On The Move!

We left RCR at about noon on a very hot day for our foray to Josam's Frame and Alignment in Orlando for our 0700 am appointment for 6 tires, Balance Masters for the drive axle, new desiccant cartridge for our air system, and a front end alignment.  We pulled into our very plush spot for the night outside the fence to be ready bright and early.  We found a little shade and set up for happy hour:-)

After an uneventful night with our generator purring like a kitten for more than 20 hours, we headed in for our appointment.

The Balance Master on the drive

Our appointment went very well and we were all done by noon.  But since all was so smooth, Murphy decided to raise his head.  We went to start the generator, and it was quite reluctant, but it finally ran, but only produced power on one leg, we shut it down and tried a couple more times, we also reset the double breaker on the unit several times, all to no avail, we need our gen to run our AC's, so it was a HOT, HOT ride to our campground, Grand Oaks about 50 miles away.  Also this area of Florida was enjoying almost record high temps, over 95 degrees.

So early the next morning, I tackled the generator.  I checked a few things first, connections in and out of the circuit breaker, then the circuit breaker itself, but ultimately I had to try to start it and see what the power out looked like.  Warned our neighbors, started it up, and................... it worked......perfectly!  Now what?  Well, since it was already over 80 degrees at 0900am I decided to chalk it up as a fluke and press on.  By the way, since then it has run perfectly for hours on our drives, although it is a bit reluctant to start.

Beautiful Grand Oaks

We planned on 3 nights here so we could do several things, we wanted to go out to lunch, imagine that, and check out a campground for December between Lady Lake and Ocala, and just ride around.  This is in fact, a beautiful area of Florida, rolling hills, lots of trees, and gorgeous horse farms.  So first off to The Villages for lunch.  We went to a great place called Bluefin, sat outside in the shade and enjoyed a shared lunch.

Pretty sure the golf carts far outnumber the other vehicles:-)

Tuna Tartare

Awesome conch fritters

And calamari

Then we went and visited the campground we were interested in, Sunkissed.  We were able to ride around and really liked what we saw, big roomy paved sites, all with patios, nice pool, pickle ball, etc.  We decided to make a reservation for a week in Dec, and for the first time ever we were turned away, because they only allow RV's newer than 2008 model, and ours is a 2007.  We have been to many places that have an age requirement, but in all cases a picture of our coach gets us immediate approval, in fact where we are now has a 10 year old rule, but with our picture they welcomed us.  In this case it was made clear that there are NO exceptions to the rule, period.  Okay their place, their rules, but disappointing.

Another blog I follow talks a lot about Sanford, FL as a very desirable place, nice walking, marina, tons of restaurants, right on a huge lake, Lake Monroe, the terminus of the navigable St John river that flows to Jacksonville, so we wanted to check it out.  Obviously we had to tie that in with getting lunch, well the top rated restaurant is Hollerbach's, a German place.  We don't have German very often, maybe once a year but the menu looked really good, so we gave it a try, and we were so glad we did, absolutely amazing, highly recommended.  It is a huge place, and again since it was so hot outside opted to eat inside.  Huge room, lots of activity, and great service even so.  We shared and had plenty to take back for lunch the next day!

A two sausage plate, one Bratwurst, and one Weisswurst
with awesome sauerkraut and german potato salad

And this amazing pork shank, Eisbein, with mashed potatoes with bacon, apple, and onions
and wonderful sauerkraut.
This was sensational!

As for the town itself, we don't know, it sure looks nice, wide bricked sidewalks, pretty waterfront, lots of shops and restaurants and bars, but also lots and lots of homeless, beggars, even saw a wild altercation on the sidewalk, so we'll hold on our opinion until we try visiting again.

On the way back we stumbled across a sign, Welcome to Tavares, America's Seaplane City, well we had to check that out.  We found a city run seaplane base and a cute town, that I think will warrant more future exploring.

A couple more shots of Grand Oaks, a really nice equestrian spot with views and walking.

So after a few enjoyable days at Grand Oaks it was time to move north, hurray!  A quick stop in Americus, GA for the night.

Jan made a great shrimp and vegetable dish for dinner, nice, light, and tasty.

Then a fairly long day to Ellijay, GA in the northern part of the state, but still giving us access to Atlanta, yes, dentists and docs, and friends.  We have never stayed here before, it is really top shelf, all paved, patios, fire pits, both wood and gas, club houses, pools, hot tubs, pickle ball, and all nicely manicured, and did I mention the incredible views!  The resort is on 3 levels commensurate with pricing:-)  The lowest level with hardly any views, the next tier some views, but up on the top where we splurged to be the views are amazing, even with the cloud cover. Talona Ridge is a very, very nice place.

A view down from the club house

Our site!

Here for a week, lots to do.