We have arrived in hot and humid Florida!  Although the weatherman was talking about a “cold front” arriving for Christmas, with an expected high temperature of “only” 68 degrees.  The weatherman recommended wearing a jacket if you would be going out on Christmas!  We both had a good laugh at that!

We are currently staying in Clermont, until Thursday, and then will head over to the “east coast” of Florida, and stay until the end of March.  We are pondering doing some different things for 2018, although we will be back at Luton’s Teton Cabins for the summer, by Grand Teton National Park.

Work/bar updates

The weather in Wisconsin was chilly, but tolerable, while we were helping out with remodeling work at our friends bar.  We did leave a bit early, to get out before an expected snowstorm, which made its way across the country.  It was strange driving through Birmingham, Alabama, and seeing four inches of snow on the ground.  Dan continued doing electric, plumbing and whatever else was needed, and I continued staining and painting, as they continued putting up more walls.  My big project was refinishing 13 tables that will be used in the basement/party room of the bar.  I just turned it into an assembly line for staining.

Here’s a “before and after” photo of the progress.  The bar is done, the lighting is up, floor finished and the wall is closed off for the kitchen.

There is still a lot more work that needs to be done, and Dan will be flying back to Wisconsin at the end of January, for a couple of weeks to help out again.

Wisconsin time updates

Thanksgiving was spent at Dan’s sisters, and we had a few dinners with friends as well.  It made us (almost) wish we were back at Amazon, so we could walk off all those calories!

I met up with a few of my former co-workers for coffee, and it was wonderful catching up with everyone!

Katie, Jodi, Candi, me, Gail and Kari

Dan’s parents had a few “to do” items for Dan when we visited with them, including installing a new kitchen faucet.  There was a lot of discussion going on during this, so I just tried to stay away.  He had plenty of helpers, and “helpful advice!”

A Packer game was also on our agenda, and we did make it to Brett Hundley’s first start as the Packers quarterback.  The annual Jack Link’s tailgate party was also that day.  The Packers lost, but the tailgate was a lot of fun.  This year they had on display a truck they restored with the Lorissa’s Kitchen brand on it.  Lorissa is Jacks daughter-in-law, and she has her own line of grass-fed jerky products that are excellent.

Makena update

Makena continues to improve, and is happy that we are not working, so she doesn’t have to spend all day in her crate.  We are still putting her in the crate when we leave.  She is free to move about the fifth wheel, including going up the two steps inside to the bedroom while we are home.  We continue to carry her to go outside, and have taken her on very limited walks.  Her toys are still put away, which frustrates her, and she spends a lot of time staring at the drawer on the couch where they are stored.

Florida updates

We stopped in Tallahassee on our way down to Florida to visit with Melissa, who worked with us last summer.  Her mom lives close by the RV park we stayed at, and they gave us a bunch of lemons and oranges from the trees in their backyard.  Fresh Florida fruit!

The park we are currently staying at offers many activities, and we have been learning how to play Pickleball.  Dan quickly picked up the game, which is a cross between tennis and ping-pong. It is played with a tennis ball sized whiffle ball, an oversized table tennis racquet, and it is a lot more challenging than I thought.  I need to work on my hand/eye co-ordination!

Tom and Ellen, friends and co-workers from Amazon and Madison Crossing in West Yellowstone, are here for the winter.  We have had several get togethers with them, and ventured out to Lakeridge Winery, just down the street from us.  Tom and Ellen have seasonal jobs there by helping out when they have monthly festivals at the winery.  It’s a nice job with good perks.  We did a short tour, and tasting at the winery.  Our tour guide, Deb, did an excellent job.  Cheers!

We hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Quote for the day:  “I once wanted to be an atheist, but I gave up – they have no holidays.” – Henny Youngman