Catching Up

I had figured I'd do some posts of our travels until I had us up to date, and then post a new message every week or so.

Isn't working! We've been busier than ever since we left Florida in mid May. As Jan says, "This tourist stuff is hard work!" So, I'm going to thumbnail the last 2 months, and then try to stay more current. I may go back and flesh some of this out, but then again I may not. So, here goes.

It took us three days to travel from the Tampa area to the Atlanta area where we spent a month, visiting with our son John & family. We picked a campground that had a small private lake, anticipating, incorrectly it turned out, I could use my boat there. Wrong assumption, but I was able to shore fish quite a bit. I was outfished greatly by our youngest granddaughter Kylie every time she came over!

From there we went over to Fayetteville, NC. Our daughter Lee's oldest, Cassidy, who is in the Air Force was there. The day after we left so did he, for Kuwait! We've gotten one email from him and it apprears it is hot and boring where he is at.

Next we went up to Norfolk, VA by way of the outer banks. Visited Cape Hatteras & Kitty Hawk. In Norfolk we visited with a friend from Oak Park, and another that we met through the internet who's in the Navy. Took a tour of the base where I was stationed when were married, & tried to find the appartment where we lived there, but things have changed a lot in 47 years!

Then it was off the DC and a couple of days of wandering around looking at Memorials, Arlington Cemetery, & museums.

From there we went to Hershey, PA where Jan got her chocolate fix! Spent most of 2 days there & then toured the state capitol at Harrisburg.

Headed east with a 'rest' stop in NY and ended up in Mystic, CT. Ate at Mystic Pizza, & spent 2 very interesting days at Mystic Seaport.

That brings me up to date, as the 2nd day at Mystic Seaport was today! I'll try to do better in the future, but I'm making no promises.

I buy a boat!

Well, sort of! Ever since we went full time I've missed the little john boat we had at our seasonal site in Marengo! Then I saw a "paddle kayak" on a TV fishing show & started looking. The only trouble was that it cost nearly $1500, and that was a lot more than I was prepared to spend.
Then I started looking at inflatable pontoon boats and saw this one on Amazon.com. It was on sale for $250, and I'd accumulated $100 worth of gift certificates using an Amazon VISA card, so I ordered it! Got it in late April, and after putting it together & inflating it, took it to a nearby small lake, pictured above. It worked great, fits in the back of the truck for short trips, so I went fishing with it the following day. The only problem with it is it is very light, and the slightest breeze sends you where it wants to. I felt I needed a 'sea anchor', and our neighbor in the campground suggested a large flowerpot, which does the job.
Also, a friend that Jan met lives in a community surrounding a small Y shaped impoundment. Each leg of the Y was about 100 yards wide by 40 yards wide. She said I could fish there whenever I wanted, and in 4 or 5 trips there I caught 1/2 dozen bass in the 2-1/2 to 3-1/2 pound range.

Flooring change

I thought before I started using this as a travel log I'd post some info as to what happened over the winter while we were in Florida. The above picture is from before we had the carpeting replaced, and the picture below is after (almost) the new flooring is down.

We like the change a lot, it is easier to keep clean, and makes the place lighter.

May 13, 2006

As mentioned in my last post, I sent travel logs covering about the first 2 years of our travels. There are about 20 of them. If anyone is interested, I can either add them here or mail them.

Right now we're sitting in Largo, FL, where we've been since the November 1st. We've enjoyed being here, our daughter and her husband live nearby, as well as her son and daughter, who has a son of her own, which makes us great grandparents! While we were here, I (Owen) worked for Jackson Hewitt part time doing taxes, and Jan did in store demos for a company called Servcorp.

Well, Monday we begin our summer travels, leaving here for Cummng, GAl, just north of Atlanta where we'll stay for a month. Our son & his family recently moved to nearby Canton, and we're looking forward to seeing them and their new house.

May 11, 2006

I thought I'd jump on the blog bandwagon. When we first started traveling, I was sending travel journals to a group of friends once a month or so. That worked fine when we were traveling, but when we 'sat' for a while and there wasn't anything to report, I stopped doing that. Now that blogging is so easy, I figured I'd start one and post to it as time and events dictate.

Above is a picture of our rig as we first left on our travels. It is a 1999 Excel 35SKO Limited pulled by a 2001 Ford F550 with a Utility Bodywerks bed.