Time for Some PM - Planned Maintenance

We will end our work week in little over eight hours and with only six RVs in the park I think things will be very quiet.  I was surprised that we only had twenty RVers camping with us over the weekend.  That will change the weekend of the 4th, the park's fifty one sites have been reserved or paid for. Judy and I will be on duty for July the 4th week, actually it worked out that we ended up with all the major summer holidays!

The last couple of times there was a heavy rain I noticed a small leak in the closet area of the bedroom. I have not localized the leak but think it may be coming from a seam up near the front cap. I scheduled a maintenance appointment with a nearby RV shop to have the fiver roof inspected and re-caulk all the seams and around any roof fixtures (AC, SAT dish, vents). They will also wash/condition the rubber roof. I hope that takes care of the leak. Judy went through the RV yesterday getting things travel ready.  I will be taking care of stuff outside today.  I will drop off the RV Wed. AM and pick it up Friday.
Time for Re-Caulking

Judy and I will spend a couple of nights with my sister while the maintenance is performed.  She is also going to take advantage of the time to go to the Spa for some "her time" with the gift certificate our son gave her for Mother's Day.

Checkout the new equipment I've added to the golf cart

That is all for now.  Thanks for stopping by.
Next Blog: Sun

Unusual Visitors at Blanton Creek

We have a lot of visitors to the park but yesterday we had visitors that were unlike any we have ever seen at the park.  Judy spotted them during her morning walk around the park.

Judy called me on her cell and told me she and a camper were looking at about thirty swans, all grouped up out on the lake.  I asked her if she was sure they were not geese. She said they all were white and that many had their heads tucked under their wings like they were asleep. She walked back up to the office and asked me to take the camera down and get a few pics.

I got the camera (it is times like this a really large telephoto lens would be nice to have, like Karen's) and hopped in the golf cart and headed down to check it out. I arrived at the lake and saw a solid white mass out on the water. I had attached my telephoto lens on the Nikon and I took a closer look through it. One thing for sure they were not swans or geese. They were pelicans, or at least of the pelican family. They hung around a couple of hours and left for parts unknown. If you can provide any other identification please let us know.

That is all for now.  Thanks for stopping by.
Next Blog: Mon

The Search for a Good Haircut

Now that we are at the park full time I had to find a local barbershop to take care of my grooming requirements.  I am aware that many full-timing men have their wife keep their hair trimmed, but I am not ready to have Judy get a Wahl hair trimmer with a #2 guard to buzz my hair. That may come later. 

I used my smart phone to locate the nearest barbershop, it was Rhonda's Barbershop located about 13 miles away near Hamilton, GA.  Judy and I drove over for my haircut appointment Monday. Hamilton is like most small towns located in rural areas.  Rhonda's shop is located in the town square.  The shop was small and cutely decorated. Rhonda had me sit in the chair immediately.  She told me when I called to make an appointment that she and her family often camped with us at Blanton Creek Park.  Rhonda gave me a nice haircut, one that Judy also liked! I was a little surprised at the $17.00 cost, $20.00 once I added a tip. I am more of a $9-12.00 guy. I could probably get one cheaper in Columbus but by the time I drive 50 miles round trip I'd most likely spend even more.

While I was getting my haircut I informed Rhonda that Judy and I had gone to the Bulloch House in Warm Springs, GA on Father's Day for lunch and I found it to be overpriced -$13.95 plus $2.00 for a drink and a desert would be extra. The final cost was a little over $30.00 for Judy and I. I don't mean to sound cheap but that is almost twice what a "country cooking" meal should cost. Rhonda ask if we had been to the "Fried Green Tomato Buffet" in LaGrange. I said no and she told us we should give it a try. Her twenty something year old son had arrived at the shop and heard the conversation and insisted that they should go there as soon as the shop closed! I decided at that time Judy and I would have to give the restaurant a try.

Tue Judy and I headed to LaGrange to do our grocery shopping for the week and to try the "Fried Green Tomato" restaurant.  We arrived at 11:15 and I could tell by the full parking lot that the food must be good, and it was.  There was a great selection, the service was great and the cost reasonable, only $15.00 for both of us. That is more like it!  I am going to have to let Rhonda know her recommendation was spot on.

That is all for now.  Thanks for stopping by.
Next Blog: Sat.

Back on a Lake

Judy and I have been enjoying our first week as true fulltimers.  We have been staying busy this week  doing a little work and a lot of just fun things. We haven't even missed not having a house. 

Thursday we had a movie day in Columbus, Ga. Ed and Char are the duty host at the park this week and they have two of their grand kids from Las Vegas at the park with them. Judy and I took the kids to the movie with us. There was a slight hitch, Roy (14) wanted to see Star Trek - Into Darkness (Trailer) and Kalie (12) didn't. Being a former middle school teacher that knows a little bit about what Young Adult (adolescents) like I suggested that Judy take her to see "Epic".  Kalie was excited about that. So, Judy went to see "Epic" (Trailer) and I went to see "Star Trek" (again). I can't really comment on "Epic" although Judy says it was cute - whatever that means.  Roy and I liked Star Trek. I don't understand why Admiral Pike was killed off though. After all, if you remember the original Star Trek TV series (The Menagerie) Adm. Pike was taken to Talos 4.

Sunday Ed, Roy and I went out on lake Harding on Ed's pontoon. Lake Harding is the Lake that Blanton Creek Park Campground is on. It is a large lake and there was lots of boat activity. After touring the lake we pulled into a cove to do a little fishing. I hung two large bass. I guess since it was my birthday, I had all the luck.

Still Got it

 Roy keeping an eye out

Once back at the RV I had a great birthday dinner that Judy prepared for me.  Judy is just too good to me. Jason, our son sent me an Amazon gift card on-line. I think I am going to use it to purchase  a Kindle Fire HD.

That is all for now.  Thanks for stopping by.
Next Blog: Wed

Stop and Smell the ... Breakfast Burrito

Yesterday Judy and I  had to make an unexpected trip to Macon so she could attend the funeral of an old family friend with her sister.  I used the occasion to make a trip to the nearby Camping World.  I got Judy a new lounge chair.

To get to Macon, we traveled the same route as we did when we returned home to Milledgeville each Tue.  This is the second year that we have been driving this route. We never stopped in any of the small towns because we were always in a hurry to get to the park or get home. We never took the time to enjoy the ambiance of any of the small towns.

This trip we were not in a hurry and we thought we would stop in one of the small towns for breakfast. We decided we would stop in Waverly Hall located about thirty miles from the park. We stopped at the first business we saw -Tac Ops,  to inquire about somewhere to eat. I parked and went inside. I found two good ole boys dressed in Camo. They were very friendly and gave me directions to the Bakery.  One of the guys said that we should try the Breakfast Burrito because it was awesome.

I got back in the CRV and followed their directions to the Bakery.  We found a small nicely decorated shop. It had lots of homemade baked goods on display. The owner took our order, we both ordered the breakfast burrito. It took about 10 or 12 minutes to prepare. The good ole boys were right, it was awesome! Judy also bought  a scone. The owner informed us that she had opened the shop fifteen months earlier.

The Glory Bakery, Waverly Hall, GA.

It was nice finding this gem that we had been passing by for well over a year. I am glad we had time to "Stop and Smell the Burrito". I am sure we will be finding lots of these hidden gems as we meander throughout the country.

That is all for now.  Thanks for stopping by.
Next Blog: Sun

Lazy Rainy Day

Thanks to everyone who left congratulatory comments to Judy and I on the occasion of our house closing.  We were touched by all.

Today has been a very rainy and lazy Sunday here at Blanton Creek.  It has been raining off and on for the past two days. Most of the campers scheduled to leave today left earlier than usual. I don't blame them with rain forecast for most of today. 

Judy and I have enjoyed the slower pace.  We watched the Braves on the office TV defeat the LA Dodgers 8-1. We also grilled a couple of steaks but had to modify our cooking venue.  I was hesitant to grill outside of the RV because of the constant threat of rain so I set our "grill to go" up  on the office porch. Judy liked that idea a lot! The steaks were excellent.

Judy at the Grill

Judy left the office to have some down time at 7:00 PM. She wanted to watch a video (Pride and Prejudice) for the 75th time. She could have watched it here in the office but I guess she wanted to spare me the agony. She is so good to me.

Thanks for stopping by. I see there is a new follower to welcome but I could not determine their identity, so welcome unknown new follower.  Thanks for stopping by.

Next Blog: Wed

From Extended-Timer to Full-Timer

Today finally got here. Judy and I have been planning on being full-time RVers since 2007.  It has not been an easy plan to execute, mostly because the economy went south. Once the housing market collapsed selling our house became very difficult and the market value was adversely affected.

Our closing went flawlessly. In fact, the entire process from "contract" to today's closing could not have gone better. Even though we had 30 calendar days from contract to closing, we worked at the park 16 of those days. So Judy and I had only 14 days to get out and take care of all the things one must do to go from living in a house to living in a 400 square foot fifth wheel. We wish the new owners the best and hope they enjoy the lake as much as we did.

Joe and Nancy, fulltimers who we met four years ago when they were visiting in our area just happened to be in the area and joined with us today for lunch and to celebrate with us. It was nice seeing them again and we look forward to seeing them in the future.

Joe and Nancy

L-R Faye (sister) Judy, Jim, Nancy and Joe

We will continue to workamp at Blanton Creek Park until Labor Day. Over the next few weeks we will work on our travel plans for the fall. We tentatively are planning on heading up to New England. As we firm our plans up I will share them here in the blog.

Thanks for stopping by. That is all for now.
Next Blog: Tue.

Down to the Last Week

Yes, we are down to our last week as "home owners".  Seems like this has been a very long journey, from conception to execution of the "full-time" plan.

Judy and I have been busy doing all the things that have to be completed before our closing date of Friday June 7th.  We have a few items to pass along to family members.  One of our nieces will be getting married soon so a lot of things are going to her.  Her mom will be picking up our china for her Sat. 
Getting stuff ready for a Dump run:

The main focus now is mostly going through the house and doing move-out cleaning.  I will be putting the finishing touches on the dock and boathouse. I am sure there will be at least one more dump run to make.  We mailed four boxes of framed pictures that our son wanted.  I think we have only 7 boxes of stuff that will be stored by Judy's sister and brother for us. My sister has agreed to keep my Navy retirement "shadow box".  So we are just about done.

That is all for now. Thanks for stopping by.
Next Blog: Fri or Sat after closing