Tag Archives: Florida Grande Motorcoach Resort (Webster FL)

2016/03/12-14 (S-M) Middle of Nowhere Close to Everywhere

2016/03/12 (S) J.A.P.

The temperature had only dropped into the mid-60’s last night and it was foggy when we got up this morning, but we knew the humidity was up because we could feel the dampness. Speaking of dampness, the sprinklers came on last night around 3 AM. We must have both been partly awake as we both heard the sound, which was unusual enough to get our attention. The cats heard it too and were at the driver side bedroom window to check it out. It got my attention because it sounded like rain and we had all three roof vents open, along with most of the windows. Anything that sounds like water will wake me up.

Webster Flea Market and Sumter Co, Florida Farmers Market.

There was a breakfast in the clubhouse at 8 AM this morning, with food being served at 9, but we did not go. It was $5 per person, but that’s a lot to pay for coffee. Speaking of which, I opened new packs of our four coffee beans this morning, transferred them to the metal storage containers, and then brewed a pot of Sweet Seattle Dreams.

We talked over coffee about what to do today while we doodled on our iPads. Linda had a list of six things we could do in Clermont and noted that there was a Farmers’ Market in Webster from 8 AM to 3 PM today. We also had updates pending for our iPads and smartphones so she checked our Verizon data usage. We had used 8 of our 12 GB with eight days left in our billing cycle, so we were on track to stay within our data plan as long as we used the resort Wi-Fi system to do our updates.

Linda served homemade granola with fresh blueberries for breakfast. After breakfast she went for her morning walk and I dealt with a few e-mails. When she returned from her walk we drove to the Walmart in/near Bushnell for a few things. We were going to stop at the Farmers Market in Webster on the way back but there was only one small vendor there. A little farther north on CR-471 we passed the Sumter County Fairgrounds. None of the rides were operating, so we did not know if the fair was open. We were thinking about driving over this evening to see everything lit up at night.

Back at FGMCR Linda made very nice salads for lunch which included asparagus and Cremini mushroom pieces that she cooked briefly. Very tasty. After lunch we packed up our technology and went to the library in the clubhouse to download/install updates.

We each had four phone app updates, four iPad app updates, and one Windows 10 update. I also had an update for the NVIDIA GPU in my computer so that made a total of 19 updates. That was actually a small number compared to the 60+ we installed the other day. Even so, at an average file size of 30 MB that was over 500 MB of data, so I figured we were over 0.5 GB but probably under 1.0 GB. After the updates were done we spent a little time trying to configure our Windows 10 Start Menus. We were annoyed to find that the Start menu configuration tab is missing from the “Task Bar and Start Menu Properties” dialog screen on both of our computers. Arrrrgh. I did, however, get a couple of icons to show up where I wanted them and we learned how to “turn off” the “live tiles” in the metro interface. We wrapped up around 2:45 PM and went back to our rig.

After getting our tech tools peered up and connected to our network I took a nap while Linda stayed up and read. Jasper (the cat) curled up with me on the bed and took a cat nap. I got up at 4:30 PM and joined Linda outside where another beautiful day was in progress with cool breezes and perfect temperatures (in the shade).

For dinner, Linda made a salad with an arugula base, vegan Italian sausage, sun-dried tomatoes, garbanzo beans, onions, and yellow peppers. After dinner we went for our evening stroll around the resort. When we got back to our coach we each had a small glass of Moscato (Barefoot) and fresh strawberries for dessert.

A mobile ATM machine at the famous Webster Flea Market. Webster, FL.

The title of today’s post is not an ethnic slur or reference, it’s just an acknowledgment of our status here at Florida Grande Motor Coach Resort (FGMCR); “Just Another Prevost.” Unlike our minor celebrity status at Big Tree Carefree RV Resort in Arcadia, where we were T.O.P. (“The Only Prevost”), there are quite a few Prevost motorcoach conversions at FGMCR, and most of them are newer, bigger, and nicer than ours. And that is fine with us.

TV stations continued to be a challenge. I moved the antennas to position 16, which is approximately the 8 o’clock position relative to the nose of the bus, and rescanned. The front TV found over 70 signals and the rear TV found 56. As with previous experiments, however, many of the signals were unusable and others were for stations from other directions that we should not even have been detecting.

What we need to do is to move both antennas to each of their 16 positions, rescan, and then check to see which channels are usable and write them down. Signal patterns can be different at night than during the day, so we should repeat this procedure in the evening. That would be 64 separate scans, but in an area such as where we are now, with stations in multiple, opposing directions, it would be the only sure fire way to know what stations are available and where point the antennas to tune them in.

2016/03/13 (N) Saving Daylight

We were being lazier than usual this morning and did get up until 8 o’clock. During the overnight hours the nation switched from ‘standard’ to ‘daylight’ (savings) time. There are a few places, most notably the State of Arizona, that do not change their clocks, but for the rest of us it was an hour later when we got up this morning than our clocks indicated. Unless, of course, they happened to adjust automatically, like our smartphones, iPads, computers, Linda’s FitBit, or our GPS navigation devices. These devices adjust the time based on an internal program, Internet connection, or GPS signal.

As much as I wanted to reset the other clocks in the rig (we have six that do not adjust automatically) Linda insisted that I make the coffee first. I enjoyed most of my first cup while finishing yesterday’s blog post and then reset the manual clocks. We have an analog RV clock (with hour, minute, and second hands) in the living room, the clock in the microwave oven, a digital alarm click in the house systems panel by the refrigerator, and an identical one in the systems panel on my side of the bed. The Magnum 4024 ME-ARC remote has a clock in it, and there is a small digital clock/thermometer stuck on the dashboard. (Which reminds me that I would like to install a round, gauge-style clock in the dashboard someday.)

Linda made a tofu scramble for breakfast with onions, mushrooms, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, asparagus pieces, and turmeric. She does not make this dish very often but it always a treat when she does.

Linda went for a walk after breakfast while I checked our driver side tag axle hub. I called our mobile mechanic, Joe Cannarozzi, this past Thursday to discuss the high temperature alarm we got on the bus’s driver side tag tire while driving to Florida Grande Motor Coach Resort (FGMCR) from Big Tree Carefree RV Resort (BTCRVR) on Monday. He suggested I check the back side of the wheel for oil leaks and pull the hub cap off to check the oil level of the axle hub. I checked the back of the wheel the other night after it got dark but did not see any oil residue. Pulling the hub cap was a daytime job, so I finally did that today. What I found was that the oil level was just below the bottom of the fill hole, so the hub was properly lubricated and almost certainly not leaking.

As long as I was at it, I removed the TireTracker temperature/pressure sensor and checked the pressure in the tire with my gauge. It was 85.0 PSI, which was reasonable, given that it was sitting in the sun (with the tire cover on) and I had set it a week ago to 82.5 PSI while it was cooler and in the shade. It’s possible that the battery is almost depleted or that the sensor has malfunctioned, but I doubt it. Since it is easier and cheaper to replace the battery we bought a couple of CR1632 3V batteries at Walmart the other day. I unscrewed the cover, slid the old battery out, slid the new one in, and replaced the cover. I put the sensor back on the valve stem and turned on the receiver but it did not pick up the sensor right away. I will have to check the manual to see if I have to re-associate the sensor with the receiver. I put the tire cover back on, put my tool boxes away, closed up the bays, and went inside to upload posts to the blog.

This guy was actually making ice cream with this old John Deere contraption. Webster Flea Market. Webster, FL.

While I was working, Linda returned part way through her walk to let me know that Nick’s R.V. Detailing & Pressure Washing was in the resort cleaning someone’s rig. We agreed that we should hire them and she continued her walk in that direction. When she returned she said that Nick had us on his schedule for Friday, March 18. He has a regular job on Mondays through Thursdays and only works on RVs on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. We got a business card from him yesterday so I sent him an e-mail confirming the date and giving him our site number and my cell phone number.

Rather than rearrange our shower we went to the clubhouse and used the shower facilities there. A music jam session was scheduled to start at 2 PM but there was also rain in the forecast for that same time. We did not want to close up the coach so we decided to pass on the music jam for this week.

Back at our coach we had some orange and grapefruit segments, a few nuts, and a few pretzels with hummus for a lunch snack. I was checking RVillage and saw that Curtis had posted several items to the RVillage Ambassadors group. I commented on a couple of them and then private messaged him. He and the team are very busy so I try not to bother him, but as often happens my message prompted a phone call. Strangely, my phone did not ring and went straight to voice mail. Perhaps it was because I had the Wi-Fi turned on, but I’m not sure. I called him back and put the call on speaker so Linda could also participate. There are a lot of interesting and exciting things happening with RVillage and we had a nice, long chat.

I had a text message back from Joe with instructions on how to check the driver side tag wheel for a dragging brake. The procedure was simple and easily carried out because the tag axle is: a) free wheeling, and b) can be lifted clear of the ground. That means that all I have to do is start the engine, lift the tag axle, spin the wheels, and compared the drag on the two sides. If the driver side does not spin as freely it means the brakes are rubbing more than they should. (The disc brake pads are always lightly in touch with the surface of the brake rotor which keeps detritus from getting between the rotor and the pads, preheats the pads/rotor for more effective breaking, and shortens the reaction time before braking takes place once it is requested.)

The possibility of rain started rising at 1 PM as the clouds thickened and darkened. It spritzed occasionally throughout the afternoon and into the early evening but never really rained. I managed to upload blog posts for November 18 through 22.

For dinner, Linda made brown rice and broccoli with Dijon mustard. It was simple but slightly creamy, which gave it a subtle quality. It was very yummy. After dinner we went for a walk around the resort. The weather continued overcast with dramatic clouds to the north but all we got was a few raindrops and the temperature was very pleasant if a bit humid. I suggested that we sit outside and have a small glass of wine but Linda informed me that the only wine we had onboard was a bottle of ice wine that we brought along for a special occasion. Ice wines are very sweet and usually served as a dessert wine. Every day is special for us, but this did not seem like the occasion to open a bottle of ice wine. We doodled on our iPads while we watched reruns of a couple of TV programs and then went to bed. There was a small chance of scattered rain showers overnight, but we left the roof vents open and two of the exhaust fans running.

2016/03/14 (M) Webster Flea & Farmers Markets

Linda was up early this morning (6AM) and decided to go for a walk at 7. I got up closer to 8 AM and got dressed. I did not make coffee and we did not eat breakfast. On Friday Linda was reading about the Webster Flea Market and Sumter County Farmers’ Market. The Flea Market is the oldest and largest in Florida which, along with the Farmers Market, occupies a 40 acre site on the west side of CR-471 in downtown Webster. The website said it was one of the “top 10 attractions” in Florida. They are only open on Mondays and they draw a large number of vendors and a very large number of shoppers. Florida Grande Motor Coach Resort (FGMCR) is only a few miles from downtown Webster, and today was the only Monday we would be in the area, so of course we went to check out.

When we arrived at the market site around 8:30 AM there were already a lot of cars and people there. We drove past numerous places selling parking space but we were able to find free parking on the flea market grounds not far from where the food vendors were set up at the Sumter County Farmers Market. I strapped on my camera harness and Linda carried the small camera bag as we ventured forth into the crowd.

The sites on our side of the street looking south from our site at Florida Grande Motor Coach Resort near Webster, FL.

We walked through the Farmers Market area first so Linda could get a sense of what was there. The markets open at 5 AM and close at 3 PM so we were surprised that a lot of vendors were just setting up as we walked through. I took a few pictures, but really interesting photos were few and far between. We wandered through the grounds trying to get a sense of the layout of the place, the stuff for sale, and the people selling/buying it. The Farmers Market was in the northeast corner. Just south of that was a fenced area with vendors under long, open-sided pavilions. Just south of that were long concrete block buildings with stalls secured by overhead garage doors. A sign indicated that this was the area with stores selling antiques, and that there were 66 stalls.

To the west of all of this was the West Webster Market area on the other side of a fence with open gates. This area had a few open-sided pavilions but it was mostly “trunk sales”, at least that’s what we call it at ham radio swap meets. Vendors had a designated area in which to park their vehicle and sell their stuff, some of which was still in the trunk of a car or side door of a van. Some was displayed on tables that the vendors brought, and some was laid out on the ground. Throughout the venue there were lots of food vendors and occasional live music performers.

We are not flea market people and we did not see anything that we had to have. We found a piece of Pyrex that we thought Meghan would like and Linda sent her a picture. It was a 1959 Golden Branch Promotional Hospitality Round Casserole. We did not hear back right away and decided to go ahead and buy it for $20. We found out later that she thought it was worth $5. That is just one of the many reasons we do not shop at flea markets.

We returned to the Farmers Market where Linda bought 1/2 flat of strawberries for $5 along with kale, Swiss chard, green beans, onions, mushrooms, and scallions, all for very good prices. We like farmers markets. We remembered how bad the traffic heading south out of Webster was last Monday at 2 PM as we were coming north so we returned to the car and left the grounds a little before noon.

We took one of the streets through town to have a look at the place. Webster is a small, impoverished town where people appear to live with little or no self-respect or consideration for their neighbors. It is one of the saddest looking places we have ever seen. FGMCR is not actually in the city limits of Webster but has a Webster mailing address. It is far enough away from the actual town, and surrounded by cattle fields, to be a quiet, peaceful place isolated from the poverty of Webster. What makes it an acceptable location for an RV resort is that it is only 10 miles from the Walmart at I-75 in Bushnell, 17 miles to the Publix supermarket in Groveland, 23 miles to Clermont (lots of shopping and a few attractions), 25 miles to The Villages (lots of shopping, restaurants, and medical services), and 50 miles to Brooksville, Ocala, and Orlando. A 90 to 100 mile radius takes in everyplace from Arcadia to Tampa St. Petersburg, up the “Sun Coast” through Weeki Wachi, Homosassa, and Crystal River, and then inland to Gainesville (including Williston) and over to Daytona, Cape Canaveral, and on down the Atlantic coast. FGMCR’s motto is “…in the middle of nowhere, but close to everywhere” and it is a fitting one.

The forecast for the rest of the week is for daily high temperatures in the mid-to-upper 80’s with party cloudy skies and some humidity. A good breeze was blowing from the south today but we judged it to be mild enough that we could deploy our awnings. Linda closed all of the windows and I closed the roof vents and turned on the air-conditioners. Linda got the three silver bubble wrap insulating panels out from under the bed and I installed them in the skylights.

Linda prepared some oranges and strawberries for lunch after which she settled in to work on taxes while I worked on this post. The wind intensified, and less than hour after we put out the awnings we put them back in. I spent the rest of the afternoon uploading the posts for November 23 through 30 (2015) to our blog. That meant I was caught up to the point in time when we left Michigan and arrived in Florida for the winter and was now only 3-1/2 months behind on uploading my posts.

Linda took a short nap from 4:45 to 5 PM, and then started preparing dinner. She made a nice collard greens salad with homemade croutons, homemade vegan “Parmesan” cheese, and a homemade lemon-juice dressing. It was crisp, light, delicious, and ample along with a side of sautéed green beans and carrot rounds. A glass of white wine would have been a nice accompaniment, but we still do not have any on board.

We ate dinner a little earlier than normal and, with the change to daylight savings time, there was still a couple of hours of daylight left before subset. Large, puffy clouds, in shades from bright white to dark gray, dominated the sky and the low angle, early evening sunlight was brilliant, dramatic, and colorful. We went for a walk around the resort and I took the camera along. I paused often to capture images and we stopped occasionally to chat briefly with folks. We were almost back to our coach when we stopped to talk to Dennis.

Dennis and his wife are part of the group of 59 property owners who have a free and clear title to their lot. He knew quite a bit about the history, current status, and future development of the resort. We had heard bits and pieces, so he filled in a few details and clarified a few others.

The hedges that separate and define the lots were all planted as part of the original development, as were the flower beds. Each site has palm trees and they are planted in the very the same locations on each site except at corners and curves in the road where adjustments had to be made. Owners have personalized their choice of flowers over time but the locations of the beds are tightly regulated by the deed restrictions and controlled by the POA architectural review board.

The villas are all identical on the outside and have to stay that way. They are constructed in a large building at the back of the property, trucked to the site on a flatbed trailer, and set in place on their pad with a crane. Once they are strapped down (hurricane code) and the utilities are connected the owners can finish the interiors however they want.

Linda sitting in the corner of the library in the clubhouse at Florida Grande Motor Coach Resort near Webster, FL.

Only recently have owners been allowed to add a pergola at the rear of their villa to shade the portion of the parking pad that wraps around behind the building. The addition of the low stone border walls around the hedges and planting beds is also a recent change. Each layout is unique but must use the same exact stones and the layout must be submitted to the POA architectural committee for approval. Personally, I like the uniformity of materials but appreciate the uniqueness of each design. There are only nine pergolas at this point (according to Dennis) and I estimate no more three dozen sites with stone walls (out of 249 sites) but they look very nice and the resort will look more and more “finished” and interesting as more owners add these personal touches.

As for future development, Dennis said that all of the problems from the past have been taken care of and the current developer (Mr. Smith) has told property owners that he has brought the park out of bankruptcy. The reason that the “group of 99” property owners are going to have to pay $22K (each) to get their free/clear deeds is that they had liens on their lots when the project went into bankruptcy and Mr. Smith had to buy the liens as part of resolving the bankruptcy. He has also told the current owners that he expects fully developing the resort to take 10 more years and that he plans to finish Phase 2 in sections rather than all at once. Dennis seemed to think that was prudent and that Mr. Smith was both an honest and competent businessman.

The water and sewage systems are part of the 400 acre resort property and are sized to handle the eventual 499 sites. Most of the infrastructure is in place for Phase 2 but not the sewage lift pumps or paved roads. He will have the road paved, and the pumps installed and made operational, as he opens each section. The water system is also sized to handle the irrigation and fire suppression needs of the park. Every site has in-ground sprinklers that are activated on a rotating basis over the course of a week. Indeed, all of the grounds maintenance is handled by the resort as part of the currently very modest $500/quarter POA fee, including grass mowing and hedge trimming. The infrastructure here is very impressive.

Dennis was of the opinion that the risks of investing in this park, going forward, were minimal. He also clarified that Mr. Smith’s stated plan is to commence with work on Phase 2 when 90% of the lots in Phase 1 are sold and that the resort is close to that point now. He wasn’t trying to sell us anything, but thought that a few bargains remained if someone wanted to buy out one of the 99 properties, many of which have been for sale. That group of (would be) owners apparently got hurt financially. He also told us the same thing we have heard from others, that they like the quiet and solitude that comes with the resort’s relatively isolated location but access to a great deal within a one hour drive, and access to almost everything within a two hour driving radius. (What he did not say, and no one else has either, is that this would not be a good location in which to have a serious medical emergency.)

Back at our rig we turned off the air-conditioners, opened up the coach, and settled in to watch our Monday evening TV programs on CBS. I off-loaded the photos I took today to my computer and backed them up to the NAS. Linda headed off to bed at 11 PM. I stayed up to watch the news and weather and caught part of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert before turning in.

2016/03/09-11 (W-F) Shop Eat Be Happy

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2016/03/09 (W) Groveland, Publix, Updates

I was busy interacting with Bill and Brenda, and photographing their work, for much of the morning yesterday as well as diagnosing/fixing the problem with the charger section of the Magnum 4024. The charger problem took me past lunchtime and a return call to John Palmer to let him know that it was resolved, at least for now. We were sitting during the afternoon when Joan and Bill (from Boston) stopped by with their miniature schnauzer, Toby, and sat awhile to visit. As a result I did not start working on yesterday’s blog post until after we had eaten dinner and gone for a walk. I was up until The Late Show with Stephen Colbert ended at 12:30 AM (on Wednesday) but did not quite finish the post.

For the record, the Magnum 4024 appears to be working again (for now) and the house batteries were back up to full charge by last evening. After much consternation yesterday the “fix” turned out to just be a reset of the unit. The “trick” was following the directions in the manual. Easy enough to do, and it doesn’t require very many words to describe, but it took a lot of time to get to that point and rule out other possible problems.

We were both feeling tired this morning, and perhaps a bit lazy, and did not get up until 8 AM. While Linda made oatmeal from scratch with raisins, dates, and walnuts I fiddled with the rear TV and antenna trying to tune in stations. I tried using the www.antennapoint.com website to locate TV transmitter towers but it said there weren’t any within 60 miles. I knew that wasn’t true and I have had problems with this website the last few times I have tried to use it, so I’m done with it and used the TVFool.com website instead. It found four dozen towers within 60 miles, but none closer than 53 miles. Most of the stations were in three clusters, generally corresponding to Tampa (195 degrees), Ocala (350 degrees), and Orlando (90 degrees).

We have the front antenna at position ‘8’ which is approximate the 2 o’clock direction relative to the nose of the bus, which is the 12 o’clock position, and is currently pointing south of due west at 255 degrees. That means the antenna is pointed in the general direction of the Ocala area stations, but we seem to only be picking up the Tampa area stations with signals that are strong enough to lock onto.

The rear TV/antenna is finding signals from both Tampa and Ocala but is unable to lock on to any of them. I turned it to position ’14’, which is approximately the 6:30 orientation on the bus and corresponded to east, towards Orlando. When I rescanned I was finally able to pick up some stations that the TV could lock onto. The rear TV antenna, however, has been defective since the day I installed it which was, unfortunately, over a year after I purchased it. Thus, it was out of warranty before I ever applied power to it.

When I was done playing with the TV I made our morning coffee and we sat down to breakfast while the coffee brewed. After breakfast Linda played her morning word games while I finished yesterday’s blog post and started today’s post. Linda made a grocery list and then got dressed and went for a walk while I continued to write.

Linda located a Publix supermarket on FL-50 in Groveland approximately 3/4 of the way to Clermont. The city of Clermont is about 23 miles east of Webster and a few miles west of US-27. It is the historic center of the Florida citrus industry and a place we plan to visit at least once while we are staying at Florida Grande Motor Coach Resort (FGMCR).

US-27 is the highway we used to go to South Florida several times last month. It runs northwest from Miami and then turns north, more or less paralleling the Atlantic coast of Florida some distance inland. It passes along the west edge of Lake Okeechobee and passes near a string of towns that include Sebring, Frostproof, and Winter Haven before reaching the Clermont area. From there it turns northwest and runs through Ocala and Williston, eventually reaching Branford where it turns more westerly towards Mayo and the Florida panhandle. Having spent winter 2014 in Williston, traveled home by way of the panhandle, and then returned to Williston by way of Mayo for Dec 2015, we have probably traveled as many miles on US-27 in Florida as we have on I-75 or any other particular road.

We left at 10:15 AM to drive to the Publix. We headed west back into Webster, dropped south on FL-471 about 5 miles to FL-50, and headed east. It was a nice drive on FL-50 eastbound and the terrain became slightly hilly as we passed through Mascotte just before reaching the supermarket on the west side of Groveland. We were back at our coach around 12:30 PM and split an apple for lunch.

We both had multiple updates pending for our iPad and smartphone apps, and numerous updates for the Windows 10 OS on our laptop computers, so we wanted to use the resort Wi-Fi to download and install the updates. I shut down and packed up our computers and iPads and we drove over to the library room in the clubhouse. I checked the Wi-Fi signal strength with my phone and it was strong enough to use so we set up all of our devices.

I did not count them all, but I estimated that we had between 60 and 70 updates across our six devices, requiring somewhere between 1.5 and 2.0 GB of data. Linda’s updates completed smoothly and more quickly than mine as my ASUS laptop appeared to hang up on the download of the OS update. I ultimately shut down and restarted my computer to get things moving along again.

As we were getting near the end of the process the Internet connection went out. We were still connected to the Wi-Fi but had no Internet access so I walked around to the office to see if they knew about it and needed to reset the gateway. They did know about it because it affected them too, and Joann said it happens with some regularity, often around mid-afternoon. By the time I returned to the library the connection had been restored. Linda walked back to our coach at 3:30 PM but it took me until 4:30 PM to complete my computer updates.

After I got back to our coach and set up my computer we went for a walk around the resort. Back at our coach I off-loaded the photos I took on Monday and Tuesday from my camera to my computer. I processed one of Mara, Michael, Linda, and me (that was taken by someone at the RV park) and e-mailed it to Mara. I processed three photos of our bus at our site at Florida Grande and five photos of the window covers that Bill and Brenda Phelan made for use yesterday. I uploaded the photos to a couple of Dropbox folders and e-mailed the links to Brenda, Chuck Spera, and Ed Roelle.

For dinner Linda made a salad with a kale and arugula base, tomatoes, almonds, dried cranberries, and firm teriyaki tofu, and used an Asian sesame dressing. So good. Dessert was fresh strawberries, blueberries, and bananas. After dinner we poured a couple of small glasses of white wine and sat outside enjoying the cool night breeze and looking at the stars. We agreed that it was the first night since we arrived in Florida on December 1st that the weather conditions seemed perfect for just sitting outside after sunset. We also agreed that our initial experience of FGMCR is very positive.

I texted Al Hesselbart to see if he is still at Breezy Oaks near Bushnell. If he is we will probably drive over there tomorrow for the 2 PM music jam and then go to dinner. I checked my e-mail and had replies from Ed Roelle and Brenda Phelan. I also had one from Christy Budai letting me known that the chapter certification paperwork for our FMCA GLCC chapter had finally been submitted.

We do not have the same TV stations here that we had in Arcadia and the PBS stations we can get do not carry the same programming. That left us without our usual Wednesday evening science and nature shows. Linda is tired most nights by 10 PM and headed off to bed before 10:30. I stayed up working on this post and caught some news, weather, and the beginning of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

2016/03/10 (R) Coyote Rojo Redux

I was up at 7:15 AM and Linda got up a few minutes later. I did not start recharging the Verizon Mi-Fi soon enough last night, and did not leave it plugged in overnight, so the battery died and it went offline sometime before I got up. I plugged the charger back in, got our network back online, and then made coffee.

Sometimes it takes a while but I eventually think of things. It occurred to me this morning that I can cycle the charge on the house batteries while the coach is plugged in to an external source of AC power. All I have to do to draw down the charge is turn off the charger section and let the DC loads run off the batteries. Why this had never occurred to me before, and why it finally did this morning, I have no idea. Perhaps it was because I finally had a problem in need of a solution. I am not 100% confident about the charger section of the Magnum 4024 at this point and noticed yesterday that at Full Charge the indicated voltage was a bit higher than 25.2 VDC. The weather forecast for today, however, is SE winds at 10-to-20 MPH with gusts to 30 and a high temperature of 87 degrees F; probably not the day to be playing with the house DC power system.

I had not gotten a reply to the text message I sent Al Hesselbart last night so I called him. He picked up right away and reminded me that he does not send or receive text messages. He was out fishing with a friend on Lake Panasoffkee and did not expect to be back in time for the 2 PM music jam. He was open to having dinner and thought they would be back by 5 PM. He agreed to call me when they were leaving the Lake and we would agree on a time to meet at the Mexican restaurant near Bushnell.

Al was the executive director of the RV&MH Museum and Hall of Fame in Elkhart, Indiana for many years and then served as the museum’s historian for quite a while before retiring. He full time RVs in a 1977 Newell that he moves back and forth between Breezy Oaks and Elkhart Campground in Elkhart, Indiana.

Linda moved the cats’ litter tray out of the shower and then went for a walk. I took a shower, got dressed, and started processing more of the photos of Bill and Brenda Phelans’ RV Windshield Covers of Florida mobile workshop and the process they went through to measure, make, and install the external mesh window covers for the cockpit of our bus a few days ago.

The residents across the street and to the left had low decorative stone flower bed borders installed on Tuesday. The five man crew was here all day so we had dust and noise from the saw, but they finished in one day and the result was very nice. The husband, Pete, was out front this morning so I walked over to compliment him on how nice they looked and ended up chatting about the park. He invited me to see their “villa’ (casita, coach house, etc.) so I went back to our rig and got Linda. The wife, Eleanor, arrived a few minutes later in their golf cart. We got a nice tour of their lovely villa and had a nice chat about the resort.

I was working on photos and Linda was reading when we decided that the wind was strong enough to warrant stowing the awnings. In spite of the wind they were easy enough to roll up and it only took a few minutes. We were concerned about heat gain through the uncovered windows on the south facing driver side of the coach so we pulled the opaque white MCD night shades down half way. We opened all of the awning-style Windows wider than usual and turned on the roof vent exhaust fans.

Linda made teriyaki tofu and arugula pocket sandwiches for lunch, after which I continued to work on the photos. I finally uploaded 40 image files to the Dropbox folder I created yesterday for this purpose and e-mailed Brenda to let her know they were there.

I also sent the folder link to Gary, at Bus Conversion Magazine, to see if he would be interested in an article about their converted EMS/ambulance that serves as a live-aboard mobile workshop for their business. Bill and Brenda had converted a couple of buses before buying a Super C motorhome. They also ran the Arcadia Bus Rally for the last five years, after assisting Jack and Paula Conrad for the first 11 years, so they know their way around conversions. They are well known to the magazine and the bus conversion community and I think it would make a good article as Gary transitions BCM from being strictly bus conversions to encompass the broader concept of mobile dwelling conversions.

In spite of the 85 degree afternoon high temperature our rig stayed acceptably comfortable even with the awnings rolled up. The wind was steady at 15 to 20 MPH out of the south with lots of puffy clouds and the relative humidity was 45%. As a result we had good airflow through wide open windows and out the three roof vent exhaust fans, which I had running on speed 2 of 3. The cockpit was still warm, but not like it was before we got the custom windshield and cockpit side window covers.

Juniper (our female cat) likes the heat and slept up on the co-pilot/navigator seat like she always has while Jasper slept on my swivel chair, then in his carrier on the floor, then on our bed, and finally tucked himself away on the tile floor on my side of the bed at the rear of the living area, which is the coolest place in the bus in the afternoon when we are parked facing west. In the late afternoon we sat outside in the shade reading and it was incredibly pleasant. Even though it is almost spring, this is why people go to Florida in the winter.

I called Al at 5:25 PM and they had just gotten back to the dock. They needed to drive back to Breezy Oaks so Al could shower, change clothes, and get his car. He said he would call when he was ready to head to the restaurant as we are approximately the same driving time away. We agreed to meet at Coyote Roho, just west of Bushnell.

We decided to leave at 6 PM without waiting for Al to call so we could check out downtown Bushnell. The restaurant was only a 9.6 mile drive, which our iPad Map app said would take 19 minutes, and Bushnell was a couple of miles short of that. Driving north through Webster we found the Farmer’s and Flea Market site and farther up the road the site of the county fair. The parking lot was full and the amusement rides lit up the area like it was Times Square. There wasn’t much to Bushnell so we drove through to the Walmart parking lot to await Al’s call. We were only there a short time and decided to go on to the restaurant and get a table and have a drink while we waited. As we arrived at the restaurant Linda realized that I had two missed calls and a voice message from Al indicating that he was leaving at 6:15 PM. I called him back and he answered as he was pulling into the parking lot.

We have only eaten at Coyote Rojo one other time, and that was back in December when we drove down from Williston to visit Al at Breezy Oaks and listen to the Thursday afternoon music jam. Our recollection was that the food was good, so we were looking forward to dinner as well as conversation with Al. Linda and I ordered the vegetarian fajitas and a vegetarian burrito and split them. We were underwhelmed by our food but the server was attentive and we enjoyed spending time with Al. We stayed at the restaurant talking long after we had finished our meals but all good things come to an end, or at least have to take a hiatus, and it been a long day for all of us. Al is headed to the FMCA rally in Perry, Georgia all next week so we probably will not cross paths with him again for a while.

On the drive back to our resort the clouds had cleared off and the low humidity resulted in very bright stars. This was the first time we had entered FGMCR at night and it was understated but grand with the street lights lining the curving entrance road and the main level of the clubhouse subtly illuminated.

Linda prepared fresh strawberries and blueberries for dessert and we watched our usual Thursday evening TV programs on CBS. I put the finishing touches on today’s blog post and then went to bed.

2016/03/11 (F) FGMCR Happy Hour

I was up at 7:30 AM, fed the cats, made coffee, and cleaned the bean grinder. Linda was up shortly thereafter and we had orange juice with our vitamins. Breakfast was Publix Premium brand cinnamon raisin English Muffins, which are not really muffins at all. Muffins are small cakes whereas English Muffins are bread. We had them with vegan cream cheese and jam.

Linda went for a walk after breakfast. I checked e-mail and corresponded with Brenda Phelan and Gary Hatt regarding a possible article for BCM on Bill and Brenda’s EMT/ambulance mobile workshop truck conversion. I then settled in to upload blog posts for mid-November, starting with the one for the 13th, and worked on that task until time lunchtime.

For lunch Linda used whole wheat pita pockets to make sandwiches with vegan deli slices, vegan cheese, and lots of arugula. We had red grapes and sweet-hot-garlic pickle slices to go with our sandwiches. After lunch we went for a short walk. Linda had a letter to mail and while we were at the mail room we took pictures of the cards listing sites for sale.

Back at our rig, Linda marked the sites on our resort map so we could check them out on one of our future walks. I continued uploading blog posts and Linda decided to go swimming. I was going to walk over at 3 PM to join her but I got a phone call from Bill Gerrie at 2:45 PM and was on the phone with him for about an hour.

Bill and Karen live in Limehouse, Ontario and are members of our FMCA GLCC chapter and the CCO group. We talked about buses and rallies, of course, and a little bit about politics and food/health. He and Karen are planning on attending the FMCA GLAMA rally (GLAMARAMA) in June along with Joe and Mia Temples and another couple who live near them. Mike and Kathy will not be coming, however, as Mike is not well.

Linda called to see if I was coming to the pool but it was too late in the day by that point. I finished uploading the blog post for November 17 and then got ready for the official resort happy hour.

Friday’s at 5 PM is FGMCR Happy Hour at the clubhouse; BYOB and a dish to share. Linda uncorked and then stoppered our bottle of Moscato and packed it along with two of our polycarbonate wine glasses, a container of caramelized onion hummus, and our container of Snyder’s sourdough pretzel nibblers. We put on our FMCA National Education Committee name badges and I grabbed my RVillage Ambassador hat and we started walking to the clubhouse. We got as far as Bill and Joan’s rig just as they were backing out. They offered us a lift and we accepted.

The happy hour turned out to be more of a “carry in” (pot luck) and the only thing we could eat, besides the stuff we brought, was fruit salad. Even so, we had our fill. We had not tried the caramelized onion hummus before. It was very good and reminded me of the California dip we used to make with Lipton onion soup mix. We sat with Bill and Joan and two other couples; Artie and Carol from Rochester Hills, Michigan, and Bob and Sandy from Valparaiso, Indiana. After we were done eating one of the residents provided some comic entertainment. Apparently entertainment is not usually part of the happy hour event. We would not be regulars if it was.

Like the Wednesday morning “coffee” at Big Tree Carefree RV Resort in Arcadia, the happy hour was not what I was expecting and did not give us a chance to mingle and meet people other than the folks at our table. Happy hour was over by 6:15 PM and many of us returned to our coaches while some stuck around to play poker or hand-in-foot.

Back at our rig I checked the inside of the driver side tag axle wheel for signs of an oil leak by looking under the coach between the passenger side drive axle and tag axle tires with a flashlight. The wheel appeared to me to be dry and there was no sign of oil on the concrete.

Since we did not have a lot to eat at happy hour Linda made a simple mixed fruit salad for us. There wasn’t anything on TV that interested us, at least not on the stations we could receive at FGMCR. We ended up watching a fundraiser presentation on PBS/Create about heart health that included food and fitness. Most of the doctor’s advice about food was already known to us and some of it we disagreed with, based on what we have learned from Dr. Michael Greger at NutritionFacts.org, but we did find the five markers of metabolic syndrome interesting. We were also reminded (confirmed) about the role of “white carbs” (simple sugars and highly processed carbohydrates like flours) in elevating triglycerides and cholesterol and contributing to the formation of plaque in the blood. I was going to make popcorn, but after watching this program it did not feel right, somehow, and we went to bed popcornless.

2016/03/08 Custom Window Covers for the Bus

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Bill and Brenda Phelan, of RV Windshield Covers of Florida, operate a mobile business based out of Lakeland, Florida. This is a photo gallery of the 1-day process they went through to make and install a set of five mesh covers for the windshield and front side windows of our 1991/92 Prevost H3-40 VIP Royale Coach (Monaco) converted coach. We were at Florida Grande Motor Coach Resort near Webster, Florida, at the time. Their mobile workshop is a converted EMS truck and is also an RV suitable for business trips of up to three weeks. The photos are not captioned. Click on any image to open the gallery view.

2016/03/07 (M) Arcadia to Webster

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The outside air temperature dropped into the upper 50’s last night but we were toasty in our mobile dwelling. Before turning in we closed the roof vents and windows and put the freshly laundered bedspread back on the bed. I turned on the electric heating pad on my side of the bed and snuggled in.

Linda was up at 7 AM and I got up at 7:30. The temperature in the rig (on the kitchen counter) was 67, which felt slightly cool so I put on my sweats. I ground up six scoops of coffee beans instead of the usual eight and Linda toasted our last bagel, which we split for breakfast. We downloaded e-mails onto phones, iPads, and computers, and settled in to doodle for a while before making our final departure preparations. I saw Ron and Vera getting ready to walk somewhere and popped outside to remind them that we planned to pull out between 10 and 11 AM this morning. Their pickup truck is parked crossways in front of their trailer and they agreed to move it to make it easier for me to pull out. We did not get to know them very well, but they were good, pleasant neighbors the whole time we were here.

We finished our coffee around 9 AM, got dressed, and made the bed. We then got busy getting ready to leave. I turned on the block heater and Aqua-Hot engine preheat pump and then shut down our computer technologies and put them away. Linda took a picture of the electric meter with her phone and walked over to the office to take care of our final electric bill while I started prepping the outside of the bus for travel.

There wasn’t a lot to do; stow the awnings, disconnect and stow the water and sewer hoses, stow the water softener, and put away the two bag chairs and folding plastic table, and fold up entry step and stow it in the front bay. I checked the tire pressures on Friday and the engine oil yesterday. No preparation was needed for the car. I checked that the electrical and safety cables for the tow bar were secured for the trip to the filling station as Linda will drive the car separately and we will hook it up after fueling the bus.

When Linda got back from the office she straightened up the interior. I shut off the engine block heater, Aqua-Hot engine preheat pump, Aqua-Hot electric heating element, and all other AC loads that do not run off of the inverter. I then shut off the shorepower to the coach and stowed the shorepower cable.

Me, Linda, Mara, and Michael in front of our Prevost H3-40 at Big Tree Carefree RV Resort, Arcadia, FL.

Mara and Michael came to visit, get a group photo (which a passerby took for us), and say “farewell for now.” I fired up the bus at 10:30 AM and we did a check of the buses lights. Linda guided me out of the site and then followed in the car as Mara and Michael waved us on our way.

Our initial destination was the Shell station on US-17 just north of where FL-70 crosses through downtown Arcadia. We needed to fuel the bus and had previously scoped out this station (on the advice of Jack Conrad, who lives in the area) as the only viable place in town. We did not want to have the car attached to make it easier to maneuver the bus, especially in case we had to back it up to get into position by the diesel pump.

The station has a good sized lot and I was able to pull in and get clear of US-17 without any difficulty. The diesel pump was at the outside edge of a canopy with an 11 foot clearance so I needed to be beyond the end of canopy but as close to it as possible. There was a vehicle in that location when I arrived so I had to wait, but it moved soon enough and I was able to pull up while Linda watched the passenger side clearance. I usually fill the fuel tank from the driver side, as that is the way truck stops are set up, but in this situation I had to fill from the passenger side as that had us pointed in the right direction to leave headed north on US-17 . It’s nice to have that choice.

Another nice thing about this station is that the diesel pumps have the large nozzles, so we can fill our tank in a reasonable amount of time. Still, it takes a while to pump over 100 gallons of fuel, so while the tank was filling Linda pulled the car around behind the bus and we hooked it up for towing. Once the tank was full Linda went in and paid the bill. We then did a light check on the car and bus and were finally ready to roll. We pulled out at 11:20 AM and headed north on US-17.

View looking northeast at our H3-40 in site #230 at Florida Grande Motorcoach Resort, Webster, FL.

We had a relatively short drive of about 100 miles and the GPS said we would arrive at 1:36 PM. I knew that was optimistic as our route would take us through Lakeland, but we were not in any hurry. There was a welcome reception at 4 PM so our only concern was getting there in time for that.

Somewhere between Arcadia and Bartow US-98 joins US-17. They split again at Bartow, with US-17 heading northeast, and US-98 heading northwest. We took US-98 through Lakeland as far as FL-471 where we headed straight north to Webster. We pulled off there, however, to investigate an over temperature alarm on our driver side tag tire. The reported temperature climbed as high as 190 degrees F but the pressure was still showing 85 PSI. The cold tire pressure was at 82.5 PSI on Friday, so a 2.5 PSI pressure increase did not seem consistent with the indicated temperature. My concern was that we might have a brake dragging, but if so I wasn’t aware of it while driving.

I pulled safely off the road on a wide shoulder that was also being used by several tractor-trailer rigs. I checked the temperature of the tires with our infrared non-contact thermometer. Most of the tires indicated around 125 degrees F and the driver side tag indicated 138. Higher, for sure, but not 190 degrees. I pointed the thermometer through a couple of the holes in the wheel and got temperatures around 390 degrees F. When I checked the front wheels they were at 250 degrees. The steer and tag tires/wheels have disk brakes but the tag tires are located next to the transmission, and close to the rear of the engine, so it was not unreasonable that they would be a little hotter, but not 140 degrees hotter. One of my problems at this point was that I knew brakes rub slightly all the time and can get quite hot in operation, but had no idea what sort of temperatures were normal and what was excessive by comparison.

At FL-50 there was a three mile traffic backup headed southbound. It took us a minute but we eventually realized that it was probably the traffic leaving the Webster Flea Market. Since the traffic was trying to get out of Webster, not in, it did not affect our travels. In Webster we headed due east on SE 1st Ave (FL-478) and a few miles later turned north into the entrance to Florida Grande Motor Coach Resort.

The resort is set way back from the road and the entrance winds between two cattle fields demarcated by very nice white fences and lined with attractive street lamps. It leads up to the gate house with the large clubhouse building just beyond. It is reputed to be the largest clubhouse building of any RV resort in Florida, and the entrance to the resort makes quite an impression. The gate attendant had us on a list of today’s arrivals and directed us to a large staging lot with enough room for four motorhomes to unhitch towed vehicles or trailers at the same time.

The view looking south from the in front of site #230 at Florida Grande Motorcoach Resort, Webster, FL.

Linda checked in at the office while I unhooked the car. I was escorted to site #230 by a volunteer in a golf cart and Linda followed in the car. The streets here are very wide, wide enough for two-way motorhome traffic with room to spare. The sites all have concrete pads that are wide enough to park two motorhomes side-by-side, and long enough for a 45 foot motorhome and a full-size pickup truck to be parked end-to-end with space to spare. The point being that I was able to get parked easily with a little help from Linda and our escort.

I checked the level of the coach and it was spot on so I switched the control to one of the level-low positions and shut down the engine. I deployed the awnings first and then got out the water softener and water hoses and hooked them up. I got the shorepower cord out and connected it but did not turn the power on right away as I wanted to let the coach run off of the house batteries for a while.

The welcoming cocktail party was not until 4 PM in the clubhouse Billiards Room, so we had a little time before we had to leave. I used the time to fill the fresh water tank with about 80 gallons of water and dump the black- and gray-water tanks.

I got our network technology up and running and got us online with our Verizon Mi-Fi. Linda checked for TV stations via our ZIP code and found that our location is considered part of the Orlando/Daytona market. We are parked facing slightly south of west and Linda was able to pick up CBS and PBS signals out of Tampa on the front TV. I was not able to pick up the same signals on the rear TV so I turned the antenna west towards Orlando. I scanned for stations and found 14, but most of them were too weak to lock onto. The rear antenna has given us problems and needs to be replaced, but it has always been the case that the front and rear antennas do not respond equally unless we are in area of relatively strong signals.

View looking north from in front of site #230 at Florida Grande Motorcoach Resort, Webster, FL.

There were about 24 people at the welcoming party including the resort activity director and a few “ambassadors,” people who own lots here and like the place enough to represent it to visitors like us. We had a little wine and a few snacks, met some nice people, and had some good conversations. This resort has a checkered ownership and financial history but the property owners we met were very open and forthcoming about the past and present, and realistically optimistic about the future.

The original developer is in prison (for fraud, I believe). The people currently developing the resort are the forth group involved with the property, but everyone we talked to thinks they have done a good job. They are bringing the resort out of foreclosure and it looks like a large group of residents will finally get their deeds. Further, the long-term expectation is that the 249 sites in Phase 1 will finally all be sold and the developers will finish the 250 sites in Phase 2. Our first impression of Florida Grande is that is already an attractive, upscale (luxury?), well-maintained, Class A motorcoach resort and that it probably has a promising future but that investing here stills carries a significant degree of risk.

Back at our coach we had a light dinner and watched some TV. CBS had rearranged what shows were on and everything was repeats. I also dealt with a GLCC issue but the thing that really preoccupied me was the inverter. It was operating, but the Fault light on the remote was illuminated and the LCD screen was indicating a high AC input voltage. That made no sense given that there was no AC power applied to the coach.

The house batteries seemed to be discharging at a reasonable rate, so I was not concerned about letting the coach run on batteries overnight. The main problem we had was that the voltage into the UPS and line conditioner was apparently varying, causing the relays in the conditioner and the UPS circuitry to switch to batteries and then quickly back. The regulator relays make an audible clicking noise when switching and the UPS emits a repeated warning beep while inverting from its internal battery. I suspected the problem was the very low current draw on the house batteries and inverter under a very low load condition. The best solution would have been to shut off all of the technology and then shut off the power to the UPS and voltage regulator but I did not want to do that. That was probably a mistake as I found it difficult to ignore the noises after I went to bed.

2016/03/04-06 (F–N) BTCRVR Conclusion

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2016/03/04 (F) Pre-departure Prep

I was up much later than normal last night trying to write my blog post for yesterday, get our network back online, and get my computer usable again. I managed to do all of that, and was finally able to check my e-mail and off-load the photos I took earlier in the day to my computer and back them up to our NAS. I saw some late night TV programs along the way and it was 2 AM when I finally got to bed. On the plus side, I was tired, fell asleep right away, and slept well until 6 AM when the rain and the cats woke me up. I got up, closed the roof vents, put a scoop of food in their bowls, and went back to bed.

Linda walks a lot but finds it difficult to just stand, and we did a lot of standing yesterday, both at the Edison Ford Estates and on the drive through the Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island, so she was a bit sore and tired from yesterday’s outing. She got up around 7 AM this morning and I got up to stay an hour later. I made coffee and she toasted bagels, which we enjoyed with some of the vegan cream cheese she picked up the other day at Publix.

We only have three nights left for this winter season at Big Tree Carefree RV Resort (BTCRVR) and we have been trying to prepare for our departure on Monday in small increments. Chores that we accomplished before lunch included:

(B) Checking the bus tire pressures. I had to add 2.5 PSI to the passenger side steer tire. That required me to get the air compressor out, along with the hose and air-chuck, and then put it all away; a lot of work for 2.5 PSI, but it had to be done. It reminded me, however, of how much I would like to have a built-in high pressure air-compressor and tank with distribution lines running to the four corners of the bus and terminating in air hose fittings. That would allow me to just use a short (curly) air-hose that is easily moved to each position and takes very little space to store.
(B) Checking the windshield caulk. It was a mess and had water behind it that apparently kept it from setting up (curing) correctly. I tried to fix it by pressing the water out but that just made a bigger mess. I was going to test it for leaks with a hose but changed my mind after seeing the mess that was already there.
(B) E-mailing Pat and Vickie about the March 11 rocket launch at Cape Canaveral.
(L) Vacuuming the interior of the bus and mopping the floor.
(L) Cutting my hair.
(B) Calling Butch. He and Fonda were still in Quartzsite but planned to leave tomorrow or Sunday and take 3 to 4 weeks to get home. Butch was actually in Phoenix with a ham radio buddy on their way to the Ham Radio Outlet (HRO) store when I called but was able to chat for a while.

Lunch was vegan hot dogs and sliced apples. After lunch Linda got a text from her sister, Sr. Marilyn, informing us that her 50th Jubilee is scheduled for August 6 (this year). That immediately changed our plans for the second half of this coming summer and the first half of the fall. Our plan was to attend two RV rallies in the northeast U.S. and then visit the Prevost Car Inc. factory in Quebec enroute to the Canadian Maritimes, from which we would work our way back through New England in the early fall, arriving home by mid-October in time for Nickolas Guy-Erickson’s wedding on the 21st. I was going to call FMCA today and register for the national rally in Springfield, Massachusetts, but the dates are August 3 – 6, so that clearly was not going to work.

We are committed to attending the Escapees RV Club 56th Escapade in Essex Junction, Vermont, which starts Sunday, July 24th, as we are both working the event as staff. We will have to be there sooner, but do not know the exact date yet. Departure will be on Friday the 29th, which gives us plenty of time to make it to St. Louis, Missouri before the Jubilee. Still, the news suddenly left us with a whole lot of new decisions to make. It will also allow us to attend the August CCO/GLCC Back-to-the-Bricks Rally in Clio, Michigan, and the September GLCC Surplus & Salvage Rally in Elkhart, Indiana. Indeed, it opens up the possibility of building the barn this summer and/or having Daryl Mech, from DCM Heating and Cooling, install a new air-conditioning system for the house. The one thing we knew for sure was that we were not going to travel from Vermont all the way to Missouri and then turn around and head to Quebec or the Maritimes. That will have to wait for some other year.

Our afternoon chores included doing the laundry and updating my iPad, which I did while waiting for the laundry. But first I loaded up a few additional recyclables and drove over to the Turner Center to drop them off. There was some sort of problem at the NW corner of FL-70 and Turner Avenue that involved police, fire, and EMS vehicles and personnel, and had traffic tied up in every direction. I managed to make the turn from westbound FL-70 onto Turner (which only goes north from there) but decided not to return by that route. I headed east from the Turner Center but was not able to cut through Arcadia Village as the north (rear) entrance is gated. The first available north-south road that went through to FL-70 was many miles farther east, but it made for a nice drive in the country. I stopped at Walmart for grapes and bananas before returning to our RV resort.

We had planned to go swimming in the late afternoon and then take showers but it did not work out that way. I would normally dump the two holding tanks before we travel, but I did not want to this time as I want to slosh the ingredients around on the drive from Arcadia to Webster. As such, I am trying to get them reasonably full, but not so full that I have to dump them.

For dinner Linda made nice, large salads. After dinner Linda went down to Mara’s motorhome to take care of her cats. I called Chuck but he did not pick up so I left him a message. Friday night TV is a bit of a wasteland so I edited the last few blog posts for November 2015. I then selected a photo that Linda took of me standing in front of a Mysore Fig tree at the Edison Ford Estates to use in her next PhotoPostCard for Madeline. She also made a post card for our grandniece, Lilly, using the photo of the baby alligators from Everglades National Park. I found a photo of Lilly that her mom, my niece Amanda, had taken and set that to Linda to use to make a “sticker” to put on the photo post card. I decided to purchase a license (lifetime) for the Faststone Image Viewer software and took care of that.

When Linda returned from her cat sitting duties we made the bed, had a few grapes and a small glass of wine (Barefoot Riesling), and turned in for the night.

2016/03/05 (S) Mara & Michael Return

It was pleasantly cool last night, with temperatures in the 60’s at bedtime and headed towards an overnight low in the upper 50’s; in other words, perfect sleeping weather. And sleep we did. Linda got a text message from Mara letting us know that she and Michael were waiting to disembark from the cruise ship and indicating that they had a wonderful time. They were planning on stopping at a Whole Foods Market and wanted to know if Linda needed anything. Linda requested plum vinegar, seitan, and vegan ricotta cheese, items we cannot find in Arcadia.

Linda got up around 8:15 AM and showered. I got up at 8:30 AM, made our coffee, and then took my shower. As a result of these showers, which we were going to take at the shower house, I am going to have to make some decisions today or tomorrow relative to dumping our holding tanks and adding fresh water. We don’t need very much fresh water in the on-board tank for the trip to Florida Grande Motor Coach Resort in Webster on Monday and I would like to dispense with that weight in favor of keeping the black- and gray-water tanks mostly full. The idea is that the motion of the coach will create an agitation effect which will help clean the tanks. (I don’t really expect that it to happen, but it’s worth a shot.)

We had a slow leisurely morning as we lingered over our coffee and had granola with blueberries and bananas for breakfast. Linda and Mara arranged for the four of us to have dinner together this evening so she made a grocery list. I downloaded a new game named Wood Puzzle and tried it. It’s a little bit like Tetris, but without constantly moving pieces, so it was somewhat fun. I was never a big fan of Tetris.

Linda left at 10:30 AM to tend to Mara’s cats and then walk to the Winn-Dixie supermarket. I got dressed, checked my e-mail, got the registration code for Faststone Image Viewer, and entered it into the software. I checked the notifications in RVillage and visited the RVillage Stakeholders Group. Curtis had posted a link to an “explainer video” so I e-mailed the link to our iPads. I then gathered up the bedspread and large bath towels and headed to the laundry room.

While I was waiting for the laundry I finished yesterday’s blog post, uploaded it to our Dropbox, started today’s post, and played a few games. The laundry was finally dry at 1:30 PM and I returned to our coach. Linda had already returned, done some prep work for dinner, and was out walking around the resort when I returned. She wanted to shop at Joshua Citrus one more time before we left so she drove there while I settled in to work on uploading blog posts! My goal was to upload the remaining posts for October 2015, starting with the one for the 21st. I accomplished that goal just before 6 PM.

Mara and Michael got back to Big Tree Carefree RV Resort mid-late afternoon and arrived at our coach for dinner at 6:30 PM. Linda found a recipe for vegan Parmesan cheese and made some earlier in the day. She used it to make a kale salad with almonds and a lemon dressing. It was outstanding. The main course was a quinoa and black beans dish that she has made before. It was served hot and was a good choice for a cool evening. She bought an Alamos Malbec wine (Argentina) and a bottle of Barefoot Moscato, but I was the only one drinking white wine so I finished the Barefoot Riesling we opened earlier this week. Dessert was non-dairy chocolate ice cream with fresh sliced strawberries.

We had a good chat about Mara and Michael’s experience on the Holistic Holiday at Sea cruise. There were a few speakers that we heard on the two cruises we went on, but an equal number of new speakers that we have not had the opportunity to hear in person. Mara bought four cookbooks and left them for Linda to peruse. It was very satisfying for us that that they had such a good experience since we were the ones that got Mara interested in the cruise and she got Michael to come along.

They left a little before 9 PM and walked back to Mara’s rig. We watched an episode of Lucifer and then parts of two different fundraiser concerts on PBS; Brit Floyd and The BeeGees One Night Only.

2016/03/06 (N) Last Day Here

The cats were prowling by 6 AM so I got up, added food to their bowls, plugged in the charging cable for our Verizon Mi-Fi, and went back to bed. It was already getting light and the birds were starting to chirp as if their calls were somehow responsible for the rising of the sun. Squirrels and rabbits were, no doubt, scurrying about on the ground around our rig, as Juniper was taking it all in with her usual morning intensity. Juniper got under the covers between us for a while and we drifted in and out of sleep in rhythm with the cats activities until 7:30 AM when we finally got out of bed to stay.

It was a bit chilly in our motorcoach, so I put on my sweats and slippers. I made our morning coffee and then settled in on the sofa with my iPad and monogrammed throw. I was joined by Jasper and later by Juniper as we listened to the Mockingbirds and Crows and watched the Vultures soar just above the trees as they headed out on their daily search for food. Linda perused the cookbooks that Mara left, looking for recipes, while I put the finishing touches on yesterday’s blog post and started on today’s.

Today was our last full day at Big Tree Carefree RV Resort (BTCRVR) in Arcadia, Florida and we did not have any big plans other than a trip to one of the local supermarkets and dinner with our friends, Mara and Michael. Mara and Linda definitely wanted to use the swimming pool one last time. We leave tomorrow morning and Mara and Michael are pulling out on Tuesday. We are headed north about 100 miles to Florida Grande Motor Coach Resort near Webster, Florida. Mara and Michael are headed north a much shorter distance to the Thousand Trails Preserve in Wauchula on the Peace River. We plan to meet up with them again in Winter Haven for a quintessentially “old Florida” water skiing show. They might also drive over to Jetty Park while we are there to see a rocket launch, assuming it actually lifts off as scheduled on the 22nd. It is an Atlas 5 resupply mission for the International Space Station, so it would be quite an experience.

BTCRVR has been a nice, comfortable place to spend a couple of months this winter and has provided the base of operations we hoped it would for exploring south and southwest Florida. The resort is a bit older with approximately 80% park model trailers, and I estimate that more than 90% of the units here never move. It is a 55+ community, but most of the residents are quite a bit older than that. It is a clean, well-kept, and attractive park, however, with nice facilities and very friendly people.

Big Tree is also an active park, with regularly scheduled events every day (morning, afternoon, and evening) as well as special events like concerts, dinners, and dances. These activities are well attended from what we saw, and lots of folks walk, ride their bicycles (and tricycles) every day, and use the swimming pool. Many permanent residents have their own washer and dryer so I never had a problem getting our laundry done in the laundry room. Although the park did not have a distributed Wi-Fi system, it did have free Wi-Fi available at the office/activity building and we made use of it for downloading updates for our smartphones, iPads, and notebook computers. Given that we updated both of our computers from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 while we were here, the Wi-Fi was very much appreciated, allowing us to use our 12 GB Verizon data plan for routine tasks such as e-mail, banking, visiting websites, browsing for information, and transferring files, all of which we prefer to do in the comfort of our coach.

I took care of sending an e-mail to a dozen friends and family members and then settled in to upload blog posts starting with November 1, 2015. Linda went to the swimming pool at 12:30 PM and I joined her there at 3 PM. Mara and Linda were sun bathing when I arrived but joined me in the shallow end of the pool where we sloshed around and chatted about the whole-food plant-based approach to human nutrition and our travel plans for the next year or so. We were soaking in the hot tub / whirlpool when Michael arrived and pulled up a chair. We all chatted briefly and then Linda and I took showers and returned to our coach. We called our son-in-law, Chris, to wish him a happy birthday. I then resumed uploading blog posts. By 5:30 PM I had uploaded the posts through November 12, 2105 and stopped. We were due at Mara’s rig at 6:30 PM for dinner so I took a short nap.

Linda gathered up Mara’s WFPB cookbooks and we walked over to her rig at 6:25 PM. Michael served the wine and we chatted for an hour while Mara pulled dinner together. She made a salad of julienned vegetables with a sesame seed dressing. The main dish was quinoa, lentils, sweet potatoes, and broccoli. Dessert was a chocolate mousse made with avocado, banana, and cocoa and served with fresh raspberries and a piece of dark chocolate. Seriously, with food like that why wouldn’t you be a vegan?

It was going on 9 PM by the time we finished dinner so we stayed and watched the final episode of Downton Abbey. All’s well that ends well, I suppose, and the final two hours of the series did, indeed, end well. It was one of the most popular (most viewed?) programs ever to air on PBS, and deservedly so. Fortunately there is a lot of quality programming available on the PBS channels and Masterpiece Theatre, along with Masterpiece Mysteries, will no doubt continue to draw large numbers of viewers in the years to come.

When we walked back to our motorcoach at 10:50 PM the night air was very crisp, the sky dark and clear, and the stars very bright. Orion hung high in the southwest sky and the Big Dipper claimed the northeast quadrant. If not for the light pollution of the RV resort it was the kind of night where we might have seen the Milky Way. Back at the coach we put on a PBS program about the WW II WASPs (Women’s Airforce Service Pilots) and one women in particular who went on to continue flying into her late 80’s and logged over 40,000 hours of flight time before she stopped recording it. We are moving to a new RV resort tomorrow so I had the lights out before midnight and quickly drifted off to sleep.

2016/02/16–20 (T–S) Friends, Food, and Good Times

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2016/03/16 (T) Girls Day Out

Mara needed to get to a medical appointment in the Miami area today and stop at the veterinary clinic where Maui was being treated a few weeks ago. We were going to let her borrow our car but Linda offered to accompany her on the rather long round trip and Mara gladly accepted. She was not going to ask us to go along and thereby possibly inconvenience us, but she was glad to not have to make the trip by herself. They worked out the arrangements yesterday and Linda was up, dressed, and gone this morning before I got up at 7:45 AM.

I made a smaller pot of coffee, had a glass of orange juice to wash down my vitamins, and had toast with apricot preserves for breakfast. I turned on our Verizon Mi-Fi and e-mailed the postcard photo to Linda’s Gmail account and responded to an e-mail from Butch. I also had a couple of e-mails back from Scott Neader at QTH.com in response to my support requests yesterday for the SLAARC account and WordPress website. I then turned off the Mi-Fi.

Having to manage a limited data plan is a pain but the overage charges are worse. The upside is that it allows (forces) me to do something else. In this instance, I worked the rest of the morning on my iPad catching up on blog posts. Linda texted me relative to the timing of their travels and asked me to send the postcard photo. I already had, but it had obviously not gotten to her yet. She expected to be back around 6 PM and we agreed to go out to dinner once she returned.

I had some hummus, sourdough pretzel nibblers, and grapes around 1:30 PM and then settled in to edit blog posts from the end of October and started working on the ones for November. Linda texted me around 2 PM to let me know they were leaving and would be home around 5 PM. I turned the Mi-Fi on and checked e-mail. Mara had sent me a photo of Linda sitting in front of a very tasty looking plate of food but did not mention what restaurant they were at.

I continued editing blog posts and got a couple days into November (2015) by 4 PM. I quit working and walked over to the swimming pool to use the showers. There are only two stalls and they were both occupied so I had to wait. Even so, I was done, back at the coach, and changed into nicer dinner clothes before Linda arrived. We waited until 5:30 PM to drive to the Magnolia Street Seafood and Grill restaurant in downtown Arcadia.

We arrived at the restaurant early enough to get a good parking place and not have to wait for a table but late enough to be hungry. We both had a large salad, minus the blue cheese crumbles, and shared a basket of French fries. On the way back to our coach we stopped at the mail room and Linda connected her iPad to the resort Wi-Fi system to download e-mail. The e-mail I sent her at 9 this morning had still not arrived.

We were back at our coach by 7 PM and turned on the PBS NewsHour. I sent the post card photo again and it still did not arrive in her inbox. We knew that both e-mails were sent because I cc:d one of our other accounts and received them there. Linda finally checked her Junk folder and found it; twice. She then created a post card for Madeline using the PostCardApp on her iPad.

We watched our usual Tuesday evening CBS TV programs while working puzzles on our iPads. Linda had a long day of driving and riding in the car and was tired. With overnight lows forecast for the mid-50s and no rain (but some early morning fog) we left the windows and bathroom roof vent open. We watched Limitless in bed, caught a little local news and weather, and then went to sleep.

2016/02/17 (W) FMCA NEC Meeting

We did not get up until 8 AM this morning so, once again, we did not go to the weekly coffee/donut meeting at the activity building; not that we usually go anyway. I made coffee and we wiled away the morning playing games and solving puzzles on our iPads. I turned on the Verizon Mi-Fi long enough to check e-mail and send a few replies. We eventually had toast and preserves for breakfast.

Bill and Brenda Phelan’s availability did not coincide with ours so I e-mailed her our shipping address here at Big Tree Carefree RV Resort and then called her with our credit card number. I also arranged for us to meet Ed and Janet Roelle tomorrow afternoon at their winter home in Sarasota and then go to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner.

The weather pattern for the next week was forecast to be dry and sunny with overnight lows in the mid-to-upper 50s and highs in the mid-to-upper 70s F. That’s what I’m talking about! and that is why snowbirds come here in the winter.

Linda went for a morning walk and dropped off the trash. She returned in time for lunch and made vegan grilled cheese sandwiches. We also had some orange juice to wash down our vitamins, which we had not taken at breakfast.

Linda made arrangements to meet Mara at the pool today at 1 PM and then spend time with her afterwards showing her how to set up and use Quicken for her personal financial records. I spent the first half of the afternoon editing blog posts from early November (2015). Just before 3:30 PM I dialed in to the meeting of the FMCA National Education Committee. I was still engaged in that when Linda returned around 4:15 PM. My meeting wrapped up around 4:45 after which Linda and I went for a walk.

We stopped by the activity building where Mara was in the library trying to get her computer online via the resort Wi-Fi and we were able to get her connected. Linda and Mara had agreed to meet at 5:30 PM for a power walk but it was already 5:25 so they pushed the time out to 5:45 and we finished our stroll.

Dinner was an improvisation based on ingredients Linda had on hand. Basically it was a sauté of onions, garlic, mushrooms, bell pepper, and kale, salt, pepper, thyme, and oregano in EVOO and finished with some Egri Merlot. Dessert was fresh strawberries and blueberries. We drank the rest of the bottle of wine before/during/after dinner. Yummy.

Wednesday evening is PBS nature/science night, after which we were quickly to sleep.

2016/02/18 (R) Ed, Janet, & Nathan

We left the coach windows open last night and slept well until around 5:30 AM. By then it was cool enough to need the extra blanket and the cats were fully awake and engaged in their usual morning routine dividing their attention between the sights, sounds, and smells of the outside world and their persistent attempts to get us out of bed to feed them. Our neighbors were also up early to take Ron’s mom to the airport for her flight back to Portage, Indiana. Since the head of our bed is on their side of our coach we were aware of their departure conversation and preparations. Even so, Linda was asleep last night before 11 PM and I was asleep by 11:15 so we got plenty of sleep.

I made our morning coffee while Linda turned on our Verizon Mi-Fi and got us connected. We had used 11.2 GB of our 12.0 GB data plan with two days to go in our billing cycle. We will get through the end of the cycle tomorrow at midnight without any overage charges, but the monitoring/management of our data usage for the last couple of weeks has been an unwelcome limitation and nuisance. In particular I have been editing blog posts but not uploading them, which I very much need to do.

I did check my e-mail and respond to ones from Brenda Phelan and Ed Roelle. We are going to Ed and Janet’s winter home in Sarasota this afternoon. It turns out they are just down the road from our friends, Ed and Betty Burns. Brenda had e-mailed us the UPS tracking number for our tire cover shipment. She indicated that they could make/install our windshield covers the morning of March 8th at Florida Grande Motor Coach Resort in Webster and we accepted the appointment.

I had an automated e-mail indicating that one of the websites I manage had been updated to WordPress version 4.4.2. That meant all four websites had been updated and probably had plug-in updates available that needed to be processed. As long as we were online I logged in to each site and initiated the updates. The actual update process occurs between the web server and the WordPress server, so the only data usage for me is sending the update request and receiving back the status messages.

We eventually had our standard breakfast of granola with fresh blueberries and orange/grapefruit juice to wash down our vitamins. I have been having problems with my coffee “creamer.” I know this is not a really big problem in the context of larger world events, but it is a problem nonetheless that is impacting my quality of life. The problem is that my soy creamer has been curdling, and that just does not make for good eats. To make matters worse, it does not happen all the time nor does it happen in a consistent way, at least not that I have been able to figure out.

For my first cup of the day I always add the creamer to the cup first and then swirl in the coffee as I pour. This almost always results in the creamer blending smoothly with the coffee; almost, but not always. Adding more coffee to the cup before it is empty, however, often produces the curdling; often, but not always. Sometimes I can get the creamer to re-blend by adding a little more; sometimes, but not always.

Linda did some quick online research and found information suggesting that I am not the only person suffering this situation and that it might be related to some combination of acidity, temperature (of the creamer and coffee), and procedure. We have two different coffee blends that I alternate between. The one I made this morning, Ethiopian Yirgacheffe half-caffe, is the one that is generally less inclined to curdle and is a slightly “smoother” single bean coffee compared to the Sweet Seattle Dreams half-caffe blend. She suggested I try a different creamer that is not soy-based. I will probably do that, but I have used other creamers in the past and they had a more distinct taste that I did not care for (in my coffee), such as almond or coconut.

We finally got dressed around 10 AM. Linda bundled up the daily bag of kitchen trash and took it with her on her morning walk. I had six iPad apps with updates available so I walked over to the activity building and downloaded/installed them. That took quite a while, but I got to sit outside on the dock in clear view of the Wi-Fi antenna and soak up some rays before returning to our coach.

When Linda returned from her walk we gathered up the plastic recyclables, added them to the ones already in the car, and drove to the Turner Agri-Civic Center to drop them off. As long as we were out, and in that part of town, we drove west on E. Gibson Street to check out the Shell Station on northbound US-17. As Jack Conrad had told us the station has one diesel pump, with a large nozzle, positioned so that a large vehicle can get into position to use it without pulling under the canopy. We will need fuel for the bus when we leave here on March 7 and this is where we will get it. We will then hook up the car here before heading north on US-17.

We stopped at Walmart on our way back to the RV resort to buy a tarp and a few grocery items. We ended up buying a small, inexpensive tent instead of a tarp. The tent has a floor and will provide a rainproof enclosure where we can store all of the stuff that is currently in the car. That will allow us to lower the 4th seat and have room for luggage and other stuff.

Since we would be having dinner earlier than usual today we had a light lunch of hummus, pretzels, and grapes. It was a beautiful day so Linda went outside to read while I worked at my computer editing blog ousts from mid-November (2016).

We picked Mara up at 2:15 PM and headed for Sarasota. The route to Ed and Janet’s place was familiar as it was the same route we take to get to Ed and Betty’s place; FL-70 west past I-75 to Lockwood Ridge Road and then south (which is the only direction Lockwood Ridge goes from there). Ed and Betty live just south of FL-70 while Ed and Janet are about five miles on down the road. We arrived right on time at 3:30 PM.

Ed and Janet bought a house that needed a lot of work but is located on an acre of Iand in a very nice subdivision. They are repairing and remodeling it extensively, both inside and outside, and we got the grand tour. I love seeing projects that are in-process as they are so full of possibilities. Ed and Janet are both very handy, have done this kind of work before, and enjoy it, so the work is both an investment in their future and a labor of love. Janet is also very artistic, so the design and choice of materials and color pallet will be very nice.

At 4:15 PM they got Nathan up and into his wheelchair, out to their car, and strapped in. Nathan is the last of 11 children that Ed and Janet have adopted over the years, all with serious disabilities, in addition to rearing three boys of their own. Their Prevost XL Royale Coach bus conversion is specially modified to accommodate Nathan’s wheelchair and bed and he goes where they go. Although I had seen the modifications to their bus at GLCC rallies we had somehow never met Nathan. He is a sweet young man who was severely brain damaged at birth so he does not really interact with strangers in a meaningful way, but he is clearly responsive to Ed and Janet’s presence and care. They adopted him when he was 3 months old and he is now 14 years of age.

At 4:30 PM we drove to Sweet Tomatoes restaurant for dinner. Sweet Tomatoes is a chain, but we do not have one anywhere near our house back in Michigan. Janet also follows a mostly vegan diet and they selected this restaurant because of its convenient location, excellent salad bar, and ability to accommodate Nathan in his wheelchair. It’s a buffet style (all you can eat) restaurant and the price for seniors, including beverages, was only $8. We were able to stick to vegan choices and still eat too much. We had never really spent any time with Janet prior to today and had a long, wonderful visit. It was after 6:30 PM by the time we left the restaurant.

We headed east on University Boulevard a short distance to one of the countless mega shopping complexes that stretch from St. Petersburg to Naples and found a Petco. Mara needed some special cat food and the Petco had it so she stocked up. We then headed back to Arcadia by way of I-75 north and FL-70 east, stopping at the Publix supermarket in Lakewood Ranch to do some more grocery shopping. We finally arrived back at Big Tree Carefree RV Resort just before 9 PM.

When we opened the door to our coach Juniper was waiting for us on the entry steps. Instead of turning around and moving back into the coach, like she has always done, she made a break for it and got out. Fortunately she did not run off and eventually crawled under the back of the bus on the driver side. Linda was able to coax her out far enough to get hold of her and return her to the bus but it took at least half an hour from the time she escaped to get her safely back inside and she gave us quite a scare. Having your black inside cat escape at night in a strange place is not something you want to have happen.

We missed most of our usual Thursday evening CBS comedy programs but settled in watch Elementary before going to bed.

2016/02/19 (W) Michael Arrives

We got up sometime between 7 and 8 AM. I made coffee and used the Silk brand Almond/Vanilla non-dairy coffee creamer we bought last night at the Publix supermarket in Lakewood Ranch. It did not separate (curdle), like the soy creamer has been doing, but I did not care for the way it tastes. Besides a strong, but very artificial, vanilla flavor I think it may contain sweetener, which I do not care for in my coffee.

I bought a couple of apricot filled bear claw pastry treats at Publix last night and had them for breakfast. They are not necessarily the healthiest treat, but they are vegan. After breakfast I finished up yesterday’s blog post while Linda dealt with some bakery related business. With our inside tasks finished we got dressed and went outside. I drove to the office to get our package with our tire and windshield covers and Linda started unpacking the small tent we bought yesterday at Walmart. Once we had the tent set up behind the motorhome we unloaded all of the stuff from the car and stored it in the tent.

The tent will keep our stuff dry and out of sight for the next week while we use the car to shuttle four people around. With the car emptied out we reinstalled the fourth seat, which has been in the front bay of the bus, and latched both rear seats in the up position. I removed the ham radio antenna from the roof and stored it in the front bay of the bus. We drove to the Turner Agri-Civic Center to drop off some recyclables and stopped at the self-serve car wash on the way back. We washed the outside of the car and then vacuumed out the inside, a task that was long overdue.

Before returning to our RV resort we stopped at the Shell station to top off the tank and then at Dunkin Donuts next door for some frozen coffee. Back at our coach we scrubbed the floor of the car, wiped out and dusted the interior, and cleaned all of the glass. We then returned the seats to their normal “full upright and locked” passenger position. It was nice to finally have the car clean on the inside.

With the car taken care of we brushed off the six tires on the bus that are exposed to direct sunlight and put the new tire covers on. They are very nice; a milk chocolate brown nylon mesh that is similar in color to the brown paint on the upper portion of our coach. They will block a lot of sunlight, reducing UV degradation of the rubber while parked, but will breath, preventing condensation. We also got four windshield wiper covers. I was able to put on the two for the bottom windshield wipers from the ground, or using the small step ladder, but the upper two will require the big ladder and I did feel like getting it out.

With our outside tasks completed I went back inside and updated our passwords program with some information for the SLAARC website. I e-mailed Scott at QTH with an additional support question and then settled in to edit blog posts from mid-late November (2016).

We knew today would be a long day that would extend late into the evening so Linda suggested that we take naps. I set the alarm on my iPad for 4:30 PM and finally laid down on the sofa around 3:30 PM. We were both up by 4:30 and got ready to leave. We picked Mara up at 4:45 and headed for Tampa International Airport to pick up Mara’s friend, Michael Crowley, who was flying in from Phoenix, Arizona by way of Houston, Texas.

Our GPS unit routed us west on FL-70 to I-75 where we went north as far as I-275. The GPS wanted us to stay on I-75 but we chose to take I-275 over Tampa Bay and through St. Petersburg. This stretch of I-275 is part of the Florida Tollroad system but our SunPass let us fly right through the toll plazas. The GPS took us off the Interstate highway before it should have and we had to find our way back on.

We eventually arrived at the airport and found our way to the cell phone parking lot. It was perhaps the nicest cell phone lot any of us had ever seen. It was spacious, with lots of parking spaces, had actual restrooms (not porta-potties), and had two large electronic display boards announcing all of the arriving flights. It was a bit like being at a drive-in movie theater, which all of us were old enough to remember.

About the time the board announced the arrival of Michael’s flight at 6:56 PM he called Mara to let her know they were on the ground and taxiing. He called again 15 minutes later to let us know he was ready to be picked up and a short time later we retrieved him from the arriving flights section of the Blue Terminal.

Linda had researched possible vegan-friendly places to eat near the airport and we collectively settled on an Indian restaurant named Curry Leaves. Linda had me put the address in the GPS and I tried to follow the directions while also watching the road signs but missed the last exit and had to make a short detour to get back to where we needed to be. In my own defense it was dark and the road systems leading in and out of major airports are the most complex ever built and, in my opinion, not always well designed. The road system for Tampa International was as bad as any I had ever encountered.

We found ourselves driving through a district of very upscale hotels and restaurants and finally found the one we were looking for right where the GPS said it should be. We were surprised to find that it was co-located in a building with a BP filling station but on entering the restaurant portion of the building it looked and smelled very nice. We also noticed that the staff was Indian and so were many of the patrons. That has generally been a good sign in our experience where ethnic dining is concerned.

We were seated in a corner booth and the waitstaff was charming and attentive. There was a bit of a language barrier but our waiter understood that Linda was trying to find out which dishes were vegan (no dairy, no meat) and pointed them out. We ordered Samosas and spring rolls as appetizers and two dishes to start for the main course. Mara and Michael had a frozen mango dessert while Linda and I had flour balls in honey sauce. The food was very good and the meal was wonderful in the company of our friends.

We were back in the car with the GPS set for home by about 8:30 PM. We took I-275 to I-4 east to I-275 south to FL-70 and headed east to Arcadia. We dropped Michael and Mara at her motorhome sometime after 10 PM. Back at our coach we stayed up for awhile and interacted with our kitties. We went to bed at 11 PM and turned on the TV to watch Charlie Rose on PBS. It had been a long day with the round trip to/from the airport being almost 200 miles.

2016/02/20 (S) Peace River Woodcarvers

Linda got up first today and I slept in until 8:20 AM. I had used up all but a few scoops of our current batch of coffee beans so I had to wipe out the storage containers, open new bags, and refill them. It was after 9 AM by the time I got the coffee brewed. I definitely do not like the Silk brand Almond/Vanilla coffee creamer but I have a large container of it, as that was all that Publix had, and I will finish it, because I do not like to throw things out that are usable.

Our Verizon billing cycle ended at midnight which meant our data plan had reset. Linda already had our Mi-Fi online and our local network connected. I reattached my computer to our network, updated my ES|ET Smart Security anti-virus software, and downloaded my e-mail. My Dropbox app also started syncing with the cloud server. It was dinging every time a notification popped up, which was bugging Linda, so I turned off the sound.

The tiny ants that have recently appeared in the kitchen had found their way into my last package of apricot-filled bear claw pastries (vegan). I got rid of them and ate the pastries for breakfast. Linda went for a walk but returned more quickly than usual. Mike (W8XH) from our SLAARC ham radio group had called and needed some information. I finished up yesterday’s blog post and e-mailed it to myself. I had an e-mail from Kate with links to YouTube videos of the group “OK Go.” I replied to that and bcc:d our iPads so we could watch them using the Wi-Fi at the resort office.

Linda vacuumed and mopped the floor in the rig. She does not do this very often as it scares the cats, but it has to be done occasionally. It scares the cats at the house, too, but they have a much larger space in which to escape the dreaded mop menace and find a safe place to hide. Juniper hunkered down on the bottom step of the entry, no doubt with thoughts of escape on her mind, while Jasper headed to the bedroom and tried to find a corner to hide in. Both cats like to get in the rear closet so I opened one of the doors and Jasper accepted the invitation.

I logged in to my computer and tried to check for updates but the Windows 10 Updates & Security function was completely non-functional. I fussed with it a bit but to no avail, and decided to deal with it later as everything else appeared to be working. I have had more issues with the Windows 10 upgrade on my ASUS laptop computer than Linda has had on her Samsung computer, but we have no idea why.

Today was the Peace River Woodcarvers show at the Turner Agri-Civic Center. We picked up Mara and Michael at 12:15 PM and drove over. Like the woodcarvers expo we attended in Punta Gorda early last month it was a mix of woodworkers and vendors. The vendors did not interest us as we are not involved in woodcarving or woodburning. Some of the work on display, however, was outstanding.

Our two favorite pieces were on the same table but the artist was not around. One was a knarly, twisted piece of wood that rose up vertically and became a beautifully carved head of a Great Blue Heron. The other piece was a Little Blue Heron carving that was so exquisitely done it looked real. We would have been glad to have either or both in our house, but they did not have price tags and the carver was not around to ask. There were undoubtedly going to be very expensive anyway which would have precluded us buying them.

As we were leaving the show a man was carving a bear out of a large tree trunk using chain saws. We watched him for a while and then left. We stopped at Winn-Dixie for a few grocery items and then drove to Joshua Citrus Company for some oranges, tangelos, and grapefruit. When we got back to the RV Resort we gave Michael a driving tour to orient him to the place and then dropped him and Mara at her motorhome.

I returned to the problem of the non-functional Windows 10 Updates & Security components on my laptop computer. I found a troubleshooter specifically for this problem and ran it. It said it found and repaired problems so I tried checking for Windows Updates but it still did not work. The more I fussed with it the more things seemed to quit working. I restarted it and things got even worse to the point where I could not even shut it down and had to power it off. I then powered it back on and was letting it do its thing when Butch called. We had not talked in a while so I left the computer for later and talked to him. Sometimes it’s better to just step away from a problem, so this was a welcome diversion.

He and Fonda have had a wonderful winter in Quartzsite, Arizona. Besides the rock club (Quartzsite Gem and Mineral Club) they discovered that there is a very active group of amateur radio operators who spend extended winters in Q and the surrounding area. The local hams are involved in a county wide “ham radio for kids” project. Other than Parker, Quartzsite, and Yuma, the population here is sparse and widely spaced. Homes do not have landline telephones and cell service can be spotty depending on where you are relative to the cell towers, which tend to be on top of mountains. The local hams are teaching technician license classes to school age children so they can get their FCC ARO Technician licenses. They are also supply radios that the kids can use to contact their friends and help each other with homework.

Butch and Fonda had also had a job interview for positions as BLM LTVA hosts. Butch said that work on their new house was coming along in their absence, at least that’s what the contractor was telling him. He had to finish rebuilding a Crosley engine when they get home and still had work to do on the interior of their bus. Etc. We may stop at their house on the way home to have Butch look at our house air conditioners, especially the center one, which was not cooling well last month when we used it.

Once we wrapped up our conversation at 5:15 PM I logged in to my computer. It seemed to start up correctly and I opened Outlook 2013 to check my e-mail. It opened correctly and downloaded my e-mails so I closed it. Mara and Bill were due at our coach at 5:30 PM so I did not have the time to check anything else.

Linda was just finishing the main dinner dish, Farro with almonds and dried cranberries, when Bill and Mara arrived. Mara made a kale salad with a soy sauce based dressing and a variety of interesting spices. I put the plastic table cloth on the picnic table and we set the table for dinner. We opened a bottle of the 2013 Egri Merlot and had a wonderful early evening dinner accompanied by a beautiful sunset in the company of good friends.

After dinner we cleared the table and took everything back inside. Mara brought the seminar schedule from the upcoming Holistic Holiday at Sea cruise and went over it with Linda. We finalized plans for visiting Punta Gorda tomorrow and visited until 9 PM when Bill and Mara took their leave and walked back to her rig. After they left Linda put on a 2-part Masterpiece Mystery program and we watched that and then went to bed.

2016/01/26-31 (T-N) Coming Off The Road

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2016/01/26 (T) Filter Me This

The low temperature overnight was forecast to be 50 degrees F. That’s good sleeping weather for us, so we left several windows open and did not need the furnace and I did not turn on the heater pad on the bed.

As I have written the last couple of days I have not been feeling quite right. This morning I had a productive cough. That is never a good thing but it is better than having stuff in my lungs that won’t come out. I was feeling better today so perhaps I am finally kicking out whatever it is that got hold of me.

I made our morning coffee and used up the last of the current batch of coffee beans. We have used six pounds of coffee in the last 60 days; a pound every 10 days on average. We left home with eight pounds of coffee from Teeko’s; two pounds each of four different beans/blends packaged in 1/2 pound vacuum sealed bags. I blend pairs of beans in equal proportion when I grind them to make our daily half-caffe morning coffee. We have four 1/2 pound bags left, which will carry us for about 20 more days at our current rate of consumption. We have been vacillating about whether to order more beans from Teeko`s but decided today that we probably should, and do so relatively soon.

The entrance to Gold Tree MH community in Bradenton, Florida where our friends, Ed and Betty Burns, bought a place after they came of the road as full time RVers of many years.

Breakfast was our usual, but always scrumptious, granola and fresh blueberries with orange/grapefruit juice. After breakfast Linda spent some time trying to get in touch with someone from the Florida Sunpass (toll road) system but was unable to ever speak to an actual human being. We have a Sunpass transponder in our Honda Element from two years ago and have a Sunpass account to go with it. Unfortunately, we did not record the details of that account in our password app and have been unable to access the account to see if it is still active, has a credit balance, or to add money. Up to this point we have not needed to use the Florida toll roads, but eventually we will. She finally got frustrated, sent an e-mail to their contact address, and then went for a walk

When she returned from her stroll, Linda busied herself with her counted crisis-stitch project. Last night she made arrangements for us to visit SE Florida and the Florida Keys. She zeroed in on February 9, 10, and 11 and confirmed that Mara was willing/able to take care of our cats while we were away. After looking at various options we decided that we wanted to use Homestead, Florida as a base from which to explore the area. One reason was that the prices for lodging in Marathon were $200+ per night and in Key West $400+ per night. We are not late night party animals, so we did not need to spend that kind of money just to have a place we could stumble home to in the middle of the night.

The best price she found for a hotel was a well-rated Travel Lodge in Homestead for $109 per night but Trivago would not let her specify a non-smoking room. The Travel Lodge website clearly showed both smoking and non-smoking rooms so we were not about to risk ending up in a smoking room. The next best deal was for a non-smoking room in a Hampton Inn for $160 per night, which includes breakfast. We have always liked Hampton Inns and as a bonus they did not have a reservation cancellation fee. She booked us for the three nights.

Our plan is to leave early on the 9th and visit Everglades National Park via the Homestead entrance. We will then check in to the Inn late in the afternoon. On the 10th we will leave early and drive through the Keys, seeing what there is to see along the way, and eventually arriving in Key West. We will get a taste of the Conch Republic but leave in time to get back to the Inn in Homestead at a reasonable hour. On the 11th we might return to Everglades National Park and/explore other things in the area. We will probably sleep in on the 12th, enjoy the complimentary breakfast (as much of it as we can eat), and then check out and head back to Arcadia.

While Linda was walking and working on her project I edited seven more blog posts. Late morning I took a break to finish the regeneration of the water softener. I removed the clear housing from the pre-filter housing attached to the inlet on the water softener, removed the diverter tube and flat washer, and returned them to the plastic zip lock bag I store them in. I put the opaque blue housing back on without a filter element inside and ran water through the tank to flush out any remaining salt brine. I tested the water coming out of softener and it was at 1.5 gpg. That was a very discouraging result given that I just used almost 52 ounces of table salt to regenerate it. In the 3-1/2 years we have owned this water softener I have only once successfully regenerated the softener back to zero (0) grains per gallon. Overall it has been a disappointing purchase.

It was time to replace the sediment filter ahead of the softener and the carbon filter going into the fresh water tank but we did not bring spare cartridges with us. I took a minute to take several pictures of the caulk that is peeling loose from our new passenger side lower windshield and attached one to a text message to Chuck Spera which resulted in a brief exchange. I then took the car and went on an errand run.

My first stop was Walmart where I found a pair of 5 micron 10″ sediment filter cartridges, a pair of 10″ charcoal wrapped taste and odor whole house filter cartridges, two 48 ounce boxes of coarse Kosher salt for future regenerations, and a bag of animal crackers. (I checked the label and they did not contain animal products)

My next stop was the local NAPA Auto Parts Store. They had small tubes of silicone adhesive caulk, both black and clear, but I did not buy any at this time. My next stop was the local Shell station where I topped up the fuel tank. I then moved the car next door to the Dunkin Donuts and got a frozen mocha latte made with almond milk. It was warm today and I wanted a treat.

Back at our coach I measured our windshield wipers and then e-mailed Brenda Phelan the dimensions so she can send us the correct sun covers along with the tire covers we ordered from her and Bill at the Tampa RV Supershow. With that done I contacted Florida Grande Motor Coach Resort near Webster, Florida to see if we could take advantage of their 2-for-1 special and stay two weeks for the weekly rate.

Our current departure date from Big Tree RV Resort in Arcadia is March 7th. Florida Grande was able to take us starting on that date for two weeks so I made the reservation. The resort is south of Ocala and The Villages, north of Bushnell, northeast of Brooksville, northwest of Lakeland, and west of Orlando, so it is centrally situated to a part of the state where we can easily spend two weeks exploring and touching base with some friends in the area.

With Florida Grande in hand I pulled up the website for Jetty Park Beach and Campground at Port Canaveral on Cape Canaveral. We were hoping that we could get in there when we left Florida Grande. Our GLCC friends, Pat and Vickie Lintner, moved to Jetty Park when they left Fort Wilderness at Disney World in mid-February. They have done this every year for at least the last six years. I visited them there two years ago after dropping Linda at the Orlando airport, so I know it’s a nice little park in a unique location and an ideal place to explore Florida’s Space Coast.

The Jetty Park online reservation system indicated that no sites of the type we wanted (full hookup) were available starting on March 21st but said to call or e-mail the office. I knew from my conversations with Pat and Vickie that the park campground was extremely popular with repeat visitors who book their reservations a year in advance. They had also told me that folks occasionally cancel reservations but if I called and checked repeatedly we might be able to get in.

I got an answering machine and left my name, cell phone number, and the dates we were interested in. I got a call back a short time later from Scott. He was able to put us on a site for one night on March 21^st at the daily rate, and a different sight for seven nights starting on the 22^nd, which qualified for the weekly rate. Sold.

Jetty Park is a bit more expensive than what we normally like to spend for camping but it is on the Atlantic Ocean between the Kennedy Spaceflight Center and Cocoa Beach. It is also on the south shore of the channel that separates the park from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and the Spaceflight facility as well as and a U. S. Navy submarine base. If you are there at the right time submarines can be viewed as they are going into or out of the base. The Port/channel is used heavily by cruise ships, including the Disney Cruise Lines. If the timing is right, rocket launches can also be viewed from there, up close and personal. I was lucky enough to see a military satellite launch when I was there two years ago. My recollection is that it was me and about 10,000 other people, not only in the park but lining the access roads for miles to the west. I remember thinking then that it would be much better to be camped at Jetty Park Campground than fighting this traffic after the launch. Indeed, I crashed (no pun intended) on Pat and Vickie’s sofa for 90 minutes until the traffic dissipated and then drove back to Williston Crossings.

I e-mailed Pat and Vickie to let them know we got into Jetty Park Campground and give them the dates. We hope they will still be there for at least part of our stay but even if they have already moved on there is way more to do in the area than we can experience in one week. I then e-mailed Ed Roelle and Bruce/Linda Whitney to update them on our travel plans.

With all of that accomplished I returned to working on our water system. I use a sediment filter cartridge in the first housing, which I removed and replaced with the 5 micron cartridge I bought earlier at Walmart. I then unscrewed the housing that is mounted inside the water bay. I had to use my large slip pliers since the filter wrench could not be positioned properly to turn it far enough to loosen the housing. The element that was in there was a specialized cartridge that I bought it in Quartzsite, Arizona this past winter. It was more expensive than most and my recollection is that it contained some silver and had a very small micron rating. We have a 0.5 micron drinking water filter that filters for five different things including cysts, lead, and VOCs, so a whole house carbon wrapped filter on the water input to the coach fresh water tank should be more than adequate.

We went for a walk and stopped at the activity building. We were expecting a package from Amazon tomorrow but Pat, one of the resort managers, flagged us down to let us know it arrived today. We picked it up from the office and carried it back to the coach. It was 15 pounds of the Science Diet Sensitive Skin and Stomach cat food, which we could not find locally.

For dinner Linda made sautéed kale with garlic and turmeric and vegan quesadillas with Daiya cheddar cheese. Red grapes rounded out the meal, which was simple but delicious. We went for another walk after dinner and then settled in to watch our Tuesday evening TV shows. All of the shows were repeats that did not require our full attention, so Linda worked on puzzles and I worked on this post.

2016/01/27 (W) Rained In

The rain started around 2 this morning and intensified through the 4 AM hour before tapering off and ending, temporarily, around 7 AM. We awoke at 7:45 AM and realized it was Wednesday. The weekly coffee at Big Tree Carefree RV Resort (BTCRVR) is Wednesday at 8 AM so we got dressed quickly, grabbed our complimentary coupon, and walked over. As with the last time we went, the place was packed with no seats available as the “regulars” had all arrived at 7:30 AM. They were out of regular coffee so we both filled our travel mugs with what was left of the decaf. We decided not to stay for the announcements and door prize drawings and walked back to our coach.

The weather forecast was for the rain to resume late morning and continue until dinner time tomorrow so Linda decided to get a long walk in before the rain returned. While she was out I used my computer to upload two more blog posts. My goal is to get 5 to 7 of them uploaded each day, but after doing two I tired of the task. I don’t feel sick, but I am still coughing stuff up occasionally and I feel a little tired, which I attribute to fighting off whatever ailment I have developed. Jasper, our 11 year old male mackerel tabby cat, started sneezing yesterday and the sneezing became more frequent today. He is eating and drinking, and does otherwise appear to be out of sorts, but we will have to keep an eye on him.

Mid-morning I phoned Teeko’s Coffee and Teas back home and ordered eight (8) pounds of custom roasted coffee beans, two pounds each of four different things, to be vacuum packed in 1/2 pound bags. I ordered Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, both regular and decaffeinated, Seattle Blend (caffeinated), and Sweet Dreams, a decaffeinated blend. When I grind the beans just before making our coffee I mix the Yirgacheffe beans 50/50 or I mix the Seattle Blend and Sweet Dreams 50/50 to make Sweet Seattle Dreams. The Yirgacheffe is a single bean coffee, smooth and pure, whereas the Sweet Seattle Dreams is a blend of many beans and is slightly more complex in flavor. We like both so I usually alternate between them from day to day.

We left home the day after Thanksgiving Day with eight pounds of the same assortment of beans. At our current rate of consumption of one pound every 10 days our current supply of beans should get us to mid-February, approximately 80 days from when we left to head south for the winter. The new beans will be shipped USPS and should be here in 7 to 10 days.

That was the last thing I did of any note for the rest of the day. We were socked in by the weather since we chose not to walk in the rain. Linda worked on her counted cross-stitch project and I took a nap. I eventually got up and played games on my iPad while she took a nap. I laid down a second time and flipped through the various local OTA TV news and weather stations but did not fall asleep. Rainy days are good for that, especially when there isn’t anything else I feel like doing. Eventually Linda made dinner which was a bit of work. She made mujadara, a brown lentil and basmati rice dish with cumin, cayenne pepper, and cinnamon, topped with caramelized onions. It was very good.

After dinner we watched the PBS Newshour, which is providing reasonably intelligent coverage of the 2016 presidential campaign and the upcoming Iowa Caucuses. We then watched our usual Wednesday evening PBS nature and science programs. Linda went to bed at 10 PM but I stayed up until midnight to watch Charlie Rose, which I consider to be one of the most intelligent shows on television. I went to bed to the pitter-patter sound of rain lightly falling on the roof of our coach and drifted off to sleep.

2016/01/28 (R) Bloody Nose

The rain continued overnight into this morning and intensified between 4 and 6 AM. I was awake off and on starting at 3 but awake to stay by 7. We both got up at 7:30.

Jasper, our make cat, started sneezing occasionally a couple of days ago and was sneezing more frequently yesterday and into the evening. We awoke this morning to find blood spattered on the living room floor and a couple of spots on the captain’s chair nearest to the desk. It appeared that Jasper was probably sleeping in that chair when he had to sneeze. We were able to clean all of the blood off of the tile and get the spots out of the chair fabric.

Before I could make our morning coffee I had to open the last four vacuum-packed bags of coffee beans and transfer them to the airtight stainless steel storage canisters. While I did that, and then ground the beans and prepared the brewer, Linda researched sneezing and bloody noses in cats. (She is our Google queen.) Based on what she found, he almost certainly has an upper respiratory infection, but beyond that it’s hard to say. He is eating and drinking, which is good, and his behavior has not changed as far as we can tell, which is also good. (He’s an 11 year old cat and normally sleeps more than he is awake.)

The rain quit by 8 AM but it was solidly overcast. The chance of precipitation through lunch time was only 15% but jumped back up to 30% at 1 PM. Juniper, our 7-1/2 year old female cat, seems to be just fine and climbed up in Linda’s lap where she likes to be whenever possible. While we drank our coffee Linda used her iPad to check in on the world and play a few games, while I used mine to finish up yesterday’s blog post and start on today’s post.

I decided to call the veterinarian’s office at 9 AM and see if we needed to bring Jasper in. They said we probably should and scheduled an appointment for 12:30 PM.

We had granola for breakfast and then got dressed. I settled in at the desk and worked on blog posts for the rest of the morning. The rain was forecast to continue through the day and into the evening before finally clearing out of the area by midnight. There was a bit of a lull during the morning, during which Linda walked over to the dumpster with our small daily bag of kitchen trash and then got in a long walk before returning to our coach. Once she got back Linda worked on her counted cross-stitch project.

We put Jasper in his carrier at 12:15 PM and drove the short distance to Desoto Veterinary Services where Dr. McNulty checked him over. His lungs were clear and his heart was strong and normal, but his temperature was elevated slightly. Doc gave him a shot of a multi-acting antibiotic and antibacterial nasal drops. The drops were actually ophthalmological, but he pointed out that anything designed to work in the eyes will also work in the nasal/sinus area as that is where fluids from the eyes end up via the drainage tubes.

As long as Jasper was there Dr. McNulty scarped some tartar off of his teeth. I had never seen this done on a cat that had not been anesthetized but Jasper tolerated it quite well. Linda said she had seen our vet back home, Dr. Carron, do this before. In addition to the bill for today’s services we purchased six more doses of Cheristin flea medication. That will cover both cats for February, March, and April until we get home. We will switch them back to Revolution as we still have quite a supply of it and it also protects against heartworm.

Before returning to the RV resort we drove to the Turner Agri-Civic Center to drop off our plastic recyclables. By the time we got back to the coach it was starting to rain again. Jasper was glad to be back in the coach and out of his carrier and we glad to be snug in our home-on-wheels and out of the rain.

We had a bite of lunch and I resumed editing blog posts but was struggling to maintain my concentration and interest, so I took a nap. When I got up I checked e-mail and had a reply from Pat and Vickie Lintner. They will be at Jetty Park Beach and Campground at least through the end of March so we will get to hang out with them while we are there.

Late afternoon I had a call from Michele Henry of Phoenix Paint. We chat occasionally but this call was promoted by a visit to our website where she noticed that my latest blog post was from early October 2015. She was wondering if I had stopped blogging or if we had, perhaps, stopped traveling. The answers were ‘no’ and ‘no’, of course, but that was just an opening to a conversation, not the end of one.

For dinner Linda made tortilla wraps with BBQ pan-seared tofu and caramelized onion and served a side of corn and edamame. I really like this way of preparing tofu but it is messy. I have come to the conclusion that my favorite way to have it is wrapped in a soft, warm tortilla. It’s tasty, and helps contain the mess.

After dinner we tuned in the PBS Newshour for our daily dose of presidential campaign nonsense and analysis. We then watched our usual Thursday night CBS TV programs for a brief escape from the bizarre reality of American politics.

Ed & Betty’s place at Gold Tree MH community in Bradenton, Florida with our car in the driveway.

The rainfall over southwest Florida in the 48 hours from late Tuesday evening through late this evening has been epic, and the rainfall totals for the month of January have been historic. Some places closer to the Gulf Coast to our west, southwest, and south received almost 13 inches of rain and most locations received 5 to 10 times their normal rainfall for the entire month. Fortunately Arcadia, in general, and Big Tree Carefree RV Resort, in particular, seem to drain well and we did not have any issues with flooding. Our coach continues to have leaks, however, and while that is frustrating enough by itself, they seem to appear in new places and not reappear in previous locations.

This time around the carpet runners on the entry stairs were soaking wet. Besides the leak around the new, and newly installed, passenger side lower windshield, it appears that water has gotten under the new landing platform as the passenger side rear lower corner is water stained and wet. My guess is that water ran down into the stepwell from there but how it got there in the first place is a mystery. Given the problems I discovered with water under the pilot and navigator seats, my guess is that water somehow got to the landing from there, but that only begs the question of where the water gained entry and how it got that far in the first place.

2016/01/29 (N) Ed and Betty

Jasper had a difficult night, sneezing often and usually multiple times when he did. As a result I did not get the best night’s sleep. The weather cleared out overnight and in spite of Jasper’s difficulties I did get some rest. I woke around 7 AM to a beautiful sunrise lighting scattered clouds to the southwest. We had coffee, toast, and juice for breakfast, showered, and got dressed.

We pulled out of our site at 10 AM and stopped at the Resort dumpster on our way out. We left the Resort about 10:10 and headed west on FL-70 towards Bradenton. We stopped at the Publix supermarket in Lakewood Ranch, just east of I-75, and Linda bought flowers. We arrived at Ed and Betty Burns’ home, just east of I-75 and south of Fl-70, around 11:15 AM.

It was great to finally see Ed and Betty again. Since the last time we saw them they have sold their motorhome and bought a manufactured house (double wide) in a nice development in Bradenton, Florida.

For lunch Betty had baked a loaf of German Rye Bread and made a pot of vegan vegetable soup from a mix she found. She also had grape tomatoes and orange segments. It was an excellent lunch of good food shared with good friends and we very much appreciated her accommodating the way we eat.

After lunch we went for a walk around their gated community and I took a few pictures along the way. We stopped at the clubhouse and pool to check it out. Like the rest of the park they were large, excellent facilities. Back at their house we sat outside chatting and enjoyed some hot tea. It eventually cooled off to where we started to get cold and went inside to continue talking. Rather than go out for dinner we decided to have dinner at Ed and Betty’s. That led Linda and Betty to drive to the Publix supermarket about a half mile from their house to gather ingredients while Ed and I stayed home a opened a couple of bottles of wine. We chatted into the late afternoon enjoying wine and tortilla chips with peach salsa.

Linda and Betty started preparing our evening meal at 5 PM. We had a nice salad that included non-dairy Daiya mozzarella style “cheese.” Slices from an Italian baguette with non-dairy spread accompanied the main dish of angel hair pasta with a slightly sweet Ragu pasta sauce. We waited a while and then had dessert of Marie Callander’s Peach Cobbler served hot with Almond Dream non-dairy ice cream on the side. Once again it was a wonderful meal and we were stuffed.

We finally left at 8:30 PM and drove back to Arcadia. We stopped to check our mailbox and were back in our coach by 9:45 PM. An episode of Endeavour had started at 9:30 PM and we picked it up in progress. When the episode was over at 11 PM Linda headed to bed and I tuned in Charlie Rose.

2016/01/30 (S) Blog Swimming

The temperature dropped back into the 50s last night so we had good sleeping conditions and the coach was only slightly chilly when we woke up this morning. I ran the heating system just long enough to bring the temperature inside up to 70 degrees F and chase away the chill. We had a beautiful day on tap with high, scattered clouds, sunshine, light winds, and temperatures climbing into the 70s. This is why people come to Florida in the winter.

After coffee and a light breakfast of grapefruit and toast, Linda went for a walk and I settled in to work on blog posts. She ended up at Walmart looking at swimming suits for me and called me to see what my waist size was. I did not know, and did not want to dig out a tape measure at the moment, so I told her I would go to the store later and find something. The swimming pool here is heated and there is also a hot tub with a whirlpool feature. Both of them are used regularly but we had not been in them yet as the weather has been too cool and/or too wet. I thought it was still too cool today, but Linda was determined to get in the water.

When Linda returned from her walk I took the car and drove over as I wanted to top off the fuel tank while I was out. I had measured my waist so I had a rough idea of what size swimming suit I needed. Walmart only had one style that I liked so I bought one, along with a new pop-up nylon mesh laundry basket. When I got back to our coach I tried the swimming suit on. It was huge and needed to be returned. I wanted this swimsuit crisis dealt with now. Linda had bought something that she wanted to return so I took both items and their receipts back to the store.

It seems that there are often long lines at Walmart Customer Service counters, but that is just a matter of timing. I did not have to wait very long and the returns were easily accomplished. The problem with the swimming suits at Wally World is that there are gaps in the waist sizes. They had the same style I had previously purchased but the next smaller size looked like it would be too small. Given how much too large the supposedly correct size one was I decided to buy it. I did not have much in the way of options at that point.

I tried it on when I got home and it seemed to fit OK. At my urging Linda had already gone over to the pool. I wore a shirt with my swimsuit, put on my Crocs, and walked over to join her. I found her in the pool hanging on to a foam swim noodle and floating around with a smile on her face to match that of any kid. We were both good swimmers when we were kids, but that was a long time ago. I no longer regard water that is deeper than my shoulders as a friendly place.

The pool was cool on first contact but I could tell that the temperature would be OK after I had been in for a few minutes. I eventually got all the way in and got my exercise by walking around in water up to my neck while moving my arms back and forth through the water. All movements under water are done against considerable resistance and provide good exercise. When I first got there the sun was still bright and warm but eventually thin clouds started to obscure it.

When we were done in the pool we moved to the hot tub, which was quite warm, and Linda turned on the whirlpool pump, which was quite invigorating. When we were done in the hot tub Linda rinsed off in one of the showers to get the chlorinated water out of her hair. I had not gotten my head wet, so I did not bother rinsing off. I had the slight shell of chlorine about me the rest of the day and evening, but it was OK; kind of like a perfume for men.

I resumed uploading blog posts until dinnertime. For dinner Linda prepared large salads with mock cold cut slices, garbanzo beans, fresh blueberries, grape tomatoes, and Daiya shredded non-dairy cheese. She finished up the balsamic vinaigrette and dressed my salad with an Asian soy-ginger vinaigrette. We had a couple slices each of the Italian baguette she bought yesterday and it made for a large, tasty, and satisfying meal.

After dinner we took our iPads and smartphones to the activity building and used the Resort Wi-Fi to download and install all of our app updates. Linda also downloadable and installed the latest update to the iPad operating system (iOS 9.0.2 I think). Once the updates were done we walked back to our coach and watched another episode of Endeavor, which tells the story of the beginning of Endeavor Morse’ career with the Oxford, England city police department and how he became Inspector Morse. Like most BBC dramas, it is extremely well done. We stayed up and watched an episode of “As Time Goes By”, a delightful British comedy starring Judy Dench. There wasn’t much else on that interested us after that and we turned in earlier than usual. I had the lights out before 11 PM.

2016/01/31 (N) Bus Article Photos

Today was another pleasant day, weather wise, with light winds and a high temperature in the mid-70s, but more cloud cover than yesterday. Whatever I caught a few days ago is still with me and Jasper is still sneezing, so the boys on the bus are both still a little under the weather.

I met Dave Aungier at the Arcadia Rally 2016 and photographed his 1977 MCI MC-5C bus conversion. Dave wrote an article about his bus for Bus Conversion Magazine (long hand) and had his friend Bonnie put it into MS Word. She e-mailed the file to Dave and to me. Other than breaks for lunch and to go for a walk with Linda, I spent most of the day reformatting the article in two columns, doing some minor editing, and then selecting, processing, and inserting photos into the article. I did not finish the work by dinner time and figured I would finish it tomorrow.

Linda and Betty strolling down one of the interior roads at the Gold Tree MH community. Gold Tree is a clean, well-kept, and attractive gated manuactured housing community with nice amenities.

Our friend Mara was scheduled to be at Horizon Coach tomorrow for repairs on a slide out seal and then check into our RV Resort. Her cat, Sabra, has been ill and she decided to push everything out by a day so she can take Sabra back to the veterinarian where she is staying near Ft. Lauderdale.

Lunch was roasted red pepper hummus with onion on the dark German rye bread that Betty Burns baked for us last Friday. Double yum. On our first joint walk of the day we found a small group of musicians playing at the gazebo to an equally small audience. The Petanque (p’tunk) and shuffleboard courts were also in full use and there were folks in the swimming pool. Petanque is a form of Bocce Ball that is favored by the Resort residents from Quebec. Linda went swimming later in the afternoon. We had baked potatoes for dinner topped with a sauté of onions, mushrooms, broccoli, and kale. A dollop of Tofutti vegan sour cream added a bit of creaminess. We went for another walk after dinner and stopped by the activity building. The library was full of folks playing dominoes and other folks were gathering for the 7 PM karaoke session.

I was done working for the day and settled in with Linda to watch Downton Abbey and whatever else might be on TV this evening.

2016/01/21 (R) – 2016/01-25 (M) East and South

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2016/01/21 (R) Lake Okeechobee

The weather forecast for today was for very nice conditions and we thought it would be a nice day to go for a ride in the car and explore the area of the state to our east, specifically Lake Okeechobee. We were up a bit earlier than has been typical for us lately and did not make breakfast or coffee in favor of getting an early start.

The Defraggler disk defragmenter had finally completed its task. I restarted my computer but it was not behaving correctly. Besides the disk check and defrag I had also updated the NVIDIA graphics card driver, installed operating system updates, and updated Skype, which configured itself to auto-start on initial boot up. I had to restart my machine again and suggested to Linda that we drive to the Shell station to top up the rank and then get coffee and bagels at the Dunkin Donuts next door. I stopped back at our coach to check my e-mail and then shut my computer down. I was looking for an e-mail from Herb, a member of the FMCA National Education Committee, about his visit to Lakeland, Florida today but he had not replied. It was a long shot whether we would get to Lakeland today anyway.

We headed east on FL-70 as far as US-27 and then headed south towards Moore Haven and Clewiston. Most of the drive was through the citrus groves, ranch lands, and fields of crops that make up most of this part of Florida. The citrus groves eventually gave way to a tall plant with a wheat-like top that we did not recognize but thought might be wheat. We passed a couple of fields that had been cleared and the organic matter mounded into burn piles. When we saw large plumes of smoke later in our drive we assumed it was related to more land clearing. Only later did Linda determine that the plants were sugar cane and the smoke was most likely from controlled burns of the cane fields which is the first step in harvesting the sugar cane.

We had not done a lot of research on Lake Okeechobee and the surrounding area. What we did know was that it is the largest fresh water lake in the U. S. contained entirely within the borders of a single state. What we did not know until we saw it was that the entire lake is surrounded by the Herbert Hoover Dike, a massive levy some 50 feet high with flood control gates and canals leading from it. Construction was begun late in Herbert Hoover’s presidency as a result of a hurricane that pushed an enormous amount of water out of the lake to the southeast and killed thousands of people.

The first place on our drive where we were near the lakeshore was in Moore Haven but as a consequence of the dike there are only a few places where you can actually see the lake. From Moore Haven to Clewiston US-27 ran right along the levy and we could see nesting boxes on top of tall poles. All of them had nests and most of them had large birds roosting on them. I presumed they were probably Osprey or possibly Eagles.

The first place we stopped was a county campground at South Bay, a small community at the southwest tip of the lake. We were able to drive over the levy to a boat launch area, but the western and southwestern portions of the lake have extensive marshes and we could not see open water even from the top of the levy. We also drove through the campground, which impressed us as a nice place to spend a couple of weeks to a month, depending on what else there was to do in the area.

We continued around the south end of the lake to Belle Grade, picking up US-441 to Pahokee where we drove over the dike to a marina that was part of a state park with an RV campground. Before us was the lake and, like looking at a Great Lake or an ocean, it was indeed an endless expanse of water to the horizon. Okeechobee is a big lake.

From Pahokee we continued up US-441 through Canal Point and along the edge of the levy up to the town of Okeechobee. This stretch of highway was lined with RV parks, most of them small and not very nice looking. We weren’t counting but I estimated somewhere between 18 and 24 “parks,” one right after another. Many of them were full of old, closely spaced, rigs that appeared to be in very poor condition that was matched by the run down, trashy appearance of the properties themselves.

There were a few parks that looked OK and one of them was a park that Linda had called to inquire about openings and rates. We always check out websites, Google Maps, and Google Earth, but they don’t always reveal the true appearance of a place or surrounding area. Now that we were seeing this area first hand we were glad (relieved?) that we did not book a spot here. At the risk of appearing snobbish, the east side of Lake Okeechobee did not impress us as a place we would stay or even need to visit again. That said, we understand that everyone’s circumstances are different and folks do the best they can.

Yes, we own a Prevost bus conversion, but we bought it very used and we do not think of ourselves as “those” kind of people; you know, snobbish towards those who own SOBs (some other brand). But we are aware that we have a fairly negative reaction to places that are trashy. Trashy and old are not the same thing; we have nothing against old. We are old ourselves, and hope to get a lot older before our time is up. Trashy suggests a lack of self-respect and a lack of respect for others. We will take a pass on that.

By the time we reached the town of Okeechobee it was 2 PM and we were hungry. Rather than continue on to Sebring we headed west on FL-70 where we found a Subway just before reaching the edge of town and stopped to have lunch. After our meal we headed back to Arcadia 63 miles away on FL-70. Along the way we saw more Osprey near the Kissimmee River and later on a group of Wood Storks and a few Sandhill Cranes along with the usual Egrets, Vultures, a Kingfisher, and other local birds. Florida really is a great state for seeing birds.

Once we got back to our coach we relaxed for a while and then decided to go to the jam session at 7 PM. The jam sessions here are different from what we have experienced other places. We found out from talking to the attendees sitting around us that the four musicians (two guitars, bass guitar, and drums) are not from the park and are brought in (hired) for the jams. People from the park took turns singing but no other musicians joined in during the hour we were there. There were also a lot of people dancing, including singles and couples line dancing. We left just before 8 PM and returned to our coach to watch our Thursday evening TV programs.

Another major storm was winding up across the south and taking aim on the mid-Atlantic and New England. The worst effects of this storm were forecast to be ice and snow accumulations of 12″ to 36″ from northern Georgia north and east to the Canadian Maritimes. As with the last few storms the impact on Florida was forecast to be strong storms associated a quickly moving cold front draped off of the low pressure system and extending far into the Gulf of Mexico. Rain was expected in Arcadia starting around 4:30 AM. Several bands were expected, with the strongest from late morning to early afternoon. Behind the front would be strong winds and much cooler temperatures. We left the awning style windows open an inch, closed the roof vents, and went to bed.

Linda at the shore of Lake Okeechobee, FL.

2016/01/22 (F) Desoto Veterinary Clinic

Heavy rain moved through our location starting at 4:30 AM, exactly when the weather forecasts said it would. It arrived along with some wind and woke me up but it was not severe and I eventually fell back asleep. The cats had their usual morning crazies starting around 5:30 AM so that woke me up again, and probably woke Linda up too, but they eventually calmed down and we all went back to sleep.

We finally got up at 8:15 AM and Linda got dressed right away. It was cool enough that I put on my sweats but not cold enough to run the toe-kick heaters or the hydronic heating system. I made our morning coffee and we had Linda’s yummy homemade granola with fresh blueberries for breakfast. I got dressed after breakfast and at 9:45 AM we put Jasper in his carrier and drove to the Desoto Veterinary Clinic for his 10 AM appointment. There was a lull in the rain with the heaviest, potentially severe, weather expected between late morning and early afternoon so we got to the clinic and back without getting rained on.

We only had to wait a few minutes while Dr. McNulty finished up with another patient. Jasper rarely goes in his carrier at the house or on the bus, even though we leave it out and accessible, but tends to stay in it at the vet’s office. Dr. McNulty was a bit of an eccentric character but we liked him. He spent as much time talking to Jasper as he did to us and checked him over to make sure he did not have other undetected health issues. His diagnosis of Jasper’s fur loss was that he had been bitten by a flea. He recommended a small corticosteroid injection to help relieve the itching and reduce Jasper’s need to scratch. He also suggested that we discontinue the use of the Revolution medication while we are in Florida and switch both cats to Cheristin. We agreed to all of his recommendations.

Unlike Revolution, which also prevents heartworm, Cheristin is a flea medication only. Even though Florida is the flea and mosquito capitol of the U. S. Dr. McNulty said that heartworm, acquired from infected mosquitos, is extremely rare here while cats being affected by fleas is quite common. His concern with Revolution is that the fleas have become resistant to it. He quit prescribing Frontline and Advantage years ago and has now stopped prescribing Revolution for the same reason. Jasper and Juniper are strictly inside cats so their exposure to mosquitos, fleas, and ticks is minimal as those critters can only gain entry to the coach via the front door when it’s open or hitch a ride in with one of us. Still, they do not live in a hermetically sealed environment.

The rains resumed around 11 AM. Linda complied a grocery list while I worked at my computer on some e-mails and did a little additional work on photos for my featured bus article on Ronnie and Diann Mewbourn’s 1969 Model 07 Eagle bus conversion. We had hummus and onion sandwiches for lunch around 12:30. Linda waited for the rain to subside and finally headed to the local Winn-Dixie supermarket around 1:15 PM.

I had not worked on blog posts yesterday so I finished up the one from the 20th and worked on the ones for yesterday and today. When Linda got back I helped get the groceries up into the coach. I off-loaded the photos I took yesterday but was tired and did not feel like getting deeply into any computer-based work. I laid down on the sofa instead and took a nap. I like naps; naps are good. While I was napping Linda went for a long walk. I finally woke up as she was starting to prepare dinner. The preparations were going to take a while so I went for a walk.

Dinner was butternut squash burritos and Mexican rice and was very tasty. After dinner Linda applied the Cheristin to both cats.

PBS had back-to-back episodes of Endeavour, the series detailing the beginning of the career of the Inspector Morse character. Linda slept through most of the second episode and went to bed as soon as it was over. I stayed up and watched a show about the Neon Sign Museum in Las Vegas and two companies that are each restoring a sign for the museum. I watched the weather for a few minutes and then went to bed.

An Anhinga dries its wings along the shore of Lake Okeechobee, FL.

2016/01/23 (S) Pelican Lake

It was a wild day today, wind wise. Sustained winds of 25 to 35 MPH, with gusts 10 to 15 MPH higher than that, swept across southwest Florida behind the cold front that brought yesterday’s rain. And it was a cold air mass, with temperatures this morning in the low 40’s F. After getting up and putting on our sweats, which is what we do on chilly mornings, I made a pot of coffee, which is what I do almost every morning. Linda decided it was a good morning for pancakes. Vegan baking can be a bit tricky, but they turned out really well.

We did not have any plans for today. We had thought about attending the Fort Myers RV Show, at the Lee County Expo Center on FL-31, but decided there would not be anything new to see after having been to the Tampa RV Supershow the previous weekend.

After breakfast I called Chuck to catch up on things generally, discuss leaky windshields in particular, and see if we could arrange a time to visit. While we were talking a gust of wind opened our patio awning about 12″ and then let it slam shut. I realized immediately that I had not latched the roller tube at either end when we retracted it a few days ago in advance of the latest round of storms. I told Chuck I would call him right back and went outside to latch the tubes. We always latch the roller tube when stowing it prior to moving the coach so I found it to be an interesting oversight on our part that we had not done this when stowing it while stationary. We were lucky that we were home when this happened and that I was seated where I could see exactly what had happened and quickly figure out why. You can be sure we will latch the roller tube from now on whenever it is retracted.

With yet another problem diagnosed and fixed I called Chuck back. As it turned out there was also an RV show taking place at their motorcoach resort this weekend; mostly new and used Prevost conversions from Millennium, Marathon, Liberty, and Featherlight, with a few others and some high end motorhomes thrown in for good measure. The show was open until 4 PM and Chuck was doing volunteer shuttle service with his golf cart from 2 – 4 PM. It was a nice day, except for the wind, and we decided to drive down for a visit, look at some of the coaches, and then go out to dinner.

We left around 11:30 AM and stopped at the Shell station to top up the fuel tank. We then headed down FL-31 to its terminus at FL-80 and headed west for a few miles where we picked up I-75 southbound. We exited I-75 at exit 101 and drove another nine miles on Collier Blvd, finally crossing Tamiami Trail (US-41) before arriving at Pelican Lake Luxury Motorcoach Resort. While we were stopped at the light at Tamiami Trail Linda called Chuck as requested. When we got to the resort entrance he and Barbara were waiting for us in their golf cart. Rather than parking with the other RV show attendees they led us back to their site and let us park there. By the time we got to their site it was approaching 1:30 PM. They gave us a tour and we sat outside in the sun chatting, their extensive landscaping sheltering us from most of the wind, which had blown us around on the drive down and was still blowing strongly.

At 2 PM Barbara took their car and headed to the grocery store and Chuck drove us to the coach display area in his golf cart. While he performed his volunteer service we looked at all of the Prevost conversions but did not bother with the motorhomes other than the Newells. The only coach we saw that would have tempted us to trade in our Royale Coach was a Featherlight that was done in walnut laminate (not real wood) with light wall and ceiling treatments and no mirrors on the ceiling. It had a light, clean, modern feeling that appealed to us. Being new, it was in better condition than ours and had a much newer technology Volvo 4-cycle engine. It was also way out our price range, even if they gave us what we had invested in our coach in trade-in value. New Prevost conversions are very expensive toys.

We did pay attention, however, to the induction cooktops that most of the coaches had and took pictures of the name plates for future reference. Replacing our Gaggenau halogen cooktop with an induction unit is high on our list of future upgrades. Ideally it will be a 120 VAC unit so we can use it on a 120 VAC / 30 Amp electrical service. At least now we have some things to check out.

A few minutes before 4 PM we walked back to Chuck and Barbara’s site. I paused long the way to take a few pictures as the resort really is visually stunning. We sat at their patio table and enjoyed the setting in the late afternoon sun. Chuck eventually called me on my cell phone to let me know he was done with his volunteer service and find out where we were so he could drive us back. He was surprised we had walked, but then we are always amazed that people use their golf carts for short trips.

When Chuck returned we went inside to chat and he opened a bottle of Santos Sparkling Moscato (white). Wow, that was a nice cocktail wine! The buy it at Costco so that may finally be the reason we need to join. Barbara returned with the groceries and after putting them away we had a second glass of wine. After some research and discussion we determined that The Loving Hut restaurant, on the north side of downtown Naples, was, in fact, still open for business and was acceptable to all four of us. The restaurant is just off of Tamiami Trail, so easy enough to find, but traffic in the Naples area is heavy all the time and it took a while to get there. Once we arrived we settled in for a long meal with good conversation.

There are three things we like about The Loving Hut restaurants, not in any particular order. For one, the menu is essentially Chinese and SE Asian cuisine. Second, the menu is extensive with page after page of dishes to choose from. Third, the entire menu is vegan; we can, literally, pick dishes at random and know that we can eat them and that we will like them. As a bonus, they also have a nice assortment of European style vegan desserts. It’s a chain, and we really wish we had one of these near our house, but it’s probably just as well that we do not.

We drove separate cars to the restaurant since it was in the direction we needed to go and neither of us had a car that would seat more than two people. We said “farewell until next time” in the parking lot at 8:15 PM and headed our separate ways. We only had a few miles to travel to the east to get back to I-75. From there we retraced our route and finally arrived back at our coach around 9:40 PM.

We had left the windows cracked so it did not too hot inside for the cats but by the time we returned it was 66 degrees inside. Not freezing cold, to be sure, but just chilly enough to warrant the application of heat for a while. We changed into our sweats and watched some old British comedy programs on PBS/Create as there was nothing else on that looked interesting and I was too tired to start working on anything, including this post (which I deferred until Sunday). I shut off the hydronic heating system and the electric toe-kick heaters, and turned on the electric heating pad on my side of the bed, before turning in for the night. Juniper (our female cat) very quickly got under the covers between us and spent the rest of the night there. Jasper (our male cat) alternated between our pillows and the foot of the bed but never got under the covers. Juniper likes the warmth and security but I think it’s too hot for Jasper and makes him feel trapped.

Barb and Chuck’s site and coach at Pelican Lake, Naples, FL.

2016/01/24 (N) Snowmagedon Exchange Rate

We woke to an outside air temperature of 38 degrees F, our coldest morning yet since we arrived in Florida, but we were not complaining. We closed all of the windows before going to bed last night and the temperature only dropped to 59 degrees F in the coach, which is actually a nice temperature for sleeping. We put on our sweats and turned on the three thermostats that control the zone pumps and fan-coil heat exchangers for the Aqua-Hot hydronic heating system, along with the front electric toe-kick heater. The Aqua-Hot diesel burner was still “on” from yesterday when we showered but the electric heating element kept it from running so I turned the element off.

The strong, sustained winds yesterday had caused no more damage than a temporary power outage while we away from the coach, for which our house battery/inverter system took over as it is supposed to do. Our weather related problems were few by comparison to what others’ experienced. Just 200 miles north of us it was 28 degrees F in Williston and colder still Nashville, Tennessee with a low in the mid-teens. Temperatures back home where around 20 degrees F, but that’s typical for SE Michigan this time of year, perhaps even a bit on the warm side of normal.

By far the worst weather, however, was the major snow/ice/wind storm that affected a large area from NW Mississippi up to Ohio and east across Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania to the eastern seaboard from Georgia, through the Carolinas, Washington D. C., Philadelphia, New York City, and on into New England. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, just west of Hershey and Annville, where Ron and Mary live, got 28″ of snow, and a small town in West Virginia got 40.5″, while places along the coast experienced significant flooding. Thousands of flights were cancelled and transportation in D. C. and New York was at a standstill. All things considered we felt like Arcadia was a really good choice for our winter base this year.

Linda checked in with Ron and Mary and they reported 30″ of snow at their house which they were in the process of clearing from their driveway. Linda also checked in with Meghan, who reported no serious weather back home. More importantly their male cat, Inches, had finished his round of medication and was doing much better.

Having visited Pelican Lake yesterday we were thinking about where we might go when we leave Big Tree RV Resort at the end of the first week in March. Our thoughts drifted back to the conversation we had at the Tampa RV Supershow with the representatives from Florida Grande Motorcoach Resort. Like Pelican Lake, Florida Grande is an ownership park. It’s located near Webster, Florida about 100 miles north of Arcadia and a similar distance southeast of Williston. The prices for lots there are more in our price range than Pelican Lake but we are a long way from buying an RV site anywhere.

Linda checked the website and saw that Florida Grande was offering a 2-for-1 special at the moment; pay for one week at the regular price (~$267) and get a second week free. It also appeared that they had openings for the second and third week of March. We were thinking of stopping there for a few days to check it out on our way to the FMCA national rally the third week of March in Perry, Georgia. We have been reconsidering our attendance at that rally, however, as we really do not want to be that far north that early in March. The 2-for-1 deal now has us thinking that Florida Grande might be a good place to spend the second and third weeks of March and then try to get into Jetty Park at Cape Canaveral for the last week of the month.

Linda took over the desk to work on some things for the bakery so I spent the late morning writing my blog post for yesterday and starting today’s post. The high temperature today only reached 59 degrees but that was plenty warm enough to dump the holding tanks and refill the fresh water tank, which are on the sunny, southeast facing side of the coach. Before I even got started, however, I ended up in a conversation with Dave whose 5th wheel trailer is across the street from us. He and Barb are from New Hampshire and this is their 8th season at Big Tree RV Resort.

Dave said that the resort residents used to be about 60% from Quebec Province but the number has dropped to about 30% in recent years. Most people “age out” of this lifestyle, whether mobile or stationary, due to declining health, strain on their financial resources, or loss of interest. In the case of the folks from Quebec (and Ontario) the exchange rate to the U. S. dollar, which is currently 60%, is making it prohibitively expense for them to come south of the border for the winter. When they exchange $1,000 CA they get $600 US. That makes it really tough to come here and is one of the reasons our friends, Bill and Karen Gerrie, did not return to Florida, or anywhere else in the U. S., this winter.

All of the park models and permanent trailers here at Big Tree Carefree RV Resort are owned by individuals, not the park, so beyond the nice climate and social connections the owners have a real monetary investment here. Dave said that 17 to 24 units are typically for sale each year but so far people are buying them. The largest contingent in the park now appears to be Michiganders (aka Michiganians). One of the couples we were talking to at the jam session on Thursday was from Jackson, Michigan and told me that in recent years they have been getting 75 attendees at the Michigan dinner, and that is probably not everyone in the park who calls Michigan home.

While I was out talking to Dave and tending to our tanks I took a closer look at our new windshield and discovered that the caulk the Safelite installers used was coming loose from everything, i.e., it was not adhering to the glass, the rubber gasket, or the body. Chuck has had the same issue with his two windshields and has a “claim” in progress with Safelite. He had e-mailed me all of his correspondence with the company so I e-mailed him back to let him know what I had just found.

When I tested the water coming out of the softener after filling the tank it indicated somewhere between 7 and 15 grains per gallon. When I tested the water coming out of the park supply faucet on our arrival I estimated the hardness at 11 gpg. If that was accurate, the water had not changed, and today’s test was accurate, it meant our 8,000 to 10,000 grain water softener was exhausted in less than 5,000 grains by my calculations. That did not seem reasonable to me so I plan to retest the water and the output of the softener, but today’s reading suggested that the water might be harder than I thought and that the softener was exhausted and needed to be recharged.

My main focus today, however, was laundry. For Linda’s part she wanted to clean the inside of the coach, take care of something for our FMCA GLCC chapter, and then work on something for the bakery. I decided to take my laptop computer to the laundry room and try to download Windows 10. It’s a 3 GB download so there was no way we were going to do this using our Verizon data plan. I did not know, however, if the resort Wi-Fi system would allow me to download that much data or have a fast enough data rate to complete the download in a reasonable amount of time. What I discovered was that the public Wi-Fi only downloaded 2.65 MB in 45 minutes and ultimately disconnected me from the Internet. I turned off the Wi-Fi radio in my computer and looked to see if there was some way to cancel the download. Unfortunately I did not find one. Not good. Shame on you, Microsoft (once again). Stuff like that is an advertisement for Linux.

Linda put the NFL AFC championship game on our living room TV and Ron, on our driver side, set up one on a table under his patio awning, so I got to listen to the game in surround sound. Yippee. I was going to take a nap (in the bedroom) but decided to stay up and continue working on today’s blog post, which was getting quite lengthy.

Around 4 PM we had sourdough pretzel nibblers and hummus for lunch. It’s going to be another week before Gary can have Stacy proofread the three articles I have in the queue for Bus Conversion Magazine so I decided so spend the later part of the afternoon editing my blog posts for October 2015 and get them ready to upload. I only got a few of them done and decided to take a nap after all. I was not feeling well, which made it hard to concentrate and made this work an unpleasant chore rather than something I enjoyed doing.

I napped for a couple of hours, which I really needed, but I still did not feel right when I got up. The late afternoon and early evening disappeared without accomplishing much of anything and we finally had granola for dinner around 8 PM. We watched Downton Abbey from 9 to 10 PM on PBS and then watched the first of six episodes of The X-Files on FOX once the NFL NFC championship game ended and the talking heads ran out of things to say afterwards. In truth, they ran out of things to say before they ever got started.

We were in bed with the lights out by 11:45 PM. I set the heater pad on my side of the bed to 4 (out of 10) and was toasty warm in spite of the dropping temperature outside and inside the coach. Juniper (our female cat) immediately climbed under the covers between us with her head between our pillows and settled in for the night.

2016/01/25 (M) TV Dilemma

The forecasted low temperature for last night was 37 degrees F. The low temperature usually occurs just before sunrise; around 7 AM this time of year in Arcadia. We woke up around then and checked the current weather on our phones which reported the temperature as 40 degrees F. The temperature inside our coach was 56, three degrees colder than I have seen so far this winter, so I suspected the outside temperature dropped down into the upper 30s overnight.

I was feeling a little “off” last evening and did not sleep well last night, but not for lack of warmth. I set the heater pad on my side of the bed to 4 (out of 10) and I was comfortable enough that way. I had taken a nap during the afternoon, so I wasn’t really tired at midnight, but mostly I was unable to find a comfortable position. Juniper (our female cat) got under the covers between our heads as soon as we went to bed, so that constrained somewhat my ability to change positions, which I did almost constantly; at least that was my perception.

We got up and put on our sweats, which is our standard routine for cold mornings unless we are leaving early to go somewhere. I turned the Aqua-Hot on, turned on the three zone controllers, and set the thermostats to 70 degrees. I then made our morning coffee and checked my e-mail while it was brewing. The FMCA National Education Committee meeting that was tentatively set for today or next Monday (February 1st) was being rescheduled for February 8th or 15th. That was fine with me; I have other things to work on right now and I am not looking forward to our committee’s discussion of meaningless survey data. It’s not that I enjoy bring a nay-sayer, but there’s a science (and art) to doing surveys and as best I can tell the survey was not distributed in a way that allows us to treat the responses as representative of the larger population of FMCA members.

While we were enjoying our first cup-a-Joe a crow landed on the power pole just north of our rig (two sites away except that there is only one more site north of us). Juniper spied it right away and began chattering the way she does when she sees birds and gets excited. The crow eventually left and was replaced by our resident Pileated Woodpecker. The woodpecker was clinging to the side of the pole, rather than sitting on the wires, where the pole has been pecked away and reduced in diameter for a length of some 10 inches (estimated) all the way around. Pileated Woodpeckers are large, magnificent birds and are always a treat to see. It eventually left and was replaced by a smaller woodpecker or Flicker but I was not able to see it well enough to be sure which one it was.

We like something hot and substantial on a cold morning, and oatmeal is our go to choice, so that was what Linda made for breakfast. We did not have plans to travel today so we stayed in our sweats for most of the morning. I finished my blog post for yesterday, started on this one, and then settled in at my computer to edit posts for October 2015.

I took a break and tested the water from the tap and softener. Both readings were once again between 7 and 15 gpg so the hardness of the tap water had not changed since my original test and the softener was definitely depleted. I checked to see if the clear filter housings I bought at the Arcadia rally would fit the pre-filter. They did, so I cleaned them and substituted one for the opaque housing. I configured the pre-filter housing with the flow constrictor tube, added 26 ounces of table salt, and started the water flow, allowing the discharge to drain on the ground.

After a couple of hours most of the salt was still in the bottom of the housing and I could see the top of the flow diverter tube so I knew there was a problem and had a good idea what it was. The tube was not sealed at the top allowing water to enter the filter housing and go right back out without being forced down through the salt and into the slots at the bottom of the flow diverter tube. I added an O-ring under the bottom of the tube and a rubber flat washer at the top. I recovered the washer from one of the old filter elements.

I added another 26 ounces of table salt to the housing and reassembled it. When I turned on the water pressure it pushed about half of the salt into the softener even with the outlet valve closed. This was probably the first time since I made the diverter tube that my regeneration system actually worked as intended and, because of the clear housing, the first time I was able to visually observe it. Because so much salt got pushed into the softener I ran just a little more water and then shut it off to let the brine develop and exchange ions with the resin.

For dinner Linda made a couscous dish with grape tomatoes and other yummy ingredients. I was still not feeling 100% right but this dish was light enough and tasty enough to be appetizing.

We had a TV dilemma this evening; X-Files vs. Supergirl. After many years absence FOX brought back a 6-episode season of The X-Files. Episode 1 was Sunday evening after the NFL NFC Championship game but episode 2 was this evening at 8 PM, placing it opposite Supergirl on CBS. Episodes 3 through 6 will also air on Mondays at 8 PM. Buggers. Our other Monday evening shows were all repeats but we watched them anyway.

The low temperature for overnight was forecast to be 50 degrees F with no storms. That meant we could leave the windows open and the furnace/heaters off and get a good night’s sleep.

2016/01/11 (M) – 15 (F) Family and Friends

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2016/01/11 (M) Jack and Paula

Linda was up at 7:30 AM and read quietly. I got up at 8:15 AM and made coffee. We had granola for breakfast with fresh strawberries which finished the current batch of cereal. Linda got another batch out of the freezer to thaw. We have five batches remaining.

Linda was checking e-mail and noticed that we had been billed yesterday for almost $500 by iPage for web-hosting services. I originally signed up with iPage in January 2013 for three years. I transferred everything over to QTH in August 2013 but did not cancel the iPage account. I did not realize that the account was set up for automatic renewal. I logged in to see if I could close the account and cancel the transaction or initiate a refund but the website just gave me a number to call. I did and finally got to talk to Scott in billing. He was obviously a native English speaker and was able to take care of everything quickly and efficiently and provide a confirmation number. If iPage’s technical/customer support had been that good I might never have switched to a different web-hosting service. I am, none-the-less, very glad that three of the four websites I work with are on QTH.com‘s web-servers and wish that all four of them were. The technical and customer support there is second-to-none.

Linda wanted to send another postcard to grand-daughter Madeline so I downloaded the photos I took yesterday and selected one of a heron to use. I post-processed it at several different sizes and copied it to the NAS. She needed it on her iPad, however, so I e-mailed it to her. Even though our iPads (and phones) can connect to our secure Wi-Fi network they are not able to access the network resources such as the NAS and printer. I really should take the time to figure out if there is a way to do that.

On the drive home last night the Honda Element started displaying a message to “Check Gas Cap.” I pulled off the road and checked but it was on tight. The message, however, did not clear. When we got home Linda Googled the message and found several sites that indicated it was a periodic system check and would clear the next time around, assuming the cap was not, in fact, loose. That could take days, however, depending on how much we drove the car. The answer for most of this week will be “not much.”

Linda went for a late morning walk. The Element needed fuel so I drove to the Shell station on FL-70 to fill up the tank. Linda had walked to Winn-Dixie and was just returning as I was pulling out so she rode along to the filling station. She ran into Claudine Elbisser at the produce market and found out that she and Paul were still at Jack and Paula Conrad’s place south of town. Jack and Paula started the Arcadia Bussin Rally and ran it for the first 10 years before turning it over to Bill and Brenda Phelan.

Back at the coach Linda heated some Amy’s vegan chili for lunch. She opened a new (sealed) pack of saltine crackers as we like to crumble them in our chili and have a few on the side with vegan butter spread. They did not taste quite right but we were not sure just why. They were not spoiled but it seemed as if they were slightly stale (not crisp) and the flavor was also “off.” They were Publix branded and all of the grocery items we have ever gotten from there have been good quality but we decided to throw the crackers away.

A Green Heron at Myakka State Park, FL.

We went for a walk after lunch during which Linda got a call from her sister-in-law, Mary. They agreed that we might do something together tomorrow if Spence and Nancy had not made other plans for them. It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon but cool with highs in the upper 60’s. Rather than sit around the coach I called Jack to see if we could stop by for a visit. He and Paula did not have anything specific going on so we drove to their place about 10 miles south of Arcadia.

When we arrived we were greeted by Jack and Paula but found out that Paul and Claudine had pulled out this morning, so we did not get to visit with them. We then realized that when Claudine told Linda she had to run “because Paul was waiting for her at Walmart” he was waiting in the bus. John and Lois Vickrey were there, however, and the six of us had a nice visit. There were two other converted buses at the Conrad’s but the owners were not around. We did not recognize their names but both coaches were at the Arcadia Rally 2016 and we would probably have recognized them on sight.

By 4:45 PM the sun was low in the sky and the temperature had dropped into the low 60’s. We were getting cold so we excused ourselves and left. We stopped at Walmart on the way back to our RV resort for a box of angel hair pasta and a box of Nabisco saltine crackers. Back at our coach I closed the two roof vents and we closed all of the windows. I checked e-mail and Linda started working on dinner.

She started with a nice salad of baby kale, scallions, olives, and pumpkin seeds dressed with balsamic vinaigrette. The main course was angel hair pasta with a vegan mushroom cream sauce. She used the Miatake mushrooms we bought yesterday at the Farmers Market in Punta Gorda. It was outstanding and we really liked the taste and texture of the mushrooms, which were a new culinary experience for us.

We went for our usual after-dinner stroll around the resort and stopped by the activity building where lots of residents were playing bingo and smaller groups were playing cards and games. In another building a dozen men were playing pool. It was a beautiful clear night with the constellation Orion rising in the eastern sky. Although the air temperature was crisp folks were out walking, just like us.

Back at our coach we settled in to watch our usual Monday night TV programs (CBS). They were all re-runs, which we thought was odd, but we watched them anyway. We were off to bed at 11 PM and straight away to sleep. I turned on the electric heater pad and set it on 3. Toasty.

2016/01/12 (T) Myakka River State Park (FL)

The overnight low temperature was 47 degrees F; not cold enough to warrant turning the heat on in the coach but cold enough to cool off the interior by morning. We pulled up the blankets when we went to bed and I turned on the electric heater pad on my side of the bed; a more efficient use of energy than heating the whole coach. As a bonus, the cooler the coach the less the refrigerator runs, although the new one is much more efficient than the old one. When it gets cool enough in the coach Juniper (the cat) gets under the covers between us and puts her head between our pillows. She is such a princess.

A pair of alligators in the Myakka River, Myakka SP, FL.

We finally got out of bed at 8:15 AM and slipped into out sweats. I made coffee while Linda talked to Kathi at the bakery back in Michigan. We doodled on our iPads while we drank our coffee and let the coach warm up. By 9:30 it was 72 inside. I turned off the heaters and we sat down to a breakfast of homemade granola with blueberries and bananas and a small glass of orange juice. We doodled for another half hour after breakfast and then got dressed. In preparation for meeting Linda’s brother, Ron, and his wife, Mary, at Myakka State Park at 11 AM Linda made a picnic lunch and I got the camera gear ready to go.

We had planned to be on the road by 10:30 AM but actually left at 10:39. The 29 miles to the park entrance was not all 60 MPH, so we did not get to the visitor center until 11:20 AM. Ron and Mary were already there waiting for us. We looked at maps and discussed what we wanted to do. Ron and Mary wanted to see alligators in the wild, so they had come to the right place. The main park road crosses the Myakka River about a mile into the park from the entrance / visitor center with parking at both ends of the bridge. We knew from our visit two years ago that this was an excellent place to see alligators, as well as a variety of birds and so it was again today. After spending some time on the bridge we walked along the south/east bank of the river and found two more alligators sunning themselves on the opposite bank.

A little farther down the road was the parking area for the Canopy Walk and Nature Trail. We climbed the tower, walked across the suspension bridge, and then climbed to observation deck at the top of the second tower. The suspension bridge goes through the forest canopy about 35 feet in the air and affords a view of the forest that most of us rarely see. At 76.1 feet AGL the observation level put us well above the top of the trees with a commanding 360 degree view of the park and beyond. I shot a nine frame panorama from west through north to east.

By the time we got back to our cars we were all ready for lunch so we drove to the developed area on the south shore of Upper Myakka Lake. This area has one of the two campgrounds, a boat ramp, air boat tour concession, restaurant, restrooms, picnic tables, and a trail that leads out to a platform where the lake flows out and becomes the river. We found a picnic table in the sun near the shore and had our PB&J sandwiches, oranges, pretzels, and water. After lunch we walked out to the platform and were rewarded with more views of wildlife.

Ron, Linda, & Mary atop the 76.1 foot observation tower, Myakka SP, FL.

Our next stop was the “Birdwalk,” an elevated boardwalk near the northeast corner of the lake that goes out into an open harsh and gets people close to the shore. There was lots of wildlife out there but most of it was some distance away. A sign indicated that the donation box was to raise money to build an observation tower at end of the boardwalk above the existing viewing platform.

Our final stop for the day was the parking area for a trailhead in the northeast corner of the park. The main trail led to primitive campsites as much as 10 miles away. We did a loop of about 2.5 miles (by my estimate). Although the entire trail (park) was level terrain the footing was rough or soggy in places. Portions of our hike were through the forest and the rest was through prairie. It was our most vigorous hike of the day and I did not take any photos even though I carried the camera along.

By the time we got back to our cars it was 4:45 PM. The sun was low in the sky and the temperature had dropped. We discussed our plans for Thursday and then headed our separate ways. We had just left the park entrance and headed east on FL-72 when I spotted a group of 6 to 8 feral hogs on the north side of the road by a stream about 100 feet from the road. Linda did not spot them in time so I turned around and went back. As I slowed down they took off but Linda got to see them. I turned around again and headed towards Arcadia. Less than a mile down the road I saw four more in the ditch just off the north side of road. They were very large adult animals.

We were back at our coach by 6 PM and had left over Asian salad for dinner. It had been a slightly more physical day than normal so after dinner we settled in to watch our Tuesday evening TV programs on CBS.

2016/01/13 (W) Coffee Clutch

Today was our second Wednesday at Big Tree RV Resort. The only significance to that factoid is that Wednesday morning is the weekly resort coffee. As new arrivals in the resort we received a coupon for free coffee but forgot to go last week so we made a point of getting up and going this morning. The coffee starts at 8 AM but we had been “advised” by folks to arrive early if we wanted a seat. We got there around 7:50 AM and the place was packed. We got in line to get our coffee and found out that today’s gathering was sponsored by an insurance agency and was free of charge. We found seats and made the acquaintance of the people sitting near us.

Ron, Mary and Me atop the 76.1 foot observation tower, Myakka SP, FL. (Photo by Linda)

This was not a coffee clutch where folks stand around, mingle, and chat. There are somewhere between 700 and 800 people in this park and I estimated that at least 400 of them were present at the coffee. Everyone was seated on both sides of long tables for the entire duration of the coffee, which lasted until 9:15 AM. It was very organized and consisted of introductions, lots of announcements, lots of door prizes, and a 50/50 drawing. For the seasonal and permanent residents the information is probably useful, but it was not that interesting or useful to us. We might go one more time just to take advantage of our free coffee coupon but the nature of the gathering won’t afford us any opportunity to meet people and talk to them over coffee so we probably won’t make a priority of going.

Today was laundry day for us. Linda needed a few things from Winn-Dixie, including a few Powerball lottery tickets, and walked down to get them. I gathered up the laundry, sorted it by color and temperature into three batches, and drove over to the laundry room in the activity building. The washing machines only took about 25 minutes so I stuck around until they were done. After getting those loads into dryers I went back and got the bedding, returned to the laundry room, and put it in a washing machine. I took my iPad with me but ended up in a conversation with a few folks. By the time I was done with the laundry and back at our coach it was 2 PM.

A flock of birds takes flight at the north end of Upper Myakka Lake, Myakka SP, FL.

I took a long a long nap during which Linda went for a long walk, prepared ingredients for tomorrow’s lunch, and worked on her counted cross-stitch project. I finally got up just in time for dinner. After dinner we watched a fascinating documentary titled “Autism in Love” as a result of which we did not watch Nature. We did, however, watch NOVA. It was also a fascinating program exploring new discoveries and understandings about the role and relationship of minerals in the origin and evolution of life on earth.

I watched some of the evening news on channel 11-1 and also checked the weather on channel 11-2. A strong low pressure system was moving east from New Orleans across the Florida panhandle with strong storms coming ashore in that area. A long, comma-shaped cold front extended from the low far down into the Gulf and was advancing on the peninsula. It was forecast to come ashore starting north of Cedar Key after midnight and then progressively affect all of the shore communities south to Marco Island with strong thunderstorms along the front and a low possibility that some of them might become severe. Rain, possibly heavy, was due in Arcadia starting around 4 AM and getting heavy by 5 AM. Knowing this obviously doesn’t change whatever is going to happen, but knowing what is expected allows us configure the coach properly and to be prepared and react appropriately to events as they unfold if needed.

2016/02/14 (R) Ron and Mary

We were up by 7:30 AM this morning, had showers, got dressed, and had breakfast. Linda finished food preparations for lunch today and then straightened up the inside of the coach while I dumped the holding tanks and filled the fresh water tank.

I was outside a little later in the morning and learned from a neighbor that the sewer line that services row K (where we are parked) had developed a blockage and sewage had “backed up into a couple of rigs.” No one, however, was able/willing to be more specific than that. A plumber was called and I chatted with him briefly when he arrived. He confirmed that the sewer line ran from our end of row K south towards the front of the park by Hwy 70. He determined quickly that there was indeed a blockage and I learned from him later that it extended along a considerable length of the sewer pipe. This was not the first time he was called to deal with this and was able to get the drain line opened up.

Piecing together the available information I figured it was entirely possible that the sewage that backed up was from our tanks but that the blockage was not something we caused. Linda, however, was of the opinion that the plumber had been summoned before I dumped. Regardless, I’m sure it was unpleasant for those who were affected and I hope we do not have a repeat of this situation while we are here. While in no way our fault, we would hate to have contributed to the situation in any way, however inadvertently.

My reasoning was that we are the second rig from the far end of the drain line and the tops of our waste tanks are almost 4 to 5 feet above ground level. The tanks are large and if they were near full would release a considerable volume of effluent with a significant head pressure. If the drain line was mostly constricted (reducing its available volume), and the blockage was not very far down stream (also reducing its available volume), the weight of the contents of our waste tanks could cause the drain line to quickly fill and then force the effluent up through any available path, such as another rig’s dump hose. This would continue until the levels reached equilibrium.

In a trailer with its floor not that far off the ground sewage could, hypothetically, back up into waste tank(s) and then into the toilet and/or sinks. None of that would happen, of course, unless the dump valves on the other RV(s) had been left open. We have always been told that leaving the dump valves open on an RV is a very bad idea but the reason is that getting a good, thorough, dump requires a nearly full tank. Today’s events have given us additional reason to keep the valves closed except to dump.

Now that’s what I’m talking about! We have got to get one of these. A 4-wheel drive, Sprinter-based Class B conversion from Sportsmobile as seen at the Tampa RV Supershow, Tampa State Fairgrounds, Tampa, FL.

Ron and Mary arrived a little after 11 AM. We gave them a tour of the interior remodeling work we have done and then sat and visited. Eventually we were hungry and spread the tablecloth on the outside picnic table and had lunch out there.

After lunch Ron drove us to Joshua Citrus a couple of miles south of our resort where we bought a variety of citrus fruit. We then drove to downtown, parked, and walked around poking our heads into some of the antique shops. Mary was looking for a pair of clear glass lamp chimneys with a 2″ diameter base. The closest she came was a pair with a 2-1/4″ base. Apparently 3” diameter bases are common, 2” diameter bases, not so much.

We returned to the coach for a while and then took two cars and went to El Pirata for dinner. It was our first time there although friends had told us it was OK and it was the #4 rated restaurant in Arcadia. Linda did not care for her margarita and also did not care for the veggie fajitas or any of the sides that came with the dish. I had Dos Equis Amber in a bottle, so it was fine. I thought the food was OK; not outstanding but not disagreeable, so perhaps she just wasn’t in the mood for Mexican food tonight.

The restaurant wasn’t full so we lingered and chatted for quite a while but eventually it was time to leave. We were only a few minutes from home but Ron and Mary had an hour’s drive to get back to Spence and Nancy’s place. Back at our coach we settled in to watch our usual Thursday evening CBS TV programs and then headed off to bed as we planned an early departure tomorrow morning to get to the Tampa RV Supershow.

2016/01/15 (F) Tampa RV Supershow

As forecast, the rain started around 4 AM and by 5 AM was fairly heavy. I was not, however, aware of any lightning, thunder, or strong winds. We got up at 7:30 AM, got dressed, and had some of the Honeybelle tangelos we bought yesterday. Honeybelles are only available for about a month starting this time of year and are highly touted so we bought a quarter-Bushnell bag. We were, however, quite disappointed in their taste and texture. We will eat them anyway, of course, but they will not be the treat we were counting on.

We planned to leave at 8:30 AM to drive to the Florida State Fairgrounds for the Tampa RV Supershow. It was still raining and was forecast to continue through the morning. I took the vertical grip off of the Sony SLT-a99v to lighten it and make it easier to carry in the Cotton Carrier camera harness/holster. I packed a couple of extra batteries, we took our raincoats, and headed out.

We encountered very heavy rain between Arcadia and Tampa, especially along FL-70 between Arcadia and I-75. We arrived at the fairgrounds around 10:15 AM, got our tickets, and made it into the Expo hall just as another heavy band of rain moved through.

A Prevost H3-45 VIP conversion shell on display at the Tampa RV Supershow. The driver side of the coach is elevated on ramps and mirrors on the floor allow show attendees to see the underside of the bus.

Just inside the door to the right was the major display of Prevost bus conversions and to the left was a major display of Airstream trailers and Class B motorhomes. We crossed paths with Steve Zigler, Prevost Sales Manager for conversion shells and chatted briefly. We met Giesle from the home office in St. Claire, Quebec and also met Melanie from Millennium Coach. We found out from Melanie that Millennium is now the primary corporate support for the Royale Coach Club. Apparently Liberty Coach took over sponsorship when Royale Coach folded around 2005 and Millennium took over from Liberty some time more recently. We were members at one time but have not paid dues in several years.

The Prevost coaches were one of the main things we came to see and meeting people from the company was a bonus. Our other objective was to check out all of the parts and accessories vendors, of which there were many, and RV Parks and Resorts, of which there where an equal number. We mostly picked up literature until we found Bill and Brenda Phelan’s booth. One of their products is tire covers made from heavy nylon mesh material. It blocks most of the sunlight while allowing moisture to escape. We have meant to get tire covers for years but never have so we ordered six in a dark brown material. They are a significant purchase, but not compared to the tires they are designed to protect. They will make the covers based on our tire size and ship them to us. They also make nylon mesh windshield wiper covers but I need to measure the length of our lower wiper blades and send Brenda the measurement. Another product of theirs are windshield and side window covers. These, however, are custom made on site.

The interior of the Prevost H3-45 VIP motorcoach conversion shell. This coach was actually in the process of being converted by Millennium for a customer. Note the interior layout marked out on the floor.

In the other vendor building we stopped at the booth for Williston Crossings and Belle Parc RV Resorts. Alan, who is the managing partner for both properties, was staffing the booth so we chatted with him briefly. We also stopped at the booth for Florida Grande Motorcoach Resort in Webster, Florida. This was the other RV Resort that our friend, Ed Roelle, suggested we check out two years ago. Unlike Williston Crossings, where we ended up, the lots in Florida Grande are all for sale as deeded properties with a fractional ownership in the common grounds and structures. At least that was our understanding.

The sites at Florida Grande sell for about $48K and a coach house can be added for about $31K. HOA fees currently run about $550 per quarter but we did not inquire about how the level is set or what limits might exist on them being raised. Lots can be placed in a rental pool when unused but we did not ask if owners can arrange their own sublets. We heard from someone later than only about half the lots are sold. That means lots are still available for purchase, but also makes such a purchase potentially risky. It means plenty of unsold lots are available to rent and if the rest of the lots do not eventually sell in a reasonable amount of time the future of the whole development would be in doubt.

We are not planning on purchasing a lot anytime soon, in Florida or elsewhere, but it is an idea that interests us longer-term. We might drive up in the car to check it out or, more likely, stop there for a few days in the bus when we finally leave Big Tree RV Resort in March.

We eventually found our friend, Al Hesselbart, manning his Antique RV booth at the far end of the fairgrounds. He was asked by the RV Show organizers to put together an antique RV display but relegated him to a remote corner of the show. He had commitments from the owners of eight antique RVs, plus his own 1978 Newell, but four of them backed out at the last minute and the other four simply did not show up. Whatever their reasons it was disappointing and inconsiderate. Al had a large TV monitor with a slide show of about 500 images running automatically in a loop. He had them in a shelter to protect them, and him, from the worst of the rain.

It was almost 5 PM by the time we got back to our car. We discussed calling Ed and Betty Burns, who live near Bradenton, to see if they were up for a visit but we were at least an hour away and decided it was too short a notice, too late in the day, and we were too tired. We fought our way through Friday rush hour traffic across US-301 to I-75 and headed south to exit 217, which is FL-70 to Bradenton (west) and Arcadia (east). We stopped at the Speedway for gasoline and bought two coffees to scare away the cobwebs. It had been a long day.

As we continued east on FL-70 Linda got a call from her sister, Marilyn, to finalize plans for tomorrow. We got back to our coach around 6:45 PM and had a light dinner of garbanzo bean salad sandwiches and a small glass of wine. We then watched a program about Agatha Christy on PBS/Create followed by two episodes of Miss Marple. Linda headed off to bed before the second episode was over while I remained up to continue working on my blog posts from today and the previous two days.

I stayed up to watch the WINK evening news (channel 11-1). They reported that the storms this morning included a confirmed EF-1 tornado in south Fort Meyers and wind damaged property in Lehigh Acres. The meteorologists made it clear that the January tornados from today and last weekend would normally be quite rare for this time of year but were not unusual in an El Niño year like this one. We are headed to Fort Meyers tomorrow for the first time to visit with Marilyn and the weather forecast looks fine if a bit cool. Another round of strong storms is forecast for Sunday morning in connection with the passage of yet another cold front trailing from a strong low pressure center moving east across the Florida panhandle. We plan to stay home Sunday but Marilyn is flying back to St. Louis, Missouri, weather permitting.

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Tag Archives: Florida Grande Motorcoach Resort (Webster FL)

2016/03/12-14 (S-M) Middle of Nowhere Close to Everywhere

2016/03/09-11 (W-F) Shop Eat Be Happy

2016/03/08 Custom Window Covers for the Bus

2016/03/07 (M) Arcadia to Webster

2016/03/04-06 (F–N) BTCRVR Conclusion

2016/02/16–20 (T–S) Friends, Food, and Good Times

2016/01/26-31 (T-N) Coming Off The Road

2016/01/21 (R) – 2016/01-25 (M) East and South

2016/01/11 (M) – 15 (F) Family and Friends