Settling in nicely here in Titusville..

We've been in Florida for ten days now and are settling in nicely.  Our site is the same one we had last year, but we parked "face out" rather than "face in", and it's a much nicer arrangement for privacy and livability.  Last week we attended a concert in Melbourne; this weekend it's a play at the Titusville Playhouse downtown....and we're getting in a lot of relaxing and reading.

We arrived in Titusville Fl on January 2nd, 2012

So, we left Preston on December 30^th for our trek to Florida and arrived here on January 2^nd.  We were scheduled to arrive on January 1^st, but we had some mechanical issues that forced us to stay on the road for an additional day.  Long story short is we had multiple tire blow-outs, a result of an inside duel that blew and we didn’t realize it thinking it was a truck backfiring as it passed us. This blown inside duel did not affect the handling in any way….there was no vibrations or shimmy’s and a cursory inspection after the loud bang did not reveal any issues.  From there it all went downhill, that’s my story and I’m sticking to itJ.

We’re not ensconced at our wonderful campsite at Manatee Hammock in Titusville.  It’s “chilly” but about to get warmer in the next week or so, so we’ll be taking our time setting up camp and unwinding from the travel-down adventures.

Starting to think about going South!

When I find myself up at dawn looking at the weather on-line, the "things to do" and events in Titusville I know it's getting close to aim the rig South.  It's currently 30 deg out, and 69 deg in Titusville where we'll be wintering as of the first of the year. Today we'll go out to the rig and start doing some preliminary packing.  A lot of the stuff has to be loaded "last minute" because of the cold, but we can do some stuff now and at least start to get organized for the trip. You can click the Title on this post to visit the website of Manatee Hammock where we'll be wintering.

2011 Seaport Sams Christmas Party

Click the title link to view a Picasa Album from the Seaport Sams 2011 Christmas Party held 0n 12/04/2011 at Ocean Beach Park in New London CT.

AT&T Customer Service can be good....

Yesterday I'm in the Wal-Mart parking lot with Kincaid, waiting for Alice who is picking up some groceries, and I hit my Kindle app on the i-phone to sync my current read (11-22-63 by S.King) to my i-pad at home....and it won't load.  So I tried to get the Hartford Courant, and when that didn't work any other website....and the bottom line is I couldn't get out the the 3G.  Alice comes back quickly, so I forget about it...until this morning. Again, she's run into a store to pick up something and I'm waiting with Kincaid....and I can't get out with the phone.  At home, the library, anyplace I have Wi-Fi the phone has been wonderful.  So, long story short I call AT&T and within ten minutes they had me fixed right up.  Apparently the phone had "locked" into one of the cell towers, which is why she worked on wi-fi and not 3G and just sent an on-line signal to clear it.  My point is it was a quick, positive AT&T customer service experience and you don't always hear about the good things...just the negative ones.

Surprise visitor trick or treating on Halloween day!

Alice and myself were surprised to look out the window and see this cute little one looking for treats in our front yard.  She ate a bit, scampered around and joined her mother in the back yard before heading off into the wood.

A really nice Fish Stew Alice's mother cut out of the newspaper a long time ago.....

Fish Stew

 

Preparation: 35 minutes

Total time, 35 minutes

Calories/serving: about 350 calories

Serving 6, - makes about 7 cups

 

Ingredients

3 slices bacon

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup sliced carrots

1/2 cup chopped celery

1/2 cup chopped red or green pepper

1 8 oz. bottle of clam juice

1/3 cup dry white wine

1/4 -1/2 tsp. salt

1/2  tsp. dry mustard

1/4 - 1/8 tsp. black pepper

1 bay leaf

1 lb. cod or other white fish, cut into 1” pieces

3 Tbsp. butter or margarine

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups milk

1 8 oz. can cream-style corn

1/2 cup half and half

1/3 cup shredded extra-sharp Cheddar cheese

Directions

1. In 10” skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove; drain on paper towels. Pour off all but 2 Tbsp.

fat from skillet. Add onion, carrots, celery and red or green pepper. Cook, stirring often, 8 minutes or until onion is

soft. Add clam juice, wine, salt, mustard, black pepper and bay leaf. Bring to a boil. Add fish, Reduce heat; cover

and simmer 10 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with fork. Remove bay leaf.

2. Meanwhile, in a 3-quart sauce-pan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour and cook 1 minute. Gradually stir

in milk. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, 3 minutes or until thickened. Stir in corn and half and half;

heat through. Add fish mixture. Crumble bacon. Before serving, sprinkle soup with bacon and cheese.

 

**Note:

Cheddar cheese ranges in flavor from mild to extra-sharp. If recipe calls for shredded cheese, the cheese can be

purchased in 4-oz. pack, but it is more economical to buy it in a wedge or stick and shred it yourself. Cheese keeps

best when refrigerated, but can also be frozen. Wrap pieces no larger than 1/2 lb. in moisture and vapor-resistant

wrap and store a 0°F. Frozen cheese will retain its flavor but may become crumbly.

 

From the kitchen of Alice & Bob P.