Blogs from Tampa, Florida, United States, North America

In just over 24 hours I will set out on the first (of many) trips of a lifetime. I am excited, anxious, curious, focused, prepared and getting pretty hungry thinking about all the amazing and interesting cuisine I will encounter. Most of you know that I am pretty passionate about my eats so this will be one of themes for sure.. but, of course, that doesnt even begin to tell the story! I also have always been drawn to the Asian culture and the dynamics of how others in general live in the world. I guess thats the socioligist in me. I find that having these experiences in my life are quite enriching and provide invaluable perspective. I know this journey will be all this and SO much more and I look forward to sharing my ... read more

So my first proper weekend away since arriving at UC and what a weekend it was. I flew to Tampa, Florida on friday afternoon for a weekend of golf and relaxation in the sun. I stayed with my Swedish friend Lucas for the 2 nights and we had a great time. It was an early start on Saturday for a 7:52 tee time on The Claw at USF. The course was really tight but alot of fun to play, and I even saw my first Alligator! The second course of our golfing marathon was Bloomingdale which is a completly different animal. Making a 2 on a 220 yard par 3 and losing the hole was certainly an experience! But exciting none the less. I took alot of photos and thoroughly enjoyed my time in Florida, now ... read more

While visiting my sister in Ybor, the transmission on our RV went out. We were towed to the front of my sister's place where we have been parked for the last few weeks waiting for me to get paid again. "This is the hood," we were told upon arrival. The experience thus far has been good and bad. We've definitely enjoyed the community experience here. If you're hungry, a generous neighbor will feed you. If you are beerless, they will attempt to give you a beer. When you have something to contribute then you give back, be it cooking, helping clean up, sharing a cigarette, etc. The hood puts the "communal" in community. The best part is that no one really cares that we're parked on the side of the road in their neighborhood. Some have ... read more

Thursday January 12, 2012 and Friday January 13, 2012 Florida RV Trade Association RV Show, Tampa, FL Thursday was a busy day, and I had no time to write. The morning started off with me and Winston and my herb pot trying to go out the door at the same time, and Winston won, the plant did not. It hit the bottom step inside the rig and bounced upside down on my mat. What a mess. The handy dandy prototype hanger broke. I used my broom and dustpan to clean up the mess. Not a smart idea, because I couldn’t get the dirt off the broom, and had to wash it several times before I could put it down on the inside floor without dirt and mud streaks. It was awful. Ginnie and I contracted with ... read more

Saturday January 14, 2012 Florida RV Travel Association Super Rally, Tampa, FL It was pretty cold last night, there were freeze warnings posted (that’s big news here in central FL) and I had my heat on all night. My basil looked a little sick this morning; I will bring it inside tonight. I made my famous ‘breakfast before’ casserole last night, recipe thanks many many years ago to Linda McLaughlin. (Grease a 9x12 pan, cover bottom of pan with any kind of torn up bread. Mix as many eggs as you want with some milk and any type of cheese – I have used varying amounts of all depending on what I have available, this is not an exact rocket science recipe. I also crumbled in about 6 slices of bacon, have also used pre cooked ... read more

So today to help try to catch up my blog I thought I would describe two days. So the day after our move in drama, we were ready for a nice easy day. We decided it would be nice to find a place to run. So after a quick breakfast we went to a nearby area. We ended up doing about five miles that day, the path was pretty good, and we saw our first alligator! For a picture check out Stephanie's facebook. We also saw several turtles, and a couple lizards but nothing else terribly interesting happened as we ran. After we got back we showered and got ready. We needed to go to the hospital where Stephanie will be working. Neither of us wanted her to get lost on her first day. We first ... read more

Left the luggage outside last night. Took a chance and checked the rolling carry-on filled with Lencan pottery from Honduras, wrapped in dirty clothes. Disembarked about 9:00am, the bags were there, onto the waiting bus, and to the airport for a 3 hours wait for the ATL connection to Seattle. All went well until I got home and all the pottery wan broken, one piece shattered. There was a note from the TSA saying they had inspected my luggage. Was it the ship? Was it the longshoremen? Was it the TSA, or Delta Airlines? In any case, I feel bad that I probably won't go back to Roatan or have the chance to buy Lencan pottery again. Next time I will baby it and carry on, even if the airline tries to coax me to check ... read more

Day At Sea Slept in until 7:30ish and had coffee in the room (there's a coffee maker in mini-suites) and read The 19th Wife, good book, for Book Club. About 9:00 I headed up for an omelet poolside. Then off to buy a few items in Ports of Call. sunscreen, a thermal coffee/water mug. It is pretty choppy today, I'm glad I went for the mid-ship cabin. There are a few seasick people around, wrist bands and an herbal remedy are flying off the shelves. My Meet & Greet for Cruise Critic is at 11:00am. Lots to do today, I headed for Trivia, dinner at the Ginza Asian restaurant and Bingo. Weather isn't great for sunbathing, but will be doing lots of reading on my deck as well. Had dinner in Ginza, a Japanese named Pan-Asian ... read more

We've learned a lot on our summer travels, including seeing a variety of crops and transportation styles plus other aspects of America. Today the cotton looked pick-able in Tennessee (already stored in large cylindrical bales in Alabama), many bales of hay were being trucked to Texas, a humungous truck/rail inter modal transportation center in Tupalo,MS processed containers on a massive scale. The conditions of roads varied, even in a single state, but the worst seemed to be in Mississippi, equaling Oklahoma's and the old I -10 in Louisiana. I-75 in Florida proved to be the speedway for the worst drivers since we left California. The driving courtesies of the Northwest, mountain states and plains states seem to be missing in many drivers on the freeway of student life around Gainsville. We drove into our driveway around ... read more