St Mark

Went for a little ride to St Mark Light House. Nice view of the bays and gulf coast. Still have not seen a alligator or bear here yet maybe later. The weather has been very hot the last few days so we have been just taking it easy and taking short day tips. Yet again we are at a campground where cell service and internet is poor at best. We will post when ever we can.

We spotted this white deer and her fawn  in our park . Will be trying to get a few better pictures soon. 

 Guess that is all for now so we are out.

Missed the campground.

The days drive was going great today until we decided to stop for the night and relax . We picked a campground from the app we use all the time and always had good luck with it. Today not so much. We looked at the web site and checked it out the pictures where nice and it had good reviews. The one thing we did not do was look at it on Google Earth. So we put the address in the GPS and off we go

 We get to the road where the entrance to the campground was and it was dirt. That should have been a sign for us to turn around but no we keep going. The next thing we know we are at a dead end deep in the forest. After a lot of cuss words and a few WTFs there was but one thing to do , unload the car off the dollie and unhook the tow dollie from the motor so we could turn the motor  home around and then hook it all back up. Buy this time I had more water coming out of me than a water fountain.  After getting hooked up and turned around  we start back out and that is when I saw what looked like to be a road but the grass was so tall I  not tell if it was a road.  so we started looking for a different  spot to spend the night and ended up at Lake City Campground. . And to top it off I was so tired and mad we did not get one picture #$%^&&*. 

 The Murphys out.

Headed South

After a day of heavy traffic and heavy rain yesterday pulled into a little State Park in South Carolina.  It is a nice park but was a little tight for our rig. Could not have gotten in if we where any longer.  We will be pulling out in the morning and heading towards the Jacksonville FL. where we will spend the night before getting to our final stop at Ochlockonee River State Park.

We spent the day sightseeing  and shopping in Charleston SC. We also had a good lunch while we where there.

Prime Rib sandwich  and seasoned  fries.

Gwen wanted to go to the downtown market so after riding around for a half hour we found a place to park and did a lot of walking. 

After shopping we drove down to the water found to look at the homes along the drive I was not able to get many pictures I was driving and Gwen was busy taking pictures on her phone.

When we where leaving Maryland we saw a car come up beside us and was taking pictures. I told Gwen that it was strange that they where taking picture of our rig . Then I looked again and saw it was one of the girls and her husband  from Janes Island State Park where we had just left from. 

Ok we are out of here for now.

Last Day at the Beach

Today we finished up another month of Camp Host at Assateague Island National Seashore. As  always we had a great time and like working with the great staff. The weather was great only had rain a couple of times. There seemed to be breeze most of the time that helped to keep the temps down  and the bugs at bay. Not sure how the month went by so fast but it always does.

The ponies seems to be out and about more than they have been in the past.  So we where able to see them almost every day  at our camp site.

We had plenty of good eats and discovered that we could cook some new thing on the Blackstone grill. We made pizza on it for the first time and it turn out great.  Then we made tacos and loved them. Fist time we have ever made them on anything just have never tried a lot of Mexican food because we didn't know how to make it and found out it was not that hard.

The flag pole that I have been using for the last four years finally broke in the high winds . I think it was because I was flying two flags. The American flag that I normally fly and a pirate flag at the same time. I was able to save it so just had the pirate flag up for the rest of the time. Like the pirate flag at the beach.

Now we are back at Janes Island State Parlk for 4 weeks and then we will be headed  South to Florida.  Until then Larry and Gwen out. 😎

Travel Plans

It has been a while since we last posted we have a had a lot going on. Gwen has had two surgeries and is do to have one more at the end of this month. This one will be same day surgery and she will be home and back to normal in the same day. The last one she had she was walking around Walmart after the surgery on the same day.

We are making travel plans a little early this year because we have been sitting still too long. We will be going to Assateague Island National for the month of June. In August we will be going to Bald Point State Park just South of Tallahassee Fl for 3 months. Looking forward to spending a little time on the Gulf Coast. We will try to post more often as we travel and know where we are heading next.

Surgery Update

We have a update on Gwen's second surgery, they are telling us that it is scheduled for April 10th. She will be home same day as surgery so hoping recover time will not be that long. She is making out good from her 1st surgery and is almost back to normal. She is having a little problem that the 2nd surgery is supposed it fix. Maybe then she can get back to normal.

We are really looking forward to doing so traveling again and really looking for to going to Assateague Island National Sea Shore for the month of June. Should be a good time as our friends Vince and Nancy will be next to us as Camp Host also. This will be their first year at Assateague so we are looking forward to some camp fires and great cookouts maybe even a few beers and mixed drinks. 

Winter In Maryland

It has been a while since we have been on the road due to Gwen having surgery and she still has not been released from the doctors. If fact they are telling us she may now have to have a second surgery so I guess we will have to wait and see.

I am writing this post on my phone so sorry for any typing mistakes. We have made out good so far even with some nights going down in the teens. Camping in the winter can be ok if you are prepared for it. On the really cold nights we found the Buddy Heater was a big help . We do not run it when we are sleeping.  We are looking forward to some warmer weather and cook outs.

We have not made a lot of travels plans for this coming Fall and Winter other than we are thinking we will go to Texas for a few months and from there who knows where we might end up. Will post as soon as we know more.

Surgery Day Almost Here

Well the big day is almost here, Gwen goes in for her surgery on Monday Dec 17. She will have to start her prep tomorrow. We both are looking forward to having this behind us and we can get back to normal again. We still have not made a lot of travel plans because we are not sure at this point how long it will take for her to recover or be able to travel. We will be going somewhere South for a few months as soon as we can. We will keep everyone updated on here and both of our Facebook pages.

Gwen did get her wish to see some snow this winter, it was just a dusting and did not last but a day but a little snow is better than no snow I guess. Myself I would rather have 75 degrees and sun shine. We are making out good here at Janes Island State Park, having no problem with the cold weather. Got most of the work that we wanted to get done on the motor home. The only thing we still need to do is the battery upgrade, hoping to finish that up by spring.

 Still making a few signs when I have time, this is one of the lastest one we did for a friend. We are still learning as we go. It seems that everyone wants this sign this is the 4th one I have made.

We are still Camp Hosting here at Janes Island State Park . Will be here until Gwen is able to travel, until then there are some project that need to be done hoping to stay busy while Gwen is in recovery so that the time will go by faster.

Gwen's Surgery

We now have date for Gwen's Surgery. It will be December 17.  So looks like she just got her wish this year to see snow, but I hope not. Not sure as to how long she will take for recovery. They have said at lease 6 to 8 week. Guess we will start rethinking our travel plans after the surgery. But for the time being I still have a few more thing to finish with our motor home. 

Fall Update

For the most part it has been a uneventful summer. Although our travel plans for the winter months will change alot due to the fact we still do not have a surgery date for Gwen . They have told us that her recovery time will be 6 to 8 weeks at best. Guess we will have to wait and see but as of now we could not be heading out until Dec. sometime. We should know more next week sometime. Not looking forward to spending the winter in the cold. 

I still have a few thing to do to the motor home. Installing new converter and batteries, new hot water heater element, Exstend A Stay for the propane just to name a few. Solar will ne added at some point.  Looking forward to doing a litte dry camping out West. 

Finally got around to making us a new camping sign ( my new hobby ). 

I have a couple more to make now for some others that saw it and wanted one 

We will update as soon as we have a surgery date and where we might end up .

Summer Winding Down

Summer is going by fast does seem like it is the end of August already. We have not posted a lot this summer due to our poor internet connection. Hope we have fixed that problem for now. Time will tell.

We are still waiting for a surgery date for Gwen, they have cancelled it 3 times now. Hopefully we will know something the first of next week so we can finish up our travel plan for this coming winter. They have told her that it will be a 2 month recovery. Hoping we can still be on the road the first week of November. We have a few things that we would like to due to the Motor Home before we leave.

As always I have been looling for a hobby a do on my spare time and now I think I have found one. I tried making a wood sign a few days ago and it did not turn to bad. Used a small trim router and a fine detail router bit.


Turned out better than I had hoped. There are a few little mistakes in it but you have to look close. Hope to work on anouther one soon. 

We are working on getting things ready in the camp ground for this Labor Day weekend along with the other camp host here at Janes Island. Going the be a busy weekend as the camp ground is completely booked. Now time for a nap.

Finished up at Assateague Island National SeaShore

On Friday June 30th we finished up our stay at Assateague Island National SeaShore. We where camping hosting there for the month of June. Again this year we had a great time. The weather was a little rainy and windy for the first week are so but after that we had great weather and lots of sun. For those of you that have never been to Assateague Island there is a State and National Park. The State Park does have one loop ( Loop H ) that does have electric hook-ups but have to book them almost a year in advance because they go fast. The National Park does not offer any hook-ups but we feel the sites are a little bigger and offer a little more privacy.The National Park also has beach access to the bay side of the Island with a picnic area, park store and kayak and canoe rentals.

This was the view from our site and just over the dunes is the Atlantic Ocean. It was good sleeping at night with the sound of the waves crashing on the beach and the ocean breeze blowing off the water. The ponies use this area to feed and just hang out a lot of the time so we got to see them a lot.

The little one the right was just born in April and was seen a lot in the Main North Beach Parking lot sometimes causing a lot of traffic jams. Do not try to touch are pet the ponies they are wild and can kick and bite and you could get a large fine for doing so. When we where there they have 82 ponies on the Island so with a little luck you can see them if you are here for a day trip.

Doing our stay we had to replace the fridge in the motor home the old one stopped cooling. After doing so shopping for a new RV type fridge and thinking about it we installed a residential house type fridge. We found one at the local home Depot the fit in the opening perfect with no cutting or mods to the cabinets. That was the best move we have made so for the new fridge is 2 cubic feet bigger than the old one and gets a lot colder then the RV Fridge. If you are having problem with your RV fridge than this is the way to go. 

Now we are back in Janes Island State Park in Crisfield Md. where we will be Camp Hosting until we leave to head South for the winter months. We have been hosting here for the past 8 years doing the summer months and love it. And the beat part we are Camp Hosting with our friends and our family is only about 45 minutes away.  Now I am ready to eat some crabs cakes, steamed crabs and fish, the the best part of being in this area is the sea food.

Time to Move Again

Well it is that time again, in 3 more days we will be headed back to Assateague Island National Park again for the month of June. We are looking forward to spending the month at the beach and meeting up with some of the friends that we have made in the past.

Your time here at Janes Island State Park has been great as usual, we love spending our summer months here close to our friends and family. Janes Island is a great place to be a Camp Host, we have a lot of fun and sometimes we even get so work done like the new fire pits that we built for the full service cabins .

We have a good time working on theses and they are a big improvement over the ones that where there before. Hopefully everyone will enjoy them.

There was a new addition to the family a few weeks ago. We now have a new killer attack dog name Bella. Gwen pulled a fast one on me, I did not know we where getting a new puppy until she got it home. Our dog Jaz and Bella are getting along great and play good together. Jaz is teaching her how to beg for food and take up my side of the bed in the mornings. Will be fun to see what Bella thinks of the sand at the beach.

Back at Janes Island State Park

We are back at our summer location for a few months at Janes Island State Parks. The weather has been cold and windy the whole time that we have been back hoping that it will warm up soon. Everything is going good and we getting used to being back in a Motor Home again. We traded our 5th wheel and truck while we where in Florida for the winter. We have a few little things that we want to do to it and a few mods to make it more dry camping friendly. We are looking for to being able to see our friends and family over then summer months.

We have had a lot of people stop by the camp site in our travels and asking about how to get into Camp Hosting. Some of the web sites that we use to find Camp Host openings are Coleen's Workers on Wheels, Working Couples, Volunteer.gov, Workamping Jobs are just a few that we use and check often. We try to sign up 6 months to a years in advance because some of the opening fill up fast. In some cases there is a emailing list that you can join to receive opening as they are posted. Camp Hosting can be a lot of fun if you do your home work. We always look at the campgrounds web site to learn more about them and in most cases look at the area on Google Maps and Street View to get and better ideal about the area and check to see where the nearest shopping is. Also good ideal to call and ask about phone and internet service ( or the lack of ) we have ran into this several time where there was little to no phone and internet service. You can not depend on campground wifi because alot of time there is little or no signal at the sites and if a lot of campers are on and streaming videos it can get slow. Most of the time we use our Hot Spot and Our phone as a hot spot, this way in most cases we can use the internet. And if your phone is capable turn on WiFi Calling. 

After signing up we have found that it is best to always call ahead and ask about sites size, hook-ups and the amount of hours and work required. We also call about 1 to 2 months before arriving to see if anything has changed and let them know what time we will be arriving. Once we are on sites and setup we try to get to touch we the person in charge and find out the work schedule , get any tools needed and lwt them know that we are ready to start work. We have found that in most cases they will give you a few days to settle in and get to know the area. There is a lot more that we could talk about but for now hope this helps.

Volunteer.gov

Back to Maryland

Finished up our stay at Camp Mack RV Resort in Lake Wales Florida on Wednesday and pulled out to head back to Maryland due to Gwen having to have surgery.  I will keep everyone posted on how she makes out. We had a great time and as always made some new friends to keep in touch with. When we left Camp Mack it was 85 degrees and when we arrived in Maryland it is in the 40's with 50 mph winds.

The first night back we made a stop at the Wal-Mart in Onley Virginia for the night and the winds where starting to pick up. Then we got a calll that told us the campground we where going to was closed due to the high winds and bad weather.  So Today we pulled out  to   have the coach battery looked at .  On the way there the winds where so high that it took off our slide out awning and almost took the Motor Home  off the road it was blowing so hard that it put us in the other lane, there was nothing I could do but to hold on. Do not want to ever do that again.

Looking forward to getting back to Jane's Island State Park and seeing all our friends  and getting some amazing Sea Food. But for now guess we have one or two days in the Wal-Mart parking lot until the weather clears up. Nothing else to do but eat ice cream  and watch TV .  Could be worse.

Winter in Florida

Our winter in South Central Florida has been a warm and sometimes hot for what we are used to but for the most part we have enjoyed it. We sre looking forward to having some cooler weather when we head back North. Looking forward to seeing all our friends and family.

As some of you might already know we are back in a motor home again.  It happened fast and we had not planned on making the move, it just kinda happen  after we had started looking for something different.  The rest is a long and funny story that we post at later date but for now we have the motorhome and car to pull behind it..

We where able to unpack the 5th wheel and put everything in one of the maintenance bays and then park the motorhome  at the door and start packing the motor home.  It was a two day process and took some careful planning to find a spot for everything in the motorhome.  It seemed like the 5th wheel had a little more cabinet space. But we managed to find a spot for everything. .

Winter at Camp Mack Florida.

The weather here at Camp Mack has been really nice so far this winter.  We are having a great time taking boat rides out on the Lakes and hanging out with friends. 

Thanksgiving is tomorrow and we have not one but two dinners to attend so by the end of the day I am sure I will be ready far a long nap. Gwen is cooking again on Saturday so we will be doing it all over again. Not sure what it is this year but we are missing our kids and grand kids this year, guess it is because we have not been home for the Holidays in a lot time.

I still have not been able to get on a Air Boat ride but I still have plenty of time and we have been a little busy doing other things.

The weekends here at Camp Mack can be busy at time with the fishing tournaments going on and all the boaters coming out far a day on the Lake.

Month One At Camp Mack

Month 1 has gone by fast here at Camp Mack in Lake Wales Fl. We did finally get our camper back after Camper World had it for 3 weeks doing repairs from a major tire blow out. Seems like they got everything fixed.

We are spending a lot of time down by the water watch the boats and alligators. The Air Boats look like a blast and hope to go on one before we leave.

We have a nice site with brick paver and nice and level.  Just would to have a little more shade.  There a lot of work camper in our loop so we are have a good time.

November and December it will get busy here with all the snow birds coming in for the winter and there will be a lot going on at the docks

Camp Mack, Lake Wales Fl.

We have been here at Camp Mack for almost a week and we are having a good time. We are still in the motel and waiting for our camper to be repaired at Campers World. They said it would be done to a week so we will see. Lot of damage from tire blow out.

On Saturday there was a fishing tournament  and then a band played from 4:00 to 7:00. Everyone had a good time sitting  by the docks and listen to the band and watching the air boats go by. We come drown to the docks every night and talk with the other work campers and guess and enjoy the fire pit.

There is a lot to do and see here with with all the air boats coming and going ,  the food trailer , pontoon boats and airboat rides and sitting on the docks and watching the Gators swimming  by.

Phone service is poor in the campground and wifi is not much better. The is a few spots that we can manage to make a call or send a text.  Will post to here and Facebook whenever possible.