DAY OF DEPARTURE ...

Tim and I spent a quiet day at camp yesterday ... Cleaning and sorting for our departure today. We also took a nice long walk in the campground and by a few of the lakes. Our last night camping here was great! We had more guests arrive just for the evening. Tim's friend Bubba and his son Matthew stopped by. Also Connie & Jon, friends I work with, came out. They attended the December Camping trip with us at Rainbow Springs a few weeks ago.  Not knowing we would have dinner guests I had been preparing an experimental dinner in the crock pot all day .... A Low Country Boil. Normally we would do this outside, in under an hour, with a huge boiling pot of water on a massive propane  burner. 

Yesterday I decided to see how this would work in the crock pot and having it cook all day. The process and ingredients were the same ... Just the timings were different. You just start with the potatoes first then throughout the day add the additional ingredients so that everything is cooked by the time you want to eat. The process was a success and enjoyed by everyone. Our campfire was so warm and toasty. Tim always does a great job on the campfire. We all had a good time and can't wait to get together again. 

This morning it was very foggy and oh so damp out. We slowed the roll getting out while we tried to get things dry. I'm guessing we made it home by 12:30. I towed the Airstream home. Towing is not so much of a problem for me. I've towed through Atlanta in a thunder storm but when it comes to backing up ... I just don't get it. So I left the Airstream half jack knifed in the front yard and Tim gently backed it the rest of the way into the back yard. We leave again in five days for our annual trip to Santa Rosa Beach for the Can Opener. I'm guessing the event is close to having eighty Airstreams attending. So stay tuned the back 'em up saga will continue. 

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Safe Travels~

ALICE WYMER

(Aye chihuahua!)

OPERATOR ERROR ...

Wednesday at camp was quiet. Tim had to go to work and I just hung out here at Lake Louisa State Park. My mom, John and Aunt Martha were still here for good entertainment ... I mean company. And of course while Tim was gone a lot went wrong at my camp. 

First I tried to turn on the TV to get the stations programmed. The only stations I could get tuned in were the Religious stations and Spanish stations or Spanish/Religious stations. So my next step was to get out the weather station since I couldn't get a local TV station to monitor the weather with the big storm and weather front coming through. Well the test button didn't work nor could I get any weather feed from it. 

With those two failures I figured I could at least watch a movie. I plugged in 'The Long, Long Trailer'. A 1954 Technicolor movie staring Lucille Ball & Desi Arnez. It's about a couple who are on their honeymoon in a forty foot three ton trailer traveling about. It seemed like every incident that the young couple happened into ... Tim and I had a similar story. 

Once the movie finished I was going to plug in another old film. Uh ... not so much. Now  'The Long, Long Trailer' was stuck in the DVD player in the wall and would not eject. Rrrrrgh! Among other things the wardrobe latch malfunctioned and then my portable DVD player wouldn't show a picture I only had the audio. Anyway .. I did wind up having a nice dinner at my mother's camp. My mom's dog Stella hung out with us as well. Then they all came over to my camp and gave me an A+ on my campfire that I built. I was so glad something went right without Tim being present. 

Tim arrived back at camp this morning from his 24-hour shift at work and I told him everything that went wrong. And of course it was pointed out to me that every single issue was due to ... OPERATOR ERROR!!!

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Safe Travels~

ALICE WYMER

(Aye chihuahua!)

CHESTNUTS ROASTING ON AN OPEN FIRE ...

The vision I had had all my life of roasting chestnuts on an open fire and my first efforts of doing so ... were so far apart. Actually it was a complete disaster. I did Google what the procedure was before we left the house. I thought  I remembered what to do. So instead of nice yummy warm roasted chestnuts ... We wound up with what looked like glowing red ping pong balls in a pan. Oh and they could have been flaming at one point. Tim did exactly as I told him. He questioned me the whole way. Camp-Run-A-Muck it is!

Once the glowing hot lumps had cooled my nephew, Stephen, tried to pick one up and it just disintegrated between his fingers. Then Tim decided to Google the procedure on his cell ... Uh I left out a few steps.  Oh my ... Embarrassing!!! I hope I made up for it by bringing out all the makings of s'mores. In the end we all had a good laugh and we made a few memories to talk about for years to come. 

Tim and I will be here until the end of the week. We had visitors throughout the day yesterday. My niece Sandy and her husband Richie were here for most of the day. My brother Robbie and his son Brandon, who ate some of my crickets, came by. Then we also had my nephew Stephen who camped in a tent on our site and he had his girlfriend Leila come by.  My Mother her husband John and my Aunt Martha who are camping a few sites over are here. We had a great big casual breakfast yesterday ... Big Al's Famous Waffles (plain & brownie), biscuits & gravy (by Richie) and pigs-in-a-blanket (thanks, Mom) and chocolate covered cherries soaked in vodka (yum ... Aunt Martha) and mamosas AND a wonderful new Christmas tradition has been found!

Happy Holidays everyone!

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Safe Travels~

ALICE WYMER

(Aye chihuahua!)

MELE KALIKIMAKA ...

Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say on a bright Hawaiian Christmas Day 

That's the island greeting that we send to you from the land where palm trees sway

Here we know that Christmas will be green and bright 

The sun to shine by day and all the stars at night

Mele Kalikimaka is Hawaii's way to say Merry Christmas to you ...

Wait a minute!!!

Rrrrrrt ...

 Is that Green Swamp I smell? 

Yes, I think so ... We are at Lake Louisa State Park just south of Clermont. It's just a short 20 minute drive from the house and the perfect place to spend Christmas with family. This will be our first Christmas camping ... Hopefully not our last but the beginning of a wonderful Holiday Tradition. 

If I squint really hard I can make believe the cypress trees in the swamp are Hawaiian palms swaying in the breeze and that smell is that of  a fruity coconut drink in my hand. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone!

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Safe Travels~

ALICE WYMER

(Aye chihuahua!)

RUN RUDOLPH RUN

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all thro' the campground 

Not a creature was stirring, not even a hound;

The stockings were hung by the campfire with care,

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The campers were nestled all snug in their rigs,

While visions of waffles danc'd in their heads,

Yup ... We'll be bust'n out Big Al's Waffles at camp in the morning. 

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Safe Travels~

ALICE WYMER

(Aye chihuahua!)

Great Gathering & Good Times

Even though we anticipated a little warmer weather here at Rainbow Springs it's still really nice. Thankfully I keep extra jackets in the Airstream. Today we took a hike down to the river and watched fishermen, kayakers & paddleboarders. The water is so clear that what you see in the second picture is the white sand on the river bed. Tonight is our big feed ... The Chuckwagon Pot Luck. 

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Safe Travels~

ALICE WYMER

(Aye chihuahua!)

Woo-Hoo & a yiiipppeee ki-yay!

The Wymers arrived last night at Rainbow Springs State Park in Dunnellon, Florida. Tim and I are here prepping for the Camping Event of the year/December Round-Up. We've gathered friends and family for a fun weekend of camping prior to Christmas. The weather is great and we can't wait for everyone to arrive. 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

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Safe Travels~

ALICE WYMER

(Aye chihuahua!)

SHORT DRIVE HOME ...

At daybreak this morning the wind had calmed somewhat but was to increase throughout the day again on the coast. Roxy and I were out the door by 7:30am and made a quick walk of it in the brisk 50* weather. Once we made it back to the Airstream (interior temp 54*) I turned on the heater. We had made it through the night without it. Since we didn't have much to pack for the ride home we were on the road just after 10am and home before 11:30am. The only Halloween decoration I was able to deploy this trip was a Witch Skelton flag ... And I had to rig that on the front hitch in order for it to stay up in the high winds.

The sun was really out now and looked to be a beautiful day. Our next door 'camping' neighbor, Jim, is new to our group and doesn't live very far from us. Jim has a 25' 2012 Eddie Bauer Airstream. This model has an amazing floor plan. The bedroom is in the front of the rig and the entry door and dinette are near the rear ... Sort of a reverse layout of ours. Another feature that I love is the rear sport hatch ... making this Airstream a toy hauler. Once the door/hatch is lifted open there is a screen that can be pulled down over the opening allowing you to bring the outdoors in. I WANT ONE! (a paddleboard could slide right in easily)

Tim and I are glad to be back home now. It's a bit odd having such a short drive. I'm not so sure about Roxy though ... She is so use to us making multiple stays/stops on most of our trips that I think she was a bit disappointed when we landed back home today. The look on her face was like .... Huh ... We're back here? Oh well she'll have a few weeks to rest before we take off again. I think what she likes most about going camping is the likelihood of meeting other dogs and doing the doggy socializing thing. We had one last chance to say goodbye to Snow Ball and Inky before everyone departed. Until next time ... Bow wow! Ruf! Ruf!

OUR DECK DOWN UNDER ...

Our day turned out to be very relaxing. The morning began with a slow start and no rush to do anything. This is how camping should be. I made breakfast burritos with ham, eggs & cheese and of course the percolator was going with my camp coffee. Then we hung out and took Roxy for a few walks and decided to take off for lunch. Since it was finally sunny we wanted to enjoy it.

We landed at a local restaurant on the intercostal called OUR DECK DOWN UNDER. It's located on A1A under the bridge just past Bird Island. The food and atmosphere was good and I will return when I come back to the area. This place is better than any chain seafood restaurant but not close to what we experience in the Keys BUT still good. To walk off all the food we ate we took a casual walk on the waterfront docks there. It's a nice place to watch the fisherman come in with their days catch and to also be able to watch families fish from the piers.

Once done there we stopped at The Sugar Mill Botanical Gardens and took another nice stroll. The grounds were beautiful and it was very interesting seeing the mill and the dinosaurs. What? Uh huh ... Dinosaurs. One almost got Tim. We learned these were left over from a tourist trap, Bongoland, that was once here on the historical mill property. It was thought they would attract more visitors here. 

We wrapped up the evening with the last gathering for this rally. A stone soup dinner. I had never participated in one of these. Everyone brings one can of non-cream based soup for each person attending and all the soup gets combined together in one big pot to be cooked. If you want ... additional meat can be added. The dinner gathering and the stone soup was really good. I was hoping to wrap out the evening with a campfire ... Still too windy! So we've began packing the few things we can to ready for our return trip home tomorrow.

SURFS UP ...

The rain Friday night was unbelievable. It poured and POURED all night long very hard and the wind was crank'n. So when I walked Roxy during the storm last night I was regretting having a dog that doesn't mind the rain (hurricane). Some areas of the campground had standing/flowing water up to my ankles Roxy doesn't mind ... Lets lie down in it.  At about 2 AM in a dead sleep I thought two coconuts fell on the roof of the Airstream ... Or just one that bounced. But I was quickly reminded the the palms here do not have coconuts on them. Once daybreak came I still had to go look ... It was just two small palm fronds. Phewwww!



We had three scheduled rally meals and a business meeting to attend today. With all that somehow we still found time to hit the beach and go to a really great local surf shop. WOW!!! We met Fred, a salesman at Sandy Point Progressive Sports,  who gave us some really valuable information on what to look for when we are ready to purchase a paddleboard and a sit-on-top fishing kayak. Yes, we do need these things. Fred rocks and has been surfing for over 50 years here on the Beaches of Volusia County. More than likely I will return here when I am ready to make my purchases.



Roxy had a good day as well and got to meet a yellow lab from Canada named Charlie. They were both quite smitten with each other. Rox is doing better today ... She hates it when we keep her locked up inside the Airstream. With the weather clearing today and the wind has finally started to settle some this evening we were able to give her some more outside time. She is really liking the cooler weather that has moved in.  We have a very light rally schedule for tomorrow and hope to be at the Airstream for most of the day to enjoy some 'Roxy' time!!!

THE WEATHER IS HERE . . .

For the most part it was a free day in regards to the rally. Tim had to go to Kissimmee for the day but returned just prior to dark. This left Roxy and I at camp and on our own for the day. She had a few good naps and I walked a half block over to World of Beer ... Who was closed. Really? But The Wine Bank located in the same complex was open and they were serving lunch, wine & BEER! With me having no transportation for the day it worked out perfect.




During the day the weather was not as bad as I had expected. Just really windy. It hung at a constant 24 mph  at camp, 44 mph on the beach and a gust was recorded there at 61 mph. We had no rain until 4pm and that was just a light shower but by 5:30 it was coming down hard. It looked like a river flowing through he campground. The radar shows we will probably have rain all night. Glad I brought my water shoes!

TRYING TO REASON WITH HURRICANE SEASON ...

This weekend there is an Airstream Rally in Daytona (really Port Orange) that Tim and I have planned to attend  for a while. This will be the third year for the Tom Moore Memorial Rally and the first year that Tim and I have been able to attend together with the Airstream. Of course every time we travel to the Keys there are tropical storms or hurricanes on the horizon but never up here this time of the year. So I guess Hurricane Sandy will skirt off our Florida shores for the next few days no matter if we are home or camping in Daytona. 

Since we like living on the edge we decided to make the hour drive northeast and go for it. We did drive through a few rough rain bands getting here and there were a few light showers once we landed but for right now it's just pretty windy with 22 mph winds. I don't think we will be deploying any of the awnings or hanging any of the Halloween lights outside ... I guess I can rig some on the interior of the Silver Palace. Ooooohh ... so spooky!

Roxy liked the short drive over and has already met two new friends Snowball and Inky. I hope to get their pictures tomorrow weather permitting. Just across the way from where we are camping is a huge tree that Roxy has discovered and she loves laying beneath it. I don't think we will have much outside time tomorrow so I let her wander a bit extra this evening. Her new drugs are working so much better and we are really happy to see her being more active. Our friend Joe from Gainesville  hung out with us for awhile this evening ... Other than the wind (no bugs) it was very nice outside for having a few cocktails.  For now we will be hunkering down inside for the rest of the night. I'll keep you posted on the weather. 

PS ... Jim Cantori please stay away from Volusia County, Florida. 

THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX . . .

For now lets just forget about the box and think outside. I have spent many months searching high and low for the perfect material to use in order to make the front panoramic drapes in the Airstream. It seemed as though nothing was just right in the local material stores. So thats when I decided to look at other resources for the material ... I was looking on line at vintage material sites ... or at buying ready made house drapes to cut up ... or sheets ... when I started looking at shower curtains. The patterns on the material caught my interest more so that anything else I had found at that time. So that was my final decision. Buy shower curtains and blackout drape material and get to sewing. By thinking 'outside the box' I came up with one of a kind custom drapes for my Airstream. The following pictures are the before pictures of the original drapes hanging (having been gently washed) and then the final reveal of the finished 'shower curtain' drapes.

Back in September when I made the rear window drape for the Airstream I mentioned the quote I received to get both these drapes made ... $499. When I made the rear drape my cost was $32.48. The materials for the front drape cost $82.86. Bringing the cost for both drapes to $115.34. My goal was to come in under $150. Yes, the time to make the drapes is an expense and I no doubt the value and skill it takes someone to make these. In the end I have something to value more because I stepped outside the box and made these myself. 

P.S. ~ The drapes came out great (better than anticipated) ... however I don't think Airstream will be hiring me for their upholstery department anytime soon. LOL

WHERE IS MARGARITAVILLE?

Where is Margaritaville do you ask? Well, it's somewhere between the Port of Indecision and Southwest of Disorder, but no parallels of latitude or longitude mark the spot on a map. You don't have to be a navigator to get there. All you have to do is follow your nose. Smell those shrimp they're beginning to boil. Shrimp is to Margaritaville like bait is to fishing, or songs are to sailors. 

Now that we are back home and settled in we are already preparing for our next trip in October. We had an amazing time in the Keys and I enjoyed having a little fun with the blog entries. I look back and realize I had so many more options and things I could have pulled off. 

So how do you get to Margaritaville? Start here with all the stuff you missed from our trip to the Florida Keys  and 'our Margaritaville' . . .

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wymer/sets/72157631638746029/

Enjoy . . .

WONDER WHY WE EVER GO HOME . . .

Years grow shorter, not longer

The more you've been on your own

Feelins for movin grow stronger

So you wonder why you ever go home

Wonder why you ever go home

People are movin so quickly

Humors in need of repair

Same occupations and same obligations

They've really got nothing to share

Like drivin around with no spare

(We had ours ... Phwwww!) 

River gets deeper not shallow

The further you move down the stream

Wonderin if I can keep her

As I race to catch up with my dreams

How they shine and glitter and gleam

Years grow shorter, not longer

The more you've been on your own

Feelins for movin grow stronger

So you wonder why you ever go home

Wonder why you ever go home

You wonder why you ever go home

WE ARE SAFELY HOME NOW ... THANKS FOR FOLLOWING US TO THE KEYS!