Living Our Dream

Motor Home Project: Refinish Cabinet Doors

Bushnell, FL - Events of Monday, January 20 to Tuesday, January 28, 2014

So far this winter, we certainly haven't been doing as much sightseeing as we had hoped. For one thing, we have seen just about everything of note within about an hour's drive of Bushnell, so most of our sightseeing will require a longer drive. Therefore, we have been content to chill out around the motor home rather than take all-day sightseeing excursions.

Speaking of chilling out, that brings up another reason we haven't gotten out much - the weather hasn't been all that nice. Cold fronts have been passing through fairly frequently, so the weather hardly has a chance to warm up before the next front brings clouds, rain and more cold temperatures.

We haven't even gone out to eat much because our budget hasn't recuperated from our expensive New England travels last summer and our weight hasn't fully recovered from all the treats we indulged in during our Christmas visit to Pittsburgh. We're still working on breaking the pound barrier. LOL

Hanging out around the motor home gave us plenty of time to enjoy the paperwhite narcissus Lora and J. Michael got Paul for Christmas. The kit included the bulbs, a pot and planting medium. Paul planted the bulbs shortly after we got back to Bushnell, and they started blooming about three weeks later. We both love the beautiful white flowers and the intoxicating fragrance that fills the motor home.

Paperwhite narcissus blooming in the motor home

As we have said before, Paul usually can't sit still for long and eventually gets motivated to tackle a project. One of those was refinishing several of our motor home's cabinet doors. Paul isn't sure what type of finish Tiffin used on our cabinet doors and drawer fronts (he thinks it was nitrocellulose lacquer), but it is not very resistant to moisture or to skin and cooking oils.

The cabinets in the kitchen get used a lot and have had the finish around the knobs softened by repeated contact with water and oils. When the finish is soft, cleaning it gradually removes the finish leaving the wood substrate dull and unprotected. Wet hands and splashing water in the bathroom also caused the cabinet doors in that area to develop a cracked finish and permanent, white marks.

One of our cabinet doors showing cracks in the finish and white marks from excessive exposure to moisture

We finally got tired of looking at the unsightly marks on some of our cabinet doors, so Paul decided to start refinishing them. Before refinishing, however, the old finish had to be stripped off. Stripping old finish isn't difficult, especially since our woodwork is natural maple with no stain. However, removing the old finish can be tedious, and its almost always messy and smelly. Therefore, Paul had to wait for nice weather so he could do all the work outside.

We had 10 doors and one drawer front that needed to be refinished. Since that was too much to get done in one day and since days that were good for refinishing were only happening one or two at a time, Paul split the work into several sessions doing only a few doors at a time.

After removing several of the doors on Tuesday, Paul applied paint stripper and spread it around with a brush.

Applying paint stripper

A little more stripper had to be applied every few minutes to keep the sun and breeze from drying the stripper out before it had time to soften the old finish. Fortunately, the stripper was very effective, so it didn't take too long to soften the old finish enough to be scraped off the flat areas with a putty knife.

Stripping softened finish with a putty knife

After the majority of the old finish was scraped off, Paul then worked on the contoured areas with a Scotch Brite abrasive pad soaked with a little of the stripper.

Removing finish from contoured areas with abrasive pad

Repeated wiping with lacquer thinner removed the gooey residue of paint stripper and dissolved finish. It took a lot of paper towels and a lot of solvent to get off all the residue.

Paul's favorite wood finish is Minwax Wipe On Poly. Wipe On Poly is a polyurethane finish that is easy to apply, fast drying, highly moisture resistant and is very durable.

Minwax Wipe On Poly

Paul usually applies two coats of finish sanding lightly between coats with a Scotch Brite abrasive pad or steel wool.

Wipe On Poly is available in both gloss and satin finishes, but Paul prefers to use gloss even when trying to achieve a satin finish like the wood in our motor home. The satin Wipe On Poly is more difficult to get a consistent appearance because the degree of gloss of the satin finish is dependent on how well you shake the can before applying the finish and on your application technique. Therefore, Paul uses gloss finish and reduces the shine after it dries with a Scotch Brite pad. An abrasive pad used by itself will result in a matte finish, and a little paste wax added to the pad while sanding will result in a satin finish.

Reducing the gloss with an abrasive pad and a little paste wax

Paul managed to find several nice days and partial days where he was able to dodge wind, cold and raindrops, and he finally got the refinishing done the following Tuesday. The refinished doors and drawer look like new again, but they're actually better than new because we know the new polyurethane finish will be much more durable than the original.

We're still hoping for some nicer weather soon so we can do some sightseeing. Stay tuned.

2014 Tampa RV Show

Bushnell, FL - Events of Tuesday, January 14 to Thursday, January 16, 2014

Cold fronts have been passing through the area every few days. Several hours after it rains, the clouds clear, it warms up within a few days, and then the cycle starts all over again. Late Tuesday afternoon, the clouds from the latest cold front parted just in time for a beautiful sunset.

Sunset at Blueberry Hill

On Wednesday, we did as we have done in the past and drove down to Tampa to the big RV show. We like to check out the changes for the new models of Tiffin motor homes, but we mostly go to look at RV accessories.

Wednesday is the opening day of the show for the public, and it is also Senior Day with a $1 discount off admission for seniors. Although there are coupons available online for $1 off admission for other days of the show, we usually go on Senior Day so we don't have to remember to print off and take the coupons.

Since we go to the show primarily for the accessories and since the accessory areas get more and more crowded as the day progresses, we head to accessories first. There are two accessory areas - one near the entrance and one at the far southeastern end of the show. We started with the accessories near the entrance.

Not very crowded in the accessory area around 10:00 a.m.

It didn't take us long to find an accessory we were interested in. Our patio mat was fairly old; and in the last couple of years, it developed some brownish stains. Maybe the stains are from contact with iron oxide in the soil or from putting the mat away slightly damp; but the stains won't go away completely in spite of the fact Paul has scrubbed the mat using detergent, OxyClean and even bleach. Therefore, we decided to investigate new patio mats at the show.

The J&J Sunshade booth was three booths to the right of where we entered the accessory area. Although J&J has "sunshade" in their name, we were immediately attracted by their large stack of patio mats.

J&J Sunshades

As a show special, they were offering with the purchase any 8x14 or 8x18 patio mat a free 4x6 matching mat (ideal for use on one-night stops when you need a mat, but don't want to take the time to drag out the big one) and a free, mesh beach bag. The prices were reasonable, and we really liked the idea of having an additional, smaller mat, so we bought a new patio mat from J&J. They offered to hold it for us until we were ready to leave the show.

The next day, Paul put out our new patio mat, and we thought you might like to see what it looks like. We bought an 8x14 mat, which is a little bigger than our old one. That's the free 4x6 mat in the foreground. As we said, the small mat can be used for short stays when you don't want to haul the big mat out of the storage bay, or it can be used extend the size of the main patio mat.

New patio mats

The new patio mats have an interesting wood grain look.

We also bought a small name tag for Freeway from a custom engraver in the accessory area. When we make longer stops like we do here in Florida for the winter, we put up a sign with our names in front of rig. We bought the tag with Freeway's name so we could add his name to ours. The photo below shows our sign after Paul added Freeway's name tag.

Sign in front of our rig with Freeway's name added

After stopping in at the second accessory area and looking around, we headed to the Tiffin display. Since Tiffin was located at the farthest point in the fairgrounds from the second accessory area, we decided to ride the tram since it happened to be stopped right there as we exited the accessory building. On the way to the Tiffin booth, we passed the pelican that is the mascot of the Florida State Fairgrounds.

Fairgrounds pelican mascot

Speaking of costumed characters, we later ran across a guy dressed as a plant. He wouldn't leave Paul alone until we agreed to take a picture of the two of them together. Margery felt left out and was green with envy. The character started to grow on Paul, and by the time they had chatted a while, the two of them had cultivated quite a friendship. Their friendship is rooted in their common interest in horticulture and stems from the fact they both dig gardening. Sorry, couldn't resist the puns.

Paul with his new, green friend

We have been casually looking at 5th wheels at the RV show the last couple of years, and we stopped to look again this year on our way to the Tiffin booth. We love our motor home, but as it gets older and as our travel style starts to slow down, we sometimes think a 5th wheel would make a lot of sense. We aren't planning to buy anything any time soon, but we want to look to see what's available for future reference.

One manufacturer that we are very impressed with is Heartland RV. They make a series of 5th wheels that range from affordable (but still very nice) to luxurious. Two of their affordable models are called Big Country and Bighorn, both of which are warranted for full-timing. Both those models have options we would want as full-timers like a washer and dryer, a residential refrigerator and dual pane windows.

Margery about to enter a Big Country 5th wheel by Heartland

Margery in the kitchen of our favorite floorplan

Normally, the bedroom of 5th wheels is in front, but last year, we saw one with the living room in front. This year, we saw several like that. The front living rooms are very spacious, although the ceiling seems a little low. The front living rooms usually have two sofas, a large recliner, a very big flat-screen TV and an electric fireplace.

Margery checking out a 5th wheel with front living room

After we looked at several 5th wheels, we headed to the Tiffin booth. We looked at several Allegros and a couple of Phaetons.

Paul getting ready to check out a Tiffin Allegro

As we headed from the Tiffin display toward the show exit, we noticed the walkway coming in the main entrance was full of people who were just arriving. We're glad we got a relatively early start.

Lots of people arriving as we were leaving

We stopped in the accessory area near the exit to pick up the patio mat the vendor was holding for us. We also stopped and bought a set of microwave-safe silicone dish covers we had looked at previously. We couldn't decide if we wanted them or not at first, but Margery has been looking for a microwave-safe cover to prevent splatters on the inside of our new microwave-convection oven, so we decided to buy the ones we saw at the show.

We left the RV show and headed back to Blueberry Hill by way of the Qdoba Mexican Grill that is located a little north of the fairgrounds. It is the only Qdoba anywhere in this part of Florida (we keep hoping they will open one in The Villages), so we usually take advantage of the fact we are close and stop there for a late lunch on our way back to Blueberry Hill after the show.

With our bellies full, we headed back to the motor home. We relaxed for the next several days. There was another cold front, more rain and more cool weather headed our way. We're hoping for warmer, sunny weather so we can get out to do some sightseeing soon. Stay tuned.

Project: PVC Bike Stand

Bushnell, FL - Events of Friday, January 3 to Wednesday January 8, 2014

It was good being able to travel to Pittsburgh to spend Christmas with family, but it was good to return to Florida and to our home on wheels, too. After we got back to Florida, we took several days to relax after all the activities of the holidays and after the long drive back.

We ate waaaay to much over the holidays, so we needed to get back to our low carb/low sugar lifestyle. One of the things we do to reduce our daily intake of carbs is to eat a no-carb breakfast of an omelet or scrambled eggs. We occasionally have real eggs, but we usually use Egg Beaters because they are low in cholesterol. Margery has been using the immersion blender Lora and J. Michael got her for Christmas to make the omelets extra fluffy. Egg Beaters seem to result in omelets that are a little denser than those made from real eggs, and a little air whipped in by the blender gives the omelet a lighter texture.

Margery using her new immersion blender

A nice feature of the new blender is that the "business end" is detachable for easy washing. Our old blender was all one piece, which made cleaning it a pain because we had to be careful not to get the upper end of it wet.

While we're on the subject of Christmas gifts, Lora and J. Michael got Freeway mini tennis balls, and he really LOVES them. He always liked tennis balls, but regular balls are a little too big for him. The new ones are about half the size of regular tennis balls - just right for Freeway. They're also light weight enough that we can play inside by rolling or bouncing the ball to the back of the motor home without fear of doing major damage to anything if a throw goes astray.

Freeway playing with one of the mini tennis balls he got for Christmas

Although we had settled into relaxation mode with the holidays behind us, Paul can't sit still for long. On Saturday, he got started on a project.

When we park our bikes on soft ground like the sandy soil here in Florida, they sometimes get blown over by the wind. Therefore, we decided a bike stand might help keep the bikes upright and also make it more convenient to park our bikes when we come back from a ride.

PVC pipe is a versatile material that can be used for a lot more than plumbing. Just Google "PVC pipe plans," and you'll come up with hundreds of things people have made from PVC pipe like decorative items, greenhouses, furniture and racks of all kinds including clothes drying racks, racks to hold tools and bike stands. Paul found several good ideas for bike stands online, and he ended up adapting one of them to suit our needs.

We picked up the materials for the bike stand at Home Depot when we were running errands in the vicinity of The Villages on Friday. The cost was under $25.

It was a little cool and windy when we got back to the motor home on Friday, so Paul waited to start making the bike stand until Saturday when it warmed up a bit. He got out his homemade table saw to cut the lengths of pipe he needed.

Paul cutting PVC pipe on his homemade table saw

Pieces of 1" PVC pipe required for the bike stand

Two 10' lengths of 1" Schedule 40 PVC pipe are required for a stand for two* bikes. Also required are 10 tees and 6 elbows. The stand consists of the following pieces of pipe:

A** 22" - 3 pieces
B 16½" - 4 pieces
C 9½" - 4 pieces
D 8½" - 4 pieces
E*** 2" - 6 pieces

*Plans can easily be expanded to include spaces for more bikes.
**If necessary, adjust the length of the "A" pieces to allow more or less spacing between bikes depending on the the width of the handlebars. See text below.
***Increase the length of the "E" pieces if you have a bike with extra fat tires. See text below.

When all the parts were cut, Paul assembled the stand without pipe cement to check the fit with our bikes. Assembling the stand dry, at least for the first time, is highly recommended because some adjustments in pipe sizes may be required.

Assembled bike stand

The 22" pieces (A in the cutting list and in the photo of the assembled stand above) determine the spacing between the bikes. This length was 16½" in the original plans, which would probably be good for racing bikes with narrow handlebars. Although our handlebars are fairly wide, Paul was intending to put our two bikes into the stand facing in opposite directions, so the 16½" spacing seemed like a good place to start. Unfortunately, the rear derailleur of the bike that was put into the stand backwards hit the upright PVC support. Therefore, we will have to put both bikes into the stand frontwards to avoid the possibility of bending the rear derailleur.

With a 16½" spacing between the bikes and both bikes facing the same direction, the handlebars hit each other. Therefore, Paul replaced the 16½" with pieces that were 22" long to add a little clearance between the handlebars to make it easier to get the bikes in and out of the stand. Wider spacing between bikes also makes the stand more stable when it only has one bike in it.

The 2" pieces of pipe (E in the cutting list and in the photo above) are just long enough to join the adjacent fittings with the fittings butting directly up against each other. This results in the minimum amount of gap (2¼") between the two PVC pipes on either side of the bike wheel. If you have a bike such as boardwalk bike with extra fat tires, you may need to increase this length to allow a wider gap for the wheels.

Paul originally planned to do the final assembly of the bike stand with pipe cement leaving selected joints dry so the stand can be partially disassembled for storage when we travel. However, after the fittings were tapped firmly into place they feel very tight and secure so Paul decided to try leaving all the joints dry. If we find that joints are coming loose after a while, we can add pipe cement later to make most of the joints permanent.

Bikes in the completed stand

We previously used one cover for both bikes, but with the new bike stand and more space between the bikes, the old cover wasn't wide enough to fit over both bikes. Therefore, we ordered two new, individual bike covers from Amazon.

The new covers came in on Wednesday. They are light weight, they are easy to put on, they provide coverage for the bikes almost all the way to the ground, and they fold compactly for storage.

Bikes with new covers in place

Several days after we received the new covers, we had a cold front pass through with wind gusts of well over 20 mph. We are happy to report the bikes stayed upright in the new stand, and the covers stayed put.

We have plans for an upcoming outing, so we hope the weather stays warm. Look for our next post to see what we found to do.

Phipps Conservatory

Pittsburgh, PA and Bushnell, FL - Events of Sunday, December 29, 2013 to Wednesday, January 1, 2014

On Sunday, Lora, Margery and Paul headed to Phipps Conservatory to check out the holiday flower display. Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens was founded in 1893 by Henry Phipps who was a Pittsburgh steel and real estate magnate. The conservatory and gardens are located in Schenley Park in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh. The conservatory has a number of special events throughout the year, but their biggest events are the Spring Flower Show, the Fall Flower Show and the Winter Light and Flower Show.

Phipps Conservatory has lots of pleasant memories for Paul. His maternal grandfather sometimes used to take him there on Sundays. Paul credits those visits, along with the vegetable gardening expertise of his paternal grandfather, for kindling in him a keen interest in gardening. We also used to go to Phipps as a family to enjoy the Spring Flower Show after long, dreary Pittsburgh winters, and Lora seems to have fond memories of Phipps, too. In fact, going to the Winter Flower Show was her idea.

There is limited parking in the vicinity of Phipps Conservatory. Some of it is free for flower show attendees, and some is metered ($.25 for each 15 minutes). After two passes, we lucked out and found a free space.

The conservatory has undergone extensive changes since we were last there. The entry has been moved to the lower level of a new addition which sits in front of the original entrance. The new entrance includes a café and a gift shop that is much enlarged from what they used to have.

Phipps Conservatory

Other recent changes to Phipps include an enlarged outdoor garden area and the addition of a new building that houses the Sustainable Landscape Center. Phipps has also embraced "green" technology with the addition of things like solar panels, wind turbines and a solar still for water purification.

Admission to Phipps is $15 for adults and $14 for seniors. We paid our admission and headed up the stairs to the conservatory. From the top of the steps, we got a nice view of the Christmas tree in the lobby below.

Christmas tree in the lobby from above

The main room where visitors enter the conservatory is known as the Palm Court, which is a tropical room that houses palm trees, some of which are up to 50 feet tall. We were greeted by a display of poinsettias and amaryllis among the tropical foliage and palm trees.

Poinsettias and amaryllis among the tropical foliage of the Palm Court

Margery, Lora and Paul in front of the poinsettia "tree" in the Palm Court

The first room to the right of the Palm Court is the Serpentine Room, which gets its name from the serpentine brick walkway that passes through that area. Both sides of the walk were lined with lighted evergreen trees and different varieties and colors of poinsettias.

Evergreens and poinsettias in the Serpentine Room

The doors at the far end of the Serpentine Room lead to the Fern Room. In 2007, Phipps hosted an exhibit of glass sculptures by artist Dale Chihuly. They retained 4 of the exhibit's more prominent works and subsequently purchased 26 smaller pieces to keep on permanent display throughout the conservatory. The next photo shows a glass fern sculpture displayed among the living ferns in the Fern Room.

Glass fern sculptures by Dave Chihuly displayed among living ferns

Two additional Chihuly glass sculptures on display elsewhere at Phipps

From the Fern Room, we entered the Orchid Room.

Some of the many orchids blooming in the Orchid Room

Also in the Orchid Room are bromiliads and other tropical plants with colorful foliage. Note that the plant to the right of center in the next photo with the red stem and blue leaves is another Chihuly glass sculpture. The rest of the plants are real.

Colorful foliage plants are also on display in the Orchid Room. Read the paragraph above the photo to see which plant is not real.

Next on our tour was the South Conservatory where the garden railway is on display.

Garden railway

Another view of the garden railway

A new, major addition to Phipps is the Tropical Forest Conservatory. At 12,000 square feet it is the largest room of the conservatory complex. It features a multi-level exhibit of tropical plants, winding walkways, waterfalls and a fish pond.

One of several waterfalls in the Tropical Forest Conservatory

After the Tropical Forest Conservatory, we passed through the Sunken Garden Room where there were more holiday flowers.

Margery and Lora in the Sunken Garden

The Desert Room extends off the Sunken Garden. Now that we have visited the southwest we have a greater appreciation for the Desert Room. The Desert Room contains one of the 4 major Chihuly sculptures initially retained by the conservatory. It is called Desert Gold Star.

The Desert Room featuring one of the Chihuly glass sculptures

The Victoria Room featured a Christmas tree reflecting in the water of a lagoon. When the tree is not there, visitors can control an interactive display of fountains, water jets and lights in the lagoon.

Christmas tree in the Victoria Room

The Broderie Room is modeled after a formal French garden.

Formal garden in the Broderie Room

In addition to the holiday flowers in the planting beds throughout the conservatory complex, there were picturesque displays of various container gardens like the ones shown below.

Container garden with poinsettias and cyclamen

Another attractive display of poinsettias, green foliage plants and red berries

Poinsettia specimen in a container with Paul peering through the window behind

Last but not least on our tour of Phipps Conservatory was the East Room, which featured another holiday display with a cottage and a gift-filled sleigh by a stream.

East Room

We didn't visit the outdoor garden because not only wasn't there much to see in the way of plant material since it was winter, but it was raining and cold. However, the conservatory is open on Friday evenings to view the light displays both inside the conservatory and outside in the outdoor garden area.

After we finished our tour of the conservatory, we headed back to the house where we began packing for our departure the next morning. On Monday, we said our good-byes and were on the road by 7:40 a.m. Although there were a couple of slow-downs on I-77 north of Charlotte and again a few miles north of the South Carolina-Georgia border where I-95 is still only 4 lanes (I-95 is 6 and 8 lanes wide through Georgia and into Florida), it was the lightest southbound traffic we have seen in the 7 years we have been traveling north for Christmas.

We arrived back at Blueberry Hill about 10:45 p.m. We slept in a little on Tuesday morning, then headed to Walmart and to the local Winn Dixie to get some essential groceries and to pick up a couple of movies for New Year's Eve. As usual, we struggled to stay awake to watch the ball drop in New York City.

On New Year's Day, we relaxed by reading, napping and watching a little college football. Later in the day, we had our traditional dinner of kielbasi and sauerkraut.

We wish all our readers a happy and healthy New Year.

Christmas in Pittsburgh 2013

Pittsburgh, PA - Events of Monday, December 23 to Saturday, December 28, 2013

We usually go to church late in the afternoon on Christmas Eve and then go to J. Michael's brother's house afterwards for a buffet supper. However, this year, we decided to go to church on Monday on Christmas Eve Eve instead of on Tuesday. It was a nice service with carols throughout and the traditional lighting of candles during the singing of "Silent Night" at the end.

On Tuesday morning, the ladies worked on last-minute food preparations for Christmas Eve. Late in the afternoon, we headed to J. Michael's brother's house for the annual family Christmas Eve gathering. J. Michael's brother prepared a delicious smoked turkey, and everyone brought a side dish, an appetizer or cookies. It was a fun evening with plenty of good food and good company. We always enjoy being with J. Michael's family.

Margery and Lora at the family gathering on Christmas Eve

On Christmas morning, we all got up relatively early, got our coffee and hot chocolate, and prepared to open gifts. J. Michael's mom also came over to share the day with us.

Margery and Freeway on Christmas morning

J. Michael exhibited his usual good taste in gifts with beautiful jewelry and clothes for Lora. He also got her a new fondue pot. Lora got J. Michael several nice ties and shirts along with some grooming tools for his beard.

Lora and J. Michael were in Amish Country in Berlin, Ohio, a few weeks ago, and they brought back some beef snack sticks from Winesburg Meats for one of Paul's gifts. Margery got, among other things, an immersion blender. She has been regretting getting rid of the one we had back when we had a stick house, and she is happy to have one again. This one is more powerful and much nicer than our old one.

Speaking of Berlin, we got Lora an apron for Christmas when we were there last fall.

Lora with her new apron

A few weeks ago, Margery found something called ebags packing cubes online and ordered a couple of sets for us. They enable you to pack different clothes in each cube (actually more of a flat pouch than a cube) so your clothes don't get all rumpled when you have to search through your suitcase to find things. Margery liked them so well, she ordered some as a gift for Lora since Lora travels to Mary Kay events several times a year. They were a big hit. After using them for a week, even dubious Paul became a fan! It makes living out of a suitcase a very manageable even to the point of being pleasant! LOL

Of course, the dogs got into the act, too. The next photo shows Freeway, Gunnar and Fiona helping J. Michael distribute gifts.

Gunnar, Fiona and Freeway helping J. Michael with his gifts

Freeway was very interested in helping anyone who was opening a gift.

Freeway helping Margery open one of her gifts

Freeway loves toys made from fabric, but he is very hard on them. One of his favorites is his Puppy Pal. He got a new one this Christmas.

Freeway opening his new Puppy Pal dog toy

After we opened gifts, we had our traditional breakfast of Lora's delicious homemade cinnamon rolls and cheese. One year it took Margery four tries to get them right. She killed the yeast twice and forgot the salt the third time. She got an A+ for perseverance, but it's a job Margery is happy to have Lora take over. She does it so well!

We relaxed in the afternoon with a movie, then had a non-traditional Christmas dinner of cheese fondue using Lora's new fondue pot. The new pot is bigger and has has much better temperature control than the old hand-me-down pot she got from us. The fondue was excellent and well worth the 90-minute wait in the Strip to get the cheese.

Paul, J. Michael's mom, Lora, J. Michael and Margery enjoying cheese fondue

After our fondue, we relaxed in the evening.

Margery had a couple of routine medical appointments that were left over from our visit to Pittsburgh last fall to take care of on Thursday. Paul went along because we had scheduled to meet our friends, Pat and Mike, for lunch. Unfortunately, Pat called and said they wouldn't be able to make it because they had both come down with a stomach virus. We really missed being able to see them. We were glad to hear they were finally feeling better when we talked to Pat several days later.

Since we were very close to Empire Palace after Margery finished up her last appointment, we decided to stop there for a late lunch.

Empire Palace

Empire Palace is a Chinese restaurant with lunch specials for $7 to $10 that include a choice of soup or egg roll and white or fried rice. We both had our favorite - General Tso's chicken with egg rolls and fried rice. It was yummy!

Margery with her General Tso's chicken

Saturday was J. Michael's family's annual gift exchange, and we headed over to J. Michael's mom's house in the afternoon. We had lots of good eats followed by lots of laughs as family members took turns opening gifts.

Rather than buy everyone one or two small gifts, they draw names and get nicer gifts for just that person. They have lots of fun trying to guess which family member has which name and trying to trick each other into thinking they have someone other than whom they really have.

J. Michael's sister, Debbie, presents her gifts to Lora

We had a wonderful Christmas with Lora, J. Michael and J. Michael's family. We still had one more day before we headed back to Florida, and we had another activity planned. We'll have a report on that activity and our return trip to Florida in our next post.