Driving Course for Maryellen

On Thursday, for the first time, I drove the coach!  I was scared to death and almost chickened out but I had a great instructor at Lazydays campground and I was able to navigate my way through a very crowded campground.  It was great!  Next challenge.. the highway!

                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Goats in the campground

We were greeted by goats at our campground...very friendly. Owner walks them like dogs.

On To Homosassa

We're concluding a fun and informational week at Lazy Days, near Tampa. It is one of the largest RV dealers in the country and they sponsor rallies for many different brands. Amazing operation...they sold 300 units last month. Most dealers sell that in a year.
We've made many new friends and have learned a LOT. We've also joined a new group called the Mid-South RoadRunners. Great group of folks, incredibly friendly and they have been very helpful.
The rally itself has been very good and the best part was taking the "Driver confidence course" that teaches driving techniques in both classroom and in the "bus" settings. Was extremely helpful...Maryellen took the course...and she's going to do a post on the subject later.

Tomorrow we are off to Crystal River/Homosassa Springs area, which we have heard is beautiful. The weather is not great today, a little rain but the temps are still in the 70's. Hoping for good weather next week so we might get a chance to swim with the Manatees.

We'll keep you posted...

Paul and Maryellen
PS We need to name our bus...ideas welcome.

Near Tampa

Hello again,

We've been a little slack over the last few days in posting. We've been busy relaxing and having fun.

 

We're in Seffner, FL, near Tampa and at a Rally for Motorhome owners with the same brand as ours (Fleetwood). On Monday we traveled to Bradenton to visit Maryellen's Aunt Theresa and also visited Adam's parents, who recently moved to a great new home there. We had a fantastic time seeing everyone and enjoyed lunch at a beachside restaurant on AnnaMaria Island, and dinner and a beautiful sunset at another beachside restaurant. It was a perfect day.

Yesterday we met lots of nice people and learned some new things about our coach.

Today we're off with some new friends to take a boat tour of Tampa Bay....Looks like it will be a nice day.

 

Old famous restaurant called the Columbia. Very nice inside, Cuban style food was excellent.

Location:Ybor City,United States

Columbia Rest

Location:E 7th Ave,Tampa,United States

Driving down the road we saw three Sandhill Cranes by the side of the road.
These birds stand about 3 to 4 feet high and are an endangered species.
They were not intimidated by Maryellen taking their picture and Maryellen intimidates everyone and everything, usually. So these are some tough birds.
I would add they are also delicious since we had one for dinner....just kidding, that's for Adam.....

Moving to the next spot

We've had a nice week in Port St. Lucie.
Great RV site, private and pleasant.
We've toured around the area, seeing lots of nice beaches, amazing homes and lots of wildlife.
Tomorrow we're driving across the state to the Tampa area, for our first "rally". We are not sure what its going to be like...we suspect lots of people, and hopefully lots of advice from seasoned travelers.

We'll post during the week.

Paul and Maryellen

Shot under a drawbridge
in Ft. Pierce.

Palm Beach Trees

St Lucie, from inside the coach. Right in front.This is a big,
Great Blue Heron



Beach near Palm Beach

Blowing Rocks Nature Preserve, near Palm Beach

Wine bar video

Location:NW Hazard Way,Port St Lucie,United States

Video in Ft. Pierce

where we are

We are at:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=27.466808,+-80.327438

.

Wine bar in Port St. Lucie

Holding the "magic card" that when inserted into the
machine, delivers the wine of your choice.

This was a very neat wine and beer bar in Port St. Lucie, FL. The way it works:

There are about 75 wines, mounted in automated dispensers. You purchase a card "charged" with how much you might want to spend. You then insert the card and choose whether you want 1.25 oz, 2.5 or 5 oz of your choice. The wine is immediately dispensed and your  card is debited.

Very cool way to try lots of wines....

Wine bar with automated self serve bottles.

Weather in PSL

Out the front window in PSL

This white heron made the rounds at least twice a day...methodically circling and searching.

Location:
Latitude : 27° 28' 10.2'' N
Longitude: 80° 17' 29.4'' W
Around: Fort Pierce, 34949, FL, USA

Photo+Map - http://photoplusmap.com

Bluewater Beach Grill

First fish taco. And it was great!

Location:Seaway Dr,Fort Pierce,United States

Bluewater Beach Grill

Location:Seaway Dr,Fort Pierce,United States

Location:
Latitude : 27° 20' 3.6'' N
Longitude: 80° 24' 7.2'' W
Around: Port St Lucie, 34986, FL, USA

where we are

Our location
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=27.334195,+-80.402075

Week Two

Left St Augustine, was cool and rainy; Drove just under 200 miles in EXTREMELY windy conditions. Gusts were up to 40MPH and a steady 20+ MPH the entire way. It made for a challenging "new experience". The flat sides of the Motorhome catch the wind and move the coach around during heavy gusts. Ours is a pretty heavy coach (24,000 lbs) and normally it doesn't move around at all. But today it did. It was manageable, though.

We arrived at our first Outdoor Resorts site, which is billed as a "luxury RV resort". It is very nice. Well landscaped, a par 3 golf course on site, and good size lots. It has 3 swimming pools, a couple of hot tubs, a nice clubhouse and lots of amenities.

The weather here is perfect....73 degrees, very breezy 10-20MPH.

A few days ago we had the heat on and today we have the windows wide open.

Outdoor Resorts, Port Saint Lucie

Location:NW Hazard Way,Port St Lucie,United States

Port St Lucie

Location:NW Hazard Way,Port St Lucie,United States

First week

We`re heading out tomorrow. Had a great week in St . Augustine. History, good food, nice people, Great campground. The week flew by.

Weather getting warmer each day......
Windows open, no heat, good Jan....

Tomorrow brings an interesting drive. A tough series of turns Paul is a little worried about. But we have insurance, right?

St. Augustine

St. Augustine

St. Augustine

Fort in St. Augustine, FL

This was a fort made entirely of Coquina; walls are 10 feet thick. A very well preserved fort in a beautiful location right in downtown St. Augustine.