How time flies.

We had a cold winter, January through March.  Our activities were the same as the past winters in Gulf Shores with a few exceptions.   On January 9th Judy had her right knee replacement operation which was quite successful.  Here she is prior to the operation.....anxious and ready to go.

And four hours later.

Physical therapy in the hospital went well.

And finally back home.

I made a trip to Michigan via Atlanta to connect with Jody so we could travel together.  Randy's best friend Chris Keefe died due to cancer so Jody and I went to the funeral and to support Randy.  I hate flying.  On the other hand we got to see and spend time with Randy and Devyn.  Big plus.

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Patches was real sick in March and we took her to the vet where she spent two days.  We thought we were going to loose her because her thyroid was WAY out of whack and she was not a happy kitty.  Fortunately some medications have her back where her thyroid belongs.  She is much better.

 

We also bought a new home.  Our health is not what it use to be and we are slowing down.  We want to be proactive and have a plan to leave the full time RV lifestyle.  We have been thrashing for two years between settling in Florida or Alabama or up by Jody in Georgia or the Carolinas.  We finally ruled out the north due to the colder weather and being unable to find suitable 55+ communities.  We decided that if it were Florida it would be in Elkton just south of St Augustine in a community called Coquina Crossing where Clayton and Pat live.  We wanted to make one final trip back to Florida before committing to Alabama but could not get a campsite for a week or month in April nor a reasonably priced motel room for a few days the end of March.  Add that to being chased out the last two years by hurricanes when we wanted to check out some Florida locations we felt the Lord and Florida was telling us not to go there.  We signed papers and gave a deposit on a new two bedroom 1115 sq ft home in The Grove on Foley the day before we left Alabama.  After spending time in the models we have it pretty much configured, we'll finish the configuration and documentation as we travel the next few weeks and the broker will order it.  We expect it will arrive this summer and it will be finished in October or November which is good timing for us.  Our next decision will be to keep our HitchHiker home of the past eleven years or sell it and the F350.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

It's been very very busy.  I had a cold or sinus infection that took a couple weeks but that's life.   Judy and I are in charge of the Sunday evening euchre game here at Gulf Breeze RV.......

Randy trailered his Harley down and spent night with us in the RV and the next day Renato and Jody and the kids arrived for a week.  They are all staying in a condo on the beach in Gulf Shores.  Devyn flew to Florida to visit her mom, then to San Antonio to see Dan and his Air Force boot camp graduation, then flew into Mobile to spend Christmas with the family.

 Here we are at the Shimp Basket before Devyn's arrival

Here's granny, mom and the kids on the balcony.

And in the daytime it looks like this.

 

Relaxing.....

The following are Christmas morning a day before Devyn's arrival.

 

 

 

We had another Christmas when Devyn arrived.....

 Randy got a hair brush for bald men.

 

Dustin get LOTS of Star Wars hot cars.  The weather was good the first couple days the kids were here but after that it turned very cold.  We all went to see the new Star Wars movie one afternoon.

Maria likes to paint and draw, Devyn got a soccer ball painting.

Randy gets a painting of Devyn.

 Making Christmas cookies.

                                                               Our granddaughters.

 

Thanksgiving in Flowery Branch

Judy and I drove to Flowery Branch to spend Thanksgiving with Jody, Renato and the three kids.  It was chilly outside but we enjoyed spending time with the gang......plus their four dogs.  I'm finally updating the blog on January 7 to finish 2017 so my old memory isn't recalling the details of the trip.
Before we made the trip we went to Underwoods for some pecans like we do every year.  We use to go to a place called Broken Branch but their nuts are not as good so we changed last year.

 

Ten pounds of cracked nuts are $40.  We shell them and put them in the freezer so they last a year.

Before we left for Flowery Branch Judy always gets herself prepared.....

Here's our neighbors Christmas lights viewed from our door and the lights and garland we have inside our RV giving us a little festive mood.  And of course our Christmas tree.

 

 

Renato has really changed their home by working on the basement, he's added two bedrooms, a bathroom, a den, and storage space.  The girls are living down there and all three kids play down there and that has made the upstairs MUCH quieter.  Renato is also working on the back porch (below) by enclosing it and making it into year around living space.

Here I am with the Georgia gang.  That's Bertha photo bombing us.

I had my 71st birthday while we were with them.  Cake, I like cake!

Here's Judy with the kids after making pumpkin and pecan pies.  Pie, I like pie!

And here we are having our Thanksgiving dinner.

The official Brasil 2017 Christmas picture.

After Thanksgiving we went to St Augustine and Ocala.  We stayed with Clayton and Pat for 2 or 3 nights visiting them and checking out places to settle down.  We visited one 55+ community in Satsuma, FL where one of out Gulf Shores snowbird friends just bought a place.  It's on the St Johns River and very peaceful, I liked it.  Judy ruled it out as being too remote.....Publix was 29 minutes away.  We checked out another community in Flagler Beach which we liked but their lot rents are pretty close to those of Coquina Crossing where Clayton & Pat live and we think their community is better plus has an indoor pool.  We stuck around another day so a broker could show us several homes there in Coquina Crossing.  Decisions, decisions and decisions.  After this we went to Ocala for two nights to visit my sister Bev.  She's been there 2 years now and really likes it, even the summers.

 

 

 

 

Judy's getting better

Judy stopped the pain pills a couple weeks ago and is slowly getting better.  Her next doctor appointment is late next week.  We have gone out to eat a few times and she drove the truck to abbreviated water aerobic sessions last week.  She's slower than a rabbit but a tad faster than a turtle.  We put her walker away today.  Here she is on October 17th for her birthday.  She covers her leather chair so it's not so cold.

Our friends are arriving, Don & Zola got here a little over a week ago, Kay & Charlie arrived 3 days ago, and we are parked next to Joe & Sharon.  Craig & Jenny arrived the day before we did.  Ron & Roberta stopped for 3 nights on their way to Florida so we all went to Mikee's to celebrate.

The OWA Indians are building a large park with a Marriott motel, roller coasters and many more rides.  I suspect that their will also be a casino eventually.

 

 

 

Our park's activities started November 1 so I have played poker twice, Judy's water aerobics started and tonight we host the first night of euchre. 

Our RV Armor roof was redone Friday and Saturday.  They have been out twice in the past to repair several small cracks or peeling areas and when it reoccurred they added a fabric mesh and two coats of their roofing material to the entire roof for what should be the ultimate repair.

Diagnosis!

Here we are a couple weeks ago cheering Devyn on.  GO DEVYN!  GO COMETS!   GO OLIVET COLLEGE!!  The ladies soccer team is 7-4 in their conference and 9-5 overall.

We were at South Baldwin Medical Center Monday morning for Judy's first test of the week to determine what her hip problem is.  It was a bone scan.  The techs said the doctor will have something to work with so that was encouraging.  We returned Wednesday bright and early for removal of some hip fluid for analysis.  Prior to the start it was cancelled so we went home and soon after Dr Roberts called and told Judy she has a fractured pelvis. The fracture is in the shape of the letter H, very common.  We meet with him next Thursday for THE recovery plan.  No surgery, time will heal.  We think her winter activities are pretty much shot until January.  It's pretty boring with the days biggest activity being flopping between the bed and recliner.  This medical issue is helping us make the decision to leave the RV lifestyle settle down.

Merry Christmas everyone.  Must be that time of the year.  I stopped in a dollar store for milk and they were placing Christmas decorations on the shelf, we've seen TV ads for Christmas lights, and the TV shopping channels are selling Christmas stuff.  Merry Christmas y'all.  

Gulf Shores for the winter

We left Jody & Renato's place September 26, we braved the Atlanta traffic taking the east side bypass which saved 2 hours and 100 miles if we were to take back roads to avoid Atlanta.  It wasn't bad at all, much better than the direct route through downtown.  Due to the 2 hours saved and gaining another hour entering the Central Time Zone we decided to push all the way to Gulf Shores rather than stop overnight half way.  Seven hours and 396 miles later we arrived at Gulf Breeze RV Resort.

And what was the first thing we did the next day, AFTER breakfast at Krystal's....Judy got to do laundry.  She's outside relaxing below.

We also made a fast pass by the beach.

And that was the end of Judy's fun!  She had an appointment with Dr Roberts Monday morning (10/2) to schedule a knee replacement.  After breakfast and checking out the beach one of the hips that was replaced 4 years ago is causing her lots of trouble.  She's been down (in bed or her recliner) and popping pain pills so when we visited the Dr (using her walker) he focused on her hip.  He gave her a shot and scheduled two tests at the hospital next week to diagnosis the problem.  He also gave her a new stronger pain pill prescription.  We'll return 10/19 to Dr Roberts to see what he plans.  Meanwhile Judy is bored silly staying inside not being able to do the active things she's use to.  And she hurts. 
In the meantime tropical storm or hurricane Nate will arrive tomorrow (10/7) night.  We will close up the HitchHiker by bringing the slides in, fill all the tanks for weight down low, disconnect the water & sewer tomorrow and go next door to the Staybridge Suites motel which is hurricane resistant.  We aren't concerned about the water surge or 6" of rain but the winds are currently forecast to be 65 to 70 mph and Nate's forecast to hit land just west of us as a category 1 hurricane.  Tomorrows forecast should be more accurate.  We plan to return to our home Sunday after it's past us.  Stay tuned for updates!