Beverly Hills, Florida December 2013 to March 2013

So many things occurred during this assignment.  This is one neat area in Florida.  My job was in Hernando at Woodland Terrace Nursing Home.  I started the week of Christmas, 12/23.  We stayed at Sandy Oaks RV park in Beverly Hills, FL, just 15 minutes from my work.  I worked with some awesome therapists, nurses, and CNA's at this facility.  My go to gal was Lissette, the rehab aide.  She was absolutely wonderful.  I love her.  All that being said, I believe I was there about 7 weeks.  I was the one this time giving my 2 weeks notice.  Not because of the people, but because of the company, just not ethical.  Enough of that.  We really loved the area and did many, many things for the short time we were there.  We met a great couple, Frank and Sharon from Tennessee.  They stayed at our park till end of March.  So, where do I start:
On Christmas Day, Kirk and I drove to the bay in Crystal River, then over Kings Bay to see the manatees. We had to back to the park early as we had signed up to eat Christmas dinner with the park people in the Club house.  They provided the meat, potatoes and gravy, dressing, and drinks.  Everyone else had signed up to bring a dish to pass.  We enjoyed a great meal with our new friends, Frank and Sharon.  I have to also mention that this year, my side of the family decided we would do homemade Christmas gifts.  At the time, it sounded simple, and fun.  It was fun, but not so simple.  Since I had learned to crochet a million years ago, and had made probably 2 afghans at that time, and had not crocheted since,  I thought I could crochet.  Well, after many mistakes and unravelings, I did manage to get through it, and in the process, actually learned how to crochet.  Still learning.
On 12/28 Kirk traded in his little blue 250 scooter for a 600 Honda Shadow motorcycle.  We have had some fun rides on it so far.
On 12/31 we celebrated NYE at the park clubhouse with Frank and Sharon.  They are such  a fun couple.  I do hope we are able to keep in touch with them.
On 1/3/14 Got word from Ben and Nicki that they thought Isaac broke his arm (fighting to put his coat on).  Fortunately, it was not broken, but badly something, and I don't recall just what.
On 1/4/14  we drove to Homosassa with Frank and Sharon to eat at a restaurant on the bay and view Monkey Island.  Now this is an interesting story.  Long story short, the monkeys on the island used to be from a research lab. For some reason the lab was shut down, and now the monkeys reside on this fun little island.  No one except for the caretakers are allowed on the island.  I hear the monkeys can be mean if they want to, and could hurt you.    The next day, Kirk and I rode the motorcycle to Cedar Key, FL.  Very nice ride, even though we took the long way ( someone took a wrong turn) and almost ran out of gas.  We had a great lunch there and walked around.  Very small place.  You could see Asina Odie Island  which used to be the original Cedar Key Island.
The next week, 1/11  Kirk and I drove down to Tarpon Springs, FL to visit the sponge docks.  This is a neat area.  My brother Rudy and his wife, Bev had told us about this place a few years ago.  I'm so glad we went.  This is a Greek community, so lots of delicious greek food.  The docks are close to their places of business.  One of the Greek store owners was kind enough to explain the process of making sponges, and the difference between the many kinds of sponges.  Who knew!  I thought all sponges were alike, but not anymore.  Kirk and I bought a couple of sponges, one for washing the RV and vehicles, and one for the shower.  I also bought some organic shea butter which i used in my homemade lotion.   Per our Greek store owners recommendation we ate gyros at Platka's.  Were told these were the best in Tarpon Springs.   After leaving Tarpon, we drove on down to Clearwater and took a walk on the beach.  It was 80' in the middle of January.  NICE!.  Oh yeah, today was also our granddaughter, Isabella's  4th birthday.
The next weekend 1/18 we drove down to Tampa with Frank and Sharon to the big RV show.  Saw a lot of new ideas that we might use in the future, but were good and did not buy anything.  After returning home, Kirk and I drove to Crystal River and ate at Crackers.
Kirk and I celebrated his birthday on 1/23 by eating at Stompknockers restaurant in Beverly Hills.  Since it was his birthday, he got a complimentary piece of Key Lime Pie.  By the way, did I mention that Kirk turned the BIG 60!!!  I'm officially married to an old man.
We had been doing something every weekend, and the next weekend was no exception.  We went kayaking  with Frank and Sharon, her sister and brother in law, Carol and Jim, and Mike from the campground on the Weeki Wachee River.  This river is absolutely beautiful.   It is crystal clear, sand bottom, and you can see every marine creature there is.  We were able to kayak next to the manatees, so much fun.  When we returned home, we watch the Super Bowl Game outside.  Seattle and Denver.  Seattle won.
I saw something on my way home from work one day that kinda freaked me out.  I thought it was an haboob, only to find out it was seafog coming in from the gulf.  I had never seen or heard of this, and it was quite weird, yet interesting.
I will keep this short.  We found, and ate at a Chuy's in Gainsville, Florida.  We also found out, but did not attempt, about the Chuy's burrito challenge.  You eat 2 burrito's you get the third one free ( at a time of your choice).  I forbade Kirk to even think about it.  It would surely have made him sick, and I did not want to deal with that.
Homosassa has a Wildlife State Park.  This was very fun and interesting.  The only non-native floridian creature in the park was a hippo.  Lu, the hippo was a former animal actor whose owner wintered him and other exotic animals in Homosassa in the 1960's.  Lu was retired and the Park purchased him.  However, the park decided to feature only animals native to Florida.  The people protested, and soon after, Lu was given an certificate as a citizen of Florida, allowing him to remain at the Park.
On 2/22 we attended the Cracker fest with Frank and Sharon at Rainbow Springs Park.  Have also heard that Rainbow Springs is another great place to kayak.
Kirk and I drove to Homosassa on another evening to eat at The Freezer.  Now this is a hole in the wall (one of the reasons we wanted to go) and is on the bay.  Boats, canoes, whatever, pull up in the bay just to eat here.  We had the best steamed shrimp we have ever had, all 2 lbs of it.  We were also told to get the smoked mullett dip, and are so glad we did.  Highly recommend this place.
Frank and Sharon talked us into going for a bike ride on the trail to Hernando.  Ten miles round trip.  So we packed a lunch and took off.  The other 3 did great, as they are regular bicycle riders.  I got my butt kicked. But, I made it, and would probably do it again.  Saw some interesting things along the way.
My last day at work in Hernando was March 4th.
On March 5 I had my first cataract surgery (left eye) at Ocala Eye Center.  Dr Ahmed did a great job. I had never known what it was like to see without glasses.  This eye is now 20/15 for distance.  I did have to give up my close vision and need to wear readers, but it was a good sacrifice.
Kirk and I left that Friday (after my surgery) for my next assignment in Lakeland.

                                      

 Flamingos at Homosassa Wildlife State Park

 Lu, the hippo at Wildlife State Park

 Tandem kayaking in the Weeki Wachee River 

 Monkey Island in Homosassa 

Kirk, Reina, Sharon, and Frank 

 Bringing in the New Year at Sandy Oaks RV Park in Beverly Hills

 Kayaking with the manatees in the Weeki Wachee River

 Kirks new toy!

 Driving through Floral City, FL on way to Beverly Hills

 Our site at Sandy Oaks

 Found us one in Gainsville

 Two pounds of heaven at the Freezer.  An ice cold Corona went great with this.

Isaac and mommy....so glad it wasn't broke.

Lakepark RV resort December 2013

So we left Midland very early in the morning on 12/5/13 as we saw the weather on the radar was going to be ICE.  We needed to stay ahead of it.  We also had to be in Florida in 3 days so I could start my job on Monday.  We drove to the south side of Ft Worth, TX where we met Rudy and Bev for lunch.   We had a fun lunch at Applebee's, but had to keep it short as the ice storm was fast approaching.  At least we were still ahead of it.  It's one thing to be in an ice storm in an RV when it's parked, but you definitely don't want to be in one when it's moving down the road.  We got back on the road and didn't stop till we got to Ajax, LA.  We had managed to escape the ice storm.  We stayed at Country Livin RV park there.  The guy in the office told us about a quaint little BBQ joint across the street.  After settling in, we walked over there.  Great BBQ and soul food.  The owner/cook (very old man) sat in the eating area on a sofa watching TV.  We struck up a conversation with him, as we were the only ones in there.  An interesting old man who was very difficult to understand because of his thick, southern accent.  It was still fun listening to him.
The next morning we headed down the road again, and made it as far as Marianna, FL.  There, we stayed at Arrowhead RV park.  It was a passport America park (which means if you are a PA member, and you stay at one of their campgrounds, the fee is usually 1/2 off).  As we finished checking in, the manager asked that we not leave before 0800.  Asking someone who is trying to make time to stay till 0800 is like asking us to not leave until noon.  Not going to happen!  This was an interesting place.  The site was not big enough to accommodate us, so the manager had us pull up till we were partially in the road ahead of us.  He said no one ever uses that road anyway.  Of course they don't.  Later that night, the Class C next to us decided they needed to go on a beer run.  They apparently didn't have a car, so drove their RV, missing our RV by only inches.  Very scary!  Later, another truck decided to use the road no one ever uses to wriggle through our RV and the camper ahead of us.  The next morning, we hear someone outside leaving near our RV.  Kirk runs out there to find someone leaving BEFORE 0800, and they need to get by our RV.  We tell them we can be up and out of there in 15 minutes.  They decided not to wait and went through another site.  So, we decided not to wait either, and headed down the road.  I'm sure he had the RV police after us :).
On 12/7 we arrived at Lakepark RV resort in Ft Myers, FL.  Except for the sign, you can't see this place from the road.  As you drive in, at first glance you think you are in a trailer park, then as you get to where you are going, it's great!  Robby, the manager had custom built an RV site just to accommodate us.  This guy is great.  He will go out of his way to please you.  He even put in a small deck, and put our site overlooking the lake.  We absolutely loved it there.
I started my job at Coral Trace nursing home in Cape Coral, FL on 12/9.  As sometimes can go with the travel part of working, I got my two weeks notice my first day on the job.  They had hired a permanent SLP while we were busting our fannies to get there in 3 days.  Anyway, again, it was a blessing in disguise.  We hated to be leaving our RV park, but we were fortunate to find another one in Hernando, FL.  While at Lakepark, we enjoyed the neighbors, listened to a concert directly across the lake from our campsite  featuring The Band Perry, Joe Nichols, and many other country bands.   It was also getting close to Christmas while we were there.  Being our stay was going to be short, we decided not to put up decorations.  Well, with getting cut short at my job, and missing my kids (the time of year ya know), I was feeling pretty down.  I came home from work one afternoon to find Kirk had put up all the Christmas lights inside the RV to cheer me up....which it did.  I know he always wants everyone to think he is an old grouch, but he's a great guy and I love him.  Since we were only in Ft Myers for 2 weeks, we tried to get to some of our favorite places from last time we were there 3 years ago.  We headed to Bonita Beach, known for their sunsets, and ate pizza at Doc's on the beach.  While we were eating our pizza on the beach, we watched an Irish TV crew filming "50 Ways to Kill Your Mother".  It was about one of the producers taking his mother all over the world and having her participate in dare devil type activities.  This one on Bonita Beach was having her parasail and jet ski.  Very fun to talk to and watch them.  We also drove over to Seminole Campground where we stayed 3 years ago, and visited with some of the regulars there.  The hardest part about leaving, was telling Robby we had to go.  We promised we would stay with them again whenever we were in the area.

 Country Concert across lake from our RV Site

 Eating Pizza on the beach watching the sunset

 View of Lakepark Lake from inside our RV 

 50 Ways to Kill Your Mother.  She was an old lady too!

 Kirk knew how to cheer me up...Christmas lights!

Perfect end to a perfect day on Bonita Beach.

Midland Texas

Not sure if many of you have ever been to Midland, TX, or why you would want to, but this was my next assignment following our wonderful vacation.  Now, I have learned to look at places we have traveled as NOT bad, just different.  This place was definitely different.  We had a terrible time finding a place to stay.  Let me give you a little history.  Midland is the fastest growing city in the nation at this time.  The reason being because of the oil boom!  Everybody and their brother, mother, sister, father, uncle, aunt, cousin, friend, etc is there working.  Housing is limited, and even if you do find a house, apt, etc.  you will be paying 10X what it is worth, because they (the landlords, etc) know they can get it.  That being said, many people travel there in their campers, motorhomes, 5th wheels, trailers (with sometimes many people in one camper) just to work there.  We found a place in Stanton, TX (about 20 minutes East of Midland) called Permian Basin Golf and RV Resort.  Now I know I've warned you never go by the pictures you see on the campground websites.  Most are not ANYTHING like it is when you get there.  Well, this couldn't be more true of this place.  They boasted a 9 hole free golf if you stayed with them, restaurant, pool, etc.  I thought I was going to be sick when we arrived.  All the sites are caliche.  In other words, pretty much hard red dirt.  There used to be a golf course, years ago, but to be fair, the holes were still there, so I guess you could at least practice your golf swing.  The restaurant was now the owners home, so no food.  There was a place where a pool used to be, but was no longer in use.  AND, I love dogs, have 2 of my own, but they allowed their many dogs to run around the campground and do their business in whoever's site they wanted.  Dang, it sounds like I'm complaining, but really, I'm just giving you the facts.  I would have been embarrassed for any of my friends and/or family to visit us there.  After one week of hell, we went for a drive and came upon a small campground, call AMC RV campground near Gardendale, TX.  Now, because of the oil boom, many people with any amount of land have turned that land into a campground.  You will see makeshift campgrounds everywhere you go.  That's exactly what this guy did at AMC.  Nicest guy you ever met.  Clause was great.  He had just had a site open (God was looking out for us that day).  We moved there immediately and stayed for the rest of my assignment.  My job started October 25, 2013 at Midland Memorial Hospital.  This was one of the best places I have ever worked.  Absolutely wonderful people to work with.  A little bit of trivia, this was the hospital where baby Jessica was taken when they fetched her from the well in 1987 (anyone remember that?).  Anyway, this part of west Texas is very dry, dirty, windy, and you can see oil wells drilling 24/7.  There is also fracking going on 24/7.  I will add this though, and this is what helped keep me sane (besides my husband, and awesome co-workers) Midland has the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets.  The week before Thanksgiving we had a terrible ice storm.  Believe me when I say, these are not fun in a motorhome. My last day at Midland was 12/4/13.  I accepted a job in Ft Myers, FL. 

 This dirt you see is called Caliche at our beautiful Golf and RV resort (UGH)

 This pic doesn't do justice to the beautiful sunrise...notice the oil well in the background burning off the natural gases.  This is a common site.

                                     

Tree outside our RV during the ice storm