Tag: Florida

Posted in Challenges

#SoCS -3/11/2017

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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A lot on my mind today, though I won’t write about all of it. Too much. Still getting ready for our move to the Southwest Gulf Coast of Florida. We’ll live there six months of the year and at our home in Kentucky the other six months. I’d rather be in Florida! It’s hard to live in two places and harder still to pack up about one-third of my house to make this move in late March. Time is short. I only have about two weeks until it’s time to leave.

We have a very small place in Florida. Really it is just a base camp until we find a house to live in. It’s enough for now. It has virtually no storage and very little closet space so I’m going crazy figuring out what to take with us. Anything we take, we leave as we will go back in the winter for our first six month stay. We won’t start looking for a house immediately. We want to spend several six month time periods there to see how we like it on a long term basis and through several seasons.

I’ve been under so much strain that I’ve been grinding my teeth in my sleep and have developed TMJ! M;y dentist is making me a mouth guard that I have to wear when I’m sleeping. Isn’t that crazy!? If we can ever get moved and get settled, it will be wonderful to live on our island on Florida’s Creative Coast.

I am managing to get in some writing. I probably shouldn’t be writing as much as I am. Writing soothes me and I do some of my best writing when under stress. Sometimes, when I’m writing, I’m thinking of how I should be packing boxes. I should write something about packing boxes! As I’m sure most of you know, moving is a huge job.

I guess we will sell our RV. We won’t need it now that we have a place to live in Southwest Florida. I am glad we’re going to sell it. I am not much of an RVer!

Something great has happened recently. I’ve been able to hook up with a good friend that I had lost touch with over the past couple of years. Wendy and I have been good friends for years now. We drifted apart for awhile, but she is back in my life and I couldn’t be happier. She is smart and funny and she makes me laugh. I’m so happy that she is back in my life and I hope she will now always be in my life!

Have a wonderful week!

#SoCS

 

Posted in #weekendcoffeeshare

#weekendcoffeeshare 3/11/2017

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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Good morning, everyone! Come right in and let’s drink a hot beverage together! In honor of Mardi Gras which is happening right now in New Orleans, I have a special ground pecan praline coffee for you this morning. Also a french roast. The very special people of New Orleans would love both! I also have a couple of specialty teas. I am a tea drinker, of course. There are often Mardi Gras Tea Parties held in New Orleans and a favorite tea there is Mango Sunny Passion. It’s here for you to enjoy this morning! Grab a cup of whatever you want and let’s go to my writing studio and chat!

I’m so glad to see and talk to all of you this morning. It seems we’re having a Mardi Gras coffee and tea party! I hope everyone has been well this week and successful at whatever you have attempted. I ended the week very tired. As you know, we are trying to accomplish a move to Florida for six months a year. We leave for what is called the Florida Creative Coast in just a couple of weeks with a UHaul and it’s a lot of hard work to get everything boxed up.

I also have things to do for my house in Kentucky – to get it ready to leave. I am working on these things way too hard and, last night, I hit the wall and crashed. Got some good sleep and I feel a bit better this morning. I think it inspires me that the part of Florida to which we are moving is called the Creative Coast!

Writers have to read as we all know. I got a book this week on the Southwest Florida Gulf Coast. It is fascinating to read about the flora and fauna – so unfamiliar to me. I hope to write a lot about it. I’m going to have a couple of cameras with me at all times and do a lot of exploring. I’m excited!

The reason that this part of Florida is called the Creative Coast is because our area is partly an artist’s colony which will be to my liking. Many writers and other creative types live where I’m going to live.

How is your writing going this week? I’ve been fairly prolific and the good news is that I’ve gotten several thousand words written on my novel. Some of the chapters weren’t making sense to me and I did some rewrites as well. Moved some stuff around. Now, I think it’s in good shape. I know most say that you shouldn’t edit as you write but I can’t NOT edit. I don’t edit for grammar, but I do edit for content. I’m using two voices in the novel and that tends to be hard for a first-time novelist like me. I am using the voice of both the protagonist and the antagonist. I have to constantly re-read and work on that.

It’s been such a warm winter in Kentucky, but Mother Nature decided to drop some real winter weather on us here in mid-March. It’s 29 degrees here this morning.

On top of everything else, I’ve had a sick puppy to nurse back to health this week. My little dog is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. They tend to be a bit fragile. She rolled off the couch (they are a little silly!) and hurt her back. So, off we went to my very good vet. Several hundred dollars later, Betsy is doing just fine. I think her back is healing as last night, for the first time, she started to play again. Cavaliers are such wonderful, docile companion dogs! I’ve had many breeds of dogs in my life, including pound puppies, and Betsy has the best temperament of any dog I’ve ever had.

I hope the writing muse is with you. Tell me how you’re doing in the comments. I’d love to hear about YOU.

Posted in Blog Series

#23: Adventures in RV Travel – February 16, 2017

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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The End of the Road

Hello everyone! Tonight, I’m writing you from our home in Kentucky. It’s exciting that now we have two homes, one in Kentucky and one in South Florida! I do love both places. The pictures above are of each place — Kentucky on the left, then South Florida. Both beautiful places to live for very different reasons.

Our RV trip to South Florida, then to the Florida panhandle, couldn’t have been more wonderful! In South Florida, we got to have a wonderful, month’s long, vacation. But, even more important than that, we got to buy a small place of our own on an island that we’ve loved for almost ten years. We love the island, the people, the environment  there. It’s a true “Jimmy Buffett” lifestyle. I feel like I’m living in Margaritaville when I’m there!

Then we got to visit the Florida panhandle for the first time. The panhandle may have the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen this side of the Caribbean. Nothing can top the beaches of the Bahamas and the Virgin Islands, but the Florida Panhandle comes close. Of course, our viist to the Panhandle was largely to see our friends, Marty and Phil, and we enjoyed that so much.

We did have one mechanical problem with the RV. For me, RV’s are like boats! It’s always something. Some small problem and there was one trip, one time (to New England in the RV) when there were several BIG mechanical problems. This time, for those of you who are RVer’s, it was the donut gaskets and my traveling companion replaced them within a couple of hours.

One WARNING to all of you RVer’s. Before you schedule a stay at a RV park, ask them if they allow you to make small on-site repairs if need be. The RV park at Carrabelle Beach on the Florida panhandle did not allow such small repairs. The RV park at Pine Island on the Florida peninsula did. It makes a world of difference if you have a problem. We had to find a parking lot as we left the panhandle and an owner who would let us stay for a while in order to make our repairs.

It was sort of a long, hard trip home. We spent a lot of time on two-lane roads, leaving the Panhandle and getting back to the Interstate where we needed to be. A good bit of that time was at night. There are very few services, these days, on two-lane roads since most services are found around the interstate highway system. We had to drive long distances to find places to stay. We were grateful when we had made our way to the interstate. Since we started our trip home late one night, we spent that night on the road and then another night, fairly close to home. We got home in the middle of the day today.

All of you RVer’s know what it’s like to unload an RV after a month long trip! It is not for the faint of heart! We have not nearly finished but we have stopped for the night. I’m going to have to get accustomed to the cold again before I can be out at night in what passes for a Kentucky winter this year. It’s 38 degrees here tonight.

I will look back on this RV trip as a huge highlight in my life! Part of the fun has been writing these blog posts almost every night for all of you. I’ve enjoyed knowing you experienced it with me. We will be traveling more and I will always include you in my travels!

Posted in Blog Series, Uncategorized

#21: Adventures in RV Travel – February 10, 2017

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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Carrabelle, St. George Island, and Appalachicola

Above are pictures of Carrabelle Beach on the panhandle of Florida. Beautiful, isn’t it?

Yes, we have been a lot of places today! We started out the day at Carrabelle Resort RV Park. Early on, we took a drive about 20 miles away, over the bridge, to St. George Island. It’s 14 miles from the RV Park to the bridge to St. George and it’s a four-mile drive across the bridge. A beautiful drive on a beautiful day across the Gulf. We drove around the island a bit and visited the lighthouse. Quite a lighthouse which has been rebuilt since the original one fell after a hurricane. It was very old. This one is very sturdy and built to withstand hurricanes.

Then, we took off on the ten-mile trip to Apalachicola, again a gorgeous drive. It’s a quaint little town and we were looking for a good restaurant to take our friends, Marty and Phil, to tonight when they arrived from Tennessee. We found several. I also think we found some interesting shopping. Marty and I will make a return trip or two and check it out. I think I’ll like this interesting little town.

I’m still not crazy about Carrabelle Resort RV Park, but for those of you RVer’s who like a lot of peace and quiet and don’t mind doing most of your own cooking, you may like it. I’m a little more high maintenance, I guess. And I don’t particularly like a lot of peace and quiet! 🙂

Marty and Phil arrived tonight and we had dinner in a very good, rather frou-frou restaurant in Apalachicola. Everyone liked their meals very much. They had a very long day and after a rest, we will see each other tomorrow!

Below is the St. George Island Lighthouse.

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Posted in Blog Series

#20: Adventures in RV Travel – February 8 – 9, 2017

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

Trip to Carrabelle RV Resort Park

Hello everyone from Carrabelle RV Resort Park in Carrabelle, FL. It was a reasonably long journey from an island off the coast of Ft. Myers, FL to this rather isolated spot right after you make the turn onto the Florida panhandle from the peninsula. Had I realized just how isolated, I might not have made reservations here. Maybe I should rephrase that. Had I realized that they warn you about BEARS here, I probably would NOT have made reservations here!! At Pine Island, I was accustomed to walking my dog, in the dark, at night, without worrying about tripping over a bear. Not so at Carrabelle. I am unhappy. I am also spoiled because I love Pine Island so much. 🙂

On the upside, there is quite possibly the most beautiful beach I have ever seen on the other side of the road from this park. I promise some pictures tomorrow. This afternoon, we had to get settled. The view of the Gulf of Mexico and the beach is phenomenal. It would have been better had it not been for the spectre of BEARS. I am looking forward to some time on the beach with my friend, Marty, after she and her husband, Phil, get here tomorrow evening. I can’t wait to take some pics to share with you of that beautiful beach.

We had no RV problems on our journey here, but my traveling companion can tell we will have one on the trip back home. An elbow gasket on the exhaust is giving him a problem. It will not be the first time it has been replaced. I’m hoping we can get home without replacing it. On a trip to New England in the Summer of 2015, replacing it became an emergency.

Back to Carrabelle. Be forewarned. The beach is beautiful. However, if you don’t like to cook much and prefer eating out, forget it about it in Carrabelle, FL. Unless you undertake a 40  mile roundtrip, you won’t be eating out. More about that after I do just that tomorrow night!

The RV Park is not quite what I had in mind. It is very nice, almost too nice. There isn’t the same friendliness that I’ve found at some other RV parks. Everyone stays very much to themselves. We will only be here for a few days, and we have Marty and Phil joining us, so it won’t bother us much. I’m glad I didn’t book a longer stay.

We will prevail! I’m going to go down to that beach tomorrow and find a place for the four of us to have dinner tomorrow night (the 40 mile trip). I’m planning on some beautiful pics to share. More “Adventures” then!

 

Posted in Blog Series

#19: Adventures of RV Travel – February 8, 2017

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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Leaving Pine Island, FL

Tomorrow, February 8, 2017, we leave Pine Island Resort RV Park in Florida to travel north to Carrabelle Beach RV Resort in Carrabelle, Florida, located on Florida’s Panhandle. I’ll have to admit I’m sad to leave Pine Island, as I always am. But, I’m very happy too since we bought a little place to stay here this year. We will be back soon.

It took most of the day to get the RV road ready to make the 432 mile trip from Pine Island to Carrabelle. We had an issue with the front cab air conditioner. The good thing about staying in a large RV park is that mobile RV mechanics and technicians are available to come to your aid. My husband can fix just about anything that goes wrong with our RV, but he couldn’t figure this out so we used a mobile technician. About $150 later, the air conditioner was fixed.

Since we have been here for three weeks, we had some significant packing to do. It’s done. The RV is packed. Everything is safely stowed away. We are ready to pull out tomorrow a.m. Check out time is noon, but I suspect we’ll be on our way before that.

There is one issue. That issue is Betsy, our little dog. She is ill. She seems to be getting better, but she is not well. If she isn’t well by the time we get to Carrabelle, I will be finding a veterinarian first thing. Issues plague you on a long RV trip just as if you were home. Betsy is number one in importance to me. The innocent puppies and kittens have to be cared for first. There are lots of dogs in a big RV park. Betsy is not usually around other dogs. I suspect she has picked up some sort of virus.

I don’t know if we will stay somewhere on the road tomorrow night or if we will drive all the way to Carrabelle. It depends on my traveling companion since he is the driver. We may end up at a Flying J since we do not have a reservation at Carrabelle until the night of February 9. I will write from the road tomorrow night about the first leg of the trip! Good bye for now, Pine Island! We’ll be back in about seven weeks!

Posted in Blog Series, Uncategorized

#18: Adventures in RV Travel: Island Cafe, Matlacha, FL

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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We have eaten at a lot of excellent restaurants on this RV trip. Matlacha, FL has some of the best around. The one we ate at tonight after our visit to Tropical Point was called  the Island Cafe. It has some of the best seafood I’ve eaten. But, what I want to show you is the decor. It is truly island decor as you can see from the pictures above. Hope you enjoy them. The Island Cafe is right on the water.

Posted in Blog Series, Uncategorized

#17: Adventures in RV Travel: Tropical Point, Pine Island, FL

Posted on by R.M. Carlson
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Tropical Point Bay
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Manatee warning
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Tropical Point Bay

Today we took a side trip to a spot on Pine Island called Tropical Point. It has a little park, a launch point for kayaks and canoes, a spot for fishing, and the best view you could ask for. My little dog, Betsy, had her first little swim in the edge of the ocean! She had to watch out for the manatees!

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Posted in Challenges

A Day Spa and the Trip Home: #SoCS – 2 04/17

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

 

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Soon, we will be leaving Florida and starting toward our home. It will take us a while to get there since there are a couple of legs to that trip. In preparation for the trip home, today I visited a salon and day spa here in Ft. Myers. It was a great experience! Although I only had my hair done there and picked up some products I need, this day spa offered every imaginable service from massage to facials to mani/pedi. If you’re ever in Ft. Myers, drop me a line and I’ll tell you where to go! Tomorrow is an errand day, again getting ready to start the trip home.

Speaking of the trip home, we will start driving north up along the Gulf of Mexico side of the peninsula mid-week next week. I don’t anticipate the traffic to be as bad going north as it was coming south. Most people don’t leave Florida until the end of February. We will make a stop for a few days at Carrabelle RV Resort, which is on the panhandle of Florida, right across the bay from St. Georges Island. We’re meeting friends there. We know that, unfortunately, the weather won’t be as warm as we’ve enjoyed in Ft. Myers, but it will surely be warmer than it will be when we get home to Kentucky! I will enjoy having some time with my girlfriend to shop, eat out, explore, and just talk and visit. The guys plan to do some fishing. We all plan to eat great food, especially great seafood.

We will visit Port St. Joe and Appalachicola at a minimum. We’re really looking forward to it. While we will be staying in the RV Park, they will stay on St. Georges Island. I, too, am looking forward to visiting the island, its beaches, and its shops. There is a nice bridge close by.

After spending a few days there, we will start the long journey home. A friend back home tells me that they are expecting a winter storm right about that time, if long-range weather forecasts are to be believed. So we will be watching the weather from the panhandle north to Kentucky very carefully. It’s almost a straight shot north and a little east. No big mountains, thank goodness. But any slick roads sidelines a RV, so who knows when we might arrive home! Unscheduled stops are always a possibility.

We have so enjoyed these weeks in Ft. Myers, Florida. We’ll be back! I will tell you about that another time.

If you’d like to join in with the Stream of Consciousness Challenge:

Here are the rules:
1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.
2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.
3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The’,” or simply a single word to get your started.
4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours. Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.
5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.
6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!
7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.
8. Have fun!