WOW!!  Can you believe it's been almost a FULL YEAR since we hit the road??  Actually, since we sspent the first couple of weeks camped out (THANK YOU VERY MUCH) in Carla & Roger's driveway, I guess you could say that last week was our real anniversary.  But, come July 31, we will have been traveling a full year.  As they say, time flies when you're having fun and time's fun when you're having flies if you're a frog!  We must be having fun (dunno about being frogs, but must be, 'cuz we got gnats galore!), 'cuz time has FLOWN by.  We have traveled to new places and met new people that we wouldn't have without these gigs, and we've been exposed to new & different ideas everywhere we've been.  Some, we have chosen to save and use, some we've just looked at each other in wonderment and we've filed them away in the "DO NOT EVER..." category. 

Not much going on in the campground today; we have no one scheduled to arrive.  (That's bad, really bad, too, 'cuz nothing good ever comes from idle hands...ie....when I'm bored, I EAT or LOOK for things to EAT!)Yesterday, we only had ONE camper due in, but by the time we got all done for the day, we'd had TWELVE.  We thought it was due to the fuel expense, but we're finding out that it's more likely due to the fact that we are really a stopover spot instead of a destination park.  Dick & I are working to change that, tho.  We've put brochures & coupons out up at the neary Air Force base, offering half-price off the first night of camping....hopefully, that will bring 'em on down. 

Sunny's doing OK; she sleeps a lot.  Yeah, I know.  I said she sleeps alot in the last few posts.....well, yeah, she's sleeping a lot more, now.  I wake her up to go out, and I wake her up to go home.  The only time she's not sleeping anymore is when she's eating.  And she does eat a LOT when she eats.  We must be related. 

I see ole Wachovia finally kicked Ken to the side of the road, but not before handing him several million $$ for his "services."  I coulda done the same, for a lot less, if only they'da let me.  GEEZ.  Where else but in America do they PAY you to do a crummy job and be crooked??  There's a scandal near here, in Macon.  Seems this lady owns a travel agency and a church group put about $36k out for a cruise (Carnival, no less) for 90 people.  Well, SHE says the bill for the cruise came in, and it was more than she expected, so she cancelled.  Carnival says, "Huh?  We never got any money for anything, so WE cancelled the cruise for this group."  So, now, the group didn't press charges for a week or so, trying to allow the lady to get their money back, as she promised.  Well, after a week, she's not talking to them anymore, so they go ahead and press felony theft charges and she's hauled off to jail.  So where am I going with this ramble??  Well, I read about this whole fiasco in the online newspapers, and there's someone who posted a comment along the lines of, "you're a church group, so you should just forgive her and forget the cash."   And that's what I think Wachovia's doing for ole Ken. Forgiving and forgetting.  "Oh, you're a bad boy, you made a poor decision, and we'll just get the stockholders to pay for it, but don't worry, 'cuz YOUR stake (sta$h) is SAFE, and you'll still have LOTS of money to live off, and we'll just overlook the fact that you've been bleeding the company dry ever since your Buddy (hahah, pun intended) sold you his good name for 11 mil.  We want you gone tho, instead of hanging around for another year at our expense, tho, so, just for giggles, here's a few more million for your lawyers' buyout, so you don't have to bother your little self about that..."  ANYWAY, let me just get down from my soapbox, 'cuz no one wants to hear me rantin' and ravin' like a lunatic about how one person can destroy the hard work of so many people so quickly....BUT...yeah, I'm still PO'd, and I doubt I'll be forgiving that fool anytime soon, and it makes me feel good to know I voted AGAINST the merger in the first place!!  (all of 'em, but did anyone listen?  HA!)  What they ALSO seem to be forgetting is that history is doomed to repeat itself, especially when no one pays it any attention.

Ok, new topic.  Hmm...Now that I am fortified by a peanut-butter & fig jam sammich....speaking of which, have y'all ever seen fig jam????  That is some UGLY stuff, but, boy-oh-boy, is it good.  We had a visitor a couple weeks back and he felt the urge to share his homemade jam with us.  Boss lady says that's a compliment to our hospitality.  Ok, I'll take that.  Took the jam, too.  MMMHM. 

hey - did I ever tell ya??  We found the source of the funky, musty smell.  Well, maybe a couple of sources!  I'd been hearing some "nibbling" sounds in my dresser and down under the bed, so Jose set a trap.  Actually, TWO traps.  Killer Jack (our neighbor who knows about such things) recommended we set them end-to-end, so the meeces can't just snatch the cheese and fun.  Well, it works.  Was set for only a day when we'd caught one.  And the OTHER funky, musty smell is related to the water leaking out the side of the camper.  Leaking out, I hear you say???  Oh, yeah.  Leaking out.  Ken & Wendy, take note!!  If water is coming OUT of your camper, via a SEAM, and NOT an approved outlet or hose, yeah, that's a problem!!!  Apparently, it's been coming out for quite some time, and judging by the number of years I've been smelling the musty, funky smell, it's been QUITE some time.  Well, turns out, there's a pipe joint, way up there, in the back, underneath, that you can only get to by becoming a Chinese contortionist (and also best found on 100* days, with thundershowers threatening to drench everything you've so painstakenly unloaded from your basement cubby).  And, of course, that joint was cracked somehow.  Oh, did I mention it musta been cracked a WHILE?  Yeah, said basement cubby is kinda moldy.  And THAT's where the funky, musty smell originates.  The closest place to get another, uncracked joint piece is 5 miles (one way), so, off we go......all our worldly possessions outside the cubby, waiting to get doused.  Thirty minutes, and $5 for fuel and $3.50 for the plastic joint later, and we are back.  Storms held off and joint got placed before the bottom fell out!  Whoohooo, no more meeces, no more leaky pipes.  Life is good, as they say.  Well, ok, it was till Diana came inside a couple of days later.  "Oh my, what's THAT?" she oh-so-innocently asked.  DAMN, how I hate questions like that!!  Of course, my eyes follow as her finger points the way to my ceiling.  Oh, that?  Oh, that's just a piece of hang-down string...but, OH MY, what is THAT??? THAT is a LEAK.  Actually, it's a slightly discolored area of the carpeting that lines my ceiling, but it is EVIDENCE of a roof leak.  Ken & Wendy, you're still taking notes, right?  You will need this one day, I promise!!  So, Jose's out doing whatever he does when I'm sewing, since it was our day off........so I gotta go get him.  You didn't seriously think *I* was going up on the roof, didja?? HAHAHAHA.  If you did, well, then, you just don't know *me* very well, do ya!  I pull him inside to point it out, and you can imagine the rest.  He recognized it about as quickly as I did, so, out comes the measuring tape and the ladder, and up he goes.  Oh, yeah, there's a reason for it.  A crack in the seam sealer on the roof.  I might as well put away my sewing, but, no, ever hopeful, I just put it aside and start holding the ladder for what turns into quite the roof session.  Of course, not one to do a half-baked job, Dick's gotta do it right.  Might as well just drag all the stuff out the one time and do the whole shebang!!  Sooooo, hours later, all the old seam sealant is off in pieces around my feet and he's painting the new sealant goo on.  We finished up just in time to clean up (God knows we needed THAT) and go dancing.  Yeah, this was on a Wednesday.  Dick was sore from being on the ladder all afternoon, and I was stiff from standing & holding same all afternoon, so dancing was sure a relief.  Got us limbered up again.  We were really glad we went, too, not just 'cuz it's so much fun (and we get to see Theresa and Cathy), but because we found out that that Friday, they were gonna hold a public dance, and if WE went, they'd have enough people to dance TWO squares of Advanced dance!  Hear THAT, Staples & Tim & Robert???  WE were gonna complete a 2nd square!  Oh, these people had NO idea what they were getting into!!  HAHA..  We showed 'em!  We went, with sufficient advance apologies and warnings, and they were most welcoming.  Remember, we hadn't ever finished our Advanced lessons, and what little we DID get, we hadn't heard or used in over 3 months.  Not to mention, we'd never really "danced" it — we just piddled around in a one-square class with others in the same boat as us.  Left-footed learners.  We actually did ok, with lots of help from the others.  They were pleased they could help, and we never really broke the square down.  The caller was funny, telling us he didn't know WHICH 2/3 of calls we knew, but he'd know it when he called it.  HAHA - truer words were never spoken.  He did call a couple we'd never heard, and we just looked at each other, but then he could walk us thru 'em and the group pulled us thru, so we ended up ok.  What really surprised us is that the club even INVITED US BACK!!  Whoohoo, we're in the big time now!  Too bad their usual dance night is the same as Warner Robins' and we've gotten such a warm welcome there, we just wouldn't feel right abandoning them (yeah, Theresa, we're gonna 'sacrifice' and that's YOUR fault!!).  But, long story short (that's kinda funny, given the length of this entry!!), we were able to muddle through a public A dance, so we are all a-grin about that.  cannot WAIT to get to Venice, where they dance A every Tuesday afternoon.  Hopefully, they'll be as forgiving as the Maconites and will welcome us.  If they do, y'all better watch out, come January, and we'll be in the A Hall at Winterfest.  Wouldn't THAT be a hoot!  (Not to mention, highly unlikely.  I guess that's what you still-working folks'd call a "stretch goal."  Yeah, I remember goals.  Never did quite figure out the difference between goals and accomplishments, as defined by First Union, and now it doesn't even matter!)

We met a nice couple last night, were just in for overnight.  Home address: Sun City Center!  Yep, where we just came up from.  With any luck, they'll contact ole Ranger Ed and give us a hand at the next Discover Lake Manatee day!  We could sure use another pair of hands!!!  Didn't Dick mention it to you???  Yeah, don't feel bad, he didn't mention it to ME, either, but he committed us to work that event again, at Lake Manatee State Park.  I do NOT know why.  Nor do I know just what he's planning on doing with Sunny!!  Maybe he's planning on her not making it that far???  I dunno, but I am not sure I want to bite off that hunk again....that was HOURS AND HOURS of work, most of it making little bits of construction paper or craft kits for kids to put together.  Not to mention proofreading Ranger Ed's work.  But, I did get to learn a little about MS Publisher, so I guess that was a good thing.  But, I sure was tired at the end of the event, as was EVERYone that worked it!!  But, here's a shout out to CJ & Jeff - we hope to see you in Feb, or sooner, at our new assignment in Venice. 

Well, I hope you're about caught up on the news from Elko now.  We've not gone anywhere spectacular (did a couple of geocaches, not much to write about there - these are some of the most uncreative caches we've ever seen!!!  And they just don't get the concept of TRAVEL bugs...or LOGGING the taking of such...) or done anything spectacular (unless you count NOT making a spectacle of ourselves), so, I guess I'll just wait to hear from y'all about YOUR goings on.  Don't forget to check out Ken & Wendy's travel blog (get the link from our Photo Album page) to see where they're going & what they're up to.  Y'all take care & be good!!

Love ya,
k