Where or where have we been? Well, we started workamping and we love it. For those who don't know what workamping is we work at a campground for a free site and other benefits and can explore the area on our days off.

We spent the last two summers in Hayward, Wisconsin at the KOA. Lots of neat people, fishing, and fun. This winter we have workamped in Crystal River, Florida. We leave here in early April and then on to Augusta, Maine after the Indianapolis 500 Race. We will be Augusta for the entire summer. Bill is really excited about seeing Boston, Nova Scotia, and the lobster dinners.

We both still love this exciting, wonderful way to live and travel. Don't see an end in site any time soon.

Old and new friends

As you can see from these photos the weather has warmed up a bit. Yesterday, we met some friends from Indiana at Pine Island. There are actually about ten Pine Islands in the US; four of which are located in Florida. We chose the one near Hernado Beach which is about half way between where they are staying and where we are staying for the winter.

We met for a picnic lunch and a leisurely three hour chat on the beach. About four o'clock the wind started to pick up making it necessary for us to leave the beach and head for some refreshments at the nearest Hooters. That location prompted cheers from the men.

I have mentioned Dave and Jean before in this blog. They are our friends from Elkhart who recently started full timing. They brought their friends and Indiana neighbors, Sunny and Steve. They are a charming couple who traveled extensively with their business and are very interesting to talk with. They purchased their first motor home at the suggestion of Dave and Jean and made a trip to South Dakota last summer. We discussed some of our favorite sightseeing places from South Dakota.

Now, I have been debating about sharing this next piece of information with you for some time. But here goes, if you are wanting to become a full time traveler, make sure you and your travel companion are good friends. Bill and I have discovered that when in a motor home, one can not slam doors, rant, or rave while living in close proximity to anyone. Even if you want to get out of your spouse's hair by going into the other room...you are in the other room. You live in a 300 sq. feet home (If that much.) So, make sure your traveling companion is your best friend. Rainy days can wear on your "togetherness".

Our campground is made up of snowbirds from many different states and countries, mainly Canada. Last night we had our first movie night. They showed the movie "Canadian Bacon" with John Candy. The Canadians sat on one side and the Americans sat on the other side of the room. We all wore shirts or emblems sporting our nationality.

The lady who planned this event worried so much about it, but she came up with some wonderful ideas. During the movie she paused the movie and we had a snowball fight (balloons). We waved our respective flags. We were taught some of each country's slang words, and at the end of the night declared our friendship with each other.

It was a well received time with about 50 people attending. In two weeks they will show the movie "Mama Mia". I anticipate a dance contest.

Well, I'm just killing time while Bill is out fishing. I need to start his lunch, so God bless you all. Don't forget to let your friends know how much they mean to you. Until next time...

Cold and Freeze

Ok, here is a picture of our flower garden BEFORE the cold and the freeze or should I say the freezes. Our neighbor covered them while we were gone, and we covered them once we got back home but, unfortunately, the weather won out. They say this is the coldest it has been since 2003. I know that doesn't sound like a long time, only six years, but 20 degrees in Florida just doesn't compute. This weekend when it warms up I will trim back the "frozen" leaves and hopefully some of the plants will survive.

Do you know what they do about the strawberry crop? When the temperature goes below 32 degrees they spray water on the plants, the water freezes, encasing the plants which keeps the strawberries from being damaged. It seems to work. Later this month there will be a strawberry festival in Plant City. It is a huge event down here. Last year we missed it but maybe this year we can go.

That is one nice thing about traveling fulltime. We had free, fresh citrus from November through March in our campground, strawberries in February, and when we were in Oregon last year, we had fresh peaches in September. We have already had fresh grown sweet corn down here. We try to buy from local farmers when possible. The price is usually better.

We have kept warm by buying a heavier blanket, using our space heater, going shopping, and line dancing. Bill is the star of the class. Everyone loves it when he has to shimmy his behind. There have been two other gentlemen in the class, but not since Bill started dancing. Maybe they are afraid of the competition.

Bill has signed up to officiate softball in Florida and so we needed to purchase a pair of light gray trousers, which is part of his regulation uniform. We went to Sears, Pennys, K-Mart, Bells, Bells Outlet, but have not had any luck so far. We are going to have to order from a catalogue.

Tonight is Texas Hold Em night. I have my Bingo nights and Bill has his poker nights. While Kenny was here he was in a Texas Hold Em tourney and won. He was thrilled. He didn't even feel bad about taking money from complete strangers.

Heard from Mike, our youngest son, yesterday. It was snowing again in Indianapolis to the tune of four inches in three hours. He has purchased his ticket to fly down here later this month. Can't wait to see him. He has asked his dad to save at least four days so they can go fishing. Bill didn't turn that down.

Our neighbor had surgery Monday. He had rods put in his back. Can you believe that he was released from the hospital today? He seems to be doing quite nicely. God is good!

Well, we will just have to see what is in store for us tomorrow. God bless you all.

Travel Update

Our family/friends have returned to Indy in the middle of an ice storm and snow storm. They have 11 inches of snow but are safe and sound.

Debbie and Kenny (That is a picture of them on Nassau.) left Florida on Monday after ten days of fun in the sun. We also had a little cooler weather than normal, but it still wasn't the icy mess they had back home.

Debbie and Kenny arrived in Florida on Friday the sixteenth. We left for a cruise to Nassau on Monday and returned on Friday the twenty-third. We were pampered, waited on, and it has taken two days for us to get back in the swing of normal life. (If you can call living in a motor home normal.)

I have always wanted to go to Atlantis on Paradise Island. We had played with the idea for a turn of the century trip in 1999 but the cost was much more that we could afford at the time. Well, guess what!! Paradise Island is only a taxi cab drive away from the cruise ship dock in Nassau. So, Debbie and I took a taxi to Atlantis and walked all over the place. We saw three aquariums, beautiful sandy beaches, and three swimming pools. That place is amazing. I kept thinking how much fun our grandchildren would have had. They would love this place.

Our next stop was Coco Cay...Royal Caribbean's private island. They also had beautiful sandy beaches and Debbie, Bill, and I went looking for sea shells. Bill walked further than he had in a long time and the cushion of the sand and water didn't aggravate his bad knees.

We arrived home on Friday in time for Bingo. We didn't win anything, but it was good to be home. Crystal River had a cold spell while we were gone and our neighbor Dee covered our plants so they wouldn't get damaged by the frost. We did lose a few leaves, but the plants will be fine. Thank you Dee.

Debbie and Kenny love to see nature in its natural habitat. We have seen moose, elk, and bear in Alaska together and while in Florida Debbie wanted to see manatee and alligators. The paper has had several pictures of the manatees at Three Sisters. So I asked around to find out where we could see manatees. Three Sisters could only be reached by boat, so we went to King Bays Road bridge and sure enough, we saw lots of manatees as they moved back inland.

The spring keeps the water at a constant 72 degrees and the manatees like to stay around Crystal River until the Gulf warms up, usually in April. So you might just see us hanging over the bridge periodically. It is the best free entertainment you can find in town.

Today the ladies attended a pajama Avon Bingo party. We all went in our PJs and if you won you could pick an Avon product. It was fun. One lady came with brush rollers in her hair. I know I'm showing my age, but no wears those anymore, do they? It was cute.

Bill stayed around the coach and did odd jobs. He fixed a leak in the water hookup, fixed a fishing pole, cleaned the fresh water holding tank, and put Sta Bil in the boat motor.

Tomorrow we can play again.

As with any home there is maintenance. Thursday it was the bathroom shower and today it is the outside of the coach. We are expecting company next week and are getting everything spic and span for them. I have heard that you don't clean up before company comes you clean up after they leave. BUT, we need to do this now so we can play while they are here.

After taking a bicycle ride to the dam, which is about three miles away, Bill decided to wash the coach. This is a picture of him on the roof. Several neighbors came by to "encourage" him and "solicit" help on their rigs. Bill just smiled and continued.

Tonight the campground is having a cowboy night. They are preparing ham, beans, and cornbread for dinner and then a community campfire with country western music. It should be fun.

Yesterday was the first day of our Bible Study. We are studying Beth Moore's "The Beloved Disciple". It is about John. We had ten ladies who were dedicated enough to come at 9:00 a.m. They unanimously agreed that nine a.m. was too early...next week we are going to begin at 10 a.m.

Two ladies who had signed up didn't make it. One lady had a doctor appointment on Tuesday and ended up in the hospital until late Friday afternoon. The other lady used her GPS to get to the campground and it took her off on a sandy road where she quickly got stuck in sugar sand. After calling AAA, the tow truck loaded her van and then it got stuck and had to call another tow truck for it. A tow truck for the tow truck...I bet that doesn't happen often. Both ladies are fine and are planning to attend next week.

Then it was on to Bingo after a visit with friends and dinner. There were lots of people. I think all the snowbirds are here now and the place was packed. I won twice, which is unusal for me, but I'll take it. I bought Bill breakfast this morning with some of the money.

It is supposed to 75 degrees today, so I'll leave you now to enjoy the sun. Wish you were here.

Believe it or not it was rainy, windy, and cold in Florida, so I decided to bake. Someone signed up to bring two pumpkin pies to the Christmas pitch-in, but didn't, so I baked two pumpkins pies today and delivered them to the people who were disappointed that they didn't get pie on Christmas day.

I know it is a little late, but it has been too warm to have the oven on. It is going to be cold again tomorrow, so I'm making oatmeal cookies for some neighbors.

Bill obtained his wrestling certification for Florida and is officiating high school and middle school wrestling while we are down here. He did this in Indiana and the extra money helps. While he was gone I took down the Christmas decorations, took a walk, and made brats for supper.

It was a lazy day but beats working. I do miss my friends from work though. If you see them, tell them I said hi and to stay warm.

Yesterday, we went to Bartow, Florida to visit our friends Dave and Jean. We have known them for about 42 years. Dave was Bill's mentor in Hawaii during our first year of marriage. They are also from Indiana and have just started fulltiming.

We had a wonderful visit. We talked, enjoyed the 80 degree weather, took a walk around the campground, and went out to eat. They have many fellow Escapee friends staying in the same campground, but have to move the end of February. We are lucky enough to have them coming to our campground in Crystal River for the month of March. Can't wait.

Today, I told Bill that I would put the Christmas decorations away, but was too busy. It will have to wait until tomorrow. Oh, well...they might just stay up until March. Who knows. It was just too beautiful outside to stay inside.