Room with a view

Driving down to Hudson Monday morning, I was able to see Florida burning from a distance. Large brush fires off of Hwy 50 filled the sky with smoke. Glad I was generally travelling in the opposite direction! Well...got to Sandy and Tom's campground around 1:30 - what a treat. First, the last time we were together was in 2004 - like 5 years ago and it's as if no time at all has passed. We picked up right where we left off and haven't stopped talking and laughing. Second, I got a wonderful site, at least for the first night, right down the street from their motorhome and in front of the campground pond. Heard tell that there used to be a resident alligator but he's no more. Anyway, this morning I moved the Born Free over a couple of streets since the first site was already spoken for...now Monte and I are closer to the dumpster and dog walk - we all have our priorities!

Coming attractions

Lots to look forward to in the coming weeks. Monday, I'm headed to Hudson, FL to meet up with my cousins, Sandy and Tom, from Indianapolis who winter there at Three Lakes RV Resort, http://www.threelakesresort.com/. I'll spend the week catching up with them and just hanging out at their campground. Kevin, Luz, and Kayla are flying in the first week in March for some beach time with Monte and me in Flagler. After they leave, it's two weeks of touring central Florida - Lake Okeechobee, Port St. Lucie, Kissimmee. Hope to see some baseball spring training games - Mets, Yankees, Orioles, and Astros. Best bargain around! It's hard to believe I only have 6 weeks left in Shangri-La. Jayne and Karl will be here before I know it to drive my Honda back to Connecticut while I return to Texas to visit with everyone one more time. Already with help from my family, Janet and Beth, I've put over 5,000 miles on my Born Free. So...April showers bring May flowers, Mary, and Monte, too.

Speed Week

Speed Week at the Daytona International Speedway! Amazing! I picked Beth up at the Orlando airport and we drove back to Flagler. In the Honda, Beth followed the Born Free to the campground in Daytona so we would have little wheels in addition to my big wheels. Great decision! We did the Gatorade Duels on Thursday afternoon and the Truck races on Friday night. If anyone was watching Trackside on Speed Friday evening, Beth and I were down front - live and in person! Yes, we were those crazies screaming for freebies and attention! Saturday we went to Ponce Inlet for lunching at Racing's North Turn restaurant http://www.racingsnorthturn.com/aboutus.html. Wonderful table right by the television in the bar - best place to see the start of the Camping World 300! After lunch we drove back to the campground listening to the race on the radio. No traffic, no stress, no crowds! For Sunday's Daytona 500, we opted to once again watch from a distance. We spent the morning touring one of the "Top 5 Markets in the Country" according to USA Weekend http://www.daytonafleamarket.com/ which happened to be right across the street from our campground! After our excursion, we settled in to watch the race on television - warm and dry in the motorhome with geographically desirable refreshments and toilets! For those that watched - Dale Jr deserved a fine and, oh yes, he does need to go back to school to get a refresher on how to find his pit! Monday morning we went to the Champion's Breakfast to see the new Daytona 500 winner, Matt Kenseth http://www.mattkenseth.com/, up close and personal. Very nice ending to a outstanding Speed Week!

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a Born Free Rally

Monte and I took off on the morning of Tuesday February 3rd for Brooksville, FL - site of the Family Motor Coach Association Southeast Rally. All us Born Free motorcoaches gathered at the local shopping center so we could caravan in together. Well...what an experience. There were 27 coaches heading into the Hernando County Airport to park on one of the airstrips. Awesome! We were the largest single gathering out of the 1200 motorhomes. I met Born Free owners from all over the East and as far west as Iowa. Got some great tips and tricks...wonderful advice from wonderful people. Learned a lot about dry camping...that means no shore power for those not in the cult yet. I will tell you that for being Florida, I froze my butt off! The only really happy camper was Monte. The lows were really too low - 19 degrees one morning. Finally on Saturday, we got the great weather Florida is know for - only to leave on Sunday. Oh well!