11/2/2018

On 10/29 we traveled from Pensacola to Ocala. Along the way, we saw a lot of the devastation from Hurricane Michael. There were large area’s where hundreds of trees were snapped in half, and billboards were torn to shreds. Although we didn’t see the worst of it, seeing the damage along Interstate 10 was enough to give you a good idea of just how powerful the storm was.  We stopped at a very nice park just south of Ocala and didn’t even unhook since we planned to leave early the next day.

10/30, we traveled on to Punta Gorda to visit some of Nancy’s family……her father Dick, her brother Joe, and her sister-in-law Cheryl. We checked into the Encore resort and invited all of them over to take a look at Alice and have some snacks and a drink. We had a very nice visit.

On 10/31 (Halloween), we looked at some motorhomes in the morning and then went and picked up Nancy’s father so he could check out the ones we liked the most.  He was really amazed at how much nicer they have gotten since he owned one (actually he has owned 3 motorhomes).  We had a fun time researching motorhomes. Later that evening we all met at Joe and Cheryl’s house in  Punta Gorda for dinner. The food and company was fantastic. We also the good fortune to get an “adjustment”.  Nancy’s brother Joe is a retired chiropractor and he adjusted Nancy and I before we left to go home. We both have been having some lingering back and neck soreness and the adjustment really helped.

The next morning, 11/1, we got Alice ready and headed to Ft. Pierce…..we pulled into Treasure Coast RV Resort around 12:30. It’s a very nice resort and we expect we will really enjoy spending the winter here.  This is where my best friends Steve and his wife Anita have been wintering for quite a few years and it will be nice to spend time with them, as well as some other friends we know here. Later, we went to dinner with Steve and Anita at a great tiki bar/restaurant right on the water and had a lot of fun catching up.

The next day, Nov 2, we went to one in the best Farmers Markets we have ever been to….it’s located right on the Ft. Pierce waterfront.  I have visited Steve and Anita several times over the past few 3-4 years for a long weekend winter getaway and we always go to the Farmers Market on Saturday morning….and the first thing I do is get one of Maulo’s  omelettes….they are absolutely delicious! So when we went to the Market on Saturday morning, we headed straight to Maulo’s so I could introduce Nancy to Maulo’s. We got one and, as usual, it was delicious. But we weren’t done eating yet…..there’s too much good food available to only eat one thing. Nancy and I split Malo’s omelette and some fresh Florida orange juice,  and then split a fantastic sticky bun, and a breakfast gyro. Everything was “out of this world” good. Obviously, we were both full when we left.

After the Farmers Market, we went to a Welcome/Welcome Back Party at the Treasure RV Resort club house. We had a great time and met some very nice “neighbors”.  We also caught some of the Buckeyes football game. Now if they can just beat Michigan!

On 11/4, we ran a few errands did some light chores around “the house”, aka Alice. Around 4pm, we went over to Steve and Anita’s coach for a fish fry. Steve had frozen quite a lot of fish and he decided to invite some friends over to eat it. Everybody brought a side dish and we had a great meal together. And I ate 63 of Bev’s cookies…..not really but it felt like it later!

This is my last post for this trip. We have thoroughly enjoyed our trip since we left to visit America on July 6th. We have had some ups and downs along the way (mainly ups) but anybody that done this this will tell you that’s very typical when you are RV’ing.  Speaking for myself, I am really glad to be situated somewhere for an extended period (until April 1, 2019). I did a ton off driving (which I think has caused some of  y back issues) and while I wouldn’t trade away any of our experiences, I’m glad to be taking a break and staying one place for a while.

Some final observations:

1-  Nancy has been absolutely fantastic….always ready to go, and always cheerful……well, almost always….I’m not the easiest person to be around 24/7!  And I ate as good as I have ever eaten thanks to Nancy’s cooking. .

2- we live in the greatest country on the planet. There is so much to see and do….and we met so many fabulous people along the way…..we hope to stay in touch with some of them. It feels like we did a lot, and did almost nothing, at the same time. There’s so much to experience out there. We both had an incredibly good time, but we were also reminded that at the end of the day, it really is all about family and friends.

3- tomorrow is not guaranteed. You never know how much time you have left to enjoy all of the splendor of the world. Don’t delay….get out there and do what you want to do while you are still able to do it.

4- some places were obviously very focused on protecting the natural beauty and health of the planet. I wish everyone else would get on board…..

5- As the blog shows, sh-t happens…I’m trying to get better about not getting so impatient and frustrated when that sh-t happens. I’m still working on that….but at least I’m aware of the problem!

6- I’m still not in retirement mode yet. I guess it just takes a while after working so long and developing a work mindset to contribute as much as you can, as fast as you can.  Slowly but surely I’m evolving to a more consistently relaxed state of mind.

7- a lot of people have asked us about our favorite places. That’s really a tough question because there are so many fantastic things we did on this trip, each with their own unique qualities. While we enjoyed it all, Nancy and I agree that the following days were among our favorites:

• Calgary Stampede
• Canadian Rockies (some incredible waterfalls)
• Alberta Glaciers and Ice Fields
• mountain biking down Whitefish mountain on Nancy’s 60th birthday (we won’t be doing that again!)
• 4-wheeling on the boulders/rocks around Moab
• Antelope Canyon and Carlsbad Caverns tours
• horseback riding in the Tetons around Jackson Hole
• Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta
• helicopter ride to view the red rock formations in Sedona
• watching the Blue Angels practice in Pensacola

It has been a great trip. We drove over 14,200 miles in 4 months, and loved almost every minute of it. We hope those that followed us enjoyed the stories and pictures we posted along the way. It has been fun to have family and friends follow us and post a comment here and there. Thanks!

Our plan now is to head to the northwest next July.  So until then, see ya….

Our winter home