Having A Great First Experience at Royal Coachman CG!

  Well, it's been a week since we arrived here in Laurel, Florida, and we're having a blast!!  The weather has been fantastic, averaging 85 degrees and minimal humidity and rain.  We've talked with Bonnie and Ken several times and they are seeing and doing amazing things!  Mom is feeling better although the nasty cough still persists. Dad is doing great!  The kids are all good except, on Friday, while outside Chipolte, Bennett cracked the back of his head open while playing on a bicycle rack.  He required 2 staples.   Here's how our week went...
   We left the Georgia CG at 9:30 am on Sunday, Oct 9th after sad good-byes.  I called Arlena to check on Bennett.   I told him to make sure he keeps the staples when the doc takes them out, so he can put them under his pillow for the "staple fairy".  Our grandson is ALL boy.  This is the 3rd or 4th time he has had stitches or staples!!  His birthday was on the 4th, but his party is today, so we wished him another happy birthday.  After a quick stop at a Flying J for gas and Subway subs we crossed the Florida state line at 11:45.  We arrived at the CG at 4:00, but missed the entrance.  So John turned into a side road to make a "U" back onto the highway.  A fairly low tree limb clipped the top of Harvey as we made our way out.  Our site here is wonderful, across a corner, so it is fairly large.

We can really spread out on this site...and we don't
get any afternoon sun on the patio side.  How nice!!

   Set up went great until we hooked up the cable..no reception.  We had trouble at the last CG, too, so John looked up at the antenna and it was GONE!  Guess that tree limb was lower than we thought.  So we got into the Jeep and drove back on the route we took to see if we could find the antenna.  No luck :(  Being Sunday, we'll have to deal with this tomorrow.  After setting up and the frustration of the antenna we decided to go out to eat.  We picked BrewBurgers just up I-75.  When we got there we realized we had eaten there before.  We had stayed at the Holiday Inn Express across the street when we used to come visit Bonnie and Ken before we had Harvey.  We had walked over here for a bite to eat.  WOW!!  It was a good burger!!  When we got back we LISTENED to the presidential debate since we had no TV.  No comment on the debate!!  John went to bed and I worked on the blog.
   When we got up on Monday John said he would like to take a trip to Lazy Days to get an antenna.  But after going up on the roof he decided a professional should do the work.  He also found that one of the vent covers was smashed.  He called an RV repairman that was listed on a sheet the CG gave to us, and as chance had it...he was going to be in the CG at 11:00.  All we had to do was purchase an antenna.  So off to RV World just down the road.  They had the antenna, but only in white (ours was black).  We bought it anyway, but we had to order the vent cover which John was going to put on himself.  The repair guy came, but even after replacing the antenna and booster inside we still didn't seem to be getting a signal.  We had the CG maintenance come to check the cable signal and found out that we had it attached to the wrong box!  ANYBODY could have made the same mistake and according to the maintenance guy...a lot of people do!!  So...finally, we have TV.  Yay!!!  We put up the screen house and then rode our bikes around the CG.  We would have played shuffleboard, but the pucks and poles were in the office which was closed.  BUMMER!!  I watched The Voice while John watched TV outside.

   Tuesday was beach day.  At 10:30 we left for Casperson Beach about 20 minutes from the CG.  The great thing about this CG is how close it is to everything!  We have a handful of beaches to pick from that are less than 30 minutes away.  When we walked onto Casperson it was stinky!  No wonder...there were dead fish laying all along the high tide line.  It was gross!  We figured it must have been from the red tide problem they have been having here.  It got better as we walked farther down the beach, so we stayed.  The sand had really been washed away with 4 ft drops to the water at some places.  I went shark tooth hunting while John walked.  It was a gorgeous day until about 3:00 when the clouds started to roll in, so we left.

A beautiful blue heron posed for a picture.

 

The water was gorgeous!

 

 

 

But the beach was very ugly and smelly, and...

 

...covered with dead fish!

 

 

We found a lot of teeth, shells and some sea glass.

  The sun came out again, so we stopped at the pool when we got back to the CG.  But it didn't last long, so we only spent about 45 minutes there.  We picked up shuffleboard equipment before the office closed and after supper we played.  It got dark before we could finish.  I watched The Voice while John waxed the shuffleboard pucks.  They were pretty slow compared to other courts we have played on.  Hopefully, it will help. 
   On Wednesday while John was walking he got a call that the vent cover was here.  So he picked it up and up on the roof he went.  He was up there for about an hour in the heat, but he got 'er done!!  Thanks, honey!!  I went thrift shopping.  There is an amazing Goodwill 10 minutes away.  I found lots of good stuff!!  We went to Casey Keys Fish House for supper and then drove Casey Key Road to witness "how the other half lives."  The houses were immense and beautiful, but we both decided that we are very happy "with our half!!!!

It was open air dining here and the food was good.
Bonnie and Ken recommended this restaurant.
It's one of their favorites.

This pretty moth was waiting for us on the side
of the Jeep when we came out to the car.

The houses are beautiful and HUGE!

I could only get a third of this house on the camera lens.

Unbelievable!!

Lions greet you at this one.

Here are some of the views these houses have.  No
wonder they enjoy living on this road!

I talked with friend, Joyce, from home and she shared with me that our former church just hired the former organist and Praise Team director as the new Worship Leader.  Now I am definitely struggling with the decision of going back to the church.  He always added so much!!  When we got back we did laundry...the facility has 15 washers and dryers!! 

Wow...never experienced this size laundry!!
And it is immaculate, too!

   Thursday was another beach day.  We decided on Manasota in the Venice/Englewood area.  We left at about 10:00 and got to the beach at 10:30, set up our chairs and I started my shark tooth search.  John went walking but didn't get very far until his back started hurting.  He thinks the sand is too soft.  So he helped me with the "Florida snow shovel."  It was a profitable day.

Another good shark tooth day!

  We left about 2:00 because we wanted to attend the Happy Hour at the clubhouse at 4:00.  I talked with Paul and Vicki on the way home and they said they left for home just after we did, but the rest of the group headed back to Jekyll the following day.  Jekyll was still full of debris, but all the hook ups were working.  I took bean dip and corn chips to Happy Hour.  No one else brought snacks because they said hardly anybody ever shows up this time of year.  There were about 12 of us.  We played ping pong and cornhole and chatted.  It was fun and we met some nice people.  We stayed until about 6:00 then had Brunswick stew that Lyn had given us before we left Georgia.  It was good!  We watched some TV and then went to bed.
   Would you believe that on Friday I slept in until 9:45.  Maybe playing slots on my phone until 1:30 had something to do with it, huh?  John was busy doing chores outside while I cleaned up inside.  I went to the pool at 1:00 and John joined  me after his walk at about 2:30.  It was hot!!  The pool was lovely. 

Nice pool, huh?!?

We chatted quite a while with a couple from Erie, PA named Stephanie and Tom who are planning to move permanently to Arizona in the near future.  We left the pool at 4:30 showered, had supper and then went to see "The Accountant" with Ben Affleck.  It was as bit strange and even puzzling at times, but we both enjoyed it.  On the way to the movie I called to check on Bennett.  they were headed to the sprint car races.  I asked Bennett which car was his favorite and he responded, " the one with Grandpa's medicine on it...the Miller Lite car."  Oh my gosh, it was so funny!!  While we were at the movies Alex had sent me a text that she had found an apartment in Virginia.  She and her mom took the weekend to go shopping for one.  She sent videos of it and it is really cute.  She's just waiting for credit approval.  Alex and her husband, Todd will be stationed at Langley AFB, VA after he graduates from tech school at the end of this month.  We played 5 Crowns when we got home.  John slaughtered me!
   On Saturday we went out for breakfast at Anita's Restaurant just outside of Venice.  It was a bit pricey, but absolutely delicious.  And our waitress was phenomenal!  I was going to work on my pins outside while watching football, but it got real humid and showered off and on, so I stayed inside and played slots.  John got his walk in and then I went to TJ Maxx/HomeGoods and Big Lots to try to find something to put inside John's bathroom cabinets to provide more storage.  SUCCESS!!  I also found more of those plastic storage bins with handles that I have been looking for.  Yay!!  John grilled for supper and then we watched the Ohio State/Wisconsin game.  We weren't happy with the outcome, but it WAS a good game! 
   Today (Sunday)  I slept in again until 9:45.  My, but I love being retired!!  I worked on the blog while John went walking.  He went to Publix to pick up a few groceries. 

Look what my wonderful hubby had for me
when he got back!!  He must love me.

Then we went to the pool at 2:30.  Stephanie and Tom were there, too.  We spent most of the next 3 hours in the pool talking with them.  It looked like it was going to storm and we were hungry, so we left about 5:45.  We had quesadillas using all our leftover grilled meats and then watched football and the movie "Killing Reagan" on the Nat'l Geographic channel about the attempted assassination of President Reagan.  Emma and Ellie called to talk with Grandpa. 
   It's been a wonderful week here at Royal Coachman CG!  I have decided to do a blog post once a week from now on, unless we do something very special.  So...look for another post next Sunday with highlights of our upcoming week.

Escape to Paulk RV CG with Friends Plus

   We all left Jekyll on Wednesday morning at 9:00 am to head for Paulk RV CG in Fitzgerald, GA.  I called Dad on the way to let him know what we were doing, so he and Mom wouldn't worry about our safety.  We arrived at the CG about 12 noon.  It was beautiful!  All grass, pull through sites with full hook-ups and 50 amp service!  And...it overlooked a lake!!  The gal Josephine talked to gave us every other site so we could spread out, too.

There's Harvey all safe and sound in his new spot.

 


The gang's all here!!

This is what we saw out our front window.

  We got all set up and then walked up to Jack and Lyn's RV to check on the weather report.  (we didn't get ANY TV reception)  Everyone gathered outside John and Marie's RV and we sat and chatted until supper time.  John grilled shrimp and then we all gathered again outside for the evening.  Most of the talk was about the hurricane and when it was going to hit where. 
   Thursday morning John and I went to the Walmart just down the road with Paul and Vicki to pick up a few groceries.  When we got back we had some lunch and then I went to Lyn's RV to help peel apples.  She brings about 2 big baskets in a huge cooler every year to use to make desserts while at Jekyll.  She invited John and I and Paul and Vicki for BLT's for supper.  I went back to Harvey and worked on some of my magnetic pins to get ready for the Hershey show on Nov 5th right after we go back home.  We had supper complete with applesauce, apple crisp that Vicki made, and apple pie that Josephine made.  Oh YUM!!!  We watched more weather reports and then Vicki and Paul came back to Harvey.  We taught them "Pass the Pigs" and "9 Hole Golf" (with Skip-O cards). 
   Friday 4 of us girls went to downtown Fitzgerald to check out the antique shops.  We found a few treasures.  We were only gone a couple of hours and it started to rain and get windy.  Hurricane Matthew was making a small appearance even 140 miles inland!  And this small CG was filling up.  There were rigs pulling in all the spaces between us.  John and I went in town again later just to check it out and look for roaming chickens and then back to Walmart.  The chickens I mentioned are flocks of Burmese chickens that were originally released several miles from Fitzgerald at the Ocmulgee River back in the 1960's as game birds to be hunted.  Populations of the bird never took hold and for some reason, they left the river and made their way to downtown Fitzgerald, where they have propagated and prospered ever since.  Fitzgerald residents have a love/hate relationship with these wild birds.  Some feed them while others chase them out of their yards with a broom and a few choice words.  Right next to the CG is a peanut storage business.  You can smell them as you drive by.

These "nuisance" chickens are beautiful! 

 

 

 

A "stately" Southern building.

 

 

WOW...that's a lot of peanuts!

 

 

This was the covered storage area for all the wagon
loads like the one above.  They were all full!

  

The calm before the storm...how beautiful!!

  That evening John and I discussed what we were going to do next as far as our travels and we decided to leave here on Sunday, bypass Jekyll and head straight to Royal Coachman in Venice, FL.  The weather reports showed Jekyll being hit hard on Friday night into Saturday and we had no desire to go back there even if that WAS an option.  The rest of the group wasn't sure what their plans were yet.  And, guess what...the CG is FULL!!  I talked with Heather that evening, too.  She is VERY busy with the boys!  The rain and wind picked up quite a bit by 8:00.  The gusts of 25 MPH had Harvey "shakin' and bakin'".  We even brought our slides in 2/3's of the way to try to help with the sway.  It was a bit hard to get to sleep, but all was well by morning.
   Lyn approached me on Saturday morning to tell me that she found the Thrift Store downtown that we were looking for yesterday and asked if I wanted go.  Do bees like honey???  Of course, I wanted to go.  She didn't think any of the other girls would be interested, but by the time we left 5 of us piled into Lyn's truck!  Josephine stayed behind to take her sick 14 yr old Scotty dog, Lizzie, to the vet.  We ended up going to 2 stores and had a fun time.  Right after we got back, Josephine and Tom pulled in from the vet...Lizzie has pneumonia!  Hopefully, the antibiotics should fix her right up.  Right after lunch, Alexandra called from Texas where she was visiting her new husband, Todd, for the long Columbus Day weekend.  He will be done with his Air Force fire fighter training at the end of this month.  Then they will be moving to a base in Langley, VA.  She sounded very happy!!  It was a beautiful day outside, so a bunch of us grabbed our chairs and gathered outside John and Marie's rig.  The gnats were really bad, but bug spray seemed to help.

What a difference between last evening and today!!

  A resident goose came to visit and seemed to take a rather romantic liking to Tom and Josephine's 5th wheel.  It was pretty funny.  It stood there all day and bit at the wheel and trim around the wheel well.  We think it might have been because of the color of their 5th wheel and the orange stabilizer pads they use.

There's Mr. Goose.  We called him, "Donald" because
he kept saying nasty things to us just like Trump does.

We broke for supper and I talked with Bonnie and Cooper.  Bonnie was telling about the beauty of the balloon launches she and Ken were witnessing at the Albuquerque, NM balloonfest.  There was even a froggie balloon they took a picture of for me.  What a special time they are having!!  Cooper was excited to tell me about plans for cousin, Bennett's, birthday party tomorrow.  After supper some of us sat outside again, but the mosquitos got bad.  Then we were all invited to Tom and Josephine's rig for apple pie, apple crisp and ice cream.  Here's the gang...

Jay and Linda

John and Marie (John and Jay are twins)

Tom and Josephine

Paul and Vicki

Jack and Lyn

We feel so fortunate to have met this wonderful group of people and how they have welcomed us into their group!  We headed back to Harvey to get ready for leaving tomorrow.  It will be sad to leave the group, but exciting to experience a new CG, Royal Coachman in Nokomis, FL.

Hurricane Matthew Causes Short Stay on Jekyll

   On our way to Jekyll we stopped at a Pilot at exit 170 off I-95 for gas and a late lunch from Zaxby's, a fast food fried chicken chain.  We parked outside the restaurant, walked in and got our chicken, then ate inside Harvey.  All was well until we drove into the Pilot.  It was full and we couldn't get to the separate pumps for RV's.  When we finally got to them we pulled in behind a regular truck that had gassed up, pulled up just a bit, and left his truck with it running.  We waited 20 minutes for him to return (we couldn't back up because of having the Jeep hitched on the back of Harvey).  We lost at least a half hour there!!  Back on the road I talked to my Dad for over 30 minutes.  He seems to be doing well and he said Mom is better, too.  We arrived at Jekyll at about 5:30 pm and pulled into our reserved spot...E-11.

Tis gorgeous rainbow greeted us as we approached Jekyll!

 

 

And the Sydney Lanier Bridge into Brunswick
is still impressive.  This bridge was closed
during the hurricane.

  We set up and then walked down to Lyn and Jack's 5th wheel to surprise them.  Surprise them, we did!  However, Lyn said that when they left the Island earlier she saw a Bounder towing a Jeep but figured it was not us since we weren't supposed to be there for a few more days.  She and Jack presented me with a lamp that Jack made out of a large mason jar Lyn had bought in Corning, NY when we were there with them.  I think I have almost enough sharks teeth to fill it!! 

Won't this be cute when I fill it up and get
a shade for it?!?  Thanks again, Lyn and Jack!

We walked back to Harvey for supper and noticed how bad the mosquitos were, just like last year! 
   Tuesday morning, John walked down to the section where the gang was set up and they were having a meeting about how they were going to deal with hurricane Matthew.  All the weather models were showing that the hurricane was heading right into Jekyll, and they all agreed that we should get the heck out of there on Wednesday morning and then try to return to Jekyll on Sunday.  Josephine had found a CG in Fitzgerald, GA about 140 miles inland that could accommodate all of us.  So that was the plan.  We dreaded tearing down so soon after we got there, but we knew it was the best thing to do for our own safety.  Strangely enough we then went to the office to book a month long stay at the CG for 2017.  (the rest of the group books 3 yrs out!!) We went for a drive around the island to look for sharks tooth beach, but the wind was already so strong, we decided to go back.

Not sure if this an Ibis or a Heron, but either way it was pretty!

 

Whale model, I think, outside the nature center.

  Later the 12 of us went to downtown Brunswick to Fox's Pizza Den and had some of the best pizza we've ever had!  We had a lot of fun!!  When we returned to Harvey we got things ready for tomorrow's departure and then I worked on the blog.

Shark Tooth Attack at Camp LeJeune

  We left home at 7pm on Wed, Sept 29 to head to Camp Lejeune, NC.  Our plan was to drive to Waynesboro, VA and stay overnight in the parking lot of the Cracker Barrel there.  We arrived at 11:10pm after a very uneventful drive...that's the way we like it!  We set the alarm for 6:00 am went nighty-night.  Well...the alarm didn't go off and we woke at 7:10.  DRAT!!  Oh, well, we had breakfast at the restaurant and were back on the road at 8:20.  It was very foggy for the first 3 miles but then cleared after that.  Arlena called and we chatted for a while.  At 10:30 we stopped at a Pilot at exit 58 off I-95, but it was inaccessible even though the Next Exit book said it was RV friendly.  So we drove on to exit 11B and that Pilot wasn't good either.  It was accessible, but the RV pumps were out of service...UGH.  We went out front to a Shell station and got gas there.  It was a little tricky and we had to wait about 10 minutes for a guy to come back out to his car.  But the gas was only $1.99/gallon, so it was worth the wait.  We hit the NC border at 12 noon.  I talked to Bonnie for about 45 minutes about their travels out west.  They are having a great time visiting Nat'l Parks and climbing mountains.  We finally arrived at Camp Lejeune at 4:00 pm.  It was a long 8 hour drive.  John did a great job!!  We set up, ate supper and crashed. 
Friday morning we were on the beach by 10:00 to look for sharks teeth.  We found some whoppers! 

Look how big the top 3 teeth are compared
to a quarter.  I was so excited when I found them!!

 
By 2:00 it was lightening and thundering and John had to pull me off the beach...imagine me, not wanting to leave!

"Just a few more minutes, honey, and I'll come to the car"

Storms come up very quickly at Camp Lejeune
and can create a beautiful picture!

  We no more than sat in the Jeep until it started to pour!  Honey...you are a genius!  But by 5:00 we were back on the beach and back on the hunt.  We found quite a few more teeth.

Another good haul, huh!?!

  We came in, showered, and went to a Chinese Buffet for supper and then Kmart.  When we got back we discussed leaving Camp Lejeune early and skipping Parris Island altogether, so we could get to Jekyll Island early and join up with the gang we had gone to Corning, NY with.  That's what we decided to do.  I called Mom and she has a terrible cold and cough.  And...Dad has cellulitis on his leg again. 
It was raining when got up on Saturday, but by 10:30 the rain had stopped and we hit the beach.  John came in at 2:00 to watch some college football but I stayed out until 5:00.  It was a successful tooth day again! 

It's just amazing, isn't it, how many
shark teeth are washed in on the beach
at Camp Lejeune.  I wonder why there??

While we watched football, I put the bedroom picture and 2 pictures from John's bathroom together with special pics from our travels.  It took me most of the evening. 

These 2 are in John's bathroom.

 

 

This one is in our bedroom.

There was a real nice sunset happening, so John went out to take some pix.

 

 

 

 
Sunday morning we went to the PX and commissary, but the commissary didn't open until 12:00.  So we went to the beach until about 4:00 and collected more teeth.  We showered and went back to the commissary.  Then back to Harvey to watch some football. 
On Monday we pulled out at 8:30 am to start our journey to Jekyll Island, GA. It was about a 7 and 1/2 hour drive.  John mentioned to me that he was keeping an eye on hurricane, Matthew, that was threatening the south eastern coastline, including Jekyll Island.