We got up this morning at 7:00 and it was sunny and 42°. We had breakfast and while Mike disconnected the trailer from the hookups, I put the Keurig and other stuff that was on the kitchen counter away, put the slideout in and walked over to the dumpster to throw our garbage away. It was 8:35 when we left Madison Campground and headed west on I-10.
Once we got west of Tallahassee we started seeing the remains of the tree damage from Hurricane Michael last October. We had driven to Pensacola in mid-October and saw the damage left by Hurricane Michael. There were so many trees that had come down on I-10, that the trees were trimmed back to just within the lines for the shoulders.
Today we saw several crews cutting and clearing away the trees.
We stopped at a Rest Area that last October was closed because there were so many trees down. While we were at the Rest Area, Mike checked the temperature of the trailer's brake drums with a digital infrared thermometer and showed me how to do it. We had had one tire where the brake drum was hotter than the others, so Mike has been checking them periodically and so far everything's been fine.
We crossed the Apalachicola River
and a minute later we gained an hour in our day when we crossed into the Central Time Zone.
We stopped for gas at a Love's Truck Stop at Defuniak Springs ($3.149 a gallon) and then
We got up this morning at 7:30 and it was 39° and no wind. So it wasn't too cold when I walked Tinker first thing this morning.
Since the campground office was closed when we came in yesterday, Mike walked up there this morning after it opened and paid the $28 we owed for our campsite fee (we had put down a $20 deposit to reserve the site).
Mike then started breaking camp and talked with the couple in the RV next to us. They were from Canada and he and Mike ended up talking about camping and RVs and he even helped Mike break camp.
After I had put things away on the inside, I got Tinker and took our garbage up to the trash cans. Then I walked to the front of the campground office to take a photo,
when a large chicken ran out from the bushes and startled Tinker. This was Tinker's first encounter with a chicken. I was going to take a photo of the chicken with my phone, so I put the handle of the retractable leash between my legs and that's when Tinker took off running
We were up at 7:00 this morning. It was 46° with a wind chill of 40° when I walked Tinker first thing this morning. After breakfast we loaded the last minute items from the frig, our laptops, and bed pillows. We hitched up the car and trailer and then decided to have an early lunch at 11:15.
After lunch Mike drove the trailer off of the leveling blocks and discovered that we had a nail in the back tire on the passenger side of the car. It's now 12:00 and we're all packed with the car and trailer hitched up - and there's a NAIL in the tire! Really?! Mike pulls the nail out of the tire with a pair of pliers and it's a screw about 1/4" long - not long enough to have punctured through the tire tread. Whew!
Mike and I took our showers and then afterwards went over to see our neighbor Barbara to say goodbye and give her a copy of our trip map and a calendar showing where we would be each day.
Then we got put Tinker in the car and we were ready to leave - oops! I forgot to get Tinker's food and water bowls and his favorite toy Bear. Then I realized we hadn't changed the thermostat on the A/C & Mike had forgotten to turn off the water heater. OK - 2 extra trips back in the house and we're ready to go - not! I had left my soda on the kitchen counter, so one more trip in the house.
We are finally on the road at 1:11 and heading north on I-95. We arrived at Exit 311 on I-95 a few minutes after 4:00 and then at St. John's RV Park at 4:22.
The office closed at 4:00, so there was no one there. We had paid a $20 deposit on tonight's camping fee,
We've been planning this trip out to Utah for several months now. Mike made campground reservations months ago for us to stay at Zion National Park, Moab, UT and Monument Valley. But it seems like we've spent the last 2 days rushing to get things done for the trip - it's just all of the last minute stuff that has to be done and packed.
Saturday afternoon I drove over to Kissimmee to visit with my sister-in-law Elaine for a while. Mike stayed home and packed some things in the trailer storage area.
Sunday Fletcher drove up from Ft. Lauderdale for a visit and we went to lunch at Squid Lips here in Sebastian. We all were in the mood for a hamburger and we each had a cheeseburger with fries. Fletcher left to go back home about 6:00.
Yesterday we met our friends at IHOP in Vero Beach for breakfast one last time before our trip. I had printed off a map of our trip and a calendar showing where we would be each day and we gave each of them a copy. Then I spent yesterday doing laundry and Mike loaded the back of the car - the Dish satellite and tripod, a folding table for grilling, the grill, a couple of folding chairs and some other things we'll need on our trip. I also prepared my February Financial Report for the Indian River Genealogical Society and emailed it to each of the Board members yesterday afternoon.
We're having our mail forwarded down to Fletcher's house while we're gone and I've stopped the newspaper delivery.
Today I took Tinker to the groomer's for a bath and cut. Then I did some final shopping at Publix and WalMart Supercenter for some last minute things we needed. After I got home Mike took the car
We leave tomorrow to go to Myakka River State Park, so we've been busy since the first of this month getting ready for the trip. Last week Mike ordered some oil from Amsoil for the Honda Pilot and we drove over to their distribution center in Orlando to pick up last Tuesday. Afterwards, we stopped at Burger Fi in Kissimmee for lunch. This was our second time eating at a Burger Fi (Fletcher took us to one in January) and it was just as good as the first time.
We ate breakfast with our friends at IHOP in Vero the last 2 Mondays. I took Tinker to the groomer last Saturday for the "works" - bath and haircut in preparation for our trip.
Yesterday I went to the IRGS General Meeting. Our speaker was Sandra McKenny and she spoke on "Transcriptions, Abstracts and Extracts". She talked about how important it was to transcribe handwritten documents and how to do it correctly - misspellings and all. She explained the differences between abstracts and extracts of documents for genealogy.
I also stopped our newspaper delivery and had our mail held while we are on our trip. It's really handy that that can be done online, so I don't have to remember to call during office hours or fill out a form.
The IRGS in conjunction with the Family History Center in Vero is sponsoring a free genealogy conference
Mike had bought Gutter Guards to install on our rain gutters a while back from Lowe's. Earlier this month Mike put them on the gutters around our garage - which fills up with oak leaves from tree by the garage.
Every Monday of this month Mike and I went down to IHOP in Vero and joined our friends Chris & Matt, Nancy & Bill, and Steven for breakfast.
Our guest speaker for the March IRGS's monthly meeting was Diahan Southard and she spoke on "Five Tips to Make Sense of Your DNA Testing." We had a huge attendance that day and we always do when Diahan speaks. Even if you've heard her speak on DNA, you always pick up on something you missed before - at least I do, and several of my friends say the same thing. Since I am now Treasure for the society, I attend the monthly Board meetings which are usually the following week of our General Meetings. Besides keeping the financial records for the society, I prepare a monthly financial report which I give at the General Member Meeting and I email a copy to each of the Board Members.
We also went to the MOAA (Military Officers of America Assn.) luncheon at the Vero Beach Yacht Club on
Mike and I went to the Gardenfest at Riverside Park in Vero Beach. It's an annual event hosted by the Garden Club of Indian River County and there are vendors there from plant nurseries from all over Florida. This year we bought a beautiful red Hibiscus plant for $20. Then we went to Mulligan's Beach House on the ocean for lunch.
The Indian River Genealogical Society in association with 3 other societies had their annual Valentine Seminar on Saturday the 17th at the First Presbyterian Church in Vero. This was their 35th Valentine Seminar. The guest speakers were Pam & Richard Sayre, both well-know National speakers. We had a 2-hour presentation on Google Earth for Genealogists by Rick and Pam, Rick spoke on Land Office Records and Pam finished out the day with a fun presentation on Rogues & Rascals. Our lunch was catered by Toojay's and I had ordered the Turkey Wrap. The seminar started at 9:00 and we finished about 3:45.
Then I rushed home from the Seminar because my cousin Frances and her husband Jack were driving in to spend the night with us before they went on down to their timeshare. I had bought a London Broil and Mike put it in the Crockpot with the Knorr Sauerbraten mix and then added carrots and potatoes later for our dinner that night. So when I got home, I just had to fix a salad and heat the Hawaiian Rolls.
Then Sunday we took Frances and Jack down to Mulligan's Beach House in Vero for a late breakfast. We all ordered the Country Connection - scrambled eggs, biscuit & gravy, sausage and homefries - not very original on anyone's part, but we agreed that we all made a good choice.
We went down to visit with Frances and Jack at their timeshare in Pompano on the 25th. Since pets aren't
