Following our trip to watch the Space shuttle launch last Monday, we headed back to the campground for a few days of rest and relaxation. We have been sitting by the pool most afternoons, enjoying the constant 80-85 degree days and the 60-65 degree nights.
It's a tough life, but we are surviving.
We have also been checking out a few of the campgrounds in the area for the possibility of wintering down here in the Sebring area next year.
On Friday we took an 1-1/2 hour ride to the west coast, Palmetto, to visit our former neighbor Sandy and her rescued greyhound, Rudy. She has a beautiful home, twice the size of the one she had on Ambush Rock Road. She has started a new business, an Anytime Fitness gym in Parrish. She took us over there for a tour. It is a nice big facility and she has developed a large clientele. She is doing very well.
We then went to Anna Marie Island and had lunch at the Beach House Restaurant, right on the beach on the Gulf of Mexico. Of course, we all had fresh fish for lunch. After lunch we took a ride along Bradenton and Sarasota beaches to see how the rich people spent their money.
We went back to Sandy's for a little more visiting before we headed back to the campground.
It was great to see Sandy and see that she is doing very well for herself, not that we had any doubt that she wouldn't be, she is a hard worker and if she sets her mind to doing something, she does it right with 100% of her energy, which seems endless.
Saturday was another 80+ degree pool day so that is where we were.
Sunday we headed about 1 hour 15 minutes north to Poinciana to visit Alex and Marie, friends of ours from Lake Forest Resort in East Wakefield, N.H., where we will be spending the summer. They invited us to stay for Sunday and Monday. They live in a lovely gated community in Poinciana. They have a beautiful home over looking the Grand Canal. We were able to sit in the lanai watching comorants and egrets fishing. We got the grand tour, by golf cart, of their Village area and some of the athletic fields, tennis courts, pools, golf course and you name it, they have it. The place is huge and has anything you could ever want.
Alex and Marie took us out to eat at the Grill at Stone Gate Country Club, part of the Village area. We had Italian, Sharon had chicken parmigiana and I had lasagna. It was excellent. We went back to their house after dinner and played Mexican Train dominoes until we couldn't see straight. We all headed to bed.
Sunday was a leisurely morning, visiting on the lanai, drinking coffee and eating some nice thick bacon Alex had cooked for us. Well come to find out, they do the same thing we have been doing. So we all jumped into our bathing suits and headed to the pool. Another tough afternoon swimming and sitting poolside.
About 5 PM we left their house and headed south back to camp. We can't thank Alex and Marie enough for their hospitality. We had a great couple days with them. I guess Sharon will have to cook them breakfast some morning this summer.
Most of the snow birds have left the campground and headed north in their annual migration, many left early enough to be home for Easter. This past week has seen another 3 or 4 more couples headed north. We will be leaving this Friday with the motorhome for our trip home. First stop is St. Augustine, Florida for a few days and then on to Savannah, Georgia for a few more days and then on to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. If we have internet access (limited in state parks and we are staying in state parks in Savannah and Myrtle Beach), I am hoping to update this weekly, be patient, I will do my best.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Family Week
This week has been a busy week for us. Sharon's cousin Mark and his wife Susan stopped by in their fifth wheel to visit us on Tuesday. It has been too many years since we have seen them. We had a great afternoon and evening catching up on our lives and the kids lives.
Mark brought us some Bubba Burgers to try, so we had a barbeque with the burgers and all the fixings. As usual, dinner was great. We spent the rest of the evening talking and talking, there are just too many stories to tell. The time flew and before we knew it, it was well after Mark's bedtime.
We shot the breeze some more in the morning before they headed north and west, back towards their home in Colorado. They said they would take their time getting back, probably several weeks. It was a very enjoyable visit.
On Wednesday, we headed north to Winter Haven for the day to get our new sunshades for the front and side windows of the motorhome. We had ordered them last week. The sunshades were done, they gave me a quick lesson in how to install them and we were off to lunch at the Main St. Cafe in Auburndale. We took the scenic ride back through miles and miles of orange groves and past 20 - 30 lakes and ponds. We did not realize there were so many lakes in this area of the state.
Thursday was a day to relax because Friday we were driving 2 hour 45 minutes south to Gary's sister's, Diane, house for the Easter weekend. On Friday we stopped in Clewiston, near the shores of Lake Okeechobee, for lunch at Sonny's barbeque, that is a chain down here. We had a couple sandwiches and we were off again. I have to say the this trip was one of the most boring drives I have ever been on. We traveled down the west side of the lake, but you cannot see any of the lake because there is a 20 foot tall levee all around the lake. Most of the rest of the land is flat and barren, either swamp or cattle grazing land. We went through the eastern edge of the Everglades and nothing to see there either. We arrived at Jake and Diane's about 1:30 Friday afternoon.
On Saturday they took us to a place in their town, Pembroke Pines, where an eagle had made a nest and had her young. So we watched the baby eagles for about half an hour and the mother was off during that time. They said the babies had grown quite a bit in the last week or so.
Sunday they had a wonderful ham dinner for Easter with all the fixings. If you got up from the table hungry, it was your own fault, there was more than enough of everything that makes it a great Easter dinner. Thanks Jake and Diane.
Sunday evening we left about 4 PM to head to Melbourne. We had booked a hotel room so the we could watch the Space Shuttle launch on Monday morning at 6:21 AM. It took us about 2 1/2 hours to get to Melbourne. We checked into the hotel and headed to the beach to scout out a viewing area. We found a place to view the launch in the morning then we drove north a bit and found another park on the ocean and had a picnic. Diane and Sharon had packed us a leftover ham sandwich for a picnic at the beach.
Monday morning we woke at 5 AM to go view the Shuttle launch. We drove to the beach we had picked out on Sunday night and there were a few people there. By 6 AM the busses were pulling in and there were several hundred people on the beach. It was a beautiful morning, about 65 degrees with just a few clouds in the east. The launch went perfectly on time and was a nice sight to see. The crowd cheered when it started and later when the shuttle disappeared from sight over the Atlantic.
Most of the viewers stayed on the beach to see the sunrise, but Sharon and I headed out to go get breakfast. We have seen the sun rise over the Atlantic many mornings. We beat the crowd to breakfast. After breakfast we headed back to Sebring and the motorhome. We had a busy week, but quite enjoyable.
Mark brought us some Bubba Burgers to try, so we had a barbeque with the burgers and all the fixings. As usual, dinner was great. We spent the rest of the evening talking and talking, there are just too many stories to tell. The time flew and before we knew it, it was well after Mark's bedtime.
We shot the breeze some more in the morning before they headed north and west, back towards their home in Colorado. They said they would take their time getting back, probably several weeks. It was a very enjoyable visit.
On Wednesday, we headed north to Winter Haven for the day to get our new sunshades for the front and side windows of the motorhome. We had ordered them last week. The sunshades were done, they gave me a quick lesson in how to install them and we were off to lunch at the Main St. Cafe in Auburndale. We took the scenic ride back through miles and miles of orange groves and past 20 - 30 lakes and ponds. We did not realize there were so many lakes in this area of the state.
Thursday was a day to relax because Friday we were driving 2 hour 45 minutes south to Gary's sister's, Diane, house for the Easter weekend. On Friday we stopped in Clewiston, near the shores of Lake Okeechobee, for lunch at Sonny's barbeque, that is a chain down here. We had a couple sandwiches and we were off again. I have to say the this trip was one of the most boring drives I have ever been on. We traveled down the west side of the lake, but you cannot see any of the lake because there is a 20 foot tall levee all around the lake. Most of the rest of the land is flat and barren, either swamp or cattle grazing land. We went through the eastern edge of the Everglades and nothing to see there either. We arrived at Jake and Diane's about 1:30 Friday afternoon.
On Saturday they took us to a place in their town, Pembroke Pines, where an eagle had made a nest and had her young. So we watched the baby eagles for about half an hour and the mother was off during that time. They said the babies had grown quite a bit in the last week or so.
Sunday they had a wonderful ham dinner for Easter with all the fixings. If you got up from the table hungry, it was your own fault, there was more than enough of everything that makes it a great Easter dinner. Thanks Jake and Diane.
Sunday evening we left about 4 PM to head to Melbourne. We had booked a hotel room so the we could watch the Space Shuttle launch on Monday morning at 6:21 AM. It took us about 2 1/2 hours to get to Melbourne. We checked into the hotel and headed to the beach to scout out a viewing area. We found a place to view the launch in the morning then we drove north a bit and found another park on the ocean and had a picnic. Diane and Sharon had packed us a leftover ham sandwich for a picnic at the beach.
Monday morning we woke at 5 AM to go view the Shuttle launch. We drove to the beach we had picked out on Sunday night and there were a few people there. By 6 AM the busses were pulling in and there were several hundred people on the beach. It was a beautiful morning, about 65 degrees with just a few clouds in the east. The launch went perfectly on time and was a nice sight to see. The crowd cheered when it started and later when the shuttle disappeared from sight over the Atlantic.
Most of the viewers stayed on the beach to see the sunrise, but Sharon and I headed out to go get breakfast. We have seen the sun rise over the Atlantic many mornings. We beat the crowd to breakfast. After breakfast we headed back to Sebring and the motorhome. We had a busy week, but quite enjoyable.
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