New Year's Eve, and I'm writing my last blog of the year. We had a great Christmas with the family, a lot of running around. Hope every one's Christmas was great.
We left Bakersfield on the 26th, Danny didn't even want to go out to breakfast for his birthday, he wanted John's Burger, so Kim went and picked up breakfast. After I finished laundry Dave packed up everything and we hit the road for Simi Valley. Dave left his leather jacket at David Jr's so we had to go pick that up, then we went to "The Hat" for pastrami sandwiches. Best pastrami in the world, we got 3 sandwiches, we split one for lunch, then headed for our hotel near LAX. We then split another one for dinner, and the 3rd one I packed in the suitcase. Our plane was late leaving on the 27th, which was no big deal to us because we had a 3 hour lay over in Denver, and it was snowing, we were stuck on the plane for 40 min. once we landed because they had no open gates that we could pull in to. We really started to worry about if we were going to be able to fly out of Denver anyway, but we did and it was only 1 hour late. We got to our hotel in Florida about 11:30pm as we headed for our room the fire alarm went off. Everyone was coming out of their rooms and we all headed to the parking lot, we put our suitcases in the car and headed for TGI Fridays. We sat at the bar until about 1am, after the fire department left the hotel, we headed for our room, and that's when we split the 3rd sandwich, I was so happy the bag handlers at the airport didn't steal my sandwich.
Anyway, Friday we picked up Valley and went and got the coach then drove back to 1000 Trails, where we will stay until 1/2/08 then it's back on the road again, headed for Texas. Yesterday we went to breakfast with Lee and Vicki then headed for the Disney Animal Park, the place was sooo crowded, it was a nightmare, we didn't stay long. Tonight we are walking over to Gene and Bobbie's coach and will BBQ and visit with them, that's our big New Years plans, I know we won't make it to midnight so will have to record the dropping of the ball.
Hope you have a nice and safe New Years.

It's Christmas Morning and I'm up at 3am, stayed in bed to 4 but that's it, just can't sleep. It's now 5am and Kim and Dave just got up, Dave's normal time but not Kim's, unless it's Xmas day. Don't expect to see Danny for a while, he is not a morning person, but he better learn to be with a baby on the way.
Sunday morning I was in our shed looking for some pictures and paperwork that Dave needed and I lifted a box, while standing sideways, that was very heavy and pulled the muscle in my side. Dave said I should have waited for help, I'm 50 now and can't lift that shit anymore, at 49 yes, but not a 50 year old grandma. Needless to say I have been hobbling around for the last 2 days. Danny brought some stuff home from work, Bio freeze, which is a pain relieving gel, and it really helped last night. This morning it isn't as sore.
Busy day today, will go to David Jr's for breakfast, Danny's parents for a snack, then to my Brother Mike's for the big Christmas dinner, my once a year prime rib fix.
Tomorrow, December 26th is Danny's 26th birthday, we will take him to breakfast then he has to work. In the afternoon Dave and I head off for LAX and will spend the night there and catch our flight Thursday morning back to Orlando.
The 26th is also my nephew Jimmy's 40th Birthday, So Happy Birthday to Jimmy and Danny.
Merry Christmas to all, will write when we get back to Orlando.

We are here in Bakersfield, got in last Monday, and the weather is cold, I need my Florida weather.Haven't even been here a week and already my tan is gone. We have just been hanging out all week, finishing up Christmas shopping and visiting with Kim and Danny.
Yesterday was my surprise birthday party but it wasn't a surprise, of course I found out, they just don't know how to surprise me. All though, I must say, Kim and Danny did give Dave and I a BIG surprise when we got here, Kim is pregnant 10 weeks now. They told us Monday night, right before she left for her 1st night shift,7pm to 7am. I think my jaw was still hanging to the ground when she left, she thought we were mad, no just in shock. Not only was I turning 50 the next day, now I was going to be 50 and a grandma, no I'm too young for this, boy talk about getting old, all in one day. We are very happy for them, and us, and everyone else involved in this, Danny's parents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, ect. It is going to be a great addition to the family.
Then Dave and I started thinking and talking about how does this effect our travels? We both agreed our travels will be put on hold for the next couple years, we want to be here to help out with what we can. We started looking around at houses but we are leaning towards a mobile home, double wide, like what my parents lived in. We are looking for very cheap, but in a nice area, we don't plan on staying in Bakersfield we still plan on going to Arizona but just not right now.
Back to my surprise party, once the family was all here we then had to manage to get them all in one room so we could tell them the news. Dave and I were not allowed to tell anyone until the majority of the family was told. Anyway, the only way to get the family or just anyone at a party together in one room is to start the food line, that always works. Once everyone was in the kitchen/dining room Kim and Danny wanted me to tell everyone, I started off with a little story, boy was I nervous, and when I got to the part about Danny wanting me to talk to Kim's belly, everyone knew, and the tears starting rolling down faces, I didn't even get to finish my story. Everyone was hugging them and congratulating them, the party really started going then. It was a lot of fun having everyone together and sharing the news with them, Kim and Danny were at first going to wait until Christmas Day to tell everyone, but none of us could hold in that good news any longer.
Danny's sister, Bibiana, had made me a birthday cake with a motor home decorated on it, cute picture and great tasting cake, I swear she should go into the baking business. When the cake was brought out we all then remembered it was my birthday party, not the Kim and Danny baby party, just kidding.
Caught up on my blog again, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.

From Dave
Since I have even more time on my hands being in Bakersfield I am going to add Feeds to the Blog. Since I have no idea how these feeds work I don't know what will happen. Just have to wait and see. Hope to see many of you while we are in California over the next 10 days.

Well today is Jeri's 50th birthday.

Happy Birthday Jeri

Sunday morning and nothing exciting to report. We are having tornado warnings around here but it missed us. Just lots of rain with thunder and lighting, I forgot to close the window by the couch so it got a little wet.
Dropped Valley off on Friday morning so I was a little depressed that day, just hope everything goes well with her. They took our coach again on Saturday and finished putting in our back camera, this time they put in a whole new system, will see if this one works.
That's it for now, after going to breakfast with Lee and Vicki this morning we will head out to the hotel, got all packed yesterday.
Don't know if I'll update the blog while we are gone, if not I'll write again when we get back.
Merry Christmas to all

It's Wednesday night and still here at Camp Monaco hanging out. Yesterday and today didn't get in much walking Valley is just worn out. Dave is either on his computer or checking on the RV so I have Valley all the time. Today he left for Wal-Mart and was gone almost 3 hours, it's against the law in Florida to leave your animal in the car so we both couldn't go. He ended up going to Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Staples ect. who the hell knows, but that's why he was gone so long. Sorry, I get a little stir crazy when I can't get away from Valley, 24 hours a day gets on my nerves.
We found out today our coach won't be done by Friday so we'll leave it here while we fly back to California. Something under the top step wasn't welded right and broke, that's why our step has been sinking in when you step on it. They ended up today taking out the steps that fold out when you open the door and they had to build us steps, which they did out of wood, so we would be able to get in and out of the coach, nice steps too, I'll get pictures. Valley likes them better then the ones we have, much easier for her to get in and out of the coach. The only good thing with the coach not being done is now we don't have to pay for a storage place to keep it while we are gone, Camp Monaco does it for free. With the way the stock market is going, anything we can get for free is great.
Lee and Vicki are going to Epcot tomorrow and leaving their dog, Fleetwood,at a kennel all day and over night they wanted us to go with them but since we are taking Valley to the hospital/kennel on Friday for the next 2 weeks there was no way I could take her to a kennel tomorrow. I know she is just a dog, but I can't do that to my Grand dog. The pet hotel that Lee and Vicki are using is really neat, the dogs have their own room, complete with a bed and I mean a real bed, head board and foot board, the cost is $32.00 a night, would love to leave Valley there the next two weeks but a bit to high for our budget. Anyway, that's it for now, will write again before we leave Camp Monaco on Sunday and go to the hotel so we can be at the airport bright and early on Monday.

It's Monday night and I thought I better do a little updating.
Saturday once we got to the Monaco plant we met a really nice couple, John and Barb who are full timing now too. They have an Endeavor, a little older then ours, and when John saw us pull in he was really liking our rig. They came over and Dave gave them a tour of the place, they were really interested in the new tile we had put in. They have 2 cats that travel with them and tile is something that really interest them and they would like to do. Barb went back home to finishing cleaning and John and Dave started talking computers, John then brought his computer over and Dave was trying to fix the sound on it but it didn't work. Then they started drinking wine, Barb was still cleaning and I was laying out then Vicki and Lee got here, the friends we travelled with in Canada. We all ended up getting together and sitting outside having a good time and talking, at 5:30, dusk, the mosquitoes came out and we were covered in no time, everyone went running for their coaches. That was the end of that get together, here at the repair facility is a really big pond, unkept, and has signs of warning about the alligators so I guess that's why all the bugs.
Sunday, we went out to breakfast with Lee and Vicki and drove around town, came back and hung around a little bit then drove over to "The Villages", which is a retirement community, or I should say an over 55 community, you have to have seen the commercials on TV. They talk about golfing free for the rest of your life on the Arnold Palmer and Nancy Lopez golf courses and parties and activities every day. Well it is all of that, we went and saw one of their real estate agents who took us around and showed us some of The Village. 10 years ago it only have 16,000 people there, it has now grown to 68,000 and they are still building. Just about everyone there drives golf carts, and they have some pretty fancy ones too. I would like somewhere like that to live, I think, because of all the sports stuff and activities, but I would like it to be a smaller community. Dave, I don't think, would like anything like that, he's not really into sports, walking hurts his knees, he does OK on bike riding, OK, lets face it, Dave doesn't like to work out. I told myself when I hit 60 I'm done too, not that all this walking is keeping me in good shape, my legs maybe, but wait, isn't Round a shape???
Today, Monday, they came and took the coach at 7:20am and we didn't get it back until almost 4pm, long damn day. This is the 1st time that we have been at a repair shop and Dave isn't working, now he is finding out how boring it is sitting around all day. There is no place to walk to, these places are always in the middle of nowhere, only large highways that you don't want to walk on or ride your bike on, plus you have your dog the whole time so it's not like you can go places, its a law in Florida that you can't leave pets in your car, but somehow I managed to walk 23,664 steps today, When I told Dave he said "Jeri" you are constantly walking around with the dog, you never relax. That probably explains why Valley was not walking around with me anymore after 3pm and she was very happy that we all went out to dinner tonight and she got alone time. We went out for Thai food in the "The Villages" and after walking around a little bit and seeing some of the entertainment, Vicki made a comment that it reminded her of being in a Stephen King Movie, just a weird feeling, and she hit the nail on the head. Before dinner we had stopped and talked to a couple that live in "The Villages" and they raved about the place, kind of sounded like the Stepford Wife's, Stephen King like Vicki said.
That's it for now, I've rambled on long enough.

It's Saturday now and we are at a new location, we now are at the Monaco Repair Facility in Wildwood, Fl. We came a day early because Dave started worrying about getting an RV site to camp in. This place isn't like the one in Oregon we normally go to, this one doesn't have assigned sites. Some people where we were staying said you better not wait until Sunday because that's when the people with the Monday appointments show up, some said we would have no problems waiting until Sunday. We didn't want to take a chance so we came today, and there are plenty of spots open, will see how it is tomorrow. We only have water and electric here so it's almost like dry camping.
Wednesday we did go to MGM and boy was it crowded. The place was OK mainly eating places and shops everywhere, the rides they did, which wasn't many, were OK one that was great we went on twice. The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror was the one we went on twice. The Rock 'n' Roller Coaster with Aerosmith was great too. The Drew Carey Show was stupid, anyway, we hung out there until around 3 then headed back to Disneyland to ride the stuff we missed. It's a small world, 3D Movie and the Hall of Presidents. We didn't stick around for the fireworks again, we wanted to beat the crowd out of the park.
Thursday we cleaned the outside of the coach and shopped. We were going to go see the Space Shuttle off but they keep having problems with it, I believe tomorrow is the last day they can try and get it off or else they have to wait for January.
Friday Dave finished the outside of the coach and we got it ready for today's travels. Last night we got together with some people we met a year ago last March at the Monaco Repair place in Oregon. Gene and Bobbie, great people, we are going to spend New Years with them at the Thousand Trails park we were just at. They have been full time RV'ers for 12 years now, so I want to talk to them about it, how they stay busy ect. Dave is having a hard time with not having anything to do so maybe they will have some tips for him.
That's it for now.

Its Tuesday night and I'm finally getting to relax. Today was clean day, since it didn't get done on Saturday or Sunday. Sunday, we went to check out the town of Clermont, we went to breakfast then did the Farmer's Market, got a few things, not much. Drove around town a little bit then came back home, jumped on our bikes and went checking out the new neighborhoods that are being built around here. One section is called Motor Home Houses, wait till you see the pictures, when Dave gets them posted. They are houses with very large carport things attached and that's where you park your RV, they have sewer, water and electric hookups and you can even open your slides, very neat.
Like I said earlier, today was cleaning day and I started out with defrosting the freezer. I'm standing there with the hair dryer, for heat, and chipping away at the ice build up in the freezer and I look over at Dave and he is ironing. I started laughing and he says "what?" I said here I am in the freezer chipping away and you are ironing? He said don't even put that in the blog, yea right, not me. Then I went out changed the oil in the car and Dave was sewing. Just kidding!!! couldn't resist.
We did work together and cleaned the inside of the coach, Thursday we will start on the outside.
Yesterday we did the touring thing again and went back to the Kennedy Space Center. we went and saw all the things we missed, the Imax movie was great. After leaving we hit the Astronaut Hall of Fame Museum which was very interesting to see. We even went on 2 rides they have there, the "G" forces you hit were something I've never done before.
Tomorrow, we are hitting MGM, will let you know how it all turns out.

Today is my sister-in-laws birthday, Happy Birthday Trini, 63 I believe, and you don't look a day older then 50. (do I get bonus points now)
Today is Saturday and yesterday we did go to Epcot all day, we got there when it opened at 9am and got back to the coach at 2pm. We stayed home for 2 hours, had a snack, I walked Valley around then we got back to Epcot at 4:30pm. We walked really fast to the Candlelight Processional and Massed Choir Program, which is in the American Gardens Theatre. They have a guest performer every 3 days to narrate the story of the Nativity, which we got to see Neil Patrick Harris, (Doogie Howser, M.D., or the show How I met your Mother" Very good show. They had over 400 performers including band members, the show was amazing. The fireworks show was on at 9:30pm which was very good and then we got home about 10:30 pm.
SORRY MIKE, I'M EMBARRASSING YOU BY BEING A TOURIST, we will be stopping this. We are spending a lot more money each month then want we are getting in. So needless to say, this Xmas is going to be small. The stock market isn't helping either, it's killing us right now.
Today was kick back day, was planning on cleaning but it just so happened it was garage sale day at 1000 trails. So Dave and I went walking around looking at stuff, got golf balls and a flag to hang outside the coach. Then we went bike riding around the park to look at the other people trying to get rid of their junk, met some folks that told us about a car show in Kissimmee. We went there this afternoon and had a good time, Dave will post pictures later, but they had some really neat cars, plus old town Kissimmee was kool to see.