Sunday, January 21 through Wednesday, January 31, 2018, Lithia Springs, FL

Moving day again - 25.3 miles (85,053.8 total) from the Florida Fairgrounds to Hillsborough County's Lithia Springs Park in Lithia, FL on the Alafia River. This is our third stay at the park over the years and always following the SEACA rally at LazyDays. We approached it differently this time and it went so much more smoothly by taking exit 250 off of I-75, following east on Fish Hawk road to its end, two quick lefts and we were in the park. 

Site 33 was a challenge like many of the small sites in this park are, but we were in and set-up by 11:00 am - sweet!

There were some noticeable changes to the park. First, it was crowded - nearly full. On previous visits, we were sometimes all alone except for the camp hosts. New policies allow long-term stays (up to 6 months) so a lot of the people camping when we arrived were still there when we left. I'm going to guess the beautiful weather might have been a factor in the park's high occupancy rate as well.

We met an artist from Texas who travels in her mobile "Art Haus" from show to show.  She was finishing up some pieces for a show in Tampa soon. I didn't pry but I got the impression a lot of her painting was done with her hands (I didn't see brushes and her hands were covered with blue).

I realize Florida may not be as spectacular as the west when it comes to natural wonders, but as a location to escape the brutal winter cold while thinking about our next years travels it will do nicely!

Tuesday, January 16 through Saturday, January 20, 2018, Tampa RV Supershow Rally

It was a grueling moving day today - just kidding - we went 6.3 miles (85,028.5 total) from the LazyDays rally to the Florida Fairgrounds for the RV Supershow. Seriously, it was a bit concerning that our parking time was scheduled so early we had to contend with the morning rush hour traffic. Even so, we were extremely lucky with our timing and we had no merging issues.

The crew did an excellent job parking the 40+ American Coaches together very quickly. Bonus - we were provided with 30 amp hook-ups which made life much easier for the duration of our stay. We also seemed to have the best location at the fairgrounds - literally across the street from the vendors. 

Keith arranged for an open area where we could congregate for happy hour around four every afternoon. Everyone brought something to share and we found ourselves with so many options and so much food every night.

The first time we have seen a convertible bunk bed sofa!

Joani has decided when we retire from full-time RV life she wants this little Leisure class B for vacations. It certainly was nice, but it was tight. It was probably half the size of our current home. I'll try to keep an open mind. 

How about this trailer for the deck enthusiast - two decks for folks who really don't like to touch the ground.

By the end of the show we had seen a lot of cool stuff, but after five years of full-timing, the only thing I felt inclined to purchase was a new display for our tire pressure monitoring system. I know, not very exciting - maybe next time.

Thursday, January 11 through Monday, January 15, 2018, SEACA LazyDays Rally

This year's winter excursion through Florida was feeling pretty familiar. We left Sumter Oaks SKP park in Bushnell, FL following the same route we did two ago when we last attended the Southeast American Coach rally at LazyDays in Tampa, Florida. We had to stall a little to make sure we were not too early for check-in. The 50.0 mile (85,022.2 total) drive was all on back roads. I was again reminded just how much better secondary roads usually are compared to the Interstate highway system. Additionally, since we were familiar with the route we were not misled into the heart of Dade City's downtown district which made things a bit more relaxing.

Since we were a day early for the rally, registration went very smoothly. We were parked on the edge of the facility in a pretty tight site. I had to have a guy move his pickup truck to maneuver into our site that had a tree overhanging us. We never did have enough room to get our car off of the drive, but then again neither did anyone else.

Only a few people had already arrived for the rally, so I made the most of our free time with daily trips to the spa and lots of walks with Sam to look at the LazyDays inventory. Of course, being so close to Tampa we were obligated to visit their Ikea for some idea shopping and Swedish meatballs. 

Soon enough the whole gang arrived. The rally attracted just under 60 American Coaches with lots of old friends as well as new ones. There was entertainment most every night and so much great food! Unfortunately, I rarely thought to capture pictures and instead just enjoyed the fellowship, food and fun. The few times I did snap a picture on my phone it did a poor job of capturing the atmosphere. Fond memories would have to do as we wrapped up our time at LazyDays.

Sunday, January 7 through Wednesday, January 10, 2018, Sumter Oaks, SKP

Our trip to Sumter Oaks Escapee RV park in Bushnell, FL was an easy 142.5 miles (84,972.2 total). Finally, we could fill the propane tank and quit worrying that we might run out. As it turned out, it only took 22 gallons to fill the tank meaning we still had about 18 gallons on board - we were never in any danger of running out!

Sand Hill Cranes have a very loud and very distinctive call. I found them a few rows over from our site. This crazy bird was fighting with his own reflection in the grill of a pick-up truck. His companion just did a little preening while her man protected their territory.

I don't think she was really impressed - you could almost see the disappointment on her face trying to figure out when he would give up the fight with the phantom bird.

Last time in Bushnell I found the extra hot salsa at the Coyote Rojo to be very tasty. Of course, we had to see if it was as good as I remembered - it was! In fact, over our four-day stay at Sumter Oaks, we visited the Red Coyote 3 times.

What a difference a few days and a few hundred miles to the south made. I could wear shorts and a tee shirt to walk Sam around the park. There were cows in the field to the west of the park along Cow Patty Lane.

On the east side of the park, we were able to visit with the Donkeys along Donkey Lane.

Since we didn't even call the park until we were two hours away, we were lucky they had room for us at all, but our four-night stay in the park required our moving three times. One night we dry camped with a beautiful view of the swamp. When we were quiet, the birds came within maybe 20 feet of our coach while far in the background you could see birds flocking from every direction to fill the trees a couple hundred yards away.

My guess was there were several hundred birds gathered. At least I never got any creepy Alfred Hitchcock The Birds kind of feeling.

Sumter Oaks is a bit run down, but its convenience to I-75 makes it one of our favorite SKP parks and I am sure we will be back again next time through Florida.

Saturday, January 6, 2018, Move to Live Oak, FL

I was starting to think this frigid winter weather was going to become permanent. We were really getting tired of just trying to stay warm. I was starting to worry about our propane level and with water issues, the joy of motorhome living was starting to wear thin. It was time to quickly head south! We made the Florida state line and more with a marathon 298.7 mile (84,829.7 total) trip to Live Oak, FL. I remember when a six-hour driving day was not so rare and I didn't feel so worn out. I don't know what all is in Live Oak other than an easily accessible Walmart that allows overnight parking. This time though, that is enough reason to stop.

I caught Sam napping with his Abominable snowman, but as soon as I picked up the camera he looked up and spoiled the cozy picture. You might think Joani's bare feet indicate the coach was nice and warm. You would be wrong - it was only about 60 degrees inside and there was an air leak that allowed the 30 degrees outside air to blow on my feet - something else for the to-do list.

Bumble, the abominable snow monster of the north was a Christmas gift from Sam's cousins, Max and Ruby.  It is Sam's favorite "go to toy." (Thank you, Barbara)

We both slept pretty soundly (Thank-you Walmart).  There was still frost on the ground as I took Sam for his early morning walk - time to head further south!

Wednesday, January 3, 2018, Katie and Mike Visit

The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Gunter Hill Campground has to be a model for every great campground - wide, level, paved parking, widely spaced sites, beautiful views, clean, warm bathhouses. If it just wasn't so cold! I guess it is winter and we are in the middle of an unusual arctic blast so. . .

We had two reasons for stopping here: 1) we were here before and remembered how nice it was and 2) Katie and Mike's route back to Oregon was through here and they agreed to stop for a while.

They left Atlanta early and made it to the park just after noon. Our biggest concern was how would Sam react to having their cat inside with us. He has exhibited a fierce animosity towards cats in the past. We don't know why - must have been something in his first six months before we adopted him.

To play it safe we put Sam in the bedroom as they brought their cat, Gray Man, in for the first time. He quickly assessed his new realm with no concerns. He must have smelled evidence of a dog, but just settled into his bed happy to be out of the car and warm. When we brought Sam out he gave us a look that said: "hey, what goes on here?" 

We kept him on a pretty tight leash and never forced them together. I think everyone was pretty relieved - it could have been so much worse. A couple of times Gray Man walked by Sam a bit too close and we heard a low growl as he strained at his leash a little, but they never had the chance to really get together which was just fine for their first encounter.

With our on-going water issues, it was best to have dinner out. Sam got a car ride, so he was happy. Gray Man was able to explore every nook and cranny of our coach while we were gone. We ate in front of the fireplace at Panera Bread Co. A good time was had by all.

So happy we were able to connect even if it was only for a few hours. They hit the road by 5:30 the next morning in the frigid dark. I certainly don't envy them their estimated 15-hour drive to get to Kerrville, TX, their next stop on the way back to Oregon.

Monday, January 1, 2018, Move to Montgomery, AL

We continued our trek south towards warmer climes - Decatur, AL, while warmer than Lebanon, TN was still ridiculously cold. I pushed the button to retract the jacks, but the lights said they stayed down. Sure enough, one of the rear jacks was frozen to the ground. I could see it rose a few inches, but it was pulling the ground up with it. I decided to put the coach in gear and move it just a little bit to break it free. That almost worked - the jack retracted but with a chunk of ground about 2 feet in diameter and 4 inches thick. I hammered on the frozen chunk with a log to no avail. Finally, we broke out the heat gun. After a few minutes I gave the log another try and it finally separated from the jack pad. The 25-degree temperature and 10 mph wind made the ordeal much more grueling than it probably sounds.

Traffic was pretty light as we headed to a Kroger fuel center where groceries and gift cards purchased in December meant we could get $1.00 off each gallon of diesel. Unfortunately, that only applied to 35 gallons of the 105 gallons it took to fill our coach (their regular price was still pretty good at $2.499/gal).

With all of the extra issues, we still got a pretty early start and were thinking we could settle in our next stop by around 2:00. We were wrong - a ten-mile long traffic jam added another 2 hours to our travel time. Just after the traffic cleared we stopped in a rest area to let Sam stretch his legs. We saw what caused all of the delay -  not a pretty sight.

We checked into Gunter Hill COE Campground just outside of Montgomery, AL around 4:00. It turned out to be a pretty long day to chalk up another 172.6 miles (84,531.0 total). We settled in as quickly as we could and fired up the furnace. We clearly were not far enough south yet.

Sadly, the low was predicted to be 18. We won't be storing the heavy coats for a while yet. I'm sure hoping this arctic blast will pass soon!