BACK ON THE ROAD

It's been nearly a year since we took a camping trip; COVID changed ALL our plans.  A lot has happened in the past year.  As you know our plans to travel full-time in our RV came to a screeching halt last March when COVID hit.  We hunkered down at Eleanor's place, thinking we'd start our full-time RV life once COVID got better.  Well, when COVID didn't improve, we decided to settle down and buy a house, near Eleanor, in Inverness, FL.  We love our home and Florida, but we still want to camp, so we put our fifth wheel up for sale, and looked for another smaller RV that would be easier to pull, and would be more geared towards occasional camping trips, rather than full-time living.  My brother Mike, found us one like his, while he was visiting us in March.  So we now have a 2019 Grand Design Imagine 2500rl.  Since we received our 2nd coronavirus vaccines, we felt safe to travel.  George, El, and I took our initial trip last week--we went down to the Everglades.  Glad to report the RV checked out just fine!  

Here George is enjoying our 1st campfire in a long time.  That's our new rig behind him.

We stayed in Big Cypress National Reserve.  This is right by the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge.  

Although we did not see any panthers, we did see magnificent tropical foliage.  

The photos above are bromeliads and/or air plants.  It's amazing how these plants live off nutrients in the air and sunshine!

We also saw lots of alligators in Shark Valley, which is part of the Everglades National Park.  

"Who did you say is behind me?"  Oh, he's just sunning himself!

These guys were at a roadside park.  They were everywhere!  Luckily we didn't see any gators in our campground.

We had magnificent sunsets every night.  Then the mosquitoes came out with a vengeance!  Note: If you go to the Everglades, bring plenty of insect repellent.  Well, it is a swamp, so that's to be expected.  

It felt so good to be on the road again.  While we won't be full-timing in our RV, we still hope we have many camping trips ahead of us to see this beautiful country of ours.  

DAY AT THE BEACH
We found a small community beach and spent the morning swimming in the Gulf of Mexico and taking in the Florida sunshine.  The water was wonderful.  It truly felt like we were on vacation!

El & George relaxing

Boardwalk leading to a fishing pier.  Tropical, isn't it?

It was so nice to go to the beach.  As you can tell, everyone was practicing social distancing.  Ahhh!  Life is good.  

PHASE 1: OPENING UP
Florida is beginning to open up, so restrictions are gradually being lifted.  Last week, restaurants opened with 25% capacity.  This week, restaurants can accommodate 50% of their capacity, state parks are being opened for day use (no campgrounds open yet), and groups of 50 are now allowed.  People are still to practice social distancing and masks are recommended when going out in public.  These are the masks that George and I wear; these were made by our friend, Mary Lynne.  She sent them to us all the way from Bartlett.  Thank you, Mary Lynne!

Eleanor and I took the opportunity to visit one of the parks in Homosassa that recently opened, the Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins Historic State Park.  David Yulee was a prominent businessman in the first half of the 19th century.  He built railroads and had a massive 5,100 acre plantation where sugar cane was processed in a mill to make syrup, molasses, and rum.  The plantation was burned down by Union soldiers during the Civil War, because it was being used to stockpile Confederate supplies.  Today this park contains the remnants of the mill: a 40 foot limestone masonry chimney, iron gears, and cane press. 

Although the restaurants are beginning to open, we are opting to still cook and eat at home.  Believe me, we are eating well!  Here's a sample of one of our recent dinners:

Crab-stuffed salmon on spicy pasta, with a glass of wine

Chocolate-cherry poke cake

OK, I never heard of poke cake before, but Eleanor turned us on to this delicacy.  You bake a cake in a 9 x 13 inch pan.  Let it cool slightly, then poke holes in the cake using the handle of a wooden spoon, about 1 inch apart.  Then you make pudding or jello (we used chocolate fudge pudding for this one) and pour it over the top of the cake so that it soaks into the holes.  Place that in the refrigerator for at least an hour to let the pudding or jello set.  Then you frost it.  We frosted this one with cool whip and topped it with cherry pie filling.  I think I exceeded my daily weight-watcher points eating this one, but it sure was good!

I also recently updated our "travel map" that we have on the side of our RV.  We place a state sticker on any state where we travel in our RV.  Today I added Florida to our map.  It's about time I did that since we have been here since March!  If things had gone as planned, we would have also added Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina to the map by now, but the coronavirus halted those plans.  Oh well, maybe next year we'll be able to add those states.

That's it for now.  Stay safe and stay well everyone!

LET'S TRY THIS AGAIN
For some reason the videos that I tried posting in yesterday's blog did not come through (it's a mystery to me why that is 😕).  So I'm now going to try to just post photos of the dog park.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that these will post correctly.

Shady path around the perimeter of the park

 Licorice:  Can I really go running off leash?

Taffy:  Absolutely!

 Aerated pond for cooling off (and drinking)

Greeting a new friend

A true dog lover's perspective

FUN AT THE DOG PARK
As you know, we found a nice dog park for Licorice and Taffy.  The dogs aren't the only ones enjoying the park.  George, Eleanor, and I also appreciate walking around the grounds, and relaxing by the "pond" as the doggies romp around.  Thought you might like to see some snippets of the park:

Today there were only 3 other dogs in the park!  It's amazing how much Licorice and Taffy enjoy greeting the other dogs and running around with them.  They also enjoy the freedom to chase squirrels up the trees.  Let me tell you, they really sleep well when we return to the RV! 

FISHING AND APPRECIATING NATURE
We're still enjoying our safe haven in Homosassa with Eleanor.  We've been enjoying the outdoors; most days have been sunny in the 80s, but we do have an occasional day of rain.  We found a nice dog park for Licorice and Taffy.  It's 10 acres fully fenced and has mature oak trees that provide cooling shade for all of us.  It even has a cement pond with fresh water for the dogs to cool off in.  There's a minimal monthly fee for access to the park, but it's well worth it.  There are not many people there, so it is easy to practice social distancing.  We walk the perimeter of the park a few times, so we get our steps in and the dogs run off a lot of energy.  On the way home, we saw a Sandhill crane strolling around one of the neighborhoods.  It's amazing how tall these birds are!

  

George tried his luck fishing off Eleanor's deck and caught a fish.  I'm not exactly sure of the species.  It looked like a bluegill, but it had teeth.  This was a "catch and release" fishing experience. 

We continue to be awed by the flowers and creatures of Florida.  Below is a gorgeous bloom and the largest grasshopper I have ever seen:

We will be staying in Florida until mid-June, and then we'll be making the 930 mile trip back to our property in Arkansas.  We wanted to wait to see how the "re-opening" of facilities goes, to make sure it's safe before we venture out again.  We will be required to self-quarantine in Arkansas for 14 days once we get there, because we are traveling from Florida, which is considered a coronavirus "hot spot" as compared to the Arkansas area.  I investigated the prevalence of coronavirus in Arkansas.  To date, Marion county (where our property is) only has 1 case of coronavirus and 0 deaths; Baxter country (where we do our shopping) has only 1 case and 0 deaths.  We are currently in Citrus county, Florida, and to date there are 95 cases of coronavirus and 11 deaths here.  Overall, Florida has 35,463 cases with 1,364 deaths.  So, when the rheumatologist in Springfield, Missouri (whom I was scheduled to see June 2) found out I was coming from Florida, they refused to see me.  Thus I will be staying here to get my infusion for my RA June 11th.  I have to say that the BayCare health system in Florida is way more accommodating than Mercy Health System in Missouri.  

Hope everyone stays safe as we begin to re-open our states and our lives!  💗💗 

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER LAUNCH
One of our "bucket list" items included seeing a rocket launch from the Kennedy Space Center near Titusville, Florida.  To fulfill this dream, George and I took a ride to the east coast of Florida yesterday, to see the launch of a SpaceX rocket.  Because of COVID-19, the space center was closed, but we did find a Walmart parking lot about 12 miles from there where we could view the rocket in the sky after launching.  The SpaceX program is placing satellites in low orbits to allow internet connection throughout the globe, even in remote areas.  This is a picture of the SpaceX rocket in flight, shortly after it was launched. 

To us, it looked like a candle in the sky. Pretty cool! 

We could see the rocket for about 20 seconds, and then it disappeared high above the earth.  Below is a video link from the Kennedy Space Center that shows the launch from a close distance; you'll also see how the rocket lands on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean after the satellites disconnect.  This allows the rocket to be used again for future launches.  So far this rocket has been used to place over 400 satellites in space.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4vcREtkvlw

TORNADO
It was confirmed that a tornado touched down in Homosassa on Monday morning.  The neighbor across the canal from us saw it crossing the canal about 6 houses from us.  Luckily no one was hurt and there was no damage to anyone's homes.  There were a lot of tree limbs down and some electric lines were also down.  We lost electricity for about an hour. 

Here's a link to a video that shows the funnel cloud: https://www.chronicleonline.com/news/local/possible-tornado-passes-through-homosassa/video_445363a2-8320-11ea-b083-97807a477f45.html

We're all safe, thank goodness!

EASTER SUNDAY
This was an unusual Easter, as families that would normally gather together found themselves isolating from one another in order to "flatten the curve" of the coronavirus.  Instead of coloring eggs or making Easter baskets, we were making face masks.  My friend, Jan, from New Mexico, shared some creative masks donned by her family.

This is Jen,  Jan's daughter, who is a nurse caring for persons hospitalized during this pandemic.  She is one of the front-line heroes for sure!  Because of the mask shortage facing health care facilities, Jen is wearing a homemade mask, which provides protection from the virus and probably brings a smile to those she cares for.  It really is cute.  Thank you, Jen, for your expert, invaluable nursing care, especially during this pandemic!

Jan responded to the call to make masks at home.  She dusted off her sewing machine and relied on her talents to make this creative mask for Frank, her husband.  

I wonder where the material came from?  

I found directions on the internet on how to make a mask from fabric, without the need for a sewing machine (I do not have a sewing machine in our RV).  I cut up one of El's old tee shirts (thanks, El) and created this mask by folding the fabric lengthwise, then wrapped the ends over hair rubber bands that I placed over my ears to hold it in place.  It was a little bulky (do you think?) but I like the color.

Our Easter was warm and sunny.  El, George, and I shared a delicious dinner of ham, au gratin potatoes, deviled eggs, corn, and then we had dutch apple pie with ice cream for dessert.  Mmmm good!  Good food and good family.  

We also enjoyed some creatures of nature around us this Easter.  On our walk this morning we caught a glimpse of a tortoise who was beating feet--he was moving amazingly quick along the path. 

And this evening, we were thrilled to see several manatees swimming in the canal right by El's deck.

Such gentle giants.  It was awesome to see them gracefully float by in groups.

We want to wish all our family and friends spread throughout the country and the world, a Happy Easter.  We hope that next Easter families will be able once again to gather together for this special holiday.  

APPRECIATING NATURE
The "stay at home" order in Florida has given us the opportunity to pause and appreciate the beauty around us.  Today, I took the time to capture some of the magnificent nature displays right here at El's home.  Springtime is upon us and flowers are in bloom.  Hope you enjoy these sights as well.

FIGURING IT OUT
Now that the "stay at home" recommendations/requirements are in effect through the end of April, we are staying place in Homosassa FL until then; if those preventative measures are extended, so will our stay here.  Thank you, again, Eleanor, for putting us up.  We are figuring out how to "camp" in Eleanor's side yard.  We found out that most of our rig works while being plugged into her 110 house electrical outlet.  Our batteries are keeping charged, and we're able to use all our appliances, except we cannot keep both air conditioners on at the same time, and we have to turn off the air conditioner if we want to use the microwave.  We are running our refrigerator on propane, and our hot water heater is working via our 12 volt battery, rather than shore electric power.  We ordered a portable waste tank, (a "blue boy") on line and had it delivered to El's house; this has allowed us to empty both our black and grey tanks.  One of El's neighbors gave us permission to empty the blue boy into their septic system, which worked just like a dump station. Yeah! 

Regarding medical care, this past Monday I had a telemedicine appointment with the rheumatologist I was scheduled to see in St. Petersburg. Rather than driving to St. Pete's and seeing the doctor in his office, Baycare instructed me to download their app, Baycare anywhere, on my phone, and my doctor's visit was conducted over my iPhone.  That worked out perfectly.  It saved me from possibly being exposed to coronavirus on the medical center's campus, and it also saved a 3+ hour drive time.  I discussed my rheumatoid arthritis management with the doctor, who addressed all my concerns and answered any questions I had, with expertise and compassion.  His office will be arranging for me to get my IV infusion when it is due in mid-April.  He reassured me that the global rheumatological database has shown that the outcomes of rheumatology patients who contact coronavirus are similar to outcomes of the general population.  Because I am in the "high risk" category for severe complications if I contact the coronavirus, he instructed me stay home, but if I need to go out, then I must wear a mask and gloves, and wash my hands frequently or use hand sanitizer.  

If the "stay at home" recommendation continues into June, I will again be able to receive my IV infusion through Baycare.  The doctor also asked me if I had any other physician here in Florida.  When I said "no", he told me to call his office for any medical needs I may have.  I feel so much better knowing that I now have a caring, competent medical professional available to me if I need something during these uncertain times.  

So as you can see, we are figuring things out, as all of you are doing, adjusting to this "new normal".  One positive in this situation is that we are all truly re-connecting with one another as we stay home.