Wauchula, Florida

March 5 - 12, 2010

TT - Peace River

Wauchula, Florida

Peace River is a Thousand Trails membership park in south central Florida. The area around here is very poor and very "foreign". The park itself has over 400 sites and only half of them are full-hookups (with water, electricity and sewer). So, when you arrive you automatically go to a non-sewer site and within 2-3 days you can move to a sewer site when one is available. All of this is a bummer, however, I have never seen a park with such easygoing, friendly people, and with lists and lists of activities you can join. I had planned to spend this week catching up with laundry, bill-paying, cleaning, taxes, etc. Now, it appears (if the weather holds out) I won't have any time for that.

Speaking of weather, it's supposed to warm up this week, but I notice all those "weather icons" show a lot of clouds too and maybe some rain later in the week. EVERYONE in Florida is complaining about this winter's weather, including yours truly. The blanket is back on the bed and the furnace has to go on every morning...Ken and I both lay in bed waiting to see who will give up and get up to turn the heat up. Better get used to this in case we spend next winter in the new house on the Cape!!

What a beautiful day for a baseball game! I was immediately online when spring training tickets went on sale and got a couple of tickets and then never really looked at them until we were ready to be seated. Little did I know they would be in the first row just past first base. And there we were without a glove! I did not take my eyes off the batters (especially those left-handers) in case one of those balls came our way...and we did see a couple of them, but nothing that made me duck!

We were lucky 'cause we got to get a good look at a lot of the regular pitchers and starters who stayed in the game a lot longer than I had expected. We saw Josh Beckett pitch 3 hitless innings; Youk got a hit; Papi got a hit; J.D. Drew and his replacement Josh Reddick got triples; and our new shortstop, Scutaro, went 2 for 3.

After Beckett we got to see Papelbon, Okajima, Ramon Ramirez and DelCarmen. We were ahead 2-0, the Cardinals hadn't even had a hit through the sixth inning, the starters had all been replaced, and we were baking under that sun so we decided to call it a day. Later that night when I checked the final score, it was 7-6 Boston with all the action in the last 2 innings. Oh well, we enjoyed ourselves a lot!!!

Checking out the box scores the next day, I realize how lucky we were to see the pitchers and starters that we did. I didn't recognize half of the names on the next day's roster!!!!

MOVING DAY!! ! Thank goodness...I actually sat and figured it's been 15 days since we have been on a sewer site...that means 15 days since we've had a nice, long shower. As soon as we were set up both of us took showers that took all the hot water the Beave could muster!!! It did good; we both feel 100% better. (I don't think we should plan any trips that take us through any type of desert and no sewer sites!)

We had some excitement the night before we left. A motorhome (very similar to ours) had caught on fire. It was pretty amazing to watch ... we heard fire and EVERY nearby coach (including Ken--I hadn't seen him move that quickly in a long time) ran over with ladders and/or fire extinguishers to help out. By the time the fire department got there, the nearby campers had the fire under control. The owners of the coach were not home at the time, but neighbors had smashed the coach door to be sure no one was inside and in danger. Final outcome appears to be faulty refrigerator wiring...the roof was melted by the flames and we're sure the coach is no longer habitable (you can see the firefighter on the roof in front of the tree). The owners were finally reached and, like us, are full-timers...what a shock to come home nad find out your home has been destroyed. Really felt close to this and feel for the owners; but am also very proud of the rv'ing community who came immediately to a neighbor in need.

Because of weather and my feeling "under the weather" we didn't do as much as planned (best laid plans) but I really feel comfortable here at Peach River. The sites are large and the people friendly...I know we'll be back here in the future. And, by the way, the blanket came off the bed and the air conditioner went on toward the end of our stay...wonder what next week will bring?

Tomorrow we leave (in heavy thunderstorms) to meet up with John and Sheila at Sanlan RV in Lakeland. It's been two years since we've seen them and are REALLY looking forward to a great couple of days catching up!!