Author: livingthedreamwithsallyandvic

We are stopped overnight in the Richmond area at the parking lot of Truck and Tractor Museum. There’s a grill attached so we got take out. The grill had just closed so we got BLT club sandwiches, yummy.

We’ve had a nice visit with Vic’s brother Ralph, his girlfriend Pam and her step sister Wendy in Lillington NC. We hadn’t seen Ralph in two years although they talk on the phone often. The three of them with 2 dogs live together in a beautiful older house on a couple of acres. Zoe charmed everyone because that’s what she does. We had a great visit, now it’s time to get back on the road and head north.

Tonight will be a harvest host in Richmond VA. I believe it’s a brewery which is great since we can get dinner there. Thursday we will stop at my brother Ron’s in CT and then Friday we will be in NH.

We got a call on Monday that our camper was ready. There are still a few cosmetic things but they can wait. On Tuesday AM we threw our stuff in the truck, checked out of the “villa”and drove to Gainesville to pick up the camper. We had pre-ordered new tires but since we hadn’t been able to make an appointment we had to wait 5 hours for the installation. Then we drove out of Florida to Savannah Ga staying at a Harvest Host. It was the parking lot of a sports bar. We got there about 11:30 pm and went straight to bed. It was a long long day. We saw hundreds of utility trucks going to Fl to help restore power when the winds decrease.

We got up this morning before daybreak and continued up 95N to Vic’s brother Ralph’s house near Ft Bragg in NC. Another long day but we are happy we didn’t have to stay in the Clermont rental for another week in a storm. We have family and friends still in the Tampa area and are very worried about them.

We will be working our way north to NH. We are very excited to finally see the Rider family !!! It’s been a very very long time and I can’t wait!!

We went to Crystal River FL today and met Vic’s sister Kim and her husband Gary and their Shih Tzu Katie Scarlett. She and Vic haven’t seen each other for 15 years so they had a lot of catching up to do. She cooked a feast, we stayed all day and the time just zipped by. It was a great day. She has the biggest and most gorgeous house I’ve ever seen.

Zoe loved playing with Katie’s toys and slept in another of her beds. She has one in every room.

Unfortunately Katie Scarlett, also a Shih Tzu, was attacked by a dog and never got over it. She was afraid of Zoe (hard to imagine right?!) so they didn’t play but Zoe was a good sport about it. Zoe was a perfect guest and was told to come back again any time.

We stayed at Geri’s house in Ft Meyers for a month. She was incredibly generous letting us stay there. We loved being there, king size bed, all the comforts of a house with a ginormous TV. Even a very nice park close by where we took Zoe every day. We met some locals that meet daily and walk their dogs. Zoe walked with the dogs one day all of them twice her size. She fit right in and kept up. So cute.

We went to Ding Darling nature preserve (Captiva) one day. Here’s an Iguana we saw.

Then we needed to be back in Clermont. Our glasses were ready. Our friend Walt put a different hitch in the truck. Other things like that. There were several things that came up in the solar panel project. Almost everything has been figured out and fingers crossed it will be done soon.

Every time there’s a problem and/or delay It feels like the “finish line” was moved again.

We went to Apopka Wildlife Drive recently. Here’s some stuff we saw.

Of course we saw alligators over there

It’s been a while… Hope you have all been well. We’ve spent the past couple of months emotionally recovering from the tunnel accident and then waiting for the insurance payout. The camper was declared a total loss, we couldn’t have had a better outcome! They even reimbursed us for the hotels we stayed at on our way home from Wyoming.

We decided to put solar/lithium batteries on our Cameo. Lots of time has been put into getting ready for that to happen. First we needed to get on the schedule for the work. While waiting for that, we inspected the Cameo and had a few things done like re-seal the roof, figure out how to secure all the loose stuff. Velcro and bungee were a big help 😊. There was much more but it’s probably not that interesting to you guys.

So finally, we dropped the camper off in Gainesville and now we are staying at Geri’s Florida house. This house is so comfortable, we love it here. We’ve met a couple of her neighbors, really nice guys. There’s a lovely park within walking distance that Zoe and I are enjoying. She even left a basket of puzzles.

We’ve been sitting around in Clermont FL, it’s been hot and or rainy (or both), we are both bored out of our minds. We are waiting for our RV guy to have an opening in his schedule for our project. Insurance has declared our travel camper a total loss, the best possible outcome. They aren’t being exactly speedy about it but we do expect to get a payout.

We can’t wait to get on the road!

Vic went through some of our trip pictures and found a few I could share with you from Big Sur, CA.

Nepenthe Restaurant Phoenix

And you’ll be happy to hear that we found an app that we can use for GPS. We input the camper dimensions and specifics so it won’t send us on a road with a low clearance bridge or tunnel. It’s $50/year and will be very worth it!

We are adding solar panels, lithium batteries (re-using ones on the Laredo) and upgrading the mini split AC/heat unit on our Carriage Cameo. This camper is longer so we wanted an AC vent in the bedroom. Equipment has been ordered, it will be another couple of weeks before we are in the schedule. My friend Geri has very kindly offered her house in Ft Meyers. Isn’t that awesome?

Just heard back from insurance on the Laredo. It’s being totaled. Best possible outcome.

We plan to go north and stay away from FL until it gets cooler.

We are also planning to live on the road for a while so we will be giving up our site in the RV park.

Vic and I both tested positive for Covid so we are taking meds and quarantining. Hard to know where we got it. 😡 we both are up to date with the shots and hope the discomfort passes soon.

First, none of us got hurt. The camper got a boo-boo though.

We were in Casper, WY on our way to Mt. Rushmore when we went through a tunnel on a major road. The tunnel height of 11 ft was posted. Thinking there’s no way we would have a problem with a tunnel on a major road, we went through. The tunnel was too low. The solar panels were ripped off, strewn all over the road, stopping traffic. Vic called 911. I ran back to make sure no one drove over them and try to move them off the road. Traffic was stopped. Several men jumped out of the cars and helped move the panels off the road. The police showed up and very helpfully suggested an RV repair place near by. (Sonny’s RV). We then find out this happens to some poor unsuspecting person 3 or 4 times a year, sometimes with a camper, sometimes a box truck. One of the men working here at the repair place had it happen to him – and he was born and raised here!

The solar panels were all ruined. The metal framework was destroyed. The roof AC was demolished. Holes in the roof where things were torn off.

We got the roof repaired so we can get home but the camper will likely be totaled. The good news is the expensive equipment like the lithium batteries and inverters and mini split AC are all fine and we can transfer them to another camper. We haven’t totally decided what to do next. We need to talk to the insurance people and Matt, the guy that installed everything.

We want to put all the equipment into another camper and continue traveling. We loved seeing what new people and things were just over the horizon.

The main thing is no one was hurt.

The blog may be quiet for a bit while everything gets sorted out. XO

Left our amazing campsite above the Snake River yesterday morning and then went to DuBois WY, a cool little town. Found a birthday present for my daughter Holly so that was exciting. We stayed in the parking lot of a military vehicle museum. We grabbed dinner in town at a place called Cowboy Cafe.

Rode around in the morning of the second day in DuBois, looking for bears mainly. There are enough bears in this area that they are huge as in you can’t possibly miss it with signs “bears in the road do not approach stay in your car.” Spent 4 hours looking for them, up rough dirt roads in and out of all kinds of places. Didn’t see a one. Very disappointed. However did see a lone duck swimming and diving in a pond. Gorgeous duck with a purplish blue head. And we saw snow!!!

We would have stayed longer in Grand Teton/Yellowstone but the weather was not good and the forecast was for more clouds and rain.

Tonight we are staying in the parking lot of Wind River casino on an Arapaho Indian reservation in Riverton, WY. Tomorrow we continue on towards Mt Rushmore.

The buffalo are from the Tetons.

It was hard to keep up with the posts because in and around Yellowstone internet and cell service was spotty.