Christmas 2013

This is not quite the Holiday cheer I was thinking about when I got up this morning, but several cows came to wish us a Merry Christmas in farm country...Bushnell, Florida.

Mary Ann and Nancy are more refined during the day with this new RV life.

Paradise Oaks RV Resort
We are now at Paradise Oaks which is 20 miles south of The Villages for a couple of weeks. The resort was billed as having a 9 hole short executive golf course around it.The only problem, there are no greens, just flag poles, but I'll take my 9 iron and wedge out and give it a try. We are on site L-4 which backs up to the pond and a field. Mary Ann looked out our bedroom window this morning to be greeted by a cow...no bison yet. The pool and hot tub as well as the whole place is very clean. I think we will enjoy our stay here.

Bob & Nancy's House in The Villages, Florida
We are going to spend a week here before heading to Paradise Oaks RV Resort, south of The Villages, for 2 weeks. Brian, Candi & Melissa will be down tomorrow and Cathy will be here for Christmas....good timing. However, I do worry a little about Bob's memory. I'm his brother Jim and he keeps calling me cousin Eddie...what's up with that?

A Day on St. Simons Island

St.Simons Island is the next island north of Jekyll Island and well worth visiting. The light house, which is shown above and built in 1872, is the landmark of the island. St.Simons reminds me of an upscale Key West atmosphere. I also had to take a picture of the Barbara Jean's sign. It is the best restaurant in downtown St. Simons and where we had lunch today, but it is also were we had lunch with Mike, Barb & Logan 11 years ago. Sunset is back at the Jekyll Island Club with fresh shrimp, right off the shrimp boat, and a cold beer on the dock watching the colors change at dusk.

A Day on Jekyll Island

Here are a few shots we took on the Island today. The Jekyll Island Hotel is the landmark of the island and a great place to stay and enjoy all its' amenities. Driftwood Beach is in walking distance of our campground and "The Bird Sanctuary" is right behind our site. The sun did not show up, but that did not stop us from enjoying the day.

I am not going to do shots of our RV all the time, but this shows our site on Jekyll Island...very peaceful...very southern...very mossy. Jekyll Island is one of the gems of Georgia.

It is fitting that the date is December 9th (my birthday) and it is the first day of our life as full time RV'er. Our stop is Jekyll Island, Georgia in their RV campground north of the island near Driftwood Beach and the fishing pier. We are on site C18, with hanging moss and large oak trees all around us...not a bad start, to say the least.

Summer Of 2013
The Quest Begins...(Mike in front of our new 31 ft Thor ACE motorhome) I do not know why I had such a compelling urge, maybe it is because I had turned 70, but I wanted to give it all up and travel this beautiful country of ours full time for 3 or 4 years and take in all the wonderful sights it has to offer.
I knew this is what we should do. After all, this is where Mary Ann and I started back in 1969 with our old VW camper.
I am sure we will never have that same carefree spirit that we had in the 60's, but I think we will come pretty close to it.

The Summer Of 69
I was a little bit thinner 45 years ago and a little more carefree, but I am going to try and find that feeling again.