Donna and Jake's RV Trip

RV Fender and Bob Evans

admin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 02:29:00 +0000

Hello! Today was a fun and simple day…..We went to Camping World and picked up the new fender for the Montana. Remember the one that got torn in half and one half stayed on the RV and the other half decided to say “Bye Bye” on I-10 in Texas when we had the tire blow out. Well, we ordered the new fender and it came in yesterday, so we took Jake and headed over to pick it up. Perfect, exact piece too, straight from Indiana. Since we were out and about we wanted to find a place to enjoy lunch, but were bored with the typical Perkins and Dennys, so as we drove down US 192 we saw a restaurant we never been to before : Bob Evans Restaurant. Fast food? Buffet? Counter order or is there waitresses and waiters in there?? No ideas, so we stopped in and checked it out. Wow, neat place, we had a chirpy friendly waitress and we browsed over a menu that had quite a bit to choose from. I went with the Chicken Pot Pie -yummy! I don’t think we have that restaurant back home. Going to have to look in our connecting states! After lunch we came back to the RV and installed the new plastic fender – looks great!! Good to go! Tonight we went to Bingo here at the RV park which I love and now I’m relaxing watching TV with Jake. These days are going a little fast and I don’t like that too much. We are all doing great in Kissimmee, Florida! Have a great night and I’ll be back tomorrow…..

“….One Giant Leap For Mankind”

admin — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 02:41:43 +0000

Hello and Welcome to the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral! The gateway to space exploration for the past 50 years! This place rocks! Okay, okay, let me start at the beginning. We, meaning my Aunt, Uncle, Mom, Dad, and Moi went to the Kennedy Space Center today! Jake stayed home, but I have to let you know that if you are passing thru and you have your pooch with you, there is a Kennel building right next to the ticket booth compliments of the Space Center. The kennel and parking is free and I hope you have more than a few free hours because the tour we took was great!
We got there at 9am when they open and the first tour starts at 10:20am. We had plenty of time to walk around areas of the gift shop and other areas that showed mini clips of planets and space shuttles, videos of what the space center has done in the past and what they are working on now! At the gift shop I bought a t-shirt and we worked our way to the bus terminal to start our tour. The tour took us as close to the 39A launch pad as possible that all of the past shuttles have been launched from. The shuttle fleet consists of Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour. Discovery is set up on the launch pad now and sitting pretty waiting for it’s lift off date of April 5th. It was amazing to see! From 1981 to today, more than 123 shuttle flights have taken place.
We drove past security and communication buildings and watched a video on the bus.
We stopped at a building that played a video of a couple of the first flights and we got to see the giant structures that make up the world’s largest launch facility that put people on the moon and to the International Space Station. And, yes, we visited the building and saw the technicians and engineers that are building new sections to add to the International Space Station. From 1988 to present, more than 26 Space Shuttle Missions have been complete. Fifteen nations are now participating in the International Space Station program: the United States, Canada, Japan, Russia, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The International Space Station is on orbit 220 miles above earth and circles the globe every 90 minutes!
I’ll give you one more cool fact: At lift off, the large orange-colored external tank holds over 500,000 gallons of cryogenic fuel – liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. The Shuttle’s three main engines consume this fuel in about eight and a half minutes. Isn’t that so cool!!
On the NASA premises you will come across a “Moon Rock Cafe” that offer plenty of choices for lunch! You can really take your time and enjoy Kennedy Space Center at your own pace. You hop on and off the bus on your own time at your own pace!
This facility has an IMAX 3-D theater), an Astronaut Hall of Fame, the Shuttle Launch Experience with the 1/6 gravity chair to get you into the moment, and if you call in advance you can have lunch with an Astronaut! Many, many programs that you can take advantage of including the ATX training which includes operating a full-scale shuttle mock-up!
I know I’m jumping all around with the information, but we spend the whole day here and saw alot! And the wild life on NASA grounds are protected, I saw 5 alligators, 2 eagles, and 1 armadillo! So, bottom line; put the Kennedy Space Center on your list of tours to visit as you explore Florida!
Tonight we are watching TV and tomorrow we are picking up the new plastic fender for the RV because it came in today. So a trip to Camping World is in store tomorrow and we will be bringing Jake along with us!! Have a great night!! I had such a good time today!!

Relaxing, Nascar, and Perkins

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 02:27:55 +0000

Hello! Today I slept in a little late and relaxed outside most of the morning with Jake. Jake just loves his new hammock. He stretched out and enjoyed the hammock as I read my magazine in the sun. Speaking of the sun, I can see that the temperature is rise outside everyday and it will be up in the high 70’s later this week. I’ll be sitting outside more and more often this week.
This afternoon I watched some TV and watched the Nascar race. We were waiting for the Nascar race to end to go out to eat and I’m glad we held out for the race to end because there were some intense crashes in Nascar today. After the race, we went to Perkins (I know, I know, we are addicted to this place) and we broke down and bought another pie to bring home for the week. Yes, for the week because it will not last that long. Delicious french silk pie. Oh, yum! When I’m done with this blog posting I’ll be getting myself a slice of that pie. Tonight we are watching the 82nd Academy Awards! This show is taking up my usual Sunday night show of Undercover Boss. I love the show Undercover Boss – I’ll have to catch it next Sunday night.
Other than that, it’s been a nice relaxing day and I’m excited that we have another two weeks here. Tomorrow we are off to Cape Canaveral. I can’t wait to tell you all about it tomorrow. Off to get my jammies on and get a blanket and get comfy with Jake to watch the rest of the Academy Awards! Have a great night!

Yard Sale and Lobster Pizza

admin — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 04:46:35 +0000

Hello! Well, the title gives it all away but let me get into detail about my day today! This morning we drove the 3 miles west and went to Celebration, Florida where the small town was having their town yard sale. We brought Jake and walking around from house to house looking at their sale items on the sale walk in front of the homes. I’m not really a yard sale person, don’t really have experience in finding a bargain in second hand goods, but we had a good time. After combing over all the yard sale items, we walking around the center of town where there is a big pond, movie theatre, post office, bank, etc. This little town has these little vehicles residence use called “NEV” which means “Neighborhood Electric Vehicles”. To me it looks like a cool golf cart on steroids….it has four seats all facing forward (we had a golf cart and the rear bench seat faced the back), anyways, it has a windshield, a roof, and it was neat looking. Wait a minute, I’ll find you a website to these things since I can’t upload photos. http://nevportal.com/members_gallery/NEVs1.php that website should help with what I’m talking about And they have meters on the side of the street where you parallel park these NEVs and you pay the meter and plug the “car” into the meter to charge them up. They are so neat!!
After exploring the town of Celebration, we came back to the RV and turned the TV on only to be faced with the food network talking about pizza. So, Jake curled up on the couch and we went out of pizza for a late lunch. We were trying to decide on a pizza place and pulled into Pizza Hut and right next door to Pizza Hut is Red Lobster so I suggested Lobster Pizza! Yummy! It was so good. I wouldn’t mind having that once a month.
As for the rest of the afternoon, I took Jake for a long walk around the park and watched TV for the rest of the night. Movie, sitcom, cop show, and now AMA pro motorcycle racing at the Daytona race track is on TV. So, this is how I end my night. Oh, I have to say that I did sit outside for a while today and Jake loves his new hammock that I bought him at Camping World this week. He was in that hammock for at least a half hour until he spotted a cat and I had to bring Jake back inside for a little while until the cat left. He still gets all excited about a cat and wants to take off after it. I swear he will never learn. But all in all, it was a very good day. Tomorrow we aren’t going far as Nascar is on TV, but I’m sure we will go out to eat. I’ll let ya know! Have a good night and enjoy your weekend!

Bingo and Old Town

admin — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 05:04:36 +0000

Hi! Well, today (during the day) was uneventful. Enjoying the weather outside with Jake, we went for a long walk around the RV park and watched TV this afternoon. Don’t worry, I’ve got some adventures coming up this weekend into next week when the weather temperature climbs into the high 70’s.
5 o’clock rolled around today and we went to Bingo this evening. Again, there were 6 of us that went to Bingo. I didn’t win anything at all. After Bingo we separated from our Bingo friends and headed down to Old Town in Kissimmee. Old Town is only a mile west of where we are staying. Tonight was a little chilly so I put a sweatshirt on under my jacket. Tonight was Cruise Night at Old Town. No old cars, just suped up everyday rides from Mustangs to Corvettes to the new Camero and there were a lot of PT Cruisers. Everyday cars that had enough bling on it to turn heads. I thought I heard the announcer say that there were 170 cars there tonight.
So that’s what we did today. Nothing spectacular, but enough to take in what Kissimmee has to offer. Tomorrow we are off to a flea market (or is it an over sized yard sale), not sure, but we were told about it at Bingo tonight. It’s only 2 miles west of us, past Old Town. We’ll see what it’s all about and should I give you a hint about Monday?? We are heading to the east coast to see where astronauts take their first steps towards outer space! I’ve never been there before and I’ll tell you all about it! Hey, listen, have a great weekend and I’ll be back tomorrow!

Nice Day Out….Stayed Local Today

admin — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 04:04:27 +0000

Hello! Today was a nice day. A simple day and nice day. A tad windy out, but not too cold. We didn’t do much today. I took Jake for a walk – we walked to Dunkin Donuts across the street and back. I also surfed the internet and watched TV. Tonight was more eventful…..we went shopping at Walmart (which is exactly 1.3 miles from our RV site) and went out for dinner at Ruby Tuesday (which is exactly .7 miles from our RV site)….and I could not get enough of the Mango Iced Tea at Ruby Tuesday! It’s non alcoholic and delicious! The waiter couldn’t bring enough of them to me as they tasted great! Maybe he shouldn’t of said “Free Refills” It’s an Iced Tea with Mango juice and Mango fruit chunks in it. I’m definitely going back to get that again, I don’t care if I just have to order a salad, I’m definitely getting that Mango Iced Tea again!
Was that the highlight of my day?? You bet!! Well, after taking Jake for a walk….that’s always number one to me. We didn’t do much else today. Maybe tomorrow will be more eventful, but I like down days like these too. I hope you enjoyed your day too. And I want to add a big thank you to those who get my blog posts via email everyday…..yes, I know who you are! If you don’t get my blog posts in your email inbox, you can easily sign up at the top right side of my blog page. If you have a hard time, email me and I’ll sign you right up! Have a great night!

Daytona Beach During Bike Week

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 01:24:59 +0000

Hi! Wow, Daytona Beach! The weather was beautiful and all the bikes looked great. When we first got to Daytona Beach we decided to attack the beach and pay the $5 dollars to put the pick up truck on the beach and ride on 6 miles of white sand against the salt water. That was neat! What put a real kink in my sand riding adventure was that no dogs are allowed to touch the sand. City ordinance says no dogs on beach So after exiting the beach we went looking for where all the bikes were hanging out. I had no idea where the “Bike Week” gang of Daytona Beach were hanging out. But it didn’t take long to ride up Atlantic Avenue to find Main Street. That’s where Bike Week is….on Main Street. And a small street it is and I was surprised to see that cars can drive up and down that street along with the bikes. I was expecting the street to be blocked from cars going thru like Laconia’s Bike Week is in New Hampshire. And I was surprised to see a lot less bikes than Laconia’s Bike Week too. There wasn’t many people or bikes at all. Plenty of room to walk the sidewalk, plenty of time to cross between traffic. Daytona was nice, don’t get me wrong, but nothing really to brag about. Maybe if I got drunk and waited for night fall I might have a different impression, but New Hampshire’s Bike Week in Laconia is a lot better in my opinion.
We spent a good part of the day there and Jake went too! Ohhhh, don’t get me started….I put his pleather jacket on him – Harley Davidson embroidered – and everyone at Bike Week just loved him to pieces. He got his picture taken from at least 8 or 9 people and one guy tried to take a picture with his camera while holding a cup of beer. My mom took the cup of beer from the guy so he can manage operation of his camera. It was a riot! Jake was an absolute hit there. A biker chick ran after us to give Jake a scarf to put around his neck. And yes, right now, at 8:30pm he’s out cold in his bed dreaming about all the biker chicks that gave him so much loving today! An amazing, fun day!
So, we got home (managed thru 5 o’clock Orlando I-4 highway rush hour) and we are staying home tonight watching American Idol. I’m trying to think of anything else that happened today, but that was it. Well, that’s it for now. Have a great night!

Shopping and More Shopping

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 05:31:24 +0000

Hello! Okay, I did quite a bit today so keep up with me! This afternoon (I have to start with “this afternoon” because I slept all morning)….so this afternoon we started our day out at Denny’s. You know how I feel about Denny’s and it’s always a win-win situation second to Perkins Restaurant. So that was uneventful as I only had soup and water. Wasn’t really that hungry. Well, don’t think I just rolled out of bed….I did walk Jake, gave Jake a bath which went rather predictably well, and other morning stuff. So, after Denny’s my Mom had to make a Discover payment and you know where to go to make that payment!! Sears!
There are a couple of Sears around, but, me, Miss GPS, pointed that device towards the Florida Mall! Woo Hoo! (Hey, it’s the little things that count – so it’s off to the mall!!). So at the mall, we made the Discover payment and walked the mall and did we walk!! That mall is huge compared to the malls back home in New Hampshire. We actually got lost for a moment. I came across a Sprint Store and bought a Blackberry plastic screen protector which I have to change every other month on my phone. If I keep it on there months on end, then the protective shield get crappy and starts peeling up on the edges. Anyways, I also purchased a pre-paid Visa Gift Card from the mall guest services counter (it’s a Simon mall like the one we have back home) and they sell Visa pre-paid Gift Cards that can be used anywhere Visa is accepted. I do this a lot because there are purchases I make online in which I do not want to use a real credit card or my bank debit card. So when I buy online thru, for example, Amazon or iTunes, I just use this pre-paid card. I want to check out http://www.bplay.com again and get some cool ring tones for my Blackberry too. I’m a tad paranoid on putting my personal banking information online and no, I don’t pay bills online. I know, I know….I’ve been told before I should get up with the times, but just can’t bring myself around. Anyways, whenever I get around to making my online purchase (my purpose of the card), after my purchase I can use the remaining balance of the card for anything else like gas or Dunkin Donuts. Anywhere Visa is accepted.
So, moving on, after we ventured around the mall, we found a post office to mail other bills out (don’t start with the online bill paying system….LOL!). Now we get two miles from our RV park and I get an email on my Blackberry from the local Camping World store. You see, I had emailed the parts department on my Blackberry along with a picture of the broken plastic wheel fender that got snapped in half from the tire blow out back in Texas. My parents were going to wait to get this fixed back in New Hampshire but decided to check out options around here. Kelly over at Camping World told me to take a picture of the damage and email it to him with the Montana VIN#. Easy enough for me….so he emailed me back today with a new fender part price of $123.00 plus shipping coming in from Indiana. So when I got this email we detoured it to Camping World and talked with Kelly about placing the order. As he placed the order for the part, which took a little while, I had a chance to roam the store….and you will never believe what I came across….a dog hammock!!!! Yes, a hammock for a dog!! Now, hang on….don’t chalk me up to being crazy yet…..it’s the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. It’s a foldable, one piece, hammock for little dogs….probably can hold up to 25 pounds. So, I hadddddd to have it and if it can keep Jake off the ground outside he won’t get dirty as easily or that often. See, I hadddd to have it! So, I came home with this doggie hammock and Jake loved it! He hopped up there by himself and laid down and let out a big sigh….so comfy! I’m looking for a dog bone shaped silk pillow for him now! Ha! And if you are wondering about the price of the hammock it was $19.97.
Okay, so where was I here….oh, we ordered the fender part and that will come in within a week. So the total damage amount done from a one tire blow out has added up to….($140 for new tire installed plus $123 for new fender plus shipping costs)…..well, there ya go. Not cheap. Oh, and our new tire pressure monitoring system is working great! I’m going to have to get the brand name for you on that one but we bought it at Camping World also and it came in a white box (the other one we bought and returned came in a black box). So, everything is going good and this evening we….,noooo, my day isn’t done yet…..we went to Bingo with four other people….it was me, Mom, and four others from this park that we met here. One of the ladies in our group of 6 won the $250 jackpot! I wish it was me, but not this time, but we are going to try again on Thursday night. Bingo here is Tuesday night, Wednesday afternoon, Thursday night, and Friday night. We can’t go tomorrow afternoon because we are heading up to Daytona Beach for the day!!!! Woo-Hoo!! It’s Bike Week at Daytona Beach!! Yes, with Jake….oh, that reminds me, I’ll have to dig out his pleather Harley Davidson jacket!! It’s got the Harley Davidson symbol right on the back of it and zips up underneath and it’s black and has a jacket collar, just like a leather jacket! I’ll tell you all about our Daytona Beach adventure tomorrow. I’ll take pictures and try my best to post them if the internet signal wind blows my way. Have a great night and I’ll be back! Nite Nite!

Flea Markets and Downtown Disney

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 05:14:54 +0000

Hello! Well I’ve got to say that the pleasant warm weather got us outside today. I took Jake for two long walks today and, once again, he dodge the bullet for a bath today. He’s definitely getting one tomorrow. That is a project by itself with that little guy. It’s gotten to the point now that when the “B” word is mentioned he is off like a rocket trying desperately to find a place to hide. And I’m so good to him too, nice warm water with his oatmeal shampoo, blow dryer finish, and a delicious treat after. But, nope, he won’t have any part of it and he’s not shy to let you know either. Most of pre-bath time consists of me saying: “No, don’t do that…” “Get over here….” and my favorite “Where do you think you’re going….”. Noooo, I’m not going to baby talk him because he’ll just play me like a fool to get his way and I’ll cave to his cute manipulative spell. Eight years old and eight years with him….I know him! During bath time he just sulks the whole time and just waits for it to be over. I can’t win….. The leverage on my side is the doggie treat for him after the bath. After the doggie treat, we are best friends again. When I get back home to New Hampshire, I send him to the Doggie Spa every so often for a couple of hours! He’s got friends there and he loves it! Sooo, tomorrow he gets a bath. He’s been staying pretty clean and he gets a bath about two or three times a month now.
So, today we left Jake home to sleep and we went to two flea markets today. The only thing bought was a $5 dollar cowboy movie called “Wyatt Erp”. My dad loves cowboy movies and we haven’t found the “Tombstone” movie for sale anywhere yet. We’ll run across it one of these days. Tonight we went to Downtown Disney which I love! It was my idea! So we walked around there and enjoyed the atmosphere and scenery. We didn’t eat there….we ate at Perkins today (yes, again) . And I had some strawberry pie tonight while watching the new cowboy movie tonight. Oh, we took the water taxi tonight from the West Side to the Marketplace in Downtown Disney tonight. That was a lot of fun and I mentioned that maybe next week we can go back to Downtown Disney during the day and have lunch there during a warm nice day.
Well, it was a nice day today and tomorrow it is suppose to rain and be miserable out so I get to chase Jake around the RV before bath time and tomorrow night is Bingo at the RV park which is what I’m looking forward to. Oh, and I got my mail today. A big box of subscribed magazines for me to read tomorrow and some typical bills I’ll tend to tomorrow. Hope you had a good Monday too! I’ll be back tomorrow and hopefully with some good news about a Bingo jackpot in my hands! Nite Nite!

Company and Nice Weather

admin — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 04:50:04 +0000

Hi! Today was a very nice day! The weather was perfect and my aunt and uncle stopped by from Groveland for a visit. I swear my aunt knows everyone, she knew a few people living right here in our RV park!
After they left we settled in and started a channel flipping marathon between Nascar and the Olympic Hockey Game between the USA and Canada battling it out for the Gold medal! An amazing game it was as USA tied the game with 24 seconds left throwing the game into overtime which did them no good, but the Silver medal isn’t so bad, is it? As for Nascar, typical Las Vegas race with no hard action. Jimmy Johnson won which was typical and predictable.
Anyways, tonight we went out to dinner at Perkin’s restaurant. I love Perkin’s restaurant! I wish there was one in New Hampshire because I would definitely help keep them in business. I had the Chicken Pot Pie and my parents had the Pot Roast. Such good food there. And at Perkin’s, they bake their own pies. So we took home two whole pies, one Strawberry pie and one Lemon Meringue pie. I did take pictures of these pies but technically in no position to post pictures at this time. While enjoying a slice of pie tonight we watched “Undercover Boss” on CBS tonight. I love that show. Check it out sometime, they are on Sunday nights (for the past 4 weeks) but for some reason they are skipping next Sunday and I don’t know why. So the next new episode will be two Sundays from now.
Other than that everything else is quiet and it was a fast day. Tomorrow we have some errands to do and I’m not sure what else, maybe hit a flea market or two. Oh, I did have my grilled cheese sandwich for lunch today – it was delicious!
We’ll that’s about it for today. I hope you had a nice weekend too! I’ll be back tomorrow!