Blackwater River State Park is located about an hour east of Pensacola, in the Florida panhandle.   I’m looking forward to the next two weeks because there are many hiking trails in the area.   The campsites are nice and roomy and the park is well maintained.    I spent the first day studying the trail maps, I can’t wait to get started!   That evening I took Brutus for is walk.   There are no lights out here so it’s really dark.   He was sniffing around, when there was a sudden rustling in the bushes. Whatever it was - there were several of them, they sounded big, and they were headed right for him. Seconds after I snatched him up, a herd of armadillos came out right in front of me, two of them actually walked over my foot. Because he’s deaf, he never heard them.   I don’t know about his sense of smell, but I don’t think he had a clue they were even there. As for the Armadillo’s, I don’t think they see or smell very well, so they were equally oblivious.   I decided to join Weigh

I arrived at Faver Dykes State Park, near St. Augustine on Saturday.   This is a very nice campground with private shady sites. My assigned space had a very narrow opening with several trees placed in such a way that it was very difficult to back in.    I must be getting better at it, since got lined up and backed in perfectly on the first try.   After setting up, I spent the day re-arranging my living room.   Since I took out the couch, I have much more space.   After all that hard work, I decided to spend the afternoon playing my new Wii games.   Sunday I hiked the nature trail in the park.   Basically the trail wanders through pine and scrub brush, but it ends at a beautiful lake.   This park is a gateway to a state canoe trail, Pellicer Creek.   It’s supposed to be one of the most beautiful creek systems in northeast Florida, and on my list of things to do while I’m here.   As I was headed back to camp, I heard some rustling in the brush.   I looked over and saw an armadil

  I just noticed that Google has peppered my blog with advertisements.   Boy that makes me mad!!   Everything highlighted shows an add of some kind.   This is not something I do or have any control over, not do I receive any compensation!   I also noticed they are screwing with my font, hence the random sentences that are in giant letters.   First they screw with Picasa now the blog page.   Need to find a new site!!!

I’ve spent the past two weeks in Crystal River FL, north of Tampa.   The RV park is huge, by far the biggest I’ve ever seen.   I arrived after dark and was apparently blocking the gate with my RV.   This woman got out of her car and proceeded to bitch at me.   I finally said “What in the hell would you like me to do?!”   I couldn’t back up with her behind me and she wouldn’t shut up long enough for me to read the sign on how to call someone.   I finally just turned my back on her and called the night clerk, who came and let me in.   Eventually I got set up in my site and went to bed, it was a long day.   Most of the time it was cloudy and overcast, but not too cold.   I visited some local attractions   including Homosassa Springs Wildlife State park.   It’s a really nice park with a nature path running all the way around.   There are many animal exhibits including a big pond with an underwater viewing window to watch the manatees.   I was there at feeding time so they were ‘relati

Day 8 Today was a bit different in that we has several small stops and instead of the usual 2 big ones. We traveled north to Castlebar to the Museum of Country Life. Very interesting look at life during the 19th and early 20th centuries. They used the materials at hand, which did not include wood. Mostly various types of straw. They had an interesting video on how they basically braided straw to make everything from chairs to horse plow collars to baby cribs. Our next stop was at County Slingo and the Drumcliffe Curchyard to see the grave of the writer W. B. Yates. You've seen one grave you've seen them all, but this stop did provide me the opportunity to photograph one of the black faced sheep up close. Everywhere we go we see flocks of sheep. They are almost always white with black faces.   They have a big splash of pink or blue dye thrown in them, which is like a brand.   Each farmer has a specific location on the animal where they place their dye. One farmer may send h

Day 4 After another intense breakfast we headed to Blarney Castle. The grounds were beautiful, I got some great pictures. We climbed the 120 steps to the top. It was a spiral staircase that was super steep and super narrow. The sisters, bless their hearts, hung right in there with April, Rich and I. They made it all the way to the top and even got down on the ground to kiss the blarney stone! After checking out the castle we headed to a huge wool shop, where I didn't buy a thing. I was pretty proud of myself for resisting the urge to shop. To be honest, it wasn't hard, I don't like wool. I did see several cashmere sweaters and scarves I would have totally worn, if only I still had a job to wear them to. Not much need for clothes like that for a retired person... This is the best group of people to travel with! Mostly I hang out with April and Rich, who are so much fun. April and I are very similar, very outgoing. Her husband Rich is pretty cool too.   The other coupl

As you may recall from my last post, I hit a bridge on my way home and had an adjuster from Progressive come out to look at it. While he was on the roof, he noticed the seal on the seam was badly cracked. On Monday I was taking it to the dealer, 2 hours away. I had my bags packed for my trip to Ireland and made one final check before taking everything to my Mom's, where I was going to spend Monday night. Up to this point everything was going smoothly, but that was about to change.... I have a surge protector attached to the end of my outside electric cord. They cost about $100 and have been known to walk away. I recently learned of a way to wrap a chain around it and attach it to the electric post. As I was packing up the RV, I couldn't find the key to the new lock. Couldn't find it ANYWHERE. Try as I might, I could not get the chain up over the electric box, so I guess it worked as intended. Time was running out so I went to the office to see if I could leave it till th

I got to spend one week with my grandmother before she died.   I’m so thankful that I made it home to spend quality time with her.   She was able to get around with help for most of that time. My aunt Bev was already there, my brother Larry came from Utah and my grandmother’s nephew Charlie and his daughter Jennifer came from Virginia.   The day before she died was the first time she was really in a lot of pain.   At that point, we got round the clock Hospice care and started her on morphine.   When we woke her up for the 2nd dose, she had the dopiest grin on her face.   I told her she looked much happier and she said ‘oh yea’.   I asked her what color the sky was in her world and she happily reported ‘everything is pink’.     We found her hidden stash of chocolate, the really good stuff.   She loved chocolate and had a wicked sweet tooth!   We melted a little bit and swabbed it on her tongue, then sat around eating the rest of it and telling funny stories about her.   We sat with he

I’ve been traveling for 9 months and I haven’t had a single mishap - until now.   The last park I stayed at in Oregon didn’t have pull through sites, only back in ones.   I’m very good at driving forward, but backing up is another matter.   I can back myself into most sites, but it’s not always quick or pretty.   My friend Angela came along with me this time because we were going for lunch after I parked.   I got myself lined up (poorly) and started backing up.   The road was a bit narrow, so I had to go back and forth to get my truck lined up correctly.   At one point Angela said, you’re really close to the water faucet.   I clearly heard her but looked at the electric box which was farther back.   I thought, OK I’m watching the water (electric box).   I moved forward and backed up once more.   At which point Angela said, well, you just took out the water faucet and there is water gushing up out of the ground.   I can’t really explain why I clearly heard her say water yet I looked at

It’s been a busy few weeks! My friend Mike is a volunteer Deputy Sheriff for the Hood River County Marine Patrol.   He invited me to assist with the Roy Webster Cross Channel Swim.   It’s a 1.1 mile swim across the Columbia River.   There were over 400 swimmers, 12 people couldn’t make it and had to be pulled out of the water.   We got two of them.   It was interesting being a rescue boat, I’ve done some open water swims and it’s much harder than it looks.   I was really impressed when I heard that over half the swimmers were novice swimmers and only 12 quit.   I had to take a nap after, he made me get up at 330 in the morning to meet him by 530.   Who in   their right mind gets up at that hour?   That’s one big reason I don’t work anymore… The state park I’m staying in has a trail head that leads to a network of hiking trails.   I headed out one day aiming for Multnomah Falls, a very busy tourist attraction.   I planned on hiking the trails above the waterfall, but got sidet

I spent a few days at the William M. Tugman state park on the Oregon Coast.   It was a really nice park and the weather was very cool.   It was a nice change from the heat of Redding CA.   I decided to take it easy and just drove up and down the coast taking in the sights.   I planned on trying out my kayak in the lake, but a cold front moved it so I spent the day cleaning out cabinets and rearranging things.   I got to Portland and hit the ground running.   I’m having such a great time, I don’t want to leave!   In the first week alone, I hung out with my favorite cousins Joyce and Lisa several times.     I took all the ‘valuable stuff’ I cleaned out a few days before and added it to a giant yard sale.   Although I made $70 and got rid of a bunch of stuff, the best part of the day was just hanging out.   I had dinner with a friend Mike and his wife Michelle a few times, they’re great to hang out with.     Mike works with the Hood River County Sheriff Marine Patrol.   He took me