Last of January 2021

 We got up half an hour early to get to Cracker Barrel before the crowds.  We pulled into their parking lot to find probably 25 or so Jeeps.  (There is an off roading place nearby.)  We had to wait to be seated about 15 minutes as the Jeep people were not expected and the place was short staffed.  Service was still slow but we finally got our food.  So our half hour of lost sleep served no purpose; however the place was not busy after the Jeepers left.

Then we did a quick run at the nearby  grocery store for a "few things".  Came home to get the sheets to the laundromat and wash some clothing in our little trailer washer.

It started off as a cool, but sunny day.  Later the wind started blowing too much to be outside.  Don grilled some steak for dinner.

Saturday in the Park

 We went to 10AM coffee.  It was cool but sitting in the sun I warmed up fast.  Last night it was near freezing again.  Temps are up and down.

Don power washed our shed, it had a lot of green mold.  Looks great now!

For dinner we went to Arby's for sandwiches to eat at home.

Dinner in a restaurant!

 After a cold night we had a mostly stay at home day.  It did warm up enough that we opened a couple windows.  Don worked on printing the info from emails to our new printer.  It worked well!

I did some super hard sudokus in the afternoon.

In the evening we went to Zaxby's to pick up dinner, there weren't many people inside so we decided to eat there.  It has been a long time since we have had dinner in a restaurant dining room.

Printer problems solved - got a new one

 We got a email from Walmart telling us the printer we ordered was in and ready to pick up.  To go to their pick up place and press a place on the email.  We did and put in the parking spot number, shortly a man came out with our package.  Done.  How easy can that be?

Got the printer home and set up on the computer.  One minor problem but worked it out and the printer was working great.

It was a nice but cool day. High humidity from the major rain last night.  For dinner we had some packaged roast beef which was good and also easy to prepare.  

Dentist day

 We both went to the dentist today to get our teeth cleaned and a check by the dentist.  Neither of us had any cavities or other problems!  Afterward we went to Dunkin' Donuts for a donut to celebrate.  Good to get some things checked off our "to do" list.

We had camper eggs for dinner (scrambled eggs with pepperoni, mushrooms and cheese).  We were watching TV when it started to rain.  The rain rapidly got to be very heavy with a little hail.  My phone made a sound I had never heard before - was a storm warning.   We had a small branch fall right above where we were sitting but caused no damage.

Swamp

 We went to 10 AM coffee again.  Don power washed the outside of the trailer, not too much mold but it was dirty.  Another nice day.

For dinner I fixed some boxed Chinese food.  The sauce was hot for me so Don didn't much enjoy, will have to avoid it in the future.

"Swamp" by our RV Park

Where is a printer?

 Cleaned the house today, gets dusty and cluttered.  It takes as much energy as cleaning our house.  I washed 3 loads of laundry in my little machine.  It takes a while, finally got done in the afternoon.

Later in the day we went to Walmart.  Their app indicated they had the printer we wanted to buy, but got there and none.  The person who we talked to should have told us to order one.  We found that out for ourselves and could have gotten it tomorrow, we choose to wait until Thursday as we have a busy day tomorrow and Wednesday.

While town we picked up the hamburgers which are a special on Monday at a local restaurant.  

Waffle House

 We got up at 6 AM, quickly got dressed and went to Waffle House for breakfast.  It is a small place and popular on Sunday - we wanted to beat the crowd.  There were just a few people there and in a short while even fewer people.  We had their great breakfast including their pecan waffle.

When we got home we took our showers and cleaned up for the day.  Then we read the newspapers followed by the Sunday news shows.

For dinner we had steak and leftover baked potatoes.

Where is the sun?

 It was supposed to be a nice day but we woke up to rain and it rained on and off all day.  Never saw the sun.  No chance of going outside either.

I decided it was a good day to clean out some drawers.  One purpose was to discover what was in the drawers so we would know where to find things.  Still have more drawers and cupboards to clean.

Don needed the printer which has been causing us problems.  We spent a lot of time trying to get it to work with no good results, guess we need a new one.  This one is 8 or 9 years old, not used that much but still old.

For dinner we got a pizza at Monticello's, a favorite pizza place of ours.  We had to wait 45 minutes but worth every minute!

Florida Sun

 A nice day for a change, temps in the mid 70's.  For the first time since we got here we went to 10 AM coffee.  It was nice sitting outside, I got a little sun at last.

Don power washed the roof of our trailer.  I hate for him to do that job as he has to climb on top.  When the roof gets wet it gets slick.  We had a big branch which had fallen on the trailer while we were gone and were concerned that there might be some roof damage but thankfully there was no damage.  Our neighbor helped by handing him the power washer, turning on water, etc.  Once the roof was clean he had to do the section on the sides just under the roof.  He had no problems thank goodness.  Next we he will power wash the sides but that is from the ground.

We went into Bushnell to pick up dinner.  One place has a fish special and tonight they added steak for an extra dollar.  It was good!

12121

 Today we went to Walmart again for groceries.  We went in early hoping to beat the crowds but the crowds were already there.  It least the store was better stocked today.  We got a lot of groceries again.

We had another cold night but it is starting to warm up during the day.  Good to not have to wrap up to go outside.

We watched TV in the evening after a dinner of leftover spaghetti.  

Inauguration Day

 The day has finally arrived.  Inauguration Day!  We have a new president and vice president at long last.  It has only been four years but seems like a century.  At last we have a president we can trust and depend on, who is civil and doesn't lie.  Welcome President Biden and Vice President Harris!

I watched the proceedings most of the day.  It was different than before because of covet 19 and the threat from trump's "proud boys" but still inspiring.   

For dinner I made spaghetti with meatballs.  

10++++

Brooksville today

 We went to Brooksville today to get hair cuts.  The place we usually go had only one person working and she said she was busy for the next three hours.  I called the place we used to go and they could cut our hair in about 45 minutes so made appointments.  We actually got in early and got good hair cuts.  Job done!

We have sun again but still cool.  It got down to freezing last night, the trailer was cold this morning.  Hopefully the forecast is correct and it will be warming up.

For dinner I fixed Orange Chicken (from a box).  It was good and easy.

Monday

 Cleaned the trailer - again.  Not so bad this week but still a lot of stuff that found it way out of hiding which needed to be returned to its spot.

We had sun finally, not too warm but still sun.

For dinner I fixed some shrimp, it tasted good.  Then TV for the evening.  It started getting cold and colder - may get frost tonight.

80 miles, round trip for breakfast

 We drove 40 miles for breakfast today - to Perkins in Spring Hill.  We love their potato pancakes.  Stopped by Sam's Club for some bacon on the way home.  Then stopped at Winn Dixie for a couple things.

It is yet another dark, damp, derriere day.  We are so looking forward to some Florida sunshine!

I talked to our daughters in the evening.  We had ham for dinner, Don was going to grill it but too cold.  I heated it in the microwave.

Saturday in and out of the park

 Don continued to try to fix the chair to no avail.  It is bolted to the floor as they do with a lot of RV furniture, otherwise I would say get rid of it and buy a new one.  This has never been a great chair.

We went to Bushnell in the morning to pick up prescriptions at CVS.  Don had one missing where they had run out of that med and they hadn't gotten the call from my dentist for my pre-cleaning med.   In the evening we went south to get Chinese dinners from a place we go to when we are in Florida.

Did our usual watching of TV as the place cooled down to very cold.

One more thing to fix!

 I started out the day by breaking the living room seating.  I pulled the cord to bring the part up that holds legs and feet.  The handle pulled right off.  In the afternoon Don took the chair apart to see if it could be fixed but found no easy solution.  Of course Amazon has the part and videos on how to fix it but that will be a last resort for Don as usual.  Our Trailer is 3 years old today.

For dinner we went to the exit south of us to Zaxby's and picked up salads.  They have good salads!

It was a cool day but at least we has sun for a change.  We were watching TV in the evening and a sudden big wind came up followed by a lot of rain.

Stuff to take care of today.

 At least the sun came out today, but it is still cold.  We had some things to do in Bushnell in the morning - prescriptions to CVS, return a couple things to True Value Hardware and pick up a few things at Walmart.  Somehow took a lot of time.

I spent a couple hours in the afternoon trying to get our printer to work with the computer.  We have a new computer since using this printer last.  The printer was causing us problems last winter.  Now I think, hope the problems are fixed and it will work like it should.  Not how I wanted to spend my afternoon.

Our two packages from Amazon came - a new under the sink water filter which Don could not find anywhere and I found in seconds on Amazon and a sink floor mat for me to stand on while doing dishes since we don't have a dishwasher.

Don grilled brats for dinner on his new grill.  He is not 100% happy with the grill but now that we have used it we can't return the thing.

Impeachment x 2

 Don took the car in for a recall.  They had to update the dash software.  I stayed home and caught up on computer things.

In the afternoon I watched the US House proceedings to impeach trump for the second time.  It went very fast and finally passed the House.  So he is the only president to be impeached twice!  Now if the Senate will evict him!

I fixed what I call goulash (hamburger, macaroni, can tomatoes) for dinner.

Brooksville

 Today we went to Brooksville.  We had a bunch of things we needed for the trailer and some more groceries.  We started off by having coffee and bagels at Panera.  They had super good asiago cheese bagels!  We spent all the morning getting the shopping done, had to go to 2 Walmarts but finally found everything.

It was another cool, dark day.  Where is the Florida weather we came here to enjoy?

For dinner we had waffles.

Cleaning

 It was about time we cleaned the house after all the unpacking.  I had wipped the counters, etc. to get the dust and chemicals off but they needed a good cleaning.  The trailer looks so much better.  It takes as much time to clean the trailer as it takes to clean our house!

Also involved was getting the last peskie stuff put away and getting things where we want them and where is convenient.

We went to town to get hamburgers for dinner at a place that has them as a Monday special.  Good burgers! 

Out for Breakfast

 We actually went out for breakfast.  We went to Cracker Barrel, we had not been out to breakfast for a long time and had not been to Cracker Barrel for ages.  It was not crowded when we arrived but had a waiting line when we left.  Good breakfast!

After breakfast we went to Winn Dixie grocery store.  They have good meat and they had some good sales.

Don took the sheets and jeans to the park laundry and I washed a load in my little RV machine.  We are now finally caught up on laundry - for the moment.

We grilled steak for dinner and then watched news shows and a couple other shows on TV.

Unpacked

 We got the last suitcase emptied and the everything cleaned out of the car.  Most stuff is put away but need to find places for some things.  I got two loads of laundry washed in my little machine, still have a couple more to do tomorrow.

In the morning we were going to the park "coffee" which is outside but it was 43 degrees, just too cold for us.  Hope it warms up soon!

We had dinner at home, salad and frozen meals

Finding a spot for all our stuff

 Unpacking in earnest today.  The trailer looks like a tornado swept through.  We went to Walmart in the morning for groceries, cost us considerably more than we usually spent and we forgot some things.  We will need to go to Brooksville next week as we need a new sewer hose and none of the proper ones available in Bushnell.  Also need a specific water filter.  I'm sure we will need plenty of other things as well.

I actually fixed dinner, good to have an actual meal rather than fast food.  We watched some TV (Dish network is up and running with the minimal amount of problems.)  

Montgomery Alabama to Sumter Oaks Florida

 We got to our trailer in Florida about 4:30.  It had been a long day on the road with rain and heavy traffic.  Rain started right away in the AM but just a sprinkle thankfully as we had Montgomery Alabama to travel through.  Miss a turn and we end up in Gulf Shores!  All went well and just sprinkles until after we got gas in Dolton, then it started raining hard.  By the time we got to Interstate 10 it stopped raining but rained again on and off until we were south a ways in Florida.

Our trailer stood up well to the elements for 9 months while we were gone.  No mold inside, even some of the chemical we use to prevent mold had not all disintegrated.  Not as many dead bugs as in the past.  We had a couple challenges but nothing major, except we were major tired. We did what we had to do.  I found a can of soup so we had it for dinner.  Went to bed early.

Effingham Illinois to Prattville Alabama

 We had a good day on the road.  No fog, no rain, no ice, no snow.  Not even any snow to be seen.  Traffic was crazy before Nashville and Birmingham, Alabama as usual.  Our trip through Nashville went very well, we always worry.

We left Effingham about 8 AM and got to Prattsville, north of Montgomery Alabama about 5 PM.  We had to eat lunch in the car in Tennessee but places were open in Alabama.  We stopped at Chic-fil-a and picked up wraps for dinner to eat in our motel room.

Tonight we are staying at a motel we have stayed at many times but has now been renovated and name changed.  It is very nice now.

We had listened to the news in the early morning but not later so were shocked to find out that the Proud Boys had taken over our national capital.  Unbelievable.  I hope they catch and prosecute each and every one of these thugs.

Apple Valley, Minnesota to Effingham, Illinois

 We got on the road about 7:30 AM.  The roads were good thru Iowa but we saw many vehicles in the ditch.  They had earlier had fog which froze on the roads as ice.  When we got into Illinois we got into fog, sometimes dense, but it was not freezing.  By mid Illinois with  fog lifted and we got to Effingham about 5:30.

Lunch we had to eat in the car because inside dining was closed in Iowa.  Inside dining was also closed in Effingham so we picked up hamburgers to eat in our motel room.

Getting ready to get on the road was tiring and driving all day left us both a melted mess.

Packing and eating

 Started packing in earnest.  So many things that I can not forget, driving me crazy.  My foot is hurting again and walking so much is a problem.  

Then there are other things to take care of like getting all the garbage out, etc.

Brenda came for a visit in the afternoon, I needed the rest by then.  We hadn't seen her since Christmas so was good to see her again.  Sheila is on her way home from a way northern Minnesota weekend.

We had chicken Kiev for dinner along with things that needed to be eaten before we leave like Texas toast, corn casserole, pickles, olives, etc.  We then watched some TV.

Packing and Pills

 Don got the suitcases out and I started to pack.  He thought all I needed was one suitcase, funny.  I had started taking some antibiotic for cellulitis which I have AGAIN.  It made me sick to my stomach so that slowed me down a lot.  I really felt like not moving at all.

I felt better in the evening, about the time to take another pill.  I decided to cut the pills in half and rather than take 1 pill 12 hours apart, take half a pill 6 hours apart.  

By dinner time I felt better. Don got a pizza and I was able to eat that.

2021

Happy New Year!!!

The first day of the new year and we all hope for a better year.

We worked on getting things ready to go (and leave).  It is a big job to be gone for awhile.  

In the evening we brought in Chinese food and later watched the animated show "Soul"  it was good and thought provocting.