Daytona 500, Alligators and Swimming with Manatees

Our time in Florida has gone fast. It's amazing how quickly these nice warm days melt into one another. During our time here, we've had a few more adventures.

On Sunday, Feb. 26, we boarded a bus with 20 other people to go to the Daytona 500 race. Since we had never gone to a race, we figured it would be easier to let someone else do the driving and parking. We arrived about an hour before race time.

Fans at the Racetrack

The tall structure tells you the order of the top 15 racers during the race

Selfie at the Race

It was a bright, sunny day.  We knew it was going to be loud (we brought along ear plugs) but were surprised that if you went into the concessions area, it was even louder. They did have big TV screens outside but it was hard to see the race on those screens. There were several crashes that day, but none near where we were sitting. It was nearly 10:00 p.m. by the time we got back so we were glad someone else was doing the driving. 

When you think of Florida, you think of alligators. Since there were several places advertising air boat rides to see alligators, we decided to go on a tour. It was a cooler and windy day, so we didn't see as many alligators as we had hoped to. They hide in the grass so it is hard to spot them. At the end of the ride we had a good close-up view of one that appeared to be watching us. After a while, he moved to another spot so we got the chance to see one walking. 

Before we boarded the boat, Andy got the chance to hold a baby alligator (about 4 months old) 

Unfortunately, none of our pics got a good shot of the alligators. This was the first time we'd been on an air boat; they are very noisy. (They supply earphones to protect your ears.)

Last week we went on an excursion to swim with the manatees. We drove about an hour north to the village of Homossasa Springs to get to our destination. Our company http://snorkelwithmanatees.com/ supplied us with wet suits and snorkel gear as well as the boat and captain to get to the area where the manatees reside. We were in about 4-5 feet of warm river water. We had been instructed to just "float" along side the manatees and to let them come to us. Manatees sleep on the bottom and then come to the surface to breathe about every 20 minutes-still asleep! The first time one comes by you is unnerving, since they are big, 5-7 feet in length. However, they are very docile and quite friendly. One kept coming back to me to get petted again. I was lucky to see one that turned over on it's back so I could see it's belly. Manatees are actually related to elephants. 

Manatees by the boat

Andy & I in our wetsuits

More manatees just under the surface of the water

Monkey Island (6 monkeys live there) 

That was one of the most fun things we've done. We didn't even realize that it should be added to our bucket list until we got to Florida! 

And a parting shot, which can be titled, "Only In Florida". We/ve been amazed at the number of golf carts in FL, however did not expect to see this at the drive through lanes at the bank. 

In case you can't read it, it says Golf Cart Only 

Kennedy Space Center, the State Fair & the Gulf

One of our bucket list items for Florida was to go to the Kennedy Space Center. We accomplished that on Valentine's Day. While a lot of the displays were similar to the Huntsville location, you can't beat the history of NASA's space program that has occurred here. After checking in we boarded a bus that took us out to a launch pad and the VAB (Vehicle Assembly Building). Midway we stopped to see the Apollo Saturn V display.

At the end of the tour bus drops you off at the Atlantis building where the space ship is displayed hanging from the ceiling. 

Outside of building

Part of the inside of the cargo bay

Another view

The pictures don't do it justice-it is a very large space craft. We enjoyed seeing it up close. Some other displays: 

Vehicular Suit - deemed not necessary by NASA although they worked fine

Mock up of the Hubble Space telescope

There was a lot to see and and take in and we didn't do everything on our list. The Sunday after we were there was the launch of the SpaceX spaceship taking supplies to the International Space Station. That would have been fun to see. While we weren't there in person, we did watch the launch on TV.

We were heading towards Jacksonville to see the Spyder Control crew when we ran into another glitch. After staying overnight at a Cracker Barrel, we were unable to pull in one of our slides. That necessitated a call to a mobile RV repair guy to help us push in the slide so we could travel again. We did make it to Jacksonville and then headed to Tampa (despite warnings we shouldn't travel far because of the slide) to General RV where we can get repairs done on the slide. Our frustration level is at an all time high with this latest set back! 

We found a campground in the Tampa area that had room, and we've been here for almost a week. Parts should be here tomorrow (we hope!). While here we were able to take in the Florida State Fair. Of course, we had to compare it to the Great MN Get Together! While smaller, they had a large midway and the requisite fair food stands. We happened upon a performance by Matt's Family Jam. This is a family band that we had already seen in Bushnell, so we stopped by for their 1/2 hour show. 

It rained that day so the temps were cool and the crowds less than they would have been. For the grandkids: here are two bouncy houses that they had at the fair.

Yesterday we drove to Anna Maria Island to see the gulf beaches. Ahhh, it's nice to dip your toes in the Gulf of Mexico. 

We've got about a month left here in Florida. We're enjoying the warmth and sunshine!

Transmissions, heading south and an Elvis sighting

Well, the end of 2016 ended with a bang. On the way to Sioux Falls, we had a warning light come on in our car. We scheduled a time to get it in as soon as was possible. Result? A blown transmission, in a car that was barely a year old. Since repairing it cost more than a new transmission, we opted for the new one. However, Chevrolet/GM said they would not cover it because we did not use proper techniques in towing the car. We are in dispute with Chevrolet over this. The rules in the manual are very loose, with phrases saying you "should" do this, not you must. Since we're out about $4K, we hope that they will cover at least part of the bill. We will see.

We headed for Memphis for New Year's Eve. While driving the car we smelled a burning smell that we had smelled at other times. (This was with the new transmission.) So we left the car in Memphis to get it checked out and make sure nothing was wrong. That necessitated a rental car so we would have one in Red Bay. Yes, it was back to the Tiffin service center again. This time we were only there a week.We still have times when we smell the burning smell. It's not the brakes, but we haven't figured out the cause yet.

During our scheduled service on our Freightliner chassis, the tech noticed that we had an oil leak in the engine that wasn't normal, and should be checked out. Great. Now we have to schedule service at a Cummins dealer. We tried one in Albany, GA but they didn't have the right equipment. So onto Florida we went.

This is our home for the next couple of months. This park is a mixture of homes and RV's. There are lots of activities here. I started taking a water aerobics class which I really like. 

We had not expected to see sand hill cranes walking around the park. You can get quite close to them.

Their heads are quite distinctive with the red coloring. 

We knew that we wanted to take in the Tampa RV Show, one of the largest there is. So we scheduled service at the Cummins dealer in Tampa and set off to take in the show. There were lots of vendors there. As usual, we found a few things that had been on our shopping list, like a clothesline to hang on the back of the RV, and a desk for me.:) Here's a picture:

One night we were trying to find a restaurant in Tampa. We missed the corner it was on and traffic was heavy so we looked for another restaurant to go to that was nearby. We ended up at Nicko's, which is a neighborhood diner. And look who showed up!

This is a fun place! Nicko (the owner) is a character and was going around entertaining people with tricks. He even went around with a burning wallet saying his wife "burns through all his money." We hadn't expected to be entertained so it was a pleasant surprise. 

The repair took a bit longer that we had anticipated. We're now back at Red Oaks and settled in again. Florida is expecting bad weather this afternoon, so we are hunkered down for the day. 60 mph + winds are predicted so we may end up pulling the slides in. Turns out even sunny Florida can have severe weather like any other place!

Christmas, Reflections on 2016, and a New State

This was our first Christmas without a (bricks and mortar) home to decorate. Andy knew I would be missing my usual Christmas decorating so he came up with the idea of Christmas lights for the motorhome. Here are a couple of pictures.

Lights on top of the slides

Icicle Lights in the front window

No Christmas tree, but we do have a small poinsettia. We were able to enjoy the trees and decorations at family members' homes. 

In 2016 we traveled over 9000 miles. We've been in MN, IA, MO, AR, MS, TN, AL, LA, TX, OK, KS, WI, IL, IN, OH, WV, PA, MD, NY, VT, MA, CT, VA, NC, SD, WY, MT, and ND. That's 28 states! Some were repeats, and some were new. We love exploring new places but enjoy all of the states we visit. There is always something new and interesting to see and learn about. From Mount Airy, NC (home of the fictional Mayberry from the Andy Griffith Show) to more famous places like Mount Rushmore, we had a grand adventure in 2016. 

Yesterday we traveled to Sioux Falls, SD so we could establish residency. We've discussed this a lot since we became full time RV'ers and finally decided this was the time to change things. Things went smoothly as we changed driver's licenses, vehicle registrations, voter registrations, and health insurance. 

From here we head south to Red Bay (again) for more work on the RV. Then to Bushnell, FL for 2 months. We are very much looking forward to warmer temperatures and not worrying about snow or ice on top of our slides. (A footnote to our MN adventure- one Sunday was minus 23 degrees and the next one was 37 degrees with freezing rain, then rain and thunderstorms!) MN sure knows how to serve up a winter experience.

So here's to 2017 and more great adventures! 

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Picnic, anyone?

Usually I don't start a post with a picture but this one pretty much sums it up for right now. It seems Minnesota is committed to us experiencing a true winter! Over the weekend we received about 9" of light fluffy snow. Yesterday I went next door and the nice folks there offered to lend us a shovel. Thanks to Kevin and Dee! I shoveled out around us and did a path from the door to the car so we don't have to walk in the snow banks.

Last week when we dumped our waste water, we noticed ice chunks in the grey water. This was despite having extra heaters in water bay and the basement. We felt we had no choice but to winterize the motorhome. This means no water inside. Luckily we are close to the building with the showers and bathrooms. But it is getting old to put on boots and coats to use the facilities! We're getting by with paper plates and plastic silverware (clean-up is a breeze!) and doing microwave meals.

And, below zero temperatures are on the way for tomorrow and the following week. Not to be outdone by the temps, there is a chance for more significant snow this weekend. While we are warm and toasty inside (thanks to our AquaHot), we do have to break down today to get more diesel fuel to power the Aqua Hot.

I can say with certainty that this will be our one experience with winter camping! We will be glad to head towards warmer temperatures once the holidays are over.

Winter Camping

This is our first experience with winter camping. The first week we were in MN was still warm with temps in the 60's. The second week temperatures started to drop (more November like) and we were headed towards our first significant snowfall.

After starting as rain, it turned to heavy wet snow. The worst thing was having to get up on the ladder to brush off our slide covers. Andy had the honors of doing that, although his comments indicated that he really didn't consider it to be an honor. :) If we hadn't removed the snow, it would likely have frozen, thus potentially damaging the slide covers.

Picture of the snow in the campground, a good amount had melted by the time I took this

Then yesterday we had thunder, lightning, a downpour of rain and hail! On November 28! This was all in a span of 2 hours or so. By the time we left to run errands, we had bright sunshine. 

Pea size hail on the sidewalk outside the laundry room 

We've been pleased with how our aqua hot is keeping us warm both inside and out. The key is not to have anything in the water compartment freeze and so far we've had no problems. 

The biggest hassle (as mentioned before) is no water hook-up at our site. This week we will move to a closer site to the office building which will allow us to be able to fill water without having to move the motorhome (a combination of our hoses and the campground hose). That will make things a lot easier. 

It's still unusual weather for the end of November/early December. But we will take all of the nice stuff we can! 

Goodbye Alabama, hello Minnesota?

Contrary to most RV'ers who are headed south, we traveled north to MN to spend time with our kids and grandkids for the holidays. Before leaving AL, we headed to Tupelo one more time. This time we traveled a new section of  the Natchez Trace (a part that we hadn't been on before). This time we stopped at a few places along the way and took a couple of short hikes.

This is an Indian Burial Grounds Area

One of the Mounds

An area of Dogwood Trees

Part of the original Natchez Trace

Burial Grounds for 13 Unknown Confederate Soldiers

We were glad to finish up at the Tiffin Service Center after being there for 5 weeks (the other week we were in southern AL at Lake Osprey). MN welcomed us with sunny skies and mild temps, unusually warm for November. This weekend will bring about a winter storm with rain turning to snow. This will be the first time we will camp in the snow. 

We're at Dakotah Meadows Campground, near Mystic Lake Casino. It's one of the few that stay open year round. The only bad thing is we have to move every 3-4 days so we can dump our tanks and get more water. Doable, but we'd much prefer to have water at our site. Guess we'll have to wait until January when we head south to get that again. 

Meantime, here's a picture from Alexander's birthday party last Saturday. he is 3 now. 

Alexander and his truck birthday cake