Kayaks get Wet!

And so do we.  And so does Odie!

 

We traveled into upstate New York .. started seeing hills!

 

We had reservations at Schroon River park.  It’s a good thing.  This place is full.  It’s crowded, but it’s pretty with lots of trees.  Here’s our site:

 

 

We woke up to a gorgeous day today .. so we asked about arrangements for paddling on the river.  What service!  Someone in the park drove us in our car to the put-in spot, then drove our car back to the campground.  So we got to float/paddle for about 3 hours and end up back home with our car waiting for us.

 

 

Lots of water in this river.  And, there was even some whitewater.  Odie had a few adventures…

 

 

But we always got him back!  That yellow life vest has a handy handle on the back.

 

Travel Mode

How about that?!  Two posts from Jim!  You know why?  Because I showed him how to use Live Writer.  It makes blogging that much easier.  I’m putting LiveWriter on my list of video tutorials to make – anyone who blogs will love it.

 

Have I told you lately how much I love this lifestyle?  Travel, Work, Play.  Our whole summer is planned around RV rallies.  First it was FMCA Int’l Convention in Perry, GA – then it was on to The Rally in Albuquerque, NM – Escapades in Missouri ….

 

July was a big one – another FMCA Int’l Convention in Bowling Green, Ohio.  That one finished on July 24 and next comes the FMCA NE Area rally in Essex Junction, VT.  But not till August 12.  That’s 2 1/2 weeks to go 600 miles.

Perfect! And, there’s even some membership parks on the way.  That means free sites … well, not exactly free – just prepaid.  We pay $140/year for Resorts of Distinction (ROD) and $500/year for Thousand Trails (TT)  But, it’s just SO nice to pull into a park and know that you don’t have to get out any money to stay there.

 

Thousand Trails Preserves always feel like Home.

Here’s Kenisee Lakes just east of Cleveland:

 

 

Always lots of open space for walking.  Trees, Lakes and nice views.

 

 

And Pickleball!  Such great exercise.

 

The next membership park we found on our route is Shroon River (ROD) right in the middle of the Adirondacks.  But, that’s over 400 miles from Kenisee Lakes … at least 2 driving days for us!  I also don’t like to drive more than 2 days in a row - actually I don’t care to drive at all … Jim does that.   We stayed one night at a Passport America park – that’s a 1/2 price deal.  $15 for an overnight. 

 

Now, we’re splurging on a really nice park for two nights - $40/night.  It better be nice!  It’s connected to a casino, which usually means inexpensive?!  ooohhhh – it is nice though.  Really good Wi-Fi at our site.  So we’re doing all those downloads that have been waiting for better connections.  Pretty too.  And a hot tub!

 

 

 

 

So here’s the travel itinerary between rallies:

*one rally over

1 hour drive then:

1 week at ROD park, work, relax, tour Erie Islands

4 hours of driving

   visit Rock n Roll Hall of Fame en route

3 nights at Thousand Trails *home* – work, relax, pickleball

3 1/2 hours driving

1 night at a Passport park

3 1/2 hours driving

2 nights at fancy park!

3 hours driving (estimate)

3 nights at ROD park in Adirondacks – beautiful country

couple hours drive

*next rally begins

 

Don’t pinch me OK?  I don’t want to wake up.  This is such a beautiful dream. 

 

While Jim’s driving, I’m enjoying the scenery and letting my mind wander and conjure and plan.  For a couple of hours I read out loud from the book I’m reading on my Kindle now … ‘Free’ by Chris Anderson (I paid $9.95 for it :-)  We also listen to music or NPR with our Sirius satellite radio, and sometimes I use quiz cards to read questions and see if Jim or I can answer.  The last bunch came from the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame … “What crime did Jim Morrison commit in Miami in 1969?”  Both Jim and I knew that one!  And, it made us reminisce about when we visited Morrison’s grave in Paris – 2001.

 

When we pull in to a park, we get settled in – then we take Odie for a walk and take a look around.  Then we check email, do some work etc.  IF there’s something special like a hot tub or a pickleball court, we’ll take advantage of that.  Then we do more computer work, have some dinner, take Odie for another walk.  Sometimes we watch TV or a video .. sometimes we just stick with our computers all night till time to go to bed – and that varies anytime from 9pm to 1am!  Probably depending on if we had any wine and how much!

 

So, right now its 9am.  I’ve been up since about 6:30 – sitting at the computer.  Jim’s at his computer too.  It’s time to take Odie for a walk.  Then, we’ll probably take the shuttle over to the Casino and have breakfast.  The rest of the day will be working … I’m putting together a small book of all our Picasa tips – we want to have a printed version to sell at the next rally.

 

Ok, I’ll stop rambling now. 

DataStorm RIP

By Jim

We are retiring our dish.

 

You who have been following us for a while know how much we love our Internet satellite service.  We had it installed in ‘03 before we left Florida, our first year out.

 

Back then, cellular broadband was almost non-existent and Wi-Fi was in its infancy.  Dial-up was out of the question for us.

Our fledgling business plan was based on the ability to be connected with high-speed Internet wherever we traveled.  Satellite Internet was the only viable solution at the time.

 

So, we bit the bullet and forked over the $6K for the (then) state-of-the-art F1 DataStorm with the 4020 Hughes modems and D1 controller.  Service with one static IP address was $115/month through Ground Control.

Over the years, we only had a few problems that were readily handled by MotoSat or Ground Control.  The DataStorm Users Group and especially founder Don Bradner were our lifeline and support.

 

I turned off service last fall while we were in Florida for the winter because our home park, Paradise Island, has good Wi-Fi.  Besides, our 3rd set of modems had finally bit the dust and I needed to upgrade.

 

Since we left Florida this year, I replaced the Upper Control Board on the mount, got the newest D4 controller and a new 7000S modem.  I figured I was all set.  Wrong.  I was not able to get everything working together.  Hours were spent on the phone with MotoSat technical support.  More hours were spent on site by a MotoSat tech at the FMCA Convention in Bowling Green.  They finally decided that a new LNB and arm might fix it.  But our dish was just too old, they didn’t have a replacement to send.

 

We could spend big bucks and replace the dish.

 

What we will do is use our Verizon cellular broadband and Wi-Fi when it is available to access the Internet.

 

Next year we might replace the dish for our travels west.   There are still lots of places we want to go where cell towers are scarce and Wi-Fi is not available.

 

Like we always say, “If you *Need* the Internet, you need all three ways to connect.  Satellite, Cellular, and Wi-Fi”

Rock and Roll!

By Jim

 

The music genre has been around my whole life.  DJ Alan Freed coined the term way back in 1951.  It is the rallying cry for an entire generation.

 

Cleveland is the home to the Hall of Fame and Museum.

The architecture is by I.M. Pei.  It’s very reminiscent of the Louvre in Paris.

 

 

The place was pretty crowded with a line extending outside for tickets.

 

 

Bruce Springsteen was the featured rocker.  I met Bruce and the E Street band back in 1973.  They were playing in a small venue on Long Beach Island and staying in a motel across the street from our family deli-restaurant.  I cooked their breakfast and lunch while they were there.  I had a front row seat for one of their shows and was blown away by the performance.

 

 

The museum does great job of taking you through the history of Rock and Roll with videos, pictures and artifact exhibits.

You aren’t allowed to take your own pictures or video in the museum or we would have lots more here.

The museum store is huge and few visitors get out without buying a tee shirt or some music.

 

 

Here I am sporting my purchase at breakfast at Kenisee Lakes Thousand Trails where we’re staying for the next couple of days before moving on to Essex Junction for the FMCA Northeast Area Rally.

 

Chris got a Janis Joplin video and was up late singing along.  Give her enough whiskey and she will do her Janis for you sometime, if you’re lucky.  I have blackmail tape to prove it.

 

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A Day Off

I know … every day of ours looks like a day off compared to when we had *real* jobs.  But, our work is actually with us all the time.  This is a very good thing because our web-based work means we can be anywhere.  But, it’s also a bad thing in that we never get away from work. The only way to not be at work is to turn the computer off!  And, I vow to do that today.  As soon as I post this, I’m turning it off and I won’t turn it back on till tomorrow.

 

We had a great week, parked in one place this week.  I got quarterly bookkeeping and tax returns done.  Built a couple new websites.  And got our July newsletter out – at 10pm on July 31!

 

Now it’s time to move on, we’re heading east.  Our next commitment is the FMCA Northeast Area Rally on August 12. 

 

Today we’re going thru Cleveland and we’ll stop at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  Oh Boy.

 

Ok, turn it off now Chris.

 

…

 

after I tweet about this post ok?

 

…

 

now