This blog will cover Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. The reason I haven't blogged in four days is that we did not take a computer with us on our long week-end trip to Homosassa Springs.
Saturday we met Matt, Amy and Wyatt at their house around 7:30 a.m. Wyatt rode up with us because they only had room for all their gear and Ruby in there small SUV.
We got there just before noon and after we checked in everyone had a good laugh watching me trying to back the camper into our assigned space. Only with the help of Danny, one of the camper helpers, did I get the camper parked. Matt and Amy kept an eye on the three dogs and Wyatt while Rainy and I set up the pop up. We wanted to do it ourselves because this was the first time and we wanted to see how long it would take.
We did it! It only took us about an hour. The only thing we didn't get right was the bed supports. It wasn't until the next day that we discovered that they were not locked in. The beds were so much more stable after we figured out how to lock the supports.
After we had some lunch, Matt went fishing in Turtle Creek, Rainy, Amy and Wyatt went to the pool and I organized the campsite. They got back to the campsite just before the rain set in. It rained until about seven. It slacked up long enough to get the grill started and the hot dogs and bratwurst cooked. We ate inside. The rest of the night was spent just sitting around watching Wyatt play and the dogs get used to each other.
Sunday...Everyone got up early, around 7:00. I was bound and determined to figure out why the beds bounced all night. Matt was in charge of breakfast. I forgot to tell you that while setting up the inside bench and table I found the RVQ (a play on words for a RV BarBQ.) It was neatly stored in its case under the table. It attaches to the outside of the pup with supports and everything and there is even a gas line and regulator attached that fits perfectly into a receptacle on the side of the pup. NEAT! Matt and I hooked it up and after we finally got gas flowing to it, Matt cooked bacon, sausage and eggs on it. I did the toast. Best toast you've ever eaten!
After breakfast we drove down the road to the Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park. Rainy and I have been there before and we were excited to show it to the Hoods, especially Wyatt. They were not disappointed. Wyatt saw up close and in person, bears, foxes, wolves, panthers, bobcats, alligators, turtles, flamingos, bald eagles, owls and all of the native snakes of Florida and even after one of the rangers gave everyone a lecture on the do's and don'ts of snakes, Wyatt got to touch a real live king snake. The highlight of the park is the manatees. They are huge, probably 3000 to 4000 pounds of friendly blubber. They are also called sea cows. They come to the Homosassa and Halls River because of the natural springs that feed the cool pools where they just lounge around waiting for the rangers to feed them all the romaine lettuce they can eat. There is this place in the park called the "fish bowl." It's a underwater observatory that you can go down into and watch through windows the manatees feeding. We all enjoyed that. We were there about three hours.
When we got back to camp Rainy and I went to the pool to cool off. The Hoods took a nap then joined us. We watched Wyatt jump in, try to swim to each of us, crawl out and do it all again. By the time we got back to camp it was supper time. We set up the charcoal grill. Matt grilled the rib eyes and I cooked the potatoes and corn on the RVQ. It turned out great. After dinner we built a bon fire and roasted marshmallows for smores. Um Um.
Monday, Memorial Day...We all kind of slept in. Maybe until 7:30 or so. We got up, took care of walking the dogs, made coffee and just lounged around for awhile. Matt cooked the bacon and sausage that we had left over and we ate it with muffins. Good breakfast. After breakfast the Hoods packed up their stuff and around 10 they hit the road for home.
After they left Rainy and I surveyed the campsite and reorganized everything. It was exceptionally quite after we finally stopped and set down. We set outside under the canopy with the fan blowing on us, Taylor Dog and Toby asleep at our feet and just relaxed and listened to the music coming from our pup's stereo system. That afternoon we went down to the pool. Other than us there was just one couple there. After they left we had it by ourselves. The whole campground was either gone or asleep it seemed.
We had planned to go out to a restaurant but after we had showers we were just to lazy to decide which one and go through the hassle of being socialable. We needed gas and ice for the trip home tomorrow so I went and got that and picked up McDonald's on my way back. We ate outside. It was really nice. We played Aggravation and card games until bed time.
Tuesday...We both got up early. I made coffee and while we drank our coffee we began taking down the pup. We followed the take down instructions and everything went smoothly except for the bed supports and the hitch lock. The bed supports unlocked correctly but we had a time with getting the poles off of their supports. We finally did, but we about strained our last muscle doing it. There has to be a trick that we need to learn. The hitch was working fine until I tried to put the locking mechanism down. It wouldn't go down. I pushed. Rainy kicked it. We sweated. We re-chocked and rocked the trailer. I got in the van and pushed backwards to no avail but as soon as Rainy got in the drivers seat and pulled forward oh so slightly it locked down successfully.
We pulled away at 9:15 and after dropping the pup off at the storage place we got home about noon. We were tired. Taylor Dog and Toby were exhausted but we really had a good time.
Our next trip is going to be the long one. We know there will be stressful times. There will be problems along the way. There will be times when we are convinced that we are idiots for doing this, but we are not getting any younger. I will be 60 next week. Time is passing us by. It is time for a great adventure. THIS IS IT!!!
Until tomorrow...
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