'time to update my blog even if admittedly, I have little to offer.
Life is fine here at Pioneer Village.The weather has been warm and sunny. Many activities, I am actually playing bridge and joined the chorus. I have been pretty faithful to my treadmill in the morning even if I do come home and eat after my mile and half. working towards 2 miles in 45 minutes.
I have been to see Lincoln, Life of Pi and Silver Linings Playbook, I enjoy the movies and once my good friend Esther arrived I have a good viewing companion.
Went to agility class this week with Deco, felt good to be back and to see all the people we left in April. He is a bit rusty and is getting older, almost 10 1/2 for a large cardigan male I am pushing it . I do feel I have another puppy in me, but the time is not quite right.
Watching the news and weather forecast for big time snow in ct, no, I do not miss it at all. I like shorts and t shirts and sun, I like cocktails outside and grilling steaks without winter coats. I like looking at tomato plants and fresh herbs. Do not miss cold, mud , dreary days and snow.
Hmm I guess I got that straight.
We may have bought a car, a 4 door silver jeep. I suffer all sorts of should I or should I nots when we think about purchasing a new vehicle. The prices are way out of sight. Use to say the price is what I paid for my first house but now it is more then my first house. I have almost had it with the 2 door jeep.It is tight and a pain to get into the back. I put my groceries in the dog crate,it is small. Of course Jim feels the need to carry all sorts of stuff in the back of the jeep which is a bone of contention with us. Really, we need the power drill in the car x!!! He gets all petulant and says there is no room in the motor home which is not exactly true as I could easily make room or remove something we do not need. One thing about living aboard a motor home full time is space- you have to be sure it is a needed item.
I think we will come to a compromise albeit a $30K + compromise.
Other then that I am beginning to plan our spring trip- Georgetown Texas to see sister and then to Fredericksburg for the Texas hill country and wild flowers. Then to Zion National Park via New Mexico. I want to spend sometime at Zion and then Bryce and then to Salt Lake City to see the grand boys. From there we head to Sturgis SD and the badlands. Sounds like fun and plenty of photo ops
We head to CT for the birth of the first Heaslip grand child in July. Hope to see all my CT friends and do some doggie agility

The Girls in My Life -

Here we have two of the girls in my life. Miss Lindsay on the left, my almost 8 year old granddaughter , and Toby -Aunt Toby- my lovely stepdaughter with the big smile. I thought I would use this blog to be a bit sentimental and look back at 2012  when we sold the house and moved to being "full-timers" living in our RV and traveling.
And travel we have, Vermont ( the bluegrass festival) Maine ( Moosehead Lake to Machias ) Virginia ( the beautiful blue ridge  mountains ) Tennessee, Alabama ( Natchez Trace, Huntsville and Red Bay) and then the Florida panhandle ( Destin, Fort Pickens, St George Island, Old  Town on the Swanee, Highland Hammock, the locks on Okeechobee) and finally Pioneer  Village where we will spend the next few months playing boce, bridge, going to Punta Gorda on music nights and eating and drinking .

A

We also added a son-in -law when Allison and Charles married in May, Cory and I were able to attend and enjoy wonderful southern hospitality and food.

I am also pleased that my lovely grandaughter Araya has completed her first semester of college. Where have the years gone I am indeed fortunate. 

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has it really been a month !!

COON DOG CEMETARY IN RED BAY AL

Boy , have I been negligent . It has been a month since my last post and since that time we have been to :Sweetwater Tn , Decatur/Huntsville AL, Red Bay AL ,Tupelo MIss,(birthplace of Elvis),Muscle Shoals AL the birthplace of Helen Keller

After leaving Red Bay Al where the Tiffen RV factory and service center is located- more commonly known as the mother ship- we headed to Destin Fl and Henderson Beach State Park to camp.

we are now at Fort Pickens Federal Park on the National Seashore on Pensacola Beach FL .Sunday we leave for St George Island by Apalachicola Fl until the 20th.

We head for Old Town FL and the Swanee River for Thanksgiving and then to Okeechobee for 2 weeks at a Corp of Engineer Park on the Lake. Final destination for the winter is North Fort Myers.

One of the highlights of our trip to Red Bay was to get the carpet replaced with tile. I bought the tile before we left Ct, I cannot even begin to explain how happy I am with the tile. 3 dogs and 2 adults living full time in the RV and carpet ! i think not

Expensive but worth it. Next project is replacing the shades

Highlights so far, We stopped in Decatur so that we could visit the Science and Rocket Center in Huntsville AL What a place I was not expecting sooo much to see. The center is famous for holding space camp. The original rocket launching site is Redstone and is located on the Redstone Arsenal an army base which also contains NASA and where the space station payload is monitored. We got to see them actually talking to the astronauts on the space station. The military site employs 36,000 people with only about 1,000 military. Included in that number is 8 generals as this site is where the missile defense is located. The guide said that Huntsville has more PHDs per capita then any other city. It all has to do with propulsion etcetc. Way too much info for me.

Before this gets too lengthy we spent yesterday at the Naval Aviation Museum which was also very interesting. My goal is to be sure that we visit what each area has to offer hence the birthplace of Elvis in Topelo. very well done . And Helen Keller's birthplace outside of Muscle Shoals AL and of course the Coon Dog Cemetery. We have climbed over the remains of Fort Pickens, the only time it ever actually fired on ships was during the Civil War where the Fort was held by Union troops - HEY I am already for Jeopardy all this useful info

Till next time

the great state of Maine

This is just a pretty picture that I took on Campabello Island down by Quoddy Point lighthouse. Just experimenting and figured all these great Maine shots may be putting you all to sleep along with my harping about what a GREAT time we are having.  Besides I impress myself when I take a picture that is at all a bit "arty" instead of just a tree.

We left Maine and our good friends in Jonesport last Monday and drove back to Griswold Ct. We did have a good time and got to take in the sights such as the blackfly ball in Machias, stopped where this gentleman makes Maine Sea Salt for sale-  pretty labor intensive but he has all different flavors ( quite frankly they all tasted like salt to me ) we went to Campabello and drove the island and picked up some Cole Tea Bags for my friend who swears by them but cannot puurchase in the US . We drove around Lubec Maine and through Eastport. Mostly I liked sitting at our RV watching the 13 foot tide, smelling the sea air and decomposing seaweed and eating lobster and mussels literally right from the water. We have been friends with Bob and Patty for about 18 years so we understand each other which is necessary for a 12 day stay

So now back in CT and catching up with family, saw my lovely granddaughter who starts college at URI today. My boy Flee doing well with Cory, He needs a good grooming as he is a shedder but he looks good has put on weight and is relaxed. He has his own home where he is king and it is good for him . Just reminds me that having a dog is not solely about what may be good for us   , is it

ok as I end just one more picture of the RV and our spor looking towards Jonesport- I couldn't resist.

We will be returning to the road about the first of October- more to come

Arcadia and the isles off shore

We are getting ready to leave Trenton Maine to head for Jonesport and time spent with our friends. Trenton is on the border of Arcadia and just far enough from Bar Harbor to be manageable. We have spent time in the National Park and yesterday went to Deer Isle and Stonington Maine ( which is alot like Noank CT) We have had lobster and I made a killer mixed berry pie with blueberries, blackberries and raspberries.

We have met some interesting people - it still surprised me how many couples are full timers which means living in your RV full time - no stick house.  One couple has been doing this for 8 years which could be why they have matching bikes parked side by side in the same direction and chairs side by side in the same spot--you get the picture . I am not sure that is where I want to head . there are times when the "togetherness" is a bit grinding.

I have been having good memories of spending summers in Maine with my sisters at my grandparents summer home in Wells Maine.They had a large house with attached barn. Actually the barn was large with a work room, outhouse, and complete bar area in knotty pine. The floor was planks of wood where one or another of us were always losing something between the planks. Grandfather  was always so patient trying to salvage what we lost. I don't remember the house as well as the barn. That could well be because we were usually relegated to the barn area. After a long ride ( pre highways) to Maine in the unairconditioned station wagon with 3 girls and a carsick dog my parents were met at the door by the maternal grandparents with a stiff drink and we were told to stay outside . I can see that now as an adult and we always loved being outside and finding berries and playing in the garage- boy I remember that garage/barn !!

All in all I am enjoying this new life, it is relaxing and interesting . There is time to explore and relax and ride the silly retro-bike and walk the dogs. We will continue to follow the sun

Moosehead Lake and moose(s)

My first decent moose photo. We have been going to this spot in the early am and at dusk with no luck, Driving by today at about 1 pm , there she was. So I can check that off the bucket list. Now if I could find a loon,...

We are still in Greenville Maine, one of the bigger differences in being a full timer is that literally you have to be somewhere, so another few days here is not big thing. It is not quite like being on vacation and yet it is a continual vacation except you can't "party" daily.

Nemo and I have been walking in the morning , he is such a good pal. Deco's idea of walking is to be pulled along until we turn towards the RV and then he finds his legs. Poor Abbie is definitely aging and prefers sleeping to almost any other activity. I looked at some hiking paths for Nemo and I but most of them are 20 miles away with directions such as: at the fork drive 10 miles until left turn, don't take left stay right for 17 miles and then watch for side road, 3 miles  etc etc and on dirt. As Jim does not hike he would have to drive me 45 minutes and then sit in the car for another hour plus- maybe we will make out better at Arcadia

Tomorrow a boat ride around the lake- weather continues to be great.
I keep having flash backs on the many many summers I spent in Maine with my grandparents- one of the highlights was going to the dump to watch the seagulls and look for bears. Ahhh, life was simpler
Good night friends

Duck Whisperher - Moosehead Maine

Taming wild beasts- I was the duck "piper"
Moosehead Lake is beautiful and the weather has been to perfect. Y ou wake up to a clear blue sky and the temps are in the upper 70's.
Today we traveled west to Rockwell where they were completely redoing the road- I am talking DUST horrid I could feel grit in my teeth .
We went to see about the boat to Mt Kineo where you can walk around or hike but the number of smaller people ( aged 8 and under)and dogs getting on the small boat made me think better of that plan. My number one grievance this day is flexi-leads as they are used by people who have absolutely NO control on their dog and can not figure out the damn leash ! I do not bring my dogs out with flex-leads and my dogs can heel and sit. Saw two beautiful flat coated retrievers- on regular leashes and well trained then we had mom and dad ( with flipflops and a beer ) and a large dog who was wrapping the kids up in the flexi-lead while trying to jump and everyone. Gotta love it
Ok pet peeve for the day !! enough said
Tomorrow the quest to find a photographic moose continues- they say that  moose out number the residents 3 to 1, must be before tourists.
Take care my friends, more to come I am sure.