ForeverYoungRV.com

So here we go, the dust has settled, not really, it’s very dusty here in Texas.  Where I left off was with the arrival of the ’97 Damon Intruder.  The “new” RV.  Graduating in a way to a motorhome.  Moreso a necessity for our desired travels and the accompanying zoo.

Well I took a flight all the way into the deepfreeze called Flint, Michigan.  Wow, I wish flights departing anywhere in Canada were at the same prices as the US.  Good ol’ taxes.  As it happens, on this mid-January day, it hit record lows for daily temperatures.  A nice balmy -19 degrees.  Go figure Cat didn’t go for that ride.

The Intruder got the cold start test, and amazingly it started after the third crank.  The generator started right up and the heat slowly began to flow.  Then the drive test… to Walmart.  No prob, a little shaky getting used to a new rig, especially on snow laden roads.  Alright, after getting everything sorted out and stocked with some supplies, I was off.

It was a very agonizing drive for the first 7 hours or so.  Not that I was uncomfortable driving, it didn’t take long to catch the hang of it and how it responds.  The problem was the road conditions.  There was a winter storm approaching, and I wanted to get the heck out ahead of it.  With wind and flurries already coming down, it was a very slow go.  I was lucky to be going 40 miles/hour, and there were occasional standstills.   Yikes, some drivers…  these weren’t even bad roads yet, not like in PEI anyway!

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s kinda sad when you’re so busy, that you can’t take a few minutes to update your blog. I suppose it’s the pressure of getting pictures up….and when you are disorganized and haven’t unloaded/gone though literally months worth of photos, well….it’s easy to get a little overwhelmed and just say, EH, I’ll update later.

Later turns into months, so I’m going to put an end to this once and for all:-)

Haven’t I been saying that since the beginning?

Anyhoo, a lot has been going on. We’ll do an entry for each catagory below, to get ourselves caught up….along with pictures of course. Eventually, you have to tackle that beast!

Read the rest of this entry »

We would like to wish a Happy Holidays to all our family, friends and readers!  We’re spending this Christmas on our own, just the two of us.   It’s something different, we may miss being with family and friends at times, but it is nice spending it together.

Here are a couple pics of our Christmas decorations. 

That’s our cozy little Christmas setup although some people deck things right out.  Here’s one display we liked in the park.

Read the rest of this entry »

Whoa, need a break.  We are in Miami now, and it’s hot.  Thank goodness we are settled for the month.  It lets us focus on work and some maintenance.  Yes, I just changed the anode rod in the hot water heater.  Wow, until a little while ago I had no idea what an anode rod was.  After living in a condo, and leasing a vehicle, well it sort of encourages one to leave everything to someone else to care for.

Now we are pressing forward into the DIY spectrum.  It’s much cheaper that way, well… sometimes, and especially useful if you actually learn something valuable and develop corresponding skills.  A new old Class A will be a definite test.

But one must also realize the limit to their own capabilities.  For example, I was a bit stubborn trying to fix a camera, a small Sony point & shoot.  So what do I do…   take it to a repair shop…  NO!!  Actually it would have cost more to repair it than buy a new one.  So instead of buying a new camera, I get the same model, a used one with a cracked LCD screen for cheap.  Ahhh, put 2 and 2 together…  you got it!  Well, in theory it could have worked.  But my thumbs were a little too rough for the delicate ribbon underneath.  Doh… on to camera 3.  Same model again, used, but this one works so far, so I will leave it alone…   until something breaks on it.  But I’m sure I would get one camera working this time, really!

So back to the anode rod, take a look.

Read the rest of this entry »

We have embraced the American holiday weekend, it beats the pants off the Canadian Thanksgiving and then followed up by one of the biggest shopping days of the year.  Cat loves the chaos but I prefer sleeping in.  The poor suckers camping outside BestBuy at 3am in Maine.  And that takes us to a tragic note.  Three people were killed in the madness of these sales.  One Walmart employee was trampled and two others at a Toys R’ Us shot one another over a piece of discounted merchandise.  Come on!  Yesterday was Thanksgiving wasn’t it?

So we are looking at the Class A, as Cat highlighted in the previous post, the main reason being the discomfort in moving long distances with a 5th wheel.  No slides is fine, I don’t want to have to pack up and move a lot of items everytime we go somewhere.  We’re going with an old one since we would have to get another vehicle regardless in June once the lease is up on the truck.   Trading the Escalade makes zero sense…  we’re in a negative equity situation, and the prospects of getting that much more money is slim.  So the next step will be to find a piece of land where we can park the Escalade permanently.  I’ll have to talk to the bank to see if they’ll consider it a primary residence (mobile home), and then work on negotiating a much more favourable – traditional mortgage.  I’m aiming for the least amount of debt right now.

We are currently at Jonathan Dickinson State Park, and it is significantly warmer here than North Florida.  It was the first day we have run the A/C — instead of the fireplace!  Love this park, it has really grown on us. The first time we came here, we thought it very decrepit, the place is brush filled and has fire charred trees. It’s a very dry area and the park often conducts controlled burns.  I really like the area around Jupiter.  It’s more laid back before hitting busy south Florida.

….and not of the animal varity. Nor human, thank goodness. What is this possible new addition? That would be a 1997 Damon Intruder….that’s right, a Class A.

What about Mr.Escalade? Not to worry, we’re keeping him. If we were to trade in, we’d take a loss. Not like we want to trade him in either, no way. We figured it would make more sense to get a used Class A in excellent condition and keep the 5th wheel….it’s cheaper than getting a new truck for the fiver when the lease runs out this June. That and we are itching for a Class A for more reasons than I care to list on here! I’m sure any one with an A would know about this!

And so, the search has been going on for months….the discussion, the debates, the frustration on what route to take, but it’s falling into place. We’re currently scouting out some land (not quite sure where yet however, ugh) to park the Escalade on….build a deck around it and use it as a home base. Then in the future we have the option to get a used truck or whatnot to pull it.

Back to the search, we’ve looked at every RV known to man. From new to used, to literally falling apart. Just trying to gage the differences, the prices of ‘fixing them up’ and things like that. Well today we found ‘the one’. The only floor plan we truly loved. We had recently looked at one of these ‘rare’ floorplans in person, but the unit itself was pretty run down. Listed for $15,000, thought maybe it would be worth the fix up cost at $5000 less but the seller would never have gone for it. Glad we waited for a while, because today I ran across our guy online….in Michigan. For the first time BOTH Bryan and I went: THAT’S IT! Good sign!

Read the rest of this entry »

We made it to our destination, good ol’ Florida.  Only thing is, we got a little confused, or maybe it was mother nature, because it sure hasn’t seemed like Florida the last three days.  It has been freezing, yes freezing in Florida.  Albeit we’re in north Florida, near Jacksonville, but these are record lows we’re seeing.  It was 30 degrees F the night before, and inland it dipped to 20, that’s well below the average nightly tempature of 50 degrees.  It’s so mixed up that it was warmer in PEI the last 3 days.  Go figure.  But this cold front will surely break soon, plus we’re headed farther south in a few days, then Cat can go outside again;)

Cat snapped a pic of the welcome to Florida sign, but it turned out blurry.  I like this one a lot better.   

Read the rest of this entry »

Alright, we’ve been on the road again and I’ve been short on my time online.  As per the last post, Cat never got to see Billy Corgan…  better luck next time.   Right now we’re in Savannah, Georgia and soon onward towards Florida.  

We left Toronto on Monday, and yes, it was cold, and a bit of snow too.  Our border crossing was the quickest one yet, through in a minute flat.  The border guard was cool, he asked if we had any hand grenades or bazookas.  We might need them in Miami!  

Generally we keep driving till it gets warm.  We stopped in Charleston, South Carolina for a couple days.  It actually reached 80 degrees.  Stayed at a great State Park on the ocean, Edisto Beach, it’s on an island. Checked out Charleston on a drive through and on our way.  Destination Jacksonville for over a week.  

Lots of palm trees on our site

Read the rest of this entry »

Hey, hope everyone had a Happy Halloween…  Hooray!  Ok, enough of that.  We kept it nice and relaxing…  in haunted houses and on roller-coasters through the pitch black haze.  Much tamer than all that getting dressed up and thrashing about among all the drunken ghouls and super-heroes at the clubs!  A change of pace, it made Halloween a little more romantic in the red glowing mist and haunting music.  Canada’s Wonderland puts on a good show for Halloween every year.  Everything is more fun in the dark;)

Read the rest of this entry »

Well, the things you own, they end up owning you… as goes the quote from Fight Club. Love that movie.  We still have old possessions weighing us down, scattered over the country.  In a couple provinces anyway.  

And we still have to deal with this junk, errr – I mean keepsakes.  Depends who you ask. Fortunately for good friends, we had stored several boxes and a couple pieces of furniture at ‘JC’s house.  Now you sorta forget about this stuff, and who really knows where the time goes, but 2 years later and he is moving – selling his house.  That meant we had a fun Saturday.  

Our short term solution was moving it to another friend’s house.  Eventually you have to deal with problems. Now we’re not total mooches, in return friends have been well furnished.  To make a lesser demand on space, we spent the afternoon condensing boxes and allocating a fair portion to goodwill and the old garbage can.

So now we get to the good part of the story.  The night before we went out for a few drinks, dancing, go to bed at 4 type deal.  We stayed over at our friend’s house.  Our boxes to sort through were out in the garage, which is separate from the house.  They were going out for the afternoon, but we were welcome to stay and take care of the boxes.  The key was left inside and the door open, both Cat and I were in the garage when they pulled out.  Fine, kept working away, then Cat walked around to the door to go in….

Read the rest of this entry »

Well, I forgot we had a site…  hmmm.  Actually, what happened to the summer?  It has been a busy, hectic, stressful, uncertain time that we are enjoying!  I have been enthralled by the whole credit crisis and subsequent market meltdown.  I’m obviously ‘pot committed’, so now the challenge is to gain from the volatile times ahead.

a handful for Cat to band

A brief recap of the summer:  following lobster fishing in the spring, we spent 2 months at Southport RV Park in PEI, across the bridge from Charlottetown.  In our opinion, it’s the supreme location on the Island.  A bit pricey minus a long term rate.  There is also talk of the park being developed – errrr- turned into condos.  It’s happening everywhere!  Apparently half the park is being sold off next year with the future looking dismal for RVing that close to the (mini) city…

Charlottetown Harbour

Read the rest of this entry »

There are a few who know about my ‘clean carpet obsession’. The excessive carpet shampooing, the strict rules about shoes coming off, yup I could very well be a carpet nazi! So it was no surprise how excited I was when we decided to rip out the carpet and replace it with vinyl tiles….specifically TrafficMasters Allure vinyl tiles from Home Depot! I have been waiting for this day forever! No more stinky carpets, and all carpets to me are stinky. I don’t know why RV companies insist on putting a carpet in an RV, it’s just ridiculous, especially with the moisture issue.

I’ve got a few ideas on how to do the slideout, which is presenting a bit of a challenge but I don’t mind too much. Anyway, here are some pictures….I will update as we go!And yes, I still owe a backdated entry and wedding pictures. Not quite caught up yet;-)

Read the rest of this entry »

Yes, we still owe everyone a backdated entry from leaving Florida and heading up the east coast! I haven’t bothered to get any pictures uploaded of our trek until now….

We are settled in PEI, Canada after leaving Florida and stopping in Phily (LOVED IT!) and Boston (HATED IT! The campground was lovely though!). I have many pictures from our trip up and I promise to get those posted soon. Then again, that’s what I said about the wedding photos. Go me!

We left our last stop, Boston, in 85 degree weather and drove straight through until we hit a blizzard. I shit you not, it was a full fledged blizzard in PEI. I can’t say I was surprised….as this island seems to know when I’m coming, and naturally, it prepares its seemingly endless torture on my poor soul. Ok dramatic much! ?

And sad I was. No, wait, DEVASTATED would be the word. That chest pressure, heart sinking, lump in throat, hazy cloud over your head type of feeling. To add to it, we had to drop our RV off for repairs on the way to Bryans parents place….some last minute fixes before the warranty is up. I failed to get most of the items I needed for a month, as the freezing cold near took the breath right out of us and the slush ravaged our poor sandeled toes. Prepared, we were not….but we didn’t expect this kind of weather. Well, I had a hint, but, you know. At least everyone is convinced it’s me. Two days earlier people were out in tank tops getting tans. As our friend Kelly put it: “I didn’t know when you guys we’re going to arrive, but when I saw the weather change like that, I knew Cat was on the island”. Lovely huh!

Read the rest of this entry »

Our stay in Florida is coming to an end. *POUT*

I’m still working on the backdated entries for the last while, from the wedding until now. Slowly but surely getting caught up….
Our time in Florida has been wonderful, and we had good friends to spend it with this time….! While they’ve been heading up back to eastern Canada, we’ve spent our time catching our breath and trying to slow time down as much as possible. However, it seems the slower you want it, the faster it goes, and vice versa. Such is life….

For our last few days we arranged to stay in Jetty Park….one of our favorites as most know;-) It was also a great opportunity to trek into Orlando and pick up our *new friend*. That being Miphy, our bearded dragon! I don’t know how this came about, but I decided I wanted one. As most know, when I decide on something, well….that’s it! Anyway, when adults, dragons are known to be cuddly and interactive….as well as appreciative of human companionship. This little guy LOVES to stand up on his back legs and lean his front ones on the window, and just stare outside. He also loves to curl up and snuggle into a little blanket I gave him on the first night to sleep. Oh, and they are ADORABLE…..some may not agree with this however!

But….just look at this face!

Read the rest of this entry »

Hey hey,

 I haven’t written a post in ages, thanks to Cat for keeping things going.  I like the wordpress platform back on, I had been doing my own journal but I said screw it for awhile, after the server was hacked and I lost my content. 

Spring is here and it is getting to the turning point on the compass, we’re leaving our current campground west of Miami tomorrow morning.  From here on out we will be heading progressively North.  Cat dreads when we start heading “up” but I enjoy something different.  We can take a few days here or there, we’ll be stopping in Ft. Lauderdale next, then West Palm and back to Cocoa Beach for a bit, although for less than a week in each spot. 

It was a nice rainy Easter weekend, with a little thunder, and lots of food.  It sure beats the snow, I did the “home-cooking” ham and sweet potatoes.  Anyone else think RV ovens are useless?  Ours doesn’t even light anymore but no matter, the only thing it ever cooked decently was the turkey last Christmas.  It would burn the bottoms of any dish and leave the top raw, so you have to flip it.  Well, we use ours as a wine rack and beverage holder.  The best thing I bought was a big toaster /countertop oven, one that fits 12″ pizzas.  Everything cooks perfectly.  http://www.proctorsilex.com/cgi-bin/main/co_disp/displ/prrfnbr/1688/sesent/00/6-Slice-Toaster-Oven

Plus it sure beats burning through propane, that built-in oven would take forever to cook anything.  Cat really wishes it was possible to swap it out for a dishwasher.  No affordable option, and we have absolutely zero room for a countertop model.  So it looks like I’ll be stuck with the duties for the unforeseeable future.  I don’t mind, anyways, more later. 

Read the rest of this entry »

Well I figure I owe everyone a little update….after all, it HAS been a month since the last post! We are on the verge of getting everything in our life on track, organized and ‘updated’. Right now we’re staying near Fort Lauderdale after a 9 day stay at John Pennekamp in the Florida Keys, and previously Jon Dickenson SP in Hobe Sound as well as Long Point Park (again!) in Melbourne Beach. I promise I’ll write a post highlighting our stay at each place soon. For now, I’m still tweaking the blog as well as a couple of other sites that have been on the back burner since the planning of the wedding….

Oh yes, I promise wedding pictures shortly too….can’t forget that! I don’t think people believe the wedding existed, but it did….I swear! Ha-ha!

Stay tuned for more to come. And while you’re at it, sign the new guestbook, located on the right sidebar:-)

I had my camera pointed in the wrong direction when I heard everyone exclaim ‘Ohhhh there it is!’ Thankfully I was able to recover quickly and catch the shots that I did! Kristy, Will, Bryan and myself walked out to the fishing dock at Manatee Hammock in Titusville, where we were staying with the rigs for the week. We accidently booked the time when the launch was set to go….bonus!

The weather was looking bad, or at least it was on the radar….there was a 60% chance that the launch was going to be scrubbed….but I had a feeling the entire day that everything was going to be ok! The sun stayed out, the Thunderstorms never showed, and up went the shuttle in a blaze of fire into the deep blue sky while everyone watched in awe. I was shaking so badly, I could barely hold the camera. I think I must have felt the nervousness of those men being shot into the sky. It was quite miraculous….see for yourself….

Camera #1

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been great getting back to the east coast of Florida. I write to you from Wickham Park in Melbourne having come recently from Long Point Park in Melbourne Beach. Long Point was pretty cool, and we both hope to go back soon. It’s situated beside Sebastian Inlet State Park nestled between the Atlantic and the Indian River. We again scored an awesome site right on the end with the windows facing out to no one just as I like it;-) While it wasn’t a waterfront site, we were at the end of a large field which pretty much lent a view of the entire water surrounding the park, which was very nice. I’ll post some pictures of Wickham Park in the next entry….here’s a bit of Long Point….

Read the rest of this entry »

I cannot believe year two of RVing has gone by. Well, our first year was only half a year really, but the process started near the beginning of 2006 anyway:-) Time really DOES fly when you’re having fun! When we look back to how much has changed, it’s quite unbelievable. From the lifestyle to our mindset, everything is so very different. We’re wiser, and we know what we want and don’t want out of life.
Both of us hope to continue this way of living for many years, if not the rest of our life. Many of our friends have settled down, some have bought a house, some have had children. Good for them I say, but it’s clear to us that what we want in life is very different from everyone else. We want to travel, learn, and grow in ways that aren’t exactly understood by everyone we know. Yet we have been blessed to find others with the same goals, hopes and dreams, and we hope to continue meeting these types down the road:-) I say all of us are very lucky to have stumbled upon this way of life, and to imagine it any other way is impossible now….
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, and best of luck for the new year! I’ll leave you with some crazy New Years pictures…. Kevin and Angie from Chillaxnet.com came over to Fort Myers Beach with their friends: the lovely Michelle and rad Damian! All of them young Rvers and super fun. Thanks to all of you for making this one of the best New Years ever! Good company is everything….

I don’t look as cute at the end of this post!

Read the rest of this entry »

We went out tonight with AJ and his new friend from Fort Lauderdale. Fort Myers Beach was a little more busy than usual which was good. Had some drinks and excellent food at Junkanoo and then for more drinks and an appetizer at The Pierside Grill. A great night, it’s always fun to see friend on the road. They both traveled two and a half hours to get here….we have them our radar detector for the ride back;-) Ha-ha!
It’s also great to MEET friends on the road. Like the people we’ve met while staying at Gulf Waters RV Resort. Just when I thought this place couldn’t get any cooler (and the people any nicer!), I was taken for a surprise! When we returned from our night out, we found a present on our picnic bench: All the letters were actually engraved into the glass….and the picture hand painted! Beautiful!

Read the rest of this entry »

I have a new toy! It’s a Trikke. Apparently a big fad in Florida and Cali it seems….because of the warm weather all year around. Of course it’s traveled further north as well…. Unlike a bike, it gives a full body work out, rather than just the lower half. I’m looking forward to being more toned for the wedding in January;-) I recommend this to all folks of all ages! From my extensive research on it online, it has helped everyone from the overweight, to car accident victims, to those with heart problems, to those who just find other exercise too boring. You can do jumps and tricks with them too….but that will take me a while to figure out, haha!

The birds love it too!

I know Bryan wants one, although he does not admit it. I go outside, and realize he’s on it all the way down the street. Ya can’t fool me! LOL!

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s still strange, the palm trees at Christmas time. Last year it was ‘weird’. This year, it makes me happy….but that could also be the complaints I’ve heard of others in colder places influencing this opinion;-) My parents made it down through the snow to be here for Christmas. We all went to the club house here at Gulf Waters RV Resort….it was awesome! They had a big potluck, and well over 100 people came out, which was more than expected. It was awesome and I’m so glad we came here for this particular holiday! This was on the table, and was also sung right before dinner, it sure cracked me up….

Some Christmas pictures….and pressie show offs, just because I love sparklies and I’m way too excited to keep these to myself!

Early Christmas/Wedding Gifts (Ebay fun and additions to my ‘sparkly collection’): Diamond and sapphire art deco ring in platinum, circa 1920 Ruby and diamond eternity ring with hand engraving Aquamarine and stirling silver earrings Citrine and rose cut diamond earrings in yellow gold.

Read the rest of this entry »

So what has happened in the last few months? I suppose we left off in P.E.I. Great partying, great friends, lots of RV mishaps! A blown tire, an exploading rim, Theodore Mittens bad run in with a glade freshener, the list goes on!

Peake’s Quay with friends Will, Kristy and AJ (and others!) Oh and the Premier of Newfoundland, lol!

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s rather funny how things work out. We started off using WordPress, tried a handful of other blogs only to be unsatisfied. Now we’re back to WordPress. In the time that’s passed, a lot has changed with the program, and so here we are. I think I’m satisfied now….

I’m not throwing anything away concerning the blog or pages on iWeb, so you’ll find any of the side links will lead back to those pages. Only the blog will be kept here. All older entries can be found by clicking below:

Click here for previous entries!

Now, lets get this thing on the road!