Passport Rally , Crestview , Florida

Passport First Annual Rally and Sharon and I were there !!!!!!!!For those of you that aren't familiar with Passport of America , its a club for frequent campers . By joining and paying a yearly fee around $35.00 you get 1/2 price camping at select campgrounds through out the USA and Canada . We've used it a few times this winter and saved at least $200.00 ,so its worth the yearly fee..........
We arrived a day early so to beat the crowd and so did 90 % of everyone else ......smart folks these retired are........We were packed in close ....no awnings where able to open.... we where that close ...in fact close enough to almost knock on the neighbours window and borrow sugar.........
The purpose of rallies are to meet other campers and have fun and we did......Leo and JoAnn Wathen were right next door and from Michigan.....Leo was a retired plumber so right away we had a lot to talk about.......They are members of another camper club for RVer's called Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA ) ....we are now joining that club now also ......

There was entertainment every day .....some plan and some not planed........here a real surprise ...yes that's right" ELVIS " showed up.....

The town of Crestview , Florida , had a festival that same weekend ...so we went to that with Leo and Jo Anne and the Perrys ....no not our friends from home Jim and Shirley ....but our new friends "JIM " and Sandy Perry . ......

here are some shots from the towns festival ........

One night we had karaoke and Sandy Perry sang a beautiful song wonderfully ....

Then there was The Sweeney Family Band ... a group of three guys that played and sang and joked around ....fun fun fun .........

It was a great first Rally for Sharon and I ........we met some good people and we always learn something from everyone we meet.......there was four days of fast moving thing going on......and I was tired after it was over ........we head to Georgia for a few days of rest and then to a campground in S. Carolina .....

Port St. Joe , Florida

Port St. Joe , Florida was a five day stop over on root to a Passport America Rally that is taking place north of here about four hours away.

The campgrounds has about 30 to 40 sites of which half are on the water . We were lucky enough to get one of the water sites .........Nothing fancy here our picnic table barely stood up on its own it was so old .......Its a marina also and I think that's where they make their money from.....But just look at the sunsets we had the joy of ending our days with ......

While we where here I found a small RV supply store and stopped to see what I just had to have . While I looked around I found this display of old lures ...The owner said he collects old and interesting lures he finds at flea markets and garage sales ......Well the one on the bottom left was made by a Rochester , N.Y. company named RED EYE that was located on Jay St. and owned by a good friend of my father ( Earl A. Lenhard ) named Norman Gauch . Just how small is this world we live in ...The owner enjoyed hearing the history that I knew about his lure and I just spent some time last summer with Mr Gauch just before he pasted away ....How cool is that ?

Sharon and I finally found the time and had better weather and a coupon , buy one greens fee get one free ......It was at at semi private course called St. Joes country club.........so for $42.00 we got 18 holes and a cart .......it was one of the few beautiful days we've had ; warm and sunny !!!!!!

We took a drive to an very exclusive area called St George Island ........nice beaches and very nice high end houses .....most of the houses were vacation rentals , we were told in the price range of $2,500 to $3,500 a week ........there was also a nice Lighthouse they were in the process of rehabbing........and Sharon came across this jellyfish........

Our site was a good size and had real nice views :

We'll be leaving here on the 24th of March and looking forward to the rally in Crestview , Florida ......heading north little by little ............

Ocala , Florida

After the break down last month we were looking forward to a relaxing time at Ocala , Florida and that's what we got ....

Our good friends Shirley and Jim Perry are here with us at Lake Waldena Resort . We've had some shopping trips with them and great tasting dinners together.........also a few exciting games of euchre ......men vs girls and the men came up victorious !!!!!!!!

The weather has gotten warmer ......and a rain storm that was a little scary ....I'm told the rain was coming at 4 to 5 inches a hour ....we had some of our things floating around and were heading toward the lake only a few feet behind us.......Something had to be done to save our belongings before they were to be lost to the lake ....someone had to do something and fast ...but who .....yes who would go out in the height of the storm and fight.... the wind ....the rain ...the strong current of the storm .......who ? Well one of us had to go and one stay in the comfort , dryness , warmth and safety of the RV .......Well that's what we did .......I looked deep inside me and found the strength to talk to the dogs and keep them calmed down ........Also with a steady keen eye I was able to scream out clear and direct orders to Sharon what to grab and claim back from the seas......I know what your all thinking ...how did I stay calm though out this ordeal .......The twenty years working for the City of Rochester did teach me how to react when work needed to be done ..............

Sharon and I also had the pleasure of a afternoon with friends from Green Harbor Campground our summer home ......Joy and George Cody have a very nice winter home about 40 minutes from where we are staying here in Ocala ........We enjoyed some cold refreshments ...a tour of their house and area dock and water front ....This big guy was sunning himself just off their dock.......

Goerge and Joy also treated us to a very filling and delicious lunch at a fine restaurant close to their place ......thanks guys.......

On one of our drives with the Perrys we found this "motorbike " it has a 350 cu.in. Chevy engine ....cool huh ?

Here's' baby Monty with one of his favorite friends ....Mr. Perry ......

We had our last winter dinner with the Perrys' last night .....Corned Beef , cabbage and soda bread....so good......We leave tomorrow Friday the 19th of March.......heading north to St Joe's , Florida ....its up on the Gulf of Mexico on the panhandle ....Starting our slow 2006 mile journey home for the summer months ...........As always Sharon is here and looking forward to returning to Wegmans ....softball .....her Miata......