December 10, 2005

Christmas must be drawing nearer as more and more lights and decorations go up around this park. It begins to look more like the Richmond tacky light tour all the time. A friend and I went down into Naples proper Thursday evening and as we walked and/0r danced along 3rd avenue amongst the people, the snow began to spurt out from the street lights. The fun was in watching the little children standing under the falling snow. Some of the parked cars actually had an accumulation on them. Of course there are also many lights there as well. It was all quite magical. We had gone over to the Naples Pier earlier in the evening to watch the sunset which is a nightly ritual in that area. People just seem to appear from everywhere just before the sunset, striding along with the purpose of seeing the sun set in a spectacular blaze. Today it is a bit cloudy and threatening but then the sun comes out brightly for a hour or so. A trip to the beach was planned but has been postponed. I have been biking quite a lot but want to mount a rack on the back for carrying things so went to two bike stores to compare prices. Hope you enjoy these photos of the area.

December 5, 2005

Hello from Naples, FL. Made it in here Saturday night after dark. Some you know I don't usually drive after dark but I had little choice. I was ready to leave Lazy Days in Tampa at 1:30 p.m. for the 160 mile trip south but when I went to plug my car lights into the back of the MH, the plug didn't fit. Turns out the service people put another manufacturers plug on my cord and the MH has a different manufacturer - They were not compatible! Back over to the service bay for us.
We never left until 2:45 p.m. I put the cruise control on 55 mph since I have this little digital read out which advises what my gas mileage is. When I boosted it up to 65, the gasoline consumption goes down to 5 and 6 miles per gal but at 55, it reads about 9 and 10. I have lots of power and I really like the braking that comes from the Allison Transmission. I realize that I need to pull everything out again here in Naples and give a bunch of stuff away. Funny thing about downsizing - it is an ongoing process. Moving once a year is tough on this old body but really good for clearing out the debris. Bashey and I like our space. He was not too happy today since I bathed him in the outdoor shower. There is lots of dirt, mud, sand and stuff from the hurricane (Wilma) that tore things up quite a bit here. A white dog in this type of environment is like a white mop. He now sports his Christmas scarf around his neck. I have some Christmas touches and will add a small tree today I hope. I also want a poinsetta plant. I have some lights to put up but my MH will be pale compared to the others here in the park. Some of them would qualify for Richmond, VA's tacky light tour that happens every here at this time downtown. Such a fun thing to do with good friends. I will miss that. And I missed the Madrigal Dinner at PHS with my daughter. Grandson Trav plays the trumpet in the pagent and granddaughter, Anna serves. There are always sacrifices along this road - these are the really tough ones. I miss my family a great deal and wish I could somehow just teleport to their homes right through the blizzard. Maybe Santa Claus and the reindeer led by the infamous Rudolph would give a lonely grandma a ride north. Wouldn't hurt to ask!