Thursday, February 25, 2010

A Day At The Beach

This morning we headed out to Ormond Beach to meet up with Ken and Sandy for lunch. Helen was our "guide" for the day and had the perfect restaurant picked out just up the beach from there.

We met Sandy & Ken and walked down to the beach to check the surf out and use the restrooms - the latter being a priority for some of us - hahaha. Then we loaded back into the vehicles and went in search of Helen's pick. No problem finding it - closed and for sale!!! Oh well, this is her first miss so I guess we won't fire her yet. Ken and Sandy said there was another place on up the beach in the Flagler Beach area so off we went again.

Success, it was open. The name of the restaurant is The Fisherman's.

There were ten of us and they put us at two tables so we decided the women at one table and the men at the other. The poor waitress - when we told her she said this is going to be hard. Bless her heart, she came back with the solution. She took our orders first then put our first name on the slip and went to the men's table and asked who belonged to "name". HAH - it worked really well after a couple of the men gave her a bit of a hard time. Her service was good, the food was good and served hot. She was well tipped for her service.

After eating we crossed A1A to the beach side (where we were parked) and took pictures. I found the perfect spot for taking everyone's picture and we all took turns. I've posted the pictures at Picasa.

A wonderful time with great friends today - gotta love this lifestyle. Seeing friends almost everywhere you go and getting to share meals in all kinds of settings.

Till next time - Safe Travels....

Monday, February 22, 2010

Springs, Pancakes & Manatee's

I'm still tired from all the fun we had yesterday - I'll tell you some about it and then you can go check out the pictures that I just posted at Picasa - they tell a better story.

Our day out began at 9am - needed to get a early start to a busy day! Eight of us, Helen & Bill, Bob & Pam, Henry & Anne and Dean & I headed to our first stop for the day - De Leon Springs State Park. What a pretty park. The springs are surrounded by a concrete wall and they have made safe shallow swimming areas for children. If you are a swimmer you can swim anywhere and if your a diver, it must be a good diving spot. I heard the center of the area is about 60 to 80 feet deep - where the spring is. The water is a constant 72 degrees and we did see some divers and swimmers. The outside temperature was in the high 60's to low 70's while we were there.

The main reason for going to De Leon Springs State Park was to eat at the restaurant. It's really one of a kind - at least as far as I know. They are known for their pancakes which the patrons actually cook themselves. The griddles are in the middle of the tables. We had a really fun time having a late breakfast, after a two hour wait! They cook and serve the breakfast meats and we cooked our pancakes. They gave us two pitchers of pancake mix, one was buckwheat and one regular mix. The pictures I posted tell the story. The pancakes were delicious!

After eating we left for our second destination for the day - Blue Springs State Park. You will notice that I put the wrong name on the photo album - it was not Manatee State Park!

The park was full when we arrived but after about a 15 min wait we were able to get in and found two parking spots not far from the springs.

We walked to the platform viewing area and saw lots of fish and finally spotted two manatee's across the stream. We were told that there were a lot on down stream near the river so off we went in search of manatee's.

We found them and more! We saw a albino alligator, lots of fish, birds and manatee's. It was interesting to watch the manatee's swimming around. Sadly, most all of the manatee's we saw had scars on them from boat motors. One big one even had half of his tail missing. I wish there was a way to protect these gentle mammals from being hurt this way.

From Blue Springs we followed Bill & Helen to a RV park where they had friends from the Montana Owners Club staying. It was after 5pm when we got there and most of us were hungry again and wanted to go eat so we went to a Greek Italian restaurant that their friends recommended. Oh yes, they went along. After a good meal, we headed back to our park and finally got home close to 9pm. A long fun day had come to a end.

Today we are all gathering at Helen's or at the clubhouse for a turkey dinner. We are all bringing something as a side dish. It should be some good eating and more good times with friends.

As for me, right now, I'm going to take a nap! Don't forget to take a look at the pictures - hope you enjoy them. Catch up with you later...Till then, Safe Travels!

Friday, February 12, 2010

The Missile Launched!

Yesterday morning we went back to the seawall to watch the re-scheduled missile launch. Today was a go. It was neat! Nothing like the shuttle but still impressive. Pictures at Picasa.

We also went back to Ron Jon Surf Shop and did some shopping including a cute purse for me. I've been looking for something a little different and found one I liked - just hope I can get used to no pockets on the outside.

Pizza Hut was our lunch spot for the day. The clerk in Ron Jon's had sent us to a place called Little Venice for as he said "good homemade pizza". Well we got there and they were closed. Pizza Hut was just around the corner so they won out. They had a special going on - any pizza, medium or large for $10.00. Well we got the meat special and it was good. Dean finished it up for lunch today.

Our next stop was the local Publix Supermarket for chili fixins. That was dinner today and it was soooo good. A perfect dish for a cool rainy day.

We drove back to the seawall in time to watch the Carnival Sensation and the Disney Wonder set sail. Those lucky people - heading into warmer weather! Oh how I wish I had been on one of those ships, I love cruising and haven't done one since our Alaska cruise in 2007. Maybe it's about time to start planning? I've posted some pictures at Picasa.

So there you have it - our Thursday. Today we did nothing. The weather was icky - cool and rainy almost all day. I did manage to get a picture of Royal Caribbean's Majesty of the Seas this morning before it got bad. Now that's the ship I would like to be going out on. Royal Caribbean is my favorite cruise line!

Tomorrow we are moving back to Silver Springs until the 2nd of March. Will be visiting with Helen & Bill more along with Henry & Anne until they leave for Alabama. I'm sure we will be seeing Sandy & Ken again as well. I do want to get back to New Smyrna Beach and explore the little town. Lots of little shops to browse through.

What will be we doing in the weeks ahead? I don't know at this time but hopefully we will get to go to Silver Springs this time. Check back and see.... Safe Travels.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Another No Go On Launch!

This morning we went over to the seaway to watch a missile launch that was scheduled for sometime between 10:26 and 11:26. By 11:35 we all figured it was scrubbed! Will try again tomorrow. I think today it may have been the wind that caused the delay.

We decided to drive along the coast since is was such a pretty day although it was not warm. The temperature finally got to 61 late this afternoon. Our drive took us from Port Canaveral to Melbourne. I found a Smokey Bones, my very favorite BBQ. That's where Dean and I went for lunch and boy was it good, from the BBQ to the homemade dessert donuts. I don't think I'll eat tonight, I'm still full!

We noticed as we drove along A1A something that the Alabama Coast could have or should have done. There are many city or county parks along the drive that included anything from just a parking lot with ramps to the beach to playgrounds and picnic areas. Really nice ones and most had nice restrooms. We stopped at one and I walked to the surf line to look at the shells. Most were broken pieces and nothing really special. The surf sure was pretty though.

On our drive back we stopped at the Ron Jon Surf Shop. What a place! T-shirts and surf boards galore. A fun place to browse through.

Tomorrow morning we are going to go watch the launch, hoping that it goes this time. Then back to Ron Jon's to get my granddaughter something. After that, I'm not sure. I know I want to be back in time to watch the cruise ships leave tomorrow evening.

I have posted pictures from today at Picasa - go take a look. There are some really pretty beach pictures.

Till next time - Safe Travels....

Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Shuttle Launch Week

Last Tuesday we moved to Crystal Lake RV Park in Mims, FL. Our site was nice as it faced the lake which had at least one alligator in it. I named him Gator Boy. Not sure why, just felt like it fit. He was active and I got many pictures of him.

Our first night at this park was not a pleasant experience. Our power level dropped way low. Dean went out with a meter to check the receptacle and I guess the owner saw him and came over and demanded to know what he was doing. Dean looked at him and said "looking for some power". "We have next to none." The owner said he would look into it and walked away. A little while later he was back and replaced the circuit breaker. After that the power was just OK but not great.

Our first whole day we went to Titusville to do laundry. We had 7 loads since it had been almost two weeks. I hate having that much. While there I started feeling really bad again and as soon as we got home, I took some Tylenol and rested.

I guess we both were still not totally over these dang colds and because of that and the weather we didn't really do much the rest of the week.

Saturday night at 11pm we drove about 45 min to Merritt Island to catch the bus to take us to the shuttle launch. We were fortunate enough to get VIP tickets from our Senator Jeff Sessions. When we arrived at the parking lot we saw that the line to check in was really long. Oh well, out in the cold wind we went and stood in line about 30 min. We finally got on a bus and had about a hour to relax. We arrived at the space center around 1:45 am Sunday morning. The launch was scheduled for 4:36 so we went in the Saturn Missile display building so we would be out of the cold. We walked around some and then found some chairs where we waited till about 30 min before launch time to go outside to the bleachers. By then the launch was at only a 30% chance of launch because of the weather which was low level and thick cloud cover. As I'm sure ya'll know, it was scrubbed. Long story short - we arrived back home around 6:30 am and crashed. We both didn't wake up till about 1 pm Sunday afternoon. After awhile we talked about going back for the launch and decided that neither of us wanted to do two all nighters in a row, we are just getting to old for that! The owner had told us about a city park about 3 miles from the campground where we could watch the launch and we opted to go for that. We went to bed that evening with the alarm set for 3am. I got up and checked the launch schedule on-line. Seeing it was a go, we drove to the park and at 4:14 am Monday morning we witnessed the most amazing, awesome sight of the shuttle launch. Words do not describe what we saw and I (I blame being so tired) forgot my camera! I don't think the pictures would have been any good anyway. I'll just say seeing it in person is 100 times better than watching on TV! After it (the shuttle) became like a star in the sky, we drove back home and were back in bed by 4:30am. That was a much better night!

Monday afternoon we met Sandy & Ken and rode with them to Daytona Beach for lunch with Helen & Bill, and Bill & Diane. We had a great time, sitting outdoors in the warmth of the sun, enjoying good food, good friends and good stories. After a couple of hours Sand & Ken drove us to New Smyrna Beach - actually on the beach, so I could see the Atlantic. Funny, we've been in Florida almost a month and I hadn't seen either the Gulf or the Atlantic till then. Sandy and I got out to get some good pictures of some surfers and some birds. The surf was really pretty. On the way back to our car, they drove us past a lot of seaside housing that was really pretty. It reminded me of how it used to look in Biloxi, MS before Katrina!

Today we left Crystal Lake and drove about 30 miles to Port Canaveral and Jetty Park Campground. We will be here for four nights. Unfortunately, we can't get a site for longer than that so won't get to see the bigger cruise ships.

At this time we are seriously thinking about going back to Wilderness RV Park in Silver Springs. Our time there was basically a bust since Dean and I both got sick and couldn't do anything. I really want to go to Silver Springs and ride the glass bottom boats. We got to looking at our "schedule" and saw where we were going to be on the move every 3 to 6 days until the beginning of March and really don't like moving that much. If we go to Wilderness RV Park we can just stay there until our move to Orlando 1000 Trails park the beginning of March. The big up to this decision is that we can spend some time with Helen & Bill, like we were supposed to the first time around! Maybe some time with Anne & Henry if they are still there.

This about brings me up to date. There is another missile launch tomorrow morning that we are going to try to catch. It's supposed to be clear and cold - highs in the high 50's. So much for Global Warming, huh?

I'll be posting some pictures soon at Picasa. Till next time - Safe Travels....

Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Soggy, Sick & Snobs

We are still at Wilderness RV Park in Silver Springs. Unfortunately both Dean and I have come down with colds - Dean about a week ahead of me. He's getting better and so am I but I'm still a week behind! The last two days have been rainy ones and that really doesn't help. We need some sunshine, some vitamin C, no more liquid sunshine.

We were supposed to leave today to go to Mims, FL. Because of the rain and our colds we decided to put off leaving today. I figured that us getting soaked from the rain wouldn't do either of us any good. We had no problem extending here and I called the campground in Mims and no problem there either.

We have enjoyed our stay here at Wilderness RV Park. The "Preserve" which is the area we are staying is a motorhome only section. I may have mentioned that before, sorry. The sites are nice and wide with concrete pads. There are many lots for sale. I have heard that they are now selling lots for as low as $42,000. No, we are not buying in case you are wondering. I think there are about 7 or 8 lots that have been sold and a at least three of them are up for sale. From the rumors I've heard, there are one or two owners who are truly "snobs" and are trying to set up rules that in my opinion, are just plain stupid! I probably mentioned that the park is divided into three sections and the entire park is behind a security gate. One thing that I don't understand, keeping that in mind, is why the need for another gate into the Preserve? My thought is that they (the couple of owners) want to keep out the people from the other two sections. Well, up to yesterday, they had openers that would open both the main gate and the one into the Preserve. As of yesterday it doesn't work on the Preserve's. Hmm, wonder why the change. I can tell you this, we own a motorhome and a nice one at that, but I don't think I'm any better than the person in the VW camper, the travel trailer or the fifth wheel. Even if I had considered buying here, my mind would have been changed in a hurry after experiencing this type of attitude. Who needs it. As I said, the Preserve is really a nice place and if someone wanted a permanent site in central Florida, this is where I would have sent them. To bad the owner doesn't get more involved and not let a couple of owners rule! OK, so I've said my piece. If you are traveling in this area, don't miss staying here for a week or so. It's really close to a lot of places to visit along with all the major stores in Ocala. As the saying goes, "nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there".

Because of us both being sick for the past week, we haven't been able to visit with Bill & Helen or Anne & Henry - darn!!! That was our reason for coming! Hopefully we will get to visit with Bill & Helen again for the day at the Villages before we leave Florida. Anne & Henry are heading to Alabama soon to begin their job of inspecting parks for Trailer Life Directory. Maybe we'll be able to catch them there.

We are going out to dinner this evening and I promise not to cough in their direction - haha!

So that's it until we move. The shuttle launch is still on for Sunday morning and we are looking forward to our VIP passes getting us close to the launch! More about that later.....