Travels with Snowbirds 2020 January 17-20 Jacksonville to Clermont

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The one about repositioning.

The weather on my last day at Kathryn Abbey Hanna city of Jacksonville Park was brisk! Mary left as scheduled, Diane and I headed for the beach, and I got a dermabrasion from the blowing sand. The good news is I found more shells this day than I did any other day! Diane and I went to Safe Harbor restaurant, a very local favorite, and I got a dozen oysters that were just yummy. I shared with Diane and she shared her bangin’ shrimp with me. The rest of that day I spent cleaning and breaking camp so I could be ready to leave early in the morning.

And I was. I woke up at 5, way too early, stayed in bed until 6, finished unhooking and was at the laundromat before 7. Drat. When I programmed it into the GPS I was told it didn’t open until 8, but happily when I got there it was open and someone else was already doing wash. 29 minutes to wash, 20 minutes to dry, cost $8 and every dirty thing was clean.

I couldn’t check into Thousand Trails Orlando until 12, and only had 2 hours to travel, so I stopped at every rest area to recheck traffic and was advised to get on the Toll Road to avoid construction traffic on I4. I happily obliged and it was an unremarkable trip with no traffic. I guess the tolls totaled $7, but the open road with no potholes sure made it worth it. AND, I noticed that some part of this road…….not all…….go figure……now take EZ Pass. My EZ pass is in Wilmington. First year I haven’t brought it along. Check in is based on first in first served. I was given the #41 to check in even though I didn’t show up until 12:30, meaning 40 before me. I could see that there were about 20 in front of me still waiting to get ‘served.’. Ginnie had told me some site numbers near her, but by the time I got to the number one position they were all gone. Long time friend/Ranger Tammy was helping me find my site when we drove past one that I have been in before. It’s on the corner of Easy and Evergreen, right across from the bathhouse and laundry. I have been in this site before and it is a good location. The only thing wrong with it is the electric boxes for this grid sit at the back of the site. When up close they do hum, but I can’t hear it outside or inside the rig. I was a happy camper, and I don’t know how this got overlooked until now. I can be nosy and see everyone around. Ginnie and Kim helped me park and level and within half an hour we were off to Pet Smart to check out the dogs at their Saturday adoption. Kim lost one of hers last week, Kendra, who turned very sick on her drive so she is in the market for a new small fluffy dog. Ginnie is always looking for another Doberman, and I am looking for just the right dog. There were only puppies left and none met any of our criteria.

Sunday we took the 60 mile ride to Tampa for the large RV show. We always have fun checking out the new RVs, we looked at a lot of small ones, and some ultra large multi-million dollar ones you must make an appointment to enter and mut take your shoes off. The vendor area is a lot of fun and we all bought hanging pockets for our phones. This one hangs at the hip rather than in front like the one I have which stabs your gut when you bend over. They are very cool. We ate yummy fairground food and just did the girl thing, shop. The next door casino was calling me…..lucky I was not driving.

The weather changed Sunday night and I woke up to 40 degrees. I dressed up warm and went for a bike ride, then did a full set of exercise with weights and big time stretch. Ginnie and I did Walmart AND Publix and I stocked up on much needed staples. I even did another bike ride, then Ginnie and I toured the campground looking for sites that will be empty tomorrow for our expected friend, Kathy. First time we’ve all been together in a long time.

Kat Out

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