Snowy Saturday

Snow again today, just makes us want to stay inside.  The people who plow snow are so slow to get it cleaned up.  Brenda and Becca went to the Mall of America today and then came over for a visit.  We hadn't seen granddaughter Becca for some time.  They said the Mall wasn't too crowded, probably because of the weather.

We had leftovers for dinner, still not anxious to get outside.

We started to put up our Christmas tree!

Black Friday

Black Friday = the day merchants hope to get their books in the positive.

We went to Menards Home Store in the morning - they have a lot of stuff on sale for gifts, etc.  I got three huge bags of stuff.  Then came home and put orders in on my phone to Kohls' and Amazon.  I still have plenty more to order but good to get a start.

The snow removal people came again this morning to finish up, I'm sure they got a lot of complaints.

We got hamburgers from 5 Guys for dinner.  They are usually very good, but the buns were hard and the hamburger just didn't taste the same.  A dissapointment.

Happy Thanksgiving

We watched the Macy's parade on TV and I spent time on my phone looking for Christmas presents.  I made a version of the famous Green Bean Casserole to take to Thanksgiving dinner at daughter Sheila's house.  There were 19 people for dinner, it was very good as usual! 

We had good visits after dinner.  We were really tired when we got home!  It was a nice Thanksgiving!!!

Snow Storm

It started snowing during the night and continued until about noon today.  It made streets slick and a mess, fortunately we didn't have any place we had to be so just stayed home.  The snow remover contractor made one swype down our street, didn't come back until about 5 PM to finish the road and clean the driveways and sidewalks.  I'm sure they got a lot of complaints including ours.

Tree outside our window:

Anticipation

We went for coffee and bagels this morning and then to Walmart.  We didn't need much at Walmart and that was good as there was a mob of people.  Probably some people there getting their Thanksgiving food and others getting food in anticipation of the winter storm coming our was tonight.

It looks and feels like there is a snow storm coming our way, places are canceling in anticipation.  We plan to stay home tomorrow.

We got Tacos for dinner.

Visit and house

Brenda came for a visit in the morning.  We later cleaned the house. 

We still are tired from the trip or the cold weather or both.  We fixed dinner at home.

Breakfast, shopping, reading and eating

We went to breakfast at Denny's this morning and then to Menards Home Store which is Don's favorite place to go.  We bought just a few things.  Came home and  read the Sunday Newspapers.

Daughter Sheila came over in the afternoon for a good visit. 

I fixed baked pork chops for dinner.  Good to have access to an oven again!

Saturday

Still getting stuff done around the house, putting stuff away, etc.  We still have newspapers to read and also getting the Minneapolis Star Tribune delivered.

It is somewhat warmer today, thank goodness.  We brought in salads for dinner.

Cold

We went out for coffee and bagels and then to Walmart where we got some groceries and several other things.  From there to HyVee where we got about $100 worth of groceries!  We SHOULD be good for awhile but will probably think of things we still need.

In the afternoon we took naps, well deserved as we are still tired from the trip.  Then we took turns on the computer and tried to get some of our newspapers read.

We got a pizza for dinner.

A cold day when we are accustomed to much warmer weather!

Home

Up early again.  The hotel had a many choices for breakfast and we took a bag with muffins for later.  We got into some rain, the only weather of the trip.  Our only problem was we stopped at a McDonalds for lunch and there were NO parking spots, went around the parking lot twice and left.  We found a McDonalds further down the highway.

We got to our home about 2 PM, tired but glad to be here.  We unloaded the car and took a nap.  Later we got most of the stuff put away.  Not wanting to go out again, we had some soup for dinner.

A long 3 day trip, 1600 miles, lot of highway hours.  It will take a couple days to recover!

Run around

This morning we were up at 5:30.  The motel breakfast left a lot to be desired, we had a English muffin, juice and coffee.  Took blueberry muffins to eat on the road.  

We got into rush hour traffic in Nashville.  We drove in their HOV lane (for at least two in the car) for a long way.  Then we got into the area of multiple highway switches, being in the proper lane is critical as to not end up somewhere one does not want to travel.  Thanks to the GPS and our experience in traveling thru Nashville all went smoothly.

Finding a place for the night proved to be a challenge.  We wanted someplace near our route and all we could find were places where people had bad experiences.  Finally we found a good hotel in Davenport, Iowa, much further along than we had planned.  We reserved and set the GPS, all was going well until we were detoured as the highway we needed to take was under construction.  We had gotten two exits away, our GPS started taking us around in circles - guess it was tired as well!  It was dark outside to make matters worse.  Finally we pulled over and decided to retrace our route and take another that went north of the hotel.  That worked but couldn't find the place, it was not where it was supposed to be located.  We called the hotel, the person answering didn't know how to give directions.  When we were about to give up ---- we spotted the place.

We hadn't eaten dinner but decided we were not going out again and hoped there was a vending machine with maybe crackers and cheese or microwave popcorn.  We registered and were told "there is 30 minutes left of happy hour, we have chili and cornbread, beer and wine."  That was the best part of our day!!!!

After we ate, we brought our stuff in from the car, watched a little TV and went to bed.

On the road

We got up at 5 AM to get ready to hit the road.  It takes awhile to get the trailer ready.  Things have to be cleared so the slides can come in smoothly, the water heater drained, hoses put away.  Electrical unplugged, etc.

Finally at 7 AM we were on the road.  The day went well and thanks to good roads and no slow downs we got further than we expected to Athens Alabama, just south of Nashville.

We stayed at a Best Western motel, it was an old motel but somewhat refurbished.  It was clean and comfortable.  We got in the car to find a place to eat, went around the corner and there was a Applebee's restaurant so we ate there.

Back at the motel we watched a little TV and went to bed early as we were tired and getting up early the next morning.

Getting ready

The final packing and getting stuff ready to leave.  Getting the trailer ready, cleaned and stuff put away.  It was a busy day.  We went to Arby's for a sandwich for dinner and then to bed early.

Sunday!

We had breakfast at Cracker Barrow.  A waiter friend was there so we got to catch up on his summer.  Came home and read the Sunday newspaper.  In the afternoon started packing for our trip north.  Somehow it's easier to park in the trailer, nothing too far apart I guess.

For dinner we had a ham slice, last thing in the freezer and ate up some other odds and ends.  The refrigator is getting to look empty - which is good!

Saturday in the Park

A cool, dark day.  Never happy with the weather!  We went to breakfast at the clubhouse, they had omelettes which were good.  They had a good turn-out.

We worked around the trailer, getting stuff ready to leave on Tuesday.  For dinner we went to Zaxby's.  They were packed, no place to sit but then some friends saw us and invited us to sit with them.  It isn't usually too busy but I think some kind of team was there, got nice and quiet when they left.

Funnel Fries

It rained all night and some of this morning.  A front came through bring in cooler temperatures which feels good after all the hot weather we have been having.

We went to 10 AM coffee this morning as it will be the last until we come back in January.  Dinner was at Beef O'Brady's.  Don had fish, I had shrimp.  It was a 2 for $20 meal that also included a shared appetizer or dessert.  We had the dessert, Funnel Fries with chocolate and camel sauce dips.  They were really good.

Hot funnel (like funnel cake but in the shape of fries) fries:

Honda dealer day

We went to Chapel Hill today (40 min. south of here) to get the car's oil changed at a Honda Dealer.  I usually don't go along but Don said they had good coffee and they did.  And a cookie.  We went to Best Buy for a heater they advertised but they were sold out, a good time for me to look at computers and Don to look at huge TV's.

Then we stopped at McDonalds for some sandwiches to bring home for lunch.  We had dinner at home.  It started raining in the evening.

Slow day

Don attempted to change the oil in our car but he didn't have the correct tools.  That was good as far as I'm concerned as I don't like him under a blocked up car.

Was a slow day, we ate at home.  Stuff is disappearing from the refrigator!  Cooler but still very humid.

McDon's, Wally World and home

We went to breakfast at McDonald's and then shopping at Walmart.  We didn't need much in the food section but did need a lot of other stuff.

When we came back there was still time to go to 10:00 coffee.  It turned out to be a nice day, had to turn on the AC in the afternoon.  We had corn-on-the-cob and salsberry steak for dinner at home.

Veterans' Day

It started out cool in the morning, a good day to clean house.  By mid afternoon it was hot and humid so turned on the Air Conditioner, it was amazing how much water ran out of it - like someone turned on a hose.

I read most of the afternoon, found time to do a Sodaka.  Don was on the computer.  We had leftover Chinese food for dinner.

Today is Veterans Day.

Waffle, steak but no newspaper

Breakfast at Waffle House, we got the last table.  There was a waiting line but not too long as they kept pumping out the food as fast as possible.  It was good as always!

Don went to the store to pick up a Sunday newspaper but they had none - said they hadn't been delivered.  We tried a couple other places, same result.  So no Sunday paper to read.

We grilled a t-bone steak for dinner which was good.  Talked to my daughters later.

Waffle House

Cool

It is much cooler today, feels good.  We did stuff around the house - inside and outside.

We picked up Chinese Food for dinner.  We called ahead and they said 30 minutes but it was at least an hour by the time we got ours.  The place was packed!  It is good Chinese Food but not as good as we get in Minnesota.

Water, rain and heat

We went to morning coffee today, always interesting.  Of course the topic was the fact that we have to either boil water or buy bottled water until the water test results come back from yesterday's problem.  We have enough water for a few days for drinking and coffee, etc.

In the evening we went to Zaxby's for dinner.  It was raining when we came out and it continued to rain most of the night.  A weather front coming through which is suppose to bring us cooler temperatures!

No water, plenty of ants

We went to our Escapees RV Club chapter meeting today in Clermont.  We went to get ready and NO WATER.  The campground water had sprung a leak.  We did have some water in a filter picture so we used that for brushing teeth, etc.

The luncheon was fun as usual.  Still too ungodly hot when outside.  We picked up a subway on the the way home for dinner.

When we got home we had water but an email saying not to drink the water until it is tested, so we went into Bushnell and bought two gallons of water.  It will be a couple days until the test results come back, probably have to buy more water.

We have been having problems again with ants, just when we thought we had won.  So after a lot of spraying and putting poison out we are holding them at bay.  A lot of people in the park are having ant problems.

Eggplant

Breakfast at McDonalds and then to Walmart.  We didn't need much, but what we did need was important. 

It was depressive hot out today.  I will be so glad when it cools down.

We had eggplant that we bought yesterday, for dinner.

Tampa

We went to Tampa today.  We like to eat at Sweet Tomatoes - they have a huge salad bar.  Also a soup bar, muffins and breads, pasta bar and dessert bar (puddings and fruit).  I always eat too much.

Then we went to Lazy Days RV, Don was looking for a part which he didn't find.  Then off to Camping World where he did find the part but wasn't sure of the size.  This area has many RV dealers, sales must be good.

From there it was Parksdale Farms to load up on fresh vegetables (two bags, cost $40).  He also had a strawberry smoothie.  I had a little of his but was still too full for any more.

Slow Monday

Cleaned the house again.  Don went to coffee but I stayed home to clean.

We ate Chicken Kiev at home for dinner.  A slow day.

Missed opportunity

We went to Steak N Shake for breakfast.  It is about 20 miles north.  There is a new intersection - we missed the new turn so we had to go 10 miles to the next exit and 10 miles back.  That won't happen again, probably.

In the afternoon we went to the park's Ice Cream Social.  There were a lot of new arrivals there, good to see them again.

More Power Washing

Don power washed the sides of the trailer today.  There was some mold from the summer.  If RV's left here in Florida are not power washed a couple times a year they get really "green".

We went to our all time favorite pizza place for dinner "Monticello's".  It was good as usual!  

Up on the roof

Don power washed the roof today.  I have told him he is NOT to get on the roof as it is curved but he was up there before I knew what was happening.  I held my breath and he did the job and got down with no problems.   He was really tired after that exercise. 

I spent lots of time on the computer to take my mind off listening for Don to fall.  We went to dinner at Beef O'Brady's or commonly known as Beefs.  Finally the weather has cooled down some, still humid.