Gulf Coast

1 week ago today we took an "exploration" trip to the gulf coast.  It's about 45 minutes from here.  We wanted to go to one of the wildlife preserves and birding trails but didn't quite make it.  As usual, we saw a couple of stops along the way. 

As we were traveling through the town of Crystal River, we saw a sign that said something about a wildlife area or "something" along that line.  By the time, we determined what it said we were past the sign so we decided to make the right hand turn and head down the road to see what was at the end.  So glad we did.   There was this little sandy beach that had a few water birds and of course, boat tail grackles.

It was kind of windy and a little cool but it kept the insects away.  Not too many people either.

There were quite a few black skimmers near the water. 

This is my favorite pic of the day.

We then drove over to the fishing pier and boat ramp.  Saw an osprey sitting in the tree.  We were able to get close enough to get this picture.

We met some people originally from Michigan.  They told us about the state park that has manatees.  So then we headed south towards Homosassa Springs.  We stopped off at the park and talked with the ranger.  We will be making a trip back.  It's going to be an all day "adventure" for us.  They have several educational programs for alligators, manatees, hippopotamus, etc.  In talking to the ranger, he told us about a restaurant close by near monkey island.  So next stop, lunch and checking out the Riverside Resort area.

Look close and you'll see Sharon.  It was a very bright day and I had my small camera with me. 

The view of Monkey Island from our table.

After eating, we went and talked to the guys at the Marina.  Found out about boat rentals, fishing guides, and boat rides including airboats.  We'll definitely be back.

Sharon took a couple of pictures of the monkeys while we were down by the marina.

 Until our next adventure. 

Florida

I know.  I know.  It's about time that I write. 

Yes, we did make it safely to Florida from Virginia.  We left Sunday morning and arrive here early Tuesday afternoon.   Monday morning was the worst for driving.  Heavy rains and wind.  We pulled into a truck stop for about 1/2 hour to let the worse part of the storm pass.

I think the worst part of the adjustment to Florida so far is the heat & humidity.  We left fall temps and arrived in mid-summer type conditions.  Hard for these "ol" bodies to get used to the humidity again. 

Here's where we're going to be until May 1.  Because of the sand & shells, we now have a new carpet and our reclining lounge chairs are sitting out under the awning.   Work is going well.  It's been easy & kind of boring all at the same time.  Sandy works from 4 - 8pm Monday thru Friday in the office. 

We've met a few of the workers and some of the campers staying here.  Most stores are fairly close.  There's a grocery store within 5 miles (Winn-Dixie) and a super Walmart 8 miles away.  The "Villages" are about 15 - 20 minutes away.  The Villages are little town centers for senior living.  They have music or some sort of entertainment every night in there park centers.  So far we've gone to the Villages about once a week.  The Walgreens pharmacy is there, a large citrus stand, Russell Stover outlet store, and some very nice restaurants.

Thanksgiving week I'll be working Wed night, Fri night and all day Saturday.  The lady that works on Saturday is taking my shifts so she can spend Thanksgiving with her daughter.  We're thinking of taking a trip to the Gulf on Monday.  It's about 45 minutes away.  Hope to do some birding and check out the other amenities.

Our second or third day here we rented a golf cart for the season to get around in.  Took a drive down to the lake and here's what we found.  No, haven't seen any alligators.

Sand Hill Cranes

Great Egret.  They've named him Charlie. 

The Spanish Moss is hanging from the trees everywhere.

We'll be having a campground potluck for Thanksgiving dinner.  The park is providing turkey & ham.  Hopefully, we'll get to meet a few more people.  Sharon will be picking up her fishing license this week so she can do some fishing down by the lake.  We're hoping that she'll get to try her hand at some salt water fishing while we're here.  The lake has bass, catfish and pan fish in it. 

Until next time.

July

Can't believe 6 weeks have gone by since I last posted.  Guess life has been good to us.  Let's see where do I begin or should I just talk about this week.  Let's see where my thoughts lead me.

We've found doctors near here.  The office is associated with the UVA.  Very efficient and the testing has been easy, also.  Sharon's blood tests have all been ok.  She needed to have a scan done.  Sorry, forgot which one.  Probably couldn't pronounce it anyway.  The scan shows that she has osteoporosis in her back.  It's not severe.  The dr put her on a prescription that she only needs to take once a week.  For myself, my thyroid is a little more active than it should be, so have changed prescriptions a couple of times since I've been here.  Otherwise, all tests have come out well for both of us that includes blood sugars; cholesterol, etc.

OK, so now the mundane stuff is out of the way.  Sure wish this heat advisory would go away.   Looking for a little break from the heat.  Last Friday, we had a nice day - then the heat hit.  We decided to go fruit shopping last week.  I can't believe how many orchards and farms are in this area.  We went up to Carter Mountain first.  We decided not to pick peaches, just bought fruit that they had picked.  Of course, I had to do some wine tasting first.  For the most part, they sell Prince Michael wines.  They grow grapes there, also.  Didn't take out the camera so here's a pic  from the last time we were there.  We sat on the deck for a little while enjoying the view and eating a peach/vanilla swirl ice cream cone.  Bought some peaches, nectarines and plums.

We left Carter Mountain in search of Hill Berry Farm & Winery.  We had also intended to see Saunders Farm and Dickie's Orchard.  But only made it to the Berry farm.  They had sold their last picked blackberries so we decided to pick a couple of quarts ourselves.  There wasn't a breeze and it was rather warm so that ended our fruit shopping for that day.  Guess we'll see what the next week will bring.  There are several cider works in the area, so we might decide to visit them.  Depending on the weather, will depend on how much site seeing and walking we'll do.

A few weeks back we took a drive on Skyline Drive.  Didn't finish it but had a wonderful time.  It was really hazy that day so need to go back and finish the drive and get some pictures when not so hazy. 

Here's a few pictures from the drive.  It was in the 60's in the mountains on the day we went.  Of course, it was in the 80's when we got back. 

 

 

 

 

We're getting a great wifi signal here in the park but our cell phone service and data plan isn't so good.  We have Verizon.  I talked with them and short of putting a tower right here in the park, it's not going to happen.   Once we leave the park and head into town, we usually have good signal strength.  Oh well, at least Verizon reduced my bill while I'm here for the summer.  That was kind of nice of them. 

It's Sharon's day to work so my day to cook.  Guess I'll grill steaks and have baked potatoes when she gets off work.  Hoping it doesn't rain until later this afternoon. 


Until next time. 

One Month

Well, we've been in Virginia just a little over a month.  We're settling in nicely and getting to know the area.  We're hoping to take a couple of long day trips in a few weeks.  It's been very hot and humid and we're still adjusting.  It's strange that we're having an issue coping with the hot weather but we are.   It's been around 90 and humid and it seems like its been forever.  The shade and slight breeze helps every now and then when we're outside but the pollen is really getting to both of us these days.

Have found a doctor close.  Had my appointment last week and Sharon this week.   Lab results came back ok.  Just a slight change in my thyroid meds.  Apparently it's a little more active than it should be. 

We're learning other ways to get around so its not taking us quite as long to get there.  That could also be due to driving a little faster on the hilly, curvy roads.  So reminds us of when we used to visit Ruth & John in Kentucky.  Very similar indeed.

This past weekend we decided to do a little more exploring.  I wanted to go to Scottsville to locate the businesses near the James River.  Makes it easier to navigate our guests to the rafting and tubing on the river.   They have a ferry that operates just on the weekend.  But we drove down to see it anyway.  Been around since 1870.

This is the ferry building where you buy the tickets.  The stick in front of the building marks the various water levels.  That highest mark is from 1972.  Made us remember the flood of '93.

The James River is rather wide.   Found a park close by then drove into town to check it out.

They have some nice log homes out this way.

Scottsville is just a little over 20 miles away.  Sharon wanted to go to Carter Mountain Orchard to see the view from the top of the mountain.  On the way back, we saw Carter Mountain road and took it.  Thought it would take us up to the orchard.  Instead we found Albemarle House and Trump winery along the way. 

Albemarle House was having a private event so we couldn't go up and see it.  Took the picture from the road.

It looked like rain and was a little hazy on the way back.   We stopped for lunch at Trump Winery.  It poured.

Nice view from the winery. 

 

 

 

We found ourselves near Ash Lawn - knew where we were - and how to get up to Carter Mountain Orchard.   Interesting drive up the mountain to the orchard.  The road is used for deliveries to Michie Tavern and for the Orchard only.  Wanted to take some pics but I believe Sharon kept her eyes closed all the way up.  :)





 

 

They had just picked cherries that morning so we bought some cherries, tried their apple cider and tasted an apple called the Pink Lady.  Both of us liked it, so bought a couple.  It was hazy but they didn't get any rain that day.  They have concerts on Thursday night so we'll probably go back and check it out sometime.  A couple of pics from the deck overlooking the valley.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We're supposed to be getting rain for the rest of the week so we'll see.   Until next time.

 



 







Friday Afternoon

It's Friday afternoon, errands are done, Sharon's watching baseball so I decided to download the pictures from our tour of Ash Lawn - Highland yesterday.   Decided I might as well update the blog.  Scary, isn't it.  I've posted a few times all ready. 

I've decided that I need to find a different route to Walgreens and Walmart.  If you've ever been in Des Moines around rush hour then you know you want to avoid the west mix master or the 63rd street exit on I235.   There's a similar area in Charlottesville and it doesn't seem to matter what day of the week or time.  It is awful either going or coming.  You're not going to like the traffic - patience is definitely needed.   We thought we found an excellent time.  We drove in shortly after noon today and no issues.  Yay!  Should have known.   After leaving Walmart, we could travel about 2 car lengths at a time for the lights up ahead.  What normally takes about 30 minutes took us an hour.  And did I mention we watched an accident at one of the intersections we were stopped at.  One vehicle decided it was tired of making a left turn and turned right in front of a car.  Crash, Bam, Boom.  Yep, then they sat in their vehicles and yelled at each other.  So glad they decided to do it right in the middle of the intersection.  There are 5 lanes so we could just drive around them.  :)

On another note, we have had very nice weather the last couple of days.  We could open the windows and excellent sleeping weather at night.  Looks like the ac will be coming back on later today.  The sun is coming out and we're supposed to get into the 80's again.   Apparently it got hot earlier than usual this year. 

Back to the tour of yesterday.  We went to James Monroe's home and took the tour.  It's about 12 miles from the campground and yes, we had free passes for this one, too.  We drove up this road to get to the house, gardens, and lawn.  It's a modest house but they still have gardens and livestock.  When Monroe owned it there were ONLY 3500 acres and it's adjacent to Thomas Jefferson's home.  The tour guide that we had knew a lot about his life.  It was extremely interesting. 

We started our tour here at the front door of Ash Lawn.  This addition was added 20 years after Monroe built his house.  He sold his home when he retired from public service and the new owners added on this addition.  The second picture - the white part of the house is the original Monroe home with the yellow part the newer addition.   Since Monroe was solvent when he died, they still had quite a few of his original possessions including the presidential china used in the White House.  The Monroes were the first presidential family to decorate the White House and the first to have China.

It truly was amazing hearing about Monroe's life from the time he crossed the Delaware with George Washington, US Ambassador to France, Secretary of State, Secretary of War and 5th President.  There were a few other things in between also like governor of Virginia. 

A couple of pictures of the lawn, gardens, and view.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, until the next time. 



 

Michie Tavern

We're having a blast.  On Thursday, we went to Michie (pronounced Mickey) Tavern.  It's an historical site.  Used to be a stage coach stop.   They actually moved the building 17 miles when setting it up as a historical site.  The owner numbered the boards when moving it so it's the original building.  First was home to John Michie.  He was sent to the Americas from Scotland since he was caught as a rebel.  This is how it looks from the parking lot.

They still getting ready for the tourist season.  Some outside grooming and painting going on while we were there.  It's a buffet from 11:15 - 3:30.  They actually ring a dinner bell when they open the buffet for the day.  Dinner was good.  We took a tour of  the tavern and walked around checking out the shops and the other buildings before eating.  Some of the steps were very steep.

After climbing up the back steps to see the kitchen, necessary room, spring house, and well, we climbed back down through the wine cellar.  This brought us back out to the porch.   We then visited the shops.  After eating Sharon went back to the metal works place to get a peacock chime.  As soon as we get it hung, I'll try to remember to post a picture.

The metal works is in a one room family cabin that they moved to this site also.  This site was chosen to move all these buildings due to the opening up of Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe's home back in the 1920's.    If you're ever in this area, this is one of the places you should stop in and see.

After walking around this place for most of the day, we decided that we would probably only do walking tours once a week.  We will be here for a few weeks.  It's a self-guided tour, except for the tavern.  Of course, we took our time but managed it in about 3 hours.  It was a very nice day.  Mostly cloudy as you can see from the pictures. 

As you can imagine, I'm not posting all of the pictures we took.  Yes, Sharon and I still take a multitude of pics.  This time between the two of us, I believe we only took about 80.  We loved the trees and the flowers.

Sharon with our docent.

Oh, I forgot to mention, this was all free to us since we are an employee of the KOA.  Nice perk, including lunch.

First Work Week

Well, we made it through our first week of working.  I definitely think we're being spoiled.  We work 4 hours a day so we take turns going in.  This pays for site and utilities for now.  Later on during the season we'll probably pick up more hours.  For now, we are really enjoying the time.

The weather did get hot all of a sudden.  We broke down and turned the ac on yesterday.  It was so enjoyable having the windows open and the breezes coming in until it got HOT!  They say it's hot and humid here in the summer so we'll see.

We've been enjoying watching the birds and sitting outside reading.  Not having anyone to the east of us is really nice.  Just a woodsy area and the pond. 

We keep meaning to take pictures with the smaller camera but . . . .

As you drive into the park, you stop here.  The office is to the left and the game room/laundry/pavilion is to the right.  This park was built in 1966 so it does have a unique type of layout as they have changed sites to accommodate the campers of today.

Here's our camper as you pull to our site.  Sorry, we didn't realize the camera was tilted until we saw the pic.  It looks like it's not level but trust me it is.  The little hill sort of throws it off.

Tomorrow, we're planning on going to Michie (pronounced Mickey) Tavern for lunch and tour of the grounds.  Friday, we'll probably do a little more exploring in Charlottesville - stopping at a Walmart and who know what else we'll find.

Back to the campground.  The following is one of the tenting areas.

There are levels as you go on up the hill.  Keep going straight and this road will take you back to the pool and another pavilion area.

The dogwoods were in bloom when we arrived.

We're not sure what this flowering tree/bush is.  But it was very pretty.

 Until the next time.