Dinner with Friends, Christmas and Happy New Year

We got a call earlier this month from our friends Barb and Bill inviting us for dinner. Barb owns the house across the street from us which she and her first husband lived in. Barb and Bill live in his condo in Vero on the beach. They occasionally come up to Barb's house to have some work done or just to check on it and stay for a day or two.

We went down to their condo on the 20th. Their condo looks directly out onto the Atlantic Ocean and we sat out on the balcony and had drinks before dinner. Barb had fixed a spiral-sliced ham with a glaze, tossed salad, asparagus and baked sweet potatoes for dinner. Everything was excellent - the food and especially the company. We always have a good time when we get together with Barb and Bill. Bill is a very young almost-90 year old and Barb is a little younger.

Mike and I decided to have our eyes examined again and chose to go to the Center for Advanced Eye Care in Vero. Our appointments were on the 23rd and Dr. Mallon performed the examinations There was only a slight

Visit with Fletcher & Breakfast at The Original Pancake House

Boy, has the year gone by fast! I can hardly believe it is time to work on our Christmas cards and newsletter.

We had Tinker groomed on the 5th in preparation for our trip down to Ft. Lauderdale to see Fletcher on the 6th. We had an early lunch last Saturday and then drove down to see Fletcher. We got to Fletcher's a few minutes before he got home from work and grocery shopping. Doug was off on a trip and we didn't get to visit with him. Fletcher grilled steaks, summer squash, zucchini and eggplant for dinner and fixed his pesto sauce for the steaks. This was the first time Mike and I had grilled eggplant (neither one of us really likes eggplant) and we were surprised at how good it was. Everything Fletcher fixed for dinner was very good. He has developed into

New Storage Shed, Thanksgiving and Ancestry DNA kits

Earlier this month we bought a large storage shed and had it delivered. The building inspector came by on the 17th and approved the shed's installation.

On the 18th I attended the genealogical society's meeting and the guest speaker talked about locating military records for our ancestors. It was very interesting and I learned some things I didn't know about military records. After the meeting was over, Carol, Mary and I went to Toojay's Gourmet Deli in Vero for lunch. It was my first time eating there and everything looked good. You have to walk by the dessert counter first and it was very tempting.

Since then Mike and I made a ramp for it from plywood that we bought at Home Depot. Mike had one sheet of plywood cut in half on the diagonal at Home Depot and then we cut the halves down to the size we needed for the sides of the ramp.

Mike had bought resurface paint and painted the plywood floor in the shed and the ramp. The paint also gives the wood a rough texture.

From Our New Shed

The ground in front of the shed is uneven and Mike decided to use crushed

Our New Storage Shed and its Installation

We have decided to do something about our garage - it's FULL. We have a 2-car garage and we can just get our car in it and if we move anything around, we have to back the car out of garage so the passenger can get in. We have a riding lawn mower, lawn tools, household generator, a RV spare tire, various things we used when we were RVing, a large tool cabinet and the other usual garage stuff.

Mike has been looking at storage sheds on the internet and we've visited a few of the local retailers to see what they have and their prices. On Monday the 3rd we drove up to Shed Movers in Titusville to see what they had and we found a 12 X 24 foot shed that someone had just traded in for a larger one. It had 3 windows, a side door, a 8' roll-up door, had a breaker box installed and 2 large shop lights. The price was a little more than what we had budgeted for and larger than what we had in mind which was a 10 X 20 foot shed, but we couldn't buy a new one any where near that price with all of the windows and extras.

Before we could have the storage shed delivered, there were a few things we had to get done. One was decided exactly where to have it placed and once we decided that, we needed to have

Halloween

On the 14th I attended the genealogical society's monthly meeting and the topic was finding historical newspapers online. I always learn something at these meetings and I got some pointers on locating historical newspapers for my research. Mary and Carol both had things to do right after the meeting was over and couldn't go out to lunch. So I went to Applebee's for lunch and had their Classic Combo - a half a turkey sandwich on a ciabatta bun and broccoli cheddar soup. After lunch I went to Sam's Club to shop and stopped at Publix for some groceries before going home.

Mike bought some mold and mildew cleaner at Home Depot last week and he is getting ready to clean the exterior of the house in preparation for painting it. We've been waiting for cooler weather before we start our painting.

We had 25 Trick or Treaters tonight for Halloween which is about the same number we had last year. It got off to a late start and for a while we didn't think we were going to have any. We had all ages of Trick or Treaters and our last group were 6 teenagers who even put on a little song and dance show for us - which Mike and I totally enjoyed!

Our motorhome is sold

On the 4th Mike and I drove down to Port St. Lucie to the Home Show held at the Port St. Lucie Civic Center. I had printed a coupon good for 2 tickets for the price of one and we used it and paid $5 to get into the show. We had gone to last year's show and it seemed like the same vendors were here again.

While we were at the Home Show we got a call from the sales manager at PPL Motorhomes and we had an offer on our RV! We accepted the offer as it was pretty close to our price and the closing was Monday the 6th. After we got the call from PPL's sales manager on the 6th that it was a done deal, we called our insurance company and canceled the insurance on it and then canceled the subscription for the Sirius radio in the RV. We got our check from PPL at the end of this week (minus their 10% commission).

We knew that the majority of the buyers were looking for shorter RVs and ours was 39' long. Also our RV is a 2005 model and we found out from PPL that banks and loan companies aren't financing RVs that are over 10 years old and ours is close to that now. So it took longer to find the right buyer for our motorhome.

After we left the Home Show at the Port St. Lucie Civic Center, we stopped at Pueblo Viejo Mexican restaurant in Ft. Pierce for lunch and to celebrate selling our motorhome. Mike ordered the Azteca Burrito and I had the Fajita Quesadilla with chicken. Everything was very good and seasoned just right.

Mike joined the local MOAA & I joined Genealogical Society

We drove over to Kissimmee on the 3rd to visit with Cyril and Elaine for a few hours. The last time we saw them was July 22 when my cousin Frances was down from Illinois. We stopped at Tractor Supply in St. Cloud on our way to buy a couple of bags of corn that we feed to the squirrels at our house. We usually stop at the Dairy Queen in Sebastian to get a couple of Blizzards, but this time we decided to stop at the 5 Guys Burgers in West Melbourne for dinner.

I joined the Indian River Genealogical Society this month at their meeting on the 9th. The society doesn't meet during the summer months because so many of the members are from the north and are only here during the winter season. After the meeting was over, Mary and I went out for lunch. Carol was at the meeting, but she couldn't join us for lunch. Mary suggested eating at Ay Jalisco Mexican restaurant near the library. I ordered a burrito plate and thought the portions would be smaller since it was off the lunch menu, but I was wrong - I should have just ordered a burrito by itself.

When we visited with Chris and Carole last March we went with them to a dinner held by their local MOAA Chapter and really enjoyed it. We checked

Trying out paint samples for the exterior of the house

We're going to paint the exterior of the house when the weather gets cooler and we've been trying to decide what color to paint it. Our house is blue now - kind of a grey-blue and we want to keep it blue, but what shade of blue?

We've been checking out paint swatches at Home Depot here in Sebastian and we bought a few 8 oz. paint samples from them. Then we were down in Vero at Lowe's and stopped by their paint department and found a couple of shades of blue we liked and bought some samples from them.

Mike took all of the bottles of paint samples and painted them on one of the back walls of the house, so we now have 6 2' squares of different shades of

Last half of July was busier than the first half

The first half of this month was rather uneventful. Mike and I spent a quiet 4th of July at home.

My cousin Frances and her husband Jack came down from southern Illinois this month to spend some time at their time share in Kissimmee. Mike and I drove over to my brother's house on the 22nd to meet Frances and Jack there so we could visit with them. We all went out to eat at Perkins for lunch and then went back to my brother's house to visit some more. On our way home Mike and I stopped at the Dairy Queen here in Sebastian to get a couple of peanut butter cup Blizzards for supper.

On the 25th Mike and I met our friends Chris, Carol & Mary for breakfast at JP Matty's here in Sebastian to catch up with what everyone has been doing.

Fletcher made a day trip up on the 28th to show us his new

It's the end of June already??

This last half of June has been pretty uneventful. It's the end of June - it doesn't seem possible that half of this year is already gone!!

 Mike got his new glasses on the 16th and he is still adjusting to them. Some things seem to be better visually, while some are no better - it's really hard to describe.

Our 90 day contract with PPL expired on the 19th and it just extends every 15 days unless we cancel and go out and pick up our motorhome. It still hasn't sold and we're reduced our price a little more. The shorter RVs are selling quicker than the longer ones and ours is 39 feet.

Mike's birthday & Father's Day

Last Sunday we drove over to Kissimmee to see my brother and family. We went out to eat at Perkins and then went back to their house to visit some more Cyril and Elaine and my nephew David. It had been quite a while since we had driven over to visit with them.

Last Wednesday we had 4¼" of rain and I can't remember the last time we had so much rain. I think it was last year not too long after we moved into our house.

Fletcher and his friend Doug drove up yesterday from Ft. Lauderdale to spend Father's Day weekend with us. Doug brought his 2 dogs and Fletcher brought his, so Tinker had company too. The dogs all get along with each other and we don't have problem if we leave them alone in the house.

Last night we took Fletcher and Doug to Squid Lips for dinner. Fletcher and Doug treated Mike and I to dinner for Mike's birthday (he turned 72 on the 13th) and Father's Day. After we finished dinner, we ordered some after dinner drinks and Mike and I paid for those. We came back home from Squid Lips and spent the rest of evening watching movies.

Fletcher and Doug left late this morning to go back home. We had a good visit, just wish they could have stayed longer.
   

Visit to Patrick AFB and lunch at Meg O'Malley's

Last week we drove up to Patrick Air Force Base to get me a new military ID card because the one I had was expiring soon. Mike also got a new retired military ID card since the military is no longer putting social security numbers on the cards and the one Mike had his social security number on it. We were able to make our appointments online the week before we went up to Patrick AFB. My appointment was at 10:00 and Mike's was at 10:20 and we were called in at the same time. The young Airman that processed our new ID cards was really nice and even took Mike's photo over again because she didn't like the way the first photo came out!

After we had our new IDs, we drove over to the FamCamp at Patrick just to

Brunch at Mulligan's for Mother's Day

It's been 9 weeks since we took our motorhome out to PPL Motorhomes and put it on consignment for sale. So far we haven't had any offers and after talking with PPL we have lowered our price some.

Last week we took Tinker to the vet to have his teeth cleaned and he had to have a molar pulled. He's been doing fine and hasn't had any problems eating.

I had been wanting a 2-drawer letter size file cabinet and went shopping for one last week at some of the thrift stores. I found a 2-drawer legal size file cabinet at the Habitat for Humanity Restore in Vero for $20 ($10 a drawer) and with the discount I paid $16. I have a couple of large drawers in the office that I've been keeping our household files in, but I wanted a file cabinet to put those files in so I could use office drawers for genealogy papers.

Tuesday of this week I went to the Indian River Genealogical Society's meeting at the main library in Vero. This is the second one I've been to and I had a good time. The society doesn't meet during the summer. There are a lot of members from the north who are only here during the winter months.

Last Sunday was Mother's Day and Mike and I went to Mulligan's for brunch. I had the Sunrise Omelet and Mike had pancakes. We had had brunch here last month with Chris and Carole and we ordered the same meals we had then.

 

Getting together with family and friends

Last Saturday Mike's brother Chris and his wife Carole arrived for a few days' visit. They had just been on a cruise to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. We've been talking with them about some of the local restaurants and Chris is intrigued with the restaurant here in Sebastian called Squid Lips.

So Saturday night the four of us went to dinner at Squid Lips.

From Chris & Carole's Visit

Chris and Carole ordered the Coconut Shrimp and Fish and Florida Fried Shrimp dinners (which they shared) and Mike had the Grilled Chicken with Black Cherry Glaze dinner and I had the Citrus Salmon dinner. As usual everything was excellent and we all had a good time.

On Sunday morning we went to Mulligan's here in Sebastian for brunch. Chris and Carole ordered the Breakfast Platter and Western Omelet (which they shared), Mike had the Cakes (pancakes) and Eggs and I had the Sunrise Omelet with Hollandaise Sauce.

From Chris & Carole's Visit

After brunch we drove up A1A from Wabasso Beach north to Melbourne Beach and then south from Melbourne on US-1 back home. Along the way

Dinner at Carrabba's

We've been busy the last couple of weeks working around the house and getting ready for Mike's brother Chris and his wife Carole when they visit us this coming week. We're also having Mike's high school friends over for lunch while Chris & Carole are here.

Sears had their lawn mower baggers on sale earlier this month and Mike bought one for our riding lawn mower and he put it on last week and then mowed our front lawn.

Last week we had dinner at Carrabba's Italian Grill in Vero. It was our first time eating at a Carrabba's and we enjoyed it. Mike had the Grilled Chicken dinner and I had the baked Ravioli Parmesan. We were too full to try one of the tempting desserts, but our waiter was nice enough to give us a sample of 2 of them to take with us. The samples looked so good, that we ate them before we left Carrabba's parking lot!

I got a call earlier this month from our friend Mary who is a member of the Indian River Genealogical Society inviting me to come to this month's meeting at the main library in Vero. I went last week and had a great time. Mary was there and so was Carol another friend of ours. There must have been at least 60 people at the meeting and everyone was having a good time. I will definitely go again and will probably join the society at some time.

New window treatments for office and guest room

We've been busy the last 10 days putting the finishing touches on the Oriental guest room. We bought a Levolor Top Down Bottom Up cellular shade from Home Depot and a mirror for the dresser we bought at the consignment shop.

There was a padded cornice valance over the bedroom window that was upholstered with a dark brown material and we wanted to replace the material. Mike and I went to Joann's Fabrics in Vero and took one of the decorative pillows on the bed to see if we could match the red in the pillow and comforter. Mike found a red damask that matched perfectly and we bought enough material to cover the valance and have some left over for a dresser scarf.

I had ordered some curtain panels from Penney's I thought would look good in the office, but when I held them up over the windows

DeFuniak Springs to Sebastian

We got up about 7:30 this morning and had checked out of the motel by 8:30 and drove up to the Burger King to have breakfast. We feel pretty good this morning in spite of having to change our motel last night because of the fire at the Econo Lodge where we had reservations and having to scramble to find another place to stay.

After breakfast we headed east on I-10 until we stopped at the Pilot near Marianna for gas ($3.329 a gal). We reached I-75 near Lake City around noon and turned south on I-75. Mike and I were both ready to get home, so we didn't stop for lunch since we had stuff to snack on. We did stop at a rest area to walk Tinker and give him his lunch.

Our next stop was at the TA truck stop at Wildwood at 2:45 to buy gas ($3.499 a gal) before we got on to the Florida Turnpike. We exited the turnpike at exit 244 at St. Cloud and paid our toll of $4.50 (it was $13.50 when we were driving the RV) before driving east on US-192 to I-95 south.

We arrived at exit 56 on I-95 south at 6:20 and got on County Road 512 east. We stopped at the Dairy Queen next to I-95 and got a peanut butter cup Blizzard for Mike and I before we drove on home.

It really seems strange to not see our motorhome sitting in the driveway! We've unloaded what we need for tonight from the car and will unload the rest tomorrow. We're both ready to sleep in our own bed (Sleep Number) tonight.

Today was one day when I didn't take any photos while we were driving, but we've been back and forth on I-95 and I-10 so much that I've gotten photos of most of the interesting sights.

Courthouse Research & Change of motels because of fire

We checked out of the Days Inn at 8:45 and drove over to the Burger King for breakfast. Then we drove over to the St. Landry Parish courthouse to see if we could find any information on Silas Fletcher (Mike's 3rd great grandfather) and his family. I took my laptop with me so I could look up information on Silas if I needed it. We passed through security and took the elevator down to the basement where the county archives are located.

We met Stephanie in the Clerk of Court's office and she turned out to be a great help. I told her I was looking for marriage records dating back to 1813 and 1820. Some of the records have been digitized and she printed off the 1820 marriage record. She said the digital copy of the 1813 record wasn't that good and she would go upstairs and make me a better copy!

In the meantime, she directed me to the land records and other court records for the parish and I started going through the books. I found Silas Fletcher in a deed index and took a photo with my phone.

From Opelousas, LA

I also took photos of the deeds with my phone. We have so little documentation on Silas and his family in the 1800-1820's that it was great to see all of this. Stephanie was a great help and was very patient when I had to ask her for some help (which I tried to keep to a minimum). By 11:00 it was time for us to leave, so I paid the $6 for the marriage records and we left the courthouse.

We decided to drive around a little before leaving Opelousas and found some beautiful old homes in just the few blocks we visited.

From Opelousas, LA

Acton State Historical Site and driving to Opelousas, LA

We got up at 7:00 and had some coffee before we started packing up to leave Chris and Carole's house. We've had a great time visiting with them even if it was only a few days. Carole offered to fix breakfast for us, but we said we would stop somewhere along the way  and grab something to eat.

We left their house about 9:20 and drove north on FM-167 (FM stands for farm market) and made a quick stop at the Acton Cemetery. Chris and Carole told us that Davy Crockett's wife and children were buried there and we wanted to stop and take photos.

We arrived at the Acton Cemetery and found the gates were chained for vehicles, but we had no trouble getting in to walk around.

There is a huge memorial for Elizabeth Crockett

From Granbury, TX to Opelousas, LA

so it wasn't too hard to find her grave and those of her and David's children.

From Granbury, TX to Opelousas, LA

We walked around for about 15 minutes taking photos before getting back into the car.

From Granbury, TX to Opelousas, LA

We stopped at Burger King in Benbrook to get breakfast before heading

Visit with Mike's brother & wife

Yesterday Mike and his brother Chris drove into Granbury to the Goodyear Tire store and Mike bought 2 new tires for the front of the Vue. Then they stopped at RaceTrac and Mike bought got gas for the car ($3.239 a gal).

While Mike and Chris were running their errands, Carole and I went shopping. We went to a couple of boutique shops and stopped at the Benbrook Antique Mall to browse. Tinker has a white stuffed teddy bear that is his favorite toy and it has definitely seen better days. I found a Coca Cola stuffed bear that is almost exactly like the bear he already has. I bought it for $10 - I checked to make sure it didn't have any beads in the stuffing before I bought it.

Last night we went out to eat at one Chris and Carole's favorite Mexican restaurants Mi Familia in Granbury. Mike ordered the beef burrito dinner and I had the beef taco dinner and some Negra Modelo beer.

We just spent today relaxing at the house before we went out to dinner. Chris and Carole are members of the local MOAA (Military Officers Association of America) and tonight was their monthly meeting and dinner at the Pecan Plantation Country Club.

We went early to the dinner because Chris is selling raffle tickets and he needed to be at the check-in table. While Mike and Chris were out at the

San Antonio to Granbury

We checked out of the Motel 6 about 8:45 ($202 for 3 nights) and drove up to the Burger King for breakfast. Mike and I ordered our usual croissants - it definitely can't compare to the breakfast that our friend Mike fixed for us yesterday morning!

After breakfast we drove north on I-35 to Austin

From San Antonio to Granbury, TX

and we saw this "Electric Garden" of large sunflowers that are powered by

Sightseeing at Fort Sam Houston & Ranodolph AFB

Yesterday morning we met our friends Mike and Gayle at the Denney's just up the road from our motel for breakfast. We brought Tinker with us and he stayed in the car with the windows cracked (it's still cool in the low 50's). After breakfast we followed Mike and Gayle out to the RV park where they are staying in their motorhome. We visited with them for quite a while and then went back to our motel for the rest of the day.

This morning we slept in and then drove over to Mike and Gayle's RV for a late breakfast that Mike cooked for all of us. We visited some more and talked about where to go for some sightseeing and decided to visit Randolph Air Force Base and Fort Sam Houston. Fort Sam Houston, Randolph AFB and Lackland AFB have been consolidated into what is now called Joint Base San Antonio.

One of the first things we saw at Randolph AFB was the Missing Man Monument.

From San Antonio, TX

We drove by the 12th Flying Training Wing Headquarters

From San Antonio, TX

and the airfield where we saw some Air Force Primary Trainers.

From San Antonio, TX

After touring around Randolph, we drove over to Fort Sam Houston where

Last look at our motorhome

We got up this morning at 7:00 and after some coffee we started unloading the RV. We had a queen foam mattress topper (we had thought about leaving it, but Cathie said to take it) that we folded and put in the back of the Vue (we folded down the passenger seat backs). We had our clothes, bed linens, coffee maker, coolers for the few groceries we had in the frig and sodas and bottled water, Tinker's folding crate and his food and bowls. There were also the tools Mike brought in case we would need them on the trip here and of course, the tow bar.

We had the cargo box on the back of the car full and the back of the car was full. Tinker has a place on top of the mattress topper where he has room enough to stretch out, but that is all!

Here is one of the last photos we took of our motorhome before we left PPL.

From Last day in motorhome

After we unloaded our belongings from the RV, Mike drove it over to

Our last day in our motorhome

We got up early this morning intending to get an earlier start on the road than usual, but we had an unexpected and helpful visitor. I was just finishing getting everything inside ready to leave WalMart, when I saw an Opelousas police car parked next to us and Mike was talking with the police officer. It turned out that he had a motorhome and saw us parked there and just wanted to talk out RVs. We invited him in to look at our RV and we exchange stories about our camping experiences and maintenance on motorhomes. Mike told him that we had a problem with our hot water heater that had just come up before we left on our trip and that the pilot light wouldn't light. The police officer had had the same problem and told Mike the part to get that might fix the problem and even gave us the name of a local company where we could get the part. We thanked him for his help and advice as he left the RV.

Before leaving we stopped to get gas at the Murphy station ($3.099 a gal). We left WalMart at 9:15 and drove 4 miles over to Southern Mobile Home & RV Supply to get the part for the hot water heater ($20). We left there at 10:00 and got back on I-10 West.

We crossed into Texas at 10:20.

From Last day in motorhome

We stopped at the Flying J in Bridge City at 10:30 to weigh the RV (20,800 lbs) on their scales ($10) and then we got gas ($3.139 a gal). There are 2 things we have to have done before we take the motorhome to PPL Motorhomes. We have to have the RV weighed and we have to have a Texas vehicle safety inspection and an emissions test.
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We stopped for lunch at a Burger King in Winnie, TX at noon. There was a large parking lot next to Burger King where we could park and eat our burgers at the RV. After lunch Mike installed the part for the hot water heater that we bought this morning to see if it would fix our problem. Nope - the pilot light for the hot water heater still won't light. There has to be something else wrong. We got back on I-10 at 12:50 for our next stop in Houston.

We got into Houston an hour later and passed by these large concrete

Driving from DeFuniak Springs, FL to Sulphur, LA

We got an earlier start this morning than we did yesterday. We left WalMart at 9:15 and got back on I-10 heading west to our next destination for tonight. We passed by the USS Alabama after crossing Mobile Bay on I-10.

From DeFuniak Springs, FL to Sulphur, LA

We stopped at a Shell station near Theodore, AL at 12:30 to get gas ($3.259 a gal). There was a Subway at the Shell station, so we decided to get some subs and have them for lunch before we got back on the highway.

We stopped at rest area near Westonia, MS a little after 2:00 to walk Tinker and make some coffee before going on. At exit 267 on I-10 we got onto I-12 towards Baton Rouge and connected with I-10 east of Baton Rouge. I caught a quick glimpse of the Belle of Baton Rouge Casino right after we

Driving from Sebastian to DeFuniak Springs

We finished packing everything we would need for our trip in the RV last night, so we didn't have too much to do this morning. We were up early (at least for us) had coffee and a quick breakfast, pulled the motorhome out of the driveway, hitched up the car and were on the road by 10:00. We drove west to I-95 and headed north to take US-192 west to Kissimmee-St. Cloud to get on the Florida Turnpike.

By the time we reached St. Cloud it was almost time for lunch and we started to look for a place where we could pull off the highway and fix lunch. We found a church parking lot and pulled in there at 11:40 for a quick lunch.

We were back on the road by a little after 12:00 and then continued west on US-192 about 4 miles to the Florida Turnpike. We drove north on the turnpike until we connected with I-75 in Wildwood. The toll for driving the car & RV on the turnpike was $13.50.

We continued north in I-75 to Lake City and then headed west on I-10. We stopped at the Love's Truck Stop in Lee, FL at 4:00 to get gas in the RV and paid $3.359 a gallon. When we were leaving Love's, I saw these donkeys in a field across from the truck stop and snapped a couple of photos.

From Driving from Sebastian to DeFuniak Springs

An hour and a half later we crossed

Getting ready for trip to Houston

We had a 9:00 appointment last Wednesday at Camping World in Cocoa, FL to have the new slide toppers installed.  We went over to the Burger King near Camping World to have breakfast and then drove over to WalMart Supercenter to do a little shopping. Mike also found a place where he could get a hair cut. Then we drove back to Camping World to wait until the RV was ready. Mike bought a new pull cord for the RV awning. We had already paid the $824 for the new slide toppers, but that didn't include removing the old slide toppers and that cost $146. The installation was finished and we were heading home by 2:00.

I just realized that even though I had said we were going to sell the motorhome, that I had failed to mention that we were going to put it on

New Headlights for the RV & New Bedroom Furniture

Once we decided to sell our 2005 Winnebago Adventurer motorhome, we made a list of things we needed to do to prepare it for sale.

One thing was to replace the headlights that had become clouded. Mike priced them through the Winnebago parts and the pair cost over $600. He found the headlights through another supplier on the internet and got them for $324 for the pair - about half the price from Winnebago. Mike replaced the RV headlights last week and what a difference it made!

From February 2014

On Friday morning of last week (Feb. 21) we drove the RV up to Camping World at

Gardenfest, new furniture & family reunion

The first half of February has been busy. On Feb. 1 Mike and I drove down to Riverview Park in Vero Beach to go to Gardenfest (free) which is put on by the Garden Club of Indian River County. We walked around looking at all of the plants and flowers that were for sale by the various nurseries to get ideas for our flower gardens. There were also vendors selling lawn furniture and garden decorations. We took photos of some of the plants and flowers so we would remember them later.

From February 2014

After attending Gardenfest, we went to Five Guys Burgers in Vero for lunch. On the way home we stopped at the Indian River Fairgrounds to go the Vero Beach Antique Extravaganza. We paid $7 each to get into the antique show and didn't find anything to buy.

Wednesday of last week (Feb. 5) we drove down to Vero Beach to go to our favorite consignment shop, Kaleidoscope Consignments, to see if we could find a dresser for our Oriental guest room. We didn't have anything exactly in mind and no sooner did we walk through the door, but we saw

Cousins visit from Illinois

I've been trying to decide whether or not if I wanted curtains on the kitchen window over the sink or not. Then if I do, what style of curtains? I had bought some Battenburg white curtains and valances for our house in Dothan and really liked them and had gotten them from either Penney's or Sears (who now don't have them). After some searching on the internet, I found exactly what I was looking for at Anna's Linens and ordered them. They were delivered last week and look great.

My cousin Frances and her husband Jack are down from southern Illinois for their annual winter trip to Florida out of the cold weather. They stopped by our house between stays at their time shares Tuesday of last week. I had made my broccoli cheddar pasta salad and we had that and sandwiches for lunch. We had a good time visiting and catching up on each other's news and the time just flew by. It didn't seem like they had been here very long before it was time for them to leave.

From January 2014

January is also Girl Scout cookie time and the Thin Mints were calling our name. We also bought some Tagalongs or Peanut Butter Patties and as usual the cookies were gone in no time.

It's hard to believe that January is already over! I wonder how fast February will go by since it's a short month.

Oriental Headboard & More House Painting

We've been trying to come up with inexpensive ideas for a headboard for one of our guest rooms. Once we decided on what we wanted, the next problem was where to find it. We wanted a 3-panel floor screen with an Oriental look and we finally found one on the internet at Oriental Furniture for $149.00. It went perfectly with the queen comforter set I had bought last September from Anna's Linens.

From January 2014

Last Tuesday (Jan. 7) Sears delivered the queen mattress set and bed frame that we bought last month and set up the bed. Mike removed the