The Finale

Glenn on beach in York, Maine

Camden Harbor
Camden, Maine

Grave of the unknown child from the Titanic

Halifax cemetery where over 200 Titanic victims are buried

We left Nova Scotia on Monday, the 12th, and headed across to the Bay of Funday area on the way out. The roads were horrific and the scenery was lame compared to everything we have seen thus far. We did see the area where they have the highest tides in the world. It was, however, low tide when we passed, so it was just ugly basically. We continued on through New Brunswick toward customs. When we got to customs, there was an unusally nice female officer on duty. She came in and looked around, asked all the normal questions, and wanted to know if we purchased the potted plant in the bathroom in Canada. umm, it's fake. It doesn't look anything like a real plant at all. She asked about the weapon, didn't make a deal out of it, and never checked Sparkle's high dollar health certificate. We were off without incident.

We were moving rather quickly attempting to get to a place we had stopped at before called Cobscook State Park. We loved it there before and thought we'd stop and eat something and maybe stay the night. Glenn had to stop and get gas on the way and by then it had gotten pretty dark. As he was leaving the gas station, (whew, back to US gas prices!) he failed to see the curb and PLUNK CLUNK over we went, RV and jeep and all. It knocked the cupboard doors open, cups, bowls, toaster, etc all fell out with a crash. The coffee pot was hanging by the cord from the counter. Actually, little damage was done. Well we got to the park, it was unattended, and you just had to pick your spot and put your money in the envelope and in the slot. Glenn was leary, not knowing his way around back in the camping area. But he plugged on in the darkest dark we had ever seen. Well he made his way through, didn't find a pull through site, and decided to leave. I was bummed.....first of all he had paid 20 bucks! I thought he could find SOMEplace back there that would work. So he tried again, ended up at a dead end...OMG....and it was so dark you could not see a foot in front of you. Well, as I have mentioned before, with the jeep on the back, there is no backing up. So out we went in the dark, unhooked the jeep AGAIN, and I had to drive it and follow him out of thre campground. We ended up closing the curtains and sleeping in the parking lot all night! I was just mad that we paid 20 bucks for it.

The next morning we headed on dowon the coast of Maine. We skipped Bar Harbor because we didn't plan to stay overnight and we would have been trying to find a spot to park in so we could walk around. We went on to Camden, a favorite of both of ours. We got out and walked the town but it was chilly and misting...surprise, surprise,...so we didn't get to eat outside with the pup. But we enjoyed the town for a while and then took back off again. Well don't you know, Glenn hears a "noise". My job was to hang out of the window and see where it was coming from. Well it appeard to be coming from the back wheel. He first decided to wait til we got home and get it taken care of. I knew right away that that would never happen. He pulled into a couple places but neither could work on it but suggested a place a few miles away that could. So we headed there. It was found that the caliper was sticking and had already ruined the rotor and pads. It would be a 2 1/2 hour job but they could do it. 5 hours later andf 700 dollars poorer, we were on our way again. Oh well, no sense lingering on it and letting it spoil the fun we were having. We were lucky to find people to fix the problems right away. So, we have nice new back brakes now before out next trip. What a secure feeling that will be, right? Ha.

The next morning we headed out again and stopped at York, Maine beach, another of our fav places. We had a cup of coffee, hung out on the beach, and headed out. The rest of the drive was pretty uneventful except for the snow that we ran into in Pa. We did see a moose enroute, but it was dead, so it wasn't exactly what I was hoping for! In spite of the few problems that arose, it was a great trip. We saw some of the most beautiful scenery ever and I'd go back in a heartbeat.

This concludes the postings on this trip. Thanks for reading!

Our new RV friends came over and visited a few minutes this morning before they took off and before we left for Halifax. We gave them our "business card" and they plan to contact us when they get back to England.
We headed into the city today and walked around the boardwalk area near the harbor. It was sunny and a beautiful day for a change. We also went to the cemetery that has a large number of the Titanic victims buried there. It was a pretty cool thing to see, but also pretty sad. The grave of the unknown child was pitiful. It had a lot of "trinkets" in front of it....baby toys, a straw hat, bracelet, money, etc. A few of the other graves did as well, but there was a lot of stuff at the unknown child one. It was actually a very interesting place to see.
I learned a few things today. I learned that the Canadian coin for a dollar is called a loonie because it has a picture of a loon on it. The two dollar coin is known, then, as a toonie! So when you see the dollar store, it is called Loonie and Toonie's dollar store.
We were discussing various types of motor homes and the various equipment that can come on them with our new RV friends from England. Glenn mentioned that some of them even come with dishwashers and garbage disposals. Kate had a confused look on her face and Andy said oh, you mean the "muncher".
When we were in Halifax this morning, a Middle Eastern family was marveling over Sparkle, who looked rather adorable in her sweater. The father asked if I minded if he took a "snap" of her.
My vocabulary increased considerably on this trip.
Tomorrow...Thanksgiving Day here...we are heading out. We didn't get invited to anyone's RV or house for turkey, so no reason to hang around and be sad about it. We'll move on into New Brunswick and into Maine, down the coast and toward home. We'll just eat our pumpkin pie all by ourselves. I am thinking of writing a letter to the president and asking if the US would be interested in changing our Thanksgiving to the same time as Canada's. That way it wouldn't be so close to Christmas and things would be a little more spread out. The weather would be a little nicer too. Don't you think that it would work out a lot better that way? Well, Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Peggy's Cove, NS

So, I woke up this morning and what do I hear??? MORE Rain!!!!! Geeshhh!!!! We loafed around here a little longer and finally set out to the South Shore area of NS. I'm not saying it cleared up, but I can say that whenever we were ready to get out of the jeep and walk around and area, it stopped for that time. I'm thinking we should be in an ark instead of a jeep. We were still able to do what we wanted, just not in sunshine. Tomorrow is supposed to be great outside.

Our first stop was Peggy's Cove. It was an awesome spot with a nice lighthouse. The setting was very much like something you would see in Maine. From Peggy's Cove we meandered further down the South Shore and visited the towns of Chester, Mahone Bay, and Lunenberg. We loved them all, especially Lunenberg. They were small town fishing villages, but big enough to have a restaurant and a shop of two to look around in. The buildings were quaint and Lunenberg had a lovely harbor area with some nice boats in the water. We had a sandwich at a Subway and sat outside on their upper deck overlooking the water.

Some things I noticed today: The smell outside is often that of wood burning in stoves in the houses. It's chilly up here already and the rain has really put a chill in the air. People are burning their stoves to warm things up already. The whole outside smells either of pine or the wonderful fall aroma of wood burning in the stoves in their homes. Another thing is the grocery store....there are no supermarkets for the most part. All you see are small country type general stores or small convenience stores of some kind. I went into a store today for a couple things and was appalled to see that a 4 liter of milk was over 7 dollars!!!! Eggs were 2.50 a dozen. I tried to buy beer for Glenn and discovered that no store sells it. It can only be purchased at a liquor store. We got lost on the way back and accidently ran into a liquor store. That was unfortunate I guess because the beer was twice the cost that it is at home! Another thing that I find interesting is that every community seems to have a volunteer fire department. I think it's kind of cute. But what if all the volunteers are on vacation or something and there is a fire?

I have also found it interesting to notice the various cultural influences on different areas. You can tell from the names of the restaurants, cities, stores, etc. whether the main influence is French, English, or Scottish. It is evident even in the names of the churches, most of which are Catholic.

Things that we haven't seen since we crossed the border...or have seen little of-

law enforcement...only 2 spotted anywhere

Blacks...a total of 3 have been seen at all

Middle eastern people running gas stations, hotels, etc....almost every place we have seen has been run by locals

thugs

gangs

sagging pants

supermarkets...1 spotted

chain restaurants are very limited

When we finally got back to the RV tonight, the people in the RV next door came over to say they had seen us at the lighthouse today. They are from England and were so much fun to talk to. They had flown into Toronto and rented a motor home and have been touring aound it it through northern US and Canada. As always, talking to people from other countries gives a new appreciation for the good old US. They would LOVE to live here. So we have some new RV friends, Andy and Kate. Unfortunately they are leaving tomorrow. I was thinking that they could be our Thanksgiving Day friends. For fear of having nothing celebratory on Thanksgiving up here Monday, I did buy a pumpkin pie at the store.

Tomorrow we plan to go into Halifax and see a few things of interest. We will likely leave here Monday and head through New Brunswick and into Maine.

Travel Day

We left Cape Breton this morning and headed toward Halifax. On the way, we ended up in a huge traffic stoppage. It was one of those deals where they have a flag person letting so many people through and then poof, up comes their little flag and you get stopped. After being stopped twice, we ended up getting stopped one more time when we were next in line. I offered the cute young man who stopped us a cup of coffee and we ended up making buddies with him and another flag dude. We were stopped for at least 15 minutes so we managed to find out quite a bit about them and the area. Unfortunately, neither of them were very well travelled in their own country so what we found out was pretty much just about their hometown. Oh well, they were nice guys and very appreciative of our mobile hospitality. If they ever leave their area, they will look us up in Ohio. Ha.
We are staying at a KOA just outside of Halifax. It is really beautiful but it looks a lot more like camping-camping than an RV park. It has trees, a river, and all that stuff. Once we get in our home on wheels, it doesn't matter what is outside though...walmart signs, gas pumps, or pretty trees and rivers.
We saw some folks here at the park who have 2 Irish Setters that are just beautiful. We stopped and visited with them for a minute and they are just as crazy as all of them are. I think Glenn was feeling bad that Lucky isn't with us this trip.
We found out that Monday is Thanksgiving Day here. I had no idea that they had a Thanksgiving or that it would be a different day. Now I'm hoping that someone will invite us to their place for Thanksgiving. Isn't it sad that we are going to be alone on Thanksgiving??? I'm going to try real hard to make some friends before Monday.

The Cabot Trail

We spent nearly the entire day on the popular Cabot Trail. We headed up the East coast which was pretty, but nothing spectacular. However, as we got nearer to the northern edge, the views of the coast were incredible. We ended up traveling the entire Cabot Trail, in spite of the lousy weather. While the scenery was amazing, we were a little disappointed not to find some interesting villages similiar to the ones we love so much in Maine. When they say village here in NS, they mean a teensy little berg. We were hoping to see a few large enough to walk the town a bit and get a cup of coffee. Tomorrow we are heading down south in NS, close to Halifax, and check out the coastal spots down there. There are actually stars out tonight so we hope that tomorrow won't be rainy and gloomy.

New Province, New Look

View from campground we are in

We left this morning from Woods Island, PEI, on the ferry to Caribou, Nova Scotia. The ride was about 70 minutes and was uneventful. I was amazed at how many vehicles they shoved on that boat. Huge semis, several motor homes and campers, and tons of cars were on there and it wasn't even full. We arrived in Nova Scotia and still had about a couple hours drive to get to Cape Breton Island, which is the northernmost area of Nova Scotia. There was a noticeable difference between NS and PEI. The colors are much more advanced and bright, the mountains are higher, roads are steeper, and it just looks overall different. We are going to spend a few days at Cape Breton. There is a national park here that is supposed to be lovely and a scenic drive called Cabot Trail that is very famous. It is nearly 200 miles of steep cliff type driving so it will take a while to see lots of it. There are supposed to be lots of moose in the park as well as bear and other cool animals. When we leave here, we hope to go down to the main area of NS and see what is there as well. Halifax has a few things I'd like to see.

It finally stopped raining....until just NOW. Luckily it is supposed to be done by tomorrow morning but the wind gusts are to be up to 80....not mph fortunately, but kmh. I THINK that is about 50 mph. In any case, Glenn RUSHED out and put the awning down.

We are really anxious to see more of Cape Breton tomorrow.

The Day of the New Starter

We got all ready to leave today, dog and her equipment packed in the jeep, and when the key was turned, all we heard was "click click click". Assuming the battery was dead....and not a clue why it would be....Glenn got a neighboring camper to jump the battery. Nope, didn't help. Next thing was to try to pop the clutch and get it started...which involved pushing. Oh yeah, pushing. Of course at that moment it decided to start misting again. So we pushed and tried to start it a few times...finally it was ME pushing and HIM starting but yep, we got 'er. So we headed to the camp office, had to leave the jeep running of course so we didn't have to push again, and Glenn got some info about a place to have it looked at. We headed to a service station on this very remote island and the peeps were as nice as could be. It was determined that it wasn't the battery, but the starter. The started had to come from Charlottown and oops, the mechanic had a dr. appointment, so we were told to come back in a couple hours. So the mechanic and the wife of the owner came out and pushed us to a hill so that we could pop the clutch again and get it started....and then we rode around touring stuff we wanted to see for a couple hours but couldn't turn the engine off...or ONE of us would have to push again! It worked out fine. We went back and hung out in the station with the locals there, learning stuff about the island. It was kind of like Mayberry. One hour and 300 bucks later and we were on our way. We saw as much as we could and plan to take the ferry to Nova Scotia tomorrow morning.
Things that we observed about the island: The colors change later than they do in Maine surprisingly
Dirt roads are quite common here
The dirt and sand are red
Most of the land consists of rolling hills of farmland that end at the sea
The people are all nice, friendly, helpful, and most have accents of some kind
The woodsy areas smell wonderful- a mixture of the varying kinds of pines and something that smells minty
A fishing village consists of a couple house, a few shanties, maybe a restaurant, and some boats
Most often when you come to a named town, it is difficult to tell where exactly it is. Sometimes you see the sign and not much else.
There are tons of lighthouses on the island, many of them still working.
Trying to follow a map is next to impossible here. Nothing seems to be to scale, all the roads are tiny, many dirt, and the roads and names of the towns are so small on the map you need a magnifying glass to see them.
Apparently July and August are the main tourist months. There is virtually no one here right now and many restaurants and stores are closed for the winter.
Winter seems to be qualified as anything that is not July and August!
The bridge to get here is the longest bridge in the world over ice.
It seems like most of the farmland might be devoted to growing potatoes.
Overall, this island is a very remote, serene, downhome place. "Lobster suppers" are advertised many places including churches, restaurants, etc.

Stay tuned for notes from Nova Scotia.

Coastline view early evening in a mist

One of many lighthouses on PEI

Red fox, one of many on PEI from what we hear.

Sparkle, hiding because Glenn was vacuuming

Sparkle showing her excitement about looking for a moose

Days 1-4

We have finally arrived at a place that has internet available so I will attempt to give an account of the trip thus far. We haven't really begun sightseeing the places we set out to see, but I'll update you on a few things that have taken place prior to the actual fun stuff.

Day 1: We left home in the afternoon today, Oct. 1st. (Happy Birthday to my sister, Sharon!) Lucky got to stay at Jodi's this trip. We didn't want to leave Sparkle for two reasons: Jodi doesn't deserve to have to take care of a puppy and we didn't want to leave her in the middle of her training period. We are pretty sure that Lucky was happy to be away from her for a while. She drives him CRAZY. So it's sort of a vacation for him as well!
When we left home, gas was 2.12 a gallon. By the time we stopped for the night in Punxatawney, Pa., we had to pay 2.44 a gallon. We looked for Punxatawney Phil, or Ponce de Leon as one of my former students referred to him as, but no sign of him. We spent the night in a luxury suite at a Flying J parking lot. Clean bed, bath, and food was great. ha.


Day 2: FINALLY...we managed to get through the state of Pa. GEEZ, that is a wide state! We crossed the Delaware just like George Washington and headed into NY, then Mass. It was an uneventful day basically. We selected a fancy place at a travel plaza on Mass. Pike.

Day 3: Note to self...attempt to avoid all turnpikes and toll roads w.hen in the motor home. A regular car driver would never guess how much more RV drivers have to pay to travel these roads. We went across a mile bridge that carried a toll charge. Cars were a buck. We paid $5.50 for and RV towing a jeep. This came up several times today and it became very annoying. I'm pretty sure we didn't enjoy driving that road that much more than the folks in the cars.
We are noticing that the colors in Mass. are getting brighter the further north we go. As we moved into NH and then Maine, the foliage was spectacular. We spotted a moose in a river but passed it too quickly to get a photo.
We selected a lovely Walmart to shop and spend the night before crossing into Canada.
It's been proven many times that if I allow my eyes to veer from the road for a minute, Glenn takes a wrong turn. If I go to make lunch, we end up on a byway to who knows where. This time, I went into Walmart to get him some cold medicine and in that short time, he managed to attempt to turn the motor home around in the parking lot and got stuck in a place that he couldn't get out of. He ended up having to unhook the jeep and another person who was staying there also came over to help him out of the mess. I was gone 15 minutes and it was a mini disaster. This is why I don't take a lot of naps.

Day 4: We got up and headed toward the border this morning. We were fully prepared, had all the rules covered, etc...so we thought. The customs officer asked a couple questions, checked our passports, and casually asked if we had anything else in the vehicled that he hadn't mentioned. Glenn told him upfront that he had a weapon. MISTAKE. We were well read, had all the rules covered, had the correct forms filled out....and he wants to know why he has a weapon. Since the rules we read said that it was ok to have certain ones to protect yourself from wild animals, he stated that as a reason. Uh, no? He said that wasn't a reason. He said that Prince Edward Island doesn't have any animals that would hurt us. hmmm. So he said Glenn would have to leave the weapon there. Well I knew THAT wasn't going to happen! So we said we weren't coming back that way. So he suggested that we go back to Maine and SHIP it home!!!! Finally Glenn said well, what if I was going to go skeet shooting? At that, the officer invited him in. After conferencing with another officer, they agreed that we had covered all bases, followed all rules, tried to be honest, and let him pay his $25.00 and turn in his forms, and proceed with his weapon. I was very annoyed that they didn't care one bit about the puppy that we had taken to get checked by Dr. Joe and that she had a health certificate to make sure she didn't get confiscated. Nor did they care about how much alcohol we had OR the fact that I had made the bed very nicely so that when they came in and checked us, we didn't look all trashy.
We arrived on the island late this afternoon. Gas is 91 cents a liter...I think that might be about 4 bucks a gallon. yikes. Glenn asked about paying with American money, etc, and they said it was PAR. We think that might mean that our money is near the same as Canadian right now but we aren't really sure!
We are at the Cavendish KOA and it's been raining like crazy so we don't really know what anything looks like here. We have Wifi, but not cable. Glenn managed to get a couple channels on TV and it took a little while but he finally realized that they are in French!
Tomorrow we plan to take the jeep out and follow the drives along the coastline. From the little we saw so far, it looks amazing. We are hoping to see fishing villages and lobster fleets and lots of colors. Hopefully I'll be connected enough to update this frequently.

On the Road Again...

Tomorrow is day one of a trip that we are both looking forward to. We are headed east through Maine, then north to Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. I'm really not ready to leave already again but timing is everything when you want to see the best of the fall foliage. I admit, it sounds like an old people's trip....fall foliage. But we love Maine in the fall, and I can't help but think that a little further north will be even better. Prince Edward Island (PEI) is supposed to be lovely. Nova Scotia boasts fishing villages and a beautiful coastline. We would like to go to Newfoundland as well, but we haven't figured out how to get there yet. It remains a possibility but not a certainty. A ferry would definitely be involved so we need to check it out when we get there. The description of it mentions seeing passing icebergs and that sounded really cool to me. We have picked out a few things we want to see. One of those is a cemetery where many Titanic victims are buried and the other, also a cemetery, has graves of POWs from the US from the War of 1812. Not sure why I have a thing for cemeteries.
I'm hoping to have internet somewhere up there so that I can post a few times, hopefully including some pictures to share.
Motor home packed, bills paid, mail held, dogs ready, kids kissed goodbye....I think we are ready.

Sparkle taking her first scooter ride.

Final Day

Today was our last day at the beach. We are heading toward home tomorrow. It is super windy here today and not so sunny. We spent a few hours on the beach just chillin' out there and wearing Sparkle out. She is definitely the princess of the beach. There are probably about fifty people who know her name. Everyone that sees her stops us and plays with her. A nice little girl on the beach spent a long time playing with her and having her fetch her toy. She....Sparkle, not the little girl...finally just took her toy and laid down and closed her eyes. She is whipped tonight.
I'd say that about 75% of the people here have dogs with them. We've met all kinds of dogs, big and small, but our little girl has been the apple of everyone's eye. (everyone but Lucky!)
We've met some really nice people here as well. You always come into contact with the nicest people in RV parks and campgrounds.

Huge stingray caught this evening on the beach

We are happy that Sparkle sleeps in her bed all night.

Oh wait, that's OUR bed and that's Glenn's pillow!!! The princess of the

beach found a way to get up on our bed today.

This morning we got up and had breakfast on the beach. For some reason I just love doing that. The waves were crashing in, sun shining, and all was lovely. After that, we moved to a different location almost next to where we were. We left the KOA and came to Camp Hatteras. We like it a little better for very minute reasons: it is a teensy bit cheaper, they have concrete pads for your vehicles, the dune is slightly lower and less soft sand to go through to go to beach, and there aren't as many pear cactus plants to get in the dogs' feet.
We spent another perfect day at the beach then went out for our first and only dinner out. We went to a little hole in the wall place called Uncle Pauly's. The food was good and when we left, we went out back and watched an amazing sunset, something that this place is famous for. The sun sets over the Pamlico Sound and it is truly amazing. We stopped at the Rodanthe fishing pier and checked out the folks luck...or lack of it. Didn't see much fishing action but the atmosphere is always fun at a pier.
We headed to the beach with coffee (and a touch of Baileys in mine) and sat close to a couple bonfires that weren't ours but we got to enjoy the smell and flames glowing in the dark. We then took the dogs for a long walk around the park trying to wear little Sparkle out. She bugged Lucky last night and we ended up putting her in bed with us, something I'd rather avoid! But Lucky needed his sleep so we gaqve him a break. Hopefully she will be so tired tonight that she'll leave everyone alone!

Another Beautiful Day

Today was another gorgeous day on the Outer Banks. Early this morning we took a ride south along the Cape Hatteras National Seashore road, clear to the end of the island. We checked out the ferry to Ocrakoke but it looked like a long wait most of the time. So I guess we won't get to hunt for Blackbeard's missing treasure this trip. I was pretty sure I knew where he hid it too.
We did stop to check out the tallest lighthouse in the US.
We had planned to eat breakfast on the beach this morning but we sort of overslept. Tomorrow we will do that for sure...cinnamon rolls and coffee on the beach bright and early...like we need cinnamon rolls.
Glenn messed with lights on the jeep for a while this afternoon but I spent the day on the beach. I actually got kind of hot and had to get wet...but I didn't plan to get as wet as I got. I'm not used to this wild Atlantic water. It's so different from the Sanibel waters on the gulf side. I almost got knocked on my butt from the waves rolling in. I had a couple margaritas so maybe that contributed to my unsteadiness!
We rode the other direction this evening. I love the remote look of the dunes along the coast here. There are many places along the way that you can enter the beach in your vehicle. We had the jeep, which has four wheel drive, so we zipped out there. It was really cool driving on the beach. I love the idea of being able to drive right out to the water, setting up your chair, and
chillin'. I guess it's not better than being able to walk out our RV door and walk over the dune though.
We saw the most beautiful sunset over the sound. The skies stayed so colorful after the sun was down. It was breathtaking.

Headed to the Outer Banks of NC

We left Friday, Sept. 11th, shortly after attending the Grandparent's Day celebration at Toby's preschool class. In attendance are Glenn, Lucky, Sparkle (our new puppy), and me. The dogs were pretty good in the RV considering that Lucky is not too crazy about his new little sister and there isn't a lot of room in the RV to get away from her. Sparkle was really good about letting us know when she had to potty...unfortunately it was about every hour. But we managed to pull over as needed and luckily she zipped out, did her business quickly, and jumped back in. If she needed to do more she refused to get back in. She's pretty smart for a baby in my opinion!
We made it inside of Virginia and had a Walmart lot picked out for our first night's stay...only the best accomodations for us! The Walmart was fairly well hidden, so we passed by it before we saw it. Glenn drove down the road a bit and turned down a side street to turn around and go back. Whoops....dead end! Can't back up when you are towing the jeep! So there it was, after 10pm, very dark, and he is out unhooking the jeep. A very nice man with very bushy eyebrows came out of his house and offered help...Glenn politely turned him down. In the meantime, I took advantage of the lull in driving to potty Sparkle so we are out with the leash trying to help him out in the dark. He got the jeep unhooked and I got to drive it to Walmart. He had to back out onto a fairly busy road in the RV but did it with ease. We got to our destination ok and then had to hook the jeep back up. He didn't lose it like I thought he might!
Yesterday morning we got up and hit the road. Todd had called and said he was meeting us here, so we didn't dawdle much. He arrived at the campground before us and hung on the beach until we got here.
We got here around 4 I think and got everything set very quickly. We spent the rest of the day and evening on the beach. Lovely.
Today we got up and had coffee on the beach....just love that! We had breakfast and headed back out for the afternoon. There is a perfect combination of wind and sun here that makes it absolutely beautiful sitting out there. We took the dogs out a few times. Sparkle is very sociable and attracted a lot of attention. Both her and Lucky HATE the ocean water!!!!
We had dinner and Todd left at 5 to return to DC. It was great to have him here. Glenn and I took a ride on the scooter and looked at some other campgrounds to head to after we leave here. Tomorrow we will go in the jeep and look at some national parks.
It's been so many years since we were here. It reminds us a lot of the keys.
More later!

Home

We arrived home tonight at about 9. Most of the stuff is unpacked and put away. The task of going through three weeks of mail lies before me....dread it. I'll post pics from the trip soon. I miss the beach.

Leaving Paradise

Glenn is feeling decent today but sadly we are leaving tomorrow. We spent the day at the beach then went to dinner. We hadn't made a trip to the fishing pier yet so we stopped there after dinner. It was gorgeous over there tonight with a stong wind blowing. When we came back, we went back out to the beach until dark and then did something we never EVER do....we jumped in the pool at night. Aren't we just wild and crazy? HA.

We have already loaded up the car a lot so we have less to do in the heat of the morning.

I'm sad to leave but anxious to see the kids. Toby called tonight and said he missed us.

We have a couple stops we will probably make so we will be home either Wed. or Thurs.

Where Have All the Nurses Gone???

It was our first day here completely alone and what happens? Glenn got really sick. He has been in bed all day long, no TV or anything. That tells you he is REALLY sick. He thinks he may have had a bad oyster last night. Where are all of our nurse friends when we need you????? It was a lousy Father's Day for him for sure. I spent the day alone on the beach, which was ok for a while. I got a LOT of reading done! But I sure missed my friends. It was incredibly hot today. I resorted to reading my book in the pool which was dangerous since it is a library book. I hope Glenn is better tomorrow. We got a couple extra days and he hasn't enjoyed it so far.

And Then There Were 2...

Goodbye, my friends.

Today we said goodbye to the last of our friends. The "nurses" and company all departed today leaving us with enough food and drink to last us a month.


Dwight, Mary, Mike, and Jon (and Dan, of course) were the last to go. The usual tears were shed but we hope to see them a few times before next June.


I spent the rest of the afternoon practicing my bocce ball skills, perfecting my game so that Mary and I will continue next year as the reigning champs. Beware JON and DAN!!!


We will probably be here until Tuesday. It definitely won't be the same, but maybe I'll spend some time reading the many books I drug down here and have neglected, preferring to spend time catching up with the gang. A little quiet time before returning home might be ok. No matter, I'm just never ready to leave this place.

From My Viewpoint...

Anabelle hugs "Papoo" goodbye

The way Mary and I saw it, we won the final games of bocce ball today. I'm pretty sure that the opposition didn't see it the same way. It's a shame they can't see eye to eye with us on things.

Goodbye today to Chris, Niki, and girls and Steve, Laurie, and boys. Saying goodbye is such a pain after such a super fun vacation. Tomorrow, the rest of our friends are leaving. We always get so sad to part after being so close for the last two weeks.

The good news is that our owner called today to tell us that the weather in Ohio stinks and suggested that we spend a couple extra days on the island! Oh YEAH, we are going to do it for sure. How can we pass up a few more glorious days on the beach?

The Winners!

I'm very proud to announce that Mary and I won the rematch in the bocce ball game today. It doesn't really matter that the other team failed to show and we won by a forfeit on their part. We'll take a win any way we can. Sorry Jon and Dan....tough luck for you.
Tonight was the shark hunting expedition. Chris, Mike, and Dan tried chumming for shark tonight. They had an eager group of spectators as the beach was as beautiful tonight as I've ever seen it....breezy, cool, perfect. The last I checked, no sharks had been pulled in. That didn't seem to dampen the excitement for the guys though.
Chris and Niki and the girls leave tomorrow as well as Laurie, Steve and their crew. No new arrivals expected so we are mostly saying goodbyes from here on our....with many promises of returning next year.

Sun, Sun, and more Sun

Lots of the guys ...and the girls from the "nurses group"...went on another fishing expedition today so Mary and I found another reason to go out for breakfast at the Island Cow followed by another short shopping trip. We were back in plenty of time to hear the many fish stories when the guys returned, Word has it that many sharks were pulled in on this trip.
We had to say goodbye to Megan and Wendy today but welcomed Jen to the island.
The pool was closed to repair the giant hole in the bottom that we were trying to keep a secret in order to avoid such closing. So we spent the day at the beach which turned out to be pretty much perfect. There was a rematch in the bocce ball game....Mary and I don't completely suck actually, but we sort of let Jon and Dan pull off another win on us. I'm liking that game a lot. Tomorrow we'll try again. Be prepared JON.
Just when we thought that there was no end to the sunshine on this island, a pretty nice storm popped up around dinner time. It didn't last long and resulted in a lovely rainbow and a spectacular lightening show tonight. Mary and I sat out and marveled at the beauty and chatted the night away over a glass or two of wine.
Tomorrow is Chris and Niki's last day here. We hate to see them go but Glenn and I are just so happy that all of the kids were able to be here. If I had to guess, they all had a great time and were happy that they were able to be here....even if it was a short time...as well.,

Fun Filled Day/Another Departure

Today was filled wtih sunshine, sunshine, and more sunshine. It started with breakfast at the Island Cow, one of my favorite places to eat on the island. Then there was rafting, shelling, floating, dolphin watching, and some wild activity in the pool. It was another perfect day on the island topped off with a great meal at Matzaluna, another one of my favorite eating establishments.

The day also ended with another departure. Todd left to go back to DC this evening. Everyone hated to see him leave, especially me. I am, however, just thankful that he could be here at all this year. A little time is better than no time and he was able to squeeze a lot of fun into a short time.

Arrivals and Departures

What a great day...our whole family was on the island together for almost 24 hours. Todd arrived late last night and we were all really happy to see him, especially the kids. "Uncle Todd, watch this!" "Uncle T.Todd, catch me!" He was one busy uncle today.

Sadly, Jodi and fam left for home after dinner tonight. Normally, saying goodbye is not that tough when we'll see them in a week, but Toby sobbed when he hugged "Mimi" and "Poopa" goodbye and that broke a lot of hearts, ours especially.

Our nurse friends arrived today, Ryan leaves tomorrow. Arrivals and departures.... Because of the strong bonds that have formed with the people we have met here, saying goodbye is always hard. But we look forward to meeting next year, same time, same place.