Jan 13th to 17th - Thonotosassa

Jan 13th - Tues - Thonotosassa
Gary & Carie joined Billy, Lauri and me for water exercise class this morning. After lunch, Terry & I went to Plant City just south of here looking for a hardware store and a place that we have been told about that makes good strawberry shortcake. We found the hardware store but not the strawberry shortcake. We also stopped at Big Lots to get a new lamp for between our recliners.
I decided I had to pull out all the stops to try to get rid of Dolly’s fleas so I bathed her in flea shampoo, used a leave-on flea dip and then we set off a “bug bomb” in the rig to kill fleas in the carpet and furniture. While we were unable to go back into the rig, we did laundry and Carie invited us to their place between washing & drying. Then she invited us to join them for dinner - how nice! After Terry opened windows and door to air the rig out, I took the laundry and Dolly in from the truck and cleaned the floor & countertops. Then we went with Gary & Carie to soak in the hot tub and have a swim.

Jan 14th - Wed - Thonotosassa
The huge Tampa RV show started today at the fairgrounds. Terry has been like a kid before Christmas waiting to go so we made plans to meet Frank & Marion (from Newfoundland, met in Davenport) at 9 at the front entrance. They arrived just before Carie & Gary called to see where we were and they joined us as well. We knew we would not be able to stay together so we made plans to meet for lunch and went our separate ways. It is indeed a very large show - the ads said 350 vendor booths and 1200 2009 RVs. So we were amazed that we saw Paul & Vicki (now in Zephyrhills) and Doug & Louise (spent New Years with them) twice while we were wandering around. There was an interesting motor home where the side folded out to make a deck accessible from the inside. A row of windows folded out as well and then up to form the deck railing.
We finally left about 4:30 and did not see everything. We think we looked at most of the 5th wheels but there may be more hiding in the buildings. I did not see one 5th wheel that I prefer to ours so we better take really good care of ours as we may have it quite a while longer. When you purchase a ticket, you receive another one for a future day so we will be going back tomorrow to finish checking everything out.
We sat out for a quick drink with Gary & Carie and Billy & Lauri. It started out quite cool this morning and cooled down quickly after the sun went down so we all headed inside. Terry went to the hot tub with Carie & Gary but I was tired & lazy so didn‘t go.

Jan 15th - Thurs - Thonotosassa
It was 41 degrees when we left for the RV show just before 9. Yesterday was senior day and there were way more people there early than there were today. Repeat of yesterday except that we finally saw a 5th wheel that caught our eyes - a Montana. Very similar layout to ours but with a peninsula kitchen, a large fridge, flat screen TV and a nice closet by the door that is plumbed for a washer/dryer but set up as a broom/coat closet - all features that we would love. If the recession hadn’t decimated some of our savings we would be negotiating with the salesman!
There was a great sand sculpture at the show. It was a map of the US, made on a slant for viewing, with items on it that were representative of some states or areas - for example, the Space Needle in Seattle, Liberty Bell, Capital Building, St Louis arch, hula dancer in Hawaii, an ear of corn and a sign pointing to Tampa for the 2009 RV show. Very clever and well done.
We left the show earlier today and went to Plant City to return an item to Big Lots (not the lamp) and to find the place selling strawberry shortcake. And wonderful shortcake it turned out to be!!
About 5 Carie invited us all over for happy hour (inside as it was too cool to sit out) that turned into 2 ½ happy hours with lots of laughs. Both Terry & I declined to go out in the cold to join Carie in the hot tub.

Jan 16th - Fri - Thonotosassa
Posted the blog and worked on emails before joining Billy & Lauri on a drive to Plant City & Lakeland. There is going to be a Hawaiian theme dance tomorrow at the park so Billy & Lauri needed some shirts, much to conservative Billy’s disapproval. They found something for each of them at Bealls Outlet and then we had to introduce them to the great strawberry shortcakes. Lauri and I opted for the Strawberry Boat which is strawberries over ice cream with whipped topping - YUM!! Also picked up huge avocados for 80 cents each and a bag of fresh picked navel oranges for $1.39. The oranges are very sweet.
We continued on to check out Lakeland and find the location for a gun show that Billy will be going to tomorrow. Terry & I walked over to exchange some books before joining the rest of the group at Billy & Lauri’s for happy hour.
Cool again all day today - 51 inside this morning and 42 outside.

Jan 17th - Sat - Thonotosassa
I caught up on some computer stuff and other chores this morning while it was still too cool to enjoy outdoors. We made a quick trip to the nearby Big Top flea market with Gary & Carie trying to find a bicycle for Carie and made a grocery stop on the way back.
Happy hour at our place before dinner and then we all attended a dance from 8:00 to 11:00 at the RV park. Music was provided by a couple with a wide range of styles including Hawaiian to match the theme of the dance. $10 for tickets, BYOB and snacks for an inexpensive evening. Terry & I danced a lot - including most of a polka and the twist.