Life Renewed

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2018 As things were a bit crazy this past month, I decided to format our Christmas greetings within our blog, sending the link rather than the newsletter.   That way, if you want to go back through past editions of the blog, you’ll already be there!   (Also, because some folks’ email servers won’t allow an email with attachments – aka, pictures – to reach their inboxes, this will ensure they, too, get to see the goings-on of our strange new life!) January and February were a bit of a ho-hum for us.   The flu bug caught hold at Christmas time, followed closely by colds, which were compounded by Karen’s bad fortune to develop an abscessed gum and the need for root canal.   Not exactly a whole lot of fun, but we still somehow managed to make our way over to Disney to find some enjoyment in between fevers, jaw pain, and incessant hacking up lungs.   March began with Tim finishing up his work at Universal in order to start preparing for an anticipated long

Here it is, December already,  and we have been settled in Davenport, Florida for just over a month. In my blog post entitled "Crossroads," I discussed the idea that we would look for a small mobile home community to live in for 6 months out of the year. No sooner did we arrive in Florida, then we started looking for a 55+ community that met our criteria. The day we looked, we found just what we needed. An offer was made, accepted, and closing date set. On November 17th, we closed. And now, we are the proud owners of a just under 1200 square foot manufactured home in a lovely community with lots of amenities, including a heated pool and hot tub. Woohoo! Over the course of the past two weeks, we've been moving things in a little bit at a time, and on December 1st, we moved most everything in, including the cats. Mao has been exploring constantly, finding all kinds of little things to get into, and P spent the better part of the day hiding. She's very good at finding no

Remember back in the spring when we had mechanical issues with our jack, which threw our travel plans in a tizzy?  We made our way back to Knoxville so our dealer could repair it since the manufacturer couldn't get us into their facility for 6 months.  It was warranty work, so we had a claim number which our dealer used for reimbursement of the minimal labor (tightening some bolts).  Well, it seems that loose bolt were NOT the problem, and we have been leaking hydraulic fluid every time we retract the jacks.  Called the dealer, who called the manufacturer, and, well, we are headed back to Knoxville for repairs.  Again.  The good news is that parts and labor will be covered under warranty.  And that is why you should always buy from a reputable dealer who gets stellar reviews! In the meantime, we left North Carolina and headed back to Sevierville, TN to wait to hear from the dealer.  We'll still be heading to Charleston, Savannah, and St. Augustine before we return to Davenpor

Another month has flown by, and now we are on our final countdown before we pull up stakes, hitch up the Beast to Mongo, and venture forth.   We leave on October 1 st , and when I say that these 4+ months have gone by in a blink of an eye, that’s a fact!   We’ll be travelling for 4 weeks, tentatively arriving in Davenport, FL on October 27 th (barring any diversions due to weather). Oh, the weather diversions……..let’s just say that our original itinerary took quite a hit once Florence blew into North Carolina.   We had intended to spend some time hugging the coast, visiting the Cape Hatteras to Myrtle Beach areas, but reservations had to be cancelled and booked elsewhere in order to avoid what was the worst of the water/storm damage.   We’ll stay farther inland, and then shoot over to the coast to Charleston, SC – and a bit of genealogy snooping by visiting the cemetery where the McGareys are buried, as well as paying a visit to The Citadel for a visitors’ tour.   Tim’s grandf