Christmas Eve & Newsletter

December 24th, 2013 - We went for a walk on the beach.  It was cold but the sky was blue and clear.  The tide was out further than we have seen before.  CoCo got her nose wet!!!  She really enjoys her walks/runs on the beach as do we.  We are ready for Christmas Day.  I baked mince pies yesterday and Bryan will do the mexican corn in the morning for our pot luck.  I am typing this on Bryans computer as mine has decided it wants nothing more to do with the internet and I think I will have to buy a new one.  It has lasted 8 years and so I really can't complain. 
Well, I am going to get ready for bed so that I can be asleep before Santa deliver my presents. 
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE............

Below is my annual newsletter that I usually send out.  Most of you will have received it by e-mail, if you haven't it means I don't have your e-mail address so please send it to me.

Pictures Attached: Sue with Mum, Ian, Bailey& Kai - July 2013   

                            Bryan with Ryan & Christina - DelMar Races Sept 2013    

                        Bryan, Sue, Brenda, John, LeeAnne, & Aimee - Oct 2013      

                    MERRY CHRISTMAS 2013, HAPPY NEW YEAR

                                     LOVE FROM SUE, BRYAN & FAMILY

Hi everyone, well here we are again, another year has flown past. We saw the New Year in with Ryan in San Diego and then headed back to Las Vegas. The first 5 months were normal and uneventful as we waited for me to retire on June 5^th.  I was offered tickets for Wimbledon in the lottery in February and we decided that as it was my 60^th birthday I would go, as I may not be able to get tickets again.  So on June 19^th I flew to London for 5 weeks.  I celebrated my birthday on 25^th with mum, Ray & Julie and went to Wimbledon with Julie on the 27^th.  We stayed 2 nights in a hotel near the courts and had a great time. Although we didn’t see Andy Murray, as he wasn’t playing that day, it was still fantastic being a part of the atmosphere.  On July 6^th Ian collected mum & I and took us to his new home near Cardiff where we stayed for 3 weeks. It was Kai’s first birthday while I was there and we went to “ThomasLand” and rode on Thomas the Tank Engine. J I helped Ian get his grass started and we watered it every night as the UK was having a heat wave while I was there.  It gradually went from brown to green. Needless to say on the 7^th I made sure I was watching on TV as Andy Murray won Wimbledon.  I tried to get tickets but it was not meant to be. 

We decided to leave Las Vegas on August 13^th and start our adventures around America in the motorhome.  We started by going to see Ryan in San Diego as we didn’t know when we would be back on the West Coast. We met his girlfriend Christina and went to Del Mar Races while we were there.  We started to travel East back across California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas (where we visited our daughter Brenda, John, LeeAnn & Aimee, brother Patrick, Karen & Taylor and friends Johnny & Kathy) Louisiana (where we visited Mom), Mississippi, Alabama and ending in Florida as planned on December 2^nd. We established residency in Florida and are staying within 3 minutes of the beach in Pensacola. Ryan got engaged at the beginning of December and is getting married in March 2014 so we will fly back to San Diego for that. 

Our granddaughter LeeAnne got Gold in the Special Olympics Bowling while we were there.  We also watched Aimee in her soccer team and they both took part modeling in a fashion show. Ryan & Ian both got promoted during the year and Ian finished his first 10k charity run.  So proud of all our kids and grandkids.

We have seen a lot of different places so far on our travels and are getting into the swing of living on the road. Most of it is documented on our blog:http://lilypadtravels.blogspot.com

Our new mailing address is 5715 Highway 85N, #1754, Crestview, FL. 32536.  This is a post office box and as you have probably guessed we are not sending Christmas cards any longer and ask that you do the same as we have to pay for everything to be forwarded to us from the PO box to where we are.  We would love to get comments on the blog or e-mails from you though, letting us know how you are doing.  Hoping to hear from you, have a happy, healthy & prosperous new year.

Love Sue & Bryan  xxxx    

Visiting Present & Future Home maybe, Sightseeing, Beach and Xmas Preparations

Sunday December 15th - We stayed around the house.  It was Sportsman of the Year in the UK and Andy Murray was one of 10 nominated.  The public votes for the winner in a short time period while the show is airing.  If you are not in the UK you can't vote.  What's wrong with that picture.  I'm sure most of the competitors have fans overseas and I don't see why they shouldn't be able to vote. Fortunately, I had numerous people who said they would vote for me and so Andy was probably better off that I couldn't vote, ha!! ha!!  Guess what, HE WON!!!  Yay!!!  Fabulous end to a good year from him and makes up a little for him having to miss the last three months of the year due to back surgery.  looking forward to seeing you in action again at the end of the month Andy.

Monday December 16th - We got up early (at least early for us) today and headed out 60 miles to Crestview to collect our mail.  Our title for the motorhome was there and hopefully our Daytona tickets as well.  We wanted to do some touristy sightseeing as well.
We went to Milton first and tried to find the hospital where Bryan was born.  We found out that it had moved to a new location & a newer building.  As much as we tried to find the old building we were unsuccessful but drove around for a while.
This was a building in the old district in town complete with Christmas decoration on the lamppost.

We then drove to Crestview and got the mail.  Our Nascar tickets and the title for the motorhome were there, yay!!!  Here is a picture of our official place of residence (home) where we collected the mail. 

The Air Force has a retirement village in this area that is primarily for widows of Air Force servicemen but is also available to other military widows and couples.  I wanted to have a look at it as you never know what might happen in the future.  The Air Force Enlisted Village has both independent living and assisted living accommodation.  The independent living has one and two bedroom apartments.  The two bedroom apartments are $860 a month plus electric and phone.  They are in the process of constructing new buildings which should be completed in 2015 and the rents for those are anticipated to be in the $1,200 - $1,600 range.  They are not cheap but if you are an Air Force widow or couple you can get subsidized if you are on a limited income and have no assets.  It is somewhat comforting that if something happened to Bryan I could live here or if we run out of money (you never know what will happen down the road) we could both live here.  We like this general area and so it could work.  They have a lot of activities if you want to join in and transportation to take you anywhere you need to go.  We met with the Director and she gave us a lot of information.  Bryan is too young to stay there at the moment, you have to be 55 but we don't plan on needing their services for hopefully a few years yet, if at all.  We also asked about Bryan's mom as she is a Navy widow but unfortunately the Navy doesn't subsidize their widows and so she would have to pay the full amount which makes it a little expensive for her. 

Here is a picture of the apartments. 

This sign was in the village just by the apartments, cute!!!

The Air Force Armament Museum was about 5 minutes from the retirement village and so we went and looked around. It was a good museum and free to get in.

Interior of AWACs plane

For Ryan

F 111E

It was getting late and we were still a long way from home and so we started on the ride home.  We had decided to take the coastal road home as we wanted to take in the scenic view.  Unfortunately we got stuck in traffic and the sun was setting as we got there.

We didn't see as much as we would have liked but the sunset was beautiful.

December 17th, 2013 - We got the military police to come out to the motorhome today and fill in the paperwork to check the VIN# that is needed for the registration. 

December 18th, 2013 - Today we went and looked at the other military campground that is close by.  Blue Angel Naval Recreation Area is on Perdido Bay.  There are two campgrounds there.  The first one had a lot of trees and was older.  We decided we probably wouldn't get a satellite signal there for TV but the bay was nice.

 Between the two campgrounds were some common areas.

 The sun reflected off the blue sky and water.

Apparently I didn't get any pictures of the second campground but it was a newer area and there were some sites that we would have been able to get a signal.  This campground is a little further away from shops and the town and it $60 month cheaper than where we are now but there doesn't seem to be as much sand and beach as where we are.  There are more activities here, crazy golf etc. but I think I prefer where we are.  It's a good backup though if our park is ever full.

We got home and went for our walk on the beach.  The sea was a little rougher today and was washing up some interesting things on the beach which of course CoCo had to investigate. 

Bryan managed to stop CoCo getting bitten on the nose by this crab as CoCo wanted to be friends!!

Jelly Fish

 Later after we got back from the beach this little fella decided to come and visit.  They must be getting used to us as there are three of them that always play around by the motorhome in the trees but this is the closest they have been.

December 19th, 2013 - We went to register the motorhome and car today and get Florida license plates.  The car was fine but when we came to do the motorhome they didn't like that the odometer reading wasn't clear and so we had to get another form completed, which meant the security police at the base would have to complete another form!!!  We took a new form to them and they kindly completed it again and back we went to the registration office.  We hadn't been waiting there long when the lady that had seen us the first time spotted us and called us to her desk, which was nice of her as it meant we jumped the line and saved some time.  This time we managed to get the motorhome registered, third times a charm!!!  So we now have Florida number plates as well as Driver licenses.  We truly belong.

December 20th - 23rd, 2013 - We have been finalizing christmas stuff and have decided we are joining in with the pot luck at the campground on Christmas Day.  The camp hosts are providing Turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy and everyone else will bring the sides and desserts.  We are taking mince pies, sweetcorn and christmas crackers.  It is strange that we haven't brought a lot of food like we  usually do but fits in with our new lifestyle.  I'm sure we will have a good time.  I'm really a pretty private person and take a while to feel comfortable around people but this is something I have to overcome in this life where everyone is usually very friendly.  

Ryan & Christina have decided they will get married in San Diego on March 7th and so we will fly back there for that.  We will probably fly out from Orlando as the cheapest fares are from there. We have extended our stay here until January 13th when we will head down to Tampa for a month before heading over to Daytona for the 500.  

 Till tomorrow....... Take Care

Christmas Lights, An Engagement and Wildlife

December 7th - Pearl Harbor Day  Today we were anxiously awaiting news from Ryan but we knew we wouldn't hear until later tonight so we just had to be patient. We decided to go to the lighthouse as they were lighting the Christmas lights tonight and had free hot chocolate, cider and cookies and tours of the lighthouse.  We decided to walk as it would only take us ten minutes going along the roadway between the campground and the lighthouse. On the way a trailer came by giving hay rides to people and they were singing Christmas songs.  They asked if we were from the campground and told us they could give us a ride back when we were ready.
We arrived just as a local school choir was starting carols.  Here is a VIDEO of a couple of the carols.  Sorry, again it is not brilliant.

Singing Carols

We waited in line to go inside the lighthouse and got talking to a couple and their daughter.  They were  camping in a fifth wheel although not at our campground and we chatted about the lifestyle.  They only travel for short trips at a time as she is scared of committing full time because of the weather, mainly tornadoes.  I was a little surprised by this although I have to admit that we wouldn't want to be in the motorhome during a tornado.  I get some comfort in that the motorhome is mobile and we can hopefully escape any bad weather. However, we hope that we can avoid tornado country when they are likely to be tornadoes, much the same as avoiding hurricanes.  Most places that are prone to tornadoes have shelters if needed.  And as I have said many times, when it is our time to go it is our time!!!  We will obviously do everything we can to avoid dangerous weather conditions.  So far we have been fortunate, missing rain, snow, ice etc. Hopefully that will last.

As we waited they lit the lights.

This pelican was waiting to greet us complete with Santa hat. 

There were  177 steps to the top of the lighthouse and we decided not to do that, especially as it was crowded, but just look around the house.

In one of the rooms a trio were playing Christmas hymns. It was lovely.

We walked around the house, the grounds and shop and eventually decided it was time to go home.  There was a long line waiting for the hay ride so we decided we would walk back and off we set.  

Not long after we arrived home we got a message from Ryan that Christina had said Yes, so we were happy for them both. 

December 8th - Stayed around the house cleaning up and getting ready to put the Christmas decorations up.  When Bryan took CoCo out for her late night walk they came across this armadillo looking for food in the campground!! 

December 9th - December 12th  

We spent these days shopping, rearranging our furniture, putting up Christmas decorations, cleaning, laundry and walking on the beach. 

One day we were annoyed that there was one other person on the beach when we got there.  We laughed and said how dare they be on OUR private beach!! 

We purchased a wicker chest from Target to put our cooking pots and pans in and also as a side table for Bryan. 

It has been very cold all around the States including Las Vegas, getting below freezing but we have been fortunate that we have stayed in the high 50's/ low 60's during the day and high 30's and 40's at night.  Florida appears to be one of the only states that has escaped bad weather.

Ryan & Christina announced they will be getting married at the beginning of next year.  It looks as though March 7th is the date so far.  We have been discussing whether we should drive the motorhome back to the west coast or fly.  We'll let you know when we decide.

Friday December 13th - Today marks our 4 month anniversary of being "on the road". After going to the post office to mail the last of our Christmas greetings we went to the Nex navy store which is off base here and walked around.  My stomach was upset so we headed home. We arrived home and I started to catch up with our blog.  Thought about "Gonk" as he travels from UK to Canada to spend Christmas and New Year with his mum & Ian.  Enjoy your time together.  We ended up having a safe, quiet Friday 13th and were happy to see that "Gonk" arrived safely!!

Saturday December 14th - Staying home today.  I took some pictures of our Christmas decorations. 

We added some icicle lights along the top of the windscreen

Our Thomas Kinkade Christmas Tree

Mom gave us a laptop table which we decided to use as a table for our refreshment center, the coffee machine takes pride of place.  We put it on top of the storage box that Bryan bought home from Desert Storm. This really helps as it gets this stuff off of the counter space and frees that up for when we cook.

It was overcast today but the temperature was still good and we went for our walk on the beach.  The water was rougher and the tide had come in a little more than usual but it is just so relaxing.  We really wish they had benches down there to sit on and just watch as we always forget to take a blanket or chairs with us.  Today was one of those days when I could have just sat and watched the surf. 

This boat arrived while we were walking, it had a crane on it and we think it may be a salvage barge. It seemed to stop here just as we were leaving the beach.

Co-Co has been getting braver, this is the closest she has been to the water and you can tell she is thinking very carefully about going in.  I would love to see her enjoy the water but she has always been afraid of it. 

This boy is the only person who is ever on the beach at the same time as us.  He is staying at the park in a camper with his mom & dad.  

We stopped to talk to them one day as they have added a camper shell on the back of their Bronco,  and pull a travel trailer. They are going to be traveling down to the Keys and then head up to Alaska.  They are a couple, their son and two labradors and are taking a year out to travel.  They started in Colorado.  We took a picture of the Bronco to send to Ryan, to show him as it is the same year as the one we had that is now his. 

At the end of our walk we sat on the boardwalk steps that go onto the beach.  I attempted to get a self picture with my camera.  Here it is.  I obviously need more practice at this. Ha!! Ha!! 

Here is a picture of the cottages that are available to rent here.  This was taken as we were walking back from the beach through the trees. 

That's about it for today.  Earlier this evening we watched the Pensacola Christmas Parade on TV and are now watching and listening to a Country Christmas show with lovely Christmas music.  It's beginning to get a lot like Christmas around here, without the snow.

Take Care

December 4th - a significant date, the beach and news from Ryan

December 3rd, 2013 - Today, we had to go to get our Florida Drivers Licenses, get license plates for Tilly (Car) and Lily (motorhome) and get them registered so we can become official Floridians.  We had gathered all the paperwork we needed but couldn't find the title for Lily.  We had it when we started out on this journey but somewhere along the road it has got misplaced.  I know, how do you lose something in a 38 foot motorhome, ugh!!!
We managed to get our drivers licenses and a temporary registration for Lily which gives us 30 days to get a duplicate title from Nevada.  So, we are now officially "Floridians".

December 4th, 2013 - December 4th seems to be a significant date for us:  26 years ago today we first met, I still remember as though it was yesterday. 20 years ago today we arrived in Las Vegas after our journey west across the States and this December 4th we are spending our first day as residents of Florida after our journey east across the States.  Here's to many more December 4th's. 
We got the paperwork completed for the duplicate title, notarized and mailed overnight to Nevada.  They told us if we overnighted it and included a self addressed overnight envelope we could get it back in 7 to 10 business days, so fingers crossed.
We got some heavy rain today but not until late afternoon by which time we were safely back home.

December 6th - When Bryan sat outside early this morning he was joined by this squirrel, who seemed to pose for him.  


 

  

We really like it here, within steps to the beach and CoCo is enjoying walking on the sand as well.  There is usually no one on the beach when we are there or maybe just one or two others, pure bliss. Today we decided to walk along the beach to the lighthouse. 

Pensacola Lighthouse from the beach

An Egret keeping an eye on us.

CoCo & Sue (see our foot/paw prints) The lighthouse can be seen through the trees.

Bryan & CoCo

Foot and Paw prints in the sand

Pensacola Lighthouse & Keepers Quarters

Path down to the beach from the lighthouse

We had an awesome day and later Ryan told us that he was going to take a big step tomorrow and propose to his girlfriend Christina at the McCluskey Christmas Party.  We are excited and nervous for him all at the same time.  Hopefully I will have good news for the blog tomorrow.

Take Care everyone,  goodnight