Goodbye party

The campground had a going away party tonight for the couple that have been the managers the last 6 months and winters of the last 4 years.  Also said goodbye to the workcampers.  They all did a fine job and will be missed.

Usual Sunday

After breakfast at Cracker Barrow we came home and read the two Sunday papers we get.  Then it was Ice Cream Social in the afternoon.

Now after our daughter and family have gone back to Minnesota, our weather has turned nice and forecast to be nice all week!

The wild flowers are blooming like never before in Florida this year!

Eating, storm and watching

We went to Ridge Manor so Don could help open the new Dunkin Donuts.  It was really crowded but we did get to buy donuts and coffee.   In the afternoon we had a major storm - we had some pea size hail, wind and lots of rain.  No damage here.  Some places did have damage from a tornado or straight line winds.

In the evening we went to Monticello's for a spaghetti dinner.  It was good, we brought half if it home there was so much.  We watched the DVD "Dallas Buyers Club" which is based on a true story and a good show.

Family visit

We went to Treasure Island to see our daughter Sheila and her family who are in Florida for Spring Break.  We visited at there villa and then went out to dinner with them.  It was great to see them again!  The weather has been hit and miss for them like the weather we have been dealing with all winter.  They have found things to do and the kids are undaunted in going swimming.  At least it is warmer than MN and no snow.

Dentist and Dinner

Today it was my turn to go to the dentist.  I didn't have any cavities - third year in a row!  In the evening we had our last dinner for the season at the clubhouse.  It was roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, Cole slaw and a chocolate dessert.  All very good.

So many people are leaving or getting ready to leave.  The park is going to look barren soon!

Motorhome joke

Home is where the MH is parked

Stayed mostly home for the last couple days, exciting people that we are.  We went to Walmart for groceries today and again picked the wrong time as they were super busy.  More and more people are leaving for the frozen tundra, crazy.  One couple is "stranded" at Myrtle Beach waiting for better weather to head to NYC.  We see many RV's on the Interstate heading north.

Weekend

Saturday we had breakfast at the clubhouse and dinner at Steak 'n Shake.  We rented the movie "American Hustle" and enjoyed watching.

Sunday was a usual Sunday, breakfast out, read the papers,  ice cream social at the clubhouse, steak at home for dinner.  Not exciting people we are!

The dogwood trees are blooming now.

Brooksville and Dade City

It was off to Brooksville again today.  It was time to get the car's tires balanced at Sam's Club.  We had to wait about 1.5 hours so I walked the entire store and then we had a slice of their pizza for lunch.  It was fresh out of the oven and very good.  After a stop at Target we went to the Gulf and drove around the beaches areas.

In the evening we went to Dade City to Captain D's for a good fish dinner.

Rally Wednesday

We went to a Nature talk at some friends site, they did a nice job.  It has been a perfect day and was good to be out in the sun.  There have been so few nice days to be out that that little sun gave me a bit of a sunburn.

 The orange trees are blooming and smell wonderful but mess up the allergies!  (Orange trees still have oranges on them while blooming.)  Pictures from our park:

Marge and Gordon giving the presentation

Live oak tree, over 100 years old

Oranges and flowers

Tuesday at the rally

The Escapees Rally continues.  Today was a breakfast and a meeting in the afternoon.  There was a 4 PM social hour.  All week tickets have been on sale to win a basket filled with lottery scratch- off and power ball tickets.  WE WON!!! the basket.  We never win anything so this was a first.  So far on the scratch offs we won $30, probably will the $400 million tomorrow on the power ball.

They had a potluck dinner followed by an auction of things people donated, lots of home made items and baskets filled with items.  We bought nothing but I bid $95 for wine and glasses, I was bidding against the man beside me (and good friend) so let him have it for $100.



What happened to the missing jet?  This is what I have said all along:

St. Patrick's Day

We had a great dinner at the clubhouse of corn beef and cabbage.  Most everyone wore green, it was a sea of green.  The Escapees Rally Continues.

It rained all day, sometimes hard with lighting and thunder.  We were in a tornado watch for awhile but nothing developed.

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Escapees Chapter Rally

The Escapees Chapter Rally began today at Sumter Oaks RV Park (where we have been all winter).  We had Hobo Stew for dinner - not unlike "Stone Soup", we all brought vegetables and the club added meat.  It was very good.  Some friends we hadn't seen for awhile were there as well as people we see everyday.  Activities are planned for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

One more job done

Don fixed the bathroom facet today, actually he bought a new one as the old one wouldn't come apart.  OK, as I like the new one better anyway.

We went to corn beef and cabbage at Cracker Barrow for dinner.

I used to watch every episode of MASH, and reruns.

Trouble!

Trouble!  First our bathroom sink faucet that had a very slop drip turned in to almost a steady stream of water.  Then the washing machine decided to do it's occasional trick of not running.  Don fixed the washer - again.  He has that down.  He had me soder while he held the wire, now I can say I contributed.  Faucet tomorrow.  Trouble sometimes runs in threes, I hope that is not true this time.

We ate at home, unusual for a Friday night.  We had an eggplant that needed to be eaten.

Thursday at the park

Another day in the campground and what a nice day, the sun is shinning, humidity way down, cool.

I did catch-up work on the computer for a lot of the day and cleaned out our paper files.  We went to the dinner at the clubhouse, pulled pork, beans, corn on the cob.  All good.

From the Needles Highway in Custer (South Dakota) State Park.  Built in 1922 - they said it was impossible to construct.

Tampa, etc.

We went to Tampa today, ate at Sweet Tomatoes as usual.  Then I went to the Birkenstock store and bought a new pair.  Now I know what my size is and can order from the internet.  I got a black pair of sandals with white and pink design.

Camping World was our next stop, we bought nothing but looked at a couple big purchases we will need in the near future.  Then it was on to Parksdale Farms to load up on fresh fruit and vegetables.   We got two full bags, cost us about $8 - tomatoes, corn on the cob, cucumbers, green peppers, eggplant, strawberries.

Birthday party for a friend

We went to our neighbors birthday party this afternoon, weather was great and many people came.  I'm not sure it was for the birthday or for the party or both.

In the morning Don had a dental appointment, I went along and finished my book (Kindle) in the car and then we ate lunch out and went grocery shopping.  Don has to have a filling replaced, it came out when they were cleaning his teeth.  I always worry about that but guess if it come out it was loose in the first place.

Top of Harney Peak in the Black Hills

Saturday trip and Sunday job

We went out for breakfast as is our usual for Sunday morning.  It was so hard to get up in the dark after setting our clocks ahead for daylight savings time.  When we got home we decided to tackle putting in the new air pump in our Sleep Number mattress in our motorhome.  (We could hardly read the numbers on the old controls anymore, they were leashed to the pump which facilitated getting a new style pump with a remote.)  This job didn't sound too hard BUT ----

First we had to take apart the mattress and drag the parts into the living room.  Then take apart the platform on the bed as the pump was buried below.  Many screws had to be removed, the wood moved around and finally, there was the pump.  Getting the new pump installed was the easy part.  Then we had to do the whole process in reverse to get things back together.  I am surprised it didn't take more than 2 1/2 hours, a bit of lost patience and a few bruises for both of us.  Hopefully we won't have to do that again.

Yesterday we went for another ride in the "real" Florida (not the tourist Florida).  This is a picture from that trip.  This is a tree tunnel of live-oak trees.

Cold

It has been a cold day, didn't even get up to 60 degrees and a high west wind.  We ate at Captain D's in Dade City, every time someone opened the door the west wind would blow through and make it cold.  30's are forecast for tonight.  No, not spring in Florida yet.

Traveling

We went to Clermont to the monthly Escapees chapter meeting - this is where we travel 45 minutes to eat with our neighbors from our RV park.  It rained all the way there and back.  We usually do some shopping but didn't because of the rain.  It finally stopped raining early evening.

We drive by this twice every summer:

Eating out is what we do

Wow, a few nice days in a row.  Maybe there is a Spring!

We went to the excellent Mexican restaurant in Bushnell this evening.  This was our second trip to Bushnell today.  We went in earlier to Walmart (which was very busy) and CVS.  Then gas for the car and took home fish sandwiches from McDons for lunch.

What a shock to see my old yearbook picture on Facebook!

Weekend update

Saturday afternoon we drove some back roads on our way to Wildwood.  It is interesting to see the "real Florida" that you don't see along the interstate highways.  There are tree lined two lane roads, homes from the very meager to the very nice, livestock, fields, swamps, etc.  We ate at Steak n' Shake in Wildwood.

Today we went to Cracker Barrow for breakfast and then came home to read the papers.  We went to the Ice Cream Social at the clubhouse and later grilled ham for a late dinner.

We finally have had a few days of nice weather.