HAPPY THANKSGIVING! and an Invitation!!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! We hope you have a safe and enjoyable holiday.

You are invited to join our tradition: the ceremonial playing of Arlo Gutherie's classic story/song, "Alice's Restaurant."

Enjoy!

New Feature Enabled!

Greetings and Salutations Dear Readers,

As you might expect, we have a lot for which to be thankful. Among many other blessings, we are very thankful to have the opportunity to travel and spend time in a warm climates. At the top of "thankful list" are our children, grandchildren, siblings, nieces, nephews, cousins, friends and neighbors. We thank you for being there for us and wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving! 

On another note, check out the new feature I enabled on this blog. Look at the right hand column of blog options. Just below the "About Us" tab is a new tab labeled, "Follow by Email." If I understand it correctly, if you enter your e-mail address in the space provided, you will received an automated Email to notify you when a new blog entry has been posted. 

If you're so inclined, give it a try! And if you do give it a try, let me know how it works.

Once again, have a great Thanksgiving!

Bill and Anna Marie

HOME!

After yesterday's excitement, we were hoping for an uneventful trip home. That's exactly what we got. We dined at the Elmer Diner for lunch and made it home by 1530.

We unpacked the necessities and will take several days to off load everything from thr 5er. Next week, we,ll work on winterizing the unit and make arrange entrance for a repair and some other maintenance projects

Yikes!

At 0730 hours we departed from Santee State Park. Kiptopeke SP on the eastern shore was our destination. All was going smoothly as we traveled on I-95. Around noon, we stopped for fuel and lunch. As usual, we exited I-95 at Emporia and followed Highway 58 toward Norfolk. As we were braking for a red light in Southampton, the brakes failed. Luckily, there were no cars in front of us and traffic entering the highway hadn't yet started to enter the road. We drifted through the red light, finally stopping about 100 yards past the intersection.

A quick inspection lead to the conclusion that the right front brake line had ruptured. Before I could put the hood down, the sheriff pulled up behind us. He offered to call the repair shop and escort us about two miles to Doug's Auto Repair. We accepted his gracious offer and within two hours a quick repair was completed. We have to get all of the brake lines replaced when we get home.

We made it through the beginning of the Norfolk rush hour loosing about 1/2 hour to the slow going of the heavy volume of traffic. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel was transited in the dark of night, and we finished the days travel a few miles north when we set up in Kiptopeke State Park, about six hours from home.

Inching Closer to Home!

Left NSB at approximately 0630. Drove a little over 400 mile to Santee State Park in SC. At this rate, we'll be home on Wednesday!

The Home Stretch!

Sat 12 - installed both new windows on boat. Also re-wired the solar panel. Sun 13 - Homeward Bound! Stop in New Smyrna Beach to visit the Fritz's.

Catching Up (2)!

Tue 01 - Day 51 Another Day on the Road
Marianna, Florida Caverns State Park

Here's to another day on the road! This time we did another 300+ miles which puts us about 650-675 miles from Houston. This time, we made camp in Florida Caverns State Park, the only state park that has caverns. They give tours, but not on Tuesday or Wednesday.
We took a walk and found the swimming area. It's a small Blue Hole. A sign informs bathers that the maximum occupancy of swimmers is 30! It is really a small swimming hole.
This park offers full hook-ups at a cost of $22.30/night.
After setting up camp, I connected to city water, only to find a leak. About a week ago I replaced the check valve. Some quick work with a wrench and Teflon tape and the leak was stopped. Yesterday I hooked up the electric rod that sits in the water heater. Now we can heat the water with either propane or electric.





Wed 02 - Day 52 Camping with the Henkels
Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park

Even though we are still in the Central Time Zone, we set the clocks to Eastern time last night. We'll cross into the new zone early today. So when we broke camp at 0600, all the other campers had it at 0500. We made sure to be extra quiet!
Our campsite at Paynes Prairie State Preserve was set up shortly after our 1145 arrival.
We did lunch and set off on a 4 mile hike. This park boasts about it's wildlife, including Scrib Cattle, Spanish Horses, and Bison. That's right, Florida was home to American Buffalo before the population was eradicated. In 1985 they reintroduced 10 Bison (imported from Oklahoma). The current herd is estimated to be 70 animals.
Long time friends the Henkels greeted us as we arrived back at the campground. We had a lot of catching up to do. It took most of the evening!



Thu 03 - Day 53 Florida Bison
Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park

They said our chances of actually seeing the Bison were remote. "the prairie is very dry and the bison are probably trying to find water in some remote area of the 6,000 acre preserve." undaunted, Pat, George, Anna Marie and I set out for a hike on the Cone's Dike trail which leads out into the prairie. Along the way, we saw signs of wild boar, horses and bison. At the 2 1/2 mile mark, we spotted 5 of the wild Spanish horses that live on the preserve.
Figuring the park folks were probably correct about the bison, we turned back. As we were nearing the end (beginning?) of the trail, we saw two shapes off in the distance. Even with the field glasses, we were to far away to say for sure what we were seeing. As we got closer, it was evident that the two animals were bison. As we got even closer, we observed five more bison. If the ranger was correct about the estimated population, we were seeing 10% of the herd!
We climbed the observation tower to get a better look.
Besides the bison, we also saw two Sand Hill Cranes. It was another great wildlife viewing day!
In the evening, we sat around the campfire swapping stories and catching up with Pat and George.



Fri 04 - Day 54 Visiting Friends in Bradenton
Bradenton

Goodbye Pat & George! Greetings Pat and Ray!
Departure from Payne's Prairie Preserve State Park was scheduled for 1000 hours, but everything was secured and ready for travel by 0945. We bid a fond farewell to our long time friends Pat and George and headed out. The days drive was a relatively easy 160 miles.
Pat and Ray are friends we met on our second trip on the ICW. Readers might better know then from the M/V Reflection and stories about the flock. It was Pat who gave that moniker to the group.
They have gone back to being landlubbers after a stint on the RV circuit. They have a lovely home in Bradenton and offered to put us up for a night or two.
After a tour of the house and sharing stories they gave us an auto tour of their environs. One of the highlights was the Twin Dolphins Marina where they spent a few months aboard Reflection.
Even though it was very windy and a tad chilly, we enjoyed seeing the posts and beaches on Anna Maria Island.
The meal (ribs all around) at Mr. Bones was great. We capped off the evening with a game of dominoes before hitting the sack.




Sat 05 - Day 55 Big Cypress National Preserve
Big Cypress National Preserve

What a great time visiting Patty and Ray. Thanks so much for your hospitality! We hope to see you in the Spring.
By 1000 hours, we were on the road, thinking our destination might be a campground in the Everglades. As it got near 1500 hours, we decided to stop at Midland Campground in Big Cypress National Wilderness Preserve. Big Cypress is adjacent to the Everglades. The campground has paved sites with electric for the princely sum of $10.00.
pat and Ray suggested that we stop at Clyde Butcher's Gallery. Luckily, it is about 1 mile west of the campground on the Tamiami Trail (highway 41). We selected our site, set up, unhitched, and promptly headed off to see the Gallery. It is fantastic! Thanks for the tip Patty and Ray. We even had the opportunity to walk the swamp trail. Unfortunately the photo tip swamp walk is only offered on Saturdays during this time of year.



Sun 06 - Day 56 Long Key State Park
Long Key State Park

On the road at 0800 after "falling back" 1 hour at 0200. After a quick stop for odds and ends at the Homestead Walmart, which has finally rid itself the several derelict RVs and which has posted "No Overnight Parking" signs, we made it to Long Key State Park on Rattlesnake Key. We were pleasantly surprised to find a campsite as this is a very popular campground. We tried to reserve a site through CampAmerica Reservations but there were no sites available. We later read that the park is closed for renovations. Apparently some sites are available unless they are being repaired.
After unhitching, we drove into Marathon to have a look around and to inspect the boat.
Tomorrow, we'll begin what we anticipate will be several days of bait cleaning and prep work.

Mon 07 - Day 57 Transmission Leak
Long Key State Park!

Truck transmission is dripping fluid. 

On the boat, two portlights in the galley leaked. The sealant has failed and there are cracks at most of the screw holes. We'll remove them and get All Keys Glass the cut and drill new ones.

Tue 08 - Day 58 9 Quarts!

Checked transmission fluid. Added 9 quarts. By the end of the day, the drip became a steady stream. Made appointment to take it to a tranny specialist in Big Pine Key.

Made arrangements for bottom painting, waxing and gelcoat cockpit repairs for boat.

Removed portlights and took them to All Keys Glass.


Wed 09 - Day 59 Converter Gasket!
Mechanic thinks the converter seal is blown. Must remove tranny. Converter seal not in stock. Will take everything apart so it's ready for new gasket tomorrow.

Work on boat continues. Installed tramps, cleaning.


Thru 10 - Day 60 Truck Repaired!

At the bus stop by 7:10. Bus passes us by at 7:15, at least 20 minutes early!

Park Manager lends us her car for the day.

Rebuilt marine head and did more boat work.

Picked up truck at 1630 hours. New converter seal and two new universal joints. No leaks and truck running and shifting well. Repair seems a success. Ron, the mechanic broke the mirror off the passenger door.


Fri 11 -Day 61 Pick Up Generator

Truck and tranny working well!

Earlier in the week we asked Eric (Shoreline) to replace the pull chord in the generator. We picked it up today. After inquiring about getting the mirror from the truck repaired, Eric went right to work on it. It didn't go as quickly as expected, so we told him we'd be back in the morning.

Back at the boat, we prepped for reinstallation of windows, which we picked up late in the day. We install both tomorrow.

Lunch at Burdines, dinner at Sparky's!

Laundry done. Talked to Fritz's. Joe is healing and they're on the road as we speak!

Invited us to stop by on the way home.