Tucked Away for a Florida Winter

 

Here she sits, tucked away for a Florida Winter.  Although both of my 'neighbors' cheated toward my side of their site, I am right in the middle and fit into it without a problem.

        

I ALWAYS take pictures after I park just in case someone says something about the parking spot, about damage to their unit, etc.  Notice the guy on the driver's side (left picture) has his steps out...that is a big no no...Hope he remembers to put them in if he vacates the spot before we leave.  (We are hoping to be in Sacramento Area again for mom's 92nd birthday in late April.)  On a typical Monday I drop Marcia off at Bible Study with the older ladies at church, then Indy and I go by the motorhome and turn on the engine for a good hour to keep everything charged up and in working order.  Once a month or so I take it for a drive.  Seems to work out well for us.

Our BIGGEST disappointment coming home is that our favorite Greek Restaurant, the Original Mama Maria's, did not make it through the COVID era.  Found about it on our way home when I looked on Google Maps and saw that it said it was Permanently Closed.  Marcia contacted her brother and sure enough, it was gone.  The sign says, "Coming Soon, Japanese Steakhouse and Sushi Restaurant".  Ahhhh CRAP!  Yes, there are other Greek Restaurants around, but this was by far our favorite...we will miss it.

Had to wait for a good half hour, but got gas at Sam's Club today for $3.019 per gallon.  Talked to Arny as I was waiting in line and he said COSTCO and SAM'S in Citrus Heights was around $4.159.  Other gas stations around here are around $3.15-3.20...so the $1 difference between Florida and California still holds true.  (However, the most expensive stations in California are over $5, and I have not seen anything over $4 here.)

Inside Sam's I found Full Prime Rib Roasts USDA Prime for $335-$350 and USDA Choice for $225, although a 4.5 pound USDA Choice Rib was only $60, and a 6.5 pound leg of lamb (no bone) was $44.  Not too long ago I could get a 6 pound leg of lamb for $30-35.  Anyway, $270 later, and another $30 for gas and I was headed back home with my tail between my legs!   

Boy, sure wish I knew how she does it...sleeps like an angel until she hears a car door, someone's condo door, or a bit of talk by residents nearby at which point she turns into a devil of a dog.  We sure do love our little lump of fur...she is such a good little girl.

So far we are just about settled into the Condo...and our muscles are starting to ache just a little less each day.     

Indy and the Condo - All's Quiet on the Eastern Front

 

Here she is, 5:15 on a Saturday evening, and she looks pooped out.  Well, it has been about 10 days since we got home, and everything is finally caught up, and we are all pooped out.  But with ALL we have gone through with the Condo Association with Skruffy and with Bubba, just how is Indy doing being in the Condo?

Friday I get the motorhome into storage.  There are a few minor items still in there that need to come to the condo, but nothing that can't fit in one bag.  So Saturday I decided to print out the forms needed to make Indy 'legal' in the Condo as a service dog...and the printer does not work.  Something about the ink head.  So I soak the ink head for a few days in Rubbing Alcohol, and put in new cartridges, all to no avail. We rarely print anything, and the Cannon Printer probably had not printed more than a few hundred pages during its lifetime.  It has now been replaced with a HP printer.  Submitted the forms Wednesday, and had a talk with Ken the maintenance person who the board has used as a liaison between them and us in the past. He told me that with the new President, AND with the person who bought a unit about six doors down from us who also has a Service Dog, that he did not expect any problem whatsoever with the Board this time since they just went through it.  (Kinda implied that they talked to the lawyers again.)  Well, so far, so good on that front.  (Eastern Front since we are in Florida.)

On Monday Indy and I dropped Marcia off at Bible Study, and went over to the motorhome...a weekly thing while it is in storage.  I run the engine to get the batteries up to snuff (they did not need it this time since it had only been there for 3 days), but Indy was a bit excited to see that we still have the motorhome.  She settled right in while I listened to the radio and I caught up on emails and blogs and stuff.  90 minutes later we were in the parking lot of the church waiting for Marcia.

The first thing on Marcia's mind after getting home was getting her hair cut after five months of growth.  She was able to land a Saturday appointment (week ago), and here is Indy looking at the entrance of the beauty shop looking for Marcia to come out.

And here is the result.  (Picture taken with my phone...had I had the camera out she would have never looked over at me.)

On Sunday I knew that Indy was dying to run around for a bit.  So I took her over the Public Library where they have a back lawn, nearly fenced in, that I could allow her off leash for a good running around.  She really enjoyed it.  She also enjoyed seeing the Sand Hill Cranes that frequent the pond in front of the Library.  Amazingly, she did not bark at all.

On Wednesday I gave Indy her first Condo haircut.  She did pretty good since this was her second haircut that I had given her.  Another few and she will be an old pro at it.  So on Thursday I took her to the Dog Park in Tarpon Springs.  Here (above) she is greeting a new arrival.  This dog is 12 years old and they frequent the Dog Park just about every day.

In this picture she is looking at the adjoining park for larger dogs.  Amazingly, she did not bark once.  It was a good first visit, and we will be back soon.  She did not "RUN" like she does, but she got her exercise.  By the third of fourth visit she will be so eager to get out of the car when I pull up...

Above is a 30 second video of Indy in the Condo.  A few times a day she gets into this mood and she just starts running around the Condo.  She might have her Squirrel toy, or her favorite ball, or a chew stick.  Sometimes she just runs for no reason whatsoever. This time she had the remains of a chew stick.  If you listen to the video at the end I say "Thanks Sis", in reference to Sandy who found Indy and helped us get her.  What a joy of love she has been...and it has only been a few months now!

Back Home Again (Oh It Hurts...)

 

Our first Florida Sunrise in over four months!  We were 300 miles from home and got up around 6 central time and hit the road.  Within 30-40 minutes we were in Eastern Time, and lost an hour.  By 2 am we were home and unloading.  By staying two nights in Cottondale, we were able to pack up our clothes, much of the food, and we were ready for the move back into the Condo.  In less than an hour of arriving at the condo, I was driving over to the RV park next door for a two night check in.  Finished with most of the stuff by loading up the car a couple of times, and we were both exhausted.  Today, more of the same...what is put in bags, has to be removed from bags.  The motorhome needs cleaning on the inside before storage, and I got most of that done, with the remainder being done Friday before storage.  We had not done laundry since California, so Marcia has been tackling that, along with kitchen and bathroom stuff that needed unloading.  I think by Saturday we will be finished...maybe by Wednesday or Thursday we won't be sore anymore from all this lifting, moving, climbing in and out of the motorhome, and chasing Indy all around.

Oh...and speaking of Indy, she thinks she has a new playground.  More on that another day.

Home For The Holidays...

 

Well, not like that....we live in Florida.  The only white stuff we will see is if we go out on the beach, pick up some sand and tossed it in the air.  Anyway, we got "ok" sleep at the rest area...ok only because this cold lingers on...creeps up on you during the evening hours and attacks right when you want to lay your head down on the pillow.  During the entire trip I have played ping-pong with the bed and the Lazy-Boy chair at night.  Last night I had not coughed for over an hour while on the chair, so I sneaked into the bed, laid my head down and COUGH COUGH COUGH, and woke up Marcia who COUGHED COUGHED COUGHED, so I sneaked back out to the chair before she could find a weapon.  Three hours (or more) later I sneaked back into the bed for a few hours of sleep until the 6 am alarm went off.   That was 6 am central, and I think the eastern time zone was on the other end of the rest area.  Anyway, we hit the road by 7:30 eastern time and rolled into the condo complex just after 2 pm.  By 5, with much, not all, of the stuff unloaded, we were tucking the motorhome into storage for three months (except when we might take a short local trip).  Cost for three months was $240, included dump station, RV wash, many video cameras that do work, and secure gate with 24 hour access.  It also came with a sore back, sore legs, sore arms, sore feet and more coughing.

Note to family on west coast:  When it is 9 pm there, it is midnight here.  Yes, one of us is normally up that late, but not always.  Just remember that when it is 7 am here, it is 4 am there.   

A Year Later, Remembering the FIRE

March 25th of last year there was a fire in the Storage Facility that our motorhome was parked in.  Of course, the section holding our Jayco Melbourne.  Of course, it was a total loss…..

Here we are tucked ‘safely’ (or so we thought) in parking place C-1, next to this nice class C.  Sometimes I backed it in, as I did here, sometimes I parked straight in, as it was on that fateful night.

  

The picture to the left was looking through site B-1 to the front of our now demolished home on wheels.  The picture on the right is the view from outside C-1.  Remember that beautiful Class A we were parked next to?  Now it is hard to make out ours from theirs.  Frankly, there is was more of theirs left than ours….from the rear ours was nearly all ashes at this point.  I can still remember that feeling in my gut that day when I took these pictures just by looking at these pictures. 

Although this was a BIG setback, we replaced the Jayco with a Dynamax Isata.  Here it is back in October parked at a RV park along the Arkansas River near Little Rock.  The Dynamax is four feet shorter, so it is easier to drive and maneuver. Being smaller, we have to be smarter in what we take and how we take it.  This year we are planning to go to Alaska, which was our planned trip for 2014 until the fire.  To prepare for it, I have redone the pantry, which will be a huge improvement on how and where we can store things now.  We got rid of our short couch, and now have real nice La-Z-Boy recliners.  I have also added some small storage nets to hold some of our small items….one next to each recliner, one over the driver/passenger seats, and one next to the entry steps.  I also arranged the one storage bin which holds stuff, since the other two hold the sewer hoses while the other holds the electrical cords and hoses. 

Above we were parked just north of Albuquerque where we enjoyed the opening day of the annual Balloon Festival.  So far our little Dynamax has been in 16 states, and we have really enjoyed it.  This year’s trip to Alaska is our ultimate trip…but we have enjoyed each of the three years we have traveled already. 

In Portland back in 2012 we visited the Rose Garden.  We knew that along with the roses, comes thorns….

….and sometimes bees.  Roses are pretty, the smell is beyond words, but what comes with them are thorns and stingers.   You just got to take the bad with the good sometimes…..and how you handle the bad many times determines just how much you appreciate the good.

Home, Storage, Fire Update

Made it home safely yesterday, spent much of the time unloading and unloading and unloading.  The street right in front of the condo entrance is having major repairs performed on it.  We decided to put the motorhome into the RV park nearby for a night, and unload into the HHR and then unload the HHR into the condo….yep, that was fun.  This morning (Saturday), with less traffic in the area, I did get the motorhome to the front of our condo and unloaded the rest of it directly into the condo….much better. But at 11:30 we had an appointment to meet Jim at the RV Storage lot, so I still have a small amount, perhaps two or three boxes worth, of stuff to unload next week....along with lots of cleaning.

Last winter our motorhome was right where the arrow was…..that was seven months ago, then there was the fire which took out some 35 motorhomes and some boats and some cars, including ours.  Well, he has it rebuilt now, but we are not in the covered area, we are out back.  Jim said that they are 99% sure that a Norcold refrigerator caused the fire.  We were in C1, the other side of this building is the “B” section, and the fire started around B5 or B6…but with the windy conditions, it took them all out.  Jim said that surprisingly ATF was able to pull that refrigerator out, and they are going to perform tests on it which “can” show that it was the refrigerator that started it all.  If so, Norcold is going to be sued again, and will probably settle for $5 or $6 million dollars to reimburse the insurance companies and Jim.

In this google map you can see the storage area better.  The red arrow shows the building which burned down.  The black arrow is the outside storage which we are using this year for 5-6 months.  The “red arrow” building has been rebuilt, and will be ready for use in a week or two.  New rule…all refrigerators MUST be turned off.   Jim said that they are more dangerous on “electric” than on gas, but his attorney suggested that he just have them all to off.  Except there is an area at the end of the open area where one can park the night before you leave and turn everything on.  Not a bad idea.

Last year when I first met Jim I told Marcia that I was highly impressed by the guy….just seemed to be a fine family man, told me how he had just come from kids soccer practice where he helps coach the team.  We paid for 4 months upfront last year.  While talking today he says, “wait a minute, you paid cash upfront last year, right?”  “Yes,”  I said.  He gets out his little handheld device and says, “I owe you $300.”   “But my RV was still right there, you don’t owe me anything.”   “No, I stopped charging people the day of the fire,” he said.  Wow, I thought, our RV was still sitting there in his parking area, it might have been a melted pile of waste, but it was still my waste until the insurance company paid me for it.  So now we don’t have to pay anything until February 1st.  Wish there were more honest men like Jim around….

No Foul Play in RV Storage Facility Fire

A news release today, which was reported on TV News and various news websites, announced preliminary findings on the fire at the Florida West Storage facility.  An investigation, involving the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the State Fire Marshal, reported that last week’s fire, which destroyed our motorhome along with 31 other RV’s, nine boats, 2 classic cars and a ‘retired’ military vehicle, was not suspicious in nature.  Rumors of “a person seen on video” and “someone must have wanted to get out of payments” were just that….rumors.  A final report is to be released in July, perhaps we might learn more from this report.  The news release said that another 30 RV’s were also damaged from the extreme heat of the fire.  Total damage from the fire is estimated at $4 to $5 million dollars.

ATF Investigates

Skruffy’s latest bit of excitement is to stick her head out the window while I am driving while Marcia holds firmly to her leash.  She will ride like this for a long time, if we let her.  Kind of reminds me of when we were traveling through Texas a couple of years ago and hit a head wind….at a rest area I put her up on a dead tree and got these shots below.

 

Gotta love that little girl….

Yesterday after I got our insurance papers notarized at our bank (for free ) I drove by the Storage Area and saw a ATF Truck similar to this one pictured above at the site.  As I was pulling out of the condo’s carport I had received a call from an Officer Mahoney (not sure if that spelling is correct) and he identified himself as being from the ATF.  We talked about the age of our motorhome, if we ever had problems with our batteries or refrigerator, etc.  I told him that we had not even owned the motorhome for a year…and were headed out of state in 33 days from the day the fire took place for Alaska.  He chuckled….  I mentioned that it wasn’t a funny to us, but that I totally understood.  He said that he wasn’t laughing at our predicament, it is just so ironic with a tragedy on top of a tragedy.  I chuckled with him because I knew what he meant.  I gave him our website address in case he wanted to see any pictures.  He sure was a nice guy, just doing his job....and he told me that he had a whole lot of phone calls to make still. 

Today as Marcia was at the eye doctor, I took my camera over to try and capture a picture of that ATF truck...but it was gone.  I did see this guy named Charley whom I had met before.  He has a Class A motorhome which is unharmed… he is parked at the far end on the south side away from this middle area that burned.  He said that he has come by every day since the fire, and has been allowed to visit his unit only once for a very short visit.  All the other RV's along his row seemed to have blistering due to the heat, but his unit, being at the far end, was further away from the fire and appears to be undamaged.  He said that he hung around for a long time yesterday while the investigators went through the rubble.  Much of their concentration was in this area on the north side where they pulled out a lot of stuff.  We were in the first unit on the south side.

Finally got a picture of the front of our unit….like I said, not much there.

  

Picture on left is the north side, the picture on the right is the south side.  You can see they pulled a bunch of stuff out of the north side, but also along the south side. There has been much speculation as to if someone did this on purpose, or if it was a malfunction of one of the units.  Not sure we will ever know, although if the talk is true about having “someone on cameras”, well I hope they catch the person if that is the case. 

Charley was one of the lucky ones…. their unit was down at the end, right side.  He and his wife will be traveling up through the Dakotas, and I think he said into Canada.  He just wants to get his motorhome out of there so that they can have access to it and get it ready to leave if it checks out ok.  I hope their dream for the summer is still intact…. too many dreams have already gone up in smoke.

Man Plans, God Laughs

Awoke this morning to a text from brother-in-law Mike, “Saw fire at RV storage in Palm Harbor on news….”.  Heart skips a beat…

I immediately get on the internet, type in palm harbor rv storage fire, and I quickly see this picture, knowing that it was where we stored our RV.  I don’t say anything to Marcia as I go out to the car and get the Storage Agreement, verify the name, and I break the news to her.

Above, in the first storage bin, is where we were parked.  “Was” parked….

I think they said there were some 30+ RVs, cars and boats….all gone.   I call Blue Mountain, and the lady says they already had three phones calls this morning.  Adjuster will call us within 24 hours.

Goodbye sweet girl… .thanks for the safe travels you provided, the warm memories, we thought we had more memories to share with you… .but we are just not in control, and our plans have been drastically changed. 

note:  we know "God" is not laughing at our loss, our heartache, just the fact that "his" children think that "they" are in charge....we know now, and already knew, that "HE" is and always will be in charge.