January - August 2023

FORGIVE THE LENGTH OF THIS POST, BUT I HAD TAKEN NOTES OF OUR LAST YEAR FULL-TIMING AND NEVER HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO DOCUMENT THEM ALL.  vc

WHAT FOLLOWS IS YEARS 2023 and 2024  

The year 2023 has been a one with many ups and downs. It has been a stressful and challenging experience. Instead of detailing each event, I decided to list the places we visited, the losses we have dealt with and hopefully end on a high note.

JANUARY:

We spent a wonderful New Years in Big Pine Key, one of the Florida Keys.It’s my favorite area thus far, so I booked a month for next January so we could ring in the 2024 in my “Happy Place.”

MARCH:

I threw a big party to mark my 50th year of living with Type 1 Diabetes. I had the event catered on our lot and celebrated with friends and neighbors. I made a nicely decorated table with loads of food and drink! My favorite table was the Cosmo Station.  I had a big jug with a spout that dispensed the mix. Then the mix was poured into a shaker with ice and strained into a lovely plastic cup!  We had a deluge that lasted about a 1/2 hour, but everyone managed to get covered up and protected. It passed by and eventually and the sun came back out. That's Florida weather for you. 

APRIL:

Easter 2023, we broke tradition and we all loved the changes. We spent the Easter holiday with my Tampa Crew. On Friday, we packed up and headed to Clearwater Beach. It was a picture perfect afternoon spent relaxing in warm, breezy, sunny weather. George and Meily put up umbrellas and at one point, the breeze picked up taking Meily's umbrella yards down the beach. George came to the rescue and all of us stared at him in utter disbelief! He was running after the umbrella. Never has anyone witnessed George run that fast. I can't neglect to mention that he was suffering from Plantar Fasciitis, so as he ran, he was limping. Poor George. I felt guilty, because I couldn’t stop laughing. Next time it took flight, Lola retrieved it with a bit more grace, but not much. We had a good laugh and as I document this moment in time, I still smile at the memory. 

Easter Day was spent at the house and for once, I ordered a whole meal. I figured Meily and I would have a break from prepping, cooking, and then having to clean up afterward. Well, it turned out to be a huge failure with us needing to assemble, cook, heat up or bake each portion of the meal. The kitchen was about 90°, we had a lot to clean up and we ended up hot and sweaty. We looked at each other and said, "Never again.”

We filled the few days with getting manicures and spent a whole (very hot) day at The Purple Heart Park. This place offers a lot of different activities like a food market, a kids race track with big plastic tractors. There was a petting zoo and I got to show off my "Dr. Doolittle" talent of communicating with birds. I was able to get each Cockatoo and Parrot to converse with me. While I have no video proof of my extraordinary talent, it WAS witnessed by two of my granddaughters who were quite impressed. 

Another fun part of that park was walking through the "Little Town." It was a child-sized town with every building a real town would have - pharmacy, bank, church, sheriff's office, jail house, movie theater and car repair station. Adults could fit into the detailed buildings and enjoy the creativity of whoever created this little town. A lot of time, talent and effort went into this interactive adventure. I was jailed by the judge for a tiny infraction.  I don't know who had more fun, the adults or the kids.

MAY:

Our “plan” was to head north for my eldest granddaughter’s high school graduation. It was a special event that I ended up missing. 

From this high point, things took a nose dive. We cancelled plans and reservations and headed to New York.  

JUNE: 

In June, George's step-dad passed away after a short illness. With his passing, George's mother needed to move into a safer living environment. We were fortunate to find a very nice apartment in a lovely little town close to George's sister.  Before she was able to move in, she fell and broke her hip. I can't make this stuff up. Sadly, she landed in rehab before settling into her apartment. 

Croton Point Park drastically changed their allotted reservation window to 90 days. What helped was us having non-refundable reservations at Thousand Islands in Alexandria Bay, so with George's mom close to his sister, we decided to go to leave for a couple of weeks. It was a fun time with our RV group, The Hudson Islanders. Many had been there before, so we followed along like little chickens as they took us to all the special places. We took a boat trip on Alexandria Bay and had dinner on an evening boat cruise.

On the way, we stayed at a Harvest Host in Susquehanna, PA. We met a nice couple, Michael and Ronny who were heading to Thousand Islands also.

We also made a stop at Finger Lakes RV Park near Watkins Glen and hiked the falls at the State Park.  

Next stop was our destination, Thousand Islands Campground, in Alexandria Bay. It turned out that we were just two miles away from Michael and Ronny. We had made plans to get together, but they had to leave early. 

AUGUST 2024 - October 2025

By the time we finished our allotted days at Croton, George’s mom was diagnosed with End Stage liver cancer. Life made a left turn and we ended up moving back into the house and placing the RV into storage - we needed to remain close. “The plan” was to fix it up the house and list it for sale in the spring.  As George’s mom worsened, we moved her back into our home. I set up the brightest bedroom and tried to make her feel like she was home, but more importantly, wanted. I like to believe I succeeded with both.  Just when I felt “bad” couldn’t get worse, it did. During her decline, I was diagnosed with Stage1lung cancer. I opted for a robotic procedure that removed a section of my lower left lobe. I was fortunate that the procedure got it all and no treatment was necessary. Yet recovery was difficult with being the main caretaker and picking up where I left off with even more hands-on care.    

She passed on October.  We returned to a life so quiet and slow that it took us a while to adjust.

It is now October 2026. Life is about to change again.  Stay tuned. 

Harvest Hosts

In August of 2022, George and I decided to join Harvest Hosts, a subscription service that links you to farms, wineries, churches, museums and breweries that offer free overnight parking for RVs. Most are boondock sites, but you do come across some that offer water and electric for a fee. The annual subscription fee of $85 paid for itself after using the services twice. If interested in more info, click HERE.

Our first overnight stay was at Bowman Orchards in Rexford, NY and it was a winner. Pull through site on grass, you can run your generator to provide the Rv with electricity, and, best of all, shop in the produce store, buy homemade cinnamon donuts and eat homemade ice cream!  It's a highly rated location and we will surely stay here again if the opportunity arises.  So far, we have stayed at six Harvest Hosts and all have offered us safe locations to spend a free night, and some so much more.

Beautiful Bowman Orchards

We have paid zero dollars for five campgrounds, compliments of our Harvest Host subscription. See other stops below. I did spend a few dollars on some cheese and wine. A win-win in my book!

Harvest Host Stays:

Maryland Beer Company, Elkton, MD  Nice stop. We had wings and beer for dinner. Parked on blacktop in their driveway.

Maryland Beer Company - A fun local hangout.
Photo from their website.

James River Winery and Vineyard, Glen Allen, VA, very pretty winery. We parked up on a hill in a grassy site. A couple of others joined us. I did a wine tasting and then bought a bottle of their chardonnay, a block of fine cheddar and a box of crackers. George and I each got a glass of our favorite and sat on thee deck on a beautiful fall evening. A couple joined us who were also parked in the RV section.

If you add up the tasting, the bottle of wine, cheese and crackers, we spent more
than a campground, but we would have missed a fun experience.

Cartersville Country Winery, Timmonsville, SC.

I tried so hard to not leave a bad review for this place, but you need to let others know what to expect. It was a hot day and when we arrived and found two other RVs already parked and set up. We discovered that they had suffered the loss of a building due to fire. The fire trucks tore up the property and it was either muddy or dusty, depending upon where you walked. The family seemed to be trying to do their best to hold things together.

While this was our worst stay, we would still rate Harvest Hosts as five stars! There is always something to entertain you or amaze you.  We have always met wonderful, hard-working people and am happy we can support them for opening their land to us.

The best things in life are oftentimes simple and it’s great to be reminded of that!

                                                                                                                                ~vc

Finally completed on 10/5/2026

November and December 2022

This is the final blog entry for the year 2022. It has finally been composed, edited, and proof-read several times, however, I am sure there is that elusive "typo" that we find after posting. 

What follows are the last two months of 2022.  I was amazed at how much we actually did last year and how many posts I needed to write in order to get most of it documented. Hopefully, 2023 will contain what we all want out of life - more moments to cherish. How much do we really need to be happy? Once we decided to live full-time in the RV, I found that there is truth in the saying, "Less is More."  I had no difficulty releasing and letting go of the objects I had, but didn't necessarily need.  I discovered that I needed more "moments" and time with family. An armchair will lose it's stuffing, a table can lose a leg, a mattress can "sprung a spring," but you can't beat the feeling of a new sunset or a sunrise and all the possibilities that await you each day. I wish all my readers many "happy moments."

Thanksgiving was spent at the Tampa Home. Unfortunately, I don't have many photos to jog my memory as to what our turkey dinner looked like, but I do remember cousin Charlie and his wife joining us for the day. It would also be tradition for Meily to have purchased her favorite Brazilian pastries. I surely brought some nice wine and we ate too much. Christmas gift lists were provided and I sat with each of the girls to see what they wanted and/or needed. I try to get something from both those categories and avoid some of the outrageous requests.

I was able to get my Christmas shopping complete and we got ourselves into the Christmas spirit by visiting Disney Springs and the Town of Celebration, where both take decorating to a higher level.

One of the many trees at Disney Springs

I believe this was in front of Ghiradelli 

Below, photos from Celebration:

Market Street closed to traffic.

Soap snow that looks so real.

Friends of ours from Citrus Valley (formerly called Elite Resorts) announced that they were going to participate in "Wreaths Across America."

This has always been something I've wanted to do, so we joined them at a participating cemetery and was proud to be a part of the honorable ceremony and wreath laying tradition. We found many veteran graves from the Spanish/American War, WW I and WW II, but I searched and found a Vietnam Veteran's grave, since that was the first war that effected me and my views of war, loss and the sacrifices of men during and after service, who were only a couple of years older than me. It turned out to be both  rewarding and touching at the same time.

We actually grabbed four from the first and second batch. We took as many as we could hold
Back to front: Wayne, George, me and Chrystal.

"Madison L Harvin," Spanish/American War

Laying wreaths.

George and I laying Madison L. Harvin's wreath.

Still smiling at the end of a tiring and rewarding day.

This Christmas the Tampa girls were booked on flights to spend Christmas with their dad, little brother and other family in New York. This would end up being a much different Christmas for us, so George surprised me by booking a week at Big Pine Key Campground. This had been a long-desired location for me and was one of the best gifts ever - it fit perfectly and was the best color. It's only 33 miles from the tip of Key West- Mile Marker . Ho, ho, ho and Merry Christmas to me! 

As we prepared to leave for Big Pine Key, we were all unhooked and ready for the last couple of tasks when one of our rear slides would not retract the whole way. It would only stop and go part way in or out.  George played around with resetting the slide mechanism enough to get it in most of the way. We knew that we would need to address this ASAP once we reached our destination.

We checked into Big Pine Key on Christmas Day 2022. A look back in history will uncover a news- worthy event about a boat of Cuban refugees who landed on The Dry Tortugas that same day. The weather was cold and rainy. I couldn't imagine the conditions they experienced in search of freedom; our right as an American and something e tend to take for granted. Despite the weather, we were able to make it to the furthermost point of the US.

We were fortunate to have found a certified Mobile RV tech and he was able to order the parts and "sort of" fix our slide, however, with the two holidays and limited UPS deliveries to The Keys, we needed to book a another week. We ended up at a premium, canal-front site. It was tough, but we managed to make the best of the situation. (Hee hee)

We explored Key West for one day before it was closed to tourists while the refugees could be bused to boarder crossings. It rained the entire week, so we were glad we got to see the "Furthest-Most Point" in the USA and the weather forecast for our second week was perfect.

I really enjoyed our time there. I felt as if I finally found "my place - my paradise." I didn't want to leave, so I went into the office and booked two week in April 2024! Doing so made it a bit easier to leave.

Below are some photos of my paradise:

Crossing the 7-Mile Bridge on overcast Christmas Day 2022

Office and General Store of our Cove Resort

Nice, clean and well-stocked

I'll survive....

Bertha in her stall on the canal.

Community Gas Fire Pit

The view from the fire pit.

My new "beverage" buddies, Amanda and Chris

Sunset somewhere.

A great sunset from Cudjo Key

Sunset from Sunset Grille.

The protected bird of The Conch Republic - the rooster!
They are all over The Keys.

Finally, 2022 came to an end and we rang in the New Year at Big Pine Key. What a way to start the year.

Deep thought for the day:  Paradise means different things to different people. I can say with strong conviction that The Keys are my paradise. Everything about it seeped into my body; through the warmth of the sun, the soft sand, the music, the smell of the salt on my body and in air and the beautiful, clear, aqua water. Combined, they filled my my soul with a comforting peace I've never known. ~ vc

June-October 2022

Goodness...once on a role, I realized how I lost all track of time and place.. So, now I will get my ducks in a row. I didn't realize we had done so much in the second half of 2022. It was so much that I decided to remove November and December and give it its own entry.

My last blog was missing a big trip. I neglected to include "Everglades February 2022," where we met up with Charlie who was staying in another campground.  Bertha was too big to stay there, so we booked the very upscale Everglade Isle Motorcoach Resort. We were parked alongside a Prevost and a drive around the property showed more Prevost, Newmar and Tiffin coaches. The roads were laid with paving bricks and each site had pavers. Most had tiki huts and lavish landscaping. The pricing was upscale as well.

A restaurant on site allowed us three the oppotunity to enjoy a delicious dinner and drinks one evening. I had my favorite, a Lemon Drop Martini, which was superb. I keep trying to concoct the same mixture, but fail each time. Maybe it's like a take-out food...it always tastes better in the restaurant. 

Can I get one To-Go?

The weather was quite nice and we toured the Everglades on an Airboat. Our captain was very knowledgeable and we learned about mangrove trees and their role in the ecosystem. Interestingly, the Everglades is the only place where alligators and crocodiles cohabitate. We were able to spot a couple of each, but they were too far to capture in photo and I didn't desire to get any closer.

The airboat ride was fantastic. We sped down narrow openings in the mangroves that led to an open area where the boat went around in a huge circle at a high speed. Water splashed all around us. I found it exhilarating! I can't wait to do something like this again.

Top two photos: our site.
Bottom, our site from the boat, our tour guide and the canal behind our RV

Ride along in the Everglades

In June, Croton Point Park welcomed us with much-needed improvements that had been accomplished while we were gone. Trees were trimmed and the campground road was paved.

The area is full of history and beautiful views of the Hudson River
as seen from atop the old landfill.

.

Apparently, while we camped in Georgia, a tree frog jumped on board Big Bertha and we transported him to various campgrounds, across state lines and all the way to NY. The sound our specific tree frog made was similar to a duck. Froggy "quacked" at intermittent times and in different locations throughout Bertha. As hard as we tried, we could not locate him. People thought us crazy until the sound was heard by our fellow Islanders. 

Froggy finally revealed himself as I opened a lounge chair in Croton  He was probably dehydrated and starving. George placed him at the base of a tree, but I doubt he survived, God rest his soul. Stock photo of the little bastard below.

Tree Frog

We had the opportunity to celebrate another 80th birthday. Our friend, Charlie, hit that great milestone in May. In June, his children hosted a party with all of his family and friends. It was a terrific night, filled with great people, delicious food and fine wine. I'm sure the top two things that made his party happy were his kids being there and the FOOD! 

The month of June also allowed me to join in celebrating the retirement of my last principal at BMMS. I went through seven principals in less than 10 years! I retired two years after John Owens (below) was promoted to the job. My friend, Helene, was appointed to fill my position and has done a great job at re-creating and streamlining the responsibilities. Now why didn't I think of that?

Top l to r: Jonathon Brown, John Owen, me and Helene
Bottom: Me & JT, who looked confused at being invited to the party,
R - me, John and Helene - his two best secretaries!

We had reservations for the Fourth of July weekend in Northhampton/Springfield KOA in Massachusetts. It's a long story that included electricity and a run-in between the manager and George (yes, I said George) over not being allowed to use our generator. Then, for the first time in eight years as full-timers, we were kicked out of a campground! A terrible review was left in several locations. 

Of all times, we were traveling on a big holiday weekend with my nephew, Jack in tow. This was his very first RV trip! He had looked forward to camping and was extremely excited and extremely inquisitive. He became a bit worried when he heard we were booted from the KOA and then felt worse when George said that we would "just stay at a Walmart." I think Jack thought we were going to sleep INSIDE the store. We calmed his fears and drove to the nearby Walmart.  It was a quick drive through, because the parking lot was overrun with dilapidated vans, buses and cars. We needed to go with Plan B, aka "CB."

Cracker Barrel here we come! George found a very safe neighborhood and Jack was happy to see other RVs. He still had a bit of trouble falling asleep. so I sat with him until he slipped off to dreamland.

First RV Trip for Jack!

Another first! First time at a Cracker Barrel. It was a hit.

I was able to book a stay at KOA near Mystic Seaport, in Connecticut. It turned out to be a campground needing some TLC. Neither of the two pools were working. No wonder they had space for us on the holiday weekend! Regardless, the trip was terrific and memorable. We took Jack to Mystic Seaport and we all had lots of fun. Jack is a great kid. His mind is like a spinning wheel that never stops. I am thoroughly amazed by his comments, ideas and observances. Watching the whole experience through his eyes made the trip even better.

Mystic Seaport

Last night: A campfire and a BIG Mr. Softee cone.

After returning from Mystic, we had another big celebration. George's step-dad, Charlie, turned 90. A party was held at Table 9, in Cortlandt Manor. Many friends and family gathered to mark this amazing milestone. George and I missed it due to me contracting the flu and George being contaminated, so sadly, no photos.

In August, we traveled up and around northeast coastal towns to the Boston-Salem area. The first stop was Aces High Campground in East Lyme, Connecticut. This was a very nice place and would love to stay here again for a longer time.

Aces High Campground. Close to the beach and seaside towns.

We got our 1st duck at Cape Anne!

The second stop was Cape Ann Campsites in Gloucester, MA. There were so many interesting places to visit, including the Salem Witchs' Cemetery. It was sad knowing these women were innocent and that ignorance was what actually killed them.

We came out of our RV one morning and there was a little blue duck on our Jeep. It had a tag attached that claimed "we had been ducked." Links to FB and Instagram explained the creation of this new fad that was borne out of sadness during COVID. The objective was to bring a smile to a fellow Jeep-er's face. 

 

I'm officially hooked on this new Jeep fad - share a duck and give a smile. It's a "Jeep thing."    

Cape Ann Campground, Gloucester, MA

Boston

Last stop was Alpine Lake Campground in Corinth, NY. We had been here before and loved its proximity to Lake George, Saratoga and Saratoga Springs. It is also a very peaceful place to just sit back and relax.

The view from our site.

The other side of the lake.

Saratoga Springs. We ducked and got ducked again!

We headed back to Croton and dealt with everyday life until it was time for our next trip with several other Islanders. We stayed at the quaint and comfortable Fisherman's Memorial State Park on Point Judith, in the town of Narragansett, RI. We were able to get a lot of sight-seeing squeezed in and had a pleasant (chilly) time.

Beavertail Lighthouse-3rd lighthouse on the Atlantic Coast.

The "facilities" at Beavertail Lighthouse. 

I felt like this blog entry rambled on for way too long. I will complete 2022 in my next entry. Its' not over until it's over.

Deep thought for the day:  Isn't life just ducky? As I proof-read this document, I noticed the three references to "ducks." We should all live a bit more like ducks - they love being in the rain, bobbing on the water, quacking and running or swimming in a line. They always look happy! Let's all try to be more "ducky." ~ vc