2017-3 Saint Cloud Florida, Battle of Narcoossee

2017-3

Saint Cloud Florida

Busy Time Before Heading Out  (Part 1)

Shelter Cove Clubhouse at night

Campground:  Shelter Cove Resort.  Two Rv Lots for Rent, Check out my Blog report @ ShelterCoveLot55.blogspot.com for more info. And share site with your fellow Rv-ers.

Obviously this blog is supposed to be about my travels and we will get to that, but I have to fill in all my readers on the recent events before heading out for the season.  So consider this more or less the prep work required to get back on the road.

I delayed all winter long about making an appointment with the dermatologist in town figuring I only had one little spot worth looking into.  Well, after making the appointment and seeing the doctor, He found much more than I expected.  The doctor aggressively zapped 10 pre-cancerous spots, did a biopsy on one spot and removed an icky looking spot on the middle of my back.  I go in next week to have surgery on spot that had the biopsy.  One good thing about a small town is that I can get a doctor’s appointment very quickly.  Delaying my travel plans an extra week.

Dave and Vickie to the left
"Dave's girls"

The big news though is that my neighbor, Dave and Vickie, have decided to move for health reasons as well as getting Vickie much closer to the sweetest little grandchild imaginable.  Their RV lot which had an old trailer on it was going to be sold.  As things have turned out, I am able to purchase the Rv lot since Dave was planning on having the old trailer moved off of the lot.  With the trailer gone, I would be able to convert the site back into an Rv lot and rent it out.  Or possibly move my own camper on it while wintering in Florida, leaving my current RV lot available for rent.  Hint, hint, to all my friends reading this, I’d love to have you come visit and be my next door neighbor.

Dave and Vickie's trailer being moved out
that's my camper on the right

the neighbors watching the move

Things have moved on rather swiftly since Dave and Vickie moved out this past week.  Days later the trailer was disconnected and moved on out.  Though there’s much more to that story and I hope to fill you all in on it down the road.  Within days, I’ve been able to contract for improvements to the Rv lot.  Additional Concrete pad will be installed making the lot a pull-thru site.  Upgrades to the electric/water and sewer are also in the works.  All these tasks are so much simpler to accomplish in a small town.  Being able to get service within days instead of weeks or months elsewhere.

Imagine, something I had planned for down the road, perhaps within the next couple of years, is coming to fruition as we speak.

this is the Rv lot I'm purchasing.  The concrete pad will be expanded
Water/Electric and Sewer will be upgraded

simple installation

Along with all the excitement, I have been preparing for my travels.  Getting a new toilet installed in the camper was essential.  The closing lever never functioned properly when flushing the toilet and there are no adjustments that can be made.  After a couple of years of iffy service, I finally had a couple occasions where the toilet kept running, water filling the holding tank or the most recent event where the toilet overflowed. Ekkk!  Water flooded the floor, down the heating duct and into the basement.  It was quite a clean up project at 2 am in the morning.

That task was recently taken care of this past week.  I now have a functioning “thrown room”.  More tasks will follow, including restocking the basement with essentials, greasing the wheel hubs, checking tire pressures on truck and camper and a few other odds and ends.

Now you might think that would be more than enough to keep me busy but one has to have fun activities as well.  Here at Shelter Cove we’ve had a great season playing shuffleboard, bingo and game nights are popular as well.  I even headed up a Casino Cruise for the community, taking my sister Dorothy along as she’s the gambler in the family.  What an awesome day out on the water off of Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center.  Along with the 4 floors of gambling, there was a dance floor with a great band, buffet lunch and what I enjoyed the most, the top back deck of the ship where you would find me most of the day enjoying a guitar player, outdoor bar and seating to enjoy the blue skies and ocean views.

top deck my favorite location

4 floors of gaming

Cape Canaveral Florida

I started taking another online college course in the past couple of weeks.  It’s out of Harvard University and the class is called:  The Architectural Imagination.  The lectures are very well presented by various professors in the Architectural field and the visuals are stunning.  Lots of new vocabulary for me to learn and digest as well.

Re enactment of the Battle of Narcoossee Mill

On Saturday I headed out to the Ralph Chisholm park to experience the Battle at Narcoossee Mill.  It’s a Civil War reenactment.  A fancy brochure is given to each guest as we pay our $7 entry fee.  It covers and supports the Confederate point of view, never mentioning slavery as the reason for the civil war.  One description states:  “these individuals were pursuing the dual and what they believed to be honorable, causes of maintaining the sovereignties of Florida and the Confederate states of America.”  The reenactment included a Confederate and Yankee camp with actors in costume playing the parts.  The battle was basically over the sugar mill.  Remains of which are still visible today.  The Yankee army was in the pursuit of  disrupting all commerce in the south which could fund and aid the rebels.  And the small sugar mill became one of those objectives.  The confederate army won this battle but in an odd twist of fate, Saint Cloud, as I’ve mentioned in previous articles, was founded as a settlement for the veterans of the Great Army of the Republic (Yankee’s) after the war between the states.

at the Union camp site

Union Campsite, many slept here overnight

one of the re-enactors

an oak tree heavily draped with Spanish Moss

getting into position for the battle

the Confederate soldiers

strategy of the war games

There was also a fine three piece band called “7 pounds of Bacon”.  Playing lots of civil war era tunes.  (You-Tube video) 

The Travel Report:

RV Tip:  I’ve found a nifty little smart phone app called “haystack”.  Do you collect business cards and fellow Rv-ers “travel cards”, then can’t find the card when you need it?  Well haystack is an app that scans in those business cards using your cell phone camera.  It then reads the info and stores it all in your “contacts” list.  Look for “haystack business card reader” in the play store.

Additional Photos:

Around the area

Dave and Vickies Trailer moved off the Lot I'm purchasing

Battle of Narcoossee Mill

To be continued:  Part 2

2017-2 Exploring Osceola County Florida

2017-02

Exploring Osceola County

Campground:  Shelter Cove Rv community.  I own a lot here and will be renting it out when not in-residence.  See my Shelter Cove Rental site for more info.

2017 Travel Season….
Target date:  Mid March

The 2017 travel season is almost upon us and I’m ready to start my 13th year on the road again.  It’s been very pleasant this winter in the Central Florida area as the temperatures have been almost perfect all winter long.  With only a few days being chilly/cold.  As we often say in Florida, We survived the 3 days of winter.

We even had happy hour shuffle board games
Sun was really bright for those facing it

It’s Feb 9th and I’ve gone for a swim a couple of times this past week as the daytime temps are in the low 80’s and the pool water is back up to the 82-84 degree range.  I continue to lead the shuffleboard games on Wednesday and we recently had a happy hour/shuffleboard event one weekend.  Lots of fun and was able to have my Sister Dorothy and an Arizona friend, Jim M, join us for all the fun.

Shuffleboard history.  Did you know shuffleboard was originally a tavern game and was first introduced as a shuffleboard court on a cruise ship in the 1840’s.  It  made the leap so to speak from ship to shore in Daytona beach in 1913.  St Petersburg Florida  had the most elaborate courts with 110 courts and 5,000 members.  Today the club is still active and has 65 courts.  It remains a popular sport in Florida and Saint Cloud has an active club and courts in town.

The big news recently has been that Kissimmee which is in Osceola County and right next door to Saint Cloud is the fastest growing area in Florida this year.  How did they figure that out?  Well, they track one way rentals at U-haul and that’s how they came up with the info.

holy cow, that can only mean more snowbirds moving to Florida

Have you ever misplaced something and just can’t seem to find it anywhere?  Well the other day I was looking for my large National Geographic’s U.S. map book.  It’s not something that one can hide easily as it’s pretty big.  Since I couldn’t find it and I had wanted to start a new map book for travels starting this spring, I picked up a Michelin Large format Atlas 2017 along with a U.S foldable map that’s plastic coated for quick reference.  We travelers love our maps and I certainly hope I can find my old one as it has many notations one each page/state with invaluable information.  The new Michelin book has a unique feature in that many states also show surrounding portions of other states bordering the main one featured.  Great for seeing where I’ll be crossing into an adjacent state.

Won’t be long before this map book will be heavily highlighted with travel routes.  Let the adventures begin.

We Rv travelers love our maps

Exploring old ruined church of dreams.  

Exploring Jesus Miracle Chapel ruins

I was watching the local news the other day and an article came up about the Jesus Miracle Chapel in Holopaw.  Holopaw (more or less a dot on the map) being only about 15 miles from Shelter Cove, I decided I had to go see the place for myself.  The story goes that the builder of the chapel, a Rev Lee Hoffman, 92 of age, was trying to re-build what he had started.  Osceola County is ready to condemn the place and the pictures will pretty much tell you why.  It fell into disrepair due to lack of funds to complete it and health issues.  Hurricane Charley didn’t help matters.

might be time to move on?

hurricanes and poor construction 

I met Mark Lund who is valiantly attempting to remove rotting timbers with the hope of rebuilding when fund raising gets under way.  Some folks sure have big dreams even when confronted with what appear to be insurmountable odds.  So consider these the before pictures and next fall when I come back to this area I’ll update you on the progress,  if any, of these Christian’s with really big dreams.  Reminds me of the song 

“Next time your found, with your chin on the ground

There's a lot to be learned, so look around

Just what makes that little old ant Think he'll move that rubber tree plant

Anyone knows an ant, can'tMove a rubber tree plant

But he's got high hopes, he's got high hopesHe's got high apple pie, in the sky hopes”

One might say I’m overly optimistic, and I’ll plead guilty to that any day.  The song alone puts a smile on my face.  Did you know it came out in 1948, singer Frank Sinatra.

Lots of little things to keep me busy this past winter.  I took a tour of historic homes built in the 1910-20’s era for the Union soldiers here in Saint Cloud. You might remember from a previous report that the town was developed as a retirement location for Union soldiers after the Civil War.  Land was provided for building a home in-town plus 5 acres farming plots outside of town.  Cost started at $25 and sold out quickly.  Prices gradually rose and a new town was born.  These are some of the historical home still in use today.

a sampling of the 1910-20 era home in St Cloud

concrete blocks made to look like cut stone

typical Florida Cracker home

this is a Sear's House, shipped by rail to the site
as a kit with all parts, windows, doors etc.

The local VFW and American Legion often have breakfast/lunch or dinner specials for members and visitors.  My sister Dorothy and I took advantage of one at the VFW and had a hearty breakfast for $5 all inclusive and browsed their indoor flea-market.

An interesting factoid about my local area.  Across the from lake Center is a community with some rather unusual named streets.  The main entrance is called “Eden Street”.  With the following streets off of it:  Adam street, Apple street, Creation Street, Eve Street, Fall Street and Fig Street.  After that come Genesis Court and Temptation Court.  I’ll check out the local library to see if I can find an answer as to why the streets are so named.

pine trees are now planted from airplanes!

I haven’t been able to get much information on the unusual naming of streets, but I have found out that there was a Shaker Settlement back in the early 1900’s on the outskirts of Saint Cloud.  The
Mormon’s also own thousands of acres of ranch land here in Osceola County and it’s possible the naming of streets might have something to do with either of those groups.  I drove over to the community along Eden Street and talked to a number of neighbors there.  Seems there are quite a few retired airline pilots who filled me in on the pilot lifestyle.  Many of the retired pilots continue to work overseas.  They were telling about a buddy of theirs who fly’s special charter flights out of Saudi Arabia.  He was hired to fly to Paris to pick up a jacket that someone had left there.  Flying back to return the jacket, it was the only passenger for the round-trip flight.  Now that’s when you know you have more money than you know what to do with it.

We were talking about all the pine trees in the area and the pilots told me how they now plant tree seedlings via air-drops.  Each seedling having been wrapped with a bit of dirt, water, fertilizer and a pointed cone shaped weight that plunges to earth from the plane and plants itself in the sandy soil of Florida.  They said that’s how most all forests are re-planted these days.  One pilot even said that’s how they plant rice patties here in the states.  I learn something new every day.

RV traveler Tip:  Verizon has reintroduced the “unlimited” data plan.  I signed up for it even though I already had a grandfathered “unlimited” plan but with limits on voice and I had to pay for each text message.  The new plan saved me money, and now I have unlimited data/text and phone service including use in Canada and Mexico.  Even got a new cell phone and 10” tablet and I’m still under what I was previously paying.  Making me a Happy Camper.  Check it out, it might be worth updating your cell-phone plan.

Enjoy your day and get started on planning your next adventure.