Travels with Snowbirds Friday February 22 and Saturday February 23, 2013, Thousand Trails Orlando, Clermont, FL

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The One About Campers Really are Great People!

Growl. The ants are back, or they never left, and a new group has hatched. Not as bad as previously, but they keep showing their ugly little selves. One night they were all over my dinette table and Winston’s water bowl. The next afternoon they were in/on/around the garbage can. I keep spraying with my borax water, which really does work and kill those it comes in contact with immediately, but a few must escape and move on to a new place they haven’t been before. The stove is next to the garbage can, so I sprayed in/around/under it today maybe to head them off. When the borax water dries it leaves a fine white borax grit, and the ants won’t go near it, or if they do they shrivel up and die almost immediately. Borax, a great invention in a $3 box.

Friday Kathy had a salon appointment, and came back looking really good and she was happy! We went out to dinner at Bahama Breeze. I guess they are a chain; a new one to me. Caribbean music, drinks with paper umbrellas, coconut shrimp, you get the idea We arrived in time to take full advantage of happy hour – half priced appetizers and drinks. I had 2 yummy pineapple coconut martinis and Kathy opted for Mojitos. We shared coconut shrimp, and I had lobster/shrimp quesadilla and Kathy had empanadas???? No room for desert, all under $20 each, tip included. A yummy evening.

I am now up to walking just under 2 miles every morning. Not the fastest pace ever, as it is Winston’s walk; I let him sniff everywhere, but manage to make it a 17 minute mile, and that ain’t too bad. I vary my walk thru the campground, and have managed to see every last street of it. I have marked down all the ugly campsites on my campground map so I can remember which ones NOT to chose in 2014. I generally take 2 bike rides a day, one with Winston and one for myself. As flat as Florida is, there are some very long slow grades here that get my heart pumping.

I met with TT super salesman, Mike, who re-upped my Thousand Trails Membership and I managed to improve my plan somewhat. Only issue is I had to renew for 2 years to get those improvements, but I can make that work.

Kathy had some RV engine issues. She took it to a local mechanic and I borrowed her car to do grocery shopping. She ended up having to leave her rig at the garage for a few hours, I picked her up (she has a cute red Fiat 5 speed convertible which, while small for my fluffy body, is a lot of fun to drive) and I dropped her back off when the problem was resolved. During our down time we gave Winston and Oscar a bath. Instead of buying a $13 bottle of dog shampoo, which I have 2 of at home, I bought a $.99 travel size Johnsons’ Baby shampoo and it worked just fine. Winston looks beautiful and smells like a baby. But, he is in big trouble again. During my last trip to drop Kathy’s car off at her campsite I didn’t put him in his crate. I was gone under 10 minutes, and he pee’d on one of my throw rugs. Expletive deleted. I keep learning this painful lesson, he just cannot be trusted.

I did lots of laundry today. I asked a neighbor if I could hang my sheets on her clothes line, and of course, she said yes. I love the smell of air dried sheets. These Wal-Mart sheets are awful though. Cheap. They are cotton, but have some polyester in them, I guess, as they are pilling a little bit. I will hit Marshalls or Stein Mart and find a good/cheap set when I get home making sure they are 100% cotton. But, tonight they will smell good. Campers are an inventive group. Line drying is often a problem due to lack of tall things to hang a clothes line from. Someone started making drying racks out of PVC pipe. These racks are square things with holes drilled in them which clothesline is laced thru. Using a clever clip and bungie or rope hook, the rack hangs off the RV ladder. I don’t have a ladder, so I don’t have a place to hang one of these things. But, campers are wonderful, and I don’t have an issue asking someone to use theirs for an hour.

Remember the guy with the Leonberger dog? The Lion?? Well, this guy also has an Irish Wolf Hound and a Newfoundland. 3 HUGE dogs in a 24 foot rig. The man told me they had 2 Newfs, but one died. I cannot imagine having 1 dog that large, no less 3. That’s a lot of dog food and a lot of poop. Winston does not think about peeing on these dogs, for sure. He is not alpha dog to them at all!!! They all seem to be sweet things, just HUGE! The owner told me they sleep in the bed over the cab, and the dogs sleep on the back bed. OMG, I cannot imagine. He said he used to work at an animal shelter, and all these dogs were obtained there.

My allergies are in full gear. I have noticed lots of green pollen on the cars. I take my Claritin every morning, and use my eye drops as well, and can just about stand the itchy eye syndrome. Time to head north to cooler weather.

While in Wauchula, Ginnie introduced us to Judy & Larry. They live in Hershey, PA and have a lovely but frisky Rottweiler, Tara. Their TT shuffle has them in Orlando for the next two weeks. Tara wants to play with Winston, but he is intimidated by large dogs. Judy came over today to share some of her knitting creations, and showed me some beautiful yarns she has been working with. I shared a few crochet tips with her. She wants to make hats for newborns for her local hospital. ((JUDY IF YOU READ THIS….I know there must be free patterns on line for KNIT baby hats……)) I happened to mention I had seen the people who make window shades and took their card so I could contact them next year. Judy said she had a screen that she WOULD GIVE ME!! They were doing some renovations to their Class A and put blinds on their windshield, and didn’t need the screen anymore. YIPPIE!!!! Class A Windshields are big things, about 40 inches tall and as wide as the RV, 8.5 feet. There are many kinds of contraptions you can use for privacy and to keep the sun out. Moya came with heavy, dark gray, lined with white, curtains that attach to a rod that sits on top of the windshield and the curtain slides on it from each side window and meets in the center. They work wonderfully, keeping the heat out. BUT, when closed, I can’t see out, and that’s annoying. The campsite I am in is very sunny, and by noon the windshield is in full sun and that curtain needs to be closed to keep Moya cooler. I have been looking at all the Class As that have windshield curtains just to see what they use, and I noticed a car that drives around advertising “Windshield Screens.” I hailed them today and found out what they would recommend. I took their card for next year, and will keep looking as I travel, and buy something if I find the perfect thing before then. The biggest issue with these windshield screens is they attach from the outside via magnets or clips to the very top. Moya is over 12’. Obviously I cannot reach that from the ground, nor could I reach it from a stepstool, and there is no way I am carting a ladder around, nor would I stand on a ladder!!! Back to the drawing board. I was talking to Judy about this, and she said she had something that would work and she would give it to me! Eureka! Larry brought it over and it is absolutely perfect. Judy purchased the vinyl screen material from a dealer near Webster Flea Market who makes custom screens. The material looks and feels like very thick window screen material, but made out of vinyl, not wire. She bought it and cut it to fit her windshield from the inside, and applied Velcro to the top. Then she put the other half of the Velcro above her windshield on the inside and presto, an instant sun blocker from the inside. This screen material is see thru from the inside out, but not the outside in. It totally blocks the sun and helps keep the inside cool but you can see thru it. At night the reverse happens when the lights are on inside, those outside can see in. Then I must close the curtain. No need for climbing ladders! When I break camp I just separate the Velcro and roll the screen up like a rug and tuck it next to the passenger seat and it is ready to use at the next stop! Wonderful! Thank you, Judy; thank you, Larry. Campers are wonderful people! I certainly will find a way to pay it forward somehow and think of them when I do!!!

Breaking camp in the morning, on to a few days at Blue Spring State Park, about an hour north. I guess I should buy some gas for my trip to Wilmington before it gets any more expensive.

Kat out.

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Comments

[judy bazler]

sounds like the last leg of the trip darn
so the robins and crocuses are up in New Jersey. Today it is in the 40's with sunshine. Spring is trying to arrive. Wilmington nc was featured in my week magazine as being the fastest growing community. Used to be a big town, now a city. I still am too busy to determine my plans for march. I know i can leave around the 14th and have to be back by 24th. This week i am observed by 2 deans in 2 classes because i am up for the distinguished professor award. I keep telling myself that it doesnt matter but of course it does. So i am nervous but prepared. I might use some of the devices that are in the rv world made out of polymers for examples too. Your shade is one. Good luck with the ants. How will you store the rv and make certain they are gone. I never had to deal with that. In fact, did you have to in your other rig? I wonder if the ants nested at the factory and are deep within the underside? Are all the other campers having the problem? Also is Kathy still in the small rig? She is towing a car? Didnt think a small rig could do that. I need to have a chat with her about it. I did see a rialta towing a big car. wow. So i will let you know my plans. judy b