'22/#9 Quick Stop, Quick Blog

 We are just outside of Bristol Tennesee for a one night stay. We don't do 500 mile days anymore so this breaks up a too long drive in an RV. Besides we are retired so, on time is when we get there! 

Leaving Cherokee and our friend Melissa behind we hit the road around 10am for our short trip. As I am prone to do, I forgot to reset the GPS for RV travel. Luckily before it was too late I realized that the directions were taking me over the mountains and through the woods, not to Grandmother's house, but on a recommended scenic motorcycle route. This route was not RV friendly, and certainly not good for a truck/trailer combo 57 feet in length. A reroute and an extra turn or two and we were on our way.

Some steep mountains, both up hill and down hill, but the truck handled it all just fine. We left the trailer to find a small local fuel station that saved us 30 cents per gallon but still set us back almost $150! Ouch!! Oh well, that is the cost of living the RV Lifestyle.

Tomorrow is our longest day of our trek north so I am going to sign off now, have  some dinner, and call it an early night from our home in Tennesee because.....

Home is where we park it,

Frank andMary

'22/#8 Ahhhhhhhhh!

 It is raining today so we are not doing much of anything. Today is our day of rest. Two days from now that will change. We will be back on the road north. Mother's Day will be a travel day so today I made my famous (at least in our family) french toast as an early Mother's Day breakfast. Later we will do some laundry and for dinner, eh? Who knows?

Saturday will be all about getting ready for the road. Holding tanks will be dumped, hoses put away, and things inside will be secured for travel. We like to get on the road early so we can check into the next campground and relax before dinner and a good nights rest. One night near the Tennessee/Virginia border and then on into Virginia for a short stay to visit more friends. We seem to have friends everywhere we go.

Mary is in the kitchen and it looks like chicken for dinner. I will get into the shower and get the laundry together. Life on the road is all about the excitement. NOT! It is a lifestyle and the hum drum everyday chores still need to be taken care of. So I will sign off from our home in Cherokee NC because......

Home is where we park it,

Frank and Mary

'22/#7 Northward HO!

 Our trek north is well on it's way. We are now in North Carolina at the Cherokee KOA. This destination will serve as a multi purpose home base. First we get to see our KOA sister from Petaluma California. After we left California, Melissa decided to follow in our footsteps or should I say tire tracks. She now is workcamping for KOA around the country and is spending this summer here in Cherokee. Like us she is enjoying seeing the country but is really enjoying the people she meets. Welcome to the workcamper lifestyle.

While we are here we will also be just on the other side of the Smoky Mountain National park from Pigeon Forge. If you follow us you know that is where we spent a summer working at Dollywood. We made many friends that we have kept in touch with and will try to see them while we are here.

On top of that one of our coworkers from the post office has settled up here in the Sevierville area and we will see him and his wife also. All of this will fill our time here in the Smokies before we continue north towards our summer destination. 

For now the trailer will sit still and Cherokee will be our home for the next five days because.....

Home is where we park it,

Frank and Mary

'22/#6 Stretching Before A Workout

 It's always good to stretch before a workout and it appears to be good advice when RVing. We have been stationary for 6 months and are now on the move. Our first leg of the journey was only 150 miles. It got us back into RV mode as far as dealing with traffic, checking maps, rest stops, and anything else the road can throw our way all while pulling a '41 trailer. Our minds are now fully into RV mode.

Our first stop was at the Gallardo Family Campground in north Florida. The owners and operators af this "one site" campground are folks we worked with in the Post Office. We haven't seen them in 15 years and it was like yesterday when we finally got togther. They are part of our postal family hence the family designation to the campground/driveway. Please don't try to find this campground anywhere on the internet. It is very, very exclusive and we consider ourselves very fortunate to be members.

We went to dinner with these fine folks and also with Debbie and John. John was also a member of our postal family and once we started talking about names and events it felt like old times. We will be here a couple of days before we continue on the Adventure 2022 Tour. 

With promises to keep in touch and get together again when we are all back in Florida I will sign off so that we can enjoy our stay in our home in the driveway of our friend's home in north Florida because.....

Home is where we park it,

Frank and Mary

'22/#5 No Calendar, No Clock, Just An Egg Timer

 The pages on the calendar are gone and the clock is down to the the last minute. We are leaving Zephyrhills in 5 days and our list of things to do is dwindling but is not yet complete. We are under the gun so to speak and it seems that our schedule is set by an egg timer or stop watch. Not to worry, we will leave on time. There are always things to do do right up until the wheels start rolling.

If you follow us here on the blog or on Facebook you know we are headed back to upstate New York again this year. This is a rare return to a previous destination, but we have our reasons. We are closely watching the weather because of he unseasonable winter storms they have had recently. We do not like the cold and we HATE to drive in snow with the RV. Flexability is one of the most used tools in our RV tool box, so we shall see what happens.

It was great to get together with friends while we were here in Florida, but I know that there were some we didn't get to see. Not to worry, we will be back next winter with the rest of the 2022/2023 snow birds. Just remember that our calendar fills quickly so let's start making plans as soon as we get back. This year we may be back as early as mid October. Keep following for future developments.

As is our usual travel plans we will not be rushing to our summer destination. We will stop to "smell the roses" as they say. The metaphorical roses I speak of are friends along our route. Having traveled around a lot of this country and worked with many people we have also made a lot of friends. Some we have not seen in quite a few years and some we have seen within the past year. Either way we hope they are looking forward to getting together as much as we are.

Well the list is not going to get done with me sitting here so I will sign off from our home for the next 5 days here in Zephyrhills because....

Home is where we park it,

Frank and Mary

'22/#4 It's Time For Jello!

 Well here it is, the first of April and the Jello still hasn't set. What does that mean? It means that we have no plans made for travel in the near future. Not that we don't want to hit the road nor do we want to leave friends and family. It is just that time of year when our travel adventure usually takes us north. Right now there are too many things swirling around in the Jello to let it set.

First thing is our summer job in New York. We are planning on returning to Darien Lake for a second year. The only problem is the weather up there hasn't allowed maintenance to work on the campground to give us an arrival date. That messes with our departure date and travel itinerary. The second thing is our work here in Florida. We have a few things that need to be completed before we leave so that will fill time between now and "D" (departure) Day.

 Thirdly we have both been under the weather for about five days putting everything behind schedule. Not to worry, we have tested negative for Covid. With all the pollen and congestion, we have an environment in our heads that is homey for the virus that causes sinus infections. We are getting better and hope to soon be out and about taking care of business.

Wait, there is more! What is that? Number four? Yep, number four. We finally found the satellite reciever we wanted. Yay! Now we have to get it installed and that needs to be put on the installers schedule. Is there more? You betcha! We still have people to see before we go, so that would be number five, again delayed by number three. And finally number????? Let me swich hands...that would be number six, the RV check list. That list of things that every RVer should be doing in preparation for hitting the road. We started on it early and are we glad we did!

Well I need to take a shower because I....phew! I can smell me and so can Mary. So that means a sense of smell and no Covid! Yeah! So I will sign off and start to feel better and smell better here in our home in Zephyrhills because.....

Home is where we park it,

Frank and Mary

22/#3 The List

 It is that time of year again. This is the bi-annual check-list season. When we get ready to travel we make a list of everything we want and need to get done before the wheels start rolling. Up until a few years ago we jumped on that list two to three weeks prior to departure. As we have gotten older and smarter and slower and smarter we now start a lot earlier. Yes I said smarter twice because it is impotant to realize that it took us this long to figure out that we have a much easier time getting ready if we give ourseves more time.

Like any list, it ebbs and flows as we get things done and think of more to do. Some things are directly related to travel while others are projects around our home as well as people and places we need to see. All of this while we are still workcamping here in the RV park. There is nothing more satisfying than crossing things off a list. I know that if I do something that is not planned I will add it to the list just to cross it off so I can see how much we have accomplished.

Yesterday I got a big item off the list. I finally got around to doing our taxes. This is the latest that I have ever been doing our taxes. Between waiting for our tax documents, getting new phones and tablet, staying busy with "the list", and just running short on calendar I am about a month later than usual. Yesterday was cleared from the schedule and dedicated to taxes only. As workcampers our taxes are a little different because of all the places we work. Every state has their own tax codes and require different forms or documents. Fortunately this year it was New York State. New York tax forms are basically replicated federal forms and it is easy to transfer information from one to the other once the first ones are filled out. California on the other hand is so screwed up that their tax forms are in comprehensible. We will never work in California again!

I was going to blog yesterday after the dreaded taxes were done but my head hurt after four hours of screen time, so today is blog day. We have people to see, places to go, and things to do so I will sign off now from our home in Zephyrhills because.....

Home is where we park it,

Frank and Mary