Bass Pro Opening

Last week was the big happenin' event in Denham Springs, and it happened very close to where we're staying! It was the long-awaited grand opening of the Bass Pro Shops' Outdoor World, one of the biggest in the country! (Can you feel the excitement?) Neither of us are fishermen or hunters, but since we have so little to do, we decided to check it out. The festivities were to start at 6pm Wed., Feb. 6, and the traffic started backing up hours before that. But our campground is just across an open lot from where they built this huge store, so we walked over, and we're positive we got there much faster than if we had driven!

The opening of this store has been a long awaited project. There was one man in town who for nearly 4 years led a long court fight to stop public financing of this project. But after two trips to the state Supreme Court, the Denham Springs Economic Development Council was finally able to get the funding needed so construction could begin last year. Since we've been here, crews have been working virtually round the clock to get the store, parking lot, and necessary roads completed in time for the Feb. 6 opening.

We arrived early, a band was entertaining the huge crowd, and we decided to walk around the outside. Attached to Bass Pro is a 25,000 square foot restaurant called Islamorada Fish Company (pronounced eye-la-mah-rah-dah), which has franchises all over the U.S. You can check them out at http://www.fishcompany.com/. We thought we'd look around while we were waiting, but the doors were locked though we could see people inside. A few folks arrived at a door ahead of us, and as someone let them in, we walked in right behind them just like we belonged! Turns out it was a little pre-opening party for the political figures from across the parish (that's a county in the rest of the U.S.). We didn't partake of any of the food or drink, but merely were there just to sort of take it in. At one point one of the guys in charge came up to us and said he wasn't sure we were supposed to be there since it was kind of a political party, to which Russ replied, "Well, we're kind of political." The guy was just concerned that security might not like us being there, so he was just giving us a heads up. All I know is there were cops and security all over, passing us constantly, and not one other person said anything. So leave it to us to crash a political gathering! What rebels!

Between the restaurant and bar is a huge saltwater aquarium, and the entire decor is amazing. We migrated into the bar area to hang with the rest of the politicos waiting for the doors to open. Russ figured it was much better waiting inside with about 100 people than outside shoulder to shoulder with the thousands who had to listen to the speeches before the doors would be opened! As the time grew nearer, you could almost feel the excitement building!

Of course, as you can imagine, when politicians start talking, nothing goes on schedule. So instead of the doors opening shortly after 6pm, it was closer to 6:45. According to the newspaper, when the doors were opened, the first 9,000 visitors were allowed in while thousands more waited outside since the general manager said he had to limit the number of people who could be in the store at any one time. Yep, crashing that party was a brainstorm! Much of the excitment was generated by the myriad number of celebrities that were in attendance for autograph seekers ranging from champion bassmasters, the lady billiards champ, and even NASCAR racers. Of course, the only one I had ever heard of was Tony Stewart.

From what we've heard and read, each store is designed to go with the area where it is located, and this one has what is referred to as a swamp motif. It really is quite spectacular, and Russ says it's the best theming he's seen outside of DisneyWorld. The store itself is a two-story, 165,000 square foot building, and has a uniquely designed aquarium housing fish native to Louisiana, an expansive boat showroom, beautiful murals, and museum-quality wildlife mounts and dioramas. Throughout the store are huge "trees" in which are various wildlife, and one even has a logger climbing up! And I know I've never seen so many guns in my life!! When we left about 7:30, the lines waiting to get in were still unbelievable and more people kept arriving. I'm telling you....this was the big, long-awaited happenin' event!

Other than that I guess it's been a quiet couple of weeks. I had lunch in the Clubhouse over at Greystone with my former co-worker, Jodi (pictured in the middle), and Ron's wife, Susan. It's always fun to catch up and spend some time getting to know each other even better when you're not rushing to get back to work. OK, maybe they needed to get back to work!

Of course as you can imagine Mardi Gras is HUGE in Louisiana, and though we didn't attend any of the dozens of parades, our neighbors sure did! Dennis is a contractor working in the area, and his wife, Sarah, had come down from Missouri to spend a month. Initially she wasn't sure she wanted to go to any of the parades, but figured "while in Rome....." Well, she got caught up in it real fast and couldn't go to enough parades and collect enough beads!! I know at one count she was close to having a thousand of them!! Plans to take them back home to the grandkids. They even ventured down to New Orleans to catch a couple parades, and when they got home we happened to be outside with the dogs, and she made sure that Mikey and Abby got their beads, too!

Otherwise it's been doctor appointments, some medical tests, and working on eBay. I tell ya, between going through boxes of stuff from storage, researching to see if anyone's actually buying any of the stuff we have, taking the photos, writing up the descriptions to market your particular item to sell, listing it, packaging for mailing, and going to the post office, this is almost like having a fulltime job again!! We will have more on our eBay experience in our next post. People will buy anything!

What's been happenin'.....

Well, hopefully none of you have been going through too much of a major withdrawal since our last post. Just not a whole lot exciting been happenin' so not much to really write about. But figured I should post something so you'd all know that we're still alive!

As we mentioned, we've had several doctor's appointments. The highlight probably is that Russ got new glasses and had a cardio stress test, and for all you non-believers, they did find his heart! The doctor said it looked "perfect" (his exact word!), which was a relief to hear. Of course, the advise was still the same, "lose weight, quit smoking, exercise". Yeah, ok.

I've been visiting the Baton Rouge Chorus on a weekly basis and enjoying my time singing with them and being with friends. I had lunch with my friend Patty, who used to be in the chorus, but can you believe I forgot to take my camera with me??!! And last Tues. night my friend, Susan ("Sooz"), picked me up for dinner and went to rehearsal with me (this time I DID remember the camera!). Sooz used to be a member of the chorus, too, and enjoyed seeing everyone. She's been quite busy with her family and work, but one of these days who knows....Sooz just might find time to rejoin.

The weather has been kind of crazy with lots of rain. One day last week it was 70 degrees, and the next the high was 45! There have been two mornings in the last couple weeks where the temperature was only 27 degrees when we woke!! Left the water running a little during the night so the hose wouldn't freeze, but a couple folks weren't so lucky. It's supposed to be warm in the south! But at least it's not snowing.

Last week I stopped by my former place of employment here in Denham Springs, Greystone Golf & Country Club, to say hi to everyone and wound up having lunch with Pat, who currently works in the Pro Shop and started working for Ron not long after I started. We had a great visit and hope to get together again before I leave.

On Friday Russ and I stopped by there again to have drinks with Ron Menville, Managing Partner of Greystone, my former boss, and good friend of Russ' and mine. He and Russ had worked together on a project in the past and that's how I met him. We had a great time chatting and catching up, and made plans to have dinner in a couple weeks with him and his wife, Susan. While we were there, Moses came in so of course I had to get a picture with him! He is the Cart Staff Manager and a super nice guy. Greystone is in the process of updating their website (http://www.greystonecountryclub.com/), but you can still check it out and get the pertinent facts on what a great place it is!

We finally started eBaying some of the small stuff from our storage unit. We listed two items last weekend, one of which was our cordless phone system. We had listed a starting bid but also a Buy It Now option, and it was sold in a manner of hours! Russ said we obviously didn't ask enough for it!! We've currently got 13 items listed and are keeping very busy researching other items and preparing to list more for posting next weekend. One of the most amazing things is some cologne that Russ got back in the late 60s called Nine Flags Cologne. Russ hasn't used any of it in at least 40 years, but had held onto the bottles for some reason. During our online research to see if anybody was buying such stuff, we found that there are folks out there definitely buying this stuff up at big prices even for partially used bottles! So we've got it listed and already have 3 bids on it with 5 days to go!! Unbelievable! Now if everything would just sell that way, but we know that's asking for way too much.

So unless there's something exciting that happens, we probably won't post for another couple weeks. Happy Super Bowl, Happy Mardi Gras, and Happy Hour!

Denham Springs

Though not a lot has happened, I suppose it's time for a weekly blog update! As you know we are staying at the Denham Springs, LA, KOA, and as it turns out, we were able to get the monthly rate after all. Though still a bit pricey, it's cheaper than the $1,000 we had anticipated.

Before we hit the road back in June, we would occasionally drive through this campground to try and get a feel for the lifestyle, and figuring we'd be back here for a couple months, to see what the park looked like and had to offer. In the six months since we left, they have made some improvements and are expanding the number of monthly sites. One of the improvements they've made is to put in a small dog park area, which the kids love! It's not huge but big enough to let them off leash to run and play for a bit. Another couple who have been here for about 6 months, Linda and Dick, have a 3 year old boxer named Raz, who has become fast friends with Abby. They have about the same energy level and have a blast. Linda also showed me a city dog park, located about half mile behind the campground, which I never knew existed the entire time we lived here. We walked the dogs over there last week before all the rain hit, and they had fun playing with some 6 month old pups. Mikey generally prefers to walk the perimeter and sniff everything he can, going on sensory overload!

One of my chief complaints since we starting fulltiming is that we've never had hot water. It's always been warm, or mostly lukewarm, but I just figured that was one of the downsides of the RV lifestyle. Well, we hooked up here in Denham Springs, and lo and behold we had HOT, scalding water!! But then the next day we noticed we had a hot water leak, too! Russ got out the manual, we drained the tank, fiddled around as much as we could since we couldn't reach all the parts, filled it back up, ended up draining it again, and finally made an appointment to have it looked at since it was under warranty. There was a certified Atwood water heater repair shop in Hammond, about 40 minutes away, so early Wednesday morning we closed everything up, anchored everything down, and drove the motorhome up to Hammond. Long story short there was a crack in the hose fitting. DJM Enterprises (http://www.thervservicecenter.com/) was very professional and extremely customer service friendly. They are a small shop, but we would definitely recommend them to our RV friends should you find yourself in the area needing service. I still have very hot water, but no one seems to be able to figure out why the temperature suddenly changed. Can't just be the Baton Rouge water!

The night before this adventure I visited my friends in the Baton Rouge Chorus (http://www.batonrougechorus.org/). It was their first night together since the holiday break and nearly everyone was there except for 3 (hopefully I'll see them next week). They are a very small chorus so even when a couple are missing, it can make a big difference! On this particular night they were being visited by Janie Macchiaroli from the Regional faculty. Every chorus in the region is entitled to these visits, and it's beyond me why any chorus would turn down this great opportunity but I hear some do! Janie is the Education Coordinator for the Region, a Certified Sound Judge, coach, quartet medalist, Associate Director of Houston Horizon Chorus, and most of all a friend of mine! She has been a member of Sweet Adelines since 1971 and has also served on the International Board of Directors. It was great not only gleaning more words of wisdom from her coaching but also to chat and catch up afterwards.

The chorus, under the direction of Cate McRitchie (pictured front row on the far left), is planning to spend the next 13 weeks working hard on their contest songs, and I intend to visit as many times as possible while we're in town the next couple months. It was fun to see everyone and get the chance to sing again!

Other than that nothing much has been happening. The park here has a small kitchen which serves dinner on Saturday nights and breakfast on Saturdays and Sundays. We gave it a try Sunday morning.....good and reasonably priced. We made our first of several dr. visits and went to our storage unit. We're in the process of going through the couple hundred LPs that we've accumulated over the years to see if there's any worth putting on eBay. And I found a guy locally who will buy up the remainder for $100 so that will get rid of a couple boxes! We've also got about 100 45s of which only about 4 are worth eBaying so will probably throw those in to the guy, too. So until next week continue to have a great New Year!

Missouri Roasts Hogs from the "Great SEC"!

The only thing missing at the 2008 Cotton Bowl was a pit to roast the hog in! The Tigers completely dominated Arkansas in every phase of the game winning 38-7. It was such a brutal beat down that most of the Arkansas fans had left before the start of the 4th quarter. Missouri's running back, Tony Temple, set Cotton Bowl records for most yards gained (281) and most touchdowns (4). His performance completely overshadowed Arkansas' Heisman runner-up, Darren McFadden. Although McFadden ended up with 105 yards, most of that yardage happened after Missouri had raced to a 28-0 lead and the game was basically over. It was the perfect ending for the Big 12 North Champion Tigers! The Tigers finished the season 12-2, and with 17 returning starters, will look to be a force during the 2008 football season.

There's nothing quite like the atmosphere of college football! Even if you're not really into football, there's the fun, traditions, excitement, and pageantry of it all. Add to this a January 1 Bowl game, with the tradition of the Cotton Bowl, and it's a great time. With over 75,000 fans in attendance, equally divided between Arkansas and Missouri fans, the atmosphere was electric. The bands, the flyover, and a great rendition of the Star Spangled Banner all added to the excitement.

When we arrived at the stadium RV parking lot in Dallas early Sunday afternoon, there were already about 50 RVs decked out in Arkansas colors and decor, some with flags flying. The Arkansas Razorbacks have a huge following of alumni (about 450 RVs) who travel to the games in their RVs and call themselves the Road Hogs. Many were already in fine spirit and had begun a 3 day tailgating fest! When we arrived, the parking lot attendant told us that we were only the 4th Missouri supporters he had seen so far. Think we got our numbers up to 8 by game time! But the Arkansas fans are fun and friendly, offering to share food and drink at a moment's notice. In the end there were about 200 RVs in the lot. Although the Arkansas fans were loud and boisterous before the game, after the game they sure seemed in a hurry to get out of town.

There was a group of 4 couples from Texas who enjoy traveling to all the local bowl games no matter who's playing and just go for the fun of it. Someone had put together a Q&A and scavenger hunt for the ladies to complete before their mini pep rally later in the evening. They had to get the answers to various Missouri and Arkansas team questions and then secure specific items from the fans.

There was also a group that had some huge speakers over which they played all types of music well after midnight, and since they had a karaoke machine, they were singing along most of the time. Nothing like a bunch of drunk karaoke singers! Definitely a party atmosphere and a great way to bring in the New Year!

Over the next 3 days we heard the Arkansas fight chant waaayyyy too many times! It goes "Woooo Pig Soiee!!", which they yell 3 times, then end by yelling "Razorbacks!" We wondered what Arkansas valedictorian came up with "Wooo Pig Soiee!" We also wondered if a hog could quite possibly be the worst mascot imaginable. If you were looking for a mascot, it would seem that an animal that loves to wallow in its own shit would be far down the list! Oh well.

We had contacted our friends, Kelly and Lynne Herring, who we've known for years and who currently live in Dallas. They picked us up at noon Monday to go to the Cotton Bowl parade downtown. The wind was whipping and the temperature was in the low 40s, but there was a good turnout with the parade lasting about 2 hours. We stopped by the Missouri Pep Rally at the end of the parade singing the Missouri fight song and joining in the cheers. Afterwards they took us to Dickey's for some good ol' Texas barbecue!

After two days of listening to the "Wooo Pig Soiee" cheer and fight song, on gameday we awoke all the Arkansas fans by playing our CD with the Missouri fight song! Most were probably already awake, and the sound didn't travel far because we didn't have those huge speakers that the Arkansas fans had, but we made our presence known by playing it several times! We walked over to the stadium about 9am to pick up our tickets and find our seats. Though it was a 10:30 game, we weren't sure how long the lines would be, but everything ran very smoothly and we were inside the stadium within about 40 minutes. I was very surprised that in this day and age they weren't doing any security check of purses or bags! On the way we encountered many more Hog fans and were getting a bit concerned as to how many Tiger fans would actually show up. But never fear, we arrived in huge numbers.

We had some concerns about spending 2-1/2 days without power, but it went off without a hitch. We had loaded up with fresh water and found that our batteries would support normal operation of the TVs, small appliances, and heat for about 8 hours without recharging. A couple times a day we fired up the generator to recharge the batteries and used that time to run the microwave and any other large capacity appliances. The refrigerator worked well on propane during the entire stay, and when we went to bed, we changed from electric to gas heat, keeping us warm and toasty. After this trip, we feel that we could easily stay for 6 or 7 days while boondocking out in the wilderness.

On Wed., Jan. 2, we packed up and headed for Baton Rouge around 10:30am. We planned on making it to Lafayette, LA, to spend the night, but after stopping for lunch in Natchitoches, LA, we noticed an RV park next door. It was nothing fancy but had full hookups and was only $16/night. Being tired from the previous few days, we decided to spend the night there and drive into Baton Rouge on Thursday arriving around 1pm. We are now set up in the local KOA in Denham Springs and working on getting organized for our stay. Doctors appointments, some warranty work on the RV, getting rid of some of the things in storage, and visiting friends are on the agenda for the next month. We haven't committed to when we will be leaving here, but right now it looks like in about two months.

DeFuniak to Dallas

We haven't really told you much about the town of DeFuniak Springs, where we've been staying the last couple of months. It's a small city of around 7,000 in the Florida panhandle located off Interstate 10 between Tallahassee and Pensacola and is the county seat for Walton County, Florida. It has one of only two naturally round spring fed lakes in the world located in the historic downtown DeFuniak Springs area; the other being located near Zurich, Switzerland. The town was developed in the late 1800s as a railroad town and named after Fred R. DeFuniak, who held many high offices with the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. A Christmas tradition in DeFuniak Springs is called Christmas Reflections, where more than 5.5 million lights make up displays surrounding Lake DeFuniak. The one-mile circumference area of Circle Drive and the approximate 400 feet to the shores of Lake DeFuniak is illuminated with lights draped in the towering pines and oaks. Also, animated lighted figures, characters, Victorian silhouettes, Nativity scenes and holiday characters are spread throughout the grounds of the park and many of the surrounding homes are lit as well. The cost is $3 per person with the money going towards the following year's displays and various community projects. When we arrived in late October, we drove around the lake and saw inmates from the Walton County Correctional Institute dressed in black and white striped prison uniforms assembling the annual Christmas Reflections show. I didn't get any photos of that but did get these photos when we took the tour the night of Christmas Eve.

The historic district has many quaint little shops and buildings, one of them being the Hotel DeFuniak, built in the 1920s and restored in 1997. From what we've read the entire hotel is full of 19th century European and American antiques, and every room has its own unique theme from the Safari to the Dutch Romantic to the French Country. It's a very popular bed and breakfast location.

One of the great things about this lifestyle (as we may have mentioned before) is the flexibility to make last minute changes. As you know, we were scheduled to stay here until Jan. 3, but Christmas Day Russ asked me if I'd like to got to the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. Now if you remember, that is where our University of Missouri Tigers will be playing the University of Arkansas Razorbacks on New Year's Day. Well, didn't seem like a bad idea to me! We debated a little as to whether to spend the extra money since Dallas isn't exactly on the way to Baton Rouge, but then we thought 'hey, this is what fulltiming is all about...having the flexibilitiy to do these last minute, crazy things!' Mizzou had released some more tickets for sale so Russ got online yesterday morning and bought two. The Cotton Bowl grounds has onsite RV parking, which opens at 1pm on Sunday, Dec. 30. So tomorrow morning we are leaving DeFuniak Springs, will spend a couple nights at a campground in Monroe, LA, then head to Dallas on Sunday. We'll be boondocking at the RV parking site for 3 nights (meaning no water, sewer, or electric hookups), but between the generator and batteries, we should be ok. We've only boondocked for one night at a time before so this will be a new experience! But, hey, that's what this is all about! The game will be televised on Fox at 10:30am, Jan. 1, so maybe you'll catch us on TV. GO TIGERS!!!

Merry Christmas!

May the wonder of Christmas be with you always.

Peace, love, and happiness from the Farmers.

Time to Reflect....by Russ Farmer

As we enter the last week of 2007 we thought this to be a good time to reflect on our travels. In less than two weeks we will have completed the first leg of real full-timing on the road. We will have come full circle as we return to the starting point in Denham Springs, LA. We've gone more than 4,600 miles in six months while driving the Folly down the road. We have added an additional 5,000 miles in the Saturn Vue, and we have a lot to show for it. One thing that has struck us is the absence of the crime, and the worthy values of those we have met. We found almost every person we met, both in the cities and in the country, to be the kind of decent, caring people we thought had disappeared in our country. We can't really blame it on the media or TV for feeling that way. We are at fault for not getting out and meeting America on her own terms before now. It's too easy to get caught up in isolation induced by job, family, TV, and just not enough time.

I used to marvel at Charles Kuralt and the people he found for his Sunday segment of "On the Road". I wondered how he ever found the unique characters he presented. Not any more. I now know they're on every corner, of every town in our great country. We have only highlighted a few of the people we've met the last six months. We haven't mentioned all the dinners we've eaten with new acquaintances, all of the chats with characters we've met and shared some moments with. Just the thousands of smiles and handshakes would take a book. And we have just begun our journey.

But more importantly, we have met a lot of great people who've helped us make it every inch of the way. Anyone can buy a rig and hit the road, but there's a lot more to it than driving and parking a 55 foot rig and car through narrow roads and towns. RVers are probably the last of the American pioneers. With all the camaraderie, genuine assistance, and common bonds that the early RVers in their conestoga wagons had. As a group we have found them honest, helpful, and as much, if not more, talkative than us!

But more to the point, as we gather each day in front of our rigs, we have experienced more of the old fashioned sense of community, with perfect strangers for the first twenty seconds or so, than I ever felt in a tract house community with neighbors of two or three years. The common bond is that we are doing it, and talking about it. Each person we meet has a story and each story has made us better for listening. It doesn’t matter where someone is from, how old they are, how much money they have, or what type of rig they call home. At these moments in time we are just neighbors.

Last night we watched The Polar Express with a half dozen others. We enjoyed popcorn and a sense of community. There was a line toward the end of the movie: “The thing about trains…it doesn’t matter were they are going. What matters is deciding to get on.” As we walked back to our home, we realized how true that was about our RV. We also realized that we were glad we decided to get on. Home for us is truly where we park it.

Panhandle Opry

Part of the fun of this adventure is taking in the local sights and attractions. Well, Saturday night we decided to visit the Panhandle Opry in nearby Mossy Head, FL. It's billed as the "Cleanest Country Music Show on Earth", and the panhandle's answer to the Grand Old Opry. Now neither of us are big country music fans, but we had heard it was a good time and since it's one of those local attractions, we figured we should check it out especially since the cost was only $6. On this particular Saturday they were having a covered dish dinner an hour before the regular show at no additional charge. The Opry provided the ham, beverages, and dinnerware while all in attendance were to bring a covered dish to share. On the way there we missed a turn so arrived about 5 minutes late, and when we walked in, nearly everyone had already been through the line and were eating!! The food was okay, but the ham was extremely salty even by Russ' standards and you know what a salt fiend he is!

Now we weren't expecting any phenomenal entertainment, and we weren't disappointed. It's a family affair and has a long history in the area. We had heard that pretty much if you've seen the show once, you've seen it all. This particular night they did throw in a few Christmas songs though there were only two that were familiar. Nearly all the songs were slow, and if you like country, it might have been a somewhat enjoyable evening for you. But there were not only musical miscues but they were also having technical difficulties with the sound system. There were a couple highlights of the evening however. One was when two of the grandsons joined the group onstage on lead guitar on Memphis and Heartbreak Hotel during the first half of the show, and on Wipeout on the second half. (This also broke up some of the monotony of the s-l-o-w country music!) And the other was the special guest appearance by "Lulu" singing All I Want for Christmas and Santa Baby.....what a hoot she was!!!

If you want to check out further info and photos on the Panhandle Opry, simply go to http://www.panhandleopry.com/. We can at least say that now we've seen the Panhandle Opry, but it's definitely not something we plan to see again. But then, maybe we just caught them on a bad night....or not. After leaving the Opry, we headed over to the local bar for a couple beers. The band was Vic George & Doublecross, and they were surprisingly good. They played some country but had a really good mixture of other tunes as well. The clientele was quite diverse, and we believe this is the "hot spot" for the local area. We got a kick out of watching the pretty young girls hustling the guys for free drinks. And not just the young guys! Good thing I was with Russ!! Russ commented that the girls were really nasty on the dance floor and enjoyed the show. We even discussed that we should return some evening with the only problem being the action does not pick up until about 10pm. Quite late for us nowadays!

A couple people have asked me via e-mail about my singing, and if I miss it. I've mentioned in the blog about visiting a couple choruses in other states, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and I missed out on attending a rehearsal in Ft. Myers. Initially I had hoped to be able to attend a few rehearsals while in this area, but then before we arrived I discovered that the nearest chorus is 1-1/2 hours away. Now I know there are some of my chorus friends who travel that far or further at times to attend a rehearsal, but that's never been something I wanted to do, at least not on a regular basis! I had considered the idea of going at least once during the two months we were here, but the thought of driving that distance by myself at 10pm didn't really excite me. So I haven't been able to sing with a chorus since September, and yes, I miss it, especially this time of year. I've always loved singing Christmas carols, and the smaller choruses I've belonged to always do many Christmas performances as fundraisers and/or community outreach. It's harder for the larger choruses to do this, but they might have a Christmas show instead. In high school there were a few of us that started an annual Christmas caroling event. The first year a few of us along with brothers and other friends decided to go singing door to door simply bringing joy to the neighborhood, but people kept trying to give us money! So we decided we'd go ahead and collect for the American Cancer Society and used someone's knit cap to collect the donations in. We couldn't believe that people actually trusted us enough to put money in a knit cap! Afterwards we went back to my house for hot chocolate. Every year thereafter we'd choose a charity ahead of time (we usually tried to pick one that wasn't as well known and didn't get as many donations), make up a canister, choose one of our neighborhoods, and set a date. Seemed our group got bigger each year, and we so enjoyed doing it. Slowly everyone's lives got busier and it became harder to maintain this tradition, but it's one of my fondest memories. And so, yes, I truly miss singing but will soon be back in Baton Rouge where I can visit my friends in the Baton Rouge Chorus and once more join in song, if only for awhile.

Last week I mentioned about karaoke at hot dog night. The machine wasn't for everyone's use (so no, I did not perform....thank goodness!) But the man who owned the machine and his wife did as well as Wendell, who stays here several months out of the year and plays a mean guitar from what we've been told. And he has quite a good singing voice from what we heard. There was also a special guest appearance by "Willie McLaine". Think he should meet Lulu!!

I shared some photos a couple weeks ago of how folks have decorated their rigs and sites for Christmas so thought this week I'd share some photos of how the owners have decorated the grounds around the clubhouse.

Also, here's a photo of one of the shirts I've painted so far, and I plan to work on another one this week. I'm really enjoying this craft but probably won't continue when I leave here since that would mean buying a whole bunch of new paints since I can't use my ceramic ones on fabric. But at least now I've done it and know the process.

Just a reminder (since someone asked) that if you double-click on the photos, they will open up fullsize...at least most of the time. Every once in awhile you'll find one that won't open. Don't know why since they're all loaded the same way...just won't.

Oh, and by the way, we finally watched Star Wars III, after joking beforehand whether we should first go back and watch number II one more time! LOL Have a great week!

Move to Florida????

Well, we're still here in DeFuniak Springs, keeping active with all the ongoing activities. Yesterday morning was the pancake breakfast. For $2 you got two big, fluffy pancakes, two sausage links, orange juice, and coffee! An added treat for this evening's hot dog night is karaoke and also a few of our neighbors will be strumming their guitars and beltin' out some country music. It don't get no better than this! We kid about some of these things, but we actually find them quite enjoyable.

Some of you may be curious as to the title of this post so we'll take some time to fill you in on our upcoming plans. We will be staying here in DeFuniak until January 3, and then travel back to the KOA in Denham Springs. As it stands now we have a reservation for one month, but still do not know how much longer we'll be staying. We have a few doctor appointments scheduled and are in the process of getting a couple others on the calendar. We hope to have all of those appointments finished by the end of January.

At some time between February 1 and April 30 we plan on changing our legal residence to the state of Florida. Why, you ask? The driving factor behind doing this is our health insurance. When our COBRA runs out on April 30, we will be eligible for a medical conversion policy to Cigna healthcare, which presently administers our health benefits. There are 4 states in the entire country that do not allow this conversion, and you guessed it....Louisiana is one of the 4. If we remain in LA, because of our pre-existing conditions, we will likely have to enroll in the Louisiana Health Insurance Association. This insurance is available to LA residents who have been denied health insurance for any reason. It is expensive, has high deductibles, limited choices, and just plain scary. By "moving" to Florida, we can get the conversion and have been informed that the cost will about $1,000 per month. A little bit more than what's in our budget, but obviously necessary.

In an effort to re-balance our budget we have spent the last few weeks trying to determine the most economical (cheap) way to continue on our travels. The second major expense that we incur each month are campground fees. Although we are only paying $375 plus tax per month here at Sunset King RV Resort, that amount will rise to almost $1,000 per month in Denham Springs. We have found since we left, and although KOAs are consistent and generally nice, staying at them has run about that $1,000 per month. We have investigated a number of different programs to help control this cost, and we have recently purchased a membership at the Breckenridge Lake Resort in Crossville, TN. We made this purchase so that we could utilize Coast to Coast Resorts for only $10 per night. They have campgrounds in almost every state, and although they are generally not located as close to major metropolitan areas as KOAs, there are many located within 30 or 40 miles of areas we would like to visit. The purchase price of this membership was $46, a $125 transfer fee, plus a $32 annual maintenance fee. In addition we paid to join Coast to Coast, which has an annual membership fee of $89.95. The program allows us to stay 14 days for free at our "home resort" in Crossville, TN. The $10 per night fee is available at all the other campgrounds and allows us up to a 7 night stay twice per year at each resort. The day we were making the decision, the resort here asked us if we'd be interested in a membership from them. Their membership included all the same benefits but was priced at $2,000 with a $250 annual maintenance fee. It is our understanding that some resorts sell their memberships for $4,000 - $5,000. So the $46 plus the $125 transfer fee sounded like a pretty good deal to us!

We have also stumbled across a company called My RV Mail, which for $12 per month supplies a Florida legal address and runs a mail forwarding service. They also allow you to view your mail online, delete anything that you do not want, and have the rest forwarded to you anywhere in the country for $4.05. So it looks like we will sign up for that service, change our billing address on the few items that still go to our P.O. Box, and when we leave Baton Rouge, have the mail from our box forwarded to this company. We will use this address to register our vehicles, for our drivers licenses, and for voter registration. It just so happens that this company is located about 20 miles down the road in Crestview, FL.

Another issue we hope to resolve while in Denham Springs is the issue of our storage unit. Most of the items in storage are considered collectibles and probably need to be listed on eBay. We only have a few large items, a dresser, chiffarobe and mirror that belonged to Russ' grandparents, and some glass tables that we purchased in Houston. We will need to go through the unit and determine what items we will try one last time to sell, what items we may take with us to eBay during the coming year, and whether we want to stay long enough in Denham to eBay our Dept. 56 Christmas in the City collection. It looks right now, that we will need to continue paying the $65 per month storage fee for another year. Not sure we want to hassle with it right now.

The last issue is to determine which items we have brought with us that it doesn't look like we'll use. We also have some items in storage that we may want to bring with us on our next trip. Speaking of our next trip, when we leave Denham, we will either come back to DeFuniak for a couple months, or if we stay longer in Denham, we will head north from there. We are leaning toward a trip along the East coast in 2008. We would like to visit some Civil War and Revolutionary War sites in GA, SC, NC, and VA. We're also hoping to see friends in Charleston, SC, spend some time in Savannah, GA, and Washington, DC. We will, of course, stop to see both of our sisters in DE and NJ. Hopefully we can get up and visit New York City, Cooperstown, and Niagara Falls. We also have plans on making it up to Maine, and back to St. Louis for the Missouri/Illinois football game in late August. At the end of the year, we may end up at Walt Disney World, since the FL resident annual pass is pretty reasonable! Plus there are about a dozen Coast to Coast resorts within 30 miles of the castle. 12 resorts x 7 days x 2 visits = 168 nights! Nothing like Disney World in December!

That's all for this week. By the way it was 82 degrees today!

A Different Christmas Poem

Our friend Scott, who we met at the KOA in Eureka, MO, had posted this poem on his blog (www.serenityadventure.com), and we thought it so wonderful that we asked if he'd mind if we posted it on ours as well. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

A Different Christmas Poem

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.

Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.

My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.

My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts.
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."

"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.

My Gramps died at ' Pearl on a day in December',"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas Gram always remembers.
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ' Nam ',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile."

Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
"I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.

I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."

"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

LCDR Jeff Giles, SC, USN
30th Naval Construction Regiment
OIC, Logistics Cell One,
Al Taqqadum , Iraq