Dolphin Tour

We are on our way down to Florida for a big party for my Mom.  She turns 90 this month.  Right now we are by Jekyll Island, Georgia.  Today we went on a Dolphin Tour boat.  We got lucky and saw a couple of dolphins getting lucky.  If we come back next year there should be a baby dolphin swimming with this pair.  I also put in a picture of a sailboat sitting in the mud.  The dock owner said that a guy bought that boat a month ago for $1.00 on Craigslist.  The boat was leaking some, sunk a little, and got stuck under the dock.  The boat owner is now claiming that the dock owner should have taken more care of his boat.  When he made that claim the dock owner had to get a lawyer and decided to remove the boat from his dock - so now it sits in the mud.

An update on the house.  We have a signed contract, home inspection, and loan approval.  Title is suppose to transfer on August 1.  We are keeping our fingers crossed.

Looking for a house

I haven't posted anything for some time, so I thought I would give an update.  Not much has happened until today.  The big event was that Nan and I fed some carp - but more on that later.  After we left Hickory, NC I had a 2-week job in SW Indiana.  Then we went to Tenn for the East Coast HDT rally.  It was good seeing old friends and meeting new ones.  We then headed north to Ohio.  We stayed in Jefferson, OH for 3 weeks.  It's close to Roaming Shores, OH where we are looking for a house.  We haven't purchased anything yet, but there is one house we like.  Unfortunately for us the seller has not been financially devestated like so many other sellers in this market.   We'll see if we can come to an agreement on the price.

On Memorial Day we left the Jefferson campground and went to Andover, OH - about 45 minutes away.  The campground is right by Pymatuning Lake.  They have a spillway for the lake were people feed the carp.  They say that the carp are so thick that the ducks walk on the backs of the carp rather than swim in the water.  We bought 3 bags of carp food and let it fly.  Those of you with refined taste may not be as excited viewing the video as Nan and I were.

Hunger Games Movie Site

I'm working in North Carolina for a couple of weeks. Last Friday the movie Hunger Games opened up. It turns out a lot of the movie was shot in the Hickory, NC area. Nan and I drove out today to check out the site even though we haven't seen the movie. The property is an old cotton mill known as the Henry River Mill Village. It's currently owned by an 83 year old gentleman that has it up for sale for $1.4 million. That sounds like a good deal since a Prevost motorhome goes for $1.7 million.

In Ohio Again

I had a 2-week job in the Cleveland area, so we are spending some time living with Nan's mom. The job was from 2/27 to 3/8. Aftr the job we spent some more time in Chesterland, and we plan on leaving this Wednesday, 3/21 for North Carolina. Nan and I looked at a house in Roaming Shores, Ohio. Tomorrow we look at 2 more. The search is on.

Today we spent the day at Nan's brother's house. He lives in the country, so he invited his friend Vince and 2 sons out for some shooting. We did some trap shooting with our shotguns, pistol shooting, and rifle shooting. The big excitement was shooting Mark's AR 50 - a 50 caliper rifle. In the picture you see the bullet next to a 22 bullet. Each bullet costs $3.00 (for the cheap ones).

Olustee Battle

I’m working in northern Florida for a couple of weeks. I had Friday through Monday off this weekend for President’s Day. Jan and Paul stayed in our campground for the long weekend on their way to middle Florida. They are the couple we met at the axle repair place in Whitehorse, Yukon, on the way to Alaska.

Jan and Paul has been having trouble with a mouse or meece in their RV. They have a dog and 2 pussy cats, but apparently the hunting instinct has been bred out of them. Paul said he saw the mouse running across the mantle by the TV in the family room. The 2 pussies saw the mouse and ran into the other room. The dog never noticed any of this. Paul set several traps, but the mouse kept eating the bait and not setting off the trap. Finally it ate so much food over several days that the extra weight caused it to set off the trap. One more problem solved.

We celebrated Roxy’s 9th birthday with them. In the video you can see the 3 of them singing to her. I had to keep the camera steady so I was unable to participate. We also went to the Olustee Civil War battle reenactment. According to the lady that owns the campground, this battle is a big deal since it is the only one that the South won in Florida during the Civil War. Friday the 4 of us went downtown where they closed off the streets so vendors could set up their booths. Paul and I shared a fried Twinkie. Saturday we went to the Battlefield at the Olustee State Park. While walking around we saw a medical tent where they showed how to amputate an arm, or pluck out an eyeball. The little kids loved the demonstration. We also saw an authentic plastic cooler with old fashioned Bud Light in it. Some people take this stuff very seriously. We then went to the battlefield where they reenacted the battle.

Fort De Soto County Park

Although the campground in Bowling Green, FL is a nice place, there isn't much for Roxy to do here. We take her for walks around the campground, but there's no place to swim or run. She gets so bored that we thought about changing her name to cigarette because we have to take her for a drag rather than a walk. I decided to drive 1 1/2 hours yesterday to go to Fort De Soto County Park that has a dog beach by Tampa Bay. She couldn't believe it when I put on her "fun" collar that we use for swimming or hunting. After swimming in the bay she puked up some salt water. She's never been happier. Today she's sleeping it off.

Sebring, FL

We are still in Bowling Green, FL. Last night Nan and I played poker at a nearby Thousand Trails campground. We both got bumped out of the first tournament, but the second one Nan got first place for $35, I got second place for $20, and I got high hand for $13. Our investment for the 2 tournaments was $24, so you can do the math.

Today Nan wanted to go shopping in Sebring, FL. While there we stopped at the Sebring International Raceway. There were a lot of non race cars going around the track. I asked some guy what was going on. He said during the workers' lunch break you can pay $30 and take your car around the track about 3 times. You follow a pace car so you can't go that fast. The track is 3.7 miles long. If I ever get something faster than a Smart Car that may be something to do someday.