A six week hiatus in the Tampa area

My mom's mobile home in Zephyrhills, which is now for sale

Nov 16-Jan 2, Zephyrhills, Florida--my mom’s home

After leaving San Sebastian Inlet State Park, we headed to Zephyrhills (near Tampa) where my mother lived the last twelve years of her life.  She and my step-father moved here after he had a stroke in 1999. With his confinement to a wheel chair, dealing with the harsh winters of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula was no longer viable.  My niece Shannon was instrumental in finding a senior mobile home park for her grandmother to be close to family—three grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren and an ex-daughter in law. My mother’s only living sibling, her younger sister Terry and her husband also moved to the area almost ten years ago.  My brother Jerry also has recently made Zephyrhills his home and my son Jesse has been living here since the fall.  So, coming to Zephyrhills means reconnecting with family, a welcome shift from our rather anonymous lifestyle on the road, especially with the upcoming holiday season.

My mom's lanai--sure miss having a cup of coffee with her here!

My Aunt Terry and me on her lanai (patio)

Researching available parks in the Zephyrhills area, I found myself quite surprised to see the number of places we had to choose from.  I wanted to be fairly close to my mom’s mobile home park and wanted to be in a park that was both reasonable and attractive as we were considering the possibility of staying here through Christmas.  I went with the highest rating in Woodall’s which was a Carefree park called Majestic Oaks.  The park turned out to be a rather large one (200 sites) with most sites containing park models—something which seems to be the norm in Florida.  We were, however, impressed with the wide streets, concrete patios, and well-maintained facilities.  The park also has an attractive pool, lighted tennis courts, bocce ball, shuffleboard and a daily activity schedule for card games, music nights, dances, etc.  Two of the unadvertised bonuses of the park are large open fields where the dogs could be off-leash and a perfect view for watching skydivers from the internationally known Zephyrhills skydiving club.  One other discovery was the park’s association with Passport America.  We were able to stay for two weeks at 1/2 price, making the daily rate around $14. The monthly rate was only $500 so our stay here would be not only comfortable, but economical. Our site was mixed in with park models, but the park does have a section which seems to be mostly reserved for long term stays of fifth wheels and motor homes.

The clubhouse at Majestic Oaks RV Resort

A major focus of my time here is to help my brother complete projects in getting my mother’s mobile home on the market. For me, these projects included interior painting, removing some wallpaper, general cleaning, and staging the home for potential buyers.  It feels good to be useful after spending the last few months with few responsibilities other than navigating and researching campsites. Aside from working on the house, Vic and I have been taking little side trips to explore the area such as Plant City (fruit and veggie markets), Dade City (antiques), Wesley Chapel (the hip Wiregrass Mall), and The Villages—self-contained retirement communities).  I also discovered a lounge well-known for its night club dancing—only thirteen miles from our RV park—called the Red Rose Inn. We went here on a Friday night and the house band played a great variety of danceable tunes—no cover charge.  A couple sat down next to us; he ordered scotch on the rocks, and she ordered a martini straight up.  They were there for their anniversary, to have a couple drinks, and to dance. He was 93 years old and she was 88!  How inspiring!

My niece had everyone to her house for Thanksgiving including my youngest brother Mike and his wife Bonnie. I love large family gatherings and haven’t had many chances to be a part of them living in Oregon for so long.  A big twist for us this year was the southern tradition of frying the turkey. Vic was a little skeptical, but it turned out great.  (My nephew Brian mastered the art of infusing the turkey with apple cider, butter, and spices.) To add to my family’s delight, the Green Bay Packers beat the Detroit Lions.

The day after Thanksgiving it seemed like the whole park lit up. It was fun to walk the dogs at night and see the many ways people decorated their fifth wheels, motorhomes, and park models.  Having brought no decorations with us, I felt compelled to find some way of making The Big EZ reflect the holiday spirit. Made a quick trip to Target where I bought a small fake tree (3 ft.) with battery-operated LED lights and three sets of white LED lights to hang inside.  Also, my brother, a compulsive garage sale shopper, found outdoor decorations for us that cost less than a bottle of wine—so we managed to put sparkle everywhere. 

My son Brooks and Rico in our home in Corvallis
 before we left last summer.

I have to admit that this time of year makes me miss our home the most as I loved going all out with decorations for Christmas and having a holiday open house for our Corvallis friends. Christmas in Oregon also meant a time for enjoying many fires in the fireplace, especially in the morning with hot chocolate for Vic and a cappuccino for me.  No campfires in the Zephyrhills park—although I think they would allow self-contained one that are off the ground—something I have been eyeing at Camping World and Lowes. Christmas in Corvallis also meant having my mom and two sons with us and Christmas in Florida would mean being apart from my oldest son Brooks.

We are also sad not to be able to enjoy the holidays with my step-children and grandkids in California. In retrospect, we wished we had arranged to have them come to Disney World for the holidays as it would have been a perfect way to see each other and add the fun of a Disney experience or all the other big attractions Orlando has to offer. Not to be this year, but we would like to consider this possibility for next year if we are back in Florida.

A photo from the last time we got
together with half of the Calif. kids

The granddaughters, Chloe and Isabelle, posing
at the oldest remaining Big Boy in Burbank, Ca.

Another major difference this year was the minimal shopping we did compared to life in our “stick and brick house.” We shopped on Amazon and bought gift cards for the grandkids and kept other gift shopping to a minimum this year.  It was refreshing to abandon the practice (for me) of wrapping gifts ‘til 1 or 2 in the morning on Christmas Eve.  The experience of losing my mom and sorting out her belongings, then reducing our own belongings to a storage shed has helped curb my desire to spend time and energy acquiring things.

We were happy to discover that the Eukanuba dog show was being held in Orlando, Dec. 14-17 and that my sister-in-law Sandy would be attending it to see her dog Garth compete.  An added surprise was learning that one of my former colleagues, Julie, and her family would also be at Disneyworld at the same time.  Seeing Garth and 38 other Portuguese Water Dogs at the show was quite fun and we were also able to enjoy poolside drinks and appetizers with Julie and her family after picking up my sister-in-law who was going to come back to Zhills with us for a few days.

My sister-in-law's grand champion, Garth

The line-up of PWDs

I am partial to black and white PWDS.

The dog is from Portugal where they let their hair grow
long everywhere except the back end lion cut.

I was hankering to get closer to the water, so we took a day trip with Sandy to a place called Tarpon Springs, home of the sponge industry. This was a little shore town settled mostly by Greeks because of the sponge industry. The town itself looked a little tired, but quaint and we enjoyed a lunch on the bay with the smell of seafood and the sounds of shorebirds—making for a peaceful getaway. It was delightful to have Sandy spend time with us (and the dogs!) share meals with us in the motorhome (she opted for staying in a nearby hotel). The weather has been phenomenal the whole time we have been here (highs in the 70s or low 80s) and I think she came to appreciate how comfortable life could be in a motorhome.

Another highlight of the season for me was making Christmas cookies with my aunt. She wanted to make a Hungarian cookie her mother used to make—one that I never made before. My grandmother originally made the cookie dough with lard, but we chose to use butter-flavored Crisco (I would also like to try it with butter). You roll the dough in powdered sugar and we filled the cookie with apricot filling like a little pillow. They truly did melt in your mouth. I also still follow the tradition of making Hungarian kolackys for Christmas which I gave as presents this year. I did have the unfortunate discovery that cookies in Florida become soggy from the humidity. (Putting them in fridge helped—or freezing might be better.)

We had a holiday meal on Christmas Eve at my niece Kim’s house and played a gift exchange game afterwards. My own family tradition has always centered on a meal on Christmas day so it was good to try something new with a gathering on Christmas Eve. On Christmas morning at the motorhome, I made a brunch for my brothers, sister-in-law, and son Jesse. We managed to be quite comfy inside; it was a relaxing way to spend a sunny Christmas morning followed by watching football games outside on our patio.

One more week as we decided to take off to explore the southern part of the Gulf coast on Jan. 2. This week has been a typical time for us to catch up with Oscar-nominated movies, so we took in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Descendants, The Artist, and The Iron Lady. We were pleased with each film (in wildly different ways) and think that each was Oscar worthy with the Dragon Tattoo probably the least so.



My niece Karen and me

This is also the first time I have been able to attend my oldest brother Bob's annual holiday/birthday party. We drove about an hour and half north to Dunnelon and spent the late afternoon and evening at his home with my two other brothers, my niece and her children, and several of Bob's local friends. The other bonus was showing Vic my brother's amazing and eccentric homestead as he had never been to his place before.


The dilemma of how to spend New Year’s resolved itself by choosing to play it low key, going to a local wings place, shooting pool with my brother (not something I do often) and enjoying my niece and son’s company before we move on. We had considered going to a big New Year’s party featuring The Platters at the Red Rose Inn until we found out the tickets were almost $500 per couple. We had hoped to be in Mazatlan with our good friends Sharon and Bruce celebrating in style at the Torres Hotel but had to face the reality that getting to Mazatlan from the east coast and finding suitable place to leave the dogs presented too big of a challenge for us this year.  Plus we were less motivated to leave the sunny tropical winter we were experiencing in Florida compared to the typically dreary rainy winters of Oregon.  We try to get to Mexico at least once a year and, with my retirement, certainly had visions of gallivanting off to Mexico whenever we felt like it.  The decision to buy this motor home and pursue this lifestyle came about when we realized with the economy downturn and the escalation of the drug war in Mexico—it wasn’t a good time for us to invest in property there.  We still would like to pursue spending winters in Mexico after we get weary of full-time RV living.  

Happy New Year's everyone!

Time for saltwater fishing

Nov 15-20,  Vero Beach/Melbourne Beach, Florida 

Several years ago my niece Kim had told me that one of her favorite places to go in Florida was Vero Beach, so before we headed inland to Zephyrhills, the town where my mother lived and where my son, brother, aunt, two nieces and one nephew live, we thought we should check out this part of the East Coast of Florida (having decided fairly early on that we would not be going any further south on the East Coast than Daytona Beach.  So this was our chance.  We found a Good Sam/Encore Park in Vero Beach that was spacious, clean, and reasonably priced.  (The only drawback was that it was about twenty minutes from the beach itself. . . .) We were pretty surprised at the wealth in this area, especially the mansions on the beach that were mostly hidden from view by tall landscaping, but the real estate signs advertised homes starting from $ 6 million and up! The beaches here are fairly quiet, a few fishermen, surfers, and walkers and very few tourists-too early for snowbirds? The downtown area had several high end stores but the neighborhood (and wealth) seemed to shift abruptly to the have-nots once you cross the Indian River Lagoon. 

It wasn’t long before I wanted to try my hand at fishing again, Heard from my female fisherwomen in St. Augustine that the state park,San Sebastian Inlet in Melbourne Beach is one of the best fishing areas in the United States. Vic and I took a side trip to check it out and discovered it was a great place for RV camping. We booked a reservation and returned the next day. The options for fishing were to go directly on the ocean for surf fishing, a pier on the jetty (elbow to elbow people), fish right off the banks next to the park, or try the pier right at the campground on the Indian River lagoon. I opted for the latter after making a quick trip to the closest bait and tackle shop. The major fish in the area included red fish, mullet, flounder, tarpon, and snook. I decided that flounder was my target and learned that the best bait was live minnows. I bought a dozen along with the proper weights and hooks as well as an aerator for my bucket to keep my live bait alive. (Vic seemed a little surprised how motivated I was to go fishing as my morning routine has been pretty slow when there is no tangible reason to get up and get going.) About noon of my first day fishing my reel broke, and, after consulting with a few experienced fishermen, we concluded that it was toast. Vic took me back to the bait store to get a new reel. By now he could see that I was more serious about fishing than he had expected, so he encouraged me to get some better equipment (no sense putting a good reel on a shoddy rod). I left the tackle store with a Penn reel and Star fishing rod (and more live bait). The only other challenge turned out to be the no-see-ums which were covering my ankles and biting non-stop. This problem required another trip to the tackle store to get the famous Avon spray: Skin So Soft. It really does work and at least it does not have the toxicity of deet! Well, after three days of fishing I had caught only two flounder that were too small to keep, but I was totally addicted to the thrill of feeling their characteristic tug and the challenge of being patient while they took the bait.  

This inlet connects the Indian River with the Atlantic ocean,
creating a well-known thorough-fare for fish.
Method of Catching Flounder:

Flounder are a very cautious fish. They will often take bait in their mouth shallow enough not too hook for several minutes only to spit out the bait. This is because the grab the bait and turn it for swallowing later. After a hit wait patiently if possible, giving the fish plenty of time, to set the hook -- then set the hook when the flounder tries to move to a new ambush position--from flfishandgame.com  

Note: I don't remember much else about this place aside from my obsession with fishing everyday!

Visiting America's oldest city

Nov. 8-15,  St. Augustine Beach

I had read about the Atlantic beaches in St. Augustine and decided we should try to find a campground close to the beach. Well, we did—North Beach Camp Resort. The campground really felt like an old Florida setting as our site was on sand and crushed shells in the midst of palm trees and other tropical vegetation. The other big bonus (for me) was the discovery that the predominant pastime in this park was fishing as it is located on a barrier island between the Atlantic Ocean and the North River. Shortly after getting settled in the park, I headed out to the river front area where there was a pier with two women fishing on it. They both had purple fishing rods and reels and they encouraged me to join their group by going to the local bait and tackle store and getting a purple rig like theirs. Within an hour, Vic took me to the Avid Angler on Ponce de Leon Blvd. where I purchased a one year saltwater license and gear for my first fishing adventure of the trip. Over the next three days, I caught mostly silver trout which I cleaned, filleted, and fried for lunch. I did have several “tugs” from the local flounder, but never was able to land one

Our tropical new home in Florida

This is what the sites look like empty--very private.

Campsite road leading to the North River

A second highlight of this locale was the discovery of two good bars within walking distance of the campground: one on the ocean called the Reef Restaurant and the other called the Victory Bar inside Aunt Kate’s restaurant on the river. We went to the Reef for happy hour and discovered one of their house wines was Firesteed Pinot Noirwhich is a Willamette Valley winery about twenty minutes from where we used to live in Corvallis, Oregon. Pretty surprising as Firesteed used to be a fairly small winery. Aunt Kate’s was a charming old-fashioned riverfront cafe with a colorful history dating back over 100 years involving Henry Flagler, a Standard Oil and railroad magnate who seems to have owned much of Florida back in the early 1900s.

Day two also included exploring the historic downtown area of this country’s oldest city.  We enjoyed the colonial Spanish architecture, restored Missions and the reenactments of life dating as far back as the discovery of the fountain of youth by Ponce de Leon in 1565. I also like all the pirate history and displays of treasures discovered off this coastline (sends my imagination reeling). Another fun discovery was a colonial style Spanish tavern called Taberna del Gallo, a small candlelit bar where you are served beer or sangrias by pirates singing sea shanties. 

We enjoyed our time here as it was relatively quiet in terms of tourists and had much to offer in terms of charm. We also liked having the North River access on one side of the campground and the dog firendly ocean beaches right across the street. The bright Florida sunshine and loud surf of the Atlantic felt just right.

Cosmos in the streets

Nov. 5-Nov. 8—Savannah, Georgia

Next stop –Savannah. Other than hearing about Paula Dean’s famous restaurant, A Lady and her Sons, and having several former students attend Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), I wasn’t sure what to expect in visiting Savannah.  We chose to stay at Savannah Oaks Campground, a place we heard of from a “wagon master” of a caravan tour we met in Williamsburg.  Nothing fancy, but good sites, reasonable rates, and easy access to the city. Our first night we chose to take a ride to the downtown area and walk the streets with the dogs to get the lay of the land.  We found the riverfront area which was becoming quite lively on a Friday night.  I needed to use a restroom and walked into a crowded bar where I saw a chalkboard sign listing their special drinks for the evening.  The part that really caught my eye was it said ORDER ONE TO GO.  After using the facilities, I stopped and asked the bartender about the sign.  She said Savannah was one of the last few cities in the country that allowed patrons to order alcoholic drinks to go.  This news put a smile on my face and I walked back out to greet Vic and the dogs with their drink of the day: a Cosmos on the rocks.  After joining the growing number of people on this delightful river walk area, I noticed many of them had drinks to go as well creating a very festive atmosphere. The other standout experience was the fabulous music that seemed to lurk around every corner.  We stopped and listened to a first class jazz saxophonist for a while and then later discovered some Reggae music on the next block.  The best was yet to come with a full stage set up and a musical do-whop performance going on for free.  There were also several arts and craft booths all along the riverfront.  This was not a special festival of any kind—just an ordinary fall evening in Savannah. 

Savannah riverfront

On our second day in Savannah, I convinced Vic we just had to try Paula Dean’s restaurant: The Lady and Sons. We discovered Sunday’s menu was a buffet (my least favorite), but we decided to go ahead and try it anyway.  We put our name in around 1 p.m. in the afternoon and expected at least an hour wait.  Not so—we were seated upstairs immediately and before we knew it were eating cheddar biscuits, southern fried chicken, and all the sides you could imagine.  Vic managed to save room dessert, Georgia peach cobbler (imagine that!).  My favorite part of the experience was the building itself, a two-hundred-year-old building that was a former hardware store on Congress Street in downtown Savannah. While there, I noticed an advertisement for Paula Deen’s brother’s restaurant in the low country near Tybee Island, Uncle Bubba’s Shrimp and Oyster House.  I am much more of a seafood fan than a fried chicken fan, so we decided to try it on our way to Tybee Island the next day. After leaving Paula Dean’s restaurant, we decided to try a horse-driven carriage tour around the city. We were impressed with the incredible southern architecture—plus we learned quite a bit about the city’s historic residents which includes several ghosts who still inhabit many of the old houses in town.

The sign for Paula Dean's restaurant

Decorative fish downspout on historic building

On our final day in the Savannah area, we packed up the dogs and headed to Tybee Island.  It turned out to be a pretty typical understated beach area that looked like it had seen better days.  We were disappointed that dogs were not allowed on the beaches, so we walked them around the town before heading to Bubba’s where we were not disappointed with an ice cold Yeungling and charbroiled oysters cooked on the grill with garlic butter and parmesan cheese.  Great stop.  

Reliving the past in Charleston

Nov. 2-Nov. 5, Charleston, South Carolina

We heard about an amazing county campground in Charlotte but we had also been given the recommendation from a couple in Willow Tree to check out the Plantation Oaks Campground just south of the city. The price was good, the sites were large, and we were happy with the proximity, so we pulled in for three nights.  High on Vic’s list for visiting Charleston was a trip to Ft. Sumter National Park which requires a ferry ride.  We investigated the plan and headed out fairly early the next morning to the waterfront area where you catch the ferry.  The whole ride was part of the tour.  It was pretty fascinating to imagine the Union trying to battle the Confederate soldiers from this small atoll.  Of course, we all remember this place as being known for the dubious distinction of the first shots of the Civil War being fired here.  The tour took about two hours and the bonus was the beautiful day we chose with terrific views of the harbor and city shoreline. Charleston itself is a foodie's dream come true so we found a terrific old ale house for lunch on the downtown before heading back to relieve the dogs of their time in their crates.

A view of the island of Ft. Sumter from the ferry

Fort Sumter memorial plaque



Ruins of officer quarters at Fort Sumter

North America's largest cable bridge in Charleston Harbor

Charleston day two called for a visit to a Southern Plantation. (We were thinking of going to one in Savannah until I read—and then was reminded—that General Sherman burned them all in his march to Atlanta). I read about several classic plantations to visit, but one stood out the most, as it is still a working plantation today: Boone Hall Plantation. The entry is almost a mile of two-three hundred year old live oak trees arching over the driveway. The house itself was incredible—the movie The North and The South with Patrick Swayze was filmed here as well and scenes from The Notebook (especially the famous scene with Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams in the rowboat on the Ashley River). The plantation has preserved several slave cabins which were incredible to visit as each had a flat screen TV with video footage and music that enabled visitors to see what the cabins would have looked like inside and also hear music from that era. We also took a 30 minute buggy ride around the plantation where we could see the farm crops still being grown which included mainly strawberries, corn, pumpkins, tomatoes, and peppers. Our last stop at the plantation was at their own farmer’s market kitchen where we had blue crab chowder, fresh biscuits, and a glass of wine. We both agreed this was a worthwhile tourist attraction to visit.

Boone Plantation's  grand entry of live oaks

Boone Plantation estate home

Four-hundred-year old live oak on Boone Plantation

Boone Plantation slave quarters in background

Slave quarter cabin at Boone Plantation

 Our last day in Charleston took us back to explore the amazing city.  I especially wanted to walk the famous Broad Street and explore the many shops and restaurants of this incredibly charming place.  (What a contrast to Myrtle Beach!)  We finished our tour of Charleston by finding the famous Citadel—the military institute which played a big role in at least two of Conroy’s books: The Lords of Discipline and The Great Santini.  It looked way less imposing than my mental image of it.

Unwinding in Willow Tree

October 30-Nov. 2, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Left Emerald Isle, North Carolina—next stop in the Myrtle Beach area of South Carolina. This is a state neither of us had ever been, so the adventure seems a little more uncertain as we plot our journey along the coast of S.C. We both wanted to see the Myrtle Beach area but after splurging on a campground right on the ocean in Emerald Isle, we decided we could set up camp a little further out and explore the area on the coast with daytrips. I had read about a campground that earned the coveted 10-10-10 from Woodall’s called Willow Treewhich was about twenty miles from Myrtle Beach. We decided to check it out since November was considered off season—too cool for summer travelers and too soon for snowbirds to arrive—so the price was right (about $37 a night). What a beautiful place this turned out to be. The sites were extremely roomy and situated around a man-made lake with a one-mile walking or bike trail around it. Several sites also included hot tubs and all had fire rings (my personal favorite). The clubhouse was lovely and the pool was also inviting but rather cold. They also had a large Jacuzzi by the pool which we enjoyed the first night we were there. We stayed here four nights with forays into town each day. While we loved the place itself, it was almost too peaceful with few campers there and all activities on hold for the arrival of the snowbirds.

Willow Tree pathway around pond

Swings by the pond, one of my favorite things

Our coach at Willow Tree

Our first trip into Myrtle Beach left us quite unimpressed. We explored the new boardwalk on the beach which seems to have infused some new life into what appeared to us to be a tired resort town. The main highway running through the area is filled with golf course, elaborate miniature golf venues, and show theaters such as Opryland, and other eclectic forms of entertainment like jousting castles, etc. The second and third day we took side trips to the beach and visited mega campgrounds there designed for family activities and resort-type vacations—albeit these were all tired looking places too. The best discovery was a state campground on the beach that looked good, but we admitted we were happy to drive the 20 miles to our peaceful retreat in the willows. So much for the Myrtle Beach area. We were excited to “pull up stakes”and head to Charleston—a place we knew held much more promise just based on the Pay Conroy novel we both had read called South of Broad.

Myrtle Beach boardwalk

Vic on the Myrtle Beach boardwalk