February ends BeaUtifully

Boy I got well just in time for this

GREAT end of February weather.

Here's what I love about Virginia. 

No time to post more, have to get back outside!

Hope it's this wonderful where you are!

Under the.......

Well I've been under the weather since early Tuesday AM.

I haven't been sick with anything....nope....nothing....nada for over 4 years. 
Not even a cold

That is until I went to my nephew's daughter's first birthday party on Saturday
which changed all that. 
Apparently I was not the only one brought down by the StOMach FLU.

Spent 24 hours from about 1am Tuesday morning on the floor in the bathroom
if you know what I mean. 

The worst was over in about 15 VERY LONG hours

but for 4 more days this is what I've been doing. 

That is until yesterday when I finally came out from under the covers
to see if life was still going on.  

Eating almost nothing for 4 days is definitely n0t
a weight loss program I would recommend.
 

But I have to thank all my  wonderful friends who kept

calling, emailing and bringing me food
to make sure I was and stayed alive. 

Even when I could hardly answer the phone

and couldn't possibly answer the door.  

My refrigerator now boasts gallons of Gatorade,

tons of white rice, applesauce and crackers. 

Wanna drop by for dinner?

Be careful out there.  This stomach virus is a vicious one
and you DEFINITELY
don't want it.

Well then, How about food?

I’m hoping to get caught up 

on posting about all the

good things that ARE happening

while the frustration over Winnona's tires

and the house furnace continues.

Actually just attempting to keep my mind

off of how TRYING it all is

 I was surprised that not one person

had a comment about line dancing. 

Y'all don't know

what yur missin'.

But maybe you're more interested in

food so here's a tale of

my Wednesday good food date.

Once a month

on the 3^rd Wednesday,

my friend Helen and I go down to the bottom of the hill

to the Savour Restaurant for lunch.

See the Savour?

See Helen Point...point Helen point...

We walked down this past Wednesday

on a gorgeous day

and once again each had one of the dozen or so items

on their lunch menu.

 

We figure we’ve almost worked our way

through the entire menu

and have had some things multiple times

because they are SO good.

This week Helen chose the Lamb Pie.

which we thought was a new entrée

Either that or we both have memory fatigue.

 

I’m not much for lamb so

I had this delicious chicken salad

 

Savour is a lovely place.

Is the fire great, even though it

was in the 60's outside amazingly.

.

 

We love going there and chatting about what’s up with each of us. 

Or in my case whining about the problem of

getting GOOD HELP. 

We talk about my travels to be and

questionable progress on getting there,

the new house she’s building out in the country,

the affairs of her labs Paxton and Piatt,

her fall trip to Ireland

and everything else under the sun.

It's a once a month gig that I really look

forward to.  We were especially lucky

that the weather on Wednesday was fabulous

and walking back I took a shot of the 

beautiful shape of this sycamore tree.

One thing I DO like about winter is

that you can see the beautiful bones and

shapes of the trees.

 

Fun Times

Thought I’d put up some things I do in the evenings

after I’m sick and tired

of sorting and boxing.  

So here are some good friends and the fun

I’ll miss

when I’m back on the road.

(count down is 40 days)

On Mondays,

(even on Valentine's Day)

I’ve been

line dancing

with my friend Pam

(of 4 dogs in the bed fame).

Olivia is our fearless big hearted leader.

Sometimes we aren’t quite in step.

Although Pam’s got the hand action and my camera couldn’t keep up

 

And sometimes we are just turning

our backs on the whole thing.

But I love it and the country music we dance to.

Check out one of the pairs of cowboy boots I wear.

And NO those boots aren’t getting tossed or donated

These are travelin’ boots.

 

Anybody else love to line dance

or own cowboy boots??

Be sure to let me know so we can plan to meet up

and do some HIGH STEPPIN!!

PS.

Out of time now

so my Wednesday and Thursday fun

will have to wait until next time. 

Ya’ll come back now.  Ya’ heah??

LOVE her the MOST

We decided to head over to Richmond to what I had come to think of as the best of the 5 RV shows in Virginia.   Notice I said

 had come to think…………

The show is about an hour away and

we decided to make

a splurge day of it

so first we stopped at the

Tip Top

A GREAT Diner

and had a fabulous

eggs, bacon, home fries and biscuits breakfast. 

YUMMMMMM!!!!! 

 

Then we made a quick stop at Subway

to pick up one of their $5 footlongs

to split for lunch

knowing from experience

about RV Show food.

I have a TERRIBLE time

trying to decide what sandwich, which bread
and then what to put on it.

Don’t you think that's just

TOO MANY CHOICES!!

Actually I wish there were fewer choices in life PERIOD.

Don't get me started on the CEREAL AISLE.

But despite the choices, we made it to the show.

 

I had hoped to find a few particular things

at the vendor booths but it took less than

15 minutes to walk by them all.

Few seemed to be selling RV equipment.

Mostly what we saw were sales for

Virginia campgrounds

and things that didn’t seem to be

AT ALL RV RELATED

……..like the horrible ZCoil shoes
and some sort of cookware.

I almost literally ran into the Geico Gecko.
Didn't think to get his autograph....

 

We have Geico insurance

And they have been just splendid for years

and through several uses of their claims service

including the recent Winnona BOO BOO..
(yes this is definitely an endorsement and no I don't get a cut)

Of course this iS Virginia

so there had to be

BLUE GRASS MUSIC. 

AND bare feet.

We went inside lots of the RVS….

this picture is for Gin & Syl………

the 2011 Winnebago Tour

an exception to most of what I saw

in that it had an attractive interior
which appeared to be well made.
Just TOO BIG for me.

Although notice that one would be owner with hand on brow
is SWOONING!!

 

We ate lunch while watching a presentation

on the history of RVing in the US. 

David Woodworth had some GREAT slides of

RVs from his own collection. 

He has 27000 pieces of camping equipment

and hundreds of vintage RVs

that he keeps in a storehouse in California.

He rents model T's at his B&B the Tin Lizzie Inn

located just outside Yosemite National Park

and has taken his daughters

on RV trips in one pulling a vintage trailer.

A VERY interesting VERY talkative guy.

 

 

Anyone for a class A vintage 1918??

The driver's seat is looking out

the window, after, of course,

Pulling back the draperies!!

I think you can see his face in the first photo.

This one is parked and yes, that is the FRONT

and those are the HEADLIGHTS!

How about a 5^th wheel??

 

Do you know how the 5^th wheel got its name??

 

Because the hitch fit in the trunk

INSIDE the spare tire.

The 5^th wheel!!

The slide show was a lot of fun

But so were the other folks at the show.

Not positive but it appears to be a Yorkie riding in style

 

What a look I got from Ms. Dogwood Winnie

What?  You don’t want your picture taken HON?

Lighten up, you'll be famous.

 

But in everything we saw from

Truck Campers to

Diesel Pushers,

I couldn’t find anything

I liked as well as Winnona. 

She just has all the things I want

 in my home on the road

including two fabulous pantry pull out shelves

which I couldn’t find in any other coach. 

The Fleetwoods had two

but the long narrow cabinets

didn’t pull out.  

ARE YOU KIDDING? 

How in the world

would you find the things in the very back?
Take everything out????
My arm won't even reach that far.

We went inside many 5^th wheels
but the only one I really liked

had a floor plan similar to Howard & Linda’s.

Now do bear in mind that I was just looking at
what I’d want to live in,
NOT at any of the mechanics.

The dealers seem to have decided
that central Virginian’s are no longer
interested in coaches costing $300K and up
(wonder what was their first clue?)

and this was the first show I’ve been to
where there were NONE.

But even in the most expensive coaches on the floor
the inside seemed cheap

and plywood was far too evident.   

The wood was dark, the fabrics were dark
and thus the coaches were very dark  inside.  

What’s up with that?? 

I wasn’t the only one commenting about the darkness inside.

 (yes I WAS eavesdropping)

 

I was pleased to find that Winnebagos still had very solid
workmanship and design although none of them said

 “Trade Winnona in for me”.

I left the show thinking that I probably won’t go to any more shows unless I just “happen”

to be at Hershey or Tampa when they are scheduled.  

But it really is GRAND to go to a show

and compare everything to what you have and

come away being SO HAPPY

that your home is one you

love the most.

FoRWaRd and BaCK

Seems like ONE step forward

Two steps BACK

We’ve been trying to set up

 Doctor’s appointments

For Winnona to  take care of

her boo boo

 

and

get her some new shoes

First

we had to pick a doc for each of these

And that required phone calls

And more calls

To find out who has

the experience

And

the recommendations

And

the space

And

the time

And the…………………..

FINALLY

We find the hospital but they

Only have one bay large enough

For herself.

That’s OK we still have plenty

Of time.

SO

We wait.

They’ll call us when they

Finish with the big rig they are working on.

And we wait

They don’t call

We DO call them

And they’ve had delays

And we wait

And they DON’T call

And you get the picture.

SO

Three weeks later,

we call choice #2

and they can take us right away

Hooray

They are a bigger shop

with more bays

We’ve had some dealings with them before

So off she goes to the hospital

After talking with the doctor,

he confirmed

That her boo boo is going to be 

MUCH

more expensive to fix

than I could ever have imagined

for such a

small ding.

The doc says about a week to get it all

replaced,

repaired

and repainted.

Who would have thought something that small

would be such

a big deal. 

Be extra careful in those campgrounds

especially with the site posts is my advice.

The biggest problem seems to be in getting

The decals on an “older model”

(as in 2004) 

Ah for full body paint….

I think….

or would that be even MORE expensive??

Of course, the day, we take her in,

shop #1 finally calls and says,

how about tomorrow.  

Sorry bud, too little, too late.

OK then…

Boo Boo repair settled,

things are lookin’ up

But what about

new shoes??

Back to the phone,

Same story………here’s what we want

Can you do it?

When can you do it?

How much will it cost?

Does it include A, B, C???

First degree cauliflower ear is setting in

BUT

We found the place,

Hooray!

Good price, good experience

We’re all set,

BUT

They don’t have enough shoes her size in stock

some of her shoes have to be ordered.

Her feet are SO BIG and so MANY!

Although not THIS big thank goodness

 

That was last week,

Monday the shop shoeman called

and said

he couldn’t get the shoes

SIGH

Back to square #1.

MORE phone calls

Can YOU get them?  

Are you SURE?

When can you get them?

What is the ALL inclusive Price??

I sure do wish she could go to Gin and Syl’s Shoeman

ALAS

 making an appointment 200 miles away

seems a bit extreme

even to me.

BUT  determination

WILL WIN the prize

and

both our girls will be sporting their dancing shoes

when they meet in the Smokies

for the RV-Dreams Rally in April.

Or at least I HOPE Winnona will.

She was supposed to out of the hospital tomorrow

With her new  “front end”.

And go directly to shoe store #2

Some 30 miles away

BUT…..the doctor called

AND

Two decals are missing

Have to be ordered………

Then the  Tireman Called

Tires are in……….

“What’s the Date on these Tires”

“Ah……….week 40 2008”

WHAT?????

“I don’t think so”.

Back to the warehouse.

“HOW much longer to get the shoes??”

ANOTHER WEEK??

Patience IS a virtue…….Patience is a Virtue….Patience IS….

Wish her and us luck!!

AND

Let me know

if this saga is familiar to you,

Maybe it will make me feel better,

Misery loves company??????????????