We Finally Made It

Wouldn't you know that it had to snow prior to us leaving!

 

Well we ran into the BIG storm around the NY / Pa line.

But as you can see, the weather had no effect on the rest of the crew!

Countryside was pretty.

The first day of travel was really bad and because of a 2-1/2 hour delay due to traffic being stopped, we didn't arrive in Hagerstown until after dark.
The next morning looked better as we stopped to fuel.


The road finally cleared of snow but not traffic jambs. Another long day.

We even got to see a pretty sunset.

Was a tough ride but we made it to 76 degree weather.

Like I didn't have enough headaches getting here, after hooking up to power, I found that our fridge was warming up. I had to replace the main board the last time we were here and it looks like it's happened again.......damn!

Merry Christmas

Sorry, call me old fashion but I would rather do the "Merry Christmas" vs the Happy Holidays. Soooooo, here's an early Merry Christmas to all as we do our last minute preparation for departure on the 26th.

They are calling for some rain and the possibility of light snow on the 26th, that figures! We have three long days of hard driving to get to Titusville and I hate driving in the rain!

Well that's enough complaining, at least it will be warmer than where we are now.

Be Safe!

Won't Be Long Now

Christmas shopping is just about done and we are close to our departure date of 12/26.Yup, that's the day after Xmas so all those gifts better fit or we will have to return them in Florida.

I have already secured my work camping job again at Seasons In The Sun RV Resort .This will be our third trip working there. Joyce and I like the area because it's not far from Disney and really close to the National Seashore beaches.

Whereas we will be there for about four months, we plan on checking out the homes for sale in the area with the posibility of a purchase if everything is what we are looking for.
While I work at the campground, Joyce is a volunteer at the local animal shelter. Well, a couple of weeks to go.........

Another Project Completed

Joyce and I have been working on our custom copy of a product that protects your towed vehicle from stone damage. I did the design and cutting, and Joyce did all the sewing.

This is the finish product ready for testing.

We took the coach to a large parking lot, hooked up the Liberty and installed the stone guard. I was very satisfied with the fit, it came out better than I expected.

Although the stone guard performed perfectly, I am a bit concerned about the exhaust heat so I ordered some heat protection material that's good to 2000 degrees and we will attach it to the area of the exhaust tip.

As you can see, the fabric offers total protection from sand and stones.

When cornering, the bungee cord stretches on the outside of the turn and pulls in on the inside of the turn. During the turn, the PVC tubing holds the material up so it doesn't hit the road.

I'm Back....Ouch

Hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday. Everything was good on this end up till Sunday Nov. 18th. I have a history of getting Kidney Stones and usually pass them. Well it was a year ago that I passed a couple but this year was different.

On the 18th I was in enough discomfort that I went to the ER to get checked out. A CAT scan showed that I had two large stones that probably would not pass. So an appointment was made for me to see a urologist on Dec. 14th.

Well I only made it to Dec. 1st and the pain was extreme. Back to the ER and another CAT scan to find out that one of the stones had moved into the plumbing and had the second stone jambed in behind it. This plug measured just over 1/4" and was going nowhere.

They got me a bed, good drugs, and scheduled me for 9:00AM laser surgery to remove the stones. Normally they would try blasting the stones with ultrasound but the machine rotates to area hospitals and wasn't due back for another week.

One hour of surgery and back to my room in time for the Patriots Miami kickoff. I was told that I could go home after two urine samples. I started to drink and we made it home at half time. Go Pats.

Happy Thanksgiving To All

Today is the day that we spend time with our families and eat too much. So I thought a few jokes would be in order.

 

What sound does a turkey's phone make?
Wing Wing

How do you keep a turkey in suspense?
I'll tell you at Christmas.

Why did the turkey cross the road?
It was the chicken's day off.

What did the mother turkey say to her disobedient children?
If your father could see you now, he'd turn over in his gravy!

What's a turkey's favorite song?
"I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas"

hat sound does a space turkey make?
Hubble, hubble, hubble.

Why should you keep your eye off the turkey dressing?
Because it makes him blush!

What happened when the turkey met the axe?
He lost his head!

How can you tell a male turkey from a female turkey?
The male is the one holding the remote control.

What's blue and covered with feathers?
A turkey holding its breath!

What's the best way to stuff a turkey?
Take him out for pizza and ice cream!

Which side of the turkey has the most feathers?
The outside

Getting Colder And Much To Do To Get Ready

I have to setup the Jeep Liberty with a new Tow Bar Bracket. The setup that we now have on the Wrangler is a Roadmaster but with the Liberty, I will be adapting my Roadmaster Falcon Tow Bar to accept the new Blue Ox Baseplate that I'm installing on the Liberty.

 

The reason for the change to the Blue Ox is that after unhitching the car from the motorhome, the car has a cleaner look because the bracket is mainly hidden. The two Pins that are showing can be removed easily. So I am fighting the weather to get this done before I have to lay freezing under the car. Looks like this Saturday is going to make it up to 50 degrees so I guess that will be my day.

Another project we have going is to make one of these to protect the Liberty from the small stones that chip the paint. These can be purchased online and have very good reviews for protecting the front of your auto. But, I like a challenge and have already purchased all the parts we need to make on for just under half the price of buying one. So while I do the hitch and light wiring, Joyce will be sewing up a storm.

Once we have all the towing items done and ready to go, we will take the liberty in tow to a local parking lot and test the Tow protector screen in some tight turns. Lets hope this works!

Another Jeep

Our first snow fell and reminded me that winter is coming, and I want to get out of here.

We have come to realize that it may be time to retire the Wrangler with 155,000 miles. We wanted to have to capabilities to off road and be able to easily accommodate another couple if needed. Joyce's Santa Fe was a great car but we can't tow it and it doesn't have off road capabilities so we used it as a trade.

We did not like the four door Wrangler and the prices were out of sight. So we decide on a 2010 Jeep Liberty with only 9600 miles on it, too bad it wasn't yellow.
The best part is we saved about $5000.00 in comparison to a Wrangler. So we may keep the Wrangler and depending on where our next trip takes us, we have two choices.

Dog Days

It's getting cold and I really hate getting out of bed in the morning especially when Casey wants to snuggle. She is only allowed in bed after Mom gets up, so she sits and waits for Joyce in the morning, goes out and does her business, has her breakfast, then back to bed.

Later in the day we had a visit from our grand daughter Megan. She is going to college to be a chef, and stopped by to have us try some of her school work. Isn't she great!

And I love sampling what she bakes.......Carrot Cake, my favorite!

 And a vanilla cake Yum!

The Storm Begins

As we were leaving Intercourse, PA. the locals were having a meeting to inform all of the approaching storm.

We made it home at about 4:30 PM yesterday and spent the night in our use to be yard. The people that bought our home were nice enough to let us park on our old pad as long as we want.

But once we got up this morning, the storm is started to get close and the winds are picking up and we must get away from the trees.

 

We drove about three miles away to a large parking lot at a religious complex. We have tucked our self in a corner and will watch the wind to see if we should move to a better spot as the storm progresses.

This is looking out the passengers side of the coach. There are about eight Canadian Geese in front of us and they seem to be enjoying all the rain. The wind is really picking up and I will probably turn the coach to head into it. Got to go!!

 

Hardworking Amish Farmers

At 7:30 Am we begin to here whistles blowing and wondered what was going on. This guy went by our bedroom window and scared the dog half to death.

The tractor went out past a small barn and stopped. Don't know what he was doing!

Whereas the tractor was out where I really couldn't get any good shots, we went out for lunch. This is a 50's style diner where they have the best burgers and free ball point pens. There's Joyce taking two!

After lunch we were able to get in a parking lot to see what they were doing with the tractor. We found out that whereas there is a stream on the property, the farm is not able to use any chemicals in their starter garden to ride the soil of harmful bugs or fungus.

So what they do is steam the ground to sanitize the soil and kill any impurities then cover the section with plastic. It took 9-1/2 hours to do just the small area that you see. This is their starter garden where they will grow all the seedlings next year. The stream tractor travels from farm to farm performing this service.

After waiting all day, I was finally able to get some good pic's of the tractor as he was coming out of the field.

Man-o-man these people sure do work hard!

Isn't she beautiful!

After exiting the field, he turned her around in the campground.

I loved watching this thing pass us.

That big flywheel was spinning as she passed. The little guy in the cab kept blowing the whistles.

 

And there she goes. Home is 3 miles away and it will take the tractor an hour and forty five minutes to get there.

  

This was our last day here and we will be heading out of here tomorrow morning. Our destination is home in Massachusetts for the holidays and do our doctor visits.
We want to get there before the storm hits, we know of a couple of big parking lots where we can park till the storm passes. Will post as soon as we are able to after the storm.

Frankenstorm

Today's projections have the center of the storm coming in on our doorstep so we are watching things closely to see if the projections change.
There's no way we are going to get away from the storm but we hope to run to an area that's as far away as possible from the high winds, just not sure which way is best right now.

We are here till Sunday unless things progressively get worse. If we make it back to Massachusetts, there is a huge parking lot not far from home and may be a good place to park facing the wind. Hope all of you keep safe and we will update as the storm approaches.

Sandy Is On Her Way

Well.........we as well as a lot of others are watching this storm, I realize that we can move but I doubt that we can move far enough to avoid the storm altogether.
I knew I shouldn't have wash the coach.
With the storm coming, I thought it best to head up to town for those much needed essentials.

 So while Joyce milled around.

I got right to the important stuff like Woopie Pies and Apple Crumb Pie. The other stuff is ingredients that Joyce bought to make Cheddar Seasoned Pretzels.

 On our way back to the Jeep, I spotted this odd looking bus so I had to check it out. The bus is a German Tour bus. I spoke to the driver who is German and he told me that the bus stays in the us and is used to take the "German Dignitaries" around sight seeing.
Cool bus.....German Engineering!!!

Yum!!!!!!!

Well as you can see, I have stocked up on provisions. Fudge, Shoo Fly Pie, and Whoopie Pies. We like the Shoo Fly Pies and normally get a couple and freeze them.

Shortly after returning from town, two of the local little girls stopped by selling baked good made by their mom. Hey, how can you say no to the little Amish girls. How am I going to eat all this yummy stuff? I hope my cardiologist isn't reading this.

Across the street from where we are, is a gift shop that has a stocked fish pond out back. For a quarter you can get some fish food and feed the fish. Casey enjoyed this and had her nose about two inches from the water.

She made no attempt to harm the fish, she just watched.

Then the ducks came in for their share of the goodies.

Casey held her ground, but I thought the ducks would peck at her nose.

  

Relaxing

Casey is watching the farmer with his six mule team. She thinks the mules are big dogs I guess.

It's less than a quarter mile to the center of town where all the shops are.

Some of these shops sell items made by the locals.

Neat idea on stack gourds.

These gents have been performing here ever since I can remember. So while the wife is going in and out of the shops, us guys can sit and tap our toes to the music.