Heading South for the winter

Mon, Jan 5

Well, we're on a new journey for the new year!  Heading South to familiar territory from last year. We stayed in a nice RV Resort, Upriver RV Resort, for a few days and liked it, so signed up for a few weeks there this winter.  Sure hope it works out.  We've never stayed in one place for more than a few days, and this time we're planning for a month to a month and a half - or more.  It kinda depends on whether it stays warm enough.  If it doesn't, we'll head down to Key West.   All we really want it to be warm.

This afternoon we left Beaufort for a pleasant drive down to Wilmington.  We have some work scheduled on the motor home tomorrow.  Then if things work right, we'll start meandering down to Hilton Head for a couple days where we'll meet Bill and Jan.

All packed up and ready to leave Belle Air Street.  The car is loaded down with kayaks, bikes and chairs for us to enjoy in Florida.

Tues, Jan 6

Last night we stayed in a Wal Mart parking lot in Wilmington.  It's always interesting staying in a parking lot, but it was a bit noisy and neither of us slept very well.  It takes a couple of nights to transition to sleeping in the motor home.

This morning we had some routine maintenance done on the chassis of the motor home and this afternoon we drove an hour or so on down to Myrtle Beach State Park.  We stayed here last year and find it to be one of the nicest parks we've stayed in.

Wed, Jan 7

After an enjoyable morning in the motor home, we went for a nice long walk on the beach and then took the car and drove around for a while.  Myrtle Beach is certainly quiet (and nice) this time of year.  We've been here in the summer and it is extremely crowded - just the kind of place we don't like.

It was cool on the beach.  Tonight the temperature is supposed to drop into the upper 20's as a arctic blast hits the South. 

The pelican seems to be giving me the once over.

All of the birds seemed to have bundled up for the cold weather.

Thurs, Jan 8

A big drive day - over 4 hours.

We are at Hilton Head Island Motorcoach Resort on Hilton Head Island, SC.  This is indeed an upper end RV resort.  Bill and Jan had been here earlier and highly recommended it.  It certainly meets their description - and some.

Our motor homes are getting together for the first time since Why, Arizona when we parked in the desert.

The Big House and the Little House get together again.

The last time the "Big House" and the "Little House" were together was in Why, Arizona

Clara's working on supper 

Fri, Jan 9

We went out for lunch at a marina, and dinner tonight in our motor home with Bill and Jan.

A cold front caught up with us last night and the temperature dropped below freezing.  I would assume that's rather unusual for this area.  The rest of the East is supposedly really cold.  Kinda reminds me of last year when we kept going South until it got warm.  That's when we got to Fort Myers - where we are headed now.

Sat, Jan 10

We packed up and again headed South this morning,  However, not before a little scare from Clara. She woke up this morning and thought she had Pink Eye.  After reading a little about it online, we quickly got her to an urgent care facility in Hilton Head.  Turn out that all she has is an allergy.  So we could continue our journey without concern.

We had a quiet pleasant drive to a place we fondly remember from an earlier trip.

The day after we purchased this motor home (which was in St. Augustine, Fl), we spent our second night here at Pelican Roost RV Park at Mayport Naval Station in Jacksonville.

This is one of the more beautiful RV parks we've stayed in.  It is right on the river where it meets the ocean.  We often see Navy and civilian ships transiting the river to the ocean.

The cold is holding on, and here just off the beach, the wind is howling tonight.  The forecast is for rain and a little warmer this week as we make our way further South.

Sun, Jan 11

We had hoped that a site would open up at Pelican Roost this morning, but it didn't.  We would liked to have stayed another day.

We got the washing done (free laundramat - a most unusual perk), then headed Southwest toward Tampa.  We had picked out a State Campground about 3 hours away, but about an hour down the road, we saw a sign for Gold Head Branch State Park and decided to see if they had something available - and they did.

This turns out to be a pretty neat place.  The primary feature is a deep (maybe 75 feet) ravine that is fed by natural springs.  There are some lakes around and lots of hiking trails.   The campground has large sites with electric and water - and boy, is it quiet and dark.

We can finally break out the swing and chairs because it is WARM!

I took off this afternoon on the bike and did some biking and hiking.  It's an interesting place with lots of wildlife - I saw 4 deer and numerous other small critters.

Moss Man

We would like to stay another day or so, but we are now on a schedule.  We want to go to a big RV show in Tampa on Wednesday, and are supposed to be at Upriver Resort on Thursday.

Mon, Jan 12

Now that we're warm, we're happy!

We head further South with a general idea of going to Hillsborough River State Park.  Jan had suggested this when we were discussing getting together again.  I called and they were full, but I was told that they would likely have some first-come first-served.  I checked on-line and found that there was one spot available, so I went ahead and reserved it.  On the way down here, we ended up traveling with Bill and Jan and we both arrived at the same time.  When we arrived at the park, they didn't have any first-come first-serve sites.  We insisted that Bill and Jan take that site and we moved on down the road to a private park, which is nice enough and mainly they have a good swimming pool.

This afternoon after I got in a good swim and then it started raining.  So we're settled in for the evening.

Tonight there was a show here at Camp Lemora RV Park where we are staying (in the rain).  Steve Jeffris, Guitarist, Vocalist, Entertainer (www.stevejeffris.com) played a great 2 hour show.

We've also connected with Brian and Joey Gurl, great friends in the mountains, and a fantastic entertainer whom we have heard play piano many times at their former home in Burnsville and at The Orchard.  We plan to go to one of his shows this coming Sunday.

Tues, Jan 14

This morning, Bill and Jan came over from their campsite, picked us up and we drove to downtown Tampa.  We had no idea what to expect or what we might find, we just thought there might be something enjoyable for a couple of hours.

This first thing we saw across the river from the high rise building part of town were several spires sticking up across the river, so we used those as a navigation point and headed toward them.

We end up at the Henry B Plant Museum.

The Henry B. Plant Museum is housed in the 1892 Tampa Bay Hotel, now a National Historic Landmark.  During the 1880s, Henry Plant was building an empire of railroads, steamships and hotels.

He wanted that empire to have a palace and that grand palace was the grand, Moorish Revival style Tampa Bay Hotel.  Plant invested $2.5 million to build the impressive luxury resort and an additional $500,000 to furnish it.

It took three years to build, covered 6 acres, was a 1/4 mile long and boasted all the modern technologies.  All 511 room were completely electrified connected by a telephone system, and had access to private bathrooms.

It is a very impressive building and many of the original furnishings were displayed in the museum portion of the building.  However, most of the building now houses the University of Tampa.

This evening, the B's had dinner with us and we were able to sit outside in the evening in shorts.

Wed, Jan 14

Bill and Jan drove their motor home over to where we are this morning and set up beside us. Then we all went to the RV show in Tampa.

Today was a full day at the biggest RV show in Florida at the Florida State Fairgrounds.  There were several hundred RVs of all shapes and sizes, and many suppliers and vendors.  We must have walked 10 miles - or at least my feet felt like that after 6 hours.

After looking at all types of motor homes, we are both very satisfied with what we have.  I think the most impressive RV in the show of the type we'd like was a 28 foot Tiffin.  We had gotten real serious about a 32 foot Tiffin a couple months ago, but again, when returning to our 33 foot, we found that we have all we want for now.

Tonight we had burgers with the B's in their motor home.

The "Big House" and "Little House" team up again.

Tomorrow we're off to our new home (for at least a month) in Fort Myers.

Christmas

Dec 22 - 26

Anthony deserved some time off, so Clara and I drove to Nashville and stayed with Dad until the day after Christmas.

Dad celebrates his 99th Christmas

Dec 26

This morning we left Dads and drove to Cary to help the kids (big and little) celebrate Christmas.

 That is Evan holding MY CHACOS CAUSE I GOT CHACOS FOR CHRISTMAS!!!!!

Anna and Evan came back to Beaufort with us for a week of fun.

Saturday, Dec 27

The weather is very cooperative, so we go over to Morehead City for a supposed "ice rink" that has been set up downtown.  It turns out the ice rink is just plastic panels laid on the ground and kept slick with soap.  However, the kids were able to stand up - most of the time.

We were 'ice walking' cause it was pretty hard to glide on wax. At least we can say we did it!

Sun, Dec 28

Another nice weather day - the last of 2014 and we're out kayaking.  We had tried earlier to take the power boat out, but the engine wasn't running well, so we abandoned that idea.

 Mimi and I are wearing our matching Beaufort sweatshirts!

 This is Evan being a total idiot and deciding 'Hey! It's below 50 wanna hear a great idea? Lets jump in Taylors Creek!' Then he had to kayak home wet and cold.

Later that night Mimi took Evan and I to the light show where we got a little boy to go under the arch and dance with us!

Tues, Dec 30

Mimi and the kids take an art class.

We decided that art was not our field of expertise, but it was still fun

Scottie and her son, Matt came over after the light show and we watched Despicable Me, this was the first cartoon/ movie that Papa has managed to stay awake during!

Thurs, Jan 1 2015

Anna and Evan decided this morning, after a lot of thought (and trepidation) that they are going to take the "Polar Plunge".  The "Polar Plunge" is a fund raiser held on Atlantic Beach where you pay money to jump into the ocean when the air temperature is 44 degrees and the water temperature is 50 degrees.

It turned out to be quite an event, with what seemed like hundreds of people participating,  split about evenly between people who took the plunge and people who watched people take the plunge.  Clara and I were among the latter.

Evan and I were not so sure about actually jumping in on the motor home ride over after feeling how cold it was outside, but once we got to the beach and saw all those people so excited there was no way we were backing out. 

We each went deeper our first time in... all the pictures Papa took were of our third time in and by that time we were COLD! Notice that both Evan and I have wet hair because we went all the way under!

Ohhhhh!  This is cooooollllllddddd!

You couldn't think. I forgot to look for the camera or anything. Your legs feel like you're laying on needles, your head is throbbing and you'll find that breathing is very difficult.

There were seemingly hundreds of people who decided to take the plunge.

They ended up raising over 6000 dollars, we guessed there were 300-400 people at the event!

 Evan and I were in some SERIOUS PAIN here.

After the plunge, we went back to the motor home, which was toasty warm, took showers and had hot cocoa

Then, as a special treat, we went to El's  (where the motor home seemed to take up all the parking lot) and had a special treat.  We were now getting warm - finally.

No. Papa is getting warm. Evan and I are still chilled tonight at 8:00. I don't know if I'll ever be warm again *cue dramatic music*

Just for the record- this was my 3rd time in so yeah. I didn't go up to my shoulders as I had the first two times cause I was COLD. I put my head under the first time, went up to my shoulders the second time but by the third time I was in some serious pain and decided to not freeze my lungs. You can see the pain on my face as the time in the water goes on!

Thanksgiving at the Mountain House

Nov 24 - Dec 1

Dad has been wanting to go to the mountains for a while, so we took the opportunity of Thanksgiving to take him to the Mountain House.

It has been a quiet time, with several periods of snow during the week.  There hasn't been any significant accumulation at our elevation.  However, we can certainly see that the Black Mountain Range did get quite a bit.

We've been fortunate that Chuck and Cheryl Carson have been visiting Chuck's brother, Bill.

Chuck and Cheryl were our very gracious host when we were visiting Durango, Colorado a couple years back and we are very happy to get to spend some time with them.

On Thanksgiving day we had lunch with the Carson Clan at the Chalet Restaurant in Little Switzerland and Friday night, they came over to our home for dinner.

Dad, Bill, Chuck, Cheryl and Judy 

On Sunday, we drove up to Roan Mountain. 

Monday, Dec 1 we got the house ready for winter and drove back to Beaufort.

Back on the Mountain

Tues, Nov 4

An uneventful trip back to Spruce Pine - except for an interesting happening.

On the way through Burnsville, we got behind a red GMC SUV.  On the tag is APLE, and I knew this had to be Kit Truby.  Clara called Kit on the phone and told her we are behind you.  She said she saw this big old brown thing in her rear view mirror and thought that might be us.

She suggested we stop in Micaville at a new store that sells ice cream, so we did.  Quite a coincidence.

Clara and Kit enjoying ice cream after a coincidental meeting

As soon as we got settled in, I went down to the Y for a little workout.

Wed, Nov 5

Happy Birthday Clara.  I think she turned 39 today.

To celebrate, we met Kit, Bill and Judy at Mountain View for dinner.

Thurs, Nov 6

We met Bonnie and Will at DT's in downtown Spruce Pine for lunch.

Fri, Nov 7

The wind blew last night, reaching 68 mph as a cold front moved through. Anything less than 80 is okay.  And we didn't lose any shingles.

This morning there were a few flurries, but nothing of significance.

The "Kids" drove up from Raleigh - all four of them.  It is indeed a rare treat to have them with us "on the mountain".

And, of course, my blog is hijacked!!

After a REALLY long drive we finally got up to the mountains. (BTW- this is Anna, so the we is Mom, Dad, Evan, Sophie and me.) We got there just in time for a lovely sunset you can only find in the mountains.

Saturday, Nov 8

 We had a great morning, rotating between eating, playing, eating and more playing!

After lunch we went on the Crabtree Falls loop trail. Evan and I had to practice our extreme ninja moves on every tree, step and rock.

We got down to the waterfall and took zillions of pictures, but we really didn't mind cause it was GORGEOUS

OFFROADING!

 Evan and Dad kept on getting ahead of us so they decided to rest their poor little legs
.

YEESSSS! I GOT ANOTHER PICTURE OF PAPA ON THE BLOG!!! I TOOK THIS PICTURE AND IT LOOKS AMAZING!

We convinced Evan to get a picture with me as we tried climbing the rocks. Turns out it's a hard task.

Awww. We are so cute. Don't you agree?

Try to beat this scenery. Rocks, trees and a huge waterfall. Nope, no beating it.

Sunday, Nov 9

Hate to say it but we didn't take any pictures this morning so I'll just fill you in. We woke up and Mimi made the most amazing quiche. We ate it all. Papa finally got us to get ready and head to the orchard, I have to say, it was probably our best trip there yet. We drove around and picked some apples til Dad started throwing the rotten ones in a crate at the bottom of the hill. Soon Evan and I joined and Papa just kept on picking apples. Then Evan and I went to the bottom of the hill and had dad throw the apples at us. I tried to dodge them and Evan tried to catch them. Not his smartest move, I'm betting he'll have bruises some time in the next half hour.

Sophie

We always try to take a picture at "the tree" at the bottom of the mountain.

Unfortunately, Candace broke a toe and has to use crutches, and the kids thought the crutch should be considered part of the family.

Just a beautiful evening

Mon, Nov 10

Just chillin!

Tues, Nov 11

This afternoon, we rode up to Blowing Rock.  It wasn't planned, but we ended up buying our Christmas gift to each other.

A new water feature for the yard in Beaufort

Tonight, dinner at Will and Bonnie's.

Wed, Nov 12

Today we drove over to Asheville.  A group of friends from Clara's days at Memorial Mission Hospital got together for dinner and I had dinner with Bill and Jan at their home.

Bill and Jan will be meeting us in Florida in January (where, hopefully, it will be warm).  We start planning our trip.  Hopefully, we'll get together at Hilton Head on the way down.  And we may be chartering a boat in Ft Myers for a few days of cruising.

Thurs, Nov 13

Today, we head back to Beaufort.