Sunday 12/11 AM
Ever have one of those mornings where you feel like you no longer on top of the heap, but rather at the bottom of the steaming pile? This Sunday morning our 1st World RV problem is our bed again. It seems to have disconnected itself from its framework and so will need some major reconstruction to get it working back the way it did. Not that I can’t get it done, its just that line from Lethal Weapon, “I’m getting too old for this shit!” It means disassembling the entire bed and frame, making the repair, and finally lining everything up and putting it back together. All things being equal, I’d rather be in Philadelphia!
The weather down here has been nothing short of fantastic. Low 80’s in the day, with high humidity. Followed by mid 70’s at night with higher humidity. Thank goodness for our screened room as the mosquitoes are blood thirsty to say the least. Been enjoying reconnecting with people in the park and our friends Joe and Annette that have decided to Winter here from cold Wisconsin. Our friends Christy and Robert held a wonderful welcome home party for us last week it certainly warmed our hearts.
We’ve basically been doing the retired gig with Vicki doing crossword and jigsaw puzzles. Me, I’ve been enjoying the world cup. Have been avoiding the drama that is part and parcel of living in a 55+ park. Other than making repairs to our home, we spend many hours looking for the replacement of this rig. Hopefully we’ll find something before our big east coast swing, but if not maybe we’ll be lucky at the FMCA rally in March.
Wednesday AM
We spent our third night in our own version of the Princess and the Pea. While making the repairs to the bed Sunday, we decided to not only repair the head of the bed, but also to remove the inflatable air mattresses which made up the bed. Removed the entire system and since the new mattress was going to arrive on Tuesday, two nights would be a piece of cake. So we replaced the bed with our queen sized air mattress which is designed for floor use. With the king sized bed topper, the height of the mattress was now a whopping 23″ above the pedestal, which was 20″ above the floor. You do the math. We’ve had to add step stools on the side of the bed and it is definitely a comedy routine as we ‘mount up’ for the night. And since it was inflatable, they inevitably have slight leaks, so after about 3 hours, one of us had to get up and ‘top off’ the mattress. Not real conducive to restful and sound sleep. The new custom mattress should arrive by FedEx today so hopefully a good night sleep is in our future.
As you can see from the above photos, this was our Neil Armstrong moment, one small step for man, one giant leap to get our butts up in bed! Also take note of the space under the cabinet. Vicki clocked herself getting into bed and had a tremendous knot because of it. The cabinets are made of solid wood and Vicki can attest!
Have been enjoying our evenings with our friends Joe and Annette Ward as we debrief the day. They’ll be heading back to Wisconsin to be with family over the holidays. Thankfully they are not taking their RV as the winter weather across the plains certainly looks cold and unpleasant. I think we’ll stick with the 70+ weather here.
Monday we had a special treat here at the park. One of the local elementary schools had their choir perform for us ‘old folks’. They did a wonderful set of Christmas songs and when all the kids spoke of snow, everyone in the audience collectively shook their heads no!
As you can see from the picture above, they were all cute on steroids and the audience gave them a standing ovation.
Sunday AM
Just adding a few lines to complete this posting. The winter blast has exerted itself on us. The temps are down to the low 50’s at night and not getting much warmer during the day. Have had to break out the long sleeve sweatshirts and heavy shorts. We’ve been confined mostly indoors, but have been enjoying the World Cup nonetheless. Not really supporting anyone, just so the French don’t win! Had our block Christmas party which went without a hitch. We baked bread which everyone seemed to enjoy. Am going to fix Stollen this week and give to friends and neighbors. Should be fun.
Wednesday was a special day for us as the new mattress arrived and we are no longer having to do bed mounting gymnastics! It is so nice getting into bed and sleeping through the night! Enduring the drama of the park and are looking forward to getting back on the road. Should get one more post before Christmas, so until then, did I mention we’re still loving retirement!
