Get Ready! We’re 'Movin’

No, We haven’t sold the house, but it’s real temptin’.

RV Anytimers.com is movin’ to a new site. I been workin’ on a blog page that’s new & improved. Improved? That’s yet to be determined. Just a new look fer’ the site. It’ll still be hung on this here fence, just spread out a mite more, so’s we can cover some o’ the graffiti that someone's been scribblin’ on it when I’m not lookin’. Don’t want to reveal to much cause that would take away from the ‘Sur..prize’. Ya’ll will see one day real soon.

Our friends from Ontario zipped down Sunday, and I do mean zipped. Nineteen hours from Buffalo,NY where they attended a friends wedding on Saturday. I couldn’t believe it when they called Monday morning, Yikes, ya’ll must have broke the sound barrier at least once. I remember my Dad driving from NYC to FL in 21 hours and that was movin’!

Well we are enjoyin’ the time we get to spend with them over the next week, then it’s back to ‘The North Country’, Oh Canada, my home & Native Land. Theirs not mine! Oh Baby it cold up there, not just yet, but it’s comin’ soon.

Well I’d better get back to tweakin’ that new page so’s I can show it to ya’ll. As always, travel safe, we hope to see ya’ down the road as we’re;

Dancin’ on the Wind.

How ‘bout some ‘Wish You Were Here’ Pics?

I don’t have much to rant about today. We’re havin’ a Birthday Party fer’ our granddaughter Ashley, she’s gonna be 15, so we’re preparin’ fer’ a passel o’ teenagers, YIKES! Just some barbequed chicken, pop, salads and my fill o’ screamin’ & gigglin’ girls, sounds like fun huh?
Since there’s nothin’ new in our ‘RV Traveling World, I thought I’d post some pics from a past trip we’ve taken, just to make ya’ drool a might. Lets see if’n I can roll ‘em all into a nice sli…de presentation.

If you wish to view this slide show with the full screen option click on the link below. You will be taken to a new window Check the bottom right of the video for size controls.

Full Screen

Was the trip worth it? You betcha! It was everything I had imagined and more. Would I go back? “Durned Skippy I would”. The Mrs. might take some convincin’, but me I’d go in a New york minute! Was it expensive? Was milk $10 a gallon and eggs a dollar a piece? Absolutely not, everything was close to the price we pay at home includin’ fuel. Now there are some things that aren’t so readily available, like fresh produce. Plenty grown by Alaskans but for their own consumption. Oh yeah things in BC, Canada & the Yukon are a little pricey, but no more than they are in Ontario, Canada across the border from Niagara Falls.
If ya’ ever have the desire to go up to the ‘North Country’ it’s an experience ya’ wont soon forget. The trip through that part of Canada is as just fascinating as the Alaskan experience. Me I’m a bit of an old western romantic, so pullin’ into town to find only a Tradin’ Post with fuel pumps out front is my kind of adventure. I kept watchin’ fer’ Sgt. Preston & his wonder dog “Yukon King’.

We were lucky enough to camp with a couple from Fort Nelson, BC. She said they always see signs around town makin’ folks aware of bears frequenting the parkin’ lot of the market or community center and such. It’s probably the last & only true ‘Wilderness’ you will ever have the pleasure of seein’ in your lifetime. Oh yea this is ‘Boondockin’ Heaven’, as you can camp anywhere. We even camped at the Marina on the harbor, in Valdez. Backed right in a parkin’ space with our truck camper, bought fresh fish, watched the boats goin’ in & out fer’ two days. Nobody bothered us. We even stopped at visitor centers to ask what the cities policy was on campin’ on the street, only to get confused looks and the response, “As far as I know we don’t have one, you can camp anywhere.
Oh yeah I mentioned truck camper. This is the ideal rig to see Alaska in cause it’s so maneuverable & small. Big rigs are roomy & comfortable, but the road in the upper half of the Yukon is pretty rough early in the season, till the crews get to pullin’ up last years frost heaved surface and get her graded.
There is a book I recommend if yer’ plannin’ on takin’ the trip, it’s called the Milepost and it’s updated every year. It’s like the Bible of the North Country and it lists every little thing that you will find along any highway, mile by mile, in BC, Yukon & Alaska. See if you can go to your library and get an older version, it excited me just readin’ it. But do get a current issue to take with ya’, as you’ll need it. It’s invaluable.
So what are ya’ waitin’ on? Get plannin’! It’s a trip of a lifetime.
Well gotta go. Hope to see ya’ down the road as we’re;

Dancin’ on the Wind.

Some overdue Postin’

Since we’re settin’ home fer’ a spell I thought I’d tell ya’ a little about somewhere we visited in October. The Mrs. was supposed to write this entry but I can’t seem to motivate her in that direction so I’ll have to do the tellin’.

When we were on our way south we strayed a bit from our intended trail to swing over to ‘Mayberry’. Passport America has a park there, $15 a night, full hookup including cable and WiFi, pretty sweet deal. Anywho, when we checked in we found out this was the ancestral home and farm of the famous Siamese twins Chang & Eng Bunker made famous by P.T. Barnum. The farm was a tobacco plantation of some 2000 acres and the campground lies on most of it today. The campground has 83 full hookups and is a work in progress since they’re addin’ more sites all the time. As I mentioned in our September 30th post tours of their ancestral home were given on the weekend and since this was Thursday, Linda was disappointed she was not going to get to see it. We discussed staying, but we had to be in the Raleigh area cause friends were expectin’ us. When we stopped in the office the next mornin’ to compliment them on their campground, Linda told them she was sad that we weren’t here on the weekend to get a tour of the house. Well it turned out Ms Ruby Bunker, great grand daughter of one of the twins, I can’t recall which, was pullin’ up outside. She was glad to give Linda a private tour of the house and I tagged along, cause I was told to.

Here’s a picture of the house.

A portion of the campground from the yard.

No one lives in the house now but Ms. Ruby grew up here as a girl and her mother lived here till she died. They still maintain the home and it is immaculate, Ms. Ruby cleans regularly. Here’s Ms. Ruby and yours truly just inside the kitchen door.

Eng & Chang donated a portion of their land for this local church and are buried in the cemetery on the church grounds.

I put together a little slide show of some more pics of the house and some from ‘Downtown Mayberry’ that we visited the following day.

A Trip Back in Time

I hope Ya’ll enjoyed our little trip back in time, cause we did. It’s so great to travel this wonderful country, explorin’ the ordinary and the not so ordinary sites & places off the beaten path.

Since we seem to be home fer’ a spell, I hope to be postin’ at least once a week. I try not to make the content here to mundane and keep it on track with travelin’.

On another note I’d like to thank all the new ‘Follower’s for signin’ on, I’ll try to keep it interestin’.

Linda, Amy, Dan, Bonnie, Judy & John, Wayne & Maureen, Ashley, Danny & Shula, Andrea & the Cruzin2some.

Your readership has helped to popularize this here pet project of mine & I am grateful. You may notice in the sidebar we now have a link where you can subscribe to the blog. I’ve also posted a ‘States Visited’ map and Linda & I both have ‘Facebook’ pages. So if ya’ want to stop by to say ‘Hey’ or post somethin’ on our ‘Wall’, feel free. I think I may incorporate both pages into an RV Anytimers group page after I figure this ‘Facebook’ stuff out a little better.

Well that’s all fer’ this post, my brains havin’ a senior moment so I’ll sign off. As always, and I mean this more than ever, Hope to see ya’ down the road as we’re;

Dancin’ on the Wind.

Oh The Life of Stix & Brix, Grrr…..

We are safe? at home. Seems one of the Murphy family has taken up residence while we were gone. Everything we touch, seems to be jinxed.

During the first days home Linda went to do some laundry, the washin’ machine doesn’t seem to be fillin’ up all the way even though she has it set to the highest level. So she aint’ happy about haulin’ water in a bucket to fill it full, we could have done that along a river somewhere’s out in the ‘Shinin’ Mountains’, with a lot less stress. Same time I hear, “There’s somethin’ wrong with my stove too, cause it just clicked off”! Great, now I know why I enjoy homeownership. The stove is one o’ them flat top ‘computerized’ deals, that has brain farts, only there’s different kind o’ electrons involved. Last time we had a problem, the oven came on by it’s lonesome and wouldn’t shut off, I had to keep shutin’ the circuit breaker off & on every time we wanted to use the stovetop, which weren’t to safe. Tech support lady said, “It’s probably something wrong with the brain, but don’t worry when it get to 860 degrees it’ll shut itself off”. OK, ‘Oh highly trained technician person’, “What’s going to shut it down if the brain’s not workin”? Just give me a number to call when my new house is on fire, cause I’m callin’ that # before I call the Fire Department!!! We got the stove fixed, no charge.

Today I ‘m gonna go around the property and clean-up branches, palm fronds, dig up some large weeds and such so I get my lawn tractor and go to get the utility trailer that I haul behind her. I check the oil in the tractor and it’s low, so I’ll go get some. But first as long as I’m puttin’ new oil in I might as well change the oil. So while I run down the road to the Ace store fer’ oil, I’ll let the oil drain out, right. Not happenin’! The plug is in tight, so as I put some pressure on the wrench, instead of the pipe plug comin’ out, the short pipe nipple from the drain twists and tears and starts to leak. Grrr….. Not what I had in mind, but that dang Murphy, Grr… I’d strangle ‘em if I could find ‘em. So now it’s a matter o’ takin’ the mower deck off, then pullin’ the motor off so I can get to the drain and get the broken piece of pipe out to replace it, Grr…. Why can’t anything be easy!

Well my blood pressure has come down a little and I’m just lettin’ the tractor sit fer’ the moment. The stove has not acted up again, so I’m prayin’ that it was a ‘Brain Fart’ in the computer. Can’t get a straight answer on weather the washer is fillin’ like it’s supposed to or not.

But I’ve got lot’s more stuff to do around here. I have to pull wire and hookup two new RV spots I created as well as get the water connected. Have to go to Lowe’s and exchange the #8 wire I bought fer’ some #6 fer’ that job. Got lots o’ work to do on the 5v’er that’s been sittin’. Lots o’ little things around the house that I been neglectin’ so I can stay busy from now till I drop tryin’ to catch up.

On another note, this ‘Blog is growin’ everyday and I appreciate all of you who stop by to read a little. Anytime you need to know more or want to comment on anything, feel free. If you’d like to become a ‘Follower’, that would be fine. If’n you’d rather correspond private like, there’s a email link right under the ‘Followers’ Section Labeled ‘Contact Us’. Yesterday I had 25 views, today we surpassed that with 30 views. People from all over! I find it excitin’ and I hope I can keep it entertainin’ fer’ all who read.

Again “Thanks So Much” fer’ all who take the time to check us out.

Well I think I’ll go fer’ now and see if’n I can break somethin’ else. Hope it aint on me, I don’t seem ta’ heal as fast as I use too. As always we hope to see ya’ down the road as we’re;

Dancin’ on the Wind.

Last Travel Day Home

Sorry it has taken so long to write my final post of our trip but we’re still unpackin’ & washin’. It’s amazing how much one can cram into a truck camper.

The park were in, Manatee Hammock, is packed pru..tty tight right now. Those that were here fer’ the Space Shuttle launch, most are still here. I guess they decided to extend their stay so’s they could see it go up on Wednesday, if it goes. There were lots of kids in the park and they were ‘Trick or Treatin’ around the camp. This bein’ Sunday night and all I wonder why they haven’t all gone home? Maybe they didn’t have school on Monday.

We ate a quick dinner then went fer’ a walk round the camp. We were near the fishin’ pier when we met two ladies, Terry & her close friend, sorry her name escapes me. I asked if they were here fer’ the launch, they said they were. Terry said they were from the ‘West’ coast and being a ‘flatland floridian’ I assumed Tampa or nearby. I right away give her a card and tell them if they come over next time they are welcome to stay at our house, that we have 30 & 20 amp hookups and water as well. Then Terry told us she was from WASHINGTON, Oh that ‘West Coast’! We…ll that mite make a difference when you drop by on your next visit here. But your still welcome anytime your in the neighborhood, just call to make sure we’re home at the time, you have our card. If’n we get up to your neck o’ the woods next summer we’ll be sure to give ya a shout.

The last leg of the trip was just about an hour and a half. Y’all know this fella’s lookin’ forward to returnin’ to the ‘Stix & Brix’ life, Not. I’d be much happier on the road, but gotta do this fer’ now.

Well that’s all fer’ today, I’ll try and post again soon. Until then we hope to see ya’ down the road as we’re;

Dancin’ on the Wind.

A Big Wheel RV Park, St Marys

As the morning light illuminated the park we were pleasantly surprised at the choice we made to stay here. It’s great!!! The park sites are mostly concrete, on nice wide paved roads, average size 20’ x 70’, lots of pull thrus, all full hookups. They have a clubhouse with TV, Dish Network, DVD player & a Wii game. The clubhouse also contains several lending libraries, DVD, CD music, VCR & books of all sorts. As well as games, puzzles & tables for cards or what-ever. There are also three large private restrooms and a laundry contained in the building. Even though the website states modem at the office they have upgraded to WiFi throughout the park. There’s a catch and release fishing lake and tent sites as well.

Here’s a look at a typical site.

Here’s a shot of our site down the road.

Every Sunday evening they hold a pot luck dinner, they supply the main dish. We pondered staying for the Pot luck but home is just across the river, a couple hundred miles and calling to us.

Owners, Karen & Ron started the park in 2006 with 5 sites, they have added more every year and now boast 35. The park is a mixture of sun & shade with wide accesses. 

Here’s the hard workin’ couple Karen & Ron

The park lies 3/10 of a mile from the boat ramp on the Crooked River and Crooked River State Park is about 100 yards down the road from the entrance to A Big Wheel RV. St. Marys, a quaint little town chocked with history, is a mere 10 minutes down the road on the St. Marys river.

A Big Wheel RV Park is definitely a great stop for a night, a week or the winter season and the rates are great.

We sadly left Ron & Karen and headed down the road. Tonight’s destination is Manatee Hammock Park near Titusville, FL. Strange we leave one Titusville in Pennsylvania and wind up in another 1270 miles and 5 weeks later. Manatee Hammock is a Brevard county park located on the shore of the Indian River. Thanks to the cancelation of the Space Shuttle launch we were able to get a site fer’ the night.

Well that’s all I got fer’ today. Hope to see ya’ down the road as we’re;

Dancin’ on the Wind.