Florida 2013

Very easy ride to Jacksonville almost entirely along the I-10. Pecan RV Park is just as I remembered it, rows of clean, full hook up, level concrete pads, and the giant flea market a short walk across the field. Stretched my legs a little walking all three, long rows of the indoor flea market. On my way back I met my neighbors, Buddy, his wife , and home schooled daughter. They're from Waycross, GA where they worked in a Walmart. For some reason they were transferred to the Jacksonville Walmart and, while they still have their house in GA, they bought a small trailer and decided to live in this RV park for about a year hoping to eventually get transferred back near their home.

The musical South Pacific at the Alhambra dinner theater was great. Maria, the single woman at my table, was born in Puerto Rico but grew up in New York City. She now works at Blue Cross here in Jacksonville. Dave & Sharon, are from the area and both recently retired. Dave retired from the Navy and Sharon from Blue Cross. She and Maria didn't immediately recognize each other but over dinner conversation found many mutual co-workers. The topic of health care was discussed. Dave, with his Navy retirement has Tricare and Sharon has coverage through Blue Cross. Maria is covered through her work. I have free VA coverage (I guess two purple hearts are good for something, lol). Sharon and Maria commented on the approximate 300,000 policies that Blue Cross of Florida had to cancel and reissue to be in conformance with the new Obamacare requirements. There are apparently 10 specific requirements, one of them is maternity care for everyone regardless of gender or age. Both Sharon and Maria are over age 60 and yet must have maternity coverage. They told Dave and I a little about the increased premiums that this and the other nine requirements are causing on all policies. I shared with them some of the discussion I had with the hourly workers who had changed my flat and those working in the tire store. All had their hours cut from 40 to 30 per week so their employers could avoid paying for the new health care. These hourly workers now not only are required to pay for health care but have also lost 25% of their pay! I'm sure there are many people who are in desperate need of health care and couldn't afford it or get coverage because of pre existing conditions, but it seems that there are now many others who are being hurt financially as a direct result of this new law. Some sort of compromise needs to be reached. At the moment, it's a sad state of affairs.

Dinner and the show with cousin Bobbie was delightful. Bobbie, you looked great with all your Halloween fixings. The play, Yankee Tavern, was definitely a little difficult to follow at times but overall, most enjoyable and the Amelia Community Theatre is a very nice venue. I would enjoy returning to it.

While at Pecan Park RV cg, I also walked the large flea market adjacent to the cg, saw the movie Captain Phillips with Tom Hanks on one cloudy day, hung out with my RV neighbor Buddy and his home schooled daughter Mandy, and finally got around to a couple of little projects in my rig. All in all, Jacksonville was a pleasant stop. On to Homosassa Springs. I was surprised at how far this ride was, well over three hours. Florida really is a big state. Homosassa is on the Gulf Coast about an hour or so north of Tampa. There are several natural springs which bubble up around here. The RV park has lots of both permanents and seasonals. As a Passport park, there are also several people, like me, just passing through for a few days. Two interesting things at the park are the signs on the ponds throughout the place and the unusual golf putting they have. The ponds are picturesque, with lots of pretty vegetation including many live oaks and water fountains. The signs brought a smirk to my face as I read "... no swimming or wadding as these waters have alligators, poisonous snakes, and other natural wildlife"!! Really, in Florida?? lol! The unusual golf putting had an enthusiastic following of several couples. When I finished setting up my rig and then parking my truck I noticed a hole in the ground with a little red flag sticking out. I assumed the flag was there as a warning to be careful not to get your tires stuck in the hole. Turns out there are 18 of these little holes with flags scattered throughout the park. People need only a golf ball and a putter as they walk around the park knocking the balls down the park roads looking for these little red flag holes. It was definitely different and seemed to provide amusement for several people.

Homosassa Springs State Park is small, but pretty. They have pontoon boat tours of the manatee habitat and three shows which rotate throughout the day; 1) manatees, 2) Hippo & alligator, and 3) reptile encounters. The park is basically a figure "8" boardwalk trail of a little over a mile which winds past the three shows and other habitats including; fox, bobcat, black bear, deer, wolves, and several aviaries with many varieties of birds. It was a pleasant stroll. After over 40 years of coming to Florida I finally made it to Weeki Wachee. What had been a small, private water park was taken over by the State of Florida. Early November is now past their high season for the water park and so there weren't many visitors, especially in the morning. It seemed like a nice place to take small children who would be comfortable at the little water park and mermaid shows. There were two mermaid shows, one an adaptation of the Disney show "The Little Mermaid" and the second one showcasing the mermaids doing their underwater ballet. The theater, while old, was interesting. The park is built around a natural underground spring that receives over 117 million gallons of clear 74 degree water every day. Deep dive exploration has gone as far as 6,700 ft into the underwater caverns, 407 ft down, and still not explored the entire system. Weeki Wachee Springs are currently believed to be the deepest and largest fresh water caverns in the United States. I just enjoyed watching the scantily clad mermaids (lol).

My drive to the LoW Citrus Rally at Sun 'n Fun RV in Sarasota was easy, that is until I arrived! I had called the park at least a half dozen times over the past two months trying to make my reservations and was still not convinced the park even knew who or what the Citrus Rally was!!! I pull up to the park gates and give my info along with the rally info to an initial women. She can't find anything on her first look at some clip board papers. She asks me a second time for the same info. She still doesn't find anything on a second clip board and asks me for the same info a third time, frustration is building :=(.  A second woman appears and asks me for the info a FOURTH time. She rummages around a desk and calls someone on a two-way radio. I'm told to follow a golf cart to a holding area, walk back to get to figured out in the office. Two women at the front desk of the office ask for my info a FIFTH and SIXTH time with still no success. I'm ready to leave and say so when an office supervisor comes over. I'm escorted to a back area of the office and sit with the supervisor while she, after taking my info and the rally info a SEVENTH time goes through her computer. Still not finding anything she is able to give me what she said was a clear site so my sat. dish would work, also saying that all the park sites are full hookup. I'm escorted by the little golf cart to a site directly under a large live oak. I'm again ready to leave the park. The golf cart driver calls the office and they move me to a nearby site that has a tree only partially over it. The golf cart driver, while guiding me backing in raised his voice to me which is when I lost it! I stopped my truck, got out and in his face. Fortunately, he backed off and I regained what was left of my self control. He apologized for not seeing the truck on another site he almost backed me into. My site backed up to a ditch, the water hookup was at an adjacent site, and the sewer hookup was not near my rigs mid point where I needed it. I had to position my rig partially over the ditch in order to make the water and sewer connections. Of course now I didn't have enough leveling blocks to allow my rear stabilizers to touch the ground. I scrounged around and found some cinder blocks which worked. I go to disconnect my truck from the RV and my tail gate won't release. By this time I am totally exhausted. I try releasing the tail gate every which way I can with no success. Finally, I call Good Sam. They in turn contact a local truck repair outfit and someone shows up about 1/2 hour later. They had some heavy blocking and we were able to raise the 5th wheel higher than the tail gate which allowed me to pull out. Once I was out and the truck leveled the tail gate opened. Apparently, the RV was tilted one way on the site and the truck was tilted the opposite way. This caused the truck bed to tork and wouldn't allow the tail gate lock to release. I may finally be set up, even if a little crooked, but I know this isn't going to be easy to hook up again. This is the most expensive RV park I've stayed at in the past few years of full time RV'ing and, by far, the most difficult to deal with and one of the worst sites. Absolutely amazing!!!

The Citrus Rally was great. It was nice to see old friends, not that we're old, just that they're known from prior years (lol). It was also nice to meet new friends. The cg did a nice job with the food. We had three catered dinners of; meatloaf, roast turkey, and lasagna. We also had two nice breakfasts, one with omelets, the other with pancakes, bacon, & sausage. All were great. The music was very nice, the DJ seemed to be enjoying himself as much as we were. With lots of women dancing and very few men I didn't seem to get to sit down hardly at all (lol). I did manage to use the swimming pool, sauna, steam room, and hot tubs every morning and a few afternoons. The cg also had a fully equipped wood shop where I was able to finish cutting the wood I'd bought for the new closet space in my rig. A group of us also went on an afternoon cruise on an absolutely perfect day. I managed to spend at least an hour or two each day at the swimming pool, hot tub, sauna, and steam room. When it was time to leave I actually hooked up with no problems. All in all it was a great rally!

The drive was so long to the Escapee Rally I thought I'd have to have several rest stops. It must have taken me all of 35 minutes to go from Sarasota to Port Charlotte. The sites were clear and so wide they could easily hold three rigs. After setting up I enjoyed the afternoon in the swimming pool and hot tub. It's a tough life but someone has to do it (lol)! About nine of the LoW's from the Citrus Rally arrived the next day. I had just left them and it was already great seeing them again. Before the Escapee Rally began on Thursday afternoon we went to Fisherman's Village, strolled around and had a nice lunch. We also went to a nearby RV show where I really liked the new 5th wheel with a full side slide and I think Cheryl bought a very nice coach. I was surprised at how many of the Escapees I remembered. The few days went quick. The meals were nice and the company was great. The games on Friday evening were strange but those at my table sure were laughing hard at how funny they seemed. I learned a lot from the SkyMed presentation and finally joined. About six of us went to the FleaMasters flea market and spent the better part of the day both there and driving back and forth. I did find two out of print books I'd been looking for and even bought a bicycle bell.

The SKP park at Wauchula was an easy ride, about an hour. I'd been wondering what an SKP park would be like. This is a quiet, peaceful place. Everyone is very pleasant from Theresa, at check in, Ron helping me park, Dan stopping by just to make sure all was well, Gary hanging out by his rig, and of course Dave Irons giving me the tour. Within an hour or so of getting set up I had already gotten a tour, signed up for Thanksgiving dinner, a tour of Solomon's Castle, and a day of bowling. Rose & Dave had me over for a delicious pork chop dinner where we "forced" ourselves to kill about four bottles of wine. It was a great afternoon and evening. Dang, I'm a horrible bowler. I'm about as bad a bowler as I am a golfer (lol). Then again, at least I didn't lose any balls while bowling (lol). It was lots of fun and I'll try to go with this group again next week after Thanksgiving. We had one of those perfect evening; a light breeze, temperature in the upper 70's, and of course Dave playing guitar and singing. Along with about a dozen others from the park I took a tour of Solomon's Castle. This is quite an interesting place. Howard Solomon built this amazing place completely from recycled materials. There really is a castle which includes countless works of art as well as Howard's home. He built a ship in the middle of his property which is near the size of the Santa Maria and houses a restaurant. We stayed for lunch which was delicious. Thanksgiving dinner was very nice. The usual turkey with all the fixings, tons of side dishes, and an entire side table to hold the desserts. There was so much food we got to enjoy left overs on Friday. The park had two long tables set out for us hungry SKP'ers, about a total of 55 to 60 of us. It was two great afternoons. During the week and a half I stayed at the SKP park I enjoyed the pool and almost daily conversations with fellow RV'ers. I did a little better at bowling the second time (not much better), had dinner with Rose & Dave twice more (a beef stew and chicken) Rose is definitely a good cook and Dave is expert at opening wine (lol). This has been a very friendly stay.

The joint Gulf/Dixie/Mid-LoW Christmas get together at Winter Haven was another short ride of about 40 miles. I'd been to the Cypress RV park for this same get together two years ago. This is the only park where I'd ever seen police activity. Last time here I was told it was a drug bust of some sort. The park is a bit old and has a little of a trailer park feel. But the club house is nice and big and decorated for the holidays. Too many trees so no sat. service. Jerry, a cg worker, helped me try to get the cable hooked up. Turned out the park cable box was broken. The park called and a repair tech showed up within the hour, even though it was Sunday so I do have cable access. A 5th wheel across from me has a mid-LoW banner planted out front so I stopped by. Leo is from Birmingham, England. He spends several months RV'ing around the USA. He and I strolled over to to his buddy Dale, one of the LoW's who will be travelling with me to Alaska this Spring. Dale and Leo are avid kayakers planning to do some in the area during the down time of the get together. The rally ended up with about 40 rigs, most of whom I knew from prior get togethers. We had a rally provided chili dinner the first night, pot luck another, and a Christmas dinner Saturday evening. A few of us took a tour of Bok Tower and Gardens. I had done this two years ago but enjoyed it and so did it again. John Hubbard bought an end table that he asked me to help him assemble. It took the two of us over two hours to complete it. If you add our labor, even at minimum wage, I wonder what the total cost would have been (lol). He treated for a pleasant Chinese lunch. Except for my day at Bok Tower I managed to spend at least an hour or two in the pool each day.

All was going well as I cleaned and put things away in preparation for driving to Titusville in the morning. I had a wash load going, the a/c on, and was watching the news as I prepared dinner. I was looking forward to tilapia, rice, and broccoli. The broccoli was in a steamer pouch that you could microwave. As soon as I hit the microwave button all the power in the rig went out. No problem, I put the solar inverter on. I let the a/c continue for a moment but then thought I better cut back on the electric usage and so turned it off. Dinner was great and I figured the camp ground had lost power. Wrong! By morning all electric in my rig was out and the batteries were drained. After breakfast, where I used a percolator in place of the electric coffee pot, I checked the camp ground connection. It seemed fine with power going through the surge protector. I reset the electric box and reset all the circuit breakers. Everything seemed fine but still no power in the rig. I hooked up and headed to a camping world a few miles from my destination. While driving, as I went over what had happened, I figured the inverter had to much current with all that I had working and must have blown something. Camping World was very nice checking out my rig almost immediately even though I popped in with no appointment and their bays were jammed solid. The two mechanics who checked it out were able to bypass the inverter and get shore power to my rig but the solar system was way more than they had ever worked on. They gave me the name and number of a company in Orlando that they refer their inverter work to. I drove to the Manatee Hammock cg in Titusville, which I had prepaid for five days, and set up. Then I called Buck at South East Power Systems. He spent some time on the phone with me trying to diagnose the problem. After a while he agreed that something inside the inverter may have fried. As soon as I gave him the make and size of my inverter he immediately knew the model number. That sure raised my confidence. He said I could bring it in early in the morning. I walked to the cg office to let them know what had happened. Rob offered me a refund, which my reservation clearly stated they do not give. I thanked him and said I would call from the shop. If they were able to fix it immediately I would simply drive back. If not he and I would work something out. The GPS said the ride was an hour. Driving through the Orlando morning traffic it took 1 1/2 hours of very unpleasant towing of my rig. Buck, the manager, was friendly and expecting me. He already had his electrician Mike on standby awaiting my rig. This company, South East Power Systems of Orlando, specialize in electrical, diesel, solar, including inverter work of any kind. Mike gave me a sort of class on electrical in general and my specific system as he took it apart. He fixed the overloaded circuits, tuned and thoroughly checked my system out. Three hours later my rig was better than new. He even corrected a minor flaw in the original installation. I heartily recommend this company to anyone needing any solar, electrical or diesel work. If anyone reading this is thinking of installing a solar system on their house or rig, these are definitely the people to do it!!

The cg was mostly quiet, except during the night when the nearby train whistles gave me a headache. It was pleasant and relaxing to stroll along the shore and chat with the many people fishing. When I drove into Titusville to get a haircut and do some food shopping I happened by the Titusville Playhouse. I smiled remembering the wonderful play Barbara and I saw there last year, Driving Miss Daisy. The actor playing the role of the chauffeur was especially good. That was a very nice day. The first three barber shops I found were permanently closed, along with lots of other shops throughout the area. The down sizing of NASA has really taken a toll on this area. Enchanted Lakes cg in Malabar is my last stop before spending time with my sons over Christmas week. This is a very quiet little cg. Its mostly permanents, very well kept with a nicely heated pool that felt like a warm bath, delicious. Bob & Lorna are very easy going park managers. The owner, Anne and her daughter Gina, are particular about who they let stay here (which doesn't account for why they let me in, lol). I would definitely stay here again. Quiet, friendly, close to the beach, food shopping, a Walmart, and several restaurants.

My sons Alex and Zack are coming down for Christmas week, we'll spend it at a Marriott resort in Orlando. My friends, the Calienes', Madeline, Armando, and their sons Eric & Andrew will be staying with us for a few days as well. They are great people to be around and my sons adore them. Marvin & Marvette let me leave my rig at their place in Port Orange over Christmas week while I'm in Orlando. They, along with Marvette's husband Kevin, are such great people. It was an easy drive up I-95 to Port Orange. On Sunday morning I joined them at church which was a very interesting experience. They go to the drive-in church of Daytona Beach. It's been around for over 50 years. It's a former drive-in movie theater which was converted to a very unique church. As we drove in we were handed a program and an all in one cup of wine with a communion wafer. There were about 500 cars. We turn to a specific radio channel and listen to the pastor and choir. The church encourages people to bring their dogs and actually goes around in golf carts with biscuits for the dogs that attend. When people especially enjoy some portion of the program they all toot their horns. Definitely a different kind of service. Afterward we went to the Port Orange pier for s delicious breakfast.

I arrived a little early for my sons plane and couldn't fit the truck in the parking garage (the truck is 7 1/2 feet high to the top of the light bar and the garage has only a 7 foot clearance). The airport does have a special holding area where vehicles coming to pick up passengers can hang out. While the airport traffic was horrible, it wasn't too difficult picking up my sons.  They were starving having not eaten since early morning and it was now 4pm. We were able to quickly check into the Marriott Gran Vista and then get some late lunch before actually going to our rooms. Over the next few days we spent time in the pool, Jacuzzi, and sauna every day but one. That was the day we spent at Universal. My sons love the roller coasters and seem to enjoy my dizzy I get from the upside down and inside out spinning. It was great having the Calienes' spend some time with us. These are fantastic people! We also enjoyed time in the pool, Jacuzzi, and sauna. We went to the four Disney parks in a single day, Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios. We arrived late morning and wore out our shoes (and feet) by the time we left at almost 4am!! The light and fireworks show at Epcot was amazing. If you've never been to the Hollywood Studio Park, it's worth a visit especially during the Christmas season when they have over 5 million lights coordinated to holiday music, truly incredible after dark. The week with my sons and friends flew by. We had great weather every day except the last when it turned a little colder and rained. What a great way to spend the holiday.

The drive back to Marvin's was easy. Dave Irons was parked next to me and we chatted a little before I passed out for the night. Our New Years party was fantastic. There were about 38 rigs with between 45 to 50 people, counting our hosts and their friends. Kevin is a great cook. We had barbecue chicken & ribs one night, hamburgers & hot dogs another, and pulled pork on New Year's day. Each meal had all the trimmings and great desserts. A traditional Southern New Year's meal of collard greens, black-eyed peas, and cornbread was enjoyed for lunch before we headed over to the Daytona Speedway for a special tour with Marvin Panch. For those who have never been to the speedway this is one incredible place. To give you an idea of its size the engineers had to consider the curve of the earth when designing the new grandstands. On race day there are an estimated 300,000 people including spectators, drivers, crew, staff, and maintenance. To have a tour with the 1961 Daytona 500 winner and one of the top 50 drivers of all time (Marvin Panch) is a very memorable experience. We danced for over four hours on New Year's Eve and listened to the singing and watched the gyrations of an Elvis impersonator the next evening. It's sad that this is the last year of what has been a great annual event for several decades. I consider myself fortunate to have been able to enjoy New Year's at Marvin's these past three years.

My last stop before drifting west is in Jacksonville to enjoy dinner and a show with my cousin Bobbie. Back again at the Alhambre dinner theater to see Pump Boys & the Dinettes. The show was great, good music, dancing, and high energy. Dinner was nice. What was best was spending some time with my cousin.