A Quick Trip

We have been here in Florida since the beginning of December.  It is the longest time we have ever stayed in one place without even an escape trip of a few days since we began full-timing.  To say we are antsy is an understatement!  Mom has been doing pretty good these last few weeks, so we figured it was a good opportunity to run up to Atlanta and get a few things done, and to, of course, visit some friends.

One of the things we have to do is get Bert to the vet.  He's a bit overdue for shots.  And man is he spoiled, in actuality, it is us that go out of our way to take him to the vet in the motorhome. Bert travels quite well in the coach, not so much in the car.  Our vet, which Jan worked with for awhile is located about 30 miles from Allatoona Landing, the campground where we stay.  A long way, but worth it.  We tried to take Bert in the car, but for whatever reason he totally freaks out!  He blows his coat, slobbers, yeah, a cat slobbering, he pukes and goes to the bathroom where ever he happens to be in the car.  We then put him in a crate, but then he pukes and gets covered in you know what and what a mess!  So we take him in the motorhome.  There is a big parking lot nearby, so Jan bundles him up, carries him in, he gets his shots and is back in the motorhome before he even knows anything happened.  Kinda crazy, but it works for us.  

Hopefully we will be able to see our dentist for our cleanings while we are there.  It's short notice, so we will see if they can fit us in.  This way when we leave Florida later, we will be able to go directly to Texas to see our grandchildren.

Jan had a great trip to PA with her sisters and mother.  This past week has been a bit busy along with seeing mom everyday.  We had a farewell lunch with friends to say goodbye to Jan before he heads out to Pagosa Springs.  Jan and I went to a fantastic Chinese restaurant Jason introduced us to near the Sarasota airport, Yummy House.  It is well worth the drive, excellent food, a BIG step up from the run of the mill Chinese.  Then on up to the Outlet Mall to pick up a couple things.  We expected it to not be too busy as the season has ended, but, wow, it was packed!  Drove around forever finding a parking spot, not my idea of fun.  Jan finally got to go kayaking with several friends on  a nature tour on Little Sarasota Bay.  She had a good time.  Finally got the motorhome washed, but we have heard the lovebugs are out, so it will be a mess coming and going to Florida.  Every spring the dratted bugs appear and man they are like epoxy on the front of your vehicle!

We've said our goodbyes to other friends in the campground that haven't already gone north, as they will be gone by the time we get back in 10 days.

Yeehaa, we get to move, even if it is just for a week or so!!!

Made it :-)

Well, I survived my bachelordom.  I pick up Jan today at the Tampa airport.  Managed to get a couple minor items done on the motorhome, and managed to ride my bike about 40 miles in amongst the wild partying and debauchery.  

As I was told, and he was right, my blog is getting a bit boring, well maybe a lot boring, and for that I apologize.  Jan and I are feeling more and more that our life is on hold for a bit as we stay near to mom.  This is a very difficult time for us right now, we are having a lot of conflicting and serious contemplation.  We are busy doing things, but they are the same things you do whether you are rving or not.  I'm going to only make weekly or so posts for awhile until things work their way out.  I know, you're thinking thank God!

Obviously if something big happens, or if there is a project on the motorhome, or a side trip or excursion I will post it right away.

Thanks so much for your patience as we move through this period in our lives. 

Already?

Well, it's not quite 9am, and I have already driven to the Tampa Airport, had breakfast and ridden my bike 16 miles!  Wow.  No I'm not bragging, it's just an example of what you can do when you get up at 2:30 am!  For real.  Jan had to catch a 5:30 am airplane out of Tampa to get to Louisville today.  All the planes out of Sarasota were full, and all but the first plane out of Atlanta to Louisville were also full, so that made the 5:30 the one.

Jan and her sisters and mother are going to visit family in western Pennsylvania, so Jan and Karen are driving up, and meeting Nancy and Viv in Pittsburgh.  So I am batching til Saturday when she gets back.

It's a nice overcast calm morning, nice for a bike ride.  We have been taking advantage of the bike path, and truly enjoying it.  It is pretty bike friendly here, so it is easy to get on the Legacy Trail, and from there you can go most anywhere in Venice.

The campground is probably half full now and by this weekend it will be almost empty.  All the snowbirds are flying back home.  It will be much quieter in and out of the campground, the roads won't be busy, and Jan and I have to admit, more to our liking.

Docs and Full-Timing

There are several issues you have to address when you decide to full-time.  You have to figure out which state do you want to make your residence in, what are you going to do about doctors, dentists, and the like, and how to handle your mail forwarding are just three of them.  We have chosen Florida as our state as I have talked about previously and have changed our mail forwarding to a company in Sarasota that is working out very well, so that leaves doctors, dentists, and the like :-)

As you know we spent 6 years in the Atlanta area before I retired the first time and 6 more years before I retired the second time, so all of our doctors and our dentist were obviously in that area.  What to do?  Do we keep them and make sure we come through Atlanta every year or 6 months, or do we switch to where we plan to spend some time almost every year, in Florida?  Our dentist is some one who we both like and trust completely.  I had that crown problem while in Alabama last year that turned into an absolute fiasco and caused me much discomfort.  Our dentist in Atlanta took care of it and now I'm good as gold.  So as to our dentist, we will stay with ours in Atlanta.  We aren't as attached to our doctors, mainly because we don't need to see them so much, thankfully.  Mine was also my FAA doctor, and I don't need that anymore, and Jan was seeing a doc in the same office just because it was convenient.  We decided to switch our family doc to Florida.  We both really like the doctor my mother has, so we decided to switch over to him.  Easier said than done.  His practice is full!  First Jan, becuse of our relation to my mom, managed to get an appointment several months out, and I decided I would wait and switch next year since I already had an appointment in Atlanta.  Well unexpected circumstances caused me to need to get a specialist, and now I have set up an appointment as I need a family doc as well.  Unfortunately, it isn't until May, after we had planned to leave, but mom is doing well these last few weeks so who knows what our schedule really is?

We have compromised for now, dentist and dermatologist in Atlanta, other docs here in Florida, and we believe we will switch everything to Florida in the next year or so.  With all the upcoming changes in the medical world, it is probably much better to be taking care of this sooner rather than later as the dust settles with Obamacare.

A Great Weekend!

Just wanted to say what a nice weekend we had!  The weather has been glorious, high 70's in the day and down about 60 at night.  No need for AC, and good sleeping with the windows open.  I'm proud to say I rode my bike 25 miles over the weekend.  We had a nice visit with my Mom on both days, she's been doing quite well these past 10 days or so.  We actually got a few minutes to just read, and I've almost finished "Killing Lincoln".  We got a couple little items done on the motorhome, I needed to adjust all the awnings to close and open just the right amount after the new fabric was put on.  We had a nice dinner with Jason and Jessica.  A nice visit with Jack and Betty, and a nice breakfast with Dick and Ann.  Last night we on a whim went out to get some Thai food and had a really good dinner at Thai Spice in Venice.  We heard it was good and it was.  Then off to the south jetty to gaze at the gulf with a setting sun, and managed to see a bunch of dolphins playing in the water.  Peaceful and nice.

All moved

We moved our campsite yesterday, but not without some drama.  The motorhome manufacturers don't have a standard as to location of your electric hookup.  Some attach the cord to the rear of the coach and others have it attach near the plumbing bay which is just ahead of the drive wheels on the driver's side, or in other words about half way down the side of the coach.  Our motorhome is one of the ones with the cord halfway down the side.  This campground we are in as I've mentioned before is an old campground that has been improved substantially, but still has some challenges in the size and shape of their sites.  Anyway, we move down to our new site and start backing in getting closer and closer to the two fifth wheels on either side, trying to get back far enough so we can plug in our electric, which is way, way back behind us, without hitting either one, when one of our new "neighbors" comes out and starts hassling Jan about us being too far back and infringing on his site!  Valid points but not done very politely.  He gets in a heated discussion with me, so we decide we will just try to find another site rather than deal with this.  Well, there are only two available sites, lots of folks are extending because of the lingering weather up north, and they really aren't too good.  So we debate, and decide to go spend $185 on a 30 foot, 50 amp extension cord.  A lot of money, but there have been a couple other times when we were not able to plug in for the same reason, so we reckon it is worth the money.  So now we are in the site, pulled away from our 'welcoming" neighbor, and will have an extra 30 feet of reach for the future.

Karen left right on time, but didn't have a very good visit at Alliance Coach, but finally after a wasted extra day, got her issues taken care of and is making her way home to Kentucky.

We cleaned out Mom's house over the last few days with Joyce's help, so it will be ready to be dealt with as we continue along.  

I am starting to have a problem with someone hacking into my email with weird comments to the blog.  I will be experimenting with the comment section over the next few days to see if I can put an end to it.