Back in Florida After a Short Visit to Virginia Beach

We had a wonderful time in Virginia Beach seeing our kids and grandson and extended family and friends.  We arrived on Wednesday and returned here to Mayport Naval Station at the Pelican Roost Campground.  Our 1200+ mile round trip was worth it in every way!  Even though our kids are grown and married and left home a long time ago, I still miss them!  So this short trip came at a good time.

We got to see Brooks who is growing and growing up by leaps and bounds!  He is turning into quite a little personality.  Lovable, affectionate, friendly, funny and very mature for his age (said another Grandpa...).  He is no short of amazing.

And it was great to see Adam and Melissa who came down from Fairfax for the weekend.  And Jon's parents made it up from August to also celebrate Brooks' birthday.  It was really fun to see everyone and catch up.  It's one of the most fun things we do.

We were also able to squeeze in some medical appointments and I got in to see Jake, the same Physical Therapist Kelly and Pam have seen in the previous months.  Pam got some help in alleviating some foot pain and got on track with some good walking/running shoes that are a good fit.

This time I got in for a couple of sessions to see if I can actually start running again.  It's been years and years since I have regularly run, but I'd like to get back to doing that again.  We'll see.  I was very pleased with the plan of attack (Return to Run -RTR) program he put me on.  It focuses on flexibility, stretching and a very conservative approach to move from walking to running again.  I have already been surprised with the stretching results so hopefully I can stick with it and start running again.

I also got in to see the Opthamologist and get my eyes checked.  A few months ago, I had an 'event' -- something I described as an 'oil spill/floaters - that came and went in my left eye after about 30 minutes.  I knew something was going on and I tried get in to see an eye doctor in December.  But I had some Tricare administrative issues.  Those got fixed and I had a complete eye check in both eyes with dilation and the doctor's scrutiny under his laser light.  It all checked out fine so that was a relief.

Thankfully, the return drive to Mayport was without incident.  I drove a couple of hours, Pam drove while I took a nap.  Then we stopped to fill up and grab something to eat.  We arrived back in the Jacksonville area about 5:30 PM.  We decided to go out to eat.  I asked our campground neighbor if he had any suggestions.  He thought for a moment and then said, "Seafood Kitchen" near Jacksonville Beach.  Great food, low price, modest looking restaurant".

Boy was he right!  Pam and I each had a shrimp dinner.  I opted for cheese grits while she had french fries and we both had cole slaw.

 Definitely one to put on your list if you are in the area.  I love these kind of 'local joints'.

This morning we were treated to a Navy ship getting underway right in front of us.

Nothing like a 'room with a view'.

And a few hundred yards away an aircraft carrier getting some work done.

We've been able to get the wash done, caught up on our mail and done some work around the Roadrunner.

We'll be here for a few more days and aim to enjoy it.  Hopefully the great weather will hold up.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Our Campground in Monterey

Our little campground is known as "Monterey Pines" and is in the middle of the golf course by the same name. (It is a military campground run by the Navy.) When we drove into the golf course, a sign said, "Park RV here" which was in front of the golf pro shop and not far from the #1 tee.

That is a first.  And the office is in the back of the pro shop.  What a fantastic place to have a campground office!  I'm not too sure how well it works out for the golfers and the pro shop, but if I were the campground manager, I would say it doesn't get much better than this.

The campground itself has been here a while and looks as if it has been upgraded.  The whole golf course looks like it has been 'redone' and given a shot in the arm.  We played the course last week and though it is a short course, the tees, fairways and greens and in very nice shape.  It is very well maintained.

The RV campground has holes around it on every side.  And a couple of times, the Roadrunner got belted with a golf ball on top of the roof.  Though there is a high net fence protecting one side of the campground, golf balls seem to make their way into the parked RVs with regularity which is a bit disconcerting.

Rule #1 for campers is that they are not allowed on the course.  As a golfer and a camper, I can understand that and have no problem with it.  And to my knowledge it is not a issue.

As I said the campground has been upgraded.  Or at least there is a new shower and laundry.  It is quite nice.

Our campsite is fine, nothing exceptional.  The biggest thing for us at this campground is that we have a site that is long enough for The Roadrunner, and it is fairly level.

A key consideration for us when we set up, it to try and get the place on the site where all the wheels are still on the ground.  We don't like to be sitting on the jacks only, with the wheels raised in the air.  Some people don't mind it, but we try to avoid it.  There are a few campsites here where that is unavoidable.  Fifth wheels have no problem in those spots.  With a motorhome, its different.

The area around our campsite it nice.  There is no view to speak of (we are next to the back of a warehouse parking lot on the course).  But there are some trees (DirecTV access was no problem) and our own little 'space'.

And we have good space between our site and our neighbors, so we appreciate that.

I would say the campground is small, but adequate.

It definitely did not have the 'it' factor, but then few of campgrounds where we stay, do.  The 'it' not high on our list of priorities.  We usually are looking for a place that has 50 amp in the middle of the summer or winter (so we can run the a/c or the heaters without concern), has level campsites and fairly easy access, and is near our budget ($20/night).  I lowered our budget from $25 to $20 this year, just to see if we could do it.  So far, we are above that.  Last month our daily campground fee averaged $30.

On a scale of 1 to 10 I would give this place a 6.  But I would come back.  It is not the campground that draws us here to the area.  But the price is right and it meets our needs.

So that is a look at our 'spot' for the last couple of weeks in Monterey, California.  The Monterey Bay region here on the coast is among the most scenic we have ever experienced.  It may be my favorite place to stay.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!  And thanks for taking a moment and leaving a comment!

Ernest Hemingway and Harry S. Truman in Key West

Once we had Key West on the Roadrunner Travel Schedule, I started reading about famous people that lived here.  A couple of months ago, I began some of the classics by Ernest Hemingway.  I started with 'A Farwell to Arms', then read 'The Old Man and the Sea'.  I also read 'The Sun Also Rises' and am a good ways into 'For Whom the Bell Tolls'.  Somehow I missed that assignment in high school and am now just catching up.

I also recently finished 'Truman' by David McCullogh.  I really liked that book too.  My respect and appreciation for what he did during his life and presidency rose considerably.  In fact, shortly after his death, he was ranked as the 5th most admired president.

Can you guess those ahead of him?

To further our historical interests last week, we went to see the Ernest Hemingway House and the Little White House here in Key West.

Ernest Hemingway heard of Key West while in Paris and first visited in 1929.  His wife's uncle bought the house for $8000 in 1931.  Hemingway and his wife Pauline lived there nine years.

It is said it was during his time at Key West that his writing was the most prolific.  While in Key West he finished 'Farewell to Arms' and wrote a number of poems, short stories and novels.

The tour of the Hemingway House was very good.  We had a guide who really knew some great details and history of the home and about the life of Ernest Hemingway.

Gladly, we were able to take pictures throughout the house.  There are about 40 six-toed cats who live there and one was taking a siesta while we made our way through a bedroom.

While Hemingway was traveling, his wife had a $20,000 swimming pool built which was the only one in the Florida Keys at the time.

Most of the furnishings in there as they were in the 1930's.  It was a large home on one acre and restored for living similar to that time.  

Behind the house was an old carriage house that was remodeled into a studio/apartment where Hemingway did his writing.  The tour was very good and well worth it.

Later in the week, we got tickets to the Little White House.  The building was originally constructed in 1890 for US naval officers and was built right on the waterfront.  Later the Key West harbor was dredged and more land was added.  Sadly, government buildings were built in front and the view of the water was gone by the time Harry Truman visited for a much needed rest.

Harry Truman had been vice-president only three months when he was sworn into office on April 12, 1945.  He had an excellent work ethic throughout his whole life and kept up a fast pace and worked long hours while president.

After 19 months in office he was in need of a rest and went to Key West.  Over his presidency, he returned many times, eventually spending 175 days there.

There were no photographs allowed in the house.  I liked the way the furniture from the 1940's remains in the house.  The living room and family room (though I don't think they called it that) were very roomy for an old home.  It also had a separate formal dining room near the kitchen.  The bedrooms upstairs were fairly small but they had a lot of windows for a good breeze.  The tour took about 30 minutes and again we had a guide who sprinkled stories and anecdotes throughout the tour.

So there are two stops on the tourist agenda you might want to consider.  Both give some historical impact to the city and are well done.

That is all for now on the Roadrunner Chronicles.  Thanks for joining us!  Until next time...

Networking and Meeting People

Please join me in welcoming the newest follower to the Roadrunner Chronicles:

Melissa Meyer

You can take at look at her blog here: Random Travel Updates
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Networking comes in many forms:

• IT networking; 
• friends of friends-type of connection networking; 
• social media networks; 
• and face-to-face meeting(s) networking
• other...

This is about the latter.  I love meeting people.  Call it a chip off the old block (my dad had no trouble meeting new people), but I love to meet new people.  Everyone has a story.  Everyone is from somewhere and I love to hear people.  I love to hear about people and their stories.

In fact, learning how to meet new people is absolutely one of the most important and life changing things I learned at college.  Every Friday night I went to "College Life" which was a weekly meeting on campus to meet people, hear a short talk on some aspect of Christianity (I was a new Christian at the time), and to usually hear some good music.

The most terrifying part of every week were the moments right after the meeting started where the MC would say:
"Please stand up (there were about 200 at each meeting all sitting on the floor of the large room) for the next three minutes and meeting three new people in the next three minutes".
For the first couple of seconds I was horrified by the thought of walking up to someone cold turkey and meeting them.  Yikes! What do you say to complete strangers?

Then I found those magic words:  "Hi, my name is Randy, what is your name?"

Not exactly complicated or catchey--but it was hard to do at first.  I tell you once I got over that hurdle, it was easy.  That lesson has served me well to this day.  I use it every day.  One of the best lessons I ever learned.

Last week I had a very interesting experience at a United States Naval Academy (USNA) Alumni networking breakfast meeting.  One of our new friends at the Habitat for Humanity construction site, Dennis (in the yellow shirt)

invited me to join him at his local United State Naval Academy chapter meetings.  The purpose of the event is to help people find jobs.  Some go there looking to hire people, some go there looking for a job. Others go because they are invited (like me) and are curious.   Each week they have a short presentation.

I didn't know how long it would take me to get across town and I didn't want to be late.  As it turned out, I was a little bit early but it was no problem.   I easily found where the meeting was held and went in.

Bob started this event in 1993 and it has been going ever since.   The meeting is held in the conference room of this building.

 Everyone milled around for a few minutes before the meeting.  I got some coffee and began introducing myself and asking what they did for a living.  Most people are glad to tell you about themselves.

Once it began, the mood was light and friendly.  But it was well organized and moved along quickly.  There were about 30 people there.  All guests and new attendees were introduced and made to feel welcome, even if they were not USNA graduates.  Those looking for a job got the chance to tell what they were interested in and what they were looking for.  Those looking for workers had the chance to do the same.

One of the more interesting people who spoke up was Bill.  He is a USNA graduate and one who is about to launch a venture in Warsaw, Poland.  His business is a "Bed, Bath and Beyond"- type of business.  His website is:  http://www.decorador.pl/catalog/index.php

There was a wide range of interest and job possibilities at the breakfast meeting.  Some are entrepreneurs, some are folks who work for the military or government.  Others work in the commercial or retail arena.  I met Mike who works at a vegan bakery.  Another, Guy, has a business selling hoses.  Quite a mix of interesting people.  And the common denominator is the fact that the great majority of the folks are USNA graduates.

Later, a brief presentation was made on Reverse Mortgages.  Bob introduced the speaker who kept it short and offered some interesting points on the subject.

It didn't have a lot to do with with jobs, but since many there were in their 50's and are retirees, the subject was relevant to many attendees.

It was a fun morning of networking and seeing the results of Bill's idea to help others via the breakfast.  The meeting was very very well run and it was interesting.  It was good of Dennis to invite me and I appreciated the chance to meet a lot of USNA graduates and their class mates.

That is it for this edition of the Roadrunner Chronicles.  Thanks for joining us and hope you have a great weekend!

Submarine Sunday

On Sunday we were able to go out to the Navy base and get a tour of the USS Montpelier.  The submarine is a fast attack sub in the Los Angeles class.  It is the third ship in the US Navy to be named after Montpelier, Vermont.  It has 12 officers and 98 sailors assigned.  It was launched in August 1991 and commissioned in March 1993.

When we arrived we watched some of the sailors painting the outside of the sub down to the water level.  We found out later that there is going to be a change of command on the boat later in the month and the sailors are getting it in tip top shape.

Sunday is a good day to tour the boat because it is a relatively slow day and they had a minimum crew on board.  We were met by our escort Lt j.g. Jake Montoya.  He has been in the Navy 3 years.

After I went down the hatch, Pam handed me the camera and I got a couple of shots of Nikkos and Kelly joining me.  Pam declined to have her photo taken of her entry into the submarine.

The submarine is tight quarters as you would expect.  Also it has a myriad of systems and switches and buttons all of which are a bit overwhelming.

While some sailors were painting the boat on the outsider, some cleaning and painting was going on inside.  I never heard of Blue Thunder but it was working well.

The berths give new meaning to the term close quarters.  This closet is actually bed space for nine sailors.

 We toured the officer mess and the larger galley for the enlisted personnel.  The Redskins game was on. They can get TV while plugged into shore power but lose it after they get underway.  We also saw the kitchen area.  On Friday they had steak and shrimp for dinner.  I don't think that is on the menu every week.

Lt Montoya is an engineer and he did a great job of giving us a sense of what they do.  It was a real privilege to be able to get onboard and see the inside.

Afterwards we got a photo.  I admire those sailors for what their service.  Aside from being deployed months at a time often during their career, they have challenging conditions to work under.  My hat is off to them!

Monday I got up in time to snap another sunrise on the beach near our campground.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!  Hope your week is going well.