Second Installment

Judy has signed up for twice a week sessions at the base fitness center. They are doing about 30 minutes of “Zumba” and then a half hour more of yoga. We can make an appointment with a trainer and set up a program we can go through on the machines they have. We will go over on Monday afternoon when the facility is not too busy and see about it.

This is where we will be calling “home” for the next few weeks.

Friday was Lilly’s day to go to the base vet. Everything checked out just fine except for her teeth. She weighed in at 33.8 pounds and they even scanned her chip to make sure it was still working. The Vet Tech gave us a list of off base vets that we could check for teeth cleaning. She said that if the civilian clinic says they will need blood work, come to the base vet clinic to have it done.

Morning coffee and reading time at the Greystone.

The annual ‘Penguin Bash’ was held on Saturday afternoon. The FamCamp provided fried chicken from Po Folks along with salad and cake and the campers brought side dishes. Sam (Samantha) the park manager also gave out a number of prizes including a month’s stay and a 22” LCD TV. No we did not win anything but had a good meal and met some interesting people.

Monday morning made the call to a local vet (recommended) and set up for Lilly to get her teeth cleaned on Thursday. Had to then make an appointment at the base vet clinic for blood work…..almost as much to do for her as a human! After lunch we stopped by the fitness center and met with a personal trainer. She is going to plot a program for us and on Tuesday afternoon we go back to learn which machines to use and what settings to have them.

After dinner on Monday we headed to the Panama City Marina Civic Center for a free concert by the Band of the Air Force Reserve. It was a packed house – never have seen so many old people in one place! They put on a great show and the female vocalist was out of this world. Hard to connect that she is a ‘professional’ singer with dual degrees in vocal performance and is an Airman First Class in the AF. We were also entertained by the only bagpipe piper in the AF. He was really good and in the middle of one piper tune broke into some jazz. Now imagine that – jazz coming from a bagpipe.

On Tuesday for the first time since our arrival the overflow section was empty. The day after we moved to a site there were nine units waiting for sites. We really don’t think we will be offered a full hook up site (with sewer) but where we are is fine. It is one of the few sites in the back loop that gets some sunshine. It rained very hard this morning and we had two plus inches of water standing on our mat under the awning but by noon it was all gone. After lunch we had our meeting with a trainer and received instructions on the machines she said we needed. It took about an hour to go through each as she first did one of us and then the other. After she finished we went back in and used each as she had instructed. There must be 75 different machines, plus a number of treadmills, stair steppers, elliptical walkers and stationary cycles. It is quite a place and was very busy. Before and after duty ours it is really full.

It was a bright sunny day so we took the quarter mile boardwalk across the dunes to the beach. Judy tried to find some shells and she did find a small sand dollar.


It is interesting how the seagulls will park themselves headed into the wind. Sometimes they stand and other times they nestle into the sand.


Wednesday we headed east to Apalachicola for a seafood fix. The “Seafood Grill” was just as we had recalled…an old single floor store front that has been a restaurant for many years. It is built up 6 steps from street level as the road is just at sea level. It is nothing fancy, nice sized servings and the food is good although their prices have gone up. We enjoyed the meal and then walked around the town some. The city was once a large sponge center with sponge divers going out in the gulf to harvest various live sponges. Apalachicola is about 50 miles east of Tyndall on US 98 and the road passes through some beautiful old towns and some newer vacation home spots. In 2007 when we were here you could still see a lot of hurricane damage. There is still some where older buildings right along the water were destroyed.

The “Seafood Grill” in Apalachicola.

On the way back we tracked the mileage along US98 which runs through the middle of Tyndall AFB. From the eastern most boundary of base property to Bonita Bay where the drone retrieval boats are (the FamCamp is right next to it) 14 miles of US98 bisects the base. On the north side the flight line, runways and aircraft support facilities are found and on the south, all of the housing and base support including the commissary BX and fitness center. Not sure how many acres or square miles the base encompasses but a lot of it is coastal sand and many many acres of slash pine. Last weekend they were doing some prescribed burning to clear out the underbrush along the four mile road to one of the housing areas.

Thursday was Lilly’s big day. We had her at the Vet’s by 7:30 for what we thought would be routine cleaning; turned out to be a bit more than that as several of the teeth were infected and had to be pulled. During the morning we went to the fitness center, and while Judy was doing the Zumba/Yoga Jon did the circuit of machines and then both did some work on the elliptical machines. It was after 4:30 when we picked up Lilly and brought her home. She is not feeling all that good, but has been a trooper about it.

While Judy was at aerobics it was time to ‘blue boy’ it. Our portable tank is actually gray, but the principle is the same when you don’t have a sewer connection. Since the men’s shower has been closed down for repairs and the men and women are sharing (rotating hours of use) the ladies shower it causes us to use our own more. After lunch we went for a 2-3 mile bike ride in the old housing area across US98 from the FamCamp. In the evening we went to the club house and made up a table to play hand and foot. There is one couple here that many don’t want to play with but it worked out for us. It was a long night sitting, however.

Saturday and it was off to the local quilt shop (Quilting by the Bay) and to visit the marina. Actually it is more than a local quilt shop as they have web site, advertise in a number of quilting magazines and ship out lots of material. Upstairs they have large automated quilting machine to ‘quilt’ completed and sandwiched quilts. It was then a stop at Hobby Lobby where we found some interesting material and a couple of other unique things. After lunch at CiCi’s we went to the marina to tour a 3 masted schooner. It is a ship built in 1989 to replicate an old ship. It is sailed by a group called the 12 tribes, a religious group. It is really something. We forgot the camera so no pictures. Well did take some with the camera on the phone, but can’t get them off.

Winter 2011 - NC and Florida

First Installment

After a one day delay in departure because of the TV situation (will cover that later) we headed for Charlotte/Davidson on Tuesday the 4th. It was an uneventful trip with Judy following in the Santa Fe with Lilly. The trip moved along at a good pace until we reached Statesville on I77. What should have been 40 minute drive to the speedway took nearly twice that time because of traffic. We set up the Greystone and called it a day. Wednesday morning we were at Mark and Kyra’s in time to walk Niko to the bus and take Aleksei to pre-school. Mark and Kyra departed about 2 for the airport and their Modern Language Association conference in LA and the boys were ours for the next five days. Judy settled in to housekeeping and cooking in a different environment and Jon travelled each day/night to the speedway to handle the animals.

Thursday Aleksei does not have school and as the replacement TV arrived on Wednesday afternoon, we took that time to go out to the Greystone and install it. It worked fine and the installation not hard. As for the TV, when we took the Greystone into General RV on Dec 3 for the TV to be replaced (it had a big black line down the screen) we expected it to be done. Well it wasn’t – long story short they messed up and it took a visit with the General Manager at the dealership to get us a TV.

For a break on Friday we packed the boys up and all went to spend some time at the trailer. That’s when the weather turned cold. It was too cold to work much with Niko on his bike and too cold to even be out. We had promised IHop for lunch and started out to find one when we ran into a real snow storm. Nearly a white-out but it was still too warm to stick. We found a park and the kids played some and then headed for the IHop but traffic was so bad decided to head toward a different one the GPS had found. Well we could not find it so stopped at a Shoney’s instead. Had a very nice waitress who told us that Aleksei could eat free from the buffet (and he wanted pancakes) and that Niko would be half price – cheaper than buying just a pancake breakfast. So we settled in and all ate good for sure. Sunday we headed back to Davidson to prepare for the snow.

And snow it did. It took 90 minutes via the interstates to get from the speedway to Davidson on Monday morning. At 3:30AM no snow, but by 5 nearly 3 inches covered the ground and car. Of course school was cancelled and it looked like Aleksei was beginning to breakout in chicken pox. We really were not sure Mark and Kyra would get back in Monday night as lots of flights were cancelled as the snow had stopped but the precipitation had turned to freezing rain and sleet. They did and we headed for the trailer about 9. It took us nearly an hour to make the trip. Tuesday morning we awoke to more than an inch of ice crust on top of the compacted 7 inches of snow!!

On Wednesday morning it took about an hour and a half to remove the ice and snow from the slides so we could get them in. Consequently we did not get on the road until after 10:30 for our drive south. We stopped at a nice little campground north of Savannah for the night and then headed on to Grassy Pond near Valdosta, GA. When we arrived, the Camp Host was walking his dog and flagged us down. All sites were full, but he double parked us next to his unit and we had full hookups for our two nights there. The sun was shinning during the day, but it was cold at night!!

Friday we went into Valdosta to visit Nancy Juster and after some good coffee cake, Jon headed out to do some shopping and take care of some things at the trailer. After dinner and farewells it was back to the FamCamp for the night.

Saturday’s drive to Tyndall AFB near Panama City was pleasant and easy. We took some back roads so got to see sights you would not see along the interstate. When we arrived about noon Central Standard Time (one our time) we were put into overflow (just water and electric hookups) and were told it would be 4 or 5 nights before we could get a regular site. After we situated ourselves we took a walk with Lilly around the campground and recognized some of the people we know by the camper or usually by the name sign hanging on their site post. We did stop into visit Arlene and Jerry Snyder for a bit as they were the first couple we met when we came to Tyndall seven years ago.

Sunday was church and a little shopping at the BX and just some relax time. On Monday we stopped at the office to pay for another night in overflow. The duty Camp Host said that we should only be in overflow one more night so we took off to do some grocery shopping and have lunch out. When we arrived back ‘home’ about 1 there was a note on our door that site 23 was ours. So we spent a couple of hours getting moved and set up more permanent. It’s a nice wide site and not all shaded in, which we both like. It felt good to set up home for at least the next two, maybe three weeks.

Now that we are settled in we have ourselves in a routine for the next few weeks. After breakfast Jon heads to the clubhouse for coffee and chat with the guys and Judy heads off with Lilly for a long walk. Later in the morning it’s time for some chores and projects around ‘home’ and after lunch Judy heads to the clubhouse for craft time with the ladies. Many of the campers return to the clubhouse at 6 for cards, jokers, dominos or some other games. We are not going to go every night as that can get to be a challenge (sitting for 2 plus hours) and besides some nights we have certain TV shows we want to see.

Some of the ladies are going to the big new base fitness center on base to ‘workout’ with a trainer on Tuesday and Thursday and have invited Judy to go along. On MWF mornings one of the ladies leads a large group in ‘exercises’ in the club house from 10 – 11 but we walk Lilly or ride our bikes around the park roads

Pot-luck dinners are held each Tuesday and as usual with these activities there is plenty of good food to go around. Drinks and table service is provided by the campground.

Wednesday night is VFW hamburger night. About 1/3 of the campers head over to the nearby VFW hall for great hamburgers and must say they are really good. But, there is one big downside - it is so smoky that when you come home you have to put everything in the laundry. It was a good thing we were planning on doing laundry Thursday morning.

The weather could be a bit nicer, but by the internet it looks like it is a heck of a lot better than NE Ohio……11 degrees right now (11AM on Friday EST).

Sorry no pictures with this installment.  Will work on getting a few to add next time.