Morning Cup Of Coffee And Weather

How many in Florida? Mention it just because reservation in Florida is full of peril That is major impressive...Spending 40% of your nights out and about...yah, that's what I call "Winning"

 

“Some days I worry I'm turning into Mr Wilson from Dennis the Menace...the cartoon version.”After retiring I began attending daily mass(equals a period of “mindfulness”). My personal prayer is that I not become a grumpy old man married to an old scold.

 

A quick estimation would be close to 85%. Other destinations include GA, SC, and NC. Hope to expand the travels once Terri retires in a few years. 30% are by myself at the moment, which I enjoy just as much.

 

Good question, it was top market price I am sure. I would have loved to purchase it, its almost exactly what I want however I would want to buy at least 4 lots and joining them into a single 'compound'. I have looked in the area post-hurricane and it looks like it was not hit that hard. But based on where it is, it COULD be wiped out completely. I am sure insurance there is unimaginably high. Perry, the closest city got hit, but I don't think there was much damage in this little area.

It was an amazing campground in many ways and only was missing a couple of things that would have made it perfect. Like some heat in the shower house, a radiant heater would have been nice, and maybe some one to welcome us....it was pretty self-service.

For those who don't know, this campground was called "Captain's Hideaway' and has 3 campsites. Additionally, 1 was converted into a common tiki bar/firepit with party lights strung up in the trees, and the second was converted into a private lot for the owner's use leaving 3 rentable sites.

Site One was larger and had open skies for the big rigs. Site 2 was the tiki bar and shower, site 3 was the owners, sites 4 and 5 were more secluded rentable sites. We stayed in the one all the way to the back. The soil was typical Florida sand, covered by wood chips presumably from the trees were removed to develop the site. I anticipate that this would be a problem as the chips decomposed unless they were refreshed, but it worked while we were there. The bigs weren't too bad either, of course in was February.

All sites had 50/30/15 amp electric and sewer. They had wifi , and marginal cell service. Wifi was intermittent going down about 3 times. But cell was barely enough, but enough, to allow us to work for the time we had there, little more than a week.

The shower house was strange; the toilet went into the septic system, but the shower was just a showerhead going through an instant on/demand camping water heater. The floor was just 2x6's which allowed the water to drain through the sandy soil. There was no heat or cooling. The sides were tin, and open near the peaks. Ventilation was not a problem at all, but at 40 degrees the showers were oddly comfortable as the water was warm, but the dry off was fast

The local area was very natural -- crushed coral roads, with the 'big city' about 20 minutes away. Locally, there were several other camp grounds --- but they were no where near as nicely done. A restaurant, a convenience store...and a barbershop in a 8x10 shed out back of the store where right down the road. The gulf was about a 5 minute drive from the campground.

The convenience store turned out to be a GEM!!!! Beer and liquor selection was good, the dairy case was well stocked, and they had a really, really good meat case. Some of the best beef we'd had in a long time. From the outside, It looked like a typical gas station and bait shop.

I took a week of vacation when we went down, but my wife had to work. We were scheduled to go down exactly 2 years ago -- Early January 2022, but I had a surprise visit from Covid and we canceled, rescheduling to late February. I'll never forget this little gem. Sadly its gone now.

The funniest event was when my wife excited started talking about a pig, or hog...right over there...in Florida can be the beginning of a very bad time. My father-in-law used to take an AR with him whenever he left his house because he had been charged a couple of times. If you live in the wild near water packing heat is more than just a good idea down there.

Me, I'm freaking out since I was not carrying anything more than a 3 1/2-inch folding pocket knife. I was expecting a tusked boar hog. I finally found the animal in my field of vision...the poor thing looked like it was about to pop, and running was just not on her schedule. I suspect her name was Daisy and belonged to the neighbors. This was taken about 50 years away, probably 300 pounds of fat there.

View attachment upload_2024-1-4_7-12-25.png


Our trip ended when the wifi and cell service went down. Since we were both "working" at that time we needed wifi quickly. We packed and left early, knowing the main roads would have something. This worked out fine since the afternoon looked like miserable rain and winds followed by an EARLY morning packout, we needed to be on the road by 7 as I recall.

We did have 3 or 4 days of "fun" while we were there. We got to see a part of the sunshine state that is devoid of mouse ears and crowds, and I have to say...I liked it, a lot.

Today? Were home --- just getting over Covid #2 for both of us. Tomorrow I can leave the house. Which is good, we're getting low on supplies. Plenty of Columbian roast though, its the "Cream Emergency" that is brewing that has me concerned. Got to have cream in my plunger brewed coffee. Speaking of which...the cup is empty.

I hope everyone has an awesome weekend, as it is drawing closer. Just need 40 degrees more --- too cold to go outside.

 

Today in the Town of Hill we only have ten more minutes of sunshine than the shortest day of the year. And sunrise is actually two minutes later. The big difference is that the sunset is twelve minutes later.

Such are my thoughts as I sip my Folgers.

 

My Class A is happy under its new RVport. This is the most snow it’s seen since it was built this summer. Snow does blow in from the sides and front but the roof remains clear. I designed it this way so you can see out the windows and use it as an extra bedroom and game room. It has a 50 amp 220v electrical source and a dedicated 500 gallon propane tank that feeds the onboard 40 gallon tank.

9B8460C1-372B-4217-9362-EBA785CD7763 by Tour 931 posted Jan 6, 2024 at 10:35 AM

 

It warmed me just looking at the picture.

 

My favorite days.

For us. We're hanging in the doldrums --- right at freezing at night and damp, so it goes right to your bones.

Our cat, Marvin, is confused. He suffers from occupancy dysphoria. He's in either an indoor cat that lives outdoors, our, an outdoor that lives indoors. He can't say for sure and he changes his mind frequently.

Today, Marvin ran out the back door when I was letting the dog in. He made in 4 feet out at which point he froze in his tracks, turned around and walked back inside.

I think he remembers our "class A" and insists that its time to move the house.

 

Out west its shaping up as a winter dry cold desert air day...not enough to be a Santa Ana, but drying out all the rain dumped by the last couple of "Atmospheric River" storms that get dragged south of the normal route across the middle coast Bay Area and on into the Lake Tahoe/Reno part of the Sierra's, after an El Nino pattern out in the South Pacific. Farmers might be a little drier up north, this fall...we'll see.

The storm swell, wind waves, and high tides have combined to pound the coast...scouring sand, flooding stream beds and gullies- Mother Nature Rules. Or is it King Neptune?

I'm frantically flogging through my house fix-r-ups and honey-do's as well as new service dog trainer duties, seen here as CampInn security option, aka Queen of the Bed (who I hope will allow me to sleep on her new bed there, too)

I just love the desert- and this brisk cold dry air is a tonic...
Our toes and noses is itching and twitching to get out camping to Anza Borrego at least...its gonna be a big bloom year...

 

My beloved Packers won today making me a happy camper.

 

I lost my cell phone this morning and it took me two hours to find it. And where was it? I made it into the bed and finally tore the bed apart. This was after crawling along on the floor. I have cataracts and don’t see so well.

Speaking of cataracts I can’t drive and have my first surgery this Friday. I haven’t driven in two months and have depended on friends to take me where I need to go.

 

It's good that you are having the surgery done, and it's one of the surgeries that have seen a huge advancement in both technique, and outcomes over the years.
I remember as a kid, seeing folks who had cataracts removed, then having to wear coke bottle thick lenses in their glasses after.Then when I first started in anesthesia 46 yrs ago, the procedure was done under general anesthesia, with a breathing tube inserted in the trachea so the surgeon could have access to the face without us holding a mask over the face to breath for the patient, and was at least an hour long procedure, after which the patient had sand bags placed around their head to keep it still for a couple days before being sent home, but at least they had started putting new lenses in the eye, so the thick glasses were no longer required.
When I retired 6 years ago the procedure was being done under topical anesthetic drops in the eye, and a little sedation to help the patient hold still. The actual surgery was usually about 10 minutes, and patients were normally headed home within an hour after surgery, and the lenses often provided better vision than they had ever had before.
So good luck with your surgery, and you'll probably come out wondering why you waited so long to do it! ...go pack go???

 

I had mine done first awhile back sevond couple years ago, easy peasy nite and day difference.

 

If I were slightly closer, I'd be happy to take you!

Cataract surgery is the best thing I've ever done, I had cataracts early (in my very early 50's) and can tell you the surgery is quick and painless,

There is an _immediate_ change for the better, the fogginess disappears immediately, and this is astounding. There is an adaption period though, as you will lose the ability to close up things, at least temporarily. They've got tricks up their lab coats that help with this. After an adaption period, it all feels pretty normal and honestly, you don't think too much about it after that.

There's nothing to it in retrospect.

I used to wear coke bottle glasses. After surgery, I don't even need to wear them to drive anymore. They moved all that correction into the lens they installed My 'script eyeglasses look normal now --- it's amazing

You'll be very glad you did it.

 

T-minus 70.5 hours and counting. All systems are go.

 

It's this kind of day. Not coffee --- no, no! It's anti-murdery-juice. Last night I tossed and turned trying to "cope" with a plethora of personal problems. 4 snoozes later, finally hitting it a last time...

I actually remember a vivid dream during the last snooze session.

Remember Goat Boy? He was doing a skit, where he had an alien chest burster. The creature resulting from the chest burst was my beloved zazoo as a kitten, who started running in circles around the bed.

When I woke, she lay beside me, looking at me like I was crazy, wild-eyed, and with her ears folded back.

If dreams mean things -- I need a therapist. Or, I have cabin fever. Yah, lets go with that.

 

Need to go camping fever...