March 21st - March 25th - Beach Again and RV Repair

Yesterday a group of us hit the beach again at Passe-Grill. We like this area because it isn't very crowded. Here is a picture of part of the group as we sat under the shade of the palm trees and enjoyed the view and weather. 

It is amazing how white the sand is and how blue the water is in this area. We had takeout lunch at the little restaurant nearby and in the early afternoon headed back to the RV park.  We were sitting around visiting at the RV park when we noticed a small heron sitting on the light pole across the street. Here is a picture.

Of course, upon approaching he flew off. In the past I have watched him walk around on vacant lots on occasion. He is about two feet tall. The RV park adjoins Sawgrass Nature Park and I'm sure that is where he lives.

The day before yesterday I noticed that our porch light wasn't working. A burned out bulb right? Not my luck. I pushed the bulb in and it would light but it wouldn't stay lit no matter what I did. I took down the fixture and determined that the insulating wafer that suspends the hot wire in the middle of the socket had disintegrated. I needed a new fixture. Here is a picture with an arrow pointing to the hot wire with the wafer broken off.

This fixture was original (15 years old) and had been painted over when the rig was built. I wanted a new one to match the old 0ne as close as possible so that no unpainted areas would show. I quickly learned that all the new light fixtures come with LED bulbs pre-installed. I ordered one from Amazon and got it the next day. It was an easy install except, of course, none of the screw holes matched up so I had to put four more holes in the side of the RV.  I will leave it unpainted. It came with a yellow lens cover and a clear lens cover. I put the clear cover on and it is brighter than the original. Here is a picture of it installed. It should outlast me.

I hired to two guys to wash and wax the RV on Saturday. I know it will be a mediocre job since they are doing it all in one day. It takes me five days to do it right, one day for the roof and one day for each side. It needs washing and waxing badly and I can not find anyone at home to do it. It will be one less project for me when we get home.

It's another beautiful day today. Sunny with a slight breeze. Neighbors went to the American Legion Hall in Mediera Beach where you can sit on the deck overlooking the bay, drink and eat, watch the dolphins play, and listen to live music. We were invited to go but decided to sit this one out and just hang out here. When they get back this afternoon several of us guys may go to the Tampa Auto Museum just a few miles away to check it out. It is a private collection of very limited production cars from what I read. Should be interesting. If we don't go today we will go tomorrow. The great thing about retirement is that every day is Saturday. If you don't get to it this Saturday you can do it next Saturday. 

 

March 17th-March 20th - St. Pat's Party and the Beach

On St. Patrick's Day we had a party on an unoccupied lot nearby. Kelly supplied all the snacks with everyone bringing their own drink. Here is a picture of the picnic table loaded with plenty of individually wrapped treats for all. (There were lots of leftovers for Mike to consume.)

Here is a picture of half the group listening to 60s and 70's music and shooting the breeze.

As the evening wore on the music encouraged several couples to get up and dance. Here are a couple of pictures. The first is Don and Donna and the second is Chris and Marj.

We listened to music until almost 11:00 p.m. (Past quiet time but no one complained that we know of.)

Friday daughter Alexa and her friend Aaron flew in to drive Kelly's car back home. They didn't get in until midnight so it was 1:00 a.m. before we got to bed. I almost had to take a nap to stay up that late.

Saturday we took them on a tour of the beach areas. We stopped at a well-known place, Caddy's, for a drink and lunch. We sat outside on the second floor and had a great view of the ocean while we ate. We left there and headed down the coast. We ended up stopping at St. Pete's Beach, recently voted the best beach in the U.S. Parking at all of the beaches is always a major issue. We lucked out and as we drove up to the concession stand area a lady was backing out. We were so lucky a guy walking by gave us a "thumbs up". We plugged the kiosk for two hours and hit the beach. It was very cool and cloudy but the beach is the beach after all.  Here are some beach pictures.

It was spring break but the area we were in was not crowded because it was earlier in the day, windy and chilly.  This suited us fine. We left after a couple of hours and headed down the coast to the Passe-Grill area. Then, instead of driving right back, we took Alexa and Arron for a drive through Fort DeSoto State Park. It is a huge, magnificent park on a peninsula with miles of paved bike trails, a great campground, miles of beaches, and acres of parking. It costs $5.00 to enter the park but there is no charge for parking. It is a great family destination with lots of room and lots of pavilions to have family outings. We love it. We may try to camp there a week at the end of the season next year. The campsites are cut out of the woods on windy roads with limited spots for big RVs like ours. It could be a challenge to get Marge in and out of there.

I broke down yesterday and hired two guys to wash and wax the RV before we head home. (I don't know anyone in Perryville who will do it.) It will be one less project for me when we get back and it really needs it after sitting under this oak trees all winter. It is one less time Kelly will get nervous see me climbing around on the roof cleaning so that is a good thing.

It is cold (60) and breezy today so everyone is indoors enjoying a lazy Sunday. 

March `16, 2021 - Recap

March 10th a bunch of us took a road trip to Plant City for a strawberry ice cream. It is a a little crazy to drive an hour for an ice cream but it is a tradition when the strawberries start to come in. Here is a picture of our neighbors, Marj and Chris, enjoying theirs. They are from Oxford, Michigan and are great folks and great neighbors.

After the ice cream we made a trip to the local winery. They had a nice outdoor dining area so we had hors d'oeuvres. Some had a sampler of five wines, we had a sampler of five beers. It was a great time. Here is a picture of our group.

This is a picture of a blue heron on the winery grounds by the pond. (He wouldn't let me get very close.)

March 12th was the annual St. Patrick's Day Golf Cart Parade here at the park. (Don't ask me why they don't have it on St. Patrick's Day because I have no idea.) One of the ladies down the street decided to cook corned beef and cabbage for everyone. With the number of people she needed help so Kelly cooked four corned beefs. It was a great meal. Here are a couple of pictures of people sitting around having drinks and dinner. There were about forty in attendance.

After dinner the golf cart parade came down our street. Here are some pictures of carts of friends on our street. It was a nice parade.

I could have decorated my bike and rode in the parade but I didn't.

Saturday night about six of us went to the stock car races because they were having regular races plus  figure 8s. It was quite exciting at times. I had never been to a figure 8 race before. I tried to take pictures of the close calls on the figure 8s but they didn't come out very well. One of the classifications was "Old School" stock cars. They were the high dollar cars and seeing them brought back memories of going to the stock car races fifty years ago.  Here is a picture of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners.

Sunday Kelly and I drove to Tallahassee to get our second Covid shot. It was a ten hour trip up and back but now it is over with. I felt fine until about twenty-two hours after the shot then I got a 101 fever, chills, and a headache. I bundled up and went to bed. The fever broke after about three hours. I still have the headache. It kept me up most of last night. It is like a dull sinus headache. Hopefully by the end of today I will be totally back to normal.

Tonight there is a hamburger supper. We bought tickets. You get two hamburgers and two side dishes. It is a good deal. Normally it would be a sit down dinner but this year it is a drive through. They have always been great burgers and I'm sure this year will not be an exception.