Partying At The Park

Last week started off on a bad note -  Mark was sick for the first couple of days.  He thought he got sick from the food we had at the golf course last Sunday evening, but I had the same thing and was fine.  It turns out lots of people have been experiencing the same.  Luckily, I have been spared.

I've been playing pickleball on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays; Mark golfs with a group on Saturdays.  

Thursday was the "You Might Be a Redneck ..." party.  We had a great time, and were dressed appropriately.

I found the curlers at home at the dollar store, and the house dress and slippers came from Goodwill.  

Our big group - not everyone dressed up, but a good time was had by all.

Waiting for our dinner.

Nothing like watching a room full of retirees dancing to the Cupid Shuffle.  My kids would die if they could see this. 

Ann and I in our house dresses.

Friday we went with Pam and Dennis to Ft. Myers.  They were having warranty work done on their car, and the dealer gave them a rental, so we spent the day together.  We went to the Ft. Myers RV show.  It was much smaller than the Tampa one a couple weeks ago, but the weather was great.

Strange signs at the entrance to the RV show.

 After the RV show, we had lunch at the Ford's Garage restaurant in the marina area of Ft. Myers.

A Model A hanging over the bar. 

Cool bathroom sinks in the restroom. 

The gigantic burger.

Not a lot of traffic on the street - everyone was eating at the 20 restaurants that we saw.  We'll have to make another trip down there to check out the area.

Celebrating 41 Years of Marriage in Florida!

It's been another very busy week here.  Monday was our 41st wedding anniversary.  Rev. Wayne mentioned the bread at Carabba's restaurant in his message last Sunday, so we wanted to check it out.  He was right - the bread is delicious.  For $12 each, we each got an appetizer (bruschetta), an entree, and a salad (plus the aforementioned bread).  We waddled out, vowing to return again in the future.

Cool looking sky on the way to Carabba's.

There was another happy hour on Tuesday, this time with a campfire.

We have been playing pickleball on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday and are actually improving a little more each day.  

The paddles are lined up, waiting for a court to get open while Pam is waiting for the ball to get over the net to her.

 Pickleballs - the balls are about the size of a peach.

Pam and I are on the same team.

Thursday we headed up to Tampa for the big RV show.  All we had to show for our visit was a new sign.

We had Butch at the vet on Friday.  His delicate skin doesn't like the Florida air, grass, parasites, etc.  Hopefully the meds will kick in soon and he will stop itching.

Butch loves hanging out on his new landing.  He's truly at home!

Another week of BINGO, and I still haven't won.  Maybe this week.

We're off to our Sunday golf and dinner.  It's lots of fun and we are meeting some great people.  

Our First Week in Sunny Southern Florida

We are finally wintering in a park where the weather is very warm.  After 10 years, I think we deserve it.  We left home at 3:08am on Sunday morning and made it to Port Charlotte by 11:30am on Monday.  

After spending a couple hundred dollars between WalMart and Publix, we had food in the RV.

Before we could even get everything put away, we found ourselves playing pickleball.  We were rusty, but at least we remembered how to play. We are meeting lots of new people.

There was a happy hour gathering on Tuesday and we met ever more great people.

Mark made us some wooden steps for the RV.  Everyone here makes these, and leaves them in storage until they return the next winter.

The old steps

The new, much sturdier steps.

Yesterday was the Wine and Cheese party.  Everyone brought a snack and the park provided wine, water, and soda.  

We ended up playing Left, Right, Center (a dice game) later.  Mark won the first game ($12).  Nice of him to win quarters so I could do the laundry today.

Cathy and Mark.