It's May!

We have been here for a week but it seems much longer. We've had our initial visits with our GP. I have now added Vitamin D tablets to my daily pill intake and Stu was changed from Metformin, which tremendously upset his stomach, to Invokana (at least for a 30 day trial).

I also had my first visit with the ophthalmologist who is doing my cataract surgery. My left eye, the worse, is getting done the afternoon of May 22nd. I could have gone in a week earlier but we are babysitting our grandgirls next week after Stu's oldest daughter's wedding this weekend. With two follow-up visits in the first week, it wasn't going to happen. So the 22nd it is. The right eye will be done some time in June, date TBD.

We had to do some grocery shopping almost immediately and I snapped these two photos. What a gorgeous display of orchids - in the grocery store!

Today I had to revisit our GP for my pre-surgery physical. We set the alarm and got up at 7am for my 9am appointment. Imagine my surprise when I signed in and she told me it was at 1:15. I checked my calendar and sure enough, she was right. Oops! We made a quick McDonalds stop so I could eat, headed to Sam's Club for a few necessities and then off the the theater to see Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 2. Loved it!!

We saw a Baskin Robbins on the way home and treated ourselves...yummy! I had the Jamoca Almond Fudge (bottom) and Stu had the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup (top).

Our final stop was for diesel fuel on the way home. We recently received our replacement Garmin (the new one was still under warranty when it went wonky on us) and Stu was double-checking to see if there was a way to track fuel mileage like there was on our original (old) one. Nope. But I told him all I did was say "Hey Siri, divide blah blah blah by blah blah blah, and she did." When I glanced down at my phone, this is what I saw....ROFLOL!!!

I hope to get a little writing done this week and maybe during the day next week while we are in Delaware with the grandkids. Rehearsal dinner is Friday night, wedding is Saturday, they leave on their honeymoon very early Monday morning.

Will blog when I can...we have to hotspot off our phones while in Delaware - good thing we will have a lot of rollover minutes this month (ends next Monday).

Ciao for now!

Wrapping up at the Escapade

We are not your typical Escapade attendees, at least not anymore. We used to be, back when we still had a lot to learn. Neither of us attended any seminars this time around. I had hoped to go to Chris & Jim Guld's (GeeksOnTour) blogging seminar but ended up sticking around the rig while our new awnings were being put up.

But we did do one thing typical of most attendees - spend money! In our case, quite a bit of money. First was new awnings all the way around as well as new slide toppers. We also added two new window awnings over the garage windows, something Stu wished he had done originally.

We used the folks at Shade Pro RV Awnings (800-328-5100). Ken Thompson did an amazing job! Professional job and we are really pleased. Oh, and our original awnings were brown but had faded to a tacky green color. I love having the brown back!

The next was a tire pressure monitoring system. Based on personal recommendations and previous experience with the vendor we chose, Stu bought a Tire Traker system with sensors for each tire as well as an extender (due to our extreme length). Daryl & Cheri Lawrence know their stuff, stand behind it and encourage you to call anytime if you have issues. That's how they've taken care of our Progressive on-board EMS system, too.

We also had a tech out to get our automatic Directv (rooftop) dish working. We haven't been able to use it since we upgraded to the Genie last September. Poor Stu had to set up a portable dish at every stop. Now I have to remember to power it up and down. LOL!

The final expense was for a CCW (concealed carry weapon) class for Stu. All that is left for him to do is get his fingerprints taken and mail the application, photo (taken in the class), fingerprint card and money to the state of Florida for his non-resident CCW. When we get back to FL, he will do some shooting and purchase his handgun.

What else have we done? Well, we are getting ready for our fourth dinner out with friends. The first night, Monday, we ate with Bill & Dottie (Stu's old partner and his wife). We last saw them in Gettysburg for breakfast. We each drove an hour or so to Montpelier for dinner at Sarducci's. Great Italian restaurant and I got to take some nice flower photos.

We also had a peek-through view of the capital building.

Tuesday we went to dinner with friends Steve & Peri who we first met in Ecuador. They planned to stay forever but health issues forced them back to the US. They bought an RV and headed north to the Escapade, our gain. We had a great dinner chatting about everything, just getting to know each other better.

Then Wednesday we went Italian again, having dinner with our friends Charles & Chris Yust. Tonight we are back to Texas Roadhouse (steak is always good) with our good friends, Chris & Jim Guld.

We also got in a nice motorcycle ride on Sunday, a day off for me since I planned to write as much as possible during the week days. All I wanted was ice cream...and the GPS obliged, dumping us right at Ben & Jerry's. Yum!!!

We've attended one social gathering with the Full-Time Class of 2007. I first met these folks in 2007 at the Goshen, IN Escapade that year. We've decreased in numbers due to death, health and going off the road, but that hasn't slowed our enthusiasm when we're together (especially when food is involved).

No idea what Bridget & John Hatch were doing - playing hide & seek?

Co-director of the Escapades, Bob Pinner with Norah Glover on the right, enjoying the food.

Linda Fleeger addressing the group.

The weather has been good other than a big storm on Sunday late and another about an hour ago. Nice enough that I've been able to grab two nice sunset photos.

Today may be closing day here, but we're not done. Tomorrow we go on a HOP (Head Out Program). Our day will consist of maple syrup, cruising Lake Champlain and ice cream. Yum!! Saturday is our rest day before we head back to Twin Ells campground on Sunday.

Life is good!

Ciao for now!

A fun afternoon's diversion....

We took the afternoon off and headed over to Epic Movie Theater in Clermont, about 15 minutes north of us. It was Stu's turn to pick a movie and he choose "Warm Bodies", a light thriller-comedy mix. If you liked "Zombieland", I think you'd like this. Great dialogue and mostly unknowns other than John Malkovich.

We headed around the corner for an ice cream but never expected the treat we found. The store is Abracadabra Ice Cream Factory and it is truly a unique experience.

From their website:

Abracadabra Ice Cream Factory is one of the hottest new liquid nitrogen ice cream concepts in the country. We use liquid nitrogen to freeze your very own ice cream creation within seconds. With temperatures reaching -328 degrees below 0 we are able to flash freeze the ice cream right before your eyes. Every child loves the quick little magic show as our “Magic Clouds”, flow across the countertop creating an exciting experience for all children. Come by and create your own flavor of ice cream or try one of Abracadabra’s suggestions.

Here are some photos I took today...we'll definitely go back. The ice cream was really good...as good as any we've had at Marble Slab or Cold Stone Creamery.

[click to enlarge]

They have two locations, the one in Clermont and another in Kissimmee.We'll be back for sure since we'll be in the area until March 20th.

Stu will be busy with his Firefighter Reunion through Saturday and I'm busy trying to finish up my mystery novel, "Not a Whisper". Watch for the release date!