Back in Florida

Well, I survived my trip to PA.  It was a bit chilly (cold), but I managed. 

I arrived on Wednesday, with dad picking me up at the airport.  I stayed with him that night, then left on Thursday,  Aunt Dot was coming down and staying the night, then on Friday Scott was bringing Cathy home from the hospital and she is headed over to their home.

Not a bad weekend, Saturday morning Lynne and I headed to Baltimore, antiquing and shopping our way there, what a wonderful day.  We finally get there, find our hotel, then head out on foot to find the water front area.  We did some shopping, people watching, then stopped at 'Dick's' for a glass of wine and maybe dinner.  The place was very interesting, but a bit loud, so we left after a glass of wine and headed off to another place.  This time we stopped at 'Phillips', nice place, a lot nicer, so dinner and wine, what a wonderful time.  We then headed back to the hotel, do we walk or take a cab, that was the big question....but there are police officers on every corner, so walk we did.  It was a beautiful night, and a great time, sorry it was over so fast.  The next morning we got ready and headed out about 10:30, off to G & M for a crab cake brunch, how delicious.  After that we did more antiquing on our way home, we had no agenda.  We get back to dad's about 5:30-6:00, chit-chat for a while, then Lynne headed home.

 

Monday morning at 7:30 AM is my Dr. appointment to get my hip check, all is well and now it's time to get it stronger and get rid of the cane, yea.  Breakfast after the doctors, stop at dad's storage unit and load up some things in the car, get Aunt Lida's coat and drop that off, then a trip home.  After that I decided I needed to go to Kohl's, a little shopping then off to see Shane for a short time, then a pedicure for me and a manicure for Lynne, what a bush day. 

 

Tuesday was another busy day, we did some running, then I made a ham and noodle casserole for Scott, Aunt Dot and Frankie, while dad some running around he needed to do.  Then he dropped me off at the Farm Show building where I met Mel, over to house, picking up Taylor then off to her volleyball practice in Chambersburg.  Wow, what a change in her level of play.  She finally dropped me off at dad's about 10:00. 

 

Wednesday dad had therapy then out to breakfast and a trip to the casino.  What a lucky day, every machine we sat down at we won, not big, but we both walked out ahead.  Back home and time to make a lot of macaroni and cheese.  Karen and the girls came up for one  bowl and we backed the other bowl full.  Lynne came over for dinner and then Brit and Aly came back with our girl scout cookies.  What a great visit....if it weren't so cold I might have been tempted to stay. 

 

Thursday morning was pack, breakfast, a wasted trip to the bank, then the long flight home.  Harrisburg to Newark for a 3 hour layover, then a quick flight to Orlando, where Brad did find me.  We stopped for dinner and got home about 8:30....yea and  59 felt warm. 

 

Friday was a run around day first a load of laundry, then a trip to the post office, a stop for lunch, off to the kitchen place to order a door/panel, a trip through a very large RV park, a quick stop (ha ha) at the RV show and then our last stop was the  grocery store.  Burgers on the grill and a lazy evening at home.  Saturday was breakfast on the grill, a load of laundry, hair cut then out for lunch.  After that we headed over to Dade Battlefield to check out the WW-II re-enactment.  We spent a few hours walking around there.  We had missed at the demonstrations, but looked at all the displays and watched a movie about WW-II.  It was a very enjoyable day.  So finally we got home, did some little things around here, dinner on the grill and work on the blog.  I'm sure while I was gone Brad visited the girls and did some other things, but since I do the typing, that didn't make it in here :-). 

 

Diane

Warming up

Taking Kita out for her
evening walk! :-)

Friday we had planned to go to a flea market, but it was a miserable day, so we went shopping instead.  At least in the stores you don't get rained on or cold.  We still have animal duty and were hoping to see the Lucero's, but no luck, they are going away for the weekend.
 

Saturday is the day, much nicer, so off we go to the Renninger's extravaganza(flea market).  I have never in my life seen so much stuff for sale, I swear it went on for miles.  The funny thing was, that a lot of the people there selling stuff that we recognized were from PA.  We walked around there for a couple of hours, then headed back into Mt. Dora to hit a shop or two.  After that a trip to Lowe's to get what we need to put the weather station stuff together.  We finally got back home about 5:30, walk the dog and head over to the O'Donnell's for animal duty.

The Flea Market

Sunday I did a load of laundry (I'm liking my drying rack), grocery shopping, then headed up to play bingo.  I didn't win, but had a nice time, may Tuesday I'll hit one of the $250 jackpots (ha ha).  While I was gone, Brad but together all the weather station components and talked with the neighbor.  After that we just stayed home, enjoying the nice weather and having chicken on the grill for dinner.  I talked with Mel and Lynne and ended up calling it an early evening. 

Rudy watching Brad
cook on the grill.

Monday was an unplanned day.  A load of laundry, then off to the drug store.  Well while we were out we went to lunch, stopped for coffee, then off to the strawberry patch for fresh strawberries.  We got back home about 3:30, had some strawberries, then packed some up to take to the O'Donnell's when we did our last animal run.  We walked Rudy, then Brad headed over to the O'Donnell's, me, I worked on the blog.  After that we had pork chops for dinner and then a stroll around the park.  After that Brad turned on 'Heart Break Ridge', but he went to bed, so I turned on 'Castle' instead, yea, then off to bed. 

Brad and Diane
and Rudy

Crazy Weather here, there, everywhere

OK, not to complain too much, but we had a week of rain and didn't see any sunshine until Sunday.  We did our normal grocery shopping runs, off to the RV store just to look, again and get some light bulbs, no big deal.  I think it was Thursday 2-6 I was going stir crazy so I headed to the Villages to do some shopping stopping at  a minimum of 6 stores, the last being 'The Fresh Market' before I headed home.  We did go to the O'Donnell's for dinner on Friday, which is always a fun visit.  Sunday was bingo and then back to the O'Donnell's for dinner where Len joined us, since Gabe and Shawna were both sick.   

 

Finally we got out and about on Monday heading to the Webster Flea Market, but we ended up getting side tracked at the Beville's Corner Flea Market.  We spent a couple of hours there, buying a stylus for Brad to use with the I Pad, but other than that no other purchases, we were both amazed by the amount of guns for sale and enjoyed watching all the people.  We headed home, finally getting to cook on the grill again and spent a nice evening on the patio, enjoying the nicer weather.

 

Tuesday was a stay at home day, doing laundry, replace light bulbs, and then a little excitement as we got a call about doing some work camping out west, no decision made on our part yet. Brad made dinner on the grill again and I ran out leaving him with the dishes, to play bingo, I didn't win, but they are now up to 3 winning pots of $250.00 for Sunday's bingo on the 16th.   

 

Brooksville, passed on the ride home
from John's.

Wednesday was another run around day, we headed to Weeki Wachee, to visit with John and Ellen for the day.  We talked and talked, then headed out to lunch and talked some more.  They did have plans to take us to Homosassa Springs Park, but the weather wasn't cooperating.  So after lunch, back to the house for more talking.  What a great day, we were there until about 5:30-6:00 then had to head home to tend to Rudy.  As it was, lunch was late, so no dinner, just some cheese and pretzels for a little snack.  A little TV, Brad and Rudy off to bed and I followed a little later.

 



Kita the house pig

Today is another day.  There is already one RV that has lost his awning and we are sitting here listening to ours flap and clang, but are half afraid to take the tie down's off of it to try put it up.  We did't have any more rain today, but the wind is almost frightful.  Shari and Matt and crew left this AM to go to NC, hope they make it safe and sound, but now Brad has animal duty.  Lu is at the kennel, but Kita and the other animals still need tended to.  He went this AM, but it was so cold, Kita wouldn't go outside, so he is headed back to the O'Donnell's to let her out and feed the farm animals.   

Week old Farm Animals

Diane and Brad
 

Florida

Thursday and Friday 1-30/1-31 are what Brad refers to as 'shelter in place' days.  It's been cool, not cold, but cool, gray and rainy.  It just makes for some ugly damp weather.  We did manage to get out Thursday to the local hardware store where Brad bought the stuff to make a clothes rack to hang off the RV ladder.  Then we stopped at a local restaurant for an early dinner (pretty good food).  Friday we headed up to the Alliance RV to get the light bulbs we ordered, only to find out they were hung up in Atlanta by the winter storms.  After that we stopped at the Publix grocery store for something to go with the meat in the crock pot, but our selection ended up not being that great.  Back home, have dinner, watch Bones and a lazy evening at home.....it is still raining, but the temperature is climbing. 

 

Laundry Rack

Saturday started out gray and rainy, but as the day progressed it just remained gray.  The rain quit, so we headed outside to build a clothes line rack.  It took us a couple of hours, but mission accomplished, and it is pretty sturdy.  We were planning on dinner with the Lucero's, but Len and Chris P. Bacon had a film crew at the house and then the vet calls took over.  Dinner got postponed, hopefully lunch on Sunday.  We just had chicken on the grill and enjoyed the weather getting nicer.

 

Rudy watching another
dog walk by

Sunday morning I did a load of laundry and hung it on my new wash rack then we got ready for lunch.  Brad had talked with Len, in between his vet calls, and scheduled lunch for 1:00 at Sonny's BBQ Pit.  Well it ended up just being 4 of us, Shawna was home sick, but we had a nice lunch with Len and Gabe, it was good to see them.  We were on the way home to get Rudy for his "operation" when Dr. Len called.... he had an emergency call, Rudy gets to remain a boy for two more days. We hung out at the house had dinner on the grill and just relaxed enjoying the warmer weather.

 

Mt Dora

Monday another load of laundry hung out, grocery shopping done and cleaned up and ready to go.  We headed out for the afternoon to a little town called Mt. Dora, full of antique and craft shops, oh and I can't forget the candy shop.  We walked around there until about 5:30, as all the shops were closing, then found a little restaurant for dinner, it was a nice time.  After dinner we window shopped for a while then did a little drive around town before we headed out.  We have since decided that we have to head back another day, since there is a lot of shops I didn't get to walk through.   Back home, tend to Rudy and little TV and off to bed. 



 

Today was Rudy's day, off to see Dr. Len, and while there he implanted a chip, no losing Rudy now.  After dropping him off we went out of breakfast, then headed home to pay bills and take care of some things that needed done.  We needed some legal sized paper to print out some documents (and yes it had to be legal sized), first Shari didn't have any, none at the office here at the CG.  Off to Winn Dixie, none, CVS, none Wal-Mart none....now what.  Believe it or not, I actually found somebody at Wal-Mart that could help me and found a box of paper in back....yea. Back home, print out the documents, sign and get ready to send off.  This time Brad headed out to the post office then stopped at the vets office to see about getting Rudy a cone to keep him from licking his stitches.  Well they had one, but Rudy was having nothing to do with it, we were afraid he would hurt himself trying to get it off. so off with the cone.  I managed to get a little painting done, made spaghetti for dinner and then headed up to play bingo, leaving the mess in the kitchen for Brad.  I didn't win, but I sat with a fun group of people and had a good time.  Back to the RV, a glass of wine, a little TV, finishing the blog and now it's time for bed. 

Diane and Brad








 

Bi Polar weather

Sunday morning Brad headed over to Shari's to pick up our mail and some other things, while I got ready to play Bingo.  We sorted through the mail and about 1:15 Brad and Rudy walked me up to Bingo, where I actually won.....yea.  It was over by 4:00, so back to the Moho and work on finding something for dinner.  It is a nice day out, so we are having sausages on the grill and an enjoyable evening at home.

 

BBQ stand across from the
produce stand
(can you say red-neck)

Monday we stopped at Shari's to stop off a loaf of bread (bogo item), then headed out to Brooksville.  We stopped at a little place called the Main Street Café for lunch, which ended up being a pretty good find.  After that we stopped at the Withlacoochee State Park Office to discuss work camping, only to find out that they have very few positions and the people doing them now, have been in the position for years and just keep coming back.  It's a nice area to work, so we can understand why.  After that we found a day use area and did a drive through there, beautiful drive and we even saw two deer while there.  We headed back home, stopped at the old man's produce for strawberries then picked up Rudy and headed over to Shari's for dinner.  We had pot roast, which was delicious, and a nice visit.  We were there until about 8:00-8:30, then headed home, relaxed a little then off to bed. 

 

Tuesday is the $2.99 Fresh Market special day, so we plan our day knowing that will have to be a stop on the way.  We headed out, stopped at Alliance Motor Coach for a light bulb and to get a document notarized, then we stopped for lunch at a 'Woody's BBQ', I thought it was ok, Brad really liked it.  We then headed up to the Fresh Market in the Villages.  The place was packed, and I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that they were running out of meat.  I got the last 2 pieces of chicken, and the last of the breakfast sausage links, but at $2.99 a pound, we did some shopping, got burgers for the grill and headed home.  We ate early and once again, Brad and Rudy walked me up to play Bingo, no winning tonight.  Back home and we sit outside until about 10:00, enjoying the evening and avoiding the State of the Union on TV. 

 

Wednesday 1-29 was a rainy cold day, so it was a stay at home day.  I ended up cleaning, scrubbing and doing laundry, while Brad ripped things apart.  Not really, the shower was draining slow, so he took off the vent grate in the front of the shower, tore apart the trap and cleaned it out.  Seems to have worked, so no more foot bath while you shower.  We did some computer work that needed done, mailed off some documents and stayed inside as much as we could.  Dinner was at Coyote Rojo, I was hungry for Mexican, back home and Brad had to walk Rudy in the rain.  The rain never let up, but needless to say Rudy went out, and came right back in. 

Diane and Brad

Florida Visits

Thursday we had great day.  After a couple of Rudy walks, we got cleaned up and headed down to Lazy Days RV Park.   Buddy and Theresa, friends we met at the IRV-2 Rally are there for a Fleetwood Rally, so we decided to meet and head out to lunch.  We got there and talked for about an hour, then headed over to Plant City to check out a Pizza shop that we found on the internet.  Not bad, and it was nice to get out for the day.  We were glad they were in no hurry for the table, since we were there about 1.5-2 hours.  It was a nice visit and sad to say good-bye as we headed home.  

 

Sitting by the side of the road.

Friday we decided to hit a small RV show then head over to Brooksville to find the Withlacoochee State Park office. Well we got to the RV show with no problem, but when we left it was almost 4:00, so we decided it was time to head home and tend to Rudy.  I don't know how we do that, but a small RV lot should take us about half the time to go through, but not us, I think we spend too much time scrutinizing things.  We got home tended to Rudy then headed out to the Mexican restaurant for dinner.  There ended up being a line of about 30 people, so out we go and settle on Howie's.  Not bad, it is home cooking, but I am still hungry for Mexican.  Back home, watch Bones and off to be a little after 10:00, I want to get up tomorrow by 7:00 (ha ha).

 

Kumquat Festival

Well today I was awake by 7:00, but still didn't get out of bed until almost 8:00 (it is nice having that first cup of coffee in bed).  We got showered and headed out to the Kumquat Festival in Dade City, about 30 min. away.  Now I must admit, up until today I had no idea what a Kumquat was, but oh the memories it brought back.  When I was a kid, my mom had an orange tree that she had in the house and it grew mini oranges.  Today I find out it was really a Kumquat tree, not a mini orange tree, although that it what they looked like, they don't taste anything like a real orange.  I did brave trying a Kumquat (you even eat the rind), but ugh....I did like the ice cream, it reminded me of a creamsicle.  We spent a couple hours there, checking out all the crafts and junk stands and food stands.  It was a beautiful day for the festival.  Back for dinner from the crock pot and a lazy night at the CG. 

Diane and Brad

Visiting the kids

Friday we headed over to the O'Donnell's to get the instructions on animal care (goats, sheep, donkey, pigs, the cat and dog).  They are headed to West Palm Beach for a soccer tournament and we (Brad) gets to take care of the animals.  We visited for just a short time, they were very busy packing and getting ready for their trip.  We headed up to camping world for a towel rack (an excuse) and to look at the RV's .  Lucky for me we didn't find anything that really caught Brad's eye.  :-)  Back home, I made dinner at home, while Brad ran back and forth to the O'Donnell's tending to all the animals.

Saturday, back to the O'Donnell's, then home for me.  I packed up a load of our heavy sweat shirts and things and headed back to the O'Donnell's.  We spent about 2-3 hours there, letting Lu (the dog) and Kita (the house pig) get some time to run and play out side.  It was about 2:30 and we decided on pie and ice cream for a snack, no luck all the restaurants in town close early on Saturday.  OK, let's hit the ice cream shop for a hot fudge sundae, yum.  Back home, laundry put away, a short chat with Len, then back to the O'Donnell's for Brad.  I made dinner, some sliced cheese, crackers and pretzels.  Not much, but after the ice cream we weren't all that hungry....it worked.  One more trip to the O'Donnell's for Brad and then settle in for the night. 

 

Sunday was another take care of the animals day.  Brad got back in from the first animal run, breakfast, sheets gathered and another trip for both of us to the O'Donnell's.  I threw in the laundry while Brad fed all the animals, then off to the 4-H horse rink to see if we can catch Ashley compete.  We were there about 1.5 hours, and she said she had at least another hour before she was up, so off we go.  We went back to the O'Donnell's to put the laundry in the dryer, stopped at the store for wine and coffee creamer, then back to the horse park.  Inka was still in his stall, so we found Len and talked with him for a while then off to find Ashley.  We managed to find her, but she thought it might be another hour or more until she competed, unfortunately we had to go.  It was already 4:30 and we have Rudy and the O'Donnell animals to tend to, as well as feeding ourselves.  As it ended up, she didn't compete until about 6:00, sorry we missed it, but we did have things we were committed to do.  We got a package ready to ship, did some emails that needed done and paid some bills, tended to all the animals, all in all a good day. 

 

Monday, no animals to tend to, so we got ready and headed over to Leesburg to the FedEx office.  After that into Old Town Leesburg for a stroll through town, a couple of antique shops and lunch.  What a disappointment, a lot of the town has closed up, but lucky for me, the candle shop was just going out of business and was 50% off, so we did some shopping.  It was  a beautiful day for a ride to Leesburg and for a stroll through town.  Back home, left overs for dinner and a lazy night. 

Tuesday was a hang at  home day, sunny and warm, so Brad decided to finish the water hook ups and getting all that back together.  While he worked on that I did laundry and cleaning around the RV.  It was a beautiful day, so we managed a few strolls around the park in between work and when we were done we headed out to the local CU.  After that we stopped at Wal-Mart to pick up a few things, went for a little drive then headed home. We had an early dinner, then about 6:30 I headed up to play bingo, with Brad and Rudy walking me up to the game house.  Bingo is normally over about 9:00, but they did things differently so we didn't get done until about 10:00.  What a long night, but much to my surprise as I headed home, here comes Brad and Rudy to meet me and walk we back, what a treat.

Fort Cooper Picnic area

Today 1-22, is a chilly day.  The propane ran out last night (in the middle of the night) so Brad changed tanks and today had to head out to get the 30lb tank refilled.  We got cleaned up, then headed out for a drive around Panasoffkee Lake.  We were surprised by the amount of lots that have been cleaned off, checked out some of the CG that we know of, no change at them, then headed into Inverness for a quick lunch  and to find Fort Cooper State Park.  It wasn't hard to find, so we did a little drive through and stopped at the beach/picnic area.  We walked around and read the signs and checked out some of the trails, finally deciding to head out to the Fort Site Area.  It was a pretty good walk, but I made it with no problems and even managed to make it back to the car.  It is now 4:20 and we are going  to go to Shari and Matt's for dinner, so a quick drive home, grab Rudy and off we go.  Dinner was very good and the house was bustling as usual, Gabe joined us for dinner and Morgan was getting ready to go to dance lessons.  We hung out until about 8:30/9:00, then headed home, oh how quiet it is in the  Motor Home.  But is was a great day and a nice visit.

Diane and Brad