Countdown...

Our countdown clock has been ticking away for the past couple of weeks, but we're in crunch mode now! We leave Friday and we are very excited!

Our niece, Rosie, visited over her spring break and was our last guest here at Hotel Thomas. We had to close the "hotel" in order for us to begin preparing for our trip. Planning to travel in the RV for 6 months or so is practically like moving. Here's just some of the things we've had to take care of:
* doctors, dentists, haircuts
* visit with friends to say our "goodbyes"
* get both cars and the RV ready with oil changes, maintenance, etc
* decide which toys to bring and which to leave behind - this year we are going to leave behind the kayaks, but bring both mountain and road bikes
* shopping and packing
* reduce the food at the house since it won't all fit in the RV fridge, and won't keep while we're gone
* complete all of those outstanding tasks that we've put off
* prepare computers - backups, file transfers, etc
* canceling utilities/services - phone, dsl, newspapers, etc
* and so on and so on...like I said - it's like moving!

So, where are we going?
Here's our tentative schedule - "written in pencil on a napkin". I love that saying - especially when we're RVing, because everything changes so frequently.
A couple of stops in Florida to see friends...
Be in Dallas by April 25th to fly out to Philly to help my mom move...
Be in Death Valley by mid-May then on to Kings Canyon and Sequoia NPs...
Reservations in Yosemite early June...
Then hopefully on to Lake Tahoe, Lassen Volcanic, Crater Lake, Cascade Mtns and many of the other beautiful spots we have yet to see on our travels.

Our first stop will be Zolfo, FL to see Jim and Chris. This will be a "business" trip in addition to a personal visit. Jim's a Datastorm Installer. Yep, that's right, we're getting a satellite dish installed. Yikes! We're anxious about this new acquisition. Check back after the weekend for more details.

Memories...

In the past couple of months I had gone back through our photos and realized that I didn't have too many of the two of us together. So I started to gather them in a folder and thought it would be fun to create a movie file with them. I tried a couple of options before creating this one with Photostory. Just thought it would be fun to see some of the beautiful places we've been. It's only about 1 1/2 minutes...

AndyDiane.wmv

Ok, I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong...but I wanted the video to show up on the screen...well, until I play with it more and learn how to do this, just click on the link and it'll still play for you.

Protect our Manatees

I love our manatees. These harmless, whiskered-face, air-breathing marine mammals are one of the things that make Florida special. We've belonged to the Save the Manatee Club for as long as we've been in Florida. I had even adopted one, Nick, when we were in Jacksonville.

Our love and curiosity of these critters sometimes drives people to do things we shouldn't. This newsletter from SMC, however, made me sick in my stomach. We've felt guilty just trying to kayak close to them - our belief is if they want to play, they'll hang around; if they keep moving, leave them alone. I can see the desire to touch, but ride a manatee? And now that I've seen how many people "touch", I'm even going to be even more careful about not 'bothering' these big sea cows.

The video showing manatee abuse.

The article on the manatee abuse.

I don't mean to get on a soap box, but I think it's important for everyone to understand how we can affect our wildlife. If you think, "How can one pat/scratch/rub bother this animal?", just remember that you are just one of many people...