Orlando, Jeremie and Brennan

Brennan seems to have fond memories of Bob Evans so it was off to get some turkey with all the trimmings and those world famous Bob Evans biscuits. While they are good both of my sisters and Lee make much better. Jer seems to be taking the tough cop stance while you can't get Kathy out of her sweatshirt even when the temp in well into the 70s.

A few shots around Jeremie's hotel pool.

Yesterday went to Lowe's and got a new "Q" Barbecue. We've been wanting one of those for years. Fortunately had Brennan and Jeremie here to do the assembly part.

Florida!

Arrived in Orlando last night about 9 o'clock. Not a good day of driving with a driving hard rain that at times had traffic down to 30 on the I95. Plus too many kms, over 800. Took us the rest of the night to set up and then get to bed. We both had a beautiful sleep.

Today I should have had a few pics but forgot the camera. Instead you will get a glimspe of our 2011 Christmas in South Carolina.

Joan and Kathy of course. We were in George and Monique's A Class motorhome for the festivities.

The gift pile seems to be taking on a life of it's own. We are not talking mega dollars here. Monique has quite the eye for a bargain and after listening to her describe discount after discount we all were left wondering how much the store paid her to take the stuff off their hands.

This is the motley crew. We have brothers Ron and George, Monique who is George's wife and the bargain hunter of the group and then we find Joan beside husband Ron and my dear wife Kathy in the back. We were just sitting down to our Christmas feast expertly prepared by Monique with some assistance from George. I understand he helped remove the dressing from the bird. Just kidding on the last part, George did a fantastic job with the turkey!

Not only did we celebrate the birth of Jesus on this day but Ron also had a cake for his. A great way to end the day! Happy Birthday Ron.

Getting ready for Christmas

We were out and about doing a bit of Christmas shopping in Myrtle Beach today. Found Joan and Kathy horse'n around on the farm. Good looking pair of farm girls I'd say.

Kathy did a bit of decorating in the Big Sky.

Ron and I started wearing our gifts right away. Ron bargined for these authentic Tilley hats. First he got 10% off if he bought one. He decided to think about while we had coffee. As he was telling me about his deal I mentioned how I too always wanted a Tilley hat but could never pull the trigger. He decided to go back and see if he could get 20% off two hats. The deal was made and we both returned to the store and got our hats. Kathy and Joan decided those were our Christmas presents and then decided to throw in the birthday gift too. So we are out of presents for a while.

It was a nice beach day in Myrtle Beach so Maggie and Lilly took a little run.

All in all a great day. Had lunch at an all you can eat Chinese buffet with Ron and Joan then home with a fine lasgna supper prepared by Kathy for the same crew plus Ron's brother George and his wife Monique.

Made it to SC

Got in to Myrtle Beach yesterday, last night. Not without some adventure from Ms. GPS. As someone told me, a GPS is a great tool if you know where you are going. Gave me a wrong turn in Myrtle Beach and arrived at some sort of sanctuary. I don't know, maybe that was on purpose but it wasn't where we wanted to be. Parked on the side of a very busy city street while I pondered this most unwelcomed turn of events. Decided to give my GPS gal one more shot at it. Let's face it, did I have a choice? Punched in an address and was instructed to now make a U turn on this very busy street and head back. I settled to enter a busy shopping mall filled with Christmas shoppers and perform a similar U turn on a narrow mall roadway and head back out. My everlasting thanks to some very, very kind and patient South Carolina drivers who cleared a path for some 60 feet of truck and trailer to execute this manouver needing every inch of the alloted space. GPS gal recalculated, humed and hawed and did finally lead me to the promised land. Did I say it was pitch black out?
Now we have settled in for about a week to spend some time with Joan and Ron, Kathy's sister and husband. Will spend Christmas before continuing on to Orlando to hook up with Jeremie and Brennan. Nice day today, low 70s and sunny skies.

Day 3

Started the day in Connecticut and headed West to Pennsylvania, then South thru Maryland, West Virginia and finally to Winchester, Virginia. Settled in a campground called Candy Hill and got our home all set up for the next few months.
Had a good drive today for the most part. A bit of snow, a bit of rain but warmed up nicely by the time we stopped for the day. Tomorrow it is on to South Carolina to meet up with Joan and Ron, Kathy's sister and her husband. Will be there for a few days so I will try to get some pics up.

Day 2

What a difference a day makes!

Took the Black Beast to the doctor in Houlton this morning, 7am sharp. To make a long story short she was re-energized and ready for travel in about an hour. Just had a new turbo installed recently and turns out our problems yesterday were related to that. The computed just needed to be updated with new files or whatever and she is as good as new. They did a flash to the computer and problems gone. Really booted her along today. Well, for me she was really moving. Kept her at 70 mph facing a pretty good headwind and paid the price in fuel. Running at about 9 to 10 mpg.

We are just outside Hartford, Conn. tonight. Tomorrow hoping to be in West Virginia and hoping it is mild enough to pull into an RV park and dewinterize. Wednesday in South Carolina if all goes well. Stopping there for a few days to spend some time with Kathy's sister Joan.

1st Day of the 2012 Florida Trip

Wellsir, wellsir, wellsir. Talk about your bad days. It started about 4:17 am when I first noticed the fresh fallen snow. You can't imagine bringing the Big Sky down Cottage road with a covering of snow. Down I went to spread the sand as best I could. With heart in throat we headed down, the gravel worked and we made it to the highway.
That was only the beginning of what has been a miserable day. The truck started acting up before we reached the airport. A warning came on and a pic of a wrench and a notification that power is being reduced. Apparently that can be one of many things. A tranny problem, electronic problem and other stuff. Anyway found that if I turned the truck off and restarted it would run normally for anywhere from 10 minutes to a couple of hours before having to repeat this procedure. It made for a very trying day. Never knew when you had traveled the last kilometre or who was going to tow you to who knows where.

So tomorrow will begin with a visit to the local Ford doctor who happens to be just up the street. Take it from there.

At least we are this far, alive and well. Could have been worse.

I had a pic of the truck in the yard ready to go but too tired to try and upload it now.

Forgot to mention, we made it to Houlton, Maine