Eastern Tennessee

Hey folks,

Been awhile.  Things have been quite routine of late, just working and going about life in general.  The holidays are coming though which got me to thinking.  I haven't seen my mother in a few years.  The obvious solution - ROAD TRIP!   So come along with me for a ride to East Tennessee.

Call Ron

We've had LuLu for a year now and have taken a few trips but this would be my first big trip - 600 miles from Ocala to Elizabethton, TN.  I've been up here many times in the car and have always taken the interstate.  In the past it's always been quick 2-3 day trips then back to home to work but now with LuLu it's much easier to stay longer - in this case we'll just stay the whole month.  I also entertained the idea of taking the back roads this time as well.  The interstate is faster but there's no scenery; not to mention all those incessant billboards, well.... like this one.

In the end I decided on the interstate anyway.  I'm still new to towing a combined 12,000 lbs of truck and trailer and I felt more comfortable on a route I was familiar with - billboards aside.  Actually this one is okay.  That's Ron Slonaker, the same Ron who put together the outstanding seafood gumbo featured in the trip to Orlando.  If you're in Florida and need good counsel Ron is your man and a good friend - even though he is a lawyer.

Our backyard at Silver River State Park, Ocala

We hit the road from Silver River State Park where we had been staying.  There's an earlier post about that too so I won't go into details except to say it's another advantage of living in a trailer.  Nice backyard the Silver River.

North bound and down. I-95 South Carolina

US 441/301 to the state line was uneventful.  Then it was I-95 through Georgia.  My two girls were also making the trip from Ocala.  They're only staying a few days so were in their own vehicle.  We talked and I found out they had left an hour after we did so I was looking for them in Georgia.  Just across the state line into South Carolina they came along side. It's surreal seeing your two little girls tooling down the interstate.  They're young women now but always will be my little girls.  Jenna took some pictures and waves were exchanged.  After a few minutes they went along their way but we ended up passing again as happens on long road trips. I stopped at a rest area and they stopped somewhere for ice cream then we met up again.  After that they left their slow pokin' old man behind for good.

All tucked in for the night. Cracker Barrel, Spartanburg, SC

I had also decided, since I was staying so long, to just stop somewhere overnight.  There was no hurry and I didn't want to be pulling LuLu at night.  Evening came at Spartanburg, SC and Cracker Barrel.  For those of you who don't know, Cracker Barrel is a roadside country style restaurant chain predominantly in the South.  Good food and always room to park a 40 some foot RV.  If you ask real nice the manager will even let you stay the night which is exactly what I did.   I had a great fish dinner and a good night sleep, total cost $9.00 plus tip for dinner.  Thanks Cracker Barrel.

Rest area, I-26 in Tennessee

After Spartenburg came the mountains.  This was an unknown for me but Hank performed flawlessly.  It really paid off to get two times the truck needed to tow LuLu's 6,000 pounds.  As the grade increased he just dug in and made it look easy.  More importantly the downhills were just as easy with the engine brake kicking in just when it was supposed to and keeping us at a safe controlled descent speed no matter the grade.  Bald Mountain pass is the highest elevation at over 3,300 feet and we topped it with no problem.  My confidence is much better now for those future Rocky Mountain passes.

So all in all a very safe and satisfying road trip.  The weather was great and traffic light.  We're parked now in my mom's driveway.  My Verizon MiFi can't quite do the job here since we're in a "hollar' so I'm hard wired into the internet.  So much for calling in sick to work but that's okay, it's back to work and life in general but with a new backyard and family just outside the door.

Unfortunately Margo had to stay behind for bank business but we felt it was best for me to see mom for the holidays then come back later when she came come along.  We're still in transition but looking forward to getting on the road for good.  It'll come.  In the meantime I'm really missing her but family is important too.

Mom's driveway

I'll post soon about our adventures up here in this beautiful country.  We're going to have some cold weather challenges too but LuLu is prepared and I'll share my strategies about that with you too.

Til next time.

True Confessions - The Great Flamingo Caper

Okay, It's time to come clean about Flo, Mingo and CoCo. As I said in the last post we had acquired them which is true, just sort of in a misdemeanor kind of way.

First of all, I want to go on the record right here that I had nothing to do with it. It was all Margo. I'm going to sing like a bird right here all over the internet for immunity from prosecution.

Here's how it went down. Our good friends (well, maybe not so "good" anymore) Dawn and Ted left on vacation a few weeks back to visit family in Pennsylvania. This is the same Dawn and Ted who had our back when we blew out a tire on LuLu coming back from Orlando earlier in the year. We've been to their house many times for parties and holidays. They've always welcomed us with open arms so it really is hard to stomach what Margo has done to the friendship. She has coveted their yard flamingos for a long time and was just waiting for the time to be right to take them for herself. Did I say I had nothing to do with this? Okay, just making sure.

After we were sure they were gone we brazenly pulled right into the driveway and commenced to thieving. Flo and Mingo were first in the car trunk, then CoCo. They didn't put up a fight or make any noise - probably because they're plastic and in CoCo's case made from a dead coconut. Just as we were getting ready to make our getaway their neighbor Bill pulled in behind the car, blocking the car with his pick up truck. At first he didn't recognize what was happening. He was just doing what a good neighbor would do by checking on things. We were caught red handed. Margo gave me a look of "should we take him out?" I gave her a look of "hell no, he probably has a gun."

After explaining to him what was up, and after he recognized us, we folded him into the plot. Ironically during this conversation Ted called him from the road to check on things. They talked for a bit and Ted was assured that all was well. That Bill is smooth I'll tell ya.



Anyway, the rest is history. I posted the blog post introducing our new friends and all was well. Unfortunately I failed to realize a few of things. Number one, Dawn is a regular reader of the blog and recognized her beloved birds when she saw the post. Number two, we know a really good defense attorney in town that could help us out of this mess but Dawn happens to be his paralegal.  Lastly, three, I think Ted knows some guys that could make us disappear very quietly.

We're going to give them back and hopefully the friendship will be able to be repaired. We're gotten some new flamingos to replace them, this time legitimately, paid for and everything. They arrived the other day after leaving the great plastic flamingo breeding grounds at Amazon.com. They've taken the first Flo and Mingo's place at the hitch and will do just as good a job of classing up the various places we visit.

So there ya go. If charges are filed and the heat arrives I'll be putting up a PayPal link for bail money.  Give generously.

UPDATE:  Apparently once Dawn and Ted arrived home and discovered the missing birds Dawn immediately ran to Facebook and set up a hotline for information on the return of their birds.  She even offered a 57 cent reward for their return thinking they had been kidnapped.  May I go on the record to say it was certainly not a kidnapping 'cause that's a felony -  it was merely a theft.  So Dawn, you can shut down your hotline.

Till next time.

Meet Florence and Domingo

Plastic pink flamingos and Airstreams just go together. Everyone knows that. But not everyone knows why. Well, through the miracle of copy and paste technology I can tell you the following from the Smithsonian Magazine.

"First designed in 1957, the fake birds are natives not of Florida but of Leominster, Massachusetts, which bills itself as the Plastics Capital of the World. At a nearby art school, sculptor Don Featherstone was hired by the plastics company Union Products, where his second assignment was to sculpt a pink flamingo. No live models presented themselves, so he unearthed a National Geographic photo spread. It took about two weeks to model both halves of the bird, brought into the third dimension by then-revolutionary injection-mold technology. A flamingo-friendly trend was the sameness of post-World War II construction. Units in new subdivisions sometimes looked virtually identical. “You had to mark your house somehow,” Featherstone says. “A woman could pick up a flamingo at the store and come home with a piece of tropical elegance under her arm to change her humdrum house.” Also, “people just thought it was pretty,” adds Featherstone’s wife, Nancy."

That's the basic story. The relationship with Airstreams and flamingos is simply the symbiotic partnership of two examples of Americana that went well together. Sales of the plastic bird slowed for a while but then "Miami Vice" came along with their oh so awesome intro and the rest is history.

We've had LuLu for almost a year now and have made some improvements - tires, interior decorating changes etc., and felt it was time to get us some birds - so we acquired these. You'll have to wait for a future blog post to learn the details of the acquisition but let's just say that Flo and Mingo, plus Mingo's sister CoCo, who is visiting from Miami, decided to come with us. Yes, Margo, who I have mentioned before names EVERYTHING, came up with the monikers for our simulated feathered friends.

Henceforth from today they will travel with us so that we may class up the various RV parks, state parks and national parks we plan to stay at. We'll have to be careful in bear country but otherwise they will maintain station at LuLu's hitch - or thereabouts.

Till next time.

Lake City Dog Show

Hello friends.

I've gotta tell ya about the Lake City dog show. Last weekend I set up the green screen booth and went to the dogs again. I know, I know.  I said on the last post that I wasn't going to do another dog show but I had paid my booth fees for Lake City before I went to Deland so was invested. These kennel clubs insist on early payment. Makes sense though. They want to know in advance how many vendors are going to attend.

Friday evening. Before the show.

Partial set up Friday evening. Night prior to show.

This was a little different set up though. My booth fee included RV space rental. Even better, my space was right behind my booth. Oh, what a difference to have LuLu right behind me. My own well stocked fridge, all my stuff and my own bathroom. I'll spare you the story of the Deland Fairgrounds toilet that wasn't bolted down..... this is a family blog.

As I suspected though the timing issues repeated themselves. This was a two day show so on Saturday I talked to a lot of show dog owners that didn't have their dogs. As in Deland most were in the custody of the handlers. They really loved the idea and promised to come back on Sunday. And they did - all at once. Sunday afternoon was non-stop, three deep at times, but, as in Deland, I lost a lot of people that just didn't want to wait. Also, come 4 o'clock when the cheers went up for best in show it cleared out in a matter of minutes. I looked up and the RV parking lot was empty and they were moving in to take down the tents.

I'm glad I went though. I met my expenses and made a profit. My web site sales were brisk this week and I saw a lot of people I had seen in Deland (repeat customers - go figure). Best of all I had some incredible neighbors. Glenn and Paula operate a sharpening business and do the show circuit. There's a lot of dog grooming at a dog show, a lot of groomers, and a lot of dull clippers and scissors. On the other side was Karen who carries a full line of conditioners, shampoos and other magical potions that the discerning show dog owner has to have. Evenings were spent over a beer dodging Glenns humongous Standard Poodles (missiles actually) as they intentionally ran full speed with full intent to take out a knee. Sadly Glenn and Paula's pizza dinner got taken out by one of the missiles in their RV while everyone else was outside.

So the real verdict is in. Dog shows - long hot days with sporadic sales until the very end then too much of a good thing but a really nice common denominator of incredibly friendly and enthusiastic people. I was shaking my head at some of them but it's like anything, hobbies grow legs sometimes and get real serious - this one grows 4.

We headed back down I-75 to Ocala Sun Resort late Sunday night in a gully washer of a rain storm. Another new experience for me. Obviously I've driven in rain but never towing a 6,000 pound Airstream. Although not the most comfortable experience I have to say that she was more stable then I thought she would be. I wasn't comfortable stopping so just kept a lot of space open ahead and all was well.

I'll be doing some local shows and such this month and next but this should be it for the photo journal. I think everyone understands the photo biz now but if you want more I'll offer a shameless plug - check out my business web site at kcartwrightphotography.com and see some of the work from the shows.

Till next time.

The dog show winners were......

So, when we last spoke I was at Deland gearing up for the weekend dog show. When you do something for the first time you have expectations but really don't know if you will meet them, totally fail or knock it out of the park. I did the math - 1,400 dogs and one green screen photographer. Sounded like good odds to me. In a nutshell I made my expenses and a few bucks but not the home run I was looking for. Even then I did better than most of the other vendors but times are tough on the circuit. I certainly got an education though.

I want my neighbor's green tent.....

My next door neighbor on "vendor row" was a retired school teacher from South Florida via the Bronx, New York who has been selling specialized dog food for a few years but showing Shelties for 20 years. We had many conversations between customers about the workings of a dog show. Suffice it to say it's complicated. Not just the terminology but the behind the scenes intricacies of dealing with certain judges, certain competitors, rankings, points, not to mention the health of the dog, attitude that particular day and on and on.

How did all this apply to my little photo booth. Well, of the 1,400 dogs entered many are turned over to professional handlers for the whole weekend. The men and women you see trotting around the ring are for hire. Not all. Some owners do handle their dogs but many don't. What this equates to for me is a dog owner stopping by my booth and loving what they see but not having their dog available. I heard it so many times, "we'll see you Sunday after the show."

There are two types of dog show participant. The person who has a show dog pet (insert breed here), lives locally or a few miles away and comes to the show for the day with Fido in tow. Then there are the people who show (insert breed here) and go to every show with sometimes 10 or more Fidos. My customers were the single participant who thinks the world of their dog and sees a portrait as something to behold. I had spectators with their dogs come by as well but the majority of the 1400 arrive in neatly stacked crates and are wheeled in and wheeled out.

Wheel 'em in and wheel 'em out.

Now I'm not saying that these "operations" don't love and take great care of their dogs, they do. It's just that they are there to compete. It's business. Not only that but when you have 12 (again insert breed) you just are not in the market for 12 green screen photos.

Anyway, Friday and Saturday were slow but I talked to a lot of people. Most were very impressed with the whole idea of an outdoor green screen booth, having never seen anything like it. Most spectators told me they wished they had brought their dog to the show. Those that did have their dogs were busy in the ring and would come back later - and many did.

Sunday came and it picked up a lot then late in the day they all hit at once. I build a photo from scratch so it takes a few minutes usually 10 or so but if the customer has trouble picking a background it takes longer. The actual photographs go quickly, unless it's like the three 4 month-old puppies which was like photographing swirling fish in a fish bowl. With the crush I lost customers that didn't want to wait but everyone I did serve had a huge smile on their face when they left and that was a nice feeling.

Hold still......

No really, HOLD STILL.....

The Monkies

A business, in my self-taught opinion, will succeed if you offer a product or service that someone has to have or a product or service that can make them more money from their product or service. Which leads me to the opportunity that this dog show did give to me. It may lead me in a new direction. While at the show I talked to a lot of breeders who liked my concept and want me to come to them and help market their puppies, i.e., make them more money. I actually set a date in November with a breeder to set up at her horse farm near Ocala. I'll photograph her puppies on the green screen and at the same time her colleagues will come with their puppies. We're gunna make a day of it. The good thing here is they're coming specifically for me - presales and no booth fees or user fees. I might bring LuLu on that job for impact and to get some good horse farm LuLu pics for myself. I also was invited back to Deland by a service dog organization to set up on graduation day at their academy sometime in the future. Individual shots, handler and dog and also the class photo. Sounds like fun.

So it wasn't a failure. The main thing was the timing issue. I need them spread out through the duration of the show, not all at once. You live and learn. I probably won't do another dog show for that reason but I truly did enjoy this one. In the mean time I'll start focusing on breeders and if the service dog angle works out I have that market too.

Lulu and I will be headed back to Ocala Monday. Blue Springs State Park was a beautiful place to spend 9 days and I encourage anyone in the area to come here, you wont regret it.  I had a great time at the show, even stayed late on Saturday night for the Kennel Club benefit Bar-B-Que - the food and live music (two guys covering Eagles songs and Jimmy Buffett) were out of this world and the show participants and board members made me feel very welcome.

Till next time  ---   no...  really HOLD STILL......

Blue Springs State Park

Well, we made it to Deland.  This is going to be a real busy week so I wanted to just touch base and let everyone know all is well in Central Florida.  As I said earlier we're here to work my green screen photo booth at a big dog show here next weekend.  I came early to be able to prepare.  I have to be set up bright and early Friday so this allows me to work my day job here at the campground through the week (with Verizon 4G goodness) and be ready to go Friday.  Oh, and a bit of recreation thrown in.

Blue Springs State Park is located just south of Deland on the St Johns River.   As the name implies it has a head spring with crystal clear 72 degree water bubbling up from the aquifer far below.  The manatees seem to like this and much to their satisfaction some people got together and decided to create a state park to protect them.

Back in 1971 Jacques Cousteau filmed a documentary here, 'The Forgotten Mermaids', as part of his adventure series, 'The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau'.   When I was  a kid I never missed a good Jacques Cousteau episode.  That was our Discovery Channel back in the day.  Now we have storage shed war shows and pawn shop shows. Glad we evolved to higher forms of entertainment.......  I don't specifically remember that episode but I'm sure I saw it, all the while begging my mom to let me stay up until it was over.

Part of the boardwalk.

Site 14. Nestled in the woods.

Feel free to visit the web site for the park here.  They do a much better job of explaining the history.  Monday morning I'll ride the bike trails then get settled in and get to work.

I'll take some pictures of the booth at the dog show to give you an idea of how things are going there.

Till then.

Gone to the dogs

Ya know, for a travel blog there hasn't been much travelling going on.  Well, that's about to change - in a few weeks.  I haven't mentioned much about my other job but I started a part-time business a while back photographing pets in front of a green screen.  It's mobile which is a good business model for someone who is on the move.  It thrives in any environment where there are a lot of dogs and a lot of owners who want pictures of their dogs - and a few bucks in their pocket (plastic gladly accepted as well).  I supply a professional print right on the spot with a choice of background (I have about 1,000 digital backgrounds) all for 10 bucks.

So, travel stories -  you're gunna get 'em.  On the 15th I'll be heading to Blue Springs State Park in DeLand, Florida to work the West Volusia Kennel Club dog show.  It's the following weekend but I'm going to go early and work my transcription job at the state park then be just down the street for the big show.  There will be 1,400 dogs entered and about 600 or so spectator dogs milling about.  I'm exercising my shutter release finger as we speak.   Two weeks later LuLu will take a ride to Lake City, FL for a show there.  We'll be staying gratis at the fair grounds for that one as the vendors get free RV parking as close to their booths as possible.  No hook ups there but that's not a problem for LuLu.  Margo's bank job is going to keep her in Ocala so these will be solo trips.  I promise to report everything that goes on.

Now, until all that happens we 're parked at our good friend Nancy's house.  Margo's been house sitting here as a part of our transition and Nancy kindly let us park LuLu in the driveway for a few weeks.  Thanks Nancy.

Nancy's driveway

So stay tuned as we get rolling.  I'm really looking forward to staying at Blue Springs and can't wait to tell you all about it.  LuLu is chomping at the bit as well.

Till then.

My Backyard

We all have our comfort zones.  For most of us it's our house or apartment.  Our part of the world where we feel safe.  A lot of that feeling comes with the familiarity of it all.  The sounds that you hear have already been identified.  The smells.  The fact that all your stuff has a place and you can for the most part find things quickly and easily.  In a house you have an extremely large amount of room for your stuff.  You might not think you do but you do.  You have multiple rooms - rooms with specific purposes. You have at least 8 foot ceilings, closets for all your clothes, etc.  You probably have a yard, front and back.  You have neighbors that you have known for years.

In an RV, not so much.  My house fits in between the white line and the yellow line on the road.  My house can go under a highway overpass.  My house has closets the size of your kitchen cabinets.  When I get to a different place I have to get used to the sounds all over again.  New neighbors.  My house smells sometimes (although they make chemicals for that).  So why in the world would I want to live like this?  Well, it's all about the backyard - I can change mine.



This is the campground at the Santos bike trails.  I've written about it before, last fall.  I came again this past Friday because it really is a world-class place.  The most amazing thing about Santos is that some company hasn't  come in and claimed it then start charging Disney World prices, although if that did happen the people would  still come.  The trails at Santos are free.  The campground is $17.00 a night.  That's it.  People come from all over the country to ride here, it's that good, truly one of Florida's best kept secrets.  A really cool backyard.

After a day at Santos I decided to move to an RV park.  Santos is for recreation, not living - a destination to go to and enjoy but then go home.   They have a 2 week  limit and I could have stayed but it would be a shame to be there and have to work.  My new digs are at Ocala Sun RV Park.   It's off of I-75 south of Ocala.  All RV parks provide a place to park, 30 or 50 amp power, water and a few amenities.  Some fancier then others.  Some trashy.  Some way too commercial.  Most offer economical monthly rates.  Ocala Sun hits the bullseye.  It's not overly fancy but classy.  Extremely clean.  My new bath/shower facility has all new tile and shower stalls with attached changing area. My new clubhouse is huge, well-appointed with a full kitchen and banquet facilities.  Oh yeah, and a pool table.  I never had a pool table in my house but I do now.   I have a swimming  pool now.  Never took the plunge and got one in the past (okay yeah I know... that was bad).

The pool

My point here is not that my lifestyle is any better or worse than anyone elses.  I've given up the intrinsic value of comfort by longterm association for the excitement of adventure.  It's really whatever makes you happier.  For me it's a new backyard every now and again.  I'm looking forward to many more.  We still have business here in Ocala to attend to so are still here but as you can see, there are many backyards around here to check out and enjoy.

TS Debbie

The Navy has the right idea. When a storm approaches their ships in port they send them out to sea to ride it out. We did the same.



Being set up under the trees was nice but when Tropical Storm Debby decided to spin around in the Gulf for (as I write this - who knows how long) it was time to get out from under them. I wasn't worried about branches. They keep the limbs cut back and under control. I was worried more about the trees coming down.

Oak trees in this part of the country are grand and sprawling. They also have an extensive root system however that root system is anchored essentially in sand. You have to go to Georgia to get clay - in these parts we have sand. When they start measuring the rainfall in feet the oak trees are at high risk for toppling over.

Remember, I'm staying at Whispering Oaks RV Park, key word oaks.  Now if Debbie had turned into a full fledge hurricane we would really head to sea, i.e. as far away as we could get. Since she is only a rain maker we decided to just move a few streets over into a big open field. It's nice to have the option to cut and run. Try to do that in your brick and mortar house.

When I took the picture we had a break in the rain. Hank's doors are open to air him out as the carpet got wet yesterday when we moved. After a day in the humidity and with the windows up he was really starting to stink.

At this point (Tuesday afternoon) Debbie has dropped about 8-12 inches here in Ocala and Gainesville in the past few days but a couple of feet in the Panhandle. They're talking about her finally starting to move across the state and into the Atlantic, thus moving closer to where we are, and bringing a lot more rain.

We're on high ground and away from any harm. The wind just slips past LuLu's curves no matter the direction. We have two full 30 pound bottles of propane. The batteries are charged. We have 40 gallons of fresh water in the tank. The pantry and the fridge are full. I'd say we're ready. Bring it on Deb.

We're nobody's fool though. The recreation center building is just over my shoulder from where I took the picture. You can see it in the prior blog post. It looks like a wooden building but that's wood siding over cement block. If all else fails we'll go shoot some pool.

Wandering Oaks

Well it's been over a month.  We last left you at Wilderness RV Resort just east of Ocala and now we come to you from Wandering Oaks RV Park north of Ocala, about 12 miles or so (more on the new digs in a few but first an update).

Things are progressing well.  The house is about taken care of.  Many many little decisions about what to keep and what to get rid of.  The experts say if you haven't used it in 6 months get rid of it.  Yeah right.  You pick something up and immediate remember where you got it, why you got it and more importantly the memories it brings back.  I had to keep telling myself  'you live in a trailer now'.  Luckily pictures can be scanned so they can come along.  All of the CDs have been sent to the cloud.   The most important knick knacks have gone to storage.  We are limiting ourselves to a 5 x 10 storage unit and have plenty of room left.  We're still a few yard sales from being done but the sorting part if pretty much done.

As for LuLu's new parking spot.  I really liked it at Wilderness.  Nice people, professionally run, always clean and absolutely no complaints.  There were a few drawbacks though.  There are not very many trees in the park other than small pines that look nice but don't offer much shade.  I had one of the few sites that had a tree and it gave some shade in the afternoon but not enough to make much of a difference.  The AC was coming on by noon and running into the evening.  My MiFi was working well but on 3G and now Ocala has 4G, however not that far east.   Even though we're still staying local it's nice to have the ability to hook up and move - so that's what we did. It's getting hot here folks.  Summer in Florida is not what the postcard people want you to think.  It's getting nasty.

Wandering Oaks is not as flashy as Wilderness.  No work out room.  No dog park and not even a pool.  It does however, as the name implies, have oak trees.  Lots of em.  There is shade aplenty and I'll take that over a pool any day.   It's also a Benjamin cheaper so that's a good thing too.  It's in the corridor between Ocala and Gainesville.  My MiFi does back flips when I turn it on - 4G is the bomb.

Filtered shade all day.

It's been hitting 90 but the site has shade in the morning and afternoon and I haven't run the air at all.  The cool breeze just blows through.  I'll need it soon enough but certainly not as much.  Oh yeah, and they have a tree guy that comes by regular so no worries about LuLu having a tree branch bounce off  her noggin.


Meetin' hall. Gotta love the rocking chairs.[/caption]

Jenna's graduation is coming up in just a few weeks.  Cheryl is coming back from California for that and to stay a while so that's a great thing.  Margo is working a new job.  I won't go into details here but those of you who know her can call and get the details on that.  With all that going on Florida is still where it's at for us.  We're nestled in the trees so all is well.

Till next time.

Being with your own kind

We all need to be with friends, family – our own kind. Rocky was nothing without Bullwinkle. Simba could not have aspired to be King without Mufasa. So it is with an RV. Lulu was doing okay in the driveway but it was time for her to be with her own kind; in a full fledged RV park. Okay, maybe I'm personalizing her a little too much. It was time to move so the house could be occupied by it's new tenant.

Last Monday we started our residence at the Wilderness RV Resort in Ocala. We still plan to be here in Ocala for a while yet, what with Jenna's graduation still a few months out. I've read to always be wary of any place that calls itself a “resort” but in this case they're close. They have 2 pools, 2 dog parks, game room, workout room, etc. It's nice. It's clean. More importantly, it's reasonably priced. It's not Disney World but then again we don't have to deal with constant helicopter over-flights either.

To make this work (the whole live on the road thing) I had to ensure I had reliable internet for my medical transcription gig. When I first came up with the idea 5 years ago the technology involved buying a satellite dish and subscribing to a service. They were sold by a company in North Carolina. You would go to the Charlotte Motor Speedway where their offices were for two or three days of installation. The cost was a couple of thousand dollars but you had internet anywhere as long as you could get the signal which meant no trees could be present within 20 degrees of the horizon in a southern exposure. Not bad. How many times would I want to camp near trees. Probably never.

Times have changed though and as most of you are aware technology has advanced a bit. Instead of hauling LuLu to North Carolina I just went to my local Verizon store and got a MiFi. It's a little gadget smaller than deck of cards that pulls down a 3G or 4G cellular signal and creates a personal wifi space wherever you are (hence the clever MiFi name). I typed my medical reports all last week at the park and it worked flawlessly – and yes safely encrypted. Margo can even surf the internet while we're driving down the road. How's that for “how far is the next Cracker Barrel”. It set me back less than $100.00 and the internet plan is the same amount I was paying the cable company. Oh, and it works under trees. Friend, blog reader, (and Verizon guy) Scott knows what I'm talking about. I swear Scott, I would have bought it from you had you not gotten yourself promoted and moved....

Now we have 30 amp power, A/C, the smell of other peoples bar-b-que grills in the evening and the all around ambiance of everyone around you having a relaxing time. It does suck to have to work and see all the folks in vacation mode around you but then again, they have to go home soon and back to their hamster wheels. I finish my lines and step outside to my picnic table and enjoy.

Game room, gym, laundry. All the comforts of the wildnerness"]

"Not bad for a back yard."]

Santos Campground

This was a weekend for just 'da boys'. Shiloh, Pepper and I spent a day and a night at the Santos campground. This is also a part of the Florida Greenway, a large swath of land that was to be a barge canal across Florida back in the day. Refer to my post on Rodman Dam to get more background. Essentially someone along the line decided that since the canal idea was kaput it would be a good idea to just leave the land the way it was. It would create a large undeveloped area for future generations. Yeah, like who would want to do that; didn't they realize how many strip malls we could fit in there? Actually, as Wikipedia so aptly puts it; "Opponents subsequently campaigned against the canal on environmental grounds, and the project stopped again in January 1971. It was officially cancelled in 1991. The right of way was turned over to the state and became the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway, named in honor of the woman who led opposition to the canal. Carr had died the prior year, age 82."

Okay, now that your cut and paste history lesson is through let me get back to talking about me..... The Santos section is just South of Ocala, less than 20 minutes from home. They have developed a mountain bike complex here that isn't to be believed. It's the best kept secret there is. Well, maybe not a total secret. People come from all over the Southeast to bike the 30 miles of trail through the woods. There was a large event going on here this weekend but when I got here they were all clearing out so I had the place almost to myself.

Now as most people know Florida is flat. Even if you don't live here you know we are short a mountain range but here at Santos you can actually MOUNTAIN bike. Like this guy.

Good thing he has a helmet.

That isn't me and I didn't take the picture but kudos to the blog I snagged it from. Santos was developed around a rock quarry so you get to jump your bike off cliffs and careen down hills that would make any Colorado biker jealous. The trails through the woods are labeled by color, choose your poison and make sure your health insurance is up to date if you choose the red trails. As the signs says, two way traffic. You can see by the trails that policy can be problematic at times. Some of the turns are very sharp and you just can't see around until you get there. Everyone wears bright colored clothes and helmets so it's all good. These are the yellow trails that I rode. No red for me.









Practice (show off) area.

Did I say it was muddy?

The campground is fantastic. Small and cozy, quiet and new. We checked in Sunday afternoon, set up, then started listening to the rain bounce off the roof. It was supposed to be clear by the afternoon but didn't really clear until after 5:00 PM. Since I have ridden here may times before I decided I'd rather just watch the race on TV instead of cover myself with 62 degree mud on the trail. I cranked up the antennae and cracked open a beer.

"Rabbit ears up, watching the race on a rainy day.

These sites are HUGE.

No barking dogs heard from here.

Bathhouse.

As you can see we were tucked into the woods, site 18. It's at the very end of the line next to the woods. Far away from everyone else - by design. When I was checking in, Shiloh and Pepper were how shall I say..... vocal. Yeah, REALLY vocal and could be heard clearly from the truck even with the windows up. They've figured out that when LuLu takes to the road it means new places to sniff and explore so they go nuts. Can't blame them though. What more does a dog really want. They calmed down when we got parked and set up and I had the best spot in the house so thanks guys.

The next morning I hit the trails but made sure not to be the first out. Let someone else clear the cobwebs across the trail. I stuck to the yellow and took it easy. The rain had stopped but the mud remained. I ran into a few other people but not many. All and all it was a good ride and Ill definitely be back for a day trip soon. By Monday afternoon LuLu was back in the driveway but stay tuned. Things are progressing. Big yard sales are coming. Property is being shed, loads lightened.

Oh, did I mention the whole trip cost me all of $22.00 (for the campsite.)   The bike trails are free.

Til next time.

A "flat" out good time

Our good friends Ted & Dawn and Ron & Carol invited us to Orlando this weekend so we took them up on it. Both couples have large Class A motor homes and we've been their guest in the past. It was always understood that when we got ours we would join them. Ted told me a few weeks ago that they were planning on staying at Tropical Palms RV Park. It's just a few miles as the "see Disney from the air" helicopter flies. It's the same distance as the crow flies as well but no self respecting crow wants to share the airspace with the "see Disney from the air" fleet buzzing back and forth. They were having a car show next door at Old Town (which is not old at all but actually an "old looking" town of a few blocks of wall to wall amusement park/shops/clubs/eateries.) You get the idea here; there's a tourist or two in residence.

They got a day head start on us but we pulled down on Saturday morning. An uneventful trip really. It was our first time on the highway with LuLu and Hank (at highway speeds) and they did great. The Turnpike Authority was glad to see our 2 extra axles, so much so that they had a separate price list just for us. We exited on 192 in Orlando and had a front row seat of all the people who just couldn't wait to get to the Mouse House. No one cared that we weighed, oh I don't know, 5 times what they did in their mini vans and SUV's,the monorail was pulling out of the station and time was a wastin'.

At the park

After we passed the main entrance to Disney we found the RV park in short order. Our site was next to Dawn and Ted with Ron and Carol on the other side and after setting up Margo pronounced LuLu ready for the reveal and we showed her off.

Living room

Monkey business

We all took a trip to Camping World since it was right down the road, and our wallets weren't lightened enough yet, then we got down to what we came for. Food and drink. Ted was flying the colors, tending to the clams on the grill while Ron had the 5 gallon cooking pot turned up to full blast with shrimp, crawdads, potatoes, polish sausage, clams, and corn. This was ceremoniously dumped out on a newspaper covered picnic table and we ate like it was 10 minutes to closing at the Golden Coral Buffet.

Flying the colors on Ted and Dawn's honkingly huge RV

Ron - feeding the masses

Afterward we took in the car show at Old Town, walked the shops, watched the bungee jumpers fly though the air, and just generally did the tourist thing in the land of the $1.99 Snicker's Bar (the small one, not the double size).

A restful night in LuLu ensued then a pancake breakfast in Dawn and Ted's coach. With the food gone and check out time approaching we all packed up and headed out.

A cold front was coming through so the winds were starting to pick up. As we headed down the turnpike I could feel it pushing but actually it was not as bad as I had envisioned. We were cruising along at 65 and Margo said she smelled rubber burning. I didn't and dismissed it but she said that she could smell it. I thought, 'okay, if we have a tire going down how could she smell it at 65 with the said tire behind us'. I reassured her that all was well at which time someone in a car pulled up along side and motioned to me that we had a problem. Hand gestures, lips forming the phase "blow out". I hadn't felt or heard anything. I pulled off and sure enough the curbside (right) front tire had exploded.

Now we knew LuLu needed some new flip flops but the tread was okay for short trips. The tires are about 4 years old and looked good but that isn't always the case. We got really lucky though. We stopped in time that it didn't shred and do damage to the wheel well or water tanks. We were in a place where we could be seen at least a mile ahead of time and were able to get it off the shoulder partially into the grass. I had previously checked the spare and aired it up so that was not a problem and had gone over the steps to change it. I got out my leveling blocks and backed her up onto them so the flat was able to be removed. We called Dawn and Ted who we knew were about 10 minutes behind us to let them know not to be alarmed when they saw us on the side of the road. They pulled in behind us and Ted helped me change it out. We were back on the road in no time no worse for wear.

Stepped on a pop top - blew out a flip flop

Look Ma, no jack

Ted and Dawn - watchin' our backs

As has been the case in all of our trips we learn something new and find out more about ourselves each time.  We had the opportunity to experience a blow out under the best conditions and that helps to make us more competent and confident when and if it happens in the rain on a cold night in the mountains. I'm going to check into getting some remote tire pressure sensors for LuLu so I can monitor things better. It really is hard to know what's going on back there. The windy conditions today (which didn't pose a problem) masked things though. The truck is so big it just powers through so I think if I have some sensors back there it would be a good investment.

A well used Goodyear Marathon

In the end it was a great weekend and thank you to our friends for making it so; and watching our backs.  Oh yeah, Margo, you were right - there the whole internet heard me......

Camping in the backyard

Remember when you were a kid. You got your tent and camped out in the backyard. That was essentially what we did this weekend. Silver River State Park is about 1/2 mile as the crow flies from my house. I have been there countless times on my bike to ride the trails or paddle up the Silver River to Silver Springs.   Here's the link to the park ; it's quite a place.



Over the last four years I've been riding through the campground of the park. Occasionally I'd find an Airstream, most of the time not. I always said to myself that one day I'd bring my Airstream here and camp for the night. At $24.00 a night we decided to forego a meal out and use the money for a night's rent. We cooked up some sausage, peppers and onions and just had a quiet afternoon and evening.

The whole country is experiencing snow or cold weather except for here where it's 72 degrees in the afternoon and in the 50s at night. I follow a blog called "chasing 72 degrees" and we've made that our plan for the future. This time we didn't have to chase at all. It found us.

Rodman Dam

We took our first trip this weekend for one night to Rodman Dam Campground.  It's part of the Florida Greenway and Cross Florida Barge Canal project the was on again and off again since the 1930's.  The original plan was to dig a canal through Florida from east to west to save transit time.  The project was only partially done then stopped.  The canal portion still exist today but only a small part.  For the entire story, and it's an interesting one, go here.   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_Florida_Barge_Canal

The campground is extremely nice, laid back and clean.  We wanted no excitment, just a day to relax and also to get LuLu out and about to learn the ropes.  Baby steps.  If we don't break anything the trip is a success.  By road trip standards it was a small trip, 40 miles up and 40 miles back but huge for our confidence.  We still have a long way to go and aren't getting cocky but we feel much more comfortable after this trip.

We met a nice retired couple, Lance and Maria, very experienced RV'ers from whom we learned so much as well as getting to know them a little bit.  They left to go back to Cocoa Beach and we soon headed back to Ocala.  It was everything we wanted, peace and quiet.  Actually not much more to report than that but that was the plan.