My Favorite Material Things in the Rv

Since 2003, family and friends have been giving me presents either for a holiday or for no reason at all…Most people who rv travel full time don’t have as much “things” as I think I do in our home…To some it might look crowded but to me it’s HOME…So I want to share some of my precious things…

In the fall of 1999, after I had met and fell in love with my soul mate, the kids, Richard and I went down to Arundel Mills Mall to look around and possibly go to the movies…Whether or not we went to the movies I have no idea…But in the Mall there is a Bass Pro Shop…So many things to buy in their but we just wanted to walk around in that store…After everyone was done looking around, we went back in to the mall part and the kids handed me a bag…Inside the bag was this stuffed frog on a lily pad and when you press the button on his froggy hand, he bounces up and down and ribbets…To this day, it is my favorite from the kids…Thanks Josh, Brandi and Misti…Along with items from the kids, I have magnets that I have kept since they were in school…The grades when they got those magnets, I have no idea…So long ago…

Of course now that the kids are much older now, I don’t think I am that special any more since they all  have families of their own…but they will always hold a special place in my heart…I bet the kids can’t believe that I still have these magnets…lol

I love hummingbirds…Those are my most favorite birds in the world…So since my kids know that, Brandi, Josh and Misti liked getting me hummingbird items for my birthday or Mother’s Day…I have 2 plates, a music box, and other small hummingbird items…Even my ex sister-n-law and niece’s family got me a hummingbird feeder for the window & a hummingbird bowl…My sweetie got me a wooden music box…My bestie gave me a beaded hummingbird keychain but I don’t use it as a keychain but I hang it up to show off…I even got a tiny Mexican style hummingbird when we took the Western Caribbean Cruise on Carnival Cruise Lines…

The glass hummingbird is from my son, Josh…It’s beautiful and when we move from place to place, it gets wrapped a lot…

 

This needlepoint hummingbird was done by my youngest daughter, Misti…Still have but I’m sure it needs dusting off…lol

This hummingbird spinner is from my son and daughter-n-law, Sandy in June 2012…It does not get hung outside…It hangs from my valance in the rv on my side where I sit…It is beautiful and I do not want it to get ruined…

 

At one of the Mountain Man Festival’s near Harpers Ferry, WV, Richard and I was walking through the festival…We came upon a ceramic that he liked and we bought for him and I saw this…Richard bought this for our rv (and me)…

The one thing we have in our rv is lots of stuffed animals…They range from about 6 inches to about 24” and we have about 65 stuffed animals…These 2 were given to us by my eldest daughter, Brandi before we left our house in 2003…They are still with us and are put out around Easter (when I remember to put them out that is…lol)  She also gave us Bruno, our 24” tall German Shepard…No need for feeding or walking or picking up after him…I clean off the dust and straighten up his Mickey ears about once a month…

Most people know that I am a Walt Disney World fan and mostly a Tinker Bell fan…but when my youngest daughter and her husband, Chad were stationed in Sicily, she sent us this Mickey & Minnie Mouse set…They both are made from lava rock and it’s the most precious thing that sits on our coffee table…I do wrap these up very carefully as well so that they dont’ break cause we won’t be able to get another set like this…They also gave us a true gift from France, a miniature Eiffel Tower…This sits with my hummingbird items on my side of the entertainment center…We also like some things from the movie, The Nightmare Before Christmas…We like Jack and Sally…Richard collects the Disney pins of Jack and Sally and for one of our Christmas’ about 3 years ago, benownst to Joshua, he got us the tree decorations of Jack and Sally…

We like to buy spinners but the ones we buy stay in the rv…We have 3 spinners that hang from the ceiling when we are stationary…There is a little hook in the ceiling and a chain hangs from that…On the end of the chain, I add an “s” hook and attach the spinners…Here is my Tinker Bell spinner and we have a Mickey Mouse and a dragonfly spinners…All of these spinners were bought at the Epcot Flower and Garden show at Walt Disney World so they have special meaning for me…The dragonfly was an anniversary gift from Richard to me…The Tinker Bell and Mickey Mouse spinners were birthday gifts to each of us from us…lol

Richard and I went on a Carnival Cruise Line cruise to the Western Caribbean..Cozumel, Belize, Costa De Maya and Progreso…On one of journeys in to one of the towns and a trip or 2, we came across these beautiful Mayan paintings done on a suede material…They are both gorgeous and just had to put them in frames to show them off… 

So far, that is some of my favorite items that I have in our rv…I still need to take some more pictures of my favorites cause I just can’t pick just one…Then I can add another blog about my favorite things that I have in the rv…

A Special Group of Ladies

As one travels, one always meets all kinds of people either as couples or singles…Traveling takes us to places where we can meet these people…Well, this past fall/winter, our travels took us to Milton Gulf Pines KOA…Here I met some wonderful gals where by the end of everyone’s time to leave the park, we had become close…In time, there were 5 of us who got close as time went by…

I started out working in the registration/store at the KOA…My days of working was only 2 days except for the activities days which were only 2 days…My first day in the registration/store is where I met the first lady who I became close with…Her name is Debbie and she is the Office Manager for the KOA…I am one of those people who is very quiet upon meeting new people…It takes a while for me to warm up to them and see how they are…At first I wasn’t sure if I was gonna like Debbie cause she was like the energizer bunny…Always on the move…Always doing this or that and by the time I “thought” of doing something, it was done…So my first thought was “Wow, I am gonna look like I don’t do anything in here cause of her”…but as time went by and I got to know Ms. Debbie, I liked her a lot and by the end of my time at KOA, I really loved this lady, my friend…A true bond was made…

There was another lady who worked for the KOA as a workamper…Her name was Diana…Diana and Don are a very nice couple…It took a while to get to know them too…Everyone had different shifts so it was hard to get to know anyone until Debbie and I came up with a Ladies Day Out….That’s when things started to roll..Diana is from Indiana, I think…Memory sucks…hahahaha    The gals started talking to one another…I know Debbie was already friends with Diana cause Diana worked at the KOA before…Diana is a hoot…Always has stories…but then what does one expect when there is a 10-15 year gap of ages…

One of the “snowbirds” who stayed in our park was Cathy…The first time I met her was at a 3pm Dance Class…Very tall lady and very nice…She use to be a cop and a undercover cop too…Oh and the stories she has of her being undercover are too funny…At one of the Dance Classes, there was a good dance song on and she was “square pole dancing”…So we called her Pole Dancer Cathy cause there were 2 Cathies in the park…I called her my Jolly Green Giant and I was the Little Green Sprout…I really didn’t get to know her until about a few months before we left the KOA but the time was well spent…

Around January or February (can’t remember), a new workamper couple came in to the KOA…There names were Steve and Susie…Didn’t know what they were going to do here at the park but after a while, I found out…Steve was going to be maintenance and Susie was going to work in the office…At first we worked opposite days so it was tough getting to know her…but after a few more Ladies Day Outs, things began to click…Then she got moved to work with me in the afternoons on Thursdays and Fridays cause we would always be so busy with incoming arrivals…The laughter and fun we had was great…

One of our Ladies Day Outing was to Beef O’Brady’s…Five of us piled in to Debbie’s truck…Off we went in to Pace, FL where Beef O’Brady’s was located…We were seated and ordered our drinks…We all learned that Debbie liked to eat lemons so Susie ordered a dish of lemons for Debbie…I never saw anyone eat lemons with salt like it was an apple…Debbie, Susie, Cathy, Diana and I talked about all kinds of stuff…Pictures were taken inside and out…Then we went to a big antique store where I lost all the ladies only because I saw one thing off to the left of the store and when I came back to find them, they were gone…I kept following voices which I thought were theirs, but they weren’t…So after an hour, I decided to go outside and just sit and wait…One by one the ladies were coming out…However, we all got a surprise from Cathy…She bought each one of us something special to remember her by…I got a very beautiful bracelet…Wow!  so thoughtful and wonderful! 

Another outing was to a consignment shop in Gulf Breeze…All 5 of us piled in to Debbie’s truck again and off we went…I didn’t have any money to spend but it was worth the trip just for the company…At first in the shop, I was looking around but everything I saw was pricey…Even the sizes were more for juniors…then we all went up to the second floor where there was a room of $1-$5 items…Diana was looking for something for a wedding and the other ladies was just looking for good deals…I was just watching them rummage the racks…Cathy thought I wasn’t having a good time but I was but in my own way….So I got my camera out and decided to take pictures of them shopping…However, I did find a pair of shoes that were comfy but were a size 6.5 and I could have used a 7…but they were the only size there for that shoe and the only shoe in that size…Oh well!  In another room were racks full of gowns for prom and weddings…I found a beautiful gold gown that looked like it would be for a Greek Goddess…Diana found an outfit for the wedding in this area…The other ladies found clothes that they liked and that fitted them…After a while, I decided to go outside and wait for them…(Actually my back was hurting so I needed to sit down)…

Here we have (left to right) Diana, Cathy, Susie and me…Unfortunately, Debbie was taking the photo…

Debbie trying on a jacket that we all thought looked great on her…

How’s this look together?  Long denim dress with the red/white hat…Good for a wedding??  lol

  Hanging up on a hanger doesn’t do this dress justice…It was gorgeous…

After the consignment shop, we all decided we were hungry…So on the way back home, we all decided that Firehouse Subs was the place to go…OMG!  The conversations came out of nowhere about all kinds of things…One was something that Cathy heard on tv and wanted to ask the guys about it…However, I can’t say it on here…lol    Anyway, us ladies were rolling in laughter and tears…One guy was embarrassed and the manager spoke right up…I automatically said “I wasn’t with this lady” cause I was close to her getting my lid/straw for my cup of soda when she was asking the guys a specific question…What a great time…

I do miss these special ladies…Traveling is wonderful when one can meet people from Denver, Indiana,  Wisconsin or Michigan…I hope 2 out of the 4, Debbie is still at the KOA and so is Susie, are home safely…We are keeping in touch via Facebook which is great…Miss ya gals!,

Happy New Year 2013

2012 went by very fast and 2013 came in with a bang…This is my first story for the new year too…Hopefully, I can keep doing more stories this year compared to last year…lol

Beginning of the New Year also have my beloved Baltimore Ravens heading to the Playoffs…Whoot Whoot!!

AFC North Champs is the Baltimore Ravens!! 

New Year’s Eve night…Richard and I staying home and going to share a bottle of sparkling juice…We started watching the Rockin’ New Year’s Eve shows and oops!  I messed up with the channels and had on the wrong channel for our time zone…I had on the NY channel instead of the Pensacola channel so we missed the 11am 3, 2, 1 ringing in the New Year…So we waited until midnight, our time, to celebrate the New Year…Then it was off to bed…

Super Bowl XLVII Ravens vs 49rs in NOLA

Many sports analysts said that the Baltimore Ravens were underdogs…Much of the USA were for the San Francisco 49rs…Only a few states were wanting the Baltimore Ravens to win…The Pittsburg Steelers were actually for the Baltimore Ravens even being the Baltimore Ravens rival team…The Steelers wanted to be the only team with 6 Super Bowl rings…

The Baltimore Ravens were 4.5 points underdogs vs the San Francisco 49rs…but what else is new…For all the playoffs, all the analysts said that the Baltimore Ravens were underdogs with the Indianapolis Colts, Denver Broncos and the New England Patriots…The Colts came to Baltimore to play us and we won…Off to Denver we head as the Ravens try to beat Peyton Manning…Guess what, we did beat Peyton Manning and his team in double overtime…Now it was off to New England…The #1 seed in the AFC…The Baltimore Ravens have always had a tough time beating Tom Brady and crew but this time the whole team was pumped…Guess what, we did beat the Patriots and off to the Super Bowl in New Orleans, LA…otherwise known as NOLA…

 

All these wins versus all the 3 other division winners led us to be the AFC Champions…Baltimore Ravens Nation went wild…

New Orleans was hosting the Super Bowl and Mardi Gras is going on…A city full of excited people with many things to do…Tickets for the Super Bowl are high but for any Baltimore Ravens fan, I’m sure it was worth it going to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome…The AFC hotel was all decked with for the AFC Champs…Super Bowl Live was going on all week long before the Super Bowl…

The Superdome field was all painted on each end…One in the San Francisco 49rs colors and the other end in the Baltimore Ravens colors…Would have loved to have been there to see all of this…

The most important reason for our Baltimore Ravens wanting to go all the way to the Super Bowl is that Ray Lewis, #52, ILB, was retiring…17 years with the Ravens was coming to an end…It was time for Ray to do things with his family and kids…His retirement was suppose to be after the first playoff game vs the Colts…His retirement was put on hold until the second playoff game…Then his retirement was put on hold one more time while we played the Patriots…The Patriots put signs up all over that Ray’s retirement was ending the day off the playoff…Needless to say, The Baltimore Ravens proved the New England Patriots wrong…We ended Brady’s career and it was time for him to sit at home and watch the Super Bowl from home…So Ray’s retirement wasn’t ending until February 3, 2013…If the Ravens won or lost, Ray was retiring…

February 3, 2013…6:30pm (EST)…Kick off…Team captains meet with the Head Referee…Ravens are visitors so we get to call HEADS or TAILS…Ray chooses HEADS…The referee flips the coin and it is HEADS…Ravens defer to second half…Game on!  Our Ravens are doing great…Heading down the field…Scoring…Jacoby Jones runs for 108 yards for a TD…whoo hooo!  At half time we are ahead of the 49rs and all the Ravens fans at the Superdome are going wild…Third quarter, or thereabout, the lights go out…OOPS!  Did a 49rs fan pull the plug so that offense of the Ravens slow down??  We were heading up the field to score again…After thirty-some odd minutes, the lights come on and game on….Now the 49rs are scoring and our momentum has halted…Oh no!  Are we gonna lose this game??  No one is blocking Kaepernick…He’s running and throwing…Now the score is close and the Ravens need to get their plans together…Fourth quarter and now it’s a close game…What a game….but the Ravens play it smart and let the kicker, Koch, stay in the end zone instead of punting the ball so the 49rs can get the 2 points…Not much time on the clock now…Like 4 seconds…Now the Ravens punt to the 49rs and the clock ticks out…Ravens win…34 – 31…Whoo hoooo!!  We are now the Super Bowl Champions and now Ray Lewis has his retirement ring that he can cherish forever…

 

The most interesting part about this Super Bowl was that 2 brothers, John & Jim, are head coaches…They are 15 months apart…Big brother John is the Head Coach for the Ravens and little brother Jim is the Head Coach for the 49rs…They have always been competitive since they have been little…Their dad, Jack, always made sure the boys learned how to do be themselves in everything that they did…Family rivalry in the Super Bowl…Yep!  They both want to win but only one brother can win…

The teams arrived in NOLA in their own planes…One team came out of the plane as if they were already winners while the other team came out looking like they were second place…The Ravens came out all dressed up and ready to take on the 49rs…The 49rs came off of their plane dressed in jeans and t-shirts..

 

This says it all after the  Super Bowl was over…Ravens Nation was proud of their team…Joe Flacco became MVP and he got to say “I’m going to Disney World”..He also received an orange & black 2014 corvette…(Oriole’s colors, really??)  Baltimore was throwing a parade in the Ravens honor…They Mayor and Governor was at the parade…The parade was ending at their M&T Bank Stadium and everyone could come in and see our Winners…The stadium held about 100,00 fans and so did the streets…More people stood outside of the stadium wishing they could get in to see our beloved Ravens…but just to be there, what an awesome feeling it must have been…

Congratulations to our Baltimore Ravens on a great season…Ray Lewis all of Baltimore Ravens Nation will miss you but wish you the very best in all your endeavors…Ray cleaned out his locker and wow!  it don’t look right…Baltimore Ravens need to pick another great ILB to replace Ray but can anyone really replace Ray…I doubt it…

People We Meet As We Travel & Work

I have always loved to travel…Ever since I can remember I wanted to visit different places & meet different people…That has been happening since I met Richard…We have been meeting people from everywhere…The most different people that you meet is when we work at Walt Disney World…Working in one of the resorts in the gift shop really lets you meet people from all over the world…Asians, South Americans, Brits, etc…We even met people from all over the USA too…

We met people from Pennsylvania, Maryland, Florida and other states…At one of our membership parks in Pennsylvania near York, we met a couple who were parked next to us…The most unusual way we met them was by Richard making a campfire…We noticed that they were from Maryland and got to meet them but at one of Richard’s campfire makings, his campfire got really big…Like 3 feet high…Their names are Bob & Donna…and Bob taught at Dundalk High School, my alma mater…Donna was so “scared” that the campfire would peel off the paint off  of their trailer…lol  They were full time rv’ers too until a few years ago when they decided to settle down in Polk City, Florida…They became such wonderful and dear friends…It’s been a long time since we’ve seen them and we miss them a lot…

So one night they were heading over to another friends place and asked us if we wanted to go…This is when we met Bob & Glenda and Bob & Rosie…Yes, we have met a lot of Bob’s along our journey…Bob & Glenda are an older couple who we now call “Mom & Dad”…When we are together, mostly at our Thousand Trails membership in Clermont, FL, we go to CiCi’s for a early supper, go to Disney, or go to their place to play games…Bob & Glenda are from or around the York, Pennsylvania area…We have had some great times with them and it has been a very long time since we have seen them too…I heard once when we all were talking that they use to ride a motorcycle and to me it seems hard to believe cause they just don’t look like the type…I’m not sure of what type, but it was a surprise… So far the above 2 pictures have been taken either near a Disney park or in a Disney park…Bob & Donna’s picture was taken at the boat dock at the Beach & Yacht Club…Bob & Glenda’s picture was taken at Epcot…

Then we met Bob & Rosie who were friends of Bob & Glenda’s and Bob & Donna’s…Now at this point we had to distinguish who was who by their rv…So Bob (Glenda) was Montana Bob, Bob (Rosie) was Hitchhiker Bob and Bob (Donna) was ?…Have to have some way to tell them apart when we talk about them…lol  Bob & Rosie were from New Jersey…Very sweet couple…We didn’t see them as much as we saw Montana Bob and ? Bob…Most of the time our 2 weeks in/2 weeks out schedule was always off but there were times when we were at the same place at the same time…However, Hitchhiker Bob passed away due to cancer and Rosie moved back home with their kids…

In 2004 we became members at a campground called Sunset King RV Resort…At the campground, we met many couples who are full-time rver’s and have come down south for the winter…Here we met Mike & Betty…We had such a blast with them at Sunset King and when came to Walt Disney World with our really great friends, Doug & Lois…Last year, 2011,  Mike & Betty decided to relocate to Myrtle Beach for the winter…We sure will miss them when we do visit Sunset King RV Resort…

Another great set of friends are Doug & Lois (on the left) and Bill & Martha (on the right – Bill passed away about 2 years ago)…We also met these folks at Sunset King RV Resort…They would come down to Walt Disney World and we all would hang out, talk, play Wii bowling and go to Disney…What a blast…Sure do miss everyone!

There are many couples that we met Sunset King RV Resort in DeFuniak Springs, FL…Another couple who are tremendous are Steve & WIlla…Since we first met them, we have worked for them for 2 summer seasons )2008-2009) and plan on working this winter season (2012)…We have been lucky to see them a few times over the years we have been apart from them…

More couples from Sunset King are going from left to right, top to bottom, are Ed & Iva, Bob & Linda, Wendell & Sally and Jim & Carol…Wendell & Sally and Ed & Iva are 2 couples we have not seen in a very long time…Wendell & Sally stop coming to Sunset King and Ed & Iva haven’t been down much either from Illinois…We talk to Ed & Iva once in a blue moon just to let them know we think of them…It’s been a while so I guess we need to call…Bob & Linda are awesome too…They actually got us to play Cribbage which was fun…Jim & Carol are still at Sunset King, I think…Things haven’t been the same for some  years now but as time goes on, things are just forgotten and time moves on…Also from Sunset King are our good friends, Durwood & Dottie…Several times we have met up at Disney World and have shown them around Disney..They have brought their daughter, Amy, & son-n-law, Dustin and 2 grandkids, Nikki and Nick…We’ve had some grand fun times with the Woodards & Roeders…Now there is another little Roeder whom we have not met yet but hoping to do so in the near future…

As years go bye, we have been at different campgrounds working for a company called Legacy Resorts…We met Mac & Trish down in Waller, TX…Mac was a maintenance guy and Trish worked with Tracy & me…Very neat couple…With full time rving, one tends to meet up again at some point..As we moved to Monroe City, MO for a job, we learned that Mac & Trish was also coming to Monroe City to work…

Another couple we got to meet and happen to work for at 3 campgrounds are CJ & Paula Sands and Paula’s daughter, Tracy..We didn’t get to meet Tracy until we went to Waller, TX and she worked in Activities with Richard and I…CJ & Paula were short term managers for Lake Ridge RV Resort in Hillsville, VA and then got sent down to Lonestar Yogi in Waller, TX and was sent to Mark Twain Landing in Monroe City, MO…They are great bosses and we have been very fortunate to work with them..They are very conscientious about their employees which makes working for them a pleasure…

Another couple is Frank & Alice..The best part about working for the same managers and assistant managers is that one knows how we all work together…Many couples came from Waller, TX up to Monroe City, MO just to work for these people…  

A part of the couples crew from Waller, TX is Bob & Anna…They were head of housekeeping and moved to Monroe City too…

Annie & Bill…Annie worked in Reservations and Bill was in Maintenance, Golf Carts…Annie is originally from England…She is such a funny elderly lady who I like dearly…Bill is great too…I got lucky to work with Annie in the Reservation Center in Texas…I heard they are heading to Navarre Beach campground for the winter so we are looking forward to seeing them again in our travels…

Our dear and close friends are Bill & Alice…We met Bill  & Alice at Lake Ridge RV Resort in Hillsville, VA…Bill worked around the grounds and Alice helped out in the Crafts Center…Although Bill is a Steelers fan, their personalities didn’t stop us from being friends…This was taken at the Blue Bell Creamery in Brenham, TX…  Working at Lake Ridge RV Resort was great…One of the greatest families that we still stay in touch with are The Paynes…We have Michael, Samantha, Brittany & Michelle…They are awesome…I am so glad that we became great friends and we look forward to seeing them again in the future…We will meet up one day and what a reunion it will be… We have been very fortunate to meet such great people over the past 9 years… On Sept. 15 it will be 9 years of living in a 40 ft. rv that I love so much…I wouldn’t trade what we do and I look forward to meeting more people as we continue to travel…I know I am missing some pictures of people but until I find those pictures, I hope everyone knows that we have enjoyed meeting everyone from all the USA states…

Happy Travels!