January 2023 And We Are Off Again!

A very Happy New Year friends and family. Ya never knows what the year will bring, so I hope that we all are able to make the best of the 365 days. We certainly will try as it is the start of the 5^th year of the Great Adventure! It appears we will be able to check off Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Labrador, Maritime Islands, and the Canadian Great Lakes Water Shed…God willing.

After Ian hit we were a little worried if Blueway RV Village would even be open after see the picture posted on their Facebook page as there was 4 feet of water covering the entire park. The picture on left is actually looking at site 99 which is where we were suppose to be. When we arrived on Dec. 31 we were utterly amazed at all of the renovation that took place in 3 months time. Pic on right is take from our site 99!

Well, I certainly didn’t start the New Year off with a bang, instead with Covid. We flew to FL on Dec. 30, picked up Wanda from John’s and settled into our site on Dec. 31. Went to church on the first and promptly came down with the “C”. And I was down hard for 2 days then rebounded quickly but still tested positive for 14 days.

As I look back to write about January, I was thinking it was pretty uneventful, but no it really wasn’t. We get here on Dec. 30, I get covid, quarantine for 10 days and then we head back to Colorado for Amy’s 50^th birthday. Fun fun party, 80’s theme and everyone got in costume which made the night just that more fun! It is amazing to think I have a daughter 50 years old – but that is what happens when you are 13 when you get pregnant (ha ha).

Back on the 14^th of January and then this is how we spent the month

• Saw brother Will and wife Pam immediately and started making reservations for the Canadian trip
• Went to Fort Myers Beach to support the La Ola food truck and surprise, Johnnie Walker is back playing 3 days a week. That is always fun with the dancing and such.
• Farmers market at Cape Coral
• Lover’s Key dog park which is technically closed because of Ian, but the yellow tape is gone so we just wade in down a little channel to the beach. Chet not so sure about the water and waves, but he loves the other dogs.
• And everywhere we go, goes Chet. We are trying to leave him alone in the crate for various amounts of time, but he is still a whinner. Even got him groomed as his hair was long and he was hot!
• I am playing pickleball 3 times a week, Ty is still trying to rehab his shoulder
• Realizing all shoes not put away are Chet’s
• Finding Euchre AND Hand Knee Foot players

Chet knows more people in this park than we do! He likes to sit outside and just watch people and dogs go by, and of course, everyone stops to pet him. He is one friendly puppy. And he has a lot of dog friends too, and going to the dog park is a daily activity. Getting him accustomed to hiking, he is up to 2.5 miles a day. He starts puppy school in February.

January was a loser month! We lost so many things, little things like sunglasses and hats. But the biggest lost was Ty was into the back of the truck to get something and forgot to close it up. Then went to store and about a mile out was flagged by someone that he was losing all sorts of stuff out of the back of his truck. Sure enough, a large container that we keep all our bike stuff in (helmets, jackets, gloves, etc.) probably just flew out when he made the Michigan Left Turn to go north.  Along with a hitch for bike rack, and a cooler. Ty immediately turned around and retraced his steps, but somebody already scooped it up. Could not have been more than 20 minutes. There are some real road vultures out there!!

It is with a sad note that Ty’s cousin Joanie Zwada passed away unexpectedly. Ty had lost track of his cousin, but a couple of years ago she was on Facebook and saw the link to the blog and reached out. She was our biggest fan, always had a great comment. Rest in Peace Joanie, you are missed.

The next 3 months we will winter in Ft. Myers Florida, then start to make the great migration north (along with all the other snowbirds). Of course, there will be a repair stop in April so we might not actually leave Florida till later in the month depending upon how long the repair takes. We went thru a monstrous hail storm in September last year, then an acorn barrage when in Pennsylvania in November and the roof and awning has a lot of dings and tears. Have ridden Wanda hard the last 4 years and it is beginning to show, and I think Grand Design is, quite frankly, sick of us; despite their very pleasant emails that always wish a “great day”. But we have insurance which will help with the cost of roof repair, don’t know about the awning yet. Anyways, here we are in Florida just enjoying everyday and working through the puppy time.

PS. Promise not to fill up the blog next time with Chet pictures – but it is hard not to cause he is so darn cute and we are having so much fun with him!