Friends

 April 23, 2022

Ortona South Campground

LaBelle, Fl

Yea, my 4 legged friend Ollie has arrived along with Mickey and Janet.  Ollie said he had to get up before daylight ...something about Mickey wanting to travel while the love bugs were sleeping.  I guess it worked as their rig looked 'love bug clean' when they arrived this morning.

Auntie Carol and Uncle Steve waited until daylight to hit the road so they arrived a couple of hours later....with just a few smashed bugs.

Dad stretched his bug cleanup into a two day job, smartly leaving the truck windshield for early morning when the dew worked its magic and made windshield clean up a snap.  Zip, zip and the windshield was sparkling clean.

That left plenty of time for relaxing and enjoying coffee break in these beautiful surroundings while soaking up some fresh air this morning.

Our morning visitors didn't really want to play with me this morning.  

This bunny looked like a baby, frozen in one spot.  I think my voice was intimidating.

This pair of sand cranes were VERY vocal this morning.  I didn't intmidate them at all!!

Our campground is located by the locks that handle an 8 foot change for the boats that pass thru. It seems to stay quite busy.

The two legged took advantage of a shade tree for a happy hour gathering in the afternoon while I caught up on my nap time.  I did get to play a few games of toss the jug.

Notice I said a FEW.....maybe tomorrow I'll get to play longer.  Here's hoping.

I really thought I'd have it made tonight when everyone showed up at our rig.  Lots of people to toss my toys for me!!  I was so excited.  But it seems they were excited as well....to play a new card game called Swoop.  I felt ignored!!  Maybe I'll just have to learn how to play cards instead of running after my toys.

I'm Chloe

Heading South

April 22, 2022

Ortono South Campground

LaBelle, Fl

I know, Dad said he wasn't going to head south again in Florida.  He also said he didn't want to travel with love bugs.  Been there....done that...and it wasn't much fun.  Well folks, this morning we headed south in Florida right as love bug season is kicking off.  

Today's destination:  Ortona South Campground

One thing about traveling in love bug season, you can be assured that you'll have a project when you land because if smashed bugs don't get removed, the acid in their smashed bodies will remove the paint on your vehicle.  Definitely NOT a good thing.

Well, Dad had figured that would be the only project for the day.  Little did he know, with 25 miles left to arrive at our destination, we got an alert from the tire minder....'slow leak in tire' on 5er, door side, front tire.  The alert occured at 80 pounds and Momma watched as it dropped to 78, 70, 60... more like a 'speedy leak in tire'.  

We were on a nice stretch of wide open, flat, straight road ....but it was only 2 lane with a small shoulder and guard rails, and that's all we had been seeing, except for the signs stating one lane ahead.  

 

We sure could have used this guy and his sign as we had to stop with two thirds of our rig still on the highway.  At least visibility was ideal and anyone traveling could see us from miles away.

Dad made quick work of the tire swap, getting the spare in place so we could continue on our way.  It's a good thing it was on the guard rail side of the rig.  Luck was with us.

So that created an additional project when we arrived: replacing the spare.  As it turned out, 

Randy's Garage made it a simple, but expensive project.  At least Dad was grumbling that if he had been home, he could have paid less for the tire. 

But then Momma pointed out that the last time he purchased tires, we weren't in the middle of this burst of inflationed prices we are experiencing with everything from groceries to fuel at the pump.  Maybe $270, which included mounting, taxes and all those other add ons really is reality in these current times.  We got a taste of reality when we fueled up at the pump.  So much for double digit refills. Triple digits is the reality of the times.

I'm Chloe

The GTS campout: final days for this adventure

April 8-10, 2022

Cypress Campground and RV Park

Winter Haven, Florida

GTS Campout Weekend

The Golden Triangle Sams monthly campouts officially begin on Friday afternoons at 3 with a social/happy hour.  Well, Momma said this kickoff to the weekend was outstanding.  All the two-legged were invited to our host's, the Miller's, beautiful home that had been featured in the Parade of Homes.

Carolyn and Lynn put a lot of thought into the design of their beautifully decorated, spacious home.  There was plenty of room on their back patio for everyone to gather after touring the house.

The group then headed about 5 minutes away to Old Harry's Place, a  Seafood Restaurant. 

I just might have enjoyed a meal there as well.  I know I like seafood as my dog food has a salmon base, but the group of 20 two-legged was a large enough challenge for the wait staff I guess, who served the tasty, hot dishes with expertise.   

I was left in the rig with the important job of guarding.  I could tell that those pesky squirrels who were dancing on the picnic table outside the rig door were taunting me and just looking for a way to get inside and cause some real havoc.

The evening continued with some of the GTS members participating in the BINGO event sponsored by the campground.  No one in our group walked away with a winner's pot.

Some members chose to play a card game of Hand and Foot, with a side of toss the dog toy for Chloe, in our rig.  I LOVE it when we have people come to our rig.  I can ALWAYS find someone who will play with me.

Saturday morning, the hosting men manned their flippers and turned out some delicious orange flavored pancakes served with a side of bacon and orange/maple syrup.

Here's Bill above and Lynn below, with his wife Carolyn in the background, working hard to prepare a breakfast feast for everyone. 

The rest of the day was highlighted with a rousing game of Bean Bag Baseball and an ice cream social that was sponsored by the campground.  I guess everyone was too busy spooning their ice cream sundae to take a pic.

The food was plentyful for dinner as well.  The hosts served baked ham to round out a pot luck assortment of sides and desserts.

Needless to say, the food was scrumptious and plentiful.  And seeing as Easter is coming along soon, the colorful, egg decorated plates went along with the cute Easter themed table decorations.

After the meal, Michelle asked everyone to take an egg from the basket on their table

and read their fortune found inside, ending with, "under the sheets".  Everyone chuckled as the fortunes were shared, such as,  "You will enjoy a great evening ...... under the sheets" or  "Tonight you will be able to demonstrate your hidden talents ....... under the sheets"  

Dirty Uno seems to be a favorite card game with this group.  There were 11 sitting around the table with lots of good natured card sharing and laughs as the number of cards each player was holding went from large to small and back to large once again as the round progressed.  Of course the object is to be the person to play all the cards in their hand and 'go out', thus having a score of zero points for the hand.  Guess what happens when you forget to call out "UNO" indicating that you have one card left in your hand.  You get to draw three additional cards much to everyone else's amusement.

Sunday morning arrived too quickly.  After sharing a continental breakfast and giving hugs with wishes for safe travel, the group headed off to their homes, with a few caravaning for several miles

taking a route recommended by Carolyn.  It was scenic, road....the road less traveled.... thereby taking off the pressure of driving on a crowded interstate.  A road graced with the beauty of flowers lining the roadside.

As we backed into our driveway, I knew that this adventure had drawn to a close, but Momma assured me that there is another adventure coming up in two weeks as we will be...on the road again.

I'm Chloe

On the road again

 April 6-7, 2022

Cypress CG and RV Park

Winter Haven, Fl

Well, as it turned out, we scared that possible morning shower away and had just clouds keeping the sun at bay.  I heard the group discussing departure time and they finally settled on 9:30.  So, I ask you, why is it that we are rolling at 8:50?  Is everyone anxious to cross that border back into Florida and travel a bit further to trade the Central time zone for the Eastern time zone?

It was an easy travel day

with clouds that held onto their rain drops so we could travel without the use of windshield wipers.  

We arrived early enough at Suwannee River Rendezvous to enjoy a Happy Hour at 3:30 inside the Hime rig, as it was quite windy, humid and warm outside.  Actually, it was really a birthday gathering complete with Cranberry Upsidedown Cake served to help Julie celebrate her birthday.  (What, no one snapped a picture?  I know I was way to busy trying to entice someone to toss my toy for me.)

It was just an overnight stop and once again, the gang discussed departure time settling on an 8:30 departure in the morning.  It turned out to be 8:20.  

It had rained during the night and early morning so it was easier to see all the pot holes in the road leading away from the campground.  Dad grumbled as he tried to pick the least holey path.

We had to use the windshield wipers off and on during our travels today.  Lucky for us, it wasn't raining when the 'water in fuel' warning light lit up on our dash.  We pulled off at the Micanopy exit and Dad slid under the truck and drained the water out of the filter.

Dad had laid out a tablecloth to use as a creeper when he slid under the truck but it appears he failed to position all of his body on the cloth.  

Now there's a laundry challenge for Momma!!

We had settled on a travel break at mm 346 so we caught up with everyone at the rest stop.  They had all been sitting in their vehicles waiting for the shower to subside when we arrived bringing the sunshine.....and cookies to share.  I 'm not referring to doggy cookie bones, although I did get my share of those as well.

It seems we weren't the only ones with water issues.  We had to manually drain our water.  Steve had a towel on his dash

to soak up the water that was self-draining out of the grab bar in his truck.

Our arrival at Cypress Campground and RV Park could have used better timing.  We checked into the office nicely, but just as we arrived at our site, the sky openned up once again.  Needless to say, the hookup and settling in took place in stages.  The power cord was plugged in and the truck detached so the rig could be leveled.  Then we all dashed inside.  Thank goodness Momma and Dad had their raincoats on.  It wasn't until much later that the water and sewer connections were made....after the rain stopped.

Talk about great campground owners!  Even though it was raining....and he didn't even have a rain jacket on....the owner arrived on the golf cart to assist in getting everyone settled on their site so their steps were lined up with the cement patio pad and the slides would clear any trees or electric posts.  Applause for him!!

We have use of a lovely Rec Hall while we are here this weekend.   It was the perfect place to gather at 3pm for our happy hour.

After dinner they made use of the hall once again for one of those rowdy Dirty Uno card games.

If laughter keeps you healthy, that card playing gang is glowing with good health.  

I'm Chloe

Another day, another project

 April 5, 2022

Hidden Hollow RV Park

Cottonwood, Al

What smiles were on the faces of the drivers as they parked their rigs on paved, pull thru sites yesterday here at Hidden Hollow Rv Park.  But I did notice most of them did a bit of backing up in search of that perfect position on their site.

All 5 rigs are parked side by side, one row over from the nice, clean, laundromat that some of the gals made use of.

Dad said our rig nose was a buggy mess so he got out the hose, long pole and mop head and gave it a good cleaning.  

The weather experts had given us a 50% chance of rain this morning but we got lucky, and that turned out to be a good thing.  You see, some people would much rather crawl under a rig and get greasy rather than play board games. Here are Dad and friends

changing out the brakes on Dale's rig.  As you can see, not a rain drop anywhere.  But that didn't stop the gals from sitting around the Fast Track Board at our table while supervising the work progress from the other side of the window.  Thank goodness Tim heard the wheel noise as Dale parked yesterday.  I don't think he would have made it much further on the highway without repairs.

This afternoon, the possibility of rain increased to the point that we had a bit of a down pour with a couple of rumbles and a bit of wind.  But we had tossed a rope over our slide toppers to keep the wind from flapping them so we were well prepared for the storm.

Jan had some water to clean up in his rig that he blamed on the rain, but I heard something about how Fix-it Tim discovered it really might be a water heater issue.  I guess it was a good thing we had rain, otherwise, Jan and Joyce may have been out and about rather than home to discover the intruding water.  Clean up was quick with the shop vac and heater.  Something to do on a rainy day.

Dad has decided to take advantage of the dry sky this evening and put away our sewer and water hose tonight....just in case we are in the area that receives the projected 40% chance of rain tomorrow morning.  It's really not much fun packing up in the rain, so the less we need to do to get hooked up, the better.  And just maybe our preplanning will scare the rain away from this area in the morning so we can hit the road dry.  Time will tell.....

I'm Chloe

Travel Day to Cottonwood

 April  5, 2022

Hidden Hollow RV Park

Cottonwood, AL

Today was travel day.  I guess it'll be a while before we'll be seeing any more barges/tug boats on the water.

It was sad leaving our lovely site and climbing into the truck. 

Heehee😉  I have Momma trained.  You see, when I was a pup, I would always put my paws up as high as I could to load up in the backseat of the truck and then Momma would give me a boost the rest of the way.  I still have her trained to give me a boost when we load up.  Now granted, I can leap up on the waist high workbench in Dad's shop without even giving it a second thought.  But I like Momma to feel needed when I load up in the truck.  LOL

As everyone was packing up, the volunteer worker at the campground stopped by on his golf cart and chatted with us.  Momma had read about a recommended BBQ place in Demopolis called A Slab and More.  Some of our caravan group rode by the restaurant and decided it really wasn't located in a decent looking neighborhood so we didn't go.  Now the volunteer agreed with the looks of the neighborhood, but he said that the food is the BEST around.  He said everyone eats there or some prefer take out, but it is some real good eatin'.  Maybe we'll have to give them a try next time we are in the area.

We are down to 5 rigs now with our caravan.  We left in a group of 2 departing before a group of 3, but then we all gathered for a mid travel break just south of Montgomery as the group of two had stopped for a gas fill, thus we all caught up with each other.  

Jan was our volunteer garbage hauler on the way out.

He said he would make the drop and save everyone else the extra stop on the way out.  We travel with the BEST group of people!!

Our new location has a Cottonwood, Al address that is just south of Dothan.  We pasted 2 Walmarts and 3 Dairy Queens on our way thru Dalton to the southern outskirt arriving in Cottonwood.  We made use of the Murphy Gas by one of the Walmarts when we went back out for dinner.  It was an attempt at avoiding a heart attack.  The $$ sure climbs quickly at the pump when you squeeze the trigger.  We had seen the sign advertising diesel at $4.62 on the way to our campground.  During dinner, Tim checked the reported price at $4.61 on line.  When we finally got around to refueling, the price had dropped to $4.59 at that same station.  Maybe if we had eaten slower and showed up a tad later at the pumps, we could have saved a couple more cents???  Everyone was amazed that the per gallon price actually lowered instead of increased.

While we were fueling, Tim zipped inside the store to purchase ice cream for an evening ice cream social.  Mint chocolate chip was on the menu.  I think they got ice cream with chocolate just so they wouldn't have to share with me, meaning more for them.  They know I can't have chocolate.

I'm Chloe

Foscue Creek CG

 April 2-4, 2022

Foscue Creek CG

Demopolis, AL

Have you ever heard the expression 'Time flies when you are having fun'?  Well, I can tell you that our four nights at Foscue Creek Campground in Demopolis, Alabama flew by in a flash.  This is definitely a park that will go on our ''return to" list of campgrounds.

I had so much fun playing with Sue and getting my daily...sometimes twice daily....treats from Aunt Carol.

One night was an Italian Feast with spaghetti, meatballs, salad, garlic knots, Italian bread and a dutch oven peach cobbler topped with ice cream for dessert.

Jim even brought a special wine that evening.

Now seeing as that wine shares my name, don't you think I should have been invited to the Italian Feast?

Another  night was hot dogs over the fire

With all the fixin's, salad, broccoli salad, potato salad, beans, chips, cake. 

Yummy stuff for sure with perfect weather.  It just doesn't get any better......

or maybe it does....

S'mores.....

Not your everyday s'mores.  These had graham crackers, goey toasted to perfection marshmallows and....thin, dark chocolate, peanut butter cups.  Now that's an over the top s'more😁

I'm Chloe