Settled in Central Florida

We always talk to whoever wants to listen about ones expectations. I’m sure you gleaned that we were somewhat disappointed on our arrival here at the SKP Resort and that was due to our expectations. You can not compare one SKP facility to another. Yes, they are all from the same club but that is why the club is so great, you have choices and different experiences. You may have guessed by now that we have recalibrated ourselves and are quite happy to be here!

Saturday was a relaxing day, Barb busy with her videos and me doing the necessary chores of post set up – the bug cleaning detail! Sunday, we drove over to see Dick & Karla, our Minnesota friends with the log cabin that we have often talked about. They live in a very nice senior community about 50+ miles east of us. They have a very busy schedule with a golf course, lawn bowling, shuffle boards, pool, hot tub and active social gatherings in the club house. Whew! I had to have a nap after hearing of all their activities! We haven’t seen them since our return trip from Alaska in 2009 and had a lot of catching up to do! After a great lunch, we had to walk off all the good eats and Barb got to pick her first ‘fresh’ orange off a tree!

On our way over to Dick & Karla’s, we stopped at Lowes and picked up some electrical parts and a breaker to finish off some repairs after our power surge and I spent most of the next day fixing and changing some assignments in the panel. Now we can control the converter from the breaker panel easier and with the solar panels, this may help to reduce our electric bill somewhat.

We have moved to a site where we can possibly stay longer so we’re here until at least Jan 23^rd! It’s a very nice site, cement pad and patio, 50A electrical and a SEWER! Yea! Now we’re going to be staying long enough to try out our new solar rope lights and patio markers that we bought in September!

Knock, knock… a gentleman was at the door and asked if we would like to join them and a few friends for happy hour across the street from us. How nice! We gratefully accepted and at the appointed time (3PM) we took our lawn chairs and enjoyed an hour of fellowship with about 20 other SKPs. It was cool so everyone was trying to sit in the sunshine!

Another week has zipped by. We hope y’all are doing well and not too bothered by the snows and cold weather up north.

It's a New Year

We got through the New Year in grand style with Jim & Lydia. In looking back, 2010 was quite a ride! The picture is a log of our travels using Google Earth. This is a neat representation provided by the DataStorm service. We have met many nice people, traveled through many sights and enjoyed our RVing lifestyle! It is quite an adventure and we feel lucky to be able to do it.

With sad hearts, we say farewell to Jim and Lydia. As I said in our previous post, it’s always sad to leave a good thing! The deal here at Wanee Lake RV Park is too good so Barb & I decide to stay a few more days to enjoy the warm weather and more golf! The park is not busy! There are only 2 other rigs here besides us and one is the camp host! They have impromptu socials and we got to have some home made peach ice cream at one of the socials. Neat.

Now that we are all stiff and sore from so much golf in a short time, we kick back and toured through Ashburn – that took us all of 20 minutes and that was because we couldn’t find the post office!

While golfing, Barb found a great Georgia long needle pine tree where she could collect needles for her pine needle basket weaving craft. When we returned from our exhaustive touring of Ashburn, we walked out on the golf course and collected a bag of pine needles, keeping an eye out for stray golf balls and golfers coming up the 8^th hole. Here is a picture of a lost ball! It is stuck in a bunch of twigs, nestled in the crux of a tree branch 20 feet up – I bet that golfer is still wondering where his or her ball went!

We are finally on our way south on I75. We stop at the Flying J in Valdosta Ga for fuel. We liked it better when it was the Flying J, not so much since it was bought out by Pilot. The traffic was light until we got down to Ocala area. Of course, the closer we got to Tampa, we had to navigate through even more traffic. By the time we got down to Wauchula, Florida, it was too dark to find the SKP Resort  so we decided to stay at WalMart – we had to stop and shop anyway! We try to avoid parking in a campsite in the dark – it’s much easier at WalMart!

Our plan was to stay a month so we can visit with our Minnesota friends and see this area of Florida. When we pulled into the Escapee park, we were surprised that they do not have any available sites and we have to stay in the over flow area. When asked about a longer stay site, we were advised that they don’t expect anything until the end of the month. Now some of you might ask – why didn’t you make a reservation – well, Escapee’s parks don’t take reservations. Most use the ‘first in, first out’ rule but here, that does not come into effect until the end of January! So, here we are with only 20A electric and water. It is a very nice park though; even the White Ibis are comfortable as seen just outside the rig!

When we started this trip back in Nov ’10, we had trouble locating a WalMart to stay in and Barb said that this was an omen! She was so right! Now that we are all set up, we have to devise a Plan B!

Stay tuned, we’re never sure where we’ll end up!

It’s a Magic Time….

Barb & I had a very nice Christmas even if we were alone in the maintenance compound of the golf course. We managed to sleep in till 9 then raced down to the ‘tree’ to see what Santa left us! After our traditional rum and eggnog, we had a late breakfast and kicked back. We had planned to gather pine needles and find a Geocache in the state park but it started to rain and didn’t stop until late in the evening – at least it’s not snow! So we fired up the TV and watched some Christmas shows and prepared our turkey dinner. A wonderful time it was!

We woke up on Boxing Day to snow flurries!! Yes, that’s correct – snow flurries! Yuck! So another laid back day, Barb working on her videos and me scanning more photos of times past.

Slowly, the weather is warming and we finally got all the bird houses painted and re-mounted on their pole on the golf course. Of course, we did not mark where we took the bird houses from so when we went back out to put them back, our senior memories …. Well you get the picture! We put the bird houses up in the morning and golfed after lunch! A perfect arrangement!

We have learned that the next volunteers are coming in on Jan 1 so we have to vacate by then. Jim & Lydia have suggested we get together for New Years celebrations so we’re making plans for that. Unfortunately, they were snowed in on the mountain and their departure from there is up in the air so we’re all playing it by ear!

Our plans are set, we’re meeting up with Jim & Lydia at Wanee Lake Country Club and RV Park in Ashburn, Ga for more golf, friendship and of course, food and beverages! We’re kinda sad to be leaving Meadow Links as the weather is warming and we would like to have played a few more rounds. But that can be said for most good things, you always want more!

We arrived at Wanee Lake before our friends and set up. The reception was very friendly, the manager suggested we take a cart out and tour the course while we are waiting. Jim & Lydia arrived about an hour after they expected to because of a traffic jam on I-75! Once here, we hugged and greeted each other as if we had not seen them since ‘for ever’! We had dinner then an evening of catch up on their ‘white’ Christmas in Atlanta – first one in over 100 years! They could not go back home as the mountain was closed due to snow and ice!

New Year’s eve, we played golf, had happy hour and dinner then rang in the New Year! We played a new board game – Sequence – and had lots of laughs and good times.  Wow you should see all the wine bottles. (Hum-m-m I vonder whod drawk all our whine?)  We all turned in by 2 AM so we would all be able to stand up the next day for more golf!

A great time and we hope ya’ll had a nice New Year too.

All Work and No Play Makes…. Oh hell, we’re playing!

Now that the “Canadian cold” temps have passed, we are able to better enjoy the re-building and painting of the bird houses – oh and of course, play more golf! I can’t believe how quiet the course has been! We came back off the course one day and we found many prospective home owners checking out the new digs! Many birds were flitting around the newly painted residences and of course, leaving their marks!

Our insurance company has deemed that the power issue is not covered and so we are on our on hook for the costs – that sucks! I really thought we had full coverage insurance. When our rear wheel left us – didn’t Kenny Rogers have a song title like that – You Picked a Fine Time to Leave Me Loose Wheel! Anyway, when we lost our rear wheel in the interior of BC in 2007, they were wonderful and took complete care of us! If only I had been out flying a kite when this problem occurred and had a lightening strike! So now we focus on the power company with hopes that their insurance company has more pity. At first contact, they seem quite amicable and will be processing our claims.

Not too much to report now that the dust is settling on our power problems. We found a terrific pine tree for Barb to collect more of the extra long pine needles for her pine needle basket craft. We are ramping up for our Christmas, just the 2 of us for dinner with all the trimmings and cocktails – lots of rum and eggnog! We will be leaving the door unlocked so Santa can leave his loot for us. We sent him our GPS co-ordinates so he doesn’t miss us when he zips past!

One of the tree houses is mounted on a long pole between the 13^th and 18^th fairways in the nature area. We had to remove the anchor bolt and lower the house for painting and a few much needed nails. That’s what we define as a house call! The other bird houses were repaired and painted on a table near the rig. We will have them re-installed soon after Christmas, in time for their New Years Eve gatherings!

We hope y’all had a Merry Christmas and we wish you a Happy New Year throughout 2011! Stay well and drive safe.

The Re-Build

Hello again from the not too warm state of Georgia! We’re not complaining as it could be worse, we could be at home and getting dumped on by snow!

Well, this past week has been full of activities. The temps here are not great for golfing or working outside so Sunday we hung out in the rig, Barb continuing to work on her DVD movie and I scanned more pictures!

On Monday we decided to go shopping for a TV, nuke and a DVD player/recorder. Oh, and get more propane but at the Flying J in Dothan – it was less than $21! After we left the J, we dropped into Camping World and picked up our surge protector! Yes, I stopped procrastinating and bite the bullet – it was cheaper then replacing all the electronic gear again!

Anyway, after lots of web research, the better deals for what we wanted were at Bestbuy! Especially the nuke! Our rig manufacturer said it would be $400+ to replace our nuke with a unit put in new rigs! So, onto Bestbuy!

We walked out of there with a 32” LED/LCD TV, TV mounting stuff and nuke! It took us all day – remember, it is a 75 minute drive one way, but after cajoling the sales guy, we made a deal on all the stuff and came away very happy with our expedition! We’ve shopped at Bestbuy before and have always been pleased with the experience. As for all the old electronic stuff, Bestbuy recycles but it costs us $10 per item – we had 5 pieces but they give you a gift $10 card for each item. Not a bad ‘green’ marketing tool!

After stopping at Lowes for some plywood to make a TV stand – yes, they come with a stand but not robust enough for travel - and then Sonics for a bite, it was after 7PM by the time we got back. We quickly set up the TV and were able to sit and watch some of our favorite shows again. Life is slowly getting back to normal!

The only place we could find a DVD recorder was – wait for it – WalMart’s online store! That’s correct! WalMart! So we ordered it last week and used their ‘Site to Store’ service. We received text messages at each stage of the order. We’re impressed!

Tuesday, we planned and built a cabinet for the new TV. The opening is only 30” and the TV is 31” wide so we had to be sure it could be maneuvered in and out easily for travel and that is would be secure enough so it wouldn’t be damaged as we rumbled along our way. This took us most of the day. As we were finishing up, we get a text message to say that our DVD recorder was ready for pick up! Everything is coming together! So off to WalMart to pick up our latest acquisition!

The main room of the rig was stacked high with boxes and didn’t leave a lot of room for us. Now that we have the TV and DVD installed, it’s time to tackle the microwave! Everything matched up and the fit was perfect. We only had to re-enforce the floor of the cabinet and we had the nuke installed and ready for dinner! Time for an adult beverage!

The weather is warming and we can get more done on the bird houses – scrapping and re-building a couple and a few went to the trash bin. We played golf and yes, Barb beat me again! My game is in the hopper so I need to play more! Right?

That was our week in review! Hope yours went well too. Come back again soon. Be well and drive safe.

We’re Always to Blame

The weather has not been the best here and the local folks are blaming the Canadians – that’s Barb & I – for the not so friendly, below normal temperatures here! We were in Dothan on Monday night to look at TVs, nukes and to get propane at the Flying J but they didn’t have anyone in to dispense propane until Tuesday!

One of our first tasks as a work camper is to take the tree down that is behind the rig and is starting to grow into the electrical wires feeding the pedestal. They were not interfering as of yet but in time, they would! It took us most of the day to cut down and clean up and dispose of the brush and wood. There was one time that we thought the smaller tree was going to brush the rig but we managed to push it to the side! Like I said, it was a small tree!

The next day was too cold to be out so Barb did more work on her video DVDs and I scanned more of our old photo albums. Sure brings lots of memories back when doing this!

On Thursday, it was warmer and good for us to do more work camping! Unfortunately, there isn’t much for us to do. The course is not getting a lot of play and not many divots to fill. Barb & I decide to do something about the shabby bird houses that previous work campers erected prior to 2008. The superintendent suggested we just take them down and discard them! After checking them out, some will be put in the dumpster but many just need a coat of paint and put back up! Now we have something that enhances the natural aspect of the course.

Friday is great weather for a game! After, we headed to ACE Hardware in Abbeville, Alabama for propane! Ouch, I didn’t ask how much, just assumed that the J was $2.89 gal that even if ACE was $5 more for the tank, it was worth not having to drive all the way to Dothan! BUT, it was more than just a few bucks! A 30lb tank cost us $35.00!!! The J would have been $21.00! Another lesson learned!

On Saturday, we played again and Barb shot her best round in a long time! An 89, GREAT game Barb!

Until next time, be well and if you’re on the road, be safe.

Getting Back to Normal as Normal is

In my previous post, I forgot to mention a very important task that Barb & I did before we connected the ‘new, stable’ electricity to the rig. We did check all of the house wiring, shore power cord and the breaker panel and all tested fine! That is really good news, no shorts or crosses in the wiring or the panel saves a lot of expense and time, not to mention the peace of mind – which was in question over the last few days!

So, now we know what’s broke and what’s not broke! We contacted our insurance company to see if there would be any help there. Apparently if I had been outside flying a kite while it was lightening and it struck the electric lines coming in, we would be covered no questions asked! But as for a loose connection on those same lines, they’re not so sure! We have to wait for an appraiser to come around and have a looky loo and probably take some pictures and file a report with our insurance company back in Ontario! We are in the boondocks here so the earliest he can be here is Friday! Hummmmm, he was in Atlanta when I called him for the appointment – quite the territory he has!

The converter is still not charging the batteries! The batteries are still only reading 12.1 volts but the output of the converter reads 13.6 volts. A quick call to the manufacturer and they explain that with no load (no batteries attached) on the output, it should read 13.6 volts! Hummmm….. all the cables are secure. Maybe it’s a corroded connection that makes the converter ‘think’ there are no batteries connected. I pull the battery door out and start removing the cables when I notice a large black connecting block on the side wall of the battery cabinet. Hummmm…. Maybe it’s a loose connection there – but wait, there is a little handle thingy sticking out. It seems to be able to be pushed back down and it clicks into place – wow, how lucky, it is a breaker not a large fuse! I quickly tightened the cables back onto the 1st battery and check the battery voltage again and voila, they are now reading 13.4 volts! All is good now with the batteries, they are charging correctly now. I will leave them on charge for a few days and test them to see if we sustained any permanent damage by letting them run so low for so long!

Another busy day with not much to show for all the brain cells that have been used! Barb on the other hand has been busy being creative on her movie DVDs from earlier this year. It’s a good thing none of our computer stuff was plugged in at the time or we would be much worse off!

On Thursday, we walked up to the club house to collect our golf cart so we could play tomorrow but the pro was out and we need his nod to pick the cart and go so we’ll wait for Friday. It was a nice day for a walk anyway, probably a mile round trip for us. Not much has changed on the course since the last time we were here.

Well, today the appraiser meets with us to view the stuff and give him a chance to make an assessment. He arrives at the appointed time and is gone within 20 minutes. He took pictures of the junk equipment, pictures of the rig and a couple of shots of the electric wires coming in from the transformer. He said he will get some prices for equipment replacement and file his report possibly tomorrow or Monday. Not sure how he makes his assessment as he didn’t try to turn anything on.

There’s not much else we can do for now so, it’s 73F so we head out with our cart and played 9 nine holes. It’s great to be out again! No one around so it’s like we are on our own golf course!

We played a full 18 on Saturday. The course is still in great shape, there is still some green in the fairways and the greens and tees have been over seeded. We played only 3 holes on Sunday, it was too cold! Back to the rig and did more research on TVs, HD satellite and try to source a DVD recorder. They are hard to find in the retail stores or online.

There’s not much else to mention, golf, work and get our electronic stuff straightened out. Hope all is well where ever you are.