RV travels around the USA
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!
Yes, the summer and fall have come to an end, and we begin another winter season on the gulf coast of Florida. But we do take a few extra days on our southbound journey. No since in getting in a huge hurry, since we are happily retired and have no pressing schedule. We delayed leaving until after Thanksgiving and seeing the family for a combined Holidays. I’ll cover our favorite southern city, Savannah, Georgia, in this blog update…
One of my many hobbies is Amateur (Ham) Radio. And a sub-section of the hobby is setting up a portable radio station in a park and making as many contacts as possible with other ham operators. While I have been a “Hunter” for several months, this was the first time activating a park and have the hunters look for me. I selected a local state park, made reservations for four nights, and had a blast. My radio callsign is KC9LC.
Well, that month sure got away from me. I had planned to complete this post of our short week RV trip within a few days of the first post. But then my project list and all the other normal summer activities have happened. Such is life. Too many hobbies and interests and not enough time! It has been a great summer so far as we are beginning to see the end of the extreme hot spell and some more fall like temps.
We have never spent much time in the far southwest section of Virginia, although we actually live here. It is funny after all the years that we lived here and never took the time to explore very much. I think that is quite common though. When working, a vacation meant going to the beach or some more exotic location, not just in your backyard. So, it was time to hitch up the 5th wheel camper and head down there for a little vacation.
First of all, the name of this update could be misleading. This update is undoubtedly not about travel to some destination, but coming back to our home in the Virginia mountains. We had a great winter in Florida and also look forward to a summer at home. I’ve also had a bit of a vacation from writing this blog. Completely unintentional I assure you. Just busy getting the house in order and getting back into hobbies. We are already over two months into our summer. So, let’s do a quick recap and go from there.
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…