Al went into the hospital at 7am on October 12.  Dr MacBeth performed a total knee replacement. He was sent home with Oxycotin with 325 mg of acetepheman and a pain pump that was supposed to last 48 hours.  It was inserted into the flesh of his upper leg with a catheter.  I got back into the recovery room at 12-1pm ish.  His pain was already beginning to start which surprised us because we were told that the nerve block would last until the next morning.   The nerve block went into his spine.  It was very painful.  He said there were several needle ..read more

Blairsville, Ga  (high 64, low 42) There have been a LOT of changes and it's hard to know where to start. After Hurricane Irma struck the Keys and destroyed our fifth wheel, we decided to hold off on putting another RV there.  There are some issues with the county and permanent rv's, so we're waiting to see how that all plays out.  With no rv there, we are able to rent the lot out when we are not there.  If anybody wants to spend Christmas in the Keys, let me know. We decided to purchase a small trailer that we could easily tow and find campsites that we would fit.  ..read more

We are trying to enjoy the fall activities, while still dealing with hurricane and insurance issues. Things are moving very slowly due to the massive amount of damage and the remote location.  We are being patient. We know our fifth wheel is a total loss and are waiting for the insurance company to find a company capable of picking the pieces up and towing it away. We are hoping to get more info on our boat today. It is stored on Venture Out property in a secured storage lot.  There are 100-150 boats in the lot, all in assigned spaces.  At least they were.  Now they are ..read more

Blairsville, Ga (high 75, low 46) In case you haven't been following my blog, you can catch up HERE We are now back in Georgia after a very hot and tiring trip down to the Keys.  We felt we should go down to inspect our Fifth Wheel and boat, and to see if we could salvage anything. We left the beautiful mountains and the cool weather to go to the heat and destruction in the Florida Keys. We (the cats included) were exhausted after our trip and were so glad to be back in Georgia.  We stayed with my cousin and her wife who have a home in Key West. Thankfully they only had ..read more

Blairsville, Ga (high 80, low 58) Things are a mess in the Keys. Fortunately, Key West was spared the brunt of the storm, thank goodness.  Key West is such a beautiful and special town, full of history, large old trees and beautiful architecture and although there is damage, it could have been worse.  My cousins house is fine.  No flooding.  A tree or two and some fencing down.  They still do not have consistent power, water, or flushable toilets so they have no urgent need to rush back down. Information is trickling in, little by little.  Things are not good ..read more

Blairsville, Ga (high 72, low 58) We have been enjoying the very fall like temperatures here in north Georgia with a cooler than normal September.  We have had several mornings with temps as low as 42 degrees!  That is about to change soon, as we get ready to head to they Keys and the heat and humidity. As I posted on the past few blogs, we have been trying to figure the status of the Fifth Wheel.  Last winter we  had it towed down as a permanent winter home in the Florida Keys. Irma made landfall (ground zero) as a Cat 4 hurricane with winds of 140 mph, right on our litt ..read more

Blairsville, Ga (high 66, low 55) We survived Hurricane Irma and all of our close family and friends are safe and sound.  We have a neighbor in the Keys who stayed  to ride out the hurricane, and we haven't heard anything about him, which is not particularly unusual right now.  There is no electricity, the cell towers are down, and info is scarce.  We are hoping he and his friends are fine. The Tampa area dodged a big bullet when the storm shifted a little at the last minute, sparing a direct hit over Tampa.  Our motorhome appears to be fine, but I'll feel better whe ..read more

I had written a blog post a day or so ago, but hadn't gotten around to proof reading it yet and now it seems a little unimportant.  Maybe I'll post it in a few days. For now, we are very closely watching The Weather Channel and Hurricane Irma.  It seems we've been watching it forever.  It's very stressful. We are safe in our Fifth Wheel in Blairsville, Georgia, but are actually under a tropical storm watch even all the way up here.  Damn Irma! My Mom and brother are in Tampa hunkered down in her concrete block house.  They have lost power, but hopefully they will be ..read more

  Cudjoe Key, Florida (high 90, low 80) We have been back in the Keys since early March.  I intended to update my blog regularly, but somehow fun got in the way and it never got done. I will try to catch up, but not necessarily in chronological order.  In March, and early April we were busy setting up our new home.  Most of April, the wind blew hard every day which didn’t allow us to take the boat out.  We were getting pretty discouraged but finally the wind died down AND we got a waterfront canal spot to keep our boat.  Thanks to the generosity of a wonderful nei ..read more