This & That….at HL

I have more….

about my trip to Hardee Lakes…as i forgot my charger for my lap top..and i had such good intentions to keep up my blog with our daily adventrures…Last year master fire starter Soos showed me how to start a camp fire…looking at this fire…i think i learned well…that baby was big!!! one thing i found out that pine cones make great starters with your kindling built around them…something nice this year the rangers brought us a load of fire wood each day…and the camp host  George gave me some logs the first day…i dont think they did that for everyone…they just liked us girls …they all remembered from last year…

One day at lunch i invited everyone to come over for a “snack & yak” lunch…everyone brought a snack and we did some yakking…pic below…of course we had to dress for snow and sit in the sun…

And one night i learned a new card game…Foot & Hand… or is it Hand & Food…or maybe hoof & mouth…lol…i love it and i am addicted to it…but need at least 2 people to play…so i have to wait untill  GTG to play…as you can see this hand everyone had their cards on the table but me….lol…

Socializing…

With it being so cold every morning we did not get together to socialize until around noon or after…Margie wanted to do a pan cake breakfast but was to cold to cook and be out side for breakfast..we could not do inside because for one reason or another we could not use our rigs….maybe next month she can have one..i love her  pan cake breakfast …one year at Hillsbourgh GTG we also had Mimosas …mmmmm that was good the first & only one i have ever had…would like more but dont want to drink those alone…lol…way too good..below is Pheebe doing some socializing …she was wanting to play with Margie’s  new little long hair Chihuahua Maggie…Named after my little Papillon Princess Maggie who is now at the Rainbow Bridge as many of you know…it made me so happy when she ask if it would be ok to name the new little one after her…this little Maggie is two years old and cute as a button..she is so tiny only about 4lbs…Pheebe is 7lbs…an;yway i was really happy that Pheebes wanted to play with another dog…she really did well with the little dogs…

Took a break from playing cards on the night of the full moon and see it coming up over the lake with the reflection on the water.. so had to run out and take a pic…i know it is a little grainy was taken with my phone and it was almost dark…i am going to get a new camera soon…

And the rest of the story….

I do have some other news that i have been hanging onto for awhile…waiting to see what would happen….so i think now i can tell it…i had an offer on my house in PA a couple months ago and now it is far enough along i will announce it now…i signed the contract via email…the Boro did a sewer test and it passed…and the deed search was ok…so last i heard  my lady real estate told me they would like a closing the end of Feb…this is why i will be able to buy and new camera…talked to my son a couple days ago and he will be getting all that is left out of the shed and garage…and that will be it…this is such a relief to me you cant imagine…my stress level will now be below my eyes instead of over my head…lol…so thats it for now ….thanks for looking and come back soon…blessings GM&P

TORNADO & PJ PARTY IN THE BATH HOUSE….

We had a PJ party…

in the bath house due to a tornado..at Hardee Lakes….About 3:30 am my smart phone (glad it is smart) started to squawk like the TV when weather warning comes on..took a look and it said a tornado was in your area take cover NOW..!! Me & Pheebe in the bath house….wet and dishevled …Pheeve was shaking for awhile…

I grabbed phone keys leash (i kept her harnas on for bedtime that night) and out the door in the black dark rain to the bath house that was close only about 100 yards away…when we got there about 3 people were there …they had smart phones also …More peeps kept comimg in and there were about a couple doz there in the womens BR…same in the mens…

Carol left & Margie right with Annie & Maggie… at the pot luck that night Carol and i discussed that if a warning came up i should take cover then call her (there were storm warnings up at that time)…so that is what i did…Margie’s hubby was there somewhere with their other dog Buddy…

In the mean time our forum friend Vicki and hubby were out in the truck contacting our group members and just as i called the were knocking on  Carols door and gave her a ride to the BH…they and camp host George & Chris were out letting people know they had also called me…below i had sat Pheebe down for a min…she was still scared…as with the rest of the camping experience she was a perfect little girl…only barked on time and that was because another dog barked…didnt even growl…and there were just as many dogs as people….she was sitting in the corner of the sink…see those little teeth…she has an overbite…

We were there about 1 1/2 hr. before we got the all clear…and there was several tornados that were down…the closest one to us was only 13 miles away and 2 people were killed…it was very scary happnening…the only other time my phone had to alert me was the day of my brothers funeal ..we were all at his house after when my phone went off…i had a hard time getting everyone to the basement…that time the tornado touched down only 4 miles away….i trust my smart phone …below some of the flooding at the CG…

More flooding and some blown away trash and other stuff…

Below is more blown away and a tent that did not blow away but it was listing to one side…and very wet…there were several tents camped out durning this bad weather…very unusal weather for Florida in Jan…

The rest of the weather durning this GTG was very cold…thats it for this story…hope someome is reading my blog…i dont see many comments (which we love keeps me motivated) anyway thats it for now …thanks for looking and come back soon…blessings GM&P

A HIKE…OR WALK…??

Hike or walk….

Well what ever you want to call it…this was Pheebe’s first ..she is not sure where to go first …something caught her eye…a lot of things distract her….lol…This county park has some great walking trails…lots of the  old Florida look …dripping with moss…

ok what ..what now…

And thru the moss we spotted this egret…i love looking for the birds of Florida…we dont see things like this where i come from….i even love the ibis…they are like the robins of the north..everywhere…

At the edge of the lake we spy another egret…did not see much wild life…if it was not so cold and a i was not a such a wimp…i would have walked more …and seen more…

We did walk over to one of the other 4 lakes …not sure which one it was tho….

Did not even see many of the cute little wild flowers of Florida…they pop up all over the place and so cute..only seen these cuties…so dainty…

And the rest of the story….

We did cut the walk around the lake shore…as good as Pheebe was she had her moments…a total melt down…while we were walking a ranger came by in a truck…even tho i picked her up and stepped away from the road …she got on one of her hysterical jags…nothing could calm her down…15 min. after he was gone she was still at it trying to chase him down the road and  he was no where in site…this is how she gets…so we started walking back…she was still in that mode…did not calm down until we went inside…going to work on cleaning up the messy rig…do laundry …have to take dad to new cardio doc to see about his pace maker battery getting low…his cardio does not do that part… after it warms up i want to do some day trips with the rig…well all for now thanks for looking and come back soon …blessings GM&P

HARDEE LAKES …JAN 2016

We made it to Hardee Lakes….

on Sat. not Friday as planned…due to severe storms that swept across Florida…it did not clear on my rt. until 3pm …and that was to late for me to leave and not have to drive after dark…so we got out of camp driveway before 8 am…took about 4 hrs to drive a 2hr & 30 min. drive….got Pheebe out of the RV and she was a different dog…i will post aboit that later…below is my site…from the back…that is where the fire pit was so that was that was my social spot…most campfire and potlucks were held there…if you look hard you might be able to see a little black & brown face it the back window….

And here are some of us sitting around the campfire  in our winter attire freezing…it has been a very cold GTG in Florida this Jan. L to R…Tina …my chair…Soos …Nan (from the GRRITS rv group) ..CArol and Margie…

A Dutch Oven potluck…

was held Sunday afternoon…there were actually there different gourps of us here…the DOG (Dutch Oven Group)… GRITTS (an off shut of the FB Women Who RV) and us forum sisters …(WomenRVFourm)…some of the members are in more than one group..

And the food was out of this world …yum yum..this was not a cook off like they had this year..just a bunch getting together to cook & eat…those of us that have no Dutch Oven took a dish of what ever…

And this was Pheebe’s fav spot…like i said she was a different dog when we go to the campground…not carrying on getting hysterical like she has been…now dont get me wrong she was not perfect…she did some wild barking some of the time …but she was being more like a normal dog and being social most of the time..i was so pleased and happy…

Next i will post about the PJ party in the campground bathhouse!!!

All for now thanks for looking and come back soon blessings to all …GM&P

Another Carol…and some Pheebe

After Christmas….

Another Carol came to visit in camp driveway for a couple days…the plan was she would get i site at Wickham Park CG and i would also…but that did not work out as they were full…she has a smaller class C and was able to fit…it was only for 2 days and not much time to do anything..but a really nice visit…we did go to a few thirft stores…we really liked this one …and the name! She had a lot of vintage merchandise thats right up my alley… we ate..yacked…and ate more…i ate too much over the holidays and gained some of the wt. i lost back…below a pic of me & Carol…

 

A couple fat Catz…? out prowling…

And look at this big girl….

being a good girl also…but she was under the influence of Benadryl…and it helped alot…she was just a little growly…no barking or going hysterical ….

She even let the vet tech pick her up off the table and carry her to another room…and she was a good girl the whole time…the vet came in to talk to me…he got up against the wall across from us and slid down on his haunches to talk to me she did not bark but growled everytime he moved…

This is the story…i took her to Florida Aid to Animals…to get flea and heart worm meds…i told them that 48 hrs before she ate something that made her choke the crunching noise i heard sounded like plastic….well they thought she might need an x-ray…and sent me else where… I went to another vet…so after they examined her and ask questions they didnt think she need x-ray…and so we got the meds there…but before i went to FAA ..they told me to give her 1 ml if Benadryl …because of how she acted … anyway… i am beging to see subtle changes in her behavior…will blog more about this later…right now I am getting ready to head out to Hardee Lakes for a GTG with the forum girls…some new from FB …and some of the Dutch Oven gang…i will be gone a week…taking dad for his pace maker check and then on Friday we are off…cant wait…well all for now ..thanks for looking and come back soon … blessings GM&P

BIG CYPRESS ….

We left the….

the Everglades and motored on to The Big Cypress National Preserver…we only passed thru this area ….but there was enough to see that i want to go back…

We stopped at the visitors center to check things out …. again this was just a pass thru and I  want to go back…we got our passports stamped and just a quick look see…then on the boardwalk out side  the VS….

Me on the board walk

The whole way across on rt 41 there is a canal that runs along side…around 15 ft or so wide…i was busy driving at a slow speed trying to see all the wild life along it…mostly birds…also there were people stopped along side the road fishing…on our way out of the VS the man said to us be sure and check out the alligators ….not sure of what he was talking about …we did see a boardwalk and some people up ahead…so figured we would check it out…pic below is Carol checking out the alligators….we seen what he was talking about….

The canal along the road with gators

While we were checking things out we saw the gators…really cool..there were about 8 hanging around this area…we wondered why went all of a sudden they went on a feeding frenzy…some people had thrown a bunch of hamburger buns in the water…i clicked on my camera and started to video the tharshing aournd ….it was pretty spectacular even if was only over buns…i can not get the video here …but i will keep trying…not sure it is wise to feed the gators…but people must do it often because they were hanging like the knew food was coming…

He looks a little menacing doesn’t he…

Below pic of another gator swimming around…let me tell ya these were not little gators …

We called this guy “camo gator” he just seemed to hang aournd with this branch over is nose….

The “camo gator”

This guy was pretty brave to be looking for lunch so close to this gator!…We watched for awhile but the gator ignored the bird…I seen other neet birds and took pic’s and for some unknow reason…(i don’t think ahead sometimes) i deleted them from my phone…i don’t think at all sometimes….

A brave Egret

The rest of the story…..

This was a whirlwind trip and I did not get to see and do ….so i really want to go back …and after reading about Shark Valley on Sherry’s blog i want to go there also…We left the  preserve thought we might go over and spend the night at Hardee Lakes before parting ways…but we were to tired and just found a WM to boondock at…..Pheebe is now decided she does not like cars and is going ballistic when one goes by…this last 3 weeks i would take her to the side of the road in the grass and say wait for the car…never a problem she would wait…now forget it. Well i wish i had more to say about the Preserve because it looks like a great place to visit…but like i said it was a quick trip…so  all for now thanks for looking and come back soon…blessing GM&P

A new year…...

Taking down the tree….

in the rig today…thought i would show it before i did…got this pretty white tree with light at after Cristmas sales last year at WM…had a Dollar Tree ponisetta bush picked off the blooms and put in the tree…next year i am going all aqua and white…if i still have this lemon rig i will change decor to the sea and call it the Rolling Sea Cottage…

Still having issues with Pheebe…hysterical barking at people i try to distract her but no go…even treats doesn’t do the trick…below is a pic of her with a sock…she loves socks clean or dirty….this one she grabed out of my shoe and took off for the bedroom…i went to check and see what she was doing and this is what i saw…she really is a sweet little dog…loveing and smart….

More  Pheebe her most favorite spot in the whole world …the bed…she is agile and with those long legs she flys right up on the bed….

GTG at Wickham Park Campground…..

Three of us Women RV Forum members had a mini GTG at Wickham mid Dec.CarolB , Margie and her hubby and me…  I know i am late with the blog about it….but hey better late than never… below our rigs Carolb and i shared a spot…

Below Margie and pup Annie …Me…and Carolb with two of her pups ….her other pup was haning out beside me…

We did not do much…just hung out and had a great 2 night visit…Margie brought her golf cart along and one night we road thru the main park to view the 3 million light show…if you were camped you could do the tour free…i did the walk thru last year and is a great Christmas light show….below queen Annie riding in her carriage …aka golf cart…i guess she considers this her very own GC…

More hanging out …l to r Margie , Roger and Carolb…

And the rest of the story….

I stil have more tales to tell of the Everglade and Big Cypress trip…and a few other things…like i have had camp driveway friends visiting…it has been a great Dec. for me…nice way to end the year…for me it was not a good one..thinking about my Maggie girl…so Dec was very good…i am headed to a GTG at Hardee Lakes mid Jan. i was there last year with the forum girls a the DOG (Dutch Oven Gathering) had a good time …but i was still have major spine problems….but this year will be much better as back is much better…the only problem i can see is Pheebe..not being sociable…so i will be busy getting the rig ready to roll…when Carolb came in Dec to supprise me …i figured out my rig was not ready to roll for a fun time on short notice…so i want to change that..i mentioned about it being a lemon…well some time i will tell you about how this  very naive newbe got taken 3 years ago….someday i will blog about it…Making sauerkraut and pork roast for NY dinner a  PA tradition…watching some football and  parades willl fill my day…So wishing you all A HAPPY NEW YEAR…. thanks for looking and come back soon…blessings GM&P