Wednesday the 16th – DAY 15 through Sunday the 20th – Day 19 - Trip to Zephyrhills, FL. 2013

Not a whole lot goin’ on.  Restin’ n relaxin’ pretty much (ain't that what we're 'possed to be doin).  On Saturday, th’ 19^th, we went to th’ Tampa RV Supershow in none other than Tampa, Fl. at th’ Florida State Fairgrounds. 

Walked, “A lot”, o’ my poor achin’ dogs and my back.  We were there for about 5 hours or so (felt like 8) temp was 78 degrees and very little breeze, bought a few little items. No, we did not buy a new MH  ; ’(~~~   .  We had a good time and really enjoyed window shoppin, but were ready for th’ house. 

Sunday, th’ 20^th, we scoured the cruise lines (online) for a Carribean cruise that leaves from Tampa (seein’ as how we’re only 25 miles or so from th' Port of Tampa, and Wanda’s brother Dale, can drop us off and pick us up.  Solves th’ parkin dilemma).   Aha,  .  .  .  Priceline had a 7 night Exotic Western Carribean cruise on th’ Carnival Legend, that just fit our plan.  “BOOKED IT!”  Ports of call in: Tampa, Fl; Cozumel, Mexico; Belize City, Belize; Mahogany Bay, Roatan, Bay Is., Honduras;  George Town, Grand Cayman Isle. We have a Private Extended Balcony Stateroom.  I think we’re gonna like this!  Later gator . . .

Tuesday the 15th – DAY 14 – Trip to Zephyrhills, FL. 2013

11:15am – Headed out th’ front gate of Lucky Charm as we speak, well, kinda.  Did I tell you how this RV park got its name?  Seems as how th’ owners/managers have a coupla dogs, Lucky and Charm.  There you have it, short and to th’ point.  Loved this park and it’s on our “return to sometime” list.

Next stop, breakfast somewhere.  And that somewhere was ‘bout 15 miles down th’ road at th’ Huddle House in Chiefland.  That makes th’ third HH we’ve ate at since th’ start of this trip.  Must be good ? ?  They are!!! 

Programmed th’ GPS to take us to Zephyrhills and it did.  In a round about manner.  Instead of taking us straight south then straight east to Z-hills, it took us south then east then south again, bringin’ us in on th’ other side of town.  Consarned GPS, it better watch itself or ol’ JW’s gonna trade it off for a newer model. 

Anyhow, 4:oopm we pulled into our Z-hills destination.  Got th’ car and dolly off loaded, setup th’ RV, then found out that th’ sewer hose and shoreline were both too short.  Wallie World, here we come.  Many dollars later, we got th’ stuff we needed, installed it and we’re ready for some relaxin’.  Lurana, our gracious hostess and sister-in-law fixed some great Lasagna for supper.  What a day and glad to be here.  Got lots of plans (RV Super Showin', air boat ridin', deep sea fishin', and Bahama Cruisin') so stand by for more  .  .  .

Monday the 14th – DAY 13 – Trip to Zephyrhills, FL. 2013

10:35am, Sadly, we leave th’ “Ho Hum Campground.  We loved this place, planned to stay one night and stayed for three.  Couldn’t find a better view than what we had. Still can’t believe that we only had to pay $33 for th' oceanfront site.

Next stop, th’ Lucky Charm RV Campground at Old Town, Fl.   Beautiful drive down to Old Town.  Hwy 98 is relatively straight and very very few towns.  We arrived at th' campground at 4:00pm.  5 ½ hours to get here.  I know, I had said in our last post that it would only be a 2 ½ hr drive but we did take our time, stopped to eat at a Huddle House in Perry Fl. and then found a Wal-Mart with a Murphy gas station.  Fill Up time!

Th’ Managers here at th’ Lucky Charm are terrific, very helpful and nice folks.  Chatted a lot during check-in and then they guided us to our site and showed ol’ JW how to hookup th’ RV, (as if he didn’t already know).

Setup went really smooth (we must be getting’ used to this), th’ TV works great (they have Direct TV cable to each site) and th’ WIFI “works”.  They gave JW  a WIFI Code and after we setup, ol’ JW activated his phone’s WIFI, but th' only problem was, they gave us a code for 1 computer and we needed 5.  JW called th' manager and they were more than happy to provide us with 4 more WIFI codes.  “Awww, all is well with th’ WIFI world.” 

Great campground.  FHU’s.  Lotsa wide open spaces, showers are wonderful, fire rings for each site with free wood to use, enclosed and covered swimming pool, laundry room, Club house, horse shoe pits etc.  Direct TV Cable and WIFI, what more could you ask for.  Check-out is 12 noon, so we’ll be outta here in plenty of time.  Loved this RV Park.

Sunday the 13th – DAY 12 – Trip to Zephyrhills, FL. 2013

Today was a relaxin’ day.  Never left th’ RV.  Had breakfast at Wanda’s kitchen and WOW, excellent food.  We lazed around playin’ games on one of our many computer things, watchin’ folks and their RV’s come and go and th’ tide roll in & out.  Finally we realized that there was probably some football games on, yep, Atlanta playin’ Seattle.  "ATLANTA WINS" Yea, I guess. (Don't really care).  Next up was my team, th' Patriots playin' th' Texans, again. "No repeat from a few weeks ago, please, YAH! "PATRIOTS WIN."  I'm goin' out on a limb here and predictin' th' Patriots and th' 49'ers in th' Super Bowl with th' Patriots takin' th' win.  We'll see!

We plan to leave th' “Ho Hum Campground” on Monday mornin’ and head to Old Town, Fl and th’ “Lucky Charm” RV Park.  ‘Bout a 2 ½ hr drive so should be a relaxin’ trip.  We really  really like th' Ho Hum Campground and so it's on our favorite RV campground list now.  Say, If you're ever lookin' for a campground, try this link.  We use them almost exclusively and the comments and reports have almost always been right.  You can even write a review of your own - http://www.rvparkreviews.com/

Saturday the 12th – DAY 11 – Trip to Zephyrhills, FL. 2013

Slept in a little later today, tired from all the previous goin’s on I guess.  Anyhow, we left th’ RV at 10:00am to head to St George Island.  There’s a 9 mile long bridge between th’ mainland and th’ island, there’s no turnin’ around, stoppin’ or fishin’, ya gotta keep goin’, so we did!

Once on th’ Island, we did th’ typical tourist thing, drove around slow lookin’ stuff over.  At first glance, not very many eatin’ places.  Th’ first thing we noticed was th’ St George Lighthouse.

then, some really skinny houses that looked like they were at least two rooms wide.  Later, we saw some that were only one room wide but failed to get a picture.

We journeyed on down th’ Island and there were homes after homes, even some new ones bein’ built.  Pretty soon we came to th’ entrance of the St. George State Park.

This kinda reminds us of th’ National Seashore on Padre Island a coupla years ago.

Th’ Malibu finally got to get off th' car dolly and stretch its legs.

We put our Footprints in th’ sand !

Now, since we had not had breakfast yet, (it’s around 2:00pm) we decided to find a place to eat.  Now, remember, there were no signs of anyplace to eat when we arrived on th’ Island.  When we got back to th’ main part of th’ Island, and took a side street, all kinds of places to eat.  We chose one that looked pretty good, th’ “Blue Parrot” Seafood Restaurant.

  

Atmosphere was great, Food was expensive and not that good.  Wanda had a “Crabcake” Sandwich (two thumbs down she says) and JW had a $10 “Blue Parrot Famous Cheeseburger”, th’ cheeseburger was good but Jw thinks he likes Sonic’s cheeseburgers best.  Anyhow, we got filled up and ready to leave th’ Island, get back to th’ RV and take a nap.  See ya later . .

Friday the 11th – DAY 10 – Trip to Zephyrhills, FL. 2013

Mornin’ came and we were up fairly early but th’ heavy rains had caused a few problems which were dealt with and we were out of th’ park by 10:15 and on th’ road to th’ “Ho-Hum RV Campground”, located in Carrabelle, Fl. on th’ “Forgotten Coast.”  4 years ago when we were by this area, th’ water was as blue-green as it could be.  This time, not so much.  Don’t know if the oil spill down here had a lasting effect or what.  Still really pretty though.

Well, ol’ JW took Hwy 98 along th’ coast for a scenic view.  We went through Destin, Fort Walton Beach, Panama City, St Joe and Mexico Beach, just to name a few.  In a month or so, it’ll all be packed with Spring Breakers.  Right before we got to th’ campground, we saw this sign, “BEARS?” in Florida???  Guess so, we’ll have to keep th’ ol camera ready for some pics.

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We arrived at the “Ho-Hum RV Campground”, at 4:15pm.  Cable TV on each site and WIFI is available, (HA HA, here we go again, we’ll see).  Really a nice campground, no frills, no grass, no cement pads but nice packed sand/gravel pads and the view from our site is excellent.  

We are about 15’ or so from the gulf waters.  Setup was pretty quick (except for un-hookin’ th’ car an dolly,)  JW said that was pretty much a pain, (mainly because of his non-operating as intended wrist) but we’ll get to do some sight seeing now with th’ car.  First order of business, after setup, was supper at th’ Seineyard Seafood Restaurant ‘bout 8 miles away.  WOW, good seafood and th’ price was ultra low.  When we got back to th’ RV, we decided to take a walk out on th’ 200’ pier, (just in front of our RV). 

Wanda and some other folks that were out there, kept hearing somethin’ splashin’ out in th’ water.  Ol’ JW calmed everyone down by tellin’ ‘em it was probably just a big ol shark or somethin’.  Thanks JW, that’s all we needed to hear, HA HA.  Time for some sleep.  Oh, and by th’ way, didn't see any bears, th’ TV has 90 some odd channels and works great, th’  WIFI, “don’t!”  HA,  Catch ya later  .  .  .

Thursday the 10th – DAY 9 – Trip to Zephyrhills, FL. 2013

It has been raining ever since we left “Yogi on the Lake” in Pelahatchie, Ms.  

Rained all night and th’ campground here at Jellystone, Robert, La. Looks like a lake.  This oughta be fun unhookin’ stuff this mornin’.  BUT, it is “All Fun.”

As we say “adieu” to Yogi and all his pals at Jellystone, Robert La, we are back on th’ road (I 10) to Navarre Beach Florida and th’ Narvarre RV Campground.  We’ve actually stayed at Narvarre 4 times before and enjoy it immensely.  Rain, rain rain, (still) all the way from Robert, La. to Navarre Beach, Fl.

 

5:30pm, After a stop at Wally World for much needed supplies, we arrived at Navarre Beach - The campground manager met us at the entrance and handed JW th’ paperwork and said we were in #82.  Cool! Except for the fact that JW had no idea where #82 was and couldn’t see th’ numbers on the power poles.  Ol’ JW was more than slightly tired, aggravated, and ready to stop for th’ day.  Set-up was a little rough and longer than usual cus’ of th’ heavy rain. WIFI was barely available, (ya know, that brings up a sore point with me, “Free WIFI is available,” they say.  But most of the time you can’t get it at your site but they tell you you can.  If you’re gonna offer it, make it available at all sites, not just near th’ office.)  Ok, off my soapbox now.  Very humid so sleep was not great.  Maybe tomorrow . . .

Wednesday the 9thth – DAY 8 – Trip to Zephyrhills, FL. 2013

It seems like we’re stuck in a rut.  We both get up fairly early, but somehow manage to leave th’ RV Parks by around 11:00am. 

When we left “Yogi on the Lake” at Pelahatchie, Ms, we were headed to Pearl, Ms and a Murphy gas station.  Ol’ JW had read the map and knew exactly how to get there.  Well, he took the right exit off I 20 but when he got in to Pearl, he turned left and shoulda turned right.  “Bout 10 miles later, still no Murphys, so we settled for a Loves Truck Stop.  A coupla hundred dollars later and we were back on I 20 headed for I 55 and Robert La.

162 miles later, we arrived at Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Campground Robert, La. (Hmmm, thought it would take longer to get here).

Th’ manager said we could have just about any pull through we wanted so JW opted for th’ closest spot to th’ entrance since a lot of th' spots were either under water or really muddy (the area had a very heavy rain for several hours).  Registration and set-up was purty simple.  BUT, as JW was hookin’ up th’ water an electric, he felt somethin’ bite him.  “FIRE ANTS.”  Now if you’ve never dealt with fire ants before, you ain’t gonna like this.  They’re everywhere and when they bite ya, (and after you kill ‘em) th’ sting keeps goin' on fer quite a spell.  Well, we broke out th’ critter spray and just hope it worked.  JW really does not like fire ants. 

We got our daily walkin’ in for our weight loss competition with a bunch in Colorado and Texas, so our miles are addin’ up and th’ weight is just a droppin’ like crazy, (HA HA don’t we wish).  All settled in, no WIFI and no TV, so hookin’ up th’ DVD player and watchin’ some of th’ many DVDs we’ve never watched.  First up, “Million Dollar Baby” with Clint Eastwood.   Catch ya later  .  .  .

Tuesday the 8th – DAY 7 – Trip to Zephyrhills, FL. 2013

Both of us up early and out of th’ GraceLand RV Campground by getting’ out time. Today was pretty much just a drivin’ day.  We left Memphis at 11:00 and hit th’ Mississippi State Line at 11:15.  We stopped in Senatobia, Ms for Breakfast/Lunch.  Only a 3-4 hour drive to our rest stop tonight.  Plans are to stay in Pelahatchie, Ms at the Jellystone “Yogi on the Lake” Campground. (‘Bout 15 miles east of Jackson on I 20).  

3:30pm – we arrived at our campground and it was a welcome sight.  It was only a 225 mile trip today but seemed a lot farther, guess we’re just tired. Beautiful drive down today, the trees are so green, even most of th’ grass was still green.  Check-in and setup went really fast, now updatin’ th’ Blog and watchin’ some TV.  Ahhhh, catch ya later . . .

Tuesday the 8th – DAY 7 – Trip to Zephyrhills, FL. 2013

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELVIS”

While we were at Graceland, we learned that today Tuesday th’ 8^th of Jan. is Elvis’s 78^th Birthday.  Here’s just a few pictures:

Monday the 7th – DAY 6 – Trip to Zephyrhills, FL. 2013

 On th’ road Monday mornin' at 9:15 am and plannin’ to stop in Memphis for a night or maybe even two.  Boy, I tell you what, Missouri’s bootheel and Arkansas's NE corner are flatter than western Kansas ever thought about bein’.  Finally, 90 minutes later we’re crossin’ th’ Mississippi river bridge into Memphis.  Traffic traffic, slow ‘er down some JW, we ain’t out on th’ open freeway.  Lo and behold, there’s the Graceland RV Campground, right behind th’ Heartbreak Hotel on Elvis Presley Blvd.  (Hmm, Wonder if everything down here’s got somethin’ to do with Elvis?) 

(Th' trees is buddin' out)

Easy entry into th’ campground and checkin’ in and settin’ up was a breeze.  Now, it’s a short 1 block walk to Graceland’s entrance.  JW bought tickets for th’ two of us and they gave ol’ JW Senior Citizen AND ex-military discount, right nice of that young lady.  We bought th’ Platninum tour which was an hour and a half to two hour tour.  Suffice it to say that four hours later we were finally through.  Toured Graceland house and grounds, Elvis’s Auto Museum, Elvis’s Airplanes (2 of ‘em), the ’68 Tour and th’ Final Tour.  WOW, learned a lot ‘bout Elvis I didn’t know.  

When we were in Elvis’s Trophy room, JW overheard one of Elvis’s diehard fans say, “Elvis was the most famous and important man that ever walked on this earth.”  Now ol’ JW admits that Elvis was a real good singer and had a lot a fans but “th’ most important man that ever walked on this earth ? ? ?”  JW don’t agree with that statement at all, and Elvis himself would probably agree that th’ most important man would’ve been Jesus.

To top th’ day off, we had supper at th’ “Rock N Roll Café”, right next door to th’ Graceland complex.

Oh, just a note, JW still hasn’t put th’ travel lights on th’ car.  We’ll see if that happens in th’ mornin’.  Later .  .  .

Sunday the 6th – DAY 5– Trip to Zephyrhills, FL. 2013

Wanda woke up at 5am and cuz JW was still snoozin’ decided to do some readin’. We wanted to head out by 9 or 10 this mornin’. We were right on track. We had th’ car on th’ dolly and were ready to pull out when Wanda noticed the bathtub was half full of water. JW drained the gray tank, but th’ tub still had water standin’ in it. About 30 minutes later we had that little problem taken care of and a sparklin’ bathtub. So we left Strafford at 10:30. After we had been on th’ road for a while JW decided to stop and check on th’ car. It was then that he realized he had not put th’ lockin’ drift pin in th’ dolly. Guess it’s still at the campground in Strafford. Well, I guess that’s alright, now we git ta go shoppin’ agin.

[ Now, this here picture in th' Dairy Queen in Cabool, kinda puts me to mind of what a lot of my FaceBook friends are a sayin' is a gonna happen in th' near future, iff'n things don't change.] I don't believe it though!

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We stopped in Cabool at noon for lunch. We’d been back on th’ road for about 30 minutes before JW remembered he hadn't hooked up the travel lights on th’ car. Now did we really need to rush back to Camping World last night? He decided since we'd come this far without 'em, he'd just hook 'em up before we hit the road tomorrow. I guess that’s all fine and dandy, that is if none of these Highway Patrolmen notice the error of his ways. Ya know, sometimes I get a little concerned about ole Granpaw Jay.
We finally arrived in Hayti, Mo (that’s down in the bootheel of Missouri and pronounced HEY TIE) at 6:00 pm Sunday night, havin’ drivin’ close to 350 miles. Now not that we wanted to drive that far or, for that matter that late, but there were no campgrounds open. AND since ol’ JW had not put the travel lights on th’ car, we really couldn’t risk goin’ any farther after dark. So, guess where we camped ? Drury Inn & Suites. Whoo boy, HOT and long showers tonight, yeah!!! Free supper and breakfast at th’ Drury and really good. Later . . .

Saturday the 5th – DAY 4– Trip to Zephyrhills, FL. 2013

Wanda up at 6am, JW up at 7 for a 9am appt at Camping World, 4 miles west of us. We were 30 minutes early and they still didn’t get started on the camera until 10am. We added a few things to th’ list of ‘things to do’. JW had them change out the 30 amp plug and cord cuz lightnin’ struck and welded the silly ole thing to th’ MH. Plum surprised th’ whole thing didn’t burn to the ground. Thank you Lord for always watchin’ out for us. Had ‘em put some grease in the little holes in th’ wheels on th’ tow dolly, somethin’ to do with bearings. Then there was somethin’ about fixin’ the trailer hitch so the car wouldn’t fall of th’ tow dolly while we were runnin’ down th’ road. While they were doin’ all that we went shoppin’. Man did we ever have a ball. Filled a cart plum full of stuff. Th’ clerk said we could leave the cart there by the register and jus’ pay for it when we paid for all that other stuff.

  

We still had several hours so decided to go to Wild Animal Safari. Now let me tell ya, that was an experience. We left with llama, zebra and camel slobbers all over th’ windows an mirrors. JW thot a zebra had bitten a chunk off th’ frame of his mirror. But, It was just a big ole slobber, so all was well. We solved the mirror problem by pulling in th’ mirrors. We had a great time! We’ll go there again. When we got back to Camping World and they finally got all their work done, we went in to pay, and would ya believe that someone had put all our goodies back on the shelf. Now how were we supposed to remember all th’ stuff we had put in that cart. Well guess what? We went shoppin’ agin. Twice in one day. That’s more shoppin’ than we normally do in a month.

Bein’s it was so late we decided to spend another night in Strafford MO. Once again, Thank you Lord for lookin’ out for us. This time we stayed at Strafford RV Park, just across th’ road from Camping World. We pulled into our spot, got all set up, and guess what? No electricity. That was at 4:40pm and Camping World closed at 5:00. We hurried back to Camping World, which was a good thing, because with all that shoppin’ we did, we forgot to get travel lights for th’ car. We have some somewhere in storage, but that doesn’t help much when we are anywhere from 30 to 150 miles from any of our storage units. We reported our lack of electricity so th’ guy who wired the new plug came to th' RV Park. He found that one of th’ wires had come off th’ plug, but he had that fixed in pretty short order. In fact, he finished it up in time for us to go to Country Pride Café for supper. What a day! Now what do you ‘spect tomorrows gonna bring?

Friday the 4th - DAY 3– Trip to Zephyrhills, FL. 2013

Took th’ RV down to Branson MotorCoach for a much needed “bath.” If you ever need to have your RV hand washed, Branson MotorCoach can do it. Complete wash, top and sides $105.00 Not too bad. Good job. Picked up th’ unit and back to Branson View RV Campground to pick a few remainin’ things, namely th’ car dolly. 4pm, & on th’ road to Springfield for an early AM Camping World appt to have a new backup camera system installed in th’ RV.

6pm, at Paradise in the Woods RV Park 4 miles east of Camping World at Strafford Xit 96 I-44. Long tiring day, time for some sleep. ZZZzzzzzzz . . .

Thursday the 3rd – DAY 2– Trip to Zephyrhills, FL. 2013

First order of the day, breakfast at Donnie’s Café in Branson West. Back home for more of the RV “clean-out”. I’m just almost positive that no other “Full Timers” ever have this much to do when they’re getting’ ready to go “on th’ road.” RV service work scheduled for 3pm at Auto Go. Finished cleanin’ and arrived at Auto Go at 3:05. Picked the unit up at 5pm and back to Branson View RV Campground to setup in th’ dark. Man I hate that, tough enough in th’ daylight let alone in th’ dark. We parked on the top row instead of our regular spot because we weren’t sure what th’ weather was goin’ to do. G'night . . .

Wednesday Jan 2nd – DAY 1 – Trip to Zephyrhills, FL. 2013

Wednesday Jan 2nd – started tearing the RV apart, puttin’ stuff up, takin’ stuff to storage that we deemed un-necessary for our trip, etc etc. Wow, didn’t know we had this much to do. From getting’ up time (minus time for breakfast at Bob Evans) to time for some sleep, work work work. Whew! Glad this day is over.