On The Move

During the course of every year, the need arises for things to be moved around inside my house, the Green Acres Garage. Gary does this major task usually three times per year on average. When "Poppy" arrived here a couple of weeks ago, I was certain that things would be moved around soon to make the best use of space. Gary has more junk than anybody I've ever met, and that accumulation of clutter is to blame for the constant chaos around here. I guess the problem wasn't as bad until he got into travel trailers a few years ago, but even without the trailers and related parts, the amount of stuff that Gary owns is simply monumental. He promises to get rid of some of this junk and get better organized. I hope that happens, but for now, he deals with it as well as he can. Today was the day to move things around, and the first step was to get rid of a lot of wood that was haphazardly stacked under the loft that Gary built earlier this year. The wood will end up in a storage shed on the other end of the property. To get it from the garage to the shed, my brother "Henry" the S.L.U.T (Serro Lawn & Utility Trailer) was put to work. Henry was nearly full by the time he pulled away from the garage. Once the wood was gone and a bunch of junk was loaded onto the frame of my other brother "Scotty", then "Scotty" was moved to his new home under the loft. You can see "Scotty's" tongue hanging out in the picture, but otherwise it's hard to tell he's even back there. "Scotty's" move left an open spot next to Gary's old Dodge Dart, but not for long. The old blue and white Dodge van was moved over a bit, and hidden between it and the side door to the garage was three old jukeboxes. I've lived here for almost five years, and this is the first time I've ever seen them. I had no idea that Gary owned any jukeboxes. Like I said, there is a LOT of junk here. Before moving the van, "Poppy" and I had to go outside so there would be room to work. My buddy "Dodge" was used to pull "Poppy", and for the first time ever, I was pulled outside by Gary's Dad's old Buick. The Buick was also used to pull "Henry" around. With the old Dodge van rolled back into it's spot next to the Dodge Dart, the space where the van and the jukeboxes were was cleaned and readied for "Poppy". The bones of a dead bird was found while sweeping the floor. I wonder where THAT came from? Gary brought "Poppy" back in, and turned her around facing the back of the garage so that getting into her door would be easier. Then I was brought back in, and put back into my usual spot in the middle of the garage. I thought that "Dodge" would be taking his usual position between me and the front garage door, but guess what happened instead? Well, as you can see, that huge old Terry trailer was brought in instead. As I mentioned in my last post, it is being sold to our friend Cindy. It will only be here long enough for Gary to do a little work on it, and then it's out of here for good. The Terry's rear bumper is WAY too close to my hitch for my liking, but room is tight in here with four trailers, a van, a car, a riding lawn mower, and more stuff than a Wal-Mart distribution center has in stock, and that's not far from the truth. It took Gary eleven hours to do all of this. He is taking a well deserved nap at the moment. "Poppy" and I enjoyed our day in the sun, but we are almost as tired as Gary is from watching how much he accomplished. He was a BUSY guy! I'm ready for a nap myself, so I'm going to sign off. I'll catch you again soon. Goodnight, my friends.

Thanks For Stopping By, Cindy

Cindy, who happens to be one of Gary's Facebook friends, stopped by for a visit yesterday. Even though they have corresponded for quite awhile, they had never met. Well they have now! Cindy knew me from Facebook too. I don't have my own page, but Gary posts plenty of pictures of me on his. Anybody that knows Gary knows me. Cindy's visit was not just a casual one. She was here to check out that big Terry trailer that Gary has owned even longer than he's owned me. She's been looking for a project trailer, and thought that the Terry might be of interest. It didn't take her long to know she was in LOVE! The Terry was just what she was looking for. Personally, I have never been a fan of that big trailer, but I'm sure glad that Cindy is. Gary is going to re-pack it's wheel bearings and tie up a few loose ends that he never got around to. And in a couple of weeks, Cindy will take her latest project to it's new home. Now that I know it's leaving here forever, I kind of feel bad for all the terrible things I've said about it in the past. It really isn't a bad trailer. I was just mad at it because it used to hog up a lot of space in MY garage. You know how possessive I am of MY territory. Anyway, it was so nice to meet Cindy, and I like her even more than I normally would because she's taking that old Terry trailer far, far away. Thanks, Cindy. Stop by anytime, but leave your new 2-wheeled friend at home!

We've Got The BEST Friends!

Our friends are SO thoughtful. From time to time, they totally take us by surprise, and bring us or send us little gifts. We've gotten scotty dog items (since I'm a Serro Scotty), and toast and toaster related items (since my name is Toaster). Everything from the tiniest little knick-knacks to full-sized Scotty trailers have been given to us. Gary and I are absolutely thrilled with the endless generosity and kindness that our friends have graciously bestowed upon us. We certainly appreciate it more than we can possibly say. Forgive me if I neglected to post pictures of our previously received cards and gifts. I just get so busy sometimes that I forget to do that. Thanks so much for everything that all of you have done for us. The latest surprise gift came from our friend Windy in Alabama. Gary sent her a window for her Scotty named "Lou Lou" awhile back, and as a token of her appreciation for the good deal she got, she sent us a set of six toast shaped potholders with butter. They are AWESOME!!! Coincidentally, they match perfectly with a set of dish towels that Gary bought at Target last year. When we go camping again, my kitchen is going to look SO cool! Thanks again to everyone that went out of their way to find just the right things to bring smiles to Gary's face and mine. We LOVE you guys!

A REALLY Busy Weekend

I can't say that I've done much since we got home from our last camping trip of the season on Wednesday, but Gary has DEFINITELY been a busy guy. As I reported during my last blog post, he went across the state to Lakeland Florida on Thursday to pick up my little sister "Poppy". On Friday, he ran errands around town, picked up a LOT of mail at the post office, and began washing laundry. Then came the weekend. When we arrived back at home on Wednesday, we were both amazed at how things had changed here in the two weeks we were away. The leafless trees were now thick with leaves. Flowers were blooming. But what made the place look REALLY bad was the tall grass and weeds. The yard looked like nobody had lived here in a LONG time. Gary HAD to mow the place, but first things first. "Jackie" and "Caroline", the twin '61 13ft. Scottys that Gary brought home in November, were in front of the garage with grass growing up under them and around them. So, Gary put "Dodge" to work, and the twins were moved over to the driveway. "Poppy" was moved from the yard and into the garage. I don't know when the last time was that "Poppy" was inside a building, if ever, but she looks REALLY happy to be sharing the garage with me. And most importantly for Gary's comfort, my air conditioner took the place of my fire escape window for the summer months. Gary still sleeps in me every night, and the temperatures are already getting too hot for him. You can see by the picture of the thermometer that is in direct sunlight, that the temperature reached 100 degrees on Saturday afternoon. The air conditioner will make him VERY happy. With everybody moved to their new locations, Helen the Husqvarna was prepared to take on the tall grass and weeds. She did a WONDERFUL job. The yard looks AWESOME!!! Today (Sunday), Gary pulled weeds around the house, weedeated, raked, and trimmed a few branches. He filled all six of our garbage cans with lawn debris for Monday's pickup. He did a LOT of work this weekend, and I can tell he's tired. But he's going to be sleeping good tonight in his cool little Toaster. That's the latest news from the Green Acres Garage. Bye!

Meet My Little Sister, "Poppy"

I told you things happen quickly around here. We hadn't even been home for a full day after our last camping trip, and what shows up here at the Green Acres Garage? ANOTHER Scotty! I knew something was up when Gary hurriedly emptied out the van after we got home, and then re-packed it with things that he typically takes when he goes to pick up a trailer. I was curious as to what he was up to, but I didn't want to ask. He even borrowed my license plate to take along. Something was DEFINITELY up. As it turned out, a Facebook friend of Gary's had a little 13ft. 1986 Scotty in storage, and she no longer had a need for it. The price was right (FREE), so Gary and "Dodge" went way over to Lakeland, FL. to get it. It was 326 miles round trip, but everything went well. You never know with an unknown trailer. "Poppy" had spent over a year at an RV storage place. She was way in the back behind all the big expensive motorhomes. Gary said she was in tall weeds and looked so sad. He hitched her up to "Dodge", pulled her out of the weeds, and the first pictures of her were taken. Many hours after they left, I heard the familiar sound of "Dodge's" engine, and a few minutes later, the sound of keys in the door. Gary was really excited when he came in. He opened up the big garage door, and there she was, the newest member of the Green Acres Scotty Club, my little sister "Poppy". I named her. Gary hadn't gotten around to doing that yet. She just looks like a little flower to me, so "Poppy" just seemed to fit. Gary liked the name too, so "Poppy" it is. She is the seventh Scotty to take refuge here. She's a cutie pie for sure. I know there's no need for me to be jealous, but it was a little upsetting to see pictures of "Poppy" and "Dodge" together at a little park on their way home. They looked like they were having fun. I just hope that Gary and her don't get too close, and he chooses to go camping with her instead of me. "Poppy" needs some work, and I'm sure I'll have a front row seat to see how she progresses. That means that I'll be sharing the pictures of that progress with all of you. In case you're just now reading my blog for the first time, or if you need a little reminding of who is who here in the Green Acres Scotty Club, here's the membership list in order of arrival: 1)"Scotty", a 15ft. gaucho built in Bristow, OK. in 1971. 2)That would be me, "Toaster", a 15ft. gaucho built in Ashburn, GA. in 1972. 3)"Chip", a 13ft. gaucho built in Ashburn, GA. in 1978. 4)"Henry", a Hilander built in Bristow, OK. in 1971. 5)"Jackie", a 13ft. gaucho built in Irwin, PA. in 1961. 6)"Caroline", a 13ft. gaucho built in Irwin, PA. in 1961. and now "Poppy", a 13ft. gaucho built in 1986. Gary hasn't checked to see where she was built at yet, but I'm betting she's from Ashburn, GA. like me and "Chip". We do know she was originally sold at a dealership in Ocala, FL. It's odd that the Green Acres Garage started out being an all-boys place, but now we share it with the girls. At least I'm the only trailer here that can "talk", so I do believe that Gary will keep me around if only for that reason. After all, I am a novelty. Well, that's the latest news from here, and exciting news it is. I've always wanted a baby sister!

You Know The Party's Over When The Trailer's In The Garage

I got really lazy during our stay at Silver Springs, and now that we're home, I need to get everyone caught up on our activities while we were there. When we arrived on Sunday, Gary tuned in the NASCAR race on TV. After many hours, the race was finally postponed due to rain. It was rescheduled to run on Monday instead. No problem for me. I would be able to see it, but Gary decided to spend the day antique shopping instead. He had to catch the highlights and the race results on the internet when he got back. It was a good race and I enjoyed it, even though it pre-empted my favorite show, "People's Court". Oh well. We can't control the weather. Both Sunday and Monday were pretty darn hot for this time of year. Gary was NOT a happy camper. As I've mentioned before, he HATES being hot. On Tuesday morning, it rained. The good thing about that is the cold front that followed the showers. It was overcast and much cooler all day. Gary was MUCH happier. Once again, he spent the day antique shopping. Tuesday night was even cooler. Gary slept soundly all night, which means that I slept soundly too. His tossing and turning on hot nights always keep me up. Wednesday morning rolled around WAY too fast. It was time to pack up and head home. These were the final couple of hours of our totally awesome fall, winter, and spring camping season. No more camping until next fall. My depression was already beginning to set in. Gary took his time packing the van. I do believe that he really didn't want our camping season to be ending either. Anyway, by 11AM, we were leaving Silver Springs and heading back home to St. Augustine. Don't get me wrong. I LOVE my garage, but camping in the great outdoors is what I live for. It's going to be a very hectic summer for Gary. He has more projects going on than anytime since I've known him. I'm sure that some of his time will be set aside to work on me. I'm in need of some work, and he never got around to it last summer. The camping season may be over, but the fun here at home never ends. More soon, I PROMISE!!!

The Season Ends At Silver Springs

Our camping season is just about over, but not before we spend three nights at Silver Springs State Park in Ocala, Florida. We started the season At Skidaway Island State Park in Savannah, Georgia on September 30th of last year. We've been as far north as Letchworth State Park in Castile, New York, and as far south as Sebastian Inlet State Park in Melbourne, Florida. We went as far west as the extreme northwest tip of Georgia with our visit to Cloudland Canyon State Park. In-between all of those places I mentioned, there have been a ton of other campouts, and thousands of miles traveled. We've met hundreds of great people, and had so much fun, that it's just plain unbelievable. It's been a record setting season of camping in every way. Here in sunny Ocala, it's another hot Florida day. It's 89 degrees inside of me at the moment, and I'm in the shade! We camped here back in February of 2011, and stayed in this same campsite, #34. Gary parked me close to the power and water hookups during our first visit, but this time, he opted to put me under the trees. This is a HUGE campsite. There is room for at least a half dozen little trailers like me, maybe more. I'm right on the corner as you come into the camping loop. I'm getting lots of stares and an occasional thumbs up from people driving by. That's always nice. TV reception is pretty good, and Gary has the NASCAR race on for us to watch. It looks like he is going to hang out with me today instead of running off to one of the local antique stores. That's different! Of course, he still has Monday and Tuesday to do that if he wants to. Well, Gary wants the computer so he can play on eBay for awhile, so I'll sign off for now. Have a GREAT day!

Hanging Out At Lake Griffin State Park

"Dodge" and I, and Gary too of course, left Wekiwa Springs State Park on Thursday morning, and headed roughly fifty miles north to Lake Griffin State Park. This is our fifth stay here, and the third in campsite #5. It's our favorite one in this park. As I've said in past posts from here, Lake Griffin isn't that great of a park, but we stay here for the convenience of it's location. It's close to several of the places that Gary likes to go to. It's been in the higher 80's every day, and the chances of rain have been nil. Gary is whining about how hot it is. For him, this is just the start of what promises to be a very long summer, even though spring has barely just begun. In Florida, we don't have much of a spring. It goes from being pretty cold to really hot in a very short amount of time. I know that this round of camping is definitely going to be our last until next fall. I don't care if it's hot or cold, it's all the same to me. I just love camping. But Gary is my "boss", and whatever he wants is what we do. I can't complain. We have been all over the eastern part of the country this camping season, and for that, I am VERY grateful. One thing that Gary enjoys doing when we come here to Lake Griffin is to go antique shopping. It's become an obsession with him lately, no matter where we are. He has bought a LOT of stuff on this trip through northeastern Florida. Poor old "Dodge" is hauling everything from a massive rusty boat anchor to a chicken coop. I can't wait to see how Gary uses all this stuff in his decorating plan for the living room in his house. It is definitely a very weird mix of stuff that he's bought. I've become a rolling storage shed for a lot of it. I sure hope there's room in "Dodge" for everything before we leave here tomorrow morning. It's late Saturday afternoon as I write this. The three of us have been hanging out here at the campsite for most of the afternoon. I tried to post earlier, but I've had trouble getting pictures to load onto the blog. It took well over an hour to load the ones you see here. TV reception has been spotty too. At least I got to watch "People's Court" a couple of times. I LOVE that show! There haven't been many squirrel sightings, and that's fine with me. After the traumatic experience I had with those overly aggressive squirrels at Wekiwa Springs (see my previous post}, I'm fine with not seeing any of my furry tailed little buddies for awhile. We roll on to Silver Springs State Park in Ocala, FL. tomorrow. We've only been there once before, and the park was called Silver River then. That was over three years ago. Silver River merged with Silver Springs, the old Florida tourist attraction, so now it's known as Silver Springs State Park. We are going to be in the same campsite we were in three years ago, and as I recall, it was a spacious one. I'll check in from there if we have a good internet connection. From "Dodge" and Gary and myself, enjoy the remainder of your weekend. I'll catch you soon.

Squirrel Breaking and Entering

It was a warm day here at Wekiwa Springs State Park. Gary went out antique shopping for the second day in a row, but before he did, he opened up all my windows so I would stay somewhat cool. Early this morning, he had taken pictures of all the things he bought at the antique stores yesterday. One of those items was an old rocking chair. It was stashed out of site behind me while he was gone. Well, after Gary was out of sight, my little squirrel buddies used the rocking chair to climb up on. From there, they jumped up on the ledge of my open rear window, and ripped through the screen. I was in SHOCK!!! There was a brand new loaf of bread on the countertop, and they had a great time tearing through the package to get to the goodies inside. As you know, I LOVE squirrels, but I was just amazed that they were aggressive enough to do what they did. Although it was kind of fun watching them chow down on the bread from three of my four beds, I couldn't help but think how pissed off Gary was going to be when he got back and found the mess. There was partially eaten bread on the countertop and my lower bunk bed, and crumbs all over the place. Dirty little paw marks were on my rear wall, and all over the white pillowcase on my rear bed. There was an unwanted party going on in here, and there was nothing I could do about it. The squirrels had their fun and their fill of bread, and escaped the way they came in before Gary got back. I sat here worried that they would come back and create more mess and more damage. But luckily, they played outside and left me alone. Gary finally returned. As soon as he walked in, he noticed the bread debris everywhere. I thought for sure he would be mad, maybe even mad at me for always wanting to feed the squirrels and perhaps encouraging them to be bad. But, he took the blame for the whole thing. He told me that there wouldn't have been a problem if he hadn't have put that old rocking chair behind me. I felt immediate relief. I was worried all afternoon that I might not ever go camping again. To me, that would be worse than death! He vacuumed up the mess and threw out the chewed up loaf of bread. He cleaned up the rear wall, and changed out the dirty pillow case for a fresh one. And last but not least, he moved that old rocking chair far far away from me. From now on, I'm not going to suggest that we feed the squirrels. As much as I've always liked them to hang around close to me, I think I'll just enjoy them from a distance. I guess there's a reason that there are signs in all the parks that say "DO NOT FEED THE WILDLIFE". I just never thought that feeding a few little squirrels would hurt anything. Well, I learned a valuable lesson today, and I didn't get banned from going camping for the rest of my life. So all in all, it was a pretty good day!