Florida 2013 - Still in NC

Still at Davidson for another 36 hours.  The time with the boys has been going along with out a hitch.  The weather turned warmer and nicer so Friday after school they played out until nearly 6.  By the time we got dinner over and they watched some movie and had popcorn they were in bed later than a school night.  They have been out since 10:30 (it is now 3 on Saturday afternoon) this morning playing hard.  Judy packed them a lunch and they went to the "green" (a park) with the boy next door and played.

The cat seems content back at the RV.  This is a shot of the campground we are now using.  It is 2/3 the cost of the raceway and less than half for the entire week.

This is a close-up of the area where are in.  The RV next to the third road to the left is just where we are parked for now.

Moving on Down

Monday morning the 7^th we began the move south again.  Had planned on beating the Charlotte rush-hour traffic, but it did not work out that way.  We both were sleeping so good that by the time we took care of all the issues and got on the road it was nearly 8AM.  It was a bit fun going down I85 through the construction zones and then on to I77 through the heart of Charlotte.  Once we made the South Carolina border things smoothed out and it was not too bad of a drive.  Because of the late start we decided to try to get into Kings Bay Sub Base for the night rather than our usual push on to Valdosta, GA.  We soon found that the GPS coordinates for the park are good, but Esther (our GPS voice/director) lead us to a long ago closed gate on a dead in street with barely room to turn the RV around.  A gentleman was leaving a local business, saw our distress and gave us good directions to the gate.  When we arrived, the place was full.  They put us in ‘overflow’ but we had water and electric and even limited cable – but no ESPN so missed the lopsided BSC game. 

We had heard of a local restaurant called Aunt B’s so thought we would try it and skip the ice cream social in the park.  After driving around and around and getting directions we found it – closed!  Judy had spotted a place on our trip to the wrong gate so we tried to find it again – and did.  St Mary’s Seafood restaurant is a place to go if you ever get in the area.  It is local (lots of locals and families) and the food was great and lots of it.

On the way back into the base, the guard asked to see both or our ID cards.  He kept Judy’s as it had expired in April of 2012.  So that’s another task to add to our list of must does at MacDill – get her a new ID.

MacDill

The Tuesday trip to MacDill was without incident.  We arrived expecting to go into dry camp/overflow but were put in a partial hook-up site for 14 days (we have water and electric but Jon has to ‘dump’ our grey and black water).  We are number 27 on the list for a full hook up ‘permanent’ site so maybe we won’t have to stay in this spot too long.  For now we will spend our time on site 302.  An interesting thing occurred when we checked in.  When I told the clerk the last name – “Sample” – he put it in the computer and asked “From Wasilla, Alaska?”  It turns out that there is a John Sample who has been at MacDill from Alaska.

Unlike last year, only a couple of units are in dry camp.  Not sure why but it is okay with us.  We’ve meet several folks from previous years and Judy has started ‘exercise’ three days a week and on Tuesday’s it is quilting and Thursday’s crafts. Jon is busy making more modifications to the RV and fixing things to our liking. 

Sunday we had visitors from Ohio.  Jim and Karen McGir from our camping group were staying at a state park not far from us.  They came on base and we did the tour and had a good late lunch/early dinner of grilled chicken and broasted potatoes.

We had Lilly to the Vet for her annual check and shots and now we have to take Lydia too.  It seems that even cats must have the rabies shot on bases.  Because of her size and age, the Vet wants to see her.  The Tech said that quite possibly because of her age, size and fact that she is a purely indoor cat we would get a waiver.

How quickly our days begin to fill.  Friday nights will be the camp pot-luck dinners and we signed up for the dinner trip on Tuesday the 15^th to Miller’s Ale House.  Tuesdays will be quilting for Judy and Thursday Computer’s for Jon. We signed up for the “Walk Your Buns Off” program through the Base Fitness Center.  We begin our step counting on Monday the 14^th with new pedometers.

This is what Google Earth shows for the FamCamp at MacDill.

Wednesday night the 16^th we went to an outdoor performance by the “Tops In Blue” – a talented group of performers from all over the Air Force.  They put on a good 90 minute show.  Only drawback was the over two hours on metal folding chairs.

Our above normal temperatures broke early on Thursday.  Wednesday it was in the low 80’s but by 2 Thursday afternoon it was 59!  Supposed to have a couple of below normal days and then by early next week back to more normal temperatures – highs in the low to mid 70’s and down to the 50’s at night.

Friday we headed to the Florida RV show with Brenda and Nick Jones from Tennessee.  We had gotten to know them last year and re-acquainted this year.  The Recreation Office was giving out free “VIP” tickets (good for two) so we took advantage.  We saw maybe only a third of the RV’s on display.  Prevost had an entire building of their products.  One unit you could only look at through the windows – price tag 1.8 million!!  Lots of ‘toy haulers’ some had triple axles and an unloaded weight of nearly 15000 pounds.

The Jones’ were particularly interested in some of the ‘single wide’ units for set-up in a mobile home park.  They are really nice.

We definitely got in our steps for the day.  Camping World had a taken over an entire display barn (site of the show is the state fair grounds) and we did make one purchase, a “Jack” antenna head.  The reviews indicate it is much better than the ‘bat-wing’ antenna currently on the RV.

Saturday afternoon after doing a little shopping we got the call to move to a full hook-up site.  It did not take us long to get moved.  We are good here for 14 more days and at last check we were 15^th on the list for a ‘permanent’ site.  Hopefully we will get it before we have to move to dry camp.  But we can’t be to sure as the dry camp area is beginning to fill up.

This is our site for two weeks – site 37.  The location seems familiar and we think we were on this site once before.

Sunday we had a call from the Hlavic’s from home.  Mary is the church organist and Ken leads bike rides on the towpath.  They were in Florida doing ‘rides’ with a bicycle club.  They were on their way from Orlando to Venice so they stopped by for a visit.  After a tour of the base we had a nice lunch and they moved on.

Tuesday night’s dinner trip was to Campanalla’s in Pinellas.  It is good to meet new folks and experience some local restaurants.  Both of us brought home about half our meal so no cooking for dinner on Wednesday.

Each Thursday one of the fellows in the FamCamp runs a “G” rated movie for everyone at the ‘closed’ base theater. Folks take snacks and food and enjoy the movie.  This week we saw “Diary of a Wimpy Kid – Dog Days.”

Friday Judy was off to a day of quilting.  A small bus and a van took 22 ladies to a quilt show and stops at two quilt shops near St Petersburg. She got back just in time to make the Friday night “States Night” potluck.  Unfortunately, Michigan again had the most in attendance, but Ohio was second with 12.

Sunday we headed to the Tarpon Springs area with Nick and Brenda Jones.  We loaded all the bikes in/on the Ram and left a little after 9:30 for the 40 plus minute drive to Wall Springs Park.  The park is a beautiful place and just a little under five miles from Tarpon Springs.  We had a nice ride on the Pinellas Trail (a 35 plus mile rails to trails bike path) into downtown Tarpon Springs.  We walked the old town called the sponge capital of the world.  It is a Greek community with plenty of good places to eat.  About 1:30 we stopped in Plaka’s for lunch.  On the ride back to the park, we went several miles south of the trail head where we had parked.  All in all we did 15 miles on the bike and lots of walking.  Lilly was certainly happy to see us when we got back at 4:30.

Monday we had guests from Ohio.  Two teachers Judy knew who winter in St Pete.  They drove over and we gave them the base tour and enjoyed lunch at SeaScapes.

The rest of the week was pretty much as usual.  Wednesday we did decide to head to the Mustang Flea Market near St Pete.  Another camper had mentioned that on Wednesday parking was free and there were many fruit and vegetable vendors.  We walked around and bought a few things. 

Judy bought a red hat and some socks and a scarf and Jon bought some bungee cords.  On the way home it was so late we decided to just stop by a Taco Bell for a quick snack.  Bad plan as it was lunch time for a nearby high school and the place was full of kids and it took 20 minutes to get our $4 lunch.

Tomorrow (Friday the 1^st of Feb) will be our last day in a FHU (Full Hook Up) site with all the amenities.  Hopefully we won’t be there too long before we can get to a “partial” site where we will have water and electric.  We’ve been stuck at number 12 on the ‘confirmed/permanent site’ list for over a week

Saturday dawned beautiful but cold – 41 – and the groundhog says it will be an early spring.  After it warms up a bit we will head off to the dry camp area.