STILL CATCHIN' UP--

Here are two more pics in a short series of photos taken while we enjoyed our first beach-side, sunrise of our journey south.  I liked this composition with the palm tree dwarfing the human elements of the photo and the rising sun just peeking over the horizon and claiming center stage--even though it is some 93 million miles from Earth and actually rose about 8 minutes before it became visible to us.

It takes that long for light to travel those 93 million miles at 186,000 miles per second.

That's Bill and Terri and Sue on Tybee Island, GA.

The lower photo was done just a bit later as we were exploring the beach beneath the Tybee Island Pier. 
Note how the color temperature of the sunlight has shifted to the cooler range of the spectrum in that short length of its morning ascension.

I was going to correct the sloped horizon of the sea but did not because I found the competing angularity between the piers and the horizon pleasurable.

A LITTLE CATCHIN' UP--

Son Brian helps hitch the camper the day after Christmas in preparation for our departure to FL on the 27th of December.  Just days before that my laptop computer failed so we headed off on our snow-birding adventure without the main tool necessary to publish the blog.  Hence our absence of stories for most of January.

We left the laptop with our computer doctor's store the morning of our departure.  Later we learned it was dead on arrival, and we placed a long-distance order for its replacement.  That was shipped to us in the latter part of January but it arrived with two serious flaws; 1) it could not operate my card reader which is my tool of choice for downloading photos, and 2) my email program would not play nicely with my email service.

The first flaw stopped blog publication cold and today we are limping along with a patch-work fix until a permanent solution is found.

We like to think the above photo clearly shows the wisdom of our choice to head for warmer weather.  It turns out that was indeed a good choice since the northeast has been pummeled with polar assaults since.

We also like to think the following photo supports our choice to head south:

It was taken a couple days later on Tybee Island Georgia as the sunrise sprinkled warmth across the Atlantic and a passing sea bird seemed to salute our arrival.  We were grateful for both.  That is my lady, Sue Brooks on the right with square dancing friends from Mansfield, Terri Garafolo and Bill Moore who hosted us for several days in their condo located between this marvelous scene and Savannah.

We square danced with them to celebrate the New Year with a Savannah area dance club then continued our journey south New Year's Day; stopping for a lunch visit with daughter TJ and family in Jacksonville, FL and arriving in the Vero Beach area later that evening, where...

...we had the good fortune to bunk with Bellville friends Dick and Jan Shafer for a delightful and much welcomed evening, sparing us the burden of setting up the camper in the dark while fairly exhausted from a 1,200 mile trip.

The camper has behaved nicely--except: the potty needed replaced, the GFI electric outlet in the bathroom failed and our little ceramic heater required a quick replacement before last night's somewhat chilly 40 degree temperature.

Regardless, the weather has been comparably terrific and we have been warmly received in this owner occupied, aging mobile home park with RV facilities and have been blessed with marvelous new friendships that have put a delightful polish on this, our first-ever, snow-birding experience.

Please stay tuned.

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR--
The belated variety

"Hi" from the land of sunshine, palm trees, and warm (mostly) sub-tropical breezes.  Just before we headed south my laptop computer failed.  Consequently, I ended up in Florida without a convenient means to process photos or publish to the blog.

I am working via email with my friends at KOSI in Mansfield to assemble a replacement PC and ship it to me.  When that arrives and I manage to wrap my aging brain around its boatload of new software I hope to get back into the blogging business.

Consequently, I am bouncing between a public PC and Sue's laptop.

We pulled our 28' 5th wheel style camper down here and will be staying in it in the Vero Beach area.  On the way down we spent several days with Johnny Appleseed square dancing friends Terri Garafolo and Bill Moore at their digs in Savannah, GA where we really enjoyed visiting that city's marvelous, historic sights--and, we square danced into the new year with them.  Ahhhh.

Our second visit along the way was with daughter TJ and family in Jacksonville.  Ahhhh.

On our first night here we stayed with Bellville friends Dick and Jan Shafer who winter here as well.  After a 1,200 mile trip that was a blessing and allowed us to set up the camper after a good night's rest.  Ahhhh.

Now we are established in a 55+ owner occupied mobile home park with spaces available for transient RVs such as ours.  We have been immersed in the park's activities and made to feel very much welcome.

This morning we were part of the crew undoing Christmas decorations in the clubhouse.  As I was lying on the floor wrestling with the Christmas tree holder, new friends were rattling my cage about their getting even for my winning the major pot (a bag of pennies) in the weekly card game a couple of nights previously.

I felt awful about those winnings then came back a night or so later and won $5 in a bingo game.

It may be awhile before I untangle myself from this new reputation.

Please stay tuned....