Saturday proved to be a long day behind the wheel. 1118 kilometres for the day bringing us to Houlton, Maine. Drove through beautiful mountain country the past couple of days in Virginia, West Virginia and even PA and NY. Cold was the order of the day. Nothing Florida like about these temps. Tonight driving along northern Maine we have -21C. Now THAT is cold. When we set down for the night nothing would work on the Big Sky, not even the lights. Batteries may be cooked, or perhaps frozen is the operative word. Will have to see. Now, IF the truck will start in the morning we should be home for supper Sunday night. Diesels do not like cold starts and I can't get it plugged in so the morning should be interesting.

Travel report Friday January 29, 2010

Got up first thing this morning and winterized the Big Sky. Good thing too as the temperature never got to above freezing. Couldn't get the washer so had to stop at an RV place and get them to do it. Ended up near Scranton, PA for the night. Staying in a motel. Almost 800 kilometres distance for the day. Still 2 long days ahead. However no storms in the forecast. We managed to get ahead of the big storm coming from the South West and are now not too much North of it. Weather channel tonight said this could be one of the top 10 winter storms in North Carolina history. Glad we missed it. Tomorrow hope to get to NB but it is a long drive.

Got up this morning and spent a bit of time exploring Santee SP for a bit. It is a beautiful Park. The girls seemed to enjoy the break. They have a few stray cats wandering around the Park. Staff told us that some people who no longer want their pets drop them off at the Park and speed away leaving the poor things behind. Occasionally the SPCA is called in to collect them and take them away. One can only imagine.

After fueling up we were finally on the road by 10:00am. Not a good time if you expect to get far, which we did not. Stopped for lunch at the Cracker Barrel in North Carolina. Did about 500 kilometres today coming in to land at Emporia, just inside the Virginia State line along the I95. Staying the night at Yogi Bear's just off I95. Going to try to get at it early in the morning to attempt to beat the storm that is heading in our intended path along the Virginia mountains. We could be stuck there for a couple of days. It does not look good.

On Wednesday we made it to Santee South Carolina, and stayed at the Santee State Park. Good drive yesterday although it was in the wrong direction. We covered about 800 kilometres. It was much more fun traveling I95 South than North. Today we are going to try and get the rig winterized as we are heading for cold weather. Should end up the day in the Virginia mountains somewhere, hopefully North and East of Harrisonburgh.

We're spending our last full day in Florida lazin' around in the sun, walking the girls and thinking a lot about returning to the Great White North. Although we will be glad to be home, wouldn't it be best if it was in April or May? That's my thought. I will attempt to update the blog as we travel northward when I can pick up a WiFi connection here and there. So, we leave tomorrow morning, Wednesday, and expect to be back by Saturday or Sunday. We are taking a different route to get away from the big city traffic in the Boston to Washington corridor. At Richmond, Virginia we will head to the West and come North on I81 and cut back East at I84 before resuming on I95 North. The weather outlook is good right now and I hope it keeps looking that way.

The girls are at the door and ready to go for their walk!








After the walk it was back to Cracker Barrel. Yesterday Kathy had purchased an item and did not notice that the clerk had not removed the security tag. So we decided to have lunch there, again. They cater to RVer's by allowing them to park overnight in their parking lot while on the road. We will take advantage of that on our way back North.



Took this shot for Gary. He likes Corvettes.








Checked out another RV Resort on the way back. It is a very nice spot but have a 2 dog limit. That lets us out seeing as we are a 3 dog family.

Spent a bit of time with a couple of nice neighbours here at Road Runner and then back to watch a bit of football. Nice warm day, a bit of a passing shower but a bit too muggy.

Been a while since the girls have been on.

The last few days have been spent lazin' around getting lots of sun, a few shopping trips and lots of long walks with the girls. Today took a drive to West Palm Beach to have lunch with Gary and Marilyn Meade at the Cracker Barrel. Had a great time and said good bye to them until their return to Nova Scotia. The return to Winter weather is not far off and the blues have set in for sure. Oh well, a few days left which we must take full advantage of and get out and about in the summer (for us) weather.

A nice easy day, lots of sun time in our chairs, lots of time to gab and time to get in a bit of shopping for groceries. Also went to Big Al's for a bottle of fresh squeezed orange juice that Kathy has decided is superior to Tropicana. I'll see what I can do for a pic of Big Al's.





On this walk with the girls Lilly decided she wanted up on Mom's neck just the way she does while we are in the truck. That is a bad habit we are sorry we ever allowed to take hold.






On the way home we stopped in here, Kathy's favourite donut shop.

Decided that Monday would be a good day to head for Key West. This pic of Miami early in the morning. Problem is it wasn't early enough. We had a very "rushed" day due to not leaving early enough and traffic problems along the way.























Lunch was here, nice place for sure. People pull up in their boats, tie up and have a meal. I included a pic of the menu as I had never seen aliagator or dolphin on one before. Kathy and I stuck with the more traditional Yellow Tail Snapper.





Driving South thru the Keys is a beautiful site for sure. These pics could never do it justice.
























We did make it to Key West in time for the sunset over the Gulf of Mexico.

These chairs got quite a workout today in the 27 degree weather. When up and about I even managed to clean up the basement for the first time in about 3 years. Kathy attended to the inside and got her house looking pretty good.



That pretty red thing hanging above the dog pen (and part time clothes line) is a Wind Spinner. You wouldn't believe the drive we endured to obtain it, the crowds we fought off. In the store it worked perfectly and looked very pretty as it spun in the breeze of the fans blowing on it. It was impressive enough that we dropped $65 in the till and took it home with us. Now it takes gale force winds to barely have it swing back and forth let alone embark on it's, in store, colourful twirling action. Other than the money the most memorable thing I recall of that day was the skill of the saleman who sold us the Spinner.

After all this work Kathy suggested she was too tired to cook so we ended up at the Golden Corral again for another all you can eat buffet.

I'm looking at that boat way down at the end of the dock and thinking about John and Sherryl, my sister and her husband. I'm thinking of how good they would look out there sunning themselves while the staff prepared their meal in the Galley. And what better place to dock than right here at The Pelican Yacht Club in Fort Pierce, Florida. Come Spring you could always set sail for Deep Cove. What do you think Sher, should I reserve your spot?




















A few more shots of the Yacht Club on this warm and breezy Florida day.







Down to the beach where the fishing boats where coming and going with their usual followers of dolphins.







We spent a lot of time today either in our chairs soaking up the warmth, walking the beach or watching people fish. They seemed to be hauling in mostly small cat fish today. Stopped in at Publix for a few groceries on the way home. Kathy tried her best to get in a bit of shopping/browsing at Bells but informs me that she misses her sisters and her real shopping friends, other women who know how to relax and shop. Apparently I'm not a good shopping mate.

Whew, what a long day. All started well enough. We traveled to Tampa and had the good fortune to hook up with a couple whose blog I have followed faithfully for over a year now of daily posts. Doug & JoAnn were kind enough to meet us for lunch at the Cracker Barrel where we enjoyed a fish fry that was delicious. We hope to meet them again, perhaps on their next journey to Nova Scotia or maybe next year when we return to Florida. Doug wore his Nova Scotia sweatshirt in honour of our visit.

From there is was over to the big RV Super
show at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa. Talk about a super show, it was incredible! The pic to the left shows the group of Montana owners who gathered to meet at the Montana display. This was our first time being able to attend a gathering of members of the Montana Owners Club. I've written back and forth with them over the internet for the past three years but until now had never met any of them.










We barely scratched the surface at the show, I don't know how many days you would have to prowl around the grounds to see everything. The girls were with us and they had a pretty tiring day as they walked miles on their little feet. Maggie challenged several big dogs to duke it out but they all seemed more amused than threatened. It took us a lot longer to get things done because of all the people who stopped and wanted to talk about their Poms with us. Many had passed and the owners seemed to really enjoy petting our girls.

After the show the fun really began. I got snookered real good by the GPS. I punched in our return trip home and didn't pay too much attention until I realized we were getting closer than I wanted to Orlando. Well, we ended up in Orlando and after a re-program we arrived home about 2 hours later than we should have. As if the day wasn't long enough already!

One good note about the drive home was running into this place. If not on the wrong road we would have never discovered Parkesdale Farms. You have to see it to believe it. We had giant, fresh strawberry shortcake. Large, and I do mean large Navel oranges for a quarter. I saw one orange today the size of a small pumpkin. Grapefruit 5/$1.00. They were extra large too. Anyway, it is quite a place. It's in Plant City.

We headed out for this Park and had a great day. Kathy got in a good, early morning walk and managed to avoid any Bobcats. This Park has nice picnic areas and is located on a beach. So you can swim or fish although since the cold spell the water needs a bit of warming up.













The fishing boats come and go all day. You may not see them but there are a lot of dolphins following some of the boats, no doubt being fed as they follow along. Note the big Pelican sitting on the rock.













This trail is part of the Park. We had a nice stroll thu here, again on the lookout for Bobcats but we didn't come across any. No snakes either. To be honest we haven't seen a snake or a strange bug here yet.




Lunch again, an all you can eat buffet. Finally I am gaining a bit of discipline. Left there with still a bit of room in my belly. (only because this isn't our favourite one)
















Then another good dog walk. The girls will be in great shape, perhaps we will too. Kathy is surely getting in her daily quota of kilometres.

Tomorrow it's off to Tampa for the big RV show. I will meet members of the Montana Owners Club that I have emailed back and forth for 3 years but have never met.