Christmas in Ohio

I finished up my job in Miami, visited my mom in Brooksville, FL for a few days, and then drove her (in her car) up to D.C. where she will spend Xmas with my brother's family. I left the RV, truck and Smart Car in Brooksville. Nan then drove to D.C. and the two of us drove back to Ohio in a rental car.

Yesterday Nan and I drove 2 1/2 hours to Findlay, OH to have lunch with my former co-workers during their annual Christmas party. I haven't seen them since I retired in July 2009, and it was good seeing everyone. During the party I looked over and noticed Nan was circled by 3 of my former female co-workers. I can only assume that she was telling them how much she loves living in an RV, and how a 400 square foot living space is just heaven.

We are in a mad dash to see family and friends while in Ohio. We plan on heading to Florida around the first week of January to pick up the RV, and then spend some time in Fort Myers Beach.

Here is a funny appearance on Jay Leno by Drew Barrymore regarding her RV trip.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWx2vcGvAdo&feature

South Beach

Yesterday (Saturday) I went to South Beach in Miami. I arrived around 2:00 p.m., so nothing weird was going on. I did see one guy changing while standing behind his car that was parked in the street, and he was bare from the waist down, but that was about it. Oddly enough I heard a guy asking directions to a pharmacy, and I recognized his voice as the crazy guy from the campground that was thinking of putting a $500 hit on a couple in Jamaica. I took a video of him walking down the street. I also saw his motorhome parked on the street, and the door was wide open even though I knew he wasn't in there.

I only stayed on South Beach for a couple of hours. On the drive back I stopped at a seafood market and bought a 1/2 pound of conch salad. It had about 1 ounce of conch and 7 ounces of green pepper and onion.

Today the Browns play the Miami Dolphins, so I'll be able to watch a Browns game on TV. I also picked up some frozen Cincinnati chili at the grocery store. I plan on eating that while watching the game, so I'll really be getting back to my Ohio roots.

Working in Miami

The government accepted a bid I had on a 2-week job in Miami, FL. So I left Ohio on Thanksgiving afternoon, right after dinner, and headed for Florida in the rig. Nan and "the kids" stayed in Ohio with Nan's mom. I spend the first night in a Flying J truck stop in Virginia, which wasn't too bad. The next day I made it to Jacksonville, FL and stayed 2 nights in a campground. On Sunday I arrived at my home for 2 weeks, TY County Park, in Hollywood, FL, just north of Miami.

I worked Monday through Thursday this week, and by the time I got home from work it was starting to get dark. Today (Friday) I had off so I took a little walk around the park. A guy pulled in a few sites from me, and as I walked past him we had a nice chat. In the first 15 seconds of the conversation he told me how a girl he had been living with for a month stole all his money and was on her way to Jamaica. He said he called the Feds to have her arrested before she got on the plane. He then said to get back at her he was thinking of having her parents in Jamaica killed since it only cost $500 there. As I left I told him to have a nice day and started thinking of all the excuses I could give to avoid him in case he wanted to hangout tonight. It turns out he was just filling up his water tank and then he left. So all that thinking was just a waste of time.

The park has a blacktop path that circles the big pond in the middle. I decided to take a walk on this path. Unlike most campgrounds this park is open to the public. Usually campers are very friendly and smile to each other while walking. I noticed that no one was smiling at me or even making eye contact. I guess when you live in a big city like Miami you get hardened as a defense mechanism against people that will try to take advantage of you. Either that or the other people on the trail were French Canadians.

This morning I got to sleep in a little. I've been getting up at 5:00 a.m. so that I can get to work by 7:00 a.m. and miss some of the horrendous traffic. Today I woke up around 6:00, and turned on the news to hear about the 32 inches of snow they got in Buffalo, NY. Tomorrow I may check out South Beach.