Cleaning - Perm - Sunshine - Cool

March 30th - Tuesday - Sunshine - Low 57 degrees - High 65 degrees

Folks, remember the discussion about the alarm clock being set for an early wake up call, well let me tell you this morning the bugler played the "get up call" at 6:15 and both of us about jumped out of the bed. Lou told me that was the reason they cut the wires on the system in Guam so they weren't awakened before it was daylight.

MacDill is really an interesting place, it is not just for Air Force, but an international base; therefore, we see all kinds of soldiers and many different flags are displayed and hopefully tomorrow we can get out and I can get some pictures to share with all of you. It is spread out over so many acres, it will be hard to cover it all. They are still building and I mean huge expansions.

Lou took me to the beauty shop and the ladies remembered him, which really surprised him, and he was his kind self and introduced me to them, and immediately when he left, they wanted to know the whole story and told me the great admiration they all had for him in the way he had cared for his wife. Lou and I have talked about this so many times, and as each of us cared for our departed spouses we did so without thinking about the hardship, we just did what had to be done and continued to love them probably more, than before. God gifted both of us with a special gift that we used to the best of our ability. We both agreed we would do it all again if we needed to do so.

Lou and I spent most of the morning with another in depth Bible study that started in Mark and ended with 3rd John. So today at the beauty shop it showed exactly what we had been studying. By what Lou and I did for our departed spouses, we were able to share our gifts with the outside world and set examples that are noticed by other folks that we are not aware of until much later, perhaps not until we are before God in heaven.

When Lou came to pick me up at the shop, the girls shared with him, their pleasure in knowing that he was happy and could spend the rest of his life with someone that he loved and could have time to enjoy his life. This was all to his amazement and he told me on the way home that God was certainly working in his life. What a wonderful experience for both of us.

We washed our car on the way home and had intended to get the inside cleaned out when we got home. but it was a bit chilly, so I prepared dinner, which consisted of barbecued beef, yellow rice w/ black beans and for dessert we enjoyed fresh strawberry shortcake.

I forgot to mention here at MacDill they also sound a siren at noon and then at 4:30, they play Taps and then The Star Spangled Banner and it is very rewarding to see everyone stop, salute, and place their hand over their heart until all is finished. Talk about warm and fuzzy..

Tonight is NCSI, so off for the evening.

Day Trip to Sun City,FL

March 29th - Monday - Rain - Power outages - Tornadoes - High 72 degrees

We were awakened several times last night with the sound of wind and rain and when we finally got up with the alarm this morning, we realized we had an interruption in our power. Lou started checking the amperage of our RV and found out we were not getting what we should have had, so we shut everything down and heard that there had been tornadoes around. As you can see from the picture everything around us was flooded and we had to walk through water to get to the car.

We ate a quick breakfast and drove out to the BX to make an appointment for me to get a perm tomorrow afternoon, then back to the RV to pick up Estee and we drove up to Sun City and spent a very enjoyable afternoon and evening with Lew and Joanne Niles. It turned very cold while we were with them. They had been picking strawberries and they sent a quart home with us, so tomorrow night, it will be fresh shortcake for dessert. We made plans to go camping with them at Ives Run this summer. Neither of us have camped there, so am looking forward to that, as they are such fun. They are also close neighbors of ours in Pennsylvania.

From the weather it looks like we are going to have some warmer weather by the end of the week and I think everyone around here is ready for it. I am hoping they will have warmer weather in North Carolina, as my grandson, Shawn and his wife, Maegan and their four daughters are leaving PA to spend spring break with our other grandson, Travis and his wife Noell and son, Wyatt at Cherry Point and it will be the first time the little girls have seen the ocean and Lou and I want them to have nice weather so they can enjoy themselves.

Palm Sunday - Rain

March 28th - Palm Sunday - High 65 degrees - humid and thundershowers later

We jumped out of bed early this am to get ready for 9:00 service. Lou had heard the Chaplain at the Famcamp chapel and was anxious for me to hear him. There were approximately 75 campers in attendance. Lou was right it was a wonderful service with a lot of singing. The message was a powerful thought on the scripture of Matthew 27:51 regarding the temple curtain being rent from top to bottom. He shared some facts with us regarding the construction of the curtain. 60'x30', the colors were blue, purple and scarlet, taking 300 priests to move it, held up with pillars of gold which were 8' in length.

The chaplain told how the priests would take the sacrificed blood behind the curtain and how after the curtain was rent, God opened the door between Himself and His people. Now Jesus is there and having shed His blood for us for the forgiveness of our many sins. Girls, what we heard today was a Southern Baptist message, Amens and all. I throughly enjoyed it as did DH. Not that I am going to change churches, but do have an appreciation for all kinds of worship and the different ways of presenting the message. Good to see that God uses all in different ways.

After church we fixed an omlett for breakfast and then spent the afternoon catching up on our study of Mark. It was a wonderful day to spend in the scripture with reading and discussion.

As we were ready to start laundry, we had a heck of a thundershower, and you can see from the pictures, it was some rain. Lou was glad to see it, as that way he didn't have to wash the car.

I took advantage of having electricity today and put a beef roast into the crock pot, so tonight for dinner we enjoyed roast beef, mashed potatoes w/ gravy, creamed onions, tossed salad and for dessert we enjoyed strawberry roll jelly cake.

We are enjoying Amish Grace on television this evening and tomorrow we are off to visit with friends.

MacDill AFB * Visitor

March 27th - Saturday - Beautiful sunny Day - High 85 Degrees - low humidity

We were awakened by a phone call from one of our square dancing friends that is currently in Florida and they were wanting to know when we were coming to see them. Told us they were out picking strawberries, and we should be there to get some also. He told us they were the sweetest they had ever picked. So guess you all know where we are going to be on Monday. Then a night of dancing.

We left Scott's around 10:30 this am and had an uneventful drive to MacDill. Note the picture of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. Girls, do you remember the first time we went over the bridge. You both were a little afraid we must fall off!! Lou stopped before we crossed the bridge so we could get a picture of it.

We arrived at MacDill around 1:00 pm, and DH picked out a wonderful site. Close to the Bay, laundry house with Clotheslines!! and to the beach. We have shade trees, a cement pad and I will take a picture and post it soon.

I got the house cleaned up and then we ran to the commisory to get some groceries, and by the time we got home and got them put away, it was almost 9:00 when we had dinner. The day and evening have gone very quickly.

While I was cleaning up the house, I took Estee out to go potty and this little character was outsider of our door. Estee has hurt her leg and refuses to walk on the left hind leg, so I was carrying her, and probably was a good thing, perhaps she and the armadillo might have become more friendly.

Tomorrow morning we have church at 9:00 on the base, then we are going to do laundry and wash the car, so we will have things caught up so we can play on Monday. DH thinks it is going to be hard to leave in two weeks, and I certainly have to agree, it is a wonderful base and just beautiful surroundings and I promise to post more pictures in the days to come.

In North Port, FL Enjoying a Good Cigar

March 26th - Friday Rain Early and sunny and warmer later

We awoke to rain this am, so we didn't hurry to break camp. Had a breakfast of bacon, eggs and bagels, and then began putting things away ready for travel. We left our campsite around

10:30 and stopped for gas and arrived at Scott's around 1:00 pm.

We have enjoyed sitting in the back yard at Scott's house chatting while the guys enjoyed a good cigar. Both of the guys said it had been a very long time, Lou thought it was 1984 when he had his last, so they got the most out of our purchases at the Cigar Shop in Key West.

Scott has put two huge pork roast in his smoker for dinner, and fixed a wonderful corn casserole to go with it and a tossed salad with freshly baked bread. Nikki is here also, so have had a chance to talk with her also.

Short post tonight, with catching up to do by all of us. We have a great camp site tonight and tomorrow we are off to Mac Dill.

Visit with Friends

March 25th - Thursday Temp 74 degrees and cloudy most of the afternoon

We decided at the last moment last evening to do all of our laundry and not have to hurry so much this morning, so at midnight last night we were finishing our laundry. Probably is a good thing we did that, as it is so crowded here, as you can see from the photo of our site, we wouldn't been able to have gotten it finished prior to leaving to spend the day with Doris.

I had the great pleasure of meeting Doris Swenson today. I have heard so many stories about she and her husband, that it was nice to be able to put a face with the name. Her husband and Lou spent many years together as they both served in the AirForce as Flight Engineers. Both were on Ole Shakey and from what I have heard there was a great love for that plane.

Doris fixed us a lovely lunch of shrimp salad on lettuce, fresh asparagus, hard boiled eggs, a wonderful seeded whole wheat bread and fresh fruit salad. For dessert, she fixed one of my favorites, tapioca pudding with lemon-ginger cookies. After lunch we cleared off the dining room table and we played bid Euchre. Lou had tried to remember how to play it before with Pres and Susie and he couldn't remember the exact rules, well Pres, we are ready to play now. She plays cards twice a week and we found that there were many games that she played that Lou and I have also played and had forgotten about. She wanted us to stay and play with her group this evening, but we had left Estee in the RV and we had been gone for almost eight hours, and needed to get back and let her out.

We arrived home to find that she had done really well, but was certainly ready to go out and was glad to see us. Normally, we do not leave her that long; however, by having electricity, we knew she would have A/C and in that area would be alright.

The pictures that I have posted show the Red Mangroves and you can see the tannic acid in the water, making it brown. The Red Fish like to live in the Mangroves. This is a fish that Scott likes to fish for. One picture shows the green air plants that are growing on a fallen log. We saw many with orchids blooming on them. Kris, many with the stag-horn ferns also.

The picture of Lou and Doris and then you will also see Doris' daughter Susie. She will be retiring this year and stopped by on her way home from school. She agreed with Doris, that Lou looks so much healthier and younger, so he came away feeling pretty good about life in general.

Tomorrow, we are off to Scott's house for the night and and a tour of Venice. You can see from the picture of our site, we are crammed in here, Estee doesn't even like to go outside, Lou says its too crowded for both dogs!! We are hopeful MacDill won't be like this.

ELECTRICITY !!!

March 24th - Wednesday Low- 58 High 85 Sunny-beautiful

We left the Everglades at 10:30 am and hated to leave the beautiful birds that were in our yard. We had a large amount of Catbirds, Cardinals, Mockingbirds, and of course, crows.....

We stopped at Dade Corner for gas and paid $2.95 a gallon in hopes we could get cheaper gas when we got closer to Fort Myers.

We saw many alligators, birds and turtles on our way up route 41 along the canal. Beautiful drive up to Fort Myers. We stopped at the Information Center and made our lunch and let Estee out to walk and then traveled in the rest of the way. We are right on Tamiani Trail and that is one of my favorite routes in Florida. Scott told me many years ago if I remembered that route, I could get myself about any place I wanted to go.

Lou and I arrived at Shady Acres at 3:15 PM, and I helped Lou set up on the outside and then I came inside and turned on the air conditioning and went to work. This is the first time we have had electricity since the 11th of February. What a treat, and I let the water run while I did dishes this evening.

I fixed a orange glazed chicken for dinner and we both enjoyed having glass dinnerware and all of the niceties. While I was doing dishes, Lou had a phone call from his Grandson in the service and they had a nice chat. We had been praying for him, as he was a little discontented with his current assignment, but seems like things are working out better for him now. This pleased his Grandpa. Now that we are back in cell phone area, the phones have rung all evening. We have lots of laundry to do tonight and need to get to that.

Lou called his friend, Doris tonight and we are going there tomorrow for lunch. We will be here tomorrow night and then we go on to Scott's house.

Second day in Everglades

Everglades Day 2

March 23rd - Tuesday - 59 degrees low - 78 degrees high - Beautiful sunny day with bright blue sky

We were awakened by the alarm at 7:30, let Estee outside and went back to bed, as we can’t start the generator until 8:00 and it was 60 degrees in the RV.

We fixed our breakfast and secured the RV with Estee for the day and left for Flamingo which is 35 miles to the south of us. That of course, is the furthest you can drive in the Everglades. Our plan was to drive down and work our way back, stopping at all of the sites on the way home.

While we were driving down, Lou noticed he only had a quarter tank of gas, and we had not seen anything that looked like a gas station. When we arrived at the ranger station in Flamingo, we asked and yes, they kept gas at the Marina, so we decided maybe we should indulge in the $3.89 a gallon petro, might be better than walking back the 32 miles. On Star wouldn’t be much help there.

We toured the displays that were at Flamingo and found them very interesting and the ranger was very knowledgeable. We were on the ocean again, so were able to see Dolphins, Manatees along with the many birds.

We were able to pick up sandwiches very reasonable at the Marina, so we purchased our lunch and Lou wanted to go back to the car to eat, instead of eating along the ocean…….Go Figure, Pres, you know what happens at noon. RUSH, next time I will be the strong one!! It made for a good laugh and we did have an enjoyable lunch.

After lunch we set out for the sights on the way back. We stopped at West Lake and took the walking tour of the Red, Black and White Mangroves, and it was explained to us that the Red Mangroves emit tannic acid and that is why the waters are dark around them. They also emit a sulfur smell. Scott had told me much of this and I had forgotten it. We both found all of this very interesting.

We were able to view and recognize the mahogany tree, gumbo, bald cypress. The bald cypress are just beginning to get their new green needles and I found them to be very soft, unlike our hemlocks.

We took one board walk tour that took us over The Slough Slog, which gave us a sweeping view of the river of grass, but when you look down at it, it is all water underneath it with all kinds of tiny fish and creatures. Truly amazing.

We arrived home about 5:00 and we picked up Estee and drove to a Nike Missile Site near our campsite, but when we got there the gates were closed, so we will have to do that tour another time. This was something new to Lou and he found it very interesting.

Tonight poor Lou is battling the mosquitoes. They seem to love the taste of his sweet blood, that was one nice thing about Key West, we never saw or heard one.

Tomorrow we are on to Fort Myers and city life again.

On The Way to Everglades

March 22nd - Monday 71 degrees = Rain at 9:00 am

After saying goodbye to our neighbors and thanking our coffee hosts, Ralph and Irene with promises of seeing them in nine months, we left Key West at 9:00 in the rain.

We drove in rain most of the way and arrived in Florida City around noon, we stopped at “Roberts” for fresh fruit and veggies, let me tell you it was no bargain, I was so hungry for a fresh local tomato, and I paid $1.50 a pound, they also had fresh sugar and cream sweet corn and it was $7.95 for six years, Jerry, we sold it too cheap!! I also bought apple bananas and they were $1.50 a pound, and they are delicious.

As we drove into the Everglades, I was amazed at the huge fields of produce. Migrant workers were at S&B beans picking string beans, great fields of tomatoes, summer squash and corn. After seeing the prices, Lou and I decided maybe we had better enlarge our garden this year.

We arrived at Everglades National Park, Long Pine Key Campgrounds, around 1:00, and were told we could pick out our own site, which was a nice way of doing it. We have a really nice site, with lots of green grass and a paved spot for the RV. See the above picture. Estee has good boundary lines and stays right in our yard.

We quickly got settled and had some lunch and we were off exploring. I can tell you folks, the Everglades at this time of the year it not at all what I expected. It looks more like Africa, and I told Lou I expected to see a Hippo or an elephant bathing her baby instead of a gator.

The owner of “Roberts” suggested that we go to Royal Palm and take the walking tour, so that was our first stop, and it was wonderful. I took many pictures of the birds, soooo many different kinds and at one place in the sunshine we counted 21 alligators are basking in the sun. The way these tours are set up are with huge board walks going out into the mangroves and cypress areas so you can see exactly what everything is and how they live in their own habitat. We have seen fish and birds with freshwater habitat and plants and trees that live in the Hardwood hammock and also the birds and animals that live in the saltwater habitat.

We were told by one guide that the Robins usually leave here in March; however, they are still here, so that tells him that the north can still expect more cold weather, sorry about that guys.

The one thing Lou and I wanted to see is the Florida Panther. We see signs along the road warning us of their crossings, but we have yet to see one.

Kris and Sue they have Kite birds here, but I wasn’t able to get a picture of them. Lots of Wood Storks, Michelle you will remember we saw one of those at Uncle Scott’s house. In fact he took a picture of it. My favorite was the roseate spoonbill, he is pink and huge. Kris, I took pictures of many of the airplants for you, I wish you could have seen them.

We ended up back at the campsite after dark and you can’t use the generator here after 8:00, so we had to use the gas stove and heated water for tea, and made some soup for dinner, There are no restaurants here, in fact, no nothing. Very primitive, and very poor reception on the XM radio. Cell phones are very quiet. We were both really tired last night and were in bed at 10:00. It was also much cooler here, we changed out of short and into jeans again.

Last Day in Key West 2010

March 21st - Sunday Low 70 degrees - High 82 degrees, humid and thundershowers

We woke up during the night and it was very humid and warm in the RV, so we knew we had experienced a change in the weather. Lou opened the windows and Estee quickly went to the side of the bed, so she could have a breeze on her also.

We left for church and enjoyed the company of many of our new friends and said a farewell to them, with a promise with God's guidance that we would be back next year, maybe a little earlier.

We certainly have enjoyed our new pastor and the folks that have befriended us at First Methodist Church of Key West. We went to Camille's for lunch/breakfast with our choir director and his wife, Lou ordered his favorite lobster omlett and I enjoyed a Greek salad. We arrived home about 3:00 pm thinking we would clean out the compartments under the RV, but it was very humid and we decided we would wait a bit, then we got started on some bookkeeping, and it did get late.

We did get one compartment cleaned out. Just as we were getting started Lou got a phone call and I kidded him, he talked all of the time while, I crawled up into the compartment took everything out, ran the sweeper in it and washed everything off and threw away things that were not used and needed and replaced everything back in the compartment in a orderly way. As he hung up, I was finished, and was a good thing, as it was beginning to get darker and some thunder was heard.

We quickly got the car pulled around to the rear of the RV and Lou got it connected ready for our departure tomorrow morning. We got the slides in just before the rain came down, both of us got a bit damp, and came inside just as our SMART friends pulled in to tell us goodbye. We chatted with them, and then fixed a light dinner and now we are listening to this debate regarding the Bill that is trying to get passed............

Do keep in mind that I will not be posting for several days, as we are going to the Everglades and there will not be any access, in fact only restroom. Now this will be primitive. I will write a post but won't get it on line until we reach Fort Myers on Wednesday. We are not sure what cellphone coverage we will have either.

Quick Tour of Key West Flower Display

March 20th - Saturday First Day of Spring Low 61 Degrees - High 75 Degrees - Sunny, blue sky and light breeze

We awoke to a beautiful morning, with the purr of generators on both sides of us. The couple behind us were up early to take their kids to the airport to fly back to Vermont. Ron, on the other side of us was on his way to the beach to soak up the rays. Lou and I made plans to get the house cleaned up and the sheets washed and bed made back up and then have the rest of the afternoon to do what we wanted.

Guess you all know day to day routine doesn't work like that, as I was pulling the sheets off the bed, I noticed a nail that had worked out in the paneling by the bed, we got to looking a little further and noted more nails had pulled out, so we were off to Home Depot to get some nails and liquid nails or some type of glue. Who can go into Home Depot and look around, not me, much to Lou's amazement. I would rather shop in there than Sacks, so I guess we could say we wasted a lot of time there.

I had also gotten Lou several pair of new shorts at Beals yesterday, and we wanted to return one pair, so got him to go in with me and that took some time also, then a stop at Walgrens,so by the time we got the nails driven in, our new purchases put away and the RV cleaned up we were a little late leaving for the flower show, and we had to hurry through it a bit, but my gosh, how beautiful it was. We both enjoyed it immensely. Next year, will need to go back and have more time to spend there.

For dinner this evening, we went back to Lou's favorite Cuban restaurant/ I had told DH that I was just going to order yellow rice and black bean soup and he told me I couldn't do that, so I got stuffed shrimp again and we both ordered conch chowder and of course, it was served with a loaf of freshly baked Cuban buttered bread. We ended our meal with Key Lime Pie, this one was served with meringue which is the way I make it at home.

We have both made phone calls home today, called Tim and Sue to wish them Happy Anniversary, but didn't reach time, hopefully, they were out enjoying the spring weather and having a wonderful anniversary dinner. Kris, Steve and Michelle were in Elizabethtown to make the final arrangements for Michelle to attend college there in the fall. All are excited about that. Talked to Shawn and Maegan this week and they are all excited, as they are preparing for a vacation to visit Trav, Noell and Wyatt. We thank God for all of our family and their health and the ability to go and do what they want to do.

Tomorrow is church and will be the last service we are able to attend here in Key West. We delayed out departure so we could attend this Sunday, and if all goes well we will be at MacDill next Sunday for Palm Sunday.

Folks, can you spot the two small lizards in two different pictures....

Excitement in our Front Yard

March 19th - Friday Low 62 degrees - High 68 degrees very light breeze, cloudless, bright blue sky.

We were awakened by a phone call from our friend that left for the northern climate. Bill was laughing and thanking Lou for suggesting he stay in Alligator Alley on the way north, when he got up this morning he was captive in his RV, as there was an alligator right outside of his door staring him in the eye. Good thing it wasn't us w/ Estee, she would have been breakfast for the gator. Gosh, it was good to hear from Bill, we really miss he and Joan now that they have left.

We sat and talked until noon today, trying to make some serious decisions about our lives and what is going to be best for us at this point. Finally, we decided we needed to get dumped and I wanted to get the rugs washed and extra laundry done, before setting out on Monday. We ran out to the base for gasoline in the RV and got enough to get us out of Key West. I finished the laundry and we worked on the rear jacks to the RV, tried something different to help them retract.

We walked over town tonight for dinner. Jimmy Buffet has a place here and of course the Margareta is a very popular drink here, and I wanted to try one so we both enjoyed a glorified slushy lemonade and called it dessert, as it cost more than most desserts. Lou had blackened grouper for dinner and I chose wood grilled scallops and shrimp with rice and black beans. Our table faced the pier, so we watched all of the sail boats come in as the sun set, was a wonderful sight and one we will both remember. We both love walking over town on the board walk and watching the ships. The water never has an odor, just a sweet refreshing smell, much different from other piers we have visited.

As I was walking home from the laundry this afternoon, I noticed a helicopter overhead and thought he was going to drop navy seals from the chopper; however, he came closer and closer and the next thing I knew he landed in front of our rig. I took the pictures from our door. I loved watching the navy men in their flight suits get out and secure their bird for the night and drive up to their lodging. I so enjoy watching the boys rather it is the Coast Guards or the Navy boys, they are all so friendly and love to chat about their work and what they are planning on doing.

It's late and tomorrow will be a busy day, I want to clean and get things secured for the trip and then we will play the last day we are here. Tomorrow night we are going to Lou's favorite Cuban haunt and we are both looking forward to that. Tomorrow our neighbors from Virginia leave and they have been here since January.

Ship Wreck Treasure Museum

March 18th - Thursday High 65 degrees - Low 62 - Partly cloudy with the normal breeze

After a lovely evening of much laughter and gaiety and enjoying our dessert together with our friends from SMART, we said goodbye to Bill and Joan and prayed for a safe trip for them to return to PA, Lou and I went to bed and "died". We didn't wake up until the alarm went off at 7:30 and we let Estee out to go "potty" and we were cold and crawled back into bed and we all went back to sleep and slept until almost 10:00.

We enjoyed a quick breakfast of fresh papaya, cereal and banana and took Estee for a walk and were planning on leaving for our day down town, but got side tracked by two new neighbors and chatted with them, so we got a late start.

Once again we parked at Truman Annex and walked over town. I love to do that, as Truman Annex is where all of the beautiful homes are. I just ooh and ahh over the homes and the gardens, today Lou even pointed out bananas that were growing. That was a first for me.

We arrived at The Shipwreck Treasures Museum, and while we were waiting for the guide to get ready, Lou purchased us a Key Lime Float for us to share, yummy. The Museum was one of the highlights of my trip. It covered 400 years of the Key West Wreckers and the fortunes that were lost beneath of the waves. There were two floors of shipwreck artifacts and treasures in a captivating recreation of master salvager Asa Tift's 19th century warehouse. We even got to lift a genuine silver bar from 1656. After the two hour tour we climbed the 65 foot lookout tower to view a seven mile stretch of the ocean.

While we were at the Museum, it turned cold, so we went to the Roof Top Restaurant for lunch.

We both ordered Conch Chowder and he ordered a shrimp salad sandwich and I ordered curried chicken salad. After a delightful lunch we set out for an exclusive cigar shop. That brought us to Key West Cigar City USA and a delightful man named Mark Cesani, what fun he was, and we had an enjoyable time with him.

After we left the Cigar shop we went to the Mallory Square and that is where I found out what Mr. Flager had done, and why a street and statue was named for him. He along with Mr. Rockefeller founded Standard Oil Company and became rich men!!! We would have liked to have stayed longer there; however, it started to sprinkle and we were cold, so we started the walk back to the car. We got in the car, and Lou turned the heater on and we came back home and turned on the furnace. It was cute, when we pulled in our new neighbor, Ron, was outside, turning his generator on and telling us he needed heat also and he bet our puppy was cold!! I quickly changed and put on jeans and a sweater and Lou did the same.

I put my St. Patrick's day things away tonight and got out the Easter things, more about that later.

Tomorrow will be time to dump again and will need to fill up with gasoline. Not very good gas mileage again!!

Special Home-Made Dessert

March 17th - Wednesday Cool again with rain throughout the night, ending around 3:00 pm.

We awoke to rain, and lingered in bed, as I had decided this would be a good day to clean and get things caught up, so no hurry getting out of bed.

Last evening, we decided we would create something "naughty" for dessert for tonight. Our friends, Bill and Joan are leaving for the north tomorrow, and we wanted to have them over tonight for dessert and chatter.

Lou and I had so much fun making this and what a mess we had to clean up after, it was a little difficult to make it here in the RV, but by all looks it turned out alright and tonight will prove our point.

I did clean up the house today and gave Estee a bath, and did the rest of the ironing and have made a spinach quiche for dinner. Lou has started a new book of Zane Grey's. This will be his 9th book while we have been gone. We are loving the time to read and truly relax.

Today we spent some time with two new sets of neighbors. One family are retired from the Air-force, so you know Lou and he had lots to talk about, the other gentleman is by himself, younger than us with a brand new motor home. He stopped at Lazy Days on his way d own and purchased a new RV and now is enjoying the fruits of his efforts. I had baked choc chip cookies this afternoon and couldn't find Lou for the first ones out of the oven, and found him with our neighbor, so they both got to enjoy the cookies.

Tomorrow we are going to venture down town again, for out last full day of fun here before going to the Everglades.

Scott called last night and refuses for us to pass so close to his house without stopping on our way to MacDill, so will spend next Friday and evening at their house and will park at his house. He and Lou have it all worked out. Scott and Greg leave on Saturday for a special race in Jacksonville, but a least we will be able to enjoy being together and Lou will get to go up to Venice and see why I like it so much. Darn our time is closing in on us.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

A lizard ready to eat a worm Cruise Ship Entry to Westin Hotel

ESTEE WISHING ALL A HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!

March 16th Tuesday Low 58 degrees High 66 degrees breezy with lots of Sunshine

When we awoke this morning, we knew it was cooler and it has stayed cool all day long and Lou has been cold all day. He dressed in shorts this am and he didn't get warmed up until he took Estee and got in the car and read his book. Then they both got sleepy and had a nap!!

I got the laundry caught up again, after getting the ironing all done yesterday, I can do a little more tomorrow. We are supposed to have rain tomorrow, so want to bake some cookies and make a quiche for dinner. I asked DH if he remembered what I fixed him last year on St. Patrick's day and he did, but not going to do it this year, a bit of a grumble here.

We did go to Sigsbee today and got tickets to see several things that we wish to do before leaving here. Stopped at Daddy Bones for more pork barbecue and toured several of the stores that looked interesting.

Have been doing some research on a SD card for internet coverage while we are traveling and so far Verizon has the best deal, want to research this a little further. Seems like Frontier, which is my telephone carrier at home, would offer something like this.

We did sit down today to make plans for the rest of our time while in the south. We are leaving here on the 22nd will spend two nights in the Everglades, two nights in Fort Myers and then drive to MacDill and stay there for two weeks and then head up the coast and spend time at St. Simonds Island in Georgia, planning on being at Trav and Noell's on the weekend of March 17 and 18 then start home and take our time going north. Probably arriving home around the 23rd of April.

We spent part of our evening last night looking at pictures that Ande had taken in Italy, all very beautiful and interesting. We are so happy for the kids that they got to go and just wish they would have had more time to explore the area.

We have noted that gasoline prices keep getting higher, and it is now up to 3.08 on the base, so getting home is going to be an expensive and an interesting trip, as most of them are.

Hope everyone has a special St. Patrick's Day.............