What a beautiful morning.  Warm temperatures, the sun shinning bright, and hardly a care in the world.  I had a restless night and found it hard to sleep.  But that’s what they make naps for during the day.

One more month, and one more week and we will be on the road again.  Oh happy, happy, joy, joy!  We have really enjoyed our time here and it’s allowed us to get so much done.  We’ve made necessary repairs to Graybeard and we’ve been able to take care of a wide variety of medical issues.  So, the time here has been fruitful.  Enough is enough though and we are ready to roll again.   When we do we’ll at least do so knowing we’ll be in the best shape all the way around as is humanly possible.

My outpatient surgery was a success.  The doctor stated that everything looked to be in order and no cause for further concern.  Still no answer as to what caused the problem in the first place.  Just one of those things.  I’m so grateful this all came up before we left or we might have had to turn around and come back.  Once again, the good Lord put us in the right place at the right time.  I’m ever so thankful.

One more item to take care of with Graybeard.  When it rained sometime back I noticed that the carpet in the one corner of the bedroom was soaked.  So what’s with that?  A little investigating and I discovered that the bottom inch or so of the slide seal is ripped off leaving a hole for water to come through.  Like they say, it’s always something.  Time to replace all the seals on both front and back slides.  Better now than after the floor is ruined.

That’s about it for us as we continue to travel down the road of retirement.  The Ranger at the Battlefield wanted us to stay through April but sadly we told him we just couldn’t do it.  He then told us there would always be a spot for us whenever we wanted to return.  That makes both of us feel good knowing that our work has been appreciated.

Hope your day has been a good one.  Thanks for checking in with us.  I’m going to try to get back to doing a regular blog each day.  Some may be shorter than others but that’s life.  Take care.

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

What a morning.  A bit chilly this morning, if one could call the mid 60’s chilly.  The norm lately has been the 70’s at night and the 80’s during the day.  We’re not scheduled to work today so it’s been a laid-back morning.  Got a couple of chores taken care of, some phone calls made and took care of some other odds and ends.  The rest of the day should be just as easy and laid back.

Let’s see what have we been up to?  Backing up to last week we had a chance to visit with our good friends Max and Hoagie over in Clermont.  We spent one fantastic afternoon with them catching up on what’s been going on in our lives, we then went to Golden 

Corral for an early supper, and finally, they shared with us Pam’s happy spot down by Lake Minneola.  Pam takes some really beautiful pictures for her blog and it was great to visit some of the spots where she takes a number of them.

Let’s jump forward now to this past Saturday.  We went to check out Silver Springs State Park in Ocala.  This is a park we want to stay in when we finally return to Florida at the end of 2020.

What we discovered is that this is one amazing State Park.  Wide paved roads throughout, hard packed dirt sites that are reasonably level, good site separation, and quite a few sites have full hookups.

 

This is one State Park that has made our must list to stay at.  The park itself is amazing and in addition it is located in an area that we want to do some sight seeing in the future.  Not to mention we have good friends who live in Ocala.

Still Saturday after visiting the Park we went to visit our good friends Dennis and Pam who live just 35 minutes from the Park.  We met over a year ago because we both had New Jersey plates on our cars and rigs when we first came to Florida.  Our friendship has continued to grow ever since them.

Pam had promised to make home made New York pizza for all of us for supper Saturday night.  Pam has a deal with a pizza shop owner – she gives him a dozen bagels from Brooklyn Water Bagels and he in return gives her honest to goodness pizza dough.  Oh yes, the pizza was amazing!  Now if I can only get her to make it again before we leave Florida.

Other things.  Doctors, oh yea lots of doctors and lots of tests.  It has been seemingly endless these past two weeks.  If I could get paid for all that I’ve seen and all the tests I’ve taken I’d probably be able to buy a Newmar Dutchstar.  Well, not really but that’s the way it seems.

Today I also spent some time researching RV water filters and water softeners.  After much hemming and hawing and a lot of research I finally decided to buy both a quality water filter and a water softener.  If I was only doing this part time, I would have

only gotten the water filter.  However, since we are full time and I want to prevent as many future problems as possible I took the plunge.  The two together will help to block small particles from getting into our water as well as eliminate scale and lime buildup in the water lines and the hot water tank.  Not to mention the added benefit when showering that comes with soft water.

So that is it for now.  It’s been a great week with great friends.  It’s been a week of uncertainty, at least till all the medical reports come back; and, a week of giving thanks since we are in the right place at the right time.  Going to sit back now and relax under the patio awning with a cold one and read a book or maybe surf the web some more.  Time will tell.

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

 

What a beautiful day to awake to.  Plenty of sunshine, fair temperatures, and no work for us today.  So it was we took our time getting up and getting going.

Breakfast was a favorite of mine.  I had cheese potatoes and fried spam.  On the side was orange juice and a couple of mugs of coffee.  Just what the doctor ordered for the start of a new day.

Not much on the schedule today.  I spent the day doing house cleaning and Barbara got caught up on our laundry.  They have a brand new washer and dryer right across from us in the maintenance garage which is for volunteers like us to use.  No quarters needed thus more money saved.  Really nice to say the least.

Tonight, was the annual Historical Fashion Show.  Period reenactors modeled clothing from the 1500’s up to and including the 1900’s.  In addition, they had a narrator who described the clothing of each period and how it was worn and used.  Following are some pictures I took at the show.  Enjoy.

The first picture is of an early pioneer woman modeling and describing the various pieces of clothing that she would usually wear.  First came the pants worn under everything.  Along with she would also wear a simple shirt made of linen – also worn by the men in the house.  Nothing fancy for sure.

She would also wear a hat which was worn over the top of a white cap.  At her waist she would wear a belt to which was attached almost anything and everything for instance she carried a pair of scissors and a sewing needle and thread.  She also carried two simple bags in which she could carry larger items needed day to day.

Next, two gowns which were typical of the early 1800’s.  Imagine having to put them on.

Here we have the typical uniform of an artillery solider.  Note the white bands that ran across the chest and were joined at the center by a nice shiny piece of brass.  Want to take a guess what the enemy would almost always aim for first!

In contrast was the typical Seminole uniform of the 1800’s.  Light weight and well adapted to the countryside in which they found themselves.

Jumping forward in time we get a glimpse at an early bathing suit.  A wee bit different then what is worn today!

A woman advocating for their right to vote.

Let’s not forget the nurses who served during the war.

Remember the poodle skirt?

It was an interesting evening with a little bit of everything on parade.  It was amazing to see just how fashion has changed over the years.  A good time was had by all who came.

That was our day On The Road of Retirement.  We enjoyed it from beginning to end.  Hopefully, you had a good day as well.  Time now to call it a day and get some much needed sleep.

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 .  Till tomorrow, have a good night.

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

It was up and at it this morning since it was all hands-on deck in the park.  Today was a special all-day program for school children of all ages called A Road Back In Time.

This is a special annual program wherein 1800s history comes to life through demonstrations, reenactors and hands-on activities. This free event is only for school groups (home-school, public, private and their chaperones).

I was appointed the gopher for the day which in essence meant it was my responsibility to ride around in a golf cart and lead incoming buses to the parking area, ferry volunteers from the parking lot to the display lawn, and just assist wherever there was a need.

Barbara was assigned to the gate booth at the entrance to the park.

The program started at 9 am and within an hour the parking lot was full.

There were various displays throughout the park and below are a few of them.  There was a demonstration on butter making in which each student was allowed a turn at the “butter churn”.

 

Ron (white hat) and Terry (straw hat) gave an demonstration on rope making and encouraged everyone to have a try at it.

A volunteer family set up a typical pioneer home with all members including the youngest in period costume.

Two volunteers dressed as typical soldiers described what their life in the military was like and the weapons and equipment they carried.

A volunteer in period costume described how to tan animal hides and what they were typically used for.

There was Jean (black hat) who gave a demonstration of how to grind corn and encouraged the students to try their hand at it.

Here is a school group having lunch in one of the picnic pavilions

The day proved to be a winner in all ways.  We had perfect weather, lots of helping hands, and all kinds of demonstrations and hands on activities.  I was glad I was able to be if even in a small way a part of it.

Time now to catch some shut eye.  Thanks for joining us once again on The Road of Retirement.  We’ll catch you again in a day or two.  Tomorrow it’s back to the doctor for me for a few more tests – will they ever end?  Time also for me to practice what I’ve been saying at the end of each of my blogs.

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 eventually some shut-eye.  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