Holed Up

2/27/15 Friday in Wildwood, FL (Alliance Coach: Repairs)

Pretty cold (for us) today, averaging in the 50’s with an all-over-the-place wind. We did manage to pull up the jacks to dump our tanks and get propane. We watched Gonzaga vs San Diego (taped), when they won again. Only one loss in all their games (during OT, vs Arizona) this year. More TV and reading for the day. Butt getting sore. Need more exercise but still trying to get over this cold.  Maybe it’s the flu since it’s now over 2 weeks of congestion and feeling tired.

More blasts from the past (February 2014): Would it have been better to be holed up in Bok Gardens Tower, or Solomon’s Castle, or a Fire Truck? Not really.

Bad News

2/26/15 Thursday in Wildwood, FL (Alliance Coach: Repairs)

We got the bad news that, even though our motor had arrived this morning, they can’t do the repairs (fridge and dryer) until Monday. What happened to our penciled in appointment? Apparently the scheduler didn’t realize it would be for a minimum of 3 hours work. Sigh. Must be flexible. Must also call the Chattahoochee Post Office (where our vehicle registration and tabs are waiting in General Delivery) to ask them to hold that mail. 10 days is the limit, we understand. We had planned to leave Chattahoochee Monday. Since we need to reach San Antonio before the end of March, this means lots more quick stops as we drive there.

I did get our laundry for the week done, then we got talking with our neighbor until lunch. Got a few to do list things accomplished as well, including making/canceling reservations, then some reading and wonderful phone time with my sister.

A blast from the past (February 2014 at Bok Tower Gardens); Bad news is NOT fun.

Resting, Again

2/25/15 Wednesday in Wildwood, FL (Alliance Coach: Repairs)

Such a lazy day, all I can say is we managed to watch TV (taped, mostly) and read, plus a couple short walks to the garbage bins. I’m so glad for this time to help my body get well. We should be heading into lots of traveling/activity in the next 4 months, so this rest feels appropriate.

A blast from the past (at Bok Tower 2/2014). Someone knows how to rest/wait.

Feeling Better; Catch Up Day

2/24/15 Tuesday in Wildwood, FL (Alliance Coach: Repairs)

With more energy today, I was up for doing light housecleaning and writing/posting the blog for the past week. In the afternoon I got caught up on all my computer reading (email/blogs/research) and knocked off some to do items. John, when not watching TV, was busy reading Zane Gray’s “Riders of the Purple Sage”. He’s really enjoying it, similar to his Louis L’Amour books.  I should note that I had finished the 3^rd in the “Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” book series by Stieg Larsson. Fantastic writer, his stories are riveting. So sad that he died shortly after giving his manuscripts to a publisher.

This was a perfect day for all this inside work: it rained most of the time. We did find a break to get some groceries for our supper plans: Chicken a la King, our favorite comfort food. I cooked rice outside in my rice cooker, using our outdoor outlet for the first time. So much nicer than the Safari’s. It is located inside a compartment, with a hole in the floor for the cord to pass through. I don’t need an extension cord! I do this outside so the “rice steam” doesn’t land inside our coach.

Our closet remains dry and the toilet is working perfectly.

Here’s hoping for Spring:

Two Times Bringing Slides and Jacks In/Out

2/23/15 Monday in Wildwood, FL (Alliance Coach: Repairs)

Clearly our first priority was to get the tanks dumped, so we brought in our slides, lifted the jacks and headed to the dump site. After we’d returned, setting everything out again THEN we could have breakfast, I washed a day’s worth of dishes (yesterday’s lunch,dinner and today’s breakfast), then John took his shower. As he was busy with that, Lori called. The Warranty company didn’t need to send their inspector out and the toilet parts had arrived so they could start working on our rig. Would we be ready in about 20 minutes for Ed to bring the coach to the bay. Sure, I said. Dashing to the bathroom I shared the good news…and John moved fast. We were almost ready when Eddie arrived. John was desperately holding off putting the TV antennas down so the DVR would record Kelly and Michael. Ed noticed those antennas and asked if I would take them down….. while Miss Journey was still working on “auto store” John turned the engine off to get the TV on so he could tell the recording to stop (in case interrupting would mean nothing got taped). Thankfully, the levelers must have finished at that point because we were in “travel mode” when he got everything done TV/antenna wise. Whew!

Thus our morning and afternoon were spent reading/resting at the office area. We did grab a quick lunch in our coach while it was in the bay and Eddie was having his lunch. He was finished by 3, bringing our rig to our camping site then. Lori noted that she’s had DeSantis pencil in an appointment for them to work on our rig Thursday-provided the dryer motor arrives by then. Crossing fingers the weather doesn’t hold things up. It will have been a week since she’d ordered it.

With all that rest John figured it was time to enjoy the day. I’d suggested we take a walk, he responded that we visit the Venetian Gardens Park in Leesburg. Sounded good to me and it was. A beautiful marsh that is a bird lovers paradise.  We saw birds we’ve never seen before.  Enjoy the photos.

 Venetian Gardens Park

Did you notice people feeding the White Ibis beyond the Alligator sign in the photo above?  You can enlarge any photo by clicking on it.

Sweet Duck Couple

Common Moorhen

Limpkin

Purple Gallinule

Below is the female:

Tricolored Heron

Little Blue Heron?

Gorgeous Warm Sunny Day

2/22/15 Sunday in Wildwood, FL (Alliance Coach: Repairs)

My best night yet, feel like I’ve turned a corner. After breakfast we went grocery shopping, then watched some DVR tapes including a Gonzaga vs St. Mary’s game. That was a close shave. Gonzaga was behind until the very end when we pulled ahead. Sort of like when we played Arizona except we’d been ahead and they managed to squeak a win out of the overtime.

It was such a beautiful day, I sat in the shade of our backyard tree, reading while John watched the Daytona 500. I guess it was a great race, as those things go. Then he watched golf, even after supper… (am I patient or what?). Oh, we were so enjoying our afternoon that we forgot, until after 2, that we’d planned to go to Mass at 2 since it was the least crowded. Guess we can figure out why it’s less crowded.

As I was taking my shower this evening, the water stopped running down the drain. Oops-guess we’d overrun our gray tank. Knowing it was reading full, I’d not washed our dishes, so they had to sit until tomorrow when we visit the dump site.

Scene from our dump spot

 

Busting Out of Alliance; Free Pizza at Three Flags RV Resort

2/21/15 Saturday in Wildwood, FL (Alliance Coach: Repairs)

At 9 we left for LaMesa to buy a new Carbon Monoxide alarm (the other had failed) and visit Betty/Denny. We all had a great lunch at Tijuana Flats then returned to their place for cards (I even won). Costco was our next visit, getting groceries. Arrived at the rig after 4:30 and rushed to put things away then head to Wildwood for free pizza (manager’s appreciation night). Had fun, met new people. Yummy Papa John’s pizza too. John had 3 pieces but I wasn’t all that hungry.