Last Weeks and Trip Home

Not a lot happening this week, just the usual.  Judy’s knee has been bothering her so her walking has been curtailed and it has been so windy that riding the bikes is no joy.  About two weeks ago while walking Lilly one morning she must have stepped wrong or twisted her left knee somehow.  It is slowly improving but it has cut her out of her long morning walks and exercise sessions.  She has been doing a lot of hand sewing though.

Tuesday’s dinner trip was to Cody’s Roadhouse, a steak and ribs place.  Sort of reminds you of the Texas Roadhouse in Alliance, with peanut tins on the table and the shells swept on to the floor.  This was our last dinner trip as the next two are at places we have either been to or don’t care to go to. 

This was also the last week for Jon’s computer group to meet.  He had positive feed back as he ran it more as a help group than a class.  It was nice using a classroom at the Library and having a good WiFi connection for everyone to use.

Saturday night after church we attended a St Patrick’s Day dinner in the Annex.  The Chapel provided corned beef and ham as well as cabbage and mashed potatoes.  Folks brought either a desert or salad.  We were entertained by a three piece group that included a dulcimer.

Here are a few of the folks from the FamCamp that attended.

On Sunday we drove to New Port Richey to meet Cliff and Ruth Ann Anderson for lunch.  We have volunteered with them in the past.  We had a great lunch in a little place called Caposey’s - real ‘mom and pop’ operation where the food was good and the service outstanding. 

On the way home we stopped by the Sun Coast Trail bike path and did a slow 11 mile ride.  This trail parallels the Sun Coast Toll road.  On the way back to the trail head we spotted a ‘gator.

It was the only one we saw this year, unlike our years at KPPSP where we saw many.

Beginning to be a boring week – just waiting to depart.  Tuesday it was beautiful so we went to the beach for several hours.  More people on the beach than in the past few months, of course it is ‘spring break’ time and there are lots of kids in the campground.

We decided to try the Inter Bay Market for dinner.  We had heard many good things about it.  It is more than a market – a deli and a meat market.  We ordered takeout from their large selection.  For $5 each, Judy had fried chicken and two sides and Jon had Cuban roast beef and two sides.  It was more than enough and very tasty.

Seems like food is mentioned a lot, but here it goes again.  On Wednesday we asked don and Jane Coget (from Arkansas) if they wanted to go to the Coast Guard Station at the St Petersburg/Clearwater airport for lunch on Thursday.  They agreed, but only if Jon drove as the last time they had been there (for Thanksgiving) on the way home they were in a bad accident and totaled their truck.  So Thursday morning we picked them up at 11 and we headed for the Coast Guard.  They serve lunch from 1130 to 1230 but after 1145 retirees are allowed to eat.  We picked the right day!  They had coconut shrimp, grilled salmon and prime rib as the main entrees.  The dinner came with grilled asparagus and Penna pasta.  Everything was very good and the price could not be beat.

Thursday the Coast Guard was at it again off beach area.  Apparently this is prime location for them to practice sea rescues.

Late Friday afternoon Jon had almost finished Lilly’s when the sky’s opened up.  Judy had ridden to the shower house and to get the laundry from the line.  She made it home on the bike without getting too wet.  It rained pretty hard and the sky lit up with lightening, but no thunder.  We had settled in watching an episode of Dexter when the power went out on base.  It was sort of strange as the DVD/CD player kept going but the TV went black – the player operates off 12 volts.  We ended up heading to bed to read about 9:30.

Saturday we made out last trip to the BX and Commissary.  We needed a few things for the trip home and also picked up a few things for home.  The freezer is jam packed.  We were just getting ready to head to Seascapes when Ning and Abigail stopped by to tell us good bye.  Ning did promise to stay in touch via email.

We met Don and Jane for snacks and farewells and headed off to church.  We watched another episode of Dexter and headed off to bed. 

The drive to Darien was an easy one and we were just behind all the nasty weather sweeping across Florida.  As we drove around Jacksonville you could see large areas of standing water.   We hit a few patches of rain, but nothing hard.  After a nice visit with sister Judy it was time for some TV and bed.  Monday’s drive will be a long one, about 420 miles to Wytheville, VA.

Other than the extremely rough road (I95) in South Carolina, the drive up through Columbia and into Charlotte was uneventful. We could see the temperatures slowly dropping.  We had dressed for the colder weather expected in Virginia.  As we proceeded north of Charlotte, the wind began to pickup and we could feel it on the truck and RV.  Though the Ram ‘walked up’ that 7 mile grade, you could still feel the gusts.  Judy called Fort Chiswell RV park to check the weather and was told the snow had stopped and the sun was shinning.   By the time we pulled into the park, the clouds were hanging heavy; the wind was gusting, but no snow.  As they were going to shut the water off in the lower park area, we opted for the upper area.  They are expecting the temperature to drop to the mid 20’s over night – quite a change from MacDill! 

We got ourselves all set up and Jon went to fill the truck for the morning drive.  The way we had to park, we had to disconnect from the RV anyway.  While we were eating dinner it began to snow – a real white out.  The snow was almost perpendicular to the ground, the wind was so strong out of the north.  Fortunately none of it was sticking to the ground or vehicles. 

It was nearly 8:30 by the time we got on the road Tuesday.  The winds had calmed some, but were still strong.  The local news talked about the north bound lanes of I77 being closed after the first tunnel in West Virginia.  We ere routed off I77 onto US 460 and up through Princeton and then back onto the turnpike.  It was a nine mile difference on I77, but took us 15 miles out of the way and about forty minutes longer than expected.  Once we were on the turnpike and north of Beckley we ran into snow.  Not bad, but enough to wet the roads and with the salt trucks out, the Ram and RV picked up plenty of grit and grim.

We arrived in our drive at 2020 Tricaso at 3:30 – glad to be back but miss the sun!