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Published: February 21st 2012
Sunday February 19, 2012
Up early and (sadly) helped Ginnie get on the road to Orlando Thousand Trails. We have been together a long time and I am sad to see her go. Also very jealous, as she has 6 more weeks to go on her winter trip, and I only have 2. I have heard from many readers who, even though they don’t know Ginnie, have sent their condolences on the passing of George. You can all be sure that I will pass each and every one on when I talk to her next.
It was a very lazy day for me, lots of walks around the campground, lots of chatting with other campers about their rigs, their dogs, the weather, etc. Mid afternoon big black clouds came up and the wind was whipping. I decided to unhook my sewer, stow my new chair to the ladder and put some of the smaller stuff away in my storage box. I knew this would surely save me some time in the morning, and if the rain continued all night, I wouldn’t be putting away wet stuff. We did have periods of intense rain and wind, followed by bright sun and no wind, and a repeat of this cycle many times until about midnight when the sky was brilliant with stars. Anyone know if that iphone/ipad app to see the stars really works? Should I get it? Mars is easy to identify – it is bright red in the sky every night.
I did have a long conversation with my new neighbor. I started by asking him if his rig was new, and here’s his story: He’s had the rig for about 7 months, and this is his first trip. Previously he had a 24 foot Class C behind which he towed a car. To give him more room in the class C he had a very sturdy dining tent/canopy which he stowed in his towed vehicle. The dining canopy had screens and heavy sides he could pull down when needed. He had tables, chairs, rug, and a small ceramic heater for it. He and his wife used that for many years, when they decided to upgrade. He bought the diesel Class A he has now 7 months ago. He said the interior was really wrecked, but the outside and engine were wonderful. So he put $10K into it, got new upholstery, floors, a/c (a quiet one!) He said he is into this rig for $50K now. Not bad at all, is it. He and his wife live in Hickory, NC (near Asheville kind of) and he had business near Wauchula (who in their right mind would ever have business near Wauchula) so he took the rig and his 2 dogs for the week so he could shake out the kinks. (pug and Burmese Mntn Dog which is one of the biggest things I have ever seen in my life, both nice dogs.) He has been cleaning the inside from the renovations, working on the refrigerator, bedroom and just making sure everything works. Back to the dogs. I cannot imagine having this thing in any size rig. Can you imagine the hair! And, when those hairy dogs get wet they smell! Yuck. Call me prissy, but that is just not for me!
My refrigerator is nearly empty. I finished up my bacon and had a BLT minus the L for dinner. These Florida tomatoes are wonderful – not as flavorful as a Jersey Beefsteak, but do come close. The wind created havoc with my air TV antenna, making it wobble disrupting service, annoying. CBS is the poorest channel anyway, and it was difficult watching Amazing Race, then The Good Wife, then CSI Miami – all starting late because of some darn golf match. Interesting to note, no oldsters on Amazing Race this season, but it should be interesting watching Brandon and Rachel from Big Brother compete – she’s whining already, but she sure is a competitor, and I find her interesting to watch.
Monday February 20, 2012 Wauchula to Eustis
Anyone ever heard of Eustis? Lol, it’s near Tavares.
The wind had stopped by morning, and I was on the road by 8:30 – that has to be an all time record.
First stop Matt’s coin Launderia (or whatever the latino word for Laundromat is.) I have never seen a Laundromat like this. It had no windows, no doors, no screens, just a big room with a roof over it. Big machines, $2 to Wash, $.25 for 5 minutes of dry. I was the only Anglo. Pretty much all the machines were full. The customers were an interesting lot. A mom with 4 year old daughter, Monica, and a newborn. Monica wanted to help me put my wash in the machine, sure, why not. She also ran out and looked at my RV, taking up a large portion of the tiny parking lot. There was another latino woman who brought her 5 yes 5 black garbage bags full of the dirtiest clothes I have seen in a long time in an equally dirty baby stroller. She put all this wash in 2 machines. I don’t know how it could have gotten clean, then she put it all in one dryer. Another customer – well, maybe I was wrong, she was white. She drove a silver pickup truck, and had 10 wash baskets full in the bed. She smoked a cigar. I would have loved to take pictures of all these people, but I knew that would definitely not be a good idea. I did my usual clean the RV while waiting for Laundry, and in an hour we were ready to move on.
When Kathy E left TT on Saturday she needed propane. She was directed to the local Ace Hardware store. She called me (remember, she tapped the truck in the parking lot?) and told me everyone told her the only place around was the trailer park across US 17 from Ace. So, I headed there, as I have been nursing my propane for a week. I only heated hot water once a day for shower and didn’t cook at all – there is no way I wanted to unhook everything to drive 10 miles to get it. So, I found the trailer park she was talking about. The only way to describe this place was a tornado magnet. Lots of seedy looking ‘trailers’ and ‘mobile homes’ gathered around in a lazy circle, with this HUGE Amerigas Propane Tanks Filled Here sign on the highway. Redneckville for sure. The toothless attendant was waiting for me. “Yup, no place to get your AAAAAAARRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEE VEEEEEEEEEEE filled with ‘parrrrropane near heuh, missy.’ He actually turned out to be pretty pleasant, but I couldn’t understand a word he said, and I had to keep saying, ‘Could you please repeat that?’ I felt like I was in a different country. Back on the road again on my old friend US 17 for many miles, then a one exit time on Interstate 4 after Garmina put me going the wrong way on a one way street, then to US 27, and lo and behold, I was right near Thousand Trails Orlando. I called Ginnie just to say hello, told her to wave, I was passing Walmart and would be passing TT in a minute – but she was at Walmart; we had a good laugh over that. She got into the very same site she was in on our last trip there – one of the sandy ones, but they had thrown down some gravel. Her friend Deb arrived safe and sound to spend a few days while her husband participates in a trade show. Ginnie heard from Dr. Ryland/vet. George’s autopsy was still inconclusive, as what he thought was a tumor was really his enlarged Caecum (part of intestine) filled with blood. His liver was mushy. When he opened his stomach, it was ‘nicked’ was the word he used. There was blood everywhere. There is a syndrome Dobermans get, some name I can never remember, something like ??Wilbergers?? He is still waiting for that test, as all these symptoms could be that as well.
All this time I had been looking for a Florida Orange fruit stand. They were always on the wrong side of the road, or the parking lots were too small, or they were closed. I have this craving for fresh squeezed juice!!!!! I found McDonalds instead. Passing thru Clermont I waved at HS classmate Linda Jacobsen whom I spent time with on 2011’s trip. Off US 17 to FL 19 over the river and thru the woods past all these orange groves. Wouldn’t you think someone would have a stand out front??!!!! And then I found one. Just that. Huge orange grove with a flannel jacketed grandpa sitting there smoking a pipe selling oranges and grapefruits from the boxes they get put into when picked. Oranges and grapefruit like this are not what you find in the store at home. They are often green, have blemishes, and look dried out. Inside they are anything but. The Valencias, good for juice, are pretty nasty looking, you almost don’t want to buy them. But, indulge I did. $5 for ¼ bushel. That’s about 20 oranges. I asked him if I could substitute 2 grapefruit instead of filling up my orange net bag and he thoughtfully puffed, and laughed and said yes.
Next passed thru Tavares again, and it really does look like a great town. Hi Gail, Hi Mike. Garmina hiccupped again, when I asked her to find Publix, within walking distance of my new campground, and put me around the block – twice…….it was really funny. $105 later (told you my refrigerator was empty) I drove the last .5 miles to Southern Palms RV Resort. I got good vibes from the get go. The ‘office’ was not right by the road, but buried inside the campground and arrived at 3:30. How come it takes so long to drive 118 miles in FL! 6 hours on the road to go 118 miles, that's gotta be a record, too. I was driving slowly looking for it and a woman on a golf cart offered directions. Nice. The campsites are grassy!!!! The office is neat, I could see a big screened porch with lots of activity going on, work campers sweeping everywhere, just a busy looking place. I saw Jessica who I had met at the Tampa RV show, and she remembered me as well. She told me she would hook me up with a good site, and she sure did. I am within walking distance of all the activity areas, and the pool is right around the corner. Steve, one of these work campers led me to my site and helped me back in, get level, and helped me hook up my electricity! Very nice. My neighbor across the street and next door came out to say hello. The first thing they said was no one had been in this site for over a month. Seems the last person in it backed into the electric pole and it just got repaired yesterday. It’s a nice site, a big tree across the street blocks the late afternoon sun, just what you want. I took Winston for a walk almost immediately, he was doing his high anxiety thing, and I had trash up the wazoo and needed to find the dumpster. Southern Palms is in 3 sections. I’m gonna guess at one point it even might have been 3 separate campgrounds now under one ownership. The interior roadways are all paved. There are many park models, and lots of huge 5
th wheels – all signs of long term seasonal rentals. There have over 900 sites. They have an area for rallies, too.
I tried real hard to get on the internet. One month ago they put in park wide free internet, but it doesn’t work all the time, the wifi modem keeps shutting down. I was told I could get a coupon for Tengo if I couldn’t get on the park internet. I walked over to the office at 5:30 – they closed at 5, so I have to spend another night without! First thing tomorrow you know where I will be. More tomorrow.
Kat out
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Bean
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I want a Bernese Mountain Dog sooo badly!!!! and thanks for letting me know Brandon and Rachel are on the Amazing Race!! I will be watching it for sure now