On the Road Again!

Thursday was our last day of work at Michelle's.  Nobody was there, not even the dogs, so we washed every slipcover, pillow cover, sheet and towel in the place.  We cleaned out the fridges, washed everything and ordered some Chinese for dinner, as we had planned to stay overnight.  Gary's last - yes, LAST  Doctor's appointment was Friday morning at Tampa General for his two week post-op checkup and check OUT.  The most important thing to Gary was to find out if it was OK to swing a golf club.  The answer was 'sure'.  I saw this big smile on his face!

Saturday I got a haircut, and my girlfriends came over to the coach for a farewell dinner.  We fit in the coach just fine, and had a ball.  It was sad to say goodbye, but we know we'll be back together again in the fall.

Sunday we got the coach all ready to leave Monday morning, but I hurt my back doing something wrong under a slide.   Oh, well, it'll get better, and I'm not seeing a Doctor.  Later that afternoon, we drove one more time up to St. Pete for a Father's Day celebration.  All six kids were there, so it was a perfect time to say goodbye to all of them.  It was just a little tearful, but with promises of FaceTime and phone calls, we are a lot better off these days then even 10 years ago.  At least the kids won't forget what we look like!  Plus we like to send them little things from places we visit which is fun for them to get in the mail.

Here's Gary with his loot.  Michelle videotaped with her phone the kids trying to pick out something for Poppy.  She gave them a spending amount, and they went to the mall.  It was hysterical to watch, as they really tried to pick out some far-out things:  an umbrella, a watch (too expensive), a hat (wrong color) and on and on.  They finally decided on a change counter bank and a pair of sunglasses.  Perfect.  Daddy picked out a couple MagLites that will really be useful!

Happy Father's Day

Lots of hugs and kisses, a couple of tears, and off we went for our drive home.

Monday was a beautiful day, except for my back.  Fortunately Gary had some leftover oxycodone that helped me sleep.  We made reservations for our return in November, turned the key in the ignition and - yes, she started.  Whew.

Our ride to Clermont Independence RV was about 2 hours and a bit, but they said they could get everything done.  The thing I was most excited about was changing some of our old incandescent and flourescent lights to LED.  Chris had done a little deal with a manufacturer, and gotten some great prices he could pass on to customers.  LEDs are a little pricey as you know, but so much nicer now that they make warm white as well as bright white.  SO much better in the baths and over the sink.  Even our bed reading lights are cooler and nicer.  We'll never have to change them, and Chris installed them for free. 

It was late when they finished their jobs, so we opted to stay on property overnight.  We filled up with propane and they parked us.  Thank goodness THEY parked us, for Gary, as good as he is with me directing him, would probably break a sweat getting into this spot.  This is a picture of the beautiful Essex ($500,000 appx.) coach we're next to.  I could have reached out the bathroom window and touched its mirror!

Reach out and touch someone

They gave us a key to the gate, told us where we could walk and where not to due to the alarm sensors, notified the police we were there and after all that, we decided we'd just hole up inside with our 50 amp, water, and new lights, and hang. 

This morning we bought a dozen donuts for the staff for being so wonderful and spending so much of their time off the books with us, and finally got rolling around 9 am.  Traffic on I 4 and  I95 is hectic, and Gary was really glad to pull into our spot in St. Augustine, set up and relax with a cold glass of tea.

We had some lunch, and headed over to the St. John Creek for Gary to throw in a line.  Here he is:

Not a Nibble

A large male muscovy came up behind me and started yelling.  Then suddenly he took off and landed in the water.

 He was angry because I was between him and his family.  Here they are all together. 

Then trouble started.  These domestic ducks jumped in the water and headed toward the mom and babies.

 Mom got scared and flew to the dock I was standing on.  The white ducks went after the babies, who were crying for their Mom.  I turned to Mom and said 'get on back in the water and help your kids!'  She flew back in and herded them under the dock.  Father played halfback until they were all safely on shore, and then I got this shot of them walking home.

 Someone told me that she had had four babies with her this morning.  No telling why the white ones would hurt the babies, but I bet that's what happened. 

Since we were up before 6 am this morning, it will be early to bed.  There's a front coming up from the Carribbean that we are racing from so will probably get an early start tomorrow, too.  We'll be in SC tomorrow at Colleton State Park in Canadys.  I hope our favorite Rangers, Larry and James, will be able to welcome us.  We'll be able to spend two days with them before heading up to NC.

But let me tell you:  I like to move it, move it.  I like to move it, move it.  Move IT!!