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Saturday April 4^th. Driving the jeep we took the Mayport ferry across the St Johns River. Our plan for the day was to explore Amelia Island and Fernandina Beach. In every Southern Living or Coastal Living magazine there are advertisements for Amelia Beach communities filled with modern reproductions of old southern style cottages. These advertisements present Amelia as quant but decidedly upscale and that is kind of what we found. Or I should say what we observed on the other side of all the community gates. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more walled off community. I’d say 80% of the developments are gated and we never did see any cottages, just lots of large homes. 

One place we found interesting was an old African American beach community called American beach. The condition and architecture of the buildings and cottages leads me to believe it had its Hey-Day many years ago, suffered a long decline and may be at the beginning of a resurrection. This is evidenced by some recent new homes and several under construction.

The intriguing thing about American Beach is it is smack dap in the middle of the new Amelia communities. I’ll bet there were some interesting conversations between the developers of the Amelia communities, local government and the preservationists of American Beach.

Traveling north from the upscale Amelia communities you come upon Fernandina Beach. What surprised me most was all the beach houses looked like they were built 30 or 40 years ago. In most of the east coast oceanfront communities I’ve visited all the old cottages have been torn down and replaced with high end real estate. 

At the upper end of Fernandina where the ocean meets the St Mary’s River sits Fort Clinch. It was first fortified in 1736 by the Spanish, but over the years various nations have garrisoned the site. In 1847 construction of the present fort was started by the United States. The confederate Army controlled the fort for a time during the Civil War; it was also manned by the US Army during the Spanish-American War and WW2.  The Civilian Conservation Corp restored the fort during the great depression and it is now part of the Florida State Parks. Fort Clinch park also has a campground that we checked out for future reference and a fishing pier that is over 700 feet long.

Before we left Fernandina we drove to the downtown area and were pleasantly surprised to see the main street running down to the river front has been successfully redeveloped into a vibrant shopping and restaurant tourist district. We decided to try a trendy looking Mexican Restaurant. It was Ok, but reaffirmed my observation that a slightly shabby looking Mexican restaurant usually has better food than one trying to be Avant Garde. 

 

We enjoyed our brief two day visit to the extreme upper right hand corner of Florida and will stop by again someday. Our original plan was to drive about 200 miles to Walterboro South Carolina, spend one night and then run the remaining 170+/- miles to our home in Myrtle Beach. We left the campground at 9:10 am and experienced light traffic on I-95 probably because it was Easter Sunday. Traffic rolled thru Georgia at a steady 70mph and by 12:30 we were at the Walterboro exit. We decided to keep driving and go the distance to Myrtle Beach. We did get off the interstate and took the local roads home, specifically we drove 17Alt to Georgetown and Rt 17 to Myrtle Beach, then Ocean Boulevard to our home on 71^st Ave.

The afternoon drive was at leisurely pace of 45 and 55 miles an hour. It was 4:30 when we got to the south end of Myrtle Beach we decided to cruise up Ocean Boulevard past all the big hotels. This is a beach town and cruising the strip is a part of seaside life you never outgrow. Looking at the parade of people bathed in multicolored lights of the businesses on the oceanfront street is a constantly changing kaleidoscope. The downtown was busy with tourists. the sun was shining, the air was warm and all is right in our world.  

         

Getting closer to the border

An unexpected thing happened while we were staying at Manatee Hammock campground. We like the campground and really like the waterfront park. We spoke with a couple campers who had snowbirded there all winter and decided to check on availability for next year. The office gave us a list of sites available for the month of January 2016 and we walked to all of them. We picked a nice corner site and paid for the month before we left. The picture below is where we will be parked next January.

We still plan on spending time at O-TT and the keys. Thousand trails is a shoe-in as I have a 150 day advance reservation window with my membership but the keys will be a challenge. I’ll start calling the campgrounds next week for availability.

After booking our site for next year we departed Titusville and headed north on US1. Our destination is St Augustine some 100 miles distant. Our plan was to stay at the local Elks Lodge but their 6 RV sites are first come first served and all were occupied when we got there.

I called the closest campground, they had one spot left. I said I’ll be right there I’m right around the corner, just as I got there three RV’s pulled in the entrance ahead of me. I just drove on by and went to the next one. It is about 5 miles down the road and is a bare bones park which is basically parking in a field behind a flea market. It was also full so we drove on to the last campground in the area. They had space for one night which was all we wanted so we took it. 

On Friday morning we departed our overnight stop at Indian Forest Campground and drove west to the town of Green Cove Springs. Millie and I spend about ½ the year on the road and have our mail routed to a mail forwarding service in Green Cove Springs. They hold it until we request a delivery to wherever we happen to be at the time. We were going by on our way north and decided to stop and pick up our mail. In the picture below that is not a path. It is one of the interior roads that you have to navigate with your RV.

Afterwards we continued north to the beltway around Jacksonville and took it to the east and then went on to the ocean where we camped at a city park campground called Kathryn Abbey Hanna Park. The park is heavily vegetated with gnarly old oaks, towering palm trees and thick tropical underbrush. It could have been used in the making of the Jurassic Park movies.

From our campsite the ocean beach is a short walk of about ½ mile. The beach is wide and flat almost like our Myrtle Beach but the water is not as clean. I imagine this is because of Hanna Parks’s proximity to the mouth of the St Johns River. After setting up the motorhome at the campground we went the beach, soaked up the warm sunshine and watched the world go by.

Leaving O-TT

Our stay at Orlando Thousand Trails is winding down, in just a few more days we’ll be on the road again. There was entertainment almost every evening of our remaining time here; on Friday we danced to the music from Pure Country Gold. They are one of the better bands that play here. Saturday was Karaoke with the Weavers, truth is, most the Orlando TT singers are pretty bad, but we enjoyed being with our friends Clay and Rebecca. Sunday was a stage show by Amber Waves, a family band that performs folk and Irish music, they were pretty good. 

Clay had more troubles with his motorhome, which we diagnosed as a non operating power converter. This is the big 12 volt power supply that operates all the direct current appliances when you are plugged into campground power. They ordered the part and it should be here before we leave on Tuesday.

Sunday we drove to Harbor Freight in Clermont where I bought a strap wrench. I needed it to remove the warhead from a rocket I was donating to a museum here in Florida. I wanted to remove the warhead so the curator at the museum could see that it was safe with no explosives or detonators.

The part arrived on Monday for our friend’s motorhome and we promptly installed it. Afterwards the four of us went to Logan’s Steakhouse where Clay and Rebecca treated Millie and me to dinner for the help I gave them. They’re good friends and didn’t need to do that but we graciously accepted their thanks.

The main topic of conversation was next years winter plans, Clay and Rebecca start the winter on the west coast of Florida and then start rotating in and out of Orlando Thousand Trails in February. We try to coordinate our two week stays so we are in the O-TT at the same time.

Millie and I have been thinking of going to southern Arizona and we discussed that at length without coming to any conclusion. We decided to forgo any plans until we found out if we could secure a site in the Keys for at least a month. 

Tuesday we departed O-TT for the last time this winter. We drove east using I-4 to get thru Orlando, exiting on Route 50 and taking that to Titusville on the east coast. We have reservations for two days at Manatee Hammock, a Brevard county campground.  It is located on the Indian River directly across from the Kennedy Space Center. 

On Wednesday April 1 we drove the jeep to Cocoa where we were guests of Tyler and Nancy Furbish for breakfast. Tyler and I have a unique military connection. We both served in Vietnam/Cambodia flying with the 195^th Assault Helicopter Company. We both flew the same mission supporting SOG. (The acronym having a double meaning depending on who the audience was; Studies and Observations Group or Special Operations Group.) The unique part is we didn’t meet until 40 years later at a reunion in Las Vegas. Tyler was with the company when it deployed in RVN in 1966. I flew with the company in 1970 at the end of its time in theater, the 195^th was deactivated a month after I left the country.

I’ve stopped to see Tyler several times at his home in Cocoa and knew he was active in a Veterans Center here. On one of my visits I toured the Vets Center and its museum so when I was looking for a home for the rocket it seemed like the best place for it.

After breakfast I transferred the aerial rocket and an authentic “When I die I’ll go to heaven because I’ve spent my time in hell” jacket to Tyler’s truck. After driving hundreds of miles with the 5 foot long rocket in the motorhome it was a big relief to be rid of it. I kept imagining the bomb squad, swat teams, military investigators, etc if it was ever discovered in the motorhome.

We had planned on touring the Kennedy Space center after meeting with the furbishes and Nancy who works at the center gave us two entry tickets. If you haven’t been to the Space Center anytime lately you should go, it is very impressive. Nancy said we wouldn’t be able to see it all in one day and she was right. We spent all day, only stopping once for dinner and didn’t see all the exhibits. We did concentrate on the ones we knew would be interesting and we weren’t disappointed. You will find all the displays and movies entertaining as well as educational, but the big stuff will really grab you. You can’t appreciate the power it took to send a man to the moon until you stand under one end of a Saturn rocket and lookdown it’s 363 foot length.

You cannot appreciate the accomplishments of a space craft that repeatedly trucked men and materials into space until you’ve gazed upon the scorched rugged exterior of Space Shuttle Atlantis.

Just go, you won’t be disappointed.

Taking it easy

Winter is “March” ing to an end and our sojourn in Florida is almost over. We are still in the Orlando Thousand Trails campground and pretty much just taking it easy. 

One of the regular entertainers here, Mike Thomas performed last weekend and introduced a new program. Instead of a keyboard and electronic music sound system, he has a new show in which he sings and plays acoustical guitar. I liked the new show a lot. Mike is a big Neil Diamond fan and plays a lot of his music in the keyboard performance. He did very little of Diamond in the new show, which I appreciated and judging by the audience reaction so did a lot of other people.

There are flea markets everywhere down here and a new one recently opened up just around the corner on Rt 192. Two buildings, all air conditioned, normal flea market vendors. I bought a set of dominoes, Millie bought some strawberries. The best part of the outing was our favorite Mexican restaurant “Chuys” is just down the road. We stopped there and enjoyed another great meal.

Sunday Millie and Rebecca went shopping at Jo Ann’s fabrics in Kissimmee and Clay and I worked on the rear slide out of his motorhome. The large slide out extends evenly but when you retract it one end comes in much faster than the other. This results in one end out about 6 inches when the faster end closes and the pump bypass valve opens. There does not appear to be any mechanical binding. The motorhome has a hydraulic system for the slides.

We researched it online and decided to try bleeding the system to see if it had any air in it. The procedure calls for the slide cylinders to be retracted and then bleeding the return lines where they connect to the synch cylinder. There was some foamy looking oil at one fitting but I never saw any significant bubbles. We didn’t accomplish much but we did establish a procedure for retracting the slide so he will be able to get home and take it to a servicing dealer. In my for what it’s worth opinion, I think there is an internal leak in one of the hydraulic cylinders or the synch cylinder.

I don’t know what it is about membership bulk buying stores but when I ran out of Kirkland Coffee from Costco that was reason enough for us to drive up to Orlando. We didn’t buy a whole lot, we don’t have much storage in the bus, but we’re still eating the giant cherry pie!

Tuesday is $6 movie day in Clermont and we went to see “Run all Night” with Liam Neilson. Millie rated at 6.5 and I gave it a 7.5. I thought it had a good storyline but it was very brutal and that reflects the low scores we give it. Then again, it was a movie about gangsters and hit men so I guess that is to be expected.

Wednesday was a girls shopping day in Clermont, but I don’t think either Millie or Rebecca came home with much. Buying isn’t necessary for a successful women’s shopping experience, so I guess as long as they enjoyed themselves it was a good day.

I had discovered that one of the trailing arms of my tow bar had been bent when it disconnected in West Palm Beach. It was barely perceivable at a glance but would bind when sliding in or out when attaching it to the jeep. I had already towed with it before I discovered the damage and was planning on using in this condition until I got home. I was checking the bulletin board at the activity center and saw the same model tow bar for sale at $300 by someone here at the campground. The tow bar’s retails for $999. but can be bought online for around $775. + shipping.

Before I contacted the seller I called the manufacturer to check on parts for my tow bar. Blue Ox informed me they did not sell just the sliding portion of the arm and I had to replace the entire right arm assembly. Cost $245. + shipping.

Obviously, I then called and made arrangements too see the complete tow bar offered at $300. The owner had recently switched from a motorhome to a fifth wheel RV and no longer needed the tow bar. Try as I might, I couldn’t get him to negotiate on the price, but he did throw in the coiled safety cables which cost $75.

The new tow bar is installed on the motorhome and I still plan on repairing my original. I’m certain the arm can be straightened, and then I will keep it as a spare.

Last, but not least, we finished watching season six of “24”. Neither one of us watched the series when it was on TV but we’re hooked on it now. Each episode is one hour of a day in the life of Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) an agent with CTU (Counter Terrorism Unit). A whole season is one 24 hour day in which Jack, mostly single handedly, often gone rogue, battles the forces of evil that threaten the US. 

The show is so unrealistic that we are often laughing at the incredible achievements of Jack and CTU but each episode ends with a cliffhanger that keeps you coming back for more. One scary thing about the show is some of the terrorist attacks depicted have come true or are threatening us today.

Dammit! Come back Jack, the country needs you!

PS: Dammit, is one of Jack’s frequently used lines in the show.     

Bachelor-ing for a week

So there I was bachelor-ing it for a week, Millie had flown out to New Mexico to visit Family, what to do? It’s been getting warm here in Florida, not that I’m complaining but the girls have been feeling it. They haven’t had a haircut since we left home and both had thick hair. Heck I thought, I can cut their hair, so I got my electric clippers and said “who’s first?” Neither dog moved.

Before I married a hairdresser I cut my own hair but had never cut a dogs so I volunteered Maggie first. Her hair is mostly straight and I reasoned it would be simpler than Dixie’s wire hair. Maggie wasn’t afraid of the clippers, in fact she was a little too relaxed. Have you ever tried cutting a dogs hair while it’s lying down? It gets difficult to see where you had already cut when the customer is rolling around in cut hair, but somehow we prevailed.

Dixie was almost a repeat performance, the only difference was I think she liked the attention she was getting from me more than Maggie did. Dixie also chose to get her haircut while lying down. Both girls ended up with reasonable hair cuts and they are much cooler. I ended up covered in dog hair and in need of a cool shower. 

My next project was to replace a switch in one of the lamps in the motorhome. I had already tried disassembling the switch and cleaning the contacts but that was unsuccessful. Being an electrician I can’t convey how damaging that was to my ego, but I was determined to fix the lamp. When I went to Lowes I already knew they weren’t going to have an exact replacement switch. Do you think maybe I’ve spent too much time at the Lowes electrical department? Anyhow I picked a suitable replacement and after a little modification the light fixture was repaired. This should score me some points with the wife, as the fixture is mounted above her desk.

On Tuesday March 17 I moved the motorhome back to Orlando Thousand Trails Campground. This will be our final scheduled stay in Florida this winter. We will depart from here on March 30 and start our migration back to Myrtle Beach.

Between making and breaking camp on the move to Bee’s Resort and back during our “out” week and taking care of the girls I haven’t got much accomplished. I know I am supposed to be retired but I still can’t just sit and do nothing, I always feel guilty if I’m not working on something.

In no time at all, it was Thursday and Millie was flying back in from New Mexico. I hurriedly did some housekeeping to make the motorhome look like I could get along without her. Why do we do those things, when just the opposite is true? Thursday evening I waited at the airport for my love and was once again whole when I saw her walking towards me from the arriving passenger gate.

When we pulled in next to the motorhome, the girls who had been waiting on the dash jumped up and started their happy dance. They jumped down and ran to the door as we walked past the windshield. It’s a heartwarming sight to see when the girls greet their Mom after one of her trips. They’re all wiggling tails, happy dances and kisses. Our little family is together again.

Central Florida

I got an email yesterday and the writer mentioned that she missed reading the Dispatch. I know I haven’t written in a little bit and pulled the blog up to refresh my memory. I was shocked when I saw my last entry was on Feb 28^th. Where does it go? Time, where does it all go?

On Saturday the 28^th of February my notes say it rained all day and we watched old movies on TV. I also posted last on that date so I guess I spent some time at the computer. One day inside and we must have developed some cabin fever, I know you northern readers can attest to that. After two days snowed in, (that happened frequently where I lived) you just have to get out and do something. Anyhow, on Sunday we went to Chuy’s, one of our favorite Mexican restaurants for lunch and then drove over to old town just to walk around outside for a while. Old town is a street of restaurants and shops whose claim to fame is the frequent classic car cruise-ins it hosts. We were too early for Sundays cruise-in so it was pretty quiet.

On Monday we drove to the giant Webster’s Flea Market. All of the usual hundreds of vendors and thousands of shoppers were there, including the oddities, like the flea market stall massage parlor.

The last time we were here Millie bought a scarf for one dollar. It was not a keep warm scarf, but a light fashion accessory. At the time I tried to give her five dollars to buy more of different colors but she declined wanting to try the one she bought first. So here we were again, after driving 40 miles and walking untold steps we finally found the scarf vendor and purchased the remaining four. Now in a woman’s world this has been a successful and fun experience. I’m still scratching my head about that as it is totally contradictory to men’s shopping. Men plan the attack, enter the store and go directly to the targeted items, secure the packages and get out! Women shop?

On Monday the 3^rd I started a much needed motorhome project. Every electrical outlet on the driver’s side of the bus was on the same circuit. In the morning every high wattage appliance e.g. coffee pot, hair drier, fireplace heater, we use is on that side. Over the next four days, working a little each day I changed that side into three circuits, bedroom, bathroom, and living area. A motorhome is not like a house and routing new wires in a professional manner and doing so in accordance with the National Electric Code was quite a challenge. I am very pleased with the end result.

One of the reasons the electric project stretched out for days was on Thursday we returned to the Plant City Strawberry Festival to see the Oak Ridge Boys in concert. It was a beautiful sunny day, temps in the 80’s with a slight breeze, just perfect for an outside venue. The performers put on an enjoyable performance, after 40 years of singing together they entertain with enthusiasm and still strong voices.

At the fair we also indulged in strawberry Shortcake, once again choosing the Catholic Church booth and their make your own desert. We also bought some fresh strawberries to take home. The strawberry Festival is one of our favorite Florida things to do and we will miss it if we go to Arizona next winter.

I mention this only because I captured a good picture but when we entered the fairgrounds parking lot the gate attendant mentioned that it was senior day. Just then these two centurions crossed in front of us and I thought here we go again.

On Saturday March 7 we went to see a much anticipated movie, “The second Best Most Exotic Marigold Hotel”. The first movie with this name was very warm and funny, with actors perfectly matched to their characters and a plausible storyline. The sequel was in my opinion a total flop. Millie admits it is not as good as the original but IMHO is biased toward the British actors and doesn’t want to speak ill of them. Don’t waste your time or money.

Later that evening we went to the campground entertainment with Clay and Rebecca. The performer was another singular troubadour armed with a guitar and computerized backup. His name is Lou Renshaw and he was quite good and the fact that he played tunes from the golden era (60’s & 70’s) when songs still had melody and could be danced to made it all the more enjoyable. 

While riding my bike around the campground on Sunday March 8^th I saw my friends Jim and Martha Cavanaugh from North Carolina. I had spoken to them briefly earlier this winter in Peace River and then couldn’t find them when I looked for their motorhome. Mystery solved, they have a brand new one and it’s a beauty. It’s got one of the nicest interiors in both function and design I’ve ever seen. It was good to see them again.

That evening we had dinner with Clay and Rebecca at Outback Steakhouse. No, I still can’t eat red meat, that’s an allergy I guess I’ll have for life. It’s never a problem, every restaurant no matter its specialty always offers alternatives and they are often better than the restaurants themed selections. I had the Wood-fire grilled Salmon glazed with Firecracker sauce and topped with fresh mango salsa and it was excellent.

Monday March 9^th is a lost day. I didn’t write in my logbook and don’t have a clue as to what, if anything, we did this day.

Tuesday March 10^th we moved about 30 miles up the road to Bee’s RV Resort. Millie will be here one day before flying out to New Mexico, the girls and I will stay one week. This park is slowly morphing into a permanent residence park. They are selling lots that people either use for their personal RV site or they place a park model (35 feet max) mobile home on it. I don’t see this as a transient park in a few more years. It’s all about the money I guess, didn’t Billy C say that once, “it’s the economy stupid!”

I know this is hard for you women to believe, but Millie came to Florida without any shoes! No closed toe shoes that is and she is leaving for snow covered to Los Alamos in a day. She keeps a supply of clothes at her daughter’s house but the thought of travel from the airport at Albuquerque to Los Alamos in flip-flops concerned her. So off to the shoe store we go where Millie secures a fine pair of black shoes. You know, I think I may have been hoodwinked into a shopping trip, I'm going to check her side of the closet and see if there are any shoes in there!

Friday March 12 has come; we don’t talk about these departure dates much. These trips to New Mexico are good for Millie and her family and I want her to go. And I don’t mind staying in Florida with the dogs; it’s just the initial separation that pains us.

I know it sounds crazy at our age but we’ve very much in love and still act like newlyweds.  Now, get your finger out of your throat and quit making those barf sounds! Heck, we are newlyweds; it hasn’t been that long since that magical day we met on the beach. We know we’ve started this game late on, but we plan on living the adventure for a long time and these short separations are just part of the journey.

Back in Orlando

On Tuesday Feb 24th we drove up the coast on A1A. We stopped at a beach park near Melbourne for lunch before turning west on Rt 192 and making our way to the Orlando Thousand Trails Campground. We left here almost a month ago to begin our southern Florida adventure. It’s good to be back in one spot for a bit and except for one week out we will be here the rest of our winter stay in Florida.

 After one day of rest; we lead such a hectic life you know, we rode down to the Plant City Strawberry Festival. We had tickets to the Bobby Vinton Concert on the opening day of the festival, which also happened to be senior day. After having to stop every few feet to keep from stepping on old folks who wandered aimlessly into my path and having my feet run over by mobility scooters piloted by centurions who had their drivers licenses lifted years ago, I was ready for teen day!

Now that I think about that, it may not be such a good idea. Fluorescent hair, multiple ear piercings and the well placed tattoo I can tolerate, but aboriginal body piercings and total body tattoos are a bit much. And then there are still a number of idio…adolescents who haven’t gotten beyond the notion that it is fashionable to wear their pants down around their thighs!

 Anyhow, back to the Strawberry Festival. We arrived early so we could tour the festival grounds before the Bobby Vinton show. For the uninitiated, the celebration of the predominant local agriculture is very much like a county fair. 

This fair has more food vendors than I’ve ever seen in one place. They had all the expected carnival food; you can eat pretty much anything you want as long as it’s fried. Some of it is pure novelty like fried butter or Oreo’s but they also offered some really tasty food. We had fried chicken with the coating made of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes and it was delicious.

In addition to two headliner stage shows each day, the festival also has free entertainment all day. We stopped in one of the exhibition tents and caught part of the Nathan Osmond Show. He is the son of Alan Osmond who was one of the Osmond Brothers, think Donnie and Marie Osmond. He is good entertainer; his claim to fame is the ability to play any song the audience can think of. 

Bobby Vinton, The 1960’s teen idol has been an entertainer all his life; his present stage show also includes two of his children. He’s aged, like the rest of us, but his voice is still strong. He sang all his old hits, played trumpet, clarinet, saxophone and keyboards, Millie and I enjoyed the performance.

After the show we indulged in the obvious choice for desert, strawberry shortcake! There are only three locations in the fairgrounds that serve the decadent desert; all are non profit fund raisers. We chose the St. Clement Catholic Church Make-Your-Own Shortcake and it was delicious.

Before any green fuzzy stuff could grow on our feet we were on the move again. On Friday we drove across town to Kissimmee; our friend Wayne Wingard from Delaware was staying at the Sherwood Forest RV Resort there. Wayne was batching it, as his wife had to fly home for work, but it was good to see Wayne. We also wanted to see their new RV, a brand new 45 foot motorhome. If you’ve seen pictures of the rigs the NASCAR drivers stay in, that’s what Wayne and MaryAnn have, it’s as big as a Greyhound bus and very luxurious.

When we returned to Thousand Trails our New York friends, Clay and Rebecca Fingar visited us, it’s been a year and it is good to see them again. We have both signed up for a RV Caravan guided tour of the Canadian Maritime Provinces in 2016 so we had lots to talk about. We agreed to meet again in the evening for the campground entertainment.

The George Durham band plays the winter snowbird circuit in Florida and it was our 2^nd time seeing them. As you may remember when I described them last year, I said his keyboard player looks like the church organist, she still does. They are one of the better groups making the circuit; they play a lot of good dance music. We stayed till the end and all had a good time.