Much better night last night, thankfully.  I was up only once and actually slept through to 6:00 am the normal hour that I’m up.  Amazing the change in a person’s attitude and outlook a good night’s sleep can make.

It’s still quiet warm at night, usually around the low 70’s.  We don’t really need the AC since the ceiling fans and the fan on the dresser keep the air moving.  According to sources in the know this is going to change drastically come Thursday night.  The weather report is for night time temperatures in the low 40’s and high 30’s for about three nights.  Let’s see where did we put that extra blanket?

We spent the morning attending to book keeping and sorting through receipts and papers we had been collecting for over a month.  Once in awhile we need to weed through our collection, file the important papers and trash the rest.  I also tried to reach out to the VA regarding my knee but as usual got absolutely nowhere.  My super duper contact is evidently on vacation so that proved to be a dead end as well.

We heard the sound of a diesel pusher backing in behind us and sure enough Fred and his wife were back.  Image this, they have been on the road in the same Class A for 23 years now.  Fred laughs when he talks about it, he says it all began when they sold their house 23 years ago, then bought the rig and they never looked back.  Now let’s see in 23 years I’ll be 93 and if I’m behind the wheel of a motor home I’ll probably be the biggest risk on the road!

Early afternoon our good friends Dennis and Pam stopped by.  They are still members of Escapees even though they no longer own a rig and are no longer on the road.  It’s always great to spend time with them.  So we sat and swapped stories about this and that and just enjoyed one another’s company for a few hours.  They live in Ocala and we are looking forward to spending more time with them in the coming months.

That was our day on The Road of Retirement.  Right now we’re sitting and enjoying TV shows we have not been able to watch for months.  Amazing, I have to confess I really missed being able to sit and watch what we wanted when we wanted.  I think I’m getting spoiled real quick!  Once again it was a good day for us made even better by the fact that we did it together, traveling along, side by side, hand in hand, singing our song.

Thanks for joining us again today it was great having you along.  Come join us again tomorrow.  Time to say goodnight but as always a thought for each of us to ponder:

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

Unfortunately last night was not the best.  Not often but often enough, I simply cannot sleep through the night.  So it was last night, I was up and down about every 30 to 45 minutes.  I finally gave up somewhere around 4 am and got up and got dressed and prepared to face a new day.

So what to do when one is up that early?  I puttered around finding things to keep myself busy.  Gertrude’s coax cable was stretched too tight so I unattached it and ran it under rather than around the front of Graybeard.  I dusted all the blinds before I opened them up for the day.  I straightened up the living room.  Cleaned the bathroom.  You know, the usual stuff one does when they can’t sleep!

Later, much later, it was time for breakfast.  I was starved by then.  I attacked a stack of pancakes with walnuts, downed a couple of glasses of orange juice followed by a couple

mugs of coffee.   Now I was running on all cylinders and ready for a – nap.

Time now for a doctor’s appointment for Barbara.  Nothing special just routine stuff that needs to be taken care of before she looses her health insurance the end of this month.  She has been on Cobra since I lost my job and it ends at the end of November.  She cannot get Medicare until next March so we have to get done what needs to done like right now.

Doctor’s appointment done we headed to Home Depot.  Barbara has been asking for a new faucet in the kitchen for some time now.  The old one is not bad it’s just that she would like would one of them fancy pull out sprayer type faucets.   So we are starting

to shop around for a reasonably priced one that will stand the nest of time.  What we saw today was either way out of our price range or just too cheesy looking.  We’ll keep looking and I’m sure in time we will find just the right one.

Doctor and shopping finished time now for supper.  Golden Coral was advertising a free meal for Veterans today so what better place to head to.  Sure.  Ever Veteran in the state of Florida in the area of Brooksville must have gotten the word.  When we arrived at 5 pm they were already parking up to two blocks away and the line was wrapped clear around the building.  Now I like a free meal anytime.  But no way was I waiting to get in for this free meal.  The food is OK but not worth waiting a good hour for.  Time for plan B.  Only problem was we didn’t really have a plan B.   So we started home looking for any place we could get a decent meal.  That’s when we saw it, a restaurant we used to go to a lot in the past, Bob Evans.  That’s where we ended up.  Guess what?  I got my free meal!

It was back home after that.  It sure felt good to get back home, kick off our shoes and just settle back.  Until the knock came on the door.  Seems one of our neighbors took offense to Marti’s barking while we were gone.   We had left all the windows closed, the AC on and the radio playing which usually keeps him quiet.  Not this time.

Bottom line they politely informed us that they really were not going to tolerate his barking anymore while we were gone.  Now we’ve stood outside when we’ve left him, listened for him, yes you can hear him, but barely when the rig is shut up tight.  Furthermore you have to be right next to the rig to hear him.  Oh well, now if we want to go sightseeing or to concerts or whatever we either have to take him or find a place to board him each time.  No fun either way.   Maybe the other answer is to go boondocking in the middle of the desert were no else is around.

That was our day on The Road of Retirement.   We had a good day in spite of a  speed bump at the end.  Somehow we’re going to have to find a permanent solution to the Marti issue.  We’ll figure that one out in time I’m sure.  Thanks for joining us once again and we’ll catch up with you again tomorrow.  Time to say goodnight but before I do a thought for each of us to ponder upon:

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

Before I get into our day, this being Veterans Day let’s take a moment to remember all those who have and are serving our country in our Armed Forces.  Let’s remember those who have given their all and the loved ones and families they left behind.  Let’s remember the families of all who are separated from those they love as their loved ones serve in places around the world.  And let us never forget freedom is never free.

This was a Sunday we had been looking forward to for many months.  This morning we would be worshiping in what we now fondly call our Home Church, The First Presbyterian Church of Inverness.  Steve is the worship leader at the contemporary 9:30 am service and it was so refreshing to him sing and play the piano.  I haven’t met many

who are his equal.  As soon as he begins you just feel your spirit and your heart begin to soar.  Pastor Ron, the pastor truly knows how to deliver a thoughtful and inspiring message.  I always look forward to what he has to say.  Today was no different.  This was stewardship Sunday and his message had nothing really to do with how much one should give, not even if one should make a pledge to the church.  His message rather was about our gratitude to God and finding ways to express it in meaningful and tangible ways.  All in all it was a really fantastic way to start our morning.

Next stop after church was one of our favorite places for breakfast.  It’s name is simple enough, The Diner.  The food is always delicious and ample.  Most often we end up

bringing part of it home in a box.  This morning was no different.  We both had breakfast burritos and while I did finish mine this time, Barbara brought half of her’s home.  Add in a few cups of coffee each and we were good to go.

Home again and it was time to do what I had been putting off for too long.  It was time to install the last awning over the bedroom window.  My neighbor Sherwood had just the ladder I needed, an eight foot step ladder and he was kind enough to let me borrow it.  With Barbara’s help the awning was up and in place.  Oops, forgot to take a picture.  Well, it looks just like the other two.

That finished it was time to settle in and watch some football.  Gertrude (Barbara named the antenna not me!) has locked on to her satellite and has not let go so we have TV channels aplenty.  I have to admit it is really nice to watch what you want when you want.  Only one disappointment, Velocity  which is a car nuts channel that I love to watch, but would you believe a lot of the shows now airing are repeats that I already saw over two years ago!  Go figure.

Our day was far from over though.  We had tickets for an evening concert in The Villages at The New Covenant United Methodist Church and so late afternoon we were off to the church.  Walking in one of the first things that caught my eye was this beautiful stained

glass window.  The next item that I noticed was this mural at the entrance to the hall.

And this was the concert we had tickets for.

And this was the program for the evening.

I absolutely love a brass band and this one did not disappoint.  The music was a little bit of everything.  Three pieces in particular really spoke to me and they were, The Star Spangled Banner, Armed Forces Salute, and The Stars and Stripes Forever.  I wish I could have included an audio clip but since I can’t take it from me the music literally made your heart soar.  It was powerful and thrilling and first class all the way.  I would love to hear this band in concert again.

Now back home we settled in for – are you ready for this – the Sunday night football game.  Of course this time with a glass of wine or two to help us unwind from our hectic day.  Hey, we haven’t done this much in one day in quite some time!

That was our day on The Road of Retirement.  A first class day in every way.  We absolutely enjoyed it from beginning to end.  Thanks for coming along with us.   As I say goodnight a though for all of us to ponder:

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

 

We awoke this morning to dense fog blanketing the whole park and the surrounding area.  The temperatures, however, were reasonable.  In due time the fog lifted and we were presented with a beautiful blue sky.  It was starting out to be a great day.

I got a real early start today since good old Marti had to go out at 5:30 am.  I tried to talk him into going back to bed and waiting at least an hour but he would have nothing of it.  Ah well at least I got to take a nap later in the day.

So late last night, way after the blog was finished, we finally got some answers about

what is going on with Dish.  It was the fourth call that Barbara made to Dish support and she finally got to talk to a real tech head and not just a customer support representative.

He began to ask her a series of questions.  For instance, Was your Hallmark show in HD or SD?  It was in SD.  Then he directed her to the on screen diagnostics menu and asked her Tell me what satellite the tuner was locked on.  She answered, number 77.  And therein was the issue.  In order for us to receive the programs and local channels we had subscribed to we need to be on satellite 65.1.  But that presented an even bigger problem, finding a hole in the trees that would allow the antenna to lock on to that satellite.  Come on now I thought this whole satellite thing would be a piece of cake.  Oh silly me!

Then I found an app for my phone that would allow me to find the needed satellite up there in the sky.  Using the app I found the satellite.  I now had to find a spot in the trees where the antenna would see it.  Well, it took a bit of time and a few moves of the

antenna but I finally nailed it – for now.  You see the antenna is in the site next to ours which is currently unoccupied and will be for another few weeks.  I’m thinking of putting crime scene tape up to scare anyone away in the future!   Nah I guess I won’t get away with that.  What happens when I have to move it?  Oh please I don’t even want to think about it!  We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

The good thing about all of this?  We never lost the Hallmark channel.  Yipee!  I’ll take whatever small victories come our way.  Oh, we also discovered we could tape the shows.  So, when we went shopping today we set the DVR to record a show that Barbara had not watched before.

So what has all of this taught us?  When reserving a site in the future we now have to ask not only for a level FHU site but one with a clear view of the southern sky.  Oh, this is beginning to get way too complicated for me!  Whatever happened to the simple life of retirement.

That was our day on The Road of Retirement.  Another whole day fiddling around with Dish.  Yes, the last couple of days were a bit frustrating but sometimes that’s just the way it goes.  At least when we set it up in the future we’ll know exactly what we have to do.

Thanks for joining us today we’re glad you could come along.  I promise no more posts about Dish after this.  I’m sure we’ve all had enough of it.  Now it’s time for me to say goodnight but before I go a thought for all of us to ponder upon:

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