MORE TRAIL WALKING..

Losing track of days….

I am losing track of what I did and when …so from now on just going to show and tell…with no time line…on this day Liz, Soos, the dogs and I went for a walk on the Swamp Trail…

Soos , Liz and dogs walking ahead of me on the trail…the leader hit the cob webs first and saved me from any lol…

Palms along the way..sure wish I had a better camera …lol…almost got one…this trip but that will be in another post…

Things that grow in the swamp ,,cypress trees and other growing things along with wild life but I  didn’t see any wild things…except maybe the two in front of me…

As we got deeper into the swamp we had to walk across the swamp on the board walk…

Soos got to the observation deck first and saw a snake…ugh I do not like those critters…

The Silver Springs River…fed by all springs…

And yet another pic of the river from the deck..I never get tired of looking…

And the rest of the story..

I have very few pics of wild life….as by the time I get my camera up and pointed and clicked..the wild life is gone…slow turtles is what I get with my slow camera lol…but Liz said I could copy some of hers…I want just to show on my blog the birds and gator that I saw with her on our kayaking expeditions ..mostly the birds so I can check them of my list and have some proof that I saw them and when and where…yesterday Liz and I went kayaking so I did see some things then…I will post about…and my almost getting a new camera…so today not sure what is going on…but I a few we are taking the fur babies for a walk…all for now thanks for looking and come back soon ..blessings to all G&M

TUES…3RD DAY….

Canoeing on Tues….
Liz loading her new Kayoo on the wheeled cart at the launch parking lot…that I think is so awesome..you can pick it up with one hand..it feels about as heavy as a large cardboard box…only 12lbs I think… made of carbon fiber…the best of both worlds kayak and canoe….  

I have no pics but I went in a canoe with Soos at the helm…what a wild ride lol… anyway here are some pics I was able to take..

Again my camera is the pitts…but you can get the idea of how clear the water is…

A lot of green under water plants…all different shades of green….

Liz with her new kayoo…part canoe and kayak…light as a feather…

We seen a ton of turtles…this was one of the largest ….seen birds,my first Green Heron, alligator x2…we were looking for the monkeys that were left after they discontinued the Jungle Cruse but did not see them…some peeps coming down the river said they seen them but they were gone by the time we got to that place..

And when we got to the head water of the river we ran into this glass bottom boat tour..and a bunch of other kayaks and canoes I think we are all going to take a ride on the boat sometime this week…

And at the head water is a huge spring feeding the river…you can see it here in this pic the aqua blue color…in another post I mentioned that the crystal clear water caused me a slight problem…well I have said many time about being afraid of high places…well when looking down into this crystal clear water I have that same feeling of terror …but I went on,…each time in the shallow part of the river l looked down it got a little better and I could tolerate it some…so that was ok…THEN when we got to the head water it was very deep ..hundreds of feet deep?? I don’t know but it was more that I could take…so I did not get to see the statues that are sunk there form various movie sets …there were tons of movies filmed on the Silver Springs River…this place has a most interesting history dating back to the 1500’s…I will try and remember some of what the man at the boat launch area told us…So this is it for now I will publish this tonight as we are about to go kayaking again …thanks for looking and come back soon ..blessings to all G&M
The spring at the head water in pic below…aqua blue…

2nd DAY SILVER SPRINGS….

The sites….
My site at Silver Springs….sites are large and mostly level…picnic table, grill, and fire ring…a lot of very nice pull thru sites at this park…

Looking down the loop from my site…Soos red truck with her TT…Liz and her nice shiny rig..and Linda’s TT and van…Margie and Roger around the bend…cant see I will take pic and show soon….

Walking the trails…
Liz…Soos and I walking the River Trail early in the morning ..notice the jackets…was a little chilly that morning…(Mon.)

At the end of the at the end of the trail the Silver Springs river…pic below looking down the river…

Looking up the river…crystal clear water…that caused me  a slight problem later….

The water was so clear (not bluish like my pic) you could see everything at the bottom …look and you can see tons of fish…there is no fishing in the Silver Springs River…to bad because now I can fish in FL …if I had a better camera you could see fish better…

The food….
The pot luck Mon. night….from front left…Liz…Margie ..Roger…Linda …Soos …me taking pic….

Nothing much was planned…we just brought what we had..and it seems to work out..

The rest of the story..
We are all have a great time…canoeing..kayaking…walking trails…eating ..chatting…dog walking,…more to come…thanks for looking and come back soon…blessings to all G&M

FIRST DAY …ST. CLOUD….

The first leg of trip ….
was an over night stop in St. Cloud…to meet up with Linda…in pic below we are camped at camp Linda/Sandy ( sisters)….they have a 30 amp hook up for visitors…this is where Linda use to have a 5th wheel parked…there is a little pavilion/barn like building behind my rig…it is so nice here…out in the country..(I miss that.. lot of country in PA) ….

Linda and Sandy’s home …beautiful large home with 6 bedrooms …I was amazed at how big it is…wrap around porch on 2 sides…so very nice…

Woke up to ….
the crowing of a rooster and a little fog…and a temp of 58….brrr…but it felt good to me…after all this hot weather…and it has been like forever since I heard a rooster at sunrise…cool beans…Linda and I sat around and chatted for a couple hrs.…then she had to finished packing her trailer…so Maggie and I did a few things in the rig…then for dinner time we went to a neat little diner here in St. Cloud..was an old gas station at one time…they make the best burgers …all fresh food no frozen …I had a burger and sweet potato fries…the fries were cut supper thin and were sweet and crispy..some of the best I have ever had..sorry not pic…yakking and eating I forgot all about pics …I will try and do better…will be getting ready now to leave around 11 or 12 …headed to the GTG…as I am sitting her the local news is one and they were talking about Silver Springs St Park..something about monkeys that live there..I was typing and missed what it was about…So off we go now …first stop at Wal Mart to get ice for the black tank… I will talk about that another time…lets just say the sad smiley face says it all..so thanks for looking and come back soon ..blessing to all G&M

RV SHOW….

Went to an RV show…
over at the Mall in Melbourne on Thurs. after leaving the campground…after all the flushing of the tanks I needed something fun to do…La Mesa was having a show…the same one that I ended up getting my RV at this time last year….I went in a few of these (pic below) just to sit in the drivers seat…see if I thought I could drive one….the jury is still out on the one….

This new  Itasca is a two tone color ..a really bad brown and white..it looks ok in this pic..but I really did not like it at all…nice inside tho…don’t know who the lady is in the pic..I didn’t realize she was standing there…

I was looking for some class B’s…but they only had one Roadtrek ..I can see how those that have them love and brag on them…I think I would not mind traveling in one like this,..it is not at all like the one I seen there last year that I didn’t like…don’t remember what kind it was…but for traveling and not extended live in ..I would like it…but over a few months at a time it would be to small for me…

look at the size of that counter top! My eyes about popped out when I walked in…at least 5ft…in a class C no less…

These pic’s are mostly of the class C Itasca’s they had there…now this is something that I would like to have…pull out pantry…

Another sink and counter…has much more room than mine…I think I will try and figure out a sink cover for mine…like that idea…if I still had my woodworking shop I could make one easy enough…

They must have had about a couple hundred RV’s squeezed in the parking lot area…more than last year… I enjoyed looking but really like mine…even tho there were some really nice up grades that I wouldn’t mind having..Getting ready to leave this morning to the Silver Springs GTG…meeting Linann at her place in ST. Cloud ..spend the night and then go to the GTG on Sunday…really looking forward to this outing,..I still have a few last min. things then we will be off..thanks for looking and come back soon…blessings to all G&M

A WORKING OVER NIGHT’ER….

I parked at….
Wickham Park campgrounds here in Melbourne for over night…it is only about 5 miles or less from dads house…but this is not a pleasure stay…

I have been here playing around with this pretty red hose…lol…been having problems with a smelly black tank…on and off for the last 6 months really got bad on the way back from PA…I finally posted on the Women RV forum about my problems…should have done it awhile ago…anyway I got a lot of help from them…so right now and last evening I have been filling and dumping both my tanks..trying to get them clean..don’t know why all those stones are in the dump area…

To make a very long story short …it was my own stupid fault that I have this problem…knowing nothing about an RV when I got this a year ago..(wow its been a year this month)… I was so wrapped up in the other functions of the rig and trying to figure them out that I didn’t think that the tanks were that complicated …well I was wrong… not complicated but do need special care…one part of the care is WATER lots and lots of water…and other things such as the pic below…I will now be using lots of water and Calgon water softener to keep it clean and some kind of enzyme tor smell…

I think the problem will be solved when I am done with all this filling, flushing and dumping of the tanks…if not then I will have to look at other things such as the vent pipe…ugh..please no…let this take care of it…
I am also trying to get ready to leave for Silver Springs …leaving on Sat…meet up with Linda..spend the night parked at her house then we will leave on Sun for the campground I think it is about 100 mile from there…I will be gone for a week…so need to get food to feed my self and a couple of pot luck’s…just found out you can rent kayaks there..so I am looking forward to some kayaking, glass bottom boat..and what ever else there is to do..I am sure a lot…boy I wish I had my own kayak…I think check out is at 3 pm…so better get busy with my flushing…thanks for looking and come back soon..blessings to all …G&M
 

SOME CHANGES AND MODS TO RV…

Sofa change….
I was thinking I need to put something on the sofa to keep it clean..doggie always jumping on it…so I found this old quilt my brother gave me…(in good condition) put it on over the whole sofa that way it wont slip off….. as it hangs down the back to the floor…then put the throw over the back…and my pillows and I have a new sofa!! More homey looking than the standard brown/tan RV décor ….

Close up of the quilting and pattern on the quilt..this is an old one and hand quilted..I know some would say I should not use it…but why not…what is the use of having something if it is packed away…then given to the next person to pack away so on and so forth…

Some mods….
Some mods in the kitchen…the white spice hangers are great…they not only hold the clear spice  jars (in middle) but also the ones you buy in the stores so you don’t have to take them out and transfer to the other jars…in the clear jars I am going to put the herbs that I plan on growing this winter , dry them and put them in the jars..

And also on the other side are three more…just enough for me to put my meds in the cupboard …they slip right in place..just fit …

Got this step up at Home Depot..a couple weeks ago..I forgot the one I had when I left PA …my step stopped working just before I left in the spring and I had no way of getting it looked at in PA…I think that the sensor is not working…the step stopped working after the door got slammed real hard.. …I like this new two step stool..much easer for me to get in and out of…so I am in no hurry at this time to fix it….when I got the other single step they did not have these ones…glad I forgot the other one when I found this one…Maggie can even use it…

The rest of the story…..
There is suppose to be a cold front coming thru tonight and tomorrow and Thur. so I think I will wait until storms all over.. then go over to Wickham Park to dump the tanks …decided I will spend the night and flush it out real good…I still having problems with a smell…I thought I had it figured out the other day but …NOT…it is exasperating …. excited to be going on a GTG…Dad has to get a new A/C for the house …coming Wed  to put it in..I will be relieved with some cooler weather…Maggie too…for some reason she is not doing well with the heat this year…will work in the rig again today…so this is it for now thanks for looking and come back soon…have a great day and stay safe…blessings to all..G&M

MORE THINGS WE SEE…..

More things…
When we watch at the home park..we see many things and people…last weekend they  had a regatta… a ton of sail boats of all shapes and sizes ..I was sitting at the RV by the boat ramp …our usual spot and these one man boats were getting ready to launch in the grass across the boat ramp from me…besides these …there were about 1/2 doz. on my side of the boat ramp getting ready..

While the boats on shore  were getting their sails up and ready a larger boat was towing this line of boats over to join the rest…they had sails down so had to be towed..

and in between all these sail boats were the kids from a local high school out practicing in the long boats…I forget what you call them…but they race them and practice here every Sat. there were  4 boat loads of them that day..they came very early and by the time they got back the place was filled with the sail boats and they had a hard time finding a  landing place. They have a locked fenced in place where they store the boats and I think they are shared by other schools and collages…

And to add a little more to the mix….before any of the above descended on the park…this young man had his mom drop him and his kayak and fishing gear off…I think (I am not a good judge of age of young people they all look so young)…he was somewhere between 12 and maybe 15…anyway he spent the whole day fishing up and down the rivers…he had very good equipment and was very organized knew what he was doing…I had to admire him for being out doors and doing things not sitting around in front of a screen…sometimes he would get out and come on shore to fish and talk with other fishermen…

And then there was this….

and this impressed me very much !…Maggie and I were inside the rig taking a rest…when we all of a sudden here this awful roar …like ear splitting noise…we both jumped up to see what was going on…well this is what we saw…it was not in the water yet they had just unloaded off the trailer and started it up…yikes…never heard anything like it …so of course I went out too take a look….me and everyone else that was around…had their cameras out and clicking away…you all know what a nasty camera I have so the pics are not the best…so do click and open to get a good look…

Right click to open and see bigger pic…

Checking out that jet engine …. I think they were just doing some testing running it up and down the river a couple times…now I want to go and see one of these races…seen these on TV…but it was a whole different thing seeing up close and personal…wow…

They had it on idle the whole way out into the Indian River…and around the corner…I could hear it after that but not see it for awhile..then it came down river past us…but it was clear over on the other side of the river going probably 100 miles an hr…faster than any boat I have seen…cool beans  !!! Maggie and I are getting ready for our camping trip to Silver Springs ST. Park…have clean the rig and put in supplies…get oil changed and take a ride over to Wickham Park to dump the tanks...not sure if I will spend the night or not...it cost $15 to dump and for a couple buck more I can stay...so just might do that...Maybe Wed. after oil change I will go over there....well that's it for now thanks for looking and come back soon...blessings to all...G&M
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