Home Is Where We Park It:  Dade Battlefield Historical State Park

Date:  March 26, 2019

Home Is Where We Park It:  Dade Battlefield Historical State Park

Date:  March 25, 2019

A Few Things Accomplished and Some That Weren’t

Easy morning today.  We were not on the work schedule so we took our time getting up.  It was so nice to just lounge around, get a cup of coffee, take a little nap, read a bit or whatever.  We all need mornings like this.  The fact that it was a moderate morning temperature wise also made it nice.

Well, eventually we had to get up.  Breakfast was the first order of business and we kept it simple this morning.  I had two eggs on toast with a sausage patty.  I added a small glass of V8 and another cup of coffee.

Next order of business was to drop some paperwork off at the VA Benefits Center.  Off we went expecting clear sailing all the way.  Well, the 45 minute trip took a bit longer due to the fact that the road was closed due to a serious accident.  Hope everyone is all right.

This is the VA Benefits Center Lobby and the mural that is on the wall by the sign in desk.

There’s more.  Off to the right is this really neat display case of WW II ships, all kinds of them.

Once we dropped the paperwork off we headed home.  Once home it was time to tackle the Countdown List again.  I was able to check the pressure in all six tires and found all of them within acceptable limits.

Next, it was time for Marti and I to take our regular afternoon walk.  This time last year I would have never been able to do this.  Especially on any other type of ground than a paved road or path.  Now, we go over hill and dale winding our way through the park.  This is the oak tree that we pass each afternoon.  The actual height and width of the tree are not known but it is a known fact that the tree dates from 1835.

Such a simple thing like walking but so often taken for granted.  As for me, I never will again.  I’ve been looking forward to walks and hikes like this for so long.  It just took getting both knees replaced to get there.

Later that evening Jason came out to replace the slide seals.  However, he wasn’t able to get the job done.  By his own admission this is the first time in his 30 plus years of working on RV’s that he was stumped.  It appears that the slides will have to come out in order to replace the seals.  Oh boy, this is going to turn into an expensive job.  A job that is going to have to wait a bit until we’ve rebuilt our repair and replacement kitty.   We’ll just have to stuff towels into the one corner for the time being when it rains.

The night again ended on a great note.  Once again Barbara and myself, Patti and Steve gathered together for our evening meal.  Tonight the menu was chef’s salad, baked potatoes, barbecued pork chops, and ice cream for desert.  These times together are so precious, even more so since we know our time here, and our time together is quickly drawing to an end.

That was our day on The Road of Retirement.  A beautiful day weather wise.  A great day also because it was spent in part with great friends. Who could ask for anything more.

Thanks for coming along with us we hope you enjoyed traveling with us.  Time now to say goodnight and God speed.  Till tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  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 not been before

See you on down the road

Home Is Where We Park It:  Dade Battlefield Historical State Park

Date:  March 24, 2019

Made it to Church

Huddle House for Breakfast

The Day Just Disappeared

Wow!  Super night’s sleep last night, meaning, tonight will be a disaster.  No, I’m not being a pessimist, it just seems to work out that way.  Be that as it may, I’ll take a good night every now and then.  Plus, when we awoke this morning it was warm, real warm.  We haven’t needed the heater for the last couple of nights.  Hopefully, it will stay that way going forward.

Worship was the first order of business.  Just one more Sunday left and that will be it.  Unfortunately, we will probably not be back for two years.  We’re going to miss this church and it’s pastor, song leader, and its’ people.  We usually don’t attend church when we’re on the road due to some really awful experiences we’ve had in the past.  Add to that the fact that often times we’re traveling on a Sunday or getting ready to move out the following Monday.  One good thing, Pastor Ron’s messages are tapped and available on the internet.  I’m going to make it a point to listen to them as we wander around the country.

OK, next item on the agenda was breakfast.  There was one place we had always wanted to try that was right around the corner from church.  It is called the Huddle House.

The chain was started in April 1964 in Decatur, Georgia by John Sparks, with the goal of providing a 24-hour eatery.  Football gave the restaurant it’s name.  John saw a group of kids come into his first restaurant after football practice and huddle up around the table,  They not only reminded him of the values he wanted his new restaurant to embody, they gave him the inspiration for the chain’s name.  Here’s some facts not everyone knows about the huddle house.

• The huddle house sells enough bacon each year to stretch from Anchorage to San Diego.  For those of you trying to work out the math, that’s 38 million strips of bacon at an average of 6 inches each, or roughly 3,598 miles.
• They sell an average of 40 million eggs per year.  Image if only one hen had the job!
• Repeat guests eat at Huddle House an average of 47 times a year. That’s more often than most people eat dessert.

This is the inside of the Huddle House that we went to.

This is my meal, or what’s left of it.  I was halfway through when I thought to take a picture.  It consisted of 3 scrambled eggs, 3 pieces of bacon, 2 sausage patties, grits, hash browns, and biscuits and gravy.   Oh, and a cup of coffee.  Oh yes, I cleaned my plate!

Breakfast over we headed for home.  First order of business after such a big meal?  Yup, a nap.  Just a short one because there were things I wanted to do.  That’s when the day just sort of disappeared.  Don’t really know where it went.  One minute it was 2 pm and I was washing the rest of the windows before moving on to the tire covers and tires.  But I never made it to the tire covers and tires.

Patti called and said she needed some taste testers for a new key lime pound cake she had made.  Would we be interested in volunteering?  You didn’t have to ask me twice!  Off we went to their rig and that I believe is where the rest of the day went.  But what a wonderful way for it to disappear.  The cake was great.  The company was equally as great.  We always enjoy our time together.

That was our day on The Road of Retirement.  As always we traveled along, hand in hand, singing our song.  We would have it no other way.  Again God blessed us with another wonderful day in so many ways.  Great worship, great breakfast, great cake and even better time again with great friends.  How rich we are.

Thanks again for joining us.  Hope you enjoyed your day with us.  Come along with us tomorrow and let’s see what we can get in to.  Till then, have a great night.

PS:  I bought a new travel iron yesterday, time to start looking more dapper.  Today I went to use it and discovered that it had traveled on down the road without me!

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  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 not been before

See you on down the road

Home Is Where We Park It:  Dade Battlefield Historical State Park

Date:  March 23, 2019

Searching for the Gopher Tortoise

A Great Afternoon Spent with Great Friends 

Yup, we were on the work schedule again today.  This morning was cold and foggy so much so that once again you just wanted to burrow deep under the covers.  But alas duty called so it was up and at it.  A quick cup of coffee, another to take with us, sweat shirts, ski caps and we were on our way.

Barbara already knew what she would be doing, and that was gate house duty.  There were two large groups coming into the park this morning.  Armed with a book for those idle moments between cars coming in she was prepared.  Thankfully, there is a small heater in the gate house so she managed to keep warm until the temperatures began to climb.

On the other hand I really didn’t have a thing to do.  But I got creative and managed to find a couple of things to keep me occupied.  I took the leaf blower and cleaned the last remaining parking lot that we had missed yesterday.  Then it was time to go on tortoise patrol.  Off to the nature trail I went to see if I could find a tortoise or two.  And I did!

What is a gopher tortoise anyway? Is it just a fancy way to say “turtle”? Well, actually, there’s a meaningful difference between tortoises and other turtles.  The most important thing to remember about tortoises is that they are exclusively land creatures. They live in a variety of habitats, from deserts to wet tropical forests. (Unlike most sea turtles, which take to land only when they are laying eggs, tortoises don’t have much to do with water other than drinking it and occasionally bathing in it.)

In Florida gopher tortoises are long-lived reptiles that occupy upland habitat including forests, pastures, and yards. They dig deep burrows for shelter and forage on low-growing plants.  They usually have more than one burrow, often times upwards of 30 or more.  They share these burrows with about 350 other species of animals.

Moving on, also out today was the bald eagle.  He was over the rig soaring through the air for several minutes.  Unfortunately, I was unable to get his picture.  But he was there.

Work over, more like fun really, it was back to Graybeard for me.  I walked Marti, changed and then started checking off items on the Countdown List.  Today I was able to wash the windshield and cabin windows inside and out.  I also washed the starboard side windows.  I was also able to vacuum inside from front to back.

Before I could go further we received an invite from Steve and Patti to come on down and finish our game of Mexican Train we started over a week ago.  They also invited us to stay for burgers plus for supper.  This is their rig which is only a year old.  That’s them in the doorway.  Barbara had just arrived.

Barbara and Patti at the table playing Mexican Train.

We finished our game of Mexican Train and moved on to burgers plus.  Steve once again came through with some excellent burgers.  We added baked beans, potato salad, chips and spiced dilly beans from The Richloam General Store.  An absolutely excellent meal!

That was our day on The Road of Retirement.  It was a great day spent with great friends.  Laid back, relaxing and filled with great food.  It just doesn’t get much better than this.  These are the days that we will remember forever.  Truly, God has blessed us in ways more precious than gold and silver.   We’re really going to miss not being here with them next year.

Thanks again for joining us on our journey.  We enjoyed having your company.  Join us again tomorrow and we’ll take you along with us again.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  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 not been before

See you on down the road