December 28, 2019

December 4, 2019

 It’s been cold here in Palatka for the past few days with the temperatures dipping down into the low 30’s at night.  The days have been nice with the temperatures in the 60’s.  I actually had to put on a pair of long pants yesterday.

 We’ve been sticking around the house for a few days nursing a cold Joyce has caught.  On Monday I took her to an urgent care clinic and found out she has a virus that is going around this area.  The physicians assistant gave her some antibiotics and some stuff to put in her nebulizer, all of which seems to be helping.

 Yesterday I went over to Michelle’s and took Skyler to his jujitsu class and then took him and Abigail out for pizza.  I’m really enjoying this grandpa stuff.

December 8, 2019

 On Friday we got a call from Richmond American Homes letting us know the permits for the new house had arrived.  We’re hoping that they will start the construction process soon and that everything will stay on track for a March completion.

 Yesterday we went to St. Augustine for Abigail and Skyler’s football games.

December 10, 2019

 Yesterday we went out and did some shopping in St. Augustine and south Jacksonville.  On the way back we stopped at the Elks Lodge in Green Cove Springs to have a cold one.  This is one of the friendliest lodges we have been to in all of our travels.  We’ve met some really nice folks who have gone out of their way to make us feel welcome.  One gentleman came in last night and bought the whole house a round of drinks, “just because”.  We also had a supper of county fried steak, potatoes, green beans and a biscuit for only $6.00.

December 14, 2019

 On Tuesday we attended Skyler’s musical concert in St. Augustine at the First United Methodist Church.  Skyler played bells and the Recorder on a couple of tunes.  The program was beautiful with all the children doing their best.

 On Thursday we went to watch Abigail dance at her middle school.  Abby danced in two parts of the program that really emphasized her talents.

December 16, 2019

 Yesterday was a beautiful day here in northern Florida with the temperatures in the low 70’s and with relatively low humidity.  But Saturday was a whole different ball game.

 Early in the morning we started getting some rain moving through this area which was light at first but progressively got stronger.  Then around 4 AM the thunderstorms moved in with a lot of lighting and some strong winds.  The thunder woke me up so I got up and jumped on the computer to see what was happening.  The weather radar indicated some very strong cells to the north of us and a tornado warning in an area just to the north.

 Later in the day we found out that a tornado actually touched down in Interlachen that is a few miles to the northwest of Lynch’s Landing RV Park.  Yesterday when we stopped at a roadside stand to get some tomatoes the seller told Joyce that he had a lot of debris to clean up on his property.  Also, a storm cell was on the ground in Flagler County for almost thirty minutes.

 This morning I went up to Fleming Island to meet Dr. Tran, my new primary care doctor.  He spent about an hour going over all of my records I had brought with me and just generally getting too know me.  Dr. Tram is originally from Vietnam and escaped the communist north’s takeover of South Vietnam back in the late 1970’s.  In fact, he was one of the “boat people” that escaped the south just before the fall of Saigon.  He was taken to Clark AB in the Philippines and from there to the United States,  He went to medical school and joined the Navy and retired after 27 years of service this last October.

 Dr. Tram is sending me to a Cardiologist, an Ophthalmologist and a Pulmonologist so that I can get establish with them.  He also ordered a full battery of lab work to make sure everything is going good.

December 22, 2019

 On Tuesday we had a meeting with Dan, our Building Superintendent for the new house whose job it is to coordinate the actual building of the house.  He went over the plans and made sure everything is placed where it is supposed to be.  We hope to be able to move in by April 15th.

 We have also been doing some last minute shopping and getting the presents wrapped.  Our plan is to spend the night at Michelle’s on Christmas Eve so we can be there when Abby and Skyler get up on Christmas Day.  We’re really looking forward to that.

December 26, 2019

  I can’t believe it’s been almost a month since I lasted posted an update to this newsletter.

 I had been having some trouble with a tooth on my upper left side so Michelle’s friend Mandie who works for Dr. Nathan William at All About Smiles Family Dentistry made an appointment for me for Monday.  Dr. Nathan is Michelle’s family dentist and also a good friend.  Dr. Nathan took one look at the x-ray of the tooth and saw some infection around the root and he though the best option for me was to extract it.  We will talk later about my options for replacement.

 On Tuesday we went over to Michelle’s to celebrate the Christmas with her, Abby and Skyler.  We were also joined by Michelle’s mother Susanna. On Christmas Eve we went out to dinner at The Reef.

 We all had a wonderful Christmas Day mostly just relaxing and enjoying each others company.  By-the-way, Santa Claus was very good to all of us.

December 28, 2019

 Yesterday Joyce and I decided to drive up to the Jacksonville Veterans Administration Outpatient Clinic to get registered.  After filling out a form and waiting just at few minutes we were met by a lady who took us back to her office where we spent an hour updating our addresses, phone numbers and other important information.  She also set up our first appointments including meeting our doctors and getting blood work done.  All-in-all it was an easy process.

The building begins.

Family Pictures.

Justin, Adrian, Travis and Victoria

Michele, Abigail and Skyler.

More later.

Barry & Joyce

December 1, 2019

November 15, 2019

 Yesterday we drove up to Jacksonville for our appointment at the Richmond American Homes Design Center.  We met by Cara, our design specialist, was our guide through the process of the final design of our new Azure model home in Rolling Hills.  Our appointment was scheduled for four hours and Cara assured us that we would need every bit of that time.

 After a brief explanation of the process Cara jumped right in with the flooring options.  One of the incentives that we already had already included was a complete kitchen/wet areas upgrade that included tile flooring, 42 inch cabinets and granite counter tops.  But hold on Ke-Mo-Sha-Bee, Cara had much more to show us. How about tiling the great room instead of carpet. OK, let’s do it.  That will be only $700 more please.  Did you know you can choose the color of grout for the tile?  Yep, and the kazillion colors they have are all named too.  We chose Urban Putty.  Who the heck comes up with this stuff anyway?

 Moving right along, we upgraded the counter tops to quartz, picked white cabinets, selected soft close drawers/cabinets and a pull-out trash bin.  With that package we also  chose a really cool under counter mounted sink along with an upgraded faucet.

 Next we met with the electrical systems designer (I had no idea there was such a person) who discussed the wiring options for the TV outlets, data cables and electrical plugs.  We went with the basic package but added a couple power plugs.  BTW, we could have had the whole house wired for surround sound, security systems and internet access all for for a nominal fee.

 I’m not going to bore you with all of the details but we made upgrades for the toilets, bathroom counter height, tile in the master bedroom shower, wiring for pendent lighting over the kitchen island plus several other things.  All-in-all we spent four and a half hours with Cara and spent about $18,000.

November 17, 2019

 The temperature’s are really cooling down here in northern Florida.  Yesterday the high was around 57 and it got down to 45 last night.  I even had to break out the long pants.

 Yesterday we went to Jacksonville to Skyler’s football game and then had lunch at Chuey’s.

November 18, 2019

 Yesterday was Skyler’s 8th birthday Joyce and I along with Michelle, Skyler, Abigail and a whole bunch of kids went to the Urban Air in Jacksonville to celebrate.  This place is perfect for kids to celebrate birthdays or just for a day out.

November 19, 2019

 Yesterday day was a full day for Joyce and I.  After having breakfast we drove up to Jacksonville (again) to drop off the paperwork for our home loan.  Since we were already in JAX we decided to do a little shopping.

 The fist stop was at the Lazboy gallery to shop for chairs and couches.  After sitting in and trying out what I think was every recliner in the store we finally settled on the Douglas model.  Joyce will get her’s with all the bells and whistles and mine will be without the movable headrest.  We liked one couch but are going to look some more for that.

 Next we stopped by the Annie Oakley’s Wood Furniture Gallery to look at their bedroom sets.  Mike said that the company has been in business and in the same location for 32 years so if we like something we can get other pieces to match very easily.  We really liked the McKenzie Bedroom Collection from Whittier Wood Furniture based in Eugene, Oregon.  We also liked the Select line by John Thomas.  Annie’s also carries Amish furniture that really impressed Joyce.  Me?  Their prices were outstanding.

 Ya gotta have a mattress to go with a new bedroom set so we drove less than a mile to the Mattress One store.  We tried out several brands including Temper-Pedic, Sternes and Foster and Sealy.  The one that impressed us the most was the Tempur-Adapt Medium Hybrid.  A close second was the Sealy Posturepedic Performance Hybrid Copper II.

November 27, 2019

 On the 24th Joyce, Michelle and I went out for brunch at O.C White’s for brunch.  Very slow service and the food was just OK.  Don’t think we will go back.

 Later we went out for supper at Creekside Dinery to celebrate Joyce’s birthday.  All the food was delicious and we had really good time.

 On Monday Joyce and I went up to the NAS Jacksonville Hospital to talk to the Tricare folks about getting medical care there.  The lady told us that we would have to seek medical care in the civilian community due to lack of enough doctor’s on station.  She did move us from the West-Region to the East Humana provider and gave me a list of civilian provider near Green Cove Springs.

 After that chore was taken care of, we stopped by Best Buy in Jacksonville to check out the TV’s and a Ring doorbell systems.  We picked up the Ring Doorbell Pro with the Echo Show 5 package that was on sale for a really good price.

 Yesterday morning Joyce went to the Tricare web site to print out a new benefits card and discovered that she had been transferred to Tricare Direct and that I was her dependent.  What the heck?  So we drove back up to NAS Jacksonville to get that mistake fixed.

 The lady who helped us did a lot of “fixing” and after almost an hour got it fixed.  She also printed out another list of network doctors in the area.  She told us to stop by Out Patient Records to make sure that Joyce is under my Tricare For Life benefits.  The lady there had to do some more finagling to make that happen.  Hopefully all is well now.

 All of that is necessary if we want to get our medications for free and establish medical care in the Green Cove Springs area.  We plan to also move our Veteran Administration residency to the Jacksonville Outpatient Clinic.

November 29, 2019

 Yesterday we went over to Michelle’s for Thanksgiving Dinner and I can tell you we all ate way too much.  That said, it was good to break bread with family and friends.

The cooks hard at work.

December 1, 2019

 Joyce caught a bug a few days ago and has been coughing and wheezing a lot.  She has been taking some medications and that has helped but not enough to make her want to go out and do anything.  So, yesterday morning we decided to cancel our cruise out of Fort Lauderdale.  Royal Caribbean will refund all of the cost that she used to upgrade our January cruise and then add a 3-day on the end of that one.

More later.

Barry & Joyce

November 17, 2019

October 25, 2019

 On Wednesday we had to go back up to Green Cove Springs to take care of some things with the new house.  While there we  decided to add add a side door to the garage and a couple of more details.

 Thursday we spent some time packing for our trip to Texas and the cruise out of Galveston.  This cruise is actually a triple back-to-back on Royal Caribbean’s Enchantment of the Seas so we’ll be on it a total of fourteen days.  We had originally just booked a four-day trip since our original plans were to be in Texas for part of the winter.  We changed our plans to go to Florida instead.  Since we are are going to drive to Texas we thought we might as well stay for a while.

 Yesterday we over to Michelle’s and spent the night with Abigail and Skyler while Michelle went on a short trip to Jamaica.  In the afternoon we picked Skyler up at school and took him to Junior Cross-fit and for his football practice.  Later we took him to Tijuana  Flats for supper. Abby was off doing school stuff all evening.

 We left Michelle’s at 8:30 this morning, got some gas and headed up I-95 through Jacksonville, then got on I-10 westbound.  Traffic wasn’t bad so we made good time all the way to the Holiday Inn Express in Mobile, AL.  We did have some crazy winds and rain caused by Tropical Storm 17 that is moving trough this area.

 Since we don’t have to be in Galveston until Sunday we’re going to spend one more night on the road at a place yet to be determined.  We for won’t be leaving Mobile early in the morning. 

 Right now we are under a tornado warning coming from Tropical Storm Olga.  This warning is in effect until 9 PM tonight.

October 28, 2019

 On Saturday we left Mobile in very rainy weather headed to Lake Charles, LA.  After an hour or so the rain let up and it was mostly smooth sailing to the Holiday Inn in Lake Charles.

 Since we didn’t want to drive too far away from the hotel we chose the Texas Roadhouse for supper.

 When we got back to the hotel we decided to have a drink at the bar.  There was another couple there so as is our style, we struck up a conversation with them.  John and Crystal live in the area and were on a weekend get-a way.

 The next morning we had breakfast with John and Crystal at the hotel.  We then got back on I-10 and headed to Galveston, TX arriving at The Cottage, an Airbnb that Joyce had booked for us.  Of all the Airbnb’s we have stayed in Joyce and I think this one is the best.  Carole, our host has thought of everything including a very comfortable bed, oatmeal for breakfast and even some snacks.

October 30, 2019

 On Monday morning we boarded the Enchantment for our first of a triple back-to-back cruise.  On this leg Joyce score us a Grand Suite, a first for us.  I can tell y’all, a guy could really get spoiled with this cabin.  Not only is the room much larger it has a large balcony and we get a lot more perks including free room service.

We could get used to this!

The Suite Lounge.

October 31, 2019

  Tuesday was not a good day for me.  I had a couple of drinks and some wine during dinner and woke up about 2 AM not feeling very good.  Then all day I felt wheezy and didn’t feel like doing much of anything.  I slept a lot and took some Pepto Bismo that helped. After a good nights sleep I felt a lot better.

Rock 'N Rolling.

In Cozumel, Mexico

 Joyce also had a little sea-sickness Monday night so on Tuesday she went down to the medical office and got some pills.  She took just one and yesterday morning she woke up with her vision in her left eye hazy.  She washed homed Loungeer eye out with water and saline solution but that didn’t help.  

 Given all the problems Joyce has with her eyes this incident got us both worried so we went down to the infirmary to get some advice.  The attendant on duty asked if she was using a sea-sickness patch.  She told him about taking a pill and he said that her eye problem could be caused by dehydration from the pill.  He advised her to drink a lot of water and come back if it didn’t clear up.  Later in the day the problem went away.

 After a day at sea in some pretty rough seas we arrived in Cozumel, Mexico.  Since we have been to this port many times we decided to stay on the ship and relax.

Coutney, our bartender in the Diamond Lounge.

Our new friends, Mike and Ronnie from Houston, TX.

November 1, 2019

We’re back in Galveston after sailing in bad weather that caused some really rough seas.  It looked like the waves were running 4 or 5 feet caused by some high winds.

 After breakfast in Chops Grill be were escorted off the ship, through customs and then back on.  This trip we are in a Junior Suite so Joyce still has a bathtub.  Our cabin attendant had our cabin ready for us so while all the other passengers are waiting for their rooms to be ready we are already settled.  We should be sailing hopefully by around 4PM if all goes well.

November 2, 2019

 Joyce has been experiencing some pain in her lower back that is radiating down her leg for the past few days.  She has been taking Aleve and Ibuprofen and although that has helped, the pain is still coming back.  So last night she went to the ships spa and had her first acupuncture treatment.  We’re hopeful that will help.

November 4, 2019

 The acupuncture seems to be helping Joyce’s back somewhat but she is still experiencing some pain.  We may have to buy something here in Mexico to help her.

 Yesterday we were in Costa Maya, Mexico.  Instead of fighting the crowds in town we decided to just enjoy the ship for the day.

 We have just arrived back in Cozumel and are not docking at the normal area due to very strong currents.  So, our captain has docked us in the downtown area.  Today we will probably get off the ship and check out the area.  We have been to Cozumel several times but have not been to this area in several years.

November 7, 2019

 Since we were docked in the downtown area of Cozumel Joyce and I decided to get off the ship and do some exploring.  We walked down to the local supermarket and looked around then did some t-shirt shopping for me.We then had lunch at one of the local restaurants.

 After a day of sailing we arrived back in Galveston for another turn around day.  Since the ship was going to be doing a deep cleaning (due to a few folks getting sick) we took a walk downtown to The Strand area.  Since it was early in the morning there wasn’t much going on so at 11:30 we headed back to ship.

November 8, 2019

 We left Galveston around 5 PM headed south toward Costa Maya, Mexico on the third leg of our triple back-to-back cruise.  So far the sailing is much smoother that it was on the first two legs.

 Since Joyce and I are both getting a little tired of the dinning rooms menu’s, on this trip we decided to get the dining package that allows to eat in Chops every night.  If we were on a larger ship we would be able to eat in any of the specialty restaurants but Enchantment there is only Chops.  The menu is varied so we can have something different every night.

November 9, 2019

 Yesterday was another “stay-on-the-ship” day in Costa Maya, Mexico.  Last night we went to the theater and enjoyed Darryl Williams' show, “The Mind of a Tenor”.  In fact we have seen this show three times this cruise and it just got better each time.

November 14, 2019

 After a night of cruising we arrived back in Cozumel. Mexico.  Joyce decided to go into town and get a couple of shirts she wanted.  I just stayed on the ship.

With Elisha, our Chops waitress.

The "small" Seafood Tower.

 We got back to Galveston on the morning of the 11th.  The disembarking was really easy and we were on the road by 9:30 AM.  We had originally thought we would spend two nights on the road but we actually drove all the way to Biloxi, Mississippi, arriving at the Beau Rivage Hotel and Casino about 4:30.

 After a good nights rest we got on the road at 8:00 AM and finally made it back to our RV at 5:30.

Until next time.

Barry & Joyce

October 22, 2019

October 16, 2019

 Today we drove up to Green Cove Springs to look around the area.  We decided to stop and talk to a realtor, Scott Schriefer who could give us some information.  Joyce did a search and found at Exit Magnolia Reality so we stopped and talked to Scott who looked up homes for sale in the area. He told us about Cross Creek Subdivision that is new construction.  We decided to have him take us up there for a look-see.

 There we met Alana who took us on a tour of a couple of models and then did some pricing.  The homes are being built by D. R. Horton and come in two different grades.  We are actually interested in the “express” builds which are a lot less expensive but you don’t have a lot of choices which will work fo us.  We really liked the Lismore model the best.

October 18, 2019

 Yesterday Joyce and I drove up to Middleburg, FL to look at another new housing development called Azalea Ridge.  We are specifically wanted to check out the Freedom area, a 55+ gated community.

 On the way up we stopped at the tax asserts office in Green Cove Springs to see what benefits we would get in Florida.  There is a homestead exemption of $50,000 we qualify for  along with a $5000 disabled veteran exemption.

We met Alana there and she showed us two of the homes.  We really liked the Avon model but it is priced  at a tad above what we want to spend.  One thing we don’t want to be is house poor.

 Later we stopped at the Green Cove Springs Elks Lodge for a cold one.  This is a very active lodge that is open everyday for cocktails and dinner.  If we decide to move to this area I am sure we will probably move our membership to here.

So, if we haven’t looked at enough houses already we decided to go back up to Green Cove Springs and meet with Scott again and look at a home in Magnolia Point.  This is a gated community that has a nice golf course and all the amenities that you would ever want.

 We looked at a small two-bedroom place priced at $198,000 but in order to make it “livable” we would have to put about $60,000 into it.  For obvious reasons we scratched that off our list.

 After a full day of looking at homes Joyce and I were ready for some relaxation so we headed to the Elks Lodge.  This has got to be the friendliest lodge we have ever visited in all our years of traveling.  Both times we have been there the Exulted Ruler greeted us and several folks came and introduced themselves.  The lodge has dinner every night of the week; tonight’s dinner was a 10 oz. boneless pork chop that is then best we have ever eaten.  The meal included salad, potatoes and beans all for ten bucks.  Heck, we’re thinking about looking for houses within a ten-minute drive of this place.

October 19, 2019

 Today we went up to Green Cove Springs to met with Scott and look at some more homes.  He took us to Silver Springs, an established subdivision north west off town to look at a home that we liked but really wasn’t our style.  Next we went farther north to Orange Park to look at a new development called Somerset by Dream Finder Homes.  The one that we liked was the Naples model.

 We then dove out to the actual building site and looked at the model that was still under construction that is actually the Naples.  Joyce and I both thought that the layout of the house was a bit strange and we weren’t crazy about the surrounding area.  Here is a link to the flyer for the Naples model:  https://availablehomes.dreamfindershomes.com/idx/details/listing/a054/1019217/?printable=1

October 20, 2019

 Today is Michelle’s birthday so Joyce took Her and Abigail out to have their nails done.  Later we all went out to Creekside Dinery for a seafood dinner.

Happy Birthday Michelle!

October 22, 2019

 Yesterday was a very busy day.  First, we had an appointment with a sales person at D.R. Horton homes in Green Cove Springs at 10:30.  When we arrived she was a no-show so we called and she told us that Alana had not told her about meeting us.  Joyce called Alana who said that we could just hang out and wait for Nancy to get to us and she would email us all the particulars.  Well, that wasn’t going to happen.

 We decided to head over to the new Richmond American Homes Traceland subdivision and looked around there.  After talking with Josh for a few minutes he showed us some floor plans,  but this area is so new they only have one model built.  We liked the Ruby model but it is four bedrooms that is more house than we need. So he then sent us to a development in the Rolling Hills at Lake Asbury subdivision.

 On the way over there Joyce looked at the floor plan brochures and liked the Azure model (link shows it as a two-bedroom but it’s actually three.).  We met with Derrick but unfortunately he didn’t have a model of the floor plan but Richmond did have one in a subdivision in north Jacksonville, about 45 minutes away.  Since we had nothing else to do off we went.

 Joyce looked at that model and really liked it so we then drove back down to meet with Josh again.  Come to find out Richmond Homes isn’t even going to offer that floor plan in Traceland.  To top it off a train came by very close to us blowing the horn.  To say the least it was very, very loud.

 So, then we drove back over to Rolling Hills to talk to Derrick.  After a lot of discussion and running the numbers we decided to buy the Azure.  We got just about everything we wanted and at the price we could afford.  We spent a couple of hours picking out some options and colors that will individualize the house.

This is the elevation we chose.  The colors will change.

 Link to floor pan:  https://secure.ml3ds-cloud.com/#/floorplan/154163

 In about a month we’ll get a call to visit the design center in Jacksonville to pick out some more options like widow covering, faucets, door handles, etc.  In the house deal they are including a “kitchen upgrade package” that includes tile flooring in the wet areas, 42 inch cabinets and granite counter tops in the kitchen.  They also gave us a $500 credit to spend at the design center along with about $8000 that was rolled into the price of the house.

 Not in a million years would I ever think we would buy a home in Florida.  But given Michelle, Abigail and Skyler live within 45 minutes of here it just makes sense.  Also, Justin and his family are living in Southern Pines, NC that is within a days drive for Green Cove Springs.  For us to fly down here three or four times a year from Oregon would not work.

Until next time,

Barry & Joyce