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..