NEW ORLEANS, LA

As you can see by the pictures it has been rather cold here.in New Orleans.  We are seated outside of a restaurant called The Coffee Pot.  Of course the area we sat at did not have heat.

The narrow streets make for interesting driving downtown, but once we park and begin walking the sites are really worth it.  The people watching has been fun and the food incredible.  New Orleans should be a destination for everyone as there really isn't any other place like it.

Last night Andrea and I took a ride to Harrah's Casino downtown and we managed to contribute to the area economy.  We will try our luck in a few days before we head off to Texas.

It has been working out fine with our friend Elaine staying with us in the coach.  She leaves for New York next Monday, and we leave for Beaumont, Texas as a stopover as we head for Houston.

I am not sure if I will have time for any updates before the new year so just in case we want to wish everyone a happy, and most importantly a healthy New Year for 2011.  We hope you can find what it is you are looking for in 2011.

Until next time, miles of smiles,
Charlie, Andrea and Angel

WE ARE IN BILOXI, MS

We are staying at a campground directly across from the Gulf of Mexico.  We can only wonder what this area was like before Katrina.  I say that because there is so much open land along the beach as well as across the street.  Plenty of property for sale but no takers.  Insurance is high and it seems that no one wants to make the investment or should I say gamble.  Andrea and I (and of course Angel) have taken long walks along the beach and what really strikes us is that there is just no one out enjoying the beach and water view.  The area has no life to it.  Guess we are so used to seeing so much activity by the beaches in Ft. Lauderdale where there is always activity between walkers, runners, bikers, and roller bladders.

We have been trying to help the local economy over at the Beau Ravage Casino by contributing our fare share into the slots.  We gave the Hard Rock Casino a chance as well and as expected the results were no different.

Tonight we will give the casino's one last chance before we move onto New Orleans tomorrow. 

We wish all a very Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year.

Until next time, miles of smiles.

Charlie, Andrea, and Angel

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS FRIGHTFUL (not really)

We really should not complain about the weather.  There are many areas of the country that due to really cold temperatures and snow would prohibit the traveling we are enjoying.  So, no more complaining.  We have the clothes for just about any type of weather.  In fact we have so many clothes we could set up a road side boutique, but we won't do that.

Right now it is a chilly 39 degrees, but will warm up to the mid 50's which is fine.  Rain is not in the forecast for the next few days so we can set up our chairs outside to spend a little time outside of the coach.  We might even take a bike ride later after we walk.  We are fortunate that Angel really enjoys our walks.  Our feeling is that is what is keeping her youg and healthy.  She is 10 years old and when we meet people they can not believe she is 10.  However, no one doubts our age.  Hmmmm.

Tonight we plan on snuggling by a campfire and doing some star gazing.  Who knows, maybe we will buy some marshmellows and toast them or better yet make smores.

My brother Jim and Caren are coming up to the area today and will spend a few days near here and then we all head to Biloxi, MS for 3 days.  They are staying at the Beau Rivage, and we are at a campground just up the road.   

Until next time, miles of smiles,
Charlie, Andrea, and Angel

Sunset at Grayton Beach State Park

The weather today was off and on rain, but in spite of this we managed to get in a 3 mile walk this morning with Angel on a bike trail that runs parallel to the beach.  There is not much else to do when the weather is lousy other then to go to Walmart.  So that is what we did.  Yeah, I know not very exciting.

The highlight of the day was sunset at the beach.  Just beautiful. 

Until next time, miles of smiles,
Charlie, Andrea and Angel

Grayton Beach State Park - Santa Rosa Beach, Florida

We finally feel like our journey of travel and adventure has begun.  What a great first stop (I don't consider Tallahassee more than a resting spot) is this wonderful Florida Park.  This is one of the most beautiful works of Nature, and man working together to create this beautiful space.  The park consits of 2200 acres, and a mile long white sugar sand beach. 

From our very spacious, and private camp site we can hear the roar of the Gulf.  The sound is so invigerating as nothing beats the sound and feel of being near the ocean. We are close enough to walk by the beach.  As you can see in the picture the sand looks like snow and of course Andrea looks like she is ready to trod through it.  The temperature later in the day warmed up to 68 degrees so off came the jackets.


There are hiking trails all around the park.  Today we (Angel included) hiked one of the trails and enjoyed it very much.  There are also lots of biking trails that we will also be checking out.

We took a car drive on a Gulf frontage road to explore some of the sea side communities in the area.  All I can say is WOW.  Some of the houses and communities that have been developed are just amazing.  Real Estate here is expensive, but you can really see why.  We drove through Sea Side, and Water Colors just to mention a few.  We are here for six days and will be doing much more exploring.

Thats it for now.

Miles of smiles,
Charlie, Andrea and Angel

WE ARE ON THE ROAD, FINALLY

What is with this crazy weather???  We woke up this morning to pack up for the start of our trip and it was freezing.  One of the water hoses was actually frozen solid.  The winters sure seem to be getting worse every year.  How far south do we have to go?

The day started early for us as we were anxious to get started so we were on the road about 7:15 and headed for Tallahassee for a stop over at the Elks Lodge.  They have an area set up for RV's for traveling members of the Elks.  It is a really nice set up.  'This works out nice for us as a stop over before heading on to Grayton Beach State Park near Ft. Walton Beach tomorrow.  The temperature is supposed to drop to 19 degrees tonight.  BURRRRRRR!!!!

We will have more tomorrow once we settle in at Grayton Beach State Park.

Until then, miles of smiles.

Charlie, Andrea, and our faithful traveling companion Angel

JUST 15 DAYS TO GO

We are really getting pumped as December 14th gets closer.  Everything is in place as far as the coach being ready.  There were lots of issues with the car, but they have been taken care of and it appears that that to is ready to go.

The car was all set up for towing, but until this past Saturday we were not sure if there were going to be any problems with the wiring since we had not hooked up the car to the coach.  So on Saturday we put everything away as if we were leaving the campground, brought the coach up to the parking lot area, hooked up the car behind the coach and drove around the block, brought the coach back to the campground parking lot, detached the car and parked the coach back at our camp site.  Glad to report everything worked perfect.  Now we now we don't have to be concerned about the set up.  It has been a few years since we set up a car for towing, and it was not a problem.  The big thing to remember is double checking each step.  I don't want to find ourselves at our destination only to find out the car didn't make it, or we set the brake and caused a fire, or didn't to the necessary process as to not cause damage to the transmission.  There are many things to do each and every time we leave a place as far as putting things away for travel mode, and take back out and reset up when we arrive.  I guess in a way it is like being in the circus except Andrea and I only have to entertain each other.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. 

Until next time, miles of smiles.

Charlie and Andrea

DEPARTURE DATE IS SET FOR DEC. 14, 2010

We have set our departure date as Dec. 14th with our first stop at an Elks Lodge in Tallahassee, FL for the first night and then on to Grayton Beach State Park which is located near Ft. Walton Beach. We will be there until Dec 20th. We then head to Biloxi, MS where we will be meeting up with my brother Jim and his wife Caren. If we hit it big at the casino's it will have a big effect on our travels. If not we stick to our plans. After Biloxi we head to New Orleans, LA from the 24th of Dec. to Jan. 3rd. Our friend Elaine from New York City is flying down to meet us and will be staying with us in the RV. Should be a real test of both friendship as well as best use of space. There is always a hotel if things get a little crazy.

From New Orleans it is off to Texas. We will have additional updates prior to our departure. As Thanksgiving approaches we hope that you all have a great holiday. We are so thankful to be able to travel. We all should reflect on the many blessings afforded to us.

Until next time, miles of smiles.

Charlie, Andrea and Angel

Just got back from our first RV trip

We just got back from our first camping trip in the new coach. We stayed at a really nice resort in Dade City called Travelers Rest. We met up with my sister Cris and Mike and their RV Club. There were a total of 18 coaches so it was a really nice turn out. We arrived on Thursday and stayed through Sunday. The group is called the Sandpipers and is a club that is part of FMCA. FMCA stands for Family Motor Coach Association. They were a real nice group of people and Andrea and I really felt welcomed.

This was a good first time to become familiar with all of the systems that the coach has. We even managed to do a load of laundry in the
coach. Although the machine is small it will handle our everyday needs. As we travel we will find laundry facilities to take care of the bulk items. We continue to outfit the coach with items that will make us a little more comfortable while trying to weed out what we don't have to have.

We will update our plans as we firm them up. Until then.....

Miles of smiles,
Charlie, Andrea, and Angel

Here we go again - full time RVing

As much as we like it here in The Villages we just feel there is too much of this country we want to see while we have our health and of course all of our faculties. We made the decision to sell the house and all of its belongings and buy our new home on wheels. The motor coach has been named Winnie as it is a Winnebago Adventurer model 38N. With 3 slide outs she truly has all of the comforts of home including a king size bed, washer/dryer, sleeper sofa, and so on.

We have been very busy getting her ready for our travels. As is typical for me and Adrea I am sure we are packing way more then we really need, but what can I say. Perhaps as time goes on we will shed some of the things we thought we would need, but find we just don't use them. We will see how it goes.

Today we dropped off our car to get a Blue Ox base plate attached to the car so we will be able to tow it behind the coach. It makes life simpler when we stop at various points of interest as we head west.

On Thursday we will take the coach on its maiden trip to a campground in Dunellon, FL where we will be meet with my sister Cris and brother-in-law Mike to camp with their RV club. There will be about 18 motor homes in the group. We are excited to make this trip as we will really learn all of the systems on board. This is a lot more complicated then our 36' motor home we used to have.

I will update the blog as often as possible so please enjoy our travels along with us. It will be lots of fun.

Miles of smiles,
Charlie, Andrea and Angel