The end of the year is fast approaching and I am not sure we are ready for it yet!!
Santa did come to our house on Christmas eve and there were presents under the tree in the morning. The best present for both of us is the fact that Carol's eye surgery has gone so well. The week after the right eye was done she was back at the doctors and they were very pleased with the progress as well as Carol. Her eyes are no longer dilated and she exercises them by reading small print and then looking at distant objects.She is reading the 20/16 easily at close range and she says the distant vision is "wonderful". Good by glasses and contacts!!
We celebrated a little by going out for dancing to Jay Smith on the 23rd. The snowbirds are back because the American Legion was really full. This was also the first time in a month or more that our friends, Gus and Marilyn had the opportunity to get out and "shake a booty".
About a month ago Gus's 96 year old mother ( who lives with them) fell and broke her hip. It was only two weeks and she was back home and is doing amazingly well. She is using a walker and getting around better than most 96 year olds without having broken a hip. Gus and Marilyn also have her 93 year old mother living with them!
On Christmas day we had Dinner at our house with Carol's sister, Gail and her friend Angelo plus we had Gus and Marilyn family (all 4) also. It made the day really pleasant having a fine group like that at our home. It was like an old fashioned Christmas for us.
It also made it very nice to hear from Joy, our daughter, during the day. It is always makes our day when she calls.
It is only 4 months away from the Hazelwood reunion that Jim is the Chairman of. It is taking more time now to get things properly organized, mailings out and making sure the schedule is accurately set. Jim has been pleased with all of the favorable comments he has gotten from shipmates who have been logging into the blog. He even gets calls several times a week from some really old timers (WW II) vets.
Several of the Christmas cards we got this year brought sad news of the passing of several long time friends. That's what happens at the age we are now.
We wish every one a very Happy New Year.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Batteries and eyes!!
Carol had her right eye operated on last Tuesday 12/14 and it went much better that the first eye. This time Carol knew what to expect and even though she expected her vision in that eye would be poor for a while, it was much better than the first eye, Tomorrow she goes to see the doctor and will have the 2 small stitches removed. She alredy stopped the drops that dialate the eye so her vision is now near normal.
Last week I went to our motor home to start it and run it on the road for a good warm up. When I went to start the engine, it barely turned over but it finally did and got started. Then I noticed that one of the air tanks was showing zero air pressure and the check engine light was on. That is not a good thing since there air brakes on the motor home. I checked the tanks by pulling drain valves and both tanks actually had air in them. I shut down the engine and restarted and this time the check engine light was not lighted (good!) but the one tank still showed zero air (bad!). Rather than taking our drive I called a Freightliner facility and made an appointment to have the situation looked at ($$$$). I did let the engine run for a long time to charge up the engine batteries. I also called my battery guy and planned to have the engine batteries change the next day since it was quite apparent they were not holding a charge very well.
The next morning the engine barely turned over but finally caught on properly and started. Again I had a check engine light that was on but the air tanks both showed the proper pressure!! But now the volt meter showed zero voltage on the batteries!! I ran the engine for a while and shut it down and restarted and the check engine light went out but the volt meter still showed zero. I drove it to Venice and had the engine batteries replaced and then all the gages were reading AOK. The computer must have been taking a small fit because of the low voltage. So I cancelled the Freightliner appointment and felt relieved.
This week we having Gus and Marilyn Lopes and their mothers over to have Christmas dinner with us along with Carol's sister Gail and her friend. We may even have John and Mary Lou Serafin join us if they have no other plans. So we may have a house full and it will be enjoyable.
Thursday, Jay Smith is playing at the Venice American Legion so we will be dancing to his music that evening with Gus and Marilyn.
Merry Christmas to all.
Last week I went to our motor home to start it and run it on the road for a good warm up. When I went to start the engine, it barely turned over but it finally did and got started. Then I noticed that one of the air tanks was showing zero air pressure and the check engine light was on. That is not a good thing since there air brakes on the motor home. I checked the tanks by pulling drain valves and both tanks actually had air in them. I shut down the engine and restarted and this time the check engine light was not lighted (good!) but the one tank still showed zero air (bad!). Rather than taking our drive I called a Freightliner facility and made an appointment to have the situation looked at ($$$$). I did let the engine run for a long time to charge up the engine batteries. I also called my battery guy and planned to have the engine batteries change the next day since it was quite apparent they were not holding a charge very well.
The next morning the engine barely turned over but finally caught on properly and started. Again I had a check engine light that was on but the air tanks both showed the proper pressure!! But now the volt meter showed zero voltage on the batteries!! I ran the engine for a while and shut it down and restarted and the check engine light went out but the volt meter still showed zero. I drove it to Venice and had the engine batteries replaced and then all the gages were reading AOK. The computer must have been taking a small fit because of the low voltage. So I cancelled the Freightliner appointment and felt relieved.
This week we having Gus and Marilyn Lopes and their mothers over to have Christmas dinner with us along with Carol's sister Gail and her friend. We may even have John and Mary Lou Serafin join us if they have no other plans. So we may have a house full and it will be enjoyable.
Thursday, Jay Smith is playing at the Venice American Legion so we will be dancing to his music that evening with Gus and Marilyn.
Merry Christmas to all.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Cruise plans
Since our 53rd anniversary is coming up in January we are going to go on a cruise to celebrate it. We will be departing from Miami on January 23 and stopping in Samana (Dominican Republic), St Thomas, Tortola (British Virgin Islands) and NCL's private island Great Stirrup Cay. We return to Miami on January 30.
I am already making arrangements to make a couple of SCUBA dives in St Thomas and Tortola. In Tortola I will dive down to the wreck of the RMS Rhone. The RMS Rhone was a British packet ship owned by the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company. She was wrecked off the coast of Salt Island in the British Virgin Islands on 29 October 1867 during a hurricane with the loss of approximately 123 lives. It is now a leading Caribbean wreck dive site. I am looking forward to that dive and hope to get a lot of good pictures.
We have been to all of these places except Samana but we are still looking forward to the whole cruise. I guess you could call it our anniversary present to ourselves.
Earlier in January we will be spending 5 days at the Tampa RV show RV camping with friends. The show is held at the Florida fairgrounds and is very large show. We look forward to seeing our RV friends more than wandering the show though.
I am already making arrangements to make a couple of SCUBA dives in St Thomas and Tortola. In Tortola I will dive down to the wreck of the RMS Rhone. The RMS Rhone was a British packet ship owned by the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company. She was wrecked off the coast of Salt Island in the British Virgin Islands on 29 October 1867 during a hurricane with the loss of approximately 123 lives. It is now a leading Caribbean wreck dive site. I am looking forward to that dive and hope to get a lot of good pictures.
We have been to all of these places except Samana but we are still looking forward to the whole cruise. I guess you could call it our anniversary present to ourselves.
Earlier in January we will be spending 5 days at the Tampa RV show RV camping with friends. The show is held at the Florida fairgrounds and is very large show. We look forward to seeing our RV friends more than wandering the show though.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Carol's eye - Update
Carol went to the doctor on Monday 12/13 to have her left eye checked and it is doing very well. She is able to see at close to 20/20 near and far and it is still improving. Quit apparently she will not need any glasses which is going to make her very pleased.
The doctor's appointment Monday was also in prep for the operation on the second eye which was done on Tuesday 12/14. That operation went even better than the first. That eye had better vision on the next day than the first eye did at that time. This has made her feel much better about the whole situation.
She will go back next week to have two small stitches removed. Prior to that appointment she will stop taking the medication that dilates the eye. The dilation is needed for the type lens she got but it does cause the vision to be less than normal.
We are both pleased that all is going so well.
The doctor's appointment Monday was also in prep for the operation on the second eye which was done on Tuesday 12/14. That operation went even better than the first. That eye had better vision on the next day than the first eye did at that time. This has made her feel much better about the whole situation.
She will go back next week to have two small stitches removed. Prior to that appointment she will stop taking the medication that dilates the eye. The dilation is needed for the type lens she got but it does cause the vision to be less than normal.
We are both pleased that all is going so well.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Carol's eye surgery update
Tomorrow is Carol's surgery for her second eye. She was a little upset about the first surgery because she was not able to have improved vision right after surgery.
The doctor did not really fill her in with all of the information which would have helped Carol and I understand the situation. The lenses that Carol got are "crystaline" and somewhat different than the basic lenses normally used. With these lenses she is virtually guaranteed to have vision good enough, both far and near that she will not need any glasses.
She and I were concerned in the first week because her vision had not improved as we expected. However the doctor was very pleased with her progress. At the end of the first week there was one stitch removed from the lens and the drops that dilated her eye was stopped. Those two changes made a significant change. She is able to see better than 20/20 reading and very good at a distance but we don't know the actual numbers.
Today she went and had the second stitch removed from the lens and is seeing quite good. Of course she is having the second (right) eye done tomorrow morning and will go through the same "recovery" situation with that eye. There was a time she was having some real apprehension about her vision since she did not know what to expect. Now that she understands the process she is feeling a lot better about her vision and the operation on the right eye.
Other than the eye situation, things are somewhat normal here except for this darn cold weather. We wish the Canucks would keep their cold air up in Canada where it belongs. Last week it got down to the mid 30's a couple of nights and now tonight it may get into the low 30's. At least we had a couple of very nice days between these cold spells.
We are trying to get ready for Christmas and have some basic decorations up. Cards are coming in and we have to get some out but time is flying and with Carol's eye situation the task may fall to me!!
So Merry Christmas to all until my next post.
The doctor did not really fill her in with all of the information which would have helped Carol and I understand the situation. The lenses that Carol got are "crystaline" and somewhat different than the basic lenses normally used. With these lenses she is virtually guaranteed to have vision good enough, both far and near that she will not need any glasses.
She and I were concerned in the first week because her vision had not improved as we expected. However the doctor was very pleased with her progress. At the end of the first week there was one stitch removed from the lens and the drops that dilated her eye was stopped. Those two changes made a significant change. She is able to see better than 20/20 reading and very good at a distance but we don't know the actual numbers.
Today she went and had the second stitch removed from the lens and is seeing quite good. Of course she is having the second (right) eye done tomorrow morning and will go through the same "recovery" situation with that eye. There was a time she was having some real apprehension about her vision since she did not know what to expect. Now that she understands the process she is feeling a lot better about her vision and the operation on the right eye.
Other than the eye situation, things are somewhat normal here except for this darn cold weather. We wish the Canucks would keep their cold air up in Canada where it belongs. Last week it got down to the mid 30's a couple of nights and now tonight it may get into the low 30's. At least we had a couple of very nice days between these cold spells.
We are trying to get ready for Christmas and have some basic decorations up. Cards are coming in and we have to get some out but time is flying and with Carol's eye situation the task may fall to me!!
So Merry Christmas to all until my next post.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Time Flies
It has been quite busy since we got back from St Thomas and it nearly month since me last post! Shame on me.
After we got home we hit the ground nearly running! The Saturday after our return we went to Marilyn and Gus Lopes party at the clubhouse. John and Mary Lou Serafin joined us for the party. It was a dinner-dance with a great meal prepared by Marilyn. Roasted pork loin with a fantastic dressing and gravy with champagne in it!! All of the other trimming were just as tasty.
Dancing was done to the music of Jay Smith, our favorite entertainer. Everyone else at the party must have enjoyed him because more than half stayed until the very end. For this old-timer group that was a pleasant surprise.
The next Saturday was the Pancake Breakfast which Jim is the chairman of. A volunteer crew served about 95 meals of pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausage patties, toast, coffee and juice. The breakfast is held once a month during the winter (snowbird) season.
Thanksgiving was the next week and we did a 16 pound turkey and had Carol's sister, Gail and her friend Angelo over of dinner. Chef Jim make his usual great dressing and Carol did the other veggies. Angelo and Gail brought one of the best cheesecakes we have ever had. It was topped with huge strawberries and had all of the calories removed from it ... I wish. The next day Jim stripped the carcass and made a large pot of turkey soup. It was very tasty as usual and we took some to Gail as she likes it also.
The next week on Tuesday was Carol's day to have her cataract eye surgery on her left eye. In to the surgery center at 730 AM and out about 11 AM. The actual surgery was only about 20 minutes but the prep and waiting took all the other time. She wore a patch over the eye that night and we went to the doctor the next day so the patch could be removed and the eye checked. We both expected that she would immediately have greatly improved vision but it did not happen. The doctor said everything is just fine but it takes time for the vision to improve. She is also taking drops in the eye which keeps it dilated. She will stop those drops about 3 days before her next appointment on Friday 12/10. Her right eye will be operated on the following Tuesday 12/14.
Of course Jim calls bingo each Monday evening at the clubhouse so that is just one more thing that keeps on the go. We have not been at the YMCA as much as usual because of Carol's eye surgery but we will be getting back at that also. Carol keep busy being the treasurer of the Co-op and she is glad it will end in January when they have elections. She is not running for re-election.
Jim's work on the ship reunion has been keeping busy also. There are now about 56 shipmates planning to attend the reunion which is in April of 2011. You can look at that blog by clicking on my profile on the right side of this blog.
I may have to retire from retirement as it seems we are busier now than when working.
Merry Christmas to all
Jim and Carol
After we got home we hit the ground nearly running! The Saturday after our return we went to Marilyn and Gus Lopes party at the clubhouse. John and Mary Lou Serafin joined us for the party. It was a dinner-dance with a great meal prepared by Marilyn. Roasted pork loin with a fantastic dressing and gravy with champagne in it!! All of the other trimming were just as tasty.
Dancing was done to the music of Jay Smith, our favorite entertainer. Everyone else at the party must have enjoyed him because more than half stayed until the very end. For this old-timer group that was a pleasant surprise.
The next Saturday was the Pancake Breakfast which Jim is the chairman of. A volunteer crew served about 95 meals of pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausage patties, toast, coffee and juice. The breakfast is held once a month during the winter (snowbird) season.
Thanksgiving was the next week and we did a 16 pound turkey and had Carol's sister, Gail and her friend Angelo over of dinner. Chef Jim make his usual great dressing and Carol did the other veggies. Angelo and Gail brought one of the best cheesecakes we have ever had. It was topped with huge strawberries and had all of the calories removed from it ... I wish. The next day Jim stripped the carcass and made a large pot of turkey soup. It was very tasty as usual and we took some to Gail as she likes it also.
The next week on Tuesday was Carol's day to have her cataract eye surgery on her left eye. In to the surgery center at 730 AM and out about 11 AM. The actual surgery was only about 20 minutes but the prep and waiting took all the other time. She wore a patch over the eye that night and we went to the doctor the next day so the patch could be removed and the eye checked. We both expected that she would immediately have greatly improved vision but it did not happen. The doctor said everything is just fine but it takes time for the vision to improve. She is also taking drops in the eye which keeps it dilated. She will stop those drops about 3 days before her next appointment on Friday 12/10. Her right eye will be operated on the following Tuesday 12/14.
Of course Jim calls bingo each Monday evening at the clubhouse so that is just one more thing that keeps on the go. We have not been at the YMCA as much as usual because of Carol's eye surgery but we will be getting back at that also. Carol keep busy being the treasurer of the Co-op and she is glad it will end in January when they have elections. She is not running for re-election.
Jim's work on the ship reunion has been keeping busy also. There are now about 56 shipmates planning to attend the reunion which is in April of 2011. You can look at that blog by clicking on my profile on the right side of this blog.
I may have to retire from retirement as it seems we are busier now than when working.
Merry Christmas to all
Jim and Carol
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
SCUBA at St Thomas
One of my main enjoyments at ST Thomas is SCUBA. Hank and I get a 10 tank package from Coki Beach Dive Club and this gets us 5 boat trips to various locations. It is a small boat and is licensed to carry only 6 paying passengers so it is a nice personal situation. Here is Pete the owner, Hank and me at about 40 feet under water somewhere around St Thomas.
Here is a spiny lobster, one of many we saw. If you click on the picture you will see it larger and if you look closely you will see there are actually 3 lobsters in the picture. We saw plenty of other sea life such as a small nurse shark, sting ray, eels, barracuda, sea turtle and a shovel nose lobster.
Yum Yum. Can't wait until next year and maybe I can talk them into several lobsters.
Here is a spiny lobster, one of many we saw. If you click on the picture you will see it larger and if you look closely you will see there are actually 3 lobsters in the picture. We saw plenty of other sea life such as a small nurse shark, sting ray, eels, barracuda, sea turtle and a shovel nose lobster.
We do not normally do any "hunting" for sea life, but on one of the dives the dive master brought up a spiny lobster for me. I had told him how Carol was wanting to have one for dinner and he got it for her, not me!! Here it is back at our condo waiting to be dinner for us!!
And here it is ready to be eaten for dinner!! Caribbean Lobster do not have claws as do Maine Lobster and I was surprised how much better the tail meat was on this lobster. Much better than Maine Lobster. It was a large enough tail for us to share with a salad and have enough .... with some rum of course!!!
Yum Yum. Can't wait until next year and maybe I can talk them into several lobsters.
Partying at St Thomas
We always have a great time at St Thomas but his year was even more fun as Hank, Jim's dive buddy, had his sister visit for about a week. Also Rich and Wendy were there during our second week and we had not seen them for several years. Here is Carol with Hank and his sister.
The Room With A View is our favorite place to have happy hour appetizers and drinks. Here is Carol, Wendy and Rich (plus some others ?? in the background) getting ready to party. How can you go wrong for $5 drinks and appetizers. The appetizers are large enough for Carol and I to make them our dinner.
One of the evenings we went to Red Hook and had drinks and dinner at Duffy's Love Shack. Here we are in the outside dining "room", a parking lot!!!! It get to be a little wild there at times so we did not spend the entire evening. We did run into a fellow that works at the Ritz Carlton (very plush place) and he invited us to come over to use their beach and pool.
Here we are at the Ritz Carlton enjoying the style of the Rich and Famous. You know it is a plush place by the price on a hamburger .... $21 and drinks for $9 to $12 and more!!! They also have their own beach and the grounds are quite beautiful. A fun day for all.
After rubbing shoulders with the Rich and Famous at the Ritz, the next day went to Sapphire Beach and hung out with the more common folks!! The beach was in good shape but the condos and other facilities were run down and in need of a lot of work. At one time this was a fine place but time and lack of money has taken it's toll. And then while Carol was lounging under the trees, an Iguana above her in the trees decided to relieve him self on her!!!! At least the poop was small round pellets but there was some juicy stuff at first!! Naturally she went into the water to get washed off.
Of course we always have fun in St Thomas and are already looking forward to the next trip.
Virgin Gorda, BVI Trip
Last year Carol won a two- for-one trip to Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands. So we took the trip this year. Baths does not refer to taking a bath in a tub as you do at home. Baths is a shortened term for the gigantic volcanic rocks but I do not recall the proper name for them!! You can see some of them in the background of this photo. There is a trail which winds through these rocks and some of the caverns formed by them. It is an interesting and rigorous walk as there are some really tight places to squeeze through.
After leaving the baths we went to Norman Island and did some snorkeling. There were three caves you could snorkel into but they were not deep enough to be scary!! Carol, did get off the boat and did some swimming while I was snorkeling. When I got back to the boat there was a large Barracuda swimming around under the boat. It was about three feet long but was not bothering anyone. It is a frequent visitor and they have named it Homer!!
After leaving Norman Island we went to Jost Van Dyke Island home of the world Famous Soggy Dollar Bar. It is named that because there is no boat dock there and you must swim to the beach to get to the bar. It is said that this island is one of Jimmie Buffet's favorite places. Naturally we had to have at least one drink there and you can see Carol getting ready to head for the bar!!
The following two pictures show us in the water with our boat in the background. The water is deep enough that you have to swim in very close to the beach before you can stand up. Getting your drink back out to the boat is the real challenge!!
After having left at 8 AM and returning at 5 PM we were tired!!
Thursday, October 21, 2010
St Thomas preparations underway
It is only two days until we depart for our annual 2 weeks in St Thomas. I already have 10 boat SCUBA dives scheduled and will probably do a couple of shore dives at Coki Beach. Both Carol and I are looking forward to the relaxing time we have there.
We need the R&R as both of us are hurting some. Carol has been having problems with her back more than ever the last month or two. Right now she is at the doctor's for a routine checkup but he want to get some xrays of her back to see what might be causing her problem. Her back has been bad enough that she decided that bowling this year was out of the question.
I have been having problems with my right thumb joint which the doctor said is arthritis. At times it is so painful that I can't even hold a pencil. Then for extended periods there is no pain!!! About a month ago I pulled some muscles in my right arm while using a lopper to cut down a bush in our yard. The arm is still very sensitive and I have trouble reaching higher than my head. It is slowly getting better but bowling is out of the question for me also.
Saturday we will drive to Miami and park our car at a hotel near the airport (at a low cost) and then fly direct to St Thomas. We don't leave MIA until 430 PM and arrive in STT at 730 PM. We will be staying the first week at Bluebeard's Beach Club, right on the Caribbean, and the second week at Bluebeard's Castle, above the town. These are the same places we have been staying for most of our 20 plus years of going to St Thomas and we enjoy them.
When we get back I expect to have some pictures of our trip to post.
More later.
We need the R&R as both of us are hurting some. Carol has been having problems with her back more than ever the last month or two. Right now she is at the doctor's for a routine checkup but he want to get some xrays of her back to see what might be causing her problem. Her back has been bad enough that she decided that bowling this year was out of the question.
I have been having problems with my right thumb joint which the doctor said is arthritis. At times it is so painful that I can't even hold a pencil. Then for extended periods there is no pain!!! About a month ago I pulled some muscles in my right arm while using a lopper to cut down a bush in our yard. The arm is still very sensitive and I have trouble reaching higher than my head. It is slowly getting better but bowling is out of the question for me also.
Saturday we will drive to Miami and park our car at a hotel near the airport (at a low cost) and then fly direct to St Thomas. We don't leave MIA until 430 PM and arrive in STT at 730 PM. We will be staying the first week at Bluebeard's Beach Club, right on the Caribbean, and the second week at Bluebeard's Castle, above the town. These are the same places we have been staying for most of our 20 plus years of going to St Thomas and we enjoy them.
When we get back I expect to have some pictures of our trip to post.
More later.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Beach Drummers
Every Wednesday and Saturday there is a group of drummers who play their drums at Nokomis Beach to celebrate sundown. Carol and go when we think the sundown will be a good one. We went last evening and here is a video of some of the dancers.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Yard Work
The shrubs in the front and side of the house were getting slightly out of control so we finally go around to trimming them. Since we had installed a lamp post in the yard several weeks ago I finally got around to re-installing our flag pole. It was not as much work as I expected and it does add to the front to the house. Here is a picture of the front of the house with the flag and lamp post.
Since we had our lamp post installed our neighbor across the street had one put in also. The our next door neighbor got one installed!! Friends several doors away returned from "up north" and we heard they are also planning to have one installed. We may have started a trend!!
I got an email from the SCUBA shop I deal with and they are having a shark's tooth dive this coming Saturday. It will be done from the beach and they will have a food and drinks available. I called my dive buddy, Val, and he and I are planning to do the dive. If the surf is up I will just sit on the beach and watch the others struggle with the surf!!
The group we camp with are making arrangements to camp at the Tampa RV show again this January. We have been doing this with them the last several years and they are lot of fun.
I also called and spoke to Hank my St Thomas dive buddy to firm up our plans for that trip. We will be there starting OCT 23 and returning NOV 6. We already have 10 dives scheduled and may get in a few more from the beach.
The weather here is finally getting a little cooler and more comfortable. Temperatures are finally in the mid 80's instead of 90's.
More later.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Work and Play
We have been busy since our return from St Andrews and we have been also "playing" a lot.
While on or trip I found that the spotlight on the roof of the RV had burned out and also the CB antenna finally broke from hitting trees. Replacing the antenna was easy but finding the right bulb for the spotlight was not easy. The GE bulb had no good marking on it to identify it. Tiffin Motorhomes finally gave me some good information but I bought it from them for $86.00. Then I found another source for the same bulb for $46.00 after I had already installed the expensive one!!
While on the roof, I also sealed up a small opening that leaked rain occasionally.
On that same day, with the help of Gus and Marilyn we installed the curtain rod for a drape to cover the bingo board in the Clubhouse. I had to revise the brackets for the rod so they would extend far enough for the drape to hang over the front of the board. Also had to lower the bingo board from its original hanging position. Here are the before and after pictures.
Earlier in the week we did a major trimming of an overgrown shrub and we both wore ourselves out on that job. I even pulled some muscles in my right shoulder and couldn't play racquetball.
But we still were able to go out to dinner and dance 2 evenings in a row! That is always fun with our friends.
It is only a month and we will be in St Thomas for our annual 2 weeks there. I have already scheduled SCUBA dives on 5 days for 10 dives. I hope they don't have a hurricane to cause our trip a problem.
More later.
While on or trip I found that the spotlight on the roof of the RV had burned out and also the CB antenna finally broke from hitting trees. Replacing the antenna was easy but finding the right bulb for the spotlight was not easy. The GE bulb had no good marking on it to identify it. Tiffin Motorhomes finally gave me some good information but I bought it from them for $86.00. Then I found another source for the same bulb for $46.00 after I had already installed the expensive one!!
While on the roof, I also sealed up a small opening that leaked rain occasionally.
On that same day, with the help of Gus and Marilyn we installed the curtain rod for a drape to cover the bingo board in the Clubhouse. I had to revise the brackets for the rod so they would extend far enough for the drape to hang over the front of the board. Also had to lower the bingo board from its original hanging position. Here are the before and after pictures.
Earlier in the week we did a major trimming of an overgrown shrub and we both wore ourselves out on that job. I even pulled some muscles in my right shoulder and couldn't play racquetball.
But we still were able to go out to dinner and dance 2 evenings in a row! That is always fun with our friends.
It is only a month and we will be in St Thomas for our annual 2 weeks there. I have already scheduled SCUBA dives on 5 days for 10 dives. I hope they don't have a hurricane to cause our trip a problem.
More later.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
St Andrews State Park
We left Riverwalk on SEP 11 to head to Panama City Beach, FL and St Andrews SP. Since Carol's meeting of the Co-Op board was cancelled she decided to go along. My plan was to do SCUBA diving at the inlet.
On the way we stopped at Gainesville to break up the trip. Naturally we stayed at our favorite campground, Sam's Club!! It was hot and we had to run the AC a lot comfortable. The next day, Sunday, we drove about an hour to get to the Suwanee River park and toured around it some. There was a lot of Stephen Foster stuff there and we got to see the actual Suwanee River.
Since our reservation as St Andrews was not until Monday we stopped in Tallahassee Sunday night at where else but Sam's Club!
We arrived at St Andrews an hour earlier than expected since they are in the Central Time Zone. Not a problem though because the park was not very full at all. We had a nice pull-thru spot and a good clear shot at the Direct TV satellite. We were in view of the Lagoon and it was a nice quiet park.
The SCUBA diving is done at the inlet from the Gulf to the lagoon and has a rock jetty that makes a large wading and swimming pool. The diving is done on the inlet side across the jetty from the pool area. Since it is an inlet there are currents that you have to be aware of when the tides are coming in or going out. The currents can be strong and it best to dive at high slack tide or low slack tide when the currents are not there or are weak.
I did a lot of snorkeling as I did not find anyone to dive with and I did not care to SCUBA dive solo where I had not dived before. The snorkeling was good as I saw a decent sized sea turtle on two occasions, a crab and plenty of bait-sized fish. the bait fish were so plentiful they actually blocked vision and I had to try to chase them away.There were a good number of other fish also.
We ate in most of the time but one night we went to a spot on the beach called Pineapple Willies and split a dinner. It was good fresh seafood and for one dinner it was not unreasonable in cost. However we each had the house specialty drink and they were more than our one dinner!! We did get to keep the cups though. WOW!!!
While on the way to dinner we saw this one large "fish" and Carol nearly got swallowed by it.
The area was not very active since it was after Labor Day and not a week end. It seemed there were a number of places that either close for the season or maybe forever!!
We were scheduled to depart on Sunday SEP 19 but decided to leave on Saturday and take two days to drive back home. Before we left on Saturday morning I went to the jetty and since it was the weekend there were plenty of divers in or going in to dive. I counted at least 15 at one time.
The drive back was uneventful and we realized that for our entire week we did not have any ran at all. Naturally we stopped at Sam's in Gainesville on the way back.
The week of rest helped Carol's back and she was feeling quite good by the time we got home. However we decided that it was not a good idea for her to bowl this coming season since it was a real problem for her back last year. My right thumb is getting some arthritis in it and has a spasmodic pain at time and I may not be able to handle a bowling ball so I decided to also forgo bowling.
I guess we are getting old.
On the way we stopped at Gainesville to break up the trip. Naturally we stayed at our favorite campground, Sam's Club!! It was hot and we had to run the AC a lot comfortable. The next day, Sunday, we drove about an hour to get to the Suwanee River park and toured around it some. There was a lot of Stephen Foster stuff there and we got to see the actual Suwanee River.
Since our reservation as St Andrews was not until Monday we stopped in Tallahassee Sunday night at where else but Sam's Club!
We arrived at St Andrews an hour earlier than expected since they are in the Central Time Zone. Not a problem though because the park was not very full at all. We had a nice pull-thru spot and a good clear shot at the Direct TV satellite. We were in view of the Lagoon and it was a nice quiet park.
The SCUBA diving is done at the inlet from the Gulf to the lagoon and has a rock jetty that makes a large wading and swimming pool. The diving is done on the inlet side across the jetty from the pool area. Since it is an inlet there are currents that you have to be aware of when the tides are coming in or going out. The currents can be strong and it best to dive at high slack tide or low slack tide when the currents are not there or are weak.
I did a lot of snorkeling as I did not find anyone to dive with and I did not care to SCUBA dive solo where I had not dived before. The snorkeling was good as I saw a decent sized sea turtle on two occasions, a crab and plenty of bait-sized fish. the bait fish were so plentiful they actually blocked vision and I had to try to chase them away.There were a good number of other fish also.
We ate in most of the time but one night we went to a spot on the beach called Pineapple Willies and split a dinner. It was good fresh seafood and for one dinner it was not unreasonable in cost. However we each had the house specialty drink and they were more than our one dinner!! We did get to keep the cups though. WOW!!!
While on the way to dinner we saw this one large "fish" and Carol nearly got swallowed by it.
The area was not very active since it was after Labor Day and not a week end. It seemed there were a number of places that either close for the season or maybe forever!!
We were scheduled to depart on Sunday SEP 19 but decided to leave on Saturday and take two days to drive back home. Before we left on Saturday morning I went to the jetty and since it was the weekend there were plenty of divers in or going in to dive. I counted at least 15 at one time.
The drive back was uneventful and we realized that for our entire week we did not have any ran at all. Naturally we stopped at Sam's in Gainesville on the way back.
The week of rest helped Carol's back and she was feeling quite good by the time we got home. However we decided that it was not a good idea for her to bowl this coming season since it was a real problem for her back last year. My right thumb is getting some arthritis in it and has a spasmodic pain at time and I may not be able to handle a bowling ball so I decided to also forgo bowling.
I guess we are getting old.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Back in the routine
We have been home a week and are now back in our normal routine. Carol has been doing her aerobics at the YMCA on MON, WED, FRI while I have been doing 45 minutes of laps in the pool using only my legs with my SCUBA fins on. I need to get back in shape for some diving coming up shortly.
I have been doing some woodworking, making doors for our bingo cabinet at the clubhouse. They are just about done and then I can get to work on re-positioning the bingo board that hangs on the wall.
We did go to Nokomis Beach on Wednesday evening to watch and listen to the "Sunset Drummers". It was a real good evening as there were very few kids running around making a scene. There were at least 3 belly dancers putting on a pretty good display of their craft .... and bellies!! Th sunset was one of the better we have seen. A heavy rain cloud looked like it was going to block the sunset but the sun came out from under the clouds and did a perfect sunset between the clouds and the horizon. Everyone cheered for it when it went down.
We have already planned 3 evenings with Jay Smith, to dine and dance during September.
For several days we have no rain which is welcome after having heavy rains every day for a week or so. However, today it looks like we are going to get some rain. At least it will not be from a hurricane!!
More later, Jim
I have been doing some woodworking, making doors for our bingo cabinet at the clubhouse. They are just about done and then I can get to work on re-positioning the bingo board that hangs on the wall.
We did go to Nokomis Beach on Wednesday evening to watch and listen to the "Sunset Drummers". It was a real good evening as there were very few kids running around making a scene. There were at least 3 belly dancers putting on a pretty good display of their craft .... and bellies!! Th sunset was one of the better we have seen. A heavy rain cloud looked like it was going to block the sunset but the sun came out from under the clouds and did a perfect sunset between the clouds and the horizon. Everyone cheered for it when it went down.
We have already planned 3 evenings with Jay Smith, to dine and dance during September.
For several days we have no rain which is welcome after having heavy rains every day for a week or so. However, today it looks like we are going to get some rain. At least it will not be from a hurricane!!
More later, Jim
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Jacksonville and Home
We left Charleston by 7:30 AM and headed to Jacksonville; only about a 4 hour drive. It got hot in the coach by 10 AM so I turned on the generator and an air conditioner. (The engine air conditioner compressor is not working and it is more fuel efficient to use the diesel generator and a roof air conditioner.) We arrived about 11:30 as planned and pulled into the parking lot of the Crowne Paza JAX Airport Hotel. We had been invited to stay at no cost in their parking lot since that is where we are going to have the Hazelwood's reunion. Not a bad deal at all.
When I went to talk to the gal I had been working with on the reunion arrangements, I found out she was no longer there. She must have been a very recent departure since her cubicle still had her name tag on it!! Her replacement was just as easy to work with and we had most of the stuff finalized by the end of the day using only a relatively short meeting. After I signed the contract and gave a small deposit I arranged to get the final catering details cleared up the next day with the individual that handles that portion.
I had called the Naval Base last week and sent them a Tour Request via email early this week but still had not hard back from them. I had hoped to be able to get a face-to-face meeting to make our arrangements, but no luck.
During this Wednesday afternoon it got blistering hot again and I had to run 2 air conditioners to get the coach cooled down. I was concerned about running 2 since I was using the generator but we had no problems and it did not pop any breaker.
On Thursday I had my meeting with the catering gal and also had an appointment in the afternoon with a gal that has a tour bus company. I got all the catering details ironed out in the morning and by mid day she had them typed up and ready for my signature.
I used the hotel lobby lunch area as an office since I could get a solid connection on WiFi and it was cool. Carol and I had a nice light lunch there and we got to watch the Steeler and NY Giants game of Saturday on the TV. We missed the game when it was live.
The meeting with Ann of the tour bus company was very helpful. When she heard of my problems with the Naval base she said she would help as she has some connections there. All in all, it was a good trip in JAX even if I could not get on the base for personal meeting.
We got to bed early so we could depart by 7 AM as I had an appointment in Bradenton at 11:30 about my hearing aids. Yeah, I finally broke down and got a pair!! I seemed to have a problem with one. We made it in time and there was no real problem with the hearing aid.
Got home by 1:30 PM, unloaded the coach, parked it, showered and got ready to go to dinner and dancing with friends!! Jay Smith, our favorite entertainer was playing at the Punta Gorda Elks so we (5 of us) got there about 5:45 had dinner and then danced from 7 til 10. I was tired and not much of a party boy but we did have a good time.
Up at 7:30 AM this Saturday morning and getting back into the normal routine while waiting for our mail to come. That will keep me busy for a while.
More later .....
When I went to talk to the gal I had been working with on the reunion arrangements, I found out she was no longer there. She must have been a very recent departure since her cubicle still had her name tag on it!! Her replacement was just as easy to work with and we had most of the stuff finalized by the end of the day using only a relatively short meeting. After I signed the contract and gave a small deposit I arranged to get the final catering details cleared up the next day with the individual that handles that portion.
I had called the Naval Base last week and sent them a Tour Request via email early this week but still had not hard back from them. I had hoped to be able to get a face-to-face meeting to make our arrangements, but no luck.
During this Wednesday afternoon it got blistering hot again and I had to run 2 air conditioners to get the coach cooled down. I was concerned about running 2 since I was using the generator but we had no problems and it did not pop any breaker.
On Thursday I had my meeting with the catering gal and also had an appointment in the afternoon with a gal that has a tour bus company. I got all the catering details ironed out in the morning and by mid day she had them typed up and ready for my signature.
I used the hotel lobby lunch area as an office since I could get a solid connection on WiFi and it was cool. Carol and I had a nice light lunch there and we got to watch the Steeler and NY Giants game of Saturday on the TV. We missed the game when it was live.
The meeting with Ann of the tour bus company was very helpful. When she heard of my problems with the Naval base she said she would help as she has some connections there. All in all, it was a good trip in JAX even if I could not get on the base for personal meeting.
We got to bed early so we could depart by 7 AM as I had an appointment in Bradenton at 11:30 about my hearing aids. Yeah, I finally broke down and got a pair!! I seemed to have a problem with one. We made it in time and there was no real problem with the hearing aid.
Got home by 1:30 PM, unloaded the coach, parked it, showered and got ready to go to dinner and dancing with friends!! Jay Smith, our favorite entertainer was playing at the Punta Gorda Elks so we (5 of us) got there about 5:45 had dinner and then danced from 7 til 10. I was tired and not much of a party boy but we did have a good time.
Up at 7:30 AM this Saturday morning and getting back into the normal routine while waiting for our mail to come. That will keep me busy for a while.
More later .....
Friday, August 27, 2010
Charleston visit
It was a hot drive from Trafford but we drove to a Walmart in Rocky Hill, SC before stopping. We wanted to get south of Charlotte so we would not hit the morning traffic on our departure tomorrow. The gas station at Walmart had diesel for 2.69 per gallon when using a Walmart gift card,which is a real bargain. So I got a Walmart gift card put in 89 gallons which will take us all the way home.
We arrived at the campground about 11 AM and got settled in, took showers and relaxed before going to see Joy where she works. It was so hot that I had to run both air conditioners to get the coach cooled down. I haven't had to to that but once before out west in the desert.
We arranged to pick up Joy and Kismet after she finished work and went to dinner at Chili's. It was nice to have time to visit and get updated on all she has going on. We arranged to pick Kismet up in the morning so he and I could do a lot of swimming. We got in the pool at the campground about 10:30 and didn't get out until 2 PM.
I brought my extra fins, mask and snorkel so both of us could snorkel at the same time. I also brought my camera so I could get pictures of him underwater. He was a little reluctant to try the fins but he got used to them in a short while. He also got more used to using a flutter kick rather than kicking like he was riding a bicycle. He floats like a cork and even though he cannot really swim unless he has the mask and snorkel on, he was going to the deep end of the pool with no fear. Naturally I stayed near at all times.
As I worked more with him I got him to start diving down to get an object off the bottom of the pool. It was a real challenge for him since he floats so well. He was finally able to work from the 3 foot depth to the 4 foot depth to get an ashtray we were using.
At 2 PM we finally rested and went to his favorite eating spot Chick-Fil-A and made a stop at Walmart to get some stuff we needed. By 4:30 we were back in the pool and he stayed there until 6:30 when we had to leave to get him back home.
We had to leave in the morning to get to Jacksonville so I could do more work on the Hazelwood reunion. It was a short visit but it was a good one.
We arrived at the campground about 11 AM and got settled in, took showers and relaxed before going to see Joy where she works. It was so hot that I had to run both air conditioners to get the coach cooled down. I haven't had to to that but once before out west in the desert.
We arranged to pick up Joy and Kismet after she finished work and went to dinner at Chili's. It was nice to have time to visit and get updated on all she has going on. We arranged to pick Kismet up in the morning so he and I could do a lot of swimming. We got in the pool at the campground about 10:30 and didn't get out until 2 PM.
I brought my extra fins, mask and snorkel so both of us could snorkel at the same time. I also brought my camera so I could get pictures of him underwater. He was a little reluctant to try the fins but he got used to them in a short while. He also got more used to using a flutter kick rather than kicking like he was riding a bicycle. He floats like a cork and even though he cannot really swim unless he has the mask and snorkel on, he was going to the deep end of the pool with no fear. Naturally I stayed near at all times.
As I worked more with him I got him to start diving down to get an object off the bottom of the pool. It was a real challenge for him since he floats so well. He was finally able to work from the 3 foot depth to the 4 foot depth to get an ashtray we were using.
At 2 PM we finally rested and went to his favorite eating spot Chick-Fil-A and made a stop at Walmart to get some stuff we needed. By 4:30 we were back in the pool and he stayed there until 6:30 when we had to leave to get him back home.
We had to leave in the morning to get to Jacksonville so I could do more work on the Hazelwood reunion. It was a short visit but it was a good one.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Trafford Visit
We got in Trafford on Wednesday, August 18 so we could attend the street fair on Friday and Saturday. Of course there were other things we also wanted to do. One of the first things we did was to go to DeLallo's Italian store and get some to their great sandwiched sized pepperoni. It is the best I have ever had as it has very little fat and not too hot but just hot enough. I have already eaten up the pound that we got!! Also got some of their hot and sweet Italian sausage.
We went to Parente's for dinner in the evening and I had excellent spaghetti and Carol had very good lasagna. It is a fine place to eat in Trafford.
We got a shocking call from Lorrie on Thursday morning informing us that her father passed away yesterday very suddenly. We thought we might head back to Zanesville but she said not to come back as she has a large family there for all the support she will need.
Thursday morning I took a walk out "the tracks" to see what it looked like out there. It has really grown up with trees and it was not even possible to see the old "clay banks" and the brickyard has been torn down. The RR bridge to it is gone. The walk brought back a lot of memories since I used to walk it many times in my younger days.
On Thursday afternoon we got to visit my cousin Bonnie Craig (Ogle) and Ron at their new house in Greensburg. They now have a one floor home which they both love. It is really a pretty house and an excellent location. On Thursday evening we were guests for dinner at Rey and Bibi Peduzzi's along with John and May Lou Serafin. So this was a time to reminisce more even though John lives near us in FL.
On Friday we went to downtown Pittsburgh to go to Primanti's to get one of their famous sandwiches. When they make the sandwich they put everything on the sandwich, lettuce , tomato, cole slaw, french fries, and corned beef all on thick slab of Italian bread. It was OK but not as good as advertised or expected. They have been on the Food Channel so we wanted to see what it was like. So Here it is.
Primanti's is in the "Strip District" of Pittsburgh, an old commercial area where foodstuffs were brought to town to sell. We walked around in Wholey's Seafood Market which is another place there. It is an amazing place with a lot more than seafood. It has all kinds of meats and every kind of food you might want. We were amazed that they had Maine lobster for $4.98 a pound for a 1 Lb. to 1 1/2 Lb size. Here is one we saw which is NOT a small one.
The street fair began on Friday evening and it was small as is usual. We did get to see some of the "old timers" .... Melvin Buchan and Betty and I saw Dave Paoli who was on the USS Wisconsin when I went on my first midshipman cruise. The music was loud and and it was hot and we left a little early. It did cool down nice in the evening and we did not need to use the generator for air conditioning.
On Saturday we were able to get a quart of Isaly's Whitehouse ice cream to take to Charleston for Joy. It is her favorite and I had to have cone since I also like it a lot!!
Saturday we went to the Flea Market and made arrangements to get NAVY, DD531 shirts for the lady attendees of the Hazelwood reunion if they would like to purchase one.
At the street fair I got to see Mary Jean Ruffo, Vincent Morroco and his wife Emmy Lou (Crowel), Ken Snyder and his wife Eva Jane (Bruno). It started to rain so we left early and I am not sure if they even got off the fireworks that evening.
We departed early on Sunday morning and headed for Charleston to visit Joy and Kismet.
We went to Parente's for dinner in the evening and I had excellent spaghetti and Carol had very good lasagna. It is a fine place to eat in Trafford.
We got a shocking call from Lorrie on Thursday morning informing us that her father passed away yesterday very suddenly. We thought we might head back to Zanesville but she said not to come back as she has a large family there for all the support she will need.
Thursday morning I took a walk out "the tracks" to see what it looked like out there. It has really grown up with trees and it was not even possible to see the old "clay banks" and the brickyard has been torn down. The RR bridge to it is gone. The walk brought back a lot of memories since I used to walk it many times in my younger days.
On Thursday afternoon we got to visit my cousin Bonnie Craig (Ogle) and Ron at their new house in Greensburg. They now have a one floor home which they both love. It is really a pretty house and an excellent location. On Thursday evening we were guests for dinner at Rey and Bibi Peduzzi's along with John and May Lou Serafin. So this was a time to reminisce more even though John lives near us in FL.
On Friday we went to downtown Pittsburgh to go to Primanti's to get one of their famous sandwiches. When they make the sandwich they put everything on the sandwich, lettuce , tomato, cole slaw, french fries, and corned beef all on thick slab of Italian bread. It was OK but not as good as advertised or expected. They have been on the Food Channel so we wanted to see what it was like. So Here it is.
Primanti's is in the "Strip District" of Pittsburgh, an old commercial area where foodstuffs were brought to town to sell. We walked around in Wholey's Seafood Market which is another place there. It is an amazing place with a lot more than seafood. It has all kinds of meats and every kind of food you might want. We were amazed that they had Maine lobster for $4.98 a pound for a 1 Lb. to 1 1/2 Lb size. Here is one we saw which is NOT a small one.
The street fair began on Friday evening and it was small as is usual. We did get to see some of the "old timers" .... Melvin Buchan and Betty and I saw Dave Paoli who was on the USS Wisconsin when I went on my first midshipman cruise. The music was loud and and it was hot and we left a little early. It did cool down nice in the evening and we did not need to use the generator for air conditioning.
On Saturday we were able to get a quart of Isaly's Whitehouse ice cream to take to Charleston for Joy. It is her favorite and I had to have cone since I also like it a lot!!
Saturday we went to the Flea Market and made arrangements to get NAVY, DD531 shirts for the lady attendees of the Hazelwood reunion if they would like to purchase one.
At the street fair I got to see Mary Jean Ruffo, Vincent Morroco and his wife Emmy Lou (Crowel), Ken Snyder and his wife Eva Jane (Bruno). It started to rain so we left early and I am not sure if they even got off the fireworks that evening.
We departed early on Sunday morning and headed for Charleston to visit Joy and Kismet.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Notes from the road
After departing Riverwalk on Tuesday DEC 10 (Carol's birthday) we stopped for the night in Valdosta, GA using the Sam's Club parking lot. Usually the diesel prices are quite good in GA but the lowest we saw at Flying J was 2.99. I decided to pass that up and I was lucky to find diesel for 2.77 right across the street form Sam's. I saved $0.22 per gallon and that adds up when you put in 102 gallons!!
Our next stop was in Monteagle TN at Dave and Lana Reagel's. They have a great summer cabin that is so large it should not be called a cabin. We stayed 2 nights there and even did a little fishing in Dave's pond. He stocks it with bass and catfish so it was easy for me to catch a couple of catfish. I also helped Dave install a new ceiling fan as the old one fell to the floor unexpectedly.
We left there on Friday and stopped in Cincinnati so Carol could go to the Otis company picnic on Saturday. It was as hot as FL but we had a good time and Carol got to see some of the folks she used to work with. Jack and Barb Blomback were there so we got to update each other. We have camped with them each winter for several years when they came to FL.
We got to Zanesville Sunday and parked in our normal golf course parking lot near our Daughter-in-laws house. The weather finally cooled down some and we are able to sleep at night with the windows open and be comfortable. We even found diesel at Sam's Club for only 2.92 which was less than on the road by more than 10 cents per gallon.
On Monday we went to Rob's grave site and did some clean up and put new flowers at the headstone. Lorrie and Brad came by at the coach and we had a nice visit for several hours. I am sure they will be getting married at some point and it is a good match. They were high school sweethearts but went there own ways when he went to college.
Lorries spent a good bit of time with us on Tuesday and we played cards and had a good time. In the evening we went to Ruby Tuesdays for dinner but Dawn would not go, I think, because I did not want any texting going on while we were having dinner.
Tomorrow we leave here and head for Trafford.
Later!!
Our next stop was in Monteagle TN at Dave and Lana Reagel's. They have a great summer cabin that is so large it should not be called a cabin. We stayed 2 nights there and even did a little fishing in Dave's pond. He stocks it with bass and catfish so it was easy for me to catch a couple of catfish. I also helped Dave install a new ceiling fan as the old one fell to the floor unexpectedly.
We left there on Friday and stopped in Cincinnati so Carol could go to the Otis company picnic on Saturday. It was as hot as FL but we had a good time and Carol got to see some of the folks she used to work with. Jack and Barb Blomback were there so we got to update each other. We have camped with them each winter for several years when they came to FL.
We got to Zanesville Sunday and parked in our normal golf course parking lot near our Daughter-in-laws house. The weather finally cooled down some and we are able to sleep at night with the windows open and be comfortable. We even found diesel at Sam's Club for only 2.92 which was less than on the road by more than 10 cents per gallon.
On Monday we went to Rob's grave site and did some clean up and put new flowers at the headstone. Lorrie and Brad came by at the coach and we had a nice visit for several hours. I am sure they will be getting married at some point and it is a good match. They were high school sweethearts but went there own ways when he went to college.
Lorries spent a good bit of time with us on Tuesday and we played cards and had a good time. In the evening we went to Ruby Tuesdays for dinner but Dawn would not go, I think, because I did not want any texting going on while we were having dinner.
Tomorrow we leave here and head for Trafford.
Later!!
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Getting ready to head north
Today I put up the hurricane shutters since we are leaving on Tuesday for about 3 weeks. You never know when a storm may blow in on us!!
With all the hot weather and the warm water in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic I am surprised that we have not had any real storms yet. I went snorkeling in the Gulf last week and the water temperature was above 90 F. It was actually to warm to be refreshing. So I have been doing about 45 minutes in the YMCA pool 3 times a week to get my legs in shape for Scuba. The water at the Y is much more refreshing.
Even though it is not until late October when we go to St Thomas I have been contact with the Coki Beach Dive Club and have already set up our dives dates with them. If you want to see why I like Scuba so much, go to their site, http://www.cokidive.com/hotelguests.htm and look at the videos and the still photo albums. I am not in any of the pictures or video but they are very good underwater shots and it shows the beauty of the area.
We went out with friends to the Legion last night for dinner and dancing to our favorite entertainer, Jay Smith. Dinner was good but Jay called in sick about 3 PM and the Legion had to scramble to get a replacement. He was OK but he just didn't measure up to Jay and we left a little early.
I hope to take some pictures while up north and will post some on this blog.
Later, Jim
With all the hot weather and the warm water in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic I am surprised that we have not had any real storms yet. I went snorkeling in the Gulf last week and the water temperature was above 90 F. It was actually to warm to be refreshing. So I have been doing about 45 minutes in the YMCA pool 3 times a week to get my legs in shape for Scuba. The water at the Y is much more refreshing.
Even though it is not until late October when we go to St Thomas I have been contact with the Coki Beach Dive Club and have already set up our dives dates with them. If you want to see why I like Scuba so much, go to their site, http://www.cokidive.com/hotelguests.htm and look at the videos and the still photo albums. I am not in any of the pictures or video but they are very good underwater shots and it shows the beauty of the area.
We went out with friends to the Legion last night for dinner and dancing to our favorite entertainer, Jay Smith. Dinner was good but Jay called in sick about 3 PM and the Legion had to scramble to get a replacement. He was OK but he just didn't measure up to Jay and we left a little early.
I hope to take some pictures while up north and will post some on this blog.
Later, Jim
Monday, August 2, 2010
Three Quarters of a Century
Yesterday I became three quarters of century old!! Holy smokes that sounds old. But I don't think that old, even if my body sometimes tells me that I am getting older.
We had a quiet day to celebrate my birthday. Got up a little later than usual ... about 8:30 ... and Carol asked if I was going to fix breakfast. I said "I thought that was supposed to be my question on this day". So I fixed breakfast!!
We were invited by our friends, Gus and Marilyn, to have dinner with them. Marilyn's meals are always something very special and this was no exception. A superb crab meat appetizer, stuffed mushrooms and a pork loin roast. Dessert was provided by Carol as she made my favorite, pineapple upside down cake. She knows it is my favorite but I don't see it too often; but then my waistline does not really need it.
Today we went to the YMCA and I did pool laps for 40 minutes since no one was there to pay racquetball with. My legs need the exercise since I have not been on a dive for about a month and have not been doing any real amount of snorkeling. Yea, I do all these things at 75!! Carol did her aerobics while I was in the pool.
In fact today I was emailing the Scuba place in St Thomas to arrange for 10 tanks of dives during our stay in Oct/Nov.
After the YMCA I got the needed part for my motorcycle and installed it to fix a small oil leak. Success again and a repair done for $3.18 instead of $100 or more!!
So that is all for now.
We had a quiet day to celebrate my birthday. Got up a little later than usual ... about 8:30 ... and Carol asked if I was going to fix breakfast. I said "I thought that was supposed to be my question on this day". So I fixed breakfast!!
We were invited by our friends, Gus and Marilyn, to have dinner with them. Marilyn's meals are always something very special and this was no exception. A superb crab meat appetizer, stuffed mushrooms and a pork loin roast. Dessert was provided by Carol as she made my favorite, pineapple upside down cake. She knows it is my favorite but I don't see it too often; but then my waistline does not really need it.
Today we went to the YMCA and I did pool laps for 40 minutes since no one was there to pay racquetball with. My legs need the exercise since I have not been on a dive for about a month and have not been doing any real amount of snorkeling. Yea, I do all these things at 75!! Carol did her aerobics while I was in the pool.
In fact today I was emailing the Scuba place in St Thomas to arrange for 10 tanks of dives during our stay in Oct/Nov.
After the YMCA I got the needed part for my motorcycle and installed it to fix a small oil leak. Success again and a repair done for $3.18 instead of $100 or more!!
So that is all for now.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Mr FIXIT
I have been lax posting and it may be due to the heat or that I have been fixing everything around here and other places. In about a week we leave for a trip up north so I better put some info on here before we leave. Earlier this month a cabinet at the clubhouse had 2 drawers that had problems with the pulls and one of the drawers was extremely tight. The one drawer was so tight that a drawer pull was actually broken and the other had threads stripped. I was able to re-tap new threads and use a larger screw to solve one problem but the other was a difficult rebuilding job. I finally was able to set a new crossbar to replace the broken one and it looked like new and did the job. It does not even look like it had been broken. Naturally the drawers were trimmed to prevent any further problems with the pulls.
Our dishwasher has been having problems for a number of months. The motor would not start but would hum. I found that if I reached under to the motor and gave it a spin with my finger (with the power off) it would then work. It did this only occasionally earlier but it now became an every day deal!! I looked up the drawings of the "works" online and found it was either the pump ($40.00) or the pump and motor assembly ($150.00). When I dug into the "works" I could not get the pump open to replace it so it would have cost the $150.00 solution. Too much to spend on an older dishwasher. So we finally found a new one that fit our needs and wallet and I installed it. It took only several hours for me to do it and it works fine.
When I turned the electrical power back on, the kitchen fluorescent light would not light. After changing the bulbs and even going to get two brand new bulbs it still would not work. That meant the ballast in the fixture was bad. So I installed a new ballast and viola, it works. So that day I spent several hours crawling around on the floor installing the washer and then several hours up and down a ladder fixing the light fixture. I was really beat after that.
While we were shopping for the washer we saw a great closeout price on an outdoor lamp post so we bought it and all the needed other stuff such as a photocell switch, the lamp and needed electrical stuff. Last week I finally got the time and strength to dig the hole, mix the cement and install it. I even installed an electrical plug that can be used for other lighting (flag pole or Xmas lights). The light adds some badly needed lighting to our street area and is a nice addition to the front landscape.
For about a month my motorcycle has been spitting out a very small amount of hot oil while I am riding it. At first I did not realize it was oil but thought it was sand hitting my ankle. When I noticed small oil marks on my right sock I did some searching and found an oily spot nearby on the front cylinder. One of the cycle shops gave me some suggestions on where to find the leak and sure enough a small gasket had a crack in it and was leaking the small amount of oil. So I now have the part out and will get a new gasket at the dealer this coming week.
I did not do this following repair job but had good help on it. Since we came back from Sebastian Inlet last month a light on the dash of the Jeep was on that said "part time". It was referring to the 4 wheel drive of the Jeep but never was on previous to this. The 4 WD was working properly except for this darn light. I tried putting the Jeep into and out of 4WD but was not successful getting it to go out. I finally went to the Jeep dealer and they weren't any help as they wanted to put it in the shop and then charge me a lot to test everything. I didn't want to pay to train their mechanics!!! So, I went to a shop I had used before and they fiddled with the 4 WD to try to find out what was wrong before giving me an estimate, which I think is the right way to do things. While doing this, the light finally went out and it cost me nothing for their help. My kind of shop!!
Well, we leave here on August 10 and will be back on August 28 if all goes as planned. We will be stopping in Monteagle, TN; Cincinnati, OH; Zanesville, OH; Trafford, PA; Charleston, SC; and Jacksonville, FL plus several Sam's Clubs and/or Walmarts during our trip. I may have some pictures of the Trafford street fair for a post about it!! Today I became three quarters of a century old. It sounds old but I still think I am a teenager in my mind. My body tells me otherwise sometimes though.
Later
Our dishwasher has been having problems for a number of months. The motor would not start but would hum. I found that if I reached under to the motor and gave it a spin with my finger (with the power off) it would then work. It did this only occasionally earlier but it now became an every day deal!! I looked up the drawings of the "works" online and found it was either the pump ($40.00) or the pump and motor assembly ($150.00). When I dug into the "works" I could not get the pump open to replace it so it would have cost the $150.00 solution. Too much to spend on an older dishwasher. So we finally found a new one that fit our needs and wallet and I installed it. It took only several hours for me to do it and it works fine.
When I turned the electrical power back on, the kitchen fluorescent light would not light. After changing the bulbs and even going to get two brand new bulbs it still would not work. That meant the ballast in the fixture was bad. So I installed a new ballast and viola, it works. So that day I spent several hours crawling around on the floor installing the washer and then several hours up and down a ladder fixing the light fixture. I was really beat after that.
While we were shopping for the washer we saw a great closeout price on an outdoor lamp post so we bought it and all the needed other stuff such as a photocell switch, the lamp and needed electrical stuff. Last week I finally got the time and strength to dig the hole, mix the cement and install it. I even installed an electrical plug that can be used for other lighting (flag pole or Xmas lights). The light adds some badly needed lighting to our street area and is a nice addition to the front landscape.
For about a month my motorcycle has been spitting out a very small amount of hot oil while I am riding it. At first I did not realize it was oil but thought it was sand hitting my ankle. When I noticed small oil marks on my right sock I did some searching and found an oily spot nearby on the front cylinder. One of the cycle shops gave me some suggestions on where to find the leak and sure enough a small gasket had a crack in it and was leaking the small amount of oil. So I now have the part out and will get a new gasket at the dealer this coming week.
I did not do this following repair job but had good help on it. Since we came back from Sebastian Inlet last month a light on the dash of the Jeep was on that said "part time". It was referring to the 4 wheel drive of the Jeep but never was on previous to this. The 4 WD was working properly except for this darn light. I tried putting the Jeep into and out of 4WD but was not successful getting it to go out. I finally went to the Jeep dealer and they weren't any help as they wanted to put it in the shop and then charge me a lot to test everything. I didn't want to pay to train their mechanics!!! So, I went to a shop I had used before and they fiddled with the 4 WD to try to find out what was wrong before giving me an estimate, which I think is the right way to do things. While doing this, the light finally went out and it cost me nothing for their help. My kind of shop!!
Well, we leave here on August 10 and will be back on August 28 if all goes as planned. We will be stopping in Monteagle, TN; Cincinnati, OH; Zanesville, OH; Trafford, PA; Charleston, SC; and Jacksonville, FL plus several Sam's Clubs and/or Walmarts during our trip. I may have some pictures of the Trafford street fair for a post about it!! Today I became three quarters of a century old. It sounds old but I still think I am a teenager in my mind. My body tells me otherwise sometimes though.
Later
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
A Rainy Fourth of July
We had rain all day long on the 4th of July making it a very gloomy day. We did not even go out to see any fireworks. It has been gloomy and rainy here for about 5 days now and we are getting tired of it.
Our community did have a party on Saturday afternoon to celebrate the Fourth though. Hamburgers and hot dogs just like a picnic. We did enjoy the time there with Gus and Marilyn.
During the week before we went out again to have dinner and dance to Jay Smith at the Punta Gorda Elks again. It has become nearly a weekly affair as we are going again this coming Friday also. Jay is playing at the Venice Legion and we will go to dinner elsewhere and have a better dinner than they serve at the Legion!!
Next week we will be going to Tampa to camp at Lazy days for 4 nights and meet up with our east coast RV friends. It will be fun I am sure.
Our community did have a party on Saturday afternoon to celebrate the Fourth though. Hamburgers and hot dogs just like a picnic. We did enjoy the time there with Gus and Marilyn.
During the week before we went out again to have dinner and dance to Jay Smith at the Punta Gorda Elks again. It has become nearly a weekly affair as we are going again this coming Friday also. Jay is playing at the Venice Legion and we will go to dinner elsewhere and have a better dinner than they serve at the Legion!!
Next week we will be going to Tampa to camp at Lazy days for 4 nights and meet up with our east coast RV friends. It will be fun I am sure.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Sebastian Inlet
Last week we spent 5 nights in the motorhome at Sebastian Inlet State Park. A nice park right on the inlet and overlooking the Indian River Lagoon. Water flowed in and out of the lagoon with the tides and it was a fast flow at the narrow part of the inlet.
There was a swimming spot on the other side of the inlet and still part of the State Park. When the tide was high the "pool" was nearly 100 yards across but at low tide it got down to about 20 yards. I did some snorkeling here at high tide and near the point where the water comes in there were about 20 snook. They were about 18 to 24 inches long and quite a sight. One of them had a long piece of heavy twine tied around it's tail and I tried to grab it but could not get close enough.
I thought about snorkeling in the Atlantic but the surf was more than I wanted to fight. Carol and I did walk the Atlantic beach one afternoon and picked some trash. We were actually looking for gold but found none washed up on the beach!
In July of 1715 a fleet of 11 or 12 Spanish galleons loaded with gold got sunk by a hurricane right off this coast. People have been recovering gold from the area for years. In fact, Mel Fisher, the treasure hunter who fond the Atocha made is first large treasure findings here in the late 1940's.
There is a museum at the site where the survivors of the hurricane and shipwrecks camped and worked salvaging the gold. It is a very interesting story. The area is called the Treasure Coast because of the shipwrecks and the finding of gold even yet today. I may try to SCUBA it someday because the reefs are quite close to the shore.
Camping friends came to visit us while we were there and we had a good afternoon with them. We also made arrangements to go to Lazy Days near Tampa for 4 nights in mid July so we can visit with them more
While at the park, our satellite dish could not find the Direct TV satellite so Carol had to watch normal TV. After doing all I could to correct the problem I finally called the company and found a service guy in Wachula, Fl. Since we were going to be passing within 20 miles of Wachula we made arrangements to meet up with him on our way home. In a very short time he upgraded the program in the equipment and it is now working again.
There was a swimming spot on the other side of the inlet and still part of the State Park. When the tide was high the "pool" was nearly 100 yards across but at low tide it got down to about 20 yards. I did some snorkeling here at high tide and near the point where the water comes in there were about 20 snook. They were about 18 to 24 inches long and quite a sight. One of them had a long piece of heavy twine tied around it's tail and I tried to grab it but could not get close enough.
I thought about snorkeling in the Atlantic but the surf was more than I wanted to fight. Carol and I did walk the Atlantic beach one afternoon and picked some trash. We were actually looking for gold but found none washed up on the beach!
In July of 1715 a fleet of 11 or 12 Spanish galleons loaded with gold got sunk by a hurricane right off this coast. People have been recovering gold from the area for years. In fact, Mel Fisher, the treasure hunter who fond the Atocha made is first large treasure findings here in the late 1940's.
There is a museum at the site where the survivors of the hurricane and shipwrecks camped and worked salvaging the gold. It is a very interesting story. The area is called the Treasure Coast because of the shipwrecks and the finding of gold even yet today. I may try to SCUBA it someday because the reefs are quite close to the shore.
Camping friends came to visit us while we were there and we had a good afternoon with them. We also made arrangements to go to Lazy Days near Tampa for 4 nights in mid July so we can visit with them more
While at the park, our satellite dish could not find the Direct TV satellite so Carol had to watch normal TV. After doing all I could to correct the problem I finally called the company and found a service guy in Wachula, Fl. Since we were going to be passing within 20 miles of Wachula we made arrangements to meet up with him on our way home. In a very short time he upgraded the program in the equipment and it is now working again.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Shark Tooth Dive
On Tuesday, June 15 I went on a shark tooth SCUBA dive with Capt. Gil Cross into the Gulf of Mexico just of Manasota Beach. Gil has a 50 foot boat but only carries 6 paying passengers on a trip. It is licensed as a "six pack" boat!
When I got to the dock Gil was up on the flying bridge waiting for me but I did not see anyone else around but did not think it was odd since I was early. I jokingly said "Is it just you and me today?" and he replied, much to my surprise, "Yes, just you and me." I still thought he was joking, but not so. He said he was going to do some diving also since he makes an income from the sharks teeth he finds as well as other fossils.
For those who may not be aware, the Venice, Florida area is a very good place to find fossilized sharks teeth and other fossils. The teeth range in age from 2 to 35 million years old!!
On the first dive we went to a spot that was about a mile off shore of Manasota Beach and in about 30 feet of water. Gil came up with about 10 small teeth that could be used to make necklaces but I came up empty handed. We moved to spot closer to shore and over a reef that runs parallel to the beach in about 18 feet of water.
Because of an equipment problem Gil did not dive this time and he watched my bubbles from the boat. I was down only about 15 minutes and say what looked like a broken shell in a crevice of the reef. When I picked it up I realized I had a real nice Megalodon sharks tooth that was about 4 1/2 inches long. It was covered with marine "stuff" on it but it still was quite apparent what it was. A little later I found a second tooth but it had a corner broken off and was not a nice as the first one.
Here is a picture of it if you have never seen one.
It did not clean up as well as I would have liked but I will talking to Capt. Gil about how to clean it up better.
We leave this Sunday for 5 days on the east coast at Sebastian Inlet State Park and I may get to
do some diving there. At least I will take my gear and see how it works out.
When I got to the dock Gil was up on the flying bridge waiting for me but I did not see anyone else around but did not think it was odd since I was early. I jokingly said "Is it just you and me today?" and he replied, much to my surprise, "Yes, just you and me." I still thought he was joking, but not so. He said he was going to do some diving also since he makes an income from the sharks teeth he finds as well as other fossils.
For those who may not be aware, the Venice, Florida area is a very good place to find fossilized sharks teeth and other fossils. The teeth range in age from 2 to 35 million years old!!
On the first dive we went to a spot that was about a mile off shore of Manasota Beach and in about 30 feet of water. Gil came up with about 10 small teeth that could be used to make necklaces but I came up empty handed. We moved to spot closer to shore and over a reef that runs parallel to the beach in about 18 feet of water.
Because of an equipment problem Gil did not dive this time and he watched my bubbles from the boat. I was down only about 15 minutes and say what looked like a broken shell in a crevice of the reef. When I picked it up I realized I had a real nice Megalodon sharks tooth that was about 4 1/2 inches long. It was covered with marine "stuff" on it but it still was quite apparent what it was. A little later I found a second tooth but it had a corner broken off and was not a nice as the first one.
Here is a picture of it if you have never seen one.
It did not clean up as well as I would have liked but I will talking to Capt. Gil about how to clean it up better.
We leave this Sunday for 5 days on the east coast at Sebastian Inlet State Park and I may get to
do some diving there. At least I will take my gear and see how it works out.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Enjoying Life
For the last week or so I have been snorkeling in the YMCA pool instead of playing racquetball. I getting my legs in shape for a SCUBA dive coming up on Tuesday June 15. I am going out on a boat with Capt. Gill Cross and he specializes in going to spots where many fossilized sharks teeth can be found. He had a little seminar over Memorial Day weekend and had about 2 dozen large teeth (2-5" long) on a table and said they had found those in the last couple of weeks.
I am looking forward to the dive and hoping to come home with at least several good fossils. I did go out to snorkel in the gulf last week and the water had to be in the low 90's. It was so warm that it was actually a little too warm. The visibility was very poor as I could hardly see my hand when I extended my arm so I did not snorkel very long. The surf was also a little more than was enjoyable.
This morning I went out and the water was much clearer but a little cooler and there was no surf at all. I did find a number of nice shells and I also found that my legs are in much better shape for snorkeling and SCUBA. I spent about 50 minutes in the water and did not feel any tiredness in my legs.
We have been going out nearly weekly to have dinner with our friends Gus and Marilyn and then dancing to Jay Smith. I guess you could call us senior groupies!! The last place we went to dinner was called Ivy's Steakhouse and neither of had been there before. We will be going back since it was very good. This coming Thursday a group of us are going to an Amish restaurant in Sarasota. They have a buffet that is said to be very good. That does not surprise me since their home location is in Walnut Creek, Ohio, the heart of Amish country. No dancing to Jay Smith afterwards though!!
The summer weather is upon us with temperatures in the low 90's in the afternoon and an occasional thunderstorm. Mornings are in the mid 70's and humidity is quite high.
This coming Sunday we are taking the motorhome to the east coast and spending 5 nights at Sebastian Inlet State Park. I may get some snorkeling in but I doubt if I will get any SCUBA.
Still no oil on our coasts here in southern Florida and we hope it stays away.
I am looking forward to the dive and hoping to come home with at least several good fossils. I did go out to snorkel in the gulf last week and the water had to be in the low 90's. It was so warm that it was actually a little too warm. The visibility was very poor as I could hardly see my hand when I extended my arm so I did not snorkel very long. The surf was also a little more than was enjoyable.
This morning I went out and the water was much clearer but a little cooler and there was no surf at all. I did find a number of nice shells and I also found that my legs are in much better shape for snorkeling and SCUBA. I spent about 50 minutes in the water and did not feel any tiredness in my legs.
We have been going out nearly weekly to have dinner with our friends Gus and Marilyn and then dancing to Jay Smith. I guess you could call us senior groupies!! The last place we went to dinner was called Ivy's Steakhouse and neither of had been there before. We will be going back since it was very good. This coming Thursday a group of us are going to an Amish restaurant in Sarasota. They have a buffet that is said to be very good. That does not surprise me since their home location is in Walnut Creek, Ohio, the heart of Amish country. No dancing to Jay Smith afterwards though!!
The summer weather is upon us with temperatures in the low 90's in the afternoon and an occasional thunderstorm. Mornings are in the mid 70's and humidity is quite high.
This coming Sunday we are taking the motorhome to the east coast and spending 5 nights at Sebastian Inlet State Park. I may get some snorkeling in but I doubt if I will get any SCUBA.
Still no oil on our coasts here in southern Florida and we hope it stays away.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
I must be lazy or busy!!!!
Since my last post Carol and went to spend a week at a time share in Daytona Beach. We had not been there in several years and used a banked RCI week to stay at a Wyndham resort right on the beach. It was a large place with two towers of rooms, 3 outdoor pool, a "lazy river" for tubing, a hot tub and two indoor pools. Of course it was right on the beach.
We were a little surprised that there were very few driving on the beach as it was when we went there many years ago. Of course they now charge to go on the beach with your car, so I am sure that has reduced the cars. The overall beach is about the same as it still very wide and has a very gentle slope in the water. You can walk quite far into the surf and still have the water only up to your waist.
I went to do some snorkeling at the beach and as I was walking out my feet got quite cold. So cold that I did not want to get the rest of me wet!! The water temperature had to be in the mid to high 70's rather than in the 80's. Too cool for me!! Overall the weather was warm but not as warm as at home.
The resort was right next to a movie and restaurant complex. We did not go to any movies but we did eat at Bubba Gump's Seafood and had a delightful meal. A Sloppy Joe's was also there plus some fast food places. While doing some walking of the city we found a great Greek and Pizza place and had lunch and dinner there on two occasions. Their small Greek salad was huge and when we each got one, we took a complete one back to the condo.
One evening we went to the Ponce Inlet area and had a good seafood meal and had a good guitar player to entertain us. He is the first entertainer I ever go to play my favorite Jimmy Buffet song "Let's Get Drunk and Screw"!!! However, neither Carol or I got drunk!!
We left Daytona to spend time in Jacksonville to evaluate hotels for the upcoming Hazelwood reunion in 2011. You can read about that week in my Hazelwood Blog when I get it posted in a day or two. Get to it, if you wish, by clicking on it in my profile area.
On the 20th of this month we are taking the motorhome to Sebastian Inlet State Park on the east coast of FL for 5 nights. We are making our RV trips shorter but still want to run the motorhome to keep it in shape.
So that's about it for mow
Before we arrived at the condo, at the beginning of our week,we stopped a massive flea market and spent several hours wandering it. I did find some nice (cheap!) sunglasses to replace my scratched ones.
We were a little surprised that there were very few driving on the beach as it was when we went there many years ago. Of course they now charge to go on the beach with your car, so I am sure that has reduced the cars. The overall beach is about the same as it still very wide and has a very gentle slope in the water. You can walk quite far into the surf and still have the water only up to your waist.
I went to do some snorkeling at the beach and as I was walking out my feet got quite cold. So cold that I did not want to get the rest of me wet!! The water temperature had to be in the mid to high 70's rather than in the 80's. Too cool for me!! Overall the weather was warm but not as warm as at home.
The resort was right next to a movie and restaurant complex. We did not go to any movies but we did eat at Bubba Gump's Seafood and had a delightful meal. A Sloppy Joe's was also there plus some fast food places. While doing some walking of the city we found a great Greek and Pizza place and had lunch and dinner there on two occasions. Their small Greek salad was huge and when we each got one, we took a complete one back to the condo.
One evening we went to the Ponce Inlet area and had a good seafood meal and had a good guitar player to entertain us. He is the first entertainer I ever go to play my favorite Jimmy Buffet song "Let's Get Drunk and Screw"!!! However, neither Carol or I got drunk!!
We left Daytona to spend time in Jacksonville to evaluate hotels for the upcoming Hazelwood reunion in 2011. You can read about that week in my Hazelwood Blog when I get it posted in a day or two. Get to it, if you wish, by clicking on it in my profile area.
On the 20th of this month we are taking the motorhome to Sebastian Inlet State Park on the east coast of FL for 5 nights. We are making our RV trips shorter but still want to run the motorhome to keep it in shape.
So that's about it for mow
Before we arrived at the condo, at the beginning of our week,we stopped a massive flea market and spent several hours wandering it. I did find some nice (cheap!) sunglasses to replace my scratched ones.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Still Busy, Busy, Busy
I know it as been a long time since I have made a post and I hope to get caught up shortly. Since my last post we went on our cruise to Rome and I have been getting caught up but not fully yet. Of course we were gone 19 days and have been back only 17 days and we leave again tomorrow for two weeks!!
This coming trip will be a relaxing time in Daytona Beach followed by some work on the Hazelwood reunion in Jacksonville. While in Daytona I am going to try to get caught up on all of the pictures taken on our cruise to Rome and have them posted here and on web albums so anyone can see them. In Jacksonville I will be looking at hotels and trying to make a choice for the reunion. It is less than a year away now so I have to get that part of the planning done soon.
Today I went out SCUBA diving off Venice Beach looking for sharks teeth but found none. The good news was that I found a good dive buddy .... someone I feel comfortable diving with. Even though the visibility was lousy while we were diving (about 5 ft. but as low as 5 inches!!!) we both felt good diving together.
The last several days I have been trying to plan out the rest of our year with our short trips. We found out that Trafford is having their street fair on August 20 and 21 and will plan a trip up north for that. We will probably make stops at Mount Eagle, TN, Louisville, Cincinnati, Zanesville, OH, Trafford, PA, Charleston, SC, and Jacksonville, FL (more reunion work). That trip will be about a month or more in length. We also have a short trip planned to the FL east coast (Sebastian Inlet State Park) in June.
So, look for updates coming soon!!!
This coming trip will be a relaxing time in Daytona Beach followed by some work on the Hazelwood reunion in Jacksonville. While in Daytona I am going to try to get caught up on all of the pictures taken on our cruise to Rome and have them posted here and on web albums so anyone can see them. In Jacksonville I will be looking at hotels and trying to make a choice for the reunion. It is less than a year away now so I have to get that part of the planning done soon.
Today I went out SCUBA diving off Venice Beach looking for sharks teeth but found none. The good news was that I found a good dive buddy .... someone I feel comfortable diving with. Even though the visibility was lousy while we were diving (about 5 ft. but as low as 5 inches!!!) we both felt good diving together.
The last several days I have been trying to plan out the rest of our year with our short trips. We found out that Trafford is having their street fair on August 20 and 21 and will plan a trip up north for that. We will probably make stops at Mount Eagle, TN, Louisville, Cincinnati, Zanesville, OH, Trafford, PA, Charleston, SC, and Jacksonville, FL (more reunion work). That trip will be about a month or more in length. We also have a short trip planned to the FL east coast (Sebastian Inlet State Park) in June.
So, look for updates coming soon!!!
Sunday, March 28, 2010
I can breath again!!!
On Friday I went to an ear, nose and throat specialist to have the plugs removed from my nose. It has been a real discomfort trying to sleep while breathing through my mouth. I really got a dry mouth and had to get up in the night to get a drink of water.
When the doctor removed the plugs it was not very painful and it great to be able to breathe through my nose again. But then the fun began .... she felt it was necessary to cauterize the nasal cavities again. This was to prevent the bleeding to start again. It felt like she was placing a hot poker up my nose and I could not help but flinch. She did give me the choice getting the plugs again (no thanks), bleeding or using the "hot poker". Reluctantly I chose the hot poker!!!
By the late afternoon I was feeling pretty good and breathing quite well through my nose. We even went out to dinner with our friends at the Punta Gorda Elks but did not stay long enough to do any dancing to Jay Smith.
We did get back home in time to watch Kentucky play in the NCAA tournament and were disappointed that they did not make it to the final four.
We got our package of information about our cruise to Rome. I went on Google Earth and even looked at the hotel we will be staying in at Rome. Looks pretty good and it is less than a 2 mile walk to the Vatican.
We are both looking forward to the relaxation of the cruise.
More later and hopefully more frequently ..... except when we are at sea!!!!
When the doctor removed the plugs it was not very painful and it great to be able to breathe through my nose again. But then the fun began .... she felt it was necessary to cauterize the nasal cavities again. This was to prevent the bleeding to start again. It felt like she was placing a hot poker up my nose and I could not help but flinch. She did give me the choice getting the plugs again (no thanks), bleeding or using the "hot poker". Reluctantly I chose the hot poker!!!
By the late afternoon I was feeling pretty good and breathing quite well through my nose. We even went out to dinner with our friends at the Punta Gorda Elks but did not stay long enough to do any dancing to Jay Smith.
We did get back home in time to watch Kentucky play in the NCAA tournament and were disappointed that they did not make it to the final four.
We got our package of information about our cruise to Rome. I went on Google Earth and even looked at the hotel we will be staying in at Rome. Looks pretty good and it is less than a 2 mile walk to the Vatican.
We are both looking forward to the relaxation of the cruise.
More later and hopefully more frequently ..... except when we are at sea!!!!
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Long Time No Post !!!!!!
Wow, I did not realize it had been so long since I made a post to this blog. Now I am going to catch up some.
Late last month we had the opportunity to visit with our friends form Groton, CT when they were in the area visiting. We have know Jan and Charlie Kepner since Jim was in the Navy nearly 50 years ago. They were visiting Jan's sister in Venice only about 8 miles from us. Her sister arranged for a luncheon so Jan and Charlie could see all their friends in the area without having to run all over the place. It was a very nice affair and we also got to meet some new acquaintances. In fact we found out that Jan's brother-in-law and I graduated from Rensselaer in the same year. It's always nice to meet alumni.
We are still going out to see our favorite entertainer for dancing whenever we can. Late in February we went to the Punta Gorda Elks and had a fine time. Then the next week end they were having their annual Lobster fest. There were three couples that went to that. Marilyn and Gus bought a couple of tickets on a four pound Maine lobster and won it!!
Jim chair-maned the last pancake breakfast for our community and had a record number of tickets sold. There are five breakfast during the season and we will start again in November. A fine breakfast of Pancakes, Sausage, Scrambled Eggs all for the low price of $3.00.
We were off to dance to Jay Smith again at Harbor Isles, the community next to ours. Who said the seniors just sit around and do nothing!!!! We sure don't! We were going to dance to Jay again this Friday but Jim had an accident and we have to cancel.
While playing racquetball at the YMCA he got too close to his partner and got clobbered on the nose by his partners racquet. He was hit on the cartilage of the nose so no bones were broken. Naturally a nose bleed started but it was under control in about 10 minutes. However when we got home it started bleeding again and much more than originally. Since he could not get it stopped we went to our doctor. He could not stop it either and we went to the emergency room. While at the doctor's office Jim did find a pressure point that did stop the bleeding.
At the emergency room Jim told them of the blood that had gotten into his ears. This happened when he was pinching his nose to stem the bleeding. Even though the blood was not coming out of his nose, it was backing up in his nose and got into the ears. They were concerned he had a fracture and did a CT Scan to be sure there were on bone fragments ..... there were none.
Finally about 3 PM (this all started about 9 AM) they finally cauterized the left nostril where the most bleeding was and plugged the right nostril. Talk about pain!!!!! Jim nearly passed out at one point. They jammed a plastic tube with packing around it way, way up each nostril by hand. He felt as though he was being tortured in a prison camp. At least the bleeding was stopped.
Now even though he can breath a little through each tube he still cannot sleep without his mouth being open. The dry mouth is very uncomfortable.
Tomorrow we go to another doctor to get the tubes taken out and I hope the bleeding is healed and no more tubes are required. If so, they are going to have use an anesthetic!!!!!
We are getting close to departing on our cruise to Rome. We leave on April 10 and get back late on April 28. I am sure I will have a lot of stories when we get back
Late last month we had the opportunity to visit with our friends form Groton, CT when they were in the area visiting. We have know Jan and Charlie Kepner since Jim was in the Navy nearly 50 years ago. They were visiting Jan's sister in Venice only about 8 miles from us. Her sister arranged for a luncheon so Jan and Charlie could see all their friends in the area without having to run all over the place. It was a very nice affair and we also got to meet some new acquaintances. In fact we found out that Jan's brother-in-law and I graduated from Rensselaer in the same year. It's always nice to meet alumni.
We are still going out to see our favorite entertainer for dancing whenever we can. Late in February we went to the Punta Gorda Elks and had a fine time. Then the next week end they were having their annual Lobster fest. There were three couples that went to that. Marilyn and Gus bought a couple of tickets on a four pound Maine lobster and won it!!
Jim chair-maned the last pancake breakfast for our community and had a record number of tickets sold. There are five breakfast during the season and we will start again in November. A fine breakfast of Pancakes, Sausage, Scrambled Eggs all for the low price of $3.00.
We were off to dance to Jay Smith again at Harbor Isles, the community next to ours. Who said the seniors just sit around and do nothing!!!! We sure don't! We were going to dance to Jay again this Friday but Jim had an accident and we have to cancel.
While playing racquetball at the YMCA he got too close to his partner and got clobbered on the nose by his partners racquet. He was hit on the cartilage of the nose so no bones were broken. Naturally a nose bleed started but it was under control in about 10 minutes. However when we got home it started bleeding again and much more than originally. Since he could not get it stopped we went to our doctor. He could not stop it either and we went to the emergency room. While at the doctor's office Jim did find a pressure point that did stop the bleeding.
At the emergency room Jim told them of the blood that had gotten into his ears. This happened when he was pinching his nose to stem the bleeding. Even though the blood was not coming out of his nose, it was backing up in his nose and got into the ears. They were concerned he had a fracture and did a CT Scan to be sure there were on bone fragments ..... there were none.
Finally about 3 PM (this all started about 9 AM) they finally cauterized the left nostril where the most bleeding was and plugged the right nostril. Talk about pain!!!!! Jim nearly passed out at one point. They jammed a plastic tube with packing around it way, way up each nostril by hand. He felt as though he was being tortured in a prison camp. At least the bleeding was stopped.
Now even though he can breath a little through each tube he still cannot sleep without his mouth being open. The dry mouth is very uncomfortable.
Tomorrow we go to another doctor to get the tubes taken out and I hope the bleeding is healed and no more tubes are required. If so, they are going to have use an anesthetic!!!!!
We are getting close to departing on our cruise to Rome. We leave on April 10 and get back late on April 28. I am sure I will have a lot of stories when we get back
Friday, February 19, 2010
Riverwalk is now Resident Owned!!!!
On Wednesday, February 17 our board of Directors (plus our lawyer) met with Riverwalk's owner and signed many documents completing all of the paperwork necessary for the sale of our community of Riverwalk to the residents. The next day, February 18, the scheduled closing date, our bank transferred the funds to the owner and Riverwalk became owned by the residents.
We are now in the process of making the necessary filing with the State of Florida t finalize the creation of Co-Operative. Of the 221 home sites in Riverwalk 113 residents bought a share in the community and are now owners. Those remaining residents who chose not to buy a share (for whatever reason they had) will remain as Renters and will be paying their rent to the Co-Op.
I am sure the with the Co-Op being the "landlord" now that those renting will have a better deal than we all had prior to buying the park.
To help make the sale be know to those who enter our community I made a sign that has been added to one our current signs as you enter the park. As you can see in the pictures below it states "Resident Owned". It is a "temporary" but good enough in appearance to last for a good while until it is replaced with one that matches more properly.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Cold weather in FL
Wow, we are having lousy weather here in sunny Florida!! This morning it was 41 degrees and it has been colder .... several weeks ago our incoming water line was frozen enough that the water didn't flow when I first turned it on in the morning. Now that's cold.
Even with the cold weather we did go to the Tampa area last week and camped at Hillsborough State Park. We met up with Jack and Barb Bloombach, our friends from Louisville. It was really nice to be able to see them again and visit. Also a high school classmate of mine, Laverne Lambert nee Consoli and her husband Gene were there also. Gene's daughter and husband camped next to us for the weekend.
Naturally we got to do some garage sale shopping and Carol and I found a real nice round table with lion's claw feet made of solid wood that is cherry. The top needs a little sanding but it is in good shape and will make a nice piece of furniture. Since U of Louisville was not televised on Direct TV we went to a sports Bar in Tampa to watch the game on Saturday afternoon. Louisville Won!!
We came to the park a day later than planned and left a day earlier. All of the goings on here in our community has Carol quite busy with the sale of the community to the residents. She is now on the Board of Directors as Treasurer since I did not run for re-election. I have too much going on on the coming my Ship's reunion in 2011.
We are looking forward to warmer weather coming soon.
When we got back we found that it is now confirmed that we have enough residents buying shares in our community that we have enough money to buy the park from the owner. We should close the deal on February 18 and we will then be in control of our own destiny here in our community.
Even with the cold weather we did go to the Tampa area last week and camped at Hillsborough State Park. We met up with Jack and Barb Bloombach, our friends from Louisville. It was really nice to be able to see them again and visit. Also a high school classmate of mine, Laverne Lambert nee Consoli and her husband Gene were there also. Gene's daughter and husband camped next to us for the weekend.
Naturally we got to do some garage sale shopping and Carol and I found a real nice round table with lion's claw feet made of solid wood that is cherry. The top needs a little sanding but it is in good shape and will make a nice piece of furniture. Since U of Louisville was not televised on Direct TV we went to a sports Bar in Tampa to watch the game on Saturday afternoon. Louisville Won!!
We came to the park a day later than planned and left a day earlier. All of the goings on here in our community has Carol quite busy with the sale of the community to the residents. She is now on the Board of Directors as Treasurer since I did not run for re-election. I have too much going on on the coming my Ship's reunion in 2011.
We are looking forward to warmer weather coming soon.
When we got back we found that it is now confirmed that we have enough residents buying shares in our community that we have enough money to buy the park from the owner. We should close the deal on February 18 and we will then be in control of our own destiny here in our community.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Cruise details
I thought I would write a more complete post of our cruise. As said previously, this was a real low cost cruise for us as we only paid $112.00 for 2 nights. The cabin was small and it was an inside cabin as expected. It would have more than doubled the cruise cost if we upgraded, but for only 2 nights we felt we use the small cabin. It was really small but then we only slept in it!! We spent most of our time on deck or touring the ship.
The first night on the ship was our 52nd anniversary and we had dinner in the more elegant dining room. They even brought us a cake and did a little singing for us. Later we went to the show and they had 2 good entertainers; a singer and a comedian. Later, and Carol and I did some dancing but she really got going at the faster steps as you can see.
We arrived in Nassau in the morning and we left the ship to walk and shop the downtown area. Carol also had some old Bahamian money that she exchanged for US currency ..... a whole $1.40 worth. We did not stay off the ship long since two others arrived and the downtown area got quite crowded. We were back on the ship by noon and then loafed around the pool area reading and napping.
The ship left Nassau at 5:30 PM and we were blessed with very smooth seas the entire trip back to Ft. Lauderdale. Before dinner we hung around the bar before and had some drinks. Carol had a glass of wine and Jim tried a Margarita sampler of 5 different flavors. It was good that the samples were small but in total they were at least one drink. After dinner that evening we went to the show again with a different entertainer/singer.
We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale about 9 AM in the morning and we were were off the sip by 10:30 AM. We then went to a "tour" which turned out to be a time share sales presentation. We did get $50.00 to attend but had we know it was a time share, we would not have wasted their time ..... but we did take their $50.00.
We arrived home about 5:30 PM and got right back into the activities going on about the purchase of our community.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Lots of happenings
Wow, how time flies when you are busy as we are. I'll go backwards to fill things in.
We just got back from a 2 night cruise from Fort Lauderdale to Nassau in the Bahamas. We left on January 27, our 52nd anniversary ..... right, 52 years ...... It was good to get away for several days since we have been so involved in the purchase of our community from the original developer. It is going very well and we have enough to make the purchase in nearly record time. Even though the purchase has not "closed" yet we are about 99.99% sure that every thing will go through. There have been over 93 that have decided to buy into the co-operative out of the 221 home in the community. More will be coming along later.
So by about February 18 we will be owing our own own house AND the land it sets on. We had been renting the land from the developer!!
We got back Friday from the cruise and then on Tuesday we will take the motor home to Hillsboro River State Park near Tampa and spend 5 days camping with friends from Louisville. This has become an annual event for us and we really enjoy getting to see them each year.
The Saturday after we get back, Jim and his "crew" will be putting on the 4th Pancake Breakfast this season. It is a fun event and we usually get about 100 attendees. A crew of 12 guys do all the cooking, serving etc. and we have a great time.
Carol is now the Treasurer of our Homeowners Association following Jim as he decided not to run again. Jim has been deeply involved in his ship reunion coming up in April 2011. You can see that blog by looking his profile in this blog and clicking on the reunion link or going to http://dd531-reunion.blogspot.com.
In March we will be going to Jacksonville to evaluate hotels for the reunion At least we will have a short rest until we go on that trip.
Jim's foot has healed very well and he is playing racquetball regularly without any pain. The removal of the bunions or bone spurs have really made things better. Several trips t a urologist have found that apparently Jim's bladder is smaller than normal and is causing him to get more than usual at night. No prostate enlargement or blockage were found and on Monday he goes to see the final results of all the tests.
I will have to get a few pictures of our cruise posted next time. By the way the cruise cost only $112 for the 2 of us plus what we spent on the cruise for personal items etc. Not a bad deal!!
We just got back from a 2 night cruise from Fort Lauderdale to Nassau in the Bahamas. We left on January 27, our 52nd anniversary ..... right, 52 years ...... It was good to get away for several days since we have been so involved in the purchase of our community from the original developer. It is going very well and we have enough to make the purchase in nearly record time. Even though the purchase has not "closed" yet we are about 99.99% sure that every thing will go through. There have been over 93 that have decided to buy into the co-operative out of the 221 home in the community. More will be coming along later.
So by about February 18 we will be owing our own own house AND the land it sets on. We had been renting the land from the developer!!
We got back Friday from the cruise and then on Tuesday we will take the motor home to Hillsboro River State Park near Tampa and spend 5 days camping with friends from Louisville. This has become an annual event for us and we really enjoy getting to see them each year.
The Saturday after we get back, Jim and his "crew" will be putting on the 4th Pancake Breakfast this season. It is a fun event and we usually get about 100 attendees. A crew of 12 guys do all the cooking, serving etc. and we have a great time.
Carol is now the Treasurer of our Homeowners Association following Jim as he decided not to run again. Jim has been deeply involved in his ship reunion coming up in April 2011. You can see that blog by looking his profile in this blog and clicking on the reunion link or going to http://dd531-reunion.blogspot.com.
In March we will be going to Jacksonville to evaluate hotels for the reunion At least we will have a short rest until we go on that trip.
Jim's foot has healed very well and he is playing racquetball regularly without any pain. The removal of the bunions or bone spurs have really made things better. Several trips t a urologist have found that apparently Jim's bladder is smaller than normal and is causing him to get more than usual at night. No prostate enlargement or blockage were found and on Monday he goes to see the final results of all the tests.
I will have to get a few pictures of our cruise posted next time. By the way the cruise cost only $112 for the 2 of us plus what we spent on the cruise for personal items etc. Not a bad deal!!
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Contract Signing
On January 26, 2010 the contract for residents to purchase Riverwalk from the owner was signed at a meeting in the clubhouse. Scott Gordon, our lawyer directed the process and Bill Adams signed for the Homeowners Association followed by Donna Kornasiewicz and Penny Dicks as witnesses. Here are the pictures of the signing.
When the signed contract was presented to George Spector, he signed and the 1 million dollars of earnest money was wired to him.
When the signed contract was presented to George Spector, he signed and the 1 million dollars of earnest money was wired to him.
Now we have to wait for the formal closing of the purchase which is scheduled for February 18. Everything looks very good at this point.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Home again - for a while
We left on Tuesday, Jan. 12 to go to the Tampa RV show and camp with other RV'ing friends. We had some very cool weather but the time spent with our friends was very good. We did look at new motor homes and once more were convinced we had the right one for us. Carol did see one she liked but I was not about to spend over $400,000 for a motor home .... and she agreed, thank goodness.
While there we had a planned schedule of who would prepare dinner and also who would do happy hour snacks each evening. There were other RV'ers with Freightliner chassis' that were parked with us so we had a lot of folks we had met before.
The show was big as usual and we were surprised at how many motor homes were indicated as sold by the end of the show. Maybe the economy is picking up more than we thought.
We also got a lot of free night camping deals at the vendors booths so we will now try to plan our summer trips around some of them. On of the good deals Carol won was a week at a campground near Key West for $199. The rates are usually $100 per night there, so I am sure we will use that one.
We got back home on Sunday and got back in to the full activity here at our community concerning the sale of the park to the residents (us!!). It looks like we are going to get enough residents to pull of the deal which will really be great for all of us in the community.
Tomorrow is bowling for us and I will be able to bowl now that my feet have healed well enough. I don't have any more excuses for bad bowling!!
While there we had a planned schedule of who would prepare dinner and also who would do happy hour snacks each evening. There were other RV'ers with Freightliner chassis' that were parked with us so we had a lot of folks we had met before.
The show was big as usual and we were surprised at how many motor homes were indicated as sold by the end of the show. Maybe the economy is picking up more than we thought.
We also got a lot of free night camping deals at the vendors booths so we will now try to plan our summer trips around some of them. On of the good deals Carol won was a week at a campground near Key West for $199. The rates are usually $100 per night there, so I am sure we will use that one.
We got back home on Sunday and got back in to the full activity here at our community concerning the sale of the park to the residents (us!!). It looks like we are going to get enough residents to pull of the deal which will really be great for all of us in the community.
Tomorrow is bowling for us and I will be able to bowl now that my feet have healed well enough. I don't have any more excuses for bad bowling!!
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