We aren't sunbathing in Florida yet, but we are getting ready to go for a swim.  We went to Weeki Wachee yesterday which is one of three parks which I consider to be 'old Florida attractions'.  Weeki Wachee, Cypress Gardens, and Silver Springs have been here since way before Disney World and all the assorted attractions that have been built out of the swamps of Florida.  And I know that because, one of my Grandmothers, my Dad's Mom, would come down here to visit with her brothers, and these are the places she would visit, send postcards from, and tell us about.  Silver Springs has, or is being taken over by the state, has glass bottom boat and a jungle cruise with real animals; Cypress Gardens had water skiing show and beautiful gardens, with ladies walking around in the big hoop skirted dresses; and Weeki Wachee had the mermaids.  Now Cypress Gardens has become Legoland, and 'WW' still has the mermaids.  Very few of them, but they still have the mermaids.  I'm glad we went, but after seeing the pictures that Russ posted......
We then went to Brooksville to get together with high school classmates for Russ's.  We were at Hooters in the next picture, as you can tell in the picture of Russ and the two young ladies.  I'm sure he's not the only Grandfather who has had his pic taken with a couple of Hooters!  It was a fun evening, with Kevin and Beth French, and Don and Darlene Marshall.  I have met Don and Darlene before, but it was the first time that we had visited them in FL.  Kevin and Beth have just moved down to FL.  We are headed back over to their home at some point today.
Looks like rain here, but the 'natives' say it looks like rain alot, and doesn't.  We are hoping for warmer, and sunnier weather once we hit the beaches on the Panhandle, but time will tell.
Having fun and enjoying each others 'undivided' (almost) attention....
Enjoy your days......love, linda
hey, it's me and now it is Wednesday evening the 30th.
 we ended up going to Tarpon Springs with Darlene B. Marshall and Beth French. What a wonderful day with friends. We were sorry that kevin didn't feel up to all the walking so didn't go with us.  Tarpon Springs is where they have been bringing in sponges for years. we actually saw them washing and unloading them onto the docks.  Lots of great shops and Greek eaterys.  we ate a Rusty Bellies which is a great place on the pier overhanging the waterway, good food and drinks. we wandered all over and checked out all the shops. Fresh sponges in every place but we didn't buy any.   tomorrow we head for St, Georges Island further up the west coast. today and this evening they are having super high winds and rain but it is expected to be better before we get there. the cold front is coming down from Canada and it predicted to be in the 60's along the gulf coast. I know for our friends at home, that sounds hot, it isn't compared to the last two days here that have been close to 80. We will have fun relaxing on the beach and just hanging out together. I hope!  haha    Love and miss ya all. me

Jan 26 Zephyrhills,Fl

 vultures hanging out in the trees

 Linda, doris,mom, dad

 dad,mom,mac,linda

our campsite

Having fun in Zephyrhills. we have spent time visiting with Mom and Dad, Aunt Edna and Uncle Elmin and yesterday we took Mom and Dad over to Pinelus Park to see his brother. I was great to see Uncle Mac and Doris. They took us out to eat at a great place that had everything on the menu. The waitress was a smart mouth but kind of funny. The food was great. on the way back we drove thru the State park where we are staying so my folks could see just how large a park it is. It is the Hillsborough State park called Fort Foster. We haven't seen any fort but the park is huge. hiking and biking trails, youth camps, rv and tent camping, conservation areas and a HUGE pool. I think it's the largest pool I have ever seen. We have a great site 1.8 miles from the entrance, very quiet. the vultures like to hang out in the big trees across the road. Maybe they will get that one little yappy ratdog a few sites from us. We had a camp fire last nite. Don't ask, it took us longer to get it going than it burned, plus we got warmer from the effort of getting and keeping it going that we did from the fire. I have Linda convinced that it's because it's to warm and we don't get that New England cold air draft to make it burn.  The mornings are cool but have warmed up quickly and have been in the 70's. It is nice!!

January 22, St. Augustine, FL

We are in Florida. Rather short ride down from Savannah yesterday.  It was also a beautiful sunny day, not quite so much this morning.  While in Savannah, we took advantage of the Old Town City tours, which also is in St. Augustine.  As we arrived here early in the afternoon, we took a ride into the downtown area and found a tour office.  Glad we did.  We were able to take the tour yesterday, found our way around somewhat, and the tickets are good again for today.  We love bargains.  Found one stop at a winery and just around the corner is a quilt shop.  Life couldn't be any better than that!  The winery is free but the quilt shop won't be.
We are staying at the first of four State parks here in Florida.  We have electricity and water, but  use the shower and bathroom facilities (except in the middle of the night).  The camp sites are are close but closed off with the palm trees and such.  It really is very nice.  The beach is about 300 yards away, with a boardwalk from the parking lot.  The beach was closer to our campsite last year in Port Aransas, but there isn't any wind.  And it's funny, I keep having to remind myself that we are in FL and not TX.   Oh, the water felt like York Beach!
Back on the bus today to find the winery and quilt shop, and time in the oldest part of the town.  Hopefully lunch outside, although no sun.  It's warmer than New England, and I have my best friend with me!!!!
Enjoy your day.......

Wednesday morning update,
 We did have a great day in St. A yesterday and did spend some time at the quilt shop. walked all over the town and road the tour trolly again.  found a shop we had wanted to get to and some good finds.  cooked burgers on the grill at our campsite last nite. getting ready to pack up and head further south today. will be at Mom and Dads after setting up at the campground this afternoon.   our cocaptain is looking forward to getting to Walmart. I have no idea why as I bought Krispy Cream donuts at WinnDixe.   smiles and hugs, the Driver

Jan 19/20 2013 Savannah, GA

 Brian Seward's ship leaving Savannah he's on the bridge wing talking to me on the cell phone. a whole group of strangers thought it was neat that we knew him. when he got along side us(we were on the "river walk" Linda, I , and a lot of strangers hollered "Brian"  he waved and grinned and had the ships captain blow the horn a couple of times.

 Linda on the beach in Tybee Island in Savannah. It was COLD!!

 Memorial on River St right on the Savannah river

Linda and I on Tybee island beach

well hello from Savannah, GA   we arrived and got setup in the park. no internet unless it's thru our "hotspot,and we get more TV on the antenna than on cable but a nice small place 15 minutes from downtown.  We drove out to Tybee island, kind of like hampton beach except houses on the beach side so you can't see the water unless you drive down these small side driveway type roads). we did and walked over the boardwalk and dunes to see the water. cool but I don't think the water at York beach, ME ever gets that warm.  yesterday and today we went into downtown and took the trolly tour and learned lots of history and got off and on any where we felt like. Last nite Brian met us intown(we just happened to find him as we were turning around at a motel)  he ran us around showing us the sites and places he frequents while here in port. we ate and then left him to get back to the ship and we came back to the RV park.  about 65 degrees today and we sat in the sun, at one of the 22 downtown "squares" as they are called. Saw Paula Deans restaurant, ate at the "wild wings" and listened to live music in "city market.   we leave for St Augustine, FL in the AM., and will be there for a couple of days. I need to take a picture before it gets dark so I will end by passing this to my best friend and let her correct and add as she feels fit.  miss you all, stay well and Jeff S. make the warrant happen, we have faith in you!!! Russ 

Friday in Savannah, Georgia

And this is the first time using the IPAD, so that will be interesting for me.  Back to using two fingers.  Well, we spent a raining night, cool nit in Fort Mill, SC.  Russ decided to bring in the slides, just in case  it snowed.  The night before he had to squeegee off th top of the slide so it wouldn't thaw into the camper.  ever noticed the difference.  Just love sleeping in our camper's bed.  But then the phone call at 5:00 was a surprise.  Russ has set up several lights in the house that will come on if the heat drops below a prescribed temperature.  Well, one of them was on when a neighbor went by rather early in the morning.   I'm glad we are on the same time zone!  Fortunately Russ was able to call Jeff  Smith, our great neighbor across the street.  Jeff will take care of it.  Thank goodness for Jeff.  Another friend who makes it all possible for us to do our winter travels.  Thanks Jeff.
Listening to the weather channels this morning, we did not leave the park until 10:00.  Good move, it was bright and sunny out by then.  Breezed across SC and into Savannah by mid afternoon.  The park is a small park, along side a main road, but we haven't heard a train yet.  Tomorrow, we are going on a Trolley tour of Savannah.  They will even pick us up here at the park.  We will return around 4:30, and if all works out all right, we will have dinner with Brian Seaward, who will be in Savannah, heading out to see.  We are looking forward to that as Brian is much more familiar with Savannah than we are.
But we did venture out this afternoon by going to the beach.  Went out to Tybee Island, parked along a side street (paid for parking although no one was around); walked the boardwalk across the dunes, and walked down moths water.  We are so familiar to our beaches, but all others are so different.  Waves broke about 300 yards out from the shore.  Just thinking, just different.  Lots of houses, about four deep from the beach, and traveling the 'beach' road, there was no way you could see the beach.  Of course they were four lanes of traffic, so the place must really be hopping during the summer.
We did go by a RV park that we had considered staying at and decided that at this time of the year,where we are is almost perfect.  No WIFI and no cable.  Guess we will survive.
Almost forgot, we went to dinner at a local establishment, Johnny Harris.  It was recommended by one of the ladies in the office.  Russ had the barbecue plate with Brunswick stew.  I had tilapia, grilled shrimp, Carolina red rice, and fresh asparagus.  We both have doggie bags, which isn't a bad thing.
Having a wonderful time,especially since the weather is so much warmer.  love y'all!!!

Jan 16th 2013 sidehill sanctuary

 overlooking the "lake" from our door

 quite a walk down and back to the bathrooms and closest showers

home sweet home

Hello from Fort Mill SC,
 The pictures are from last nites KOA sidehill sanctuary in Stauton, VA.    
 We got an early start this am to try and get ahead of the predicted snow. we drove in hard rain most of the day and lots of truck traffic. Just where they all are going is beyond me, but there are alot of trucks hauling stuff.  Our truck performed well, and we continue to keep our fingers crossed and watch the turbo gage more than the speedometer.  We drove down rt 81 and onto Rt77 just before Wytheville(we stayed there two years ago). For the Conners and Voich's we drove right by the hotel we stayed at when we were all headed to the outer banks before our diversion to Lake Douglas.  We continued to and thru Charlotte, NC and just into Sc and are staying at the Crown International Campground . right in the middle of a huge housing development. It's nestled in the only treed area left. got a nice spot and totally hooked up all services and even got the hot water heater going. The folks in the office said that we might get some snow early tonite but should be ok later in the morning. We will play it by ear, hang around if it's nasty or just leave early if it's decent weather. I want to thank my good friends for they're great moral support. They have more faith in my Ford than I did. 
 Steve P.    Linda loved your story about climbing down into the woods looking for your tire only to come back to the road with someone else's. Glad to know you weren't hurt when it came off, and to hear that the car is coming back together nicely.  Take some pictures of your newly "tinned" mail box and bucket post, that way you will have proof if someone runs over it again.  did I sequence this so everyone will think you ran over your own mail box?  well?   I'll be honest, he didn't do it. 
 well, I'll turn this over to the real composer to correct my grammer and spelling.  wish you all well and hugs and smiles.   your gage reader.
Not correcting his spelling tonite.  He's the one who plays Words with Friends.  I purchased a Scrabble game before Christmas, so we played a game before dinner.  Although I won, I had forgotten how difficult it was.  It was fun, and perhaps, if we play more often, we will both be better spellers.
Tomorrow off to Savannah, GA.  Will take a tour around the town, and I think I need to find some places to eat.  We keep seeing signs along the highway for wineries.  Haven't visited any yet, perhaps soon. 
Heavy rain out right now, so we can't even walk outside, but we will.  Enjoying ourselves.  I do love the tin boxes we are travelling in and living in.  I am so fortunate....
Talk to y'all again.  Linda

Adventure for 2013

hi family and friends,
 Lots of news, now that we have a moment to breathe.  We left home at 5:30 on Monday morning.  We went south on rt 125 and then 495 and shortly after exiting onto 290 in Mass we heard a bang, and lost power. Tires were fine but I found that the air cooler hose on the turbo had blown off.  We limped off the highway and I reinstalled it. We didn't even make it back on the highway and it blew again. I reinstalled it once more and really tightened it .   We made it a few miles and it blew again.  When it blows we lose all the power and can only go about 15 mph at best.  We then found that our GPS didn't have Mass in it.  I had just updated it, a few days before we left home, and no northern US states even showed. Thank goodness that Linda had her IPAD and she found a Herb Chambers Ford dealer within 7 miles. We limped there and explained our problem. Our service person, Liz Shuman was great. She pulled the diesel mechanic off a job and he tried to quick fix it but no go so we disconnected the trailer in their lot and he proceeded to diagnose the issue. He said that the hose was beyond using and they searched all over for one but the closest one was coming from RI in the AM.  We called our old standby Brian and Suzy , as well as another pal Steve.  They all offered to come the 2 1/2 hours to get us and return us the next day, but after flailing for a while we decided to get a hotel room for the nite. Why not use the camper ,you ask. well it was fully winterized and so flush water was an issue.  the dealer shuttle took us to a hotel we had found online and we sat around watching tv. It was only 10 am and soon we got bored so walked up the road to Walmart and browsed around for a while. There were no chairs outside at the hotel so we found a bench in front of wally world and sat in the sun and watched the "people of Walmart for a couple of hours. There was a nice looking bar/restaurant next to the hotel so we went there for supper. not bad, but more of a sports bar and you all know that Linda and I are not really into sports unless it the quilting or woodworking type, which this wasn't.  back to the hotel and a good nites sleep. we called the ford place at 9am and they said it was almost done so we didn't want to wait an hour for their shuttle so we gathered the suitcase, computer, satchel and something else we had with us and walked back to the dealer. Truck was done, no charge due to it was covered by warranty. Great!!! hooked backup and got under way about 10.  we made it into and over the huge hills as you come into Pensylvainia. just about to the top of a goodsized hill it blew again. Needless to say I was upset.  I got out and reattached it and away we went, expecting it to let go again. We made it to Hershey,PA about 5pm and now we could breathe. got into the campground and hooked up and I started the GPS update process, finding that the last update had only installed the lower 1/2 of the USA and all of Mexico. confounded contraption!! I got it cleaned up and started the 90 minute download/update and we headed to Tim's ( Linda's son)  we got to see the grandkids and Jaime, but Tim was coaching his highschool basketball team and wasn't around.  Had fun with the kids and swapped Xmas gifts. got back to the camper around 10 and settled in for the nite of freezing rain. got up and went to Napa auto and got some heavy duty clamps just in case it blows again. got on the road about 9am and made it to Staunton,VA to meet our friends at Crackerbarrel at 2pm. It was great to see Ron and Rosie! We hadn't seen them in two years and it was a great luncheon reunion.  Made it here to the Walnut Hills KOA campground. They were so nice and gave us their new Special Overlook site. Great site overlooking their pond, but it was straight up hill and we held our breath in hopes of making it to the top without truck issues. We have actually hooked up water so we don't have to climb down the hill to the restrooms in the middle of the nite. The office says expect freezing temps tonite, but it's still raining as it has been all day. 46 degrees right now at almost 6pm. if all goes as planned we will head out and  get into South Carolina for tomorrow nites stay. Ron and Rosie are praying for us and I do appreciate all the help we can get, as it's getting hard to hold my breath on all these hills.   Love and hugs to all.

Jan 13 2013

Hi Blog watchers,

  Linda and I are gathering the last items to load and wondering what we are forgetting. Thank goodness that we don't have a list that we can check, that would be to organized. The weather looks like it will be rainy but not freezing for our first day of travel.  "hey Linda, did you remember the hair dryer?"  Sorry, just that if I don't ask when I am thinking of it, I won't remember minutes later. I don't think it's age, but more likely , well I can't remember the word I was thinking of. It really isn't that bad.   I will try and attach a couple of pictures from today.  This year is going to be a little different, as we have reservations all the way thru Mobile, AL. We have never made reservations more than a day or two ahead, but looking at the Florida area, we thought it might be prudent as "everybody" goes to FL this time of year and I do like Walmart, but not every night.  We are staying in quite a few State parks and hope they are as nice as folks have told us. Looking forward to seeing friends and family along the way as well as some sun and warm weather(hopefully). For you northerners we hope you have a low snow winter and many sunny days.  for the snow lovers, MOVE to Alaska, they have plenty.   Smiles.     Not much else to say for now, but need the practice of loading pictures and brushing up on my spelling.   Hugs to all, Russ

 well not actually today Jan 13th

 I'll miss you my new joy maker. You to my fellow sawyer!

 Zip lining with friend this fall

 and they said this new metal roof would shed the snow.

 this is today Jan 13, 2013

Hello All,

We are packing and preparing for our up coming trip south.  I hope you all have a wonderful winter and that the hometown weather stays warm and sunny.  We will try and keep you up dated as to our travels and happenings.  I want to say thank you to our friends that take care and watch our home and make this trip possible. Without you all we wouldn't feel comfortable in leaving.  More to follow wehn we get started, but I wanted to test out the blog.  Thanks again, Your winter wanderers.