C&C Retirement Adventures, March 2-5, 2011

Our home for the week (Mar 2-9) is in Wesley Chapel, Florida (about 25 miles north of Tampa) at the Quail Run RV Park.    We are situated in the newer section of the Park--spaces are a bit larger and there are concrete pads for the coach; but the older section has more character--the RVs are nestled among huge live oaks with masses of spanish moss dangling from the limbs.

There's a small pond with several resident critters, this sandhill crane being one of them.

The first order of business while here is to find a groomer for our shaggy boys.  It was somewhat time-consuming finding a groomer that could accommodate our schedule--they were all quite busy.  Anyway, after several phone calls we located a nearby PetCo where   Gus and Woody got spiffy new dos!  They are such handsome fellas!

While the boys were being groomed, we took advantage of the few hours of empty nestdom by having a nice lunch and contributing substantially to the local economy with a visit to Sam's Club!  

Friday was "see the sights day."  I was anxious to see manatees, so we opted to go to Homasassa Springs to the State Wildlife Park about an hour's drive.  We took the boys with us because the Park's website showed complimentary kennels were offered to guests traveling with pets.  We thoroughly enjoyed seeing Florida alligators, bears, panthers, bobcats, various reptiles, pelicans, cranes and other waterfowl and fish.  However, we were a bit disappointed that the manatees did not swim anywhere near the observatory while we were there.  

Looking at the manatees from above, they look like giant baked potatoes!

Here are the boys anxiously waiting for us to return.  

You can see all the photos taken at the Homasassa Springs State Wildlife Park at  https://picasaweb.google.com/MuskratLake

On Saturday we joined the throngs of humanity headed for the NY Yankees/Washington Nationals Pre-season game at the George Steinbrenner Memorial Stadium in Tampa where the Yankees train for the season.  The Nationals took an early 5 run lead and then the Yankees rallied and went ahead by 2 runs.  By the 7th inning the win could go either way, but the Nats took the lead and kept their edge winning 10 to 8.  It was fun!

CC Sabathia (sp) is pitching for NY--they replaced him at end of 2nd inning after Nats took a 5-0 lead!

I think that's Jorge Posada at bat.

Nats win--10-8!

A few more photos from the game can be seen at https://picasaweb.google.com/MuskratLake

C&C Retirement Adventures, March 1-2, 2011

Rather than take the Interstate highway from Alabama into Florida, we opted for a more scenic route through some of the beach towns along the panhandle of the State.   Good choice--it was a lovely drive.  

One of the many trendy souvenir shops in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, Alabama.

Sometime during our last couple of days in Alabama, our "ghost thief" returned.  I guess he finished viewing all our DVDs and now wants to hear some groovy tunes because now our "IPOD" is missing!  Just as I did to search for the DVDs, I've retraced my activities over and over again, and nearly taken the coach apart looking for it.   It's very perplexing!

We overnighted in Panacea, FL at the Holiday Campground--aptly named, it is a lovely peaceful spot by the water.

Another RV pulled into the camp site next to us while we were setting up--Janet & George were from upstate New York; we swapped stories while sipping some wine and nibbling on cheese & crackers.  They were travelling in a camper over a pickup style RV.  George seemed interested in our rationale for the motorhome as opposed to 5th wheel--he seemed to be ready to RV up!

On Wednesday we headed for the Tampa area where we'll stay for about a week.  Again, we decided to take the state roads rather than the interstates into the Tampa-St. Petersburg area.  

But refueling was vital this morning.  As the price of oil has been the topic of the news lately, I decided to document the gas-up---oh my!

Somewhere along the route we crossed the Suwanee River and Corky started singing in his best Al Jolson voice "oh Suwanee, how I love ya, how I love ya..."  Boy, o boy, I wish I could find that IPOD!

Our DL neighbor has property in Cedar Key, Florida--so this picture is for her!  Judy--we didn't make the turn, but took the photo to prove we were almost there!

I just love the name of this town--Weeki Wachee!  

It makes me smile--we returned here on Friday for lunch at Nellie's in Weeki Wachee!

Next blog will be from our home in the Tampa area.

See all our Florida Bound photos at  https://picasaweb.google.com/MuskratLake

C&C Retirement Adventures, February 22-March 1, 2011

A little rain and fog had moved into Lafayette on the morning we departed. It was the first significant rainfall we've experienced since our trip began, so we really can't complain. The fog lifted, but the clouds remained throughout the day.  The gloominess of the day cast an ominous aura over bayou country--we rather expected to see "Swamp Thing" rise out of the murk at any moment!

And there was very little activity along the Mighty Mississippi where we crossed it.

We soon left Louisiana, entered and exited the state of Mississippi in little more than an hour and arrived in Alabama by late afternoon.

I couldn't resist taking a pic of this Bass Pro Shop--what a location!  Right off the highway, it's quite impressive.

Didn't take long before we were entering the tunnel in Mobile Bay.

The battleship USS Alabama is anchored in Mobile Bay.

Here's our home for the week (Tuesday, Feb. 22 through Mar. 1)--Bella Terra in Foley, AL!

We got together with our friends Linda & Bill Brooks who live nearby in Lillian, AL.  We enjoyed a fun dinner at LuLu's Restaurant--LuLu is Jimmy Buffett's sister.

Linda and I spent Friay afternoon browsing through the stores at the Eastern Shore Shopping Center--just HAD to take advantage of the sales!  In the evening, Corky met us at Bill's & Linda's house in Lillian, where "Chef Bill" had prepared his yummy jambalaya for our dinner.  It was quite delicious.   He shared his recipe with us and you can be sure we'll be serving it up sometime this summer in DL.  

We enjoyed a lovely evening reminiscing and watching the sunset from their patio.  Their little Yorkie Monte provided the evening's entertainment--he's quite a charmer!

The trip to Gulf Shores would not have been complete without a libation from the FloraBama!  The FloraBama is slowly being restored, having been nearly demolished by Katrina.  Even with portions of the building being cordoned off and hard-hatted workmen milling around, patrons were not deterred.  I guess if you are here, it's a must-see place.  

Another trip around the area took us to Fort Morgan, a civil war fortress, that now overlooks various off shore oil platforms.

 We had to check out the area where Corky & Ken Roy surveyed in the late 90's--yes, BLM has several small parcels of land here--and he located a survey marker!

Remember to check our picasa albums to view all the photos we've taken: https://picasaweb.google.com/MuskratLake