Good Morning everyone! It is Saturday, November 23, 2019. It is the day of the Gratitude Dinner in Naples. My plans changed so many times during this adventure. Originally, I was going to start for Arizona on the 25th by myself in Daisy. And being such a newbie, I thought I might be able to make it to Benson for Thanksgiving! What a joke! It took me from Saturday the 9th to Wednesday the 20th to do the entire trip. So it is now the 23rd and I have finally stopped “shaking” from the road. Now I’m shaking from the cold. It is 39 degrees outside my rig and 69 degrees in my rig. I have my electric radiator heater on and my overhead AC/Heat pump on.
I am also really happy with this beauty. So quiet and SO efficient!
Wylie is no fool. It’s so warm by the radiator. Best $60 investment ever!
So at some point, Bill called to say he and Cathy were driving their truck camper from Arizona to North Carolina for the Celebration of Life for a dear family friend. They thought it would be easy for us to meet up on Monday the 10th in Santa Rosa Beach, FL and I could follow them out to Arizona! BRILLIANT! I had no doubt I could make it on my own with my iPad and Google Maps, after all, it was up I 75 to I 10 and straight on to Arizona on I 10. So, this new plan was a great one. Plus they were towing their Jeep so we would have the ability to do a little exploring once settled in the campground. It was a super plan and it worked flawlessly! Cathy is the navigator. She gets on line and plots the course skipping tolls and other problems, plus we were on 2 lane roads most of the time going through sweet little towns rather than constantly staying on I 10.
Backing up even further on this journey, I was just going to fly out to Arizona on the 25th after the Gratitude Dinner and I booked a one way ticket because I was planning on purchasing an RV in Arizona, but I found Daisy in Punta Gorda and went ahead and bought her. Here I am in shock at the DMV in Punta Gorda!
Holy Cow – that looks says it all. But actually Suzee took this picture and then she was told not to take pictures in the building – tut, tut!
So once I had Daisy, I needed to cancel my flight out on the 25th, but then I was going to change my flight to the 21st so I could go back to Naples for the Gratitude Dinner and just leave Daisy out in Arizona. That way, she would be “out west” which was where I wanted to go camping with Bill and Cathy. So I tried to get my flight changed and since I bought the insurance, I thought that would be easy, but OH NO……..the fee to change was more than the ticket cost. So then I had a one way ticket back to Naples, but things changed again……….
My friend Suzan pointed out to me, I had bought Daisy, not only for the bathroom – TUG (Thank u God)!…..but also because I wanted to travel with the kitties and she suggested I just take the the kitties with me! What a concept and not fly back for the Gratitude Dinner. That never crossed my mind. So once again “change of plans”. And that was about 2 days before I planned to go with Suzee staying in the house with the kitties. Since I had planned to go away for 10 days or so and then I’d be back in Naples, I didn’t pack very well. I realized that I left my jeans at home. I had a pair of my capri jeans, and 2 pairs of jean shorts, but they won’t see the light of day for quite some time with temperatures of 39! So thank you Haven, she is packing up 2 pair of jeans and sending them out here. Yesterday we went to a Thrift Shop in Benson looking for jeans. There were 7M pairs to choose from, but were so disorganized I couldn’t find a pair to fit, so I decided just to wait for my “package” to arrive! The price was pretty good – just $5.
I know I mentioned in a previous blog how Haven and I packed up Daisy on Saturday, the 9th and I took off from Naples to stop at Faded Bistro and Beer Garden in Sebring – a Harvest Host. I packed up the kitties in carriers and Wylie cried the entire trip. Thank goodness it was only 3 hours! Once I let them out of the carriers, they were both fine. Metaxa was the most frightened, all Wylie wanted was a “treat”! So now that they have 2281 (my trip odometer goes to 999 and then turns over so it must have turned over twice on this trip) miles under their belt, they are wonderful travelers. Metaxa goes into the cargo hold below the bed, or behind the drivers seat and Wylie just rides on the couch. So far, they haven’t tried to “escape” from Daisy. They seem content to remain in the rig. I’m concerned about not getting any exercise, but cats are so adaptable, that I think they will be fine. Wylie was sneezing a bunch, but this morning she hasn’t sneezed at all so maybe that’s over. Metaxa is the most adventurous. AND she can climb a ladder!!!!!!
So, I just got a text from Bill S in Naples. He has been amazing during this journey I’m on. So helpful and supportive. He is one of the only ones who comments on my blog and faithfully follows me! Anyway, Jim B has made up a “year book” for the members of the Spiritual Singers group and he gave it to Bill for me. So Bill said he would send it to me. I’m so excited. Betsy said it turned out GREAT! I intend to go to some meetings here in Benson and I plan to “hawk” it out here. We’ll see!
YAY!
So I just returned from a vigorous walk to the dumpsters with my trash. Then I continued around the neighborhood and walked by Bill & Cathy’s house to the house behind their house. I like that one, but I also like the park models. We’re going to tour them on Tuesday. I saw a couple and they said to me, you must be from Florida! Because this is how I looked:
I bought this jacket at Marshall’s for $30. It is pretty warm, but I also had my sweatshirt on under it. I think it’s gonna take a little while for this Floridian to get used to the cold. I know the kitties are cold. But at least they have fur coats!
I think that is about it for today. Bill and Cathy are on the road to Tucson to pick up their new couch. Cathy is so excited for the new couch. Can’t wait to see it. That is the project for today! The couch has arrived and it is just beautiful. It has two Lazy Boy chairs in it and the color is perfect. I’ll have to get a picture of it.
So now I’m trying to find a substitute for my POLAR Orange Vanilla soda water. I have tried lots of brands. It is the only brand that has the Orange Vanilla combo flavor. It is a brand from Publix and there is no Publix out here. So I’ve tried all of these.
I think the Bubly will work. LaCroix is not any good and the HEB one comes from those stores and I’m not sure where I can get those, but I see Bubly in most stores and Walmart has it, so I guess that’s the one. I do miss my Polar. I thought I could buy it from Amazon, and I can, but it’s WAY too expensive, so Bubly it is.
Thanks for visiting. I’ll be back again soon.
