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Published: January 31st 2020
Again, catching up on the past 2 busy days, in no special order.
First, HS Classmate John Passarella, asked me to give more info on hanging up my keys. When I bough Moya in 2013 I had a five-year plan for paying for it and travelling while being able to afford other things. At the end of five years, I had enough left over to do one more year. That was 2019. I did not do the Snowbird trip in 2019 due to medical issues. I was not ready to hang up my keys until I did one more trip to FL, so here I am in 2020. It is real this time. I have done everything I ever wanted to do in an RV, drove to UT and back by myself. Did a tour of the mid-south with friends. Saw some great sites, made new friends and created cherished memories with old friends. Again, I have had a good run and done everything I wanted to do. It is time to move on and do something else. I will take the money I will save……payment, insurance, storage, club memberships, and trips. At 7-8 mpg, the gasoline bill can be extensive for even a short trip. Next, my hands and knees are getting old. It is hard to lift my bike in and out of the storage compartment. It is hard to attach the sewer hose. Etc. There are still a few places left on my ‘must see bucket list’ but I want to be waited on when I see them. I had thought about renting her out, but that creates more problems than I think I want to handle, and potentially more bills. I looked at new small RVs at the Tampa RV show, and small ones just won’t do it for me, not enough storage room for me for a lawn chair, dog, bike, etc. And that won’t answer the problem of the rising costs to RV and my income which is not rising. I asked today the cost of renting a park model here for a month next winter. The price of that would be equal to what it costs me for a full winter trip. It is something to consider. If I did that for a month, I would have my own car, which could be desirable. And I could bring my big bike. We (Winston and me) had a good run, but I want to do something different. Hopefully this answers your questions, John.
I have been waking up between 4a and 5a to go to the bathroom. Then I read to fall back to sleep (Handmaid’s Tale) but end up sleeping until 7:30a which is very late for me. Yesterday morning when I got up, the 5 kids, 2 parents and 2 grandparents rig and everything else were gone. I am amazed that I did not hear them pack up a thing, nor did I hear their car. Watching them this week gave me a new appreciation for their lifestyle. These parents seem to be doing a great job raising all those kids, not like some other large families I see here. One funny note, one day I did see dad come running out pulling on blue gloves. Only one thing you use those things for. He had difficulty getting his water hose disconnected, but he did. Then he crawled on his belly under the trailer and hosed down the asphalt under his rig. I think his black holding tank got full and overflowed on the ground and he needed to wash it off. Nasty
I met neighbors across the street. Anita and George. Nice couple. My age. They are from ‘upstate’ NY. 5-6 years ago, they put their name on the list to buy a site at a large very popular RV resort down the road a piece. Their name came up last Saturday, just as they were deciding should they hang up their keys and move near kids and grandkids. She had to tell me a funny story about the laundry. The cost here is $3 per load to wash and $3 to dry. It is the most expensive of any campground anywhere. You put your bills into the token exchanger to purchase, $1 = 1 token. She asked if I had noticed any Cici’s (Pizza buffet) game tokens mixed in. I went and checked my remaining tokens and sure enough I had an equal amount of real and Cici’s tokens. Cici’s sells their tokens for $.25 each. The word has gotten out among the campers of the cheaper alternative!! So, I told Kim and Ginnie who will go to Cici’s and buy some tokens. It will be a massive project changing all the payment method in all the laundry rooms here. Funny.
My loyal readers might remember the tale of me having my phone stolen out of my purse 2 years ago while at Walmart. It was an ugly experience, ending with me buying a new phone. As a result, I am very paranoid when I go there. I make sure my XR is secure in my bra or my waist clip on. I have been mostly using the new green one I got at the RV show. I had that on when Ginnie dropped me off at Walmart on Tuesday. I needed a long Walmart trip. Up and down every aisle, check clearance racks, get groceries, etc. I easily found a scooter and went right inside the door and reached for the phone. No case; no phone. I told the ‘host’ at the door what was going on and RAN outside. I don’t run anymore. I looked on the ground right out the door where Ginnie had dropped me off, no phone. Running thru my mind…..How do I call Ginnie to come pick me up? How do I call uber to get a ride back to the campground. Ugly. Heart pounding. When all of a sudden a young Indian men who could not speak any English came up to me waving the phone and case in front of me. I hugged him and said thank you a million times. Then he points to the screen. He pointed to my two ICE contacts, and in best charade moves he told me he called Kristine Cicalese and Tim Scoutelas. He actually pronounced their names pretty ok. He accepted my hugs and thanks and went on his way into the store. I got my scooter, told the host all was ok. Tim responded to the phone call with Apple’s stock message reply, “Sorry I am in a meeting and cannot answer the phone. But, Kristine……She did not know what to think when she heard a foreign speaking man on my phone. She thought I had a heart attack. He called again, she thought I was kidnapped. Then she called my phone and got no answer. She realized she did not have phone number of any of my camping girlies and didn’t know what to do. Then I called her and got everything straightened out. What excitement.
The story continues. $50 and 1.5 hours later, I called Ginnie to please come pick me up. I quickly brought her up to date and she laughed and laughed. When she returned home from dropping me off, her phone was dead so she plugged it in. Then she went to the dog park……leaving the phone plugged in. When she realized what she had done, she went home. Suppose I had called to pick me up and got no answer. I could have been at Walmart a really long time. I had a glass of Shiraz. Needed it.
We were going to go to Myakka FL to the winter home of Hermann’s Lipizzaner Stallions, it’s kind of an annual trip to watch them train and perform. It’s been 2 years since we were there and we wanted to see the then foal who is now 2. It is 2 hours away. A very long ride thru some very uninteresting Florida landscape, and no decent restaurants along the way. Today was the day. 12:15 departure. One of Kim’s dogs was having issues; she took him to the vet. Realizing that could screw up the day, and then realizing that no one was really up for the 4 hour trip we regrouped and went to the movies and saw Ford v Ferrari. Exactly my kind of movie. Cute men, great story, one I actually remembered some of from the mid 60s, and lots of action. Senior price $7.something, but small soda and popcorn was $13.95. Yikes. I can’t go to the movies without diet Coke and popcorn. Missed sharing with you JD.
Ginnie and I did Bingo again Wednesday night. No Winners. I didn’t even get close, once. But it costs about $12 to play, and I won $25 last week, so I am even. I have been having decent luck on $1 lottery scratch offs, but that seems to have dried up, too. But I should have bought a powerball ticket or 2, big prize and somebody won.
Start to break camp tomorrow and leave on Saturday. Time to do something else on this wonderful trip.
Kat Out.
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Krish D'Errico
non-member comment
love your blog and RV travels!
SO nice to hear about your travels especially the bingo nights and what they cost. I hope one day to travel the US in an RV its def a lifelong dream of mine. I actually am from Clermont, hope you enjoyed the area!