A walk around Lewis Lake - MacDill Air Force Base

March 12th - Wednesday - Thundershowers - 77 Degrees

Yesterday was a wonderful sunny day and we decided it would be a great day to take a walk around Lewis Lake.  We had read in The Air Force Times that work had been done around the lake and we were anxious to see what had been done.  Lou and I had always enjoyed walking around the lake and Lou had told me about the many times that he and Edna had walked the same area before it had grown up so much.

Anhinga

They have cleared out so much of the over grown brush to make viewing of the wildlife so much easier and it was a delight to take it all in.  We took two hours and enjoyed every minute of it.  It was the perfect day to walk and we sighted many different bird.  We left home at noon and returned a little after 2:00; so some of the birds that we normally see were not visible.  We hope to do it later in the afternoon later in the week.  I enjoy the Spoonbills and we didn't see any of them this time.  They usually come in later in the afternoon.

This Osprey nest can be seen from our bedroom window, we can see as least one baby and maybe two.

One of my favorite birds to watch is the Anhinga.  I can usually spot them in the trees with their wings spread out.  They go fishing, then they get up in the tree and spread their wings to dry them off.

Anhinga

The next picture is a closer view of the Anhinga sitting on a fence.

Anhinga

I couldn't resist taking some pictures of some of the wildflowers that we saw as we walked along, some are so different from the ones that we see at home, and I am sorry, I don't know what their names are.

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Thought they were pretty, even if I don't know their names.  The next picture is a vine that grow, the red berry, is after the seed pod has opened the red seed is very hard with a black top, we could not break it open and it doesn't appear to be something that the birds eat, as we could see where new growth was beginning to grow.

Wouldn't this be pretty in a winter bouquet?

Last evening we went to church for a dinner and to listen to an interesting talk by a couple of missionaries from Brazil.  Speaking of Church, we went to church on base on Sunday and heard a wonderful sermon from I Samuel regarding  David, the service was almost two hours long, but it was totally amazing and we both came away with notes that were very thought provoking.  God has provided us with some wonderful messages during our journey this winter.

Tomorrow, I have an appointment to get my haircut and get a perm.  I am much overdue and have been waiting for this special operator here at MacDill to have my hair done.  I had my hair cut very short before we left Pennsylvania and have decided that I like it this way and will keep it short.  This operator at MacDill had suggested it the last time I was here, so am anxious to see how she does it for me.

On Saturday we are going into Winter Haven to meet Cheryl and Rexa for the afternoon, and we are looking forward to that.  Busy times ahead.

MacDill Air Force Base - Tampa, FL

March 7th - Friday 68 degrees Partly Cloudy and breezy

After four days of dry camping here at MacDill Air Force Base, we were finally assigned at permanent site.  We were delighted with the timing of the phone call informing us of the impending move.

The water we had in our holding tank was old, as the water at our last site was bad water and we were warned not to drink it, so we had purchased water to drink and had used it only for taking showers.  When we arrived here, we were immediately placed into dry camping with the bad water and we continued to use bottled water, so we took showers to use up the bad water and I had just finished doing dishes and our gauge registered an empty tank.  We had been monitoring the weather reports as we had been having severe thundershowers and there were tornado warnings for our area and finally about 3:00 there was a bit of a break in the rain and we decided to put the slides in and go to the dump station and dump and refill with fresh water, just as Lou was ready to start the motor, we received the phone call.  YEA!! to a site with full hook-up, we had not expected that, we thought we would get water and electric first.  So here we are for two weeks in a site that we both like, up against the canal, perfect.

We met up with  friends from SMART and had dinner at Sea Scapes the first night we were here and caught up on the news with them.  Harvey had lost his wife several years ago and has  recently remarried and we had the pleasure of meeting his new wife and we have enjoyed spending time with both of them these last few days and evenings.  They are leaving tomorrow for Patrick Air Force, the place we came from before going to Disney, and we were able to share information with them on the sites there.

We enjoy eating at Sea Scapes here, as it is on base and within walking distance to our site.  We can eat there for $7.95 each including our drink.  Last night Lou and I had stuffed shells, tossed salad, bread sticks and iced tea with fresh lemon.  Best of all you can sit inside or outside and watch the ocean.  It is so relaxing and calming.  The beach here is so pristine and well kept, I can not wait until it is warm enough to spend the day there.

Inside Sea Scapes

The mural is beautiful that goes the whole length of the wall, it reminds me of something that my niece, Cheryl would paint.  She did a wall in my sister's house that is beautiful.

The view from the window where we sat last night.

As we sat waiting for our food last evening, there was a cruise ship going out and we watched it all the time we ate, we could still see it in the distance when we were all finished.

You have to look closely to see the ship, as it was rainy most of the day yesterday.

Today, we have had troops here all day with their dogs, I didn't think much about it at first, as they come each day and patrol the area, all part of the security they offer to us along with the patrol cars that circulate through the park during the day and at night.

However, today they blocked streets off and when we went to the post office we were stopped and a PFC explained why, no one in or out of the camp ground until a complete search is completed, someone was out of jail (released) and back on the base was bared from the base, we were showed the woman's picture and told about her, and Lou remembered the story from the Air Force Times and asked if it was the same person and yes it was........, so we came back home and will stay here for tonight.  Made me think of Travis and his dog.  There are about 30 men and women and their dogs working the area.

I have my Verizon Jetpack 4G now and it is wonderful, just like at home, I can up load my pictures and do my blog post so quickly it is a pleasure to do it again, wish I could have one to travel with all the time.  Shawn, talk to Indigo!!

The planes in the top picture are KC-135's which do the re-fueling.  One of the reason's I love being here, is the activity of the planes, always in the air along with the helicopters.  I think when I wrote to Emma today I told her they were KC-35's sorry, dear.  She is our great-granddaughter and she has been e-mailing us and we just love to hear from her and her cute little way of telling us things.  Precious..

 

Weekend with Scott's Family - North Port, Florida

March 2nd - 82 degrees - Sunday

Like Sue said we couldn’t have asked for a better weather report that what God delivered to us this weekend.

We had a wonderful short weekend with Scott and his family.  Melanie and her daughter Aimee came down also so got to see everyone except Nikki.  Friday night we all went out to dinner at a local restaurant in North Port, had a quiet table and ate early, so were able to talk and catch up with each other while we were waiting for out dinner, then after dinner, went back to Scott’s house and chatted until bedtime, and Lou and I drove back to our RV, which was about 25 minutes away.  Thanks to our “on-star” it directed us back home a different way.

Saturday morning the sun came up with a promise for temperatures in the 80’s and I broke out the “tank” tops thinking at Sue’s house, we could enjoy the sun and pool and we certainly  did, she had the same idea.  Sue suffers from RA and has been off from work for three weeks and will be off for another eight weeks and perhaps permanently.  This is the first  visit that I have really had a chance to really chat with her and I so enjoyed talking with her.  She has always had to work and was an early riser, so this time she was so relaxed and we enjoyed ourselves.

Aimee with Uncle Greg's trucks

Scott did a turkey on his smoker, along with sweet potatoes, and Lou’s favorite a cabbage.  Absolutely delicious!!  We went to church with Scott after dinner and heard an astounding message on Value from their youth pastor.  I am so pleased they are involved with such a loving and giving church family.  Greg and all of the teens will benefit from the youth leadership there.  Amazing!!  They want an adult for every 3-5 teens and haven’t had a problem getting volunteers.  Doesn’t that say something for their church?

Scott and his turkey 

We enjoyed watching Aimee play with Greg’s little cars on the deck.  Sue had kept all of Greg’s toys and now Aimee is enjoying them.  Aimee is three months older than Matthew, so it is nice to see the differences.

Wild parrots at Scott's 

After church, we had Plant City strawberry shortcake and coffee and caught up on our e-mail with Scott’s wi-fi and come on  home.  A great day.

Today, Scott and the family came out to the RV, I had them pick up subs at Publix along with some chips and we took all our food and walked down to Lettuce Lake and had a picnic.  Greg and Scott did some fishing and Aimee got to play along the lake, so it was a fun afternoon.

Greg fishing at Lettuce Lake

It was sad to tell them goodbye, but the good thing is that Scott is going to have a meeting in Clearwater in a week and he will pick up Nikki and then bring her to Tampa and have dinner with us, so we will get to see both of them, so it wasn’t really goodbye yet.

Tomorrow we are off to Tampa to MacDill Air Force Base, we will have to dry camp until we can get a spot, so will post as we are able and hopefully I will have telephone service there.

Mote Aquarium

Mote Aquarium - Sarasota, FL

February 28th -  Friday -  Cool 68 degrees

Mote Aquarium is located on City Island between Long Boat Key and St. Armands Key.  Lou and I decided to visit the aquarium as my late husband, Michelle and I had visited there in 2007 and enjoyed it very much.  We thought we would breeze through there in an hour or so and go on to another museum; however, we spent the whole day there.

We viewed dolphins, manatees, sharks, sea turtles, eels and many of the southwest Florida plants, fish and invertebrates.  What we found most interesting was the research laboratory where they are working on the seahorses.

It made for a very interesting day.  We were supposed to be at Scott’s house at 5:00 pm to go out to dinner with them, so we skipped lunch and got to his house just a few  minutes before 5:00.

Clown Fish