September 1, 2002, Sunday- the rain started last night, and continued most of the day. But, golf was on today's tour, and Oyster Bay was the selected location. After a few holes, the drizzle stopped, but now the rains started. After 14 holes, we determined that it was better to stop then to drown. My second golf round for the year, in 14 holes I had 3 pars and a birdie on the last hole we played, a par 5.
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September 2, 2002, Monday- we left Al and Ginny's great hospitality and returned to NJ via the Willowbrook Mall in Wayne, NJ. The parking lot was like Christmas. One had to fight for spaces for the car. After looking in Bloomingdales at suits and sport jackets that were way too retail, even after a 50% sale price, we headed towards Lord and Taylor. Didn't make it that far when the "Quails" lured us in with their sale signs. I got 2 suits, 2 sports coats, 5 shirts, 5 ties and 7 pairs of socks, all for under a grand. More my style! The tailor, actually next to Lord and Taylor's, agreed to have everything done by Wednesday afternoon.
When we returned to David and Paula's a big surprise awaited us, 4 live lobsters. Yum…..they do lobster right!
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September 3, 2002, Tuesday- I checked out the coach this morning to make sure everything was still ok (which it was), and to drop off the golf clubs (otherwise we'd have too much to load into the Jeep next Monday when we return to the coach and restart our travels).
The best part of the day was heading into New York City with David and Paula to see the Mel Brooks musical comedy "The Producers". First we dined at "Ruby Foos" part of the "B R Guest Restaurant Group" which consistently rates high in the rating services. It did not disappoint. Many creative dishes, a far cry from the standard oriental fare.
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Our seats were the first row of the top balcony, literally a bird's eye view. The show was everything that it was billed as, and more. Acting was first rate, the "shtick" was typical Mel Brooks, and costumes and sets a scream.
September 4, 2002, Wednesday- our turn for tennis. Al and Ginny had given us tickets and parking for the US Open. Today was the quarter finals. The main stadium "Arthur Ashe Stadium" was the main action. Two additional stadiums and 20 something additional courts with bleacher seats provided nonstop viewing. We caught a men's doubles, then Jennifer Capriati's (3rd rated) loss to the 10 th rated woman, and Hewitt defeat the 20th ranked man (who was from Morocco). Fast action with men's servers in the 125 MPH range, and women's in the 105 MPH range.
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September 5, 2002, Thursday- we picked up Mom at the airport this afternoon. She looked great in her new glasses after having her two cataract surgeries. Then, off to the mall, where I just about finished my wardrobe with 2 new pairs of black shoes from Nordstroms. Glad that the pieces all fit together so easily.
September 6, 2002, Friday- during a few hours out of the house we found a few house gifts that we wanted to send to people. At 7 David and I picked up Sharon and Mike at the train station in Morristown, and by 7:30 we were starting a wonderful holiday dinner.
September 7, 2002, Saturday- at 11:30 we were attending the second seating of Rosh Hashanah services at David and Paula's congregation, Beth Shalom. With 650 families belonging….big services…the pews, seats in the ballroom and seats adjoining areas (aided by tv and speakers), were filled.
In the afternoon we all headed to Mike's mom's house in Livingston where 21 souls partook in too many delicacies from appetizers to desserts. Will we ever get back to our "fighting" weight?
September 8, 2002, Sunday- our last day in NJ turned out to be another great one. After I cooked up a delicious dish of lox and eggs and onions for everyone, we headed into New York for the day. First stop, the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Fifth Avenue. We spent some time at the Geagan ?? special show, modern art, and some African wood carvings. This is, needless to say, a world class operation. One could spend weeks here and not cover the same space twice.
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Afterwards back to Mike and Sharon's cute apartment on Third Avenue and 31st, and then dinner at the Dock's Restaurant for the freshest seafood.
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Tomorrow we head out, back to Florida, and the major change in our lives. After almost 5 fun filled years of play, I return next week to the work world.
September 9, 2002, Monday- for a change, everything went smoothly. Left Uncle David's house at 7:40 AM, arrived at the food store as they opened at 8 AM, and got the coach up and running by 10. Instead of heading down I-95 and fighting metropolitan traffic in Philadelphia, Baltimore and DC, we headed inland and to the next set of southwestern interstates. No traffic and no cities to contend with. Stopped for fuel at the Flying J as we entered Virginia, and although the fuel gauge read about 1/8 to 3/16 of a tank, we put in far more then we've ever done before. On a 150 gallon tank we put in 125 gallons. Never has the needle been so far over the full mark. 250 miles later, it was just getting back to the full line.
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Drove 485 miles to just north of the Virginia/ North Carolina state line, and found a nice campground to overnight in….one with 50 amps of electric so both A/C's could get us down to a reasonable temperature.
September 10, 2002, Tuesday- another easy day. The 555 miles flew by. Again we went through 5 states…Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and into Florida. We stopped for the night in Starke, FL along route 301. We departed from the interstate route when we learned that the Jacksonville area was filled with road repairs (plus it would be rush hour), and I-4 was one continuous parking lot as they were adding another traffic lane to the system. Only 321 miles left for tomorrow. Small world. As we stopped at the rest area in North Carolina, a couple comes running over to us. "You're the folks with the komondor that have the lot on the back side of Pelican Lake and used to live in Colorado", they yelled. And, you had lunch with us. What an impression we had on people, and what a good memory they had.
September 11, 2002, Wednesday- a day of remembrance. Who will ever forget where they were a year ago today? The wounds are still deep and fresh and painful.
Today's drive started in cloudy weather, and after a hour, the rains came (or maybe we went into them as we drove south). And rain and more rain came. About 100 miles from home we're cruising down the road and all of a sudden the right wiper blade was flopping around. After a quick stop we determined that a screw that holds the blade to the arm disappeared. So, the next 100 miles, no wipers in the rain. Fortunately we had Rainex on the windshield, and the water just beaded off.
Arriving in Pelican Lake at 2 PM, we were greeted with a harder downpour for the next hour. We couldn't even connect the water or electric or set the jack pads.
Our feet never gather dust, so at 7 we joined Jerry and Lois at the Catholic church on Marco Island for a joint remembrance service for "9/11" It was a meaningful hour long service.
Now we learn that the next few days shall be just as wet as today, with a tropical storm in the gulf. The only one that suffers is Hobbes who is wet, stinky and confined in a few square feet.
September 12, 2002, Thursday- another good news, bad news day. Good news first. We went to Marco Island, to Beth and Irv's and got the Porsche. The battery charger worked perfectly. All we had to do was disconnect it, and drive away. Almost no oil drippings after 4 months.
Bad news….with the heavy rain, we got a large water leak by the front of the living room slide. When it stops, we'll have to check out where it's coming from. Also, I took apart part of the washing machine and found that the leak is coming from an area that I can't get to, so the repairman should be here in 2 weeks.
Dinner was with Joe and Sue at a little Italian place near their condo on Marco. Good food, and an early bird price.
September, 13, 2002, Friday- we awoke to a major terrorist scare taking place 10 miles from us on Alligator Alley. Three Muslim men were overheard in a restaurant north of Atlanta talking about blowing up Miami. The two cars were apprehended just past the Naples toll plaza on I-75. The highway was closed for 17 hours as officials searched the cars and questioned the men. It turned out to have been a hoax that the three played on the patrons because they were unhappy about the way people were staring at them. Not a fun situation for the nation. I hope that they get charged with some crimes since you can't yell fire in a theater.
This morning we got the air conditioner on the Porsche repaired. It needed 4 pints of Freon and a new squirrel fan. Only $800.
Services on Marco tonight. Nice to be back into the fold.
September 14, 2002, Saturday- while I washed some cars, coach, shed and switched closets around, Susan joined Jerry and Lois in some step aerobics. After lunch we went to see the Robin Williams movie "One Hour Photo". A good movie with lots of suspense. Dinner of burgers at Lindbergers and two rounds of Hand and Foot at Jerry and Lois's finished the day.
September 15, 2002, Sunday- upon returning home last night from Jerry and Lois's, and getting online, I decided to download some upgraded Window's programs. With our connect speed it would run several hours at night. This morning when I clicked a few buttons, I was getting error messages about now needing some new drivers. After downloading them, they would not install and the computer was, shall we say, playing with a few sandwiches short of a picnic.
So, dial up Dell's 800 number and I get a tech rep who is in India, at a facility with 1500 staff. What a small world. He walked me through a reset to a prior day setup, and after an hour on the phone, the few programs I tried were up and running.
I decided to pursue the water leak into the living room slide and found out that the water seemed to be coming in from the slide roof. So, I cranked up the engine and reset the leveling jacks to pitch the water towards the rear and the outside (very little jack adjustment actually required), and now the water is drained away. Easy fix.
Returning to the coach I tried to get on line, and the connections were not opening. Also, new phone connections couldn't be established. Long story short, another hour on the phone with Dell, and we set the reconfiguration date back another day (data is not lost) and now everything is back at 100%. These guys seem much better then the Gateway people we used to deal with.
Pre holiday dinner with Carol and Dick at Lois and Jerry's. too much great traditional food. At 8 we were at JCMI and the holiday services were second to none.
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September 16, 2002, Monday- Yom Kippur- the Day of Atonement. The book that was written on Rosh Hashanah, is sealed today. Who shall live and who shall die. We attended morning services from 10 until 1, and returned from 3:30 to 6, followed by a 100 person community breaking of the fast. Wonderful services.
September 17, 2002, Tuesday- drove to Bonita Springs for a noon meeting with the firm that I'm going to work for. Met the three partners and discussed work and financial arrangements. Although I'm ready to rock and roll, they are looking for mid October.
September 18, 2002, Wednesday- a lot of stops today. Looked a few places and finally found a small air conditioner for the shed. 5000 btus for $106 not bad. With only 6.4 amps of draw, the 20 service into the shed is adequate for everything we have running. Then some Home Depot and Costco things to finished the installations….2x's, trim, etc.
September 19, 2002, Thursday- after washing Hobbes I borrowed some tools, primarily a power saw, I went to work on the shed. It's always a big suck it in when you cut a hole in the wall. Fortunately all the work went easily and well. It's a little unit but after an hour or 2 it's much better then the temps were. Now I just have to snake some telephone (for the computer) and maybe a cable line to let me work full bore in the shed.
September 20, 2002, Friday- quiet day. Errands then services at JCMI.
September 21, 2002, Saturday- movies for a change….."Late Wedding", a difficult film about Russian Jews in Israel who believe in arranged marriages. Then, dinner with Bob and Elaine at their place.
September 22, 2002, Sunday- finally, a walk on the beach. High tides brought on by the full moon and Hurricane Isadore resulted in strong wave action and difficult walking in the surf.
We brought dinner to Jerry, Lois and Ruth, my famous (at least to us), LEO's….(lox, eggs and onions.), with the trimmings.
September 23, 2002, Monday- a trip across Alligator Alley to see Mom and help her with some projects: computer, home air conditioning, auto insurance, light bulbs, reclining chair, and flashlight batteries. Whew, but fortunately the projects went well.
September 24, 2002, Tuesday- rented a metal snake and pulled TV cable and phone wires from our electrical pedestal to the shed. I measured and felt that 50' would be closed but would work well. Well, I forgot about the portion of conduit that goes up and down on each end. When I finished pulling the wires, I had 3" on each end, just enough to attach some connections to extend the wiring. Now it worked just fine and the shed is almost finished.
September 25, 2002, Wednesday- we went to the county extension office with a plastic bag full of the same little bugs that we had last year. With the experts checking them out under a microscope, it was determined that they were "red flour weevils or beetles". The literature indicates that they come in via flour, pasta or other grain boxes. So, next over to the store and buy a bunch of airtight storage containers. Hopefully this shall aid in the elimination of their food source. They went away as strangely as they came last year. Hopefully the same will occur now.
September 26, 2002, Thursday- spoke with my Bonita friends, and I'll get my first day in the office next Wednesday brushing up on client files and technical areas.
In the late afternoon the RV Dr. came and determined that our leaking washing machine needs a new drum. Next, to why the supplier in Washington is showing the part on backorder, and to check that the extended warrantee will cover the $700 or so repair. (A new machine only costs about $1000).
Diner at Jerry and Lois's, with Ruth and Carol. A round of "hand and foot" followed.
September 27, 2002, Friday- big floor day. First I used a grout paint material to return the grout to its original light color. Three year's of use darkened the color too much. Next, a few cans of Resolve Carpet spray helped return the carpet color to its original shade. Not a bad day's work.
Attended services tonight and got to see something that we haven't seen before….it was Simchas Torah when we finish the end of the Torah reading and start again at the beginning. This was accomplished by having everyone in the congregation move to the perimeter of the sanctuary and then unrolling the full length of the Torah scroll. It went around the full perimeter of the room, maybe 350 feet. The reader read the end of the last parchment and the beginning of the first, then the scroll was re-rolled.
Debi got the start to a week of vacation today flying to Fresno to visit with Robert and Deb, and then a few days with Jamie in the LA area.
September 28, 2002, Saturday- our 4th winter in Florida and we finally made a trip to Sanibel and Captiva Islands. These spits of land, really just sandbar keys containing wonderful development of high end home and condominiums. 15 or so miles without any honky-tonk or chain developments. The streets were lined with trees and other natural landscaping. Curvy driveways that don't give a peak at the house behind the fancy driveway entries. We hit beaches in Captiva and Fort Meyers. Gorgeous but hot today with highs in the mid 90's.
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September 29, 2002, Sunday- spoke with Steve today and he just finished a great few days. With four other students, they entered into an International Business Case Study with 24 other teams. It started on Wednesday night and on Saturday morning made their presentation. They made the first cut. On Saturday night they entered the finals and won the contest. Judges included professors, professionals from Dell and other computer companies, and the winners got $500 each. Great job, great recognition and a few bucks besides.
Dinner with Lois, Jerry and Ruth at Carols, followed by a hand of cards.
September 30, 2002, Monday- worked in the shed/office today reviewing paperwork and a hour phone call with Tom in the Pittsburgh office on cost containment programs.
Got lucky this morning. Since we put everything into containers and plastic bags, I did an inspection and found inside a bad, a box of Nabisco Graham Cracker Crumbs with lots of live "red flour beetles", and it went into the trash. Maybe that's the end of the problem.
Bob and Elaine joined us for dinner and then we taught them "hand and foot". Fun for all.
POST NOTE:
This is the last of the daily web site updates. With work starting next week, our lives return to the more traditional rolls of work and volunteer time. If time permits, monthly updates may follow, but in any case, it's been a wonderful 5 years on the road, beyond our wildest expectations.
Ninety nine percent of people never get to play the way that we've been able to do for this period of time. Hope y'all enjoyed following along with us. Stay in touch…..
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