We have moved to Fort Myers, south of Tampa on the gulf coast. This particular
motorhome park is not the best, but the area is very nice. It is difficult to get reservations this time of year as it is peak season. We have managed OK and plan to move each week so we can get to know various areas. The beaches are nice here and also not crowded. There are lots of good restaurants!

"The Great Grouper Scandal" in this area is quite funny. (Grouper is a really good white fish that is quite popular in this area.) Recently, one of the local news agencies took samples from many of the local restaurants and had DNA tests run on them. It seems about 15% were inferior less expensive fish. We are pretty sure that the grouper we have had this week is the real thing!

The people here continue to be very nice. Again, we are the only ones from WA. There are not too many of the "Seinfeld" and "Costanza" types, but there are a few! There are accents from Maine, Kentucky, Tennessee, Quebec, New Jersey and others.

We went on a airboat ride today that was really fun! We cruised through mangrove tree inlets and grassland inlets bordering Everglades National Park. Loved the airboat. If you did not know the area you could get lost for years!

It has been a little colder here (65-70 days, 45 nights) and we find the weather reports humerous as they actually talk about the wind chill factor!

Visited nearby Naples which is a wonderful Florida town. Magnificent ocean front houses, lots of canal living and a quaint downtown shopping area that is one of the best we have ever seen. Numerous fabulous small restaurants, unique shops, decorating shops, small clothing shops and jewelry stores that rival Rodeo Drive, Palm Springs or 5th Avenue!

We are enjoying the beautiful weather in Port Richey, FL (68-80 days, 55-65 nights). We follow reports from home and the rest of the country and understand why so many people come here in winter! I swim every day and we have visited many gulf coast beaches. The beaches are not very crowded and some are deserted! The locals think its a little chilly! We have watched the sunset from 4 different locations. It is nice to see the sun setting over the Gulf to the west! It seems much more familiar than the Atlantic coast where the sun sets in the "wrong" direction.

The people we have encountered are delightful. Many from Ohio, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minesota, and Michigan. We are the only ones from the West coast in this park of about 300. You can get quite involved in the park social life if you want to. Our next door neighbor is the "block captain" and hosts a happy hour from 4-5 daily. You bring your own drink of choice, a chair, and everyone leaves promptly at 5 - easy and fun. We have attended when we are here at that time and enoyed. There are sports and cultural activities for all tastes and there was an "Elvis impersonator" the other night.

One real problem is the water. It is bad. We buy filtered drinking water. Fortunately, there are little kiosk stands in shopping center parking lots where you can fill gallon containers for 25 cents. The coffee in restaurants is not good and I now drink very STRONG tea to mask the bad taste!

Explored St. Petersburg and found it a clean, uncrowded and nice area. There was actually a lot of parking available in the downtown area which appeared prosperous and tidy.

Many towns are honeycombed with water finger canals (like Newport Shores). Millions of boats! Nice areas have wide canals and more modest areas have narrow canals. There is water access to rivers, the gulf, the intercoastal waterway, or the bay everywhere. The terrain is quite flat and we have hardly been over 25 feet above sea level in some time. A serious sunami or hurricane would be devistating. People around here had to evacuate 3 times 2 years ago!

We have been eating out a fair amount as we are often on the go and prices are very reasonable. It seems interesting that the hostesses in restaurants are not very good, however the waiters are excellent!

We are now in Florida at Port Richey - near Tampa on the Gulf Coast.

Had some trouble on the way down. The motorhome engine - triton V-10 - blew a spark plug out of the head. This is apparently a problem with all Ford triton engines! We are grateful for our Good Sam towing coverage, and there was a Ford dealer about 10 miles away. We could barely keep up as we followed the tow truck towing the motorhome at 80MPH! Camped at the dealership (they gave us a key to the yard) and left the next day after leaving some $.

We are in a great park - very friendly people! We are close to the shore and the sun sets over the ocean, just like it should. Sand is white with lots of small shells and the water is about 65 degrees. We are near highway 19 which is like an 8 lane Aurora. The East Coast has little zoning so you will see every type of property along the highway. There will be a church, Home Depot, Personal Injury Lawers office, Pre School, Gas Station, Adult shop, restaurant, etc. Florida has a wonderfully tacky side to it, but it also has the great weather, beaches, palm trees, flowers and relaxed atmosphere. There are lots of families around among the Seniors. It seems that most everyone is from somewhere else and we are somewhat rare being from Seattle. It does seem like a small world sometimes as we met a man yesterday who lived for 2 years at Villa Marina and another who has a son living in Kirkland.

We are relaxing alot and will stay here for about 2 weeks. It has been nice to catch up on everyday chores like laundry and cleaning and some bookwork and computer work. Everything is a little harder in the confines of the motorhome, but we are still having fun together! (We will celebrate our 41st anniversary Monday.) The slowness of the computer and the tiny bathroom are the main concerns!

We have just realized that we will be near Miami in early Feb and if luck holds for the Seahawks we might have to try and get Superbowl tickets!

Toured Macon. It has more historic property than any city. There are many fine old homes and some have been kept up beautifully, however it is obvious that there is not enough $ to keep everything spiffy. This is a town that has suffered the decline of tobacco and needs new industry. Property is cheap. We have seen many examples of how towns decline after the business base leaves.

Wanted to mention a funny thing that happened at the Coca Cola Museum. There was an old ad featuring Ozzie Nelson. A boy about 12 asked his mom, "Who is that?" She answered, "Thats Ricky Nelson's dad." Then he asked, "Who is Ricky Nelson?" We felt a little old.

There are lots of pine tree planted areas. Many are owned by Weyerhouser (formerly from our area). Property is much cheaper here!

Visited Andersonville - the Confederate prison for the Union Soldiers, and National Cemetary. It's very sobering seeing rows of headstones touching each other over body filled trenches. Most have names since they felt it was desirable to let loved ones know and kept pretty good records. There are also many beautiful monuments from the various Union States.

"Georgia Red Clay" is very evident. Much of the dirt and ground has the red brick tone.

Central Georgia is really quite poor. Every small town has so many abandoned houses. Cotton, cows and peanuts seem to be the agricultural crops.

We also experienced our first "tornado watch". Nothing came of it and it did not pass very close to us. We did watch the weather on the computer to keep track. Just got a little rain!

Went to Plains, Jimmy Carter's hometown. It's pretty small, but not a bad little town.

We are now heading to Florida. Southern Georgia seems to be more prospeous.

We spent both New Years Eve day and New Years Day touring Atlanta. Saw CNN, Turner, Brave Stadium (similar to Safeco Field), Georgia Dome, U of Georgia, Coca Cola Museum, Centennial Olympic Park, and many beautiful downtown buildings. Atlanta appears to be quite prosperous and urban renewel is doing well. Went to their spectacular Aquarium. Lots of people!

Driving in the South is interesting. They seem to use turning signals even less than in the West.
Freeway speeds are 55, but everyone drives 75! Freeways are wide and well marked. With 6 lane freeways and rapid transit, traffic is not bad. Peachtree Street, Road, Blvd, Circle, Lane, etc are everywhere! You have to pay attention!

There is an abundance of chicken franchise restaurants. KFC, Zaxby's, Churches, Popeyes, and Chick Fil A, are just a few that are common.

We are now in the Georgia rural countryside near Macon. This is an area with cotton and peanuts. It is a relatively poor area. There are many abandoned houses and derelict buildings. Weather is humid and buildings seem to deteriorate rapidly. Spanish moss covers things quickly! (Thats brown stringy moss, not green like Seattle moss.)

It is surprisingly hard to find good radio stations in the South. There are a lot of religious stations and country stations. Very few with good talk, news, pop, or oldies.