Air Boat Trip, Mod and Moving

Location: Avon Park, FL (High 85, Low 74)

It has been another awesome, busy, and FAST week here in Avon Park! We are now LESS than two weeks away from our cruise! I am excited about that and also seeing my family. In all, there are 13 of us going on this cruise, and I am looking forward to a week of fun and family time.

 

But in the meantime, this has been another busy week. On Tuesday, we helped Dee and Jim move the majority of their stuff over to their new place. I’ve heard it said before but it really is amazing how much storage space there is in an rv.

 

After we got all the boxes carted in, we relaxed in the living room and enjoyed a nice casual lunch.

 

 

Speaking of storage space, Harry did an awesome mod to ours this week. A couple weeks ago, we visited with friends we met at Amazon, Kathy and Dave. They showed us some new struts they were putting in their motorhome and we liked the idea so much we decided to do the same thing.

 

What a difference! I feel like I have more room just because I don’t have to maneuver the stuff out of there anymore. So nice! So far Harry has six of our cupboards done and four left to finish.

 

We also played some tennis this week with our friend Judy. We met her last year when we were doing the tennis class here. The class didn’t happen this year, but we’ve had a good time playing with Judy.

 

Judy leaves this week, and between the cruise and the heat, this may have been our last time playing tennis this season. We’ll be looking forward to playing again next winter.

 

On Thursday, we took a road trip with Jim and Dee to Lake Okeechobee to visit with Dee’s sister Doris and go on an airboat ride.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had a lot of fun, saw a couple gators, and were quite happy that we didn’t get rained on!!

 

 

 

Then we hung out at Doris’ place and enjoyed some good food and good conversation.

 

 

 

 

On Friday, we saw Jim and Dee off as they headed out on their new adventure – life in a new home staying put in Auburndale, FL.

 

Even after all the moving they had done, there was still a car full to go with them!

 

 

And they’re off!

 

 

We’ve also finished the first week of our training program. Eleven weeks left until our half marathon in Plymouth.

Phew! And now, here we are heading into the last few days of March. Everyday, there are more people pulling out to head north. By the time we get back from our cruise, this place is going to be empty! Three more weeks left here for us.

It’s Day One!

Location: Avon Park, FL (High 68, Low 51)

The park is emptying out pretty quickly these days. Last year at this time we were getting ready to leave ourselves, but with our cruise this year starting on April 9th, we have another whole month before we start heading north. Our view is expanding a bit now that we have less neighbors.

Dee and Jim, next door on our other side, aren’t going north this year, but are packing right now to move into their new place. A couple days ago we went over for the afternoon to help with some of the cleanout. There was a lot of old crap that had to be pitched. After cleaning out our house to sell, I am a firm advocate of not keeping stuff just to keep it!

 

A great picture of Harry while we were waiting for the golf cart St. Patrick’s day parade….

 

So…today’s blog title refers to….

our first run this morning for a training program we are starting this week!!

Since last April our running has been a bit sporadic. But we have a race planned in June – a half marathon in Plymouth MA which I am so excited about. And today was Day 1 of Week 1 of a 12 week training program to get ready!! Time to get back to work!

Time is Flying!

Location: Avon Park, FL (High 85, Low 65)

It has been a super long time since my last blog post! Somehow we ended up with another GB drought. Not sure where it all went, although I do have Windows 10 on my computer which may have been updated, plus I had to download an update for a program I have on my computer. All of a sudden we got the notice from Verizon that we were at 75% with about 2 weeks left to our month. So we have been nursing it along since then. We figure we spend enough on our internet already without spending another fifteen bucks for one measly GB. So now we are in our new month, and here I am!

This year is the first time that we have spent four months in one place down in Florida, and we have been enjoying ourselves. We basically decided to stay put since we are going on a cruise next month, but we weren’t sure whether we would get tired of being here for the whole winter. We’ve had a good time though, and like this park and the people so much that we have already signed up to come back here again next year.

 

So what have we been up to? Well, for the most part we’ve just been enjoying ourselves with normal everyday activities. We go for a walk everyday, and we’ve also been doing some running. Next week we start a training program for a half marathon (13.1 miles) that we’ve signed up for in June.

I saw this local resident one day when I was out for a walk.

 

 

Mike and Terri stopped by the park for a few days, and we enjoyed a lunch out at a local highlight – Jacaranda Hotel and Restaurant – with Jim and Dee.

 

 

Two or three times a week we spend the evening over in the clubhouse playing cards. We’ve gotten to know some great people and enjoy a lot of laughs while we’re playing.

 

Harry and I joined a group of Heartland owners (fellow northeast owners also down in Florida for the winter) on a dolphin cruise out of Tarpon Springs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We enjoyed a nice walk on Anclote Island and had a great time visiting, but unfortunately had no dolphin encounters.

 

 

It’s been a great few months down here in Florida and I just can’t believe that we are only three weeks away from our cruise. My sister and her family will be here for a few days before the cruise and I am really looking forward to seeing them!