Hardts On The Highway

Laundry Day!

2012-02-14T17:53:00.000-08:00

It always surprises me how many dirty clothes we end up with when we are going to meetings. While at home, we both will wear the same clothes -- except for clean underwear -- for a couple of days at a time. But at meetings, we seem to wear something different every day. Add to that being at a couple of places where we didn't have sewer hook-ups and all of a sudden the laundry basket is full!

We didn't get up very early this morning -- and it felt very good. When we finally did, I stripped the sheets off of the bed and started the washer. The poor thing ran most of the day today. With the humidity here in Florida, clothes don't get dry like they do in the desert. I have clothing hanging all over our folding clothes dryer and hanging from hangers all over the house. Nothing is dry enough to put away yet.

We did get the bike and the trike out and unfolded. We took a our garbage over to the dumpster -- this park actually has one that is a trash compactor -- then went for a short ride around the campground. I had gotten all of the chairs out of the car yesterday, so when we got back we sat outside and read until the sun went down and it got chilly.

Moving to Frog Creek

2012-02-13T18:23:00.000-08:00

We moved again today, but not very far. We left the Bethel Church grounds where we had stayed during the MDS meetings (after leaving them a donation for using their water and electricity) and moved north a few miles further. On the way we passed this field with both this very Brahma looking cow --

And these ones with fairly long horns --

We drove on up north to Palmetto to Frog Creek RV Park and Campground. I had read on the internet that is was "a campground under a canopy of Spanish Moss," and it certainly is. We are in a fairly open spot, compared to some of the sites, but still are unable to connect with the satellite TV antenna.

A few minutes after we arrived, I saw a Stanley Steemer van packing up their supplies a few RVs down the road. I caught them just before they left to see if we could get on their list to clean Auntie Violet's rug. I was most pleased when the fellows said they could do it right away as they had just finished their jobs. She doesn't have a great deal of carpet, just the front room. It's probably less then a hundred square feet. (The rest of the rig has ceramic tile floors.) They treated all of the spilled coffee spots, then steam cleaned the rest of it. It looks pretty darned good. It didn't take them more then fifteen minutes and they charged me their minimum which was $75.

The carpet was still damp when it was time for supper, though we were running the fans and had all three of our electric heaters on. So we decided to go into town for dinner. The park had a list of restaurants on their map and we saw that Jose's Cuban Cafe was on the list. It's just a hole in the wall -- four tables along the wall and ten or so stools at a bar. It's one of the restaurants featured in Dives, Drive-ins and Diners, the TV show. The first thing when we walked in, they asked if we had been there before. When we replied in the negative, they immediately brought a small dish sample of their pulled pork with two forks in it. It was absolutely delicious!

We each ordered one of their dinners, but brought enough home for lunch tomorrow. There was a dish of black been soup (scrumptious!) and a dish of yucca (which I've never learned to like). On the plate was pulled pork, pulled beef and a ground beef portion with tomatoes and green olives. All served over rice and with a couple of plantains as well! We also shared some of the best flan I've had in a long time.

It was even better then the Cuban meal we had in Key West. I ordered sangria -- not noticing on the menu that it only came by the pitcher! We ended up not only with to-go boxes of dinner, but also with a large styrofoam cup of sangria -- which I am enjoying as I type...

A Very Nice, Very Good Sunday!

2012-02-12T19:08:00.000-08:00

Four days of getting up early -- oh my! Today we had our choice of three services at Bahia Vista Mennonite Church. There was an early 8:00 AM service, a 9:30 AM service and another "contemporary" service at 11 AM. We had talked with Linda and Darryll and decided that the 8 AM service was a bit early and that we really didn't want to go to the contemporary service (after all we are all in our 70s...!). We decided that we would meet and go to the 9:30 service together.

We got to the Bahia Vista church (for those of you interested in this kind of stuff, this is a different Mennonite church then Bethel Mennonite where we had the MDS meetings. Bethel is Conservative Mennonite while Bahia Vista is a Mennonite Church USA member.) a little after 9 and while people were leaving from the early service, the sanctuary was already almost full and they were setting up chairs like mad. We visited with the pastor, Roger Shenk, whom we had met at the MDS Meeting -- he was part of the bluegrass group -- and he encouraged us to go down towards the front and let an usher find us two seats. Sure enough, in that crowd of several hundred souls, the usher found us two seats just a few rows from the front. There were so many people, there was no hope of finding Linda and Darryll! More than three quarters of the congregation are snowbirds who are only here a portion of the year.

It was a very good service. Even though we are most comfortable in small congregations (50 people or so), there is something about three hundred plus people raising their voices in song that makes one think that may be what heaven will be like. Pastor Shenk is one of those personable and incredible young preachers that are the future of the church.

We found Darryll and Linda after the service and went with them to the friend's mobile home that they have been staying with and visited for a bit before we went back to Auntie Violet for a much needed nap.

It was COLD today! The temperature was 38 degrees when I got up this morning! It was windy all day as well and only got up to fifty today. It's a damp cold that goes right through you. I think we've been in the south long enough that our blood has gotten thin! Tonight we've got the heaters on and I sitting here with socks and a sweater on.

As the sun went down, we had a pretty fiery sky to the west --

That disappeared within moments as the sun sunk beneath the horizon --

Day Two -- MDS All Unit Meeting

2012-02-11T20:22:00.000-08:00

Another early morning start and a busy morning program. We finished up with all of the reports and business, then were instructed to pick up our lunches and go out and get on the buses.

Part of the crew getting ready to board the bus --

We were on our way to take a look at and tour Historic Spanish Point --

This site is a prehistoric Native American site, though the Indians disappeared from the area thousands of years ago. The Webbs, homesteaders who came to this area to stake their claims, recognized this was a burial mound and invited scientists from the Smithsonian to investigate it.

The trees in this area are just loaded with Spanish Moss, an epiphytic air plant --

After touring the Spanish Point complex, the buses took us to the harbor for a boat tour. It was a chilly, windy, overcast day today with lots of chop on the water. It was not nearly as much fun as our sail at Fort Myers last week. After the buses returned us to the church where the meeting was held, we went out with Linda and Darryll for a late dinner.

Mennonite Disaster Service All Unit Meeting

2012-02-10T18:46:00.000-08:00

We came to Sarasota, Florida to attend the All Unit Mennonite Disaster Service meeting. The posted schedule said that the meeting would start this morning at 8:15. So we were up early in order to be there on time in order to pick up our registration materials before the meeting started. When we got the new schedule, we discovered the meeting was not going to start until 9 AM! We could have slept another hour!

Like any Mennonite gathering, this one is full of singing. The group has been singing old favorites from one of the older hymnals -- wonderful four-part harmony. Mennonite Disaster Service is made up of all the parts of the Anabaptist family, so there are Old Mennonites, Amish, Conservative Mennonites and Mennonite Church USA folks.

We were treated this noon to the singing of this very musical family. I took the picture with my iPhone and we weren't sitting very close, so it is what it is. The parents have four children under five. The little boy and girl in front sang with their parents -- the little girl sang a solo. The little guy the Dad is holding is sound asleep and the one the mother is holding is just one year old. What a talented family they are!

At this evening's banquet, we listened to this bluegrass trio, the Shenk Bluegrass Group. The two on the right are twins while the other is a friend. The middle brother got a lot of teasing about his "skunk-striped" beard with offers to auction it off...

It's been interesting to touch bases today with many of the people we've worked with on various MDS projects over the years. There are people here from all over the United States and Canada.

On to Sarasota

2012-02-09T18:27:00.000-08:00

Today we packed up all of our stuff, chairs, bike, trike, etc. and headed up the highway to Sarasota. It was a short trip, taking us around the top of San Carlos Bay on Interstate 75. When I opened the door on Toad, I discovered that this cute little lizard had hitched a ride. I tried to catch him, but he jumps a good foot at a time. I finally got him to jump out of Toad and disappear. Then I discovered his big brother had also hitched a ride on our lavender plant!

We are parked behind Bethel Mennonite Church where we will be attending the All Unit Mennonite Disaster Service meeting Friday and Saturday. Bethel Church has a very large piece of property. They have water and fifty amp power for RV hook-ups. There is a large grassy area behind where we are parked (their cemetery is in one corner). When we looked out to that area this afternoon, we saw this lone sandhill crane --

I took these pictures with the telephoto lens on my camera -- it was quite a long ways away. It is unusual to see one of these by themselves; they are usually in couples or family groups.

We saw this hawk fly into the pines on the edge of the church property. The brownish coloring and the two distinct white stripes on its tail make us think it is a Red-Shouldered Hawk.

We got a phone call shortly after we arrived from our friends Darryll and Linda who are also here for the MDS meetings, inviting us to join them for dinner. Gene is also here from Washington. He had rented a van, so we all piled in with him and went to one of the Amish buffets for dinner. (Sarasota is a popular Amish vacation spot.) We all ate too much, but had a great time catching up on all the news from home.

Schooner Appledore V

2012-02-08T18:25:00.000-08:00

Our friends Bill and Leslie bought an afternoon cruise on the Schooner Appledore V in Fort Myers through Groupon and didn't get a chance to use it. So they gave us the coupon. When I called the Appledore to make a reservation, they said they weren't doing the two hour cruise the coupon was good for, but we could use it for the three hour "Go Fish Family Cruise."

We were supposed to be at the dock at Salty Sam's Marina fifteen minutes early, but I messed up when I put the address into the GPS... I gave them a call and they waited for us -- we ended up only about five minutes late --

Fortunately when they had sent a confirmation email, they mentioned they left from Dock A, so we were able to go right there --

And there is was, and they were waiting for us --

The schooner had a crew of three who tended to the sails --

They referred to the Appledores (there are five of them) as traditional sailing schooners --

The sails are gaff-rigged. That is they have a wooden boom at the bottom and a wooden gaff at the top of the sail, making the sail a big rectangle.

Part of the uniqueness of their "Go Fish" cruise is dropping a trawl net overboard weighted to skim the bottom of San Carlos Bay in the Gulf of Mexico. They left it down for fifteen minutes or so.

Then they hauled it in and dumped the contents into some plastic tubs --

This was the first time they had caught a ray --

They very quickly took a look at it and then dumped it back over the side (there are regs about what they can keep on board for a bit.) --

We were able to take a good look at the other critters that the net had brought up. This interesting bottom feeder is called a bat fish --

This is its under-side. It uses those orangey pectoral fins to help propel it across the bottom sand --

This one was called a Lizard Fish. That mouth is something else again!

I think this was the cutest of the critters the net brought up. It's a Spider crab.

There were three anemones in the net as well --

We thoroughly enjoyed our afternoon on the water. We ended up stopping at Big Game Waterfront Grill for a delicious shrimp dinner on the way home.

Today in N Fort Myers

2012-02-07T19:18:00.000-08:00

We spent the day at home today. I've discovered that the rear basket on my trike is quite handy. This morning I took the garbage and the recyclables (Yeah! Sun Seekers recycles!) over to the dumpster area. Then I rode over to the office and picked up the box of mail at the office and tossed it in the basket while I took a few turns around the park. It was already in the 80s and because of yesterday's rain, it was HUMID! I was dripping wet when I got back to Auntie Violet. We've been running the fans in the RV with all of the windows open and it's actually quite comfortable inside.

We spent some time paying bills and dealing with the paperwork -- including school levy ballots -- generated by the arrival of the mail. There were several magazines and periodicals in the mail, so we enjoyed just taking time to read. Plus I've been reading a couple of good Laura Cardinal mysteries on my Kindle.

Toward evening (after a nap) we went out together for another ride. This time we went up and down all of the roads in the park. It was almost sunset -- it stays light now until after six -- and it was much pleasanter riding. We went long enough that I could really feel it in my knees and thighs. That's good, I guess.

The weather forecast for today had been for occasional showers with thunderstorms this evening. We didn't get any rain here, but you could see the big thunderheads off in the distance --
.

It made for a rather nice sunset here at the park as we look west over some of the more permanent structures --

A Busy Day Today

2012-02-06T18:22:00.000-08:00

We had a busy day today. After showering this morning, we decided to go out for breakfast. I had looked on Urban Spoon and found another hole-in-the-wall place that had great ratings. We were going to Costco today, so planned on being out and about even though the Heavenly Biscuit was a long ways away in Fort Myer Beach.

As we headed out of Sun Seeker RV Park, we saw this critter resting on a rock near the drainage ditch outside the park fence --

We've not ever seen a turtle so stretched out. I think he was trying to get every bit of warmth he could underneath that muddy coat of algae he was sporting. I wonder what kind of turtle it is?

The little bit of sun we had this morning rapidly disappeared as we headed north. It didn't just rain, it poured! Large fat raindrops that pinged off of Toad's windshield.

When we finally go to Heavenly Biscuit, it was closed! When I went to the door, the lady said that their power had gone out with the thunderstorm, shutting down the grills, so she had sent the staff home...

I think she really felt bad about it. She gave us two of the cinnamon rolls the internet said they were famous for and refused to take any payment for them. (We warmed them in the microwave tonight after dinner and they were delicious!)

Then try to find some place else to eat, hopefully with some atmosphere. But, no such luck. We ended up eating at a Red Robin near Costco (probably should have just gone over to Costco for a hot dog...). Forry had a guacamole bacon burger while I settle for some pretty mediocre mac and cheese.

We made our Costco run, then stopped at a Publix grocery for OJ and milk. We got home to a rather wet RV park just in time for another pretty hard rain shower. The Weather channel is forecasting showers and thunderstorms over the next several days, so I guess we'd better get used to it.

Just Ridin' Around the Park

2012-02-05T15:08:00.000-08:00

As we ride around this Florida RV park, it's interesting to contrast it with the RV parks we have stayed at in Arizona the last couple of winters. The flowers here are more like what we might see in the summertime at home in the Northwest, lots of geraniums and impatiens.

There are lots of palm trees in parks in both states, but the juxtaposition with pine trees is unique to Florida. There are many Park Models here as well, but they seem to be older, smaller models.

Many of the plants we see are ones -- in much smaller versions -- that we might see potted in florist shops at home. This park model has poinsettias, crotons and mother-in-law tongues planted in the flower beds.

I had only seen crotons like this in pots and like a lot of nursery plants, shorter and more compact --

What you don't see here are cacti. It's more of tropical atmosphere rather then desert. There are lots of pots of colorful geraniums around the park --

I don't think they water the grass in any of the parks we've been in in Florida. Like most of the parks we've been in, this one has been here a while and the spaces are pretty tight.

Forry is settling in to watch the Super Bowl tonight. I'm usually interested in the commercials, but there have been so many "sneak" previews of them this year that I feel like I've already seen most of them. (At 3 1/2 million dollars an ad, I guess you want to make sure they get seen more then just the once during the game...)

We've been trying to eat a bit more healthily this year, but today I broke down and made a pan of walnut chocolate caramel brownies. I salved my conscience by telling Forry they were supper...! ;-)

My heart has been saddened this week by news of the death of a 90 year old family friend. One of the disadvantages of this life style is being so far away from friends and family in Washington State. I would love to be able to say "good-bye" to John this Tuesday; join in remembering this remarkable rancher's life; and give a big hug to Polly. RIP JJH

Sun Seekers RV Park

2012-02-04T17:49:00.000-08:00

We've had to chuckle at people's reactions when we tell them we are staying at Sun Seekers Adult RV Park. I hadn't even thought about the name when we made reservations, but evidently the first thing that pops into people's minds is "nudist colony!" Well, it does have a white board fence along the front of it separating it from the highway. And there is a security gate...

The lady in the office told me they occasionally get inquiries on the telephone wanting to know about the "dress code." She said she didn't understand what they were getting at at first...

We were talking to our neighbors this afternoon after going for our afternoon bike ride. They are staying here for two months this winter and had stayed here last winter as well. We were talking about the number of trikes in the RV park and the woman said that indeed there was a rule against golf carts in this park (it's in the regs they give to long-term renters)! Now we know why there are so many trikes and bicycles.

The lady went on to say that they have a park model in an RV Park in Indiana where they live the rest of the year. She said in that park you are only allowed to have a golf cart if you can show that you have a handicapped sticker for your automobile. Hmm, I guess they don't have decorated golf cart parades (we've seen St. Patrick's Day, Easter and Christmas parades) in that park...

And Now I Have a New Toy!

2012-02-03T17:07:00.000-08:00

While we were at Camping World yesterday, we picked up the folding trike that they did not have in stock when Forrest bought his folding bicycle. We're not sure where we're going to put it when we travel, but she fit into the back of Toad for the trip home.

While the trike folds pretty much in the middle, the back wheels don't move, so that's the width we have to work with --

Forry got her unfolded --

Then he took the seat off to adjust and tighten it --

And here she (she hasn't told me her name yet...) sits in all her glory --

I took a few turns around our section of the parking lot to get used to her short-coupled quick turns, while Forry kept adjusting the height of the seat and the handlebars until I was comfortable. Then he got his bike and we went for an extended ride around the RV park. This park is very much the home of three-wheeled trikes. While most of the parks we go to have lots of golf carts, I haven't seen any here. But, there are lots and lots of trikes!

I'm not sure when I started thinking I wanted a trike instead of my bike (did I take one too many tumbles?), but I have been thinking about it for a while. What made it nice was that I had gotten a 10% off coupon in a Camping World email last week. It was almost enough to cover the cost of the Product Protection...

Camping World

2012-02-02T18:21:00.000-08:00

I know that there are some RVers who are not fans of Camping World, but Hardts definitely are. We are members of their President's Club and watch for their sales for most of our purchases. We had bought two very nice lounge chairs last year when we were in Mesa, Arizona. The other day when I was packing them up before our move, the elastic cord that holds the seat taut popped on one of them. I thought about trying to get enough slack in the cord to try to tie it together or would I need to try to get more cord and re-string it? Then I remembered we had purchased Camping World's Product Protection plan -- because they were pretty expensive chairs...

So today we took the chair with us to the store. The clerk didn't have to check with anyone or anything. She just looked at the slip, then went with us to look to see if they had any of the same chair. Of course, that particular chair was no longer stocked; although she did check on the computer and found four of them available back in Arizona! Sandy had us pick out a comparable price chair on the floor and we actually found one that had a taller back and fits Forry better then the original. And that's all it took to walk out the door with a new chair!

After we got back to Auntie Violet, we added the short hose to the water hose to make it longer, pulled more electric cable out and pulled up the jacks and picked up the jack pads. All so that we could back the motorhome up a few feet to see if we could get better satellite reception. We got the job done, put the jack pads and the jacks back down and discovered we now had NO satellite reception! So we thought about it a while, then decided to redo the process and move back to the original position where we at least had satellite reception from one satellite. We ended up parked almost exactly where we had started, plus or minus two inches. And believe it or not, we now have excellent reception on ALL three satellites! Guess I'll get to watch Gray's Anatomy tonight after all.

At Sun Seekers Adult RV Park

2012-02-01T19:59:00.000-08:00

Today was a catch-up day here at Sun Seekers Adult RV Park. I did several loads of laundry -- after we finally got up and going this morning.

One of the things that still surprises me about the south is the number of evergreen trees. I had always envisioned this kind of tree as indigenous to the west -- to the Rockies and especially the Pacific Northwest. I was quite surprised to discover that lumber was one of the top cash crops in Mississippi. This campground in quite treed. We're not getting very good satellite reception on TV. We may try moving Auntie Violet forward a foot or two. After all, got to watch the Super Bowl commercials on Sunday!

This is what was happening today at the park. The gentleman on the left spent all day with a shovel, pickax and a pair of pruners digging a trench for a new sewer line for the sites on the edge of the park. (They do have a small backhoe on the back of that little tractor, but evidently the tree roots were more then it could handle.) The two gentlemen on the right were serving in a supervisory capacity. There was a pretty steady parade of retirees trading off on that important role all day today.

I spent almost two hours on the phone today in a conference call with other members of the Church Resources Committee to review the financials of Mennonite Church USA before our scheduled Board conference call this coming Saturday. After I got off the phone, Forry and I headed into town for a much needed stop at Winn-Dixie for groceries. We ended up at Taqueria Jalapena, a little hole-in-the-wall Mexican spot that turned out to have really good fajitas.

When we got home, we had a chance to talk on the telephone with Daughter Dawn who has just returned from a ten-day medical mission trip to Guatemala. Sounds like she had a wonderful time (though she's fighting a bug...) and was able to do some good work. We're so proud to her -- and a bit jealous if truth were known...

Moving Day Again

2012-01-31T18:08:00.000-08:00

Once again we moved today -- all the way to North Fort Myers. We going to be here for the next nine nights. It will be good to be in one place for a bit. We took Highway 41, the Tamiami Trail, across the state of Florida. It runs alongside the Tumiami Canal (confusing, huh?). On the eastern side, the canal is wide and open. The further east you go, the narrower it gets and becomes very closed in with trees, palms and grasses.

Highway 41 is a two-lane road, mostly in pretty good repair. There is road work going on that turned it into a single lane several times --

We must have seen over a hundred of these critters today! It was a sunny day and there were lots of alligators soaking up the warmth along the banks of the canal --

If we saw a hundred alligators, we must have seen a thousand birds. All kinds of herons, egrets, anhingas and cormorants. What we did not see were any of the pythons the news says are wiping out the small mammals in the Everglades!

We are settled in at Sun Seekers RV Park in North Fort Myers, Florida. As I was walking back to the office to pay our rent, a lady on a trike stopped me to tell me "what a good job my husband had done backing into that place!" I don't know where she was watching from, but it was nice to hear.

Along the Tumiami Canal

2012-01-30T17:22:00.000-08:00

We went for a drive today along the Tumiami Canal on Highway 41 with a detour along the Loop Drive (which turned out to be closed partway through the loop so that we had to back track...). Part of the drive was in the Big Cypress National Preserve. I was quite surprised to see so many air plants in the trees --

I know that some of these are in the bromeliad family, but that's about as much as I know about them!

I've often seen them in conservatories and plant stores, but never in the wild --

There were many of them in bloom --

The whole area was pretty swampy with lots of waterways. These water lilies were plentiful --

We thought we saw a Great White Egret off in the sawgrass, but when I looked at the picture and saw the beak, I realized that it was a white Ibis --

Tucked way back in the trees was this Little Blue Heron --

This picture is a good shot of the swamp. You can see the cypress trees with lots of cypress "knees" (the short portions sticking up in the water...); air plants; and even an ibis --

Here's a Great White Egret and a White Ibis hunting together --

And then we saw a whole mixed flock of the white birds -- plus a Double-crested Cormorant drying its wings. It was early in the afternoon, but they may have already been gathering for their night's roosting --

We caught this gentleman relaxing on an old cypress knee at a house along the canal --

Alligators

2012-01-29T16:05:00.000-08:00

We spent a quiet "down" day at Gator Park today. There is a lot of traffic in and out at the office/gift shop/restaurant area as both single carloads of people and tour buses full arrive steadily. They get a twenty minute air boat (that seats twenty) ride out into the Everglades, then a "wild animal" show where the guide shows a few alligators (for an extra three dollars, you can get your picture taken with a small alligator).

We have not seen many alligators at all this winter in contrast to all the ones we saw in Louisiana a couple of years ago. Across the road from where Auntie Violet is parked is a four foot fence around a small lake. This afternoon, Forry watched a visitor come up to the fence --

According to the information on Gator Park's Internet page, there are 500 alligators in the area...

There are domesticated chickens, ducks and peafowl running around the shop and RV park area that seem totally unconcerned about the presence of alligators. This hen had FIFTEEN baby balls of fluff with her!

Gator Resort

2012-01-28T17:52:00.000-08:00

Wow! It got warm today! It was 84 degrees when we went through Key Largo and I'm sure it was in the 90s by the time we got to Gator Resort. We drove north on Highway 1 (the Overseas Highway) and then connected with Highway 997 until we got to Highway 41. The Gator Resort is about ten miles west on 41.

When we drove in, we weren't quite sure where to go. There were lots of cars in the parking lot and several tour buses. We finally saw some RVs way in the back. A fellow came out of the store and told us where to park until we could talk to the office. I waited in line for a while -- there were people buying tickets for air boat rides -- and finally talked to the guy behind the desk. He said they had two spots left, but he didn't think our 50 foot RV would fit. (We had called them last week and been told they didn't take reservations, but had lots of room...) I told him we weren't even forty feet and he said he was sure we were bigger then that when we drove in with the toad...

Anyhow, he came out to take a better look and decided we would fit into one of his sites, but we had to be sure NOT to back off the concrete pad as the last fellow that did had to be pulled out with a tow truck. (You could see the deep ruts that had been filled -- sort of -- with bark.) We got backed in -- stopped a foot or so from the edge so that the jacks could be put down. We were both tired by the time we got all set up in the heat, so turned on all the fans and took a nap.

We were able to use the Passport America 50% discount for one night, so that will make our two night stay a little less expensive. We are right near Everglades National Park, so will maybe check that out tomorrow.

Getting Ready to Move

2012-01-27T16:37:00.000-08:00

Alas, our time in the Keys is coming to an end! We'd love to stay longer, but it is just too expensive for us to spend any more time here. This IS the high season, so there are few, if any, discounts at the RV parks. Although we have noticed that many of them, including this one, are not at all full.

We started taking care of some of the necessary tasks this afternoon. We had complained earlier about the sewer connections on our site that had no screw threads, so that the cap just sat on top and "burbled" very odoriferously every time someone on the line drained their tanks. The office sent out a maintenance crew, but they evidently did not have the right connections to put on, so they glued a foot-long PVC pipe on it. Which, of course, is way too high for us to drain our tanks...! Since our grey water tank was getting awfully full, Forry connected his macerator pump and hose and drained it that way. We'll drain the black tank tomorrow at the regular dump site when we pull out tomorrow.

The other task we took care of this afternoon was putting away the lawn chairs in Toad. When I went to fold up the second one, I found this little critter sunbathing --

Just look at the length of those toes! No wonder these little lizards are such good climbers --

There was an interesting sunset this evening. The red of the sky was reflected in the water of the Gulf. So pretty!

Brown Pelicans

2012-01-26T17:40:00.000-08:00

We've enjoyed watching the Brown Pelicans that often fly into the mangroves across the little canal in front of where Auntie Violet is parked. They do have webbed feet, but seem to have no problem perching in the trees.

The Brown Pelicans (I know, I know, they are more gray than brown!) are a very large bird, although not as large as their cousins, the American White Pelicans.

They can weigh up to eight pounds and have a wing span of over six feet --

They look incredibly elegant once in the water, though they are quite clumsy-looking as they land.

I think this one thought he was on patrol, keeping an eye on the motorhomes along the canal --

We spent most of the morning with Bill and Leslie, just enjoying a last visit before they started on the six hour plus drive back to Orlando. It clouded up early this afternoon and we had a brief rain shower. It was just enough to wet the sidewalk before the sun came back out.

More Key West

2012-01-25T18:07:00.000-08:00

Forry and I sent Leslie and Bill off to go kayaking and snorkeling today, while we took the day off to rest. We were both so tired this morning we decided we needed a down day.

Here are some more pictures from yesterday --

This is the guys in the front seat of the electric car we rented --

And this is the place they were looking for --

And this is what they were after --

Frozen Key Lime pie dipped in chocolate --

I finally found out the name of this gorgeous plant we have seen all over Key West. It is a spider lily.

I spotted this interesting shrub across the street from where we had rented the electric car --

It's a Bush Allamanda, a Brazilian native --

While this is the shrub form, it also can be a type of vine --

These are a pair of the Key West natives. Banty chickens have the run of the city and are all over. I think they keep the ants and other pests down.

After we returned the rental electric care, and as it got towards sundown, we headed towards the harbor and Mallory Square --

A good share of the population, locals and tourists alike, flock to the harbor to watch the sunset --

There were a few clouds in the sky, but it was a beautiful sight --

Leslie had wonderful memories of a Cuban restaurant, El Siboney, she had eaten at fifteen years ago when she last visited Key West. It ended up being a long walk in a very dark residential neighborhood, but we finally found it (we were beginning to wonder about her memory!). There was a long line out the door and we had about a twenty minute wait. It was well worth it! We had a wonderful meal of roast pulled pork, yellow rice, plantains and black beans. The portions were so large, Forry and I had more than enough for our meal tonight.

Key West Butterfly Conservatory

2012-01-24T20:33:00.000-08:00

We went back to Key West this morning with our friends Leslie and Bill. This was Bill's first trip to the Keys while Leslie hadn't been here for fifteen years. It was kinda fun to fill them on what we had learned during our week here. We rented an electric car to run around town in -- that in itself was fun and a good way to sight see. We checked out the "official" Southernmost Point in the Continental USA (there is actually a Naval radar station that is further south...) for the obligatory picture.

Then we headed over to the Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservancy that we had missed seeing on our earlier trips. In the anteroom they had several plants that were serving as food for butterfly larva.

Then we went through two sets of double doors into the gardens which were very warm and humid. There were literally hundreds of different butterflies flitting about. We did learn that all of the butterflies are farmed raised and that there average life span is only two weeks! This first one is a Blue Morpho, native to Costa Rica --

We bought a $2 chart that pictured two dozen different butterflies and moths, but most of these were not on pictured on it...

This one is another Costa Rican native that was on the chart, it's called a Hecate Longwing --

We went from the Butterfly Conservancy to many other spots around Key West, but it's late, I'm tired. I'm off to bed!

Alice's Beach on Islamora Key

2012-01-23T19:49:00.000-08:00

We've been wanting to go to the beach since we got to the Keys. We went by Alice's Beach (a city park) Sunday. It was extremely busy, so we waited until today and drove back (it's about five miles from Fiesta Key.) The tide -- what little there is -- was out.

The beach looks very nice, but it actually isn't. It's very muddy sand. If you don't stay on the sand bars, you sink eight to ten inches into the mud. It's not even pleasant wading...

The water is very shallow, with lots of sand bars that stretch way out...

This is one of several dogs we saw chasing sticks in the water --

There is a fairly nice boardwalk that stretches along the back of the beach --

When you look out into the Atlantic, you can see the various colors of water, with that by the horizon almost turquoise green --

We had hoped to see shore birds while we were at the beach, but all we saw were Laughing Gulls --

We got back to Auntie Violet in time to get showers and start dinner. Our friends, Leslie and Bill, were driving down to spend a couple of days with us in the Keys. They arrived about 7:30. We will be driving down to Key West with them to spend the day tomorrow.

A Very Nice Day

2012-01-22T16:17:00.000-08:00

The wind was flopping the awning enough this morning to wake me up. I got up to push the switch to bring it in and it was so gorgeous outside I stayed up to watch the activity of the birds on the water. This coconut palm is to the left of Auntie Violet in front of the rock wall that lines the canal.

It has these sorta half size coconuts. I've seen others with various sizes of green fruit. I'm going to have to find out if they grow and ripen all year long or if they have a harvest season.

We took Toad and went back to Mile Marker 82.2 to the Lobster Trap Gallery to pick up the picture frames we had ordered last week for our granddaughter. Then we made a stop at WinnDixie to pick up a few groceries. As we came out to the parking lot, we saw this White Ibis family strolling amongst the cars. The mottled one in front is a yearling chick just beginning its molt to adult white plumage --

We got back to Fiesta Key RV Resort just in time to watch the evening sunset --

It was a nice end to a very nice day!

To Mile Marker 70

2012-01-21T17:21:00.000-08:00

It's Saturday and once again, a moving day. We moved a whole fifty miles today, up the Overseas Highway (US 1) from Sugarloaf Key to Long Key and Fiesta Key RV Resort. We are now at Mile Marker 70, about the midway point of the Florida Keys.

As you drive through the Lower Keys, you start running into these interesting signs. There are many miles where the speed limit is 45 miles per hour during daylight hours and 35 miles per hour at night. The way the signs are made, at night ONLY the 35 miles per hour shows.

The signs are because this whole area is part of the National Key Deer Refuge for this endangered species. The deer are a sub-species of white-tailed deer that actually swim between the islands. We've not seen any, but I found this picture on Wikipedia --


A Key Deer Buck seen on No Name Key

While the deer have no natural predators, the largest number of fatalities are caused by automobiles, so there is a great deal of effort put into trying to prevent collisions.

This is Seven Mile Bridge that is basically the division point between the Upper and Lower Keys --

And here is Auntie Violet, in her site along the canal that is the back entrance to the marina. It was 80 plus degrees this afternoon. It was so pleasant to sit out on the grass with a can of lemonade and my Kindle, watching the pelicans flying back and forth.

Ernest Hemingway Home

2012-01-20T20:13:00.000-08:00

This morning we went back south to Key West. We had bought tickets on the City Trolley when we were there a couple of days ago. So today we took the trolley tour around town --

The trolley allows you to get on and off at various sites on the tour. One of the places in Key West I wanted to see was the house that Ernest Hemingway lived in before he went to Cuba.

One of the first things you notice in this Bahamian-style tropical house is that there are NO ceiling fans! Hemingway's second wife was into "high-fashion" and she thought that ceiling fans were tacky! The guide commented that it was sort of hard to believe that this chandelier was supposed to be "classier..."

Hemingway did his actual writing on the second floor of this little bungalow behind the main house --

The room he wrote in is just as he left it. Note the small typewriter on the table --

Outside in the courtyard was one of the forty-four! six-toed cats that inhabit the house and grounds. These cats are descendants of the cats that the Hemingways owned and have the run of the place. There were even two of them sleeping on the bed upstairs.

The gardens of the house were like a lush tropical paradise. A few of them were actually labeled, including this one, a "Christmas Palm."

The fruit on it was these interesting seeds --

Also in the garden was this rather interesting cat watering fountain. The pot is a large olive oil jar while the base is actually a urinal that Hemingway rescued when one of his favorite bars was remodeled. Evidently his wife was appalled, so had the pot added and the base tiled to make it "more respectable."

After the tour, we were allowed to go back into the main house and take pictures. I was intrigued by the living room with its multiple screened doors to the outdoors. This made for a nice breeze through the room -- even with the "fancy" chandeliers instead of fans...

We saw many of these sorts of peddlers' carts around the city as we rode the trolley around. This one was selling all kinds of nice, but very expensive, hats --

While this one had all kinds of sea shells, from the size of conch shells on down --

There's SNOW in the Northwest!

2012-01-19T16:32:00.000-08:00

It's been interesting to watch the news; to talk to Daughter MM and Son Sean on the telephone; see comments on Facebook; and to read the Seattle Times to get all of the news about the big snowstorm in the Pacific Northwest. Comments range from very happy skiers to less-happy comments about repeating "it's good for the wheat, it's good for the wheat."

When I looked at pictures of our neighbor's young son making snow angels in 7-8 inches of snow and heard about the Cascade mountain passes being closed, I could not help but shudder. Then I look outside and see blue sky and see people walking by Auntie Violet in their shorts and tank tops and I am VERY thankful to be where I am. It's been warm enough at night to sleep with the windows open and just a sheet on the bed.

I sat outside on my lounge chair this afternoon in the sunshine with my Kindle and a big glass of water -- it was nice!

Long Key State Park

2012-01-18T19:44:00.000-08:00

We made a trip today back up the Keys to Mile Marker 82.2 to purchase some picture frames from the Lobster Trap Art Gallery. We had seen their display last Saturday at the Seafood Festival in Key West, but they hadn't brought any of the size we wanted to the festival. The lobster trap frames are made from real lobster trap or stone crab pots used to harvest seafood in the keys. After 5 or so seasons, the hardware that holds the traps together starts to rust and the fishermen can no longer use them. The artist takes these older traps, breaks them down and uses the weathered wood to make picture frames. We have a couple of small oil paintings which have been gifts of Granddaughter Kyra, that we think would look really nice in this kind of frame. They did not have the right size in stock at the gallery either, so we had to order them...

On the way back we stopped at Long Key State Park in hopes we might see that elusive White Crowned Pigeon (which the ranger said hadn't been seen there for a while). As we came into the Park and stopped to pay the $6 entry fee, we saw this elegant iguana alongside the road --

Long Key contains the remains of ancient coral reefs and is covered with many plants. There is a boardwalk that leads to an observation tower that overlooks this mangrove forest --

Brackish water in the lagoons nourishes the roots of the mangrove trees and provides shelter for baby marine animals --

We came upon this interesting vine with 2 1/2 to 3 inch green pods --

In another area we saw brown dried pods and then some that were open with a whitish seed --

This dried up pods may have been from last season. I sure need to look for a book identifying Florida flora, especially the sub-tropical ones --

The Nature Trail we walked on was called the Golden Orb Trail. I'm not sure if this was one of the spiders that it was named for --

It was getting late by the time we headed back to Sugarloaf KOA and we decided we were getting too hungry to wait until we got home and I fixed something. We made a stop at the first seafood place we saw, one called the Crab Shack. It was pretty tiny, only half a dozen small tables, but the menu on the whiteboard looked good.

I ended up ordering a bowl of Maryland Crab Soup that was full of vegetables and was absolutely delicious --

As were the crab stuffed mushrooms I ordered to go along with --

Forry ordered a crab cake sandwich which he also said was very good!

Crab Shack lived up to my faith in the goodness of food at hole-in-the-wall restaurants!

My Kindle 2

2012-01-17T17:38:00.000-08:00

I've been using my Kindle DX since Fall of 2009 and I really like it. I have over nine hundred books in the archives -- can you imagine how much space that many books would take up in Auntie Violet? Plus I've got about thirty more on my home page either waiting to be read or to be used for reference!

I wish I had kept track of how many of the books I've gotten for free from the Facebook on the Ereader News Today site. It's a good way to sample many different authors that I probably would not have considered. The bad thing about it that they often will have the first book of a series for free; you get hooked; and then you end up buying the rest of the series...

I've been VERY impressed with Kindle's customer service. I told you how they replaced my first Kindle DX last month for the minimum service price after the five-way switch quit working -- even though it was out of warranty.

Today I was trying to buy the last book of Lauraine Snelling's Daughter's of Blessing series, Rebecca's Reward. When I went to the store, it kept telling me I had purchased the book last December, but I could not find it in the archives anywhere, searching under both title and author. When I called Customer Service, she reviewed what I had already done; put me 'on hold' for five minutes; then came back and told me to look on my HOME page -- and there it was!

And this Customer Service Rep was every bit as cheerful and nice as the one I worked with last month! Kindle definitely has the customer service thing down pat!

Truman's Little White House

2012-01-16T19:58:00.000-08:00

There are a couple of "must-visit" places in Key West. One of them is Harry S Truman's Little White House.

The land the Little White House is on was deeded to the State of Florida by the Navy. It was originally the house of the commandant, but was remodeled for his use after President Truman decided that vacations at Key West suited him well.

Unfortunately, this is as far as you can go with a camera --

The streets of Key West are beautifully landscaped. This pretty flower has nasty thorns on its stems --

I've never seen this plant before -- even in a florist shop. It is gorgeous!

This is a banyan tree on one of the downtown street corners --

We had wanted to go to a Cuban restaurant for dinner, but the most highly rated one is closed on Mondays. So we headed back home and went to Mangrove Mama's which is right across the road from the turn to the KOA. We both had seared scallops and yellow rice which were delicious. I can't say the same for the carrots (though Forry thought they were great...)!

And you can't be in the Keys without eating Key Lime Pie! (too bad the point disappeared before I took the picture...!)

More From Key West --

2012-01-15T17:48:00.000-08:00

Fort Taylor was not our only stop visited yesterday. We sat down on the beach for a while (we'd read that we might see White Crowned Pigeons there...); watched a sail boat race;

and marveled at all the colors of the water --

We drove through the historical downtown area where we saw these Kapok trees with the incredible buttressed trunks --

Next we headed for the Annual Seafood Festival at Bayview Park. Among the art work for sale at the park were these impressive fish made from driftwood --

The Seafood Festival reminded me of Spokane's Pigout in the Park fall festival in the number of art and food booths. Except that this was a one day event while Spokane's lasts for three days AND they don't sell margaritas in Spokane!

It was a bit of a chilly day, but the park was full and the lines were long. They lined up for boiled shrimp, Stone Crab Claws and fried fish --

This is the lobster dinner we bought and shared. It had coleslaw, rice and black beans, a lemon wedge and clarified butter to go with the rock lobster halves. It was delicious!

I also bought some peel 'n eat shrimp and some Stone Crab Claws to take home for supper. We learned that it is forbidden to sell whole Stone Crabs -- they catch them and remove the claws, then throw them back in the ocean so that the claws will regenerate in 18 months or so. Not so sure how humane that sounds...

This was at another of the booths. This artist had some beautiful, intricate polished cut-out metal work. His lion fish was incredible (only $300) --

And I thought his crabs were fun and loved the whimsical little fish --

I said it was chilly. We had not taken jackets. I mean, we are in Florida after all! It's too bad that I had to purchase this sweatshirt in order to warm up a bit...

Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park

2012-01-14T18:40:00.000-08:00

We drove down the rest of the way to Key West in Toad this morning. I had some letters to mail and knew that the post office would not be open on Monday due to MLK holiday. After stopping at McDonalds for breakfast, we drove out to Fort Taylor, America's southernmost fortress. I was surprised to learn that this fort -- in the very deepest south -- remained in Union hands all during the Civil War. It was literally built at the end of the Keys -- with fill that made its own island!

Like many other decommissioned forts, this one has been inactive since 1947 --

At one time the Fort looked like this, only there were two more stories on top. The three stories of gun batteries held over 140 cannon. When rifled guns made cannons obsolete, the top two stores were removed.

Each of the cannons were housed in one of these bays and shot through the opening in the wall. Note the vaulted ceilings and arches, built by skilled Irish and German immigrant labor.

Now these are the inhabitants of these abandoned walls --

As we peered down the gun opening of the fort wall, we could see at least three more iguanas basking in the sun --

They are certainly strange looking creatures -- and big!

When we climbed on top of the wall of the Fort, we could look out to the Key West harbor where this huge cruise ship was in port and loading passengers.

We could also look down into the batteries built after the top two stories of the fort were removed and see some of the obsolete 140 cannons that were used as fill in the walls of the new batteries... (These have been coated with paint for protection against the elements and further deterioration.)

The concrete for the new batteries was made with salt water. Now the salt is leaching out and the walls are very unstable --

This is the entrance to one of the forty cisterns that were built with the idea that rain water could be saved and used as the fort's fresh water source. Unfortunately, after two years of drought, the sea seeped into the cisterns, ruining them. Fort Taylor then had the nation's first desalination plant that produced about 7000 gallons of water per day.

This is another good idea that didn't work. Latrines were built that dropped wastes into the ocean with the idea that the tides would keep them flushed out. But, the tide in the Keys does not fluctuate enough, so it didn't do its job. Dysentery and Yellow Fever ran rampant and caused most of the deaths recorded at the Fort.

As we looked down into the portion of the moat left, we could see this tree with its resident Snowy Egret and an iguana that is just as big -- it's over four feet long!

Just look at the size of those back legs!

The flagpole is a replica of the one that flew in the middle of the parade ground --

At the time the fort was built, the flag had 33 stars --

As we left the Fort, this little guy basking on the corner, opened his eyes long enough to say "farewell!"

Finally, THE KEYS!

2012-01-13T18:35:00.000-08:00

It seems like we've been heading in this direction for a l-o-n-g time and now, we are finally in the Florida Keys! We're a long, long way from Washington State.

We basically drove down Highway 1, which goes all the way from Homestead to Key West, the end of the island chain that makes up the Keys. The mainland portion of the highway skirts Everglades National Park and is very swampy --

As you get further down the Keys, the highway is a two-lane road with a blue concrete barrier down the center line. (I have a feeling that there used to be head-on crashes from impatient drivers...) The Atlantic Ocean was on our left and the Gulf of Mexico was on the right -- as we crossed the many bridges we could see them both at the same time.

The battery on my camera went dead, so I didn't get any more pictures until we got to Sugarloaf Key where the KOA is located. Believe it or not, these are residents of the RV Resort --

I think we spotted three roosters and the one lone hen strutting in and out among the RVs --

It was getting towards dusk when we went for a walk around the park. This Brown Pelican flew into the mangroves to roost --

I almost missed getting a shot of this one, beginning to show breeding colors on the head.

This is the swimming area at the park --

And here's one more Brown Pelican (the American White Pelican is not on this coast) sitting on the bridge --

Bonjour?

2012-01-12T17:42:00.000-08:00

The Boardwalk RV Resort here in Homestead is a Mecca for folks from way up north. I think the highest percentage of license plates we have seen here are from Quebec, Canada. I had expected to be hearing lots of Spanish, but instead we are being greeted in French.

We are finally far enough south to be seeing papaya trees! I actually bought one the other day at a fruit stand by Lake Okeechobee. We had half of it for breakfast with lime juice this morning.

Walking around this urban park this afternoon almost felt like being in a florist shop with VERY large foliage plants -- like this split leaf philodendron.

And we saw lots and lots of hibiscus --

This family had pots of orchids hanging from their awnings --

The owner said they had just started blooming --

Another color of hibiscus --

This is another plant that I have seen -- a whole lot smaller -- in florist shops.

I have never seen so many different kinds of palm trees. These young ones were clustered at one end of the park --

Another florist plant in the north --

Most of the sheds around the park had straps like this attached to big screws in the ground -- preparation for hurricane winds?

A gorgeous double hibiscus --

A large banana plant --

I have no idea what this large tree might be. There were about a dozen of these "bulbs" scattered throughout the foliage --

Another gorgeous double -- or triple? -- hibiscus.

Heading Further South

2012-01-11T18:27:00.000-08:00

We left "M" RV Resort earlier this morning heading further south. We took State Highway 27 down past Lake Okeechobee covering the same territory we had a couple of days ago when we drove around the lake. You sure can see a lot more from the height of the motorhome than you can when driving in Toad.

Highway 27 is a really nice four-lane road, but we turned off onto 997 to avoid the congestion around Miami. We saw these HUGE power lines heading in that direction --

Not sure if all of these dead trees along the road are left over hurricane damage, but there were miles of them --

As we got further south, we picked up a bit of a shower -- there was just enough rain to make the windshield wet. As you can see 997 is only a two lane road, and it is not in very good shape --

We had put the address of our destination, The Boardwalk RV Resort, into the GPS unit, but when we got to where it said it was, we found a school instead. After a couple of phone calls, we finally got to the right address... It turns out that Homestead has both numbered streets AND avenues -- we went to 6th Street not 6th Avenue!

This 'n That

2012-01-10T18:38:00.000-08:00

These are a few more of the pictures I took when we visited Bok Tower Gardens. This first one is an Ornamental Cotton plant. It was planted in a pot in the courtyard and was a good four feet tall with some pretty big bolls.

As if there weren't enough beautiful real flowers around, there was also this metal sculpture garden --

And this picture is of the entry way to the gift shop at the Gardens --

I have continued to collect interesting names of churches. If anything, I think I have found more here in Florida than anywhere else --

Oasis of Life Tabernacle
Fountain of Life
Living Life Church
Brown's Temple
The Rock
Victory Tabernacle
Bible Believers Fellowship
The Pinnacle Church
Tower of Prayer Church
Soul's Harbor
His Fellowship
Living Message
Real Life Church -- A Church for Real People
Celebration and Praise Church
Springs of Life Church
Journey Christian Church
Greater Faith Church
Springs of Living Water Church
Peaceful Believers
Bethel Holiness Church
Prevailing Word Church
New Harvest Church
Miracle Temple
Point of Light Fellowship

I would love to know the story behind the name of each and every one of these. For every one of these churches that seemed to be non-denominational, there are at least half a dozen Baptist churches, two or three Methodist and many community churches. We are definitely still in the Bible Belt!

Lake Okeechobee

2012-01-09T19:20:00.000-08:00

After a trip into the Post Office in Moore Haven to pick up the fat box of mail forwarded to us by Daughter MM, we headed for our planned trip around Lake Okeechobee. We'd seen a bit of it last week, but today wanted to drive all the way around it. We headed east towards Bella Glade, then north on 78/441.

We saw this Double-Crested Cormorant sitting on a power line. The orange bare skin on its face make it an easy one to identify --

These big turtles - the big one a good foot long - were sunning themselves on logs floating in this weed-filled canal --

This absolutely gorgeous Osprey was keeping watch on a power pole near the lake --

It's hard to see much of Lake Okeechobee from the highway. It is surrounded by a huge dike (Herbert Hoover Dike built in 1938) that averages 30 feet high. The dike does have a walking/biking path atop it, and there are occasional approaches like this one with boat launching ramps. The lake doesn't look very big as it is very shallow (averages 9 feet) and much of it is covered with vegetation.

These stately Royal Palms line the streets of Pahokee. I don't know how old they are, but they must have planted hundreds of them many years ago.

We came up on this flock of adult White Ibis a few blocks from the city center --

Their curved red bills and legs are quite distinctive --

They're about two feet tall -- the same size as snowy egrets -- which it's easy to mistake them for at a distance until you see the beaks!

You can barely see the black wingtips tucked back against their tails --

By the time we made it around the lake (the 2nd largest fresh-water lake totally contained in a state in the US), the sun was starting to set. This cormorant was taking advantage of the last rays of sunlight to dry her wings --

I took this final shot of a Great Blue Heron silouetted along the bank. It's amazing how they tuck that long neck back and in --

Forry's New Toy

2012-01-08T17:15:00.000-08:00

If there is "candy" in the life of a full-time RVer, it must be Camping World! While they carry many of the necessities of RV life, they also carry the toys. We made a stop at the one in Fort Myers yesterday on our way home.

Now mind you, we had just been to Costco for the first time in over a month and Toad was full! But Forry has been looking at their Adventurer folding bikes for a while -- and they were on sale...

This copper and gray twelve-speed bike folds up to a 35" x 16 1/2" x 30" package. I don't know where we are going to store it, but I see some major re-arranging happening in the next couple of days. It's a good thing I had taken the two lounge chairs out of Toad's back seat along with the little outdoor table and set them up outside, or we'd have never gotten the box loaded.

But, by moving the front seats all the way forward and rearranging the boxes of groceries, the salesman and Forry managed to get it in the back seat. By the time we got home last night and got all the groceries put away, we were too tired to unload the bike.

But today, Forry pulled it out and put it together. He went to take it for a trial ride, but wouldn't you know, the tires needed air. So out came the compressor. After he got that taken care of, he went for a ride. He says since it is so short-bodied, it is a bit "twitchy." I'm glad he didn't talk me into getting one as well (I'm holding out for the trike version!). Of course, since we had left the regular bikes at the ranch, we had also left the bike helmets in the storage shed...

A Crested Caracara and WOOD STORKS!

2012-01-07T19:01:00.000-08:00

We made a Costco run today to the warehouse over by Fort Myers. I convinced Forry that we should take the back road (Hwy 29) through the countryside rather than the four-lane highway. It was a good choice as we came upon a strawberry vendor with his pickup of berries alongside the road. This is the second batch of scrumptious Florida strawberries we gotten -- the smell is heavenly! The fellow said that last week's frost hadn't gotten their berries.

Then to our surprise, Forry spotted a Crested Caracara sitting on a fence post alongside the road. We saw a lot of these critters in Texas, but were surprised to see one here in Florida where they are considered "scarce." My bird book describes them as "as tropical member of the falcon family, but shaped like a hawk and feeds like a scavenger." It's too bad the picture is blurry, because it is a striking bird.

Then a little further down the road, he spotted this Wood Stork hanging out with a Great White Egret.

Then we saw what was probably its mate!

The Wood Stork is our only native stork. Forry has been looking for one for some time. It's another new Life Bird for both of us! It has really long gawky dark legs and a rather ugly naked gray head.

They spooked when a big truck came by and flew up into the trees.It was neat to see the black edges of its wing feathers. This huge (40 inch) bird flew up -- with those long legs dangling behind -- and perched right on top of an old snag.

The Fort Myers Costco was one of the most crowded warehouses I've ever been in! It might have been because it was Saturday, but it was really busy. We restocked our coffee supply for the Kuerig (paying a premium for one case of Starbucks) and loaded up on Forry's cereal (though they don't carry the pumpkin and flax seed one he really likes down here in the south). We had an early supper so that Forry could have his favorite Polish dog.

We stopped at a fruit stand on the way home and picked up some more oranges and grapefruit. We are enjoying Florida's citrus!

A Rest Day

2012-01-06T17:23:00.000-08:00

After a couple of pretty busy days, it was time today for a down day. One of the things we've discovered as we've gotten older is that we cannot go "full-steam" too many days in a row without getting cranky (or crankier than normal...) or too tired.

I had washed three loads of clothes yesterday before we took our jaunt to Lake Okeechobee, so I didn't even have that to do. I suppose I could have spent some time cleaning -- Auntie Violet's cabinetry could certainly use some Liquid Gold -- but it was too nice a day to spend inside.

So I took my Kindle, my cell phone, a can of Diet Squirt and a fresh pear and went to sit outside in the gorgeous warm Florida sunshine. What a lovely way to spend a couple of hours!

When I came inside to start a pot of chili for supper, Forry (who had been napping in his chair...) suggested we go for a walk first. Looking back at Auntie Violet, you can see what a beautiful day it was --

I'd guess that "M" RV Resort is only about half full. I don't know if it will fill up as people move south following the holidays or if this is normal for them.

I do know that when we were in process of making reservations for further down in the Keys, we ran into Parks that had no openings until next March. We did get neighbors toward evening, but I noticed that the office was nice enough to escort them to a site a couple over from us, still leaving space in between.

BIRDS!

2012-01-05T18:34:00.000-08:00

It's not been a very good trip for birding so far this year. Until today! I think we saw more birds today then we've seen on the whole trip so far! It started early this morning when we saw a large flock (25-30) of cattle egrets foraging in the field next to the RV park.

One of them even wandered over into the park and was bug-hunting next to the line dividing the RV sites --

This afternoon we headed over towards Lake Okeechobee and saw this Little Blue Heron in the marsh --

And then there was this Great Egret --

And lots of these Loggerhead Shrikes --

We stopped at one of the blinds along the road and I saw something across the pond moving in the brush --

And out popped this wild sow. She turned and ran the minute she saw us looking at her --

We stopped alongside a bridge because we thought we saw another Great Egret, but it turned out to be a White Ibis -- a new Life Bird for me.

This Belted Kingfisher was perching on the wire, watching the world go by --

And Forry got a new Life Bird as well! He's been looking for a Limpkin -- and we saw four of them today!

Some birds that we have seen a lot of in the South have been the vultures! This big Turkey Vulture was perched on a pole as the sun set outlining its feathers --

This Black Vulture was feasting on a road-kill raccoon alongside the road --

Here's a shot of the two kinds of vultures side-by-side. The Black Vulture has no feathers at all on its neck and head.

In addition to all the birds I took pictures of, we saw Big Blue Herons, Northern Mockingbirds, Boat Tailed Grackles, American Kestrels and blackbirds. It was a GOOD day!

On To Moore Haven

2012-01-04T17:45:00.000-08:00

It was just plain chilly this morning! It got down to 28 degrees last night -- that's COLD for Florida! By the time we got everything organized and were ready to go this morning, it had warmed up enough to ditch the sweater. We took Highway 66 for the first portion of the trip. It is a two lane road that went through some lovely agricultural areas. We have been surprised by how many cattle ranches there are --

And still lots and lots of orange groves!

We switched over to Highway 27 as we went further south. 27 is a four lane highway that has unlimited access, so there is lots of on and off traffic AND traffic lights!

As we got closer to Moore Haven, we began to see fields of sugar care --

We are settled in at "M" RV Resort. What a change from where we have been the last two weeks. We were met and escorted to our site -- and assisted to back in (though Forry really doesn't need help...). We are basically right in the middle of Florida, the Park literature says they are equidistant between the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts and just a few miles from Okeechobee Lake. The park is nowhere near as busy as Peace River was and there is lots of space between sites. And we had a pretty sunset as well --

Bok Tower Gardens

2012-01-03T18:05:00.000-08:00

After the carillon concert yesterday, we spent a couple of hours walking through the gardens of Bok Tower. Leslie estimated that we might have seen a third of the property. There is a wide range of tropical and semi-tropical plants throughout the grounds. There was one area near the Welcome Center where the trees were full of air plants --

There were many bromiliads in the same area --

These were air plants living on strings that formed a walkway along the patio --

One part of the estate had a pond full of lily pads --

There was an anhinga (known as the "snake bird" as it is often seen with just its snake-like neck and head sticking out of the water) drying its feathers on a birdhouse near the pond --

It was like walking through a lush tropical jungle --

There were squirrels all over the grounds, often taking advantage of seed left out for the birds --

There were many more flowers in bloom then I had expected, especially camellias --

This one was tagged as being named a "powder puff" --

The magnolias were just beginning to bud out --

Have you ever seen so many colors and shapes of camellias?

There is a cold front going through Florida. It got down to forty degrees last night and they are expecting a low of 27 degrees tonight. We saw lots of people putting sheets or other material out to cover the plants in their yards when we went into Wauchula for groceries this afternoon.

Bok Tower

2012-01-02T19:11:00.000-08:00

Our friend Leslie has been talking to us about visiting Bok Tower Gardens ever since we got to Florida. Her family often came here when she was a child. A National Historic Landmark, it is located near Lake Wales. It is about halfway from where we are at Peace River RV Park and Mouse Mountain RV Park where they are parked, so we decided to meet up there this afternoon.

Built between 1927 and 1929, the was built to house the Edward Bok family carillon and serve as a centerpiece for the extensive gardens. It is 205 feet tall and weighs 5500 TONS!

There is a moat that surrounds the Tower, full of huge koi.

When she was a little girl, Leslie says there were swans in the moat that defended the marble border around the water -- they didn't bother you if you stayed on the brick walkway, but if you stepped on the marble, watch out! The docent told us that the swans finally got so aggressive that they had to be removed...

The tower is made of brick with an outer facing of pink and gray Georgia marble and Florida coquina, a limestone of shell and coral fragments.

All of the carving was done on site by Lee Lawrie of New York City.

This is the view looking out from the hill on which Bok Tower is built. The hill that it is built on is the highest elevation in Florida!

Looking back at the Tower from the edge of the hill --

This is the brass door going into the Tower (not open to the public) --

The door, by Samuel Yellin of Philadelphia, depicts the Biblical story of Creation --

The grillwork near the top of the Tower has colorful ceramic tiles --

Since it was still the holidays, the carillon played a Christmas song every half hour. The carillon has 60 bronze bells ranging in weight from 16 pounds to eleven plus tons! At 3 PM we enjoyed a half hour concert that ranged from Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring to Let Me Call You Sweetheart and Over There.

After the concert, we spent several hours exploring the gardens (I'll share some of those pictures tomorrow..!) and then went into Lake Wales for dinner at Norby's. Not much to look at, I doubt if we'd have gone into the place if it hadn't been for some great -- and very accurate -- reviews. The appetizer we ordered, Horsey Bites, was so good, we could have made a meal of it. The medium rare pieces of Filet Mignon on toast rounds topped with little mounds of horseradish were delicious!

Blessings for a Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T18:21:00.000-08:00

A VERY HAPPY AND BLESSED NEW YEAR TO ALL!

It's 2012!

We spent a quiet day at home today, walking down to the Peace River to check for alligators, but didn't see anything but some sparrows and one Little Blue Heron.

I am fascinated by the Spanish Moss on many of the trees in this part of the country. While a few trees don't seem to have much --

And others seem to have lots and lots --

I haven't decided whether I think the stuff is gorgeous, or just plain spooky?!

I think it depends upon whether you are looking at in in the daytime or at night...

The End of 2011...

2011-12-31T18:33:00.000-08:00

And I still catch myself starting to write 2010 on the very occasional check that I write!

It's been an interesting year, the first one that we've actually avoided being anywhere that there was snow! We were in Mesa, Arizona when the ball dropped on TV last year, going from there out into the desert for the Quartzite Desert Rat Rally X with 125 mostly Alpine coaches. From there we spent time in San Jacinto, California in order to get a follow-up ultrasound of my leg that proved the blood clot was resolved and I could 'cease and desist' with the daily coumadin.

We went to Lake Havasu for a week checking out the light houses and London Bridge, then spent a week in Salome, Arizona before heading back to the Mesa area. We moved around to a couple of area RV resorts before finally settling in for a month at Sun Life RV Resort. We were there long enough to watch a pair of baby hummingbirds grow up and leave their golf ball size nest. In late April Forry finally fulfilled his desire of returning to Meteor Crater for the first time since he was seven years old.

We explored beautiful New Mexico the first few weeks in May including a wonderful visit with my friend Tina, her daughter Delcherie and granddaughter Kaili (and enjoying Tina's fry bread) While in New Mexico we celebrated my 70th birthday and Forry surprised me with not one, but two gorgeous squash blossom turquoise necklaces!

We spent the last part of the month in Utah exploring Canyonlands and Zion National Parks, then had a visit with Daughter Dawn's in-laws in Nampa, Idaho. June was family time, starting with a visit to Sister Sherry and the mastiffs in Touchet; down the Columbia Gorge to Daughter Dawn's family in Hubbard, Oregon; then north to Mount Vernon, Washington to spend time with Daughter Mary Mae's family before heading back over the Cascades to our homeplace, Tree Heart Ranch, Ltd.

We left Auntie Violet at the ranch the first part of July and flew back to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for the biennial convention of Mennonite Church USA, then spent another week with our RV friends Bill and Leslie exploring that portion of Pennsylvania. The rest of July and August were spent with the obligatory dental and medical check-ups and the more pleasant task of spending time with our Menno family and Brother Pat's growing young family.

By September 7th we were on the road again, heading east through northern Idaho and Montana, then southeast through Wyoming, South Dakota and Nebraska. We finally found our way to Kansas for Mennonite Church USA Executive Board meetings and wonderful visits with Walt and Clara and Roger and Carmen (Menno church family who had moved back to Kansas).

Next came Missouri, Illinois and Indiana (drove on the "brickyard" -- the Indianapolis Race Track). We had HWH hydraulic hoses replaced in October in Elkhart at Stuart's Service who rank right up there in great service! We snuck up into Tecumseh, Michigan to spend a couple of nights in that state, then were on to Ohio and Kentucky. We visited the Kentucky Derby track as well as learned how to make bourbon on distillery tours. Somewhere in there I flew back to Spokane to work at the Mennonite Country Auction...

We met up with our friends Tom and Juni in Tennessee in November, visiting Grand Ole Opry in Nashville and having Juni as a tour guide at Elvis Presley's Graceland and downtown Memphis. We stayed right on banks of the Mississippi River in Arkansas, then spent a week in Tunica, Mississippi.

We parked for a week on the River Styx in Alabama, then finally made it into Florida in early December. Our friends Leslie and Bill are spending the winter at Mouse Mountain near Orlando and we made our first visits to the Disney World Resorts with them. We celebrated Christmas with my Executive Board colleague Juanita's congregation in Apopka, then had dinner with Leslie's family.

We have reservations for the next couple of weeks in the Florida Keys, but that is as far as we have plans. We do know that we eventually want to head all the way up into Maine early next summer, then return to the Pacific Northwest along the northern tier of states, picking up the ones that are not yet on our "visited" map.

It is exciting to think what this new year of 2012 will bring!

Another Lazy, Quiet Day

2011-12-30T18:30:00.000-08:00

This end of the Peace River RV Park seems to be completely full. And judging by the tags in the windows of the RVs around us, no one will be moving on before we do. So this morning there were no racing engines nor huge rigs maneuvering around to wake us up or disturb our morning coffee drinking. It's a fairly quiet area of the park as well. We are away from the pool area or an area where there are children. We might have an occasional child biking by, but that's about it.

There may not be many children, but there are lots and LOTS of dogs. There is a constant parade of dog walkers. There may be an occasional single dog, but ninety percent of the people seem to have two or more. And for some reason, there are a lot of them that have pit bulls and Rottweilers (even though the park rules say "no aggressive breeds."). There is one lady that comes by with three of them -- she is not walking them, they are pulling her! There are also a lot of little dogs of all kinds, again at least two and sometimes three. But, I must say, there don't seem to be a lot of barkers here, which is really nice.

I got three loads of clothes washed today, so am once again all caught up. Other than that, I haven't accomplished much. I have been reading Lauraine Snelling's series of books about early day settlers in the Red River area of North Dakota. I'm so glad that I was able to re-download them unto the new Kindle!

Life Goes On -- Even in an RV Park...

2011-12-29T18:17:00.000-08:00

It says in the brochure for Peace River Thousand Trails that the park can accommodate rigs up to forty feet long. That may be true, but they certainly don't enforce it. Early this morning, there was this 45 foot, three-axle fifth-wheel that was attempting to park across the narrow road from us. With the truck and trailer, he is a good 70 feet long --

The driver knocked on the door of the neighbors next to us and had them more their car. He had us boxed in. We really can't move Auntie Violet as there is a tree right behind us! The truck pulling the fifth-wheel was a huge Volvo truck that ended up less then a foot from Auntie Violet's nose --

I was sure glad that I had put my little lavender tree and the wrought iron road runner alongside Auntie Violet instead of in front where I usually put them (the above two pictures were taken through the cooling screen we put in the front windows) --

Then when they finally got the fifth-wheel parked, instead of parking the truck alongside, he parked it along the road. It's a pretty narrow road and due to the tree in the back of our site, we are right close to the edge as well...

Oh well, I guess I just need to relax and not worry about anyone clipping us as they fly by...

When we arrived at the RV Park yesterday, the package with my new Kindle DX was already here. It looks just like the old one except that it is black instead of white. It seems to function a bit more quickly than my old one as well. The Amazon people had sent me an email with a prepaid mailing label to print. Forry removed my old Kindle from the case and put the new one in; then I repacked it in the same box the new one came in and taped it up and put the new label on.

This afternoon we went to the post office in Wauchula to send the old Kindle back and discovered that it was a UPS label, NOT a USPS label. And there is no UPS store in the town. The lady at the post office said that we would have to call UPS and have them come pick it up...

So when we got back to the RV Park, I stopped at the office to see what I would have to do to allow the UPS guy to come through the security gate. She said I needed to leave the package at the office and they would see that it went out with their UPS delivery in the morning. I do have the tracking number so I guess I can make sure it gets sent...

Movin' On

2011-12-28T17:58:00.000-08:00

We got up and got going fairly early this morning and pulled out of Bee's RV Park by 10:30 even with putting all of the Christmas stuff away. We really didn't move to far, just a couple of hours south to Peace River RV Park near Wauchula. I don't think we've traveled a single leg of all our travels this year without running into this --

Road construction is just part of the game -- and in this part of the world they don't have to stop for snow and ice!

We definitely were in orchard country today! We passed miles of orange groves --

And lots of trucks full of oranges --

These mesh sided trailers looked really neat all filled with fruit --

I think we passed a juice processing plant. There was no signage that we could see, but there sure were a lot of trucks heading that way --

It sort of reminded me of home. Instead of wheat or potatoes or onions along the road that had bounced off of the trucks, there were oranges.

Then we began to see the empty trucks heading back out to the orchards --

We actually drove past the RV park which was on the other side of the four-lane divided highway and had to make a U-turn at the next corner to get back to it. We made reservations at Peace River RV Park through our Resort Parks International (RPI) membership, but it actually is a large (400 plus sites) Thousand Trails facility. It's the only park we have ever been at (except for a couple very small self-service parks in the west) where we were NOT assigned a site!

The lady at the desk showed us the park map, showed us the areas that "were pretty full," and the sites where we "might get satellite service," and then told us to "call her and let her know what site we parked in..." It reminded me a bit of flying Southwest Airlines with the people evidencing the same kind of rather rude pushy behavior.

There were two rigs, and then a third, rig that pulled in behind us. While we were unhooking Toad (as advised by the lady in the office) so that we could check out the available sites, they pulled around us with their tows still attached. Keep in mind that this is an older park with fairly narrow roads. They went racing up and down the roads looking for sites. I watched one of them come around the same area three times...! There are actually quite a few empty sites, I counted at least twenty as we drove around in Toad. And there are fifty or sixty more in the area with only water and electric hookups.

In the meantime, we had found a spot down towards the end of the sites with sewer hook-ups. All of the sites are back-ins as the pipes in between are not buried very far below the surface and are vulnerable to breaking if driven over. While I waited in Toad at the site for Forry to drive Auntie Violet down to it, I watched one of the later-comers actually pull around and pass him on that narrow road!

We are sitting in a site that is oriented north-south, so we could look out the Auntie Violet's and watch this gorgeous sunset tonight.

Sherlock Holmes!

2011-12-27T19:41:00.000-08:00

We have been talking with Bill and Leslie about going to one of the new movies that are out this Christmas season. We had been thinking about going to see Warhorse, but Leslie decided that it would get too emotional for her ('cause "it's about animals..."). After checking out was on at the theater closest to us, we decided to go see the Sherlock Holmes movie.

The Epic Theater is halfway between Bee's RV Park where we are staying and Mouse Mountain RV Park where Leslie and Bill are staying so we figured we would just meet there this afternoon and then come back here for dinner. It was a good plan except that Sally, our dear sweet GPS unit, could not find the theater! The site she took us to was just a field. We drove on another long way, then after talking to Bill and Leslie -- who were already at the theater waiting -- we finally made a U-turn and headed back. The theater was actually almost five miles from where the GPS said it was.

Sherlock Holmes, A Game of Shadows is an interesting movie. There is some pretty wild photography and use of fast and slow motion -- especially during fight scenes. We had gotten there barely on time (missed ALL the ads and previews), so ended up sitting closer to the front then we probably should have to get the best effect. But it was fun.

I had picked up a very nice couple of flank steaks when we at Costco a couple of weeks ago. I took one out of the freezer last night and marinated it this morning in lime juice, chopped garlic, cumin and the last of my original bottle of Mexican lime oil. Later I added sliced onions and peppers to the marinade as well. When we got back after the movie, I broiled the steak, stir-fried the peppers and onions, and toasted some corn tortillas. We had a great meal of steak fajitas!

A Day of Leftovers...

2011-12-26T18:39:00.000-08:00

I must have really been tired last night! I was in bed by 10:30 when we normally stay up until 1:30 or 2 in the morning. And I slept around the clock! (Oh, all right, I admit I got up a couple of times to stumble into the bathroom...)

So by the time I got up this morning, it was time for brunch. Forry had cracked and cleaned the couple of crab legs that I had left from Christmas Eve. I got them out of the refrigerator along with eggs for omelets. He used the new little grater that Santa had stuck in his stocking to grate some Gruyere cheese and I sauteed some green onions and chopped up a few celery leaves. The omelets were delicious!

Later we finished off the little bits of seafood cocktail and cranberries that I'd brought home from Christmas dinner. I think they tasted even better today then they did yesterday!

Our neighbors in the RV across the road from us were very busy taking down and putting away all of their Christmas decorations. I noticed tonight that they were probably the only ones -- the park is still pretty brightly lit up. We will be moving further south on Wednesday, so will pack our things up and put away the Christmas box tomorrow.

The five-way switch on my hard-working Kindle DX quit working last week. ;-(

After trying all the reset tricks I know and checking the Kindle Internet trouble-shooting page, I finally called them. The lady I talked to didn't take long to tell me that I had purchased it in March of 2009 and that it was out of warranty. But then she said that with their service support, they would send me a replacement for $90. A quick check showed that the DXs are still selling for about $250, so we decided to go ahead. She assured me that they would ship a new one that would arrive by the 28th. I gave her the address of the next RV park, Peace River Resort, that we should be at on that date. Then I called to alert Peace River that it was coming...

I am lost without my Kindle! Thank goodness that Bill and Leslie gave me a hard copy of Walt Disney, An American Original as part of my Christmas present!

Iglesia Cristiana Ebenezer

2011-12-25T18:13:00.000-08:00

A VERY BLESSED CHRISTMAS TO YOU!

Juanita Nunez, one of my colleagues on the Executive Board of Mennonite Church USA, co-pastors with her husband Eligio, Iglesia Cristiana Ebenezer, a Mennonite Church in Apopco, Florida. This morning we were able to join them for their Sunday School and the Children's Nativity Program. While my grasp of Spanish is minimal, I am still able to "sort of" follow along, especially when I know the topic under discussion. It was good to see and visit with Juanita at her home church, and especially nice to meet her husband, son, daughter-in-law and darling baby grandson.

Like all such programs, the Children's Nativity Program was delightful. One of the young girls -- perhaps eight years old -- sang a very impressive solo. So sweet, dressed in her angel costume holding the microphone like a pro.

After a trip home to change clothes and pick up the crab cocktail and cranberry relish that I had made last night as our contribution to Christmas dinner, we headed over to Bill and Leslie's. Then we went to the home of Leslie's parents for our Christmas feast. We had both ham and a turkey loaf with all of the fixings. A bit later, Leslie's brother John came with his wife Eunice and their darling little daughter Isabella complete with tutu! Of course, Auntie Leslie just had to add the Mickey hat and ears...

Leslie has been giving both Forry and Bill a bad time about their resemblance -- at times -- to Grumpy of the Seven Dwarfs. (Bill has a couple of Grumpy t-shirts...) and she found Forry the most delightful mug. I do think there is a certain resemblance?

I think it is just darling!

I got treated even nicer. Leslie had ordered me another bottle of the Mexican Lime Olive Oil from Arizona after she discovered mine was almost empty and that I was hoarding the last drops!

Christmas Eve and Joe's Crab Shack

2011-12-24T20:51:00.000-08:00

For many years, we have had cracked Dungeness crab for Christmas Eve dinner (we've had some interesting excursions finding crab, but that's another story for another time.). Last year, when we were in Mesa, Arizona, I checked a few stores, but could not find any. Then someone got the bright idea that we should go to Joe's Crab Shack.

Bill was fighting bronchitis, so he stayed home. But Leslie came with us along with our friends Tom and Juni who were also spending Christmas where it was warm. We had a great time, eating crab and lobster -- and the best part was that I didn't have to clean the crabs!

So when we joined up with Bill and Leslie here in Florida a week or so ago, we immediately decided that we would be going to Joe's Crab Shack for dinner on Christmas Eve. Leslie had already checked and discovered that there were THREE of them in the Orlando area! Which is sort of funny 'cause there were NONE in the Seattle or Portland area...

What is fun about the Joe's Crab Shack franchise is the variety they offer. You can order King, Queen, Snow or Dungeness crab or lobster or a combination thereof. Then you have to decide what kind of seasoning you want yours cooked with, a range from Cajun to Chesapeake to BBQ. They come in a pot with an ear of corn and a couple of boiled potatoes. There is a hole in the center of the table with a bucket in it for you to toss your shells into. You also get a roll of paper towels to use for napkins and a piece of newspaper for a place mat. If you order crab or lobster, you get a bib tied around your neck and you're given a couple of packets of hand cleaner wipe along with a nut cracker and one of Joe's pry tools (that say "stolen from Joe's Crab Shack on them.).

Bill and Leslie ordered a combination of King and Queen crabs while I stuck with my traditional Dungeness choice. And Forry -- he decided he was going to eat popcorn shrimp tonight! And then as if all the seafood wasn't enough, we all four shared a version of S'mores -- a decadent dessert of graham crackers on a bed of chocolate sauce, topped with a slice of chocolate cake that was topped with gooey toasted marshmallows! Scrumptious!

So after dining at Joe's Crab Shack two years in a row, it is now a tradition, right?

A Sense of Anticipation

2011-12-23T17:32:00.000-08:00

I am seventy years old. How could I possibly be feeling like a little kid? But, I do have a sense of anticipation as tomorrow is Christmas Eve! It's not about presents, because we don't do much more then little stocking stuffers (and I find and wrap most of them...). It's not so much about food, though we are planning to go to dinner at Joe's Crab Shop tomorrow night and having Christmas dinner at Leslie's parent's house on Sunday. It's certainly not about a WHITE Christmas, it was almost ninety here in Clermont, Florida today and we actually turned on the air conditioners. It's not about family, as they are sadly all a L-O-N-G way away.

My early memories of Christmas are of driving around town at night looking at the Christmas lights and decorations; of pieces learned and recited for Grange Christmas parties; of Christmas Eve at church and then going to Grandma Kubik's house to open presents -- in the parlor we weren't allowed into any other time of the year.

The constant of Christmas all of my life has been a sense of wonder about the child that was born in the barn -- and laid in a manger. The realization of what a wonderful gift that infant was to be to all of us. So I guess that's what the sense of anticipation is all about. A sense that once more we are celebrating the remembrance of that wonderful present so many years ago that still is with us today!

Christmas Toes

2011-12-22T16:41:00.000-08:00

It's hard to buy presents for people who are full-time RVers. Most of us really do not want anything that takes up more space or adds more weight. I was in great need of a pedicure -- we've gotten far enough south for sandals and my toes were not fit to be seen in public. Half purple nail polish and half plain nail just doesn't cut it!

My bright idea was to invite my friend Leslie to come get a pedicure with me as her Christmas present. (The fact that she drove us over to the nearby mall doesn't matter, does it?) It was fun to sit and chat while our feet soaked. And we both ended up with Christmas red toes!

I am intrigued by the plethora of little "Nail" shops in almost every strip mall. This one, like every one that I've been in this year, looked like it was a family affair. Two guys, one older and one younger, and two women, again one older and one younger. I'm pretty sure they have all been Vietnamese. It seems like they've carved out a niche in the beauty market. The shops are all pretty much alike: manicure stations in the front; a line of pedicure chairs with soaking tubs along the wall; and a couple of little rooms on the other side for waxing services. What's really nice is that all of the ones I've seen take walk-in customers, which is really nice for very mobile RVers.

Soon after Leslie and I got back to their RV Serenity, Bill fixed a great broccoli and beef stir-fry for us. A nice way to end a lovely afternoon!

Today was the shortest day of the year and it really got dark early. We watched the last of the sunset as we drove back home. I will certainly be glad to see the days start getting longer again.

Mail Call

2011-12-21T20:32:00.000-08:00

It's always a good day when the mail comes. When you don't get your mail every day, it seems like a real treat on the day it does arrive. We have been very fortunate that our eldest daughter Mary Mae has continued to receive and forward our mail for the last almost five years that we have been on the road. She mainly uses the Priority Mail Flat Rate boxes. Almost every time we pick up a box at the local post office, we get a comment about "getting our money's worth!" MM can pack more stuff into one of those boxes.

Today there were two boxes. One was the usual fat heavy one, while the second was a bit thinner and quite a bit lighter. What a delight when we got home to open the lighter one and find that Grandson Varick and Granddaughter Claire had decorated an evergreen swag to hang from Auntie Violet's outside mirror. This has been a tradition every Christmas at their house to decorate swags for family and friends and it was neat to get one in the mail!

We spent a good share of the afternoon reading through the mail and enjoying Christmas cards and letters. A special treat was getting the school pictures of Varick and Claire and a nice card with pictures of my Nephew Jared and Becky and my darling grand-niece Ellie. Pictures aren't as good as actually seeing them, but they help.

Later this afternoon our friends Leslie and Bill came over bearing shrimp for supper. I made us each a salad with green onions, avocados, cucumbers, orange peppers, palm hearts, artichoke quarters lettuce and tomatoes topped off with peppered toasted almonds. Bill stir-fried the shrimp with some special seasoning he had and we once more had a feast.

It's Beginning to Look...

2011-12-20T17:06:00.000-08:00

Today was a BIG day for Auntie Violet. She got a bath today and looks all shiny and clean. One of the maintenance men here at Bee's RV Park moonlights in his spare time washing RVs and cars. He had offered to do ours last week as we were leaving for Bill and Leslie's, so we put him off to later this week. He stopped by this morning and said he was off this afternoon and could do it. So Auntie Violet is now all ready for the holidays. Forry got inspired and dug the Christmas box out of the basement bay. Now she has all of her icicles hung along with her "JOY" sign. We'll need to get a set of those little battery lights for Granddaughter Claire's lavender plant...

There are many RVs around the park who are beginning to look like Christmas as well --

I really needed a tripod to get a shot of this Christmas tree in the window of the fifth-wheel across the way from us --

These folks are in the next row over. They have a bit of everything at their site --

And of course, there is the obligatory palm tree. I think there is one in more then half of the RV parks we've ever been at --

These are just the RVs I can see when standing outside of Auntie Violet! It was a bit different when we were over at Mouse Mountain RV Park where Bill and Leslie are staying. Almost everyone there had some type of Mickey Mouse or Disney theme. (There are many Disney park employees staying there...)

Errands -- and More Errands

2011-12-19T18:13:00.000-08:00

Today was a day for running errands. We were just going to make a quick run to the post office to mail a couple of things, then Forry wanted to see if he could find a new switch for the lamp on his side of the bed at a Lowes. Then he decided he needed to go to Napa Auto Parts and then we decided we needed to go to Harbor Freight. So our quick trip turned into a good part of the day!

Since we really don't know the Orlando area at all, we relied on what I had been able to find for addresses on the Internet and what the GPS unit told us. We were able to find a couple of places that were in the same vicinity, but I'm sure we probably drove a lot of extra miles to get to the rest. We have the GPS unit programmed to avoid toll roads, so we end up seeing a lot of nice country that we probably wouldn't get to see if we took the freeways.

We saw a couple of grapefruit and orange stands on our way out and promised ourselves we would stop on the way home. But, of course, we didn't see a single one while coming back!

We did get a nice Christmas package from Daughter Dawn that had some packages and lovely notes from the grandkids -- and new pictures of Grandson Micah and Granddaughter Kyra! We saved the packages for Christmas, but are enjoying the pictures and notes.

Auntie Violet Gets New Lights!

2011-12-18T19:32:00.000-08:00

Thanks to our friend Bill, Auntie Violet is getting all new light bulbs. Forry has been wanting to change out all of her halogen light bulbs to the newer -- and cooler -- LED light bulbs. Bill had run into a VERY good deal on a case of the bulbs. His coach, Serenity, didn't need the whole batch, so he offered to sell us as many as Auntie Violet needed. The bulbs are sort of funny looking, they have nine little "bulbs" of light on a flat piece --

This is what one of the old halogen light bulbs looks like --

While this is one of the new LED ones --

This is one of the ceiling lights with the new bulbs -- and the glass cover back on. The new lights are not only much cooler then the old ones, we think they are brighter as well.

After Forry put in some of the twenty-two new light bulbs this morning, we went over to Bill and Leslie's to spend the afternoon. Leslie and I went over to Bed, Bath and Beyond and Michael's, while the guys went to the Bass Pro Shop. It was so nice to just spend time with another female browsing and window-shopping!

I had gotten some lovely lamb chops and some artichokes when we were at Costco the other day and had taken them with us. After we all got back from our outings, we had a wonderful feast. Since their diet doesn't allow Bill and Leslie to have dairy currently, instead of Hollandaise with the artichokes, Leslie made a great dip with mayo, soy sauce and garlic that I almost like better.

Golf Carts

2011-12-17T18:11:00.000-08:00

I am beginning to think that a prerequisite to a long-term stay at an RV park must be a golf cart. I really believe that there may be more golf carts in use at RV parks then in all of the golf courses combined! Auntie Violet is currently sitting on a corner site in Bee's RV Resort. It's kind of fun to sit at my desk and watch the golf cart traffic outside the window. Many of them have tinsel and stockings and lights and all kinds of holiday decorations, but I've seen none to beat this one we saw last night at Disney's Fort Wilderness. This "sled" was quite a sight!

The heads of the reindeer (attached to a bar in front of the golf cart) swiveled back and forth. And be sure to note Rudolph's red nose!

The other mode of transportation we saw a great deal of yesterday was strollers! These are just the ones parked outside of one of the restaurants --

Bill says he has seen times when the porch was actually completely full of strollers! And I must admit, I did not get whacked by a stroller even once yesterday! Usually when we are in a crowded area, they are a constant threat, but the folks yesterday seemed to be quite courteous and careful.

Today was a down day for us. We slept in and didn't leave the RV park. I got a couple of loads of laundry done and Forry drained the grey water tank. He also took apart the lamp on his side of the bed. The switch has been acting up and not working part of the time. It finally quit working at all. Turns out it is completely shot. Sounds like a trip to the hardware store is now on the docket.

A VERY Fun Day

2011-12-16T22:40:00.000-08:00

Our friend Leslie is a Disney addict. She came by it honestly, having grown up in Florida and making many trips as a child to Disney World. Since their marriage, she has created another addict in her husband Bill. So we had two premier guides today for a visit to check out the Christmas decorations at the Disney hotels. We started out at the main parking lot, then took a tram to the monorail. We took the monorail to the Floridian, perhaps the classiest of the hotels. They have this incredible gingerbread house in the lobby.

Note the size of the house -- compared to those people that walked in front of me! The chimney of the house actually smoked --

Outside of the hotel, they were roasting -- and giving away -- chestnuts. None of us had ever eaten one before.

You had to peel away the outside husk... They are fairly soft and mealy. We all decided they were definitely an acquired taste --

The grounds of the hotel have some beautiful topiaries -- I loved this one of Mary Poppins --

In the middle of the lobby was this several stories tall, exquisite Christmas tree --

From the Floridian, we took the monorail to the Contemporary Hotel to see another gingerbread creation --

and gingerbread tree --

Then we took a boat ride over to Fort Wilderness, the Disney campground. We took a "sleigh" buggy horse ride around the RV Park to see all of the incredible and elaborate decorations done by the people staying in the park. We really lucked out as Leslie had tried to make reservations for the ride, but they were sold out. Talking to the concierge, Bill discovered that one of the four carriages did not take reservations, so we got to ride after all.

After eating the chicken salad picnic that Leslie had fixed for us, we took another boat ride over to the Polynesian Resort where we planned to watch the evening fireworks. We could see the castle of the Magic Kingdom across the way --

While we were sitting on the beach at the Polynesian, we watched the Fantasmic Water Light Show out on the lagoon. King Trident with his seahorse steeds --

The octopus waving his arms --

And a dinosaur having a little snack --

We were in a great spot to watch the fireworks. I didn't get any pictures, but Leslie did, and maybe I can show some of them on tomorrow's blog.

After the fireworks, we walked back from the Polynesian to take the tram back to the parking lot. By the time we got back to their place and from there to Auntie Violet, it was midnight. But it was a VERY fun day!

FINALLY -- A Costco Trip

2011-12-15T18:50:00.000-08:00

Okay, I admit it. I am a Costco addict!

It's been quite a while since we were anywhere near a Costco warehouse store -- now we have an abundance of riches -- there are three of them in the Orlando area. I checked on the Internet to see where the closest one was. Turns out it is in Altamont Springs, 23 miles away from Bee's RV Park.

I was in the Toad preparing to program the address into the GPS, but I couldn't get it to turn on. Sure I was doing something wrong, Forry tried it, but couldn't make it work either. So we got Auntie Violet's unit and put it into Toad. We programmed it to avoid toll roads, so it took us on some two-lane back country roads. We saw a lot of country, a few goats, lots of cattle, and five sandhill cranes! We also saw many nurseries and several groves of oranges. Which, according to Florida native Leslie, are getting increasingly scarce.

One of the very nicest things about Costco warehouse is their produce. They always have a large variety and it is really fresh. Today we bought blueberries and a papaya, peppers and cucumbers and a carton of Florida strawberries that smelled like real strawberries. Costco also carries the small hothouse Campari tomatoes that also smell -- and taste -- like tomatoes from the garden.

I also like Costco meats. They come in packages with way too many of any one thing for us, but I bring them home and repack them in zippered freezer bags. Today I bought skirt steak, hamburger (in one pound packs) and some luscious looking lamb chops; all of which are now re-packaged and in the freezer.

It's fun to sample all of the goodies at stations around the warehouse. Today Forry sampled some sausage that he liked well enough to buy some for Sunday morning breakfasts. But what he likes the most about Costco is their Polish dogs. You get a Polish hot dog and a soft drink (refillable) for $1.50! They have held that price ever since they opened! If you go into a warehouse around lunch time, you will always see men in suits and office attire getting their dogs. You can't beat the price!

A VERY Lovely Evening!

2011-12-14T21:57:00.000-08:00

We are in the "overflow" area at the entrance to Bee's RV Park. When we arrived here about three this afternoon, there was no one in the office. And the sign on the door said they would be back at 9 AM! There were notes on the window for two people with assigned spaces, but none for us! I called the number on the door; got an answering machine and left a message about our plight stating that we would go into their overflow area until told otherwise.

The overflow area is right near the entrance and is a nice grassy area with both water and 50 amp electricity. So not too bad a place to stay. Shortly after we got settled, I got a call back from the number I had called. The lady said that her husband had been having chest pains and they were in the emergency room. I assured her that we were just fine, that she should take care of her husband and we would see her in the morning.

We did a bit of clearing up in the RV, then sat down to read for a bit. I noticed a lovely sunset forming outside and stepped out to take this picture --

and heard the voices of our friends Leslie and Bill who had just driven up. And they came bearing supper! Leslie had found a new recipe for a lime shrimp and avocado salad that was just scrumptious! While it was very nice not to have to cook tonight, it was even nicer to see Bill and Leslie. We definitely talked the evening away!

Part of our discussion was about when to go to Disney World with the two of them. If there ever was a tour guide who knows her way around the Disney properties, it's Leslie! Since we are getting very close to the Christmas holidays and school vacations, we decided we had best go this week before all the families on vacation show up...

I Think We've Found a Gem!

2011-12-13T17:44:00.000-08:00

Sometimes you just get lucky, I guess. We found a gem of an RV Park today! Yesterday when we decided we did not want to drive all the way to Clermont in one day, Forry just started looking at the map and outlined an area about halfway there. Then we looked at our directories to see what we could find in that area in the way of RV campgrounds.

We found two near White Springs that both looked good and offered a 50% discount. I called the first one, Lee's Country Campground, let it ring, but got no answer, not even an answering machine. So I sort of shrugged and started looking for the number of the second one. But before I could punch it in, my phone rang.

It was Myrna from Lee's Country Campground calling me back! And apologizing because she hadn't gotten to the phone in time to answer my call! Myrna asked me the usual questions: how big is your rig; any pets; do you need sewer, etc.
She then assured me that they had plenty of space and could give us a pull-through space.

We left Pine Lake RV Park in good time this morning and had an easy trip east on Interstate 10 through Tallahassee. We stopped for diesel at a Pilot near Midway, Florida. We put in 48.4 gallons at $3.829. With our RV Advantage Card it was a quick in-and-out as the card gives you Pump Start privileges and there is no need to go inside until it is time to pay. It also gives us 3 cents per gallon off. Not much, but that's $1.44 we didn't have to spend...

We were pleasantly surprised when we turned into Lee's Country Campground. It's small, they have eight acres with only 38 sites. Very tidy and clean. There is a gate across the entrance and there was someone there immediately to open it for us. The office is just beyond the gate and Myrna was waiting for us. She said that they had started the park from scratch twenty-two years ago. The park has no long-termers, mostly over-nighters and a few weekly renters.

Auntie Violet is parked on a grassy area with 50 watt electrical service and a water hook-up. We very quickly put the jacks down and the slides out. I put an acorn squash in the oven with some honey and butter and thawed some crab cakes for supper. Rigs have pulled in on both sides of us since this picture was taken. Like us, they are on their way further south.

My Tummy Doesn't Like Me!

2011-12-12T16:35:00.000-08:00

It doesn't like me and it woke me up at 4 AM to make sure I knew it! After a couple of trips out of bed, I decided to grab my fleecy, hardly ever worn, bathrobe out of the back closet and curl up on the couch with the afghan. And there I stayed the rest of the morning.

By noon, I was feeling better, so I finally ventured to get dressed. I had a scheduled conference call at 2 PM for the Racial Healing Task Group that I am involved in, so thought it would help if I got out of my nightie for the call. And that was the extent of my ambition for the day.

Forry, however, went out and got the grey and black water tanks drained. And he took the garbage down to the dumpster at the end of the park. All in preparation for moving on tomorrow. Oh, I guess I did do something else! I called the Bee's RV Resort to see if we could change our reservation start from the 13th until the 14th. Then I called Lee's Country Campground in White Springs to make a reservation for tomorrow night.

When I had made the reservations at Bee's, Forry hadn't yet sat down with a map to see how far it actually was from here at Pine Lake. It looks like it is about six hours of driving, which it is more hours then we like to drive in any single day. Now, with the new reservation, we'll break it up into two days of driving.

A Day at Home -- Mostly

2011-12-11T17:35:00.001-08:00

It was VERY late when we got home last night, so we did not get up very early this morning. We spent most of the day inside Auntie Violet -- it was just too chilly to sit outside. In fact, I haven't even pulled our lounge chairs out of Toad yet.

We joined the folks at Menno this morning listening to the video of last month's Harvest Festival. We are so grateful to Bill D who has faithfully mailed us videos of Menno services. And to Gene who sits up in the balcony every Sunday running the video camera! I think that no matter where we travel, Menno will ALWAYS be home to us.

Late this afternoon we finally got up enough ambition to go into town to get Forry milk for his breakfast cereal (I've offered to share my Greek Yogurt with him, but for some reason he'd rather eat his cereal dry than share my yogurt!) The GPS unit in Toad showed that there was a Winn-Dixie grocery about twenty miles from Pine Lake RV Park in the town of Arianna.

We followed GPS Sally's directions, but when we got to where she said the store was, all we found was a park. We finally spotted the store on the other side of the park. There was no road between the park and the store, so I guess Sally assumed we were already there...

A Trip to Tallahassee

2011-12-10T21:11:00.001-08:00

This morning we drove the seventy plus miles to Tallahassee to visit our friends Danny and Gail. We have been friends for many years (Gail proceeded me as President of the National Rural Health Association - NRHA). Even though they lived a long way away from Washington State (first in Texas, then in West Virginia), we would see each other at national conferences and pick up the conversation right where we had left off the last time. We would also see each other every fall at the Health Sector Assembly in Utah where we both represented rural health at that prestigious think tank.

Then there was our memorable trip to the NRHA convention in Anchorage when we stayed on afterwards and with Wayne, another friend and a former NRHA President, spent another week exploring Denali National Park and the Fairbanks area.

We were fortunate this trip that we were able to meet up, as Gail and Danny had just returned on Monday from a trip to Venice, Italy where they were celebrating Gail's 60th birthday. We spent a very pleasant afternoon visiting, catching up and taking a long walk around their neighborhood. While we we were out walking, the power in their area went out, so we returned to the house in the dark. It came back on in time to fix a very good dinner of lamb steaks, collard greens and roasted yams. We finished off the evening by watching the first half of the Republican Iowa debate before we made the long drive back to Auntie Violet.

Mr Fixit...

2011-12-09T16:57:00.001-08:00

We had thought about going back to St. Andrews State Park today, but woke up without a lot of ambition. Forry did get started on a couple of "fixit" jobs. One that he's been thinking about and one that just popped up yesterday...

We've had an occasional leak in the back on the bedroom slide caused by the gasket not folding out properly. When it stays tucked in and the rain drives from that direction, the water comes inside. Forry had bought some strips of rough adhesive that he put on in the hopes it would create enough friction to pull the gasket out properly. Of course, doing that job meant that the ladder had to be taken off the top of Toad -- a job in itself.

The other job came up just yesterday when all of a sudden the clothes I took out of my Splendide washer were WET! Sopping wet! I tried running them through the spin portion of the cycle again, but that didn't help a bit. Fortunately it was the last load of clothes. So this morning, Forry took the drain assembly apart to clean it. He did find a nickel caught in there. Hopefully, that's what was causing the problem. I'll have to find something dirty to wash so we can see if it's really fixed.

I used the second half of some stew beef I had purchased and frozen to make another batch of stew for supper. Onions, turnips, a rutabaga, parsnips and a small sweet potato -- um, um good!

A Trip to the Gulf

2011-12-08T17:22:00.001-08:00

This afternoon we drove down Highway 231 towards the Panama City beaches. We had picked up a brochure at the Florida Welcome Center that told about the nature trails at St. Andrews State Park, so we went to check it out. The area is full of palmetto thickets and a mixture of pine and deciduous trees --

We drove into the park and down to the jetty where we spotted these two Brown Pelicans resting on the rocks --

This Great Blue Heron was standing in the shallows, patiently waiting for a fish --

A Great Egret flew in to the edge of the rocks --

Then waded in closer to shore. It was not the least bit concerned about me standing there --

There was a very nice new boardwalk that went out to Alligator Lake. It was chilly and we saw no alligators, but watched several herons and egrets fly in to roost for the night on the opposite side.

This incredibly white sand is said to be quartz washed in from the Appalachian Mountains?

We saw this Northern Mockingbird and several of his family watching all of the park activity --

As we were driving back to Pine Lake RV Park, we watched the clouds turn all shades of pink in front of the almost full rising moon --

It was a nice afternoon, but we want to come back and spend more time exploring this beautiful park.

Unidentified Tree?

2011-12-07T17:04:00.001-08:00

There is this really pretty tree next to Auntie Violet. I asked the volunteer at the office what it might be and she seemed surprised I asked and obviously had no idea. I've been looking through my books but...

I CANNOT find a match to these interesting leaves in the 528 pages of my Field Guide to Trees of North America. The only leaves with this shape and number of lobes that I can find have pointed, not rounded, lobes.

This morning, though, I noted this leaf which made me think that this could be an adaptation of the only tree that I found with this shape of leaf.

I now think it might be a tulip poplar... Liriodendron tulipfera. The book says those striations on the trunk turn into deeply furrowed bark as the tree ages.
Does anyone know any different? Or have a better notion?

We did run into the little town of Fountain this afternoon to mail the insurance payments. On the way we saw this smoke...

As we got closer, we realized it was not a fire, but a BBQ joint!

We ended up stopping and buying a side of ribs to take home for dinner tonight...

A second look at the pig by the road made us realize that it was also part of the smoking operation!

PS We did take the little lizard off of the lavender plant and leave him at Styx River RV Park. I thought about leaving him on the plant, but thought he might wander off of it into the Toad somewhere. That would not have been a good scenario...

Finally, FLORIDA!

2011-12-06T17:43:00.001-08:00

This morning we left Styx River RV Park in Alabama to head for Florida. I picked up my Mother's Day lavender plant (a present from Granddaughter Claire) that sits by the front door of Auntie Violet when we are parked. As I was getting ready to put it on the floor in the front seat of Toad, I noticed movement. At first I thought it was another leaf. Can you spot what I found?

It was a pretty straight shot east on Interstate 10 into Florida. I-10 is a four-lane highway in very good shape. We only ran into one small slow stretch of bridge construction. (It is very unusual not to run into a GREAT deal of construction!) We stopped at the Florida Welcome Center and picked up a couple of maps and a whole passel of brochures. We are planning to be in Florida for a couple of months, so we should find lots to explore.

We turned off on State Highway 231 and headed south about fourteen miles to Pine Lake RV Park. This is one of the parks affiliated with our Resort Parks International membership, so we are staying here for a week at $15 per night for a 50 amp site.

Before we left this morning, I sat down and wrote out several checks for our annual insurance fees (the bills came in that batch of mail yesterday...). We'll have to make a run into town and the post office in the morning.

We're In the Bible Belt!

2011-12-05T19:02:00.001-08:00

It's the first week in December, and there are still flowers in bloom!

The row of azaleas was probably prettier before the rain today knocked so many of the blossoms off --

Without a doubt we are in the so-called "Bible Belt" of the United States. Or maybe it should be called the Church Belt... Or maybe the belt of churches with unusual names. These are just some of the ones we saw today when we drove to Robertsdale to get our mail:

     * Church of God of Prophecy
     * Bible Deliverance Church
     * Harvest Church
     * Liberty Church
     * Abiding Love Fellowship
     * New Covenant Church
     * Lifepoint Church
     * Bible Way Assembly
     * The Dwelling Place
     * Church of the Harvesters
     * House of Prayer
     * God's Place
     * Church of the Celebration

In addition to these, we saw two Churches of God; three Churches of Christ; two Catholic Churches complete with attached schools; one Greek Orthodox Church; three United Methodist Churches; half a dozen Community Churches; and at least twenty Baptist churches! And that was in a thirty-five mile or so drive.

We mailed our stack of Christmas letters today and I sent a digital meat thermometer to Son Sean as well .(I realized when he was talking about his Thanksgiving turkey that he didn't have one!) We had two packages waiting for us at General Delivery. One was a packed box of our forwarded mail from Daughter MM. The other was a wonderful box from Sister Sherry. She had sent four kinds of homemade chutney -- two different kinds of apricot, one of cranberry and one curried apple; two different kinds of pepper jelly and one jar of quince jelly. There were two jars of ground pepper flakes -- one of which is Brother Pat's VERY HOT batch (I'll definitely be sharing that one with our friends Tom and Juni.). But the very best part was a plastic box filled with a variety of her homemade biscotti! You can bet I will be rationing those to have with my evening cup of decaf coffee.

While we were out and about this afternoon, we went looking for an Alabama key chain for Granddaughter Havela's collection. We realized that we had been in this state for two weeks and hadn't yet found one for her. After fruitlessly checking several stores, we finally stopped at a Love's Truck Stop. We should have gone to a truck stop in the first place -- they had a whole bunch of them.

Church on the Creek Reservation

2011-12-04T20:35:00.001-08:00

This morning we went a bit north to the Creek Indian Reservation to attend the Poarch Community Church. The church is an old mission plant and is a member of Gulf States Mennonite Conference and Native American Ministries; although they function as a community church.

One of the ladies that was on the Mennonite Church USA Executive Board when I started my first term attends church here. It was good to see Olivette again and meet many of her family.

After church, Olivette took us out to lunch at Chen's Buffet in the nearby town of Atmore. It was a very busy place and one of the best Chinese buffets we've eaten at. Because it was so busy the food was continuously being replenished, so it was hot and crisp.

After we returned to Auntie Violet, I got busy and addressed and stamped our Christmas letters. We are going to the Post Office in Robertsdale tomorrow, so will get them in the mail. Daughter MM has sent our mail to General Delivery and I'm expecting a package from my sister as well.

Those Christmas Letters!

2011-12-03T17:40:00.001-08:00

I really don't care what Ann Landers, Carolyn Hax or any other etiquette guru says. I LIKE Christmas letters and pictures. I enjoy reading about what everyone has been doing and seeing the pictures of families and especially seeing how the kids have grown. I really dislike opening a Christmas card and only seeing someone's signature -- or printed name. I want to know what's been happening to you! I want to know who's getting married, or having a baby, or being promoted -- or demoted, or graduating, or retiring, or getting a new job, or becoming a grandma or??? I don't throw them away either. It takes me a year -- sometimes longer -- to finally toss them out. (Right now I have three years worth...)

Maybe it's because we are on the road much of the time and I don't see you very often. But, I don't think that's it either. I've ALWAYS liked Christmas letters and photographs. That's most likely why I like Facebook, newsletters and blogs as well. Even if it's only a glimpse, I enjoy knowing what's going on in your life. It's the same reason I've never wanted to live in one of those "65 and older" places. Life is more than my own age cohort -- that's what makes it so interesting.

But, I must confess, I've not done well the last few years with sending out a Christmas letter. I think I've let my blog sort of take its place... I've had good intentions and have even started once or twice, but obviously haven't gotten it done.

When we were in Office Depot a month or so ago, I saw some very nice Christmas letterhead, "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given." It had an ornament in the corner with silhouettes of the Holy Family. Giving in to an impulse and hoping it would motivate me, I bought a packet along with matching envelopes. Naturally, every time I've opened the file drawer, I've seen that stationary just sitting there, looking back at me.

A couple of days ago, I sat down and started drafting a letter. Always before, I've just typed one up and added some pertinent clip art to it. It's not quite as easy to fit a letter into a prescribed format. Forry read my draft, added some comments and changed a couple of things that didn't quite make sense (everyone needs an editor). This afternoon, I got serious and got the letter printed. I wanted to add some pictures to it, but realized that in an entire year, we did not get a single picture that had both of us in it! (I did stick a little picture of Auntie Violet and the Toad into a corner.)

Now that it's done, I feel good about it. I'll sit down tonight and tomorrow night and get them addressed and stamped. And then I'll wait for the mail, so I can start reading yours!

A Lazy Day

2011-12-02T17:54:00.001-08:00

I've been trying to think what we actually did today -- and I'm having a hard time! I think the only thing that stands out at all is watching our new neighbor unhitching and getting his motor home set up all by himself. We thought he was single, but, sure enough, after he had everything set up, plugged in etc., out came his lady friend (wife?) to take a walk. Most of our RVing friends function pretty much as a team, doing what needs to be done. (Though sometimes, one or the other just supervises...) I guess some people pretty much divide tasks up as inside/hers and outside/his.

We did do all of our bill-paying today. It's so nice to be able to do it all on-line. And I did the first-of-the-month filter-changing on our Brita pitcher and water bottles (actually the filters on the water bottles last two months). Forry did his monthly battery water check. The usual routine stuff.

Forry is NOT a big fan of left-overs, so I have been really working to make meals that are just enough. This afternoon I made a beef stew. I added one parsnip, two small turnips, one yam, and two sticks of celery to the braised meat. I baked four biscuits (from the frozen bag in the freezer). It turned out to be just enough for one bowl each! It's taken me a long time to get out of the "farm wife" mentality of "filling the pot" when I cook...

It's December Already!

2011-12-01T17:21:00.001-08:00

My mother-in-love used to make remarks all the time about how fast time flew by. I used to chuckle, but at my age, I now know what she was talking about! I am finding it hard to believe that it is already December. Instead of feeling like Christmas was NEVER going to get here, I now feel like it hasn't been that long since we last celebrated it. It seems as though Lent is barely finished and it is already time for Advent.

Auntie Violet came equipped with an "Advantium" electric oven made by General Electric. It's a microwave oven combined with both a regular and an ultra-fast oven. It has a turntable equipped with a glass plate for microwaving and a metal plate for baking. It does not have a self-cleaning feature and the instruction book is most emphatic that chemical oven cleaner must NOT be used in it. As you can imagine in spite of being wiped out on a more or less regular basis, it has gotten pretty yucky after being heavily used for several years.

I've been watching the ads on TV for the "Magic Eraser." I'd looked for them at a couple of grocery stores, but hadn't seen any. Yesterday while we were at Bed, Bath and Beyond, I saw a large box of
'Extra Power' ones, so I bought some. (And naturally, when we were at Winn-Dixie a bit later, I saw that they had a whole bunch of them...)

These little white space-age micro fiber things really do work! There's definitely still a lot of elbow grease involved, but they do get the job done. We brought in the little step stool from outside the front door so that I might more easily reach inside the oven. Then Forry and I took turns scrubbing on the baked-on grease.

The oven sits up pretty high. It's always a bit scary taking hot food in or out of it. But I've not seen any recent RV models that have the oven anywhere else (our original Aristocrat trailer and our first Winnebago both had gas ovens that were below the stove burners).

A Shopping Trip...

2011-11-30T17:43:00.001-08:00

Other than the grocery store, we don't do a lot of shopping. It's just not one of our favorite things to do. But, every once in a while, we break down.

We started out today at the Napa Store where Forry picked up some parts he had been looking for. From there we went to Bed, Bath and Beyond. I needed a new squeegee for the shower and we had been looking for an electric sweeper to use in the coach. We found both of those, plus some new hand towels for the bathroom. I also found a few other things -- BB&B is a dangerous place to shop!

From there we went to the Corelle/Corningware Store at Tanger Outlets where we bought two dinner plates and a lunch plate to replace the ones that got broken the last time we forgot to put the bars in the dish cupboard while moving...

And finally to Winn-Dixie to pick up milk for Forry's breakfast cereal. I can never run into a grocery store for just one thing, so forty-nine dollars later I was carrying my bags back out to the Toad where Forry was catching a quick nap. And darn, I forgot to look for avocados for our salads!

We talked about hitting one of the BBQ joints for dinner on the way home, but Forry noticed a Church's Chicken just across the street from Winn-Dixie. He was hungry, so we decided just to go through their drive-thru and eat on the way home. You can tell we're in the south -- it's the first time we've ever had fried okra instead of fries,

Making Reservations

2011-11-29T19:15:00.001-08:00

Forry and I usually fly pretty much by the seat of our pants. We're not real in to making reservations, partially because we don't like to plan that far ahead. But, we realize we are in unfamiliar territory at a very busy time of year. So the last week or so, we've been looking through the various directories looking for where we might want to stay during December.

We have some friends in Tallahassee that we'd like to visit, so we were looking for a place near there. Through our home resort, Neskowin Creek in Oregon, we have memberships in both Resorts of Distinction and (ROD) Resort Parks International (RPI). ROD only has a couple of parks in Florida, but RPI has quite a few. We finally decided to try Pine Lake RV Park near Fountain. Unfortunately, while it is an RPI park, it is not an RPI Preferred park. Which means we could only stay there one week using the $10 per night rate (plus their $5 per night electricity charge!) instead of the usual two weeks.

But, that will work. If we leave Styx River on December 6th, we would be at Pine Lake until the 13th. Then we want to be somewhere fairly close to our friends Bill and Leslie who are settled in at Mouse Mountain RV Park near Disney World. I spent some time on the Internet checking reviews on RV Parks in the Orlando area. A couple of the ones we looked at in the RPI directory had some very poor reviews. It seems that many of the membership RV Parks are old and in need of renovation! (We've run into that several times!)

We finally made reservations for two weeks at Bee's RV Park near Clermont. It had some pretty good reviews and the pictures on the Internet looked nice. We'll stay there until the 27th and then most likely start heading down the towards the Keys.

Fort Morgan, Alabama

2011-11-28T19:02:00.001-08:00

Fort Morgan sits on the westernmost tip of the peninsula that encloses the bottom portion of Mobile Bay in Alabama. Mobile Bay is on one side and the Gulf of Mexico on the other. The fort was completed following the War of 1812 when Congress realized how vulnerable the US coastlines were. This building was built to house the Fort Morgan Museum after the fort was deactivated and turned over to the State of Alabama.

The brick fortifications were mostly destroyed during the Civil War by rifled cannon and steam-powered warships. This was pretty much proven in 1864 when Admiral D.G. Farragut led his fleet past the guns of the fort into Mobile Bay with the loss of only one ship. (This was when he gave his famous order, "Damn the torpedoes (mines), full speed ahead!") That ship, the ironclad Tecumseh, was struck by a exploding mine (then called torpedoes) and sunk within a minute thus disproving the view that the ironclads were invincible...

Concrete batteries were built following the Civil War from 1896 to 1905. These batteries were manned during the Spanish-American War and World War I.

Some of the powder magazines below the gun batteries still exist --

Fort Morgan was mainly used as a training base during the World War I. It was deactivated and put into caretaker status in 1923; then reactivated and manned in 1941. In 1946 it was again deactivated and turned over to the State of Alabama.

Looking out over Mobile Bay from the top of one of the batteries --

There are a lot of what we assumed were oil platforms and other rigs in the Bay --

The last time we drove along the Gulf Coast a year or so after Katrina, there wasn't much left of any of the beach houses except for some of the pillars they had been built on. The trees that were left were mostly broken and bare. Some of the shoreline still looks that way --

But most of it is once again built up with beach houses that look like pastel confections --

I think that there must be a rule that says your vacation home must be painted a color that looks edible!

A VERY, VERY, Rainy Day

2011-11-27T16:59:00.001-08:00

It rained hard during the night; then this morning, it POURED! And then it poured some more! We had planned to head down to the western most portion of Alabama on Mobile Bay today to Fort Morgan, but it was way too wet outside!

About three-thirty or so the rain slacked off so we were able to go for a short walk around the RV park. There are probably thirty or so of these little rental cabins scattered around the park. Most of them seemed to be occupied this holiday weekend.

I've seen lots of these pyracantha bushes around the property --

I love the red berries!

It was so wet and nasty out today, even the vultures weren't flying..

As we walked back towards Auntie Violet, the clouds lightened up and we could see some blue sky

through the trees. The remaining clouds were turned golden by the setting sun --

Unfortunately, the break in the clouds did not last and tonight it is again intermittently raining hard. The weather channel shows the storm heading northeast and out to sea. It can hurry up and do it as far as I am concerned!

Checking out the Area

2011-11-26T18:56:00.001-08:00

Styx River RV Resort is an older, pretty large RV park. It looks like there are around 250 spaces along with several park models and cabins. As you can see, the lots aren't real big and the ground surface is mostly dirt --

It was nice enough yesterday that Auntie Violet put her awning out (the wind was gusty this morning, so she put it back in before we left...).

We took a drive this afternoon to find a grocery store and the check out the country a bit. We ran into this field --

of cotton that hadn't been picked yet. This is the first time we've seen an unharvested field. We saw several other fields that had been picked and had big stacks of pressed cotton covered with tarps along their edges.

The soil here is very red. We saw a bunch of guys around this area of red dirt and stopped to see what was going on. Turns out they were racing little radio-controlled cars around this very hilly track. Forry tried to get a picture of the cars, but they were going so fast he couldn't get one! Note that there were NO children racing these little cars -- they were all grown men!

We did find a nice Winn-Dixie store in Fairhope and picked up some blueberries and orange juice. From there we drove over towards Mobile Bay. We got occasional glimpses of the water, but most of the shoreline is occupied by big houses with large fenced off yards in front of them. It was starting to get dark, so we headed back towards the River Styx with a stop at Ruby Tuesday for a seafood supper.