Sensationally Six

Got our crew arriving tomorrow for the big boom holiday. So many choices to get in the celebrating spirit it is hard to decide where to go and what to do. Gathering with the famdamily will be Friday, probably will participate in the Stonegate Parade on the 4th but we are undecided on the 2nd as there are two great options, then we may just take the 3rd off and get back into celebrating on the 4th. We will also be trying to hit the farmer's market and hope for peaches and produce if not maybe we will run up to the Amish stand north of town.

It's been hot but Sunday was absolutely not and gorgeous and we enjoyed some patio time as well as biking. Monday we biked again all the way into town to the post office. It's been a slow week, I've been scrapbooking again but still feel so far behind and overwhelmed with all that needs to be done. I've made a plan but not feeling like it will be done very quickly and put that with life goes by everyday so will I ever get caught up???

Happy Early 4th to you and yours!

UnFOURgettably 4 Friday!

We've had company this week...

Oh the fun we've had, park hopping, picnicking, going to ball games, bike riding, rock painting, White Grill, pumpkin shopping and painting, garage sailing, pizza dinner, swingset playing, Grave Digger driving, hummingbird watching, tractor peddling, McDonald's Filet-O-Fish lunch, around the lake walking (or being carried if you are 4!), and so much more! We love it when you come to the Meadow. Already looking forward to next time!

Stay safe, stay well... 

Bike flats

So the other day at the Resaca de la Palma State Park we rode the bike trails, it was fun. Lots of fun, not too much sun, a few birds, an ocelot, turtles, jumping fish, lookout tower. Fun! Fun that is until someone got a flat...yeah, that was me. THANKFULLY, we were back at the visitor center. The park was open but the visitor center was closed so we had to park outside the gate. This was fine, we rode in. Leaving only one of us who rode out. I walked my bike back since it had a flat back tire.

Walking it back...

Honestly, it wasn't bad. In fact, it could have been so much worse. We could have been out on one of the trails. THAT would have been quite a long walk back. Anyway, we are steering clear of some of these so called bike trails since the long thorns of the trees seem to be invading our tires. While MiRV made it back and we thought it was only my tire that was affected. However, when we found a park with a little shade to perform the flat repair both of my tires were now flat and one of his was. He pulled out 7 thorns from one tire. Geez. But he's really good at flat repairs so it's all grand! And we picked up a bottle of Slime tire repair goop! Should be all good now!

 Flat tire repair at the park in Edinburg, TX

Riding down memory lane...literally!

While the daughter was in town we headed over to visit with the Grands and while there she spies her childhood bike. The things grandparents hang onto...oh, wait, I have no room to talk after spending the last few days going through box after box of things I have held onto. Anywho, she spies her bike, grabs it and takes it for a spin.

First issue found was the kick stand wouldn't stay up, a zip tie solved that little setback, onward she goes, whoops, second issue noted, tires are flat. MiRV grabs the air compressor and in no time she's in business.

Now this is our grown, in the eyes of the law, child riding her bike up the lane at her Grands, is life any better! LOL This is also the same bike that sent her to the ER for her first set of stitches. She tried some wicked Evel Knievel moves in the neighborhood cul de sac in say 1996-97 that met with an uncooperative curve. Chin meet handle bars, handle bars meet chin and five stiches later with an ice cream treat and life is good.

Grandpa seems a bit skeptical!

 And there she goes...

 

The bike was originally left in MO for summer visits and kept cause there are those have followed her but it hasn't seen much action as of late. She gave it a good little workout and it went back into its spot until its next rider happens along.

#ChildhoodMemoriesRelived
#Nostitchesthistime

Eagle Sighting

Wow! It was incredible to see this bird.

We have actually seen eagles nest before and actually saw an eagle in its nest, but I don't really recall seeing one in flight this close. It was incredible. 

 

After we saw it fly a couple times it took to the tree and we just sat and watched it. It's a sight to see for sure!

#CedarKeyFL

Avon calling...

Avon Park that is...Avon Park Air Force Range to be exact. It's a hidden gem, another one of our priceless USAF retiree benefits. We have read about this location and since we were sort of in the neighborhood we felt like we should check it out.

For a VERY reasonable price we could stay for a whole week, we could also pay a reasonable fee for all year long access. We went with the week pass. This is not a glamping location and would really not even qualify as a campground in some eyes. However, it was just fine for us. There are no hookups...no water, no sewer dump, no electricity nor is there a bathhouse. That's was okay with us, though we did find it very convenient and considered it a boon when we found there was a portapotty on scene.
 
Another bonus was they allowed fires and the site we chose already had a start of a fire pit we could work with. MiRV cleaned it out, made it a little better and we were good to go! The nights were dark, stars were bright and it was quiet, awesome all the way around. We were pleased that the bugs did not eat us up as we star gazed and enjoyed our fire pit.

The last night we were there we had a neighbor, they were nice and not too noisy, our other neighbors during our stay were the cows. Yep, there were plenty of cows! We got in lots of bike rides and a few walks. With no cell service to speak of and using the electricity sparingly we both got lots of reading time in.

While it is remote and there are no amenities to speak of we enjoyed it quite a lot! It is NOT big rig friendly, it certainly worked for us and Roada! Now we are headed up to Lakeland to have some tweaking done on Roada, it's been a great trip!

#AvonPark

Road Trip to the Everglades!

We decided to take a little road trip to the Everglades while in the area. When we went to Key West last year we were sooooo close I can't believe we didn't stop in. Anyway, we took our time and drove down making a stop in Venice Beach which was a nice little area where we had lunch before exploring a bit of the beach and park across the street.

We also buzzed through Sarasota but only did a windshield tour not stopping to actually "do the town" maybe another time!

This looked really fun and there were lots of people there but not a lot of parking so I just snapped this on our way by!

 



We stopped at Midway Campground in Big Cypress National Preserve and snagged a primitive site near the exit.  It was a pretty neat place with a little lake that DID have a gator in it. that was relatively quiet. Several full hook up sites but without a reservation we were only able to get into a primitive, which was actually fine. We had our own little picnic table and awning and we were close to the potty house (no showers).

Up and back on the road we were up for adventure as we wheeled into Shark Valley, which is part of the Everglades on the top side of the park so to speak. This turned out to be an excellent adventure as we biked the trail, 7 miles down, 8 miles back. Goodness, the wildlife we saw. The gators/crocs were plentiful for sure, we saw 64 going down and 29 on the way back. That was amazing, on the way back up we saw babies in two different locations, now that was awesome!!! and so many birds of all shapes, sizes and colors. Loved the anhinga's!

The bikers!!

 



 The gators...sometimes, I felt our worlds were getting a little too close...

The photographer, who didn't mind the closeness!

 

Tonight we are at Flamingo Park in the southern park of the 'Glades. It's insect fortified, in fact the mosquito conditions listed on the park entrance sign states it's moderate today. Ugh!

#Everglades

St Petersburg

What a great little town! I would come back here in a heart beat. We immediately found right sized parking, snagged us a spot, unhooked the bikes and took off. It was such a bike friendly town, we had no real agenda except to explore and be back at the Dali museum around 5 p.m. to take advantage of the half price entry on Thursdays after five!

We rode and we rode and we rode, we found a huge bookstore, Haslam's, where we just wandered and looked, wandered and looked, and then wandered and looked some more and left without buying a thing; cause you know since we moved into Roada we have very limited space!

We also stopped by Tropicana Field where the Rays play and found a Cardinals thingy. It's always fun to find connections to things you know!

 Tropicana Field

 

 

We biked out to Snell Island passing the somewhat famous so I'm told Vinoy Hotel. We also saw a photo shoot going on which we may or ay not of been responsible for double takes since we rode right through as they were clicking away and a guy yells,  "bike" ...oops!

This town must be active as all get out as they had all kinds of clubs...lawn bowling, tennis, shuffleboard, chess, dancing. MiRV wanted to stop and play but they weren't out so on we went around Mirror Lake.

After a snack and then late lunch in Roada, we loaded the bikes back up and walked on over to the Dali. I guess lots of other people had the same idea we did on the half price entry savings night. However, the line moved pretty quickly but the museum was crowded, we made our way to the exhibits and put on our headphones for the self guided audio tour. Yeah, this guy was goofy but I did like some of his work. There was also a special showing of some Picasso works. I am not a huge Picasso fan but I guess he was one of Dali's mentors and seeing the similarities of their work is surprising. It also made MiRV think, well geez, he could have copied someone else too, just didn't realize it would have made him famous to do so. LOL

We closed the place down so to speak, then made our way back to Roada and headed to our driveway in Tampa! Another great day out and about.

 

#Dali

#Picasso

#StPetersburg

#Shuffleboard

Living on Tampa Time

We have been South for a few weeks now. So far the weather has been pleasant if not too warm, however, not complaining since up North they are getting cold and snow.

We are driveway camping for the time being and all seems to be going well, we have the solar and plug in is available if needed. Having a few issues with our fridge/freezer but all else seems to be working good. It's still such a learning curve with the new set up. We are so thankful to be able to do this as it is working well to be near family at this time.

While we aren't exactly being tourist we are still getting out and about. There is a great park just up the street that we walk or bike to nearly every day. It's got a nice restroom! There is also a walking/biking trail that offers workout stations. Some of them are pretty fun to do!

We love taking the bikes for errands and have found a close by Starbuck's, Target, Publix, Sam's Club, Home Depot, Dollar General not to mention the base is just a hop, skip and a jump away! Great to be in sunny weather!

There could certainly be worse places to be in the winter!

#TAMPA

Bayshore Drive Bike Ride

It was a beautiful morning to take a ride on the bay. We even saw dolphins!