Home Sweet Home!

Thursday-Friday, March 6-7, 2014
There was plenty of preparation needed for the trip home.  Jim spent Wednesday getting the motorhome ready for a trip to the cold weather which the Lundcruiser hasn’t seen since June.  We were wondering if you could find antifreeze in Florida, for winterizing the water lines, and were able to get some and get things taken care of.
We woke up at 4:30 am and hit the road on Thursday morning, headed home.  We’ve been gone since January 9.  This is the final leg of our month-long motorhome trip, which started in Scottsdale on February 9.  The rain greeted us in northern Florida and lasted until we hit Atlanta.  We had a scary moment when the windshield wiper was working so hard it flew off!  Thank goodness Jim was able to pull over and retrieve the wiper and get it put back on.  Yikes! 
We could feel the temperature dropping as we headed north.  We were able to avoid traffic in Atlanta, but were not quite so lucky in Nashville, as we hit right at rush hour, but survived, and pulled into a Walmart at Whitehouse Tennessee, just north of Nashville.  We covered 825 miles in about 14 hours.  We passed on Hillbilly Willy’s, and spent the night in the Walmart parking lot. We counted 12 trucks and motorhomes who joined us for the night! 
We got up early this morning, and left about 5:30 am for the 250 mile drive to Indy.  We began to see snow on the side of the road…the first time we’ve seen snow since January 9!!  We were glad to be going North, as there was a lot of backed up traffic headed south, especially near Louisville, where there is construction (again).  Not good for the spring break traffic heading south...And then we saw the sign for Indianapolis!  Home Sweet Home!
We arrived home before noon…It was great to see our house had survived the brutal winter. The sun was out, and the temperature warmed up.   (We are taking credit for bringing the warm weather with us!)
It took us all afternoon to unload tons of “stuff”, and now we are very motivated to downsize the amount of stuff we carry in the motorhome!
Spot was thrilled to be back on his home turf, and spent a lot of time getting reacquainted with the yard. 
It’s good to be home!

Hello/Goodbye Florida

Friday – Wednesday, February 28-March 5, 2014

it was a relaxing and interesting week, visiting friends and relatives and welcoming mom to Florida!

On Friday, we visited friends at their home in The Villages in central Florida.  The Villages is a planned retirement community which has grown to about 150,000 people!!  It is an unbelievable complex of neighborhoods around 3 central “Town Squares”.  The town square is a central gathering place for entertainment, retail shops, restaurants, movie theaters, etc.  We were amazed by the activity level—almost like a cruise ship with people milling around enjoying a band, car show, shopping, eating, etc.  Golf carts and walking are the preferred method of transportation (easier to find a parking spot for a golf cart).  In this complex there are 40 golf courses, and I don’t know how many tennis courts and pools.  We have heard a lot about The Villages, and it was good to find out more about it—it was a very impressive place, and a great visit and dinner with friends!

On Saturday we headed south,  landing at Harbor Lakes RV Park in Port Charlotte, FL, which is the closest RV park to Englewood that we could find.  On the way we stopped at a great outlet mall to get a shopping fix.  Didn’t find much (hope I’m not getting rusty from lack of practice), but enjoyed the outdoor shopping in February!

 

On Sunday, we went to mass at San Pedro church, not too far from the campground, and on the way saw an interesting sight…an elephant in a truck! Still not sure what it was all about, but funny to see.

We then travelled to Englewood and met up with cousins Carolyn & Sue, and enjoyed rumrunners at the Lock & Key restaurant, and a good meal of soft shell crab!

 

 

On Monday we went to the Tervis factory.  Although the factory doesn’t provide tours, we found out some interesting info about the company, which was founded in the 50’s by a couple of Detroit engineers named Cotter and Davis.  The Tervis name came from the last three letters of each of their names! Ter-Vis=Tervis!  I think everyone has owned at least one Tervis tumbler.  The best part is that they are made in America, and guaranteed for life!  At the factory store, we were able to exchange our three cloudy tumblers for brand new shiny ones.  The clerk told us that sunscreen products often etch the surface, and even lemon juice can etch the surface if left for a period of time.  Thank goodness we don’t have to quit drinking vodka tonics with lemon in our Tervis tumblers—we just have to rinse them out! 

On Tuesday, Mom finally arrived.  Hello, Florida!  She hasn’t stopped smiling since! 

Her plane was a little late, but had only about 30 passengers, so no waiting for luggage, and we had time to stop for the annual Shamrock Shake at McDonald’s on the way to the condo.  The weather has been warm, a little humid, but much better than Indiana weather!

Wednesday started out foggy, and the surf was pounding, but the sun finally came out, burned off the fog, and also burned a few sunbathers (including me).  Spot had a great day on the beach too, chasing waves and birds and enjoying all the new smells.

Mom’s oyster craving was satisfied at the Myakka Oyster Bar, where we toasted to another fun Florida visit.  We will get an early start home on Thursday morning.

Until next year…Goodbye Florida!