Tampa… The Ultimate Gated RV Community!

Sunset at Mac Dill AFB!

Helen at the SeaScapes Beach Club!

Today I am reporting on the ultimate gated RV community. The security is unbelievable. They even protect the park from the air. Their aircraft of choice are F-15 Hornets! The gates are terrorist proof, with lift up steel barriers. The security guards ask for a 100% ID check. They are fully armed with machine guns. In the morning, they give you a wake up call with “Reveille” . Yes, I am talking about Mac Dill Air Force Base. The RV park is located on the southern tip of the base at Gadsden Point. There is water on three sides of us. What a resort! To the South, in a distance, we can see the Sunshine Skyway Bridge with its high columns and fan shape wire supports. The western view is of St Petersburg sky line buildings. Closer to the sandy beach are hundreds of birds. Sand Cranes, Pelicans diving for fish and countless others. We are here for four days, at least. There are 750 sites here and I'm told that this is the largest military RV campground in the States. It is very impressive! There is a marina with all kinds of boats for rent, there is a SeaScapes Beach  Club (bar and restaurant) which offers us (FamCamp) discounts on daily specials. Great meals and prices! We did some grocery shopping at the commissary and spent the afternoon sitting on the beach, reading and watching people and the birds.

She said the water was definitely warm!

That is what we did and saw

Holiday, FL...Paul & Theresa Visit



 



Gail, Zeb, Taylor, Kali with Theresa and Paul in the back row

On Tuesday, Helen called Paul and Theresa to confirm our visit the following day. He had his daughter and grand kids down for February vacation. They were planning on going up to Homosassa in afternoon. Our visit would be short and in the morning. It was only a short ride down US 19-S and we arrived at Paul and Theresa’s home. They have a beautiful home. It is just a few blocks off the main drag and Holiday is not busy as it is further South. We said hi to everyone. Their grandkids know our grandkids, Sawyer and Aspen so they were thrilled that we knew them.

We left them before lunch and headed south for an afternoon of exploration. We spent a bunch of time at a County Park on the waterfront. We watched people and birds and took a walk along the shore.

The afternoon was going by and we started to think of finding a place for the night.

Most RV parks were full or very expensive. We could only find a couple along the way South. I called Mac Dill Air Force Base and they had openings. The GPS was set and we headed south.

 

That is what we saw and did!

Brooksville... The Tornado Watch!

 

Cloverleaf Residence

This morning we were set to leave early and head for Holiday, FL and visit with Paul and Theresa Savard. The radio stations and TV stations were all broadcasting Tornado watches. It was drizzling a little and we didn’t know how stormy it would get so we asked Henry if we could hangout until the storm had passed. It really didn’t rain a lot, but they did have a small tornado in Tampa coming off the water. It was a safe thing to stay put for another day. We got to eat at another Chinese Buffet at lunch time. Henry gave us a tour of Brooksville and a stop at the community room for a musical afternoon with many residents of the park (Cloverleaf Jammers)playing different instruments. It was a great time.

That is what we did and saw

Brooksville ~ The Plumbing Job!

The new tank!

We hit the road around 9:30am. I knew that Brooksville wasn’t too far down the road. We stopped at the Sugar Mill to checkout its history and take a few pictures. I really was thinking that there would be a geocache at this site, but there wasn’t. While the computer was on the geocaching program, I downloaded a nearby cache and soon we had a find at a birding wildlife site.

The "Live Oak" Helen and Henry

Notice the houses in the background and
"Mr Aligator in the foreround"

Twenty-three miles later we were at Henry Coulombe’s driveway. We had called and got Henry’s answering machine. It wasn’t very long before Henry drove up and was surprised to find us in his driveway. Henry was at Lowe's picking up a new hot water heater for his house. Needless to say, we spent the afternoon chasing parts and installing the new heater. I felt good working again. People would stop by and I would tell them that Henry hired a plumber from NH to install the heater. It was nearly dark when we finished. Helen had prepared supper. Later, Henry took us up to the heated indoor pool. Man that water was the perfect temperature! A short ride in his gulf cart and we were home for the night. Henry offered a spare bedroom, but I feel that we didn’t want to impose and we slept in the camper.
That is what we saw and did.

Great Day At The Park…The Manatee Experience!

Birds of a feather...

 

 

One of the best places to visit in the Homosassa area is the Florida Wildlife State Park. This park, “twice named ‘Nation’s Best’”. We left our base camp mid-morning and headed just a few miles to this attraction. We got our AARP discount for admission and walked in. The first thing we saw was a crystal clear pool maybe fifty feet across. This was about 35 feet deep. The surrounding area was about 150 feet or so across, but shallower in depth. Hundreds of fish of many species were swimming around this spring. Some were little and some were two to three feet long. Above the water, two Cormorants were floating and occasionally dove below the surface and once in awhile came up with a small fish.
Many, many birds of multiple species  are found all around the park. The interesting thing here is that they can fly away if they wanted. It is granted that most of these birds have been injured and are not capable of long distance flight.
The "Manatee Experience" was a special treat for us. These animals are huge in size. I would compare them to the size of a cow laying on its side. The river is gated off to protect the injured Manatees until they are ready for release. We watched one feeding on vegetation as the Park Ranger gave a talk on these mysterious animals that are distantly related to Elephants.
The park also had a variety of other animals. To name a few; Mountain Lion, Eastern Coyotes, (one size down from a wolf) bears, deer and many others. A 53 year old Hippo is a park favorite.
It was a great mid-day adventure.
Roland, just before supper asked if I wanted to go for a mountain bike ride on the back roads. I said, "sure" and off we went. This  turned into a ten mile run after we took a few wrong turns and headed for the State Wildlife Refuge Area. We might still be pedaling around, if we didn’t spot this guy fishing on a dock. He reminded me of one of the guys in the movie “Deliverance”.
          It doesn't show but we are lost!
He said, "go back the way you came and take a left at the stop sign and so on". The exercise helped my numb leg a lot. I was truly glad that I was able to do this biking as we didn’t bring our bikes on the trip because of Helen’s thumb injury.
That is what we did and saw!   

The Nature Walk!

Walking in the Wildlife Preserve
Homosassa, Florida

Saturday morning we all went for a walk in the nearby Wildlife Preserve. This area is just a short walk from the home site. The trails are covered with little placards that explain the different vegetation and wildlife in the area. One placard said that the largest rattlesnake "The Eastern Diamond Back" lived in this area. Sometimes reaching six feet in long! Out ch! Watch were you are stepping! The trail finally came to the waterways with large expanse of tall grass with a river channel meandering left and right through the Delta. Their was an observation tower that gave us a panoramic view of all of this vista.

Expansive Delta View
Wildlife Preserve

Later after the morning hike and at lunch time we were treated to the best venison burgers we have ever had. Between Roland who is an expert at preparing venison meat to Cindy who cooks like a pro, we had a feast for lunch.
The afternoon brought us to Ford Island a few miles up the road from Homosassa. This is one of only a few places that actually has a sandy beach. Their were many people there sunbathing, but none were in the water. We walked a little further to the boat launch area and spoke to fisherman with answers like "No Luck". The afternoon was drawing to an end. It was time to head back. We stopped at a Catholic church for mass before heading for the compound. We headed for a spare rib place called "Sonny's" and had another good meal.

That is what we did and saw!

Homosassa ~ Home to Manatees & Roland V

Life on the Gulf!
Homosassa, Florida

A hop, skip and a jump from Leesburg and we arrived at Roland and Cindy Viens’ winter getaway rental home, here in Homosassa, on the Gulf side of Florida. We arrived just a few minutes past ten and Roland was waiting for us at the security gate. Now this is not a gated community, but the last two houses at the end of the street are gated. Real nice feeling of privacy. Roland and Cindy gave us a grand tour of the house. Like most of the late model houses here, they are built with flooding in mind. The first floor is finished in ceramic tile and furnished, but it is setup to easily move everything that is perishable to the second floor to avoid loss.

Cindy Preping the Salad!!

Roland took us down the village at a restaurant called Mac Rae’s' on the waterfront. It was one of those open air places with plenty of shade and a nice breeze coming from the Gulf. The temperature was in the mid eighties. We had scallops, and clams. Yummy! It was late afternoon before we made it back to the compound. Cindy offered us one of their three bedrooms. We elected to stay in the camper, but took advantage of the down stairs bathroom. I plugged the AC into the camper and we were fine for the night. Oh, I nearly forgot to mentioned the excellent Taco salad that Cindy prepared in the evening. We kept thinking how perfect the weather was  here and also thinking of the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Boy did we miss the snow!
That is what we did and saw