Ronnae's visit to Florida!

Ronnae has left for home today. She was here for 2 weeks and we had a great time together. This was the first time we have had to spend with Rodney's daughter and it was such a great pleasure getting to know the young lady she has grown up to be.

Her father would have been so proud to see the person she has become. And she is so much like her dad in countless ways.

What fun we had. Hope we will be closer from now on.

South Dakota

Our trip to South Dakota was very interesting. Starting out from Branson Missouri we started the morning with 80 mile an hour thunder storm passed through our Campground around 5 AM dropping several trees but thank goodness none on anyone RV. Although an RV had pulled out 2 days earlier and his camp site id where a really big tree fell. But by the time we left it was just raining so off we go. Then 5 minutes after we passed Clinton Missouri a tornado went through and The winds were so bad Leigh had to pull into a flying J Truck stop because the wind was so bad he couldn't keep RV on road and even in the lot it was rockin. And we were not making it rock. LOL

After a few hours we got back on the road and the winds were not as bad but we found out Kansas City just an hour from where we were another tornado had gone through causing great damage and deaths. We did not see the damage as we passed on Route 13. So on we go through Iowa and Nebraska Still there are winds but not as bad as in Missouri. Then we cross into South Dakota and it looked like it was going to be a beautiful trip. We stopped at the Corn Palace in Mitchell South Dakota.

The corn Palace is a unique place and if ever in South Dakota stop and see it. We stopped because a co-worker and friend from JP Morgan told me she married a guy from South Dakota in her younger days and he took her to the Corn Palace for their honeymoon. Her name is Ruth Beardsley. So I had to see it. Although that is not where I would like to go on a honeymoon it was well worth seeing. It has some history and I do love history.
They built the first corn palace in 1892 because they wanted to attract settlers to the area. The corn palace was built to showcase all the crops that could be grown in Dakota soil. Along with the new corn Palace they held a festival in late September to celebrate the harvest. Surrounding counties brought in and exhibited crops grown and goods manufactured in their county. The festival celebrated the fertility of the land and the productivity of its people. Another note is they wanted to disprove Lewis and Clark.

Lewis and Clark had written in their journal when passing through in 1805 that the Dakota was the great American desert suitable only for buffalo. "surely they wrote, no man could ever make a living farming there." wanting to disprove them the corn belt real estate association built the first Corn Palace.

As we traveled on we enjoyed the rolling hills and the cattle. I think maybe South Dakota gives America more beef than Texas. All you see for miles and miles is rolling hills and cattle and not even one farm house to be seems as you travel 90 west except occasionally as you come to a few small towns between Sioux Falls and Rapid City.

As we got closer to Rapid City we had to spend a night in a rest area as Interstate 90 was shut down all the way to Wyoming. But we did get to Rapid City and the snow is melting as fast as it came as it is 70 degrees today. So the adventure continues.

Our campground is not the best we have a view of I90 instead of the Buffalo and rolling hills. So we are only staying 2 days as we wait to hear from the campground manager in Montana to see if we can get in. Our money is running low as we only got 5.4 miles per gallon with our RV. So if you read this and want to help us traveling Pages send money. LOL

Florida Experience

We arrived in Florida in October 2007. That was our first trip with our new home the 2006 Windsport Class A RV.

While in Florida we went to the Avante Nursing home daily to visit Grandpa Page, (Leigh's father). He is 92 years old and needs nursing care. We found him quite depressed when we first arrived but after being there for 6 months he is happy laughing and joking. He has improved his mobility since our arrival due mostly to his sons efforts. He loves the nurses there and flirts with them all, even in front of his wife Dot. She takes it all in stride because she knows if you can't look you must be dead. LOL

We have been staying at Flagler Beach since all the workamping jobs we had hoped to get were taken before we got the RV.

I guess I should back track. You know how it is when your old, can't remember S---. We decided before we bought the RV we would be workampers. There is a site online called workamper.com. People who are called fulltimers, (people who live in their RV full time work in camp grounds all over US and Canada. They do things like reservation, gift shop. restroom cleaning, picking up the garbage, landscaping, cleaning the pool and security. If you work 20 to 25 hours a week you are provided with your campsite, electric, WIFI, and cable TV in most spots in exchange for the hours you've worked. If you choose to work more than the required time you get an hourly wage. By doing this you can travel and stay in a spot from 3 to 6 months and see wonderful places. It's a very economical way to travel and see the wonders of our beautiful America and Canada.

So now back to Florida; since staying here at Flagler Beach we have seen St Augustine , a beautiful old city with great art & museums, shops, food and old architecture in the Spanish style.

We went to Daytona and experienced Biker Week where thousands of bikers come to party and ride their bikes all over. I learned that bikers are very friendly and helpful, and they are not as bad as the world sees them; but they really do like to party. We felt like a kids again.

We went to the middle of the State and saw the Ocala National Forest and visited friends in the Oasis Campground who were all from New York State. We enjoyed being around old friends in Florida.

We went to Super Soap weekend at Disney and also did the Epcot Theme Park. Where we toured the World and ate and drank in a German Pub. What delicious food,wine and beer not to mention the German entertainment.

So Florida has been fun this last 6 months even though I didn't get to see all I wanted because we stayed close to the nursing home. Our next time visit to Florida will be to see and do it all.