Back to Venice

On Friday morning, Ernie and Noela came by to see us off before we began our long drive to Royal Coachmen RV Resort near Venice, Florida.  We had such a good time with them in Carrabelle.  And I think we ALL really enjoyed the grilled and boiled shrimp we cooked together our last night!

As we drove Hwy 98 east, we were treated to a beautiful sunrise on the gulf.  I took these pictures as we were driving down the roadl

After we had been on the road awhile, I called Alliance Coach to see if they would be able to fix our broken window during the time we had other service scheduled there week after next.  After doing some investigation, they gave us the name of a company who can repair the window faster, better and cheaper than they could do.  So we now have appointments lined up with both companies week after next.

The drive was long but uneventful.  We left Carrabelle around 7 am and pulled into Royal Coachmen around 3 pm.  We were able to get sites next to each other again.  After getting all set up, we went to Sonny's Barbecue for a much anticipated and long awaited barbecue dinner.  It was delicious!

Ken and Bonnie came over to our place after we got back.  We played Pinochle which the guys won.  I feel like Bonnie and I won because we got the bid so much but they reached 150 points before we did so I guess, technically, they won.  :)  Then, we played a game of SkipBo.  The game went down to the wire with each of us having only one card left; but Bonnie drew the cards we needed and the girls won the game.  Everyone went to bed with winners tonight!

On Saturday morning, Chuck began doing his monthly maintenance on the motorhome plus he spent some time re-caulking around the driver's window and any other places that needed caulking.  He also fixed the porch light.  The light had burned out and melted the cover just enough that Chuck could not get the cover to go back in place.  Fortunately, RV World of Nokomis which is only a couple of miles from the campground had both a replacement bulb and a cover.  We told Ken and Bonnie to go on to the beach and we would be over later but it took us so long to get the caulking completed, we ended up staying at the campground and just going to the pool for a couple of hours.

Even though we had not been together during the day, that didn't keep us from getting together for cards that evening.  We played SkipBo, Spades and Pinochle with the women winning 2 games and the men winning 1.

On Sunday, we went to church, Sweet Tomatos for lunch (and it was so good), Costco and Wal-mart.  Maybe we have gotten stocked up on enough groceries to get us through the next week.  I hope!  Ken and Bonnie came over to watch the Broncos vs. Colts game.  Bonnie and I played Scrabble and Word Nerd (a new game for me) while the men played on their phones while watching the game.

We snacked on some of that good Vermont cheese and crackers and then played Pinochle with the men winning a good game.  Congratulations, guys!

On Monday morning, we drove over to the pickleball courts we found in Venice and played pickleball in the very hot and humid weather for about 1 1/2 hours.  I think we all did pretty good considering we hadn't played in such a long time.  When we came back to the campground, Bonnie, Chuck and I headed for the pool to cool off for about an hour or so.  Later that afternoon, we got back together to play some shuffleboard and then Chuck and I went to pick up his bike at the bike shop.  They replaced 6 spokes and he got a new tire.  Hopefully, that will keep his bike going for a while.  After dinner, we got back together over at Ken and Bonnie's for cards and the guys won way too much!  They won SkipBo, Pinochle, and just when we thought Bonnie and I thought we had beat them in Spades, they went Blind Nellie and beat us in Spades.  What's going on????  Dolores, we need you!  :)

We woke up to rain on Tuesday morning so we played pickleball on the court under the pavillion at Royal Coachmen around 10 am.  We played about an hour but it rained again for a few minutes and the rain splattered on the court making it slippery.  None of us wanted to risk slipping and falling so we headed back to the camper, packed our lunches and drove to Manasota Beach.  We enjoyed a relaxing afternoon of walking the beach, looking for shells and sharks teeth, and reading.

Perfect day for a walk along the beach.

This sand crab was either playing possum or was asleep.
He didn't move until I touched him with a stick.

The rocks on Manasota Beach past The Pearl.

When I returned from my walk, all my comrades were napping!

So I figured I might as well rest a bit too!

After we returned to the campground, Ken and Bonnie had us over for a grilled dinner of pork, chicken and fish.  And it was all delicious!  Ken and Bonnie came over to our place to watch the debates.  Bonnie and I played Quirkle and Upwords while the guys watched the debates.