Travels with Snowbirds 2015, March 3, Thousand Trails Clermont FL

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The One About Catching Up, somewhat

I have definitely settled into the doldroms….laugh…..of RV life on the road. I have been here at Thousand Trails in Clermont for just under 2 weeks now. Life settles into a quiet pattern and my brain went into relax mode.

I was able to get a site midway between Ginnie and Kim, and right across from the bathhouse/laundry room. It’s not a great site, due to the location on a corner, but it is a great site being across from the laundry room. I have been happy here.

BUT, there were the negatives. The weather was unseasonably cold. For the first 10 days of my stay, I needed the heat on in the morning. Only the last 4 days did it warm up enough for tank tops, shorts, and air conditioning.

We did the usual things, with either Kim or Ginnie doing the driving. Wal-Mart, Publix, Petco, Miller Ale House (the previous $14.95 lobster special was repriced to $19.95), Bingo, Craft Show, Garage Sale, more Bingo, dullsville, I know. But content dullsville.

The most exciting thing that happened was Kim buying a new car. Her Saturn was coming to the end of its life with her, and she learned that it was not wise for either the car or the RV to tow it behind her RV. Sounds to me like time for a new car. She found a gently used, certified, Mini Cooper “S” model, complete with turbo and racing stripes. It’s a 6 speed, and it is like riding a bicycle she says, you never forget how to use a cutch. It is a pretty slick car, and she looks great driving it We spent a morning at Downtown Disney and she bought a pink princess crown antenna topper that makes us laugh!

Speaking of Downtown Disney, there is construction everywhere. They are building a parking garage that rivals any I have seen at Newark Airport, Harrahs Casino, etc. I suspect once the garage is completed they will use the land previously dedicated to parking lot to increase the stores and restaurants at this wildly popular attraction. It will be renamed Disney Springs at some point, and already I can see the double signage. I bought a Mickey T shirt, and caramel chocolate popcorn. We had a nice lunch at Earl of Sandwich.

We also tried a new place, Pollo Tropical. Kind of fast food Caribbean style food, meat, beans, rice, NO chips, but great sauces.

I leave (finally) warm Florida on Friday and will be home Saturday. It is kind of a bittersweet happy/sad time for me. I love being in Florida for the winter, certainly a whole lot better than NJ, especially this year. Wilmington has been cold and dreary, too. But, I am getting tired of living in an 8.5’ by 27’ metal box, and I am about ready to divorce Winston. He barks at everything, and I have severely reprimanded him over the past few days to try to get him back in some control. It is time for him to be home and be somewhere he can run outside without a leash. I am ready to dig in the dirt in my garden.

I am mentally almost ready to face the rather elaborate surgery on my face to remove a large basal cell thingy. The Moh’s surgeon will remove it and a facial plastic surgeon will have to do some reconstruction work. Maybe I can ask him to lift my eyelids while he’s at it. I have had a lot of time to get my brain prepared for this, but I am not looking forward to this at all. Enuf said.

I have spent a lot of time trying to decide what to do winter of 2016, and I think I will get a site here for 6 weeks. Take a week to get here and another week to get home. I have seen everything I want to see in central Florida. No need to go to the RV show again. No reason to go to other campgrounds, (except maybe the manatees) no reason to travel around. It will cost me a little more for the campsite, but I think my overall lodging costs will be just about the same. I will certainly use less gas. This winter I spent a lot extra on gas, driving 1200 miles round trip to New Orleans and back. 9 mpg. That’s a lot of money. I can still leave early January, start here mid January thru end of February, take a week to get home and maybe even stop at my favorite Myrtle Beach spot…..but next year.

Once I get settled back home and can gather all my pictures from the various devices they are sitting on, I will post a photo blog. Might take a week or two, but it will come.

In ending my 2015 trip, I would like to share a quote from the Kevin Costner movie, “The Guardian,” that has stuck in my mind for some years.

“Hell, I’ve always been old. Ya’ know what though, I don’t mind. I mean, if my muscles ache, it’s because I’ve used them. It’s hard for me to walk up stairs now; it’s because I walked up them every night to lay next to a man who loved me and kiss children I love. I got a few wrinkles here and there, but I’ve laid under thousands of skies with sunny days. I look and feel this way because I drank and I smoked. I lived and I loved; I danced, sang, sweat and screwed my way through a pretty damn good life if you ask me. Getting old ain’t bad. Getting old, is earned.”



Kat Out

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