An Eventful Thanksgiving

 First of all, Sparky and Eldo want to say, we are so thankful for our family and friends who understand we have a little vagabond dust in us, who DIDN'T say, "Are you CRAZY? Going back out on the road full time at your age?", who love us and support us by being happy for us because we love being out on the road and we can do it. We are thankful that our family is healthy for the most part, that we have decent health, and can still travel and see this beautiful country of ours. We hope you were able to see family in a meaningful safe way today....whether it was in the same room, on Zoom, or just on the phone, hearing the voices of loved ones. We both talked to some of our family members, used Face Time to connect, and sent texts. It's both harder and easier with technology these days to stay close to your family. We love it that we can also move around more easily and cheaply to visit our family and see them more than when we had our sticks and bricks house in Florida.

We were delighted to discover that Larry, the guy who guided us into a VERY tight spot in a heavily wooded park back in Indiana back when we first started out traveling and learning how to back in a fifth wheel, arrived yesterday with his wife, Connie, to Peace River, and promptly invited us over to safely distance outdoors and have dinner with them and their son.

We spent the entire morning getting rid of old papers and Sparky tried getting rid of some major craft supplies that are just not going to fit in the rig, NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES she moved things around.  Well, phooey! Anyway, after awhile, the paper pile got so big, Sparky had the brilliant idea to burn it in the fire pit. But she didn't pay close attention to: 1. The fire pit was less than 3 feet to the rig, 2. the awnings were out, and 3. which way the wind was blowing. Before you can say, UH-OH! Not to worry, Sparky did not burn any holes in the awning, BUT--all of a sudden, there was a really loud alarm going off, INSIDE THE RIG. Eldo says, "What the heck is THAT? Is that coming from our rig?" The paper debris/smoke from the fire set off the smoke detector INSIDE, with closed windows. Guess the front door was open and the smoke got in. Oopsie! Sparky went rushing in waving paper in front of the alarm trying to get it to turn off. Finally, it did.

Later, we headed over to the picnic area to meet up with our friends. All of a sudden, the alarm was going off on Eldo's watch. It thought he had fallen, he hadn't. He didn't figure out it was his watch right away, so the watch dialed 911. Eldo gets a call from the Wachula emergency department making sure he was ok! Like that Apple watch, but sometimes it's a little too sensitive!

We had a great time with our friends...Sparky played corn hole for the first time...A Hoosier from Indiana, and she had never played! It was so nice to run into nice people once again. You think as RVers that yes, you will meet people, enjoy their company, and then not see them again, but you do! We had no idea they were coming to Peace River. Two different couples from up in Indiana...Welcome Larry and Connie, and welcome Connie and Richard!

A Special Thanksgiving....

Sparky woke up this morning with a nice surprise from her honey, Eldo...he wanted to cook her breakfast! Now, this is no ordinary deal, believe you me! Eldy has trouble boiling an egg. The last time Sparky had him boiling eggs for deviled eggs, he about let the water boil dry! This man never really learned how to cook. He can make himself an egg sandwich for breakfast, and cold meat sandwiches for lunch or supper, but that's it. No clue in the kitchen, and he's the first to admit it! So a little instruction was in order.

We got out the necessary equipment and Sparky instructed Eldo how to make pancakes based on Aunt Jemima's recipe and Sparky's mother's secret ingredient, just a little bit of melted bacon grease. If you follow the recipe on the box, it makes very thick pancakes. They were too thick for Sparky and Eldo's preference, which is thin pancakes. Eldo wanted to squish the pancakes with the flat spatula to make them flatten out, but Sparky said, "No, no! You can't do that to pancakes!" Eldo wasn't buying that, more than once, he was tempted to just take the spatula and whack 'em down! Sparky had to keep a close eye on him!  The pancakes turned out great and Eldy was happy that he learned something new in the kitchen! Sparky is, too! ('Cuz she hates to cook, reminds E.) Eldy texted his kids with photos of him in the kitchen this morning, and just to show you how little Eldo has ever cooked, here's what his daughter said:
                                          "OMG!  Dad's  cooking!!!!!"

Although we weren't able to be with our families today, we called and talked to everyone either thru Skype, iphone Face Talk, or just the good old fashioned phone call!  My family is in California, Massachusetts, Michigan, Texas and Virginia, and Eldy's family is in Indiana. That's what makes it so hard to get people together for the holidays in our families.....By traveling around the country, we have been able to see our family more often than if we were permanently settled down in one place.

We took it easy today...everything is closed of course, until the madhouse starts this evening and the rest of the weekend, but we don't do any of that....we'll shop online or at small local stores, and we've been shopping for gifts a little here and there on our travels for the family....This afternoon, Emmaus RV Park had a little Thanksgiving dinner for the people staying here this day.....The whole nine yards---smoked turkey, dressing w/gravy, ham, green bean casserole, sweet potato souffle, rolls, cranberries and wine...and they had door prizes! Not quite the same as a family dinner, but this little park feels a little like family with its warmth and friendliness and the small numbers staying this week at the park.....We had a wonderful dinner there, karaoke afterward with lots of laughs all the way around. Sparky tried to get up her nerve to do a song, but didn't quite make it this evening...another time for sure! There were door prizes and we won an admission to the U.S.S. Alabama. We might do that tomorrow!  See you later.....