January 11, 2019: Catching Up

Our family holidays in central Alabama were full of visits and hugs, just what we look forward to all year. At one time or another, we were able to visit with all 5 children with their spouses and significant others, 11 of 12 grandchildren, the two great grandchildren, and various friends and in-laws, as the two Alabama daughters took turns hosting the various gatherings and everyone pitched in when they could.

We left Alabama on January 2nd, to drive to Columbus, GA where we moved back into Little House after the repairs.  On January 3rd, we traveled to Perry, GA via non-interstate roads, and spent the night at Walmart and stocked up on groceries. January 4th found us again on non-interstate roads to Travelers Rest Resort near Dade City, FL, where we'll be for most of the next two months. There are many pictures on the TR website.

Ths is the 3rd year to come to TR. We know lots of the full and part-time residents here, including many ham radio friends.  The resort has it's own ham radio shack on the property, and ham operators
 have been a valued part of TR for many years. This large over-55 park has 600 sites, including homes, park models, cabanas, and campground sections, along with a 9 hole golf course. There's also a post office, volunteer fire department and rescue squad, a lunchtime Snack Shack, a produce vender 3 times a week, 2 weekly food trucks, daily coffee gatherings, a weekly newspaper, library,  and friendly faces everywere you look. Most activities are run by volunteers.

The past week has gone by quickly. Last Saturday was the January indoor flea market.  Tuesday, there was an activity fair with many of the over 100 groups here providing information on their 'club'. There is entertainment here once or twice a week. Sunday evenings, there is ice cream served, followed by announcements for the coming week, and then some type of free entertainment.  Last Sunday, we were treated to Jim Cruise - the spoon man, who has been playing the spoons professionally for 23 years. It was a fun and entertaining evening. Last night, we attended the twice-a-month ham radio club meeting.

We are parked in the 'campground' section (Golf View) next to the golf course on site 60-08.





We've been hearing reports that it was getting harder to get reservations for future visits, so yesterday we reserved our site for January & February of 2020.

 The weather has been great - mostly warm days with sunshine and a nice breeze,  and cool nights.