'12/#6 Want To Go But Can't Get Going

Now don't get us wrong, we love our family & we love our friends but we just want to be on the road to somewhere else. The lifestyle we have chosen is based on the concept of variety & the ability to be any place we want to be. Hence we have an acute case of "hitch-itch", the urge to hook-up & GO!

Every RVer does it a little different & that is how it should be. Some travel regularly, not staying in one place more than a week or so while others commute back & forth between summer & winter "home bases" whiles others fall somewhere in between. We are the "in-betweeners". Our home base is in FL for the winter & our summer destination is determined year to year. The constant travelers do not set down roots & are always ready to hit the road. The others who set down roots for several months at a time usually need a little more time to be road ready. We have a tendency to gather stuff that will not travel with us & needs to be trashed, gifted, donated, or somehow left behind. A rig that sits also needs a little bit of TLC before hitting the road. Things that would have to be fixed or adjusted immediately while traveling can be put off while stationary. But these fixes must be done prior to traveling & they do seem to accumulate while sitting still.

We know when we are leaving so we try to get started on the to-do list early enough so that it doesn't overwhelm us. As everyone knows it is easier to put off until tomorrow what should be done today so time runs out faster than the list gets done. We are now in crunch time. Blast off is less than 2 weeks & the list looms over our heads. Our calendar is filling rapidly with Dr. appointments, family & friends, & other business we need to take care of before we leave. Every year there never seems to be enough time but somehow everything manages to get done & I am sure this year will be no different.

Once we get on the road we will look back & laugh. We will once again promise to do better next year & once again we will break that promise while still managing to do what needs to be done. It's how we do things. It's worked for us for over 20 years so why mess with a system that works?

Well I should stop blogging & get to that list (wink wink), So TaTa until the next blog from our home (for a little longer) in Largo FL, because.....

Home is where we park it,
Frank & Mary

'12/#5 Thank Goodness For Jello!

It has been too long since my last blog but things have not gone as we had planned. I always say "our house is on wheels & our plans are written in jello" & that has been the theme for the past few weeks. Instead of leaving early to mid March we will be leaving April 1st. That gives us a little more time to get ready but we need the time due to situations beyond our control.

As far as our health, my back is doing better & shouldn't be much of an issue. Mary's rash on the other hand had an an unexplained resurgence accompanied by an outbreak of blisters. Dermatologist, diagnosis, & drugs seem to be putting her back on the road to a full recovery. We will see our respective doctors one more time before we leave FL for the final OK to enjoy our travels.

I'm not sure if this is the appropriate place to discuss this but here goes. We recently had a loss in our family that may be the most devastating loss I've ever felt. Our newborn grandson recently succumbed to "Sudden Infant Death Syndrome" or SIDS. He was 1 week shy of 3 months old & I am at a loss for words. His parents are beside themselves, Mary & I as well as his other family & friends are filled with emotions that cannot be put into words. The only thing I can say is I hope no one else ever has to go through something like this. Death is inevitable... but to a happy, healthy, 3 month old is beyond comprehension. Life goes on but this is something I will never truly be able to wrap my head around. That is all I have to say about that, except to thank all the friends who have supported us in this trying time even though they don't know what to say. Knowing we have the best friends in the world means more than anyone will ever know.

Today's weather has taken a turn. The temps have dropped & the wind has picked up. Living in an RV the wind makes quite an impact. Awnings shake, flap, buzz, & tear so any RVer with any sense will roll their awning up or at least secure it to the ground. Then all loose items such as folding chairs, grills, & clothes lines are stored or secured. Even then strong winds will rock an RV enough to let you know that you are not in a "stick & brick" home. I was going to wash the truck but it will keep until later this week.

Well that is enough for now. Thank you for listening & understanding my absence. The next weeks will be busy & hopefully will provide fodder for blogging. So until the next time this is "see you later" from our home in FL because.......

Home is where we park it,

Frank & Mary

'12/#4 Time Is Short & The List Is Long

As usual our time has flown by & we have so much to do before we leave. The list is a mile long with only 4 weeks to get it all done. Today is not going to be the day to get started. The weather is down right cold & we don't want to get started. So today we will just lounge around & put off 'til tomorrow what we could but won't start today.

The list includes getting the truck ready for the road as well as the trailer. We have some doctor appointments, friends we want to see, and family to get together with before we leave FL. The truck is almost done & I'll get started on the trailer this week. We also have family health issues we have to keep up with. I know it sounds like a lot of work but this is just the life of the full time RVer. It's no different than normal maintenance on a sticks-n-bricks house, just the items on the list vary. The bottom line is it all needs to be done.

Mary has cut back on her involvement with the park's entertainment committee so we can get everything done. We still are participating in the Friday night Bingo but will be leaving before that stops. This past weekend was our granddaughter's birthday so we saw all the grandkids. We also got together with some of our old post office friends. So little by little the list is getting done.

As I said, today is a day we don't want to do much of anything so I will sign off for now from our home in Largo FL because .....

Home is where we park it,
Frank & Mary

'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

'11/#56 Big News Just Not Much News

I can't seem to find the time or material to write on a regular basis. We are busy but that is all...just busy. Not too much excitement or stuff that I think is worth blogging about. We have gotten together with some friends & we are just about ready for Christmas but so is everyone else. So what do I write about?

Well we did get sick about 2 weeks ago. Mary was a lot sicker than I was but the timing couldn't have been worse. The epidemic started just before our new grandson was born. Of course that meant that we couldn't go see him. Being sick & denied the chance to see him was more than we wanted to deal with but it did give us incentive to get well. We did finally get to hold the little guy 6 days after he was born & it was worth the wait. We are the proud grandparents to Jayden Joseph born 12/2 & weighing in at 8lb 12oz. Mom & baby are doing great & Grandmommy & Granddaddy are bragging about grandchild #6 to anyone who will listen & stand still long enough for us to show pictures.

We are getting ready for Christmas here in the park. Mary is helping out with the Christmas dinner & I am working on some decorations. In between we are decorating our home & wrapping presents. This summer was spent doing more than sight seeing & working at Dollywood. We also did just about all our Christmas shopping. In fact, we considered our shopping done by the time we got back to Florida. That doesn't mean we didn't pick up a few things here & there once we got back, it just means that there is time left on the calender & money left in the bank. Oh well....'tis the season.

Well that brings everyone up to date, so until next time I have something to blog about, good night from our home in Largo because......

Home is where we park it,
Frank & Mary