Happy Birthday Randy!!!!!!! We love you!

Randy's birthday is today but Devyn is with her mom so we had a small celebration earlier this week.  Judy came up with the idea to reverse Randy's 41 to Devyn's 14 as her birthday in April 10.
Randy has been working on the house and having some work done thinking he's sell it & downsize but is rethinking that as Devyn will be off to college in 4 1/2 years so that might be the better time to move....somewhere.

Dick's old Gator and Clayton's old trailer have been getting a workout (has been since Randy has had them) hauling wood from behind the pole barn into the garage so we can stay warm.  It's been down into the teens the last couple nights but is warming now into the 20s at night and 30s daytime.

                                                         The birthday boy yesterday!

Devyn's soccer tournament

            A VERY chilly soccer (read Devyn) fan!  This was during Sundays game which they won.

We arrived Saturday afternoon in time to watch the late afternoon game, which they lost.  The weather was OK; chilly, cloudy and windy.

                                                          Pops and daughter in the hotel.

                                              Yes, it's ugly up here this time of the year!

Michigan here we come???

As you can see Patches is ready for a trip to Michigan.  We have decided to visit Randy & Devyn in Onsted with a stop in Cincinnati to watch Devyn in a soccer tournament.  We'll be up there for 2 weeks, return to Gulf Shores to get our home, make a stop in Biloxi to see Jody & Renato then tow north.  We should get back to MI mid April when the campgrounds open.  Leaving the trailer in AL allows us to not have to winterize it and we can stay in Randy's place with the hope it will be warm, enough for us, in mid April.  Who knows, maybe we could get into the pasture without getting stuck.
Jody & Renato's place has sold and they are doing a rapid move.  Closing is March 22, they have 2 PODS and Renato is busy loading them, they have a furnished place rented in Long Beach, MS,  Jody's last work day in MS is the end of April, she got an early out.  She is planning on starting work in Georgia in early July so I suspect they will be up there in May.
Randy is not sure if he'll sell his place or keep it.  It fixed up the way he likes it so future work should be simple.  When Devyn graduates from high school in 4+ years who knows what he'll do?  The fellow has lots of options.   

Big Daddy's & Biloxi trip to help pack for a move

Monday we joined the local HitchHikers (plus Don & Zola) for our weekly luncheon.  We went to Big Daddy's on the Fish River.

 

Wednesday morning we had breakfast at Krystals then continued to Biloxi.  Jody & Renato were working this week so we started to pack their house for their move.  They have accepted a good offer on their house and are planning on storing their belongings and renting a furnished place for a few months until they relocate to the Atlanta area in August.  A sale isn't done until the closing but everything is moving along well and quickly.
Patches was keeping a close eye on us to be sure she wasn't boxed for storage.

On the way back this afternoon traffic was backed up at the I10 tunnel under Mobile Bay so we got off and went through Mobile and stopped to take a picture of Carnival's Triumph.  It's still here and being worked on.  Anyone for a cruise?

Azalea's & strawberries

Spring arrived a couple weeks ago, except for the weather.  The Azaleas have been in bloom and two weeks ago local strawberries were for sale.  Judy reports that the berries are almost as good as Michigan strawberries.
The weather has been poor, cool and wet, much more than past years.  The next couple nights it's going to be in the mid 30s!
We have been socializing with seven HitchHiker couples plus Don & Zola the past few weeks. 
We are starting to prepare for departing Gulf Shores three weeks from today.  We have done some maintenance on the trailer and truck, yesterday used the hydraulic levelers to lift the trailer off the ground to remove a wheel that had a leaky valve stem.
It's starting to get too busy around here for us, the U of FL and U of AL are on spring break and we really notice it with busy roads and restaurants.
Judy's new hip is doing great, wish her old hip was too!  The doctor gave her a clean bill of health a couple weeks ago and we are hoping the old hip will get better now that she can use her new hip all the time.

HitchHiker lunches

Now that Judy has visited the doctor and received the OK to get out and about we have been going out to lunch with our HitchHiker friends.  At the top we were at Mikees and below at LA BBQ.  Next week it's El Paso for lunch.  We do sneak more small gatherings in each week.

Get me otta here!

She spent 4 days in the hospital.  They had her up and walking the day after her operation and here she is ready to go home.  She has to walk on her tip toe (right foot) for one month so she doesn't put too much weight on her new hip so she'll be using a walker.  A visiting nurse and physical rehab will be coming to her in our HitchHiker.