Living Our Dream

Just Hangin' Around

Bushnell, FL - Events of Wednesday, January 23 to Saturday, January 26, 2013

We really haven't been doing much since the Tampa RV Show. Paul started feeling a cold coming on the day of the show, so we have been taking it easy ever since. It certainly wasn't the cool, rainy weather the day of the show that caused the cold, but being out in that weather may have made things worse because this cold was a doosey.

By the following Wednesday, Paul was finally starting to feel a little better, which was a good thing because Wednesday was Freeway's puppy class at PetSmart in The Villages. The dogs got a little play time at the beginning of the class before we got to our lessons.

Play time before training class

Last week, we were having difficulty getting Freeway to the starting position to teach him to heel. Getting the dog into position is called the "place" command, and the goal is to get the dog to come to his place sitting facing forward right beside your foot. Getting freeway to sit is easy, but getting him in the correct position isn't. We worked on that during the week, and we thought we had made some progress. However, when we got to class there were many distractions, and Freeway had trouble paying attention. Without being able to get Freeway into the correct position, we didn't accomplish much with the "heel" command that the rest of the dogs got to practice in class. Therefore, we had our work cut out for us to try catch up before the next class.

In the days following class, we practiced our training with Freeway around the motor home and around our site, and we also went to the dog park to practice in a more public place. Distractions make training harder, but that is one of the things more advanced training is all about - getting Freeway to obey even when he's tempted by other sights and sounds. We are still having difficulty with the "place" command to get Freeway into position by our foot; but once he gets there, the "heel" command is going relatively well.

Margery and Freeway practicing the "place" command

Freeway, heel!

One evening, Margery decided to start a crochet project. Freeway was very interested in her ball of yarn. He jumped up on her lap and began playing with it.

Hey! Put that down!

Ball of yarn starting to unravel

We had to practice the "leave it" command to avoid ending up with a tangled mess. Freeway was still fascinated with what Margery was doing with the yarn and eventually settled in and just watched her crochet.

Freeway eventually left the ball of yarn alone and just watched

Margery recently 'liked' the Facebook page, Join the Love, which is a guild of crafters working together to create memory blankets for grieving families. The blankets are made of donated granny squares that are stitched together to make memory blankets for families who have recently lost a child. After going through the jury process, Margery is now eligible to sign up to contribute granny squares to individual blankets being created based on the child's favorite colors and likes. This kind of compact project works well in our small living space, and the variety of granny square patterns are endless. She's going to have fun!

Saturday was Blueberry Hill's annual, resort-wide yard sale. We had several items we were looking to get rid of, so we set up a table in front of our site in time for the 9:00 a.m. start of the event.

A potential customer stops to check out our yard sale items

The weather was beautiful so we had a fairly good turnout. People even came from other campgrounds located nearby to look. We didn't sell much, but it helped clean out our storage bays a little.

With Paul on the mend from his cold, we are definitely hoping we can be a little more active. We'll let you know what we found to do in our next post.

2013 Tampa RV Show

Bushnell, FL - Events of Wednesday, January 16 to Thursday, January 17, 2013

Every year since we first started staying at Blueberry Hill for the winter we have gone to the big RV show in Tampa in January. We have always gone on the opening day of the show because we figured it would be less crowded. We also went on the first day because it was senior day with a $1 discount, even though there is also a coupon on the show's website good for $1 off per person any day. This year, however, we had signed Freeway up for training classes (well, really we signed ourselves up) at PetSmart, and the first day of the RV show was also Freeway's first training class. Therefore, the RV show had to wait until Thursday.

Last year when Freeway was just a couple of months old we signed him up for puppy classes at PetSmart. The classes went well, and we all learned a lot. This year, we thought we could use a bit of a brush-up, so we signed up for intermediate classes.

In addition to reinforcing what was learned in the puppy classes, the lessons are taken to a higher level in the intermediate classes. For example, the pups learned sit and stay in puppy class. In the intermediate class, they will learn to sit and stay when there are distractions such as when being tempted by a favorite toy or treat.

As another example of raising the bar, the dogs are taught loose-leash walking in puppy class so the dogs will walk without excessive pulling on the leash. In the intermediate class, they will learn to heel, which is walking closely beside the person on the other end of the leash.

We headed to PetSmart in The Villages on Wednesday morning for the first class. At the beginning of the class, we all introduced ourselves and our dogs. The dogs had a little time to play, then Melanie, the instructor, began a review some of the basic commands we learned in puppy class. We all had an opportunity to ask questions about anything that we were having trouble with. Obviously, if anyone is having trouble with their dog obeying basic commands, things are going to be even worse when those commands are taken to a higher level, so it was a good time to iron out any problems.

Toward the end of the class, Melanie began to lay the groundwork for the heel command, which starts with getting and holding your dog's attention. This is usually done with a treat. The treat is then used to bring the dog to your side in a sitting position.

Melanie demonstrating the proper position for the start of the heel command

Getting Freeway into position was a challenge for us because Freeway is not particularly motivated by food. We have spent a small fortune on different types of treats, but we haven't found anything he is absolutely wild about. Melanie suggested using one of Freeway's favorite toys instead of a treat, but Freeway is also finicky about which toy he wants to play with at any given time. The toy that he is playing with one minute can be ignored in favor of another toy the next minute. We definitely have our work cut out for us either finding the right treat to get his attention or guessing which toy he wants to play with. We will need to work on that before the next class.

Thursday morning was overcast with a chance of showers. Radar showed a thin line of rain heading for Tampa from the Gulf of Mexico, but we persevered with our plans to go to the Tampa RV Show and arrived there about 9:30 a.m., which was half an hour after the show opened.

From previous visits to the show, we knew the accessory areas would get very crowded later in the morning, so we headed there first. We were able to take our time and to stop and take a closer look at anything that happened to strike our fancy. Since it wasn't very crowded yet, we were also able to catch a photo of some of the show entertainment as it passed by.

Show entertainment passing by

It started sprinkling rain as we headed for the second accessory building toward the back of the fairgrounds, but we took time to stop to take a look at a couple of streamlined, all-fiberglass travel trailers. The model was the Aviator by Forest River. Both trailers on display were about 29 or 30 feet long and had a show price of around $60,000. That's a lot of money for a travel trailer, but they had lots of exras you normally don't find in a trailer like full body paint, ceramic toilets and solid-surface countertops.

Aviator travel trailer - fiberglass body and full body paint

It never rained very hard, but as soon as the rain started, so did the wind. We also experienced about a 10º temperature drop so the second half of our time at the show was a bit chilly.

Last year, we stopped to look at several 5th wheels. It's not that we are in the market to buy a new RV, but as our full-time lifestyle matures, we may slow down staying longer at each stop. Since staying longer and moving less seems to better suit a 5th wheel, we looked at a few 5th wheels last year, and we decided to do the same this year.

We stopped to see a Cardinal 5th wheel by Forest River.

Cardinal 5th wheel with 5 slides

The thing that made us notice this particular 5th wheel was the fact it had a front living room. Most 5th wheels have the bedroom in front, but this one had a large living room with two sofas, a huge flat-screen TV and an electric fireplace.

Front living room in the Cardinal 5th wheel

The Cardinal was almost 41' long, had 5 slides, was way heavier than we would want to tow, and was way out of our price range; but it was fun to look.

Last year, we were attracted to 5th wheels by Heartland RV. Their models are advertised as being suitable for full-timers, so we stopped to look again at what they had available.

Margery checking out a Big Horn 5th wheel by Heartland RV

After leaving Heartland, we checked out the Tiffins. We always like to see the new fabrics and colors and to see if there are any new features.

Paul checking out an Allegro diesel motor home

As we made our way to the show exit, we passed a display of old travel trailers. The Tin Can Tourists is an RV club that was first formed in 1919. Today, members of the club restore, travel in and display vintage RVs. There are also lots of vintage tow vehicles like the red and white 1956 Pontiac station wagon in the photo below.

Vintage travel trailers and tow vehicles

Visitors could walk by and peer into most of the the trailers, and the owners of the 45-foot, 1950s trailer in the photo below were offering walk-through tours. The trailer, which was originally owned by a circus couple, is in the midst of restoration. Although much, much larger than Margery's grandmother's trailer, it brought back memories of visiting her in the 1950s.

1950s trailer is being restored

As we headed toward the show exit around noon, we could see the crowds starting to build in spite of the cool temperatures, wind and ongoing threat of rain.

Crowds were starting to build as we left the show.

Since Qdoba Mexican Grill is only a hop, skip and a jump from the fairgrounds, we stopped there for lunch on our way back to the motor home where we spent the next several days relaxing.

Withlacoochee State Trail

Bushnell, FL - Events of Friday, January, 2013

We have been having some lovely weather in Florida. For the last week or so, it has been partly to mostly sunny with temperatures in the 70s and 80s. Therefore, on Friday afternoon we decided to drive a little south of Bushnell to check out part of the Withlacoochee State Trail. The Withlacoochee State Trail is a 46-mile stretch of former railroad bed that was converted to a trail for biking, hiking and skating. A separate equestrian trail parallels portions of the paved trail. The Withlacoochee State Trail is the longest paved trail in Florida. The trail starts in the north in Citrus Springs, FL just south of Dunnellon and runs almost all the way down to Dade City.

The Withlacoochee State Trail is named for the Withlacoochee River. Withalcoochee is a Native American name whose meaning isn't entirely clear. It most likely means "crooked river."

We have biked parts of the trail before, but we have always started in Floral City, which is to the northeast of Bushnell. We were curious to see another part of the trail a little farther south because some of the southern part of the trail passes through the Withlacoochee State Forest and parts of it parallel the Withlacoochee River. We decided to head to Townsen Lake Park, which is a county park that lies along the trail and which provides trailhead parking. Townsen Lake Park is located in Nobelton, FL.

Since dogs are permitted on the trail, we decided to take Freeway and walk the trail for a short distance rather than pack up the bikes, especially since Paul hasn't yet taken the time to experiment with how to best fit the bikes into the new car.

Margery and Freeway heading down the trail

The Withlacoochee State Trail passes small towns, ranches, farms and forests. Many homes and buildings along the trail are reminiscent of Old Florida.

The trail passes homes that are reminiscent of Old Florida

A few bikes passed us as we walked, but the trail was pretty quiet for the most part. We only walked up the trail about half an hour before we decided to turn around, but it was far enough to know we would like to come back with our bikes and go farther. At the turn around point, there was a beautiful redbud tree starting to bloom. We usually don't see that until early February.

Redbud tree blooming in early January

To get to Townsen Lake Park, we had to cross over the Withlacoochee River, and we could catch glimpses of the river from the trail. On the banks of the Withlacoochee River in Nobelton is River Ratz Cafe, which is part of a canoe rental establishment called Nobelton Outpost. We had seen signs for River Ratz and heard about them from others at Blueberry Hill, so we decided to stop for a late lunch. River Ratz is a popular hangout for bicyclists and motorcyclists, especially on weekends.

River Ratz Cafe

River Ratz has indoor seating, but we opted for a table on the deck overlooking the river since it was such a beautiful day.

Outdoor seating overlooking the Withlacoochee River

The Withlacoochee River originates in central Florida's Green Swamp near Polk City about 40 miles southeast of Bushnell. It flows north and empties into the Gulf of Mexico just south of Crystal River, FL.

Withlacoochee River looking downstream

Sandwiches and burgers at River Ratz are about $4 to $6 and are available with one side for about $2 more. There is also a nice selection of appetizers like peel-and-eat shrimp that sounded delicious.

Margery ordered a Nobleton burger, which was one of the daily specials, with regular fries. The half-pound burger had melted pepper-jack cheese, bacon, lettuce, pickle and tomato. Paul chose the Philly beef sandwich with sweet potato fries. When our meals arrived, we decided to split the sandwiches and share them. Everything was delish!

Philly beef (top) and Nobleton burger

With our bellies full, we headed back to the motor home for an evening of TV. We relaxed over the weekend and watched parts of the NFL playoff games, but our interest level was definitely low with the Steelers being long out of the race. We'll have another report on our activities soon. Stay tuned.

Project: Installing a Baseplate on the New Car

Bushnell, FL - Events of Monday, January 7 to Wednesday, January 9, 2013

On Monday, we were just hangin' out around the motor home, so we decided to walk the trash up to the dumpster and stop in the clubhouse to check for mail. We also wanted to let Freeway play a while at the dog park on our way back.

Freeway had a great time at the dog park. He loves to chase balls, even inside the motor home; but he really likes to do it out in the open.

Freeway playing fetch

When we stopped in the clubhouse on the way to the dog park to check for mail, we found out the baseplate for the new car had come in. Paul ordered it on January 2, and we weren't expecting it to arrive for another day or two. It was much too big and heavy to carry, so Paul drove back to the clubhouse to pick it up in the car after we were done at the dog park.

The baseplate bolts to the car's frame to provide a place to attach the tow bar. In order to install the base plate, the entire front fascia of car generally has to be removed. This is a fairly scary proposition if the car is brand new. There is always an opportunity to scratch the paint, so it has to be done very carefully. We use a Blue Ox tow bar, and Blue Ox has posted on their website full instructions with photos of baseplate installations for each vehicle so you can see specifically what is involved ahead of time. Paul also found several websites that had video instructions. Of course, you can pay someone to install the base plate for you, but Paul has always been a DIYer. He installed the base plate on the Saturn when we first bought it, so he decided to tackle the one on the Equinox, too.

After reading and re-reading the instructions several times, Paul started to remove the fascia on Tuesday morning.

Paul removing fasteners to take off the fascia

Removing the fascia isn't too difficult, but it is not for the faint-hearted. For one thing, you have to be very careful not to scratch the paint as we said. Margery helped lift the fascia off and sit it gently on the ground on a clean drop cloth. After you get the fascia off, you have to be ready for the sight of your brand new car sitting there naked.

Fascia removed

In spite of getting a relatively early start, Paul didn't get finished installing the baseplate on Tuesday. The baseplate was more difficult to install than he remembered it being on the Saturn. Blue Ox uses nuts with long, stiff wires welded to them that you have to bend and maneuver up through a small opening to get the nuts to inside the boxed-in frame section. Once you get the nuts up in there, it is very difficult to get them lined up perfectly with the bolts coming in from the outside so the threads will grab. After many, many tries, Paul finally got all the bolts in.

The transmission oil cooler was located right where the baseplate goes, so the cooler had to be relocated to a higher position up on brackets that were supplied with the baseplate. The flexible lines didn't seem want to let the cooler move quite far enough, so Paul had to modify the brackets slightly so there wouldn't be too much stress on the lines.

There also seemed to be a little more trimming required to remove interferences between the baseplate and existing components than Paul remembered there being on the Saturn. It was almost dark when Paul tried to get the fascia back into place. The instructions referred to an interference point where something on the fascia had to be ground away, but Paul could not identify the spot in spite of studying the photos that came with the instructions over and over again. In their effort to get a close-up photo of the problem area, Blue Ox zoomed in on the spot so much it was impossible to get oriented as to where it was located.

Paul tried several times to get the fascia put back into place, but he couldn't quite get it lined up properly because something was definitely interfering. Margery brought a lamp outside, but Paul still couldn't see well enough to find out what the hangup was. Not only that, but after crawling around the car all day in the hot Florida sun, he was too tired and dehydrated to even think straight. Therefore, we left the car partially assembled, gathered up the tools, piled them in the back of the car and went inside to get cleaned up and finally have some dinner.

On Wednesday morning, Paul went outside fairly early and got back to work. It is surprising what a good night's rest and a little daylight can do. Paul ended up sticking his hand up behind the fascia to try to feel where the interference was and within minutes he found the spot. The thick seam where the lower black skirt joins the upper part of the fascia that is painted hit the ends of the base plate. Paul removed the fascia (for about the 8th time), ground away the part of the seam that was hitting the baseplate, and the fascia went right back into place just like that.

One of the things we like about the Blue Ox baseplates is most of them have removable, spring-loaded, quarter-turn tabs that the tow bar attaches to. The baseplate is almost invisible when you're not towing and the tabs are removed.

Baseplate is almost invisible.

After all the difficulty he had, Paul made up his mind this is the last baseplate he will install. He is getting too old for all that bending and stooping. If we ever buy another new car that has to be set up for towing, he will definitely bite the bullet and take the car to a shop that installs baseplates and pay someone to do it.

The wiring of the car's tail lights, brake lights and turn signals to operate in concert with the lights on the motor home still needs to be done. That shouldn't be nearly as difficult as installing the baseplate.

Paul left the wiring for another day because we had been invited to the home of old friends in The Villages for lunch on Wednesday. Pat and Wink used to go the church where we worshipped and where Margery used to work back in Pittsburgh. In fact, Pat is the pastor's sister. Pat, Wink and Margery also went to the same high school. Wink and Margery were in the same class. We had a good time visiting and catching up.

Margery, Wink and Pat

After our visit with Pat and Wink, we headed back to the motor home. Paul still needed some time to rest up after all the work he did on the car, but we didn't sit still too long. We'll tell you all about what we found to do in our next post.

Starting Off the New Year

Bushnell, FL - Events of Tuesday, January 1 to Friday, January 4, 2013

As we mentioned in our last post, we spent a quiet New Year's Eve hangin' around the rig with a couple of rented movies. On New Year's Day, we watched a little football, and Paul started poking around looking at what he needed to do to get the new car ready to tow and researching sources for the components on the internet.

Speaking of our new car, Paul had seen chrome grills on several Equinoxes. He initially thought the chrome grill was an option on the high-end Equinox model (LTZ), but he found out the chrome grills did not come from the factory - they were an after-market product. They are overlays that just snap on over the existing grill. Paul ordered one from Amazon just before we left Pittsburgh, and it arrived on Wednesday. He wasted no time installing the new chrome grill.

Equinox with standard grill

Equinox with chrome grill

In spite of being tired from our trip to Pittsburgh, Paul continues to be an early riser. We have seen several nice sunsets since we have been here in Florida, but mornings tend to be a little foggy and/or overcast. However, one morning Paul was treated to a beautiful sunrise.

Beautiful sunrise in Bushnell

Right around New Year's Day, we got an email coupon from Qdoba to buy one burrito get one free. Unfortunately, we signed up for Qdoba email specials before we were full-timers, and the coupon was for any Qdoba in the Pittsburgh area. Margery called the closest Qdoba (which is all the way down near Tampa), and they said they would honor it. It doesn't make a lot of sense to drive 40 miles one way just for a free burrito, but what the heck - we love Qdoba, and we had been just chillin' out way too much since we got back from Pittsburgh, and we also enjoy driving the new car. So off we went to Qdoba on Thursday afternoon.

Our former favorite burrito - the poblano pesto/chicken burrito - is no longer available, but we have found we like the regular chicken burrito almost as much with extra salsa verde in place of the poblano pesto. The burritos were delish, and the manager even gave us two kinds of salsa for our corn chips for free when he found out how far we had driven just to eat at Qdoba.

Friday was cool and cloudy with occasional sprinkles of rain in the morning. It wasn't a great day for a flea market, but we needed to go to Sam's Club in The Villages anyway, and the Market of Marion is only a few miles north of The Villages. Besides, the Market of Marion is mostly indoors. Margery decided she wanted to look for a new purse there because there are a couple of vendors at the market who sell leather goods.

By the time we got to the Market of Marion, the rain had stopped, but it was still cloudy. We were surprised at how crowded it was. We had to park farther away from the entrance than usual, but that was partly due to the fact we tend to park a little farther away where the lot is less crowded now that we have a new car.

Main entrance to the Market of Marion

Margery doesn't like to carry a purse at all, but she frequently does because she needs a place to put her credit cards and license. Following her cataract surgery, since Margery only needs to wear glasses some of the time, she now needs enough room in her purse for her eyeglass case. Margery found a slightly larger purse rather quickly.

Margery modeling her new purse

Since we had gone to the Market of Marion shortly before we left Florida for Pittsburgh, we didn't feel the need to walk every aisle on this stop. However, we did head to the produce aisle near the back of the market because we wanted to pick up a couple of tomatoes for our lunches.

View down the produce aisle at the Market of Marion

While in the produce aisle, we noticed the Plant City strawberries were starting to come in. They were gorgeous.

Plant City strawberries

As delicious as they looked, we passed on the strawberries because they were being sold in whole flats, which is way too much for just the two of us. However, we did get our tomatoes and some poblano peppers. Following the demise of the poblano pesto burrito at Qdoba, Margery found a recipe for poblano pesto on the internet. While we don't make our own burritos, we found the pesto is delicious on sandwiches. Margery will be whipping up a batch of pesto as soon as Paul gets the grill out to roast the peppers.

We made our way to Sam's Club from the market. The main reason we needed to go to there was to get a new starting battery for the motor home. When we got back from Pittsburgh, Paul went to start the motor home one cool morning, and all he got was click-click-click. The battery was the original, and it was almost 8 years old, which is much longer than most starting batteries are expected to last. The house batteries are charged by our inverter, but the starting battery isn't. Therefore, Paul keeps a trickle charger on the starting battery when we are parked for more than a couple of weeks, but this time the trickle charger wasn't enough to keep the old battery charged.

We got back to the motor home mid afternoon, and Paul installed the new battery. In the meantime, our friends, Pat and Mike, who are also spending the winter at Blueberry Hill, had returned the evening before from spending Christmas in Pittsburgh. We were looking forward to getting together with them again, so Margery called them while Paul was installing the battery and made plans to go to lupper with them at Beef O'Brady's. We heard a lot of good things about their burgers and sandwiches, so we decided to give them a try.

Paul got the battery in just as it started sprinkling rain again. After he got cleaned up, we picked up Pat and Mike and headed to Beef O'Brady's. Beef O'Brady's is a national chain of sports bars with lots of locations in Florida including one in Bushnell just down the road from Blueberry Hill.

Beef O'Brady's in Bushnell

Lunches (sandwiches, burgers, wings and salads) are around $8 to $9 with a few items like the double burger with extra bacon and extra cheese costing up to about $13. Most of the sandwiches and burgers include your choice of regular fries, curly fries, ranch fries, home made chips or potato salad. Sweet potato fries or a side salad are also available for a small additional charge. Beef O'Brady's also has a nice variety of appetizers. Dinners are also available for around $10 to $14.

Mike and Paul had BBQ bacon cheeseburgers. Pat had a shrimp salad and Margery had a fish and chip basket. Everything was delish, and the service was great. Our server was especially nice. She was friendly and efficient, and she was very helpful with the menu since we were all there for the first time. We'll definitely be going back.

Mike, Pat, Margery and Paul at Beef O'Brady's

BBQ bacon burger and fish and chips basket

We had a good time catching up on what Pat and Mike have been up to and hearing about their trip to Pittsburgh. We don't have any definite plans for the near future, but we're bound to find something to get into. Stay tuned.