A Bit Crafty

In Nov 2011 my mom asked me to knit a prayer shawl/wrap for Dad, longer and wider than most of his others.  She wanted something that would cover his upper body while he sat in his wheelchair. I hadn’t done any knitting since I broke my wrist in  2010.  I wasn’t sure how it would go as this was the 2nd time I had broken the same wrist and anticipated lots of problems from movement and soreness.   

I was able to finish the knitting in a few weeks time and Dad enjoyed his knit wrap for several months before he died.  Mom gave me the wrap after Dad died and we use it on a chair in the RV.  My concerns for wrist problems were not as I had anticipated.

After I finished Dad's wrap, I was pondering other projects and found out the campground we stayed at collected hand made blankets, giving them to a local camp for special needs children.  The campground had a bucket of yarn and I decided to crochet a granny square blanket for the camp.

Every time I wanted to learn a new stich, I'd go on the Internet and YouTube to see how it was done. Then I'd work at it, many times pulling out stiches to fix mistakes.  When we moved from the house into the RV, I chose to keep my knitting supplies hoping that I'd find a desire to make things again.  I had lots of yarn in my own collection and made myself a large granny square blanket.  When we learned Chuck's daughter Melissa was expecting, I crafted 2 blankets for her baby, 1 knit and 1 crochet.

There are several balls of yarn and different needles in various locations around the RV with projects in various states.  I’m enjoying making all types of project, although sometimes Chuck says my favorite part of a project is when I “frog” or “ribbet” and start all over.   When I first started knitting (about 10 years ago) my specialty was winter scarfs, graduating to hats.  This past year has mostly been blankets and crochet vs knit.  

On our trip North last Spring, I retrieved my sewing machine from storage and have managed to find room to use it from time to time.  Sewing projects are easiest when we're at a campground for a long period of time; I need to move several things around to get to the machine out of it's storage spot. Knit and crochet are easily transported from camper to car when we're moving about (unless it's my turn to drive).

Granny square afghan

Crochet blanket for Paysen

Knit blanket for Paysen

Collection of afghans, gift bags, wash cloths, placemats,
and puppy beds

Going to the Birds

Bald Eagle, Bras D'Or Lake, Cape Breton Island, NS

Bald Eagle 

Osprey, Crystal River, Florida 

Osprey

Red-Tailed Hawk, Crystal River, Florida

Prairie Chicken, Gary Owen, Montana 

Sandhill Crane, Yellowstone, Wyoming  

Yellow-Crowned Night Heron, Crystal River, Florida

Pelicans & Cormorant, Crystal River, Florida 

Sandpiper, Crystal River, Florida 

Common Moorhen, Leesburg, Florida 

Limpkin, Leesburg, Florida

Ibis (immature), Crystal River, Florida

Ibis, Crystal River, Florida

Snowey Egret & Ibis, Crystal River, Florida

Snowey Egret & Great Egret, Crystal River, Florida 

Great Egret, Helena Run, Leesburg, FL

Great Egret, Crystal River, FL

Snowy Egret (breeding plumage) Crystal River, FL

Little Blue Heron, Leesburg, FL

Great Blue Heron, Leesburg, FL

Great Blue Heron

Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker, Hawkshaw, NB

Pileated Woodpecker, Crystal River, FL

Red-Bellied Woodpecker, Crystal River, FL

Potluck 011013

Tonight’s campground potluck dinner brought over 50 of us together around the tables. 

One of the reasons I like to attend potluck dinners is it gives me the opportunity to try a new recipe.  Several years ago I pulled a recipe from a magazine for Beef Taco Skillet and stuck it in my cookbook.  Every now and then I see the recipe, but never made it. It was about time I tried the dish and bought the ingredients I didn’t already have.  It was very easy to make.

Beef Taco Skillet

1 lb ground beef  

1/2 cup water

1 can (10.75 oz) tomato soup     

6 flour tortilla (6”) cut into 1” pieces

1/2 cup salsa     

1/2 cup shredded cheese

a) cook ground beef in 10” skillet until well browned, stirring to break up meat. Pour off fat.

b)Stir in soup, salsa, water and tortillas. Heat to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Top with cheese.  Makes 4 servings

Chuck and I both enjoyed the dish and I’ll be adding it to my repertoire, although instead of the soft tortilla pieces, we think we'll try nacho chips. It seems others at the dinner enjoyed it also; I didn't have much for leftovers to bring home.

Charity Ride

We did our first (and only?) charity motorcycle ride  In early December, our RV friends, Michael & Glenda, invited Chuck and me to join them on a Toy Run.  Since the motorcycle ride was only 15 miles in distance, we decided we would do it.  It was to be the first time that Chuck and I participated in a charity ride and we found out the first time for our friends also.

The day of the Toy Run arrived, and was a bright, sunny day - any weather based excuse to not ride was out the window.  The 4 of us started off to the meeting point, leaving our RV park an hour before the ride was to start.  Not 5 miles in to our 20 mile trip to the starting point and we had to go back - the brake lights on Glenda’s motorcycle were not working properly and as we’d be riding in a large group, didn’t want to cause an accident because the biker behind her couldn’t tell if she was stopping or slowing.

By the time we got going again, with Glenda riding shotgun on Michael’s bike, we had 20 minutes to make the 20 miles.  Somehow or other, I was the leader of our little pack and did my darnedest to push myself to get us there - fortunately a good portion of the road we were taking was posted as 60 mph, so I didn’t have to speed to make up time.  (Ok, the real reason I was leader was I knew where the starting point was - the particular parking lot was for a chain store I like to shop at, although I hadn’t been to that particular location.) During our trip to the Toy Run’s starting location I kept hoping they were getting a late start, or that we’d see them coming and find a convenient place to do a U-turn and join the back of the pack.

With one traffic light left between us and the start, I saw the police and fire escort of the Toy Ride heading our way. Rats, I thought, we’ve missed it.  Traffic in our current direction was being blocked from crossing to the other side. I quickly decided to continue just past the turn we wanted and come in to the parking lot from a different direction.  Chuck and Michael with Glenda on his bike had no choice but to follow me.

As we maneuvered our motorcycles around cars in the lot, we saw there were still a good number of motorcyclist waiting to start the ride and we were able to join right in and participate.   Chuck rode right next to me on my left, but I couldn’t see our friends. In front of us was a line of motorcyclist stretching over a mile and I had no idea how far behind us the parade went, all I knew was we were somewhere near the back, but not the tail end.

The ride was one of the most nerve wracking experiences I can recall, our double line of bikes were in the left lane, while vehicles passed us in the right hand lane, every now and then trying to cross into our lane to make a left hand turn, thereby causing a bottleneck and the need for us to drop our speed of 50 down to 20 or even 10.  Because spacing between riders was close I used the brake lights of a motorcycle 4 positions ahead of me to prepare to stop or slow.  At one time the biker who was directly behind me pulled up on my right side as he hadn’t planned on slowing as suddenly as we did.

When we finally got to the end of the ride, I discovered our friends were only 3 positions behind.  We parked our bikes among the hundreds of other bikers and joined the festivities of music, food and a visit from Santa who distributed the toys to the kids.  It took awhile for my nerves to loosen. I told the others in our little group that although that type of ride hadn’t been on my bucket list, I was glad to be able to check it off.

While the experience of helping others felt good, the stress of the ride getting to the Toy Run with no time to spare (not even a chance to get off the bike for 5 seconds before we got rolling) to the number of bikers are not one I think I’ll want to repeat.  I enjoy riding my motorcycle, but prefer to do it with just 1 to 3 other bikes on the ride.

These images are of the ride - the first one shows the lead  bikes on the ride, the 2nd shot is from our friends' point of view - I'm the biker in the right lane with the white jacket and white helmet. Chuck's to my left, silver helmet and green shoulders on his jacket.

2012 Recap

2012 is past and many memories were made. Some are happy memories, some sad, some silly, and some bad. 

One of the most influential memories I will have from 2012 is the passing of my father in February. There were many times throughout the rest of the year when I’d say to myself “Dad would have loved to see this” or “This reminds me so much of Dad”.  I know his presence will always be with me and I’ll hold him dear to my heart.

My second special memory of 2012 is Paysen Marie Ramsey.  Chuck’s older daughter, Melissa, delivered our first grandchild on May 1.  I didn’t feel like a “Grammy” or “Nana” and we came up with the idea of my being “JoJo”. Chuck wanted to be “GrandDad” but because he had on a baseball cap with the name of a coffee shop in Bar Harbor emblazoned on it, everyone started calling him that name instead; “Grumpy”.  Only time will tell if Paysen likes our nicknames or not.

2012 was a year of travel for sure as Chuck and I continued our full-timing.  We left Florida in early March to return to Massachusetts for Dad’s funeral. We hung around New England for about a month and I did some more family genealogy research before working our way to NY and Pennsylvania, getting to Maryland just in time for the birth of Paysen. In mid-May we started our real travels and headed back to New England, spending a few days in the Portland ME area reconnecting with friends and professional services before pushing on.

By June we had crossed in to the Canadian Maritimes and reconnected with several campgrounds we had visited in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, as well as finding new locations to visit in Nova Scotia.  I think our favorite location during that part of the travels was staying at a campground outside Baddeck, on Cape Breton Island.

July brought us back to the United States and New England, first a brief stop in Maine and then a week stay in New Hampshire.  We had abandon our plans to travel westerly across Canada and decided to see the U.S. instead.  One of the places on our 2012 bucket list was to visit an RV manufacturing plant.  While in Elkhart IN we took advantage of touring at a Heartland facility. Very educational for us.

During this time, while checking an email, I discovered that there was a need for Care-A-Vanners at a Habitat for Humanity build in Brookings, SD.  We decided to sign up, and with a few weeks before the build date made a few more stops on our way west.  It was during this time that we discovered Pipestone, Minnesota and the Pipestone National Monument.  There is a lot of Native American history in this region.  I found this area very special for me spiritually and hope to get back again.

After our two week stint with Habitat was up, and because RV friends we knew from Maine 2011 were in Montana, Chuck, the pups and I headed west across South Dakota to meet up with our friends in Sturgis, SD.  (Bike Week had ended and the RV park had an outstanding deal which we couldn’t resist.)  We stopped in Mitchell SD, home of the Corn Palace and also at Wall Drug as we headed west of I-90.  

Upon crossing the Missouri River in SD, a whole different world opened before us. The landscape of our country was so different and beautiful.  We stopped for a few days in the Badlands National Park before joining Michael & Glenda in Sturgis for a week.  It was fantastic to reconnect with them in person and the week flew by.  While staying in Sturgis, Chuck and I drove to Mount Rushmore one day and Devils Tower another.  

Getting back on the road, we chose the Little Bighorn Battlefield for our next destination.   From there we headed to Yellowstone National Park, spending a few days on the east side of the park in Wapiti, WY, then to the west of the park in Island Park, ID.

By this point I was starting to feel overly visually stimulated and instead of trying to get to many more of the national parks, chose a few key locations we wanted to see during the year before finding a place to set up camp for the winter.  We headed to Las Vegas where I reconnected with a friend who I first knew when we both lived in Charlestown MA.  Kathryn and I hadn’t seen each other in 10 years and had a fun reunion.  And Chuck finally got to say he had been to Vegas.  I was able to share the Red Rock Canyon area with him which had always been the highlight of my trips to Vegas.

From Vegas we headed to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.  Words and photos do not give this beautiful area full justice - to me it is something you have to experience.  While in Arizona, we decided it was time to head back to Florida and chose 2 more most stop locations before getting back to the campground we stayed at the previous winter.

Our penultimate must see destination was Roswell NM, and as far as we recall, neither of us were abducted during that night.  Our final must see for the year was a visit to the Alamo in San Antonio TX.  Other than those places, the campgrounds we stopped at were strictly for resting and pushing on.

We arrived back in Leesburg, FL for October 1 and settled in to a routine at the resort.   Because we bought a new truck at the end of February, we knew exactly how many miles we had gone in the year, just under 20,000, sleeping in 25 states and 3 provinces.

At the end of Nov. our friends, Michael & Glenda coincidentally were in the same region as us and invited us to visit them at the campground they were at in Crystal River. The Crystal River campground was 1/4 the size of the Leesburg park, and had a more decidedly camping atmosphere vs  the mobile home park, and we decided to relocate to Crystal River for the winter.

Since arriving at this campground we’ve been kayaking with manatees and rode our motorcycles in a toy ride of over 300 bikers.  Mostly though, we’ve been relaxing and enjoying the company of friends and the outdoors.

When asked by people what we hope to do in 2013, we explain that our plans are written in ice cubes, ever changing with our whims.

Jetlag

We’ve crossed through 4 time zones over the past 2 two months, usually spending a few weeks in the new region before moving in to the next zone.  However, we’ve gone through 3 zones in 4 nights.

Traveling East to West, slowing down an hour was relatively easy on us humans, while the dogs, Rugby in particular, had issues.  

You see, Rugby knows what time it is and if he’s not being fed at the proper times (8 am and 6 pm) he lets us know. In the morning he’ll start “talking” with a soft yodeling type of sound. Once he’s out of his crate, Rugby comes and sits on our feet and gives us a sad eye look.  The body contact to make you aware of the time resumes at about 5:45 pm.

On our journey west, we’ve been able to wean him in to the new times, and within 3 or 4 days, Rugby knew his new time to eat was later than before. Now that we’re working our way east, Rugby’s loving that he gets to eat sooner then expected.

From the human point of view, it’s been the sleep point of view.  Chuck generally wakes up around 6am, and in the Central and Mountain time zones, that was still his routine. However, when we reached the Pacific zone, he slept until 7. Heading back east, the two mornings we were back to Mountain time, I awoke right at 6. Today we’re back in Central time and once again, we awoke around 6.  Mind you, except for the 2 weeks we did Habitat work, we haven’t set an alarm to wake us.  

For me, the oddest part of all these time zone changes has been the time the sun rises and sets.  Coming from Coastal Maine, where the sun rises and sets early, it’s odd to have sunrise at 7:40 in West Texas. (Sunrise in Portland ME was 6:30). The bonus to the later sunrise is a later sunset, making it easier to see as we walk the dogs at night.

Habitat for Humanity: RV Care-A-Vanner

Last year, the church we are members of in Maine participated in their first Mission Trip, assisting an organization with various repairs for multiple homeowners. I was able to be part of that group and enjoyed being able to assist those families with painting or minor carpentry skills.  

Because Chuck and I are retired and traveling all over, I started looking for similar opportunities for us as to help others. While searching the Internet, I learned about a group called Care-A-Vanners, folks with RVs who help at different Habitat for Humanity builds across North America.  CAVers use their RVs as their home during the build, most are fulltimers like us, but some people use vacation time to go and help in a different community from where they live.  We were going to join a build in FL last fall, but a family member’s health concerns delayed our plans.

In mid-July I received an email indicating a need for more RVers for a build taking place in Brookings, SD the following week.  Since we were approaching South Dakota and wanted to spend some time in our new home state, we decided to sign up.  A community hopes to get 5 or 6 RVs.  We learned there would be 1 other RV with us.

We arrived on Sunday, and met the other Care-A-Vanner who would be working with us.  They were an older couple who had participated in numerous Habitat builds, but the wife was no longer physically able to; staying “home” in their RV while the husband went to the build.  Unfortunately, they had a mechanical issue with their RV and had to leave after the first day. 

When we arrived at the home the first day, House 49 was just a cement foundation. We helped lay trip boards, put in flooring joists, flooring plywood, install S.I.P. (Structural Insulated Panels), build and frame walls and install roofing trusses. We operated table saws, chop saws, air guns and lots of hammers.

Over the next two weeks we generally spent 7 hours a day helping build a home for a mom and her two kids.  The work crew weekdays would be the general contractor, Chuck and myself.  Wednesday is a local volunteer day and we were joined by 7 to 10 people, including the homeowner, which allowed us to make greater headway.

One thing we didn’t anticipate when we signed up to be Care-A-Vanners with Habitat for Humanity in Brookings, SD, was extreme weather. The temperature was over 100 the first week and we were out in the bright sun.   Lunch was provided for the work site volunteers daily, and several days we left our build site to go to Habitat’s local office to cool off in their air conditioned space. One evening there was a severe thunderstorm and even a tornado watch in our region. 

Before the build, I had always thought that Habitat “Gave” people their homes in exchange for hours spent working on their home (or helping Habitat in some manner).  It turns out, each homeowner “Buys” their home at cost, financed with 0% interest thru Habitat.  A few times during our stay we heard Habitat does not give a hand out, but a hand up.

We seriously considered sticking around the community to join their next RV Care-A-Vanner build starting a week after our time ended, but the call of the wild in Yellowstone as well as more travel through the country convinced us it was time to move on. When we left Brookings after our two week stint, there was a lot more to do on the home, no way was it finished.  The anticipated completion and move in time for the homeowner and her children is Thanksgiving.  While there’s still much work for the community to do, it was a special time for Chuck and I to be able to participate.