Shuffle Off to Buffalo

Many times our journey takes us within a few hundred miles of friends, but usually when this happens, our schedules still prevent us from getting together, even if only for a quick meal and round of hugs. Our stay in the north Houston area (very close to the city of Conroe) has given us the chance to see two couples that you have already met in the pages of our blog.

Marian and Lloyd, our dear friends from Vancouver, BC, will be leaving from Houston Intercontinental next week to visit friends in Newfoundland, (they are currently wintering in the Rio Grande Valley - that would be a little out of the way to drive to Bush Intl from Vancouver, wouldn't it???) so we will catch them for lunch near the airport  a short 30 miles away, and give you a full update.

But this week we asked Rick and Vicky (more dear friends who live in Grand Prairie, TX) to meet us halfway for lunch, maybe about 100 miles for each couple. See, we have our new HHR, but Vicky just got a new car too, so they were just looking for an excuse to take it out on an American Autobahn, I45 - it's a Mercedes SUV, you see. Rick checked the lunchtime opportunities, and found one of our faaaavorite BBQ restaurants - Dickey's - in the town of Buffalo, TX, almost exactly equidistant for us. It must be fate.

We met up in the Dickey's parking lot, and cruised around the town (about ten minutes to take it all in,) and we discovered a neat little book store/coffee shop called the Horse's Mouth ("You got this from the Horse's Mouth," their slogan goes.) right next to the pawn shop and gun store - this is central Texas, you know...

Then it was back to lunch (before the crowds built up.) Typically great food and great conversation as we got caught up on each other's summers.

Just a quick 2 1/2 hours together, but sooo good to see them again. Might not be back this way for a couple of years. Wonder if we can talk them into joining us in Vegas between now and then????

One more thing - in a major coincidence - would you believe that the proprietors of the Horses Mouth, Glenn and Laura, are an ex-liveaboard boating couple, recently returned from cruising the Caribbean. They resettled in Buffalo to be close to her parents. A really neat couple. Enjoyed trading tales and favorite stops from our sailing days.

Joining the RVing Parade

The trip to the Keys was intended to include renewing one of our longest running boating friendships - Skip and Faith onboard Endeavor. (The timing of the visit coincided with their return from the Bahamas.) But a few weeks before we arrived, we heard from Faith that they were relocating to a marina on the Florida Gulf coast near Apollo Beach. (And we thought our planning was so clever!)

After twenty years onboard together - we first met them in Marathon in 1998 - Skip and Faith have decided to "swallow the anchor" by selling their beautiful 43-foot sailboat, and buying an RV to stay mobile during part of each year, and to search for the right place to invest in property. Faith told us that our success in transitioning from boating to RVing and our excitement over this new lifestyle has convinced even Skip , a 30-year liveaboarder, to seriously look at this option.

The move from liveaboard boating to full-time RVing is not uncommon. We have met many in our travels during the past five years.

Bill and Josie

                         and Guy and Carole

to name a couple - two couples, actually. 

Fun with Friends - This time in the Florida Keys

Nothing like a three-day blast with friends to get over the "parting blues." And what good friends! Deb and Lew (she of blogspot Free and Clear) are permanent liveaboard boaters in Boot Key Harbor and Marathon. Guy and Carol Styles (she of blogspot Roving Irish Gypsy) are also boating friends (and now fulltime RVing friends) from Florida. Jan and Don are ex-boating, workmate, and parttime RVing friends from Lauderdale.

We all got together at a really neat little RV Park on Grassy Key overlooking the sparkling waters of Florida Bay, over food, drink, and lots of catching-up conversations.

It's really wonderful to be with such good friends, to share so very many of the good memories in each other's company, and get up-to-date on our continuing travels. Even though we are in close email touch (and share enough photos that our appearances doesn't scare one another) there is nothing like the hugs and the sound of each other's voices and laughter to make you all warm inside.

It was the perfect ending for us to the literal end-of-the-road trip back East. Now it's back to Texas and California for the next act in our lives.

Fun with Family - This Time in Ft Lauderdale

Fort Lauderdale, Florida - a tale of two cities. One is a hustling, bustling, and depressing city, part of a 6-million strong megalopolis. Another is a seaside resort filled with vacationers and boaters, rich and poor, (and sometimes very poor,) a wonderful beach scene and picturesque waterways. The dividing line is somewhere between US 1/I95 and the coast. Guess which we avoid like the plague, and which draws us back every time.

Our lives here and in the Keys in the 90's and early 2000's is chucked full of great memories - life on the boat, lifelong friends met and rejoined, fun times working (if you can believe that,) and children and grandkids all around. Since we said goodbye to the city in May '04, we came back few times to see friends and family at holidays, but when we set off on our new "land" adventure, Ft Lahdeedah has only dragged us back twice - present case included.

We can squeeze alot into a week though - a wonderful time with our son, Trace, (who we have missed for the past two years,) and his love, Davi, and a few jampacked days with our two Florida grandchildren, Austin and Emily, whom we haven't seen since last Thanksgiving.

We impressed Trace and Davi with the new coach - they're such soft touches - and they serenaded us and the kids with new compositions on guitar and vocal - fantastic talents, if they can only catch that one elusive break - but then we're such soft touches, too. But really, they are sooo good! Davi (short for Davinee) and Trace have been together for two years and are a perfect match - temperament, talent, and togetherness.

And the kids - wow - it's only been ten months, and suddenly that deep voice (that would be Austin) and that girlish figure (that would be Emily.) They took us around with a friend to see their new schools, and we took them to a little park to visit with Trace and Davi and get the musical treatment too! Then it was on to a traditional, favorite stop - Jaxson's Ice Cream  in Dania Beach for some tasty treats. The next day we went to the beach for sun and sand and boogie boards - well beyond our limits on the boards. This is part of what makes south Florida bearable for the residents - it really is a spectacular scene - bridges across the ICW, prominade along A1A, and tourists galore.

Finish the visit off with a get-together with old workmates, and you have the makings of a great week. It was great getting to spend so much quality time together. Hope it can hold us for awhile. We miss them already.

And the Little Piggy Cried.....

Wheeee.....whe, whe, wheeee.....wheeee!!!!

Yes, Jan and Dave are sooo happy. We have said goodbye to our trusty toad, the '99 Cavalier, and a big "HELLO" to an '07 Chevy HHR. In four years we have driven our Cavalier 35,000 miles, and towed it another 45,000 miles. Guess it's no wonder that we started having serious (read that as "costly") problems with it. If we had decided to upgrade 60 days earlier, we would have $2000 more in the bank (see our last blog entry,) but if we had waited any longer we could have had even less. It is what it is. (Is that a Yogi-ism? )

After a couple months in Orlando and Daytona, we came south to the town of Wauchula, FL - you know, just north of Zolfo Springs. We had started looking at what we could afford in a newer car, and had pretty much decided on the HHR. They have been in production (semi-limited) since '06 and are still part of the Chevy lineup in '11, which is good, with no body-style changes, which is good. Lots of favorable owner opinions to be had, which is good. Lots of them available and affordable, which is good. Lots of dealer deals which means good after-the-sale-warranty, which is good. But the right deal had eluded us.

On the drive down, we passed thru Ft. Meade - you know, just south of Bartow - and Jan noticed a few HHRs on a Chevy dealer's lot. So we made a note to drive back up after we had settled in the Peace River preserve. (Must remember to stay clear of Stumpy, the alligator - a fulltime resident of the park. - STAY IN THE COACH, SUNNY!!!)

A couple days later (the next day, it actually was) we drove back up to Greenwood Chevrolet in Ft. Meade. Couldn't have lucked into a happier choice. You have probably found, as we have, that small town dealerships usually offer better opportunities for good auto deals that big town dealers - not always, but definitely so in this case. (BTW, in talking to the owner, we found him to be conflicted over the GM bailout. On the one hand, he hates the government interference. On the other hand, he would have likely had to close up shop - he's Chevy's only - and put a significant number of long-time employees out of work. Ft. Meade, home of the Fighting Miners, is typical of the small town dependency on car dealerships for the economic health of the whole town.)

While we were looking over three HHRs they had on the lot, we were met by Robby Elliot, the son of the owner, Bob. Told him our situation, and he showed us thru them. One particular one seemed to fit our demands on both condition and price point. However, always the bargain hunters, we told him we might be back in touch. Over the next couple of days, we checked on other dealers in surrounding towns, including Fort Myers 65 miles away, and also checked on the cost of installing the equipment we need to be able to tow the car behind our coach. The Greenwood option was sounding like our best bet, so we went back to Ft. Meade after practicing our "hard sell" act.

We told Robby which one we liked, and said  "Let's make a deal!" Well, we marched right to his office and sat there while he put the ol' pencil to it. And it turned out to be a great deal without our even having to go thru our act. (Whew, I can tell you we would never win an Emmy.)

We had a very good purchase experience and highly recommend Greenwood, if you ever find yourself in a similar situation. We feel like we made some good friends there. Even the cost of the tow package we had installed at Camping World in Ft. Myers was at a better price that we had thought.

So that's why we're crying whee, whee, whee all the way home.