Friday, March 27, 2020
As we begin our trek back towards Texas we arrived safely at Three Flags in Wildwood, Florida. We will only be here for three nights before heading off to Alabama. This campground is a Thousand Trails preserve, but is not in our membership because they acquired the site after we upgraded in 2008.
The campground is okay, but the sites seem awfully close. We did not see the pool, but later found there was one. Of course none of the amenities were open, so it really didn't matter. There is a large community fire pit that would be a lot of fun for colder nights. It appears they have a group of long term snow birds at this location too. We met one such fellow and he seemed very nice.
Saturday, March 28, 2020 - Happy Birthday to my dear friend Pat Franklin! Miss you and love you bunches!
We spent our days under the awning reading, walking or cleaning house, except one today. I insisted we see what is in the area in case we ever decide to come back to this campground. We had heard they have a group of communities in the area called The Villages. Apparently there are about a million golf courses and they usually have live music every day of the week. It is a very nice area, but of course, little was happening. We haven’t golfed in decades and Dennis is not a big fan of live music anyway.
Monday, March 30, 2020
We left at 7:45AM this morning It is gonna be long drive today to get into Alabama. There was a high fog until around 10:00 this morning. I am grateful it was not sitting on the road.
We saw a turkey just walking along I-10, and there was a trucker driving a flat bed with a little Tonka dump truck strapped to the end of the trailer. Dennis said it was “undersized load.” LOL - he is so funny!
Our truck seems to be struggling this morning. I kept telling Dennis that it sounds so much louder than usual. We are gaining a lot of altitude as we go north through Florida, but I really think it is more than that. When we pull over at a rest stop for my next pit stop, Dennis got under the hood and sure enough, there is a blowout in the turbo exhaust. Dennis was able to MacGyver it with a metal hose clamp and we got back on the road. She sounded normal again, but we have an appointment for an oil change in Alabama tomorrow. We are hoping they can fix this as well.
As we are approaching the Alabama border we notice that all opposing traffic coming into Florida is being diverted into the Eastbound Pensacola Weigh Station. There must have been at least a dozen state troopers in and around that weigh station. The entire interstate was closed down. They are trying to discourage travel into Florida from Louisiana. It seems that Florida has also set up checkpoints on I95 to deter travelers from New York from entering the state. I checked the maps to see how traffic look at the border between Texas and Louisiana since they are requiring all people traveling by road from Louisiana into Texas to self quarantine for 14 days, but it looks like the traffic is not being delayed there. Maybe they haven’t started that yet??? I guess we will see.
We made it to the Wilderness RV Park east of Mobile around 1:30PM Central Time. We really made good time because the GPS said we would take five and a half hours and we only took one extra hour! WooHoo, traffic was very light! I wonder why?
We pull into our site and this guy from the site across the street walks up to me and starts telling me what we need to do. I listen to him for a second and politely (I hope) turned back to my cell phone to tell Dennis how things looked and we got all set up before 2:00PM. What, I ask you, makes someone interrupt you while you are pulling into a site. I had only just gotten out of the truck, we were not struggling, not being indecisive, nothing. The guy just came over and decided to school us. I was not having any of it, but then I put the leveling blocks under the wrong side of the RV and made it worse instead of better. Maybe I really should have listened to the guy. NOT! Easy fix and we were done.
This place has a real rustic feel to it. I guess the name, Wilderness RV Park, fits. We had lunch and walked around the park to check it out. There are many trees on most of the sites, but there is one section that has none. In the woods at the end of that row it looked like there was a homeless person set up on the ground in there. There are many other parks around here and when we went to get fuel we drove past two or three. We may choose one of them if we ever stop in this area again. 😏
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
Our appointment to have the oil changed in the truck was at 9:00AM. We needed to leave by 8:30 to get there in time. We decided not to try to get up and fix breakfast, we would just pick something up in town. Next door to the dealership is a Chick Fil A, so Dennis checked out the menu and we decided to get something there. When we got there, all they were serving was a big biscuit with chicken or some little biscuits with chicken. WTH! I know this probably makes things go faster in the drive thru line, but only two things to choose from that are the SAME except for their size and quantity? We both agreed it was a lousy breakfast. Then we noticed the Cracker Barrel across the street. MAN!!!
The good news is they were able to fix the exhaust leak in the turbo of the truck and change the oil. So not a really bad start to our day at all.
We do have an eighty percent chance of rain today - big change from the endless sun we have been enjoying for the last month and a half. I figured, no worries, I am gonna have to give myself some self love (mani-pedi) anyway, so if it rains it will not change my day much.
BUT, on the way back from the dealership the PSA squawk comes on the radio and starts telling us about tornado warnings in the area. Yes, I said TORNADO. Not what you want to hear while living in an RV. So we listen to them tell us what counties are affected and all. We don’t have any clue what county the RV park is in. So I start looking at the map then at the radar and I am getting a little antsy! Yes, we are in one of the affected counties. I searched to remind myself the difference between ‘warning’ and ‘watch’ in hopes that I was remembering them incorrectly. No such luck. The warning is the bad one after all. We get to the RV and I lay down the chairs and table and hope they will not become projectiles in the storm. We try to find some weather on the TV and we don’t have very good reception here, but what we can tell is that there are a couple of tornadoes north of us and one prior tornado that has already been confirmed and damage being reported. We start looking at the radar again and it looks like we may just get the tail end of this mess, so we sit tight and wait.
Thank the Lord! The storm passed with little wind and NO TORNADOES hit our area.
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
Friday, March 27, 2020
Peace River, Still
On Peace River it is a thing to pan for fossils. We have seen people doing it since we got here. On the first day this guy was telling me that the river is brackish water and they find sharks teeth. I was a little skeptical and he showed me his share of the booty for the day. They really are sharks teeth, but they are black. We get back to the rig and Dennis says, no way those were really sharks teeth and that water is not brackish. So we looked it up. Thank you, Google. This part of Florida was under water for millions of years. About 30 million years ago the sea levels began to drop due to global cooling. An island of limestone emerged and we call that Florida today. Anyway, these shark teeth have been here for millions of years and have turned black because they have absorbed the minerals in the river. People also find many arrow heads, mammoth teeth and other ice age fossils. Who knew???
Anyway, I decided I couldn’t stay on this river for two weeks without giving it a try. Most folks will take a piece of screen and attach it to a square of PVC pipe or something similar and put pool noodles around the edge so that they will float. Then they shovel, or sometimes they have those digger baskets that you see people using metal detectors with, dig up some mud and sift it in their screen. Dennis refused to get that high tech for me so we took my metal colander down to the river and I just scooped up the mud with it and sifted away. He was supposed to bring a shovel, but alas, he did not.
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
We will be heading north tomorrow on our trek back to Texas. I will really miss the people at this park. They have made our stay here amazing. Especially Archie and Eva. I hope to see them again real soon.
Anyway, I decided I couldn’t stay on this river for two weeks without giving it a try. Most folks will take a piece of screen and attach it to a square of PVC pipe or something similar and put pool noodles around the edge so that they will float. Then they shovel, or sometimes they have those digger baskets that you see people using metal detectors with, dig up some mud and sift it in their screen. Dennis refused to get that high tech for me so we took my metal colander down to the river and I just scooped up the mud with it and sifted away. He was supposed to bring a shovel, but alas, he did not.
I really should have worn a swim suit so I could just sit there in the water. I was squatting and am obviously too old to do that so I just kept bending and digging. It worked just fine. Here is a picture of my haul for the 15 or so minutes that my attention span allowed me to pan for fossils.
We got back on the river today. Archie, Mitch, Pete (the poker game runner), Mike (the spiritual guru) and Dennis and I put in up river and kayaked back to Thousand Trails. This time Dennis turned on his sport app (not sure which one it is) that maps our trail and gives us audible updates on our distance and speed. We traveled a little over six miles in about 4 hours. The river is down quite a bit since it still has not rained here. Dennis never ran aground, but I did twice. I am a dare devil and take chances. Dennis, not so much.
There was an Osprey flying with us almost the entire way. He would go ahead of us and land in a tree and when we passed he would fly ahead of us again. He swooped down at one point and I thought he was trying to get Archie's Trump 2020 hat! It is brightly colored red white and blue. He also swooped down in front of Dennis once and looked like he tried to get a fish. Sadly, he came up empty. I got one picture of the darned bird after trying numerous times and it isn't a very good shot. But believe me when I tell you the wing span of this bird was at least five feet and we first thought it was a bald eagle because of the white head, which you cannot see in my stupid picture.
The picture below, from the web, shows how majestic this bird really was.
We see many turtles and gators on this river so I wont bore you with all of that again, but we found a juvenile gator, maybe 3-4 foot long, sharing a log with a turtle. Who knows, maybe they were besties. Stranger things have happened.
Thursday, March 26, 2020
On our bike ride around the park we went to see Mike, the spiritual guru. He is on the other side of the park he calls the leper colony. He is an interesting fellow. He has put out a Labyrinth at his campsite and invites all who are interested to walk it.
I decided to walk it and he began playing a Celtic sounding flute. He instructed me to go towards the center with intention (prayer or hope), enter the center and give this to your higher power and walk back away with thankfulness. I did. I can say that I did a Labyrinth now. Cool. He is a very interesting man. He is extremely spiritual and is a firm believer in meditation and being one with nature. He spends a great deal of time in nature alone, but takes his Labyrinth to fairs and festivals to introduce them to others. Extremely kind and caring man. Interesting to spend time with him.
We will be heading north tomorrow on our trek back to Texas. I will really miss the people at this park. They have made our stay here amazing. Especially Archie and Eva. I hope to see them again real soon.
Thursday, March 26, 2020
Mangroves
Wednesday, May 18, 2020
Had breakfast at the Pioneer Restaurant where there was a sign indicating it was ‘Nana’s Kitchen’ and we immediately thought of Marilee Devenzio and took a picture of it. The actual Nana was there at a table next to the kitchen. Then we went to the Pioneer Park where they have the Cracker Trail museum. Crackers were colonial era British and American pioneer settlers and were called crackers because of the sound of their whips as they drove cattle or because of their great boasting (cracker is a boaster in the Queen’s English) depending on where you get your information.
At the Cracker Trail museum I saw letter from an Indian Chief, Chief Seattle, to President Franklin Pierce in 1855. The letter read:
“The Great Chief in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land. How can you buy or sell the sky or the warmth of the land. The idea is strange to us. Yet you do not own the freshness of the air, or the sparkle on the water. How can you buy them from us. Every part of the earth is sacred to my people.
We know the white man does not understand our ways. One portion of the land is the same to him as the next, for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs. The earth is not his brother but his enemy, and when he has conquered it, he moves on. He leaves his father’s graves, and his children’s birthright is forgotten.
There is no quiet place in the white man’s cities. No place to hear the leaves of spring or the rustle of insect wings. But perhaps because I am savage and do not understand the clatter, it only seems to insult the ears. And what is there to life if a man cannot hear the lovely cry of the whippoorwill or the arguments of the frog around the pond at night.
The whites too shall pass — perhaps sooner than the other tribes. Continue to contaminate your bed and you will one night suffocate in our own waste. When the buffalo are all slaughtered, the wild horses all tamed, the secret corners of the forest heavy with the scent of many men, and the view of the ripe hills blotted by talking wires. Where is the thicket — gone — where is the eagle — gone — and what is it to say goodbye to the swift and the hunt, THE END OF LIVING and THE BEGINNING OF SURVIVAL.”
Wow, nuff said!
Thursday, March 19, 2020
Received word that our May trip to the UK has been cancelled. We will only be losing about $43 because we have such an awesome travel agent, Pam Smithgall with South Shore Travel. This is sad news because I was so looking forward to this trip, but always better to be safe than sorry, I suppose. Dennis is glad that I will be home for his birthday this year!
Friday, March 20, 2020
Our new friends Archie and Eva invited us to go with them and another couple, Joan and Ray kayaking in the mangroves on Lido Key. Now this was gonna be an hour drive, but we are assured the trip would be worth it.
We stopped at a Cracker Barrel restaurant on the way. I have never seen a Cracker Barrel with this few customers in my life. We got to South Lido National Park about 10:30 and Archie said they had never seen so many cars in the parking lot. People can’t gather in public, so they are out in nature. Several families were here! We launched our kayaks and headed to the mangroves tunnels. This was such an awe inspiring adventure. I was so happy we were introduced to this — I will never forget this trip and will do one like or similar to it every single time I come to Florida for the rest of my life!! This first picture is of the launch site from the water.
Saturday, March 21, 2020
HAPPY 33rd ANNIVERSARY TO THE MAN OF MY DREAMS, MY SOUL MATE, MY EVERYTHING!
Florida has closed their beaches. The only people allowed on the beach are those that live on that beach. That is a real bummer. Our next stop will be closer to the Gulf side of Florida but north of Orlando. We were thinking we could spend some time at the beach on our travels back home. I guess that will not be the case in Florida. I believe one of our stops in Mississippi will be on the beach. We will see how they are treating this pandemic when we get there.
Today we went to my cousin, Pam Winkle and her husband, Thomas. They live in Ellenton on the Manatee River. We had lunch and then took off on their pontoon boat to see the sites. Loved being on the water and beginning to realize how much I miss my boat back home. We saw mating dolphins, which I have never witnessed in person. Pam and Thomas are both still working stiffs, at least for now. Looks like Florida may close down everything non essential in this Pandemic and they may have to shelter in place. That is gonna be hard on everyone. Loved seeing these guys and wish we had more time to spend with you guys.
Monday, March 23, 2020
Took a trip to WalMart to pick up a few things. I am down to two rolls of toilet paper and a dozen eggs. Well, guess what? No toilet paper and no eggs to be seen. So we went down to the Winn Dixie and tried there. Nada. As a last ditch effort, we tried CVS. No toilet paper, but they had eggs. We bought two dozen - in hind site, we should have acted like all these other people and bought them all. Not really, I just cannot be that selfish.
Got home and unloaded the things we were able to grab and Archie stopped by. They had been to the store and he mentioned they couldn't find any eggs. I told him we couldn't find any toilet paper. So I gave him my extra dozen eggs and later in the day we found 4 rolls of toilet paper and some wipes on our doorstep. The toilet paper fairy had visited us.
Snowbirds:
I have to tell you, I had no idea what to expect from these snow birds. They come every year usually for about three months or so from about December to May. They come the same areas an have built lasting friendships. Archie and Eva are from Ohio, Joan and Ray and from Ontario, Bonnie and Donnie are from Texas and Peggy and David are from Tennessee. There are many more that these guys know and are real friends with that we haven't yet spent any time with. They know all the ins and outs of the area and of the park we are in. I may have to make Peace River an annual stop for us so we can stay in touch with our new friends.
Another interesting fact. Joan and Ray from Ontario were informed that they had to be back in Canada by the 27th of March or lose their insurance coverage. We had another couple behind us that were from Quebec so the same for them. Here they are in Florida and have to get back to Canada in such a short time. The park cleared out pretty quick after that notice went out. Sounds a little counter intuitive to me, but hey.
Had breakfast at the Pioneer Restaurant where there was a sign indicating it was ‘Nana’s Kitchen’ and we immediately thought of Marilee Devenzio and took a picture of it. The actual Nana was there at a table next to the kitchen. Then we went to the Pioneer Park where they have the Cracker Trail museum. Crackers were colonial era British and American pioneer settlers and were called crackers because of the sound of their whips as they drove cattle or because of their great boasting (cracker is a boaster in the Queen’s English) depending on where you get your information.
At the Cracker Trail museum I saw letter from an Indian Chief, Chief Seattle, to President Franklin Pierce in 1855. The letter read:
“The Great Chief in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land. How can you buy or sell the sky or the warmth of the land. The idea is strange to us. Yet you do not own the freshness of the air, or the sparkle on the water. How can you buy them from us. Every part of the earth is sacred to my people.
We know the white man does not understand our ways. One portion of the land is the same to him as the next, for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs. The earth is not his brother but his enemy, and when he has conquered it, he moves on. He leaves his father’s graves, and his children’s birthright is forgotten.
There is no quiet place in the white man’s cities. No place to hear the leaves of spring or the rustle of insect wings. But perhaps because I am savage and do not understand the clatter, it only seems to insult the ears. And what is there to life if a man cannot hear the lovely cry of the whippoorwill or the arguments of the frog around the pond at night.
The whites too shall pass — perhaps sooner than the other tribes. Continue to contaminate your bed and you will one night suffocate in our own waste. When the buffalo are all slaughtered, the wild horses all tamed, the secret corners of the forest heavy with the scent of many men, and the view of the ripe hills blotted by talking wires. Where is the thicket — gone — where is the eagle — gone — and what is it to say goodbye to the swift and the hunt, THE END OF LIVING and THE BEGINNING OF SURVIVAL.”
Wow, nuff said!
Thursday, March 19, 2020
Received word that our May trip to the UK has been cancelled. We will only be losing about $43 because we have such an awesome travel agent, Pam Smithgall with South Shore Travel. This is sad news because I was so looking forward to this trip, but always better to be safe than sorry, I suppose. Dennis is glad that I will be home for his birthday this year!
Friday, March 20, 2020
Our new friends Archie and Eva invited us to go with them and another couple, Joan and Ray kayaking in the mangroves on Lido Key. Now this was gonna be an hour drive, but we are assured the trip would be worth it.
We stopped at a Cracker Barrel restaurant on the way. I have never seen a Cracker Barrel with this few customers in my life. We got to South Lido National Park about 10:30 and Archie said they had never seen so many cars in the parking lot. People can’t gather in public, so they are out in nature. Several families were here! We launched our kayaks and headed to the mangroves tunnels. This was such an awe inspiring adventure. I was so happy we were introduced to this — I will never forget this trip and will do one like or similar to it every single time I come to Florida for the rest of my life!! This first picture is of the launch site from the water.
This little guy was swimming under our kayaks and kept us company for a while. We even got to see him catch a good sized perch and eat it. Eva got these pictures, none of mine turned out. She knows her way around a camera, even on her cell phone. Joan is an avid birder and she said this is a double breasted something or other and it is not native to Florida. To the untrained eye, I just saw a mud duck.
Above is Archie, our fearless leader!
We all had the time of our lives!! I hope everyone will take a kayak trip through the mangroves while visiting Florida. You can do it in the Everglades and/or other places in Florida. It is like hiking narrow paths in the woods, but on a kayak!!
Driving home we drove back through Sarasota and stopped at the Unconditional Surrender Statue.
Of course we each did our own pose by the statue. The first is of me and Dennis, then Joan and Ray, followed Archie and Eva. Aren't we all just cute as a button!
Saturday, March 21, 2020
HAPPY 33rd ANNIVERSARY TO THE MAN OF MY DREAMS, MY SOUL MATE, MY EVERYTHING!
Florida has closed their beaches. The only people allowed on the beach are those that live on that beach. That is a real bummer. Our next stop will be closer to the Gulf side of Florida but north of Orlando. We were thinking we could spend some time at the beach on our travels back home. I guess that will not be the case in Florida. I believe one of our stops in Mississippi will be on the beach. We will see how they are treating this pandemic when we get there.
Today we went to my cousin, Pam Winkle and her husband, Thomas. They live in Ellenton on the Manatee River. We had lunch and then took off on their pontoon boat to see the sites. Loved being on the water and beginning to realize how much I miss my boat back home. We saw mating dolphins, which I have never witnessed in person. Pam and Thomas are both still working stiffs, at least for now. Looks like Florida may close down everything non essential in this Pandemic and they may have to shelter in place. That is gonna be hard on everyone. Loved seeing these guys and wish we had more time to spend with you guys.
Monday, March 23, 2020
Took a trip to WalMart to pick up a few things. I am down to two rolls of toilet paper and a dozen eggs. Well, guess what? No toilet paper and no eggs to be seen. So we went down to the Winn Dixie and tried there. Nada. As a last ditch effort, we tried CVS. No toilet paper, but they had eggs. We bought two dozen - in hind site, we should have acted like all these other people and bought them all. Not really, I just cannot be that selfish.
Got home and unloaded the things we were able to grab and Archie stopped by. They had been to the store and he mentioned they couldn't find any eggs. I told him we couldn't find any toilet paper. So I gave him my extra dozen eggs and later in the day we found 4 rolls of toilet paper and some wipes on our doorstep. The toilet paper fairy had visited us.
Snowbirds:
I have to tell you, I had no idea what to expect from these snow birds. They come every year usually for about three months or so from about December to May. They come the same areas an have built lasting friendships. Archie and Eva are from Ohio, Joan and Ray and from Ontario, Bonnie and Donnie are from Texas and Peggy and David are from Tennessee. There are many more that these guys know and are real friends with that we haven't yet spent any time with. They know all the ins and outs of the area and of the park we are in. I may have to make Peace River an annual stop for us so we can stay in touch with our new friends.
Another interesting fact. Joan and Ray from Ontario were informed that they had to be back in Canada by the 27th of March or lose their insurance coverage. We had another couple behind us that were from Quebec so the same for them. Here they are in Florida and have to get back to Canada in such a short time. The park cleared out pretty quick after that notice went out. Sounds a little counter intuitive to me, but hey.
Sunday, March 22, 2020
Peace River
We left Orlando and moved a little further south to Wauchula this morning. Great little road trip with nothing noteworthy to mention.
We checked into the Thousand Trails Peace River Resort. This is a large park directly on the beautiful Peace River! The park map shows a ton of spots that are prone to flooding, and since they flood they have no sewer hookups. So when we arrived at 1:00 or so in the afternoon, they sent us to a site with only 30 amp and no sewer and said they would have a lottery at 2pm of the available 50 amp with sewer sites. So we just pulled into our site and left her hooked up in hopes that we would win this lottery. I was pretty upset, they usually have a honey wagon that comes around to empty your tanks for free, but it was not working, and we will be here for 2 weeks. We can handle 30 amps and just run one A/C at a time, but not sewer - that just will not work for us AT ALL.
Went up for the lottery and we had not had time to cruise the park to view the available sites on the list, so we were going in blind. We really did not think they would get to us since we were the last ones into the park. Well, they called out the names and about 15 people were not there to change their sites, so the last name they called was us and the ranger and another couple helped us pick out a site that would work for us. They actually still had several to choose from after the lottery was over.
So we get all set up and decide to cruise the park on our bikes when there was quite a raucous of people and dogs outside in front of our RV. So I barrel out and start giving them all a piece of my mind, jokingly of course. There was about 6 people out there and most of them had dogs! We started talking and Bonnie asked where in Texas we are from. Come to find out, Bonnie is from Colorado City, Texas and used to cut my Aunt and her family's hair when they lived in Ira, Texas. We pulled out my phone and called my cousin Bobby immediately. She talked to him a long time and finally asked him if he knew who he was talking to. When she said her name he knew her immediately and they carried on a little longer. I called him later in the evening and he said that was the coolest, he was so excited to talk to her. So now Bonnie has introduced me to her whole crowd that comes to this park every year for three months or more. They are a fun group of folks.
Saturday, March 14, 2020
We finally got our kayaks down and hit the river on Saturday. We kayaked as long as we could up river to be back before the sun got too far down. The way back down river was a breeze!!!! But this river is just so beautiful. I did not take my camera, because I was unsure how the rapids would be and did not want to loose it.
After we got back, cleaned up and had a bite to eat we went outside. Bonnie, Peggy and all the others were across the road from us. Bonnie called us over and introduced us to her friend Gary, who they all call Archie. Archie loves to kayak and has kayaked this river many times. He is going to take us and another couple, who I will tell you about later, with him down the river tomorrow. I told them if my kayaks are in the truck when they come to get the other couple then we are in, if not, we are too sore and cannot take another trip. We moaned and groaned every time we moved all night that night, but woke up and felt great! So we got the kayaks loaded up in plenty of time to meet Archie, Sean and Sarah for our next adventure.
We ran into some people staying here that mentioned we were supposed to have a female country singer in concert here at the park tonight. They cancelled that, I found out later, along with all other activities because of the coronavirus. They are trying to limit gatherings to 10 or less now.
Sunday, March 15, 2020
We put in about 7 miles up river from our RV park. Sean and Sarah had only been kayaking once before. Archie and his wife Eva met them at a trade show where they were roasting coffee beans and selling their coffee from the Blue Craft Coffee Roasters. Sean is a retired police detective and his business partner is still on the force. Their coffee is free trade and organic and he even gave us a sample - a whole bag of coffee is not what I was expecting for a sample, but . . . The smoothest coffee I believe I have ever had. Ours is the Pursuit, I need to get online so I can buy some of the decaf and be able to drink it more!!! They name all the blends police stuff (Pursuit - Stake Out) and a portion of every purchase goes to families of fallen first responders. How cool is that?
Sean and Sarah were so much fun. He is an absolute cut up, so he and Archie were competing with their hilarious banter! It made the trip a lot of fun. We stopped off at a park and Eva met us there. Sean and Sarah had had enough kayaking, it is a lot of work, so they loaded up their kayaks and went back with Eva. We continued on and came across a trash pile in the river and in there was a propane bottle. We all decided that needed to get out of the river so we tied it to Archie and let it float behind him for a while and then switched it to Dennis' kayak. Neither of them wanted to let me help out. But it was very heavy and did not let you go the direction you steer so they were both pretty worn out when we got to the finish line.
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| PEACE RIVER - the name fits |
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| Sean, Sarah and Archie |
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| Stopped at the park and lost Sean and Sarah |
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| Dennis and Archie are always lagging behind me |
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| Dennis with the propane bottle |
Sean and Sarah had a 20 year old fully restored Winnebago that they travel in. I did not get a chance to check it out, but hope to run into them again in the future and see it then.
Tuesday, March 17, 2020
We haven't really been affected too much by this pandemic, but we did get a call today that our return reservation at a Florida State Park will be cancelled. All Florida State Parks are closing starting tomorrow. We have reservations at two other state parks on the way home, but they are in Alabama and Mississippi. We will have to wait and see what happens, but as of now they are not closing.
My May trip to the UK and Scotland looks like it may be in peril. We haven't heard from our travel agent yet, but I am sure they will be letting us know something soon. It cost my parents $2K to cancel their European trip in May, so I want to make them cancel mine so I don't loose as much as she did.
Monday, March 9, 2020
Theme Parks
We went to Epcot today and had a great time. It is a gardeners’ paradise. Love how they fashion the characters out of hedges! Everything was in bloom and just perfectly trimmed. There is probably no way to see all of the beautifully designed flower beds in one day. The different countries had gardens themed to their national heritage as well. So many talented hands at work there.
We went around the World Showcase and ate a late lunch in Morocco. This is the same place we ate so many years ago when we came with the kids. The belly dancing was fun, but this year I thought I could teach her a thing or two since I am now a trained belly dancer - LOL.
Stayed late and found a great spot to watch the fireworks over the lake!
Wednesday, March 4, 2020 - Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure
We went to Islands of Adventure and headed straight for Hogwarts. We went through the Dr. Seuss section and it was so cute. Then through the Lost Continent - I don’t even know what that is supposed to be. Finally, Hogwarts ahead. I felt like a kid. You would be surprised how many adults were wearing robes and one guy was in a full blown costume. He was probably 40. I almost mistook him for a park employee at one of the shops. We waited in line for the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride and I am sure it was a long wait, but they have you go into different parts of the castle and have little performances so it doesn’t seem that long. That ride was soooo much fun. I actually lost my stomach several times. Then we found Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure and rode that. Man, I do not think I have ever accelerated so quickly in my life. It was amazing. I would have jumped right back in line if Dennis hadn’t been with me. He has been so good though! We rode the Hogwarts Express over to Diagon Alley and they have the Escape from Gringotts ride. That one was not as exhilarating as the Forbidden Journey ride, but it was fun too. There is even the dark arts shop of Knockturn Alley in a dark corner. They have a their own beer here, Wizard’s Brew and Dragon Scale. We tried the Dragon Scale and it was great! I think the Wizard’s Brew is a dark beer. Dennis may need to try that when we go back.
We went back to Universal Studios and spent the day. We rode several of the rides there, like the Transformers, Men in Black Alien Attack, the Revenge of the Mummy and Fast & Furious - Supercharged. I just really like the atmosphere here and the crowds have not been bad at all.
Met the neighbors for the evening around their fire pit and found out they are from Houston! They have been traveling for about a year and a half and loving life. Fun couple.
All in all another great day.
Sunday, March 8 - Happy Birthday to my bestie, Michelle Hobbs!
Got up this morning worried about the time changing overnight. We are supposed to meet Nicki and Tim LaBarr and their kids back at the Islands of Adventure. We got there a bit early and had to wait at the Bar outside Margaritaville, The Lone Palm. Good people watching place!
As some of you know, Nicki is my cousin’s daughter. We haven’t seen her since she was in high school and now she has three kids. Great meeting her family for the first time! What a beautiful family they are. Although I didn’t take hardly any pictures I did get a shot of Truett and Wyatt casting spells with their wands. Wyatt even let me borrow his to cast a spell myself - What a great kid!
We rode a couple more rides (or I did - Dennis sat out since I had others to ride with) and I enjoyed getting to know them better in the lines. The park was a little more crowded today so we cut it short and headed back shortly before 4:00. We stopped in City Streets on the way out and had a snack at Bubba Gump Shrimp. The waitresses there have Forrests Gump trivia questions they ask the guests. We actually got all our questions correct!
When we got home, I remembered they had a Dustin Lynch concert tonight too and I had really wanted to stay for that. Oh well. I know Dennis has had enough of these crowded parks for this trip!
We have seen more women in their gym clothes at these parks. I can almost guarantee not one of them was on their way to, or from, a gym. Many had likely never been to a gym by the looks of it. Is this the new pajamas to WalMart thing. Can’t you just put some clothes on, please. It is really not a good look for most people. Dennis kept asking me, “Don’t these people look at a mirror before they leave the house?” I guess the answer to that is, “NO!”
We have another week here in the Orlando area and not sure if we are just going to hang around the RV park and enjoy these amenities or continue being tourist. I guess we will see.
Over and out for now good buddies. I love and miss you all!
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