What to do on a cold Florida day? (7C this morning, 14C afternoon) Well this morning we bundled up and turned up the heat while we found out as much as we could about the police incident involving Jeremie last night. Fortunately he is ok and I will say no more about that here.

This afternoon it was out to one of my favourite hangouts, the Golden Corral. All you can eat senior lunch, including never ending drinks and dessert for $7.39 and a pile of calories. After that it was on to Wal Mart and Home Depot where all anyone could talk about was the winter weather. Not many shoppers cause who is going to venture out in 14 degree weather. Won't last long, summer is returning tomorrow, well Spring is, 20 tomorrow then back to the mid to high 20s.

As expected a lot of snow day before yesterday. Kept going though. One big accident closed I84 so we just got off and chilled for a while until things were cleaned up. I think we only got in about 700 km that day.

Yesterday was smooth sailing once we got out of the snow belt. Able to cruise at 75 - 80 and at the end of the day covered 1200+ km and landed in Myrtle Beach, SC. Here until Wednesday visiting Kathy's sister Joan. Hit the Golden Corral tonight with Ron and Joan. It was nice to see it again but my stomach isn't that well tonight.

Florida Bound 2013

Pretty good first day on the road. We were delayed one day for snow. This morning we took a more Southerly route thru Calais, Maine as they received less snow and we hoped the roads would be better. They were.

We covered 815 km and landed in Agusta, Maine for the night. Tomorrow we are expecting snow most of the day so not sure how far we will get.

Uneventful day. Customs was very nice and the person even smiled. Can't remember that happening in a long while.

West Palm Beach today!

Marilyn, Gary and Kathy. Had a great lunch and the last one for this group in Florida this trip.

Could be the last time we see the Big Sky in Florida.

This is our new, little Park Model. Same Park, different location.

This is a rear shot with the shed on the right.

My gorgeous wife sitting in the living room.

The patio, under the awning.

We can't wait until next year when we move in to spend another sunny and warm winter in Florida.

Been a busy week with cleaning the rig and the truck. Bringing everything up to a nice shine. The weather has been hot and humid so the trick is to get your work in early so you can relax in the hot afternoons. It's usually in the 70s when you wake up and in the 80s by noon and hotter later. A cold front is moving thru today and temps are expected to go back to the 70s for a couple of days. We might not even have to run the AC for a couple of nights.

Saturday was time for the Saint Lucie County Fair. Our friends and neighbours George and Joan invited us and we had a great time.

Here's Kathy ready to hit the midway!

But the big attraction of the night was the, no, not the Ford truck, but the Rodeo. The Built Tough Ford is the Official Truck of the Rodeo.

Now let me tell you people take their rodeo mighty seriously around here. The crowd gets whipped up in a frenzy whenever anyone puts on a good ride or takes down a steer in quick order. We were not exactly thrilled with how the animals are treated and probably shouldn't go to these things but I must say you can get pretty excited as the thing unfolds.

This horse was a very wild and unmanageable fellow. The small stalls they are kept in while they are saddled up took a real beating from this guy. He seemed furious at any attempt to even touch him. Sure enough, when he was finally saddled and the rider was aboard the gate was opened to a wild and furious display of wild horse rage. I can tell you the rider lasted no where near the 8 seconds required on this guy. That was one wild horse. He was to be ridden 3 times but one was called off because he was just too wild and uncontrollable trying to get the saddle on.

 This was a fun time. The cowgirls took over this event where the horses had to race full speed the length of the stadium and clearly around 3 barrels. The crowd was hootin' and hollerin' for this one, Kathy and I included.

 The Budweiser team of Clydesdales put on a good show. It's amazing the teamwork involved trying to get these horses to work together with each set having specific duties.

Should have had this at the front of the rodeo. They opened with a prayer, a ceremony of remembrance for the veterans, which is a very common occurrence in the US, and the singing of the US National Anthem.

The show was closed by the bull rides. Talk about tough, mean ombreys. The bulls are that and more. I think maybe one rider was able to complete his ride, if that.

One last shot of the midway and we were on our way home. Another fine Florida week.

 

Oh Oh. First time in a while. Egg McMuffin.

Headed over to Lake Wales to meet Betty Ann and Clyde Bennett for a nice lunch. Betty Ann is a long time volunteer at the food bank with Kathy.

We had a great time with them and it was made even better when Clyde picked up the cheque. I promised to return the favour next year when we will do this again.

 After lunch it was over to Campers World to look around a bit at some of the models of 5th wheels and Park Models offered. Of special note here is they have a rather large pond with their own resident gator. He was not visible when we were there but he must have been in the reeds sleeping off a hot afternoon. They also have a nice Eagles nest here with a couple of chicks.

Just more of the same. Sunny skies, warm days and havin' a ball in the ocean. Last night after a swim we headed over to the Tiki Bar in Fort Pierce. It's located on the waterfront at the Marina.

George and Joan. It was a great night out. We followed this up with a walk around downtown Ft. Pierce and a Gelato. (?) Something like an ice cream. It was very good.

When we are just sitting around enjoying the fresh air Maggie and Gabby like to sit in their own chairs. Lilly, being the junior member gets her pick of the concrete pad or the ground.









We've been out and about doing the normal things like the gym 6 days a week. Kathy is losing weight and doing very well. I've lost a bit but have improved my strength quite a lot. Most of those aches and pains I usually complain about are gone. I am even able to walk along at quite a clip without moaning and groaning very much.

Kathy seems to be collecting crock pots now. We bought one last week, a 7 quart model. Today a 5 quart one. Seems the 5 quart one is for us when we are alone and the 7 quart for when we have company. I didn't realize we needed two sizes. What's next, a collection of toasters? A two slice for us and a four slice for company?

Went to Pet Smart today for a few supplies and a nail clip for the girls. They get to walk around the store and bark at all the other dogs. It's quite a scene, one that most are probably glad they don't have to witness. Quite an uncontrollable bunch are our girls. Most who know them will understand. Nuff said.

As usual it was a nice day so decided to finish washing the Big Sky. Hard to tell from here but she looks pretty good. Wax next. You can see our backyard too.

For lunch we headed up to Vero Beach to the local IHOP. Not the greatest place but I did have a 580 calorie lunch. Not too shabby if I do say so myself.

Forgot to mention a little incident at the gym last week. After one series of exercises he asked me if I had completed my set of 10. I said actually I had done 25 as this was a pretty easy day so far. He looked at me and said we'll fix that next week. Well, he is true to his word. I've learned never to tell the instructor things are going too easy. They sure are not this week. I think he is taking great delight in piling it on. However he still hasn't stumped me, I'm still at it. Sore, but still at it.

OK, the temp was 27 - 28, so what could be better than an afternoon at the...

Beach!

I apologize to everyone for not having my shirt on here. No one deserves to have to look at that. For goodness sake don't blow it up. The water was beautiful and not a shark in site.

Kathy was there and so were our friends and neighbours, George and Joan Allen. Didn't get their pic today so just flip back to the dance floor and there they are. We had a great day enjoying the sun and surf.

After this we went home and Kathy made a great supper after which we settled down to another episode of Coronation Street.

Saturday was Valentine's Day dance night at the RV Park. Kathy cut a fine figure on the dance floor with our neighbour, George.

Kathy and Joan, George's wife. I did have a few twirls with Kathy myself, the first time we've hit the dance floor in over 10 years.

New friends Walter and Dagmar from the Boston area.

Joan has a beautiful smile.












It's been a few days of the usual running around between the gym, a bit of shopping, riding the bikes and generally just enjoying the good weather. Mind you the weather won't be that great today. We are expecting our first day of winter since December. It's only getting up to 63 today so it's snuggle up time. Thankfully the sun is out so that will make it a bit more bearable.

Lake Placid, Florida (Caladium Capital of The World)

Started the day at the gym. We were there by 9:00 AM and could not believe the crowd. Guess we had better go later if we want to get thru our sets in a reasonable time. Had a good workout and then home to get ready for meeting our friends, Bill and Jan Corkum from Pinehurst NS.

Boy, they sure had a great Golden Corral in Lake Placid!

You can't buy food this cheap at the grocery store. Seniors lunch, all you can eat, drink included, $6.99. You can eat to get fat or you can select from an entirely healthy menu. I'm not there yet for a healthy choice but Kathy did pretty good today.

Jan and Bill posing as a sweet couple for the camera. Actually they are pretty sweet even when not posing.

After lunch it was time to get out and see a bit of Lake Placid. They are also known as the Town of Murals. Even the trash cans are painted and in this case surrounded by nice plants.

Here is a small mural, lovely plants.

A rather large mural taking up an entire wall complete with a nice seating and rest area

The pond in the bottom left above has a seating area where you can relax and watch the fish mosey about.

This is a trash can, Lake Placid style. Bill and Jan seem happy with it.

This is another trash can.

Use your imagination for this one.

This building houses the weekly farmer's market.

This mural covers the wall of the local Winn Dixie. (like Sobeys) It is complete with the sounds of cattle being herded.

Kathy appears to be leading this horse and cowboy.

OK, enough with the murals. Believe it or not this is a real Clown School. You want to be a clown, you come here for your diploma.

On the way out of town we stopped by this orange grove for a few picks. Careful not to pick one in case that was a firing offense. By that I mean is it permissible to shoot someone for stealing your crop. Best not to test the limits.

This tree had mostly green oranges, a few starting to ripen and even a few blossoms. What an aroma with these blossoms.

This was the end of a great day in Lake Placid with a couple of wonderful people, Bill & Jan.