Musings on returning home after a long trip...

Sigh...neither one of can exactly remember our basic routines...Steve had a heck of a time making coffee this morning, I had a hard time figuring out my morning routines...our old normal is foreign to us now.  Sounds crazy, I know.  Wonder if others in the same situation have found the same thing?

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Hooray, even though we still have some piles of snow around, our daffodils are up in the back of the house where it gets the most sun!  We are not doomed to perpetual winter here in the Northeast!

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Alas, the heavy snow on the pool cover caused it to rip in a few places.  We will need to replace it next fall.

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Steve cleaned up the debris from the fallen ceiling section.  A small piece of furniture got a gouge in it and the rug looks a little worse for wear but we are due to have Stanley Steamer come anyway.

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One wonders what to do first?  A good long shower this morning was glorious!  No "Navy" shower needed today!  Of course we need to bring things in from the rig.  We need to defrost the freezer...any suggestions?  And then give it a good cleaning.  Our little tow car is filthy as well.

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The contractors are coming this week to fix the ceiling, AND WE NEED TO DO OUR TAXES!  Our tax return will hopefully pay for a major chunk of our winter trip!

Home!

Such different reactions to arriving home!  I didn't want to go in!  It was about 7:00pm and I wanted to eat a quick dinner in the rig and then go in and just get ready for bed.  Steve really wanted to eat in the house but I convinced him that we had all of our stuff in the rig so let's just eat in the driveway! 

When we got inside finally, I was surprisingly happy and Steve was surprisingly disconcerted!  

We have been away for almost ten weeks and living in our rig has become our new normal.  Wonder how long it will take us to acclimate to being back in Groton?

Last big push to get home (Goton, CT)

We were pretty cold last night!  Got our small space heater out and that helped warm up our bedroom a lot!  The propane heat ran almost the whole night!

We are taking a lunch break on Rt. 84 near Tafton, PA.  We only have about 25 miles to get to NY!  

Thè last three nights we have stayed in Walmart parking lots.  The end of the month, the end of the money!

Remember for next year!  Rt 84E over Hudson River has a $10.00 toll!

Look for rest area/truck weigh station at mile 1, exit 2 on 84E right over the border into CT...they have a dump station!  Great place for last dump before home!

Palmyra, PA

Saw our first piles of snow in Pennsylvania!  Snow squalls on Rt. 81 in PA so we found a Walmart; not exactly right off the highway like the others have been so far, but it was six o'clock so it was time to stop for the day.

We discovered this morning that the one small window in the bedroom that we did not insulate was letting in a lot of cold air so Steve is cutting a piece of Reflectix to fit it right now!  We are closing all the blinds up tightly to retain the heat...it's going down to 20 degrees tonight with a wintery mix.  

We'll pile up the bed with extra blankets tonight and with our propane heat we will be fine!  

The return of the dreaded winter coats here in Lexington, VA

So it's noon and it's only 27 degrees here!  Pippin was so appalled she wouldn't even go out!  The three of us are sooooo spoiled...it will be almost ten weeks away when we get home!

The good news is that the contractor can repair our living room ceiling on Thursday!  His price was reasonable and then the ceiling will be back up so we can dive into our taxes!  

More Rt. 81 today.

Virginia

It rained all night in Tennessee, but the sound was somehow comforting on the roof of our rig.  We resumed our trip eventually picking up Rt. 81 which we will follow all the way until we hit Rt. 84 that will take us right into CT.  No more tolls on the NJ Turnpike for us!

As we drove along, the landscape got more brown with the occasional greenish grass, blooming forsythia and even saw some blooming daffodils.

We pulled off at a Walmart just outside of Lexington, VA. Again, they were very accommodating. 

It is hard for me to remember since she is the ultimate lapdog that Pippin needs regular exercise, so today I took her for a walk on my scooter while Steve set the rig up.  She walks so beautifully next to my scooter, never pulling ahead or lagging behind, matching her speed with mine that I know she did this in her life before us.  She knows how to navigate my walker, always six inches from my left wheel and never getting tangled up in the wheels.  She has even been known to retrieve something small I may have dropped!  Did she live with a disabled or elderly lady who had to give her up?  If only I could get inside of her head!

Steve just ran out and took these photos of the sun setting over the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains!

Tennessee

Driving north, we got as far as Unicoi, TN in the beautiful foothills of the Appalachian Mountins via Rt. 26 out of Hendersonville, NC.  Tomorrow we will continue on Rt. 26 until we meet up with Rt. 81.

These shots were taken at the Tennessee Welcome Center just to show you the hills!

We are staying tonight at a Walmart in Unicoi, TN.  We have never been turned away from a Walmart yet on this trip!

Great News!

A contractor checked out the ceiling damage back in our house in Connecicut, and he does not think the black stains are mold!  Yippee!  He is working up an estimate for us, and may be able to expedite the repairs, maybe before we get home!  All Steve would have to do is paint!

We had anticipated Steve doing the repairs himself, but the thought of it being all done before we get home sounds marvelous!  We may just be staying in Western North Carolina for a bit longer?!?

Staying for a few more days in Western North Carolina

We are having the damage to our living room ceiling looked at by a contractor on Wednesday to give us an estimate, but more importantly identify if the mold is more widespread than it appears and to give us his opinion about why this happened.  Therefore we are going to stay put albeit in another park until we hear that it's safe to go home.  

Rutledge Lake Park, Fletcher, NC

Drove north today and crossed from South Carolina into North Carolina.  Much different topography!  These are the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains!

The grass is green and the daffodils are blooming!

This is a Passport America Park and we only paid $25/night for full hookups, cable and wifi!  They advertised having a heated pool, but when we got here they said they didn't open it until Memorial Day!  :-(    This park is run primarily with Work Campers, so Steve is getting some info about that.  The girl he spoke with said she gets her site for free in exchange for working here 25 hours per week.  She was the one on the golf cart who took us to our rig and helped us back in.

We are going to explore Hendersonville and Ashville over the next few day!

Pilot Truck Stop, Florence, SC

We pulled in for the night at this truck stop that I think our friends Frank & Julie have used.  Steve thought this would be the perfect opportunity to break out the CB radio that was in the rig when we bought it.  It took 10 AA batteries!  We only had seven new ones so he went into the store to get more.

Had to break out the instruction manual because neither one of us had the foggiest idea how to work the thing!

So far we have only heard snatches of usually incomprehensible talking and a lot of static. We are going to leave it on while we eat to see what we can hear!

Steve keeps whistling the "Convoy" song from the 70s!  

Atalaya at Huntington Beach State Park

This place is very sentimental to me!  As stated previously we camped here for many an April vacation when I was a kid.  One year, sometime in the late 1960s or early 1970s, my sister and I were exploring the campground and came across this building covered over with vines, shrubs and palm trees.  We snuck in through a window and went exploring.  To say it was a magical place is an understatement...I thought we had found paradise.

What this turned out to be was the winter residence of Archer and Anna Huntington, long since abandoned and seemingly forgotten.  Anna Huntington is the famous American sculptor whose works are found across the street at Brookgreen Gardens.  

Now the residence is managed by the SC Park Service and they give guided and audio tours.  We did the latter today.  A must do the next time we are here is to tour Brookgreen Gardens!

3/19/15 Huntington Beach State Park, Murrells Inlet, SC

So I don't think I have said how much I like this State Park!  Technically you are supposed to make reservations through Reserve America, but I don't like paying their fee, but our friends were right...State Parks always keep a site or two open for walk-ins.  We were able to get three nights, two in one site and one in another.  We might have been able to get more but that's all I wanted.  The sites are quite big, part gravel and part grass.  There are lots of trees and it feels very tranquil here.

Yesterday was raw and rainy, but when outside of our rig I could hear the waves crashing on the shore!  I wanted to see the Atlantic one more time!  And guess what Steve saw up at the office!  Yep, a beach wheelchair!  Another reason to camp in State Parks!  The beach access we used today was much shorter and had more boardwalk.  The tide was way out, but no shells today.

We were cold but for me it was worth it (not so sure for Steve or Pippin!) 

The other things we did yesterday were some home improvement projects.  I think our bedroom is difficult to keep warm and/or cool, so Steve went out to Lowes and got a huge roll of Reflectix, basically bubble wrap with foil on each side.  We had seen this suggestion in a recent list I shared on Facebook.  He covered two of the windows...the most important being the one behind our pillows!  Then we just pull the blinds over it.

Another problem for me is the light that comes through the skylight in the shower shines right on my face and wakes me up too early.  We have tried various things to shade me, but Steve had another idea...actually covering the skylight, with something that can either be up or down.  This is his first prototype...just a piece of cardboard velcroed up there!

It worked great except right along one edge, so the next one will be a little bigger!

Water damage back at the homestead in CT!

Steve's daughter has been checking our house periodically while we have been gone just to make sure everything is alright.  Up until yesterday, everything has been!

This is what she just found in our living room!

What we suspect is that the gutter you see above was filled with ice, and as it melted some of the water got up underneath the flashing and leaked back under the roof, which is new by the way.

We are concerned about what looks like mold, though, so are wondering if moisture has been leaking under there for awhile.  I am going to call our homeowners insurance company, email them the photos and see if we can get an adjuster out there ASAP.  Steve's daughter can meet the person.  This way we can get the ball rolling even before we get home.  Any other thoughts would be welcome!  PS: Spoke with our insurance company...in an effort to reduce our HO premium, we recently raised our deductible to $5,000...guess Steve is going to do the repair himself!  We will try not to worry about it until we get home!

Murrells Inlet, SC

Today was our day to explore Murrells Inlet, and for me to stroll down memory lane.  As I mentioned yesterday, my family spent many April vacations tent camping at Huntington Beach State Park, and I still recall many of the places we visited.  It was chilly today, never getting out of the 50s so we stayed in the car for most of the day.  We've been spoiled by Florida weather!

We had to get to SC to finally see some alligators!

When we were kids we always went to Nance's for roasted oysters.  My mom swears they are the only oysters she will eat because of the way they roast them.  Makes them taste more like clams than oysters.

We always visited this hammock shop in Pawleys Island because they make the only "real" hammocks!

A favorite destination is virtually across the street from this campground.  Brookgreen Gardens is filled with breathtaking sculpture, both gigantic and small and gorgeous gardens.  I am disappointed we won't be here on the 21st because they are having their annual garden show.

Huntington Beach State Park, Murrells Inlet, SC

Arrived at our destination today without reservations but our friends Frank and Julie had told us that State Parks always keep a few spots open for walk-ins, and we were able to get three nights!

My family vacationed here many times when I was a kid so I have fond memories of it.  Today was the only good beach day so we did the bare minimum and then took off down the path right outside our campsite for the beach.  I was able to use my scooter for quite a way, but then I had to walk the rest with Steve on one side and a cane on the other.  If I wasn't so motivated and stubborn, i wouldn't have walked that far in the sand. If we were going to try another beach excursion here I would ask if they have a beach wheelchair...don't know why I didn't think to ask when we checked in!

Goodbye to Florida for this year!

Last chance to load up on souvenirs!  Last exit before we hit Georgia on 95!

Last day at Pecan Park

Beeeeuuuuutiful day in Jacksonville...the first one here!  80s but very low humidity!  Had a nice swim in the pool, then housekeeping chores on the rig to get ready to slowly head north.  

Our toilet has gotten semi-clogged several times on this trip, so it was time to fish a hose in and blast water down the toilet. This was our very first time attempting this!  Steve stayed outside to watch what came through, and he said this was a very fruitful exercise!!!

Scrubbed all the sink drains with a toothbrush, Clorox wipes on everything else.  

Tomorrow we head out...destination Murrills Inlet, just south of Myrtle Beach where we vacationed many times when I was a kid!

Flea Market & Farmer's Market, Pecan Park, Jacksonville, FL

This was our big outing of the day!  I think it's impossible to see everything, so every year we see some of it.  Our campground abuts this thing...may be same ownership.  It was very navigable with my scooter!  Let's see, we got a rubber mallet, an extra-heavy duty bungee cord because one of ours broke, a device to mount on the dashboard to hold our GPS, one of those camping gadgets that you hang up with one hook and then it's arms fold down which contain clothes pins to make a small drying rack,  some VHS tapes for when we don't have cable, and a non-skid rubber mat to put under our big cutting board.

Pecan Park RV Resort, Jacksonville, FL

It was a short trip to drive up to Jacksonville yesterday.  After setting up, I was off to the pool!  Oh yeah, it's not heated, but I swam for an hour!  I met two nice couples who are both full-timers so that helped pass the time.

We camped here last year because it is adjacent to a big flea market that we enjoyed.  One thing we forgot was the campground is directly under the flight path of jets coming in and going out of the airport near by...luckily we hear them only during the day and not at night!

I went up to swim at about 11:30 today and Steve thought he would put in some laundry.  As he was getting that ready I noticed his jug of laundry detergent...it said Downey...I asked him, "hon, is that the detergent you have been using?"  He said, "yes, why?"  I asked him to read the label...oops...that's why our clothes have been so soft on this trip!  Maybe you don't actually need detergent to clean clothes?  

The pool today?  Frigid!  I did about ten minutes but that's all I could stand!

Forgot to mention that we finally broke down and went to Verizon and I got a smartphone, an LG Android 4G Pure Gear, and a Verizon MiFi Jet Pack hotspot.

I have barely scratched the surface of how to use my phone but we decided at some point on the trip that we really needed one.

The Hotspot works great!  We don't have enough data to watch a lot of TV or movies using it, but we can reliably and securely do what we need to do when traveling without wifi from somewhere else.

My neck and shoulder are killing me and I wonder if it's from the angle I am tilting my head down to figure out my phone???

Another change is I decided to go back on Weight Watchers Online.  There are SO MANY MIRRORS in our rig, and I noticed that I have really put on some weight!  For those who don't know, over the course of about two years I lost 50 lbs even though I have MS and was going through menopause.  I am a firm believer in WW Online, and it was time to go back.  That's another reason I wanted the smartphone...so I could track my points so much more easily!

The best laid plans...traveling with a disability.

So my MS has reared its ugly head.  No, I am not having a relapse, but some ongoing symptoms have set me back a bit.

As some of you know, I have a difficult time with my legs spasming at night.  It's not like restless leg syndrome, but more of a whole leg contraction every 29 seconds.  Yes, Steve used to time them.  I take antispasmodic medication twice a day, but sometimes that is not enough.  Through the diet I have been following I have identified foods that make my spasming worse, like gluten. But now other foods are triggering spasming at night, and when it starts it is very difficult to stop.  I have a bag of tricks, but for two nights (Mon & Tues) I got no sleep they were so bad.

Fatigue is an ongoing problem for people with MS and two all-nighters in a row is not good.  I try to nap, but I can't very effectively.  All that laying down does a number on my back, which is another of my ongoing problems.  While I slept last night, this morning my body is all in painful knots.  The way I loosen up when my body is all tight and inflamed is to swim.

This campground in Saint Augustine does not have a pool.  I hurt too much to sit on a hard trolley seat as was the plan today in St A. so I proposed something radical (for us) to Steve.  Why don't we put St A on hold for this year and proceed up to Jacksonville (Pecan Park) today where we already have reservations for the weekend.  He called and added two more days onto our stay there.  And they have a pool!  They also have full hook-ups, a fitness room, cable and free wifi (we have stayed there before).

They are a Passport America park but the discount is only for one night, but then they are a Good Sams park so we will get 10% off.

I think what we have learned from this is that we need to camp where there is a pool to keep my body functioning.  Who knows what we will find as we travel north but at least for now I will have five days to swim and loosen up.

I have also learned that I am not that thrilled with the weather in Florida in March...when it's warm it's too hot, and before a rainy spell comes through it's too humid.  I think I like February here better.

St John's RV Park, Saint Augustine, FL

Arrived safely and researched what to do here in Saint Augustine.  Lots of plans!  Hoping to start with a trolley ride tomorrow!

Last day in Malabar, FL

We are packin' up and headin' out of Enchanted Lakes tomorrow, but I wanted to devote a blog post to why we may want to consider spending the whole month of February 2016 here!

Their monthly rate is quite reasonable. It is a clean, well maintained very quiet park with nicely spaced sites, each with an oversized cement patio. There are full hook-ups, laundry, and wifi that costs money but is excellent.  Unfortunately they do not have cable.  We get two channels with our antenna, and are at some point going to consider Direct TV because our rig came with a dish.

The pool is a good size and is heated only to 85 which feels slightly cool and I don't over-heat in it.  The pool is adjacent to a charming lake with fountains and an assortment of birds and turtles.  They offer water aerobics M-F from 10:30-11:30.  They have bingo once a week, and other activities that vary month to month.

There is a Walgreens, Publix, Super Walmart, Winn-Dixie, a good health food store Paradise Health & Nutrition, plenty of gas stations and auto stores, lots of restaurants (try The Seafood Shack next year), thrift stores, etc. right in the immediate vicinity.  We are right around the corner from a hospital and I saw several urgent care walk-in centers.

There is a bead shop close by that offers beading classes!

There is a charity called Nana's House that runs two thrift shops that support a program that provides housing and all kinds of support for abused and neglected children.  I think I could do a little volunteering for them is I was here.

There is an old-fashioned barber shop that only charged Steve $8.00 for a haircut.

The beaches!  There are two causeways over the Intercoastal that go right to the Atlantic!  We only explored two of them, but we have recommendations for Treasure Beach where Spanish Gallion booty is said to wash up, and Sebastian which has a good beach and has good sites to see.

These are notes mostly for our reference when planning next year, but others may be interested, too!

A bit concerned about our dog...

Pip is a little under the weather.  This is the second day she has not eaten her kibble.  She is eating the lettuce we give her when I  eat salad every day for lunch, but that's it.  No vomiting or diarrhea, but she is sleeping in her bed a bit more.  I think it's taxing for her to be doing something different every day.  We will watch her closely and stay home for the rest of the day.

This is what our house back in CT looks like! YIKES!

Actually it snowed 8 more inches the night after these photos were taken!  :-(

Hot and humid in Malabar, FL

The heat and humidity have been too high for me these last few days.  I am having trouble regulating the climate in the rig at night.  We ran the a/c last night and it was either too warm or too cold...so I am not sleeping well.

Today we swam which was lovely and then ran errands which was tough...it was about 83-85 degrees with too much humidity or me.  I hear from my step-mom that March is never this warm here in Florida, so the weather is cycling in extremes everywhere.  We shudder to hear about all of the snow and bitter cold back in CT!

Gram, we finally made it to a Bells which I know you like, and it was an Outlet!  Steve got new sneakers and a new bathing suit!

We got our boring errands out of the way today so tomorrow I hope to hit a bead shop I saw for my windchimes and an Ace Hardware that someone told us sold a lot of Amish products.  Forgot to mention that we saw several Anish and Mennonites in the Sarasota area.  

Melbourne Beach, FL

Struck off for a beach a little bit south of where we were yesterday and found Melbourne Beach.  It had the same boardwalk but more sand had covered the lower half so I had to get off my scooter sooner.  Also, there was more walking on the sand to get to where I wanted to set up.  And it was hotter.  And there were no shells on this beach like there were yesterday.

When we got back to the rig I ate a quick lunch and then had to lie down.  For those of you who don't know, MS and heat/humidity don't mix well.  It was in the low 80s today with moderate humidity (for me).  All that exertion was too much.

Tomorrow we are going to skip the beach.  The plan is to swim first thing (btw, the reason the pool was so cold the first time we used it was because the heater wasn't working, so the pool has been closed for repairs...but we noticed the closed for repairs sign has been taken down.). Then some shopping and general site-seeing.

Satellite Beach, Melbourne, FL

My mind is made up; I prefer the East Coast of Florida over the West Coast.  Today we investigated this beach and it smelled right, it looked right and it sounded right!

I like this area of Florida...it is not over-developed, the traffic is very manageable and the beach wasn't too crowded.  We only stayed for about an hour and a half because a great fog started rolling in.

This was the great walkway from the parking lot down to the sand.  I think it was built to preserve the dunes rather than for people on wheels, but no matter, it worked great!

My hubby doing the beach-comber's walk for me!  His shorts got quite wet, so tomorrow he is going to wear his bathing suit!