RV and other travels around the World
We attended this massive show on the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa this year after hearing about it and seeing their ads. It is supposed to be the second largest in the US, next to the one in Hershey, Pa. The purpose was just to look around at the new RVs and see what has changed from when we bought ours in April 2017. What functionality and cosmetic changes have crept in over the last six years?
There is always a plethora of activities here at Orchid Lake RV and in the vicinity of New Port Richey (NPR). One of the occasional activities is a small cruise out of NPR on a 31 person boat. It is run by Captain Anthony Aristides Andrianos, a resident here at our RV park. This cruise was a two hour sunset cruise out into the Gulf and along the coast.
The small town of Dunedin is one of our favorite local places to visit and have lunch. Many sites, many restaurants, and eight breweries in a 36,000 people population city. It is also known for its beaches, pine forests, and ospreys of Honeymoon Island. We also drove south to Parrish, FL to spend a couple of days with Pat’s brothers and wives.
We are now at our RV park for the winter (since 12/7) in the city of New Port Richey, Florida. It is located a few miles north of Tampa along the gulf coast. Our plans are to stay here for about four months before returning back to Virginia. The time will go by quickly so Pat and I sat down and came up with a decent list of 22 quick road trips/excursions to keep us busy. Happy New Year!
We have determined our route south this winter to Florida. No big loop to Louisiana like we planned last year. Just almost a straight south shot with a few stops along the way. Speaking of winter, the first day of fall has just passed by and the leaves have already started to drop. Our leave by date of December 1st is usually the end of the leaf raking. Today’s photos are unrelated to today’s post, but from last month’s festivals in the area.
On my last post, we had left our winter RV park near Tampa and had begun the leisurely trip back to the Virginia mountains. We planned to stop for a few days at Cedar Key Florida and Brunswick, Georgia to explore some favorites. A few more fresh seafood opportunities and enjoying the great weather. And on the second day at Cedar Key a major thunderstorm warning came out just before our trip into town for lunch…
Our Florida winter location at New Port Richey was beginning to get hot. Really hot. I’m talking upper 80’s with humidity. I do enjoy the warm weather and being outside most of the time, but it is a sign that it was time to move on northward. And back to our place in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. But, before getting back we wanted to sneak in some exploring on the way. We are back on the road again!
I had seen advertisements on the Tampa TV stations and on Facebook regarding an immersion experience of Van Gogh’s art work. It sounded like an interesting concept. And was being presented at several cities across the country. The local presentation was in Sarasota, Florida and we only had a few days to go before leaving to go back Up North. So, off we go and were able to work this in after a family visit in the area.
Just a couple of weeks before we left Florida, we drove over to Lakeland to visit with friends and while there we drove around the town a bit and stopped in the county art museum. We just stumbled upon an exhibition of the Highwaymen. I enjoy painting landscape scenes as a hobby and the Highwaymen paintings are among my favorites!
March was our final month at our winter destination in Florida. It has been a great winter with many activities, family and friend meet ups, and as always the nice Florida weather. We are looking forward to some sightseeing on the way back and of course being back in our Blue Ridge Mountains. So let’s wrap up March with a high level summary.