Going Back to Eustis, Eustis, Eustis

Early Wednesday morning, I noticed that the motorhome seemed warmer inside than normal so I got up and turned the air conditioner down.  It never came on so we checked the electrical panel and noticed the breaker to the rear a/c had tripped.  We flipped the breaker back on and the a/c came on for about 3 minutes and then the breaker tripped again.  We knew we either had a bad breaker or a problem with the rear a/c.

I called Alliance Coach which is only about 25 miles east of our next destination, Eustis, Florida, and they said they would be able to work us in Wednesday afternoon.  Ken and Bonnie drove on to Southern Palms RV Resort in Eustis while we stopped at Alliance Coach in Wildwood.  After checking the unit, they determined the compressor on the rear a/c had gone bad which means we would need a new rear a/c.  The good news is they had one in stock.  The bad news was that they would not be able to fix it until first thing Thursday morning.

After pulling into one of the sites at Alliance Coach, we called Ken and Bonnie to see if they wanted to meet us at Sonny's Bar-B-Q in Eustis for dinner.  We had a very delicious dinner and then went back to their camper to play cards for a couple of hours before heading back to Wildwood.

On Thursday morning, Alliance Coach had the new a/c on and working by 9:30 and we were pulling out by 9:40 heading toward Eustis.  We arrived and got set up in our campsite in time to walk over to the farmer's market that is held every Thursday at the fairgrounds next door to the campground.  We picked up a couple of things and then played some shuffleboard later that afternoon.

On Friday, we loaded up the bikes on Ken & Bonnie's car and drove over to The Villages.  We stopped at the sales office in Brownwood Square and got some more detailed information about The Villages.

The development was started in the late 1970's and has grown to a 55+ community of about 100,000 people with every amenity you can imagine.  There are only about 3,000 more homes and villas remaining to be built and they estimate those will be completed within the next couple of years.  The community produces a weekly newspaper that is about 30 pages thick full of all of the sporting events, recreational activities, clubs and everything else going for the week.  A person would definitely not get bored living in The Villages!

We got on our bikes and rode our bikes along the recreational trails out to a mexican restaurant on the eastern side of the community.

We enjoyed a delicious mexican lupper and talked with a couple who sat near us that have lived in the Villages for several years and love it.  On our ride back to Brownwood Square we rode through some of the neighborhoods, visited an open house we saw, and then were invited in to one of the villas by a couple of residents who were sitting on their front patio enjoying the afternoon.  Everyone we met seemed to love living there.

When we got back to Brownwood Square, we rode to the entrance so Ken could get some pictures of the Western-themed entrance.

Hold on there, little doggie!  :)

And then we walked over to the center of the square where every night of the year they have some kind of concert going on.  And they do this at all three townsquares in the Villages.

No wonder they call the Villages the Disneyworld for old people!  :)

On Saturday, we enjoyed playing several games of bocce ball and shuffleboard.  The courts here at Southern Palms are some of the best we have ever played on making the games really enjoyable.

On Sunday morning, we went to a small but beautiful old church in downtown Eustis...

...and then got in a few more games of bocce that afternoon.

On Monday morning, Ken and Bonnie had us over for breakfast and treated us to some of their flax pancakes.  They are certainly different from "traditional" pancakes but much healthier and tasty too with all the fruit, peanut butter and whip cream on top!

Ken and Bonnie were busy organizing and packing over the next couple of days because they were taking their motorhome back to LazyDays and leaving it to have the vinyl floor replaced that had torn last year soon after their slide was fixed.  We still managed to get in a lot of bocce, shuffleboard, and our nightly card games, of course!

On Tuesday evening, Ken suggested going back to the Lake Walk in Eustis as we had done a couple of years ago to watch the sunset.  We were not disappointed!  We walked down the Lake Walk watching the people fish and enjoying the scenery.

Lazy man's fishing pole -- mounted to the rail!
Or maybe it's the smart man's fishing pole because
he can fish with several poles at once!

Beautiful old cypress tree...

...and all its "knees" near the trunk of the tree.

An eagle keeping watch atop a light pole.

Wonderful friends!

Lily pads everywhere but no gators this time.

We walked back up to where we had started and sat down on a bench to watch the sunset.

And just about the time the sun set in the west, a full moon rose in the east!

We rode down to McDonalds to enjoy an ice cream cone on our last night together.

What a wonderful month we have had together with Ken and Bonnie.  Ken, thanks for all your good pictures that I "borrowed."  Bonnie, thanks for your keeping up with your wonderful blog so I could keep track on our blog.  :)

Our time with Ken and Bonnie is always special but our parting was a little more sorrowful on Wednesday morning because we don't know when we will see each other again.  We joined hands and Ken said a beautiful prayer for all of us followed by lots of hugs and tears.

Ken and Bonnie, we love y'all!  Safe travels and say hello to all your family in PA for us!  :)

Week Two in Bradenton

On Wednesday morning (March 9th), we went back to the high school to play some more pickleball.  This time the courts were filled with kids during gym class.  But that didn't stop us!  Bonnie asked the gym teacher how much longer the kids would be using the courts and he moved the kids to a different court so we could play.  How nice was that!

Later that afternoon, we drove to Nokomis Beach so we could watch the sunset and the Drum Circle.

Chuck walked up to the North Jetty and got this picture of a dolphin in the canal.

As the drums started beating, the crowds got bigger and bigger -- a lot bigger than in the fall when we had previously seen the Drum Circle.

As the sun began to set, hundreds of pictures began to be taken.

We took a few too!

While the guys watched the entertainment at the Drum Circle,

the girls enjoyed reading their books.  :)

On Thursday, we met Ernie & Noela at the beginning trailhead parking lot and went for a bike ride down the Cape Haze Trail.

An eagle!

We rode all the way to Placida where we enjoyed a delicious lupper on the deck of The Fishery Restaurant.

The restaurant and nearby area was the setting for some of the scenes in the movie "Out of Time" starring Denzel Washington.  With this sunken boat offshore, it looks like it could be the setting for a lot of movies.

We explored the very small town of Placida and then walked out on the fishing pier.

There were some of the biggest lizards we have ever seen along the path and on the rocks near the pier.

As we walked back to our bikes, we could hear the drums from a miniature drum circle going on at the Fishery Restaurant.  Bonnie showed us all how to hula-hoop before getting back on our bikes and riding back to the trailhead where we began our beautiful day.

Friday was a day of pickleball and shuffleboard.  We began the morning by stopping at a pond in a business development where Ken had spotted his favorite birds -- the Roseate Spoonbill.

There were 5 roseates when we stopped and Ken was very happy with some of the pictures he got:

We got there just in time.  The roseates stayed for only about 10 minutes and then they were off to somewhere else.

We drove to the pickleball courts and played for a couple of hours.  Despite the winds, we had a very good time and played some good games.  When we got back to the campground, we met Cindy and John and Ken and Bonnie at the shuffleboard courts and played several rounds of shuffleboard.

On Saturday, we went back to Manatee Beach and enjoyed another relaxing day at the beach.  The unlimited free coffee refills at the nearby cafe makes this one of my favorite beaches!  :)

On Saturday evening, the campground was having a Karoke show and Cindy performed "I'm Just a Girl Who Can't Say No" from the musical "Oklahoma."  She is so talented!

After church on Sunday, the six of us played some more rounds of shuffleboard that afternoon and then like most evenings, we got together for some fun games of 5 Crowns, Up the River and SkipBo.

On Monday, all six of us went back to Manatee Beach for another beautiful day at the beach.

You can tell spring is just around the corner because the demographics of the beach crowds have changed from snowbirds to Spring Break birds.  :)

On Tuesday, we drove back down to Manasota Beach where we were joined by Ernie and Noela.  It was a very foggy day at the beach!

We left early afternoon and went to Farlows for one last delicious meal together with Ernie and Noela.

What a special three weeks it has been first in Venice and then here in Bradenton.  We have been blessed with such wonderful friends and great times to spend with them.  Ernie & Noela and Cindy & John, we look forward to seeing you down the road again!  :)