Weather Becoming Warmer in The Forest

We have finally had enough warm weather that I put away my winter clothes. Yippee! With the arrival of warm weather and Rainbows came more forest fires. Chris (our Ranger) and fellow fire fighter stopped by for a quick dinner of country fried steak, rice and gravy, summer vegetables, salad and banana pudding after they finished mopping up our last forest fire. Last week we had a cute couple from Switzerland camping with us. They had this Land Rover special made for them in Switzerland and had it shipped to the USA for their travels here. I thought that this set up was really neat. They spent this long weekend in the infield of Daytona 500 in their rig. Awesome! As my mind races on......Billy is free of kidney stones for now so he is going to see about having his shoulder fixed tomorrow! What next? Our 2 1/2 year motor home journey is coming to an end, and we plan to head back home to Panama City mid April. It is sad to hear our buddies here in The Forest making their plans to return next year. Maybe we will get lucky and sell our house so we can spend another year in The Forest. The bears are beginning to slowly come out of the woods. So slowly, that a 350 pounder was hit by a car on one of the National Forest Roads last week. So sad. As always, I'll leave you with a few photos, and Life Is Good Today!

"Winter" in The Forest

My oh my! Billy is still dealing with kidney stones without the pain finally. I am sewing like mad to complete Spring/Easter dresses for the girls. We have learned that we are expecting a new Grandson in June! :) Still experiencing horrible accidents on the Trail over weekends. Billy and I somehow waited until it became too hot to go hiking. Our four hour hike turned into one hour, and we still can't seem to find enough time to ride and enjoy The Centennial Trail! The bears are sluggish and "in hiding" while the snakes are popping up every where! For Valentine's Day Billy treated me to a concert in Deland, FL featuring an old college buddy, Jack Williams, who is a singer/songwriter. Had a blast. I will leave you with a few pictures and as always "Life Is Good Today!"

Guess We Have Been LOST since Thanksgiving

We celebrated Christmas in Tampa with Marianne, Kevin, Jackson and Kevin's wonderful family. A good time was had by all. Jackson, Marianne and Kevin came to spend a few days here in The Scrub with us before we went on down to Tampa. It was too cold for Jackson and I to sleep outside in a tent but we will one day soon. We celebrated a quiet New Year's here in the campground and then had an unplanned visit to Tampa to see about getting rid of Billy's kidney stones that are on the move. We are still trying to get rid of those kidney stones. We haven't been able to do much 4 wheeling on the Trails, but plan on getting back out there tomorrow if the kidney stones allow. I have some other Christmas photos that have not uploaded so I will add them later. Best wishes for 2013 to our Friends and Family. "Life Is Good Today!"

Thanksgiving, a Good-Bye pot luck for Drew, Kyle Riding the Trail with us, and Bears

We celebrated a fun-filled Thanksgiving dinner in front of our motor home with fellow volunteers and Kris. We had a campground full of campers who were a bit rowdy; however, we didn't have one injury so it was a successful weekend. Later in the week we bid a sad good-bye to Drew with a pot luck at the OHV Center. A good time and good food was had by all. I went "out of commission" for about a week while I frantically finished the grand daughter's Xmas dresses in time for their Santa visit. We have seen many bears while in The Forest this year. They seem to be coming in closer and closer. We woke early this morning to find this beauty stalking around our campground checking out a firepit. Thank goodness they were all free from food. He stopped to take a look at me when I went outside to take a photo, and then slowly lumbered back into The Scrub. Did I say "Life Is Good Today?"

Busy Busy Weekends in The Forest

Since arriving at Big Scrub we have learned that Friday, Saturday and Sunday can be busy busy busy on The Trails and in the campground. Below is a photo of the "Swamp Crawlers" Jeep Club driving through the campground last Sunday. Loved those Jeeps! We had a head-on collision on The Trail Saturday that sent one victim to the hospital. Last night we had another head-on collision thankfully with damaged ATV's but no injuries. That adds up to three head-on's in the month since we have been here. YIKES! Careful out there folks. Kathy, JC, Billy and I took a trail ride out to Rodman Pond and took some photos for my brother. He and his friend, Dean, used to fish Rodman Pond many many years ago. It was a great ride. Did I say "MANY" years ago? It is still a great place to catch large fish! Billy and I made an unplanned trip to Tampa and I was honored to attend a Tea Party (complete with hats) with Jackson. What Fun!?!? As a final note the chocolates were not a part of our Tea Party, but Billy and I stopped off at the Russell Stover Outlet Store to pick up some "cheap" chocolate Bloopers! The Outlet Store is next door to the Russell Stover factory, so the deals were fantastic. That was a very fun stop; however, we do not need to be stopping by there often......we devoured that box of chocolates! Oh My! We are off to The Villages to accomplish our Thanksgiving dinner shopping. We have a campground full of campers, hunters, and ATV'ers arriving this week, so we will be enjoying Thanksgiving Dinner with our fellow Campground Hosts, Patsy and Jimmy, as well as Kris (our Ranger) and anyone else who wants to stop by in The Scrub to visit. "Life Is Good Today!"

Another Weekend in The Forest

Billy and I went riding on The Centennial Trail on Thursday to begin gathering firewood for campfires through the winter. I finally received the dog goggles (Doggles) for Maggie. I have been having to put my hands over her eyes while riding the ATV in order to keep branches from damaging her eyes. She thinks she is REALLY working now. On Friday, Patsy (our OHV Volunteer Host neighbor) and I went to The Villages for a little shopping therapy. We stopped off at Brown's Country Market, Best Buy, Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, and PetSmart, and then enjoyed lunch at Five Guys! Yum. On the way home we stopped off at Doe Lake Campground in The Forest to pick up some ice. There was a large horse group staying there in the campground for the weekend, and I thought the horses were beautiful! Below is a photo of Patsy as she was returning from dragging The Trail last Thursday. The photo of the two children are two of our precious little riders who were out riding The Trail today with their parents! After spending our Saturday enjoying SEC football, we had a very active Sunday afternoon. There was a head on collision on our Centennial Trail and a lady was reportedly badly injured. All worked out well....our Ranger arrived just in time and he and Billy jumped on the ATV to go out on The Trail to locate her while I waited at the campground for the ambulance. They somehow how encountered another rider who was a paramedic so they were able to transport the victim off the The Trail to the campground just as the ambulance arrived. (The Trail is too narrow for the ambulance.) It is frightening how quickly an accident can happen on The Trails, but I think she will be fine. Tomorrow, Billy and I are meeting Kathy and JC for lunch at Square Meal and then going to ride The Trails at the north end of The Forest. Closing for now......."Life Is Good Today!"

Hurricane Sandy in The Forest

Thankfully we were spared the wrath of Sandy; however, we have been experiencing high winds for days now. When will it ever stop? After our visit to Tampa our internet has been down until today, so we have been rather bored in the forest. Too windy to even take a walk. We stopped off at Publix in The Villages on our return from Tampa. You can tell by the photo below that I was highly amused by the number of souped up golf carts in the parking lot......what a life! On Friday morning at 7:30 I drove to the Off Highway Vehicle Center to take the ATV class. I was fearful of my bum shoulder hampering my participation, but I was able to spin that 4 wheeler out like a pro! Yea me! On the hour drive to the OHV Center I passed a dead Black Bear by the side of the road. So so sad to see them hit by cars. We had a few campers this past weekend-a real nice group from the Jeep Club who had a blast for two days and two nights driving the Jeep trails through The Forest. After our campers departed, on Monday Billy and I made the complete 45 mile loop around The Centennial Trail. There were some mighty big trees down from this unrelenting wind. Today it is too windy to even consider going out on the trails, so we drove in to the Lake George Ranger Station to pick up our mail. YIPPEE! Life in the fast lane. Jackson and I decorated his Halloween pumpkin as Elmo and then he phoned on Sunday night with a big surprise for us....he is going to be a big brother!!! Now, I feel compelled to really begin sewing; however, my shoulder is killing me from the 45 mile trail ride yesterday. Yikes! We are so excited to be expecting yet another grandchild. They are just the BEST! They are our reward for not killing our children! Also, below is a photo of Jimmy and I preparing to leave the campground yesterday to work on The Trails. I had a great photo of Billy but.............."Life Is Good Today!"