Retirement practice, makes perfect

If retirement is going to be like the last few days, then I could really get used to it. Today we were up a little early so we could get ready to go visit my cousin Ken at his home in Vero Beach.

A leisurely 19-mile drive brought us to the front door of cousin Ken and his beautiful home. Ken teaches tennis and works at a retirement village in Vero Beach.

A few years ago I spent a great two weeks with Ken and his wife, Khlai at their Maui home. Kenny taught tennis at one of the Maui resorts and managed the pro shop there. (Photo: Kenny, Joan, Aunt Judi, me).

So Ken and my Aunt Judi, who drove up from Stuart, Florida for the day, and Joan and I went to lunch at a river front restaurant in Vero Beach. After lunch Kenny took us across the bridge to the barrier island and the Vero Beach on the Atlantic Ocean where we soaked in the beautiful sun rays and ocean breeze.

We also paid a visit to Veterans Memorial Sanctuary Island, which honors those who have served and died in America's wars. It was a beautiful spot and we visited each service monument. My favorite, of course, was the U.S. Navy one.

I remember Vero Beach from my days as a Los Angeles Dodgers fan because I used to listen to their spring exhibition games from there. Unfortunately for Vero Beach, the Dodgers now get ready for the season in Arizona and so far, no other team has filled the void.

Then it was back to Ken’s house to wait for his son Koa, 11, (see baseball photo) to return home from middle school. For fun, we took Koa to baseball practice. Koa is on a travel baseball team from Vero Beach and is doing very well on the team, which is ranked 2nd in the State of Florida and 8th in the U.S. for his age group.

After soaking up even more sunshine at baseball practice, Khlai, a native of Thailand, took us to a local Thai restaurant where she ordered the most delicious Thai meal I have ever enjoyed. It was even more fun because Khlai ordered the food in her primary language so everything that came to the table was a huge surprise.

It is always fun to catch up with relatives you haven’t seen in awhile and it is equally hard to believe that the little kid who was born 15 years after me, is now a successful tennis teacher, father and husband.

Tomorrow we await the arrival of our daughter, Elin, and a friend, Abby, who we will pick up at the Orlando airport in the morning. A full day of amusement park visiting is on the docket.

Talk to you soon.

A wrong address leads to a beautiful garden

A wrong address led us to a wonderful experience today at the McKee Botanical Gardens in Vero Beach.

When I called OnStar today I have them an address for the Manatee Observation and Education Center I gave them Vero Beach as the city. Actually I should have given them Ft. Pierce. But the address I gave them in Vero Beach turned out to be the McKee Botanical Gardens.

When I realized my error too late, we decided to stop for lunch at the café in the gardens, but once there decided it looked interesting enough to pay the $8 admission fee to look around. We were not disappointed.

The history of the Gardens is interesting as it was once a major attraction until the nearby Orlando attractions drained visitors away. It was closed for a time and most of it was sold off to developers. But what has survived is very beautiful and worth the stop.

Then we went looking for Manatees, but the parking lot where they can be watched was closed today. Instead Joan indulged me on a visit to the Mel Fisher Treasure Museum in Sebastian. Of course she enjoyed the gold, silver and jewelry found on those wrecks, so it wasn't completely lost on her. It was a great stop with lots of spectacular artifacts found in one of the many successful treasure dives made by Mel Fisher and his crews.

After that stop, we returned back to our camp and decided to catch up on laundry. We’ve been gone six days and we each left with seven days clothing, so it was time.

Because of our many stops this weeks we put off the celebration of our wedding anniversary, so tonight we had a wonderful dinner at Captain Hiram’s in Sebastian. Captain Hiram’s is located on the water and the food was outstanding.

Tomorrow we are meeting my cousin Ken and Aunt Judi for lunch in Vero Beach. We are hoping my cousin’s wife, Khlai can also join us.

Another very good day!

Two great walks, a sunrise, a sunset and great friends

When Joan and I dreamed about our retirement trips, it was days like today that we envisioned.

The day started out at Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Hobe Sound, Florida. We got up, had a leisurely breakfast and then headed to the Kitching Creek Nature Trail in the park to take in the flora and fauna.

A high, blue sky, wispy clouds and pleasant temperatures guided us through the 1 ½ -mile walk. At one point we spotted a large Osprey land in a tree just 40-50 yards from us with a freshly caught fish in his grip. We watched with fascination as the bird eat the still living fish in the tree top near us.

We spotted geckos, a variety of birds and wildflowers and trees along the trail. When we came back to our campsite it was time to pack up and get ready to move on to our next stop, which was our previous spot in Vero Beach.

After hooking up the trailer, we cleaned up in the park showers and hit the road for the 90-minute trip north.

Once back at Sunshine Travel RV Resort, we quickly set up the trailer, unhooked the Tahoe and I called my long time friend Drew who lives in Cape Canaveral with his wife Julie.

We made arrangements to meet them in their gorgeous, ocean front condominium for dinner.

Before dinner, they invited us to take a walk on the beach and watch the sunset. We strolled the beach barefooted and walked out on the nearby pier where dozens of people were fishing. When Drew and I were kids in California we spent many hours on the beach with other friends, so it was reminiscent of those days.

As friends of 50 years, we are only able to get together every few years, but keep in touch other times. Of course, a lot of our discussions surround old times, our families and mutual friends. For the first time in a long time we did not talk about a famous late night unauthorized trip to Huntington Beach in his father's classic, right-hand drive MG. Drew's parents were out-of-town at the time.

It was great to visit with Drew and Julie and at the same time watch graceful dolphins swim in the channel.

Back at the condo, we visited over a turkey dinner and Drew showed us photos of his recent mission trip to Africa. (He is an Anglican priest). Julie is a middle school librarian.

They live close enough to the Kennedy Space Center that they can watch every launch from the balcony of their condominium building. The last photo is one Drew took early Monday of the latest Shuttle launch.

So a beautiful walk in the morning, a beautiful walk at night and a fun visit with an old friend and his wife. Life is good.

Starting mileage and time: 31868 at 12:55 p.m.
Ending mileage and time: 31940 at 2:30 p.m.

Today promises to be a quiet one. Time to do laundry, Joan's nails and maybe a quiet dinner out. We're also praying for a successful surgery for Drew today.

A pleasant Easter on the Loxahatchee River

Sunday was a very special day. First it was Easter and we remember the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior. The day started with a wonderful breakfast at Aunt Judi and Uncle Pete’s house.

Late in the morning we brought Uncle Pete and Aunt Judi out to see our trailer and they were our first on-the-road visitors, but I forgot to take a picture so there is no permanent record. Sort of like a business accidentally selling its first dollar bill.

In the afternoon we took a pontoon boat trip down the Loxahatchee River that included a stop at Trapper Nelson’s settlement and an interpretive tour by a Florida park ranger. It was really fascinating to see and learn how this unusual man spent 32 years of his life living in this remote park of Florida without electricity.

Initially, Trapper Nelson survived on the sale of animal pelts, but later turned his property into a visitor stop and a zoo with pre-trapped (live) animals that people enjoyed seeing. He built a small cabin for visitors and charged $8 a night for folks to stop and stay.

Through shrewd business dealings he acquired hundreds of acres of Florida property much of which is now part of the Jonathan Dickinson State Park. We saw many turtles, Ospreys tending huge, high nests and one wild alligator next to our boat.

After the trip we went back to Aunt Judi and Uncle Pete’s home and had yet another fine dinner. During the evening had a chance to talk to my cousin Leah when she called home from Kauai where she lives. All in all, a very special day.

Tomorrow, we hook up the trailer and head back to the park in Vero Beach for the rest of our trip. We're also hoping to get together with my high school friend Drew, and his wife Julie, in Cape Canaveral.

A short, safe journey to Jonathan Dickinson State Park

Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Hobe Sound is a beautiful park, but it is not wired for Internet, so hopefully that will explain the pause in postings for the weekend.

Because of a 2004 hurricane the old campground was destroyed, taking all the beautiful pine trees with it. Pine Grove Campground reopened in January 2010 with everything but a pine grove. But the facilities are excellent.

On Saturday we arrived here about 2:45 p.m. and checked in. For the first time since we left Lapeer on Wednesday, we separated car from trailer and for the first time I had to back the trailer into our space instead of the preferred “pull-thru.”

Backing the trailer turned out to be remarkably easy and within just 15 minutes we were level, hooked up and ready to pay a visit on my Aunt Judi and Uncle Pete in Stuart, Florida.

My aunt (photo above is my Aunt Judi and Joan) and uncle live in a gated community and it is stunningly beautiful. Uncle Pete whipped up a fine dinner of short ribs, real mashed potatoes and asparagus. We spent the evening catching up, laughing and remembering old times.

Mileage out and time of arrival: 31663 at 1:10 p.m.
Mileage in and time of arrival: 31734 at 2:45 p.m.

A better day and a beautiful campground

Wow, what a difference 24 hours make. Today was the almost final leg of our Florida trip. A better, earlier start and only a couple of traffic hiccups led to an enjoyable day on the road.

Like yesterday, it looks like all of Michigan is headed south, many with cars decorated with green and white paint with "Go State!" writings on them.

It's funny what you think of during a long day of driving, but at one point today a Toyota passed us (heck, everything passes us) and I said to Joan: "Better to have a Toyota in front of you then behind you." Just my odd sense of humor playing on the news of the day.

We have learned some valuable lessons already this trip. Never, ever, ever pull the trailer into a place until you have a sure way out. Almost got myself trapped in a gas station in Ocala, Florida. I realized, too late after pulling up to the pump, that I did not have enough turning radius to pull both the Tahoe and trailer across the front of the travel center store.

So I put Joan out behind the trailer so I could carefully back out of my spot and turn around. That was complicated by heavy traffic flowing into the station and poor Joan had to keep giving me the "Stop" sign so I wouldn't back into an impatient motorist.

Suddenly an entire pump lane opened up two lanes down from mine and I calculated, correctly as it turned out, that I had just enough room to swing wide, pass in front of the travel center and out through the open gas lane. So I whipped the truck and trailer around and left poor Joan standing in the driveway looking perplexed as I drove off.

But being the good sport she is, she knew I wasn't leaving her, but had seen an opening and she sprinted across the parking lot and jumped into the truck shaking her head. "I didn't know what you were doing, but I figured you did."

I got some practice judging the left to right clearance of the rig when we had to go through 300 Florida toll booths around Orlando. I'm only slightly exaggerating. I could have purchased another tank of gas for what we spent in tolls.

Pulled into the Sunshine Travel RV Resort in Vero Beach (that's the sign at left, but you have to use your imagination for the Sunshine Travel RV Resort lighted sign part) and found a beautiful, landscaped park with a lot of many time visitors. Everyone has been very friendly and helpful to us newbies. Joan slaved over our second night of hot dogs and baked beans for dinner and we're settled in for a quiet night of television watching.

Tomorrow we head for Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Hobe Sound and a couple days visiting with my aunt and uncle in Stuart, Florida. Should be beautiful. Enjoy the photos.

Starting mileage and time: 31224 - 8:35 a.m.
Ending mileage and time: 31663 - 4:33 p.m.

More tomorrow or Sunday.

On Michigan license plates and Atlanta traffic

Today could be summed up in three words: Traffic, traffic, traffic.

It's hard to believe anyone is left in Michigan after all the southbound Michigan license plates we saw today driving through Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia. Tonight we are landed in Perry, Georgia at the Fair Harbor Recreational Vehicle Park.

Folks here are very friendly and our neighbor and his wife are full time RVers who travel and live out of their very nice fifth wheel. I took some pictures late of the campground, which are included here.

Mostly today we battled traffic. Fortunately, for the first five hours of the trip we moved along pretty well with the flow of traffic. By far, our unscientific survey indicated that there were more Michigan plates on I-75 headed south than even the license plates of the home states where we were traveling.

Then came Atlanta. Our laziness this morning, sleeping in and all, didn't get us on the road until 9:30 a.m. which dropped us into the heart of Atlanta at 3:30 p.m. It appeared that along with all the southbound spring breakers, everyone working in Atlanta left work a little early to start that Good Friday/Easter holiday just a little early.

It took us more than 90 minutes to go 20 miles. All morning I was drafting a truck and was conserving fuel (which in our case means getting 11-12 miles per gallon, instead of 9-10). So I was feeling pretty good about stretching our final gas stop to a station at mile marker 201, instead of the original Flying J stop at exit 276 in Georgia.

By the time we got through traffic we arrived at exit 201 on fumes. The clanging of the low fuel alarm and the computer message that my estimated travel range was not in miles but a bright flashing "Low Fuel" light left me sweating bullets those last couple miles.

The Tahoe has a 26 gallon tank, we took on 24.3 gallons. So the stop was not a moment too soon, and thanks to that trucker early in the day for cutting through the wind and helping me to conserve some valuable fuel.

I got a little rise out of Joan when I suggested we stop at a large warehouse like store in Georgia that was called "Adult Superstore." I tried to convince Joan it was a Walmart like store that didn't allow children, but she wasn't buying it.

We're planning on getting up and out a little earlier tomorrow so we don't fall into the same trap tomorrow. Tonight we're thinking about the Easter weekend and what it all means.

Starting mileage and time: 30796 - 9:35 a.m.

Ending mileage and time: 31224 - 6:25 p.m.

Tomorrow: Vero Beach, Florida. Talk to you then.