My stomach ache is finally feeling better :-)

We just had one heck of a weekend here in Kentucky.  Jan and Karen's cousins and their husbands came in for a visit over the holiday weekend, and man o man, my stomach is just beginning to feel better.  We all have never laughed so hard or long.  It was non stop, Kelly and our grandkids came and joined in and what a good time we had.  Even Tom got back and was able to join the party.

Tom and I had never met this part of the family so it was a great time getting to know them a bit.  We have lots in common and had a super time of it.  We all meshed and told stories, and even though great plans were made to do all kinds of things, it never went beyond visiting, eating, and drinking!  It truly was a kick!

Susan, Mary Beth, and Jim

Bob straightening out Karen, Tom, Jim, and Mary Beth

Mary Beth and Susan checking out a video

Faith and Kelly munching away

Faith and Grandma Jan

Christian and Grandma Jan

I'll catch you up on couple little motorhome projects later.  We are heading up to Kelly's for a couple days to visit, so gotta run:-)

Kentucky!

Just a quick post today.  We arrived at Karen and Tom's beautiful farm yesterday after a pleasant uneventful (the best kind) drive to cool weather.  Spring has sprung, it is green and lovely, and it's only 46 degrees this morning with the heat on!  Jeans again, wow.  

We had a great time in Atlanta, had some great visits with John and Diane, Brett and Sandra, and of course our son, Jason.  

We're going to be here for about a month which will give us the opportunity to see Kelly and our grandkids, wash the rig, catch up on a few odds and ends, help Karen with a few minor projects on her coach, hopefully mow a lot, and relax until we, Jan and I with Karen and Jo caravan eastward on our upcoming trek.

As you can see, spring has sprung in Atlanta too!

Roundabout trip to Atlanta

Since we spend more time in the Venice, FL area than anywhere else during the year, and the fact we have been going there for over 15 years, we decided to move our doctors from Atlanta where we last lived in a stix n brix house, to FL.  And even though we severed most of our ties to Atlanta when I retired from the LAST job, and switched our main docs to FL, we still have two doctors, and our dentist in Atlanta.  We will get the doctors changed over soon, but we will stay with our dentist as long as it's possible as we both are incredibly pleased with Dr Mulkey.  So the dentist visits and several great friends will keep us coming back to Atlanta on a regular basis looking into the future.  Then there is the other thing, the vet for our cat, Bert.  And if any of you are cat lovers and owners you understand how your cat runs things, and for you only dog owners, you are just shaking your heads in disgust and wonderment.  We have had a long relationship with our vet who is located way to the northeast of Atlanta, and yes, those of you that remember, the campground and the area where we used to live is northWEST of Atlanta, 68 miles away!  The whys and wherefores aren't important, it's just how it is:-)  So when we come up from FL on our way to Atlanta, we go via the vet to get here, because Bert can't ride in a normal car or truck.  Yeah that is true, he's fine in the motorhome, but a complete disaster in the car, whether in or out of a crate.  So his subjects, that would be Jan and I, are directed to take his highness in the motorhome, of course that necessitates a several stop trip on the way north so we can be in position to make his appt with the vet on time and still go the additional 68 miles to the campground, and is it worth it, absolutely, positively YES!

But we got a reprieve this year, he doesn't need to be seen by the vet for 3 years!!  Unless there is a problem, but he's very healthy so we don't anticipate that.  So here is a couple picts of the king.

Mr Bert, awake no less!

Thinking about a nap

Getting closer

His going down the road pose

Let's go, I may need another nap soon

On guard in his box

King Bert

A few other things, thank God, say the un cat lovers.  We have been having a whirlwind time here so far, visiting with friends and Jason, our son.  And I just had an opportunity to do something I haven't done in a long time, go flying.  John and Diane bought a beautiful plane recently, and John treated me and Ted to a nice ride, even a couple landings, and a beautiful flight to Dahlonega in north GA for lunch.  It was a gorgeous day and a fantastic time, thank you John!

The intrepid airmen

The Motorhome:

A couple updates on the rig.  In FL we did a couple maintenance items as we always do, but one we hadn't done before was replace the hydraulic filter.  It is supposed to be changed every 3 years or so, so 7 is pretty close I think, and actually reading up on it a lot of folks don't change it even that often.  I had a little problem getting the exact same brand, but get a replacement made by Donaldson.  So when I open the box, there are 3 different gaskets enclosed, simple, pull off the original filter, see what gasket is on the old filter, use that one and done!  So off it comes, there is an L-shaped gasket on the old filter, I use the new L-shaped gasket, and reinstall the filter, crank it up and wow leaking like a sieve!  Shut it down, tighten it up and get it to where it looks like it is not leaking anymore, good to go.  Well, by the time we get to Atlanta, there is hydraulic fluid (ATF, actually) all over the back of the coach and all over the front of the truck!!  I had even used the strap wrench to tighten the filter as much as I could, yeah, I know that's a no no, but I could not stop the leak.  Well from the extra tightening I had distorted the filter, so I decided I would just get another and put it on.  So off to NAPA I go, and when we look in the box of the new filter there is only one gasket and it is not L-shaped, hmmm.  I tell the NAPA guy what I have going on and in this box there are directions and explanations for different gaskets for different applications, so he asks, "Am I sure I need a L gasket?"  I said the original had one so I just assumed that was what it needed.  We look closer and read that the L gasket is used when there is no grove on the filter housing, and then there are 2 other gaskets used depending on the width of the groove, if there is one, on the housing.  So then he asked what I have, and of course, I say, I have no idea....  Back to the motorhome to evaluate the groove situation, and it turns out I have a 5/16" wide groove.  Back to NAPA with the info, and it turns out they don't have the required gasket and have to order it, but the L-shaped one is definitely not the right one.  On closer inspection it turns out the L-shaped gasket is not being compressed, and as I threaded the filter on, I was hitting the end of the threads before I could compress the gasket, hence the leak.  Mystery solved.  The correct gasket arrived the next morning, now we have a new hydraulic filter installed with no leaks.

Our experiment.  We have a Detroit Diesel 14 liter 515hp engine in our coach.  It runs good, plenty of power, and it has been, knock on wood, trouble free for almost 100,000 miles, but it gets terrible fuel mileage, for the past 6 years we have averaged a whopping 5.76mpg, and that has included slowing down to 63 mph cruise.  Now on the other hand the coach weighs 46,000 pounds by itself, and we are towing a 5000 pound truck, so you could argue that isn't too bad.  I'm on several forums, and there has been a lot of discussion the last several years about an item called an Ugly Fix that claims to increase mileage and improve drivability.  I'm not into performance chips generally, especially on an engine this expensive so I didn't pay too much attention at first.  Then over the last year 4 people on the forum with DD's installed this item and have reported back how pleased they were and that on average they were getting at least 1 more mpg, now that doesn't sound like much, but when you apply it to my 5.76 that is an increase of 17%!  On further reading this device is not a performance chip per se, it just fakes out the engine ECU and tells it the altitude is over 10,000 feet, so the EGR system isn't activated resulting in increased performance and mileage.  The installation is quick and easy, although with motorhome accessibility, a bit of a challenge as you have to lie on your belly, reach through the access hole and blindly unhook the altitude sensor and plug in the Ugly Fix in its place.  We installed it in FL and are giving it a try.  It is way too early to calculate mileage gains, but the engine performs fine, and after at least 5000 miles I will report back if we experienced any gains.  Be nice, Sandy!

The Forgotten Coast

So it turns out Carrabelle is part of the "Forgotten Coast" of Florida.  It is quiet now but we are pretty sure talking to people that it is getting ready to get busy as does most of the panhandle, whereas in Cedar Key the season is the winter, up in the panhandle it is the summer.  We talked to our neighbor at Carrabelle Beach RV Resort, Bill is a native of the area and had quite a bit of local knowledge.  

Our site

Turns out the area was used for the training of amphibious soldiers for the D-Day invasion in WWII.  Bill also, after being amused by our report of the "hospitality" at the Hole in the Wall Seafood recommended we drive to the Indian Pass Raw Bar instead.  It was quite a drive, about 35 miles, but it was definitely worth it.  It is a very laid back and unusual place.

The Indian Pass Raw Bar 

When you go in you just seat yourself anywhere you can find a couple seats, you go over to the massive cooler and pick out what you want to drink, water, soda, juice, beer, wine, or just go over to the beer taps and pull your own draft beer.  Then you mark on the drink chit what you drank.  You are given another paper which is the menu which you mark with whatever you want and how many.  We picked 1 dozen raw oysters, 1 dozen baked oysters with garlic, butter and cheese, and a pound of big peel 'n eat shrimp, you then hand the menu to whichever waitress happens to be walking by, and poof, your food arrives, and everyone is really friendly to boot!  Then when you are ready to leave you walk over to the cash register, hand them your drink chit, tell them which table you were sitting at, and pay your bill, cool.

Indoors

Our raw dozen, yeah we ate some before we took the picture, AGAIN!

The awesome baked oysters

And the delicious shrimp!

We had a nice drive there, and a delicious lunch, and will definitely go back when our travels take us back to the Forgotten Coast.

We walked about 2 1/2 miles on the beach each morning, it was wonderful, easy walking, and not many people.

A little fog lingering in the early am

Pulling in a catfish

One of many unusual starfish along the beach

On alert for breakfast

And yours truly, Jan and I

To Carrabelle

Before we left Cedar Key, we wanted to do a couple more things, one go back and get some more of Tony's amazing chowder, walk around town, and do a couple hikes in the area.  As I mentioned there is no place to walk directly from the campground.  We went downtown, had a beautiful long walk, as the sky was a bit cloudy and there was a pleasant breeze, it was delightful.

The beginning of Dock Street

The view of the wharf area from the pier

After the killer chowder and some excellent fried shrimp we headed out to find the Dennis Creek and Shell Mound hikes in the Cedar Key Scrub State Reserve.  The Shell mound hike was very short, and after we met a couple on the path coming the opposite way that said or should I say exclaimed, they had just seen a snake, it almost got shorter:-)

It is amazing to think that the indians built over time a shell mound 28 feet high and covering 5 acres, that's a ton of oyster shells, and garbage!  The Dennis Creek hike was much better at about a mile or so with quiet corridors through the woods and across the salt marshes.

Quiet and peaceful

Across the salt marsh

A pretty little pond

Then since it was still early, and we only had about 3 miles under our feet, we drove up to  the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge and did about a mile, mostly boardwalk trail up to the Suwannee River and over the swamp, and even though there were several signs warning us about Water Moccasins (Cotton mouths), we didn't see any.

And that took care of our last day in Cedar Key.  Our plans then had us going around and out the panhandle a little bit to Carrabelle, FL, about 200 miles away.  It was a pleasant drive on a beautiful day and we only picked up a couple thousand love bugs on the way, we remarked how it seemed we were almost out of them:-)  We are parked now directly across the street from a beach that goes for miles in either direction, and the sand even though I'm not a true fan, is powdery, white, and soft, yet near the water it is excellent for walking.  

We took a long ride yesterday to explore the area and especially to find some Tupelo Honey.  We had never had it before and read where it is very special, unique, only is available for a short time each year, and is considered the best of the best.  We drove to Wewahitchka, FL to visit Lanier's which has been selling Tupelo honey since 1898.  Tupelo honey is produced from the flowers of the Tupelo Gum Tree which blossoms in April and May, and it is the only honey that will not granulate.  So we met one of the owners of Lanier's and she told us it was lucky we showed up as this season was a complete disaster as it poured rain during the blossoming time, knocked the blossoms off the trees and since the bees don't work in the rain, good union I guess, the production was almost nonexistent!  We were invited in to see the processing of the honey and as she warned us about getting stung, I went to the truck to wait for Jan:-)  Jan emerged unscathed but the owner got stung once?  Good timing for us though and we snagged a couple jars of, and after tasting it, have to admit it is unique and delicious, of genuine Tupelo Honey.  

Then off to find some Apalachicola Oysters, considered by many to be the best oysters.  Apalachicola is a small, working and tourist town right on the water and home to fishing and oystering.  Good old TripAdvisor pointed us to the Hole in the Wall Seafood as one of the best for oysters.  

The "beautiful" decor

It was a tiny place that was packed when we arrived, and the only seats were at the bar right in front of Dwayne, the shucker.  It had a weird vibe, as the only waitress almost attacked us when we sat down after she welcomed us, hmmmmm.  But we announced we each wanted a dozen oysters to start off, and she told us we were behind a lot of other people and hold your horses.  Had kind of a Faneuil Hall vibe where the schtick is pushy waitresses, but we held our surprise and in just a few moments, Dwayne handed us each a dozen sensational oysters, and we forgot about "Peggy Sue".  Slurp, slurp, they were fantastic!  

After the first dozen I decided my lunch would be another dozen, which Dwayne started on immediately, and Jan decided to get some gumbo, while carefully asking "Peggy Sue" for a bowl, and after yelling at another customer for asking for tartar sauce nicely said she'd get the gumbo right out, yeah, strange place.  After a considerable wait, the huge and excellent gumbo came out.

Delicious!

Sooo, although the food and oysters were exceptional, we won't go back, too hard to deal with the vibe and we're sure after walking around town there are many, many other places to get excellent oysters without getting abused.

A shrimper along the dock

Then on the way back we decided to pop out to St George Island, and look at a state park campground we had heard about.  It reminded us very much of the Outer Banks, narrow, sandy, and sand dunes everywhere.  It was pretty and the park let us in to look around, and we quickly found out it would be extremely tight for us, and oh so, isolated, situated 7.5 miles up on the extreme tip of the island, though for beach fans I imagine it would be great.  So we'll kick back here for another couple days and see if a few more oysters are in our future, oh I think so!

First stop---Cedar Key, FL

My Mom and Step-dad always loved Cedar Key, a sleepy, slow moving old Florida town of 790 people.  We took them here once when Court's health was failing and he could no longer drive, at least 15 years ago.  And little has changed.  We had heard of this little motel with attached 3 spot RV park and wanted to give it a whirl.  So we came to the Low Key Hideaway Motel and RV Park, an adult only facility.  It is very cool, right on the water, facing west with a killer sunset view out across the bayous and hummocks.  They have a very active Tiki Bar that is open from 4pm to 9pm, and the locals and tourists stream in.  They have several rooms in the motel with kitchen facilities and a community grill and everyone just wanders around the grounds and meander out on the attached dock.  It is owned and run by a couple that used to full-time in their 5th wheel.  It is quite the little "hideaway"!  We are sharing one of the three RV sites with one other motorhome, otherwise it is just our own slice of heaven.  

Cleaning off the love bugs on our site

The motel

The Tiki Bar

The view out the dock

We took a drive around town yesterday, still very quiet, especially since the season has ended, and it is much as we remembered, although there are several more restaurants.  We had heard and were told by a guy who comes here regularly that Tony's Seafood Restaurant had the BEST clam chowder, now as you know we live to eat all over this country, and used to live in New England, and have been told numerous times about the "best" of chowders, so we were skeptical to say the least, I mean, come on, award winning New England Clam Chowder in a sleepy little town in Florida?!?!?!?  Well, we have to admit, it was probably the BEST chowder we have ever had, certainly in the top 3 ever, and the cool thing is they sell it, hot to go, cold to go, and frozen, and they even have it in cans!  So check it out----http://www.tonyschowder.com/ordera.htm

The famous chowder, yeah we had a few bites before the picture:-)

Jan had a delicious fish sandwich

And I had a shrimp sandwich, yummy!

Tony's

Now I should be totally honest, this isn't exactly paradise though.  We are parked right on the only highway into town, and it is narrow and busy enough that we aren't comfortable riding our bikes the short distance into town, it's really not wide enough to walk either.  We did go in to a very nice boardwalk path to Cemetery Point which was beautiful.  The town itself has quite a few restaurants and a few shops, but if sitting in the sun, boating, fishing is what you have in mind, it's a great place.  But not a lot to do for us.  A few days will be ample and we'll be off to another new destination.  Don't get the wrong idea, we will come back here, if just for the eclectic campground!

Sunset from our site

Full moon, what timing!

Cocktail hour, not too shabby

One more of the view!