Well, the train came off the tracks figuratively speaking today.  A lot planned but Bill

woke up under the weather.  He was not able to eat, had the chills, a headache and no energy.  He ended up spending the day in bed under the covers.  There is always tomorrow.  As they say “this too shall pass”.

I took charge and ran the show today.  I took Marti for several long walks, made some new friends in the process, and did extensive research on places we could go to in the future.

That is the way our day went.  Could we call it a good day?  An enjoyable day?  Definitely for me!  For Bill, ever the philosopher, he stated that today was the day given to him by God and he was in spite of the way it turned out, grateful for it.  We hope your day was enjoyable in all ways possible,  We hope you had a great day.  We leave you with this thought tonight

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and some shut-eye.  Till tomorrow.  Thanks again for sharing our day with us.

Wow, what a day.  Packed from beginning to end with all kinds of neat things.  But first the morning.  This morning for whatever reason I just couldn’t get going.  Marti and I took our early morning stretch and then it was back to bed for him and also for me.  Really, I just couldn’t get myself in gear this morning coffee or not.  Yes, eventually I got up and got going.  After all we had places to go, such as an RV show; and, we had people to visit namely Dennis and Pam at their new home.

First things first, we made a run to Camping World to return the Fantastic Roof Vent that I had mistakenly ordered during my last senior moment.  Wow, I’ve never before been inside such a huge store.  How big?  Big enough for merchandise and six or seven RV’s ranging in size from small class B’s to a Newmar 45 foot tag axle Class A.

Onward we went.  Next on the day’s agenda was the the Ocala RV show

As for discovering the RV Lifestyle I believe we have that covered, same with go camping Florida!  The first thing we discovered was the merchandise tent.

Once you passed through this you entered the show grounds proper.  The show was rather small and it had more trailers on display than motor homes.  Yet, all in all it was a great way to spend a couple of hours.  What we really liked even more than the rigs on display were the people we got to meet and talk with.  We met full timers like ourselves and those just starting to look.  We swapped RV stories and ideas for improvements and upgrades.  We discussed campgrounds and places to visit.  Below is Barbara checking things out and deciding which way we should go once in the show itself.

And then we found it, our next RV.  Well, maybe, we would first have to discuss it and we would have to of course  win the lottery!  It was a Renegade Super C, all 40 feet of it built on a Freightliner chassis with a bath and half floor plan.  One can dream, right?

And then we discovered what I like to call Bill’s Dog House.  The perfect rig for me when I get myself in trouble with my better half and get sent to the dog house.  What do think?

How can one go wrong?  A bed, air conditioning, even a TV.  A perfect place for banished husbands.  And even better it was on sale.  Now if I can only figure out how to tow the car and this behind Graybeard we would have it made.

After the show we went to Edible Arrangements because they had a gift for Barbara for her birthday later in the month.   They presented her with a free box of chocolate covered strawberries.  Wow, they are good!  Trust me they will not be around for too long.

Next stop was to visit Dennis and Pam at their new home.  We always enjoy spending time with them.  Fellow RVer’s they just purchased their house after being on the road for a number of years.  It’s a fantastic place which they were able as they say to purchase for a great price.  We wish them many years of happiness in their new home.

Visit over we went to Cracker Barrel for supper.

Now for all you trivia buffs here are some fun facts I bet you never knew about the store

• The first Cracker Barrel location was opened on Highway 109 in Lebanon, Tennesse in 1969 by a man named Dan Evins.  When Evins opened the first Cracker Barrel, he was working for his grandfather’s gasoline business. Back in the late ’60s, the interstate road system was still in its nascent stages, and Evins wanted to find a way to better service the needs of drivers, while also expanding his family’s oil business. He thought a down-home country store inspired by the ones he’d visited as a boy in Tennessee would be more enticing to homesick travelers than fast-food restaurants. More Cracker Barrel locations were opened throughout the early ’70s, all of which included gas pumps, but when the oil embargo of the mid-seventies hit, new locations were built without pumps
• All of those tools, signs, photographs and toys that decorate the walls of your local Cracker Barrel? They’re all authentic vintage items—no reproductions allowed. Back when the first Cracker Barrel opened, founder Dan Evins asked Don and Kathleen Singleton, a couple who ran a local antiques store, to help him decorate the space in the style of an old country store. Today, the couple’s son, Larry Singleton, is still in charge of finding unique regional artifacts for new restaurant locations. In fact, Larry runs an entire “Decor Warehouse” filled with over 90,000 artifacts at the company’s headquarters in Tennessee, where his team restores and archives every fabulous antique item that he purchases.
• While each restaurant features unique local finds that reflect the community’s history, every Cracker Barrel Old Country Store has an ox yoke and a horseshoe hanging over the front door, a traffic light over the restrooms, a rifle over the mantel, a wall telephone next to the mantel, and a cracker barrel with a checker board in front of the fireplace.
• As for the name, American country stores in the late 19th century stocked barrels of soda crackers, which customers would often gather around to chat and socialize (think of them as the water coolers of their day). The term “cracker-barrel”eventually came to refer to the simple, rustic informality and straightforwardness that was characteristic of these conversations and the country stores they took place in.

So the next time you want to impress your friends with your vast knowledge of all things America, now you can!

That was our day.  An enjoyable one from start to finish.  It was great to be out and about.  It was great to be able to enjoy each moment of the new day together.  We hope your day was enjoyable as well.  If not then, tomorrow resolve to make it a great day.  Tomorrow do something to make yourself and the world around you a better place for all.

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and some shut-eye.  Till tomorrow.  Thanks again for sharing our day with us.

 

 

That in a nutshell was our day.  We decided to be lazy today.  Just kick back and relax.  Nothing was planned.  No places to rush off to.  No one to see.  Last night we said our goodbyes to LD who is now headed south toward Tampa and then north to Virginia and finally Wisconsin.  I’m going to miss seeing him walk by each morning and stopping in on occasion to just shoot the breeze.  Dennis and Pam left later in the morning for their new home in Ocala.  We hope to see them tomorrow when we are in Ocala for the RV show.  Good friends one and all who have blessed our lives by their presence, however brief it might have been.

Both of us spent the day again tweaking our route for the summer and looking for attractions in each area.  Still a whole lot more to do.  When we leave here we are going to Crooked River State Park in Georgia .  Using that as a base, we have already planned to tour the Cumberland Island National Seashore.

Cumberland Island is one of Georgia’s largest and southernmost barrier island. Here pristine maritime forests, undeveloped beaches and wide marshes whisper the stories of both man and nature. Natives, missionaries, enslaved African Americans and Wealthy Industrialists all walked here.  Cumberland Island is also home to over 9,800 acres of Congressionally designated Wilderness.

Because of our physical limitations, we have already booked a Lands and Legacies tour.  The Lands and Legacies tour is a motorized tour to the north end of Cumberland Island starting at the Sea Camp Ranger Station. As explained to us we will see cultural and natural landmarks including the remains of Robert Stafford’s plantation and cemetery, Plum Orchard Mansion, Cumberland Wharf, The Settlement and First African Baptist Church (where John Kennedy Jr. was married, as we were told by the agent that booked our tour). The tour is a expected to take some 5 to 6 hours.  We’ll be sure to share our experience with you in a later blog.

Knowing that we’re going to be in the Finger Lakes, in July and August, I continued to

search for available campgrounds, our first preference being the state parks.  After much searching of some dozen parks I was able to snag the last available site in one of the better parks.  Not, however, for all the dates we need so the search will continue tomorrow to find another park for the remainder of the dates.  Wish me luck!

I also started trying to make reservations for winter in Florida in 2019.  Let’s just say sites are going quick!  We’ll be coming back to Sumter Oaks in Bushnell and that reservation is made.  We will probably make this our home base each winter.  Next, I was also able to get a great spot – one of only about 6 left – in Hillsborough River State Park for the first part of February.

Everyone I’ve talked to has nothing but positive things to say about this Florida park.  One after the other they’ve all encouraged us to make plans for a stay there.  So we have.

The real problem, now a days and it is only getting worse, they continue to sell record numbers of motor homes but the campground and resorts are not expanding.  So more and more full timers are competing for a few precious sites with hundreds of so called weekend warriors.  It used to be you could call a campground or resort a few days out and almost always be guaranteed a site but no more.  Now it takes lots of planning and in some cases booking that ideal spot a good 11 to 12 months in advance.

That was our day.  We did get out for some shopping but not much more.  So we’ve come again to the end of the day and darkness has descended upon us.  We hope your day was as great as ours was.  A day filled with good experiences.  Time perhaps with some one you love.  A day in which it was great to just be.  So now let me leave you with this though

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and some shut-eye.  Till tomorrow.  Thanks again for sharing our day with us.