RV 2.0 Labor Day Fun!

The camp site here at Hannah Park has a charcoal grill. We are more familiar with our gas grill at home or the small charbroil outdoor grill we had on the RV 1.0 trip. But we wanted to serve grilled chicken to our family on Labor Day. Most husbands are all about the grill, not Dennis. So I purchased match stick charcoal. That means it is already saturated with lighter fluid all you need to do is strike a match and let it burn. So, I set it up and lite the coals and we were in business for a “cookout.” Our son David has some experience grilling so he was happy to grill the chicken. It was yummy! Dennis & I are going to continue to practice grilling over coals while we are here in Hannah Park.

While the chicken cooked we set up a dinning tent. Have you ever put one of these up? Well after reading directions, looking at the pictures and two very kind women walking their dogs stopping to assist (they have one and have experience with the process) the tent was up around the picnic table. Thanks to David & Dennis getting the tent up it was so nice to enjoy outside dinning minus the insects!

Ava, Peyton & Kat eating yummy dinner!

Our adorable granddaughters Ava & Peyton enjoyed our cookout. They were so helpful in setting the table. They are growing up so fast. They walked with me to the "Happy Camper" store and we purchased ice cream to go with our home made fresh white peach cobbler. It was very yummy they said ! We spent the evening playing and reading books. Ava loves to read about the past presidents of America. So I got her a book about them all. Ava loves the new book. She can't wait to go and visit some of the homes of the past president's some day.  Peyton loves "pigs" so her new book is "Oink." We are sure her love for pigs is due to the cute ones you see in the cartoons or great movies like "Charlotte's Web." They love Great Aunt Theresa's camper. They can't wait to come and camp with us.

Dave & Dennis looking tired after all the dinner prep! 

Dennis glad the "outdoor dinning room is done"

We are spending our mornings riding at least 10 miles per day on “Nellie.” In the evenings we walk the beach. The ocean less than .5 miles from our camp site. An easy walk or bike ride. For those of you who aren't familiar with the park it's an ocean front park with all types of camping sites available. It is ran by JAX, FL city department. We are only a bike ride about 5 miles or less from David & Kat's house. So our grand children are not far away. Fun times!

During the day we are studying, looking for employment via computer and researching RV'S and even going and looking at them. This experience in the fifth wheel is much like a home experience which is a great thing. The fun times of camping but not primitive camping! We are really enjoying the outdoor room we have created with all the stuff that was available. The two inside sitting areas are very comfortable. IKEA is the place to shop for all your needs for small places. I see a shopping trip to IKEA in my future. Even though the RV'S are large it is the cleaver gadgets that allow you to feel you have as much space as your home. The good news is you have less space to clean less to maintain leaving more time for enjoyment of your hobbies or serving others.......Software

RV 2.0 New Adventure

Well as you know we were only home 2 days from our RV 1.0 experiment. We were up to our eyeballs in laundry and unpacking when after a few phone calls decided to head to Florida. Our grandson is due to arrive very soon and our daughter-in-law has been very busy with home schooling, and the hectic life of balancing a home, children and due to have a third child in the heat of the summer.. She could use a break, put here feet up relax and sip some lemonade. So we are hear in Florida to help when they need us with our two adorable granddaughters.

As I mentioned in the closing blog of RV 1.0, Dennis's sister Theresa & her husband Robert have been more than gracious to loan us their 2003 Dutchman Classic 40 ft three slide 5^th wheel. They even took their whole afternoon yesterday and delivered it to our site at Hannah Park and set it up. That is true love. Robert made it look so easy. Thank you Robert your the best!

The fifth wheel! See the fans! So cool at the site.

The “camper” is very nice. It has all the comforts of home. As you see in the pictures Theresa made sure we got the outside setup. To most campers the outside is where it is at! You can enjoy the scenery or as we do sit in these amazing outdoor recliners (Theresa got them from Sam's), log into your clear spot and surf the net, study for your ALCS renewal or write your blog.

We will say this camper is much nicer than our rental. For one it is larger. It has very comfortable sofas and the bed sleeps well. However, if your 6 feet tall like Dennis you have to be mindful in the bedroom to duck. Part of the bedroom in the 5^th wheel is in the over hang. It is roomy because it has a slide out but the ceiling height is lower.

Main living area with slide oops can;t see flat screen!

Theresa has the camper stocked very well. She has done a lot of camping so you has figured out what you need to have the most enjoyable experience. We are making notes on all she has stocked with so we can add that data to our list of “must have's.”

Hide away bed and dinning area!

Well stocked kitchen!

Cozy queen size bed!

As we are waiting on the arrival of our grandson (by the way today is “Labor Day”); by the way, a good day to have a baby! HINT HINT!! So while we wait for the call to go and get our granddaughter's we are first studying and also looking for the RV to start our new adventures. We went a couple of days ago to a lot in the Florida heat and looked at about 8 or 9 Class A'. This was time well spent. It is allowing us to look at a variety of RV types and styles to assist us in our data collection. We will keep you apprised of how the looking goes. In the meantime we will be blogging about our 5^th wheel experience at the beach, Oh yeah did I mention that our camp site is a very short ride on our bike to the ocean. We rode there this morning. The ocean waves and breeze this time of year is great! This is the life!........Better close and get ready for a cookout.......Software

Final Stretch

Dennis relaxing after setup!

We arrived at Land Between the Lakes on Sunday August 22^nd. Again it was a beautiful drive in the mountains. We sat up camp and hoped for good cell and internet reception; but it was not possible. We were to far into the National Forrest that we could not get good reception. We decided to just complete the experiment then post on our blog when we returned. We did have TV. Well, 3 channels all of them KET. For those who don't recognize the acronym it stands for PBS. Even though Dennis & I are college graduates we had the opportunity everyday during breakfast to watch PBS and study to pass our GED. My how high school has changed! I especially enjoyed the chemistry & math classes. Wish my high school instructors would have been that entertaining. We also learned to paint with water colors during lunch. Of course we had no canvas but we are confident the instruction on PBS was so thorough that we could pick up brushes and paint landscape scenes. Watch out Kathryn & Ransom you have new competition in the world of art. Wow! PBS is now one of our new passions.

That South Welcome Station !

On Monday morning we decided to ride “Nellie” to the south welcome station. It was only 8.5 miles and we have ridden that amount of miles many times. When we finally reached the south welcome station we were ecstatic. You see we had no idea how hilly the ride would be. Who said “igorance is bliss?” Let me say we spent the majority of the time walking “Nellie” up the hills. We dreaded the ride back but the only way home was riding back up & down those rolling hills. Well we made it back safely. The deer, humming birds and the largest number of butterflies we have ever seen, along the way were so worth the agony of the ride.

Over those next 7 days we fished, rode our bike and read our books. It was again a great opportunity to enjoy the life style of RV living. We met so many people enjoying the quiet lifestyle. It is obvious that you can be as laid back or active as you choose. One interesting observation is how so many people living in RV's make an outdoor room to entertain in or relax. Dennis & I got some good laughs at the outside decors. They had any where from light up palm trees to Christmas lights to interior floor lamps, carpets, & patio furniture. The rooms seem to express the owners personalities. Dennis & I will have to ponder what kind of outdoor décor would best express who we are! It could be fun to let our imagination go wild for our outdoor room.

Where we fished "outside our front door"

We have a detailed list of the things we would need to make an RV home. We complied this list along the way. Every time we came across a situation or a problem to solve or something as simple as how much we missed out recliners we noted those things for our RV home on our list.

Over the course of the 22 day experiment we had ample opportunity to have “real life experiences in the RV.” We strongly agreed that this experiment was a great opportunity to discover how much we love a simple life style. The ability to have our front yard be a lake, a babbling brook, or mountain range, is amazing. Did we mention the Bison we saw at Land between the Lakes!

There were baby bison nursing! so cute

Upon returning to our home we thought we would have some time to unpack and evaluate where we are now. But, instead we are now doing laundry and repacking to head to Florida. Our third grandchild is apparently going to arrive a couple of weeks early. We are very excited about having time with our grand daughters while we await our grandsons arrival.

Dennis' sister Theresa has blessed us with the opportunity to stay in her & her husband Robert's fifth wheel. We have booked our stay at Hannah Park which is very close to our son. Stay tune to RV 2.0 as we blog about the experience of a 5^th wheel RV and of course our grand children ......Software