GRW RALLY, SATURDAY NOVEMBER 7 2015

Good morning! We should be attending the served hot breakfast but Mark (and Robbie) are asleep! So, I'm going to eat a slice of Cheesy Hashbrowns! (Thanks Dawn!)

Our local weather ... 72F now with a high of 82. Great! Ebay sales began ... 2 hours later, 28 items sold! 

Lunch is being served now in the Pavilion ... followed by open bar 2:30-4:30. We're being spoiled. (Ruth says we're "Party Animals"). Yep. 

We earned our 1st flag ... just by attending this RV Rally. Easy-peasy!

Gold Club ... gold shoes??? LOL

We made some new RV friends ... Tom & Sally from Ocala ...

and Bob & Mary from Tavares!

Tonight's dinner and entertainment was great. The BeatleManiacs were fun ... lots of crowd participation! 

The blokes are a good tribute band! Several costume changes for the different Beatles albums. They play the cruise ships regularly! Lots of fun!

We came home about 9:15 to see Robbie. He was ready for a walk and some fun!

Let's PLAY BALLY! 

SARASOTA FRIDAY NOVEMBER 6, 2015

Wow! We slept like logs! Perfect. I was first out of bed and laughed to see Robbie upside down in his bed, still conked out. 

Well, good morning! Its forecast to be another scorcher. Yesterday broke a weather record ... is this the new 'normal'? Whew!

After a big breakfast of Dawn's "Cheesy Hashbrowns" eggs and bacon we went poking about the new models. The only floorplan I thought "agreeable" was 377BAR Hemisphere 5th wheel. As usual, we like ours BETTER, still. Haha. It's always fun to look!

Mark and I played Rummikube, 3 rounds, this afternoon. It's similar to Rummy, but no cards, tiles instead. 

At 2 pm we hitched a golf cart ride to the Pavilion for "Open Bar" and Corn Hole contest. It looks like a good game ... but we watched! After a few Dewar's we hitched another ride back to our RV. 

Mark installed two (replacement) smoke detectors. Safety is his main concern!

Er, "What are you standing on Mark!!!"

It's now 5:15 and time for Happy Hour! 

This rally event has been first class! Dinner was served ... then the show started! Savannah Jack was "wow"! Excellent singer, talented musicians and very funny. They started at 7 ... no breaks ... and still playing when we left at 9:20. 

If you get a chance to see Savannah Jack, go. They're from Nashville ... playing on several cruise ships this winter.

We came home at 9:30 to walk Robbie. 

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 5, 2015

Yay! It's road trip day! We left home at 9:55 for our 134 mile journey. Just as we left home, Dawn & Randy phoned to see how our trip was going. (We had planned to be on the road by 9 am!) They have shopping to do today, then Dawn works Friday & Saturday, off Sunday. Randy plans to repaint the master bathroom tomorrow. He painted it yellow, but they have decided they wanted the same colors as the master bedroom.  

After 1 stop along the way, we arrived at Sun 'n Fun Resort and were immediately ushered to our site 178 near the lake and walking path, all by 1 pm. Nice! The neighbor who pulled in behind us is from Eustis, right near us. 

Happy Hour was 5:30-6:30, open bar. Yer haw. Haha. Everyone was lined up for cocktails while champagne was poured and ready. Yeah; we went for champagne; several glasses. Dinner was very good! The salad, great! 

Although we talked with others, we made our own fun and even danced! (Once!)

Sue and Wayne would have danced all night; great band! It was a very nice evening!

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 4, 2015

It's a lovely 73F this morning ... 88 forecast by 1 pm with a thunderstorm by 2 pm to cool us down. Yay. We've had a couple of summer days tossed into our fall this week!

Mark and I had eBay sales to wrap and mail and fuel our Dodge for the Sarasota drive tomorrow. Later, we plan to meet RanDawn for bowling at the new ViaPort fun center. 

Rick planned to wash their coach before he and Ruth drove south to their boat but the blind mosquitos were pesky. (They're a tiny "fish fly" family member. They don't bite ... are attracted to "white" and hatch a couple of times in summer.) 

While we were sitting around the Livingroom, Rick mentioned our GF clock needed an adjustment on the chime. (It's always had a dull gong to it.) After Rick adjusted it, our clock has a delicate ring!) Who knew? LOL. Thank you Rick!

Sue's birthday gift from Wayne was landscapers for a day! They freshened the planting areas and potted flowers for their back deck. 

What a great gift ... Wayne was thinking outside the box, for sure. 

Very nice! Things grow FAST in Florida and these flowers will be 2' taller by Christmas! 

Ruth suggested lunch at IchiBan and we all agreed. Randy and Dawn were invited but, alas, they weren't showered and dressed yet. Rick was amazed at how much food Mark packed in. LOL  Ruth was amazed at Mark's system. First plate "appies" ... 2nd & 3rd main courses ... 4th desserts. LOL. It was a good lunch! (Thanks R 'n R!)

We arrived back home by 130. Rick and Ruth got away promptly to Stuart. Their boat, "In Tune" is scheduled to be launched Friday.  Bon voyage! They have plans for a Bahamas and onward boating season this year. We may not see them for Thanksgiving and definitely won't see them for Christmas. Well, at least according to today's plans. LOL. We enjoyed having them visit us.

Randy and Dawn went to an afternoon movie so bowling was scheduled for 7 PM. The new alley is $3 a game, more than "Breakpoint", but we must go check out the new digs. Last week, I had some sticky goo in the thumbhole of my bowling ball. (I removed some tape and it left a gummy mess.) That's all cleaned up so I have no excuses today! LOL  

While Mark was brushing Robbie he found a tick. It was on Rob's nose! Tonight, he checked and found a 2nd one embedded in exactly the same spot. Robbie was SO GOOD while we pulled it off. That tick was really dug in! 

Some Neosporin and he was ready to run. Tomorrow, Frontline! 

Via Port bowling was very nice! It took awhile to get onto the new lanes and layout. 

It's a great place for families ... lots to keep the kids interested plus a sports bar. 

Randy and Dawn relaxing on the new sofas. Very posh. 

So that was our day!

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 3, 2015

Good day, eh. (That's for our Canadian friends, Rick and Ruth.) We began our morning with bacon and scrambled  eggs then Ruth and I went to Winn Dixie for hamburger ingredients for tonight's dinner! Oh yes. And a razor for Rick. Somewhere in their travels, his disappeared. This brought up the issue of keeping a razor blade "forever" by rinsing and drying it after use! Really, it works!

Driveway camping!

About 12:30 we took both dogs and all went for a long boat ride ... Lake Eustis, through the Dora Canal and into Lake Dora. We went all the way to Mount Dora at the end of the lake. It was perfect weather, but a little hot when we stopped for a break at Wooton Park. Daisy seemed interested in Robbie ... but he ignored her. It's great that there were no incidents! Yay!

Mount Dora, Florida's highest point, in the distance. 

When we got home about 3:30, everyone disappeared for a nap. Rick won "longest" nap getting up at 5:30. It was the fresh air and sunshine that wore us out! (Okay, we did have a little beer and wine!) LOL

Ruth prepared hamburgers for dinner and assembled some Manitoba homemade pickle slices. (I loved the pickles!) Mark made a big salad which we devoured. (We forgot to eat lunch!) After the salad, Mark and Rick barbecued hamburgers. What a great dinner. And it wasn't chicken. Ha ha!

This evening, we are taking Rick & Ruth to RanDawn's for a short visit. Since Dawn works until 8 o'clock tonight, we didn't have a chance to see them. Randy was, of course, painting. The last room to be painted is the master bathroom. It's been a month or two of solid painting.

It's now 1020 and we are back home from our visit. We just stayed for an hour ... had some laughs and back home. We're all tired tonight!  Ta ta til tomorrow. 

MONDAY NOVEMBER 2, 2015

It's forecast to be unseasonably hot today; in the high 80's. (There's a front moving about north of Florida ... compressing the air, blah, blah.)

Mark and I are having a relaxing morning catching up on local news. Our plans today involve laundry (fun?), tidying the RV for Thursday's trip, packages to the post office and, "Ta Da" ... Rick, Ruth & Daisy arrive! (FUN!)

It's now 4:15 PM, all chores plus a nap completed. LOL. We're waiting for Rick, Ruth and Daisy to arrive. 

Mark decided to cook his very delicious stuffed chicken breasts and a vegetable medley for supper. Of course, Rick and Ruth offered to cook for us. We were certain they would be exhausted after their drive. 

As you see, we had lots of fun ... some wine and Key Lime pie for dessert. About 10:30 they headed to bed. We cleaned up and watched Fargo. 

Tomorrow's another day. Ta ta. 

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 1st, 2015

Good morning Savannah! It's a lovely 77F at 10:15 and we're on our way home. The weekend was FUN. (Dawn brought her pillow into the truck ... a nap planned?)

About 11, we phoned Sue and sang a (beautiful?) rendition of "Happy Birthday" ... all 4 of us. Apparently, Wayne had a big sheet cake for Sue last night at the Elks party. Plans today included a BBQ dinner at home. 

Wench pirate ... birthday eve fun. 

"Errol Flynn"? Nope, pirate Wayne! Good costumes!

Sue B was "witchy woman" ... Greg wanted to be Donald Trump; but the costume was a hot commodity this year; sold out! In true persona, if he couldn't be Donald he wouldn't be anyone else. LOL

This morning, Dawn was last out of bed. She grabbed her clothes, slipped on shoes and ran for the showers! Randy laughed when she came back dripping wet ... no towel! An hour later, she realized she had worn MY shoes to the shower! LOL. I guess she REALLY wasn't ready to get up! Haha. 

Our drive home was uneventful with just 2 stops. Once we arrived home, we were hungry. I reheated Mark's "Mac 'n Cheese" and topped it with Randy's "Chili" ... a gourmet combo!  We watched the end of a football game ... with Randy hoping the Steelers would lose (involving a bet with pal Dan), then a Botched. 

Rick M phoned ... they'll be here tomorrow for a night or two and hope to get glasses through Dawn!  

It's now 7:20 ... Robbie's been brushed and we're both in our "jammers"!  Life is good!

Ta ta til tomorrow!