DAY 2 ON CARRABELLE ISLAND

 this morning we just took it sloe and easy sure weren't in any kind of rush..we wanted to go bike riding and it was on the cool/cold side this morning so we wanted to wait till it warmer up a tad...waited till after lunch and then took off...a lovely ride in st george's island...it ended up to be between 8--10 miles..go to get some exercise...

as we drove along the coast to the island we saw rafts of ducks and not just a few but hundreds of them of course we stopped to take a look...all kinds of different ones in the bunch...

stopped to buy some fresh shrimp now lar is off fishing...he can fish without a license where we are camped so it is taking advantage of it...

planning on going out to dinner for nothing but shrimp...oh i know we bought some but they are for another time..

can you image we need to watch out for bears here in florida and along th coast..go figure..

life is still great

CARREBELLE, FL

we have made it to carrebelle island here in the beginning of the panhandle of florida...nice campground..today we took a little tour and went to st george island to check out a bike trail and the light house...crossed over a 5 mile bridge with lots of oysters fishermen under the bridge...several places to buy seafood and we plan on eating shrimp.. i don';t like oysters and larry can't eat them so it will be shrimp...

tomorrow we plan on gong for a bike ride..kinda on the cool side today so we just took a walk and checked out the light house...

good day and nice not to have anywhere to go and anything to do for a change..

life is good

WORK DONE

yesterday was to last day of work for us..so this morning we were up and out by 10:30 as we knew we didn't have a long day of travel...we plan on visiting jerry and connie willet friends from back home also jim and tish kane...

the last week i worked in the restore for a couple of days and the gals i worked with were good as we spent alot of time laughing...the closest i can tell you about working in the restore is like working in a thirft store or salvation army we spent our time going thru clothes that have been donated...so were good of course but others had to be pitched...the restore here in dade city make enough over the years that they have been able to pay for several houses...

now for lar he spent the last couple of days working with jerry boss yep that is his last name boss..from michigan and someone we have grown to know over the years we have come here...anyway they have been  putting in the kitchen and bathroom cabinets...yesterday lar didn't get back to the camp sige till way after quitting time...around 5 but the cabinets got ALL put in and that was the plan when they left in the morning...it was nice for them to have completed a project as we have been in a  couple of houses doing jobs and at the end of the day they weren't done and we were not sent back to complete... so they were happy campers...

heavy rain in the night and it is cool and windy out today...not like the last couple of days when i got to 80..but this in winter..

a picture of the group we worked with ...because it was such a large group there were some we never got to really know or even work with but lots got done and it was  a good 2 weeks..

god bless

DAY OFF

monday was martin luther's birthday and we got the day off ..so we took an adventure to go visit some habitat friends who have bought a condo in brandanten, fl...bill and judy are from our very first build in 2006 along with several others we are still in contact with..if i remember correctly it was the first build for most of us..

they have been looking for some time and one thing bill wanted was to be by  come water so the pace they bought is between the gulf of mexico and tampa so they are happy....they only moved in a month or so ago and are still trying to furnish it ...here in florida if you go to habitat restores--good---thrift you can get some really good deals on furniture...nice condo and we had a good day renewing friendship...

now for habitat we have now worked on 4 houses in different stages...2 of them have beenrehabs and the other ones are new construction...the one we worked on yesterday is in it's final stages as it is to be dedicated the end of feb...lar worked on installing kitchen cabinets and i helped with the storage shed...today lar is off the hopefully finish the cabinets and  

 the lee's  became the snyder's when they bought the house...just haven't taken the sign down yet..

iam going to the restore...

we only work a half day as tonight we are treated to a steak and chicken dinner...oh we all bring a dish to pass but the meat--wine--beer--water are all provided..

so our time here is winding down as tomorrow is the last day of work...then we move on..

time has sure flown by..

END OF WEEK ONE

week one is now over and it is time to do catch up chores and od some grocery shopping so we can eat something next week...like fruit and cold cuts...

we worked on three different houses..of course the last one is a rehab ..

on friday some of the group went to a friends house tom and christine hounsell for dinner...they have volunteered for habitat for many years and now have bought a house in z/hills so they wanted  s get together..

nice time and a great dinner..

sat 14 from the group went on a bike ride on the famous w/trail (no neeed tp spell it cause it wouldn't be right) a nice flat trail and i did better than i thought i might...we biked for over an hr and half...sharon on the the gals on the bike ride had a little mishap she didn't get hurt except her pride...her back tire was going flat and caused her some stirring problems so off to the grass she went..the bike was ok to walk back so she walked a couple of miles...

today sunday lar and i went out to breakfast then decided as long as the bikes were on we would go do the trail in town which is only 1 mile long--we thought it was longer so we did it twice...off to go grocery shopping and back to the rig to wash the truck and rig..

then it will be time for football...go seattle...ahhahahahaha

tomorrow we are off due to a holiday..and we are going to go visit some other habitat friends who have just bought a condo south of us.....then 4 more days and we are then heading to alabama...

temps are sure comfortable...

now if you don't know waht that signs means i will tell you...we are very near train tracks where it is used heavy..as you know when a train is approaching a crossing it must blow it's whistle..it is long--long--short--long and that is the painted signe for it along the bike trail we were on yesterday...now along the track they have a sign with a big W on it so they know when to blow..we hear this all night and day..

FIRST FEW DAYS

we have arrived in dade city and have worked 3 days ...we are working on a 6 bedroom house that when finished will house a family of 7 and has 6 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms...4 of the children are handicapped ...one is blind  and also one in a comatose state...the children are adopted so our hearts go out to them...it is the biggest house this habitat has attempted to build...

a good share of the house was done by the time we  got here...so the biggest pus

h was to get it dried in and that means getting the roof on...so it is a really big job...on monday we only worked a half day due to rain and did it rain...the soil just dosen't drain well and there is still alot of puddles around the build site...just like playing in the mud...

some of you might know don and beth hickman from back home...we have worked with some of the others at different times...

this coming monday we will celebrate martin luther king birthday by getting the day off...not sure what we might do and it will depend on the weather i'm sure..

so all's doing good here and we are busy and tired when we go to bed...

ARRIVED DADE CITY

we left jan 3 as planned and drove thru rain-sleet-snow-ice-rain-sleet---we were happy that we left home about 2 hrs earlier than usuall but due to the weather we arrived in winchester about the same time we usually do...had even thought about going further  earlier in the day after we got an early start but that sure changed..

the second night we made it to south of the border in south carolina and dewinterized the rig only to discover that we had a front jack that was not working that way it should...so now what we need to get it fixed...went on line and found some shops along our way...so the next day i drove and lar spent time on thbe phone talking to the open range people to find someplace to go to...they just told us find someplace and they will call to see if it is warranty covered...so we found one right off the highway we were traveling in ocala, fl...picked a good one..they took us when we arrived assed the problem and then fixed it..so we were back on the road by 3 with a  fixed jack...


because we had changed a couple of our [plans that we wanted to stop and see along the way we just headed to bushnell where there is a park that gives 1/2 half to vets so we decided to stay there...good park with lots of  road to ride our bikes on...so we rode bikes and the knee was no problem...

met up with a coupld from church back hme and had lunch with them..good seeing familiar faces from back home..

today sun we are now in dade city and at 5 tonight we will have a team meeting to hear what there is to knolw..etc..

life is good and god bless..

the sandhills were in the campground where we weere

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