Today it was a beautiful sunny 68 degree day. In the morning the three of us went for a two-mile or so hike around the park. After that we had a bite to eat and decided to mountain bike. We donned our bike gear and left Cooper in the Rv and headed off. They have a camp connector bike trail from here so we took it. Then we went around the main loop trail a few times. This trail takes you to all the bike trails in the park, from easy, to extreme. We were a little confused about the easy trails they have so we did not take them today. We biked for over an hour and a half in total. When we were in cypress Trails, we biked about every day a few miles, but biking here you are not on pavement you are on sand and grassy areas ,and there are some ups and downs along with it being a little bumpy. We are not used to that, you have to have your bike in a lower gear ,and be pedaling all the time or you stop or fall off your bike. in the end it was fun ,but I have to say my legs are tired. Tomorrow i will try on of the easy trails and see how it is. I also today updated the sidebar of the blog and added a Archive page for easier navigation. Pics below of us on our ride.

The other day I had a small electric heater plugged into the bed outlet, all of a sudden it stopped. I checked the heater and it worked in another plug. Then I checked to see if I blew a fuse or breaker, Nope. So I got out my handy-dandy plug tester, and it showed open neutral. So the plug was shot or something else. So I posted a question on the Heartland Forum, and the they all suggested I open up the hatch under the bed. That’s what I did, and right away I saw the junction box without a cover on it ,and the tape around the neutral wires was burnt. So I shut off the breaker and took it all apart. The junction box has a power wire coming into it with one wire running out to another plug and the third wire running to another junction box. This wire is stranded not solid like the rest and it must have come loose of the wire nut and shorted out. Not sure if this wire should be stranded or solid, but it does move in and out with the slide, I have to find that out. But for now I just disconnected that wire, we don’t really use the plug by the bed any way. Without a cover on the box if it would have sparked enough it could have caused a fire. Other people on the forum have had the same issue come up, so it is not a new thing. Just a crappy setup for that. Pics below show the junction box.

We are now back at Alafia state park near Tampa. We were here back in Oct for 3 days. It was a 125 mile drive from Cypress Trails, in Fort Myers. We are at site 27, I backed in pretty darn easy if I say so myself. Today it is raining all day I guess, good day to catch up. Hopefully this week it will be nice where we can do a lot of hiking and mountain biking on the easy trails. This is the place that is renowned for its mountain biking, since we have seen some of the harder trails, we will not be taking them as I know I will get hurt.

Leaving the hustle and bustle of Cypress Trails, was bittersweet. Unlike there it is pretty wide open here. The pics below show our site.

The pond looking out our back window.

For the last three days we have gotten together with Bill and Sandy to play pickle ball. Each day we played for about 2 hours or so. I have to say I am a bit sore, I have used muscles I haven’t used in years. It has been a lot of fun playing and having a bunch of laughs, especially when the bird pooped right between where me and Sandy were standing. As we are leaving here tomorrow we most likely for a while will not be playing pickleball. The pic below is the 4 of us after we played on Wednesday

On another note today I was in panic mode for about 10 minutes.  A worker here came by about 1 today and notified us that today we were to have left. I right away pointed out to him, NO not till tomorrow. Well he had today on his sheet, so after he left I came in and looked at our reservation sheet and Yep today we should have left. OH boy, so I went up to the office in a panic and let them know I thought tomorrow. Patti said yep you should be gone. she sort of laughed and then looked into our site # and said you can stay no one is coming today. Of course we had to pay for the day at rate of $109.00. OH well at least we didn’t have tp pack up to move. I felt a lot better and could not really figure out how I made that mistake, old age i guess.

We leave here tomorrow for Alifia State prk, which is near Tampa, will be there for a week.

The other day I washed the Rv, finally. Hasn’t been washed since we left. I tried to wash it mid October at one of the state parks we stayed, but got caught by the water police. Yep, wasting precious resources he said. So being a law-abiding guy I stopped. Here at Cypress Trails, you can wash you rig within 7 days of arriving or you should use one of the approved guys that roam the park. Cost $125.00 for a wash with a power washer and ionized water which keeps it from spotting as it dries.If you use them the park gets  20% of the total. So with reckless abandon I proceeded to wash the Rv. Took me over three hours and no water police, thank goodness, as I was worried, NOT. So now the Rv is pretty darn clean, next have to wax it, which I will do in the next week or so, while we are at Alafia State park. We leave here Friday for there.

The last two days we have met up with Bill and Sandy to play Pickleball. Thursday we played for almost two hours and today the same. It is a lot of fun, not really who wins or loses but how you play the game. Don’t get me wrong, we all seem to be pretty competitive, but who cares who wins. We also all seem to be getting better, but still that easy shot ends up being a muff shot.

On another note we have one week left here in paradise, well close to it anyway. One thing that has been consistent is that every day, the sun is out when we get up and the sun is out when it sets. Back home it is usually cloudy and dreary most days ,with hardly any sun for months. We heard this song a while back and it is very true here, Melissa put part of it down on the chaulk board.

 

Today we took a drive up to Punta Gorta, and visited the Muscle Car Museum. Largest collection of GM muscle cars in the country ,and all OWNED by one man. 40 years of collecting, trading and buying. This is beyond being rich. The museum is quite large with about 200 cars of his collection on display. I was back in my glory days of driving my Camaro’s and my corvette. It was a really fun time. Every car there was in almost pristine condition. All the cars were in section”s, from Camero”s, Vette”s, etc. For me it was hard leaving the Corvette section, when we left our mouth”s were drooling. After we did finally leave we went to an early dinner at Mel”s diner. I had the Godfather”s Chicken Sandwich and Melissa had the Turkey dinner. It has been cooler here the last few days and i have broke down and put on my pant”s today, i don”t think i have had long pants on for a few months.Suppose to be back close to 80 for the next week, good, i can”t take this cold !!!!!!

1967 convertible, automatic, 327 engine for sale for $58,880

All the Camero”s , lined up in year order.

Shot of the museum

Another shot of museum

1967 SS Chevelle, with 81 original miles, yes 81

Any one for ice cream

1928 Rv. Wow.

The 1928 Gypsy wagon Rv, really cool, with a bed ,sink and couch.

My Grandfather had a Cadillac like this ,he would see us coming up the long lane and drive to meet up with us doing about 80, and a cigar hanging from his mouth, fond memory.

The Early Corvette’s , drool, drool

1963-1967 Corvette’s, drool even more

I told her to pick one and she could not decide, so i said forget it. Isn’t she so pretty.

1958 Corvette, i think she picked this one. OK ship it back to New York.

Today we met up with Bill and Sandy who we had lessons with last week on Pickleball. They have played a few times before. Anyway, we met at the court at 4pm. Sandy and I played against Melissa and Bill. We played for over two hours. We won a few games and they won a few games. It was a lot of fun. We all had a lot of good shots and a lot of muffed shots. As beginners there is a lot to learn and a lot of thinking about where your next shot is going to go. In the end we had a lot of fun and a lot of laughs. They will be away for close to a week so next time we can get together and play is next Wednesday, Melissa and I may take in some practice till then.

Took a good picture of Cooper can you find him.

Today we went to Siesta Key Beach, which is below Sarasota,  about an hour and a half from us. We have been hearing about it so we decided to go. We got there just before 11:00 am and it was sunny and about 75 degrees. One thing that was nice was the parking was free. There were a lot of people already there, but we found a place on the beach and plopped ourselves down. The beach is one of the top 10 in the world. I can see why, the sand, is like ground white flower, all because of the currents and the type of sand it is. We sat for a while in the sun then took a long walk on the beach, splashing a little in the water. I am getting pretty sick of the nice beachs we have been at, NOT. We stayed for about 3 hours and then headed back home.

 

Friday Melissa and I learned how to play Pickleball. When we went to sign up for lessons on Wednesday it was full ,but the instructor happened to be there and he said show up Friday at 4 pm and I will give you a lesion. So Friday it was, when we got there, another couple, Bill and Sandy were there, and then Wayne our instructor showed up. He said playing with 4 is much better to learn, fine with us. The lesson lasted about an hour and a half. Not at all like tennis, you use a small paddle about 8×10 inches with a short handle and a type of wiffle ball is used. As a beginner there is a lot to learn from how to keep score to when you can hit the ball back before a bounce. After the Lesson the four of us played a game it lasted about an hour and Melissa and I won 11 to 6 , which is not saying much. After we got back to the Rv I had a drink and sat down , later I could hardly walk I was so sore, my little toe still hurts. Bill and Sandy have only taken one other lesson before. We all said we had a good time and have made plans for a couple of games this Wednesday. They are from Ohio and they both are in there early 60’s. They are staying for three months here.

Then on Sunday we got together with Dick and Rita from Massachusetts, I met Dick at the dog park, one of the first days we were here. Some how we got talking about genealogy and he mentioned his wife was a Mayflower defendant. I then mentioned Melissa was too and we were waiting for her official confirmation to come back, ( Which it did, she is now an official 11th generation decendant of the Mayflower on the Fuller side). Turns out Melissa and Rita are cousins on the Fuller side. Go figure. Any way we met up with them for a few hours Sunday afternoon. It was a fun time, we had snacks and talked about a lot of different stuff. They have been traveling in their Heartland Bighorn for over five years and it was very interesting and a learning experience hearing about all the places then have been. At six it was time to go for ICE CREAM, homemade at the community center. A big bowl full just for one dollar. I had vanilla and Melissa had a mixture of three different kinds. I ate too much and got a migraine, but boy was it good.

This coming week we are planning on going to Siesta Key beach near Sarasota, it is supposed to have the whitest sand, and we may go to Manatee park to see if any Manatees are there. Will let you know.