where to go?

I have a dilemma. Rudee and I both have the week after thanksgiving off. We want to go somewhere and, due to the time of year, figure that south would be our best bet for good weather. We should go and spend some time with my parents who live in Zephyrhills Fl. I know this is the "right" thing to do but I really yearn to go see some new places. I really don't care much for the area they live in and we have been there so many times we have pretty much seen and done it all. I would like to go to New Orleans or Mobile or maybe even Texas and check out some new territory but feel guilty when I realize that my parents may not be around too much longer. I'm torn and it's not a good feeling at all. Here is a picture of them from December 07.


On one hand I only get 3 weeks vacation each year so I have to make the best of the little time I have away from work. On the other hand we are only planning on working our careers another 5 years and then we will have the time to explore anywhere we want to go.

My Dad has been in love with Florida as long as I can remember. We always went there at least 1-2 weeks per year when I was growing up. I was not surprised when they moved there full time a few years ago. I wish I had the same feelings for the state that he has but I really don't. The only thing it has going for it, in my opinion, is the mild winters. I have been researching places to stay if we go there. Hillsborough River State Park is just up the road from them and is a nice place. We could get a site there for the week but it only has water and electric hook ups. We have a "blue boy" which is a wheeled tank that you empty your holding tank into and wheel it to the dump station. That would be do able but I think Rudee is pretty attached to her hook ups. She likes her long showers and washer/dryer :-).

We could go back to Grove Ridge which is near them as well. They have full hook ups with cable TV. No shade though and the roads are very narrow and it's difficult to get the big wagon train in and out. Gordon and Gail may be there as well which makes it a lot more appealing. We are just not sure what to do but will probably end up back down in Florida, we'll see.


I tried to load the bike up last evening after work. I was really hoping the batteries was the problem but it's not. The winch did the same thing, it pulls the bike up the ramp slowly and then when the bike is at the top and the winch has to pull the entire ramp it doesn't have the ummpph to do it. I called the guy back at Rampage Lifts who told me he was sending me a new one and he was out. The lady said she would have him call and I should receive a call in another hour or so. Guess what? Yep, no call. I called again this morning and left a message wanting him to call me back. That was 4 hours ago and still no call so I called him back and he answered! He apologized for not getting back to me and he is going to send me a new winch out. This one is a larger capacity and should take of things (I hope!). He said the bolt holes all are the same so it should be just a matter of swapping them out so shouldn't take too long to repair. We have a week end camping trip planned for Labor Day week end and would like to take the bike with us.


Last night we had Olivia come and visit. She is a hoot! We took her to New Ross for dinner and met Rudee's Mom and Dad there. She was so good. We played and laughed all evening and she ate a large supper too. Afterwards we took her back to her house and visited with Amanda and Ryan for awhile before heading back home.


We are going to take a ride to Muncie tonight. Some of our goldwing group are meeting in Lebanon at 5pm so we can ride over to the GWRRA Indiana Chapter E meeting. The weather looks like it's going to cooperate and be a nice evening for a motorcycle ride. I'll keep you posted.