The Carolinas and Virginia

Man, I really need to blog more often, and definitely take more pictures.  After Savannah, we headed north one state to South Carolina to visit good friends Dave and Karla.  Dave’s been stationed at Shaw AFB the past few years working security cooperation and foreign military affairs.  I met Dave at CENTCOM, and we’ve been family friends for almost 10 years now.  He’s retiring and moving back to Tampa, so we’ll see them more often in the winter from now on.  We spent two days in the woods at Poinsett State Park, very nice, before moving on to Virginia Beach.  I didn’t take a single picture!  It was great to meet Stephanie’s beau Kevin, and Laurie got a special Mother’s Day meal prepared fresh in the kitchen.  Kevin and Steph do a lot of cooking with organic, fresh ingredients, so we came back the next day and mooched another meal.  Steph and Kevin are great together.  After Virginia Beach, we had a very narrow window of opportunity to see Keith and Abby up in Dahlgren, VA.  We met them when Keith was working with CENTCOM a few winters ago, and I posted a picture of them in my Winter 2015-2016 post.  Of course, they’ve had another baby and I didn’t take a single picture!  They live on the Potomac, and were courteous enough to buy a house we could park behind.  We stayed two nights and had a wonderful visit before moving on to a couple nights of serenity at a lakefront spot on Kerr lake at a Corps of Engineer park.  Bliss!  However, we were just waiting a couple days before moving on to Raleigh to see John and Phyllis.  We had a great visit with them, and left them a parting gift of a giant hole in the yard when I found the only soft spot left after days of constant rain.  A little drama, but an hour and an assist from the tow truck later we were on the road.  Sorry about the crater guys!  They always take such good care of us.  After Raleigh, we moved to a very nice campground, Cherry Hill RV Park, just outside Washington DC in Maryland.  We haven’t spent a whole lot of time on the national mall, having visited before, be we were fortunate enough for several reunions.  Joel and Jenny were neighbors in Japan and great friends, and they hosted us for World Famous Homemade Pasta at their house in Alexandria.  Dan and Marlee were friends from way back in California at Vandenberg.  He’s now a project manager at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.  We met them for dinner one night.  Jeff Styers was able to come to the motorhome, but unfortunately Peggy is in Canada.  Poor planning on our part.  It’s been raining almost every day since we arrived in Virginia Beach weeks ago.  I’m sick of it!  It’s great seeing people and the green trees are great, but I think this is why we tend to spend summers out west.  Here’s some pictures of the last couple weeks:

Poinsett Park camping spot.  We love state parks.

Missy is getting bigger, exploring absolutely everything she sees and hears.

Keith and Abby let us park in the back yard, plugged into electricity.  So nice when friends have RV parks at their houses!

Lakefront on Kerr Lake in Virginia.  The dam is just out of frame to the left.

This was at the North Carolina agriculture expo we went to with John and Phyllis.  I asked a fellow standing outside if he'd hold my clothes while I went in.

They were running a lawn tractor pull at the expo, great fun in the mud.

Rich Canfield, Phyllis, Laurie, John, and me.  Rich is an old friend of the Perrys, but a friend of ours too for years now.

I didn't spin the tire or anything, just sank into the one clay area in the Perry's front yard.  Whoops!  A tow truck winched us out no problem.  It's always something...

We went to the National Archives to see the founding documents, really cool but they're really faded.

A selfie with the Schmicks.  Joel and Jenny were across the street neighbors for years when we lived in Japan.  Great folks.

Us with Dan and Marlee Franzen.  Dan and I were young co-workers in California in the late 90's.  Both just old retired guys now!  Marlee runs maintenance at the water department.

Chillin' Sumter style with Dave and Karla.  We had a couple days of good weather for this visit, so you take advantage.

Savannah, GA

Our first stop on this year's trip north was Savannah, GA.  As long as we've lived on the east coast, you'd think we'd have seen Savannah before, but for whatever reason we just never stopped in to check it out.  What a cool historic district!  The founding fathers did a great job laying out the town, with little parks (squares) every couple blocks.  We took the tourist trolley tour on Saturday, walked along the river walk, and had dinner on the patio.  The next day they were having a "Doggie Carnival" to raise money for the Humane Society.  They had food trucks and lots of fun games for the dogs and people to play.  Missy did really well among the mayhem, and it was cool seeing so many beautiful dog breeds.  Lots of puppies to pet as well, and Missy got her share of attention.  She's doing just great getting socialized and used to life on the run.  We're leaving with a great impression of Savannah and plans to stop again some day.  The weather has been perfect, which always improves your impression of a place.  Our camp spot is pretty relaxing too.  Here are some pictures.

Lots and lots of puppies in the park

Missy won a pumpkin based treat served in a tiny martini glass.  Yum yum.  Laurie's holding it down with her foot, not offering toes for desert...

All dressed up and ready to hit the carnival

River Street, Savannah

City Hall 

Nice, big, shaded spot at Savannah Oaks RV Resort.

Winter 2016-2017

Winter 2016-2017

Wow, I really need to start blogging over the winter.  6 months goes by pretty fast.  This was our 5^th winter season in the motorhome, most of it at MacDill.  It was a really pleasant, warm and dry winter.  We’re paying for it now as Florida has 106 wildfires burning per the news this morning.

We arrived in FL in early November, staying a week in the panhandle on the beach, right near the FL-AL border before heading to MacDill.  We had a great spot, 109, with afternoon shade near the beach and Seascapes, surrounded by friends we’ve made over the past 5 years.  It really is like coming home (only every year the neighborhood shifts around and you don’t know who your neighbor will be).

I got a few projects done on the rig.  I actually installed a new TV antenna myself, pretty proud of that, and Mom and I busted out the industrial sewing machine to repair the door awning.  Late in the season, the combo clothes washer dryer died, so we got a new one installed.  I had to be the apprentice when John from American RV arrived to install it.  Those things are heavy.  Other than that, the motorhome is in fine shape for this summer’s trip.

We had a few visitors and made a few side trips to keep things interesting.  I got to visit with Paul Lambeth.  Paul and I were Lieutenants together when we lived in Albuquerque.  He and Jan have hosted us at their house in Belgrage, MT twice now on our trips out west.  He was in Orlando for a convention so I went over to see him.  John and Phyllis came down from Raleigh so we got to visit with them for almost a week.  We got hotel rooms on St. Pete Beach and also stayed out at Universal Studios so they could ride the roller coasters.  Stephanie came down for a visit from Virginia Beach.  We drove up to Arkansas for Christmas, and Steph was able to fly in and join us.  We made our annual trek to Key West, this time with full time RV friends Kris and Yancey.  They stayed longer than we did, but we enjoyed our 2 weeks on the island. 

Meanwhile, Laurie had been looking for a new puppy.  She’d been surfing shelter websites for months, and also looking at puppies from breeders.  She found a breeder of mini Australian Shepherds in the Tampa area, so when we got back from Key West we went over an picked out a little cutie.  Laurie deliberated over several litters of puppies and picked out the cutest little black and white tri-color female.  We named her Missy and she instantly became the bell of the ball at the RV park.  I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a puppy get socialized to both dogs and people so quickly.  She’s growing like a weed, 6 months old now and seems to really enjoy the lifestyle.

Our son Eric moved into the house with brother Brad, making it much easier to visit them both.  Brad finished up his associates in citrus production, so we and Mom attended the commencement.  The boys babysat Missy while we took a cruise with friends from Newfoundland Fred and Loretta and Danny and Marlene.  It was just a quick 4 day jaunt out to the Bahamas, but we had a good time.  Fred’s down in his back, so we’re hoping he finds some relief. 

We also got to visit the growing tribe of former MacDill folks that have bought houses in The Villages, up near Ocala.  They helped me celebrate my 53^rd birthday in style.  Larry and Teresa, Roy and Nan, Eddie and Lois, and Martin and Wanda are all living it up zooming around on their golf carts, playing golf, and enjoying the good life.

Life at MacDill was pretty sweet.  I played a lot of guitar, and our trivia team was in the money most weeks.  This summer’s goal is a trip up the east coast again, same basic route as our first summer in 2012, but this time we’re hoping to go all the way up to Newfoundland.  Fred and Loretta are also motorhomers, and we’re looking forward to touring the island with them in July and August.  We’ll return to MacDill again in November to begin the fun cycle all over again.

We actually got all 3 grandkids together for Thanksgiving 2016

Christmas in Arkansas

Kris and Yancy, New Year's Eve

Probably getting closed to the ball dropping, judging by the smiles...

Missy, probably the day we brought her home

The Graduate

With John and Phyllis at Universal Studios

This is Laurie with Gerd Rube.  Gerd's a German dude who moved to Key West and is one of the local fixtures.  We've been listening to him every visit for years now.

Larry and the CoolMobile

Who me, 53?

I took this on a morning walk in Key West.  They're everywhere on Key West, and pretty unafraid of humans

Trivia teammate Kevin

Paul Lambeth and me 

Laurie and I celebrating the opening of my very own coconut stand on Grand Bahama island.

Mother and daughter, around Thanksgiving on St. Pete Beach

Cruising to the Bahamas with our Newfie pals