Travels with Snowbirds 2012 Tampa RV Show

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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 sausage or ham. Pour mixture evenly over bread, cover and refrigerate overnight and bake at 325 for 30 to 45 minutes until eggs appear set, cut and serve.) We ate in my rig at 9:15 while Winston played outside in the boys’ pen. I also had some cut strawberries and added canned peaches. My refrigerator is finally starting to clear out. I still have plenty to eat, but it’s nice to be able to see what’s inside it now without moving everything around.

Off to the RV show around 11, and I forced Ginnie to go in many RVs while we dissected them, what’s good, what’s not good, which one is better quality, slide vs no slide (much cheaper without a slide) corner bed vs walk around bed, and really honed in on what I am really looking for. I gave my card to several dealers who swore they had what I was looking for used on their lot and they will call me after the show is over and they get their entire inventory straightened out. Uh huh.

I also spent time talking to yet another Verizon salesman who extolled the virtues of the Droid line over the iphone. He said the 4s are still not generally available, get a Droid, bigger screen, just as good. Uh huh. Son, Tim, would KILL me if I got anything but an iphone. Hey, T, maybe you should get a new phone and give me your old 4….that would work, right?

I might have gained some new readers. One of our stops took us to the Encore Resorts booth. Encore is a sister property to the Thousand Trails resort association Ginnie and I belong to. You can stay at Encore for reduced prices if you are a TT member, or join ER rather than TT, etc., etc. It all seems very incestuous if you ask me, lots of resorts owned by one big company, but they are lovely properties with very nice amenities and I like staying at them. These nice folks were very interested in our vagabond life style, and ended up giving us some nice coupons for free nights camping. I gave them my blog address, and they just might start reading when they get home from the show. If so, a hearty welcome! And I look forward to seeing Jessica in Eustis in February. Kathy E take note, this might be a nice place to fill in for you as well.

Big news at the campground today. I don’t have all the details, but someone had stuff stolen from their rig, and someone’s car was stolen! The gossip is the thieves moved the car from one spot to another. When they saw no one had noticed, they turned up the license plate to make it unreadable then drove it out the unguarded back entrance. I did not hear if the keys were in it, but sure sounds like they were. I find campers pretty honorable people, but anyone can walk in here and create havoc if they are so inclined.

Winston was not barking when we left, and was not barking upon my return, as a matter of fact, I know he was sleeping when I got home as he was shaking the sleep off when I opened the door.

We create raised eyebrow looks when we take all 5 dogs for a walk together. They run and romp and bark all together at stranger dogs and people. It’s like they have formed their own pack. Winston thinks he is alpha dog, he is the barking instigator that gets them all going. Malcolm’s Sammy follows right behind, while Noah, Linus and George are pretty quiet, but when all 5 get going it is something to see…..and hear. The dogs that are in the empty rigs we pass go NUTS as we pass, if their owners only knew.

Some attendees have pulled out already, we are noticing more and more open sites. The show has one more day to run. They turn the power off around noon Sunday, and all campers must leave this space by 5. We’ll be on the road by noon and headed to Webster for the flea market again. I am told it will be a more than usual massive event because of the MLK holiday.

Tonight brings more entertainment at the pavilion, and there is gospel music in the morning with coffee and donuts.

Might not be a blog tomorrow due to the busy day. No electricity, either; I don’t want to run my computer and use up the battery in case I really need it for something.

Kat out

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