Sun is out, but it's snowing at home.....

We just missed a tornado yesterday that hit near the Tampa area. We caught the tail end of the winds, and the old MH just rocked and rolled. We kept listening to see if it was coming any where close, but it missed us completely.

We took a walk earlier in the day, and talked to a father and son who grew up south of Gainesville, and spent a lot of time on Orange Lake fishing. They told us that steam boats used to travel on the Lake, transporting fruit to market, and bringing supplies to this area. About seven years ago a sink hole developed in the lake, and all of the water drained out, and it became like a marsh. Everyone thought that it would be that way forever, but the hurricanes brought water back to the area, and now the lake is almost up to it's previous level. The CG folks are in the process of restoring the docks, and planning to reinstate the dinner cruise on the lake.

It is amazing what a little sunshine can do for your spirits. As I look around I can see folks sitting outside under their awnings and enjoying the warmth. Yesterday, no one was out and about.

We're going to start heading toward home as soon as this east coast storm passes, and we can catch two or three nice days to travel.

Lazy, rainy day......

We stopped at the Grand Lake RV Resort in Orange Lake Florida yesterday afternoon, and spent the night. It is not nearly as nice as Riverbend, but on the other hand, it is half the price. It also has a 10/10/10 rating, concrete pads, trees between the sites, etc. It also has a 18 hole golf course. Just down the road is a Jai Alai casino...haven't been there yet.

About 4 oclock this morning it started to pour the rain, and it hasn't stopped yet. The place looks deserted, haven't seen anyone out today.

I went out this morning to get a newspaper, decided to buy a chuck roast for the crock pot. It's been cooking all day, and beginning to send out some mighty good aromas....lots of onions, baby carrots, can't wait!

Marjorie Rawlings, author of "The Yearling", lived for years just up the road at Cross Creek, on the other side of the lake. Her home and property is now owned by the University of Florida in Gainesville, and is open to the public. She apparently was quite a character, according to a young neighbor of hers. Last time we were here at Payne's Prararie SP I bought a book written by her neighbor in Cross Creek, and he related a number of incidents that happened when he was just a young fellow. If the weather clears tomorrow, we will visit her house. There are quite a few antique (junque) stores around the area, may go there too.

On the road again.........

We left Riverbend this morning about 8:15 a.m., and since it was Saturday, didn't expect to encounter much traffic. Wrong again...Stopped for fuel at a station on Route 80, diesel is $2.16 a gallon....and I thought Maryland prices were bad! Oh well, if you want to dance, you have to pay the fiddler.....

We were heading for Ocala Florida, about 275 miles north of Ft. Myers. Unbelievable number of trucks and cars on I-75, and all travelling at about 80 miles an hour. Occasionally, a truck in the passing lane would encounter an obstacle (a four wheeler), slam on the brakes, and bring the whole route to a halt amonst heavy black smoke from his tires. Just outside of Tampa I noticed a white van slowing down in the passing lane, put on his blinkers, almost came to a stop. He apparently wanted to get off at the exit, and had to go across four lanes of traffic to do that.

I think I have made my last trip to South Florida. Too many people who can't (or won't) speak English, too many crazies on the road, and just too many people, in general. It is warm in Florida, for sure, but so it is hell!

The clerk in a store was trying to tell me something. I said "no habla Espanol"....she said, "I am speaking English!".

Goodbye red, ripe, tomatoes, fresh corn on the cob, Honey Bells....

Where has the week gone?.....

This week has just slipped away from us....we went to dinner at Paula's house on Wednesday, and had a great meal and a great time. Tom and Vicki and their son and daughter were there, and we had a lot of good conversation. Of course we told stories of Tom's shenanigans when he was two years old. He bit one of the neighbor girls and Paula made him go pick some flowers and take them to her and apologize. When she didn't respond, he asked "what's wrong with you, want some more flowers?"

Paula gave us three CD's recorded by a friend of hers, Tommy O. One of them is a recording of country tunes, and he sounds exactly like Willie Nelson, Hank Williams, and the other artists who orginally recorded the songs. Great voice.

The other two CD's are opera, show tunes, gospel, and he does a great job with all. Paula met him when he joined the choir at her church. In addition to the music, he is also an artist. Paula has a number of his paintings, including a mural in her living room.

Tommy O. now has his own show in Branson, and we're almost tempted to drive all the way out there just to hear him.

They had pizza night down at the club last night, and we went down. Huge 16 inch pizza for $12.00. They also had live music and a "name that tune" contest, which was fun.

We got up this morning, and it was raining heavily, so I went up to the office and bought another day. Will try to leave again tomorrow, but supposed to rain again.

Just a little bit of culture.......

Went down to St. Cecilia's church yesterday to hear Paula sing with the SouthWest Florida Choir at one of their Stained Glass performances, and just really enjoyed it. Their singing sounds exactly like finely tuned instruments, and the acoustics were just great. They use no amplification, and you can hear even the lowest notes even at the rear of the auditorium.

Sure did enjoy seeing Paula again, after all these years, and she is still the same sweet lady that we remember from Milburn Lane in Bowie. She lives two doors down from her son, Dr. Tom, whom we last saw when he was two years old. We kidded him about he and his brother breaking the windows in our house (after we had moved) with their toy swords, and asked if he was ready to "settle up". He disallowed any memory of any such actions. He is a really laid back guy, good sense of humor just like his mother. I'm sure he must have an excellent bedside manner. His brother Johnny is a lawyer who lives in New York.

Sadly, Jack,their husband and father, died at a very early age in 1988. He didn't live long enough to enjoy his son's success, but they say he sees them from above.

Paula took us to a party at one of her Choral group's house, and we enjoyed the food and good company for a few hours. We retold the story many times of how we had tracked Paula down thru the internet, and would have never found her if she hadn't been first in line to get a flu shot, and the Ft. Myers newspaper published her picture and interview.

We learned that she is retired from the Foreign Service, and spent a number of years in Russia and Czechlosovakia. She worked the summit meeting with Presidents Reagan and Gorbachev during the 80's. Her parent's and grandparents were Czech immigrants back in the 1920's, and settled on a farm near Vale Oregon (near the Idaho border). She couldn't believe that we spent the night in Vale one time when we went to visit Linda.

Today I made a big mistake.... I took Shelby to a Dillard's department store that we saw yesterday. She fell in love with it, and burned up one credit card in a couple of ours. Fortunately, there are no Dillard stores in Maryland.....

Wanderlust parked on a slab at Riverbend Resort 

Gate at Riverbend Motorcoach Resort 

Beautiful, beautiful day in Southwest Florida....

We drove down toward Ft. Myers yesterday afternoon, looking for the supermarket and fruit and vegetable stand that we passed on the way up here. Found both, bought some groceries, then stopped at the veggie market. Now, everyone knows that we love Plant City strawberries, but we kind of got carried away, and bought more than we can possibly eat before they spoil, but, hey, you gotta make the effort. In addition to that, we bought Honey Bells, corn on the cob, canaloupes, and tomatoes.

We came home and had BLT's made with fresh tomatoes, mayo, and Wonder Bread. They call those sandwiches that you have to lift high, eat fast, lest they falleth in your lap.....pure comfort food. Now I'm ready for another drive up I-75!

There was a van and trailer containing a cougar, parked in the lot at the veggie place. People were crowded around, and a lady was soliciting donations for the Animal Rescue League. Now, pardon me if I'm jumping to conclusions, and being a bit skeptical......but, something just didn't ring true with that deal. To begin with, the Van and trailer bore no markings for the League (did have an ad for a gun show), and the lady was just a little bit to slick with her speech. She was collecting money hand over fist...she looked needy.

Well, good news! I finally got the email working about midnight, and sent Paula one. Early this morning she called and invited us to attend one of her concerts at 3:00 oclock today. We're looking forward to seeing her after all these years. Email and everything else is working great this morning. I'm beginning to think maybe AT&T/Cingular is just overloaded during the week. I may call them.

Arrived at Riverbend Park near Ft. Myers...

After a eight hour trip, we finally arrived at Riverbend, checked in, then collapsed. I-75 driving definitely is not for the weak of heart. Not bad until you reach the Tampa-St. Pete area, then even in early afternoon the traffic was wall to wall. Some exits, traffic was backed up all the way up onto the interstate. Going to have to find a easier way to go back North....if that way even exists.

I don't know what is going on with AT&T/Cingular....haven't been able to get into our email since we arrived. We have misplaced Paula's phone number, and tried to send her an email to no avail.

Riverbend is definitely upscale, compared to places where we normally stay, and it's really nice for a change. However, part of the cost of what we are charged is in support of a great social environment, for which we are just not that interested.

We'll be here at Riverbend thru next Friday....kind of undecided after that.

Well, here's the deal......

We do have reservations at Riverbend Rv Resort just east of Fort Myers (17 miles), and that is the good news....the bad news is that we're gonna have to pay $55.00 a night! Who the heck do they think I am, Willie McDonald? The good news is that a riverside spot is $85.00, and, they had none available). This better be at least as good as Outdoor Resorts in Palm Springs.

Seven hour drive down to Ft. Myers and will be a long day. Hope to get out of here fairly early...........

Travel problems......

Finally got around to calling the Glades in Labelle Florida, and they are totally booked up, and so are most of the others in the area. Seems so many CG's got wiped out in the hurricanes that spaces are hard to come by. Glades is supposed to call me today to verify whether they can do a week, but I'm not gonna bet my life on it.....they really didn't appear to be too anxious to go to any extra trouble.

Got some bad news from the office yesterday. Glenn's wife Linda is in a bad way. She has suffered from breast cancer for about three years, and apparently it has come back in a serious manner. Will have to monitor her condition closely....we should be close to home if anything should happen.

Great weather here later yesterday...awoke to heavy fog, but it cleared, sun came out, and temp was up around 70.

Mid February on the Gold Coast

Our time on Jekyll is coming to a close...we really like this place, and will miss it.

Went into Brunswick yesterday for groceries, and just became aware of what a nice little town it really is. It is a port city, and I would guess a lot of the employment is based on that industry. There is also a large paper mill operation, and, for the most part, it is less offensive that others that I have seen.

Of course, with the Golden Isles just offshore, tourism is also a large part of the economy. Even though the climate is not as great as farther south in Florida, the winter population of Snow Birds is large. A large part of the CG where we are located is made up largely of people from Wisconsin, Minnesota, and many Canadians. One told me that he just travels far enough South, that the Wal Marts don't sell snow shovels!

I was able to rig a pole with the magnetic cell phone antenna atop it, and raised it about four feet above the MH roof. This has really improved my connection to the internet. A magnetic antenna needs a metal ground plane in order to operate properly, and all that is necessary is a surface 8 inches (or larger). I am using a teflon coated pizza pan mounted on a extension painter's pole, which can be raised an lowered. It kinda' looks like a flying saucer on a post, and it's fun watching the reaction of people walking by trying to figure out what it is for.

Driftwood trees on Driftwood Beach (where else?). Huge trees from somewhere have drifted onto a large stretch of the Jekyll Island ocean beach. 

Here's a better picture of the St. Simon's lighthouse. This one was taken by Shelby whose camera is much better than mine. 

Blue monday.....

The forest fire alert is up by the front gate...don't know why. Seems with all the rain we've been getting, the crisis should have passed by now. It's threatening rain again this morning, barometer is falling, and everyone in the Wanderlust is complaining about sinus headaches....thought we left all that in Maryland.

Rain it did! However, the sun did come out at last (just before dark).

The other AllegroBus owner in the park is named John Frost. He introduces himself "Jack Frost from Canada, get it?" I hope he doesn't discover that I said he was from Montreal...he actually is from Toronto, and is no fan of eastern Canada. He describes Toronto as being in the "West" of Canada, which I never would have guessed.

Talk about a small world. Jack Frost and I both worked in the electronics distribution industry during the same period of time, for competitors, and attended some of the national conferences at various locations, but never met until this week.

There was a pot luck dinner here at the picnic area tonite, but we don't have a single pot in the MH....couldn't go.

We'll be leaving here this Friday, heading on down to the Fort Myers area. Will call The Glades Park tomorrow to see if we can get reservations (or to see if they still exist after the hurricanes).

Gadabout Travels

We tried to edit Friday's post to turn the St. Simon's lighthouse picture clockwise, but just couldn't do it....So....if you will just turn your computer on it's side, the picture will appear in the proper perspective!

We were invaded yesterday by all the warm weather seekers. The CG is packed, the bicycle path and hiking trails are crowded. We walked for about 3-1/2 miles, and had to keep a close watch behind us to avoid the bicyclists who suddenly appear without any warning, and speed on past. Glad we have the little ringing bell on our Walmart special bikes.

We had a little misfortune yesterday...I attempted to toast a french bread pizza in the convection oven, mistakenly hit the microwave button, and the next thing I know, the MH is filled with smoke. We've had all the fans going overnite, and the stink has allmost disappeared.....thank goodness! Guess that'll keep me away from the high tech equipment.....

Had a visit from an AllegroBus owner yesterday, his and ours are identical, same year, same paint, everything. Especially since I was told at the factory that our paint configuration was only for show models for the year 2000. Never had seen another. He is from Montreal, and bought his used from a dealer there. All he knows is that the dealer brought it up from Houston Texas. He had a lot of questions since he did not end up with all of the manuals.

On the bike trail....... 

View of St. Simon's lighthouse from Jekyll Island beach. 

Egrets in the marsh, just off the bike trail. 

Harold & Shelby at Jekyll Island CG January 2005. 

Friday and it's cold again...

Well, we sure enjoyed the couple of short sleeve days that we were given. Last night the temperature dropped again, and is forecasted again tonight.

Got the new toliet installed, but got it on the same circuit as the 12v lights in the living area, which didn't work to well. Went to Wally World and collected supplies to put it on a circuit of it's own, and that seems to work much better.

I finally measured the distance from here on the Island to the nearest town, and came out the nearest supermarket is 13 miles, and WW is almost 20. There is a small IGA market here, but has limited stock, and they seem to keep odd hours. Oh well, after all, it is the winter season.

Also measured the distance from the CG to the historic district and it's almost 5 miles. We rode the bikes 3.7 miles the other day, but need to get better seats before attempting anything further.

Gadabout Travels

We decided to "eat high on the hog" last night, and went to the Jekyll Island Club restaurant instead of Blakbeards. They try to duplicate the atmosphere that was prevelant during the Club"s heyday back in the 20's and 30's, but it can't be the same. During that period, the millionaires dined in this style everyday (no wonder they suffered from gout),but now there are some of the old time residents of the Island, but the diners are mostly made up of celebrants (like us).

Our meal was pricey, but it was excellent....lobster and steak (surf and turf in Maryland lingo), special of the day (no pricing of course, wait to be surprised). I'm glad we decided to go, it's nice to be treated so well at times, and it made for a great evening. Even the guitarist (Tony Baker from North Georgia) was laid back, low key.."shine on, shine on, harvest moon". Later on he got a little rowdy, sang some folk/Irish songs, little bit of Gordon Lightfoot.

Our replacement "water closet" arrived via UPS while we were out, and someone from the office brought it up to our site. When I finally got around to opening it, discovered that it was broken into about a thousand pieces. Called Thetford (how they must dread that!), left bad news message, later good news message on the cell phone, new replacement on the way via FedEx, next day. There must be a jinx (or hex) on this whole deal, can't wait to see what happens next. Thetford says to trash the broken one, but I will cannabilize it and save the electrical/electronics devices (the ones that go bad) for a future need? I have a theory that if you keep extra replacement parts, you will never need them....

Shelby wanted us to go for a long walk since we had missed one day. So, we walked to the pier, turned right, then onto the beach (tide was out), then decided to walk the beach all the way up to where the bicycle path meets Riverview Drive. Doesn't look far on the map, but in reality it was much farther than expected. Shelby was beginning to lose faith in my navigating when we finally came out on the path. I just acted like I knew what I was doing all along!

Sun's out this morning, but local forecast is for some more rain today.....

Gadabout Travels

Someone told us that a great place to birdwatch was down near the amphitheater, so I took a ride down on the bike. Took 20 minutes there, and 20 minutes back. Never found the birds, but did find that I need a better bike seat! My father-in-law, Jack Tolliver used to say that riding a bike was just a way of wearing out your legs just to give your butt a ride.....

Sunday was just a really nice day, sun out, around 65 degrees....Shelby and I rode the bikes down the trail to the ocean, took a lot of pictures, checked out the driftwood, looked for the glass fishing net floats. Lady in the Hotel giftshop swears that people find at least one a day, but it's easier to just buy one from her.

Monday is also a nice one....we spent most of the day at the local mall, looking for a birthday gift for our Jessie....not just any gift, but one that she will remember and treasure forever. Found such, barely made it to UPS to get it out to her overnite. I was so exhausted from all that shopping, I had to take a nap!

Today is Shelby and my 45th wedding anniversary, and we plan to celebrate by going down the Island to Blackbeard's for a big-ol-time!

Gadabout Travels

Woke up this morning with Pizza Hut pizza on our mind (for lunch). Got on the internet and looked up Pizza Hut Brunswick Georgia. Got a hit, listing the address. Address was in North Brunswick (exit 36 on I-95)......drove there (22 miles), couldn't find such an address. Stopped at a service station, asked, guy pointed across the street to a building under constuction "there's the new Pizza Hut". Oh well, Cracker Barrell next door!

We took a walk down the bicycle trail down to the ocean. Tide was coming in, so couldn't walk on the beach.....got a lot of pictures, though. Will take a look at them, maybe post one or two.

We met an elderly couple from "Vuhmont" (Vermont), who have been coming to Jekyll for years, and appreciate the fact that the Island is not crowded at all. We agree...

We are about 70 miles from Jacksonville, but the Super Bowl is affecting the traffic in this area since lodging has been booked up in Jacksonville for quite some time. Cracker Barrell was full of fans this morning, all wearing their team's colors.

Gadabout Travels

Yesterday was rain all day, but today is turning out nicely....sun came up just when it should, and it's getting warmer by the minute. People are out walking, riding bicycles, and making joyful noises.

Speaking of riding bikes, we saw a young couple the other day riding a bicycle built for two. The young man was pedalling them along, and the young lady was leaning back in her seat, her feet up, just enjoying the ride!

I just finished two books that I bought at at Hattie's Books down in the historic district. One is Okefinokee Album by Francis Harper and Delma Presley. It is primarily a diary kept by Francis Harper, a naturalist, from 1912 thru 1946, and records his contacts with the "swampers" whose ancestors settled in the Okeefinokee Swamp during the early 1800's. These self sufficient peoples were cousins to the many other Scotch-Irish who settled in the Appalachian mountains. Good reading.

The other book is In One Place, the Natural History of a Georgia Farmer, by Milton N. Hopkins Jr. Mr. Hopkins trained as a Naturalist, and had hoped to work on one of the outlying Georgia Coast islands such as Jeklyll or St. Simons. However, after marrying the daughter of a prominent doctor, who also had a large farming operation near Fitzgerald Georgia, he decided to honor his wife's wishes to become the farm manager for his father-in-law. Dr. McElroy was just a bit eccentric, and Hopkin's relating of some of his experiences with the good doctor make for humorous reading.

I have some pictures to post, but left my camera/pc cable at home (where else?), so will have to wait until Linda finds it (hopefully).

Gadabout Travels

a href="http://greatgadabout.blogspot.com/">Gadabout Travels

Yesterday was completely uneventful.....just lots of heavy rain, fog, and 48 degree weather. We went out for a drive later in the day, but wasn't much fun. Today is supposed to be better.....South florida is beginning to look more attractive every day. Notice that more and more people are bailing out of the cG.

Except, of course, the people from Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Canada.....they obviously think 48 degrees and rain is a heat wave compared to their home environment. They get out and hike, ride their bikes, and just smile at everyone.

This is still a very nice island....very little traffic, and hardly any people this time of year. There is a bill on the Georgia governor's desk right at the moment which could change the whole character of Jekyll. It would allow new development on the south end of the island....high rises, etc. We surely hope he doesn't sign it, but in the world of politics, he just may.

Jekyll is completely owned by the State, operated by a state park authority which oversees everything, and is completely self funded. No taxes are used for it's operation. The largest money maker is the $3.00 per car parking fee ($35.00 year for sticker).

For almost 100 years Jekyll was a retreat for the Northeastern rich biggies, millionaires who could afford the high cost of maintaining such a high level of comfort. They built "cottages" and a opulent hotel and grounds, golf courses, hunting areas. They arrived in their yachts, and spent, on the average, 3 months or more during the winter. Even with all this, they still had to deal with the misquitoes, snakes, etc. It seems ironic that the smoke from smouldering rags was their best escape from the misquitoes. For 9 months of the year, the employees had the place to themselves. A large staff which included groundskeepers, maids, waiters, even a ships captain for the local ferry.

Some problems solved.....

We were able to finally solve the problem of the inverter shutting down...unplugged one of the electric heaters! I guess we've never had to have heat for this long of a time, so didn't realize that the circuit would eventually shut down.

Also, got a call from Thetford and Sally says she is shipping a new toliet to me at the CG....she was a little upset that I went over her head to the Thetford president. But, from my previous experience, I knew she didn't have the authority to do that on her own.

You meet some interesting people at the laundromat...first of all, talked to a fellow from Minnesota who delivers MH's to dealers all over the U.S. He's retired, and does that as a side job. Related that out of 150 MH's he's delivered, 14 of them broke down, most within 20 miles of the factory.

We also talked to a young fellow who lives here on the island, and works as an embalmer at a Brunswick funeral home. We just had to ask about a rumor that we'd heard that people who are cremated are cut into three pieces in order to fit into the oven. He refuted this story, said that that would be desecration of a corpse, and very much against the standards of the United Embalmers Society of the U.S.

He invited us to visit with him at the funeral home, offered to show us the oven. We very respectfully declined, told him we really appreciated the offer...maybe some other time?

Raining again this morning, will it ever end?