The day started off with a bike ride with Ira, the neighbor across the street, and his friend, Rod, from Ottawa. We went to a lake at the other end of Barefoot Bay that I didn't know existed. There's an alligator in the lake, but we didn't see him. It was a bit cool - about 65 degrees. Shortly after we left the pond, we were joined be two more of Ira's Canadian friends and we put some more miles on the bikes .
After I got home from the bike ride, Marsha and I went to the attorney's office to pick up the Letter of Administration and a bunch of other Florida Probate B.S. Then, after a short stop at Walmart for some groceries, we headed back home to dump the groceries and pick up Dad's checkbook. We stopped at the Outriggers Bar and Grill before heading to the bank to open an "estate checking account." More B.S.! Glad we stopped at the Outriggers first. A few beers under my belt helped me cope with the B.S. at the bank.
So, now we're back home and we'll settle in to watch the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics.
Exciting day, huh? It's got to get better, so keep checkin'.
Not very many pictures for a nine-day span. We've been spending most of our time working around the house, getting it ready for my brother. The 28 year old clothes washer sprung a leak, so were having a new one delivered tomorrow. The 28 year old clothes dryer is still hanging in there.
On January 25, we went to Mary Ann and Leroy's 50th wedding anniversary party. There are a few pictures from that event. Mary Ann and Marsha are cousins on Marsha's mother's side of the family. Aunt Jo and Aunt Sheila are Marsha's mother's sisters.
We were on the way to Good Will and Walmart, again, when we noticed a flea market so we stopped in and browsed around. Marsha bought a Tupperware bowl to replace an old battered one she had. I purchased two "headlights" for our bikes. They consist of a plastic mounting bracket that holds an LED flashlight. You can see one of them on my bike in the picture. Marsha's is not there because it fell apart during installation. What do you expect for three bucks?! The parrots were pretty cool.
There are a few other miscellaneous pictures I took. The one of Marsha in the library was when she was on the phone with the realtor back home. Finally got a firm offer on the lot she inherited from her dad five years ago. She's selling it for 2/3 of what he paid for it in 1978. At least we won't be paying taxes, HOA fees, and mowing fees anymore! The picture of the bikes was taken after we rode three or for miles, stopping at the 19th Hole on the golf course. After that, we fired up the grill and cooked some delicious burgers.
More adventures when (if) they happen.
This year, we're headed to Florida earlier than usual because we have to take care of my dad's estate business and do a few things around the house before my brother, Scot, takes possession in early March. We intended to leave home on Tuesday, January 21, but due to snow covered Interstate highways, we ended up leaving a day later. It was about 12 degrees at 7:15am when I backed Dad's Prius out of the driveway.
I was in a hurry to get our car out, hook the camper up, drag it out of the garage, put the Prius in the garage and hit the road. All went well until I turned the key on our car which had been in the garage for two or three days. Click-click-click-click. Crap! Dead battery. I hooked op the charge for about 30 minutes and dumped enough juice into the battery to get the car started. We were on the road by 8:00am.
We stopped to gas up in Lebanon, IL because we didn't have a full tank when we left home and I planned to stop at Sam's Club, where we usually get gas, in Paducah to get a new battery. We got to Sam's, but they were busy and there would be a two hour wait before they could get us in. So, it was on to Walmart where they got us in and out in less than an hour while we grabbed a sandwich from the deli for lunch.
I drove a total of 666 miles (scary number, huh?) that first day, stopping in Locust Grove, GA at a Super8 for the night. It wasn't really too cold (about 30) to sleep in the camper, but Marsha would have to make the bed up and I was ready for a motel. We had a nice room and brought in some food from the car to have for dinner. There was a fridge and microwave in the room, so that was handy.
The next morning, Thursday, the 23rd, we had the "free breakfast" (because they were too embarrassed to charge for it), supplemented with our regular Brad Buds. We were on the road at 7:00am and drove quite a ways into South Georgia, probably 75 miles north of Macon, before we found a gas station with a windshield washer bucket that wasn't frozen solid!
The rest of the trip (503 miles) was uneventful. We stopped at our favorite biker bar about ten miles from Dad's house for a late lunch before backing the camper into the driveway.
We usually walk , but on Friday morning, we drove to the 2002 Restaurant for breakfast. It was in the 50s with a pretty stiff wind, but a lot warmer than home! After Breakfast, we went grocery shopping, ran a few errands and dropped a load off at Good Will. We spent what was left of the day doing chores around the house.
Saturday morning, we rode our new (to us) folding bikes to the restaurant for a breakfast snack and road around Barefoot Bay a bit before going back to Dad's house to get busy. Marsha worked in the house and I washed some Algae and mold off of one side of the house, using the Jomax that I brought from home. Beautimus! Then I trimmed shrubbery and picked up palm fronds that had fallen in the yard. I don't know why we're doing all this work before my brother moves in. I guess we're just nice folks!
Saturday evening, we went to Marsha's cousin Mary Ann and her husband LeRoy's 50th wedding anniversary party about 20 miles north in Melbourne. Sunday morning, we went to their house in Palm Bay for breakfast and a visit. Mary Ann's sister, Margaret, and her husband, Tom, just bought a house in Palm Bay, so we went to see it. Nice! They moved down from Addison, IL a few months ago and have been renting a place while they spruce up the new house. They'll move in next Monday.
Sunday afternoon, we went to Home Depot and Walmart to pick up some clean-up & fix-up supplies. I replaced the latch to the screen door before having a few beers while watching TV.
That brings us to today, Monday! I spent about an hour trying to make the TV we brought with us work with the Dish Network. We traded our bedroom TV at home for a larger second TV my dad had. Now our small TV in the sitting room is working here.
I'm at the library getting rready to post this on the blog. No pictures with this post, but there will be plenty soon.
Later!
It's becoming a tradition. A week before Thanksgiving, Mark and a few friends go down to his house on Lake of the Ozarks and blow the leaves down the hill and start a big fire. A few other chores usually get done, too. This year it was Mark and me from Springfield, Mike from Morris, IL, and Kevin from Kansas City, MO.
We got down there late Thursday afternoon and emptied most of the stuff out of the old shed to get it ready for the delivery of the new shed in the morning. The rest of the evening, we just sat around, drank beer and ate snacks.
Friday morning, it was in the twenties with rain in the forecast when we took the remaining stuff out of the shed. The new shed showed up at about 10:00 and the show began. Those folks had done this before! With the new shed in position and all the stuff put into its new home, we headed for the grocery store to replenish our beer supply. Then it was on to the Branding Iron bar and grill for an early dinner. We got back to the house early and snoozed in front of the TV before going to bed.
We decided to wait until Saturday to blow leaves. The temperature was still freezing, but there was no rain in the forecast. While Mark and I blew leaves, Mike and Kevin replaced the old mercury vapor security light fixture that was about 20 feet up on the power pole near the front of the house. We forgot to get pictures of that, except after it was finished. Didn't get any pictures of us actually blowing the leaves with our matching Stihl BR550 backpack blowers either.
As you can see from the pictures, we blew most of the leaves into the lake, but still had enough left for a pretty good fire. While the fire was putting out heat, we stood outside and drank a few beers, but when the fire died down, we headed inside. Mark got a new flat screen TV, so we took a few minutes to hang it on the wall so we could enjoy it for the rest of the day.
No pictures of them, but while we were at the grocery store on Friday, Kevin bought two racks of pre-cooked ribs. He heated them up Saturday afternoon after all our chores were done and we scarfed them down. They were delicious! I liked them so well that Marsha and I are going to have some for our Thanksgiving dinner.
Hope you have a great Thanksgiving and a glorious holiday season. Marsha and I are continually counting our blessings.
