THE CRAZY CRUZERS ARE HEADING WEST!: APRIL 2015

It is time to close out April and it's really hard to do when the blogger can only concentrate on the May 11th departure date for her summer trip with her wonderful husband!

The garden bed at the side of the house is coming along fabulously! The trees, bushes, and roses are enjoying their new residency. The new plants are also thriving, and the bulbs I planted on April 4th are popping up everywhere. This morning's count was 26 (today is May 7). When they really "pop", there will be irises of various colors! I am hoping that at least one will bloom before we leave! I planted 60!

On April 30th I headed south to Stuart and Port St. Lucie to visit friends and family. It was a quick trip, but it afforded me the opportunity to bring my parents here to SummerGlen to see the house and Ocala in general. On our way north, my Mom noticed a sign for "Inverness" and she said their friend George Torrone lived there. They had not seen George for many, many years, so we got his number (from his 96-year-old mother in New Jersey) and made plans to see him on Saturday, May 2nd. It was a great visit for all of us. George was my Dad's friend who got him hooked on classic cars and buying a 1949 Ford, which he still has! I was really happy to have my parents here and vice versa. I didn't want to leave on our summer journey without staying true to my promise of them getting here.

The April 30-May 3 weekend also brought us to Vero on our way home to have lunch with our dear friend Jim Thompson. As always, it is wonderful to see Jim. He has truly retired from officiating all sports. A standing ovation from The Coste Family! Hey Jim, if you get bored, you could always get a motorhome and you and Lois could travel with us!

During my trip to Port St. Lucie, I was able to visit my niece Angela who just had her third baby. I must say, she has her hands full but she is handling it very well. I wasn't able to see my brother or my sister-in-law because they do something horrible during the daytime ... work! LOL!

The past few days we have been getting the RV ready for its journey. We had an awning installed on the driver's side over two windows. This has made a big difference in giving that area more shade. We have had the generator serviced. Thom has worked on the air conditioners, cleaning them out, as well as replacing a vacuum breaker valve to the water system. He has also renovated the ladder connection on the back of the RV, and we are now looking for an aluminum 6' ladder. We've been cleaning and purging the storage areas inside and in the basement. It's interesting to see all the "stuff" we have carried with us and never used but thought we would!

Tomorrow (05/08), I am having my lady friends from my Thursday afternoon cards group over to the RV for an early happy hour! They are very curious to see what our home on wheels is truly like! I so enjoy their company!

Thom's baseball season has come to an end. He had a great run this year. He will miss a lot of the pre-football season stuff here in Marion County due to our travels but has let them know he'll be back and will be registered to work. Thank goodness the guy (Ted) who is the Football Director for the MCOA was also on his baseball crew and they hit it off real well.

Erica and Philip continue to do well and are happy in their careers. I hear horror stories about problems some folks have with their adult children ... we are so blessed to have two wonderful kids!

I will end this blog with photos. The next blog will begin Monday, May 11th when we head west! We are so excited to see more of this beautiful country of ours! This journey will bring us to parts unknown because we have no plan other than knowing we have to be in Deer Park, Washington the end of June and in Iowa the end of July! This should be interesting if not entertaining!

Until I blog again ...