Tuesday May 8th Bev and I picked up Holly and Kevin at the Denver International Airport. After getting them settled in at their hotel we all headed to Pam and Kent's house for more food and fun. We always have a great time with Pam and Kent and Bev just loves being with her sisters. It was too bad that Bev and Pam's middle sister Linda wasn't here to complete the family but she had to stay home to recover from knee surgery. (We love and miss you Linda, you are in all of our thoughts.)

Wednesday May 9th (Oh it's my birthday - happy birthday to me) Holly, Kevin, Bev and I did some sight seeing. We headed up the mountains to visit the casinos at Central City, CO. It is a great old mining town of yesteryear which is now dedicated to the casinos. We all played the slots but didn't win our fortunes. Kevin treated us to my birthday dinner at one of the casinos so I came out ahead of the game (thank you Kevin). The scenery heading up here was awesome.

Check out the sign at Annie Oakley's dispensary in Central City. No wonder the people here are so happy.

I didn't post any pictures of the spectacular mountain scenery because pictures just don't do it justice. You have to come to Colorado to enjoy this beautiful state.

Our next stop was Buffalo Bill's Museum & Grave. By his request, Buffalo Bill was buried on Lookout Mountain in 1917, overlooking the Great Plains and the Rockies. It is only thirty minutes from downtown Denver.

I did not realize that he was a MEDAL OF HONOR recipient.

Holly and Kevin blocking the view of the valley. Hey, Kevin took us out for my birthday dinner so I have to give him and Holly some space on the blog.

Thursday May 10th back to Pam and Kent's house. Today is Elisabeth's graduation from the College of Music, University of Colorado Boulder. We took pictures at the house before we headed out to Boulder. We were so sad that Linda was not here to be in these pictures but she is definitely in our hearts and minds.

Mom and Dad with Elisabeth

Holly and Kevin with Elisabeth

Bev, Me, Holly, Elisabeth, Kent, Pam

Notice I am hiding in the back. That's what happens when you get to fat, you hide.

Next we headed to the University of Colorado Boulder where she received her Bachelor of Music Education. Congratulation Elisabeth!

This is the moment

Linda got to see the ceremonies though because Pam "skyped" Linda using Elisabeth's IPad. Isn't technology great? Between Bev and Pam they held up the IPad capturing the feed during the whole ceremony. I bet their arms were tired.

This phase of the ceremony is over but tomorrow we will attend the main graduation ceremony with the whole university.

Friday May 11th back on the road to Boulder, CO. Bev and I were up at 4:15 am, picked up Holly and Kevin 5:45 and hit McDonald's for breakfast (oh yes, I had a Sausage McMuffin with Egg & medium coffee - life is good).

We arrived back in Boulder at 6:45 am because the stadium opened up at 7:00 am. The graduation ceremonies started about 8:30 am. We arrived early because the crowds were expected to be enormous and we wanted great seats. We were right on the first row close to where Elisabeth would be sitting and was able to see her as she filed in to her seat. Once the throngs of graduates were seated though we lost view of her.

We were seated on the opposite side from this view and it was filled to capacity.

With around 5000 graduates they didn't call out each name individually but conferred the Degree by each of the individual Colleges as a group.

The temperature was in the low 40's with a breeze so it was cold sitting in the stadium. We were prepared though and was dressed for winter. The speeches were interesting and we had a great time at the commencement ceremonies. Thank you Pam, Kent, and Elisabeth for inviting us.

Congratulations Elisabeth, you worked hard for your Degree and we are all very proud of you. Good luck on your next phase working for your Masters.

Tuesday May 1st we hit the road again heading for Colorado to attend our niece Elizabeth's graduation from college. It has been a couple of months since we were on the road and Bev and I really had "hitch itch". We were also looking forward to getting away from the cold Connecticut weather.

There are two options for heading to Denver, the northern route I-80 or the central route I-70. I-80 is 33 miles shorter but the tolls are wicked so we opted for I-70. It only cost us $4.25 for tolls in Kansas which was a whole lot better than what we would have paid heading out I-80.

It was a great trip out and only took us 5 days and 4 nights. I don't like to cover so many miles in such a short time but I was in the traveling mood so we pounded the highways. The weather was great and most of the trip was in the 80's with warm comfortable nights for sleeping. As for sleeping it didn't cost us a thing because the first 2 nights we spent at Flying J Travel Plazas. I have their loyalty card so we get 2 cents off per gallon and they have great RV parking spaces. They also have a Denny's restaurant on site for our evening meals. What more can you ask for, a break on gas, free parking for the night, and a place to eat. Life doesn't get any better than this. (By the way the price of gas was a lot cheaper as soon as we left Connecticut.)

The next 2 nights we spent at Walmart because there was no Flying J when we were ready to stop. Walmart is a great place to spend the night. It's quiet, has security cameras, restaurants in the area, and there are always other campers to keep you company. Walmart is great for RVers because the majority of stores let you spend the night and it's convenient to pick up the supplies you need. (We always spend money with them getting our supplies.) Proper protocol dictates that you check with the store manager, park where they suggest, and keep a low profile. It should not be treated as a campground, dropping leveling jacks, running out awnings, and setting up grills & lawn chairs.

Saturday May 5th (Bev's 70th Birthday - happy birthday Bev) we arrived at our destination the Colorado Heights Resort, Monument , CO where we will be for the next two weeks. We usually park at Cherry Creek State Park in Aurora near Pam and Kent's house but we are cheap and didn't want to spend the money. Colorado Heights Resort is part of the ROD campgrounds where we camp for free. (Free is good, although we do have to pay annual dues but it still costs a whole lot less.)

The site is small but it is a great level wooded campsite with full hookups. It was a bit of a job getting a signal but I finally got our Direct TV antenna pointed through the trees. Most of us full time and long time RVers need our TV.

Our Campsite Colorado Heights, Monument, CO

The last couple of days we have been visiting with Bev's sister Pam, her husband Kent, and of course Elizabeth whose graduation we came to attend. It's a 40 minute ride from our campground to their house but it is still cheaper than camping at Cherry Creek. Kent took us all out to supper at BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse for Bev's birthday. The food and beer was great, thank you very much Kent it was an enjoyable evening. Pam and Kent are great hosts and we really enjoy visiting them.

Yesterday we had supper at Pam's house and Kent was outstanding, he supplied me with Stella Artois beer which is my favorite. Pam your supper was great but Kent was the star supplying the beer.

Our trip was nice and warm in the 80's but as you know the weather is random and will eventually change. Well did it change! The temperature dropped like a rock! Last night it was down below freezing and today, Monday, we are sitting in the camper watching it SNOW. The snow is not sticking because the ground is warm but it is still SNOW! I disconnected the water hose and will use the on-board water tank until the temperature gets warm again. (No sense in letting our water hose freeze solid.) Well it is only May and we are in Colorado so I guess we should expect it.

Tomorrow we will be picking up our daughter Holly and friend Kevin at the Airport and of course hanging out at Pam and Kent's house. We have two graduations to attend Thursday is Elizabeth's Music School graduation and Friday is her College graduation.

While we are in the area we also plan on seeing the sights before we move to our next location someplace north. Our plans are always set in Jello.

A wild trip back home to Connecticut.

Well - we are back home in Connecticut after one heck of a trip.

Saturday morning 3/3 we planned on leaving 3 Flags RV Resort, Wildwood, FL early but the weather in route looked bad so we held off. I was trying to decide if we should wait a day until the bad weather passed when they said there may be tornados in Florida from the storms. That did it for me so we hit the road at about 11:00 am.

It was a nice sunny day for 1/2 the trip to our destination in Yemassee, SC when we hit the storms. The rest of the trip to Yemassee was in very heavy rains and wind but at least we didn't hit any tornados. It was raining lightly when we arrived at The Oaks at Point South, Yemassee, SC. We only hooked up the electric but it was nice not get soaked doing it. The torrential rains started again and pounded hard all night but stopped just in time to leave in the morning.

We got a nice early start and headed up I-95 for the next leg of out trip home. All the storms had passed during the night so we had a nice sunny day with light traffic. We were planning to stop at a campground in northern North Carolina for the night but as we approached I was not ready to stop so we pushed on up the highway. I don't like to drive long hours anymore but for some reason I just felt like driving.  We made it all the way to a Flying J truck stop north of Richmond, VA just above where I-295 rejoins I-95. We fueled up, had supper at Denny's, and hunkered down for the night.

We were planning to get up at 6:00 am and be on the road around 7:00 am but that was not to be. I woke up with a start when Bev shouted out that we over slept and it was already 7:00 am. I jumped out of bed, got dressed, and was getting ready to head out when I happened to look up at he clock. IT WAS ONLY 1:00 AM IN THE MORNING!! I guess Bev didn't have her glasses on and mis-read the clock. We had all the shades down so we didn't notice that it was still pitch black outside.

OK, what to do? Well I was up, dressed, and wide awake so we decided to hit the road at 1:30 am. Actually it was a blessing because we were able to get through Washington and Baltimore long before the rush hour traffic started. It can be a real bear trying to get through Washington and Baltimore during rush hour. We even made it across the Delaware Bridge before the traffic started. We drove up the New Jersey Turnpike until we reached the Garden State which we took because I rather cross the Tappanze Bridge than the George Washington Bridge. Of course you know we hit traffic in the New York area but it really wasn't that bad. It only added 45 minutes on to our trip. We arrive in Danbury and stopped at the rest area on I-84 to dump the holding tanks.

An hour later after a stop at BJ's for gas we arrived back home in Burlington and what a SHOCK! There was no snow on the ground all through Connecticut until we arrived in Burlington. There was a good 4 inches of hard frozen snow and the camper parking area was covered with large mounds of frozen snow and ice. I blame Irene Kelsey for this! On her Facebook post she said she would put in and order for snow when we returned so we didn't miss the fun. Thanks Irene I did get to play in the snow. It took me quite a while to remove the ice so I could park the camper. I chopped and chopped with my pick-ax but alas the spot was good enough to park the camper. Oh, my sore back!

Now I'm glad we left Virginia at 1:30 in the morning and arrive home at 11:00 am. It gave me time to clean out the parking spot. It would have been something if we arrived home after dark, what a mess that would have been.

To make matters worse the temperature dropped to 10 degrees overnight. Even worse than that Bev and I were spending the night in the camper because we were not ready to move our stuff back into the house. No problem though because the Winnebago can handle the cold although I much rather it be 80 Degrees.

Why are we back in Connecticut anyway? We were nice and warm in the Florida 80 degree weather. Oh the humanities of it all!!

Cooter Pond, River Safaris, Sugar Mill Ruins, & Homosassa Wildlife Park

Thursday 2/23 we drove to Inverness, Fl to check out Cooter Pond Park. Cooter Pond Park is a town park developed with financial assistance provided by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The park is named after the big aquatic turtle found throughout Florida. The variety found locally is the "Peninsula Cooter", having a high-domed shell and yellow head stripes.

Cooter Pond Park is a small park with a large boardwalk running along the pond and a walking/biking trail that goes completely around the pond. We walked the boardwalk but didn't hike around the pond.

From the boardwalk we were able to view quite a bit of wild life from aquatic birds, fish, gators, hawks, and of course the Cooter Turtle.

There were two hawks one was on the top of the building looking at us and this one on the sign.

The park entrance has a statue of the Cooter Turtles.

It was very relaxing just walking the boardwalk and although it was in the 80s the cool breeze kept us very comfortable. The town of Inverness is lucky to have such a great town park.

Saturday 2/25 we drove to Homosassa Springs for a river safari on the beautiful Homosassa River.

River Safaris offers air boat rides to pontoon boat tours. The pontoon boat tour offers cruises to swim with the Manatees, a backwater tour, Gulf of Mexico cruise, and a sunset cruise. Bev and I chose the pontoon boat backwater cruise which also provided a lunch. We both love riding on a pontoon boat because it is quiet and relaxing while seeing the sites.

While we were waiting for our boat we watched the wildlife including this bird on top of a pontoon boat.   They also have 3 alligators fenced in with their own pool.

Soon we were on our boat heading for the backwater of the Homosassa River. Bev and I were the only ones on the boat except for the captain. This is a view from our boat.

On the way out we passed this crew paddling to the beat of a drum.

This is Monkey Island which is populated by monkeys that originally lived at the Homosassa wildlife park. The monkeys kept escaping so they set up this island to contain them. It is a great setting for the monkeys and an interesting attraction for boaters. We did see the monkeys as we passed by but I can't see any of them in this photo.

This gazebo was used by Grover Cleveland who spent a lot of time in the area. (Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th President of the United States, the only president to serve non-consecutive terms and the first to be married in the White House.) Because he was so large it was not safe for him to go out in the small fishing boats of the time. They set up this gazebo for him which he used quite often to fish from.

A cold front came to Florida so it was quite cold on our boat ride but we were dressed for it and had a great time.

After we left the River Safari we passed by the Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins State Park.

It is the oldest standing historic structure in Citrus County and is partially restored. The mill is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The mill was owned by David Levy Yulee, one of Florida's most outstanding historic figures.

By 1851 Yulee's sugar mill had over 150 slaves and used expensive machinery imported from New York. During the Civil War the mill served as a supplier of sugar products for Southern troops, and his mansion became a supply stockpile.

In May 1864, a Union naval force burned his home to the ground. The mill escaped harm, but never reopened and fell into ruin. Yulee was accused of treason and briefly imprisoned.

There is a lot of things going on in this area including the Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park which was our next stop. (The monkeys on Monkey Island were relocated from this park.) The entry fee was quite reasonable and with our AAA discount it cost around $9.00 each.

From the visitor center the entrance to the park was a short boat ride down a river.

I was a very informative ride down the river seeing the sites and the wildlife. After exiting the boat we had to cross a busy road to get to the wildlife park. The park only has wildlife that are native to Florida except for one resident, Lu the Nile Hippopotamus.

When the State of Florida purchased the former attraction in 1989, it set about finding homes for the exotic animals that were not native to Florida. They were not able to find a home for Lu the Hippopotamus so there were hundreds of letters sent by local residents to the then Governor asking him to allow Lu to remain at the park. The Governor declared Lu to be an Honorary Citizen of the State of Florida so he could live out his days at the park. Lu weighed a mere 90 pounds at birth. Today he easily exceeds 6000 pounds, which is near the maximum estimated weight of older male hippos in the wild (7100 lbs). Lu was staying warm submerged in the water and we only saw his back so I didn't take his picture.

Here are just a few of the animals we saw.

Florida Black Bear

 

Hawks

Florida Panther

It was a busy day touring but we really enjoyed ourselves. This area has a lot to see and do and we will return.

There were a few rain showers this past week but our whole stay in Florida was sunny and dry for the most part, that is until today. It rained hard all day today. I was able to sneak in a bike ride between showers but most of the day was a wash out. It gave us a chance to unwind and relax in the camper though and I was able to catch up on the blog. As you see this covered more than I like in one blog.

Remember to click on a picture to enlarge them.

Ocala National Forest, Pat's Island, and The Yearling Trail

Saturday 2/18 we took a ride to the Ocala National Forest. We headed out Highway 44 west to Highway 19 north into the Ocala National Forest. The scenery was a lot different, we were use to Orange Groves after Orange Groves but not a one to be found on this trip. It was nice to ride on open highways through the pine forests.

Our first stop was at the visitor center located in the old Pitman Residence which was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1938. It originally served as a home for the state game officer for the Ocala National Forest. It has been used by the Forest Service as an office and laboratory. The residence is recorded as a Florida Historic Site. It represents a landmark "still in use", and the CCC's place in Florida History.

Inside the visitor center we watched a great video on the Black Bears in Florida and their habitats. I was surprised to learn there are so many bears in Florida.

We continued up the road until we came to Pat's Island and The Yearling Trail. Pat's Island is one of the most popular historic attractions in the Ocala National Forest. The area was named after it's first postmaster, Patrick Smith, who settled there in the 1840s.

Much of the land bounded by the St. Johns and Ocklawaha rivers consists of the largest concentration of sand pine scrub in the world. Pioneers who settled in these areas called them islands because a sea of scrub surrounded them. Human habitation on the island peaked before the turn of the 20th century when about a dozen families sought to eke out a living on the 1400 acre island. A living was made from farming, running woods cattle and hogs, hunting, fishing, and of course making moonshine whisky.

Today you can visit Pat's Island via the Yearling Trail. The trailhead is located on SRT 19 across from the Silver Glen Springs entrance. From there you can hike up to 6 mies visiting various sites of historical significance and enjoy the natural beauty of the island.

The author Majorie Kinnan Rawlings was fascinated by the beauty of the island and the colorful lifestyle of its inhabitants. She stayed with the last two residences, Calvin and Mary Long in October 1933.

Marjorie recorded many stories told by the Longs including the one Calvin told about an orphaned deer he raised from a fawn. These stories gave her the idea for the Pulitzer Prize winning novel "The Yearling". The novel was made into a movie staring Gregory Peck, Jane Wyman, and Claude Jarman, Jr. and was filmed on location.

Of course Bev and I had to hike up the trail but we didn't complete the whole 6 miles.

 You may wonder why I took a photo of Bev from behind. The truth of the matter is I could not keep up with her. I struggled down the path to trying to catch her but she just moves too fast. For a lady with short legs she really moves.

What happened to me? I can't even keep up with a little lady? I use to be proud of my physical fitness and could even out run my grand children. When did I get so fat, lazy, and out of shape? I can't keep going on like this, something must change.

I am starting today to lose weight and get back in shape. I have tried in the past and failed so I am posting this goal in the blog. I will be too embarrassed if I don't succeed. WISH ME LUCK!