Back On the Road-Finally

  Today is Friday June 23, 2017 and we are back in Georgia. The trailer is finally repaired and we are camped at Fair Harbor RV Park in Perry, GA

We picked up the trailer yesterday at Camping World in Byron, GA. Many thanks to Andy the service manager and Bob the parts specialist. They got us back on the road in 17 days, and at no cost to us. Camping World in Tampa paid the bill. Basically a whole new roof was put on, a new awning, and a new Winegard wifi Connect antenna.

Doreen waits in the truck while they bring our trailer out.

I have to be honest- I was quite stressed out during the 17 days of waiting. We dropped the trailer off on June 5 and returned home to Lakeland and the waiting and not knowing when or if we were going to get back on the road. Added to the stress was not being able to turn back on our wifi and cable with Spectrum (formally Brighthouse). Their policy is to allow only one service suspension per year so if we wanted to turn everything back on we would not be able to shut it off again until next June. I ended up buying a Straight Talk Wireless hotspot from Walmart and luckily the basic cable was still on (no DVR or box).

  The whole experience presented a whole set of problems from beginning to end: we had to pack up the contents of the refrigerator and freezer along with all the cat food and buy foam coolers to transport the food. I had bought tickets to baseball games; one in Denver and one in Los Angeles and we were probably not going to make it to; I had to cancel numerous campground reservations for all of June and then had to figure out based on when we got the trailer if we were going to make any after that.

  In the mean time we acted like tourists in Lakeland taking the Frank Lloyd Wright tour at Florida Southern:

  So here we are in Perry for four days. Our next stop is Hidden Cove RV Park in Arley, Alabama then five days in North Little Rock, Arkansas. After that is up in the air. We are going to take it slow and be spontaneous. 

Stay  tuned.

  

DISASTER STRIKES!

Hello all, our ambitious trip is all but a dream now. There will be no telling when we will get on the road due to a disastrous turn of events.

We left Lakeland on Wednesday about 11 AM and arrived at our first stop here in Elko, Georgia at Twin Oaks Campground

We have a nice site and after we were set up I noticed a loose screw laying on the bed. I looked up and saw the roof vent was open. Not a good sign since I knew I had closed it before leaving, also I saw white material sticking up; once again not a good sign.

I climbed onto the roof and this is what I saw:

  As you can see the rubber is ripped away from the wood. How this happened is a mystery. There were no low clearance overpasses or tunnels or low hanging limbs. I did not hit anything.

I did have the roof resealed at Camping World in Tampa before we left and I am in communication with them and the local Camping World in Macon. The prognosis is bleak. Floyd at the Camping World here in Georgia said a repair is going to take a month accounting for time to get the rubber and the lengthy install plus he has four customers ahead of me.
  Now for the really bad news: if I have to pay for this it will cost $7500- $10000!!

  Of course the rain is coming and I did plan for that. I stopped at Walmart last night after watching the hockey game at Buffalo Wild Wings to by a blue tarp and duct tape.
  Now we have to decide what our next step will be. The most sensible course of action will probably be dropping the trailer off at Camping World here (I don't want to risk bringing it back 340 miles to Florida with rain being a possibility anytime which would make matters much worse). In a best case scenario I would then return home to wait until the trailer is repaired and then go get it. That is only if Camping World pays for the repairs because I don't have ten grand to invest for repairs after spending $5300 already in upgrades and other maintenance.
  I have cancelled all of our reservations for the next month. We will then wait and see how all this unfolds.  As I stated in a best case scenario we will then return to the road; worst case scenario is sell the trailer for whatever we can get for it and cut our losses.
  This is hugely disappointing as I so looked forward to blogging about all of travels.

A Day at the beach and in the sky plus new adventures await

  Hello friends, The time has come to hit the road again for the upcoming summer of 2017. We have had a two year hiatus while I worked, but now the itch is too powerful and the raod calls. First let me bring everyone up to date with some of our travels from the past year.
  We took a trip to Pennsylvania last summer but under somber circumstances. My mother Kay became ill and passed away on August 1, 2016. Luckily I got to spend time with her before her passing. When we returned to Florida I was in no rush to return to work so a camping trip to Disney was in order for the International Food and Wine Festival:

We camped at Disney's Fort Wilderness:

  The amenities are outstanding there and we got a great Florida resident's rate.

  Later in the year we took a trip to the Florida Keys for Thanksgiving week. The trip had been planned eleven months before with two other couples. We stayed at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park:

We took a tour on a glass bottom boat to the coral reef:

Wildlife at the campsite: 

Fortunately I didn't need rehab after the trip.

A day trip to Islamorada to Robbies, where you can eat, drink, snorkel, shop, and hand feed the tarpon:

It was surprising I could convince Doreen to go parasailing:

Then is was back to work until April. Doreen wanted to celebrate her 60'th birthday in St. John, U.S Virgin Islands. We stayed at Caneel Bay Resort which is the only property located within the Virgin Islands National Park

:

Of the numerous pristine beaches on the island Trunk Bay was the only one with a beach wheelchair:

A sunset view during the birthday dinner:

The resort was stunning and all activities are included:

The view from The Rum Shack in Cruz Bay while sipping on a Rum Runner where everyone is having a good time:

The day of departure has arrived:

 We will be going on a five month trip across the western U.S. starting May 31. Stay tuned because this will be our most ambitious trip to date. The trailer is at Camping World getting upgrades and repairs and hopefully will be ready in time. 

Where Have We Been??

  The time has passed quickly and a year and-a-half has elapsed since my last post. Life is funny sometimes; one day you are doing what you dreamed of doing and the next you are back to the daily grind of everyday life. Such is the case with us.
  Doreen and I returned from our last road trip in October 2014 and we settled in for another Florida winter. The days were filled with golf

 and socializing and other events such as a day at Tampa Downs:

A spring training game, Pirates vs. Tigers in Lakeland at Joker Marchant Stadium:

Trips to the Disney parks:

In October 2015 Doreen took a train trip to Scranton to see her family, leaving me and the cat to fend for ourselves:

Winter Haven Amtrak Station

I picked her up at the Lakeland Amtrak station  two weeks later:

That brings me to the question of "where have I been and why haven't I been posting anything about our travels?"  I became restless so I decided to find a part-time job. I got hired by a security company called G4S Secure Solutions and began working as a Custom Protection Officer at the Polk County Courthouse in Bartow, FL in April 2015.

The courthouse was opened in 1986 and is rather bland when compared to the old courthouse located a block away:

  Part-time turned into full time and I have been working ever since. Our travels are on hold temporarily, perhaps until next summer.