Friday, February 17, 2012

Apparently my blog was last written on February 11th.  We have had some fun, and I have taken a few pictures.  On Sunday, the 12th, we celebrated Sunday with cocktails with Larry & Carolyn Jarvis (Marilyn and I have quit drinking Manhattans during the week).  Since nobody wanted to cook, we all went out for Mexican along with the Tobin’s.

On Tuesday, Valentine’s Day, we all had our carpets cleaned.  Of course we had to let the rugs in the rigs dry, so we had to go out for dinner at Old World in Floral City.  When we returned to Sumter Oaks, we joined the Valentine’s celebration in the clubhouse.  We were serenaded by these three fine musicians.

I was able to get a nice picture of Phil & Terri Tobin, and Judy Crawford stopped in for a visit.

 

I used the rear-facing camera on my iPhone to take a picture of Marilyn and I.

Then we were visited by none other than Cupid.

On Thursday, we went to Busch Gardens again.  This time George and Sue Spahn joined Larry & Carolyn Jarvis along with Marilyn and myself.  We had corned beef sandwiches at the Desert Grill while we watched the dance show again.  Then we saw Iceploration followed by the Osmond’s show. 

We saw a tiger while we were there.

Today, Marilyn and I went to Wildwood, FL.  She visited a chiropractor who she hopes will reduce her neck pain.  Then we renewed our drivers licenses, and made another stop at Wally World.

Escapees Florida Sun Gators Chapter 57 Rally, February 7 to11, 2012

We left Sumter Oaks on the 6th, and drove to Camping World in Seffner, FL to get a new washing machine, and to go to the Chapter 57 Rally at Lazy Days Rally Park.  We had an 8:30am appointment for the washing machine on Tuesday, the 7th.  We had planned to spend the night in the parking lot, but Camping World said they would put us in a bay about 5:00pm so we spent the night in a repair bay.  A little after 8:30, a tech came to put in the washing machine.  Marilyn has used it three times since installation, and it has worked flawlessly.

I helped our treasurer register our arriving Escapees and chapter members.  The first event was a social hour.

  During the social hour we adopted everyone that had not attended a previous Florida chapter rally.

After the adoptions, the kids and their parents got to know each other. 

Day one of the rally ended with a hotdog dinner.

On the 8th, we had a couple more adoptions.

Then it was time for 50/50 followed by Pete’s delicious hobo stew.

On the 9th, we toured Tarpon Springs.  We took a boat out to watch a demonstration of diving for sponges. Notice how the captain steers the boat with the tiller between his legs.

The lighthouse is actually a beacon for a shopping center.

Marilyn and I ate at Plaka Restaurant.  She had Spanakopita, and I had a Gyro with curly fries.

On the 10th, we danced to the DJ (Mr. Smooth).

Then on the 11th, as all good Escapees rallies end, we had donuts and coffee for hitches and hugs.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

The past few days have been wonderful.

Early in the week, I opened the battery compartment, and saw lots of white stuff around the terminals.  So, on Tuesday, I pulled out all 4 house batteries, cleaned and greased the terminals, and put them back in.  Sure would be nice if I had a battery tray.  I was definitely stiff and sore from picking up the batteries while on my knees.

Wednesday, the 1st, we went to Sam’s Club, and also stopped to pick some strawberries.  They have been so much better than the ones we obtained at the flea market.

Thursday, the 2nd, was our SKP lunch at the Golden Corral in Clermont, FL.  It is always great to get together with old and new friends. 

On Friday, 2/3, we again went to Busch Gardens with Larry & Carolyn Jarvis,  The primary show that we wanted to see was Tony Orlando, and he did put on a good show starting out with “Tie a Yellow Ribbon ‘Round the Old Oak Tree”.  We also saw the Critter Show, and the new “Ice ‘Sploration”, which was very good also.  Grandpa and Grandson tour the world with ice skaters.

Saturday afternoon, the 4th, we visited Pete and Mitzi Hull in the Villages.  Mitzi gave us a delicious turkey dinner.  We were also joined by Mitzi’s sister Paulette and her husband, Nathan, for the evening.  We always enjoy our time with these two couples.

This afternoon, we started putting everything away so that we can go tomorrow to Camping World.  Tuesday morning, Marilyn will have her new washing machine installed.  Our old one died in Whitehorse on our way to Alaska last summer.  It has been missed.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

We had a wonderful day at Busch Gardens again today.  Larry & Carolyn Jarvis went with us again.  We all wanted to see the Glenn Miller Orchestra with The Diamonds show, and they did put on a great show.

As we were entering the park, we noticed that they grow the kids big here in FL.

Then it was time to see some of the larger animals.  The alligators were large enough that we were glad that they were on the other side of the fence.

The gorilla made such a nice picture that I sent it out with a message “meet your cousin”.

After these animals we stopped to see some birds.

We also took a ride on the train around to Stanleyville to get our tickets to the Glenn Miller show.  For lunch we went to the Zambia Smokehouse where we had beef brisket sandwiches on flatbread.  They are a do again, although next time we will share one.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

We left after lunch to drive to Tavares, FL for a doctor appointment to see if Marilyn’s arthritic hands could be made to feel better.  Halfway there, caution lights lit up on the dash of the Jeep – the ABS system, the 4WD system needed to be serviced, along with a couple of other lights.

Our first stop was the arthritis doctor, who told Marilyn that nothing could be done with osteo-arthritic hands.  Then we stopped to get Marilyn some larger knitting needles followed by a stop to get my new glasses adjusted.

Since we also needed an oil change, we went to Advantage Chrysler Jeep Dodge.  They did a diagnosis, and found that a speed sensor in one of the rear tires had gone bad.  So, $237 later, just over an hour, we were back on the road with no warning or caution lights lit up.

We did good getting gasoline though.  We used our Winn-Dixie gasoline discount card at one of the listed Shell stations (Mt Dora), and got gas for $3.36 per gallon ($0.15 off per gallon).  Not cheap, but better than $3.519 per gallon.