Blue Angles
4 hours ago
Saturday, March 20, 2010
The Santara After the new roof
These are pictures of the Santara. The main reason I'm posting them here is so I can link them to the escapees forum.
Friday, March 19, 2010
The U S Navy Blue Angels
Monday we moved from E G Simmons County Park to MacDill Air Force Base. If we walk a few hundred yards to the marina or beach we can look across the bay and see where we were last week, it looks like maybe 2-3 miles across the water, but it was about a 50 mile drive through Tampa to get here.
I was a bit surprised when we arrived and found they had empty sites, but it was a welcomed surprise, we thought we would need to be in dry camping a few days before we could get into a site. We thought we would take advantage of being able to stay at the Military Fam Camps, since we need to be hanging around the Tampa area anyway. It is also fun being around some of the retired military guys, some think they are still a Drill Sargent running boot camp, but most are just plane old RVers seeking the warm sunny FL weather for the winter.
This is one of the "eating places" here on base, we have not been inside yet, and not sure if we will. I've heard too many say it isn't worth the $$ to eat there.
While out walking the other day we spotted this guy holding his dog's leash keeping it from attacking this armadillo. The armadillo wasn't paying any attention to the yapping dog, but he didn't want to pose for my camera either.
We have been checking out all the area beaches and banks looking for those "curio worthy" sea shells, but I'm convinced we will need to return to southern FL to find them.
This weekend we will have the honor of watching the famous United States Navy BLUE ANGELS showing off their amazing flying skills. They have this airshow every year so some of the regulars think of it as four days of noisy jets flying way too close to the ground.
Since we are not "regulars" we are enjoying the show.
Just watching these jets flying through the air so close together, and at such speeds it just gives me a warm feeling all over.
Although I do get a little frustrated when I download my camera to the laptop and see that I have missed the jets in most of the pictures I took. Without a doubt I deleted 5 pictures to every 1 that I saved today. Everyone knows how expensive the digital film is!
We did get a message that the Santara was ready for us to pick up Monday afternoon, so Wednesday we made it to Lazy Days to see if it was ready. We caught our service rep out for lunch, and I just couldn't wait for her to return so I ask to speak with her boss. I'm really sure she wishes she had skipped lunch that day! Her boss agreed with us, there was no way anyone inspected the Santara and cleared it to be ready for pick-up, and he assured us he would inspect it before we were notified again.
Tonight when I checked my e-mail I had another one saying the Santara was ready for us to pick up, so I guess today (Friday) we will see. This will be the fourth time we have received the message that it was ready, so maybe it will be this time. I guess we will store it here on Base until we decide what we are going to do with it, now that the insurance company has spent another $18,000 + on it....
I was a bit surprised when we arrived and found they had empty sites, but it was a welcomed surprise, we thought we would need to be in dry camping a few days before we could get into a site. We thought we would take advantage of being able to stay at the Military Fam Camps, since we need to be hanging around the Tampa area anyway. It is also fun being around some of the retired military guys, some think they are still a Drill Sargent running boot camp, but most are just plane old RVers seeking the warm sunny FL weather for the winter.
This is one of the "eating places" here on base, we have not been inside yet, and not sure if we will. I've heard too many say it isn't worth the $$ to eat there.
While out walking the other day we spotted this guy holding his dog's leash keeping it from attacking this armadillo. The armadillo wasn't paying any attention to the yapping dog, but he didn't want to pose for my camera either.
We have been checking out all the area beaches and banks looking for those "curio worthy" sea shells, but I'm convinced we will need to return to southern FL to find them.
This weekend we will have the honor of watching the famous United States Navy BLUE ANGELS showing off their amazing flying skills. They have this airshow every year so some of the regulars think of it as four days of noisy jets flying way too close to the ground.
Since we are not "regulars" we are enjoying the show.
Just watching these jets flying through the air so close together, and at such speeds it just gives me a warm feeling all over.
Although I do get a little frustrated when I download my camera to the laptop and see that I have missed the jets in most of the pictures I took. Without a doubt I deleted 5 pictures to every 1 that I saved today. Everyone knows how expensive the digital film is!
We did get a message that the Santara was ready for us to pick up Monday afternoon, so Wednesday we made it to Lazy Days to see if it was ready. We caught our service rep out for lunch, and I just couldn't wait for her to return so I ask to speak with her boss. I'm really sure she wishes she had skipped lunch that day! Her boss agreed with us, there was no way anyone inspected the Santara and cleared it to be ready for pick-up, and he assured us he would inspect it before we were notified again.
Tonight when I checked my e-mail I had another one saying the Santara was ready for us to pick up, so I guess today (Friday) we will see. This will be the fourth time we have received the message that it was ready, so maybe it will be this time. I guess we will store it here on Base until we decide what we are going to do with it, now that the insurance company has spent another $18,000 + on it....
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Beaches
Today was one of the few days that the weather has been good enough for us to take a trip to the beach here in FL. Driving down to Longboat Key Beach I realized why we try to avoid the tourist traps around the country. The traffic was horrible, and it took us over an hour to go less than 10 miles. We will go to beaches a lot earlier the next time.
One of the beaches we went to today we found a lot of these little fellows.
We were also warned about them, a couple we met there was telling us that last year their son came to visit them and they all went to the beach. They had snacks on the beach and then took what wasn't eaten back to his truck. He left the windows down a little because of the heat here in FL, but when they returned to the truck after spending the afternoon on the beach they found three squirrels inside the truck. They really chewed up the seats and rubber gaskets around the windows. So if you visit a place with a lot of squakers make sure you roll up the windows.
One of the best sights you can see on a beach is small kids having the time of their life. We had the privilege of watching these little ones for a short time. Kids just don't let the cold water bother them like some of us older people do.
We have seen our share of sea gulls, but I can't remember ever seeing one that looks quite like this little guy does. I think it is a real spiffy hair-do.
Marcia is really getting into collecting sea shells, (as if we had plenty of room to haul things around) today we were looking for any shells we could find, and we did find a few. Someone told me the hurricanes has washed most of the shells away, and they have replaced most of the sand on these beaches over the past few years.
In a few weeks my brother and his wife will take us to a special place to find great shells.
Here is Longboat Key Beach, a good place to find "kitten paws" ( a type of sea shell)
We have plenty of wild animals here at EG Simmons, although they aren't quite as wild as they should be.
Here is a picture of the sunset at E G Simmons County Park the other night.
I'll end this with a picture of the Kountry Star and the Tracker. This is our home for the next few days, we are thinking about moving over to MacDill AFB next week. We can rent boats through the recreation department on base, and maybe we will find a new place to find the curio worthy shells that Marcia is always on the lookout for.
See I did buy some batteries.......
One of the beaches we went to today we found a lot of these little fellows.
We were also warned about them, a couple we met there was telling us that last year their son came to visit them and they all went to the beach. They had snacks on the beach and then took what wasn't eaten back to his truck. He left the windows down a little because of the heat here in FL, but when they returned to the truck after spending the afternoon on the beach they found three squirrels inside the truck. They really chewed up the seats and rubber gaskets around the windows. So if you visit a place with a lot of squakers make sure you roll up the windows.
One of the best sights you can see on a beach is small kids having the time of their life. We had the privilege of watching these little ones for a short time. Kids just don't let the cold water bother them like some of us older people do.
We have seen our share of sea gulls, but I can't remember ever seeing one that looks quite like this little guy does. I think it is a real spiffy hair-do.
Marcia is really getting into collecting sea shells, (as if we had plenty of room to haul things around) today we were looking for any shells we could find, and we did find a few. Someone told me the hurricanes has washed most of the shells away, and they have replaced most of the sand on these beaches over the past few years.
In a few weeks my brother and his wife will take us to a special place to find great shells.
Here is Longboat Key Beach, a good place to find "kitten paws" ( a type of sea shell)
We have plenty of wild animals here at EG Simmons, although they aren't quite as wild as they should be.
Here is a picture of the sunset at E G Simmons County Park the other night.
I'll end this with a picture of the Kountry Star and the Tracker. This is our home for the next few days, we are thinking about moving over to MacDill AFB next week. We can rent boats through the recreation department on base, and maybe we will find a new place to find the curio worthy shells that Marcia is always on the lookout for.
See I did buy some batteries.......
Thursday, March 4, 2010
E G Simmons County Park
Tuesday we left Sumter Oaks and all the good SKP friends we have there and headed south. We are looking for warmer weather, and looking at Yahoo's forecasts the overnight lows were going to be higher around Tampa than Bushnell.
We drove down to Lazy Days where the Santara is still in the shop being repaired. Our plan was to spend the night there and find a park near by on Wednesday. We had a couple keys made and I talked to Ellen about the Santara. They were still waiting on Shoreline to send the ladder rack. An $89 ladder rack was holding up the job, and we were told it would be mailed out 5 weeks ago.
Our friends Walt and Donna stopped by and we decided we would just drive to Sun RV Resorts and get a site. Walt and Donna are staying there for around $200 a month with a coupon, and since we have coupons for there too we thought we might get in cheap also. again I'm really glad I don't get paid for thinking, because Sun RV Resorts say they don't have any openings for the coupon rates. Although I could get a site for about $300 a week. Oh well I guess you win some and lose some, and we lost this one, but they didn't get any of my money.
We left there and drove to K-Mart. Marcia went in and talked to the manager and we spent the night there. Walt and Donna came by and picked us up to take us to The Oaks for another round of all you can eat ribs. We met Lou, his wife, ( I forget her name, and I'm sorry for that) and their daughter Amber. Amber is nine years old, and Lou is 62. I made the mistake of asking if Amber was their grand daughter. They lived across the street from Walt and Donna before Walt and Donna leased their house and moved into their Allegro Bus.
I didn't talk to Lou's wife or Amber very much because they were entertaining Marcia and Donna, while Lou kept Walt and myself entertained with stories from his Vietnam Days. Lou was a medivac chopper pilot, he received four Purple Hearts, and had a lot of interesting stories that he shared with us. He retired from the Air Force as a Colonel. Thanks Lou; for the entertainment and the service you did for the wounded troops.
After spending over two hours at the Oaks eating and talking, Walt and Donna dropped us off at K-Mart and we said our goodbyes.
Wednesday Marcia and I drove to Apollo Beach FL. There is a county park near there that we wanted to check out, E G Simmons. We pulled up and ask if there were any sites open, and they said yes. They told us we could unhook the Tracker and drive around the CG to pick out a spot that we wanted if we wanted to.
We unhooked and scoped out the park. Lot 65 looked like the best one open so that is where we are. A very nice park with large sites, we have water and 30 amp electric, and there is a dump station in the park. Almost all the sites have access to the water for fishing or boats if you have one.
Today we drove to Apollo Beach and were entertained by a guy fishing. He caught a shark as we were walking by so we watched him real it in. He was about to toss it back in the water when another guy came running over asking if he could have it. I guess some people like to eat shark, I tried it once and didn't like it. (maybe the way it was cooked)
Later Walt and Donna came by and picked us up to take us to The Copper Penny. The Copper Penny is a restaurant they went to a lot when they lived in this area a few years ago, and it is next to the Wooden Nickle Saloon. We passed on the Saloon, but enjoyed a meal at the Copper Penny. It is a real plus knowing Walt and Donna, and since they lived near Tampa for several years they know the area pretty well. It is nice having our own tour guides, and I'm enjoying not having to drive the tracker anywhere. Thanks Walt and Donna....
We will hang around here for a week or so, and I did get the camera out today, but the batteries went dead just after I took this picture....
OK I'll buy new batteries tomorrow.......
We drove down to Lazy Days where the Santara is still in the shop being repaired. Our plan was to spend the night there and find a park near by on Wednesday. We had a couple keys made and I talked to Ellen about the Santara. They were still waiting on Shoreline to send the ladder rack. An $89 ladder rack was holding up the job, and we were told it would be mailed out 5 weeks ago.
Our friends Walt and Donna stopped by and we decided we would just drive to Sun RV Resorts and get a site. Walt and Donna are staying there for around $200 a month with a coupon, and since we have coupons for there too we thought we might get in cheap also. again I'm really glad I don't get paid for thinking, because Sun RV Resorts say they don't have any openings for the coupon rates. Although I could get a site for about $300 a week. Oh well I guess you win some and lose some, and we lost this one, but they didn't get any of my money.
We left there and drove to K-Mart. Marcia went in and talked to the manager and we spent the night there. Walt and Donna came by and picked us up to take us to The Oaks for another round of all you can eat ribs. We met Lou, his wife, ( I forget her name, and I'm sorry for that) and their daughter Amber. Amber is nine years old, and Lou is 62. I made the mistake of asking if Amber was their grand daughter. They lived across the street from Walt and Donna before Walt and Donna leased their house and moved into their Allegro Bus.
I didn't talk to Lou's wife or Amber very much because they were entertaining Marcia and Donna, while Lou kept Walt and myself entertained with stories from his Vietnam Days. Lou was a medivac chopper pilot, he received four Purple Hearts, and had a lot of interesting stories that he shared with us. He retired from the Air Force as a Colonel. Thanks Lou; for the entertainment and the service you did for the wounded troops.
After spending over two hours at the Oaks eating and talking, Walt and Donna dropped us off at K-Mart and we said our goodbyes.
Wednesday Marcia and I drove to Apollo Beach FL. There is a county park near there that we wanted to check out, E G Simmons. We pulled up and ask if there were any sites open, and they said yes. They told us we could unhook the Tracker and drive around the CG to pick out a spot that we wanted if we wanted to.
We unhooked and scoped out the park. Lot 65 looked like the best one open so that is where we are. A very nice park with large sites, we have water and 30 amp electric, and there is a dump station in the park. Almost all the sites have access to the water for fishing or boats if you have one.
Today we drove to Apollo Beach and were entertained by a guy fishing. He caught a shark as we were walking by so we watched him real it in. He was about to toss it back in the water when another guy came running over asking if he could have it. I guess some people like to eat shark, I tried it once and didn't like it. (maybe the way it was cooked)
Later Walt and Donna came by and picked us up to take us to The Copper Penny. The Copper Penny is a restaurant they went to a lot when they lived in this area a few years ago, and it is next to the Wooden Nickle Saloon. We passed on the Saloon, but enjoyed a meal at the Copper Penny. It is a real plus knowing Walt and Donna, and since they lived near Tampa for several years they know the area pretty well. It is nice having our own tour guides, and I'm enjoying not having to drive the tracker anywhere. Thanks Walt and Donna....
We will hang around here for a week or so, and I did get the camera out today, but the batteries went dead just after I took this picture....
OK I'll buy new batteries tomorrow.......
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Winter Blues
Marcia and I decided to sell our house back in 2007, we would buy a motorhome and travel around "CHASING THE 70"s". In the almost three years we have been doing this we have found the 70's to be a very hard temperature to find. We really don't mind if it is above the 70 mark, but when it drops below the 70 mark I feel it in my bones.
Back in December of 09 we found ourselves near Brownsville TX freezing. We were there almost a month and had rain about 3/4 of the time. There were a few good days, but it was like the temperature was on a roller coaster, up and down, with more down than up. We chose to leave our friends in south TX in hopes we would find warmer weather in the Sunshine State.
Jan of 2010 was a very cold month, we went as far south as we could go in the USA, Key West FL. Now you know things are bad when you see people in Key West FL bundled up in coats. We saw the tropical fish in the area dieing because the water was so cold, we saw tomato plants that has been killed buy the cold temperatures. Fl saw record cold spells that lasted for days. Not so much the coldest temperatures, but being cold for several days.
Now here is is the last few days of Feb and we are looking at the temperatures dropping into the freezing mark in much of the sunshine state. Not only in Fl, but all over the USA.
This picture shows it all.
All we can do is turn up the heaters and wait for warmer weather to come. We have almost seceded in getting all the paperwork finished on the Newmar and should have the tags by Saturday. Today I have a dental appointment, and if all goes well we shouldn't have to be around Tampa for several weeks until my next dental appointment, so the Santara might be the only draw back. If we can arrange things with the insurance company and Lazy Days we may just head back down to Key West and wait for the 80's to show up in GA before we start our journey out of FL.
Oh well I guess living in a house on wheels can't guarantee you will always see the sunny side of life....but it sure beats being stuck all winter long......
Back in December of 09 we found ourselves near Brownsville TX freezing. We were there almost a month and had rain about 3/4 of the time. There were a few good days, but it was like the temperature was on a roller coaster, up and down, with more down than up. We chose to leave our friends in south TX in hopes we would find warmer weather in the Sunshine State.
Jan of 2010 was a very cold month, we went as far south as we could go in the USA, Key West FL. Now you know things are bad when you see people in Key West FL bundled up in coats. We saw the tropical fish in the area dieing because the water was so cold, we saw tomato plants that has been killed buy the cold temperatures. Fl saw record cold spells that lasted for days. Not so much the coldest temperatures, but being cold for several days.
Now here is is the last few days of Feb and we are looking at the temperatures dropping into the freezing mark in much of the sunshine state. Not only in Fl, but all over the USA.
This picture shows it all.
All we can do is turn up the heaters and wait for warmer weather to come. We have almost seceded in getting all the paperwork finished on the Newmar and should have the tags by Saturday. Today I have a dental appointment, and if all goes well we shouldn't have to be around Tampa for several weeks until my next dental appointment, so the Santara might be the only draw back. If we can arrange things with the insurance company and Lazy Days we may just head back down to Key West and wait for the 80's to show up in GA before we start our journey out of FL.
Oh well I guess living in a house on wheels can't guarantee you will always see the sunny side of life....but it sure beats being stuck all winter long......
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Sumter Oaks
We have been here almost two weeks now, counting the few days we had to fly to KY for doctors appointments and to TN to see the kids. Last year we spent four months here and enjoyed it most of the time. With Marcia working as a host we were "tied" down and couldn't drop deeper south when the cold fronts were coming, and this year we are waiting on the Santara and the paperwork on the Newmar.
With Marcia not working this year it is different being here. She doesn't have to put in her time, and we can leave if we choose to. We have been enjoying the friends we have here. Walt and Donna are parked next to us and we have been having a good time, and then there is always po-ke-no and bingo, so we have kept entertained.
Today we had a guy named Valentine and his partner wash our rigs. Since they are so close together he almost had to do both of them at the same time or one would have gotten soaked while they did the other one. They used what they called a three step wash, they washed it with soap and then with a wax solution in the water. They both turned out pretty good for what they charged us, but I am wanting to try the "Wash-N-Guard" stuff on our new rig.
Today it got into the 70's which makes me really happy, and I may even put my shorts on tomorrow. I'm kind of envious of the folks out west because they have had the 70's for a few days now, but we don't get the extreme drops in temperatures here in FL like they do out west, so I guess it is all a trade off.
We plan on hanging around here in FL until May, I would rather suffer through a few hot days than get caught in some of those late spring cold fronts that almost always slip down into GA. Once we get things ironed out with the Santara we plan on driving south so we can see more of southern FL.
I have to apologize for not using my camera and sharing some pictures and I will try to start doing better. I know a blog is a lot better if you have pictures to show. So until the next time, ENJOY and BE SAFE..........
With Marcia not working this year it is different being here. She doesn't have to put in her time, and we can leave if we choose to. We have been enjoying the friends we have here. Walt and Donna are parked next to us and we have been having a good time, and then there is always po-ke-no and bingo, so we have kept entertained.
Today we had a guy named Valentine and his partner wash our rigs. Since they are so close together he almost had to do both of them at the same time or one would have gotten soaked while they did the other one. They used what they called a three step wash, they washed it with soap and then with a wax solution in the water. They both turned out pretty good for what they charged us, but I am wanting to try the "Wash-N-Guard" stuff on our new rig.
Today it got into the 70's which makes me really happy, and I may even put my shorts on tomorrow. I'm kind of envious of the folks out west because they have had the 70's for a few days now, but we don't get the extreme drops in temperatures here in FL like they do out west, so I guess it is all a trade off.
We plan on hanging around here in FL until May, I would rather suffer through a few hot days than get caught in some of those late spring cold fronts that almost always slip down into GA. Once we get things ironed out with the Santara we plan on driving south so we can see more of southern FL.
I have to apologize for not using my camera and sharing some pictures and I will try to start doing better. I know a blog is a lot better if you have pictures to show. So until the next time, ENJOY and BE SAFE..........
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