Visit with Colleen

Pete, Jerilynn, Butch and I travelled 69.2 miles from Sebring to Punta Gorda, Fl to visit with my walking partner and friend Colleen. She said it was surreal seeing me in Florida and I certainly had some of that feeling as well. Colleen fixed us lunch and then gave us the grand tour of the area in which she lives. It is a beautiful place and her home is special too. I now have a better understanding of why she cannot decide to give one of her homes up. They are both very special in very different ways.

My friend Colleen in her living room.

                                                   Pete and Jerilynn

                                                  Butch

                                      Colleen on her dock showing us Alligator River

                                  Her very beautiful tropical home

                                         One of the paintings at the art gallery

                                    The guys waited for us at Fishermans Village

                                   Jerilynn looking over Charlotte Harbor

                               Butch and Barb in Punta Gorda, FL

 We look pretty happy considering that we hit a deer on our way. Butch was able to slow way down but we still made contact and injured the front of the car and the AC did not work after that either. We were still able to drive it and will get it fixed after we get home.

Sunday Supper!

  Gary cooks Brats. Note the sunshine!

  Butch, Pete,Ted and Glen...are you impressed that I know that many names?

 Christian is the young man in the foreground and he is having much more fun than it looks. I was impressed by him. He is comfortable around adults and can hold his own very well in conversation. Carla is seated next. After that the names are fuzzy in my head. Jerilynn in blue has her back to the camera.

Bean Bag Tournament

Jerilynn signed us up for a bean bag tournament. I have never played bean bags in my life. And Butch can tell you when he asks me to throw something up to him when he is on the roof, suffice it to say it is not pretty. Neither of us knows where it will go or even if it will get there! So I didn't know how this would unfold.
It was a double elimination tournament with 44 players. I was surprised because I did not embarrass myself nearly as much as I thought I would. In fact, my partner Al (drawn at random) and I won our first game which put us in the winners bracket, getting us off to a good start. We lost the next two, and it took a long time to do it because we had to wait for the winners to meet up with us. Jerilynn did the best out of the four of us. She and her partner were some of the last playing and they lost the last round by only two points. Butch and Pete were partners. We all were merely players and not final winners, and it was fun.

I think the plan today is to play some shuffleboard. It will be just the four of us and we will be playing Texas/Arizona rules. Florida rules are out of whack as far as we're concerned.

Butch has played some pool. They have two tables and he says they are not in bad shape but dirty. I said you mean Don Louks would be incensed? And he said he certainly would. They also have different rules. Butch said the rules are the ones we played by when we were kids. Of course, he likes the Texas rules better.

It has been a bit strange being here because in many ways it is the same as Magnolia Park. The people here are very friendly and mix a lot. Mostly working class people, Jerilynn said their Arizona park was kind of hoity-toity if you catch my drift and she had to bring lots of dress up clothes. Next year she plans to
leave the dress up clothes at home because she hasn't used them.

This has been a fact finding trip for us and as of yet no firm decisions have been made concerning next season. There are many aspects to consider...

New batteries

We had 12 volt problems after leaving Texas. After taking our house batteries to 3 different places and getting the same diagnosis on all 3 (dead), we could not deny the need for two new ones. So that was how our first day started. So $158 dollars later and some hard labor by Butch, we have new house batteries.

I paid our rent for a week $250 and the manager said if we wanted to stay longer to come in and we would negotiate however much longer we wanted to stay. We might. The park is about the same size as Magnolia and just as friendly. The sites are closer together, but the sites at Magnolia have grown in width over the past 10 years or so. So far, the most glaring difference is the traffic. It is whizzing by at 50 miles and hour and jumping into the stream of it from a standing start is scary as hell. Texas and the zip-arounds, frontage roads, and business 83 alternative, appears perfect by comparison.

The gloomy weather is still with us. You might think we are bringing it with us and can't seem to shake it off. It was a rainy day today. The next 10 days do look much better, however. So hope springs eternal!

Pete and Jerrilynn toured us around the area. We went to the Sebring Race Track and there were cars racing and we found a good vantage point and watched them for a bit.  And then we saw the Brooker Fence Company! They said there were other Brooker's in the area but no relation to them.

Every now and then there are pictures I have taken that do not seem to fit with the rest and here we have a big truckload of carrots.

First night

After we were settled in we joined Pete and Jerilynn and their friends eating at a place where the culinary students provide the menu. It was delicious! Served buffet style and for those among you who thought prices would be out of sight in Florida the buffet was a very reasonable $9.99 per person. The food was top-notch. http://www.hoteljac.com/ It is an old hotel that still offers rooms as a traditional hotel, but half the rooms are assigned to their students. Hotel Jacaranda has the southern ambience you would expect in an old southern hotel.

Jerilynn and Pete

                                  Vince and Rita

                                  Jerilynn and Pete

                                    Rick and Rita...I am hoping I have Rick's name right and yes, there are two Rita's.

 Pete, Jerilynn, Butch (staring off into space) me

There were several paintings and they were all excellent. There is also an art gallery in the Hotel Jacaranda.

Quick Note

We have arrived! We are in the Whispering Pines Village, 2323 Brunns, Sebring Florida. The 317 miles from Moultrie GA was not too bad until we left I-75 for HWY-27. Then we had 97 miles of city driving and stop lights. Driving a motorhome with frequent traffic lights is not a fun process. We are going home a different way. We came through about 3 rainstorms as well, but those didn't slow us down much.
But now we are here and Pete and Jerilyn were very happy to see us. They like the park they are in and they say they have made more friends in a few months here than they did in 10 years in Arizona.  I would like to tell them to try Magnolia Park in Texas but with the weather we have had the past two years I cannot wholeheartedly do that.
I am ready to stay put for awhile. Not crazy about 300+mile jaunts every day.
We are going out to supper with Pete and Jerilyn and their friends and I am ready!!

Iffy Internet

The Internet is come and go here (Moultrie, Ga) although I can write and post later and probably will for much of our remaining travel time. We went to the Huddle House for breakfast. Oddly enough, we do not eat out much when traveling in the motorhome as it is often too difficult to find a parking place or even a restaurant for that matter. We are healthier for it I am sure.

After breakfast, we found the Farmers Market and picked up a few items for supper. Butch then brought me home so I could get started on laundry and he went back to town and found a car wash. He wanted shed of that Texas mud as they say in the south.
A busy active day is exactly what I need after several days of sitting in one spot. Tomorrow will find us back on the road south to Sebring FL where we will be making side trips and getting acquainted with the area.
Oh yes!! I must make note that the weather is very sunny today! There are a few fluffy clouds in the sky but it is the most sun we have seen in months and that is not an exaggeration.

Moultrie GA

We are settled safe and sound in Moultrie GA at the Moultrie RV Park, Passport America park so half price is $15 a night. We had a great supper with Rich and Donna. Other than missing their granddaughters, they are doing fine. Ann, Anthony and their 3 lovely daughters are a long way away in San Diego.
Our trip was a smooth one. Florida has rest stops about every 30 miles and that makes it very nice for frequent breaks.
Our plan is to stay another day in Moultrie and make our run down to Sebring FL on Thursday. It is another 317 miles and that is about all we like to do in a day.
Tomorrow is a laundry day and we will have Rich and Donna here for supper. Don't be shocked. I am actually going to cook.

Theodore Alabama

Last night we were in A Plus Motel and RV Park in Sulpher LA and tonight finds us in Theodore
AL in a much different park! Last night we were nestled among high dollar RV’s equal or better
than ours. And tonight we are in a Passport America Park at half the price. And among the
chickens! 

Makes no difference to us. We just need a place to sleep off the hum of the highway and get
 up for a new day of it. It was a long travel day (336 miles) and the traffic was a
challenge for much of it. But we are settled now...no Internet but I can post this later.

Doing the I-10!

We are in Sulphur LA and settled in for now at the A Plus Motel and RV Park-2 miles south of I-10 at Exit 20. We left Three Rivers South Texas RV Park a little after 8:00 AM. We loved visiting with our friends but really we have no plans to go back to that area for many reasons. The truck traffic is horrendous. It is not easy to get around and other than our friends there is not much there but oilfields and oil trucks and massive fracking. 

We were on the road for well over a hundred miles before we saw even a hint of sunshine and even that did not last very long. We were talking about how long it has been since we saw clear skies for a 24 hour period and honestly it has been months!! The sun is shining here in Sulphur but there are still many clouds in the sky.

 It was not as bad going through Houston as I always anticipate. Still not fun though and we do not plan to go back that way anytime soon. It's always a test of skills; Butch for driving and me for keeping my mouth shut.

Tomorrow we will be staying at Payne's RV Park in Theodore AL. It is a Passport America Park and $14 dollars cheaper than this one. 3 miles south of I-10. Some of this is for me to check on later as you might be able to tell!!

Rain, Rain go away!

It misted on us now and again on our trip north and we arrived in Three Rivers in fairly dry condition. While we were visiting with Tom and Wanda it began raining-HARD. And it rained quite hard throughout the night. It is 2 pm Saturday and seems to have finally quit. We decided to stay put as we do not like to travel in the rain. The forecast for tomorrow will let us be on our way. Our next planned stop is in Sulphur LA just because it is 350 miles from here and we could locate it on the Internet. A+ Rv park and it promises to be easy to find and I certainly hope it is easier than this one. Three Rivers South Texas RV Park is a bugger to find and we would not have without the gps. It is basically an oil workers park and we would not choose it again. Not because of the workers but because of management. We have made three trips to the office to pay and there is no one in attendance. There was a guy near the office yesterday and he told us to pick a site and she would come look us up. She hasn't.
I spoke too soon. It is raining again.
We have certainly been sun-deprived in Texas the past two years!

First travel day done...

We arrived in Three Rivers South RV Park. Not a bad travel day in all. I always have an adjustment period. It's just me.
About 30 miles south of Falfurrious, Butch says there is a patrolman behind us with his lights on. So he pulled over a bit but decided it wasn't us he wanted. A big, black imposing pickup went whizzing by us and Butch says there is the guy he wants. The pickup did not slow down right away but eventually it did and all the doors flew open and about 10 people boiled out, jumped the fence and ran off into the brush. The vision of one woman/girl with long black hair in a ponytail stuck in my mind all day. And that was the most amazing thing that happened all day.
We met up with friends Tom and Wanda Burnell and they invited us over for enchiladas. Tom does the cooking in their family and the enchiladas were mighty delicious. We met Tom and Wanda at Thunder Bay Golf and RV Resort in Hillman, MI in 2010 so it has been 5 years since we have seen them.  Their lifestyle intrigues everyone including us. They are full-timer RV workcampers and they have had many interesting assignments; Campground managers in El Centro California, Stonington Maine, Matagorda Tx, a couple of stints at Amazon, and currently gatekeepers at oilfields in the Tilden Texas area.The gatekeeper job is 24/7 and their duties as a team are to check in and out trucks entering and leaving the oilfields. While working they are very well paid every two weeks. And otherwise they wait for a new assignment in a full hookup RV site with free wi-fi and cable at no cost to them. They said they waited 4 weeks for their first assignment but when the rent is not an issue why worry? They are led to their assignments as they are usually in very isolated areas and while there, they are provided a large generator, plenty of propane, water, and, sewage removal. In other words, they have all the comforts of an RV park.  On the downside of the job, they have to be ready within three hours to be led to an assignment. And someone has to be on duty throughout the night. They have a doorbell system that lets them know when a truck pulls in the gate.They lead a very interesting life. If there are people interested in doing any of this, I am sure they would be happy to lead them in the right direction.
While they were at Matagorda they would look for shells. (Matagorda is on the gulf not far from Corpus Christi.) On one of their shell gathering excursions, Tom found this item.

It is shell and barnacle encrusted and very, very heavy. After looking it over closely, Tom decided it could be a sword. And after we looked it over we decided he was right! They would love to get it x-rayed and find out for certain. What a find!!

Wanda was taking a photo of us taking a photo of her.

 This was the view out their door. As you look around the countryside where they are located there are hundreds of these "bonfires" in the air.

 This is Tom and Rosa. Rosa and Tom were singing a tune for us. Maybe an aria would be more accurate.

 Not difficult to discern that Tom and Rosa are tight.

We enjoyed our visit with our Michigan friends. One of the great benefits of the fulltime lifestyle is the number of fantastic people you meet from all different parts of the country.
 One of Wanda's choices of fun is mowing. Yes, I said mowing!  It was her job while workamping in Michigan and she was always raring to go. Tom said she was mowing after dark one night and he was trying to get her to quit and come in for supper. He said, "You can't mow after dark." She said, "They would not put lights on mowers if they were not meant to be used." She has much in common with Butch's brother Leo.

On the road again...

Or at least we will be in the morning. It will be a short driving day. Less than 200 miles so it should be an easy day and meeting up with old friends at the end of it.

Doctor Visit

Butch went to the doctor this afternoon and discovered that his allergies have developed into bronchitis and ear infection. He received a pulmonary treatment, an injection of antibiotics plus a 7 day supply of oral antibiotics. She said he should feel 50% better by tomorrow or we are to call her.
We have high hopes and now plan to leave on Friday. For one thing, we want to get away from all the allergens here right now. The citrus are in bloom and their overwhelming scent is big trouble to some and I am guessing Butch is one of those people.
Knowing he is on his way back to good health makes us both feel better.
Till next time...

Nowhere yet...

Butch's cold/allergy event has not improved. In fact, it is worse and we are on day 4. He put in a rough night so I have put my foot down and we are not going anywhere until he is better. So off to the doctor this morning. I will be letting people know via various means of media that we are stationary until he feels much better. And then, when I am certain of our departure date will let everyone know again.

current situation

Butch is being frustrated with not feeling better. Usually, a cold does not lay him low like this one. Despite this, he says we are leaving on Thursday. As it so happens, the Burnells have had their location changed and are currently at Big Ranch RV at Tilden TX. Little pricier than we like, but we do want to see our friends so will stay for at least one night.

While we are traveling, Internet connections may not always be suitable but my plan is to write anyway and then post them when we can. Sequences could be a bit sketchy for the next month, but I am hoping my faithful friends are still out there and checking in on us.

There were a few items we needed from Mexico before heading north so we went down about 11:00 AM and made a few purchases, ate our favorite Pancho's at Garcia's, then made our way back to the good ol' USA.

So tomorrow will be finishing up details like taking our Internet modem/router back to Time Warner, securing all items for travel and getting back into travel mode. Some of this was done today. I made sure our mp3's were fully charged so we can listen to books on long lonely stretches of highway. It sure makes the miles fly by in a hurry. We also did some shuffling around of things. We seem to be returning with many more items than we came down with. There are some surprises for a few friends and family tucked away here and there. Now the challenge is remembering where they are hiding. I purchased a billfold for Jason and Gary a few years ago. Gary received his gift, but I apparently didn't give Jason his as I found it a few weeks ago. Three years late is better than never.

Update

Butch has developed a miserable head cold. It became apparent when we returned from a visit with Marlene and Bernard in Harlingen. So now the weather has moderated a bit but until the driver feels at the top of his game we will remain here.
We played cribbage all afternoon so now I am hoping our immune systems are up to snuff and the other three people sitting at the table can avoid the miserable business of having a head cold. Wish us luck.

A side note...My hairdresser Yolanda, shared with me that if you really want to know what is happening along the border tune into channel 7. It comes from Matamoros and gives a more accurate description of the situation in the deep south Rio Grande Valley. Yes, it is in Spanish but still we can tell pretty much what they are covering.

Maybe?

Original plan was to leave on Wednesday, but the crazy-assed forecast continues to plague us. The current forecast states it will start raining Sunday and not quit till Wednesday or Thursday. We are not leaving in the rain. So now it looks like Thursday or Friday for a leave date. Who knows? We will take it a day at a time and I will try to let you all know...although by now I am not sure why you would care. Our life hasn't been of much interest lately to anyone but us!
Butch washed the roof of the moho today and plans to wash the rest of it tomorrow. My last computer class was today. It was another productive one. It seems the last ones always are as we get folks prepared to be on their own through the summer.

CrockPot Recipe for Make-Ahead Apple Pie Oatmeal

I love this recipe! Kalyn makes it far more complicated than it needs be. I dumped the whole business in a pressure cooker. Set it for 2 minutes and it was perfect. Oh and I also used 2 cups of oatmeal instead of 1 1/2.

CrockPot Recipe for Make-Ahead Apple Pie Oatmeal

CrockPot Recipe for Make-Ahead Apple Pie Oatmeal

(Makes 4-5 servings; recipe created by Kalyn with inspiration from several similar oatmeal recipes seen on Pinterest.)

(I used my small 2.5 Quart Slow Cooker for this recipe, so if you only have a much larger size you'll need to double the recipe.)

Ingredients:

2 large Granny Smith apples, seeds removed and coarsely chopped (no need to peel them)

2-3 T sugar, Splenda, or Stevia in the Raw(depending on how sweet you like it)

1 T brown sugar (or use 1 more tablespoon of sweetener if you don't want to use sugar)

3/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

3 - 3 1/2 cups water (depending on how thick you like your oatmeal)

1 1/2 cup rolled oats (I used Bob's Red Mill Extra Thick Rolled Oats)

milk or soy milk for serving (I used a combination of milk and vanilla soy milk, which is what I always use to eat on cereal.)

Instructions:

Cut apples into pieces and remove the core with the seeds; then chop apples into pieces.  I made the pieces different sizes so some apples would dissolve slightly while others stayed chunky.  (No need to peel them.)  

Spray the CrockPot crockery container with nonstick spray.  Then add the apples, sweetener of your choice, brown sugar (or more sweetener), cinnamon, and salt.  Add from 3 to 3 1/2 cups of water, depending on how thick you want the finished oatmeal to be.  Stir together and cook on high for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Add oatmeal and stir ingredients together, then continue to cook on high for an additional 45 minutes to 1 hour and 15 minutes, depending on how soft you'd like the finished oatmeal to be.  (I would start checking after 45 minutes.)  

Serve hot, with milk or soy milk.

This oatmeal can be stored in the fridge overnight and reheated in the morning.  You may want to add a little water when you reheat it, then microwave for about 1 minute or heat for a few minutes in a small pan on top of the stove.

I haven't tried freezing this, but if anyone does try it, I'd love to hear how it works.  (Edit:  Ruth from Cooking with Veggies reports in the comments that she makes a similar recipe with steel cut oats and it freezes beautifully.)

A Reversal

Been in transition....deciding what to do...we now have somewhat of a plan in place. Fortunately Butch and I are in alignment with our thoughts on making decisions. Oddly enough, we were also that way in our youth. However, there is a difference. We used to make decisions with abandon but now we have reached a time in our life when we mull things over, sleep on it and discuss it sometimes over several days. Also, we are not opposed to changing our minds. We are comfortable living in a state of flux. And if things change we do not beat ourselves up over it.
As it is right now, we will leave Magnolia next Wednesday, March 18th with Gillett Texas as a destination. We met Tom and Wanda Burnell in Michigan while workamping at Thunder Bay Golf and RV Resort in the summer of 2010. We enjoyed our outings together and became friends. We have not seen them since but we have stayed in touch now and then. They are workamping in the oil fields near Gillett and we plan to visit with them for a day or two before heading east with Florida as a destination. Tom and Wanda are gatekeepers out in the boonies. Seeing what they are doing will be interesting.
Jefferson friends Pete and Jerilynn wintered in Sebring Florida so we decided to check it out. We also have friends and family along the I-10 corridor that we
would like to check in with if it works out. We will be making calls to these folks as we make our way east and see if it will work to see them.
So there it is and with only a week before departure it most likely will not change  this time, at least not drastically.

Found it!!!

Today was my birthday!

I have had a wonderful birthday in many ways. My two besties in the park, Kay and Peggy gave me a party and wonderful gifts as well as their best gift of all, their good company. It seems when the three of us are together we are laughing uproariously over something really silly, like joking for two years about stealing a decorative piece off a mobile home across the street knowing all the time we never would. (Read on)

Butch gave me the best gift ever. It met all the requirements of a great gift. It was something I had my eye on for years. I never dreamed I would ever actually have it. It took thought and effort to get it for me. What is it? It is a decorative piece I saw on a mobile home here in the park when Ralph owned it. Then Betty owned it. Then Big Ed owned it. Last summer Big Ed passed on and his daughter asked Sandy if she wanted it and she said yes. I wondered where it had went when we came back this fall and it was missing from Big Ed's home. One day it showed up on Sandy's home and then I knew. Just a few days ago Sandy announced she was going back to Iowa and had sold her mobile. Butch asked Sandy about the decorative piece and she said I could have it and now I do! Years ago I had taken a picture of it but of course I cannot find it! And now the piece is stored away in the bottom of the motorhome with access to it not being easy, a picture will have to wait until it meets its new home in Jefferson Iowa.  I have searched through all my old pictures for two days trying to find the picture so when I promise you will see it you can count on it. Things happen in mysterious ways!
I have had more birthday greetings than you can ever imagine. Every where I went and nearly everyone I met wished me Happy Birthday. I appreciate every one of them. It really has been a great day.

Barb's New Toy

I bought a pressure cooker for $40 from nomorerack.com. My friend Mickey has one and told me it was her new favorite cooking toy. So when I saw the price on nomorerack  I decided to give myself a birthday present. My first recipe try was this one and if you plan to try it with a pressure cooker it is even simpler. I put all the ingredients in at once and pressured it at the lowest pressure for 2 minutes. Could not be easier! I used 2 cups of oatmeal instead of the 1 1/2 called for because I like my oatmeal thick.

CrockPot Recipe for Make-Ahead Apple Pie Oatmeal
(Makes 4-5 servings; recipe created by Kalyn

(I used my small 2.5 Quart Slow Cooker for this recipe, so if you only have a much larger size you'll need to double the recipe.)

Ingredients:
2 large Granny Smith apples, seeds removed and coarsely chopped (no need to peel them)
2-3 T sugar, Splenda, or Stevia in the Raw(depending on how sweet you like it)
1 T brown sugar (or use 1 more tablespoon of sweetener if you don't want to use sugar)
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
3 - 3 1/2 cups water (depending on how thick you like your oatmeal)
1 1/2 cup rolled oats (I used Bob's Red Mill Extra Thick Rolled Oats)
milk or soy milk for serving (I used a combination of milk and vanilla soy milk, which is what I always use to eat on cereal.)

Instructions:
Cut apples into pieces and remove the core with the seeds; then chop apples into pieces.  I made the pieces different sizes so some apples would dissolve slightly while others stayed chunky.  (No need to peel them.)

Spray the CrockPot crockery container with nonstick spray.  Then add the apples, sweetener of your choice, brown sugar (or more sweetener), cinnamon, and salt.  Add from 3 to 3 1/2 cups of water, depending on how thick you want the finished oatmeal to be.  Stir together and cook on high for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

My new toy!!

 And my first recipe try!

No I did not eat it with a knife...

It was very yummy! Had to talk myself out of a second bowl!

Port of Brownsville Tour-Part 2

Below is a group of pelicans. Most of them had fuzzy heads. I assume the larger on on the far right is a parent of the fuzzy headed ones. The boat on the right was from a far eastern country that I currently cannot remember. The boat looked to be in bad shape but obviously is still seaworthy.

The boat above is Captain Bligh and they provided us with a shrimp sample. This boat looks much different than the one on their website at  http://shrimpoutletbrownsville.com/. It must have been new then.

These boats are in for repair.

The pics below are of a ship waiting for demolition and an oilrig in storage because fuel prices are low. There are seven oil rigs in storage in the Port of Brownsville. They will tell you they are here for repair but that is not true.

 A napping Pelican...

 Kay pointed overhead to warn me about this gull because last time I was pooped on by one. No poop this time.

 The next 4 pics are of the swing bridge. We returned to the sea ranch marina from a different direction than in the past, coming through the swing bridge. Here is more info about the swing bridge, the only one in Texas. http://bridgehunter.com/tx/cameron/bh58649/

 We came by Long Island and many multimillion dollar homes. The only access to these homes is by water.

 And we had a different view of the causeway.

It was a nice day trip and the weather was perfect for it.