Wanda’s Gone

Lazydays (CD 97)
Seffner, Fl

We’ve spent a couple of days “nesting” here at LD.  Friday morning, they took Wanda the Brave to the detail shop for her new owners.  There is a “sale pending” on the LD website.  In the afternoon, Dee and Jim came over for a visit.  Unfortunately, Tawanda had just been taken over to a service bay for her last fix.  I didn’t even get a chance to get my camera out of her.  We sat in a new coach that was just a few sites away from us that has a similar floor plan.  I still like ours better but it was a relaxing spot.  She was returned to us late in the evening.

We finally had a couple of days that we knew we weren’t going to have Tawanda taken away from us so we just enjoyed doing our thing.  While I read through a volume of the owner’s manual, Gin spent most of the day Saturday and Sunday installing her electronics.  Let’s see…that’s Wii, XBOX 360, Play Station 3, Roku, Digital Video Media Player, 10TB file server, Cradle Point Router, and an 8 port switch.  It’s all Greek to me!!  It looked like the cable fairy threw up in here.

We did mange to take the e-bikes for a ride around the grounds here and we found Wanda sitting outside the Detail Shop.  Her tires were shining nicely.

We noticed that the hood was opened and saw the reason why.  Someone had obviously bumped into her while she sat there!  There was a little bit of fiberglass on the ground under her bumper.

I’m glad I don’t have to worry about it but it was a bit sad to see.  She needs a good nose job now.

Our delivery adviser told us that the window awnings and things that we ordered should be here on Tuesday so we are planning to stay here and get those put on before we leave.  I sure hope that goes well and we can find a CG to stay in before the weekend.  This is a nice place to be, but we need to get a little closer to nature for a while.  We have a park in mind but it’s first come with no reservations so that can be a little iffy.

Thanks for dropping by, and enjoy each day of your life’s journey by finding beauty in the ordinary.

Lazydays Crown Club

Lazydays (site CD97)
Seffner, Fl

First of all, Gin is doing much better.  Here’s Archie who fixed that wonderful chicken noodle soup that helped with her recovery.

We had a tech try to replace one of the cracked tiles on Monday afternoon but he ended up cracking four other tiles around it just to get it out.  We were a little upset but we knew that LD would take care of it and they did.  They took Tawanda to the work bay on Tuesday and actually had to dislodge one of the slide-outs to be able to replace the tiles.  We stayed in the work bay on Tuesday and Wednesday night because they had to make sure that the tile and grout were properly dried before the slide-out could come back in.  It was nice to still have Wanda to lounge in back at the buddy site.  Today they brought Tawanda back to our site and Karen from house keeping came over and did a great job cleaning everything up.  It feels like home.  There’s only a couple of small things to have done tomorrow and we will probably leave on Monday.  They plan to take Wanda away tomorrow for a little time in the rv spa before she is put on the lot to find a new owner.  She’s been good to us and I think she has a lot more fun left in her.

I have already commented about how nice it is here at Lazydays Crown Club and how wonderful the people are but I want to share a few photos of it here.  Here’s the Crown Club building and Andrea in the reception area.

 

From the reception area you can go upstairs to the dining area where Archie and his great staff cook three meals a day, six days a week.  Even we can’t eat that much!

 

There are several offices down the hallways and a few sitting areas to relax in while your coach is in for service.  Here is a pet friendly lobby and one of the many beautiful paintings hanging on the walls.

 

One office here is for Tiffany, our delivery advisor, but she is usually too busy to be inside.  She keeps the customers happy by scheduling the repair jobs that pop up.

We have met several nice customers here during our two weeks stay but we have shared the dinner table with two couples more than any others.  Don and Jinny are having their coach serviced and have many interesting tales of their lives and awning problems on past rigs.  Georgia and Joe are trading in their Monaco for a Tiffin Bus and have moved most of their stuff over.

 

We’ve enjoyed washing some clothes tonight and relaxing in Tawanda.  We need a few days to bond with our new home.  It feels real comfortable.  If any of you are thinking about buying a new rv, please consider Lazydays.

Life is what you make of it…don’t sweat the petty things and don’t pet the sweaty things.

We're Still Here...

Lazydays (site CD97)
Seffner, Fl

We've only spent one night at the work bay but that doesn't mean that they haven't been working on Tawanda.  On Thursday, we took the Driver's Confidence Course while they did some touch up painting.  Yes, she had another day in the rv spa.  The driving course was a quick hour and a half classroom in the morning and then drive around in their parking lot a little bit in the afternoon.  They use one of their diesel trade-ins that is very similar to our new rig.  Here's a link to some videos that summarize the info.  We both drove the course along with 3 other couples.  For me, the biggest difference in driving a diesel vs a gas mh is the location of the brake.  It comes up from the floor right next to the gas pedal.  I found myself picking up my leg way too high to find the brake pedal.  I'll get used to it though.

Friday morning they came by to get Tawanda for another day of pampering.  We decided that we needed to get away from Lazydays for a bit so we drove down to Myakka River State Park to pop in on Sherry and David, and Nancy and Bill.  We didn't have any plans and we didn't even grab a camera.  We tried calling them just before we got there to surprise them but didn't get an answer on the phone.  We thought they might be out on a hike or something so we would just check out the park.  Well, just as we pulled up to the park's entry, they were driving out in their cars.  Talk about perfect timing!  If I had stepped back in the mh to get the camera, we would have missed each other!  We joined them on a hike in a nearby nature preserve.  Sherry did a nice post of the day with pics of course.  We enjoyed a day of nature and wonderful friends and topped it off with ice cream at the campground store.

Saturday was spent hanging around Lazydays while they did a few more things to Tawanda.  We rode the bikes around some and relaxed in Wanda to recover from the 6 mile nature hike.  It's nice to have these buddy sites.  Gin started developing a cold.  On Sunday, we were able to relax with Tawanda all day since they take that day off.  Gin's cold may actually be the flu.  We watched the NFL playoffs in hi-def on the big tv so that was relaxing.  On Monday, they picked up the mh bright and early to do some chassis work.  I think they fixed the air leak or hiss at the front.  Gin can barely breathe so when we went to lunch at the Crown Club, the head chef Archie noticed that she was under the weather.  He asked her to come back for the happy hour and he was going to have some good chicken noodle soup just for her.  He is a happy man who loves everyone and has a big personality.  We now have some delicious homemade soup to help Gin get rid of her crud.  That was so nice of him.  I think tomorrow they will work on the cracked tile and will finish up with us soon.  Hopefully we will be on the road before the weekend.

Life is what you make of it...you can still hit a home run when life throws you a curve ball.

What day is it?

Lazydays Workbay #151
Seffner Fl

It’s all blending together.  On Friday, we signed the paperwork on our new mh TAWANDA! and it was delivered to the buddy site in the afternoon.  We spent much of the next five days moving things over.  It took us about five years to get things just right in Wanda so that was a lot of stuff!

 

The first thing that was transferred was the special present that my niece Marie made for us.  It's a life-size magnet of Smudge so that she will always be with us.

We got a lot done on Saturday and took a little break on Sunday.  Bill, Nancy, Sherry and David came over from Hillsborough River SP.  David had made a cherry pie for the occasion from scratch.  It was delicious!  Howard and Linda dropped by for a quick visit also and I think everyone liked Tawanda. 

We went back to work on Monday and got just about everything piled into Tawanda, inside and out.  It took more time on Tuesday to actually find a place to put stuff though.  It’s amazing that a 33 foot mh holds so much stuff that you can barely fit it into a 40 footer.

We were inspired to check out Lazydays in part because of Karen and Al's experience with them when they bought their mh this past summer.  They are staying in Zephyrhills and were able to come by for a visit.  I have followed her blog for a while now and it was great to finally meet them.  I was so tired that I‘m afraid that I forgot to get any photos.  I know that I need to get my header changed soon too, but I’m thinking of doing a few other changes also.

We are in the workbay area for the next couple of nights because Lazydays is giving Tawanda a nose job.  When you buy a nice DP from them, they treat you like royalty.  They really don’t want us to leave until everything is perfect.  There was some baked-on bug splat on the front Diamond Shield so they are painting and replacing it.  The floor is ceramic tile and there are a couple of cracked ones.  They are replacing them also.  A few other things need to be corrected too so it will be a few more days before we leave here.  That’s ok though since they feed us very well at the Crown Club.  We’re getting spoiled since they treat us like queens.   

Here are a few shots of the interior.  If you see stuff laying around, just over look it.  We finally got most of it put away.

 

 

If you’re wondering about our house closing, well let’s just say that I’m glad we went ahead and got the loan here.  We got word today that the closing will be February 15.  The mortgage lender needed a few weeks to do their paperwork.  I told our realtor that it will go back on the market if they don’t meet that date.  This time of year is usually a slow housing market so we’ll hold on to this buyer.

Thanks for dropping by, and enjoy each day of your life’s journey by finding beauty in the ordinary.

Hillsborough River to Lazydays

Lazydays (site CD97)
Seffner Fl

Tuesday was spent hanging around the campground (Hillsborough River SP).  We relaxed most of the day until Nancy, Bill and Sherry and David arrived in the afternoon.  It was great to see them.  And guess what…Nancy and Bill accepted an offer on their house!  We are so happy for them!  In the evening, we enjoyed a campfire at our site.  Another RV-Dreams couple was there, Al and Karen, so they joined in on the fun and shared their stories of selling their business and house in New York along with working at Amazon.  It was a great way to wrap up the day.  Here’s the site we were on…#35…a big one.

Wednesday was set aside for the RV Supershow in Tampa but first, Gin and I stopped by at Lazydays with some electronics for them to install in TAWANDA!  We walked around the RV Show with Sherry, David, Nancy and Bill.  It’s a big show!  After checking out some of the vender booths, we walked to the motorhomes.  Since Nancy and Bill had signed a contract on their house, they were serious about finding just the right rig.  I think that they narrowed it down a bit.  Especially when we all got caught in the rain inside a 34Y and were pretty comfortable.  It was interesting for me because I didn’t dream about the new rigs since TAWANDA is waiting for us.  We just enjoyed the company instead.

Today, Thursday, we visited with our friends some before leaving Hillsborough River to go to Lazydays.  We got some unwelcome news from our realtor.  The house is not going to close this week either.  We stressed out for a bit but regrouped.  When we arrived at LD, we were escorted to a buddy site in the Crown Club section.  Juan checked out Wanda and gave her a clean bill of health for the trade-in.  We went to the finance office and spoke with Dianne.  We told her about our situation with the house and asked her to check on a loan for us.  It was no problem since we were able to put a chunk of change down.  Now I will be able to sleep tonight.  Here’s the buddy site and Wanda’s new Lazydays sticker.

 

The buddy sites are designed so that the new rig can be parked next to the trade-in and our personal property can be transferred by us.  That’s our plan of action for the next couple of days.  We’re scheduled for their Driver’s Confidence Course on Thursday.  That should give us the time to check out the new rig pretty good.  Keep your fingers crossed because we’re pretty excited!

Life is what you make of it…don’t worry about things that you have no control over.

Meeting Tawanda and a River Paddle

Hillsborough River SP (site #35)
Thonotosassa Fl

Monday morning we finally met TAWANDA.  She’s beautiful and I think she likes us, at least by our first impression.  Lazydays is huge!!  There are over 500 employees and we were welcomed nicely.  Our salesman Joe Coupas showed us around in a golf cart.  Since we are buying a nice DP, we will be in their Crown Club for 3 years.  We might be a little out of our element because we ain’t fancy folks, but I’m gonna enjoy the highlife for a few days anyway.  Of course, I forgot the camera but I’ll get some shots next week.  Back at camp, one of our furry neighbors was checking out Wanda. 

In the afternoon we went for a paddle on the Hillsborough River with Howard and Linda.  I did remember the camera for that.  It was so peaceful!!  It was definitely time in Sylville.

 

 

 

We heard that there were some alligators sunning themselves in the other direction so we paddled downstream and found them.  Don’t worry.  We kept our distance, but Howard wanted to get close…Linda, not so much.

 

After getting the boats put away, H&L came over to join us for a nice steak dinner.  We realize that going to a couple of their Rallies was the best thing we’ve ever done.  We had planned on full-timing before we ran across their website, but we have gleaned a lot of information from it.  The rallies gave us the opportunity to meet some of the best  lifelong friends that we’ll ever have.  Life doesn’t get much better.

Life is what you make of it…enjoy the little things in each day.

Friends

Hillsborough River State Park (site #35)
Thonotosassa, FL

We arrived in Silver Springs Florida on Friday after a drive of 160 miles.  That’s much better than 385.  We stayed at Silver Springs Campers Garden on both Friday and Saturday nights.  It’s a nice laid back snowbird type rv park with reasonable rates and they have lots of activities.  For an older private park, the sites were nicely spaced and I loved the Live Oak trees with Spanish Moss draped all over them.  The laundry area was nice so I washed clothes this morning before we left.  They have a heated pool, bocci ball, shuffleboard, a rec hall and such.

 

The main reason we stayed there is because it was only a couple of miles from Silver River State Park where our friends Sherry & David and Nancy & Bill were staying.  The state park was booked up for the weekend but we visited with them in the afternoon to get some hugs and catch up with each other.

Sherry and David’s MH Winnona is almost Wanda’s identical twin.  She’s just a couple of feet longer.  They are planning to leave there and come here to Hillsborough River SP on Tuesday.  Maybe we can all go to the Tampa RV Show on Wednesday.  Shortly after arriving here today, we got a call from Linda.  She and Howard came over for a visit and we’re planning to get the kayaks in the water with them tomorrow afternoon.  Of course, we’re planning to go to Lazydays in the morning to see TAWANDA.  I hope she likes us.

Life is what you make of it…to get respect, you have to give it first.

On the Road and a Glitch

Golden Isles RV Park (site#21)
Brunswick, Ga

We left Clayton early this morning and drove about 385 miles to get us closer to Florida.  We are about 30 miles from the border and plan to do less driving tomorrow.  This is a Passport America park so we have full hookup for less than 17 bucks.  It was nice to get our adventures underway.

The closing was scheduled for Friday (tomorrow) but as is often the case, there's a glitch.  Our realtor told us about it yesterday afternoon.  We have already done our paperwork and over-nighted it to the attorney's office so there was no reason for us to stick around.  Our buyers thought they had a cash deal on the sell of their house, but at the last minute, their buyers decided to get a loan.  We checked with everyone and the deal is still going to happen but it will just take a few extra days, maybe a week.  We'll just roll with the punches and hope that Lazydays understands.  I want to make sure we have plenty of cash in the bank before I write that big check.  In the meantime, we hope to meet up with fellow RV Dreamers Sherry and David and Nancy and Bill who are bouncing around in Florida.  Who knows who else we might run into since the state is full of rv'ers.

Thanks for dropping by, and enjoy each day of your life's journey by finding beauty in the ordinary.

Just Waiting...

Bouncing around in NC

We've gotten everything ready at the house for the closing on Friday so now we're getting last minute visits with family.  We really hope everything goes smoothly so that we can go to Florida and pick up our new MH.  While there are several of you out there who know about our new rig, there are other folks who have gotten curious about my subtle hints so let me announce it here.

While we were at Huntington Beach SP, we e-mailed Lazydays about one of their 2011 Winnebago MH's.  A salesman called back and we came to an agreement.  With our credit card, we made a deposit to hold it until we can get there in a few days.  It was a nice Christmas present to ourselves.  Here's the link.  Not all of those pictures are quite right but you can get the general idea.  Of course, we did not pay full price.  We were afraid that it would be gone by the time the Tampa RV Show came around, so we made a reasonable offer.  Being the end of the year model, I think we got a fair deal.  We plan to pick it up on January 12.  Needless to say, we're getting excited!

It's a 2011 Winnebago Journey 40U.  It's not our "dream machine" (42 QD), but now we'll have a little cash left over to pay for diesel.  Her name is TAWANDA!  If you have seen the movie Fried Green Tomatoes, then you may recognize it.  There is a review of the movie on Google and a few sentences refer to the scene when TAWANDA! is first shouted out.  Here it goes..."I believe that the moral of the story lies, however in TAWANDA & THE BEE CHARMER.  From the first time you hear one of the women use the word TAWANDA, it seems to be a cry of liberation.  It seems to be equated with being self-sufficient, having worth without defining it by virtue of a man, what you do, how you act, but who you are and how you feel about yourself.  TAWANDA! I mean, shouting the word itself almost feels liberating."  That kinda wraps it up in a nutshell.

Life is what you make of it...live with no regrets.