Kayaking The Silver River - Monday & Tuesday, October 3&4, 2016

Just a quick update since I am typing this from our Daughters house in Raleigh, NC.  We evacuated Silver River State Park, Ocala, FL on Wednesday and drove to Cedar Key RV Resort on Florida's west coast and dropped off Baby.  After that, we drove the truck to Murrells Inlet, SC and spent the night in a Hampton Inn.  We picked my Mom up on Thursday and drove to Raleigh to wait out Hurricane Matthew.  So here we sit, safe and sound, watching and waiting!!!

We were headed to The Keys and hopefully we will get down there for the rest of our reservations after all this terrible weather clears out.  Before we left Silver Springs, we were able to kayak the Silver River twice...Monday and Tuesday morning.  It was wonderful as we had the river to ourselves.  It is our favorite paddle and I would just like to share some photos of the beautiful things we got to see.  ENJOY...........


Double Click O Any Photo To Enlarge



VIEWS  ALONG  THE  RIVER  


















THE  BIRDS






ANHINGAS









CORMORANTS





GREAT BLUE HERON







KINGFISHER






LITTLE BLUE HERON






 LITTLE GREEN HERON




PIPED-BILLED
GREBE




PILEATED WOODPECKER







RED SHOULDERED HAWK




WOOD DUCKS



WHITE IBIS







GATORS  AND  TURTLES








THE  MONKEYS!!!




Just an AMAZING river to paddle :o))

On The Road Again !! - Friday, September 30, 2016

Yes, it has been awhile since I have posted.  Our lives and travel plans were put on hold since May.  My mom's health took a bad turn and we were needed to take care of things.  Fortunately, she is doing better, but it took the last 5 months to get there.

In May, we were workcamping at Huntington Beach SP and preparing to head to Maine for the summer on June 1st.  Mom took ill on May 24th and was hospitalized on May 27th.  At that point our plans changed.  We knew we wouldn't be going anywhere for the summer.

We were very fortunate that Huntington Beach said we could continue to workcamp as long as necessary.  They had a maintenance vacancy until September.  That was a real blessing as finding ANY campsite ANYWHERE at the beach in the summer is very difficult.  So Bill spent the summer workcamping while I tended to helping mom regain her health.

I would love to say that she is back to normal, but unfortunately she must create a "New" normal. She was diagnosed with Pulmonary Fibrosis and must wear oxygen 24/7.  It became apparent quite quickly that low oxygen levels have caused major memory issues and she could not be left without help.  Long story short... we had to move her from Independent Living to Assisted Living.  Bill and I made that move happen the end of August.  That way she had time to make some adjustments to her new environment and we had time to see that all the pieces were in place for her care before we were scheduled to end our workcamping and get back to living our life a bit.  It is still a work in progress but at least we are making progress :o))

So Bill and I left Huntington Beach yesterday headed to the Florida Keys for 7 weeks.  YES, WE KNOW THERE IS A HURRICANE OUT THERE!!!!  So here we sit at Walkabout CG in Woodbine, GA waiting for Matthew to make the turn north and hopefully spare The Keys and Florida Coast.  We will stay here until we see where he is headed and head in the opposite direction if he turns his track towards us.  In the meantime, we may run down to Silver River for a couple days and do one of our favorite kayak paddles on the Silver River!!!  Can't wait to get back to nature and be re-nourished by its wonders.  My camera is screaming...take me, take me!!!!

We are always amazed by the serendipity in this lifestyle.  Yesterday was no exception.  Bill and I were headed down Route 17 just south of Charleston, SC.  I mentioned to Bill that I was wondering where several of our RV friends might be right now.  Specifically, I said I had lost track of  "Gail & Rick as well as Bruce & Laura!"  It was only 5 minutes later that our phone rang. When I looked at the phone, it said Laura.  I went immediately to which caregiver Laura might be in relation to my Mom.  Yes, I am still on high alert and will get better at relaxing.  When I heard a voice on the other end say, "Hey, are you on 17 heading south?"  I couldn't believe my ears...it was Laura of BRUCE & LAURA... They were right behind us!!


We managed a quick visit at the Georgia Rest Stop and made a promise to see each other this winter in Florida.


Yep...
we are so happy to get back to the life we love
 and 
the wonderful people we have met along the way!!!