Grand Lake RV and Golf resort is about half way between Gainsville and Ocala, FL. and it was pretty cool (relatively!!!!) there. So, we shopped a bit around both places and toured about--seeing a botanical garden: www.kanapaha.org and where John Travolta lives: www.jumbolair.com/.
Then, to home. It is 2000 miles, so we did 400 miles per day, which is pretty good with a trailer behind and winter. Day 1 we camped at a KOA just north of Atlanta, GA. Nice place, but they were just recovering from the big freeze. Day 2 was a private campground in Southern Illinois--nice, only a bit of snow on the ground. We paid particular attention to the weather forecast here and decided to go west, then North rather than north, then northwest. So, day 3 was a drive through St Louis and Kansas City then north to St Joseph where we hotelled it because there was snow on the ground and we had winterized the water system in the trailer in the morning. Day 4 was up to Watertown, SD--lots of snow around but the driving was OK. Going south on I29 were a lot of Manitobans! and a lot--probably a couple of dozen--wind turbine blades going south on special trucks. Boy are they big. And then day 5 into Winnipeg. No issues at Customs and only about an hour or two of bad winter driving. We were very lucky!
What did we learn? Well, Florida is expensive, but the trip was cheaper per day than cruising. Next trip South we'll probably book into places for a month at a time--one week is just not long enough to get involved in the communities. It is cold in winter, even in Florida--just not as cold for as long. We missed TV and Internet when we could not get it. We'll take the Honda's the next time--if M can figure out how to cover them and all the other stuff we take with us. We take too much stuff--that is a recurring and unresolved issue! And, we won't go over Christmas because we really missed all the family activities for that week.
Next trip: who knows! If we go anywhere other than Bird's Hill this summer as Hosts, we'll probably take the Beetle and BugHouse to Newfoundland. Then, it is off to crise the Eastern Mediterranean (Italy, Greece, Turkey, Egypt) followed by a southern transatlantic (Spain, Morocco, Azores, Bahamas). Stay Tuned!
Monday, January 25, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Linger Lodge (Al Roker says it's the Weirdest Restaurant in America)
We left Naples with $28.00 from the busiest casino I have ever seen. Smokey and loud...we left with our little winnings and went to dinner at the Cracker Barrel. Good food and loud, too. I have been noticing the sound level and it seems different here, why I don't know. Chronic deafness, discourtesy, self centeredness, talking on cell phones, yelling at kids.....
Our next stop took us to the Linger Lodge and RV Park. The cold snap started so we mostly holed up indoors, shopped, and went on an expedition to Ikea. We had a site next to the Braden river, very peaceful, with many live oaks dripping with spanish moss. It has been there for 60 years and aspects of the park did show it! The restaurant was excellent, we tried ALLIGATOR....fried, tasted like fishy rubber. The place is filled with stuffed fish, animals, Gators, many snakes, and various antiques and military badges.
In the interest of getting closer to home we moved North to the Grand Lake RV and Golf Resort. Very big but nice with no trees but cable TV and nice neighbors. Abby has made a friend, Pepper, and is enjoying our stay. We are booked in here for a week and plan to ride our new folding bikes (Camping World purchase) and get ready to come home. We expect the weather to improve this week and we leave here for Atlanta on Jan 18...home by Jan 24 or 25!
Our next stop took us to the Linger Lodge and RV Park. The cold snap started so we mostly holed up indoors, shopped, and went on an expedition to Ikea. We had a site next to the Braden river, very peaceful, with many live oaks dripping with spanish moss. It has been there for 60 years and aspects of the park did show it! The restaurant was excellent, we tried ALLIGATOR....fried, tasted like fishy rubber. The place is filled with stuffed fish, animals, Gators, many snakes, and various antiques and military badges.
In the interest of getting closer to home we moved North to the Grand Lake RV and Golf Resort. Very big but nice with no trees but cable TV and nice neighbors. Abby has made a friend, Pepper, and is enjoying our stay. We are booked in here for a week and plan to ride our new folding bikes (Camping World purchase) and get ready to come home. We expect the weather to improve this week and we leave here for Atlanta on Jan 18...home by Jan 24 or 25!
Sunday, January 3, 2010
New Years in Naples (not Italy)
We are at a nice park filled with snowbirds from all over Canada and the US. The first person we met was a woman who lived in Transcona in 1945...an Icelander from Arborg. She has been coming here for 25 years, lives in a little elderly park model and is a bundle of energy. Reminds me of Mom.
Naples is quite a ritzy area, the real estate is McMansions as far as the eye can see....many for sale. We drove around Sanibel Island yesterday and estimated about 1/3 of the newer houses are listed. It is a beautiful, touristy area with many places for rent and lots of little shops and cafes. We had a picnic on the beach but a cold wind kept it short. The sun was shining and many people were fishing, which is extremely popular down here. If you say that you don't fish they tend to question your sanity. We met a Sheriff in Marathon who offered to take us out and show us the best spots! Didn't take him up on it!
We had fun at our New Years party, dinner and dancing. We won the 50/50 pot, spent $5.00 and won $61.00. Paid for the evening.
Today we are off to the local Casino to see if our luck turns into a nice win there! Yeah right! The weather has cooled off considerably but the sun is shining and it is now 11c. We are moving tomorrow to a place called the Linger Lodge...very interesting website...so we shall see if it fulfills its potential.
Naples is quite a ritzy area, the real estate is McMansions as far as the eye can see....many for sale. We drove around Sanibel Island yesterday and estimated about 1/3 of the newer houses are listed. It is a beautiful, touristy area with many places for rent and lots of little shops and cafes. We had a picnic on the beach but a cold wind kept it short. The sun was shining and many people were fishing, which is extremely popular down here. If you say that you don't fish they tend to question your sanity. We met a Sheriff in Marathon who offered to take us out and show us the best spots! Didn't take him up on it!
We had fun at our New Years party, dinner and dancing. We won the 50/50 pot, spent $5.00 and won $61.00. Paid for the evening.
Today we are off to the local Casino to see if our luck turns into a nice win there! Yeah right! The weather has cooled off considerably but the sun is shining and it is now 11c. We are moving tomorrow to a place called the Linger Lodge...very interesting website...so we shall see if it fulfills its potential.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Christmas in the Keys
It has been a while since posting, but we had a great time at Grassy Key. Christmas was strange without family but we attended a pot luck with the other campers. Our stay there seemed to go by in a flash. We enjoyed swimming in the beautiful pool and playing games with our new friends. The park is right on the Gulf on Mexico and is beautifully landscaped.
One of the best things about staying in a park is advice about places to see and things to do. We followed some good advice and went on an adventure to No Name Key to the NoNameBar and Grill. What a neat place, it has thousands of dollar bills decorated by patrons and very delicious seafood. We also got to see a few Key deer, which are small German shepherd size. They are endangered and so protected that the penalty for running over one is more than for hitting a person (not really).
We had a great visit with Mom and the Saskatchewan relatives in Miami the day before they embarked on a Carribean cruise. It was fun to see them. The trip to Miami was about 5 hours round trip but we saw some pretty country.
Our next stop will be Club Naples in Naples. We are just slowly working our way north.
One of the best things about staying in a park is advice about places to see and things to do. We followed some good advice and went on an adventure to No Name Key to the NoNameBar and Grill. What a neat place, it has thousands of dollar bills decorated by patrons and very delicious seafood. We also got to see a few Key deer, which are small German shepherd size. They are endangered and so protected that the penalty for running over one is more than for hitting a person (not really).
We had a great visit with Mom and the Saskatchewan relatives in Miami the day before they embarked on a Carribean cruise. It was fun to see them. The trip to Miami was about 5 hours round trip but we saw some pretty country.
Our next stop will be Club Naples in Naples. We are just slowly working our way north.
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