Captain Daniel and Gator Bob!

Captain Daniel, took us out on his boat to find some aligators to photograph. We had a beautiful afternoon for gator hunting and boat riding. Daniel is an awesome captain who knew exactly where to find some large gators.

 

 Most of them were swimming out in the middle of Lake Okeechobee, which made them difficult to get a close picture. They would go underwater when the boat would get close.

 

Captain Daniel also took us to meet Gator Bob. What do you think of him? He allowed me to get a few shots before he went into the water. Thank you Captain Daniel!

Great Day for a Pool Party!

Winter in south Florida has been very nice during January & February, and yesterday was a great day for a pool party! Hamburgers & hot dogs on the grill, music and friends, what could make this party any better? Only the friends who aren't here with us. 

 

 

 

January Update

It's hard to believe it has been a month since my last post! We've been pretty busy here meeting new people and getting reacquainted with others. Ray has been fishing a few times, I go to line dancing practice, ride my bike, go to high tea and I'm learning to play Petanque.

I've been learning some other new things, too! We decided to put a washer & dryer in the cabana (shed), so it needed a floor covering and a hot water tank. Last week we laid a linoleum and put in the water heater. I trimmed the linoleum and ran CPVC to connect the water heater. I could be a handyman's helper soon.

We have new neighbors from Wisconsin across the street who have the same model motorhome we have and what would be the odds that we bought them from the same dealer in Lexington?

We attended the Tampa RV show on a cool rainy day. I wish we had stayed over for the next day because it was a much nicer day. No, we didn't trade ours for a new one.

Where Did They Come From; Where Are They Going?

We've been traveling all day and the traffic is heavy. The license plates we've seen are from various places like Minnesota,  Ontario, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Arkansas. The assortment of vehicles complements the variety as well. They are large and small with most somewhere between. Some had 6 or 7 inches of snow riding on the top. Many were so encased with a brown or gray layer of dirt from the roadway it was hard to tell what color they were, while just a few were sparkling clean. Drivers were dancing to the beat of the music, in deep conversation with the passenger or gripping the steering wheel with both hands devoting complete attention to the traffic around them.

As I ride along this highway listening to Christmas music or news or the oldies, I've been watching the folks pass by, wondering where they've been and where they could be going.

The sun is setting, traffic is thinning and we have 50 miles to go before we stop for today. God blessed us with a good trip today! Tomorrow we'll be travelling again, I wonder what sights we'll see then?

A Busy Week

Ray's back is getting better. He feels more like getting out and doing things. We went to Fort Myers for the Sand Sculpting exhibit last week. It was fun to watch the artists at work.

I celebrated my birthday, Vicki and Terry treated us to dinner. They even got a Red Velvet cake and ice cream. I had lots of phone calls and text messages to wish me a happy birthday, too.

Vicki and I learned and practiced line dances at the club house every morning and had three other ladies join us one morning. We made turkey favors to take to our Thanksgiving dinner at Dee & WD's in Sarasota.

We met new friends at Thanksgiving, ate the most delicious food, every bite, and taught a couple of the line dances we learned  to Dee, Judy, Nikki and Tori. What a sight, the six of us dancing in Dee's kitchen where there wasn't much space, but a huge bundle of laughter and fun. This was the first time I've been away from my kids for Thanksgiving, that was odd and I missed them, but dancing in the kitchen was fun. Someday when Nikki & Tori are professional tennis players, I'll watch them on TV and say I danced with them in the kitchen on Thanksgiving. I should have taken pictures, but didn't have the camera out until everyone was leaving. I didn't do a very good job being the photographer that day.

Terry played Petanque one afternoon with a group of Canadians. We went along to be the spectators and cheer him on. He was quite good at the game and Friday the four of us played. It was the guys against the girls. We managed to beat the guys 2 out of 3 games. Later in the evening we met at the club house to play Hearts. The girls won again.

I will miss all of this when we go home, but I will be so happy to see my kids and grandkids again.

Another Night in Port Richey

We were able to leave Panama City Beach while the Ironman contestants were swimming; avoiding a traffic jam during the biking or running events. The day was beautiful and the trip was good. We decided to stop for the night and found an available site in Port Richey that was very convenient. Then it happened, Ray was unhooking the Suburban from the motorhome when his back wrenched.

This morning we spent an hour working to get him out of bed. We called Judi to let her know we wouldn't be arriving today as scheduled. The rest of the day was spent icing, heating and massaging Ray's back. He says he'll be able to travel tomorrow. WD called and offered to come drive us to Sun 'N Fun. I knew he would, but Ray thinks he'll be able to drive. So hopefully my next post will be from Sarasota.

The Card

Over the years, we have gone from using travelers checks to a Visa travel card to our newest version from American Express, purchased at our local AAA office.

The AAA agent who handled the switch from our old travel card to the new one explained that AAA had changed providers and that the new one would work exactly as the old one had in the past. We questioned whether it would be accepted as readily everywhere as the Visa card had been and she enthusiastically assured us that it would.

Well....so far it has not been welcomed everywhere. As a matter of fact, the only place it has worked has been Walmart. The RV park could not accept it, the restaurants here will not take it. One even accepted a personal check, but not the card. Even the banks can't accept the card.

We've made numerous phone calls to AAA and American Express and spent a whole day trying to track down even one ATM that would accept the card. It seems we have a "global travel savings card". There is no way to get any cash from it or make a purchase, except at Walmart. We love Walmart as much as the rest of America, but we don't want to spend all our travel money there!

We've decided to use our regular credit card instead of becoming any more frustrated with the card. That defeats our goal of using cash instead of credit during this trip.

We will be looking for a new way to use cash while traveling.