SUMMER IN FLORIDA

Well, our summer has been pretty boring in 2010 compared to spending the summer of 2009 in the Black Hills of South Dakota.  We have had to be creative to come up with some variety.  Over the last few weeks we have done some camping at Florida State Parks. 

RUSS AND DIANNA ARE MARRIED

Dennis and Linda proudly present Russ and Dianna Rosa, married at Magic Moments Chapel, Elizabethton, TN on July 13, 2010

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!!!!!

Hey everyone...I (Linda) am going "on the road again"!!!!  My sister, Phyllis, invited both of us to accompany her to NY State in her motor home.  Dennis declined in that he did not feel up to packing up all his breathing apparatus...oxygen, CPAP and nebulizer and making another trip quite yet this summer!  So-o-o, he said I should grab the opportunity to spend this time with my sister and go along with her.  We will take off tomorrow morning...stopping for a few days visit in GA first.  Phyllis' oldest son, Steve lives in GA as well as our sister, Kathy...so we will visit there until Tuesday when we will hit the road again northward bound  to Central NY State!!!!  I will try and keep everyone posted with photos and "goings on"!!!  She usually spends the month of July in NY State, but she said we could "play it by ear"...so, I am not sure exactly when we will be returning to FL.  Below is Phyllis' new camper van that we will be traveling it!  Amazingly it has everything in it that a big motor home has...just on a smaller scale!  Thanks for tuning in!

HEADING BACK TO FLORIDA!!!

Well, we made it through the busy Memorial Day Weekend, but each day took a tole on Dennis' breathing and ability to catch his breath as he performed the duties in the park.  We handed in our resignation on Sunday morning of Memorial Day Weekend telling them we would hang in there for two weeks if they wanted us that long.  Business after Memorial Day was expected to drop off considerably so our managers graciously told us to leave whenever we were ready.  We packed on Memorial Day and left Bear Den Campground on Tuesday morning.  Our first night en route to Florida was spent at Cade's Cove, TN and we had the opportunity to drive the 11-mile loop two or three times in search of wild life.  We saw many turkey, deer and three black bears!  The next night was in the mountains of north Georgia and presently we are in southern Georgia and will be home today!  We are not going to try to work again right away.  Dennis needs to rest and we have had to face the fact that he may no longer be able to perform the campground work that he has done in the past!  Thank you all for checking in on us and we will keep you posted.

BEAUTIFUL BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS

This is a view from Altapass Overlook off the Blue Ridge Parkway that I took a couple of days ago!

We are bracing for a full campground of 144 sites for this Memorial Day Weekend…everything is reserved FULL!! I am working today from 3 PM thru closing at 9:30 PM to get over 100 sites checked in! We had about 14 sites check in yesterday. Wednesday and Thursday were supposed to be our days off, but I worked in the office while the woman who has been here several years restocked the store shelves with supplies. Tomorrow night the park will have a live band playing 50, 60 and 70’s music and I will be working the office/store! Dennis is working maintenance the next couple of days, so he will be finishing work as I begin my shift!

There have been several bear sightings reported...but we have not seen any bear yet, but lots of turkey and deer!


We are thinking of all of you on this Memorial Holiday and hoping that you have a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend!

DREAM HOME FOR DENNIS AND LINDA

Okay folks...we have found our "DREAM HOME"! We guided this unit into one of our largest RV sites a couple of nights ago and we believe we could live VERY comfortably in this unit and use this "Trike" to get around in the tight locations of interest! The "Trike" you see parked under the awning drives right up a ramp in the back of the coach where you see the short ladder.

  The space above the "Trike" garage is where the bed is located on the inside!  Guess we might need to continue working a few more summers to pay for this one!!!!!  It is amazing the types of RV's we see here and how they travel along the Blue Ridge!

LIFE ALONG THE BLUE RIDGE OF NORTH CAROLINA

All is going well here at Bear Den Campground in NC!  The days have been cool (in the 70's) and nights in the 50's with showers frequently in the evenings!  We have finished our first week and will be off tomorrow and the next day.  We may get a chance to explore a little bit.  This beautiful Rhododendron flower was one of many around the playground area.  We have seen several deer, turkey and a fox right here in our park...but have not had the camera at the right time!  There has been a bear reported up on the hill at some of the privately owned cabins a couple of days ago but we have not seen it yet!  A beautiful Woodpecker landed right on a tree at the edge of our site a couple of days ago...but once again the camera was not where I could grab it!  Stay tuned...we WILL capture some of this wild life on the camera sooner or later!!!!  Check out our campground at http://www.bear-den.com/    Thanks for checking it!

HUMMINGBIRD AND FLOWERS FROM VIRGINIA

This photo was taken at Mt. Airy, NC (Andy Griffiths hometown!).Hummingbird "preening" his tailfeathers!  This was taken while we were still in Virginia...right at the edge of our patio!

NEW LOCATION...NEW JOBS FOR DENNIS & LINDA!!!!!

Here we are along the Blue Ridge Parkway at Bear-Den Campground.  We landed jobs here on Tuesday, May 11..loaded up and drove over the mountain from Elizabethton, TN past Roan Mountain and down on the North Carolina side to Spruce Pine, NC.  Drove to the Blue Ridge Parkway via Rt. 226 and North on the Parkway to mile marker 324.8 to Bear Den Rd and back in about one mile to Bear Den Campground.  I am working in the office/store and Dennis is part of the Maintenance/Security team.  It is beautiful here and we are looking forward to a cool and enjoyable summer!  Picture will follow within the next few days!

LOOKING FOR A NEW SUMMER JOB!

This organization is just NOT for us and we have given our 2 week notice and will be leaving in the morning!  Nothing has been as it was told to us and does not show any signs of improving.  We are way too old to work someplace where we are not comfortable or happy!

SO, down the road we are heading into North Carolina where we will check out another family owned campground tomorrow.

We may or may not have Internet so will try to keep everyone up to date when we settle down with something!

LIFE AT HILLSVILLE, VA

May 1, 2010 -- Time is flying by and we have not started work yet…we are on the schedule to begin on Monday, May 3.

We are all settled in and have the trailer as well as the patio pretty much the way we want to live for the next few months. There are bright flowers and hummingbird feeders. The awning is out and tied down as tight so that it doesn’t flap!

Friday we explored Mt. Airy, NC (home of Andy Griffith…and, Mayberry RFD)…it was a beautiful drive with dogwood and azaleas everywhere. So far we have not seen any rhododendron in bloom…I think it is sometime in June before they come out!

Lake Ridge RV Resort is about 7 miles to the NE of Hillsville out in the country. On our way to and from town we see this BIG BOY nearly every time!

This morning they were having “Spring Fest” at the Southwest Virginia Farmers Market right here at Hillsville and we visited it and listened to mountain music while eating fresh pulled pork sandwiches. There were lots of flowers for sale as well as the real “Virginia Hams” in bags and sliced Virginia Ham in shrink wrapped packages. We bought a cabbage, new potatoes and onion as well as a couple bags of different homemade trail mix…one with cranberries, raisins, nuts and raspberries and a bag of Roasted Green Peas!

Here on the patio the hummingbirds took no time in finding the sweet nectar I cooked up for them and they entertain us constantly! It is amazing how they seem to hover just like they are looking us over!

Denny wants to know..."HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A HUMMINGBIRD PREENING ITSELF...UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL?????" Isn't this a neat shot?

BACK FROM NEW YORK STATE!

Hi All...WHEW...we have only been gone from home in Florida one week today and have already checked in here at Lake Ridge RV Resort...made a trip and visit to Central New York State and returned!!!

We left early last Friday morning and made our way to Treadwell and Oneonta, NY...a 620 mile trip!  We made it in a little less than 12 hours.  We had three nice visits with Dennis' Mother...Saturday, Sunday and Monday...each day we arrived at the nursing home around 10:30 AM and stayed until about 1:30 PM.  Mother hates for them to take her to the dining room to be fed so Irma feeds her in her room when she is there.  Mother is confined to a "Gerry Chair".  She broke her leg over a year ago and can not bend her right leg so it has to remain in a reclined position.  We took the laptop with us and played a slide show of photos for Mother that showed her where we are working and current photos of Randy and Russ and their homes and family.   Here is a photo of us visiting with Mother.  Mother will be 96 this coming December!

We left NY yesterday (4/27/2010) around 7 AM and arrived back here at Lake Ridge in VA a little after 7 PM last evening.  Today has been filling out paperwork, laundry and shopping!  We do not know yet exactly the day and time that we will begin our work!  This is beautiful country...we will post photos as soon as we get some!

SAFE ARRIVAL AT LAKE RIDGE RV RESORT, HILLSVILLE, VA

Greetings everyone...we have arrived safely at Lake Ridge RV Resort at Hillsville, VA where we will be working for the summer of 2010.  Check out www.lakeridgerv.com and you will see where we are located.  It is beautiful here with the terrain being quite hilly!  Spring has arrived here and there are lots of flowering trees and bushes.  Most trees have their spring green leaves!  We will leave our travel trailer here and continue to travel early tomorrow morning to visit Dennis' Mother and sisters in NY State.  Will add updates and photos as soon as time allows.  Thanks for checking in with us!

GETTING CLOSE

We have completed a painting job that we have been wanting to do all winter on our home...the carport area as well as the front is completed and the remainder will have to wait until we return in the fall.  The travel trailer has been pulled out of storage and positioned right outside...it has been scrubbed inside and out and we are now in the process of loading the "stuff" we will need for our 4-5 month stay!

We are planning on taking off on Wednesday, April 21 and driving to SC...then the final 300 miles to Hillsville, VA on Thursday, April 22.  Phoebe is keeping real close watch of our every move...one day she sat in the trailer for a couple of hours waiting for us!

PREPARING FOR NEW WORK CAMP ADVENTURE!

Summer of 2010 will bring us to western Virginia...LAKE RIDGE RV RESORT at Hillsville, VA...just a few miles off of Interstate 77! Check out www.lakeridgerv.com to see where we will be working. More to follow as we get closer to departure!