11/20/2018 10/10-11/20/2018
Shortly after I wrote the last post, we watched in horror as Huricane Michael slammed into the beautiful Florida Panhandle. It virtually wiped the town of Mexico Beach off the map. 13 of the State Parks we had just visited were damaged so badly a few of them are still closed. 100s of people lost everything, and at least 36 people lost their lives. The search still is ongoing for the missing. The devastation is mind-boggling and the recovery will take years. Some areas will never be the same. Trees that were 100s of years old are gone. The beauty will come back, but probably not in our life time...it is very sad, but having just seen how beautiful it all was is a blessing too. Keep them in your thoughts.
We spent 2 weeks at Gamble Rogers, enjoying the beach & watching all the bikers come into the campground for the annual Biketoberfest at Daytona, which is a 15 minute ride down A1A along the beach. We had dinner with friends who live a few miles away and we even went and saw a movie, in a theater. But we spent a lot of evenings watching the waves with the sun setting behind us and putting the interesting lights a sunset creates on the crashing waves. It was a very relaxing 2 weeks.
We got home in time for a raft of doctor appointments, part of being a 'senior'. Our grand-daughter turned 19, my, where did that time go? Then it was Halloween. Grandkids are done with that, but we spent the evening at our daughter's house passing out candy to all the kids in their neighborhood. In between, we worked on planning our next adventure for next summer and did some maintenance to the motor home, which is 18 years old, so that is mandatory.
Then we were off again on our last jaunt of 2018. We made our way south, stopping at an out of the way State Park that we kept missing. Then we set up camp at Saint Lucie South Army Corps Park near Stuart for the weekend. We spent Sat. visiting 3 State Parks from North Miami to Palm Beach along the Atlantic. All three were in the middle of urban areas, like an oasis in the desert. Beautiful Preserves surrounded by high rises & traffic. It was a very interesting day and enlightening too.
Then on Sunday, we drove the 80 or so miles to Kissimmee River Preserve State Park northwest of Okeechobee. It is also the very last of the Florida State Parks in our quest to see all 161 State Parks. Yes, we have been on this quest for 3+ years, and what an adventure it has been. We have camped at State Parks all over America, and in our opinion, Florida has the very best parks, campgrounds & facilities. The beauty, history & places to camp, swim, kayak, fish, picnic, relax on a beach & go sailing are almost endless. There are museums, Indian mounds, lakes, rivers, and one cool walking swamp digger...on & on. It has been a very fun time. We also got together with 6 of our friends from NY wintering in Florida, for lunch. And being Kissimmee Prairie SP is so far off the beaten path, it is Certified Dark Sky and a prime spot to attempt our first try at capturing stars with a camera...we had moderate success, and are using the experience as a learning opportunity. We will continue to try.
We have been home for 10 days and have been hard at getting more plans made for next summer. I will go into that on my next post when we get everything set. We attended the UCF/Cincinnati football game last Saturday with our son, Mark & our grandson Tyler. 3 generations of sports fans. And UCF won their 23rd straight game, a current record among NCAA teams. We are getting ready for Thanksgiving in a couple of days...we are very thankful for our health, our family, our friends & our ability to travel and see our beautiful world, we really are blessed.
Happy Thanksgiving to all and also all the other holidays coming up. I will be writing in the new year.
Steve & Barb Larson
Tuesday, November 20, 2018
Wednesday, October 10, 2018
10/10/2018 8/3 - 10/10/18
For our first August in Florida since 2012, we got reacquainted with Florida dog days of summer. We spent a lot of time indoors, making sure the a/c kept running and making plans. We met with a travel agent, which so far has been a bust. I guess when you give them too much of your itinerary, they decide to help someone who is less prepared. Helping the unprepared is probably a lot easier too.
We took the camper to Jetty Park with Lisa & Dan in their new camper...getting the bugs out. We found one in our camper when it didn't want to start when it got time to leave. We finally got it going but decided to take it to a shop to fix it...more on that later. Back home, we made arrangements to drop the MH off for some repairs. I drove the camper, Barb followed me across town. When we got back in the car, no a/c in the car...wow. So we stopped and had someone look at it and the verdict was $$$$. So we bought the parts and I proceeded to replace the a/c compressor, which turned into a big project. I got it all buttoned back up in time for us to drive to see our friend Patti in Georgia. The a/c worked fine. We spent 3 days with Patti and they called and said the camper was ready. So we headed home to pick it up. They had fixed the problems, so that is good. It started first try. We spent the rest of the week going to two concerts and a couple of Dr appointments...end of a busy month.
Sept. is here...only 3 more months of hurricane season. But then it is time to start traveling again. First is a 5 day Blues Festival in Las Vegas...so we flew to Vegas, spent the better part of 5 days inside, avoiding the 106 degree heat that is very common in that city. We saw about 40 gigs in those 5 days and enjoyed our time with a couple from NY that we met on one of the many cruises we have been on. Then it was fly home and get ready for the next adventure, 40 days of camping & visiting more of Florida's 155 State Parks. We missed Tyler's 21 B-day while we were gone, but got to take him out to dinner with his gal Emily. Then we are off to Bradenton for our 1st stop, Little Manatee River SP for 8 days. We visited all of the State Parks in the area with the car. One day on the way back to the camper, the a/c in the car quit working so I found a shop and got a diagnosis...the a/c compressor I had installed before we went to Georgia, had failed. So I made an appointment and we got that fixed...the car is trying to tell us something. Maybe after 225,000 miles, it is getting tired? But we got it fixed and were on our way, more sightseeing to do. We spent a day visiting more State Parks before moving to Sarasota and a spot at Turtle Beach Campground on Siesta Key. We visited more parks, areas we haven't been to in years and drove to the very end of Anna Maria Island and enjoyed the beauty of the Gulf Coast. We even made it to the south end of Florida Mainland where the Gulf of Mexico becomes Florida Bay, which separates the Everglades & The Florida Keys...there sure is more to Florida than the Mouse House. After spending time on the Gulf Coast and trying to stay away from the Red Tide for 3 days, we headed north on I-75 and stopped for the night at O'Leno State Park north of Gainesville for the night.
Next up is 13 days in the Panhandle of Florida, which has taken a direct hit by Hurricane Michael today. We are very sad it is getting rearranged and just hope everyone is OK. They are reporting 155 mph winds and 919 milibars (27.138 in Hg) which is the 3rd most powerful hurricane in the north Atlantic...not good. Not to sound selfish, but we got to spend 2 weeks enjoying the beauty of the area before Michael disrupted it all.
We arrived at Grayton Beach State Park on Monday afternoon, our base for the next 4 nights. We drove all over between Destin & Panama City, visiting State Parks we had never been to and visiting 2 that we had stayed at before but failed to get a book stamped because we didn't have the book. At the end of our 4 days, we drove west to Blackwater River State Park and on the way stopped in De Funiak Springs and had the 2 front tires on the motor home replaced. They had a strange wear pattern that concerned us both. Another unexpected expense, but something you have to do when we move around like we do. They had been there since 2013, so I am OK with it. After arriving at Blackwater River, we got set up and relaxed for the night. Sat & Sunday we spent getting the rest of the State Parks west of Tallahassee. We also drove to Pensacola and got our GPS in the car replaced under warranty at Best Buy that had quit turning on...at least that was free.
Monday morning, we were headed back east, this time at a State Park just north of the Gulf and just south of the mini-town of Sopchoppy, Ochlockonee River State Park, 6 nights in the woods. Ochlockonee is home to white deer & a bunch of very rare white squirrels, both of which we were able to see & photograph. We traveled to the rest of the State Parks on our map. We have now visited 150 of the 155 Florida State Parks that are accessible. We have plans to visit the other 5 in November. It has been an amazing adventure. Some parks are way prettier than others but they all have a story to tell. We also went to Tallahassee to visit the State Capitol buildings, both the old building which has been turned into a very cool museum and the new building whis is sort of a bland building that was all locked up because Congress is not in session. Then we walked across the street & visited the Florida Supreme Court building, which will have 3 new members come Jan. The guards know nothing about the place, just where you can & can't go...6 armed guards to guard an almost empty building seemed a little over the top. We moved on and drove back to the coast to watch the sun set. Being within a couple of miles to watch the sun rise & set make this part of Florida pretty unique along with the Florida Keys. Florida is an amazing place if you get out & look at it, I mean look at it.
So, on Sunday we set out for our current location. We drove across north Florida from Ochlockonee River to Gamble Rogers State Park 3 miles south of Flagler Beach on the Atlantic Ocean. We drove 243 miles across north Florida all on non-Interstates. We left Ochlockonee River State Park near the Gulf of Mexico and just south of the mini-town of Sopchoppy about 930 this morning and drove across a very pretty part of north Florida, staying away from all 3 Interstates (10, 75 & 95). We followed US 319 & 98, US 27, US 441, SR 222, 26, 100 & finally A1A. We crossed numerous rivers, passed through more small towns than I can remember, and a lot of memories because a lot of them had been a while since we there. We saw about 100 chuches surrounded by cars, lots of cars with tubes on the roof near Ichetucknee Springs, and a gazillion trees. What a relaxing day...minimal traffic (I think maybe a dozen cars passed us all day) Florida is a beautiful place, but you need to get off the Interstates & The Turnpike to really see it and enjoy it. We are at Gamble Rogers State Park on the Atlantic Ocean just south of Flagler Beach for the next 2 weeks. Tuesday, we will drive to Jetty Park and help our daughter celebrate another birthday, then come back here. Fall is a nice time to be at the beach. Be safe everyone, lots of beach time coming up. Stop by if you are in the area.
It has been an amazing 9 weeks. We will be here for another 10 days, then home for a couple weeks and then a trip south to finish off our quest to visit all 155 Florida State Parks...only 5 to go...stand by.
Steve & Barb Larson
Christmas, FL
For our first August in Florida since 2012, we got reacquainted with Florida dog days of summer. We spent a lot of time indoors, making sure the a/c kept running and making plans. We met with a travel agent, which so far has been a bust. I guess when you give them too much of your itinerary, they decide to help someone who is less prepared. Helping the unprepared is probably a lot easier too.
We took the camper to Jetty Park with Lisa & Dan in their new camper...getting the bugs out. We found one in our camper when it didn't want to start when it got time to leave. We finally got it going but decided to take it to a shop to fix it...more on that later. Back home, we made arrangements to drop the MH off for some repairs. I drove the camper, Barb followed me across town. When we got back in the car, no a/c in the car...wow. So we stopped and had someone look at it and the verdict was $$$$. So we bought the parts and I proceeded to replace the a/c compressor, which turned into a big project. I got it all buttoned back up in time for us to drive to see our friend Patti in Georgia. The a/c worked fine. We spent 3 days with Patti and they called and said the camper was ready. So we headed home to pick it up. They had fixed the problems, so that is good. It started first try. We spent the rest of the week going to two concerts and a couple of Dr appointments...end of a busy month.
Sept. is here...only 3 more months of hurricane season. But then it is time to start traveling again. First is a 5 day Blues Festival in Las Vegas...so we flew to Vegas, spent the better part of 5 days inside, avoiding the 106 degree heat that is very common in that city. We saw about 40 gigs in those 5 days and enjoyed our time with a couple from NY that we met on one of the many cruises we have been on. Then it was fly home and get ready for the next adventure, 40 days of camping & visiting more of Florida's 155 State Parks. We missed Tyler's 21 B-day while we were gone, but got to take him out to dinner with his gal Emily. Then we are off to Bradenton for our 1st stop, Little Manatee River SP for 8 days. We visited all of the State Parks in the area with the car. One day on the way back to the camper, the a/c in the car quit working so I found a shop and got a diagnosis...the a/c compressor I had installed before we went to Georgia, had failed. So I made an appointment and we got that fixed...the car is trying to tell us something. Maybe after 225,000 miles, it is getting tired? But we got it fixed and were on our way, more sightseeing to do. We spent a day visiting more State Parks before moving to Sarasota and a spot at Turtle Beach Campground on Siesta Key. We visited more parks, areas we haven't been to in years and drove to the very end of Anna Maria Island and enjoyed the beauty of the Gulf Coast. We even made it to the south end of Florida Mainland where the Gulf of Mexico becomes Florida Bay, which separates the Everglades & The Florida Keys...there sure is more to Florida than the Mouse House. After spending time on the Gulf Coast and trying to stay away from the Red Tide for 3 days, we headed north on I-75 and stopped for the night at O'Leno State Park north of Gainesville for the night.
Next up is 13 days in the Panhandle of Florida, which has taken a direct hit by Hurricane Michael today. We are very sad it is getting rearranged and just hope everyone is OK. They are reporting 155 mph winds and 919 milibars (27.138 in Hg) which is the 3rd most powerful hurricane in the north Atlantic...not good. Not to sound selfish, but we got to spend 2 weeks enjoying the beauty of the area before Michael disrupted it all.
We arrived at Grayton Beach State Park on Monday afternoon, our base for the next 4 nights. We drove all over between Destin & Panama City, visiting State Parks we had never been to and visiting 2 that we had stayed at before but failed to get a book stamped because we didn't have the book. At the end of our 4 days, we drove west to Blackwater River State Park and on the way stopped in De Funiak Springs and had the 2 front tires on the motor home replaced. They had a strange wear pattern that concerned us both. Another unexpected expense, but something you have to do when we move around like we do. They had been there since 2013, so I am OK with it. After arriving at Blackwater River, we got set up and relaxed for the night. Sat & Sunday we spent getting the rest of the State Parks west of Tallahassee. We also drove to Pensacola and got our GPS in the car replaced under warranty at Best Buy that had quit turning on...at least that was free.
Monday morning, we were headed back east, this time at a State Park just north of the Gulf and just south of the mini-town of Sopchoppy, Ochlockonee River State Park, 6 nights in the woods. Ochlockonee is home to white deer & a bunch of very rare white squirrels, both of which we were able to see & photograph. We traveled to the rest of the State Parks on our map. We have now visited 150 of the 155 Florida State Parks that are accessible. We have plans to visit the other 5 in November. It has been an amazing adventure. Some parks are way prettier than others but they all have a story to tell. We also went to Tallahassee to visit the State Capitol buildings, both the old building which has been turned into a very cool museum and the new building whis is sort of a bland building that was all locked up because Congress is not in session. Then we walked across the street & visited the Florida Supreme Court building, which will have 3 new members come Jan. The guards know nothing about the place, just where you can & can't go...6 armed guards to guard an almost empty building seemed a little over the top. We moved on and drove back to the coast to watch the sun set. Being within a couple of miles to watch the sun rise & set make this part of Florida pretty unique along with the Florida Keys. Florida is an amazing place if you get out & look at it, I mean look at it.
So, on Sunday we set out for our current location. We drove across north Florida from Ochlockonee River to Gamble Rogers State Park 3 miles south of Flagler Beach on the Atlantic Ocean. We drove 243 miles across north Florida all on non-Interstates. We left Ochlockonee River State Park near the Gulf of Mexico and just south of the mini-town of Sopchoppy about 930 this morning and drove across a very pretty part of north Florida, staying away from all 3 Interstates (10, 75 & 95). We followed US 319 & 98, US 27, US 441, SR 222, 26, 100 & finally A1A. We crossed numerous rivers, passed through more small towns than I can remember, and a lot of memories because a lot of them had been a while since we there. We saw about 100 chuches surrounded by cars, lots of cars with tubes on the roof near Ichetucknee Springs, and a gazillion trees. What a relaxing day...minimal traffic (I think maybe a dozen cars passed us all day) Florida is a beautiful place, but you need to get off the Interstates & The Turnpike to really see it and enjoy it. We are at Gamble Rogers State Park on the Atlantic Ocean just south of Flagler Beach for the next 2 weeks. Tuesday, we will drive to Jetty Park and help our daughter celebrate another birthday, then come back here. Fall is a nice time to be at the beach. Be safe everyone, lots of beach time coming up. Stop by if you are in the area.
It has been an amazing 9 weeks. We will be here for another 10 days, then home for a couple weeks and then a trip south to finish off our quest to visit all 155 Florida State Parks...only 5 to go...stand by.
Steve & Barb Larson
Christmas, FL
Thursday, August 2, 2018
8/2/2018 4/24-8/1/2018
Well, August is here. won't be too long and it will start to cool off, we hope. We have enjoyed being home for the summer, almost forgot what it is like. We planted grass and it is sprouting pretty good from all the rain. We have had about 30" of rain since April. One day we got over 2" in 30 minutes.
We ended April & began May with a 2 week stay at the beach with our motor home near Flagler Beach. It is beautiful up there, and still only 90 mins from the house. We drove to Tampa to see Lynyrd Skynyrd and to Jacksonville for a James Taylor concert. Joe Bonamassa came to St Augustine with his amazing band too, so we were busy between sitting on the beach, and listening to music...such a life.
We came home and celebrated Mother's Day, went to the last of a 6 show series at Dr Phillips PAC and started to get ready for Kaylee's graduation from High School....doesn't seem possible our little grand daughter is 18 y/o, high school grad, working girl & has started Seminole State College...where has the time gone? Barb's two sisters & their families came from Minnesota, friends from Oklahoma, lots of locals, and we had a big party. Half way through the party, I got sick. I drove myself home and spent the next 36 hours sleeping...it was not fun. But, even though I missed the graduation ceremony, I got well enough to spend time with family before they all left. My brother had been here for a month too...we hadn't seen each other for that long since we were in high school. It was all good. Then it was back to normal stuff, doctors & lunch with friends., and relaxing from the fun.
June brought time to work in my shop, doing projects we had put off for several years. I refinished the kitchen table in the motor home, which turned into a pretty big project. But it turned out great. We also attended 4 concerts, seeing several bands we had never seen before, which is always fun. In the meantime, we have been doing some planning for the rest of this year and our big trip to Europe next summer. It takes a lot of work to get ready for these adventures we go on. I think we are going to recruit some professional help for our Europe trip...too many unknowns.
July has been pretty relaxing. Four more concerts, 4 nights camping with our daughter & son-in-law, who bought themselves a gently used 5th wheel camper and were dying to break it in. So we spent 4 night at a State Park near Clermont, about 50 miles west. That stay also included a drive south to a couple more State Parks & the Bok Tower near Lake Wales, which we had never visited before. There are 161 Florida State Parks and we have visited 122 of them, 39 to go. We are going to go camping in Sept., Oct & Nov., all at Florida State Parks...we will have less than 5 left when we get done. It has been a fun adventure, lots of beautiful places. And no, I am not going to pick the best one...I gave up on that practice as a young man when I saw what the judges had to go through to pick Miss America & Miss Universe...it is all too subjective and it is a bunch of opinions, none of which we are sure are even sane opinions...so, I will pass. But we have seen some natural beauty not seen too many places on earth...but again, I have not seen everything on earth, yet. Get back with me when we have. We have been watching The Travel Chanel, reading the photography magazines that appear in our mailbox, we have a ways to go. Our friends from Finland were at Nordkapp, Norway in the last week. It is the furthermost northern point in Europe, only 2,942 miles north of where we are, guess where we are going next summer? Maybe on a cruise ship...never know. A lot of that is still in the undecided column, but we are getting there.
Steve & Barb Larson
Well, August is here. won't be too long and it will start to cool off, we hope. We have enjoyed being home for the summer, almost forgot what it is like. We planted grass and it is sprouting pretty good from all the rain. We have had about 30" of rain since April. One day we got over 2" in 30 minutes.
We ended April & began May with a 2 week stay at the beach with our motor home near Flagler Beach. It is beautiful up there, and still only 90 mins from the house. We drove to Tampa to see Lynyrd Skynyrd and to Jacksonville for a James Taylor concert. Joe Bonamassa came to St Augustine with his amazing band too, so we were busy between sitting on the beach, and listening to music...such a life.
We came home and celebrated Mother's Day, went to the last of a 6 show series at Dr Phillips PAC and started to get ready for Kaylee's graduation from High School....doesn't seem possible our little grand daughter is 18 y/o, high school grad, working girl & has started Seminole State College...where has the time gone? Barb's two sisters & their families came from Minnesota, friends from Oklahoma, lots of locals, and we had a big party. Half way through the party, I got sick. I drove myself home and spent the next 36 hours sleeping...it was not fun. But, even though I missed the graduation ceremony, I got well enough to spend time with family before they all left. My brother had been here for a month too...we hadn't seen each other for that long since we were in high school. It was all good. Then it was back to normal stuff, doctors & lunch with friends., and relaxing from the fun.
June brought time to work in my shop, doing projects we had put off for several years. I refinished the kitchen table in the motor home, which turned into a pretty big project. But it turned out great. We also attended 4 concerts, seeing several bands we had never seen before, which is always fun. In the meantime, we have been doing some planning for the rest of this year and our big trip to Europe next summer. It takes a lot of work to get ready for these adventures we go on. I think we are going to recruit some professional help for our Europe trip...too many unknowns.
July has been pretty relaxing. Four more concerts, 4 nights camping with our daughter & son-in-law, who bought themselves a gently used 5th wheel camper and were dying to break it in. So we spent 4 night at a State Park near Clermont, about 50 miles west. That stay also included a drive south to a couple more State Parks & the Bok Tower near Lake Wales, which we had never visited before. There are 161 Florida State Parks and we have visited 122 of them, 39 to go. We are going to go camping in Sept., Oct & Nov., all at Florida State Parks...we will have less than 5 left when we get done. It has been a fun adventure, lots of beautiful places. And no, I am not going to pick the best one...I gave up on that practice as a young man when I saw what the judges had to go through to pick Miss America & Miss Universe...it is all too subjective and it is a bunch of opinions, none of which we are sure are even sane opinions...so, I will pass. But we have seen some natural beauty not seen too many places on earth...but again, I have not seen everything on earth, yet. Get back with me when we have. We have been watching The Travel Chanel, reading the photography magazines that appear in our mailbox, we have a ways to go. Our friends from Finland were at Nordkapp, Norway in the last week. It is the furthermost northern point in Europe, only 2,942 miles north of where we are, guess where we are going next summer? Maybe on a cruise ship...never know. A lot of that is still in the undecided column, but we are getting there.
Steve & Barb Larson
Tuesday, April 24, 2018
4/23/2018 10/24/2017 thru 4/22/2018
I haven't posted very much recently because we have been busy. Silence can be a good thing too.
When we got back from our trip to New Hampshire in late October, we spent the next month celebrating our Granddaughter turning 18 (wow, where did that time go?) and taking advise from 2 different people that I seek out a different doctor to address issues with getting dizzy, shortness of breath at altitude and other maladies I had attributed to getting old. So I sought out a Cardiologist that had been recommended. They ran lots of tests, adjusted some medication, took me off other medication and put me on new meds, put me on a diet and sent me out into the world to see if his experiment was working. The next time I saw him in January, after going through Thanksgiving & Christmas, I had lost 12# and my blood pressure was where it needed to be and no dizzy spells whatsoever...amazing!!! My Nephew had talked me into a Fit-bit and I was keeping track of the steps I was doing each day too. As of today, I have lost 34#, walked halfway to Atlanta and I have made a HUGE change in my health. We also had to deal with the loss of power for 5 days following a brush with Hurricane Irma.
The rest of 2017 was pretty quiet except for a few concerts, our niece & her family here for Thanksgiving and getting ready for the 2018 season. We really enjoyed Ken & Stephanie & their 4 boys here for 3 short days. The boys are in constant motion when not sleeping. Fun times. We also attended 3 UCF games to complete their football season at 12-0 and earn a trip to the Peach Bowl, which they won too. The University of Central Florida is only about 10 miles from our house and watching their undefeated season was a lot of fun...they had lost every game just 2 years prior, so they had made a HUGE change too. Their head coach then left for his Alma mater Nebraska...13-0 will usually lead to good things. UCF hired a new guy who promises good results, we shall see.
January brought more doctor visits, ticket purchases, lunch dates with friends and a weekend trip to see friends in Tampa who were going on a cruise we had not booked. We went back to Tampa when the cruise came back and spent another 36 hours with the friends...great seeing everyone, especially our friends from Finland. We also hosted another get together with the friends from up north wintering in Florida that we went to Alaska with...always good to see them. Then it was another couple of concerts, getting our car worked on and washing our solar panels...necessary maintenance. I also did a bunch of maintenance to our 2004 truck...necessary stuff!!
Feb was more of the same, fixing the Spa, watching rocket launches, more lunch dates, concerts, a photo op at a wetland park 5 miles down the street at sunrise, a blues fest in Clearwater & a drive to Miami for our 4th Blues Cruise with Joe Bonamassa. It was a pretty easy month, but we stayed busy.
March started out with the last of the Blues Cruise and a stop at a couple of State Parks on our way home from Miami. We stopped for lunch in Stuart which broke the drive up. Then 4 concerts in 8 days kept us hopping...Blackberry Smoke here in Orlando, which included 2 couples staying over night, Ana Popovic in Melbourne, Marshall Tucker, The Outlaws, Charlie Daniels & Travis Tritt in St Augustine, and some Led Zeppelin by Classic Albums Live at Universal Studios Orlando...busy, busy. Then the next day, we hooked up the motor home and drove to O'Leno State Park about 20 miles NW of Gainesville for a couple weeks. We spent a lot of time visiting state parks in that area and spent 2 days at the Gator Nationals just north of Gainesville watching NHRA drag racing. Watching a car go from zero to 325 mph in 1000' in under 4 secs is something you have to see to believe. We were close enough to be able to drive back to the camper each night. It was a fun couple of days. We also visited 19 State Parks and have visited all 38 of the State Parks in the Northeast Region of Florida and that pushes our total to 106 of the 151 Florida State Parks, roughly 2/3 of them. It has been an amazing journey!! O'Leno SP is on the Santa Fe River. Inside the park, the river has rapids, so there is a steady current, which is pretty rare in Florida's many rivers, as most are very flat. About 3/4 of a mile from the rapids, the river disappears. 3 miles away, in another State Park, aptly called River Rise SP, the Santa Fe reappears in one of the most beautiful places we have seen in a while. It then flows to the Suwannee River about 18 miles away. It is amazingly beautiful and unique! Visiting our State Parks has been so interesting, informative & certainly fun. On the way home, we detoured to Tampa and spent a night at Hillsborough River State Park and spent the night rocking to a band called Dirty Soul Revival at Skippers with about 16 of our friends there, including one of the guitar players in the band...fun night. Then it was home, the 4th of a 6 concert series at Dr Phillips PAC and then the 2nd of a 4 week seminar at the courthouse where our daughter Lisa has spent the last 31 years as a Judicial Assistant. The seminar was called 'Inside the Courts' and was an interesting look at the Judicial system of the 9th Judicial Circuit Court of Florida, which encompasses Orange & Osceola Counties (Orlando & Kissimmee)...67 judges & associated bailiffs, prosecutors, admin, assistants that work very hard to make sure our residents & visitors get the justice they deserve. Orange County & especially Osceola County have been the epicenter of the migration of all the Puerto Rico residents who were displaced by the devastation to their island by Hurricane Irma.
The last night was a 2 hour Q & A with 5 judges, including the judge Lisa works with every day and the Chief Judge of the 9th Judicial Circuit Courts. It was very interesting!! We are glad we went.
April has brought a lot of excitement. We have seen The Outlaws, a 4 day Blues Fest in St Petersburg, finished the Inside the Courts Seminar series, seen The Eagles, Jimmy Buffet & Bon Jovi, celebrated my birthday, our 49th anniversary, had my brother come visit, gone to a Celebration of Life for a friend's son who died at 27 y/o and tonight attend the 5th of 6 concerts at Dr Phillips PAC. On Saturday, we are going to the beach for 2 weeks and will go to 2 concerts while we are away. When we get back, it is prepare for the High School Graduation of our youngest grandchild, Kaylee. Boy that makes me feel old just typing that. But family & friends will be here and it will be a big time. We are going to stay home this summer. We have been in 48 of the US States plus DC (we missed Hawaii & Nebraska) 7 Canadian Provinces, Yukon Territory, Mexico, Belize, Jamaica, The Bahamas, Grand Cayman, Cozumel & on 6 cruise ships in the last 5 years...we have driven the motor home while towing our car almost 49,000 miles and our little car now has 218,000 miles on it, not counting the tow miles...break time. We will be on the road again in September...lots coming up.
Steve & Barb Larson
I haven't posted very much recently because we have been busy. Silence can be a good thing too.
When we got back from our trip to New Hampshire in late October, we spent the next month celebrating our Granddaughter turning 18 (wow, where did that time go?) and taking advise from 2 different people that I seek out a different doctor to address issues with getting dizzy, shortness of breath at altitude and other maladies I had attributed to getting old. So I sought out a Cardiologist that had been recommended. They ran lots of tests, adjusted some medication, took me off other medication and put me on new meds, put me on a diet and sent me out into the world to see if his experiment was working. The next time I saw him in January, after going through Thanksgiving & Christmas, I had lost 12# and my blood pressure was where it needed to be and no dizzy spells whatsoever...amazing!!! My Nephew had talked me into a Fit-bit and I was keeping track of the steps I was doing each day too. As of today, I have lost 34#, walked halfway to Atlanta and I have made a HUGE change in my health. We also had to deal with the loss of power for 5 days following a brush with Hurricane Irma.
The rest of 2017 was pretty quiet except for a few concerts, our niece & her family here for Thanksgiving and getting ready for the 2018 season. We really enjoyed Ken & Stephanie & their 4 boys here for 3 short days. The boys are in constant motion when not sleeping. Fun times. We also attended 3 UCF games to complete their football season at 12-0 and earn a trip to the Peach Bowl, which they won too. The University of Central Florida is only about 10 miles from our house and watching their undefeated season was a lot of fun...they had lost every game just 2 years prior, so they had made a HUGE change too. Their head coach then left for his Alma mater Nebraska...13-0 will usually lead to good things. UCF hired a new guy who promises good results, we shall see.
January brought more doctor visits, ticket purchases, lunch dates with friends and a weekend trip to see friends in Tampa who were going on a cruise we had not booked. We went back to Tampa when the cruise came back and spent another 36 hours with the friends...great seeing everyone, especially our friends from Finland. We also hosted another get together with the friends from up north wintering in Florida that we went to Alaska with...always good to see them. Then it was another couple of concerts, getting our car worked on and washing our solar panels...necessary maintenance. I also did a bunch of maintenance to our 2004 truck...necessary stuff!!
Feb was more of the same, fixing the Spa, watching rocket launches, more lunch dates, concerts, a photo op at a wetland park 5 miles down the street at sunrise, a blues fest in Clearwater & a drive to Miami for our 4th Blues Cruise with Joe Bonamassa. It was a pretty easy month, but we stayed busy.
March started out with the last of the Blues Cruise and a stop at a couple of State Parks on our way home from Miami. We stopped for lunch in Stuart which broke the drive up. Then 4 concerts in 8 days kept us hopping...Blackberry Smoke here in Orlando, which included 2 couples staying over night, Ana Popovic in Melbourne, Marshall Tucker, The Outlaws, Charlie Daniels & Travis Tritt in St Augustine, and some Led Zeppelin by Classic Albums Live at Universal Studios Orlando...busy, busy. Then the next day, we hooked up the motor home and drove to O'Leno State Park about 20 miles NW of Gainesville for a couple weeks. We spent a lot of time visiting state parks in that area and spent 2 days at the Gator Nationals just north of Gainesville watching NHRA drag racing. Watching a car go from zero to 325 mph in 1000' in under 4 secs is something you have to see to believe. We were close enough to be able to drive back to the camper each night. It was a fun couple of days. We also visited 19 State Parks and have visited all 38 of the State Parks in the Northeast Region of Florida and that pushes our total to 106 of the 151 Florida State Parks, roughly 2/3 of them. It has been an amazing journey!! O'Leno SP is on the Santa Fe River. Inside the park, the river has rapids, so there is a steady current, which is pretty rare in Florida's many rivers, as most are very flat. About 3/4 of a mile from the rapids, the river disappears. 3 miles away, in another State Park, aptly called River Rise SP, the Santa Fe reappears in one of the most beautiful places we have seen in a while. It then flows to the Suwannee River about 18 miles away. It is amazingly beautiful and unique! Visiting our State Parks has been so interesting, informative & certainly fun. On the way home, we detoured to Tampa and spent a night at Hillsborough River State Park and spent the night rocking to a band called Dirty Soul Revival at Skippers with about 16 of our friends there, including one of the guitar players in the band...fun night. Then it was home, the 4th of a 6 concert series at Dr Phillips PAC and then the 2nd of a 4 week seminar at the courthouse where our daughter Lisa has spent the last 31 years as a Judicial Assistant. The seminar was called 'Inside the Courts' and was an interesting look at the Judicial system of the 9th Judicial Circuit Court of Florida, which encompasses Orange & Osceola Counties (Orlando & Kissimmee)...67 judges & associated bailiffs, prosecutors, admin, assistants that work very hard to make sure our residents & visitors get the justice they deserve. Orange County & especially Osceola County have been the epicenter of the migration of all the Puerto Rico residents who were displaced by the devastation to their island by Hurricane Irma.
The last night was a 2 hour Q & A with 5 judges, including the judge Lisa works with every day and the Chief Judge of the 9th Judicial Circuit Courts. It was very interesting!! We are glad we went.
April has brought a lot of excitement. We have seen The Outlaws, a 4 day Blues Fest in St Petersburg, finished the Inside the Courts Seminar series, seen The Eagles, Jimmy Buffet & Bon Jovi, celebrated my birthday, our 49th anniversary, had my brother come visit, gone to a Celebration of Life for a friend's son who died at 27 y/o and tonight attend the 5th of 6 concerts at Dr Phillips PAC. On Saturday, we are going to the beach for 2 weeks and will go to 2 concerts while we are away. When we get back, it is prepare for the High School Graduation of our youngest grandchild, Kaylee. Boy that makes me feel old just typing that. But family & friends will be here and it will be a big time. We are going to stay home this summer. We have been in 48 of the US States plus DC (we missed Hawaii & Nebraska) 7 Canadian Provinces, Yukon Territory, Mexico, Belize, Jamaica, The Bahamas, Grand Cayman, Cozumel & on 6 cruise ships in the last 5 years...we have driven the motor home while towing our car almost 49,000 miles and our little car now has 218,000 miles on it, not counting the tow miles...break time. We will be on the road again in September...lots coming up.
Steve & Barb Larson
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