Sharp's Travels

I was up for a couple hours in the night with a coughing bout and didn’t get back to bed until after three this morning. When I woke up the sun was shining in the window and at first I couldn’t figure out what it was as I am always up by 6:00 am. We didn’t walk this morning as we had to be ready at 9:30 am. Paul & Bev were picking us up to go to the Kumquat Festival in Dade City. It is a day of outdoor community fun with live music, food booths, craft booths, shopping and a car show. With rain coming in around noon we wanted to get an early start. Paul and I headed for the car show and the ladies did the craft booths. At 12:00 pm we met to have lunch at one of the food booths. Just as we finished lunch it started to rain so we headed for the car. We got home around 1:00 pm. We took a potty break and at 1:30 pm headed for the Big Top Flea Market. It is all inside a large building so the rain didn’t bother us. I had wanted to get some cold weather riding gloves. I had been checking them out at the Harley dealer and they wanted $80 to $100 for them. Well I found what I wanted at the flea market for $20. It was 4:30 pm when we got home. No evening walk because of the rain.

Today was a repeat of yesterday, except it was mostly overcast which made a great day to wash the rest of the 5th wheel. I got started before 9:00 am and didn’t get done until 2:00 pm. Cheri took Grandma over to Wal-Mart to get medicine and groceries. It was almost noon before they got back. I didn’t want to stop for lunch because things were going pretty good and wanted to get the washing done. Well it was 2:00 pm before I got done and very happy that is now ready for wax. I hope to start that project Monday. So we had a late lunch and early supper. We just about got done with lunch when Larry & Denise rode up on the motorcycle, what a nice surprise. They are staying Clermont and will be leaving there Sunday morning and going to Lazy Days as they have a problem with their hot water heater. Cheri had to show Denise all the new material she has gotten for the quilts that she is going to make. We made plans for Sunday to ride motorcycles over to Tarpon Springs to check out their fiend’s boat that is in temporary storage. Their friends had to make an emergency trip back north. They wanted make sure everything is ok because of the bad weather we have had. On our evening walk we had some excitement has the workers were tearing apart the park model that had burned a while back. They had a high hoe doing the job and it made short work of it. There were probably thirty people setting around watching them do their work. This evening we went up to Paul & Bev’s to play dominos. We guys finally were able to win one of the two games we played.

It was a very nice day with a high of 68 degrees, lots of sunshine and no wind. It was still a very cool morning walk. We made a trip to Wal-Mart this forenoon for groceries. I spent the rest of the day in the recliner as I felt worse today than I did yesterday. I guess I probably shouldn’t have gone for the motorcycle ride yesterday (but it was fun). Cheri did some laundry and more reading about the quilt she wants to make. She also did some sewing for Eileen. I told Cheri this morning I was going to get the waxing done on the side of the 5th wheel no matter how bad I felt. Well when we got back from Wal-Mart I just didn’t have the energy to do anything. It was a long day of doing nothing. It’s hard for me when I can’t be out and about.

It was 42 degrees this morning and no wind today, it got up to 62 degrees. I feel about the same as yesterday, on a scale of 10 I probably come in around 7, so plenty of room for improvement. Bud and I went for a motor cycle ride today. We left at 10:00 am and it was only 51 degrees. I put on the heavy coat and chaps, with all the sunshine it was a pretty nice ride. We put on 124 miles as we made our trip to Clermont. We made a stop at the Harley dealer and then a stop for lunch and back home by 3:00 pm. Cheri had figured on doing something with Bev, but she was busy today. So she got her bear quilt pattern out to make sure she had everything she need to made the quilt. She also spent a fair amount of time on the internet searching quilts. We did our evening walk before it got dark and this evening Paul & Bev came done to play dominos which the ladies won. Here is a picture of the aporn that Cheri made for Cece.

I was up at 4:00 am this morning. Still under the weather and couldn’t sleep. I did feel some better after our morning walk. So I went out and worked on washing the 5th wheel. It was nice in sun but windy. I got one side all washed and ready for wax. It was 1:30 pm before I got done and Cheri was ready to get lunch for us and I said I didn’t feel like eating. So I went to bed and took a nap until 4:00 pm. Cheri worked on making an apron for Cece. She was just finishing it up when I got up. We had soup for supper and that tasted good. When it was time for the evening walk it was down to 58 degrees and still very windy so we decided to skip our walk. It was an evening of TV with a blanket.

We had a hard rain last night and didn’t stop until just before our morning walk. We had a high of 68 degrees and it was very windy. In fact I stayed inside all day. I think I am coming down with a cold, as I felt miserable all day. Cheri spent a lot of time reading her quilt books and searching on the internet for different quilt patterns. She did order several things off the internet. I spent a lot of time planning our 2010 trip for the summer. I was using the new Streets & Trips 2010 software, I really like it. It was so windy this evening that we skipped our evening walk, plus I didn’t feel much like walking. I hope I feel better tomorrow as I need to get some work done outside.

Happy birthday Darren. Our little boy is 31 today. 31 years ago today we had one of the worst snow storms in Wisconsin. Most everything was shut down for three days. I didn’t think we were going to get to the hospital with Cheri. Grandma didn’t go to church with us this morning and Ed & Lorraine didn’t go either as they had company. When we got home we picked up Paul and Bev and headed for Lakeland. We dropped Cheri and Bev at Joann Fabrics. Paul and I headed for Harbor Freight to pick up a chainsaw sharpener that Paul had a rain check for. Later we picked up Cheri and Bev and went for an early supper of Chinese. When we got back home Cheri and I took a nap as neither of slept very well last night. This evening we played a couple of games of dominos with Paul & Bev.

This forenoon we went up to Paul & Bev’s for a visit and coffee. This afternoon we headed back to Lazy Days for our Alaskan Rally. We played a game of dominos with Bill & Lynda which the ladies won. Then it was time to walk over to the Rally Hall for more visiting with all the other rally goers. We met a fellow from Wisconsin that is signed up for the third tour this year and was asking us several questions about our trip to Alaska. Spike (the wagon master and owner) put on a nice show for everyone and a nice barbeque chicken and ribs dinner. After dinner we had some dancing and lots of door prizes. Cheri won a nice Colman lantern. After the rally I talked to Spike and got our name on his list to be a tail gunner for one of his future Alaskan Caravans. Finely it was time to say our goodbyes and head home. I am already looking forward to next year’s rally. We Plan on stopping to see some of the people we went with on our trip west this summer.

It started raining last night shortly after we got home. It rained so hard that it made so much nice on the roof of the 5th wheel that it made it hard to sleep. When we went for our morning walk it had just stopped about 30 minutes earlier. So there was a lot of water standing in the road along the lower part of the park. We left at 11:30 am and headed to Plant City to meet our Alaskan group for strawberry short cake at Parkesdale farm market. It is the most favorite place for strawberry short cake in the country. Then we all headed back to the Rally Park for more visiting and a short game of dominos with Bill & Lynda. Then it was time to head for the Rally Hall for more visiting and games. The whole group consisted of about 200 people. These are people that have gone on the Alaskan Caravan in the past 10 years. Spike gave a talk on all the different things that has happened over the years that he has been doing the caravan, lots of funny stories. Then it was time for the big pizza supper that Spike furnished. We got home around 9:00 pm. It was another fun day.

It was mostly cloudy and windy today. Early this afternoon we went down to Lazy Days to visit with some of the people that we went to Alaska with in 2008. This weekend is the Alaskan Rally. So some of was getting a head start. It was fun exchanging stories on what each of us had this past summer, some very funny stories. Bill had to take us for a walk to look at some motor homes that he has been checking out. I am sure Bill & Lynda will be buying some different before they leave Lazy Days. A group of us went out for supper at Bob Evans. The food was very good and the visit was great. We got back home around 10:00 pm. It was a great day to spend with old friends and new friends.

What a wonderful day we had with lots of sunshine and no wind with a high in the mid seventies. I spent the day finishing the cleaning and waxing on the motorcycle and then did some washing and waxing on the 5th wheel. Cheri did her cleaning inside the 5th wheel. I also saw that she had all her material laid out on the bed taking inventory. I think that means she is ready to buy more or start a new project. Late this afternoon Cheri gave me a much needed hair cut. We had a very nice evening walk. It was the first time after the cold spell that we have seen people setting outside enjoying the warm weather.

We finely had a nice day with a lot of sunshine. It was 43 degrees this morning and warmed to a high of 70 degrees and no wind. This morning I went down to see if Bud wanted to go for a motorcycle ride. The short of it is we were on the road by 11:00 am. We did a 184 mile trip to Ocala. We made a stop at the Harley dealer and then to H&B Harley which is the largest used Harley parts store and shop that I have ever seen. For a used parts store it was pretty well organized and the owner seemed to know right where everything was. I need to make another trip when I have more time to look around. If anyone needs hard to find parts for a Harley this is the place that will have it. Cheri went for a visit with Bev and then over to visit with Grandma. Then she and Grandma went down to visit with Eileen & Ken. Cheri also did laundry today. I grilled steak on the grill for supper tonight. It was some we got when we went to Costco with Bill & Lynda. It sure was good. This evening after our walk we went up to Paul & Bev’s for a couple of games of dominos which the girls won.

We had a high of 60 degrees with very little sunshine a pretty windy. It wasn’t that nice out unless you were in what little sunshine we had. We did do our morning and evening walks. The rest of the time was spent inside. Cheri did some laundry and I fixed the refrigerator door. The rest of the day was spent reading, watching TV, searching on the internet, and yes a little napping.

We had a van full with 7 people for church, Ed & Lorraine, Bill & Lynda, Grandma, and Cheri & me. When we got back we said our good byes to Bill & Lynda. They are leaving and going to Lazy Days for a week. They will be there for the Alaskan Rally on Friday and Saturday. They also are going to have some work done on their motor home. After lunch Cheri and I headed for Penny’s to take back a pillow Cheri bought the other day. We have wanted new memory pillows. The one Cheri bought was too thick. So we found two that were better for us. Tonight was an evening of dominos with Paul & Bev.

We saw a very pretty sunrise on our morning walk. It was a warm, cloudy and breezy day. Bill & Lynda picked us up at 10:00 am to go out to the new flea market near the airport. There were a lot more vendors then the last time we were there. Cheri and I were good shoppers as we didn’t buy anything, on the other hand Bill & Lynda did buy a few things. It was around noon when we got home. This afternoon I did some more work on the motorcycle. I got the led brake light installed. Later we went up to Paul & Bev’s for coffee and a visit. Bill & Lynda picked us up at 5:15 pm to go out to the Golden Corral for supper. Then it was back to our place for a game of dominos. It just started to rain when we got back and was still raining when we went to bed.

Cheri did laundry this morning and I worked on cleaning and waxing the bike. About 10:30 am Bill and Lynda stopped and wanted to know if we wanted to go shopping. I was in the middle of cleaning the bike and wanted to keep at it. But Cheri was ready to go. While they were gone Paul stopped by to see what I was doing. I stopped cleaning the bike and Paul helped me get my sewer pipe hanger bracket straightened out. When we pulled out of a campground in Oct on to the highway it got caught on the edge of the payment and bent and twisted it. Glad to have that project done. The shoppers got back around 1:30 pm. Cheri and I had a late lunch and then Bill & Lynda picked us up a 3:00 pm to go down to a state park to walk the broad wall out though the swamp and along the river to see the gators and wild life. Will the park was closed. (See picture for the reason why) We got home around 4:30 pm and made plans for Bill and Lynda to come back at 7:00 pm to play a game of dominos. This evening it was we guys turn to win.

This morning is was in the high 30’s and warmed to a high of 68 degrees with lots of sunshine. Cheri took Grandma for her doctor’s appointment. After they got back Cheri and Bev went shopping over at Wal-Mart. I went down to see Bud. We decided to go for a motorcycle ride to the Tampa Harley dealer. We ended up putting on 84 miles which was a very nice ride. When I got home I found Cheri up at Paul and Bev’s place. At 5:30 pm we picked up Paul & Bev and headed to the Brandon Harley for the Bike Fest and bike give away. I had gotten a call from Larry & Denise and said that they would meet us there. We got there around 6:15 pm, looked at all the bikes and found Larry and Denise. We found a place where we could set and have a nice visit. At 9:00 pm they had the drawing for the bike. So right after the drawing which none of us won we headed for home. It was almost 10:00 pm when we got home, so we called it a night. It was another great day in the neighborhood.

Bill and Lynda picked us up at 9:00 am and we headed for the big RV show in Tampa at the Fairgrounds. As soon as we got there we met up Johnny & Paulette Morgan from Lexington NC. They are also a couple that went on our Alaskan caravan in 2008. They are down here for the Alaskan Rally next week. It was great to see them again. After a visit we all went our separate ways as we all had different thing we wanted to see and do. The first place we went was the Excel dealer in hopes there was someone from the factory. Brian the president of Peterson Industries that make the Excel 5th wheels was there. So we had a nice visit with him to express our concerns about some of our problems that the dealer didn’t take care of to our satisfaction. Then we found a dealer for Electrical Management Systems. I had done a lot of searching on the internet and wanted to take a look at them. The EMS-HW50C was the one I needed and the only problem was the price, after a little haggling I got it for the price of an internet sale. So I save $30.00. We also checked out many of the new 5th wheels and all the vendors. At 4:30 pm we met Bill & Lynda at the gate we came in. On the way home we stopped at Golden Corral for supper. We all left there saying we eat too much, which is normal. Then it was back to our place for a game of dominos which the girls whipped us guys bad, they won by over 500 points. It was another fun day to spend with friends and the weather even cooperated.

Hey! It got up to 60 degrees today, much better but on the windy side. Bill & Lynda picked us up around 9:45 am. We headed down to Brandon to Costco’s. Cheri and I have never been to a Costco before. Bill & Lynda are members so we got in with them. We used to be members of Sam’s Club, but gave it up has we can’t buy things in large quantities as we don’t have the room to store extra stuff. It was fun to look around and we did buy a few things that we could use. We got back home around 1:00 pm. Paul had called us this morning and asked us if we wanted to go to Lakeland with them this morning after their furnace guy was there. I told him we already had plans with Bill & Lynda. Well when we got home I see that their truck was still in the drive way. So I went and talked with Paul and he said the furnace guy had just come and wasn’t going to work on his today. Paul asked me if we still wanted to go and I said we haven’t had lunch and he said they hadn’t had lunch either. So the four of us jumped in the truck and headed for Lakeland. We stopped at the Chinese restaurant for a late lunch, was very good. Then we dropped Cheri and Bev off at Joanne’s Fabric and Paul and I headed for Harbor Freight to shop. We all had fun shopping and got back home around 4:30 pm. It was a great day to spend with friends.

It was 26 degrees this morning and warmed to a high of 50 degrees. We had a lot of sun and if you stayed out of the wind it was actually pretty nice. In two more days and we are supposed to have a warm up back to normal, it’s been a long three weeks of cold weather. We picked up Grandma at 8:00 am and went down to the Rec Hall for their breakfast of eggs, pancakes, sausage, strawberries, juice and coffee for $3.50 per person. After breakfast Cheri and I went over to Wal-Mart to get a pot roast and potatoes for supper. Our friends Bill & Lynda Shaw from the north arrive here in the park today for a week. So Cheri and I are having them over for supper. I went to get a tank of LP and had to wait in line for an hour to get our tank filled. There were still around 16 vehicles waiting when I left. I got home around 11:00 am and received a call from Bill saying they would be here in about 45 minutes. So on our way to the office to meet them we stopped by Paul and Bev’s to see if Paul was able to shoot a pig yesterday, but no luck said he didn’t even see one. We got down to the office about 5 minutes before Bill and Lynda arrived. Sure was good to see them. I helped Bill get the motor home set up and had a nice visit. It was 2:00 pm before we got back to the 5th wheel. Bill and Lynda got here around 5:30 pm for supper. Cheri’s supper was excellent. We had a nice long visit catching up on what we all had done during the summer. It was another great day in the neighborhood.

It was 27 degrees this morning and a high of 42 degrees, another day with no sun and very windy. Ed called this morning and said Lorraine was sick and they wouldn’t be going to church with us. At 9:15 am we pick up Grandma and headed for church. After we got home from church we ordered in our Sunday special of pizza. Paul had gone pig hunting today so we had Bev come down for lunch with us. After lunch Cheri and Bev went shopping. I stayed home and did some of my Saturday chores that I couldn’t get done yesterday because of the rain. Then it was an afternoon of football. The Packers lost a heart breaker. They are a young team and should be even better next season. Now I am looking forward to the new season of NASCAR.

It was raining when we got up this morning. Snow, sleet and rain mixed north of us. We never did see the sun today and we had a high of 43 degrees today. Cheri got a call late yesterday afternoon that her quilt kit that she ordered from the quilt store in Dade City was ready to pick up. So today we made a trip up to pick it up and I waited in the truck for her. When she came back to the truck she didn’t have the kit. She said that they didn’t have the material that was in the one that was on display and made it up out of different material. Cheri said she didn’t like the material that they picked out so she didn’t get it. We went down to the Rec Hall and helped set up for the evening pot luck supper. Then we stopped by Ed & Lorraine’s on the way home for a visit and to see if they were going to church with us Sunday. We picked up Grandma about 4:45 pm and went down to the Rec Hall for the pot luck supper.

Cheri took Grandma over to Wal-Mart this morning to pick up her medicine and to get groceries. Paul came down and wanted to know if I had a meter to check his water heater. I took my meter up and checked it out and the heating element was burned out. I helped him get the tank drained and the old element out. Then we went to Lowe’s for a new one. We got everything done and check it out for leaks. No leaks so we thought everything was OK. We ended up with only a little hot water pressure in the bathroom. So I went and got my air compressor. We hooked it to the hot water faucet in the bathroom and blew the line back into the hot water heater. That cleaned out the line and now has good water pressure, it must have pushed some lime deposit into the hot water line when the tank refilled. It started to rain just as we got done. Around 3:00 pm Dean stopped over and said Betty just took cookies out of the oven and wanted to know if we wanted to come over for cookies and coffee. We sure couldn’t turn that down. Grandma was also there. After the cookies and coffee we played dominos. It was a fun afternoon and evening.

This was our coldest morning with a temp of 27 degrees. It warmed up to 59 degrees with lots of sun and no wind. It was acutely a very nice day. Cheri and I went to pick up the paper work to fill out so I can get medical service through the Veterans affairs. They said I should know in about six weeks. I made a trip to Lowe’s to buy a light to put up over the American flag that we display at the front of the 5th wheel. I got a solar powered led light that I think will work OK. Now I have to figure out how and where to install it. There was a fire in the park last night. One of the park models caught on fire. No flames came through but we heard the inside was cooked. We walked by on our evening walk and you can see all the windows are black. The people weren’t home when it happened. We heard that the fire started from an electric heater. This evening we went down to the Rec Hall for the in comer’s welcome party. There are around 60 new people in the park this winter.

As the weather goes today was a repeat of yesterday, they set a new low record in Tampa this morning. The only time I went out was after lunch to take garbage up to the dumpster. Cheri spent most of the day working on her craft project. I played on the computer with the new software. I was able to plan some test routes and upload them to the GPS unit. It’s going to be nice as we can pick the roads and routes we want to take instead of the GPS picking them. We also read, watched TV and played some games of Five Crown and the dice game. This evening Paul and Bev called us to come up to their place to play dominos. Sure am tired of this weather; it looks like we have another week of it. With all the freezing the oranges and strawberry farmers are going to take a big hit, which means higher prices in the stores.

It was 37 degrees this morning and a high of 46 degrees and very breezy. I had to get a tank of LP and Cheri said goodie I want to go along and so I had to drop her off at the quilt store while I got the LP tank filled. It took me about ten minutes to get the tank filled and it took Cheri about one and a half hours in the quilt store. The quilt store cost more than the LP tank. All well Cheri had fun and now has more projects to keep her busy. She worked on her latest project this afternoon and I think she is about done with it. I read and did some internet searching. I was on the Good Sam page and found out about Microsoft Streets and Trips 2010. I downloaded a 60 day trial offer. And I must say the little time I have played with it; I am very impressed with what you can do with it. You can plan your whole trip and then upload it into your GPS unit. I haven’t tried to do an upload, I will try that tomorrow. Later this afternoon we went down to Ken and Eileen’s for a visit. From there we walked down to pick up our mail and back to the 5th wheel.

It was 30 degrees this morning and it’s the coldest for this winter, it warmed up to only 50 degrees. I told Cheri it was too cold to walk, so we stayed inside where it was warm. This forenoon we went to get groceries and some transmission fluid for Grandma’s van. It was low and not sure why as there were no leaks. This afternoon I went up and helped a guy run a LP gas line so he could have an extra LP tank hooked to his furnace. Cheri worked on her craft project. I ordered a third brake light for the motorcycle. I have been looking for a long time. I wanted a led light as they are much brighter. I will have to figure out how I am going to mount it. So that was our cold day in cold Florida. It looks like we have at least another week of this cold weather. I bet you people in the north are tired of hearing me complain about being cold when it’s only 30 degrees. I know how you feel as that’s the way it was when we lived up north and Grandpa complained about the weather. But when you are used to the warm weather it don’t take very much cold to make you miserable.

It was 33 degrees this morning and a high of 48 degrees. Paul picked me up a 8:00 am and we headed for the car show and swap meet north of Webster at the Sumner fair grounds. We started walking around and had to go back to the truck to put on more clothes. I was surprised on many people were there. About half way through we stopped and got some coffee to warm us up. It was around 2:00 pm when we got home. Cheri and Bev were each making a purse. They have fun doing projects together. I watched the Packers play again today; they beat the Cardinals and now have to play them again this weekend in the playoffs. We didn’t walk this morning or this evening. Funny how lazy we can get when it’s cold outside.

This morning it was 38 degrees and a high of 56 degree and a little breezy. This morning Cheri said she wanted to go to the flea market. I was surprise she wanted to go out shopping in the cold weather. I guess when it comes to shopping a woman doesn’t care what the weather is like. We called Paul and Bev to see if they wanted to go with us. So we picked up them up and off we went. Because of the cold there weren’t that many vendors set up. It didn’t take long to get through and back home. When we got back I checked the transmission in Grandma’s van and it is was low. So Paul and I took it back to Arnold’s where it was fixed in September to have it checked, but they were closed, will take it in Monday. This afternoon I took the van back to Grandma’s and then stopped by Ed & Lorraine’s to see how they were doing and to tell them we wouldn’t be going to church tomorrow. Paul & Bev picked us up at 4:30 pm to go to Dade City for supper and the car show. Once again I was surprised how many cars were there as it was cold out. We always manage to find some cars we would like to own. I was surprised how many of them that was for sale. I guess with the economy the way it is some of the toys have to go.

Happy New Year! I hope everyone survived New Years Eve. It was raining when we got up this morning. It did quit long enough that we were able to get our walk in. Shortly after we got back it started to rain again and didn’t quit until around 1:30 pm. It was 62 degrees this morning and that was the high for the day. It was down to 44 degrees when we went to bed this evening. This afternoon we went over to Grandma’s to play Five Crown. We were just about done with the second game when Dean stopped in and wanted us to come over to their place to play dominos. It was a fun afternoon. We didn’t get home until around 6:30 pm. We spent the rest of the evening watching TV.

Well its New Year’s Eve day. That means most people will be out celebrating. Enjoy your evening and hopefully everyone will celebrate sensibly. We had a warm over cast day with a temperature in the mid 70’s. I figured it would be a good day to get our sheds washed. It took me until 12:30 pm go get that job done; it was another job that I had been putting off. Cheri is still working on her craft project. This afternoon we took a little motorcycle ride over to Wesley Chapel. Cheri wanted to go to a store called Ross. It was a store for women and so I went next door to Dick’s to look around. This evening we went up to Paul & Bev’s to play dominos. We guys finally won at dominos. We had a few snacks and some wine to cheer in the New Year. There were fireworks going off all around the neighborhood. They celebrate the New Year down here the way we celebrate the 4th of July up north. Here is a picture of the sun rise this morning.