A non fiction excerpt from my life

John woke up and knew he needed a shower. It wasn't that he smelled but he made it a habit to shower once a day.  He slept well but only an 70 percent  on his scale.  The night was warm but not enough to put on the air conditioner without getting in a fight (it might night have worked anyway).  Lupe parked herself in her normal spot right on my pillow next to me and Jen by the open window.  My leg pillow was becoming a pain in the ass because it was to big and I made a mental note to bring a smaller pillow next time.  Lupe is so sweet and snuggles us where Dora just lays by our feed until she is woken by Jen taken a trip to the bathroom and she is ejected from her dead sleep condition into a free fall 4 feet to the ground.  This all followed by "oh, I am so sorry Dora.".The alarm went off at 7 am as usual and I didn't snooze but just canceled the alarm.  We woke up at 8 am, begrudgingly and I made my coffee.  Jen took the girls for a walk and I checked my email and responded as necessary.  We had a plan for the day and it was a good one.  Leave the campground and stop by a Newmar dealer to see the quality of their motor coaches and then onto a 6.5 mile loop hike on our way to Philadelphia to meet Kasey and Sarah for dinner.  I had to make sure I got Jen out for a walk or I would be screwed.  Everything went to plan and we arrived at the dealership right at 11 am.  We did the normal meet and greet and then went to look at the motor coaches.  

It is amazing to me that people are so unresponsive to customers needs for purchases.  My team does not do this at our dealership and I am glad we do it our way.  We liked what we saw and got caught in the whirl wind sales process and had to follow the protocol and get the numbers from the salesmen, inspect trade, meet the manager, and so on.   It was fine and I admired his process but it takes way too long to complete.  Jen was all in with 2 feet and we almost bought a 1/2 million dollar RV on the spot.  I was the financial voice of reason (can you believe?).  I said, lets talk about it and we will get back to you.  She is a loaded cannon in these situations.   We left and took the info and onto Philadelphia to meet Kasey and Sara for dinner.   We were late and we knew it.  There was tension in the air because I initiated the stop at the dealership and if we ended up being late, it was my fault.   I wasn't planning on drinking tonight but it might be inevitable.    On the road, I felt the anger building in Jen and I offered to drive while she took a shower.  I thought to myself, this is a good plan to mitigate the situation.   Reluctantly, she did and I was so nervous I would get into an accident and her naked ass would be launched into the road and I would have to explain to law enforcement what the hell was going on,  but luckily that did not happen.  Next was me; I took my first shower in the Flag at 80 mph with firm planted feet.  Actually pretty fine and only a small cut on my leg as we launched into the atmosphere.  When I was drying off, I heard in the background, watch out for pothole ahead and braced myself for a smash but Jen did  a great job of missing the hazard.  We ended up getting showered and dressed on the way to Phili and walked to dinner though an up and coming neighborhood.  I brought my knife and removed most of my money for the trip.  Dinner was great and it was nice to catch up with Kasey and Sarah at an awesome tap house.  I had the Alchemist IPA from Stowe.  Actually I had 4.  The mood was on an uphill climb and I wasn't sure if it was me or the fact that Jen had 3 drinks also.   

This is were it all started last October and our first night in the Flag on our trip across America.  It is a dirty truck loading dock right in the heart of Philadelphia but the only RV place around.  I was a newbie then an now more seasoned.  

We walked home and had a healthy debate about the directions but I knew I was right.  Jen had a few drinks and you could tell.   We got home alright because we followed my plan and I know better then Jen.  It was an easy night as Jen fell asleep quickly on the couch.  She is predictable if nothing else.  We are back in the northeast and feel like we are home again.  I feel at home north of the Mason Dixon line.  Watched the Olympics and continued my tireless research on Elite Motor Coaches before turning in.  We will have a busy day tomorrow as we are heading to Long Island to see my parents and get then bring Kylie to visit Hofstra.  

Happy Birthday Justice!

Stay at home Jen, Really?

Ok, so we were discussing the fact that if we just RV'd full time like a lot of other people we have found do, Jen would still want to be a stay at home (in RV) mom.  Many people RV across the country and stay at a place and get a job at the campground and stay for free and even get paid.  Sounds interesting but even with this lazy lifestyle, Jen would like to go into "work" at 11 and leave by 1.  Her quote, "2 hours a day, maybe."  Classic!

Walked downtown Savannah in a self guided 6.5 mile walk after street parking the Flag and paying for 6 parking meters.  Very cool place and worthy of a return trip.  Sat on the Forest Gump bench.   Onto Hilton Head where we stayed at a really nice RV resort/marina, right on the water.  It was great and I got a chance to wash the Flag (much needed).  Took a ride into town and found the house where everyone came for Arky's 70th birthday and went to a nice dinner.   Back to flag to watch olympics!

I believe we are doing an injustice with our uniforms for the olympics.  I believe that the skeleton team should be wearing a Bugatti one piece stretch suit, the luge should be wearing a Ferrari red body suit, the downhill skiers should be wearing a fighter jet body suit and the freestyle ski and snowboard should be wearing an Iron Man body suit.  This would be a lot cooler then what we have now and way more relevant.  In addition, I think we should teach our figure skaters how to play hockey because they are awesome skaters and would skate circles around hockey players.

On a side note, how crazy is hockey as a sport?  It is the only sport where when you get pissed, you can actually stop the game and fight your opponent.  Sure you get a penalty but it is allowed as a rule.  Could you imagine any other sport you could do this with?  Really quite crazy.  Anyway, enough of the olympic talk for now.

I woke up in the middle of the night and was starving so I ate a sleeve of thin mints at 12:10 Am-- What a disappointing decision!

Woke up and walked the beaches of Hilton Head and it was awesome.  Definitely in contention for retirement spot.  Its Jens favorite town (surprising).  No lights on jeep but its not the flag this time, its the jeep.  Pushed on with no lights which is how I drive trailers all the time in CT.

I drove the flag to the main highway and then was really tired so Jen took over.  I fell asleep and was sleeping great with the potholes lulling me to sleep.  I woke up, yawned and looked out the side window to see Jen changing lanes to the right and a small car getting pushed into the dirt shoulder.  I screamed, Jen watch it and she paused her book on tape and said, relax, I checked my blind spot and didn't see them.  Luckily the driver was a stunt driver for the fast and furious and was able to safely complete the scene.  Un-paused book and back on the road.

Got to our site in Virginia at 8:30 pm and for some strange reason, we could not turn off the diesel engine on the flag.  It was so loud and everyone was so watching us.  Jen googled how to solve and I ended up pulling the relay on the ignition.  I hope we can get started tomorrow.

When someone buys this Flag from us, it will honestly have all the kinks worked out of it and be a great RV for someone.  I say that as we are considering selling the Flag and getting an "Elite Motor Coach"   If anyone is interested, let me know.  It has been gone through with a fine tooth comb.

Onto Philadelphia to have dinner with KK tonight and then to Long Island to visit mom and dad and take Kylie to visit Hofstra.  Hopefully home for soccer Friday night!

The signs are now a constant reminder of the "merge" fight

Decided to blow the popsicle stand (Miami) and head north back to Hobe Sound (Jackie & Steve's House for the assumptive close).  No traffic leaving Miami which was great and we decided to stop by the Palm Beach RV Show on the way.  We parked the flag in a Kohls around the corner and killed 2 birds with 1 stone and decided to walk to and from the show at the fairgrounds.  This tactic blew the mind of the parking guy and he could not understand why we did not have a car to park at the show.  After  a very detailed explanation, he let us pass and onto the show.  Mostly small travel trailers but found a few we liked and a camper salesman like Jake.   3 couples in a 45' motor coach and we are in our work out clothes and he left them all for us (that is a good salesmen because I am a loaded gun and we might not have looked like buyers, but we were).  To be honest, I think he saw Jen's ring which probably cost more then most of the trailers there, LOL.  Now I am obsessed with Motor coaches and although I like the idea of the Prevost (the best by far by all accounts), it is very glittery and almost looks bedazzled.  I would lose sleep with the amount of inventory these guys have.

Got to Hobe and Steve was out with his money guy, Stan Goodman.   We went for a quick 5 miler and then hung with the girls (Meg, Brenna and Emily) and covered the "Sex, Drugs and Rock'n Roll" topics.  Watched olympics and to bed.  Woke up and had a lazy morning and I tricked the girls into playing 20 questions for about 1 hour.   Then we bet Meg $35 ($20 from me, $5 from Jen, $3 from Brenna and $2 from Emily--Not sure how she did the math to get to $35) that she would not jump into the canal, swim across, climb the ladder and pet the dogs across the way all while carrying a dog treat in a zip lock bag.  Of course, Jackie said NO and was freak'n out and we had to call Jessee to get mom's permission.  I was the pusher and thank god nothing happened because I would have been to blame.  Mission completed- We were concerned Megan would get Necrotizing Fasciitis on her open wounds and lose her leg.  If she did, I would call her Stump unless she was wearing her modified field hockey stick as a leg and then I would call her captain hook (because she would not only have a hook for a leg but most likely would be recognized as a captain for her grueling recovery). That is blog worthy Megan!  Oh by the way, Brenna jumped in as well for no money.  Anyway, I laid out and got my tan for the next 6 months in 2 hours.  All this while Steve obsessed about the battery on his boat.

By the way, I am not allowed to sing, or whistle in the house because it hurts Jackie ears.

We talked to Jeansie (neighbor), who must be the heir to the Levi's Company, or named after a horse.  The dogs in the neighborhood are all barking at each other across the canal which would drive me crazy but our dogs were so well behaved.  I am surprised that is not a bylaw in the book.   Went for a quick walk to the beach (5 miler) and back to dinner when Jackie said Wayne and Becky from the other side of the tracks wanted to come and meet us.  Quickly took a shower and sent my new bestie, Emily to get me a beer and then it happened.  I got bit by the biggest M Fing mosquito and most likely now have Zicca.  If I do, I am suing Jackie and steve separately as Jackie told me their money is divided.

Ok, so Wayne actually got Necrotizing Fasciitis and had a chunk of his arm removed so we told Meg that he got it from the canal and she was freakin out (the best part of the bet) until Jackie who was not following at all, blew the whistle.  Steve was 26 seconds behing on all the conversations for the night so that was interesting also.  Anyway, Wayne gets bit by a mosquito and shrugs it off like nothing while I am searching high and low for anti bacterial because I remembered I shook his hand earlier.

Dropped a full glass bottle of beer (not because I was drunk) and used a ton of paper towels to clean up and now I owe J and S 100 yards of paper towels.  Then we celebrated Brenna and Emily's birthday and wore glasses and hats and ate a hodge podge of things.  Jackie made brownies (12 x 12 pan) and when I went for seconds, she pulled them back and said, "haven't you had enough?"  I said, the brownie I had was the size of my thumb but she insisted on saving for desert the next night.

Anyway, I got my bitmoji and it was controversial because there is some discussion on my final coloring.  I think people see me darker then I see myself ("I wouldn't want to meet him in a dark alley"--Turk Dunn).  Watched meg do her planks and olympics and to bed.

ADDENDUM to gun control plan--If you are caught in what I will call a "hand in the cookie jar" crime that is of heinous level, we will have a "rapid trial" where you will be tried in 1 week with a  judge and jury pre waiting.  Both defense and prosecutors will have the same time to prepare but this will be for crimes where there is no real doubt you did it.  Sentenced and made an example of within 2 weeks of a crime not 2 years like it is now.  For the record, I am not against the 2nd amendment and I believe you have the right to bare arms to protect yourself but I do believe that right should have some rules to follow.

Said our long goodbyes and back into the flag, onto Savannah.  We saw the monster turtles fighting in the yard and had a nice easy ride north.   Every campground was full, and who knew it was a vacation week?  We stopped at walmarts and got some food and dry camped in a field in a campground and for the first time on the trip when not plugged into anything we got the olympics in full HD, wtf?    I finally got to see the infamous bobsled and decided it is kind of a baby sport now. Seriously, if there is 5 seconds between 1st place and last place and these people are in cars going down the hill.  The real sport is the luge or more so, the skeleton, where the only thing between being fully paralyzed at 100 mph is a plastic helmet and a gator.  Or, downhill, these people are f ing nuts!   I said to Jen, Lindsey Vonn is coming up and she said, I assume at home.  I said, What?  and she repeated I don't know where yvonne is, probably at home.  Classic Jensie.  Also, who comes up with these events?  Biathlon, ski and shoot.  Jen thinks we should have someone do the dishes and knit with their feet which would be tougher.

Had a meat platter for dinner and here is how I rate it  in order.  1.  Pulled pork  2. meatballs  3.  hotdogs but the best was the girl Scout cookies we bought at walmarts for $4 ($1 cheaper then in CT). Even our girl Scout cookies are more expensive!  I hope Gabby got my order from FB.

Final thought.  Wtf with the train whistle?  I get blowing it once but they don't stop anyway, they have gates down, why do they need to blow it 10 times?  Jen doesn't hear it but it wakes me up every time.

Happy Birthday to Wendy!

The F-Ing Miami Boat Show

Not quite the Catalina Wine Mixer but nevertheless the biggest event in boat shows for the year.  Did our goodbyes to Jackie and Steve which took about 1 hour and then Jackie decided to get her tripod and take a family picture.  Said goodby to Emily. Jackie "assumed closed" us to come back on our way north but more on that later.  That one move cost me 2 hours of traffic heading south to Miami as we got caught in the worst traffic for the worst incident ever.  We literally were driving south and hundreds of police, fire, EMT, etc. blew by in the breakdown lane and it wasn't until Jen looked it up did we find out we were passing the Parkland School Shooting.  We passed directly by the school and could not believe the scene as it was at the time the shooter was still not in custody and it was a parking lot full of police.   Very sad situation and made my traffic seem trivial.

My solution to gun violence in easy common sense steps.  First off, you cannot eliminate guns in the US because there are already 300 million out there and as we all know, criminals do not follow laws anyway.  National gun license laws similar to CT and NY where you have to have a license, background check(which will hopefully uncover mental health issues), renewals, gun safety class, etc.  This should be for all guns, not just hand guns.  It is not hard to complete and seems reasonable.  We are not taking your guns away, we are just asking you to follow common sense steps to buy and own them.  If you cannot complete these steps, you probably should not own one.  National Law, enforced at the state level.  If you did this, it would also allow for inter state gun usage as everyone would be on the same system.  No automatic weapons which seems like a no brainer.  As a gun owner you are responsible for your gun so if it is in your possession, it needs to be in a safe, locked, etc.  If it gets stolen and you do not report, or it gets used in a crime, YOU AS THE OWNER ARE LIABLE.  We need to make examples out of the people we catch and stop with the kid gloves.   We also need to re institute the "see something say something" and stop with the worry about politically correct issues.  Finally, parents need to be parents again and parent their children, know what their children are doing and be a part of their lives even if it means reading their iPhones which you know the parents are paying for.

Got settled in our campground in Homestead. After getting directions from the security guard-it was obvious that English was not his first language- he sent us down a road that had just been paved and had police tape blocking where he told us to go(no other options).  I had Jen get out and quickly pull the tape down.  After parking, we noticed a small crowd at the scene of the crime and realized that we had evidence (police tape) attached to the RV. Off to a romantic valentines dinner and evening with Jen and Steve and Amanda Heese and Gavin and Kelly Hunt.  When we got to dinner, which was awesome, all the girls got red roses and we drank awesome wine from Italy.  I spent most of my time selling Amanda and Steve on RVing and learning that they have lived the majority of their life outside of the US.  I tried to convince Steve to work less on site and he could work remotely in the RV but as he told me he how is in the office from 6 am to 5 pm daily-- it sounded terrible.  Then he listed all the awesome vacations he takes with his family and I think the 6 am -5 pm every day may be a front, LOL.  Really interesting.  Steve and I shared a romantic dessert together; I wanted to eat Gavin's too.  The only hiccup was when the guys were all talking about something (probably boats) and a young handsome man asked to borrow a chair from our table.  We almost lost all three ladies but luckily he had a date.  We all discussed being empty nesters and were jealous of Gaven and Kelly's grand baby (we want one of our own).

Got home and watched the Olympics and we both decided that we need to see the MPH stat on the screen at all times.  No one cares about the time, what we really want to know is how freak'n fast are these crazy fucks going.  Seriously, the luge, skeleton, downhill, ski jump--wouldn't it be awesome to see the mph of all?  Even the stone on curling for a different perspective.

Off to the Miami boat show and went and met with a few people before going to Chris Craft to see the new 28 Launch GT.  Gavin called it the gated transom or grand tourismo version, but Jen had the best one--Good Times.  Boat was great, especially for a 101 (boat lingo incase someone gets that one).  Went to visit Neal at Pursuit and it was great to catch up, look at his 100 pictures of his hot dog puppy and grand baby (classic Neal).  Still wearing his 70 mile off shore mirror sunglasses while under a tent!  Also, did a double tap at the booth and secretly took one of my 5 and did not have to even explain to Neal as it is a staple at boat shows (some people will get this, others will not, #ustoo).  Did not get a chance to see Ryan because "the docks were too crowded" Jen.

Off to the Ge (Wells Fargo) event and got a call from the campground that our dogs were barking (like Neal's socks).  We had to bail on event and 1.5 hours later (traffic sucks here) were home to the babies who must have seen a lizard or something.   Stopped by Publix (we were going to go to Aldi because according to Javier in Espana, it is a good german market) to get a bit and Jen got the best deal on a chicken and a valentines day cookie the size of a tire but since we did not have a publix card we paid full price the day after valentines day (story of our lives).  Got home watched Olympics.  Oh, we had a huge fight about merging on the way home and I was accused of Mansplaining.  So as a punishment, Jen purposely stayed in the right lane all the way home.  No one tells Jen how to drive or what to do.  I am allowed to say something when we are about to hit something.

Eating dinner and I watched Jen get up to get something and Dora was laying next to her and she had to shuffle like you would leaving the aisle of a movie theater and Dora never moved.  It was funny at the time.  I said, did you ever agree to go back to your moms on the way home?   Jen said, no, I thought you did?  Well I didn't but when we left she said, ok, see you Saturday.  She even said, do you want to leave laundry here to pick up on the way back.  SOB, we got ASSUMED CLOSED.  Classic sales move.  So I guess we will stop there on the way home.  By the way, I am obsessed with Prevost RVs and cannot stop looking at them.

Shout out to Jessee for her birthday!

Nice job finding the Dog poop, Jen.

Rolled into Hobe Sound at about 840 PM and got the flag parked in the lot and unloaded into laundry baskets for out 2 1/2 days with Jackie and Steve.  It was a long ride but we were glad we pushed though and got settled.  I immediately went to get  beer and turn on the olympics but when I asked if Steve knew the channel for NBC and got the greatest response in the world.  He said, look down on the sheet of paper on the coffee table, where I was expecting to find a printout from the cable company or sat company showing the channel lineup but that is not what I found.  It was a hand written excel spreadsheet showing the channel numbers and shows they like along with time slots and 3 columns for each of their homes (see picture).  It was awesome.

Anyway, the house was dog proofed for us with covers on every piece of furniture including our washable bed spread.  The only thing not covered was the carpet in our bedroom.  We settled in and went to bed and were sleeping pretty good until about 530 am when we were awoke by a different sound than normal (not that normally but occasionally) (usually it is the sound of a dog dry heaving and throwing up on our bed).  It was a digging sound not the carpet which the dogs sometimes do to soften the rug before sleeping but in this case it was the sound of kicking up "dirt" on the rug.  Jen did a great job of finding the crap on the rug with her foot and I spent the next 30 minutes professionally cleaning the carpet.  Tough to get back to bed after an incident like this.

We woke up and had coffee and went for a walk with Jackie and Steve down every finger of their neighborhood at 1.5 mph and learned how much everyones house was worth and what they and their family did for a living.  You see, Steve is the new "elected" member of the Rat Squad for the HOA and has to report mold on roofs, bad grass, visible air conditioners plus much more.  It turns out to be a great way to meet people, NOT.  After the "warm up" walk, jen and I continue to the beach to round out our walk.  Had a great breakfast and then were just catching up, as jackie explained to her house cleaner, Nabis, that she hadn't seen Jen in almost 14 days and needed to catch up.  I am sure Nabis understood the urgency as she has also not seen her family in 14 years and hopes to see them sometime in the next decade.

We took a boat ride up the intercostal to a cool beach where we saw a naked sunbather and a-man-o-war jellyfish.  Continued for a cruise and back to the house.  Did not see one Chris Craft which is crazy because I saw 2 Hinckleys on the water.  According to my ratio, I should have seen  5 chris crafts.  I wish I was the dealer down here!

On a separate note, got on Steve's brand new boston whaler and it had a dead battery.  Investigated to find out it was wired incorrectly from the factory.  This is the story of my life, every time I go boating something does not work.  Anyway, I troubleshooted situation and we all celebrated with the lovely Sherry's Berry's I had delivered to the house for Jen's Valentines day Present.  They were delicious and worth the $36 dollars spent.    Jackie said she would make me some for $26 the next day.

The Tommy Bahama - Cologne Incident--Got showered and headed to dinner and before we were to the end of the road, jackie started a coughing escapade like she was working in a mine and had the black lung.  When asked what was up, she said it was my Cologne.  No one else seemed to mind and Jen even said it was quite nice but I had to take a wipe down shower with wet naps so I could eat dinner at the same table with everyone.  Great dinner once again but no hog fish left.

Home in time for the Olympics and woke up and repeated warm up, walk, breakfast and then onto RV repair where I successfully replaced the Hot water Heater on the Flag and it works!  While doing it, I heard a loud rumbling in the woods and was prepared for a huge gator to come flying out and eat me the whole time but it turned out to be a HUGE turtle.  Back in time to see the Girls, Meg, Brenna and talk a lot Emily visit for the week.  Great to see them.  Had the best fried chicken from Publix (the game changer) on Berto's recommendation and then continued fixing things (electronics) in the house.  My labor was $26 which covered the strawberries Jackie made.    Great dinner again and watched Shawn White win the Gold.

Wake up and repeat and then and went to look at used RV that looked like Flag but no comparison to the Prevost one we saw the day before.  Food for thought.

Shout out to my dad for getting his cast off in the exact time frame the Dr. told him.    On to Miami and a romantic Valentine's  dinner with Jen and Steve and Amanda Heese.

Happy Valentines Day and Happy 36 Anniversary to Jackie and Steve.

Chattanooga Choo Choo

On our way to Atlanta to see Marlo, Roberto, Emma, Gabby and Sophie but had to stop to walk Jen in Chattanooga on the way.  "Ain't no on got time for a wreck so slow it down."  On a quest to see the Choo Choo, which we did not actually see.  Pulling off highway in 65' flag to downtown Chattanoga.  We got to the busiest intersection you could believe when we got the news, Abby got into grad school in Brussels!  This was so great to hear and as I mentioned earlier, Abby was concerned she wouldn't get in and we were concerned she would get in. She will spend half a year in Belgium and the other half in Brazil and receive a Masters in Fashion Marketing.  To be honest, I wish we would have found out about this incredible news 5 minutes later because the second the text came in, Jen took my phone off the dash along with the map of where we could and could not go with our monstrosity to find a parking spot.   She said it might be her son texting and it would only take a minute.  Luckily I was able to drive around in a circle around downtown and bridges until Jen was able to read the text and then re text everyone she knew before giving me my map back.  Classic Jen!

Good walk in downtown and off to Atlanta or actually Marietta which is 10 times the size of Atlanta. You can drive 50 minutes and still be in Marietta.  I cannot think of any town or city even that you could drive almost one hour and still be in that same city.  Got into RV site in Marietta and settled and off to dinner with Berto and Gabby.  Their new house is great except for a few pieces of moulding that do not line up correctly (which apparently Roberto will fix soon).   We got into his new Toyota Avalon (flagship of the Toyota fleet) and off to the best dinner in the world at Chicago.  Gabby drove home and did an excellent Job.  Had a quick drink with Marlo and set up meeting to hike mount Kennesaw in the am with berto and gabby.  In the Am, the rain was light so we met at the mountain and began hike (no gabby).  We hiked up to the top and down to the bottom when we realized we were on the complete other side of the park and either had to go back the way we came or around to car.  Good choice gabby!  Went home but stopped to get a full blown southern haircut on the way.

We met for a late lunch at Pappasito's, the most unbelievable Mexican restaurant.  Berto and I had the lovers valentines special with lobster, meat, shrimp, etc.  It was awesome.  I ate enough chips and salsa to choke a burro.  Went home and tried to fall a sleep but i was way to full of Mexican and Emma was working on my nails.  Went to the coke suite for Black Comic Night at the arena and it was really fun.  Food, drinks (IPA-thanks Vic) and hard to hear jokes.  We had a blast but it was a late night for even us on our renaissance tour.

We woke up at 10 AM and scrambled to get out for our long journey to Hobe Sound to see Jackie and Steve.  Great ride and Jen even drove a bit but 10 hours was a loooong ride.  I tried to sleep but kept waking up when i heard Wayz say, "watch out, pothole ahead." and then in about 10 seconds i feel our rig reenter the atmosphere.   Anyway, got parked and settled and will write next blog on Tuesday but it will be GREAT because we are with Jackie and Steve for the next few days.

The Chop House-The Capital Grill of Tennessee

Nice campground in Harrisonburg-so nice we booked for Abby's graduation weekend in May-much better then the motel 6 we had reserved for a ton of money (always way late to reserve for college graduations).  It is a crime how the colleges rape you on graduation weekend.  Ha, Ha, now we are staying in the Flag!  Screw you motel 6, you can leave the light on for some other idiot.  Woke up and had eggs, and sausage with great coffee.  My Keurig is the only thing that didn't freeze over the winter.   Went for hike up the mountain and it was a nice uphill and reminded us the shape we were in during the fall hikes.  Carried a stick because not only was it hunting season but jen was dressed in her camouflage green jacket.  I didn't know it was hunting season until I went to bathroom.  A lot of information is displayed in the bathroom.

The best part about hiking with Jen is the fact that anytime her phone beeps for a text, she has to stop and read it.  "it may be the kids (Julian)."  Not a big deal but our hike is a voice dictation of the issues a college freshmen might have and his moms answers to how to help.   Next time I think I am gong to silent her ring on her texts.   It's actually better then her new audible book reads as she listens on the speaker phone and every time I walk by or talk to her she pauses, looks at me and then pushes play the minute I stop talking.   Great bonding!  I think she likes to walk the dogs so she can listen to her book.  The best part is now she is renting books from the library and "saving us money" and this puts pressure on her to finish the books before the deadlines.  I am so proud or her!

Who uses wayz?  We do and it is fantastic.  I listen to the "pothole ahead" comment from the voice and cringe.  I hear the comment, "pothole ahead"I wait the 12 sec and hear whatever car Jen is driving hit the biggest pothole in history.  2 flat tires on the BMW, 1 Rim, and a ball joint.  Had to change all her run flats to regular tires.  Now the RV is being tortured the same way. When you hear the warning, slow down and get ready to move over.

I drove most of the way today because i wanted to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway only to find out it was closed and could not take our 50' machine.  After negotiation a huge turn, we headed back to 81S .  Very disappointing.  Decided to stop before Chattanooga and Jen wanted to stay at at KOA.  Big spender now with her RV. When I was a kid, we never stayed at at KOA but the dollar signs do not scare her.   I found a place $10 cheeper and just as nice.  We went to dinner in Tenn. at their capital grill - The Chop House and had the best waiter I have ever had (top 5).  He was quick with drinks and great across the board.  When I become a billionaire, I am gong back to wherever I am in Tenn. and taking this guy as my personal waiter.

Got home and unhooked water-fool me once.  and started watching the Office episodes. Michael Scott is awesome!