Ron's Travels

BEEFALO?

2008-02-15T12:57:00.002-05:00

Hasn't been much to take pictures of. Then I saw this buffalo, actually a Bison, but people call them buffalos. By the time I got to the camera to take it's picture, IT had layed down. I tried waving my hands & making noise, BUT NOT TOO LOUDLY, as there was only about 75' & 4 strands of barbed wire between me & it. Buffalo can charge as I saw that happen once in Indiana as I was taking a picture of a herd of them.
Only one more animal in the field & since this is definitly a bull, I'm taking for granted that since the 2 of them are within 50' of one another peacefully that the buffalo is a female & that they are trying to cross breed them to get Beefalo meat to sell. Beefalo meat is leaner & more healty for your body. I ate some once at Ocala Florida as a bowler I met there had a ranch of Beefalo. I don't remember if it tasted wild, but do remember it tasted dry.

Not much going on here. Won't be back into the campgrounds for another week. This weekend is supposed to be back up to 80. We've had some days 65-75 & nights in the 40's-65. Had a night of tornado watch & another evening of forest fires in the next county. I hear the miniture golf course is getting built here in the campground. Wish all is well till next time. Ron

Just Sunsets

2008-01-23T23:15:00.000-05:00

I haven't had much to make a blog out of recently. So Tuesday I went to Siesta Key Beach & other beaches with Daryl, a friend of mine. She got her feet into the water, but when she said it was really cold, I didn't stick my feet in. Besides the beach pictures I took there were other pictures I wanted to include here, but will have to do in another posting. This boy running along the shore was one of my favorites. He was there with his dad & 2 sisters that I also took pictures of.
I really love sunset pictures & even though there were some that I took that I didn't care for, it seems that each has it's own personality. I'm not gonna tell you what I liked about each of these pictures, but you can write back & tell me which you like best, starting with the top picture as #1 & the bottom picture as #5.
This is #3.
#4
#5

Went to the beach today......

2008-01-04T18:19:00.000-05:00

Siesta Beach is a famous beach at Sarasota, Fl. It has white sand which is beautiful & soft to the feet, but the lifeguard said it is actually harder than diamonds. I got a cup full to bring back with me. The water temperature was nice today, about the same as the air temperature.
Not a whole lot of people out there, but maybe 100 or so. I wanted to show the lifeguard station & the flags blowing. The wind must have been blowing 15-25mph. There are 4 lifeguard shacks there & each is painted a different color to help people keep track of where they are. There is nothing worst than a child missing. I've seen that several times. Once a girl made a new friend & wandered away with her, here at Siesta 3-4 years ago when I was here. Last summer there was a girl missing for over an hour. I never knew if they found her.
It wasn't too cold for gals in bikinis or for guys to take their shirts off.
After leaving the beach, I saw this sign. It was hard to believe the amount of the fine set at such an odd figure.
Farther away from the beach I saw this city bus. Hybrid diesel-electric. It was really quiet zooming away from a stoplight & was hitting 40 mph. I had to wait till both of us caught a stoplight for me to hop out of my car to take this picture.

I had a low of 41 last night. It was beautiful here today. Supposed to be in the mid 70's this coming weekend.

What is it?

2007-12-30T18:35:00.000-05:00

A few of you may know what this is. Like a dummy, I had to ask & the answer to me was we charge $5 per answer, LOL. Well, you can guess free & send it to me in an e-mail at zaqphoto@gmail.com
This is a 1956 Chevy Bel-Air. It has all been disassembled & put back together, but no bondo on it. All of that work was done by a man in a wheel chair. It is almost all stock including the paint color. Engine is a 365 cu. in. Tires are even bias ply wide whitewalls. He strips down the wax each year & gives it 3 new coats. He was showing me where the right side of the hood only had 2 coats, but I couldn't see the difference.

In the last year he has had 2 offers to buy it. The 1st offer was $50,000, which I guess I would have taken it, but his other offer was $65,000, plus there has been 3 auction houses that wanted to sell it for him. I didn't realize it, but it is worth more than 1957's, because of the overabundance's of them & few of 1956.
So do you have an idea of when this car was made? Well, the body style is still stock, but it has been made into a hot rod. It has a small block Chevy engine in it, but a lot of work inside the engine. It has a Corvette rear end. The owner, a friend of mine named Phil said he had it to 130 mph, but said he'd never do that again as he felt like it was about to go out of control as there seemed to be air getting up under the fenders. But he did say it is a fun car to drive. He brought it to Florida in a trailer behind his motor home. It may appear to be black, but it is a dark cherry red with sparkle in the paint. Phil's other car is a Chrysler Crossfire convertible that he left in Maine this winter, as that model is no longer being manufactured, so he wants to preserve it for more value.

OK, so if you look at the license plate, it is a 1933 Ford Vicky.

Back in the campground for about 2 weeks. Weather is fine here. Set records yesterday by 2 degrees. But by this coming Thursday morning, it is supposed to be down into the 30's. Brrrrrr. Will probably be too cold to be playing Pickle Ball that morning. Ron

It's a bird, it's a plane.........

2007-12-28T12:21:00.000-05:00

No, it is Odie, the Poodle dog from our friends Jim & Chris chasing a radio control airplane. Jim & Chris is out in the desert in Arizona. Go look at their website at: http://www.geeksontour.com You can look at their blog there & learn a lot of information, plus you can sign up for their newsletter to come directly to you. I didn't take this picture. This came to me from their blog.

This picture was so funny to me as I used to be into RC airplanes & never saw a dog chase an airplane before.

As you can see Odie caught the airplane & put some teeth marks in it. I can see this is a foam wing & the airplane doesn't weigh much. It has an electric motor which doesn't fly as fast as the gas powered ones I had.

Might hit 84 here today & possible set a record high, but by next Thursday morning it might be as low as 32 at Orlando.

You Might Be A Redneck If...............

2007-12-26T11:52:00.000-05:00

You are going camping with an air boat. The engine is a Continental brand, so I thought it was an airplane engine, but he said it wasn't & you could tell because there is only 1 spark plug per cylinder in his engine. Seems unusual to me to go camping with an air boat, but his brother-in-law & several cousins are going. They also went around Thanksgiving on the Peace River farther downstream from Wauchula here. They fish a lot for their food.
The boat is pretty well loaded down with other supplies including fruit drinks, grapefruit, etc. They also had an ice chest full in the pick up to be loaded in the boat when they get on the water. He plans to be camping for 8 days.
This was the Christmas day sunset. Nice & peaceful. I aimed to get a full moon picture this month as the moon was full at Christmas, but never got the picture taken.

There were a lot of well decorated houses. This just happened to be one on Florida Av. in Wauchula. When I started driving the school bus, I didn't even know where Florida Av. was, but now use it frequently as it has a nice angle that saves driving through downtown & the stoplights.

Cloudy here today & a little cooler. Supposed to be back into the lower 80's this next weekend. Ron

Christmas Dinner

2007-12-25T16:13:00.000-05:00

We had a great Christmas dinner here at http://www.1000trails.com/ at Peace River, near Wauchula, Florida. We had a 40' X 60' tent. At each stake in the ground there was some kind of Christmas decoration so people wouldn't walk into the stakes.
I think there were 4 picnic tables they brought in, plus 2 other tables to put food on. When I took this picture, the food wasn't all here yet as it ended up about all of the seating area of these tables having food on them also. I took deviled eggs & they all disappeared. I counted & 8 people took deviled eggs.
Here's Deb to make announcements. One thing she mentioned was a tornado watch, LOL. Actually the sun is shining & it is beautiful today, but last year it was windy & they were having to hold onto the tent & food to keep everything from blowing away. I took other pictures of Deb, but liked this one the best. She works the whole crowd & "WE HAVE FUN HERE!" She makes us laugh. You'd love Deb if you ever met her. She said this is the biggest gathering we had ever had for one event. This tent will still be here for New Year's.
As Deb said, no matter how we handled this, there was gonna be chaos. Well, after the food was blessed & handicapped people got their food, Deb explained what would work best. Well, I decided to just take some pictures & sit & wait awhile. I waited about 15 minutes before I went through the line. There were 193 people signed up for the dinner, so they'd know approximately how much ham & turkey to fix. Looking, there may have been more show up.
As I was sitting I heard this woman say, as she was fanning her face with her plate, "Between Hot Flashes & being hungry, that people better not pout & better not shout.", LOL. Well, I had to get her to repose this picture. There were other people fanning their faces with their plates also. This morning when I went outside at around 8AM & it was 63 degrees, it reminded me of one time when I was a kid & we played football on Christmas Day outside without coats on in northern Indiana. I think the temperature here today was to be 75+, which I'm sure it made it.

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas, Ron

Christmas Pickle Ball Shorts

2007-12-16T17:24:00.000-05:00

Several times when I played Pickle Ball with long legged jeans on, I've been told I needed to have shorts on!!! So today when I was at Wal-Mart, I found these. Well, of course several got a laugh. One gal said she hoped it wasn't a skirt. And I ain't gonna tell you what another gal said who wears those fancy tennis outfits said. She was the one who took the picture though. Yes, there are real bells on it & it is made of velvet. LOL, I thought it might distract the opponents & help me win, but I lost 3 games, so I gave up for today.

It is supposed to be down in the 40's tomorrow morning, so I bought a comforter for the bed & will be wearing jeans if I play Pickle Ball in the morning.

Fastest school bus

2007-12-16T10:22:00.000-05:00

The kids would love this school bus, LOL.

http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=2290915

WHY & HOW?

2007-12-12T20:50:00.000-05:00

I noticed in the men's restroom at McDonald's that there was a baby diaper changing station with Braille on it, so WHY would they put Braille on a baby diaper changing station? If you don't already know how, what good is it gonna do you now? Besides that, if you are blind, HOW DID YOU GET TO McDONALD'S?

This is a new friend named Dan who is blind. Him & his wife Vickie got a new camper today. Dan's dog's name is Tucker. Tucker is very well behaved, but Dan says he can be distracted in the campground. He would like to greet other dogs & Dan can hear him whimper. Also after I took their picture this morning, Tucker was laying down & trying to eat leaves. I never noticed it, but Dan being blind is very sensitive to sounds & told him to quit. Dan is blind & can only see light & dark. Dan started losing his sight while in the service, most likely from Agent Orange in Vietnam. Being in the campground I asked Dan if he could clean up after his dog & he said he can. That he learned that in school. Always carries a bag with him, plus his dog is only fed once a day.
This is the building I took my friend Gregg to Monday for a biopsy. This was originally an one story building. Now it is a 10 story building. The sculpture was nice & had different features on different sides, but I decided on the picture with the building in the background.

Read more information on the next picture.

Still in the lower 80's here in the daytime. Supposed to have a cold front come in here Sunday & temperatures in lower 60's. Monday AM down to 46, but then start warming back up.

WE HAVE FUN.......................

2007-12-09T14:57:00.000-05:00

At the manager's meetings. The park is getting filled up & the seats in the manager's meeting were also about full. One of the items stressed about camping at http://www.1000trails.com/ is that our goal is to have FUN, FUN, FUN. I can tell you that meetings with our manager Debbie Davis, who played Santa Claus Saturday are always fun. You never know what she will come up with. Doesn't she make a beautiful Santa? She has a great personality.

The 2nd picture is Susan who is in charge of recreation. She does a great job also. I tried to get her to stand up for this picture, but she is a little shy, but got a nice smile out of her. Both of them play Pickle Ball & I'll be out there playing also as soon as I get off of the computer.

This is Fred, Susan's husband. He said he had a joke to tell, so Debbie told him to keep it clean. Well, he really had a Christmas song with different words that was fun. Look at the lights on that hat!

I did some videos, but too long for the blog. One I really liked too, EXCEPT, I shut the camera off just before Debbie pulled her Santa wig off, LOL.

The weather here is perfect. Supposed to be around 80 all week until next weekend, of which a cold front will be here. But maybe that will mean 75 instead of 80 degree days. 60 or so at night. Look up http://www.1000trails.com/ Maybe you'd like a free tour & maybe join. I'm glad I did 4 years ago. If you want a free tour, you need my membership #. It is 190003400 Also I can send you a personal invitation. Ron

Alligator Pugh

2007-12-05T12:08:00.000-05:00

This morning I went to Sebring for my physical at the VA clinic. All is well. On the way there, I saw this pickup ahead of me, SO GRABBED THE CAMERA & TOOK THIS PICTURE. Artificial, but looked good.
This is the other truck I saw!!! As you can see it was a sewer sanitation truck & I liked it's smiley face, LOL. You might have thought I misspelled PEW, but not so as the name of the business was Pugh Sanitation Service.

Coolish this morning around 40, but to be back into the lower 70's today & back to 80 by the weekend, with no rain or SNOW, LOL, in sight. I sat next to a guy at the VA clinic this morning from Frankfort, Indiana & he said they got 3" of snow there. Glad I'm not there, LOL. I've been getting some e-mails about, "DON'T RUB THE WEATHER IN!"

Yesterday afternoon in playing Pickle Ball my partner & I won handily. Right at the end of the game I made a great shot the opponent couldn't get to & I laughed. The opponent said she didn't like my laugh. Well, can't help how I laugh when I'm having fun.

Hope all is well with you. Today is HUMP DAY. Ron

Thanksgiving Full Moon

2007-11-25T13:39:00.000-05:00

We had around 135 members here at Thousand Trails Resort for Thanksgiving dinner. The room was full, plus a few sat outside to eat. This was my 2ND Thanksgiving dinner.

Beautiful weather here, back into the lower 80's in the daytime with 60's at night.
Picture I took Thanksgiving night. Been off of work all of this week as the kids had the whole week out of school for the holiday. Back to work Monday.

2007-11-19T18:25:00.000-05:00

BELIEVE THIS!!!

2007-11-19T17:59:00.000-05:00

These 2 dogs are Samoyed, direct descendants of the wolf. Yesterday these two dogs got into a fight & bit the owner while trying to separate them. I tried to let Pickle up to their cage to see if they would play, but they scared Pickle. Samoyed dogs are used as sled dogs in Russia.

So here is just a bag of dog hair? Well, not really. It is Chiengora. Look it up on the Internet: http://reviews.ebay.com/Chiengora-It-apos-s-Not-Just-Dog-Hair_W0QQugidZ10000000000023868 Chiengora means dog hair in French.
Two ladies here were demonstrating it Saturday as I cam into the park. You can use any animal with long hair. I can remember when angora was so nice & soft. Angora is rabbit fur.
She makes different items with the spun yarn. Shaws, hats, etc.

School bus Thanksgiving Dinner

2007-11-19T17:42:00.000-05:00

This past Friday we had the Thanksgiving Dinner for school bus employees. Mr. Daggett is the head honcho & so he is carving the turkey.
We got started at around 11:15 AM as some of the drivers have to go on routes at noon.
As you can see there was plenty of food. I took deviled eggs filled with onion & olive pieces. Sure was some tastee sweet potatoes. I got 2nds on that. I got 3 pictures of people with food stuck in there mouth, BUT NOT PUTTING THE PICTURES ON HERE, LOL.
Lori is leaving us as her family is moving. It was a sad day to see her leave. She is such a nice lady. Besides the balloons & cards, they presented her with some pictures of days gone by.

Dog tricks

2007-11-18T09:20:00.000-05:00

At the Golden Coral they gave us veterans a sticker to put on our shirt to show we served, so when I got home, I put it on Pickle's forehead. He absolutely hated it & rolled & tried everything he could do to get it off of him. He finally got it off.

During the past week he has chewed his halter apart partially & his leash of which it now has a knot that I tied it back together.

I had a butterfly fly in the window. I was really surprised he didn't eat it. Maybe it doesn't smell like food, LOL.
He did follow it around though until it flew out another window.
When he is good, I give him treats. He has 3 different treats. One is these generic Cheerios, which I don't care for, but he likes. They were given to me, so I am making use of them.

Got chilly here the last few nights, but we are in a warm up trend now. Suppose to be around 80 on Thanksgiving.

Hope you are having a good weekend. Kids are out of school here for the week of Thanksgiving, so I am on vacation. I have been driving morning & afternoon, both halves with all those BRATS!!! Ron

Orange Juice & more

2007-11-12T15:41:00.000-05:00

Today I spent over an hour squeezing juice from oranges. It is an electric juicer, but you have to hold down on the 1/2 orange as the juicer turns. I got almost 1 gallon out of 2/3rds bucket of oranges. The oranges were given to me by a gal at Bowling Green who was just picking them up & throwing them away. Worst part is getting the seeds separated.
Last night I received these miniature vegetables. So a fork lift operator dumped a whole skid I heard. I remember once getting a whole case of bananas when a load was refused somewhere in Indiana. WE HAD BANANAS COMING OUT OF OUR EARS, LOL!!! Banana bread, pie, & whatever.
This morning I went to the Veteran's Day program. This is the Honor Guard marching to the ceremony outside.
Placing the wreath was a local lady. I didn't get the picture I wanted as I went to the next picture of the bugler playing "TAPS"
Tonight I am riding with 3 other friends to Lakeland, Fl. to Golden Coral to the free Veteran's supper.

Weather is still beautiful here & the weather forecast is good for all week. Ron

Pineapples & Bananas in Florida?

2007-11-11T14:07:00.000-05:00

I seemed to assume these came from Hawaii or South America, but here they are close to the campground. A gal here sells oranges, etc. to the snowbirds. Since I took my camera, she showed me around. I'll have to go buy some from her myself this year. She only had a few pineapple, but quite a few bananas. Some are a smaller type. The red piece under the bananas is the bloom.
This is a Navel Orange tree & the oranges are starting to ripen. She also showed me a lemon tree & she said the lemons she has are real juicy.
This is some kind of a thorn (by name) that Hummingbirds like. She had lots of other flowers there also & some trumpet flowers that she said will be open shortly. She has a lot of variety of plants.
Here is the Papaya tree with fruit on it. You can go read more about it at: http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/papaya.html Guess I'll wait till she says they are ripe & try one.

Weather is beautiful here again today. Yesterday I talked to a friend & Indiana & he said he'd like to be down here, but can't come for maybe another several years. Ron

Pickle or Pickleball?

2007-11-10T13:31:00.001-05:00

When a birdie couldn't be found from a badminton game & out of boredom, a new game was created back in 1965. It had all the elements of tennis, ping pong, badminton, a whiffle ball, & A GREGARIOUS COCKER SPANIEL DOG NAMED "PICKLES", who would run away with the whiffle ball & hide under a tree if he got the ball. Gee, strange my dog's name is "Pickle". He has 2 toys he runs with & doesn't want to return them. If you'd like to see more history of Pickleball, go to: http://www.sportsknowhow.com/pickleball/history/pickleball-history.shtml

Well, I'm checking out of the campground today for a week, so wanted pictures for you of me playing Pickleball. Should have worn something other than a yellow shirt what with the yellow ball. Need to exercise more & get that gut in too!!!

Weather is beautiful here & supposed to warm back up to around 80 this next week. Have a nice weekend. Ron

Cattle, horse, & elephants?

2007-11-09T12:49:00.000-05:00

This morning as I was headed to Sebring, I stopped by the house of a couple I had helped when their car broke down in front of the salvage yard. We pulled their car in off the highway until a wrecker came & got it. Then I took the man back to his house you see here. The cattle were up by the house, BUT I DIDN'T HAVE MY CAMERA WITH ME!!! So the next day I took him to town to pick up his pickup which was being released from the body shop, but the cattle weren't near the house. They used to have several hundred acres, but now have retired to just 7 acres. As you can see, the mowing is kept to a minimum with livestock in the yard. I liked the Palm trees in their yard.
This horse was real friendly & walked right up to me of which I petted him. Then the Mrs. came out & fed him.
ELEPHANTS? Well, I counted 22 buses lined up. About half of them leave from the Jr. High School to go to the Sr. High school. LOOKS LIKE A PARADE OF ELEPHANTS GOING FROM 1 SCHOOL TO THE OTHER. We drive through the west side of town. One stoplight has a crossing guard who also has a key to the stoplight box & she controls the light so all the buses get a green light.

Since both schools are out in the countryside, almost every kid rides the bus. You can't see the beginning of the line, but I am the 10th bus in line, route 494. As you can see there was a beautiful sky yesterday & the weather is great here today also.

Pickle & Alligators

2007-11-08T10:41:00.000-05:00

I got Pickle for me to get more exercise & also companionship, but he likes to run & I can't run anymore. Took him about a day to get used to running along beside the scooter, but he does great now, UNLESS HE SEES ANOTHER DOG THAT BARKS AT HIM, or a squirrel.

Looking in the background of this picture, you'll see the campgrounds is still nearly empty there, but up here on higher ground, it is filling in rapidly.

From the 1st night I got him, I have allowed him to sleep with me. Last night he was at the dinette asleep, so I tried to trick him & let the bed down quietly, but he heard me & was on the bed before me. Sometimes I have to chase him off of my pillow. I took this picture of him this morning. He always seems to take his share out of the middle. At least he is real good about being ready to go to sleep instead of play when he gets in bed. Yesterday he got 2 play toys. One I found on the ground at McDonald's & one a friend gave to us. He likes both of them.
This is a saloon on the way back from the flea market Sunday. the sun was in the wrong position, but gives you an idea that they had murals painted on it.
At the flea market they also had an alligator show. I wasn't there at the right time to see them feed these alligators, but there were 3 ponds of small alligators 2-3' long, so I imagine they could really be scrappy. They had a big one also, but it was in a place I couldn't take a picture of it.
This is one of the small ones. He looks like he is alert & those toenails look like they could rip you apart. I bet his teeth are sharp also.

Got down to lower 50's here this morning or maybe even a little colder. Supposed to be in the nice 70's today. Ron

Aussie slang dictionary & New counter

2007-11-06T11:52:00.001-05:00

http://www.koalanet.com.au/australian-slang.html#D is the Aussie slang dictionary.

I also have have a blog counter thanks to http://www.britsontour.blogspot.com So look to see what # you are to go to my page & enjoy their blog.

No pictures today. Weather is beautiful here though with the highs in the 70-80 range & lows in the 50-60 range. Ron

Halloween

2007-11-02T20:08:00.000-05:00

This is "BA Babbette". No, not the BAD ASS WITCH. She is a good witch & was reading stories to the people around the campfire here at the resort.

The lady in pink & green was our waitress at the Country Club, named Kelly.

The lady in the white gown is the daytime bartender, named Donna. I sang a song to her with her sitting in a chair beside me. Louis Armstrong's "HELLO DOLLY".

The cheerleader is Tammy & a great singer of Karaoke. Her Halloween costume was actually her "Hardee Senior High" cheer leading outfit & she can still fit into it, even though she is maybe 30. She said she had to suck in hard to get her skirt fastened, LOL.

The couple is Sunnie & Robin, our Karaoke KJ's. He was dressed as "Beetle Juice", which I had never heard of. Sunnie was a kitty cat. I don't like how the pictures & description came out on this blog, but sure can figure it out, SINCE I CAN'T CONTROL IT!

I had a good time taking pictures of other people in Halloween costumes also. Not room for all of them. Weather is beautiful here.

Pickle is doing fine. Several people here have petted him & 2 people even offered to take him if I decided to get rid of him. I was given a anti-bark "SHOCKER" which I put on him, but it was a little to bit for him or I need to train him so he doesn't bark & shock himself.

Have a nice weekend. Ron

Dill Pickle?

2007-11-01T19:00:00.000-05:00

Well, I saved a dog from the pound. The dog catcher came back to take my info & collect the money. I got him for just $45, much cheaper than I had seen other places where they wanted $75. Before I even decided on him, we took him out of the cage & I sat down & he jumped up on my lap & started kissing me. I knew right then that we'd get along fine. He has such pretty markings. He is a Jack Russell mix.

He didn't bark that day like the other dogs that were in their cages. Being small, (12#) it would cost less to feed him & less to clean up after since we have to clean up after them here in the campground. So the dog catcher told his name was Dill. I asked her to repeat it as I didn't hear her for sure. Well, I thought other people wouldn't understand Dill either, so I started calling him Dill Pickle. Well, a friend of mine said that was a goofy name for a dog, so she suggested "Pickle", so that is what it has been ever since. He is about 1 year old & wasn't dog trained, but getting better now, since I walk him a lot & several times a day. One reason I got him was so that I went walking also, AS MY DOCTOR TOLD ME TOO!!! Well, maybe I get 1/4 mile per walk that I haven't been getting. He likes to go even more, so I hop on the scooter & he runs beside me.

He doesn't like to be closed up in the bus. One day he must have been hungry, so he got up on the table & got ahold of a box of uncooked spaghetti & ate part of that. Also he has gotten into pecans that were by the driver's compartment. He just crack those shells with his sharp teeth & separate the shells from the nut & leave the shells on the floor, LOL. He is doing better as to me leaving him, but he wants to be outside. He doesn't bark if I leave in the car, but if I walk away he barks & barks. So Debbie, the Mgr. here at Peace River, gave me a BARK STOPPER. Well, I finally put it on him & walked away to carry trash & throw it away. He started barking like he had been HURT BADLY, so had to go back & take it off of him. Guess I will just have to spend some time with him training him how to keep it from shocking him. OH, BY THE WAY, I ACCIDENTALLY GOT SHOCKED BY IT ALSO. I put fingers on both contacts & it GOT ME TWICE!!! Well, Pickle is learning & is a very loving dog. He likes being in my lap & sleeps with me also.
Now this is a semi-truck from Chapman Fruit Co. Not really a load of fruit as you can see here. Really, not much of a load, but the trailer was all loaded, decorated up for the homecoming parade here at Wauchula.
Now this is one heck of a way to celebrate Halloween. I wish I had asked her if I could have signed it. I like doing stuff like that. I didn't notice what was on the bottom until of the cast till I saw the picture on the PC. She said a cow broke her leg. I had a black Angus pin me in a corner of a truck once when I was taking him to the slaughter house.
This is just a cute mailbox that is out on my bus route. It is almost to the end of a dead end road.

I didn't get a picture of the full moon this month, so here is May's full moon.

Maybe tomorrow I will get another blog made, one with some Halloween costume pictures. Weather is much nicer & we are supposed to be getting some nights where the low is into the upper 50's. Daytime has been 75-85.

If you are in an area you turn back the clocks, this coming weekend is the time. Ron

Down the Cow Path

2007-10-24T17:37:00.000-05:00

Yes, this is a road I have driven a school bus down, but in reality, it is better than the roads that are dirt & gravel with soft sands in spots & also washboard. This road is 1 mile straight with no houses on it.
This is on the next road over running parallel. I had driven the bus pass here & came back by here with my car to take these pictures. I talked to the lady's son & he said she had gotten the idea out of a woman's magazine. Sure is simple painting the bicycle all white & makes it look nice with the artificial flowers in the basket.

The other fall scene is in the same yard. Sure glad I don't have to use the garden tiller, LOL.

Back out to the highway is this retired railroader's mailbox, with a switching arm to hold the mailbox. I have another mailbox on my route that I hope to photograph. Cooler today with cloudiness. Supposed to be even cooler in a few days with the lows dipping into the 60's. Now that's my weather. Ron

More Flea Market Show.........................

2007-10-23T18:50:00.000-05:00

I enjoyed the flea market so much I want to go back this coming Sunday IF I CAN. Here is an inside Merry-go-round. I should have waited till show time to take this picture as the bleachers were a lot fuller to watch the show.

Below was the Pirate doing his balancing act. Once he had 2 tubes laying horizontally in opposite directions, but this is the highest he got.

The boy, (above left), was great also. I'm guessing he was 10 years old. He also rode Unicycle. I have no balance capabilities at all to do stuff like this. I TRIED ONCE TO RIDE A UNICYCLE, BUT ALL I DID WAS END UP ON THE GROUND, LOL.

This artist drawing was of a guy sitting across the table from me who sang Karaoke. I suppose he was 75 & he had about the same character as this picture showed. He did sing Karaoke, not good, but he did get up there, bless his heart. AND YES HE DID GET A LADY ABOUT 80 OR SO TO DANCE WITH HIM!!!

Was hot here today. Maybe a record, not sure. They said it was to be 90. Seems like the cold front the weathermen keep predicting stalls out. Ron

Don't Let The Cat Out of the Box!!!

2007-10-21T18:52:00.000-05:00

If you do, be prepared to watch them do tricks. When I 1st heard of a cat show, it just didn't really appeal to me. But I did enjoy it. I went to the Auburndale Flea Market today to do Karaoke, but there was more there also. SO NOW I HAVE A BACKUP OF PICTURES TAKEN & NOT THE TIME TO GET THEM ON THE BLOG!!!

In this 1st picture he had just released the cats out of the box. All the cats knew where to go as each of them had a perch to go to & jump up. Of course they get treats for doing what they are supposed to do.

Several things they did like jumping through a hoop that had paper cover & walking the high wire. But I especially liked this white cat walking the ball on a board.

This cat walked on top of the rods that had small pads. I think this is the 1st time I have ever had a video on my blog. Also I am trying to mix the video with stills, so not sure how it will work, but I can tell you it is 6MB. I viewed the video. I had to double click it & then wait for it to buffer. It is only 5 seconds long & has music with it.

Anyway I took other pictures at the flea market today & plan to go again next weekend, Halloween weekend. Have a good week,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Ron

What's Black & White & Red All Over?

2007-10-20T18:18:00.000-05:00

See, you was wrong!!! Actually when I took the picture of the cows this afternoon, I had planned to name the blog "GATEWAY" for the computer company. A lot of dairy cattle here in Florida. One of the girls at the end of the bus route I deliver said they have 5 herds of 400 cows each. AND THERE IS ANOTHER DAIRY RANCH NEXT DOOR!!! On this same route of a morning pick up is 2 more dairies. Both of them are big also. We turn the bus onto Barn 2 road, of which we drive up to the barn to turn around & then go back to the next drive to pick up kids, about 8-10 elementary. The dairy furnishes housing for their employees. I think there are about 12 units that are doubles.

Then as I was on my way back into the campground today, I saw this UNNATURAL REDHEAD. She said she likes the attention people give her. I ended up meeting her & her husband, so it is Rick & Carmen & they are from Canada. I THINK SHE SAID SHE DIDN'T LIKE BLOND JOKES PEOPLE TOLD HER, but not sure of that.

As to the red gas can, I saw a guy filling it at Wal-Mart. I knew it was old. He said yes, 50-60 years old or so. I remember we had red steel gas cans we used for tractors on the farm, but ours were a little shorter & larger around.

I am out of the campground for this week. Been busy driving the bus quite a bit as 1 driver has been off sick & another one was in an auto accident, so getting plenty of work. I have some more pictures taken to put on a blog & some more pictures to take, WHICH IS A SURPRISE, to make a totally new story. Hope you're having a nice weekend. When I set up the Direct TV dish today, I just turned on the TV & had a station. PERFECT. Didn't have to adjust it at all. Guess I had go buy a rub off lottery ticket to see if I'm lucky today. Ron

Does it make your mouth water?

2007-10-18T08:17:00.000-05:00

We have a carry-in supper every Wednesday night at the Thousand Trails Resort. Last week I just took a small rum cake, (that was given to me), & a 2 litter of Pepsi, so I decided to do something nicer this week. I got 2# of 93/7% hamburger to make spaghetti, as I like plenty of meat in my spaghetti. Well, by the time I got it all together, I was short on sauce, but I had a jar of sausa, so I just added it also. Then I decided to add another onion. Believe you me, it was delicious. Everybody there had some, with one guy having 2nds, but since there weren't many there as the snowbirds aren't here yet, I have some left over. My mouth is watering now, just writing this, so I'm ready to go heat some in the microwave to heat for dinner in a short.

Supposed to get to over 90 degrees here again today & possibly set some new records. I'm sure some kids on the bus isn't gonna like that. Got some more info, but gonna put it outside my blog either later today or tomorrow. Ron

At Karaoke last night......

2007-10-14T09:48:00.000-05:00

Received this this morning from a gal named Sheron, (yes, I spelled it right). That was the way her mother spelled it. I sang maybe 4 songs. I met her at the Country Club at Bowling Green & we danced.

Got chilly here last night. Woke up cold & had to put a T-shirt on, but got the air-conditioner on again already today. Ron

More free delicious food

2007-10-13T17:40:00.000-05:00

The same couple who brought me a salad & spaghetti earlier in the week brought me home made beef vegetable soup. No way can you purchase soup as good as this was out of a can or even from a restaurant. I think I'll have to make deviled eggs for them tomorrow. They leave Monday. I went to take a picture of them with their motor home, but she wasn't dressed for it she said. Well, Glen & Cheryl have really been nice to me. Weather is beautiful here now. In the 60's at night & 80's in daytime. Ron

Nice camping neighbors

2007-10-09T17:37:00.000-05:00

As I went by the swimming pool today a couple I had seen yesterday said hi, so I stopped by to talk to them. They said they had some spaghetti for a single person if I wanted it, so I said yes. I guess they had gone by the bus & seen I was alone. Anyway they came over after they got out of swimming, also had this double paper plate that had a salad, with tomato, cucumber, & BIG OLIVES stuffed with garlic, so I added some Bologna to it & made a chef salad out of it for supper tonight. Put the spaghetti away for another night. Hope to make it to the carry-in supper tomorrow night with deviled eggs. Tomorrow morning I've got to take my friend Gregg for an eye operation & tomorrow afternoon a bus route, so looks as if I'll be busy tomorrow. Weather is supposed to be more like fall by the weekend with lows dropping into the 60's at night. Hoo-ray. Had 2 days off work & tomorrow is HUMP DAY, so this week is going fast. Ron

Jelly & fruits

2007-10-08T16:47:00.000-05:00

There are 2 kinds of jelly here. The red is Guava. The brown is Pear jelly. I have tasted the Guava & it has a different taste, but is good. I heard it stinks up your house when it is being made, but looking at a catalog, it is fairly expensive, so guess I had better treasure it since it was given to me. I'll open the Pear jelly after the Guava jelly is gone. This & the 2 fruits below were given to me by a woman who has fruit orchards that I danced with at the Moose Lodge.

Here are 2 fruits. Most of you are familiar with the Avocado, but the yellow one is commonly called a "star fruit", but it's real name is Carambola. It is native to Taiwan, but also grows here in Florida. I opened one last night cutting it into slices like a tomato. It tasted different than anything I had ever tasted, but sweet. I went & read what it had to say about them & I may not eat anymore of them, especially since I didn't sleep last night. Be sure to read the "IMPORTANT NOTE " at the bottom before you go to the store to buy them.

STAR FRUIT
The star fruit or carambola (Averrhoa carambola), is a unique, waxy, golden yellow to green fruit that has a 5 pointed star shape when cut across the middle of the fruit.
They probably originated in Sri Lanka and the Moluccas, and have been cultivated in southeast Asia and Malaysia for several hundred years. There are 2 varieties found in markets, one very sour and the other slightly sweet. Their flavor has been described as like a cross between an apple and a grape. It is almost impossible to tell the sweet and tart varieties apart, but in general the sweet varities have thicker, fleshier ribs. There are several white varieties, all of which are sweet.
They bruise easily, so handle with care. Star fruit (the sweet variety) can be eaten out of hand or sliced and used as a garnish or in salads. They are also used in chutney, curries and tarts. The juice can be used in tropical drinks and smoothies.
Other names for the fruit are belimbing or belimbing manis (Indonesia) and mafueng (Thailand), Chinese star fruit and Five angled fruit.

IMPORTANT NOTE:Star fruit originated in Southeast Asia and is readily available in Taiwan. Star fruit causes several symptoms in patients with chronic renal failure or end-stage renal disease. The symptoms vary and include insomnia, intractable hiccups, agitation, muscle weakness, confusion, consciousness disturbances of various degrees, seizures, and cardiorespiratory arrest. The various star fruit subspecies contain different toxins, including a powerful neurotoxin that is suspected to accumulate in blood, cross the blood-brain barrier in chronic renal failure patients, and eventually cause irreversible damage.Star fruit intoxication is a neglected but serious fruit intoxication frequently observed in patients with chronic renal failure. Because no effective treatment is currently available, patients— especially those who are newly diagnosed with chronic renal failure or end-stage renal disease—must be warned not to ingest star fruit, even in small amounts.

Unbelieveable meeting

2007-10-07T13:54:00.000-05:00

I went to Karaoke at the Moose Lodge at Avon Park, Fl. Friday night. As I was sitting there, I thought I recognized a woman who passed me, but then dismissed it as the man with her didn't appear to be the guy I knew. So then I took another look at her & then another look at him. So then I knew it was Danny & Dianne Scircle. Danny & I had went to work together on October 28th at Chrysler at Kokomo, Indiana, over 1,200 miles away. He stayed & retired as a Tool & Die Maker. They have since moved to Florida, of which I knew, but didn't know where. So it was a nice surprise to see them. I remember helping them move once from a house trailer to a National Homes house in a big addition. Going in you made 2 right turns, 2 left turns, & 2 more right turns before getting to their house. I think a made a mistake a couple of times leaving their house trying to get out of their addition. Danny has now gone back to work as a machinist. Not near as good of work here in Florida in manufacturing as in Indiana.

The weather here is beautiful. Heard that the temperature in Indiana was to be 92 this weekend & will be setting records for October. Watching Nascar race as I do this blog. Ron

Hear The Roar Of Laughter

2007-09-29T11:36:00.000-05:00

This is the ending act that really makes people roar. This BIG hat she has goes over her upper torso. She has a plastic saxophone duct taped into her bellybutton. The song is Yakety Sax by Boots Randolph. After the act is over, she tells about how the 1st time, she super glued the saxophone in & thought she was gonna have to go to the emergency room to have it removed, which brings more laughter. If you ever get a chance to see her show, it is a MUST SEE!!! She has played all over Florida, Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, & wherever else, I don't know. This quality of video doesn't do her justice, but gives you an idea of how funny it is.You will need to click or double click on PLAY & let it buffer to play well. You might want to watch it several times. Ron

Beautiful Sunset & Crazy Carol

2007-09-29T10:35:00.000-05:00

I didn't take this picture. Debbie, the manager here at the Thousand Trails campground did over from a fishing pier by the Sky Way bridge. Richard & her went fishing there. Dolphins were even taking their bait. Debbie didn't know what to do when she had one hooked, but it just took out a lot of her line & then let go. Richard wasn't so lucky. It snapped a pole of his into. Debbie also caught a small shark.
Last night I went to Karaoke at Sarasota, Fl. where my friend of 50 years was the KJ, (Karaoke Jockey). She had invited me earlier in the week, but what with having a cold, I didn't pursue it. So around 6 PM last night I decided I wanted to go, but I wasn't sure where she was playing, but my 1st call located her, except when I asked if Carol Nelson was doing Karaoke there last night, the bartender said, "No, Crazy Carol was." So I had to persuade her that both were the same person. 1st picture is of last night. We become family friends from around age 13 when her dad had a band & played at the Eagle's Lodge. Carol played guitar & saxophone. Once when the band was on break, she danced with me while playing her guitar up over my head & behind my back. Guess I should have known then she would be going on to become a professional entertainer, much more that her dad's success.

You can see she only has 1 drink per night, but as you can see, IT IS A BIG ONE. A BIG TOAST. Then it has a multiple use also. To get her reed wet on her saxophone. She has many acts. The one with her dipping her reed is the Richard Simmons act.

This act she plays a nun, but her habit is actually her dance skirt from when she was 4 years old. She has so many acts & all are funny. They are belly busters for the audience. I helped Carol for a few weeks about 5 years ago & found out that some people have been to her show a dozen times or more. I am gonna try to send a video in the next blog. Unfortunate, I was enjoying it so much, I wasn't thinking & I turned the camera up vertical, so you'll have to turn your head sideways to see it.

Well, today is moving day. Got to go to the salvage yard for a week. Weather is beautiful here. Hope you are enjoying your weekend. I called northern Indiana & it got down to 44 there this morning, a little too cold for my blood. Ron

September Full Moon

2007-09-27T10:45:00.000-05:00

Not much going on. Still on bus, but riding more to learn routes than driving. Looking at this picture, I need to learn how to manually focus the camera. Car is running good. Temperature is coming down into the upper 80's in the daytime, rather than those upper 90's. I'll be going to the salvage yard for a week on Saturday, so you might not hear from me for a week. Have a good weekend...................Ron

There's a hole in the sky..................

2007-09-23T12:34:00.000-05:00

Friday evening I saw this sunset & immediately had the title for it. Earlier this last week I saw 2 beautiful sunrises, but didn't have the camera with me when I was on the school bus.

Yesterday I didn't take the camera with me either & missed 2 photo oops also. One I can go back & take another time. The other was a helicopter taking off.

The weather is nicer, cooler now, not into the 90's. Hope you had a nice weekend. Good to not have to get up at 4:30 AM. Back to work tomorrow. Ron

VW Bug

2007-09-17T19:14:00.000-05:00

Well, it is a battery powered VW bug. These 2 little girls rode it around in the campground this last weekend. The driver is Breana & the passenger is Natassja. They spent a lot of time in the swimming pool & was where they had just come from when I took their picture.
This is Babbette & Clarence. Babbette is the new "BA" & that is not "BAD ASS", LOL. She is the "Business Associate", 2nd in charge to Debbie, the Mgr. Just out of fun, I was taking their picture when she spoke up & said they needed a picture to send back home to their church to show why they couldn't make it to church back home, LOL. Babbette & Clarence is a real nice couple, a lot of fun, & good Christians.
This is a gift I received this last Saturday morning. I did open the box today & saw it is a ring cake, but I haven't broken the seal yet. I might save it for a special event. Or maybe since they are having a pot luck supper Wednesday, just take it. There was an entry that came with it to win a free trip to the Cayman Islands.

Temperature tomorrow is only to hit about 85. Wow, much better than the 90's, but back to the 90's by the weekend. Have a good week......................Ron

Surprise Surprise

2007-09-16T08:46:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I checked back into the campground & in the afternoon I was in the lounge doing e-mail when all of a sudden a gal called me by name. I looked at her, but didn't instantaneously recognize her, but then I saw her husband behind her, so I knew it was Carl & Renee from Indiana. They had flown down to Florida from Indiana & then driven down to see me with Carl's folk's car. WHAT A SURPRISE!!! They would have called me, but they didn't have my phone # in their cell phone.
So after some time chatting I gave them the tour of the campground & my favorite area down by the river. Their daughters are all grown & flown the nest, so now they plan to sell their house & become full-time RV's. Gosh, they look too young to do that. Still look like 25-30. Carl is a big cut up & a lot of fun. Renee keeps him in line, LOL. Both of them are hard workers, so they'll probably never fully retire. Carl & Renee make commercial signs. They both remodeled the house they are living in themselves to make it more valuable on the market. They did have a school bus that they made signs out of it, painted John Deere Green, but now it is sold, & they'll get another bus to camp in.
One day this week, after my shower, I went to put this sock on after my shower, but it had a hole in it. I didn't realize it was the sock that had a hole in it UNTIL I had it on my RIGHT FOOT & the hole was at my BIG TOE!!!. So rather than to get another pair of socks out of the drawer, I thought I'd just put the holy sock on my left foot so the hole would be at my little toe. TO MY SURPRISE, when I went to take my socks off that night, THAT HOLE HAD SOMEHOW MOVED UP TO THE BIG TOE, LOL. So I threw away that sock!!!
At Karaoke I saw a couple of T-shirts I liked so I took pictures of them. This reminds me of the commercial I saw yesterday on the Purdue football game, I think. GO PURDUE!!! Anyway, they had cows parachuting into the football stadium. One landed on a vendor I think, but the message was EAT MORE CHICKEN from Chick-Fil-A. I have a friend who drives to a lot of their grand openings. The 1st 100 people in line gets a coupon for a free meal a week for a year. John must had 25 or more, so he can eat free there all the time.
This was another T-shirt I saw last night. Reminds me of when I was camping back in the 1970's & saw bumper stickers, "If the trailer is rocking, Don't come knocking"

Weather is beautiful with it cooling off some here & supposed to get even nicer this next week. They can CAN the 90+ degree weather. Hope you had a nice weekend. Ron

I moved a mountain

2007-09-13T19:23:00.000-05:00

This intersection I used frequently, but it is an endangerment to traffic as the hedge was too tall to be able to see the 1 way traffic, so you had to get out into the intersection to see oncoming traffic. So when I went into the bank, of which I just recently opened an account, I told the receptionist I was gonna take a picture of the intersection & put it in the paper if they didn't cut it down to make it more visible. She took me right to the PRESIDENT'S office, but he was out, so I explained to the secretary & she, "NO, DON'T DO THAT, she'd tell him what I said". Well, 2 days later I took this 1st picture figuring I didn't get the message across.
But today as I crossed the same intersection, they were chopping the hedge down to make it much more visible. I called the bank & told them who I was & thanked them. I talked to the secretary again, & she let on like they just didn't realize what a problem it was & then blamed it on their landscaping contractor, but at least the hedge got cut down. See the red pickup coming down the street? Maybe I should be nice to the bank now & take a picture of the mural that is painted on the outside of their building.
Another spider. Don't think this one is poisonous, but there were about 5 of them in a 20' span area. About 2 or maybe 3" long. They sew a strange web. One guy called it a banana spider & another called it a sewing spider, but neither knew it's proper name. I got several letters from mostly women about concern for me on the poisonous spider I did recently, & 1 gal didn't like the spider picture at all! So hope she lives through this one.
Then this morning I had this big grasshopper on the bus. I had to open the door to get the camera & then went back outside & closed the door to take the picture. Happy he didn't jump off before I got the picture. I can remember when I was growing up on the farm what a nuisance they were. Sometimes they'd get inside your shirt or pants leg or shoes. But sometimes we'd catch them to use for fishing bait also. Seems like to me they were green in the summer & turn more brown in the fall. They could sure damage crop leaves!!!
I saw this on the front of a pickup today. One of my friends, Lynn Heath, whom I went to school with, rode the same school bus part of the time, & had Minneapolis tractors, married a petite gal & her CB name was "HALF PINT". She had cancer, but got treatment & it is now in remission. So here is this picture for you Connie.

This evening we got heavy rain. Maybe an inch fell in an hour. Sure did cool it off outside. I sat on the porch & watched the traffic go by when it was coming down the hardest. Nice smell to it also. On the weather they said next week we should be in the upper 80's for highs all week. Sure better than upper 90's. But heard they got snow out west already. NO THANKS, THAT IS WHY I'M HERE!!!

All for now. I'll be coming back into the campground this weekend from the salvage yard. Have a nice weekend. Ron

Labor of Love

2007-09-11T09:18:00.000-05:00

It might also be a love seat, but it is definitely a LABOR OF LOVE. I looked very closely at it & they used dowel rods & rectangular pegs to hold it together. I found this at City Hall, which is also Chamber of Commerce. They also have an old auditorium that they have plays at.

There is a mailbox out in the county I want to put here on the blog, (IF I CAN FIND IT!!!). I've been past it several time on bus routes.

Weather has cooled down to around 90 in the daytime, which makes it feel much better than the 95+ days. Hopefully it will be back to lower 80's one of these days, LOL. Ron

Orange?

2007-09-05T19:37:00.000-05:00

I've been noticing the green oranges for some time, but decided to let them grow some before I took a picture of them. Guess I never really thought about an orange starting out green. But a true story I heard Monday. A woman's son missed his school bus, so he started walking home & he got thirsty, so he picked an orange off of a tree. She said he had it all peeled & partially ate when she found him. CAN YOU IMAGINE HOW BITTER THAT ORANGE WAS???

This morning when I got to the bus garage, there was a yellow sticky note in my mailbox. It told me I needed to drive route 197 Thursday afternoon, WHICH WILL BE BY MYSELF!!! SO IT IS OUT OF THE FRYING PAN INTO THE FIRE!!! I had been handed enough practice sheets to ride in the morning & drive in the afternoon for 2 weeks before I was turned loose to run by myself, but they said I did fine driving that route on Tuesday, so they are confident I can do it by myself. I'll get a nice kid who knows the route to help me. All the buses I have driven so far on the routes are stub nose & have lots more power than my bus has. Step on the throttle & YOU GO!!! Step on the AIR BRAKES & YOU STOP!!! Haven't thrown anybody through the windshield yet, LOL. On this route 197, there is a road that starts out dirt & then turns into a COW PATH, basically. Just 2 trails of dirt with a grassy middle. I asked Jimmy, the driver if he ever met anybody on this path, LOL

Weather is nice here this evening. I'd love for it to just stay this way. Hump Day is over. Weekend will be here soon...............................................Ron

Bus I drove today

2007-09-04T20:25:00.000-05:00

This is the 2ND day I've driven a bus in the afternoon. I ride as an observer in the morning & then I'm the driver in the afternoon. This transit bus is 40' long, same as the one I drove on Friday, but not as new today nor did it have air conditioning.

I also got to drive my new car today. Got insurance & plates this morning. Filled up with gas & that hurt, LOL. But I've been told it gets great gas mileage, about 30mpg with overdrive. WE'LL SEE ABOUT THAT!!! It has a 3.8L v-6 engine with front wheel drive. Lots of power, which reminds me, the bus has lots of power also compared to what I own. Then they stop faster also with air brakes of which I have hydraulic brakes.

Well, you can see the beautiful sky we had today. Supposed to be the same all week. Have a good week. Ron

I Graduated

2007-09-03T19:44:00.000-05:00

All through August, I have been keeping a secret from MOST OF YOU. I went back to school to become a school bus driver. I had to study hard to pass 4 tests to get a CDL learners permit to go to school. Then there was 1st Aid & CPR before classroom with tests almost everyday for 2 weeks before even getting inside the bus. Then had to learn to do CDL inspection & pass that test. Then I got in the bus & spent 2 weeks almost driving around the lot, practicing student pick-ups & railroad crossings. I had a few problems getting in the habit of putting the bus in neutral & setting the parking brake. These buses have air brakes which are real good. So now that I have graduated & have a job, I got a car to drive to work. It is a 1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass, which is in great shape. Only 2 owners. The 1st kept it garaged & the 2ND has only had it 2 years. Was running rough, but a new set of spark plugs fixed the problem.
Also I have joined the Elks. I was invited last May & was just installed about 2 weeks ago. They have great charities including a camp for children here in Florida.
This has been Labor Day Weekend. We had several activities here at the campground of which I'll make a separate blog entry. I won the pool tournament, (BY DEFAULT!!!). No one else showed up, but I did get to shoot 2 games with the manager, Debbie. I won the 1st game & she won the 2ND game. She told me there was a trophy for winning. I put it in the windshield of my bus, even though it is only a 25 cent piece of plastic.

The weather has seemed to have been a little cooler here as we have been getting either afternoon showers or cloudiness to cool it off early each day. No air conditioner last night & won't need one tonight either. I think it is Thursday the high is supposed to only be up to 88. I'll be happy to see days that only get to a high of 80.

Well, got to get to bed early so I can get up to go to work in the morning. Ron

Sunset Thunderstorm

2007-08-29T06:54:00.000-05:00

Yesterday evening we got a few sprnkles, but I saw this cloud as the sun had set. At that time I couldn't see any activity. Just a pretty sunset cloud.

But after dark, it turned into a thunderstorm. This was about 80 miles away at St. Petersburg. I called a friend there & she said they were getting the thunderstorm. She said she was gonna go swimming when she got off work, but heard thunder just as she got home.

With the blog here now, videos can be done. I tried shooting some videos of the lightning, but with it being so far off in the distance, they didn't show much, just as this still doesn't show much either. Have a good day..................................................Ron

Snapping Turtle & more

2007-08-28T16:58:00.000-05:00

I'm pretty sure this is a SNAPPING TURTLE. This morning as I was waiting on Gregg to show up, Rosa, an employee here at the campground showed to me. She almost reached down to pick it up, but I warned her I didn't think she should. The turtle did hiss or make some noise at Rosa.
So after I left, Rosa took these pictures of the turtle. Hard to see, but the tail has spikes like an alligator. Some are misnomered to be called alligator turtles. You can go look at more at this website: http://museum.gov.ns.ca/mnh/nature/turtles/snap.htm

Look at the spikes on the top of the tail if you can see them. Also look at the sharp claws. Their head can stretch out quite aways & reach around almost half way back to their tail. My dad once made turtle soup out of one he caught on a fishing line.

This is Rosa's grandson. She was giving him a bath in the camper kitchen sink.
Daisy this pup was 4 weeks old in this picture & is Rosa's granddaughter's puppy. It is a full bred Boxer. Her granddaughter went roller skating 2 days after school got out & fell, so all summer she had a cast.

Full Moon & Lunar Eclipse

2007-08-28T06:39:00.000-05:00

Time for the August full moon. It was bright last night. Wish I had gotten a picture just as it rose over the horizon.
Then on the news last night I heard there was gonna be a solar eclipse, so I got up at 5:30 AM this morning to take pictures. Not a very good picture, as there wasn't very much light for the camera to focus on & I COULDN'T REMEMBER HOW TO SET THE CAMERA ON MANUAL FOCUS!!! I did go get the tripod, but never got a good picture. But at least it is a picture.

Been still hot here, but some afternoon rains have cooled it off in the evening. Saturday we got over 2" of rain.

Wish all well. Have a good week,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Ron

THAT !?!?

2007-08-19T17:17:00.000-05:00

People can sure come up with some eye catching titles to sell books. I haven't read any of the book yet, but know it is trying to sell software for you to learn how to do various things with a computer. DON'T YOU WANT TO LEARN HOW TO MANAGE A STINKY HOG FARM FOR A LIVING? LOL!

Actually, I'm not into reading books. Most of my reading is off of the internet or spend time watching TV & let them verbally tell me. The same lady who showed me this book also saw some cassette books on mysteries, so she borrowed them.

Staying at the "SALVAGE YARD" now. Just came in to do internet & get into the air conditioning.

This morning I did a little, (DID I SAY LITTLE?), PROJECT! Maybe you've seen a headliner that drooped down in a car? Well, I took it out. Then scrapped the crumbling sponge off the inside. Then had a mess to clean up with the sweeper, BUT THE CAR LOOKS MUCH BETTER. It belongs to my friend Gregg. It is a 1983 Olds 98 Regency, which has the diesel engine in it.

Well it is in upper 80's here today, but we haven't had any rain for several days.

Much better though than the people north of here that had temperatures above 100 degrees.

Until next time,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Ron

Hello & Goodbye

2007-08-14T19:55:00.000-05:00

This is Jasmine. He is a Blue & Gold Macaw. He is owned by John & Rosa here in the campground. Sometimes he rides around on the owner's 3 wheel golf cart. Rosa is a security guard here. While I was taking his picture he said Hello & Goodbye to me, so I asked Rosa if he said anything else & she said he says other things, WHEN HE WANTS TO. So as I went to leave, I heard something, so I turned around thinking I had missed something Rosa had said to me, but found out it was Jasmine saying Hello to me AS I WAS LEAVING, lol. So then he did say Goodbye to me before I did leave that time.

It was terribly hot here today, but about 6 PM we got a hard storm & it has cooled the temperature from 95 or so to in the 70's & feels very good. I had to shut off the air conditioners in the bus.

Hello & Goodbye

2007-08-14T18:47:00.000-05:00

This is Jasmine, a Blue & Gold McCaw. His owner is Rosa who works here at the campground. Jasmine says more words, but all I heard him say was Hello & Goodbye. LOL, as I was leaving Jasmine said Hello to me, so I turned around thinking it was Rosa & asked her what she said, only to find out it was Jasmine. But then Jasmine did say Goodbye to me before I left that time.

It was tremendously hot again today, but we got a storm this evening & it must be in the 7o's here now at around 8PM. YAHOO!!!

Sunset Clouds

2007-08-13T20:30:00.001-05:00

Even though we haven't received any rain this evening, we've had some strange clouds. This one in this picture looked like 2 fingers stuck up, but before I could get to the bus & get the camera to take the picture, it looked like this. So then I put the camera away, which was an unfortunate thing also as on the left it had a piece come out that looked like a tail.
Then as I was on my cell phone, Bob hollered at me to come take this picture. Yes, I think it is pretty with the sun shining on both sides of it & it is pretty much vertical.
This picture is just to the left of the picture above.
This cloud is the same as the 2nd one above, but 5-10 minutes later. Had lightning in it & I was thinking BIG TORNADO? But I never did see it twirling, plus it was a long way away.

I noticed these trees clumped together about 1/8th mile away, so I zoomed in on it. I thought it looked like a 4 legged animal with horns & IT EVEN HAS A TAIL!!!

All for tonight.

Sweet dreams,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Ron

Lawn Service

2007-08-13T14:46:00.000-05:00

This morning I saw this trailer with advertising on the side of it for lawn service. No reason to take a picture of it, UNTIL I SAW THE BACK OF THE TRAILER.......................
Then I saw Philippians 4:13 & below that, "CUT GRASS, DON'T SMOKE IT!", so I thought it had something to do with don't abuse your body, but that isn't it. Had to get the bible to see, Philippians 4:13 says, "I can do all things through Christ who strenghtens me." Reminds me of Sunday morning when I said "Good Morning" to a guy here & he said, "What's good about it?"
I told him, "God gave us another day of life".

This last weekend I just lazied around, some in the pool, but mostly on the computer. Played several games of Pinochle & lost more than I won. Cards I had weren't good. We didn't get the cold front to cool us down to the lower 90's as promised. In fact some places in Florida tied or broke record heat temperatures. Also the air conditioner here in the lounge was down a couple of days, but fixed now.

Oh well, guess I'll just have to go have a bowl of ice cream with butterscotch topping on it, LOL. Have a good day..............................................Ron

This morning........

2007-08-09T16:33:00.000-05:00

I was just ready to leave the campground this morning when Kathy in the golf cart asked me if I had time to go see something. I told her I had 5 minutes, so she said she could have me back in 5 minutes. Then after I got on the cart, she told me what it was, so I went & got the camera. This cart is new to her & her husband Bob. They had a "LIFT KIT" & a new radio put on it.

So these 2 young pigs is what we saw when we got there. They sure worked hard trying to push through the wire cage. Notice the black pig has a bloody mouth. Also they had really rooted up the ground over beside the cage. They used a pumpkin as bait to catch them.

Still near 100 here with heat index above 100. Lows at night in upper 70's.

Have a nice weekend & keep cool. Ron

Golfing or Goofing around

2007-08-06T14:17:00.000-05:00

This last Saturday I went to the golf course just north of Wachula for the Elk's tournament. Inside the clubhouse I found the used golf balls & liked the name they applied to them. The pretty gal is Jill. She was there handing out water, soft drinks, & beer to the golfers, working for tips. I know she got some nice tips. I first met Jill when she was waitressing at the Elk's & we sang, "Summer Nights" at Karaoke together. Also took pictures of her there & sent them to her.
Now, to flip things around, I asked her if she'd take my picture on the golf cart I was on out taking pictures of golfers on the course. She did a great job & then she told me she enjoyed taking pictures. I had a choice of about 20 different golf carts to pick from, so went through all of them looking for #44, but since it had already been checked out, I took #24 for Jeff Gordon in Nascar racing. If you are a golfer, you've heard that some good business deals are made on the golf course. Well, Jill told me she is the cook in a new restaurant opening & needed to have their used frenchfry oil picked up. So I went there today & got around 30 gallons, plus set a barrell to where they will save it for me to have for fuel. I also get the used frenchfry oil from the Elk's Lodge & 3 other places here at Wachula, plus 1 at Busnell.
One of the gals I took a picture of out on the course & she hit the ball good said she didn't care about a picture of her hitting the ball. She just wanted me to get a picture of her baseball cap. These golf teams were from all over the Elk's district here including Winter Haven, Lakeland, & more. Now, SHE won the prize for "CLOSEST TO THE PIN" on a Par 3. Another woman won for "LONG DRIVE". I saw another woman who was hitting the ball better than any of the men she was with. As I was posing them to take a picture of them with the flag, I asked her which one was her husband, so I could line them up. "ALL THREE I HEARD", well, really none of them. She was widowed. Yes, the women did "KICK ASS" over the men golfers, LOL.

This is Marty who had part of the management of the golf tournament & is an officer at the Elk's Lodge. I was determined to get a picture of the ball in the picture AFTER HE HIT IT, but I didn't. Once the club hits the ball, it flies very fast. I got pictures of all his team mates with a ball in the picture & others with the ball in the picture. He did have a terrific shot though that I took this picture. He sunk a putt from maybe 20-30'. "HEY TIGER!!!". I heard several people refer to Tiger Woods through the tournament.

Also I asked & a guy let me hit a 3 iron after they had hit from a spot. I hit the ball good & was only about 10 yards short of "BEST SHOT". Sort of makes me want to get my golf clubs out of the bus & play some now. I talked to the owner & looks like I'm gonna get some free golf.

A friend of mine sent this link. She now works at night & so she said she enjoyed watching the moon. VERY INTERESTING! moonphase.com

Time to go get into the swimming pool to cool off. Have a nice day,,,,,,,,,,Ron

My Halo?

2007-08-04T19:00:00.000-05:00

I set the alarm for 4:30 AM this morning as I was supposed to be at the Elk's Lodge at 6 AM. I rode my electric scooter, about 3 miles from campground to Elk's. As I was riding, I saw this mystery cloud in the east before sunrise. Looked like a halo. My halo? I remember other strange cloud formations & once thought I saw an UFO when I was delivering newspapers in the 1960's. I never told anybody though, LOL.
So when I got to the Elk's, daylight was starting to come & I noticed the halo loop was gone. Well to me, now it looked like maybe somebody let the Jeanie out of the bottle, LOL.
Daylight here & there is a "R", SO IT MUST HAVE BEEN FOR ME, LOL. Well, if you back up to the previous picture & look at it closer, MAYBE you'll see the truth. About 25 miles east of here is an Air Force bombing range, so there must have been some military jets in the sky leaving vapor trails. The guy telling me about the bombing range, which if I remember right was 10,000 acres or more, but because it is so big & a lot of grass, they lease the ground to cattlemen to pasture cattle. He said he was there once when they came in on a bomb run & he said, "YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN THOSE COWS RUN!!!"
Well, finally it was time for the BBQ to be set up, which they do the 1st Saturday of each month & is open to the public. So I took pictures of them setting up. They used 10-20# bags of charcoal. There were 3 cases of pork ribs & several cases of chicken. I got a free chicken dinner after getting back from taking 147 pictures of their golf tournament, but that is another blog story. Besides taking pictures, I did take the trash to the dumpster, so I tried to help, LOL.
Here's 3 of the guys helping putting seasoning on the pork ribs. Sure did look good!!!!

Well, it was time for me to leave them & head for the golf course.

Time for me to end this blog also, EXCEPT, it was hot out there on the golf course today. A golfer came up to me & said he had the "GOLF TIP OF THE DAY" "IT IS 20 DEGREES COOLER IN THE SHADE", so after that I started looking for a place to park the golf cart in the shade. I hear it is hot up north also, so stay cool,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Ron

Poisonous Brown Recluse Spider

2007-08-03T16:27:00.000-05:00

Not sure, but may have gotten bitten night before last. I was walking through the dark & walked right into this round spider web as I was on my cell phone in the dark. So last night, Gregg where I am staying at the junkyard, said he had some thing to show me. This was it. I think it is the same spider that I ran into it's round web the night before. I have a spot on my wrist, but it could just be an ant bite also as I have gotten ants in the bus. Gregg gave me a powder to get rid of them. Yesterday I took a shirt out of the closet to put on & all of a sudden I felt something crawling all over me. I hurriedly took it off & the shirt had 20 or so ants on it, so I shook them off before I put the shirt back on.
Here is a link for the Brown Recluse Spider. There are other links there you can look at also. http://www.emedicinehealth.com/spider_bite_brown_recluse_spider_bite/page2_em.htm

This is a picture I took 2-3 years ago of spider webs along the road. This went on & on for maybe 5 miles early one morning.

P.S. Gregg killed the Brown Recluse Spiders after I took the pictures. He also found another one & killed it after I went back to the bus.

I am back to the campground today for 2 weeks. Supposed to be 97 both Saturday & Sunday. At least I will be on the PC more in the air conditioning or in the pool. Have a nice weekend. Ron

Cheaper Than Dirt?

2007-07-29T18:56:00.000-05:00

If you look at the PREMIUM PRICE, you'll see it isn't cheap. I seem to be the 1st to have noticed or told them of their mistake & they we're happy with me having been on their property & had taken the picture. The manager immediately went & changed the price. Gee, maybe I could have gotten a sandwich & drink if I had offered to delete it off my camera, LOL.
This dozer work isn't cheaper than dirt either. But the junkyard is getting cleaned up some. I took this picture & another that has to go to the judge as a progress report Tuesday. Thinking of the junkyard & the 3 drunks. The terrible looking trailer is no longer there. One drunk stole another's beer & ended up beating the one he stole the beer from with a 2 X 4. The beaten guy spent the night at the hospital. The other who did the beating & has the mean junkyard dog is in JAIL. He has called 20 or more times thinking the junkyard owner would bail him out, but it's not happening.
This was my dinner today, toasted cheese, with thick slices of Velvetta cheese. Delicious.
Here are 2 of the friendly German Shepherds at the junkyard. They are inside a fence though, as they would roam the neighborhood. There is also 1 more friendly one in the back who is chained because he won't stay on the property also. The closest one her in the picture will hardly let me get past him when I get inside the gate. He will come & lean on me & STEP ON MY TOE TO HOLD ME IN PLACE, LOL, until he is satisfied I have petted him enough. Then she get her turn, but then if I give her too much attention, he comes back & pushes his way in again. He is the biggest German Shepherd I have ever seen in height.

I've been helping at the junkyard hooking up the chain to move steel & vehicles. Got to get back before dark to help again as I HAVE THE LIGHT!!! Have a good week,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Ron

Pig in a poke?

2007-07-27T09:45:00.000-05:00

Well, not yet a Pig In A Poke, but is gonna be part of a HOG ROAST. The guy who owns the cage said the next one he catches we can have. Bob, who works here asked if he could buy one, but found out we'd get it free. The wild pig, maybe sow, as it looks like she has had baby pigs or is expecting, is small, skinny, to what we raise on farms. She has what appears to be a MOHAWK running up her back, maybe just the hair standing up as I was there, I'm not sure, but she did charge me as I got closer to the cage.
I'm sure glad she was inside. I did notice at the end of the cage though that there was a place that needed repaired. If she had seen that, she could have forced her snout through it & gotten out. I had a farmer friend I worked for who when he was in the lot with his domestic hogs that something happened & the pigs ate him. I got bit once by an unhappy pig as we were trying to load them to go to market. (MAYBE THAT ONE UNDERSTOOD WHEN HE GOT LOADED INTO THE TRUCK HIS LIFE WAS NEAR THE END, LOL). On the good side of hogs though, I raised pigs in 4-H & had pigs who were pets. Scratch them everywhere just like a dog & they end up being pets. I even slept with my guilt the night she had her pigs. Dad came out the next morning & I was still asleep in the hog house when he raised the lid.

I enlarged this wild pig's picture, using Picasa2, which the computer geeks taught me, http://geeksontour.com/ & saw she has brown eyes & a bloody snout, probably from ramming the cage, trying to get out. She rammed the cage several times when I was there taking her picture. Domestic hogs I know are nearsighted.

All for now. Got to get checked out. Have a good weekend,,,,,,,,,,,,,Ron

Squirrel

2007-07-26T08:17:00.000-05:00

This morning I went looking to see if any of the wild pigs had been caught in the trap cages, but no luck.

So then I was checking to see about walking the pup named Roscoe, so had to go to Richard's trailer. As we were there talking, this squirrel walked right up to us on the sidewalk. But when I moved to bring the camera up to take it's picture, it went onto the tree. Just as I took the 1st picture it moved, so I got a TREE PICTURE!!! Then we noticed it stopped on a small branch. Besides me taking it's picture, Richard said it was checking us out. Probably thinking maybe we'd feed it. So many campers here feed them that they are pretty brave & come right up to people. In the bad respect, they are a nuisance & I have a friend who had a squirrel who was thirsty & chewed a water line into under their trailer.

Got to move out of the campgrounds tomorrow for a week. Going to the junkyard, so not sure when you'll hear from me again. Maybe tomorrow, maybe in a week. Just hope to find something to photograph.

Weather pattern is staying the same here. Lower 90's & 50% chance of rain everyday. Yesterday, I heard 1 clap of thunder, but no rain.

Have a good week,,,,,Ron

Butterfly

2007-07-24T15:47:00.001-05:00

I went for a walk on the nature trail a few days ago. I saw a red & black what appeared to be a bumble bee, but I've been told it is poisonous & could be deadly, but I wanted a picture of it, so I went for a walk, which was good for me anyway. Need to do it everyday. My doctor wants me to walk 2 miles a day. So anyway I got to see these pretty butterflies close to the river.
Walking along the Peace River, also looking for an alligator, I did find this "RED BELLIED TURTLE". Did I say say "RED BELLIED"? Looks like a yellow bellied to me, but that's it's name.
At the end of the trail, I saw this heron, I think Blue Heron. A small stream he was sitting beside, maybe waiting for something to eat. Anyway this small stream feeds into the Peace River in the foreground of the picture.
This is one of the numerous lizards around the clubhouse. They eat insects I hear. Wish they'd eat mosquito's or love bugs or roaches. I saw one roach down here at least 2" long. Last time I pulled up my sewer hose, he came out of the sewer. Hope they don't get into the bus.
Last time after sending the chainsaw carvings, I saw these. A Armadillo in the foreground & 2 bears.

Last blog, I used a term, that I seemed familiar with, even though I didn't know the spelling or exact meaning. Well, a friend of mine, Steve, who is into veggie oil & living off the grid, looked it up for me. See the link: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/lackadaisical

I also was happy to hear on the news that Drew Carey, not Rosie O'Donnell is going to be the new host of "THE PRICE IS RIGHT", come fall. Maybe all of us voting in that e-mail to NOT HAVE ROSIE O'DONNELL did have some input to CBS.

Been cloudy all day & comfortable. I heard 1 clap of thunder & unplugged the computer for awhile, but haven't heard any since. Tomorrow is HUMP DAY, so hope you are having a good week. Ron

You Might Be A Redneck If...............

2007-07-23T19:35:00.000-05:00

You haul fence on your fishing boat, LOL. I met this guy at the veggie stand today, but I didn't have my camera with me, so I talked him into stopping by the campground so I could get this picture. He used to be a mechanical contractor. So now that he is retired, he doesn't own a truck. He said he hauled 6-7 pieces to his job site & had this one left over to take back. Guess I'm getting lacidasial, (IS THAT A WORD?-seems like I've heard that term-meaning not to care), attitude about carrying my camera, not thinking there is anything to take pictures of staying right here in this campground. Yesterday as I walked the nature trail, I didn't take the camera with me either & I saw what looked like a red & black bumble bee, not yellow & black. I was told it was a poisonous bee.

I took this picture the other day, but couldn't fit it on the blog. About 7-8 people in the pool. It has cooled off some because of the rain thank goodness. The temperature of the pool was up over 95 degrees. Then we have had rain cooling it off. This evening we had a thunderstorm with 1.1" of rain, so I'm sure the pool will be a much more comfortable temperature. I talked to a friend in NY & she said the pool is chilly there, but the daytime heat is hot.

Hope you all have a good week,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Ron

Peeping Tom

2007-07-22T13:00:00.000-05:00

Not much going on, so finally getting around to taking pictures I've been aiming to take for a long time. There is a guy who camps here in the winter who does chainsaw carving. These are some he left behind. This 1st picture is a lizard looking into the laundry room.

I took another picture of a small alligator, but not as glorious nor space to put it in here.

This is the alligator out beside the shuffleboard courts. It got some green paint on it's top, plus there are some weeds growing out of it's back, LOL, so you know it hasn't moved for awhile.
This is a wild boar. See it's tusk? It also has short stubby feet & grisly hair. A year ago this last winter there were some wild hogs here by the campgrounds. They were making messes rooting the ground, so traps were set, pigs were caught, & THEY WERE SERVED IN THE RESTAURANT AS GROUND PORK PATTIES.

I think these are bears. What appears to be a cigarette in the top picture turns out to be one of the many lizards around here, as you can see in the lower picture. These 2 bears are carved out of tree stumps.

I checked the water temperature in the swimming pool & it feels a little cooler, so think I'll go swimming today. The pool has just been too hot.

I heard this week that my picture of me singing Karaoke at the July 4th day festivities was published in the paper, but I haven't seen it yet.

Hope you are enjoying your weekend.......................................................Ron

Museum 3

2007-07-18T09:10:00.000-05:00

I had heard of the Buster Brown Camera, but never saw one. There are many antique cameras here & they'd sell some of them to have money for other projects. At the moment they are ready to add onto the museum. I haven't taken pictures in the machinery bldg. yet. So if you are interested in owning an antique camera, let me know. In sending the picture of the old wood stove, I got a reply with pictures from my friend Steve Spence who uses veggie oil for vehicles & generates his own electricity also. He has a wood stove for cooking & baking. He sent me pictures of his. Here is what he said:
It was sitting in a warehouse for 7 years. Customer ordered for y2k and never picked up. It was built in china in '98. I got it half price last year.
\Steve Spence Director, Green-Trust http://www.green-trust.org/ http://www.green-trust.org/bookshop/
Here is an old wood burning steam engine. Where now is the northbound lanes of SR 17, there used to be railroad tracks that ran through Wauchula. This engine never ran on these tracks, but a local man who owned it, as well as the Revell Crate Co., donated it to the museum. So they loaded it on a truck. The DOT police caught them right after they went over a bridge & told them they had to have a permit to cross the bridge as it was overweight. So they asked them, "What do you want us to do? Take it back onto the other side of the bridge?" Well, they let them go. There is a big power show here every March at this park.
1914 was the year. Sort of surprised it is wood burning, not coal. I'm sure it took a lot of wood to produce the power. One nice thing about Florida though is MOST of it is flat land.

Sign is self explanatory.

Have a nice day,,,,,,,,,,,,,Ron

Sunshine Thunderstorm

2007-07-17T18:31:00.000-05:00

I was sitting here watching TV & on the PC. ALL OF A SUDDEN, I heard thunder with another clap behind that one about 3 seconds later & it IMMEDIATELY STARTED POURING RAIN. So I rapidly unplugged the PC & external antenna. Then I grabbed the camera to take a picture of it. The sun was still shining. Of course this was at 7 PM tonight, so the sun was well in the west. We got .25" of rain in 10 minutes. Now it is 40 minutes later & Debbie, the mgr., & friends are ready to play Pickle Ball. Nice thing is the rain cooled the temperature off 10 degrees. Now it is just a slightly overcast. Will have the last of the one part of the museum to put on the blog tomorrow. Ron

Got Cha

2007-07-17T08:33:00.000-05:00

If this bear trap caught you, you'd be in bad shape. It was all I could do was to lift it. Must have been 40+#. Looks like it would take 2 people to set it & if the pointed teeth inside the caught you, it would break a leg. There are not any known bears in this county now, but there are black bears in Florida.
Let's see if we can get you again. Do you have any idea what this is?
This is a fruit caliper. Remember this county is all agricultural. Citrus, vegetables, & beef cattle is the majority of products.
Used to be the CUCUMBER CAPITAL, but not as much anymore. A lot of squash & melons grown here.

I had only remember seeing these in museums, but at 18 months old, I fell against a wood burning stove & got a bald spot which I still have. I do remember my grandmother having a wood stove for heat. Standing next to it. Hot on one side & cold on the other side of my body.

Speaking of HOT, it is supposed to be around 92-94 all this week with lows to be around 75 every night.

Museum 2

2007-07-16T14:43:00.000-05:00

Self explanatory, BUT don't try to pronounce it that way.
Wa-chu-la is more like it. I haven't seen any Sand Hill Cranes here either. Just some cattle Egrets. One of which stood right out in the thunderstorm last night.
This is a casting of a Mammoth jaw bone. Boy Scouts along with Mitchell Hope uncovered it. It came from a time of about 25 millions years ago & it's tusk was 9' long. This has been the best specimen found in Florida & was given to the Smithsonian Institution.
Ladies: Do you remember laying your curling iron on top of the stove to get hot? Well, that's what this is, a HOT CURLING IRON.
Old double copper washing machine. I remember wringers like this. Got my hand in one once & went all the way to my elbow. I couldn't get it out, but a neighbor JUST HAPPENED BY & got me out.
This was the 1st time strawberries had ever been air mailed. They went to NY & brought quite a price for that time, but also remember this airplane had to make 5 stops along the way for refueling.

Well, supposed to be a little cooler today. Only 91 for a high. Sun is shining bright. We got thunderstorms last night. 1.2" of rain with it.

Hope you all went to vote "NO" to Rosie O'Donnell to being the host of "THE PRICE IS RIGHT" Ron

Hardee County Museum

2007-07-12T20:14:00.000-05:00

I spent most of my afternoon at the museum. I am only able to attach 5 pictures to a story, so this is the 1st installment. Straight ahead as you walk in the door is this scene with a wall Murial, depicting the past history. Seminole Indians here & 3 Indian wars. This county is agricultural with citrus & beef mostly now. No manufacturing in the county.
On the sign-in desk is a moonshine still, with complete instructions on how to make moonshine.
Stepping into the room on the right is this story. Goes back 65 million years. The 1st horses were small as the one in the circle. They were forest animals. The tan one is like Zebras now & present horses as the biggest gray one. Someone did a lot of work on this. Besides being painted, some of it was sculptured.
This is an alligator skin, 11+ feet long. They had some artist drawings of how Indians wrestled them. I know I wouldn't do that!!! I sure enjoyed rubbing my hand over this one's skin though.
This is just inside the door. Must be over 100 antique cameras. If any of you have interest in antique cameras, let me know. They plan to sell some of them to have money to work on other projects. They already have plans to expand the museum.

I am back into the campgrounds & gonna be here for 2 weeks. It is hot here, but I spent most of my time in air conditioning today.

In another blog, I will send a picture of me holding something BIG!!! Also I have a picture I will let you guess what it is. I sure do enjoy going to museums. Also the museum attendant was great. She is Sandy, the photographer I put in the blog that was multi-tasking, (eating ice cream as she photographed). I met her husband today also.

Have a great weekend..............................................................Ron

Wedding Chapel?

2007-07-11T17:24:00.000-05:00

I got off the interstate & this was what I saw. May not have been in the best section of St. Petersburg, but I got out of the bus to take the picture. Besides the house being pink, the fence & sidewalk is red. I thought I'd introduce myself to Helen, but the gate was locked.

When I got back to the campgrounds today, I went swimming to cool off, but the water in the swimming pool was almost body temperature. Tomorrow, I check into the campground for 2 weeks.

Hope you are able to stay cool,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Ron

Convertible car ride

2007-07-11T10:38:00.000-05:00

And the Thunder Rolls & the Lightning Strikes. Garth Brooks did a song, "Thunder Rolls", which I didn't like, but I went & downloaded it. Unfortunately it doesn't say the lightning strikes or I would have made a video slide presentation. After Greg & I got done putting the new front tires on the bus after 12:30 AM in the Wal-Mart parking lot, I was just about ready to head out on the road, but then I got a phone call. Wanna go to Steak & Shake? You buying? Yes they said, so I went.
This is the same couple I did their wedding pictures. So they picked me up & we headed for Steak & Shake, which must have been over 20 miles away. We went with the top down. As bad as these look, there were also stars in the sky, one not very far from this set of clouds. We never felt a drop of rain. I was looking through the camera & kept thinking there was an overpass coming up, but I was sitting in the back seat & it was the windshield. Pictures here don't do the situation really justice as it was unbelievably how the cloud lit up.
So it was 3:30 AM this morning before I got back to the bus & slept in the Wal-Mart parking lot. Going south on SR 41 I saw this sign. I got pulled off the road & had to walk back to take the picture. Little did I know it was gonna play a part today. Remember when I had a blowout on I-275 & a minister picked me up when I was hitchhiking? Today I picked up a guy walk whose car had ran out of gas. I told him about a minister who picked me up. Then he told me he is a minister from California here for a conference. I took him to a gas station & dropped him off there. Gave him one of my cards. Wish I had taken a picture of him to put in my blog, so his friends could have see this back home. Well, at least he can tell them.
This is a new front tire I got put on last night. New rims also. Tubeless 10.00 X 22.5 tubeless. All my other tires are tube type with split rim. These tires only had 1,000 miles put on them. They still have the tits on the side, which you can see against the grey rims. I'll have to buy a can of black spray paint to paint them black.
So after dropping him off & ended up with time to spare waiting on another friend who wasn't home, I came to Panera Bread to do my Internet. 1st time here & it is nice inside with relaxed atmosphere & LOOK AT THIS ROLL!!! Strawberry cream!!! Wow!!!

Besides that, it is hot outside, so I am soaking up their air conditioning, & several glasses of their delicious lemonade.

Hope you are all having a good week. Today is HUMP DAY. Ron

Why did the chicken fly into the tree?

2007-07-08T12:57:00.000-05:00

I am at the junkyard on my week out from the campground. Yesterday I saw this chicken flying around in these small trees. Then it also stood on the ground & just like jumped up in the air a small amount. It looked like it was eating leaves off of the tree, but that wasn't the story.

There are only 3 chickens left at the junkyard. Gregg tried to catch them all & sell them, but these 3 escaped capture, so Gregg decided they could fend for themselves.

They survive very well here in Florida. Berries is what this one was eating. I can remember as a kid that a few chickens that we had, had to fend for themselves also. I don't know what they ate, but I remember them scratching the ground. We would also occasionally get a few eggs. Had to look for them in different places as those chickens wandered even though we had a chicken house.

Weather is hot here & supposed to be getting even hotter with more humidity. Got 4 tires for the rear of the bus, so now Tuesday, I'm supposed to get 2 almost new ones for the front.

Have a good week,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Ron

Fireworks

2007-07-05T07:55:00.000-05:00

They were pretty to look at even though they weren't as spectacular as I've seen, since this is just a small community & did only what they were able to afford.

As to the pictures, I didn't take my tripod, which could have improved them. Also the smoke sort of took away from them in some pictures. So I picked the ones I liked best in RED,WHITE, BLUE, & GREEN.

We actually were sitting in the Thousand Trails campground, across the road from the county park. So you see trees in the foreground.
Not too many blue ones & this was the prettiest one I got a picture of. There was another one about to burst inside of this one as you can see the white rocket streak going toward the center. We did get 1/2" of rain yesterday & it was a question if the fireworks would happen last night. 2 communities on the Atlantic Ocean had theirs cancelled. Flagler Beach, where I took my friend's Greg & Brenda's wedding pictures were delayed because of rain. Daytona Beach where the fireworks happens from a barge in the water had waves as high as 6' high & some of the fireworks fell into the ocean.
If you watch the Nascar race on TV Saturday night, which is at Daytona Beach, they might show some of the fireworks.
This picture isn't spectacular because of the fireworks, but because I can see the backside of a couple who works here at the campgrounds & recognize them. Must have just been some good timing as different people had some small fireworks & it lit their backsides up as the camera snapped the picture

Now this morning, I've been UNHAPPY TWICE!!! I went to put bread in the toaster & there was a frog on my sink beside the faucet. So I got a piece of paper toweling to get him OUT OF THE BUS!!! He hopped & it took several times to catch him, but I finally caught him, (partially squeezing him with his slimy skin against mine), & got him to the steps by the door. Opened the door & used my foot to chase him away of which he hopped the wrong direction 1st before he went outside.

So I went to the kitchen sink to wash my hands immediately. While doing that, it hit me, "IDIOT ME", I should have taken the picture before I got him out of the bus. He was by the faucet. Maybe he wanted a drink? LOL A picture of a frog beside the faucet with water running could have made the news, LOL. Oh well, not gonna get pictures of everything. Until next time, have a good week, Ron

MULTI-TASKING

2007-07-04T17:23:00.000-05:00

I really enjoy seeing women who know what they are doing behind a camera as Sandy is. She was taking pictures of all the July 4th Karaoke singers. I really liked it when I saw her smile as she was taking my picture when I was singing, "I'M MY OWN GRANDPA". So she was following people around getting crowd pictures etc., so I decided to follow her around to take pictures of her taking pictures. As you can see, she is "MULTI-TASKING", with some home-made ice cream in a waffle cone. I also took her out to take pictures of her with a Palm tree as a background. I liked her blouse right away when I saw her & just now noticed her ear rings.

She told me she'd send me the pictures she took of me after I sent hers, so I'm looking forward to them.

I might be off the computer for awhile as I am out of the campground for at least a week. Also might go to Brooksville to get front tires put on.

All for now. Have a nice week,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Ron

Tired & Retired

2007-07-03T12:11:00.000-05:00

Monday was the day to get tires put on the back of my bus!!! FOR SURE!!! I had had 2 tires blow in 9 days, both on the left side rear duals. No problem stopping, just a BIG BANG & the inconvenience of having to wait on road service. I had talked to a tire dealer & told him what I needed & he recommended Florida Tire Terminal at Avon Park. This is where this picture is taken, THOUSANDS OF TIRES, the ones for my bus were inside. They came off of school buses from NC. Probably 1/2 tread or more, but not weather cracked like mine.
Here is a picture of one of mine. They called it a "MAY POP", lol, but knowing the history I have been having with tires lately & the heat, the tire is a "WILL POP", just a matter of time. Oh, this was on the inside of the outside dual of which I couldn't see it or I would have changed tires sooner. They had been making noise for a long time. I had to drive 25 miles or so with that noise & pray I made it back to where I was buying tires.
This is the other right side dual & you can see the crack was ALMOST all the way around. Now that is a "WILL POP". Actually I had dropped off 1 tire that had blown Sunday to have a replacement, but then decided to get all four on the back replaced & they did have a set. $50 apiece compared to $290 apiece for new tires was a bargain to me. They had Mexicans working there & they were hard workers, but we had some language barriers. I wanted new inner tubes, but didn't get them. One guy "NO ENGLISH", me "NO SPANISH". We almost had another problem also. He wanted me to release the brake so he could turn the wheel, but in his motions, I started the bus & put it in gear turning the wheels, WHICH ABOUT GOOFED UP A VALVE STEM. Unfortunately every wheel they put on that I had painted black when I painted the bus is now on the inside, so I have rims to paint again. But I am happy I found the place & would recommend them to anyone who needs tires. They have smaller sizes of tires at great prices also.

I took this when I was up at Orlando TT this last week. I think it is the same turtle who came over past my bus several weeks ago. I was able to get my tape measure out for him. His shell is 12" long & 10" wide. He moved away from me fairly quick after I measured him. MAYBE HE THOUGHT I WAS SIZING HIM UP FOR TURTLE SOUP, LOL.

There was thunderstorm go through the campground here yesterday & got one of the telephone lines that carries the DSL. But fortunately, I am on the wireless. We are in a pattern of thunderstorms daily possible now & I think up to 94 on Friday.

Have a nice day,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Ron

Now that's a camper!!!

2007-06-28T13:26:00.000-05:00

This is a picture that was sent to me from a friend. NOW THAT IS A COMPACT CAMPER!!! Notice the air conditioner hangs on the outside of the door. My friend, John, just bought a VW dune buggy. Him and a friend of his was the ones who took me back to the bus after I had a blown tire a week ago.
John loves taking pictures with the digital camera. He shoots at a lot of stuff I never would even think of, because I think of the time it takes to delete the pictures, but this picture came out cute. The dog belonged to a friend of John's friend. They had bought a bus to go to a Christian Rally in Illinois, but unfortunately, it broke down in Chattanooga. I heard they were so hard up for money that they put the dog up for sale on ebay.

Well, getting ready to go swimming. Have a nice day,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Ron

Smoky over the campground

2007-06-27T14:22:00.000-05:00

I arrived back at the Orlando Resort today to see smoke coming across the campground, so as soon as I got electric hooked up, I went down to the lake to take pictures. It was strong enough to smell it & burn my eyes, so I got away from there asap!!! Not too bad where I am parked. When I 1st rode up to the lake, there was so much smoke that I couldn't see at all across there in 2 areas, but by the time I got the camera out, it was this.
At Karaoke Saturday night, there were a couple of cute shirts I took pictures of. Today I saw a truck that passed me called, "KING OF THE ROAD", so I had to sing that song for awhile.
All I can say about this shirt is I have to agree.
This was an accident from a drinking driver, who left the scene of the accident. He was lucky to be alive as the roof over the passenger side was pushed in. He left his license plate on the truck though, so will probably be able to track him. Maybe he'll call in his truck stolen? Alcohol & driving doesn't mix, but many people never learn. There was another accident there in same area just about 24 hours previous. Maybe partly design error of lane ending, mixed with alcohol situation.
Sign down at the lake!!! I heard several months ago that there are hundreds of alligators in this lake. On the local news here yesterday was a guy golfing. He reached down to get his ball next to a lake & an big alligator grabbed his hand. He used his left fist to beat on the alligator until he left loose. "ATTN. GEORGE! Aren't you glad you're not in Florida golfing?" You might have to fight to get your golf ball, LOL

You didn't think I'd go swimming there did you? I've had 2 people concerned they hadn't seen any new blogs from me. Well, not anything interesting to write home about of a blown bus tire. I did see the inner tube fly out of it as I went ahead & drove down the road as a friend said I could on the other dual. Then I got pulled over by a state policeman & he said, "YOU'RE OUT OF SERVICE!!!" He said I was smoking, but it was a pickup who had passed me that probably was about ready to lose an engine.

Well, I hope it rains & knocks down the smoke. Ron

New friends today with golf cart

2007-06-17T18:57:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I took some pictures of a couple in the swimming pool. I went over to get an e-mail address to send the pictures to them & was invited to join 4 of them sitting there. The couple I hadn't met had a golf cart with this sign on it. They bought it at a festival, a better laugh that "GIT-R-DONE". Well, I came back & got a soda to go back, also took my PC for them to see some of my video slide presentations, etc. Both couples have MAC PC's.

Because of the funny sign, I had to do a funny picture, so here it is. The weather was nice here today. Ron

Gone Swimming

2007-06-16T16:01:00.000-05:00

89.5F HERE. Supposed to be 91 in Chicago today, SO IT ISN'T SO BAD TO BE IN FLORIDA IN THE SUMMER! Last night we got 1/4" of rain, so it seems to be just like summers I remember back in Indiana. I talked to friends back in Indiana today & they said they need rain.

Not much going on. Just watching TV & being on the PC playing some cards.

This is the shirt I bought at Cracker Barrel Tuesday coming back from the beach. Already had people say they liked it. They were marked down in price. Probably twice this last week I have laid my keys down & had to look for them. Once locked my door padlock keys inside the bus, so had to use my hidden spare key.

Not many campers here & I have been going the same route between campgrounds every 5Th day. I did see something to take a picture of, IF I CAN FIND A PLACE TO PARK THE BUS. All for now,,,,,,,Ron

At the beach

2007-06-12T22:26:00.000-05:00

This is the same beach I went to with Barbara last week. I had purchased a Senior Citizen pass at national parks for lifetime for $10, so I wanted to get some use out of it. There seemed to be a lot more swimmers there today.

Unfortunately as I was ready to leave, there was a boy 1.5 years old missing. I hope they found him. There were 4-6 people frantically looking for him. Seemed the lifeguard to me didn't seem too concerned, calmly asking them to check restrooms, etc. I do remember once at Siesta Beach at Sarasota once though that a little girl came up missing & she was found. She had just made a new friend & was with her. Supposedly today a girl was watching this little boy that was missing. I just listened as she talked to the lifeguard.

This is the same fisherman we saw last week. He had just caught this fish he threw back into the ocean. He said this breed will grow to 6-8#. His prize catch he told me about was a 1.5# Whiting fish which didn't sound big to me, but he said it was a good catch. Shows you how much I DON'T KNOW ABOUT FISHING!!!
I had to find a gal with some sex appeal.
Here was another gal sitting in her lawn chair, just letting the ocean roll in on her. She had her bottled water & suntan lotion. Nice way to relax on the beach, LOL.
These are the shells I picked up off of the beach today. The upper left one is called a "HORSESHOE SHELL". I don't know what the others are.

There are 2 more new blogs under this one for today, 6/12/07. Ron

Going to the beach

2007-06-12T22:03:00.000-05:00

Yesterday heading to my friend's wedding, I saw this cab in Orlando. Just different, so I took the picture. No lady inside to chek, LOL.
Then today right after getting off of I-95, I saw this sign. This is the name of the high school at Titusville, Fl. I'm guessing they are the Titusville ASTRONAUTS, lol. I wonder what the school mascot looks like, LOL.
On the way out to Merritt Island, they had the bridge closed off for about 20 minutes that we sat waiting to move. Someone said they were working under the bridge. This boat came through just before we were able to go. It was moving on!!!
Out to Cape Canaveral & now the launch pad sits empty without a vehicle attached. Pretty tired tonight. Didn't get done with the wedding, pictures, & moving bus until 12:30AM. Then about 4:30AM this morning someone came through the gas station where I parked honking their horn & woke me up. I have been up all day. Had a thunderstorm move through with winds maybe 40 mph or more.

Ocean Front Wedding

2007-06-12T18:24:00.000-05:00

This was shortly into the ceremony. I wasn't paying attention to the water AS WE THOUGHT WE WOULDN'T GET WET!!! Only the bride & groom planned to go into the water, LOL, & that was only intended after the ceremony. Well, so much for that. In the tan clothes is the groom's Father & you'll notice he is pulling up his trousers. I had decided not to take my shoes off, so after this wave, my shoes are wet & FULL OF SAND!!! Look at the facial expressions of the wedding party, LOL, but the minister just kept on going. This is the most fun wedding I ever took pictures at & I have probably taken over 300 or so.
Brides flowers were beautiful & I loved their colors.

After they were pronounced husband & wife & kissed, they walked out into the Atlantic Ocean, which there was a beautiful picture there also, with their backs to me, but this picture with their backs to the ocean & the water hitting them up high was funny as they didn't know they were gonna get hit that high. Brenda said she almost got knocked over.

After the wedding ceremony, Greg removed the garter & tossed it. Johnathon, the best man caught it.

The last picture is "FINGER LICKIN' GOOD" cake. I will put the picture of me in with the e-mail of notification the new blog. Since I had already got wet & almost everybody else went in, I figured I had might as well also, LOL.

Lightning

2007-06-10T15:45:00.000-05:00

I heard thunder, so I went out to take pictures of the lightning. I am running on battery power. I took about 20 pictures to get 2 pictures with lightning in them. I am back to Orlando today. No rain so far, but I'm expecting it, but hoping it misses here as I left my umbrella in the bus.
I left Wachula about 7:30 this morning. I headed to Bushnell, Fl., to pick up the used veggie oil a restaurant is saving for me. I had a nice western omelet for breakfast there. Picked up around 45 gallons of Canola oil. That's around 350 miles of free fuel.

This row of Live Oak trees was on a highway getting to Bushnell. They have been there a long time & looked to be 10 or more in a row, so somebody planted them I'm sure. I had a problem with Live Oak trees in Bartow, Fl. They had an electrical problem on the highway & had traffic detoured IN TOWN. Some of those trees had moss hanging down low & I caught some of it on my CB antenna, which then came down & obstructed my view in the mirror.

The trees in the previous picture was where I turned around, but this is the picture I turned the bus around to get. The place is for sale & unfortunately this (PAGODA?) has been left in disrepair. I think it looks like Japanese, but maybe Chinese. Anybody know?

Would you like some?

2007-06-09T13:11:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I made Peanut Butter Fudge with nuts. I had been making chocolate fudge of which the people here at the campground liked, but the manager asked if I ever made Peanut Butter Fudge, so here it is. I took 2 snack bags to the office. I'm sure the 1 bag is empty already because the secretary ate about 1/2 of it as I talked to her. If you want some, maybe I could e-mail it, LOL.
Sitting here in the bus this morning I saw 2 birds with red heads. They were bouncing around on the like they were playing "HIDE & SEEK", but then maybe one was chasing the other, I don't know. By the time I got the camera out & got close enough to take a picture, they flew to another tree, so I went over there only to find there were 3 of them. I have been told they are Woodpeckers, but not the same species I am familiar with in Indiana. They are much bigger. I was told they migrate here for a short amount of time & then are gone.

This is a cloud I saw last night. Sort of looked like an animal is why I took the picture. A dog maybe? A bear? Maybe two, one in the foreground & one in background? What do you think? Whatever, it is going downhill.

Supposed to be over 90 here every day for the next week. I'm staying in the air conditioning. :) Ron

Mean Clouds & Astronaut

2007-06-08T15:31:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I took this picture, but due to the storm, I never got back on line until late last night. Yesterday we got about 5" of rain in 2 thunderstorms. Today the clouds looked just as bad & I could see it raining down the road, but we only got 1/4" here at Peace River.

A friend of mine, Greg Archambault is very happy. His 2ND cousin, Lee Archambault is the pilot of the shuttle due to be launched from Cape Canaveral Friday evening, at 7:38 PM Eastern time. http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts117/index.html is the link. Lee is the 3rd astronaut from the right.

MISC.

2007-06-06T16:52:00.000-05:00

Barb & I had shared pictures, so when I put the Bonnet Shark on the blog, I used her picture because I had used her previous picture in the blog. Then she pointed out to me that she liked my angle better as it showed the top view I got better, so you can see it here. Some people think it is a Hammerhead Shark. I was told today that this breed of shark don't grow too large, but the guy who told me this said he likes to go out into the ocean to go shark fishing because they put up a good fight. Also sharks are good to eat because they have no bones.
The name of this lagoon says it all, "MOSQUITO LAGOON"
This is the bridge headed over to Cape Canaveral, Cocoa Beach, & Merritt Island. I took this through the windshield as Barbara drove. It was an unique angle that I was just a little late with my shot. Seems strange though that the 2 bridges aren't parallel.
Nice home on Merritt Island. It was next door to the one that was for sale with a $200,000 reduction in price. Sure glad I don't have to pay the property tax on this one. The local news today just mentioned people here aren't able to afford to buy homes because of taxes, so property tax cuts are in the works, but several services said the tax can't be cut for their service.
This was after we got off of Merritt Island. Vacation home in Paradise? Your own island? Well, I grew up on a farm, but just east of us a mile +, was Lake Freeman, which ran like a snake quite a few miles. On the lake is an island. It was called "Ski Island". The Ford car dealer, named "Bartlett" had a home on it, plus other small cottages of others. Skiing enthusiasts gathered there & they had a ski jump there. I never went over the jump, but have skied around the island. Barb has experience skiing also. Snow & water. Well, I snow skied, SORT OF!!! We used water skis & got towed behind a pickup in a bean field on snow in the winter.

Back down to Peace River. It rained here today. The weatherman said we are now in the summer rain season where we might get rain everyday. They showed 20-40% everyday.

Today was the last taping of "THE PRICE IS RIGHT", with Bob Barker. The show will go on though. New host hasn't been named yet. Ron

2 story camper

2007-06-06T16:19:00.000-05:00

I saw this at the campground at Christmas, Fl. At 1st look I thought it was a moving van semi-trailer, but look at the COOLER??? up front? I understand it took 2-3 years to make this camper.
So it looks like a reefer, (cooler unit for food) trailer? Well, it isn't. I knocked on the door & was invited in. Up several steps into the bedroom & bath, PLUS WHAT APPEARS TO BE A REFRIGERATION UNIT, is a closet. In the middle of the trailer, lower level is the kitchen & living space. Toward the back of that & overhead is a loft, which has an air mattress for when needed.
In the rear of the trailer is room for 1 or 2 race cars. When hauling 2 cars, one car is lifted on the electric/hydraulic hoist & pushed forward into the loft. Picture here shows lift raised.

This is the tractor that pulls it, a 1981 Peterbilt, if I remember right. Still looks pretty good.

Does Santa Swim?

2007-06-05T19:52:00.000-05:00

Looks like Santa likes the swimming pool. This is at a campground at Christmas, Florida.
This is the Santa mailbox at the community center.
Don't blink or you might miss Christmas, Florida.
This Christmas tree stays up all year & lit at night.
Many people bring their mail here to mail it, so therefore they have more outgoing than incoming mail.

Fort Christmas

2007-06-05T19:40:00.000-05:00

This is at Fort Christmas, a short distance north of the town of Fort Christmas. In the 1820's & 1830's, American settler's were trying to get the Seminole Indians moved to west of the Mississippi River, but the Indians were being tough. So they opened a fort & because it opened on Christmas day, that was how it got it's name.
This is a CRACKER HOUSE. They were called Crackers because native Floridians called themselves Crackers.
This appears to be the main gate. If you look up on the 2nd floor you will see rectangular holes, evidently used to shoot from.

Cape Canaveral

2007-06-05T19:32:00.000-05:00

On the way to Cape Canaveral Sea Shore we were within 5 miles of the shuttle. I got my telephoto lens out to take these 2 pictures. Then I had to crop it quite a bit, plus Barb worked on the contrast & color also.
This is the famous assembly building, which can be seen for a long ways away. Seems it has the most open cubic feet of any building on earth.

Bush Woman

2007-06-05T19:04:00.000-05:00

This is Barb, another camper here at Thousand Trails, who is a photographer also. I sure wish I had her camera.
This is a picture I took of her at the beach. As you can see, SHE GOT HER FEET WET!!! She took some nice pictures down the beach, plus the fisherman & more.
This is a picture I took of her, but she used Photo Shop 7 to remove a man & a boy between her & the fisherman that were at the edge of the water, therefore removing a distracting background. She also added more contrast & color. Wish I knew how to use those programs. I do a couple of programs, but limited in use. She showed me how she took wrinkles out of a woman's face in a portrait.

If you noticed, her clothing makes her look like a BUSH WOMAN. She has this bumper sticker on her truck. She has never been to Africa, but to other countries & traveled all around the USA taking some very nice pictures. You can go look at her website: http://www.doveportraits.com

People At The Beach

2007-06-05T18:32:00.000-05:00

Waves were about 2' high. A few people were brave enough to be out there waist deep, but not too many, as there has been an undertow, in which several people have drown & many others have had to be saved in the last few weeks. I just got my shoes wet.
Of course I had to look for some women in bikinis, LOL. On the road toward the beach, there were signs posted that Nude Beach wasn't allowed, but I heard that there is at the end, but cameras aren't allowed there!!!.
Here was a family who was just arriving as we were.

Here was a family of 5, looking as though they were enjoying their day at the beach.

Fisherman At The Beach

2007-06-05T18:16:00.000-05:00

This was the 1st guy I saw when I came across the wooden steps to the beach. He had about 4 poles out into the water. This picture was taken by Barb. Her & I took pictures & shared them, so we both had good pictures. In this picture, it was a matter of timing she took this picture, as he was pulling in a SHARK!!!
Here is the shark. It is called a Bonnett Shark. He threw it back into the ocean. If you'll look closely, you'll see it's eye on the side of his head.

This was his catch for the day. Not all that much volume, but he said he sells them to a up-class restaurant.

This Flew Thru Drive-Thru At McDonald's

2007-06-05T18:04:00.000-05:00

Going down Hwy. 1 we saw this, so we had to turn around & go back so I could take this picture. This is close to the bridge going east over to Cape Canaveral.

Merritt Island

2007-06-05T17:30:00.000-05:00

This was a beautiful house for sale on the island. THEY MUST HAVE BEEN IN A RUSH TO SELL IT OR IT HAD A REALLY HIGH PRICE TO BEGIN WITH!!! I got a brochure of the listing. Price is reduced $200,000, YES YOU SAW RIGHT!!! There were many houses for sale along the main road on the island. We even saw a couple of old houses that looked like they weren't worth $20,000, but probably because of land value, they were worth much more.
Sure glad I wasn't in the bus as there were many trees hanging down low over the road, plus the road gets narrow & some twists at the end.

Below is a totem pole & a tree with shiney bark. I would have liked to show you the whole tree as the limbs twisted in various directions, but the shininess of the bark wouldn't have shown.

When you get down to the south end of the island, where it is narrow, & you can see water on both sides of you, I saw this. A couple of Brown Pelicans.

Another picture I didn't get in here was a pretty tree with red flowers. It was a Royal Poinciana.

I also saw some sail boats. One fishing boat I saw had the name, "REEL FANTASTIC".

Cactus Sunset

2007-06-03T19:42:00.000-05:00

I was just sitting outside the clubhouse this evening when I saw the sun coming through the cactus. I was on the phone with my mom, so I continued talking to her as I hurriedly walked to the bus to get the camera. I took about 15-20 pictures.

1st & 3rd pictures were on auto exposure. 2nd picture was with flash. 4th picture I set the camera on manual, F/8 aperture.
The last picture setting over the trees was on auto exposure also. Ron

Here at Orlando

2007-06-03T11:00:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I got here to Thousand Trails at Orlando. We got 1.5 inches of rain the night before. It was a tropical storm that brought us the rain & a LOT OF WIND. I came into the lounge to get on the computer & met 2 gals playing cards. Glenda is the picture beside mine & she is the one who took my picture with the pool in the background.

She was playing "Hand & Foot" with Barbara, whom I met last time I was here at Orlando. Weather is much better here today. We were sure happy to receive the rain as we needed it bad.

Have a nice day.

1979 Volkswagon +

2007-05-28T13:23:00.000-05:00

I just happened to be visiting a friend here in the campground & as I was leaving, this car came by. They bought it in this condition. It is a SUNDAY CAR, keeping garaged when not being shown off.

Right after that, I saw this handicap scooter. I had never seen one with this big of a front wheel before. The motor is in the front wheel, 13" tire, & the scooter will run 15 mph. I saw the guy spin the wheel on both gravel & blacktop. Of course that was with tipping backwards a little to get the weight off of the front tire.

Weather is beautiful here today. Look at the sky in the 1st picture. Supposed to get up to 88 here today, so maybe I'll go swimming after I get off of the PC. Lounge here is plenty cool with air conditioning, plus the bus holds about 75-80 with low humidity, so that is comfortable. Have a nice day. Ron

MICKEY MOUSE CUSTOMIZED CAR

2007-05-27T17:13:00.000-05:00

I saw this car this morning, so had to take pictures of it. I asked a dumb question!!! How much did it cost to customize this car. The lady you see about to get into her motor home in the background said she didn't know & didn't want to know, because her husband spends his money & she spends hers.
Then I got to ask him & he didn't answer me either. He just said he bought it, "ONE PIECE AT A TIME"
I liked their light. One light inside the globe & then they glued 2 smaller globes to the larger to make it look like Mickey Mouse. I suggested a face, but they just said it hasn't happened yet. The wife works at Disney World two days a week during the winter.

Games

2007-05-27T16:41:00.000-05:00

This afternoon here at Thousand Trails campground they had fun games for both kids & adults that still act like kids, LOL. Must have been 30 kids participate. I liked this action shot the best with the boy's expression in the sack race.
On to the tied leg contest with Wal-Mart sacks, these two pairs of girls had a tie & had to have a run-off contest. Made me happy because they were facing the sun making a better picture headed toward the sun. Oh, instead of walking, all 4 of these girls ran back doing REALLY WELL. The pair on the right in the picture won.
Even the ADULT KIDS HAD FUN!!! They did participate in the other activities also, but I think they had the most fun in the water balloon because they were able to bomb the kids. I also got hit, but the woman said she just hit me in the foot because I had my camera. You can see the smile the woman in the blue blouse had, so you know she was having fun.
None of these games would have been possible without Brenda, who was a volunteer running the games. I wanted to get a good picture of her demonstrating to the kids how to do the sack race, but didn't get that & then when I got her in a race with the adults a guy got in front of her, so I just posed a picture of her with her shirt, which I liked. I also found out it is her birthday today, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRENDA. Tonight is Karaoke. I hope to get to sing 1 song anyway, "I'M MY OWN GRANDPA".