THE CRAZY CRUZERS ARE HEADING WEST!: MARCH 2015

The March 2015 blog continued ...

Since the March 2015 - Part One post, we made the trek to the Orlando Fairgrounds for the Florida Winnie Gators State Rally, where more than 200 motorhomes were in attendance. This was our second year at this Rally, which we were hoping improved from last year, but unfortunately it did not. It was a bit of a disappointment as far as the seminars, the vendors, the food, and the entertainment. We have been told that with the new board members things will get better. At this point, I, personally, do not know if I want to attend next year. It is not comfortable with only 30 AMP electric and only able to run one air conditioner when it's in the 80s outside, especially with the cats inside. I don't know how Thom feels about returning, but I'm sure I'll find out! If we do, it will only be because of our local club affiliation, as it was nice to spend time with our local Mid-Florida Winnies club members whom we met last month in Citra and will attend the camp-out at Cedar Key this month (April). This is a great group of folks who just want to have fun! And, we are making friends outside the SummerGlen community.

And speaking of SummerGlen, it was a busy end-of-the-month of March for us. Our Bocce Club were the hosts of the annual Mardis Gras Dinner/Dance on March 28. Thom and I were on the decorating, serving, and clean-up committees, which we found out was more than we thought it would be! We were very busy with many Indians and not many Chiefs in each committee! BUT, in the end, it all worked out and our Club put on a fabulous and successful event! Yes, we will sign-up for it again next year!

Thom continues to be busy with baseball here in Mid-Florida, and accepted, respected. He has been assigned to the #3 playoff crew, which was quite a surprise to him. He has also been asked to evaluate the #1 crew from his new association, which he is actually doing this evening (April 3). He is doing so with a fellow official, Dave, who is the Director. It is so refreshing to see things work out for Thom with the move from the TCOA to the MFOA!

Life at SummerGlen has been busy. I have become a part of the SummerGlen Softball Association, i.e. on the Snack Shack Committee as a volunteer. It is nice to meet folks I would not have had the opportunity to meet otherwise. While I work the counter, Thom watches the games and has become the Snack Shack comedian with his commentaries! I try to "shush" him but like always he just doesn't listen to me! LOL! Thank goodness the "wives of the players" find him to be a funny guy and don't take offense!

Unfortunately, Thom's baseball schedule has kept him away from his clubs (Investment and Photo). He is traveling here, there, and everywhere so he usually needs to leave quite a bit earlier because of the miles he is putting on the Jeep. I am happy to say though that he has not returned to Crystal River High School!

Phil continues to do well in Minnesota! After two weeks of golfing with his buddies, he "FaceTimed" me on the computer to show me more snow! It is crazy ... 60s and 70s one day, 30s the next with snow! I checked the weather forecast for next week and he will have snow yet again after having a week of 50s and 60s. He and Zuleika continue to love it out there, and that's what is important!

Erica continues to do well at USF, Tampa, making the 1-1/4 hour drive back and forth each day. She has a lot going on in her personal life and will be traveling to many Florida destinations for weddings in the next month and one to NC, where she was last week for a bachelor party (one of her UCF roommates is getting married).

Thom and I are doing adjustments to the motorhome to get it ready for our 4 month adventure. We are aiming for May 11th but may not get out of here until perhaps May 15th; we shall see. We continue to have no actual travel itinerary (as we normally do), but we know we will have to figure something out for Memorial Day weekend, or find ourselves parked in a Wal-Mart, or if I'm lucky a casino! LOL!

We have already made plans for our 2016 journey. We have signed up for the Atlantic Canadian Caravan with our WIT Club, which will take us through Nova Scotia, New Foundland, and Halifax. It is a 7-week caravan, almost like the Alaskan Caravan (51 days), which I think is scheduled for mid-June to mid-August. Our host and hostess are also members of our local Mid-Florida Winnies Club.

As for closing out March, we attended a play, The Amorous Ambassador, which was the last of our 3-pack with the local Ocala Performing Arts. This was a great ending to our first season as ticket holders where there were many laughs. We will definitely look into the 2015-2016 season when we get a preview in May!

All is well otherwise!