Wintering in Florida Continued

Month 3 – February 2022

February was packed full of food, fun, cold nights, a trip to Indianapolis, a trip to the beach and a small flood in the RV. We have enjoyed our stay at Campers Holiday in Brooksville. The park is a gem and a great find. Reservations for next year have already been made. However, Theo will be parked in a different site. A site that is level and where her awning can be extended. YAY!! The park had so many activities that I was excited to take part in, but there wasn’t any time. Between visiting family and friends, exploring, working,  chores and physical therapy it just did not work out. We only made it to the pool one time, line dance class one time. Water aerobics? Nope. Blue Grass Music night? Nope. Nightly campfire? Nope. Quilters Corner? Nope. There is always next year, though. So… what have we been doing?

Small Flood in the Rig

Let’s start out with the not so fun stuff. We had a bit of a water issue early in the month. Bill started running the Sani-flush after emptying the black tank. I was happily working on some quilt blocks while doing some laundry. That’s when I heard this awful squawking. It was the alarm alerting us to water on the floor. I went to check it out, expecting just a little water. What I found was a lake developing on our bathroom floor. I calmly went to the window to tell Bill he needed to get in here now, there was water rushing out of the washing machine area. I started getting towels out to start mopping it up. He hadn’t come in yet. I go back to the window and tell him, with a little more urgency… YOU NEED TO GET IN HERE, THERE IS WATER EVERYWHERE!

It turns out the backflow device broke and the water being used to run the sani-flush was dumping into the rig. Now the water is running out into the kitchen and into the water closet. The water got turned off and the clean up began. I used all 4 of our bath towels and our 2 beach towels to sop up the water. We have no mop, we have no buckets. I used a pot to take the drenched towels outside to wring out and keep mopping up water.

Luckily, there was no damage from the water. We pulled the washer/dryer out. Bill ordered up a new part and repaired the backflow. What a handy man he is. A second water detection alarm was also ordered and placed back behind the washer. Hopefully, it will not be needed. This little device was a life saver. If you don’t have one, get one! (no affiliations)

Pig Fest

Pig Fest technically happened in January. January 28^th – 29^th to be exact. But the January blog was already written and posted. Oh well. We got an invitation from our cousins on Thursday to come over to Lakeland and go to the 25^th Annual Lakeland Pig Fest on Friday. What is Pig Fest, you ask? Is it a chance to make a real pig of yourself and enjoy award winning BBQ? Is it a BBQ competition? Is it a charity event? It is all these! Over the past 25 years, over one million dollars has been raised and given back to the community. BBQ competition teams travel from all over the country to compete and it only costs $5 for admission. Let the fun begin.

First, trade in your money for “pig bucks”. This is how you purchase food from all the vendors. Then walk the grounds and check out all the participants. Make a mental list of what you want to go back and try. Then dig in (this is where making the pig of yourself begins 😊) We sampled; smoked sausage, a smoked bologna sandwich, burnt ends of beef brisket, roasted mini peppers, roasted green beans, corn on the cob, BBQ Pork egg rolls, stuffed poblano peppers, homemade dump cake AND the world’s worst mac n’cheese. I think we succeeded in being little piggies. Everything was lip-smacking delicious (except the mac n’cheese)

To my surprise, though, there were carnival foods being offered as well. Popcorn, cotton candy, candy apples, elephant ears, deep-fried brownies… This is just wrong (in my opinion). When you are surrounded by homemade desserts and mouth-watering BBQ why would you stand in a 100’ long line to get a deep-fried brownie??? I just can’t figure this one out. Maybe I should have asked one of the people standing in those lines?

I strongly suggest attending the Pig Fest. You will not be hungry or disappointed when you leave.

A Wedding in Indianapolis

My best friend’s daughter is getting married. How can that be? I was there when she was born. Well not actually there for the birth, but a few weeks after. We left warm weather and flew to the frozen tundra of Indiana. About 24 hours before our flight, we were notified by Southwest that our flight had been rescheduled to a later flight. Immediately, I’m thinking the change was due to Covid. Isn’t that the excuse for everything these days? LOL Well, it was due to weather. Winter storm “Landon” was the name. I am thankful they gave us a 24-hour notice instead of getting to the airport and the flight being cancelled. They rebooked us on a later flight that evening. After continuing to check the weather, the decision was made to postpone the flight until the next morning. The storm was dumping snow and ice. Not so afraid of the snow but driving on ice at night is not my idea of fun.

We get up and get to the airport at the ungodly hour of 5AM to catch our 7AM flight. Shortly after takeoff we saw the sun rising out of the clouds. It was stunning.

The wedding was beautiful and I enjoyed a nice visit with my friend. We haven’t seen each other in several years but picked up right where we left off. Even though we do not see each other often, we are great pen-pals. 😉

Fort Myers and Sanibel Island

Our Facebook feed informed us that one of our favorite country bands, Midland, was going to be playing at a saloon in Ft Myers. Since this is only 2 ½ hours south of us, it was hard to pass up. Thanks FB! Tickets were reasonable and reservations were made. The weather was perfect for a top-down jeep ride and off we went down I-75 for a weekend of live music, beaches and shell hunting.

First the concert. Midland was INCREDIBLE! The Ranch is a great venue for a concert or just going out for some dancing. The tickets were general admission and the doors opened at 7PM. We arrived around 6:30 and there was a pretty long line, or so I thought, at the time. Turns out we were pretty close to the front of the line. It ended up snaking around the parking lot. Glad we got there a little early.

We got in and were able to stand about 5 rows back from the stage. There were two huge bars on each side of the dance floor/stage area. This made getting your drinks quick and painless. The band did not disappoint. They played for a little over 2 hours. The sound was great and they interacted with the audience which made for a great party. I caught a guitar pick and even caught the eye of the lead singer! (Swoon) We had a great time and will keep an eye out on their tour to see if our paths will cross again. They are a band we would enjoy seeing again and again.

Lovers Key

The next morning, Bill had to finish up some work and then we headed out to Lovers Key State Park. I wanted to take the scenic route and went against the Google Maps suggested route. One thing you must remember when you are in Florida this time of year is that EVERYONE from up north is also here. Well, maybe not everyone, but a good amount of them. That translates into A LOT of traffic and people going to the beach. I always try to pack a little extra patience and tell Bill to pack some too. Sometimes, I think he forgets his though (wink). Anyway, it took us over an hour to go 25 miles. Plan accordingly.

We finally made it out to the park and found a parking spot. Made the short walk back to the bridge that takes you out to the beach. The pedestrian bridge is closed for repair. Luckily, they also have a tram that will take you to the south beach. The park is very nice and is situated between the Gulf of Mexico and Estero Bay. There are hiking trails and paddling trails thru the mangroves.

We took the tram to the south beach. There are restrooms and a snack shack out here. If you walk past the tons of people who set up day camp right here, you can find a nice stretch of beach almost all to yourself. We laid out our blanket, had a little picnic and took a short nap. It was very peaceful and relaxing. Lovers Key is supposed to be a good place to hunt for shells, but we were not there at the right time of the day to do this. A nice walk north took us to some scraggy trees. People had placed shells on one of the tree roots. It was very cool looking. As we were heading out, a wedding was getting ready to take place. What a perfect time of day and place for a beach wedding. This was a great park for a relaxing afternoon.

Sanibel Island

Since the shell hunting was not too good at Lovers Key, I did a little research on how to find good shells. I found the first low tide of the day is the best. Rise and shine, we are headed to Sanibel Island for the 8:30AM low tide. The morning was overcast and even a little foggy in places. We got out to the lighthouse about ½ hour before low tide. It was amazing. There were not many people out yet and it was peaceful and serene. My most happy place is on a beach. I love all the sounds of being on the water; the water lapping on the sand, the waves breaking, the birds chirping. The smells of salt air and coconut oil. The feel of the sand between my toes. mmmm…

Oh, right, Sanibel and shell hunting. Bill and I strolled along the water line and did the “Sanibel Stoop” searching for the perfect shells. We found quite a few larger ones and I found several baby ones. Those “Where’s Waldo” books paid off. I was able to spot several tiny seashells about the size of a dime as the small waves came in and out. It was so exciting finding these perfect tiny shells. We also saw several sea stars and one leopard printed crab. A short 2 hours later, it was time to go. Time was up on the parking meter. I ended up with about a ½ gallon bag of nice shells, which are now proudly displayed in our rig.

Edison – Ford Winter Estates

Since the day is still young, we go back to the room and clean up. Next on the agenda is the Edison and Ford Winter Estates. Thomas Edison had a 13-acre estate along the Caloosahatchee River. The family wintered here from 1886 to 1947, when Mina Edison signed the deed over to the city of Ft Myers. In 1914 Henry Ford, who was a very dear friend of Thomas Edison, purchased the house next door. The Fords would spend 2 weeks here every winter.

The homes are beautiful. There was a nice breeze coming off the river and it was easy to imagine what life would be like here. Sitting on the large wrap around porches, reading a book or playing cards. Walking along the river, in the gardens or fishing. I love all the ceiling to floor windows and doors. They allow natural light, a nice flow of air, the floral scents and the sounds of the birds to be enjoyed from anywhere in the houses. Mr. Edison, though, was always inventing. Along with Ford and Firestone, they sought a source of rubber that could be grown domestically in the event of a shortage with the foreign supply. The Goldenrod was found most suitable. The laboratory where they conducted their experiments is also on the property. We enjoyed our afternoon at the estates. We drove down McGregor Boulevard back to the hotel. A nice little drive through an older, well cared for neighborhood of “old Florida”. Miss those days…

We ended our stay in Ft Myers watching the sunset at the Sanibel Causeway. We didn’t want to fight the crowds at Ft Myers Beach or pay the $6 again to cross the bridge to the island so we settled on a little beach that we could actually drive on. As the sun was going down, I enjoyed watching an egret and a fisherman on the beach. Life is all about enjoying the simple things.

The Other Things

When we were not out exploring, I have been working on some projects with my parents. I helped Mom clean out some cabinets in her kitchen and get some computers ready for recycling. My dad continued to help me with the window recovering project in the rig. Good news, we are done! What a job that was! Have a few more items to finish up before I can reveal the new look.

We also met up with family for an authentic Cuban meal at La Teresita in Tampa. Delicious food and a lot of it. After dinner we stopped in the bakery and bought some fresh guava pastries to take home. Dinner at Rusty Bellies in Tarpon Springs was also a must do. I love their Peel and Eat Shrimp and Greek Salad. Note though, better to order the half salad. It is just about the same size as the full order. Recommend both of these restaurants.

We also had a cornbread cook-off with my mom and Steve. You see, I love my Mom’s Cornbread Crust and had to learn how to make it. She invited me down for a lesson and then we all went to the casino. Cornbread comes in various styles. It can be sweet or have some heat. It can be thick, crumbly or cakey. My mom likes the crispy crust. She has perfected her cornbread so you get a crispy bottom, a crispy top and just a small amount of the middle/bread part. I am going to add her recipe here if you want to give it a try.

I also managed to make a Key Lime Pie. How could we have been here all this time and not have made this yet????? It is one of my favorite pies and screams Florida. Click here for my Key Lime Pie story and the recipe I use to make this tropical delight.

I found this sign and it pretty much summarizes our stay in Florida! We have two more weeks here and a few more family visits (translation – more good food to consume) All the clothes still fit, but they are getting a little tight! It is time to get back on a regular diet!

As we are winding up our stay in Florida, we still had things we wanted to do and places we wanted go. Time was not on our side and our list for next winter has been started. We are packing up and leaving our new “winter home”. There are a few more stops in Florida and then our journey will take us up to Georgia. We will settle in North Carolina for a month and then The Journey West 2022 will begin.

There are bittersweet feelings right now. Glad to be back on the road and start seeing more of this wonderful country. Sad to say “see you later” to our Florida family and friends. Excited to start heading back to the PNW and spend some time with our kiddos. We are truly blessed and love this simple way of life.

Until next time… Cheers!