WINTER IN REVIEW

October – April 2013 – Home Again

The past six months have been fabulous.  We got home mid-October, just in time to get ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas and start the plan for Chris & Sarah’s April wedding.  They finally set the date after five years of being a couple.  Sarah’s been in the family for the past five years along with Collin who I consider my grandson so the wedding is just a cementing of what is already going on!

 It was so great to be back with my family again......I always miss them terribly when we are traveling.  

First order of business was to replace my screened back porch which has taken quite a beating over the past nine years starting in 2004 when the four hurricanes blew and blew and blew.  Since then there have numerous tropical storms beating on the porch....and the roof leaked....and the screws were loose .... so all in all, it needed to be replaced.  Besides, it is my favorite place in the house and spend as much time on this screened porch as weather permits.  

Since it faces east, the porch is usable until well into the summer and the view is so peaceful looking out onto the Turnbull Bay estuary.  It is truly the survival of the fittest .... bobcats, raccoons, bunnies, snakes, birds of all kinds live back there.  Each has a predator so those that survive are truly the fittest!

We managed to squeeze in a few trips this winter.

JANUARY 12-18, 2013

LEARNING TO DRIVE THE MOTOR HOME

Dave keeps asking me if I want to drive the motor home and my answer never changes …. No!  However, I decided to take the RV Driver’s Class as Lazy Days in Lakeland, FL and incorporated it into our trip to Fort DeSoto as we would be going right by Lazy Days on I-4.   Lazy Days  offers a Safe Driving Course for any motor home (RV) owner, free of charge and the RV does not have to be purchased from Lazy Days. In fact, you don’t even have to have your RV there as the driving portion is conducted in an RV they designate; a 40’ diesel pusher.  The classes include a morning of classroom instruction and the afternoon of driving around their vast parking lot to practice turning, stopping and maneuvering.

 These classes are popular so it's best to call ahead and register for an available class.   I recommend it highly to ANYONE driving an RV.   The class was full of couples where one (usually the man) was already driving the RV and the woman was there learning the tips of maneuvering.   I think this should be a requirement when buying an RV as there are lots of folks on the road who think they can get behind the wheel of a motor home or truck towing a huge fifth wheel and take command of the road.

 I now am proficient at driving the motor home 5 mph in a parking lot!.....gained a lot of useful information regarding setting mirrors, parking, turning, backing up and the "dot" system.  Even the “experienced” guys benefited greatly from the class.

FORT DESOTO

 From here we headed to  Fort DeSoto County Park in St Petersburg Beach which is a great park.  This is the second year we've come here and it could be an annual January event.  The site was situated right on the water and the park extends out to Tampa Bay.  

There is a huge dog park right down at the beach and is very popular among the residents but certainly large enough that you don't feel crowded.  

Met up with our dear friend Dianne, her hubs was visiting family in New York, and met for dinner in St Pete Beach.   

During our stay the Tampa RV show was being held and we had several friends from NSB coming over to check out the RV's.  We met one couple, Ward & Bev, at Berns Steakhouse which is an eating "event".    If you like beef, you'll love Bern's.

 According to their website and it's true. "Perfectly aged steaks.  One of the largest wine collections in the world, an internationally famous dessert room and a wine cellar and kitchen tour" .  We did it all.

The Harry Waugh Dessert Room is located on the second floor of Bern's Steak House and the individual rooms are constructed of California redwood wine holding tanks.  These tanks were used to create 48 individually enclosed booths.  So you have your private dessert room with a six channel sound system to tune in your favorite ambiance and a phone inside the booth to request a song for the pianist to play.   

The dessert menu is as large as the dining menu with desserts, ice creams and pages and pages of liquors and aperitifs. We waddled out after about two hours of dining!  Price ended up being about $200 for two of us so it's not a "gee I don't feel like cooking" night, but a dining experience.

Also, in St Petersburg we went to a recommended store called Savory Spice Shop on Beach Drive NE.  If you like to cook, this is the place to come.  Their spice collections are huge and they will blend any spices you want to create your own blends.   A favorite of mine is the Espresso steak seasoning and I need to order more because I use it on all my steaks.

From St Pete we headed up to Tarpon Springs for some great Greek food.  The weather had turned cold and rainy....in other words, miserable!  We camped at Hickory Point which, in great weather, would probably be very nice....but there is nothing more miserable than camping on the water with the wind whipping up frothy whitecaps and rain slanted in your direction!  

We visited St Petersburg Yacht Club for dinner with promises that the next night we would go down to Tarpon Springs for Greek food.  However.....Dave got sick and didn't feel any better the next day so rather than sit in cold and wet, we packed up at came home.  

We stored the MH for a while and got back to business at home.