HILLSBOROUGH POT LUCK…..

The Party Pavilion ….
This pavilion is the greatest for our pot luck’s in bad weather….you can use it on a first come first server basis…

Some milling around chatting waiting for everyone to arrive…for the feast…

More chatting and socializing …please excuse the photo’s…cheapo camera and poor lighting…

Starting the feast….

The other end of the table…Margie taking pix also…..

The party pavilion even has a fire place…here fire man Roger is stating the fire….

And what a great fire it was…!!

And the rest of the story…
We arrived on Sun. about 4pm caravanning with Linda / Sandy and Soos…just as we got in the site it started to rain..but was able to get elec, and water hooked up…Monday it rained on and off all day…and I am sitting here thinking …trying to remember what we did and my mind is blank…anyway I will take pix of everyone’s site and make a blog of that soon…some are going tomorrow on the Tram trip around the park and the Fort trip that most of us did last year….rain and cold high 57 tomorrow ..some of us  want to make a trip to Plant City to the flea marked and get strawberry short cake…will see what happens…I know this is not a great post but it is all I can manage tonight…thanks for looking and come back soon..
blessings G&M

A LITTLE MORE SILVER SPRINGS….

Seen this “Halloween tree” one day on the river..

Big turtle…

Liz… river looks like glass but there is an under current…

Spider lily…

Another very old huge tree…

Nans site…don’t see her little red toad ….

Margie and Rogers site…

Me using Liz’s kayak…She has this for sale and I almost bought it….but decided it was not for me…my legs are just a tad to long for it…and about my getting a new camera …as you see me sitting here…I have my camera under my chin on the life jacket…so I could grab it fast…well I forgot it was there and went to push myself up in the seat and heard a plunk…luckily it was attached to my water bottle holder …and I grabbed it right up and started shaking the water out of it…clicking it on and off so the lens would go in and out…when I got back I took every thing out and blew it dry…in the morning it was working ok…so no new camera for me… 

I miss being at Silver Springs…hope some of us Florida girls can do a few mini GTG’ers before the big one in Jan…I know I am ready…my pocket book might not be yet…guess I will do a few day trips here..see what I can drum up…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…

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

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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MAKING IT LIVABLE…

Looking a little homey…..
I have been moving things out to the rig…making ready for living in it…I got that little fan from dad…but got me  the one in the house that is a larger round occulting fan…not in pic..and I have a small battery operated one for boon docking…had it for the van…

Moved all my spices and bottles of stuff out yesterday…I have been trying to figure out where I was going to put everything…not near enough cupboard space…so found this box ..was my dads from his gun shop…put about 50 coats of clear acrylic on it…and this is what it looks like filled up…I might paint it later…

The American box I got at a yard sale and the basket is one my brother kept on his table filled with plastic silver ware and napkins…the vintage kool-aid box holds Maggie treats…vintage green Morton salt spoon rest…I think I will paint the box… it doesn't fit…


Making it livable…move a lot of spices, cooking utensils and setting up my kitchen…these things will ride in a tote on the floor when we travel is that what you all do when on the move…I sure don’t have cupboard room to store them in..

Well it is football Sunday and this is my game day snacks and lunch…before pic…

The after pic…I should have show the tiny peppers before…I got them at a yard sale 10 for a dollar…they are hot peppers…but not much or I could not eat them..less hot than a jalapeno..I mixed a little cream cheese, plain greek yogurt, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and made my own cracker crumbs crushing multi grain crackers…and some Jimmy Dean fully cooked turkey sausage…mixed it all up and stuffed them and some mushrooms…put in toaster oven…Mmmmm good…delish…fresh corn on the cob…my game day food…since I am in Fantasy Football…I now watch as many games as I can…so I can keep up…I am having fun with it…only problem with today I have to watch the Browns and not my fav team Steelers…

I did this post on Sunday…but won’t post until Mon….seems like I am always a day behind…this is all for now thanks for looking and come back soon…5 days and counting !!!!
Blessings G&M

KAYAKING WITH THE GATORS

FIRST KAYAK TRIP HILLSBOROUGH ST. PARK
Kayaking with the gators and I am not talking about the football team!! So on Tues. I went on my first kayak trip. Liz(one of the Women RV girls) is a pro at this and she took me out and showed me the ropes… (or should I say the paddles) and the alligators!! I am using Tina’s(another RV girl) Sea Eagle Kayak. It is the small size and can seat two people. I love, love, kayaking but this one was a little large and hard and trying for me to handle. This is a pic of me on the Hillsborough River. Look at that still water…click on the pic to enlarge.
We had not gone very far and this slid into the water about 50ft in front of us!!!! Let me tell you I was scared, but held my own! Ha….Liz was cool as a cucumber ….we will just wait for a while until he gets across…all the while snapping pic’s like this is an every day happening!! YIKES! So he finally got to the sun on the other side of the river and we past by…with me watching over my shoulder the whole time….I did not take a camera because I know it would have ended up in the river. Liz took all the pic’s. This is such a fun and relaxing (with out the gators that is) I could not believe I was acutely doing it. I have wanted to for soooo long! And I love it…I see a kayak in my future.  I have more to post on my second day out on the river..but we just got home a little while ago and I am tired. I have more to share about the camping trip also. So that’s it for now thanks for looking and come back soon
blessings
G&M

DAY TRIP..& SANDY…& learning

Sitting here at home park,(Ballard Park will be my home park) 10 am and it is windy an pouring down rain, we are now getting first rain band from Sandy. Intercostal water way is really choppy. I was going to the beach, check out waves etc, but wind is too high even though I only have couple miles to go, I have to cross high bridge and not being used to driving rig I will wait for another day. Nice breeze when I can open window. Things are to deteriorate b y 2pm so I won’t be here all day, even though I only have 800 ft to pull in dads drive way. Up a small hill and around the corner. Was not to bad today but at 4pm..I looked out the window and could see a white wall coming across from the beach..was not fast enough….it was a rain band from Sandy along with fierce wind. So we thought it was time to go.This is the view out my window today. Very gray and rainy.Maggie's favorite place to sit. She is waiting on squirrels at this point.
Colleen…Thanks for the info..most helpful, I will have to figure out the hot water tank thing…not sure what you mean ..by pass…
I did do a little better figuring things out today…thanks to your comment Colleen and the answers to my question on the forum. I remembered how to switch on the house power …the switch by the door..for battery…I think…anyway when I clicked it I could then  check the panel and see that my house battery was fully charge…progress…wow. … lol. Right now I am tired form trying to absorb all the indo…so this is it for now
Thanks for looking and come back soon.
Blessings
G&M

GOODIES & BATHROOM &HELP!!

Here is the kit that they gave me when picking up my rig. 10 ft. sewer hose I wonder if that will be long enough?
The just before I was leaving one of the guys there said I have bunch of stuff I need to get rid of so take this also. Plus it had a couple WM bags with new sewer hook ups. Magana Hose as seen on TV not sure if this will be useful camping or not. And here is a pic of the power room. It is bigger than I thought it would be. The shower is right across from it.
Well I am overwhelmed with all I have to remember and know about this rig. I think the water intake, and dump will not be hard, nervous about doing it for first time (when ever that my be) but think I can do it.
Now the electric stuff is a problem, like …. I will be only doing day use for awhile parks , beach, etc. But I don’t know if I can use the house batteries , for such things as, TV, laptop, CD player, ?? with out draining them …how long do the house battery last?
I see the panel in the kitchen area , that shows levels of tanks, genny turn on, and other stuff. How about propane lots to know about that also …right now every thing is turned off…I want to use it and don’t know how ….and also with the start battery and house battery ….how full are those holes supose to be with the distilled water??? This only a few questions,,, but the major ones at this time
Help!!