12/20/06 (Wednesday): Ho Ho Ho! Wiley and I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year. We've been enjoying our great adventure so much that we've been ignoring our blog. I hope you'll all forgive once you've read this (probably very lengthy) post.

The way you know Christmas is coming in this part of the world is that they start picking the citrus. It's been very interesting to see the trees all loaded down with ripening oranges. If you look very closely in this orange grove (click on the picture to enlarge it), you'll see some turkeys running fast to escape my truck! We see a lot of wildlife in this area. Do you suppose these oranges are the "pot of gold" at the end of this rainbow?!














Shortly after the grapefruit and oranges started getting ripe, we began seeing trucks parked beside the groves and ladders leaning against the trees. Most of the citrus is picked by migrants from Mexico. It looks like a pleasant job--the weather is nice right now and there are very few bugs--but I'm sure the bags hung from their shoulders get heavy and the days are long for very little pay. I chatted for a bit with this worker (with my very basic Spanish). He seemed happy to take a break and was quite friendly with me.

After the pickers empty their bags into the tubs (like the one in the picture), the tubs are emptied into large crates. Eventually, a small vehicle called a "goat" empties the tubs into crates (or sometimes directly into a truck). The trucks are on all the roads lately, and the oranges and grapefruit that fall out of them lie rotting on the sides of most of the local roads. This truck was stopped at a little diner where we stopped for breakfast one morning.

The trucks are mostly bound for orange juice processing plants. Most Florida orange are juice oranges, while most California oranges are eating oranges. We've seen the trucks parked at several of the local processing plants.

At the plant, the oranges are sorted and washed and taken into the plant on conveyor belts. We took this picture at a plant right beside Rt. 17. This particular conveyor belt appeared to be taking freshly washed oranges and grapefruits out of a building and they were dropping into trucks. That seems like the reverse of the process for juice oranges, so it may have been a packing plant for fresh fruit. We stood and watched this process through the fence for a while because it was interesting to see it up so close.


There's a Florida's Natural Orange Juice Processing plant on Rt. 27 very near us. They're processing juice right now, and the smell is quite nice--very sweet. They have a visitor's center and gift shop across the street from the plant which we visited. There's a very informative museum about this history of oranges and orange juice processing in Florida. There were posters describing how oranges are processed into juice. This is an extractor that reams out the inside of the orange.






In addition to the interesting orange industry, Wiley and I have been touring the area to see the small towns and check out the parks and hiking trails. Frostproof (our closest town) bills itself as "The Friendly City," and it really is. But I think it also has some residents with a great sense of humor. This "plane crash" at the mailbox of one house just outside town is ample evidence of that!


We drove back roads all the way to Avon Park and then Sebring, stopping to look at whatever caught our fancy along the way. We're definitely planning to go back and explore Arbuckle Creek some more--maybe even with our canoe. It was a very typical deep south creek, with its shores lined with cypress hung with Spanish moss. We could almost feel the eyes of the alligators sizing us up for lunch. Even though there was not much traffic, we gave these turkeys the right of way. They just kept running down the road ahead of us, not even trying to fly!



The little town of Avon Park was all decked out for Christmas. I'm not sure what cows have to do with Christmas (or Avon Park, for that matter), but they were really cute decorations. I poked around in a couple little shops while Wiley went metal detecting by the lake. There are lots of lakes in this area, and most of them have parks on their shores. They're very pleasant places to take a picnic lunch and a good book and just relax.


This tropical looking lake with two palm trees growing right in the water has an unpronounceable Indian name that means "Walk-in-Water."

We've also driven to the Peace River (about an hour from here) and went canoeing and fossil hunting. I was surprised at how well my wrist and thumb did with loading the canoe onto the truck and paddling it.

We put up a tiny Christmas tree in the trailer and hung a garland and some lights from the patio awning. They're very festive! I made Christmas presents for our Nature Conservancy friends--the ingredients for Farmhouse Soup layered in a decorated jar with the recipe attached.



That's all for tonight--I'm tired, and I have to get up early tomorrow for a physical therapy appointment. Then I'm going to "work." The assignment for tomorrow is to go with the biologist and monitor the scrub jays. Have I mentioned lately that I love my live?!

Have a wonderful holiday!

12/4/06 (Monday): Lots to report today, so I'll get right to it. Thanksgiving was not so great this year, although in retrospect there's a lot to be thankful for. I had a reunion with my two sons and their families in Michigan and Wiley went to his family's home. When I arrived on Wednesday, my granddaughter, Claire (4 months old), was slightly feverish and fussy. By the next morning (Thanksgiving), she was being rushed to the emergency room with a very high fever. We came awfully close to losing her. She had a urinary tract infection that went to her kidneys and became sepsis. Thank goodness Mark and Heather were there with me to care for Anna, Margo, Hudson and Austin. Poor Kristin stayed at the hospital the whole time, sleeping in the crib with Margo! Tom spent his days at the hospital and came home to help with the girls at night. We had corn dogs for Thanksgiving dinner! We had the Thanksgiving dinner that Kristin had mostly prepared ahead of time on Friday. It was a gourmet feast! We were truly thankful that everything came out okay and Claire came home on Monday.

Wiley's mother had her surgery last week. She's a real trouper--you can't keep a good woman down! There was no cancer in the sentinel node, so she'll have some radiation and that should be that.

We've accepted a summer Workamper position at Betsie Creek Campground near Sleeping Bear Dunes State Park. We're really excited about this position. It's about a 4-hour drive from my Michigan grandchildren and a mile from Lake Michigan. There's supposed to be good fishing, boating, hiking and quaint villages. Here's a link to the campground's website. http://www.michcampgrounds.com/betsieriver. Our duties will be much the same as they were in Maine.

My wrist and thumb are coming along well. I have an orthopaedist appointment today and physical therapy on Tuesday and Thursday.

Work here is going extremely well. We love everything we do! My favorite thing is monitoring the eagle nests. They're incubating now. This picture isn't very clear, but I see them quite clearly through the binoculars! Last night, coming home from our weekend in Winter Park, we saw two foxes in the driveway. We've seen deers, rabbits, feral hogs and lots of birds. I love my life!

That's it for now. Have

11/20/06 (Monday): Is anybody out there?! I haven't seen any comments for a while. Maybe you've all given up on me.

We're doing fine. I got my cast off (yay!) and am going to physical therapy. There's not much pain, but it's very weak and it hurts to put any pressure on it. Hopefully I'll recover full use quickly. I'm very impatient (now that's a news flash!), and there's so much I want to do here that I haven't been able to do yet.

Wiley went fossil hunting again last week with Adam (our boss) and a visitor from Australia. I think we've created some more avid fossil hunters! I can't wait until I can paddle a canoe again so I can go. I love the Peace River. Plus we want to paddle Tiger Creek and Patrick Creek here in the Preserve.

I head out for Michigan early Wednesday morning. Mark and Heather are visiting, too, so we'll have a full house. I can't wait to visit with my grandkids again! Wiley is going to stay with his folks.

The eagles nests I've been monitoring are both occupied now, and I'm thoroughly enjoying checking on them. I think they're incubating eggs now, because there's always one bird on the nest. This morning I saw them switch off--one eagle flew in with a stick and settled on the nest and then the other one flew off. I tried to get a picture, but the nests are just too far away. Audubon has a really neat site if you'd like to visit and get an idea of what I'm doing: http://www.audubonofflorida.org/friendsoftheeagle/cam.html

Leave me some comments and let me know I've not just talking to myself!

11/14/06 (Wednesday): I'm typing with both hands! My cast came off Monday. It was really sore at first, but it's already getting better. I have a brace to wear when I'm working or sleeping, but I keep it off when I'm being quiet inside.

As promised, today I'm going to talk a little about our great adventure here at Tiger Creek Preserve on the Lake Wales Ridge of Florida. I'll also show you some pictures I took while Wiley's family was here last weekend.

The Preserve is located on the Lake Wales Ridge, which is high ground that runs down the center of Florida. A couple of million years ago, most of FL was underwater, and there was just a chain of islands. When the ice age lowered the water level and the peninsula of Florida reappeared, the islands became the Lake Wales Ridge. Because the plants and animals had been isolated so long, they're very different from anything now found in the area. Because the ground is so high, it was planted in lots of orange groves and cattle ranches sprawled over the area. Eventually, lots of homes were built. So very little of the unique ecosystem still exists. Much of what does remain has not been allowed to have natural fires, so it has grown up in scrubby forests, which are not good for the low-growing herbaceous plants and uniquely adapted animals. The Nature Conservancy is trying to restore this unique habitat with fire and by controlling invasive plants and animals.

Wiley and I are helping out here in many ways, including trail clearing, getting rid of invasive plants, maintaining tools and equipment, cleaning the barn and office, and monitoring the eagles. I also work four days a week in the office for a couple of hours. It hardly feels like work--we've always done this sort of thing for fun! We're especially enjoying riding around in the all-terrain vehicles.

The closest town is Frostproof. We took this picture at sunset just as the lights in town were coming on. It has a population of about 3,000 and sits between two pristine lakes, Reedy and Clinch. Frostproof is the hub of the citrus industry in Florida, with both growers (Ben Hill Griffin, Inc. and The Latt Maxcy Corporation) and juice processors (Cargill Juice). We do our banking and grocery shopping there.
There are also lots of parks and nature preserves in the area that we're looking forward to visiting.

Last week Wiley's family visited. We had a blast. Cathy and the kids slept in a tent next to the camper and Mag and Wiley slept in the camper. It was a full house!














We went to the beach (New Smyrna) and Wiley and his nephew did some metal detecting (I think they came away with less than 50 cents, but they had fun!). It's possible to find treasure from old Spanish shipwrecks on the beaches in this area.














The next day, Wiley and Cathy and a co-worker of ours, Laura, went fossil hunting on the Peace River. Mag, Wiley and I toured Frostproof and Lake Wales and had lunch at a nice little 50's diner.















This afternoon I'm going out to monitor the eagles' nests with a visitor to the Preserve. Yesterday both nests were occupied for the first time. I'll try to get a picture for you--it's my favorite job ever! Stay tuned!

11/8/06 (Wednesday): Hi. It's me. Want me to catch you up on Phase II of our great adventure? Okay--here goes. Today will bring us up to date, and hopefully I won't have any more computer problems (or blogger problems--they're updating the site and have been down a lot this past week). Here goes nothing! (I didn't understand that phrase as a kid, and I still don't!)

Our first weekend here in our new home was spectacular. We took a hike on a trail in the Lake Wales Ridge State Forest, Arbuckle section. It's a loop trail that's over 20 miles long, but we only hiked about 3 miles. On the way to the park, in an orange grove, we saw our first whooping crane! This might not be a big whoop (excuse the pun) for the non birders among you, but it's the equivalent of winning the lottery to a birder!

There is only one wild migratory flock of whooping cranes in the world. It migrates from Wood Buffalo National Park in Canada to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas. In the 1950s, there were fewer than 20 birds left. The bird we saw was almost certainly part of a nonmigratory flock that scientists are trying to reintroduce in Florida. There had been whooping cranes in FL until the 1930's, but they had all disappeared thanks to habitat destruction mostly. In the early 1990's, scientists decided to try putting whooping crane eggs in sand hill cranes nests to see if they could successfully raise their cousins. The eggs were obtained from captive birds. The crane we saw (the white one) is with its surrogate parents who are sand hill cranes. We could see a transmitter and bands on its legs. Very exciting!

We expected the hike itself to be anticlimatic, but it turned out to be great fun, too.

The trail runs on a high (by FL standards, anyhow) ridge along Reedy Creek, which eventually flows into Lake Arbuckle.



We had another unusual bird sighting--this barred owl was out in the daytime.





This is typical sand hill terrain--sparsely treed, flat and dry. It's amazing how many plants and animals have adapted to life in these harsh conditions.









This bee had chosen a very attractive flower to feed on. I don't know what kind of flower it is.













Just me and my cast here, having a good time!













Beautyberry is one of my favorite native plants. The gorgeous lavendar color rivals any flowers, don't you think?











I believe this might be a gulf fritillary, but I'm not sure. Katelyn--do you have a butterfly identification book? Help out Aunt Joyce, here, would you?












We turned around and hiked back when we reached this old truck out in the middle of nowhere. There were probably lots of hopes and dreams connected with this truck when it was shiny and new!

That's all for now, folks. We'll be spending lots of time with Wiley's family in the coming weeks. Marguerite has some health challenges and we hope to be there for her as she has been there for so many people. The whole gang is coming to visit next weekend. We hope to get in some fossil hunting on the Peace River with them, and of course we'll give them the grand tour on an ATV! I get my cast off next Monday (Yay)! I'll chat with you again soon. Peace be with you!

11/1/o6 (Wednesday): Can you believe it's November already?! We're settling in nicely and getting a routine going. I love being able to spend so much time with Wiley. We're pretty much setting our own schedule. There's a lot of flexibility. A list of tasks is posted on the barn door and we pick what we want to do each day. Yesterday we did some trail maintenance in the morning and then I spent all afternoon in the office because the office manager needed an afternoon off. Wiley finished up the trail work by himself.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. I want to bring the blog up to date before I go any further. Today I'll give you the treasure story I promised you! We decided to take a drive out Rt. 60 to Vero Beach, which is our closest beach. It was kind of drizzly out and the road was under construction, but it was very rural and pretty and there was almost no traffic. Vero beach is a cute little town. It looked old, but I don't know much about its history. We'll have to do a little exploring there.

We headed north on A1A with the vague idea of going to Sebastian Inlet State Park, but we got sidetracked by a sign for the McLarty Treasure Museum.

This is a small but fascinating museum run by the state. It's located on the site of the 1715 Spanish Plate Fleet survivor's and salvaging camp. From the 1500's through the 1700's, Spain dug a bunch of silver and some gold out of the mountains in Mexico and South America and sent it across the Atlantic in wooden sailing vessels. The outgoing and incoming ships would meet every summer in Cuba. they also carried treasures from the Orient gathered by the fleet that had been shipped across the Pacific to Mexico and other places they'd traveled, plus the personal treasures of their wealthy passengers. Spain had warships and forts to protect this shipping traffic, but hurricanes wrecked many ships.

One of the largest disasters occurred in 1715, when a storm sunk that year's fleet on the shoals between Sebastian and Fort Pierce. About 1500 people survived and came ashore. They set up a camp and began salvage operations with the help of the Ais Indians and, eventually, the Spanish in St. Augustine. But conditions were very harsh and many died. Less than half of the treasure cargo reached Spain. The wreck was rediscovered in 1928 and some historical artifacts were recovered in the 1940's. Then, in the 1950's, a hurricane revealed the site where the museum is now located. Divers and beachcombers have been retrieving treasure ever since. The finds are truly stunning! If you ever get the chance, it's worth a visit. Wiley is looking forward to going back with his metal detector!

There's also a nice little nature trail. Here are some pics of the interesting "treasures" I saw on my walk. This plant is called "bloodberry."




Black racer (?) on rocks by beach.
















The white-flowered plant growing among the sea grapes is called "devil's potato." It had a very pleasant fragrance. I don't know the reason for the awful name--maybe its root looks like a potato but is inedible.









That's it for another day--my wrist gets fatigued if I type too long. Tomorrow's blog will be the last of the catch-up ones. I'll talk about a rare sighting we made while hiking the Lake Arbuckle trail. Happy trails to you!

10/31/06 (Tuesday): Today we're going to leave the Tiger Creek Preserve for a little hike with Wiley's Mom and dad, our niece, Katelyn, and good friends Les and Troy. We went over near Oviedo to the Little Big Econ State Foresst. This is a lovely area on the Econlockhatchee River (now you can see why we shorten the name to "Econ"!).

It was a very hot day. We started with breakfast at our favorite local restaurant, whose name has escaped me at the moment (Mag--help me out here!). It was a long wait to fit all of us in, but we had fun catching up on everyone's news and watching the ducks (a local landmark--they just roam the town at will).

The main purpose of our hike was to visit a new bridge that was just dedicated. Unfortunately, due to the heat and the sugar sand on the trail (very difficult to hike in loose sand), we never reached the bridge. We saw lots of animal tracks in that loose sand, though, which was fun. Mag and Wiley headed back by a shortcut while the rest of us pushed on. They were smart--we never did find the bridge, and it was just not a pleasant hike. We all got so hot that we turned back early. Some of us were not feeling too well, and we didn't want to push too hard.

Wiley and I spent a few more days with his parents. They're so generous in feeding us, letting us use their washer and dryer and putting up with us. They actually had us convinced they were happy to have us invade their home! Thanks, Mag and Wiley!

David and Katelyn (our nephew and niece) have grown up so much (is that facial hair already?!) and we enjoyed their company, too. Uncle Wiley took them metal detecting one afternoon. David liked it so much he's thinking of buying one for himself. We're hoping the whole family will come here for a visit.


Shortly after we got home from our visit with Wiley's folks, our friends, Julie and John, came for a visit. They only had one afternoon to spend with us, but we had a great time! We sat in the shade near the pond and got caught up, and then took a ride on the ATV through part of the preserve, ending up at the bridge over Patrick Creek. What a blast!

Well, that's about it for this time. Next time I'll tell you a little more about our jobs here and our visit to the Treasure Coast. Stay tuned!

10/29/06 (Sunday): We're finally on the internet again! Our new digs are so far back of beyond that you can't even get cable TV (there's no cable)! We finally figured out how to hook up to the Nature Conservancy's broadband.

So, with no further ado, here we go with Phase II of Joyce and Wiley's Great Adventure! I'll start with some pics of our new abode and surrounds.

As soon as you get off the main road (state road 27) you're in orange grove and cattle ranching country. There are lots of dirt roads, lakes and a surprising amount of wildlife.



Our RV is set up on top of a little sandy hill next to a barn looking out over a small lake.




This is our lake at sunrise our first morning here. We got up early and took a walk. We're on 5000 acres of sand scrub on the Lake Wales Ridge, which is some of the most endangered land in FL. The Nature Conservancy describes it this way:




"The Lake Wales Ridge is a landscape of contrasts. It includes desert-like habitats, but absorbs 50 inches of rain most years. It is the highest point in peninsular Florida, but stands only 295 feet above sea level. It is an enormous sand dune, but the ocean has long since receded. Its scrub habitat is a forest, but of miniature scale. It shelters one of the largest collections of rare organisms in the world, but its well-drained sand is attractive to both citrus farming and housing developments.

The future of the Lake Wales Ridge Ecosystem depends upon our commitment to create economic incentives for private landowners to manage their land for native species, to support public land acquisition and to ensure these lands are effectively managed.








Wiley and I will work to help Nature Conservancy by maintaining the section of Florida Trail that runs through the property, eradicating invasive non-native species, cleaning the office and helping out in the office. There are four paid employees at this site, 3 volunteers and 1 intern. Our boss, Adam, is in charge of the controlled burning program to help restore and maintain the ecosystem which would be here if man hadn't stopped the natural fires resulting from lightning.

That's about it for now. In future blogs I'll have pictures of our first week here as we explored the area, including a hike with Wiley and Marguerite, a visit with Julie and John, our first ride on an ATV, a visit to Vero Beach in search of treasure, and a hike at Arbuckle Forest (including a very rare sight). Stay tuned (I love my life!).

10/27/06 (Friday): Well, I had a little problem accessing the internet here in the back of beyond, so I haven't been able to post yet (I'm at my in-laws' now). I think I have it all figured out now, so I hope to do a posting this weekend. The new job is great--love the people and the scenery. I've seen eagles every day and a pond turtle laying eggs! Wiley caught some bass in the pond right by the camper. I saw the orthopaedist yesterday and the wrist and thumb are coming along fine. I'll get the cast off in 2-1/2 weeks and then get some physical therapy. Julie and John are visiting with us this weekend and Cathy and the rest of the Dykes clan will come soon. I hope Troy and some of the FTA gang will come hang out with us a little, too. We might put you to work on the trail! Hang in there with me--I'll get it together soon!

10/24/06 (Tuesday): No, I'm not giving up on the blog! We've been a little busy setting up in our new home and taking care of some appointments. Also, the laptop had to go into the shop for a while. Starting tomorrow, I'll be doing a blog of Phase II of Joyce and Wiley's Great Adventure (Florida edition). Please stay tuned!

10/17/06 (Tuesday): We made it! We arrived yesterday evening and spent the night in Wiley and Mag's house (parked the camper in their driveway). Today we dropped the camper off in its new home near Lake Wales. We met the 4 Nature Conservancy employees. I think we're going to enjoy this a lot! Wrist killing me right now--more later. Seeing orthopaedist tomorrow.

10/14/15 (Saturday): Well, we're in NC now (Smithfield, which I think is not far from Raleigh). We're doing okay--the driving is very stressful because my arm gets tired. We're stopping frequently and ending the day early. It'll probably take us two more days at this rate. We're going directly to the preserve and leaving the RV, then we'll go stay with Wiley's folks for a week while we get physicals, go to the dentist and (for me) see the orthopaedist. We're scheduled to start on the 20th, but they're very flexible.

We had a hair raising experience yesterday. We pulled into Patapsco State Park around 4 PM and followed the sign to the campground, but we were confronted suddenly with a bridge too low for us to go under. We hadn't seen any signs at the entrance, but there we were about 1/4 mile down a curvy road with fairly heavy traffic! Bummer! We called the park office and they sent a ranger out to stop traffic. I had to back up the hill one handed around the curves! When I was almost to the end, a kind guy took it the rest of the way for me. I thought my arm was going to fall off! But I figured if I could do that one handed, I'm doing okay!

Here are some pics from our trip so far--the color was beautiful thru NY and PA, but it was still pretty green in MD. It's actually warm here in SC!

See everyone soon!




Sunrise at campground in PA



Hay wagon in field in PA















MD rest stop













View of our camper from restaurant window (MD)

10/10/06 (Tuesday): This will be short because I'm typing one-handed. I KNOW IT'S NOT POLITE TO TYPE IN ALL CAPS, BUT IT'S MUCH EASIER, SO FORGIVE ME!

WE'RE LEAVING THE CAMPGROUND TODAY AND HEADING BACK TO FLORIDA. WE HAD A GREAT TIME WITH JULIE AND JOHN, AND I'M SO THEY WERE ABLE TO STAY FOR A WHILE SO I COULD GET USED TO DOING EVERYTHING WITH MY LEFT HAND. W E TOOK SEVERAL SCENIC DRIVES AND ENJOYED THE FALL FOLIAGE.

WILEY HAS PLOTTED A ROUTE FOR US THAT AVOIDS MOUNTAINS AND MAJOR CITIES. WE'LL ONLY DRIVE FOR A COUPLE OF HOURS A DAY SO THAT MY GOOD ARM DOESN'T GET OVER TIRED.

WE'VE HAD A THOROUGHLY GOOD EXPERIENCE THIS SUMMER AND ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO OUR WINTER IN THE FLORIDA WILDERNESS.

HERE ARE A FEW PHOTOS OF OUR LAST FEW DAYS IN MAINE.

10/7/06 (Saturday): It's been an exciting couple of days! Julie and John arrived Tuesday evening. Wednesday we did our famous trip to Port Clyde to see the lobster boats come in, with all the stops along the way. Unfortunately, we only made it to the Birch Point Beach stop--I fell and broke my wrist and thumb walking on the beach! I have a temporary cast on and still plan to head back starting on the 11th. Typing is tiring, so I'll post more details another time. I'm okay--don't worry!

10/2/06 (Monday): Well, no pictures tonight, but I'll post some random news and thoughts for all you adventure junkies!

We miss Monkey so much. Every time I come into the RV, I expect to hear her little greeting sound. When I'm lying on the couch reading, I miss her warm little body in my lap. Some kind person posted anonymously on the last blog that they made a donation in her name to the local cat shelter--wasn't that a kind thing to do?! I know we made the right decision, and I'm not wracked with guilt or anything, but I really do miss her!

We've been very busy putting the finishing touches on our new tile floor. I'll take a picture of it as soon as we finish. We're putting down shoe molding now. Wiley's a genius at cutting all those angles. I'll pat myself on the back, too, because I did a really nice job putting down the tile. The lines are all straight and it's a nice, tight fit.

The campground is not busy at all now. I take my book (and sometimes my laptop) to the office with me on work days. We've sold off most of our merchandise with our 40% off sale, so the store looks empty, too. Monday, 10/9, is our last day (and I only work 2 hours that day). The owners have invited us to dinner on the 5th, but we declined because Julie and John will be here and we'd rather do something with them. But that was very nice--they've already had a year-end celebration for us.

The weather is very cool here now. The high today was only 56 and it's only going to warm up to the lower 60's later this week. At night it's going down into the lower 40's--definitely sleep under the down comforter weather!

We're looking forward to Julie and John's visit. It'll give us a chance to re-do all the things we enjoyed the most before we leave. We'll probably pull out on 10/10 or 10/11 and head for FL. We're ready for some warm weather and seeing family and friends again!

9/28/06 (Thursday): This is a very sad day for us. We had Monkey euthanized this morning. Her kidneys have been failing for about a month now, and she had a very bad night last night. We decided early this morning that it was just a matter of timing and we were going to need to do it sooner or later. We're replacing the flooring in the camper and getting ready to make a very long trip back to Florida, and it just didn't seem fair to put her through that.

Monkey has been a joy to us for 19 years since we found her in our front yard where she was almost killed by a pack of dogs. She was quirky, smart, affectionate and funny. We'll miss her.

9/27/06 (Wednesday): Coming into the home stretch here--just 12 days to go! We're still enjoying work, the weather and the great scenery.

Last night we said goodbye to some camper friends who have been here the whole season, Gary and Nina. We had them over for hamburgers and enjoyed some wine around the campfire. It's getting cold enough that we really appreciated the fire! Then we came inside and gobbled up the delicious apple pie that they baked for the occasion. We hope to be able to stay in contact with some of the wonderful people we've met while we were here. Gary and Nina are on their way to Texas.

Monkey is having some health problems that have us worried. We've had her to the vet twice now. She's in the early stages of kidney failure. The vet has us giving her IV's every other day and has put her on special canned cat food. If she's not better by the end of this week, we've made the very difficult decision to have her put to sleep. We don't want to subject her to the long trip back to Florida, and we want to remember her for the nutty, engaging kitty she's always been, not as an invalid.

We've been tearing up the carpeting in the bedroom today (in addition to doing laundry and normal chores. Tomorrow we'll put down some tile (same as the tile in the living room). We've been enjoying the way it looks as well as how easy it is to keep clean. I enjoy this kind of project, but poor Wiley doesn't--he usually gets stuck with the hard and dirty parts of projects. He's doing the bulk of the ripping up and removing staples part of the job. I'm the expert on the finish work. I'll cut, fit and stick down the new tiles and then put down the toe molding (trim). We make a good team--everyone who's seen the work we did here has commented that it's very well done.

No pictures this time. The leaves are just beginning to change and I'm sitting here looking at the evening light slanting through the trees and casting colored shadows on the sides of the camper. There are very few people here now. We pick up a few over weekends, and we'll probably pick up some more next week (leaf peepers). Our friends, Julie and John, will be here next Wednesday. We're looking forward to viewing the colors with them and making one last round of our favorite haunts.

I've got to get back to work now--we're trying to finish up so that we can go buy some trim pieces we need and then go to Pizza Hut for dinner.