New shoes for the pony.....

It seems like we've been running around since dawn.  Went to our tire place in Cocoa, talked to them about our tire issues, and ended up having four new tires installed and all six balanced.  Then we topped off the fuel, and the propane, for our next excursion coming up early February.  Our new modus operandi on tires is this:   FiVE years, not 6 or 6+.  Notation made in the computer calendar on that...

Big Lagoon State Park, Pensacola Fl, January 2018 -With Robert & Nina Harnish

2 Minute Video of trip (full album linked below) https://photos.app.goo.gl/6JxIJr9ZszePI09B3

https://photos.app.goo.gl/MBb8A1OqQPy5NN2G3

We went to Big Lagoon State Park in Pensacola Fl leaving Titusville on January 7th.  1st night out we stayed at Tallahassee RV Park on i-10, then we spent four nights at Big Lagoon, leaving there on Friday January 12th for Travelers Campground in Alachua Fl (exit 399 off i-75) where we stayed two nights before heading home to Titusville.
On the way to Alachua we had a right-front blowout on i-10, about 40 miles before the i-75 interchange.  After a fashion we got a tire delivered and installed, and went on our way.....until we noticed a nasty front end vibration.  We had turned onto i-75 at this point and were within 25 miles of our next CG destination, so I slowed down a lot...trying to find a speed that was comfortable for the vibration.  Silly me I thought we were dealing with an unbalanced new front right tire.  We limped into the Travelers Campground, checked in and got set up, and i checked the front of the rig...and found the left front tire had a seriously nasty big balloon...we were VERY lucky it didn't blow, and if it had been warmer it probably would have.  So, the next morning we got a tire repair person out and the left front tire was replaced.

Good friends of ours, Dick and Melanie Baker, live in the Alachua area and they came by and took us out to dinner on Saturday.  It was wonderful seeing them and getting out of the rig for a bit!

Our trip home today was uneventful...thank God!  Total distance covered from here to the end of the Panhandle and back was about 1000 miles.  We love that area and have booked reservations for four nights in June for Fort Pickens National Campground, right on the Gulf....a lot of photos from there are on the following album.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/MBb8A1OqQPy5NN2G3

Holiday rant....

New Years rant...

OK, it is January 1st, New Years Day....and personally I'm feeling a bit relieved.  I've never really been a big seasonal holiday person, and the crowds, expectations, disappointments and traditions generally leave me a bit cranky.  So, if I haven't responded instantly to your Christmas and New Years greetings, emails, messages and smoke signals please forgive me.  I promise to be more attentive in the next 364 days as soon as some semblance of sanity returns to my inner self. No one likes being a Grinch, but jeese....

Weather in CT vs FL

This morning it's 6 deg in Preston CT.  That's 31 degrees colder than we keep our refrigerator set at.

The cool temp here in Titusville this morning is 56 deg.  Enough said!

Fire in the hearth...

Instant Pot Stuffed Cabbage

Yesterday I decided to try an Instant Pot recipe for Stuffed Cabbage...https://www.pinterest.com/pin/459156124501300703/ and it came out surprisingly good!  I did the scut work (mostly) but Alice had to help me fold in the ingredients into the cabbage leaves before the final cooking.  I'm finding we're using the IP more and more....wonderfully efficient kitchen appliance :).

Louie and the Christmas Cactus

So, Louie the Louse, our deranged and semi-wild Ringneck Parrot has decided, in the spirit of the holidays, that's it perfectly OK to pick off the blooms of the Christmas Cactus.  He pretty much defoliated one and was starting on the other....and we ended up bringing them back outside out of reach of his beak.  Little shite!  What a humbugger :(.

Christmas Greetings, 2017

         Christmas, 2017- 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 along with monthly camping excursions in our motor home.  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. You can “subscribe” to the Blog if you’d like our postings automatically forwarded to your email account.

Our health is reasonably good and we’re still glamping with the motor home, at least monthly.  Unfortunately our camping Good Sam Chapter was closed out this year….too many people getting old, tired and unable to participate :(.  A group of us still camp and travel together unofficially...our next jaunt being a week-long excursion to the Pensacola area in the Panhandle the 2nd week of January.

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 fiancee Ashley have purchased a home here in town, so we have our guest room back. 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 2018….so Happy New Year!

Bob and Alice Payette

r.payette2@gmail.com    alicepayette@gmail.com Best phone or text contact for Bob:  860. 460.7945 -  For Alice:  860.912.7160