We have finally arrived at our new "winter" home in Milton, Florida. The drive from Ottawa was very pleasant, temps in the high teens and the scenery spectacular, thanks to all the glorious fall colours. On our first day, we drove nine hours from Ottawa to Laurel, Maryland, to visit with our American friends, Mike and Shirley. As usual, we were received and treated like royalty. While there, we even got to spend a couple hours at Maryland's brand new casino, Maryland Live!. The casino itself is amazing. We spent four hours there, including buffet dinner, and did not get to see the entire casino. Did we win? What do you think?! Hey, they still need to pay off that new casino, right?!
We stayed with Mike and Shirley for four days, then hit the road once again. Now that we are retired, we take it slow and usually do not drive longer than six or seven hours on any given day. We arrived yesterday, late afternoon.
We are staying at the Gulf Pines KOA in Milton, Florida. This park is a 20-minute drive to the ocean. The town of Milton is small but offers all the usual shopping and restaurants: Wal-Mart, Target, Publix, etc... The park itself is very nice. It has a huge, heated swimming pool, large rec hall, and offers all the usual amenities.
For the third year in a row, trying to get money out of an ATM to pay the RV park was a nightmare. We understand the importance of security as it pertains to debit cards, but despite having informed our bank that we would be out of the country for six months and to please not lock our cards, it was very frustrating to learn that our cards had indeed been locked the second we attempted to obtain cash. So as tired as we were, at 9 p.m. we found ourselves speaking with someone from our bank's Fraud Department, proving who we were before they would agree to let us use our money!
But today is another day, the sun is shining, our RV spot is paid for, and life is good! So what's in your wallet? If it's a debit card and you're leaving the country, good luck!
We stayed with Mike and Shirley for four days, then hit the road once again. Now that we are retired, we take it slow and usually do not drive longer than six or seven hours on any given day. We arrived yesterday, late afternoon.
We are staying at the Gulf Pines KOA in Milton, Florida. This park is a 20-minute drive to the ocean. The town of Milton is small but offers all the usual shopping and restaurants: Wal-Mart, Target, Publix, etc... The park itself is very nice. It has a huge, heated swimming pool, large rec hall, and offers all the usual amenities.
For the third year in a row, trying to get money out of an ATM to pay the RV park was a nightmare. We understand the importance of security as it pertains to debit cards, but despite having informed our bank that we would be out of the country for six months and to please not lock our cards, it was very frustrating to learn that our cards had indeed been locked the second we attempted to obtain cash. So as tired as we were, at 9 p.m. we found ourselves speaking with someone from our bank's Fraud Department, proving who we were before they would agree to let us use our money!
But today is another day, the sun is shining, our RV spot is paid for, and life is good! So what's in your wallet? If it's a debit card and you're leaving the country, good luck!
Wow, good to see your blog back in action
ReplyDeleteThanks, and it's good to see a comment from my most faithful follower! LOL
ReplyDeleteAlways, i check just about daily
ReplyDelete