Thanksgiving with Don, Joni, and Family

The last few days we spent with Don and Joni Tassinari and had a great Thanksgiving. We always enjoy seeing Don & Joni and wish we could see them more often but that's tough when we are traveling around the country.

They have such a beautiful home, we could move right in.

Of course you know who the Queen of the house is "Maggie".

May I have some please?

Pretty Please?

Thank you I was starved!

Don & Joni have a house guest for a couple of weeks, Rocky.

Maggie was not pleased with that big dog Rocky. Rocky is young and wants to play but he is so big he runs right over Maggie almost trampling her. His tail is so long when he wags it he can knock everything around over. He is such a huge dog he really shouldn't be a house dog but he is a very good, loving dog and was really well behaved. Needless to say I got my puppy fix while I was here. I love dogs especially when they belong to someone else.

Bev with her new friend Rocky.

Don, Joni, and Bev sitting at the table on the Lanai.

Of course Bev had to pick some fresh fruit in the back yard.

Bev ate a lot of fresh tangerines while we were there. Life is good when you have your own fruit trees. They also have grapefruit and oranges.

We spent a lot of time around the table on the Lanai and ate all of our meals there except for Thanksgiving dinner which we had at Frannie's house. I didn't get a picture of Frannie's house because I forgot my camera. It is also a beautiful house and we had a great time with great food at the Thanksgiving Feast. (Thank your for having us Frannie).

It was an extremely enjoyable few days, we are so blessed to have such great friends. Over the next 3 months we hope to see them a lot.

Today we are relaxing around the campground to recover from all the food we ate over the last few days.

I rode my bike down by the Peace River to check it out. I didn't see any Alligators but they are there because I saw them the last time we were here. I'm sure we will see them around.

The weather is nice today and the temperature is only 81 degrees with an nice cool breeze. After a couple days of rest we will check out the sites in the area. There is a lot to do and see in South Florida.

Arrived at our new home Peace River, Wauchula, FL

We had a short day of driving today. It only took us an hour and a half to get to Peace River.

We wanted to get propane before we left. They only pump propane from 9:00 to 10:00 am so we were there 8:45, hooked up the car and was ready to go as soon as someone came to pump the propane. That was the problem. I called them at 8:55 to let them know I needed propane, I called again at 10 after, again at quarter after, again at 20 after, again at 25 after, then I said to hell with them and we left.

If they advertise there will be someone available between 9 & 10 they should have someone there. Stringing people along is no way to run a business. In 3 weeks we will be back to Thousand Trails Orlando and I plan to inform them of my displeasure.

Along the way we came across a Pilot Truck Stop with an RV island and propane so we stopped and loaded up. With our tank filled we hit the road heading south on US Highway 27 which took us almost all the way to Peace River. It was a little slow leaving the Orlando area because of all the traffic lights but once we got out of the area we sailed right along.

It was 91 degrees when we arrived at Peace River, the sun was so hot I couldn't get the awning up fast enough. Now it's 4:00 pm and the temp is down to 83 which is much more comfortable. We are all set up, Direct TV is working, It's good to be home.

We are looking forward to spending the next couple of days with Don & Joni Tassinari. We really appreciate being invited to Thanksgiving dinner with their family. It beats having Thanksgiving dinner with strangers at the campground.

Last day at Orlando

Today is the last day at Thousand Trails Orlando tomorrow we are heading south to Thousand Trails Peace river in Wauchula, FA. We have less than a two hour drive so it will be an easy day.

Yesterday we took a drive to see the sights around the area. It was a very scenic drive and we saw lots of orange groves. Along the way we passed a BJ's so we had to go in and get supplies. We usually don't run across many BJ's, not like Walmart which is on every corner around here.

On the way back we stopped at our favorite steak place the Santa Fe Cattle Company. They can make a steak much better than I can.

The last few days we have been relaxing around the campground and I have been riding the bike a lot now that I feel good again.

Here are a couple my friends I keep passing as I ride around the campground.

It is nice to see the wildlife. We also have a tortoise that walks all over the campground. I never had my camera with me when I saw him.

Today Bev is spending the day at the family center Line Dancing and helping out with Bingo. Along with riding my bike I am folding up as much as I can so we are ready to go in the morning. Tomorrow on the way out I will stop to fill the propane tank. You never know when it may get cold and we will have to use the furnace.

Trip to Florida Hospital

I should change the name of the blog to Tom & Bev's adventure. As I mentioned before Bev and I have been suffering with colds we caught at Parris Island from the throngs of people there. I thought we were getting better when we both took a turn for the worse.

Even though Bev didn't feel very well she still was out every day Line Dancing while I stayed home moaning "I'm - to - sick - to - reach - the - remote". I guess Bev's activity kept her from getting as bad as I did. The cold settled in my lungs and I was having a problem breathing. At night I was not able to sleep, I couldn't stop coughing and couldn't breath.

Monday morning I felt so bad I decided to go to a walk-in clinic near us. Now our health insurance wouldn't pay unless I went to a Hospital Emergency Room but I was close to the clinic so I went anyway. As I was filling out the forms I saw the posted rates and almost passed out. The charge to see a doctor was $495.00 and the prices went up from there. It would have cost me a fortune so I left and headed back to the camper with a stop at CVS for more drugs.

At the camper I started feeling worse, light headed, dizzy so I checked Garmin for the closest Hospital. I was only 10 miles or so from the Florida Hospital so off we went. We were really expecting a miserable time at the ER because of our past experiences (Bev brought a book figuring she could read the hole thing while we were there). In the past I have waited forever in a little room filled with sick people and screaming kids.

To our surprise, when we arrived it was like going into a spa. Entering the ER we were met by a concierge who asked what my problem was. She then sent me directly to an intake nurse who got my vitals and why I was there. I asked her is she needed insurance information and she said no, they will get that later (she said they were medical people). Once she had my information and vitals she sent us to a waiting room that looked more like we were in a spa than an Emergency Room. There were a few people there but they were quickly taken and before I knew it I was taken into an exam room. I figured I would be in there for hours before a doctor would seem me but to my amazement a doctor quickly arrive and proceeded to check me out.

They decided to do a breathing treatment and quickly got me in for a chest x-ray. The breathing treatment really helped and the chest x-ray showed I didn't have pneumonia. I had a bad case of Bronchitis. They gave me a prescription and after paying my $50.00 co-pay we were on our way. From the time we left the camper to our return was only 3 hours and that included a stop at the pharmacy.

I was such a great experience I almost wanted to stay there for a few days to get their great care.

I learned one thing. Never go to the Hospital with someone that has a new cell phone with a camera. Bev loves her phone and just had to take pictures of the experience.

This is the entry way to the ER.

I'm - to - sick - to - reach - the - remote.

Oh it is great to breath!

I have to admit it was a good experience but I would rather have been at Disney World!

Over the last couple of days we both have been feeling a lot better. I have been going for walks and riding my bike all over the campground. I love riding by and checking out the RVs. Bev has been Line Dancing every day and helping out with Bingo in the evening.

Hopefully we can spend some time checking out the area and eating out again.

Just relaxing around the Thousand Trails Orlando campground.

The past couple of days Bev and I have been relaxing around the campground. We both caught colds and have been generally feeling bad, coughing, sneezing, and sucking down NyQuil. We most likely picked up the colds when we were in the throngs of people at Parris Island.  Every time I get in crowds I seem to get a cold. The last time was when we were in Palm Springs, CA. I rode a tram to the mountain top with about 70 people coughing and sneezing all over me. At least we are in a nice place to recover.

This campground has a lot of amenities and activities. Bev has been regularly Line Dancing and she is planning to do water aerobics as soon as the pool gets warm. They ran out of Propane so the pool cooled down for a while but it is now getting warm again. They also have a Hot Tub which should be great for our colds.

This is a great place to bike because it is flat and all the roads in the campground are blacktop.

Horseshoes

Fishing

Relaxing around the Large Campsites

Swimming

Shuffleboard

I'm going to get a Florida non-resident fishing license. They say the Bass fishing is great in this lake.

This is also a great place for access to the Internet. I have a 4G Air Card for my MacBook Pro and up till now I was never in a 4G area but this area has 4G so I really fly on the Internet. It makes it a lot easier to upload photos.

Our colds are starting to wind down so we will start checking out the sights in this area.

Thank you all Veterans and active Military for your service. Freedom is not free. I am proud to be a Veteran and extremely proud to be the Grandfather of a Marine.

Eric & Me

Visitor Center Yemassee, SC and Travel Day to Florida

Sunday 11/6 We visited the Visitor Center near our campground in Yemassee, SC.

Monday 11/7 We relaxed around the campground and I got everything ready for our move to Florida tomorrow. We had a large pull through site so I even hooked up the car to the camper.

Tuesday we were up early at 5:00 am. I hate getting up that early but we have about 340 miles to drive and I like to get to the next site early. It is more miles than I like to drive when moving but we want to get down to the warmer weather.

Thankfully almost everything was done yesterday so I just had to put the Direct TV dish in the car, Disconnect the electric and hit the road.

It was a great day to travel and we only hit a couple of showers just before we reached our next stop at Thousand Trails Orlando. We  are actually located in Clermont, FL and they say we should be able to see the Disney fireworks from the campground.

This is a great campground, the sites are large and it is very quiet. Tomorrow we will have to check out the pool and hot tub.

After we got set up we went to supper at Chili's. Did I mention we like to eat out. When we got back to the camper I was to tired to stay up for the fireworks so I will have to check them out tonight.

Now that we are in Florida we are looking forward to seeing our dear friends Don & Joni Tassinari. We plan on seeing them a lot while we are here for the winter.

I will finish with more pictures of our Patriot.

Eric, We are honored to be your Grandparents.