Here’s what’s happening with us....

The second weekend of camping. This time it’s a little bit warmer. Higley Flow site 20. We got to see Phylis and Tony after a long winter.

Woke up a little early today. Tried to sneak around, but as soon as I was up Ben was up. Sausage egg mcmuffins for breakfast. Stephanie continued to finish her puzzle. We went into town to do a little Geocaching. There were a couple of new ones since we were here last (2 years ago). When we arrived back at camp we decided to go for a hike on the Lakeside trail. So far we only picked up 5 ticks. It got colder this afternoon, only 10C, so we “chilled “ in the camper, watching a video and Stephanie tackled another puzzle. Lemon Chicken with rice for dinner, followed by a walk around the campsite. Its really empty now.

We were able to sleep in a little bit. The rain had stopped (sort of). Sausages, eggs and toast for breakfast. Today we decided to head on in to Syracuse to visit Camping World. Always a fun place to take your time and shop around. I did well and saved Stephanie the agony of going through all the items on the selves one by one. We escaped rather nicely, only $20..ish.

More rain when we returned to camp. Stephanie decided to puzzle while I relaxed. I attempted to make dinner over a wet fire and charcoal. A pot roast, don medium well in the end, in the cast iron pot over the fire. And flaky buns on the BBQ.

Dinner was really good. 

Out of the house by 10 o’clock and finally on our way to our first stop in 2019. Fair Haven Beach State Park. Site 259. 

We took our time heading sooth west. A stop at the Ogdensburg Price Choppers, Lowes for Ben and I. Then another quick stop in Watertown at the Salmon Run Mall.

We arrived at the State Park around 15:00 to find that there were a lot of campers. It looked like a huge family get together. Our site was in a more secluded part of the campsite overlooking Lake Ontario. No sooner did we arrive, it started to rain. We made the quick decision to head into towm to sample to local cuisine. It was still raining when we got back to camp, so we decided tp watch some movies and play Scrabble. Stephanie won the first game.

Our attempts to get moving early were not successful. We met a couple from the Toronto area. Although they are new to RVing, they had some great suggestions about storing your RV down south so you can enjoy it down there in the winter.

We finally left and started north. We decided to stop at Wellington, FL. Home of the Winter Equestrian Festival to pick up some souvenirs for a good friend. It was a really cool place. So many horses. We ended staying for 3 hours…which included lunch.

Today started out with a nice sunrise, but that did not stay too long. It soon began to rain, and rain it did. All day. We walked a mall, saw TWO movies in the theatre, walked another mall, then had our pre valentine dinner at The Cheesecake Factory.

I have always enjoyed playing Bingo here at the Miami Everglades RV Resort. It’s only $1 per card. They play 5 games, each with a winning amount of about $25, then the the big coverall game for $120. We have never won, but watching how serious some of these folks get about their Bingo is certainly worth the price of admission. We can’t wait to do it again.

After this picture was taken we had a family from Hollywood, FL join us at the table. Dad showed up first to secure seats for the rest. He purchased the family’s cards and sat down with us. He really did not have a concept about how the game was played and asked Stephanie for help. The daughter, Reena was next. She understood how to play but could not keep up with the caller. I ended up helping her and bring to keep an eye on my cards at the same time. Stephanie was still helping Dad. Mother showed up. She had actually lived in Ottawa for some time before moving to Calgary, then to the United States. She did alright. Finally their son came in. He did amazingly well. He was able to get and dress his popcorn, get a drink, and listen to music while paying attention to the caller and play his card all at the same time. Reena insisted that we share any of the winnings with our whole table. Although a nice thought, the group didn’t win a cent…..

With a good start this morning, we headed south to the Keys. Our intention was to drive down, have lunch, and be back before dark. It did not quite work that way. Things have not changed much along the way until you get south of the seven mile bridge. That is where the eye of Hurricane Irma (2017) made landfall. While new construction was well underway, you can see a lot of empty lots, and even more possibly abandoned buildings. I suspect those who had good insurance have rebuilt quickly while others are still waiting.

We started with a lunch at The Grand restaurant.

Followed by a walk down Duvall Street. We even came across the place we stayed with Elizabeth and Mike Olsen. It is called Olivia by Duvall.

We checked out the rest of the pier before we headed north back to the campsite.

After only 3 dinners, Stephanie wanted an upgrade from the plastic camp dishes! Introducing our new melmac “Rope design” china, cutlery and wine GLASS.

Stephanie’s rebuttal….For the record, John wanted the upgrade…plates, 99 cents each and cutlery also 99 cents each. Wine glass….priceless. Stephanie