Our winter home

Orlando TT to Southern Comfort RV Park

We’ve settled in at Southern Comfort RV Park in Florida City. This is the third winter we will spend time this far south in Florida, we will stay here for January and February this year. Florida City is as far south as you can go on mainland Florida, pass our campground and you will be on the causeway leading to the keys.

Just between you and me, the Florida Keys are way over rated. Monthly rates for RV sites are four and five times what we are paying in Florida City. That’s not to say you shouldn’t go there once, everyone should explore this wonderful country of ours. So belly up to the bar at Sloppy Joes, watch the sunset at Mallory Square, swim in the clear water, tell them Larry sent you!

Southern Comfort looks the same as last year; they had very little damage from Hurricane Irma that I can see. We were concerned about the new gambling establishment that has been built in the field behind our site. We haven’t been bothered by any noise yet and they have installed a fence between us. We will miss being able to park our truck behind the motorhome and walking Maggie in the field, but that’s the way it is. We have the same Canadian neighbors we’ve parked next to three years running, we’ve also seen several other snowbirds from previous years here.

Jai alai court behind our campsite in Florida City

Today was our first Saturday in south Florida and we went to the Spanish Market in Redland. I don’t really know what the proper name is; I think it might be the Redland Market. We call it the Spanish market because that is the predominate language spoken there. It is all open air with vegetable stands, flea market with new and used item vendors and outdoor cafes, all offering Hispanic foods.

On the way home from the market we had an early dinner at a Mexican Restaurant we saw earlier. The El Santo Coyote is in a tired looking walled complex, the area inside the wall obviously used for music venues with café seating; it didn’t appear to have been used in a while.  The restaurant was decorated with the typical Mexican theme, tile floors, Hispanic art, brightly painted wooden tables and chairs, like the courtyard it looked a little worn and we thought we night have made a mistake, but we ordered anyhow.

Boy, were we pleasantly surprised, complimentary chips and salsa was delivered to our table but our waitress created the salsa right at our table. She mixed all the fresh ingredients in a mortar and pedestal, both the implements made from volcanic rock.  She quizzed us about any questionable ingredients to find out if they would be to our liking. The result which was served in the rock bowel was a perfect medium heat. It was the perfect appetizer to our burrito and enchilada meals.

Dave and RaeAnne, we also got a side serving of the chef’s hot sauce that was pretty near Horseman’s Haven HOT!

During our meal Millie was serenaded by a singing guitarrista. I think he was Cuban but he sang a Mexican song because it was our first time in the restaurant. I think that’s what he said anyhow. His performance was most entertaining; he actually was a polished professional. I don’t know how they talk and roll the R’s off the side of their tongue, let alone sing and do it! 

Cantante y Guitarrista Melanio Benitez

Florida bound

Brown line=Day one, orange line=day two

We left home at our usual 9am on the morning of December 17^th. It was a little faster getting out of town now that we live on the south end. We took our preferred leisurely route down rt 17, used the bypass around Charleston and continued on rt 17 to 1-95 just a ways up from the Georgia line.

We took I-95 thru Georgia, stopping once at flying J for fuel. It was a Sunday so traffic was light as we took the beltway west away from Jacksonville. Exiting onto I-10 west for a few miles and then 301 south to Starke Florida. We like to stay at the KOA there because it is right on our route and has long pull thru sites. We can park leaving the truck hooked up behind the motorhome, do a minimal setup and we’re in for the night. In the morning we can be on the road in minutes, but it’s always 9am when we get going, don’t ask me why, it’s just always 9am?

We driven the center of the state on local roads many times to get to our timeshare campground near Orlando and always enjoyed the more relaxed pace. The last few years it seems there are an ever increasing number of traffic signals and congestion. I’ve started bypassing Ocala, the villages and all the smaller towns further down in favor of I-75 and the Florida Turnpike. We rejoin highway 27 a little ways north of Clermont and it’s a short drive to the Thousand Trails RV Resort, Maggie and I will stay here till New Years Day. 

Our campsite for two weeks at Thousand Trails CG.

The family was together the first week, Millie and I just taking it easy while Maggie rejoiced in being able to swim in her pool again in warm sunny Florida! On Friday I delivered Millie to the Orlando airport. As many times as we’ve done this we still don’t like being apart, but her daughter and grandkids are in New Mexico and it’s Christmas, so fly she must. 

On her way to New Mexico

I usually have a project or two to keep me busy for the week but after the busy summer and fall, I didn’t do much of anything all week. That is other than my main job of entertaining one very spoiled Dachshund, she’s nine years old and still acts like a puppy, chasing tennis balls, destroying stuffed toys and of course swimming in her pool.

The campground survived hurricane Irma pretty well, the big issue was water intrusion at the Recreation center. It was closed and not expected to open until some time in January. Maggie and I rode the bike around the sprawling 800 site campground every afternoon and only saw one person we knew. Ed Bibey is a retired electrician from Chrysler, he and his wife spend their winters at the Thousand Trails Resort. Funny, at this point in our lives, we mostly talk about people we know who have died or are sick.

Maggies new basket on my bike

The week went by fairly quickly and soon I was at the airport retrieving my wife. We got back to the motorhome about eleven at night and you’ve never seen such an excited little dog. Maggie went through her “happy to see you” dance for several minutes after seeing her mom!

We spent the next couple days doing routine stuff and getting ready for the next leg of our winter journey.

Oh, one last thing, here’s one of those “you gotta love it “moments. While Millie was gone, I was strolling thru the aisles in Lowes and found a good deal on a compression tool for PEC fittings. (PEX is the flexible plastic pipe used in all home construction nowadays, it is also used in Recreational Vehicles except they use threaded fittings. Of course I bought the tool, it was on sale and I may need one some day. Several days later a plastic fitting for the shower broke in the wall of our motorhome. Not able to find the threaded part at any of the local RV stores and not willing to wait for an ordered part, we went looking at a hardware store. I found the fitting made of brass, the angle was right and the mounting boss could be made to work. One end of the part had the needed ½ inch pipe thread and the other in PEX. But it was the residential crimp PEX fitting. Well Gee, who do you suppose just happens to have a tool for that behind the seat of his truck. Like I said, “You just gotta love when a plan comes together!”