MERRY CHRISTMAS

Merry Christmas to all. This morning Romeo and I went out for a walk dressed in our Christmas clothes. Wished all we seen a Merry Christmas. When Denise was ready we took a family Christmas pic. Sebastian was not real happy about it, but had to put up with it.

Hope you all notice my heavy winter clothes I have on. (Winter is HELL down here.) LOL

Going down to the rec hall for Christmas Dinner at 1:00. I guarantee a lot more will be dressed in Christmas attire, as I think every one down here is in their second childhood. (At least they act like it.) Didn't know getting old would be so much fun.

Here is our Christmas pic.

Christmas Florida Style

We couldn't find pine trees to decorate so we did as the Floridians do. Decorate palm trees. Here is pics of our decorations. It's not much just some garland with lights up the palm tree to the leaves , some lights and garland around the awning and across the front of the trailer. Denise also has a small Christmas Tree in the trailer. Only thing missing is the snow. (OOH SHIT DID I SAY THAT) Lost my mind for a second. We don't need no stinking snow.

We're in Florida

It's good to be back in the warm weather again. Arrived Thursday 12/16 and it was beautiful in the high 70's. A little cool at night in the 40's, but that's OK with me.

Went crappie fishin with dad yesterday. We caught 8 keepers (or I should say dad caught 7 and I caught 1 keeper.) Oh well I have to let him catch some once in a while or he would quit fishin with me. LOL

Denise is all ready wanting to head to Ft. Myers to the Flee Market. The girls get a kick out of walking around and looking at all the junk.

The park has new managers and are very friendly. Taking a lot better care of the place. I think it will be a very enjoyable winter here. Everybody has welcomed us back and made us fell like long lost friends.

New Furnace in Our RV

I woke up Sunday morning at around 4am and noticed how cold it was in the RV. First thing I did was go outside and check the propane. Nope it was OK, so I went back in and started playing with the thermostat. Nothing. Checked the fuses. All OK. Now what?

All I know is it is 28 degrees outside and the heater wasn't working. It is Sunday morning and nothing open. I did a little more investigating and decided that I thought the motor was bad. What to do ?

I got on line and started calling every RV place around to try to find one that is open on Sundays. Not having any luck, I went in and broke the news to Denise. We talked it over and decided that if we couldn't get it fixed that day we would just winterize it and go over to her daughters house for the night. About that time (7:00am) my phone rang and it was one of the RV places I called earlier. I told them our problem and they called their repairman and asked him if he would work on Sunday to help us.

The repairman came over to us (about 30 mile trip for him) and confirmed it was a bad motor. He had brought a whole new furnace with him and said it would be best to just replace the whole thing. So we did.

I watched closely so I would know how to it, if it ever had to be done again. Asked a lot of questions and he was very helpful in answering them. I would be able to replace one now. Would have tried with this one if it was warmer out, so if I didn't get it done in one day we wouldn't freeze. Sometimes it best left to the pros.

You find very nice and helpful people out here on the road.

Hiccups Gone

Haven't had the hiccups since Sunday night. I guess the Prilosec is working now. Went in Monday and had Xrays and blood work done to see if anything else was wrong with me. Haven't heard back from the doc yet.

I thought it would be hard to quit coffee, but if you have the hiccups for 12 days straight and the doc says no coffee, then coffee is out. If I want a cup I think about the hiccups and it don't sound good any more. (LOL) Not saying I won't drink an occasional cup again, but a pot a day is gone out of my diet now.

God, it sucks to get old. The doc keeps proving he knows what he's telling me. Just when your younger you can ignore them and get away with it and keep abusing your body, but when you're older your body sides with the doc and not your smart a$$ attitude. I guess you CAN teach an old dog new tricks.

Alabama and Hiccups

Arrived in Alabama on November 24th and got everything set up. It was a good trip with no unexpected problems and just a few crazy drivers that are in such a hurry that their life means nothing to them. I guess we will always have them.

Had Thanksgiving at Denise's sisters house. Most of Denise's kids and grand kids were there.

I think this is the first year I haven't over stuffed my self on Thanksgiving. It wasn't because of the food wasn't good. It was great. I've had the hiccups for 8 days straight and just didn't feel like eating much. Had a Esophagogastroduodenoscopy Exam done on the 25th. For all that don't know what that is (like me) they ran a tube with a camera down my throat to see what makes me tick. They said I had significant acid reflux. Put me on Prilosec.

So far Prilosec hasn't worked and I'm going in Monday for a cat scan. (Guess that will tell them what makes me tick). Any way it has been 11 days now I have been hiccuping and it is NOT fun. Hopefully the cat scan will find the problem. Will post later on what we do to get rid of these hiccups.

We're In Arkansas

We left Oklahoma at 8:30 this morning and made it as far as Little Rock, Arkansas Staying at Trails End RV Park just on the northern edge of Little Rock. The weather was good in the mid 70s and mostly cloudy I like the cloudy days when driving as it don't give me a head ache like the sun does. Staying for the night and going to Alabama tomorrow.

Slideouts Working YEEEEEEAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok I finally got the slides working. The RV place here in Lawton wanted $180.00 service call to come out and look at the slides. Then if they had to come out with parts to fix it it would cost another $180.00. SO I DECIDED I COULD FIX IT MY SELF. Got the electrical tester out and checked everything out and decided I had a bad relay. Well maybe 2 relay switches bad. One was cheap at $13.00 and one more at $79.00. Well the cheap one didn't solve the problem alone so we ordered the expensive one. Finally received it today. It wasn't exactly the same but they said it would work. Took it home and hooked it up and NOTHING. Shit. Damn. Poopy. Now what to do. Called where we bought it and they couldn't or wouldn't tell me anything helpful. So I called American RV in Grand Rapids, Michigan and talked to the service manager Doug and he walked me through it. It was as simple as hooking a ground wire to the extra terminal on the new switch. That is the difference between the two places. One just wanted the service call money and American RV is willing to help any way they can.

Anyway I did it YEEEEEEEAAAAAA. Saved at least $360.00 in labor and know a little more about our house now. Some day I might know what I'm doing. LOL

Oklahoma

We left Coldwater and spent a week in Marion, Indiana. Visited with Denise's family. I went fishing with a buddy of mine while there. The fishing sucked but the time with Sonny was fun. Denise spent time with her Mom and Dad and also her Daughter and grand kids.

We left on Sunday November 7th heading for Oklahoma. Took our time and arrived at Ft. Sill on Tuesday the 9th. The trip was smooth sailing except for the wonderful American highways. There is spots so rough it would be better off if they were dirt roads so they could just grade them. Seems like every time you would get close to a major city the roads just crumbled and be so rough it will tear up your equipment. Luckily we got through with nothing broken. Starting to think back roads would be a better rout. Will take longer to get somewhere but you can at least slow down when the roads get rough. Enough bitching about our wonderful highway system.

When we got to Ft. Sill our slide outs wouldn't go out, so I jumpered them and got them out. I guess I had some relays go bad. Will know for sure Friday when the new ones that I ordered come in. It's always something. LOL

A Good Time in Coldwater

After we left Manistee we stopped in Coldwater, Michigan for a week to visit family and friends. We had a good time. Stayed in my Mom and Dads driveway. Always nice to spend time with family. My mom made dinner for my brother, his wife, my sister, her husband, me and Denise. Mom was in heaven having all her kids home at once.

On Wednesday night we went out to eat with friends. Ned and Beth Yearling, and Ron and Katrina Moser. It was a lot of fun reminiscing about old times and the camping trips we all went on together. Always enjoy getting together with them.

Spent some time over at my brothers house to change a coupler on my boat trailer. Seeing how he has every tool available to man it made the job easy.

Well off to Marion, Indiana to see Denise's family and friends. Hopefully I will get some fishing time in with my old fishing partner Sonny. Will write later about that.

4 Days Left

In 4 more days we will be on the road. First to Coldwater, Michigan to visit Mom and Dad, my daughter Denim and the rest of the family. Will stay till the 29th and then to Marion, Indiana to visit Denise's family. After Indiana it's off to Oklahoma, Alabama then finally Florida for the rest of the winter.

The steelhead are biting pretty good now that I'm getting ready to leave.That's alright I don't need any more fish in the freezer anyways. Went out last night and caught 2 in less than an hour. Lost 1 other one and had 2 more hits. The pic is of the nicest one I caught last night. Wish I had a video of the fight with it as it was a good one. At least 4 big jumps and 3 good runs before it decided to come home with me for supper. (OOPS I mean to be supper)

Levi and His Family

My son Levi, his wife Katie and my grand daughter Dakota came up to visit for a few days. We had a great time with them. They are on their way to Alaska to live.

On about the 3rd day Levi was getting bored and told me the leaves were getting bad around my lot, so I went up to the garage and got the leaf blower out and strapped it to his back. Solved both problems at the same time. He wasn't bored any more and he did a great job of getting rid of our leaves.

Then Dakota came out and liked the pile of leaves we made and had a ball playing in them. Of course her and Nana had a good time spending time together.

I can't wait till next summer and go to Alaska and see them.

Here's some pics while they were here.

Colors Are Beautiful

These pics were taken right out side out camper. I guess it is worth the cooler weather to see such beautiful colors on the trees. If you go out driving around now it is hard to keep your eyes on the road, so if you're in northern Michigan now and see anybody wondering all over the road they aren't drunk. Just looking at all the beautiful trees. Might be just as dangerous as a drunk driver but won't get arrested for it.

Steelhead Fishing

Well I finally got a good one. After 3 weeks of fishing for steelhead and only landing small ones it felt good to put a good one in the boat. 11 lb. 6 oz. Been out about every day fishing for them. Anybody that says steelhead fishing is easy has never done it. I have landed 4 small ones and had 2 bigger ones to the boat only to loose them before I could net them. One I had to the boat and turned around to get the net and it was not there. I left it at the camper. Senior moment I guess. LOL It was his lucky day as there is no way to land them with out a net.

The fall is taking over. Leaves are falling off the trees. Making work for next spring. In a couple weeks we will be on the road south. Stopping along the way to visit kids, grand kids and parents. Denise is ready. I think I am getting close. The fish down south are calling my name. The steelhead that haven't played with me yet will have to wait till spring to play.

Here is a pic of my steelie.

Fall is Here

Well the fall weather has caught up with us and is making it harder to keep Denise happy with staying till the end of October. I think she has a bad case of hitch itch. For any of you that don't know what hitch itch is, to full time RVer's it is time to hook up and go. It don't matter where just GO. I know Denise is ready to GO SOUTH. She don't like this fall weather or what comes right after it. Me I'm loving the fall weather and seeing how I do the driving she's stuck here for a few more weeks. Well maybe not I seen her on line the other night looking at air line tickets. I didn't ask no questions I didn't want to hear the answers to. Maybe I will have to meet her down south somewhere.

Salmon fishing is over for me this year. Was not a very good season. Small amount of fish came in the river this year. Made me understand why they call it fishing not catching. Still got a few for the freezer and smoked some to can. The steelhead are in the river now and teaching more of a lesson of why they call it fishing not catching.

Went and bought a truck camper yesterday. It will be used to go to Alaska next summer and for get-a-ways after that. Cheaper to haul and maybe the fifth wheel will last us longer if we don't haul it everywhere. Here's some pics of it.

Fishing This Week

The fishing has been kind of slow this week, but we did get a few. Dad and I have been out every day for a couple of hours in the morning and evening. Not a lot of fish to show you, but we won't go hungry either. Here is a some pics of our fish. The last one is a funny looking salmon, but I bet it taste reel good.

The Salmon Are Here

I went out on the river this morning. Was doing a little fishing and drinking my coffee. All of a sudden my rod tip went down and all hell broke loose.

Yeeeee haaawww my first salmon of the year was on my line. Now if I can land it. After about a 10 minute fight it was in the boat.

As some of you know I won't be worth a shit the rest of the year. Salmon has a way of altering my mind. All I want to do is be on the river now.

Here is a pic of my first 2010 salmon. About a 10 pounder.

Sorry It's Been So Long

It's been a while since I last posted. I have been busy siding Office/House/Store. Trying to get it all done before the salmon come in the river, because once they do I ain't worth a shit around here. My mind goes blank and all I want to do is be on the river.

The siding job was a bigger task than I thought it would be. Had to put up wood over the concrete blocks, so I had to put up 2x2's and we insulated with 1 inch foam insulation over the whole place.

Anyway it's done now and I can fish all I want. Here is a couple of pics of the finished product.

4th of July Weekend

The 4th of July weekend was a busy weekend with a full campgrounds. Most campers were good, but you always have a few that over indulge. Only had a couple of complaints which isn't to bad.

It was hot and humid so the tube rentals went good. A lot of campers spent the days floating on the river. That is a good way to stay cooled off. Denise and I worked quite a lot, but did find time to hit the river and cool off. We spent a few hours at Rainbow Beach. That is a huge sand bar in the river that we all gather at and just relax in the water.

The siding on the house is coming along good. It a is slow process and with the heat it is even slower. I'm not good with the heat, but it will get done. Looks like rain today so I might just get to goof off all day.

Found out that my son is being stationed in Alaska, so I guess you all know where I'll be next summer. Been wanting to take a trip there anyways. This gives me the incentive to do it. Will probably come back to Matson's in April and help get it opened up. Then head to Alaska in June. Spend about 2 or 3 months on the trip and return to Matson's to help out in the busy salmon season.

Siding Going Up

Been working putting siding on the store/house for the past week. This has been a slow process because there is different levels to put fur strips on and when done we want it all one level, so I have to cut the fur strips to the right thickness. Then on the block wall you have to drill the cement to put the fur strips up. A time consuming process. What we have done is looking great. Also took the time to knock a hole into a brick wall for an air conditioner. This is all new to me and I'm learning a lot as I go.

The 4th of July weekend is coming up and will have to start getting everything ready, so the siding will have to wait for the next few days. We are almost full this weekend. Have lots of mowing and trimming to do, 1 water leak to deal with and general maintenance to do. Have tubes to get ready. With temps in the 80's and 90'S this weekend we will rent a lot of tubes. So I better get of my a$$ and get to work. Lots to do and so little time.

Race Weekend

The Matson's went to their race weekend and left us in charge of the campgrounds. Was a pretty slow weekend. We had only 3 campers here so we took on other projects to stay busy.

I took on the kitchen floor. There was a water leak and it was rotting the floor out. I first started by tearing up the old floor to try and find the leak, This took a while because the floor was so rotten all you could get up was small pieces at a time. After I finally got the floor all up I found a drain pipe that had came apart that went to the bathroom sink. Cleaned the area and repaired the pipe. Built new floor to replace all water logged wood. Now it is as good as new. ( I hope! Never said I was a carpenter) Also I dealt with 2 water line breaks in the camp grounds. 1 was just something that happens every now and then. The other was caused by a camper backing into the water spigot and busting it off under ground. No problem a little digging and a new tee took care of it.

The Matson's had a great weekend. That is in till the trip home. They had 1 tire come apart at the tread and tear up the side of their fifth wheel and 20 miles down the road blew another tire on the fifth wheel. The guy they bought it from just put all new tires on it. Come to find out the new tires were 7 years old. The tire dealer screwed him by selling out dated tires. ALWAYS CHECK THE MANUFACTURING DATE ON THE TIRES WHEN BUYING NEW TIRES. If you don't how to check it ask the dealer to show it to you. NEVER BUY TIRES OVER A YEAR OLD. Especially when dealing with this much weight. Luckily no one was hurt and the fifth wheel is fixable. Scott and I are taking it to American RV today to have it fixed. Denise and I know how it feels to have your RV tore up while on the road. It is not a good feeling at all, but after the fact, you can just thank god that nobody got hurt and mark it as a memory of your adventures while RVing.

I will be starting the siding on the office/house this week. This is a good size job so I should stay out of trouble the next couple of weeks. I hope I'm smart enough to do the job right. Sounds easy enough from all I've talked to about it. The only thing that really concerns me is that I'm putting some of it over brick and I haven't dealt with that before. I have had lots of good advice so I think I can do it. I think I can. I think I can. I think I can. Like the Little Train I think I can. Will let you know how it turns out in a later post. I THINK I CAN!!!!!

We had Visitors this Week

Another week has came and gone. It gets more beautiful up here each week. The grass is greener, the flowers are blooming and the weather is great. Cool at night and warm through out the days.

Denise's mom and nephew came up and visited this week. Spent 3 days with us. We rented a cabin for them so they would be comfortable. I think they had a good time. Adrian and I went fishing 2 days and even though we didn't catch a lot of fish I think he had fun. We caught some pike and small mouth bass. Kept one nice pike so Adrian could taste it. He had never had pike before. Denise spent a lot of time with mom just reminiscing and they did go to the casino 1 night. (The Indians told me to tell you two thanks. The new addition you bought them will come in nice for the next suckers that come there way.) LOL It's always nice to have visitors come our way. Thanks for coming we had a great time.

This weekend is race weekend at Michigan International Speedway. The Matsons will leave Thursday for the races and leave me and Denise in charge. (WHOOO HOOOO FREE CAMPING FOR EVERYBODY WE KNOW) Just kidding, no free camping. They look forward to this weekend all year and we couldn't be happier to help them out so they can get away for 4 or 5 days and let loose with their friends.

This brain has run out of things to ramble on about, so till I think of more to yak about you will have to visit someone Else's blog or go to facebook and laugh at what everybody writes on there.

Till my brain has more.

Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day is here and the weekend is winding down. All the campers will be packing up and heading home this morning. It has been a good weekend.

Had a great cookout Saturday. The whole campground ate and had a good time visiting with each other. The campgrounds furnished all the meats and table wear and most campers brought a passing dish. As always lots of good food and lots of B.S. flying around. We had garbage can turkeys and barbecued chicken quarters. Took a few pics to share with you all. One pic is of the garbage cans the turkeys were cooked in. A pic of the turkeys right after we took them out of the cans. A pic of the chefs at the grills cooking the chicken quarters. A pic of the chow line and all the food on the table and finally a pic of all enjoying the food.

A prayer was said before we started eating and part of it was thanking our troops past and present for their sacrifices for our freedom.

I hope everyone remembers what this holiday is all about as I for one feel it is one of the most important we have. We have 2 sons in the military fighting for our freedom and are very proud of them for the selfishness they give of themselves. They both spend A LOT OF TIME AWAY from their families for us to have the freedom we take for granted every day. And I would also like everyone to think of the courageous ones at home alone taking care of the family while they are gone. It is a tougher job than I have ever had or will have so THANK YOU LEVI AND LESTER AND ALL THE MEMBERS OF OUR ARMED SERVICES AND THE FAMILIES BEHIND THEM !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At The Campgrounds

Denise took some pics the other day and I thought I would share them with you.

One is of the wood shed I built, one is of me on my favorite piece of equipment here. This John Deere has saved me from so much back breaking work I should be paying it. The one of our 5th wheel is on our new lot. It is a very nice lot. Close to the laundry, across from the office/store so we can see if anyone is coming or needing anything from the comfort of our own home.

Denise has been busy planting potted flowers to make it homey and look nice.

The bird pics are taken from our dining room window. We have a feeder hanging just outside the window so we get a close up view of a lot of birds. The cat goes nuts with all the birds so close and yet not accessible to him.

We have deer come in the grassy area right beside the trailer. We call it our yard even though it isn't part of our lot. (We take care of it and use it so it is ours) LOL

May Is A Beautiful Time Of The Year

I love spring. The trees come alive and grow their leaves. Mushrooms come out to play with your eyes. Everybody starts sprucing up the yards with flowers. The grass gets green and the birds come back and sing for us.

It is amazing the change we have seen since we have came here. We arrived back to Michigan in the beginning of April. It was still in winter dress. No leaves on the trees, they were on the ground and hiding the grass. What grass you could see was all brown and looked dead. No flowers or birds to sing for you. Now everything is coming alive.

I've been working on a wood shed this week. Before we just stacked our wood here at Matsons Campgrounds and covered it with tarps to keep it dry. Now it will have a new home. I am building a 12ft x 20ft wood shed. It is closed in on 3 sides and open on 1 side. A lean to style. Will post pics when I have it finished. It will look a lot better in there back yard that the tarped piles of wood.

Denise has been cleaning and remodeling the cabins and trailer rentals. She has them looking great. The Jayco is an older trailer and needed some TLC. Well Denise went to work and transformed it in to a great rental. It is amazing what a good cleaning and new curtains will do. In between the jobs I have for the Matsons she keeps me busy putting up curtains and blinds. She is always finding something that needs repaired or just not to her liking so she calls "SUPER STEVE". She thinks I can fix anything. (of course I can)

Today is a day that I try to get our 5th wheel looking as good as the rest of the campgrounds. We have been neglecting it sense we've been back. It needs a good outside cleaning to get the road grime off. Yesterday I took the time to put our new window in. After I get ours cleaned then I will Plant some trees for campgrounds. Cheryl has been planting flowers and getting the place looking nice this week end. We planted 4 new trees and will plant 7 more today. Of course we have to build protection around the new trees because the deer really like them, so 1 more job for us to do. (Oops I all ready built them yesterday.) Mark them off the to do list.

OK I'm rambling now so I will get off here for now and go get some of that to do list done. Life is GOOD. I should have started this life years ago.

Later

1024 Mushrooms

We did pretty well on our quest for the ALL MIGHTY MUSHROOMS. We found 1024 in 9 days of hunting. Had a great time with my Aunt Vicci, Uncle Muddy and there friends John and Deb (AKA Hoover). They call her Hoover because when she leaves the woods it's cleaned. I can attest to this as I have seen her in action. She doesn't miss many mushrooms.

We are now back to Matsons in Manistee, Michigan. Good to be back and lots of work to do. The to do list seem to grow while we were gone. Oh well, I'll work hard for a few weeks then sneak out for another vacation if I feel the need. (I Might even if I don't feel the need.) Places to go and people to see ya know how busy this lifestyle is. I don't know how I had time to work full time before. I might have to go fishing today just to calm myself from thinking about it.

Later

Romeo tried to find a new Friend

We always take our dog Romeo out in the woods with us when we mushroom hunt. He loves to run and play in the woods. He is very curious and checks every scent out. He sticks his nose in every hole in the ground or tree he can find.

Well he found a scent and hole he should have left alone. It was a baby porcupine. Romeo came out with a snoot full of porcupine quills. He was not a happy camper.

I tried to take them out, but he wouldn't even let me get close to them. Took him to the animal hospital in Gaylord, Michigan and they put him out and removed the quills.

Hopefully he learned a lesson and will be more carefull about where he puts his nose from now on. That is if Denise ever lets him out of the truck again. She took it harder than Romeo did. I don't how she raised 4 kids the way she looses it when Romeo gets into a little trouble.

Wish I had my camera when he had a snoot full of quills. You never have it when you need it, even though I carry it most of the time.

Every thing is good now and Romeo is recovering just fine. Denise is going to make it too.

Mushrooms

Just a little update on how we are doing. This pic is from the first morning. 138 shrooms. Not great but not bad either.

Clear Lake State Park

We are at Clear Lake State Park near Alanta, Michigan. Arrived today around 3:00 pm. We took the afternoon setting everything up. Denny and Vicci came in later in the afternoon. John and Deb gave them some mushrooms that they picked today. Vicci fried them up and invited us over to help them eat them. Boy were they good. We will be here a week or two. Depends on how the mushrooming goes. Will post with how we are doing later.

Leaves All Gone

Well it's been fun but the leaves have been BEATEN. I won. They are all over the hill now. The only leaves in the campgrounds now are on the trees. That's where they belong, now stay there.

OK, so I've lost my mind. You come up here and tackle these leaves and see if you aren't a little crazy when you are done. I did lose 10 lbs. in 3 weeks. Needed to do that after being lazy all winter.

Now I can start on that 3 page to do list that Cheryl has been so kind to furnish us with. I think there is more than enough to keep us busy this summer.

But first I need a vacation. Yeap you heard right a VACATION is what I need. After all I am retired, so I can do that. Work 3 weeks and take a 2 week vacation. I think I like this, besides the mushrooms are starting to pop their heads out of the ground and someone has to find them. Wouldn't want them to go to waste would we.

That's all for now. Stay tuned in if I do happen to find any of them mushrooms I will post pics. If I don't find any I will take pics of someone else's and post pics anyways. I just won't tell you that. (Oops I just told you)

Later

Leaves,Leaves,Everywhere Leaves.

Well, I've spent 10 days now raking, blowing and hauling leaves and I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. It isn't done yet but getting close. Maybe 3 or 4 more days of LEAVES and I can call it quits for this year. What's ironic is now that I have most of the leaves off the ground the trees are really turning green with a new batch of leaves for me next year.

Leaves, Leaves, Everywhere Leaves. They look prettier on the trees.

The best thing about these wonderful leaves is that i have lost 8 lbs of weight of the 30 I put on this winter. I needed the exercise any way so I should quit griping about LEAVES.

Went out fishing 1 day and lost a nice steelhead trying to net it. Sometimes that can be tricky by yourself. It was still fun just to have the fight and be back on the river again. I guess I'm just a river rat at heart.

Denise has all the cabins cleaned and ready for the summer season now. Has the bath house cleaned and looking good. She scrubbed it from top to bottom. She does a really nice job of making this place look good and clean.

Well gotta go for now. One of our neighbors John Wilcox just came over for coffee and I'm running out of things to say any ways. Later.

We're In Michigan

After almost 5000 miles of travel this winter we arrived back in Michigan safe and sound. It was a great winter. We made new friends and visited family for extended stays that we hardly could see before. Got to know our grand kids better and even spoiled them a little.

Now we are back at Matson's Big Manistee River Campgrounds helping out for the summer. Started on getting the leaves picked up. Boy what a job. After that is done they have a list that needs to be done. I think they will keep us busy and maybe I can lose some of this weight that I found this winter in Florida. Denise has been cleaning the cabins and restrooms so they are ready for the guest. We both are enjoying the exercise we are getting from the work.

Been wanting to hit the river and fish for some steelhead. Just haven't took the time yet. The mushrooms should be coming up any time now and I have informed the Matson's I need a vacation to go find them. (after all one or two weeks of work justifies a vacation doesn't it)

Been in touch with our friends up here and will see alot of them this weekend.

That's all for now. Stay tuned for more. The best is yet to come. (I hope)

Made it to Indiana

We arrived in Indiana on Tuesday afternoon. Hit the road at 5:30am and arrived at 3:30pm. Had good weather and traffic was not to bad.

I didn't do a great planning job as we hit Nashville at 8:15am. If anybody doesn't know that is rush hour traffic. Nothing better than pulling a 70 foot long rig in rush hour traffic in a big city. A couple of extra white hairs came out of it. It will definitely make the rest of your trip a breeze.

The only excitement we had on this trip was our bedroom window blew out just before Indy. If I had listened to my darling wife and taped the window shut before we left it wouldn't have happened, but I know what is BEST and I didn't tape it shut. Just because it was giving us a problem staying shut and had to be reclose at a rest area a few hours into the trip doesn't mean it will blow off. Even at speeds to up to 70mph and gusts of wind from semis hitting it. Well I guess She was right. (ouch that hurt to say) The Few I told you SOs that I received were well earned and I still won't listen because I'm a man and we don't have to. (ya'll know how that is don't ya) And just look at the experience we would have missed if I had taped it shut. Now I can get the new sliding window that I've been wanting for the bedroom.

Well we will spend a few days here in Indiana visiting. I'm going fishing with a buddy of mine that I always fished with when I lived down here. Then to Coldwater, Michigan. Easter at my sister's house, then to Manistee, Michigan for the summer.

The Road Back to Michigan

Well we left Florida on 3/22 and are making our way back to Michigan. So far this winter we have been in 12 states. Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida. We will go thru Kentucky and Tennessee on our way back making it a total of 14 different states we went thru and some of them twice.

We traveled as far as Albany, Georgia the first day. It took us about 8 hours to get there. Spent the night in Che Haw campgrounds. It was a real nice park with lots of tall pine trees. They had a zoo there but we arrived to late to see it. A real nice play grounds and lots of area to hike or picnic. Would be a great place to take the family for a get-a-way.

The next day 3/23 we went to Tuscumbia, Alabama. About a 7 hour drive. We are here now at Heritage Acres RV Park. We are spending about a week here visiting some of Denise's family. The park we are staying in is a nice place but not a lot to do. It has all we need as far as hook ups and laundry, but nothing for the grand kids to do. Just a parking place and reasonably priced. Took some pics of both camp sites so you could see the differences. If I was staying long term it would be at a place with trees and things to do, not a parking lot. This works for the week as it is close to everybody, neat and clean. We will be here till probably Monday 3/29. Will update when we move.

So far it has been a boring trip. No deer jumping into our 5ver, no tires falling off, not even a good disagreement between me and Denise about any thing like how long to drive each day or where to stay each night. SHIT; we might be getting good at this. Ooh ya did have to replace the rear shocks while here in Alabama. One was leaking and Just couldn't go the whole trip with out some kind of repair. :-)

That's all for now. I can only think for a few minutes at a time. So you will have to tune in later to catch more. After all, I'm retired now and don't have to think or work or, or, or, or, or, or ( whoops senior moment) anything now.

Life is GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!

What else can I say. The pics pretty well say it all. Just look at that sunrise. What a way to start a day fishing and a sunrise like this.

This is our last week in Florida. We will be leaving Monday morning and slowly making our way back to Michigan. Stopping in Georgia to visit Denise's sister and family. Then to Alabama to visit kids and grandkids. Then to Indiana for a visit with Denise's family and finally to Coldwater for a visit with my family. We will be back at Matson's this year helping out at the campgrounds. Any body gets that way stop and visit.

Update on Water Balloon Incident

Well, I found a person that happened to take a picture of Denise right when she squeezed that balloon to hard. In case you don't remember what I'm talking about here is what I wrote.

"We had a water balloon tossing contest and Denise and I were in it. ( I know, I know she wasn't thinking right when she decided to be my partner. I think to much pie affected her judgement.) Any ways we came tied for first. Would have won but I lost my head for a second and thought I was pitching in the major league's and let one fly. She did good. Had it in her hands. Just squeezed to tight and popped the balloon.Water all over her. She has to be more careful of how tight to squeeze a water balloon. ( That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!! )"

Anyway just look at the picture and decide for your self. Look at them fingers just squeezing the water every where. I couldn't have thrown it any better. Right at her face so she could see to catch it. I think that she just got excited and lost her head for a split second and thought she had to squeeze hard so she wouldn't drop it. It's still my story and I'm sticking to it but with evidence now. You can click on the picture to make it full sized and get all the details such as her fingers squeezing the water right out of that poor balloon. You will see that I'm not the mean person that she is trying to make me out to be, saying that I thew it to hard on purpose.

Key West, Florida

We left Monday 3/8 for a trip to the Florida Key's. We were waiting for some nice weather to take the trip, boy did we get the good weather; high 60s at night, high 70's during the days.

We stayed on Islamorada at the Pelican Cove Resort. It was a very nice place right on the ocean. The view from our room was beautiful. We had an ocean front room on the first floor over looking the pool, hot tub and beach area. One of the pics is off our balcony. There was a sand bar about a mile out in the water and a party every day out there.

About a mile down the road was a huge lobster sculpture. Denise seen it on the way by and wanted to go see it. As you can see she got her way. (I think she saw the junk shops behind it. She don't even like lobster so why would she want her pic with one. I know it was the junk shops behind it; she can't fool me.) Well, to make believe it was the lobster she wanted to see, she had me take a picture of her with it. (I didn't fall for it though, I wasn't born yesterday ya know.)

On Tuesday we went to Key West, Florida and did some site seeing. Went to the southernmost point of the continental U.S.A.. Took a pic of the buoy. There was a line waiting to stand by it for a pic so we just took a pic without us in it. (Would have waited but, Denise had to PEE real bad and I didn't want to see her PEE her pants.) Then we went to Duval St. and looked around. That is mostly junk shops and bars. Tourist traps for sure. We saw Hemmingway's house and Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville.

The streets are very narrow and was fun taking a dually truck down them. It was more fun finding a place to park it. We finally parked on the street with the inside set of wheels up on the side walk. It fit that way. It didn't take long for me to get tired of the crowd and want to go. So we started our trip back to the hotel.

The drive down and back was better than Key West. Breath taking views. The water is so blue it's hard to believe. Denise seen a dolphin surface and was impressed with the homes she could see.

It was a nice trip but, if I went to the Keys again it would be in the area of Islamorada to Marathon Island. To me that is the best part of the Keys. Not as much tourist trap and very beautiful.

OOh yea almost forgot about Denise's big thrill. We stopped at one of the beaches along the way and went for a walk. A ways down the beach we came upon a secluded spot on the beach. Looked up and there it was; the skimpiest G-string we have ever seen. I would have loved it if it was on a female but, it was an older guy standing there with it on. Denise turned red faced and giggled a lot. After we went by she was trying to sneak a peek of the front with out being to conspicuous. I didn't think I was ever going to get her off that beach but I did. Sorry I didn't get a pic for ya'll but when we went back by he held his mug over his but. What a kill joy.

Aruba all Park Party

We went to the Aruba all park party yesterday. That is a party they have here at Aruba RV Resort. That is where we are staying. It had a carnival theme this year.

I think all down here is going thru their second childhood. Everybody looks to be old enough to be retired but, they go to something like this and they act like kids. Ooooh yeah I fit right in. I like acting like a kid.

We had food, games and prizes. They had the grill fired up and all the food you could eat coming off of it. There was funnel cakes, deep fried Oreos and popcorn. Don't forget the pies. They had a pie baking contest. 27 pies entered and judged. After the judging we had to get rid of the pies so we put them out and everybody helped them selves to all they wanted. Will power went away and I had to try a lot of them. After all I wouldn't want to hurt anybodies feelings by not trying theirs.

We had a water balloon tossing contest and Denise and I were in it. ( I know, I know she wasn't thinking right when she decided to be my partner. I think to much pie affected her judgement.) Any ways we came tied for first. Would have won but I lost my head for a second and thought I was pitching in the major league's and let one fly. She did good. Had it in her hands. Just squeezed to tight and popped the balloon.Water all over her. She has to be more careful of how tight to squeeze a water balloon. ( That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!! )

I entered the egg throwing contest and won. We all stood in a circle and tossed the egg around at random. Last one in with out breaking the egg when you caught it or dropped it was the winner.

Lots of other games Like throwing whip cream covered sponges at some poor sap that was standing behind a board with a hole cut in it for their face to go thru. ( I don't know how they talked me into being that SAP.) We had ring toss. dart throwing, jump rope, bean bag toss and a duck race. Now that duck race was cute. They put all the plastic ducks on the ground and had a dog go and retrieve them one at a time. who ever had the number on the duck won a prize. That dog must have liked Denise cause she won twice.

Don't forget the clowns. As you can see in the pictures we had clowns painting faces. That was a big hit. I wanted to have my whole head painted as a pumpkin but, I was working in the sponge throw and whip cream covered sponges and make up doesn't mix well. (THANK GOD)

All in all it was a good time. Now I know what they mean when it is said in a second childhood.

Fishing on Okeechobee

Well, the weather finally warmed up enough to warm the waters so the blue gills would start biting. These Florida fish act like the people down here; if the weather gets below 70 degrees they hibernate. The last few days we have been able to get into some nice blue gills.

I went out one day and wasted a lot of gas looking for them, I put in at the launch in our park and went right across from the launch and caught dinner for me, Denise, Mom, Dad, Denny and Vicci. Now, that was a long trip to find them. About 50ft. Might have to go to town and refill the boat after that trip. LOL. Mom cooked them up for us; boy were they good, fresh from the lake into the skillet.

Dad, Denny and I went out yesterday and caught 30 nice gills. Then something told us it was time to go in. I think it might have been the rain that we didn't notice coming at us. Well we noticed it when it was hitting us on the head. We looked up and saw a wall of rain heading our way. Of course we had to go in the direction that it was coming from to get back to the truck. Yep we got wet but, we didn't have to deice our poles or line at any time like I do up there in them northern rivers this time of the year.

I included a couple of pics so maybe you can enjoy like we did.