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Wednesday, December 24, 2014

“Twas The Week Before Christmas”

And all through the camper, everything was packed and ready for Travelman’s trip. Propane tanks filled, every tank winterized for the northern start to the southern sunbelt terminus. Lists checked and re-checked. Everything was ready except for the weather. You know those Nor'easters could keep Travelman and Travelwoman from a scheduled start. This is where age comes in as patience is developed and if the weather is bad, tomorrow will always be the option.
It’s been a long fall season, but a busy season. The best thing about the present is my feeling to start blogging again. Yes, I was in a so called writers slump this fall. Well, actually, it all started way back in early summer when we were afar up north in Labrador. I couldn’t access my blog site from within Canada. At first I was blaming the Canadian government for changing my blogspot.com to blogspot.ca, but eventually, back home I discovered that the two step verification was the problem when trying to access the site from a different server. Well, that’s behind me now.
The journey south to Key West, Florida will go something like this. Leave very early, sometime during the night and drive a full day into Pennsylvania or even into Virginia. Spend the first night in a motel, yes, we could sleep in the camper, but our queen-size bed would be already occupied with our two mountain bikes. I am trying to eliminate the road salt brine from creeping into the bikes’ coasters. This happened last year and I had a hard time correcting the problem. On the second night stay we should be far enough south to not encounter any salt being applied to the roadways. I will than place the mountain bikes on the front bike carrier and reclaim our bed for the rest of the season. My plan is to drive I-81 south. This is to eliminate the heavy congestion and constant tolls of I-95. The disadvantage of I-81 is that it hugs the easterly side of the Appalachian Mountains and with a higher elevation, snow might follow us down into the Carolinas. I’ll deal with this if and when it happens.
Our first visiting stop will be in Hendersonville, NC for a visit with Peggy and her mom. Peggy was Roger”s wife (Helen’s brother). Roger passed away 13 years ago to the day. From Hendersonville we’ll head southeast towards Columbia, SC and visit the Marcotte family. That’s Helen’s aunt and cousins. From here we will be relatively close to the Florida border and warm sunshine. Jacksonville will most likely be night stop at the Naval Station Jacksonville. Pelican Roost or Osprey Cove RV campgrounds on base should be our roosting spot. From here we will head towards the center lands of Florida for several visits with friends and relatives. We might spend a few days here. We will link up with our truck camper friends Sam and Joan and discuss our plans for a military space available flight to Europe next fall. Between family and friends Leesburg will be our hub for many good conversations.
The direction from here is still uncertain. The east coast is the home of truck camper friends, the west coast is home to hometown friends. There is nearly no rush to head to Key West, but the longer we delay to chances of getting a good spot in KW decreases.
The photo below is a view from Chandler Wharf next to Demillos Restaurant on the Portland Waterfront. We spent part of last weekend at a condo with my brothers’ family. Many of the sailboats were covered for the winter, but a few were inhabited and were decorated for the Christmas Season.

Merry Christmas’


That is what we saw and did!

Portland Condo-8-Edit_edited-1 (800x530)
Weekend Get Away!