Sunday, June 12, 2005

A Quick Trip Back Home

We took a quick trip back to Ft Lauderdale to meet up with contractors to finish some of the work on the condo. The work was done, per se, but there were a couple problems to fix. In the two days home we met with three contractors plus the developer to finish our punchlist. Considering our tight timeframe we were happy to get it all done.
We also got to squeeze in a few visits with friends. Gail and Merle came down one night to see how all of their colors came out. Ha! Since Andy was no support during the color-choosing months (paint, tile, carpet) prior to the move I was constantly running over to their house for advice. Since we went outside of our comfort zone and went with bold colors (reds, golds, browns, and navy) I needed feedback that I wasn't doing anything stupid. They were a big help and I can't thank them enough for their advice. We like the change.
Our friend and realtor, AnneMarie, came for the "after" visit, since she had already seen the "before" when it was bare concrete and white-washed walls. And Fred & Charley came down for drinks and dinner. It was so good to have our northern (Boca) friends come to check out the new place.
On the drive back to Ft Laud we had to drive thru some rains, but were so excited to see a rainbow - the whole thing from end to end. How unusual. But then minutes later we saw another whole rainbow form right alongside the first, like a shadow. Very cool. I'm still excited about it, eventhough Gail told me this happens quite frequently in New Mexico.
We returned to Ft Myers Beach to pick up Spirit and on Sat we headed North...to Tampa. Ha! Yeah, another short trip. But we wanted to stop at Lazy Days (the RV dealership where we bought Spirit) to check out the new 2006 models. Two good things happened during the drive. First, Andy somehow managed to avoid 90% of the rains from Tropical Storm Arlene and second, our water heater started working again. When we came back from Ft Laud, the pilot wouldn't lite. Might've been from so much humidity or driving rains that got inside the w/h compartment. But the drive must have air-dried it and it started up again. Oh, I should also mention that Andy is relieved to be leaving our last campsite since he had to donate so much blood to the local mosquitos there that he was going to pass out soon if he didn't move on. It was nice being on the water next to mangroves...except a low-tide, if you know what I mean. They were fierce at our site attacking any area (on Andy) not covered in Off.
Anyhow, we got to look at the new RV models at Lazy Days and came to the conclusion that we are perfectly content in our Spirit. The size, colors, design are all just right for us. But that's not to say those $600,000 40 ft buses weren't bad either with their washers and dryers and 1 1/2 baths...just not for us and the way we like to travel or parks we want to be able to fit in.
We're heading out soon, moving up the state to Ocala National Forest then along I-75 to some other State Parks. FYI: It may be a little while til I can post an update.

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