Truck update, a guest - Day 2026 (Year 6, Day 198)

Zephyrhills, FL

We do not have the truck back; now were told maybe Tues or Wed.  There is definitely a problem with the fuel pressure pump, as no pressure is getting to the engine (fuel line?), but as of Thursday, they were not able to determine exactly where the leak was.  At least we're home in the campground and not at "Camp Ford," and our neighbors have been very generous in giving us rides to the supermarket and elsewhere around town, including to return the rental car (we decided to keep it an extra day, on our own dime, so we'd have a way to get to/from shul).  On Monday, Mitch has another gig but will be out on the road with his boss, who will pick him up.  If our prayers can be answered, hopefully they will discuss an arrangement whereby they'll put him on full time, or at least guarantee more hours rather than a job here and a job there.

As for our "guest" -- Mitch was getting ready to go outside last night and when he opened the door, he let out a loud scream.  He did that a few weeks ago when he saw a giant beetle-like bug in the rig, so I thought it was another bug.  He yelled at me to come quick and look.  I went over but couldn't see anything.  Our little visitor was sitting inside the railing to our awning and I am too short to see it.  So he took a photo:



I just hope he finds another home before we need to close the awning again!

Complaining, yet thankful - Day 2023 (Year 6, Day 195)

Zephyrhills, FL

Ok, need to start off by being EXTREMELY THANKFUL for all our blessings.  Things can (G-d forbid!) always be worse.

That being said, the truck is at the mechanic and the symptom to be fixed is (yet again, for the 3rd time), a bad fuel pump.  This time, they diagnosed the CAUSE of the problem which has to do with something wrong with the gas tank which, allegedly, is not sending fuel properly to the engine, which is why the pump keeps failing.  So, at this point, they are replacing the pump and when they get the parts in for the tank, they will replace that, and hopefully we will never have this problem again!

Meanwhile, Mitch was called for a gig and the company agreed to pay for the cost of a rental car so he could get there.  SWEET!!!!

Weather -- need to wear 2 heavy layers plus heat and fireplace on in the morning, but absolutely GORGEOUS (high 70s/low 80s; sunny) in the afternoon.  Can't complain; just wish I had more time in the day to enjoy the great outdoors.

Updates and Poor Mitch! Day 2018 (Year 6, Day 192)

Zephyrhills, FL

I can't believe it's been a year and 2 days that we've been at this campground.  I feel like we can no longer call ourselves travelers.

Chanukkah has come and gone.  We didn't participate in the huge "street fair"/candle lighting that our shul sponsored.  We lit candles at home all 8 nights.  Being on a keto diet, I made cauliflower latkes (although on the last day, Mitch and I made real potato ones for him).

New Year's Eve was just another night of the week.  I guess we've become old foggies.  We just didn't feel that changing the number on the calendar demanded any kind of special celebration.  Not even our annual game of Scrabble, accompanied by alcohol and snacks.  We pretty much just spent the night watching our regular tv shows.  Oddly enough, we did stay up until midnight and watched the ball drop (the last few years, we barely made it until 10:00!)

Other than that, it's been same old, same old.  Mitch continues to get a lot of interest and has hot leads, but none of them seem to pan out.  As much as he hates to do it, he's now looking for something (at least temporarily) in retail; i.e. cashier at the supermarket.  Minimum wage is better than no wage, especially after what follows.  He is connected with a company that does phone installs/repairs but they've only been giving him some stuff here and there; nothing steady (yet-- they claim they want to put him on full time but are just too busy to get around to it).

Which brings me to the "poor Mitch" section.  He was called for a quick job yesterday (Sunday).  He needed to pick up parts in New Port Richey, and then do a repair at Busch Gardens in Tampa (1 hr away to NPR, another hour to Tampa, then an hour back home).  Halfway between NPR and Tampa, the truck broke down (yet again).  This happened at around 2:00 pm.  He called for a mobile mechanic, who finally showed up at 4:00.  Worked on the truck until 6:30, only to determine he couldn't fix it on the side of the road as it was probably either the fuel pump or the pressure pump.  That cost $600.  We called our local mechanic who told us to have it towed to his shop.  Tow truck finally showed up to get Mitch at 10:30 pm!!!  By the time they towed him and then he had to take an Uber back home, it was almost 1:00 am by the time he walked in the door.  So that was almost 12 hours sitting in a broken down truck.  Mind you, after the sun went down, it was in the 40's and since the engine didn't start, it was very cold as well.  Anyway, it's probably going to cost at least another grand to make the repairs (and who knows how long it will take?)

Meanwhile, all of my clients must have been catching up with themselves over the weekend, as I woke up to 55 emails to action!  I'm not complaining about being very busy; that's a good thing.  I'm just really exhausted right now.  So on that note.... hope I have more to write about.

Our daughter and her hubby are coming down to visit mid-February (just for the weekend).  I know I'll write again then; hopefully sooner if there's anything eventful.

Fun day - Day 1991 (Year 6, Day 165)

Zephyrhills, FL

We had another get-together with our RV-Dreams friends (we had a   get together on Feb. 10th of this year: https://mitcheryl-rv-journey.blogspot.com/2019/02/delayed-post-day-1697-year-5-day-228.html).  For a background, we first became acquainted with Linda and Howard Payne, the founders of RV-Dreams, in 2011 when we first had the idea that we wanted to become RV full-timers.  It's something they had done and they shared (and continue to share) their knowledge and experience through their website, blog, forum and rallies.  They have a following of several thousand folks. We attended our first rally in 2011 where we rented a cabin at the campground.  After we bought our new home (June 2014), we attended 2 more rallies with them.  We have met many friends through their forum and rallies and continue to stay in touch with them.

Anyway, one member (Kelly) decided to reach out to any "RV-Dreamer" who was in the Central Florida area for another get together.  It's snowbird season, so quite a number of folks are here, although many had to travel over an hour to get to the park in Lakeland where it was held this time (1/2 hr; 25 miles for us).

The weather was perfect (78* and sunny) and the park was very lovely.  Had a really nice time.

      

Breathing update - Day 1989 (Year 6, Day 163)

Zephyrhills, FL

Nothing exciting going on in life; just an update regarding my recent breathing problems. 

The pulmonologist ran an allergy screening.  Turns out I'm highly allergic to elm.  I didn't even know we had elm trees here; I thought they were all live oaks.  Guess I'll need to check that out.

But at least we now know that this was asthmatic allergies and hopefully just seasonal.  At least the antihistimine and corticosteriod is helping to keep it under control (the only problem is that I've developed thrush in my mouth, due to the fact that no one -- not the doctor or pharmacist -- told me I'm supposed to rinse after inhaling; so now I'm on an antifungal as well).

Thanksgiving - Day 1982 (Year 6, Day 156)

Zephyrhills, FL

First, an update on my health: the asthma seems to be in control now.  Still having a few bouts of difficulty breathing  here and there but it is mostly improved.  The chest x-ray and pulmonary function tests were within normal limits.  I have a follow up appt. with the pulmonologist on Tuesday, 12/2.

Lately, however, I've been having a severe flare-up with the arthritis in my knee, which has made it extremely difficult and painful to make any bending motions on it (which includes sitting and steps) or when I initially put weight on it (getting up), and I have needed to use a cane to get around.  It's a little bit better today.  No idea what sets it off, but the NSAIDs don't help.

In any event, I am extremely thankful that despite these medical woes, it is nothing life threatening; it could always be such much worse.

Now, in the spirit of the holiday, more things I am thankful for:  my health, my husband and best friend who takes such great care of me, my children.  Despite financial difficulties (Mitch out of work almost a year now), like my health, it could still be so much worse.  G-d indeed takes care of all our needs and I am thankful to have a roof over my head and food on the table.  I am grateful for new friends:  although we weren't able to make the trip up north to spend the holiday with the kids, we invited our new next door neighbors (Kelly & Michael) to join us for a Thanksgiving feast.  They brought their own turkey (and plates and utensils) and I made a Tofurkey.  That was the only non-vegetarian item; Kelly went out of her way to cook a lot of yummy side dishes (as did I).  Another neighbor was walking by to visit with Michael, so we invited him to join us as well (he recently returned from a tour in Afganistan).  It was a very lovely evening.  So much to be thankful for.

A strange sight - Day 1966 (Year 6, Day 140)

Zephyrhills, FL

When I look out my "dining room/office" window, my view is of my neighbors "farm" (veggies and chicken coop).  Most of the time I will see a chicken or 2 walking around, and sometimes a rogue rooster chasing them.  Today I saw about 50 of these.  I believe they are either snowy or cattle egrets or possibly ibises.  I do see them, in groups of 2 or 3, every here and there, but never in such a large group.  I do recall seeing a family of about 8 or 9 back in February (https://mitcheryl-rv-journey.blogspot.com/2019/02/birds-day-1684-year-5-day-215.html).  Maybe this is the same family who migrated back south (with all the human snowbirds!) and either grew their family or brought along all the aunts, uncles and cousins!!!