McGaffs On The Fly

We’ll it’s official, we’ve had to take our names off the homeless club registrar since we were able to move back into our condo. It was a fun run but I can say it’s actually pretty great to be able to sleep in our own bed, just wish we hadn’t sold our bedroom set to our tenants but you know what I’m saying. To celebrate our escape from homelessness we decided to celebrate and get back on the road, over a month in one place can really stifle a couple.

So we completed our checklist and we are heading west.

• Install new hardwood floors in the bedrooms that should have been installed when we did the living room…check.
• Sleep on sofa coach until new bedroom set delivered…check.
• Move two storage units of crap into one storage unit of crap…check.
• Take Little Al back to Paradise to get shade installed in the bathroom (“oh, you wanted them all done?)…check.
• Get another booster because just how many is too many?…check
• Stop at Connie’s Barbershop and Propane to get my hair did (kidding, filled up the propane tanks but she did look like she did a good job)…check.

We left Friday after a quick visit to Dallas with plans for Scottsdale, Page, AZ, Moab, UT, then TBD. So far we’ve spent a night in Amarillo and Gallup and have been fighting close to 25+mph winds the whole way. Gas prices and poor mpg are going to make this a much more expensive trip than past trips, hopefully the winds will push us on the way back and we can make up some $$$.

The highlight of our trip so far has been sitting still on I40 for close to 2 hours because of a roll over crash. Good news though, I had just finished a large ice tea to keep hydrated…bad news though…

Heading to Mass then on to Scottsdale.

We’ve made our way back to the Vineyards Campground in Grapevine with Little Al for a week stay. Although we are still homeless for a few more weeks this is the closest we’ve been to being in our own bed in a while. Little Al is more than excited to see us and had quite a few stories about Lucy to tell, apparently she can be a little aggressive at times.

Since the last blog, we’ve:

👍Seen our sweet granddaughters…been too long.

👍Visited the George H.W. Bush Library

👍Spent time at Paul and Donna’s five star retreat.

👍Were “schooled” in pickleball by Paul and Donna.

👍Seen a few good movies.

We’re heading back to Austin on the 15th and moving back into our condo, it will be great to have a home again…back on the road with Little Al in April. More to come…

We ended up staying in Louisiana long enough to enjoy plenty of seafood and just enough parades (and beads) to meet our needs. Unfortunately it was too cold to see Marie Osmond, we stood in a shady convenience store for over 30 minutes instead waiting for our Uber driver to navigate the closed streets for our 2 mile drive home.

On our trip home we decided to stop in Broussard to see if we could find the grave of my great grandfather. What are the chances we could find a grave from the early 1920’s? Turns out pretty bad…and pretty good. We did find my great-great-grandfather’s grave but not my great-grandfathers. They died within a few years of each other, one too soon and one a great-great-life.

We are back in Texas in College Station at Michael and Ann’s house. We were able to see an exciting baseball game highlighted by a walk off home run in the ninth, basketball game scheduled for Tuesday night. Can’t wait to head north, more camping with Little Al in Grapevine…

Well it turns out that planning to be away from home for two months is a great idea in theory, but living out of a truck and moving location every few days isn’t the ideal life. It seemed so easy in Little Al but he’s actually like a moving house where we can actually store our clothes…and feel comfortable every night. Time to head west to get back home, Joanie needs to see some grand babies…

We had such a good time watching the people and parade in Panama City Beach that we’ve decided to stop in a small town outside of New Orleans to check out early Mardi Gras festivities. Bonus…Marie Osmond is going to be in Metairie at an open air event. I know, she ain’t no Donny but close enough.

We’ve stopped at just about every beach along the Florida/Alabama/Mississippi coast on the way west so we can plan our next year adventures. Plenty of great places to add to our list…and even more to eliminate.

More…to…come…

We spent the last couple of days driving around and checking out the area for future trips. The weather has been a little cold so spending much time on the beach has been limited. It’s also been pretty windy too and I really hate for my hair to get messed up.

The two cities that we spent some time in and really enjoyed were Seaside and Watercolor, both beautiful small towns with great beaches. The Truman Show was filmed in Seaside and although filmed in the late 90’s nothing much has changed. We will be back.

Two more nights here then heading towards Texas, still plenty to do and see on the way…$300 Super Bowl winnings burning a hole in my pocket…

We spent the last couple of days driving around and checking out the area for future trips. The weather has been a little cold so spending much time on the beach has been limited. It’s also been pretty windy too and I really hate for my hair to get messed up.

The two cities that we spent some time in and really enjoyed were Seaside and Watercolor, both beautiful small towns with great beaches. The Truman Show was filmed in Seaside and although filmed in the late 90’s nothing much has changed. We will be back.

Two more nights here then heading towards Texas, still plenty to do and see on the way…$300 Super Bowl winnings burning a hole in my pocket…

Yesterday we put some more miles on Silver checking out locations for our 2023 Florida return engagement. We’ve had a great time this year in each of the places we’ve stayed but some we’ve put in the rear view mirror, others we plan to return to.

High on the list after a quick trip and lunch is Anna Maria Island, we’re hoping to make it back next year for at least a week. Others that we are glad we visited and will return for a weekend are Bradenton and Dunedin…two great cities.

We just arrived after a 6 hour trip to Panama City Beach, we have a great view of the Gulf and looking forward to our stay…

The bad news is that we’ve had to use the heater in our Airbnb to warm up the apartment in the morning. The good news is that we’ve had to use our air conditioner to cool down our apartment in the afternoons. Our HVAC system has an appointment with a therapist when we leave, he/she is so confused.

We’ve spent the last few days catching up on all of the things we had been putting off…high on the list doing laundry. Just like a lot of the listings at Airbnb, you can’t believe all that you read. We got to spend time with the “real people” doing their clothes too.

One more night here then heading to the Panhandle for our two week journey home.

1. Don’t forget long pants, apparently it gets cold in Florida too.

2. Don’t forget firestick, there are a lot of dumb tvs out there.

3. Paying over $250 per night for a hotel room does not make it a nice hotel.

4. Read reviews before booking Airbnb, nothing below a 4.90 from now on.

5. The max drive time before my butt hurts is 3 hours.

6. Do not put anything on my plate from yours because you don’t want to overeat…unless it is lobster or shrimp. (Marc to Joanie)

7. Gas costs a lot in Florida.

8. Everyone in south Florida is from the northeast and you don’t even have to ask them to find out.

9. There’s no place like home.

10. We wish we had a home.

We left Fort Lauderdale and drove to Saint Petersburg for a 4 night stay. Our Airbnb is a great spot within walking distance to plenty of local attractions…looking forward to exploring.

We left yesterday heading north, decided we would stay on the east coast of Florida before our rendezvous in Captiva for the Super Bowl. Easy drive to Fort Lauderdale before hitting every draw bridge that the city has to offer.

Heading to beach…