Jan 29th to Feb 2nd - Florida

Jan 29th - Thurs - Thonotosassa
Cool but warm enough for water exercises. Then we all (Billy & Lauri, Carie & Gary) loaded our bikes to check out a trail about 15 minutes away in the Flatwood recreation area. There are several trails but we picked the paved, 8.4 mile loop. It was cloudy and breezy but a lovely ride. We had packed lunches so stopped midway to eat. There were people roller-blading, walking and running as well as other bicyclists. The only wildlife we saw was a hawk resting on a branch quite close to the trail.
When we got back, Terry took the garbage to the dumpster and continued to ride around the park. It was getting dark so he headed back and arrived just as it started to pour rain. He had to dash out to put a plastic bag on his bicycle seat and then out again to unlatch and close the door as the rain was blowing in onto the mat.
I had strawberries left from Tuesday so I cleaned them and invited Billy & Lauri and Gary & Carie over for strawberries and dip - YUM!! “Life is uncertain - eat dessert first”!
Everyone headed home to make dinner and then we all went to play bingo. Terry won one of the larger payouts for a blackout - $21. Considering it cost us $9.25 to play all evening, that is pretty good.

Jan 30th - Fri - Thonotosassa
Lots of rain last night - greatly needed here. When I heard the rain let up a bit this morning I quickly took Dolly out so we didn’t have to go out in a downpour. I figured it was too cold for water exercise class but when we took the laundry over about 10:30, the diehards were in the pool.
About noon, Billy & Laurie and we went to check out a little restaurant for lunch and had the recommended grouper sandwich. Deep fried fillets on a huge hoagie bun with all the trimmings and a large side of fries. I’m glad I tried it but it was a little too greasy to order again.
Next door was a Price Cutter grocery store that someone mentioned for good meat prices. Wish we had found it sooner - $5.99 for boneless ribeye & New York strip steaks, $2.99 for boneless center cut pork chops, $2.13 for boneless/skinless chicken breasts and .99 for chicken thighs to cook for Dolly.
Stopped at a Bealls for Lauri to check out a sale and then home.
I immediately started boiling the thighs for Dolly as I did not have room in fridge, cooler or freezer to store them whole. Putting away groceries and other puttering and it was time to relax. After such a large lunch, we had soup for dinner. Then we headed to a Western dance here at the park.
There was a self-described “one man band” for the music and he was great. He played a mix of music and the only reason that I didn’t dance every dance was that Terry was dancing with Lauri & Carie. He also had one dance with a lady that approached us and asked if I minded if my husband taught her how to two-step. He tried but she was not a very good student. A guy stopped by and told Terry that he hadn’t seen a man dance with so many women. We even danced multiple polkas nearly to the end!

Jan 31st - Sat - Thonotosassa
Just puttered around getting things ready to leave tomorrow - cleaning, pick up a few groceries, a quick visit to the nearby flea market for shammies that work so well for washing dishes and visiting with a couple of neighbors. Happy hour inside our place since the weather was pretty cool.

Feb 1st - Sun - to Keaton Beach FL
Didn’t take long to unplug and hook up this morning and head north. A 3 ½ hour drive took us inland near Ocala and then back to the Gulf of Mexico to Old Pavilion RV park in Keaton Beach. Billy & Lauri pulled in before we were even done setting up. They left at the crack of 8 am while we were still in bed but they had to stop for propane and gas in their motor home. Billy drove his motor home in next to us so our doors are together and so they can enjoy the waterfront view through their windshield that we see from our back window.
After our lunches, Billy offered to drive on an area exploration trip. Not much here!! Most of the residences are up on HIGH “stilts” of some type - concrete columns, poles, concrete blocks and timbers are all used. A lot are manufactured homes and many put an elevated deck under part of the house. We went back to Steinhatchee which we drove through on the way here - stopped at a grocery store but did not find an appealing bar for a beer.
Lauri asked us to join them for hamburgers for dinner - nice not to cook! And we all watched the Super Bowl which turned out to be a good game.

Feb 2nd - Mon - Keaton Beach
Woke up to light rain so Terry made a quick trip outside to put away the patio chairs and tuck Billy’s chairs under his rig. Enjoyed our coffee & a bowl of fruit looking at our waterfront view. Had a late breakfast and then invited Billy & Lauri over for cards. We ended up playing Sequence which we all enjoyed. The rain had quit and there was no wind so we wandered around outside for a while and then played more Sequence until it was time to split and prepare dinner. Caught up & posted my blog.