Happy New Year

 

Hi everyone

Well, another year is coming to an end and what a great one it has been for us. We sure hope you too can look back on lots of fun, happiness, success and hopefully good health.

As you know we have been on the road for the past six months and covered quiet some distance exploring the east cost of Canada. Then, after a "detour" through the New England states it was back to our old home on Lake Nipissing for a short visit before we headed south for the winter. We had such a good time and have seen so many beautiful things and met many wonderful people along the way. We explored some new foods while tasting the local cuisine and are looking forward to having a lot of our favorite, seafood, while here in Florida. Traveling has been all we had expected it to be and even more. There is so much to be learned about Canada's history, geography and the people who make this wonderful country what it is.

Of all the great memories of 2012 our respective trips to Switzerland and visits with our families and Alice's stay with us still are the most precious ones. Although we try to make it over there as often as we can, time between visits is still very long and we are already looking forward to the next time we will see them all again.

Now we will spend some time in the warmth of Florida and making plans for 2013. Our trip has just only begun and we still have so much to see and explore. The options are many and we will keep you posted as our plans progress and certainly when we hit the road again come spring. Until then we wish you, your families and friends a very

HAPPY, HEALTHY, FUN-FILLED and SUCCESSFUL 2013

André and Sue

@ home on the road

PS: Don't forget to read our other blogs (listed on the side) and to follow us on facebook and our Google Map. You can also check our web site for new pictures.

Settling in for the winter

Hi everyone

It's been a while since our last blog and lots has happened since then. We had Alice, André's mom, visiting us for four weeks. It was a wonderful time as we took her on a small tour of the south of the United States. Though we mostly visited places we had been to before, it was interesting for us as well. First of all some of those places have changed a lot since we've last seen them. And secondly Alice's comments and questions gave us a different perspective of them, too. We did enjoy the trip big time.

We started out in Florida, Fort Lauderdale to be precise, drove all the way up to Georgia and over to New Orleans. Then we returned to Florida and Rock Crusher Canyon RV Park in Crystal River where we will spend the winter. Along the way we made day-trips and stops at Key West, Cape Canaveral, Daytona Beach, Apalachicola, Avery Island and, of course, New Orleans to name just some. We tasted the local foods and took in the local sights. We went on an air-boat ride and a cruise on the Mississippi river, visited wildlife parks and cotton fields, the homes of Tabasco Sauce and space travel. It was a lot to take in for Alice and so we also spent a few days doing nothing much and got her to help us wash our fifth wheel. The four weeks passed so fast and soon it was time for her and Sue to fly to Switzerland, where Sue spent a week visiting our families over there.

Before they left we had already done some leaf raking at our camp site and André had begun to clear out dead palm leafs. All around it looks like people here at the campground take great pride in well maintaining their sites. We got into the spirit as well and have to say, it looks so much better, once all the dead leafs are gone. The seasonals here are also preparing for Christmas and one doesn't have to go far to find decorated trailers, motorcycles and even golf carts. There even is a contest going on which will, by popular vote, award the best decoration in those three categories.

So we are settling in for the winter and it will be very special this year. Never before did we sit outside in shorts, t-shirts and sandals less than a week before Christmas. There will be no snow, and of course no shoveling, no coming in from the cold and huddling in front of the fireplace to warm up and it is kind of hard to even think of Christmas. Especially Sue, who just loves all things Christmas-lights, was kind of envious of the displays on other camp sites. But the sensible reasoning is not to spend a whole lot of money for something like an inflatable Santa which can only be used for a short time and will then take up precious storage space in our fifth wheel for the rest of the year. Besides, inflatables are not really our style. None the less Sue would really have loved some kind of decorations and so she was over the top when she came back from Switzerland and found out what André had done during her absence: there were solar tiki torches marking the entrance to our site, solar lights from there to the fifth wheel, two bird-feeders and a gorgeous flower display adorned with palm leafs and moss. Inside the fifth wheel Sue found a cute rosemary-tree lovingly decorated as our Christmas tree. There also is a clover spiked orange which, together with the rosemary-tree gives off a very nice, seasonal smell. It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas here in Florida.

In this sense we wish all of you a
MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR

André and Sue

Somewhere on the road in Canada

PS: Don't forget to read our other blogs (listed on the side) and to follow us on facebook and our Google Map. You can also check our web site for new pictures.