Clear the way, their heading home!

Talk about emptying out! Today is the last day of the month and the campground is practically empty. It's a mass exodus as the snowbirds are migrating back to their homes. Yesterday was a buzz of blowers and water hoses, getting everything cleaned and packed up. It has been an interesting process to see so many getting ready to leave after a 3-6 month stay.

Carl and Jeanette, Lancaster PA, came to my rescue the first day I entered the park. I was in a hurry to unhook the Grey Goose that I dropped my 2 amp fuse into the black hole of the body of the car. Jeanette was there talking to me and she said maybe my husband has an extra. Sure enough, here she came back carrying the fuse and I was able to start the car. Turns out my site was right across from them. Carl is an retired truck driver and he showed me some tips around my rig. They also have an Itasca. They have invited me to park in their driveway when I'm up at Lancaster for the Sight and Sound Theater. Elvis is their English Black Lab furbaby. He's a big ole' boy. We went to the flea market together on Sunday. Sorry to see them go.

Chris and Lisa are from Buffalo. They are right next door to me and Liza leans out the window to talk to me off and on throughout the day. Their rig was delivered to them in Buffalo. In two days they had it packed and pulled out. Neither knew anything about an RV they just wanted to get the heck out of Buffalo before the snow started. They have a Dutch Star Diesel Pusher with a washer/dryer. They have been kind enough to let me use their WD so I could save some money at the laundromat. Chris taught me to play dice. In July I'm heading to Buffalo to see Niagara Falls and we have decided to meet up. They are deciding whether to go full-time. They will be here for a few more days before moving to Clermont, FL.

This is the first time of being around for the massive migration. It's interesting and fun to watch.

Later...

Johnathan Dickenson State Park Florida

I've already written about this park being state park heaven. I enjoyed my stay in site #67 which had a view of the entire campground. It was on a "hill" (Florida standards) and was breezy all the time. This park was hit by three hurricanes and a wild land fire therefore it is a brand new campground. All the sites are level and have full hookups.

It is flanked by the Federal Hwy and Loxahatchee River. This river is great for kayaking and has hiking trails around it. I went on a river tour in a pontoon boat which is one of the many programs offered by the park. This tour took us to the camp of Trapper Nelson. Nelson was somewhat of a hermit. He kept buying property in the area until he had about 1100 acres. He would offer his property to scout troops to come and visit his "zoo" and they would work for him just to get to stay at his place. We were fortunate to have one on his "scouts" on board who had brought his two sons to see the place. The guided tour was very good, however getting to listen to someone who had been there as a boy was most interesting. He said his troop cut a lot of wood during their weekend there. They slept above the churt, at least I believe that is what it was called, which was basically a hand hewn log pavilion that had a floor in the top and they slept in sleeping bags.

Nelson was quite the conservationist. He lived off the land. He caught his water in a cistern and had piping going through out his camp. He caught turtles and kept them in a concrete block bottom cage so they wouldn't tunnel out. The turtles were what he ate. He could pay people .25 to bring in rattle snakes and baby alligators for his "zoo." He would sell air plants and oranges + other fruit when visitors came to visit his "zoo." He died in 1968, legend has it that he was killed for his property. Good tour if you are in the area. The cost is $20 including taxes.

On the river we saw osprey nests and one small alligator. The interpreter was very knowledgable about the area and gave us tidbits of information about the culture of the area. Loxahatchee is the Seminole Indian word for river of Turtles.

While in the area be sure to eat at Shrimpers and Wahoo's. Wahoo's has great food and music.

Later...

Lorrie & Scott's Holiday

Lorrie and Scott are two young people (24 & 28) whom I met in the campground. They are from Colchester England outside of London. They left six months ago and have been on an around the world holiday and I was fortunate to have them camping across the street from me.

They rented an RV in Los Angeles and drove across country to see some of America. They will promise to be back as they want to do the middle part of America. Cindy and I played putt-putt golf with them, Lisa and Chris (another couple I met in the cg and more on them later), Cindy and I went to Millikens for a day at the "beach" and bar and then we all played beer pong. We had campfires and to keep from having to buy wood, Scotty went scavenging. He picked up a heavy log and brought it back, I got out my saw and axe and away he went, stirring up mega carpenter ants. Also one night we all had a "barbie" and brought ribs, potato salad, deviled eggs, cornbread, tuna pasta and other treats. Lorrie and Scott had never had deviled eggs and cornbread and they loved them. Also, they had never had smores. Those of you who are regular readers know how I love smores and campfires and smores just seem to go together, right. So we all turned them on to different things.





I had a couple of things that needed to be done on top of Somewhere and Scotty was more than helpful on getting up there and taking care of those. Sedona is not one to take up with too many people but she loved Lorrie and even got to the point she wouldn't bark when they came over. That is amazing in and of itself. Also, Scotty loved fishing and he used my kayak to take out to fish. He didn't catch anything but the water was just a little choppy.


I know this post has a lot of pictures but we did a lot of things while they were here. In fact after they met us they decided to stay another week. Those two really keep one young. There was a lot of activity. They are so responsible and have a good head on their shoulders. I have been blessed to have had them cross my path.

















Millikens in Port Canaveral is a stunning place. Good bartender, Selina, and great grilled shrimp. If you are coming down to cruise, take the time to bop over here and enjoy Chester and his music and have a good time.



























Ah, and the last day, bon voyage, dear new friends. When they pulled out today it was like watching my kids go away. Before they left we had to watch the sunrise and all met at their rig for hugs and goodbyes...






Later...