We’ve had quite a busy week on the road! On Wednesday and Thursday, the RV was in for repairs at LazyDays in Seffner, Florida. LazyDays provides RVers with just about everything they need while their rig is being repaired, including a large waiting area that features Starbucks coffee, toys for the children, a special area for pet owners, and free breakfast and lunch.
As soon as we checked in for repairs, an RV salesman magically appeared, asking if we’d like to look at new RVs. We looked at a few, but just couldn’t justify trading in one that’s running perfectly well (except for a hot water heater problem) with a newer one. The salesman tried pretty hard. I found out the next day that he quoted the resale value of our current RV at $15K-$20K less than its true value so I’m glad we didn’t buy anything from them (not that we’d have signed anything without double-checking that anyway!). He even tried to convince us to get a loan on negative equity. No thank you! We’re far more responsible than that!
Anyway, on Friday, we spent the day with Ron and Doris Starr at their beautiful home in Cocoa Beach. Ron is the author of the creepy novel The Inn (a real place just down the road from their home!), Welcome to Ahwahnee, Mounds, and Retribution. The boys took an immediate liking to Doris, who has quite a kid-friendly sense of humor (Max learned what a Wet Willie is! Uh, thanks, Doris!!) and they have three beautiful cats that the boys wanted to pet and follow. We spent some time at the beach and Max got to try out their hot tub. We had incredible, mouth-watering ribs and Doris’s special homemade potato salad and beans (no, not in the same dish) for supper. Needless to say, we all had seconds and Richard and I groaned about our girths all the way back to the campground that night.
Richard and I had dinner with Ron and Doris in Bangor a few months ago so seeing them again was quite a treat. The best part is, they’ll be back in Bangor on Labor Day weekend so we’ll get to see them again! They’re truly like family now.
On Sunday, we had lunch with author Lee Boyland and his wonderful wife, Vista. What a great team! Lee writes and Vista meticulously edits. She said, “He’s on chapter 10 of his new book and we’re still arguing about Chapter 1.” Every great author needs a spouse like Vista! Lee and Vista have been working together for many, many years and the love and camaraderie is so very apparent and beautiful when you see them together. Lee is the author of Behold, An Ashen Horse and The Rings of Allah.
Mason started getting fussy because it was naptime. He quieted right down after lunch when Lee bought some fish food so the boys could feed the fish in the large pond outside. Holy cow, they looked liked piranhas going after that food. The boys sure enjoyed that and Max was very sad to hug them goodbye. On the way home, he kept asking, “When are we going to see them again??”
On Tuesday night, we were honored to be invited to the home of author Warren Brussee and his wife, Lois. They have a beautiful house on a lake and it is filled with incredible paintings by Warren himself. I was thrilled when he expressed an interest in painting Mason. I’ll be sending him a few photos to choose from. Mason would never sit still more than 5 seconds, especially not for a portrait. That kid is a moving target.
Warren is the author of The Second Great Depression, Laoch (Lay-ock) The Guide Dog Puppy, Statistics for Six Sigma Made Easy! and All about Six SIGMA: The Easy Way to Get Started.
Warren and Lois cooked us delicious salmon (our favorite!), homemade green bean salad and rice. For dessert, we had vanilla ice cream mounded high with lush strawberries. Aaaahhh.
After dinner, Richard and Warren were sitting on the floor talking… while playing with toys. That was pretty funny. Yeah, I got a picture. We were all very sad to bid them farewell. 🙁
I’m writing this on Tuesday afternoon. We’re heading further north for more author meetings. Who’s next on our list? Jimmy Moore (Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb), Bill Henderson (Cancer-Free), Doug Clegg (believed by some to be the originator of the e-serial and author of numerous horror novels – check out the horror section of your local bookstore) and Scott Rose (well-known international journalist and author of Death in Hawaii).
You can read more about our travel adventures at:
This week’s Maxism:
“The ice cream man’s job is to give sweaty people ice cream.”
Hugs to all!
Angela
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