We made it to Okeechobee, Florida

We left Ocala this morning and after a three hour drive, part of which was through a torrential down pour, we made it to the KOA in Okeechobee, Florida. We were greeted at the site by our friend Mike from Plymouth, Indiana who we met at Gulf State Park.  Mike is the one who talked us into coming here.  So far so good.  We got the site we had requested and after unloading the motorcycle we backed into the site with no problems.  Our first impression of the campground is very good.  It's large with one side dedicated to seasonal type snow birds like us, who leave in the spring, and the other side for permanent residents.  There are palm trees planted throughout the campground.  They have a general store, nine hole golf course with club house, adult and family pools, and a bar that is called the Shanty.  We plan on doing some exploring on our bicycles tomorrow.

Last night Wally and Joann Meyer met us at the Ocala Sun RV Resort where we stayed for the night. Joann lost about 30 pounds and she looked terrific.  After sitting around talking for a while we went out for dinner and then went back to the 5er and visited for another hour or so.  We really enjoyed our time with them and realized how much we missed having them live across the street from us.

We will post pictures of our new home away from home once we have some time to get out and about.  We want to ride our bikes on the dike surrounding Lake Okeechobee (The Big O is what they call it around here). Hopefully we can do this in next couple of days.

Bye for now.

Jack

Stop over in Lake City, Florida

We are on our way to Lake Okeechobee, Florida via Lake City and Ocala, Florida.  Lake City tonight and Ocala tomorrow night.   We are meeting up with Joann and Wally tomorrow night in Ocala for some visiting time.  When we left them last year  in Beverly Hills, Florida I never dreamed we'd ever see them again so when Jack told me how close we were going to be to them making our way to Okeechobee we jumped at the chance to see them.

Jack (the pooper who agreed 100% with me NOT to buy Christmas gifts for each other) gave me a new laptop for Christmas.  I'm able now to write and ride in the truck much more comfortably than trying to use the IPad.  Lots to figure out with the new Windows 8 but as soon as I do I'm looking forward to having face to face conversations with my sister.  Point is I'm loving this keyboard as I'm able to type more in a  normal fashion.  With the IPad I always feel like a chicken pecking for it's food. And trust me I'd starve very quickly.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.  As Jack said in his last post this will be the last time we won't be home for Christmas and probably Thanksgiving. Christmas day I had to keep talking to myself, with a little lump in my throat all day, that I could make it through the day without crying.  While my heart ached to see our sons, my heart ached more for the parents and families of the innocent, tiny, children killed in Newtown. .Our biggest worry in elementary school was the hassle of performing our air raid drills. That scared the bejesus out of us wondering what the heck an atomic bomb was and of course, knowing that with our head tucked neatly on our knees we were safe.  A bloody nose on the playground was the all time worse of any danger we ever faced in elementary school.  I honest to God don't think we could have comprehended a crazed gunman shooting our teachers and school mates.  It wasn't in our realm of thinking.  How nuts is this world becoming?  Just how much crazier, ruthless and insane can it get?  So I knew, God willing, I'd see my sons again and that made me feel a little better; a little safer. A lot more thankful.

P.S. Gayle, our neighbor at Gulf Shores is one of the most creative people I've ever met.  Anyhow at our last card party I asked if anyone was interested in our snowman.  After all it cost us a whole, what, $1.90 (I think). Gayle said she'd like it.  Yesterday while Jack was preparing the motorcycle and bikes for traveling he took the snowman over to Gayle.   Later in the day we had a few errands we had to run.  When we returned the snowman was sitting by our front door all decorated with a sign that read "Happy New Year Jack and Janet"  During the evening at some point Bob kidnapped the snowman back.  This morning when we were leaving their was a note attached to my car door.  The note, among other things, said that she'd (Gayle) would take good care of Frosty. She'd decorate him for every occasion eg. Mardi Gras, Valentines' Day, Easter, etc.  Just like the silly goose people dress up for every occasion, so goes Frosty.  And I know she'll do it. She promises pictures.

P.S.S. Jack posted his blog before I did so mine is out of order.

You know your in Florida when....

Well we headed east this morning and you didn't have to tell me where we were.  I could tell you by looking at the price of diesel,  at the size of campsites, and by seeing the price of a fifth of Jose Cuervo tequila where we were. The price of diesel goes up from $3.59 per gallon in Alabama to $3.99 in Florida.  Campsites go from 50 feet from your closest neighbor to 5 feet from your bologna sammich on your picnic table to your neighbors sewer dump hose outlet and Jose Cuervo goes from $24 per fifth to $29 per half gallon.  Oh well, one out of three ain't bad, I guess.  This morning we left Gulf State Park and this evening we are at the Oak N Pines RV Resort in Lake City, Florida.  We drove about 300 plus miles on Interstate 10 from Gulf Shores to Lake City.  We are just past the intersection of 10 and 75.  Tomorrow we will drive about 90 miles south on interstate 75 to Ocala, Florida where we will meet up with Wally and Joann who are our good friends that we met last year at Sandy Oaks RV park in Beverly Hills, Florida.  We are really looking forward to visiting with them.

Today our trip was fairly uneventful except for one Florida State Patrol Officer who followed us for a while and then watched us go off interstate 10 to a rest area.  When we reentered the interstate after our bathroom break and dog walk we got back on the road and reentered interstate 10 heading east where he followed us from his perch in the median.  He road next to us for several minutes checking out our swivel wheel trailer and then road behind us for several miles.  I just kept waiting for him to turn on his lights and pull us over.  In Florida triple towing is illegal but I don't consider my swivel wheel trailer triple towing.  I have documentation to try and prove my case but never had to use it since after a few miles he went around us and we never saw him again.  We think he must have radioed information about our plates and our trailer to the home base and got something back saying it wasn't considered triple towing since the swivel wheeled trailer is technically considered part of the fifth wheel.  At least that is how we and Fast Master Products,  and the state of Indiana see it.

Here are some pictures of our campsite accommodations in Florida.  This is just some of the sacrifices you make to get temperatures that are about 10 degrees warmer than Gulf Shores.  We know Okeechobee will be a lot closer than Gulf State Park but we are hoping for a few more feet than this.

 

 

The sewer hose dump location is about four feet from the picnic table.  Just a little too close for me eating my bologna samwich at the picnic table.  For those who don't know I love bologna sandwiches.  I took them in my lunch pail every day for almost 10 years while working at Clevpak and Westinghouse.  Janet would try to give me a treat by packing ham sandwiches but after about two days I would tell her to please go back to bologna.  To this day I still love them.

 

 

 

This is our bikes and motorcycle loaded up behind the 5th wheel on the swivel wheeled trailer.  It gets alot of attention from people in the rv parks we stay at and also from the Florida State Police today but he must of determined he had better things to do than to pull us over.  While this setup may look a little like the Beverly hillbillies I am actually pretty anal about the truck, the fifth wheel, and the swivel wheeled trailer.  We have spent thousands of extra dollars on new wheels and tires for all three vehicles to make sure we are as safe as possible.  I even changed the tire on the swivel wheel trailer a couple of days ago due to a small crack in the side wall of the tire.  I haven't had any accidents or incidents while towing and I don't want any.



Moon halo and Christmas decorations

Well Janet really did pull one over on me big time by surprising me with a 60th birthday party last Friday night.  It seems every 20 years she throws me a surprise birthday party.  I told her I'll be looking for it and will be better prepared on my 80th birthday so it won't be such a big surprise.

Last night on our last walk with the dogs the moon had a very large distinct ring around it that we later learned was called a halo.  We went back to the 5er to get the camera so we could try and take a picture of this halo and of some of the Christmas decorations around the park.  People do all kind of things and go to different lengths as far as decorating for Christmas goes.  Below are some of the pictures but the camera doesn't do that great at taking  pictures of lights when it's pitch dark.  It may also be the operator.

We had a large Christmas dinner planned at Bob and Gayle's party tent with several other couples but the weather forecast is calling for thunder storms with high winds and possible tornadoes so the dinner got cancelled.  People here tend to worry much more about the weather than we do.  We even had a friend stop by and ask us if we wanted him to stop by and wake us up tonight to take shelter in the restroom in the event of a tornado warning.  I told him no we are more the type to sleep through and if it's meant to happen it's going to happen.  As far as dinner goes we are going to Pensacola to Chow Tyme for Chinese.  At least we heard all of the Chinese restaurants were open Christmas day.  We could have cooked but didn't want to.  We would rather go to Pensacola and eat Chinese. Don't feel bad for us because this isn't just any Chinese restaurant... it is awesome.

We told our sons that we didn't plan to be here over Christmas but our plans changed when we decided to move south to Okeechobee, Florida on December 27th.  We told them in the future we plan on being closer to them so we can spend some time with them around the holidays.  Even if it's only a couple of days that is what we plan to do in the future.  If we buy a house in Florida or are in the 5th wheel we plan on going home to Warsaw for 2-4 weeks around Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Below are some pictures of decorations and other things.  Be sure to read about the 92 year old man who pulls his travel trailer to Gulf State park.

 

 

 

The travel trailer below belongs to a gentleman who is 92 years old and lives alone.  He pulls the trailer here with a dodge truck.  He spends several hours every day sitting at table ;in front of a big two way radio where he talks to and does Morse code with people from all over the world.  He said this is something he learned how to do when we was in the service.  He also plays the guitar with others in the park periodically.  He is very hard to talk to because he rarely pulls himself away from his radio. 

 

Other people in the park told us of a woman who is 90 years old who drives a motor home by herself from Missouri to Gulf State park after the first of the year.  She apparently has been doing this for many years.  There are people in the park who kind of look after her even though they say she is very independent.

The ring around the moon is really neat.

This is our snowman that will be finding a new home in a couple of days. 



Jack's 60th Surprise Birthday Party

To say Jack was totally surprised would be an understatment.  He was shocked! It was a great evening, good friends, good food, a beautiful cake, and lots of fun.  Without the help of Toni and Gayle decorating the hall (we had to move the party from our regular "party tent" to the activities center here in the park due to the cool temperature) I could have never pulled it off.  They did all the decorating complete with fine china, cloth napkins and silver utensils.  Jack received some nice gifts but really it was all about the people who came to celebrate with him. I guess I never thought about "older" people having so much fun but when we are all together we have a blast. Here are a few pics from last night.

 

 



Another day........

Realizing today we had only 9 more days here in Alabama is kind of bittersweet. We've made friends and look forward to our Friday night card gatherings not to mention the bike trails and the Gulf.  But we have a goal and if we want to get it accomplished this year we've got to get closer to Dunedin, Florida.  And I'd really like to have a permanent place in the South.

Today we rode our bikes in to Orange Beach and took the long way back to the park.  The sun was out but the air was kind of cool.  Well, to me it was.  Jack had shorts and a T shirt on.  I wore ear muffs.  Nice, beautiful, sunny day.  Jack grilled steaks and I threw in some potatoes to bake as well as a small salad.  Good end to a great day.

As most of you know Jack's loves his cooking shows.  I like Trisha Yearwood's cooking show too but that one is about it.  Last week Jack got a new recipe from her show and tried it.  Since Chelsea enjoys cooking we thought we post a picture of the completed dish along with the recipe.  You can add jalapeno's or hot sauce to spice it up but since Garth nor I like spicey foods she and Jack both left the hot stuff out.  It was delicious.  I good party dip.

Hot Corn Dip

Prep Time - 10 minutes
Cook Time - 40 minutes


Ingredients
Two 11 ounce cans Mexican corn, drained
Cooking spray or butter to grease pan
Two 4.5 ounce cans chopped green chiles, drained
2 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese ( 8 ounces)
2/3 cup grated Parmesan (we used the real shredded cheese)
I cup mayonnaise
Tostitos  scoops

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Grease 9X13  by 2 inch casserole dish (we used a deep dish ceramic pie plate)

Mix all together and spread the mixture in the prepared casserole dish and bake, uncovered, until bubbly around the edges. Serve with scoops.

Joe Patti's Fish Market

Today was another rainy overcast day so we decided to load up the dogs and take off in the truck.  We went to Joe Patti's,  the famous fishmonger in Pensacola, Florida to get Huli some non fishy fish.  Janet has recently discovered that she really does like fish but it has to be a certain kind of fish.  She likes oysters,  fresh catfish and flounder. In this fish market you can get whatever you want from shrimp to octopus to tuna.  Most of the fish they sell is fresh within the last 24 hours.  They have a fleet of boats that catch fish off the Florida coast daily and get other fish from other places shipped in from around the world.  They are known for selling fish to retail customers at wholesale prices.  They ship anywhere you want them to.  Today we got Huli three pounds of flounder.  The next time we will get grouper and keep going from there.  We need to take baby steps on the less fishy to more fishy scale of fish. 

We got home and took a long walk and then took the dogs for a walk and then grilled out some of the flounder we had purchased earlier in the day.   It was awesome.



Hi Everyone!

I haven't posted anything on the blog this year as some of you might have guessed by now.  So no, I haven't been subject to an alligators dinner.   Jack is just so much better at statistics than I am; I am more of an emotional writer, so I tend to rattle on about this or that when it isn't necessary.  Remember Dragnet?  "Stick to the facts ma'am. Just the facts."  I'm not a fact kind of gal.  If I ever committed a crime the police would let me go just to shut me up.

Anyhow......This has been a great (almost) two months.  We've met some wonderful people and had lots of fun.  Each Friday we attend a Pass the Trash card party that has evolved in to a food carry in/social night/stories of days gone by/and last but not least, cards.  We have very much enjoyed our time with "the group" but look forward to Going Down the Road A Piece in a few weeks.

In our group is Herman and Toni.  They are the "younguns" of the group.  54 and 55 respectively.  I love them both and they have been through so much hardship in their lives but you'd never know it by their laughter and attitude.  Both come from Detroit and both have had their confrontations with the KKK and horrible, racist behaviors from, what they say, most generally, rednecks.   Even as little as 2 years ago on the Indiana State Toll Road.  Herman and his aunt were driving when a truck with three white men pulled up beside them.  They proceeded to pull out their white KKK hats and place them over their head.  What the rednecks in the truck didn't know was that Herman's aunt is a DEA agent.  She pulled out her gun.   Needless to say the driver of the truck put the pedal to the medal.  When Herman was 20 he was knifed across the back of his neck.  The cut severed his spinal cord and the doctors operated but told his mom that he would never walk again.  He was determined to prove them wrong.  He would take his wheelchair out to the sidewalk and pull himself up on to a chain link fence that went a couple of lawns down the block.  He'd walk up and down the fence and up and down the fence.  For months and months Herman did this. But Herman can walk today.  I asked him if was painful.  He laughed and said the most painful part of the whole process was praying that the guy that cut him wouldn't come back with a gun.  I enjoy hearing about the lives of others especially those who have been knocked down and pulled themselves back up and kept on fighting.

We've managed to keep busy; sometimes busier than I would like but we have had a great time seeing new things and meeting new people.  While at Bellingrath's Home and Garden we visited a beautiful little chapel  tucked away in the gardens. We knelt and said a few prayers and then we proceeded to renew our vows.  Of course no minister was present; just God and I'm thinkin He's all we needed.  Bellingrath was one of the most beautiful magical places I've ever been.  I loved it.

We've enjoyed the bike trails and walking around the miles of the campground.  We've met several people from Warsaw and Muncie.  Not to mention the couple who came up to me while sitting in the screen room and asked if I was Janet, the wife of Jack who retired from Zimmer?  We had met them in Bluffton, Indiana a few years back while camping there.  I've learned to like SOME seafood.;  fried oysters, baked oysters on the half shell, catfish, salmon and flounder. Still haven't learned to like shrimp or beer.  Never will on the shrimp.  The beer is questionable.  I go through periods of years where I hate the taste of beer and then I will  
drink one.

As I said, in a few weeks we will moving down to Florida.  We are looking at homes right now in Dunedin, Florida and hope to buy one before we return to Indiana in May.  We chose Dunedin because of it's charm, downtown atmosphere (one of only a few along the Gulf that has a "true" downtown.) it's right on the Gulf and the Panelis bike/running trail runs through the city and I believe goes for 50 miles.

And now you know why I don't blog.......Just the facts, Ma'am.  Just the facts.

Bellingrath Gardens Christmas in Lights Display

Today we went to Bellingrath Gardens southwest of Mobile to take a tour of the home and gardens at the 65 acre estate of Walter and Bessie Bellingrath.  The Coca Cola franchise that Walter Bellingrath purchased in the early 1900's that many thought would be just a fad turned out to be very profitable.  He purchased one of the first 10 Coca Cola franchises ever sold.  We saw silver commemorative awards Walter received for selling 500,000 gallons and one million gallons of Coke.  He later also bought a Mosaic tile company and a steamship company. 

We got to the home at about 3:00 pm so we could tour the house and see the gardens in the daylight and then later at dark with the Christmas lights on.  Our timing worked out perfectly and we are glad we were able to see the gardens during the daylight before seeing the lights at dark.  The home was very nice with many modern conveniences for a house built in 1936.  Since electricity wasn't available at the property an electric generation plant was built and electricity was supplied to the house.  The kitchen contained two dishwashers, two stoves, a refrigerator, and a separate freezer.  The Bellingraths had a porcelain collection that was incredible.  For years many people needed money due to the depression and had very nice porcelain vases etc. that the Bellingraths bought. The Bellingraths got the porcelain that Bessie enjoyed while at the same time helping someone needing money.  The furniture in the house was also amazing with most of it being very intricately carved wood pieces with kind of French Provincial design to it.  A little to ornate for my tastes but still truly amazing. The house contained three separate dining rooms and also had morning rooms, sitting rooms, china rooms.  It was a very nice house but the property it was built on is what took the prize.  We were unable to take pictures inside the house so we made up for it by taking 262 pictures of the rest of the 65 acres.

Since Walters death in 1955, and due to the fact they had no children, the estate has been in a trust and any profits from the admissions etc. that are charged to tour the property or use it for parties and weddings are spun off to charities and colleges.  Our tour of the house and to view the Christmas in Lights display in the gardens cost us $48 which we thought was well worth it.  Hope you like the pictures.

 



 



There are three million lights in the Christmas display.  They put their lights on a little different than I do.

The property was originally purchased to be used as a fishing camp.  It had a small house on it that was used a few years by Walter Bellingrath.  This is the Foul River.



 

You kind of lose the scale of how big these decorations are.  For example these flowers are probably 6 feet tall.

You knew they would have to get alligators in there somewhere

This train is probably over 100' long

 

 

 These candles line this entire walk and each one is about 6 feet tall

 
These snow flakes are up in tall trees on the other side of a big field

This is like a tunnel of lights with sea creatures every where.

And this made it all possible

5 foot tall ginger bread men line this walk