Merry Christmas Friends!!!!!!

Merry Christmas to all of our RV blogging Friends....near and dear, far and wide...All the very best of the very best in 2014 to each and everyone of you..Be safe be happy and please remember the reason for the season!!!!

Finally Time to Update!!!!

We are finally at our resort..after being on the road since Oct. 31st..we sure covered a lot of visiting on the way south this year. Now I remember why we used to wait and do the visiting on the way home...it was cold on the way down.

We had a wonderful visit with our daughter Becky and SIL Matt in VA...we stayed a week with them. It was 2 years since we saw them so we crammed quite a bit of visitation in our one week with them. We shopped, visited, shopped, visited, shopped some more and we also toured the Monticello house which is the estate of Thomas Jefferson. Definitely a must see if your in the area.

Our Beautiful daughter Becky

Becky myself and our son in law Matt

Nothing like a mama -daughter hug

Monticello a must see if your in the area very interesting history here

We left the Richmond area on the 11th and motored over to Shelby NC to visit with Cathy Brent and Duffy. Altho Brent was still in New Bern we had a great visit with Cathy and Duff and as an added bonus Tina Cathy's sister was visiting from Ontario. We were pleased as punch to be there to celebrate Duffy's 15th birthday. What a special boy McDuff is..he was out of one of our litters 15 years ago. 

The Birthday boy-Happy 15th Birthday McDuff you are so special

He's definitely a 'superman'

After a wonderful visit there we motored onto Hendersonville NC to visit with my dear Aunt Kay, my cousin Pat and her Hubby Steve. 
Even tho Aunt Kay is 86 she moves like a 40 year old and I can't keep up with her. 

My wonderful Aunt Kay 86 years young

From there we met up with our friends Larry and Marilyn at Walkabout Campground in Woodbine GA. and spent the weekend together. Mar had a great supper all ready for us upon arrival...thanks for the great weekend...

Marilyn and I

Hows that for a cool chandelier...at a pub the four of us had supper at

After woodbine we were Florida bound...stopping in Lee Florida to visit friends Jeannie and Buck...always a great time at there place for sure. Buck has a great setup with full hookups. We left there on Thursday and arrived here after a long drive day. Did the basic hookup, and went out to supper with friends here in the resort. 
Friday was a deep cleaning day, laundry and organizing of the cupboards, closets and dressers...and we finished setting up the outside. Then it was off to Clewiston for supplies at walmart and the liquor store of course.

Today, dear friends Debbie and Kenny came to visit us and brought their new fur kids...two darling yorkies!! And what cuties they are. 

Saturday evening we played cards with Cheryl and Cal, and now we're crashing for the rest of the evening..
The weather has been excellent, hot and sunny, in fact its 9:54pm and Rick just left for a quick dip in the pool to cool off.
Sunday it was back to town to grab some forgotten supplies, and hosted our first dinner party, full roast beef dinner, wine and desert then a round of card playing.

I see some of you are at your winter homes safe and sound, and others are travelling, while some are still on the count down to leave. 
Be safe out there everyone...!! 
Elaine Rick Tucker and Lilly

We are in Ashland VA and new wiper motor is installed

We arrived in Ashland VA which is just north of Richmond on Monday afternoon and were greeted by our daughter at the campground. We are staying at the "Americamp Campground" just off I95 at exit 89.

We have spent the last few days visiting and catching up with our wonderful daughter that we have not seen in almost 2 years since our trip to Mississippi.

The new wiper motor for Ossumer arrived as scheduled on Wednesday afternoon from Portland Oregon. This morning although it was cloudy and looking like it might rain I decided that I would try to get it installed. First we had to make room to work so Ossumer had to loose his front door to the generator.

We got the door off and a tarp down to catch any bolts or such that we might drop and loose in the gravel. The step stool is for us to sit on with our back to the genny and then reach up inside to install the motor.

The pic above shows the new motor installed. This was only a 10 minute job and went really well just a little uncomfortable reaching up to get the 3 bolts installed that holds the motor on the bracket and one nut that holds the linkage to the motor.

While trying to source a supplier for this motor I found that this same make "Denso" supplied the motors for many different motor homes so if others ever have this problem this could be a good starting point , just Google Denso wiper motors.

We are here in Ashland till Monday when we head to North Carolina forsome more visiting with friends and relatives then it will be off to Georgia to meet more friends we may never get to Florida.

Rick Elaine Tucker and Lilly

Carlisle PA

Had a nice drive today from Fishkill NY to Carlisle PA. We are parked at Western Village RV Park a place we have visited before . The fall foliage is still beautiful here compared to home in NB where all the leaves have been on the ground for a few weeks.

This is the wiper motor that gave us all the grief on Thursday sure did not need it today nice sunshine although a little cool.

Tomorrow morning we continue south with a stop in Chambersburg PA to have a quick visit with Debbie our neighbor from The Glades Resort, then on to Richmond VA for a weeks visit with our baby girl Beck.

Safe travels to all the snowbirds making the migration south.

Rick and Elaine Tucker and Lilly.

Wally Docking in Fishkill NY

Hi Yall we are finally in Fishkill NY...wally docking! 

Rick took the wiper motor off yesterday and we called around and toured around looking for a replacement but that was not to be. The Guy at Napa was wonderful he called anyone and everyone he knew, sadly it was to no avail. So we came back to the rig and fired it into the underbelly, cable tied the wipers together in the center of the windshield and said ok it is what it is. I did find the motor online in Portland Oregon, ordered it (great pricing 112.00) and we are having it delivered to our daughter and son in laws in VA. We plan to arrive there on Monday (weather permitting).

So we hunkered down for the day in Lewiston yesterdatm because of the nasty weather, we all ran to walmart for groceries, then back had supper and play mexican train for the evening.

Today we motored out of Lewiston toward our goal destination of Fishkill NY. The weather was suppose to be clear and cloudy all day with a 0% chance of rain. Murphy's law...

About 1 mile from our exit to Fishkill we had a bad traffic snarl (we think it was road work past our exit). We were 1.5 hours travelling that mile..and of course about 1/2 hour into the inching along it rained a shower. Wouldn't that just be our luck. At one point I was getting pretty freaky (it doesn't take much to make me nervous)...and Rick hopped out of the rig cut the cable ties and worked the wipers manually. Yesterday he talked about rigging up a rope and brining the ends in the window..but I wasn't sure that was the answer. 

Upon arrival here we ran into Walmart and picked up some Rain X..cleaner and invisible wiper stuff and he did the windshield while I made supper. We met a really nice guy in there auto department shopping, who saw us reading every bottle with Rain X on it..I was ready to buy them all..bless his heart he told us he has a hotrod with no wipers and that it was the greatest stuff. He told us what to get and how to use it...now wasn't that nice of him.

The weather looks clear for tomorrow so our goal is to arrive in Chambersburg PA for the night. While there we hope to see our dear friend Debbie (our florida neighbour)..and our boy Fritz, who is at the vet as I type this he's had a pretty sick week of it and has been at the vet almost as much as the poor boy has been home. Thankfully it isn't life threatening it is severe gastritis and they will rehydrate him and settle things down. He's such a dear boy. We are all praying for a speedy recovery for him.

After supper Arch and Annie joined us and we played cribbage. Of course the boys beat us 2 games to our 1...Arch starting out of the gate with a 24 count hand sure helped them out.

The furkids have been wonderful travellers as usual...sleeping the time away on the sofa, waking only for quick pee breaks and treats.

Ok I'm off to shower and crawl into warm jammies and snuggle in with my book. Keep 'sun' dancing for us folks..my little friend back in Canada has been sun dancing for us all day..thanks Linds...I'm sure your pretty tired!!!!

Take care all...and be safe out there!!!

Elaine Rick Tucker and Lilly

We Are on The Road...But Sadly Not without Incident

We are safe and sound in Lewiston Maine, arrived late yesterday afternoon...

We left Riverview at approximately 7:30 yesterday -Arch and Ann and Rick and I....smooth sailing and no problems or holdups crossing the border, and stopped in Bangor to activate mifi and our cell phones. It was a good smooth travel day, no wind..but we hit rain between Bangor and Lewiston..

About 30 miles outside of Lewiston the rain started and a while later we heard a massive groan and crunch and our wiper motor fried....we limped the rest of the way into Lewiston without wipers..ughhh...

The important thing is we arrived safe and sound, went to supper in the hotel where we are parked up, and had a great nights sleep.

Hopefully today we can hit the Napa store after Rick takes the motor off and find a new one without too much of a hold up and once again be on our way. It could have been a lot worse than it was for sure!! So we are thankful...

We are all staying put today, due to the major wind and rain storm on the eastern seaboard...so we will hopefully get fixed up and be ready to roll out in the morning.

Have a safe travel day for those of you who are on the road..and we will update later today..

Rick Elaine Tucker and Lilly..

Medical Procedure Scheduled...."Tomorrow"

Yes I got the call last week...thankfully my new Dr. is wonderful ...somehow some way she got me scheduled for my 5 yr checkup...prayers and fingers crossed for clear reports would be appreciated..today and tomorrow will be 'crappy' days..these tests sure take a lot out of the old body..but on the upside I will lose around 10 lbs in two days...not fun but has to be done!!

Counting Down to Departure!!!

Wow almost four months since I've blogged...!!! I started our last blog with an opening of "We arrived back in our driveway"....yesterday was the first time we've been in our driveway in almost a month..we have had a summer of road ripping and construction right outside our door, over and over again..what a mess..but thank you to the contractors for allowing us back into our driveway for at least this weekend. They are building a sidewalk to nowhere...it stops/ends just past our house. I've said all along its a make work project..and just another way for the government to raise our property taxes...the racket, dirt ,mess and pounding has been unreal. From 7am till 7pm daily.

This was day "one" of looking out the front window...so as you can imagine it was all downhill from there-this was right on our front lawn. 

Rick was a busy boy, doing some construction in our backyard, putting in a nice solid pad for RV parking..

And Ossumer seems to enjoy his new digs, facing the river..

Today I had to reset my blog password...no wonder I could read you all and not post..took me awhile to figure that one out. Its been so long that I've forgotten my password and had to reset..I've always been setup as 'logged on"...not sure when that changed...Oh yes I have been keeping an eye on you all when I've had a few spare minutes...and thankfully alot of you are on facebook so we've been in touch..
The summer has definitely sped by us...we have enjoyed our time with our family but where did it go...as you know we've been working on and off for the local RV dealership (a very fun job)..prepping units, delivering, setting up etc. The rush is over thankfully in that aspect. I tho have been working in the dealership office helping out for a few weeks and I will finish up on October 11. The the rush will be on for lift off South by October 31.
We have had lots of company this past summer, our motorhome has been put to good use by our visitors, even though it didn't move off the pad often. 
We did get one trip to PEI with relatives while they were here, and a trip or two up to our camp land. But no major travelling. I think this is the first weekend in the last five that we haven't had visitors.
Rick has been a wonderful house husband while I have been working during the week. I hadn't planned on working full time hours but they needed office help (their gal is on maternity leave)...and her replacement only stayed until the middle of August..so Elaine to the rescue. It is a fun place to work..and I am thoroughly enjoying my time there. Plus I'm loving the paydays. 
Exciting new items to share with you:
We finally got ourselves a new family doctor (in mid August)...we are so pleased about that!!! She is young and very diligent...we've had two visits to her so far and we love her! 
I have still not had my 5 year check up :(..but that is not her fault..our previous Dr was suppose to send in my referrals back in May, then in June, July and August and that has not happened..even tho when she called him he said he did..according to the specialist they have received nothing,maybe he is angry that we've changed? Our new one still does not have our charts :( and Dr previous who is now on a months vacation is unreachable for me to even growl at.
Dr. B is going to try push thru referrals for my 5 yr checkup but I truly can't see that happening before the end of Oct. She did set us all up with our meds for the winter, and our blood work was done 'again' and we're setup for that in the spring.

Excitement # 2-We just found out that our youngest daughter who lives in Mississippi is moving. Matt our son in law received a fantastic job offer in Richmond VA area and they have to be there lock stock and barrel by Oct. 1st. We travel thru there on our way south and are very excited to be able to stop and visit...and we can also stop on the way back!!! This will make them so much closer to home...my prayers have been answered!!!!
Excitement # 3 - Anne and Arch from Nova Scotia are arriving here on Oct 29th, and will stay here with us..visit some family in the area and the four of us will tandem travel out of here on the 31st. They are heading west this year, and have a wonderful trip planned, check out their blog for their travel itinerary ...but we can travel together  as far as Roanoke VA area, where they will branch off west and we will visit with our daughter and son in law. It will be nice to travel part of the way with friends. We haven't seen them since last winter in Fl !!!
We are heading back to the same lot and resort this winter..thinking maybe next year we will plan the west coast. I'm just ready to get back south for a much needed rest, and see all our Fl friends.
Safe travels folks, I can see we are all getting the itch to get going...I will start blogging again for sure once we are on the road..meantime I will be jotting around like a mad hatter with my work, lists, organizing to be gone for 6 months.

But at the end of all the rushing and madness there is usually a......

Thanks for stopping by!!! Am pleased to have finally gotten myself back into the blogging groove...

Am off to work on lists....

Be safe out there...
Elaine, Rick and the furkiddos...

Never a Dull Moment for sure!! We are 'STARS'

We arrived back in our driveway on April 19th safe and sound..and trust me when I say we have not stopped since. On our journey home we stopped to visit friends and relatives in Va, Hendersonville NC and New Bern NC..so we pretty much took 3 weeks to get home. So as not to bore you all to death I will just skim over the last month and give you the high points..so you can understand why we have not been updating. Thankfully a lot of you are on facebook and I've been keeping up with you that way.

We were home 2 days when things took a turn for 'busy'. Our son who works out in western Canada has his home not too far from us..which he rents..his tenant skipped out 2 days after we got home, and what a mess..suffice to say it took both of us, and 2 of our dear friends over 2 weeks to paint, tear up  and replace floors, fill 2 dumpsters, build and stain new decks and steps (yes even they were destroyed)...change locks clean out the garage..and on and on..it is now in pristine shape and I have a new tenant in there. Then the end of April our tenant vacated (with notice)..and her idea of normal wear and tear certainly was not the same as ours. So we had some mudding and painting to do over there, which was sad because it was all done just a year ago. We also had to replace the wood floor in one of the bedrooms :(...but now it is completed and ready for perspective walk thru tenants and viewings..hopefully we will find ideal tenants for it soon.

Just (and I mean hours not days) as we got all of this pulled together, we got called to go to work..and what a fun job. Part time (although its been long days during peak season)..we are working for the local RV dealer, cleaning, detailing Rvs, delivering and setting up Rvs..and doing walk throughs with new customers...what a blast we are having..you never know when your feet hit the floor here in the morning what the day has in store for you. 
Tuesday we were working and asked to take the big Ventana motorhome over to the local Casino. They were doing a commercial to advertise a new promo 'free RV parking for patrons' - the mascot of the local casino is Elvis. He's in all their commercials..what we didn't know till we arrived, was it was going to be a 4 hour shoot and we had to dress as Elvis and be in the commercial. What a hoot that was. So here's your laugh for the day folks..Mr & Mrs Elvis..

We were off yesterday, and again today..thankfully ..as I have  6 months of cleaning to chase around my house..we just opened 6 months worth of mail and yes we are late getting our taxes submitted as they were suppose to be in by April 30..but you may as well be a month late as a day late so I will get them done sooner or later I'm sure.
Sunday past was my birthday, and we had dinner with the local kids at our daughter Tracey's...our oldest son Don joined us there. Everyone seemed to disappear right around dinner time..they returned after seating me at the head of the table with laptops, iPhones, and ipods...they had all our other kids on skype on all the different electronic items. They all sang happy birthday, and it was so touching ...believe it or not I was at a loss for words (that doesn't happen often as most of you know)...so thanks kids for making my day so very special.
Yesterday I realized I was driving around with an expired drivers license it had expired on Sunday..so off I ran post haste to the MVD and got that renewed quickly..today I'm cleaning and catching up on blogs..our car went into the dealer this morning for service work, so I'm house bound..thank heavens...
Take care all..thanks for stopping by...

Elaine Rick and furkids

Still on the Move..Heading North but not to the homefront yet!!!

Still having a blast..very guilty that I haven't been blogging..seems we just get up in the morning, I read blogs, its then time to do something and I fall into bed late. This fun stuff is almost (notice I said almost) like a job. The days are speeding by, we started our north trek from Fl last Tuesday, visited a few days with friends up in Lee Fl..motored onto Hendersonville NC to visit with family on Saturday, stopped in Columbia and had a nice lunch with Paul and Marti Dahl.. and we are now parked up at my aunts place. So enjoying our visit with my family...the weather is great..glad to see you are all safe and some of you are back home, crossing the border without too many glitches..we are leaving here on Thursday morning and motoring up to visit friends in New Bern...I have lots of pictures stored up..just haven't had time to download them all as of yet..
Take care everyone, just thought I 'better' take a few minutes and let yall know we're safe sound and happy...
Elaine Rick and the furkidss

Touring while we Can!!!

Our friends Larry and Marilyn pulled out last Sunday heading for Disney in Orlando to meet up with their son, daughter in law and dear 3 yr old grandson, who flew in for a week. While we were sad to see them go~I'm happy to report a good time was definitely had by all.
The first of the week involved cleaning and maintenance items around our home on wheels and Rick did manage to get a round of golf in. And of course Happy Hours were still on the schedule.
Thursday we drove into Ft Myers and toured the Edison Ford estates. Very impressive to say the least. 

Edison Estate, he also built a house next door for his guests

Ford Winter Estate-Close friends they had a walk way between their properties

Royal Palm tree and it was massive Circumference 53" height 97' crown spread 26' it was a biggan

massive and gorgeous tree

Walkway between Edison main home and guest house

Beautiful massive banyan trees some branches grow horizontal

Beautiful grounds 

A verandah to wish for

Hows that for a toad

The roots grow right out of the ground

Friday was spent with Friends down at the big Masters Flea Market..another quite impressive place..if you can't find what you need there then you won't find it anywhere. Interesting to see the place but not one I'd want to frequent on a regular basis...it was packed.
Yesterday Rick golfed again, but didn't do well he is having a major problem with his sciatic nerve in his back..he thought golfing might work it out but that was not to be. Today he is pretty sore. He had a long shower, and some medication and is going to sit quiet for the rest of the afternoon.
I have been busy in the dark hours, making jewellery..who knew this would be so much fun. I've been making up some 'breast cancer' design bracelets. I had some requests here in the resort-of those sold I will donate a percentage to the Breast Cancer Association.
It is hard to believe that our winter is almost over. We plan to leave here the end of the month, stop for a visit with good friends in Lee Fl for a few days, then head on over to Hendersonville NC to visit my darling Aunt Kay. From there we will motor to New Bern NC to visit dear friends for a few days. Then head north..stopping in Dinwiddie Va for a day or two to visit an old friend.
I am anxious to get home and see all the kids, and look forward to visitors to our home this summer. Can hardly wait John and Brenda. Humm wondering how they are going to manage a visit without horses...do I need to maybe rent a couple and tie them out in our yard? Maybe I could take them down to Broad Leaf Farms not too far from us if they need a fix.
Today was a laze around day, although I did get the laundry all washed and filled my line and my neighbours. It is a warm hot day so I think its time to hit the pool.

Congratulations to Arlene (Leno) on the purchase of her new to her motorhome!!!! I'm thinking we will see a blog soon with all of this news...Can't wait to meet up with you on the road sometime Arlene. May you have many wonderful adventures.
Take care all and stay safe out there..thanks for stopping by.

Sewing, Happy Hours, Touring, Company and Star Gazing

We have certainly been crowding work and play into our days.  The gals and I made a few trips to Ft Myers and did a quick tour of Masters Flea Market..what a place that was, we definitely need to return as we only saw a bit of it. Joe and Carolyn travelled on and Larry and Marilyn arrived for a week long visit. And what a busy week it was. Marilyn and I made new drapes for our coach. After 2.5 days of measuring, cutting, pressing and sewing, the final result is gorgeous. Thank you so much Marilyn for working so hard, and giving up your time, my dear friend. You are so talented!!

dim out lining

The smiling designer

Yea first one finished

loving the pattern and colour

We also took a day and toured the Everglades, Everglade City, Marco Island, and back through Ft Myers to home here in Moore Haven. We had lunch at the Havana Cafe in Everglade City and it was the best meal ever. So if your in that area be sure to stop, and top it off with an Everglade ice-cream, you won't be sorry. 

Rick and I Everglades

Marilyn and Larry Everglades

The Everglades

And we did manage to squeeze in our happy hours during this busy week. Last evening was our farewell Happy Hour as Marilyn and Larry rolled out early this morning for Orlando to meet up with their son, daughter in law and sweet grandson for a week long visit to Disney. 

Happy hour snacks

Shrimp ready for the bbq

Happy Hour crowd

What fun to experience Disney through the eyes of a 3 year old. Gramma and Grampie were pretty excited this morning.
Its hard to believe our winter is coming to an end. Where did the time fly to I wonder, it seems like we just got here. The days weeks and months have just flown by. I guess its true that time flies when your having fun. Our resort had a yard sale yesterday, you set up on your lot and sold your wares. It was a good opportunity to unload some non needed items. I was quite impressed, as I didn't have much out but I made $90.00. I was told tho by the 'boss' I could sell but not purchase lol. Poor Tucker was under the weather for a few days so I was cooking up rice and chicken for him, but as you can see he is now back to normal and feeling much better.

Tucker catching up on his dogbook.

I'm thinking today will be a rest day, other than meals and some coach cleaning -me thinks it will be a lazy one, catching up on blogs.
Rick downloaded an app on my iPad, and now we can sit out after dark and star gaze, "GoSkyWatchP"..you point the ipad toward the night sky and shows you the planets up close and names them for you. Interesting! 

Star gazing

Theres Jupiter

Glad to see you are all doing well..

A nice end to a wonderful day

Be safe out there everyone!!!