Wow Paul, what a generous offer! We are planning to remain Florida residents, because so far we like the way the state is being run, and we are "homestaeded", so it controls our property taxes. We also enjoy the climate and ecology here (well, maybe I don't like the month of August so much). The area we plan to purchase land will be in zone 8 rather than zone 9 where I currently reside. We actually live on an imaginary line between the two zones right now. Yes, Terry, we plan on building again. Not a fun process at all, but we are going to build a Florida "cracker" style house. The initial settlers here figured out how to keep their houses cool in the summer without the central air conditioning that didn't exist at that time. I will still have central air, but it won't have to work so hard. I also love the full wrap around porches they had. The difference will be that we will build out of block rather than wood for termite protection. It's nice that you have some acreage to give you some space. I think you're correct in saying "there goes the entertainment"! My neighbor across the street likes to pull her chair up and watch me when I go outdoors. She says her dog likes to watch me. She is a nice lady, but I am rather a private person, and like to work in the yard for the peace it brings. One time she told me her dog couldn't stand watching me work so hard any more, so she had to go inside and close her blinds. I was planting roses and having a good time at it. The man that lives dirctly behind me goes out with his weedeater whenever I go outside to work in the back. He's actually taken the thing up on his roof twice and was running it along one wall to his house. I'm presuming he was using it to get dirt or leaves off his house and roof, but maybe he is just nuts. One day while potting plants he was out all day re-edging the same beds over and over. I can't imagine why, as I certainly am not the least bit attractive when potting plants. I started to get very annoyed with the racket and called in to my husband that maybe we should put the poor man out of his misery. He must have heard me, because he's not out with his weedeater as much. Of coarse his wife knows exactly how many times I go swimming, and that is with bushes and thick "privacy" screen. It put a damper on how often I use the pool. With today's building costs, we probably won't have another pool. Too bad I can't load the house and garden, and pool on a truck! Isn't all of this a hoot?! It's actually hilarious if you aren't the one involved on the receiving end of this. Oh, and one neighbor across the street paints his brown grass green in the winter. Anyway, we're hoping to find a piece of land that we can afford to grab up, and then we'll start building once we sell. So far we've had several "tire kickers" look, which is encouraging, but I expect the selling process will take a while. That's O.K. It'll give me time to propagate some roses and camellias in the meantime. Sorry Kate. I kind of took over your thread. At least you know you have others out there with less than desirable neighbors. Sandy

These are SOOOOO funny. I am going to pass this on to everyone I know. Laughter is good for the soul-thanks for the boost!

I sliced my foot open a while back and I found using just plain old vegetable oil and then using a gallon zip bag. You have to first understand that your feet have NO oiling mechanism like the rest of your body.......they simply depend on sweat to moisturize. The worst thing you can do is go barefoot and take super hot showers!! I learned quite a bit about feet as we have had so many family members with diabetes and foot issues that coincide. Now I soak my feet in lemon juice and water for half an hour-warm water, then apply a coat of Flexitol Foot Balm, and I use the zip bags because you can zip it but it isn't strangling the leg and blood supply but it's enough to create plenty of moisture. This method has worked very well for me.

I wish I'd seen this thread before posting mine! Yes, you can use a pressure cooker on the propane stove. I had a pressure cooker in my RV (and plan to put it in the camping equipment for this summer's trip). I have also used it on the white-gas stove (older Coleman model), when we were renovating the kitchen at home. We looked at those 12-volt refrigerators. My husband was annoyed that he got rid of his after leaving the trucking industry. Well, how could we know! Thanks for the tips on the newer ones. As far as camping reservations go: from experience, the national park campgrounds fill fast. Many of them are on the reservation system, and others (like in Arches) will require you to start trolling through the CG at daybreak, looking for departing campers. Our trip is about the same length as yours, though we are staying in motels and with friends and family instead of tent-camping. From experience with long trip tent camping, though, you'll want to get a motel room or find a truck stop with reasonably priced showers (bring shower shoes) every 3-4 days. Your trip sounds like a lot of fun -- we're heading from CA to ME via Orlando, FL, and back through MO (daughter, son-IL and new granddaughter live there). So we're going opposite of you, grin. I've placed a link to a great resource for road-trip planners. It's one of my favorite Internet sites. Donna Here is a link that might be useful: Road Trip America