Let the Journey Begin......
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Published: December 27th 2015
Our Check Off List
Checking it a dozen times??Making a list, checking it twice-gonna find out if the roads have ice??-
Nope, we are good to go. Whew! The temperature reads 51 degrees but it is raining. So much better than snowing ...then we would just be sitting in Shongo. ??Sitting in Shongo ...looking at trees...waiting to leave???....that could be another song but I digress. Cory isn't thrilled to drive in the rain but he will for this important adventure. No rain checks here. The RV motor has been running, the furnaces have, too....just to take the chill off. Warmer outside than in the RV. Out of habit, we are bundled up to the hilt. I have a long sleeve shirt on, a sweatshirt and my winter coat plus two pair of socks. The plug-in warming blankets are ready for use. Lulu just laughs.....not even a cap for her. She's one tough gal. My Girl Scout training always tells me to "Be Prepared".....with all the "just maybe, just in case, what if, better to be safe than sorry, you never know, taking no chances, etc." We are all set and ready for departure. So grab your bags, climb aboard, find your seat and buckle up. Our journey together begins
Mickey the Mannequin with a lot of window reflection.
Stands inside our house, looking out the window to scare any intruders away. We also have Sammy in the kitchen doing the same. now. Yahoo! Whoopee! We are thrilled that all of you are with us this year. It makes the journey so much more fun. As I always say "The More The Merrier." So, welcome, welcome, welcome dear family and friends. You provide a good catharsis to share our good and bad events with...hopefully more of the first rather than the latter. It's
9:30 AMand we are pulling out of Shongo. One last wave to Mary Kay with a big RV honk as she heads towards her mailbox. Bye for now, Mary Kay....see you in Springtime!
Looking good. I can see you are all settled in and hopefully as excited as we are to make this expedition south. Smooth traveling with the rain pouring down on us. Can't dampen our spirits. Oh, Happy Days......OMG...what is it! Hold on to your seat. Barf....Geeez....something bad is happening....good grief! Rats! We are only @ 35 miles from home (Jasper, NY) and Cory has come up to a stop sign. All clear so he turns left when suddenly the entire motor home is rocking and rocking violently back and forth. HOLD ON MATEYS.....we are in for a rough ride! Just like the ship in Moby Dick.
No exaggeration. Cory is clenching the steering wheel (and his teeth) as I shriek. He brings it to a stop and we just look at each other: stunned. We have shared that same familiar look many times...rats. Hoping it was a small earthquake and not our RV, we get out to check, not having a clue what horrible things await. Fortunately, the rest of you are calm and manageable. We couldn't hear a peep out of you. Lulu is very shook up. I've got a paper bag on her face to stop her hyperventilating. We take the dreaded stroll around the RV and car. Nothing obvious.....so what the hell was it? We check the tires (brand new), check the hitch, Cory resets the tow car. Still can't figure out what it was but it was sure scary. Gosh, I forgot to take a picture....I'm slipping! We drive a short distance into Jasper for a double check.....RV riding okay....still can't find any problem. Take your Dramamine and a deep breath......we are off and running again. One more RV check at a beautiful rest stop in PA. Still looking okay, so hang on, folks, we going down the highway without a care
Good-bye Shongo house
See you in the spring. in the world....Hah! Oblivious fools that we are. I'm singing "Jesus Take The a Wheel" when Lulu jumps (kind of) in front of Cory and takes the wheel. She can be a little crass at times.
We hope you all had a Merry Christmas. We did. We had many of our family members at our house which makes the holiday so much more fun and festive. No Christmas snow and I was glad. Rather look at the warm, glowing faces of our family instead of blizzard snow. We were able to spend extra time with our son, Tim, and grandson, Conner as they stayed over. Conner is the youngest of our grandchildren and really keeps the Christmas spirit alive. We love all of them so much. Our goal now is to take our traveling easy and arrive at our son's house, Cory, sometime on Tuesday. We are so anxious to see him and our 3 grandchildren: Rachael, Fox & Shenen. They live in Conover, N.C. It's been a difficult time for them recently. Cory and Jennifer are getting a divorce. We have absolutely no doubt that 2016 and on will be a much better year (s) for Cory and
his children.
Stop and go traffic through Sunbury, PA. Rain has stopped, temperature outside is 56 degrees. I guess all my preparedness was unnecessary. Furnaces have been off, front heater on for the windshield but we are starting to disrobe. Just before Harrisburg, PA. is an interesting piece of traveling decor. It is a Statue of Liberty standing tall in the middle of the Susquehanna River. Hi, Lady Liberty! No, Virginia, we are not in New York City. My picture is from a distance and the air was foggy. That's her...the little white thing in the middle of the photo. They recently had an update about it on Facebook. Here is a link about it to copy and paste if you are interested in learning more.
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Oh, I almost forgot. For those of you who are new passengers I want you to meet Lulu. The rest of you have already made her your best friend, I know. In 2012, our dear, sweet, loyal, beloved dog, Chip, passed away. He was the best chocolate lab in the world. We still miss him terribly to this day. He was the perfect photo prop...never complained and always willing to pose
for my pictures. One in a million, he was. We had our RV trip planned to travel across the USA to see relatives in California and British Columbia. Before we left, we had a mishap with our RV...Cory mistakingly backed it into the church next door to us. Church was okay but the back end of RV was quite damaged. Thus, we took a detour to the Tiffin RV factory in Red Bay, Alabama where they ordered and put a new back end on our RV. This took a month so our cross country trip took us only as far as Texas. We still had a fantastic time and saw things we never thought we would see. Excuse me, I've digressed again. Cory knew I would need something to occupy my time and mind because of the loss of Chip so he bought me an Ipad. He is so good and thoughtful towards me. I fought it at first but now the Ipad has become an appendage on my body. I love taking photos but always feel they need an eye catcher in them and Chip wasn't around anymore to be that perfect source. R.I.P., Chip. Thus, enter Lulu. She
was one of our flea market finds and has been setting on a shelf with 3 other sisters on our back patio storeroom. She had gorgeous flowing, long hair but it was way too much for me to deal with all the time. Not being a beautician, I gave her the best haircut I could. It's not good but she's not a complainer....what a sweetheart. So, when you see Lulu....you know where, why and how come she is always with us. She's a doll, for sure. We just love her. Because she has no legs or arms, she can squeeze into some very neat, tight spaces to enhance by photo taking. Hip-Hip Hooray for Lulu. Lulu says " hi" to all of you.
We have stopped for the night in Martinsburg, West Virginia. The RV is winterized so we stay in motels on our way down. Actually, we probably didn't have to do it this year but who would have guessed! I love you El Niño! I don't like staying in motels/ hotels anymore. Watched too much of the Investigative Reporter when they show some of the disgust found in these rooms. We like our own dirt and grime
The Statue of Liberty
Outside Harrisburg, PA. inside our RV. The highway coupon book took us to a Motel 6 because it has truck parking. Cory feels better when he doesn't have to unhook the car and back the RV around. I like Motel 6 (but it's low on the list of classy motel chains) because they always leave the light on for us. Pet friendly, too, if we still had Chip. He was never fussy. Lulu is excited ....a wonderful Christmas display at the house next door (she posed next to Mrs. Claus in the lower center...find her?). She wanted to lie in the manger display but I told her that was pushing it....she's a bit crass remember? She did pose on a big rock in the parking lot. That rock reminds us of another blog that I did a couple trips back....it wasn't pretty. Still sends chills through our bodies. You can read any of my 278 blogs once you are on my blog site. Just hit the "previous" arrow and it will take you through them all....luckeeeee......
almost as great as watching our old home movies. Yahoo! Cory had to work with Raj at the desk with our coupon. Finally, Raj
Lulu poses in Christmas display
She's next to Mrs. Claus in lower middle. gave in. However, he has placed us as far away from the office as possible. Actually, we passed down an alley and came to a section that was doored off with only four rooms....ours being one of them. Not sure if we are here because of the coupon or if it is a 2 hour room....if you know what I mean (Gag)! It is perfectly clean (I scoured it throughly) and quite modern looking. Lulu jumped on the cute corner lounge chair with her Coke and peppermint patties so she's all content. Never much complaining from her either. We walked across the highway and ate at Popeye's. Tasty. The wind has really picked up and it's beginning to sprinkle. Good to be stopped for the night. So, get some rest. We shall head off fairly early in the morning. Hope the weather is good....said snow where we departed from in New York. Our dream will be for good weather and no more rocking of this wheeled ship. Good night, one and all.
Remember to scroll way down to the very bottom of the page to see all the pictures. There is a middle section in between the photo groups.
Lulu poses on a memory rock
A story goes with this but you will have to go back aways in my prior blogs to read it. ??
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Robin Hosmer
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Safe travels!!
Safe travels, and thanks for bringing us along for the ride!! The weather is beautiful here in Orlando...but heading for a big cool down by Friday.