Update from Connie's

Well it's Thursday already.
We have been here for five nights. So far we have cleaned out the Trailer, unpacked everthing from the vacuum packs and tidied everything away. Now we are ready to move from Connie's lovely house into our little home on wheels. Much of the time we have spent just relaxing and catching up with the time difference, today was the first time I didn't wake up at 2.00 in the morning and have dificulty getting back to sleep bceause my mind was telling my body that it was 7.00 in the morning. It has been difficult to stay awake after 9.00 in the evening. We have found some time to have some practice sessions with Connie and her sister Brenda, boy are we rusty!!! Connie and Jim only arrived from Rochester, New York two days before us, so they are tired and also sorting our the house here.
Yesterday the news was all about a tropical storm,- Nicole, moving up from the south, fortunately it passed about 50 miles east of us, so we only got one shower, however further up the coast (North Carolina) they have had more than 20 inches in the last three days!
We love seeing the wild life here. Out of the window we can watch the Jays, the Bluebirds (yes they really do exist away from the Land of Oz), the woodpeckers, the tiny Carolina Wrens, Mocking Birds, and the Grackles. There was a big hawk sat on the TV mast above the house. I managed to get really close to a Sap Sucker, it's a small woodpecker, without the pretty colouring.
When I went out on to the patio last night I found a couple of small Praying Mantises. There are also two large, hairy spiders which inhabit one of the window frames in Connie's dining room (outside, not inside fortunately) which are fun to watch.
So todays plan is to move the rest of our gear back to the trailer, then take a shopping trip to Publix to stock up the trailer, before having supper with Connie and Jim and hopefully another music practice.

First Day - How is the trailer really?

I was up early today to have a more detailed look at how the trailer has stood up to the Florida Summer.
As I was going out to the trailer, the sun was coming up and I got some lovely photos of Jim and Connie's house with the trailer safely tucked into the pole barn.
On closer inspection, the trailer was indeed in good condition inside. No creepy crawies, no mold. So I spent some time clearing the inside of the trays of cat litter we use to absorb the moisture.
Then I turned my attention to the Chevy. Again, in the light of day, I could find no invaders apart from the inevitable Mud Dobbers, a type of wasp. So I took the opportunity to give the Chevy a nice wash.
When Sally had got up I drove the hire car back, with Sally following on in the Chevy.
As to the rest of the day, we have been to Golden Corral for lunch, relaxing and then been visited by our great friends Paula and Walt.
Now Connie is planning a bit of a party for us and other friends at the weekend, so that we can all have a good jam together, sounds like fun.
Tomorrow is Monday - Discount day for Pensioners at Bells Outlet! So the girls will be off to the shops.

Arriving in Florida

Well we have arrived safely in Florida. It was a quite uneventful flight, except that we got a good view of the North Wales Coast, I have included a pic of The Great Orm, a headland by LLanduno
For the first time we actually flew over Cape Canaveral on the way in to Orlando. I have included a pic of the fly past showing the Vertical Integration Building and what I think is Pad 39b.
We picked up our hire car and drove north to Ocala, where our friends are storing our trailer and truck. We had to drive by Walmart to pickup some photos which I had ordered the previous day by uploading them from home. It is a very small world these days.
It was dark by the time we arrived, but we had time to check the vehicles. The Chevy had a flat battery, but started easily once hooked up to the hire car. The exterior of both vehicles was covered in spiders webs and various insect 'bits', but nothing serious and the inside of the trailer was very nice and clean, with no intruders or mold, thank goodness.
We had a great reunion with our friends Connie and Jim, but settled in for an early night by about 10.30 their time, 3.30 a.m. our time.

Go, Go, Go!!!

Last Wednesday, 15th September, we drove down to Derby to stay overnight with our eldest son, JP, wife, Andrea and our two beautiful granddaughters, Emma and Julia. We had a lovely time, eating out at a local Sizzler pub and catching up on all our news. They had been to Australia for three weeks to visit Andrea's sister, Pete and their new son Eamonn. He's a lovely little chap. They really enjoyed their stay despite it being the middle of winter over there.
The next day, JP drove us to East Midlands Airport, about 20minutes away, and we flew to Guernsey to stay with our middle son, Andrew, Marie and the kids. Jo was born on 11th September and is really beautiful, with a shock of dark hair and a turned up nose just like his Mum. Ben and Beth love Jo and enjoy giving him a cuddle. We spent 5 nights there and spent time with the family, helping out where possible and enjoying our lovely grandchildren. It was quite a wrench to leave on Tuesday, but we had to get home to prepare for our visit to the States. We won't see them till Christmas time now and the kids will all have grown, especially Jo.
It's been go, go, go since we got back with myriad things to do and organise. I think that trailer/caravan suppliers must be the same the whole world over. We have been trying to order some spare parts for our trailer from Orlando since the middle of August and have only just managed to get it organised yesterday. The trouble has been with Starcraft (the manufacturer) not the dealer, but after tearing our hair out, it's finally organised. The only problem is that they may not arrive for at least a couple of weeks - probably just when we want to move away from Florida and set off for Louisianna!!! So much for the parts to be there on our arrival and being able to fit them while with Connie and Jim.
The good news is that Connie and Jim have arrived back in Florida from New York State and emailed us to say the trailer and truck are still there!!! We are just hoping that we are not going to face infestations of creepy crawlies and mould!!!
We have been trying to get organised for our estate agent (realtor) to do any showings of our house while we are away and our solicitor to be prepared in the slim chance of getting a buyer!! Our daughter Helen is at home but is working, so she can get the house ready for a viewing but cannot do the viewing herself.
I've forgotten just how much there is to do and organise when returning to the USA as it's a year since we were last there. Anyway, we are just about ready and are beginning to get excited about our next trip.
It's an early start - 7.30am - on Saturday for a 2 and a 1/2 hour drive over the highest motorway in England to Manchester where we catch the 1.30 pm flight directly to Orlando - approx 9 hours . We expect to get to Connie and Jim's by about 9 pm local time. It will be 2 am English time as Florida is 5 hours ahead of the UK. Hope we can keep awake!!!
Yippee - hooray - USA here we come!!!
Sally.

Waiting,waiting,waiting!!!!!!

It seems like a very long time since we last were in the USA. Last year, we flew over at the beginning of September and returned home in early December, so it's nearly a year since we were there.
It's been a waiting time for us - waiting to return to the US, waiting for a buyer for our house, waiting for our new grandchild to be born and waiting for our daughter to get back into the world of work after her return from her Round the World Trip. So I'll try to get you all up to speed on our events over the last year.
Our house went up for sale in the middle of January and there was a flurry of viewings, resulting in two very low offers, which we refused. Things have been very quiet since March and we then tried to get one of the offers raised as we were prepared to reduce. No joy. They were just not prepared to offer more and took their original offer away!! So back to the drawing board.
In the summer we decided that we had put our life on hold long enough and so we just got on with doing what we would normally do in the summer - spending time with family and travelling in our English caravan. We have just dropped the price of the house officially now and intend to let the agent do any showings while we are away, as our daughter, Helen, will be home and can keep the house tidy and ready for viewing!! Waiting, waiting,waiting!!
So our thoughts turned back to the USA once more and we decided to return on the 25th September through till the 8th December. It's seemed like for ever since we were there and we cannot wait to get back. We have missed all our friends and the travelling - exploring and seeing new things. Waiting, waiting,waiting!!
Our daughter returned home last December after a year of travelling round the world. She has been trying to find a permanent job, which has proved to be every difficult in the middle of this recession. She has been working for an agency and doing some supply teaching assistants jobs, but this is not what she really wants to do. Permanent jobs in her field seem very hard to come by. Waiting, waiting, waiting!!
Our middle son, Andrew and wife Marie are expecting our 5th grandchild in Guernsey. She had two dates - the 30th August and the 4th September - which is past now. But there doesn't seem any sign of this little one being born yet!! This is such a shame as Helen has been over there for a couple of weeks to help out - (hoping to be there when s/he arrives ) and is flying back home today! We are to fly over there in a weeks time for 5 nights in order to welcome the new baby - if it's come by then!!!! Waiting, waiting, waiting!!
So you can see how it's been a time of waiting for us.
Now we are in the throws of planning, organising and getting ready for our two trips - one to Guernsey and then one back to the USA. We are steadily working our way through all the nitty- gritty bits and pieces necessary to be ready in time. The list is now getting shorter, not longer as it was last week. Our phone to Guernsey has been red hot and the one to the US not far behind as we contact friends, check up on insurance, order parts to repair the trailer, book a hire car, sort out the mail etc. etc
Only a few more days and part of our time of waiting will be over and we can return to the country and folks that we love!!
Sally.

The USA Looms large on our horizon

Once more our thoughts turn to visiting America. To renewing old friendships and finding new ones. The tension building questions: Will we get everything ready in time to go? Have we remembered everything? Will we have a safe and stress free flight? Will the truck and trailer be alright? Will our friends still be around, Where will we go? What is there to see on the way? Where will we end up?
At the moment we are getting the house ready to leave in our daughters capable hands, but as the tension mounts so does the stress .........................