Delayed post - Day 1697 (Year 5, Day 228)

Zephyrhills, FL

This is a delayed post, as I had a wonderful Sunday, one week ago (Feb. 10th).  Work has kept me very busy this past week, and I spent most of today preparing my taxes (once again owing thousands of $), but I am forcing myself to write about it before I totally forget!

The day started out with me and Mitch meeting one of my clients (Ned) who lives in Lithia, about 30 miles south of us.  He's been with me since 2015 and it was wonderful putting the face to the voice (Mitch also did a little IT work for him as well).  We actually met at a Cheesecake Factory in Brandon, about another 10 miles south, as the place he originally suggested in Lithia probably wouldn't have had space to park our monster truck.  Food and conversation was excellent.

One note:  I finally felt like I was in Florida, as there were actual palm trees in the parking lot!!! Up here, 30 miles away, there are only live oaks with Spanish moss.  It was also a t-shirt and flip flop day (mid-February!!).  I can't keep track of what month I'm in.



Afterwards, and the best part of the day, there was a picnic outing at the Lithia Springs State Park for members of the RV-Dreams forum (everyone brought something yummy to eat).  Many of us have met previously at various RV-Dreams rallies, and others have met in the forums and the chat room.  It was really wonderful meeting up with old friends and making new ones (whom I knew from online but never met in person).

  

Cheryl & Cheryl

One exciting outcome from the picnic is that my friend, Dee, was there.  She makes the most adorable crocheted miniatures (mostly cute critters but other stuff as well).  For a long time, I've wanted to figure out how I could sell her stuff.  We had a chance to talk about it, and she agreed to let me be a reseller.  So I am now in the process of getting this new venture off the ground.  Watch for updates!!!

On the job front, Mitch still plugging away at finding work.  He has a few leads to follow up on, but nothing solid yet.  At least he is sticking to a good weekday routine: davening (prayers), job hunting, and puttering (fixing or organizing something), as well as both of us going out at least twice a day for a walk around the campground.

Birds - Day 1684 (Year 5, Day 215)

Zephyrhills, FL

Not much exciting happening except to announce how much wildlife, especially in the form of birds there are here.  About 2 weeks ago I saw a small, stork/heron-like bird in the garden next door, which I later identified as a limpkin (sadly, I wasn't able to get a picture).

Today, a family of 9 ibises slowly marched across the road from me and I was able to get a photo:

In the morning, in addition to the very loud rooster (the imitation sound of "cockadoodle-doo" is extremely accurate!!!), I hear about 5 or 6 different bird calls.  I know one is a chicadee, but I'm still trying to figure out the rest.  And perhaps next time I'm sitting outside, I'll take the binoculars.  I know we also have crows, hawks and owls.

This week's events - Day 1676 (Year 5, Day 207)

Zephyrhills, FL

On Thursday (Jan. 24th), we took a ride into Tampa.  Jessica was on a business trip there, so we decided to meet up with her for dinner.  It was a 35 mile trip which took us an hour to get there!  It was mostly on 2 lane roads with a lot of traffic and congestion.

I was not at all impressed (in fact, disliked) the area we were in (known as the Westshore).  Tampa is rather large, so I won't pass judgement on the entire city, but this reminded me very much of any cramped urban area, such as parts of Queens or Brooklyn, with no consistency of storefronts, very little parking, lots of traffic, crazy drivers.  Just not a pleasant place to visit.

We did have one little bit of excitement, however.  Prior to meeting our daughter, we needed to make a side trip to a Trader Joe's and Whole Foods to stock up on some items that are very hard to get, and these were the closest locations to us.  In the parking lot of where the Whole Foods was (part of a mall or huge shopping center), is a Total Wine store.  It seems that Budweiser is having a nationwide promotion and is taking their Clydesdales around the country (recently, we received a video from my sister-in-law who lives in NYC, showing the horses in her neighborhood.  We also saw a news clip showing the horses in a local parade, and I heard from a friend that they were out West a few weeks ago).  The last time we saw them was at their stables in St. Louis, in 2010.  This was kind of fun, seeing them all hooked up, with the golf cart following behind picking up the poop.

I took a video while we were waiting for the traffic light to turn, so we could get a better look, but sadly, it did not turn out well at all.  But I do have a few photos.  Unfortunately, these photos were taken when the horses were being taken off the carriage and brought back to the trucks, so you can't get the full extent of the glamour and glory of these magnificent animals.  For example, the photo below shows only 2 horses hooked up to the carriage, but there were actually 3 rows (6 horses) before they were dismantled.

  

Today (Sunday), one of the residents (Carol) arranged a pot luck get together in the greenhouse 2 "doors" down from us (actually looks more like a big tent, and there are picnic benches, not plants, inside).  Although it was a miserable, all-day rainy day, the party still went on, as we were assured the tent did not leak and it had doors that closed.  There were many wonderful food choices, although I could not eat any of them (I brought some hard boiled eggs and grape tomatoes).  We made a vegetarian chili. 

Group photo (although a few people were missing).  Of course, this event reinforced how this place is not like a standard campground filled with overnighters, weekenders, vacationers and a few long termers, but rather is a close knit community.

Update (not much of an) - Day 1670 (Year 5, Day 201)

Zephyrhills, FL

Something tells me my blog posts here are going to be about as "exciting" as they were in Virginia Beach, which means not a whole lot to write about.

Today is exactly one week since we arrived here.  As I've stated previously, it definitely does NOT feel like we're in Florida, with all the live oaks instead of palm trees and waking up to temps in the 30s and low 40s.

We met a few more neighbors and this definitely is a small, close-knit community where everyone knows everyone else, they offer help when needed, and have frequent get-togethers.  The owners, Chris and Howard (life partners) are super friendly and helpful as well.

We've managed to take 1 or 2 walks around the campground every day.  Thanks, Mitch, for pushing me.  Here is a better picture of the garden (more like a mini farm) next to us (that's us to the right).  The "building with the blue roof is the chicken coop).  There are about 15 different veggies being grown now.

We're still very disappointed in the grocery shopping choices here.  There is no Aldi nearby and the prices, even at Walmart are about 10 to 25% higher here than anywhere else we've been.  Very frustrating to say the least.

As for a "day in the life", I'm pleased that business has started to pick up quite a bit for me so I've been spending at least half my days on billable time.  Mitch has also been spending at least half his days job hunting.  Nothing solid yet, but he's getting a lot of good leads.

Will keep you posted.

More about the campground and the area - Day 1664 (Year 5, Day 195)

Zephyrhills, FL

First, about the area.  I'm disappointed that there are very few, if any, palm trees.  I guess I'm not far enough south.  There are plenty of oaks with Spanish moss.

As I mentioned yesterday, the park only has 30 sites.  It's in a huge circle, with sites around the perimeter and in the middle of the circle (we're in the middle).  Most residents are permanent and their trailers appear old and worn.  That seems to be the appearance of the entire area of Zephyrhills, other than the shopping area.  There seem to be lots of trailer parks (most saying 55+) which all look old and tired.  This appears to be an economically depressed area.  But then again, right now we are in that financial boat too and it's all we can afford.

The folks to our right (Joe and Chris) are actually renting 2 lots (they've been here for 4 years).  On 1 1/2 lots, they have a huge garden where they are growing lots of crops.  I'm told they are being grown for the Meals on Wheels program.  They are also raising chickens and roosters; they have 8 of them, which we hear clucking quite often.  I hope they'll share the eggs with us (after I offer to buy some).

Across from our site are woods.  I'm told there's a lot of wildlife there, including turtles, foxes and rattlesnakes, as well as hawks and owls.  There are plenty of molehills in the dirt on the sites (I'm sure the owls never go hungry!)

Photos:  garden next door, woods in front, view from back

We've only met 3 of our neighbors, and whenever they see us outside doing work, they're right there to lend a hand.  I hope today or tomorrow we'll have a chance to walk around the circle and perhaps meet other neighbors.

As for weather here, I'm told we're in a cold spell, as it's only in the 40s and 50s.  Still better than 20s and 30s, though, and no snow!  I still need the heat and fireplace though.

Arrived - Day 1663 (Year 5, Day 194

Zephyrhills, FL

What a day!!!

We were very fortunate that we were not asked to move during the night, nor did we wake up to find a ticket on our windshield.  Good night's sleep!

We left the rest area at 7:45 am, drove 38 miles to the first and only rest area on the 70 mile route to change drivers (I don't mind doing highway, but when it comes to the back roads and commercial areas, I really need Mitch to do that).

We arrived at this little campground at about 9:45 am.  We didn't get into our site to get set up until almost 11:30 am.  Why???  Because the site is all dirt and we got stuck in the mud!   At least 3 neighbors came out to help us (I have no doubt this will be an incredibly friendly place to stay!).  It took quite a while, with much digging, to maneuver (interestingly, one of our neighbors - Joe-- is an extremely religious Christian.  He said a prayer for us, which I then followed with my own prayer. Within 5 minutes of our praying, the problem was finally solved (after almost an hour of trying).  Make of this as you will.  I think this was a way of G-d answering our prayers.

Meanwhile, my clients are keeping me busy and I just picked up a new one!  Hopefully, Mitch will find work soon, too.  (interestingly, our  neighbor owns an IT business.  It will be exciting to learn more. Who knows if there's an opportunity or at least some good leads here?)

Almost there... Day 1662 (Year 5, Day 193)

Ocala, FL

I've been saying how much I wish I was in a warmer place.  Well, we're now in Florida where it's 70 degrees!  Almost shorts & flip flop weather!

It was a lovely 3 night stay at the campground in Brunswick.  We went out for a walk around the place twice on Saturday.  Small but pretty place (it was never our plan to stay, but you know... the delay and all...)

Anyway, we never unhitched so we only needed to pack up this morning.  We left the campground at 9:45 am and stopped at every rest area we passed, each one approximately 30 to 40 miles apart.  It was quite nostalgic pulling into the first rest area, which was the Florida Welcome Center right over the border -- the first place we stopped when we were on the way down to pick up our new home.  This was us at the same welcome center in June 2014:  http://mitcheryl-rv-journey.blogspot.com/2014/06/officially-floridians.html

We traveled about 210 miles, and have about another 70 to go.  We are staying at a wonderful rest area now.  What makes this more lovely than most is that they have a separate area for RVs so we don't have to park with all the trucks.  The spaces are wider as well, for those of us who need to open our slide-outs.  We hope to be able to stay the night, but there are signs posted "no overnight parking or camping" and "nighttime security."  My fear is that they probably DO enforce the rules here and we may be asked to leave.  The next rest area is in about 38 miles where we were planning to stop en route tomorrow, but if we need to leave, I guess we'll just go there for a few hours in the middle of the night, if needed.  We shall see.

G-d willing, I will be posting again tomorrow from our next semi-permanent location, in Zephyrhills (30 miles NE of Tampa).