our list of stops. 

 

View from our Site.

Tuesday we planed on getting on the road by 9:00.....all good plans, right.  We didn't have much out since it was drizzly and overcast yesterday, so it was just a matter of cleaning up the inside, until Brad decided to check the tire pressure.  Now I do know that that needs done, but it was 10:30 until we pulled out and we have almost 300 miles to travel.  It went pretty well, other than a couple of extra stops to stretch our legs and walk Rudy....I think we are all out of practice with this traveling stuff.  We finally find our exit, get off and then have to decide which of the 3 directions in to the CG we want to use, I chose the web site directions.  Good choice, right to the Ebenezer Park CG. We stopped at the Ranger station to check in, disconnect the car and the Ranger was nice enough to move us from site 2 to site 27.  What a nice move, we have a level site (2 was not) and a beautiful view of the lake.  A relaxing evening at home, a walk to the lake and boat docks and a little hello with the neighbors....what a great way to end the day.  

Big Site!!

 Wednesday was a stay parked for a second day....yeah.  We put a little buffer in the trip so if we wanted to stay 2 nights some place we could....we decided this was the place.  Not the best of days, a little overcast, but it cleared up and the sun came out.  We didn't do much, walked around the CG, we are in the open area, there is a large area up in the woods, checking out the sites we might like in case we come back.  It is quiet here and it might become a regular stop on our way through.  We did have to go to the grocery store, needing bread and creamer, so we found a Harris Teeter about 2 miles away.....perfect, they even had a Starbucks in the store, ahhhh.  Reservations are made for tomorrow night at the KOA in Staunton, VA and then off to Dillsburg on Friday.....what a quick trip, but one that must be done.  Hopefully it will be some decent travel days, will keep you all posted. 

 

Diane, Brad and Rudy

Our Last Week in Florida



Foggy Mornings

It's our last week in Florida and for some reason we were busier that we managed to be all month.  Wal-Mart to get all the much needed paper supplies and Brad got the Tail Pipe fixed, yeah.  After that we got cleaned up and headed out for  dinner with the Lucero's, up to the Bone Fish Grill in the Villages.  What a nice time, Shawna, Len, Gabe and us had a nice visit after the meal.  We finally headed home about 8:30.  We got the tail pipe extension from Alliance Coach, and while out to pick that up we had to stop to for lunch.   Not a bad deal, a little touring around the area and then we headed home for dinner at the RV.  Tuesday started out slow, but I headed out to 

 

Wednesday we went to visit John and Ellen(friends from work), but that got canceled, so we headed out to Rita's Oyster Bar for lunch, what a great find.  After that we headed out past Brown Wood (the new Villages section and did a little sight-seeing.  We managed to get lost in the new part of the Villages, no houses yet, but the club houses, softball fields and golf cart roads are all in place.  After we figured out where we were, we ventured down this little side road and found the Paquette's Historical Farmall Museum(tractors), and from there we found the Lake Okahumpka Park.  A nice little park, with a small hiking trail and canoes for rent so you can tour Lake Okahumpka, we will need to check that out again next year.  We finally headed home about 5:30, but what a nice relaxing day

 

Thursday we got up and slowly got ready, not knowing if we were going to visit John or not, but about 10:00 he called and asked us to come down, about 1:00 and we would head out for lunch.  What a nice visit, we found their new home, and I got a tour of that, a short visit, then off to lunch.  Brad and I were starved, since it was almost 2:30, so we all ate then headed back to the house.  We hung out until about 4:30-5:00, then we headed home to rescue Rudy  his kennel.  Needless to say, after such a late lunch we didn't really have anything for dinner. 

 

Friday I managed to get 3 loads of laundry done at the Moho, and about 2:30 we took Rudy and headed out to visit with Shari and crew.  We sat there and talked for a while then headed home for a quick bite to eat and off to the horse races at the CG.  It is just too funny, a bunch of old farts acting like they just bet $1,000.00 on the Kentucky Derby, when all you bet is $.25 on the horses, ruled by the dice.  We just laugh so much and have a good time laughing at and with everybody else, it's nice to win, but the $.25 bet isn't going to break the bank. 

 

Saturday we were up early, out for breakfast, over to watch the O'Donnell kids play soccer.  It was hot temps running in the high 80's.  We lasted until about 1pm, then headed home, stopping at the Publix grocery store to stock up for or trip north.  Home groceries put away, Rudy for a walk and a little bit of outside clean up, prepping for the trip home.  A nice meal of  Ribs and baked sweet potato and a couple more strolls around the CG once the sun went down and the weather cooled a little. 

 

 

Soccer is a family affair for the O'Donnell's  Matthew playing with Shari as the ref, Mckayden playing with Matt as the ref, and the 3 older girls play on the same competitive team, with Matt and Shari watching from the side lines.......makes for a full Saturday for all.

Sunday morning we headed over to Shari's around 10 for breakfast and our last visit with them.  Back to the Moho, drop Rudy off and up to the Club House for Bingo.  No winning, but a few good-byes to our new friends, knowing that we are leaving the in AM.   After bingo Brad made a last trip to the Lucero's, the post office, a drive into town for gas and a stop at the bank for money.  Back home where I had been slowly cleaning up and putting stuff away.  I think it took us 30 min to roll up the awning, sweeping off the dust and tree dirt, but it needed done.  The outside is all cleaned up and put away when Dawn and Gene stopped by with one more treat for Rudy, no he isn't spoiled, then we  head inside for dinner and some more packing.  We are to have rain in the AM, so by the time we head inside for the night, everything outside is put away and the inside after being cleaned up, doesn't look so bad either.  

Diane and Brad

 

Getting ready to leave Florida

Monday, was a stay at home day, 1 load of laundry done and hung out, and finally getting back to finishing the washing of the Moho, a little break when Len came over to test Rudy for heart worm, then back to Moho and finally got done washing the whole thing.   I rested a bit then cleaned up all the supplies used in the washing.  After that we get cleaned up and off to Shawn and Lens for dinner.  Nice day.  Home at 8:30 a walk around the CG with Rudy, then off to bed about 10:00.

 

I have been trying to order a tail pipe extension from Alliance Coach for a week with no success.  I had left two phone messages and stopped in on Saturday but no one ever called back so Tuesday we stopped in and stayed until they took the order(a 45 min. ordeal).  Now let's hope it comes in on Monday as promised.

 

Not much else happening  this week until Wed. when Shari called to see if we could watch their animals(cat, dog, two pigs and a donkey)  for three days.  I said sure, when should we plan on starting she said right now as they are walking out the door for a trip to the Keys.  Well, that changed our plans in a hurry.  Now just to show you how lucky we are, she called us on Friday at 2:30 to ask if we could clean-up their house 'right now' because a real estate lady was coming at 4:30.  Well, Diane worked some magic on the girls bedrooms and we did get it presentable by 4:30.  What a job!!

 

Thursday I decided to clean the two exhaust fans and according to the instructions it would take about a half hour each.  I'll cut this short, after four plus hours, two trips to the hardware store, one cut finger we are done....... with one, which I broke putting back together. The second one we did on Friday without incident.  Friday evening we were invited by Ron and Marilyn to join them at the Horse races here at the CG, so we decided to go.  Oh my, what fun, the way the people acted you would have thought this was the Kentucky Derby.  It was worth the trip just for all the laughs. 

 

Now it is Sunday evening and we just returned from Bingo(yes we both went) and are enjoying a really nice evening.  It has been hot here most of the week with temp's in the mid to high 80's.

 

We are planning to leave early next week(23rd) and arrive in Dillsburg the 26th or 27th. Our last week here is filling up fast.  Monday is the Webster flee market, Tuesday bingo, Wednesday visit John and Ellen, Thursday and Friday visit the kids and grandkids and Friday night is the Horse races here at the CG, we need to go, it's too much fun not to.  Then Monday the 23rd we leave.

Kids and their Sports

Friday was a miserable day here in Florida, 69 for a high and that was a midnight, 'til I got up at 7:30 it was 64 and the mist was heavy in the air.  We finally sorted our mail and after about 10 phone calls and Internet searches for renewals, etc., we headed up to Brownwood (part of the Villages) for lunch and then a quick stop at Alliance Coach.  Well we had lunch at McAlister's and headed home, never stopping at Alliance Coach.  We did a quick walk with Rudy then out we go to the school to watch the track meet and Morgan compete.  They had the 4x2 first and came in first, then about a 1.5-2.0 hour wait to see here participate in the hurdles.  It was nice to see here compete, but the 55 degree drizzle was miserable.  We left after the hurdles and headed home to turn on the heat and change clothes.  She had one more race to compete in, but another 2 hour wait, we just weren't willing to do, we now remember why you have kids at a young age, it was almost 8:30 when we left and I'm not sure we would have lasted another 2 hours. 

 

Saturday was so different, sunny and warm, so off to Wildwood to watch the kids play soccer.  After about 4 hours of sitting in the sun, the kids were done and headed to the County Fair, while we

Nice day to watch
the kids play.

headed to Fresh Market for some meats.  We got sausage (for sausage and biscuits) and a few other things for us.  Back home where I made some sausage patties for us then over to Shari's to drop off the rest of the sausage.  Home again, burgers on the grill with corn on the cob....not a bad meal.  A lazy evening on the patio, heading in a little after dark. 

 

 

 

 

Sunday was a tough one, a lost hour of sleep and then off to Matt and Shari's for sausage and biscuits.  We were a little late getting there, but since breakfast was just getting ready, we really weren't late.  We hung out there until about noon and they started getting ready to head to the beach, so we headed home.  A walk for Rudy and then off to play bingo (Brad actually came along).  Neither of us won, but it was fun and we had at least one winner at our table.  We talked with Gene and Dawn for a little while after bingo, then headed home to tend to Rudy.  We walked for a little while, then headed home for a salad with grilled chicken.....not a bad meal. 

 

Diane and Brad

3 day Summary

Monday thru Thursday,  not much happening this week.  The mouse either died from injuries sustained from tripping the traps but got out or he moved out.  We cleaned all the bins and vacuumed everything we could reach and have not seen or heard him in the past four or five  days.  So, the traps have been removed and we are assuming he is gone.  I would feel a lot better if we had caught him and known for sure.

   On to new items,  the small bedroom TV has been reinstalled in the front of the Moho.....or at least sitting in the old spot.  I'm glad that is over except that I dropped one screw which I'm sure went down the defroster vent.  We'll see how that plays out when I have to turn the defroster on.   Tuesday was a shopping day both Wal-Mart and Winn-Dixie.  I got to stay home while Diane shopped, she says it is easier and cheaper without me. Wednesday we took a little road trip up to the Villages, stopped at Alliance coach ordered a tailpipe extension part(ours fell off on the ride down) and walked through about 25/30 RVs, then stopped at the new Publix's grocery store.  It has been up in the 80's all week and just to hot to work or do much outside.  I did manage to scrub the roof on Thursday , then while Diane and I were doing the front of the RV, she started fussing and jumping up and down, grabbing the hose, spraying her feet and legs .....she was standing on an ant hill, yikes.  I did have to fuss at her about the water puddles she was making at the front of the Moho.  After that a shower for Diane while I kept scrubbing.  We just had burgers on the grill with Middleswarth BBQ chips (thanks Lynne), a nice visit with Gene and Dawn and a lazy evening. 

 

Diane and Brad



Moho Washing



Saw this one day while
out to lunch!!
Pretty neat.

Sumter 60 and rain to humid and 80....wow

Friday another cool morning Brad had to wear his sweat shirt to grill.  We had pancakes and sausage on the grill.  Checked all the traps, no activity except for more plastic chewed.  About 1:00 we headed out to Odd Couples for lunch, then to the hardware store for another mouse trap, new American Flag and a boot scrapper to set out side the RV (tired of the sand).  I think Brad will buy one more trap every day until the last critter is caught.  We went down to local state park checked out their schedule of events for March, re-enactments and crafts, etc.  Later we headed to Sparkman's fruit stand and got a flat of strawberries and a bag of oranges, stopping at Shari's and leaving most of it there, with seven of them it will probably be gone by evening.  We just had a small dinner here at the RV, neither of us being very hungry, a walk for Rudy and a stay inside night. 

 

Saturday,  rain, rain, rain so breakfast in camper.  We then started sorting out the storage bins, dodging rain drops in the process.  We put up the new flag and set out a few more decorations and

Camp Site

  Brad checked the traps, one was tripped but no mouse.   We decided to go to Howie's for lunch and make that our main meal of the today, Brad had grilled haddock(huge piece) Diane had half rack of ribs and they just fell off the bone.  We drove over to the Lake Panasoffkee VFW and  turned in our old flags, had a drink and listened to the very interesting group hanging out there.  We then did some touring around and found a small state park called Hog Island Campground, so we drove down the road, the road got narrow with no macadam, and it turned in sand with large pot holes.  We finally found the camp ground, nice with probably 20 sites, no hook ups but there were several campers including one motor home (our Moho will never travel that road).  Back home tend to Rudy and a walk in between rain showers.   So... since we had a big lunch we settled for ice cream for dinner, along with the other 20 people at Lickety Splits, then home to hang out and hide from the rain. 

Where the TV was

Sunday we a quick breakfast, then Brad decided it was time to remove the front TV, and so the fun begins.  Plastic screw covers popped, then the screws out of the plastic...nope not loose.  OK, check in the side cupboards and there are 3 screws holding up the wooden frame, they come out and the frame comes off.  2 brackets at the back of the TV come off and we still can't get it to move....now what.  I'm outside hanging up laundry, phone in my pocket, ready to call 911 when I hear the yell, but it never came.  Back inside, Brad on one side of the TV and me on the other, a little wiggle and it comes loose.  We finally got it out...right to the car for the trip to the dump.  OK a mess in the house, I left to go play bingo....2 hours for Brad to clean up should be enough.  No luck at bingo, but it was nice seeing all the people from last year, and it worked, not only did Brad get the place cleaned up, he ran to the grocery store to grab a few things we needed...yeah.  Home after bingo, a couple of walks around the park for Rudy, burgers on the grill and then windows shut and AC on....what a change, 2 nights ago we had the heat on.  Oh well, we'll see what tomorrow brings. 

And now all the tools are
on the dash.

Diane and Brad