Little Charlie Creek RV Park, Wauchula FL,

Pulled out of Pioneer Park in Zolfo Springs FL at 10:30AM..toured the mini zoo in Zolfo Springs, seems most of the animals were hideing from the cool weather ( 50F )..we saw some raccoons up close and personal ..We restocked supplies and had a great lunch. We moved about 5 miles North up the road to Little Charlie Creek RV Park. ($150 per week) It's a bit more civilized and we need to do laundry and take a day or so to do a good housecleaning! They have a New Years Eve party planned with Karaoke so it ought to be fun..We took a bike ride around the park and saw quite a few Michigan License plates so we'll probably meet a few of them..The gals working in the office are from Michigan too...nice sunsets last night and today too..Gonna get warmer thru the week. Got lucky setting up the sat dish as it only took 1/2 hr to tune in..(hate it when it takes longer) We checked out the clubhouse, laundry and showers while on our bike ride and everything looks new & clean..on a nice level site with FHU's and a cement patio..I talked to a few people back home and they're all glad the snow has been holding off at least thru the holidays although the temps have been cold..Gonna relax and enjoy the slower pace this week and looking forward to getting back to the ocean after this stop...REMEMBER...LIVE YOUR DREAMS AS TIME GOES BY QUICKLY...Charlie & Heather

After Christmas, at Wauchula FL

Well....like I said, suprise visitor(s) at Pioneer Park !! My daughter, Nicole, and her fiance, Dave, gave us a suprise visit from FT Meyers area...This is the first time we've met him and it was a great suprise..they  decided they could stay a couple of days and since it was very nice temps at night we set up the tent we carry and made plans from there. The next 2 days were spent getting to know each other and cooking out and enjoying the peace of the park..They haven't ever been here and were able to go walking the trails and takeing pictures and running her dogs.. I'm gonna have to go on a diet the next few days to make up for the great dinners we cooked..( and the long happy hours) !!..Phone calls were flying and many happy wishes were shared thruout the family..Ya never know how these holidays  will go while you're on the road and this one went well..The sunsets have been stupendous to watch and the effect they have on the spanish moss draped trees is gorgeous!!..The USPS did a good job this years getting all the kid's Christmas cards to them and I had a "1st" as all of them called on the same day to say thanx for the card !!..I noticed that many RVers here have decorated the rigs with lights so it's pretty at night when looking around the park..I remember when we used to do that to our stix & bricks..I was  glad to read that my fellow bloggers were all haveing a good holiday weekend all around the country..if you'd like to see what I mean go to  www.hitchitch.com  and check some other blogs to see how RVers live..we are going to stay here til Thursday and then move a little bit North of here to Charlie's RV Park for the New Years eve week..Glad to hear Michigan's weather has behaved so far and to hear from our friends that they enjoyed this week up there..the stars are out tonite so I think I'll step outside and take it all in !!  REMEMBER..LIVE YOUR DREAMS AS TIME GOES BY QUICKLY...Charlie & Heather

From Manatee to Southern Oaks (Beth visit)

After a great week & Christmas party at Manatee CG & Pub and the fish winning (fish=6, Charlie=0) we got ahold of Beth P. in Summerfield FL and camped for a night at Southern Oaks CG.. Beth came to visit and we had a nice campfire steak (on the Coleman) dinner and yakked til late..really enjoyed the visit as it's been about 15 years since I saw her. I love seeing all my friends from the past. the visit we had with John N. in Alabama was just as enjoyable. They are both from the Carsonville days in the 80's. Lots of stories to tell & reminise about !! Hated to move on but had to go..We moved a few hours South to Zolfo Springs just South of Wauchula to one of our favorite parks run by Hardee County..Pioneer Park has the "it" factor for us. Embedded in the woods, nice little pond (with 'gator) a quaint little museum and a very small zoo..friendly staff and fellow campers top it off and it's very nicely priced ($100/wk) . It's only a mile to shop and we can have bonfires here, which helps make it to the top 10 list..nice area to take hikes too!..Had a couple of my kids call today, which I always love and we might get a "suprise" visit tomorrow..(ya gotta wait to hear about it)..This evening couldn't have been any nicer..balmy 68F, no wind, beautiful sunset and NO BUGS..AAHHHH!!..cheated and bought a deli turkey breast for dinner (beats cooking) and , man, was it good !! One of the guys that works here brought us some wood for the bonfire and gave Heather a few nice eggplants, 'cause he didn't know how to cook them, so she's gonna prepare them tomorrow and we'll give him some. YUMM..Hopeing to have a nice peaceful Christmas weekend and just bum with the park people and suprise guest....Hope everyone has a great Christmas..don't forget---Jesus is the reason for the season !! REMEMBER..LIVE YOUR DREAMS AS LIFE GOES BY QUICKLY....love y'all..Charlie & Heather

Homosassa FL Good Week

After a few days at Camp & Water RV we moved a mile over to Manatee Pub and RV Park 'cause it's $13 cheaper, been here 4 days already !! We only took a few minutes to set up last Wednesday  and have the sat dish grabbin' the channels..close enought to town to make shopping easy and it has a pub connected to the park so it's walkin' distance after Happy Hour..they have a lot of food specials so I don't think we'll be doing much cooking here :).. got a few hours of fishing in and so far the score is Fish 2, Charlie 0..went out and bought some recommended shrimp bait so I'll try to even the score in the next few days..This is a unique area of Florida with the Homosassa River winding it's way thruout the area..it's brackish water so our saltwater fishing licenses are good and the locals all brag about the good fishing..been asking as many as I could about methods and bait..it'd be great to eat some fresh fish..We saw my lifetime friends, Charlie & Bonnie, whom live only a 1/2 hr N of here, tonite and had a great visit and ate some pizza at the Pub...YUMMY..I even got ambitious today and dragged the leaf blower from it's hiding spot on the rig (doesn't everyone have one on their camper?) and blew our campsite clear..I guess ya never get outa bad Michigan habits..LOL..Heather sold some of her custom jewelry right after putting her sign out on impulse..The park is having a Christmas party tomorrow so I guess that's the agenda for the day...We may go see the Homosassa Wildlife Park, up the street, this week..It's a great zoo..we saw it 2 years ago and wouldn't mind seeing it again..They have some eagles there, up close and personal, and a nice pink flamingo area..The weather report predicts nice weather for the week..Hope everyone is haveing as nice a time as we are...REMEMBER..LIVE YOUR DREAMS AS TIME GOES BY QUICKLY...love ya'll...Charlie & Heather

3 days then to Homosassa FL

3 great days at Keaton Beach FL..the tide is very evident there...the office gave us a tide schedule when we checked in and I wondered why..found out real quick that that you'd either have water by the dock or you wouldn't..the fishermen here can't get back to shore during low tide..I guess if we were fishing via boat here that could become important!! Met a few Grayling MI people and enjoyed our time here..Moved further South on Monday morning to Homosassa, FL and stayed for 2 days at Camp & Water RV Park, it's nice and we got our laundry done..Drove around exploreing and found another park, Manatee Pub & RV,  that has a Pub and was $10/nite cheaper so we moved over on Wednesday..Got a good weekly rate so we'll stay for a week..It's on the Homosassa River and it's brackish water so we can use our Fl non-resident fishing licenses here..been watching fish jump all afternoon so we'll give it a try..had a good Happy Hour at the pub and enjoyed their $1 tacos tonight..they were yummy and large..the people here are happy go lucky and fun to yak with...Hopeing to see my old compadre, Dick Andrews and his wife Bonnie, this weekend as he lives close by.. Gonna see Beth Pawlowski when we leave here..We noticed that the RV traffic is starting to pick up as time goes on, I think the rush is on !!..

Old Pavillion RV Park Keaton Beach, FL

A  3 1/2 hr drive brought us to Keaton Beach, Florida & we set up camp and declared Happy Hour..Finally at the Gulf of Mexico and camped 30' from the ocean..got a site next to an observation deck and it's covered in Christmas lights tonight..How about the ocean view, WOW..we can see the entrance to the harbor and watched trawlers returning after a day at sea..We're at the end of a penninsula and it's quite sandy..the town is very quaint and inviting..nice little community park at the end of the street which we'll explore during our stay here..some old pileings in the water have been decorated with hats and wigs and old clothes like scarecrows of the sea and it doesn't bother the pelicans..very cute..it's low tide at the moment and the office gave us a tidal schedule during checkin..high tide's at 1235AM..I wonder if we'll be up to see it?? It's a different life for the coastal people..they keep a tide schedule on their fridges like a child's school note..that's so they won't ground their boats..the canal across the road has some rather large boats and the RV park folks have all got boats by their rigs..the area has a reputation for great fishing, guess we'll have to get Florida fishing licenses ( if we out of staters can afford them) and join the crowd..it sure would be nice to eat some really fresh salt water fish..we'll stay here for 3 days as we're tired of the 1 day moves..Nice full service park and it has cable so we don't have to set up the sat dish..looking forward to meeting the neighbors tomorrow.. Hope you all have a great weekend..REMEMBER..LIVE YOUR DREAMS AS TIME GOES BY QUICKLY..love y'all..Charlie & Heather

Outa Magic River headin' E & S

Finally decided we should get goin' from Magic River, even though it's tempting to stay..Headed to the East thru Mississippi and Alabama...stopped near Foley,AL and stayed one night..Had a quick visit from John Nichol..a friend from Michigan's "thumb" from the 80's..was great to see him, wish we coulda stayed longer but gotta go...next stop  was River's Edge, SW of Crestview, FL....Finally into Florida..only a 1 night stay and then to Pine Lake RV in Fontain,Fl for another 1 night stay.. This is a nice woodsy RV Park..gotta put this one on our list of " go back" parks..definately got the "IT" factor..trees, fishin' ponds,bonfire pit, etc!!! Hope to be back here next year for awhile..Tomorrow we'll head out early to the Old Pavillion RV park and hopefully settle in for a few days if it's nice..Usually we make 1 day reservations and see if we like the park then we'll extend the stay..The reason we do that is because of the crappy policies most parks have of no return $$$...play the game, ya know?? I even pay cash for the 1st day so they don't have my card #s...the longer we do this the better we do !!..Sure will be nice if we can end up in Wachula,Fl for Christmas week, .got a park there that we like.. From there?? Who knows...LOL...REMEMBER...LIVE YOUR DREAMS AS TIME GOES BY QUICKLY...Charlie & Heather

Still enjoying Magic River

We decided to stay a few extra days at Magic River Campground in Longbeach MS..It's a great place to just relax..Nonstop bonfire has been going for days and I'm just starting to make a dent in the firewood pile..The owner, Hank, stopped by today and mentioned he'd have more wood tomorrow.( I think he's trying to keep us here!!)..We've been to the beach in Long Beach but the wind was blowing briskly and it wasn't really all that warm so we kept that walk real short..We've hiked around our park a few times and kept our eyes open for any gators but haven't seen anything except turtles and fish..I suppose we'd run across somethings more exotic if it was warmer..A great thing about this time of the year is a lack of mosquitos..Night time has been cool but nothing like the 20's that they're getting up home in Michigan..The quiet at this park is wonderful..no road noise or trains or airports..very conducive for solid sleep..We've gotten into a great winter mojo, late breakfasts and veggin' out happy hours..love it!!..That's why we make it a point to come here every year..Hope our mail is here tomorrow and then we can make plans to move it on down the road!! If it isn't I guess I'll have to load more wood on the fire :)..May all of you have a great weekend and REMEMBER, LIVE YOUR DREAMS AS TIME GOES BY QUICKLY...Charlie & Heather