Deciding Not to Decide

cows_07.jpgIt’s a swampy night here in Vero, and we’ve spent the last few hours swatting away bugs while enjoying the last of the holiday season. This monumental year is coming to a close, and even after thousands of miles and too many towns to count, we are both nowhere closer to deciding where we want to live, or what we want to be when we grow up.

We have our favorite regions, but really, the only decision we’ve been able to make, is to decide not to decide. In essence, that is a decision of sorts, right?

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A Farmer’s Life and the Saturday Market

marketfanny_03.jpgWhen you go to a Farmer’s Market, have you ever thought about the amount of work it takes for a farmer to get there every week, so you can have the freshest farm fresh produce available? I never gave it much thought, until we started hawking White Rabbit’s wares at the Fort Pierce Farmer’s Market.

For three weeks, we’ve been getting up at 5:30 am every Saturday to sell a variety of organic produce, nuts and grains. The market is only four hours long, but it takes an entire day to set up, tear down, clean up and take stock back at the Farm. By the time we’re done, it’s usually around 3pm and we are exhausted.

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Rene Rides the 1958 Farmall 230


At every county fair we went to this summer, René would just have to sit on the tractors. And ever since we saw the antique tractor pull in Corey, PA she has wanted to ride a Farmall.

Well, she finally got her chance on the Quant’s 1958 Farmall 230. As one customer of the farm store said, “Looks like she’s having too much fun to ever get any real work done!” One thing is certain, Craig Morgan’s International Harvester is René’s new favorite song.

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Christmas in the RV: My Bowl of Merry Menudo

If you’re planning an extended road trip, it’s inevitable that a major holiday or other important family occasion will collide with your itinerary. At some point, you’ll have to decide whether or not to interrupt your dream with a trip back to reality.

XmasDecor04.jpgWhen planning our own journey, I knew that Christmastime would present a huge dilemma. My Mexican family is big on Christmas . . . really big. Each year, dozens of relatives gather at my Mom or sister’s place each year for the big party on Christmas Eve. We gorge ourselves on Mom’s homemade tamales, empty the liquor cabinet, and wait for Santa to finish pounding shots so he can make his midnight appearance for the kids.

Last year Jim and I missed my family’s party, because Jerry had just had his leg amputated. This year, we had to decide; should we find a way to get back to L.A. to be with my family? Or ignore the holidays and keep traveling along?

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RV Living in Florida: Beware of Flying, Biting, Stinging Bugs

Ah, sunny Florida. The state name alone conjures up images of white sand beaches, sun baked old farts, golf carts, and tropical umbrella drinks.

FireAnts02.jpgBut there’s one unique aspect of Florida that the tourism guides fail to mention. Bugs! Mean bugs. Flying bugs. Stinging bugs. You name it, this state has some of the nastiest insects that we’ve encountered on our entire trip. Pest control is big business in this state, but as usual, nature bats last.

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Florida fare ain’t no Tex Mex.

robertos02.jpgWe haven’t had any good Mexican food since we left California. In fact, we haven’t had any, or even tried looking for it until recently.

The reason? In all the miles we’ve traveled we hadn’t passed through any communities with enough – shall we we say, authentic color – to warrant a dinner out until we reached Florida.

But once we saw an authentic looking Taqueria, a Mercado selling dresses and phone cards, and our first Tecate billboard in over 29, 000 miles, we figured the food was worth a try. While it wasn’t bad, it was nothing to write home about either. But here I am doing just that.

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Avoid bacon and turds for breakfast.

baconandturds.jpgThe morning we left Jetty Park for Vero Beach after discovering the shuttle launch was not going to happen, we decided to pack up quick and beat the crowds to the dump station.

It was early but we still weren’t first in line. Everyone was heading out, except for those just waking to make breakfast.

As we dumped our tanks using our new clear hose adapter, René glanced at the nearby rigs, smelled the air and said, “Yum, Bacon and Turds!”

Why did we get one of those clear dump hose adapters, you ask?

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Entertainment Review: Sun Cruz Casino’s Dumpy Ride at Sea

Let’s get one thing straight; Jim and I are not Gamblers. The few times we’ve found ourselves in Vegas, I would stand there gawking at the Gambling species, dumbfounded as I watched them willingly toss money away.

portcanavboat.jpgBut last week while waiting for the space shuttle to take off, our fun campground neighbors Carol and John invited us to join them on a “free” four-hour casino cruise. In Florida, where gambling is illegal, Sun Cruz Casinos will take passengers out to blow money at sea, three miles offshore in international waters. They had a free shuttle that would pick us up right at our campground. “You get all of the free food and booze you want!” my neighbor said excitedly.

Now that caught my attention. Whenever I hear “Free” and “Booze” in the same sentence, this cheapskate gets happy. All that, and we’d get a “free” cruise in Florida too. Ah, the things trip memories are made of! I grabbed Jim and said “let’s go!”

Later, neither one of us would realize that we were about to set foot on a third rate, smoky casino from hell, unable to escape!

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