Where's Wanda (and John) Now?

We finally left Brandon in our RV this morning.  We had a few delays – the power inverter went out just as we were preparing to leave on Wednesday and it took John a few days to get it right, but he fixed it just like he’s fixed everything so far.  Way to go John!  We traveled about 5 hours today and ended up at an Elks lodge in Tallahassee FL.

Tomorrow we head north through Alabama and into Tennessee.  Not sure how far we’ll get but I’ll be trying to blog each day so everyone can keep track of where we are.  Our furthest destination on this trip will be South Dakota.  Then we’ll head south and east from there on the way back.  That’s the plan but we’re rolling with whatever happens between now and then 🙂

John has been practicing with a new DJI Mavic Air drone.  It’s going to be really cool when we hit the road and capture awesome videos of the places we’re visiting.  This was taken at St. Pete beach near our place.  Me and my sister Kim in the staring role 🙂  We’re finally ready to leave for the big trip and the plan is to take off this coming Wednesday and head to Nashville first.  From there we’re going north west to South Dakota and the Bad Lands with lots of stops along the way of course.  We’re both really excited and so is Big Guy!

I took the video below on my iPhone :-). The beach is just so beautiful at sunset.

 

We’ve unpacked almost all of our moving boxes and are starting to feel at home. John pulled up the carpet in the second bedroom and put down a new Pergo floor that looks awesome.  He set up his office in there and we also set up a hobby box where I can store all my hobby materials.  It’s so cool. It folds in and looks like a closet but when it’s opened up it looks like this

I took a quick trip up north for a visit.  I flew into Allentown PA on Saturday and spent time with my son Josh and then came down to NJ to stay with Leah.  Today I went into the BMS office and our team went out to lunch to celebrate my retirement.  It was so nice to enjoy a delicious lunch with the people I’ve worked with and it was a wonderful reminder of how lucky I’ve been in my 18 year career at BMS.  It was my last day in the office and there was a lot of laughing and some tears (I held it together most of the day but lost it in the elevator on my way out).  There are some things I won’t miss but I will miss the friends I made and the fun we all had together.  I’ll be heading back to St Pete Beach on Thursday and John and I will be starting to plan more of the big trip.  Stay tuned for more!

We took Big Guy to the beach (Fort De Soto dog park) for the first time in his life.  John said it was on his bucket list but he was not very impressed.  He walked away from the water and didn’t go back.  He did however enjoy the beautiful walk to and from the beach and so did we 🙂

We’ve moved from the Elks RV park into our condo in St. Pete beach.  John was working on the RV right up until the last minute.  He added solar panels to the roof and no one was injured in the process!

The RV is now tucked away in the storage area behind the Elks Lodge for a few months until we’re ready to take off on the big adventure which will probably be sometime in early June.  We’ve been having fun exploring the St Pete Beach area and last night we went down to the beach with some friends and we got to ring the sunset bell.

We’re looking forward to settling into our new home and to the beginning of our RV adventure.  Happy Easter to everyone!

John and I have been trying to figure out how to add a workspace to our limited space in the RV.  After living in it for several weeks we’ve noticed what we’re really using and what we’re not.  We had two chairs at one end of the main room but mostly used just one of them, so we decided to take out a chair and replace it with a small desk, office chair and file cabinet.   It fits perfectly! and is a much better use of the space. Now our papers have an organized place and we have a printer and a work station which makes John very happy :-).  I have the dining table all to myself for crafts so everyone wins!

I’ve been at the Elks Lodge RV park for less than a week and I already feel right at home here.  The other RVer’s are extremely friendly and involve us in all kinds of activities.  All of them include food, drinks and good conversation.  Today I made a cute dessert for a get-together at the lodge.  They were serving hamburgers and French fries so I thought I would do a sweet version.  I was able to work in the big kitchen and it was great having all that space too work in.

The ‘buns’ are vanilla cupcakes and the ‘hamburger’ is a brownie.  I used colored frosting for the condiments, white sprinkles for the sesame seeds and sliced sugar cookies for the French  fries.  They were easy to put together and so much fun to make.

John and I are both volunteering for the Veterans Job Fair that will be held at the Elks Lodge on March 7th and are looking forward to it.

We’re lucky to be located very close to family here in Florida.  My brother Jay and his wife Marchelle live near Brandon and we joined them for dinner last night.  We’ll be hanging out with my sister Kim and brother in law Jad tomorrow near St Pete Beach.  It’s great to be able to spend time with the FL folks!

John flew up to Geneseo NY on Thursday Feb 15 and we were married on Saturday Feb 17 in the most wonderfully amazing venue surrounded by friends and family.  More on that later.   The following day we hit the road around 11:30 am and drove all the way through to Florida. We took turns driving and sleeping (except for Big Guy, he just slept the whole way) and arrived at the Elks Lodge RV park by 10:30 Monday morning.  I’ve settled in and feel right at home here.  I’m hooked up to the internet and working remotely until the end of March when I’ll be officially retired.

Below are some of our favorite pictures from the wedding which took place at the historical mansion called the Wadsworth Homestead.  Click here to see a video of the venue.  We had a short ceremony followed by a delicious dinner.  After dinner we played a great game with everyone and it was team Tiger for the win!  When we left the Wadsworth sometime later it had just started to snow – big fat flakes that came down slowly like the end of a Hollywood movie.  So perfect for a magical night.  Back at the hotel afterwards, a bunch of people decided to go bowling at the lanes right next to the hotel so we ended the night with some bowling fun.    Thank you to everyone that made the trip up to NY to share in the experience with us.  We feel like the luckiest couple in the world to have shared the day with the special people in our life.

 

 

 

John made it safely to Florida and the RV is parked at the Elks lodge RV park in Brandon.

He’s been hanging out with Walter, his good friend and partner from his NYPD days and will be working on adding some things to the RV for our big trip.

I’ve been hanging out with my mom and her young friends.  Tonight we had dinner at the American Legion and it was delicious!  That’s my mom in the lower right.  They were taking about the ‘old lady’ that crashed into the post office in town today.  So funny!

Big Guy is adjusting to all of the animals and chaos here.  I know it’s hard for him because he can’t really see anymore so he’s not sure if he’s running into cats or the dog or the walls.  At least he’s sleeping well!

 

 

John made it all the way to South Carolina today.  He’s staying in St. George SC at Jolly Acres RV park tonight and tomorrow night and will leave Saturday morning for the remainder of the trip.

He says he’s doing well but he misses me really bad! Things are going fine here at my moms.  Big Guy is settling in and getting used to the cats.  No snow here but it’s about to get really cold.  So while John is getting warmer, we’re getting ready to freeze!  I’ll post more pics from John as soon as he sends them.