Bradenton, FL

Real easy ride to Bradenton from Lake Worth, no hurries, no worries. Lots of things planned for my stay in this area. This will be my longest stay since on the road, a whole 18 days. I knew nothing of this park. Asking several campers, no one had ever heard of Tropical Gardens. The cg review site I've been using didn't have them listed. I selected the park because it was the only one close to the tax seminar location also in Bradenton. The park was on a main Bradenton road, 53rd Avenue. Lots of long termers give the cg a bit of a trailer park feel. My site is a full hook up pull through on a concrete pad, but a little tight. I hooked up the water and electric but didn't bother with the sewer since I'll be taking the rig out both tomorrow and Wednesday for my driving lessons. Rita, the cg manager indicated that she and her husband Dale were only in the office a few hours each morning and afternoon so mail receipt may be problematic. Oh well, there's a UPS store down the road, I'll have my packet sent to.

George from the RV Driving School showed up promptly at 9am. I had the RV already hooked up and ready to go. He was very professional having me complete a form that included my license and insurance info. We spent about 30 minutes in general discussion and going over my 5th wheel and truck. He was pleased that both are 2012's and in new condition. He related how he's showed up to give classes, took a look at the condition of the rig and/or tow vehicle and refused to get in them. He was pleased with my proactive approach in getting lessons before I had a problem and my even having installed my tire pressure system on the RV and truck. His wife dropped him off, he got in my truck and we headed out. He couldn't find the nearby area he said he scouted a few weeks ago so we headed down route 75 about 10 miles to a place he knew. It was a parking lot of a commercial building that was for sale and so an empty lot. He placed a series of orange cones in a line and had me backing up, trying to stay as close as possible without hitting them. I learned to go slooow and picked up a few reference markers on the side of the RV I hadn't previously noticed. Driving a 5th wheel in reverse, staying on a straight line isn't as easy as it sounds but I did okay. George then had me doing broken "U" turns and backing into parking spots on my left and right sides. His compliments of my driving helped build confidence and the practice was great. His wife was waiting when we returned. I did get into my site a little easier than yesterday. I was more tired than I thought. Early dinner and to bed. Wednesday I got up early again and had my rig hooked up and ready for George. He came by with his new employee, Bo, and asked if it was okay if Bo came along. The more the merrier, no problem. Bo retired from driving trucks for over 30 years. Both he and George are rather large. Both are about 6'5" and well over 300lbs. It was almost comical watching Bo fold into the back seat of my truck. We went back to the same lot. George began having me do some more broken "U" turns and reverse left and right turns. He quickly let Bo take over. By the end of the day Bo had me going in reverse all over the parking lot. I treated George and Bo to an end of class luncheon where they gave me a certificate and debrief. I'll remember to look at my reference points and go slooow. The class was well worth it.

Up early on Thursday, shower and quick breakfast and off to my tax class. I found the Marriott easy, thank you GPS. I thought I was arriving almost an hour early but lots of people were already there. Near 200 attendees. I had some coffee and a newspaper but passed on the doughnuts. I've been doing okay with my weight, no reason to backtrack now. On my right, a husband and wife from CT down to visit their son. On my left a guy who traces his ancestry through the Mayflower, to European royalty and back to the 12th century. He and I had lunch in the hotel and chatted about motorcycles, cars, and ancestry. The seminar was very well done. The first day presenter had such a strong Cajun accent I had a little trouble understanding but he covered the material in the 10 lb book very well. Way more tax changes this year than I thought. Friday was a repeat except the presenters Cajun accent was much easier. I had lunch with the same guy. We chatted lots for two days and never introduced ourselves. A little strange.

When I got back a class "C" had pulled in behind me on a spot that I didn't even think was a site. An elderly couple, not very chatty, but nice enough. There was a note pinned to my RV door about a Christmas party tomorrow evening, including a $10 gift exchange. I drove to my favorite place, Walmart. Picked up some fruits and vegetables, a couple bottles of champagne, along with gift warp. Also bought four boxes of various holiday cards to send out with a tax newsletter. Stopped at the post office to get several rolls of stamps also for the newsletter.

Saturday morning I slept a little late, tired from two days of driving lessons and two days of tax seminar (lol). I wrote and printed a one page newsletter, addressed, and stamped all the envelopes. I'll need to go to the UPS store to make this many copies and ask them about receiving my mail later in the week. The Christmas party was nice. A very good DJ and enough food. I received a multi-use camping knife, very nice. Everyone at the party was coupled up. There was one whole table of Canadians speaking French. I did meet a few people and chatted with the couple sitting next to me, Stuart & Karen from Vermont. Stuart is very into politics and religion, two great topics and two that can be problematic when discussing with "fanatics".

Sunday morning Tom knocked on my door. He was passing around his copy of an RV magazine. It was one that I get but hadn't gotten my mail yet. We ended up chatting for several hours at my picnic table. He drove tanker trucks for almost 40 years. He's in his mid to late 70's and just this year gave up driving. He and his wife live full time in their 37 ft 5th wheel. He still drives an F350, long bed, crew cab, duallies, and turbo diesel, but he doesn't move his rig anymore. He had me walking around my rig, giving me lots of suggestions, good ones. His wife finally called him for something or I don't think he'd ever have left. Pleasant conversation.

I walked to the garbage area hoping to see Stuart & Karen but they were out all day. Had one other short, pleasant conversation with Frank who had been sitting outside the recreation/swimming pool building. Restful Sunday. Monday I had lots of visitors. Tom stopped by again and this time had me walking around my truck, giving me pointers. He's a nice, if a little strange guy, good pointers. Frank also stopped by and we sat at my picnic table talking about nothing for about a half hour. Stuart gave me a pile of books and a dvd on the life of Jesus. Most of his books dealt with the constitution with a couple on religion. He's an interesting guy. He ran for state congress a few times in Vermont and even in his early 70's remains active in his state politics. Two of the books he gave me dealt with the second amendment (right to bear arms) and states rights issues. One of the books was way to radical for me. The other made some interesting points about states rights and the changing views over the past 200 years. A court case New York won against the federal government and another won by a coalition of law enforcement officers from several states, also against the federal government has me thinking that Obama-care will be overturned. About 35 states are currently suing the federal government, claiming federal law can not require states to implement a federal health care mandate. There are definitely arguments on both sides. I'll hang onto the pocket bible he gave me, along with the pocket constitution, but I'll return all the rest.

Tuesday I decided to take a long drive. I drove over the St. Petersburg Key Span bridge. A very interesting drive. While the bridge is pretty, the right side guard rail is way to low. Sitting in the truck it seemed I could accidentally drive right into the bay. I stayed in the middle lane. Zack called when I was about mid-span. We chatted as I drove to Passe Au Grille beach, parked, and walked barefoot along the beach. Really pretty area. Great morning walking along the beach. My only regret is no one to have lunch with as there are so many cute little seafood restaurants. From the beach I drove into Tampa and to an Ikea. I really want to get a small desk for the RV. Parking at Ikea was easy. Walking around the store was not. For a midweek, mid day, the store was crowded. I didn't see anything I liked and so drove a little further to a camping world. Still no desk I liked but a bought lots of stuff. The most expensive was a 30 amp surge protector I'd been wanting to get for some time.

I had a bit of an embarrassing experience at the camping world checkout. I'm one of those people who rarely loses or forgets stuff. Yet in the past three months I've lost three different credit cards. Senility is definitely setting in (lol). The last card I lost was replaced with a new one that had the same number. I thought it a little strange but signed and kept it. I'd been using it for several weeks and now it was rejected at the camping world. I finally paid with a different card (good thing I carry back ups). When I got back to the RV I called the automated number and was put through to Chase's fraud department. Apparently, someone at a Walmart found my original card and turned it in. It generated an automatic stop on the card. Fortunately all the charges were mine and so just an interesting experience.

Wednesday I drove over the the Ringling Museum. A nice, interesting place but not by myself. It would have been much better to see with the kids or going to the Ringling theater with a date. Oh well, it's now crossed off my "to do" list. Thursday I met Carolyn from Loners on Wheels at a local public golf course. The course added a third to our tee time, a guy named Billy. Billy is a project manager for a large boiler manufacturer. He's traveled all over on projects for the past 10 years or so. Nice guy who gave Carolyn and I some gentle pointers and was very patient with our golfing. I finally saw my first gator. A little one looking at us as we approached a water hazard. It would have been a real hazard if we reached in to retrieve a ball. After my lessons a few weeks ago and some tips from Billy, I shot 95. I had some good shots but still haven't shot my goal of 89. Carolyn was having lunch with her son. We'll get together in a few days and maybe play some more golf. On my way back I stopped and picked up my mail, hooray, I like getting my mail (lol). I met Carolyn again Friday morning at Anna Maria Beach. She had lived here with her husband, Jim. They owned a convenience store. We walked along the beach and had a great lunch in the restaurant at the end of the long town pier watching lots of kids and adults fishing. Maybe we'll play some golf next week before I leave. Stuart & Karen were out walking in the early evening and stopped by my RV we sat around chatting for awhile. I'll join them tomorrow for Christmas services at their church.

Stuart stopped by to let me know he wasn't feeling well and didn't want to stray far from home this evening, so no services. He invited me to Sunday services which I at first declined. He continued to ask and I finally accepted. Stuart, his wife Karen, Leroy, his wife Marge, and I all piled into Stuart's little Honda and off we drove to church. He's a member of the Evangelic Free Church, the congregation was about 20 minutes away in a fairly new, sort of modern building. Everyone seems to have a perpetual smile and greeted everyone, including me, very warmly. We hung out, chatting and sharing coffee, fruit, and munchies in what they referred to as Fellowship time. They gave me a packet of information and a loaf of homemade nut bread. The deacon was a little round guy about 5'4 and 300 lbs, with a really great baritone voice. The congregation was only about 40 people, most of whom were rather vocal with lots of hallelujahs, amens, and other like rejoicing. The service was comprised of singing Christmas Carols, accompanied by people on; piano, guitar, flute, clarinet, recorder, and tambourine. Singing carols was great. I knew almost all of them and they brought back great memories of my grade school years. Those were the days when singing carols in public school was not only okay but expected as part of the festive time of year. No one complained that it wasn't their religion. Everyone enjoyed singing.

Monday I hung out in the RV. I spent the day researching the 2012 gtg's of the four camping groups I now belong to; LoW's, Escapees, Good Sam, and SMART. I found a couple dozen gtg's but most of the chapters didn't have their gtg's posted yet. I sent off about a dozen emails to the various groups asking about when and where their gtg's will be. A few emails were answered shortly after sending. I'll probably end up with a couple dozen gtg's throughout New England between April and September. Lots of lobster seems to be in my future (lol). I also did a little financial research. Even with the market down, several stocks are at or near the sell points I established for them. I'll probably sell a little when the market opens tomorrow and need to find a few decent dividend paying stocks to buy with the proceeds. Carolyn called and we'll play some more golf tomorrow.

The sky looks a little threatening this morning but hopefully it'll pass. As soon as the market opened I sold a little and bought a little. Like most people, I'm not happy with the down market but I'm very optimistic going forward. As long as the portfolio continues to earn dividends, I remain positive about future capital gains and am okay with the time it seems to be taking for the turn around.

I stopped at a post office to mail a few items and still got to the golf course about an hour early. The sky is really getting dark. Chatted a little with a guy who had an army golf bag. He recently retired and is getting into civilian life. He let me take over his bucket of pitch practice balls. I practiced for about an hour, till Carolyn arrived. I'm sort of getting the hang of this worst port of my game. Who knows, maybe I have a shot at my goal of 89. Carolyn and I got through three holes when it started to rain. We got rain checks and will try again on Thursday. Before we left we did see a rather large gator, half in and half out of a pond. The gator was guarding something it caught from a bunch of turkey vultures. The birds were definitely closer to the gator then I'd ever want to be. Hung out on Wednesday, chatting with Stuart & Karen and just chilling. Back at the golf course on Thursday, bought a bucket of practice balls and worked a little on my pitching until Carolyn arrived. We got teamed with a couple of guys who said they had lots of patience when I asked them. My short game was considerable improved but my woods went to pot. Shot another 95. Oh well, 89 is still a goal. Went food shopping for the pot luck, dessert, and appetizers requested for the New Year's party over the next three days; wings, fruit salad, and a delicious pistachio, pineapple, & whipped cream dip. Said my goodbyes to Stuart & Karen & Tom and closed up the rig. Headed out at 9:30am.