SEVEN MONTHS IS TOO LONG

Yes, it's been 7 months since I have been to the beach.  It was just a short visit but a needed one.  I was hoping it would be cold but the temps were in the 70s and there were droves of mosquitoes that attacked us everywhere we went.  I used bug spray but that didn't help much.  It was awful.  I have never experienced mosquitoes in such hordes at the beach.  The town sprayed insecticide every night and that did help some but the next day they were back.  So I stayed inside a lot and watched movies.

Temps did drop some that first night and I got to use my electric fireplace.  It kept us nice and toasty.

I did enjoy riding my new electric bike around the park as well as on the beach.  As long as I was moving I didn't get bit but as soon as I slowed down or stopped they were all over me.  The beach has changed over the last few years.  There is grass growing all over the beach - that was never there before -  and that's where the mosquitoes nest.  Not sure why they allowed grass to grow but it's a big mistake as it will keep folks off the beach.

This is how it looks with all that ugly grass.  Note the green sign.

This is how it looked a few years ago.  You can see the corner of the green sign. 

This is the view of the front of the shelter.  The beach was so nice then.  There is the green sign on the left.

Enjoyed a fire the first night after the spray truck left.  It was nice and chilly and I covered up with a blanket and watched the fire for a long time.

The dogs love to sit on the picnic table.

Back home now and hoping I can take another short camping trip in a week or so.  Thinking about the Mississippi Gulf Coast.  

YAYA'S CAJUN PLEASURE IS BACK HOME ONCE AGAIN

After spending 43 days in a garage bay, my RV is back in my driveway tonight.  I had decided to go to the garage today and inform them that I would be taking my RV home and they could call me when the parts arrived and I would then return.  (The parts were on back order) However, when I got there I could see that the RV was no longer jacked up.  The mechanic immediately started to apologize.  At first, I didn't know why he was so apologetic.  Then he told me that the RV had been fixed and ready since last Wednesday but they couldn't find my phone number.  Well, I wasn't too upset about that because the family had suffered a great loss the day after I brought it in.  It is a family owned business and the father had a heart attack and died.  He was only 50.  So sad.

Anyway, I was extremely relieved that the new air bags were installed and holding air.  I went into the office to pay my bill and the happiness soon turned to shock.  The total bill was $1070.00.  I paid, thanked them, then returned home to wait for my neighbor to get off from work to take me back to pick it up.

My blood pressure went sky high and I even had chest pains which caused me great concern.  Once home I tried to relax and not think about the money.  It has been 7 months since I've been camping and in that time have spent $3,000 on the RV.  First it was a front end brake job, then it was a rear end break job, then it was 4 new tires, and then the busted air bags replaced.  When I think about how many camping trips I could have taken with that money I get sick to my stomach.

I am happy to have it back home and will be taking the rest of the month of December off from my Dog Sitting business to go on some short camping trips.  Can't afford much else.  Looks like it will be next winter before I can make it to the Atlantic Coast and down to the Florida Keys.

I'm hoping that nothing else goes wrong with the camper for a while but am concerned about the refridgerator.  Although it was not running while it was jacked up for 43 days, I worry that something may go wrong with the chemicals that run it.  I'll try it out tomorrow and see what happens.