North Fort Myers Habitat Build

We spent two weeks in North Fort Myers as team leads for the Care-A-Vanner Habitat build.

The accommodations were a small field the affiliate turned into an RV campground with 30/50 amp service, sewer and water at no charge. I didn't get a good picture of our RV area until after Tom and Carol had left.  Barry's rig is at the end and the Roadrunner is in the foreground.

Mavis was on the other side of us in her Roadtrek.

After a few days in the corner of the 'yard' next to a large tree (and hence no satellite TV)  Roger and his 40' fifth wheel, Volvo Heavy Duty Truck and Smart car - moved out and found a commercial campground near the work site.

Our excellent volunteer coordinator at the Lee and Hendry Habitat for Humanity was Elisha.  She has only been in the job but has a lot of experience working with people in her previous jobs.  She met us on her day off (Monday) and had snacks and drinks for the Orientation Meeting.  We meet in the affiliate offices and got a tour of the facilities.  

This affiliate is one of the largest in the nation and builds over 50 homes a year!

Here's a photo of the group after devotions at the campsite before we headed out to the job site.

 Our build site was Majorca Palms and we worked on three single family houses and six duplexes.

Mavis worked on painting/getting the primer coat on one of the houses.  She also worked on shelving and worked quite a few days in the Habitat Restore near our RVs.  She has volunteered at Habitat for many years but this was her first Care-A-Vanner build.

 Barry did a lot of things.  He has spent over 8 weeks at the site participating in a number of builds as the Care-A-Vanners came and went after the normal two week stint.

 This was Carol's first Habitat build and she did a number of things including flooring and caulking.

Tom and I did a lot of re-hanging closet doors and putting in 'wire' shelving.  

 Roger is a former millworker and cabinet maker and he spent a lot of time putting in kitchen countertops and cabinets.

 Pam spent a lot of time with a putty knife and joint compound and a caulking gun.

The guy on site that kept us all moving and going in the right direction was Eduardo.  'Eddie' was one of the best guys we have worked with an a pure delight.  He has a heart of gold and has been doing Habitat for 17 years.  He also is very generous and bought us lunch from a food truck on Fridays.

 Elisha came out to the job site and brought lunch one day.  She is very good at what she does.  She and Eddie are two of the best we have worked with and real positive influences at the affiliate.

 We went out to eat as a group one night and ended up at Ford's Garage in downtown Fort Myers.

 It was a good two weeks in North Fort Myers and they have a lot of work going on with a very good system.  We didn't have to wait on supplies or wonder was was next after we finished up one task.  They kept us busy which we appreciate.

That's a recap of our time on the Care-A-Vanner build...Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles.

Leaving Nashville Area and Saying Adios to Tom!

Our main reason for being in the Nashville area was to hook up with our friend Tom and we were able to do that.  After getting together for pizza the night he and son Vic arrived, we spent quite a bit of time together.

Since his coach was right next to ours at the campground, morning coffee and dinner together were special times.  We did that Wednesday and again on Thursday.  Later Thurdsay afternoon we did some grocery shopping and then went out to a park that Tom knew about.

We spent a few minutes at Mansker's Fort:

Mansker's Fort is a reproduction of the fort that was first build in 1779.  It looked quite interesting and reminded me a little bit of Fort Kent in Maine at the end of U.S. Highway 1 in Maine.

Next, we went back to the campground. Tom and I loaded his kayak back on top of his car and then got all hitched up for his departure the next day.

He has to line up the ball hitch and position under the Harley and rack on the back of his motor home. With two of us it was pretty easy.  Now without Cathy, he has to develop a new process.

Tom got under there after I attached it and hooked up the cables just to double check.

Next, we all were off to Victor's for dinner.

Vic has been in Nashville a few years and two years ago bought this nice place.  Over the past couple of years, Cathy and Tom and been down here and took on some fairly extensive rehab projects.
The first thing they did was knock down a wall to open up the kitchen, dining room and living room.

And they completely redid the kitchen with new cupboards, granite counter tops, appliances and an island.

Cathy's last project was getting the long curtains done for the living room.  They did other things like build storage shelves in basement along with a workbench area and Vic had a nice-sized covered deck built.  It was all very well done.

We enjoyed the evening with friends Derrick and Danielle.  Derrick and Vic are sound engineers with Sound-Image and are often on the road with some bands.  Danielle is a cosmetology  person and has done make up for lots of folks including the San Diego Chargers. She is about to launch her own line of lip stick.

Lots of music/entertainer lines of business in Nashville.

We had a wonderful meal of brots, sauerkraut, corn, baked beans, asparagus, pumpkin pie and apple crisp.  We didn't stay too long since we were heading out in the morning.

Tom was up and at 'em and packing up about 8:00 ish.  We did the same and ended up leaving the same time.

I thought the Grand Ole Opry Resort and Market was a pretty good campground.  On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give it a 7.  Since it was where Tom and Cathy were staying while she was getting her treatment, it was a no brainer to stay here.  Tom knew the area and property well and was going back there.   The owner, Tommy Cunningham, was out there to meet us when we arrived and there when we left.

We got into a new site and had no issues.  They had recently added a lot of gravel throughout the sites and roads so the pot holes were gone.  I really appreciate that.  He also built a new office, clubhouse, market and common area.  Very nice.

We pulled out, drove down the highway about 90 minutes, successfully navigating through morning rain and Nashville traffic.

We followed him until we got to the rest stop just inside of Alabama.  We were going west over to Red Bay and he made it to Dothan AL.  He is going to spend the winter in Fort Myers, FL with good friends Bonar and Christa.

Seeing Tom was a priority for us and it worked out very well.  He is working through these days and into the chapter of his life without Cathy.  He says it is hard but it gets a little better each day.  I appreciate how he is dealing with it all and am learning all I can.  I don't know who is 'going first' but the reality is unavoidable if it's Pam, I want to go through it well.

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles.

Wednesday in Goodlettsville

I got up my usual time which is early--like before 5:00 AM.  I love that part of the day because I can get some reading and personal time and plan my day.  After a big pot of coffee I sat down and read for about an hour and then worked some more on the blog.

I have forgotten what a commitment it is to jot down a few thoughts and put something together.  But its a challenge I am enjoying.  Shortly after 7:00 AM I noticed Tom was up and he joined us for some good conversation and chit chat.  We are going to take advantage of the few days we have together because we probably won't see him for a while.

And its fun to spend time with friends reminiscing and just hanging out.  Next I logged some time doing some real work online and then about 10:00 AM or so he and I went over to the $5 car wash.

His car hadn't had a bath in months and it had a lot of that Wisconsin road salt on it.  Plus the car gets pretty dirty when it is towed behind the motor home.

Next, we ran over to Home Depot.  We are trying to design an iPad stand to put on the Roadrunner coffee/drawer console that is simple, inexpensive and functional.  This may take a while and so far we are just assembling some pieces and parts for a mockup.

Tom dropped me off at the Grand Ole Opry Resort and Marketplace where we have camp sites next to each other.

He grabbed some lunch and went to a doctor's appointment, then spent the rest of the afternoon at his son Vic's house.

Pam and I had lunch, then made some phone calls to confirm our reservations back in Virginia Beach.  We are due to arrive there on December 12 which will be in time for a baby shower on the 14th.  We also call the Tiffin Parts Store in Red Bay, then Bruce Deaton's Paint and Body shop where we are going to have some work done next week.  Another call to Brannon Hutchinson went unanswered so I left a message.  We have an appointment to see him to trouble shoot some electrical items next Tuesday.

Pam and I both did some reading and I did some more work and then we ran some errands.  After our return it was more of the same until Tom arrived for dinner.  Pam made  some lasagna a couple of days ago and heated that up.  It was delicious also with a salad and some toasted french bread.

We had another good time with Tom for the evening and enjoyed some of his sister Cindy's apple crisp.

Tom left a little after  8:00 and we watched a little TV and went to bed.

That's how we spent our day here in Goodlettsville yesterday...

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Niece Heidi in Day 4 of Dressember:

Thanks for joining up on the Roadrunner Chronicles!