At the Timeshare

Thursday we got to the RV Dealer to have the galley tank handle put back on.  They actually had someone do it right away so we were out of there in about an hour.

We drove south to Tampa Bay - downtown thru our windshield:

And then on to Largo where our RV Park is located.  Got settled in - we are backed up to trees so that by the middle of the afternoon, we are in shade.  Sure helps on the AC running all the time!!

We did some quick grocery shopping.  Found this and had to buy a 12-pack - oldest beer in American - brewed in PA:

Since it was time for dinner, we headed over to Indian Rocks Beach.

Our first stop (where else?) was JD's - Judy's favorite place (mine, too, I guess).  We had our first grouper sandwich - tasted as good as the first time we ate there back in 1998! 

This octopus is still there.  We have a picture of Gehrig sitting on it a few years ago, and, somehow or other, the next year that we went back, the picture was framed and on the wall in the restaurant!  Unfortunately, it is no longer there.

  

After dinner, we drove over by the timeshare and sat on the beach.

They have painted it since the last time we were here in 2009.  Looks great.  

We parked and went out on the beach.  Watched several boys using their surf boards - they were having a great time even though there was absolutely no waves!


Noticed that the beach is in need of refurbishing again.  I think the last time was about 6 years ago.  It always amazes me how the tides wash the sand away, and, then it needs to be replaced.  

We can see the boat (?) up north that has already started replacing the sand.  It's a very interesting process - they bring sand up (from somewhere down south) on a barge and hook up to this boat-like contraption.  Then they use a vacuum-like thing to suck up the sand and blow it (with water) thru this big tube all the way to the beach.  Then they have graders/loaders that spread the sand around on the beach.  (I hope I didn't confuse anyone with that technical explanation!!). 

 Picture of contraption way out there:

Saturday afternoon we checked into the timeshare and got unpacked.  After supper we went out the beach, enjoyed the nice warm water, and then sat on the beach until sunset - what else?

Sunday we went to church and then went out for lunch for Father's Day at Sweet Tomatoes, a great salad place.  Then we drove around and took some 'nostalgia' pictures.

This one is of 900 Gulf Blvd where we lived for a year back in 1998-99 while working for Eckerd's Drugs.

This is a picture of the motel we stayed at when we vacationed here in 1976 77, 78, and 79.

Popular restaurant in St. Pete located on a waterway that opens up to the Gulf.

 Another good seafood restaurant.

  

And another.

This used to be the 'Tacky Turtle' but is now the 'Kooky Coconut.

The real estate office where we (Leone's, Collette's and us) first met up with Irene who took us over to 900 Gulf Blvd to show us the condos there. We had all just arrived from TX after having retired from JCP and were going to start work at Eckerd's the next day.

Local library

And a playground where we took Gehrig when he first came to visit us.

All in all, the start of a great week.  Today is Monday - I think we will be going to a Clearwater Threshers baseball game tonight.  They are a Class A affiliate of the Phillies. 

Tampa Bound

We woke up on Monday to an overcast day, but no rain so we left around 9 AM and headed for Mobile, AL and Florida.   Did not realize it, but the University of Southern Mississippi is located here in Hattiesburg.  We got a partial picture of their football stadium.

The next two pictures are of us approaching downtown Mobile.

The battleship 'Alabama' is here.

And a couple pics of the bay.

No ships were in port in Pensacola that we could see (not even any sister-ships, Vince!!).  

Saw this limo along the way – NICE, huh?

We found Destin and then our CG which was actually in Marimar Beach.  Very nice small CG.  

After getting settled in, we walked about 6 blocks to the beach.  Unfortunately, it was a private beach and we couldn’t get down to it.  The stairway leading to the beach had a small bar about half way down.  We asked if there was some way to get on the beach – Yes, we just needed to buy a drink!  So we had a pina colada and they opened the gate for us!!

Beautiful sand beach as you can see.  

Someone had made some dolphins out of the sand:

And Grandma did some handwriting in the sand.

We took off our shoes and waded in – as you might be able to see, the waves were real nice.  Someone was nice enough to take our picture.

We spent about and hour and then walked back to the CG for the evening.

This morning we got up early again and left about 8:45 AM.  We decided that we wanted to get to Ocala today (340 miles) rather than spend another day on the road.  Not sure if we mentioned it before, but our handle to open our galley tank to drain came off the first day.  So we have an appointment on Thursday at a RV dealer here in Ocala to get it fixed.  It needs to be screwed back on but the underbelly has to be lowered to get at the drain.  The dealer was busy but said they would fit us in, so we have no idea how long it will take.  Hope to be done in time to drive to Largo (about 80 miles) to the CG where we will store our RV while we are at the timeshare.  So we shall see.

This was the scenery for most of the way on I-10 across the FL panhandle.

About an hour East of Tallahassee, we ran into rain – actually a serious downpour!  We made it to the the I-75 interchange to head south toward Tampa with it still raining hard.  At one point I think we were down to 40 MPH and most everyone had their flashers on.  But then it cleared up and was sunny the last hour or so.

We are now at our CG here in Ocala and will stay here until Thursday morning when we go over to the RV dealer.  Will fill you in again later in the week...

Rain, Rain Go Away

We are still at the Okatowa RV Park just outside Hattiesburg, MS, but plan to leave today, Monday.  We had planned to leave yesterday but the rains started on Saturday night.  And when we looked at the weather map, we saw that the Gulf Coast was getting hit pretty hard (Mobile, Pensacola (had 15 inches in some places and flooding, etc) which is where we were headed.
So we decided to stay put another day and then take a different route.  But last night it seems at though the front has passed thru (even down by the coast), so we plan to head south and go to Destin, FL as originally planned.  If not, we will just stay on I-10 and head for the Tallahassee area for the night.
Because it stopped raining yesterday afternoon, we decided to sit outside and enjoy the rest of the day.  And even had a small cookout with friends.

It was a very nice evening, but now we are ready to get on the road after sitting for 5 days.   Will catch up with you later...

Trip to Florida

Well, here it is, Friday, June 8, 2012, and we are officially ‘on the road again!’  We left Plano on Tuesday, got as far as Monroe, LA and spent the night at a CG just off the interstate.  Turns out that we had stayed there back in 2009.

On Wednesday we drove to Hattiesburg, MS and are spending 4 nights here.  We are backed up to a small lake. 

Sign near our site:

And, NO, I did not get the opportunity!!

Alot of ducks and geese here.

Mom fed them.  They would eat right out of her hand!

The weekend before we left on our trip, we attended the wedding of Morgan (Ken’s oldest daughter) and Nick.  We drove up to Davis, OK on Saturday and met Pam and Steve (all the way from MN).  We spent the afternoon eating (Smokin’ Joes Barbeque – excellent) and eating (Fried Pies – uumm delicious) and doing some sightseeing.  Turners’ Falls is a very popular place to visit.

On Sunday the wedding took place at 6 PM at a chapel just down the road from the hotel and casino.  Julie, Ken, Gehrig, and Emma, and Belinda and Bailey came up in the afternoon.  The ceremony was great – Bailey was the flower girl and Emma took care of their dog, Bella during the actual ceremony.

Morgan and Nick's first prom:

Table settings:

A motto we should all live by:

A couple of dog-watchers before the wedding:

Two special young ladies who were in attendance:

Julie made both cakes - delicious!!!

Belinda and Bailey:

Julie and Emma:

Morgan and Kelsi (and Bella):

Morgan and Nick cutting their cake:

First dance:

The race to the car (we were all blowing bubbles!!):

And, the decorated car:

All in all, it was a great day.  They will be living in Oklahoma City where Nick works for a home builder and Morgan works at Petsmart.

Sunday we will be leaving here and driving all the way to Mobile, AL (108 miles) to spend one night in Al so we can say that we have camped in this state.  On Monday we will drive over to the Destin, FL area and stay there a couple of nights.  We have never seen this part of FL before, and, everyone says that the beaches are like no other.  So we will have to check it out!

By next Friday we should be in the Tampa Bay area.  I think we will have an RV site at a CG in Largo (about 3 miles from our timeshare in Indian Rocks Beach).  We are looking forward to getting there and being on the beach, and, of course, sampling the local GROUPER!!!

So much for now.  Will update again in a few days.