julietookoff

[julietookoff]

February 2024 Annual Update

February 2024 Annual Update

Remarkably, the RV hasn't sold yet, even after a price reduction. It has been sitting on the consignment lot for 2 years. Corny runs the generator monthly. We've replaced the headboard and added 2 Ikea chairs. When it sells, we plan to get gutters and screen-in the back patio.

I did sell all the Yugi-oh and Pokemon cards for about $600. We also did well on a $400 leather sectional and a $250 grill/smoker. We bought 3 units at one facility in August and both about died of heat exhaustion.

I went solo to the Bamarama Mega event (GC9TB1Z) February 2023. I had a great time and kept busy with daily events - sometimes twice a day. I tented at Gulf Shores State Park and enjoyed the sound of the gulf waves and the woodsy bike trails. At one point I noticed a camper next to me was that kind of person who spreads all their stuff out on the picnic table. After dark, I woke up to a ruckus and figured raccoons were raiding their goodies. I never opened my eyes, but it sounded like the raccoons dragged the neighbor's stuff right next to my tent to eat it. In the morning, my tent was unzipped about 8" and my cheese was gone! The little rascals know how to unzip tents and lift up cooler lids! It was a little unsettling that they/it was right next to me in my tent. I made sure to have the zipper pull up high from then on. I found a local grocery store I loved, Rouse's, with lots of good take-out food and a dining area with microwave. Their lawn chairs were so cheap I brought one back for Corny.

Shorty paid cash for a house in a college town in northwest Indiana. He got a charming old fixer-upper for a steal of a price. It was built in 1911 and has the original wood trim and door hardware. He's replaced the roof, furnace, water pipes, added a toilet downstairs and done tons of stuff I can't remember. Work keeps him busy and there's lots of overtime. We went up to see him in August. I crocheted edgings on some housewarming washcloths and gave him a cross stitch of his house. We walked to Bruno's Pizza, Allie's cafe for a "polish", 7-11, Family Dollar and a chinese place. We found a Cane's, Ben's pretzels at the mall, and an Amish buffet - Das Essenhaus in Midland. We came back for Thanksgiving. Corny had just installed a diesel heater in the van. It snowed a couple days and got down to 16 degrees. It sounded like an army marching on the roof for 14 hours when Shorty had the roof done. We made ourselves useful and put plastic over his windows. I gave him a Granny square quilt for Christmas and started a camo quilt for my Dad's birthday.

Dad's afghan

Aurie's napghan :0)

We stopped at the Barn and got my bread machine and sewing machine out of storage. We're making good use of both. I've hemmed a lot of pants and made some things I can't talk about yet . . .

My bedroom walls kept getting bigger and more bare, so finally I hung some tapestries by my bed and 8 Walter Alois Weber bird pictures I took out of a vintage book.

I placed about a dozen geocaches near home - Red Ends: A bison tube cable-tied to a red-diamond sign where the pavement ends. Before long, a Low-life with No-life glommed onto them and kept armchair logging multiple fake finds with multiple fake accounts. For fun??? I started archiving them after deciding finding is much more fun than maintaining geocaches.

Medically, I have been making good use of a diet pill, a CPAP, and a hip injection. I had been limping around in pain for the last few years, avoiding as much walking as I could and taking 600mg of ibuprofen 2-3x per day. After the shot I was off the pills and could walk again! It's been 5 months and just now starting to wear off. Corny got me an awesome Trek bike for Christmas. I love - love - loved my Raleigh Eva, it fit so well, but it was a little tough on my forearms. This was even more comfortable! I was crying after my test ride!

Beacon 12 Theaters is just down the road, a mile or so from home and has $6 Tuesdays. They also have free drink refills. I take a few Taco Bell items and see 3-4 movies every few weeks. Speaking of tacos, me, Corny and Shorty all got taco passes: a Taco Bell taco every day for 30 days for just $10. We only missed a couple days. Shorty works right next to a Taco Bell. He also got a nacho fries pass, but we figgered it was too unhealthy for us at our age. We watch the "Drops" every Tuesday for good deals. One Tuesday they had a "Live Mas" blog-type show to talk about their new chicken items. I was just poking around and clicked on a bell symbol at the very bottom - and found the secret free "Cravings Menu Pass". Corny and I were 2/1000 nationwide to win our 30-day passes for a cravings menu item. I'm hooked on the $3.99 nachos.

In September we 3 took a van trip to Georgia to work on geocaching in every county. Poco wasn't loving it. He would hardly eat. Then he started to hesitate getting into the van. When he got in and immediately jumped back out, we got the hint that he wasn't feeling well and headed home. He does great on a straight highway, but when we start doing a lot of turning he must feel carsick.

My little Piggie died :0( I thought she would outlive her life expectancy since I spoiled her so much with fresh veggies and timothy hay, but no. I miss her. She is buried next to Dolly.

In November we had a "clean out the garage" yard sale and made about $1600 ($250 of that was vintage game stuff). We sold a mountain of clothes for $1/bag. Afterward we made 5-6 trips to Jericho thrift store to donate the leftovers. Corny is enjoying the garage. I got him two big shelves for Christmas. He loved them so much, he got two more. He installed a garage door opener and racks for the rakes, shovels and hoses.

Oh yeah, and we got married since we're nearing social security age.

Life is Godd! We fit out.

[julietookoff]

February 2023 Tour

So some of the maintenance we did on our 11 year old RV:  replace part of a rotted slide-out floor, paint the yellowed ceiling fixtures, get front seat covers, a new driver’s side window, install a microwave over-the-stove, replace the 2 house batteries, "new" mattress and just scrub and touch-up everything.  We took it to Henkel's RV Sales August 9, knowing it was off-season for RV sales. . . it is still there!  We were hoping it would sell around the time of the big RV show in Tampa, but that's been a few weeks ago. . .  It’s still in good shape; as Shorty said, “Nobody’s got any money now.”

Closing on our house was July 22, 2022.  We found a G.E. dishwasher at an outlet store in Clearwater, a G.E. stove at an estate sale, and fridge, washer and dryer at Lowe's.   By the time we got the mattresses, shower curtains, and things you need to live, our first night in the house was July 29.  We still had to commute to Holiday to finish working on the RV at our tired senior pace.  We decided we're going to die here, because we're too old to move again. . . we were so worn out.  But dang, we're loving it here!

We continued commuting (about 35 miles each way) to see Shorty most weeks; a few times he came up to see us at the house.

The first two things I cooked in the new house were sheet pan chicken/taters/ corn on the cob and chicken parm on the sheet pan.  After 10 years with an RV oven, I had a heuge two-shelfer and two giant sheet pans I had been dying to use.  I had been collecting recipes from Julia Pacheco, my fav You-Tube home cook, for about a year.  To Corny's (and Bob's) delight, I have been cooking up a storm!  I also started a little canning.  I have wanted sodium-free beans for a long time - and the pressure canner takes them from dried, right outta the bag to squishy soft in 40 minutes.

^stuffed Manicotti

Corny watched and I re-watched Breaking Bad on one of the many TVs we've found in storage auctions.  This one came with a guest subscription to Netflix.  We watched "Better Call Saul".  He was Corny's favorite character.  I've always loved Bryan Cranston.  Then we watched all the Jurassic Park movies.

Here's a little tour.  The walls are a very light grey; flooring is grey vinyl:

^This is where I have my oatmeal with Piggie and Poco

Master bed and bath:

Life of Christ cross - all the little boxes were delivered to Shorty's house over the past year and accumulated in storage.  It was like Christmas, opening them all up and displaying them!

Bedroom 1, Den and bath 2:

Poco got a cute little 2' fence surrounding the patio.  Corny doesn't worry so much about him wandering away now.

Backyard visitors:  flock of 6 wild turkeys, pond turtle  

Fledgling woodpecker chatted with me and clung to my leg for several minutes when I went to pick up my bedside dresser.

Without gutters yet, when hurricane Ian headed our way in September, we made two trips to a county park to fill sandbags.  Some young, energetic people took pity on us old, slow-moving, moaning people and helped us haul the heavy bags to the Jeep.  Corny made a few bucks selling flashlights and lanterns he had gotten on clearance months ago, thanks to Ian.

In November I did a big 2-week Georgia county run.  I only got the Jeep stuck once, in mud covered by leaves.  A Lumpkin County Sheriff had me out within minutes.  I have about 1/3 of GA counties to visit:

On Thanksgiving Shorty brought Bob up to the house.  They arrived at 5pm; the turkey finished at 7:30pm.  I made real gravy for the first time in decades.

Corny had some kidney procedures in November, then found himself in the hospital for an infection in December.

Shorty told us on Dec. 1 he was moving "up north".  He heard rumors that Hyundai was hiring contractors to do his job so he promptly took his 3 weeks vacation.  When he went back to see if he was on the schedule, they were like "Who are you?".  He had worked there 10 1/2 years.  We were so glad they did what we couldn't - kick him in the pants so he would get a better job.  The little shit decided to move to Elkhart, Indiana to be able to afford a house of his own.  We miss him - my life has certainly changed.  I would plan all week what to bring him or ask him or tell him.  But we are very happy for him to be out on his own and experiencing real freedom for the first time.  He left for Elkhart Dec. 3 so now we just text.

We didn't have much notice, so Christmas was basically cancelled.  We went to Buffet City on Christmas Eve.   I made 4# of candied pecans to send up north and give to the neighbors and Liam - Shiloh Builders' Number Two.  They are building a house right next door which Chick, the owner of Shiloh, is going to live in part time.  They are using the garage as their office.  

I threw a tapestry over the TV for Christmas.

Corny scored a home run and got me a Kitchen Aid accessory that peels, cores and slices an apple all at the same time!  I made my first apple pie since I was 20-something years old.  I was always too impatient to peel apples.

We continue going to storage auctions.  The latest score was an entire tub of Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon cards.  I went through them all to check for the big buck$ cards.  There weren't any.  When I get back from BamaRama (GC9TB1Z) I will list them on Facebook Marketplace for prolly $20/box.  

Life is Godd!

We fit out.

[julietookoff]

ALMOST!

June 27, 2022

I'd like to catch things up here in hopes that my next entry will be all about our new house and its photos.  But here's a little sneak preview:

We signed the contract for our new house February 1, 2021.  At that time, we expected to be in the house by September; definitely before Christmas LOL.  Our builder bought the lot we liked in April 2021.  The footings were poured in November.  Trusses went up  Jan 10 '22.  June 16 sod was put down.  Corny has been spending a lot of time up there running two sprinklers depending on the weather radar.  I call it his part-time job.

At least we got a 2022 house at 2021 prices...

I am most looking forward to having a real oven, a real washer/dryer, no steps, silent air conditioning, space to work, a kiddie-pool and a companion for Piggie, a container garden with Piggie's favorite veggies and some herbs, and ~hopefully~ a doggy door at some point.  We have to screen-in the back patio first...  It's only a little 1500 sq. foot house, but after 11 years in a 37' RV, it seems heuge!

Our 85 year old neighbor Bob told us about Tarpon Springs Discount Groceries - we call it "Thrifty Bob's".  Cheap, cheap cheap cereal (27 oz box 1.99), produce (bananas .50 per bunch), king size candy bars 2/$1, frozen dinners 1.50, bagged snacks .50 - just tons of goodies at rock-bottom prices.  We've been going 1-2 tmes a week and usually bring stuff for Shorty when we see him on his day off.  Otherwise he would survive on just cold oatmeal and warm Gatorade.  We will continue to go to Thrifty Bob's after we move, although I noticed on Facebook there is another similar shop in Homosassa (about 10 miles closer to the new house) we'll check out.  Also there is an awesome Greek family owned pizza place in Tarpon Springs we recommend - Queen's Pizza on Hwy 19. They have "Greek Tuesday" specials with 2 for 1 gyros, spanakopita, chicken lemon soup, etc.

After declining for several months and not being well for a few days, my little Dolly died at home March 28.  She was next to me on the daybed when she had a long seizure.  She was 16 feisty years old.  As Cornelius says, at least we had some warning that this day was coming.  We buried her next to Ruffles.  We'll join you soon, girls.

^Piggie grooming Dolly

We still go to the storage auctions - the latest big finds have been several big screen tv's that work, a Kate Spade bag, a couple laptops and a sealed Samsung Galaxy Tab A wrapped in Christmas paper. 

In May we started getting the BigAss RV ready to sell.  We got a second 5x10 storage unit at the same place down the road.  Holy Ca-rap - I couldn't believe how much stuff we had been hauling around with us.  And how much delayed maintenance we are finding. Corny will be much less stressed out by dropping stock prices when we sell the RV.

Geocaching has been a little sparse since all this moving prep and summer weather.  There is a promotion going on to find about 30 caches per month for a whole year to earn a digital souvenir each month and one at the end of the year if you met the reqs every month.  Last month I did a few hikers in Starkey Park and a bike path - which I split into early morning and early evening.  I think I will continue that bike path for this month's caches...

Life is Godd!  We fit out.

[julietookoff]

What?  Where did that year go?!?!

January 2022 What?  Where did 2021 go?!?!

We're still at the campground in the RV.  We see Shorty almost every week.  We attend storage auctions and put the good stuff in our own little storage unit.  We've attended many geocaching events.  I've made several geocaching Jeep trips to Ocala, Tallahassee, Gainesville, St. Cloud, Melbourne, etc.  Corny helps our 84 year old neighbor every few days and we take him leftovers pretty often.

Bathouses in Gainesville

Ocala National Forest

Handsome Melbourne resident

Camo’d geo-containers 

I have attended 20 CITOs - cache in, trash out events.  My goal is 25.  I plan my trips around Florida based on their locations.

Speaking of seniors, Dolly is 16 now.  She has lost weight and most of her teeth.  Her eyesight is very poor.  We took her to have her teeth worked on but the labs were so bad they didn't want to put her under.  She gave us a scare one night with some bleeding from her tail-end but came around the next day.

Poco takes an allergy pill and Piggie is as spunky as ever.

Unfortunately Ruffles died at home in July, and Corny still isn't the same.  She was 12 and his best friend.  She left a huge void in our home.  We buried her on the new house lot and decided that is where we all want to be buried.  The pack will be together again when all our travels are complete.

For hurricane Elsa in July, we all hopped into the van and stayed overnight at a rest area in Titusville.  That was Ruffles' last trip.

We've had all our shots and the current booster.  I found a cardiologist I like in Tarpon Springs and Corny, as usual, is growing a few kidney stones.  He donated blood for the last time in November when he came home and passed out while taking off his shoes.

The Jeep had a workup, too, to the tune of $5000.  A cylinder head was replaced and other maintenance.  Corny and Shorty have replaced the brakes and shocks.  We’re keeping it!

Our washer died.  We're using the laundromat until we get into the new house.  We also had to replace the front A/C on the RV again in October.

I took a 2 week solo Jeep trip up north in September.  I saw the new Buc-ee's stations in Deltona and St. Augustine and got goal caches in GA, SC, NC, VA, D.C., MD, WV, PA and OH.  I stayed at my sister's house in northwest OH and attended some of the annual fall festivals.  From her house I made a trip to Elkhart, Shipshewanna and Chicago.

Sheldon Church, in South Carolina ^

Virginia Capitol Building ^

Capitol Hill, D.C.

^Washington Monument >

Lincoln Memorial

On the way home I took I-65 south and found the coolest Amish store at Exit 65 in KY.

It was a long time coming, but the footings for our house were finally poured around October 10.

We found a Duff's Buffet in Clearwater and have been there twice since November.

I was very happy with the Survivor season 41 results.  I was gunning for Ericka or Xander weeeks before the final.

My sister and her family from Ohio popped in one day.  They were staying in a condo on Madiera Beach.  We saw them a couple times.

Shorty came over for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  As usual, we had crock pot turkey and Christmas pizza.  We've been playing L-C-R and Rummy.

It's a happy little life, sprinkled with a little boredom.  I'm always planning a geocaching trip.  Once the house is built and we're settled, we'll start planning some longer-term van trips out west to hit all our favorite spots.

Life is Godd!  We fit out.

Pretty Leopard Frog by our RV tire.

[julietookoff]

Pandemic Geocaching

Here are pictures from just a few of the over 500 geocaches I’ve found since June 2020:

Homies.  Piggie is in her cage on the bed.  Such good doggies!  Fremont Indian State Park, Utah

Earthcache GC1F7YY ‘Columnar Joints in Welded Tuff’ at Fremont Indian SP.  Refers to the crystalline shape of the rocks behind Corny.

GC76142  I-70 between Salina and Green River, UT

^ GC6RP0D  San Rafael Reef - Fold.  A cool place I-70 goes through...  v

An interesting rock along the two track...

^GCZD9A Earthcache ‘Copper Ridge Dinosaur Tracks’ NW of Arches NP, Utah.  We went a bit outta the way for this special place.  v

   GC18FK5 Earthcache ‘Wilson Arch,’ eastern Utah

^GCNCR2 Cliff Dwellers Ruin Cache.  We spent a few hours here exploring, all by ourselves.  I felt so blessed to be close enough to see the ancient builder’s fingerprints in the mortar.  Lots of petroglyphs in the area.  SE Utah.  v

GC1916C Earthcache  ‘A Look at the Ice Age’  We spent a little time here - I thought a lot about this special guy and what life must’ve been like for him...

Ward Charcoal Ovens State Historic Park, south of Ely, NV.  This was an unplanned stop, so I didn’t have any waypoints loaded.  GC8C3PJ is nearby.

   ^GC14MC5  ‘The Overlook’ in SW Wyoming, off I-80

 GC19HG5 Earthcache ‘Devil's Slide’, NE Salt Lake City off of I-84

 GCGKRF Virtual Cache ‘USU Synergy’ at Utah State University’s Logan Campus.  I really enjoyed exploring this school on a Sunday.

 GC53B5 Virtual cache film set "DUMB & DUMBER"  This was fun.  If this rest area looks familiar, you may have seen it in a famous movie, now available on VHS (lol!)

Just a lovely sign on the way to Mexico.

 GCG35F Virtual cache ‘Hoosegow’ in Clifton, AZ, an interesting historic railroad/mining town.

^Pecos National Historical Park, New Mexico. v

 GCZKG2 Earthcache  Tsé Bit' A'í - Shiprock in extreme NW New Mexico.

GC204C6 San Agustín - VLA OSHM.  Very Large Array in central New Mexico.

^ GCJ77H Multi-cache ‘Look, Over there!’ extreme SE New Mexico.  v

GCZJQC Earthcache ‘A Day at the Beach’ south-central Colorado

 GC2YHE2   Rawhide!  Gainesville, FL at University of Florida's Beef Teaching Unit

^GC94Y01 CITO ‘Super Clean Sweep 2021′  cache in/trash out clean-up event in Tallahassee.  v

[julietookoff]

We’re Still Alive!

Since the last entry, almost a year ago...

We stayed in Las Vegas longer than we should've.  I knew Vegas in the summer was  a stoopid idea.  Once I left my credit card on the dashboard and it melted and wouldn't work.  We soon discovered that when temps got into the 100s, the RV A/C would shut down.  Then we would all cram onto the van bed and vegetate for hours.  This was more laziness than even I could endure.  My desk diary goes blank for a few weeks here.  I do remember toward the end of our stay they were working on the water line nearby and the water was undrinkable for the last week or two.  We were schlepping it home in gallon jugs from water dispensers at grocery stores, etc.

I made numerous geocaching escapes (see next post) and we got a few things done - a new  RV passenger window which had turned cloudy from the nitrogen.  We replaced it with single pane glass.  We got 5 new Jeep tires, with sensors, for $300 on Craig's List.  We got addicted to Smith's grocery store's $6 pizzas.  Although storage auctions were cancelled, we still had a lot of crap to sell.  We sold both our bikes.  Get while the gettin's good.  Corny had  bought a folding bike and I was ready for a new one.  Mine was just sad, being outdoors for 8 years and getting soooo many dings from traveling on back of the RV.

Luckily the KOA in Las Vegas, NM would take us during the China virus.  It was so nice to be able to walk around outside without melting, and sleep without the A/C.  We soon missed Cane’s, Del Taco and In & Out.  We made a few trips to Santa Fe for Sam’s Club and Panda.

Finally, to Florida October 25.  It was soooo gooood to see Shorty again.  I was a bit worried - had he lost weight?  Yes, he had.  Commence the pie-making.

We found some live auctions to attend and have bought a few small units.  We're waiting until we have a 2-car garage for sorting and an enclosed cargo trailer to get serious and go big.

Thanksgiving Shorty came over for crock-pot turkey breast and fixin’s.  Christmas was homemade red & green pizzas.

Starting a week after we arrived, spent months riding a roller coaster, uncomfortably scouring the area for a place to settle down.  Our search radius got bigger and bigger.  Nothing was on the market during the pandemic.  When a house (usually in Spring Hill) hit the market, there were lines at the open house and a bidding war.  20 year old houses were going for more than new construction.  We decided to find a lot (hahaha) and build.   I wanted to be surrounded by a forest; Corny wanted to be "close to stuff".  It was a lot of driving and not a fun time.

My understanding of Florida septic rules:   In July of 2018 a statewide rule went into effect.  Any property less than 1 acre had to install a $12,000 septic system that requires $300 annual service.  We narrowed our search to 1+ acre lots to be able to use a good old fashioned $2000 septic system.  We found several.  Unfortunately they were leftover, tough to build on, swampy or sinkhole ridden.  One had a ditch going through it and next to a crap house with a pack of big loud dogs.  Several sloped downhill toward a sinkhole.

Thank God, we wandered into the office of a small independent builder who had a lot available 3 miles east of Weeki Wachee.  He was in the process of building a 1600 sq. ft. "starter" house on it.   It was roofed in and the studs were up.  We took a look at it and made an appointment to sit down with the builder.   I wanted a bigger patio and Corny wanted bigger bedrooms.   I told Corny to cancel our appointment with Shiloh Builders, but he was willing to see them in person one more time.  We were planning to tell them "Thanx but no thanx" then go to Maronda Homes for their 4 bedroom "The Maple" plan.  It had crap for a patio and they were very inflexible about most things.   Surprise!  Eugene "Chick" of Shiloh Builders pulled a floor plan out of his desk drawer.  He had "pulled it for re-pricing."  Our jaws dropped!  A huge 30x8' covered patio!  He'll do French doors instead of a window or sliders!  Steel studs-yes!  Shower instead of a tub-yes!  All tile-yes!  Foamed-in attic-yes!  PECS plumbing-yes!  Oh Thank God.  All that plus hard-to-find city water and sewer!  We signed the papers March 12th. We hope to move in September 2021.

Although Corny is dieting, we're both in such better moods.  I'm looking forward to having a big closet, big kitchen cabinets, and a two-car garage to work in, a doggy door and NO STEPS.  We'll have our own bathrooms!  We'll have a table to eat at together and recliners in the living room to hang out together.  Corny will get a fiberglass pool next year, and maybe a workshop/garage for his van.  Yay!

[julietookoff]

Elvis, Storage Wars and Pandemics - An Update from Las Vegas

Things are good here.  We pay a little extra for a bigger ex-house trailer lot with room to park the van.  We've got a little shade, too.

We watched the weather impatiently and finally arrived at King's Row in early October.  The plan WAS to head north in the spring.  We were going to a buffet once or twice a week and enjoying the huge selection of fast food restaurants (compared to Las Vegas, NM).  Our favorite buffets are at Sam's Town and the Orleans casinos, where we gamble $5 each and get free lunch buffets.  It didn't take long to find the Pink Box donuts, but they are across town and a little pricey.  We got Cox cable set up at our lot, which we sooo much appreciated during the Wuhan virus months.  While in NM I had gotten hooked on dumpster-diving and storage auction videos on YouTube.  I found out dumpster-diving is illegal in Las Vegas, so we started going to storage auctions.  My best finds were three 925 silver rings, each in a different unit.  And the cash.  I found a $20 bill in a BDU top and tons of spare change.  A neighbor who was moving gave us a 10x10 canopy for shade while sorting.

You get tons of household stuff for just a few bucks.  We can't handle mattresses and big furniture with just the little Jeep.  Although the bulk of stuff goes to GoodWill,  I have made over a thousand dollars on eBay and FB Marketplace.  One week I went to the post office four out of five days.  Some Mondays I go twice a day.  We've sold TVs, game systems, games, a Kindle Oasis, a webcam, sets of high-end clothes and Nike/Jordans, Navy BDUs and uniforms, sets of books, lots of bikes, cell phones, IKEA end tables and lots of misc.  At one unit I paid $35 and another bidder immediately bought two folding tables for $40.  

Some of the more odd finds were a Nissan Leaf charger, some HVAC baffles, digital surveying tools, a 4' long aquarium, a digital darkroom timer, a 1972 signed Munich Olympics print (I still haven't sold this), 7 sets of barn door hardware, horse tack, meth,  morphine, narcan, Rx pills (some the same that we take), tons of driver's licenses, Clark County jail IDs and some giant grow lights.  We bought about 25 units until the Pandemic shut them down.  They ranged in price from $5 to $85.  I plan to continue when we settle down in Florida, where we'll have at least three good flea markets where we can sell stuff (last I checked).  Then whatever is left will go to GoodWill.  We were thinking about getting a cargo trailer here, but the BMV is closed and they won't even answer eMails about out-of-staters getting tags for trailers.

I finally gave up my flip phone for a "Smart" phone.  I use it for as little as possible to avoid swearing like a drunk sailor.

Corny went to four Penn & Teller "Fool Us" tapings at the Rio casino.  They will start to air on June 22.

Our Wuhan Virus Experience:

January 25th we went to the Ethel M chocolate factory in Henderson to redeem a "Tasting" groupon.  We pulled into the lot and there was a tour bus parked out front.  Chinese people, most of them wearing masks, were coming and going.  We were aware of the virus at that time and that it was spreading from China.  One of the masked women asked me to take her picture in the cactus garden - I made a rude face and waved her away.  I wasn't going to touch her germy phone.

I signed up at Planet Fitness February 25.  They closed a couple weeks later.

March 9th we went to the last storage auction before the Stay-at-Home season.

We started loading up on TP and food before it was popular.  Before masks, every time I went to Wally's I loaded up on this n' that.  When the shelves started going bare (around March 15th here), we were all set.  I had three boxes of gloves, two from storage units, and a total of seven N-95 masks.  The first Clark County Wuhan virus death was on March 16th.  I found out why our Wal-Mart is so crazy busy all the time.  While I was sitting in the Jeep waiting for Corny to buy and install a new battery, I watched a continuous parade of bus people filing back and forth from the store to the bus stop.  We started going to a less germy Wally's a bit farther from home.

Corny got a second Shingles vaccine at Sam's Club.  I was off wandering around shopping.  Later when he wasn't feeling well I asked him what his temperature had been at Sam's.  They hadn't taken it!  I couldn't believe it.  It's kinda standard you make sure someone isn't sick before you innoculate them!

We each got our $1200 Wuhan checks on the first round.  I donated mine to Chase Bank.  Corny donated his to CitiBank.

There were no casinos, buffets or auctions during "quarantine".  Other than a little boredom, basically we just took our laziness to a higher level.  We were used to laziness.  I feel for the people with kids - and the poor kids.  Geocaching Headquarters cancelled all events and the big August Geo-gatherings in Seattle and British Columbia.  Corny was sad because he couldn't take the van to see State Parks, museums and such.  He finally made it out west and everything was closed!  He wants to stay here through the summer and take van trips to cooler places, instead of moving the bigass RV up north.  I would like to head home to Florida in the fall and see about buying some land and settling down.  Corny will have to use the van for extended trips out west.

Corny took the top of the engine off the Jeep to change the spark plugs.  Turns out one of the cylinder heads may be bad.  If so, it is a $4000 fix.  Or not fix.  We've gotten used to the check engine light.  

Geocaching-wise, we've been to several local events.  At one we donated about a dozen ready-to-go spray painted/repurposed Sam's Club-sized M&M/cashew containers.  I've taken several big solo Jeep trips to complete the NV Delorme challenge.  I found a nice Challenge Row just north of St. George, UT.  All six of us took a nice little van trip on Route 66 (first picture, above) from Kingman, AZ to Seligman to use up the old gas in the tank.  After spending 1/2 hour wiping down everything in a few germy hotel rooms, I started sleeping in the Jeep every other night.  I have a pizza-shaped pool float that fits perfectly.  I was almost done planning a big UT van trip when the auctions started back up.  

Now when I go on a trip, I have to end 60-70 eBay listings.  If I were willing to pay eBay about $5/month I could do it with one click, but I feel like I give eBay/PayPal way more than enough money already.  Certainly more than they deserve.  They charge auctioneer prices because they can, but in reality all they are is a listing service like Craig's List, FB MarketPlace and Offer Up, which are all free.  We do all the hard work.  FeeBay just sits ontheirass and sucks money.  Do I sound cynical?

I've saved geocaching for last because I've got lots of pix.  Here ya' go.

^St. George, UT

New Harmony, UT

Just inside CA from Pahrump, NV

^Donner Party camp

^Lake Tahoe, CA side

^Pyramid Lake, NV

Salt Flats - lots of motorcycles speeding across here.

^Picked up a handsome Travel Bug

Filthy Jeep

^I left a mud ring in the parking lot of Flying J after it rained

^I did a little boulder jumping

^I had a little talk with this sweet lil’ quail in Gerlach, NV

Life is Godd!  We fit out.

[julietookoff]

Las Vegas, New Mexico

After we left Arlington, we stayed in Amarillo a few days to eat at the Big Texan.  They were very busy on Friday and Sunday - we were seated upstairs both days.  Saturday I went on a quick county run and added 8 counties to my Texas map!  I visited a lot of cemeteries - in one I found a meth addict's drug bag!

We got the RV to the KOA in Las Vegas NM then all went back to Arlington to retrieve the van.  Corny got us a dog-friendly hotel for two nights.  Piggie gave us a scare.  She was fine during the Jeep ride, but when we got to the hotel she seemed to freeze.  I found out it was Tonic Immobility (TI) - "an innate fear response characterized by a temporary state of profound and reversible motor inhibition."  I brought her over to the bed in the morning and set her down next to me.  She came around and started exploring.  Whew.  

I stayed to get some Virtuals, a ladder cache and lunch at Six Flags.  Corny and the fur babies got the van and went back to Las Vegas.  On my way back with the Jeep, I geocached in Denton, got a bunch of Virtuals, a WebCam, and the State Star in Oklahoma, adding a whopping 24 counties to my map.  I made a beeline home when I found out Poco was howling like a coyote for me!

OK State Capitol

OKC Bombing Memorial>

Yes, there are two Las Vegases.  This little one is much more boring than the real one, but much cooler in the summer at around 6500 feet elevation.  Downtown are over 900 buildings on the Historical Registry.  We met the mayor our first day in town; she was babysitting the Visitor Center.  Lots of movies and TV shows are filmed here - the most famous being Easy Rider and Red Dawn.  Here's a good website:  http://lasvegasnm.org/filmed_in_las_vegas_new_mexico/

One day we went downtown and I found a geocache at the Plaza Hotel.  We checked out the gift shop and continued exploring up and down the street and the park for about another 30-45 minutes.  I got in the Jeep and said "Where's my purse???"  I had left it on the sofa in the hotel lobby!  Luckily an honest person found it!!!  It has been decades since I've ever forgotten my purse somewhere.

There are only a dozen or so geocaches nearby.  There is a little Wal-Mart - we went to Santa Fe (50-60 miles west) for Panda, Five Guys and Sam's Club.  Las Vegas has just the basic fast food chains.  There are a few other local restaurants.  We tried The Skillet, Blake's Lotaburger and Charlie's.  Charlie's has ginormous cream puffs, donuts, key lime pie and all sorts of yummy homemade-tasting things.  When we ate at The Skillet, I commented how good the tortillas were.  As we were leaving, an employee came in carrying a big bag of tortillas from Charlie's!

We had a pretty view of the mountains and a Quanset hut at the KOA.  We had low water pressure but the wi-fi was excellent.  Corny had to replace the 8-year old shower faucet.  I couldn't get Dr. Phil so I rarely watched tv.  Survivor started two weeks before we moved to the real Las Vegas, so I had to wait and binge-watch three episodes in one day.  We took short walks with the dogs because somebody always seemed to get a sandspur stuck in their paw.  Ruffles' hairy paws are like Velcro.  They call them grass spurs here!  We had some growing right under our RV.  The staff here is super friendly and one spent 8 hours plucking sandspurs from the big front lawn.

As planned, Corny took a van trip through the real Las Vegas and Salt Lake City up to a campground in Vancouver, enjoying buffets and DDDs along the way.  He went on a Boeing tour in Seattle.  He went to a "Legends of Tomorrow" filming location and met several of the actors.  He also entertained himself by visiting The Chinese Garden, Stave Falls hydroelectric power plant, Lynn Canyon Park, the Police Museum, Brandywine Falls, Shannon Falls, and Porteau Cove.  He got a call from his Florida doctor while he was away, so he had a short visit, a short stay at home, then headed to Florida in the van again for more tests.

^Shannon Falls

Before Corny left for Florida, I was able to make a county run around central NM and a bit of TX.  I stayed in Roswell two nights and Albuquerque two nights.  Here's what I wrote to Shorty about my favorite part, at the Alien Head geo-art on BLM land about 10 miles NE of Roswell:  I stomped around in the desert in my snake boots and didn't see any snakes!  I was on a fun bouncy Jeep trail (the kind you've got to unstrap the seatbelt to avoid injury) and stopped to look at the view of the valley - awesome!  While I was stopped a big low-flying eagle went by.  Then a little coyote ran across the trail about 200 feet ahead of me.  Then about 20 pronghorns followed him!  I was overjoyed!  I also saw lots of curious cows with calves.

Billy the Kid’s tombstone is locked up.

Panda Express in Santa Fe was a big deal.  In Albuquerque, I found a Del Taco!!!  I hadn't had it in years, and being so deprived in the little town, it was heavenly.  I wanted more the next day, but was on my way home.  Corny was already packed and left the night I came home.  He didn't want to go to Florida.  He had his tests and didn't leave the van for three long days because he had a catheter.

The dogs and I made a county run to northern NM.  When Corny got back, I made a southern NM run.  The Jeep got a workout going up, down, and around the mountains of Gila National Forest.  I got home around midnight.  

The next day we gladly packed up the Anchor and drove six hours toward the REAL Las Vegas.  We overnighted at a casino parking lot.  We got "home" Sunday and ate at an In & Out.  Corny left Monday around midnight to retrieve the van.  When he got back, the first thing we did was hit the Sam's Town Casino buffet.  The second thing we did was sign up for Cox Internet ($52/month).  We plan to be here about six months, Lord Willing and weather permitting.

Life is Godd!  We fit out.

[julietookoff]

Arlington, TX

Wow!  We love Arlington!  After 7 years of traveling around the country, we found somewhere we would seriously consider moving to.  Besides the people being super nice and "mostly" polite drivers, there is EVERYTHING here.  Every store and restaurant, several hospitals, plenty of geocaches, an AMC 18, Six Flags, a big airport, Interstates and mild winters.  We stayed two months.  Early on we took a wrong turn out of Aldi's and turned around in the driveway of the cutest little red brick house.  Ever since then Arlington has been pulling at my heartstrings to settle down.  The only thing that's missing is Shorty!

Along with giant Wal-Marts, Sam's, WinCo and several Aldi's, here are some of the places where we ate and shopped:  CiCi's, Peter Piper Pizza, Canes, Panda Express, In & Out, Boston Market, Furr's Buffet, Spaghetti Warehouse, Taco Bueno, Taco Cabana (awesome nachos), Krispy Kreme (walking distance from KOA!), a new fav Chinese Harbor Buffet and a new fav Pancho's Mexican Buffet.  There are many new-to-us restaurants we didn't have a chance to try.  Shopping:  Fry's ($7 click belts), Trader's World flea market, Half Price Books, Dave & Busters (we had a groupon).  And all the usual chain stores.  There is a mall just a couple miles south of the KOA.  It has an arcade/bowling alley bigger than Dave & Busters that is open late.  I just went in to look around after a day at the theater; we didn't stay to play.

So the downside.  Just after we got here, we went to an Urgent Care because Corny's back was killing him.  They did a simple x-ray and diagnosed him with sciatica.  They gave him a few pain pills until we could get an appointment with a primary care doctor.  They gave him better pills.  He bought a Hurry Cane.  We used the wheelchair at Trader's World.  By the end of the two months in Arlington, he was much improved.

I got a new doctor I like but his med tech screwed up big time when she entered my Rx's into the computer.  It took two trips to Walgreens and a smart Pharmacist to get them straightened out.  I'm supposed to be back for an appointment in October, but we'll see how that goes...

One of our A/Cs was acting up (capacitor), the microwave quit on us, and we had to replace the kitchen faucet.  The RV turns 8 this year and we've talked about getting a new smaller class C RV.

Geocaching.  The whole reason for coming here was for GeoWoodstock in Fort Worth.  I drove separately on the way up from San Antonio and did a big county-run.

^Texas State Capitol in Austin>

^Italy, TX>

I/we went to events all week.  We went to the one DDD in Fort Worth - Fred's Texas Café.  It was very good, and very pricey.  There are a dozen DDD's in Dallas but we didn't make it to any.  There was a nice CITO (cache in/trash out) event by the river.  There was an 8pm-12am trading event where I traded pathtags and gave away a bunch of camo'ed pill bottles.  I saw the famous Stockyards and the traveling Geocaching Adventure Maze - a geocaching museum of sorts. 

^Lost at the Stockyards...Geocaching Adventure Maze>

The actual GeoWoodstock was a bit less than I had expected.  It was all indoors in a big hall with a few tablers.  It paled in comparison to the GW at Coney Island in Cincinnati last year.  A big part of it was no more lab caches for me (until I break down and get a Smartphone).  Groundspeak made lab caches unavailable by computer this year.  I don't know if I'm repeating myself, but I tried using a Smartphone years ago for about 3 months and never swore so much in my life.  I just couldn't take it, trying to do computer stuff on a little 3" screen with little 3mm buttons for a keyboard.  I remember sitting at a Pizza Hut (in Oregon?) after eating and spending about a half hour trying to log in to their wi-fi and kvetching.  I just don't have the patience.

My vintage flip phone

Anyhow, I can't believe so much negativity crept into a blog about a place we loved!  Back to geocaching...

Shortly after we got to the KOA I rode my bike up the street a few miles to the oldest cache in Texas "Tombstone".  Texas geocachers sure do love their cemetery caches.  A new geo-art series was put out and many of the caches required a ladder.  Corny got me a spiffy, beautiful 12' aluminum telescoping ladder. 

We soon found out whoever placed the series must've had a 30' ladder, because even with an extending 10' pole, we couldn't reach some of them!  The ladder fits nicely in the back of the Jeep.  I took it on a 3 day county run skirting along the TX/OK border, into Arkansas and Louisianna.  I found great caching in Denton and Gainesville.  

I got home and wanted to go right back out on another trip - and started planning it... but it was Corny's turn.  He had an appointment with his Florida urologist for some imaging test.  He took a week and a half van trip and saw Shorty and some friends from Fay's RV Park.  The day after he left I signed up for a Six Flags membership, Dining Plan and drink refill bottle.  I went almost every day for lunch - turkey legs, tacos, tamales, Panda Express "Chop Six" and giant pretzels until Corny got back. 

The current plan is to stay in northern New Mexico for the summer (at an elevation around 7000') then southern AZ for the winter.  Corny will take another van trip to Vancouver to see some filming in July/August.  He got his passport renewed.  The van is in storage at Arlington.  All six of us (Corny, me, Dolly, Poco, Ruffles and Piggie) will take the Jeep back from NM to get it; then I will solo back to NM in the Jeep geocaching and visiting the Six Flags in Arlington and in Oklahoma City.  Yay!

For those of you keeping score, here are the movies I've seen on three visits to the AMC 18.  During one visit, it felt like my seat was shaking.  I changed seats, but still felt the shaking.  The theater is on the third floor of the mall.  I found out there were two tornadoes nearby!  Corny had packed everybody into the van and drove to the mall parking garage for a couple hours, listening to the radio and studying the atlas, learning all the cities and counties in Tornado Alley.

Penguins, Intruder, Poms, Curse of La Llorona, Breakthrough, Ugly Dolls, Avengers, Little, The Hustle, Pokemon Detective, Aladdin, A Dog's Journey, Booksmart, John Wick, Brightburn, Toy Story 4, Secret Life of Pets 2, Annabelle, Child's Play, MIB International, Other Side of Heaven, Midsommar.

Life is Godd! We fit out.

[julietookoff]

San Antonio

^You’ve been bad... 

I was going to post a little entry with Corny's adventures from Florida to Mexas, but it rained most of the way and he didn't do anything "special".

We've left Mission after two months, where sooo many Mexican license plates fill the clothing store and restaurant parking lots.  We ate at Cane's chicken and Furr's buffet whenever possible.  The Romaine lettuce in Texas is NOT bigger - one mini head only lasts Piggie a couple days.  For Corny's birthday we went to Texas Roadhouse and checked out Dave & Busters.  Pretty cool place.  Shorty would like it.  Corny ordered a Groupon for the D&B in Fort Worth. 

Before we moved to San Antonio we took a little trip up to find a campground we liked.  We stumbled upon an In & Out Burger for dinner!  Yay!  Next morning we also stumbled upon a Shipley's Donuts and tried the kolaches.  Mmmmm.  They're like a donut/hot-pocket with warm cheese and ham or sausage inside.  For lunch we tried Bill Miller's BBQ.  Meh.  Corny thought the chicken could've been boiled, there was no flavor.  We'll try the brisket next time.

Anyways, on moving day we took the bigass RV to a Wal-Mart to fill up with gas...and it wouldn't start back up, even jumping it with the Jeep.  Luckily we were at a Wal-Mart to quickly buy a new battery.  

On the way back down to Mission to get the van, we geocached in every county along the way.  It was nice - we saw a lot of magpies, caracas, and crazy blazy wildflowers.  One day we took a little roadtrip from San Antonio west to collect more Texas counties.  The prettiest area was around Kickapoo Caverns State Park.  A lot of the small-town caches were in cemeteries.

Bluebonnets and White Prickly Poppy

Swallowtail on Phlox

Indian Paintbrush

Prickly Pear and a few Coreopsis “firewheel”

More Coreopsis

We stayed at the Alamo City RV Park for a month, visiting DDDs such as Magnolia Pancake Haus (Corny's fav pancake place), Luna Rosa Puerto Rican, Fat Tummy Empanadas, Moroccan Bites, Dignowity Meats (expensive snack-size sandwiches) and Texas Pride BBQ (durn good stuff).

Luna Rosa

One day we took the bus into town and spent a lot of time at the Alamo, walked a pretty little section of the Riverwalk that went right through the Hyatt and had a nice lunch at Fuddrucker's Burger Bar.  We did the same later in the month and had a good Mexican lunch.

...Before

Yellow Crowned Night Heron

...After

On Easter we hid 20 eggs around the CG.  I had filled them with  Easter stickers, Minions bandaids, barrettes, mini rubber duckies, little garden animals, balloons, mini play-doh and tootsie rolls.  We had kind of a white trash dinner - Stouffer's salisbury steak, mashed potatoes and corn on the cob.

Corny took a little van trip up to Fort Worth to find a good campground in a convenient location.  He stopped at the Czech Bakery and of course Buc-ee's.  I got out the map and planned a nice County-run geocaching trip for the route up to Fort Worth after we retrieve the van from San Antonio.

Life is Godd! We fit out.

[julietookoff]

We’ve Escaped

We've Escaped... ...the lure of Fay's and Did Disney.  Now we're in Mexas.

January was a busy month.  The main event was getting together with Corny's niece and sister in Orlando.  We got about 30 miles from home when the Jeep brakes went out.  We had to get a tow back home and take Corny's van.  We went around Disney with the gang three days, then turned our tickets into Annual Passes and went back two more times ourselves.  Here are the brief highlights: Hollywood Studios - giant chili dogs, Toy Story ride Magic Kingdom - turkey legs, Thunder Mountain Animal Kingdom - giant Mickey cookies, Expedition Everest.  Corny got on Pandora. Epcot - German Buffet, Werthers caramel corn, Morroccan restaurant, French Patisserie, Club Cool, Soarin', Living with the Land, Test Track

The public isn’t supposed to see the Monorail Tug.

We got two "Figment" car magnets for becoming Annual Passholders.  I put them on eBay and got $30 for them.

We also tried a new Diner's, Drive-Ins and Dives restaurant in Disney Springs:  The Chicken Guy.  They have grilled or fried tenders, about 20 kinds of sauce, several sandwiches and salads.  The mac n'cheese was pretty spectacular.  We brought some home for our doggysitter. https://chickenguy.com/menu/disney-springs/ 

I showed up at my doctor's office for labs and discovered she dropped our insurance.  I have a little over 3 months of meds left until I have to find another greedy doctor.

So even with all these trips to Orlando and getting the RV cleaned up and buttoned up, we made our goal of February 1st for our exodus.  First stop, the tire place for $1700 worth of tires on the RV back axle.  It took three days to get to Mission, Mexas.  We stopped early every night (8pm is early for us).  We stopped at a couple Buc-ee's, including the new one at the Florida/Alabama state line.  Piggie didn't eat during the day the first two days of her first trip.  She wiped the hay rack clean at night, though.  

^Piggie’s first trip

I was going to drive the van while Corny drove the RV and towed the Jeep...until he found out how much it would cost to add me to the van's insurance.  Shortly after we arrived, Corny flew back to Tampa to fetch his beloved van.  When he climbed up on top, he discovered a golf-ball sized hole in one of the solar panels.  A branch must’ve hit it like a rocket.  He ordered a new panel at Shorty's address, which meant he would be there a full week.  He's still gone as of this date, so I will post a little entry later with his adventures.  In the meantime I'm enjoying my solitude.  It's impossible to be lonely with all these animals in the RV.  Not wanting to leave them alone for long, I've only picked up a few geocaches here n'there during errands.

We hadn't been to this part of Mexas since 2014.  I think Mexico is moving north.  Billboards are in Spanish.  When I go through the drive-thru at the Taco place I'm addicted to, they greet me in Spanish.  Most gas stations sell meat and play Mexican music.  Receipts are printed in Spanish.  I'm surprised they take U.S. dollars.  A lot more people pay with cash instead of credit cards down here.  But many Mexicanos are very courteous and the women smile at me...or are they laughing at the funny white woman???   Most of the restaurants I've been to advertise big bundles of food - for big family groups.  I was parked at a fast-food place and a tiny little sedan pulled up and parked next to me.  Five adults and a little girl got out!  I was a bit worried when they opened their trunk - but thankfully they were just getting out a jacket for Poppy.

I'm glad to get outta Florida.  I miss Shorty every day, but we were in a pretty deep rut there.  I'm glad to see different trees and hear different birds and have some anonymity.  When we got here the wi-fi wasn't working, so for a week and a half we made use of the library.  Mission is to get 55 miles of new border fence.  We went out one day to get pictures of construction, but it's sealed off to tourists.  There was a protest at the Butterfly Center https://www.nationalbutterflycenter.org/  About 50 people were walking with "No Border" signs but had no audience   Every night on the local news they report on border stuff and caravans in El Paso or McAllen or wherever.  The Illegals aren't murdering (most of) us, but they are CHANGING America.  God Bless President Trump!

I guess that's a good note to end on.  I will just add some of our favorite places down here:  H.E.B., Peter Piper Pizza, Taco Palenque, Chinese Sea Buffet.

https://www.tacopalenque.com/menu/ https://careers.heb.com/about-heb/ https://www.peterpiperpizza.com/meet-peter-piper 

^Senior cups

Life is Godd!

We fit out.

[julietookoff]

HOLDING DOWN THE FART

It's been a long time since I posted.  Also, it's been a long time since we did anything notable!  Although the summer was long and too hot, we're enjoying Florida and seeing Shorty so much.  I embrace my laziness.  I signed up at CollecToons and Jigidi dot com.  We've been talking about Texas since June, but the date keeps getting moved.  I wanted to leave in the fall; Corny thought November.  We took a nice cruise in December and have Dr. appointments in January.  So far, the hope is to leave February 1, 2019.

We took the Jeep to Ferman's for a REAR differential leak; they replaced the FRONT axle on warranty...and left a drain hose unsecured so Corny had to change the fluid a couple months later.

End of July I took a solo trip in the Jeep to Wauseon, OH for an event.  On the way up I stopped in Frankfort, KY for some Interstate Challenge Finals.  

^I loved the little town of Frankfort, KY

I took my bike and tent for the three day event and stayed at the Fulton County Fairgrounds a few nights.  I rode my bike a lot, did a Poker Run, and traded a bunch of pathtags and stuff.  I’m ashamed to say I didn’t take any pictures.  

After the event I headed east to add some new-to-me states to my geo-portfolio:  PA, NH, ME, VT, MA, RI, CT, NJ, WV and MD.  I did a six state streak in one day with MA, RI, CT, NY, NJ and PA.  I missed DE on this trip.  I couldn't remember why I had rushed home until I checked back on my eMails to Corny.  I was running out of pills.  Now I just need to geocache in DE and Alaska to make it all 50 states.  

^PA State Game Lands 109: monarch on a milkweed.  This is my favorite of all the pictures I ever took.

I have always wanted to get Dolly a guinea pig.  This summer Dolly started having trouble making it down the RV steps.  She is 12 years old . I thought if not now, then when?    We got Piggie in August - just a tiny little thing!  I admit I love her more than Dolly does.  Piggie purrs when I pet her and since Shorty house-sat for us, she squeaks whenever we open the fridge door!  She looooves bananas and broccoli.

In September, Corny took a solo van trip allaway up to Vancouver!  He watched the filming of some "The Flash" and "SuperGirl" shows.  Here are some of his pictures:

^Sink, fridge, microwave.  (Bathroom door).

^ “Almost” queen size bed; T.V.

^Bathroom has a shower, too.  Cassette toilet.

^Under-bed storage with spare tire.  Or for stashing a body.

^Sam Houston grave

^Branch Davidian site in Waco, TX.  A filmmaker was there making a documentary and gave a detailed tour >

^Featured on the Travel Channel.  Between Waco and Ft. Worth>

Not to tell tales, but Corny ate here more than once...

^Las Vegas, NM.  Lots of movies have been filmed here >

^New Mexico, between Las Vegas and Los Alamos

^This is now a public restroom with a dump station nearby.

^Bomb making >

^Near Taos, NM >

^Colorado >

^ Vancouver, B.C.  Steam-powered clock >

Queen Elizabeth Park >

^Tom Cavanagh, directing the 100th episode of “The Flash”

^The Flash (Grant Gustin)

^Carlos Valdes, super genius/nerd on “The Flash”

^Save on Meats, a DDD where Corny admitted to (at least) three beers >

^Kevin Smith, directing “Supergirl”.  I should mention that Corny made it onto an episode of "Supergirl".  He is a blur sitting in a Dairy Queen.

^Stanley Park.  Only a nerd would understand >

Less than a week after Corny got home, I packed for a hotel trip to Ocala for Finder's Fest.  I hadn't registered because I didn't know if Corny would be back in time.  I just popped in for short periods between caches.  Man I got tired quick!  The weather went from summer hot to winter cool overnight - and what a difference it made.  I think I found 5-6 caches the first hot day, and like 25 the second day when it was 20 degrees cooler.  Again, I’m ashamed to say that I took no pictures.

In October, Shorty and I discovered how flooded Tarpon Springs can be when we tried to go to the Sponge Docks for lunch.  Hurricane Michael was passing by.

All three of us went to early voting.  I was listening to Trump's campaign rallies on YouTube every night - sometimes he did them twice a day toward the end.  After the midterms, he seemed to disappear.  I thought he was probably exhausted, but I sure missed seeing him.  Then I thought he must be depressed and hiding.  Finally I realized he was still the same; the media was ignoring him.  If you want to know what POTUS is up to, you have to check Twitter, Drudge and Politico.  I have no interest in who is running in 2020.  I already know who I'm voting for.

Shorty was off work on Thanksgiving so we celebrated at the RV.  I did a turkey breast in the Crock-Pot.  I made real mashed potatoes, dressing, green bean casserole with lots of real onions, root-beer carrots and pumpkin pie.  By the time it was over, I had to take a nap.  My back was aching.  For Christmas we'll be having homemade pizza with red and green toppings!

Our 20-year anniversary cruise on the Norwegian Epic left from Port Canaveral and stopped at Ocho Rios (Jamaica), Georgetown (Grand Cayman), Harvest Caye (Belize), Costa Maya (Mexico), and Cozumel.  Although there were things we thought were less than perfect, it was a very relaxing cruise.  There was no "Promenade" deck - we have always done lots of laps on previous cruises.  There were two teeny-tiny pools for 6000 passengers.  There was no "central" elevator.  They kept using something on the buffet floor that made it as slippery as ice.  Otherwise, we enjoyed the food, the entertainment, and since we had an inside cabin, we would nap during the day then sleep like babies all night.  At Costa Maya I missed a Geo-event at 9am because we slept till 10:30!

^Ocho Rios, where Dr. No, the first James Bond villain, hid out 

^Georgetown >

^ Several hens brought bunches of chicks to get water from an A/C drain

^Harvest Caye.  We enjoyed the giant pool here.

^Costa Maya.  Wow, this place has gotten crowded.  We had a couple beers at an open-air restaurant.

Ship’s Tour:

A few days after the cruise we attended a geo-Christmas party with gift exchange/steal.  I loaded a big bag with my camo'ed pill bottles, Harbor Freight swag and random crap from the Christmas box in the basement.  Corny brought home a very nice travel martini kit with shaker and little glasses!  We only know one alcoholic, and they drink wine.

Movies I've seen since June: Oceans 8, Overboard, Hereditary, Book Club, Action Point, On Chesil Beach. Adrift, Deadpool, Tag, Sicario, Incredibles 2, Jurassic World, Won't You Be My Neighbor. Mission Impossible. The Meg, Slenderman, Hotel Transylvania 3, Disney's Christopher Robin, Eighth Grade, Death of a Nation. The Wife, Alpha, Peppermint, Pope Francis, Searching, Predator, The Nun, Crazy Rich Asians. Smallfoot, A Star is Born, Johnny English, Old Man and a Gun, Halloween, Beautiful Boy, Night School.

Life is Godd! We fit out.

[julietookoff]

Enjoying Life

Enjoying Shorty at Cracker Barrel

...not so much at checkers.

We did have Christmas at IHOP as I previously threatened.  Works for me!  For Easter we took ham, sweet potatoes, rolls, and pie to Shorty at Hyundai.  

I found a new peanut butter pie Corny loves - Buckeye Pie. I'm glad because it's one of the easiest to make.

We found a new Chinese Buffet.  Corny has shrunk sufficiently to treat himself occasionally.

Since we quit Planet Fatness in December, it took me until April to bust out my bike.  I think I lost a couple pounds at GeoWoodstock.

Here’s what I’ve been doing:

GeoTrip 1 2/1-4/18 was to Lakeland, Orlando, Sanford, Pt. Canaveral, Melbourne, Vero and (a little outta the way) Naples.  I got Florida's oldest, many state favorites including a nudie cache and finished several challenges including a 5/8 - five cache types from eight different owners.  I look back now and think dang, that was an awesome trip!  As soon as I got back Corny passed an impressive gnarly kidney stone.  I had trouble believing it was a kidney stone, it was so big with jagged sharp pointy edges.

^GC18RR9 Owasso Shalom Clothing Optional Cache

^Collier-Seminole State Park, Naples

GeoTrip 2 2/10-14/18 was to Tallahassee, Live Oak, Osceola National Forest, a few counties in Georgia, Jacksonville, Lake City, Starke, Gainesville and a few in Ocala.  I got a lot more Florida favorites and a ton of challenges.  My main focus was completing the North 30 Degrees Latitude and the West 082 Degrees Longitude Challenges.  I had found the containers in Osceola National Forest way back in May 2015 and just now qualified.  I love doing Challenges - they really motivate and get me "out there".

^Tally

^pygmy rattler in Osceola NF

GeoTrip 3 3/1-3/18 was to Valdosta then a ton of caching in Gainesville.  I started streaking March 1st while I was there - logging a cache every day, my goal being 100 days.  My longest previous attempt was 56 days.  I cheated SO bad.  I'd go out and get 4-5 caches then log one online "found" each day.  I just hate getting dressed and driving several miles just to get "one" geocache.  I find it hard to believe anybody else could do this for any length of time and NOT cheat.  Some claim to have done it for couple years.  It's not fun geocaching in the dark or rain or when you're tired or busy or sick.  I'm glad the lying streak is over.

^Alachua County at an Earthcache  GC5W1MR  where I learned about “Disappearing Ponds”

^Nesting Sandhill Cranes with two juveniles off Little Road in New Port Richey

^Lake Tarpon

Shorty showed Corny how to do the brakes on the Jeep, then we got new tires, rims and sensors off of Craig's list - 5 for $350.  We had some front axle seal work on the Jeep and had a Ram pickup truck loaner (which we both hated).

I drove my 80 year old dad up to Indiana, stayed at a hotel and flew back the next morning.  I won't be doing that again.

Corny finished his van in time for GeoWoodstock XVI (GC5AX15), America's first "Giga" event (5000+ people) at Coney Island (in fucking Ohio).  All we were missing were cabinet doors and a generator.  He didn't like towing the Jeep at all - too much feedback and it ruined the mpg.  I may just take the Jeep and my 8x8 tent for Midwest Geobash end of July.  I'm making plans for afterward (Lord Willing) to do a 9-State challenge:  Get a geocache or two in VT, NH, ME, MA, RI, CT, NJ, NY and PA in one day!  It is about 300 miles total.  Boston traffic may cut it down to 4-5 states in a day!

^Poco getting ready for the geo-trip

We van-camped at Clermont County Fairgrounds (about 20 miles east of Cincinnati) for GeoWoodstock for a week.  Every day I would take the Jeep out to geocache, attend events, and visit donut shops.  I "felt" well-informed because I was in the GW facebook group.  I didn't miss Jungle Jim's - a Disneyfied International Market, two chili restaurants, Fiona at the Cinty Zoo and Grippo's potato chips.  Official events were a Street Party, a Geocaching movie shown at a big 600-seat church, the Butler County Donut Trail (got a free T-shirt and GeoCoin), a Toga Party, a Cinty Reds baseball game we didn't go to, a CITO (cache in, trash out) to help clean up East Fork State Park, and a "Midnight Madness" pathtag/geocoin trading event.

^Fiona and her mom

After the big event we went up to northern Ohio and plugged in the van at my sister's house for a few days. It seemed pretty boring there after the Giga! It was good to see everybody.

^We’re so Lucky.

^Lots of storage under the bed

Movies I've seen at the theater this year five+ at a time:  Lady Bird, Coco, Pitch Perfect 3, Insidious, Commuter, Three Billboards, Jumanji. Surviving the Wild, Ferdinand, The Post, Star Wars Last Jedi, Shape of Water. Peter Rabbit, 15:17 to Paris, Annihilation, Phantom Thread, Black Panther, Winchester, Every Day. Ready Player One (later took Shorty to see this too), Sherlock Gnomes, Tomb Raider, Paul - Apostle, God's Not Dead, Unsane, Best Friends, Leisure Seeker. Rampage, Quiet Place, I Feel Pretty, Truth or Dare, Blockers, Tully, Bad Samaritan. Ocean's 8, Hereditary, Book Club, Action Point, Chesil Beach and Overboard.

Our next pencil-in plan is to move the bigass RV to Texas in the fall.  I'm sure Corny will take a big trip or two out west in the new escape pod.  GeoWoodstock XVII is in Fort Worth in May 2019, indoors in the A/C!

Life is Godd!  We fit out.

[julietookoff]

Back at the Ranch...

Thanksgiving - Golden Corral!  I plan to wimp out on Christmas too, at IHOP!

After a 7 1/2 hour bouncy bus ride to Miami (starting at 4am) Corny's kidney stone was nearly killing him.  We had good travel insurance, but still, didn't want to have to use it!  We're going to need to get that stone taken care of...  

So we got on the Norwegian Star and enjoyed a few days at sea.  I won $168 in the first bingo game but still decided the odds and payouts sucked and didn't play any more.  I played a machine in the casino and won $45 and $10 a few days later, but didn't push my luck any more there either.

We headed south to Cartagena, Columbia.  They had a nice little greeting area at the port with flamingos, peacocks showing off, and macaws.  Most of my pictures didn't turn out because the lens was fogged over from the humidity.  We took a walking tour of "Old Town".

^Remind you of anyone?

The next day we went through the Panama Canal.  Corny took about 400 pictures the whole cruise, most of them being at the canal.

After another relaxing day at sea, we stopped in Puntarenas, Costa Rica at 7am.  We walked on the black sand beach and geocached a little before the sun got too hot.  It was still very humid. I smuggled three bottles of Diet Coke onboard (one in each pocket and one in my sports-bra).

Next day was Corinto, Nicaraugua.  Not much to do or see here, except skinny town dogs and pedi-carts.  The tourist strip was only about half-mile long and there were about 100 pedi-carts sitting around.  We didn't find out until back on the ship that the pedi-carts would've taken us on a 1 1/2 hour tour for $5 each. Next time...

Next day was Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala.  Not much here either.  We walked about 1/2 mile each way in hot sun, no sidewalks and black dust to get to a geo-event the hosts didn't bother to show up for.  It turned my white shoes black and my legs left skid-marks on my bedspread.

A relaxing day at sea (I read four books while cruising) and a stop at Acapulco.  Unfortunately for us and another cruise ship, the old Fort was closed Mondays.  Corny discovered they were open approximately 20 minutes for the special overpriced shore excursion through the ship.  We were docked literally across the street from the Fort. I smuggled another three bottles of Diet Coke and a bag of Doritos.  I discovered Mexican Doritos taste better - they have a hint of jalapeno.  Corny walked around town for quite a while longer than I did.

A day at sea and our last stop at Cabo San Lucas, Baja.  What a pretty place.  Like Acapulco, only cleaner.  There were some noisy seals in the harbor - a local told me it was Mr. Pedro, who had lived there for about 30 years and had a big family.  We walked around town and found a couple geocaches.  

One more day at sea and we found ourselves in Los Angeles.  We took a shuttle from the port to the LAX Hilton.  I felt so free!  I hadn't realized how limited our choices were while on the ship.  And I really, really missed 2-ply toilet paper.  At the Hilton I hit the jackpop.  I went to the machine to get a pop for $3.  It gave me my pop, then another, then another, then another... it said "sold out" so I pushed another button.  It gave me more... and more... I took two armloads back to the room.  As I was leaving with the second armload, I heard "cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching".  It gave me 20 bottles of pop/water and my $3 back!  I couldn't find anywhere in LAX to buy a lottery ticket...

I was rushing to get off that plane and see Shorty.  I had thought about him and the chihuahuas so much...Corny even dreamed about Shorty a couple times.  Even though I had a scratchy throat from a ship-acquired cold, I talked most of the way home and told Shorty about the whole cruise.  The dogs had done very well with him - there were hardly any wee-wee pads used.  It took a full 3 days to recover from the cold/travel.  I spent most of the time in my nightgown.  Corny got the cold as soon as we got home.  Beats workin’!

While I was gone a box of shiny pathtags arrived.  Here’s how they turned out:

Life is Godd!  We fit out.

[julietookoff]

Home again

Well, that job didn't last long.  Just after my 90 days were up, they wrote me up for not doing something they never trained me to do.  I returned it with my resignation.  What a relief.  I'm thinking of getting a Guard Card and doing night security.  Something easy I can tolerate.  

I've seen more movies:  Jab Harry Met Sejal - the Indian version, Kidnap, Dark Tower, Emoji Movie, Atomic Blonde, and I was awake for a little bit of Valerian.  The most memorable was Ghost Story.  I was thinking about this movie days and months later.  I think I know what the note said.  Hmmm.

I called my sister my last night of work and found out she had a new puppy, a papillon.  I left for Ohio just in time for the eclipse and to miss Hurricane Irma.  I got several good geocaches on the way - four FL Delorme pages; one in almost every county between Florida and Ohio; GA, TN, KY, OH and IN Cache Across Americas.   I also stopped at Lane Orchard in GA and to see Noah's Ark in KY.

Corny, the dogs and the RV evacuated from hurricane Irma to my sister's driveway in Ohio.  We did lots with my sister and bro-in-law.  They were wearing me out.  We went to Portland Steam Festival; Fort Wayne Children's Zoo; Shipshewanna Flea Market; Ypsilante, MI airshow; Heston Steam Train Festival; Grabill Fair; Paulding, OH Flatrock Festival and many little places new to us, like a "Generic Kroger", a discount store called "Ruler" in Van Wert.

Some of the good places I/we ate besides homecooking were:  Big Eye Fish, Power's hamburgers, Back 40 in Decatur, Pizza Hut buffet, Mister Coney, Lee's chicken, Salvatori's, Nolte's Amish buffet, Bandido's and a Jack-in-the-Box in TN.

Corny was ready to get back to Florida but Hurricane Maria was approaching, so we stayed a few days longer than planned.  We drove back separately.  I took I-65 so I could geocache in more counties on the way down.  You can see my geocaching maps at the bottom of my geocaching.com profile page https://www.geocaching.com/profile/ or by searching the site play>search>filters>hidden by username tallglenn.

I got home to Florida just after sunset, so I didn't see the results of the Category I hurricane/tornados until the next morning.  There were big old trees down all over the place.  Lots of fences and signs were destroyed.  So glad I missed it - 5-7 days without A/C, no gas or groceries, no Internet.  Shorty's dad was locked inside the hospital where he works for a few days.  Shorty was home alone for the hurricane.  Corny said several times he wished he could've evacuated with him.  They did originally have plans to tow Shorty's little car up with them, but he wasn't ready to leave when Corny was.  For weeks afterward lots of brush and chopped-up trees, old mattresses and sofas lined the streets.  I felt very out-of-touch when I got back without Internet and my TiVo didn't survive the trip to Ohio.  Corny is getting it a new brain.

One morning Corny told me VacationsToGo.com had sent him an eMail and there was a good deal on a cruise through the Panama Canal.  We ended up booking it that afternoon!  It is 14 days in December and stops in Columbia, goes through the Canal and stops in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Acapulco, Cabo San Lucas and disembarks in Los Angeles.  The advertised price is $699 each but there are lots of extras, like the bus to Miami, crew tips, hotel and flight from L.A.  Corny also has bids on a cabin upgrade, but we won't know how that goes until we check in. We could have a porthole on deck 4 or a mini-suite on deck 11 ???  I told Corny we're very blessed to have these problems.  I;m a Lucky Loozer.  We were on this same ship in Nov/Dec 2011 when it took us to Costa Maya, Belize, Roatan and Cozumel.

In October I headed up to Rome, GA for the "Going Caching" mega-event.  I poked my way up collecting counties and stayed several days at a hotel in Cartersville.  It was many events, usually two-a-day beginning Wednesday.  I didn't get into the spies/gamey aspect, but I was impressed by the quality of the whole shebang.  They rented out the visitor's center, a small theater, and on the last day closed off a street downtown and hired a live band for a street party.  Even the Lab caches were spy/techy with metal briefcases containing a keypad to enter a secret code.  I poked my way home on backroads picking up more GA counties.  I nearly had a heart attack when I discovered I had left my GPS in a Wendy's bathroom in the little town of Moultrie around 3pm.  It was there a little over 1/2 hour and nobody took it!  THANK YOU GOD...

^My signature card - I ordered #200 to place in favorite caches.

I was only home a week or so and took off solo again.  I took I-10 west allaway to Alabama and through southern GA on the back roads to get more counties.  I had plans to go allaway to Jacksonville, but I took longer than expected and turned south at Valdosta to get to Florida Finder's Fest in Ocala and their famous "Ammo cans in the woods".  I tented four nights but didn't go to any of the pre-events.  I geocached and found lots of pathtags.  I had seen enough people in Rome, GA.  The day of the main event I was at my second geocache site and three groups of people showed up:  some Gauntlet participants, some poker run participants and some regular ole cache seekers.  I decided it was too crowded in the forest and went to Stevie B's pizza buffet and Ollie's.  After a nap I returned to the event site where I had an awesome piece of chicken breast out of a big smoker.  I found my ammo cans the next day when the place was nearly abandoned.

I've always loved shiny little pathtags (pathtags.com) but not gotten my own because I was never sure what to put on them.  My first morning in Ocala I knew.  Here's a template of my design:

Corny's van camper project is progressing nicely.  He has worked so hard!  I've postponed publishing this entry because I thought I didn’t have any pictures.  I'll post a few of the van under construction once I get them from him.

Sure beats workin’!

Life is Godd!  We fit out.

[julietookoff]

Update from Home

Several new things to report.  As usual I will post them in chronological order since the last post.  

First, the bunnies at the campground.  One day I noticed the chubby bunny was very much thinner.  I don't know how many babies she had, but only the charcoal-grey one is still bouncing around.  There are a lot of hawks, eagles, and owls around.

We found a local Escape Room right in Holiday, so I booked an adventure for Corny's birthday.  The staff/owner were super nice and gave us tons of clues to make sure we made a successful escape.  http://www.racetoescapellc.com/

Shorty and I flew to Indiana to surprise the grandparents.  Shorty got glammed up (complete with fake cigarette) to deliver some flowers to grampa.  He knew something was up and caught us out back as Shorty was going to start walking around the yard suspiciously.

We got together with my siblings and watched DVDs at mom's house.  We were only there six days but Shorty packed his big computer and monitor to keep up with his on-line course at the hotel.  It made for some interesting check-ins at the airport.

As promised, Corny got his van - yay!  A mid-height Ford Transit.  He has installed A/C, roof vent/fan, insulation, and grey tank.  We're thinking New England next spring.   Corny bought a saw to do the interior work.  He has a good one, but it is in a barn in Ohio...

We moved to an end site with wonky electric at Fay's.  It's nice not having a close-by neighbor (whom I call "Eagle Eyes" or "Crazy Debbie").  It felt so relaxing right away.  The view outside my window is of a big banana tree.  We can have all the curtains open, and a place to park both Jeep and van.  Yay!

I've been to the Oldsmar 20 AMC several times.  They have remodeled to install recliners in all the theaters.  Some smaller screens only hold 30-40 people now.  It doesn't stop me from binge-watching.  I've seen The Mummy, Alien Covenant, Snatched, King Arthur, Pirates of the Caribbean, Beauty and the Beast, Boss Baby, Despicable 3, Ghost in the Shell, Beguiled, Hero, 47 Meters Down, Big Sick, Get Out, Zookeeper's Wife, Lost City of Z, Baywatch, The House, Wonder Woman, Everything, Case for Christ, Life (creature from Mars), Going in Style, Snatched, Alien Covenant, King Arthur, Unforgettable, Phoenix Forgotten, and several more forgettable movies.

I attended my 98th geocaching event.  It was a nice one in a park/big sports complex in west Tampa.

Corny was invited to an Outback Steakhouse taste-testing in Tampa.  He hated to see the food wasted but they gave the testers full-size samples, more than they could eat.  We promptly used up the $50 gift card reward.

I've been making a lot of blueberry and strawberry pies.  Sam's club had 2# strawberries for $3.98.  I modified my Baked Spaghetti recipe to use on the stove - it's one of our favorites now.

Dolly had some surgery and came out like a trooper.  We were so impressed with how well she did and behaved at the vet.  She wore an elizabethan collar for a week and had no problem taking her pills.  The results of the biopsy on the mammary tumor were benign.

Shorty has been cranking through the computer classes at St. Pete College since we're here to kick his butt.

I broke down and applied for a real job.  Well, kinda real - weekend nights Sat & Sun 11-7.  If I can stand it until we leave next spring I'll have a few thousand $$$ in savings.  I'm clinging on by my fingernails to make it at least six months (three down).  It helps that I have 5 days off to forget about the pain every week.  In Florida if an RN doesn't work for three years, she has to take a Return-to-Work course (about $300 and many hours of boredom).

Oh yes, and something else exciting - I bought a rug for under my "desk" and a floor lamp.  With three bright bulbs that point every which way.   Yay!

After (I swear) a month of rain, we have daytime mosquitos despite the county spraying every week or so.

Corny intercepted a neighbor on the way to the dumpster with some old nudie magazines from the 1950's.  I put five mags on feeBay and made over $50!!! 

We saw a guy try to beat the red light on Hwy. 19 in front of Aldi - and flip his car about eight times.  We re-watched it on the dash-cam video.  After the 6th roll it deposited him on the street.  He was already dead, probably snapped his neck.  There was no blood.  I still wonder what he was in such a hurry for - and if he thought whatever it was couldn't continue without him...

I had a cold (got it from coworkers) and told Corny, when he wanted to go to the beach, "Yeah, how about next week, when you have a cold."  He never got one.  Dammit.  We've been to Anclote River Park a couple times.  Even in a swimsuit in the shade, I don't like being outside in the heat.

For my birthday we went to Hard Rock Buffet with Shorty.  Yep, I had forgotten how gooood food can be.  

One night coming home from Planet Fitness, we saw a little white dog run across the street.  He hopped right into the Jeep.  A friendly little poodle/bichon frise mix.  We scoured neighborhoods for lost dog flyers, hung eight found dog flyers, and posted him on multiple websites.  No owner.  After a week we took him to the Humane Society.  He'll find a family who will love him and keep him safe.  We just called him "Fuzzhead".  He was an unneutered hyperactive dominant male, cute as all HECK!  Our house was a lot calmer after he left.  Nothing like a little hurricane to remind you how well-behaved your own dogs are.

Life is Godd.  We fit out!

[julietookoff]

Planted

We planted the RV and after talking to Shorty, decided to stay put for a year or so.  We did things like sign up at Planet Fitness, get a new doctor, do all the doctory things like mammogram, eye exam and colonoscopy, buy a giant "air fryer" and an induction cooker so we don't need a propane refill, and got a Pasco County Parks Pass.  Shorty sold the Roadtrek.  Corny is in the process of buying a van to convert to a camper for shorter/more urban trips.  That should keep him from wearing out the Wondergel ass cushion I gave him for his birthday https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/wondergel-reg-extreme-trade-seat-cushion/1040099859?skuId=40099859&mcid=PS_googlepla_nonbrand_furniture_&product_id=40099859&adpos=1o2&creative=43742643949&device=c&matchtype=&network=g&gclid=CMiupIzp5NICFdU8gQodimsATw  He thinks it may take up to eight months for the conversion.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Since arriving at the campground November 1st, we see Shorty several times a week.  We have lunch Wednesday or Thursday and bring him lunch at work Saturday and Sunday.  We may stop by and bug him any ole time.  We took him to early voting.  Yay!  I've since read that I'm not the only lunatic who thinks Trump's win is a blessing from God.  That candle I lit "for America" in Santa Fe on October 15th was for Trump to win.

We had a little Thanksgiving at the RV.  For Christmas we went to IHOP (much less planning and work).  I gave Corny an album of pictures of us in each state we've visited.  Corny and Shorty took me to Disney Springs for Christmas (photo above).  We saw the new drone show https://youtu.be/dHHMrvaXgyA , ate at Bongo's Cuban and Boma's buffet.  We tried an Escape Room but didn't escape in time.  The guys went home but I stayed in Orlando another night and had a little geocaching trip, working on "Challenge Row".  I also stayed in Vero Beach and Melbourne one night each.  In other geocaching news, we attended a GIFF viewing event http://www.geocachingfilmfestival.com/inspiration-2/ and Pasco GeoFest at Starkey Park.  I've attended 97 events and vowed to quit at 100.

I took an online "Return to Work" course, updated my CPR card and started a big NCLEX-RN review book with thoughts of working a couple days/week.  There haven't been many nursing home jobs in the papers, and I'm not looking forward to 8-12 hour shifts.  I started to contemplate a fast-food or retail cashier job for the shorter shifts.  Then I think I might like to go somewhere and geocache for a few days, and the feeling is gone...

Shorty doggy-sat for us while we went on our 15th cruise.  We left from Port Canaveral on the giant Oasis of the Seas http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/ships/class/ship/home.do?shipCode=OA&&ecid=ps_43700008553625577&gclid=CNSMqvLq5NICFRUkgQodqpULug&gclsrc=aw.ds   Such a nice ship!  Our room was big.  I loved the solarium area and spent a lot of time there.  We docked in Haiti for a beach day, Jamaica to buy rum cakes, and Cozumel for a little walk into town.  We geocached in each port; in Jamaica there was just an Earthcache nearby.

Shorty and I are heading north soon on a secret mission to visit family.

Life is Godd!  We fit out.