Plants, Trees & Flowers

Plants, Trees & Flowers

Lilac

Wildlife, Animals & Pets

Wildlife, Animals & Pets

Peninsula Cooter - at Homasassa Wildlife Park, Florida 

Red Bay & Tuscumbia, Alabama - November 18 - December 1, 2015

Red Bay & Tuscumbia, Alabama - November 18 - December 2, 2015

Red Bay, Alabama - November 18, 2015

We arrived in the Tiffin Company, in Red Bay, Alabama.  We found we were in the wrong place and were directed to the RV Park and Service Department, which was a couple of miles away.

We have a few small items that we wanted the company to check out and some minor repairs.  We figured that since we were in this part of the country we would take advantage of the Tiffin customer service that we have heard so many great things about.

We got parked, and were given a bunch of papers to complete and return.  We were then told that a Service Scheduler would be by tomorrow morning to review our list.

It was nice to have a quite evening.

Red Bay, Alabama - November 19, 2015

We were up and ready to go at 7:30 a.m., on the chance that the Service Scheduler would show up early.  As it turns out, Norris, showed up at about 9:30 a.m. which isn’t bad considering how many motorhomes they process through this service center.

We decided that we would do a little driving around the area to check it out.  Stan specifically wanted to find a place that will change oil on the RV after we leave here.  We drove around, and did not find it using the GPS.  We later found it on our own.  Not sure where the GPS went wrong. 

We decided to find a place to have some lunch.  Unfortunately, Red Bay is a pretty small community, and it is not neat and tidy.  We were rather unimpressed with all of the junk EVERYWHERE.  Oh my.  We did have a burger at a place called Jack’s and it wasn’t too bad.  Luckily, Stan agreed that we might want to eat more meals here at the motorhome.

We went to Dollar General Market.  It was not bad.  Then we went out to check out the Variety Store.  It is really sad that when Dollar General is the best store in town.  We won’t be moving here any time soon.

We went back to the motorhome and sat out in the sun.  We took the “kittens” out on leash, but that didn’t last long.  With all of the golf carts and motorhomes going by, they were ready to go inside.  When the sun went behind the building, it actually got cool, so we decided to go inside too.

Red Bay, Alabama - November 20, 2015

Even though they hope to get us into the shop today, Wanda, the service coordinator, said that we would have time to go over to the take the Tiffin Factory Tour.  The tour began at 9:30 a.m. with a short video of how the company was started.  Bob Tiffin’s Father had the Tiffin Supply, a local hardware store.  There had been a motorhome company in Red Bay that went out of business.    Bob told his Father that he would like to build motorhomes, since the motorhome company that had been in Red Bay went out of business.  In the fall, his father bought five chasees from the failed company and gave them to Bob to start the process.   By early the following year he had made all the chasees into motorhomes.

From the visitor’s center, went into the factory.  It was a huge building, with people working on specific things in each area.  We started by seeing where the components were all made, from cabinets, foam insulation cut to size, wiring harnesses, etc.

They we were taken into the assembly line portion of the building.  They started in Station one with a chasee, then moved to the next Station all the way to Station 18, where the process was completed to the point of being sent to the paint shop.

The company completes 12 motorhomes per day.  Even when the economy was bad, they complete three a day.  They do not build motorhomes unless they have an order.  No motorhomes are sold directly to individuals, they are only sold to dealers, who take the orders from the customers and are built to order.

It was a very fascinating tour.  We both enjoyed it.

We decided that we had better head back to the RV so we are ready when we take the motorhome to the service bay.   The call came about 1:30 to go to Bay 8.    We locked the “boys” aka “Monte & Max” in the bathroom, with their food, beds and litter box.  We were able to stay in the motorhome as well, which worked out well, because Stan could see how things were fixed, in case we needed to do any of it again.

We were amazed at how quickly they were able to work through our list of items.  Our biggest concern was the night shades that would not go up.  We have been living in the dark this whole trip and it was starting to drive us crazy.  They reprogramed one of the blinds, but replaced motors on two others.  He will replace the other motor on Monday.  Of the 11 items that we had listed, they completed 8 of them in the 1 ½ hours we were in there.  We need to have jacks worked on in another location. 

While they were checking out the water leak, they found that we have cracked Cap Rails on the top of the motorhome, which need to be replaced and then painted.  We are not sure how the timing will work on that.  We hope that we can get it done in the next couple of days, with Thanksgiving on Thursday, there will be nobody working.  Monday will give us a lot of answers.  We have to have the motorhome back in Bay 8 at 7:00 a.m. 

Once we got back to our RV Park site, we played some cards before turning in.  Max was exhausted from his hard day. 
 

Red Bay, Alabama - November 21, 2015

We have two days off, so we decided check out the area, and find out what there might be to find in Red Bay.  We wanted to find a place to have a bite to eat.  That is easier said than done.  We went into one place, checked out the menu and opted to leave.   From there we checked out a couple of fast food places and ended up having a hamburger at a place called Jack’s.  It looked newer and cleaner than the other option. 

We drove around the town of Red Bay and stopped in a couple of stores.  There is not a lot to see in Red Bay.  We headed back to the RV for the rest of the day.

Red Bay, Alabama - November 22, 2015

We stayed in the motorhome all day.  Stan didn’t even get dressed.  We wanted to treat ourselves to a day of NASCAR and football.  

We watched Jeff Gordon’s last race of his career.  It was great to see.  He did not win the championship, but still did well.  Kyle Busch won the Championship.  It was the first Championship that he has won in his career – he won even though he was injured and not able to race in the first 11 races of the season. 

We wanted to watch the Seahawks, but we couldn’t find it on the TV.  Bev sat at the computer and followed the Seahawk game during the race.  She was also crocheting, so was a real multi-tasker.

Red Bay, Alabama - November 23, 2015
Today is Granddaughter, Lindsey Schultz’s 17^th Birthday.  It’s a bummer that we can’t be there to share it with her.   We, of course, called to sing to her.  The poor thing had to endure that.  It is the downside of being related to us.

We had to have the motorhome in the shop by 7:00 a.m.  We only had a couple of things left to be done.  We had one last shade motor to be replaced.  We went back to the lot to wait for the call to have the jacks fixed.  When we got there, they said that we just needed to use a different lubricant, from the one that “Butch” at Paul Evert told us to use.

Since we need to go to Tuscumbia, Alabama, tomorrow, to have the rest of the work done, we figured that we had better make sure that we know where we are going, since we have a 10:00 a.m. appointment tomorrow.   It is a good thing that we did that, since, we got lost on the first try, and had to make some adjustments.   Better that we did that in a car instead of in the motorhome.

We headed back to the motorhome for another quiet evening.
 

Tuscumbia, Alabama - November 24, 2015

We needed to get up and moving from Red Bay by 8:30 a.m.  We headed to Tuscumbia, Alabama, to a Kimbrough Repair Service, where they are going to have a couple repairs done.    The good news is that Tiffin will be covering these repairs.  We made it to the repair shop without any difficulty.  They pulled us into a bay. 

We decided that we didn’t need to stick around, so we went to check out the area.  Luckily, it is much nicer than Red Bay.  We went to Waffle House in Muscle Shoals for breakfast.  Right behind Waffle House, was a store called Mike’s Merchandise that we decided that we needed to investigate.  Bev was in her glory, since they had new books for from $.50 to $5.00.  She had to buy a few to build up her supply.  Stan also found a few items to buy.

We had a few other errands to run, but decided to cut it short to head back to the repair shop  to make sure that we would be able to hook up for the night, since they have agreed to try to get our oil changed tomorrow.  We won’t be able to get the Cap Rails fixed until Monday, with the Holiday Weekend.  We think we will go to an RV Park for the next couple of days.

Just as we returned, they were backing the motorhome out of the shop.  They finished replacing the floor in the tack compartment.  Bev was worried that they might let the cats out when they backed out the vehicle, but we were lucky and the cats were just sitting there.

After a few challenges with the power, we were able to settle in and have a quite evening. 

Tuscumbia, Alabama - November 25, 2015

Fortunately, we stayed at the RV Repair shop last night, because, they were knocking on our door 9:00 a.m.  Luckily Bev was up and dressed, but Stan was not, so had to rush around, so we could get the coach over to the service bay.

Stan stayed out and watched the process, but Bev stayed inside and kept busy.  They finished changing oil and filters and we were on our way by 1:00 p.m.   We checked into the Heritage RV Park a few miles away, since we will be here for five nights.  That is much better than just sitting in their parking lot.

We decided to run a few errands.  Stan wanted to go to Home Depot.  The closest one is in Florence, Alabama, which is about 15 miles from here.  We checked out the area and found where the Cracker Barrel is, since that is where we will have Thanksgiving dinner.

From there, we went to get a few groceries, then back to Mike’s Warehouse, where Bev bought the books.  She wanted to get more books, since they had just received a new shipment the day we were there.  They are new paperbacks for only $.50. 

It was good to get back to the motorhome.

Tuscumbia, Alabama - November 26, 2015

Happy Thanksgiving!  We really miss the family today.  This is Bev’s favorite holiday.  She loves to cook for the family and have everyone over for the day.   Next year. 

We decided that rather than cooking in the RV, we would go out to a restaurant.  After asking around, we found that Cracker Barrel was one of the only restaurants open.  We decided that if we went there about 2:00 p.m. we might miss the crowd.  We were not that lucky.  It is amazing how many people go out for Thanksgiving dinner.  When we got there, we were told that it would be about a 1 hour 45 minute wait.  We figured we might as well wait with everyone else.

It turns out that we were called in only about 45 minutes.  We had a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, including pumpkin pie.  We were stuffed but happy.

Much of the day was spent communicating with family and friends with email, phone or text.  It seems that is a great time to make contact. 

We finished the evening watching football.  We first saw Carolina Panthers beat the Dallas Cowboys, then we watched the Chicago Bears beat the Green Bay Packers.  Fun evening!

 

Tuscumbia, Alabama - November 27, 2015

We decided today would be a good day for a drive.  Since we had nothing but time, we decided to explore.

One of things that Bev wanted to visit was the Birthplace of Helen Keller, in Tuscumbia.  Through the years we have heard so much about the fantastic challenges that Helen faced, and how she overcame them. 

“Helen Adams Keller was an American author, political activist, and lecturer. She was the first deafblind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. The story of how Keller's teacher, Anne Sullivan, broke through the isolation imposed by a near complete lack of language, allowing the girl to blossom as she learned to communicate, has become widely known through the dramatic depictions of the play and film The Miracle Worker. Her birthplace in West Tuscumbia, Alabama, is now a museum and sponsors an annual "Helen Keller Day". Her birthday on June 27 is commemorated as Helen Keller Day in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and was authorized at the federal level by presidential proclamation by President Jimmy Carter in 1980, the 100th anniversary of her birth.”

Helen was born a healthy child, but at about 19 month old, she came down with a very high fever.  When the fever finally broke, Helen was left deaf and blind.  Helen’s father, a wealthy man, contacted Alexander Graham Bell to get help for Helen.  Bell recommended Anne Sullivan to be her teacher.  By the time Anne was hired, Helen had become quite spoiled and out of control.  Anne was Helen’s teacher and constant companion for the rest of her life. 

The tour was very informative.  We are so glad that we went.

From there we decided to just drive around out in the country.  When we did that we saw the sign for the Coon Dog Cemetery.   It is supposed to be the only one of its kind.  Also, pretty interesting!

“The Key Underwood Coon Dog Memorial Graveyard is a cemetery located in rural Colbert County, Alabama, USA, reserved specifically for the burial of coon dogs. Key Underwood established the cemetery on September 4, 1937 by burying his coon dog, Troop. Underwood chose the spot as it was previously a popular hunting camp. As of August 2014, more than 300 dogs are buried at the cemetery.”

We decided that we would go back to the RV and check on the cats.

 

Tuscumbia, Alabama - November 28, 2015

This morning Bev woke up to more computer problems.  Even though Stan does not like Best Buy, we decided to go into Florence, Alabama, and check out the computers there.  Bev received an email the previous day that said they had an Asus (the kind of computer that she has) on sale.  When we got there the clerk, Brandon was very helpful and talked with the Geek Squad about getting the data transferred.  As it turns out they can do the transfer in two days.  Bev thinks she can live without her computer for two days.  We will see.

On our way back to the motorhome, we decided to stop at the Alabama Music Hall of Fame that is located only a short distance from the RV Park.  We had no idea how many famous singers came from Alabama.

“The Alabama Music Hall of Fame, first conceived by the Muscle Shoals Music Association in the early 1980s, was created by the Alabama Music Hall of Fame Board, which then saw to its Phase One construction of a 12,500 sq ft after a statewide referendum in 1987. It currently stands in the town of Tuscumbia, Alabama.”

Some of the names we recognized were, Lionel Richie, Hank Williams, Nat King Cole, Tammy Wynette, Bobby Goldsboro, Temptations, Jim Nabors & Emmylou Harris, just to name a few of the ones we recognized.  We thoroughly enjoyed the experience and were so glad that we went there.

 

Tuscumbia, Alabama - November 29, 2015

With the racing season over, now Sunday is football day.  We spent the day watching one game after another.  Nice and relaxing.

Tuscumbia, Alabama - November 30, 2015

We had to leave the RV Park early, since we needed to be at Kimbrough’s by 7:00 a.m. to begin the cap rail replacement.  We got there in time, but they did not get us into a bay until nearly 9:00.  We were sitting and having coffee, so that was no big deal.

Once we were in the bay, we could no longer be in the coach, so we waited around in the customer lounge to find out what to expect.  The cats were able to stay in the motorhome, and I am sure they were scared to death with the noise.  Poor little guys!

It was raining, so they did not want to put the motorhome out in the rain, since they would be painting the following day.  We needed to go in to get some items, so that we could spend the night at the Coldwater Inn, a beautiful hotel.  We hated to leave the “boys” overnight in the RV, but we did feed them and emptied their litter box, so they could settle in for the night.  It was quieter at night, so they were ok.

Neither one of us slept well, with having a different bed and new surroundings.  Stan figured that he had not stayed in a hotel since we came to Tennessee, several years ago.

Tuscumbia, Alabama – December 1, 2015

The hotel had a wonderful breakfast included with our room, so we went down and enjoyed that before we returned to Kimbrough’s to check on the motorhome.  We went in to check on the cats and feed them.  They were doing fine.

We then decided to drive to Red Bay, to the Tiffin Company to get fully checked out with them.  It was a nice day for a drive.  We were amazed at the small amount of our bill, considering what we had done.  We think that Tiffin probably paid more for our repairs than we did, since the cap rails and the tank floor where paid by Tiffin.

We knew we would not be back to Tuscumbia until after they closed, so they moved the coach outside and had it plugged in when we got back.

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tallahassee, Florida to Montgomery, Alabama - November 15 - 17, 2015

Tallahassee, Florida to Montgomery, Alabama - November 15 - 17, 2015

Tallahassee, Florida - November 15, 2015

Today is a travel day.  We are going about 200 miles up to Tallahassee.  We hope to get to the park in time to catch both the NASCAR race and the Seahawks game.  This is the second to last race of the year for NASCAR, racing in Arizona.  Seattle didn’t have a game last week so we are suffering from withdrawal.  They are playing Arizona too. 

As it turns out, watching the Seahawks was not as fun as we had expected.  They lost to Arizona 39 – 32.   Bummer!

It turns out that they also ran the NASCAR race, but we didn’t find it on the TV.  Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the race.

Montgomery, Alabama - November 16, 2015

Jason & Shana Jirik

It was another 200 mile day to Montgomery.  Bev was anxious to meet Shana Jirik, the manager of the park.  Shana is the daughter-in-law of Bev’s second cousin, Sally Maltais, who passed away in 2011.  Although, Bev has never met Shana or her husband, Jason, she had warned them that we were coming to Alabama, and wanted to take her & Jason to dinner.  To Bev’s delight, they were up for the visit. 

While Stan was getting the particulars on the RV sight, Bev was on the floor, playing cars with Jason’s two year old Grandson, Eden.  

We had a wonderful dinner at Sushi Yama, a Japanese Restaurant, and visited for over two hours.  It was a great visit. 

 

Jason "DJ Ziggy"

Jason is a disc jockey and radio personality, as well as flying helicopters, and planes. 

Montgomery, Alabama - November 17, 2015

Stan had spotted information on the Hank Williams Museum located in Montgomery.  We decided to spend at least part of the day visiting that.  It was well worth it. 

The museum was filled with Hank Williams memorabilia and had a wonderful film of the tribute to Hanks, by his son Hank Williams Jr.

“Hiram King "Hank" Williams, Sr. was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century, Williams recorded 35 singles that would place in the Top 10 of the Billboard Country & Western Best Sellers chart, including 11 that ranked number one.”

Hank died of a heart attack, at the age of 29, in the back seat of his Cadillac.  He had the disease, Spina Bifida.

“Spina bifida is a birth defect where there is incomplete closing of the backbone and membranes around the spinal cord.”  

Even thought he had surgery to correct the problem, he suffered a great deal of pain.  He turned to drugs and alcohol to overcome the pain. 

He was married to Audrey Mae Sheppard, who had daughter, Lycrecia, who he raised as his own, in addition to Hank Williams Jr.

A few blocks from the museum was the Hank Williams statue in the park.  Also, a short distance away was the cemetery where Hank & Audrey were buried.  We had to go visit and take pictures both places.

From there, we decided to go to breakfast, lunch, and dinner at 2:30 p.m.  We tried a local restaurant called Baumhower’s.  The food was fantastic, and the service was amazing. 

“It all started in 1981, Bob Baumhower, the All-American from the University of Alabama and six time All-Pro for the Miami Dolphins, decided to share his foodie passion and bring chicken wings to Alabama.”

We returned to the motorhome, exhausted, and played cards.  Jason had talked about taking a plane ride with him, but he had other things come up, which worked out just fine.  We needed to rest before starting out for Red Bay, Alabama, tomorrow.

 

 

 

Spring Hill, Florida - November 8 - 14, 2015

Spring Hill, Florida - November 8 - 14, 2015

November 8, 2015

We had another travel day today.  We left the Lazy Days heading north to Spring Hill.   It was only about a 47 mile drive, but it still took us over two hours.  We didn’t leave Seffner until about 10:45 a.m.  When we got all settled and set up, we called Cheri & Carl Lundberg, to let them know we had arrived.  Cheri was Bev’s best friend in high school, so it was fun to see them again.

They drove over to the RV Park.  We let them know that it wouldn’t be difficult to find us, since almost all of the spaced in the Park were park models, and we were the only RV in there.  We had a great visit and caught up on the years since we have been together. 

We decided to go to Red Lobster and have dinner.  It was great and it had been a long time since we had been to a Red Lobster.

November 9, 2015

Cheri & Carl invited us out to their house to visit and relax in their beautiful back yard.  It was pouring down rain, so we didn’t want to go do any sightseeing.   They have a wonderful screened in pool area, so we were protected from the weather, but were able to be outside. 

Cheri and Bev had talked about crocheting the evening before, and Cheri agreed to show Bev how to crochet an afghan that she had wanted to make for her new Grand Niece.  Bev had made an attempt on her own to start the pattern, but failed miserably.  Cheri had made that exact pattern before.  Cheri is a great teacher.

Stan had been hungry for Chinese food, so we headed out to dinner at King’s Chinese.  We had a great dinner, and then decided we had better head back to check on the cats.
 
   

 

 

 

 

 

November 10, 2015

Finally, the weather cleared so we could to some sight-seeing.  Cheri suggested Homosassa State Park.  We had been told about that park when we visited the Pigeon Keys Visitor Center in the Keys. 

“Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park is located near Homosassa Springs, Florida in the United States. The park is one of the best places in the state to view manatees. Visitors can get close to the animals on a floating observatory. Black bears, bobcats, white-tailed deer, American alligators, and river otters can also been seen in the park. The park is also home to the hippopotamus Lu, famously known for his performances in many movies for the past 40 years.”

Since the park is north of Cheri & Carl’s we told them that we would pick them up and head up there in the afternoon.

Stan & Bev at park

Carl & Cheri Lundberg at park

What a wonderful park.  They had all sorts of animals and birds.  Since Stan is a veteran, two of us were able to get in free.  That is a perk that is offered by the Florida State Park system.  Very nice!  As soon as we went into the park, we saw a manatee.  It was under water, but it was the first that we saw. 



Manatee
 

Bev & Cheri as Manatee

Fish in the Observatory

Fish Close Up

Manatee Skeleton

We saw also did see the bears, bobcats, wolf, fox, deer, alligators, otters, turtles and Lu, the hippo.  Also, there were many species of birds.  It was fabulous.  (Look in the Animals Post to see more animals).

Lu the Hippo in the water

Lu the Hippo having dinner

Flamingos

Bald Eagle with the Flag - God Bless America

 

From there we went to the Pine Island Beach where we saw the sunset and walked on the beach and in the water.  The water was so warm.  Again there were so many birds.  Very cool!

Cheri Lundberg

Cheri & Bev in the warm water

Sunset at the Pine Island Beach

 

For dinner, we went to the Bayport Inn that Cheri & Carl call the Biker Bar.  Again, we had lots of good food.

We took Cheri & Carl back home and actually made it back to the RV without getting lost.

 

November 11, 2015

Today we went to Tarpon Springs, Florida, which is a Greek Community south of the RV Park, so Cheri & Carl came by to pick us up.

When we drove into town, we were looking for parking, and a lady said that there was a Dolphin Tour leaving in a few moments, and that if we wanted to go on it we could get free parking.  So we decided to take the tour.  We had no idea how long it was, where it was going or anything, but we figured why not.

As it turns out they took us out into the gulf.  We all watched for dolphins.  We briefly saw three of them, but they did not surface too much.  The boat ride was very nice and we were able to see many of the big houses in the area.  Cheri & Carl had not been on a boat this far out into the Gulf, so it was a new experience for them too.

An additional bonus was getting to pull up on the beach and search for shells.  There were a bunch of shells of many varieties.  We were all given a bag to pick shells.  Some of the kids went in swimming as well since the water was so warm.  Carl found a creature with a shell and a tail.  It appeared to be dead.  Bev took a picture and went to ask the crew from the boat what it was.  He said that it was a Horseshoe Crab.  He suggested that we leave it alone and not try to take it home.

“The Atlantic horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus, is a marine chelicerate arthropod. Despite its name, it is more closely related to spiders, ticks, and scorpions than to crabs. Horseshoe crabs are most commonly found in the Gulf of Mexico and along the northern Atlantic coast of North America. A main area of annual migration is Delaware Bay, although stray individuals are occasionally found in Europe.”

After about 30 minutes we headed back to land.  On the way, we saw the Sponge Tour Boat, where they show how sponges are harvested.  There was a diver in the water.  When we got back to the shore, we went in a watched the movie on how the sponges are harvested.  It is not a wonder that they are as expensive as they are.

We walked down the street of Tarpon Springs, where there are many gift shops.  There are so many things, sponges, shells, etc. etc. for sale.  Bev was so excited to find a new pair of “Jesus Shoes”, since she has nearly worn her other ones out. 

When we were looking around for a place to eat, a lady told us about a Greek Restaurant that was back away from the street.  We decided to give it a try.  The offered a free “flaming cheese” appetizer with our order.  It was yummy.  Stan ordered a pound of “peal & eat” shrimp for his dinner, while the rest of us ordered Greek. 

We headed home, agreeing that tomorrow would be a catch up day.  Catch up on laundry, chores, blog and rest.

November 12, 2015

Today was a day to get caught up on many things at the coach, and for Stan to get a day to just rest and relax.  We all decided that we would all work on chores and resume our fun on Friday. 

Bev did laundry, worked on the blog, and worked on her new crochet project.  All in all, it was a quiet and uneventful day.

November 13, 2015

Today is the day that Stan’s daughter, Stacy, is having surgery, so we both wish that we were home to help, but that isn’t in the cards.  Besides, Stacy has Brian and the kids taking good care of her.

Today is our day to go to The Villages, Florida, to visit Bill & Donna Hale, from our Fantasy trip to Canada.  We picked up Cheri & Carl, and off we went.  

It was great to see Bill & Donna, and we knew that both couples would enjoy each other’s company.  Bill & Donna spend their summers in Minnesota, just like Cheri & Carl.

We went to Cody’s Road House for lunch.  It was great.  From there we got a tour of The Villages, which is a development that has several “villages” with pools, recreation centers, and as we found out, has many, many clubs.  Bill & Donna told us there are clubs for almost everything you might be interested in – i.e. bridge club, crochet club, pickle ball club, even a cheer leading club (in which there is a waiting list to join.  Bill & Donna belong to the RV Club which has about 150 members.  They are going to Wagon Master an FMCA Rally trip to Perry, Georgia. 

The sales office and the recreation centers are done in various themes.  We visited the Sea Breeze Recreation Center that was all done in a beautiful beach theme.  This recreation center has a ceramics area as well as other crafts.  The Christmas tree was done in beautiful pastels and there were shells in many of the wall art.

From there we went to the Eisenhower Recreation Center that has a military museum theme.  It is comparable to many of the museums that we have visited.  The guys particularly enjoyed this center.  Much of the wall art is donated memorabilia from residents of The Villages. 

One thing there are a lot of in The Villages, is golf carts.  We are sure that on the streets, they by far out-number cars.  It is a great way to get around.  Bill & Donna don’t have one yet, since they enjoy walking, and walk about 10 miles a day.  Not a wonder they are both in such great shape.

We decided that we all have to get together in Minnesota next summer.   We headed back to Spring Hill for the evening.

When we got back to the coach, Bev found that her computer was on the fritz.  Yikes, this makes for a bad finish to a great Friday the 13^th.  Nothing to be done tonight, but we will have to start early tomorrow. 

We checked in on Stacy.  Her surgery went well, but she will stay the night in the hospital.  Maddy is going to stay with her Mom.  Good for her.

November 14, 2015

We started the morning with errands to run.  We needed to get the “kittens” some food.  They finished their very last can so we couldn’t delay.   Then we found a Best Buy to try to get Bev’s computer looked at.  Big mistake!   The Geek Squad only helps people by appointment, so we struck out.  We didn’t get the great customer service that we received in Fargo, North Dakota.  Poor Stan, Bev was not in the best mood. 

We went to Cheri & Carl’s to pick them up for lunch at Moe’s Mexican Restaurant.  Good food – again we ate too much.

Cheri suggested that we try Office Depot regarding Bev’s computer.  So in we went.  Joey, the sales associate, took the computer over to the counter and turned it on.  Bingo, it started up right away.  He had the magic touch.  He must have thought Bev was the dumbest “old lady” around.  He said that it might have been in the middle of an update – giving Bev the benefit of the doubt.  Now Bev was in a better mood.

Cheri asked if we had interest in going to Weeki Wachee State Park.  We had talked about it earlier in the week, so it sounded like a great idea.   They have mermaid shows, river boat tours & reptile demonstrations. 

We started with the reptile show first.  They showed snakes, turtles, tortoises and finally an alligator.  It was fun to watch the kids be so excited about the reptiles, and ask all sorts of questions. 

From there, we walked back to the last mermaid show of the day.  It was a wonderful underwater show of the Little Mermaid.  It is amazing to see the performers swim and work with their breathing tubes.  They are amazing.

The final stop at the park was to take a boat ride on the river.  We were told that we just missed seeing the manatee.   Bummer!  We did get to see many birds, fish and turtles.  Cheri & Carl said that the tour guide this time was not as informative as usual – he was more interested in what was on his phone.

We made one last stop before heading back to Cheri & Carl’s house.  The girls “needed” to go to Hobby Lobby.  Bev had been borrowing a crochet hook from Cheri and needed to get one of her own – or five, plus some yarn for a couple extra projects.  The guys sat in the car and played with their phones like a couple of teenagers.

We headed back to the house.  Cheri had made spaghetti for dinner.  Yum.! That along with another loaf of fresh baked bread, and salad, made for a wonderful dinner.  Again, we ate too much.

Before dinner Cheri’s Sister, Kathy, who lives down the block, came by to visit.  We had some good laughs and Kathy got to watch Cheri teach Bev how to crochet a hat.  Cheri makes hats for a Christian Mission in Mexico.  She has a goal of 350 hats and has only 28 left to her goal.  Cheri has used up much of her old yarn to make the hats.  Of course, Bev has tubs of yarn remnants at home that would make some good hats.   Cheri has the patience of Job trying to teach Bev.  Kathy pointed out that she was showing more patience with Bev than she had in the past with Kathy.  After more than 10 tries, Bev thinks she got it.  We will see.

After dinner and many hugs, we headed back to the motorhome for the evening.  Tomorrow is another travel day.

Stacy got home from the hospital, but is on pain meds and sleeping, so we haven’t had a chance to talk to her.  Hopefully, she will feel better tomorrow.