Another bite of the Apple......

I've been an early adopter of the Kindle E-reader, having purchased my first Kindle in November of 2007. Shortly thereafter we purchased another one for Alice, as we're both avid readers. We currently have a LOT of books in our Kindle library. Generally, when I purchase or download a book, we have it sent to both Kindles, two i-phones, and two computers. The syncing works wonderful between platforms, so (as an example) I can pick up with my i-phone where I left off with the Kindle when I'm reading in bed...the i-phone is back lit so I don't need a reading light. Anyway, to make a long story shorter, I just killed my Kindle accidentally. A few nights ago I fell asleep in the chair and when I got up I pushed the foot rest in...somehow the Kindle had fallen in the mechanism and it got executed:(. No life at all in her, and a permanent crease across the screen. Bummer.

So, the choices are three: Get a new Kindle, get the larger tablet size Kindle DX, or get an i-pad. We decided on the i-pad for several reasons. The i-pad is usable for a lot more then e-reading, and since we've had i-phones forever I'm used to (and love) the touch interface. Another big reason for me is that I like to read history books (WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Civil War etc) and these books do not cut it on the Kindle. The Kindle is only a single page, pure black and white, and it doesn't do justice to charts and maps. The i-pad should handle that nicely, especially since it has a two page open mode in landscape. I'll also now have the option of not only downloading Kindle books, but also e-books in pub format...my choices of content should increase dramatically. That having been said (and not having tried Apple's book store yet) Amazon does a remarkable job with its Kindle store, and I fully expect to continue utilizing them for my i-pad, as well as Alice's Kindle and the PC and i-phone readers.

Saint Catherine of Siena 50th Anniversary Celebration

Saint Catherine of Siena,Preston CT is celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year. We had a large group of 35mm slides converted to digital and we're setting up a slide show for the upcoming reception. Click the title link to view many of these old photos of the Parish of Saint Catherine of Siena, Preston.

Note:This album was updated on Sunday, April 11th 2010, with an additional 44 snapshots and video clips from Saturday's Saint Catherine of Siena First Communion Mass and ceremony.

All good things must end...

Click on collage for an enlargement

We'll be heading on home to Preston tomorrow morning, March 31st. Today will be spent getting our gear packed, the motor home and Jeep ready for travel, and enjoying the day here at Manatee Hammock. Yesterday we went to the Pier at Cocoa Beach for lunch. It's finally warmed up here (now that we're going, of course!) and there were lots of people in the water. The plan is to be home for Easter....since we're supposed to be hosting Easter dinner we're hoping there's no wrenches thrown at it and we have an uneventful trip North.

Getting the kinks out.....

We spent a few days back at Lazydays (actually sleeping one night in the rig in one of their service bays) as there were a few issues that turned up that needed warranty attention. For some reason or other the black water tank would not drain, and there was an issue with the kitchen faucet and trap. So, we brought the rig back for service. They serve breakfast and lunch on the house to their customers and we had a nice supper at the Cracker Barrel which is also on premises...and the rig was fully repaired to our satisfaction. There's also a Camping World next door where we picked up some items we'd been looking for in our efforts to get the new rig organized.

Next weekend we're planning to visit Don and Barb Monette, Alice's cousins, in the Sarasota area....we'll leave the rig here and Jeep on over for a few days.

New rig deal completed at Lazydays in Tampa....

It's a bit stressful buying a rig out of state, but Lazydays in Tampa made it as easy as it can be considering all that has to be done to do the deal. They have a delivery section where you pull your current rig right next to the one you purchased (there are hookups for both), and you make the transfer of all your gear and stuff at your convenience. They take care of the registration and towing gear switch, to include the toad wiring, and you stay overnight a few nights to check out the new rig to make sure everything is as it should be. They have hundreds of service bays, a huge delivery staff, and are very expert at making the process as painless as possible. So, we left CT with a Windsport and will be coming home in April with a Pursuit which offers a lot more livability for the snowbird camping we're now doing annually.

It looks like a newer rig is in the works for us.....

It’s been an exciting week for us here in the warming up, but chilly, Southland of Titusville Florida. With two other couples from our Seaport Sams Camping Club we went on a jaunt to Lazydays Super RV Store which is just outside of Tampa and a few hours’ drive from our digs here in Titusville. Alice and I have been discussing the pros and cons of a newer motor home (our Windsport is a 1998 model) and the lure of new technology, newer appliances and features finally prevailed. We’ll be picking up a new (to us) Georgie Boy….It’s only three years old with 10,000 miles and it has all of the things we’ve been looking for as we extend our camping from weekends to what was a month, to two months, and as of 2011 three months at a clip. With the two slide outs, back-up camera, automatic leveling and the space for a bedroom computer station we’ve really improving our experience on the road. The folks at Lazydays, Lazydays.com (who have been voted one of the ten best dealers in the entire Country) and making it a very pleasant experience and we can’t say enough about them.

Friend and Seaport Sam Club member John Zurowski died on Feb 9th, 2010

Seaport Samers: As you may have heard our good friend and Seaport Sam Club member John Zurowski died last Tuesday (February 9th) while camping with our group here in Titusville Florida. It was totally unexpected and a great shock. John was a wonderful friend who led a truly full life, and he will be missed greatly.

We waited to post this news until the funeral arrangements were complete. They are, and the obituary from the Norwich Bulletin that ran today February 13th is linked. The photo in this link is of John we took last year here at Manatee Hammock in Titusville. In the photo John is using his leaf blower to clear out our patio area…he just came over and started to do it, as it needed doing and he knew we hadn’t brought one with us. Ever helpful, ever cheerful, ever a great person. We’re poorer for his passing.