5-15-15 May be a good month

The first week of May has already flown bye !!

We've been keeping pleasantly busy all week. Been doing the “ nesting “ thing with the new to us car. Cleaning, waxing and puttering on it. We soaked the interior with leather cleaner/conditioner and it's much more supple now. Washed & waxed the exterior. Noticed some of the side and rear moulding was rather loose so it got removed, cleaned and reinstalled with 3M trim tape. Getting all the previous glues and tape off the trim was a bit** !! It turned out pretty nice. I put some tire shine on the wheels and now it looks pretty ! It has a very slight pull to the right so next week it gets a wheel alignment.

I replaced my overhead couch florescent light. The old one bit the dust. I also replaced the power switch to the Jack Antenna as the old one had a sticking switch.

We got out to hear some great music last Thursday and had a great park dinner. Did some exploring East of Cape Coral and saw the J.P. Franklin COE RV park. Nice !!

The resident egret is visiting again. He doesn't seem too weary of humans and will get within a few feet of us if he sees food ! Such a beautiful bird ! Seeing lots of Ospreys around the island and the dolphin population seems to be doing quite well.

We again are altering our plan on how long we'll be here . Now we're planning on staying thru June. Summer rates are the incentive. We really love this place, can you tell ?

We're having a fish fry tonight. I wonder how many we'll feed this time ??

5-13... Good rain yesterday evening.. cooled it off nicely. Our Caddy went in for a wheel alignment this morning. My friend, Jeff, works at the dealership so I gave him the keys and he drove it in early today. Having the front wheels balanced too. I wonder if they'll find any worn parts..time will tell. I don't think they will because it drives nice and tight.

The weather guessers are calling for evening storms all week. It won't suprise me ! It is the tropics, ya know ??

The clouds rolled in about 5PM and lightning could be seen and thunder rolled in the distance. It wasn't too long when the rain started. A pretty heavy tropical storm for an hour. Of course, Jeff rolled in with the Caddy and made a dash into the rig about this time. He said the car was driving normally and he had done a full inspection and all is well. I'm surprised that it only cost $95 for it all !! Celebrated with a few brews. It was 5 o'clock afterall !!

I took the car for a ride in the morning and got some groceries and am happy to report that the alignment has her running like new.

Friday 5-15 is Ms. Heather's birthday. She shares my philosophy that it's just another year. We'll celebrate it with my doctor appointment Friday afternoon. I did get her a nice card .

Carl is making fish tacos for dinner. Yummy !

We got the touch up paint for the car and all the little scratches have been touched up. The paint matched perfectly. It's not cheap but it works. 2oz of paint and a bottle of 100 mini touch up brushes $34.

If you ever need any look up http://www.automotivetouchup.com/touch-up-paint/

Hope you all have a great, safe weekend..

REMEMBER, LIVE YOUR DREAMS AS TIME GOES BY QUICKLY !!

Charlie & Heather

May & May Not 5-9-15

The first week of May has already flown bye !!

Our jello plan has been altered again. We may stay on the island thru June. Switching over to out of season rent rates has made staying an attractive option. We're planning on only travelling thru the S.E. States  this summer so since we aren't traversing the USA there's no rush to get on the road. 

We've been keeping pleasantly busy all week. Been doing the “ nesting “ thing with the new to us car. Cleaning, waxing and puttering on it. We soaked the interior with leather cleaner/conditioner and it's much more supple now. Washed & waxed the exterior. Noticed some of the side and rear moulding was rather loose so it got removed, cleaned and reinstalled with 3M trim tape. Getting all the previous glues and tape off the trim was a bit** !! It turned out pretty nice.

I put some tire shine on the wheels and now it looks pretty ! It has a very slight pull to the right so next week it gets a wheel alignment.

We got out to hear some great music last Thursday and had a great park dinner.

 LOTS OF FOOD

NOT MUCH LEFT !! 

Did some exploring East of Cape Coral and saw the J.P. Franklin COE RV park. Nice !!

The resident egret is visiting again.

He doesn't seem too weary of humans and will get within a few feet of us if he sees food ! Such a beautiful bird ! Seeing lots of Ospreys around the island and the dolphin population seems to be doing quite well.

We again are altering our plan on how long we'll be here . Now we're planning on staying thru June. Summer rates are the incentive. We really love this place, can you tell ?

We're having a fish fry tonight. I wonder how many we'll feed this time ?? 
I read a lot of other's blogs and most of them are focused on heading to their summer hangouts. Of course that makes my wanderlust kick into gear but after 4 years of driving from one end of the country to the other I/we decided to cool out this year. Now that we have the car we'll be able to do some touring near the RV parks a little easier. There's plenty to see in the S.E.. 
REMEMBER, LIVE YOUR DREAMS AS TIME GOES BY QUICKLY !!
    Charlie & Heather

APRIL's ABOUT GONE

The “SEASON” is just about done ! That's what Floridians and businesses call winter months when all the folks from Up North migrate here from December to April. We've noticed the traffic getting lighter and the stores not so packed. Campground fees are getting reduced and even grocery prices are starting to lower.

This year we're staying an extra month to see if I can put up with the heat. Been 85F every day for 2 weeks and supposed to be in the 90's this week. We're staying in the S.E. this summer so we're in no rush to pull out.

The month of April has whisked by. Been keeping busy with small jobs in the RV park. Our power washer got a workout

  and Heather's been helping a few friends paint their places. I changed some brakes on a neighbors motorcycle and that inspired me to do mine. I fixed my buddy, Steve's, 2001 Dodge Ram truck's brakes. I changed out the power brake booster and master cylinder and fixed the rear brakes. I haven't lost it yet !! LOL !!

The Cadillac security system is fixed. It needed a driver's door security swich replacement. My friend, Jeff, is a Caddy mechanic and he made short work of a problem that I'm sure woulda cost big bucks to fix at a dealer. The switch is no longer made but he found one in Utah. $80.. It only took him a total of 45 minutes to remove/replace it. I probably would have taken 2 days to just get the door apart !! 

 Seems wonderful to not have the alarm go off at 1AM as it did a couple times.

Heather was on the porch and noticed a Florida lizard, called an Anole, in a bucket of water. She played lifeguard and saved the critter. He stayed in her hand for quite awhile and even showed off his “colors” for her. He was finally released.

Our visiting cat, Mama Cat, had found the perfect spot to doze right in the AC's wind. She sure looks comfortable.

Ever since the ocean's water has warmed up we've been seeing a lot of dolphins close to the dock. There's been a big increase in fish too.

REMEMBER, LIVE YOUR DREAMS AS TIME GOES BY QUICKLY !!

Charlie & Heather.

Taxes & Insurances & car repaired 4-20-15

4-15-15 TAX DAY & stuff

I remember how I used to dread tax day. Not anymore! When we went fulltime Rving and got rid of all our “stuff”, life became so much simpler. I had our taxes done & filed on the internet over a month ago and got the refund in a few days. I've seen all the “ naysayers” warnings about delays and IRS problems but never had any issues. If I believed, for a minute, all the negativity, I woulda been “ scared “ !! This is the 5^th year with no problems.

What a weird week. I'm still working on the new insurance headaches. I had to fax a reimbursment request to Payflex 3 times ! Finally they have all the data. Today I checked their internet site and had some figures show up that I didn't comprehend. Another call was needed to get that reconciled. Hopefully all will be well. Time will tell. I await the $$$$ showing up in the checking account !! Update---4-17---money finally went into the checking account.

Another piece of business is dealing with Michigan's Secretary of State's office. I had to fill out a lot of forms to reregister the Cadillac we bought here in Florida . Michigan has a special unit to handle residents that are out of state.( They call it Unit 18. I wonder if it's related to Area 51 ??? LOL) We're in limbo with the car at the moment while waiting for plates. I UPS'd the forms on Wed 4-8, 2 day service, and sent them a return mailer, also 2 day service. The tracking number going there shows 3 days delivered, which is tolerable. My check to them was cashed on Monday 4-13 but still no sign of the return tracking number. Hmmm, so I called them and it's all in the system. The gal I talked to explained that budget cuts had made their Lansing office lose their mailbox and they have to get their mail from some remote Post Office !! WHAT THE HELL !! Makes no sense to me !! I guess eventually it'll all work out ( I Hope ). Update—4-16 Thurs., I called them again...now they want an Original title, even though the directions say “ COPY”. Another 2 day mailing done Friday.

We're still waiting for the Cadillac driver's door security switch which is coming from Utah. It's a plastic micro switch that Cadillac doesn't make anymore but an out of state, Utah, dealer there had one in stock. ( patience Charlie, patience !! ) Update---4-19---part came in and got installed..no false alarms all weekend !!!

All of the above has made beers taste much better at happy hour! Imagine they'll get better once all of this is done with.

Ms Heather and I are getting our yearly checkups done over the next 2 weeks.. I'm always glad when that's done. I'm not expecting any suprises unless my new insurance fails.

We're both starting to get hitch itch a bit. We're staying here in SW Florida thru the end of May. That's a month longer than usual. Gonna see how we handle the heat.

REMEMBER, LIVE YOUR DREAMS AS TIME GOES BY QUICKLY !!

Charlie & Heather

4-6-15 FINALLY GOT WHEELS AGAIN !!!

4-6-15, Monday--been a few weeks of checking out cars on Craigslist . Saw some good, some bad and some ugly in the area. Last Saturday I noticed a new listing and called up on it. Since we only have the motorhome I told the guy I'd borrow a car on Monday and come look at it. On Monday he said he'd drive over to us. How cool !! Early afternoon he was here. Nice, well kept 1997 Cadillac Deville, garage kept and it had service records. It has 91K miles on it which is low milage for the year. I checked it out stem to stearn and this is “ THE ONE” !! He did warn me that it had an issue with the security system. Since I work on cars and do electrical work I decided it was worth the hassle.

It's been a few years without a car since we went fulltime. We're staying in S.E USA this summer so it'll be nice to have wheels for running around. If we weren't towing a trailer with tools and the Honda motorcycle behind the rig we'd have a car dolly. Ms. Heather will be running our chase car.

I've been analyzing and chasing the car's security system. Seems that the alarm triggers for no apparent reason. It's started blaring at midnight and it triggered once while we were driving it. So, after much internet research and youTube videos and Cadillac forums, I'm disconnecting one switch per day til I find the culprit. If that doesn't work I'll try a replacement ECM ( electronic control module ). I fix stuff, ya know !! ( like Billy Bob)

     I had a lot of forms, copied off the internet, to send to Michigan, our home state, and I used 2 day UPS mail service to expedite our new title, registration and plate. I'm just glad Michigan will do all this and send the stuff to an out of stater's address. They also will let us renew our licenses, one time, via internet. Michigan gave up the stupid inspections years ago so we havent got to go thru that nonsense either. We should have the plates in a week or so.

       Luckily, a Cadillac mechanic lives in our Resort so he's been coaching me on this alarm issue. How lucky is that? I figure in a few days I'll either have this problem fixed or I'll have the whole security thing removed. I don't see the sense in alarms. If someone wants to break in or steal something they already know the workarounds and can be done with the crime in 5 minutes or less before any law enforcement gets there. The only thing a blaring horn accomplishes is get your neighbors ticked off. We've all experienced the alarms in the shopping mall parking lots to a point where we don't even pay attention to them. Have ya ever been walking past a car and had the begeezers scared out of you with a horn?? I carry good insurance to protect me, that's all I need.

       Jeff, the mechanic, brought an analyzer over and found a bad driver's door security switch. He pulled it in 10 minutes.

That would have taken me 4 hours to do. Gonna order and install a replacement this week.

    Gotta/gonna start fishing more. The water is getting warm so the fishing is picking up. I've learned to wait for this over the last few years. I'm not saying there's no fish in the winter but it's much better now. We need to have a fish fry soon.

   As is usual every year, we've had all the park's cats visiting us. Every morning, “ Mama Cat “, is scratching at the door begging food. We also have “ Buddy “ and “ Blackie” visiting all day. Gotta love it ! And every year, when we leave, they all wonder where the big box went !! Of course “ Puppy Cat “ can't be left out ! I'm sure we put weight on them all.

    We notice that the island traffic is slowing down and we see a lot of RV's leaving. End of “ season “ is in full swing and I'm sure the locals will be glad to regain their island. Our hometown in Michigan, Houghton Lake, goes thru the same thing all summer. I wonder how those areas would survive without the influx of “season” money? From what the locals have said, “ You could throw a bowling ball down the street in the summer “.

    REMEMBER, LIVE YOUR DREAMS AS TIME GOES BY QUICKLY !!

   Charlie & Heather.

RV PARK DECK REPAIR 4-4-15

BUSY FRIDAY

As usual, after we scrubbed up the rig and ppl had seen the power washer in use, the requests poured in to wash their place. So Friday we power washed 2 places.

Another in park project was to repair and rebuild a deck on the office.

Kept busy from 9 til 5 !! Happy Hour was needed so we did !!

THE PUPPY APPROVAL !!!

BACK IN SERVICE !!

WHAT TEAMWORK !! THANX TO TODD AND CARL !! I SUPERVISED !! lol

REMEMBER, LIVE YOUR DREAMS AS TIME GOES BY QUICKLY !!

Charlie & Heather

NEWBIES,GOOD WEATHER & MORE

Usually, at this time of the year, the resorts in Florida start to empty out. Our RV park is still having people checking in. I wonder if the cold that's hitting the North is encouraging snowbirds to dawdle? I have a habit of checking our weather vs up in Michigan every morning. When I see we're 50+ degrees warmer it warms my heart. I've noticed a lot more friends from North country have visited Florida this year too. Did you know that over a million people are moving to Florida each year? We have had about 6 folks pull out and head North.

We met some newbies that stayed here in a motorhome. They have only had their rig 1 month. Nice folks, Dan & Caretha. They are from Canada and Sweden. Had a fun filled happy hour and they went to The Olde Fish House with us to listen to some fun music. We talked a lot about making the transition to full timing and life on the road. Of course we all shared the learning curve of motorhoming.

Our friend, Carl, joined us for the evening and we laughed so much our sides were aching in the morning. One of the subjects that came up was how newbies have a tendency to pack too much, that sparked a discovery of them having 26 pairs of shoes with them! We showed them how to downsize by throwing them out the door (jokingly!!) and Carl just happened to be approaching the door at an appropriate moment!! Caught him by suprise !! I even took a chance of bringing our mascot, Hooter Brown, in to meet them. Have I told ya about Hooter Brown ???

The next morning was a slowwww morning !!

After a few days we gained our energy back and decided it was time to scrub the rig. It's been 5 months since a major scrubdown. We are still finding grease spots obtained during the engine change. After 3+ hours of scrubbing with Soft Scrub and Scotchbright pads our arms were done. Tomorrow will be wax day. The rig looks so purrrty when it's been spiffed up !!

Another week and we'll be out looking for a car. I've been scouring Craigslist for a good deal and so far have about 4 to look at. We haven't had a car for 2 ½ years so it'll be interesting to see what we end up with. Ms. Heather will be my chase car. We don't plan on any cross country trips this summer. The “jello” plan is to stay in the Southestern States this summer. If we go as far as North Carolina I'll be surprised. The past few years we've just driven the rig around. It'll be nice to have a car again for day trips & shopping. It should be fun summer!!

REMEMBER, LIVE YOUR DREAMS AS TIME GOES BY QUICKLY !!

Charlie & Heather.