Last Travel Day Home

Sorry it has taken so long to write my final post of our trip but we’re still unpackin’ & washin’. It’s amazing how much one can cram into a truck camper.

The park were in, Manatee Hammock, is packed pru..tty tight right now. Those that were here fer’ the Space Shuttle launch, most are still here. I guess they decided to extend their stay so’s they could see it go up on Wednesday, if it goes. There were lots of kids in the park and they were ‘Trick or Treatin’ around the camp. This bein’ Sunday night and all I wonder why they haven’t all gone home? Maybe they didn’t have school on Monday.

We ate a quick dinner then went fer’ a walk round the camp. We were near the fishin’ pier when we met two ladies, Terry & her close friend, sorry her name escapes me. I asked if they were here fer’ the launch, they said they were. Terry said they were from the ‘West’ coast and being a ‘flatland floridian’ I assumed Tampa or nearby. I right away give her a card and tell them if they come over next time they are welcome to stay at our house, that we have 30 & 20 amp hookups and water as well. Then Terry told us she was from WASHINGTON, Oh that ‘West Coast’! We…ll that mite make a difference when you drop by on your next visit here. But your still welcome anytime your in the neighborhood, just call to make sure we’re home at the time, you have our card. If’n we get up to your neck o’ the woods next summer we’ll be sure to give ya a shout.

The last leg of the trip was just about an hour and a half. Y’all know this fella’s lookin’ forward to returnin’ to the ‘Stix & Brix’ life, Not. I’d be much happier on the road, but gotta do this fer’ now.

Well that’s all fer’ today, I’ll try and post again soon. Until then we hope to see ya’ down the road as we’re;

Dancin’ on the Wind.

Bloggin, Fumin’, Figurin’, & Fabricatin’!

First off I’d like to know if ya’ll like the new look o’ the blog. I kicked around the idea of movin’ it to another service but I figerd’ out how to spruce it up some instead fer now. Now the website is bein’ downright stubborn about bein’ hung out on this old fence, but I figur’ if I keep pokin’ at it it’ll come around sooner or later.

Back in March I created a platform for an extra battery in the bed of the truck to provide more juice for ‘Boondockin’.

 

The addition of the second battery has been a great idea. We have ‘Boondocked’ for 3 days and nights and never had a shortage of battery power. The only problem was when we occasionally remove the Lance from the truck at camp,. I can’t leave the battery on the platform in plain sight in the back of the truck. So I started to ponder where I could install a rack to hold the battery on the camper itself. Each location I considered was a problem, so I put in the same  area it has been, only I moved it up on the underside of the camper. This had several advantages, it was already wired to that location, it kept the weight on the curb side (the original battery is on the drivers side), and I regained the wheel well storage that was lost with the battery on the bed platform.

The main material was an aluminum sign I had made some years ago. I asked a local sign shop to make me a sign for our road to match the one on the opposite end of the road that read; Private Road Residents Only. What I got was; Private Road Residence Only, so it never got put up. Well I just found a use for it. The design was a continually evolving process, as I encountered several problems. Hanging an 80 pound battery on the side of a camper, I was a little concerned with bracing everything form the rack. I didn’t want to interfere with the storage space that I regained so I installed a 64 cent shelf bracket under the battery tray. That done I had to come up with a cover for the whole she-bang.

Now all we have to do is test out our new power. I think we’ll go campin’ at one of the Wildlife Management areas in the middle of the state.

Well thats all for now. We’ll have to see what the next adventure brings. Hope to see ya down the road as we’re;

Dancin’ on the Wind.

A Hot Time at Lake Rosalie Park

Here it is another beautiful day in the 'Sunshine State'. We're supposed to get some rain as a front passes through on Saturday night, so we have decide since we are paid through Saturday we'll leave Sunday.

Yesterday we finished the day with drinks around the campfire, after a great meal cooked over the campfire. The park is almost empty except for the three of us and some tenters.

Friday Linda & I had bagels to tie us over until breakfast was decided, since no plans were made Thursday night. Della & George announced they needed to go home as they had a seviceman coming Saturday. We all decided to meet for lunch in Lake Wales, good thing we had a bagel!

Before headin' off to town it was decided we had to have a return game o' washers. This time I teamed with George, Linda with Noel and Della with Barb.

Della gettin' ready to pitch one.

An' Barb lettin' 'er fly.

Seems George & I won the first and second round, so we were declared the victors today. Then the underdogs played for second place, which went to Della & Barb. Then it was off to town for lunch at the Chinese Buffet, not to bad. When we returned to camp from late lunch , stuffed like a bunch of ticks, we settled in for 'Happy Hour'. We made a nice campfire and just sat talking into the night, although Linda had to go watch Grey's Anatomy during the evening.

Saturday started with eggs over easy, hash with potatoes, toast, OJ & coffee at Noel & Barbs cause the wind has really started to pick up to the 25-30mph, with the approach of the cold front. Noel & Barb have decided to come back to Vero with us to see our son Jason for the day, so this morning was spent breakin' camp somewhat in preparation for our departure Sunday morn. In the afternoon we went to town to fill a propane tank, the store was closed. Saw Barb's brother and wife, who are leaving for Michigan on Sunday, then returned a campfire fireplace we've been using to friends in Babson Park. Then it was back to camp cause us fella's needed to get in our nap before 'Happy Hour' & dinner. As Noel & I are restin' we smell smoke, nothin' too unusual since we have some new folks upwind of us. Turns out it's not a campfire as we spot this as were eatin' dinner.

A bit of smoke over the bath house.

As we watch the fire we're wonderin' if the fire fighters are gettin' a handle on it at all, cause remember them 30 mph winds, they're still blowing. Well we figure that we're due north of the fire, it;s movin' northeast, so we're in a good position even though the only way out is south through the fire. The fire is still a mile away, the smoke is going diagonal to us, so we sit and wait keepin' an eye on it. Some folks tried to leave the park , only to be turned back by officials that had the road closed. We watched and figured the fire should have crossed the road from west to east by now, so we're hopin' we are in a better position now. Then folks start comin' down into the park, one after the other, being evacuated by the fire officials & sheriffs department.

Fire's gettin' bigger & closer to us.

The folks that are comin' in say the Forestry department has got it under control and have started a back fire to try and starve it out. All this while there's a helicopter buzzin' around the fire, which we figure is a news chopper, then we hear a different helicopter.

And this guy appears over the lake.

Now we feel that they'll get control of the fire.

The Forestry chopper kept makin' repeated trips to the lake or to the lake adjacent to us, Tiger Lake, for water. we watched the smoke plume as it seemed to dissipate then billow in great clouds. After about an hour a sheriff's deputy came down and told us the Fire Marshal recommended we evacuate in the next 20 minutes, cause the fire was burning in a horseshoe and after this we might not be able to leave. We decided to go. Thank goodness Noel had hitched up when we returned from town, but there was still much to do. water & electric lines started flying along with outdoor furniture, rugs, get the slides in after the inside prep. We were a bunch of flyin' maniacs. we got everything under control then hitched up Noel's boat and we were off.

We made it up the road about a mile then came to a stop with fire burnin' on both sides of us. great Noel can't turn around here, I'm startin' to wonder if one hand knows what the other is doin'. Well we get movin again and as we move up the road we realize the fire is a lot bigger than we thought. It extends way back on both sides of the road, several homes are completely destroyed and fire and emergency crews are everywhere. Maybe leavin' aint' such a bad idea, better safe than sorry. So we're headin' home to our house, 80 miles down the road.

This was our last view of the lake at sunset.

Hope to see ya down the road, on another less exciting day as we're,

Dancin' on the Wind.

For more pictures of our short reunion and the firey exit visit our Picasa album.

A Camping Reunion

We made it to Rosalie Park to meet our friends. Noel & Barb have been here for the past week and decided to extend, since we could come over, before they start making their way back towards Wisconsin. We arrived and set up in an adjacent site, next to them.

After chattin' fer a bit George & Della came pullin' in so we tried to get them over with us but the host would only allow one unit per site. So they're one site over from us. There were hugs all around and BS'n fer the next few hours. We all got together for a nice spaghetti dinner, Linda did spaghetti & sauce, Della did three cheese bread with garlic and Barb did a nice salad and dessert. The meal was great, we all ate to much, the company of friends was great as well. We all have not been together since last winter for a shuttle launch in Titusville, FL.

 

 

Here we are for dinner!

 

 

 

 

After dinner the mosquitoes drove us inside so we passed the night watchin' American Idol. Then we broke up, Linda went for a shower and we called it a day.

Thursday started with coffee in the fresh early morning air. Noel went for his shower, I followed when he was done. Della had snuck off earlier so we were all smellin' good fer the day. All got together for a wonderful breakfast of Sausage gravy & biscuits, Fried potatoes, Scrambled eggs, Sausage patties, fresh squeezed OJ, and everyone's favorite mornin' beverage( some tea, some coffee). If we keep consumin' vittles at this pace we'll be hard pressed to get through the door in the Lance. After Breakfast we men settled down to some serious contemplation of global troubles.

 

 

We're 'Hard at it'.

 

 

 

 

In the afternoon we all got together for a game of Washers', Three teams of two, Della & I rose to victory. Followed by a game of 'Bean bags', same teams where Noel & George were the victors.

 

 

This is the view out front, It's tough to take.

 

 

 

Well dinner is planned and will be a group effort and I'm sure it will be great, I'll let you know next time.

Until then we hope to cross paths sometime runnin' down the road as we're

Dancin' on the Wind.