Tue - 15 Apr/14

Crunch day for taxes in the USA. In Canada we have until the end of the month - we have to pay more so they give usa few extra weeks to scrounge up the money. (grin)

A nice morning; however, a storm will be coming in later this afternoon. Weather is a big deal down here so we have been hearing about this event for days. It may actually be almost a non-event as most of the main storms appear to be going north of us.

Oooops! I was wrong. They have started the minute-by-minute storm location coverage on TV. We will find out if it will be bad here in a little while - the weather radio just went off. Heavy rain, thunder, lightning and possible winds to 60 mph is forecast. It is dark enough now (about dusk dark) to need lights on in the RV. The Rain - correct that - DOWNPOUR - just hit and the wind went from nil to "Rocking the RV" in seconds. Now I know why they give by-the-minute updates. The weather change is instant.

Wow! Instant puddles in minutes. Loud thunder and lots of lightning. I will run the computer on battery power so it won't "glitch" like it did the other day. When the thunder and lightning ceases I will go back to using  electricity.

Today was to be laundry day. We were all set to go out the door when we heard the weather warning. We are glad we waited as the weather change occurred in minutes and we would have been soaked carrying the hampers into the laundry. We will delay until later today.

We always seem to wait until we are down to our last clean set of clothes so it will need to be done soon. It is hard to do laundry when the nice weather beckons.

Hurricane season will be shortly upon us. There is a huge "Hurricane" conference currently in Orlando. Glad we will be gone by the time the main season arrives.

The prediction for Florida is 9 Tropical Storms and 3 Hurricanes. Oddly enough, this prediction comes from NOAA's (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), Colorado office.

Charlotte made TT's again for lunch (Toasted Tomato Sandwiches). Another pastry treat from Yalaha Bakery was dessert - both yummy.

Since we finally made the decision on when to leave (just not what route), I will work on the path this week. Travelling around down here will be toned down this week as we prepare, plan and rest. It's like going in to training for being less active at home (grin).

RVer ALERT! My daughter, Liz,  a Certified Insurance Underwriter,  just informed me that my RV insurance has a stipulation - the Motorhome can only be out of the country for 183 days a year. If you are an RVer from Canada who leaves your unit in the USA you may want to check your policy.

About an hour later it got daytime bright, the rain stopped and the computer is now back on regular power. I am still amazed at how quickly things dry up. The large puddles were completely gone withing 15 minutes of the rain stopping. There may be another round of rain later today? This is the start of the typical summer storm weather in Florida.

We will now head out to start the laundry. The laundry was busier today than usual meaning having "Ladybugs" came in handy. I made these to help us identify the machines we were using when the laundry was busy. Easy to see one - look closely and you will fine two more.

We always meet interesting folks at the laundry.

Today, a lady from the U.P. (that's Upper Peninsula) of Michigan said they made the national news with record low temperatures last night. If you are from Michigan you are either U.P. or L.P. (that's Lower Peninsula - not long playing record - grin).

Another couple were from Minnesota (Go Vikings!). They shared some good travel tips. I am still hoping to get to the 6 contiguous states that we haven't been to yet: MN; ND; SD; MT; WY; ID (USA). Also on the list are Alaska and Hawaii (USA) and Newfoundland, Yukon and the other Northern Territories in Canada.

The disadvantage of the Del Sol - it can only hold 4 laundry hampers in the trunk! It is a good thing we got it all done before any more rain.

Charlotte made a "Stir Fry" for supper, using veggies purchased at the Farmer's Market on the weekend. I'm getting hungry - it smells so good as it cooks!

It was good as was another selection from the Yalaha Bakery for dessert.

Wow! The evening news showed pictures of a large condominium complex in Celebration, FL.  The whole roof was destroyed by fire started by lightning from today's storm. (I thought storms only hit trailer parks - grin). The high winds also blew trees and power lines down blocking some roads. We managed to escape the worst.

Pause a moment: Remember with the people of Boston, the nation and the world, as they observe the one year anniversary of the Boston Marathon Bombing. Last year two pressure-cooker bombs left three people dead and 260 injured at the finish line.

Boston Strong!

Being Tuesday, this will be a TV night in the RV with my favourites: NCIS; NCIS L.A.; and Person of Interest.