Monday, December 31, 2012

On the move!

Thousand Trail Orlando, Clermont, Florida.



With Thousand Trails we are allowed 2 weeks in the system and then have to be out of the Thousand Trail system for 1 week. So after 2 weeks at this wonderful "Preserve" we will be going to Bee's RV Resort, some 20 odd miles north. The 2 weeks here have been 2 of the most relaxing weeks we have had. I don't know what it is about this place, but it gives us the feeling of peace and happiness with our surroundings. 

Yesterday we went to the La Mesa RV show of some RVs that are being sold at deeply discounted prices. We have seen our dream RV. A Winnebago Itasca Ellipse. If we happen to find a spare $300,000 lying around, we will be buying it!

So now as we wind down to the end of 2012, I have to say the 2012 has been a wild ride! Starting off in Escondido/San Marcos, California with My American Mom, Virginia. The next 2 1/2 months taking care of her until she died on March 11th. Then the disposing of all her furniture in 2 homes, the renovating of her house and it's eventual sale. The mad rush to get back to Ontario by the end of April. A busy summer looking for a property to buy for our daughter and her family to rent from us. Then the waiting for the closing before we could leave Ontario. And here we are, after a leisurely trip, in Central Florida, and loving it! Love this lifestyle. It is truly like no other!!



Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Working out, Walmart, Wind and Warsaw Warbling

Thousand Trails Orlando, Clermont, Florida

Just a quiet day at Thousand Trails near Orlando. My first call of duty was a visit to the gym. I used to go to the gym every time I was off duty back in my working days. My favourite thing was the elliptical. I used to do about 45 minutes on it. So, off I went and was determined to do at least 30 minutes. Phew, I did not know that I was so unfit. I could not even finish 10 minutes! So I switched to walking on the treadmill and did 20 easy minutes. 

I was planning on going for a swim and a soak in the hot tub, but the black clouds came over and the wind started picking up, so we ended up going to Walmart down the road, for some groceries. Boy, was it ever busy in there!

We got home before the rain started and it came down in buckets for about 10 minutes and then the sun started to come out again. I checked MyRadar on my iPad and saw that we were not going to have much rain, but the huge swath of weather to the north of us, was very visible. 

Here is what the radar looks like. That snow is hitting The North East, including Southern Ontario now.



We took a walkabout with Timmy and he met up with some of the Sandhill Cranes. They were not at all afraid of him. They just did this dancing thing with their wings spread out. Quite funny.



We saw this big boy at Cypress Campground in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina last month.

Egret fishing at one of the ponds

Egret

My sister just came across this You Tube Video. It is a bit late, But I think you may enjoy it too. This from the US Embassy in Poland





Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Thinking Back

Thousand Trails Orlando, Clermont, Florida

 I have been thinking so much about what happened Christmas Day last year. I tried not to think about it, but could not help myself. Some of you may remember the Christmas Day Catastrophe when my "American Mom" treated us to a cruise around the San Diego Harbour. Through a series of  Keystone Cops-esque happenings of that day, culminating in Virginia falling backwards off a pedi-cab, the fall precipitating her slide into incapacity and her eventual death on March 11th, aged 91.

Tomorrow will be better.


Christmas Eve 2011



Monday, December 24, 2012

Season's Greetings

Thousand Trails, Orlando

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all our friends, wherever they are!

Click Here.

Saturday, December 22, 2012

A lazy day around camp


Thousand Trails Orlando, Clermont, FL

I woke early this morning with a loud alarm sounding from my iPad. What the heck? Bleary eyed, I squinted at the screen, not easy without glasses, and saw that my weather app was alerting me to a "Freeze Warning". Turned it off and stayed warm and snug in bed. Finally crawled out, showered, breakfasted and got ready for doing nothing! We stayed in camp, took a few walks and talked to a few folks. Very quiet and relaxing day. I really need to do some cleaning,  sorting and clearing out of cupboards. But not today. Yawn.....maybe tomorrow.

Here are some more pictures taken around the park.

Gopher Tortoise

Sandhill Cranes behind or RV

Michael relaxing in the warm sun

My $5.00 decorations

Sandhill Cranes

Sky writing over Disney World nearby

Finished message says LOVE U BABY JESUS

Very pretty garden in the treed section of the park

Too many trees for us. They would interfere with the satellite dish

Really nice sites ib the treed section

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Friday, December 21, 2012

Decisions and Changes.

Where are we today?
Thousand Trails Orlando, Clermont

We arrived here at the Thousand Trails Orlando Resort on Tuesday. What a wonderful surprise! It is fantastic. We were given a "Premium" site which is just lovely. It is on a corner so no-one is next to us on the driver side and the passenger side faces out onto an open area. The only downside is that the passenger side faces West and, therefore, is in full sun in the afternoon. But we can live with that!

The campground is HUGE! 850 full hookups on 255 acres. There are 2 pools, a hot tub, tennis courts, horseshoes, shuffleboard, a gym, activity center, a small lake with alligators (still haven't seen one), and a whole lot more.

We have made a decision, in part because of this wonderful campground, to stay in Florida for the winter. So I have made some changes in our bookings. All the ones I made for the Florida panhandle, Alabama, Louisiana have been cancelled and new reservations made for Florida. We will be going to some parks in the center of Florida, also in Bradenton, Pine Island, and Sunshine Key. We start heading home at the beginning of March, spending some time in Georgia, Hunting Island State Park in South Carolina, Myrtle Beach and Points north, including a few days at my sister's home in Maryland.

Posting some pics of this resort.

Site A100

Site A100

Tennis and Pickle Ball

Shuffleboard

Relaxing Pool

Pool

Lots of wide open spaces

Horeshoes

Woods

The dock on Lake Hancock

Looking for alligators

Getaway cabin

Lots of space

Even an RV Show

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Something weird is going on.

Our 12 volt system is playing up. Lights flickering and sometimes everything just shuts down. The system shut down once when we pulled in one of our slides, a couple of times when we opened the fridge door and sometimes when we turn on a light. We can get everything back on by using the 12 volt on/off switch at the door. Anybody else come across this?

Monday, December 17, 2012

Sun and Fun on the Beach

Where are we today?
Bulow Plantation RV Park, Flagler Beach, FL

Today was really hot, sunny and wonderful. We decided to go south to Daytona Beach and tootle around along the sea shore. We were not too impressed with Daytona. It is very busy and very commercialized. We did go down and took a look at the beach where you can drive onto, but it was high tide, so not much beach to see. We eventually ended up at Flagler Beach so that Timmy could have his beach fix for the day.

Tomorrow we leave here and head out to Orlando 1000 Trail preserve for about 9 days. Camping for free!

Daytona Beach, World's Most Famous Beach (Really??)

Part of that beach. closed to vehicles because of the high tide

80F today. Strip down weather.

Timmy digging for Spanish Doubloons.

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Flagler Beach, Florida








Flagler Beach, Florida, a set on Flickr.




Some pictures from todays trip to Flagler beach while Timmy was being groomed. The beach is this colour because of the coquina which has been deposited. Here is an explanation of what coquina is.
What is Coquina?

Saturday, December 15, 2012

St Augustine, Florida

Plaque from an old cemetaryIn an old cemetaryGravesIn the cemetaryThe Lightener MuseumFlagler College. Was built as the Ponce De Leon Hotel in 1888
Art group drawing Flagler CollegePanorama of Flagler CollegePanorama of the Casa Monica Hotel on the left and the Lightener Museum on the rightThe Lightener Museum was the Alcazar Hotel, opened in 1888.Courtyard inside the LightenerWalkway around the courtyard
Courtyard inside the LightenerLobby of the MuseumLobby of the MuseumCourtyardCathedralPanorama of Matanzas Bay
The Bridge of LionsNPS Plaque at the CastilloOn the sea wall.CastilloCastilloCastillo
St Augustine, Florida, a set on Flickr.
Today we went into St Augustine. Loved it, but we will have to go back. There is so much more to see