HDT Rally

We are in Myrtle Beach, SC for a week for an East Coast HDT Rally. HDT stands for Heavy Duty Truck (or semi trucks). As Nan calls it - It’s a rally for people like us. There are 7 of us at this rally that tow our RVs with semi trucks. The national rally is held in Kansas in October. They had as many as 60 attendees at the national rally.

A couple of nights ago we went to Dicks Last Resort restaurant. Here is a link to a video of some in our group.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwOG6TtrriQ&feature=youtu.be

The waiter made us all hats with whimsical sayings on them. The lady at the end of the video had a hat that said “My crotch is so dry my crabs ride dirt bikes”.

Yesterday Nan and I lead the group to a dinner at Captain George’s Seafood Buffett. Because it was our idea Nan and I had to first test it out last Sunday night to make sure it met our standards. It did.

Copperhead Snake

After a couple months of me working in Ohio, Illinois, and Michigan, while living with Nan’s mom, we are back on the road again. Nan and I took the truck to Mt. Airy, North Carolina to pick up the RV. We spent 2 nights at the Mayberry campground. The second night there we had a lot of rain and winds. Nan was up all night watching the weather channel and keeping watch for tornados. Normally I sleep in my birthday suit, but since it has a hole in it I didn’t want to run outside without anything else on, so I wore shorts that night. After that preparation I slept like a baby since I knew Nan would sound her alarm if we had to evacuate. Some tornados touched down not to far away, but we escaped unharmed.

We are heading to a Heavy Duty Truck (HDT) rally in Myrtle Beach, SC. Some people that tow their RVs with semi trucks are getting together for a week. It starts on May 6, so we are hanging out in a Thousand Trails campground in Advance, NC (by Winston Salem) the week prior. It’s a nice campground that has a pond where Roxy can take a daily dip. Yesterday Nan, Roxy, and I were taking a walk through the park. Nan stepped over something in the road that I saw move a little. Then Roxy walked over this thing. I realized it was a baby snake after it struck at Roxy, but luckily missed. It looked like it was about 6 inches long. I was looking at it and a guy in a car came by and said “Is that a copperhead?” He took a close look and confirmed that it was. This freaked Nan out a little. The guy went back to tell the park employee who told him there was a nest at that location and they see 6 or 7 of them each year. They guy then came back with his car, drove the front tire on the snake and then turned his steering wheel 2 or 3 times to grind it into the road.

Weekend in St. Louis

I'm working in Illinois for 2 weeks. It's too far to go home for the weekend, so I decided to go to St. Louis, MO for the weekend. I put a bid on a room through Priceline and got a $40 room at a Holiday Inn Holidome. When you bid on a room like this, they usually give you a less than prime room. My room was fine, but it faced the parking lot rather than the indoor pool. There are 2 nice casinos in St Louis. (Now you know why I chose St. Louis for the weekend). I played $3/$6 hold em Friday night for a couple hours and won $20. Saturday morning I drove to the St Louis Arch. I was in St. Louis about 20 years ago for a training seminar and tried to ride up to the top of the arch one evening but it was closed. I remember the trip distinctly because I was with 2 other guys and we took the bus through the ghetto to get there, so that was exciting. This weekend's attempt was also a failure because the tram ride to the top of the arch was sold out. After that attempt I went back to the casino and played all day Saturday and won $250. Then I play a couple hours on Sunday before driving back to Illinois and won another $60. It was a good weekend. I work through Thursday this week and then head home for a week off before the next job in Michigan.

Still in Ohio

I'm in Ohio to work so not much exciting going on yet. I worked a couple weeks in NW Ohio. Tomorrow (Sunday) I head for Illinois. It's a 9 hour trip so I'll stay in Illinois next weekend since it's a 2-week job. Then I have a week off, and then a 3-week job in Michigan. After that, Nan and I will pick up the RV in North Carolina. Yesterday I had one of those "Why am I here" thoughts as I watched 8 inches of snow pile up outside.

In Ohio again

After Nan’s mom left for Cleveland my mom drove to Clermont and spent a few days with us. I needed a part from the local Camping World, so while there it gave my mom a chance to look at the newest RVs. At the campground they play a Texas Hold Em tournament about every night. It costs $6.00 for each tournament, and they have 2 each night. Nan and I went about 4 times and cleaned up. It’s amazing how much you can bully people at the poker table when they are half blind and a little foggy upstairs.

We left Clermont and spent a couple days with my mom in Brooksville. My brother and his wife came down from D.C. in the Amtrak Autotrain so we also got a chance to visit with them and my cousin Janet from Florida. The car was loaded on the train and they took the 17 hour trip without the hassle of driving. Because I have a job in Ohio starting 2/28, Nan and I started heading north on 2/20. We arrived in Mt. Airy, NC on 2/21, left the trailer in the campground storage area for 2 months, and drove the truck to Ohio with the Smart on its back. Today I’m sitting in Chesterland, OH watching the blizzard. What a difference a week makes.

Clermont, FL

We arrived at a Thousand Trails campground a few days ago in Clermont, near Orlando. Nan's mom rented a cabin in the campground, and her brother flew down so that he could drive her home. They left for Ohio on Saturday. My mom arrived the same day. She is staying with us until Wednesday.

A couple days ago we went to a lobster buffet in Kissimmee, FL. We've also eaten at a couple of barbeque's. Nan is getting mad because she is putting on weight, and she knows I like my women skinny.

I took 3 pictures of Roxy sleeping. She likes to keep comfortable.

Swamp Buggy Ride

Today I went on a "Swamp Buggy" ride with Jan and Paul who we met in Alaska. Nan is getting over bronchitis so she stayed at home. I guess I really don't know that much about swamp buggies. This one looked a lot like an old school bus with the windows and windshield removed. We saw plenty of alligators, turtles, birds, and wild cattle that came up to the buggy for corn, just like the wild turkey did. They also had a mountain lion in a cage.

Last night I was watching the Jimmy Kimmel show. He had the following clip of a Danish Game show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsnToPOPY7c