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Reflections on June 8th, 2012:

Moving into the rest of our life………… Over the last several years Alice and I have been “wintering” with our motor-home at a campground i...

Monday, December 26, 2016

Christmas at David's....

https://goo.gl/photos/Zn78xZYRzXB9sgaG6

Alice, Joanna and myself had dinner at David and Ashley's along with her parents yesterday.  NICE Christmas and a great dinner!  This was their first Hosting and we had a nice time and a good day. Click the link above for a short album from the event....

Saturday, December 24, 2016

Christmas transition musings.....


Ah, Christmas time is a time when I notice transitions...things that have changed, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worst...This year our David is hosting Christmas dinner tomorrow for us with his friend Ashley in their new home.  His life has changed dramatically for the better in the past few years, for sure :).  Alice is busily making pierogies and cabbage soup, but they’ll only be us three (Alice, myself and Joanna) for the repast….I remember when we’d sit twelve or so. Transitions and changes.  This year, due to a data loss, I decided to “pull the plug” on our annual Christmas card sending. MOST of the people on our list we talk to by email or interact on Facebook….but there are some that do not do facebook, do not do e-mail..and the annual Christmas card is the only contact we have with them. They are mostly former neighbors and elderly.  We’ve responded to all Christmas cards with a note that we’re not doing them anymore, and asked them to check in with us on the Blog or FB . Hope springs eternal!

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

We had a very busy extended weekend with Space Coast Sams at Blueberry Hill in Bushnell

Last weekend we camped at the Blueberry Hill RV Resort with our Space Coast Sams camping group.  As part of this weekend we attended the Wreaths Across America ceremonies at the Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell. Here's a link to some photos and snaps from this campout: https://goo.gl/photos/6rs6XgoXtMQWu2Co8

Saturday, December 10, 2016

We've stopped sending individual Christmas Cards by snail-mail effective in 2016....

Please note: Effective now, in 2016, we've decided to stop sending individual Christmas cards. We will post our greetings here on the Blog, and also on Facebook. Thank you for your understanding! Bob and Alice


C:\Users\Bob Payette\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\KATTFAKP\MC900432427[1].wmf
         Christmas, 2016- The Payette Family of Titusville, Florida.

Merry Christmas to our friends and relatives from Alice and Bob! Having family and good friends is the best blessing, and we are grateful for ours.
We feel very blessed in our Florida home, and love the lifestyle and climate here in Titusville. The regional theaters (Titusville Playhouse, Henegar Theater, Cocoa Playhouse, Melbourne Civic Theater etc) and Big Band concerts in Melbourne keep us busy on weekends when we’re not camping with the Space Coast Sams group.  I try to keep our Blog reasonably current, and you’re invited to take a look if you are inclined….at http://bobpayette.blogspot.com/. There are links to most of our photo’s you can peruse from the Blog if you’d like….you’ll have to sign it with your Google account for full access.
Merry Christmas to you and yours, and if a visit to Florida’s East Coast is in your plans contact us so we can get together! David and his significant other Ashley have purchased a home here in town, so we have our guest room back.  We are making plans to visit CT in the summer of next year as this year's visit fell through due to some health issues. Our Town home is under an hour from Orlando International…..a straight shot down Interstate 528 with little traffic☺.  We also hope you have a healthy and wonderful 2017….so Happy New Year!
Bob and Alice Payette
1960 Dipol  Courtway, Titusville, Fl 32780
Best phone or text contact for Bob:  860. 460.7945 -  For Alice:  860.912.7160

Thursday, December 01, 2016

Went to Deland Flea Market yesterday (at the Volusia County Fairgrounds)....

Yesterday Alice and myself, with snow-bird friends Ken and Sandy Wood, trekked out to the Flea Market in Deland.  Picked up a nice Azalea bush, a new wallet and some fruits and veggies.  Good exercise as it's really spread out :).

Saturday, November 26, 2016

Wally Lamb's "I'll Take You There: A Novel"

 enjoyed it.....but it will take some time to digest.
Finished reading this book on Kindle for iOS. Description: In this radiant homage to the resiliency, strength, and power of women, Wally Lamb—author of numerous New York Times bestselling novels including She’s Come Undone, I Know This Much is True, and We Are Water—weaves an evocative, deeply affec...
AMZN.TO

Thursday, November 24, 2016

Thanksgiving thoughts, November 2016


So, here we are on November 24th, 2016 and personally I feel I have a lot to be thankful for.  My health is not perfect but the VA says I’m serviceable :), my youngest son David and his friend Ashley moved into their new home yesterday (about a mile away, plenty close enough for us to visit them and the granddogs Jorge and Justice), and the list goes on and on.  This year we didn’t make it to Connecticut as planned but we might do it next summer. We still camp at least monthly with our camping group www.spacecoastsams.org and feel very blessed living in Florida where we can get out more.  New England weather is not for sissies and advanced dotage does temper you a bit. The heat is easier to deal with than the cold, ice, snow and winter gloom.  We’re fortunate that two of the three kids followed us to Florida. Like us Joanna and David have acclimated very nicely here, and Tony and his friend Alissa plan on retiring here.  Looks like the great Payette migration is peaking. Our grandparents immigrated from Sherbrooke Canada to Lebanon New Hampshire...my father left New Hampshire and moved South till he rooted in East Hartford CT.  My older brother Fred was the first to go further South….to Florida, and his family has stayed here.  We arrived in 2012.  Not to be mauldin but we’ll be here until our last stop in the new National Cemetery  here in Titusville.  There are worst places to end up :), but for today I’m grateful for a lot….the family, the friends make the journey a good one.

Monday, November 21, 2016

Rocket launch get-together on Mel's deck overlooking KSC....





A "Catch Up" post of sorts...

We've been busy, what with camping with our Space Coast Sams, the Snowbird friends flocking in, the local theater scene being in full bloom, and mostly the good news with David and Ashley....they close on their new home tomorrow!  It's only a mile or so from us, so close enough to visit them and the grand-dogs Jorge and Justice.  The VA has pronounced me fit as a fiddle, so there's a good chance we'll make our long delayed visit to CT next summer.  The weather is Florida Winter like (currently 48 outside, but will warm to high 70's)...so all is normal there:).
Really enjoyed "Meet Me In Saint Louis" yesterday at the Cocoa Theater.

Monday, November 14, 2016

Today we had to put down our main puss Timothy....16 years old or so.....

We had to put down our main cat Timothy today....complications of Renal failure. He was 16 and a "man about town" who loved to visit the neighbors here in Titus Village.  At home in Preston CT he used to follow me down the 600 foot driveway to the road and mailbox while I picked up the mail, or the newspaper early morning....and never ventured onto the road...followed me back up to the house.  A FINE cat for sure.

Just in from the Florida Good Sam Fall Rally in Eustis FL....

We just got in from the Florida Fall Rally in Eustis FL with 5 member rigs of our Space Coast Sams group. Photo's and snaps here: https://goo.gl/photos/UQaDtQLBYCM9HBty9

Our next outing in December will be to Bushnell FL....We'll attend the Wreaths Across America ceremonies at the Florida National Cemetery and then have our Christmas festivities back at the campground.

Thursday, October 06, 2016

Thursday morning, Hurricane Matthew on horizon...

Hurricane Matthew is scheduled to pop us good this evening and overnight.  Joanna and David cleared off the upper deck (our bedroom looks like Plantland :) ), and we've done the grocery shopping.  Lots of food on hand along with some ice, beer and wine etc.  This morning I have to go out and bring in the outside plants at risk (I have several orchids we've attached to the palm trees) and move the inside plants away from the inside of the Florida room.  It's all a bit unnerving in that we've never experienced a hurricane here, and from talking to friends and neighbors not too many have.  It seems everyone in Florida is from somewhere else.... We do have a neighbor that got hit hard here in 2004 and it cost him $175,000 in damages and 7 months in a hotel while being re-built...that is scary!!

My long delayed stress test with the VA was supposed to be this morning, but the VA has closed their Viera Clinic until Tuesday because of the coming storm. Also, our camping chapter Space Coast Sams had a camp-out scheduled for the Sanlan RV Resort.....and we rescheduled that until the weekend of October 20th.  Joanna works at CVS in Merritt Island and she'll be off for a few days as they've evacuated all the barrier islands including Merritt Island.  David's restaurant Shilo's has also closed for three days....people here are taking this upcoming storm VERY seriously.

In other developments it looks like we might get one of our guest rooms back, as David is in the process of purchasing a home here in Titusville, just a few miles from our digs here in Titus Village.  He's very excited about it, as he should be. He'll be sharing his home with his significant other and their two pooches Jorge and Justice.

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Change 22...NOT going to CT in September the way it looks..

We just posted this note to friends and relatives in CT....
ALL:  

We will not be traveling North in early September as planned earlier.  As I might have mentioned I have some tests coming up and it's not possible to get it done in time to leave as planned.  I'm disappointed, in that we haven't been to CT since we relocated here in 2012, but I'll get over it.  I've had no major symptoms since my angina incidents so feel pretty confident we'll get on the road in the coming year....might even go North in the summer months when all the rest of the Floridians escape :).  

There are worst places to be stuck...so to speak.  It will finally start to cool off in a few months, the regional theater is starting up with a bang, and the flowers are in bloom :).  

Cheers!

Bob Payette

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Possible complications on our trip North in September...

I sent this note to friends and relatives who are expecting us early September in CT:  On Tue, Aug 16, 2016 at 5:33 PM, Bob Payette <r.payette2@gmail.com> wrote:

All:   The VA is scheduling me for some tests that they want completed and acted on prior to my scheduled trip North.  I'm hoping we'll be able to keep to our original plan of leaving Florida the first week of September but like life itself it's not guaranteed. We'll stay in touch.  Long story short is I've had some angina incidents and they want to be proactive.  Cheers!
Bob Payette

Monday, August 08, 2016

August camping at Jetty Park....

We're heading back out to Jetty Park early afternoon for the week, where we will meet friends from our Space Coast Sams. This is our third and last visit to Jetty this summer. Come fall our group moves into its regular full camping schedule, www.spacecoastsams.org. An advantage to living in Florida is we get to go out in the rig 12 months a year...the motor home never sees winterizing .

Saturday, August 06, 2016

The summer, and life, is just flying by!

We went to our "First of The Season" play last night at the Melbourne Civic Theater - "Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike" which was a hoot and a holler.  Going with us were new MCT season ticket holders Mel and Dottie Fringer, who left this morning for a weeks sabbatical on Cape Cod. Tonight its "Bring It On, The Musical" a Rising Stars production at Titusville Playhouse.

Monday August 8th it's back to Jetty Park in Port Canaveral for the week with friends from Space Coast Sams.  If you're going to have 90+ deg heat you might as well be near the bleeding cool Atlantic!

Our plan is to head for CT and the Northeast the weekend of Sept. 3rd...for three weeks or so.  We haven't been North of Jacksonville since we relocated to FL in 2012.  It will be nice to see old friends and relatives and old haunts :).

Friday, July 15, 2016

Just in from Jetty Park at Port Canaveral...



We just came back from Jetty Park this afternoon...we camped there with friends from Space Coast Sams for our summer monthly Monday-Friday ritual. Nice time! https://goo.gl/photos/wnbxVxUTkwEbr8tk8 Click on the first snap and you'll link to a short Google Video of the event as a starter .

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

The Day - Connecticut Republicans should take the Trump test - News from southeastern Connecticut

The Day - Connecticut Republicans should take the Trump test - News from southeastern Connecticut:

"But no party has ever put before voters such a despicable, frightening candidate, one who openly challenges the bedrock of our society and democracy."

I couldn't agree with David Collins more.....

'via Blog this'

Friday, June 10, 2016

Just in today from Jetty Park at Port Canaveral....

In photo above, Left front is Danny, Joanna's friend, Joanna, Tony & Alissa and Alice. This snap was taken at "New York, New York" on the Indian River in Titusville.

Tony and Alissa were down vacationing, and we set them up in our rig at Manatee Hammock. When they flew home on Saturday June 4th we took the rig to Jetty Park in Port Canaveral, where we "dry camped" outside for a few days. Monday thru Friday we were inside the camp-ground with some of our Space Coast Sams friends....Nice week, but I've been sick...ended up going back to the Dr. for a new drug regimen... Click the following link for some snaps and video from this Jetty Park campground event: https://goo.gl/photos/VnWPn6PP7HL2u7jC9

Monday, May 09, 2016

Had a GREAT weekend with our Space Coast Sams Chapter 10 at Southern Palms RV Resort...


We had a great weekend with our camping Good Sams Chapter at the Southern Palms RV Resort in Eustis Florida this past extended weekend.

Click here for a short video clip from the event: https:g//oo.gl/photos/TANZTcxiXVCnZqqE9

Click here for the full Google Photo's Album: https://goo.gl/photos/Qi2Dx6Y8DEWa6BKX9

Monday, May 02, 2016

Planning on visiting the Northeast in the autumn....

Alice and myself have decided to trek up to the Northeast in the autumn, probably in September.  This gives us plenty of time to clear our calendar for a few weeks and get on the road for a bit.  We have relatives in CT and MA we'd like to catch up with, and friends in our old camping club we'd love to see.  We moved here to Titusville in July of 2012, so it's been awhile since we've been any further North than Jacksonville Fl.  This past weekend we saw "On Golden Pond" at the Titusville Playhouse II and we started talking about how, when the kids were little, we used to start and end our camping season by going to Gunstock Mountain in The Lakes Region of NH.  We're hoping to be able to spend a few days there on this trip as well as spend a weekend with our old Seaport Sams Camping Chapter. Something to plan for! :).

Sunday, April 10, 2016

We just returned from the Florida Good Sams Spring Rally in Ockeechobee Fl, with our Space Coast Sams camping group.  Here's some links to this event:
We won the 50/50 on the final night of the Rally .... What a wonderful surprise!!
Google Photo Albumhttps://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipOH6IMGoZ-si7ScMGlT7kT2R0GbclhEHM3QaLnNkd5i20ont1Xevu1tkDZnomyWYw?key=SlotVG45TDZDWHpxMXRxN1EydWtUampvVi1DNnBB

Google Video Clip

Google has a bit of the slows on this....you can visit our website at www.spacecoastsams.org and go to the photo-video tab and you might have a better connection.

Saturday, March 26, 2016

iPad activation FUBAR forced me off the dime...and there's no regrets with the iPad Air 2...

With the introduction of IOS 9.3 I proceeded (like an idiot early adopter) to upgrade the two iPhones and two iPads in the house.  Alice's 4s, and my 6s+ and Alice's Mini2 all went smoothly but we got into the "could not activate" issue with the iPad2 that Apple is now fixing.  Long story short, the system is asking for the original password used to set-up the iPad in ITunes and failing that, she's not activating.  So, just for giggles I looked up how long I've had the iPad 2, and was surprised to find I'd purchased it in March 2011...five years ago!  I had been complaining to myself about slow load times and video performance, and I decided that Apple was sending me a message that the 2 was nearing her shelf life....so we went out and got an iPad Air 2, since the Pro had just come out and they'd reduced the price by $100.  What a difference!  It's like being dropped onto a different planet, onto a Star-Wars scene.  Absolutely love it!  I'm waiting for the "Fix" to be published on the 2, and I'll bring that back to factory specs and gift it to David.  All's well that ends well!

April 2016:  Alice and myself ended up driving to the Apple Store in Altamonte Florida....the place was mobbed, so we had to make an appointment to see the "Genius"....We came back in a few days and, long story short, the i-pad was restored to New Condition after two and a half hours....they had a hard time with it.  David is now using it, and it is like a new ipad which is a good thing....nice that it will continue to be used and appreciated :).

Sunday, March 13, 2016

Attended the Tico Warbird Airshow in Titusville today...

We (Duane and myself) attended the Tico Warbird Airshow here in Titusville 
yesterday....what a show!  Loved it :).

Click here for a Video Clip from the event.  The full album is linked from the above link below the photo.

Monday, February 08, 2016

"Join Us" photo album from our Space Coast Sams Chapter 10 website: www.spacecoastsams.org

We have a "Join Us" photo album linked from our Space Coast Sams website so potential Chapter members can look at photos of our group during some of our previous camp-outs.  Here's a link to that album: https://goo.gl/photos/wcnxCRcn3Q6ifvnLA

Space Coast Sams is growing the Chapter, and we are very welcoming to new members!  Visit our website at www.spacecoastsams.org for further information.

Sunday, February 07, 2016

We just got back in this afternoon from Blueberry Hill RV Resort...

We just got back in today from our monthly camp-out with Space Coast Sams....to Blueberry Hill, in Bushnell FL.  It was a good weekend! :).

Photo's                                  Video Clip

Sunday, January 31, 2016

Alice's cousin Connie came in to visit the beginning of the week...

Alice's cousin Connie Clark came from Tampa to visit for a bit the beginning of the week.  We took her over to the Canaveral National Seashore and to Jetty Park, but she couldn't see too much as it was rainy and foggy :(.

This upcoming week our group is heading out to Blueberry Hill CG in Bushnell Fl for an extended weekend and we're looking forward to it.

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Lunch with our Snow Bird group today...

From FB:
Looking forward to lunch with some of our Snow Bird friends...Ken and Sandy, Mike and Pat, Jerry and Joe, and former Snow Birds Murray and Donna. Annually we get together to chat up old times and celebrate their arrival on our Space Coast smile emoticon...

Friday, January 01, 2016

Jetty Park, New Years Eve, Dec 30-31, 2015


This is a link to a Google Photo's movie from this event.  We spent a few days at Jetty Park in Port Canaveral with Donna and Murray: https://goo.gl/photos/nv6WVRUGjUw9YNQt5

This is a link to the full Google Photo album from this event: https://goo.gl/photos/CgRKoYYwrgE1qpqF9