End of 2014

It's been a couple of weeks since I posted, so I thought I would wind up the end of the year with a quick post.  we had a really nice Christmas with our children in Fleming Island.  Presents were enjoyed by all!  Of course, the food was great as always.  We have been relaxing at Kelly's RV Park in Callahan, FL. since the 10th of December and will be here until the 10th of January when we head to Tampa for the RV SuperShow.  We also enjoyed a nice Christmas party with our Good Sam Chapter.  It was really good to see everyone, especially since we are heading to the west coast after the Tampa Super Show.  We plan on being back in time for the holidays in November next year. 

As  you can see, Debby did a great job of decorating the rig this year.  This is our first Christmas as full time RV'ers and not having a house to decorate.  I think she did an outstanding job!

The above pictures are of our Chapters Christmas Party.  We all had a good time and enjoyed some great food.  My blood sugar went up sharply after these wonderful meals and treats.

We also were invited to Jax Rambling Sam's Christmas party, which was also held here at Kelly's RV Park.  We enjoyed our time with them and appreciate very much the invitation.

While our chapter was here, Debby being the only elected officer, held a short meeting where we got a lot of business done.  She really did a GREAT job!

2014 has been a very exciting year for Debby and I.  I hope that 2015 is as exciting and I expect it will be.  Our trip out west is rapidly approaching and we are anticipating a really good year.

It is our hope that all who read our blog have a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

Please travel safe and I'll type more later!

Another Moving Day!

It has been some time since I wrote, so I guess moving day is as good as any.  We spent 17 days at NAS Jacksonville RV park and today we moved to Kelly's RV Park in Callahan, FL.  We have been fortunate enough to get to spend a lot of time with the kids that live in Orange Park and Fleming Island.  We had a GREAT Thanks Giving at our daughters house and managed to go with her, our son-in-law and son to Single Vision, INC.  This is a wild life refuge.  We had a really great time.  I posted a couple of pictures of me being mauled by a lion......ok, so it was just a cub, and only weighed 35 pounds, but it was really fun! I would recommend Single Vision in Melrose, FL to anyone who enjoys wild animals.  Here are a couple of pictures to tempt you.

Our site at NAS Jax was pretty nice.  They told us we would not be able to pick up satellite, but we were able to pick up 2 of the 3 satellites that we needed to pick up our programing.  We only missed a couple of HD channels, but still got the SD stations.  So we really were not out anything.  They did have a warning sign up about alligators.  Here are a couple of pictures of the campground.

We really did enjoy our stay at NAS Jax.  The good news is that while we were there, we FINALLY had the slide out fixed!  I wasn't sure until we moved today, but it went in nicely and came our nicely.  Hopefully we will not have any more issues with it.  Now we have  a leak in the toilet.  It appears that the seal is leaking down.  No water on the floor or any thing like that, but the bowl empties out after a very short time.  I guess I'll have to replace the seal.  Going to look up the paperwork so I can find out what model we have so I can get the correct parts.
Anyway, it has been an interesting couple of weeks.  We are staying here at Kelly's for a month before we head to the RV show.  I will try to update you before we move again.

Drive Safe,  I'll type more later.

Thanksgiving Site

We enjoyed  a pot luck dinner with our Good Sam Chapter, the Sunset Ramblers on Sat.  It was good that those present were able to get together and enjoy the dinner.  We never seem to have a shortage of food.

We also had a booth for "beer pong" with no beer.  The Samboree had a Country Fair and everyone seemed to have a good time.  We were able to raise a little money for Boggy Creek and we were able to present that money and our scheduled donation plus 40 bears that we made on Sat. night.  We also enjoyed the music of "Sunday Drive" who Debby and I had the pleasure to enjoy at the North Carolina Samboree.  The drummer told a story about getting a "bib" and is shown with his "bib" on.  A good time was had by all at the Samboree.

We woke up to a car behind the rig with a man in it with binoculars.  He seemed to be spying on a site across the street.  I then noticed 3 County Deputies cars and later noticed 3 more on down the street our site was on.  I heard they were getting ready to make a drug bust in the campground.  They were gone by the time we left.
We then headed north toward NAS Jax RV Park.  When we checked in, we found out the they have raised the nightly fee by $5.00.  We are going to check to see if they can do that as we made our reservations at the old rate and that price was confirmed.   We did not get the site I was hoping for, which would allow us to have our Satellite, but we are in a nice site, very near the river.  I have added a  photo taken from our site.

We will be hear until our Good Sam Chapter Christmas Party at Kelly's RV Park on Dec 11th.  We will have Thanksgiving with the kids and get our medical appointments done while we are hear.  Of course, we have high hopes that the rig will finally be fixed tomorrow while we are here.
Y'all travel safe, and I'll type more later!

Another Moving Day

Well, today we moved from Port Charlotte to Eustis, FL.  We really enjoyed the Escapee Chapter 57 rally and are now at Southern Palms RV Resort for the Good Sam Samboree.  We will be here until a week from tomorrow.  After that, we are planning to head to NAS Jacksonville for 17 days and spend Thanksgiving with the kids.  I can hardly believe how the year has passed.  I guess life is like a roll of toilet paper, the closer you get to the end, the faster it goes.  :)  We have an appointment with General RV to have the part installed on the slide out.  Hopefully that will fix the issue.  We now have a leak, water, but not sure if it is incoming or outgoing.  It seems to leak no matter what. I don't know if we will ask General RV to look at it or not, as they have not been very accommodating on the slide.  Anyway, we will make that decision when we get to it.  I'll enclose a couple of pictures of the Escapee Chapter 57 rally.  We like the park we were in, Harbor Lakes RV Resort.  It is an Encore park, and to date, we have not been very impressed with their parks, but Harbor Lakes is a VERY NICE Place.  If we are down that way again, we will stay there.
Harbor Lakes put on a very nice Veterans program that we enjoyed.

This is a picture of the Veterans present.  Even had some Canadian Vets (on the right side)

These are pictures of the sunset and full moon the night we arrived at Harbor Lakes. 

I have really treated Debby great this year!  Earlier this year I took her to Paris (IL)  and this trip I took her to Venice! (FL)  This is a picture of the pier extending out into the Gulf. 

Chapter 57 mascot is Sunshine Susie, on the left.  She travels with one rig for a year who reports with pictures where she is and has been.  This year she is traveling with Shrek!  It will be interesting to see where all she goes during the coming year.

Well, that's about it for now.  Y'all travel safe and I'll type more later!

Moving Day!

Well, it has been a while since I updated everyone, and what better time to do so, than on moving day.  We enjoyed 21 days at Thousand Trails Orlando, even though we had to boil water for 9 days while we were there.  We asked for, and were granted a late check out today so we could attend Escapees Chapter 57 monthly luncheon at Golden Corral in Clermont, FL.  We sure enjoyed seeing everyone and, of course got our moneys worth at Golden Corral!  When we got back to our site at Thousand Trails, we had a surprise.  The park ranger gave us a naughty gram for "late Check Out".  Debby called the office and got it straightened out.  Evidently the Ranger DID NOT see the late check out log.  After that, we headed to Port Charlotte and Harbor Lakes RV Resort.   It is an Encore Park and  seems like a nice park.  The sites we are in are LARGE sites.  I have enclosed pictures of the luncheon and the park.  We also got a nice picture of the almost full moon tonight.

We are looking forward to the Chapter 57 rally that will be held here this coming week.  When we leave here we will be headed to the Florida Good Sam Samboree in Eustis, FL.  Then back to Jacksonville area for the holidays!  We get to spend some time with the kids.  Y'all travel safe and I'll type more later!

The Latest Update

We left the South Carolina Good Sam Samboree and headed to Golden Isles RV Park in Bruswick, GA.  We only spent one night there,  but it was uneventful.  The next day we headed to NAS Jacksonville to stay for a few days to get the slide out fixed, again.  The parts were supposed to be there, but, when they opened the box, the part was the right shape this time, but several feet short.  They found that they no longer make the part we need, so it was decided to order another part like the one they got in, and splice the two to make the right size.  It was ordered from Cedar Creek and requested to be over nighted.  It did not come in and we waited until we had to leave to go to our Good Sam Chapter camp out.  We went to Wilderness RV Resort in Silver Springs, FL.  Nice park, except the sites are narrow and the roads are even narrower, making entry VERY DIFFICULT when you're 56.5' long.  I almost took a fence down with the side of my coach as the Residents are allowed to make their sites their own.  I doubt if Debby and I will go back there.  We were suppose to go to Thousand Trails in Orlando, but the part was suppose to be in on Monday, so we went back to NAS Jax and spent the night there, hooked up.  We went to General RV on Tuesday, and the part was not there.  The parts man called Cedar Creek and found that the part had been shipped, but UPS crushed it and returned it to Cedar Creek.  They then reordered the part and it came in on Wed morning.  General RV then proceeded to tell us that they could not get us into service, even though we have been dealing with them on this problem since April!  Once this problem is fixed, they will be last on our list to take our coach to, even though they have done good work.  Obviously, we are not on their priority list.  Hopefully you may have better luck with their service than we have.  We headed to Thousand Trails, Orlando and arrived safely on Thursday.  We have a nice site with 50 amp service.  So much nicer that the other Thousand Trails preserves we have visited.  Of course, our $12,000 membership is no longer the best and they feel we need to upgrade from VIP to Elete.  NOT A CHANCE!  This morning we woke up and were having our tea, when I heard a noise that sounded like an air balloon.  Looked outside and we discovered 2 air balloons giving rides.  I have attached pictures of the balloons.  You just never know what you may wake up to.

We will be here for the next 3 weeks, then on to the Escapee Chapter 57 rally.  After that, to the Florida Good Sam Samboree.  For now, it is time for some maintenance on the coach.  I re-sealed some seams last night, and will repair the steps today.  We received our Magne-Shades Wed, so I need to install them also.   We are really hoping that will help the heat when we are out west. 

Y'all travel safe, and I'll type more later

South Carolia Good Sam Samboree

We moved from the North Carolina Good Sam Samboree to the South Carolina Good Sam Samboree on Sunday.  It was only a little over 200 miles.  The South Carolina Good Sam Samboree is being held at Ocean Lakes Family RV Resort in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  This is BY FAR the nicest RV park I have ever been in.  Ocean front, paved sites 50 amp service with 70 channel cable.  There are over 3000 sites here, over 890 transient sites.  The recreation center is fabulous with all sorts of games, an indoor and outdoor pools.  I am adding a picture of the campground map.

It is easy to get lost in this park.

Once we checked in, we have cleaned the rig and today we washed the truck after going to breakfast with about 20 friends.  We went to the Golden Egg.  Really nice place with LOTS of parking. 

We had dinner the other night at the observation deck on the ocean.  It was a really nice evening and we enjoyed it immensely!

On Sunday after we arrived, we went to dinner with friends and enjoyed the band and boardwalk.

We also have enjoyed the sunset from the observation deck.

Overall, we are having a very good time.  Last night we went on a tour to Legends and saw performances from Johnny Cash, Berry White, Adalen, the Blues Brothers and, of course, Elvis.  All were really good, but the Blues Brothers were the high energy act.  They came to our bus afterward and we were able to take pictures.

I think that pretty well brings us up to date.  We did make our reservations for the 55th Escapade, and they are all out of full hook up sites, so I called and asked to be put on the waiting list for full hook up.  We just found out tonight that "The Rally" dates have been changed to Feb 26 through 1 March.  Debby and I have not made our reservations yet, but I'm sure we will soon. 

We will head back to the Jacksonville area on Sunday for medical appointments and slide out repair.  Then on to Good Sam Chapter camp out and other rallies/samborees!  Debby and I highly recommend this retired life style!

Travel Safe, and I'll type more later.