A little R&R

The floors and bookshelves are clean, dishes done, groceries bought and put away... My oh my what am I going to do with all of this spare time.  SPA DAY!!!

I spent 8 hours today at my salon getting polished and tuned up.  It felt absolutely heavenly and I actually feel like a woman again!  After all I have put in my fair share of time in the past 4 months polishing on the truck.  Today it was my turn ! ! !

What you might ask did Randy do all day to unwind.  Well he didn't go to the salon with me.  Instead he went and played with his buddies working on the obstacle course for the upcoming Jeep Blessing next weekend.  They met for an early breakfast at Sparks (absolutely delish local resturant). Then thru rain and wind, worked for 6 hours finishing the obstacles.  Of course they all had to "test" them to be sure they were in proper working order for the eager Jeepers next weekend :-) By the time I got home, he was dry and cozy again. But the smile was still firmly planted on his face as he regailed me with the days follies. 

The Count Down Begins

HOME.  We are finally going home this weekend.  We have been on the road for 4 months straight!  I can't wait to see my friends and catch up.  But I know there are going to be 4-5 mail totes to deal with too.  Not to mention the deadly dust bunnies that are probably laying in wait under the couch and beds!  Well, let them do their best.  I have a Swiffer!

I am so excited to get home a whole week before the Jeep Blessing.  I will actually have time to recharge the vehicles batteries, clean up the house, do some grocery shopping and get my hair done before our guests arrive.  What a change.  Usually I am getting home hours before our guests land.  I am not sure I will know what to do with all of this extra time.  But I am sure I will fill it up.  I have already started a list of things to do.  Might I actually have a chance to be a normal hostess?  Nah, I have never done a normal thing in my life.  Why start now >:-)  

Friday Night Truck Stop Social

It started out Friday afternoon as an imprompto get together, but continued all weekend.  We drove down to Elkton, MD Friday afternoon for the weekend.  Yes again. When we got there we noticed another custom bunk we knew was in the shop as we headed for a truck wash.  By the time we got thru the wash and to the back of the lot to our usual parking spot, he was out.  He works for a moving company and there were several other moving company trucks already parked next to us.  It turns out we knew one of them and our friend knew the other one.   I could go on, but I am sure you are already confused as it is.  Short of it is we all got together and decided to park together in a way that would block off our section of the parking lot.  Then out came the grills, chairs, dogs and polish rags.  We had such a great time BSing and working on the trucks I forgot until Sunday night after the sun went down to take any pictures.  Of course they didn't turn out good at all.

It was such a nice weekend and couldn't have come on the heels of a worse week.  Of course, after spending so much time relaxing, I could simply couldn't care less.  I am ready for another week.  Bring it on!

Down Time - RV Style

This is a great RV park in Florida we have frequented.  This spot on the lake is great, except you have such great shade trees the satellite can't get a signal.  But with all of this outside, who needs TV?

Down Time - Discovery Cove

All I can say is, WOW!  This place is so awesome.  We went here several years ago while staying in Florida for a few weeks during the winter.

This is the entrance...

I loved these playful dolphins in the entryway.

Randy surprised me with a private cabana reserved just for the two of us!  It came with a professional photographer who took some really great shots of us that day.  Certainly better than we could have taken as distracted as we were by the main attractions.

My first ever dolphin kiss.

He was just like a dog and wanted his belly rubbed all the time.

See what happens when you don't rub his belly fast enough :-D

Randy wasn't so sure about the idea of kissing a fish and had a hard time not laughing!

Hitching a ride...

We happened to go the week of Valentine's and Randy surprised me yet again with a special delivery from one of my dolphins.  He swam up to me with a buoy that said I Love You Oodles and Oodles. Randy.  I was so surprised.  It had to be one the best and most romantic days we have had so far.





Since we don't drink champagne, so I still have this unopened bottle and glasses.  The chocolates Randy polished off in short order and the crystal frame sits on my dresser with a photo of us from that day.  It is such a lovely reminder of the special time we spent together there.

The day started out beautifully, but by late afternoon some clouds had blown in and it cooled off a little.  Randy was able to search out a cup of steamy hot chocolate for me while I pealed off my wet suit.  I can't think of a better way to end such a lovely day!

He was so happy all of his plans had come together without a hitch.  AND he just loved the private cabana!!!!

Down Time - Fall Trail Riding

This is the highest point in the county and has a great view.  Very few in the area can get up here to enjoy it though as the trail up is really made for dirt bikes.  But a lot of horse power, 4 wheel drive and white knuckles will do it.

This was another adventure in the Bowl by Randy's buddy, Ed.  He was climbing this run he had climbed several times before that day, when his engine suddenly started over revving and smoking!  He had to shut it down just before he made it to the top of the run.
This picture kinda gives you a little perspective on how steep a climb this really is and in sand too.  LOTS OF FUN!

Finally the guys gave up and rolled it down the hill. 


The theory that flat ground might make a difference didn't hold up. So we hooked a strap to it and towed it  home. It turned out just to be the throttle cable.  From the heavy beating it was taking climbing that hill it had bounced up and back and gotten hooked onto something behind the carb.  This effectively shortened the cable enough so that the throttle was full on all the time.  That is till they found the problem and unhooked it!  Such a simple thing, but they just couldn't see it till they put a trouble light under the hood.

Down Time - On The Road

Columbia River Gorge in Washington

USA side of Niagara Falls at New Years Eve
Aquarium in Atlanta,  GA 

Down Time - Jeep Roll Over

This is Randy's buddy, Ed, and his girlfriend, Cathy, in the green jeep.  We were in what is called the bowl.  A deep sandy valley with steep sides about a mile from our house.  Great for playing in with 4 wheel vehicles.   They had decided to try a new run up the hill and had caught a down tree partially hidden by grass with the front driver's side tire.  It was enough of a glancing blow to throw the jeep over on its side and down into the old run, which is now more of a ditch after the spring rains.  Here Randy is helping them get out just after the accident.  The dust hasn't even settled yet.  Luckly, no one was hurt.

You can see in this photo how deep the roll cage sunk into the dirt, about 5 inches.
Pulling out the winch line in preparation of recovery.

Wrapping the snatch strap around the roll cage.

Ed tossing the snatch strap over to Randy to hook to the winch line.

The winch line was ran thru a pulley hooked to a tree and then back and hooked to the snatch strap around the roll cage.

Now Ed slowly tightens the winch to bring the jeep upright.

We position our jeep at the top of the hill and run our winch line down to the green jeep's front bumper to keep it from rolling backwards as the winch line that brought it upright is slowly released.




They slowly released the side line as they brought it forward enough to stabalize it.  Then completely disconected the side line.

Now it was time to bring it to the top of the hill.

Here we tied the green jeep's winch line to a powerline pole to lock it in place.

Now that it is at the top and locked in place it is time to see if it will run.  Unbelievably it started up on the 2nd try and ran just fine.  We didn't even go home.  We just kept right on wheeling for the rest of the day!  True to its name, ZOMBIE...