Getting ready to leave Florida

Monday, was a stay at home day, 1 load of laundry done and hung out, and finally getting back to finishing the washing of the Moho, a little break when Len came over to test Rudy for heart worm, then back to Moho and finally got done washing the whole thing.   I rested a bit then cleaned up all the supplies used in the washing.  After that we get cleaned up and off to Shawn and Lens for dinner.  Nice day.  Home at 8:30 a walk around the CG with Rudy, then off to bed about 10:00.

 

I have been trying to order a tail pipe extension from Alliance Coach for a week with no success.  I had left two phone messages and stopped in on Saturday but no one ever called back so Tuesday we stopped in and stayed until they took the order(a 45 min. ordeal).  Now let's hope it comes in on Monday as promised.

 

Not much else happening  this week until Wed. when Shari called to see if we could watch their animals(cat, dog, two pigs and a donkey)  for three days.  I said sure, when should we plan on starting she said right now as they are walking out the door for a trip to the Keys.  Well, that changed our plans in a hurry.  Now just to show you how lucky we are, she called us on Friday at 2:30 to ask if we could clean-up their house 'right now' because a real estate lady was coming at 4:30.  Well, Diane worked some magic on the girls bedrooms and we did get it presentable by 4:30.  What a job!!

 

Thursday I decided to clean the two exhaust fans and according to the instructions it would take about a half hour each.  I'll cut this short, after four plus hours, two trips to the hardware store, one cut finger we are done....... with one, which I broke putting back together. The second one we did on Friday without incident.  Friday evening we were invited by Ron and Marilyn to join them at the Horse races here at the CG, so we decided to go.  Oh my, what fun, the way the people acted you would have thought this was the Kentucky Derby.  It was worth the trip just for all the laughs. 

 

Now it is Sunday evening and we just returned from Bingo(yes we both went) and are enjoying a really nice evening.  It has been hot here most of the week with temp's in the mid to high 80's.

 

We are planning to leave early next week(23rd) and arrive in Dillsburg the 26th or 27th. Our last week here is filling up fast.  Monday is the Webster flee market, Tuesday bingo, Wednesday visit John and Ellen, Thursday and Friday visit the kids and grandkids and Friday night is the Horse races here at the CG, we need to go, it's too much fun not to.  Then Monday the 23rd we leave.

Kids and their Sports

Friday was a miserable day here in Florida, 69 for a high and that was a midnight, 'til I got up at 7:30 it was 64 and the mist was heavy in the air.  We finally sorted our mail and after about 10 phone calls and Internet searches for renewals, etc., we headed up to Brownwood (part of the Villages) for lunch and then a quick stop at Alliance Coach.  Well we had lunch at McAlister's and headed home, never stopping at Alliance Coach.  We did a quick walk with Rudy then out we go to the school to watch the track meet and Morgan compete.  They had the 4x2 first and came in first, then about a 1.5-2.0 hour wait to see here participate in the hurdles.  It was nice to see here compete, but the 55 degree drizzle was miserable.  We left after the hurdles and headed home to turn on the heat and change clothes.  She had one more race to compete in, but another 2 hour wait, we just weren't willing to do, we now remember why you have kids at a young age, it was almost 8:30 when we left and I'm not sure we would have lasted another 2 hours. 

 

Saturday was so different, sunny and warm, so off to Wildwood to watch the kids play soccer.  After about 4 hours of sitting in the sun, the kids were done and headed to the County Fair, while we

Nice day to watch
the kids play.

headed to Fresh Market for some meats.  We got sausage (for sausage and biscuits) and a few other things for us.  Back home where I made some sausage patties for us then over to Shari's to drop off the rest of the sausage.  Home again, burgers on the grill with corn on the cob....not a bad meal.  A lazy evening on the patio, heading in a little after dark. 

 

 

 

 

Sunday was a tough one, a lost hour of sleep and then off to Matt and Shari's for sausage and biscuits.  We were a little late getting there, but since breakfast was just getting ready, we really weren't late.  We hung out there until about noon and they started getting ready to head to the beach, so we headed home.  A walk for Rudy and then off to play bingo (Brad actually came along).  Neither of us won, but it was fun and we had at least one winner at our table.  We talked with Gene and Dawn for a little while after bingo, then headed home to tend to Rudy.  We walked for a little while, then headed home for a salad with grilled chicken.....not a bad meal. 

 

Diane and Brad

3 day Summary

Monday thru Thursday,  not much happening this week.  The mouse either died from injuries sustained from tripping the traps but got out or he moved out.  We cleaned all the bins and vacuumed everything we could reach and have not seen or heard him in the past four or five  days.  So, the traps have been removed and we are assuming he is gone.  I would feel a lot better if we had caught him and known for sure.

   On to new items,  the small bedroom TV has been reinstalled in the front of the Moho.....or at least sitting in the old spot.  I'm glad that is over except that I dropped one screw which I'm sure went down the defroster vent.  We'll see how that plays out when I have to turn the defroster on.   Tuesday was a shopping day both Wal-Mart and Winn-Dixie.  I got to stay home while Diane shopped, she says it is easier and cheaper without me. Wednesday we took a little road trip up to the Villages, stopped at Alliance coach ordered a tailpipe extension part(ours fell off on the ride down) and walked through about 25/30 RVs, then stopped at the new Publix's grocery store.  It has been up in the 80's all week and just to hot to work or do much outside.  I did manage to scrub the roof on Thursday , then while Diane and I were doing the front of the RV, she started fussing and jumping up and down, grabbing the hose, spraying her feet and legs .....she was standing on an ant hill, yikes.  I did have to fuss at her about the water puddles she was making at the front of the Moho.  After that a shower for Diane while I kept scrubbing.  We just had burgers on the grill with Middleswarth BBQ chips (thanks Lynne), a nice visit with Gene and Dawn and a lazy evening. 

 

Diane and Brad



Moho Washing



Saw this one day while
out to lunch!!
Pretty neat.

Sumter 60 and rain to humid and 80....wow

Friday another cool morning Brad had to wear his sweat shirt to grill.  We had pancakes and sausage on the grill.  Checked all the traps, no activity except for more plastic chewed.  About 1:00 we headed out to Odd Couples for lunch, then to the hardware store for another mouse trap, new American Flag and a boot scrapper to set out side the RV (tired of the sand).  I think Brad will buy one more trap every day until the last critter is caught.  We went down to local state park checked out their schedule of events for March, re-enactments and crafts, etc.  Later we headed to Sparkman's fruit stand and got a flat of strawberries and a bag of oranges, stopping at Shari's and leaving most of it there, with seven of them it will probably be gone by evening.  We just had a small dinner here at the RV, neither of us being very hungry, a walk for Rudy and a stay inside night. 

 

Saturday,  rain, rain, rain so breakfast in camper.  We then started sorting out the storage bins, dodging rain drops in the process.  We put up the new flag and set out a few more decorations and

Camp Site

  Brad checked the traps, one was tripped but no mouse.   We decided to go to Howie's for lunch and make that our main meal of the today, Brad had grilled haddock(huge piece) Diane had half rack of ribs and they just fell off the bone.  We drove over to the Lake Panasoffkee VFW and  turned in our old flags, had a drink and listened to the very interesting group hanging out there.  We then did some touring around and found a small state park called Hog Island Campground, so we drove down the road, the road got narrow with no macadam, and it turned in sand with large pot holes.  We finally found the camp ground, nice with probably 20 sites, no hook ups but there were several campers including one motor home (our Moho will never travel that road).  Back home tend to Rudy and a walk in between rain showers.   So... since we had a big lunch we settled for ice cream for dinner, along with the other 20 people at Lickety Splits, then home to hang out and hide from the rain. 

Where the TV was

Sunday we a quick breakfast, then Brad decided it was time to remove the front TV, and so the fun begins.  Plastic screw covers popped, then the screws out of the plastic...nope not loose.  OK, check in the side cupboards and there are 3 screws holding up the wooden frame, they come out and the frame comes off.  2 brackets at the back of the TV come off and we still can't get it to move....now what.  I'm outside hanging up laundry, phone in my pocket, ready to call 911 when I hear the yell, but it never came.  Back inside, Brad on one side of the TV and me on the other, a little wiggle and it comes loose.  We finally got it out...right to the car for the trip to the dump.  OK a mess in the house, I left to go play bingo....2 hours for Brad to clean up should be enough.  No luck at bingo, but it was nice seeing all the people from last year, and it worked, not only did Brad get the place cleaned up, he ran to the grocery store to grab a few things we needed...yeah.  Home after bingo, a couple of walks around the park for Rudy, burgers on the grill and then windows shut and AC on....what a change, 2 nights ago we had the heat on.  Oh well, we'll see what tomorrow brings. 

And now all the tools are
on the dash.

Diane and Brad
 

Back in Sumterville

1956 Thunder Bird...Nice

Monday we are in Moore Haven, FL, near Okeechobee Lake, where it was very hot and humid with lots of mosquitoes. There was not a lot of mouse activity last night, but Brad was worried about the 2 that took the traps and disappeared, so after he made  breakfast on the grill he tore off the panel above the propane tank.  What a find, there they were, along with a box of jello (which I have never had in the Moho).  He got them out, then cleaned up and we headed out about 10:00-10:30 heading to LaBelle, looking for a Hardware Store for a few more mouse traps.  Our first stop was a Dollar General Market, and yes it was a Dollar General as we know them, but  it has a much bigger grocery store with produce and all.  After that we found the Ace Hardware and my $3.00 mouse trap ended up costing $108.00, nice Ace Hardware with a coffee pot that we needed and  a few other things we didn't need, but bought anyway.  We then headed to the Log Cabin BBQ joint for lunch....the place was packed and the food was delicious, and to top it off,  you got a complementary cup of Brunswick stew before your meal and a complementary scoop of ice cream after your meal, what a great find.   We did some exploring around town and got some pics of 2 old cars we found, there was a huge motor cycle group at a Mexican restaurant and their shirts made we laugh "We ride to Eat".  After that we headed home, taking a different route and in the process found some Okeechobee River locks with a nice Army Corps of Engineers CG on the other side of the water....no we couldn't find the road to the CG, darn.  After that we headed home, put the rest of the anti-freeze in the Moho, checked the oil and then Brad set up about 6 mouse traps, and made dinner on the grill.  We tried sitting outside, but the mosquito's were so bad, we hid inside and had a lazy evening. 

1955 Ford Fairlane
Victoria...another nice one



 

 

During the night it pretty quiet again, but we could still hear a mouse running around, but at least we had some half decent sleep.  So Tuesday morning we packed slow since we only had about 180 miles to Bushnell and didn't get on the road 'til about 10:30.  Going up the western side of Lake Okeechobee took us through town after town after town....I liked the eastern drive better.  We stopped a couple of times on the drive and still were in our site and parked by 3:30.  We got set up, awning staked out, camp chairs and grill out, we even had the satellite working by 5:00, just in time for happy hour.  After that a nice long walk for Rudy then we had steaks, a baked sweet potato and mushrooms for dinner, nice.  We got done with everything, just in time watch NCIS and off to bed shortly thereafter.

 

Wednesday morning I didn't get out of bed until 7:30, enjoying my first cup of coffee snuggled with 

Brad ready to run as he
tears off the panel (haha)

Rudy, it was nice not to be in a hurry to get up.  But then, there is Brad, not feeling very well, so it's just a light breakfast here at the house and hanging out. A mouse triggered the trap last night but was not in it when Brad checked this morning(darn, we thought it was over).  A couple of walks for Rudy and then about 12:00 we headed out to the Odd Couples for soup and a sandwich, then over to Shari's for a visit and to do a load of laundry.  We left there about 4:00 dropping Brad and the clean laundry off at the camper, while I headed out to the grocery store.  We notice the water at the CG wasn't smelling to good and think that's why Brad didn't feel too great this morning, beside that between the 2 of us, we didn't finish a pot of coffee.  Brad reset all seven of the mouse traps. We ended up just having grilled cheese and soup for dinner hoping that Brad would feel better on Thursday. 

Today was a walk for Brad and Rudy then a bike ride for me, then off to Lickety Splits for breakfast.  After that a 2 hour walk around the RV show next door, a stop at the hardware store, looking for a new flag and some glue traps, then home to tend to Rudy.  A couple of walks around the CG, a bunch of phone calls completed, and a few other chores completed.  Then again, Brad went through setting up 8 mouse traps, switching up the bait in them all, he is obsessed with this last mouse (don't get me wrong, I want him gone, but Brad is almost funny over this).   We headed out for dinner at Coyote Rojo then home to feed Rudy, finishing of the blog, and getting the place cleaned up after that.  Probably off to bed about 9:30 for Brad and I'll be up a little later than that.

Diane and Brad

 

Marathon to Moore Haven, Florida

Wednesday we had breakfast at home, it was a windy and cool day, so we just hung out around the Moho until we headed out for lunch.  We headed out, not sure where we were going, but  we settled on a place

called 'The Dockside'.  We had a very breezy out door lunch, but the food was good and the place was rather interesting.  We went for a walk down the dock area after lunch, back to the car and headed into Sombrero beach area, touring another part of the town we hadn't ventured into yet.  Then headed up to Curry Hammock State Park to check out the camp ground and see about kayaking, but it was still too windy to do much there.  After that, further up the Keys to Cocoa Plum Beach area and actually found a protected  beach where we could walk, along with everybody else that was on it.  We finally headed home about 4:30, had a quick meal in and a couple walks with Rudy a chat with some of the people staying here and called it a night. 

 



Fire needed in the
Florida Keys is Wrong!!

Thursday was fierce winds, the Coast Guard Flags warned of Gale force winds which were pretty sustained at about 50-60 mph.....ugh.  We headed out to breakfast, finding a place in side to eat (which we didn't do too often), and settled on the 'Stuffed Pig', Brad had a crab omelet and I settled on a normal egg and sausage breakfast.....his was ok, but no need to order it again.  We headed home, tended to Rudy, then loaded up the bikes and headed up to Duck Key for a ride.  I will admit it, a
little over 1/2 mile into it, I pulled over and called uncle, I quit.  It was too hard riding in that wind and I was not having any fun.  Back to the car, load up the bikes then we settled for about a 2 mile walk, much nicer but still windy.  After that we headed into Duck Key development and did a tour...oh my, what beautiful homes.  After that we headed up to Islamorada and stopped at an interesting place called Robbie's.  We walked around there for a while, lots of local arts and crafts stands, then decided, since it was already 3:00, we should probably have lunch.  They didn't have a table in the sun, so we settled for one beside the gas fire pit....oh how nice.  The food was good and so were the beers, then another walk around the place, out to the dock to see the Tarpon, but the water was to cloudy. We hung out there until about 4:00 - 4:30, then headed out.  We had dinner in, just to hide from the wind. 

 

Friday we had a quick breakfast, a load of laundry and then we headed up the island again.  We did a little site seeing then found the 'Fish Tales' restaurant.  We have been lucky, another good find and a great recommendation from one of the regulars (non menu recommendation).  We had a good meal, then headed out back to check out a little shop, then to the pier and watch the fishing group getting ready to head out to sea.  Then  headed back home, tended to Rudy, then took the bikes and headed up the island, it was nice, we were able to head down all the little side streets, checking out the beautiful and not so beautiful homes.  After about 2 hours we headed back home, stopping at the Tiki Bar next door.  There is a boat show in town and there have been a lot of speed boats in and out of the piers, so we walked around out back, checking out some of the boats, then headed for the bar.  Now today we do not have gale force winds, but let me say, some of the boats were having a tough time docking.  We watched a sail boat come in, and when it got to the pier, it took 5 or 6 people to hold it tight until they could get it tied up.  We sat and had a couple of drinks, then decided it was time to head home for dinner.  Brad made dinner on the grill, and we settled in for the night. 

 

Well, then for Saturday....it started about midnight.  The local mice found their way into the camper

Marathon Fish Market
and Restaurant

and Rudy barked the rest of the night.  Brad was outside/inside, but no luck in trying to catch the critters, and Rudy would finally stop barking and about the time you would start to fall asleep, he would start again, chasing around the cupboards, never letting up, relentless.  Now that wouldn't have been to bad, but neither Brad nor I got any sleep.  Saturday is our last day in Marathon and we are both too tired to want to do anything.  We settled for breakfast on the grill, a load of laundry in, and started to clean up.  Brad found the mouse traps and got them set up, took down the clothes line and worked outside, while I worked inside.  About noon we headed to the grocery store, which took about 2 hours, then back home to tend to Rudy and get cleaned up for a late lunch/early dinner.  We headed up to the Marathon Fish Market where Brad had the Lobster Reuben and I had

Imagine that
Brad talked him to death
ha ha ha

the Stone Crab Claws...both were delicious.  We walked around there for a little, then ran into Malcolm and Carol one more time.  They were heading in for dinner and we were heading home, too tired to go anywhere, so home to finish packing and our last load of laundry done (what an exciting way to end vacation).  About 9:00 the traps went off, the 2 mice(rats) are caught, yea a good night in bed.......no such luck, about 3:00-4:00 in the morning, Rudy started again, more mice, but at least we got a little sleep.  Two more traps go off, so when Brad looked under the shower to get them the traps and all disappeared down the hole.....now what? 

 

Sunday there isn't much to do, but finish packing and hit the road.  We didn't get out of there until about 10:30, but were are just heading up to a CG by Okeechobee Lake.  It wasn't an uneventful ride either......  We were headed off of Key Largo, through never, never land when Brad says the 'check engine' light is on and the 'engine prot' light is lit and the stop engine light blinks.  Now lucky for us, they only flashed on and went right back off, and we still had about 50-60 miles to the closest truck stop...so we keep going.  We get there and while Brad is pumping gas, I get the manual out and it looks like we are low on antifreeze....easy fix, so we get antifreeze, load up the RV and hit the road.  Yea we make it...no more stops and we even managed to find the CG without any more problems.  We pulled in, parked

Sunset, good-night!!

and then Brad stretched out on the sofa while I fussed at him to hook up water, poor guy.  We are both tired and ready to relax for the night.  About midnight the mouse starts running around again and Rudy is after him.  Another night of sleep deprivation.  But the CG is nice, just in the middle of no where, but then again, we have no where to go. 

Thanks,
Diane and Brad

Still in Marathon

Sunday was a breakfast on the grill, then we loaded up the bikes and headed to Big Pine Key.  We managed to find a visitor center, got some information, had a quick slice of pizza, then headed down the island.  It was a nice ride, the bike trail was off from road, and we hit a couple of the side trails.  About 3.5-4 miles down the road, there was a little pull of place called 'Blue Hole', so we parked the bikes and did the short walk to the over look at the fresh water pool, where there was an alligator, turtles and lots of birds enjoying the area.  We then headed back, taking a detour (bigger that we thought) to go to an open house....wow, $370,000.00 doesn't buy you much down here.  It was creepy just walking into the place, it was a strange layout and small, but the lady there was really nice, so we chatted for a while and headed back.  We got back to the car about 3:00-3:30, loaded up the bikes and headed to 'No Name Key' hoping to see the tiny key deer.  We were not disappointed, there were lots of them, buck, doe and there was a little baby, it didn't look much bigger than Rudy, and he's just a 12 lb. dog.  After that we stopped a the 'No Name Pub' for a couple of drinks, the inside is covered with dollar bills, from floor to and including the ceiling, with an estimated value of $65,000.00....what a site to see.  We headed out to the patio with our beers and enjoyed the sunshine and breeze.  After that back home, sausages on the grill for dinner, a stay at home evening.

  

Monday, Brad made breakfast on the grill, then about 10:30 we headed up to Wheels-2-go.  We rented 2 kayaks, then over to Sombrero Beach where they delivered the Kayaks.  There were about  12 of us heading out (on our own) to do some kayaking around 'Boot Key'.  Not bad, a little ocean area (called Sister Creek) to traverse through then into 'Whiskey Creek' where there were lots of sail boats tied up, then we headed towards 'Silver Pond' looking for the smaller trails to follow.  We were trying to find 'Burdines Trail', but ended up on' Entrance Trail' that took you to 'Big Lake'.  What a beautiful trip, it's what they call an 'adventure trail' and you kayak on trails cut through the Mangroves.  We saw Sting-ray, sand-sharks and lots of other fish on the trip, with lots of birds to startle you when you got close.  After that we headed back through 'Entrance Trail', through 'Silver Pond', where we noticed a bit more wind.  Well when we hit 'Whiskey Creek' the wind was very noticeable, and then we got on 'Sister Creek'....oh no are we going to make it back, the wind was blowing  and you had to paddle hard and non stop, when finally we found the launch site....yea we made it back to the launch site.  After that back home for a couple of beers, then a nice salad with chicken for dinner, and Brad headed to bed at 8:00, I lasted until a little after 9:30, but then off to bed.

 

A Few Kayaking Pics 

Tuesday we were going to go to the beach, but it was too hot, so Brad worked on replacing the Moho batteries and I sat in the shade reading my book.....what a great day.  Something productive done and a lot of relaxing as well.  Brad had made breakfast on the grill, then we just had an orange for lunch and about 3:15 headed out to Sparky's Landing for happy hour.  Not a bad deal, .25 cent shrimp and wings..so after a bowl of gumbo, 2 dozen shrimp and 18 wings, we called our selves full and headed out.  We walked up the pier checking out the boats, trying to decide which one we liked the best.  Back home, a couple of trips around the Coast Guard Station, then we settled in about 8:00.....what a beautiful day. 

Gumbo

Relaxing at the CG

In my spare time I added up what it cost us to travel around.  A lot of RV'ers talk about but I never knew for sure.  This year we kept track to see just what it was.  So here is our 2014 expense/budget  for anyone who may be interested.


We traveled 11,128 mi, visited 16 sates for at least one night,
camp grounds cost $5113,
diesel fuel $5738,
 propane $450,
 repairs/maintenance $4090,
car fuel $1953.

The only big surprise for us was the maintenance and it appears that may be the normal. We will see how this year goes.