One Month To Go.....

Monday March 13- Still trying to adjust to the spring forward thing. We have been trying to get our kayaks in but we either have too much wind, or the tides aren't right. Jeff found a new spot someone told him about and so far we haven't made it there yet. There is still time. Today it looked like rain so we couldn't go today. We went for lunch at Five Guys. Then we drove on to LaMesa RV just to look around. It took forever to get there we took the long cut. The good news is we didn't see anything we wanted.

We finished up the night with some late night bowling, Well it's late night for us starting at 9 pm. There wasn't a lot of us but it was a fun evening. Jeff had quite a good first game until he fell apart. We played 3 games before heading home. It really is quite a good deal you rent your shoes for $4.50 and then you bowl for free. You can bowl until midnight but we haven't stayed that long yet.

We have lots of rain coming our way and we made it home just in time. We got the rain, we need it, it's super dry here.

Tuesday March 14- Back to work. It cooled off a bit outside. Our neighbor is having some surgery today so we took care of there really good dogs. Our day at work went really well, everyone left on time so we were able to get our work done in a timely matter. Since we were out so late last night tonight we didn't feel like doing much.

Wednesday March 15-Today it really cooled off, Had to put on some pants because the wind is really chilly. Didn't get a lot done today besides working. It seems the days just pass faster and faster. After supper I went to church for a women's meeting. I saw some people I knew and found my seat. Melissa the pastors wife did the speaking. The music and message was great. They had a special singer who was awesome and a bonus....Melissa talked about her special ministry. She and some other women explained what they do and shared some of there special memories. It was a great night.

Thursday March 16- I thought it was cold yesterday...we beat that this morning. Jeff even put on pants. The good news is the sun is out and before long it warmed up some. After finishing our work I got busy making sugar cookies for our volunteer dinner tomorrow. 

Friday March 17- Better be wearing green today. We started off the day with a morning campfire. Nothing better than coffee by the campfire. The wind even died down so it was perfect weather to enjoy. Even the dogs liked the fire.

After the campfire we went for breakfast and a trip to Trader Joe's. When we got back I sat outside in my new hammock which is awesome. Then at 5:30 we made our way up volunteer road to Leon and Geri's. She made an Irish feast with everyone else bringing desserts. We had a good turn out. The weather cooperated too. We even had a campfire. It was fun visiting with everyone. We really have a good group of people here this year.

Saturday March 18- We both were slow getting started today. We decided to get on our bikes and go do a couple geocaches. It is a really pretty day out there. While we were looking for our first one someone stopped by on a ATV. He just happens to maintain all the geocaches in this park. He gave us a suggestion on what one we should look for next. Jeff found the first one and then we moved on to the 2nd one. I found it and it was really clever.

Then we received a phone call from Kip and Amanda. We are heading to the nautical flea market. We went back and changed. They came and picked us up. We headed to Stuart and the flea market. We did some looking around. We found some kettle corn which just happen to be the best on the planet.

After looking around the market we found another store where we met this awesome alligator. After we had our fill of this place we moved on to find a place for a late lunch. They had been to the Manatee Island Bar & Grill and recommended it. So that's what we did. It is located right on the water and we got right in. We had a nice lunch with wonderful conversation. Our view was pretty nice too.

After eating we headed back to Jonathan Dickinson SP. They dropped us off but came in for a cup of Jeff's new coffee. We did more talking and then they went back to there home at Trapper Nelson's. They are volunteers here too and give the tours at Trappers. It was a great day for sure.

Sunday March 19- It was a wonderful day at church today, we had Deb our neighbor ride with us. We also had another volunteer follow us there. It was a guest speaker today and boy was he good. After leaving we made a quick stop at Walmart, it really was quick and not very crowded. That makes it a bit more enjoyable. We also started a puzzle that we found at the book exchange here.


Monday March 20- Big day today....I am going on a horseback ride. Didn't get that done last year and Jeff wasn't to enthused about the idea. I went with our neighbor Deb. We went down to the stables about 9:45. They are located here in the park. We watched them feed, water and stretch the horses before we got on. I was on a horse named Belle. She was rather large. It was a really nice calm beautiful ride. Even though it was a slow steady ride I still was ready to get off when it was over. How can just sitting on a horse make you so sore?

We had a little excitement...my horse Belle decided to bite the horse in front of us right on the butt. She wasn't very good, it made that other horse do a little giddy up. Hung around here the rest of the afternoon. We had plans this evening to go out for dinner with some other volunteers. Ken and Mary are leaving tomorrow so we wanted to give them a proper send off.

We went to Miller's Ale House, it was wonderful. The food was great, the service was great, and the company was wonderful. The dessert was the best....Oh yeah and that puzzle I started yesterday...it's done. I haven't worked on a puzzle since I was a kid and I think I could get used to doing these...kind of addicting.

Tuesday March 21- We have 4 weeks left here to work. Can't believe how fast our time is going here. We went back to work but took a break to say good bye to Ken and Mary. It is spring break in this area which means the children are out of school and there parents are bringing them camping. We only had a few sites that were extra dirty. I don't think the messes were made by the kids though. 

Thursday March 23- We woke up to thunder....but we got really lucky, we got 2 shower houses cleaned and some sites checked before the first down pour. We waited and when it stopped we went back out to do the second part of our cleaning. We had just finished when round 2 of the rain arrived. We were so lucky because it really poured. 

Friday March 24- Our days off begin. The weather was still a bit rainy so we headed into town. Jeff went to Best Buy to look at computers and ended up getting a new one. Now he has a lot of work ahead of him to transfer his life from the old one to the new one. I happen to spot The Container Store. I have never been in one but I wish I would have found this when we first started this full time thing. They have some wonderful products to keep you very organized. I took some pictures to take with me to measure what I need to go back and purchase. I was in there so long that we missed the movie we were thinking about going to. Ooops. We stopped at Jimmy Johns for a sandwich before coming back home. We didn't have to make supper because the church was having a dinner for there Dream Team...we greet at the church so we qualify....We felt a bit weird going but after we went both of us were glad we went. We always leave with a blessing.


Saturday March 25- I wanted to get the laundry done, Jeff did some washing of the rig. Then we went back to the Flea Market in Stuart. This time we brought our scissors, they have a guy that can sharpen them. We dropped them off first thing. Then we went to see what we could find. It's funny because Jeff is not a big fan of flea markets but today he was quite the shopper. We even found a replacement for our WII that was fried in our power surge. It was a good day. We didn't stay too long and after picking up our freshly sharpened scissors we came home. Oh did I say we got the best strawberries there?...we did only $1.00 a pint and they are so good. When we got home we had to install our Wii system. Of course it's not going to be easy we had to take the TV off so we could run the cords behind it. Well we got it all done and it works! To finish off the evening we jumped on our bikes and rode into Tiki 52 to listen to some music..It is always a nice time there and the music is so you can actually listen and visit at the same time.




















We rode our bikes home, fixed supper and then got out the Wii and played...that was fun, we haven't played that for quite awhile. Going to have to make that a weekly thing.


Sunday March 26- Church day...we have to greet so we need to get there early but we don't mind. Everyone there is so friendly and really appreciate everything you do. The message today was given by Melissa, Pastor Ben's wife. She did an awesome job. We were so happy that we was able to be there today. When we left both of us felt very happy. When we got home I fixed a brunch. Then we got ambitious and did some cleaning out. Went through the basement compartments and got rid of more stuff. Then at 4:30 we headed to The Kitchen Creek Pavillion for a volunteer appreciation picnic. They had a really good turn out. The food was crazy...fish with lots of fixings. The food was really good and the company was wonderful. It was a good time for sure.

These are just some of the volunteers we have worked with this year. So much fun...we will miss them all. After eating they had some speeches and some awards. Lots of volunteer hours here tonight. We visited with everyone, watched some play some games. Then Kip talked me into going for a ride on his Harley. I'm not really a motorcycle gal. I even had a dress on but he and his wife Amanda assured me it would be fine. So I went. I managed to get on the thing OK, but when it came to getting off it wasn't as easy....so I just came up with my own exit strategy.

Well I don't think we will be purchasing a motorcycle anytime soon. It was fun for a quick ride around the park, but on the real road, I would be so scared. We had a wonderful day today. Our time here is running out, but most of the people are leaving at the end of March...We we look forward to seeing them all again next year.