Meeting up with our old Cornwall, NY boat club buddies






Ken McBride ... the GREAT entertainer at
t.j. carney's



 Monday night the five of us (pictured US, Karen, Betsy and Rich) headed out for Mexican Food at a place in The Brickyard.

Wednesday (1/30) the five of us met two more from our old Hudson River boating days at t.j. carney's in downtown Venice.  It was great seeing Carole and Bob Armstrong who transplanted from NY to Venice, FL a few years ago. 

We had a great dinner and the entertainment, Ken McBride on the keyboard and singing, started and we had a great time (as in audience participation).  It was like old times!



Carole & Karen





and then there were SEVEN of us

 Friday (2/1) we went to Carole and Bob Armstrong's for drink and chili and then met up with two MORE CYC couples:  Paul & Dotty Allen and Mike & Mary Conley...seems like old times!



1st Trip - 5th Stop - Nokomis, FL

We left the Florida State Fairgrounds this morning before the "rush" of hundreds of others started pulling out.  We hit the highway and around 20 minutes into the short trip to Nokomis, Ed noticed that our car being towed behind the RV was "weaving".  He carefully slowed down and pulled off the highway with the car hitting the bicycles on the bike rack and, once out of the RV, found that the pin had come out of one of the tow bars.  The bar was dragging on the highway so he had to unhook the other bar from the car and I loaded the dogs in the car to ride with me and followed him the rest of the way.

Upon arrival at the Royal Coachman RV Resort in Nokomis, the coach started losing air pressure both in the parking lot after checking in and once again trying to back into the site.  Hopefully, in the two weeks we're here, we can get things fixed.

On the bright side, we met up with our old Cornwall Yacht Club buddies:  Betsy & Rich Harden and Karen & Jeff Schaack and went out to dinner at Pop's Sunset Grille along the Intracoastal Waterway.  We saw a dolphin swimming and I didn't have my camera!!!

Monday, Ed and I did a little driving around and decided to stop for late lunch/early dinner at Ophelia's Pasta House in Nokomis.  The dogs LOVED it because they're dog-friendly and they have an enclosed patio where THEY can come and eat with you and they get to order off a doggy menu (they ordered chicken).  Definitely, a highlight of the trip for the dogs.  Later we had happy hour at Rich & Betsy's place with Karen & Jeff and then Karen and I went to Bingo (we didn't win!).

Tuesday, Karen and I said goodbye to Ed and the dogs and we headed to the beach on our bicycles.  It was almost a 7 mile round-trip ride with the wind in our faces both directions but flat (except for the drawbridge over the intracoastal).  The red tide left a lot of dead fish on the beach but we picked up some pretty shells and then pedaled down to the North Jetty (the South Jetty across the inlet is Venice).  We talked to a few people there and Karen found a real pretty shell...it was pretty until she felt something move in her hand and that's when she met Charlie.  After she looked Charlie in the eyes, she couldn't bare to take him home and kill him so he was set free.

Thursday the three of us ended up going to a sunset drum circle on Nokomis Beach the other night.  It was a bit chilly but it was a BIG circle with lots of people showing up with their drums.  It was sort of like a jam session and a few free spirits got up and "danced" while another guy did like an Indian ritual with feathers...quite different.

On Saturday, Ed and I headed to downtown Venice to walk around.  Like New Bern's Bears, they have the painted turtles and dolphins throughout the downtown area.



Pelican tree...you definitely don't want to be sitting under this!



1st TRIP - 4th stop - Florida State Fairgrounds, Tampa

Ed filled the water tank and emptied the holding tanks and we checked out of Lazydays Campground today after getting our last free breakfast and lunch. 

We arrived at the fairgrounds and parked in the holding area for the Thor Diesel Club (TDC) and waited for the other TDC members/rigs to arrive.  We ended up being in the first group to be escorted to the section where we'll all be together.  This place is packed; mostly motorhomes lined up side by side with enough space in between to open awnings.  The RV Show starts on Wednesday and we can come and go as we please while we're here. 

The members of the TDC all met for Happy Hour and we reacquainted ourselves with those we have met at past rallies and met new ones. 

During one of the Happy Hours, the topic of the python hunt came up and the people who live here in Florida say it's a big problem.  These huge snakes have been eating alligators, deer, bear!! and they're starting to move northward looking for more food.  What's scary was that someone said that by 2014 they should be up to NC which I find hard to believe. 

Thursday it was cold (61 is COLD here), rainy and windy.  In the morning, they offer donuts and coffee to people who are staying on the fairgrounds so we walked the dogs over.  We found another building (this RV show covers a LOT of ground) full of vendors and it wasn't too crowded, thanks to the weather, and the dogs were allowed in the building so we decided to kill two birds with one stone by walking the dogs and browsing at the same time.  We came back to sit down and look at the many brochures that we picked up and then decided to walk back over so Ed could pick up something he had seen. 

Due to the weather/rain, one of the members of the TDC who lives nearby in Seffner invited the group to her house for a pot luck. 

Friday we walked around the show again checking out some more things.  TDC sponsored a catered dinner; it was cool sitting outside but it was good food and good company.  Ed and I then walked over to the free entertainment, a comedian.

Saturday the sun and warm weather returned.  A couple of the rigs from our TDC group left today but we'll have our last happy hour with the group this afternoon.  We had been to the RV Supershow every day but decided not to walk around today since the nice weekend and the weather will probably draw crowds.  Our happy hour consisted of leftovers and then we headed over for the free entertainment, a couple that sings RV (funny!) songs. 

Sunday morning we start packing everything up and we'll have to see how the workers here are going to get the hundreds of rigs out in an orderly fashion.  It should be interesting!

1st TRIP - Third stop - Seffner, FL

It was cold this morning when we got up early in Perry, GA ... 32 degrees!  We got on the road by 9 am and started heading further south.  By the time we arrived at Lazydays RV Campground in Seffner, FL (near Tampa), we didn't need our winter coats but still needed our sweatshirts.  The timing was just right because we checked in and got hooked up before the rain started.  The 5-day forecast shows that the high temps are suppose to be in the 80s this week...YIPPEEEEE!!!!
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This definitely isn't going to be like our July-October 2012 trip where we were constantly on the move.  We're CHILLIN';  Ed and I each got a Nook and have been lolling around and reading e-books (I brought a few real books, too).  Honestly, this is RELAXING!

The weather is definitely nice but I see New Bern is enjoying temperatures in the 70's this week; where we are here in the Tampa vicinity, it's in the mid- to upper-80s.  Therefore, I packed the winter coats, long sleeves and most of the slacks under the bed to be pulled out when we start heading back home in February.

I received a certificate for completing my driver's confidence course on the 9th.  I got to drive it around the campground and even got to blow the airhorn to make someone move who was blocking the road.  They thought if they closed the door that would be sufficient...NOT!  The instructor told me to wait for them to move the class C completely out of the way and I was thinking "I can fit through there" but realized I wasn't in my car but in a 35' motorhome.  I didn't get to do any backing up but I'll have Ed let me do that when we get back home so I can practice getting into campsites. 

Thursday we went to Brandon to visit my sister, Arlene, and her husband, Arnold.  We sat and talked for a few hours and did some catching up. 

We went back on Saturday and I saw Jimmy, my nephew, who I hadn't seen in 16 years and met his wife, Jess and daughter Caylin. 

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Coming out of a new RV with two thumbs
up...NOT a good sign!

Ed and I were laughing because we haven't left the "compound" aka Lazydays.  We've been doing a lot of walking and bicycling throughout the campground and with the price of the site, we get a free breakfast and lunch each day while we're here.  Today we walked the dogs over to where the new 42' tag axles are and the dogs liked a few that were way above our budget (right now a pop-up isn't even in our budget!).

We went to a winery in Plant City (reminds me a little of New Bern with a nice downtown area with historic homes).  We opened up the place and Ed did some winetasting and bought some wine.  He's going to be doing some more wining with Mary N. once we get home.

Monday Ed and I drove over to St. Petersburg to visit Marie and Kathy Peleshuck, neighbors from the 60's in Cornwall, NY.  When Kathy was 2 - 3 years old, she was my "baby doll" and now she's 51 years old.  Time flies!  We had a nice visit and talked about the old neighborhood and friends.
It's nice to hook up with old friends.

1st TRIP - Second Stop - Perry, GA

We headed to the Barnyard Flea Market in Lexington before packing the dogs in the RV and heading to Perry, GA.

We arrived at Fair Harbor RV Park around 2:30 pm and checked in. 

We're staying two nights here so we can do some scouting around of the Perry area since we'll be returning back here in March with our RV Club to attend a Good Sam's Club Samboree at the fairgrounds (which is a hop, skip and a bump away).  This campground is also close to a lot of things (shopping, restaurants, etc) so it's definitely a good location.

Nothing exciting has happened yet so the posts can only get better :-)

Stay tuned!

1st TRIP - First Stop - Lexington, SC

Early wake-up (6:15 am!!!) and looked out the windows to see a glaze of ice on the Harbour.  BRRRR!!!  It's time to head further south!  Ed wanted to get on the road by 9 am so my goal was to get moving. 

We pulled out of the driveway at 8:42 am...18 minutes early than Ed's planned departure time...WHOOPIE!

We arrived at the Barnyard RV Park in Lexington, SC a little after 2 pm and was assigned a nice long campsite and left the car hooked up.  The campground is located behind this huge flea market that we checked out on Saturday morning.
When Ed found out there was a restaurant within walking distance, we left the meatloaf in the freezer and walked to Vegetable Medley; the buffet had really good food.