Today at Lido Beach

Here are you photos of today's sunset. We have seen more spectacular.

We had almost given up on getting online here. What an exercise in frustration. MDT went to the office today and discovered that it was no better there at hot spot ground zero. So, she suggested, diplomatically of course, that they might just reboot the server. She used other words like "wan" as well. The person behind the desk said that they would be in touch with the expert in charge of the server. The official rebooter???? Anyway, tonight we seem to be able to get online, but I am typing as fast as I can, and getting the photos on as well.

Just between you and us, we are having the scratchy throat that tells us there might just be a touch of red tide around. Since we have encountered this before here, and since we have a nice shiny new RV, we are thinking of selling and seeing if we might find a lovely RV resort-perhaps on the Atlantic. Less shells, but more breathable.

In the meantime, we are enjoying all of the excellent fresh food at Whole Foods and Morton's market, as well as the Ravioli Company. Last night featured grilled lamb chops with delicata squash, onions and honey crisp apples (from Vermont) with a salad. Tonight the salad was topped with alligator pear-the real Florida kind, tomato, marinated garlic, marinated mushrooms, marinated black olives, and topped with a chipotle ranch dressing (Cindy's Kitchen). It was served with spicy Italian sausage ravioli topped with Puttanesca sauce. We were some happy whores. Maybe tomorrow we will return to Morton's for their prize winning Key Lime Pie.

Great Day at the Beach

The day at the beach starts for me after I am coffeed up and ready to move. No cameras in the AM. Just a bottle of water and two plastic grocery bags for collecting beach stuff.

In the evening, it is all about a reclining chair on the beach with a camera, a good book, and the sunset. This evening, after the sunset photoshoot, we had an extra treat. Two dolphins came right up to the beach. It is really hard to get a head shot, as it happens so fast, but I was able to get a dorsal fin shot.

Da Beach

Da Beach

I explored the beach this morning while MDT got her stretches done in the hot tub and pool. We both had a great time.

The little moon must be having it’s way with the water, because the shoreline is a good 20 feet further out than I remember in years past. Even high tide would not make such a difference. Generally, I must stop my walk at the wall of the last hotel, as the water is shallow but up to the wall even at low tide. This visit, I have plenty of shelling room, and can get past the wall to the public park at the end of the island. Indeed, there was a group of bocce beachers this morning.

I’m collecting shell bits based on color in hopes of making a mosaic sometime this winter or spring. Perhaps Lena will lend her expertise. Those turkey wings are so fabulous.

Perhaps we will do a bit of running around during the heat of the day. That Whole Foods is almost irresistible. We are really looking forward to Fresh Market opening in Gainesville.

Sunset: This is what sunset looks like when there is a storm in the Gulf headed towards Huston.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggidy Jig

Home again, home again, jiggidy jig

No blogs recently, eh? Bloggers are tired. Whooped! But happy.

It was grueling-the deadlines, the moving, the arranging, the unpacking and laundry. However, the driving still makes Marcia smile, and we had several days of hot tub, massage chair, and home sweet home.

Donna and Lena left us fun decorations. Since there was no time for photos, I will have to add them to the blog when we get home again.

Most surprising was the papaya grove. They were volunteers in the herb bed-seeds germinated in kitchen compost. When we left they were at most 2 ft tall. They now rise above the roofline and sport pendulous green papaya. I’ve pulled out Cheryl’s recipe from Thailand (the one that calls for a table of prawns), and bought fish sauce. When we get home again, I’ll work on that recipe. Lots of the ingredients are “to taste”, so it may take some doing to get it right. Perhaps a dish for Second Saturday.

So, we enjoyed home briefly as we unloaded and repacked for Lido Beach. Stella is staying with her “Lovely Lena”. We are hoping Lena incorporated Stella in her lovely exercise program so some of the accumulated cookies get worked off. I think there will be a lot of Frisbee going on.

We are stunned about the snow in Buffalo. We were there just 3 weeks ago. What a difference three weeks makes. I was having some whiny thoughts about having to come south too soon, but I think I may want to revise that.

The beach is the usual lovely, and I intend to get out there for a morning walk every day after I am coffeed up. We have a date with sunset every night. (Here is last night’s sunset. I will try to keep you posted on each one.) Often we find ourselves running around Sarasota on various shopping and seeing adventures. This visit I do believe we will take it easy and do more enjoying of the pool, beach, and hot tub.

This year, there is Wi-Fi in the units. We have found it to be on and off Wi-Fi, but better than crusing around local hotels looking for a hot spot.

Stella's blog: There's no place like home... if you can find the right one!

I just try to do my job on these trips. That includes herding K&M when needed, but they have made me just crazy! I think they planned to drive me there by leaving this great spot where there were ponds and birds to chase and take me to the place with the giant waterfalls. There was a new box to ride and I have to herd them in and out of the magic doors and then they can't figure out where they are going. We finally find a place that has big windows were we can all see the falling water. I got thirsty and had to beg these two for water. They finally got it.


At least I got to sleep on the bed that night but all my routines were just BUSTED!!!!













Then we all got up and drove back to the rolling home and drove for days and days to one of my old familar places where we parked. Then the craziness began. There were two rolling houses that I had to monitor. K&M were moving stuff back and forth all the time for days and days. I didn't know which rolling house I was supposed to be in. I tried to tie them up with my lead to get them to stop but that didn't work either. My stuff got moved too but all my regualr routines were BUSTED again! No long walk, no meet and greet with the neighbors and I think that I didn't get fed one evening and I know I was shorted on my snacks. What a mess.

Eventually, the old rolling house disappeared one evening. I wasn't sure what happened to it but I was glad to only have one house to look after and to herd K&M in. I got walked more often but stuff was still flying around the house. My cookies got lost but M found them by bedtime. I was exhausted and just fell down to sleep in the middle of the floor.








Morning came and I was still tired but I got up on the bed with K&M and fell fast asleep again. I was tired from all the herding and tracking stuff down. The new rolling house has a nice quiet bedroom.




Then one afternoon K&M showed me a great new cushy bed. I really liked it a lot and planned to have some naps and dreams in it but nooooooo, we were back on the road again. They are just crazy and I was really cranky. I think I skipped dinner to make them worry.





Just as I was at my limit, we arrived back and the riverhouse home. I was so glad I had to pee everywhere I could. It smelled and felt so good to be home and have a roll in my own yard, play with my own squirrels, smell my own flowers and eat out of my real bowl AND sleep in my real bed. It's great to be back home!

Space:the final frontier

Space: the final frontier

We have done it. Arrived at Chattanooga, found our RV, and started the process. Monday, we will get serious: moving out of our Wi-Fi friendly campground and over to Shipps. We will get an intensive in driving a Class A and help with moving our things-especially the tempurpedic mattress which weighs the exact amount for young guys to prove their muscle power.







Here is how we see the space: the kitchen is spacious for RV’s. In fact, that is the biggest asset. We looked and looked, but this was the most kitchen-even for the really pricy models (they do not even think about kitchen, as they always eat out). The bathroom was an adjustment, but we started to reframe it. If you leave the door to the toilet open and close the pocket doors to the bedroom and living area, you have an expansive bathroom. There is plenty of closet space, particularly compared with what we have now.

Buying a 2006 when the 2007s are coming out was another bonus. We see it as the last 36B in America/they see it as the last 2006 to get off the lot before the 2007’s come in. Though the driving and financing is all done with mirrors, they gave us more than we paid for the Cronemobile in trade-in. Met my price goals and left enough leeway to pay the State of Florida when we get home. I’m happy.

Speaking of happy-you should have seen Marcia after our salesperson, Ralph, gave her the first driving lesson. Not only is this thing easier to drive than the Class C, but it can turn on a dime and make Marcia smile for over an hour afterward. I’ll get my lesson later.

Now, we have to name it. We are asking you, our friends to weigh in on several choices, or come up creative on your own. Here are the ones we have come up with so far.
1) Cronemobile II
2) Our Enterprise Space: the final frontier.
3) Chromemobile

Thank goddess we have the weekend to relax before working on the RV exchange. There is a staggering pile of laundry, and quite frankly, we need to rest. There is the tapas restaurant and Fresh Market to visit, not to mention the bread bakery we found last year.

Anybody wants to join us, we are at 98 Jeb Stuart Drive in the Holiday TraveLPark exit 1 on I-75. I thought they might have assigned us this end of the park because of our home address, but on my walk with Stella, I saw Georgia and Tennessee tags on the Northern side of the park. I’m grateful we were not put on WT Sherman row. It was hard enough for me to deal with that giant sequoia in California two years ago-some of you may remember.

Will keep you posted and be home soon.

Niagara Falls

From our Sheraton room on the 6th floor, Marcia and Stella and I are enjoying Horseshoe Falls, American Falls, and Bridal Falls. Though it is dark now, we still go to the window occasionally and take a peek. I keep wanting to stay at the Marriot, but they did not invite Stella.

I am so happy that the Sheraton accommodates our internet needs (for a fee,of course). We will get photos on the blog as soon as we can, as soon as we take them.

It was a bit of a drive to get here, so most of the sunny part of the day was spent on the NY Thruway. Thank goddess we were Buffalo bound, as the other direction was backed up for miles because of construction. Got to get it done before winter. MDT marked it on the map so we can take the pig trails on the way back.

Two insights I got today from just paying attention. We saw the clouds and wind roll into Rochester, Buffalo, Niagara Falls from the west today as we drove in. I can now imagine them bringing in the snow and arctic cold. Those lakes bump it up a notch. Burrrrrr.

The other insight, assisted by our resident geologist (not Stella who much prefers mud) is how the glaciers worked on the rocks to produce this. She can tell you more eloquently, but basically, if we were able to watch geologic time, Niagara Falls would pale in comparison to glacial activity. We were looking at the falls as we ate dinner, and I commented that they recede about a foot per year. Then I looked at the little islands precariously perched on the edge of the falls. Perhaps some of you saw them when you were children and they were several feet away from the edge. I figure that if we return even next year, some of them will be gone. This helps me understand how the glacier, a river of ice, could wear away huge boulders and grind down mountains. Glaciers have the extra ability to hold sediment it has ground up suspended in the ice till something causes it to melt and drop a bunch of the sediment and also make a lake. Amazing. Every family should have a resident geologist to explain things.

In addition to the excitement of going to Niagara Falls, I talked with the RV salesperson in Chattanooga, and the 36B is still available. Did a little check on the basics and determined that it is worth a little look. So, when we get back to NY, we will be packing up and heading for Tennessee, or North Georgia. We love the KOA there. It has Wi-Fi and Cable. Short trip from there home. Wonder what we will be driving home in?????

Will be on the road for several days. Expect to arrive in Chattanooga by Friday or Saturday. We are sure to check out the tapas restaurant we enjoyed last year. Also the yummy bakery.

Addendum: Got those photos up. Check out my sweetheart all rainbows. Who knows how that happened?

I also wanted proof that we were at 63 F at midday.

I did a quick tour of the greenhouse and was more taken by the birds than the flowers. They do work well together, don't you think?

New York

New York

We currently reside at 121 Skunk Boulevard. Believe it or not, we are in the East Coast (???of Lake Ontario???) Resorts Campground in Parish, New York. Other than this afternoon, when we were driving around (as in the bypass) Schenectady and pulling into camp, and hot footing it to Camper’s World for RV tp, it has rained. However, what happened before the evening version of rain was great.

Stella loves this campground. We are at the end of a row of rental trailers that seem to be empty. The whole middle section of campsites in front of us is empty. So, Stella has plenty of room to play Frisbee, and that we did. We also got in a walk to the pond (or very small lake in comparison to the other lakes we see here). She was able to get in a little bit of mud doggin. When we walked uphill, I saw a V of Canada geese, and needed to stop for my breath anyway, so we just enjoyed them honking their way across the sky. I’m sure they have their favorite lake stopping campground in mind.

Marcia and I got to see one of the RVs we are thinking about for our next RV. Better, we got to talk with a sales person who gave us some information about ordering one with the options we like. When we got home, we were able to get to the “Adult Clubhouse” where there is Wi-Fi, and I got my email from Customer Service. The other RV we (perhaps “I” would be more accurate) are thinking of is no longer being made. There is one left in the whole country, and it is in Chattanooga. We also learned that going to the factory is of no help to us in finding our model(s), so we have revised our travel plans with an eye to hotfoot it to Tennessee. I have emailed the dealership for more information as well. However, the Wi-Fi went out just after I mailed, so I might just better check with them tomorrow. We do have cell phone service here….

Because we have to go to the “Adult Clubhouse” for our email and blogging, I will no longer be blogging in my jammies. If the blog gets a little formal for a while, you will please understand.

Plan for tomorrow is to check out hotels in Niagara Falls, Canada to see if they will take a dog. If so, we will take off tomorrow for the falls. If not, a day trip w/o Stella on Tuesday.

The area is quite lovely. I keep thinking of 4th grade when we studied the first westward expansion via the Erie Canal. We were quite near there last night when we stayed at the Herkemer Diamond KOA. We did take a look at the gems in the store this morning, but not even the 10% discount could persuade us to become bling girls. MDT said she was well acquainted with such from her Dad’s interests. Apparently the station wagon stopped at all interesting rock sites when she was a child. We did a tour of the store looking at the interesting rocks in tribute to her Dad. There was no time to tour the Erie Canal, but we spotted several locks along the way yesterday.

Today we marveled at wonderfully big lakes and rivers. We crossed the Mohawk and Oneida Lake. We are just spittin distance from Lake Ontario. Looking forward to seeing the falls again.

On Our Way Home

On Our Way Home

But first, Niagara Falls. Tomorrow we hit the road again. Even though the color may hit peak next week, we are ready to go. Probably ready to see and do new things. Niagara Falls seems close enough and sorta on our way (to I-81) home. Guess we just got this thing about Canada.

Our other quest is finding the perfect RV for us. We are pretty convinced that the Fleetwood Pace Arrow is the one-just which model. Of course, we would like the gourmet kitchen, massive bathroom, and infinite closet space. We will settle for enough kitchen counter space to leave the espresso machine up, enough toilet room space to execute basic hygiene with the door closed, and enough long closet for my pants to hang without the last 10 inches crumpled on the floor. We are passing the Fleetwood factory, so thought we would drop in. Will keep you posted.

It has been wonderful for me to revisit the Northeast Kingdom. Especially wonderful to get together with old friends, Debbie and Marek, and meet their kids as teen/young adult. Reminds me how precious old friends are.

I am reminded that the Northeast Kingdom is magical. That it is a hard place to make a living, and sometimes a hard place to live. That people live here because it is magical. I can show you the rainbows. I cannot show you the moon looking so huge you think you might touch it, or the quiet magic of winter-so quiet you can hear the snow fall. So still and crisp and perfect. I cannot take you where Marek finds the wild Chantrell mushrooms. I’ll show you what color I can, but I cannot give you the experience of hearing the Canada Geese honking overhead as you bring in the final remnants of the garden on a colorful fall day. Or the loon on Lake Willoughby. Just know, it is magic. I also cannot show you a moose, because we still haven’t seen one.

I am still digesting all the memories being here brings back. I was talking to the dowsers at the Fairbanks Museum Old Time Crafts Day last weekend. I was asking them to help me to remember the dowser who dowsed my well. This was no problem. Paul Sevigney. He is well known in these parts. Was a dowser and state representative. As we were talking, one of the dowsers said how she knew that she knew me. Sure enough, a former student. Memories of the best classes I taught here. As we talked, the woman who moved into the old schoolhouse in Glover after we moved out (into our unfinished home) passed by. She did not recognize me. (The schoolhouse burned, but she and her two kids got out.) Later in the week, a man stood right by me in a convenience store. I knew that I knew him, but couldn’t remember his name. He didn’t recognize me. I kinda like being a fly on the wall sometimes. He came to my house when Helen and Ed were there with several of his music making and drinking buddies. History.

I’m sure that Marcia and I need to travel a lot more before we find our “summer home”. I know that the Northeast Kingdom will be in the running for our place. Hope you enjoy these photos we took from the lookout at Mt Hor and along Long Pond.

Back in Paradise

It was an easy day today. The goals were massive laundry and massages. We have also grown fond of "Hoagies" in Lyndonville. The salads are covered with shredded mozerella, the pizza and calazones are excellent. We came home just as it was starting to rain. A short time later, the sun came out. Marcia was just saying conditions were great for a rainbow, when I saw the neighbor with her camera.

A very encouraging rainbow.