Back from vacation !!

Its been a great few weeks away from semi-retirement. I do have a business which I've talked about here BTW .. I will send a small check for referrals !!

As I mentioned in my previous post, we hit Montreat, then headed further south to see my in-laws, my sisters, and the Mouse. I had a good time with the in-laws and the sisters, but I had FUN in Orlando.

Every time I hit Walt Disney World I'm a kid again. Gotta hit Pirates, get wet at Splash Mountain and do the Kilimanjaro Safaris® at the Animal Kingdom. However, this trip we made a detour over to Universal to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. It really does look like the village of Hogsmead, with Hogwarts Castle towering overhead. Its worth the visit, even though the 'dueling dragons' rollercoaster is the old "Fire and Ice" coaster.

However, aside from Orlando, and the visits with family, there was time to recharge. Away from the Internet, except for email (see first paragraph, customer support is always needed), and for most of the trip, no TV. When I did get a glimpse, it was a political ad. Guess what, the ads I saw in Pennsylvania, were the same in Florida only the names were changed.

Along with the relaxation, came the notice that the last of my friends from PTS was ordained, albeit in a different Presbyterian branch that is much more conservative than the PCUSA. So, I was thinking about how much of the 'anonymity' I need to keep. Not as much as before, so I will reveal to those who haven't figured it out by now, that I'm the spouse of the Pastor at Cannoli Presbyterian Church.

The Preacher's Husband, and I don't play piano nor organ, nor do I teach Sunday School. I did say I would assist where I can around the church, but I drew the line at being the head of the local Presbyterian Women group.

However, based on what the other pastor's husbands and I talked about at the Wee Kirk conference, we've found a 21st century equivalent for male spouses. We run the sound board !! True, of the 5 or 6 male spouses there, we all ran the sound boards for our wife's church.

And so it goes ....

A Hole With Four Wheels !!

Back when SWMBO and I had money, about ten years ago or so, we were living in the Land of Lincoln, and taking off every other weekend to go camping.

At that time we were avid tent campers, with a very large dome tent, and all the accessories. Occasionally it would rain, but we were very good at setting up the tent on the high ground, and trenching around the tent. Then came one night, it must have come down about 3 inches in a half-hour. While the floor of the tent held up, it seems that the waterproof fly wasn't all that waterproof, and then tent seams weren't all that sealed.

We packed up the sodden mess that night, and headed to the nearest motel. A month or so later, we decided to head out to a location we had not visited before. It was July, and the weather was decidedly dryer ... and warmer. That first day we setup around 2pm, and then went to take a nice cool shower. Temp was in the high 80's, as was the humidity.

We got back to the tent, just as hot and sweaty as we were before the shower. Luckily the tent was in a shady spot, but there wasn't much of a breeze that day. That evening, we tried to get to sleep, but it was too warm. Went out to a nearby Wall of Mart (blissfully air conditioned), and picked up a fan along with a 200 foot extension cord. Plugged in the cord to the RV electric box there, and ran the fan all night. Next day, we lasted until 12 and then packed it in. On the way home we made a resolution to buy a small RV.

We found a used one, found out afterwards it needed a lot of reconstruction, and traded it in on a new one (something like the picture). It was (and is) still great. Air Conditioning, stove, fridge, mini-shower and commode, and a generator so we can dry camp. Trouble is, these things take a lot of maintenance.

Unfortunately, there was a period of about two years I didn't do any preventive maintenance, not a good thing. Now I spend my time sealing leaks, and trying to keep the whole thing from falling apart. I have no one to blame but myself, but they could have made it easier to work on. I'm hoping that I can find a place that can do reconstructive work on the overhang. The manufacturer figured out that the overhang was a long-term accident waiting to happen, and started using a one-piece fiberglass shell with less seams and fewer problems. Its too late for me, unless I can find someone who can do a retrofit, which would involve additional investment.

And they call boats a hole in the water a man pours his money into; they should own an RV !!

... and so it goes !!

Missed the prairie ....

Hmm ... I occurred to me that I had a theme going there for the past few posts, then I missed a 4th of July post. So, having mentioned the river(s), and the mountains, I had to mention the prairies on what will be a 4th of July post.

That said, I also missed any live fireworks (other than those being set off by individuals), as I was busy elsewhere last evening. More on that in the next post.

Anyway, we hit the road again on the 3rd, leaving the river and Florida behind, and arrived at the waypoint without much of a kitty opera. I think the cats have gotten accustomed to the road a bit. The white one has taken to it fully, she has no problem with getting on the dashboard and lying there as we travel the roads. Passengers in passing cars tend to do a double take. The grey one just sits under my seat, and complains whenever we hit a bump on the road. Still, its better than a chorus of Aida for an hour or so as we heard when we started out.

Its orange barrel time in the South, and Georgia has taken full advantage of it. I-95 is being torn up in parts, with the highway going from 3 to 2 lanes, and lane shifts all over the place. Evidently there were some very timid souls heading south to Florida on the 3rd (along with most of the east coast it seemed), as these normal summer occurrences seemed to have scared them into a crawl. Which then caused a backup, which I measured at 7 to 8 miles long, and growing. Those of us heading north, had no such issues.

Made the final half of the trip to Montreat on the 4th, and it seemed like all the idiots came out to play. You had the people who did not believe the right side view mirror when it says that Things may be closer then they seem in the mirror. I had two drivers who almost clipped me while passing me and moving back into the right hand lane. FWIW ... I always stay in the slow lane with the RV, usually doing 65 although some states have a speed limit of 70. The RV can do that easily, but with a mileage of 8 or 9 MPG, I'd rather save a bit on gas.

The other idiot was the type that my wife and I call a rock in the road. Did you ever watch a stream or brook as it flows. They normally flow quite fast, until they hit a rock in the stream bed, then there's turbulence, and the stream slows. The same happens on the road with traffic, which has a fluid dynamic. Traffic flows swiftly, until it reaches someone that is not doing the speed limit. While I admit that I keep the RV about 5 mph below the limit, the real rocks are those drivers who: a) do less than the limit in the left hand, or passing lane, or b) pull onto a highway using the on ramp, and never even try to accelerate to something approaching the speed limit until after everyone who had to slow down to make way for them entering the highway has panicked, slowing down even less than the idiot who didn't properly merge in the first place.

What really galls me about these types is that after I have moved to the left lane to avoid what would have been an interesting meeting with the idiot, then they proceed to speed up to either pass me, or keep me from moving back to the right hand lane. So I slow down to get over, and I get the interesting hand gestures from those I inconvenienced.

Then we arrived at the KOA in Swannanoa, just outside of Montreat, and I was ready for some renewal ... and a quick shower.

And so it goes ....

On the river ....

We're taking some time off to recharge, sitting on a spring fed river in the state where the Mouse has a World. Was sitting on the dock, when she floated up the river right up to us.

I love this place !!

On the road ....

We've been on the road for the past few days, and are now in Atlanta. We're doing some touring, and I'll be attending Friday's sessions of the Elder Conference. I hope to get some good info to bring back to SPC.

We're then going to head down to SWMBO's hometown to relax and recharge. We've not done this in a while, and we both need it.

I hope to have pictures later ;)

Outrunning Fay !!

Well, we're back from vacation, and while the first 8 days were relaxing, the last two were somewhat worrisome. Our flight was out of Orlando around 1pm on Tuesday, and as of Monday afternoon, it looked like we would not be flying as Tropical Storm Faye was due to pay a visit to the Mouse and environs.

Well, we had to decide whether to change the reservation to the next day or so, or just try to see if we could get out. There wasn't much of an option to stay longer than Thursday, as there was somewhere we had to be locally on Friday, and that was something we could not postpone.

We decided to try the original flight, but we made backup plans to stay with my wife's brother who lives in Orlando, just in case.

Come 6am on Tuesday, we're checking the Internet for the latest storm track prediction. Some showed it to the west in the gulf, others to the east, and one sending it straight up the middle of the state.

We headed to Orlando, and listening to the radio for any updates. When we reached Orlando, Faye's rain bands were coming through with heavy downpours, which then changed to showers. The winds were not that strong, and when we reached the airport itself, the storm had its second landfall, but was heading in a more easterly direction aiming for the Cape Canaveral area. Still not all that good a location for us in Orlando, but it had also slowed down alot.

So, we waited for our flight, which was delayed until 1:30pm, but we got out OK, and arrived home about 45 minutes later than the original time. All in all, stressful, but OK in the end.

Now, back to (ugh) work !

Surprise ... Surprise

So .. there I was on a flight to Orlando, knowing that this year visiting the Mouse was not on the itinerary. So we get to Orlando, and we pick up the rental car, and I start thinking of a place to eat.

That's when SWMBO mentioned that we've been invited to dinner by her father, who's staying at Walt Disney World. Then she mentioned that she picked out the location, and she picked my favorite restaurant, Artist's Point at the Wilderness Lodge on property.

They make the best Cedar Plank Salmon there, I've not found another place that does it as well. So we get there for dinner, enjoy a great meal. Then my F-I-L says "Well that was the good part about the evening, now here's the bad part, you have to spend the next two days here at WDW with us." Well, I was dumbfounded. It seems that my wife conspired with her father to set me up with two days at WDW for my birthday. EVERYONE knew, even my sister who kept her mouth shut, and I was talking to her earlier that day and remarking that we'd probably have dinner at Chipotle's then head up to the Vacation Spot. I was also talking about how I wasn't taking my camera with me because I'd be hauling my laptop to do what I talked about in my last blog entry. So, no pictures of the WDW trip.

So I spent two nice days at WDW, and am now at the Vacation Spot, which is only a half-hour from my M-I-L's where I'm sitting now typing away. So, I've had a belated birthday present, and was totally gobsmacked !!

Now to catch up with the rest of the blogs.