Monthly Archives: January 2014

2014/01/30 (R) Fort Wilderness

Yesterday was a stay at home day after our 2-day whirlwind trip to the Venice, Florida area to visit with Steve and Karen. We got up a bit earlier this morning than we have been lately and were on the road by 8 AM. Our destination this time was Fort Wilderness at Walt Disney World in Buena Vista, Florida. The purpose of the trip was to visit Pat and Vickie Lintner, friends and fellow Prevost owners from our FMCA Great Lakes Converted Coaches chapter.

Walt Disney World is just southwest of Orlando and about 100 miles southeast of Williston. We decided to take US and FL highways on the drive down return by way of the Florida Turnpike and I-75. We stopped at a Dunkin Donuts south of Ocala for coffee and bagels and arrived at the overflow/visitor parking area for Fort Wilderness around 11 AM. We had to pass through two gates to get to this parking lot, but each time we simply told them we were visiting campers at FW and they let us through without having to pay. I phoned Pat and a few minutes later he and Vickie picked us up and gave us a driving tour of the campground on the way to their campsite.

Linda had been to Walt Disney World many years ago when our children were very young and stayed at Fort Wilderness in my parents’ motorhome. We were there together in the early 2000’s when Linda had a professional development seminar at the Swan hotel near Epcot. That was my one and only visit to WDW prior to today.

Like everything at WDW, Fort Wilderness is a really nice campground. It’s divided up into sections, each with its own loop road. The roads are narrow and winding, but the campsites are all angled so that even 40 foot motorhomes can back in easily to the paved sites. There is extensive landscaping between the sites which, combined with the twisting roads, affords a lot privacy. But there was only room for one car at each site, which is why Pat had us leave our car in the parking lot. The common areas include playgrounds, bathrooms, shops, and restaurants, all done to be visually consistent with the Fort Wilderness theme.

The weather was light drizzle with temperatures in the mid-40’s and enough breeze to create a wind-chill factor, but we decided to go explore WDW anyway. I did not, however, take my camera. The photos in this post were provided by Vickie Lintner (thanks Vickie!). From FW you can use the WDW transportation system, specifically the boats and monorail, to visit most of the hotels that are spread around the property free of charge. We never entered any of the actual theme parks, which required the payment of an admission fee.

This horse with no name was very interested in us. (Photo by Vickie Lintner.)

When we got to the Polynesian Hotel we decided to have lunch. Pat had checked in advance and been told that any of the restaurants at WDW would make vegan dishes on request even if they were not on the menu. Before being seated, the chef came out to talk with us and made some recommendations for vegan dishes he could prepare. We ended up ordering a Pan Asian Noodle dish with tofu, and some100% Kona coffee, both of which were excellent.

Us on one of the WDW boats bundled up against the weather. (Photo by Vickie Lintner.)

We were a bit chilled by the time we got back to their coach, so Pat turned on the cube heater and we huddled under some throws to warm up. While Vickie began preparing dinner Pat drove us to one of the other campground sections to visit with David and Marie Ross. David and Marie had spent two nights at Williston Crossings visiting with us before going to Fort Wilderness to meet up with Marie’s sister and her husband for a week. We got to meet them too and had a nice, but brief visit, before Pat returned to fetch us for dinner.

Us back at Pat & Vickie’s coach getting warm. (Photo by Vickie Lintner.)

Vickie made a (vegan) butternut squash soup from scratch using her Vita-Mix and it was very good. We learned about the Vita-Mix on our first Holistic Holiday at Sea cruise. They are so powerful that you can make soup in them, not just blending ingredients, but heating them to boiling hot. Following the soup course we had potatoes and mixed vegetables.

After dinner we drove to Downtown Disney, the shopping, eating, entertainment center of WDW. We followed Pat but Vickie road with us to make sure we got there. The weather had moderated a bit and there were a lot of people there, but we enjoyed walking the grounds and window shopping. By 8 PM we were back at our cars. Pat and Vickie led us to the entrance to the toll road, made a U-turn, and headed back to FW as we got on the highway and started for Williston.

2014/01/28 (T) Myakka River SP (FL) Osprey

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I photographed this Osprey in a tree by the picnic area parking lot at the Myakka Outpost. It was eating a fish it had just caught in the North Lake at Myakka River State Park. Left click once on each image to view separately in larger size. Maximum horizontal size is 800 pixels, maximum vertical size is 480 pixels.

2014/01/28 (T) Myakka River SP (FL) Gallery

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I posted two photo galleries on our visit to Myakka River State Park today. This one has a variety of images. The other one is photos of an Osprey. Left click a thumbnail image to view at a larger size in a separate window. Maximum horizontal size is 800 pixels, maximum vertical size is 480 pixels.

: Birds feeding in a small wetland.

: Roseate Spoonbills and Egrets feeding.

: A Roseate Spoonbill feeding with three ducks on the aft shore.

: Roseate Spoonbills feeding.

: View looking north from the birdwalk by the NE corner of the North Lake.

: The marsh at the NE corner of the North Lake (view from the birdwalk).

: A closer view of the marsh at the NE corner of the North Lake (taken from the birdwalk).

: The squirrels at the Myakka Outpost picnic area were very comfortable around people.

: Wood Storks on the Myakka River.

: An interesting growth on a Sabal Palm tree.

: A tree by the Visitor Center.

: Tree truck covered with lichen.

: Skywalk suspension bridge 25 feet above the ground (look carefully in upper left of photo).

: View looking east and down from 75 foot level of observation tower.

: View looking south from observation tower at 75 foot level.

: View looking west from skywalk observation tower.

2014/01/28 (T) Myakka River SP, FL

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Myakka SP Visitor Center.

We had a leisurely start to the morning, with a light breakfast and coffee, before packing up and heading to Myakka River State Park with Steve and Karen. We took two cars as we planned to head home directly from the park.

L-to-R: Steve, Karen, and Linda study the maps and park info.

Myakka River SP was one of the first Florida State Parks. Although it is not that far from Venice and Sarasota, it encompasses many square miles of marsh, pine flatwoods, Sabal palm forest, and a long stretch of the Myakka River, including two lakes. Like Paynes Prairie, it is a wild place on the doorstep of urbanity and a major sanctuary for a diverse ecosystem including birds, alligators, and other animals. I have placed all of the wildlife photographs in a separate gallery post with today’s date.

Entrance tower to canopy skywalk suspension bridge.

Our friends from St. Petersburg (Michael and Donna) had recommended Myakka River SP to us earlier this month as one of the best places to see lots of very large alligators. They had also said that the best way to see the park was by kayak or canoe, and once we were there we saw why. The roads through the park and good, and there are some excellent trails and viewing areas, including one that takes you to an 85 foot long skywalk (suspension bridge) through the forest canopy 25 feet above the ground with a 75 foot observation tower at the end that gets you well above the treetops. But the park is mostly about water and most of the trails do not go to the water’s edge because it is marsh and there are snakes and alligators.

Linda on the skywalk 25 feet above the ground (she does not like heights or bridges that move, but she did just fine getting across.

Linda on the skywalk. It is 85 feet between the support/access towers.

Steve photographing from the skywalk.

There are two different campground areas, and they appeared to be older but very nice. Older in this case means winding roads and sites that are too small to accommodate an RV the size of our bus. We knew when we bought our bus conversion that one of the tradeoffs we were making was a higher-end travel and living experience at the expense of staying in state and national parks and forests. Even so, we were tent campers for many years and always enjoyed the less refined experience of state/national parks/forests campgrounds and their locations and adjacent activities.

The 75 foot observation tower at the end of the skywalk.

One of the campgrounds is near the entrance off of FL-70 and the other one is at the Myakka Outpost concession area on the south shore of the north lake. There is a café there, a gift shop, and concessions including a tram, an airboat, and bicycle, canoe, and kayak rentals. The boat launch is here and there is a nice picnic area where we stopped to have lunch. As we were parking we noticed people staring up at a tree. We quickly saw what they were watching; a large raptor eating a fish it had just caught. I put the long zoom lens on the camera and spent about 20 minutes photographing this bird from different angles. We eventually determined that it was an Osprey.

Karen and Linda resting at the base of the observation tower.

By mid-afternoon we had done what we felt we could do for the day without renting a canoe or kayak. We had a three hour drive to get home by which time the cats would have been on their own for almost 36 hours, so we said our farewells to Steve and Karen, agreed to meet again while we are both in Florida, and started the drive back to Williston. We made good time, arriving at 6:15 PM even with a rest stop and a fuel stop. The rain that was forecast for tomorrow started about 45 minutes before we got back to our motorcoach and it was obvious when we arrived that it had already rained heavily. We settled in for the evening, checked e-mail, and went to bed early having had two very full and satisfying days of visiting, sight-seeing, and entertainment.

2014/01/27 (M) Venice (FL) Gallery

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Photographs from Casey Key, North Jetty Park, and Venice, Florida. Left click once on a thumbnail image to view in a separate window at larger size. Maximum horizontal size is 800 pixels, maximum vertical size is 480 pixels.

: There were lots of Pelicans at North Jetty Park.

: They really are comical birds in some ways.

: This Pelican was working hard to get a handout.

: They can also be quite stately.

: Snowy Egret at the Fish Camp at North Jetty Park.

: Two Snowy Egrets are better than one. This is as close to snow as we want to get this winter.

: Is a “cusomer” someone you cuss at after they buy something from you?

: The Venice Theater in quintessential Florida pink.

: Turtles rule in Venice, FL.

: This turtle captures the essence of Venice FL.

: Even City Hall is attractive in Venice, FL.

2014/01/27 (M) Venice, FL

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We were up a little earlier this morning to finish packing and get on the road. Our destination was Nokomis, Florida where Steve and Karen Limkemann are renting a unit for part of the winter in Bay Lake Estates mobile home park. Nokomis is south of Sarasota just west of I-75 and borders Venice which is on the Gulf Coast. We passed a lot of mobile home (manufactured housing) parks in this area; our first exposure to this iconic aspect of Florida. The drive down took just over three hours, most of it due south on I-75, and into a different climate zone. We arrived just after 11 AM, unloaded the car, and relaxed for a while before going to lunch at Café Evergreen.

Bay Lake Estates, Nokomis, FL.

Café Evergreen ( http://cafeeergreen.net ) has only been open for about six weeks and was not yet listed on Happy Cow. It is an all-natural, all-organic restaurant and market, with a nice variety of menu choices, some of which are vegetarian and a few of which are vegan. They serve breakfast on weekends and also have a coffee/juice bar. Linda had the Grilled Eggplant Wrap sandwich and I had the Vegetarian Burger with the Napa Cabbage Slaw as a side (both of which were in fact vegan). Both sandwiches were excellent.

Our table at Café Evergreen.

Café Evergreen dining room.

From lunch we drove to Casey Key and parked at North Jetty Park. We walked down the beach to the Jetty and watched people fishing, bird-watching, and sun-bathing as boats came and went. It was warmer and dryer here than we have been experiencing up in Williston and very pleasant. We soaked up some of that sun and took lots of photographs, mostly of Pelicans and Snowy Egrets. We then drove to downtown Venice, parked in a public lot near the Venice Theater, and walked around downtown window shopping and taking photos.

L-to-R: Steve, Karen, and Linda.

Karen and Linda walking back from the beach, North Jetty Park, Casey Key, FL.

We were originally planning on going to a Thai restaurant for dinner as it was the only restaurant in Venice listed on Happy Cow, but decided to return to Café Evergreen instead. Linda had the Kelp Noodles Stir Fry and I had the Vegan Butternut Squash Ravioli. Again, both dishes were excellent, and Linda decided to do a review for Happy Cow went we got back to our bus.

We went back to Steve and Karen’s place to relax and change clothes before going to the Venice Theater to see the 8 PM performance by The Capital Steps. We had seen them several times before at a theater in Canton, Michigan, but they had not been to that theater in the last few years. Laughter really is the best medicine, and The Capital Steps had us laughing hard for almost two hours. We returned to the mobile home, chatted for a while longer, and turned in for the night.

2014/01/26 (N) Paynes Prairie Gallery

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The pictures in this gallery post were taken along the La Chua Trail on the north side of the Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park, an amazing wilderness on the southern edge of Gainesville, Florida. Click once on a thumbnail to open it in a separate window. Maximum dimension is 600 pixels.

: The largest alligators were 12 feet long.

: Paynes Prairie is an enchanting place.

: Even the squirrels posed for photos.

: Great Blue Heron.

: This alligator was about 20 feet from the trail, the minimum recommended distance on land.

: We saw many different birds, large and small.

: These little birds were about 4 inches long and accompanied us along the trail.

: Great Blue Heron.

: We counted 54 alligators on our walk along La Chua Trail.

: A half-dozen of the alligators were along the edge of the dike, 10 to 30 feet from the trail.

: The La Chua Trail leads to a sinkhole that feeds the water into the Florida aquifer.

: A Great Egret.

: Great Blue Heron.

: High clouds made for bright light without harsh contrast.

: We think this was a Green Heron.

: Egret and Great Blue Heron

: Amazing, almost prehistoric, creatures.

: Little Blue Heron.

2014/01/25 (S) Bushnell (FL)

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I got a call this morning from our mechanic, Joe, letting me know that he was still in Sarasota working on a bus and would not be available to visit at The Villager RV Park in Wildwood. I contacted Al at Breezy Oaks and adjusted our plans for the day accordingly. A visit with Al at Breezy Oaks was our main objective for the day, but as long as we were out we wanted to stop and see a few other things.

Rather than drive down I-75, which we have already done several times, we drove to Ocala on US-27 to where it joins up with US-301/US-441 heading SSE to Belleview. From there we continued SE on US-441 through the eastern section of The Villages, finally turning west on CR-466. We took CR-466 as far as Buena Vista Blvd and then followed its meandering path south as far County-466a where we turned west toward the town of Wildwood. In Wildwood we continued south on US-301/FL-35, paralleling I-75 to our west, past The Villager RV Park and through the little towns of Coleman and Sumterville before arriving in Bushnell.

The Villages is hard to describe. It’s a planned community of over 50,000 people and is still growing. It is made up of numerous residential compounds, all gated, and office/retail areas that are publicly accessible. There are a half-dozen golf courses, and special roads for the golf carts, which appeared to outnumber the cars. It’s all very new looking, clean and attractive, but with a uniformity whose main purpose appears to be guaranteeing that no one will ever be bothered by the appearance of their neighbor’s house. Medical services appeared to outnumber all of office space uses combined. If you need access to multiple providers of every medical specialty known to man, this is probably where you want to live. If not …

There are several RV parks in the Bushnell area, including Blueberry Hill RV Resort and Paradise Oaks Golf and RV Resort, and the Dade Battlefield Historic State Park. But there were two RV parks in particular that we were interested in visiting. One was the Escapees Sumter Oaks RV Park, which is one of the parks that is owned and operated by the Escapees RV Club. The other was Breezy Oaks RV Park where our friend, Al Hesselbart (historian for t he RV/MH Museum and Hall of Fame in Elkhart, Indiana), is spending the winter. The parks are less than 1/2 mile apart and close to an I-75 exit about four miles south of the actual town of Bushnell.

Al Hesselbart and his 1978 Newell.

We sat in the sun outside Al’s 1978 Newell and had a long, comfortable chat. We had skipped lunch, so by 4 PM we were hungry and Al suggested a Chinese Buffet in Brooksville, which was actually in Spring Hill. It had an incredible variety of food, some of which we could eat, and was in fact quite good. We dropped Al back at his coach and headed for home with a brief stop at the Ocala Publix for a few things.

2014/01/23-24 (R,F) A Gathering

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On Thursday morning we followed our usual home routine; breakfast, computer work (for me), cross-stitch (for Linda), a walk around the park, and a light lunch. We walked by the clubhouse / pool / pond / pavilion area to check on the progress of the deck being built along the north edge of the pond. The deck construction was finished and the landscaping was being installed. We continued on to the rear entrance to check on the new landscaping that was being installed the day before.

The new deck by the pool at WCRVresort.

The new landscaping by the rear entrance.

Mid-afternoon John and Marian Hagan drove up in their car from their home in Dunnellon for a visit. It was the first time they had been to Williston Crossings RV Resort and the first time they had seen our converted bus. Shortly after John and Marian’s arrival David and Marie Ross walked over from their motorhome, which was parked just around the corner from ours. Linda had set up all six of our folding chairs and our one folding table, but it was just too chilly to sit outside and talk. Our coach will accommodate six adults for seated conversation, but just barely. We had met the Hagan’s last week for the first time and the Ross’s just yesterday for the first time and this was the first time the Hagan’s and Ross’s had met but we quickly settled into a long comfortable chat. This has been our experience to date with every member of our FMCA Freethinkers Chapter that we have had the pleasure of meeting.

Around 6 PM we took the conversation down the street to Angelina Mia, the only Italian restaurant in Williston. Once again Linda and I had a pizza and side salads. This time, however, we had a Manhattan Supreme “white” pizza with olive oil, garlic (lots of garlic), spinach, sweet basil, tomatoes, and mushrooms, hold the cheese. It had a thin, crispy crust the way we like it, and was a very acceptable vegan pizza. Everyone else had regular Italian dishes, and like the last time we were here, they all indicated that the food was pretty good. We stayed at the restaurant two and a half hours eating and talking. John and Marian headed home directly from there and we dropped David and Marie back at their rig. A little more chat in the brisk evening air and we decided to call it a night, but not before agreeing to go out to breakfast the next morning.

L-to-R Me, John, Marian, Marie, David, and Linda at Angelina Mia’s in Williston.

Friday morning the Ross’s picked us up a 9 AM and went to Melanie’s. The parking lot was so full we had to park across the street by a vacant building. Linda had rye toast, dry, and I had a plain bagel, dry; a pretty typical breakfast out for us. David and Marie had regular breakfast fair, and seemed pleased with their choices. We lingered and drank coffee, but eventually had to go back to the resort as they were expected at Fort Wilderness in Orlando, Florida that afternoon. We said our “until next time”s and left them to concentrate on t heir departure routine. A final wave as they drove out and they were gone.

Living in an RV, even part-time as we are doing, can be an isolated, even lonely experience if that’s what you want it to be or if you fail to take some action to make it otherwise. Cherie Ve Ard and Chris Dunphy of Technomadia and been full-timing for at least seven years now and have put a lot of thought and energy into the issue of “nomadic community.” They have run into people all over the country, both randomly and intentionally, and then used their knowledge of communications and social networking technology to stay in touch and forge enduring relationships. Cherie’s most recent post discusses the difference between what they call a “convergence”, which is what is occurring in Cedar Key, Florida at the moment, and an RV rally or other such organized event.

We have some busy days coming up, so I took the opportunity to do a load of laundry mid-afternoon while Linda went for a walk. I think she planned to go for a long stroll, but cut it short because it was just too chilly to enjoy even with sunshine. We planned to eat dinner early and go over to the Friday night bonfire at the fire pit but Linda did feel like going, so I went by myself for a while. Part of living in a RV is that it has to be OK to not always do everything together.

2014/01/22 (W) Old & New

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I spent most of the day catching up on our blog postings for the previous two days. Our trip to Cedar Key on Monday was a full day of interesting sights and people and I took quite a few photographs. The weather and light were very nice and most of the photos were usable but required the usual post-processing which would take several hours. Our trip to Paynes Prairie State Preserve on Tuesday preempted image processing work and resulted in even more photos to review, select, and process.

David and Marie Ross from our FMCA Freethinkers chapter were scheduled to arrive at Williston Crossings RV Resort today so we did not plan any activities away from the resort. That gave me the time to work on the blog posts and Linda to work on her cross stitch project. We took a break around noon to go for a walk and bundled up against the chill, which seemed sharper than usual. It was below freezing again last night and only made it up to about 50 by mid-afternoon. We had some Amy’s Thai Coconut Soup when we got back which helped warm us up. Amy’s products are all vegan and we try to keep some on hand for a quick, easy, delicious meal. A selection of Amy’s products is often available at regular supermarkets including Publix here in Florida, the best selection is usually found at Whole Foods or specialty markets.

While we were walking I got a call from Pat Lintner letting me know that he and Vickie were back at Fort Wilderness and we arranged to drive over to visit them late next week. We made plans yesterday to visit Al Hesselbart on Saturday at Breezy Oaks RV Park near Bushnell, Florida. We will probably drive through “The Villages” enroute to Breezy Oaks and stop for a visit with Joe Cannarozzi (our bus mechanic) who is staying at The Villager RV Park in Wildwood just south of The Villages. While we are down that way we will also check out the Escapees Park in Bushnell which is only a few miles from Breezy Oaks.

David and Marie came in the back entrance of Williston Crossings so we did not see them arrive. A knock on our door around 4 PM announced that they were here. We visited with David briefly and discussed dinner options. They invited us over to their motorhome, a very nice 2000 Safari Sahara, for drinks and we enjoyed a glass of white wine and good conversation. By 7:00 PM we were all hungry and headed over to the Driftwood.

The Driftwood is a small diner that is walking distance from the front entrance of the resort and the closest place to dine out. David drove us over as it was dark and cold and would be darker and colder by the end of our meal. The place looked like it was closed, but the illuminated “open” sign in the window suggested otherwise so we went there for dinner as planned. This was our first trip to the Driftwood since we arrived in Williston. Linda and I had salads and potatoes, hers baked and mine French fried (with lots of ketchup and Tabasco sauce). The food was OK but our waitress was friendly and efficient. We were all drinking coffee or tea and she was very attentive to keeping our cups refilled, which I appreciate and use as a marker of good waitservice.

By the time we finished dinner and returned to the resort clear skies revealed bright stars and radiational cooling had already lowered the temperature in to the upper 30’s. With yet another sub-freezing night ahead we set the thermostats on the toe-kick heaters and settled in to watch the final episode of Shackleton on PBS, a documentary on the recreation of Ernest Shackleton’s epic journey in 1916 from Antarctica to South Georgia Island to reach the whaling station at Stromness and arrange the rescue of the 22 men left behind. It was somehow fitting given the weather this January.

2014/01/21 (T) Paynes Prairie

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South entrance PPSP.

On the southern edge of Gainesville, Florida lies a surprisingly large and biologically diverse area known as Paynes Prairie. Fifteen miles long and 50 miles in circumference, most of this ecosystem is now owned by the State of Florida and managed as the Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park. Our winter encampment in Williston is only 15 miles SW of the SW corner of Gainesville, and so less than that to the south entrance of the park on US-441.

Live Oak with Spanish moss, PPSP.

Although there was a 30% chance of rain for the mid-afternoon we had blue skies in the morning and pleasant if somewhat cool temperatures, so we decided to drive over to the Preserve and check it out. Members of our FMCA Freethinkers chapter had planned their arrival in Florida to include a couple of nights at Williston Crossings, so we knew we would be sticking around the RV resort to visit with them while they were here. Besides, with our annual State Park pass we don’t have to worry about paying entrance fees only to have our plans cancelled by weather.

Egret, PPSP.

The south entrance has a ranger station and is where the Visitor Center, campground, observation tower, and several hike/bike/horse trails are located. We watched a 20 minute film on the history and current restoration of the area. By the time it was over it had started raining, so we spent some time in the Visitor Center looking at the exhibits. The rain let up so we hiked out to the observation tower and walked up to the top platform (50 feet high). The rains returned and we waited out the light showers on the covered observation platform. The view from the tower gave us a sense of the expanse of Paynes Prairie.

Along the Cove Dike Trail, PPSP.

The skies cleared from the north and we hiked part of the Cove Dike trail along the southern edge of the prairie. You have to pass through a narrow serpentine entrance to get onto the part of the trail that runs along the edge of the treeless and wet prairie. The sign includes a warning that you are entering a wilderness area and that the prairie is not a zoo or petting farm; the animals (alligators, bison, horses, etc.) are wild. The serpentine entrance is presumably to keep these larger, wild animals from escaping the preserve, which appears to be completely fenced. It’s odd, and yet very cool, to read such a sign with the broadcast TV antennas of Gainesville visible on the horizon some 15 miles away. Wilderness is not always remote.

Snake, Cove Dike Trail, PPSP.

The Cove Dike trail was high and dry for the most part, but the prairie was very wet. The only animals we saw we birds and a small snake that I almost stepped on. We saw evidence of larger animals including bison and horse scat, hoof prints, and areas of earth that had been disturbed, perhaps to create a resting place for the night.

This place is not a zoo or theme park.

The area has had a lot of rain the last few weeks and part way out the trail was closed, so we turned around. Once back at the car we drove around to the north entrance, which you get to by driving through a subdivision. Again, we had to pass through the serpentine entrance with wilderness warning signs. From this entrance there is a boardwalk that leads to an old dike that goes out into the prairie. The best wildlife viewing, including alligators, is purported to be from this trail. We had just gotten to the beginning of the boardwalk when the rain resumed. Concerned about getting the camera wet, and wanting to photograph the area, we decided to return another day with better weather and headed back to the car.

Egret, north boardwalk area, PPSP.

After a day on the edge of wilderness Linda made Farro with mushrooms, onions, garlic, and Swiss chard. She added a few hot red pepper flakes which gave the dish a nice edge. We finished up a bottle of Yellowtail Moscato we had opened the night before. A very sweet, relatively inexpensive wine that we can get at the Grocery Depot in Williston, walking distance from the RV resort.

Egret, north boardwalk area, PPSP.

2014/01/20 (M) Gallery Post

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This is a WordPress Gallery post of photographs from our visit to Cedar Key, Florida today. Click once on each thumbnail to open it in a separate tab full size. The largest dimension for any image is 600 pixels wide or 428 pixels high.

: A bay of the Gulf of Mexico at low tide with expoed oyster beds, part of Cedar Key Museum SP.

: Bald Eagle aerie near the Cedar Key Museum SP (FL). There is an adult eagle visible in the aerie.

: Front of the Whitman house at Cedar Key Museum SP (FL).

: The kitchen of the Whitman house at Cedar Key Museum SP (FL).

: Pelicans and other birds on an old pier off of the Cedar Key marina.

: Part of the Harbormaster Hotel on the Cedar Key waterfront.

: The Island House Hotel in Cedar Key, FL. Very old.

: The entrance sign for Sunset Isle RV Park and Motel.

: Technomadia’s bus nestled into its site at Sunset Isle RV Park in Cedar Key, FL.

: The office & cafe front door at Sunset Isle RV Park.

: Linda and Cherie Ve Ard of Technomadia by the Sunset Isle RV Park Office and Cafe.

: The clubhouse at Sunset Isle RV Park.

: Sunset Isle RV Park bath house.

: Inside Technomadia’s converted bus. Cherie (seated, center) demonstrating a project they are working on.

: The Low Key Hideaway motel.

: The Low Key Institute – gateway to the Low Key Tiki Bar. Note that Detroit is 1049 miles in “that” direction. The owners used to live at Camp Dearborn in Milford, Michigan.

: Back porch area of the Low Key Hideaway motel.

: The 3 RV sites at the Low Key Hideaway.

: Ocean-side view of the Tiki Bar at Low Key Hideaway.

: Interior of the Tiki Bar at Low Key Hideaway.

: The Low Key Hideaway / Tiki Bar patio area.

: Hurricane evacuation instructions – hey, this is serious business in the Gulf.

: Us on the dock at the Low Key Hideaway Tiki Bar. (Photo by Chris Dunphy.)

: Cherie Ve Ard and Chris Dunphy of Technomadia.

: Sunset illuminated sky looking north from Low Key Hideaway towards Sunset Isle RV Park.

: Sunset from Low Key Hideaway.

: Sunset from Low Key Hideaway.

2014/01/20 (M) Cedar Key (FL)

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[Note: I had enough photographs from today that I put them in a separate Gallery Post with today’s date.]

With a forecast of sunny skies and high temperatures in the mid 60’s we decided to head to Cedar Key today. Mid-morning I e-mailed Cherie that we were headed that way and would drop by the Sunset Isle RV Park and Motel mid-afternoon after checking out the town.

From Williston we took US-27 Alt WNW to Bronson and then took FL-24 SW to Cedar Key, a total distance of 45 miles and approximately one hour driving time. FL-24 is the route of the old rail line. Just before getting to Cedar Key we saw a sign for the Suwanee National Wildlife Refuge which is located some miles north of the Cedar Keys area. When we got to Cedar Key we headed to the Cedar Key Museum State Park where our annual park pass covered the $2 entrance fee for each of us.

We had a nice chat with the park volunteer and learned about the vast amount of land, marsh, tidal flats, and water that is reserved, preserved, and protected along the Florida Gulf Coast stretching far to the north and south of Cedar Key. We walked through the small but informative museum and then toured the Whitman house which had been moved to the Park as a well-preserved display of housing and domestic life from a bygone era in that part of Florida. Mr. Whitman was an avid shell collector, and part of his collection was on display the house.

The park was small but had a nice trail that got us down to the shore. The tide was out allowing us to see exposed oyster beds and large animal footprints leading into the water. Probably just someone’s dog, but… We also spotted a mature Bald Eagle soaring overhead. We then met a woman walking a dog who told us that just down the street behind the museum was the Bald Eagle nest (aerie) up in a large pine tree. We walked quietly and slowly in that direction. Bald Eagle aeries are enormous and it was easy to see. To our delight and good fortune there was an adult eagle clearly visible in the nest. I took a few photographs and then we left the way had come.

Although the Bald Eagle has been removed from the endangered species list, it is still highly protected as our national bird. Of more significance to us, however, is that the presence of Bald Eagles is still a marker of wilderness as they require a large area of specific habitat and generally stay away from populated areas. While Cedar Key is certainly a very remote and relatively small community surrounded by a vast area of protected habitat, the fact remains that this aerie, and what we must presume was a nesting pair of Bald Eagles, decided to live in someone’s backyard.

We drove back to the main downtown/waterfront part of Cedar Key, parked the car, and explored on foot. Cedar Key is not a big place, but it is old, and very charming, and even a bit “funky.” We stopped at the only grocery store we had seen, bought some lunch munchies and beverages, and had a quick lunch in the car. We then headed back towards Sunset Isle RV Park which is actually on a small island just before you get to the main island where most of Cedar Key is located.

We parked in front of the motel and walked around back to find Chris and Cherie’s bus. (Chris and Cherie blog and write under the name a Technomadia.) We spotted it right away, but before we got that far we spotted another familiar RV; a beautiful Spartan trailer that belonged to Forrest and Jeri Bone of the Tin Can Tourists. We first met them at the Arcadia Bus Rally when we attended Forrest’s presentation on the TCT’s and later toured their Spartan trailer during the open house. Forrest and Jeri actually hail from Gregory, Michigan not far from where our house is located.

We went on down to the Technomadia bus and Forrest came down shortly thereafter. Chris and Dani then stopped by (they are part of the NuRVers group that converged at Sunset Isle this January) and we had a good visit, Cherie demonstrating a project that she and Chris are working on. Forrest left to help Jeri do the laundry and Chris/Dani headed back to their rig (a Westphalia camper) to work. We eventually wandered over to the Tiki Bar at the Low Key Hideaway three “doors” south and hung out there while the bar filled up and the sun went down. The bar was neat, the people were neat, and the sunset was neat; long and colorful. We bid farewell to our old and new acquaintances and headed back to Williston. A quick stop at the Winn-Dixie supermarket for soy milk and the Sunoco filling station for fuel and we were home in time for dinner and some PBS before bed.

2014/01/19 (N) Things That Go Bump

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We slept in this morning and had a light breakfast. I called Cherie (of Technomadia) to see if she and Chris were up for a visit today. They are camped at Sunset Isle RV Park just a mile north of Cedar Key, Florida. It is 45 miles from Williston Crossings RV Resort to Sunset Isle and the drive is estimated to take about one hour. Chris answered the phone and indicated that a front was just pushing in off of the Gulf and that it was raining, and was expected to continue for much for much of the day. We agreed that it wasn’t the best day for a visit and decided to stay home and try again tomorrow or the next day. A quick check of the sky showed heavy cloud cover and the weather radar confirmed that the storm front was also going to bring rain to our RV resort, so we decided to get a walk in before it started. It was a short walk as it started raining lightly while we were out!

Living in an RV is obviously different in many ways from living in a fixed dwelling, but in equally many ways it is not different at all. One of the ways they are different is that RVs get moved around and so the environment around them changes. That, in turn, means the pattern of sights, sounds, and smells is always shifting. Even if you stay in one place for a while, as we are currently doing, other RVs still come and go and the external pattern of daily activity changes. I suspect most full- and extended-time RVers enjoying the change in their external environment, but it also means you are constantly exposed to “unexpected” stimuli that draw your attention.

One of the ways fixed and mobile living are the same is that our dwellings each have a unique “personality”, which is to say, they are structures full of systems that have characteristic sights, sounds, and even smells that occur in routine and predictable ways. It’s almost as if they are alive, but we become so accustomed to the personality of our dwelling that we hardly notice it. Indeed, this is essential to being able to live there. If we paid close attention to every little detail of a dwelling we would not be able to do anything else.

As long as it is behaving the way it normally does, we are only dimly aware of our home’s personality or the environment surrounding it. But when there are deviations from the norm we are acutely aware of them and none more so than things that go “bump” in the night. This evening while watching TV we had such a noise. It appeared to come from the cockpit area, possibly from the bay under the driver’s seat, and sounded more mechanical, like our A/C shutters, than like a motor or moving air. That bay is where most of the auxiliary air system components and chassis leveling valves are located, but even when it happened while I was standing right there I could not identify what was causing the sound. I went outside and checked the bay with a flashlight, but nothing looked out of place.

Mid afternoon I had been working in the front TV cabinet and the media cabinet behind the driver’s seat hooking up the cable TV from the resort. The media cabinet has an electric toe-kick heater in the base and I thought perhaps a cable was coming in contact with the fan. I turned the heater off while the noise was happening and it did not go away immediately. It stopped a short time later, but the sound never lasts very long anyway. When trying to figure out what is wrong, it often useful to know what is not wrong.

BTW: I did get the cable hooked up and working and even used the old video switcher to select between OTA TV antenna and cable. We get more channels on the cable but they are marginal quality analog signals and we only get the primary PBS station. We get a much better digital signal over the air and get both of the PBS sub-channels in addition to the main channel. As it was Sunday evening Linda watched Downton Abbey and then we both watch the first episode of Sherlock Holmes. It was a double-episode.

We are probably more sensitive to noises in our coach than we are to noises in our house. For one thing, the coach is a smaller, more intimate space where no noise goes unheard. For another, it’s capable of being stranded right where it sits if the wrong components fail. This is part of RV life, and we are much more comfortable with it than when we started, but not completely at ease yet, especially when something goes bump in the night.

2014/01/18 (S) On Top Of The World

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Sure, there are days when we feel like we are “sitting” there—we are retired after all, have our health, and are in Florida for the winter at a nice RV resort—but today we were not sitting on top of the world. Rather, we were at On Top Of The World for a one hour talk on “humanism and problem-solving” by Jennifer Hancock.

OTOTW is a large, upscale, planned retirement community just southwest of Ocala, Florida off FL-200. We were at a retail/community plaza that included the sales office, a sizeable theater, coffee and ice cream shops, and a few other businesses including one named Master The Possibilities. MTP is the education center for the complex and offers a wide menu of self-development experiences.

We were made aware of this presentation by John and Marian Hagan from our FMCA Freethinkers chapter and they also attended. The presentation was sponsored by the newly formed Humanists of North Central Florida (HNCFL), which is affiliated with the American Humanist Association.

After the talk I had to take a phone call from our son. He was checking the house and called to let us know that the battery on our backup sump pump was indicating that it needed to have water added. I talked him through that and then the four of us headed to a nearby Panera to talk over food and coffee. I think it was the first Panera we have been to since we left Michigan on December 19.

We stopped at the Publix supermarket on US-27 just west of Ocala to do our weekly food shopping and got back to the RV resort around 8:15 PM. We had left at 11:00 AM to do some shopping before the lecture, so it had been a long day. We were surprised that there wasn’t anyone at the fire pit, when Linda remembered that tonight was a dinner/dance at the resort.

I walked over to the fire pit and found the remnants of a fire still smoldering so I pushed the pieces back into a pile and the fire came back to life. I spent over an hour tending the fire and enjoying the warmth against the chill of the night air. A few people wandered by and stopped to chat briefly. John (from Vermont) mentioned that his son, Matt, who uses a wheelchair, was a ham radio operator, but didn’t have any of his equipment with him. I offered to lend him one of our Kenwood HT’s and have a QSO with him sometime if he wanted to do that.

I forgot to mention in yesterday’s post that we met Golda The Adventure Dog at the campfire on Friday night. A very sweet and gentle animal, she is part Anatolian Sheppard and has her own Facebook page.

2014/01/17 (F) Campfire Music

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Today was a day for chores and relaxation. I did the laundry while Linda tidied up the inside of the coach. Various RV authors have said that the best way to learn about the area where you are camping, or intend to go to next, is from the people in RV parks and campgrounds where you stay. And the best place to meet those people is often in the laundry room. Today I had a long conversation with a fellow Williston Crossings resident with Alaska license plates on his truck while we were both doing our laundry. He had traveled extensively and was a wealth of knowledge.

For lunch we had the vegan version of one of my favorite sandwiches: crunchy peanut butter and “mayo” with lettuce and pickle slices. I used to make this sandwich with Miracle Whip. (I was raised with Miracle Whip and have never cared for the taste of real mayonnaise.) The vegan version of the sandwich uses “vegan mayo”, of course, and it is an acceptable substitute although it lacks the characteristic tanginess of MW.

It dropped below freezing again last night under clear skies, but rebounded quickly with the sunrise and topped out in the mid 60’s. Linda sat outside in the sun and worked on her needlepoint. She needs the light to see what she’s doing, and she likes sitting in the sun.

We ate dinner around 6:00 PM–left over angel hair pasta– and then went to the fire pit for the Friday evening campfire. Kevin already had the fire going but we were early enough to get two of the rocking chairs. By 6:45 PM all the chairs and benches were occupied and there were a few folks standing. There were four guitarists playing and singing in various combinations. Their selections tended to be country and folk, but they all played and sang well, and the rest of us listened, talked quietly, or sang along as we sat in the glow of the campfire. It was too dark to photograph and we did not record it on our smartphones so you will just have to take my word for it; it was a warm and thoroughly delightful experience.

2014/01/16 (R) Wi-Fi Woes

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The Wi-Fi at Williston Crossings RV Resort has been very good since we got here. There are professional grade access points with decent antennas positioned on towers all through the park. The signals have been strong and steady, and the bandwidth generally very good. Wi-Fi is always going to slow down when lots of people are using it, but the resort seems to have enough access points feeding into a robust enough router and gateway to handle the demands placed on the system by the residents.

A couple of weeks ago the resort announced that they were going to reconfigure the Wi-Fi system slightly and that starting on January 10 we would need a username and password. We generally prefer “open” Wi-Fi signals since we connect to them with our roof-mounted Wi-Fi Ranger Mobile, which repeats the signal as a secure hot spot around out coach. Our current configuration goes one step farther. We have an Amped Wireless SR20000G Wi-Fi router/repeater configured as a bridge to the Wi-Fi Ranger. The SR20000G creates a local area network to which we connect wirelessly along with a RAID 1 Network Attached Storage device connected via Ethernet. The SR20000G then connects to the private/secure hotspot side of the Wi-Fi Ranger Mobile, which is connected to the wide area network on the public side and from there to the Internet. It’s a great setup when everything works correctly.

In the past we have used our Wi-Fi Ranger Mobile successfully with both secure and filtered Wi-Fi networks, and both types are handled through the Wi-Fi Ranger web-browser interface. Secure Wi-Fi systems require an encryption key, which is entered through the Wi-Fi Ranger control panel and stored for future use. Filtered Wi-Fi networks are not secure. After the radio and logical connection is established, you are taken to a web page where you enter a username and password and accept the terms and conditions of use. Indeed, places like Panera don’t even bother with the username and password, they just want you to acknowledge the terms and conditions of use before allowing you access to the Internet through their system. Fair enough, the Wi-Fi Ranger is designed to handle that as well right from the control panel.

We have had our system configured and working flawlessly right through yesterday morning. When we returned from a day of hiking and visiting it was obvious that something had changed. It still wasn’t working properly this morning so I inquired in the office and they confirmed that the guy who takes care of their Wi-Fi network had made changes yesterday and was working on the system today. I reconfigured some of our equipment to use our Verizon Mi-Fi to get online and take care of e-mail and some BCM article tasks. I called the Wi-Fi guy and chatted with him briefly, just to explain our setup and make sure there wasn’t any reason for it to now work. I spent part of the rest of the day working with and reconfiguring our equipment and by late afternoon everything seemed to be back to normal. I even found a better spot in the coach for the Verizon Mi-Fi device.

The day ended well, however, as Linda made whole-grain angel hair pasta with garlic, onion, mushrooms, and sun-dried tomatoes, perfectly dressed in olive oil. It’s one of my favorite dishes.

2014/01/15 (W) Rainbow Springs SP (FL)

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Today was a 2-fer day. Actually, it was a Wednesday, but we got two things done in one trip.

Seminole Falls info.

Thing one was a trip to Rainbow Springs SP in Dunnellon, Florida. Located on US-41 just north of Dunnellon, Rainbow Springs was privately owned and opened in 1937 as a major tourist attraction. The natural springs were “enhanced” with a constructed landscape of streams and waterfalls surrounded by vast gardens. There were walkways, buildings, a “submarine”, a surface ship, a zoo, a netted bird area, an aerial tram, and a horse arena. There were also cabins that predated the 1937 attraction.

Seminole “Falls.”

The Rainbow Springs attraction changed ownership several times over the years and was owned by S&H Green Stamps and Holiday Inn along the way. The opening of I-75 led to the demise of the attraction and it closed to the public in 1974. (The opening of Walt Disney World probably didn’t help.) It fell into serious disrepair until purchased in 1990 by the State of Florida and added to the Florida State Parks system.

Alligator warning (although none seen recently here).

All of the attractions are gone, of course, but much of the infrastructure remains, especially the water features and walkways. The stables / horse arena is now a butterfly garden and the Park Service, along with the Friends of Rainbow Springs (FORS) is removing invasive plant species and replacing them with native pants. There are actual (unpaved) hiking trails and a modern campground in a different part of the park. We caught a brief glimpse of a Whitetail Deer while hiking the yellow trail.

Part of the Rainbow Springs headwaters area.

Thing two was a chance to visit with another couple from our FMCA Freethinkers Chapter. I had been corresponding with various people in advance of our trip to Florida, and John Hagan had indicated back in October that lived reasonably close to where we would be staying. I checked back through my information, and it turned out that “reasonably close” meant “in Dunnellon.” In fact, they lived about one mile south of the entrance to Rainbow Springs SP. We called, they were home, and we stopped by to visit.

An Egret on the hunt at Rainbow Springs SP (FL).

John and Marian had only moved in to this house this past April after six years as full-time RVers and are selling their motorhome. They are still new enough to this part of Florida that they have not had a chance to explore much of it. We agreed to make plans to take them along on some “explores” such as the Crystal River and Homosassa Springs areas which lie just to the SW of Dunnellon. We also invited them to drive up to Williston to see the bus and the resort and have dinner.

20140113 (M) Prevost-Stuff Gallery

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A small gallery post of photos from the Prevost-Stuff Show at the Tampa Convention Center. Left click on a thumbnail to view it slightly larger.

: Jamie Bradford, Prevost-stuff show organizer and owner of POG.

: There were at least a half dozen different companies at the show selling coaches. Each had its own “space.”

: Another view of West Hall, Tampa Convention Center.

: Very nice Marathon wheel hub and lug nut covers.

: Light switches below the storage compartment and a place to hang keys.

: A little compartment by the entry door for wallets and things. Nice touch.

: The only coach we saw with a table and two chairs set up in a way that is similar to what we want to do.

: A neat idea for how to store wine in space that is not much deeper than the diameter of a bottle.

: Built in water softener below the water distribution manifold.

: Part of a Marathon electrical bay. Their craftsmanship b.

: An on-board pressure washer so you can keep it clean.

: This Aqua-Hot bay has the overflow reservoir (upper left) that we need. Notice the ceiling mounted water filter.

: A flexible reading light with a dimmer.

: There were more than 30 units on display, about half H3 models and half XL / XL II models.

: West Hall, Tampa Convention Center.

: Lots of shiny Prevost coach conversions.

: Prevost Car Inc reception. President/CEO Gaeton Buldoc, Eng. and National Sales Manager Steve Ziegler, talking upper left.

: Prevost-Stuff.com (POG) booth.

2014/01/13 (M) Prevost-Stuff Show

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The Tampa Convention Center waterfront plaza, Tampa (FL).

We spent most of the day and evening traveling to, attending, and returning from the Prevost-Stuff Show at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Florida. Prevost-Stuff.com is part of the Prevost Owners Group (POG) owned and operated by Jamie Bradford. We have been POG members for a few years now but this was the first event we have been able to attend. The Prevost-Stuff show is strictly used Prevost coach conversions. Jamie organized the show starting last year to run for the two days immediately prior to the Tampa RV Supershow at the Tampa Fairgrounds because the Supershow only allows new units to be displayed.

TCC Beer Pavilion and Fish Sculpture.

Before heading to Tampa we stopped at the CVS Store in Williston to purchase an electronic pass for the Florida Tollway System. We purchased a SunPass Mini, activated it via the website using Linda’s cell phone, put an initial balance on it, and mounted it to the inside of the car windshield behind the mirror. We planned to use the Tollway for part of our trip to Tampa and did not want to be bothered with stopping to pay cash tolls. We also knew that we would want/need to use the toll roads as we traveled around Florida over the next few months and the SunPass is both more convenient and slightly less expensive on a per toll basis. A quick stop at the Williston post office to mail a flash drive full of photos to Bus Conversions Magazine editor Mike Sullivan and we were on our way.

View towards Tampa Forum arena from TCC plaza docks.

Rather than take I-75 to Tampa, which we have already done once when we went to Arcadia, we headed to the west edge of downtown Williston and picked up US-41 S. We stayed with US-41 S through Inverness to Brooksville where we took FL-50 over to the Tollway, FL-589, and then headed south towards Tampa. Our Garmin nuvi 465T GPS was rather persistent in trying to route us away from the Tollway until we checked the settings and discovered it was set to “avoid toll roads.” From there on it steered us through the convoluted Tampa freeway system, onto the surface streets, and directly to the entrance to the Tampa Convention Center parking garage.

TCC east entrance stairs.

The Prevost-Stuff show was in the West Hall at the Tampa Convention Center. It was free and open to the public but there were no signs announcing it, almost as if it was an invitation only event; and in a sense that was true, the only real marketing being through the POG and Prevost-Stuff.com websites. Much to our surprise, the first person we met as we entered the hall was Joe Cannarozzi, our mobile mechanic. I knew Joe was in Florida for part of the winter, but wasn’t sure just where. It turns out that he is staying at an RV park an hour or so south of us.

TCC east upper entrance level.

There were at least 30 units on display, all used and all for sale, with a roughly equal number of H3s and LeMirage / XL / XL2s. All of them were very nice, of course, but most of them were not to our taste (too fancy). Almost all of them were not in our price range either, so that made it a lot easier to not buy one : – ) (We agreed on the drive down not to make an impulsive purchase.) I did, however, see a few interesting “features” that may eventually find their way into our coach. I forgot to take my camera so the photos in today’s posts were taken with my smartphone.

TCC West Hall lobby.

The best part for me was the Prevost reception at 5:30 PM. I got to meet several people including the owner of AAP. AAP is the company that now handles Cruise Air units. It was good to know that they are still available as our coach has three of them. I got some suggestions from him about what we might do to reduce the noise when they are running. We also met Jamie Bradford, the owner of the Prevost Owners Group (POG), and Dale Farley, who handles administration for POG. Jamie said that in addition to the New Orleans rally he is planning for March, he is planning a rally in East St. Louis for the last week in September. The RV park closes after the third weekend in September but remains “open” for another week for exclusive use by the POG rally. He will have room for 90 coaches. I have no idea what it will cost, and I am sure food will be an issue for us, as always. St. Louis, however, is our home town and we not had the coach down there yet, so we’ll see.

TCC West Hall entrance, Prevost-Stuff Show

Finally, we met several folks from Prevost, including: Gaetan Bolduc, Eng. (president/ceo), Steve Ziegler (national sales manager for conversions shells), Martin –?— (factory product manager), and Bill Jensen, national service manager (conversion shells). I now have faces and business cards to go with the names.

A whole row of Marathon conversions.

I had a chance to talk to Martin about the lack of availability of rubber seals for our awning windows and describe how we were able to get new ones made. I offered to supply them if they have any other customers who need them : – ) I also got to discuss our intermittent speedometer/odometer problem with Bill Jensen. Bill agreed that it sounded like we had a wiring problem somewhere after the engine and transmission computers and told me that the two wires of importance are numbers 16 (speedo +) and 20 (speedo ground). He also indicated that the coach probably does have a “speed switch” and that it is most likely located in the electrical bay above the tag axle on the driver’s side. The purpose of the switch was to disable the kneeling feature on a seated coach above 5 MPH. The speedometer wires are “looped through” the switch, however, and it is a potential failure point.

A pair of late model, lightly used, Prevost H3-45 conversions.

By the time we left around 6:30 PM it was dark and Linda’s hip was bothering her so I drove home. Our GPS got us to I-275 northbound, an easy, straight shot west from the Tampa Convention Center parking garage. I-275 merged into I-75 N. We exited at US-27 W in Ocala and were home before 9 PM including a brief fuel stop along the way. Heavy and persistent rain was forecast to start sometime after 9 PM and go through the night, but we made it back to the coach before it started raining. I took care of some e-mails, posted my blog entry for yesterday, and called it a day.

2014/01/12 (N) More Visitors

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Steve and Karen were headed to Deltona to visit relatives of Karen’s and were expected there around noon. With a two hour drive ahead of them they needed to be on the road by10 AM. We were all up before 8 AM, had a leisurely breakfast and set up a tripod to get a few photographs of the four of us before the left.

Linda, Bruce, Karen, and Steve at site 439, Williston Crossing RV Resort (FL).

The more time we spend living in the bus the more normal it seems, but we are still very much aware of the fact that for most of our friends it is an object of considerable curiosity. I think many of them are also fascinated, perhaps even a bit perplexed, by the idea that we live in even part time, and seeing it in person helps them understand just what it is that we are doing.

Last March (2013), while on our second Holistic Holiday at a Sea cruise, we became friends with a retired special education teacher from New York City named Norma. We exchanged e-mail addresses and phone numbers and have stated in touch with her since then. Norma has a daughter who lives in Winter Park, Florida north of Orlando and not that far from where we are staying. Norma has been down visiting, and e-mailed us yesterday indicating that family was headed to a state park for the day and would be close enough to stop in Williston for a visit. A quick phone call this morning confirmed the arrangements; they would come to the RV resort on the way home so everyone could see the motorhome. 🙂

Linda, Norma, Anna (Norma’s daughter) and Anna’s children in our coach.

As of this morning our Dropbox client software was still unable to connect to the Dropbox cloud servers. I was able to log in to our Dropbox account through various web browsers and upload a file, so that was some sort of progress. I was not, however, able to access my settings page, so the Dropbox servers/accounts were not yet fully restored and functional.

Linda made pan-fried firm tofu with grilled onions and Bar-B-Q sauce served on a whole wheat hamburger bun. The tofu has something of the texture of a fried egg, and the sandwich, while simple, is simply delicious. A side of Brussels sprouts and broccoli provided our greens.

I worked on getting the blog up-to-date while we watched Downton Abbey. I then transferred all of the photos for the Arcadia Bus Rally BCM article to a flash drive. I need to put it in the mail to the editor tomorrow.

2014/01/11 (S) The Swamp Trail

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This is a small image gallery from our day at Silver River State Park in Silver Springs, Florida. Left click once on a thumbnail image to see a larger version. The maximum image dimension is 640 pixels.

2014/01/11 (S) Silver River State Park (FL)

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We finally had a day with some sunshine and no rain and Karen suggested that we go to Silver River State Park. Karen had been there many years ago and had fond memories of the place. The park is in Silver Springs, Florida on the eastern edge of Ocala, Florida, about 35 miles from our wintering grounds at the WCRV Resort in Williston, Florida. We left around 10 AM and were there by 10:45 AM. I have posted a photo gallery with today’s date in addition to this blog posting.

Silver River SP is large for an urban location and has two entrances. We went to the west entrance first. This is where the water park, springs, glass bottom boats, concessions, and entertainment facilities are located. There was also a major Ford car club show going on. We could not buy an annual pass at this entrance, however, so we drove to the east entrance. The east part of the park is where the campground, hiking trails, historic Cracker homestead, education facilities, and museum are located. We bought an annual park pass, good for admission of one vehicle with up to eight people at most of the Florida State Parks, went in, and parked at the trailhead area.

Silver Springs SP, Silver Springs, Florida.

Silver River SP, Silver Springs, Florida.

We had a leisurely stroll on the 1.9 mile Swamp Trail. The trail took us through pine Forest and cedar swamp to the south bank of the Silver River. There was a variety of interesting flora along the way (with an occasional explanatory placard) that Steve and I stopped to photograph. When we finished the hike we explored and photographed the Cracker homestead recreation, although none of the buildings were open.

Steve and Karen Limkemann., SRSP (FL).

While we were on the trail Linda got a call from our daughter. She was at our house and said the road was icy and the driveway had not been plowed. We had contracted with someone to take care of this in our absence and apparently they had not been there since the most recent heavy snows and extremely cold temperatures. I called the phone number we have and got a Verizon message indicating that the number had been changed, disconnected, or was no longer in service. Great (not).

Us at SSSP (FL). (Photo by Steve Limkemann.)

Us at SRSP (FL). (Photo by Steve Limkemann.)

We had gotten a referral for this snow removal service from the realtor who helped us by our house so I gave him a call. I made it clear that we understood that this was not his problem and we did not consider him in any way responsible, but if there was any way he could contact this guy and determine if he was still in business we would appreciate it. I thanked him, indicating that we really did not have anyone else we could call and appreciate any assistance he could provide. This is one of the potential downsides to being away from home in the winter, but no reason to spoil a good hike.

The World Famous Glass Bottom Boats, SSSP (FL).

The World Famous Glass Bottom Boats, SRSP (FL).

Our hiking done we returned to the east end of the park. This part of the park was once a private/commercial enterprise but is now a Florida State Park. The water park wasn’t open this time of year, but we were there to ride the famous glass bottom boats. The 30 minute ride gave us a great view of seven of the 20 springs that feed the Silver River. The water was crystal clear, so light penetrated easily to the bottom (as much as 55 feet down in the spring openings) and was teeming with aquatic life. A variety of birds were also there, especially Anhinga. We did not see any alligators, but we did see plenty of warning signs.

Ford car show at SRSP (FL).

The springs have been used for many years to film underwater scenes for movies, including one of the James Bond films. Most famous, however, was the Sea Hunt TV series starring Lloyd Bridges. All of the 120+ episodes were filmed in one particular spring that we were able to see.

Linda and Karen on the Swamp Tail, SSSP (FL).

Linda and Karen on the Swamp Tail, SRSP (FL).

The Ford car show had a lot of vehicles and a lot of people looking at them. One whole area was high performance Shelby Cobras with a Ford GT nearby. We wandered around and took a few pictures. The wind started to come up and when Linda checked the weather there was a storm front moving our way with severe thunderstorm warnings for Williston. We decided to head back as we had a couple of stops to make on the way and wanted to be back at the coach before the storms hit.

Steve photographing palms on the Swamp Trail, SSSP (FL).

Steve photographing palms on the Swamp Trail, SRSP (FL).

Sometime on Friday the Dropbox service developed a major problem as the result of some maintenance they were doing on the system. Our desktop clients were suddenly unable to connect with the Dropbox cloud servers and I was also not able to log in through the web interface. I had planned to upload photos for the BCM Arcadia Rally article and couldn’t. Plan B was to put them on a flash drive and mail them. I found a 16 GB unit for $9.99 at Staples and bought a padded mailing envelope to ship it in. We then stopped at the Publix supermarket on US-27 to pick up some things Linda needed to make risotto. It just started to rain as we got back to the coach, so we quickly got our groceries and ourselves inside. Moments later the thunder, lightning, wind, and rain began in earnest.

Linda, Karen, and Steve at the Cracker Homestead, SSSP (FL).

Linda, Karen, and Steve at the Cracker Homestead, SRSP (FL).

Although Saturday is also fire pit night at WCRV Resort but they do not build a fire when high winds are forecast. We heard voices over by the fire pit later but decided to hunker down for the evening. Linda made a traditional Arborio rice risotto with mushrooms, onions, garlic, Pinot Grigio (which we also drank), and four different greens (kale, Swiss chard, spinach, and arugula). It was truly excellent. We had fresh strawberries and dark chocolate covered almonds for dessert. We four people in the coach for dinner everyone has to hold their plates on their laps, but Steve and Karen were good sports about it.

2014/01/10 (F) Visitors

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Steve and Karen Limkemann e-mailed yesterday that they were in Macon, Georgia and thought they would arrive at Williston Crossings today between 2 and 3 PM. They left S. E. Michigan Wednesday around noon and got as far as northern Kentucky before stopping for the night. We had planned to do weekly chores this morning anyway, but that became necessary once we knew their ETA. My chores included doing the laundry so we would all have clean linens, and dumping the waste tanks and refilling the fresh water tank. Linda’s chores involved interior cleaning (vacuum, mop, dust, glass and mirrors, sinks and toilet, etc.) and de-cluttering.

Steve and Karen arrived on schedule and came in the new/rear entrance off of FL-121. They phoned me and I drove over to lead them to our site which is near the original/front entrance on N. E. 5th St. I had not finished filling the fresh water tank, so I gave Steve a tour of the bays while the tank filled. Eventually the chores were done and we gathered inside to visit.

Being a Friday it was fire pit night at the RV resort, but first we went out to dinner. We decided to try Angelina Mia’s, the Italian restaurant and pizzeria we stopped at the other day on our walk to town. We ended up ordering a thin crust northern Italian veggie pizza, no cheese, and it was OK. Steve had lasagna and Karen had seafood linguine, and they both said it was OK as well. By the time we got back to the RV resort a large group had gathered around the fire pit and the fire was blazing. There were no vacant chairs, and we did want to stand, so we retired to the coach and settled in.

We have had overnight guests in the bus prior to this, but only one person at a time. Steve and Karen were the first couple to stay overnight, and the first guests to use the sleeper sofa pulled out into its two-person configuration. In spite of the noise and vibration from the auxiliary air compressor, the refrigerator, the vent fans, and the water pump, they said they were comfortable and slept well.

2014/01/09 (R) Rainy Days And Writing

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I finished the first draft of my article for BCM on the Iron Horse converted bus and e-mailed it to the owners. I also completed a draft of a shorter article on the Cool Cruiser bus conversion. Both of these coaches were at the Arcadia Bus Rally where I was able to photograph them and interview the owners.

Rainy days are good days for this kind of work. We’ve had a few recently, and we have taken advantage of them. Linda has worked on her needlepoint, reading, and some accounting work in addition to putting our meals on the table, playing an occasional game on her iPad, and going for walks. She is less inclined to sit and work for as long as I am, and rain does not deter her from walking.

Eventually, however, I also need to stretch my legs and get dome fresh air. Around mid-afternoon we went for a long walk through the heart of downtown Williston and out to the west edge of town. We stopped at an Italian restaurant to check out the menu and it had some options that would work for us. We have friends arriving tomorrow mid-afternoon to spend a couple of nights, so we may try the restaurant for dinner.

We found the Win-Dixie supermarket and will check it out the next time we need groceries as it’s a lot closer than the Publix stores in Gainesville or Ocala. We stopped at a roadside fruit and vegetable stand, sampled several different oranges, and bought a small container of one that was particularly juicy and flavorful. We also stopped at the ACE Hardware store, checked out the store, and bought an outlet expander (2-to-6).

We were just about back to the entrance of the RV resort when a pickup truck passed us, slowed down, stopped, and backed up. It was none other than Jimmy and Sadie Clay, the owners and converters of the Iron Horse. They had driven over from Apopka, where they are volunteers in the state park, to check out Williston Crossings RV Resort. They have a friend who had stayed there and told them how nice it was. They were as surprised to see us as we were to see them. We climbed in the back of their truck and gave them a guided tour of the resort.

Linda microwaved a couple of baking potatoes for dinner and sautéed onions, mushrooms, and broccoli with spices as a topping. She added some shredded vegan cheese and we had a hearty, delicious meal.

We are both getting anxious to start exploring Florida, but it’s been good to be parked for the last week in our quiet little corner of our quiet little resort with cold, wet weather that gave me the opportunity to make significant progress on several critical projects.

2014/01/08 (W) Florida In Winter

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It dropped below freezing again last night here in Williston, Florida, but not by much. This weather is not unusual for this time of year, and therefore not unexpected. We normally use our three electric toe-kick heaters and our Broan ceramic cube heater to ward off the chill but when the outside temperatures get down towards freezing we use the Aqua Hot (diesel fueled hydronic heating system).

The unit has been running fine, but this morning I noticed that the coach had cooled off a bit. I checked the blowers on the bedroom and bathroom heat exchangers and the air coming out of them was not warm. I checked the main unit (in one of the bays) and while the burner appeared to be running the feed lines were cool to the touch. Normally they would be quite warm. I turned off all three thermostats (bedroom, bathroom, and living room) and shut off the main switch that controls the burner. The coolant in the overflow reservoir was at the add mark, so added some. I turned the unit back on, turned on all three thermostats, and set them high enough to call for heat. A short time later we had heat again. The fans for the living room heat exchanger even came on (they haven’t been working the last couple of days). Ahhh, the mysteries of the motorhome. I added to much coolant, so of course it overflowed when it came up to temperature.

The weather was cloudy all day and the high temperature barely broke 50 degrees so we stuck around the RV resort. Linda continued working on the needlepoint she is doing for Madeline and I started working on a featured bus article for Bus Conversions Magazine. At the Arcadia Bus Rally I had the opportunity to interview Jimmy and Sadie Clay and photograph their 1984 Eagle Model 10 conversion “Iron Horse.” The interior is done to resemble a railroad car from the Old Wild West. I did not have a finished draft by bedtime, but I made excellent progress.

We took our usual walks and Linda made stuffed acorn squash for dinner using some leftover rice and other ingredients she had on hand. She served it with a side of Brussels sprouts that she browned and then steamed. Simple but delicious, and very satisfying on a cool evening.

2014/01/07 (T) Ocala Florida

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It dropped into the mid-20s last night so we used the Aqua Hot hydronic heating system to keep the coach comfortable and the water bay above freezing. Although the high temperature only rose to 43 degrees the sun was shining and we needed a break from the confines of the coach. We had compiled a shopping list over the last few days so we decided to head to Ocala.

Our first stop was the Radio Shack store at the Paddock Mall where I got a small wireless keyboard, a wireless mouse, and some 75 ohm coax cable. Although we have a few OTA TV channels, most importantly the PBS trio, we have a cable TV hookup as part of our site and a cable TV connection in our utility bay, so we are going to see if we can get it to work.

The dining table in our coach is not ideal for working at our computers and I was developing a sore neck. The wireless keyboard will allow me to move the monitor a little farther away and position the keyboard more comfortably.

We went to Gander Mountain in search of waterproof camp shoes for outdoor use that we can slip on and off easily, but did not find what we were looking for. We looked around online later and it appeared that L. L. Bean has what we want.

We doubled back to an outdoor mall where Linda went to Joann a Fabrics and I went to Staples to get a cooling pad for my laptop. Staples also had and outlet expander (3 from 2) with two USB charging ports and a night light that solved a specific problem for use very nicely.

Our final stop was the Publix grocery store on US-27 just west of I-75. This store is 22 miles from Williston, seven miles farther than the one in Gainesville, but there is a lot of other shopping in that area. We did not do a general tour of Ocala, so we will do that another day.

Having uploaded my article and photographs on the Arcadia Bus Rally last evening I decided to do a shortened version of the article for the February issue of our GLCC newsletter. I selected 17 photographs, most of which included at least one of our GLCC members and/or their coaches. I finished the article, uploaded everything, and e-mailed newsletter editors Scott and Tami Bruner before I went to bed. It felt good to get that done while the event was still fresh in my mind and have it off my plate as I have a backlog of articles to work on and keep falling behind on posting to this blog.

2014/01/05 (N) Views of WCRVR

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I’ve been hunkered down writing an article for Bus Conversions Magazine on the recent Arcadia Bus Rally and Linda has been working on her counted stitch needlepoint, but both of those are activities from which we need to take breaks and go for walks. When we do, I usually take my camera along. Here are eight more photos of Williston Crossings RV Resort that capture some of the features of the park and the ways that residents make their sites uniquely their own.

A cactus garden.

The fire pit.

Grass and palm trees.

The old quarry from the back of one of the sites.

This belongs to one of our next door neighbors.

Tiki huts and rock gardens.

Donna & Michael’s Motorhome.

Donna, Michael, and Linda.

2014/01/04 (S) Rally Articles

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Our site at WCRVR with our sign!

Our sign. (Normally reserved for 4 month or longer stays.)

In addition to writing blog posts I have written three articles in the last five months on RV rallies. One was on the GLCC/CCO rally last August in Clio, Michigan and was the cover story for the October issue of Bus Conversion Magazine. I wrote an article on the September 2013 GLAMARAMA rally for the November issue of our GLCC newsletter. I rewrote that article from a different perspective and BCM ran it as the cover story for the January 2014 issue. Although different from writing a personal blog, these articles still retained the perspective of personal experience.

Our patio and picnic table.

Gary Hall, the owner/publisher of BCM, knew we planned to attend the Arcadia Bus Rally in Arcadia, Florida between Christmas and New Year’s and asked if I would cover the event for the magazine, which I agreed to do. That made for a different experience, putting me in the role of a reporter with a publisher and editor expecting an article by a certain deadline. We returned to Williston Crossings RV Resort on the 1st, got settled in on the 2nd, I got to work on the article on the 3rd, and had a complete draft by bedtime today, although I still needed to have Linda proof-read it in morning and then send it off to the rally organizers to fact check. I will spend the next two days selecting and processing photographs. I also heard from Gary and Mike Sullivan, the BCM editor, that the article was back on as the Feb 2014 cover story, putting me on a short timeline to get it to them.

The fire pit at WCRVR.

I can work at this kind of task for long periods of time, but eventually I have to get off my butt, move around, and clear my head. Williston Crossings RV Resort is an excellent place for walking and I went twice today with Linda. (She does her first/power walk in the morning without me.) Resort volunteers build a big fire in the covered fire pit on Friday and Saturday evenings unless there are high winds. The fire pit is surrounded by rocking chairs and benches and is a social event for some of the resort residents, especially those, like us, that hail from more northerly places. We went over after dinner, sat by the fire for 90 minutes, and made some new acquaintances. While most of the residents were hunkered down avoiding the temperatures in the upper 40’s we felt like we were on a fall camp out back in Michigan, complete with a smoky campfire.

New friends around the campfire at WCRVR.

2014/01/03 (F) Power Dinner

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Linda went to the Publix grocery store in Gainesville yesterday, so we are well stocked for the next week or so. We also learned last night from Donna and Michael Bartolomeo that there are several vegan restaurants in Gainesville as well as a vegan ice cream parlor / bakery / brewery and a vegan pizzeria. While we don’t plan to eat out very often, having vegan dining options less than 20 miles away is a nice plus. The Happy Cow website confirmed their addresses and menu selections.

The overnight low hit 35 degrees F, but that is not unexpected in this part of Florida in January. We had closed up the rig before we went to bed and did not turn on any of the heaters (other than the refrigerator) so the temperature inside dropped to just under 60 degrees F; a bit nippy, but not uncomfortable. The refrigerator is a compressor driven residential unit that exhausts heat out the bottom front into the kitchen/dining area. In warmer weather (no rain) we usually have the ceiling vent open and the exhaust fan running to pull that warm air out of the coach. But in colder weather the vents are closed and the heat from the fridge helps keep the coach from getting too cold.

We lost power to the coach around 11:15 AM, but only for a few minutes. The inverter kicked in immediately and did what it is supposed to do. The microwave clock did not lose its time and the UPS that powers the NAS kept it double protected. The power was restored before I could go investigate what had happened. When I checked later there was no code set in our Progressive Industries EMS, indicating that we had simply lost power and then had it restored, which clears any previous error codes.

The View From Our Coach on Site 439 at Williston Crossings RV Resort.

After her morning walk Linda worked on her needlepoint while the light was good and I took care of e-mail, finished up the blog post for yesterday, and started working on the Arcadia Rally article for BCM. I had an e-mail from BCM publisher Gary Hall indicating that they planned to bump the rally article to the March 2014 issue, so that gave me a little breathing room in terms of getting it done. Gary also sent me the January 2014 special edition they produced for the FMCA Great Lakes Area Motor Coach Association (GLAMA). This issue has an extensive article that I wrote on the September 2013 GLAMARAMA rally. GLAMA is going to include the entire issue in their next newsletter, which will go out to somewhere between 10,000 and 15,000 members.

Tonight was one of the scheduled fire pit nights at the resort. The fire pit is only 100 feet from our site so we checked it out. It‘s under cover and surrounded by large rocking chairs and a couple of benches. We often enjoyed campfires when tent camping, but have not made very many since we started RVing in 2005. We were planning on going when I got a call from Michael Bartolomeo inviting us to their motorhome for dinner.

Michael indicated that it had been a strange night and that’s when we found out that the whole north section of the park had lost power overnight. Apparently the short power outage we experienced this morning was connected with the restoration of power to the north section. We stopped by the office later and inquired as to what had happened. Sometime the night before someone ran into a utility pole (outside the park) and took out power to half the city of Williston including the north section of the RV resort. When utility crews finally repaired the damage and restored power, the transformer that feeds the southern half of the northern section failed. A replacement had to be brought in from some distance away, and residents in that part of the resort were without power for about 18 hours.

Donna and Michael had been without power overnight and when they got it back their furnace decided not to work. Michael was able to locate a loose connection and tighten it this morning which brought the furnace back to life, but they had a chilly night in their rig. They had us over for dinner nonetheless and it was wonderful. We had pistachios (in the shell) for an appetizer, butternut squash soup with fresh apple slices and croutons, and whole bean burritos with guacamole, spicy salsa, and steamed kale. They served dark chocolate covered almonds for dessert and we drank Pinot Grigio to wash it all down as we continued our conversation from the night before. No pictures yet, however, as we have not crossed paths with them during the day when I also had my camera with me.

2014/01/02 (R) Rainy Days And Chores

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As I have written here before, full- and extended-time RVing is not the same as being on vacation. For one, we have the same housekeeping chores that we would have at home and rainy days are good days for doing inside chores. We have enough clothing with us to last about 10 days and had not done the laundry in over a week, so today was laundry day. Our site (439) is a short walk to the laundry room in the old/south section of the Williston Crossings RV Resort. (Old means that it was here before the new/north section was built. The old section is very nice with mature landscaping and facilities that are in excellent condition.)

When I checked my e-mail yesterday I had one from Donna Bartolomeo. Donna and Michael are members of our FMCA Freethinkers chapter and fellow vegans. They also arrived at Williston Crossings yesterday and will be here for a week. By mid-afternoon the rain had let up so we went for a walk in the general direction of their site (245) and found them just as they were heading out for a bicycle ride. We chatted for a few minutes and invited them to dinner, which they accepted.

They came over to our coach at 6 PM and brought a bottle of wine. Linda prepared a nice green salad and made her mushroom kale barley risotto with garlic and shallots. As with all of the other members of our chapter that we have had the pleasure to meet, we had a long, easy, comfortable conversation. During the course of that conversation we found out that they have a home near St. Petersburg, Florida but had specifically booked this week at Williston Crossings back in October because we had announced that we would be here starting January 1^st! They invited us back to their motorhome for dinner sometime while they are here and I know we will spend more time in conversation with them before they leave.

A cold front has been pushing this way and the rain was forecast to end overnight with the low temperature dropping to 35 degrees F. It looks like we will have a couple of days with mid-30s low temps and then a couple of days early next week with lows in the upper 20s but we knew that this part of Florida occasionally sees those kinds of temperatures in January, and we are prepared for them.

The Phase Place

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Monthly Archives: January 2014

2014/01/30 (R) Fort Wilderness

2014/01/28 (T) Myakka River SP (FL) Osprey

2014/01/28 (T) Myakka River SP (FL) Gallery

2014/01/28 (T) Myakka River SP, FL

2014/01/27 (M) Venice (FL) Gallery

2014/01/27 (M) Venice, FL

2014/01/26 (N) Paynes Prairie Gallery

2014/01/25 (S) Bushnell (FL)

2014/01/23-24 (R,F) A Gathering

2014/01/22 (W) Old & New

2014/01/21 (T) Paynes Prairie

2014/01/20 (M) Gallery Post

2014/01/20 (M) Cedar Key (FL)

2014/01/19 (N) Things That Go Bump

2014/01/18 (S) On Top Of The World

2014/01/17 (F) Campfire Music

2014/01/16 (R) Wi-Fi Woes

2014/01/15 (W) Rainbow Springs SP (FL)

20140113 (M) Prevost-Stuff Gallery

2014/01/13 (M) Prevost-Stuff Show

2014/01/12 (N) More Visitors

2014/01/11 (S) The Swamp Trail

2014/01/11 (S) Silver River State Park (FL)

2014/01/10 (F) Visitors

2014/01/09 (R) Rainy Days And Writing

2014/01/08 (W) Florida In Winter

2014/01/07 (T) Ocala Florida

2014/01/05 (N) Views of WCRVR

2014/01/04 (S) Rally Articles

2014/01/03 (F) Power Dinner

2014/01/02 (R) Rainy Days And Chores