Sebring International Raceway

We played some awesome pickleball matches this morning at Tanglewood. A lot of very close games on the challenge side with Rich and I pitted against Al and Jeff. We never seemed to be more than 2 or 3 points apart all morning.

After a quick shower and some lunch, I headed for Sebring International Raceway. Those of you reading this blog regularly may recall that I encountered a lady the other morning, while I was photographing the sunrise at the lake, who said the track would be quite busy this weekend with local cars running all day Saturaday and Sunday. So I headed on out there, only to find that I was the only car out there! The track entrance was open though, so I did manage to get in and take a few photos. What a great place. I may have a chance to go to the 12 Hours of Sebring in March, so was hoping to hone my photography skills a little, but that will have to wait for another day.

I also explored the local airport while out at the raceway and came upon this medevac helicopter parked on the pad while the pilot was in having lunch. No one said not to, so I took a few photos of the chopper as well. Pretty fancy rig for sure.

The Raceway and airport are side by each about 6-7 miles out of Sebring on Kenilworth Road. It is a nice drive out because both sides of the road are lined with orange groves. I've been meaning to get some photos of orange trees for months now and today was an ideal time to do it. It is amazing how the trees do so well given the sandy soil but they certainly thrive in it and with some irrigation thrown into the mix as well.

Birthday Boy!!!

Well it happened again. Another birthday for yours truly. Not saying how many though! Chris took me out for a movie and an early supper yesterday. We saw Blindness at the Silver City complex. I don't think it lived up to the ratings personally.

This morning, I dropped Chris off at work and then headed off to Mer Bleu bog to take advantage of a fabulous sunrise. Sunrise is getting later and later these days. We got down to about -2C last night. That made for plenty of mist rising off the water as the sun came up. I met another photographer on the boardwalk. He was a Nikon guy....me, I'm a Canon guy. We both laughed at that one. There is always a debate on which system is better. Here are a few photographs from this morning.

After that, I managed to fit in a nice hour long run along the Ottawa river. A little later than usual today, but the extra hour gave the temps a chance to rise after last night's frost.

Ottawa River

Chris had to work yesterday and I needed a break from all that is going on at the house these days, so I grabbed my road bike and went for a little 50 km ride out the east end of Ottawa. The weather was actually quite nice too. Sunny, but not excessively humid as it can be at this time of year in Ottawa. The best portion of the ride was along the eastern parkway bike path west of Convent Glen in Orleans , as it winds through the trees and along banks of the Ottawa river. I stopped at this bench for a snack. The picture looks west, back towards Ottawa. Quebec is on the opposite side of the river.

On weekends this pathway is quite busy, but yesterday there were only a few people out and about. The bike path connects back onto the eastern parkway, which in turn runs west into Ottawa or east, back into Orleans and Blackburn Hamlet. Alcatel sponsors a free bike day every Sunday from 9 am to 1 pm, between Victoria Day in May and Labour Day in September. The eastern parkway is closed to vehicular traffic from the traffic lights at St Joseph Blvd/Montreal Rd all the way to the Aviation Museum.

Things are Movin'!

We are selling things off, almost room by room it seems. Someone bought our family room wall unit last night and will pick it up on Friday afternoon. Most of the big stuff has gone. We decided to keep some things for Chris's inlaw suite. Seemed silly to sell what we had and then buy new stuff to replace it. My daughter came home for a few days last weekend. Her brother helped her go through all her "stuff". Lots went to the Salvation Army. Yesterday. we managed to muscle a chest freezer up from the basement and out into the garage. That is spoken for as well.

Given that Chris has her new place, we are considering perhaps not setting up the RV on July 20th as we had initially planned. Why pay for two separate places if we don't need to? Her place is certainly big enough for the two of us for a few months. All depends on what kind of dog sitting arrangements we can arrange for our 14 year old Bichon. No dogs allowed in the new place unfortunately.

Movers came in to look at the place last Friday. Without appliances and heavy furniture to move, we will likely not even be over 3400 lbs. That should make for an easy move all around. Pack Jul 28th, load Jul 29th and leave Jul 30th is the plan.

Hoping to get in a nice bike ride on the tandem today before Chris goes back to work tomorrow.

Canada Day!

Canada Day was marvelous! The weather was fabulous. Clear and sunny all day was certainly a welcome change to rain we received during the month of June this year. It must have rained almost everyday in June.

We started the day off with a trip to Starbucks after breakfast. Not an everyday occurence, but it was very nice to sit on the patio and read in the sunshine. Then it was cycling time. We went for a 60 km bike ride on our Co-Motion tandem. Traffic was fairly light today because of the holiday. Canada Day celebrations were evident everywhere. Petrie Island had a huge celebration on the beach. Our cycling trip took us past Petrie. Lots of people walking into the park and beach area. Those who weren't walking were being driven in by tractors towing wagons loaded with people. Police had roads closed off and many people were just parking on the shoulder. No problem for us to get through on the tandem though.

We continued on the bike path along the Ottawa River and went as far as the Aviation Museum where another celebration was in full swing. Several old WWII military aircraft that had likely performed at the air show in Carp over the weekend were parked on the runway. They were certainly drawing crowds of spectators too. We cycled as far as the Dairy Queen near the Canadian Police College where we both indulged ourselves with a chocolate dipped cone. Madam seems to be enjoying herself don't you think?

While at DQ, we received a phone call from the people who had bought our master bedroom furniture. They had rented a truck today and wanted to come by and pick it all up. Here we were over an hour from home on the tandem and we hadn't even emptied all the furniture of our things nor hauled the furntiture all downstairs yet! They were supposed to have given us a day's notice before showing up. Well how about 3 hours notice! Thankfully, we had a great tailwind for most of the ride home!

Soon as we arrived at home, Chris busied herself emptying all the drawers while I dismantled everything. We hauled it all down into the garage before they arrived at 8 pm with a full size Ford Econoline van from Hertz. Four ladies, and none of them really dressed to move furniture. So Chris and I did most of their loading as well. The van was not big enough to fit everything, so a return trip was necessary. We finally had the rest loaded on their second trip and sent them on their way at 11 pm.

We were exhausted! We laughed about our day and felt much better after a nice hot shower. At least the furniture is gone. Rooms are slowly emptying out throughout our home. Pretty sure tomorrow will be a rest day.....................

Packing, Rain, Running and Seagulls

Chris enjoyed her first week at CHEO. Last week was pretty much all classroom sessions to indoctrinate all the new staff coming into CHEO. Chris was the only person in the room born before 1960! Had to chuckle at that one!

I am keeping myself busy packing up the things we need. Basically, there are three piles....things we need for the RV, things going into storage and things to get rid of. Guess which pile is bigger? We are selling off most of our furniture and have managed to get rid of some things on Craigslist and also kijiji.com. We are planning a garage sale or two in July as well. Whatever doesn't sell, we will give to local charities and second hand shops. If any of you are in the Ottawa area and need some good furniture, please let me know via email or comment.

July will definitely be a very busy month.

Time to run Chris into work........

We have received lots of rain over the past 7-10 days in Ottawa. Not cold, just wet! Today was no different either. I managed to get Buddy out to the park for his morning stroll before running Chris into work and before any rain started. It has been raining steadily since about 7 am this morning. After dropping off Chris, I went down to the Ottawa River in Orleans and managed a nice 3 mile run along the gravel bike path despite the rain. Running in the rain is not that bad actually. A cap and vest kept me quite dry. Not many people around this morning, just have to side step some of the puddles is all.

Stopped at MacDonalds for a coffee, egg mcmuffin and free newspaper. While sitting in the parking lot reading my paper and munching on my sandwich, Gertrude or perhaps it was Heathcliffe, alit on the hood of my Vue waiting for a handout. It never materialized........ Although he/she was quite entranced looking at my breakfast sandwich through the windshield.

Tandem Cycling

This last week has been very busy for us. There has been lots of activity and interest in our house. Seems like there are showings for 2-3 hours every day. We have to leave the house during the showings which is a bit of a pain at times but certainly nothing we can't handle. On the plus side....Casey's basement 'pit' or 'dungeon' has never looked cleaner. Yahoo!

Chris received her final reflexology written exam marks and certification in the mail. She aced the written exam to go along with her practical exam which she did in London back in mid May. She is pretty happy and we are all very proud of her. She was a little worried about the written exam apparently, but thankfully that was all for not. Atta Girl!!! She also has an interview at CHEO for a nursing job in Pediatrics ICU tomorrow morning, so hopefully everything goes well in that regard too.

Weather has been a mixed bag in Ottawa this past week. Some rain every day and relatively cool temperatures for this time of year.......until yesterday! We reached 31C yesterday and the humidex put temps closer to 40C. We had to be out of the house for 3 hours for another showing so we took our first spin of the year on our tandem bicycle. We enjoyed a nice 40 km ride out east and south of Orleans making sure we stopped for coffee in Navan on the way back. Riding with a tailwind was fabulous but we battled a pretty stiff headwind coming back. It was still a wonderful afternoon.

Sunday, we had no house showings thankfully. We decided to ride the bike again and headed into the Byward Market via the Eastern Parkway from Blackburn Hamlet. The Parkway is closed off to traffic every Sunday between Victoria Day and Labour Day, courtesy of Alcatel. We battled another headwind on our way into the Market but had a great tailwind on the way back. On the way in we received two requests for house showings. That meant we had to be out of the house and on the bike a little longer than we had planned. We decided to go to the Empire Grill in Byward Market and had a wonderful brunch sitting outside under the umbrellas watching all kinds of people wander by.

Then back on the bike so we could retrace our steps home. We were a little pooped going up the Bearbrook Hill into Blackburn Hamlet. We passed a fellow on a road bike before we started up the hill but he returned the favour as we crawled up the hill on our tandem. With my promise of an ice cold cappucino for Chris at Tim Horton's though, we managed to blow by him on the downhill into town. He tried to sprint and stay ahead of us, but it is pretty hard to stay ahead of heavy tandem with a full head of steam on a downhill. We all had a good laugh as we passed him again. Him included!

Cold in Ontario

Weather has been pretty cool and wet since we crossed the border. Don't think we have seen one day over 70F yet! Next year we figure on staying south until the end of May. We are still wearing shorts and sandals most of the time, but every now and then we have to throw on socks and runners. Warmer weather forecasted for this weekend though.

We have been out regularly running and walking along the Ottawa River. With warmer weather this weekend, we shall have our tandem bicycle out for sure.

Been doing lots of chores around the house getting it ready to sell. Housing market is quite good here and our CDN$ seems to be on a bit of a roll as well. This week we are both spending time at the dentist and also getting new eye glasses. Thought we would try the transition lenses this time.

Chris has been out to several hospitals with her resume. I don't expect she will be waiting long. We are also going to stop in at the US embassy to see what the correct steps to follow are in order for her to work in the USA this winter. There is lots of work in the USA for Canadian nurses. It is just a matter of jumping through the right hoops.

Need to get back out to where our motorhome is stored sometime this week as well so we can vacuum out the inside and prepare it for inside storage. I posted a message about my failed left rear signal and brake light on the Bounder Diesel Yahoo Group. One reader replied that there is a fuse panel in the outside electrical bay worth checking. Hoping that will be an easy fix.

Colonial Williamsburg

We went for a power walk around the park this morning and who do we run in to? Ty Fallone, who we had met at Orlando playing pickleball this past winter. He and his wife are on their way back to Connecticut. Ty joined Chris and I on the pickleball court at 9 am where we played round robin for a couple of hours. Basically 2 on 1, where the single player serves against the other 2. Only the single player can score. Each player keeps track of their score and when you lose your serve you rotate to the side with two players. Pretty neat way to play if you are a player short. No other pickleball players at the park unfortunately.

This afternoon we headed over to Colonial Williamsburg to do a little sightseeing. The old town is laid out very well and it was great to walk around seeing the actors dressed in period costumes while getting a very good idea of how things looked back in 1700. We only had a few hours to look around so we opted to do a tour without actually buying a ticket. Colonial Williamsburg is open to the public without admission except for buildings coded in red which require a ticket to get in.

The sheep shearing was interesting to see. The guy was using manual shears, nothing electric about them. The sheep just laid there, sitting on its haunches enjoying the haircut. It was 85F this afternoon, so I am sure the sheep must have been cooler without all that wool. Other pictures are of buildings we saw, including the Governor's Mansion. You can also see one of Chris in the post office buying stamps so she can mail her Mother's Day card. Unfortunately, we had left the card in the car. The post office apparently gets lots of requests from collectors to stamp envelopes with the Colonial Williamsburg post mark.

Guestbook Added

Temps are back to normal! Yay!!!

Pickleball again this morning. Great games. Unfortunately, Mitch may have fractured his wrist after falling awkwardly while retrieving a difficult shot. He and Barb were on their way to the hospital right away. Lets hope all is well.

Chris is also on the limp with some pain in her lower shin and I have a very slight achilles strain so no pickleball for us for a day or so at least. Swimming tomorrow morning for sure.

I've added a guestbook in the right margin just below the counter. We don't receive too many comments using the comment button after individual entries, but we know from the counter that lots of people are reading of our adventures. We would love to get some idea of who you are and where you are from. Please take a moment to sign and view our guestbook. A short comment, pearl of wisdom, suggestions on how to improve, etc would be appreciated as well.

Cheers all!

Chili in Florida

Last night was our turn to host our first potluck supper. Chris was busy most of the day making two pots of chili, rice, biscuits and three bean salad. We had to borrow a second slow cooker for the chili. As you can see from the photos, it was quite a feast. Our pickleball friends also provided, cakes, enchaladas, chip with homemade dip, three cakes, fresh fruit, etc.

We sat around for about two hours enjoying great food and great company. You will notice that everyone is wearing jackets and long pants. That is because it has cooled off considerably over the past 2 days. Day time highs have barely reached 70F with strong winds, while overnight temps were in the upper 40Fs. All that is supposed to change tomorrow thankfully.


Today was a busy day on the fitness front. We both played pickleball this morning. I also got in a quick mile swim in the pool before lunch. Then after some lunch, Dennis and I played against Rich and Larry beginning at 2 pm. They are going in a tournament soon and needed practice playing together. We had some great games in very windy conditions. It is surprising how much different the game is when the wind blows.

While we played, Chris walked out to the post office along Hwy 27 to mail a birthday card. Hwy 27 is very busy multi-lane highway. She was even honked at by two truckers while walking on the sidewalk. Good for her ego ..... and mine. That's my girl!!!

Bob and Julie, as well as Stan and Sally, head for points north tomorrow morning. Thousand Trails Orlando is clearing out as well. Lots of empty spots available now. We are already making plans for a pickleball tourney at TTN St Clair this summer. Many of our friends from Florida should be there.

Five Guys Famous Burgers and Fries

Yesterday, we took a run up to Winter Garden to go to the huge mall again. Forget the name right now, but we have been there quite a few times this winter. The Barnes and Noble store is still not open but the rest is pretty well up and running.

Our visit there accomplished two things. First, I had Geek Squad at Best Buy look at my Toshiba Qosmio laptop. It died on me almost 3 weeks ago now. What I thought might be a seized up hard drive, may in fact be another bad mother board. I had the original board replaced under warranty over a year ago in Ottawa. Seems like I may be going through the same steps again. I definitely won't be buying Toshiba again. Geek Squad couldn't get the parts in before we leave for home, so repairs will have to wait until we return to Ottawa.

The second reason for our visit to Winter Garden was to pay a visit for lunch at Five Guys Famous Burgers and Fries. Truly, the best burgers we have ever had, requiring at least four napkins to wipe your chin. One must unhinge one's jaw to take a good bite as well! A treat every now and then is perfectly fine! Besides, we have been exercising regularly............... Maybe there was a little guilt there, but that soon vanished once we chowed down.

Please click on the title of this blog entry to visit the Five Guys website.

Fort Desoto

We checked in with our service advisor at Lazydays first thing this morning. LD will look after the a/c unit and also the body work while we head back to Peace River. Hoping they can have it all ready and done by April 4th as they have scheduled.





We headed for Fort Desoto at 10 am which is located on the southern tip of a spit of land west of the Sunshine Skyway in St Petersburg. We visited here last year and had a great time wandering along the beaches. This time around we cycled around the area from North Beach. We spent about 90 minutes cycling. It was very hot and humid but cooled off nicely by the water. There is a nice bicycle path that runs the length of the park so traffic is not a problem.

Once back in the parking lot, we secured our bikes to the roof of our Saturn and then headed off down the beach. The beaches were busy but there was still plenty of parking available. We strolled a mile or so along the beach, in and out of the water before turning around and walking back to the car. North beach was voted best beach in America in 2005 and it is easy to see why. Soft, white powder sand and the warm, shallow water of the Gulf Coast. Fabulous!



We headed off for Peace River around 3 pm and ran into the mother of all thunder storms along Hwy 64. Temp was 28C in bright sunshine and dropped to 19C in about 5 minutes once the skies opened upon us. The rain kept falling until almost 9 pm.

Jim and Jane joined us for supper at the China Buffet in Wauchula. Our treat as a thank you for their looking after Buddy on numerous occasions. Good food and great company.

Shopping

Sarah arrived on time at Tampa International on Sunday night, well actually the wee hours of Monday morning! The drive there and back were uneventful. We didn't get back to the motorhome until almost 02:30 am, so we left Buddy with Jim and Jane. It felt great to finally lay our heads on our pillows. Sleep was certainly no problem that night.


We were all up early yesterday. I played pickleball while Sarah and Chris went for a run around the nature trail. Temps were a little cooler than they have been but Sarah was determined to go home darker than when she arrived here.


I spent the afternoon sorting out runnng Outlook 2007 on Chris's computer. I think it is working properly now. Chris and Sarah went fossil hunting in the river with Jane and others. Chris looks like she has an "Indiana Jones" thing going wearing her new hat.


We enjoyed a mexican supper outside on the picnic table last night and then sat in front of the fire watching our outside TV. We never thought we would make much use of the outside TV on our Bounder but we seem to use it a fair bit.

Jane and Julie accompanied Chris and Sarah on a shopping trip this morning. They'll be back later today, just in time for a beading session over at Jane's. Jim will be outnumbered over there, so I have invited him over here if he wants to come. Four women, possibly five once Barb and Dennis arrive later today, in one motorhome....beading....now there's trouble.

More people leaving today after the Easter weekend. Even some of the member/worker staff employed by the park over the winter are starting to pull out now.

The Fridge Is Full

Things are definitely thinning out here at Peace River. Our new friends, the Gundys, packed up and headed for Orlando. We'll see them again in early April before heading home. Seeing their kayaks, has Chris resolved to buy two of our own once we get home. There is certainly lots of places to use them down here.

Saturday turned out to be a wet and dreary day in most of Florida. Pickleball was rained out in the morning. We went for a run around the nature trail instead between rain showers and then stopped by the to see the dedication of the new mini golf course, aptly named "Puttersville". The workers have done a great job putting the 9 hole course together. There must have been 100 people at the dedication. We all enjoyed cake and watched Debbie shed more than a few tears as she gets closer still to her last day as manager.

I played pickleball for an hour after lunch until the skies opened up yet again. Chris went to Sweet Bay to load up on groceries ahead of Sarah's arrival at Tampa airport tonight. Turns out her flight has been changed and she won't arrive until after midnight! Ugh!! Thankfully, Jim and Jane have agreed to look after Buddy during our absence.

Jane and Chris have planned our Easter feast for later today. Turkey with all the fixings! Yahoo! Hoping it dries out long enough for us to be able to eat outside.

I spent alot of time on the computer yesterday. When I synced my smartphone to Chris's laptop, I lost all my contacts and phone numbers on my phone. Thankfully, I eventually found a backup copy of my address book and have managed to reinstall all the names, phew! Now if I could just figure out how to use activesync via bluetooth......

Chris spent the afternoon beading. She enjoys being creative and has made some very nice necklaces and bracelets. Barb, Jane and Julie are also into it. Look out when they all get together!

J+J Sunshades

We both enjoyed a nice relaxing swim at the Orlando preserve this morning. We used the family pool this time and found it to be much cooler than the adult pool we swam in last week. Cooler temps was certainly better for swimming laps. Little hot tub afterwards and we were ready to move on.

We headed off to Lake Wales after our swim which is about 35 miles south on Hwy 27. We have found that the sunshade we bought from J+J is a bit too wide for it to roll up easily inside the awning. In fact, it is wide enough to prevent the awning from fully retracting into its casing on the side of the motorhome. I had called Gary previously about getting 6"-8" taken off one side and he said that would be no problem. We arrived just after noon and dropped the two piece sunshade off with him while we grabbed some lunch. An hour later, we were on our way back to Orlando with our newly altered sunshade. Excellent service Gary, thank you.

Fuel prices are going up again it seems. When we arrived in Florida in November, we were getting gas for around $3.00/gallon and diesel for about $3.20/gallon. Now gas is going for $3.20/gallon and we have seen diesel as high as $3.75/gallon. A barrel of oil is $102.00. One wonders where it will all end. Prices never seem to go down any. Everything just keeps getting more expensive.

We were home by 2 pm and managed to get an hour of pickle ball in before the skies opened up again. Good games nonetheless.

Tomorrow, we are headed off to Lazydays to have some warranty done. I called them yesterday morning and was assured all required parts are in stock. We are hoping to be back at Thousand Trails Orlando by Friday afternoon if all goes well.

Some of the gang we met in London, Ontario at Fanshawe Conservation Area last summer are wintering in a campground very near Lazydays. We may be able to see them if they aren't touring about somewhere.

Swimming

Chris went for a power walk around the inside of TTN Orlando yesterday morning while I swam 2500 metres. It was a little overcast but the water was fine and I had the pool to myself except for about the last 10 minutes of my swim. First time in the water in almost a month and it felt pretty good. Chris came in for a swim afterwards and then we both enjoyed the hot tub for a few minutes.

After a bit of lunch, we joined Travis and Dee Dee, some friends we met in Peace River, for some fun doubles matches in pickle ball. Dee Dee is just learning the game and doing very well. Travis has been playing for years and is a fountain of information on anything related to pickle ball. We played for just over an hour. They had to start packing up for their trip back to Peace River this morning. We sat outside for a bit in the afternoon and then I went back to play pickle ball again with the usual 3-6 pm crowd. Chris decided that once a day was plenty of pickle ball for her.

The pickle ball schedules in Peace River is a little different than here in Orlando. Peace River has two slots every day beginning at 9 am and 4 pm. Anyone can play during these times. There is also a beginner time slot on the schedule for those who have never picked up a paddle and ball before. Orlando has separate time slots for beginner, intermediate and advanced caliber players. Players are left to self assess their own abilities and slot themselves accordingly. In our experience, the Peace River schedule lends itself towards a more social atmosphere, while Orlando, on the other hand, leans more towards the competitive side of the game.

We took a nice stroll with Buddy around the preserve this morning and stopped in to see his groomer. I had examined his stool several times over the last few days since being told he had worms, and could not see any sign of worms in it. Turns out the groomer said he had worms on his skin while she brushed him out. I checked him out thoroughly and could not find any signs of worms. I'll have to keep a close eye on him for the next few days. He is is usual energetic self, so I suspect we are looking at a false alarm.

Clear, blue skies here today and about 82F. We put out our awning with our new sun shade this morning and are enjoying a relaxing day outside reading and computing. No sign of snow just yet but it is supposed to get colder for two days laser this week.

Sunshine and Pickleball

We went for one of Chris's power walks this morning. About 5 km all told. It was still cloudy and quite cool when we left at 9:30 am. These walks are more like route marches than walks. Hard to figure out how Chris can walk faster than I can when her legs are shorter. Only way to slow her down was to hold hands. Hard to walk fast when you are dragging my weight. Runnin is far easier for me.

Once we got back we took Buddy for a nice walk as well. He had a bath yesterday, so is back to his all white and furry self. People are surprised to learn he is almost 14 years old now. Still going strong, especially when he knows there is food to be had.

We ducked out quickly for some groceries after lunch. On the way back in we stopped at one of the sites in TT Orlando where a guy was making drying racks out of PVC pipe. These racks are very light, but sturdy, and hang off the ladder on the rear of our motorhome. They are big enough to hold a load of laundry from our washer, about 6 ft off the ground. We have been using a rack we bought at Camping World, that sits on the ground. More often than not though, the wind comes along and blows it over. This new rack should do the trick and it also breaks apart for easy storage while traveling.

One thing of note in most camp grounds we have been in so far. Many campers proudly display the American flag from a free standing PVC flag pole/mast, stuck into the ground in front of their rigs. Sarah brought me down a Canadian flag while they visited and the guy who made the drying rack, also makes flag pole/masts. So that will be our next acquisition.

The sun shone brightly this afternoon while we played pickleball. It has been rainy and windy since last Thursday, so no one has been playing because the courts were wet. Today, that all changed and we had some great games.

Nice BBQ'd steak, with mushrooms, sweet potatoes and brocolli for supper. Dessert was apple pie and ice cream! Life sure is tough.

Still at Bee's........ Until Tomorrow

We are still in the overflow site which is not really that bad and for only $8 a night, one really shouldn't complain. We have met two of our neighbours. Both are from Illinois and are also in overflow and paying over $20 a night! I think I would have some issues with that arrangement but that is their affair and not mine.

Yesterday, we took a run south to Kissimee to get haircuts. After all, we have to look presentable for the arrival of our guests on Monday. We went back to the same salon we tried before during our last stay in Orlando. We also stopped in at Thousand Trails to pick up some mail that was waiting for us. I finally got my new cell phone back from repair at HTC. It had quit working the day before we left Ottawa to head south. I think they just sent me a new phone. I also received a new remote sensor and circuit board for our Progressive Industries surge protector. Basically, the surge protector checks the quality of electricity drawn from the campground electrical post. If it is not satisfactory, the protector will not let the power through into our motorhome. The unit was over $500 but is good insurance against having all our electronics zapped by lightning or a bad post. So far we have encountered no bad posts in any of the campgrounds we have stayed. The remote sensor actually gives me a read out of how many amps, hertz, etc we are drawing at any one time. Certainly better than frying $8000 worth of electronics like I have heard happening on various RV wes sites.

We returned to Bee's yesterday afternoon in time for the all-you-can-eat fish fry dinner at the Honey Pot Restaurant. We dined with the Crawleys from California who were our neighbours in Peace River for two of our three weeks there. The Honey Pot is located right at Bee's RV Resort so we didn't have to drive anywhere. People come from all over to eat here as well.

This morning started with a nice walk with Buddy. Then we left his Highness in the motorhome while we went for a nice run on the natural trail running around the perimeter of Bee's. He seems to be settling in to life in the motorhome and is not barking as much as he used to when we started. I think he knows when the bark collar is on and just decides to keep quiet. Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks.

We then headed over to The Groves at Winter Garden Village for a little shopping. We picked up a set of queen size sheets for the sofa bed as well as a few bits of linen and towels. Car wash on the way back to Clermont. Best car wash I have ever seen. It had about 20 angled parking stalls with free vacuuming stations. There was even a vacuum machine that cleaned your floor mats. Worked like a computer printer, only instead of paper being fed in one end and out the other end, you feed the floor mats in one at a time. Pretty slick!

Once we got to Bee's, we lazed around under our awning and watched the world go by. Chris kept busy practicing her newly learned hobby of making pine needle baskets. It is a native American art form she learned at Peace River. Nothing fancy yet, but she is getting quite good at it. I read some RV magazines until the skies opened up and we both moved back inside for the evening.

Tomorrow, we head for Thousand Trails in Orlando for 3 weeks. We hope to be on the road by 11:30 am after we fill up our propane tanks before leaving here. If all goes well, we'll be set up in lots of time and ready to play pickleball tomorrow evening.

Bike Ride and Lunch

We had a nice little bike tour around Wauchula yesterday which is only a couple of miles north of our camp ground. Nice rambler pace up the hwy and then we toured around the back streets for a bit before stopping at the Bread Board for lunch. We ate outside and enjoyed a delicious fish and chip meal. Grouper is excellent in place of haddock or cod.

The afternoon was spent lazing round our site. Buddy received a good brushing and I also applied some liniment to ease the itching he is experiencing on some hot spots. Another lady here with a Bichon suggested we cover it with a bit of self adhesive wrap commonly used by vets. Seems to have done the trick as Buddy is no longer nibbling and scratching and the wrap is still in place.

Chris and I received our new pickleball paddles yesterday afternoon in time for our daily matches beginning at 4 pm. They are like a large ping pong paddle and not as heavy as the wooden ones we have been borrowing from the ranger station. Many of the regulars use the lighter paddles too. We enjoyed our matches. Chris and I teamed up together for the last doubles match of the day. We played well and won against a much more experienced team. There is a surprising amount of strategy to the game and as in most racquet sports, your placement on the court is key to making or losing a point.

The campground is filling up and most of the 50 amp, sewer sites, where we are, are already taken. There is still the usual daily parade of motorhomes and fifth wheels packing up and heading down the road, followed with the arrival of new snowbirds after that. We are good here until Jan 10th, but are already looking for somewhere to go for 3 days after that before we go back to Orlando on Jan 13th.

Lindsay and Casey are off to Hanover, Ontario to enjoy the Arnold family Christmas hosted by their Aunt Karen. Karen is expecting a houseful of people but I am sure all will go off without a hitch. Wish we were there too but we'll have to suffer in 84F temps for now.

Stay safe everyone!