Back in Columbus, OH

This morning was 1 degree warmer than yesterday but bright and sunny. We left Lebanon at 11:15 a.m. under bright sunny skies, 46F (8C) and very windy. For most of the 88.7 mile drive to Columbus, OH it was a crosswind.

We arrived around 1:00 p.m. and Sue, who owns the park came running out when she saw us arrive and guided us to our spot. It’s a different spot than we’ve had before and was more of a parallel park along the side of the park but Gordon did it without much problem. We got at 50 amp spot this time as it was so cold when we were here in October/November. We can run our electric heater on high with 50 amp. It took us till about 3:00 p.m. to set up with all the satellites including getting checked in and paying for the site. When we were set up I drove down the road to Kroger, a local Ohio grocery store and picked up a few things we were out of.

Gordon talked to his daughter, Michelle and told her that we weren’t coming over today as we were tired and we read and had a nap.

When I turned the TV on at dinner time, the satellite dish had moved so Gordon had to go up and tune it in again. The wind was very strong all day although our weather station only measured it at 9 mph. It had to be at least 35 mph so we’re not sure what’s wrong with the weather station.

Another Day With Family

It was only 36F this morning when I got up, later than usual but at least there was no snow and it wasn’t raining so I got to go for my walk. I think the grandchildren really wore us out yesterday. Just watching them run around is exhausting!

This morning we didn’t do much. I read and napped while Gordon was on his computer. At noon, we headed north to Dayton to visit Ian, Tracy and the kids stopping at Walmart on the way as I was out of fruit.

We spent about 2 ½ hours at Ian and Tracy’s place visiting and interacting with the kids. Lilly was asleep when we arrived and slept for about 1 ½ hours but Caden was up and playing his favorite video game on their new HD TV.

Another exhausting day although we got home a lot earlier – about 4:30 p.m.

Tonight we’ll be watching TV and getting ready to leave for Columbus tomorrow.

Thanks to Gordon for the photo of me with Lilly.

A Day With Family

Today was a cold, nasty rainy day. It was 43F (6C) when I got up this morning and I think that was the high for today.

The plan for today was to meet at Gordon’s sister, Carol’s house. She and her husband, Rick live near Cincinnati. Gordon’s son and his wife and their kids were meeting us there around 1:00 p.m. Unfortunately Gordon’s daughter and her husband and kids couldn’t make the trip from Columbus.

We picked up some food for ourselves at Taco Bell and McDonalds on the way to Carol’s and had a good time chatting with Carol and Rick. When Ian, Tracy, Caden and Lilly arrived, we ate. Carol had gotten pizza for them and she was so sweet to reimburse us for our food that we had purchased.

Rick and Carol just returned from Heidelberg, Germany where Rick had some medical treatments as they aren’t covered here in the U.S. by his medical insurance. Suffice it to say that for all he’s gone through he looks very well but is still a ways from a full recovery. We complain about our Canadian medical insurance but I have to say that what we have is much better than what they have here in the U.S. even though it really costs us!

We had a great afternoon. Gordon had a good time playing Grandpa and everyone is tired out. We got home shortly after 7:00 p.m. I also called to make our arrangements for an RV park in Columbus for a week starting Monday.

Lilly, our granddaughter - isn't she cute? Her Mom loves to dress her in orange

Grandpa teaching Lilly to play the piano

Lilly (got into a scrape with a green marker) and Caden , our grandson (not prepared for a photo)

Three Generations of boys

Aunt Carol and Lilly with (part of ) Ian

The Family L to R Front Row - Gordon, Ian, Caden, Rick, Carol; Back Row - Tracy, Lilly, Sandra

We Leave 'Our Old Kentucky Home'

Brrr! It was only 38F (3C) and cloudy this morning when I got up. We weren’t in a hurry to get on the road as we only had a two hour drive. Before we tow, we always warm up the truck so by this time the sun had come out. We drove around the Kentucky Horse Park Farm and took some photos, then hitched up and dumped our tanks on the way out.

Photos of the Kentucky Horse Park

We left the Kentucky Horse Park Campground at 11:00 a.m. under sunny skies and 48F (9C) and drove the 127.7 miles in the two hours expected arriving at Cedarbrook Campground in Lebanon, OH shortly after 1:00 p.m. It took a while to get set up as the new weather station has some parts that Gordon needed to figure out where to put them and how to anchor them. Since we are between Dayton and Cincinnati we didn’t set up the TV satellite as we get quite a few channels just with the aerial.

Our Site at Cedarbrook Campground

With the sun today we reached a high of 54F (12C) but we won’t be seeing that again this weekend as the forecast is for lots of rain and some possible snow. Not nice!

I went into town to pick up some groceries but all they have in downtown Lebanon is a Save A Lot and their produce section leaves much to be desired. I know they have a Walmart Superstore here too but I wasn’t sure how to get to it so I didn’t bother.

Now we’ll have to hunker down and wait for the nasty weather to pass!

Definitely in Horsey Country

Part of the Bluegrass Scenic Byway

We stayed here an extra day hoping that the weather would co-operate but no such luck. When I woke up today it was 46F and that was our high for the day. It remained cloudy and windy with a very odd sunny break. The good news is that we didn’t have a tornado last night but we did have hail and a thunderstorm but it passed very quickly.

Gordon went out briefly this morning to take some photos. The rest of the morning and early afternoon we didn’t do much. I read some and watched some TV. I haven’t watched Regis and Kelly for most of the winter so watched that as well as Cityline and the Price is Right. Mid afternoon I went for another walk (as I had walked this morning) and then we went to get fueled up. Our thermometer had quit so we stopped at Walmart and Gordon found his weather station that he’s been wanting that shows wind speed. We drove across the street to Lowe’s to see if they had anything similar but they didn’t so back to Walmart and purchased it. We then drove around the area and took some photos even though it wasn’t sunny. Lots of horses and money in this area! It’s a place we’ll want to return to, probably on our way south some year. It should be very pretty with the leaves changing and the green fields and hopefully, sunshine!

Nothing on the agenda for tonight. Gordon needs to figure out how to work the weather station.

A typical horse farm building

Another horse farm

Yet another, this time with horses

The stone wall reminds me of the back roads in England

Weather!

Lots of robins here!

Our row- we're the first RV

The weather wasn’t very nice today. We had rain and wind off and on however when I got up it was 46F (8C) and although it had rained overnight, it wasn’t raining then so was able to go for a walk around the park. The sun even came out ever so briefly.

We lazed around this morning and I got a stew made. It’s the first one we’ve had since sometime in Texas. After the stew finished cooking, Gordon dropped me at Walmart to pick up some things and he went to scout out the area for photos. Unfortunately it started to rain quite hard so after he picked me up again, we headed home.

We’ve signed up for another day here since today was pretty much written off as far as seeing anything is concerned so Friday we leave for Cedarbrook Campground in Lebanon, OH for three days.

Our high today was 62F (17C) so it wasn’t bad if it hadn’t rained so hard.

Oh, and, we must be back in colder weather. My throat is scratchy and I feel like a cold is coming on and my eyes are all fuzzy. It’s allergy season!

Oh, and we’re on a tornado watch until 11:00 p.m.

From Georgia to Kentucky

Driving through the Appalachians

Part of the Kentucky Horse Farm - horses in the distance

Our site at Kentucky Horse Farm Campground

View from our back window

We left Cartersville KOA at 8:45 a.m. under sunny skies and 36F (2C). This was the first morning in a long while that I could see my breath when I went outside. There was still quite a bit of traffic on I-75 this morning and a couple of times the road narrowed to one lane but we still arrived at the Kentucky Horse Park Campground at around 3:00 p.m. and were set up complete with both satellite dishes shortly after 5:00 p.m. This time includes check in which wasn’t all that speedy. They did tell us which sites were available and let us go and pick our own so we could get satellite access. Today’s trip was 338.5 miles with part of it going through the Appalachian Mountains

The sites here are large and paved and we even have a nice view out our back window which is something we haven’t had since we were parked on Aransas Bay in Goose Island State Park. It’s a different view, more green grass and trees rather than water but it’s pretty just the same. It was 59F (15C) here when we arrived and with the sun shining it was actually quite pleasant. We’re here for two days. Tomorrow is supposed to be rainy and not very nice but the weather changes so often that who knows what it will actually be like.

Once we got set up we went for a walk. There are a lot of people here from Ontario including our two neighbors who are from St. Mary's.

Gordon wanted to photograph horse farms so I picked this campground as the it is actually part of the Kentucky Horse Park so we’re surrounded by black and white fences so out he went for sunset (which was a bust)!

Now we're only about 2 hours from Lebanon, Ohio so we'll have a short trip on Thursday.

Our Georgia Adventure

We left Lake City, FL this morning at 8:00 a.m. under cloudy skies and 48F (9C). The first part of our trip went well. We were breezing along the Atlanta bypass when all of a sudden about five miles from the I-75 interchange, traffic slowed down and stopped in some places. The two left lanes appeared to be moving but these continued to go east on the bypass. Since the lane that was to take us onto I-75 wasn’t moving, we decided to continue on 285 and try to find another route north. We got on 19 going north and then had to find a road to take us back to I-75. At this time we were very low on fuel We wound up going west on 20 and found a station that our RV would fit into. The road took us to Cartersville where we had planned to stay at the local KOA as it had wifi. All in all with the traffic backup and then our rather long detour we were two hours late getting to the KOA but still arrived by about 4:00 p.m. and since we weren’t setting up any satellite dishes were set up by 4:30 p.m. It was 54F (12C) when we arrived and mostly cloudy with some breaks of sun.

The wifi however appears to not work all that well. Gordon went up to the office as his computer didn’t see it at the wireless network at all at the RV. Mine will see it and sometimes will connect and sometimes not.

Anyway with any luck this will upload with the photo of our site at Cartersville, GA KOA.

Our Easter Sunday

On checking the weather for our next stop, Cartersville, GA we found it was going to be only 21F (-6C) tonight. Since the forecast is 29F (-2C) for Lake City, FL tonight we decided to stay here another night. Monday night is supposed to be warmer and we have time to make it to Cincinnati by the weekend. I paid for another night and found out they do have showers up at the office building so checked them out – not great. You get really spoiled in snowbird areas. They tend to have quite nice, clean showers. Some are better than others but as long as they’re clean I don’t mind – these aren’t clean. The bottom of the shower curtain is grungy.

The day was cloudy with some sunny breaks and we had some rain spatters and a high of 63F (17C). I went to the local Walmart and picked up some items then back to the RV to read for most of the afternoon. I also had a brief nap as my eyes are really tired today.

Betty called from Toronto to wish us a Happy Easter. I also got to talk to Garth who is mastering his new digital camera. They were having a light dusting of snow in Toronto and 28F (-2C). They are not happy after leaving 80F (27C) weather in Fort Myers just last weekend. I then called Margie to wish her a Happy Easter and had a chat with John and Danica as well. Nick had been over Saturday night for Easter dinner but Becky was working.

So, it’s on the road again tomorrow whether it’s raining or not!

Happy Easter Weekend!

This is our site at Wayne's RV Resort, Lake City, FL

Different looking lily pads

We didn’t leave Fort Myers as early as we had hoped mainly because we had such a problem getting diesel fuel. The first station we went to had only one side of the pumps working and two people waiting. The second station said we had to give her an amount of gas we needed before she would activate the pumps (we didn’t know how much we’d need) so we went to a third station which was 299.9/gal and finally got filled up. This took 45 minutes so we didn’t leave Fort Myers Campground till 9:25 a.m.

It was sunny but cooler this morning at 58F (14C)instead of the mid to high 60’s it’s been over the last couple of weeks. Most of the trip was under sunny skies and we only reached a high on our travels of 63F (17C).

We arrived at Wayne’s RV Resort (a Passport America park) at 2:35 p.m. having traveled 306.3 miles and only stopping once. The park is okay but the bath house isn’t open so I guess showers tonight will be in our RV. We haven’t used our shower all winter! The bath houses were much more convenient and we then don’t have to move the water bottles out of the shower where we store them.

Our Easter weekend will be spent traveling. We’re hoping to get through Atlanta tomorrow so we’ll have another 300 mile day tomorrow.

After we got set up we drove around Lake City looking for lakes. We found a couple but only one that we could get access to. There were a few great Egrets and a couple of ducks so we got a few photos there.

Hope everyone has a Happy Easter weekend!

Some Thoughts on Fort Myers

As our last day in Fort Myers comes to an end, I have mixed feelings. Neither Gordon or I liked the amount of traffic they have here, the long wait at stop lights and the number of people however we had the best weather here that we’ve had all winter, the park was nice although more expensive than Texas but it was close to Lakes Regional Park, one of our favorites and also not far from Six Mile Cypress Slough another park that we enjoyed (and the shopping is good). So, I had said earlier this month that we wouldn’t be back so I’ll change that to we might be back but probably wouldn’t stay right in Fort Myers. We didn’t get to see that much of the Everglades as it was quite a drive to be able to see the area and stop and look at things and take photos. Who knows? Things change.

This morning we headed over to Fleamasters as I had a couple of things that I wanted to get, then stopped at Walmart to get some water and a few other items, then home to get my roast in the crockpot and clean out the truck. I also paid our electric bill so we can head out tomorrow hopefully fairly early. The lady in the office here at the park said they had some fires near Punta Gorda just north of us that were jumping I-75 so they had the road closed at some point today. Hope that the fire is under control and we’re able to make good time heading north. We won’t get out of Florida tomorrow but hopefully will make some good headway towards it!

Late this afternoon we dumped the tanks and cleaned up the lawn furniture and put it away so the only things we have to take down in the morning are the satellite dishes. We’re in good shape!

I didn't take any photos today so I'm borrowing Gordon's photo of the armadillo that he saw last week at Barefoot Beach Park.

Six Mile Cypress and A Tour of the Area

Two cormorants and a great egret in Gator Lake at Six Mile Cypress Slough

Sun on the ferns at Six Mile Cypress Slough

Red Bellied Woodpecker at Six Mile Cypress Slough

View of the Gulf from Pine Island

A beautiful hibiscus plant

A downtown street in Fort Myers

We started out the morning at one of our favorite places, Six Mile Cypress Slough where we spent two hours walking around and communing with nature. There seemed to be a lot of people there today with little children. When I was a child, my father taught me to be quiet in the woods and I would see more wildlife but apparently parents aren't teaching their children or maybe the parents weren't taught this themselves. We saw quite a few birds anyway and a couple of small alligators in the distance.

When we left Six Mile Cypress I thought we would be heading for home as I had some groceries to pick up and some things to get ready for our departure on Saturday however we instead ended up going to Cape Coral and then on to Pine Island. We drove the length of Pine Island. This island isn't a beach island as Sanibel and Captiva are therefore the traffic wasn't as bad. There are a lot of palm tree farms and a couple of flower farms on the island that were pretty but not a lot of things to see.

From Pine Island we headed back toward Fort Myers stopping in the downtown area to take some photos of the bridges over the Caloosahatchee River and some of the buildings downtown. On to Publix market where I finally got groceries getting home at around 5:30 p.m.

It was another bright sunny and hot day however the forecast for Saturday is cooler temperatures here with a high of 71F (22C) so will be about 15 degrees cooler than it has been for the past month. I'm looking forward to temperatures being a bit cooler but I think by the time we hit Ohio they will be a lot cooler and much closer to freezing!

Housework and Lakes Park

My favorite bird - this blue heron just stood there and posed for me

A grove of palms in the park

All the white dots are birds roosting for the night

The weather here over the past week or so has been warmer not necessarily temperature wise but with less breeze it feels warmer. We’ll be happy to start heading north come Saturday.

I noticed when we got home last night that I got quite a bit of sun yesterday. Since I was wearing a sleeveless T-shirt my shoulders and arms got quite tanned especially since I had the window open for most of the day.

Today Gordon had an appointment to take the truck in for service. This was an expensive service as the rear synthetic oil had to be changed so $700+ and four hours later he got home. I spent the time doing the laundry, vacuuming, washing floors and cleaning the bathroom.

We still have quite a few places we want to go before we leave on Saturday and I also need to pick up some groceries and make either a stew or roast beef in the crockpot so it’s ready or is easily ready when we stop for the night.

Tonight after dinner we took the bikes over to Lakes Regional Park and biked around the park. I hadn’t seen all of it and we covered more area on the bikes than we would walking but you see more when you’re walking. We did see the birds coming in to roost in one area of trees for the night and lots of great blue herons and a bald eagle as well as the usual anhingas and all kinds of smaller birds but no alligators!

Our Trip to Big Cypress and Everglades

The Strangler Fig is a vine-like tree that begins as an epiphyte, an air plant, when the seed is deposited in the upper part of a host tree. After the seed sprouts, it sends down roots that entwine or strangle and often kill the host tree. When the roots reach the ground, the tree changes to a terrestrial plant. This native fig can reach heights of 60 feet.

A coconut palm - these are becoming obsolete. No one is allowed to plant them anymore due to coconuts falling or becoming missiles during hurricanes.

This is where we had our picnic today

One of the larger alligators we saw at Oasis Visitor Center

This morning we headed south on I-75 – destination Everglades. We got off I-75 just south of Naples and took Hwy 41 to Everglades City and then continued on to Chokoloskee Island where we had a picnic lunch that I had packed.

We then continued east on Hwy 41 towards the Everglades stopping now and then to take pictures, one of our stops was Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk. We did the walk and Gordon got a photo of a Bald Eagle. It was too far away for my camera unfortunately.

Probably our greatest find was at the Oasis Visitor Center where they had a boardwalk and lots and lots of alligators in the water beside the boardwalk, some VERY large. We are not concerned now about not seeing alligators in the wild. We continued east and saw lots of alligators in the water along the road. We also saw quite a few birds. We took a short detour onto a road called Loop Road for about 8 miles and saw more alligators and birds. Most of what we saw was in Big Cypress National Preserve. We only got a short way into Everglades National Park. It’s a long drive even from Fort Myers!

We turned around and came home, only stopping to pick up Gordon’s computer so he could download his photos and then went for dinner at the local Perkins. So now we’re home and very tired!

Since our arrival in Fort Myers nearly four weeks ago, diesel fuel has increased in price by 15 cents as we found out this morning when we went to get fueled up for our trip.

On Our Own

This little alligator was in Myakka River State Park yesterday and very close to the bridge that we were standing on.

After over three weeks of having Betty and Garth around to do things with and then spending the weekend with Bill and Mary, we are, again, on our own at least until we reach Ohio in about 1 1/2 weeks.

Today Gordon went out to make an appointment to get the oil changed on the truck before we start our trek north. We are about 1000 km under but he wanted to get it done before we start towing that distance and also so we don't have to worry about it on our way. So tomorrow the plan is to go to the Everglades and that will reduce the 1000 km a bit.

When he got back, I went out shopping returning to the Tanger Outlet where I bought a pair of sandals that hopefully will be okay for my back. They have a rubber sole higher in the back and have some bounce like running shoes do so I'm hoping this will do the trick. They aren't pretty but neither are running shoes and down here running shoes are very hot! I stopped at another mall but only bought a few small household items at Odd Lots and then on to Walmart for groceries.

After reading for a while I took a bike ride around the park to photograph some of the flowers which are now out in full bloom and so pretty and also to photograph some of the empty sites in the park. Lots of people left this weekend including our neighbors that have a park model right beside us. They headed for Wisconsin yesterday morning about 4:00 a.m. It's looking pretty bare right now.

Here are some of the flowers:



Here are some of the empty spots in the park that are near us:


Here's our neighbor's park model all battened down:

A Great Weekend!

Mary and Bill at Rotten Ralph's

The four of us in Bill and Mary's lanai with the help of Mr. Tripod

Three alligators

Wild pig and babies and a great egret

Betty and Garth were leaving to head back to Toronto today so we left them on their own and headed north on I-75 stopping at the Venice Rookery as had been suggested by friends of Gordon’s that we met up with in Louisiana. There were a lot of birds in the rookery but too far away for my camera. We drove through Venice and took some photos then got back on I-75. We arrived on Anna Maria Island mid afternoon and were greeted by Gordon’s former employer and long time friend, Bill and his significant other, Mary. We had a nice afternoon chatting, then Bill took us for a drive around the islands and then out for dinner at a restaurant called Rotten Ralphs. We all had grouper – Mary and Bill had it fried, I had it blackened and Gordon had it grilled. It was all very good.

This morning Bill again took us out for breakfast at a little restaurant close to him called Minnie’s Beach Café. He also told us that there is no Minnie involved, neither is the café on the beach. It’s a very busy little place and we were lucky we got there when we did as people started to line up just after we arrived.

After we got back to their place, the guys wanted to talk techie stuff so Mary and I walked over to a little flea market they were having very close to the house. One lady had a lot of furniture painted with the one-stroke painting method (which I do but am not very good at). She had some really nice pieces – card tables, little vanities, telephone tables and all sorts of items at really reasonable prices. No room!

We left Bill and Mary shortly before noon and as we were going south on I-75 decided to stop at the Myakka River State Park. I know RVer friends, Linda and Howard of rv-dreams.com stayed there last year and seemed to enjoy it. There are two campgrounds but a lot of trees. There were very few sites that we could get into let alone see the satellites. As far as wildlife, we saw lots of alligators, most of them quite far away, thank goodness. We also saw lots of birds, again mostly far away and a wild pig with three babies. I also saw a water snake of some kind – YUK! After spending about three hours at the park we headed home arriving around 5:00 p.m.

Below are our expenses for March. Overall we did quite well since campgrounds and fuel are more expensive in Florida than in Texas. Since I was with my sister for three weeks the Misc total is rather high as we did some shopping. We’ve also been to quite a few parks and eaten out a bit so our entertainment is probably higher than usual. All in all I’m quite happy with our total for this month.

March Expenses

Campground including electric - $772.35

Groceries/Wine/Spritis - $454.79

Laundry - $15.75

Entertainment/Parking/Restaurants - $143.51

Truck Fuel - $370.02

Propane - $0.00

Repairs RV/Truck - $18.14 (getting RV tire fixed)

Internet/TV/Cell/Insurance (Fixed Expenses) - $372.55

Medical/Dental - $0.00

Gifts - $0.00

Misc - $327.56

Total $2474.67

Last Day in Fort Myers with Betty and Garth

On our way to Betty and Garth's this afternoon we stopped at the Tanger Outlet Mall and I bought a few more things, one being a pair of white slacks. I haven't had white slacks since I quit working. These are very light and cool.

Betty and Garth are flying back to Toronto tomorrow so we went over today and I helped Betty clean out the kitchen bringing some things back with me and tossing others in the garbage. Then we chatted for a while and while we were chatting their resident osprey that sits outside in their pine tree came back with a fish (pictured to the right) which he proceeded to demolish while it was still alive. It was pretty gross to see the fish still moving. YUCK!

When we got back to the RV I did a load of laundry and got some things together as we're heading north to the Bradenton area tomorrow to visit with Gordon's former boss and will be staying overnight there. Hopefully I'll still be able to post my blog but if not, I'll upload when we get back on Sunday.