Storms Never Last, Do They Baby

Today the most prominent sound heard around the park was awnings being rolled up and chairs being stowed away. The weather people are predicting a fairly strong storm to come through here tonight, sometime after midnight. The wind gusts are supposedly going to be as high as 54mph. It was at least 25mph all day. For a while tonight the stars were bright and beautiful, but at 9:30p the clouds had taken over. The forecasted storm is also going to bring in a cold front with a high of the low 60s tomorrow.

After taking up the awning this morning, we tackled the gas grill. It was caked with two months worth of BBQ "junk." What a messy job.

As soon as we finished our lunch we headed to the pool since it was supposed to get into the 80s. As expected, it was wonderful. Mark only stayed a short while, but I lounged about taking in all the ridiculous conversations around the pool. Loads of people are unhappy with the management and are going elsewhere next year. One of the big complaints is about the DOG HATER fanatics. These people are making everyone else miserable, (and also themselves). The dog haters feel that dogs should do their bodily functions only in the area of their owner's RVs. Try telling a dog that. They also feel dogs should not walk anywhere! These same dog haters then complain to the manager in the park, and even go so far as to send letters to the main office in NY with their complaints. Why don't these people just stay in their home towns, in their own dog-free houses?

We opted out of the country music group that plays twice a month - they were playing tonight. Since Mark had his big bingo winnings last night, we decided to go out to dinner. We revisited Rocky's Villa - the Mexican/Italian joint about 2 miles away that we frequented a few times last year. The tortellini alfredo was fabulous. I brought half of it home for lunch tomorrow. Mark ate all of his baked ravioli.

We then stopped by the Jai Alai to place one .10 superfecta bet on a horse race. Wonder of all wonders - the horses Mark picked came in! Our winnings for this race were $24.25! Woohoo. We took the money and ran - straight back to the trailer.

We're now awaiting the "storm of the century" - hopefully the tornadoes, hail, and 54mph winds stay north of us!

Trolling for Dollars

Today was a fabulous day. It was 80 and sunny and no wind. We went up to the pool around 11:30. Today was the first time all winter I took my raft to the pool. We thought it would be mobbed, but that wasn't the case. Joe and Marilyn and Jim and Betty showed up shortly after us.

This park is known for disregarding most, if not all rules it has published. Today Mark and Jim were notified by the pool manager that they had broken a rule - no food by the pool. They were two of about 10 people eating at the pool. It's like driving 80 mph down the highway with 20 other cars, and you being pulled over for speeding. We finally rode back to the trailer.

During the afternoon we stopped to talk to our friends Dan and Judy, who we had met last year. They are the most accident-prone people we know. Last year Judy fell out of her motorhome. A few weeks later Dan fell off a ladder while washing his motorhome. Yesterday they were hit with yet another bizarre accident. Dan was weed eating around his trailer. A piece of the nylon wire that is at the end of the weed eater broke off and drove straight into his leg. He tried pulling it out with a pliers with no success. His wife, who happens to be a retired nurse, also tried. They ended up at the ER in Ocala for six hours getting this lime green piece of nylon out of his calf. I guess this is why there are warnings on these pieces of yard equipment telling users to protect their legs.

Tonight Mark and Jim decided to go to bingo with me and Betty. Both of these newbies won! Jim won a regular bingo and got $35. Mark won the final game - a cover all. He won $64. What made it so funny was when Betty put one of her Saint Christopher coins next to Mark's bingo card. He had been complaining that he needed some troll good luck dolls. Mark had also been commenting that bingo is so boring. I guess he won't complain next week!

Phone People Are Everywhere

Yesterday Mark and I headed up to Gainesville to golf at the Meadowbrook Country Club. The course was much better than the one we played on Monday, so we were happy. Two complaints that I had - there were no bathrooms (outhouses) on holes 1-9. This is not good since I'd had about 3 cups of coffee. The second complaint was, we got behind two VERY SLOOOOW men who wouldn't let us pass through. We'll definitely go back, since it appears to be the only course we can ever get on - I'll just skip the coffee in the morning.

After golf we pigged out at a Macaroni Grille in Gainesville and then we had to grocery shop. By the time we got back to the park it was 4:00pm. Just in time to do laundry. I had all the machines to myself so it went fairly quick. While in there, I met a couple from Wisconsin - he was a telephone company (GTE) retiree! Small world out there.

Last night we watched the re-run of the WGC golf tournament. It was good to watch Tiger again.

Today we made a trip to the post office, the fruit stand, and back to the park. The pool was calling to us, so we went. Jim and Betty were there also. We all froze when we got out, even though it was 75 degrees; the wind was about 30mph. We biked back to the park to get warm and then settle in to watch golf yet again.

While the "banjo man" went to lessons, I made dinner and watched Tiger lose. So sad, but he'll be back again.

Rattlin' Them Bones

Yesterday was a VERY chilly day but it was the day we had scheduled a round of golf with Jim and Betty. They had never played at the Williston Golf and Country Club. Yikes! This course was in terrible shape. We had played here once before in January where it wasn't too bad. I guess all the hard freezes killed off the greens but not the poanna grass/weeds that seem to grow on every green. I did not dress appropriately for the cold weather - I even forgot my windshirt, but at least I had on pants. Monday did not meet my criteria of 60/sunny/and no wind.

Mark was talking to the greenskeeper when we finished; he told Mark that all of the greens will have temporary greens in front of them (yesterday there was only one and a half temp ones) because they are going to kill off all greens - he claims they will be perfect next year. We'll take his word on that since we won't be here next year.

Last night Mark practiced his banjo while I went to play euchre. The winning score for women was around 60. I, personally, got a whopping 20. I had fun, even though I couldn't get any good cards.

We also got calls from both boys. Michael was unfortunate enough to break his foot/ankle on Saturday night. Yesterday he got a cast from his knee to his toes. I'm so sorry for him. Good news for him though, I guess he won't be traveling for a while. Then Dennis informed us that our neighbor at home has put her house up for sale. This is not good. This lady has lived next to us for the past 30 years and we'll miss her a lot. She always watched the house for us while we were gone.

Today was a lot warmer, but still cool. In fact, too cool to get in the pool. We mostly just hung around the park. Mark spent quite a while chatting with Mario, the guy across the street from us and a retired telephone man. He and his wife are from Long Island, NY. Mostly Mario just stands outside his trailer smoking his big fat cigar and drinking wine. What a life. Unfortunately - those cigars reek!

It was another fun evening at karaoke. The same people sing every week, and some sing the same songs every week, but it's still entertaining. Tonight Marilyn was working up the courage to get up and sing but we left to watch some of President Obama's address to Congress.

Tomorrow we're off to check out yet another golf course - this one up in Gainesville. It was a mediocre course last year; we have hope for this year. I don't know where all the golfers came from this year, but every course I try to get a tee time for, they're all busy.

Two Wheelin' in Paradise

It's been more than two days since we've left the park. Saturday was a lazy lounge around the park day. It wasn't warm enough for a swim so we just visited everyone. We tried (well, not too hard) to bike ride but we didn't get too far. After lunch we spent two hours visiting with John and Francis. Francis fell out of her motor home four weeks ago and broke her arm up high near her shoulder. They were unable to set it, so she's been in a sling ever since the fall. She will finally start therapy tomorrow.

After that visit we biked down to see if Jim and Betty were back in the park. They, like us, are in search of a new park for next year. They were home so we visited with them for a couple of hours. We set up a golf game with them for Monday morning. Hopefully I'll remember how to play since it's been about three weeks.

It was then dinner time and then my trip down to the laundromat. No one does laundry on Saturday nights, which is just fine with me. It was almost boring.

Today was another lazy day. After lunch we put our suits on and headed up to the pool, even though it was only 65 degrees and partially sunny. Unfortunately, this park has an extremely stupid rule - they turn off the heater for the pool when the temperature gets below 50 degrees. This makes no sense to anyone. Now it will take two more days to warm it up. So we then visited a couple of hours with Joe and Marilyn, and even managed to bike a while.

In fact, we biked over the to Jai Alai to bet on just one horse race. Mark only had a couple of bucks in his wallet. I'd like to say we won, but of the four horse superfecta bet, only three of them placed. We never did find out what happened to that number four horse.

It was then back to the TV to see if Phil Michelson could lose yet another golf tournament on a Sunday afternoon. He made it exciting until the bitter end, but managed to hang on and win. We were pulling for Freddy Couples.

Tonight we went to "Talent Night" in the rally hall. It started off as the Prime Cuts Country Band that always plays, but quite a few other people blessed us with their talents. Mark even got to hear one of the guys in the park play the banjo for a few songs. That was fun to hear. We wish we had some of the talent (or cajones) that these people have!

Looking To The Future

After exercise class Mark and I headed south on I-75 to Bushnell, FL. There is an RV park that is owned by the same company that owns the park we are staying in this winter. We are constantly on the lookout for a different park for next year. We waited for an iffy weather day, which was today, and went out to investigate. Bushnell is just at an hour south of our current location. The RV park there is a bit larger than our current one, and also a little bit more expensive. There are restaurants, gas stations, and a Walmart right next door. We figure we could spend more on the park, because we wouldn't be driving 25-40 miles round trip for every single trip to anywhere.

After driving through half of the park, we got out and walked through the game room and the laundromat where we stopped to talk to a lady doing her laundry. She had been in the park for the past 6 years but was going to move on next year because there was "not enough going on in this park." This is not a problem for us because we don't usually do most of the activities in any park. I just need a library, puzzles, and a swimming pool. This park has it all. We stopped and talked with the manager, whom we had met several times before at various RV shows. She was most anxious for us to make a down payment for next year. She'll just have to wait.

We're leaving Orange Lake, FL the end of March and heading over to Texas for about a month, with a week's visit to the park we stayed in for our first two winters being retired. We figure that after this stay, we'll be able to figure out which state we want to winter in next year - provided the stock market doesn't crash and leave us all broke!

Once back in Ocala, we found the RV service company that Mark had been speaking to several times about packing the wheel bearings and checking the brakes on the trailer, before we leave for TX. We set up an appointment for March 20. That will require us packing up everything and taking the trailer about a half hour away, for an 8:00am appointment. They told us it would only take a couple of hours. Breakfast at a restaurant - woohoo!!

We then stopped at the Sweetbay grocery store. Note to Pam and Dennis: I found a one dollar bill in the parking lot. (No coins for us.) This is the first money I've found all winter. I had to practically push Mark out of my way getting to the darn thing on the ground. Usually while walking at home, I find at least a quarter a day.

It's going to be yet another freeze here tonight. The news tonight commented on how this has been the coldest winter in Florida since 1984. Wow. Glad we're here to witness this event. At least it isn't snowing though.

Windy, Winded and Blowin' In The Wind

Wednesday was a very windy day. Mark, Joe, Bob, and Gayle left the park at 9:30a for what was supposed to be a fun day of golf. Mark claims he "golfed like he's never held a club in his hands before." I think it's too much "guy" golf and not enough "wife" golf. The 25-40mph winds probably had something to do with the bad golf.



While he golfed, I started defrosting the freezer. Thank goodness for hair dryers. I know the fridge manuals say to never use a hair dryer, but who has 8 hours to wait while it defrosts naturally. Not me - I didn't have a cooler to put the food in.



Once done with that monthly chore, I went out and walked for several miles. I even tried jogging a while. I don't understand why I can run on a treadmill but not out on the streets. My breathing gets all messed up outside - or maybe it's because I'm singing out loud when outdoors. I'm going to keep working on it though.



At times during the day I was worried about the winds. We usually take the awning in when there are strong winds, but we didn't this time. Since we bought the new shade, it keeps the awning a lot sturdier. It kept making loud noises, and I thought the trailer was going to tip over. Once Mark got home we took it down, along with help from two of our neighbors.



It was then time to go to the Methodist church for spaghetti dinner. Each time we go, we get there earlier and earlier. The posted hours are 5:00-6:30pm. We arrived at 4:30 and were on our way back to the park at 5:10pm. We weren't even close to being the first people in line. As always, we stuffed ourselves.



Today started out rainy and windy so we headed down to Ocala. I wanted to get by Dillards for the Estee Lauder bonus time, plus I was out of moisturizer. I counted about 15 employees in this very tiny, yet only a couple of years old, stand-alone store. I only counted 3 customers.



By the time we made it back to the park for lunch, the skies had cleared up so we headed to the pool. It was wonderful. It's going to be cold for a couple of days so we figured we needed to get there today.



As I type, Mark is about 10 miles away for his second banjo lesson. Last week's first lesson was supposed to be an hour long. He was gone for three hours. Luckily the instructor only charges a flat fee. I think they tend to gab a bit. As luck would have it, he just pulled in. It was just over an hour today! He's just apologized to me for how it's going to sound this week!

All Their Bags Are Packed

Yesterday was house cleaning day. Mark and the guys left to golf at 9:30. When I got back from exercising, I started cleaning. I got on my hands and knees to scrub the linoleum floors, vacuumed, and cleaned the bathroom from top to bottom. I also got all the tax papers together and watched a couple of shows I had previously recorded - all before Mark returned around 3pm.

While making dinner I proceeded to dump a container of water with celery in it, all onto my nice clean floor! Why does this always happen? I wonder why I even bother.

While Mark stayed in to practice his banjo, I went to play euchre. It was good to play again, even though I'm not very good.

This morning it was cold outside so I huddled inside reading a book. After lunch we braved the 20mph winds and the upper 60s sunny day, and headed to the pool. Besides a few kids here visiting Grandma and Grandpa, we were the only adults in the pool. The pool was great - getting out wasn't!

After avoiding the "different" couple from the Carolinas - the one who started eating my strawberries, we've discovered that they are leaving tomorrow. Their trailer is hooked onto the truck - a telltale sign of leaving in the morning. Now we can bike down that street again.

Tonight's dinner was supposed to be pot roast that I had put in the crock pot this morning. After serving it up, we promptly both said, "Yck" and pitched the whole thing out. It was tougher than shoe leather. Mark then washed the dishes, and drove us to Wendy's for a much better dinner. We got back in time to go to karaoke. We stayed for about 10 songs and even danced to a couple of them.

Until We Meet Again

Because of the clouds and high winds, we didn't get to the pool on Saturday. We had planned a farewell dinner and campfire for Pam and Dennis but the weather had other plans.

At 4:00 yesterday, Pam made up a pitcher of frozen White Russians for her and I to share. As you would expect, they were fabulous. It started raining shortly thereafter so the four of us huddled under the awning. Around 6:30 Dennis threw the burgers on; I had made salad and Pam brought her strawberry pie. A good meal was had by all.

Since it was still raining, we had to stay in and play Wii. We really enjoy playing the darts game. Mark beat us all in the bowling; Pam and I each won a darts game, and then Pam whipped me soundly in the cow racing game.

It was still raining this morning when Pam and Dennis came to tell us goodbye around 8:30. I was very sad to see them go, but we'll be seeing them again in a couple of months.

Mark and I lounged around all morning before finally heading into Ocala. I was on a mission to find a magnifying glass that hangs around my neck while doing my needlework. Unfortunately I couldn't find one; I eventually ordered one on-line and hopefully will have it a a week.

Mark spent quite a bit of time on his new non-golf hobby:

He then turned on the Daytona 500 - after 5 minutes we realized, we're just not "racing fans." I know it's the most popular spectator sport in the U.S. but we can't get into it. I'm sorry to say - I was waiting for the crashes which seem to be the most exciting. We did see a replay of the big crash later though.

After our soup dinner, Mark decided we should walk around the park since it had finally quit raining (or so he thought). He wanted to check out the "Casual Dancing with Rich" - the Sunday evening activity in the park. After a brief stop by Joe and Marilyn's, it started raining again, so we're now in for the evening. Mark must rest up for his big golf game tomorrow.

Rollin' On The River

After stretch and tone, and then lunch, we got in Pam and Dennis' truck and headed to the Silver Springs State Park about a half hour from here. The sun and 80 degrees had us headed out for whatever adventure the Silver Springs river provided.

When Pam and Dennis had hiked in that park the other day, they discovered that the park rents out canoes at an hourly rate, with the first hour being free since we had to walk about 15 minutes to get to the river. After paying the park entrance fee ($4/per vehicle), we got our life jackets and paddles and headed for the river.

Fortunately, Pam has strong arms and was able to lift the downed tree to allow us to continue.

This river is beautiful - crystal clear with lots of fish, among other wildlife.

This "float trip" was unlike any other. We had to paddle upstream for about an hour and a half to the source of the river before finally floating back to where we started. We were always on the look-out for alligators and snakes. This is what we came across, not even 5 minutes into our trip:

A few minutes later, we came across these guys:

This fellow was a mere 5 feet from me at the front of the canoe:

I'm happy to report that none of us fell in - we were too afraid to. I personally did not see any snakes, but everyone else did. At one point I was worried because Mark kept standing up to stretch because his back kept cramping.

Tonight we are aching, and really wish we had a hot tub to jump into. This four hours of fun only costs us $14 per couple!

Banjo practice continues with input from Dennis about finding those chords.

You're Never Too Old To Pick Up A Lady or A Tune

Last night we had a great time down in The Villages. After a monster dinner at Golden Corral we headed to the town square where we had previously gone to hear live music. The band was ok, but no one was dancing and we all love to watch the dancers. After walking around a while we decided to go find the other town square where a different band was playing. There was a wonderful country music band playing and lots of dancers. The highlight of the evening was when Mark and Dennis went inside a restaurant on the square to get a soda, some "old" man came and was hitting on Pam and me. This guy was at least 75-80ish. After five minutes Dennis came out; then the guy leaned down to me and whispered, "If you thought I was hitting on you girls, you were right - I was!" OK - that was a first. About 15 minutes later he walked by a bench we were all sitting on - there was a much older lady hanging on his arm! We were crushed.


This morning it was drizzling but the day turned out to be great. Mark and I headed to the pool around 1:00pm. The things you hear around a pool full of OLD retirees: A group of five "regulars" who are there every single day - they were planning a trip next Thursday to a bar, and then the tattoo parlor. Another group was discussing how they don't have hair on their legs because of years of riding horses - eeehhhh. Why must we hear this?


Later a woman from S. Carolina stopped by to ask Mark, Dennis, Pam, and me whether we knew where a "good" flea market was. Mark gave her directions and she moved on. About 15 minutes later we rode our bikes back to the trailer. Along the way was this same S. Carolina woman with her husband. The bottom line: this couple ended up in our trailer not 1 minute after I got out of the shower. She immediately started eating the strawberries I had sitting out (the nerve of some people.) Then she moved through the trailer checking out EVERYTHING - opening cabinets, etc. Next we had to walk over and see their trailer. We couldn't get away fast enough. I suspect we'll be avoiding this couple for the rest of the winter.

The final thing to take place today was Mark heading to Ocala to take his first banjo lesson. Everybody needs a hobby and Mark's is now Bluegrass banjo playing. Like he said, who can be unhappy when a banjo is playing in the room, or, you never hear a banjo at a funeral!

Let's Get Ready To Rumble!

It's been several days since the last post so now I must try and remember what we've been doing. I've been battling a cold since Sunday and have been going to bed at 8:30, 9:30, and 10:00 so I'm been too tired to blog.

The weather has been fabulous. On Monday Mark and the guys went golfing about an hour north of our park. He said the course was really in bad shape - a few of the greens had been dyed "green" because the grass was dormant.

While he golfed, I ventured into Ocala in search of a hair cut, a stop into WalMart, the grocery store, and the Goodwill store. I got a decent cut, and managed to find a few items at Goodwill.

That evening we had a raging bonfire. Our neighbor in the park, Ron from Ottawa, joined us for several hours. The Canadians are always interesting to talk to. They know US geography better than we do, and we know nothing about Canadian geography.

Yesterday we golfed with Jim and Betty at a course none of us had ever played. Mark and Jim walked while Betty and I rode in a cart. We had lots of fun but none of us played well at all.

It was a hellish two hours at the laundromat this morning. It almost came to fistfights! I was using four washers when some lady came running it yelling she needed a machine immediately - she had a tee time and couldn't wait. Yeah - right. We all just stared at her like she had two heads. Then when I was getting ready to put my stuff in the dryers (I had cleaned them out and had the dryer sheets already in them) a couple who had washed their clothes in their motorhome were just going to dry in the laundromat. They tried to get my dryers, and that just wasn't going to happen. By this time there are 6 women, 2 men, 6 baskets of clothes waiting to be washed, and 4 empty baskets waiting to get clothes out of the dryer - all in this tiny laundromat. Then later the lady "who just had to have a washer right now" comes back to put her stuff in the dryer, only this time she brings her #*$& dog into the room and lets it run around. Of course, I who love dogs had had just enough of all laundry people, I had to comment, "Get your D*$&% dog out of here." This is the same lady to pushes her dog around the park in a baby stroller! We even saw her at the Tampa RV show with the dog in the stroller.

Luckily I only do laundry twice a week or I believe I would go insane. Our next, if there ever is a next, trailer will have a washer and dryer in it.

After lunch today we headed to the pool for several hours. We're off to The Villages tonight for live music and dancing with Pam and Dennis.

Fire and Ice (Cream)

It was a wonderful day today. After breakfast (Monkey Bread, found in the frozen bread section of some WalMart stores across the country), we headed to the office to find our mail. We use the Premium Forwarding Service of the USPS. It always arrives on Fridays. By mid afternoon it still hadn't arrived here. I've been told that the envelope had been received and signed for "somewhere" in FL. Maybe Monday it will arrive; the only thing we're expecting are tax papers.

Mark washed the trailer while I vacuumed inside. I checked up on Pam's two cats to make sure they survived the night home alone. These two guys were definitely experiencing separation anxiety. They had used the litter box to nearly capacity, and it's a BIG litter box. They were happy to have new food and water, but didn't want anything to do with me.

Mark decided to try out his boy scout training from a few years back and split some of our wood for tonight's fire.

Before I went to do laundry, Mark called to me to look out the window. Directly behind our trailer was this:

This is the guy directly behind us. I guess he just wanted to catch a few rays. I took the picture through the screen from inside the trailer so as not to disturb him. Quite a sight I must say.

The fire was great. Mark served strawberry ice cream to Pam and Dennis; Pam brought her Key Lime Pie, and I served coffee with Bailey's. At 10:00pm we "Frebrezed" ourselves off and we all went back to our own trailers.

Walking On Sunshine

Frozen water pipe yet again. The temp got down to 21 but warmed nicely to 65 today. After exercising we headed down to the Ocala RV show. There were lots of nice RVs there, but none that we liked better than ours, even if we could afford one! We ran into lots of people from our park. It seems everyone was anxious to get out and about in the great weather.

Mark enjoyed talking to the guys working the Ford Motor tent.

We hooked up with Joe and Marilyn at the RV show so we all went to the Marion County flea market afterwards. I was looking for bifocal sunglasses that Donna had found several weeks before. We found them immediately; I bought two pair and Joe bought one. We were both excited about them. No more nerdy readers under sunglasses for me - it was not the fashion statement I was looking for.

We then had a very healthy Burger King lunch/dinner at 3:00pm. They have a new sandwich - the Angry Whopper; it has jalapenos, spicy sauce, spicy cheese, spicy onions, tomatoes, bacon, and letter on a whopper. Yummo!

After Mark and I made a not-so-quick stop at WalMart, we headed back to the park. All of our friends were gathered across the street. It was so nice to sit outside and gab. First I had to go check on Pam's cats. Dennis and Pam had to go back to Atlanta this morning for a funeral, but will be returning tomorrow evening. They took Sadie the dog, while I agreed to check in on Spazz and Chubby Buddy the cats. They were quite anxious to see me - actually I think Spazz was just waiting for the canned food I gave him.

Mark and Joe headed to the Jai Alai; Marilyn headed off to poker; I stayed home to catch up on TV shows I've recorded but not had time to watch, along with paperwork that was long overdue. I just wasn't up to Bingo tonight.

Baby It's Cold Outside

Wednesday the forecasters got it right. Cold, windy, and sunny. 50 degrees, 30mph winds, and all-day rays. We tried to walk and bike several times but could only do it in small spurts. Last night Joe, Mark, me, Pam, and Dennis headed over to the Jai Alai to try our luck on the horses. The guys pool their money and somehow come up with 24 different bets (10 cents each) on sets of four. I'm not sure of the correct terminology - I just pick horses based on their names. I'm happy to announce that the guys did pretty well last night. They won $89 on one race, $29 on another, and $30 on another. Their winnings paid for their beers, their original antes, and several dollars left over for another visit.

Today was freezing! Things we saw in the park today: men trying to thaw out their outside hoses, frozen rain catch basins, a very few people walking around the park in winter coats; lots with gloves and scarves (me), but mostly people getting in their vehicles and leaving the park. We're all getting pretty sick of the weather. The horses next to the park had on blankets and leg warmers. The orange growers on the news seemed optimistic about their crop; the blueberry growers weren't happy.

Tonight is supposed to be the last deep freeze for the next week. We're all anxiously awaiting the forecasted 70s on Saturday and 80s by Tuesday.

Sunshine On My Shoulder

What was that bright light shining in the trailer this morning? The SUN. It was very cool (50ish) all day long, but tolerable because of the sunshine. Except for a trip I made to the Orange Lake Post office, we stayed in until 3:00pm. The morning was spent disassembling the awning and all its tie downs because of the forecasted 35mph gusts tonight and tomorrow. Besides, we wanted to sunshine on the trailer to warm it up.

We had made arrangements with Pam and Dennis to drive down to The Villages and watch the 50s band play tonight in the square. We got there early (4:15) so we could get a seat right by the dance floor. Since it was so cold out, we thought it wouldn't be crowded, but we were wrong. We had all brought the appropriate winter-wear for the evening's entertainment. One lady in the restroom told Pam and me that we should just drink beer and dance, and then we wouldn't be cold. Ok - maybe next time.

These birds were all piled into a boat on the lake. I guess it was too cold for them to get in the water.

At one point the band started playing Jingle Bells because it was so cold.

Pam and Dennis waiting for the band to begin. I guess most Floridians come to expect this weather since it appeared everyone had a coat.

We were just happy it wasn't raining anymore.

This appears to be the most popular mode of transportation in the entire city.

We managed to find a China Buffet on the way back home. As always, we stuffed ourselves but loved every bite of it - except the "free" lobster that came with four paid buffets.

We're planning another trip down to The Villages next week since the weather is supposed to dramatically improve!

Winter Dance Party

The day started dry. It was the only time today it was dry. We needed to wash the comforter from our bed and the throws from the chairs in the living room so a large washing machine was required. We loaded up everything that was dirty and drove 20 miles to Williston. Diane watched the weather before we left and said we should miss most of the rain. The weather didn't understand and it began to rain at about 9:00 am. It is now 7:00 pm and it is still raining.

We went to lunch with Pam and Dennis in Citra to eat pizza and chicken wings. Not healthy, but always good eats. Tomorrow we return to The Villages to attend a Fifties Rock and Roll dance. I'm guessing the reason for a fifties show on this date is that fifty years ago on Feb 3 the music died. For any youngsters (under 50) reading this, Buddy Holly, JP "Big Bopper" Richardson and Ritchie Valens died on this day in a plane crash near Clear Lake,Iowa.

There are no pictures today because everybody knows what rain looks like! Here's hoping for a sunny Tuesday.