Snowy Range Pass

Snowy Range Pass

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

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.










7 comments:

Jim and Sandie said...

I really don't like to be without my internet but for a couple of days I could survive in a beautiful spot. We love Sweet Tomatoes. Their chocolate muffin is wonderful. The cost to attend rallies does seem to be going up so we won't be going to very many of them.

Paul and Marsha Weaver OCT. 17, 2009 said...

Thanks so much on the heads up about Lake Louisa. We are planning to visit Florida next year. I am with Sandie, we don't like not having Internet.

The park looks lovely. Great photos.

Paul and Marti Dahl said...

So you went back in the past without the Internet. Next thing you'll be navigating with a sextant instead of a GPS...

We have not done any rallies yet, but it looks like you had a great time. Maybe one of these days.

Sherry said...

Really beautiful pictures of the park. We spent two weeks in the Everglades without internet. At first it was difficult but by the end it was wonderful and we wondered why in the world we spent so much time on it. 270 coaches for a state rally seems like a lot to me too.

Wanderin' said...

Your new camera did a great job as you sure have super pictures on this blog. However, being without internet is something we're not fond of. It comes and goes enough when we're at our home base.

Erin said...

I welcome no internet every once in a while ... it's good to be unplugged and return to reading and just lazing ... but not too often!

Big EZ Travels said...

Have heard many good reviews of Sweet Tomatoes even though I usually avoid buffets. We have never done a rally--just haven't seen anything that fits in with our schedule and budget. Lake Louisa is another new place for my list of parks to check out.