Our New Home Arrives

 Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Our new home arrived today from the factory.  It's a Sky Line park model made in Ocala, Florida, and it will be our new home base at Ancient Oaks RV Resort in Okeechobee, Florida.  Park models are a little larger than RV's and smaller than a mobile home and are equipped with residential appliances.

The process of getting a park model set up to meet the codes in Florida is very interesting and I am going to walk you through this process and, also give you a tour of our home.

Our home arrived about 9:00 am and was delivered to the marina parking lot in Ancient Oaks.  It will sit here until the crew gets here to put it on our lot and set it up according to local codes.

A couple hours later the crew of 5 1/2 workers arrived from Lake Wales which is about 2 hours from here.  This custom made trailer carries everything needed to precisely place our park model on our lot within fractions of an inch according to the plans approved by Ancient Oaks and Okeechobee county.  

As soon as this multi-purpose machine was unloaded, they started cutting holes in our concrete pad. This machine cuts, drills, and lifts materials!  That's Chris operating it.  "He da boss man".

Seven holes are cut on each side and four foot anchors are installed in each hole.  Oh, by the way, the 1/2 crew member is the young man in front.  He is home this week from school for spring break.  I called him 1/2 because he is only part time help.  But, this young man kept busy and worked hard all day.

Then the anchors are screwed into the ground using a modified electric post hole digger.  These gals are both hard workers and were not afraid to break a nail! 

The gal on the left is Chris's daughter.  "She da boss woman".

A crowd has gathered.

Here comes our park model turning on to our street! 

More folks gather in front of our 5th wheel. 

Hey Kallie!  The park model is coming from the other direction!

Watch out!  Don't hit that car port!! 

Don't worry, they missed the carport by a couple of inches!!


Now the truck is unhooked from the park model and moved out of the way.  A crawler is used to move the park model forwards, backwards, and side to side.

Chris is at the controls of the crawler and the park model is moving backwards on to our lot. 

It's a tight squeeze getting past the lamp post!!

And they just missed this palm tree!

Whew! They made it without hitting anything!  

According to regulations, no part of the park model can be over the concrete pad and it can not be closer that 5 feet from the property line.  It also must line up exactly with the anchors so it can be strapped down. 

It is strapped down with metal bands tied to the anchors that were screwed four feet into the ground.

This will allow the park model to withstand a 130 mph wind.  Over the years, Ancient Oaks has withstood three hurricanes and no park model was damaged except by some of the car ports that blew away.

The air conditioner is strapped to a concrete pad and it can withstand 180 mph wind!

Now, let's take a quick walk through the park model.  Are you ready?  Watch you step.  Entering through the sliding door, we come into the living room.

To the right is the movable island in the front kitchen.  We called the kitchen in our 5th wheel a "one butt" kitchen because there was room for only one person.  I think we can get more than one butt in the new kitchen.  Of course, it depends on the size of the butts!  Ha! 

The appliances include a convection microwave, glass top cook stove, dishwasher, and refrigerator. 

Moving towards the rear of the park model is the sewing cabinet on the left and laundry closet next to it.

Across the hall is the bathroom. 

In the rear is the bed room.  These are the wardrobe closets for Kitty's clothes. I have no idea where my clothes will go!

This is a king bed and built in dresser in the bay window. 

Well, that ends the tour.  It looks nice without all of our stuff in there!.  We can not move into it until it passes inspection next week.  Also, another crew will come in and add underpinning, a carport and man cave! (no women allowed in there).  We'll show you what it looks like after it's all finished.

Birthday Celebration at Dolphin Bar and Shrimp House

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Today is my birthday, so I get to pick the place to eat!  I decided to head to the Dolphin Bar and Shrimp House in Jensen, Beach, located on Florida's east coast.  Six of us piled into two vehicles and headed east out of Okeechobee and arrived at the Dolphin Bar and Shrimp House in about an hour.

This restaurant was previously owned by Frances Langford and was called "The Outrigger".  Frances Langford was a singer, actress, and philanthropist who's radio career began in the early 1930's. She later appeared in several movies and was best know for the singing "I'm in the mood for love".  Her singing and acting background brought many famous people to eat here.  Many of their pictures are proudly displayed throughout the restaurant along with many other interesting objects.

One of those interesting objects that caught my eye was this steering wheel.  It was built in California in 1910 and was originally used on an unknown ship until 1938 when it  was salvaged and used on a freighter named "Darma".  It was later salvaged in 1997 and now rests in the Dolphin Bar and Shrimp House.

Another object of interest was a ship's anchor located at the entrance to the restaurant.

Check out the brick work underneath the dolphin fish.  Either this was done intentionally, or the brick layer spent too much time in the bar before laying this brick!

Once inside, we elected to sit outside where we could enjoy this view of the Indian River.  We were so close to the Atlantic Ocean we could smell the fresh salt air.  The weather was perfect today!

Here's a group picture.  Left side front to back: Kitty, Susan, Debbie

Right side front to back; Craig, Barry, Randy.

The menu has something for everyone with numerous fish selection as well as beef and pasta items.  The salad bar was chocked full of a variety of tasty items and all of the condiments you can imagine.  All of our meals were great and we thoroughly enjoyed the meal, the ambiance, and the friendship.

After the meal, Kitty and Randy went outside to feed the gulls.

Despite their best efforts, they couldn't get the gulls to eat out of their hands.  But, when they placed a bite of food on top of this piling, the gulls would swarm down and pick it up. 

The Gulls weren't the only ones enjoying the food.  These catfish quickly gathered to get some grub! 

All of us enjoyed our meals at the Dolphin Bar and Shrimp House including the gulls and Catfish!

Craig and Kitty leaving the Dolphin Bar and Shrimp House.

Before heading home, we stopped at several stores in Stuart to do some shopping.  After tramping through several stores, we felt like we had burned enough calories that it must be time for desert.  Someone mentioned ice cream and a DQ suddenly appeared right in front of our eyes.  Like magic!  Imagine that!  

It was a great day, with great fun, and great food, and great friends.  And, of course, it was a great birthday!

Changes in the Way We Travel

Monday, March 17, 2014

After reviewing our future travel plans, we decided some changes need to be made.  The steps getting into and out of our fifth wheel are taking a toll on Kitty's knees, and once she is inside, there are three more steps to get to the bedroom and bathroom.  And, after living on the road for nearly two years, Kitty wants to have a home base.

After much discussion we decided to make some major changes that would resolve these two issues and still allow us to travel.  So, here's what we have done.  We made our home base and permanent address in Ancient Oaks RV Resort.  We have good friends here, the weather is great, and the cost of living is much less than Florida's coastal areas. We purchased the RV lot across the street from the site we have been renting the last two seasons.  We also purchased a new custom made park model and will have it permanently installed on our new lot, and we now have Florida drivers licenses and are officially Florida residents.

But, that's not all!  Since we will have a home base, we don't need a 38 foot 5th wheel for our seasonal travels, and if we don't have the 5th wheel any more, we did not need the Ford F-450 truck as a tow vehicle. So, we traded the 5th wheel in on the park model and sold the F-450, and traded our car in for a 2013 Ford F-150.

Here's our only vehicle now.

Instead of traveling in the 38 foot fifth wheel,

we will travel in this 22 foot travel trailer.

The new camper is a Sonic made by Venture RV.  It is 22 feet from bumper to hitch, has a queen walk around bed,  convection micro wave, storage space, and a nice bathroom.  It's not real fancy, but it is laid out well and has everything we need.

Whew! We did all of this during the last five weeks!  Now, we are waiting for the park model to arrive and all of the permits to be approved.  We hope everything will be approved and the park model can be in place next week.  We will have some pictures to show you of our new home soon!

Who Really Won the Battle of Okeechobee?

Saturday, February 22, 2014

It is Christmas day in 1837, and a historic battle of the second Seminole War is about to take place on the northern edge of Lake Okeechobee.  The US Army is determined to drive the Seminole Indians off the peninsula, and has been chasing them south for two years.  By the time they reach Lake Okeechobee, the US Army has about 800 men led by Col. Zachary Taylor.  The Seminole Indians have about 300 warriors led by Coacoochee (Wildcat), legendary medicine man Abiaca, Alligator, and the Black Seminole leader John Cavallo.  This sounds like a mismatch, but when you read the rest of the story, you may have a different opinion about who really won this battle!

The land just north of Lake Okeechobee was a densely wooded hammock.  In front of the hammock was a large sawgrass swamp that the soldiers would have to cross in order to reach the cover of the hammock. The Seminoles used the hammock as a place to hide and to steady their rifles.  They also cut a path through the swamp so the soldiers would stay bunched up making them easy targets.  The warriors knew they could not defeat the soldiers but planned to delay the soldiers long enough for their women and children to paddle down Lake Okeechobee to the safety of the Everglades, and they stashed canoes for their own retreat.

The Missouri Volunteers led by Col. Richard Gentry was the first unit to slog through the swamp.  The Seminoles took careful aim targeting the officers.  With nearly all of their officers killed, including Gentry, the Volunteers moved back.

The 6th Infantry led by Lt. Col. Ramsey Thompson, marched bravely to the hammock.  Once again the warriors took careful aim concentrating on the officers.  The 6th Infantry stood bravely as their officers were cut down with deadly fire power.

The wounded are tended to, and moved to the rear.

As the 6th Infantry bravely held their ground...

Lt. Col. William Foster led a charge of the 4th Infantry pushing the Indians deeper into the hammock.

After about two hours of fighting, the Indians retreated to their canoes and headed to the safety of the Everglades joining their women and children.

At the end of the day, the army held the ground and declared the battle a victory, and Col. Zachary Taylor would later become the commander of the army during the Mexican war.  But, the army casualties were horrific.  Nearly a third of the soldiers that crossed the sawgrass swamp were killed or wounded and nearly every officer in the Missouri Volunteers and 6th Infantry were killed.  The wounded were so numerous that half of Taylor's force was out of action for weeks, and this tragic war would continue for another four and a half years.

On the other hand, the Seminole casualties were light, suffering less than a dozen killed and a little more than a dozen wounded.  The Seminoles had accomplished their mission of delaying the army long enough for the women and children to escape.  So, who really won this battle?

The reenactors wear authentic clothing of the time, they sleep in tents for the weekend, and cook their meals over the camp fire just as they did in the early 1800's.

Before visiting this re-enactment, I had never heard of the Battle of Okeechobee.  So, I've learned something new today!

Here's one of the reenactors having a drink after the battle. 

I didn't know they had plastic drink bottles back in 1837.  I guess I learned something else today!!  Ha!

Highland Hammocks State Park, Sebring, Fl.

Friday, February 7, 2014

Today Kitty and I drove from Okeechobee to Sebring, Florida to have lunch with Bob and Carol, our long time friends from Illinois.  Bob and Carol are vacationing in Florida this month and are happy to have dodged some of that miserable winter weather that has gripped much of the country this year.

After lunch, we decided to head to Highlands Hammock State Park just west of Sebring.  Highlands Hammock State Park has more than 9,000 acres of beautiful old-growth hammock cypress swamps.  Bob and Carol visited this park a few years ago, but this was the first visit for Kitty and me.

We took a stroll across the elevated boardwalk along the Cypress Swamp trail looking for some swamp creatures.

Here we are on the boardwalk.

L to R: Bob, Carol, Kitty, and Craig



This is the first section of the boardwalk.  It was an easy leisurely stroll through the swamps.

The Cypress Swamps

Two Turtles basking in the warm Florida sun.

The rest of the boardwalk was rather narrow with only one hand rail.  This part was a little tricky because the footing was a little uneven and the hand rail was low.  So, to hold on to the rail, you had to bend over slightly making it difficult to keep your head up looking for wild life.  Luckily, none of fell into the swamp!

Besides getting wet when falling off the boardwalk, we did not want to disturb any snakes that may be lurking in the dark murky water.  If you look real close in the center of this picture, there is a snake curled up on a clump of grass waiting for someone to fall in the swamp!  This picture was take with my cell phone camera, sorry it is a little fuzzy because the camera was focusing on the underbrush instead of the snake.

We also saw this baby gator resting on a branch by the waters edge.  It is a little difficult to see because he was a little too far away for a good picture.  His tail is almost touching the water.

This park also offers a tram tour, but that was not running when we were there.  They also have guided tours with a ranger, a Civilian Conservation Corp museum, plenty of hiking/biking trails, and a campground.  If you are in Sebring looking for an outdoor adventure, try the Highlands Hammock State Park.  The six dollar per car entry fee is well worth it for this outdoor adventure.

Okee-Tantie on the Kissimmee River

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

If you are looking for a nice relaxing place where you can sit and watch the boats go by, then Okee-Tantie in Okeechobee, Florida is the place you should visit.  Okee-Tantie is owned by Okeechobee county and includes a maria and nearby restaurant.  Just a few years ago, there was also a thriving campground with 160 sites, but it has since closed.

Okee-Tantie sits along the Kissimmee River just a short distance from where the River flows into Lake Okeechobee.  This is a popular place for fishing boats and pleasure crafts of all sizes.  The nearby restaurant has great food and a great view of the marina and river, but tends to be a little pricey.  There's an ample supply of picnic tables and benches along the river.  So, you can bring a picnic and enjoy the view for as long as you like.

Kitty by the River

 Pelicans by the River

 One of the many boats we saw heading out of the marina into the River

We enjoy some of the simple things in life, and this was fun, relaxing, enjoyable, and free.  We plan to go back there real soon.