Busy weekend getting ready to start another camping season. We worked on cleaning the roof yesterday, a back breaking effort for two old koots like us. (Well, one of us is an old koot)

Kathy has started the inside and that won't be a lot of fun either. Returning from Florida we left a rear window open a crack and this resulted in a salt mist covering every nook and cranny in the rig. Oh what joy that is turning out to clean. We have the roof completed, and today I cleaned and organized the basement. We also got the water running. Turns out we did a good job winterizing as there are no broken pipes or leaks of any kind. Now I have to clean and wax the outside and finish the inside and we will be good to go. Who knows? We hope to have all the cleaning finished next weekend. Our first planned trip is to Graves Island for the long weekend in May. However, we usually make it out well before that, perhaps to Keji.

Well, we're home and these pics prove it. Kathy has her winter coat on.








That white stuff Lilly is standing on is not sand.








The shiny black truck is coated in salt, parked in snow and snow flakes are falling. Oh well, on a bright note only 327 days before we head out again, next time for 2 months. Yeah!

The final day on the drive back was uneventful. We covered the final725 kilometres in sunny but cold weather. We left the RV at Bluenose RV for repairs to the inverter/battery charger. It broke down on our second day out going South. There is some doubt as to the quality of my winterizing efforts which needs some attention. Hopefully not too much trouble there.

We had a great time and can't wait to do it again at the end of this year. This is it for the blog. There is a chance I would chronicle our camping adventures this summer but it would be more for our entertainment than anything else. I doubt too many would want to follow our boring weekends aboard the Big Sky. The blog will certainly be back for our next journey South in December. It has been a great way for our families to keep check on us while we are away.

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.