Clermont last day…

Bob and Annwyn Hill rode by and visited with Jim and Jan for a little while today before they went to play Pool Volleyball. Girls (Morgan, Katie, Mary Alison, and Loran) this is what you have to look forward to when you get too old to play regular volleyball. The water makes it easier on your joints!!!

The "girls" are ahead in Hand and Foot!!! I guess winners will be decided in Townsend in October after Jim and Jan get back from Alaska....

Leaving in the morning for Unidilla...

More Clermont...

On Thursday we took a trip to Disney's Wilderness Lodge (fashioned after the Yellowstone Lodge) and Port Orleans. Stopped by Camping World on the way back and checked out pricing for braking systems (for our tow car) as we have to have one in Kansas. It's amazing that Kansas is the only state that requires braking systems for any size car and it's so flat!!! I told Jan you know "you've arrived" when you go to Disney and have a snack and then come back and spend your time in "Camping World." I looked at the Dahon folding bikes which I may get before we go West. They are really neat and I won't have to worry about anyone (i.e. grandchildren or Ralph) wanting to borrow it... it's not "cool enough" for them.

Clermont for Two Weeks...

Jim, Jan, Ralph and I arrived in Clermont on Tuesday, March 18th. Hwy 27 is finally finished all the way from the Turnpike to Thousand Trails! We're in the Preserves and have "visitors" every night... big Racoons and Armadillas. Jim and Jan have a snake in their Palmettos (I think that is what they are called). Thousand Trails have certainly improved their internet services. They have repeaters all over the park now and Wi-Fi is available at most campsites.

Ralph and I met Emily, Greg and the girls on Friday and went to Kennedy Space Center. We had a great time... met an astronaut, Bob Springer. He became an astronaut in 1980 and went into space in 1989 at the age of 46. He was very interesting. One of the children in the audience asked "How do you go to the bathroom?" He said that before his first trip, he had 2 cups of coffee and wished he hadn't after blast off... some of the astronauts wore "diapers" like we had heard about in the news recently, but he said he was a Marine and just couldn't see himself wearing a diaper on his first trip to space.

Of course, Monday in Clermont means Webster (the flea market... ) and we went. Jan and I both bought CDs to add to our music library (Bobby Vinton for me and Frankie Valli and the Four Searson for Jan) and some really good produce.

We've been playing Fast Track with Jim and Jan. Bob and Annwyn Hill...men against women and the women are behind... men won 7 and women won 1. Jan keeps threating to have a bonfire with the Fast Track board before we leave. We have a promise from Mr. Cavanaugh (New Brunswick) to be able to buy a board when he comes down in the Fall. He'll be in Cheaspeake and said he would contact Jim then because shipping is so much cheaper in the USA.

We've also played Hand and Foot with the Lillicos and we're about even on it...

The Rally...Perry, Georgia

Our first Rally was lots of fun. My brother wanted to know what we were going to do in Perry, Georgia for 4 days! We went into the fairground/agricultural center parking lot with full water and propane tanks and empty holding tanks for 4 days of dry camping.

Rallies are great places to get little or major repairs done. All major RV industry vendors are there. The Lillicos had their Fantastic Fans, Roadmaster Towing System and a drawer worked on while we were there.

Entertainment was great... We were supposed to have Frankie Valli but he was in the hospital. Bobby Vinton was there in his place and is still as good as he was 50 plus years ago. He came into the audience and shook hands with Ralph. He sang all of his old songs and a few new ones. His daughter is his back up singer and his son directs the orchestra and sings too.

Ricky Skaggs was there on Saturday night and he doesn't know how to entertain "60+ years old teenagers" like Bobby Vinton did. He kept looking at his watch and he made sure he didn't sing longer than he was being paid to sing... he also said he didn't sing Rocky Top and most of us Tennesseans thought this was "un-American."

On a side trip Jim, Jan, Ralph and I went to Juliette, GA and ate at the Whistlestop Cafe, where "Fried Green Tomatoes" was filmed. The Fried Green Tomatoes were good and a couple of trains came through while we were having a late lunch. We took a tour of Macon... learned that Otis Redding and Little Richard both got their start in Macon. Of course I came back to the motorhome and downloaded "Sittin on the dock of the Bay" and several of Little Richards songs. I'm getting quite a library of music. If I had Emily here, we'd put in some music for you to listen to while you read. Check out her blog sometime!!!

Another side trip was to the Air Museum at Warner Robbins Air Force Base which Ralph enjoyed. He was talking to one of the volunteers (an old Navy man) who gave him a Ballpoint Pens that was ordered when Eisenhower was in Millegeville for some kind of signing in the 60s. The pens didn't arrive in time for the signing so they were given to the veterans group to give out at the museum. I've been trying to find out what the signing was on the internet... to no avail.

Learned a new bingo game at Southern Trails in Unidilla (our half way point to Florida). It's called Card Bingo or Lucky 13.

Will post more in Florida....