Jim | Live Work Dream

Tropical Season’s Greetings, Reggae Style

December 24, 2007 by Jim

Jim and Rene present a Reggae Christmas Medley video with music by Yellowman and others including Breadfruit Roasting on an Open Fire and The Little Drummer Boy on steel drums.

Florida fare ain’t no Tex Mex.

December 21, 2007 by Jim

We haven’t had any good Mexican food since we left California. In fact, we haven’t had any, or even tried looking for it until recently.

The reason? In all the miles we’ve traveled we hadn’t passed through any communities with enough – shall we we say, authentic color – to warrant a dinner out until we reached Florida.

But once we saw an authentic looking Taqueria, a Mercado selling dresses and phone cards, and our first Tecate billboard in over 29, 000 miles, we figured the food was worth a try. While it wasn’t bad, it was nothing to write home about either. But here I am doing just that.

I finally got to see my launch.

March 9, 2023December 20, 2007 by Jim

Jim watches the launch of a United Launch Alliance delta 2 Rocket at Cape Canaveral Air Force Base from the back pasture at White Rabbit Acres.

Avoid bacon and turds for breakfast.

December 20, 2007 by Jim

The morning we left Jetty Park for Vero Beach after discovering the shuttle launch was not going to happen, we decided to pack up quick and beat the crowds to the dump station.

It was early but we still weren’t first in line. Everyone was heading out, except for those just waking to make breakfast.

As we dumped our tanks using our new clear hose adapter, René glanced at the nearby rigs, smelled the air and said, “Yum, Bacon and Turds!”

Why did we get one of those clear dump hose adapters, you ask?

Check Out This Old Time RV Video!

December 15, 2007December 15, 2007 by Jim

An RV TV video features classic 1937 RVs, campers, trailers and travelers.

Traveling Through Time

December 9, 2007 by Jim

We’ve finally made it to White Rabbit Acres organic farm in Vero Beach for our extended workamping stay after spending too much time waiting for the space shuttle to lift off.

We did have fun – and lots of margaritas – with our new friends in Port Canaveral. But our longer than expected stay just proves that time flies like, well … it seems to fly better than the Space Shuttle Atlantis right now anyway.

We didn’t even have time to catch everyone up on our stay in St. Augustine. René wrote about our visit to the Fountain of Youth, but the oldest city in the U.S offers much more history than that small artesian well which now rests some twelve feet below a room of dioramas depicting Ponce de León with his newfound Seminole friends.

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I’m not just talking about the first Ripley’s Believe It Or Not museum, nor the umpteenth Thomas Kinkade Gallery. For starters, the Castillo de San Marcos is much more prominent and majestic. Walking its grounds, I couldn’t help but think of all the bloody battles that took place on the same spot so long ago.

So much for seeing the launch up close…

December 18, 2018December 8, 2007 by Jim

Another launch delay makes Jim and Rene consider leaving Jetty Park in the morning to get to their workamping arrangement in Vero Beach early enough to head back out and see the shuttle head skyward. Includes photos of the sun rise over the beach in St. Augustine.

We are snowbirds now. Or are we?

December 7, 2007December 7, 2007 by Jim

Due to some false LH2 ECO sensor readings, the STS-122 mission launch was scrubbed yesterday delaying Space Shuttle Atlantis from taking off until Saturday afternoon at the earliest.

We intend to stay one more day here in Jetty Park in hope that the countdown will continue as planned. If not, we will head on to our obligations at the farm in Vero Beach about an hour south. The view of takeoff won’t be nearly as spectacular there, but we’ve postponed our workamping stay long enough already.

In the meantime, here are some scenes from our first day in Florida …

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And here is something I realized after our first night at Mike Roess Gold Head Branch Florida State Park …

T-11 and Holding

December 5, 2007 by Jim

Jim and Rene touch down at Jetty Park in Port Canaveral, FL about ten miles south of John F. Kennedy Space Center to view the Space Shuttle Atlantis Launch on December 06, 2007.

Tweaking the NextGEN Gallery Plugin

December 2, 2007 by Jim

Fair Warning: This one gets rather technical. But if a PHP Neophyte like me I can figure it out, anyone who has installed their own WordPress blog should be able to handle it.

New Amazon Kindle Lightens The Book Load.

September 4, 2023December 1, 2007 by Jim

Here’s a nifty new product that should lighten the load of any fellow avid readers out there who have packed up their library with them and brought it along in their rig: The new Amazon Kindle Wireless Reading Device.

If you’re like us, you had a hard time deciding which favorite books to bring with you on the road. Or, you are often leaving books at campgrounds and purchasing new ones along the way.

Either way, there is likely still a stack of books taking up valuable storage space in your RV. Well, this lightweight portable e-book reader may be just the trick to lighten your load and save you money on books and newspapers. Best of all, no computer or internet connection is required!

I don’t mean to sound like an Amazon marketing exec. I just think this is really cool. Having spent the past twenty odd years of my life in the printing industry, I’ve followed the development of electronic paper for a while now and think it is fascinating. And I remember the original Newton MessagePad from Apple, and it’s troubled launch.

Where’s All The Boondocking?

November 29, 2007 by Jim

We’re always on the lookout for remote off-the-grid state and national parks where we can boondock, but have had a hard time finding any since we left Wisconsin’s tornado country.

It seems like there was never a problem finding cool places to boondock out West. We often went without hookups in California, Utah and Colorado. But even here in the middle of the Okefenokee Swamp we have water, power, paved roads and a few neighbors.

I Go Pogo For Okefenokee and the South

September 4, 2023November 29, 2007 by Jim

I’ve determined that if I don’t write something short and quick with first impressions about new places we see, I never will.

There is so much to see and do on this journey â€“ as I told a Canuck fulltimer yesterday â€“ we could stay on the road for the rest of our lives and never see the entire country. And if I don’t jot down some basic observations about where we’ve been soon after we arrive, I will forget if there is any reason to return when the time comes to plant some roots again.

With that said, I go Pogo … we have made it to Okefenoke Swamp. And we have officially reached the South.

Giving the NextGEN WordPress Gallery a Shot

December 2, 2007November 25, 2007 by Jim

We’ve been looking for a great image manager to replace the current gallery solution provided by our host, so I checked out Christophe’s travel blog. Chris informed me that the NextGEN photo gallery plugin has improved since I last gave it a try. Indeed it has.

Let’s take it for a test run here. If it works out to everyone’s delight, you may be seeing some major changes to our roadtripping fulltimer photo gallery. Hopefully the NextGEN photo gallery, albums, and slideshow integration will help us save time and improve this blog. Please let us know what you think.

My First Vegetarian Thanksgiving

November 24, 2007 by Jim

That is what Rene has been proudly calling this year’s feast. My answer is that every Thanksgiving dinner is a vegetarian banquet. It just happens to also traditionally include a large stuffed bird roasted to juicy perfection. Alas, not this year … and while our big dinner date was a day late this year, it was still delicious!