Third Leg of the journey: From DeLand to Pensacola, Florida
Last year at this time,when we were in Florida, it was cold! This week the weather was beautiful-blue sky, warm breeze — it’s the Sunshine State after all.
We moved from our van into Joan’s cousin Bruce’s home and settled in. This is always a process which can be time consuming and disruptive. We had been through this with Bruce before, so he wasn’t too concerned. Actually, he was chomping at the bit for us to finish because he had a question to ask.
Brucie planned all of this like building a fine Swiss watch. He had just purchased a big screen TV, but had no way to get it home, so James took him to get it in the van. On the way, he told us about a flea market that is held on Wednesdays at the Volusia County Fair grounds.
We decided that we should go early the next morning as they set up at 6 a.m.
We were astounded when we arrived to find a huge flea market set up with lots of customers looking for bargains. We do not know of a flea market held in the middle of the week equivalent in size and scope to this one back in Connecticut.
We started up the first row of vendors and the items offered were endless. The crowd picked up and James was surprised to hear one merchant say how slow it was!
This was a Wednesday morning and people were arriving with wagons and carts to do some serious shopping. Certainly something that would never happen in the northeast.
We only made it through two rows, and decided to take a break. Wandering through the farmer’s market, we stopped to dance to the music being played by a local band. James has a habit of ‘Happy Feet’ when he hears music. After a little more shopping, we decided to leave and head back.
That evening we had another interesting experience that you wouldn’t find in the northeast — a dance on a Wednesday night. We went with Bruce to the Daytona Beach Boppers Dance Club. It is a social club of mostly singles, but a few couples could be spotted in the crowd —which was the most eclectic crowd of people you will find anywhere. They all seemed to have a good time and we certainly did — dancing to the old music of our teens — a long time ago!
After two days in DeLand, we bid Bruce good-bye and headed across the state to visit Joan’s high school friend Barrie, who moved to Florida a few years ago from Arizona, and before that — California.
Barrie lives in St. Petersburg on a short canal that runs from Lake Maggiore.
Barrie’s little rental sits right across the road from what seems like a wild bird sanctuary. We saw several species of water birds flying and swimming about, and when she brought out some food, they came into the yard. One little snowy egret she calls Gorgeous George is friendly as can be, and wanders into the yard whenever someone is outside!
We walked down the street along the lake shore looking to take a picture of the storks that hang out there. In the water, a small alligator was swimming along peacefully.
We’ve been told that every lake in Florida has at least one alligator! Joan kept hoping to get a picture of the cormorants (sometimes called snake birds) drying their wings in the sun. When they swim in the water, their whole body is under the surface and just their long neck sticks out — looking like a snake. Their feathers are not waterproof so when they get out of the water, the birds spread their wings out to dry. All of our pictures are taken with our iPhone cameras, so unfortunately the quality isn’t professional — and neither are we.
On Sunday, Barrie, her friend Kathy, and Joan went to lunch to celebrate their joint birthdays, while James stayed at the bungalow to do some maintenance on the van and then watch the football game — a quintessential American male thing.
A short note on maintenance. Tooling around the country in a used vehicle can be problematic. We always have the van checked by a expert before we leave on a trip, in our case — Jim Borla at Borla’s Garage in Torrington; and we never leave home without tools.
All of this guarantees nothing; but we believe in the Boy Scout (Most Excellent) Motto: Be Prepared!
Sunday night we went to Gulf Port to the casino (no gambling) for a Christmas dance. It was a "dress affair" but we were ready with our dressy dance outfits that we always pack when we go for a vacation. (Gulf Port is a community of artisans, and have open-air art shows on a regular basis.)
We generally have bikes, hiking gear, and camping gear with us. so when the occasion arises, we are ready.
We left St. Petersburg on Monday morning, heading north to Palm Harbor to a Planet Fitness gym. It didn’t seem to be up to the standards of the other PF gyms we have experienced, but it was good to exercise. Continuing north, we stopped in Chiefland, FL for the night at a Wal Mart super center. There were a few other RVs stopped for the night in the parking lot, and a number of tractor trailer trucks.
We have a system of arranging our gear in the Volkswagen when we stop overnight. This night was no exception.
Since the bed was already made, it was a shorter process to move our gym bags and clothing duffle bags around. We should mention that our lifestyle is a bit rigorous. Our bed measure 46 inches across. As a reference, a double or full size bed measures 54 inches. In later blogs we’ll cover more of our lifestyle arrangements. However, what makes this all worthwhile are the American people we meet as in the laundromat we are at today. Some are interesting, some are informative, and most are as friendly as the local folk back home.
We spent last night at a Florida Rest Stop on I-10 and continued west this morning.
Yesterday we traveled miles through the Apalachicola National Forest, looking for their campgrounds, but never found them. The National Forest signage is not like the National Park service.
Later we discovered that we drove right by one, but since they called it a "landing" we didn’t stop!
We passed into Central Time at 9:35 this morning, but kept our watches on Eastern Standard Time. Any time references from now on, will be EST. We have found that when traveling, keeping to our regular time schedule is much easier on our systems, and when we get to Pasadena, CA, it really helps as people start picking their spots to watch the Tournament of Roses Parade early on December 31.
We’ve decided to hang around Pensacola — The home of Naval Aviation — a few days and see what comes up. Just gotta (sic) check the local beaches.
James and Joan, the American Vagabonds
Last year at this time,when we were in Florida, it was cold! This week the weather was beautiful-blue sky, warm breeze — it’s the Sunshine State after all.
We moved from our van into Joan’s cousin Bruce’s home and settled in. This is always a process which can be time consuming and disruptive. We had been through this with Bruce before, so he wasn’t too concerned. Actually, he was chomping at the bit for us to finish because he had a question to ask.
Brucie planned all of this like building a fine Swiss watch. He had just purchased a big screen TV, but had no way to get it home, so James took him to get it in the van. On the way, he told us about a flea market that is held on Wednesdays at the Volusia County Fair grounds.
We decided that we should go early the next morning as they set up at 6 a.m.
We were astounded when we arrived to find a huge flea market set up with lots of customers looking for bargains. We do not know of a flea market held in the middle of the week equivalent in size and scope to this one back in Connecticut.
We started up the first row of vendors and the items offered were endless. The crowd picked up and James was surprised to hear one merchant say how slow it was!
This was a Wednesday morning and people were arriving with wagons and carts to do some serious shopping. Certainly something that would never happen in the northeast.
We only made it through two rows, and decided to take a break. Wandering through the farmer’s market, we stopped to dance to the music being played by a local band. James has a habit of ‘Happy Feet’ when he hears music. After a little more shopping, we decided to leave and head back.
That evening we had another interesting experience that you wouldn’t find in the northeast — a dance on a Wednesday night. We went with Bruce to the Daytona Beach Boppers Dance Club. It is a social club of mostly singles, but a few couples could be spotted in the crowd —which was the most eclectic crowd of people you will find anywhere. They all seemed to have a good time and we certainly did — dancing to the old music of our teens — a long time ago!
After two days in DeLand, we bid Bruce good-bye and headed across the state to visit Joan’s high school friend Barrie, who moved to Florida a few years ago from Arizona, and before that — California.
Barrie lives in St. Petersburg on a short canal that runs from Lake Maggiore.
Barrie’s little rental sits right across the road from what seems like a wild bird sanctuary. We saw several species of water birds flying and swimming about, and when she brought out some food, they came into the yard. One little snowy egret she calls Gorgeous George is friendly as can be, and wanders into the yard whenever someone is outside!
We walked down the street along the lake shore looking to take a picture of the storks that hang out there. In the water, a small alligator was swimming along peacefully.
We’ve been told that every lake in Florida has at least one alligator! Joan kept hoping to get a picture of the cormorants (sometimes called snake birds) drying their wings in the sun. When they swim in the water, their whole body is under the surface and just their long neck sticks out — looking like a snake. Their feathers are not waterproof so when they get out of the water, the birds spread their wings out to dry. All of our pictures are taken with our iPhone cameras, so unfortunately the quality isn’t professional — and neither are we.
On Sunday, Barrie, her friend Kathy, and Joan went to lunch to celebrate their joint birthdays, while James stayed at the bungalow to do some maintenance on the van and then watch the football game — a quintessential American male thing.
A short note on maintenance. Tooling around the country in a used vehicle can be problematic. We always have the van checked by a expert before we leave on a trip, in our case — Jim Borla at Borla’s Garage in Torrington; and we never leave home without tools.
All of this guarantees nothing; but we believe in the Boy Scout (Most Excellent) Motto: Be Prepared!
Sunday night we went to Gulf Port to the casino (no gambling) for a Christmas dance. It was a "dress affair" but we were ready with our dressy dance outfits that we always pack when we go for a vacation. (Gulf Port is a community of artisans, and have open-air art shows on a regular basis.)
We generally have bikes, hiking gear, and camping gear with us. so when the occasion arises, we are ready.
We left St. Petersburg on Monday morning, heading north to Palm Harbor to a Planet Fitness gym. It didn’t seem to be up to the standards of the other PF gyms we have experienced, but it was good to exercise. Continuing north, we stopped in Chiefland, FL for the night at a Wal Mart super center. There were a few other RVs stopped for the night in the parking lot, and a number of tractor trailer trucks.
We have a system of arranging our gear in the Volkswagen when we stop overnight. This night was no exception.
Since the bed was already made, it was a shorter process to move our gym bags and clothing duffle bags around. We should mention that our lifestyle is a bit rigorous. Our bed measure 46 inches across. As a reference, a double or full size bed measures 54 inches. In later blogs we’ll cover more of our lifestyle arrangements. However, what makes this all worthwhile are the American people we meet as in the laundromat we are at today. Some are interesting, some are informative, and most are as friendly as the local folk back home.
We spent last night at a Florida Rest Stop on I-10 and continued west this morning.
Yesterday we traveled miles through the Apalachicola National Forest, looking for their campgrounds, but never found them. The National Forest signage is not like the National Park service.
Later we discovered that we drove right by one, but since they called it a "landing" we didn’t stop!
We passed into Central Time at 9:35 this morning, but kept our watches on Eastern Standard Time. Any time references from now on, will be EST. We have found that when traveling, keeping to our regular time schedule is much easier on our systems, and when we get to Pasadena, CA, it really helps as people start picking their spots to watch the Tournament of Roses Parade early on December 31.
We’ve decided to hang around Pensacola — The home of Naval Aviation — a few days and see what comes up. Just gotta (sic) check the local beaches.
James and Joan, the American Vagabonds
You can e-mail James and Joan at american_vagabonds@yahoo.com. Follow them online at http://www.registercitizen.com/ home page, then click on the blog link. Stay tuned for the next post!
No comments:
Post a Comment