THE VERNAL EQUINOX

Start with a liberal portion of the local grape.
And balance an egg... Its Spring ! Dance ! I Love U!

WHAT DO WE DO ?

Well we try to not to disrupt the customers,employees and management of an open store while tearing out every fixture in a store and relpacing it while trying to work with electricians, flooring people.

It all must go to make room for new.

Move signs. Build shleving and install millwork.
We have only a few weeks left and the push is on. We are all excited to see the finished product and take a well deserved rest(or roadtrip in our case)

Lynne's Birthday

It's February 28 and that means only one thing!

It's Lynne's Birthday!

You can't hide from us ....

LynneBday

Happy Birthday Lynne!
We all love you!

A QUIET BIRTHDAY ... I'M PLAYING HOOKY FOR PART OF THE DAY

La Belle Amie Winery

Where there is music and merriment a Parrothead can't be far!
We have joined a Phlock. Yes we no longer fly alone. The Coast of Carolina PHC was hosting a little party at the local winery. To much for us to resist.
A moment of weakness or just the right time. Afterall we do live in the HMS CM2 our land yacht, seeking fun and new friends.

We only hope we have time to get to know them better before we head out.

Phlocks phearless leader.

NEW STATE
The weather was clear and we needed a road trip. North Carolina and Sunset beach was not far. The sand is so fine and dry it squeeks.

MORE TOYS

Just when you thought we couldn't have more fun.... new scuba gear. Pirates and wet thoughts ! What do you think?

Yucky Floor

The cosmic muffin recieved wood floor but weight and price influenced us in the CM2.

The vinyl looks great and hopefully will handle the water,mud and sand from the beach better than wood.

MMMMMMM....

Last night was fun. Found a cool locals spot Bullfeathers. A pretty tasty margarita and lobster to die for.


Jealous?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY... HAPPY ANNIVERSARY
We've been here in Myrtle Beach SC 1 week and its time to celebrate!!
The trucks have been coming in, it seems so overwhelming but we are both excited about the project. We are still meeting everyone and trying to remember names, but today is Johns birthday and our anniversary. Gotta love a man that finally gets married at age 50 and chooses his own birthday. Makes it hard to forget.

Our new home for the next few months is the Myrtle Beach KOA. Ariel will love the closeness to the beach and being the off season its pretty deserted.
First morning.

I enjoy the wifi and my new office.
Our neighbors had a pig roast .Tasty!
It should be an interesting time!!!

FLORIDAYS !!!!!!!
We are back at Sunburst Rv Park in Orange City Fl. We stayed here last summer while installing a food avenue in the Target. Its clean , close to where we work and has Wifi(which is becoming a real plus for us when choosing a park). Even tho' we still use our cell phone to connect to the internet when we have the choice the speed and convenience of wifi is hard to beat... Boy am I getting spoiled.
We spent last night ,New Years Eve and our first night back in Florida at rest area mile 60 , Interstate 10. sounds wierd I know but it's not for us.
Now back to work.... This week in Sanford at a new Super Target and then on to Myrtle Beach and our first Target remodel on our own.

You would think a new store would be easier, no customers to work around , nothing to tear out, but just the shear volume of fixtures under a 3 acre roof presents its own challenges.

ALTITUDE + SEASON=FROZEN WATER LINES
Oops I guess we should have noticed everyone elses hoses hanging on the rigs.
We made it as far as Deming NM our 1st night and were looking forward to an early start the next day but it took awhile to thaw things out. Perfect the St Clair Winery will be open. Chris and Jim had told us about this winery where you could bring your own jug to be filled...Brilliant!

I don't know if they were tasting at 9:30 in the morning but what the heck.

No this isn't the effect of wine for breakfast. It's the Las Cruses Big Bird and Ariel loved it . She finally caught her roadrunner..BEEP BEEP
After 1 night at WallyWorld and a windy day of driving we treated ourselves to a short day and a night at Blazing Star Rv Park in San Antonio. Its another Coach Connect park which means I can go online! (Thanks Computer Heroes)

PIRATES !!!
While we were gone Chris and Jim arrived at the cabin ooo hoo!!
Not sure how all this will come out but I feel good about it ..Adding new members to the horde is always good.
I'm selfish, never made any bones about it and sharing this solstice with "Mum" and Chris was especially fine.

Desert to explore.
Lessons to be learned.
Quads to ride ,food to enjoy, it all sounds so decident... I love it.
Christmas Day was fun. A brunch with friends and a quik trip to the "Bar in the Desert "where you can get an awesome Bloody Mary, live music and its all solar. DOGS ARE WELCOME which really excited Odie and Ariel.


But it all ends to soon . We head for Florida on Monday!

PREPARING FOR THE SOLSTICE

get mistletoe
decorate your evergreen
Add the kindred spirits... and wait

WE ARE NEVADANS AGAIN
Mom and Dad and us finally took a road trip together. Hard to believe we have been living in RV's and not done this. On to Pahrump to get relicensed in Nevada. It was our first visit and this is what we have to show for it .

Nevada Cosmic Muffin
Nevada escape pod

GO CHARGERS !!!!

We knew we had tickets to this Charger game last summer when Josh sent us a picture of them and now the day is finally here
Sorry you other Bucaneers they made me dress like this!!!!!!!!

Josh and Sandy are real fans... Thanks for an awesome weekend.

UPPING MY POUND IN POUND OUT LIMIT Well not really. Legally you can't raise your gross vehicle weight limit but most RV"s aren't made to live in full time. Therefore are not made to carry what you carry when live in them full time. We were aware of this from the get-go and distributed the weight and cut back on gear but knew overall there were things that could be done to improve our suspension. So we had extra leaf springs added to the rear-end, making the back of the motor home ride higher and also making it easier to steer. It was a noticable difference. We still watch what we carry but feel better about our safety. The people at Spectrac in Gilbert Az. were very knowledgable and even gave us a place to camp out while the work was being done.
We didn't even have to move to get the work done, just pull in the slides.

THE ABSOLUTE FOR SURE LAST GARAGE SALE

I have no photos to document this event but this is the last one ... I promise!

POWER

Power comes in many forms and when you live the mobile life you take it where you can get it.Here's our new bigger solar panel thanks to the good folks at Discount Solar in Quartzsite Az. it was quick and not nearly as painful($) as it might have been elsewhere.

AND NOW THE FUN BEGINS

I say that for alot of reasons. We already know our stay here with Mom and Dad won't be as long as we'd hoped. We spoke with Jesse in Florida and know we have an oppportunity to do a store remodel in Myrtle Beach SC the middle of January. New place and new people to meet, hard to pass up. But now we are in Az., we have friends to see and this is a great place to get those things done on the Muffin that have to long been ignored.
Jack and Anita (good friends from Virginia City Nv.) arrived Sunday.

John and Jack



We had a great week playing games, riding quads in the desert and going to Mexico.


Three Amigos at "The big chair restaurant"

Then topped it all off with a Thanksgiving dinner. We really do have so much to be thankful for it seems silly to just celebrate it 1 day a year... I must celebrate daily!!

We spent 1 week with Jim and Chris at Eldorado Acres RV park. It was lots of fun. Took a computer class, checked out a Texas size tiki bar


Played tourist and even got alittle work done on the Muffin. Its easy to neglect the small things when you are on the move but during the hurricanes we discovered a few leaks around our running lights so now was the chance to fix that. The time went by too fast and even tho there is no such thing as too much of a good time we had to be on our way.
Rv site and electric $112.00
Cocktail hr. and snacks $200.00
Parts for RV $100.00
1 week with good friends Priceless Cya in Quartzsite


We tried to find 7 Sisters Tx on our way north but even though the GPS showed us being there we could't see it......???
By night fall we drove into a huge storm system . Although the Cosmic Muffin is named after an ocean going vessel she hates going thru deep water. We coughed into Kerrville Walmart... Good thing they have a complete
auto department. A new airfilter and a few jugs of fuel stabilizer and we were back on the road.
It seems we always stay in Las Crueces N.M. which is fine with me. That means alittle shopping in Old Mesilla and lunch at La Posta .


We were on the downhill run and what would normally be a 1 day drive to Quartzsite called for a night stop in Tucson. Wally World Rv Park. Which is fine . We always meet the nicest people there.
The desert is unusually green and the drive wasn't bad, no wind.

"Almost to Mom and Dads now. She should be calling any time" She did just as we were driving into Quartzsite.

Texas is big and Mission (which is where Jim and Chris are heading to give web support and classes at yet another Coach Connect park) is as far away as you can get from where you are.
We are now camp followers . We can spend a week visiting,catching up and seeing someplace new. Heck we might even learn something!!

Keepers! After Jim and Chris had a little more work done on O' Boy we were on the road. First time to actually travel together.

Lead on O' fearless Computer Heroes. Next stop Blazing Star Rv Park in San Antonio (another Coach Connect Wifi park). A birthday dinner , hot tub and a few toddies with good friends is great... maybe too great I forgot to take a single picture!!

Our only real goal right now is meeting Jim and Chris for Chris'birthday. It was April in Florida the last time we shared a meal, a laugh and a couple toddies together.
HMMM its Saturday ,we just crossed into Texas and we've never been to Galveston. What a cool little island, probably the only semi affordable place onany coast in the U.S.... but not for long.
To get a rreal feel for Galveston and its history take in the narative/movie about the hurricane of 1900...kinda put our summer of hurricanes in Florida in a different light.
With growth comes rules so the is no boondocking on the east end of the sea wall as we had heard. After a little site seeing , its off to our rendevous with Jim andChris


Looks like a night at Wally World

We have put on quite a few miles since arriving in Mississippi and at a much slower pace than is usual for us... we are really "enjoying the journey" this time. From Jackson to Natchez we were on the Natchez Trace Parkway nice little hikes,picnic areas,old waystations and at this time of year we had it pretty much to ourselves.
Natchez was fun; a snack and margaritas at Hot Mamas Tamales and an afternoon of site seeing
There are many restored antebellum mansions . Makes one want to buy something to fix up but luckily cooler heads prevailed. On the recommendation of a park ranger we spent the night at an RV park on the La. side of the river. It was a little spendy but well worth it . Ariel had plenty of room to run, there was a hottub and pool and you can't beat watching the barges go up and down the river while sipping on an evening cocktail (no mint but lots of olives!)

The next morning it was on to Frogmore Plantation an awesome historical site and ultra modern plantation and gin side by side. From there it was Texas and our rendevous with Chris and Jim. We had tried to avoid Interstate 10 through La but.... well my teeth are still rattling.

If it's raining we must be on vacation! When John and I first met everytime we took a trip it rained, that didn't stop us from seeing the sites and having fun,heck we were in love or at least one of those "L" words. Even when he took me to San Diego to meet his family(with the guarantee that it never rains here this time of year)it rained. So here we are in Meridian Ms. and boy is it raining. We boondock quite abit so when we do stop at a park we look for something special. The Benchmark Rv Park fits the bill for us. Only 27 sites,all pullthru, on concrete slabs with full hookups,nice new laundry and showers and with PassPort America only 14.00 a night. But the icing for me was FREE WIFI !!! I use my Verizon cell phone to connect and that means only online during my free time so this has been fun. Hey its raining like crazy. Today we head toward the Natchez Trace, a roadtrip we've been trying to do for a while.

We are on the road and as promised I will try and post entries more regularly...NO EXCUSES! Work? NOOOOO. Time? Plenty of that! So we begin our adventure in St Augustine Fl, the day before Samhain and with the help of new friends Scott and CarmieThey are also full time "Homers" but with Carmie still working full time they excercise their rig on shorter jaunts than us. We all got to know each other on the run (our incredible hurricane season). So there it is . Lotsa fun andmore to come.... especially when I can find one of my favorite things...PIRATE BOOTY!

We are almost on the road again. We had a nice time here in Florida this year but now the Target stores are done and its time to do what we do best...TRAVEL. We are officially unemployed for a few weeks ( some people call it a vacation but that indicates a time limit which we don't have) So its get the rig and ourselves tuned up and of couse if you know me its finish that last sewing project I just couldn't say no to.

I guess I can't say I never have anything to write about. Just when you think you have escaped the wrath of Hurricane Charley by hiding out in a neighborhood bar(hey they declared themselves a storm shelter and had a great deal on a mighty tasty hurricane)the gods of air and water decide you really DO need to get out and see more of the area. So for the past 5 days we have been doing just that. We were evacuated off the island Thur. , Worked a little in Kissimmee at a Target store and then headed north trying to avoid main highways and the other 2.8 million people trying to avoid Hurricane Frances. Ariel seems to prefe Johns protection from road demons and mine from thunder. The 1st night we boondocked in Lake Park Ga. The outlet mall there had an area marked off trash pick-up hurricane info and an agreement with the already booked rv parks to let us get fresh water and dump tanks How cool. But we decided to head nowthwest to avoid a possible run in with Frances. That brought us to Columbus Ga. via Parrot (we couldn't resest a stop in a town like this)The 2 days spent there were nice cooler than we'd been used to and really friendly ...a place we both agree we'd go back to. But the storm moves on and so did we trying to head south and still avoid all the rain.Spent Sunday night at the Walmart in Vidalia Ga. then after aroughcouple of hours drifve we are here in Waycross Ga. at the fairgrounds surounded by water...The rain caught us and the wind was to much to drive in with me sucking all the air out of the rig !!! To be Cont.