A Couple of Nuts Say Good Bye to 2009

The last few weeks have had some blogable moments and I'm always on the lookout for more. If I said somewhere in our travels that that's going in the blog once, I've said it a million times and lots of those moments didn't make it. There is no way I could remember everything we have seen or done these past few weeks, at the time you think you'll never forget something but in a week or two, its already a muddled memory. So if nothing else, I'll have this to look back on and remember the good along with the bad.

Which brings me to living in a pickup camper full time with 2 dogs one of which is a puppy with lots of energy. Lots of days our main objective is just not to step on one. And we can't really let them loose outside without constantly watching them because their noses dictate where they go. So my New Years Resolution for 2010 is to NOT get another dog.

Being here in Florida reminds me that this is a big world. We are constantly getting lost but each day gets easier as we get used to the area, things are not always what them seem as we found out at the courthouse when trying to figure out the foreclosure sale process and that most people are helpful if you just ask and we ask a lot. But we have not had any major problems just minor blips, a water tank leaking, an occasional potty accident (dog or me), burnt grilled cheese sandwiches, and running out of undies (commando days). All minor inconveniences as we explore Florida. Hello 2010.

Windchill Advisory

We woke up this morning to the weatherman describing the dangers of windchill in this area, it was almost 35 degrees with the breeze and he advised that we dress in layers. What is he smoking?

My sister sent me a pix of Minnesota and she asked if I missed the snow. I had to think about that but I can honestly say that I really don't like snow. It looks nice for about an hour and then you have to deal with it, shoveling, scraping it off the car, boots that leak, and then the dirty slush that lasts about 3 months. And then there's the driving, there are not those worries here. So thanks for the pix, who are those kids anyway?

Can you believe someone left this sofa by a dumpster on our campground? Well we scooped it right up and now it is sitting right by our clothes line, the green cushions really go nicely with the grass. How could someone just throw this out? People.

Stuck in Seminole Camp Grounds

We waved good-bye to Barnita yesterday morning, it was tough after all we had been thru and met with a realtor in Cape Coral to look at some potential properties. As some of you know, we had a home in Isla Mujeres, Mexico that we sold and so we're ready to do it again. As happy as we are that we sold our home there, it is very difficult to say good bye to the friends we made there but we know it is time for us to move on.

There are many foreclosures in Cape Coral, in fact it is the Foreclosure Capital of America so there are lots to look at. We looked at 4 on Saturday. After leaving the State Park Sat. morning, we were basically homeless so after viewing the properties, we had nowhere to go except Walmart where we thought we might camp out. This really didn't appeal to me, there were lots of people there shopping the after-holiday sales so lots of carts going by and our lawn chairs didn't really fit in our parking spot so we drove over to Seminole Camp Grounds in North Fort Myers, not far from the Walmart we were considering. It turned out to be a good thing, very nice, lots of sites available, a little river surrounds the grounds, heated swimming pool and a shower head the size of a dinner plate. That's living.

Not sure how long we'll be here but we like it, the dogs like it and its a good location. Weather was great today, 70s and sunny, we checked out the Cape Coral beach, ate crab cakes on the water and biked thru neighborhoods in the area. Best thing, we found Christmas cookies half price at Super Target so gotta go.

Merry Christmas to All

Its hard to believe we left Minnesota just 2 weeks ago in zero degree weather and we're sitting in Estero, Florida in shorts and t-shirts. Today was hot and humid and we got a nice shower mid-day, just enough to make everything we left outside wet.

We thought today would be a good day to do laundry here at the State Park but not having laundry soap in the camper posed a bit of a problem and since we are at a State Park, there are no machines dispensing anything, we checked. So after a sleepless nite tossing and turning on what do use, I woke up with a plan. I grated my Ivory soap bar just like cheese and mixed the shreds with hot water and nuked for 30 seconds. The clothes now smell slightly better than chicken soup so we're good. While no one was looking, we dunked both dogs in the laundry tub, threw some shampoo on them and tried to keep them from rolling in the dirt for at least 5 minutes. They smell slightly better than our clothes.

Our Christmas treat was a movie and we saw Blind Side at the local theater. We thought it would be quiet being Christmas but it was packed, we barely got our large popcorn and pop along with Raisinets (its Christmas) before the movie started and we got there early. It was a 3-Kleenex movie, see it if you haven't.

Merry Christmas Everyone.

That's Koreshan to you and me

Well we are on our 2nd nite at the Koreshan State Park in Estero, Fl. After leaving the singing blue hairs at Whisper Creek, we headed to Lehigh Acres in our shorts and flip flops to bike around. It has been beautiful the last 2 days, hot and sunny. Yesterday, we called Koreshan State Park to find out if they had any campsites and they had 5 but could not hold them for us so we made a beeline for Koreshan. When we got here about 3ish, I met with the female Barney Fife who I call Barnita. She is very firm about the rules here. When I asked if we could have the site for more than one nite, this really threw her. I know I went a little overboard but after she recovered, she told me to come back at 8 this morning to check if we could stay another nite. I was at the office at 8 and when I asked her if she knew if we could stay another nite, she responded with "how should I know, its too early to tell." I was afraid to question her about why she told me to come in at 8 so I asked her when she might know and I smiled really big. She told me to come back at 10 so we hiked back up there and we were in luck, we could get it another nite but we would have to move to another site. Not sure why, they are basically all the same but again, I did not want to question her and have her go thru all the rules again. When I asked if we could stay until Saturday, she told me she had absolutely no idea, and we have to repeat the whole procedure again tomorrow.

There are a lot of campers at this park, very popular and it is named for some guy named Koreshan who started a cult, they still have some of the old buildings here. The followers died out pretty quickly tho since the adults were required to be celibate. I don't think this Koreshan guy was the sharpest knife in the drawer.

We are enjoying the warm weather and exploring this side of Florida. Not sure where we'll end up after Barnita gets done with us. We wish you all a Merry Christmas and lots of love and puppy kisses.

We're getting warmer

We left Myakka River Park about 11 this morning to head south to Cape Coral. When I was out early this morning, I saw lots of nature in the park. First a little deer crossed my path, then I ran into these big badass black birds who didn't move at all when I approached only to find out they were vultures which are native to this area. They reminded me of some of the lawyers I used to work for. But the best was yet to come. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera at the time but about 50 feet in front of me wild boars started crossing the road and they kept coming and coming. I counted at least 20, they were black and appx 100 pounds each. They make a ruckus when they move in the woods. Lots of bacon running around in these woods.

We headed to Cape Coral but didn't like the campground so we ended up in Labelle at a resort with lots of senior citizens riding around on golf carts singing Christmas carols. I think they start happy hour about noon here. We'll be headed to Lehigh Acres and a state park in the area hopefully tomorrow. We like the state parks best, more "camp" feeling and its too far for these old people to drive their golf carts. Got to high 70s today and 80s tomorrow. We are loving it.

Barbara & Ellen - we went by the Twins Spring Training Facility today and thought of you.

Gator Country

Sunday we left Debora and Ken and her mother Louise after a home cooked meal at their house. We had a nice long visit, ate some Home Baked Ham with brown sugar and all the fixins. We headed south to Florida with our destination the Manatee Springs State Park by Chieftain. Being the wise travelers we are we thought we would take a short cut which was pretty clear on our map. Of course, we got lost and ended up at Yellow Jacket RV Park by the Suwannee River. This park has everything and we were going to take a nice hot whirlpool before the Vikings game last nite when I discovered that my suit top drawstring had come undone and after tearing the camper apart looking for a safety pin to fix the problem and not finding one I threw the whole suit in the trash and went to bed and the Vikings lost anyway. Monday morning we headed south of Tampa. The weather is nice, about 50 and mild.

The cycle was in front of us near Sarasota and we think he forgot there was someone riding behind him. We tried to get his attention but he just sped off.

Right now we are camping at the Myakka River State Park just south of Sarasota. After driving all day, we found the park no problem but I think I broke the record for waiting in line to get registered. The park ranger could type about one letter a minute while he ran to answer drive up window questions, answer the phone and tell really stupid jokes loud enough so that the people driving on the interstate nearby could hear him. Gary finally came in to find out what the problem was and I told him the only problem I have is I forgot a gun. Park is beautiful, lots of gators - plan on a long walk with dogs in the morning. Then off to Cape Coral, one of our final destinations. 70s here this week. Yeah.

Muddy Waters

Saturday was spent in Nashville, GA. The road in front of Debora and Ken's house is still pretty wet, red mud and the water from all the rain on Friday has that red tint to it. I will be nominating the laundry mat in Nashville to become a historical marker since I don't think it has been updated since 1940 when electric machines first came out. But they worked, Gary got the gas tank filled, we cleaned the camper out, had clean laundry and washed the red mud off the truck. Being in the camper for a week with a sick dog and a new puppy made for a couple of loads and it really made me appreciate the ease of doing laundry at home. Can't complain about that anymore but give me some time.

We then went out for catfish in Adel, GA with Debora and Ken. Really cool place and we feasted on catfish, hush puppies and sweet potato fries. We were going to have grits too but we decided we better pace ourselves. Then we had a tour of the area with Debora and Ken, saw where they worked and headed home to our 2 girls both of whom left us some presents in the camper but we are grateful because Mojo is better and back to her old self, DeDe is just a nutty puppy. We are off for Florida after a big lunch with Debora and family. By the time we are fixin to leave, I should be all done fussin about this here blog. You hang out with these southerners for awhile and you just can't help talking like ya all. And they think we sound funny...

Georgia On My Mind

We woke up to a rainy and cool gas station this morning. When we heard the drops on the ceiling a foot above us, we were happy we made the decision to drive down the mountain the nite before. Cousin Joanne firmly recommended (demanded) that we stop at least once at Waffle House, a new breakfast place to us and since it was right next to our camp site (Race Trac Gas Station), we knew it was meant to be. I had one pecan waffle and could not finish it. Our waitress, Anna, could not have been sweeter and as she refilled cup after cup of coffee she told us her cancer survival story and her plans to change careers after 16 years at Waffle House. Anna is just another example of the kind and helpful people we have met along the way. We think Southern Hospitality may be true.

After our Waffle House experience, we headed south to see our old friends Debora and Ken in Nashville, GA. It has been 12 years since we last saw them and we had always said we would stop by. Things were going great until we realized that Mojo had the shits and was barfing too so we stopped at a housing development right off the highway. We walked the dogs and ate and were only there 15 min or so. As we pulled out, we saw the sheriff and knew someone had called on the suspicious looking older couple walking 2 little dogs in the rain, one of which had the runs. We pulled on to the highway and 5 min later, the sheriff had his lights and siren on pulling us over to arrest us for dog walking in someone's neighborhood. After we explained our sick dog situation, we were let go basically because the sheriff was getting wet.

Not knowing if Mojo was seriously ill or not, we kept watching her and on the advice of one vet, got her some Pepto and Pedilyte. Finding a store in Georgia that sold the latter was challenging. That didn't work and Mojo continued to be sick so as we entered Nashville at long last, we decided to stop at the local vet. He checked her and found nothing wrong but thought she needed an x-ray which machine is at their Tifton branch, a half hour away. We immediately headed for Tifton and called the vet to let them know we were on our way. We figured we would be there about 5:15 or so. The vet informed us if we were there at 5:31 or later, we would be charged the $100 emergency fee at which point I told Gary to step on it. We just made it at 5:20, Mojo was x-rayed and they found a small bone piece in her gut which should pass on its own so that was good news. Mojo got some pills which she immediately spits out and her Pedilyte which we refuses to drink but DeDe loves it but she's not sick.

So we call Debora again and tell her now we are on our way and we even have directions but with the rain and the dark nites here and the street signs the size of a credit card, we drive up and down the highway completely lost, tired and with no cell service. I start looking for gun shops and we finally stumble into a liquor store which looks pretty damn good about now. We call Ken, tell him to meet us which he did and we finally arrive with pizza, cake, a somewhat sick dog, one nutty puppy, lots of dirty clothes and oh yeah, all the dishes and cups fell out of the cupboard somewhere along the way.

OMG - Smokey Mountains

We left Bandy Creek Park, Tennessee about 9:30 am on Thursday and headed south for the Smokey Mountains. Went thru Oak Ridge and looked for the Boys but they went hiding. Went around Knoxville, big city and headed into North Carolina via Pigeon Forge where Dollywood is located. Dolly has built an empire here and it is situated right as you enter the Smokey Mtns. If you have kids, you should definitely check it out but rob a bank beforehand and plan to spend a month. I don't think you would even get to everything then. And then we came Gatlinburg, my new favorite town. Houses and hotels built into the mountains and the town is absolutely charming. The uncharming thing was the price of gas, we needed to top off right before we entered the park and it was 60 cents more than anywhere else we had seen that day. Screw job!!! Another thing, if we had a dime for every Baptist church we saw today, we could pay for the camper heater and all the dog food for the trip.

After talking to a few people we decided to go thru the mountains and get to Cherokee on the other side and camp. The trip thru the mountains is hard to explain, pictures do not do it justice. Very very beautiful. We got to Cherokee and didn't find a campground. Again, we stopped and talked to some people and found out a bad storm was approaching. (Cousin Mary had also left a voice mail saying to watch for it. Thank you!!!) We found out from the locals that if it snows you can't get down from the mountains and we didn't want to get stuck there so we continued down the mountain in the dark until we were completely out.

So we stayed the nite at RaceTrac gas station in Cornelia, GA with our repaired camper heater that sounds like a 747 taking off when it works. And with the lights outside, highway traffic and 747 noise, we each slept about 1/2 hour total. We may be crabby today.

On to south Georgia to Debora and Ken. Hang on....

Howdy from Tennessee

We're again the only campers in the Bandy Creek State Park in northern Tennessee - we have a lovely view of the facilities right outside our window. Best place in the park I say. Lots of windy roads and very slow but it is real purdy here. Very nice scenery with mountains all along the way in Kentucky. When we stopped in Berea,on the advice of Cousin Mary, we found a weiner dog made out of junk. I wanted to buy it but Gary thought $80 was too much for some junk. What the hell??? Its a weiner. So all's well, we have internet, TV and cell tonite. We are snug as a bug. Off to the Smokey Mtns. tomorrow.

Shawnee State Park, Ohio

We finally left Dayton about 11 am on Tuesday. We had a hard time leaving Joanne but we knew when she got the hot curler out and started curling her hair in the dining room that she was serious about going to work. She gave us great directions out of Dayton and we headed southeast down a less traveled road. Southern Ohio is really pretty with rolling hills and lots of horses and hills that look like mountains in the distance. We were headed to Wayne National Forest but ended up in Shawnee State Park. Before we lost our internet signal and cell phone signal we were able to find an open campsite at Shawnee so we took it. It was really hard to find a camp site tho - we were the only ones there so we kept parking and moving til we found just the right one. By the toilet, a real toilet and hot showers. It was a little spooky being out in the woods all alone and it was really really dark but we slept good and walked the trails first thing this morning. Gary and I even tried to save on water and took a hot shower together. We're always thinking of others.

We're halfway thru Kentucky now - the weather is sunny and cool, about 40. On our way to Tennessee and will update tonite if we have a signal......

Do I Love Dayton, Ohio?

Left Oswego in a dense fog with great directions from Cousin Mary to get to Cousin Joanne's in Dayton. Left about 7:30 am and drove out of the fog in about an hour and out of the snow sooner than that. Driving thru Illinois and Indiana even on a nice day is BORING. If I had a dime for every grain elevator I saw we could pay for the camper heater. We got to Joanne's about 6 pm with the time change. It was 52F when we got here, we saw 3 motorcycles out, 2 guys jogging with shorts on. Hard to believe we left subzero just days ago.

We found Joanne's house in a lovely Dayton neighborhood full of Christmas lights. Joanne then treated us to local delicacies, Skyline Chili Dogs and Dewey's Pizza, both excellent. Then we went to a really cool Christmas display a mile from Joanne's house which was set to music. Back to Joanne's for a special dessert of brownies and packed ice cream and lots of visiting and laughing. We got to see Stan, Meg & Lucy too.

On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the best, I would give Dayton an 8. Beautiful little neighborhoods, nice weather, traffic manageable, good food and really great relatives.

The Incredible Uncle Joe

We left our little spot at Camping World in a cold mist which was luckily not freezing. Ihop wasn't very busy at 6 am on Sunday, we had great service and we were off to see Uncle Joe. He just celebrated his 95th birthday and is living at the Grand Victorian in Sycamore, IL. It is always a treat to see Uncle Joe. He is fighting skin cancer and is having a hard time eating regular food but his attitude is happy and he just loves visitors, even me!!! We looked thru some photobooks, he has lots and its fun to talk about the pictures. We are lucky to have him in our lives.

Then we are on to CousinMary's in Oswego, Illinois, we found her, she tried to hide but after knocking on her door for about half an hour, she just couldn't take it anymore. Mary made us the best bean dip ever, I even got the recipe from her and a wonderful supper. Gary and I were able to take a "steam" shower (separately darn). This is a first for both of us, its kind of hard to see what you're doing but it felt great. I only had to open the shower door once to catch my breath.

We're off for Dayton, Ohio today to Cousin Joanne. She took the house numbers off her house but I think if we ask enough neighbors, we should be able to sneak up on her too.

DeForest Wisconsin Camping World

Odometer: Started out at 102,647 in South Haven, MN. Left Ted's in Minneapolis at 102,715 and headed to see Uncle Joe in Illinois. So why am I writing from DeForest, Wisconsin? That is a good question. We started out in a deep freeze in Minnesota, we slept ok but it was cold even with the two heaters and quilts and long johns. It was about zero. We accidentally left a vent open in the camper overnite. When we left this morning at 9:30 there were people sitting out on the frozen lakes in Minnesota. And we're going camping.

So we stopped for gas right over the Minnesota state line and I really had to go. There was one ladies' room in this place and the door was locked so I knocked and heard "just a minute." As I hopped around outside the door, I waited and waited and no noise was coming from inside that door, no shuffling around, no flushing, no air dryer and this was really concerning me, what the hell was taking so long? Come on, I HAVE TO PEE. So I knocked again and asked how much longer and she didn't know. Now I was pretty sure it was not going to be a pleasant experience to follow her into the can but I really really had to go. So I yelled at the door, I REALLY HAVE TO GO, to which there was no reply and now I was really getting pissed and so I asked her is there another bathroom in this place and she says, "how should I know?" and so I see I am getting no cooperation and I will be wetting my pants and I didn't bring that many along with me so I had no choice, I slipped into the men's room. Not ever ever ever have I done this in my whole life so you know this was very serious. I held my breath and it was as bad as I had thought, I didn't have my camera or you would see for yourself. I went quick and ran out the door and guess what? She-devil was still in the can.

So we continue down the road and our next stop is lunch. We see the golden arches and decide to get lunch and eat inside the camper, nice and toasty only our camper heater is now blowing cold air. We are already cold. So after much discussion, we decide we have enough gas for the heater so it must be the heater itself. Luckily I had the computer in the truck and we start making phone calls as we go down the freeway to find someone to repair our camper heater. For some reason, there are not a lot of camper places open in December in Wisconsin. But we finally find DeForest Camping World, they would wait until 3 pm for us otherwise we were out of luck. We made it at 2:45 and they had the part. We are so lucky!!! We figured about $125 for the whole thing, so we were a little surprised at the $306 bill but we have heat and a nice little campsite right outside the door.

Oh yeah, I broke the camper toilet this morning when I tried to flush the frozen handle.

We're on our way

We finally left today, Friday, Dec 11, 2009. After Gary got home last nite from Mexico where he was working with our realtor and attorney on the sale of our house in Isla Mujeres, we spent the day running to the vet to get DeDe's shots up to date, post office to get the mail forwarded, bank, FedEx, plants to neighbors, and back to the post office. Gary closed up the house, turned off everything in the house, cleaned out the frig and started packing the camper. We had to get the heater going so we stand to be in the camper. We packed it up and left. Tomorrow we'll organize when we have more time. I know we forgot some things and we'll know when we need them. Right now we're at Ted's house in Minneapolis and we'll be leaving in the morning for Illinois. We have to get out of this cold weather. What should I collect? What do you want me to look for or check out? Send me your thoughts, I need help.

Monday Nite Blues

Just got home from work, yes I do work part-time and wishing we could get out of here. It has come on really fast. It is 20F now and supposed to get blustery and snowy and every time I look at the pickup camper sitting there empty I start to cry. I want to leave!!! I know I'm whining. Its Monday for cripes sake. Is there a person alive who likes Mondays??? If so, I hate them.

Anyway, I wanted to post our new addition. Yes, Mojo now has a little sister, her name is DeDe and she is the bomb. Gary has always wanted double D's and this is about as close as he will get. Training is started. She is on watch 24/7 til she figures it out. Any advice would be more than welcome or volunteers to do it???

I know you're probably thinking why??? Especially since we are leaving. But we'll have her with us 24/7 and we should have the time to work with her. How could you not love her? We got her from a family who couldn't keep their big farm dog off her. He practically killed her - how could I say no? I am a sucker. You all know that.

We would love to hear from you - any comments, good or bad, are welcome but if they are bad then I hate you too. Just kidding.

Need your help

Well we are still in Minnesota, for some reason Gary's boss won't let him go yet. He is usually done working by Tday but the weather has been so nice in November that the crews are still working outside. I am actually praying for cold bitter weather so we can get out of here!!! But enough about me. My cousin Joanne from Dayton called me because she was trying to figure out when we would be stopping and she would be definitely planning to be out of town then. We are trying not to pinpoint a date so we can catch her at home. Anyway when we were talking she said my blog would be so much better if we had a purpose along the way. So we talked. This is where I need your help. I have collections of several things. All things weiner and also some weird bottlecap guys. Should I search for one of those and update you on what I find? This would involve stopping at lots of garage sales which I would love. Nothing is better than stopping at a garage full of crap and trying to talk the owner down from 25 cents and maybe picking it up for 15 cents. That's a dime to you and me. But I am traveling with the biggest anti-garage sale person ever born and the only chance I may have stopping is if the girl selling crap is from Hooters. So keep that in mind. Or maybe we could search for a best or worst food type or what about the grossest restroom. I am just throwing this out there. What would you like me to do? Now be honest. I look forward to hearing from you and I'll take it from there.

Our Home Away from Home

Today was a very exciting prep day for us. Gary has the route somewhat planned once we get out of Dayton, Ohio. We will be traveling on remote roads to really get a flavor of the small towns along the way into the deep south. I am already practicing my southern drawl, Hey Y'all, what ya'll fixin to do today? We also found a small town named Margaret which we will be visiting and probably moving to. Just the planning is exciting and fun. If we stop in Gary, Indiana and then in Margaret (not sure of state) then all we have to do is find a Mojo. If you know of one, please let me know and we'll be sure to travel there. We don't want her to feel left out. Its cold today, almost 40F but it looks like it will barely hit 30 by the time we leave next weekend. We gotta get out here!!!

Tday 2009 - Another year under the table

What a great day. We all met at my sister Anita's house in Minneapolis. Keith and Anita were gone when we got there to start the turkey - they were running in the Drumstick Dash and got some very cool tee shirts. In the meantime, I was busy getting the 18 pound turkey in the roaster oven which I had calculated to be 4 hours, we eat at 1:00 pm. The turkey was overdone by 11:00. It really cooked fast in that bad boy so another lesson learned. We also brought smoked drumsticks which were the size of a small car. Not a big hit but we tried. Always living on the edge, trying new things but making sure to stick with the old stand byes, lots of mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes made with peach pie filling, green bean casserole and of course cranberries, made this year with pecans and lots of sugar. The pies were to die for and were provided by our resident pie baker, Barbara. Noreen did a great jobs with the rolls and Anita's 2 pans of stuffing disappeared. The gravy was gone in a flash too. But the best part of all was all the noise and laughter, the smart ass remarks, the picture taking and of course the games. So good to be together especially since we are leaving on our big adventure in about one week. You are all coming with me in my mind.

Departing Minnesota soon

Gary got the call today - he will be done working in another week so we are tentatively set to leave Minnesota the first weekend of December. There is lots to do to get the house ready to go, plants to be moved to our neighbor, house boarded up, camper packed, just getting set to go for a couple of months not sure what we will need or where we will end up. Sometimes I wish we would have just gone back to Mexico, at least we know what to expect there but what is an adventure if nothing more than the unexpected???

Not quite started

Right now it is Sunday afternoon and I wanted to get my blog started prior to our departure. I decided to do a blog of our upcoming trip and since I am new to all this, I thought it would be a good idea to figure it out in the comfort of our home instead of in the passenger seat of the 1990 Chevy pickup loaded down with the camper and bikes and whatever we could think of to bring along as we travel south for the winter. I wanted to share this with you and since we are not sure where we'll end up, I hope you'll come along for the ride. I know Mojo is excited. Can we stand to be together in a pickup camper for months on end? Well we'll soon find out.