Packing boxes for the troops and Homer Helters Museum (292)

One Saturday while I was in Florida, I had the pleasure of packing boxes up with goodies for the troops in Afganistan. We did boxes for females and male troops, different stuff for different folk...it was so much fun, can not wait to do it again next year. It just feels good....But this story is about a driving force behind this effort to keep the troops supplied with a piece of "home"....and that guy is a Marine I have come to respect and admire, that being Homer Helter, who owns the Antique Military Museum in Naples on Shirley Street just off Pine Ridge Road...I love going to his place, you can spend hours in their talking to veterans from many era's of this countries good efforts of keeping this world free for the most part. A job that continues today with little help from our allies as we are witnessing today in all three of our areas of confrontation. And then additional hours and I mean hours looking through a portion of what he has on display and forsale. And by the way Homer, you need a web site...I searched the internet and could not find a link that I could promote for you...get on it Sir...

Anyway the day of the box packing Homer has some guys in and cooks a big picnic for the help and his customers and friends that are in his Museum...that saturday as usual was barbeque Chicken, maybe the best I ever had, hamburgers, Brats, and baked beans all real good...see my plate in the slideshow to the right...Couple bites out of the cheeseburger all so good I had to take a picture.


I can tell he has put his heart and soul into this place and into service to his town and his nation...He is an honest to goodness veteran that I am proud to say that I know...Semper Fi Homer.......the bottom pic here is me on Homers German Side car BMW motorcycle from WW TWO...he loaned it to me to "patrol the perimeter" of my residence till we catch the no good crook that broke into my house...

Naples Florida 2011 (291)

Needless to say I love Naples and Marco and especially Silver Lakes RV Park located on the "road to Marco" off US 41.....
Love it so much that I am going back again next year...I love the fishing in the back waters in and around the 10,000 islands off the lower west coast of Florida.
Writing in past tense as I went home early as I was broken into the first week I was in Florida at my home in Indiana...They still have not caught the dude even though they know who is, he has been on the loose for a week now...He had a lot of fun dumping every drawer in my house looking for money...he found a little and he found a check book... and he was not too smart..he wrote himself a check and drove to my bank and sent the check and his drivers license into the teller via the drive up window...

The called me immediately and asked if I knew him and informed me the check was 25 out of sequense....What a Bank......and I said no way so they asked him to come in and he left right away in his white truck...Hard to belive this dude is still 'at large' so to speak..they have his drivers license and his finger prints on the check and from inside my house...go figure.....

So I am home early from Florida cleaning up the mess....practicing close range target practice with my two pistols a Colt 1911 45 caliber and 9MM. Keltec P11...next time he may not be so lucky....I may have one in each hand...

But Florida was wonderful...it still is wonderful. Gosh I love fishing the back water looking for spots that fish will likely to be...and sometimes finding them...80 degree temps, sunshine,great neighbors, great RV park, what more could a farmer from Indiana want that what I got...

Can not miss adding my enjoyment from the Donald Trump appearance on the View the other day...Donald want to see the Birth Certificate of Mr. Obama and you know what I would too....

What the hell is going on....if he ain't wanting to share it I think we have on our hand an "illegal President"...they are to be born in this nation you know...I don't think he was or he would be sharing that document....

So Donald I salute you Amigo.....it's time to ask the empty suite to produce the document that the nation should have insisted upon before this guy was ever nominated...unbelievable that we could have a seated President that is not qualified to be so....unbelievable....

And all you folks that voted for him, you got to wondering too......

ST. Pat's Parade and lots of Fishin (290)

I may be having "borderline" too much fun here in Southwest Florida, Naples/Marco Island area to be more specific. First off my buddy Ernie Maier has been keeping me almost fully employed as "first mate" on his pontoon boat. I think we went out the day after I got here and we did real well catching 5 nice Sheep Head plus on top of that George and Gladis Thompson were out there and gave us 2 additional fish that they did not want to clean...Which by the way is my other boat I am sometimes employed on as "first mate"...Looking forward to that trip out with them soon also...You see for years down here I just fished off the banks or off the fishing pier down at the Marco Island bridge..Well they closed the pier after the hurricane for political reasons is my guess, but anyway My fishing boat owner buddies came along here just in the last 3 years maybe....It is much much better going to the fish instead of hoping the fish come to you..I have learned to "read the roots" on the mangrove islands...when they have the right amount of crustations of shells hanging on them, it is a good bet that sheephead and other species will be in the area, working these nibling on these shells or oysters whatever they are.

Well sandwiched between my fishing trips I marched again with the Marine Corps League in the St. Patrick's day Parade. Gosh I love doing that, and was especially anxious to this year with my new stainless steel knee that was installed in June, to see how it would perform under the two mile march leading the parade. I was a little worried about it and spent some days prior walking 2 miles and hurting just a bit now and then...But you add bagpipes behind you and a recording of a Marching songs and the Marine Hymn and there a no stopping you...Your chest kind of swells a bit to be with your comrades again and listening to the cadance caller to keep in step...I guess you have to be there but let me tell you, things went well and we never missed a beat...Well truthfully I did have to "skip" a couple times to get back into step but that was mostly caused by the real Marine recruiters leading us not listening to the drill master's words...We had about a dozen marching League members maybe including our own Randy Kington in his motorized wheel chair...I am proud to be a member of this Naples League, as they do a lot of civil service things around town from picking up trash along the highways to mentoring disadvantaged kids in the school system here...A program they call "new horizons". That I have to admit I am not involved in because of my short stays here, but they surely are and I am proud of them for it and allowing me to be a small part and at least set my left foot down on the 1's and the 3's on St. Patricks day when the Marines lead the parade here as they have for over 30 years....It is truly exhilerating....The top picture is me and a nice sheep head fish...my favorite catch here..but the lower picture is a weird fish I caught yesterday on my second trip out in Ernie's boat...This dude had 3 legs on each side and two wings that it could spread out...and then all the regular stuff a fish has for swiming...I don't know what it was...I guess if you were a evolutionist you could make a "weak" case for this thing being a forerunner of life crawling up from the ocean and even becoming a bird maybe...But I don't buy any of that nonsence even for a new york minute...My eyes and the brain God gave me tells me without a doubt that life on this planet is way to complicated to have started with algae, it had to be the handy work of a creator...I will thump my Bible and know this is how it all came about....

Rainy Nignt in Georgia (289)

I am setting in my motor home at a Cracker Barrel in Dalton Georgia....My favorite campground...I love parking at Cracker Barrel cause it "free"...and in the morning I will enjoy a nice breakfast and I will thank them for allowing me to park my motor home in their parking lot...I always do and they always say, "glad you stayed with us last night"....We have this thing going on me and cracker barrel I guess...I provide "security" for them, by parking by the back door in my motor home...burglars just don't pry open back doors when there is a motor home outside with a guy in side with a cell phone and a 9MM Pistol inside...So me and cracker barrel, yes, we have it "going on", I guess you could say...

On my way south to Naples Florida for some R and R...Rest and Recuperation....

It is pouring down rain here..and maybe back in Indiana too...left there this morning early....had a nice nap about noon for an hour and then recharge I moved on through Nashville Tn. on to Chattannoga and now Dalton Georgia...I like Dalton, it is the carpet capital of the world you know...the place to buy carpet if you are buying very much...

Looking forward to spending a month in Naples close to Marco Island...doing as much fishing as time will allow...it will be great...And then back home to plant corn and beans....that is my rotation you know corn beans and then Naples...

Thursday update on my excellent adventure...
Drove 640 miles yesterday to Ft. Myers, only lacked 50 miles to Naples but had to stop at yes you guessed it another Cracker Barrel...with my tow vehicle I had to utilize 5 Bus/RV parking slots to contain me...but I am special so I knew they would not mind...I was exhasted for sure...Susan woke me at 7.30 on her way to work...Went into breakfast and thanked my host and while in there a monsoon type rain came through the area...glad I was inside...now setting up my home site in Naples has rained all day...