....and then the rains came.

Thursday, March 31, 2011

We took advantage of a nice day Tuesday and did chores and de-oozed the rig. It was 8 pm before we sat down for a late dinner but all that was left to do was the water/sewer/electric in the morning (and my inside basic stowaway stuff).

We got on the road around 11 am on Wednesday...sunny day but knew rain was in the forecast for later in the day as well as Thursday. Little did we know how much! We got settled into Bee's RV Resort (different site but still a nice pull-through) around 2 pm. Around 3 pm we decided to take an overly energetic Sadie out for a bicycle ride before the rain moved in.

We made a little over one lap and the thunder started. Sadie had never heard thunder, at least not like this. Her hackles raised up big time (she looked like a Rhodesian Ridgeback) and she started barking. We couldn't help but laugh. We've seen her red streak before but never this large and pronounced.

We got back to the rig as the sky let loose...and the winds blew up a storm. One of our window awnings was unfastened but fortunately rolled itself up before the wind could tear it. Sideways rain continued for about 20 minutes and the worst of the local bad weather had blown through.

It came back during the night, lots more thunder and lightning along with heavy downpours. It continued off and on all day today. Hear is one news report of some of the damage in Florida. It's now 4:30 pm and the rain continues but at least here the high winds are gone.

My cousin who lives in Sebastian is really ready to see the rain end...it rained to hard that it separated her gutter from the roof.


The good news is that it's supposed to turn sunny tomorrow and stay that way for the next week. Time for some good riding....right now the bikes are still loaded in the rig.

Sadie is enjoying her lazy, rainy day....



We're pretty much doing the same thing...watching hokey movies and vegging out. Oh wait, I did take a shower and change the bed sheets. That should count for my chore of the day!

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Donna and Stu

Silly me.....

Mommy loves this photo but I'm not so sure....jeesh, she could have at least wiped my "goober eyes", as she calls them. She said she had to take a picture of my mini-jowels.



I don't know what jowels are but I'm glad mine are little. She said all boxers have jowels. My daddy was a boxer and he has BIG jowels.





Isn't my dad handsome? I sure think so.

Sniffing and lickingly yours,
Sadie



I protected my parents!

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

We moved today...yup, mommy brought the walls in, daddy put the motorcycles in the garage and we headed out. Not for very long though. And guess what? We came back to the place we left before....

I'm so happy! I love it here...so many roads for pulling daddy's bicycle along. So many friendly people and dogs...

We went out on the bicycles and I ran and ran and ran...daddy hardly worked at all. Mommy says that's okay, she NEEDS the exercise. [snicker]

We weren't out very long when the sun went away and it got REALLY dark out. It smelled like it was going to get wet outside...I'm not a big fan of that.

Then it happened...I heard a HUGE growl rumble from the sky. I couldn't see the dog but I KNOW he had to be HUMONGOUS!!!! I raised my hackles (mommy said I'm a natural redhead when I do that) and I barked at the dog.

He stopped growling and we headed home. Then I heard him again as we parked the bicycles. I told him off again. I'm a big girl and I have to protect my parents!

Oh, here is a photo that shows a little of the back of my helmet...I'm an OFFICIAL BIKER...what...huh? Sorry, mommy won't let me type that word...but I am!! [snicker]



Sniffing and lickingly yours,
Sadie


Do you proof read your blog?

I used to write for a living and I used to edit as well. I find that when I write now, at least for the blogs, I don't bother proof reading. Stu will usually come in behind me and clean up any obvious blips. LOL!

I used to think it was just me but lately I've seen several things that lead me to believe I'm not the only one...
  • weeks instead of weeds
  • sight instead of site (and vice versa)
  • exuberant instead of exorbitant
  • days instead of daze
Then there are the missed words...you know, the ones that your brains supplies when you DO try to proof something. I keep waiting for someone to jump in and comment on an obvious boo-boo but so far, everyone seems to know what I mean to say. So, THANKS for not doing that....LOL!

What about you....do you obsess over your blog, making sure to cross every T and dot every I ? (Okay, bad example...but you know what I mean.) Or do you just go with the flow and figure that folks will understand.

Have you had anyone comment about poor grammar, bad punctuation, misspellings or using the wrong word? Have YOU ever commented about that?

Just curious....oh, and a HUGE thank you goes to my hubby, Stu, for all the proofing he does for me!!

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Donna and Stu

Burgers and Beer.....

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

We so enjoyed our evening at BrewGrrs! that we asked my brothers if they would go back with us before we left town. Unfortunately my middle brother and his wife couldn't make it, but my youngest could.

It had been raining all night and continued on all day so they picked us up and we headed off to BrewGrrs!. I forgot my camera so I only got a couple of pics with my phone. We ordered the Brooklyn Local 2 that they were out of the last time we were there. We both loved it and thought we preferred it out of the three Brooklyn Brewery beers we had tried there.



We ended the night with another empty bottle (yes, it was a pop-top cork as well) and several hours of good food, great beer and wonderful conversation. As we left we stopped to chat with the manager. Turns out that her son, who is a pilot for Air Tran, started the restaurant. She runs it in his absence and loves it. He really has the formula dialed in...hope it continues for a long, long time.



Today is laundry, chore, errand and de-oozing day. We head out tomorrow, leaving behind family and friends till the next time we come back to this area. We've really enjoyed ourselves...thank you to everyone we got to visit for a wonderful time!

We're still debating whether or not to head to Sumter Oaks in Bushnell for two nights or just go to Bee's RV Resort in Clermont where we plan to spend two weeks. Guess we'll figure that out tomorrow when we leave...yup, plans are always set in Jell-O.

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Donna and Stu

Watch out, Biker Sadie is on the loose!

Mommy and daddy replaced my Doggles that I chewed on...[snicker - bet they won't leave them outside on the ground again]. They also got me a helmet for my motorcycle rides. not sure how much I will wear it but I will pose for photos.





This one is just in case you can't read my helmet sticker....[snicker]


Sniffing and lickingly yours,
Sadie


More family time....

It was perfect weather on Saturday, perfect for our ride down to the Ft Lauderdale area where we would meet up with Stu's late wife's oldest daughter, Kim, her husband, Tim and their two boys, Jesse and Brady as well as introducing Sadie to their Weimaraner, Spirit.

We took a leisurely ride down I-95 (yeah, right....definitely could tell when we hit the Palm Beach and then Ft Lauderdale areas). It was a nice ride with one rest stop for us all. Sadie modeled her new helmet and Doggles...at least for a bit. LOL!

We spent a wonderful afternoon on the patio watching the dogs play and just catching up to date. Then Kim cooked us some delicious shish-kabobs on the grill. More chatting and Tim arrived home from work. More chatting and catching up to date while the dogs finally rested.


Stu took Brady, the youngest, for his first ever motorcycle ride. He loved it... They rushed to do it before dark and I managed to snag a couple of pretty sunset photos, unfortunately the power lines ruined the shot. Oh well, you can see the colors!


We spent the night at La Quinta Inns & Suites. Sadie wasn't too sure what to think about the elevator though...but she was a trooper. She ended up sleeping on the foot of the bed between us...it was a king, fortunately.

We headed out early to have breakfast with the family. Our only issue was heading out to get the bikes loaded up and finding them getting doused from the sprinklers. Never a dull moment...LOL!

Sadie got to play with Spirit again while we went to IHOP. Good breakfast and conversation. We headed back to the house to pick up Sadie and say our goodbyes. Another great ride home...two perfect motorcycle days.

Sadie was beat so we thought to take advantage of it and headed out for a 5 PM movie. We opted to see "Paul". We loved it but it's not for everybody...lots of swearing, very irreverent in religious areas and pokes fun at a whole host of Sci-Fi movies from the past (Men in Black, Mac and Me, ET, The Green Mile, Star Wars, Star Trek, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Aliens and more). But we laughed for the whole time....and would watch it again.

Just doesn't get much better than this....life is good!

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Donna and Stu

I've got the Spirit.....

Monday, March 28, 2011

I'm back!!! I had SOOOO much fun this weekend. I got TWO long motorcycle rides and in between I got to play with my new friend, Spirit. He's a ghost dog....honest!



He's bigger and older than me but we played really good.







Daddy kept waiting for me to fall into the big puddle of water...but I was too smart for that. So there! Oh, thank you Spirit for showing me the way around it! [snicker]



His mommy and daddy liked me, too. His mommy even let me up on the sofa...I like their sofa, it's soft and squishy.



Then we got tired and both had to rest a while.





Then we left and went to a hotel where I, GULP, had to go into a room that moved. Yup! It wasn't like when mommy makes the walls move and we take our RV to a new spot. Nope, this time the WHOLE ROOM MOVED! I'm not sure I liked that...but I did it several times. Maybe it's like those musment parks that people talk about. It sure didn't muse me!

I started sleeping on the floor but daddy let me sleep on the bed all night (I never get to do that at home) since it was a GIANT bed.



Sniffing and lickingly yours,
Sadie


Some puppy funnies....

Saturday, March 26, 2011

I'm busy on a motorcycle trip meeting new friends so here are some funnies to enjoy. I'll be back late Sunday!




Sniffing and lickingly yours,
Sadie


TGIF and other good things....

Friday, March 25, 2011

It's been a week of work alternated with family and friends. Stu had two major projects to get done. The first was replacing the leaky valves in our holding tanks. Only the black was leaking but since the seal wears out, he knew it was just a matter of time before the gray started as well.

The valves are inside the insulated underbelly of the rig, wonderful for helping prevent freezing, not so wonderful for access. Once he removed the belly pan, he saw that the insulation needed replacing as well.

Several trips to Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Lowe's, Ace Hardware and he finally had all the pieces needed for his repair and modifications. The first was to add grease zerts to the valves to allow him to lubricate them and hopefully have them last longer. That done, he replaced the valves.

Next came the underbelly pan. To help out the next time he needs to access the valves, he cut an access hole in the bottom of the pan. Using a heavy rubber doormat, he built a cover for the access hole. New insulation added and all he had to do was mount it all back into place. Finally done!


Next came putting the trailer hitch we bought in Sturgis last summer on to the back of the trike. Last month he had attempted to take out the original bolts to no avail...this time he got a portable propane torch and heated them. Several hours of labor and the old bolts finally came loose. Installing the hitch was a breeze after that...looks good and yes, the trunk door still opens (my first question). LOL!


We had dinner with my youngest brother and his wife at Beef O'Brady's on Tuesday night...they had several packages to deliver to us. The most important being our replaced/repaired inverter. Stu says that project will wait until we head back to Bee's RV Resort in Clermont for two weeks.

Wednesday two fellow RVers dropped by to meet us. We follow each other's blogs and it turns out they have known my youngest brother and his wife for years. Barry and Linda are "anytimers", currently owning a house and property here in Vero Beach. What started out as a short chat turned into a whole afternoon. Not sure where the time went but we really enjoyed it. Just hope we can meet up on the road...these folks are full of laughs!

Thursday we met up with more friends...these were ones that I've known for several years. Bev I saw Saturday at the Fiasco Bros Clubhouse. Her daughter, Tessa, I hadn't seen in probably 9-10 years. I'd never met her boys, Chase (8) - Dillon (4) - Wyatt (2). Wyatt was diagnosed with Leukemia last fall and was in critical condition. Other than hair loss, you'd never know it now. Full of energy and enjoying his family....all three were well behaved. We really enjoyed seeing them.


Finally it's Friday...and for some reason I woke up aching all over. Fibromyalgia can kick in anytime and I've learned to take it easy when it does. So today has been a sofa and movie day for me while Stu finished detailing Big Red. I still need to wash and wax my custom paint on Gypsy...not gonna be today! Tonight we're headed to V B Sports Grille with family and friends. Won't be a late night, tomorrow we ride the bikes down to Ft. Lauderdale to visit with our stepdaughter, Kim, and her family.

We'll ride back on Sunday, taking our time and enjoying the ride...yes, Sadie will be with us. So no blogs until Sunday night or Monday sometime...enjoy your weekend!

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Donna and Stu

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