2019-1
First Report of 2019
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| a View of Shelter Cove from Center Lake |
St Cloud Florida
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| a couple of banners used in past years to celebrate St Cloud Florida's history which was originally developed as a Yankee "Soldiers Town" after the Civil War |
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| one of the buildings at Peghorn Park, a favorite park I like to visit |
The start of 15 years on the Road.
I feel like I should say Glory Hallelujah!
Welcome back to
Roving Reports by Dougp. I had originally planned to stay out west
this past winter season, but with the purchase of a new RV lot, my
3rd one in Shelter Cove, I decided it would be best if I
actually spend some time on the new lots and see how my tenants are
getting on on the other two Rv lots. If you remember from last
season, I purchased the Rv lot while in Washington/Oregon last fall
and then traveled to Phoenix AZ to pick up a “new to me” Chevy
truck. That was quite an adventure purchasing both within a month of
each other and then continuing onto Florida. A trip I try not to
make in such a relatively short time frame. As a full time Rv-er I
much prefer to take a couple of months to travel such great distances
so this was quite to undertaking for me going from Washington State
to Florida in such a short time frame.
Once I arrived in St
Cloud Florida and settled in on my new RV lot, I was able to visit
with my niece Kelly and her family a couple of times throughout the
winter season and usually took my sister Dorothy out to lunch on a
weekly basis. In-between all of that, I’ve had way too many
doctors visits, general physicals, dermatology exams/biopsies/skin
cancer surgeries and finally a round of visits to the Glaucoma eye
specialist(s). That’s been quite the ordeal as the new doctor was
not to my liking and I’ve had to make further appointments with my
eye specialist in Maitland, about an hour and a half drive through
Orlando traffic. Hoping for a second opinion and better diagnosis
later this week.
followup: see update, below....
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| my niece Kelly, Rusty and Brooke and Luke so enjoyable to be able to visit family on occasion |
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| my sister Dorothy, we had a few boat rides with Kelly and Rusty, love being on the water |
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| On the Alligator chain of lakes, going through the connecting canals |
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| My new to me 2008 Chevy truck and Open Range 5th wheel on lot 390, my newest Rv lot. |
The new Rv lot needed no upgrades or additional plantings as it has a century plant, Sable Palm (on left), Queen Palm (in center) and Fan Palm (tallest on right) (Washingtonian or Mexican Palm) and is the largest of all three RV lots with lots of grass and backs up to a large grassy common area as well.
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| my new RV lot 390 |
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| patio set up for relaxing and happy hour |
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| a view from our boat ramp |
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| early morning fog, looking at my lot 390 |
I’m not a
particularly great “snowbird”, staying in one location for months
on end, it's ok but I'm always eager to get back on the road and exploring this
great country. Having lived in central Florida for so long, there is
little for me to explore unless I’m willing to drive a couple of
hours each way to see something I’ve already seen in the past.
But the weather this winter has been awesome, often in the 80's, unfortunately my friends in Tucson AZ have had lots of cold weather including snow... :/
Have you noticed
that Facebook has become all adds and people forwarding
jokes/political satire/ and stuff your supposed to forward to “prove”
you are a believer in what ever they are passionate about. It’s
hard to actually see any posting from friends in-between all the
junk.
So I will most
likely get back to posting more Roving Reports as I get to share my
story without the excess crap that goes along with FB. I do hope you
will take the time to read my rambling thoughts and travel stories
and when you send me note about my rambling stories, it’s often the
only way I know you are out there. And your suggestions and comments
will help me produce a better report, so thanks in advance as I
always love hearing from you.
I’m eager to once
again share not only my adventures but also my travel tips, hints and
hopefully stories about some interesting characters I meet along the
way.
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| Shelter Coves swimming pool popped out of the ground almost a year ago after draining it for resurfacing. rebuilding a newer, bigger pool, very exciting to see progress |
RV Tip:
ROKU.
UNLIMITED INTERNET
(Verizon cell Phone or wi-fi hub)
My biggest upgrade
to the camper has been a $29 ROKU stick that attaches to the HDMI
slot on the back of the TV. Using my Verizon phone with unlimited
internet service (ie 15 gigabytes for phone and same amount for
Tablet) I’m able to stream free movies/tv/ U-Tube programs and much
more. Along with over-the-Air local tv, I have more than enough
entertainment. I’m a huge fan of U-Tube and Retro TV as well as
the ROKU channel. We’ve come along way in 15 years I’ve been on
the road. Remembering how I used to hunt down free wi-fi signals in
fast food restaurants, libraries, laundromats and finally one of the
last places I went to, I was in a small town in Georgia and was able
to park in front of the local police station and use their open wi-fi
link. It was at that point I finally decided to see about getting
internet access through my phone, as it was just coming into it’s
own back those many years ago.
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| so many tv, movies, old time vintage shows on Roku and most are free viewing! |
Eye Update:
Well I finally made
it up to my Drs. Office in Maitland and am glad to say I got a much
better evaluation on my eyes. I have lost some sight in one eye and
he agreed with me that we need to get the eye pressures down even
more to alleviate the damage the pressure is doing to my eyes. With
that, I’m on one new eye drop and will have to wait in the area for
6 weeks to determine if it is enough to reduce my eye pressures.
In the mean time, I
am working on getting all three of my Rv lots rented long term. If
all goes well, that will be accomplished within the next couple of
weeks. One lots has the tenants exiting two months before their lease
is up, but I have folks ready to move in days later. And the Rv lot
I’m on may be rented as of March 1st if all goes well
and I will head to Moss Park as a camp host for about a month and a
half.
Followup: I've rented my last Rv lot, and have moved over to Moss park today where I'll be a camp-host for a little over a month. Almost on the road again.... awaiting the next eye doctor appt.
Followup: I've rented my last Rv lot, and have moved over to Moss park today where I'll be a camp-host for a little over a month. Almost on the road again.... awaiting the next eye doctor appt.
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| my good friend Ron, a Michigan park ranger came for a visit, so great to have friends meet up. |
Rv maintenance:
Getting ready for my road travels, I’ve purchased 4 new heavy duty
tires for the truck. The 5th wheel campers tires are 4
years old and are holding up very well. Thank goodness I went to G
rated 12 ply heavy duty trailer tires, best investment I’ve made
for the truck and camper.
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| One of my dearest friends, Ruthie Poo from the Orlando area |
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| and a very old, old, old friend (giggle) Patrick, a true friend who has always been there.... |
My little corner of Florida Paradise
Festival of Trees Orlando Art Museum
Thanksgiving with Kelly, Rusty and family, Sister Dorothy
Peghorn Park, St Cloud Florida, folk music
St Cloud old murals
Shelter Cove swimming pool construction
