Horsing Around

Nine and a half hours of sleep! That's how much we got last night. It's so nice after only getting 5-6 hours for 30 years while working that we finally get to catch up some.

Pam and Dennis arrived in the park today for a week or so visit. Their trailer is about 150 feet from ours. Since they were traveling today (2 hours from Daytona) I had told them I would have dinner for them. It's always nice on travel day to not have to worry about making dinner. She started this tradition in September. I had put a pork butt in the crockpot and shredded it for sandwiches. Half went into Dave's World Famous BBQ Sauce and the other half stayed in the sauce it was cooked in (brown sugar, Worcestershire and apple juice). I heard no complaints. sammies were followed up with a fudge cake I had made this afternoon.

We all biked around the park, and even managed to throw a few horseshoes. I remember my dad and all of his brothers throwing horseshoes for hours at a time at our Grandma's house. Our arms were tired after each of us only throwing 3 of them.

I'm proud to say that I was the only person to throw a ringer.

After dinner we gathered around the campfire with Joe and Marilyn and Bob.

Phishing for Things To Do

I completely forgot to go exercise this morning. If I would have remembered I wouldn't have gone because I was trying to obtain Phish concert tickets for Michael since he was at work and not able to try to get them when they went on sale at 10:00cst today. I'm sorry to say I was unsuccessful in my attempt to get the apparently much-sought-after entertainment. After exchanging numerous text messages from Michael, we determined that ticket brokers had somehow managed to get all available tickets. This is so not right!

Anyway, after this we headed into Ocala for the much needed oil change at Ocala Ford and then grocery shopping and a stop at the produce stand. We bought a half flat of strawberries that were just picked this morning. They are so good.

Today I tried BINGO once again. I was always at least 3 numbers away from a bingo. It's so funny listening to fellow bingoers. At the table that Betty and I were sitting at, the complaint amongst the others gals was - "The same people always win - they have to be cheating!" Hello!! How does one cheat at bingo?? It drives me crazy. Three different people at the table next to ours won plus one of the winners also won the 50-50 raffle. Again - she was cheating.

If the weather would warm up I could just skip the Friday night entertainment and stay back at the trailer and have a campfire.

A few of our decorations in front of our trailer:

Marilyn made this for us. On the reverse side of the bear it says Merry Christmas.

These are the new cheesy whirlygigs we got for free at the Bass Pro Shop back home.

This frog is better than the petrified frog from Alabama that Mark found while cleaning out the basement of the 5th wheel earlier this week. Will we ever see the end of these dead critters?

WII Enjoy a Rainy Day

I forgot a funny sight from yesterday's blog. We were walking around the park yesterday afternoon. There's a driving range in the park and one person was on it - a lady in her late 50s I'm guessing. We weren't next to her, just viewing from a distance. All of a sudden she started doing a "happy dance" on the range. When we walked up I asked her if she hit a good shot and she said it was a perfect one. It's just very strange to see someone dancing on a range - especially by themselves.

The only bit of sun we had today - and that was at 6:45am. Five minutes later it started raining, and didn't stop until about 1:00pm.

We stayed inside until after lunch - reading and playing Wii darts. It was quite fun. After lunch we went to the Jai Alai joint for the OTB horse racing. Joe and Marilyn met us and the guys tried their luck. Only one winner but we had fun.

After dinner Joe and Marilyn came over for an evening of Wii bowling and darts. We were very loud and had lots of fun. The weather has cooled off so we didn't bother our neighbors too much.

Marilyn trying to pick a spare.

Joe watching Marilyn bowl.

Too Busy to Blog

Yesterday we were just too busy to write the blog, or rather too tired last night to compose. We headed up to Gainesville yesterday morning to golf at their municipal course. We really liked this course last year, but now remember why we quit going. Way too slow. We don't like to wait on other golfers for an entire round, but that's just what we did yesterday. The aggravation was too much, so we won't be returning.

Mark, waiting on the 3rd hole.

This is a nice course, right next to the runway of the Gainesville airport. Numerous times I tried to catch a large plane flying over, unfortunately I never had my camera with me at just the right time. This is the closest I came. It's a bit blurry, but you get the idea of just how close those babies are flying overhead. We could ready NAVY on the bottom of one, it was so close.

When we got back to the park Joe and Marilyn reminded us that it was Karaoke night. We don't normally attend but Joe said he was planning on singing so how could we refuse. The park is full of entertainer want-to-bes and they all sign up to sing. Most are quite good and are enjoyable to listen to. Others are just happy to find an audience and are having a good time. Joe sang Drop Kick Me Jesus and did the song proud.

We slept in this morning and just hung around the park. I did some laundry and then we spent about 45 minutes at the pool. It wasn't really a nice day - very cloudy and windy, but warm, so we got in.

Here's a great license plate I found on a car right by the laundry. I think it says it all.


Tonight we'll be trying our luck in two places - the euchre game and the Florida lotto/PowerBall. Hopefully we can be successful in one of them.

That Left Bower is a Trump!

It was a very busy day. It started off with exercise class and scrounging around for breakfast food. Mark decided to empty out the basement of the trailer and rearrange all of his stuff.

All that stuff on the ground came out of this storage area. Some went back, some went to the dumpster.

Mark had convinced me to sign up for an oil painting class that was held this afternoon. He thought that some of my Mom's talent might have worn off on me, so at 12:30 I headed off for my $5 lesson. Now I don't claim to have any talent, but I do believe the painting turned out ok. In fact, I went back and bought a frame to go with it.

After painting, it was off to the pool to cool off.

We rushed back to make dinner so we could get to our first official Euchre outing. This is a game mostly played up north and especially in Canada. We both had lots of fun. One of us had been harassed by numerous women for playing the wrong cards. I believe they were just flirting with my husband who is quite a bit younger than they are. We'll go back again, but probably not twice a week. This game requires a lot of moving around the room. You never have the same partner for more than one set (8 games in a set). It's a great place to meet people.

A Red Sport Coat and a Pink Carnation

It was a lay back and do nothing day. Even though we stayed up til midnight, I was up way too early - 6:30am. I must blame it on my three children (Yes, Ann - you married into this family and are now one of my children). Last night was Michael's surprise 30th birthday party. I awoke hoping and praying that everyone survived. It's not that I don't trust them - it's just that I remember the surprise 30th birthday party I threw for Mark, oh so many years ago. I seem to remember pantyhose, half-dressed people on the front porch, way too much alcohol, and the police!

The guys both checked in today and I needlessly lost that two hours of sleep I desperately needed. I assured Michael that 40 isn't much better - harder to recoup. He'll worry about that in ten more years.

We lounged about reading the paper most of the morning. The clouds never went away, but I'm happy to report, we did not get the SNOW that everyone back home got to enjoy today.

I finally got around to taking a picture of the first "treasure" we found from my sister. This gem was sitting on the headboard of our bed on the first night we got to sleep in it this year.

Oh my gosh! I think this was taken in 1972 or '73. I can't believe my mother let me out of the house. I do remember making that dress with the matching purse. I have no idea how my sis got this picture. Mark is quite the handsome dude, especially in those white patent leather shoes, matching belt and that bow tie.

Ah One and Ah Two

We slept in today so we missed the first three hours of the Grand Lake RV "yard sale." When we got to the numerous tables of treasures set up, there was nothing left to buy. This is a good thing since Mark is always complaining that we have too much stuff in the trailer, and we're weighing it down.

Today we decided to take all of the laundry into Ocala to a laundromat since I wanted to wash the bedspread and the machines here in the park are too small. We had the addresses of three places, and were relying on the TomTom to get us to at least one of them. The minute we got on I-75 Mark mentions something about the drying time of the bedspread. O rats! I had completely forgotten to take it off the bed. There was no way to turn around, as the closest ramp on and off I-75 was 9 miles away.

The first place was open, but had steel bars on all the windows. We kept on driving. The second place wasn't even a laundromat. The third was open, and tolerable (Mark disagrees - he said it was unbearable.) After an hour and a half, we left this establishment (never to return). The bedspread will just have to wait until we get back home.

We needed additional tent stakes and bungee cords for our new awning shade so we stopped into the flea market. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me, but there was this lady with her goat on a leash! It wasn't for sale, it was her pet.

We just love the new awning shade.
It was chilly late this afternoon.

When it gets to be really hot and sunny out, it will be great sitting under the shade. Today there just wasn't enough sun.

Tonight was our second stab at learning Euchre. I think we're ready for the big $1 game on Monday. When we got back to our trailer, Mark started watching everything on TV. He came across the 2006 World Series being broadcast on the Fox Sports channel out of Florida. It was game 2 when the Cardinals lost to Detroit before winning the Series a few days later. I guess Saturday night is a non-sports night in central Florida (the Orlando Magic must not be playing.)

Next he stumbled across Big Joe's Polka Show. He thinks our next RV park should have polka. AAAAHHHH (Can you hear me screaming?)

Healthy....Sorta

Another first for Florida - it was warmer at home yesterday than it was here! Thank you Dennis for sharing that info. This morning brought a third night in a row of below freezing. This hasn't happened in central Florida since 1989. Glad we could be part of that history. We did, however, golf this afternoon in shorts and short-sleeved shirts.

The temperature got up to 72 so we were happy, and the same is forecast for the next eight days. We golfed with Jim and Betty today. They are the only ones in the park who like to walk 18 holes like we do. Or maybe we're the only "cheap" ones. It's $14 each to walk 18. I just love golfing at the end of the daylight. It is always so peaceful out around 5:30pm.

We are really whipped after the 4+ mile trek around the golf course - my hips are screaming; Mark's feet and back are moaning also. Since we opted for the healthy walking, we treated ourselves to the $2.99 double cheeseburger value meal at McDonalds (we also had the apple pies). Not healthy, but oh so yummy!

I missed Bingo tonight. There was supposed to be an all male campfire, but we saw no evidence of one.

Is This Minnesota?

Are we really in Florida? This morning our water pipes were frozen when we woke up. Fortunately, I had put the water in the coffee pot last night. Even though we knew it was going to be in the 20s, we forgot to disconnect the hose. Mark dumped his hot coffee over the hose and it was quickly thawed. I'm not sure what the official temp was, but our outside thermometer read 25 when I got up at 7:45. I think it only got up to the upper 40s. I, of course, did not bring a winter coat to Florida; I do have two pairs of gloves and a head band. Mark was smarter than me - he wore the heavy coat all day.

We headed to yet another RV parts shop this morning to get the repair kit for the day/night shade. After an hour of messing with the darn thing, it's hanging up and working perfectly. When the other nine of them break, we'll know exactly what to do.

Jim and Betty were kind enough to teach us how to play Euchre this afternoon. It's a very popular card came in RV parks. Since no one plays Hearts or Spades, so we decided to learn the new game. Monday and Wednesday evenings are Euchre and Texas Hold Em nights in the park. After a two hour lesson, Jim and Betty said we were ready to play. We, however, did not feel quite sure about it so we decided that we would come and watch tonight, and next week we'd take the plunge.

After the spaghetti dinner at the Methodist church (at 4:30pm!!), we went to watch Euchre. After three minutes, I'd decided that we really were ready for prime time. Some people are VERY serious about this $1 per person per night game. We'll see how it goes next week.

Central Florida is expecting a "deep freeze" tonight. The water has been turned off to our trailer and the hose disconnected. We hear reports of "down in the teens." Again - are we really in Florida?

We Drove for Miles and Miles and Miles ...

Today was a very long day. During breakfast we discovered that one of the windows shades in the kitchen area was broken. Most RVs comee with these obnoxious day/night shades. One of the lines that keeps it all together had frayed, so we headed off to Lowes. Since we had been to Ocala numerous times in the past two weeks, we decided to head north to Gainesville. This was a threefold trip - we also were looking for the Ford dealer to get the oil changed, and we were pricing new tires for the truck as well.

Since we're not fond of the shades, we were mainly looking for mini blinds to replace the broken one. We bought wooden ones at Lowes, and then set off for tire prices and oil change. Mark was very specific about wanting only Michelin tires. The place in Gainesville was pushing a lower grade, but made by Michelin. We found the Ford dealership, but there was 1 1/2 hour wait, and we didn't want to wait. Ten minutes after leaving Ford, Mark discovered he didn't have his phone, so we headed back to Ford where someone was holding it for us. Finally we headed back to the RV park. It is always interesting driving through the middle of Gainesville where the University of Florida is located, seeing all the college students (freezing their buns off today).

Once we had lunch, Mark started on the replacement blinds. It turns out they wouldn't work so we bundled them up and I threw them back in the truck for a future visit to Lowes. Mark then investigated several websites for the repair of the day/night shade. He thought he had the fix - get No. 18 nylon or polyester cording, found in fabric stores or the drapery section of Hobby Lobby or JoAnn's Fabrics.

Since nothing was going on, Mark decided a half hour later that we should drive down to Ocala to price tires at Sams and look for the cording. We returned the blinds to Lowes, went to both craft stores, and three more tire places before leaving Ocala empty-handed. On the way back north we stopped at two different RV parts locations for the correct cording. Still empty-handed, we stopped in the Tractor Supply Center - we found it! Finally, something went right.

When we were almost back to the park, we got a call from John and Donna. They wanted to get together for one last time before they go home on Thursday. After several calls, we decided to meet at a pizza restaurant in Ocala. So a half hour later we once again drove down to Ocala, after filling up the truck. It was very thirsty for diesel ($2.46/gallon). Pizza was yummy (and John & Mark said so were the beers!)

So much for the inauguration of our new president - I had hoped to watch, but there's no tv in the cab of the truck, which is where we spent most of the day.

It Was All In the Wash

Yesterday we drove back down to The Villages area to meet John and Donna for what is probably the last time we see them while they are in Florida. We believe they are leaving to go back home later in the week. John had made us a tee time at a course none of us had played. We were supposed to tee off at 1:45, but luckily they were only about 8 minutes behind schedule. Normally this wouldn't have been a problem, but it gets quite dark here at 6:15pm. The two groups in front of us were extremely slow; they finally picked up the pace at about 5:55pm. It was speed golfing for the last two holes. By the time we got to the last hole, we couldn't see our shots. The course was beautiful and we hope to play again down there this winter - just not on a Sunday afternoon. We were forewarned about snakes on four of the holes. Fortunately we didn't see any. That is not the kind of wildlife I like to see.

Mark kept calling back home to see how Kurt Warner's team (Phoenix Cardinals) was doing. Since he was a fan favorite when he was with the Rams, we are pulling for Phoenix to win the SuperBowl in a couple of weeks. After dinner at a Mexican restaurant, we said our goodbyes to John and Donna and headed back up Hwy 441 to get to our RV park. We missed the Talent Night that was in the park last night - we didn't get back until after 9:00p. Maybe we make next month's talent night. And no, we won't be participating; just spectators.

Mark and a few of the guys went golfing today. It was very cloudy and windy, but they had fun anyway. Afterwards Joe and Marilyn convinced us to go to the pizza restaurant we had been to on Saturday. This time I had a salad. Of course - we ate at 4:30. I suspect we'll be hungry in a hour or two.

Tonight I did an uneventful three loads of laundry. No one to talk to get restaurant recommendations from. The hanging rod in the laundry room is getting pretty crowded with clothes left in the washers and/or dryers. Tonight it held four pair of men's colored briefs and a hanky. Gee - I wonder who did that laundry!

Waiting for Nothing?

Another chilly day in central Florida, but the sun was out and eventually it warmed up enough that I could sit outside and read. Today was catch-up day with all of our friends in the park. For various reasons, i.e. not-so-great weather, and we had been to Tampa for a couple of days, and some of our friends had been in the hospital this week, we all had lots of catching up to do.

After listening to hospital stories, I've decided that if we need non-heart attack related help, we will be making the 16 hour drive home for medical assistance. It seems that if you are from out-of-state and Medicare eligible, the hospital will order many non-symptom related tests and give out antibiotics and pain pills because they "come with the room." This is why we younger baby boomers worry about Medicare and Social Security being around by the time we reach 62. Fortunately for us, we appear to be healthy, except for our age-related aches and pains.

Since we were out of lunch food and didn't want to make the 28 mile round trip to the grocery store, we headed over to a new restaurant about 3 miles aways. We had heard wonderful things about the pizza. It turns out, every thing we heard was correct. Since we were very hungry, Mark ordered us a dozen hot wings and an extra large 16" bacon double cheese burger pizza. It was fabulous. I'm embarrassed to say, we ate all but 4 slices of the pizza. The young man waiting on us came over when we were finished and exclaimed, "Oh my gosh - I can't believe you two ate all that." We immediately came back to the park and walked for almost 4 miles!

Dinner was my attempt at replicating the delicious soup my brother Jerry had made for Christmas. I believe I matched it almost perfectly, except for the pork sausage that he added. It was a package of Bear Creek brand cream of potato soup mix, with corn and lots of cheese added in, along with a few spices. After we ate what we wanted, we packed up the left overs and took it down to Joe and Marilyn. It was a perfect meal for a chilly day.

Around 7:30 tonight, we put on the jackets, and I bundled up in a heavy blanket, and took the new binoculars the kids bought us for Christmas and attempted to spot the rocket that was supposed to have been launched from the Kennedy Space Center around 7:30 tonight. We gave up after 10 minutes because it was too cold to stand outside, and we weren't really sure if it was even launched. It's been postponed for several nights in a row. We'll find out on the 11:00 news in another 45 minutes.

Sham WOW!

At 7:00 Thursday morning we found ourselves headed south on I-75 headed to Tampa for America's Largest RV Show to arrive in time for the 9:00am opening. It was a two hour drive for us (which included a Burger King breakfast along the way.) We were meeting up with Pam and Dennis to check out all the RVs we could never afford plus all the vendor booths offering Sham-Wahs, 400 count RV sheets, and brochures from every campground in North America. Even though we were coming from two different parts of Florida, we managed to arrive within 2 minutes of each other, and park six cars apart. No small feat since thousands show up for this spectacle.

We found motor coaches that sell for over a million dollars, down to truck campers for a mere ten thousand dollars. There is truly something for everyone - if you have the money. One of our favorites, appropriately named Veranda:

Mark and Dennis look quite dashing on the slide out veranda!

The only purchase, outside of the over priced hot dog and hamburger, was a screen that will attach to our awning. I'll post pictures once we install it.

Around 4:00pm Pam and Dennis headed back to their RV park since they had pets waiting for them. We headed to the Hilton where we had made a reservation. Since we celebrated our anniversary this week, we decided to treat ourselves to a hotel that had a working hot tub - especially since we had been walking for seven hours around the Florida fairgrounds. The weather was very cloudy and cool (60ish) all day. The mad dash outdoors to get in the tub was chilly, but well worth it! We kept jumping in the pool to cool off. Everyone who passed by took the time to tell us we were nuts.

Next was the Seminole Hard Rock casino for dinner and a shot at the slot machines. The food was very good; the casino was not. The entire state of Florida is smoke-free - except the Indian casinos! I think the casino was maxed out on their occupancy capacity. We have never seen so many people in one place. Most slot machines are nickel, dollar, five dollar, and up. We, of course, only like the penny ones. Mark said he saw a few, but none were open to play. Upon finding an empty 2 cent machine, we lost $5 immediately. We walked throughout the entire place, and finally found an empty nickel machine. That took slightly less than 5 minutes to lose another $5, so we got up and left. The parking lot was like the day after Thanksgiving at the Galleria where everyone fights for a parking spot. We're pretty sure we'll never go back there again. Just not worth the hassle.

This morning we got up and took the scenic route home, checking out RV parks along the way for next year. Pam and Dennis had been doing the same thing for the past week, so we had our minds made up on where we wanted to look. The criteria was grocery stores, golf courses, and Walmart within five miles, a heated swimming pool, and the park not being filled with all extremely old RVers. We believe we have found a perfect one for next year. It is 100 miles south of where we are now. That should make it a lot warmer. Yesterday Mark had to scrape the ice off the windshield before we could leave! That's a first for us in FL.

We made it back to our park by 5:00pm, in time to get the weekly mail we receive from the USPS. Now we're totally worn out and trying hard to stay awake until 11:00pm.

I Jumped like a Frog

It was quite cold this morning but it turned out to be a gorgeous day. The sun made an appearance after being gone since Saturday. Since it was so cold outside, we had a lot of condensation on the windows. Behind our two recliners we have one large window (5' x 4'). I notice that the carpet was wet in a couple of places. I raised up the shades on this window, and to my surprise found yet another "treasure" on the window sill. I believe Pam and Dennis are innocent of this one.

Yes, another petrified frog that somehow made it to Florida by way of Georgia and Alabama! Since this window is behind the chairs, we never raise or lower the shade as it's too hard to get to. I believe I jumped a foot when I saw this. Mark just laughed.

We biked around the park talking to everyone since we'd all been holed up in our trailers for the past two days. It was nice enough that we sat outside for several hours this afternoon without jackets.

Laundry duty was uneventful. I do have a story from last week's cleansing of clothes. Some elderly lady was recalling a story where someone had stolen all of her hangers when she walked back to her trailer for 10 minutes. Her comment was, "Most RVs in this park are worth $80-400 thousand dollars. Someone can't afford ten hangers for a dollar from the Dollar General store!" She had a point. Some people are just cheap, no matter what. In the rally hall where the exercise classes are held, there's a kitchen. The same man comes in every single morning and empties the ice from the automatic ice maker in the freezer. Too cheap to buy a bag for $1.25!

No post tomorrow - we're headed to Tampa for the largest RV show in America and a visit to the Hard Rock casino to try and recover some of the money we lost in the stock market. We are spending the night and looking at RV parks near Clermont on Friday.

Singing in the Rain

The rain finally stopped around 4:00pm today. It had been raining for over 24 hours. Around 4:05p we were out of the trailer and walking around.



This morning we headed to Sam's in Ocala. Mark was looking for his favorite shorts and some munchies. They weren't giving out much food today. One thing they do have that our Sam's at home don't is - their own chicken salad made out of left over rotisserie chickens. It was fabulous. We didn't buy because we weren't coming straight home. Next time we'll have a cooler with us.



When we got back Mark had to "winterize" the hose. For the next three nights we'll be down in the 20s.

After dinner we walked up to the club house to check out the karaoke. We stayed for about 5 songs. That was more than enough. Some of us are smart enough to know better than to sing outside of the shower.

They Said It Would Never Last

Today is our 35th wedding anniversary! It started early. At 3:15am we awoke to the wind whipping our awning. We finally went outside and took the darn thing down. The full moon was beautiful; unfortunately the clear sky didn't last long.

After exercising, we headed to the grocery store since we have no food. My breakfast was four strawberries. We decided to try out a different Chinese buffet for lunch since we knew we wouldn't want to go back out this evening for dinner. It was ok - not great, but better than any other we've had in Florida.

Around noon it started raining, and it has been storming ever since. Note - not a complaint, merely an observation. I know that Michael is up in Chicago in the snow storm, so he's got the worst of all of us.

Since we weren't going out in the weather, I decided to defrost the freezer (I accidentally left the freezer door open all night last week and it created quite a mess.) After defrosting, I rearranged all the cabinets and scrubbed the floors. I was afraid that if I stopped and sat down, I'd nap. I didn't want to do that - I need a good night's sleep, unlike last night.

We just finished our soup and sammie dinner. Later will be strawberry shortcake. We already had a flat of berries - just needed the whipped cream and shortcakes. We're set!

It Always Wears Us Out

We thought today was going to be sunny and 80. We were wrong, or rather the weather forecasters were wrong. We were meeting John and Donna at a golf course where none of us had ever played. It was about 40 miles south of us - a Del Webb community course; four 9-hole courses surrounded by thousands of almost identical Florida-style houses. It seemed like 3 of every 10 had For Sale signs on them. ( We're not in the market!)

Here's what you don't see at home - the cheapest golf of the week is on Sundays; at least where we played today. Another thing we've noticed - some RV dealers or car dealers are closed on Saturdays but open on Sundays.

Our tee time was 12:07p but the morning's fog delayed things for a little while. We finally teed off at 12:25. It was a wonderful course. The only complaints we had were - no cart girl to bring around refreshments. There was only one water fountain, and that was on the first tee box of both nines we played. The other complaint was only one bathroom per nine. We got done in the mandatory 4-hour round. The weather was 70s and cloudy, with a few sprinkles thrown in for good measure.

After golf we drove through an RV park right across the street from the course. We'll keep that in mind for next year, as it was nice and just 10 minutes from the Villages. We then headed off to Chili's for dinner. We beat the 5:30p deadline for the "early bird" dinners. The food is always great, and the 2-fers beer and bloody marys were even better!

We then filled up for the low price of $2.39/gallon for diesel. This is the lowest we've paid since we filled up at home for $2.09. Gasoline is high down here too - usually $1.79. They never got as low as the $1.19 that is sitting in my Toyota back home.

We didn't win last night's PowerBall either. I'm fighting to stay awake until 10:00pm tonight. It's gonna be tough. We're pooped.

Stuff n Berries

After breakfast this morning, Mark set off on his bike while I did some bill-paying, etc. on the laptop. I also started printing out the 2009 blog entries to mail to my parents. They love (I think) hearing about our day to day activities. Last year my sister mailed this copies - this year I will be mailing since Pam has created her own blog and will be mailing those off herself. Anyway - the printer jammed, ran out of ink, and then went berserk. An hour later Mark showed up for a second, and got it to start printing. The first sheet came out in a foreign language. Modern technology is a wonderful thing.

Once I got my paperwork done, I set off to mail the envelope to the parents. I found Mark a mere 4 RV sites away - that was as far as he made in. Not a workout, but he got to chat it up with the folks in our little area.

We spent a couple of hours in the pool, and then we drove six miles to the local produce stand for something to put in our salads, as well as strawberries and Mark's gigantic grapefruits.

Back in the park, I headed off to do the dreaded laundry. I honestly don't know any person on the face of this earth who enjoys feeding way too many quarters into two machines that provide, for the most part, clean and mostly dry clothes!

The joint was empty when I arrived so I quickly started loading up four of the six machines. Then I proceeded to drop my little quarter container onto the floor where they scattered throughout the entire room including under machines. I believe I lost at least a dollar's worth. Once I got the last machine loaded, a fellow RVer showed up with about six loads. She was extremely P-Od that I had just started on four of the six machines. Early bird gets the worm.

She turned out to be an extremely friendly lady who has lived in this area for the past 12 years. I was able to get the names of a few Chinese restaurants out of her for future reference, as well as her 59 year's life history all in about 40 minutes.

While I was BBQing burgers, Mark was in charge of dessert. Since we had bought a flat of strawberries, he cleaned up about a quart of them. He came up with his own version of chocolate covered strawberries, which were wonderful. We had received from a couple of different people for Christmas, those wonderful Lindt Lindor Truffles. These are heaven on earth white, dark, and milk chocolate balls filled with liquid chocolate. The white ones are new this year. Anyway, if you bite off half the ball, and then stuff a strawberry into it - it's an instant chocolate covered berry.

Fortunately for our waistlines - we only have five of these truffles left. We reasoned that if you combine fruit and chocolate, it's actually healthy - kinda like pizza and diet soda.

It Takes A Village

Yesterday we got back too late to the park to tackle the blog, so today's will be more newsworthy. We left the park yesterday around noon to find a used book store for Mark. The TomTom GPS couldn't find it, and a phone call to the store resulted in a response from someone who works there: "I have no idea where we are - I just started working here." Ok - I guess she put me in my place. No more searching for used, next we'll just buy new.

We were supposed to meet John and Donna where they are staying in Lady Lake around 3pm. We were early, so we stopped off at a "discount" golf shoe store along the way. The sale prices were $100+. Needless to say, we did not buy. A very nice teller at a Bank of America gave us directions to a Barnes & Noble in The Villages. What a place. We had never been to The Villages and were very impressed by the 55+ community (Actually it's a very large city where all the wealthy people congregate for the winter.) It's not for us, but most impressive. Most vehicles are customized golf carts. They have tunnels underneath all the streets; their own side street in some places, and their own speed limit signs - 10mph.

There are dozens of stores and restaurants in The Villages. These golf carts take up regular parking spots at the grocery stores, etc.




After finding the book store and buying new books, we headed off to find John & Donna. Donna made us a wonderful dinner. After cleaning up, we donned our warm clothes and headed back to the same area in The Villages that we had been to earlier in the afternoon. Every night between 5-9pm they have live concerts in the two town squares. Everyone gets up and dances. Two sides of the square were filled with line dancers. They are amazing to watch. I think they practice at least 5 hours a day. The other two sides are just dancers like the rest of us. Last night we were treated to 50s and 60s rock and roll. Hundreds of retirees dancing the night away. It was fabulous!

We stayed until around 8:30 which was when we started freezing. We then had to head back for the hour long commute to our park.

Today we golfed with Joe and Marilyn. Lots of laughs, and unfortunately - lots of high scores.

After BBQd pork steaks, I headed to the Friday night bingo - my winning streak has ended. While I was bingoing, Mark hosted the all-male Friday night men's fire gathering. I think I'll crash it next week.

Now It's Camping

Yesterday my sister and her husband came to the RV park for a one-night visit. They were kind enough to bring old fire wood for us. When we were in Atlanta last week, Dennis gave us a bunch of wood. Unfortunately, we can't have BIG bonfires - only small ones. The first time we tried to burn this green wood, all it did was smolder. After making dinner for Pam and Dennis, we tried out the new old wood. We used one fake log that my mom had given us for Christmas, and piled on 3 pieces of wood. It was wonderful, and lasted several hours.

Now we are truly "camping."

This morning we finally had rain. The State of Florida is begging for rain (we are not). Luckily the rain only lasted for half an hour; the 50mph wind gusts lasted all day and the temperature went from 75 to 50 in about 2 minutes. After Pam and Dennis left this morning we headed into Ocala to find the Chamber of Commerce to get a map of the city. While the GPS is wonderful when it gets us somewhere, we really don't know where we are. We were in search of used book stores. Unfortunately, we never found one - or at least one that we were willing to go inside.

There is a tiny Methodist church about 5 miles from here. On three Wednesdays a month between 5:00 and 6:30pm, they have an all-you-can-eat Spaghetti dinner. No set price - just a donation. It was wonderful. Garlic bread, spaghetti with a choice of three different sauces, salad, homemade desserts, and non-alcoholic beverages. We arrived at 4:45p with Joe and Marilyn. There was already a line of 20 people. The doors were opened at around 4:50p and within 10 minutes, the line was out the door. It seems most of the people eating were from our RV park. While we don't like eating before at least 6:30 - especially on Eastern time - we made an exception because it was a great deal. Yep - we're old. We'll be looking for more food by 9:00 tonight. Next Wednesday is soup night - we'll be skipping that one.

Florida now has Powerball. They have been advertising like crazy for this. Sunday was the first day anyone could buy a ticket. Later tonight we will find out if Mark gets a new Ford 4-door 1-ton dually.

Golf at Last

Today was our first golf game for the year. We met John and Donna at a course that was almost mid-way between where they are staying and our park. It was good to get their perspective on wintering in Florida. It seems their days are being filled up by others in their park. I guess they'll have to rest up when they go back home in a couple of weeks.

The weather today was absolutely fabulous - sunny and mid-80s. I think we might have set a record for this day. The golf course was extremely crowded. Our tee time was 12:15, but we didn't get to tee off on the first hole until 12:45pm. Since we had no place we had to be, it didn't really bother us. However, since it was slow playing, we didn't get done until almost 6:00pm, which meant it was almost dark. Our scores weren't great, but we had a lot of laughs and even a few great shots.

Golf was followed up with dinner at one of our favorite places down here - Sam's St. John's Seafood. The fried shrimp and Mark's stuff flounder were wonderful. Not diet food, but it sure was good.

Tomorrow will be our day to rest!

Good Eats

The joys of sleeping in - Mark managed to sleep in until 9:00 this morning. He was so well rested that he decided to wash the entire trailer. We are now clean and black-streak free once again. For some reason, these black streaks that run down from the roofs of trailers seem to drive owners insane (well, most owners). We'd had them since Gulf Shores in September, but were unable to wash them off until we got to Florida.

Mark then rewarded himself with one of his favorite pastimes:

Today was the first really sunny day that we've had to take a dip in the 85 degree heated pool. It was only a 2 hour visit since we hadn't had any sun in several months and didn't want to burn.

Once the sun started to go down, we did our 3-mile walk. The park has a "Walking Club." We mark down on a sign-up sheet how many miles we walk every day. Once someone gets to 100 miles, they get a Grand Lake Walking Club t-shirt. As a good friend of ours always said, "If it's free, it's for me!" We'll get those t-shirts in a couple of months.

I must give credit for our delicious dinner tonight to my friend Sally. She had emailed two crock pot recipes to me a few weeks ago. This dinner was browned pork chops topped with a can of Chicken and Rice soup, on low for 6-8 hours. It was fabulous. A crock pot is an RVers best friend.

Monkey Butt Powder - Huh?

Something we just don't see at Lowe's or Home Depot at home - Monkey Butt Powder. Yep - we found it on sale for $4.99, on the shelf at the local Tractor Supply Center. The name pretty much says it all. In reading the fine print, we discovered this miracle powder prevents chafing.

We drove quite a few miles south to check out different golf courses we hadn't tried last year. We found a couple and even made a tee time for Monday when we will catch up again with John and Donna.

Along the way we found two new-to-us flea markets. We stopped in the Marion County Flea Market. This was twice the size of the market we visited last year. Since it was such a nice day, we decided to return on a rainy day to check out all the treasures. We did walk through the produce aisle and sampled the wares - between the two of us, I think we had 3 oranges, a tomato, and half a grapefruit. You just can't beat Florida produce.

We also visited Steve's World Famous produce for the second time in three days to stock up on gigantic grapefruits, strawberries, and green beans. We're fooling ourselves into thinking we are eating healthy. Unfortunately all the fruit is usually followed up with candy and/or cookies. Losing the desired 25 lbs. is going to be extremely hard to do.

After dinner we returned to the main club house for the Prime Cuts Country music and dance. The only difference from previous evening's entertainment is the cost - we must now pay $5.00 each to enjoy.

Feeling the Burn

After sleeping in until 8:00 this morning, I went to Stretch & Tone while Mark walked around the park. I had the Ipods packed away so he was forced to walk without music. While this is not a bad thing, it just means that you must stop and talk to everyone along the way. Good intentions of a two mile walk turn into a 300 yard walk with many conversations.

Shortly after noon we had a wonderful visit from John and Donna who will be a mere 40 minutes south of us for the next couple of weeks. We plan on getting together often starting Monday with our first round of golf.

This evening the men gathered at the fire pit while the women went their separate ways to either play bingo or Texas hold-em. I opted for bingo. I was lucky enough to split a bingo and won enough to play again next Friday.

Yesterday I mentioned the "treasures" my sister had hidden around our trailer. I stumbled upon this one today - I hoping she didn't really leave it for us.

When we were together in Gulf Shores this past September, the park was inundated with small green frogs. It seems this little guy ended up in the trailer behind a chair (I hope).

A New Year, A New Story

If it's January, we must be in Florida! Yes, we have made it to our winter home. We left St. Louis on Monday, December 29 and headed to Cartersville, GA - a mere 25 minutes from my sister's house which is an hour north of Atlanta. We got the trailer out of storage and set it up at the KOA. Since we had all gone to Gulf Shores, AL in September, we had decided to leave the trailer in storage in GA to save on fuel going back and forth. We're already contemplating the same for next year since it worked out so well. Of course - our sincere thanks to Pam and Dennis for winterizing and periodically checking on the trailer since we were 500 miles away. We've been discovering "treasures" that they've hidden around the house. Very funny.

After two nights in GA, we left the KOA at 4:30am yesterday to make sure we got through downtown Atlanta while the daily commuters were still in bed. This meant we rolled into the RV park around 12:30pm. There was no "ringing in the New Year" for us - sound asleep at 9:00pm EST. Yes, back on Eastern time zone.

The second day was spent setting up the satellite dish and trying to get it to work. We will never understand how something so simple can almost wreck friendships, cause gastro intestinal distress and ruin entire mornings. But.....finally it is working. This was followed up with a minor fight with the Wii. All electronic things are actually working now so even if a cold snap comes or a rare rainy day we will have plenty to occupy ourselves.

In mid-December, we received a text message from our oldest son letting us know that his pet goose decoy was missing from his front yard. He suspected fowl play. It was wearing a red Christmas bow and they were hoping for a safe return. After walking around the park this morning we believe we found the missing fella and we also think we know why he flew south.



Obviously his attraction to the south was very strong!