Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Internet On The Road

Lately I have seen the question "what do you do for internet on the road"? It is a good question this day an age everyone has the need for internet. We all want to best option and the cheapest option and something that will work almost anywhere. I have never used any of the other services out there like, Karma Go, Verizon jetpack, or anything else because what I have has never given me a reason to look for anything else.

I have Internet hotspot on my phone and the service that I have is Cricket. OK hear me out I know that most people have had bad experiences with Cricket, their customer service was horrible. Since then Cricket bought out a company named AIO Wireless, their customer service is so much better and they work to help you make sure your needs are met and you are happy. You may not find a Cricket store everywhere you are, but that does not mean that the service is not good in that area. I have been in areas where there was not a Cricket store for 100 miles+ and my signal was super. 

My hotspot cost's me $10 a month for the use, now that is if you do not have a unlocked phone. My previous phone was unlocked and I did not have to pay for the hotspot. They do not have a restriction on how often you can use the hotspot if you have to pay for it, its unlimited use. I swear that my internet that I get from my phone is faster then some house Internets. I surf facebook, play games, download games and music and watch youtube videos and sometimes stream a few shows, I have never had a slow down or went over the Gigs that I get. I do not look at it as its my phone, you would use it as any other internet. 

Now I bet everyone wants to know what pay for this, $65.00 a month for 20 GB, now I have 20GB because they had a one time special promotions, normally you would get 10GB and unlimited everything else for $55 it is normally $60 but if you sign up for auto-pay you get $5.00 off you bill so it ends up being $55, if you do not have a unlocked phone and you have to pay $10 for the hotspot that is how my bill comes up to $65. Like I said previously if you are worried about not having a store in every area you are, it is not a concern, you can pay you bill right from you phone or online, and if you have any issues with you service their customer service is great about helping fix the problem any way possible. 

My cell signal for calling and texting is fantastic as well, I have been places where people with Verizon, T-mobile and Sprint had problems getting signal and I had all bars and LTE. The towers that Cricket uses are AT&T towers, I get all the benefits of their towers and I do not have a contract. 

If I was going to buy another piece of equipment for internet use, It would be a cell phone booster. I was in one place that I got OK signal and the campground owner we were managing for had a booster. They let us put it in our camper, WOW what a difference I had reservations if it would work, was I wrong, the booster really makes a difference for data and cell signal, so if you are in a area where you get OK service a booster would make a world of difference. I hope this help some people with their questions. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions I can do the best I can to help.... Happy surfing!!!!

Saturday, January 23, 2016

Blizzard 2016 Baltimore,MD

With anticipation the blizzard started yesterday around 3 pm it started slow, before you knew it you looked outside and it was piling high. Last night was the lighter until about 8 pm when the heavier snow started falling. The news and weather coverage informed us that when we woke up this morning (Saturday) we would have a foot of snow on the ground. I was in disbelief, I went to bed thinking it was not going to amount to anything like the weather channel said, you know when they predict a storm a week out it never really amounts the what they say.... HAHA I was wrong there was a foot of snow on the ground. I was excited to see it since the only snow I have seen in three years was the 3 inches of snow when we were in Sawyer,OK last year, nothing compared to this. 

I am excited to get the puppies outside, I am going to brave the snow and try to go shovel off the back deck enough to get the door open and let the dogs out. I under estimated how much snow was outside, I took one step off the front porch and I was covered in snow up to above my knees (short people problems). struggling I managed to get the front porch some what shoveled and the back deck enough to get the door open. Once I got the back door open I called the dogs outside, Cosmo and pookie ran out off the deck and as soon as they got down into the yard where the snow drifts are they turned around and ran right back into the house. Pookie got stuck working her way up the steps had to give her some assistance and Cosmo wanted nothing to do with it, they could get lost in the snow it is so deep and of course I could not get Sammie out, she took one look and turned her nose up at it. She would freeze her toushy off, she is only 4 lbs. After I got all the dogs back in the house I walked back around the the front and thought I would shovel some more.....NOPE I went inside. Cold and snow covered I saw my next door neighbor with a snow blower I decided that once it has stopped snowing I will go ask him if I could use his snow blower this snow is way to heavy and dense to shovel, there already has been 8 snow related deaths with this storm. I know if I had a snow blower I would just walk around my neighborhood and snow blow everyone's sidewalk that would be my good deed. 

For now it is still snowing I am going to cuddle on the sofa with the puppies and the hubby watch some TV, take naps because we can,









we cant go anywhere. Maybe play some games with my mom and grandmother. I am determined to get Todd to go out and play in the snow with me but he is not budging maybe later when the wind dies down. Stay safe and warm everyone if you are in the blizzard or not!!! I am going to survive the Blizzard of 2016 in Baltimore,MD

Friday, January 22, 2016

How To Prepare For A Blizzard In MD

As I am sitting here writing this post I am thinking how do I prepare for a blizzard, Gessh I have not had to prepare for one of these in a LONG TIME. Is it still like when I was younger with a threat of a inch or so everyone runs to the store and buy bread,milk,egg and toilet paper?? I guess I will see when I get to the store. I know this place is going to be a mad house so maybe I should make a list............ bread,milk,eggs,toilet paper ;-) hmm what else?? 

Took a late night trip to wal mart with my mom and her boyfriend and WOW I could not believe this place and it is still 3 days before the blizzard hit.... no bread,milk,egg,toilet paper and fruits the shelves are empty YUP I guess it is still like it was when I was younger and it still shocks me every time. Something funny family in MI saw my post about no bread,milk,egg and she thought it was crazy and she has never seen anything like that before. I informed her that in MI it is normal for large amounts of snow to fall so not everyone panics because they can drive in the snow, people in MD here 1 inch or light dusting the whole city shuts down. Schools close and everyone runs to the store buys everything they can because they think they are going to be snowed in lol.. I love it having lived in MI for a short time it crazy how well people can drive in snow like nothing is on the road me on the other hand I still had problems driving while living there. 

if you have ever been in Baltimore during any snow falling you will start to see coolers and chairs sitting in parking spots, that is the way you save your spot when it snows. Don't ask why i do not know but I put a chair in the street to save my mothers spot yesterday and I just could not help but to laugh. 

We have been to a few stores now and everyone is out of the same things. we go to buy salt and damn are we late everyone is out of salt... we improvise pool salt anything salt will melt ice lol. We get home I start thinking does my mother have a shovel so we can dig out, she does but she has no clue where it is I guess we will be shovel hunting tomorrow the day the blizzard is supposed to hit. I sure hope she has a shovel like she said I bet all the stores are out of those as well. Apparently when a winter storm is coming you want to make sure your gas tank is full in case you loose power and get cold you can hop in your car and get warm this was new to me.  Todd I guess from experience growing up in MI knows a lot more then I do, I will be going to gas up the truck our heater works amazing. We managed to get some food and once we got home my mom says oh we need sausage and a few more things.....ugh back out into the jungle this time will be that last because as of 6pm tonight the snow will be hitting and we will not be driving in this..


Oh I forgot to top all this off my mothers truck in 4X4 and we were happy we would have this because our truck is not a 4x4 and super powerful that if you lightly touch the gas the tires spin, not a good truck to be driving in this mess with. Well we were out 2 days ago and her ABS light comes on and now the truck is making a loud thumping noise when you try to drive, with the blizzard coming we will not have time to get it fixed until after the storm. We are down a vehicle that could really help and its a shame its crazy how things work. 

I am  gonna stop blogging because I need to go make sure we are prepared for the blizzard stay tuned to blizzard pictures and what fun things we come up with to keep up busy while stuck in the house.. If you are going to be hit by the blizzard please be safe stay warm and have fun.....

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Are We Heading The Wrong Way???!!???

Chugging along on I 95N Baltimore bound on the last leg of the trip. The weather is awesome and so far no traffic I just hope we do not hit any major cities at rush hour. I cant help to notice that we are the only camper heading north that we saw, everyone heading south is probably saying "they are going the wrong way there is a blizzard coming" they most likely think we are crazy and it the back on my head I might think we are crazy LOL...

Making good timing we did not hit any cities with traffic and we have arrived at our final destination after a week on the road. Todd got sick (he is now doing much better), weather did not want to play nice. It seems liked every place we stopped the next morning it was going to rain like crazy!! but we are finally here and just in time for this historic blizzard that is going to hit Baltimore head on. 2-3 feet of snow YIKES!!!! now I love snow but I am not sure if I was ready for this one. I need to get back to the camper and get the snow pants I bought for the sugar beet harvest and my snow boots, I will be taking advantage of the weather and playing in the snow with my Nephew Hunter and going sledding!!! Stay tuned for tons of snow pictures and videos maybe... I am sure by the time this blizzard is over I will never say I miss snow again, Todd is almost sure I will get my fill for the next few years that way we can stay out of this mess. We will see!! :-)

while we are in MD we will be staying at my mom's house and not in the camper until the middle of march and our camper will be stored at my fathers house. I have mixed feelings about this, since we have started this journey I have not slept in a house longer then a week when I was visiting family and Todd has not stayed in a sticks and bricks in almost 3 years this is going to take some getting used to. The whole reason we are here in this mess is because my mother and grandmothers house is in need of repairs and who better to do it then us. They are going to love the finished products I will be posting lots of before and after pictures!!!  

The transition out of the camper has been weird I know we are going back on the road but moving necessities to my mothers has made me sad. I know its for a short time but still a rush of emotions came over me. The dogs are in heaven at my moms house they have a huge fenced in backyard to run like crazy in Cosmo is such a happy puppy. It is nice to be back home with family and friends, I also will be getting fitted for my bridesmaid dress for my best friends wedding while I am here and I can not wait. Of course since I am in blue crab capital lol.. I will be getting some crabs and making lots of crab cakes yummy I cant wait. Here is to spending the winter in MD!!!!



Sunday, January 17, 2016

It's Cold Outside..... Here's How We Stay Warm

With the winter weather everyone's question is how do you keep you RV warm, Here is how we do it.

When we first started full-timing we were like everyone else wondering how well the furnace was going to work, was it going to be warm enough in the cold weather? Come to find out the furnace works really well. One thing I could not get over how much propane we were using, and I always worried were we going to run out of propane in the middle of the night and freeze us and the animals there has to be a better way to heat yes!! there is a better way.

We have been looking at electric heaters and I could not find one that I liked, searching and searching we come up with an electric fireplace TV stand would work best for us. We have the perfect spot for it. They are pretty expensive and so many different styles so we looked around for sometime to make sure we get the perfect one and make sure it will fit good in the spot. Black Friday rolls around my favorite day for shopping and we find the perfect one on sale for $150. We went to Wal-mart waited in line only to find out that this wal-mart did not get them in stock in time for the sale. Bummed out we got in line to check out with our other deal, the store manager was directing the line she informed us they did not get them in stock in time she asked for our number and said she would honor the price for us when one came in.......we were so happy!!!. The next day we got a call from her and we got it, Todd put it together and it is perfect. It fits perfect and I love the color, It says it will heat up to 400 SQ feet. We have been in temps down in the teens and this baby keeps us so warm, we sometimes get up in the middle of the night and have to turn it off because it is so hot lol... We also keep warm with a duel temp control heating blanket on the bed for those nights with a little chill in the air but the heater is not needed. We are always toasty and the dogs love the blanket so much that I might buy them their own for their dog bed (I'll explain the dog bed)

OK so we have come to realize that our wonderful dining table in the 5er will not work for us, so instead of a table we put the table down into the bed and have deemed that area the "dog bed". Now the question rises where will you eat? It is just Todd and I and yes as bad as it sounds we eat on the sofa bending over to the coffee table, very hard to eat this way. I have been on the hunt for a cool coffee table and one that match our new fireplace and of all places I looked I scored at wal-mart again. This awesome coffee table has storage and the top lifts up on a hinge lifting the top a foot up to the sofa and exposes the storage (pictures attached) this table is a awesome find. When we travel I put all the remotes and my computer in the storage area so I remember where they are, and now eating is so much easier no more bending down the height is now perfect, I can also use this as a computer table (I am blogging on it right now) I just love it I only paid $79 bucks for this beauty it may not be the most expensive furniture but since I live in an RV i want practical and both of our new pieces have multiple purposes. The electric fireplace heats my house and also is my TV stand and has some storage for the DTV box and PS3 and my coffee table has storage and we use it as our dining table lol.... 

I am always on the hunt for better RV furniture and I do not want to spend big $$$ for the special furniture for the RV, especially when the RV furniture is not always stylish and comfortable. Next on my todo list is to either cover the jackknife sofa we have or find a new sofa that works for us, I am not a fan of the baby blue velvet with baby pink accents on the sofa but this thing is super comfortable.  I cant sew to save my life I wonder how much it would cost to get someone to sew me a cover??? lol...    



with the pictures attached excuse the mess on the awesome table!!!




Still Baltimore Bound With One Last Pit Stop

We are on our last leg of our Baltimore,MD bound trip we are currently in Four Oaks,NC. 3 days ago we were in Brunswick,GA at Golden Isles RV Resort the campground. it was awesome most of their spots were pull through and very spacious, if you have passport america which I highly suggest you get, your stay would have been 21.20 per night because the 50% off with PA. We ended up staying 2 nights because the day we wanted to leave we had horrible weather and mainly because Todd was not feeling well and he landed himself in the hospital, the culprit was diverticulitis..... its nasty and I hated to see him in pain, and if anyone knows that when my hubby say's he wants to go to the hospital something if really wrong he HATES doctors. I of course started worrying like crazy why we are there, in the back of my mind I knew what it was because he has had diverticulitis his whole life but your mind still goes nuts. 5 hours later we get meds and we are on our way home and happy to get back on the road with him feeling better.

The next day we get hooked up with beautiful weather and drive until we want to stop. we drove 387 miles and landed in Four Oaks Rv Resort. We of course found the RV park from PA I have to say it is definitely not a resort it looks more like a mobile home park but it is cheap and right off 95 so we are not going out of our way. We decided that we did not want to cook dinner so we found a BBQ joint near the rv park. Memphis style BBQ it is, We have never eaten Memphis style BBQ and I not sure if this is what it really tastes like but the pork plate that we got was drenched in VINEGAR, Todd's cole slaw also had vinegar, tons of it in it, also the ketchup as well. We took one bite and WOW it is so acidic the flavor was good but it started to upset our stomach and we could not eat it. The food was not bad other then the vinegar, we just decided that we do not like Memphis style BBQ if this is what it tastes like lol... 

After dinner we stopped at a gas station to get some ice cream. Walked in and I smelled smoke, I just thought it came in through the door or something. Boy I was wrong we walked up the register with our ice cream and the cashier was SMOKING IN THE STORE..... it has been a long time since I have been in any place other then a casino were people are smoking.... I was shocked!!! I walked out of the store with my jaw on the ground speechless and in awe...... lol... oh well it is what it is, time to go home chill and get ready to leave tomorrow.

We are not leaving today, We are not fond of traveling in the rain if we dont have to, and since we are in no hurry we decided to stay one more day. Our route we would be traveling today was invaded by snow and rain...... even tho I want to see snow so bad, I would prefer to see it once we get to my moms house when we do not have to pull our house in it. We will for sure be on the road tomorrow the weather it supposed to be better but cold!!! for now I will cuddle with puppies and keep warm!!!!      

Sunday, January 10, 2016

Forgot to Post About Camping World Experience.....

The same day that we were going to buy paint we decided that we were going to go to camping world in Tallahassee, FL because we needed a new faucet for the bathroom ours in leaking and filling our tank. We are kinda excited because we have never been to a camping world since we have started full-timing;

We drove 30 miles to get to camping world and boy were we DISAPPOINTED WITH EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS PLACE. It is one of the smaller of the stores this doesn't matter as long as they have what we need. We walked in and the customer service was horrible no one greeted us as we walked by 5 people. Walking up and down the isles and we finally find what we need, I can not believe the price $28 bucks for a plastic faucet that doesn't even have the hose or the shower head for it they are an additional $30 BUCK!!!!! outrageous, we grab it anyway. We remember that we need a piece of pipe to fix on under the camper that we damaged when we had a blow out. Todd went to the Parts counter two guys were sitting there and they did not say a word to him, he spoke first they directed him in back with the parts...ok, het gets back there and the guy was so lazy he rolled his chair down the isle and the whole time he was looking for the part we needed he was stuffing his face!! HOW RUDE as 5 minutes of eating and searching the guy turns to Todd and says we dont have everything you need....but if you go to Lowes you will find what you need he also told Todd "99% of the repairs we do we end up at Lowes to get parts anyway" WOW we are shocked we get to the counter and go to pay for the faucet and it is more expensive then I saw on the sticker, the unfriendly chick informed me "if you were a member of camping world you could get the cheaper price" $25 a year for the membership....HELL NO..... she kept pushing the membership so I decided that we were not going to get the outrageously expensive piece of plastic and walked out. Everyone we encountered were so rude not helpful at all and most of the stuff we saw there we could get a wal-mart cheaper, I am not against paying for something but when your customer service is not good I will not give you my money. I went home on Amazon and got everything we needed better quality and a better price. 

Since we started full-timing this was our first ever trip to a camping world because I hear horror stories about them and of course I lived my own horror story. We will never go back to a camping world for anything.... Well unless it is the only place for 300 miles that I can get what we need......Tallahassee camping world you need to learn how important customer service is.... 

Relaxation at it's finest.......

We are loving our time we spend in Crawfordville my sister in-law's property is beautiful the dogs love spending time with their cousin Dakota(she is a chihuahua brown with some black about 5lbs) and the cat loves being here she loves just roaming the property I think she feel like it is a second home. 

After a few nights of just relaxing we plan on painting the cabinets in the kitchen so we head to Lowes to get some paint. Of course I take forever to pick out what I think is the perfect color.... Boy was I wrong I did not take in account the kitchen counter tops the color I picked is identical to the counter tops... Now I am debating on painting them the so called perfect color or getting a crazy funky color, so their is no painting going on right now.

Later that night I could not sleep so I am out on the sofa and I hear that cat come up to the door (she normally does not stay out at night) so I hurried up and opened the door she ran in and went to her sleep spot. I feel asleep on the sofa finally, the next morning I wake up to the cat meowing asking to go out. I open the door and before she could get out .....I noticed her paw was swollen and she was not using it at all..I FREAKED OUT.... she did not seem to be in any pain she was still mobile I called a vet and they said I could bring her in the next day they did not have any openings today. I kept a watch on her all day I did not know if she broke it, sprained it, or got bit by something. As the day went on she started using it more and she still wanted to go out of course I was not letting her out. The next morning I was all ready to take her to the vet but, the swelling has gone down dramatically and she was walking on it, I am still going to monitor her but I do not think I need a vet. My sister in-law thinks she was bitten by a snake.....OMG I can not believe it apparently cats can take a snake bite and be fine don't ask me how and if you know how let me know lol.. Long story short Spankie kitty is healed and happier then ever cant keep her inside when she is here she loves it outside so i cautiously let her out and check her every time she comes in.

We have been here for almost a week and we are going to go to the flea market tomorrow (Saturday) Robin's husband noticed a leak on the faucet we were using for water, Robin informs us that they are going to have to turn off the water today or tomorrow to fix it I told Todd and Todd being who he is since they are letting us use the water we will fix it for him.....BAD IDEA apparently Robin's husband does not want any help arguments and yelling started GUESS WHAT we are on the road again I can not stand him yelling because we were going to help since we were using the water for free!!!!!!!!! We packed up and left we love spending time with Robin but off we go. We found a campground with Passport America just 46 miles from her house, We ordered a new faucet for the bathroom on Amazon and they are being sent to her house. We are going to stay here until Tuesday when all the stuff should be here. The campground is virtually in the middle of no where 30 miles from any town either way, this place is awesome tho very quite people are friendly and some great fishing we hear. The best part about this place is you cant beat the price $12.50 for FHU thank you Passport America. 

Bright eyed and bushy tailed Crawfordville here we come

Last leg of this trip by the end of the day we will be in Crawfordville,FL ready for some relaxation. Weather is perfect, dogs are happy and we are excited to be done moving for a few weeks, not that we dont love it but I like to sit still for a few.

312 miles ahead of us we are making really good time, with the nice road we are on I swear the truck is getting the best gas mileage we have ever seen I think we are only going to have to stop for gas one time maybe 2. Something I do not like seeing as we are moving more east the gas prices are rising....WTF....not happy when we were in San Antonio we payed $1.52 I never in my lifetime thought I would see gas that low again I was not complaining, I am complaining now we just hit the FL line and gas is over $2.00 AHHHHHHH not a happy camper here. 

Finally around 5pm because we are in EST zone now we have made it to my Sister in-laws haha she was not expecting us until Monday, I had all the days mixed up but who cares we are here and ready for some relaxation. It has been rainy here and where we are going to be parked is a tad bit soupy!!! I hate that I am always worried about getting stuck. We get into our spot with no problems now to get set up and chill. So happy to be back in FL for a few the only thing that would make it better being here is if the gas was as cheap as it was in TX, 

Heading to Crawfordville,FL with a pit stop in between

Well after an awesome stay in Kinder,LA we are on the road again and heading to my sister in-laws house in Crawfordville,FL. We had a blast in Kinder and have had our fill of casino's for the year, doesn't mean we wont end up at one while in MD but we are good for now. We won $1047 on a slot machine I won over $250 playing poker and of course when you are at the casino you are there to have fun, the money you go in with most of the time you do not come back out with lol.... lets just say we had a riot the 2 days we spent there.

 Packed up and on the road super excited to see my sister in-law. we are roughly 568 miles and we are not going to make it in all one day. We will drive until 4:30 this gives us enough time to set up before dark. 

Dog are being really good this trip and of course I have a travel buddy on my lap the whole trip. He loves to cuddle on my lap while Pookie and Sammie get the whole big backseat all to themselves. I10 from heading east is one of the best road we have traveled besides we you come into a city them it get smooth again so smooth that Todd doesn't even feel the 5th wheel behind us and it is great. As we get closer to stopping I hop on Passport America's app and find a campground to stay at for the night. This is one of the best clubs we have joined, 50% off the membership pays for itself in one stay. Yes you need to check the restrictions because some campground have a limit on the days in a row you can use it, FL in the winter it is very hard to find any campground that will allow PA use so please make sure you read.

I find a great campground right off of I10 in Ocean Springs, Mississippi called Martin Lake Campground we are only here for one night. Could not tell you much about the area campground was nice, the roads in the campground were very narrow and looked like it would be tough for big rigs to maneuver around in there. Once we are all setup I saw a place I have been dying to eat at for many months and I will finally get the opportunity ....WAFFLE HOUSE, I know it may seem weird but I love their grilled chicken biscuit lol..and their hash browns call me weird lol....after dinner we are going to chill until tomorrow were pack up and hit the road again hahah oh I love this life!!!!!