New Roads Traveled.

Tuesday was a good day, on the road about 10:30, after having breakfast, shop talk and paying our bill.  We had a nice ride to Gaffney, 2 lane road, for the 1.5 hour drive.  We got there I checked us in while Brad disconnected the car.  Find our spot, the off to the office with Brad, they had more questions than I had answers.  A little relaxing then off to the Rite Aid and a stop of 'Joe Daddy's Beach House BBQ and Grill'.  Now considering that we are on the western side of SC, what an unusual place, but the food was good and it was a relaxing place to eat.  After that back to the Moho, watched the 2 NCIS shows then off to bed.  An early appointment in the AM. 

 

Wednesday we are up at 6:00, showered, and disconnected, ready for the service man, by 7:45.  They are pretty prompt and at 8:00, they are there to go over the service request and take the Moho into the shop.  We take Rudy and head off to Strawberry Hill for breakfast. strawberry covered pancake for Brad, then a stroll around the grounds, and of course the purchase of some fresh strawberries to take back with us.  We did a little drive around the orchards,  1,000 acres of peaches, 110 acres of strawberries, 34 acres of blackberries and much more.  After that we headed to the Cowpens Battle field for a little walk.  The walking tour was a little over a mile long, with historical markers along the way, explaining the battle and the important win against the British in the American Revolutionary War.  After that back to the Freightliner shop, but to no avail, the Moho is still inside.  We sat there for a while, then headed out for some ice cream.....we headed the wrong way, no ice cream shop in sight, so we settled for a nasty hot dog from a truck stop.  Back to the shop and wait, wait, wait.  Finally as they are closing up for the day, here it comes, oops there it goes, out for the final test drive.  They come back, crawl under the Moho (and I start to worry), then they take it back to our spot for one more night.  Brad goes to the window, talks with our service guy, all is well, as can be, pays the bill and heads out the to camping area.  In the mean time, Rudy escapes from the Moho and I run to get him, my leg/hip starts to hurt and I am scared to death he will get hit.  But, as I turn the corner, there he is sitting along the side of the drive way, and actually came back to me when I called him.  I wanted to beat his butt, but since he came back I just loved him a little and carried him back home.  After that we decided on Cheese, pretzels and strawberries for Brad for dinner and I had Yogurt and strawberries.  Neither of were very hungry and the strawberries were sooooo good they were gone by nights end.  Off to bed about 10:00 for all of us, these days of sitting at the shop are just long and stressful for us all. 

 

Today was a no alarm clock day, Brad up about 7:00, me not until 7:45, but the packing to move started right away.  A quick shower, finish the packing, hook up the car and we are on the road by 9:30.  We needed to stop for gas, so about noon we stopped at a Flying J, that had a RV island and a restaurant, but the restaurant was closed, so across the street  for lunch at the Iron Skillet.  The food was good, a little walk for Rudy and we got back on the road.  Heading down Route 85 towards Atlanta, stop at a rest area for a break, then I take over driving.  Not a bad trip, but then the road goes from a 4 lane highway to 6 lanes to 12 lanes, and there Brad is snoozing in the passenger seat and I going, why the 'HE--' did he make me drive now.  I found route 285 around Atlanta, still a 12-10 lane highway, and full of vehicles, then off of 285 to route 20, and we slowly went back to a 4 lane highway, but by then I had to use the bathroom.  Brad gets on the GPS, finds a place, gets me off the exit and tells me to turn the wrong way. Oh no, now what, overpass is under construction, narrow, no shoulder, or room as far as I was concerned.  What do I spy, a church with plenty of room for the Moho, and a big thank you from me.  I pull in, Brad walks Rudy I use the bathroom and then Brad crawls back into the passenger seat....I don't think so, we only have about 40 miles left, but he can have the wheel.  We stop to get gas about 10 miles from our campground, pull in, put the card in the slide at the pump....I can't pull it out.  I call Brad, still no luck, so into the tool box for the pliers and pull the card out of the slot.  OK, inside to pay, but my card is declined...try again, declined, OK I use my personnel credit card, but until I get back to the Moho, I get a text from Discover asking if I was actually approving my last usage.  Wow I was impressed with the service, yes or no texted back was all I needed to do to get my credit card back on line.  Any way got gas, 10 miles down the road, pull in, find our spot, got to pay.....no CC accepted.  Back to the Moho for the check book, but at $22.00 a night, I'm not going to complain.  Parked, a couple of nice walks through the park and now we are nestled in for the night....can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.

 

Diane and Brad

 

 

Getting Caught Up

Well here it is 4-21,  and we never did get on the road 4-16.  We found out that Tom's Indiantown Gap Ceremony was schedule for 4-18 so we stayed to go to that.  We managed to see more of the family, dinner with Norm and Pat, and dinner with Lynne, lunch and a shopping trip with Mel, and another visit or two with dad. 

 

In the mean time, we managed to get rid of the 4-wheeler and take care of a lot of other things that needed done.  We renewed all of our Camp Clubs and planned our trip to NC and the SC for our Moho appointments. 

 

We left Dillsburg 4-17 and headed to Penn National Race track with the Moho, parking in the truck lot and then we met dad, played a while, ate lunch then played some more.  Dad took us back to the Motor Home, we walked Rudy then decided to go back to the Casino for dinner.  We ended up having a very nice dinner while watching the live horse racing, then played a few more game and headed back to the moho.  We had parked, at the far end of the truck lot, hoping that we wouldn't get parked in, but no luck, we were surrounded by tractor trailer rigs and other campers, so tight that we could hardly get the car back home.  Oh well, off to bed with the gentle roar of tractor trailer engines and/or generators rumbling in the back ground.

 

We were up the next day and ready 2 hours early, so we did a lot of walking, checking out all the other rigs leaving and then headed out for a breakfast.  After that off to the Gap, pulling in right behind the Bev and group.  It ended up being a nice ceremony, (teary), then Brad and I stopped by mom's grave and fixed her flowers, then back to the restaurant where everyone had gathered,  we just had iced tea and then headed out.  We had a long drive planned.  We actually made our destination, Lee Hi Truck stop, about 250 miles and 5 hours later, but we made it.  After a couple of walks with Rudy, we decided we were even too tired to go to the truck stop for dinner, so tuna fish sandwiches and chips and an early night to bed again. 

 

Up the next day, breakfast at the diner, then we hit the road again.  Almost 300 miles, but we pull into Tom Johnson's between 4 and 5 got settled in for the night knowing we don't have to be on the road Easter day.  A call from dad, a couple of text to and from kids and a nice peaceful Easter Sunday.  Ham done on the grill, with all the fixin's, then off to bed,  we have to be at the shop at 8:00 AM. 

 

And here we are at today, Monday 4-21.  First off, the motor home goes to the shop to get the auxiliary brake system installed, then off to breakfast, Post Office and grocery store.  As we left the store, they call, they are done with the moho and they are ready for the car.  Over to the hitch shop, switch out vehicles and over to the repair shop with the moho, only to find out that our camp site is reserved and we have to move all the stuff we left there.  We moved our stuff to the new site, sat in the sun for about 5 min, then decided to move inside, out of the sun and into cooler temps.  That lasted about 30 min, then off to the shop across the road, we looked at the used RV's, the new RV's, the class C's and the 5th wheels, and they have lots to look at.  We took time to sit on the nice porch and then finally, we see the car appear and we don't have to walk back across the field and street to our site, yea.  We get the car, but they need both vehicle's to finish the training process, so back over to the repair shop.  No luck, but as we are leaving here comes the moho out of the shop, turn around, get the moho and take them back to the hitch shop.  Training done, parked, Rudy is happy, dinner on the grill and all is good. Our last walk of the night is done and now Brad showering and then is headed to bed and me....not that far behind.  Tomorrow we are off to Gaffney for another long day on Wednesday, for our yearly maintenance. 

 

Good night,

Diane and Brad

 

Never ending Winter

Ok, here we are, April 4 and still not getting the posting done as promised. Today is another cool rainy day and the low tomorrow night is to be right about freezing.  We are anxious for some spring weather to arrive and warm us up.

Life has been rather busy, with both good and bad.  Tom Ball's memorial services were on Saturday, March 29, 2014 and were very nice and touching as a lot of people got up to speak at the services.  The social gathering actually came together and also went off with out a hitch.  Since then we have been shopping, visiting, and trying to get things planned for our departure.

We are planning on leaving 4-16 and the calendar is filling up fast.  There just aren't enough hours in the day to get it all done, although we are giving it our best.  Every day we have been home, we have been out and about, and I don't think we'll have a lazy day again until after we leave and that's not bad, it's good to see the family.  Next week we want to get up to the farm to check that out, and more visits have already been planned. 

Things should be a little less hectic next week and we will try (really mean it this time) to keep the blog up to date.  We did manage to get to Camping World today.  Returned some things and picked up some new items. Now we are getting ready to go to the Pizza Grille for dinner.  Hope to blog again soon.

Diane and Brad

Florida to Dillsburg, too fast

Wed. 26 March 2014.  Well here it is almost two weeks since our last post.  We received the sad new that our brother-in-law Tom Ball was very seriously ill and we decided to head home as soon as possible.   We spent  14 thru 18 March in Paradise Oaks planning our trip home (Dillsburg), saying goodbye to our friends and having a final meal with the kids and grand kids.  Diane did make it to bingo two more times.  I returned borrowed items to Len and Matt, reinstalled the bike rack, filled propane tanks and generally got the motor home ready for travel.

 

March 19 thru 23, traveling to Dillsburg.  We had an uneventful trip.  We stopped in Kings Bay GA,   St George SC,   Fayetteville  NC,  and Ashland VA.  The weather was really nice, temps in the high 60's and low 70's.  Until we arrived in Dillsburg.  We were just getting ready to leave Fayetteville when we learned that Tom passed away.

 

Since arriving in Dillsburg we have had cold, cold and snow, snow and wind and can't forget cold.  Morning lows in the teens and high in the twenties or thirties.  The water hose froze last night and we had to fill the propane tank once already.  We have visited Bev a few times as well as other family members.  Services will be this Saturday and things should slow down a bit.

 

We will get back to the regular post hopefully next week. 

 

Brad and Diane 

Punta Gorda, Florida

Our on site
Palm Tree

Monday 3-10, we took Rudy to the Kennel, packed up the RV and headed out.  Brad wasn't able to get into the gas station where he wanted to, so he pulled into Wal-Mart and waited on me, since I was at the grocery store.  We ended up having pizza from the strip mall for lunch and finally hit the road about 1:00, pulling in at the Alligator RV Resort about 4:00.  What a nice place with very friendly people.  We had dinner at the RV and took a hike around the CG, nice place, but a lot of permanent trailers, and few RV pads.  Brad did call Ronald Bunner, a guy he went to high school with and plans are made to meet up with him tomorrow.

 

Tuesday we had breakfast, did a load of laundry and got ready to head over to Ron's house.  What a nice place, a disappearing wall that leads out to the lanai with a small pool and hot tub and beyond that his dock with a very nice boat....he has come a long ways from Dillsburg.  We talked for about an hour, then headed out to lunch, a restaurant on the gulf, good food and good company.  After lunch we had a tour of the town, with a couple of stops on our way.  We hung out until about 4:30, 5:00, then got in our car and headed home, with plans for dinner together on Wednesday. 

 



Fisherman's Village

Wednesday we had breakfast then headed out to the local tourist trap, the 'Fisherman's Village'.  We did the Military Museum first, then hit about half of the shops, stopped for lunch at the Oyster Bar, then finished rummaging through the shops.  It was a great place to spend the day and Brad even got a few new things.  We headed back home, a walk to the lake, a little relaxing then time to get cleaned up and headed over to Ron's house again.  He got ready then we all headed out to pick up his new girl friend, Donna, then off to a new seafood restaurant for dinner.  It was a very nice evening, and again, good food and company,  being there about 2-3 hours, a lot of talking, then we headed back to Ron's, picked up our car and headed home.  One more walk to the lake, since we have to leave tomorrow and check out is 10:00 AM, ugh. 

 

Beautiful Lake at
RV Park

Thursday we got up, ok another walk to the lake, back home and a bit of a flurry to get packed up and out of here by 10:00, but we made it, only about 5-10 min. late.  We hit the road, stop for gas, another quick stop after that, then we finally head back up the road.  We stopped for a little break about 1.5 hours down the road, then back in the RV and beat feet to go pick up Rudy.  We parked at the Wal-Mart, disconnected the car, then the 2 min. drive over to get Rudy....was he ever happy to see us.  Back to the RV, he jumped right in, ran around a little, then put himself in his travel kennel.  We leave the car disconnected, since it only about 5 miles to the CG, get everything hooked up, while Rudy is jumping and jumping and jumping.  After a couple of walks around the CG, we settle in for dinner, chicken and veggies, then another walk or two and Rudy is finally calmed down and asleep on the sofa. 

 



Today was a couple of phone calls, trying to find a CG or two for the ride north, no luck.  We gave up on that then headed out to do some shopping.  First stop Shari's to pick up our new camp chairs, then off to Daily's for lunch, next to camping world for a new TV receiver and a walk through the new RV's, then off to the grocery store for just a few necessities and finally to Sparkman's for strawberries and OJ, and I wonder why shopping that takes us 4-5 hours.  Neither of us were really hungry, so we just had left overs for dinner, then just a quiet evening at home.  Brad is playing computer games and I am working on the blog. 

Diane and Brad
 

Another week in Florida

Saturday was another hang out day, nothing planned so we headed out to the local RV show.  I don't know why we go to these small ones, 2 hours of walking around and I still like mine.  I guess we're lucky there.  Dinner at home and mostly a do nothing day.

 

Sunday, we did some work around the RV, a load of laundry and a few other things, then off to the grocery store.  Burgers, hot dogs, rolls, pickles and a few other things for a cook out at the O'Donnell's this afternoon.  What a nice day it ended up being, Alice, Kevin and the boys were in Florida and came over for dinner, along with Shawna and Len.  It was a great after noon and then they headed out to visit Chris P. Bacon, while Brad, Rudy and I headed home. 

 

Monday I made a grocery list and did the grocery shopping, laundry, we made some phone call and hid out at home.  We did a lot of walking today and made some plans for tomorrow. 

 



Reminded me of Maine

Tuesday we made a trip to Cedar Key, about a 2 hour drive, but a very enjoyable place to visit.  We had lunch on the water front, after walking along the water front shops and then out on the pier after lunch.  We then headed into town parked and did a little stroll, coffee from the coffee shop and then a trip to find the beach area.  It was a little to chilly to walk along the water, but it was worth the drive to Cedar Key, an enjoyable day for us.  Oh yes, in the mean time, we took Rudy to the doggie day care, where they said he did well, but when we got there, he jumped right into the car and would not get out until we were at the RV.  Dinner was in the crock pot, then off to bingo for me and clean-up for Brad.  No money won, but I had fun. :-(

Lunch Time View on
Cedar Key

Wednesday we headed to the Cabinet store, trying to get a panel for the hole where the bed room TV was.  Brad is hoping to be able to mount a flat screen TV but need something to cove the hole first.  We then had lunch, after stopping at 2 places that weren't open, and were we did eat, well as they say, been there, done that, don't need to go back.  We picked up a flat of strawberries, dropping most of them off at Shari's and a nice visit.  After that we head home and Brad made dinner on the grill. 



Thursday was a rainy day, so I planned on going to the Villages to do some shopping.....Brad decided to go along, he just wasn't allowed to moan and groan about all the stops.  I managed to get through most of my stops, but the last one or two are on the other side of the Villages (5-6 miles, ha, ha) and he thought it was awfully far to go, since one was just a Starbucks stop.  I gave in and didn't make him do those runs. Back home, put every thing away and we just had left overs for dinner. 

Friday the weather cleared up, but it was still cool, so we decided to take a ride to Brooksville.  We  checked out another dog kennel as we are hoping to leave Rudy at one while we head out to Punta Gorda on Monday.  No luck, the place was nice, but it is spring break and they are booked full and so was the place beside them.  Back home, get cleaned up, then off to the Villages for dinner.  We are meeting the kids and there are 13 of us to seat, so Pappy and I head up an hour early to put our names on the waiting list, no reservations available.  The wait wasn't bad and we had many people to talk with, including the hostess, but in the end, there were only 11, Shawna and Gabe weren't able to join us. :-(       It ended up being a very nice dinner and it was good to see all that we did before we left.

Soccer Game

Saturday Brad got everything ready to wash the motor home, then we headed out to Wildwood to watch 3 of the O'Donnell girls play soccer, the other 2 played earlier, we just couldn't make it to their games.  After the games we headed back home, took the laundry down and Brad washed the roof of the RV, oh how dirty.  We stayed home, had burgers on the grill, and worked on what we are going to do for the trip out west.  Oh well, at this time only time will tell. 



After a tough day of
washing the RV

Sunday Brad decided to wash the rest of the RV.  I stayed out of his way and about 1:30, headed down to play bingo, no winning again, I'm beginning to think I should quit, but I do enjoy the people I sit with.  When I headed out, Brad and Rudy were there to meet me for the walk back, how nice.  Back home, clean up the mess Brad made, clean up Brad and out to dinner, I was hungry for Mexican so we went to Coyote Rojo, yea.  Back home, finished cleaning up, trash out, dishes done and so is the Blog.  Not much for excitement, but it was our week in Sumterville and I'm ready to move on.

Diane and Brad

 

 

Back in Florida

Well, I survived my trip to PA.  It was a bit chilly (cold), but I managed. 

I arrived on Wednesday, with dad picking me up at the airport.  I stayed with him that night, then left on Thursday,  Aunt Dot was coming down and staying the night, then on Friday Scott was bringing Cathy home from the hospital and she is headed over to their home.

Not a bad weekend, Saturday morning Lynne and I headed to Baltimore, antiquing and shopping our way there, what a wonderful day.  We finally get there, find our hotel, then head out on foot to find the water front area.  We did some shopping, people watching, then stopped at 'Dick's' for a glass of wine and maybe dinner.  The place was very interesting, but a bit loud, so we left after a glass of wine and headed off to another place.  This time we stopped at 'Phillips', nice place, a lot nicer, so dinner and wine, what a wonderful time.  We then headed back to the hotel, do we walk or take a cab, that was the big question....but there are police officers on every corner, so walk we did.  It was a beautiful night, and a great time, sorry it was over so fast.  The next morning we got ready and headed out about 10:30, off to G & M for a crab cake brunch, how delicious.  After that we did more antiquing on our way home, we had no agenda.  We get back to dad's about 5:30-6:00, chit-chat for a while, then Lynne headed home.

 

Monday morning at 7:30 AM is my Dr. appointment to get my hip check, all is well and now it's time to get it stronger and get rid of the cane, yea.  Breakfast after the doctors, stop at dad's storage unit and load up some things in the car, get Aunt Lida's coat and drop that off, then a trip home.  After that I decided I needed to go to Kohl's, a little shopping then off to see Shane for a short time, then a pedicure for me and a manicure for Lynne, what a bush day. 

 

Tuesday was another busy day, we did some running, then I made a ham and noodle casserole for Scott, Aunt Dot and Frankie, while dad some running around he needed to do.  Then he dropped me off at the Farm Show building where I met Mel, over to house, picking up Taylor then off to her volleyball practice in Chambersburg.  Wow, what a change in her level of play.  She finally dropped me off at dad's about 10:00. 

 

Wednesday dad had therapy then out to breakfast and a trip to the casino.  What a lucky day, every machine we sat down at we won, not big, but we both walked out ahead.  Back home and time to make a lot of macaroni and cheese.  Karen and the girls came up for one  bowl and we backed the other bowl full.  Lynne came over for dinner and then Brit and Aly came back with our girl scout cookies.  What a great visit....if it weren't so cold I might have been tempted to stay. 

 

Thursday morning was pack, breakfast, a wasted trip to the bank, then the long flight home.  Harrisburg to Newark for a 3 hour layover, then a quick flight to Orlando, where Brad did find me.  We stopped for dinner and got home about 8:30....yea and  59 felt warm. 

 

Friday was a run around day first a load of laundry, then a trip to the post office, a stop for lunch, off to the kitchen place to order a door/panel, a trip through a very large RV park, a quick stop (ha ha) at the RV show and then our last stop was the  grocery store.  Burgers on the grill and a lazy evening at home.  Saturday was breakfast on the grill, a load of laundry, hair cut then out for lunch.  After that we headed over to Dade Battlefield to check out the WW-II re-enactment.  We spent a few hours walking around there.  We had missed at the demonstrations, but looked at all the displays and watched a movie about WW-II.  It was a very enjoyable day.  So finally we got home, did some little things around here, dinner on the grill and work on the blog.  I'm sure while I was gone Brad visited the girls and did some other things, but since I do the typing, that didn't make it in here :-). 

 

Diane