Camping World, Cocoa, FL

Had a good old time browsing around Camping World!  So many useful things!  Here is what we bought:

Light bulbs

2 clear plastic tissue holders, one for near bathroom sink, one over my bedside table

Velcro to afix tissue holders to walls

Water filter

Egg slicer

Wall-mount key rack

Deodorizing packets for black water tank

Then onto Super Walmart and Publix ALL IN THE POURING RAIN!

Look who showed up right outside our rig!

The guy in the little rig you can see in the photos across from us just told us that the people in our site just before us used to feed them...they're still standing out there!

A day in Melbourne, FL

Today was a crazy mixed up day!  To begin with, it was gray, windy and rainy out, but we needed to search for a health food store to find flax milk, a staple in my diet.  We finally found one, and that's what originally drew us to Melbourne.  

We realized that my mobility scooter,  Sonic by Pride Mobility which I use for my MS whenever I want to zip around anyplace (my alternative is a walker for short distances) needed to be charged.  When Steve plugged it in he felt like the gauge that usually moves when he plugs it in wasn't moving.  That might mean it needed a new battery.  The last time we replaced it was about six years ago.

Right on my scooter is a website and a phone number, so I called the company up, and all they needed was our zip code and they told me the nearest dealer for this kind of scooter.  Turned out there was one in the Melbourne!  So off we went!

Since I wanted to plug in the GPS and the scooter charger into the cigarette lighter on the way to the scooter dealer, we took the device we have in the rig which allows you to plug in multiple plugs into one cigarette lighter.  Somewhere along the way today Steve smelled smoke, and we realized that it was coming from the cigarette lighter!  We quickly unplugged, and after awhile the burning smell dissipated.  We don't think any permanent damage was done to anything'. Phew!

When we got to the scooter dealer, Steve took my scooter out of the car and got it set up for me to ride in.  Funny thing was it was fully charged...so evidently he was wrong and the Battery was fine!  

Next stop was the health food store also in Melbourne.  We had a good time looking around, got some things for lunch and a few supplements, and SOME FLAX MILK (actually bought all they had!)

By this time we were feeling like it was time to go home.

Tomorrow is another day!

Sonrise Palms Christian RV & Rally Park

This park is in Cocoa, Fl, and was the only place that would take us for this weekend without any reservations.  We are technically in their overflow section, but we have W/E/S, 50 amp service and we are right next to the pool!  It is pricey but we didn't have a lot of choice...we would have dry camped at Walmart, etc. but it's quite humid (for me) so I really need to have the A/C.  We have reservations for March 1-7 someplace else but we needed something in the meantime.  

The weather is not supposed to be great this weekend so we probably won't do the beach here, but I am sure we can find other things to do.  For one, the road to this campground is directly across from a Camping World, and I also found a place on the tourist map they gave us that sells beads and jewelry making accessories at which I think I could find some things for my windchimes project.

Scrambling for Reservations

Today my step-mom and her husband came over to see our rig because they hadn't see this new one yet.  Then I went for a swim in our pool here at Port St Lucie RV Resort.  Next came a scramble to procur reservations someplace where it would still be warm!

We finally found a campground in Cocoa, FL for Thurs, Fri and Śat, and then a campground in Malabar, FL for the whole next week!  It's most likely going to be a rainy weekend, but be beautiful next week and our campground is right on the coast!  

Visiting with friends in Stuart, FL

Today we spent the day visiting with friends Joe and Karen & Paul and Joanne.  The day started with visiting at Joe and Karen's house in Stuart, then a great lunch at Duffy's, followed by a walk along the boardwalk in Stuart by the water.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day, made better by spending it with good friends!

Visiting with family in Hobe Sound, FL

My step-mom and her husband live very close to where we are camping so visiting them was a must!  We had a nice lunch and then went back to their new house for the grand tour!  They were previously in a villa but now have a stand-alone home which is just lovely!

We saw this bird as we were leaving their community and just had to stop to get a photo!

Port St Lucie RV Resort

Drove across the state from Wachula to Port St Lucie...not much to see but the occasional herd of beef cattle.  

When we arrived at our destination, we were annoyed because our neighbor was washing his car in our site because he had more room.  Ordinarily this wouldn't have been a problem, except that our site was now wet and muddy, so Steve tracked quite a bit in as he was getting hooked up.  For any of you who know Śteve, you know he likes a clean floor!  

It's almost 5:30pm so today will be spent getting the rig and the site set up.  BIG shift in temperature today...80's and the air conditioning is on in the rig!  (Last night we had the heat on!) 

Visiting with friends in Wachula, FL

 In true Shaw fashion we were almost the last to be ready to leave the Passport America Rally!  Maybe it's because we like everything picked up and put away before we transition, and I like to wipe things down with Clorox wipes so everything is clean, but we are very often the last to leave an event.

Our next stop is to visit our friends Frank and Julie who just got a seasonal site at SKP Campground in Wachula, FL.  They are members of the Good Sam's camping club we belong to in CT.

When we arrived we saw some folks swimming in their pool...so that's what I wanted to do first!  I couldn't swim all this last week because there was no pool at the Rally, so I desperately wanted to swim today.  The pool was not officially heated but they use a solar cover on it, and it was 84 degrees; far better than the heated pool in Fort Myers which was ridiculously warm!

It turned out that this campground was having a potluck dinner so we went along...very nice spread!  Thank you Frank & Julie for inviting us!

Just to prove Steve is on this trip, since most of the photos are of me!

These citrus trees border our campsite...wish we could pick one to verify what they are exactly...

Day 3 continued again

So I got glutened!  I had "gluten spasms" last night, unmistakable. Today I called S'Macks as an inquiring customer and asked if they had a dedicated fryolator for their French fries (I had a few of Steve's yesterday) and he said they did but you have to ask for special gluten-free fries.

Then I asked if they prepare all of their burgers and breaded things on the same grill, and he said they do unless you tell them you are very sensitive to gluten and then they will prepare your burger in a separate pan.

I share this because this was a learning experience for me, and to help others who also have food sensitivities.

Day 3 continued

After googling 'Sarasota gluten free' we struck out for what turned out to be the very best restaurant we have found so far, in my opinion, that is!

"At S'macks Burgers & Shakes, we are proud to partner with Local Heroes to provide out guests the Farm to Fork options which

* Increase the freshness, taste & nutritional value of the produce, meats & dairy we serve

* Are more environmentally friendly by reducing the distance our producers travel

* Support our local economy by using local products, labor & resources"

I had a great locally-sourced Bison burger in a lettuce wrap and Steve had a locally-made hotdog.  Delish!

Next we went to a gluten-free bakery but all of their products had brown rice flour.  That is supposed to be gluten-free, but I negatively react to rice, so nothing from there.

Than a quick stop at the grocery store for a few provisions, and at the last minute...screech...I saw Earth Origins, a good-sized health food store!  I got a few gluten-free goodies there!

Tonight it is going to be in the low 30s here in Sarasota!  Luckily, Steve figured out how our antenna works and we can get ABC, NBC and FOX!  American Idol, here we come!

Day 3 at Passport America Rally

One of the problems many people with MS have is with thermoregulation.  Basically this means we can't warm our bodies well when we get cold and we can't cool our bodies well when we get hot.

This reared its ugly head yesterday here at the Rally.  I got completely chilled spending the time outside with the vendors yesterday, and never warmed up.  It was in the 40's by dinner time, and I just couldn't  muster the steam to get undressed and redressed in warmer clothes to go over to the dinner.  BTW that's another challenge with MS...changing clothes especially later in the day takes a lot of energy that I often don't have.

The other challenge with the dinner is that I have very specific food sensitivities and if I eat the wrong foods, like gluten, I will be up all night with uncontrollable spasticity in my legs. People with MS already battle a certain kind of fatigue, so losing any zzzzzzs only makes things that much more difficult.  There is entertainment every night after dinner but because I don't sleep well at night for a number of reasons, I am ready to start winding down relatively early.

Today is even colder, and tonight there is a hard freeze advisory because the temp is going into the low 30's. So today I unearthed the winter clothes I wore when we left CT!  Argh!  We are going into town because there really isn't anything to do here.  It's too cold and windy to wander around the rigs getting to know people.  The dinner tonight is pizza...not for me!

We might go to a movie, check out a Goodwill, etc.

As for this Rally, I can not say I am impressed with Passport America.  They have day trips planned so during the day many folks are not here so many of the vendors pulled out .  There isn't even anyone here from PA manning their booth!  We chose not to do any of the day trips because they were expensive and quite long, and just getting in here was expensive enough.  And we only have electric...we had to carry our own water in.

So I think what we have learned is that events that  are geared  To eating and entertainment after the meal just don't work for me right now.  It's no one's fault that the weather is not cooperating!

Day 2 of Passport America Rally in Sarasota

                                                                                                                                                        

This is me in my official Rally tee shirt...now who else would have coral pants to match?

It rained all night but is sunny and cool this morning.  We tackled the vendors today, and we made a haul!

First we got Dry Wash n Guard with the special clothes for the rig and for the car.  Can't wait to use this!  It cleans and protects the finish of a vehicle without having to drag out the hose, bucket, cleaner and pole with cleaning attachment.  Just spray, wipe with the orange cleaning cloth, then dry with the green polishing cloth.  After that, the vehicle is protected and only needs a quick rinse off when it gets dirty.  We will report back about how this system works!

Then we got Strike Hold metal conditioner to spray around our antenna on top of the rig so we can see if we can pull in any television stations--Steve went to a seminar about watching TV in a Motorhome, so he wants to try out our antenna.  He also learned about Digital satellite systems to do an even better job than just an antenna.  Our rig has one built in, but we don't have the receiver part.  He is going to take the paperwork we have on it and speak with the TV guy about what we would need to get that to work.

Then I got an RV  Tee shirt!

Next came something Steve is pretty excited about--a Miracle Grill Mat!  We use our New Wave Oven to cook all of our meat...frozen to cooked in record time!  However the grill is a real pain to clean especially in the rig.  We can cut this mat to the size of our NW Oven, and It will protect the grill lrom all baked on meat and fat that hardens and is very difficult to scrub off.  Steve is almost giddy with excitement!

Tonight there is a chicken dinner for everyone!  I am hoping for door prizes!

Day 1 of the Passport America Fun Rally Down South

Arrived at the Sarasota County Fairgrounds for the start of the rally.  Joe I, I thought of you when a gang of guys helped us park our rig, because I know you did this for many years as the CT Good Sams Rally.  We have electric here but no water so we came with our onboard water tank full plus six gallons of spring water.  

When Steve went to register, he discovered that they had mailed us our whole welcome packet to our home address about three weeks ago!  Oops!  They are generating a new one for us as I write this!

All he came back with was our name tags!  :-(

I am laying low today...the dew point is elevated because a big rain storm is blowing in, and humidity and MS do not mix!  As I write this it is finally pouring rain!  A cold front is blowing in with this rain, so at least tomorrow will be chilly for us (50's)...I know CT folks...you'd do anything right now to see 50 degrees!

Tomorrow will be vendors, seminars, dinner and entertainment.  Phew, I'd better rest up tonight!

Sarasota, FL

We drove north from Fort Myers to Sarasota yesterday and I knew we would have the afternoon free.  So what did we do?

This beach had a nice ramp from the parking lot up to the dune level and then a boardwalk out to the sand.  It was quite accessible for me.  It was supposed to be known for good shelling, but again we were disappointed. We did not see any signs about turtle nesting, etc. so not sure how this beach got its name.

I swear I saw a Ray or a Skate jump out of the water about 20 feet off shore...black square thing about 2 feet square.  I kept watching but did not see it again.

It was later in the afternoon, so when the sun started to go down it got quite chilly so we packed it in.

We went looking for a free place to dry camp, and found a Cracker Barrel.    We were surprised to learn that this Cracker Barrel recently changed their rules and no longer permitted RVs to stay overnight for free!  After some gentle persuading the manager allowed us to stay one night, which is all we needed.  I hope this isn't a nationwide policy change!  Of course, Steve got breakfast there in the morning!

Last day in Fort Myers!

Today was all about breaking down, cleaning and packing up!  

Tomorrow morning we depart for Sarasota, FL!

Valentine's Day in Fort Myers, FL

Today we decided to have lunch to celebrate Valentine's Day at one of the restaurants I had found with a gluten free menu.

Just to prove that opposites do attract, this is what Steve had:  Raisin bread French toast with powdered sugar, blueberry preserves and maple syrup.

It turned out that they didn't have a gluten free menu, but I designed a salad that hopefully won't cause me any problems.

Then we scoped out three new campgrounds in this area in case we decide to come back to Fort Myers next winter.  None of the three seemed like it would work  For us, so we have pretty much decided to break new ground in another area next February.

Fleamasters Flea Market, Fort Myers, FL

Today was a bit windy and chilly for swimming so we both worked out in the Fitness Center.

Then we were off to the flea market!  Even found a few things we were looking for!  

We are winding down our days in Fort Myers...it's gotten quite a bit cooler here so we are ready to move onto our Passport America rally in Sarasota on Monday!

Lighthouse Beach, Sanibel Island, FL

Late this afternoon we decided to jump in the car and go over to Sanibel Island and try another beach.  There were a few more shells but still underwhelming.  It may have been better than the last Sanibel beach we went to because the tide was going out.  A dolphin went swimming by close to shore but I couldn't get a shot of it.

This beach had a great walkway to the beach and then a mat on the sand quite a way out.  The sand was so hard that Steve was able to drag my scooter down to the waterline so I could beach comb, too!

Steve really likes to photograph birds and there were quite a few today at this beach!

Jet Blue Park, Fort Myers, FL

Our outing today was to the Monday Farmer's Market at the spring training grounds of our beloved Red Sox!   As you can see, it was threatening rain, but we did everything we wanted to do before the downpour!

The first day that all the players will be here is Feb. 21, and we are leaving Fort Myers on Feb. 16th!  We are going to make it a priority for next year.  They told us that visitors are welcome to roam around the fields for free to watch their favorite players beginning their spring training.  Big Papi, I'll be here next year to see you!

This was a bronze statue of Ted Williams.

We had a nice picnic lunch, and pictured here is Pippin showing great interest in my gluten-free cookie!

Yep, we went crazy in the gift shop!  This is only some of what we bought!

Sanibel Island, FL

Today was our first beach day since being in Fort Myers.  I had heard that the beaches on Sanibel Island were great for shelling, so that was our destination.

This is a shot going over the causeway to Sanibel.

Our first stop was Bailey's General Store for something for lunch...they advertised gluten-free products.

Then it was onto this establishment that we knew rented beach wheelchais, and who would deliver it to the beach of our choice and also pick it up when we were done with it!

They recommended Bowmans Beach for the best shelling, so we were off!

BIG DISAPPOINTMENT!  There were very few shells!  All I can figure is that we weren't there at low tide, and the beach was swarming with people looking just like us.  We are planning another attempt at a different beach and at low tide.

On the way home we stopped at a seafood place...actually a guy selling out of coolers that our neighbors at the campground told us about, and bought a pound of jumbo shrimp!  We didn't have any cocktail sauce but the guy told us he makes his own by mixing ketchup with horseradish.  He gave us a little container of horseradish and I knew we had a bunch of ketchup packets back at the rig so I made my own! Quite the dinner, and I had enough left over for lunch tomorrow and I froze a container.

Quite the adventurous day!