Fort Myers and Sanibel Island

This posting will catch up on our trip.  Mark has been doing a better job of posting than I have.  You can look at his blog site to see more pictures!

We left the show, and got a site in a KOA on Pine Island for one night, with the intent to find a cheaper site.  We ended up staying there Sunday thru Tuesday night and did our sight seeing from there.

On Monday, we took a day trip to Sanibel Island.  It cost $6 to take a toll bridge across to the island.  We ate lunch at a chain restaurant (according to Mark, because we had never seen one) called Cheeburger Cheeburger , and we had the best onion rings that I have ever had!!  Here is a sign on the way to the restroom at the restaurant that Mark wanted me to shoot: (Note: The restaurant was on Periwinkle St.)

The following are pictures on the way to the island and on the beach.  The first is the Ft Myers road to the island:

The Toll Booth to the island…….

Sanibel Island Welcome Center and Patsy at the Entry Door.  The pastel colors are typical of this part of Florida…….

Beach scenery…. a lot of sea “stuff” washes up…

 

The lighthouse on Sanibel Island…..

We also saw a large nest on a pole.  It turned out that it is an Osprey nest.  You can see it in the center of the next photo.  The next picture is Patsy and Mark on a walkway near it, and pictures of the chick in the nest and taking a bit of food from an adult bird.  The latter picture is one that Mark took and I stole it from his blog…..

 

There was a lot of trees being planted along all of the roadways similar to below.  We were wondering if it is part of Obama’s ‘handout’ monies…….

When we left the island, we went to the area of Ft. Myers where the Edison-Ford homes were.  It turned out that Thomas Edison and Henry Ford spent their winters here, and their homes are open for tours.  It was late and we only toured the open parts of Edison’s home.  Here are some pictures.  The first are fichus trees with their roots systems.  I have seen this in pots at home, but never in the ground……

Patsy at a statue of Mrs. Edison with her garden in the background………

Patsy and I at a statue of Tom Edison…..

A small description of this attraction…….

Part of the Ford estate across the street……

 

On Tuesday, we toured more of Pine Island and went to Boca Grande.  I will try to post that trip tonight.

Florida RV Super Show – Days 3 & 4

I didn’t mention before, but we had made reservations to stay on the grounds of the RV show.  It was a package deal and for $159, we got 5 days and 4 nights camping (30amp electricity only, no water or sewer), coffee and donuts each morning, three nights of entertainment and free admission to the RV show each day.

During the final two days of the show, we spent the days touring the rigs and looking at the vendor’s products.  My biggest purchase was a set of buffing wheels to polish the aluminum wheels on the Bus.  Here are some pictures of the Show area:

The Spartan chassis display where I got some questions about my Bus answered, and picked up a contact (Tiffin’s account manager) business card:

 

A “Green” RV:

The previous night, we had some rain, and winds right before the show.  The canopy over this food service area had blown off into the pond behind it:

Lazy Days area with Tiffin coaches.  This one is a Zephyr:

Patsy and I at the pond:

A talking parrot to entertain folks:

On Friday night, we were entertained by the “Porch Dogs”, who did more classic and Cajun songs.  They had two ladies on fiddles that were really good!

 

They also let a lady who was celebrating her 62nd birthday accompany them on a song:

 

On Saturday night, we were entertained by the

“Rivoli Revue”, a couple who has entertained at many Good Sam and FMCA rallies.  They have been here the last 10 years.  The recently were on the ‘Tea Party Tour” and got a spot on the “Mike Huckaby Show”.  They are famous for a You-Tube spot called “Press one for English”

Here are some Photos: 

 

Notice that his Guitar is shaped like an RV!!

 

Next, we will be at Fort Myers.

Florida RV Super Show – Days 1 & 2

We left the state park fairly early on Wednesday, and drove over to the Florida Fairgrounds and got our rigs set up in the rally area.  Because we were early, we got good sites close to the gate to the show.

Here is a picture of our setup.  Mark and Sue’s rig is directly behind us…… you can see the rear of it in the second picture:

After we got set up, we had to take care of some problems.  Our Honda had been leaking radiator coolant  since we left Victoria, and was really bad on the cold nights.  I suspected a crack in the plastic bottom that opened up with the contraction of the cold.  We first took it to a local radiator shop, and when we got there, it looked like a homeless hangout!!!  The guy put a pressure pump on it, but it would only get up to 10 lbs…… and the radiator cap is rated for 16!!!  It did not produce any sign of a leak!  I then found a Pep Boys, and after trying to buy my own pump which would have cost $100, the parts guy suggested letting the service area put it on a rack and pump it up with a “good” pump.  I managed to get in right away, and within 20 minutes, we found the leak.  It was in the fitting where the transmission cooling line enters the radiator.  The test costs $35, and they wanted almost $400 for a new radiator with installation.

I had gotten on the internet earlier in morning to find a replacement, since the local Honda dealer wanted $390 (with out installation)!!  I found one for $122, but did not have an address to send it to.  It turned out that the company had a local distributorship in Tampa and that within 45 minutes of giving them a credit card number, I could pick it up at the distributor.  I told the salesman that I wanted to determine the source of the leak and that I would get back with him. 

While still in the Pep Boys parking lot, I called the guy back and ordered the radiator.  Patsy and I then went by a Wal-Mart for supplies and returned to the fairgrounds to have lunch.  After lunch, I drove over to the distributor to pick up my new radiator (about 15 miles), and returned to the fairgrounds with it.  I checked it and it was a perfect match.  We wanted to spend some time at the show, so I put off changing it out until Thursday.

Mark and Sue had their own problems.  When they left Lake Charles, Sue’s mother had been in the hospital and had just been released.  On Tuesday, she found out that she was not doing real well, so they got her a plane ticket back to Lake Charles, and Mark took her to the Tampa airport while we did the radiator leak check!!

 

In addition Mark’s rear furnace was not working and it is the one that supplies heat to the water tanks.  After we both got back to the rally area, we went with Mark to find a service technician booth at the rally.  He found a guy in a booth, and he came out on Wednesday night to get serial numbers to make sure he had parts.  On Thursday, he came back and repaired the heater!

On Thursday morning, we went to the show area and looked at the exhibits and vendor booths.  While we were walking around, we bumped into Vi and LJ Verderber, who are in our Lone Star Allegro RV Club in Houston.  They are looking to get a custom RV, like a Newell or Prevost.  Here are some pictures of them in a Prevost shell:

Vi said they were buying a fixer-upper.  Patsy and I spotted them later negotiating with a salesman.   I remember our recent purchase of the Bus, and I wish them luck!!

As we walked around the exhibits, I took a few pictures:

Around 2:00PM, Patsy and I returned to the Bus.  I started taking the old radiator out of the Honda, and had it mostly lose and ready to come out when Mark returned.  He started to help me, and we had the new one in by about 3:30PM.  So, most of our problems are fixed……. for now!

On Thursday night, Mark went to eat at a Cuban Restaurant with his cousin that lives near Tampa.  Patsy and I went to the Rally evening entertainment.  While Patsy left our seats to get something to drink, she saw our friends, Wayne and Nancy Milne.  We first met the Milne’s in Alaska on our summer ‘05 trip, and have run into them several times since.  The last was at the Tiffin factory in Oct ‘09 (See the Oct 24 Blog Posting).  We had a couple of extra seats up front, so they jointed us.

The entertainer was George Raab, who sang classic Rock & Roll and Country songs.  After the entertainment, they had a door prize drawing with about 100 winners…… none of us were among them!  Here are some photos of the entertainer and the hall:

Tomorrow, we will go back to the show area.  This is a big RV show!!

Continuing Toward Tampa!!

On Monday morning, we left the Wal-Mart parking lot about 9:00am, and drove to Ocala, FL.  It was about 400 miles and was chosen as our destination because  some friends of Mark and Sue, who used to work with them at the Adventure Land Amusement Park in Des Moines,Iowa, were staying there for a while. 

We decided to stay at the Silver Springs State Park for the night.  We got there about 4:30pm, got set up, and headed out to an Outback Restaurant for dinner with their friends .  We had a nice meal and a nice visit, and then headed back to the park, and crashed for the night.  We did not get any pictures!!

Ocala is only 90 miles from Tampa, and we made the short drive to the Hillsborough River State Park near Tampa on Tuesday.  We had made reservations for Tuesday night in preparation for moving to the Fairgrounds for the RV show for the next four nights………. with 30amp electrical hook-ups but no water or sewer. 

On Wednesday morning, we will fill up with water, and empty our waste tanks before driving over to the Fairgrounds.  Today, we did some wash while we had the water and sewer!!

Later today, we drove over to the fairgrounds to check out the route and facilities for tomorrow morning, and took the time to visit the local Camping World store and the Lazy Days RV Sales location.  The latter still has a lot of overhead, even after their recent Chapter 11 reorganization!!

Sorry……… two state parks, and no pictures.  I will try to do better!

Travel to Tampa

We spent Sunday night at the Louisiana Welcome Station at the LA/TX border on I-10.  We got there about 11:30pm, after stopping at a Wal-Mart in Houston for fuel.

After a short night’s sleep, we met up with Mark and Sue at a truck just East of Lake Charles, and we immediately got on the road to Florida.  The day was long and somewhat uneventful. 

We made one stop in Slidell, LA to fill up on “cheap” fuel.  When we got to Gulfport, MS, we made another stop at a Flying “J” to fill up our propane tanks, since we would be stopped without hookups on Sunday night, and we wanted full tanks.  While at the Flying”J”, we spotted another Tiffin Allegro motor home from a long time ago, and with a ‘lot of miles’ on it:

It totally confused Mark………….. he did not know it the motor home was pulling the truck or the other way around!!

We continued on, and made it 90 miles into Florida on I-10, where we spent the night in a Wal-Mart parking lot.  On the way, we went through the tunnel at Mobile, AL, and Patsy snapped some pictures from our coach.

 

The city of Mobile

The inside of the Mobile tunnel:

Heading to Florida:

Sunset time looking back to the East!!

Tomorrow, more miles!!!!

The Wedding

Saturday was THE big day for my niece.  She was getting married at 2:00pm. 

Patsy and I had spent Friday at the Traders Village RV Park at Arlington, TX.  It was only about 4 miles from the location of the wedding.  We got up at 8:00am and found 14 degree weather outside.  It was a good thing that I had placed light bulbs in the wet bay (250 watts) and in the area behind the refrigerator (200 watts)!  We survived without any damage.

We left the campground at around 11:30am, and drove to the parking lot of the wedding chapel.  It was large and flat, and we had a good place to park.  We were able to sit inside the Bus and wait for the wedding time.

The wedding service was very nice, and not terribly long.  The bride and even the groom looked very happy.

Here are a couple of pictures:

One side of the chapel showing Patsy, Mike, and Deanne (Son-in-law and daughter):

The bride with her grandmother (my mother):

The Father of the Bride walking her down the aisle:

The ceremony:

The cake:

The brides mother and father:

The brides family (l—r, sister, father, bride, groom, mother, and brother).. older brother is in the Air Force:

The brides extended family that was in attendance:

 

The wedding reception was winding down by 4:30pm, and Patsy and I hit the road for Lake Charles, LA to meet up with Mark and Sue on Sunday morning.

Winter Trip -- 2010

Yesterday, we began our annual winter trip.  The last four years, we have gone to Quartzsite, AZ to attend the big RV show, and to boon dock in the desert with some of our RV friends. 

Patsy wanted to do something different this year, so we decided to go to Florida.  We will begin with the Florida RV Show in Tampa………… billed as the largest RV show in the USA.  We invited two couples to travel with us, and our friends, Mark and Sue Didelot decided to go. 

Patsy and I also wanted to attend our niece’s wedding in Dallas on January 9, so our plans were to leave Dallas on I-20 to go through Jackson, MS and then cross Mississippi and Alabama to meet Mark and Sue at the State Welcome Station on I-10 going into Florida.  Then a couple of days ago, the winter blast came to Texas, so it seemed more prudent to head south on I-45 ASAP right after the wedding.  We will then meet the Didelot’s in Lake Charles, LA, and drive to Florida together.

We drove up to Dallas on Friday to sleep in the Bus in 15 degree weather tonight.  We also brought my mother with us, and attended the wedding rehearsal yesterday evening. 

It took some effort to winter-proof the Bus for this type of weather.   I put a 250watt light bulb in the wet bay to protect the valves and water pump, and a 200watt bulb in the back of the refrigerator to protect the ice maker water line.  I also siphoned out the water in the windshield washer tank, and adder wash water solution that is good down to 0 degrees!! 

On the way up here, we stopped at Willie’s Place, a truck stop in Carl’s Corner, TX that Willie Nelson supposedly won in a poker game with Carl, and then proceeded to tear it down and modernize it.  It has truck fuel, including bio-diesel, a restaurant, gifts and souvenirs, and a theater.  It was smaller and less impressive than I expected.  Here are a couple of pictures:

We seldom leave on a trip with a return date, and that is the case on this one.  We are currently looking at being gone about 6 weeks.  After the Tampa show, we plan to circle the state counter-clockwise, including the Keys.  We will also attend a one-day Tiffin Owner’s party at ‘The Great Outdoors’ resort in Florida.