After being in Key West for the entire winter of 2013, meeting so many wonderful people, enjoying the beach, and the endless sunsets, how do you say goodbye? How do you leave Paradise and return to any kind of normal life? You can’t! You just have to find a new normal because nothing else seems right. So the first thing we did was to stretch out our return trip North towards home in Ohio!

First stop; Fort Myers, FL area to visit friends in St. James City on Pine Island. I won’t recommend the CG there, so I will simply refer to it as “The Cherry Pit!” It worked for a few nights and we got to enjoy bar hopping on the canal in our friend’s boat. We enjoyed more sunsets and listened to live entertainment at The Low Key Tiki, Woody’s Waterside Island Bar & Grill, Froggy’s, and The Ragged Ass Saloon. We had a fabulous time and the weather continued to be warm and wonderful.

Second stop; Lazydays RV near Tampa, FL. This is where we fell in love with a new Motorhome! They made us a deal that we couldn’t refuse! It was a Class C Sunseeker 3010DS by Forest River. We picked up almost 2 feet of additional length (bumper to bumper was 33′) awesome counter space, and we now had TWO slide outs, which seemed enormous to us! This would make returning home a little easier (so I thought) because I would have so much to look forward to for our future travels in a bigger RV! We were so excited that we just couldn’t return home yet, so we re-routed ourselves west and ventured across the Panhandle. Third stop; Milton, FL, to visit our new friends (the lady we had photo bombed in KW while she skyped her Mother in a nursing home!) Carol & Rodney had champagne waiting for us to celebrate the new motorhome after we parked in their side driveway, which had a 30amp hookup with water. We spent a week having a great time getting to know each other better, sharing KW stories around a bonfire, and they were awesome hosts! We hated to leave, but we knew we’d see them again in the Fall. Finally, it was time to go home and park our new Tin Lizzy II in our driveway, and start the endless chore of unpacking. Ugh…

We returned to a cold, sort of musty smelling house, with furniture draped in sheets. We turned the heat up, gave the house a quick glance to ensure all was well, and started bringing things into the house. We created three piles; 1) laundry to be done (on the floor), 2) coats, towels, bedding, and clothes that were clean but needed put away (on the bed), 3) Dry goods that needed returned to our pantry & cupboards (on the table and counters). The piles seem to grow and grow, but it was cold outside and we didn’t want to leave everything in the RV. We just wanted to get the job done. We had someone turn our house refrigerator on before our arrival, so we emptied one and filled the other. We couldn’t have the water turned back on until early the next morning, so we showered in the RV, made our bed, once the pile on it was put away, visited our closest friends for a quick bite, and returned to drop in our bed like two tired puppies!

In the morning when they turned our water back on, we discovered that our water heater had a coil burned out. That was repair #1. We also discovered our sump pump for the septic system burned out and our backyard was a soggy mess! New pump was repair #2. The thermostat in the living room wasn’t working properly and smelled like burning wires, so that was repair #3. Roger also started making endless calls to get phone, cable, WiFi, and trash pickup all returned to normal service. Of course, when you speak to the WiFi and cable folks, they want to sell you something better & faster than what you had before you left! But, all we wanted was exactly what we had! Somehow, it still cost us more, and that’s the way it was. Our landline also had a price increase, but we weren’t quite ready to part ways with it, so we paid. When you’re dealing with millennials and you’re over 50, they assume you are mentally challenged and won’t notice the difference! But I personally would not want to deal with my DH on these matters. He is every retail and customer service reps nightmare! It becomes a challenge of the young vs. the old, and he usually wins. Anyway, the cleaning, sorting, putting things away, seemed endless to me , and the date for returning to work was creeping up on me, so I started to feel like I was on a deadline. Squeezing in all the appointments (doctors, dentist, hair, etc.) was stressful after returning from island life and I felt like I was becoming unglued. Family wanted to see us, friends wanted to visit, neighbors were stopping by to catch up, and I was full of anxiety.

I was so happy to be home! Or was I? Depressed! That’s what I was! I returned to work and had to deal with the public again with the stress of attaining goals! And just like that, all the beauty of traveling and living a different life came to an abrupt end! I had to return to normal. It wasn’t easy. But I did it. We both did it. Our life at home with all of our family and friends around us slowly returned to the way it was, and it was all good. We had a new RV, the household was back to running smoothly, and we were putting a little jingle back into our empty pockets. We talked of future vacations, and snow birding in the fall, which kept me going when things got rough. We planted our garden right before Memorial Day, and that is my happy place. A few more repairs on the tractor and tiller, and we were good to go for the summer.

We had my Son’s wedding in June, a family get-together in WV that July, and my Niece’s wedding in August. I was consumed with wedding activities and work. We never did any big trips or vacations with the RV, so our next trip to Key West is what kept me going. In the meantime, Roger was on a mission to find a little tow car or truck. We finally hit the big time when we purchased Betsy, our little Chevy Tracker toad! Life is GOOD and we’re anxious to do it all over again.

A word of advice for those purchasing an RV out of state. Uncle Sam may surprise you with a nice big tax bill when you register the vehicle in your home state! We purchased Tin Lizzy II in Florida at a lower tax rate. We knew we would have to make up the small difference. However, the state of Ohio does NOT recognize the allowable trade amount that reduced the purchase price of the RV. Meaning, Ohio taxed us on the entire purchase price at their higher rate! They also taxed us on the warranty! A very hard lesson learned, so I am sharing this info so that others might check into their domicile state laws on purchasing/taxing an RV, and what the yearly registration on new tags will cost you. Live, learn, and pass it on. My job is done.

We have all heard people say it. You have to learn to take the bad with the good. But when the situation arises, it’s all bad and it can happen fast. So I decided to blog about our current situation as we are traveling North through Alabama.

First of all, if you have ever traveled on I65 N between Montgomery and Birmingham, AL, you probably already know how rough that road is driving in an RV! You shake, rattle and roll down the smooth parts, and then bounce very hard as you enter every overpass bridge with a heavy drop as you exit each one. You feel like you’ve just entered a rodeo and want to scream out “ride em cowboys!” Each time you go over another bridge, you wonder how many more your rig can possibly survive before something breaks! Throw in a high wind warning for a little more action and we have the perfect storm brewing as we venture North towards Red Bay, AL for a few repairs on our Tiffin Beast.

As we are bouncing along thru the city limits, I actually commented to Roger that if it continued to be this rough, we may be adding a few more repairs to our list before we get to Red Bay! And just like that, I started to hear a faint metal scraping sound. We did not have the radio playing, and minimal conversation after my repair joke, but I asked Roger if he heard it. He did not. A semi truck passed us on the right, as we were in the middle lane for a left merge coming up. As he passed us, I clearly heard the clinkity clank noise again. Roger barely heard it, but thought it was coming from the passing semi. Once he passed us, I no longer heard the noise. Still alert and listening, another semi passes us and I definitely heard the noise again. I knew 2 trucks would not be making the same noise passing us and said “We need to pull off the road!” Roger still couldn’t hear it well, but semi 3 passing us did the trick! He knew DW was not imaging things, and maybe something was wrong with Betsy (our tow car). Being we were in the 3rd lane over to the left to merge, and the right two lanes were “exit only” to the right, we had to continue to I22 W without pulling over immediately. I continued to hear the faint scraping metal noise until we safely pulled off just as we entered highway 22W. My heart was now pounding as I exit the RV first and walk 40 feet back checking the Beast as I walked. I saw nothing irregular with the side of the RV or tires, and then looked at Betsy. Tow bars seemed fine and everything is in its place. As I turn back toward the RV, the problem rears its ugly head, like a bull just entering this rodeo! Our exhaust pipe is braking away from the muffler and has been scraping the road! I bent down to see closer that it is hanging on by possibly an inch or less! I get up and face Roger, and without trying to explain it, I just said “We’re loosing our tailpipe!” Ugh…

Now, for those of you that have ever lost your car muffler or exhaust pipe, this is not a life-threatening issue. You simply make arrangements to get it fixed and get a lot of looks when you start your engine because it becomes very loud. This is not the case for a motorhome with a diesel pusher engine in the rear of the coach. If you lose the muffler, you are stranded. If you lose the entire exhaust pipe (ours is pictured above), you become a fire hazard due to the possibility of overheating. You’ve all seen motorhomes on fire going down the highway on the news, or even personally while driving on long trips. Each year, there are more than 6000 RV fires, and diesel pusher engines are especially prone to fires. So given the fact that we have access to all kinds of immediate resources, you make a decision based on distance needed to travel, and how much you are willing to risk. Being FT, you risk everything you own and the roof over your head. If your diesel engine goes into a process known as regeneration while you are driving, without the exhaust pipe to route the heat away from your coach, it is very likely to catch fire due to high intense heat being released against surfaces that will melt and cause engine damage/failure. Safety must be a priority for you and others on the road.

Our decision was not to drive very far, so we had to find a way to get repairs done close to us, or be towed (extremely expensive and inconvenient when we’re talking your house being towed to a truck repair shop, where it will sit for days waiting for parts and repair. Most lock their gates and don’t permit you to stay with your rig on the premises.) We also have to find a place to safely park the rig because no one could do a roadside repair, and there was no CG close to us and close enough to a repair shop. Two hours of painfully frustrating and aggravating phone calls on a Sunday to get some answers. Finally, the decision was made to drive to a FlyingJ Truck stop back in Birmingham, which was only a mile from the Freightliner Truck Repair shop.

The reviews for the truck stop were not great in regards to safety (which is always priority one for me!) We had no other options, so thankfully, the Manager, named Cleveland, instructed us to park up front under the lights, as opposed to being in the back amongst the semi trucks. I felt like I was starring in a scary movie at times. All kinds of strangers walking around our house, staring at us. As night approached, a big group of motorcycles pulled up right next to us, revving their engines (why do they need to do that?) and talking loudly over their engines. Next up, arguments. People would scream and yell obscenities at each other. This happened periodically until 2am. Vehicles would come and go on either side of us. Finally, at around 2:30, I started the generator and turned the heat on because I was getting very cold (around 40 degrees that night). Once I heard “white noise” as they call it, I actually fell asleep, I think, for a little while.

The vehicles on each side of us also had their generators running and it was still windy outside, so every RV’er can guess what happened next. The CO2 detector goes off from fumes and no more sleep for me (it is on my side, so I am in charge of resetting it!) It continued to go off until 3:30am at least 4 times, so I turned the generator off, and I opened a vent and a window up front, just to be safe. There is no more sleeping here, so I made a cup of tea, added some Brandy, snuggled under a blanket, and prayed for the sun to come up and end the agony of defeat!

We got to the Freightliner Truck Repair in the morning, but parts had to be ordered. We’re a motorhome, not a semi. So they don’t just keep exhaust pipes for RV’s lying around. Now we need to find accommodations for another night because I am not staying at FlyingJ again, and they wouldn’t let us stay with our vehicle on-site. They directed us to a Target store about 3 miles down the road that would probably let us stay in their parking lot. The Manager agreed to let us stay, and this turns out to be quite good for us. We felt it was safe enough to lock the rig and go shopping! We also ate dinner out, and to our surprise, we got a fun visit from some friends passing thru on their trip North to MI. Now, if you read my blog about our first trip to Key West as Snow Birds recently, you will understand that only people we have met in KW are crazy enough to stop at a Tarjay parking lot to camp out with fellow KW friends! FACT! Cocktails were flowing, and a few much-needed laughs were had by all! By the following afternoon, the tailpipe was replaced, the salvaged chrome tip from the old one was bolted to the new one, and at 2:30pm, we were on our way to Red Bay, once again, with a lot less money in our pockets. You really don’t have much choice at these places, but they do quality work and keep you safe going down the road.

The “bad” in this situation was obvious; a very expensive repair was needed for us to continue traveling up the road safely. We had to spend a night in an undesirable location out of necessity. We had to conserve water because we left Florida with 1/3 of a tank of fresh water, thinking we would have full hook ups all the way North. (Don’t get hung up on the idea of traveling with more fresh water in the tank = more fuel consumption and more $$. Keep 1/2 tank or more.) You need your toilet functioning in these situations, and to be able to clean yourself up.

The “good” was less obvious, but hind site makes this much clear; If our tailpipe had broken loose before we got off the road, imminent danger to our tow car, damage to the RV, and possibly someone traveling behind us could have been seriously hurt or killed! We were able to keep our batteries charged with a well maintained generator, which keeps your refrigerator running, food safe, and plenty of ice! People really DO care and try to help you out in serious situations! Friends are priceless during a crisis! Laughter really is the best medicine! (And alcohol doesn’t hurt!)

Lastly, there’s no place like home! I can’t wait to get there…

 

It is December 16, 2013, and we are continuing south in search of warmer weather on our very first Snow Bird adventure. Neither one of us had been to Key Largo or beyond, so we are very excited to see what’s in store for us. We stayed at Key Largo Kampground & Marina (picture is of campsites along the water, each featuring its own tiki hut and dock) just a mile down from John Pennekamp State Park (which was full.) Welcome to Paradise! The weather is warm, dry and I am never going home. EVER!

While here, we started to entertain the thought of continuing our journey all the way to Key West. After all, we were only 101.5 miles from the end of the road. My only hesitations were based on the following; not of fan of bridges and there are 42 of them over water. Once we get to Dredger’s Key (Sigsbee Campground), there is a lot of dry camping (boondocking, meaning NO HOOKUPS) and the expense of staying in the number one tourist destination during the winter! Not having a car would make it difficult to get from Sigsbee to downtown KW, but we figured we could buy bicycles once we got there, and that would help a bit. So after 3 nights in Key Largo, we ventured down the road to Sigsbee Campground (for active or retired military only). It is the only affordable choice.

The anticipation seemed to make the drive go very slowly, but then again, you can only drive 45 – 55 mph the entire way to KW. The scenery was unbelievable, and with every bridge we crossed, my fear diminished. I couldn’t believe we were driving across the ocean to get to paradise! We arrived with a very sharp right turn to get thru the military gate, and then we missed the office! We ended up at the doorstep of the camp host, who then directed us back to the office for registration. We were lucky to get an ocean front site in the dry camp area, and there we sat with no electric, no water, no sewer! Thankfully, there is a gas station on base where we could fuel up as needed for our on-board generator (which could be run for electric 7am – 10pm). There is a dump station (because we don’t have a blue boy for waste) and fresh water available to fill our water tank. You get on a rotation list so that everyone gets a two-week time period of FHU (Full Hook Up) and you check the list daily to see your number get closer and closer to the top of that list. It’s like winning the lottery when you get your notice to move, especially when the weather heats up and air conditioning is so desperately desired! You also get really tired of water conservation. But hey, we got this!!

There is a bar & restaurant on base called the Sunset Lounge. We decided to walk over to the bar and see what it was all about. We started heading in the general direction of it, not knowing, there was water (the marina entrance) between our sites and the lounge. Newbies (Wonder if anyone was watching us??) We chuckled once we realized we had to walk all the way around. Once we got to the Sunset, almost every seat was taken around the bar, so we sat behind the beer taps on the corner, backs to the water. It is there that we met Our Yooper (natives of the Upper Peninsula of MI) friends, Fred & Diane, from Copper Harbor. We didn’t even know what a Yooper was at that time, but we have been friends since that very day! It wasn’t long before we met Cheryl & Dave from WI. Everyone was so friendly and happy that it was actually a euphoric evening. The bar opens Wed – Sun at 4pm, and we were there early enough the next evening to get a better seat at the bar, where we could meet more folks and learn the ins and outs of KW. We sat next to Cheryl & Dave, and once Cheryl learned our situation with no car, offered to drive us downtown to get the lay of the land, and join them for a Cuban breakfast sandwich at Sandy’s Café (Oh so good!) We took that offer and got to see the touristy hot spots in downtown; Mile Marker “0”, The Southern Most Point, Mallory Square and The Bight Marina, my favorite! After several trips to the bar on foot, Cheryl & Dave offered to give us a ride anytime they went to HH (Happy Hour). She explained that all we needed to do was stand out front by our RV at 10 minutes to 4:00 and they would stop to pick us up. If we weren’t going, just wave them by (no explanation needed.) And that’s how the party started every night! Like two little kids waiting for the bus, we’d stand out front at precisely 3:50pm for our pick up, and then be dropped off at the end of HH. The kindness of everyone we met is very indicative of KW and Island Time folks; Laid back, friendly, and will help you with absolutely anything you need! There’s no place else on earth quite like the people you meet there, and it is the people that keep you wanting to go back. Cheryl earned the title of “Event’s Coordinator” because she started the “Ladies Duval Crawl” and orchestrated getting us all there, and then meeting up with our spouses at The Boathouse for HH, and all having a return ride home. She was nominated for this position because she knew Algebra! (Private joke that still gets a laugh every time!!) She started the “IN CROWD” that every woman wanted to be with! As the group grew in size, more algebra was needed! Dave was a huge help with getting us hooked up with TV, since there is no TV without a purchased program of Dish or Direct TV. An antenna will get you a Spanish channel and a “Welcome to the Keys” channel that runs on a loop. If you’re lucky and the wind is blowing just right, you might get MeTV and watch the oldies! He also did a drug store run for me when I caught the crud that usually makes its rounds after the Holidays. I don’t know how you can survive in life without good friends!

December 23, 2013, Santa arrives a little early and we get these 2 beautiful bicycles to ride until our hearts are content (or our butts can’t stand it), whichever comes first! We haven’t ridden bikes for years, so I’m guessing our butts will give out first!

We road these bikes everywhere we went every day. We visited the KW Cemetery (a must see), KW AIDS Memorial, Higgs Beach, The Casa Marina (a Waldorf Astoria Resort where we drank $6 beers!), and to downtown events, like the Seafood Festival and Art Fairs, and shopping on Duval Street, of course. But we also made friends with so many people that took us by car to awesome places, such as; Ft. Zachary Taylor Beach, Bahia Honda State Park (where the Key Deer reside), Boca Chica Field & Navigator’s Bar, The Hurricane Hole, The Hogfish Bar & Grill, Boondocks on Ramrod Key, No Name Pub & The Flea Market on Big Pine Key, The Fish Camp on Geiger Key, Schooner’s Wharf, First Flight Island Restaurant & Brewery, and the Sigsbee favorite; The Boathouse, for numerous HH’s! These are just some of our favorites, but the list goes on and on. Advice for anyone visiting KW for the first time; DON’T get hung up on just the downtown area and Duval Street! Yes, it’s a MUST SEE & DO (Sloppy Joe’s, The Green Parrot, etc.), but there is so much more to KW than the downtown area. We have spent 5 out of 6 winters there since the start of Snow Birding. We now know it’s so fun to hang out with the locals and get to know how the real folks live and thrive on this truly magnificent Island Paradise! It’s what keeps us going back. Where else can you wave to someone face-timing with her Mother (who was in a nursing home at the time), say “Hello” to her Mom, and become best of friends from that time forward! True story.

We begin our travel Northward in my next blog, but we are actually traveling North in present time tomorrow as well, so my next post may be later than usual. I am excited to be heading home to see family and friends in our hometown, so hang tight…there’s more to come soon!