On The Road Again

We ended our winter in Ruskin with one final event, Fun Day.  There was corn hole, Pickleball, horseshoes and the Bozo Bike.  The Bozo Bike is an adult sized tricycle that goes the opposite way you turn it.  You have to navigate around a series of cones and then make a straight path back to the finish line. 

                                                       Tina did better with her eyes closed.

They timed everyone who attempted to get through the course and although I went home with the trophy, I crashed crossing the finish line and went sprawling on the pavement, so I wasn't in too much of a bragging mood.  But no serious injuries and a lot of fun.  The video Lani took was too big to send, sorry.  We also tied for first in the three-legged race.  Because we are old, it was supposed to be a "walk race".   But Jim kept saying "faster, faster" so we weren't exactly walking by the end.  They had a season-ending dance on Saturday night and we said good-bye to a lot of great friends.

After 4 months of being on the same camp site, it was a little scary to start out again and hit the road.  I was afraid we might have forgotten everything we learned in our first year and a little concerned that the house would fall apart when we took off down the road.

We then started our east coast swing but, first had to spend two weeks in Kissimmee while I worked the trade show in Orlando, then it was on to Walterboro, SC.  Work started getting busy, but we still managed a trip to Charleston on Sunday and spent a half day in Savannah.

                                                                                                 

   Ft. Sumpter is a must for first time visitors to Charleston.





The boat trip out to Ft. Sumpter goes right past the WWII aircraft carrier Yorktown.





                        

   Forest Gump got on our bus in Savannah!                            Jane in front of the Pineapple Fountain




Then, it was on to Raleigh, NC where we met the Burton family, new friends of Chris and Angie.  They run the New Life Camp in Raleigh.  They have all kinds of activities for kids; basketball leagues and sports camps as well as classes and sports leagues for kids who home-school.  It's an amazing place run by an amazing family: Greg and Brittany along with their 5 wonderful kiddos, Johanna, Lydia, Bryce, Chloe and Camille.

The swimming hole; canoe, zip line and just plain fun pond at New Life Camp.








They graciously let us leave our house parked on the grounds there while we went to London for two weeks. 

And for a couple of days, we had a gym and a pool in our "back yard".

Then, it was off to London for our long-awaited visit.


The first week in London was cold and rainy but that didn't keep us from doing things. 

Like a trip to Five Guys.










The second week was warm and we even saw some sunshine.  It got into the upper 70s and the Brits were dying, except for the ones sunbathing in the park in their Speedos.  Not a visual I wanted to remember.

Ice cream tastes better when you get it on your face

We celebrated Angie's thirty-something birthday, played with the grands, Jim and Chris played golf, and on Mother's Day, we spent time at a park where we hadn't been before, had a picnic, and later in the day, Angie and I went to a movie.  Caleb showed us his great dance moves and Hannah did her best to copy every move he made. Because of the busy time at work, Jim worked some every day we were on "vacation".  Phone calls came at some pretty weird hours because of the time difference. 



One day we took Hannah on the "tube" to the Museum of Natural History to see the dinosaurs.

                               This is always my favorite part of the trip










We had lunch at a pub with Angie and a British friend of hers whom we met on our last trip.  While talking with her, we learned a British saying we had not heard before.  It's equates to our "light bulb moment" or "aha" or "then he saw the light".  Anyway, it is "and then the penny dropped".  I'd like to know the origin of that one.  But my favorite was when she was talking about the high cost of horseback riding lessons for her daughter.  "It was fifty quid a go!"  Something about the completely British way she said it.....

Leaving is always the hardest part and Hannah's great hugs at the airport made it even harder. 

The day after arriving back in North Carolina, we left for Las Vegas for a trade show.  I had brought a cold and some sinus congestion back from London and spent almost the whole time we were in Vegas in bed.  Jim worked the show and we left Vegas at 1:00 AM Sunday, (that's right AM) short layover in Charlotte and a 26 minute flight to Raleigh/Durham and.......back where we started. 

One the road again the next day.  Instead of going straight to New Jersey, we opted for a four day stay in Virginia, near Richmond.  Hoping to soak up some history but, of course, we arrived during one of the coldest and wettest Mays on record. 

So this weekend we begin attending baseball games for this season.  Starting with the Mets.  We are hoping the people at the RV park in New Jersey can tell us an easy way to get to the ballpark on public transportation.  We don't want to drive our one ton dually to Queens.  Probably start a few hours early and allow time for whatever happens.