THE ROVING POLLOCKS
2008 FALL
2009 WINTER-SPRING

We returned to Virginia in mid-October after Red Flannel Day in Cedar Springs, Michigan. We felt like we were running a B&B as we had back to back to back visits from Chuck and Mary Crosby, Bill’s high school classmates, John and Ellen Albin on their way south to the Keys and Bill’s cousin from Canada, Greg Pollock. It was hectic but great to see everyone. We also made it down to the Outer Banks of North Carolina for some family time with Paul, Yvette, and William and Ann and Dwayne.

In November we did something we had long talked about but never could quite get together…we headed for Florida in the Motorhome instead of winterizing it until January. We spent about three weeks on the Atlantic coast including a visit to Ron and Ginny Norton and some time at the military family camp at Patrick Air Force Base. We stored the motor home at Grand Lake RV and Golf Resort in Orange Lake where we had reservations for January. We drove to the car back up to Virginia for the holidays…Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s. Thanksgiving found the whole gang at the cabin, as well as, Gisela’s mom. This normally doesn‘t happen but we surely enjoyed having everyone here. We had a repeat performance for Christmas.

We started 2009 in pretty much the same way that we have started the past 15 years. We gathered in the cabin in the mountains of Virginia with our wonderful friends, Don and Kathee Larmee and rang in the New Year. For those of you who have been following our saga since the dawn of the twenty-first century, you know the whole deal with lowering the acorn at midnight, etc. For those of you that are new to our blog, I refer you to the history section (2004-2008) of this blog.

We were blessed with a no snow so we were able to depart on January 3 without any problem. We took up residence at Grand Lake and once again learned that Gainesville, Florida is too far north in January…we had lows of 18 degrees F several nights. But we did have fun including a visit from Ivan and Janis Opperman and spending time with Jim and Anne Jaudon including several U of FL basketball games.

February saw us head further south to the Great Outdoors in Titusville where we took up residence across the street from the Nortons. We did lots of exercising and had many happy hours, great meals and fun games of “Pegs and Jokers.”

In early March we headed north to Moultrie, Georgia to a rally of the Beaver Ambassador Club followed by a Family Motor Coach Association rally in Perry, GA. The BAC rally was held on the old Spence Air Force Base…you knew it was an AFB when you saw the street names…Mitchell Road, Spaatz Street, LeMay Lane, etc. We enjoyed catching up with some folks including Don and Kathie DuCharme who we had met the previous summer in Michigan. We made a side trip to FDR's Little White House in Warm Springs, Georgia. Among other things, we learned that the origianal Roosevelt who emmagrated to New York from the Netherlands spelled his name Rosevelt...as did my grandmother...go figure

After the rallies we headed back to Virginia via Athens, Georgia, home of the U.S. Navy Supply Corps School of which Bill is an alumni. He did the nostalgia walk and got together with old Navy paes, Len and Eileen Sapera and George and Patsy Huban. Len and George are both former Commanding Officers of the School.

Our trip had been pretty trouble free until we pulled out of the small campground near Athens. Bill got a little bit overconfident in executing two quick 90 degree turns to exit the campground. Unfortunately, we got hung up on a rock that twisted the black and gray water tank dump connection 45 degrees aft. This is a bad thing. Luckily we only had two more nights on the road. When we returned to Virginia we found a good collision repair place and had it fixed along with a bit of repainting that was needed after seven years of adventures.

Next stop was Lexington, NC and some famous Barbeque. We relearned an old lesson…If you call ahead to the Elks lodge and you don’t get an answer, don’t assume they are still where they used to be. We went to the address which was now a church and, of course, we recognized that just after passing the parking lot. And, of course, the street was a dead end with no possible way to turn around with out unhooking the jeep from the motor home. We finally recovered, found a new Wal-Mart to park at overnight since there were no RV parks in the area and still made it to Lexington BBQ for dinner…and it was mighty good.

We had less than a week in Virginia before we departed for another Italian adventure. Six days in Venice with Tom and Jil Mohr; then we all took the train to Naples. We spent four nights in Naples where we found the world’s most authentic pizza, several times. We found the people of Naples to be extremely friendly and helpful. Where else would you find someome willing to walk four blocks to show you where to catch the bus or when talking to a doctor at a bus stop, have her recommend treatment for Jil's sprained ankle. While in Naples we took the train to Pompeii. For those planning a visit, check out the locked houses. These require prior reservations but it is well worth doing. Naples has great museums, wonderful seafood and a fabulous historic district. We sampled them all.

After Naples we then headed for Praiano on the Amalfi Coast and the Villa Gisella. We spent seven glorious days exploring and thoroughly enjoying the sights of Positano, Ravello, Amalfi and the spectacular views from our terrace. We can't say enough about how beautiful this area is. We really enjoyed having our own lodging, cooking meals, sipping wine, playing cards and basking in our view. How often do you have your own olive tree? We did ...on our terrace. Plus the landlady would lower a basket from above containing homemade cake, marmalade, fresh eggs, etc. Sweet! It was worth each of the 94 steps up to the Villa Gisella (Gisela with two l's).

After our glorious week in Praiano we headed for Sorrento to catch a ferry to isle of Capri where we spent three nights in a charming B&B in Anicapri. Franco, our host, and his family were wonderful. Jil actually proposed to Franco probably because of his wonderful gardens and views. Most people only get to do day trips to Capri and only see the haute shopping. We were able to spend time on the back "streets" exploring the beauty of this island. We also had our two best meals on Capri and enjoyed the Roman ruins and gardens. The pictures accompanying really tell the story. We headed back into Naples and caught the train back to Venice where we had one perfect day to enjoy this amazing and unique city before flying back to the US. It was a fabulous trip in every way…and Bill still failed to get a gondolier’s hat to add to his collection. We have uploaded the best 83 pictures (of the 1400 we took) to the web. You can find them at http://picasaweb.google.com/rovingpollocks/AprilInItaly#

We spent the rest of April, May and three weeks of June in our mountain cabin. We enjoyed visits from John and Ellen Albin and Piper the Westie on their way north to Maine and a long weekend visit from Ann and Dwayne to celebrate Ann’s 38th birthday. The following weekend we visited Paul, Yvette and William in honor of Paul’s 40th birthday…Bill’s son is 40...Yikes! You know you are getting old when…

We have spent most of June getting ready to head to Wisconsin for a gathering of the Leck clan featuring a visit from on of Gisela‘s first cousin from Germany. Gisela’s mom is a Leck. We will also spend a couple of weeks visiting friends and family in Michigan, attend another BAC rally in Ohio, come back to Virginia for a week to check in with Gisela’s mom before heading back north to New York, Vermont, Maine, and Massachusetts

We hope this finds you all in good health. We have come to realize that is something that is not as sure of a bet as it was a few years ago.

Bill and Gisela