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S a l l y & C h r i s 2 0 1 3 S u m m e r T r i p

Tsg, g. OgsYOUs&s.

A Travel Newsletter Issue #1: April 4-18, 2013

Day 1: Thursday, Apr 4Today was to be our first day camping butsevere weather in south-central Florida kept usat home when warnings of tornadoes wereposted. Instead we worked at Jim & BettyDeans home and then joined them for lunch.

We celebrated Sallys dads birthday today atlunch. Walter would have been 93 years old.He died two weeks ago.

Day 2: Friday, Apr 5The drive to Lake Kissimmee State Park nearLake Wales was leisurely and uneventful,though we were surprised how remote thispark is, plus the 3.6-mile drive from the gate tothe campground was twisty, pretty and long.

Our campsite, on Loop One, was very nicewith plenty of shade. Aliners filled about halfthe spots, and the same held true for LoopTwo. Sally assisted with rally registration,

taking over the responsibility after we set upour trailer.

In the evening Chris led a group sing-along atan outdoor pavilion after introductions weremade and an overview of the weekend rallywas explained.

Day 3: Saturday, Apr 6Our first full day started with a continentalbreakfast of bakery finger-food. Much time wasspent meeting new members and greeting theold veteran members. Chris took photos ofthose desiring to be in the clubs photodirectory (the first AOC photo directory in thenation!) while Sally talked about the trailer kitswe offer.

Following breakfast Chris did a demonstrationon how to properly seal leaking bubblewindows. About a dozen participants kept keeneyes on the process. Chris also visited manycampsites to help folks with trailer repairissues.

An early group supper occurred at MannysChop House in Lakes Wales, The location was

similar to traditional roadhouses and wasdecorated with a huge multitude of vintage andcuriosity signage. The food was delicious andplentiful. Worth a stop if youre in the area, justremember seating fills up quick evenings &weekends: Mannys Original ChopHouse, 210State Rd 60, Lake Wales, FL 863-678-0370

We had another sing-along featuring Alinersongs.

Day 4: Sunday, Apr 7Our traditional Sunday worship service wasgreat as always. Richard & Betty Purchase(our AOC co-directors) planned & presented a

moving mini-service that focused on ourcamping experience as it related to Christ andourselves. Sally and I (along with others) havealways commented on how the worshipservice makes our rallies especiallyworthwhile.

Chris spent another hour visiting trailers forthose with lingering repair & maintenancequestions.

We left the park and drove to Lake Wales totour the Bok Tower (highest observation point

in Florida!), the Bok Gardens, and also tour theBuck mansion on land adjacent to the Tower.

The gardens connecting these two venues arebeautiful and a joy to tour on foot. We spentseveral hours walking here, there andeverywhere.

Day 5: Monday, Apr 8We hit the road early so as to get to Atlantabefore dark. Along the way we decided tomake a quick stop home in Ocala to pick upsome important mail that Betty Dean held for

us. Its always good to see Betty!Chris kidded our next door neighbor, Kolby,who saw our car & trailer and wondered whywe were home. Chris told him we got to LakeCity (60 miles north of home) and forgot totake ketchup with us, and we had a new bottleat home Chris didnt want to waste, so wecame back to get it. Kolbys sharp and knew a

joke when he heard it!

While we stopped for lunch we received twocalls that a neighbor and close friend fromchurch, Al Rasmussen, had passed away. We

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had visited Al in the hospital a week ago andhad spoken and joked with him about manytopics. Al was a great guy who will be missedverymuch.

We drove through to Marietta, GA north ofAtlanta and set up in Kip & CIndis drivewaybefore dark. Our granddaughters,

Symphony & Journey were especially happyto see us. And their dog, Legend, gets soexcited that his whole hind-end wiggles &shakes back & forth when were around.

Day 6: Tuesday, Apr 9Chris was up early and on the road by 10am.He drove four hours to Charlotte, NC to helpa friend with her Chalet camping trailer, whichhe had worked on in Ocala a few weeksearlier. A component he had installed was

malfunctioning and needed repair orreplacement so he felt the necessity ofcorrecting the issue. Traffic through metro

Atlanta is a far cry from Slowcala (the jokingname for slow-Ocala); it took over an hour toget through suburban metro Atlanta and ontoI-85. By nightfall the problem was diagnosedand repaired the manufacturer had

forgotten a critical step in their instructionsresulting in the product being unable tofunction. (Thats why Chris is a stickler forexacting details in the directions included withhis trailer kits!)

Judy (middle), the trailers owner, and herbrother Bob, and another Judy, were fantasticand treated Chris to supper and the use ofthe trailer overnight. He enjoyed his visit.

While Chris was gone Sally & Cindi pressurewashed a piece of carpet from a neighbor,

then squeegeed out the water for two days.And Sally & the girls played the board gameSorry.

Day 7: Wednesday, Apr 10Chris got a morning tour of the familyhomestead and a look at the twin kayaks Bob

hand-built. Such workmanship is afascination to behold; few folks make theirown items today, its a lost art. Bob, you dogreat work!

Back on the road it was a pleasant, thoughlong, ride back to Marietta. Chris joined Sallyand the Williams crew for family fun andfellowship.

Day 8: Thursday, Apr 11

We missed being in Ocala today as: 1) itsour usual morning to work with the churchsThursday Work Group - a team of men (and

Sally, the only female) that do fix-it work onchurch property; 2) this was the day of AlRasmussens memorial service. His passingwill be a loss remembered; he was a devotedmember of our small and intimate ThursdayGroup.

Chris began working on the Daddy-Do listthat Cindi created. But it must be a magic listbecause as soon as he finishes a few tasksothers magically appear on the paper so henever runs out of things to do!

Day 9: Friday, Apr 12

Some of the tasks performed to date include:

straightening & reinforcing a sagging floorjoist in the basement, adding a duplexelectrical receptacle to the basement hall,installing the carpet in the basementrecreation area (below), and fixing a door

closer, connecting a discharge pipe from thebasement sump pump to an outdoor drainand burying everything from sight.

In the evening we treated everyone to a nightat the movies. The feature was Life of Pi, a3-D movie of an east Indian boy in a lifeboatwith a tiger. The 3-D was not overdone andmade the movie very realistic.

Day 10: Saturday, Apr 13The big job of the day was to start building aplayhouse of sorts for Symphony & Journey.

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Sally & I chose to commit some of the moneyfrom her Dads inheritance to projects for ourgrandchildren in remembrance of him. The

girls have wanted a play center in their yard;

a secret fantasy fort they could share withfriends. > >

With son-in-law Kips help we not only startedthe project but actually finished it in one day.(Grampa must have been directing us fromheaven!) We will add a front wall in a fewdays to give the girls a secret space in FortWalter (named after Walter Hoffman, Sallysdad).

Day 11: Sunday, Apr 14The service at Cindi & Kips church was verygood; weve made friends with several folks

as weve visited here several times before. Inthe evening the girls attended Awana whileSally & I attended an adult Bible study.

Day 12: Monday, Apr 15More tasks kept us focused. A front wall onFort Walter was constructed of pressure-treated plywood. Bathroom tub faucet valveswere replaced and a loose screw was foundlodged in the valve. This was the mainreason the pipes would vibrate and rattle thehouse when the shower was used, plus notallow a steady water temperature. The newparts fixed that problem!

Day 13: Tuesday, Apr 16The rear decks screen-storm door wasntclosing correctly so Chris tackled that todayand, after much work and adjustment, he gotit closing as intended. As a treat Sally & I tookSymphony & Journey to the Tuesday $1movies to see the animated movie, TheRising of the Guardians, a cute movieabout Santa, the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy,the Sandman and Jack Frost.

Day 14: Wednesday, Apr 17Chris focused on Kips Volkswagen Golfsedan today, changing the computers water

temp sensor and spark plugs. It now runsmuch better. He also installed a new air filterand spark plug in the lawn mower, giving it anew life. In return the mower will providesomeone (other than Chris) as a good pieceof productive exercise equipment.

Day 15: Thursday, Apr 18Today I built a set of ramps so Kip could learnto change his oil by himself. I cut a 2x6x12length of lumber ($8.57 @H-D) into sixpieces (2) 32, (2) 24, & (2) 16, thenchamfered the leading edges to form a pair oframps. I screwed the smallest boardstogether but left the longest boards free for

separate use, or they could be placedunderneath to raise the ramp height from 3to 4.5.

A gallon of paint was purchased to finish therear deck. Cindi & Sally worked for severaldays on the paint-the-deck project. Firstcame pressure-cleaning of the deck, followedby priming (that alone took about 7 hours tocomplete). A day later it was time to spendanother 7 hours applying the actual porchpaint. Great job, ladies!

While at Walmart I bought an auto oil changebasin, then taught Kip how to change the oilin both their VW Golf and their Jeep GrandCherokee. Chris helped Journey with aproject she made for a girlfriends birthday.

After supper, while Kip was at baseballpractice, the rest of us played charades.

(above) Chris and Symphony simulate abanana in a banana bowl like the one on theWilliams kitchen countertop. (Guess you hadto be there!)

HAPPY CAMPING EVERYONE !

(A) Chris,Journey,Symphony

& Sallypose on thenew FortWalter. (B)Sal & Cidtalk aboutGrampaWalterslove of hisoffspring.(C) Georgiasunset thruthe play-house roof.

A

B

C

pressure-cleaned deck