Archive for August, 2007

Screeeeech!!!!

Thursday, August 30th, 2007

Well, as you can see by the map below, we’ve been a busy pair since starting this journey in early March.

a-map.jpg 

It took a while, but, on August 10th,we landed in the Tampa area.  We had met some folks in Georgia that mentioned that they had an RV lot in the Tampa area that was available for rent.  The price that they gave us was very reasonable, about half what it will be in the winter.

We didn’t know what to expect.  When we arrived we were pleasantly surprised. Not only was the spot located in a gated park, but was tiled over the entire surface.

a-pp1.jpg

a-pp2.jpg

a-pp3.jpg

Of course, as you can tell from earlier posts, we have had a few interruptions.  But, since we drove over 5000 miles in the month prior to our arrival here, it is really nice to be in one place for a while.  We’ll be relaxing in the Tampa area until mid-September.

Traveling by Air August 23, 2007

Thursday, August 23rd, 2007

Tomorrow we both fly out of Tampa.  Rick flies to VA and will meet up with Justin, his son, in order to attend Bob’s memorial service on Saturday.  It will be held at the Grace Episcopal Church in The Plains, VA.

 

Tinka will not accompany Rick as she already had commitments in Dallas this weekend.  She has a doctor’s appt.  She will shop for school clothes for Ayden, our granddaughter, and take her to the first day of school on Monday. She will help Lance celebrate his birthday on Tues.  Tinka will also see Kiri, our daughter-in-law and Gracie, our granddaughter.  This will be a short trip with no time to visit any of our friends.

We will leave our laptop here in Tampa so we will not blog for about a week.

Check back next Friday.

Remembering Bob

Saturday, August 18th, 2007

Robert Levvis (1940 – 2007) 

bob-lynn.jpg 

At 5:12 PM today, August 18th, 2007,  I lost a dear friend and brother to cancer. 

My prayers are with Bob’s wife Lynn, daughter Tammi, son Todd, our mother Nelle, and grandchildren.

Tinka and I were lucky enough to spend a couple of weeks visiting Bob and his family in July.  Gary, my younger brother, and his family were also visiting during some of the same period.  Gary has also been spending the past week trying to help out where needed.

Bob, an avid golfer, has spent many years on the board of directors for the golfing community in which he lived.  He will be missed by all those friends and coworkers he has been associated with through the years.

Bob, I love you and will forever miss you.

Rick

Canaveral Seashore and Shuttle Launch, August 8-9, 2007

Tuesday, August 14th, 2007

Well, we finally made it to Florida.  Our first stop is New Smyrna Beach and the Canaveral National Seashore.

Our timing was pretty good.  It turns out that we arrived in time to witness the launch of the space shuttle Endeavour.  It turns out that the national seashore closes the park off towards the southern end so that NASA can put out their assortment of camera equipment.  Our plan was to go to the beach to watch the shuttle launch, but opted instead for a shuttle watching party that was advertised under PJ’s restaurant.

a-pjs.jpg

Tinka waited patiently for the launch.

a-t-waiting-for-shuttle.jpg

Then the launch, right on time.  It took a couple of minutes for the sonic booms to reach us after the rocket was out of site.  We were able to see the separation of the solid rocket boosters.

a-shuttle-launch-a.jpg

On the 9th, our 21st anniversary, we opted for the relaxation of the beach.  We’ve learned, from our tour of beaches along the Atlantic, that the walk across the sand can be brutal while carrying coolers, towels, chairs and umbrellas.  We came up with the following solution when we were in New Jersey.  This cart has only 2-3 PSI air pressure in the tires, but the cart can carry 165 pounds.

a-beach-cart.jpg

The “sand” at the National Seashore is really unusual.  It is almost made up of shells.

a-sandy-beach.jpg

It can be like walking in dried oatmeal and when you’re wet, it sticks to you like glue.

a-canaveral-seashore.jpg

On our way out of the park, we saw a couple of sea turtles strolling beside the road.

a-turtle.jpg

The Canaveral Seashore is a nesting area for loggerhead, green and leatherback sea turtles. More information about the turtles can be found at the following link: http://www.nps.gov/cana/planyourvisit/upload/seaturtles.pdf

Savannah/ Hilton Head August 7, 2007

Monday, August 13th, 2007

On our drive down from VA we stopped at Savannah, GA.  They have been restoring their historic district for quite some time.  It is situated right on the Savannah riverfront.  There is lots of history in this town.  It has about 22 squares, or parks in the historic district.  Most of the squares have a statue in the center of it.  Chippewa Square is now famous for the movie scene in which Forest Gump sits on a bench and gives his famous speech about “life is like a box of chocolates.”  You must say that with a real southern draaaaaawl!! 

a-square.jpg

A sailor had proposed to “The Lady”, shown below, and they planned to marry upon his return from the sea. She came to the riverfront every day for over 40 years waiting for her fiancé to return.  She died at 72 years old.  She waved and welcomed all the visitors from boats and ships into Savannah for all those years.  Her fiancé never returned.

a-woman.jpg

The more wrought iron on the house, the richer the owner.

a-wrought-iron.jpg

Many of the streets in Savannah are paved with a combination of stones.  The irregular stones were ballast stones from the ships coming in to pick up cotton.

a-balast-stones.jpg 

 Pirates used to hang out at this house, “The Pirate House”, between raids on treasure laden ships.

a-pirate-house.jpg

While we were in Savannah we went back up to SC to visit Hilton Head which is about 30 miles from Savannah.  It has a lot of beautiful manicured entrances to gated golf communities.  They must expect only locals to shop in the area because all shopping centers and stores are hidden behind trees and bushes.   The city must regulate their signs very closely as there is only one sign per store or center and the size is small.

a-hilton-head-sign.jpg