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