Winter Travels Begin

It's been a long time since we've updated our blog. Once we arrived home after our summer travels, we pretty much stayed at home except for a few trips to Pinehurst and a trip to PA in early November - none in the coach. Now we're back on the road after beginning our winter travels with a stay in the coach at the Sycamore Lodge Campground Jackson Springs, NC (near Pinehurst) the week before Thanksgiving. We left for FL the Saturday after T-day and stayed 2 nights in Brunswick, GA - Golden Isle RV Park - $15/night. Our first stop was at Lake Griffin State Park near the Villages - a week in the park ( one of our favorites). The next stop was Lazydays and the Friends and Family Rally. Here we won a $500 drawing and later a $2500 prize only to have the $2500 taken away because we had won a previous draw.

After leaving Lazydays Rally Park, we moved to the Thousand Trails Orlando campground for 3 weeks - leaving here January 3. When we arrived we found our friends Bonnie & Rob Wall and Pat & John Lively here. Nice seeing them after many months. Since arriving we've been doing some bike riding - me on the recumbent and Audrey on her road bike. The West Orange Trail and the Villages have been our favorite riding areas. The attached picture shows some of the recumbent riders I've managed to meet. FYI, we are looking for a good buy on a trike for Audrey. She has demoed quite a few, but we have not found one that fits the budget.

Christmas day was special. We were able to video chat with the kids and grandkids in NC and PA using Audrey's MacBook. We chatted with our daughter Cindy in AZ via telephone. Santa did arrive here in sunny and warm FL and left a few gifts. The one toy that will get much use is a Flip Video Camera. Check out the below video of our friends John & Pat Lively. Remember, there is much to learn about using this camera.



All for now. Thanks to Myron and Dorcas Whitley for shaming us into updating our post. They are good about updating their travels.

Back to you with News

It's been quite awhile since news from Washington, NC has hit the Internet. In part that's because there has been little excitement in our lives that we feel a necessity to share. We opted, for a variety of reasons, to miss the SE Trek Fun Club rally in Flat Rock, NC and the Country Coach rally in TN. We heard the Trek rally was a winner. No news about the CC rally.

Most of the time since the last update has been spent doing the usual sort of things done while at home - housework, lawn care, exercising (walking, jogging, biking & golfing). Yes there are some exciting things done too - like going to Walmart and Lowes in Washington. An occasional visit to McDonald's or Bojangles spices up those visits. Noting exercising. Audrey now has a Polar F-11 heart rate monitor that she loves. It provides more information than she knows how to use beyond the usual heart rate, calories burned and target zone data. The F-11 was an e-Bay purchase.

The most exciting news to share is what our daughter Cindy accomplished a few weeks ago. For the second consecutive year she is an Arizona State Road Bike Time Trial Champion. Check out the pictures we asked her to send us. Please disregard the background sign. (-:

Now more biking news. A new activity adventure has creeped into our lives. We are now giving the recumbent biking world a try. The Benners, Bob & Donna, have been riding recumbents for years and have tried to get us to give them a whirl. About 3 weeks ago we each rode recumbents at a bike shop in New Bern, NC. Each of us came away excited about the experience. However, I must admit I had some difficulty mastering riding a recumbent while Audrey simple hopped on one and rode off. Since that initial experience, we have demoed others. Friends of ours have them and have allowed us to ride theirs. In fact, the gent has more than 10,000 miles in his. He has ridden much of the Lewis & Clark Trail.

Now for the rest of the story. On Thursday, October 2 we headed to Carrboro, NC to a bike shop that was getting out of recumbent bike sales and had a clearance sale going on. After demoing two different models, I came away with a Bacchetta Corsa. If interested, check out the specs on the bike here http://tinyurl.com/4pffka and see the picture on the left.

After the purchase, we headed to Pinehurst to visit with the kids for the weekend and to master riding the recumbent. Yesterday, Friday, I rode approximately 30 miles and I must say it is different from riding a mountain or road bike. It's a much more relaxing experience. You just sit there and pedal without the neck, back, shoulder, and bottom soreness associated with riding a road or mountain bike. It won't be long until Audrey is riding one too. She is looking for a recumbent that does not have the pedals extended as the Corsa does.

It's now Sunday morning and our Winter travel schedule has come to the point where it is almost finalized. This morning I made what could be our last reservation for Thousand Trails Orlando for this winter. We'll enter the park on February 1, 2009 for 2 weeks. After that we begin to wrap-up our stay in FL with reservations in Lake Griffin State Park and the Salt Springs Recreation Area before heading to a CC rally at Jekyll Island and the FMCA rally at Perry, GA

It's Monday morning and we are back in Washington trying to get the house in order. Audrey has been doing her banking while I am doing my best to fight a head cold. Picked the bugger up over the weekend in Pinehurst.

Tuesday is here and the head cold is nasty. Tried taking a short bike ride to open up the nasal passages - not much success. Audrey is doing her best to stay away from me and rightly so. Weather here in eastern NC is nearly perfect. Time to post this update.

Update on Things - From Washington, NC

Here we go again. Behind on posting news on the Blog. Too many things going on. Audrey's cataract surgery went well and she has been released from the doctor's care. After her release we visited with the kids in Pinehurst for the start of the Labor Day weekend. We arrived on Thursday and departed for the home front on Sunday. While there the biggest news was the purchase of a new computer for Audrey. Her MacBook died and so it was necessary to get a new one. Our son-in-law, Ken, and I journeyed to Fayetteville and made the purchase at a Best Buy. The pictures show the happy new owner.

While in Pinehurst we celebrated the birthdays of Ken and Audrey. Note the happy birthday faces in the picture.

The bicycle pictures are of our daughter Cindy and some of her teammates taken at a recent competition in Arizona. Cindy is the athlete on the left in the group picture.

Some of you know we had planned to take the coach to TT Chesapeake Bay, VA for 3 weeks. Those plans have changed. Audrey had to schedule two doctor appointments and the dates available came during our pending stay at TTCB. So the trip to VA has been scratched. Also, within the last 2 weeks we've put some dollars into the coach. The two front tires were beginning to show signs of deterioration so we replaced them. Then earlier this week we had the coach serviced at a local truck service center. We had never used the center before but wish we had. The thoroughness with which they did the work was impressive. Better than any Cummins Service Center where we've had the coach serviced in the past. Also the price was right - $78/hr.

In the past we've spoken of and posted pictures of the family that is nearby - NC & PA. We have also spoken about our daughter, Cindy, who lives in AZ and teaches high school chemistry. However, you have not had a chance to see her and learn about her athletic achievements. Currently she is the AZ State Road Bike Time Trial Champion in her age group. In the past she has qualified for and comleted the king of all triathlons -- the Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii. The below link will take you to the AZ State Team Time Trial Championships. You will find Cindy riding the bike with yellow rims/tires.

http://gallery.me.com/cynthiapool#100088

What's next on our travel adventures? We don't really know what the future will hold beyond trips to Pinehurst, NC and to PA to visit with family, including two aunts each who has passed the 90 year old milestone. No trip is planned using the motor coach until November.