Friday was a recon day. We decided to take advantage of the good weather and drive to Longview RV sales and service because last spring we noticed a banner advertising Newmar authorized service available. We like to trust our coach to an authorized dealer because they know the nuances particular to each model. They were very nice, because they told us that we would be better off going directly to Freightliner to have them fix the leak we’ve been suffering with since May. Cummins, in Pennsylvania, took a look at it and determined it was a Freightliner issue. They would also have fixed it for us, but, again, it’s a Freightliner chassis, so who better to fix it than them? We trusted Longview for that advice and will visit them to have some other work done for their honesty. A few minutes after we arrived, a little blonde Chihuahua trotted into the room and right up to us. Joe, following him, said, “Don’t jump, RV, stay down..” When Joe reached us, he bent down and scooped up RV and put him up on the counter. RV proceeded to wiggle his rear and try to lick us. It turns out that RV just showed up one day, and the owners of Longview adopted him, gave him the name ‘RV’ and feed him a lot. RV is a little rotund for a Chihuahua, but so cute.
We got some prices for various items we’d like done from Julie, and then left, promising to come back.
Off to Freightliner, where the problem was discussed, diagrams printed off the computer, explanations, scenarios, and then the bad news: prices. Why is it the hardest, most expensive thing goes wrong? It couldn’t just be a seal that needs replacing, which would be bad enough, but it seems the fan motor needs to be replaced and it would take 6 hours to do it. I won’t bore you with the $$$details$$$, but we’ll manage. But we have heat (we stilllllllll need it) and electricity, water and a beautiful view, so Life is Good.
Saturday, we woke up to RAIN. This is the first rain we’ve had in three weeks. We were supposed to go to Hollywood Studios with our neighbors Ron and Donna, and take Terry and Sherry and their son, Casey, to get them in for free. (one of the good perks) But Terry came over and declined walking in the rain all day, so perhaps they will go on Monday. We continued with our plans of lunch at Sweet Tomatoes, shopping at Disney Marketplace and then to Cirque du Soleil! We had good tickets (half price – another perk we took advantage of) and we were early, so we had a drink at the House of Blues first. It had cleared a little, but still heavy gray clouds hung around, and I was glad I had my sweater and fleece with me. I have never been a fan of clowns (in fact it may be my only phobia) but there were only two men dressed as clowns and I just closed my eyes the few times they were on stage. But the rest of the show was spectacular. It’s a good thing they use safety ropes, because the high wire artist fell off his bike and his balancing pole nearly hit the ground. The audience's gasp was loud, and he must have lost his nerve, because he didn’t try it again. The trapeze artist tried twice to do a back double flip (which is a blind trick – meaning he couldn’t see his partner's catching hands) and fell to the net below.
My favorite acts were The Diabolo, or a children's game of Chinese yo-yo. This entrancing act features four young Chinese performers. Holding two sticks linked by a string, they slide, juggle and toss a musical wooden spool while performing acrobatics in the air. Also awesome were the trampoline artists. Areas of the floor rose up to create little buildings with windows. These people fell to a trampoline from the roof (maybe 15 feet), bounced on the trampoline and actually entered the windows on the way up, or landed on the roof so gently that it seemed as though it had been all an illusion. Crazy costumes, too. It was all amazing talent and that will satisfy our circus quota for quite a few more years.
When we arrived home last night we were VERY displeased with Tasha, who had, yet again, ‘decorated’ our bed – all the way to the mattress. Sheeeeesh. I had a clean bottom sheet to put on, but the duvet will need to stay in a trash bag until Monday when the cleaners is open. Meanwhile, I had a couple throws that we slept under and we cuddled to keep warm. So this morning at 7:30 I was at the laundromat washing all our linen - again. Today it was supposed to clear up this afternoon, but it never got above 56 and drizzled on and off. We did do a little more Christmas shopping singing carols all the way with the songs we recognized on the radio. Some of these stylized carols are really far out…
Michelle and family are on their way to Orlando to visit Disney World with the 6 kids. They played ‘Wheel of Fortune” this morning and the puzzle answer was ‘we are going to Disney’. When I talked to them at 3 pm, they hadn’t left St. Pete yet, no surprise as getting 8 people organized takes time. We’ll plan to go to Animal Kingdom with them tomorrow.
Well, sorry there are no photos today. I would have loved taking some at the circus, but they were not allowed. We are semi-planning our trip out west, which is exciting, and we’ll let you know as our plans unfold. Be careful out there…
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