Cold, clear day here in Montgomery, Alabama......

(We are currently in Foley, Alabama but were out of touch for a couple of weeks. I will post my blog posts in order, a few a day until I get caught up. Sorry for the long dry spell. ~laugh~ )

Our Location: Gunter Hill Campground, Montgomery, Al

(Post Jan 7, 2017)


A very cold morning here, 24F/-4 C by the outside thermometer, warmer inside at 57F/14 C. We left the electric heater on all night and the furnace down to 63F/17 C so it wasn’t too bad in the Igloo. The temperature gauge inside is on the table on the lower level while the furnace thermostat is on the upper level so the difference in temps is always a few degrees. Which is why we leave the  heater pointing into Riley’s room at night so she gets the benefit of the direct heat and I get the indirect benefit as heat rises, some of it makes it’s way to my end.

The long winding road from the guard shack to the camp sites.

Breakfast was a quick and painless thing. ~laugh~ Since we are in the Central Time Zone we are one hour behind our Canadian family and friends. We were up shortly after 7 am our time and everything finished by 7:30 am. I then went outside to see what was up with the water. I walked to the site across the road and pulled the handle on the water there…nothing. So either I was doing something wrong, they had a major issue or someone didn’t tell them the water was turned off. I looked across the way to a camper that was already here when we arrived and noticed the blue handle on his pump was straight up in the air, not just the half way that I had tried. Back to our own site I had to really pull hard on the handle to get it to all the way to the top and when it got to the top the water came shooting out. Problem solved. Reattached the hose and went inside, no water. Hmmmm… back outside, long story short, my water pressure valve was frozen, a bit of ice in the water line and those things combined to make certain our water didn’t flow. I removed the ice by letting the water run thru the hose for a bit while adding some water to the holding tank in case we needed to use water while it’s still too cold to manage with the water lines, reattached the hose again without the water pressure valve, turned on the water and bingo we were good to go. I took the WPV inside to thaw out.

The entry sign on Booth Road.

We decided to make Hamburger Soup (we use ground turkey instead of beef) for dinner as it was going to be a cold day here. All of that stuff tossed into the crock pot to simmer all day, I left the dishes because I was waiting for the water heater to heat it up. I headed out the door for a walk to the dumpster with all of our garbage, then continued on to the guard shack to tell them I’d found the problem. It was a long walk and I was cold by the time I got back, but I took a turn around the park and it’s a huge park, very nice, backs onto a river. Lots of space between spots and lots of trees but enough open spaces to allow the sun to shine in and warm us up.

Looking across the river from our loop of the park toward the second loop of the park with a boat ramp at the edge. Between those trees is a cement pad leading to the water. It's very steep, gave me the willies just thinking about backing something down there. ~laugh~ 

We didn’t leave the park today, we were both still kind of tired from yesterday’s long drive, plus with the rain yesterday I was worried the bridges here would be covered in black ice as there was evidence of black ice on the hard top here in the park. Found from Barry at the guard shack that indeed there were warnings out about black ice on the roads and bridges.  Tomorrow we will be heading out to do a few errands.

I texted Jason at Coastal Solar this morning to tell him that with all that rain nothing leaked, and I seen nothing flying off, nor dragging along behind me so I was pretty certain everything was still good. ~laugh~ He texted back that he was thankful for the update as he had decided to leave me alone until Monday before he sent me a message asking me if things were going okay. ~laugh~ He’s such a sweetie!!

An idea of the scenery IN the park here at Gunter Hill.

Back home after my walk which took me about an hour, I washed the dishes from breakfast and making soup, straightened up a bit, then watched a movie while Riley was playing a game on her computer. I went outside to set up the propane heater as the electric heater just can’t keep up with the cold here. About 10 minutes it was all set up and before long we were pretty toasty in the Igloo. Read my book for a bit, Catherine Coulter’s Born to Be Wild. Just started it, it seems pretty good. Riley and I both had a bit of a nap this afternoon. I guess we both were a bit more stressed by the drive in the rain than I thought.

I read a book that Barry at the guard shack gave me about things to see and do in the area, some of which I already know but some were new. I spent a while this afternoon going thru the book and figuring out which ones we’ll go see and checking out a few others I know nothing about. Since we have no internet connection yet, I can’t do any research which is something I always do. I have no idea why I didn’t check into the wifi connection but for some reason I just didn’t. Oh well, I’ll write my posts and post them when we get a connection.

A pull thru site next to ours. 

After that Riley and I each did a bit of our own thing for a while, I read, she played a game on her computer. Dinner was quiet, and I forgot to take a picture of my soup. ~laugh~ We have left overs, maybe I’ll remember tomorrow.

We chatted about what we need to do tomorrow and about the things we’ll go to see this coming week. I think we’ll manage even though it’s cold here, although according to Barry it’s going to warm up by Friday when it will be in the 70’s. Looking forward to that. ~laugh~

To my cousin Sheila, I wish you the happiest birthday!!!!

That’s about it for another day here in my little world. I hope you’ve enjoyed your visit, thanks for stopping by. Feel free to leave a comment. Until next time…be safe, take care…..

Leaving Hinesville, Ga heading for Gunter Hill Campground, Montgomery, Alabama

(We are currently in Foley, Alabama but have been without internet for the past few weeks. I will continue posting my blog posts in order, posting a few a day until I get caught up. Sorry for the long dry spell. ~laugh~

Location: Gunter Hill Campground, Montgomery, Al

(Post from Jan 6, 2017)

After a noise start to the day around 4:30 a.m. when a big rig pulled in beside us and started unloading with lots of shouting, beeping, diesel clanging, and things slamming, so we were packing up at 7 a.m. We had a light breakfast of yogurt and granola before we finished packing up the inside of the Igloo. A quick little 5 minutes outside and we were ready to roll by 7:30 am.

The day started off trying to be sunny but failed. We were stop and go for a while getting out of the small city but soon we were rolling along. I need to do some work with Phoebe (RV GPS) as she takes us off of great roads to route us to narrow, back roads with just one lane each way only to put us back on the original road a few miles down the road. I would prefer to stay on one road and maybe go a few extra miles than to do all this left turn, right, left turn stuff.

Green leaves in January, just doesn't seem right some how.

We progressed at a steady pace for most of the morning, although the small towns and slow downs were time consuming and after a while they got to be tough on the nerves. Speed limit of 50 mph/80 km and all of a sudden there is a light at the top of the hill or at the bottom of the hill. They don’t give you a lot of time on a yellow light either. So it’s pretty intense trying to get this rig stopped with only a short runway, if you know what I mean. Rain, drizzle, heavy rain, drizzle…stop…. drizzle, rain, heavy rain, drizzle…. stop, repeat. All day long it continued. At times we thought we were driving out of it as the rain would stop, the sky would look brighter but around the next corner it was back again.

Holly Berries/Bush growing just about everywhere down here. 

No rest stops in the state of Georgia except ONE and it was closed. From 7:45 am to 10:15 am there was no where to stop unless you actually got off the road and into a town/service station. As we approached the ONLY rest stop we noticed that it was closed with no indication of the distance to the  next one. Crossing the state line didn’t provide a welcome center either, so we ended up stopping at large truck stop. We put the cat in the Igloo so she could use the litter box while we took a walk into the store/restaurant to check things out. Back at the Igloo we grabbed the cat, some snacks and made our way to the pumps to fill up. After the fill up we were back on the road again. Lots of rolling hills today, plus the rain,the spray from other vehicles, stop lights, speed changes and small towns. All in all it was not one of the more pleasant drives I’ve had. ~laugh~

We arrived at Gunter Hill,  Corps of Engineers Campground at 3:12 pm this afternoon. Which was actually 4:12 pm (Georgia time) but crossing the state line we gained an hour as the clocks slid back. A quick stop at the guard shack to sign in and we were on our way into the park within 2 minutes of stopping. Spot 55, is a pull thru that I  had reserved.

This guy had trouble standing upright, not sure if the weights are too heavy, he had too much to drink or the wind was too strong but something seemed to keep him on his backside.

Still raining, we finally wind our way down the long park road and find our spot, I had to pull in twice (made a second loop around the place) as I didn't get over far enough on the first try.  We managed to get the feet down, the chocks in and slides out in short order. Riley took the cat inside after the slides were out. While she sorted out the inside I was outside in the rain hooking up the power and the water so we could at least have a shower and get the heater going. We immediately realized we had no internet connection and a trip to the guard shack revealed there is NO internet here, so we’ll have to go to Verizon to fix that issue. After such a long drive we just kind of sat down to rest a bit and take our minds off the drive. We watched a movie and enjoyed a quick dinner while watching the movie. (no dinner pics tonight) Turkey burgers on toasted English muffins, Spanish rice and a couple of cookies to finish off dinner. Movie over we decided to wash the dishes, after all it’s been a couple of hours and the water heater should have heated water by now right? Turn on the tap, NO water, not hot or cold, just none at all. Outside in the rain to ensure I turned it on, it’s on. Nothing. It’s the ‘pull up the handle - pump kind of thing’, I’m certain the handles up, nothing, handle down, nothing. I disconnect the hose and try again, both positions. NOTHING. Hmmmm….I wonder if they shut it off due to the forecasting of cold weather? Called the office. No it isn't turned off. We have no water. We can move to another site of our choosing. I don’t want to move in the dark and the rain. She suggests that maybe someone has turned off the ‘spigot’ at the bottom of the pipe. I didn’t see one but I go out to look again. NO spigot and still no water. She told us we can move to one of the open pull thru sites across the road from us in the morning and just let her know which one we move into.

This fella greeted us upon our arrival at Hinesville, Ga. Seemed pretty happy to see us. ~laugh~

Heated water to do the dishes, not a big deal but it means no showers tonight unless we go to the bathhouse. Bummer. Still raining though, I could take my soap and shampoo outside and shower but it’s pretty cold. Just above the freezing mark at 34F/1 C.

We played a game of Yahtzee. I won, but didn’t roll a Yahtzee!!

After that Riley was off to bed, she’s pretty tired from the drive and I’m heading off to bed myself after I finish this post. I can’t post it but I’ll write it and post it when I have a wifi connection.

Thanks for stopping by, feel free to leave a comment. Until next time…be safe, take care…..

Solar Panels on the roof.....

(We are currently in Foley, Alabama but have been without internet for the past few weeks. I will continue posting my blog posts in order, posting a few a day until I get caught up. Sorry for the long dry spell. ~laugh~ )

Our Location: Coastal Solar Parking Lot, Hinesville, GA
(Jan 5, 2017 Post)

A nice evening last night, not cold but cool enough. I slept well, the place is pretty quiet and except for a few noises but I didn’t hear much.

This  morning at 6:00 A.M. the morning wake up call at the nearby military base was loud enough for me to hear and cause my eyes to open. We’ve heard different ‘timed’ military base notes throughout the evening yesterday and today. On my drive to pick up some diesel today I actually drove past the base, it’s not far away, maybe a mile at the most.

Jason (orange sweater) and Cody (?) on the roof of the Igloo laying out the panels

Bright blue skies with a few white wispy clouds were the order of the day. The temps reached into the mid 60’s F/15.5 C by this afternoon. Warm enough to keep the big door open all day.

Our morning started off with me cleaning out a closet in the front of the Igloo to allow cables to be run down the inside so as to keep them hidden. After that we were up, chores complete, breakfast finished and a bit of reading in before 8:15 am. I had the door open for a bit as it was warmer outside than inside. Jason from Coastal Solar was here bright and early to start work. He appeared with a smile on his face and a fantastic attitude that never left him all day. He is an extremely conscientious young man, very polite, very knowledgeable and a truly happy person. I felt very much in good hands with him doing this work.

 

Looks like they know what they are doing, doesn't it?

Riley and I left for a walk just as he was getting started. Nothing worse than someone looking over your shoulder when you’re trying to work, so I felt it was in HIS best interest at the time and MY best interest in the future for me to leave the area and let him do this thing. Riley and I walked for a couple of blocks West but had to retrace our steps as we ended up on a dead end street. We turned around walking back those same couple of blocks, adding a few more until we had completed a small loop of the area.

Jason and his buddy, (I think he said Cody) spent a bit of time on the roof top laying out, installing the 4 panels (100 watts each), running the cables, and fastening everything tightly. After a very quick lunch only Jason returned to finish up and to do the dreaded drilling of a hole to run the cables into the Igloo. Jason is from the Northwest regions of the USA where it rains a great deal, he worries about water leaks and I think drilling the hole was probably the toughest part of the job for him.

Monitor panel (black box), Charge controller (silver box) and connection from batteries to charge controller (left under black box)

Various times throughout the day folks dropped by to see how the install was progressing. One or two climbed up on the roof to have a look, take some pictures and just to ensure things were going well. All great people that work here, friendly, knowledgeable, warm, and generous.

There are 4 of these up here, 100 watts each, should keep us in power with no problems. 

I don’t have a lot of pictures of the actual work or each step taken, I felt it was more important to stay out of the way and leave the man alone to do what I asked him to do than it was for me to document each step. I will over the next number of months learn more about the entire system and give updates as to how I like the system, how well it works to cover our needs, any extra we add on and I’ll add pictures of the various pieces and parts of the system. I truly won't know much until we get back to Canada and actually start using our new system. 

Suzanne was a huge help as well. An extremely nice lady, more than understanding about things, friendly with a ready smile, she adds a certain zest to this team.

I can’t say enough about the fantastic way we were treated, how professional, friendly, knowledgeable, and kind the people of Coastal Solar here in Hinesville, Ga have been to us. I would not hesitate to recommend them for any of your solar needs. They do mostly much bigger installations but were more than happy to do our small job. We were the first RV install for them, and I think the first install of the new year as well. We wish them continued success in the years ahead.

I told you I had 4 of them!!!!!

After Jason finished the install, Riley and I spent some time putting things back in order (the closet), enjoyed reading our books and just relaxing. Around 5 pm we headed outside to hook up the Dogsled, and get everything outside secure for our travels tomorrow. We are heading to Gunter Hill Campground near the city of Montgomery, Al. According to Phoebe (RV GPS) we are 345 miles away, which should be 6.5 hours but i think it will be more likely to be about 8 hours drive time.

Dinner tonight was spaghetti with oregano chicken and veggies. It was excellent, easy, and quick. Dishes finished, some reading and then it’s time to head off to bed. As I write this in bed, it is less quiet than last night but still nice.

Thanks for stopping by, feel free to leave a comment. Until next time…be safe…take care.

Welcome to Hinesville, Ga.....

Our Location: Coastal Solar Parking Lot, Hinesville, GA

A nice night for sleeping, a bit cooler than the previous couple of nights but still very nice. The day has been sunny and blue with some wispy white clouds high in the sky with temps running around the mid 60's F/18's C. 

Christmas Decorations in the many small towns

We were outside finishing the last of the packing up by 8 am this morning. With some help to watch the fenders I managed to get kitty corner into the spot and hook up the Igloo. Some helping hands to direct me around the electric pole/water/sewer on the left and the picnic table/cement pad on the right, I had the Dogsled pushing the Igloo backwards out of our spot thanks to the guy in spot 2 that we couldn't get around. Hugs and goodbyes with Steve, and Roger, we were on the road at 8:35 am. I was extremely happy about this great shove off time. 

We meandered around the country side following more or less a pretty straight line to Hinesville, GA, about 150 miles away. I will say that my new RV Garmin GPS worked very well. We call her Phoebe. She takes into consideration our length, height, and weight to determine which roads are safe for us to travel. I have an 'auto' GPS that we call Bella, she is good only in the USA. Then there is Taz, strictly a Canadian girl, showing nothing south of the border. Phoebe has dual citizenship and can be used in either country.

 

Look at the palm trees behind. Not natural for us.

We drove along some amazing country side today. Scenes from cotton fields to hardy green winter crops, bright light green/yellow winter canola crop, empty farm fields, a wrecking yard that went on for at least mile with every conceivable kind of 'motorized' vehicle being represented. We passed thru numerous small towns that gave us a small glimpse into small town USA living. Many places still had these cute Xmas decorations attached to the light standards. It was odd to see these decorations and realize it's Jan 4 when everything is green, bright, cheery and palm trees swaying in the background.

Hard to call him Frosty in this weather.

 With no rest stops because it wasn't an interstate we managed to pull off safely so Riley could grab a ready made sandwich and some snacks for herself. We also managed to use the ladies room as mine is available even with the slides in. Always important to have access to the bathroom, fridge, stove and dishes. 

Small town decorations still up.

The temps stayed pretty consistent as the afternoon approached and we were happy that the wind wasn't blowing too hard. We moseyed along about 50 -55 mph/ 80 - 85 kph for the entire trip. A nice speed with the stop and go possibilities due to traffic lights in the small towns.  The speed limits were always going up and down so it was hard to use cruise today.

Handsome, isn't he?

Fuel wise we filled up before we left Albany and arrived here in Hinesville with just over a third of a tank of fuel. Not bad for the kind of driving we did. 

We passed thru towns such as Pearson, Jesop, Ludowici, Wilacoochee, Enigma, Alapaha, Tifton, Sylvester, Blackshear, Waycross, Offerman, Screven, Doctortown, and Walthourville. Each with a stop light or two, a railroad track every other town, and of course the requisite Advanced Auto Parts, Piggly Wiggly, Family Dollar and General Dollar. Package stores (liquor) were in abundance as well. Pick up trucks with spot lights on the roof, gun racks in the back window, grill guards and huge tires were the norm, while old beater cars with multi coloured fenders, doors, hoods, trunks and missing hubcaps were also seen in large numbers.

For sale.....want the number?

  Some towns were very busy while others were very quiet. Some had run down, messy, needing repairs and paint store fronts and houses, while others were well manicured, nicely landscaped, well maintained businesses and homes.

Cotton waiting for shipment.

We noticed fewer pecan orchards that around Albany, but the ones we seen were better tended. We seen only agricultural farms, no livestock, no big bales of hay or barns anywhere. Although we did see a tractor trailer full of pine straw bales.

Canola crop

We noticed a few watering machines in some of the fields, huge tires, long arms and usually an irrigation pond near by. Numerous tractor dealerships just randomly sitting in a field in the middle of no where. Although the towns are pretty close together, so maybe middle of no where isn't quite accurate. ~laugh~  

Of course some form of Walmart was present in some of the bigger towns but not all of them had a super center, some were only markets (groceries only) and some looked like they had seen better days and were in need a face lift on the outside at least. 

Irrigation pond with the house in background

Grocery stores ranged from Piggly Wiggly to Harvey's (a chain here in Georgia) with the odd Kroger thrown in and often times a small local mom and pop kind of store. The regular fast food chains such as MacDonald's, Hardee's, Burger King, Subway, and Sonic could be seen in the bigger towns along with Chick-fil-a, Church's Fried Chicken, and KFC also in attendance. 

Snow in Georgia. Naw, just cotton.

We've seen very few police in our travels, but those that we did see were usually busy with customers and weren't interested in us. Although I tried to convince Riley they might be looking for her. She wasn't buying it. ~laugh~ 

We arrived in Hinesville to be greeted by this fella on the left. Not sure if he was bowing or jumping, he seemed pretty intense though. ~laugh~ 

Arrival time was just after 1 pm. We pulled into the lot with some doubt as to our proper location. Coastal Solar was tucked into the far corner with the U-Haul sign. Our tech Jason wasn't available but a nice fella whose name escapes me, was more than happy to inform Jason of our arrival. We explained we were early and would just go to the Igloo and have lunch while waiting for Jason to arrive. I had intended only to find out where to park and leave the man alone as our appointment is for TOMORROW. We were informed by no less than 3 people that we are safe in the parking lot as the owner of U-Haul/Coastal Solar owns the parking lot and his brother is the sheriff, who followed in pa's footsteps and grandpa's footsteps, as they had both been sheriff before him. I think we're safe here. ~laugh~

Jason rode with us to our parking spot behind the building, climbed on top of the roof and with the help of a nice young man from the business next door took the panels up to lay them out how he wants them. Back down the ladder, looking at the battery compartment, the inside closet for running wires and offered to find us any information we wanted regarding things to see and do in the area.

We thanked him, met the folks in the office and then proceeded to level up the Igloo so we could unhook and get things settled for the cat. Before we had a chance another fella came out and started chatting. Wanted to buy the truck. ~laugh~ 

Leveled up the Igloo, unhooked the Dogsled and took off to find some groceries that we realized we needed. Still looking for a fuel stop before I hook back up though. We stopped at Ollie's Bargain Barn after our grocery run but before we got back home again. He's in the mall next to this one. Also a Verizon Wireless across the street from Ollie, which I want to pop into tomorrow for some Internet information. Back home to the Igloo and set about getting ready to make dinner. As we are not plugged into any shore power we are once again dry camping, no problem for us but after tonight it will be much easier to manage on these longer dark nights with more battery capabilities. 

Found some free wifi and am able to do my post. It's been a good day. Dinner tonight was a garden salad with some chopped up oregano thyme chicken breast. I put the chicken on after I took the picture. ~laugh~ 

 

Thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoyed the trip. Feel free to comment. Until next time...be safe....take care......

Sunshine, nice houses, fancy rims.....

Our Location: Devencrest Rv Park, Albany, GA

A very warm night with lots of rain, an extremely nice day once the rain left but lots of water laying around again. We received about 3 1/2” of rain over the last few days. Doesn’t sound like a lot but the ground is still drying out from the last big rain so water is once again not absorbing as fast as it might. Tornado activity was all around us last night but we didn’t receive anything, in fact I was more worried by the fact that we had NO wind of any kind around 9 pm it just stopped . The city of Albany was subjected to damage, Broad Avenue which was once over hung with trees is now bare, according to folks. A swath along by the Albany Mall was also left in some type of disorder, and US 19 which goes past our front door was closed much closer to the city, last that I heard this afternoon. We lost power for most of the night starting just before 10 pm. At the fuel station this morning a man I spoke with told me he was from 60 miles south of Albany and his neighbour had two car ports, one flew over the house, the other one was some how caught up under the house. I didn’t ask any questions.

 

 

The budding Camellia bush.

A flowering Camellia bush.

 

 

 

Cherry Laurel Drive

 

 

We had lots of sunshine and warm temps today, the big door was open all day as were most of the windows but we shut them as darkness falls because so does the temps. Still will be warm overnight though. Our internet connection is down and has been down since around 1:30 pm this afternoon. I believe they may be working on getting everyone back up and running and repairing major damage but that is a guess as I have not talked to them and only heard their little recorded speech about knowing about the problem and would have an update in a few hours. Which was a few hours ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

True southern staircase, outside the house.

Since we missed cleaning the Igloo on Monday we managed to do it today. It doesn’t take long, less than an hour with both of us working at it. Windows are not included in this cleaning but all mirrors, cabinets, drawers, shelves, etc plus bathrooms, shower, floors and carpets get a tidying up. I’m a reasonably tidy person to begin with so I don’t ever have a huge mess to clean anyway but it’s nice to give it a good tidy once a week.

Our walk this morning was in a partially new location but we managed to incorporate RSG in to our walk as well. We parked on Holly Drive just before Radium Springs Road, walked along Cherry Laurel Drive to Redbud Drive to RS Road, along to the garden, thru the garden and then we back tracked the way we’d come. It took us an hour but we managed to see some new sights which are the pictures tonight. 

 

 

 

 

 

Same house, different staircase.

 

After our walk we headed out to Walmart to pick up a few groceries and some diesel as we’re heading out tomorrow morning for Hinesville and I like to leave with a full tank of fuel. We probably won't have internet connection until we arrive in Montgomery, Alabama so I will write the blogs and post them when I have a connection. Therefore there may be a couple in one day, like today. From Walmart we came home, Riley put away the groceries while I started cleaning up outside. I had to dump the tanks which was an issue. The Honey Wagon had to come twice today to pump the septic tank here as the water was filling it as fast as they were pumping it. Plus there was a blockage in the line between us and the tank which had to be removed. So it was almost 5 pm by the time I had the tanks dumped but I’ll give them a little go in the morning as well. We showered tonight and no sense hauling that water for a few hundred miles to dump in a different tank. 

 

 

 

The windows are too tight to the roof.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve noticed while walking here that the windows in some houses seem very close to the roof, while others seem to be in a normal location. I have no idea why that is and I don’t know a building contractor here to ask.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is such a pretty house.

 

I put away the outside stuff, chairs, bbq, mats, etc. After that I greased up the hitch and the pin, backed the truck around the guy in spot 2 and the hydro pole in my lot and while I'm not hooked on I should be able to wiggle my way into place in the morning. The guy in spot 2 was moved here after the big flood but was supposed to be here for 2 weeks and be gone last week. His job has been extended for at least 3 months, so needless to say he hasn’t left yet. He parked his rig up pretty far in the slot and because he wasn’t going to be here long, no one cared. Now I can’t use the pull thru and it’s pretty tight to get the Dogsled in to hook up  but we shall see how it goes in the morning. I’m certain we’ll make it okay but it’ll be a bit of a pain in the ass to get out. I considered asking him to just back up a few feet because he’s going to move into my spot when I leave so he has to move anyway. Oh well, it is what it is. I left the water, sewer and electric until morning. 

Love the different types/sizes of windows. Such a small space for so many windows.

I read some this afternoon and talked to the lady next door for a bit, talked to Steve for a bit, and managed to ask the guy with the fancy truck if he minded if I took a couple of pics. He was very kind and gave his consent. He has a nice Dodge Ram 3500 (yes I know it's not a Chevy, but it's a nice looking truck) with a Cummings engine, two tone and it’s usually spotless, he even parks on a carpet at night. With all the rain though his truck isn’t as pristine as normal. The thing about the truck is the RIMS. They are very special rims, each rim cost $2250 coming in at a total of $10,000 for the four rims. Each rim was fabricated out of ONE solid piece of aluminum, 8 hours to make one rim. I thought of my nephews when I first seen the truck thinking how much they'd love the rims. Sorry guys the best I could do was a couple of pictures for ya. ~laugh~ There is another truck in the park with similar rims but not quite as fancy and I haven’t been able to see it or get a picture. I’ll just have to make due with this truck. ~laugh~ 

Nice looking truck!

 

 

 

Dinner was baked potatoes, steamed veggies with garlic and basil thyme chicken breast. We didn't find the garlic to add any flavour to the veggies, not sure if it's because we steamed them or if we didn't put enough on. The garlic here seems to be pretty strong and so we're always careful to not add TOO much. Next time we'll add a bit more and see if that makes a difference. 

 

 

So we hope to be on the road by 9:30 am tomorrow. Wish us luck. Again, probably no internet for the next couple of days. 

Thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit. Feel free to leave a comment. Until next time...be safe, take care.....

Rain, tornado watch, thunder, lightning, and more rain......

Our Location: Devencrest Rv Park, Albany, GA

( This is Monday night's post, no power, couldn't post it)

An extremely warm humid night, day and again tonight. Rain was a constant most of the night last night, part of the day today and is still raining. A tornado watch is in effect for the cities in this area although our specific county doesn't seem to fall under the watch, though the counties to the north are included. The line of thunderstorms is very long, very red looking, and moving in a direction that assures us we won't miss the rain, thunder and perhaps the lightning as well. 

No new pics today as the day just didn't produce any opportunities to take some. So I think I'll include a few from our time on the island this summer and from when we picked up the new Igloo in Hawkestone, Ontario this past Sept 27, 2016. 

This is the first full day with the trailer. That box held Riley's new memory foam mattress when we brought it to the trailer but now it was full of  purged items and garbage. 

Trying to close the cubbie door.

This morning we by-passed the cleaning day in favour of doing our laundry. This will be the last laundry day before we leave here. It's a good thing to leave with all clean clothes and not have a need to find a laundromat when we first arrive. We do laundry every 2 weeks as  the cost of the washer/dryer price is the same with one weeks clothes as it is with 2 weeks worth of clothes. We have found this to be a good pace for us. Four loads every 2 weeks, whites, colours, darks, sheets/towels. 

Ready to pull out of Heidi's Rv, Hawkestone, Ontario, Canada

The laundromat had a funny smell today, it made me nauseous and gave me a headache, so we sat out in the Dogsled reading our books until we had to go in and fold the clothes. I forgot to take hangers today so we had more work when we got back home. We use a place called the Soap Box on Oakridge Drive, very clean, friendly, next to the pawn shop, (they own the laundry too).

Set up at the tailing pile instead of up the hill on the Island.

 Home around 11 am, I headed off to the office to pay up our bill, but Steve wasn't around (park owner) just Kayla (girl Friday), and she looked kind of worried when I told her about my Passport America discount card. So I offered to come back when Steve is around. ~laugh~ Which I did later in the afternoon. He instead figured out our stay as weekly and saved me about $50 by NOT taking my PA card. ~laugh~ PA is great for a couple of nights but always check the weekly rate!!!

Our propane heater using the bigger bbq tank.

 

Home for some lunch, watched the movie Contraband again, sometimes I have to watch them twice to pick up things that I seem to miss. It was pretty good. After that I made some turkey meat balls with mushrooms, eggs, bread crumbs, onions and garlic. We cooked them in the oven and put 6 per bag into the freezer for future use. We love ground  turkey and chicken, we use it all the time instead of beef. We like the taste much better. We're going to get a number of packages and make up meatballs and burgers to use when we get back to Ontario this spring/summer.  It's a good way to pass a not so nice day here and to be helpful in the months ahead.                        

Dinner tonight, looks pretty good huh? It tasted pretty good. 

After that I talked with my niece Brittany on Facebook about her up coming wedding this fall. We need to book a campground so we're not left in a lurch at the last minute. I'll take some more time and book it before we head home for the spring/summer. Always love chatting with nieces and nephews hearing about their interesting days and plans. Love talking to my girls as well, they always bring a smile to my face. Of course I enjoy talking to family and friends too. Hell I just enjoy talking. ~laugh~ 

I spent a bit of time looking at campgrounds, the area around Ottawa/Ashton where she will be getting married. So I have a pretty good idea about where I'd like to stay, now I just need to find a place that will be open that late in the year. 

Think we will spend a couple weeks in the area, then head toward Colborne to spend some time with my sister in law and her hubby. After that it'll be back to Hamilton for appointments before we head south for the winter again. I think that's a pretty good plan, don't you?

Dinner tonight was garlic mashed potato, steamed veggies and mild Italian sausage. Cooked inside of course because of the weather. Chicken broth instead of milk and butter in the potatoes, makes them light and fluffy and way less calories. 

After dinner we cleaned up, seemed to take forever, I think we dirtied every dish and pot in the house today. ~laugh~ I spent some time watching a bit of Netflix and now I'm finishing the day writing here. So not a really exciting day but a busy one just the same. It's raining again with a bit of thunder a few flashes of lightning. We have the fan running as we can't really keep the vents open, the rain is coming in, the little bit of wind is blowing right into the open end of the covers on the vents. A couple of windows are open as well but again with the wind direction we need to keep an eye on those too. Even the tilt windows will allow rain when the wind is at a certain angle. 

Tomorrow we will pack away the things outside in preparation for leaving on Wednesday morning. I want to be hooked on and all set to go after breakfast and a quick packing of the inside of the igloo. We have 200 miles to go reach Hinesville, GA on Wednesday. I'd rather get there earlier than later. 

Hm.....the power is off. Glad we have batteries, although I had to go outside and turn them on, I turned off the connection when we first parked as I knew the batteries were already topped up. Wet feet as there are puddles of water laying everywhere. 

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit. Feel free to leave a comment. Until next time....be safe, take care.....

Rainy Sunday........

Our Location: Devencrest Rv Park, Albany, GA

A warm night, followed by an even warmer day and tonight will be warm as well. However the rain has been pretty steady most of the day and all of last night. It looks like the same for tonight and tomorrow as well. So I must confess there isn't much to write about. 

No walks as the rain was falling, a few pics from around the campground but other than that we didn't leave the Igloo today. 

We hope you've had a wonderful new year's day, not too hungover. 

Enjoy the pics!

The front office all decked out for Christmas!

A Yukka type plant, much bigger than when I was here before, stays green all the time.

They take cooking very seriously here. A deep fryer, smoker, fire pit and corn/sea food pot for boiling and I believe I missed the BBQ in this picture.

The north pond, still pretty full from the rain we had a while ago and it's still filling up today.

Spanish Moss hanging from some of the trees by the North Pond.

They are adding a patio (covered) to the side of the club house, it will be nice when it's finished.

So there you have it, the place that has been our home base for a number of weeks. While we love it here, it's soon time to move on, we've got that hitch itch thing going on. ~laugh~ 

Thanks for stopping by, feel free to leave a comment. Until next time...be safe,.....take care....