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.
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| Stan & Bev at park |
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| Carl & Cheri Lundberg at park |
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).
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| Manatee |
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| Bev & Cheri as Manatee |
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| Fish in the Observatory |
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| Fish Close Up |
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| Manatee Skeleton |
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| Lu the Hippo in the water |
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| Lu the Hippo having dinner |
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| Flamingos |
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| 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!
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| Cheri Lundberg |
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| Cheri & Bev in the warm water |
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| 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 13th. 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.
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