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.......