Friends

A very long time ago I was a member of (and eventually Commander) of The New London Power Squadron, an educational boating group in Southeastern CT.  After ten years sailing Alice and myself decided to get out of boating and get back into recreational motor-homing.  We sold the boat, bought an RV, and friends of mine from the Squadron (Ken and Ellen Barber) suggested we consider joining their camping group, Seaport Sams which was a Good Sam Club chapter.  We did that, and eventually became President of the Chapter and made many friends there.

A group of these Seaport Samers used to winter in Florida with their RVs.  Most went to Titusville on the East Coast of Florida, and some went to Mexico Beach on the Panhandle.  Alice was still working, and her mother was in a nursing home, and it wasn't the time for us to join them.  When Alice’s mom passed we decided to head down to Titusville with the group.  Our first reservation was for four weeks, and we extended by two weeks….and the following year we reserved for two months.  Absolutely loved the area and went to three months the following year and finally four months+ when we realized we had to make serious plans to move there and stop the winter commute.

So, we purchased a townhouse in Titusville and sold our CT home, and the first thing we did here was look up Good Sam Chapters and found the Space Coast Sams.  We joined them, became very active and made many new friends in a place where we had none, and that brings me to the point of this epistle.

Both Chapters are gone now.  Old age and illness/declining health forced many to get out of RVing and the Chapters were unsustainable.  We moved to Florida from CT in 2012, and it occurs to me that (like in It’s A Wonderful Life), the situation we now enjoy would not have happened if any number of things had thrown us a curve.  To start, if Ken and Ellen hadn’t got us into Seaport Sams we wouldn’t have made all those new friends that eventually led us to Titusville…..where we met many new people through Space Coast Sams….which are the nucleus of our social circle here.

We’re very thankful for the friends we’ve had, and have and for the lucky breaks we’ve had in making and keeping them.  Truly they are a blessing.

Anastasia State Park & Saint Augustine December 2018

Here is a link to a Google Photo's Album from our recent jaunt to Anastasia State Park: https://photos.app.goo.gl/D64NBkyUGSSu3SC29

Our current Florida State Park Reservations as of 12/15/2018

Current Reservations

Robert Payette-r.payette2@gmail.com

Check the status of your current reservations. View past reservations.

Reservations: 1-7 of 7▲ Previous | Next ▼
Reservation Number Status	Type	Location	Reservation Details	Total Fee: Balance Due
Reservations: 1-7 of 7▲ Previous | Next ▼
2-35103262 FL Confirmed See Detail	Site	Lake Louisa State Park	Site: 037Sun Jan 06 2019 - Thu Jan 10 2019 (4 nights)	$59.98 :$0.00
2-34808870 FL Confirmed See Detail	Site	Lake Kissimmee State Park	Site: 002Tue Feb 05 2019 - Fri Feb 08 2019 (3 nights)	$40.30 :$0.00
2-36019807 FL Confirmed See Detail	Site	Gilchrist Blue Springs State Park	Site: 18Sun Mar 03 2019 - Thu Mar 07 2019 (4 nights)	$45.94 :$0.00
2-35102421 FL Confirmed See Detail	Site	Faver-Dykes State Park	Site: 003Sun Mar 24 2019 - Thu Mar 28 2019 (4 nights)	$46.48 :$0.00
2-36403291 FL Confirmed See Detail	Site	Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park	Site: 043Mon Apr 15 2019 - Fri Apr 19 2019 (4 nights)	$46.84 :$0.00
2-36404313 FL Confirmed See Detail	Site	John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park	Site: 019Sun Jul 07 2019 - Thu Jul 11 2019 (4 nights)	$97.70 :$0.00
2-36190803 FL Confirmed See Detail	Site	Fort Clinch State Park	Site: 020Wed Aug 14 2019 - Wed Aug 21 2019 (7 nights)	$108.62 :$0.00

Fall Rally at Southern Palms RV Resort

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Ummje59wSLiNCL4L9

Treeing Walker Coonhound

Our Buddy 

https://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/treeing-walker-coonhound/?utm_source=FBAKC&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=treeing-walker-coonhound-brd-pg-facebook

Buddy at camp....

https://photos.app.goo.gl/fEKA7tz2tU7WcB96A

Blue Spring and Ochlockonee River State Park

We came in yesterday from camping (glamping?) at two Florida State Parks: Blue Spring State Park in Orange City Florida, and Ochlockonee River State Park which is in Sopchoppy Fl on the Panhandle near the Gulf. Several of our friends were with us from our former Good Sam Chapter for Blue Spring, and one of the couples joined us for the long slog to Ochlockonee. Florida State Parks are wonderful, very inexpensive if you're a Senior and a Fl resident, and we're trying to camp at a different one every month. I took lots of snaps and video, and they're linked below thru Google Photos:
Blue Spring State Park: https://photos.app.goo.gl/6GLiRF4c8b7ksNJT7

Ochlockonee River State Park:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/tR1PeQY4wa7Cs7HFAhttps://photos.app.goo.gl/tR1PeQY4wa7Cs7HFA

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Blue Spring State Park, Orange City, Florida

138 new photos added to shared album

Went to see our nephew Chris Lenart race his motorcycle at Daytona today....

Alice and myself had a fun day at the Daytona Racetrack today.  Even though we've been down here since 2012, and it's only an hour away, we'd never been to a race there.  We did go on a tour of the facility with our camping group years ago, but trust me.....when your nephew is racing around that banked track on a motorcycle it's a totally different experience!  When he messaged us that Daytona was on his upcoming racing schedule we couldn't resist going....and are glad we did.  Click the following link for some snaps and video of the event.  https://photos.app.goo.gl/Axhh8yQ4T8QZrGHC9 . Note that he came in Third Place, Thunderbikes in the Race of Champions :).

Sears files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.....

Sears files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy amid plunging sales, massive debt

Just another not unexpected headline for most, but for some of us whose life was actively intertwined with Sears, it's a pretty sad day.

For me it started in 1967.  At that time I was a branch circulation manager for the Hartford Courant in West Hartford CT, having just got back from Vietnam in 1965.  We had two branch offices in West Hartford, and the other manager (a Bobby Hull) told me he had just interviewed with Allstate Insurance and was going to take the job if offered to him.  We had pretty decent jobs with the Courant, health and retirement benefits, a company car, lots of office help...and I expressed concern that he was leaving for an unknown job in insurance sales.  Long story short, he sold me on the opportunity and got me an interview....and we both left the Courant and joined Allstate.  Allstate was then a wholly owned independent subsidiary of Sears, which was the largest and most profitable retail operation in the country.  Over the years, as Sears lost its footing there was many a year that our Allstate was the only bright light it seemed in corporate earnings, and it was our profit that was holding up the Sears Profit Sharing Plan.  Later of course Sears shuttered its catalog operation, spun off Dean Witter Reynolds and Coldwell Banker, and finally....Allstate.  I had a good run (34 years) and lots of good memories, especially at the beginning when we had a "booth" in a Sears store where we sold our insurance.  It wasn't until much later that we opened Account Offices, and much later when I purchased a building in New London and Alice joined me as a Licensed Customer Service Rep in our our Allstate branded Agency.  Our "booth" in Sears in New London was right next to Catalog, and I remember being amazed at the amount of business they were doing twelve hours a day.  Everyone thought those good times would never end....

October 17th, 2018:  This is one of the better editorials on the subject, from the Day in New London:

The irony of Sears’ demise

Published October 15. 2018 5:57PM 

By The Day Editorial Board   Day staff writer

Ironic that Sears, the original retail innovator, proved to be so poor an innovator in the 21st century when confronted with both brick-and-mortar and online competition.

In the late 19th and early 20th century, Sears was arguably a precursor to Amazon. Consumers across a vast and growing country thumbed through massive Sears, Roebuck and Company catalogs to order products to meet many of their needs — appliances, clothing, toys, medicines — and the list went on for hundreds of pages.

Much as Amazon employees do today, Sears workers in massive warehouses, the largest in Chicago, organized, sorted and mailed the products through the Postal Service to Americans who waited eagerly for their arrival on rural farms and in small villages.

As remote areas became fewer and the U.S. population spread across a vast suburbia during the post-World War II economic and population boom, Sears’ business model moved from its catalog to its growing number of stores, which by the 1970s were becoming the anchors for many a shopping mall.

Then the landscape changed. Walmart erected its massive super centers across the land, undercutting prices and stealing the working-class consumers that had made Sears such a retail giant. Big-box hardware stores Lowes and Home Depot competed for the consumers who had gone to Sears for their tools and appliances.

This first assault on Sears was soon followed by a second — the emergence of retail sales on the Internet, most successfully of course, by Amazon. Sears, which had written the catalog on direct sales to consumers, failed to successfully meet any of these changes.

Over the past five years more than 1,000 Sears stores have been shuttered, with company losses approaching $6 billion. Successful product lines were sold off, most prominently Lands’ End, a clothing line. On Monday, Sears filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York City, saying it faced $11.3 billion in liabilities against $7 billion in assets.

The filing is intended to provide a path to further shrink, reorganize and rid Sears of bad debt to save it. For the sake of its 68,000 workforce, and because many of its stores still anchor malls that are also struggling, it would be great to see this effort succeed. But the odds appear long, with a more likely outcome that Sears goes the way of Toys “R” Us or Sports Authority.

In this case, a part of Americana would pass into history.

The Day editorial board meets regularly with political, business and community leaders and convenes weekly to formulate editorial viewpoints. It is composed of President and Publisher Pat Richardson, Editorial Page Editor Paul Choiniere, retired Day editor Lisa McGinley, Managing Editor Tim Cotter and Staff Writer Julia Bergman. However, only the publisher and editorial page editor are responsible for developing the editorial opinions. The board operates independently from the Day newsroom.

Cutting the TV cord, October 1, 2018.

It’s been a LONG two years.  Like many of us, I’ve run the whole gamut of internet connectivity on TV’s…
.from  coax cable to Worldnet to At&t's U Verse….to complete frustration and
a switch, two years ago tomorrow, to Direct TV Satellite (also owned by AT&T).  
The DirectV experience has not been great. Contrary to what I was told even t
he threat of a storm knocks the satellite tv OFF. Yes, you can set up to go
down a channel and off HD and have a good possibility on continued coverage
BUT….it’s been a gigantic pain in the arse.  SO bad in fact I made a note on
my computer (Google) calendar to DUMP it as of 10-1-2018 when the AT&T
Satellite contract ran out….

Also, like many families we have a variety of TV’s in the house.  A modern
Vizio Smart TV in the LR, an older large screen Samsung in the BR, an ancient tv\
in the spare room that’s connected to an antenna since there is no HDMI input….

My first thought was to drop the Direct TV service and go to Hulu Live.  That would
give me the MSNBC news show we use, plus the few other channels Alice uses for
entertainment (HGTV ?).  Problem is, was, that Hulu Live does NOt work on our
Smartcast TV unless we CAST to it...it's not native. So, we found SLING Tv, and that
DOES work.  I purchased the latest and greatest Roku for the Living Room
(we already have it on the two upstairs sets)  Everything works smoothly...the cord
HAS been cut and iife is good. Msg me at r.payette2@gmail.com if you have questions,
concerns.

Fort Clinch State Park September 2018

Had a nice week at Fort Clinch State Park! https://photos.app.goo.gl/2ZMFaqBbyNxbu7kk7 Click link on left to view some snaps and video....

Beautiful launch this morning!

SpaceX Falcon 9 launches satellite and lands

After stormy weather cleared at Launch Complex 40, a Falcon 9 blasted off at 12:45 a.m. Monday with the Telstar 18 Vantage communications...

This is the view we had from our deck off the bedroom

Just in from Rodman Campground (Ocala National Forest, Palatka FL)

Some snaps from our mid-week jaunt to Rodman Campground: https://photos.app.goo.gl/pdL9M2LQ1WexwjAX6

Our next campout will be to Rodman Campground....

https://www.floridastateparks.org/trail/Rodman-Campground

We’ll leave August 12th for our monthly camping jaunt and as usual stay thru Thursday.  Of course our Florida State Park rescue hound Buddy will lead the way😄.

Summer in Titusville...

Just got back in from O'Leno State Park....

Nice few days camping at O'Leno State Park in High Springs Florida....
Click here to view an album of snaps and video from the event...

Book recommendation.....Bad Blood

http://a.co/49vSO4B

Dog Walking

Dog Walking Is Good for You. Provided You Do It.   https://nyti.ms/2L4KcZi?smid=nytcore-ios-share

Fireworks and dogs....

Fireworks are legal here in Florida, and I don't like it.  There was a person who managed to blow off two of his fingers, but I'm sure there were thousands of dogs traumatized by fireworks in residential neighborhoods like our Titus Village.  I don't know if people don't think about it, or just don't care...but the pets cower, don't want to go out and do their business, and are just miserable.  In our area the noise didn't stop till after 11pm :(.  NOT a happy 4th for them, for sure.

The REST of the story on our new Ford Focus SE....

In the prior post we mentioned having blown the transmission on our tow vehicle (2011 Ford Fusion) while vacationing at Port Pickens in Pensacola.  Here's the highlights of a real SNAFU that turned out well:

• Transmission blew on our tow vehicle while in Pensacola, which is 500 miles & 8 hours away from Titusville.
• We had the car towed to World Ford in Pensacola. They pronounced the transmission and associated parts DOA and the cost to repair exceeded the value of the vehicle.
• We told the salesperson that we needed to purchase a new vehicle that was towable four wheels down.  He showed us several, we picked one out and made a deal...he gave us a brochure on towing it, showed us how to disconnect the negative terminal of the battery etc. Alice followed me home in the new Focus  while I drove the motorhome.
• A few days after getting home we called our RV service place to make an appointment to have a "base plate" installed on the car for towing.  They questioned if the car was towable...I assured them it was as I'd told the dealer it was the top priority.  We made the appointment.
• The RV service place questioning of the towing on that car got me thinking...so I went to the Owners Manual, and the brochure/flyer the salesman had given me highlighting the specifics, and found he was referencing a different engine-transmission Focus than the one we were sold. The one we was sold was NOT towable except for short distances at slow speed.
• I wrote a letter (email) explaining all this to the dealership General Manager with a cc to the salesman.  They immediately owned up to the problem, said they'd find a way to make it right.
• A few hours later they called.  They had located the exact same car (color, trim etc) but with the correct engine-transmission that was factory approved for four-wheel down towing.
• Since it is a 15 hour round trip from Pensacola to Titusville, we agreed to meet them in Alachua which is 2.5 hours out from Titusville, saving their driver five hours drive time.  We did that yesterday, and the new Focus SE 2.01l is now here.  End of story.
  
  
  
  

Returned yesterday from Suwannee River State Park and Fort Pickens....

https://photos.app.goo.gl/jW44BADTRAmtZ55i6

Click the link above for stills and video clips from our recent trip to the Panhandle.  Trip was OK but....blew the transmission on our Ford Fusion while at Fort Pickens :(.  Cost to repair was more than the car was worth....ended up buying a 2018 Ford Focus

at World Ford in Pensacola.  Thank God Mel and Dotti Fringer were with us on this jaunt to haul us a bit while we sorted out our transportation issues!  Love the new car but not happy with how we had to end up with it...really liked that Fusion and hoped to get another 100,000 miles on it.  It had 83.500 on it with the transmission cooked.

Rainbow Springs State Park Campground April 2018

We just came back from Rainbow Springs Campground at Rainbow Springs State Park.  It was wonderful having several of our friends from the former Space Coast Sams camping Chapter with us. Here's a link from Google to some snaps and video from this event: https://photos.app.goo.gl/UmD2xzDPgJN7ylGI3

Camping Reservations, Florida State Parks...Current

Updated May 4th, 2018:

Current Reservations

June 10th Update: NOTE:  We have cancelled our reservation for Saint Andrews State Park Jul 29-August 1, 2018. Decided it's too far a trip for mid-summer.

Robert Payette-r.payette2@gmail.com

Check the status of your current reservations. View past reservations.

Reservations: 1-11 of 11▲ Previous | Next ▼
Reservation Number Status	Type	Location	Reservation Details	Total Fee: Balance Due
Reservations: 1-11 of 11▲ Previous | Next ▼
2-34798677 FL Confirmed See Detail	Site	Suwannee River State Park	Site: 019Thu May 31 2018 - Sun Jun 03 2018 (3 nights)	$43.00 :$0.00
2-34813161 FL Confirmed See Detail	Site	O'Leno State Park	Site: 004Thu Jul 26 2018 - Sun Jul 29 2018 (3 nights)	$36.94 :$0.00
2-34813159 FL Confirmed See Detail	Site	St. Andrews State Park	Site: 105Sun Jul 29 2018 - Wed Aug 01 2018 (3 nights)	$53.74 :$0.00
2-34815216 FL Confirmed See Detail	Site	Rodman Campground	Site: 47Sun Aug 12 2018 - Thu Aug 16 2018 (4 nights)	$55.54 :$0.00
2-34602170 FL Confirmed See Detail	Site	Fort Clinch State Park	Site: 014Thu Sep 20 2018 - Thu Sep 27 2018 (7 nights)	$107.71 :$0.00
2-35102420 FL Confirmed See Detail	Site	Blue Spring State Park	Site: 014Sun Oct 28 2018 - Thu Nov 01 2018 (4 nights)	$60.70 :$0.00
2-35103244 FL Confirmed See Detail	Site	Ochlockonee River State Park	Site: 023Sun Nov 04 2018 - Thu Nov 08 2018 (4 nights)	$46.66 :$0.00
2-34726331 FL Confirmed See Detail	Site	Anastasia State Park	Site: 096Mon Dec 10 2018 - Fri Dec 14 2018 (4 nights)	$68.58 :$0.00
2-35103262 FL Confirmed See Detail	Site	Lake Louisa State Park	Site: 037Sun Jan 06 2019 - Thu Jan 10 2019 (4 nights)	$59.98 :$0.00
2-34808870 FL Confirmed See Detail	Site	Lake Kissimmee State Park	Site: 002Tue Feb 05 2019 - Fri Feb 08 2019 (3 nights)	$40.30 :$0.00
2-35102421 FL Confirmed See Detail	Site	Faver-Dykes State Park	Site: 003Sun Mar 24 2019 - Thu Mar 28 2019 (4 nights)	$46.48 :$0.00