So this morning I awoke with good intentions of putting up the awnings.  Not to be.  Barbara needed to get to her primary care doctor to see if she could find some answers regarding Saturday night.  She also needed to renew her prescriptions.  Unfortunately, there were no answers.  Just a reminder to continue to be careful about her food in the future.

By the way did I mention her doctor is in Brooksville?  Know what else is in Brooksville?  Aldi.  So a shopping we did go while we were there.  About those awnings, more later.

The weather here is still hot and muggy, I mean really hot and muggy.  Open the door and walk outside and within 10 steps you are wringing wet.  Next week they keep saying things are going to cool off and get back to more seasonal temperatures.  Time will tell until then we’ll just deal with what we have.

Back in September Tropical Storm Florence roared through New Bern and the development where my mother lived.  As I’ve shared in the past her home was flooded and a total loss.  Take a look at what we found when we got there, this was her bedroom.

What’s left of the living and dining room.

The garage which had about four feet of water in it.

What’s left from the guest bedrooms on the other end of the house.

A lot of stuff simply could not be salvaged and had to be thrown away.

This was what was left of the living room.

And this is what became of the whole house, completely gutted.

But believe it or not there is a silver lining to all of this.  Before Mom even left New Bern word came from friends of my sister that there was an apartment waiting for her in Wellsboro, PA if she wanted it.  It was only two miles from where my sister lived.  Mom went and looked, she liked it and today it is her’s.  They even reduced the rent for her.

So in a manner of speaking Home Is Where One Parks Their Fanny, and here is Mom’s new apartment.  All spiffy, all decorated thanks to the hard work of my sister and her husband.  Does she look content?  She finally has the old spunk back in her voice.

 

But wait it gets even better.  We wondered how we could gently suggest to her that at her age, not knowing the area, given the narrow and often twisty roads she should not be driving.  Wonder of wonders, she went to my sister yesterday and out of the blue said Sell my car, I’m not going to be driving anymore.  Oh yea, the Lord truly works in mysterious ways!

Now about those awnings.  I was able after we got home late afternoon to go and measure and determine where each will be located.  Sooner or later I’ll be able to get to them.  Not tomorrow for tomorrow is a sightseeing day and time to meet Barbara’s brother and his wife and spend some time with them.  I’ll get to them eventually.  It’s not like I only have the weekend to do it.

Ah, one last item.  Tonight Barbara made one of those oh so delicious meals.  Before we left for the day she put a pot roast up in the crock pot.  Oh, when I opened the door what a delightful aroma as I walked in.  Pot roast, noodles, brussels sprouts and home made gravy.  Oh I am such a lucky guy.  Believe me I cleaned my plate of every last morsel and every last drop of gravy!

So that was our day on The Road of Retirement.  We could not have asked for a better day from start to finish.  Hand in hand we journeyed through it enjoying one another’s company.  Thanks once again for joining us.  We hope your day was just as great.

So now I’ll say goodnight but before I do a thought for each of us to think 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

Today was supposed to be our first day back at church, but as they say the best laid plans of mice and men sometimes go astray.  Unfortunately Barbara had some medical issues that kept us up until around 1 am in the morning so neither of us got much sleep.  By Sunday morning though she was feeling much better she was in no shape to be going to church.  I also knew for a fact that I would have fallen asleep at some point during the service so we pulled the plug on Sunday worship and stuck close to home.   As the day wore on she began to regain her strength and this evening she is finally coming around.

So Amanda called this morning and said Gee it is cold here, it’s only in the mid 40’s.  What?  Then I opened a blog of friends of ours who are at an RV Resort in Delaware and

they have coats on.  Really?  It’s a little after 7 pm here and we are still at 83 degrees with the humidity up about as high.   We’re also supposed to have record breaking temperatures all this week, something like 90 degrees plus.  We are definitely in Florida.  In two weeks they say temperatures will go back to normal, 80’s during the day and 60’s at night.

Remember that song by The Drifters?  It was called Up On The Roof?  It came to my mind today because that is where I spent a good part of my day, up on the roof.  In Suwannee 

State Park one day we heard a loud thump on the roof and then nothing more.  I climbed the ladder, did a once over, didn’t see anything so came back down.  Today I decided it was time for a closer inspection and while I was up there I decided I would give the roof and slide toppers a good cleaning.  Walking the roof I didn’t find anything out of order.  No holes, no dents, all of the sealant looked good.  Next I got my scrub bucket and brush and went to work.  It’s amazing how small 36 feet seems inside but how big it is when you’re scrubbing the roof!  OK, one more job accomplished.

Oh, am I looking forward to getting the satellite system up and running.  Not even one NFL game on TV.  We basically get one OTA channel, ABC, and a few paid programming

channels and that is it.  We used to get Star Trek, Wheel of Fortune, and Jeopardy but no more.  Oh perish the thought!  Sorry, I also like TV once in a while.   Hopefully, not much longer now.

I did it!  I opened the box and got my first look at the new awnings.  Now that they are out of the box, so to speak, time to install them.  If all goes well I’ll begin that tomorrow

afternoon.  I’ll take it slow, measure three times and screw them down only once.  One step at a time, Graybeard is being transformed into our home outfitted the way we want our home to be.

So that was our day on The Road of Retirement.  We traveled along, hand in hand, singing our song, enjoying each other’s company and the moments given to us by our good Lord.  Thanks for joining us and we hope you had a great day as well, and were able to spend time with someone you love and who’s company you treasure.  So I’ll say goodnight but before I go 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

So this morning began the round of VA Clinic Appointments.  This first one was for an X Ray of my knees, the one repaired and the one yet to be done.  The technician who took the X Rays asked me How in the world do you walk?   Seems the right knee is now nothing but bone on bone.  Ah well, I’m still getting around.  Maybe this means I’ll be in line to have it replaced before the year is out.  One can only hope.

So that was the first part of the morning.  It’s funny you have to drive an hour to get to the clinic, the X Ray takes maybe ten minutes, then you drive an hour home again.  It is what it is I’m only glad the process has begun no matter how far the drive.

Along the way we found both a Chase Bank where we took care of some banking needs and we found a Wawa.  The latter is really important and you know why?  It’s Hoagiefest Time!  I bet you can’t figure out what we had for lunch?

Tummies full we finally headed for home.  There were still a few things I needed to do after our move last night so I took care of them first.  Then we did a major cleaning on

the inside of Graybeard.  He was cleaned from top to bottom, and front to back.  Our home is all spiffy now.

Latter in the afternoon our good friends Dennis and Pam who live in Ocala came over to visit.  We met them here in Sumter Oaks last January and have kept in touch with them over the last several months.  Since buying their home here in Florida they have sold their RV and are off the road permanently.  They both agree they had a wonderful two years traveling full time but Pam in particular just couldn’t adjust to the confines of a motor home, especially the small kitchen.  We continue to wish them well and we will see them again before we leave this area.

Before Dennis and Pam left we all headed out to River Ratz a much talked about restaurant and a favorite with the locals which is located on the Withlacoochee River.

This is a picture of the river which is just off the outside patio area.

This is a wall mural just before you enter the restaurant.

Dennis and Pam with the restaurant’s mascots.

Here I am  with the same great two looking gentleman.

And this is a picture worth a thousand words!

So that was on day today on The Road of Retirement.  Thanks once again for joining us.  Our day was a great day and we hope your day was as well.  It never ceases to amaze me how blessed and fortunate we are.  We are no longer a part of the daily rat race.  We get to do what we want on our time schedule.  We have made so many new friends.  Gotten to see things we once only dreamed of.  We get to do it together, traveling along, hand in hand, singing our song.  And the journey has only begun!

For now then I will say goodnight.  But before leaving you 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

So we have laid around all this week, no place to really go, no sightseeing planned, no company coming over, but that is all about to end.  Starting tomorrow and for the next week we have planned visits to the VA clinic, the chiropractor, company coming over, sightseeing planned and the list goes on.  No complaints from us just saying that life is about to get real busy.  Honestly, I like it this way.

Today  was just another day in paradise.  An early morning trip to the chiropractor, then the post office, then we went to Howies Family Restaurant for breakfast, next a haircut

and finally Tractor Supply.  It’s nice knowing where all the stores are and not having to hunt to find them.  Yup, we’re home so to speak but not permanently.  I know we’ll be here for several months but already I’m getting the urge to be back on the road.

Today, we moved, real far, from site 62 down the road to a shaded 50 amp site, site 54.  Given the forecast for temperatures in the 90 degree range and higher all next week

it is nice to have such a site.  It’s level, has a concrete patio, and all utilities are conveniently located to the wet bay.  We’ll be here until this Sunday, Oct. 21st.

That then was the extent of our day.  Thanks again for joining us on The Road of Retirement.  Nothing exciting but definitely another wonderful day from start to finish.  We’ll take each day as they come and treasure them no matter what they hold.  Before I go something for each of us to think upon, shared with me by a good friend:

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