Crazy Week!!

Wednesday 18 January 2023

   After breakfast we went to Apopka to get me a TSA preapproved traveler number.  We had made an appointment and left with plenty of time to spare or so we thought.  First was road construction then less than ten miles later we round a corner and here sit three state cops blocking the road and just point

us to turn.  Diane quickly rerouted us.  But I'm telling you I never knew you could turn so many times without going in a circle.  We made it just a few minutes late. By the time I was done we were starved, and we found a restaurant 'Fancy Q sushi and Thai'.   Food was good I had Hibachi grilled shrimp with veggies, Diane had chicken Pad Thai both were great and to top it off it came with an appetizer.  We think it was a number twelve??  Deep fried crab meat & cheese roll with eel and shrimp sauce!! It was wonderful.  Last stop was to Bealls to pick up shoes we ordered online.  Shipping was 8 bucks, so we saved that money by driving 30 miles to pick them up in the store.  Worn out it was back to the Moho and a wine.

Thursday 19 January 2023

   Kind of a rest and recover day.  It was a nice warm day we grilled breakfast and dinner.  We also went for a bike ride, Diane came across an otter lying along the trail, but he wanted no parts of entertaining

tourists and disappeared quickly.  She did get one ok picture before he ran off.  Back to the Moho for more relaxing.

Friday 20 January 2023

   Diane ran into town to mail reservation down payment to Maine for this summer and to pick up some groceries.  She got back we headed to the trail for a walk/bike ride. A nice enough day afternoon temps in the low 70's.  The ride went well I added another mile to the ride still much less than what I was doing.  On my way back I notice a wooden box fastened to a tree, I stopped to check it out.  It was a bike repair station put in by Eagle Boy Scouts.  We got back to the truck I got phone out to check my ride time, laid it on the side of truck loaded up the bike and headed home. Just as we pulled in Diane ask about my phone. Oh crap, crap #$% I didn't have it.  We turned around and went back.  I got lucky (if you can say that) we found it in the middle of road ran over a few times but still worked.  The screen looked like crap. The camera didn't work but I could send and receive calls I guess that is lucky.  Back home again had a glass of wine.

The Bike RX and it contained a tire pump, air gauge and the number for the closest bike shop!!  

Saturday 21 January 2023

   Another cool morning and calling for rain all afternoon.  We seem to be on a roll with quite cool mornings.  I'm tired of it, had to put jeans on this morning.  Diane went to the farmers market this morning for fresh vegetables.  We were just killing time, so she decided to run up to Bushnell to a Verizon store. She was surprised to see how the store had grown, it now has a complete inventory of phones and accessories.  She picked out a new phone and got her stuff uploaded onto it. She was gone for at least three hours maybe more.  Meanwhile Rudy and I turned on the fireplace and drank coffee, the temperature never did get above 64.

Sunday 22 January 2023

   Woke up to the sound of our awning flapping in the wind.  We hurried out, unhooked it and brought it in.  The wind continued to pick up as Diane made us breakfast wraps.  We decided to try a bike ride even with the wind.  The trail is tree lined on both sides so some what protected from the wind. By the time we returned the neighbors were gathered around another camper who's awning came lose on one end and flapping against their coach.  About a hour later the guy across the street had his canopy collapse in the wind. We stayed inside the rest of the day.

Monday 23 January 2023

     Cool windy morning so we decided to head over to Weeki Wachee to find a spot to kayak.  We had a quick breakfast and headed out by 9am, not bad for us.  First stop was the Verizon store to finish

View from the
Upper Deck, nice!!

switching phones around and yes Diane got the new one and I got the hand me down.  Then we were off to Weeki Wachee.  First stop of course was lunch at the Upper Deck. It warmed up enough we sat outside (in the sunshine).  Diane had fish tacos and I had a grouper sandwich both were great. We drove around stopping 4 or 5 places to find information on kayaking with no luck.  Finally, we stopped at a little surf and bait shop, they were somewhat helpful especially on where to get the strongest drinks. We gave up and headed home.  As we left town, we pulled into the Weeki Wachee state park.  They were the most helpful including trying to get us to volunteer there. Tired of driving around we headed home.  Burgers for diner.

New windshield for the moho

 Monday 9 January 2023

    Off to Webster flea market, walked around all morning bought a half a flat (six pint boxes) of strawberries🍓, first we've seen any for sale.  We had lunch there at a BBQ place, food was great. It took some time to get your food but was worth it. Back to the Moho and started eating strawberries. Oh, they were so good.  We had two boxes polished off before diner time. To offset the strawberries we had a salad for diner with strawberries on top of course.

Tuesday 10 January 2023

    First thing this morning after a serving of strawberries was to give two boxes to the neighbors.  My mouth was getting sore from eating so many. Then we drove down to Lakeland to check out the RV glass place. Made a day of it shopping and eating our way home. A nice drive down and back the place was easy to find and get into.
   Back home steak and shrimp for diner! 

Wednesday 11 January 2023

    A cool morning again. After it warmed up a bit, we went to the bike trail for some exercise.  I set my phone for a half hour ride one way.  When my timer rang, I found what I thought was a spot and turned around.  Well, I tried to turn, I ran over a half-rotted branch it broke front wheel got stuck and I went flying.  Nothing hurt to bad but as I looked around, I was just 3 or 4 feet from the edge of the swamp. Well, I jumped up just pretty quick before any alligators could get me. I got back and met Diane she looks at my scraped knees and elbow and with great compassion said, 'there's not even any blood'. Back to the Moho. Chicken on the grill with fresh broccoli. 

Thursday 12 January 2023

   After a cooked breakfast we walked down to check out a Moho for sale here in the campground, a Newmar Ventana 3634 all electric coach.  It was nice and so were the owners. But like us selling and buying while living in your RV gets tough. Next was lunch at the Southern Harmony restaurant about 20 miles away.  Food was ok, I had a pulled pork sandwich, Diane had an open faced roast beef sandwich good food nothing special.  We stopped at an antique store here in Webster then back to the Moho.  Diane spent most of the afternoon calling trying to find us a campground in Maine for this fall.

Friday 13 January 2023

   What the heck!! We came south to get out of the cold and what do we get, 35 degrees this morning

Soaking up the sunshine
on a cool day!!

with on and off rain, windy, high winds.  We stayed in most of the day. Diane took advantage of the cold and made lasagna. At least running the oven helped keep the place warm.

Saturday 14 January 2023  Happy Birthday Lynne🎂

   Another cool windy morning but no rain. Once again Diane had all the fun. She went to the grocery store and farmers market while I was stuck dropping off lasagna and visiting with Len. The wind did die down enough to grill sausages.     

Sunday 15 January 2023

   What a nice morning still a little cool but sunny.  Diane made us a nice breakfast while I watch an auction close. Nothing to exciting.  We slowly packed up for our trip to Lakeland to finally get the windshield replaced. And you know a plan never goes according to schedule!  It was time to pull out and I was just moving the bike out of the way went I heard the neighbor groan.  He was standing on the picnic table working on his awning when it came apart. Awning arm in one hand and awning in the other he couldn't move.  So, I went over to help.  An hour later I was back in the Moho and ready to pull out.  It was a nice ride, sunny, not much traffic and our only deadline was to park before dark.  We rolled into RV Glass solutions at 3:30. The place is in an industrial area; the small parking lot has chain link fence topped with barbed wire and the gate just didn't quite close tight.  It wasn't too bad there was another couple spending the night, so we weren't alone.

Monday 16 January 2023

   We had to be out of the Moho, dog and all by 7:45. I for some of you who still work that is not a problem but for us (and I mean Diane and Rudy) it takes some effort, but we made it with time to spare. After meeting with the shop foreman and signing all the paperwork we were on our way to breakfast. It started out cool this morning but by the time we were done with breakfast it was t-shirt

Plant City, FL

weather. Diane's throat is really bothering her, first stop was for throat lozenges then a new RV dealer we never heard of, then over to General RV.  There the salesman insisted on getting us a quote and so he did and so we left.  He did recommend a place for lunch, Fred's Buffet.  The place was packed but we waited for a parking spot then waited for a table.  It was buffet only and we both ate a little too much (well mostly me) the food was good, and we ended the meal with a strawberry shortcake. Yum. We headed to historic downtown Plant City found some antique stores we haven't ever been in, and they had a few items we "needed".  Just as we were heading to the third store the glass shop called the Moho was done.

A nice little park and
walk for Rudy.

    Back to the Moho sign a bunch more paperwork, go over the to do's and don'ts and we were done.  Now we can't move the Moho or put the slides out or jacks down until morning. We sat outside until dark then moved in.  Let's just say it was cozy and we were in bed early, and they fixed the gate before they left.

Tuesday 17 January 2023

   I got up around 630, Diane's throat feeling a little worse this morning. Luckly no other motorhomes in the parking compound I think most of the employees are at the RV show.  We still managed to get on the road by 9:30.  A lot of traffic and several road construction areas made the trip back a little nerve wracking.  Are propane continuing to run low and the campground still unable to fill motorhomes we decided to fill up at Par Gas in Bushnell. So, we stopped to unhook at a plaza just down from Par Gas and wouldn't you know it there was a restaurant there.😁  After lunch Diane went to the grocery store and I went back to park and get the Moho set up. Figuring I can park without Diane's help I started to back into our spot and just as I started to straighten up I noticed the speed limit sign waving at me. Oh crap, crap %$#@. 😠 I pulled up parked checked out the damage and waited for Diane to get here to finish parking.   And just for the record it was Diane's fault for not being here to park me. Just say'n.
   She got home parked ran over to check the damage, said it wasn't that bad and went about unloading the groceries.  Burgers and wine took the edge off of my anxiety.  And the day was over.
    

Keeping busy in Webster!!

 Wednesday 4 January 2023

     In case you forgot last night Rudy puked in the bed.  Today Diane spent the day at the laundromat doing all the bedding.  That took all morning and most of the money she won at bingo Monday night. She won almost 90 bucks her first night playing, not too bad.  Another hot day today (not complaining) it rained on and off all morning I worked on the blog and even managed to replace the water filter in the refrigerator.

Thursday 5 January 2023

    Over to Clermont this morning for Diane to apply for a TSA preapproved pass.  It is amazing how

much construction (housing) is going on just everywhere you look, places with 15/20 three story buildings all under construction at once.  Anyway, Diane found us a nice restaurant, the Tiki West Bar and Grill. The building could use some maintenance, but the food was good.  I ordered the 1lb steamed shrimp with old bay (surprise I know) and Diane ordered the shrimp tacos they were really good. I had to bring half my shrimp home. We stopped at a small RV dealer to look around it didn't take long they only had two coaches.  It took all day with the drive, lunch, TSA stop, RV dealer and traffic we didn't get home until 5:00.  Salad for diner with shrimp (shrimp twice in one day).   

Friday 6 January 2023

   Cool this morning 55 degrees.  After breakfast I started working on the truck bed. Over the years dirt collected in the bed rug and I guess it was deer blood that soaked into the material, but it stank something terrible.  I couldn't close the bed cover is just smelled to bad. So, my plan was to remove and replace bed rug.  It didn't take but an hour to remove the rug but then I looked under the plastic bed liner only to see more debris caked in the corners and even some paper towels, I'm guessing from when it was installed.  Meanwhile we have lunch and Diane goes up to play Po-Ken-No. I watched a short YouTube video, got more tools out and ripped out the bed liner. It wasn't that hard, but the size made it difficult to maneuver around and get it on the ground without falling out of the truck. The nice thing about being in a campground of old guys, no one even flinches when they see an old guy with a wrench stumbling around a truck. 

A visit to Shawna!

    By the time Diane returned I was done. We cleaned the place up and headed to the cemetery via the dumpster to throw out bed liner.  It wasn't graceful but after backing up to the dumpster I got on the tail gate and with Diane's help we flipped it in without going in also. After the visit to the cemetery, we checked out a couple of restaurants, both permanently closed.  Back to the Moho and baked fish for diner.  

Saturday 7 January 2023

   Cold this morning 42 degrees. The nice thing with cool mornings in Florida is once the sun comes up it warms up quick.  By the time breakfast was over it was almost 60 so I decided to wash the truck.  It took us most of day. The amount of dirt under the bed liner was unbelievable.  I thought the bed would be pristine after being covered with bed liner and bed rug, well not so much. I guess the road dirt and dust just collected under the liner for the last 6 years. We finally wore out and called it quits for the day.  The truck is looking good inside cleaned up and now the outside all washed.  

Instead of making dinner we decided to head into Webster to check out this interesting looking place and try their Cubans.  It was entertaining to say the least  

They use the bottle 
tops as you tab!!

Sunday 8 January

   I was out drying the dew off the truck; seems the campground water left it terrible spotted.  That seemed to work, looks pretty good now.  Len came over for breakfast at 9:15, he was supposed to be here at 9:00 but says he didn't remember 9am being so early on the weekends.  We had a really nice chat and breakfast.  It was cool this morning but warm enough to sit outside and eat.
   It was almost lunch time until Len went home.  We cleaned up dishes and Diane did a load of

Brad found a turtle 
on his ride.

laundry. Around 2:00 we decided to go for a walk/bike ride. You know how it goes. I had to get my tools put the bike rack on the truck, air up bike tires and load up the bike.  We get in the truck and I'm out of gas, so we have to go the long way around. It was almost 3:30 by the time we pull into the Van Fleet trailhead. The good news being so late the temperature had dropped a bit and the ride was good, not to hot not to cold. Felt good to get some exercise. 
  Back to the Moho just burgers for dinner and a nice walk for Rudy

Parked for awhile. Yeah

Tuesday 27 December 2022

    A nice sunny day and a bit warmer but still below freezing overnight and we had to unhook the

Rudy's enjoying the
Florida Sunshine in Starke.

water again. We took advantage of the nice weather; I worked on the entry steps cleaning up the terminals hopefully that will take care of the steps deploying while driving down the highway. Diane cleaned up the Moho and went for a nice walk on the nature trail here on base. Just kind of enjoyed another day of not moving. Grilled ham steak for diner and off to bed tomorrow is the last leg of our trip south. 

Wednesday 28 December 2022     WE MADE IT

     We woke up and it seems to be a nice day, sunny, 50 degrees and calm.  We took our good old sweet time getting ready, only 120 miles to go today.  Moving as slow as we could we were still ready sooner than the mornings we hurried. Go figure. Anyway, on the road at 10:15 we headed south to Ocala to get on I75.  Halfway there the GPS showed I75 at grid lock. Diane rerouted us down route 301 the whole way to the campground.  It was through a bunch of busy towns and a lot of traffic and red lights, but we were moving anyway.  We arrived at Oak Alley RV Resort at 2 pm and most important 80 degrees. Diane checked us in and told them we needed propane.  We were down to 1/4 tank after the cold trip down. I pulled around to the propane tank, the guy hooked up the hose and ... you guessed he was out of propane. Good news, it is much warmer so we shouldn't need much propane heat anymore.  Down to site 438, get parked, all set up and ready to relax.  The usual travel day diner, burgers on the grill and wine.

Thursday 29 December 2022

     Almost 65 this morning but not a lot of time relax with the Shari and crew coming over tomorrow.  Today they went to beach to get some salt water fix before going back to Colorado Sunday.
   I headed to town to fill up the 30lb propane tank to have the propane hose for the grill checked out. 

Our site at Oak Alley!!

The grill would not burn right with the grill tank so I switched to big tank still nothing switched to the little green Coleman bottle and it worked. The man at the propane store checks it out said it is just fine. Puzzled I came back hooked it up to the grill tank and poof it works just fine. Maybe it just didn't like cold weather. Meantime Diane cleaned up the moho. When I got back Diane went for groceries while I cleaned up the grill. Finished getting our yard things out flag, name sign etc. Grilled chicken quarters for diner.

Friday 30 December 2022

  Sixty degrees when we got up, oh that feels so good!  It was in the 70's by the time Shari and family made it over for breakfast.  Shari, Matt, McKayden and little Mathew drove down from Minnesota after visiting with Morgan and Zach over Christmas.  We had eggs, bacon and scrapple.  I'm not sure but I think it was the scrapple that got them moving this morning and the fact we had six bags of good Pennsylvania chips for them.  After breakfast they went back picked up their dogs and we went for a nice walk at the Van Fleet trail. By now it was sunny🌞and in the 80's.  Diane and I went back to the Moho showered and started cleaning up from breakfast a lot of pots and pans. Grilled sausages for dinner.

People avoided us
on the trail!!  

Saturday 31 December 2022  

   Here it is New Year's Eve!  I can't believe the year has passed already.  Another busy day for us. I don't know how we ever worked full time, looked after the house and raised the kids. Now we don't have enough time to get anything done.
   Diane went to a farmers market this morning in Webster and came home with some nice tomatoes and other veggies, but no strawberries, to early yet I guess. 
   We headed to Leesburg for lunch and to meet Shari and crew for a round of mini golf.  Diane found

McKayden and Matthew
Axe throwing.

this Mexican restaurant Los Laureles, the place was nice just in a small strip mall, but food was good. Diane had a grilled chicken quesadilla, and I had the shrimp chimichanga de camaron. Diane couldn't eat all of hers and I shouldn't have eaten all of mine. .... But I did. Just as we were heading out the door to meet Shari, the skies opened up and the rain came down. Called Shari we switched plans and went to a family arcade.  First up was ax throwing. Diane did OK, I was pathetic, but it was fun! The kids had all done it before and were fairly good.  I never did get the hang of it.  We spent the couple of hours playing pin ball, Ms. Pac man and skeet ball.  We had a good time just didn't get to visit much.  The rain quit as we were on our way home.  Figures. Picked up some wings from Beef O Brady's for our New Year's Eve celebration.  We had some wings for diner. I was tired went to bed around 10 but the fireworks had Rudy all upset.  I finally got back up about 11:15 after a loud rumble of fireworks had Rudy dancing on my chest.  We watch the ball drop, had a toast of wine to new year before going back to bed.

Sunday 1 January 2023   HAPPY NEW YEAR

     Hope no one is to hung over! Very warm this morning with heavy fog. After a nice breakfast we spent the day working on some little projects that had to wait warmer weather.  I replaced a lite in the kitchen, put a new piston on the tv door, fixed exhaust vent for the stove and few other things. Diane went to town, cleaned up Moho and cooked up our pork and sauerkraut.  You won't believe it but I ate to much.  

Monday 2 January 2023

  Warm again this morning and the fog was so heavy it was almost a drizzle.  We waited until fog burned off before going to the Webster flea market.  I guess we're just not in the mood yet to shop. We had a breakfast sandwich then walked around the place until lunch.  We were standing in line for lunch when we meet some old camping friends from Paradice Oaks campground. We spent lunch with them catching up on everyone. It was a nice time.  I talked Diane into a soft pretzel on the way out.  So we didn't buy anything but food and probably more carbs than we consume in a week.  Back to the Moho to work off some of the food.  I swept out the truck and worked on stuff outside.  Diane took a nice walk around the campground. And salad for diner!

Tuesday 3 January 2023 

    We have been slowly running out of food and other necessities so today was a run over to Clermont to BJ's and of course lunch.  At least that was the plan until Diane tried to make reservation to fly home for some Chase time.  It certainly isn't as easy as it used to be anyway by the time she figured all that out it was already lunch time.  So, we had lunch in the Moho certainly not the seafood I was hoping for but a lot cheaper.  Finally, we were on our way to BJ's.  First stop campground post office to pick up the patio rug we ordered.  Next was Tractor Supply for def and a few other things, but I missed the turned had to do a U-turn then I ended up going in the exit only lane. Phew but we made it. On down to Clermont and BJ's after walking every isle we were done.  Best purchase was wine like 4 bucks cheaper (per bottle) than PA. After a stop for coffee and bathroom break. It was 4:30 when we made it back. As soon as we parked I remembered we wanted a lottery ticket for tonight so off Diane goes again. 
   We finally sat down with a glass of wine about 5:30 and relaxed.  Deer loin stuffed with jalapenos and asparagus for diner.  And off to bed we went!.......About 3 AM Rudy starts licking Diane's face then walking on my chest I reached down to make him lay down and put my hand in a pile of goo.  Well let me tell you that will wake you up in a hurry.  I jumped up turned on the light and what did I see, a pile of dog puke looking back at me. We get up strip the bed including the mattress cover. Now it is a Moho we live in, so the first thing is remembering where the spare stuff is, after a few wrong guesses we finally get everything, remake the bed and we even found the spare comforter back in bed by 4am.  The end.