Dolphins and Pick-Ups

Here's some stuff that happened today - our 7th day at St. Andrews State Park in Panama City Beach, FL -

1) We went swimming in the Gulf beach today. Ellyn wasn't in the water too long because the "yellow flag" waves were a bit much for her but Geoff enjoyed them. We saw a pod of dolphins through the binoculars from the beach. Loved that!

2) Geoff flew an old kite of his and we started up a conversation with a couple on the beach. They are RVers staying in the park only two days and we had such a nice conversation that we all went out to dinner, tonight. It was a pleasure to exchange tips and experience with them. We exchanged our info-cards so we can keep in touch to perhaps meet-up for another dinner someday. (Oh yes, and the kite crashed - not sure how much repair is needed).

3) If you're following Ellyn's eye saga, you may recall that the new prescription still left her seeing double but it was improved. She found a place to order the stick-on prisms and bought a few different diopter strengths. They arrived today and the 3 diopter prism did the trick - so for the first time since February, Ellyn can now see well with her glasses!! YAY!!! She's going to make an appt. at John's Hopkins to follow-up on that on our way back to CT at the end of the month.

4) P.S. To Geoff's account of Ellyn's ear problem (yesterday), here's a link to a web description of how little of a problem it is: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/vertigo/DS00534/DSECTION=causes. The ear-dr. who said I had this problem (when examining me for something, else), recommended the head-shaking solution and it seems to work.

It's hard to believe we only have 3 more days, here...so much kayaking, biking and beach-ing still to do.

Mother’s Day 2009

Staying in one place for a while has its perks. Today we got to be lazy in the morning. I got up and fixed Ellyn a nice breakfast of a mushroom and cheese omelet and some cantaloupe. Then we packed up all our dirty laundry and made a trip to a local coin laundry. All done in about 2 hours. Next, a quick lunch and off to the local Target to do a little shopping. Then to a movie theater to catch the new Star Trek movie. It was great!

At the Target, I got a little scare from Ellyn. As we approached the entrance, she suddenly grabbed me and said “I feel really dizzy. Hold onto me.”. I did that and she shook her head hard and said it was passing. I tried to get her over toward the store and out of the parking lot, but then she suddenly dropped to the ground. I was scared but she seemed to be laughing it off and shook her head again. Other people came up but she was able to get up and go on with the shopping. She said she had been diagnosed by her doctors to have some kind of sand in her inner ear. I had not heard of that but she said they told her to just shake her head and the sand would redistribute and the dizziness would go away. I guess it worked but I guess this was the first time it happened while she was standing. She had not told me about it before but I guess she has had it happen every couple weeks or so. Sheesh!

After the movie we walked around a little in the outdoor mall near the theater and then headed back to the RV. We had to move it over to the dump station at the park and empty the holding tanks. Now we should be ok until we leave here on Friday. Then we headed out to get some dinner but I had left my wallet in the RV by mistake. It was disappointing but we came back to the RV and just had some leftovers.

Now I need to put away the clean clothes and get our bed made back up so we can get some sleep. Tomorrow is another day in paradise.

From Sunny Florida

Hello from St. Andrews State Park in Panama City Beach, FL. We have a water view campsite. There's white sand, clear water, snorkeling, kayaking, biking, etc etc and we're planning to stayhere for TEN days!!
View Larger Map

This morning we took a bikeride around the park. First, there is a little sandy waterfront right near our campsite where we saw hermit crabs scampering. Then we rode to the fishing pier and, finally, to the beaches. Two of the beaches are at right angles to each other....one is directly on the gulf and there was a red flag, warning of rough water, on that beach. However, there were surfers in the water and many of them were standing up using paddles which is the first time we saw that. It's pretty warm and sort of humid, here, so we are using the AC in the RV.

Logan's Memories

Hope this post from Logan's blog this week gives you a chuckle:

My parents made a censored version of Raiders of the Lost Ark for me when I was young. Indiana Jones escapes from the tomb, blows up the plane, steals the ark back from the Nazis in the desert, gets on the ship with Marion, THE END. I was probably in my teens before I saw the whole version on television. I had never even questioned it.

Someone's going to bring it up, so here's another anecdote: When I was very young, my parents called the ice cream truck the "music truck" to keep me from screaming every time I heard it. I don't know how long that one lasted, because I have no memory of it.

Anybody have any trouble believing we would do this?

Sweet Home Alabama

We are having a very nice ("sweeet") time in Alabama. First, we visited Dothan and our dear friends, Lynne and Rob. About 10 years, ago, Lynne chose being a Rabbi as a second career. She studied Hebrew intensively to pass the entrance exam, spent a year in Israel away from her husband and, after five years of study in rabbinic school, Lynne was ordainedas a rabbi. Her first synagogue is a 55 family congregation...oh yes, and we are the 55th family! We want to maintain membership in a synagogue while we're traveling so we decided that this way we can really have Rabbi Lynne (as her congregation calls her) as OUR rabbi.

It was a very special Shabbat at Lynne's synaogue as they had a Holocaust survivor, Anne Rosenheck, as the speaker. Anne was 13 years old when her family was transported to Aushweitz and that was the last she saw of her family. However, she survived and you could hear a pin drop as she retold her story of survival with several very close calls. Here's an article about the community event she also spoke at. http://www.dothaneagle.com/dea/lifestyles/local/article/holocaust_survivor_to_share_story/68820/ On Sat evening, we had a lovely dinner at Lynne's and Rob's home with Anne and her friend, John Stembridge, also at the dinner. John had incredible stories in his own right having once been Mayor of North Miami, Florida and quite involved in all sorts of different global experiences.

That didn't finish our experience with Lynne's synagogue - yesterday, we joined about 30 congregants to attend a AA baseball team, the Montgomery Biscuits. It was great fun - of course, I got some biscuits and gravy at the park! Afterward, we joined the group at Jason's Deli. The only downer of the day was that the Biscuits lost the game. We're returning to Dothan on Wed. to help with the synagogue's Deli Day fundraiser (they're selling 800 corned beef lunches) with plans to stay for another erev Shabbat.

And now we're camped at Gunter Hill COE campground. The COE is US Core of Engineers and that means that we're camped on land that's adjacent to a COE resevoir - well, actually, it is a beautiful lake. We have a wonderful view of the lake out our back windows and we had a really nice kayak outing late this afternoon. We were supposed to be touring the Civil Rights sights in Montgomery today but, somehow, got sidetracked and ended up just hanging around the lovely campground today...it was good to have a down day and we'll resume our sightseeing tomorrow. I'm sure that will give a lot to add to a future post.

This American Life LIVE

We just returned from Alpharetta (in the suburbs of Atlanta) where we attended the This American Life Live broadcast. I'm a huge fan of the Public Radio show, This American Life and what we saw tonight was a live show broadcast to movie theaters throughout the country. Some venues sold out but the Alpharetta movie theater only had about 50 people. The show was great - extremely moving at times as well as very funny. However, in my opinion, the highlight of the show was seeing Ira Glass being so cutely cumudgeonly at the sound board...can't see that on the radio! Oh - yes - one quirk in the evening was the satellite dropped out for about 10 minutes during what turned out to be a thunderstorm. Luckily, the cartoon that got interupted will be put on the website.

Another highlight of the show was Josh Whedon doing his first live musical performance of one of the songs in the "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog" director's commendy. Apparently, the whole director's commentary is done in song. We hadn't heard that, previously, and now plan to buy the DVD when we get a chance. Here's more on the Dr. Horrible phenomen.

Other stuff we did today was to celebrate our first day of warm weather by exchanging our summmer and winter clothing in the RV storage, replace my paddle lost in the kayak excitement (see post below), pick up a few things at the huge new Alpharetta Costco and I got my first pedicure of the season. Tomorrow we're off to Dothan, GA to visit with our friends Lynne and Rob. We haven't seen them in two years so it will be SO GREAT to see them!!

Wherever You Are, Be All There

Wow - we're really behind, already, in our blogging....we've been having some great days and our travels are just beginning.

Please see Geoff's flickr page for photos from the following....

We arrived in Dahlonega which is in the foothills of the northern Georgia mountains (hills compared to the Rockies, of course) on Monday afternoon. The weather is perfect and sunny and the trees that aren't blossoming are now bursting forth with their new leaves. Our first night, we went to listen to a singer-songwriter night at a local small music venue which was wonderful. Yummy dinner and great music in an very small venue. Yesterday, we went to the GA Racing Hall of Fame and then the Dawsonville Pool Hall for lunch. I'll let Geoff write about that.

Geoff: The first thing I noticed about the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame was that it was also the Dawsonville City Hall. I guess that pretty much nails its importance to the city. For those who are not racing fans, Dawsonville is famous for being the home town of many early stock car racers, but most notably, Bill Elliott, who was mostly prominent in NASCAR in the 80’s and the 90’s, although he still races today on occasion. The hall has many of Bill’s race cars, but also has cars from other racers from Georgia, as well as some notable ones from famous racers not from Georgia. We sat and watched a movie on the start of NASCAR and many of the racers in the sport who called Georgia home. One of the gentlemen talking about the history was Gordon Pirkle, a racing enthusiast who was also the owner of one of the most popular eating spots in Dawsonville, The Pool Room. Well, as I was looking over some of the cars, he walks by and says hi. We talked for a bit and he said that they had just gotten one of Davy Allison’s cars in. He also mentioned that they were not as interactive as they had been because of cut backs in funding, but they are still open every day and free to the public.

Later, I told Ellyn about talking with him when we were eating at the Pool Room, and then as we walked out, there he was. So we stopped and talked with him again and told him how much we liked the Hall of Fame and the food at the Pool Room and he was very happy that we enjoyed it. When we mentioned we were from CT and had heard of Jerry Nadeau, he went in the back and brought us each a Jerry Nadeau keychain.

Today we did a ton of things.....waterfall hike, lunch by a river in "Bavarian" Helen, bought grits at an operating Grist Mill, flea market, Appalachian Trail Mountain Crossing, Cabbage Patch Kids Babyland Hospital. We saw a sign at the Mountain Crossing (which is the only portion of the AT that goes inside) that said "Wherever you are, be all there" and that pretty sums up how Geoff and I are trying to live each of the days we'll of this extended traveling.

Tonight, we're off to the boarding house style dinner at The Smith House and tomorrow afternoon/evening we'll go down to Alpharetta to see the "This American Life" Live viewings at the movie theater. It's supposed to be 80F which will be amazing. I already gave my legs their first shaving of the spring and I'm going to try to squeeze in a pedicure tomorrow.

Kayak Tumble & Cowboy Boots

Well - today almost matches yesterday's home sale in terms of being extremely memorable.

This is how our kayak outing was supposed to go:
Step one: Place Geoff's bike at Hominy Creek River Park
Step two: Put in Kayaks at Bent River Creek Park
Step three: Enjoy gentle flowing French Broad River as we paddle 7 miles past Biltmore Estate
Step four: After arriving at Hominy Creek River Park, Geoff rides his bike 4miles back to retrieve the car at Bent River Creek Park

All went well as we put the kayaks into the river, then we noticed little patches of rapids which were a bit more exhilarating than we've paddled previously. We came to a highway overpass with a good patch of rapids all across the river between the highway supports. The current rushed me towards one of the pillers and YIKES!!! I was heading fast for the pillar and feared breaking an arm against it but instead I "just" ended in the water. This is the first time is our several years of kayaking that one of us ended in the water. Luckily, the river was refreshing but not too cold and not too deep but was rushing. Between the river not being too deep and me hanging onto Geoff's kayak, we made it over to the shore without me tipping over Geoff's kayak.

The force of the river had my kayak still pinned onto the highway pillar with me glad that I wasn't pinned between the kayak and the pillar! Geoff went back and heroically maneuvered the rapids (very impressively) to loosen my kayak but it would not budge. Finally, he got into the river to push the kayak loose then got back into his kayak and pulled my kayak over to the side of the river to where I was sitting. Oh yes, while I sitting there, another kayaker hit the pillar and fell in the water as I had but was taller than me so he was able to pop right back into his kayak and went off paddling.

The one thing we lost in my tumble was my paddle - which on a calm river wouldn't have been a problem since Geoff could easily tow me. However, without me having a paddle on this river, it would be a problem whenever we hit another rough patch. And we still had over six more miles of paddling til our planned endpoint. (Are you starting to wonder what this has to do with cowboy boots? That's coming up soon, don't worry.) Even so, we decided to try Geoff towing me which went well for about 10 minutes but then we came to another small rapid and I panicked at the thought of going through it towed by Geoff. We went to the side of the river so I could walk around it and then I realized that there was a path at the top of the river bank. So I scrambled up the muddy river bank to walk my way out while Geoff continued down the river to the planned end point.

I walked for about 30 minutes on what I soon figured was a Biltmore Estate bridle path. I felt a little strange walking along drenching wet and still wearing my PFD (life jacket). Eventually, came to a pasture with a few beautiful horses being fed by what I learned were Bilmore staff. I told them my story and the young horsewoman, Elizabeth, was about to end her shift so she agreed to drive me to Geoff's and my meeting point. And one of those staff members feeding the horses had on knee high blue cowboy boots. I didn't realize anybody that actually worked with animals wore flashy boots like those. I wished I had my camera. While I waited 10 minutes or so for Elizabeth to finish feeding the horses, I sat on a log in the middle of that beautiful pasture and felt amazed at what a different experience I was having than the one we had planned.

Elizabeth wasn't sure where the park was so she checked the web from her cell phone but then it turned out that she was bringing me in the wrong direction so we stopped someplace for directions. They had no idea but I did get to use the rest room there and then I found out the my luck was really odd, this afternoon, because the toilet wouldn't flush. Uggh....but then we got through to Geoff on the phone. He had successfully completed the kayaking and was at the location of his bike. he asked Elizabeth to take me to where our car was and that he would ride the bike to meet me. And that's just what happened and we were reunited.

Now we'll need to get a new paddle for me....and we think we'll stick to calm predictable lakes from now on! Phew!!

Addendum from Geoff:

Whew, I'm pooped. After I got Ellyn's kayak loose, chased it down, emptied the wter out of it, hooked it up to the back of mine, I was about a quarter mile down stream from where I dropped her off. Trying to paddle back up against the current was not working, so I got over to the side of the river and got out and walked, dragging both kayaks behind me. I caught up just in time to see another kayaker go into the drink right in the same spot, but he was able to get righted and go on.

After Ellyn went up the bank and found the Biltmore trail, I towed her kayak on downstream toward the park where my bike was parked. This took another hour and a quarter. Ellyn said she would try to call me but I had no cell signal while on the river. After I got out, and got both kayaks out, and locked them up with my bike lock, and strapped the rest of our gear to the back of my bike, I checked the phone and found I had a couple of calls from a strange number. I called it back and asked if Ellyn was there. She was but not with the person who was helping her. They could not find the park I was at but I asked her to take Ellyn to the other park where the car was parked. 

I had no doubt I could make the ride, but I had used up a lot more of my energy in the kayak than I had expected when we put out onto the water. I had to get off and walk a few times on hills when my legs got too rubbery but I made the 5.9 mile ride in just under 44 minutes. Then we had to go back and load the kayaks. Ugh! There was a group of kayak fishermen there who had seen me trying to get the kayak off the bridge piling and they helped me put one of the kayaks up on the car.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a rain day. I can use a break. 

And Now For Something Completely Different

Today we got the official word from our real estate attorney that the closing on our house sale will be Friday at 3:00 PM. So now we can celebrate, and just in time too, since tomorrow is our 31st Anniversary.

Yesterday, we headed out on our newest adventure in our year-old RV. We cleaned the last of the stuff out of our house in Danbury and pulled out of Claremont Avenue for the last time. Twenty two years and seven months we lived there, the longest either of us have had the same mailing address in our lives. Now we are living a mobile lifestyle.

It isn’t perfect yet. We moved way too much stuff into the RV from the house and are going to have to get rid of a lot of it. We were able to drop off some old electronics at Ellyn’s brother’s house yesterday which he will take to their town’s recycling event in a few weeks.

Tonight, we are at the Walnut Hills Campground near Staunton, VA, for an overnight stay and then on to Asheville, NC, where we will get to really relax for 4 days. Ahhhh.

Amazement and Mystery

Amazing - we are actually moved totally out of our home of 22 years. Due to arrive within an hour in Baltimore for my eye appt. And we're trying not to worry that the closing of the house is inexplicably not yet scheduled. Our Realtor tells us that the buyers realtor and lender say it's all go which is why it's a mystery that it's not scheduled.

Tuesday or Wednesday

Closing getting closer....we hear it will be Tues or Wed of this week!!

So Close We Can Taste It

Ok, we are now getting serious. The final clean out of the house is in progress. Items are being sorted into "Freecycle", "Goodwill", "Dump", and "RV" piles. The last load has gone to storage the rest is out or we find room to carry it with us. Monday we head south come hell or high water. This better happen.

The Sale Seems to be Approaching

We definitely don't want to count our chickens too soon before we cross the bridge but, finally, today we did hear that our buyers have a loan commitment to buy our home. The closing is set for only SEVEN DAYS away!!

We'll keep you all posted.

Tales of Houseselling - 2009 Version

This house selling is really a headache....here's a recap:
Sept 08 - Put house on Market and get first buyers by end of the month

Oct 08 - US Economy goes into turmoil and house deal falls apart when buyer loses Wall St. Job within a week of the closng date and just as we donate the last of our furniture

Nov 08 - House goes back on the market

Dec/Jan - Housing market totally dead for the holidays

Feb 09 - After several low offers, new buyers for $12,000 less than first sale agreement and we agree

Mar 09 -

• Buyer's appraisal for the mortgage comes in $5000 less than sale price due to using comparable from last summer that was a "short sale" - we agree to the lower sale price to speed the process. This apparently a backlash from when appraisals were over inflated during the "bubble."
  
• Buyer's Mortgage Insurance Co. requests 2nd "verification" appraisal which comes in another $10,000 lower
• After reviewing recent sale prices in Danbury, we indicate we won't further lower our sale price. Buyers indicate they are still interested in the house.

Current Status - House sale contract expired and buyers need to decide new strategy for financing for sale to continue while we are trying not to think about the sale falling through and the need to put the house back on the market. UGGH!

Working on a Dream

Our house sale is supposed to close in only 11 days but there is currently a nerve-wracking delay in the buyer's mortgage commitment. I know that there are many others in the country who share our sadness that we've done everything right by our house and the greedy mistakes of others continues to keep us from living our dream. Our home sale is still alive but it looks like we'll be living with uncertainty about the mortgage commitment through the weekend. So it looks like we'll be working hard, this weekend, to regain our optimism.

By the way - although all the lyrics don't exactly fit our situation, the mood of the title track on Bruce Springsteen's new album fits our mood these days: Working on a Dream Video

On The Road Again

Well, we did end up taking the RV to Baltimore for Ellyn's surgery (see the previous append) and we are now staying at the Bay Harbor RV Park in Abingdon, MD, about 30 minutes from the Johns Hopkins Medical Center where Ellyn had the surgery done on Wednesday. It has been rather cold and windy but, since we settled on an offer on our house on Tuesday, we decided to hang out here for one more day before heading back to Danbury. The park is right on the Bush River, which flows into the Chesapeake Bay, and is nice and quiet, has wi-fi and cable TV, so Ellyn has been comfortable here resting her eyes and recovering.

We walked around the park a bit yesterday, until the wind came up and forced us back inside. It is still pretty windy today and only a few degrees above freezing. This morning the outside water hose was frozen up. I think I will have to leave the water on in one of the sinks to try to prevent it happening again. 

Today we went to Lutherville-Timonium to the Maryland State Fairgrounds where they were having an RV show. Although we are now happy RV owners, we still like to look at other rigs and see what is new or different. But now we may be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. If all goes well, we will be closing on the house by the end of March and then we will be totally free. Ellyn will have to come back here for a follow up appointment but we will have our kayaks then and maybe the weather will be nice enough to be able to do some paddling.

Back in Danbury

We're back in Danbury, now...well, at least for a few days. Happily, we had a very uneventful drive all the way back from FL - in 3 days including an overnight stop at Ellyn's brother's and sister's-in-law home. We're catching up with friends and errands here and will be leaving again on Monday or Tuesday for us to travel to Johns Hopkins in Baltimore for Ellyn's eye surgery. She's having eye muscle surgery on her strabismus. Here's more information that you would ever want to know about the surgery http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/wilmer/pdfs/STEDLG.pdf and the renowned Dr. Guyton, who will be performing the surgery http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/wilmer/employees/cvs/Guyton.html We're currently leaning towards traveling by car and staying in a motel because there aren't any year round campgrounds that are close enough to Johns Hopkins.

Enough Already

This is Ellyn and I'm going to write this one in the first person - I'm a bit bummed out today. It was 24F when I awoke this morning to go to a 8am Rally speaker IN A TENT. I know that's not as cold as it's been in the NE but we are IN FLORIDA and we are at a rally where we are supposed to be spending time OUTSIDE and in TENTS. In my bummed feeling this morning, I feel like this cold weather stole our last week in Florida. It's supposed to warm up to 65F this afternoon and the 70's tomorrow but we start home the day after that so this was our last week. As the saying goes...Everybody talks about the weather but nobody can do anything about it. By the way, there was frost everywhere this morning. In Florida. Hummmphf!

The good news is that in 20minutes, that I'm going to join with some other members of the Chai Chapter of the RV club to PLAY MAJ JONGG....that should cheer me up even if I don't win!

Fort de Soto County Park

This was our last park stop before the FMCA Rally. The park is a series of islands or "keys" as they are called in Florida. The camping area is very nice and the spaces are quite wide and long. We were able to get the RV in and out pretty easily.

The first evening it was very clear so we went out on one of the fishing piers to watch the sunset. They keep the piers open after dark for fishing but the rest of the park is closed. Before it got very dark, we went by the kayak and canoe rental area to check out the ease of launching our own. A park ranger came by when we were leaving to see what we were up to. Guess we made him nervous.

The next day we went to the far end of the park to walk the nature trail. This was to let the day warm up a bit before we went kayaking. It was a bit disappointing because there were no animals or birds to be seen. We cut it short and went back to the picnic area for lunch. At least we did see some birds there as well as some noisy fishermen.

So, we went to launch into the bay. It was still a quit cool and breezy but the sun was bright and warm. We saw a woman with a small dog with a PFD on. Ellyn chased her down for a picture and chatted with her for a while. The woman also took our picture before we parted ways. At one point we saw some other kayakers watching an area of the bay intently. When we got close, several dolphins broke the surface. We had not expected that. One of the kayakers told us they had also seen a manatee in there before.

We finished up, went back to the RV for a nap, and then out to dinner. It was Super Bowl Sunday and we were close to Tampa. Little traffic at that time. We tried to go to a Japanese restaurant but it was closed. We did find another place open but we were the only customers and the sushi chefs were watching the game.

Fort Myers - Shady Acres RV Park

Shady Acres is probably a typical Florida RV Park where people go to spend the entire winter. There are some modular homes here but most people are in either mobile homes like ours (class A) or large fifth wheel or travel trailers. Many are here for two or more months. We are only spending 6 days here. Our parking space is prt of a long row of spaces about 25 feet wide. It was a tight fit to get the RV between the concrete pad and the electrical box. Geoff had to go back and forth two or three times before getting lined up right. It was also complicated by the RVs stored in the spaces across the narrow road.

The first night here, the park was having an ice cream social. Bring your own dishes and $2, and they supplied the ice cream. Wow, the thing was packed, and they said it was more people than usually show up for these things. But they had enough ice cream and cake for every one and it was fun to meet some of the other campers.

We had several places picked out to visit while here, but the first day we headed for Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, a swamp area with one of the last virgin cyprus forests left in the US. It is home for aligators, lizards, wild cats, and lotsof birds. They have over 2 miles of boardwalk over the swamp andthe weather that day was beautiful. We found out about it from the couple in the next RV over at our park. The first half was a little disappointing, but we did see aligators, wood storks, and other birds we had not seen before. It was a nice walk.

On our second day we went to the Edison and Ford Winter Homes, which is a display in downtown Fort Myers. Thomas Edison wintered here for many years and even built a laboratory in which he did experiments to try to find a domestic source of rubber between World Wars One and Two, in case the US was cut off from its supplies from foreign countries. He was successful, but the advent of syntheic rubber made it unnecessary. The site has been highly restored and the location of the largest banyan tree in the continental US.

Day three, we went to nearby Sanibel Island, an upscale resort area, but with very nice beaches open to the public, nice bike paths all oer the island, and good shelling. We biked and spent time on the beaches, but also kayaked Commodore Creek off of Tarpon Bay. It winds among mangrove trees and was a nice trip, but some areas were quite shallow and difficult to get through.

On day four, we went to Manatee Park, where manatees winter in the effluent stream from a nearby power plant. there were a few there but, when it is colder, there can be as many as 60 there at a time. We saw a few, two with babies, but it was not very dramatic, since you only see their backs or tails for a moment and then they go under again. Also the water is very dark and not easy to see very far below the surface.

Day five was cool and rainy, the first since we arrived. The other days were all 80+ days but this day started at about 65 and stayed there all day. This was a day for taking care of some business, and doing laundry. The RV park had a pig roast in the evening. We made our barbequed beans in the crockpot. Having our bikes here has been nice, since we are a fair distance from the park office and getting on the bikes to go over there or to go to the pool has been nice.

Tomorrow we head out to Fort Desoto State Park near Tampa. We will be there during the Super Bowljust a few miles away but will likely not even watch it.

Oscar Scherer State Park

This little state park on the South Creek is quite nice. We had a wonderful time there riding on the nature trails and attending some events. The first day there was a folk music event in the Nature Center and the last night there was a Camp Fire talk by one of the rangers. We found out some information about the Shrub Jay and where we could see them. The last morning, before breakfast, we went out to see if we could find them and we were not disappointed. They are quite active in the mornings and they are also quite friendly and curious.

At first, we did not see them except at a distance, but when Geoff went off the path to look closely at a Shrub Oak, one came and landed right above his head. After that, there were several around very close to us and we were able to snap many good pictures.

We had heard that they would even land on a person's head quite frequently, but  we did not think that would be very likely, and were going to head back for breakfast and to pack up to leave. As we walked back to the bikes, one flew right over and landed on Geoff's shoulder. Ellyn had the camera and was able to get a couple good shots before it flew off again.

The second day we took our kayaks out onto the South Creek and paddled about 1 1/4 miles down to the bay. We saw many birds along the way and even some other kayakers coming up the creek. There were also lots of fishermen around. It was one of the first really warm and nice days we had had in Florida and we think that a lot of other people wanted to enjoy it as well.

Winding Down at Disney

The friends we have been spending our time with here at WDW have departed and Ellyn and I are here for two more days. Today is the Obama Inaugural and we will be watching that this morning. It is also a chance to run a few loads of laundry and do some work on the car. The shifter has gotten stiff, although the transmission seems to be working ok otherwise. I am trying to find where the linkage runs to so I can see what has it "gummed up".

Yesterday we took an early morning Segway tour in Epcot. If you are not familiar with the Segway, it is a two-wheeled, gyro-stabilized, microprocessor controlled transportation device. Kind of an up-right scooter. We were able to try them out and get used to them indoors, and then take a tour around the countries of Epcot. It was a lot of fun.

We had our friends over to the RV one night this week for some dessert. Now we know how many people we can comfortably fit in here. We also went over to the campfire and made s'mores.

Having a Great Time!

We've been in Walt Disney World for 4 days now and have been having a great time with friends Marie and Dave and 7 of their friends and family. The whole group are wonderful and we're enjoying so many laughs and good times with them. However, we've been so busy that we really haven't had time to update this blog properly. However, Geoff has posted some photos on flickr. The link is to the left.

By the way, it's about 15 degrees below average here - but that means the highs are in the 60's which is pretty comfortable during the afternoons AND it's lot's warmer than back in CT so we do appreciate the temps here.

Buyers are on the prowl....

While we're here, our home is still for sale back in Danbury. Yesterday, we had calls indicating that TWO buyers were going to be looking at it and, today, B. our Realtor, is hosting an Open House. One of the buyers looking at the house, yesterday, was viewing it for the THIRD time. Perhaps some of this action will result in an offer, we hope!

Steven Foster State Park - Day 1

Jan 10, 2009

Today was pretty relaxing. We started out just hanging around the RV, making some posts online, doing a little clean up and organizing, and listening to the radio. About noon, when the temperature outside was up to about 67, we decided to take a bike ride around the park.

We went to the carillon tower and listened to  the bells and toured the museum in the lobby. Then we went down by the river and checked out the kayaking possibilities. Unfortunately, the river level is very low and a long walk down from the parking lot, so we decided to wait until WDW to get the kayaks off the car.

We did some more biking around and Ellyn looked in some of the craft shops and the gift shop. Then we went to the museum and looked around in there for a while. Finally we came back to the RV and did some more relaxing.

We went out to a convenience store and picked up a couple of items we needed plus some sausages to grill. We also got some firewood at the ranger station to make a little campfire. Dinner, sitting around the fire on a very warm evening, a large full moon shining down, and a quick load of laundry in the convenient washers right near our campsite and another successful day of RVing came to an end.

Florida Adventure: Leg 4 - GA to FL

Jan 9, 2009

Ah, sunny Florida at last. And it was a sunny day too. We are finally out of the bad weather of the North and into the sunny South. We did get to tour Savannah a bit and walked around the harbor front area for a half hour. It was very nice. We have to get the pictures off the camera.

We also had our first breakfast out at a great restaurant in the downtown area. We had some trouble finding it but I asked a couple gentlemen at an outdoor area and they were able to direct us.

We stopped at the welcome center just inside Florida and ate lunch at a picnic table. Then we went inside for some free orange juice before getting on the road again. We pulled into the Steven Foster State Park campround just before the 5:00 pm closing time and got into our camping spot before dark. Oops. backed the RV again an overhanging tree limb and put a little dent in a portion of the roof. We got to take a short walk before bedtime under a brilliant full moon. Without the moon, we would have had a great view of the stars, as this is away from most urban areas of Florida. We will be here for 3 days so this is our first relaxing time of the trip so far.

Florida Adventure: Leg 3 - NC to GA

Jan 8, 2009

This was our first day with (mostly) no rain. It was warmer too, so we were able to forgo the winter coats when we stopped places. We blew through the rest of North Carolina and South Carolina and into Georgia, headed for Savannah. This is one of the places Ellyn really wanted to see but, sadly, due to our reduced schedule, we are unable to stop places for long. But since the next leg is shorter, maybe we can take a ride into the city before having to hit the road again.

We had an incident with the "toad" (our CR-V) when we stopped for gas and to run the engine (needs to be done every 8 hours while towing). The battery had gone dead and it would not shift into park or start. It looks like towing for three days and not running the engine more than a few minutes a day, lets the Brake Buddy drain the battery. We had to disconnect, turn the RV around, jump start the car, and then rehook the tow, after letting the car run a while to recharge.

We got to the RV park late and had some trouble getting someone to let us in because we had little or no cell coverage.

Florida Adventure: Leg 2 - NJ to NC

Jan 7, 2009

It started at 4:30 am. I awoke to drumming rainfall on the roof of the RV but then also heard a trickle of water inside. I got up to see what it was and quickly found that the toilet was overflowing...again. S*&T! This happened one other time and it was due to a sticking valve in the toilet. The water trickled in until the black water tank was full and then ran out onto the floor.

This time was worse because the sewer line was not hooked up. I had to run out in the rain and hook up the sewer line, and the dump point was far from the coach but I just reached it, and then dump the tank. Then I came back in and cleaned up all the water. Good thing we had lots of extra towels. We also had not used the toilet much and so there was no bad smell.

We got out of the RV park at about 10:00, stopped at 2:00 for lunch at Dixie Bones, stopped for gas south of Richmond and arrived at the RV Resort at Carolina Crossroads.

After the gas stop, there was a thunderstorm and there were some pretty strong winds buffeting the RV around pretty badly. A couple of times I had to wrestle it back into my lane, fortunately not when there was another vehicle there. When we got to the RV park, Ellyn put on the weather on TV and found that there had been some winds up to 70 mph in the area. We had some more winds until about 9:30 and then they died down.

Florida Adventure: Leg 1 - Danbury to NJ

Jan 6, 2009

Ugh. Today was a tough one. We pretty much procrastinated yesterday on getting the RV loaded up so this morning we got up at 7:00 planning to leave at 10:00 and finally got out at 11:40. We stopped around 1:00 on the Garden State for lunch and a rest break and then continued to the NJ Turnpike. We pulled into the Timberlane Campground around 4:00 pm and got an overnight camping spot.

We saw mostly rain on the way, although it did seem to have some sleet in it at the beginning. We could see it swirling across the roadway in front of us. We also saw highway trucks loaded up with sand and lined up waiting to go out where 684 meets 287 in White Plains.

Now we are hunkered down waiting for the weather to pass over tonight. Hopefully, it will only be rain tomorrow. We plan on driving into North Carolina and stopping at a campground south of Rocky Mount.

Family

We have had a wonderful week of family....First we drove to Logan's and Maureen's to celebrate the first night of Chanukah and also Logan's birthday. It was a wonderful evening with Brian's girlfriend, Katherine, also joining the five of us.....plus Logan's and Maureen's dog, Gus. Logan and Maureen prepared traditional latkes AND sweet potato latke's. Logan prepared a out-of-this-world brined chicken in wine sauce. Lots of laughter and yumminess. And Gus was great fun to watch as he played with his new toys.

Our second family event was that we had brunch with five of my cousins on Monday morning. Fred is the son of my father's cousin and we became acquainted with him and his wife, Lucinda, in the past year, through the efforts of Fred's geneology of my father's mother's family. We met their younger son, Leon, for the first time on Monday. Also joining us were newly discovered cousins, Abby and Ilyse. Abby is the grand-daughter of my great-grandfather's brother. They were in Boston for Abby to have a job interview. We had so much fun laughing and talking together. I am really thankful for Fred's effort to discover our family tree!!

And our third family event of the week was the Geoff and I drove up to Vermont to spend Christmas with his Mother who lives in an Assisted Living apartment in White River Junction. Logan and Brian drove up there, also, from Boston. We had a wondeful Christmas noon Dinner in the beautiful dining room at her residence. There was lots of joy and laughter.

And now we're back home. I work for two more evening shifts at the department store and then my retail career is over for this season. I hear that the day after Christmas is the worse day to work retail so tomorrow should be an interesting experience. :-/

Next week, we'll spend New Year's Eve at Gary's and Susan's, as we have for nearly all of the past 21 years.

Our next travel plans are to RV down to Florida for a month in ONLY TWO WEEKS!!!

There's photos of our RV in the snow and our family events on Geoff's flickr page - the link is to the left.

Happy Chanukah, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!!!

Ellyn's First Shift

I survived my first 5 1/2 hour shift at the big department store. Yes, I messed up the POS (cash register) many times but lucky fo me, it was easy to recover. Trickiest at the POS were the coupons which everybody was using. I never got to ask anybody if they wanted to open up a credit card because every customer used the store credit card.

Now the dirt....in my training, it was emphasized that a goal is to give the customers a great shopping experience. This turns out to be a difficult task. First, I'm working in a large department which is only staffed by me and, at times, a second person. And in addition to checking out customers, we have to empty the fitting room, put clothes back on the racks, and straighten out messed up clothing. It's tricky to put stuff on the racks because they are displayed by designer and there's a ton of designer nooks to search before find the home for each item. Second, a lot of things are going onto discount racks and we need to put each item on the correct discount rack. With all those tasks, it's pretty hard to great the customers to ask them what items I can help them find.

Then, there is the fitting room...I was pretty stunned how awful it looked - very dirty rug, old pealing paint, etc. It was quite a contrast to the name-branded sportswear we are selling. Do any of the store executives check out the fitting rooms?

As for me, I survived okay with only a 15 minute break. It is a long time to be on my feet flitting around putting things away but not a huge problem. The biggest problem was how warm it was - I'm tempted to bring in my thermometer as I bet it is nearly 80F. I'm certain people would buy more sweaters if it was cooler in there. :-)

As for my co-workers, they all seemed very intelligent and professional. I did find out that one of them has a day job, also. Uggh.

I work again tomorrow night and I don't find out the rest of my schedule until then.

Ellyn's Training

Yay! I passed my training for my seasonal department job. My assignment has been changed from petite to "better" sportswear. The training was all done by computer and a training POS (Point of Sale - what we used to call a Cash Register). I really like the thought that a major part of my job will be to give the customers a good shopping experience - which was a big emphasis of the training.

Much to my disappointment, we did not get trained on how to fold the clothes. I'll have to wait until Tuesday to find out my schedule. So, it looks like my seasonal job may only be for just over two weeks - at the most.

It's really interesting to think that I might have as much satisfaction (at least for a few weeks) in one of the lowest paying jobs as I did at my previous career. But I guess I already knew that it didn't take a big paycheck to get enjoyment and satisfaction from a job well done - I had already learned that from my volunteer work.

Newlywed Thanksgiving - 30 Years Ago

Thirty years ago, we were newlyweds and had just moved to Rochester, MN. The first big snow was Thanksgiving-eve, so we spent the day having fun in the snow and taking photos. After Geoff started the camera auto-timer, Ellyn gave him a bit of surprise and this memorable photo is the result: http://www.flickr.com/photos/geoff0522/180825324/in/set-72157594253501026/

Dead, Training & Florida

Three new tidbits from here....

1) Our attorney confirmed today that the deal with our buyers is DEAD as there is no way they can get a mortgage. Our realtor is holding an open house on Sunday.

2) I have my Department Store training on Saturday and it's supposed to take 6-8 hours. I wonder if they have scheduled more training time for learning how to run the cash register or how to fold the clothes. I think it will take me longer to learn the latter.

3) Our current decision is that we will travel to Florida for January - however, we have scaled down the plans to stay mostly at the beautiful but lower cost State Parks. This photo is an example of one of our planned destinations - Fort De Soto which is a county campground near Tampa.

Thanksgiving - Ingalls Style

We took a break from our home-selling saga to have a great Thanksgiving Week. After all, we do still have a lot to be thankful for.

The week started out with a day trip to visit Geoff's mom in VT. Her assisted living apartment is looking more and more like home. Mom now has more of her items from the Grand Rapids house thanks to Geoff's brother and his wife who traveled to GR to winterize the home. We're all now planning to get back there in July to empty it out so it can be sold.

Part Two of our Thanksgiving week was a wonderful Thanksgiving Dinner at our friends' Marie's and Dave's home. There were 16 people and everything each person bought was delicious. The highlight was the perfect brined Turkey and the two stuffings that were each so yummy, it was hard to pick a favorite. We played the home party version of "What Do You Know?" which was a good hoot and then Marie and Dave sent us home with left-overs. YUM!

Part Three was our family Thanksgiving Weekend dinner at Logan's and Maureen's. Maureen's parents and sister were there as well as Brian and his girlfriend, Katherine. It was a great meal and especially great to catch up with Logan's "in-laws" as we hadn't seen them for a while plus it was a special treat to have Katherine join us for the first time. Of course, we finished the evening with a game - this time it was Taboo and the womens finished ahead of the men though we didn't make as much fuss about winning as we often do!

The weekend finished up with a Ingalls/Dubreuil trip to the Harvard Natural Science Museum on Sunday followed by a yummy Indian buffet. Then, Geoff and I went to our Storage Unit to sadly bring our exercise bike and a few other essentials back home as we are still here. The ride home was dark and rainy and there was tons of traffic on the Mass Pike - finally we got off it and made better time on the local roads until we got to I-84.

Now we're back in Danbury and looking for the silver lining of our home not selling.... we'll write about our success at that in a future post.

"Home" Again

We had a great trip to Assateague (near Ocean City, MD) and then to Vienna, VA especially since much of the time was spent with Ellyn's sister and brother and their spouses. Geoff has posted some photos on flickr - the link is on the left side of this blog.

And now we have returned to our Danbury home. Unfortuntely, there is a chance that our sale is falling through since the buyers still do not have a loan commitment. It seems so 2008 that the buyer lost his job and now there's a delay in the loan. Uggh! There still is a chance that the sale could go through and just tonight we heard that our neighbors are fantasizing that they could buy our house and rent out their smaller house. So, maybe things will work out and we won't have to cancel our winter-in-the-south plans.

In the meantime, we're preparing the house to go back on the market by the end of this week However, we are in a strange living situation...we had already donated all our furniture before we head of the buyer's loan problems. The kitchen is empty, etc. For this week, we're still living in the RV but if we don't hear soon that the sale will go through, we'll move back into the house. Sometimes, I guess it's harder to reach our dreams than initially expected

Assateague, Horses, Sisters and more....

Hi from Assateague National Seashore. We're here for four nights primarily to attend Ellyn's sister's Father-in-Law's 80th birthday party and to spend some time with Laura and Jay while they are here from California. A side benefit is that we have the opportunity to visit Ocean City, MD and nearby Assateague Island for the first time. The weather has been a bit chilly in the upper 50's but very sunny. Last night we walked 4 miles on the OC boardwalk with L&J. And today, we biked 8 miles around Assateague Island.

Assateague Island is best known for it's herds of wild horses. We've seen many of them grazing by the side of the road. They look pretty much like regular horses except that they are smaller than most horses I've seen. One fable about their origin is that they swam to the island from a shipwreck but it's well known that early Maryland settlers grazed their horses on the island to evade taxes and it's more likely that some stragglers were left behind. In either case, the herd has been here for more than 3 centuries which is amazing to me.

It turns out that the campgroun doesn't have any hook-ups so we're "dry" camping for the longest time, so far. The clean water and waste water tanks are great for this duration so there's no inconvenience from the lack of water&sewer hook-ups. However, the lack of electricity is a bit more hassle. We have a gasoline generator built into the RV but it's a bit noisy so most parks (including this one) limit its use to daytime hours. We have RV "house" batteries so lighting is no problem for a few hours from the battery. However, the TV and microwave require the generator. Speaking of TV, even in this location, we're getting great digital recetion for several channels - including some HD channels.

One more day here tomorrow - there's still lots to do on our To-Do list including some of the little hikes in the Seashore Park and a bke ride the Ocean City board. We're enjoying the quiet-ness of the off-season visit. Today, we shared a miles long beach only with two other humans, gulls and the plovers. We both decided that it's easy to get used to this retirement life.

Meanwhile, in case you hadn't heard, there's another delay in the sale of our house. The new date for the loan commitment is Wednesday. Can't wait for that to be done with. Our next destination is Ellyn's brother's home just outside Washington, DC - a 3 hr. drive from here.

Ellyn's GREAT Birthday Weekend

Wow!! I had a great b-day weekend. We heading up to Boston, Friday, after we got ourselves about 95% moved out of the Danbury house. Our first event of the weekend was Saul's Bar Mitzvah and we had a great time celebrating with the Jonas family and Saul's GrandMother who is a long time friend of mine from when she lived in Danbury...plus we went to Israel with them two years ago and the other trip members were also at the Bar Mitzvah so that was fun.

On Sunday, Logan and Brian joined us for a drive to see Geoff's mom in Vermont and we were joined by Geoff Brother, Steve, and Nephew Robert plus their wives. It was beautiful seeing the Vermont countryside and we also saw a spectacular fire that bellowed black smoke visible for miles. http://www.cvspectator.com/CV/story/110208-ef-wrj-5alarmfire It was a great afternoon with Geoff's Mom - much laugher!!

Then, yesterday, was actually my birthday. Geoff and I first visited with our special friend, Rabbi Gold, then we headed off to Boston. First stop was Sushi for lunch, then an afternoon at the Boston Science Museum, then a fun Cheesecake Factory Dinner with Brian and Logan and finally we had a late evening visit at the home of my cousins, Fred & Lucinda. In fact our RV is dry camped in Fred's business' parking lot, today.

Shortly, we're heading to our storage unit to organize it and pull out a few things we had put there.Then off to home to watch the election results and to finish emptying the house.

Upcoming dates: Head south on Thursday and Buyer's Loan Commitment date on Friday.

Don't forget to vote!
ellyn

Full-timers?

Here's a quick update....

Buyer lost his job
Buyer got new job
Buyers' mortgage application review needs verification of new job
New mortgage commitment date is 11/7
New closing date is 11/17
Bottom line is that 2008 is not a great year to be selling a home
BUT there's still a good chance our sale will go through.

Meanwhile,
We're now sleeping in the RV in our driveway because our other beds are all donated. Not sure we count as full-time RVers if we're parked in our home's driveway. :-/
We've donated all our furniture except our favorite chairs.
We're finishing up loading the RV with our stuff going to storage, today.
Tomorrow, we head to Boston until election day. We'll load the storage unit, visit Geoff's mother, and have a couple celebrations.
We'll come back to Danbury for a couple days next week then head to MD & VA to visit with my sister who will be visiting and my brother.
In mid-Nov, our travel direction will depend upon whether the house sale goes through.
In either case, we plan to be back in Danbury for Thanksgiving weekend.

By the way, we've already voted absentee so that's taken care of from our To Do list.

Our last trip as part-timers?

Well, things are looking more and more like our house sale is going through. We've passed the inspection (with no fixes needed!) and passed the radon test. The buyers loan appraiser comes next week - no problem expected there since the house is selling at a low price. The contract for the sale is under review by the buyers - we expect them to sign it any day now. The closing continues to be scheduled for Oct. 31st. With the ongoing financial debacle, we continue to be extremely thankful that we have buyers!

We just returned from two days in the Boston area staying at Circle CG Farm Campground. It was a bit further from the synagogue than we had expected but otherwise was very nice. This morning we took a bike ride about a mile to a nearby craft store where I bought some scrapbook supplies and some fall decoration items (already on sale). We had a great Break Fast with my cousins, yesterday. And, when it was time to come home, we again were wishing that we could stay longer and it was fun to think that by November, we'll be staying in the RV indefinitely!!

As always, Geoff will be posting some photos - the link is on the left of this post.

Our Plans - Updated Thur Oct 30

Wow! We have signed an offer on our home. Assuming that this purchase goes forward, here's our plans for the near future (updated 10/30).....

October - Move out of the house

Oct 31 - Depart in our RV

Nov. 1 - Bar Mitzvah in Boston area

Nov 2 - Visit Geoff's mother with "kids"

Nov 3 - Ellyn's B-day celebration in Boston, visit science museum to see Brian's magnet collection on exhibit and out to dinner with Logan and Brian

Nov 4-5 - Finish move out of Danbury home. If sale falls through, I guess we'll move back in at some point.

Nov 7 - Attend Services at Har Sinai near Baltimore where our former Rabbi serves

Nov 7-9 - Stay near Ocean City, MD to celebrate Ellyn's brother-in-law's Father's 80th b-day with Ellyn's sister (etc)

Nov 10-15 - Park RV in front of Ellyn's brother's home in Vienna, VA to hang out with his family and Ellyn's sister's family

Nov 17 - Current date schedule for house closing. If house sale does not go through, we will return home.

Thanksgiving Weekend - Return to Danbury area for Thanksgiving Dinner with Ellyn's work friends and for Adult B'nai mitzvah of three of our friends plus belated Thanksgiving Dinner with Logan and his wife's family as well as Brian and his friend, Katherine.

After Thanksgiving - head south with December in Carolinas & Georgia

Jan 09 - Three weeks at Walt Disney World meeting up with friends part of that time

Feb 09 - Tampa RV Super Show and FMCA Rally, Travel around Florida

Mar 09 - Hoping for Passover with cousins in Houston and perhaps spending some days in the infield of a NASCAR race if we get a space in the lottery.

We are keeping our travel calendar on google - if you want access, please let us know.

And so our adventure begins...

The Interview

In September, we met up with Ken and Martha Wiseman in Massachusetts. They are seasoned RV owners who have been traveling around for many years in various styles of RVs. They have been producing a monthly podcast on RVing for a few years now. When we started getting interested in RVing, we discovered their podcasts and listened to all of them. When we found out they were going to come up to New England to do some Fall leaf-peeping this year, we made plans to meet up with them. The timing was perfect, as we were planning to get the house on the market and go for a short vacation to unwind.

We met up in Bourne, MA, in a campground on the Cape Cod Canal. We toured on Cape Cod for a couple days and, before we moved on, Ken interviewed us for their October issue of the "RV Navigator". He sent us a copy of the edited interview which will be put into the entire podcast. You can listen to just the interview here, or go get the entire podcast from their website.

Watching the Chase and Veg'ing

Today's our last day here in Rochester, NH. We went to the 100+ year hold Rochester Fair on Friday - there was lots of midway games, food, and rides but not much else. It's not nearly as interesting as the Duchess County or Bridgewater fairs.

We've really enjoyed being parked right on the lake and it's been a great lake for kayaking. In the summer, it must really be a bustling lake since there are Skeedo and Motorboats permitted but all those folks seemed to be done for the season so there's mostly been just kayakers on the lake. Geoff is posting photos here: http://flickr.com/photos/geoff0522/

As most of you know, Geoff is a big NASCAR fan so when we found out that the first NASCAR cup race of the final ten races (Chase for the Cup) would be only 30miles from our campground, he got a ticket. Luckily, the rain cleared in time for Geoff to watch the race and he had a great day. Meanwhile, ellyn just veg'd out at the campground. She tried to finish sewing the gift for Gus but her sewing machine bobbin isn't working correctly. But the rainy and gloomy day was perfect for watching the Sunday News Shows and Sappy Movies. Today we're back at the library then we'll kayak this afternoon. The weather is sunny, in the mid-70s but quite breezy from Ike's remnants. That should make some interesting kayaking.

Tomorrow, we're driving to see Geoff's Mom in her new (assisted living) apartment and we may head home tomorrow night or may spend the night on the way back.

Quiet in Rochester, NH

We are now in the midst of our first "one week in one place" on the shores of a small lake near Rochester, NH. We arrived during a rainy Tuesday evening and the weather is now a lot cooler than it had been a few days ago. Yesterday, I spent the day "veg'd" out - either watching TV, organizing a few things or napping. Geoff spent the day puttering around including getting out his old Radio Controlled (RC) car that. much to his delight, still works.

Geoff is really embracing the camping part of this experience - the mud, bugs and campfires - whereas I'm still not sure how those aspects of our travel fit into my view of RV living. I have more of a vision of the RV travels as a moving motel room.

One thing we both want to do is to have some "local" experiences in each of the places we visited. So, today we decided to have breakfast out...we drove around a bit trying to find a local place and then asked a guy on the street who pointed us towards "Froggies Breakfast Place" which was filled with frog collectables and a hearty breakfast menu. Another local experience is coming this weekend - the Rochester Fair.

We're now at the library using the free WiFi - a special treat for me since I always love spending time in libraries and spending more time in them is on my retirement "To Do" list.

This afternoon, we expect that we'll be going kayaking on the lake. It will be our first time to kayak right were we're staying without the need of mounting them on the car rack.

Geoff is posting photos here: http://flickr.com/photos/geoff0522/

Bye for now...
ellyn

New Blog for our Travels

We've decided to use this somewhat dormant site for blogging our RV travels. Geoff posts the photos on flickr at this link: http://flickr.com/photos/geoff0522/

Here's a quick synopsis of this week:
Tuesday: House finally on the market and we arrived at Bourne Scenic Park campground.
Wednesday: Bike Ride to Woods Hole (and etc) with RVnavigators, Ken and Martha. Seafood for dinner.
Thursday: Cape Cod National Seashore Beach and Provincetown with Ken and Martha. Picnic lunch on beach and seafood for dinner.
Friday: Organize RV, buy groceries and supplies, nap, seafood for dinner
Saturday: Move to MA state park campground in Hingham, MA. Take out Asian food for dinner at Logan's and Maureen's with Brian and also to meet L&M's new dog, Gus. Hanna rainstorm milder than expected overnight.
Sunday: Walk 5K with Logan, Maureen, Brian and Katherine for Komen Race for Cure. Brunch at L & Ms - yummy quiches! Watched enough of Patriots game to see "the injury" which is now lead story in Boston. Explore bike & kayak destinations for today.
Today: 7 mile bike-ride near water, ice cream, internet surfing at library (now) and planning for quick kayak outing when we leave here as soon as I finish this.

House selling not going too fast yet - only one lookers so far. Ughh.

That gets you up to date with us. :-)

A Big Step

We made a big step forward on our plans today when we finalized the sale of my car. When we bought my car new 4 years ago, I envisioned that I would own it way into my retirement so it's amusing to realize now how much our plans have changed from four years ago. It's in that time that the dream of our year RV-ing were conceived and now are becoming closer.

Also today, we sold about a dozen pieces of our stoneware dishes to a contact we first made online. This dish set is the set for which we registered 30 years ago when we first got engaged. So far, I've sold about half the set/accessories for about $150. I'm guessing that may already be more than the purchase price when we first bought them. How amazing that the dishes have ended up so timeless....even so, it will be fun to start out with a different set when we settle down from our travels.

As for this site, on Tuesday April 1st, I'll resume posting details of our courtship of 30 years ago as we lead up to our 30th anniversary on April 16th!

Continuing the Saga of our 30 years....

Well, life interrupted our telling of our 30 years ago courtship and now we're less than a month away from our 30th anniversary. In the meantime, we're both retired and in the process of selling our household so we can start RV-ing full-time. I've decided to interweave the two sagas together on this blog.

Here's today's update....

1) Still haven't sold my 2004 Accord which amazes me since it's a loaded car at a great price. Had some "lowballing" looki-loos come look at it today. Uggghh!

2) However, it looks like somebody is going to take our old bedroom set - the whole thing - via freecycle. This furniture orginated as the dark pine cannon waterbed that I bought in about '75. We used it as our bedroom set until we started our bedroom remodel 3 years ago so we got a lot of use and family time out of it over those 30 years. Now, it's out of date and we're happy to give it away.

3) I've got a few items on e-Bay - mostly things that I think would find a wider audience than we would come to a tag sale. My e-Bay seller name is ellynmae.

That's the update for today...
ellyn

It wasn't the last time....

I'm sorry that it's been six weeks since our previous post and we have lots to catch up on. As we last left off....at the end of June 1977, Ellyn was at home recovering from the car accident and romance was starting to blossom. Geoff was so great during Ellyn's recovery - coming over each day, making sure that Ellyn had lunch for the next day, watering the vegies, and generally cheering her up. Of course, Geoff's caring touch was much appreciated - and even though neither of us realized it at the time, it was a trait of Geoff's that's gotten more use than we could have ever expected.

In fact, as we write this, here we are, again, in 2007 with Geoff cheering on Ellyn as she recovers from yet another surgery. So, just how many injuries/surgeries has Ellyn had through the years with Geoff at her side helping her recover? Here goes.....
1) July 1977 - Car accident knee injury with multiple stitches
2) Mar 1977 - Open knee "lateral release" surgery to repair cartilage damaged by the car accident.
3) Dec 1979 - Best reason ever to have surgery - C-section resulting in Logan
4) May 1982- Best reason ever to have surgery - C-section resulting in Brian
5) Feb 1979 - Laproscopic Gall Bladder removal. Next day hemorrhaging required a surgery to repair leaks and blood transfusion.
6) Jan 2006 - Perforated colon removed with temporary colostomy. This time, Geoff slept in the hospital with me for nearly all the 16 nights I was hospitalized. Once home, Geoff also took care of the colostomy until I was strong enough to start doing it a few weeks later.
7) Mar 2006 - Outpatient Knee Meniscus tear removal
8) July 2006 - Reversal of Colostomy (yay!) - 2nd best reason to have surgery :-)
8) July 2007 - Surgery to repair 3 incisional hernias.
And there you have it....Geoff's caring ways while Ellyn was healing from the car accident was one thing that drew her to love him in the summer of 1977 and throughout the 30 years since then.

It starts to blossom....

After my accident, I was laid up at home for a week or two with lots of stitches in my swollen knee. Up to this point, Geoff and I were colleagues who did things together and he came over to my house everyday to make sure I had food, to water my vegetable garden, and to be good company for me. As the days went by, I started to fall for him and began to realize how much I looked forward to our time together each evening. And his kindness to me was a sign he was also falling for me.

Would we have come to this same result if the accident hadn't occurred (like the movie "Sliding Doors)? We'll never know but the reality is that by time I went back to work (with Geoff driving me while my knee was still healing), we weren't "just colleagues" any longer.

The Fork in the Road

I got a call at work on that July day from Ellyn and she said she had been in an accident with her car. My first thought was that she loved that little car and now it had some big dent in it. I also thought she was calling me from at work, although I had not seen her yet that day. It must have been before lunch since she and I usually ate with a bunch of people from both departments, several of which were transferees from Rochester.

Slowly it came to light that it was more than just a fender bender; that she was not at work, but at home with a badly damaged knee, and that her car was not merely damaged but burned beyond recognition. I actually got to see it later. She found out where it had been taken to and I was curious. At the time I had considered taking photos but I thought they would upset Ellyn too much, so I did not. Now, it would be interesting to be able to look back at them.

As Ellyn mentioned in her post, and I had forgotten, Laura was staying with her that week, so I really did not have to get involved. I am not sure why I did, although we had become friends, and I guess I felt I was able to help out, so I would, as much as she wanted me to. And I did feel bad about her poor car. So it was the beginning, that fork in the road, and I took it.

Fiery Smashup Changes Course of Our Lives

Thirty years ago, today, I was driving to work in my 6wk old red Honda Civic. It was about 6:30am. The sun was just coming over the hills as the southbound I-280 freeway took a turn toward the east less than two miles from my house. The sun was just coming over the eastern hill and, In the next instant, the sun flashed in my eyes.

Boom! Impact.

I realize that the front of my car has crashed into the rear of a car and that both our cars are on fire. I jump out of my car without even considering that I could be stepping into traffic. I go to the elderly couple from other car and ask if they are okay. The man says "The sun was in my eyes. I couldn't see anything so I stopped." As soon as I realize they are okay, I move away from them. By this time, others have gathered to help and they point out that the right knee of my slacks are bloody and tell me to lie down. One is an EMT on his way to work. He pulls up my pant leg and when the injury is revealed, the other bystanders gasp. I never did look at it, myself.

Now the two cars are totally engulfed in flames and people keep asking me over and over whether anybody else was in the car with me. They ask me so many times that I start to worry that I've forgotten somebody in there. Then the trooper asks me what happened and I tell him that I was in the 2nd lane from the right and next thing I know I'm in the back of a car. Then he goes to talk to the other couple and then he returns to me and he says "We have a problem - they say that they were in the right hand lane and you say the 2nd lane." If it was 2007, I probably would have responded "Whatever." but instead I said "well, I guess I was wrong".

The woman in the other car and I were transported to the hospital a couple miles away. At the hospital, x-rays were taken - no CAT scans or MRI's back then. No breaks. My knee was washed and stitched. For those who don't recall the scar on my knee, it's "Y" shaped with each branch about 2-3 inches long and is still quite visible. I also had a small puncture cut on the top of the knee.

Summary of the injuries - my knee hit the dashboard and the puncture wound probably was caused by a key on my key ring. In the next hours/days, a vivid bruise made it clear that the abdominal pain was a severe bruise from the seatbelt. I also had a scrape on my shoulder from the shoulder harness. It's was pretty obvious that more serious or maybe even fatal injuries were prevented by my seatbelt - aided by the Honda's transverse engine which was fairly unique at that time.

So I get stitched up. I call my sister, Laura, who was staying at my house that week, so she can come pick me up and then I'm laid up at home for the next week or so. My theory on how the accident happened and also how this event changed our lives will be coming up in future entries. A link to the newspaper article about the accident is on the left.

...in a movie theater far, far away...

In the spring of 1977 I started seeing ads for a new movie that was coming out soon called "Star Wars". I was and still am a big fan of all kinds of Sci-Fi films (2001, Forbidden Planet, Silent Running are among some of my favorites) and this looked like a real knockout, from what the ad showed me. When I got settled in CA, I decided it was finally time to see just how good it was. I do not think it was showing in very many places at the time but the Century 22 theaters in San Jose had it, so I checked it out.

Needless to say, it was a big hit with me. I think I may have seen it at least one more time before I invited Ellyn to go see it. I knew she was at least a little interested in the genre, so I thought it would be a safe bet she would go for it. Did she ever.

From Ellyn: I recall being only a little disappointed that Geoff went to see SW without me but, remember, that at this time that Geoff and I were just work pals who did a couple things a week outside of work so it didn't bother me much. However, I did think it was pretty intriguing that he went to movies alone - I had never known anybody else who did that. He still does that when there is a movie he really wants to see that I don't want to see.

So we learned that summer that we both really enjoyed Star Wars and we both loved seeing it again and again. And each of the 6 or so times we saw it that year, there were always long waits in lines that stretched all across the parking lot. It was a phenomena that may never be repeated. And all these years later - after the re-releases and the sequels and the fun of sharing the Saga with our sons, I still get a thrill when the music starts and the wording begins to recede to the distance....."In a galaxy far, far away..."

In that movie theater now far, far away, I don't know which we would have less expected - the longevity of Star Wars or the longevity of our relationship??

See the links in the left column for reviews and articles about this innovative new movie. The one about Star Wars almost not being made is really worth a read.