Places We Have Called Home In 2020

Home Is Where We Park It:  Escapees Rainbow Plantation, Sumerdale, Alabama

August 29, 2020

Temperature 86 Degrees

Caught In The Nick Of Time – Windshield Wipers

Over time I have found that it is often the simple things that leave you shaking your head.

Take those two things on the front of every vehicle called windshield wipers.

Trolling various Newmar web sites I came across a series of posts detailing various individual’s experiences with them flying off while driving, usually during some serious rain storms.

We’ve only had one occasion since we purchased Elvira to be driving in a rainstorm.  That was on our way here to Alabama.  At the time the wipers worked without an issue so I sort of pushed any possible problems with them to the back of my brain.

Well, today it poured all morning long.  Which got me to thinking, maybe I had better check and make sure the windshield wipers are securely fastened to the front cap.  After all, it appears that over the course of the next several weeks there is a good chance we’ll again be driving in some rain.

So once the sun came out again I decided to get out and check things out.

Now how does that old saying go?  The Good Lord looks after fools and all us full time RV’ers.

Upon checking I found ALL of the mounting bolts loose.  Yup, all of them.  I caught a potentially serious issue just in the nick of time. And when I think back to what could have happened on our way here . . .

Working together Barbara and I managed to securely tighten each and every mounting bolt.  I then went a step further and lubricated all the pivot points for each wiper.

The bottom line is, if you own an RV – especially an older one – you have to be vigilant in terms of maintenance.  In addition if you own an older one you’ll do yourself a great service if you spend some time searching for what other’s have had issues with.  That is how, for instance, I found out about the tendency of the slide motor mounting bolts to work loose.  Yup, ours were also.  If they come loose and the motor begins to move around your slides are not going to go out or in.  One more potentially serious issue caught and corrected.

That was our day on The Road Of Retirement.  We had downpours all morning long.  But the Good News is we seem to have caught and sealed all the former leaks.  We spent some time doing a Movie Marathon.  We caught and corrected our issues with our windshield wipers.  It was a great day from start to finish.

Thanks for joining us today.  We always appreciate your company and your comments. Keep safe, keep healthy, enjoy the day that God has given you.

These are the voyages of  Elvira and her two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before.

See you on down the road!

 

Places We Have Called Home In 2020

Home Is Where We Park It:  Escapees Rainbow Plantation, Sumerdale, Alabama

August 28, 2020

Temperature 86 Degrees

Boredom Over Took Us – Julwin’s Restaurant

Fairhope Municipal Pier

Maintenance

Cooking Up A Storm 

It had to happen sooner or later.  Boredom finally got the best of us this morning.  We both looked at each other and said almost at the same time We have to get out of here for a few hours.

OK, since it was breakfast time the decision as to where to go was an easy one.

We were here the last time we were in this area.  I even have one of their T-Shirts.

It is a small restaurant with a real down to earth feel to it.  Nothing elaborate.  Nothing big and fancy.  Just plain and simple.  It is the kind of place we always try to seek and find when we are in an area for any given length of time.

But the real reason you come here is for their breakfast.  If you can’t find something here that is to your liking then you’ll probably never find it anywhere else.

Ms. Barbara had a Spinach Omelette with fresh Spinach, roasted garlic, onions, fresh mushrooms and Swiss cheese.  She also had a side of hash browns and rye toast.  By the time she finished there was not a crumb to be found.

I, on the other hand, had a shrimp and crab meat omelette with loads of fresh shrimp, crab meat, onions, tomatoes, and Swiss cheese.  I also had a side of potatoes and rye toast.  I once again joined the clean plate club by the time I was finished.

Once finished with breakfast we decided we still didn’t want to go home.  So where too?

Just five minutes away from the restaurant we discovered Fairhope Pier.

The sign that interested us was the little green sign to the bottom left.  To the end of the pier and back would give us a walk of about half a mile.  Perfect.

The pier juts out into Mobile Bay.  I can only imagine what these waters looked like several days ago.

Half way out you come to the Municipal Marina.  There are definitely some interesting boats moored here.

This one has definitely seen better days.

This one there is no hope for, it is sitting on the bottom with just the mast above water.

We passed a few people fishing but basically we had the whole pier to ourselves.

When we got out to the end Ms Barbara decided it was so delightful there, what with the sun and the nice cool breeze.  So, she decided she was going to sit for a spell and just enjoy the world around her.

Looking back toward where we came from and where we had to go eventually.

All too soon we were off the pier and headed home.  As to what we’ve been doing around our homestead.

Yesterday, I topped off the water in our battery bank.  I find I need to give them a drink at least once a month to keep the plates inside properly covered.  I’m not sure how old they are but we’ll continue to use them until they start giving us a problem.

On the other hand Ms Barbara has been cooking up a storm.  Yesterday, she made Spanish Meatloaf with a special sauce on top.  Oh my goodness was it ever so good!  I could not get enough of it.  I told her this recipe is for sure a keeper.  She told me at some point in time she is also going to try and make seafood gumbo.  I am so looking forward to that.

So that is where we are on The Road of Retirement.  Like everyone else we’re trying to make the best out of trying times.  This has not been the year we envisioned when we began in January.  We were so looking forward to visiting many different national parks and varied attractions in different states.  Now, we’re just marking time and slowly making our way back to Florida.  We have doctor appointments we must fulfill.  Next year we’ll be back on the East Coast for one last time.  Then we’ll be moving out West where we plan to stay going forward.  All in all, it has been a good but very different year.  We’ll not complain, indeed we are so blessed and so fortunate to be living the life we love.  Thank you God for blessings ten thousand times ten thousand.

Thanks for joining us today.  We always appreciate your company and your comments. Keep safe, keep healthy, enjoy the day that God has given you.

These are the voyages of  Elvira and her two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before.

See you on down the road!

Places We Have Called Home In 2020

Home Is Where We Park It:  Escapees Rainbow Plantation, Sumerdale, Alabama

August 26, 2020

Temperature 92 Degrees with humidity feels like 105 Degrees

Staying Put For Two More Weeks

Errands to Run

After I went to bed last night I laid there tossing and turning and I said to myself Self why in the world are you moving on Thursday.  You have a beautiful site.  Partial shade.  You know the area, where all the stores, restaurants, and so forth are located.  Do you really want to move just for the sake of moving? Especially to a site that has absolutely no shade?

The result of my conversation with myself ended with our decision to stay put for another two weeks.  Plus or minus a day or two on the end.  We both believe it is the right thing to do.

This is what we have left of Marco and Laura.  Heavy cloud cover and what I call micro-bursts of rain.  All of a sudden it will start to rain really hard.  But it only lasts about 15 or 20 minutes and then it stops.  This was the pattern last night and today.  Nothing then hard rain.  It clears up a bit.  Then repeats a couple of hours later.  This is fine by us.

Here is one for you.  I looked back today to where we where two years ago, and a year ago and what weather we were having.  Two years ago this day we were having rain.  A year ago this day we were also having rain.  Now how about that!

Let’s all pause now, please, for a minute to remember in thought and prayer all those caught in the cross hairs of Hurricane Laura.  My heart goes out to all those in its track.  This is going to be a bad one.  Thanks.

Today we had errands to run.

Our church has been collecting plastic bags which will be sent to a company that makes composite plastic benches from recycled materials.  The church has currently collected about 500 lbs of plastic but they are still looking for more.  Ms Barbara decided we should do our part so over the past several months she has been collecting every shred of plastic she could get her hands on.  Today, we decided to sent it on its way.

We first tried to send it via the USPS.  But the cost to do so was out of this world.  It was clear we needed to go to plan B.

Plan B being the UPS Store.  They took our really big box, repacked it in a smaller box and charged a much more reasonable price to ship it.  It is now on its way.

Time out for lunch.  This is one of our favorite restaurants.  They have an absolutely delicious fish platter, and an equally delicious Reuben Sandwich.  Want to guess who had what?  We also always have a side order of cheese curds which are just the the best.  We prefer them when we can get them over any order of fries.

So that is were we are on The Road of Retirement.  We’ll stay where we are for the next couple of weeks.  It is one of the better places that we have been this year.  We’re keeping busy doing odds and ends.  We also have a day trip or two in the works for next week.  We’re enjoying as always the days and minutes that God gives us to live.  We are so blessed to be living our dream.

Thanks for joining us today.  We always appreciate your company and your comments. Keep safe, keep healthy, enjoy the day that God has given you.

These are the voyages of  Elvira and her two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before.

See you on down the road!

Home Is Where We Park It:  Escapees Rainbow Plantation, Sumerdale, Alabama

August 25, 2020

Temperature 86 Degrees with humidity feels like 103 Degrees

Dodged not one, but two

Thanks to everyone who kept us in though and prayer over the past several days.  We watched, we waited and in the end both storms completely missed us.  Oh yes, we are so grateful.  We received a little rain and a bit of wind but nothing that caused us any worry.

Now, we’re getting ready to move into Florida.  We’ll be leaving on Thursday for the first of several hops that will take us to our winter home in Sumter Oaks, Bushnell, Florida.

 

This is where we started our full time journey.  As of October we’ll have been on the road three years.  It seems like it was only yesterday.  We’re now on our second rig.  Will there be a third?  Perish the thought!

Along the way we’ve met so many of God’s beautiful people.  We’ve called some very unusual places home – like the parking lot of a funeral home.  We’ve visited so many national parks.  We’ve also discovered and visited some very unusual attractions.  We’ve chased amazing sculptures around the state of Maine. And oh so much more.  Perhaps when I’m in a Verizon area again I’ll be able to share some pictures of our exploits with you.

That’s where we are as of now on The Road of Retirement.  Thanks again everyone for caring about us.  Time now to go play like a child and splash through some puddles!

Thanks for checking in with us today.  We always appreciate your company and your comments. Keep safe, keep healthy, enjoy the day that God has given you.

These are the voyages of  Elvira and her two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before.

See you on down the road!