WINTER ROAD TRIP

"GRANNY THE GREAT"

Well, we hit the road again on December 23, headed for cold country. We made it into north Georgia (I was determined to get through Atlanta before anybody got out of bed) before stopping for the night. We went to bed about 2:30 A.M.; correction, I went to bed, Becky and the boys went back to bed. They had gone to bed after supper, about 9:00 P.M.

We got up around 8:00 A.M. and made it on into Knoxville before lunch time. We had a great Christmas eve with Becky's family. My sister and her granddaughter joined us, too.

Little Sis and Vonna

When I got up Christmas morning, I knew I was not in Florida anymore. It was 46 degrees in the motor home. I decided to turn up the heat to knock the chill out, but guess what! The furnace decided not to work. I crawled back under the blankets and took Rocket with me. His little teeth were chattering he was so cold. I think he is now appreciating the fact that he is a Florida dog.

I checked gas bottles, breakers, fuses, switches, and everything else I could think of. Then I got the electric heater out of the storage bay. We have an appointment at Camping World in St. Augustine at 10:00 A.M. Monday morning. When I talked to their service people on the telephone they said I had already done everything they could think of except change the thermostat. I guess that is where they will start.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from all four of us to each and every one of you!!!! The boys are freshly groomed and we are off to the cold country for Christmas. Makes sense, doesn't it. Cut all their hair off and take them up north in the cold.

There Was Plenty to be Thankful for on Thanksgiving

ME, NANNY, AND THE KIDS

It was Thanksgiving, and time for another road trip. We loaded the boys in the motor home on Thanksgiving morning and headed for our Florida daughter's house. Our oldest son and his family and our oldest daughter and her youngsters made the trip down, too. Eight of our ten grandchildren were there.

We arrived just in time to see the last part of the neighborhood "Thanksgiving Day Parade." We had a great day of family mingling, eating, and watching football.

On Friday morning, we again fired up the motor home and travelled down the highway a bit to the KOA at Starke, FL. (Yes, that is right down the road from the penitentiary where Florida carries out their executions.) We met Becky's oldest brother and sister-in-law there and enjoyed the rest of the weekend catching up. They live in Ft. Walton Beach and we don't get to see them often. They have recently purchased an Airstream, the Cadillac of tow-behinds, and have been spending a lot of time making short trips with it in preparation for next summer. They have a thirty-day road trip planned and I would really like to be accompanying them.

Picking Up Their Rig

Ron was a Master Chief when he retired from the Air Force. He has worked for a defense contractor since then, but is getting ready to retire again. Jennifer says she is retired but Ron keeps telling her she has to have a regular income to be considered retired. He says she is just unemployed.

We had a great time visiting with them. There was no left-over turkey and dressing, either. We had steak and asparagus with Bernaise sauce one night and Jennifer fixed a "Beer-Butt" chicken on the grill on Saturday. We sampled a little wine, a little of "The Gentleman" from the hollow in Lynchburg, TN, and some strange and exotic stuff in a white bottle that smelled strangely like rum and coconuts.

We pulled out around 10:00 AM Sunday morning with intentions of stopping over in Daytona at Becky's favorite flea market. The closer we got to home, the worse the weather looked. I am extremely glad she decided to forgo the shopping so that we could get home before the worst of the storm hit.

By the time we got the motor home backed in the driveway and hooked up and settled down, we were under a tornado watch!!! We had a hale of a rainstorm, but the only tornado touched down about 45 miles south of us. I finally managed to get the motor home washed and Becky just bought a great big red bow to go on the front for our trip to Tennessee for Christmas. I have already called and told them to turn up the heat.

I Screwed Up Big Time

I have been remiss. I have been fussed at. I admit it. I have all but abandoned my blog. My apologies to those of you who expected to see something much sooner.

I got all primed for a beautiful night launch of Endeavour back on November 14. Our Florida daughter and her family made plans to join us for the launch. Becky and I took the motor home and snagged a wonderful parking place right on the banks of the Indian River, directly across from the Assembly Building where NASA mates the shuttle to the boosters and fuel tank. The shuttle itself was visible through the haze directly over the sail boat in the photo.

We had a great time visiting with neighbors and making new friends with others who had come to witness the launch. Many of them were from out-of-state and had never had the opportunity to experience this type of excitement. There was one especially nice couple from Lakeland who were accompanied by their son and daughter-in-law (or was it daughter and son-in-law? That is what I get for waiting so long to write this). At any rate, they live in the metropolitan D.C. area.

It was a beautiful night for a launch. Even the full moon came to watch!

I was all set to capture some award-winning photos. But this is where I screwed up. I forgot to take my nice expensive camera from the automatic settings. I got a few decent shots, but was really disappointed in the overall results. Hopefully I will get another chance before they shut the program down. The next launch is scheduled for February 12, 2009 but I don't think the time has been set yet. Here are a couple of the better ones I wound up with that night.

No, it isn't upside down. The shuttle has climbed above the moon.

Here the moon is reflecting in the Indian River. The bright spot in the middle is the result of my not setting the camera correctly.

As you can tell, the sequence starts from the bottom!

ANOTHER ROAD TRIP WEEKEND

It was hard to do, but we were finally able to schedule a weekend with our North Florida daughter's family when we would be able to attend both of the younger children's football games.

L. B. plays flag football on Saturday mornings, and his younger sister, K. B., is a cheerleader for another team in the local recreational league. On Saturday, October 11, his game was at 10:00 A.M. and hers at 1:30 P.M., allowing us time to take in both games.

L. B. had a super game. He plays center on offense most of the time, and on defense he usually plays end. He managed two "sacks" on the opposing quarterback in his team's first win of the season.

Get him, L. B.!!!

Little sister's cheering surely helped. Her team also won their game with K. B. and seven of her little friends cheering at the top of their lungs.

K. B. is the one in the middle

We got back to the house just in time to watch the Tennessee/Georgia game(No further comments warranted), then the Florida/Auburn game later that evening.

We must have kept the boys up late Saturday night, because they both slept on the couch with momma all the way home.

Whose Birthday Was It???????

Well, I hope Becky had a nice birthday. If she did, it was no thanks to me. I picked a rotten time to get rotten.

Her employees were good to her. They gave her some nice things, she got some beautiful flowers from both daughters, and of course we did manage to get her birthday present a little early. It seems he enjoyed her birthday balloons as much or more than she did.

DESPITE THEIR BEST EFFORTS.........

Well, despite the best efforts of some members of the medical profession, I am still alive and kicking, just not too high yet.

I got a little ill on Friday, September 5. It was very inconsiderate of me considering it was Becky's birthday. No matter. We had planned to have a night out on Saturday to celebrate. But Saturday was no better. My trips to the potty room had increased in numbers. Becky even threatened to take me to the hospital on Saturday evening if I didn't slow down, especially since I now appeared to be passing blood.

On Sunday morning, around 6:30 a.m., I made a return trip to the little room. I tried to get to my recliner afterward but lost control of my motor functions. Becky knew when I asked her if she would mind to get up and take me to the hospital that I was really low by now.

I was admitted to Parrish Hospital in Titusville shortly after 7:00 a.m. Sunday morning. The next five days are a little fuzzy. I had numerous tests run, was maintained on a liquid diet, and fed constant doses of Dilaudid. (Might that account for some of the "fuzzy"?)

At one point it was Colitis, then E-Coli, then a blocked intestine, etc. Finally, after one of the specialists refused my Florida daughter's request that a CT Scan by done, my primary physician stepped in. He ordered the scan, which probably saved my life. The scan showed that my gall bladder was shot.

Now a new problem arose. The surgeon that was chosen to remove my gall bladder asked me how long I had suffered from a very rare blood disease that kept my blood from clotting. It seems that I had been diagnosed last year as having a "K Factor Deficiency". The thing that got me was that I had never been advised of the diagnosis.

Parrish Hospital had no means to deal with this problem, so they decided on Friday, September 12, to ship me off by ambulance to Florida Hospital South in Orlando. More doctors, more tests, and more decisions. It was decided that I did in deed have a dead gall bladder. There were signs of gangrene. Now I had the choice of surgery and bleeding to death or continuing the downward spiral with gangrene.

The Orlando medics spent the weekend pumping junk into my blood. By Monday, they decided it was safe enough and started poking holes in my mid section. God bless them each and every one. By Wednesday evening, I was ready to hit the road for home. I had my first real solid food in almost two weeks. I am not ready for the golf course or swimming pool just yet, but I am walking around the block with the boys and Becky.

Thank God for people (and dogs) that love you and some good medical professionals.

AND THEN, THERE IS THE "CAPTAIN IN TRAINING"

The little doll second from the left in the front row is our Florida granddaughter. Remember when you used to tell your kids that you hoped they would have a child "just like them" when they grew up so they would get some payback.....uh, I mean, so they would better appreciate the things you went through to properly train them in their youth? This one fulfills my every wish. She is her mother made over, and that could never be considered to be a bad thing.

Was I Ever Set Up !

One night last week, Becky came home from work with a tale about a conversation she had with a co-worker. She said she was talking to him about something that she wanted when he asked her why she thought she should have it. She said when she replied that she should have it simply because she wanted it, he responded that he bet she got everything she wanted. She assured him that she certainly did. To this I replied that I do try to give her what she wants simply because I love her and enjoy making her happy. NOW I WAS ON THE HOOK.

The next evening she called to me to come and look at something she had pulled up on the computer screen. She said "isn't he adorable", referring to a picture of a little Schnauzer puppie. I agreed that he was cute and inquired as to his location. She said he was somewhere near Starke, FL, and I went about my business.SHE WAS REELING ME IN.

The big question came the following day when she asked if I intended to drive her on the nearly 300 mile round trip to see the puppy. I tried to convince her that Stormy would be very jealous if he had to share her time and attention with a puppy, and that he might even hurt it. She said we could take Stormy with us and introduce them. She already had her rebuttal ready for any objections I could think to raise. After all, I had admitted that I tried to give her everything she wanted.

We made the trip north with one dog and, needless to say, when we turned the car south there were two dogs inside. After all, Friday is her birthday. How could I say no.

It's CAPTAIN, if you please.

Well, she set her sights on a goal and then attained it. Granddaughter Kaitlyn decided she wanted to be the Captain of her cheer leading squad, and she made it. In this short clip from her church group outing to Panama City Beach, you can see the bubbly enthusiasm that helped her to attain that goal.


I don't think she ever takes off those big white sunglasses!

HERE COMES GUSTAV!

We really need this! Right on the heels of the rainfall of the century comes another storm. This one went from a tropical depression to a Category 1 Hurricane in something like five hours. Brevard, Volusia, Seminole, and parts of Orange counties are still trying to pump water out of homes and roads. If this one should turn our way, we may be looking for Noah's Ark in earnest.

CABIN FEVER - EVEN STORMY HAS IT!

Glad it didn't turn loose

Well, for the first time since my retirement, I think I have cabin fever. I guess I just became too accustomed to the pretty days and being able to get out and putter around in the yard, play golf, etc. One thing about it, though. My "Round-to-it" list has gotten a lot longer. Dear old Fay has added a number of things to the list. Typical female.

Stormy (how appropriate is that name this week?)is even showing signs of cabin fever. I have not been able to convince him that he does not need to go outside in 50-mile-per-hour winds and driving rain. When he decides it is time for him to go outside, there is no shutting him up.

He now has a new game to play. It is called "Chase the Palm Fronds". He has a better chance of catching the neighbor's cat than a Palm branch moving at 50 mph. He can't just go out and take care of business, then run for shelter. He has to check out every new item that has been added to the landscape.

The week end that we were at the beach, he ran from the water as the tide rolled in. This week, he seeks out the deepest water puddles to run through. Believe me, he has had no trouble finding some pretty deep ones. When I finally get him back in the house, he feels the need to play tug-of war with the towel. Did you ever try to dry a soaked dog with him shaking the towel like a rag doll?

Just needs a little pruning

All in all, I guess we don't have anything to complain about. We have no damage to the house or motor home. We never lost our power. The only apparent damage we have at this time is a couple of broken tree branches and two large Hibiscus plants that got tired of standing in the wind and laid over. We had staked and tied up most of the larger bushes, but the two we thought were the most protected apparently were not. But as Becky said, they are just flowers, and she can grow more.
Should have put the car against it

Our North Florida daughter started calling earlier in the week. She said she did not feel comfortable about us being here in Fay's path and tried to get us to come north. I felt we were pretty well prepared and would have no problems. On Wednesday night or Thursday morning, I was calling her and suggesting that she come south out of the line of fire. She lost her power for about four hours on Thursday afternoon, then lost it again during the night Thursday night. She says at least the generator will power the play station to keep the kids entertained.

Well, here we sit, still under a wind advisory until 6 p.m. Winds in the advisory area are expected to be sustained at 25 to 30 mph, with gusts to 40 mph. Our flood watch also remains in effect until 6 p.m. I knew I should have bought one of Johnnie's Kayaks.

The Tenth Grandchild

Well, we managed to get nine of the ten grand children together for the picture at the bottom of the page. As I mentioned earlier, the tenth and oldest of the group had to skip the Florida trip to prepare for a trip to Athens. How can anyone prefer going to Athens over an opportunity to come to the beautiful coast of Central Florida? Oh, I did mention that it was Athens, Greece didn't I? Here are a few of the photos that he took while he was in "the old country." Ben at the Acropolis

As you can see, there is a lot of restoration work going on.

A few of his other pictures are included in the short video. It looks to me like he may have acquired his grandfather's fascination with beautiful sunrises.

Different Kind of Week End

Well, it was our turn to use the motorhome. Becky had a long weekend off and we took full advantage of it. She has been working some really long hours since her company took over food service operations at Rockwell. Her boss rewarded her with an extra day off so we loaded up and went to the beach. Yes, I know, we live on the coast of central Florida, but I mean we actually "went to the beach."



Beverly Beach Camptown is located on A1A approximately three miles north of the intersection with Florida Highway 100. (Exit 284 on Interstate 95)They have a very accomodating staff, an extremely well-stocked camp store, and a neat little coffee shop to go along with full-hookup sites that allow you to put the nose of your camper within three feet of the sea wall.
PEEKING OVER THE HORIZON(click to enlarge)
AMAZING HOW FAST IT GROWS(click to enlarge)

For those of you old enough to remember drive-in movies, this was like being in the front row of the drive-in for spectacular sunrise shows. And the movie changed each morning.

A Busy Three Weeks or So

Well, I think the rush is over now. We had a few busy weeks with company from the hills, but as far as I know, there are no more reservations for the "guest cottage" for a while.

As I mentioned previously, the youngest son and his wife arrived for a visit the last week of June. They seemed to have a good time, visiting Mickey's house, the beach, a few shopping malls, etc. Becky did not have a lot of time off to spend with them. She just got the new cafeteria opened and had to be there about 15 hours a day for a while. Thank goodness, that has finally settled down and her hours have gotten a little easier.

She did get a little time off while Keith and Wendy were here. We took them to one of our favorite places for dinner one night and they got to play with the alligators.
You can tell she is not a gator fan!
Baby boy couldn't let mom outdo him.

Kevin, the next one up the line, his wife and two little dolls arrived next. Nanny was still working crazy hours, but at least she did have the holiday weekend off. She took them to Animal Kingdom (Really the place you want to be on Saturday of a holiday weekend!!!).

They did get to spend a lot of time at the beach and in the pool.
You can't get any sun under there, Julie!
Kevin tried to catch up on his rest.
She'll be two in August.
And she will be in third grade.

The Baby Boy Comes To Visit

Our youngest son and his wife drove down from Tennessee to spend a week of their vacation with us. We took them back to the Manatee overlook at Haulover Canal to show off the wildlife. No gators this time, and not near as much Manatee activity as usual, but we did get a great show from a Porpoise passing through.

FATHER'S DAY WEEKEND WAS SUPER

Stormy got me a card for Father's day. You know how it is. Your kids always tend to suggest things that they would like! Take a look and see what you think.

Our Florida grandchildren and their mom got to come for a visit on Satrday. We wore out the swimming pool. I think we wore out nanny and pappaw too. We had a great time, then went topless (car, that is) to the fish camp for a bite to eat. All in all, it was a great day.

You can probably tell from the photo that our daughter has managed to hang on to her Tennessee roots despite the fact that she married a die-hard Gator. She has lived in Florida for over 25 years and her blood is still orange.

I don't know who enjoyed the day more, me or the children. Little miss Kali G. had a good time sneaking up on nanny.


COOLING NANNY OFF

WHO DID THAT?

Well, it was another exciting day at Rocket Land. They shot another Delta 2-Heavy into the sky from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Complex. This was success number 134 out of 136 attempts to send payloads into space with the Delta 2s.

The GLAST Telescope Is On Its Way

This attempt will place a gamma-ray telescope into orbit that will allow scientists to probe more of the black holes of space.

NIGHT LAUNCH IN MARCH, 2008

WELL-LIT ON THE PAD

While waiting for the launch of Discovery on Saturday evening, I talked with some other viewers about the earlier launch of Endeavour back on March 11, 2008. That is the one that left after two in the morning.

They had watched the launch from somewhere south of our present location. I had chosen a vantage point at the Titusville Marina, just across the bridge from our current location.

He, like I, had been very surprised when the shuttle disappeared into a very low-haninging ceiling very soon after launch. The sky had been so dark that no one was aware that the clouds had dropped in so low over the launch pad. I tried to get some good shots of the first night launch since 2006. The pad was well lit before the launch and as you can see from the picture above, I had a good line of sight. I had the camera on the tripod for this occasion but quickly discovered that I didn't need it.

The initial ignition literally lit up the night. The first few frames I shot had a massive amount of glare in them. Suddenly, the low ceiling became visible in the bright light. One of the best shots I have ever made came as the shuttle entered the low-hanging cloud cover. I think it is well worth sharing here.

ENDEAVOUR DISAPPEARS INTO THE CLOUDS

Not a holiday, but another great weekend!!!

As I mentioned earlier, my sister and her granddaughter have been visiting with us from Tennessee. They had planned to leave for home on Friday, but after learning of the scheduled Space Shuttle launch, they were convinced to stay until Sunday morning. We took the motor home out early Saturday morning and got a prime parking spot along the "A. Max Brewer Memorial Parkway".

We knew that a Saturday launch would draw a huge crowd. My sister and great-niece accompanied me in the motor home. Becky stayed behind to finish up some Saturday morning chores and then make a quick trip to her favorite retail store in the whole wide world. (Anyone who knows my lovely wife knows no shopping trip with her is quick.) We arrived very early Saturday morning and had our choice of spots. We were located approximately 11 miles from the launch pad.

We opened the awning, sat up the table and chairs, turned up the music, and just got comfortable in general. That is about when the rain showers hit. You would think that a little shower would not pose a problem for someone with a 16-foot awning, but guess which way the wind was blowing. Right. At least we had a comfy place to wait out the shower.

Shortly after the second shower hit, I was standing just outside the door (yes, I was under the awning)when a little red convertible with the top down pulled in. By the time I got to her and got the top up, there were water puddles in the front seats. Vonna, our niece, began to worry that the launch would be scrubbed by the rain. She is not as familiar with our Florida showers as we are. I assured her she would get to see the launch.

The ladies put together a nice lunch. We then spent a leisurely afternoon chatting with other viewers, reading, consuming cold beverages, and just relaxing in general. We met two generations of an extremely nice family that had driven down from Jacksonville to view their first up-close and personal shuttle launch. The father and mother have recently retired and just sold their home in Colorado. What a change of scenery this must be for them. The son and his bride live on the south side of Jacksonville but are planning a move to the D.C. area of Virginia in the near future. After questioning their sanity, I learned that it was a work-related move. The afternoon wore on and the launch eventually went off without a hitch.

After the launch, we sat back and watched the scramble. Within two hours, traffic was almost back to normal. Do you have any idea how many gallons of $4 gasoline were consumed on this highway today?

After we got the motor home safely tucked in at home, I sat down to enter the receipts from Becky's shopping trip into the check register. I am still trying to figure out what the $15 charge for a "10-inch fan" was for!

It Was a Great Holiday Weekend

My sister and her granddaughter are visiting with us this week. They all made the trek to Mickey's house on Saturday with the rest of the tourists. They stayed from early that morning until the afternoon thundershowers we are famous for popped up. They came home complaining about aching feet and tired legs. All I got was a souvenir cup. Now you tell me who got the best end of that deal.

Becky had to work Sunday, so after church, little sister, her granddaughter and I dropped the top on the car and rode out to the Canaveral National Seashore. We got a hazy view of Discovery sitting on the launch pad, then went on a search of the wildlife area for alligators, raccoons, and other exotic animals.

We discovered probably what was the largest crowd of two-legged animals of the season at Playalinda Beach, but nothing worth breaking the camera out for.

We decided then to make the short drive to Haulover Canal, the main passage from the Indian River into the Lagoon and on to the open waters of the Atlantic. There is a large deck on the north side of the canal that is usually good for a Manatee sighting.

Not only were we entertained by a large school of Manatees, but there were Dolphins putting on a show as well. After watching the Dolphins until they passed out of sight beneath the bridge, we noticed another item floating in the water near the south bank of the canal.



It looked like a log was headed out to sea. We then noticed the empty chair, the overturned cooler and beer can lying on the ground at the water's edge. That is when we decided to zoom in for a closer look. It was not a log, but a...well, see for yourself.



After a few minutes, we spotted the missing fisherman behind a tree well up the bank. I can't say as I blame him.

By the time we returned home, the nine-year-old decided that it had not been such a boring day after all. She got to see an alligator, manatees, and dolphins. We won't tell her mother she (along with her Mam maw and great-uncle)got sunburned from riding around with the top down. Oh well, that's what they make Aloe for.

Is it Summer Yet?

Well, another birthday has come and gone. Someone asked me if I felt any older. My response was that once you start drawing social security, age has no meaning.

We made a combination birthday/Mother's Day trip to our daughter's in Jacksonville. She fed us well and my grandchildren sang happy birthday to me. I made out like a bandit. I scored a new pair of shoes, "Crocs" no less, and a couple of shirts. Ms Becky is now sporting a diamond encrusted palm tree around her neck.

I am still not used to this weather. I find myself worrying that the end of the season will soon be here along with short days and cold nights. Then I realize that, what the heck, I now live in the land of sunshine. Thank you, Lord.

Thank you also for 5 great kids who cared enough to call and say happy birthday, for 10 grandchildren who seem to think I am something special, and to a wife who knows me inside-out and loves me anyway.

He Sure Does Have Us Trained

When we lost our Cocker Spaniel, we swore we would never have another dog. Well, if you ask him, we are holding to that. There is no way anyone on earth could convince "The Midnight Storm" that he is a dog.

Stormy and I made a Remarkable Discovery

Stormy and I
were out in the yard watering the flowers today when we made a remarkable discovery. There are more colors in our yard than there are in a box of Crayola's!!! And all of the plants don't have open blooms right now. The accompanying video shows some of the color we found alive in the yard today.

American Hibiscus Society Show at Leu Gardens

On April 12 the Central Florida Chapter of the American Hibiscus Society held their annual show at Harry P. Leu Memorial Gardens in Orlando. Becky entered two of her blooms and was rewarded with a Gold Ribbon for one of them.

My First Anniversay as a Floridian

Today is the first anniversary of my "arriving" as a Floridian. On May 3, 2007 I made one final visit to my physician of many years for a last physical, then climbed into my little truck and headed south. Becky had been living in our retirement home for almost a year by then. She received a job offer that she could not refuse and I had to stay behind to complete enough on-the-job time to become vested in the pension plan. I could hardly walk off and leave that guaranteed income laying on the table.

I must confess that I was afraid I might become bored after a short period of "inactivity". I will also confess that that has not happened. With the Midnight Storm around, nobody can get bored. We spend most of our time together, riding around in the golf cart "patrolling the neighborhood", or riding down the road in the convertible. He lets me spend some time on the internet while he takes his naps. Lucky for me, they are frequent.

I have not lost touch with my roots. Thanks to the wonderful world of the internet, I read the headlines from "back home" almost every day. I am able to stay in touch on an almost daily basis with friends and family, and if any of you think that there is a possibility of my becoming a Gator convert, one look at my golf cart will knock that notion out of your head.

The paint job cost me two tickets to the 50th. Anniversay running of the Daytona 500, but the best part is it was done by a die-hard Gator fan. He did a great job on it even though it broke his heart. Good thing he was family (our daughters brother-in-law).

My First Effort

This is my first effort at publishing a blog. I have had the opportunity to enjoy many others, so I thought I might use this one to share some of my fun and photos. The accompanying photo is the Midnight Storm. I am sure you can tell he rules the roost. I let him drive once, now he thinks he has to drive all the time!!!!

Since I am now retired and momma still has to work (somebody has to support us) he and I are best buds. We spend most of our time together just hanging out, riding around with the top down, or tooling around in the golf cart.