We've been Busy - Florida Update

Hello and Greetings from our "home" in Zephyrhills, Florida.

We're on our lot in Emerald Pointe RV Resort and arrived here in early October after spending the month of September traveling south from Long Island.

After leaving Virginia Beach we stopped at our old homestead in Hertford, NC for a visit with friends and some golf then moved over to meet up with friends in Raleigh, NC. Bob Brickhouse and his grandson Brian met us in China on our tour there in 2007 and we have stayed in touch. We had a nice dinner together and caught up on each others activities.

We moved on to Augusta, Georgia and a quick visit with my niece and her family. From there it was onto Jacksonville and the annual PM for the coach and some minor repair work, coupled with a visit to my nephew and his family. Then off to Cocoa and a week with long time friends, Jack and Gail + Bob & Betty and some more golf.

We arrived in Zephyrhills on 10/2 and have been busy ever since.

We are taking this opportunity to investigate numerous areas in Florida for eventual home purchase, sometime in the next 12-18 months. While we love Arizona and the desert the travel back to see kids and grandkids would become more expensive and more time consuming. Florida to LI is basically a one-seat ride. The housing market in Florida is very attractive and we just need to find the right locale.

We want to be south of Tampa on the west coast and south of Vero on the east. We've spent several days in Ft. Myers visiting friends and looking at communities as well as in Naples. Although we looked at central Florida, we really want to be on a coast or relatively close to water. We've checked out Sarasota and Bradenton too and so far have a strong possibility in Bradenton. Gated community, on a golf course with activities and about 20 minutes to the Gulf. Prices are reasonable, taxes and fees too. We plan to check out the east coast in late January.

The big excitement so far has been the arrival of our family for a week in Disney during Thanksgiving. Our daughters, son-in-law and grandchildren flew down on the Saturday before T-Day and we had 3 day tickets. One day in Magic Kingdom, one in Epcot and one in Animal Kingdom exhausted everyone. We arranged for a days rest in between each park visit and managed a trip to Clearwater Beach too.

A magic family vacation !

Not sure if he'll still be smiling in 10 yrs !

Being 'Tailgated" by my grandsons

Mickey's new "apprentice"

Taking stock ?

Somebody is gonna get wet !

Watching the parade....Happy ?

Magic Kingdom at night

Off to explore Epcot !

Mary Poppins and Friends !

A quiet moment of reflection

Face painting !

Do you think they're having fun ?

Pluto & friends

As close as I ever want to get to a Snowman !

Maybe a little Magic ?

3 Happy children !

The look of joy on our grandchildren's faces was a sight I will never forget. Seeing all their favorite characters and getting their pictures taken too was magical. Some of the rides were just spectacular. I've got hundreds of photo's and I'll post a few here to give you a sense of all the fun we had as a family. The trip went way too fast but they did leave us a remembrance: we both have the colds they bought with them from LI ! UGH.

Goofy, Donald & 3 happy kids !

Dreams do come true when your 7 & 9...

....and even a little older !

We won't get to see them for Christmas but plan a to fly up in January for a quick visit. Once we return we'll pack up the coach, travel to the east coast and check on some communities then back to Tucson by mid February.

Enjoy your holidays, enjoy the photo's and we'll talk again soon.

Gene & Laurie

Fun Times on Long Island....now back on the Road!

Hello:

We're back on the road again heading south after spending 38 days in our daughter & son-in-law's driveway. Wow, glad we get along ! Seriously, it was fun and especially rewarding to be "next door" to our 3 grandchildren who are a pleasure to be with and to watch them grow & enjoy their lives.As most of you know, my son-in-law has been fantastic and set-up our own campground with 4 point hook-ups, including 50amp service & the driveway is big enough so we are not a burden on their activities.


Now for the surprise I talked about in my last post: we're taking the family to Disney World ! Yep, everybody goes. We've booked flights for our girls and son-in-law and the 3 grandchildren for Thanksgiving week and we were able to get the Park tickets before the recent price increase. We'll rent another RV and set it up on a lot at our resort park in Zephyrhills and Kristin can bunk in with us.


To add some fun to the surprise we bought the kids t-shirts that say "I'm going to Disney" and had their favorite characters imprinted on them. I made up a story about financial hard times and had them believing that was why we couldn't do our annual Jersey Shore trip and purchased them small consolation gifts. Watch the video for their reactions. Although I think Grandma was more excited then they were ! (Note: technical difficulties, I need to figure out how to shorten video, it's too big a file.....stay tuned, any suggestions ?)


So we were busy on Long Island and tried to get to see as many of our friends and family members as possible. Of course the first week in August is always the East Northport Fire Department Fireman's Fair and I try and "work it" whenever I'm in town. It gives me the opportunity to see all my fellow members and many neighbors plus I can give back to the department.

Jesse Rae....my cup is empty ?


Is the big slide still fun, Kane ?

......Jesse and Hogan think so !

Hogan & Kane...are we excited yet ?

I've been a member since 1973 and have some great memories. On Saturday afternoon, it's members family time and our grandchildren and daughters look forward to the rides and food and seeing friends. Our girls grew up participating in activities and social events involving ENFD and they enjoy seeing some of the friends they grew up with and their families. I got to attend a monthly meeting and we also enjoyed the annual clambake just before we left. It's more like a day of "grazing" with the copious amounts of food provided but it's at a private beach on Northport Bay and always a great time.

We took a day and rode the LIRR into Manhattan and the subway up to the American Museum of Natural History with our 3 grandkids in tow ! Great fun watching them view the exhibits, especially the dinosaurs and the fellow subway riders ! Believe me, they stayed close to Grandma & Grandpa !

A real "pearl" in an oyster shell !
An Indian maiden
looks like intense research !
Now this is what I call a drumstick !
Jesse, Hogan & Kane....is that her "Vanna White" gesture ???
They love the camera !

Katie and Kenny both had opportunities for some extra work and he's got some built in OT so we were right in position to help with the child care, although at 7, 9 and 11 they are not much work. I got to see my middle boy, Hogan practice for his Pop Warner football team and Jesse Rae for her cheer leading. The oldest Kane enjoyed some art lessons from Grandma and boy is he ever talented with a pencil ! Jesse Rae had numerous guitar lessons from Grandma and I took both boys, separately for 9 holes of golf ! Great fun !

Grandma's guitar lesson "studio"

They have a big front yard and we had lots' of games of bocce, ladder golf and bean bag toss. Laurie and Kate built the boards and we put Harley decals on them and had bought HD bags from a flea market in the midwest.

Outdoor fun, great weather and a visit from "pop".
Guess someone like Harley's !
Serious competition !
Laurie & Kate setting up the games !

Our youngest daughter Kristin was an almost daily visitor. It was fun to spend time with her and we had a very special dinner together in a great restaurant right in Greenlawn. She's still hunting for that one great job with benefits but manages to stay very busy with some side work.

In between dinners with friends and family members, I got in a few rounds of golf, we helped trim a few trees in the yard and put up a fence for better backyard privacy. We enjoy our stays on the Island but it is expensive to live there and the traffic congestion is horrific.

We're back on the road now and just arrived in Virginia Beach after 4 relaxing days in Cape May, New Jersey. We visited with our neighbors from PA who owned the townhome next to us. Shortly after we moved , they too sold and are full time in Cape May. A beautiful place to live and work.

A short but rough ferry ride to Lewes, Delaware and the easy ride down the eastern shore let us watch the sunset over the Chesapeake from the Bridge Tunnel before settling into the Norfolk Elks lodge for the weekend. Long time friends from the Island are retired here and we'll visit with them before heading onto North Carolina.

We have a few more stops to make before we wind up in Zephyrhills by Columbus Day.

I'll keep y'all posted on our travels and enjoy the pics.

Gene & Laurie

Long Island Bound

Hello and greetings from western New Jersey.


We're en route to Long Island for the month of August and have stopped overnight just off Route 80 in Columbia, N. J. about 65 miles from NYC. We'll navigate the bridges and Cross Bronx Expressway tomorrow. We should hit the city mid day and hopefully not too much traffic. A lot will depend on the "orange cones"..............how much stimulus money is being used on the NYC roadway system.


We've been inundated with road work since we left the motor coach factory last Saturday. Ohio and PA are running through the "obama dollars" quicker than a Friday night paycheck in certain bars. Huge stretches of roadway are being repaved and bridge abutments replaced. Some roads in central PA don't seem to have enough traffic to warrant the work, but hey it's "free" federal money, right ?


Oh well, off my soapbox. We stopped in the central part of PA in Indiana County and the village of Brush Valley for a few days to research Laurie's relatives. Her great, great Grandfather, John C. Dick was born here and there are lots of people here who have the same last name. While we couldn't find a certified direct connection, we are 97% sure that this is where he was born and we know he moved onto New York shortly after 1850. He was in a Civil War regiment in New York.



John C. Dick, born 1833, died ????


We have more research to do and the exploring is fun. Ancestry.com sure helps and makes it easier. The picture is the only one we have and he is in his Grand Army of the Republic uniform. The GAR was/is a veterans organization for those that served in the Union Army during the Civil War.



So we'll be on Long Island beginning tomorrow and plan to have some fun with our family, especially our 3 grandchildren. We have a big surprise for them...........watch these pages to find out...........and we're hoping to see many of our friends as well.



I still have some more pics to post from the earlier blog and I hope to get to them later tonight.





Till next time,





Gene & Laurie

Better Late Than Never

Hello & Greetings from Northern Indiana. We're at the Newmar factory in Nappanee and have some repair work scheduled for Monday. Free camping, with full hookups while we are here too !
So, it has been awhile since I last posted something and lots has happened. I'll fill you in on the last 3 months and let you see some of the great places we've visited (and some of the not so great too) while we've criss-crossed this great country of ours.

We visited Page, Arizona and Lake Powell along with some beautiful slot canyons and a relaxing float ride down the Colorado River...........no rapids in this section just deep canyon walls and wonderful scenery.

Glenn Canyon Dam

Colorado River, south of the Dam and bridge

Lake Powell in northern Arizona

"Cruzin' down the River"

Spectacular scenery

"potty-break"

From there we headed east. As most of you know I was diagnosed with some medical issues this winter and the best place to get treated was in Baltimore, Maryland at Johns Hopkins Hospital. We had a month to get there and started a slow trek east after Lake Powell. We also had to dodge the spring storms that plague the mid section of the country. We were fortunate and were either a day ahead or a day behind some really bad weather.

A quick stop in Albuquerque for a round of golf and to wait out a passing storm then onto Oklahoma and a visit to Weatherford. In the 1980's there was a big boom in oil exploration in this part of the state and Laurie's brother found work, friends and a good life for many years. After his passing in November we felt it appropriate to leave his ashes in some the parks and places he loved most.

Bruce was a biker and worked hard, played hard and lived a full life, especially here in Oklahoma. We actually found some folks who remembered him; found the places he partied at and left some of him there. An emotional farewell.

On to Memphis and the home of the Blues and Elvis ! We were fortunate to see Elvis live in 1969 on our honeymoon in Las Vegas and had always wanted to stop at Graceland. It's quite the tourist attraction, nee "trap" but he was a fabulous entertainer and musician and it was great to see his home and all the memento's of his life.

In her best "Vanna White" imitation !

Graceland

The "Lisa Marie"

Downtown Memphis and Beale Street also gave birth to the Blues and music is king in this city. The Gibson guitar factory is in the middle of downtown and we had a great tour of how they are made. Every Wednesday night is "Bike Nite" and Beale Street plays host to hundreds of "Bikers and Babes"; from Harleys to Honda's and Crotch Rockets to Scooters they all come to party and display their machines. Quite a site.

Bike Night on Beale Street, Memphis

A truly amazing creation

Beale Street

From there we were off to Jacksonville, Florida and a mini family gathering. My nephew is stationed there in the Navy along with his wife and newborn daughter and her baptism was scheduled for May 2nd. What better way to see family and celebrate a fabulous occasion. Chief Bryan was able to get us a site on base and we also got in a round of golf at Mayport Navel Station. Our campsite overlooked the lagoon and we enjoyed seeing the ships traverse the channel.

Kennedy O'Hagen's baptism

Ships lagoon at Mayport Navel Station

Bryan's ship

USS Philippine Sea

Plenty of family members joined in and it was good to visit with them. We even got to play some Bocce ball and enjoy a cookout at the campground.

Cousins: Bryan & Katy - Christian & Vanessa

We headed north to Baltimore and set-up in a small campground just outside the city. Expensive but it was right on the upper Chesapeake Bay and was the closest facility to JHH. Before my surgery we spent a week in PA near our old home and visited with friends, played some golf and traveled to LI for a much anticipated visit with daughters, grandchildren and son-in-law. My operation was on May 28th and everything went as planned. I spent 3 weeks recuperating and the time went by very fast. We did get in one day of sightseeing at the Inner Harbor and before we left took a side trip to St. Michaels for a night in a B & B and some good seafood. Love the soft-shell crabs !

We've belonged to a family camping organization for 35 years and they host a "campvention" each July. We've been to many (13) and this year it was on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, just above South Bend in small town called Berrien Springs.

From Baltimore we headed west, but we had lot's of time.

We stopped in Altoona, PA and visited the old PRR shops and toured a spectacular railroad memorabilia museum; we went to the famous Horseshoe Curve and "train-spotted" and it bought back many memories of my 32 year career in railroading.

A pair of NS haulers eastbound on the curve

Altoona Shops

A GG-1

PRR museum in Altoona

We've always driven by, through or around Pittsburgh but never stopped. This time we spent 4 days exploring this old steel city and the 3 rivers that surround it. Pittsburgh has a great art museum which we enjoyed exploring it and the downtown full of bridges. We took the Duck Boat Tour and actually got to go down the Ohio River in it.

River juncture, downtown Pittsburgh

The Ohio River

Overlooking the Rivers

A city of bridges and rivers.

We moved on to Dayton, Ohio and the home of the USAF Museum. Another stop on our "bucket list" and a fabulous display of aircraft and all things air force. We spent a full day exploring the exhibits and the Imax theatre and except for a really bad campground we enjoyed our stop.

Off to Indiana and some visits with friends. We met Mary & Roger on our way out of Alaska in '09 and have stayed in touch. They live in a small town in north west Indiana and we toured the area and enjoyed talking about our respective adventures.

Steve & his wife Linda lived on LI for 25 years and we worked on the RR together. He retired and returned to the family homestead in north central Indiana. They're campers too and we joined them at their lakeside campsite and enjoyed a great 4th of July and some really good fireworks.

We met Pat & Walter in eastern Indiana and backtracked to Berrien Springs and the 50th Reunion of Family Campers and RV'ers. We camped with folks from New York state and got to see many of our old friends from our years in the organization. It was hot, but we had 30 amp electric and water (no sewer) and we made the best of it. the entertainment was great; I played in a golf scramble and my team tied for 1st place.

That brings us to Nappanee and the factory. About a week here and then east. That also brings you up-to-date on our travels. We're having fun. We enjoy our lifestyle and look forward to many more sights and adventures.

Till next time,

Gene & Laurie

More Pics to come..............stay tuned !