March 2015, Packing Up

March has been pretty cool in FL and I've worn long pants on many days.  Busy getting ready to head out.  Change of address for what seems like 200 places, DMV trip, several maintenance doctor appts, getting our ducks in a row.

First fun day was our FUNSTER picnic on March 7th.  We had a great turn out on a pretty cool day.  Lots of great food and tons of talking.  Such a wonderful group of people, no drama and just good times.

24 FUNSTERS and 3 dogs

We had burgers, sausages, chicken & even Boca

3 cooks took turns to get it all cooked

Thank you Wendy for bringing the sun.  She did

show up with this and it cracked me up.

Second week pretty slow.  Took a drive to Hudson, FL to Sam's Beach Bar just to check out the area.  Had a drink and lunch.  Attacked by "no seeums" tiny biting bugs that just are so irritating.  Nothing here to write home about, but now we know.  Stopped in Tarpon Springs to buy a beach cover to replace the one I lost some where.

FUNSTER Meet Up at Safety Harbor for coffee and visiting.  We had such a lovely morning.  I will miss the group, but it should keep going fine as I've got activity organizers for the first time and they will come up with some fun things to do.  Thanks guys.

Three different doctors appts. for the two of us this week, like getting a tune up before taking the trip.  Make sure all systems are go.

Rented a big truck to get our things to storage.  Only big things we have is a queen bed, dining table with 6 chairs and our patio table with 4 chairs and our boxes.  Our other bed, couch, coffee table, small dining table, end table, 2 lamps, bedside table were all rented.  Nice furniture and with Robert being a student we got the "student package" and rental was only about $120 a month, a real deal.  Austin, our past teenager neighbor, came and helped us move.

Friday, met with Deb and Larry at Myakka State Park for a picnic.  Breathtaking park with tons of activities.  Bike ride, hike canopy, kayak, boat or tram ride.  We will have to return several times.

We saw several alligators in the river.  No kayaking for me.

Saturday night we were invited to our ex-neighbors house they bought.  We had a BBQ and great visit with some pretty delicious tropical drinks.  They were our first friends in Clearwater.

Sunday, packing and another trip to storage.  I'm so tired of packing, but it is done now with the exception of one backseat full of the very last minute stuff to put in storage as we head out of town.  I wanted to go to Marker 8 to have a final sunset but we pulled in and there were so many people (Spring Break) that we left.  I don't like loud places where you can't talk.  We drove down the road and found a little park we'd never been to.  There was a pier and we walked out there and visit with people fishing.  We could hear the loudness from Marker 8 down here.  We made the right decision. Fun last evening.

 Cute little fisherman who caught a pin fish

Smart guy who used chair bags to carry

all his fishing poles

Bed early (no TVs) to arise earlier than usual.  Our rented furniture will be picked up between 12-4, and then we're out of here and on the road again:  Gainesville, Tallahassee, Brewton, AL,  Baton Rouge, LA Lake Charles, LA, Spring, TX, Austin, San Antonio, Fort Stockton, Carlsbad, NM, Las Cruces, NM, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, NM, Tucson, Puerto Penasco, Mexico, Phoenix, Bryce NP, UT, Zion NP, UT, Capitol Reef NP, UT, Arches, NP, UT, Salt Lake City, and Boise, ID.

Or, as Johnny Cash would say:  "I've Been Everywhere Man"  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYKeDJSbq9g

So off we go -- let's see what adventures await.

February 2015 - Kimmissee and a crazy busy month

Busy month.  Spent the first week viewing apartments so we know where we want to live when we return.  John made a spreadsheet so we have 1-5 listed.  We'd like to have our apartment ready to move into when we pull into town.

Annual trip to Kissimmee for Valentines Day week and visiting with our fun Canadian friends Walt and Lammy.  Visited Shingle Creek, and went to Lake Shore Park with Walt & Lammy.

Shingle Creek, Kissimmee, FL

Cathy's arrival in Orlando and spending several days with us in Kissimmee and back to Clearwater so we can show her our beauty/interest.   Park Avenue and Kraft Azalea Garden, Lakeside Winery, visited our friend Tom in Clermont, and had a great time at Gatorland.  Saturday night Old Town for classic cars.

Breakfast essential cotton candy

w/Cathy, Walt & Lammy

 Kraft Azalea Garden

Winter Park, FL

Lakeridge Winery

Clermont, FL

Gatorland - a fun place to visit

A huge gator

Swamp walk in Gatorland

The flamingos were so fun to watch

 Old Town, Kissimmee, FL

Our annual trip to see the classic cars

Huge wheels on this monster truck

Our Valentine's Day selfie

All good things must end, so we left Kissimmee on Sunday.  On our way home we stopped in Tampa at Nicole and James' house for a wonderful, sumptuous brunch to help Nicole being alive after a near death accident 3 years ago.  Had a nice visit.

February 17th Robert's graduation (he finished school Feb. 6th).

Home from last day of school

To the beach.  Cath is a beach maniac and has to get her toes in the sand and collect some shells.

Sand Key Beach State Park

Fun collecting shells

Resting after shell collecting

The Graduate

Tooth Fairy Dolphin

Always time for ice cream - Dunedin

The Flamingo Girls

Fun time at Tarpon Springs.  So glad Cathy could appreciate the old movie and museum which are things I just adore.

Lunch at a favorite place

Cathy had her first po'boy

Memorial to sponge divers

A very cold, windy day in Tarpon Springs

Big day including DeSoto Park (pier, Fort and shelling on the beach).  Then I decided Cathy must see manatees and we made a long drive over the Sky Bridge to TECO (Tampa Electric Company) to see the literal tons of manatees that shelter there in the warm water.  I've never seen so many manatees and we also saw black tipped sharks.

Cold day, we filled my mittens with shells

Fort DeSoto

TECO*

After TECO, drove to St. Pete for dinner at Taco Bus, drove by the pier, went to the park and showed Cathy the beautiful banyan trees and the old open air post office.  A fun, exhausting day.

 Magnificent banyan tree

St. Petersburg Marina

Saturday was my Meet Up Group FUNSTERS day at Honeymoon Island with a hike/talk with two Rangers.  Nice hike, lots of cool birds, including bald eagles, who were nesting at this time of year and even nice weather.  After hike, we had lunch at Frenchy's

Funster hike with Rangers

Osprey nest

Osprey

Spent the morning at Shellabration over in Seminole.  The St. Petersburg Shell Club had an exhibition of shell collections that were amazing.  We couldn't believe all the different types.  It was very fun to see and something different. 

At 3:30 p.m. we attended FUNSTER'S SSS - Ice Cream Social and Security.  A feast of vanilla ice cream that we supplied and everyone else bringing toppings to share.  Then we settled in and listened as our member, Richard, gave a talk on computer safety.  I felt this event might be doomed since I had to change date once and then location.  But it was a pretty day and we all had a nice time.

Happy eating our sundaes

Philippe Park is such a beautiful place

Robert's graduation present was a day at Busch Gardens.  Had never been and we enjoyed seeing all the animals and had a fun day.  I can now say "been there, done that."  I'm just not too much of an amusement park person.  Prefer a beautiful park or beach.  But it was a fun change.

Train ride through the park

All things flamingo

Robert's new hat

Not for me

Cool art made from junk

Of course we rode the carousel

Tuesday, we just had to take a rest after being on the go for almost two straight weeks.  So we stayed home, laid around and rested.  In the evening Cathy took me out for Crab Legs.  We went to our little bar down the street, the Brown Boxer, and had all you can eat with two sides.  A true feast.  We both love snow crab and were so happy.  They also had karaoke and Cathy had fun singing several songs.  She even talked me into my karaoke debut "Honkey Tonk Woman", by the Rolling Stones.  We sang together and I have no idea how we sounded because I couldn't hear it.  Probably not too good, but it was fun and something new.

Delicious crab

Rock'in out

Up on Wednesday at 8:00 a.m. and drove to Orlando to take Cathy to the airport.  We sure had a fun visit and saw about as much as we could.  It was wonderful to see Cathy and I'll miss her.  Came home and actually started packing up for our move.

Finished our month with a lunch with our friends, MaryEllen and Greg and Saturday night with Michelangelo and Carmen, our new friends from Colombia.  We had fun learning some cultural traditions.

What a month.  A crazy whirlwind and friends and activities.  Next month will be different as we hit the road in the general direction of Idaho with lots of fun stops on the way.  I will keep a blog as we have some new adventures.

*  Big Bend Power Station in Apollo Beach delivered reliable electricity to the community for 16 years before the commercial operation of Big Bend Unit 4 in 1986. That year, people started seeing manatees in large numbers in the power station's discharge canal, where saltwater – taken from Tampa Bay to cool Unit 4 – flowed, clean and warm, back to the bay. When Tampa Bay reached 68 degrees or colder, the mammals would seek out this new refuge. The Manatee Viewing Center was soon born. Today, Big Bend's discharge canal is a state and federally designated manatee sanctuary that provides critical protection from the cold for these unique, gentle animals