'12/#03 "Home" or "Back Where We Parked It"

We left our home for a few days to help a friend move & have returned. As I mentioned last time we had to pack for this trip which is something we don't usually have to do. We remembered everything that we needed & had a good trip to Indiana. The winter coats came in handy with night time temps reaching the upper 20's. We traveled in 2 vehicles. I drove the truck & U-Haul while Mary & Daisy followed in the car. As I like to put it..."I had 2 women chasing me all the way from FL to IN". We made one stop-over on the way. The second day it drissled most of the way but we still made good time.

The next day we unloaded the trailer & turned it in at a local U-Haul dealer. I mentioned Mary's hand surgery & that it had gone well. Well half-way to IN Mary started to get a rash which has now been attributed to a reaction to something she was given during the surgery. By the time we had finished moving Daisy, Mary & I decided to head home instead of staying over an extra night. We hit the road by 2pm not knowing how far we planned to travel before stopping. By midnight we had made it to Georgia with me doing all the driving. Mary felt OK despite the rash & wanted to drive for awhile. I slept & by 8am we were past Ocala FL. By now you have guessed that we were driving straight through. We pulled up to our home by 9am.

As nice as it was to be home Mary still had the rash & it was starting to really itch. That meant that the bed would have to wait while I took her to the ER. They treated her for the symptoms even though they couldn't definitevely determine the cause. With Mary loaded up with IV Benedryl & steroids she was ready for a well deserved rest. Except for the naps in the truck we had been going for 28 hours & were lusting for our own bed & sleep.

Sunday I woke with a severe backache while Mary was still itching. We spent the day just lounging around hoping to feel better. By Monday Mary's rash was showing signs of improvement & my back is starting to heal. We will be resting & healing for the rest of the week here in our own home in Largo because ......

Home is where we park it,

Frank & Mary

'12/#02 On The Road? Sort Of.

We are getting ready to hit the road soon but not like we usually do. This time we are headed out for a couple of days to help a friend move. This is a real good friend that we would do almost anything for. What is different this time is we aren't taking the rig. The big truck is pulling a U-Haul to Indiana this time. This is a little bit harder for us than usual. Is it leaving friends? No. Is it leaving family? No.Is it the drive? No." So what is it?", you are asking. It's the PACKING! When we travel there is no packing involved. No "what will the weather be like?"," how many pairs of underwear & socks do I need?","do we have the phone chargers?","will the bed be OK for my back?". When we normally travel these questions never come up. Why? Because we take our whole house with us! We take all our clothes, electronics, & our BED. We take our kitchen so there is no question of where we will eat. We take our bathroom so we don't have to wonder if we will find a clean restroom to .....well you know what we all do in the restroom. It's not resting now is it?

Since 2005 we have lived the RV lifestyle. We travel on the road with all our belongings. There is no packing, no getting rides to the airport, & no foreplay at the airport with the TSA screeners. Terrorists aren't hi-jacking my RV, kids are not screaming or kicking the back of my seat. My luggage doesn't get lost or crushed (not that we own luggage). Yes it takes longer to get there but we see all that there is batween points A & B. You miss all that on an airplane, & besides we are retired so I have time to get where I am going. In the 7 years we have been living the RV lifestyle I can count on one hand the number of times we have traveled overnight without our rig & we wouldn't have it any other way.

This time we have a good reason for traveling like those in "stick & brick" homes. A friend needs our help & that is what friends do, they help. I know if we needed help our friends would be there for us. That is why we consider our good friends more than friends, they are family. Not relatives, but family. I have relatives that would help if it was life or death so I don't consider them family. My family are those who care about me & those whom I also care about regardless of blood relation.

Jusy a quick note too....remember when Mary fell at Dollywood this past September, well they finally found out what was giving her problems with the wrist & scheduled surgery. I am happy to say that the surgery went great & she is recovering nicely. That means she is sleeping a lot & I have time to blog (HAHA).

So I will sign off & go now because someone in our family needs us. From our home in Largo because.....

Home is where we park it,

Frank & Mary

'12/#01 Back From The Dead?

No I am not dead. Yes it has been over a month since I last blogged but I needed a break. The holidays are supposed to be a joyous time but as life shows us from time to time things don't always work out the way they are supposed to. Without going into a lot of personal details let's just say this wasn't the best holiday season we've had. We are now doing fine & are looking forward to this new year with many happy holiday seasons in the future. We will call this last one a "bump" in the road.

Our winter in FL has been hectic to put it mildly. With vice-president Mary involved in everything in the park & me helping (HAHA) the time has flown by. Hence we haven't done a lot of the things we wanted to do this winter. We have cut back on our involvement & plan on spending more time doing things just for the two of us. One of the things we planned was to research other places to winter. Shocking, but we may not come back to Pinellas County next year. It really shouldn't surprise anyone. After all our house is on wheels so we can live anywhere we want. RVers winter all over the southern states like Texas, Arizona, New Mexico....well you can look at a map & see. Some even winter in Mexico though we will most likely stay north of the border. We may just wind up in another part of Florida, who knows? More on that as we weigh the pros & cons.

January is time for the RV Super Show with all things RV. We spent 2 days there checking out RV parks from around the country & looking into jobs for us as we visit different parts of the country. There were vendors with all those things that you just can't live without, seminars on RVing, & of course RVs as far as the eye could see. This was a successful RV show for us in the fact that we left with our wallets intact. Not finding anything we couldn't live without just means that we finally have this RVing lifestyle down pat.....until the next show. We did find a couple of RVs that we would seriously consider to replace ours. Anyone have an extra $80,000 laying around? Oh well, maybe next year.

Time is running short & we are getting things in order to be ready for our departure in March. We are spend this summer in Cody Wyoming, just 50 miles from Yellowstone National Park. Jobs are lined up that will give us the opportunity to do & see more as well as help with the increase in the price of diesel. We have allotted 6 weeks to get to WY which will allow us to stop & smell the roses along the way. By roses I mean see Biloxi, New Orleans, & parts of Texas. In Texas we also plan on visiting some long lost friends from our old pop-up camper days. Texas is also the home of Escapee's(SKP's) RV Club. We will try & stay there for a while to check out their facilities as well as look into the volunteer options that make the Escapees so successful.

Well we have things to do & people to see so I will sign off for now from our home here in Largo FL because.....

Home is where we park it,
Frank & Mary