Orlando rally

It has taken me awhile to get around to finishing the story of our trip to the Winnebago State rally.  We have been a bit busy with celebrating Anneke's birthday including a visit from our daughter and grandson from Georgia.  It was a good time!

Before heading onto the rally grounds in Orlando, we spend several nights at the Lake Louisa State Park just west of Orlando.   We made this stop for two reasons.  We had heard it was a very nice park and it was close to several friends who were camped at the Thousands Trails resort just down the road.  The park was indeed beautiful with plenty hiking trails and scenic views.  The one downside proved to be lack of cell phone and internet service.  The park campground sits in a big depression among the rolling hills of the park allowing electronic signals to bypass the campground.

The campground sits between two lakes and is over three miles in from the gate.  It makes for a quiet and relaxing stay.  Spending time here also allowed me to get in some more practice with the new camera.  We enjoyed a dinner out with friends Tom and Sally the first night, then a visit to the huge Thousand trails Resort followed by another dinner our with Tom, Sally and other friends George and Barb.  Both couples are members of our Winnebago Club in Ohio.  It was also another first for us in the choice of the restaurant-The Sweet Tomato. We have never been to one of these and were a bit reluctant when we heard it was a buffet style place, but it turned out to a very nice place.  A huge fresh salad bar along with what I would call small bite additional choices, which allowed you to sample more things without feeling too guilty.  Since they had lots of soups, I was in food heaven.

The state rally was certainly not unlike many we have been too, but they had a lot more attendees then most state rallies we have attended  There was somewhere around 270 coaches in attendance.  Apparently this number was down from past years and the Orlando fairgrounds had made some rather high increases in charges for use of the buildings and equipment.  So there were some cutbacks on services provided.  Despite these negative impacts, everyone had a good time.

Size does matter

One of the advantages we thought we would have by downsizing to our current motorhome was to fit into smaller campsites in State and Federal parks. So when we decided to head to Orlando for the Winnebago State Rally, we looked for places to stay along the way that we would not have considered with our previous motorhome.  Our first stop was the Suwannee River State Park just west of where interstate 10 meets interstate 75.  This is a small state park with a campground with less than 30 sites.  Most of these are very short and surrounded by trees and tight turns.  On the way south we reserved one of the few large spots and it was an easy in and out.  We decided to stop on the way back and just take a chance. We could get in and  the spot that was available proved to be very tight. Even with our short length we had only about 4 inches clearance from a large tree as we backed into our assigned spot.  There was no way we were going to get the bigger motorhome in there.

This park is situated where the Withlacoochee River joins the Suwannee River on its way to the Gulf of Mexico.  The park also contains Civil War earthworks built to defend against Union gun boats.  Also in the park is one of the oldest cemeteries in Florida.  There are numerous trails to hike or you can just sit and enjoy the river views.

  

This was also my first chance to practice with a new camera I purchased to take on our Alaska cruise/land tour in a few months.  I admit to getting a bit lazy and do not want to take all my camera gear on this trip and decided the Canon SX50HS would allow me to get the best pictures with the least amount of gear.  It has a 50 optical zoom and a 200 digital zoom.  It also has some new in camera special affects and features I am still learning.  So if some of these pictures look a bit different, it is part of the learning curve.

We will be visiting this park again with our Skinnie Winnie.

 

Visit to the Netherlands

Two weeks ago, Anneke left me to my own devices, as she flew to Amsterdam to spend a week in the Netherlands.  The occasion that prompted this trip was her father's 91st birthday.  He is now residing in an assisted living complex that is just a few minutes' walk from Anneke's sister's home.  This way she could visit her family , as well as her father.  

The Netherlands is not well known for its great weather at any time of the year and winter can often be very damp and cold.   Luckily there were a few  nice moments while she was visiting and everyone was able to get out and enjoy some of the scenic  countryside.  Her sister's home is in Rhenen and has a direct view of the Rhine River.  The Waal River is  nearby and it makes for a very nice drive along the dikes. They went to one of the local snack bars with great views and had some traditional Dutch food- French Fries with mayonnaise and" bitterballen". The Rhine and Waal Rivers are the busiest in northern Europe and has constant commercial traffic passing by.  

For much of his life, Anneke's dad enjoyed boating on the widespread waterways of the Netherlands and stills like to sit and watch the river traffic go by.

Anneke also had a visit from two of her friends that she has known for a long time-up to 53 years!  They had a lot of laughs.  Facebook keeps them now in close contact. 

She had a  great time with her family and I managed not to destroy the house in her absence with the help of Halley!