The weather has turned a little cooler then expected. The high today was only 60 degrees, but in got down into the 30's last night. Boy, was it cold. Back to the flannel sheets and flannel PJ's. It was so cold, even our grand daughter slept in our bed, between us, hogging the bed and covers.

Kind of bored today. Tried to find something exciting and fun and different to do.

So, we buzzed Andy's head! He is always thinking of ways to stretch that dollar. He went and bought a Wahl shaving kit with all the different attachments. Andy started at the temples, I did the back and top. Looks great, although I think it could be shorter! It was easier then we thought it would be, but hair every where!

Andy spent some "alone time" and went golfing. He said the course was so, so but enjoyed the gator he ran into sunning himself on the third hole.

Christmas

We had one of the most relaxing, stress-free holiday....ever!
We hope that Neal, Jennifer and Amanda also had less stress during their holiday celebration since we weren't around. We DO realize how hard it is juggling all the other families and friends and trying to split your time between them all.
Although, for about 5 minutes, we did reenact a scene from National Lampoon Christmas Vacation. Andy and I bought our grand daughter a bike but didn't bring it out until all the gifts were unwrapped. We had hidden it in their storage closet out on the lanai. As our son-in-law, Chris, cut off the instruction booklet, he started yelling and jumping; Kailey, Alyson and I started screaming (instinctively, unaware, why). It appeared a cock roach (HUGE COCK ROACH) came in with the bike. But the scene that followed trying to find and catch it, was hysterical. No insect was harmed during the hunt. Andy and Chris captured it in a drinking glass and threw it outside (only to come back at another time, I am sure, because it is Florida!).

Santa (a.k.a. The Beaudoin family) were very good to us. We had our own stockings stuffed full of great, useful things and received a Blu-ray DVD player. Yeah! Can't wait to use it. We only hope it is easier to hook up then the printer that Amanda and Jordan bought us; we returned and bought 3 different printers. It seems our lap top won't allow the soft wear to be downloaded.

This morning we decided to go and see New Moon, being the Twilight-junkies that we all are. The movies at AMC here in Tampa have movies all for $5.00 before noon. Checked and double checked the times...10:25. When we arrive, New Moon doesn't show until 4:30 and 10:45 PM. But Alyson's iPhone still says there is a 10:25 AM showing. The ticket attendant sends us to talk with the manager. He explains that AMC decided to cancel the morning showings for New Moon because its been out for a while and its the holidays. Does this make sense? But we were given tickets for the 4:30 showing FREE along with 2 FREE popcorn's and 2 FREE soda's!!! Now that makes sense. The manager said that was to compensate us for our unnecessary trip. But he must have compensated alot of others, too, since we ending up sitting in the second row.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

WE WISH YOU ALL A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

AND A SAFE AND HAPPY HOLIDAY!

We will be back with family photo's to share after the holiday.

P.S. We have air conditioning on! Just to make us feel like we're in Michigan :)

The Animals at Busch Gardens

I handed the camera over to Andy to express his inner self. We took our grand daughter back to Busch Gardens to see the live Christmas shows and visit the animals. Our pass is good for the year, so we are trying to get our money out of it until it expires December 31st. These photos are really good!! Trying to come up with an idea on how to use them to generate some additional income.

Another Day in Paradise

The east coast is all under snow right now.

Most states are under a State of Emergency. Glad we left for Florida when we did. It has been cooler here today....mid 60, but partly sunny. Went swimming in the heated pool and only need a light sweat shirt. That is what we are talking about! Not shoveling out from under snow. Not sitting under our electric blanket to stay warm in a drafty old house.

But grilling burgers and eating on the patio. Then going for a bike ride.

Loving it.

Trouble in Paradise???

Every time Andy and I walk around this RV park, we are amazed of the vastness of it all. This park sits on 126-acres. Besides the three-hundred camp sites, this super center owns the Cracker Barrel Restaurant, Flying J Plaza, Camping World store, 273 RV-service-bays, is staffed by 270 employees, and represents 18 manufactures of RVs which on site they can house up to 1200 new and pre-owned coaches. Its clean, manicured lawns and flower beds, have courteous employees who pass and say "welcome" and every one of those employees are fed breakfast and lunch in the large Cafe with us. I am sure this place of employment has been voted One of the best places to work in the Tampa area and Florida's Newest Tourist Attraction.
Unfortunately, in today's hand delivered paper, "this company is scrambling to survive the recession". It lost $6.3 million during the last quarter, recently laid off employees, and missed an interest payment to its bondholders in November. All Andy can think about is if we will continue to get our breakfast and lunch during our stay here.

Its Not All Fun and Games

Its not all fun and games down here. Some times you can't find things to do. You have to work (yes, work!) at finding entertainment. Like yesterday, we rode our bikes to Cracker Barrel Restaurant to buy some 40% off Christmas ornaments ( for a tree we don't have) and found ourselves on their front porch rocking in those ladder back rockers and playing checkers. I had Andy cornered with my 5 kings, but made a stupid move and forfeited the game! Possibly a rematch in the future. That was our highlight for the day other then spending more quality time with our grand daughter. She will be staying the weekend with us again. Need to work on finding things to keep her busy and avoid boredom.

Today it is raining with some flooding on the east coast. It appears this will be a "down" day for us. Just relaxing, reading and watching all those cable shows. Still finding it hard to believe Christmas is only a week away!

So Much to Do, So Little Time

We missed our first breakfast here. Andy had a test which required him to fast and I wouldn't eat in front of him. But today at lunch we had chicken salad sandwich on a kaiser roll and chips. Not bad. Still no cookie or ice cream for dessert. That would really complete the lunch! I may need to suggest it.

Again, we rode our bikes. Then we toured the inventory of new and used RVs on site. They have over 800 coaches of all style and manufacture. We spent over three hours going in and out of them. Finally, we did pick out our "new" one, the up-grade to our living quarters! Now we just need to find the money or go back to work! These new ones come with gas fireplaces, computer centers, dish washers, washer/dryers and one even had 5....I said 5....flat screen TVs. And some of the flat screens are hidden in a shelf that the TV drops down into, out of site. But what a way to spend the afternoon; doing really, nothing.

Although we did take the grand daughter out for pizza and to her roller skating party. I would say, all in all, a good day of doing nothing.

Moving Day

This morning we packed up and moved about 4 miles down the street. It seemed like a waste but we already had these reservations booked but had arrived a week early in the area and needed a temporary place to stay. For a week, the RV park we were at was fine. But it had mostly seasonal residents with permanent trailers. Not the "newest" looking RV park, kind of run down, your typical "trailer park" appearance. People were great, though. Our new home-base is called RallyPark and is awesome! It is a 300 site park serving both breakfast and lunch at the clubhouse Cafe (included in our stay). A tram picks you up at the corner stop and takes you there and back. We arrived just in time for lunch, but decided to ride our bikes. Today they served meatloaf, mash potatoes, and green beans. All the pop, ice tea, lemonade, coffee you can drink. No dessert :( Every morning we get a complimentary newspaper, we have 99 stations of cable TV, screened heated pool with Jacuzzi and special rooms with Internet ports, tennis courts and shuffleboard courts. They only allow a maximum stay of 2 weeks to avoid the run down, seasonal, permanent-stay RVs. Therefore, the park has a RESORT atmosphere appearance. Most of the residents have money. The majority of RVs are huge motor homes. I think I counted 3 travel trailers in the park. Again, most of them are in their 70's. We are by far the youngest here.
After lunch we went shopping at Camping World, adjacent to the park, and we won a three-night, four-day stay at a private resort in Orlando! They scheduled us to stay starting Jan 31st. The resort looks great with many amenities and a $50.00 gift card to Camping World. There are many things we would like to buy there to make our "home" more livable.
The past two days Andy and I have been on a Christmas present hunt for a new 20" purple bike for our grand daughter. We have been EVERY WHERE. The girl bikes seem to be sold out! We saw so many of them in the Baltimore area but wanted to wait until we arrived here due to limited space in the truck.
Check out Andy's home-made, real live Christmas wreath. That is our only decoration and probably won't last until Christmas Day due to the high heat and humidity.

Family Time at Busch Gardens

Settling in to the slow pace of Florida living. Our granddaughter has been so excited having us here that she has planned our daily activities for us. And of course, it is all centered

around her.

She is spending our first weekend at our camp site and RV. She can't get over how small it is! But again, when you bring an entire suitcase of clothes and toys that could last you a whole month, we are over crowded now. But, we moved out half of our stuff to the truck and all is well for the next few days. We think!!! We took a walk down to the entertainment area of the park and it was quickly determined that the pool would be her choice. Seems shuffleboard does not fit into the category of at 10 year old.

We were joined in the afternoon by our daughter and son-in-law (Alyson and Chris) for a journey over to Busch Gardens. The rain held off and we enjoyed the day. Busch Garden is a 335 acre African themed park with thrill rides, shows and a major zoo with more than 2,000 animals. One of the many activities we observed was an outdoor ice skating show, called Holiday on Ice. It sure was funny sitting in near 80 degree weather wearing shorts and a t-shirt, watching talented skaters perform to Christmas songs. We now understand why the show only lasted 20 minutes, the ice was turning into a pool of water. You could see rooster tails of water coming up from their skates on their turns but they were professionals and put on a great show for us.

We didn't go on any of the rides that our grand daughter wanted us to go on, the biggest roller coaster which is floorless, called SheiKra, takes you up 200 feet and then 90 degrees down, was enjoyed by the old folks but from a ground zero point of view. Seems the older you get the bigger and more scarier the rides become to you.

With all of the walking, excitement and fresh air, it will definitely require us turning in early so we can be in shape to handle what ever simple things that lay in wait for us on Sunday or maybe even Monday.

Failure to Launch

Arrived this morning in the Titusville/Cape Canaveral area. A huge change in the weather, warm with temperature of 77 degrees. We are expecting rain later, as always in Florida. But interesting, last night we had the furnace on, today we are dressed in shorts!

We drove over to the Kennedy Space Center and NASA expecting to take a tour. Well, at $38.00 a ticket, on a fixed income, we decided to forgo the experience. Instead I put on the long range lense and took pictures from the "cheap seats"on the other side of the river. To our surprise and fortune, we discovered armadillos, wild boars, and a turkey buzzard. Although, we were hoping to find alligators or pink flamingo's....no luck there! That side of the river is the Canaveral National Seashore.

We did get a pretty good picture of the launching pads, the Vehicle Assembly Building (the final stop before the Space Shuttle rolls out to those pads) and the actual rockets of Mercury, Gemini and Apollo. An interesting fact: Kennedy Space Center is the only place in the world where man has launched from Earth and traveled to the moon.

Heading over to the Tampa area tomorrow and looking forward to putting down permanent anchors for a while and possibly meeting friends and enjoying the pass time activities; like BINGO. We can actually unroll our awning, put up party lights and set up our lawn chairs.

St Augustine, Florida

We have arrived in Florida! Our place of residency for the next seven weeks.

Our first stop after the Florida visitor center, to get our free glass of orange juice (to welcome us), was the Fountain of Youth. Of course, they charge you $8.00. I guess youthfulness comes with a price. The legendary Fountain of Youth was sought after by Jaun Ponce de Leon for Spain. The park contains a Timucuan Indian spring and a cross of coquina stones excavated in 1909 that is thought to be the claiming landmark.

St Augustine is the oldest, continuously occupied European settlement in the US. The Old City has a strong Spanish origin with typical Spanish houses with walled patios enclosing Old World gardens, lining the many narrow streets. We felt like we were walking in Europe.

The Castillo de San Marcos, the oldest masonry fortress was built in 1672-95 as part of the defenses along the route of treasure fleets and pirates. The symmetrical fort is a massive diamond shaped with 12 feet thick walls and 28 feet high, and skirted by a moat on three sides. We will be going back tomorrow to tour the inside of the fort, since someone forgot the National Park pass.

The town is all decorated for Christmas. We waited in the park for dark to see all the mini lights inside the Spanish moss oaks and palm trees light up. Still hard to believe it is Christmas time. We have no decorations, no tree and without the cold and snow, we are finding it hard to get in the spirit....except for the none-stop Christmas music! I'm sure that will change once we arrive at Alyson's and help them put up their tree and decorations.

Savannah, Georgia

We flew through both North and South Carolina and arrived in Savannah and decided to take some time and tour the sites. We love Savannah!! Great old southern charm.

Savannah (Georgia) was founded as England's 13th and final colony in 1733. The new settlement was laid out in a series of wards in which commercial and residential buildings centered on 24-public squares. Presently 21 of the original squares have survived, bordered by historic stately mansions and landscaped with live oaks, azaleas, fountains and statues, thanks to the Historic Savannah Foundation (a dedicated group of women) who head a successful restoration program.

The cleanup of the river and restoration of warehouses and cotton brokerage offices along the city's historic waterfront have turned those 19-century buildings into specialty shops, restaurants and nightspots. The statue of the Waving Girl is Savannah's romantic character, Florence Martus, became known to seaman all over the world as she waved at every ship. One legend maintains that she promised her sailor sweetheart to greet every ship until his return.

And the Spanish moss is every where, adorning trees and making nature more picturesque. It is not Spanish and it's not moss. It is an epiphte, a type of plant that has not roots but lives off moisture in the atmosphere. Primarily decorative, the moss sometimes is used as packing material and upholstery stuffing. The picture of the tree I posted is 250 years-old and provided shade to the Union soldiers who were prisoners during the Civil War.
The one picture I posted of the park is in Chippewa Square, where the park bench that Forrest Gump sat on while waiting for the bus to go see Jenny. The bench was not there but was "on loan" to a movie museum.

According to Duke University, Savannah is the most haunted city in America. But New Orleans also makes that claim. Many nightly ghost tours were offered, but we passed on that opportunity. I'm sure a town with this much history is bound to have a few skeletons in the closet!

Change of plans

Today we left Williamsburg.
Andy woke up to the aches and pains of old age. We found ourselves in the Urgent Care Center for a few hours today. His previous medical condition has flared up again and we need to take it to the next level and see a specialist. Unfortunately, no one in the area can see him until the end of the month!! So we made the decision to head straight to Florida where we will be close to family and already had an extended-stay planned. With the help of my daughter and son-in-law, we got an appointment next Thursday. This is good timing since we should arrive on Tuesday. As of right now, we plan to possibly stop in Savannah, since we go right through there, and see some sights.
Stay tuned for updates.

American History 101

We spent the night about two miles outside of Historic Williamsburg. Set up the RV quickly and then went grocery shopping at the Walmart Supercenter (cupboards were bare). Arrived back after dark, around 4:30-5:00. We have notice on the eastern coast, dusk is about 4:30 in the afternoon, even if you have had a clear, sunny day. We are not liking that! Makes for a short day. We sat in the evening reading and enjoying the quiet night and campground. But during the middle of the night, the RV vibrated, swayed, and roared from the FOUR trains that passed through. Turns out, we are about 50 feet from the tracks....right behind us!! No trains in the evening. No trains since. But FOUR in the middle of our sleep time!!

Here's your history lesson. Visiting the Historic Triangle is like taking a refresher course in American History 101. Colonial Williamsburg was once the capital of the Virginia Commonwealth and the largest and wealthiest colony in British North America. It was also the center of debate over independence from or continued allegiance to England. Seventy of the original structures from the 18Th-century have been preserved and walking the streets is like stepping back in time. Williamsburg is the home to the College of William & Mary, the second oldest college in the country, founded in 1693. There was this great peanut shop that had free samples of everything peanut; plain peanuts, spiced peanuts, chocolate-covered peanuts, peanut dips. We had a feast on the various samples provided and got caught up in a "senior moment" trying them all! Along with the glaring eyes from the clerk behind the counter.

Next we drove to Historic Yorktown, the end of Colonial America under British rule. In October of 1781, the British surrender to the combined American and French forces under the command of George Washington. The Siege of Yorktown effectively ended the six-year struggle for American independence. Overlooking the York River, this colonial-era village had many charming homes that survived the battle. The one picture of the Georgian-architecture-style Nelson House (Yorktown's famous son, a member of the Continental Congress, state legislature, governor of Virginia and a signer of the Declaration of Independence) shows two cannon balls embedded in the outside wall. It is said that during the siege on Yorktown, Gen. Thomas Nelson, Jr. directed artillery fire at his own house because he thought British officers might be using it. We also visited the Yorktown Battlefield, the site of the final major clash of the American Revolution. As the picture shows many trenches and "earth mounds" (or parapet; earthen embankment) around the cannons out in the battlefield. These areas have been preserved to show how the soldiers were protected from the shelling. Of course during our tour of the battlefield, the rain started! A sure sign the Lang's are back on the road sight-seeing.

Our last stop on this historic tour was Jamestown or James Fort, the start of Colonial America, America's birthplace. The place has become a national icon whose meaning is entangled with the legend of Pocahontas and John Smith. In 1607, one hundred-and-four English men and boys formed a settlement on the James River; thirteen years before the Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts. Their goal was to make a profit from the resources of the New World. On this original site a fort was built, archaeological excavation still going on today to uncover the remains. It was once believed that the fort had eroded into the James River, but nearly all of it exists on dry land. The only surviving 17Th-century structure is the Jamestown brick church tower. The excavation also uncovered graves of many settlers, less then one third survived the first year. Those graves are marked with rod iron crosses. And yes, we walked the entire digging site in the rain!

And that concludes your history lesson, and ours! Visiting this entire east coast is ALL HISTORY. So much happened here and so long ago. Michigan really is just a baby compared to all this. Tomorrow...packing up and heading to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Hoping for no rain and no trains.

Heading south

Finally left the Baltimore/D.C. area. We were "camped" here for about four-and-a-half weeks. Jordan said it only felt like 7 months! But, they will miss us. In a few days it'll hit them that their servants are gone and no more home cooking, clean bathrooms, laundry folded, dog walked and fed. We really did enjoy our stay with both Amanda and Jennifer and appreciate their boyfriends for putting up with us. The girls had no choice, we are family and that's part of the deal.
We accomplished alot tho, in the time we spent there. All the wedding details are done; even the invitations are addressed and stamped. All of our Christmas shopping is done and wrapped; some gifts were even exchanged. But it is good to be on the road again. After living out of a suitcase and shopping bags, we moved back into the RV. We have accumulated more "stuff" and finding it hard to find room for it all. We have been living a different lifestyle staying at the girls, like warmth, windows open to let in fresh air. We now have the furnace on and curled up under throw blankets. The outside temperature is about 45 degrees and with little insulation, about 45 degrees inside too! Can't wait to become a "snowbird". Makes us sound real old, doesn't it???
We are heading south along the eastern coast. Our first stop is Williamsburg, VA to visit the Historic Triangle of Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Yorktown.
Stay tuned for tomorrows photos and info after touring the sites.....

Thanksgiving and D.C.

We had a GREAT Thanksgiving! Most of our family were together for the day. My son Neal and his boy Ricardo, traveled from Michigan to be with us. His wife, Claudia, recently got a new job as a prep-chef (she is in culinary school) at McCormick and Schmidt. It was mandatory for her to work because they were opened on Thanksgiving day!!! Jennifer's boyfriend Jimmy went home to Michigan to be with his family, but she stayed behind to spend the time with us!! And of course, Amanda and Jordan.... who hosted our feast. Although, I did the cooking once again. Maybe next year. I did tell Claudia she needed to have the experience and we were ALL coming there! She is the cook in the family. My other daughter, Alyson, and her family stayed home in Tampa. But we will be spending Christmas with them. Because we were all together, we celebrated Christmas and exchanged our gifts. It was actually really fun and odd at the same time. No snow, no tree, but we all made out well with the presents. As most of us do every year, we ate too much and watched too much football.

The next day we avoided Black Friday shopping. But Jennifer ventured out for the good bargains and Amanda had to work. (Her store opened at 7:00 AM.) Jordan went hunting but Andy, Neal and Ricardo and I drove into D.C. to show Ricardo his capital city. It was a great day for him but the weather was very cold, windy and rainy!!! Unfortunately, it was our only possible day to go. We did see most of the landmarks and only one museum, the Natural History with all the dinosaurs, fossils and mammals. It is the most interesting one for a seven-year-old. He loved it! He is planning on putting together a photo book to take back to school to show his class. Along with all his D.C. maps he collected.

Ricardo didn't want to go back to Michigan, begged to stay with his new BFF (Jordan and Cash...the dog). They played with him, kept him entertained and let him stay up way too late every night. We are sure he will sleep most of the way home during that 9 hour drive.

Assateague Island National Seashore

Andy and I both slept great last night in our own bed. The best in the past 4 weeks. (Sorry Jennifer and Amanda). We got back into our little routine and realize how nice it is not to live out of a suitcase! Altho, it was much colder at night. Had the furnace on.
Eight miles south of Ocean City is Assateague Island National Seashore, paralleling the coast of Maryland and Virginia. It is a narrow 37-mile-long barrier island and home to the Chincoteague wild horses, locally called "ponies". During the summer, these ponies are seen on the beach where the sea breezes offer relief from the biting insects. Occasionally, they can be seen entering the surf to cool off, too. We were hoping to see them on the beach and searched for hours trying to find them. The park service had told us during the storm last week, the ponies were not even visible. We definitely saw "signs" of them all over the beach and trails!! Just as we were leaving the park, many were standing along the side of the road, stopping traffic. Some will eat right from your hands, as you can see the one ponie sticking his nose in that car! But they are wild and have unpredictable behavior. The cooler fall weather and fewer insects allow the herds to move from the beaches back to the marshes. They graze on abundant salt marsh cord grass, hay and beach grass. Unfortunately this diet is nutrient-poor, resulting in the short stature. They are slightly smaller than other horses and shaggy in appearance and have lived on Assateague Island for more then two hundred years. In 1968, there were 28 horses wild and free-roaming. Today there are 150 ponies, the number being controlled by contraception conducted by the National Park Service.

This seashore is good for surf fishing. No saltwater license is required. The dunes on the coast offer off-road vehicles to drive and camp with a required permit. Unfortunately, our RV didn't meet the requirements for camping!!

Ocean City, MD

We left Baltimore today (Friday) to spend the weekend on the Maryland coast in Ocean City. Picked up the camper and headed southeast. It has been almost five weeks since we put the camper in storage and have been living in comfort with a 42 inch flat screen, warm bed, always electricity and the Internet!! Both Andy and I were a little hesitant to hit the road; not sure we would remember how to "travel" this way. The ocean is about two-and-a-half hours from my daughters place, we had to go over two toll bridges charging us a fee of $9.00, then $12.00 to cross! Normal 2-axle-vehicles are charged only $2.00. Does that make sense?? We are staying in a real nice RV campground (half-off, the end of season rate) about 10 miles from Ocean City and its great boardwalk. We were here about 2 years ago and the place was much warmer and more crowded. As you can see by the pictures, the beach and boardwalk are empty. Many of the beach front hotels and shops are closed for the season. Actually, the beach itself was "closed". The concrete wall along the side of the walk way had gates blocking the entrance onto the sand. Last week this area got hit real hard from the "Atlantic Assault", a.k.a Hurricane Ida. Altho, those gates didn't stop us from climbing over and searching the coast for sea shells. There were no signs posted! And we needed the sea shells for my daughters beach wedding in April. We got over a half filled brown grocery bag of shells. Saving us about $20 if I were to buy them. And some of the snail shaped ones still any critters living in them!

Ocean City is a small resort town of about 7,000 people and has a 10-mile-long public beach, shops and small amusement park out on the pier. Tomorrow we are heading down to the National Sea Shore to look for those wild ponies on the beach.