Jace Vacation Stop #2 - Niagara Falls!

“Slowly I turn, step by step, inch by inch . . . !” - Hat tip to an old Three Stooges routine.

We could have done the drive from Beckley, WV to our site in Wilson, NY in a single day, but the drive would have been close to 10 hours with tight local roads at the end of the drive, so prudence kicked in during the planning stages to find a boondocking site in between the two for a free night's stay. Originally it was going to be a Cracker Barrel in North Canton, OH, but a closer view using Google Earth didn't fill me with confidence on the amount of space and ease of egress for that site, so we pushed onward a bit to do some J-Docking at a Flying J in Austinburg, OH.

It was to be our last cheap gas for the rest of the trip (nothing is cheap in New York or the Northeast states) and as with almost all Flying J's, there was a Denny's attached where we could get a good breakfast the next morning. The gas WAS cheap; the Denny's was, shall we say, operating under “flexible” hours. Apparently, the management has a “We'll open when we're ready” policy for every mealtime, and that morning they just weren't ready.

By 2:30 we're pulling into our site for the next 8 days at Daisy Barn Campground in Wilson, NY. It's about a 30 minute drive to all the Niagara Falls attractions, and is situated right on Lake Ontario. A small park containing less than 100 sites, it does contain a community fire pit, a much-needed playground for Jace to work off some energy, and a soon-to-be-opened pool later this year.

Not wanting to waste any time as this was one of our shortest stays with the most attractions nearby, we headed to Niagara Falls the very next day. Just for a little background on this trip, we had asked Jace 2 years ago what he wanted to do on his summer vacation that year. His response to Barbara was that he wanted to see a waterfall. We had already made a few reservations for that trip last year before gas prices spiked into the high $4 per gallon stratosphere, which made that trip – along with the usual costly camping fees in the Northeast – impossible to afford. Fortunately, the parks where we had already paid deposits held them without penalty for as long as it took to get there, so after canceling that trip we didn't lose any money (even though it WAS being held for us in the future).

Anyway, if Jace wanted to see a waterfall, by God, Mimi and Papa were going to take him to see a waterfall!

His first experience was to see the falls from the top. Barbara covered his eyes and shuffled him forward until he could get a good view overlooking the American falls, and I positioned myself with cell phone ready in front of him to capture his reaction. Priceless!

This picture says it all. Worth the trip just for this!

 

After that, we walked around Goat Island to catch various views of both the American and Canadian falls. Jace was suffering a bit of sensory overload by the time we headed back to the car. Our next day, we planned to hit the Maid of the Mist.

Jace at the Canadian side of the falls

 

The Maid of the Mist is the name of the tour, not the boat. The boats on the American side have been upgraded in the past few years to be all-electric, making them both eco-friendly and quieter than past versions. Our particular cruise boat was appropriately named for Nikola Tesla. For 2 adults and 1 child the cost was approximately $80, which got you the boat ride to the bottom of both falls, access to the observation tower and a free and very attractive blue rain poncho.

Of course, the best spot on the boat is the upper level and up front. We got a place about 20 feet away from the front on the top deck. At this time of year, there is very little “mist” and a whole lot of deluge due to this Spring's run-off. The falls are simply roaring right now, and the result is a super-soaker experience that is far beyond what most people get to have! They take you slowly past the American falls where you feel as if you're in a hurricane with horizontal and vertical downpours.

Then they park the boat at the bottom of the Canadian falls for at least 5 minutes, inching the boat closer and closer. Once finished, they use the powerful current to turn the boat on it's axis in about 5 seconds, and then rocket away from the maelstrom. A quick curly-q past the American falls again so that both sides of the boat get a great view, and it's back to the dock.

Barbara and Jace at the base of the Canadian Falls on the Maid of the Mist

 

Two thumbs way, way up from Jace at the

 end of the Maid of the Mist cruise

After docking, there's a short climb to the “Crow's Nest” lookout about 2/3rds of the way up the American falls for Jace and me (Barbara's shoes were too wet and slippery to make the attempt), followed by an elevator ride back up to the Observation Tower and the ubiquitous trip to the souvenir shop where Jace got a magnet and we got our New York Christmas ornament.

Jace at the Crow's Nest, about 2/3rds of the way up against the American Falls

 

Our next visit in the Niagara area was Lockport, NY, site of the last operating lock on the original Erie Canal route. It is also the location of the “Flight of Five” locks constructed back in 1838. As opposed to the current system raising tour boats in two larger steps through metal doors, the original Flight of Five once cycled boats in shorter steps using wooden doors. Pretty impressive to watch the lock in operation as it brings tour boats up from the lower river approximately 50 feet, and raises them high enough to allow the upper deck of the tour boat to rise above eye level. It gives you the chance to talk with the passengers for a few minutes while the lock does it's thing.

A cruise boat entering the lock at Lockport

Barbara and Jace in front of a restored lock boat.

 

Our final destination on this short week was to take Jace to the Cave of the Winds, bringing us underneath Bridal Veil Falls on the American side. We met our good friends Byron and Lynn Hill who were glamping nearby at a state park, and drove the 30 minutes to Goat Island, home of views of both the American and Canadian falls from above, and the entrance to Cave of the Winds. Dropping 175 feet down from ground level, an elevator takes you to an opening in the rock face, where you pick up the ever-present bio-degradable poncho (this time in not-so-stylish yellow) for a stroll along platforms erected each year that allows visitors to experience the waterfall up close and personal. There is no way to say it any clearer – you WILL get soaked on this tour! A couple of places on the decking brings the discharge from Bridal Veil Falls past you, but ultimately the platform brings you to your end goal – The Hurricane Deck!

The bottom of Bridal Veil Falls. Doesn't prepare you for what comes next!

About the midway point up the decking heading to the Hurricane Deck. Getting a feel for the power of the falls!

 

The Hurricane Deck is where you can literally stand below a small portion of the power of Niagara Falls. It's attenuated somewhat by a large boulder that reduces the incredible onslaught of water dropping down that 175 feet, but there's plenty of power remaining to hammer you with the winds generated by it's downward movement and the sheer force and weight of the water hitting you! I was able to stay under it for a couple of minutes while Jace moved in and out in at least five shorter duration's. Barbara was finally able to get a picture of the two of us together while I kept Jace from being swept towards her!

It's not just the water literally hammering you from above. It's the waterfall-generated winds blowing down on you! Welcome to the Hurricane Deck!

 

We had a ball! Every place the poncho didn't cover was dripping wet; our sleeves, our hats (the winds being generated kept blowing the poncho hoods off of our heads!), our pant legs and our footwear. But it was worth it! I'm pretty sure that our Niagara Falls visit with stay with Jace (and us) forever.

But now it's off to our next destination, the White Mountain region of New Hampshire on Lake Ossipee. Unfortunately for me, it's a 600-mile, 12 hour drive day, something I am loathe to do, but unavoidable in this case.

Look for that next installment in about 2 weeks!

Jace Vacation Stop #1 - West Virginia

An early morning departure from our spot in Bolding Mill COE began with the requisite trip to the dump station to clear tanks before a big drive. It's always a good thing for gas mileage if you travel with tanks as empty as needs be. We typically travel with just a ¼ tank of fresh water for use in the bathroom and for any emergency stops, and empty our black and gray tanks. And for a trip over the mountains entering Virginia from North Carolina, plus our first foray into West Virginia, as little weight in the coach was a necessity! We've driven the bulk of this portion of the trip many times, but turned northeast-ward most every time before. This time, we continued straight north on I-77 into the mountains of West Virginia Not the worst elevation changes, but constant ups and downs and pretty tight turns for an RV. Plus a couple of tunnels to drive through. Beckley, WV, is a small city in the heart of coal country. Our destination was the Exhibition Coal Mine Museum. The museum has 17 full hookup spaces for RV's situated right next door, with a pathway connecting it to the museum grounds and a city park on the other side. So besides the historical attraction, there was plenty of things to keep Jace busy. The Exhibition covers the history of WV coal mining in general, and highlights the day-to-day living and working conditions coal miners experienced in the “pick and shovel” days. Needless to say, it was grueling, backbreaking and incredibly dangerous work. One feature of the visit was a tour of the now idle Beckley Coal Mine. It's a drift mine, meaning it travels horizontally into a mountain rather than being dug vertically. You get to tour the mine in a couple of wagons being pulled by an electric hauler used to drag coal cars through a mine, and your tour guide is a retired coal miner with decades of knowledge to impart. It's about a 45 minute experience which covers a lot of information, leaving you the rest of your visit to tour the various housing used, a church, a school, an outhouse and the ubiquitous visitor center's gift shop. Jace got a coal miner hardhat with light, and we continued our tradition of finding Christmas ornaments representing each state we've visited by finding a carving of Santa's face out of a piece of coal!

Jace and Mimi on the way through the mine

Our coal mining guide demonstrating an older-style lantern just before plunging us into total darkness!

Great idea . . . Let's put Jace at the controls of a mining car!

Mining hat and lump of coal. Who could ask for anything more?

While touring the on-site superintendent's house, one of the presenters gave us a great idea for our next day's travel in the area. Just about 30 minutes away is the New River Gorge Bridge, an imposing span crossing one of the oldest rivers in the world; the New River. Kind of odd to name such an old river “New” isn't it? The span is just over 875 feet above the river. Our understanding is that once a year in the Fall, one span of the bridge is closed for a base jumping festival! At the top of the gorge, there's a set of stairs you can descend to get a closer view of the bridge from the side. Grover and Jace enjoyed the 178 steps down and up, while Barbara and I enjoyed only the down portion. Jace met a new friend (Zoe) at the viewing platform, and they stayed together the rest of the way up.

New River Gorge bridge. Even Grover was impressed!

The simple way to leave New River Gorge is to just reverse direction and head back over the bridge, but being explorers, we decided to take a small, winding road down the gorge to visit Florence Station at the bottom of the gorge. The road is one way at times, narrow, and had many switch backs to navigate, but it takes you under the bridge in two places, and gives you a great view of the bridge from ground level. It also requires you to cross the New River on a reinforced wooden bridge! Train tracks run alongside the river, and Jace got to see a huge train go by, carrying what he described as “unknown tons of coal”! It was a perfect circle to see the mine, and what other mines produced being transported.

The view of New River Gorge bridge from below. Kinda scary and noisy crossing that wooden bridge, though!

One of the best views of the bridge from ground and river levels.

Return To Red Bay, Part – Whatever . . .

At this point in our almost 4-year RV lifestyle, Red Bay, Alabama has become a home-away-from-home for us. Obviously, because our Tiffin Open Road 36LA was built here, but also because it's the best place to get both warranty and post-warranty service done on our home. The large Bob Tiffin Service Center has seen our coach about 3-4 times since we picked it up, and lots of third-party vendors have had their hands on our home a couple of times a year, or when emergency services are needed.

A few times it's been to fix problems that have arisen, and sometimes it's just upgrades to things that we wanted or needed (usually wanted – by me). Nothing earth-shattering this time, but we had annual chassis maintenance and generator service performed before embarking on our big summer trip with our grandson, Jace; an upgrade on our Over The Air (OTA)antenna in an attempt to bring in more broadcast channels while on the road which is yet to be determined as to any benefit, and a small area of mold that had developed underneath our Diamond Shield protective covering on the front of the coach that needed to be removed.

Everything, as usual, was done quickly, professionally and with typical Post-sale Tiffin quality. It's why we come back here instead of putting our motor home in the hands of others who just wouldn't do the same quality and expertise we get from the Red Bay area.

Our new friends, Walt and Lanie, who we met at our previous campground at Whitten COE, arrived in the site right next door to us during our stay here, and we helped them through their first-ever experience in Red Bay. It can be a bit confusing for any Red Bay first-timers, and we've done things so often it's become second nature to us. They'll be leaving here a few days after us, completely happy with the experience and the work that was done on their new-to-them Tiffin Phaeton.

But this lifestyle is one that brings new experiences to Barbara and I each and every trip, and even things in Red Bay can be new and exciting sometimes.

While at Piney Grove COE - two campgrounds ago - a couple of guys had stopped by our coach while I was standing outside. As usual, that paint scheme of ours always catches the eye, and occasionally the banner across our windshield proclaiming “Parental Parolees” can be a conversation starter as well.

Jon and Barrett represent High 5 Productions, a company working with Tiffin on advertising and marketing initiatives. Among other things, they do photo shoots of product for upcoming brochures, and have been working with Tiffin's new marketing director to develop a marketing campaign of “Tiffin Stories” where a few select owners sit down and relate their experiences with Tiffin in general, their service, and life on the road experiences.

Long story short, after speaking with them at Piney Grove, they loved our story, and for some strange reason thought we'd be good candidates to do a proof of concept video interview when we arrived in Red Bay a few weeks later. So the day before we were ready to leave here, Jon and Barrett are at our RV, multiple cameras set up showing off our unique color scheme, and we're sitting down with “dead cat” microphones (so named for their furry heads that block wind noise) pinned to our shirts, answering questions and relating our stories. I had taken the time a few days earlier and given the coach a good wash and wax, so it looked pretty spiffy for it's closeup.

Now, for everybody who knows us, I have no problem at all speaking in any situation whatsoever, from one-on-one encounters with people to a room-full where I'm presenting a product or concept. Barbara, on the other hand, thinks a camera is evil and something to be avoided at all costs, as evidenced by the lack of pictures of her on this blog over the past 3 years.

Yet there she was, sitting comfortably in her camp chair, delightfully giving her impressions based on the questions being asked! I looked over at her at one point with a “Who are you and what have you done with my wife?” look, because things were going so smoothly.

With Barbara!

In front of a camera!

Finally, the session ends, Jon and Barrett proclaim that they hope that everyone they find would be as good as we were, they shoot some “B-roll” shots of the RV and focus on Grover – whose big screen debut included coming down the steps and immediately peeing on the ground during a closeup . . . of course. Then it's a couple of drone shots and Jon and Barrett are done. They are genuinely nice guys who make you feel at ease, and I hope this proof of concept gets a boost and rolls out with other couples. Frankly, it was fun doing it.

A final still from the drone, with Grover mugging for the camera in Barbara's seat. He's very photogenic!

 

So now it's a quick trip back to Georgia for a 5-day stay at Bolding Mill COE on Lake Lanier, some socializing with a couple of friends, and then we get Jace for his vacation of a lifetime!

Much more to come as we travel to the Northeast for the next 2 months. Stay tuned!

The Good And Bad Of Corps-Hopping

We've talked about how much we enjoy staying at US Army Corps of Engineers (COE) parks across the US, and Lord knows, we've stayed in enough of them. In fact, I'm writing this post from Piney Grove COE campground as we speak. I mean, what's not to love about relatively remote campsites almost always on water with plenty of opportunities to hike, kayak, swim or fish (if you're into fishing, that is, which I am not), right?

Well, not everything is Skittles and rainbows when it comes to hopping from COE park to COE park, and it's an adjustment you have to be willing to make if you're truly going to enjoy the experience of one of America's great recreational treasures. Some of this post will be pluses and minuses, while others will be categorized as “do's and don't's” for yourselves and your fellow COE campers.

Let's start off with the obvious. COE parks are a great way to enjoy nature. One of the nice things about Corps-hopping are the parks themselves. Unlike private parks where sites are situated right next to one another where you get to know everything you ever wanted to know about complete strangers, Corps parks feature wooded lots with plenty of trees between you and your neighbor. This is not to say that each spot is isolated, but in most cases you've got decent space to enjoy privacy if you desire it.

And you can't beat the price. Sites run from $26 to $32 per night, generally, and for that you get a relatively or completely level site with a spacious patio and 50A electric hookup and water. If you happen to be as “experienced” in life as we are (over 62), make sure you get the Lifetime Senior Park pass from the National Park Service for $80. Not only does it get you free admission to every National Park in America, but you get 50% off the nightly rate in COE parks, bringing your very affordable rate per night down to an insanely cheap nightly rate of $13-$16!

But with every day of sun, there's always a little bit of rain. Notice the one thing I DIDN'T include as part of your site in COE parks – sewer hookups. Because they're on water (that's how the shoreline in all these parks was created, after all), unless a sewer system pipeline is nearby, septic isn't allowed. So maybe about 1% of all COE parks features the rare and very appreciated full hookups of water, electric and sewer.

So that means a trip to the dump station on-site. If you're like us, we can go 3-5 days before our gray water (shower and sink) needs to be dumped if we conserve, while some travel trailers are even more limited. For folks just staying the weekend, this is not a problem. There are bathrooms and showers interspersed throughout the park for those folks, or for tent campers. For us, it means a once-a-week trip to the dump station to empty our black tank (smelly toilet stuff) and maybe a trip or three for me to drag a “sewer caddy” full of gray water behind the Jeep to the dump station so that we eliminate unplugging and moving the whole RV back and forth to our site.

As I have written about before, everyone is limited to a 2-week stay at COE parks, and you can't just stay for the 2 weeks, then turn around and come back in for another. After all, these are parks paid for by the American taxpayer, so there's no hogging sites and campgrounds so that the occasional recreation-lover cannot experience what we full-time RVers get to enjoy. What we do usually is find another COE park nearby and do our next stay there, then move on to the next if that's in our itinerary.

Generally during the week this is a quiet lifestyle, but comes the weekend most Corps campgrounds explode with couples and kids trying to get as much “recreating” in as is humanly possible for 2-3 days. And while it's nice to see kids playing and friends visiting, they tend to bring every piece of civilization known to mankind with them for those few short days! Golf carts, bikes, motorized kiddie cars, boats, toys and – lights.

Yeah, lights. Lot's and lot's of lights. Many motor homes (not ours) have had underbelly LED lights installed. Some folks will tell you they serve a purpose in keeping critters from finding their way into the RV, but it's really all about the status of having a rotating set of mood lighting on your campsite. And make no mistake – it IS a status symbol for many. Frankly, it's not our thing. Fifth wheels, campers and even the occasional tent camper bring their own lighting with them. Some are LED rope lights to ring the ground around their site, plus strings of white or colored Christmas lights to attach to trees or their RVs or the canopies they've erected. Look, I get it. It's nice to have your “patio” lighted at night when visitors are there. What I DON'T get is keeping them on ALL NIGHT AND DAY! Who keeps their lights on 24/7 every day at home? Not only does it waste electricity, it destroys the seclusion of being out in nature. I think the local wildlife breathe a heavy sigh of relief when Sunday nights come around and the park empties. So if you're reading this, shut your lights off at night while COE camping.

 This is what a moon rise over Lake Whitten should look like.

 

This is what happens when light spillage from a camper who has gone to bed does to the moon rise.

And how about this crowd who went to bed with these lights shining brightly?

Another “pet peeve” we both have is people bringing their dogs with them and not following the rules regarding them. Pets must be kept on a (short) leash or runner (or within a pen) and must not be left outside unattended. This is a rule most private parks employ and enforce, but for some reason folks aren't quite as willing to restrain their dogs in the South. While their dogs are generally friendly, some are more than willing to run up to anyone to greet them, and a charging dog – no matter how big or small – is a cause for concern, especially if we're walking Grover (who has his own issues with strange or certain types of dogs). So keep your pet(s) on a short enough leash that restricts them to your site, and preferably to your patio.

A final issue with Corps-hopping is access to civilization. Yeah, we do stay here to get away from it all, but due to the remote nature of COE parks, cell phone signals are usually pathetically weak. Enough to make calls, sometimes enough for the occasional download, but usually not robust enough to handle the electronic nature of modern society. We don't do enough of anything electronically to spend the money on satellite TV providers or a Starlink connection for the internet, so when we do need to attach to the rest of the world it can take a while. Our biggest concern with being so remote is being able to get weather alerts on our phones and to keep track of local radar, which is why we had a WeBoost antenna installed a couple of years ago. Not a perfect solution, but it's better than it was.

And it does allow me enough bandwidth to upload this post to our website and Facebook pages.

We're also remote enough that we get very few over-the-air (OTA) TV stations, so sometimes what little TV we do watch is very limited. That's where our DVD player comes in handy. And streaming isn't always an option due to the bandwidth issues mentioned above. But we make it work.

So there you have it; the ultimate and blessedly short guide to Corps-hopping – the pluses, minuses, do's, and don't's. Just another glimpse into the RV lifestyle we enjoy.

Prepping for Summer Vacation

OK, so because we're retired we don't really have a summer vacation, but our grandson, Jace, does.

Therefore, we really DON'T have a summer vacation. 

Reservations are all made and paid for, so we shouldn't have any issues with places to stay for the 8 weeks we'll have our 7 year-old grandson with us, and it will be nice to focus on the trip itself and all the things we have planned for Jace to experience. However, it's a long trip. In just motor home miles, it's well over 3,000 miles, not counting the miles we'll put on the Jeep once we get to our different destinations.

Beginning June 1st, we'll be stopping in West Virginia at the Beckley Coal Mine Exhibition and Museum. We've heard good things about this place, from the on-site full hookups for RV's, to the museum itself. It's supposed to be a good educational experience for kids and adults, with a “ride” through a simulated coal mine in coal cars.

After a few days there to explore more of West Virginia, we head to our second destination on Jace's summer vacation. We asked him what he wanted to see on his trip, and he said he wanted to see some waterfalls. So, not wanting to disappoint him, we're taking him to Niagara Falls. Go big or go home, I always say. Our campground (Daisy Barn) is right on Lake Ontario and only a 20-minute drive to the Falls, so we should have a nice week in the area.

Next is a two-week stay in the Lake Ossipee area of northern New Hampshire at Danforth Bay. That was the first really significant campground we stayed at on our first trip right after picking up our motor home almost 4 years ago, and Jace was with us then, too! Lots of things to do in that area, so we'll be able to keep him busy, plus see some of Barbara's relatives in the area.

After that, a two-week stay in the Bar Harbor area of Maine is on tap. We found a campground (Forest Ridge in Ellsworth, Maine) that is about 15-20 minutes away from the Bar Harbor area itself rather than stay on the shore for two reasons: one, it's over the July 4th weekend, and Grover would not appreciate the expected fireworks over the water, and two, this campground has full hookups instead of just water and electric as is the norm for the coastal campgrounds Acadia National Park is also on the menu for this part of the trip, and who knows, maybe a whale watch.

Our fourth stop is at Spacious Skies Minute Man campground (formerly Boston-Minuteman) in Littleton, Massachusetts. We've obviously visited Massachusetts before, but never stayed in the state with the RV. Time to visit Dad, other relatives, and long-time friends as usual, as well as partake in our favorite Massachusetts foods.

The end of the trip has some float time built in, as we don't yet know the exact date Jace needs to be back in Georgia for school prep, so we may be doing a speed-run back to Georgia after our stay in Massuchusetts, or we might have some wiggle room to stop elsewhere on the way back. All-in-all, it's a 7 or 8 week trip that will be hard on the driver (me) and the motor home, so prepping for it is pretty important.

So in preparation for the big trip, it's back to Red Bay, Alabama for us, and our semi-annual chassis maintenance at Belmont Diesel. We get the oil and filter changed, the air filter changed, and the chassis lubed every 6-months. Plus, for this trip, we'll have them do the annual maintenance on our Onan 7KW generator as well. You never know when you'll need some emergency electrical power.

We also haven't been happy with the Tiffin-supplied OTA (Over The Air) antenna as far as consistent reception is concerned. The OTA antenna is how we get broadcast TV signals in each area we visit, and it's been spotty at times. Now, some of the areas we stay in are pretty remote from populated areas, so we expect some signal problems, but we just don't feel as if our current antenna is up to the task. We don't watch a lot of TV, so a satellite dish is a wasted expense for us. So we'll be getting what the A/V specialist who works at Tiffin during the day considers an upgrade to both the antenna on the top of the RV and the booster switch inside. Don't know how good it will be after this, but this guy knows his stuff, so it definitely won't be any worse.

Finally, a little cosmetic fix on the Diamond Shield below our front door, and we'll be good to go!

Should be lots of posts from this trip, so stay tuned for updates. And if you're in the areas we'll be visiting, let's get together for some socializing!

Keeping a 6-year-old entertained when you're ten times older than he is

Think about that for a moment.

Sure, we as grandparents love our grandchildren. We really do. Most grandparents get to see their grandchildren for an hour or two each week (if they're lucky) and less so if they're not. Almost always in concert with a visit by the children who sired them. I know that was the case when Barbara and I first started out as parents. A Saturday visit and play date, or a Sunday dinner with Mom and Dad were the staples of our early parenting lives.

That was then.

This is now.

Fast forward 30+ years, and we're the grandparents now. Two things are now in play; the ability for us to be nearby each weekend is largely impossible due to our retirement lifestyle, and school vacation for kids these days has gotten out of hand.

Jace's time off each school year that begins in early August:

5 days – Fall break – late September

3 days – Thanksgiving break

12 days – Winter break for Christmas and New Year's

3 days – Just because in February

5 days – Spring break – early April

2 months – Summer vacation – the months of June and July

That's more than 3 MONTHS time when parents need to be off work, or provide for their kid's daycare. Most parents are lucky to get 3 WEEKS paid vacation each year; forget about 3 months! And decent day care is either unavailable, or prohibitively expensive. But what might be impossible for us to do on a weekly basis each weekend allows us the opportunity to take Jace for the extended school breaks in his schedule.

24/7.

More than 3 months out of the year.

In a 430 sq. ft. motor home.

And we're now 10 TIMES older than Jace is. And while Jace is ramping up his ability to do active things, Barbara and I are clearly trending in the opposite direction. But people say that keeping active keeps you young.

They're liars. Every damned one of them. Not when it comes to keeping up with a nearly 7-year-old boy when you're nearly 70 years old.

So we ride bikes. Me for about 30-45 minutes, Jace for 4 hours. Barbara and/or I sit and watch him ride back and forth for the rest of the time. Long walks a couple of times a day. Time in a playground if one is on-site (usually accompanied by lots of lifting Jace to grab things higher then he can reach). Barbara handles the education and craft stuff I'm not qualified to do. And she makes sure the Easter Bunny finds Jace even when he's not at home.

In COE parks we go kayaking. I do all the paddling, because as sure as the sun rises in the east, Jace will deposit a paddle in about 40 or more feet of water if he gets one in his eager little hands. He then spends the entirety of the kayaking journey with one or both of his hands in the water, providing drag to my efforts to transport him around the lake. And then he wonders why we can't stay out longer. I don't have the heart to tell him the truth that if he keeps dragging his hands in the water we'll never get back to shore again.

Hey, Papa! Thanks for doing all the heavy lifting back there!

 

We play with fire at least one night of his one week stay. It's a requirement because Jace needs to satisfy his pyromaniac tendencies with a stick and a roaring fire in a pit. No smores because that boy does NOT need any sugar right before going to bed.

Put stick in fire. Stare at fire on stick. Repeat for an hour.

 

If the weather and water are warm we go swimming.

And we rely on other campers. Yeah, I'm not ashamed to admit it. Jace being a VERY social animal, he wants to meet and play with every kid in the park. WE love to meet new people, even if they are half our age, especially if they have brought with them a new playmate or two for Jace. So we all socialize in our own particular ways. Even campers our own age are not immune from the Jace experience, as he loves to ask fellow RVers if he can see the inside of their rigs. We DO NOT know where that habit comes from; he appears to just be naturally curious, even if he does sometimes ask to see if the inside of their RV is clean 🤦 (facepalm). One younger couple this past trip wished we were their parents, because they thought what we do with Jace on every school break is so “wonderful”. I think the mom just wanted us to take her two kids on trips. We also set up a play date with his good friend Amie, who we parked next to for almost 3 months last year.

The one thing Barbara and I always make sure we do is schedule some downtime after an extended period with Jace, because we truly need the time to rest and recharge our bodies and minds, so no long trips after a Jace vacation. A couple of hours of travel at the most, and at least a week or two with no appreciable activities except for the occasional sightseeing day trip.

And while Grover loves his buddy Jace, he also ends up crashing each night and the week following one of Jace's visits. It's a beagle thing, I'm sure.

 

So that's where we find ourselves for this update. We have more COE-hopping to do in the next 6 weeks here in Georgia and in northeast Mississippi before a week in Red Bay, AL to prepare the coach for our long summer trip with Jace to the Northeast. Stay tuned!

Snowbird Summary - Florida, 2023

For the most part, I love snowbirding. What's not to love about warmer weather, right? Sure, sitting in one place for 3 months when you own a motor home that can travel anywhere you want to go is kinda limiting, but monthly rates also make for lower campground fees, which translates into more things we can upgrade in the RV, or to plan fun things for our grandson Jace's summer vacation.

So looking out the big windshield at the same scene for 3 months has it's challenges and rewards.

Thus far in our retirement, we have been alternating between Florida and Arizona for our winter travel. Both have advantages and disadvantages, but both give us the opportunity to visit family in each location. 2023 brought us back to Florida, and more importantly, Strawberry Fields for RVers campground in Chiefland, FL. We last stayed there in 2021 while trying to keep Jace occupied during much of the COVID shutdowns, and it was a nice, level park with paved pull-thru sites. They've expanded since then with an almost equal number of grassy back-in sites for their longer-term residents. But it's the flat-rate monthly fee which brought us back - $475 per month all year 'round, and you pay your electric cost each month. Translates to less than $600 per month. So even if Chiefland isn't right on the water, or south of Tampa or Orlando, you can't beat that rate.

It's also only a 40-minute drive to Gainesville's very excellent VA hospital and care center, which I seem to need every time I'm in Florida. This year it was to clear up a nasty infection, the details of which we will NOT get into.

Chiefland is far enough away from Tampa or Orlando to require us to either bring Grover with us for the day, or board him at a doggie day care center so that he's not alone for 8 hours or more. Not that he can't handle that amount of isolation, but it's just not fair to him, even if he makes you think the cure was worse than the disease when you pick him up after a play date. At least the staff at his play places get a laugh out of him chewing us out when we pick him up.

When in Florida in January, it's almost a requirement to attend the annual Florida RV Supershow in Tampa. Since we already have our RV, we were there primarily to see what the third-party vendors had to offer, but we DID manage to peek into a few current models just to see what new things RV manufacturers are putting into their units. Nice, but not for us in the long run. We're incredibly happy with our choice of a Tiffin Open Road 36LA for our home. Spent a nice day with our friends Byron and Lynn Hill, and I got a sweet deal saving $60 on a set of four MagneShield tire covers for the RV!

Can't even tell the tires are protected!

And Grover got his first play date. And we got chewed out for it.

I spent the time rediscovering my golf swing after almost 3 years of shoulder rehab, and played my first round of golf in years with my brother-in-law. Not pretty, but not as bad as it could have been. Barbara rediscovered recreational painting. Our camp flag had faded badly in the past year and a half, so Barbara painted us a new camp sign. Came out great!

March in Florida is strawberry season, and Plant City is the place to be for the annual Florida Strawberry Festival. It's held at a local fairground which has rides for kids, a music venue, and lots of vendors serving unhealthy foods. But their fresh strawberry shortcake is to die for! On the way to the fairground, you could see workers in a long line picking the strawberries for the day. The festival also features many vendor booths hawking their wares, some of which are actually useful. We ended up buying a really cool collapsible seat/stepstool from CycloneSeat which we'll use for Jace when he travels with us, but it's already come in handy for me as I work in the wet bay underneath our slide, and for putting up another purchase we made – a 20-foot telescoping flagpole! We also bought a dog tag for Grover in case he gets away from us.

Cyclone seat closed

Cyclone seat fully extended

Cutest dog tag ever!

 

And Grover got his second play date. And we got chewed out for it – again.

But snowbirding is also the time to renew acquaintances and make new friends. The aforementioned Byron and Lynn Hill, who we found out will be in the Niagara Falls area the same time we'll be there during Jace's summer break – so another chance to see them before we meet up with them again in late September. Dan and Jodi, fellow RVers we met and helped out in December of last year. They had never visited Chiefland before, so we had them up for dinner one afternoon. Mike, a next door neighbor, who upon hearing we'd be in Niagara later in the year, gave us some places to visit and eat at in the area. Christine and her long-haired dachshund, Obie, who played with Grover a few times. And finally Bill and Karen Moore, who were staying in the site behind us at Strawberry Fields in their new-to-them Class A motor home while their sticks and bricks home in Chiefland is being renovated. Great people to sit around and talk with while having a glass of wine (or two) at the end of the day. The camaraderie of RVing is everything we had hoped it would be when we first started doing this almost 4 years ago.

So, we saved some money (not as much as we planned on due to my impulse buying), walked a lot and rode bikes to keep somewhat active, met some new friends, rested and recharged for the upcoming 1-week storm known as Typhoon Jace (his Spring Break), and enjoyed a winter free of snow and freezing temperatures – the perfect snowbird experience!