Checking Out RV Parks and Friends

Sunday was an absolutely perfect day, and we had planned to drive up to Thonotosassa to check out the RV park Spanish Main that Gary had found online.  He called to see if there was any room for the month of February.  After asking lots of questions of us (how long is your rig, how many slides, which side, satellite TV??) she said there was one she could fit us into.  Because Gary was a patient at Moffit, we got a price break - and what a break!  So we decided we needed to check this out.

I made some breakfast burritos and off we went up 75.  I wish we could stay at Hillsborough SP, but there are no sites consecutively available for a month's stay.  And it could be longer.

We found Spanish Main with no problem, and it is an older park, lots of permanents, trees and no one in the office.  We rode by the site we were assigned, and it was occupied, but it would be difficult to fit in there.  Driving around, we noted a couple of sites that might work on the map, and will call tomorrow.  There was another park that was one minute away (Southern Aire), and we decided to take a look. This one had some permanents along the outside roads, but not many on the interior sections.  Some big rigs were parked here, the roads were more open and there were less trees, and we found a couple of sites that would do nicely.  Their rates are about double the other park, but we're hesitant to make a reservation as we don't know our schedule yet.  At least we looked.

Since we were up in the Tampa area, we traveled over to St. Pete and dropped in on my daughter and family.  Their five kids each had a friend over, so it was pretty busy.  We hung out and enjoyed the kids, then headed home before dark.  Lots of drive time today.

Yesterday we fixed things.  Here's Gary and me fixing our Fantastic Fan.  It took about 20 minutes. 

Hello down there!

Then we worked on getting the printer up and running.  It needed a phone call, but about an hour later, it was working fine.  Then we wanted our satellite dish up and running.  We haven't needed our dish for almost a year, so a quick phone call reinstated our service, and we have satellite again.

All day we had been looking forward to seeing some friends we met for the first time in July at Camp Freightliner in Gaffney, SC.  It turns out Bob and Ann  live near where our house is in Sarasota, and since we knew we'd be in Florida, and they knew they'd be in Pigeon Forge we planned to get together.  We did while in Pigeon Forge and now that we're back in the 'hood, we had planned to meet at our old haunt, The Lazy Lobster.  For all the foodies out there:  Gary's tuna and my stuffed shrimp.

Fortunately, we had leftovers to enjoy later.  We spent the evening enjoying catching up and planning another get-together.

  We will be attending the Tampa RV show on Friday, and perhaps return on Sunday.  We're looking so forward to seeing all our RVing friends!  Hope we see you there!

Getting Things Fixed

Thursday was a wash day and cleaning day.  We toodled around in the cool weather, but it promises to get back up near 80 soon. 

Friday was treatment day, and we were anxious to hear what the procedure plan was after the two doctors conferred.  We heard the Moffit doctor tell us that Gary would be weaned off Gemzar, but apparently not.  I'm actually kinda glad, as he is still responding so well.  Meanwhile, we didn't get any information as to how long we would be in this area, and will just have to wait to see the other doctor at the January 30th appointment.  However, I have been calling that office to see if there are any cancellations on Mondays (new patient day).  As of Friday, none available this Monday, but I will call early on Monday to check once again.

We did have dinner with our dear friend, Debbie, from the old 'hood last night.  She suggested Bogey's Bar and Grill only 3 minutes from both of us.  We spent the first 20 minutes talking so much, the waitress was getting a little impatient, so we finally ordered.  And we had a great meal! There was plenty of food, and we all took home doggy bags. Thanks, Debbie, for dinner! 

This morning Gary needed a bagel fix, so off to Panera for breakfast and some serious conversation about our immediate future.  I sure wish we knew what was going to happen 'doctor-wise' so that we could make some kind of decisions.  All we can do is put together different scenarious which include selling Bella, selling the house, buying a condo, buying a fifth-wheel, keeping Bella (I like that one best), staying in Florida for a year or two, working until absolute, total remission, then hitting the road permanently (Gary likes that one best), moving back into the house, going crazy (which we both are doing right now) but enjoying the small stuff.  Like things that get fixed.

We are looking forward to going to the RV show in Tampa.  I know our mentors, Howard and Linda Payne (RV-Dreams.com) will be there and hope to see as many friends as possible.  Still waiting on the weather report to see which day will be best, but it won't be the Saturday as it's my birthday and I'm having a family birthday party all day!  Hoping for nice weather that day.

It's beautiful here today.  I hung out the sheets to dry and Gary did his coach maintenance: started the genset, started the engine, checked the batteries and all fluid levels and emptied the tanks.  Then he went off to pick up the part for our Fantastic Fan that was delivered so we can fix that!

Now if we can just get Gary fixed, we will be the HAPPIEST CAMPERS!

Hot and Cold

Happy New Year!

I hope you had more fun than we did.  We washed the Jeep, cleaned Bella inside and washed her windshield.  Then we made some homemade pizzas, got ready to go, started watching the New York scene on tv and ended up falling asleep around 10 pm.  It has been a stressful week, and we both are still getting over our colds.  Oh, well, the new year came anyway, and let's hope it's as much (or more) fun than last year.  I hope all your resolutions come true.

Sunday was supposed to be really nice, and on the spur of the moment, we decided to go to the beach.  We have been in Florida since Dec. 4, and haven't been to the beach yet.  It was time, and it was jammed.  There was hardly any traffic at all, but as soon as we got to the Ringling bridge we discovered all of Sarasota was on Lido Key.  We found parking and also discovered that the little hidden paths to the beach through the sea grass to the beach were now paved with shell, with tall columns adorned with silver starfish and night time lighting.  Well, now we know where some of our tax dollars have gone.  Yay. 

The beach was somewhat crowded, but the water was magnificent.  Too cold for me to get in above my knees, but fine for walking along for a mile enjoying the sun and breeze and turquoise water.  Gary was careful to stay out of the sun, and we both had lots of sunscreen on, so we thoroughly enjoyed our afternoon at the beach.

I'm glad that we had that time on Sunday, because Monday it started out warm, but got continually colder and we had to put the awnings in due to 25 mph winds.  By one o'clock, the temp had dropped to 61.  Gonna get cold tonight!  But it will only last a couple days.

Gary wanted to attend the free computer class at the clubhouse to see if the instructor might be able to help us with our computer (which I'm on right now - hooray).  Gary was the youngest in the class, and some people were there learning on their first computer.  Tom, the instructor, was curious about our problem, and offered to come see for himself.  About half an hour later, he narrowed it down to our adaptor.  We shook hands, got in the Jeep and drove to Walmart to get a new one.  (ours was a 2003 model).  TA DA!  It is working fine, so fine.  Oh, yeah.  Oh, yeah.   We're dancin'!

Here's a photo of our new spot as promised:

The winds were still picking up, so the awning and window awnings were put in.  By 7 pm we were having steady 15 mph winds with 30 mph gusts.  Bedtime was really noisy with our slide toppers flapping overhead and that woke me up at 4 am.  I thought sleeping on the couch would be quieter, but that is on a slide, too.  Tried sleeping upside down on the bed.  Too difficult to organize covers (Gary was oblivious).  Finally, I woke him up at 6 am and told him I was putting in the slide.  One minute later, I was fast asleep and slept until 10 am.  Unfortunately, that morning we had plans with Arlene and David and I felt terrible posponing our outing, but 55 degrees with high winds is not conducive to a walking tour.  We'll find a beautiful day coming up and reschedule.

Still deciding what to do, and Doctors will be a big factor in our choices.  It will come.