I last posted when I wrapped up our very exciting trip to Ireland and Scotland. I sure hope you all enjoyed those posts!

One of the first things we did upon our return was go pick up Callie. I was worried she would be angry at me, which I wouldn’t blame her after leaving her for 5 weeks. She was not happy getting into her crate, so much so that I almost considered just carrying her, but ultimately she went in. Billy took great care of her; her box was clean, fur was shiny and well groomed (he brushed her every day!), and her eyes were clear and bright! She got out of her crate when we got home and immediately started sniffing around. It looked like she was saying “Ah – HOME!” Of course I have no way to KNOW that for sure, but it’s what it seemed like to me. That evening, she jumped up onto my lap and after some petting, she purred and purred and made biscuits in my lap. I was so happy!

We enjoyed our remaining weeks in PA with our kids and granddaughters. Hightlights during that time included our daughter and son-in-law celebrating their 5th wedding anniversary with a trip to TN, which meant Bill and I were on babysitting duty. After 3 wonderfully exhausting days, we dropped them off with Derek’s Mom, who kept them for the remaining 3 days.

A scary good time was had by Billy, Michelle, and myself when we visited Haunted Hollow, which is a haunted attraction across the street from Hickory Hollow Campground, where we have our seasonal site.

Another gorgeous sunny fall day, we (Bill, Michelle, Freya, Arwen, and me) drove to Seven Springs to spend the day at their AutumnFest. It was a fun time with music, kids activities, and food.

We packed up and began our trek south near the end of October. During a stop long the way, Bill realized there was an issue with the trailer. While doing his walk-around he saw that the tires were too close together on one side. Upon inspection, he was able to see the reason for that was a bolt broke and was completely gone. Thankfully, he had a bolt that he could use as a temporary fix until we reached FL and could do a more permanent repair.

Our first stop was to see Jo & Ben in VA where Ben was finishing up a travel nurse contract and Jo was volunteering at Sherando Lake State Park. It was a very relaxing evening after a stressful drive day. The next morning, since we weren’t in a hurry to get to our next stop, we enjoyed a hike through the woods. The colors on the trees were gorgeous. Thanks guys!

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Next stop was the Cabela’s in Henrico (Richmond), VA. This stop was only about an hour and a half away from Sherando. Bill’s sister Maretta and her husband Rob live in that area, and after they were off work, we met up for dinner. It was great seeing them! We also stocked up at the nearby Wegmans.

After overnighting at the Walmart in Fayettesville, we landed at our next friend visit in St George, SC. This time we were seeing Chris & Frank, who were staying at their daughters place. They were supposed to be in FL, but they had bugged out due to Hurricane. Chris made a yummy dinner and we talked well into the evening. Thanks again for a wonderful visit!

After a quick stop at the Elks in Jacksonville, FL, it was a short drive further south to Lake Louisa State Park, which is about 7 miles up the road from my sister. Since we had coordinated our visit with their days off, we were able to visit Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, and Epcot. In Animal Kingdom, we got to ride on the Kilimanjaro Safari, where Shannon works. She had reserved us a “family ride” which means she was able to drive her truck while we rode in the first row behind her driver seat. It was so cool to see her in action! Once she had changed back into her street clothes, we headed to Flight of Passage in Pandora, then walked around a while before heading home. The following day we were in Magic Kingdom bright and early. We rode a few rides, including Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion. The Contemporary Resort, where we had lunch reservations at Steakhouse 71, was our next stop. Needless to say, we had a great time! Thanks Shannon and Rodney for a magical time!

We were all set-up at Clearwater Travel Resort by early afternoon. Our time there flew by, highlights include: visiting with my parents, two unexpected cousin visits (although one was sad due to two deaths in Bill’s family), flying to PA for Arwen’s 2nd birthday, a side trip to Jo & Ben’s on the east coast, an RV Dreamers picnic, and last (but never least) Billy’s Christmas visit, which included another day in Disney!

The only negatives during our visit were our Weber BBQ grill and our Traeger cast iron griddle were stolen off our site, and Bill had to replace the starter in my car.

After all these years, this is the first time we’ve ever had a problem, and we leave stuff out all the time. The thief actually brought bolt cutter to cut our cable lock. The dash cam on our truck actually caught the thief walking up to our site and then walking away with our grill. I cannot even begin to tell you how angry I was. Sadly, it was dark and we couldn’t make out a face. I actually found the grill for sale on Craigs List and I reached out to try and get it back, but someone beat me to it and it was sold. Since you are asking, we KNOW it was our grill because Bill had purchased special quick disconnects and a special turn valve, both of which were easily seen in the pictures the thief posted. And yes, all this was reported to the campground management and local police. We learned others in the park had things stolen also. One lady had brand new electric bikes taken. She and I had a conversation (being brought together by the CG management) and later she was able to recover her bikes by going to buy her bikes and confronting the thief. I’m not sure the outcome, but it is my hope he was caught and appropriately punished. Lesson learned: keep all receipts and write down serial numbers for all your stuff. Having those things would have allowed police to actively request buyer information from Craig’s List. Even being able to prove we bought the special disconnects and valve weren’t enough, since those items were purchased on Amazon and ANYONE could also buy them.

We can’t really complain about the car needing a repair, since this is literally only the second repair its ever needed. Especially considering it had almost 300,000 miles on it. It was actually acting like the battery was bad, but Bill checked that and the battery was fine.

That’s a wrap for 2022! I can hardly believe as I type this that is mid-February 2023. Time sure does fly when you are having fun!

Previous post: Wrap Up Ireland/Scotland

Looking Forward To: Texas Time!

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