The Roadrunner Chronicles

We Are Not the Only Ones

2013-05-17T07:55:00.002-04:00

There are all kinds of volunteers at this site! We have a whole lot of folks from different parts of the country who are volunteering and doing Disaster Recovery work in Tuscaloosa. We are part of the HFH RV Care-A-Vanners group. And there is a steady stream of other volunteers who are also on site.

The Mennonites are here with about 5 men. They have their own trailer and equipment and 'sign up for a 6 or 12 month stint.

And a group of college men and women who are here from Georgia. This group we found particularly interesting. It all started with Mercedes.

Mercedes (in sun glasses -below) recently graduated from the University of Georgia. Two years ago after the tornado hit Tuscaloosa she was drawn to get involved. She drove out here by herself and found a group of people that were taking in volunteers and getting ready for recovery work. She followed up with a second trip with about 20 other volunteers. They were housed in the local Nazarene church. Since then she has made it back to Tuscaloosa each year after school lets out and brings friends with her.

Here is a shot of the group:

This is a great group: Janine, Kelly, Mercedes (first row); Howell, Kari, Justin (second row); Monica, Alex (back row). This group knows how to work and have fun doing it!

And they are polite! I haven't heard as many "Yes Sir", "Yes Ma'am"'s in years.

One day we had a local group from the Capstone Hotel in town. They included folks from HR and the Event Planning office.

In addition to working on site all day, they had lunch: large chicken wrap, Gatorade, pear and two chocolate chip cookies.

Down the street the United Methodist Church (UMC) Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is building a house.

There have been thousands and thousands of folks who have been here to help with the recovery. With the destruction of over 5,000 homes, there will be a lot of work to do for some time.

That is all for now -- thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Mostly Painting for Now in Tuscaloosa

2013-05-15T09:13:00.003-04:00

We have been on the job site in Tuscaloosa Habitat for Humanity and are off to a great start! We love it when the affiliate knows how to farm out the work and keep everyone busy and involved. The first couple of days, we have been painting the house on Juanita Street.

We started off with introductions in the team meeting/form up at the beginning of the work day.

Brannon is the site construction manager and he gets a lot of help from Joe who is our house leader. Peter our campground host and HFH staff member keeps us busy too.

The scaffolding was up all around the exterior of the house which made it very nice. No extended ladder work reaching high places which is fine with me. We always learn and see new things at different places. Here we saw scaffolding rails for the first time.

Scaffolding is heavy, takes a lot of time to set up and take down - but once it is in place it is great. And safe. HFH is making a concerted effort to step up its safety emphasis and the rails on the scaffolding are a good example.

Some worked on getting the trim up and caulked and then we all got into painting it.

It carried over into Tuesday and we gave the whole exterior two coats.

And we accomplished our goal of finishing the house painting so we could get the scaffolding down.

It has been a good first two days here and we are looking forward to the rest of the week.

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles! Feel free to drop a note/add a comment - we always love those!
Until next time...

On to Our HFH Time in Alabama

2013-05-13T06:41:00.002-04:00

We always like spending time here in east Tennessee. This time was no different. It is such a beautiful place and has lots of history. And Pam grew up here and has a lot of family here. We have been coming here for over 35 years now.

But it was time to leave our spot at Mike and Joan's place. We have a great situation with water and electric at the "Roadrunner RV Resort and Campground".

We got to visit them for over a week. A great thing about this lifestyle is being able to visit family and seeing the grandkids growing up. Kayla graduates from HS next month and Noah (going into 5th grade) is ready for summer baseball to start. And its always great to spend time with Michelle and Jeremy. Nephew Joey and I got to play golf on Friday and got in 27 holes which was fun.

But it was time to move on and we packed up and got underway about 8:15 on Sunday morning. It took over 5 hours to get to Y-Acres Campground.

We are now set up in our Habitat for Humanity Volunteer Campground spot in Tuscaloosa Alabama.

We start work this morning for a two week gig here to work on some home struck by the devastating ~~hurricane~~ tornado of two years ago: April 25-28, 2011. After we arrived, Peter (campground host and long-time local Habitat volunteer) took us for a short drive through the area struck by the ~~hurricane~~ tornado. It was very sobering to see the aftermath of the destruction --even two years later.

Many homes are gone never to return. Much of the neighborhoods hit still show the effects. But many folks have stayed and rebuilt. We saw some of the 15 31 Habitat houses that have been built since then. There are another 6 or 7 in various stages of construction that we will be working on.

We are looking forward to putting in some good hours and learning new skills and meeting some homeowners. A big bonus of being here is that we found out HFH Care-A-Vanner friends Jim and Betty are also here for a while. So that will be fun catching up and working with them again.

Hope you all have a good week. Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Hitting the Trails Brimstone Recreation Area

2013-05-10T09:21:00.004-04:00

If you love to 4-wheel and have never been to Huntsville, TN to check out the Brimstone track - you need to! It is one fun place to spend the day! Niece Michelle and husband Jeremy have all the gear and season passes to Brimstone Recreation. They took their son and and his buddy and me for an outing that was a one great day!

Jeremy got the 4-wheelers and dirt bikes all ready and packed up. We left a little after 8 and headed to Huntsville.

Of course, along the way, we had to stop for breakfast at Cracker Barrel in Lake City. Then on to our destination. We checked in to Brimstone and paid for a day's worth of trail riding for me. Everyone else had season passes/wrist bands.

I was so impressed with the office/check in station. These folks are high tech and first class. They turned a gas station into their office and it was very well organized. Very classy first impression!

We were greeted by Donika - the senior office manager who runs the place. She was very helpful and we were all set to go in no time.

I liked the way the place looked and thought they were pretty high tech for an outdoor recreation business. We checked in on a workstation at the counter. Donika indicated the iPads should be in soon for that purpose. If you go to their website: brimstonerecreation.com you more impressive stuff. Like the interactive trail map:

And you can find them on FaceBook.https://www.facebook.com/BrimstoneRecreation
They host a yearly bash/concert/competition called 'White Knuckle' that looks interesting. And if you are looking for a vacation place to spend a few days running the trails and jumps of a great facility in Tennessee - add this to your list...

So if you are looking for another outdoor adventure on your 4 wheeler/ATV/off-road vehicle, you might want to check this out.

After checkin- we headed to our parking area near Trail 3.

Jeremy unloaded and we got our helmets on before Michelle checked out our waterproof map of the trails.

Then we were off!

We road the easy trails and I had an easy 4 wheeler. Mine had no clutch to worry about - all I needed to do was steer, watch my speed and figure out which gear to put it in.

Figuring this out was not too tough -- it was all about switching gears and speed. I was pretty comfortable after about 20 minutes.

We stopped at the motor cross track up on top of the mountain near the power lines and spend time there going around the 'track'.

Then we hit the trail again and went back over to the parking lot to grab some lunch. But first we had some negotiating to do…

After lunch our chief mechanic topped off the tanks and checked things out for our afternoon ride.

I like the way Jeremy plans things out and carries a first aid kit and set of tools for some contingencies in case some thing comes up.

Then we hit the trail for the afternoon session

We saw some beautiful country and made some wonderful memories.

Can't wait until our next outing...

That's all for now on the Roadrunner Chronicles! Thanks for joining us!

Roadrunner Financials - April 2013

2013-05-05T03:21:00.000-04:00

Roadrunner Recap
April was a month that began in Georgia for us and ended with our time in Virginia Beach, VA. Along the way, we spent time in St. Simon's Island and Jekyll Island before going to Augusta, GA and The Master's Golf Tournament. From their we drove up to Virginia Beach where we finished out the month.

Overall, it was a month where our budget basically flew out the window while we enjoyed the Master's, ate out a lot seeing family and friends and got some new tires for the car.

During the month of April we stayed in the following campgrounds:

Kings Bay, GA (Eagle's Nest Military Campground)
Petersburg COE Park, Evans GA
RVacation Campground, Selma, NC
Little Creek MWR (Morale, Welfare, Recreation) Military Park, Norfolk, VA

Good News Areas We Are Under Budget

It was a tough month on the budget - the only areas we were under budget were:

Campgrounds stays (almost $150.00)Groceries (Woot - almost $25.00!)
1 Time Costs - (This is a place holder based on what I did last year so that was $200 under)

Biggest Expenses
Our biggest expenses over budget were:

Car insurance - 6 month premium was due this month. I could prorate it, but choose to note it when we pay it and have $0 the other 10 months.
Diesel fuel ( -$119.88) - (it is only going to get worse I think as we travel more during the summer)
RV & Car Maintenance - bought new Michelin tires for the Honda. We could have found cheaper ones but we like Michelin's and you pay for the best….
Computer accessories - camera tripods, 2 x 32GB cards and an HDMI adapter to hook up the TV to my laptop
Eating Out - one of our biggest over budget expenses at $356 over…
Misc (Entertainment/Clothes/Gifts) - $401 over largely because of the gift shop at the Master's Golf Tournament. I admit it - I went a little nuts there.

Large One Time Cost Items
Our tires cost us a whooping $766 so this is biggest single expense for us this month.

Monthly Average
At $1650 over budget I realize it is a lot. However, we spent a lot of time with family and friends, got to see the Master's golf tournament in person and we had to get our tires replaced. So I take the long (Year to Date) view:

Even though April was a big month, our monthly average for the last 11 months has us $603 under budget.

There you have it for our financials last month - hope some of you find it useful and/or interesting. Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Until next time...

On To Tennessee

2013-05-04T07:05:00.001-04:00

We spent about three weeks in Virginia and left yesterday for Tennessee. The plan was to take it fairly easy and break the trip up into two days. We figured we would stop in a Walmart for the night in Hickory, NC or maybe Marion, NC - outside of Asheville.

But we got an early start and left our campground a little after 7:30 and made good time. It was only about 3:00 when was passed Marion, NC so we decided to continue on and drive all the way to Maynardville.

We had a bit of a slowdown coming through some construction around Asheville but we got in to Maynardville about 6:00 PM.

Now we don't have to drive through the rain and nasty weather that is supposed to come our way later today.

It was a long day and we drove a little over 550 miles! But it was a comfortable ride and Pam drove for a couple of hours and I was able to catch a nap.

Looking back over our time the last month - we had a wonderful time. We got to see our kids, some friends from Fairfax VA days and we felt like we helped Kelly and Jon with some things around their house.

We will be here in Tennessee for about a week, then on to a Habitat Disaster Relief Build in Tuscaloosa, AL in the middle of the month. Then on to Red Bay, AL for some repairs and yearly maintenance on the Roadrunner before we head to Texas.

That it for today's update from the great state of Tennessee! Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles! Until next time...

Roadrunner Review: 3 Items under $11

2013-04-29T07:35:00.003-04:00

Now and then I come across some low cost things that surprise me. One I have known about for a long time and I use it almost everyday. The first two I just recently became acquainted with: a tabletop computer fan and solar stick lights.

My MacBook is about four years old and gets hot on the bottom of the case. I put it on a straw hot pad sometimes to give it some air and cool it off. But I really wasn't satisfied it was doing the job. We were in MicroCenter a couple of weeks ago and I picked up a 'cooling pad'.

This little jewel has a USB connection for power and works great. $6.99

The second item we found last week at the Dollar Store. We will see how well they hold up.

Solar lights. They are very basic and I have tested them for three days. So far so good. $1 each.

And my all-time favorite: Small camera tripod.
Again I found this at MicroCenter about 4 years ago.

I usually keep the tripod on the camera and slip it into my back pocket. When I shoot a picture, the tripod make a good handle to steady the small camera.

At $1.99 the tripod makes a great gift. If someone expresses interest in it when I am taking pictures, I usually give it to them. I bought a bunch of them and love to give them away. Try me!

So there are 3 gadgets I am liking for under $11!

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles! Hope you have a great week. Until next time...

For the Love of Meghan - Thinking of her

2013-04-27T07:53:00.001-04:00

Every year - at this point in particular - we remember Meghan. It has been 3 years since she left us and we still can't believe it. She and Adam were married one brief month and she was supposed to get better. In one way she did - but in heaven.

She was beautiful and courageous and witty and fun.

She had the courage to take us on her journey as she fought breast cancer by writing her blog: The Bees Knees. Its all there. Her diagnosis, her treatment, her heartaches and hopes and recovery and then how she faced the odds. And she and Adam and their story.

And then there is the "For the Love of Meghan" group on FaceBook started by her Canada friends. And it goes on and on. Check out the "Press" tab on the Bees Knees and you'll see what I mean.
One of my favorites is the interview Alan Colmes did with Adam about them.

My respect and admiration are high for Alan and one day I hope to meet him.

Meghan would have been proud of the way Adam and her family (Marg and Bill and Brad and Christine) and friends have dealt with her loss.
It's really hard to know what to say except we miss her. So many things that sound 'trite' come to mind but the simple fact is we miss her.

So on that I'll close for today, thinking of Meghan.

New Friends

2013-04-26T07:24:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was the day we scheduled to meet Jim and Linda for lunch. Bubbas Seafood Restaurant in Virginia Beach is near one of our favorite Starbucks and we were a bit early, so we stopped in to say 'hi' to our friend Nikos.

Nik was not at Starbucks but we got into a conversation with Amber. Turns out Amber is the store manager and very nice. She talked with us for about 15 minutes and we had a great time. In those few minutes, she tried to buy us a cup of coffee saying, "Are you sure I can't get you a cup of coffee?"…

We didn't want to spoil our lunch so we politely declined. Amber has been with Starbucks for years and loves the one she is at now. We found out that her husband is an accomplished jeweler and she was wearing a ring and a necklace he made.

She took off the necklace and we got a better look at the Owl design. Very different and nice. I think the stones are black diamonds. You can see more of his work at EngraveLifeOnMetal.com

After talking with Amber for a few minutes we went over to Bubbas for our 11:30 lunch date. Jim and Linda were there and we had a nice visit.

They have been full-timing for 12 years now and are about ready to transition to getting off the road and settling into a place in DeBary Florida.

We selected fish and chowder and crab and a hamburger for lunch and all agreed it was good. We have been to the restaurant for dinner but this was far less crowded and quite nice.

We talked and talked and asked Jim and Linda about their experiences over the years. They have been to Alaska, owned 3 or 4 motorhomes and their favorite place is: "Their next stop". So they have enjoyed it. They downsized to a Class B and are spending the summer/fall on the road before they head to their new (to them) home in Florida in November.

We asked when and why they made the decision to 'hang up their keys' and they said to each other, when the time came and one of them was ready to do something else - the other would agree. So a few months ago, Jim felt it was about that time and he was ready, so that is what they did.

We also found out we are both big fans of RV-Dreams.com and have been to some of their rallies. Pam and I attended one in Kerrville TX. Jim and Linda have been to quite a few more although they missed that one. And they may attend the one in Franklin, TN October 3-8, 2013.

It was fun unexpectedly meeting Amber and then gettting together with Jim and Linda. Their blog is 'Blaines Barks'. You can find more about them there.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles. Hope you have a great weekend. Until next time...

Projects Around the House...

2013-04-23T08:19:00.002-04:00

While we have been in Virginia Beach for the past 10 days, we have gotten involved with a few projects at Kelly and Jon's house.

The first one we got to do was a large shelf in the garage. They wanted some fairly deep ones (like 12" deep) and wanted it to go from the floor to the ceiling.

First - a little planning and figuring out where it was going to go. Took a few measurements.

Next - Off to Home Depot for materials.

Then back to work and more measuring and ciphering...

And then, after leveling and securing the shelves to the wall and a few hours later - the finished product.

The next day we moved on to more shelving in the shed.

The house they moved into has a new shed that is great! The shed is very well built, just no shelves. So in the shed, we followed the same process: planning, getting building materials, building and putting it together.

And we have more shelves to build. We are just getting started. There will be more to follow on the shelving.

Next - we got to spend a few days in Washington DC. We wanted to go see #1 son Adam on his birthday (Saturday). While there, we stayed with some friends including Jeff and Tiffany. We asked if we could do a project and she suggested a shelve where a medicine cabinet was located.

We picked up some materials and had it done fairly quickly.

Except for the caulking and final painting.

Then, when we returned to Virginia Beach, we got back in time to help with the new brick walkway beside the shed.

The bricks were reused from lining around the flower beds.

We love projects and are about to head out to continue with shelving and painting.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles! Hope you have a great week.

Until next time...

Roadrunner Reflections: It Became Real 4 Years Ago

2013-04-17T11:36:00.001-04:00

I was talking with Pam yesterday and it was exactly four years ago that we put our 'bricks and sticks' house on the market. After about three years of planning and dreaming and answering every "What if…" question we could think of -- we put the house on the market.

Now four years later, we are completely glad we did it. We have no regrets, no misgivings, no 'we shoulda, coulda, woulda…" moments. This lifestyle is for us. It works for us. And we are completely grateful. We are thankful. We love doing this. We love this kind of life. We look forward to what next week, next month, next year brings.

It seems like it has been longer since the ball got rolling but it has only been four years. Hopefully there will be 14 more or 24 whatever. For us, for right now --- this is what we are glad to be doing and we can't think of anything else that fits.

Four years ago, we had plans: when we sell the house, then we can quit work, buy a motor home, become residents of South Dakota, etc etc. To our surprise, our house sold in four days. We got a contract on April 18 and finished negotiations the next day.

We thought, wow! This is really going to happen! Being project manager, I put those skills to work, as in the 'Project Execution' Phase…

It seemed like a whirl wind. We contacted the motor home seller, picked a date a week after the house closed in May and set up the purchase date. We made reservations for Sioux Falls, SD and flew there. We spent three days there, became residents, then went back to Fairfax VA to finish off our downsizing.

Meanwhile, I let folks know at work that I was going to 'retire' and go to 'Part Time On Call' status which is working for the company with an hourly wage but no benefits. (Which has worked out great!)

Also, Adam was living downtown in Washington DC and Kelly was finishing up her Masters degree at VCU in Richmond the first part of May. Then Kelly and Pam drove a U-Haul to Texas where Kelly was moving to live and work.

It was busy times and exciting times for us!

Looking back and remembering all the planning and scheduling and research and budgeting we did to move to Fulltimer status RVers ~ It was one of the most satisfying 'projects' I (we) have managed. It was not without its share of surprises (what project doesn't have those) and challenges. But the transition went pretty well.

So as I look back a few years ago, I am excited about where we have been and what the future holds.

Another 'Melancholy Moment' from the Roadrunner Chronicles. Thanks for joining us and being a part of our journey with us...

Back in Virginia Beach

2013-04-16T06:39:00.002-04:00

We spent two days driving from the Petersburg Army Corps of Engineer Park outside of Augusta to Virginia Beach. We had an overnight stay at a good campground off I-95 RVacation RV Park in Selma, North Carolina.

The campground was a good place to stay with full hookups, drive through camp sites and easy access.

We don't always pay for a campsite for a one night stay. Sometimes we opt for a no hook up spot at a Wal-Mart parking lot. But since Kelly and Jon were with us, we decided we wanted to have full hook ups.

It was fun to have them travel with us in the Roadrunner. Kelly had done that a couple years ago with us on our maiden voyage from Virginia to California in 2009. But this was Jonathan's first time, so it was fun to show him how we 'live the dream' day after day.

One travel guideline some people follow is - eating out on travel days. No so with us. Pam is a great cook and she usually fixes something. Plus, with our residential refrigerator, we have more options.

After a couple of easy driving days, we parked at Little Creek Navy Campground in Norfolk, VA.

It is about four blocks from Kelly and Jon's home off of Independence Boulevard in Virginia Beach. Very convenient. Previous visits to the area we camped about 35 minutes away from where Kelly was - this is much better.

So we are in Virginia Beach for a few weeks. Looking forward to some household projects and spending time with the kids and getting caught up with doctors appointments and such.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles! Until next time...

Check out my latest post on The Masters

2013-04-11T08:25:00.005-04:00

Click on the page 'The Masters' for my latest post.

We spent Monday walking the grounds of the Augusta National during the first day Practice Round which was open to the public. The great thing about the practice round was that we were able to take cameras.

Jekyll Island Club

2013-04-06T07:32:00.002-04:00

The Jekyll Island Club was an island retreat built in the late 1880's for the wealthy who could afford the $600 / year membership and the means to get to the island resort. With no roads or railroad to the reclusive island, the only way to get there was by boat.

The favorite past time of early members and their families was hunting. A gamekeeper kept the island well stocked with pheasant, turkeys, wild boar and deer.

Among the members included William Rockefeller, Henry Hyde, Marshall Field, J.P. Morgan, Joseph Pulitzer and William Vanderbilt. The accommodations began with the large hotel, then a 'condominium' was built, followed by some large homes on the property.

The hotel is still in use today and is quite magnificent.

The historical wharf has a little cafe and gift shop.

Tourists can view one of the homes on the property with a ticket on the tram tour, but we declined and just walked around the grounds.

Sans Souci ("Without Care") was built by J.P. Morgan and was large enough for six families.

William Rockefeller lived here for a time, then built his own "cottage" which he named 'Indian Mound'.

The grounds are well manicured and they have carriage rides which adds a nice touch.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles! Until next time...

Jekyll Island - Sea Turtle Center

2013-04-04T05:26:00.000-04:00

Last week after we left Driftwood Beach on Jekyll Island, we went over to the Georgia Sea Turtle Museum. We learned from our time in Key West that sea turtles used to be a big cash crop and the fishing industry almost wiped them out in the early 1900s.

The Georgia Sea Turtle Center was recently opened in 2007. It is a facility dedicated to the preservation and education of turtles, the emergency care of sick sea turtles with activities in long term care and research. It appears well funded, well organized and very much worth the time to visit.

The museum is geared to the younger folks which makes it more understandable and easy to follow for guys like me. They have a self guided tour of six areas with interactive videos and displays.

It takes about two months for a sea turtle egg to hatch. After they hatch, they move toward the bright lights. So coming upon hatchlings at night (if you are on a turtle walk or hunting turtles) with a flash light throws them off.

They migrate out to the Atlantic and take long trips but eventually return to the same areas if they survive.

Some of the kinds of turtles in the region are:

Hawksbill Turtle
Kemp's Ridley
Loggerhead
Leatherback
Green Turtle
Diamondback Turtle

From the displays, we went outside and over to the hospital tanks.

The center gets all kinds of turtles with injuries or sicknesses. Often times the turtles are covered with barnacles which are detached after spending time in regular water.

I find turtles very interesting. They are such strange lovable creatures. For more information no them, you might want to visit the Georgia Sea Turtle Center web site.

Thanks again for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles! We appreciate you stopping by. Until next time...

Roadrunner Financials - March 2013

2013-04-02T04:00:00.000-04:00

Roadrunner Recap
During March, stayed at campgrounds in:

Lake Griffin State Park
Falling Waters State Park
Pensacola Naval Air Station
Hurlburt Field FL FamCamp (Fort Walton Beach)
Destin FL Army Recreation Area Campground
Tyndall AFB FL FamCamp (Panama City)
Tallahassee (Tallahassee RV Park)
Kings Bay Submarine Base GA

We were able to see a lot of Florida and check out some great historical places. It has been a fun month. The bonus is that we were able to see friends in a number of places including DeBary, Pensacola, Destin and Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.

Good News Areas We Are Under Budget
Nothing real big in this area as we ended up $262.62 under. We did best in three areas:

RV and Car Maintenance. I keep a placeholder here and used $342 to pay for a battery solenoid.
Campgrounds. We were still under our budget though we didn't stay anywhere for very long.
Groceries. For just the two of us for the month, we were please with this number.
Household Items. We saw a good deal on a sturdy beach umbrella and bought a new coffee pot that was leaking.

Biggest Expenses
Our biggest expenses continue to be eating out. But we saw a lot of friends and decided it was worth it and were glad we did.

Diesel. We obviously moved around a lot during the month. I didn't keep track of mileage but we hovered around 7 mpg.
Eating Out. Need to add this to the budget for year 5.
Misc (Entertainment). Biggest drivers here were 5 rounds of golf, a boat tour and we bought some hats and a new pair of shoes.
1 Time Costs - Got our income taxes done and owed a little. That plus preparation fees accounted for that number.

Large One Time Cost Items
Income taxes and fees were the biggest item, followed by the solenoid.

Monthly Average
We are happy to be under budget this month. That makes the tenth month in a row for Year 3 (two more months left) that we have been under budget. Our cumulative monthly average shows us $840 under budget.

That is a recap of where our money went last month. Thanks for taking a look at the Roadrunner Chronicles! Until next time...

Jekyll Island - Driftwood Beach

2013-04-01T04:00:00.000-04:00

We went to see Jekyll Island and took a drive around the perimeter before we stopped at Driftwood Beach for lunch. What an interesting place. Of all the beaches we have been to, we've never seen driftwood like this.

After a quiet picnic we walked over the foot bridge to the beach.

It wasn't a real big beach but it had lots of twisted, contorted trees and wood.

It was a little coolish so we wore our coats.

Fishing pier not far from the parking lot.

It is really worth the stop to see this.

After the Driftwood Beach, we drove through the Jekyll Island Campground.

It has a canopy of trees through out the campground and is very convenient to everything on the island.

There is lots to see and do here.

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles. Feel free to leave a comment - we always love those! Until next time...

More Okefenokee NWR (In Pictures)

2013-03-31T04:30:00.000-04:00

Judy was on duty at the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, so we returned. And are glad we did. We got to spend some time with her and she took us on a tour out to the Chesser Homestead. We also took a guided boat tour of the old Suwanee Canal and Chesser Prairie.

It was a great day to be in the swamp! Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Chesser Homestead

2013-03-30T08:19:00.004-04:00

While we were are Okefenokee National Wildlife Preserve, we took the Swamp Island Drive and stopped at the Chesser Homestead.

In the late 1880's W.T. Chesser and his family settled in the eastern area of the Okefenokee Swamp. Over time, they had seven children, two of which stayed in the area. In 1927, Tom Chesser built a homestead which is one display today.

It gives some insight into what life was like in the days before the Depression in a place a long way from the nearest town. The house is quite impressive as are the grounds with many different facets.

Seems to me that this was a big house after all the additions.

There was a small living room, two bedrooms, one with a sewing table set up.

The kitchen had a nice stove and a large table. Looked like they had a fair amount of room.
Outside, they built a number of functional areas:

Smoke House and Storage Shed; Work Area and Syrup Making Vat; Mounted Hand Crank Drill Press

Sugar Cane Mill, Hog Pen, Chicken Yard and Coop, Vegetable Garden

I took one last photo of the back side of the house before we departed. The Chesser Homestead is one of the more well done displays we have seen of how life once was.

Thanks for checking out the Roadrunner Chronicles! Until next time...

Day Trip - Okenfenokee National Wildlife Refuge

2013-03-29T05:35:00.000-04:00

We are staying at the King's Bay Naval (Submarine) Base near St. Mary's Georgia. The campground here is great (Eagle Hammock RV Park). Since we are going to be here a few days, we started exploring the area and took a day trip to Okenfenokee NWR.

Okefenokee ("Land of the Trembling Earth") NWR was established in 1937 and spans 402,000 acres of swamp, lakes, rivers is one of the largest and best preserved fresh water systems in America.

Over the years, the area has been intended for a number of different uses. Back in 1891, the Suwannee Canal Company bought the land from Georgia and intended to drain the swamp, harvest the Cypress trees and turn the area into farm land. That company went bankrupt, sold it to another who built a railroad nearby and logged over 431 million feet of lumber before the Depression hit and operations ceased.

A few years later it became a National Wildlife Refuge.

As we drove on to the property, it seemed as if it is well maintained and well funded which is nice to see. The NWR is a great place to do a lot of different things including, hiking, fishing, hunting, nature photography and wilderness canoeing.

The Visitor's Center is situated near a training building, gift shop and canoe/pontoon boat guide area. Near one of the buildings, there was some new construction and additions to the facility. Large and small groups come to the NWR and take advantage of the educational and nature opportunities.

The Visitor's Center has a number of interactive displays and informational stations along with a short video and a story telling kiosk. It is very well done.

Out behind the facility is a canal and boat launch.

Some hardy souls were off on a guided boat tour of the grounds. We opted for a picnic lunch and walked around the grounds.

A fellow RVer and blogger Judy of "Travels with Emma" fame, got in touch with us and said to come on over for a tour. We didn't know she was here until after we returned, but we hope to connect with her in a few days and do just that.

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles! Until next time...

Adios Florida Hello Georgia!

2013-03-26T17:12:00.002-04:00

We left our spot in Tallahassee at the Tallahassee RV Park and headed east, then north. Our destination for the next nine days is the highly rated Eagle Hammock RV Park in King's Bay Georgia.

It was only 200 miles and a very easy 3:30 minute trip.

We stopped at the Visitor's Center just across the border into Georgia and it was a busy place!

There must have been 25 or 30 RVs heading north. After picking up some tourist information, we finished the last short leg of our travel day.

We arrived at the Navy Campground about 11:30 and got set up.

We have another great spot at a Campground we like. We have stayed here before and like it. It has spacious campsites, full hookups, is well run with free laundry and a great view.

We'll be here for over a week before we go farther north. I will be doing some online work and we will be exploring the history and sights of the region.

Thanks for joining us today! Until next time...

Florida History in Tallahassee

2013-03-23T18:21:00.001-04:00

We are in Tallahassee, FL for a few days. We decided we wanted to see the State Capitol and some historical items in the city. I don't know why we haven't visited more state capitols. Sadly, I think we have only seen and toured Santa Fe NM and Harrisburg PA. Maybe we will add that to our list of things to see.

We are staying at the Tallahassee RV Park. It is very convenient to getting the downtown area. Only about 5 miles away and a straight shot into town. I really like this RV park. It is clean, well manicured and maintained. The rates are going up to $41/night. We paid $38 and now that we have been able to see some of Tallahassee, I am not sure we would pay those prices again. Still, our projected average for March is $22.38 - a little under our $25/night budget.

The Old Capitol is now a museum.

We arrived just in time to hear some experts begin a presentation on "Early Roads in Florida" - between St. Augustine and Pensacola.
It was fascinating!

After the hour long seminar we viewed some old maps of Florida in the next room.

Then we saw other displays throughout the capitol.

I did not realize Andrew Jackson was military governor of Florida in 1821, eight years before he became President.

From the Capitol we went to the Florida History Museum. It was another nice surprise and a GREAT museum. Every display in it was very well done!

Like we do often, we listened to the 'Overview Video' and then went through all the display rooms.

First ancient history…early inhabitants

Then the Spaniards and their huge influence in Florida. And their sunken treasures...

Some of the key cities and industry

In the early 1900's RVs made it to Florida.

The state was an important area for the military during World War II

After the war, many came back to visit and solidify a growing tourism industry.

If you get to see the museum, I highly recommend it. It was very well done and among the best we have seen in our travels.

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles! Until next time...

Day Trip to Mexico Beach and Apalachicola

2013-03-20T12:43:00.001-04:00

One reason we decided to come to Panama City was to check out the FamCamp (one of the best we've seen) and to see Mexico Beach which is 20 miles south. We packed a lunch and started out to explore.

Along the way we passed through Port St Joe which had signs to the Constitution Convention Museum.

Unfortunately, the museum is closed Tuesday and Wednesday. Interesting that the town in 1838 was a booming Gulf Port town and won over Tallahassee to host the delegates in writing Florida's state constitution.

We drove through Mexico Beach and decided to stop on the way back from Apalachicola. We learned a couple of interesting things in Apalachicola. Another State Park sign we saw was for Gorrie Museum. Dr. John Gorrie arrived in 1833 and lived there until his death in 1855. During his time there he combatted yellow fever and achieved some positive results from patients when his experiments lead to a refrigeration unit to cool patients room. Unfortunately the museum was also closed.

We drove through the quaint town of Apalachicola and parked for some walking around. The only store we walked through was Grady Market.

It is a quite high-end and pricey outdoor / adventure clothing and nick nack store but interesting none the less. In the 1850's the store provided supplies to the ships on the waterfront associated with the cotton business, lumber and later the fishing/shrimp industry in town.

We parked right across the street from the Grady Market and walked around the historic downtown area.

One building was an old sponge warehouse, now space for an antique shop. Flowers were in bloom all over.

We found a picnic table on the dock over near the shrimpers. These boats go out from 'moon to moon' - sometimes out fishing for up to five weeks.

We talked with one hand who said the best shrimping is during rough waters when the bottom is all stirred up. Interesting fellow. He pointed out an otter than was lurking nearby. He was glad to chat for a few minutes in the middle of fixing the bathroom on board the boat. He lives months at a time with his wife in Denver where they own an HOA company for some properties. And their son is a PhD candidate at Harvard.

After a nice picnic lunch we drove around the rest of town and headed back up to Mexico Beach.

It is another nice beach along the Florida Gulf Coast. The town is a small one and has tourists, but nothing like the congestion and popularity of Destin or Panama City.

We returned to the FamCamp in the middle afternoon and quietly enjoyed the rest of the afternoon and evening. Both of filled out the NCAA Men's Basketball Brackets.

My picks on the Final 4:

Duke (hoping for an upset)
Gonzaga
Kansas
Indiana

Pam's Final 4:

Louisville
Gonzaga
Kansas
Miami

Our overall winner picks:

Me - Gonzaga
Pam - Miami

Who are your picks?

That's it for now on the Roadrunner Chronicles! Thanks for joining us!

45 Month Average of Roadrunner Expenses

2013-03-18T11:09:00.002-04:00

We have been at this now for 45 months. We are bonafide full-timers. By now, we have a feel for this lifestyle and many of its associated financial costs. We also know there are many, many ways to do this. But I wanted to be able to answer the question, "How much does it cost to do that".

One answer is, "It depends". If we have no major repairs or don't eat out too often or no trips or events in the month our costs are low. But that is not realistic. I want to know the 'usual' monthly costs. I have attempted to track our costs every month and put together a compilation.

Below I show the Monthly Budget and our average over 45 months. The red numbers show where we are over budget. The two largest areas where we are over is in RV & Car Maintenance and in Miscellaneous Expenses.

RV and Car Maintenance included things like new tires, a new residential refrigerator, new AGM batteries, new inverter, manifold engine and gasket repairs as well as yearly generator maintenance. Overall, at under $4,400 per month, I am satisfied.

The item that we will have to increase is our budget for diesel fuel. We intend to leave Virginia Beach in May and spend next winter in Arizona by way of Wisconsin and Oregon.

The other comparison I wanted to see was our most recent monthly expenses. Last month we were well under budget. That probably will not continue long but I wanted to show that every month is not full of bad news.

It may seem I am fixated on Finances. On one hand I am. On the other, I find great freedom in knowing where things are for us financially. One great concern of getting older and retiring is wondering if we are spending our future. At this point - we have been 'treading water' so to speak. All in all we have not touched our savings and retirement accounts. As long as we continue to monitor things and don't go crazy at some point, I think we will be fine.

I know life has a way of providing some challenges so we intend to take those in stride and figure it out when we need to.

For know - I feel much better being able to answer the question, "How much does it cost to live like you do?

As always, Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles! Until next time...

Saturday in Panama City

2013-03-17T08:01:00.000-04:00

We went for a drive on Saturday to check out a couple of things and to see the beach north of Panama City. First we located a CVS in town and checked on a prescription. Apparently is was not in the system. I'll have to call on Monday and see where it is. Then we found a church we think we'd like to try later on this morning.

Then we came upon a city produce market in the St. Andrews area.

We usually find these things interesting. I like the tables and chairs.

We settled on some tomatoes. After the market, we ate our lunch that Pam packed for us and then we drove up the highway along the beach.

It is St. Patrick's Day weekend and Spring Break and we saw a lot of hotels and young people. I didn't realize there were so many hotels on Panama City Beach. But there were lots of them. North of PCB we found some beaches that were not so crowded.

These are definitely our kind of beach. White sand, big beaches and lots of sun. It was a gorgeous day.

After a nice drive we made our way back to the Tyndall AFB FamCamp where we are staying. It is a very nice campground and well maintained. After dinner we went for a walk around the campground. We started out on the hiking trail near our campsite.

It winds around the campground and is near the water.

The campsites are in a wooded area but we have cable TV. And all the sites have plenty of room. It is not crowded at all. The people that run the campground do a great job of keeping the roads and grounds well maintained. No potholes along any of the roads and the trees are all trimmed back

We are liking it here and will be staying a few more days. We still want to run down to Mexico Beach and see what that looks like. And maybe play another round of golf. We will see.

That's it for this edition for the Roadrunner Chronicles - thanks for joining us! It is beginning to warm up here again, hope the same is happening where ever you are.