ON OUR WAY TO FLORIDA...TAKING THE LONG WAY

As we were getting ready to travel to one of our favorite places in Florida we received a call from Turtle Beach Campground to let us know things were in pretty rough shape with Red Tide. We have been following the Red Tide situation along the south/west coast of Florida for about a month and as we were getting closer to our Camp Host commitment...well we weren't in a big hurry, so we took a little different route than normal.  

The Red Tide situation is best described by experts like Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium {and} The South Florida Clean Water Movement, the activist who may or may not have a good idea what the problem is and who is to blame.  

   



As we go south this year we hoped all the sea creatures will be

getting back to normal life soon.  

Our summer was short but full of actives which seem to

make the season go even faster.

Some Elks while on the road offer us a great place to stay in our RV.
Our local Elks in Maumee Ohio puts on a great Mothers Day Brunch every
year which we {as a family} took advantage of.
Daughter Dawn, Husband Jim with Granddaughter Andrea
Tony with his mother Laura and Sandy.   

Our local International League baseball team has a big party

one opening day which Sandy and I enjoy going to.

Granddaughter Andrea's graduation from High School was another big

day this summer...making us feel a little older not wiser.

She will (before this post) start her next adventure at the

University of Cincinnati {The Bearcats} 

 

 

If you drive a jeep it was built in Toledo {our home town}

Two years ago they celebrated 75 years of Jeep in Toledo with a large

parade and displays. It was held again this August with an even larger

1,700 Jeep Parade drawing (Jeep Lovers) from around the country and

displaying Jeeps of years past.

Yes we...along with our Jeep were in the parade! 

    

As we travel across the country we stop and see friends along the way.

This stop was our first on our way to Nashville Tennessee...not exactly

the fastest route to Florida but gave us a chance to stop and visit with

one of Tony's high school classmates that lives in Bowling Green KY.  

Christie along with her husband Bob welcomed us into there home

for an afternoon of reminiscing about high school days.

I know Christie looks like she was from a {much later class}

and Bob's collection of Detroit Tiger Memorabilia was a

 complete and enjoyable surprise.         

We then moved on to Nashville to take in the sights and

sounds which there are a lot of. Every "Honkey Tonk" has an

expiring artist playing or singing there hearts out

 ready to be discovered.

Our next stop was Arlington TX...and yes from Toledo to Florida

...Texas is not exactly on the way.
  We decided to go to the Ohio State game against

 Texas Christian University (TCU) football game being 

held at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Not far from TCU where

our Greatnephew Greg is a senior and chance to visit one of 

our favorite restaurants.     

  





As we have stated in the past we stay at a lot of Elks Lodges
across the country that offer an inexpensive overnight stay
for members traveling in RV's    

As our luck would have it..(sometimes) Elks Lodge 2114

in Arlington was a great place for us to stay...less than an

hour from TCU and 10 minutes from AT&T Stadium.

   As you can see they even had a small golf course on 

there property which would have been fun with more time. 

So this is the main reason we went some one thousand miles

out of the way...Yes we made lemonade out of lemons and

all that when we had three extra weeks to find something

to do. One of the reasons we like traveling in an RV is

because it gives us a lot of options.

 
We took a tour of this stadium a few years ago
when they were setting up for the NCAA Basketball 
Finals. With the hope in returning to see the Buckeyes 
play football there some day.    

Yes we were way up there...but we had a great

seat to watch all the replays on the Jumbo-Tron.

...And meeting Ohio State's 'Mr Big Nut'

was all a bonus!

So we will be rooting for the Buckeyes from our
beautiful spot in Sarasota Florida on Siesta Key
until March when our adventure moves.

  LIVE
LAUGH
  LOVE
SanTony

ANOTHER SHORT SUMMER





Hello again and welcome to anyone still taking the time to read about our adventures. We plan to start posting again ever month and a half or so with shorter post and more pictures.





We actually came home to snow and a lot of cold rainy weather which ran through the month of May...so it was like we had no spring...then bang a HEAT WAVE!!!

 

We are home in Toledo and in the middle of a warmer than usual summer and which is also going to be almost two months shorter than last year because of our commitment to {again} be Campground Host at Turtle Beach Campground in Sarasota Florida on beautiful Siesta Key.

 

 

There is a great video that was made...called the best kept secret

of Siesta Key and you can see it when you do a search for Turtle

Beach Campground.

 







 

{Tony's Office}

The bad weather gave us a little extra time when we got home to get our kitchen finished that we left (under construction) last fall...so that worked out pretty good considering we needed a lot to finish up.

This is what we started with: butcher-block countertop and brick like 

backsplash which left a lot of rough walls when taken off. We also had

to remove a large oven/microwave combo, an electric range and a trash 

compacter along with the old sink.  

 

Those of you that have done anything like this will know what I mean

when I say one unexpected setback after another was the norm. The

new double oven didn't fit...trash compacter was a beast to take out

and re-doing duct work for new exhaust fan took a little engineering.  

 

The "BEAST" trash compacter was replaced with a custom double trash

compartment and drawer.  

 



 

Counter tops were replaced after the repair of my demolition

and walls were plastered and painted after holes were filled. 

 

 But the outcome was worth it which included a custom cabinet

for a large microwave and new celling lighting 

 

We will spend the next month and a half enjoying our home along with family and friends and get ready for our next adventure in sunny Florida.

We are anxious to see all the improvements that the campground put in place last year and reconnect with family and friends that either live full time in the sun shine state or...like us call it home in the winter. 

 As a good friend always says "enjoy each day"...and she tells us that all the time like she doesn't think it's sunk in yet...well Judy its beginning to sink in. 

TO ALL "ENJOY EACH DAY" 

  LIVE

LAUGH

  LOVE

SanTony    

OUR LONG STAY AT COCOPAH

The red mark shows were we are parked at Cocopah RV and Golf Resort

just inside Arizona 4 miles east of California and 3 miles north of Mexico

in the town of Yuma surrounded by acres and acres of farm land.   

 



As we get close to the end of our 2 1/2 months at the Cocopah RV and Golf Resort we look back at what we have done.
Of course golf is one of the activities but not the only one we enjoyed...
poker..pool (with and without water) Egg Game..bicycling ..Special Events (like dances) and visiting/dinner with friends.

Trent and his wife where our playing partners for Couples Golf

on this our last Friday in the park...Yes we had FUN and

actually played some good golf.  

 

 







The Egg Game (every Friday afternoon) was a big draw for golfer and non

 golfers alike. You first buy as many raffle tickets as you want. Then if you

  are lucky enough to be 1 of 6 to be chosen you go and get $100 and a egg.

That's a plastic egg that is worth anywhere between 0 to $250.

But to keep your egg you have to pass a little test!

 

You guess first... then cut a deck of cards (high or low)

 

If you guess right you keep your egg and your still in the game

 

If you guess wrong another ticket is drawn and there's a new egg holder

 

Then they offer cash for that egg...It's fun to watch, but more fun to have

the right ticket... no luck with this our last  Friday...    

 

 



 

Jalapeno Poppers...to start and some of Judy's fancy deserts to

finish a number of great meals shared with our

Canadian friends   

 



Activities outside the resort like going out to eat..going to Mexco (to get Tony's teeth fixed)...{boy that was fun} spending the day learning about how they manage to grow so much at "THE FIELD TO FEAST PROGRAM"

 

Tony picking crops to take with us...only on organized days

are you allowed in the fields...which are tightly monitored.  

 

 

 Quite an experience to see the different ways the crops were grown. 

 

 

This is not one of the local farm hands putting on the event,

but our friend Myron showing how he wears the hair net given to him.

We took a day out of our busy schedule to visit (90 miles away) the

  little town of Quartzsite AZ...which is basically at this time of year

    the largest collection of people selling...just about anything and there

       customers are largely thousands of RVers spread out, and staying

in the desert without a care like gypsy's or nomads 

on government at a dollar a day...or less!     

We ventured to Algodones Mexico...a short drive from Cocopah

so Tony could get some dental work done. 

 



 

Everything turned out fine and at a good price but he felt

a little extra courage couldn't hurt and place even

    had a big Tiki Hut.   

 



Venturing into the old town of Yuma  was interesting as we went to

Street Market Days...a local movie house...

 

and of course checked out the local pubs and eatery's.



A special treat was to hook up with the AZ Payne's at the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area...thousands of people visit every year to test there riding skills and there machines.

 

All strapped in and ready to take a ride...not taken before!

 



Close to there campsite a small track was set up for the kids

to get used to riding there 4 wheeler.

 



 

The amazing thing...this was only about 40 miles away from where 80% of all our vegetables are grown.

But the main attrition is the golf and "Lexi" is parked along the second fairway of this relatively short (5735 yards from the blue) course with tricky and hard elevated greens.

This is the 2nd fairway/facing the green (red mark) indicates 

were we park Lexi and we call home. 

 

Zooming in below you can see how they put up large screens to

help protect RV's from...wayward golf shots...which are

    part of the daily occurrence. We haven't taken a direct     

hit because we are also partially hidden by a large

5th wheel and we are a smaller target.



On the way out for one of golf tournaments held here.

Tony wasn't very happy to be on the blue team but

  enjoyed wearing the John Carroll Baseball shirt

  and telling everyone about our Grandnephew

playing in his first game in Florida. 

 

The course is fairly tight on better than half the holes with OB not being a lateral hazard which can run a score up in a hurry.


Tony joined the Men's League which is fairly competitive with special tournaments held throughout our stay like the  CAN/AM Canadians against the Americans our the Blue and Red Challenge and The Lone Wolf.


We are also members of the Couples League which has some unorthodox rules thrown in every week to make it more interesting in a best ball format. Like being able to tee it up at any time...Or stealing a put from your opponent...Or if you go into a green side bunker you place the ball just a flag stick away from hole...Or if the girls don't reach the 150 marker they can take another hit without counting a stroke.        



We also get out for a couple more days a week with Judy and Myron from Sechelt British Columbia, Canada which we met golfing here at Cocopah eight years ago. We have also enjoyed there company while going out to explore and eat... or share meals after golf where (like fishermen) we talk about the shot(s) that got away. 

 







We will miss the people like Myron and Judy and the place that we have called home for 78 days but also look forward to heading to our Ohio home.

   

  LIVE
LAUGH
  LOVE
SanTony