Monday, Darien Illinois

Again, it has been too long since I have posted. I do have an excuse however. My laptop had a problem again. And it seemed just like yesterday that I decided NOT to renew the service contract which was almost $400 for only two years. I figured I could get a new one for a few more bucks. Well, once again, I am proven wrong. The power connection to recharge the battery is once again(three times over the life of the computer) broken. It is such a flimsy connection, I think that it is made that way to keep you buying new computers cause ya get tired of sending off your laptop! I recall Mike, my SoHo computer geek telling me that the power connection is the number one repair on all laptops. On Saturday I was helping the Knitting Guild teach beginning knitting (Peggy the chief of all knitting teachers wants me there all the time, as I am only one of a few in the guild who knit continental style which very simply is that the knitter holds both the left needle and the working yarn in the left hand, vs holding the yarn in the right hand and having to "throw" the yarn over the right needel...I know, ya gotta be there or know knitting hehehe....) Anyways, off I go to LLCC at 9 am Saturday, and on a local radio show are two computer geeks on their regular show. I call in, talk for about 20 minutes to these guys about my problem...missing two turns around Lake Springfield so mean while I am hopeless lost on these freaky streets that all end up at the edge of the lake. They also say if the computer is over three or four years, it will cost a ton to get it fixed. They did say that6 the info on the hard drive is fine, and there is a way geeks can take the stuff from one harddrive and put it on another. Thank goodness, I have lots of stuff on there since the last time I backed up. And this is my question of the day, what good is backup if the backup is stored on the hard drive?
So, after class I go home to tell Paulie all the knowledge I have gathered. Of course, he is not in the least interested. After a little nappie, Paulie and I go up to the Computer Deli store, and the kid gives us the name of some local geek who does this kinda work. He too tells me the cost may be not worth the amount as a new one with a new service contract would be the way to go. Ok so Paulie and I leave and spot a new candy and gourmet foods place right next door. We go in and I tell Paulie since he is such a good boy I will buy him a piece of candy. We purchase two chocolate cherries for Grandpa, a double chocolate truffle for me and a huge macadamia nut turtle for Paulie. $8 bucks for four pieces of candy. Paul gives me the look that would have turned me and Lot's wife into salt and hands me some money. After ooohing and ahing over my truffle we go to Best Buy to LOOK. Two hours and $1700 later we walk out a recipt for a new laptop. Paulie=irrated, Dennise=really hyeped!

On Sunday afteroon, I packed up the Vue to head to my sister Kathy's house in Darien. Her oldest boy, Enzo is turning 15. I remember his first birthday party, where did these last 14 years go? What a downer seeing these kids gowing up and maturing so fast. Just where does all the time go? Paulie is not happy that I am driving myself and I appreciate his concern. However, I can't live in a bubble ALL the time. Besides, if its my time to go, nothing is gonna change things right? I had no problems getting to Darien. We had a wonderful time, wonderful Chicago pizza and birthday cake, who could ask for more? I enjoyed seeing all of my brother in law's family, especially his mom, who I just love. She is the most WOMDERFUL Italian cook...I would cross many oceans to eat her cannoli!

I called Paul and he is still very very uncomfortable. Poor guy. I keep telling him that he will get better each day. He just gives me a look that if it could kill, i'd be six feet under. Putz.

Well, Kathy and I are going to Ikea...it is my first trip to Ikea and I am verrrrry excited. I just hope they have scooters as Kathy says it is huge.

Later this afternoon I am going to see Aunt Jane and cousin Carl. Will post more about my adventures in Chicago later.

dennise

Tuesday and Wednesday
Rochester, IL to Milwaukee, to DeKalb and back to Rochester....

Oh my, its been ten days since I have updated my blog. Let's see, Paul had surgery on his left shoulder on Friday the 10th. He is having a very rough time with it. He is in a lot of pain, even with the meds he has. Also when the doc was placing the rod into the upper arm, the bone fractured. This meant that in addition to the bandage and the arm being in a sling, he had to have a plastic cast put on it. I just feel so sorry for him and there is nothing I can do for him. He is very short tempered which is understandable, however being on the other end of his frustration and pain is not very pleasant. I had my pre-op tests at Aurora Sinai on Tuesday. They were scheduled for 9 am, so I goofed up on my calendar. I thought I had a 2 pm appointment. I had to leave after my doc's visit here and drive up there. Thank goodness the weather cooperated and was dry and sunny. I stayed at the Comfort Suites at Mitchell Airport. It was a very nice suite, and it had a huge made-for-two whirlpool tub. I ate at the hotel's pub/lounge. What else but a brat with sauerkraut with grilled onions and a nice cold Killians. I ate about 1/2 of the brat meat but all of the beer. I do not count beer as a carbonated beverage like diet pepsi. After my dinner I had a nice hot whirlpool soak and hit the sack. The tests were ok, no biggie. Even the upper GI was not unbearable. Just what I wanted to have on Valentines Day....a strawberry chalk cocktail. Yummy. After my tests I drove to DeKalb to Jen's place. I let myself in and promptly hit the guest bed for a nap. Zack called about 4 and broke up my wonderful rest. By then Jen was home. We talked awhile and then it was off to Portillo's for Chicago hotdogs....real Vienna dogs, not the stuff they pass off here in Springpatch as a Chicago Dog....David Berg dogs, no way! Back at her house, Jen's friend Mari dropped by to observe Peanut Brittle Class 101 and Fondant Making 101 followed by Dipping 101. Jen had purchased canned spanish peanuts, however they had been cooked. It rendered the recipe totally disgusting. It was burnt. Hmmm, lesson learned the hard way. Paul insists that Peanut Brittle Guru Hank had emphatically said not to use cooked peanuts...all I remember was him saying not to use dry roasted nuts. Oh well. Like I said, lesson learned. The fondant came out very well. The dipping also went well, and Jen took to it like a pro. It took me a long time to figure out my system, a production line of sorts. I set it up as I do it, and she seemed to like the setup. We really were a bit short on dipping chocolate. I prefer the large blocks of chocolate I get from Peases' that I have used in the past, but the stuff has become cost prohibitive over the last several years. Also, I just can't do what I did in the past. My stamina is gone, and I just fell like crap most of the time, plus I just can't eat this stuff anymore. None of us need to eat it. We miss it but we don't need the calories. We did have fun doing it at Jen's but by the time we were done it was almost midnight and she had to get up early to go to work. I just love her house. It is such a blessing to have a good friend who is there to help when you need it. I will most likely spend next Tuesday evening with her also as my final visit to Dr. Chua in Milwaukee is the 21st. I am going up to Chicago for nephew Enzo's birthday, and will try to visit Aunt Jane and Carl. I can go up to Milwaukee from Chicago and then go to Jen's after my doc's visit.

Paul has an appointment with Dr. G. his orthopod tomorrow morning at 7:30. He has developed a horrible rash under the plastic cast and he took it off. There has to be a better way to keep his fracture immobile without the discomfort and terrible itching of that nasty looking rash.

I also have an appointment with Dr. Borowicki regarding my right hip tomorrow. I can't get through the day without my pain meds. I am not sure what my feelings are about this doc. He has that I am the doctor therefore I am a god complex. If he treats me the way he did last time, its adios to him and hello Dr. Adair. (He's the guy who fixed mom's broken arm two years ago, and besides, he's not hard to look at. Neither is Dr. B, but like I said, I am not sure I like his bedside manner.).

Mom and Cecil are getting ready for their trip to see Joni and Jerry in NC. I am dead set against them going in the middle of winter, there is no way to predict if they will run into a blizzard or freezing rain. In no way do I want them terrorizing other motorists if I can help it, LOL!

Well, that's all the news around here. No trips planned in the near future. I will update as to Paul's status tomorrow and what my doc says about my aching hip.

later

dennise

Superbowl Sunday
Rochester, IL

Well, we arrived home about 2 p.m. We had made a detour and stopped to see Zack. We met at the Cracker Barrel for lunch. It was good to see him; everytime I see him I think he looks taller, or it could be that I am shrinking? You know us old people...we seem to shrink before your very eyes, LOL! After a nice lunch, Zack came back to the rig with us and we gave him the T-shirts we had gotten him. He liked them both. He had a long goodbye with Oscar. We told him about the attack incident and he too was upset. We just cannot put off the inevitable. Paul will confer with Dr. Sturdy sometime this week to see if there is someone who can take him. I still think if we cannot place him with an understanding rescue type person, we will have to put him down. If we have to do it then I would prefer to just go ahead and do it. I know that I will back out of doing it if we delay it at all. I still can't look at him without feeling terrible.

Ealier in the day, Paul had said that all we really needed to get out of the rig was the perishable food and stuff that could freeze, and the laundry. Of course, as soon as we got home, he started unloading everything. I was not really in the mood to disembowel the motorhome so I was not a very happy "camper". I started the laundry and Paul brought out all the stuff. After all this he went to Walgreens to pick up my prescription and to the Chinese place get some egg-drop soup and a couple of eggrolls and crab ragoon. We watched TV for a while. It took a while for the house to heat up. Allmost all my plants survived except the one our neighbor Sherry had sent us when grandma died...I can't recall the name, but it doesn't look like it will be bouncing back anytime soon.

As I sit here and think about our trip I have reached a number of conclusions:

1. I love to take cruises. I could live on a cruise ship quite easily.
2. Pepi is never going to like sharing food with Oscar and Snickers
3. I never thought I'd like the sun coast of Florida...Tampa/St Pete, Naples, etc. I actually do. However this new appreciation of these areas has nothing to do with the traffic in each location (because it is really nasty all the time) but the actual climate. Hmmm, ya think that's why so many people live there and spend the winter there? Big duuuuhhhh.
4. Dry camping is not all that terrible...all we have to do is figure out how the inverter works so we don't have to run the generator when we want to watch TV.
5. I enjoy having the opportunity to do whatever I want without committments dictating my daily activities. I could really enjoy the freedom of just sitting on the beach watching the birds and the wonderful sunsets.
6. Sleeping on the pullout couch is not bad at all with the air matress on top of the foam mattress. Like sleeping on a sleep number bed, kinda.
7. New motorhomes are outrageously over-priced, have no storage and have things we will never use, such as a washer/dryer. The decor in all of them is really really fugly.
8. Wifi is great, except where you are looking at the satellite dish and still the darn laptop tells ya no signal available. Traveling to find a hotspot is a pain in the tush.
9. I actually enjoy writing. Maybe not for earning a living, but to entertain myself and others. Maybe a weekly column? Short stories? The great American novel...nah that is too much to ponder at this point!
10. Gene, Paul and I really do get along very well, except when Pepi is being a little shit and Grandpa thinks its funny. I'ts not. It's irritating as all get out.
11. Paul and Grandpa do not change underware every day(ick), or they go without(double ick)...I haven't figured out which just yet. While doing the laundry I noticed I had a pair in the wash for every day (and sometimes two if I changed clothes or took a shower) and they maybe had one or two pairs. I am too embarressed to ask cause maybe I don't really wanna know, yanno?
12. I really will live if I don't shower everyday....but that's it. One day without a shower is ok...two is not and I can't stand it. I will never go more than one day without a shower.
13. The walls of the motorhome are so thin that you can hear what another person is doing in the bathroom (triple ick, although what is a person supposed to do? I told Paul he had to go to the campground restrooms from now on. Ick again)
14. TV dinners are pretty good and there is NO cleanup.
15. Paper plate are not all created equal...some are not worth buying and spill stuff all over the place.
16. I do not like the Fox channel except for Bones and House tv shows.
17. I can live without actually watching my soaps by reading the updates on line. He, he, he.
18. I still hate Katie Couric on the Today show. I never turn it on at home and was forced to watch it for Grandpa. Ugh. She still is cloyingly nice and I think a phoney.
19. Motorhomes do now offer king size beds...but only on the really expensive ones.(Refer to number 8 above.)
20. Paul and I should always share a meal, otherwise we are wasteful and never eat the leftovers unless it has the word pizza in it.
21. I discovered that I still am not a sun worshiper and still burn if precautions are not taken.
22. I missed my kitchen and I am not sure why. I certainly don't cook anymore.
23. I think I am going to have to have a hip replacement. I don't think that fits this list, but I am always conscious of being in pain.
24. Taking 5 small 2 mil valiums with two night time tylenol works well but still doesn't keep me from waking up and going to the bathroom at least 4 times per night.
25. Paul was not mad that I put my cold feet on him to warm them up, as a matter of fact, he didn't even wake up for heavens sakes.
26. The older Snickers our cat gets, the more loving she becomes. You can't sit down now without her jumping into your lap. And she doesn't care who's lap it is either!
27. Fat little Pepi can lose weight. He did on this trip. Grandpa actually had to take in the notches on his little harness.
28. Snickers will not walk on a leash, and there is not a harness created to keep her in it.
29. Cingular works well some places but not all even though they have us conviced this is true.
30. I can wear Berkies and no one looks at my ugly toes.
31. I must shave my legs when in Florida.

That's all I can think of right now. Paul has a roaring fire in the hearth and my toes are getting toasted...this is not a good thing.

Will post more later.

dennise

Friday, Paducah KY
Ducks Creek RV Park

Sorry about the Saturday morning at the KOA in Forysth, GA. I must have had a brain fart. I somehow lost Friday in my writing. I'll go ahead and change the blog so no one continues to think I'm nutso. Well, perhaps it is a bit late for that LOL!

Well, I asked Paul this morning if he was going try to make it home from outside Atlanta. Oh no, he tells me. Big fibber. Once again he has repeatedly said during throughout the day, "we can make it home, we are really close." Baloney! We were at this point at least 5 hours from home and it is 4 pm. Boy, how many times have we repeated this same scenario? This time we not only have Grandpa with us, but the furkids. When he pulls this crap and if we would push on, by the time we would get home, I would be so cranky and p*ssed, I wouldn't even be able to look at him. (Now, ask me how I know this!). Not to mention the fact that about 11 after 12 hours or so behind the wheel, he starts to fall asleep. He will deny this to the death. I know differently, I have witnessed the eye lids slowly drooping at half mast. That's when I slap him and yell "wake up you putz!" He will argue and argue that he was not falling asleep. If I didn't fear for my life I would videotape him. I am serious. I had to throw some really nasty comments his way before he finally he agreed to stop. This was of course after we had gone past several very nice campgrounds. So the only place to stay is Duck Creek Campground. It only has two W's in the Woodall's book so my expectations were rather low. It was a place to stop; they had electric and a pull through spot. Just how low this place is, well, trust me, this is trailer trash. A Mecca of old dilapidated trailers and fifth wheelers that are no longer road worthy. Good grief, some of these rigs have built over roofs on them and they look like something out of a National Geographic documentary of a third world country. I will take some pictures in the morning so you know that I am not making this up. Pictures don't lie!

We had BBQ steak, corn, baked potato and Texas five cheese toast for dinner. During the making dinner process I blew out the circuits. I had lamps on, the toaster oven and the microwave. Gee, just like home! I am really tired and I think Grandpa is too. We will hit the sack early and get home sometime before noon if we are lucky. I will call Mom in the morning and have her pick up our mail along with hers from the post office. We might not make it before their closing time at noon. I am not too anxious to get home. We do have a lot of stuff to do in the next week or so. Paul's shoulder replacement surgery on Friday, and has tests scheduled for Tuesday. Grandpa cancelled his colonoscopy before we are left so we need to call and get him another appointment. It will take us a few days to unload the rig. We have to do all the laundry, and strip the bed. We'll also have to wash all the blankets, blah, blah, blah. Ick. Oh well, I'll post more tomorrow.

Later

dennise

Saturday
Duck Creek Campground, Paducah, KY

Well, last night about 3 am I had to go to the bathroom (and what else is new you ask?). I am freezing. We have electric so we don'tt have to freeze because we have power to run the furnace fans. So why am I so cold? I crawl back into bed with you-know-who, and am startled at what I see. He had donned his FedEx heavy duty sweatshirt during the night and HAD THE HOOD UP OVER HIS HEAD! He looked like a dead monk. I lay there a moment and tried to figure out why it was so cold if the furnace was running. A light bulb went on over my head! Paul had plugged in a small electric heater in the bathroom area to make sure Grandpa got some warmth during the night. It was keeping the area around the thermostat just warm enough to fool the furnace into thinking it was warm! Duh! So very angrily I turned that sucker off, turned up the furnace and jumped back into bed next to the dead monk. Then I was cold so I couldn't go back to sleep. GRRRRR. But, I think I did finally doze off only to wake up at 6 am having to go to the bathroom again. Afterwards, I must have slept again as we woke up to a frigid but scenic Ducks Creek RV Resort. This place looks even worse in the morning light. We'll have a quick breakfast of toast and we will be off. We talked to Zack last night and he was crying the poverty blues so instead of going directly home we will take I64 to St. Louis and stop by to visit him. We will take him to lunch and Paul will slip him a twenty so he has money as payday isn't until Thursday. I remember talking to him when he returned to school; he had extra money in this account and he had thought the school made a mistake and paid him extra. Actually it was because they paid him early for January hours. Imagine that. I told him not to spend it like a drunken sailor,which judging by his down in the mouth phone voice crying poverty, he obviously didn't take my advice NOT spend the extra money in case the school found they had erred and withdraw it from the account. Well, here again, Zack has learned a very important life lesson. Some people have to have a brick hit 'em in the head. Zack is one of those poor souls.

Well, I have to go get the rig ready to roll. Will update when we get to the Flying J rendezvous point.

Later,

dennise


We have the genset running because we have entered the Artic zone aka Southern Illinois, I thought I'd write a bit more since I have power to run the PC (my battery is dying a very slow death). We have encountered February weather I guess, and it had to happen sooner or later. I am glad the folks up here had a nice month thus far; temps higher than normal; sunshine and 60 degrees. We took the cold with us when we left for Miami; recall me blogging that Miami had record cold temperatures when we arrived? Well not to be denied our obvious good luck, we are helping the folks in Illinois enjoy a normal February winter day. The trees are bare and look so dreary. I miss the beautiful palm trees, all 6 bazillion species of them. I miss seeing those graceful herons and sandpipers busily looking for a tasty tidbit of fish. I miss the warm breezes and the brilliant sunshine. Well, I am just feeling sorry for myself. I guess it will be good to get home and sleep in a real bed. Paul and I slept on the pull out sofa to let Grandpa have his privacy. It really worked out well. After the huge mattress on the sofa pull-out fiasco, we did adjust rather well to the 4 inch air mattress. I guess this is what the air number beds are like. I think we will think about replacing the atrocious mattress in the bedroom with one. Or a memory foam topper. Anything is better than the one that came with the rig. Grandpa slept well on it so it must not be that bad. After thinking back on this trip, I do think I would like to full time for a while. I don't think I could bear to sell the house and all our possessions just yet though. We can'tt afford to keep the house and be on the road fulltime. Mom and Cecil are ok, but the togetherness 24/7 in the rig is hard for two, with three it is a bit hard on veryone. Grandpa also misses having his own car. He mentioned that he didn't feel comfortable driving the Vue because his mastery of the 5 speed has deteriorated, his words, not mine. I think if we do go away again, we will find a place where he can fish. Although he and Paul did fish in Naples, they were not successful. It was amusing seeing a lot fish jumping out of the water at Sliver Lakes and nary a bite on their poles. They haven't caught a keeper sized fish I think since Grandpa lived in Spanish Lake, MO! I am sure we can find a place with good fishing. Of course the OCEAN has a lot of fish, hahaha! They didn't have the right gear to do that kind of fishing. There also was a nice pond at McDill where the cub scouts camp. I guess different local scouting groups use the tent camping area and then maybe get a tour of the base. There was a really beautiful pond in that area but I am not sure if one could fish there, or if there were any fish even in the pond. Besides its kinda close to the golf courses so you'd take your life is in danger from wayward golf balls. Most of the players are old farts and they can be a just a little bit um, shall we say wild? I don't enjoy fishing. I'd rather read or knit. Fishing puts me to sleep. Plus, I would never go deep sea fishing after my terrible experience in Cancun many many years ago (BM-before marriage). Well the furnace is on because of the generator and its giving me hot flashes. I will write more later.

dennise

here are the pictures I promised....


a nice view of mattesses, eh? The earth mover as an art piece is rather unique, dontcha think?



Here are the roofs...really classy I'd say!

I didn't post the very very obese cigarette man in his long johns smoking a cigarete

Thursday
Forsyth GA, just outside Macon

We have stopped for the night at the same KOA that we stayed in a number of years ago when we traveled south in the LaPalma with Zack to see my folks. I remember that we were close to the main office near the pool. The three of us went swimming. This is a good place to stop as it is far enough away from Atlanta that we will miss the terrible rush hour traffic in the morning. Paul is having a heck of a time getting the cable connection to work. I inquired at the desk and was told wifi was available. Yah, right. This is starting to honk me off just a tad. I cannot imagine being on the road full time and depending on wifi hot spots that are advertised. I think I would go bonkers. We are in the new area of the campground and there are only us and two other rigs here. It is a nice pull through site and the new shower house is about 50 feet away. As soon as we pulled in Oscar had to go out. Since Paulie was doing the hookups and Oskey was dancing around, I figured he must have to go pretty bad. I took him outside and he headed for that rich red Georgia clay that was nice and wet from the day’s rain. I pulled him back with all the strength I had and he stopped and pee’d in the road. Dufus. I can’t look at him in the eye, knowing that his days are numbered. I feel guilty….this is a DOG we are talking about, not a human. But furkids are just that- kids. I am like the caricature of a Jewish mother. Such guilt…jeesh! I think women in general have an extra guilt gene. It’s in our blood, our psyche. That gene then quadruples in size when a woman gives birth. This mutated gene continues to increase insidiously, silently getting larger in size as the child (or children…Mom’s with several children have even bigger problems with guilt genes, that’s a whole different situation of which the mother of an only kid can only speculate about) develop and grow older. Does a man get all misty eyed having to put a dog down? Nah…well perhaps some guys. Paulie is on the fence. I know that he doesn’t want to do it but we don’t have much of a choice. This is gonna bother me for a long time. When we put Sammie down, it was sad but it was the right thing to do to help him end his pain. I just have to believe that we really don’t have a choice. I don’t believe we can even chance Labrador rescue…this dog is really the proverbial ticking bomb. We have neighbors who have kids, and I just cannot imagine risking him going after one of the kids if one innocently goes into the yard or sticks his hand through the fence.

Well Paulie is back…some Gomer just came down from the office after Paul called and told them we were not getting any cable at all….you just can’t make up this stuff, yanno? Still no wifi signal. Fibbers…there is no wifi here…or maybe they need to turn the modem on?

Later….dennise

Thursday evening-continued

Since the KOA here has expanded, they have added a Pizza kitchen to the main office. And they deliver. Free. Since we had pizza for lunch, Grandpa just finished his piece for dinner. Paul and I are not too hungry so we call up the pizza place and they also have mozzarella sticks and chicken bites. So Paul calls up and orders a one of each, sticks and bites. About 15 minutes later Gomer’s cousin Goober shows up with the order. They were delicious.
Now the cable was working, and we were full with great junk food. What else could we want? Grandpa fell asleep on the couch; he said driving all day just pooped him out, LOL! We watched Dancing with the Stars until CSI came on. Grandpa had to go to bed. We sat up and watched CSI and ER. At least tonight we have electric and we can keep the FURNACE on. Glory Be!


Friday morning at the KOA in Forsyth GA
February 3, 2006

I woke up this morning and could feel my face. Wow, what a rush! I made coffee and the guys took out the furkids for their morning duty walk. It is very warm here and the weatherman’s forecast indicates a high of 60 degrees. Wow, where has winter gone? I have noticed as I am sure most of us have, that there has been a change in our weather patterns. Mild winters and long humid hot summers. Drought in one part of the country and flooding in another. Odd? I suppose one could blame the ozone loss, but I think that we are just going through what the world does every now and then, change climates. Do we recall our history or Earth Science classes? The earth has changed a lot over the last gazillion years or so. We are just experiencing normal (hahaha) earthly changes, so why sweat it. I do think if I lived in California, I’d find another place to stake my tent. Just an opinion, of course. I do think that California will eventually be part of the Pacific Ocean floor, again, JMHO. Well, I guess I better get my buns outta this chair and fix breakfast. Yesterday, I had my great Kashi Go Lean Special, a concoction I created…cereal that normally tastes like cardboard, but the way I do it, is really good. Take the suggested serving size (one cup and I do measure!) a carton of low fat, no sugar added yogurt, and some thawed frozen berries from the bag (Wal-Mart, really good price, three berries version). Wahla! Healthy (fiber galore) sweet from the berries and yogurt for its great cultures. What more could a person ask for? I digress. Grandpa and Paulie had COOKIES for breakfast. Bad, bad, bad. I am making them eat something more substantial this morning. Listen to me. The nutrition guru. That’s a good one!

Well, we will eat, break down the rig connections and be one our way. Atlanta here we come! I sure hope all the cars have reached their destination and are off the road by the time we get there.

Later

dennise

Well, after a wonderful 10 days in Tampa at McDill AFB visiting with Hank and Elizabeth Kerr, it was time to bid our farewells. We don't want to rush home so we should be home by Sunday at the latest. We have stopped at the FlyingJ near the Georgia - Florida boarder. I was able to log on here to send this update. I really thought my purchasing the month on their wifi would be good and I'd get my money's worth. Wow, what a learning curve this wifi business is! In my own defense, I was under the assumption we would be going west after the cruise. I also thought the $20 I spent would be well used as we tend to stop at all Flying J's for diesel and a break. There are no Flying J's where we were! So, I have until Feb 4th to use up my 20 bucks. Not gonna happen I think. Well, Pauly has finished fueling and I have a hankerin' for a piece of pizza and need to use the ladies room, I will sign off for now.

Later

dennise

McDill AFB
Tampa, FL

This morning dawned bright and sunny; however it was so cold I could not feel my face any more. This is getting old. After a perfectly dreadful night of sleeplessness due to the darn cold, nasty hip pain, fretting about what to do about our dear Oscar, and sadness that our stay here would end soon, I got up to meet the day. The beautiful day we had yesterday was going to repeat itself, this time with warmer temps. After a breakfast of coffee and raisin toast, we are off to pick up the Kerr's for our planned trip to John's Pass. This attraction in the St Petersburg area is a tourist mecca where one can rent any type of watercraft imaginable, visit seafood restaurant after seafood restaurant, and spend mucho dinero in trendy little shops that are really very charming. We had a great lunch of shrimp, clams, scallops and (ick, not me) oysters. Elizabeth was the only one in the group that stayed the healthy choice path and had her platter broiled. The rest of us chowed down on fried everything. It was delicious. After dining, we strolled along the boardwalk. I was surprised to learn that it is impossible to maintain my balance looking down at my feet when there is space between the boards. The water whooshing below throws me completely off kilter. Good grief couldn't wait to get off the boardwalk. Elizabeth and I had a great time checking out the little shops and boutiques. I gave in and bought a few things. Paulie was not happy, but then when does my shopping ever make him happy? Elizabeth bought a beautiful purple dress embroidered with black thread imported from India. She will be a true standout at our next Cenois Red Hat get together in May. It needs to be altered a bit but it has a short cropped jacket over a sun dress that is really beautiful. She told me that she would always remember our day here when she wears this dress. I will remember it also when I see her in it. After buying some fudge (oh my) and a shirt for Zack, we headed back to the car. We went to St Petersburg Beach and walked along the water, looking for shells. I had gathered some on Naples beach and wanted to have enough to put into a canning jar lamp that I now have filled with potpourri. Both Elizabeth and I have balance problems and it is amazing neither one of us fell into the gulf waters. It was the end of a perfect day. New pictues have been posted at Yahoo Photos, Rocketmom1985's albums.

Tomorrow morning we will pack up the rig and head north. I think we all have had a great time here in Florida. I'll continue to post our adventures along the way home. You never know just who and what we will encounter.

Later

dennise