Year End Update

We left Casey Jones RV Park in Lake City, FL and went to Sumter Oaks RV Park, an Escapees Park in Bushnell, FL.  We have an ERPU lot there, a 5 year lease.  Nice lot and always available to us.  We only stayed there until 20 November, when we went up to NAS Jacksonville, in Jacksonville, FL to attend our friend Patty's retirement luncheon on the 22nd.  Really enjoyed the party.

Sumter Oaks RV Park.

NAS Jax

We enjoyed Christmas party at Wesconnett Lodge and enjoyed Christmas with the kids.  Anytime we can be with the kids is always good.

We also celebrated our son, Richard's birthday.  It was a week early, but we won't be in town next Sunday.  We had a very enjoyable time.  We will leave NAS Jax on Thursday, January 2, 2020 and go back to Sumter Oaks.

We sure had a great year.  I hope that next year as is good.  Probably won't be traveling as much, but will still enjoy our time in the Motor Home. 
We hope everyone has a Very Happy and Prosperous New Year!
Until next time, travel safe!

Time Got Away From Me

Once again, time has gotten away from me and it has been well over a month since I wrote, so here goes with an update.
We left the CARE Center on 3 September and started our trek to Red Bay, AL for service on the coach.  Just north of Nachedocous, TX on US-259 a rock truck passed us and showered us with rocks, chipping our 17 month old new windshield.  He was really hauling buggy and I was unable to find out what company he was with.  I will try to fix the chip when I get a chance.  We traveled to Texarkana RV Park in Texarkana, TX.  This is an Escapees discount park and we gives a 15% discount, but we used our Passport America discount available to one night at 50% off.  It was only a 217 mile drive and was uneventful.

Next we went to Tom Sawyer RV Park in West Memphis, AR.  We enjoy this park and have stayed there a couple of times.  It is right on the Mississippi River and floods on a regular basis.  It reopened on 13 July this year after the high waters went down.  It is relaxing to see the tugs guiding barges up and down the river.

Next we headed to Red Bay, AL for service on the coach.  It was well past due for the engine and the generator, but it has now been done.  While we were there, we were able to see friends John and Jan Hartman.  They had gone in for service also.  It was really good to see them.  We got several things taken care of while there.  We got the headlight lenses replaced and went to LED headlights, found the air leak, it was the dump valve, so that was also replaced.  Got the coach washed and waxed by Ricky Johnson, who did a really good job of washing and hand waxing the coach.  It really looked good.  We were able to pick up parts at the Tiffin store while we were in the area.  We went to supper with John and Jan at the Rattlesnake Saloon.  It is really an interesting place.  The food was okay, but nothing to write home about.  The band wasn't to bad, but WAY to loud!

Next we headed to Montgomery South RV Park & Cabins.  This was an okay park and we enjoyed our short stay there.

We left there and headed to our friends house in Summerdale, AL at Rainbow Plantation, an Escapees park.  Bob & Sue Guthrie have a residence there that they have fixed up a couple of full hook-up sites for friends.  We spent 10 days with them.  I must have gained lots of weight while we were there as we went out to eat A LOT!

We next went to Stay N Go RV park in Marianna, FL.  The folks who own this had bought it 2 weeks before we stayed there.  It is going to be a pretty nice park when they finish fixing it up.  They are in the process of paving most of the sites an they also want to pave the entrance and interior roads to keep the dust down.  Should be nice when it's all done.  We only stayed there one night.  I thought I had taken some pictures of this place, but I guess I didn't as I can't find them.

Next we headed over to Casey Jones RV Park in Lake City, FL.  We stayed here for about 10 days as were able to visit with the kids while we were there as it is only about 65 miles from Jacksonville, FL.  We really had a couple of good visits with the kids while we were there.  Tanya did come out to spend the week end with us when we got there.  Carlos drove her out and we really enjoyed her visiting us.  Here are some pictures of our get together with the kids.

When we left Casey Jones RV Park we went to Sandy Oaks RV Resort in Beverly Hills, FL.  We went there for the Sunset Ramblers Good Sam Chapter monthly campout.  It was really good to see our friends at the park.  I have not yet downloaded the pictures from the week end yet, but we really did have a good time.

Today we moved to Orlando Thousand Trails in Clermont, FL.  We could not check in until 12 Noon, so we got here about 12:30.  We were surprised to find that there are MANY sites available.  We are in, or very near the site we usually stay at while we stay here.   I got the antennas up this afternoon and hope to be able to check into my nets while we are here.

I guess that catches everyone up.  

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

Overdue Update

Sorry it has been so long since I posted, but we hurried to C.A.R.E. as they needed help.
We left the Air Force Academy campground, which was really nice and headed to Country View Campground in Ogallala, NE.  We only stayed 2 nights, so don't have a lot of input to the area.  But it worked for us.  Travel was a little bit of a challenge as the flooding still had some roads closed, but we managed.  The campground hosts were very nice and it was a fairly decent campground.

We next went on to The 4 Seasons RV Park in Elm Creek, NE.  It was called Sunny Meadows and has changed names, as well as owners.  The new owners had only owned it for 30 days when we got there.  Nice enough basic campground, and was sure good enough for us.  They were doing lots or work on the campground as it had a tendency for portions to flood during heavy rains.  They were making really good progress.  I'm sure it is in really good shape by now.

From there, we traveled to our friends, Bill and Donna's where we stayed until 10 July.  We were able to work "Field Day" with their ham club, the Prairie Dog ARC and I am very thankful that they allowed me to participate with them.  While we were there, their grand daughter went to DEP a couple of times as she had enlisted in the US Navy, what seems to be a family tradition as that is how Bill and I met, and her brother is currently in the Naval Reserves.  She did exceptionally well on the ASVABS and got to select her specialty.  I hope she enjoys her time, and, you never know, may make a career of the Navy.  Needless to say, we sure enjoyed our stay with them.  While we were there, Bill received his new Kenwood TS-890S.  What a radio!

 This was where the digital station was set up.  You can tell, it rained a little during Field Day.  They did relocate it to a dryer tent.

We left Bill and Donna's on the 10th of July and headed to C.A.R.E.  We decided to go faster than we would normally travel as they sent out a call for help.  We arrived at C.A.R.E. on the 14th and enjoyed 7 weeks with them.  I did not go into the stops that we made on the way as they are the usual stops we make when going from Bill and Donna's to CARE.  While we were at CARE, they had started the new sites, 14 of them.  Progress is going a little quicker than I would have thought, but I suspect they will be available for occupancy sometime in November.  It is amazing how quickly they have been able to go.  They also built 4 volunteer sites.  They seem like nice sites, and appear to be fairly level.  CARE does have a waiting list of 21, but most are not yet ready to move into CARE.  Of course, they will also need additional space for dining, and looks like an additional annex will be built to accommodate the additional folks. Should be very interesting to see the results.  They also built a new parking lot for vehicles as the annex will be placed where they currently park the CARE vehicles.  It is also very well lighted and will relieve a lot of parking issues when the Thrift and Gift shop is open.  We lost one of the residents while we were there.  It was really a surprise.  I took him to the hospital and stayed with him until they told me he was being transported to Huston.  I was SHOCKED the next morning when I was told that he had passed.  He was not just a resident, but also a friend of mine.  He will be missed.  

While we were there, the residents honored us by awarding us with the "Caring Angle" Award.  They give this to the employees, staff or volunteers that have shown a caring spirit with the residents.  Debby and I were are very honored to be selected for this award.

The next picture is of most of the volunteer crew that volunteered in August.  Mike Brown, who was also there with us in July, is not in the picture.  He was busy driving at the time.

 Today is Debby's birthday, and we are going out to dinner tonight.  I hope the place we have selected will have great food so she can enjoy her birthday dinner.  We have to move out of our CARE site in the morning, and will move to the RV Park Campground for a couple of nights, and then head out on Tuesday, after the holiday.
We will be headed to Red Bay, AL to have annual service done on the coach, then down to Rainbow Plantation, in Summerdale, AL to visit with friends. 
Y'all travel safe and I'll type more later.