We arrived on Jan 1 for a three-month stint, to the smallest and closest sites with roads that barely hold a car to our one neighbor with 3 kids and a dog and “sh*t” everywhere around their trailer. Picture Clark in Christmas Vacation. After a few days of this, I got us to another site. I am so happy about the move. I am ecstatic. However, the drainage here is really bad, and the ground is soft. We got stuck pulling into the new site with the weight of the bus. We had to have gravel brought in for traction.
We joined the Wednesday golf league, a 9-hole scramble at an executive course. The first two weeks were fun, and we are looking forward to many more. They also have a Monday morning 9-hole group, and I plan on joining that too.
We checked out Fisherman’s Village on a nice day, followed by dinner at a Mexican restaurant with the largest margaritas I have ever seen, visited the Peace River Wildlife Center, and visited Ponce de Leon Park and the nature park in town.
This rain can end anytime. El Nino is having a bad influence on Florida’s weather. However, I am enjoying my new life as a duck.
We drove to the RV show in Tampa and then spent a few days in the area visiting Nancy, Edson, Rich, and Joelyn. We drove to Ybor and walked around the town. Kate and Frank joined us on the last day. Overall, it was a great visit.
We left the Beef O’Grady’s to join the Lions Den to watch the Lions win in the playoffs. We returned to watch them play SF, although it was an exciting game with a bad outcome for us. The good news is I won $60 on the fourth quarter squares.
We golfed in the Monday and Wednesday groups. I also played bunco and bocce ball, which are two new things for me.
I was excited. I stepped into the shower, and there was a small gecko (lizard). Of course, I screamed and then tried to catch him. No go. He was fast, so I figured he got out somehow. Nope. Four days later, we saw him again and tried to catch him with a towel. I thought we had him, so I shook the towel, and there was no lizard. He brought the towel back in, and there he was again, this time crawling into the vents.
Second excitement – RV troubles. When we arrived back from Tampa, the high voltage light was on. I reset everything, and it stayed off for a while but then came back on. This happened for 3 days, so I called a repair guy. In addition, our hot water in the galley had no pressure. In the past, when this happened, it was usually salt build-up, and I could get it out. Anyway, the entire hot water connection disconnected from the main line this time. After many trips to Home Depot, I have a temporary fix until the mobile RV guy arrives.
Hot water was fixed and a bad inverter, so a new one was ordered $2000 later, we should be good.
Golfed Pinemore, Blue Heron, and Live Oaks.
Visited the local American Legion with Frank and Kate. They have a nice tiki bar behind the club.
We began February with a great visit to Miami with our friends Jan, Lorri, and Pierre. We enjoyed their local hangouts in Coconut Grove and the beautiful view from their patio overlooking the ocean and Biscayne Key.
Enjoyed a nice day downtown Punta Gorda with Kate and Frank at a few outdoor bars. We also enjoyed celebrating Kate’s birthday with some bingo at the Eagles (no winners), followed by a pub crawl and ending with Mexican food and huge margaritas.
My golf game is getting worse, and the wind seems to be picking up. It is bad enough I can’t hit the ball well, but when you have 30 mph gusts, it doesn’t help. At least it isn’t snow.
We enjoy the people in our park and all the activities they provide, such as bingo, bunco, shuffleboard, golf, and bocce ball. I also watched the Super Bowl with folks from the park.
We had a fabulous and fun Mardi Gras parade in the park, and John took first for his costume.
We took a stroll through downtown Punta Gorda, beginning at Gilchrest Park, walking along the boardwalk, and ending at War Memorial Park. When we finished, we went to get our free ice cream sundae, which John had won at one of the Lions’ playoff games.
Had a great time at the Mardi Gras Parade in our park. Very creative people including my husband who took first prize for his costume.
Another fun event was our poker run. Seven stations were set up around the park to hand out cards and provide libations. The top three hands (all 4 of a kind) took the prize money of over $200 each. Last place took $75. John and I both had 2 pairs, which didn’t pay anything. The seven stations did a fabulous job setting up their theme and providing matching drinks.
Enjoyed dinner at The Perfect Caper using our Christmas gift from the kids. John had lamb, and I enjoyed a couple of appetizers. Thank you, as it was lovely.
Met friends from Bowling Green for dinner in Punta Gorda. Had a wonderful visit overlooking the marina. Did you know that for a pound of King Crab at restaurants, the market price is about $90?
We made a quick trip to Naples and finished February with a lovely visit with John’s aunt and uncle.
Maggie and Jerry arrived for two weeks of fun. We began their visit with a fundraising event and an inflatable poker pub crawl run. Everyone had fun, especially Maggie, who won the worst hand: 2,3,4,5,7 and got her entrance fee back, along with some other goodies.
Maggie and Jerry joined us for shuffleboard, bingo, and other activities. We had a lovely dinner at their house, with many games of sequence preceding dinner. We then watched MSU win at basketball.
We took an airboat ride on the Peace River, where we saw many alligators and other birds, including an eagle.
Our neighbor in the park is a drummer in a rock’ n’ roll band. We watched them play, danced, and enjoyed pizza. We also participated in a bingo fundraiser at the local Eagles (none of us won).
The park put on a fun scavenger hunt. We had to find various items at different sites, and it was a timed event. We didn’t win that one, but we had lots of fun.
Our last night in Florida with Jerry and Maggie was filled with Shuffleboard, cards, and food from the local food truck. We wish them safe travels back to Michigan.
We traveled to North Ft. Myers to the Parrot Tiki Hut to listen to Don Middlebrook from Lansing, MI. The majority of the people at the bar were from Michigan. We also ran into Chuck and Bonnie from our old marina and Dave Burel, who plays music at the Eagles in Whitehall. After returning to the park, we joined our neighbors dancing to Blue Wave Rockers.
Finished my last night of playing bingo at the park by winning the coverall and a couple of other games. Took John to the airport for his guy’s golf trip out west. Kate and I enjoyed the day-long boat tour from Fisherman’s Village to Cabbage Key. The weather was fabulous.
Finally made it to the Peace River Botanical Gardens. We waited until the end of your trip so we could see some blooms. It did not disappoint.
Ended our stay in Florida visiting our kids and grandkids who were in Orlando for spring break and a final party at the clubhouse. Now for the journey north which will take us a month.
