Anniversary & Happy New Year

Yes, today is Barbie’s and my 38th anniversary. On December 29, 1973 in the beautiful surroundings of Highlands Hammock State Park in Sebring, Florida, we tied the knot. What a great 38 years it has been. It has flown by. I’m so fortunate to have my best friend at my side since then. We’ve both had careers in education that have allowed us to lead comfortable, satisfying lives. Now we are able to live our retired lives doing what we have grown to love---the rv lifestyle. We’ve made many new friends. We still have so many places to go and things to see. Happy Anniversary Barbie-I love you!

 

 

 

 

These are some of our favorite pictures taken within the last couple of years. My plan was to post a wedding picture and others since then but many are pre-digital age and at our sticks-n-bricks home.

It’s hard to believe that New Years Eve is just a couple of days away. Big Daddy DJ will provide the music for the party/dance here at Rock Crusher Canyon RV Park.

Big Daddy DJ is trying to decide which outfit to wear for New Years  Eve. What do you think?

  OR    OR 

From Boldt’s RV Castle, Barbie, Kozmo and I wish you a healthy and Happy New Year! Thank you for checking in and following our adventures.

We salute each and every one of you!

‘Til next time-next year…………..

Merry Christmas

To our family and friends and all who read our blog, we hope you have a very Merry Christmas!

For us, we’ll be spending Christmas here in Rock Crusher Canyon RV Park with our fellow rvers. Enjoy the holiday season!

‘Til next time…….

Cedar Key, Tablet, Steps & Boat Parade

Barbie is writing here today. I wanted to get you caught up with some of what we have been doing lately. First, we went to Cedar Key two Saturday’s ago to meet up with friends Steve and Cheryl Beringer and their puppy McGee, whom we met at our summer/fall home park, River Vista RV Resort in Dillard, Georgia, last summer.

They summer/fall in the Clayton/Dillard area and winter in Titusville, Florida, at the Great Outdoors. They were staying at a fairly new campground in Cedar Key called Cedar Key RV Resort. We had beautiful weather that day and sat outside and talked and had a great time. They took us to a place to eat where they have a fish market next door to a restaurant, which was about mile away from the campground called Robinsons. Everyone had shrimp and crab cakes, except for me. I had the shrimp but no crab cake. Their hush puppies were absolutely delicious! Soups ranged from clam and corn chowder to grouper chowder and it was good. Of course, we brought Kozmo along and she and McGee got along fantastically! Cheryl gave Kozmo a snack from Blue Buffalo. It was a pumpkin and cinnamon biscuit, which she really liked. It was so cute to watch McGee eat a baby carrot. He just puts it between his paws and chomps away. Apparently that is his daily afternoon “happy hour” treat. Kozmo just doesn’t like raw carrots, but occasionally she will eat cooked ones. Steve and Cheryl got us hooked on the Blue Buffalo products since they have natural ingredients which are very healthy for dogs. Jeff and I took Kozmo to the Pet Supermarket in Inverness to stock up on some Blue Buffalo canned dog food and treats for her. She absolutely loves the beef stew and chicken with vegetables. We also got her some pumpkin with cranberries soft chews and bacon, egg and cheese biscuits. I swear, Kozmo is so spoiled, but she deserves it. We thanked Steve, Cheryl and McGee for a very nice day and hope to see them in Titusville during the winter months, or if not at River Vista in the spring. They just recently bought a site at River Vista.

A few days later, we went to Spring Hill to do some shopping. We stopped at Best Buy and Jeff purchased his first Tablet. I swear I didn’t know the difference between a Tablet and an IPad, but now I do. His is an Acer Iconia 10 inch tablet. It is a neat device which will definitely be used everyday. It is very addictive to play some of the free games that Jeff downloaded, like Poker Square Solitaire or Tabby Cat Solitaire. Jeff was even getting involved in a game racing app where you drive a car by “steering” the tablet as his car races on the course against other cars. Crazy for sure!!! While at Spring Hill, we went to Pet Smart and got some more Blue Buffalo products there for Kozmo. She went inside with me and I tried to entice her with toys, but she snubbed them. That girl just doesn’t like toys. I purchased two new cans of the Blue Buffalo food and out we went. We can’t believe how nice the Spring Hill area is set up. It is only 40 minutes away from Rock Crusher and an easy drive until you get to Spring Hill. That is when it starts getting congested on Highway 19, but it was more bearable than Highway 60 in Brandon. We stopped at a place called Olive Tree Diner and had their specialty gyro sandwich. I had a cabbage soup with mine, which was good and Jeff had potato salad which was also good. However, the gyro was lacking. The meat tasted like it had been in water to keep it warm and it lacked a good taste. Needless to say we won’t be going back there again. It prides itself on having the best gyro in town… we wonder if they make the only gyro in that area.

I am so proud of Jeff. This past week we went to Home Depot and spent an hour in there looking around for the materials we needed to build some wooden steps for our entrance into the fifth wheel. He was on his feet for an hour and then helped load the wood into the truck and never had a problem with his back. I think his endurance has really improved. He used to just stand and walk around for a half hour before his back started to strain. And, we certainly don’t want a repeat of the back issues he had from June of 2010-October 2010 when he couldn’t even walk at all for a while. After we bought the wood we ate at Arby’s and had a very good Philly Steak sandwich. We have eaten those type of sandwiches in shops that specialize in Philly Steak sandwiches in Crystal River, but we can’t believe how much better the Arby’s is compared to those places.

We worked on the steps for two afternoons and then ran out of screws before we could finish the railing. So out to Home Depot again to get some more screws. It looks fantastic for two rookies who haven’t built something as big as this in a long time. The thing is really sturdy and heavy too. See the picture below. The only thing we have to do is stain it. But already we just love it! And, Kozmo prefers these wooden steps to the slippery metal ones on the fifth wheel.

 

We ate at Kim’s Café for breakfast on Friday and then went to get our tags renewed for the truck. We didn’t know you could renew our truck tags in Citrus County even though it was issued in Hillsborough County until this past week when we went to pay our taxes on the Rock Crusher site. It was very convenient for us. We could have renewed on-line but this is so much easier. The line for Citrus County tax office was very minimal. I only waited three minutes. After the taxes were paid, we stopped at a Sweetbay Supermarket in Crystal River. I had never been in this particular store and probably won’t go back again. It is an older store with narrow aisles. They were nice in there but the Homosassa Sweetbay is much roomier. I usually shop at Publix, but it is good to try out something different for a change.

Yesterday we had breakfast in the clubhouse here in the campground. They had blueberry pancakes, eggs, sausage, hash browns, potatoes with onions and green peppers, grits, fruit salad, coffee and juice for $5.00. They also had a 50-50 raffle and we won a free breakfast. Two weeks ago we won $10, which paid for the breakfast. Luck is on our side. We have new neighbors, named Roger and Judy who are from Massachusetts and they dined with us. She is a retired paraprofessional who worked in the library system. So we talked a lot about books which I absolutely love!!! Following breakfast, there was a craft show & sale held in the clubhouse. Campers could sell items they have made. I came out with 2 rings, one bracelet and a coin purse—all for only $15 total!

Last night, we went to the Homosassa Christmas Boat Parade and took Kozmo with us. We went last year and it was great! The no see-ums weren’t bad this time and we had a great time! Jeff took some great pictures while I held Kozmo in my arms for an hour. She actually met another dog named Max, who is a 6 month miniature pincher who absolutely loved her. But the most precious thing was Kozmo falling asleep in my arms for the first time ever. She even gave me a kiss, which she has never done when I hold her. She usually just freezes in my arms. Talk about a “Kodak” moment!!! Too bad we didn’t get a camera shot of that. Check out our favorite boats below. As always, click to enlarge the view.

 

 

Which one is your favorite?

We are headed tomorrow to the “stick” house in Valrico. Jeff has a dentist appointment at 3:30 and then a doctors’ appointment on Tuesday at 12:30. So hopefully we will get back to Rock Crusher late Tuesday afternoon. I am trying to get a doctor in Citrus County so I don’t have to travel to Valrico if I get sick.

It’s another gorgeous day in Rock Crusher Canyon here in Citrus County. Folks are really getting in the holiday spirit here in the campground. See…..

 

 

 

‘Til next time….

Country Rocks the Canyon

Well, let me start by saying WE survived the weekend! From what you ask? This weekend, specifically Saturday, the “Country Rocks the Canyon” music festival was held in the open-air amphitheater sitting in a small canyon formed by digging an old limestone quarry adjacent to the now Rock Crusher Canyon  RV Park here in Crystal River, Florida. Below is a view from the sky that I got from Google Earth of the area. Click on the picture to enlarge it. I’ve labeled key landmarks. You really get no feeling of being in the canyon which you are in the area labeled “lower level”. Plus, behind the covered stage is a rock wall of the quarry. Where the campground area starts (on left edge where lower level meets trees) sits a hundred or so feet above that lower level as well.

The campground, which is our winter home (we own our site), has 398 full hook-up sites. You see only a small, lower left corner of the campground in the picture above. Next is a view of the lower level and covered stage area. This is a view of the seats right in front of the stage only. To get a proper perspective look back at the overhead shot.

Back to the adventure…….  The campground was slightly less than half full last Thursday with snowbirds like us. Nearly all of the remaining sites will be filled with the arrival of the last flock of snowbirds at the end of December or the first few days of January. Last Friday, we were told that a couple over 200 rvs arrived to fill up the park for the weekend. Of course, they came for the festival. They were in all types of rvs (no tents allowed in RCC) and brought their golf carts or all terrain vehicles, bicycles, grills, coolers, boom boxes, fire pits, firewood AND lots of DRINKS. These country music fans know how to party! There were parties everywhere Friday evening. Quiet hours are to be from 11:00pm to 8:00am ---YEAH RIGHT. Not this weekend. Below, I’ve also listed some park rules that I feel were violated this weekend by underlining the violations.

ALCOHOL: Responsible alcohol use is restricted to those people 21 years of age and over. No alcohol will be served at any Park function, although participants may bring their own refreshments.

CAMP FIRES: All fires must be contained in an above ground fire pit with a mesh cover. Such fire pit must be of commercial manufacture or homemade of a design similar to commercial made units. ABSOLUTELY NO GROUND FIRES. Firewood may be purchased at the gatehouse.

SPEED LIMITS: The speed limit is 10 miles per hour for ALL vehicles (golf carts and bikes included).

VEHICLES: Loud vehicles of any type are strictly prohibited. ATV and four wheelers allowed only while on trailers. Golf Carts and Bikes require permanent head and tail lights after dark. All drivers must be licensed, and stay on paved roads.

BICYCLES: It is highly recommended that riders wear helmets and use head lights and tail lights after dark.

NOISE: Please respect your neighbors by keeping all noise at your site at a low level. Noise that can be heard beyond the boundary of your site is often disturbing to your fellow RVer’s.

NUISANCES: No one should become a source of annoyance which interferes with anyone’s peaceful enjoyment of their site or the park.

PARKING: Only one (1) RV and two (2) additional motor vehicles (auto or truck) and one (1) trailer (boat, motorcycle, utility, or enclosed utility) is allowed on any one site. No extra tents other than screen rooms which may not be used as sleeping quarters.

All of us that call this park home understand this one weekend and tolerate it for the most part. Park security was visible all weekend and Citrus County Sheriff’s Dept kept two cars of officers in the park all night Saturday. The partying Friday night lasted way beyond midnight. We took several tours on the golf cart during the weekend to check out “the entertainment”, meaning the guests. Ah yes, I remember those days. :-)

Saturday morning it was quite quiet. Sleeping before the concert I suppose. You see, this was a festival with music beginning at 3:00pm and going to midnight or so. Check out the line-up below.

2:00pm-Gates Open
3:00pm-3:45pm- Cason
4:15-5:00-Neon Truckers
5:30pm-6:30pm-Michael Ray
7:00pm-8:00pm-Colt Ford
8:30pm-9:45pm-Justin Moore
10:15pm-11:30pm-Eric Church

From about 4:00pm on the campground was quiet. You could hear the music from the canyon faintly from most sites. Down near the clubhouse you could understand lyrics etc. I will say the campground staff kept all non-registered camper vehicles out of the park. They had special windshield stickers for we residents and weekenders. No sticker-no entrance. As a matter of fact, good friends, Bill & Linda Forrest, from Auburndale came up to visit us Saturday and after we met for lunch at Dan’s Clam Stand in Homossassa Springs, they had to park outside the campground gates and ride in with us so we could visit a few hours. At about midnight Saturday, you could tell the concert was over as you could hear the folks starting the parties back up. Somehow we fell asleep and didn’t wake up until about 9:00am. From 9 until about 1:00pm today, Sunday, there was a continuous flow of weekenders leaving. At 3:00pm ( I’d seen enough of the Tampa Bay Bucs being destroyed by Jacksonville) we took a golf cart ride around the campground. It was back to normal in “our little piece of heaven”…..at least ‘til the second weekend of December 2012.

‘Til next time……..

Kozmo at the Keyboard

Can you believe it? I get to talk now. I’m on my little laptop and will write this blog.

I’m that cute little 15 lb, 8 year old terrier mix that was rescued last February by my Mommy and Daddy. I know you’ve seen pictures of me before if you’ve read our blog. Mommy and Daddy contacted Leonard, Sheldon, Howard, and Raj from the Big Bang Theory tv show and they asked them if they could create a device that could translate “doggie talk” into “human talk”. This has been an ongoing project for a few months now and the great scientists have done it! They created a machine that I bark into and out “pops” the words. Amazing huh? We are not sharing with anyone until the patent becomes a reality and we become billionaires.

Anyways, my Mommy and Daddy are the best human parents in the world!!!

 

They love me unconditionally and I love them sooooooooooooo much. How many fur-pets do you know who get to travel all over and visit places like the Great Smoky Mtn National Park or walk on Virginia Beach like I did this summer.

 

I am so lucky to be a member of the Boldt family. They took me to the stick house in Valrico this past week and I had a blast! Mommy’s car was started for the first time since September since it has been there, and we all went to get it washed since it was filthy. Daddy and I stayed inside the car while Mommy washed it and I watched her but wasn’t afraid when the water looked like it was going to get me. The noise scared me a little bit at first though. Afterwards Mommy wanted to go to Target to shop for an ottoman for the fifth wheel. I stayed inside the car with Daddy, but I didn’t want to tell Mommy but I don’t like her car. It scares me when I am sitting between them on the middle console on my two pillows. The console is not big like the one in our truck. It is really short and narrow, and I don’t like the back seat---I can’t see back there. Plus, Mommy drives too fast and sits so low that I shake and shake and slide off the pillows sometimes. Daddy has to hold on to me and he doesn’t like doing that much-he says I make him nervous. I tried not to cry and be a big girl, but I couldn’t wait until we got back to the stick house. Mommy was back to the car in 35 minutes with her new ottoman and a few groceries. I saw that she got me some chicken to go with my Caesar’s dog meal and I couldn’t wait to eat it. It was good too! After we left Target we went to Marco’s pizza to get a salad and a pizza. Daddy’s mouth was beginning to hurt from the temporary crown that the dentist put on his tooth that morning so he needed some “happy” pills to make it not hurt anymore. Mommy called them aspirins. I gave him kisses until we could get home and he could get those pills. He said that I was his medicine right now. That made my tail wag!!!

Mommy and Daddy gave me some pizza crust and some pepperoni from the pizza after I ate my dinner. I was so good and didn’t beg so Mommy would give me more but then I burped. Then she stopped. Next time I will hide and burp so she can give me more.

I helped Mommy clean out the master bedroom closet. She had some pants in there and I told her which ones to donate and which ones to keep. She also cleaned out her jewelry chest and I was hoping to get some nice necklaces to wear on my collar. She said she would make me some necklaces since hers were too long for me. My Mommy spoils me.

Even though I met some new puppies while Mommy walked me in the complex those days, I was ready to go back to my real home with wheels in Crystal River. Before leaving for Rock Crusher Canyon, we came across a dog that didn’t like me. He growled and was going to bite me so Mommy picked me up and kept me calm. I don’t know what his problem was—just an old grouch I guess. That dog was a real bully but my Mommy saved me. We left at noon time Wednesday after talking to Dewane and Bev, our neighbors. We stopped at Camping World for a new clear plastic thing to put on the sewer hose. People loved me at Camping World and I was on my best behavior while standing in the cart. We stopped at Popeye’s chicken and Arby’s roast beef place which was at the Travel America gas station across from Lazy Days. Mommy and Daddy gave me some bites of chicken and roast beef. We drove through the entrance at the park and got back home to our fifth wheel at 4:05 and I just love being back. The squirrels were talking to me from the trees and I scared them when I tried to run after them when Mommy took me for a walk. Look at all of our trees when you come in the park. Lots of squirrels in them trees, I’m telling ya!

But, the squirrels  know who “rules this campground”… ME!!!

Mommy went to bingo last night and left me with Daddy for three hours. I was so tired from the trip that I slept most of the time she was gone. Daddy just watched tv and played some golf game on his computer. I don’t get it—he said he played the St. Andrews course in Scotland and the Kiawah course in South Carolina. I never saw him leave his recliner chair. Mommy didn’t win anything so they were talking about putting a sign on me that says “will work for food” and standing on Highway 19 to get attention. I think they were joking. Mommy only lost $4.00 from playing 10 games. When she took me out at 11 PM she had to put my t-shirt sweater on me because the temperature was 42 degrees. I did my business and ran back in because I was so cold and still tired from the trip. Mommy and Daddy didn’t have to ask me if I wanted to go “night night” upstairs like they do every night. I just took off and ran up there fast and fell asleep dreaming of chasing and catching squirrels.

Well, I better stop now because my Mommy and Daddy taught me how to type on the computer and my paws are getting so tired from writing this blog. Hope you like the pictures.

Til next time… I will “pant” for you.

P.S. Mommy helped me write this after the machine translated into human words.

P.P.S. Mommy didn’t have any drinks before she helped me with this blog….she’s just a little crazy sometimes! ;-)

Still Having Fun

Since last time I wrote (Barbie) we have been enjoying ourselves and doing chores around our site here at Rock Crusher Canyon. We have weeded most of the lot and cleaned off the pavers. We have a bit more to weed and Jeff wants to trim some of the trees a little, but it is looking so much better. In between weeding and organizing things, we just had to stop and eat at some of our favorite places in the area. We have eaten at Dan’s Clam Stand two times and went to our favorite Chinese place called Mr. Wang’s. The fried shrimp at Dan’s is a favorite but their clam chowder is THE best, I’m telling ya. Jeff had the garlic house chicken at Mr. Wang’s and I had the honey chicken. They both come with fried rice, egg roll and your choice of soup. We love their hot and sour soup so we pay extra for that. We still can walk out of there at $20.00 or less and still manage to bring home containers of food.

Our Thanksgiving dinner was held at the clubhouse in the park. I brought some pea salad and it was a hit. There were about 85 people in attendance. Some people even sat outside in the enclosed pool area and loved it out there. We sat inside near the TV to watch a football game while we ate. We mainly talked to two other couples who sat at the table with us instead of watching the game. Bruce, Carol, and Florrie are three people in the park who cook for the massive crowds that appear. They did a fantastic job of preparing the turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy and rolls. Everyone was asked to bring a side dish and we were selective about choosing which side dish to eat since this past Halloween we both got an intestinal disorder for 24 hours following that pot luck in Georgia. I also had bought a turkey breast for us to eat on since we like some leftovers from Thanksgiving. I also made stuffing, cranberry salad, sautéed brussel sprouts and we ate that on Saturday. Sunday Jeff made his mac and cheese to go along with the leftovers. This week we plan on making corn pudding, sweet potato succotash and leftover brussel sprouts to go along with any turkey or other meat that we have around. I was planning on making a turkey vegetable pie if I have any turkey leftover. If not, I will make the vegetable pie without the meat.

There were many “weekenders” in the park the week of Thanksgiving. Most of the people were very nice but some of the kids were inconsiderate by riding their bicycles around the park at night with no lights on and recklessly during the days. We even had one of our residents get hit from behind by a six year old on a bicycle that lost control of his bike. She got both of her arms scraped and needed to be helped up off the ground. We heard loud voices and some music after midnight on Saturday morning. It sounded like some people had a bit too much to drink. Needless to say, some of us were happy to see that crowd leave on Sunday. Jeff DJ’ed the “Welcome Back” dance on Saturday night and it was a success. About 50 to 65 people showed up from 7 – 10 PM in the clubhouse. Many kids came by early and wanted to hear some of “their” songs which we didn’t have. So Jeff played some of the line dances that some of the people like. The Cha-Cha Slide, Electric Slide, and other types of songs were enjoyed by the kids and adults as well. After 8:30 most of the kids had left and the “older” crowd was there to enjoy the music and dance.

We enjoyed a strawberry shortcake “gathering” at the clubhouse on Sunday evening. It was VERY good!!! About 25 people showed up for that. They (Bruce, Carol, and Florrie) are very generous with their portions. They offer either biscuit or the sponge cake along with three scoops of ice cream, strawberries, and whipped cream. It costs $4 and was very much worth it. This coming Saturday there is a breakfast in the clubhouse that is always very good. The Rock Crusher folks like to eat!

We went to Kim’s Café for breakfast this morning and enjoyed Mike and Sandy’s, the managers of Rock Crusher Canyon, company. Afterwards we got back to the rig to get ready to head to Valrico for Jeff’s dental appointment. We won’t be there long as we really don’t consider it our home anymore since we got the fifth wheel. We enjoy seeing our neighbors Dewane and Bev while there but don’t look forward to starting on getting rid of “junk” and organizing the things that we want to keep. We figure it will take us three years to get it all done if we go to the house once a month for two or three days while we are wintering down here. We are in no rush as you probably can tell…..hahaha

‘Til next time….. enjoy the moment!

Love Being Back at Rock Crusher Canyon

Barbie writing this at the moment.

We arrived back to Rock Crusher Canyon RV Park in Crystal River at 2:00pm on Monday following a nice 4 hour drive from Ho Hum RV Park in Carrabelle, FL. We noticed right away the warmth and humidity compared to where we were for most of the summer and fall. But, we are NOT complaining. It feels good to be back “home” for the next almost six months or so. Jeff backed the fifth wheel into the site with ease. We had to get it “perfect” so I got out the measuring stick making sure we weren’t crooked on our paver covered site. I never trust my eyes on this because I don’t see things as straight as well as I used to many years ago.

BACK HOME !

We noticed our lot needs some clean up due to weeds and leaves that have accumulated the last six months. We left here early last May. But, those projects will come in time. We got the important things done today, which is the cable hooked up and the DirecTV working in case something happens to the cable. Plus,obviously the water, electric and sewer hook-ups and all jacks down and all four slide out rooms extended. We were so tired that we went out to Arby’s for take-out. Before we did that we needed diesel fuel desperately for the truck. We kept looking for places along HWY 19 to stop during today’s drive  south. We never seemed to find the right place. Diesel was $3.95 at the Race Trac station in Homosassa. We noticed later on that it was $0.14 cheaper at the Race Trac in Crystal River. We didn’t fill up the first time because it stopped us at $85.00, so we feel better that we can go somewhere else next time and save a few cents.

Tuesday was the kind of day that I wanted to get out and tackle the weeds and get the golf cart that was stored in our utility trailer out and charged up. But, first we went to breakfast at our favorite little spot in the area, Kim’s Cafe. They do a great two egg, home fries, bacon (or sausage patties) and toast breakfast for $3.00. Barbie got a breakfast BLT (with egg). After arriving back at the site, it was back to the chores. The golf cart was an easy chore but I didn’t spend too much time weeding due to my head cold. I was hacking and congested and just plain miserable. Jeff did some weeding and that helped out a lot. I am usually a “witch” when I get sick so I am not nice to be around. Jeff went to the clubhouse at 6:30 pm to check out a karaoke fella that is new to the park this winter and also to mingle with some people who had just finished a grilled chicken dinner.  I decided to stay in the rig and put a breathe right strip on my nose and load up on Vicks and Afrin Nasal Spray and make sure I had a full tissue box handy. Apparently it helped because I slept pretty good. Now today, Wednesday, I feel much better. I got out and weeded and used the leaf blower to get rid of lots of acorns that have accumulated from the oak trees around here and covered the pavers. Jeff went to another meeting at 10:30 this morning dealing with activities that the park is planning this season. Jeff is booked to do four DJ dances this season. They’ve scheduled a “Welcome Back” Dance, Saturday, November 26, the big New Years Eve Dance, a Valentines Day Dance and an End of Season Dance on Friday, April 13. He found out that bingo will be starting back up again on Wednesdays beginning at the end of November. That is something I want to do this year.

We went to Dan’s Clam Stand for lupper (lunch/supper) at 2:00 this afternoon. Very good meal! Jeff had fried shrimp and fries and I had a burger and fries. His shrimp was excellent and mine was very good too! We both had a cup of clam chowder as well. Dan’s has the BEST New England clam chowder. If you are reading this Sherry, we thought about you and Charley today while eating our chowder!!! January is not too far off. :-) We then went to Publix, where “shopping is a pleasure”, for some items. It was then that I realized that I really miss the Ingles Supermarket that we use in Clayton, Georgia. Don’t get me wrong… I love Publix too but Ingles has more of a variety, plus it has a Starbucks inside. :-)

We are going to start making a list of things that we will do soon. One of the things we need to get finished is the weeding first. Jeff wants to build wooden steps that lead into the rig. The ones we had made in Dillard are structurally sound and built to last a long time. So Jeff will tackle it using the same measurements and wood that was used on our Dillard steps.

Kozmo tells us that she loves being back in Crystal River. She “told” me yesterday that her paws love the grass and pavers on this site compared to the gravel on our site she had to endure in Dillard.

One Happy Girl !

Plus, she is back with her “friends”, namely the squirrels. No rabbit hunts here, but squirrels galore.She sat outside today just looking at the squirrels in the trees while I was weeding. She said that she wishes the weather were less humid though. Our high temperature today was 83 degrees with humidity near 85% this morning.

‘Til next time…..from the beautiful Nature Coast of Florida….

  

Ho Hum in Carrabelle, FL

We finally decided where we’d stop overnight on our way from Foley, AL to Crystal River, FL. We decided to stop at Ho Hum RV Park in Carrabelle, FL. right on the Gulf of Mexico. We spent a couple of days here about a year ago and enjoyed the peace and quiet around here. The drive yesterday from Foley here took six hours of driving. The park is only about half full. The snowbirds haven’t all arrived yet. Once we pulled in we decided to stay two nights not just one. This is one of those campgrounds in an area where you better want to kick back and relax as there is not much around here. The park is small and except for it’s location right on the water, full hook-ups, good wifi and cable tv, there is not much else to do. But, as I said, it is peaceful. There is no pool and certainly not a park to bring kids-as a matter of fact, on the info/rules sheet they give you at check in,  rule #1 is “NO children.” After we set up and ate some dinner last evening, I watched some college football and Barbie played on the computer and read before retiring early. Today, we’re gonna take a drive and get a bite to eat. Maybe I’ll watch an NFL game-who knows? I’ll include some pix from Ho Hum RV Park below.

 

 

 

Nice views huh-and with some Jimmy Buffett music playing, and me sitting here in shorts and t-shirt in 70 degree weather-it doesn’t get much better my friends!

Tomorrow we head for “home” at Rock Crusher Canyon RV Park in Crystal River, FL.

‘Til next time……..

Enjoying Our Stay in Foley, Alabama

Barbie starting this blog today. :-)

We love it here in Foley! We left River Vista last Thursday at 9:55 am and the cool temperature of 36 degrees. As we put the slides in , ice fell from them. The ice had formed on the slideout awnings. We were happy to have put the sewer away the day before. The water hose was a bit frosty and stiff, but we didn’t have any problems with running the water through it. We arrived at Bremen, Georgia at the Yogi Bear Jellystone Campground at 3:30pm. It was drizzling when we got there so we set up as quick as possible. The ride was about 5 ½ hours. This campground has rabbits running around, a parrot and snakes inside the clubhouse, and a pot bellied pig in a huge pond area.  Kozmo  sniffed at the pig briefly and then just moved on as though she wasn’t interested in him/her. She was VERY interested in all the rabbits around. The weather was very windy and cold when I was walking her at 11:00 pm.  I thought perhaps she was just interested in looking for rabbits and not wanting to do her “business”.

Yogi Jellystone

 

We left the next morning at 9:45 for Greenville, Alabama. This was a better day to travel with lots of sunshine. We arrived at Sherling Lake Campground at 3:30. What a very nice place! We had full hookups and the campground was very nicely laid out. Kozmo and I took a walk down to the lake but since we were pressed for time , we didn’t actually go on the docks. This will definitely be a stopover again in the future. The only thing we need to remember is that they only accept cash or check, which was fine for us but some people freak out if they don’t know about that ahead of time. Since the evening was a bit cool at 48 degrees, there were many campfires around us which made for a great smelling atmosphere.

 

We left the next morning at 10:35 for Foley. We arrived at Foley at 1:45 CST. The campground , called Anchors Aweigh RV Resort is a very nice one! We got a back in site that Jeff did a great job in backing into. We had a bit of trouble with undoing the hitch pin. This place has concrete sites and lots of grass for Kozmo to enjoy. They even have an enclosed dog area for running around and playing with other puppies. We’ll post some pictures of this place in the next post. It took us a bit of time to adjust to the one hour time change and then followed by the daylight savings time one hour change on Sunday. It certainly made the days longer! What is nice though is that when we wake up at 6 am,  it is nice and bright outside. It makes you want to get up earlier. I have been fighting a cold for the last 4 days; right after we both got sick a week ago Sunday with some intestinal distress problems. So, I went to bed to “read” at 8:00, which it was really 7:00 due to the set back of the clocks Saturday night before we went to bed. I got up at 11:00 pm to take Kozmo out and  Jeff finally came to bed after watching the Alabama/LSU game at about that time. I think I have had my share of sleeping for awhile… I am tired of sleeping…haha

We went to explore Sunday. We decided to eat at the Shrimp Basket , which was excellent, at 12:30pm. Jeff got all you can eat shrimp with fries and shrimp slaw and hush puppies and I got the shrimp and oysters combo with new potatoes and shrimp slaw. We will go back there again for sure! Excellent food-very reasonable prices.  Kozmo patiently waited in the truck for 40 minutes while we ate. We then proceeded to the Gulf Shore Beaches and visited Gulf State Park. This is a place where we will stay if we are in the area again. They have pull-thrus and back ins and are spaced very nicely.

Gulf State Park

 

We took the Foley Expressway back to town, which costs $3.50. It does save the stop and go traffic  the other way. They even gave us a biscuit treat for Kozmo at the toll booth which was a nice touch! We had decided earlier to enjoy a milk shake at a place called Shakes, which is right around the corner from the campground. Jeff had fudge brownie “concrete” , which is extra thick frozen ice cream custard, and I had a reeses’ pieces concrete, which was too sweet for me. If we go back, I will get banana instead. They even have a key lime milk shake. I am glad we are only staying here a week because we could go to this place quite often.

The weather was  beautiful  Monday morning. I wore shorts with a sweater when walking Kozmo at 7:45 this morning and had to take off the sweater because it was a bit warm. We are headed out today for Camping World and drive thru other campgrounds in the area. But, we are definitely going to eat at Lamberts Café III, home of  throwed rolls, today.

Later…with Jeff at the keyboard.

 LAMBERTS was all we heard it would be! Wow, the food was great and they entertain you as well. Let me explain. First, on the web site, click on the fun facts under the “ABOUT US” tab (or click on fun facts). Those are some amazing numbers! Back to the food….you order an entree: beef, chicken, fish etc. With that you get your choice of a couple sides. But, you ALSO get “pass arounds.” They provide "pass arounds" at no charge to those ordering from the menu. These "extras" are brought to you by servers carrying pots or other containers of fried okra, fried potatoes with onions, macaroni and tomatoes, steamed cabbage, black eyed peas, and sorghum, apple butter and honey. LAMBERTS is, of course, known for their Throwed Rolls, and everyone enjoys catching a roll or two. Made from scratch and baked fresh all day, every day--hot rolls from LAMBERT'S are not only fun to catch, but delicious to eat. Did I say-they are huge! Spread some real butter on them or get adventurous and try some country sorghum molasses on them. We put apple butter on ours….YUMMY. But,  the real fun is catching a roll. Even more fun is watching other people catch them, or at least try to. Dozens of hot rolls are flying through the air every few minutes at LAMBERT'S, so be alert and have a roll.

 

Oh yeah, I had round steak as they call it, AKA, country fried steak. Barbie had meat loaf. Needless to say, we brought home two styrofoam boxes of food! Oh yes, I did mention entertainment as well. Besides the throwed rolls, our waitress offered us after dinner mints if you open a box.

Mint anyone?

And, of course, one last stop as you leave.

‘Til next time…….