Did anyone watch the meteor shower last night? Bob & I laid on the hammock and watched lots of stars falling out of the sky. It was beautiful. This week, in the warm, sunny keys, we spent remodelling a room damaged by Hurricane Wilma 2 years ago. It was down to studs, so we insulated, drywalled, plastered, painted, put in a tile floor, bathroom, cleaned, and it's almost ready for rental. We're trying to put in hours so that we can take some time off when company arrives next week...Lyle & Lisa are coming for a week, then Billy & Susie from KC the following week. We're very excited...we need people to play with! The motel is still empty, but Mark is back from Marco (he was gone a week, and we "ran the place"...the motel was empty the whole time). It's slow time here, but still 80+ degrees and sunny. It does rain almost daily for 5-10 minutes...enough to dirty the windows. Haven't been fishing, diving, snorkling or sightseeing for the past 2 weeks, saving that for company. It's ok tho...it's good to put in honest days' work! And Cheyenne hasn't eaten for 2 days. I'm getting a bit concerned...she's still relatively spunky...wants to go for a walk and swim, but mostly sleeps and doesn't eat. We think it's the heat. Mark said that's how everybody gets here! Lazy! (That's why he appreciates us so much!) Not much else to report. I've been watching the presidential debates, trying to decide who to vote for in the primary. Anybody have any input??? I've actually been pretty fascinated by the whole process. Never had much time to research, and I'm enjoying it! Hope everybody's staying warm...it's cold everywhere but here, apparently.

Marathon, FL Our home for the winter!

Greetings from sunny Marathon in the heart of the beautiful Florida Keys!It's been a while...we've been busy:) Have been here at Bonefish Bay Motel for almost 3 weeks and having a blast.

Where to start...we met a lovely couple from Germany, Manfred and Waltraud who were staying here at the motel as well. They were here for 3 weeks so we got to know them quite well...tipped a few beers, went to the flea market, and had dinner together a few times. Spent Thanksgiving with them and Mark and his mom, Herta (also from Germany). It was great, but it's so difficult to remember that it's the holidays cuz it's 80 degrees and sunny every day and still feels like summer.

Mark took us fishing last week:) We caught a mahi mahi, 3 mackerel, lots of yellow tail snapper, and a couple grouper that weren't big enough to keep (bummer...I love grouper!) So we've been eating fish nearly every night, along with fresh veggies and fruits from the weekly flea market. And we're not bored anymore:) The rooms all needed to be deep cleaned (there's only 16 of them up and running since the hurricane), but it still took me 2 weeks to do them all (at just 4-5 hours a day). And the sale of this place isn't looking good, so Mark has us redoing the remaining 4 rooms (drywall, plaster, paint, flooring, and bathrooms). That should keep us out of trouble for a while! Currently no one is at the motel (it's slow time), including Mark. He went to Marco Island to help his mom move to Fort Myers for the week. So Bob & I are in charge. Not much to be in charge of, but maybe someone will stop by and rent a room or two. Meanwhile, we're doing catch-up landscaping, cleaning, and remodeling rooms. We do manage some time to relax, read, hit the local bars for happy hour occasionally,...The one trade off for this gorgeous weather is the bugs and vermin. We have spotted a couple rats (traps are now everywhere), the no-see-ums are terrible from about 4pm to 7pm daily (citranella/eucalyptus spray is the only thing that deters them, for a little while). You literally can't see them, and they feel like little needle pricks and the itch lasts for days! Oh yeah, then there's the scorpions:( My first encounter with a live one was while I was cleaning a room...he looked dead, lying in the kitchen sink, and I went to spray some pinesol and he moved!!!!! I screamed so loud I think they heard me in Miami, and ran to get Mark, who chopped off his stinger with a plyers!!! Very creepy. Then while raking one day I disturbed one who fortunately ran away from me:) Another scream! I continued raking for a while and chased up 3 more, which I expected, so didn't scream anymore. I guess I'm getting used to them, but they still creep me out. Apparently the sting is very painful, but not fatal. I bought some Benedryl just in case. And I now wear shoes while raking.Bob continues to be the pool boy daily, even though nobody is using it. It is very clean now! The dive shop here uses it occasionally for training, but no one else. He's so cute out there in his speedo and Ipod (JK about the speedo). He is getting a nice tan tho.We found a nice little par 3 golf course close by, but haven't played yet. Maybe this week. Also have been riding our bikes almost everywhere to save $ on fuel. Diesel is $3.70/gallon here.I think that's all I have to report. Will be more consistant about writing now that I'm falling into a routine. I hope everybody is staying warm and GO PACK!!!!!

Marathon, Florida keys

We made it to the Keys! Last week in Orlando was a bust...Disney & Universal were about $100/person, golfing was $30/person/9 holes, so we did nothing; except bingo...that was fun...Bob won $15 and p'ed off the little old ladies! We went to the RV repair shop, and they fixed everything on our list, almost, but also found that our kitchen slide is a bit too heavy and causing some floor buckling issues. They were unable to fix it at their shop, so we called the manufacturer, and they wanted us to travel to Indiana (to the factory) and they would fix it there. Needless to say, we opted to head south rather than north, and arrived here in Marathon Thursday evening. Mark (the owner) gave us Friday off, and Saturday we went to work and have been cleaning rooms, raking leaves, pool cleaning, and dealing with perma-grin! (My face is sore!!!) The weather is gorgeous...70-80 and sunny:) Today we were inside watching the Packers kick some Panther butt, and it seemed a shame to be inside, but well, it's the 9-1 Packers!!!!! We love it here, all of us...Chey is right at home, taking herself for a swim occasionally; we walk daily, exploring, and she's happy to be settled for a while too. We're attempting to bike everywhere for the next 3 months and save on some fuel costs. We did have to drive yesterday to the Big Pine Key flea market (one of our favorite things to do here), but otherwise, we don't plan to drive much, except maybe to Key West, but that's an occasional trip. Life is good...We'll stop in Indiana on the way home next spring.

orlando, fl

We had a great stay in Charleston, waiting for hurricane Noel to leave the southern east coast.

Went to Savannah from there (one of my favorite cities in the country),

spent only 2 days there in a gorgeous state park campground (Skidaway Island SP), and walked around historic downtown Savannah one day,

then went to Tybee Island the next. That was a great place we'd love to go back to and spend more time...a very laid back beach community with a beautiful beach (no dogs allowed :(, like everytwhere on the east coast). Then we got to Florida 2 days ago, where the temperature had plunged drastically! On Tybee there were people on the beach in swimming suits, then in FL we had on 3 layers and stocking caps! Spent 2 days in Flagler Beach at another state park (Gamble Rogers SP), right on the ocean, but it was SO windy and chilly!

We drove to St. Augustine from there, another of my favoritie places. It's the oldest city in the nation, and very well preserved and beautiful. Also scoped out Daytona Beach for bike week in March, and think we found a place to stay... right at the race track.

The big oak tree in the photo is 300-500 years old! It's in a state park near St. Augustine. I love the spanish moss! Now we're in a campground outside Orlando for 4 days. There's lots of older people here, and tons of activities...tomorrow is donuts in the community room, the a flea market right on sight, a driving range, then "Wild Hogs" tomorrow night; Sunday is bingo, and there's always shuffleboard (which we haven't attempted yet), miniature golf, a swimming pool (actually very nice), ping pong and pool! And it's warm here:) We may go to Universal Monday, not sure yet. We are this close...

Today was amazing! We went to Magnolia Plantation here in Charleston, and spent the afternoon exploring 500 acres of gardens. This plantation has been in the same family since the mid 1600's, and was one of the most beautiful days I've spent in a long time! I've heard that spanish moss means that a place isn't haunted, but I really felt the ghosts of the past walking around the grounds! Not in a haunting way, but in a caretaking way. It was very cool. Took 49 pictures, but these were our favorite. The gardens weren't in bloom so much this time of year, but I can just imagine how gorgeous it is in the spring. A must see for anyone visiting this area. Yesterday we ventured into downtown Charleston and walked through the open air market where locals sell their handywork. It was housed in what used to be the slave market. But it was raining, so we didn't spend too much time there. Lots more to see down there, so we'll have to go back when the weather clears. I love this part of the world.

Wilson, NC

Well, our fun-filled week in Wilson, NC has come to an end. Actually it was a good week. We found golfing for $7.50/9 holes,...our first round was a disaster, and today improved considerably! We spent an hour or so at the driving range yesterday trying to improve our drives, and obviously did so:) And last Saturday night at the stock cars was quite the smash-um-up! There was even an instance where one of the drivers ran out during awards to attack the winning driver! Can you say redneck? It was fun. Also lots of relaxing, SuDoku, reading, futzing, and exploring. Not much to see here, but it was a good week. Tomorrow we head to Charleston, SC for a week or so. It's going to be a big 300 mile day getting there, so we'll have to get an early start!

Wilson, NC

We spent the last few days in eastern Virginia, went to Yorktown, Jamestown, and Williamsburg via ferry 2 days in a row. Wow, the history and reconstruction of the revolutionary war and civil war were pretty amazing. Didn't get a lot of pictures, these things are sometimes hard to capture on film, so what do you photograph? We stayed at Chipokes Plantation State Park at $27.00/night:( and explored the area pretty heavily. Great park...they had a working plantation (thus the name) attached to the park, it was pretty cool. It has been continually farmed since the 1600's! Tobacco, cotton, peanuts and corn are the main crops here. And there's still a lot of surviving, working plantations all over. Beautiful country. Williamsburg was great.
We walked through historic Williamsburg, adjacent to William & Mary College ( a beautiful campus), and they had period dressed staff working in the 400 year old stores/houses. We felt like we really stepped back in time. And Yorktown was hit pretty hard by hurricane Isabel in 2003, and they've rebuilt it beautifully. We toured the battlefield where the brits surrendered to Washington ending the war. It's on the York River, which is just as wide as the james River that we were camped near, which is as wide as the Mississsippi! Lots of water in these parts!
Then we traveled 150 miles today to Wilson, NC to a campground we found by joining "happy Camper" (1/2 price campgrounds). It's not a great place, but it's cheap, and that's what we need for a while. The weather is great 75 degrees, and there's a botanical garden, rose garden, golfing, a tobacco museum, and we're staying here for a week. We're getting a little tired of moving every couple days. Have I mentioned that before?

Charlotte Hall, MD

Maryland is a beautiful state; well the western side of it is. We haven't seen the eastern side (across the Chesapeake Bay). And probably won't this trip. Spent the last 3 days in Point Lookout State Park, Scotland, MD, where they have a civil war museum and Fort Lincoln. Apparently 50,000 prisoners went through the prison there in just over a year! And Fort Lincoln is all that remains of the original structures (it's been renovated). Very cool. We rode our bikes all over the park a few days ago (it's about 1000 acres...we didn't do it all!) Now we're in Charlotte Hall, north of the park for a farm festival going on this weekend (free camping). We'll be here til Monday or so...we offered to help clean up the grounds after it's over. Should be a good weekend. The reason we're in this part of the world is because our friends, Bernie & Shirley from the Baja trip live in Hollywood, MD, about 20 miles from the state park. Caught up with them Tuesday evening, then they made us dinner Wednesday night and we were able to meet their daughter Julie that night. She's a traveling nurse, so we had lots to talk about.

Bob's doing well, but I "threw out my back" yesterday:( I've been dreading this day all my life. You know, the day you wake up and realize you're old. I was taking a shower, and I turned wrong. I was out of commission all day, but today is better thanks to a bunch of Advil. It really is true...when you retire you fall apart...

Washington DC

10/5/07Today was a travel day from hell. We left the campground in PN (big mistake...it was great there!), and drove 300 miles, around Philadelphia, Wilmington, Baltimore and Washington DC. It took 8 hours with traffic!!! An accident in Wilmington, then rush hour in Baltimore and DC. Bob's a little nervous about driving the camper around now, since the guard rail incident, but we made it. We're camped at Prince William Trailer Park just south of DC for the weekend. We were here 3 years ago on our east coast tour, loved it, and wanted to spend more time here. We're both getting a little tired of moving every couple days, so we need to work on staying in one spot for longer...maybe get a job in a campground or something??? It'll work itself out...it always does.

10/7/07Spent yesterday in DC. It hasn't changed much in 3 years, so only spent about 3 hours there. The metro is a wonderful transportation system, and we remembered how to use it. So went through the Smithsonian Institute museums, saw the white house, washington monument, lincoln memorial, IRS building, FBI building, Ford theatre,... We're ready to leave the northeast tho...way too many people. Headed toward Point Lookout State Park in southern Maryland tomorrow. We've never been to Maryland, so plan to spend some time exploring...A sidenote...we saw a news clip on national news about the acorn storms in Green Bay...thought that was pretty funny, but it is seriously raining acorns here at the park, and it's pretty slippery and noisy!

Mystic, CT

Lovely, charming, quaint...I'll be using those words frequently in the next page. The New England area is lovely. We've spent the last week in the Mystic, CT area exploring. Windy, narrow roads on quaint rolling hills, slowly changing lovely dying foliage, very old, well kept large homes with charming rock walls everywhere. And lots of money.

Stonington, just across the bay from Mystic was one of our destinations a few days ago, and while walking around the small borough, we noticed a lot of remodeling. So we asked the lady at the coffee shop if a hurricane had gone through; she raised an eyebrow and said with a smirk, "there's a lot of very rich people here. They're simply remodeling". And while walking past a realtor office, the pictures in the window indicated these homes were going for $1-7,000,000! And they're on lots smaller than ours in Appleton! But on the ocean. Lovely, quaint, charming.

Yesterday we went to Groton, the submarine capital of the world and toured the Nautilis, the first nuclear powered sub. What an experience. It was so big, but so small. They housed 12 sailors in a single room with 3 rows of 4 bunks high, and maybe 2 feet between the bunks (above and beside). And to be in close quarters like that 400 feet under water. Wow! It was very interesting.

Then while driving to our appointment at the camper repair station, at 6:45a.m. on Friday we took a sharp left turn and "bumped" the guard rail on the right, causing $2,400.00 damage to our brand new camper:( Did I mention we were on our way to the repair shop? Who also employs a very good body man. He had us buttoned up that day, but we go back this week for paint.

The day wasn't a complete loss... we went to the Mystic Aquarium while they were working on the camper. That was a blast...they also had a 3-D virtual roller coaster that took us through outer space. It was great! Also beluga whales, penguins, sea lions, and lots of cool fish. Bob was so bummed about the camper...he's NEVER done anything like that, and for it to happen to our BRAND NEW CAMPER! But the roller coaster put a smile back on his face.Today we watch Brett Favre break the record, drink bloody mary's, and contemplate our next destination...after the camper is fixed of course.

Mystic, CN

Went to Martha's Vineyard from Cape Cod. We took a 45 minute ferry ride across the Vineyard Sound in the Atlantic (Cheyenne didn't enjoy it very much...the horns were very loud). Unfortunately, none of our pictures came out, this is the only one we have:( The island was beautiful...I think I wrote about it in the last entry. Then we spent another lovely week with Mike & Christine in Westfield, MA, and are now in Mystic, CN. What a cool town!

First thing we did was go to Mystic Pizza, and it was very good. Bob was happy:) Then hit a restaurant/tavern called Captain Daniel Packer Inne (a hot tip from the Birdman); a home from the 1700's that was converted, and a very charming little pub. Then walked around the town with Chey; they have a sweet river walk along the Mystic River. Plan to do a little more exploring in the next couple days...we have an appt at an RV fix-it place on Friday a little north of here to take care of a couple hiccups that Bob can't fix on the new camper. So we're here for a couple days. We'll get some good photos to post. There's lots of museums, an aquarium, a seaport, and lots of seashore. And the weather is still gorgeous!

Cape Cod, MA

Hello from Cape Cod, MA. It's lovely here! We drove up to Plymouth yesterday and saw the plymouth rock ( a 4x4' rock with 1620 engraved on it, encased), and the Mayflower II (apparently the original was sold for scrap, so this was a replica built in the 1950's). Bob toured it (no dogs allowed) and said it was very cool. In the bottom of this boat were 102 people for 66 days and not allowed to go up top (only the crew were allowed on the deck). Bob said they must have all been short people...the beds were small and the ceilings low. Plymouth was a very charming little town, but it was cold and rainy so we didn't stay long.

Drove upcape to Provincetown, lovingly referred to as "P-town" by the locals. It's a mostly gay little town on the tip of the cape, and quite a party town! We loved it! Reminded us a lot of Key West in many ways. Appartently it's the only place in the states where you can watch the sun rise and set. We saw neither...we found a fun little bar on the wrong side of the tip! Tomorrow we hop a ferry for Martha's Vineyard.

We only spent a couple days in Maine, and only about 25 miles into the state. We camped in Wells, and drove up to Kennebunkport for a day. That was a great little town.

The only photo we took was of the Bush's home there. We need to get used to having a camera again! Didn't even eat a lobster...they don't sell just the tail here; you have to order the whole lobster, and I just can't see it. So we'll go without. We don't really care for lobster anyway! Maine, what we saw of it, was beautiful, but getting cold.