Home, But For How Long...

 

Here is Marcia and her long-time friend Gerry.  Gerry is four years older than Marcia, and they have known each other for over 55 years, meeting in Chicago by chance.  Marcia was walking around the block with two of her children, one was in a stroller.  Gerry was out on her front lawn with her daughter Ruth, and Marcia stopped, they started a conversation, and the friendship bloomed from there.  We have met Ruth (whom Gerry lives with along with Ruth's husband, their daughter and son-n-law and their two kids in a very large house) at Cracker Barrels, and at the home they had near St. Augustine, and now at this home outside of Atlanta twice.  What a friendship these two have had...they can go months, even years, not seeing each other, and then when they do, carry on like they had just seen each other yesterday.

I survived the sauna of Tifton, and when we left the Cracker Barrel at 7 am, we were home by noon.  The goal is to NOT have to load and unload too much stuff each trip, but even the amount we do is overwhelming when it is 95 degrees, when it is the hottest September 23rd in Tampa history, and ... well ... you got the picture.  First things first, I needed to take the Cargo Carrier off the back.  Once that was done, and the ADA GoGo Scooter was put in the HHR, I was sweating like a pig.  Then it is a matter of getting some clothes into the condo, all of the toiletries, and our computer stuff.  The perishable foods would wait until Tuesday (which is today, in real life).  

After I parked the Camper Van in the Storage Lot, hooked up the cameras, I came back to get dinner, and then took the longest shower I can remember.  BOY, that sure felt great!  Not sure what time we went to bed...probably before 10, and got up at 8:30 this morning...that felt Great.

So the Camper Van is again back at the condo.  I finished getting a few things, such as dog food (poor Indy had to live off our our food) and laundry soap, and a few other things.  Then, I emptied the Fridge, turned it off, and it is currently in meltdown mode.  Another hour, in this heat, and even the water will have evaporated!  (LOL)

So what is with the title, "Home, But For How Long"...

Well, a storm by the name of Helene is headed our way.  All of the models so far are saying it will hit in what they call the "Big Bend" area.

Above is what Wikipedia shows as the Big Bend area.  The "blue" extends all the way down to where we live near Tampa.  The Red is the Big Bend Region.  The storm is suppose to hit the Region...but the Area, including where we live.  So by Wednesday night we will have to make a decision as to staying or leaving.  All long as it continues to head north, we will stay.  If the prediction shows a turn to the east...well...that is one of the reasons we have an RV.  And with this Camper Van, it makes it that much easier.  

So "IF" we did decide to leave, the Cargo Carrier stays behind, so that does not have to be worried about.  The amount of clothes and the amount of food does not have to be as large.  The toiletries and the drugs and the computers all go.  I figure when we make a decision to leave, if we do, we can be gone in a hours notice.  Chances are...we will be staying put.

Note:  I put Indy's food in her bowl an hour ago...she hasn't touched it, but she did have some Pork, which is part of her daily diet... so no comments about how mean we were to her last night or this morning, she is just fine!

 

It Is "Fricken Thirty Tired Time"

Yes, another no picture blog...

We left the Cracker Barrel about 8:00 am.  I had a hard time sleeping, not because it was loud, because it was not...not because it was hot...it was not (although the humidity was up there for sure)...It was the extra cup of coffee I had AND the extra can of Diet Pepsi.  That caffeine got us where we were, but got me wound up that I could not sleep.  Woke up at 7, laid back down, got up at 7:45 and by 8 we were off.

HOWEVER, and there is ALWAYS a HOWEVER isn't there?  It was SO FOGGY that I could hardly make out the stop lights all along Highway 54 until I got to US-19.  The further west we got, the more it let up.  Luckily we did not have any incidents, and only saw one AH who drove like it was a sunny day in May....

We stopped just short of the Condo in a parking lot and packed everything we could into bags.  An hour later we pulled into the Condo and I unloaded while Marcia started putting away stuff.  By 12:30 i took the RV over to the RV Park, the other folks just pulled out while I pulled in, and there it sits ready for a deep cleaning and there are still just a few things to unpack (isn't there always???)

Indy was SO HAPPY to be home...ran from room to room to room, found an old chew stick and just had a blast.  Outside to turn the water on she started running back and forth and back and forth.  She is one happy girl.

As for Marci and I...we are TIRED.  Ready to sleep and it is only 11 pm!

30 Miles From Home...Cracker Barrel Here We Are

Internet is SO SLOW right now due to congestion that I am not having any pics.  Started travels at 7 am, got here just after 5 pm, but lost an hour moving into Eastern Time Zone.  Our condo is 30 miles to the west-southwest of us, but we can't park there, and the RV park next door can't get us in until Sunday.  We are in the right time zone, even the right county...so close but so far away.

Today the traffic got heavier and heavier as we neared Tallahassee...stayed that way all the way here.  Two accidents slowed progress to 25 mph for a mile or so, not bad considering how it could get.

Paid $3.029 for gas in Quincy Florida, just off I-10 west of Tallahassee.  Saw one sign for $2.99, just one...

Hope to write more tomorrow, but realistically, it might be a few days later.  Glad to be ALMOST HOME!

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 Again…But AREN’T We Always?

Home in Holiday / Tarpon Springs area, FL

On March 22nd we left our home in Holiday / Tarpon Springs Florida.  The Condo is in Holiday right near the city line to Tarpon Springs, the PO Box is in Tarpon Springs, and the motorhome is stored in Palm Harbor right near the city line to Tarpon Springs…hence, Holiday / Tarpon Springs Florida is where we live.  On Saturday, September 15th, we arrived back in the Holiday / Tarpon Springs Florida area.  Our six month trip included just over 8,000 miles, 16 states, and if I counted right, 75 blog postings.

But we live in the motorhome more than we live in the Condo…so our “Home Sweet Home” is ALWAYS with us…like at Sandy and Arny’s house above…

…the Alabama Hills in California, a new place for us this year…

   

…at Loeb State Park (left) and Huntly Park (right), where we spent five cool weeks in Oregon for our second straight year…

…and Lake Granby in Colorado, two more cool weeks in the middle of summer, also a new place for us.

But the Condo is our Winter Home…this year, our Fall and Winter Home…our HOT FALL HOME, where our temps have been in the low 90’s with humidity that is very unbearable. Right now, 10:30 pm, and 80 degrees and 80% humidity.  YUCK!  But inside, it is a comfortable 72 degrees…and now that we have everything out of the motorhome that we needed out of it, well, the comfort of home is here, and cool temps are just around the corner (in a month or two).  We pulled in around 3 pm Saturday, unloaded a chunk of it, and put the motorhome in the RV park nearby for two nights…besides moving stuff out, it needed a good cleaning before storage.  We surprised everyone at church on Sunday too.  All is fine at the condo, we got our Internet up this morning, that huge stack of mail has been taken care of, and Marcia has the laundry all caught up.  Tomorrow, after I help our neighbor retrieve her walker from the airport (she flew in yesterday and forgot her walker at the airport), there will be some shopping to do, and a run over to the motorhome because I just remembered that I forgot to open the ceiling vents.  There is always something…

The THREE H’s

Holiday, Florida

H is for HOME: Yes, we are at the condo, and all is well (and yes, we do consider our motorhome our “home” too…)

H is for HURTING: Muscles that is from all the trips back and forth moving things out of the motorhome.

H is for HIBERNATING: Which is what we want to do and which it is cold enough for

Will recap our trip soon…we have a bunch of work still to do!