DJ and Tom Visit for Christmas at Seminole

In December 2014, of our usual Seminole Campground troop, just Charlie and Joyce and Linda and Dale, and Wayne and I were here. That's plenty of folks to have a good time though and we enjoyed being together immensely -- eating, visiting, nesting, planning to eat and then eating all over again. 

Joyce, Linda and I walked lots mornings and enjoyed having the campground's newly created lake beach walking area added to our route.  It was on one of these morning walks through a nearby neighborhood that we found a home for the kittens I wrote about earlier.  Added benefit of walking! 

The lake at Seminole Campground Beach.
No swimming, no fishing and feeding the alligators.

I was ready with the camera to snap
a campground Christmas tree decorating moment with Linda. 

The winter was fraught with unusual happenings in addition to the kitten adoptions to keep us busy. Linda had a couple of sick days, certainly out of the ordinary for her, including a week of flu which none of us caught, I'm happy to say. She made several trips home to take care of family matters and I missed her something awful when she was gone.  She is my hairdresser, after all.. Ha ha.







Wayne and I took our time settling in at our campsite, unloading the car and storing our bicycles, dog wagon, grooming table and other stuffs in the little shed we're renting from the campground. Life here was good, even though the weather was nasty hot and humid for a long while.  I suffer in humidity. I'm from the deep south and never, ever, could stand high humidity.

Wayne resting at the campsite on a hot December afternoon. 

Our friends DJ and Tom, who live in Panama City, Florida, finally found a 2004 Dutch Star that met their lengthy list of criteria and made arrangements to buy it from a dealer somewhere in Texas.

Tom and DJ
Their new Dutch Star in the background.

The purchase of the coach seemed to have taken a really long time but I think it just felt that way because I was excited they were coming to North Fort Myers to join us for Christmas.

DJ trying, again, to steal Lexie. No such luck, DJ. 

DJ and Tom arrived the week before Christmas and the banquet hall got into full swing with DJ's delicious shrimp linguine, venison spaghetti and fried fish dinners. Banquet hall breakfasts became another meal to look forward to and love, with bacon, sausage, gravy, pancakes and bacon.

"The Banquet Hall" is a name given to the large
area at the back of our campsite where
we string two or three picnic tables together.

Dale the bacon-ater

There's a huge Fleamasters flea market in North Fort Myers where we visited several times, buying odds and ends -- some of which we needed and some we didn't.  It's another great place for us because we can take the dogs in their stroller.

DJ found lots of stuff she liked.

Christmas decorations were in place at the campground and we anxiously awaited the Christmas activities that included food.

Me with Lexie and Ozzie 

DJ belongs to an international walking association, http://clubs.ava.org/. One day, she walked a route at Sanibel Island. Joyce and I tagged along to shop while she walked. Afterward, we reconvened to enjoy a delicious, albeit long awaited, lunch at Island Cow.

A tired and hungry DJ peruses the Island Cow menu while we wait, and wait, and wait to be seated. 

Island Cow Christmas decorations 

DJ, Joyce, Lexie and Ozzie at our Island Cow patio table. 

On Christmas Eve, DJ and I endured high temperatures and sweltering humidity to walk the slough at Six Mile Cypress Preserve in Fort Myers where we took a couple of hundred pictures. These are my favorites.

DJ shooting a Mother Alligator 

One of the alligator babies 

A very well hidden cotton mouth.
I zoomed in real close but he was only about 2 foot below and 2 foot out from the boardwalk.

Diane is an AVA walk pal of Diane's. We met her in November at our Panama City stop to see Tom and DJ. She's a retiree living full-time in a 17' Casita with her cat Houtie. She is in our area, camping at a nearby Corp of Engineer Campground. She joined us for several outings, campground meals and activities.

Left to right: Charlie, DJ, Joyce, Tom and Wayne.
Notice the fish frying in the skillet in the lower right... Yum. 

Diane, Tom and DJ, whose new coach is parked behind them. 

Diane and DJ in the foreground. Background is Tom, Joyce, Wayne and Charlie.
Just after that scrumptious fried fish feast. 

Campground Cat Crisis!

The original two rescued kittens with their captor, Tammi
 and their new protector, Linda.

It happens. Campgrounds have cats and cats have kittens. Kittens grow quickly and reproduce. Homeless pets are multiplying and that's a problem.

I am a cat lover and I have lots of cat loving friends and we found ourselves in the midst of a campground cat crisis in the early days of last winter.

Meet Tammi (red jacket) and Linda (pink jacket). Tammi works at Seminole Campground where we've spent the past three winters. Linda is my crazy cat lady friend and co-camper at Seminole Campground. Linda is just as obsessive over cats as I am over dogs. We compliment one another quite well.

To make a long story a little shorter...  one of the campground's ferrel-like cats (really one that was dumped here a few years ago) had a litter of kittens. Originally there were four kittens but something has already happened to one of them.  Tammi has been feeding the cat and now she's feeding the kittens but something must be done as they are all tortoise shell females and it's just a matter of time until the kittens begin to multiply. It's not a good situation. The campground's animals lovers ban together and spring into action.

As our official Cat Rescue Queen, Linda assumes responsibility of the kittens if Tammi will capture them -- two at first. The third is quite wild and will take some special cat corralling by Tammi.

Another of our group cat lovers, Joyce, along with Linda and yes, even Dale and I, become surrogate mothers to the first two kittens. They are appropriately named "Dot" and "Chin" -- you can figure out which is which and why. The kittens are kept inside Linda's "cat tent" and easily conquered once they've been tucked into the warmth of Dale's shirt a few times on the coolest mornings.

The reluctant, but willing, cat comforter, Dale.

Finally Tammi captured the third kitten but none of us was prepared for the fear this little girl felt. She hissed and spit and bit and scratched. The first few days we called her "Hissy" but quickly abandoned the name as it would certainly hamper her adoptability. After all, nobody wants to cuddle up to a mad cat.  We tried out new names... let's see, Dot and Chin, and, and, an....Annie became her name.

The week before Christmas, Linda was called to Ohio on a family matter and kitten care fell to Joyce and me. We were thrilled to take our daily "kitten therapy" but had to follow through with our leader's instruction to have the kittens spayed and made available for adoption.  Socializing had worked out well for Dot and Chin but not so much for Annie, who got me with a deep bite puncture and some scratch as I tried to collect her one day when the campground lawnmower noise got too loud. I visited a local doctor for my tetanus shot.

On December 22, Joyce and her husband, Charlie, along with Wayne and I took the kittens to Lee County Animal Shelter for their complimentary spay as part of the TNR (Trap Neuter and Release) Program. We turned them over for possible adoption with the understanding they would be returned to us for release or re-homing (instead of euthanizing) if they were not adopted. Less than a week later, we were called to retrieve the kittens as they were just not adoption material...

The "Cat House" is secure as Ozzie stands guard. 

Linda returned in January. Weeks went by as we contemplated what we'd do about the kittens. Seminole Campground is not overly accommodating to cats and was not eager to have them released, even in the storage area in the rear of the property. We made posters but we had very little interest in the wild kittens.

Our flyer. No success.

Mary, Fran, Ernie and Pam came for an afternoon visit from West Palm Beach (where they're camping this month). Joyce, Linda and I tried hard to convince Pam to take one of the kittens as a companion for the the rescued kitten she'd taken from here less than a year ago. No dice. Pam just wasn't smitten by the kittens.  Our search for homes continued.

Linda, Joyce, holding Dot, Mary, holding Chin and Pam, not holding any kittens at all! 

Finally, we happened to see a young man on one of the close by horse farm properties. We asked about rehoming the kittens there. Fortunately, even though they had enough cats, these nice people asked among their horse farm friends and all three kittens were placed in a nice, big horse barn where they will live their lives virtually "people free" --- except for the good feeding and watering they will receive.

"What happened", you may ask, "to the mother of the kittens?" Well, Momma kitty was also captured, socialized, neutered in the Lee County TNR Program and returned to the campground.  Tammi and her boyfriend Rob, who live and work at the campground, call her their own.

Another happy ending for homeless kitties.  Awwww.

Seminole Campground. Arrive. Relax.

Just over a month since I left my brother and the campground in New Market, Alabama, we reached North Fort Myers, Florida for winter.

The campground was quiet and only sparsely occupied when we arrived. Linda and Dale's rig was in place but they were not home.  We pulled into our site, the same one we had last year, one site over from where we were during our first winter here. Improvements to the campground are easily seen: fresh sod and gravel. Word is there will be a beach area for campers too.  Not a real oceanside beach, but a nice, clean, sandy place alongside a lake on the backside of the campground property.

Our campsite... for the second year.

Within an hour or so after we arrived, Dale and Linda came in from a day at Sanibel Island and were surprised to see our rig in place. There's not much better than getting those first hugs from good friends.

Looking up the campground road to our site. 

From what we gather, Joyce and Charlie are due here next, followed by Rick and Louise, just after Christmas, then Mark and Janie.  Pam and Ernie, along with Fran and Mary will spend December at the Lion Country Safari Campground in West Palm Beach. The M&M's (Millers and Marchands) will meet at Disney World for a few days before coming here. Pam and Ernie will go from WPB to Naples for January, then come here for February and March.  It's a hectic schedule but I managed to keep up some of the time.

The site beside us would be occupied only occasionally and for short periods of time until late in January. 

The campground offers a small shed rental for $75 a month and this year, we've added one of them to our site. It's a good place to store bicycles, grooming tables and patio chairs to keep them safe and out of weather.

Looking down our campground road to the left. 

While it's really nice to be here, the temperatures are in the mid 80's and the humidity is really high. Nevertheless, life is really, really good here.

The Flight South for Winter

It took two days to get from Panama City to Fort Pierce, Florida. The ride through the panhandle was lovely; all the small communities along the highway fascinate me and I often think how nice it would be to own a small tract of land for spending time in fall or spring.  Ahhh.

We stayed overnight on November 20th in North Ocala. After a while, with sun shining through Endie's windshield, I warmed sufficiently to shed my socks and house shoes and it felt good to leave the cold behind, finally.

As is true every time we come here, Wayne wants to explore other places in Florida before we settle in for the winter.  I know he has an urge to take the rig into the Keys, possibly going on to Key West, but he doesn't like what he reads about the campgrounds there... either way too expensive or the sites are really jammed together.

Today we'll settle for getting over to the east coast. we've got ten days to spend before our reservation begins. We drove quite awhile before deciding, between us, to stop in again at Savanna Preserve Recreation Area near Fort Pierce. Having been there before, we know it's an "okay" place. We'll stay a day or so while he decided where else he wants to go.  I rarely have a strong feeling about the places we go in Florida.

Our site at Savanna Preserve Recreation Area

Looking the other way from our coach.
Yes, there are alligators in these waters, ma'am. 

I suppose the economic downturn of years past is over as evidenced by the lack of camping space this early in the winter visitors season. We called several campgrounds but couldn't put together a stay at a place with a price we liked.  After three days we realized we were just marking the days until we returned to Seminole Campground. One phone call to the campground encouraged us to arrive a week early. Here, we knew we would be comfortable and could settle in for a good long winters rest.

On our last day at Savanna Preserve, we drove a ways south on the coastal highway. To our surprise, we came upon a nice dog beach near Jensen Beach where Lexie and Ozzie enjoyed a romp in the sand and surf.

A rare find in Florida -- dog beach. 

Ozzie gets to go "off leash" but not Lexie. If she gets frightened, she will run from us. 

From here we'll move on to our winter home at Seminole Campground in North Fort Myers.

A Cold Stop In Panama City With D.J. and Tom

This was Tuesday, November 18th.  It took the better part of the day for us to make the drive from Gulf Shores, Alabama to Panama City, Florida but the weather improved as the sun warmed us as we drove along Highway 98 through all the tiny beach towns from Pensacola.

Early afternoon, we reached Tyndall Air Force Base and the Famcamp park where Tom had secured a two night reservation for us in the gravel overflow lot just inside the complex. DJ and an AVA walking friend she met the summer before, named Diane, waited for us right on the side of the highway. It was great to see DJ's smiling face.

Turned out Diane is a full-time RV'er too. She's retired from one of the railroad companies, sold her home in Texas and travels in her Honda Pilot, pulling her 17' Casita camper. DJ asked if we'd impart some of our travel thoughts with Diane as she too planned to get into South Florida for winter.  Of course we did.

DJ prepared shrimp linguine and we visited her home for the first time, to eat that night. Oh and DJ is a good cook!

Next morning we converged at a quaint little home town eatery for breakfast and talked more about upcoming travel, Diane's trip to south Florida and the purchase of a new rig for Tom and DJ as we are looking forward to travel with them again soon.

DJ, Diane, Wayne and Tom. 

The second day was spent around Tyndall and Tom got Wayne in for a close look at some of the newest flying machines which was a super thrill for him. We girls shopped the post exchange and planned another seafood dinner.  This time, DJ fried grouper she had nabbed herself while scuba diving. Oh it was heaven.  She also prepared a luscious key lime pie.

After dinner the five of us returned to the Famcamp where we sat around the campfire that was conveniently located inside a plastic covered gazebo. DJ discovered an apple drink that we warmed and sipped. Good thing we had hot drinks, the nighttime temperature dropped to 29 degrees. I thought I would surely freeze to death.

Our visit was short but sweet and we pulled out of Tyndall's Famcamp the next morning headed south with a vengeance.

Gulf Shores and The Push East

I continue to struggle to catch up the blog so this post is being written four months in arrears.  I feel bad about my tardiness but console myself by saying that it won't matter when we're looking back in coming years as our memories won't be so good then anyway.   I keep trying. 

So, with winter threatening, we departed Hoover, Alabama on November 10th. Our four month winter reservation at Seminole Campground in North Fort Myers won't begin until December 1st, so we're left wondering where we'll wile away the next three weeks.

Gulf State Park at Gulf Shores, Alabama is the destination for now. During this time of year, the weather there can be warm, rainy or downright cold though so we're not sure how long we'll stay... if we can even get in the campground.

But indeed, there is plenty of room for us at Alabama's crown jewel state park so we settle in and get the bicycles, including the dog wagon, out for rides. The first afternoon was fine -- sunny and warm.  The campsite we're assigned isn't great, but it is okay and I didn't complain.

The weather did turn, for the worse... and quickly.  We suffered wind, cold and rain, sometimes simultaneously. It was awful and we couldn't wait for our week to end.

During the week, one of the idiot lights of the car's dashboard illuminated itself and caused a problem. The repair was made at the area Ford dealer.

Finally our week ended and we moved eastward along the coast, stopping at Joe Patti Seafood in Pensacola for a seafood chowder fix on another bitter, miserably cold day. Wayne had hoped to visit Frank and Beverly again, but they were not at their Gulf Shores home so we missed seeing them this year.

Most likely the coldest day so far here on the gulf coast. 

Joe Patti (on the stool) welcomes customers and calls numbers for fresh seafood service. 

We each got a small container of hot seafood to take away the chill.
I had clam chowder, Wayne had seafood gumbo. Mine was best.

After our chowder, we drove (too cold to walk) across to the small restaurant and ate another round of hot food. Then we returned to the seafood market where we bought fresh seafood to take along with us.

Our next stop is in Panama City where we'll finally catch up with our old friends Tom and DJ who live there.

Birmingham Days and Not Going To Auburn

Going to Birmingham is always fun. We get to visit with Wayne's Aunt Helen and his cousin, Lynn and her husband, Jay who are true foodies, executive chefs and we get to enjoy the fruit of their labor.

On Saturday, we all gathered at Helen's to watch the Auburn / Texas A&M football game that Auburn lost but had a great time anyway. Lynn, Jay and Helen are reluctant Auburn fans as their daughter (granddaughter) attends Wayne's fine alma mater but they all went to that other Alabama college, the University of Alabama.

Lynn and Wayne who proudly wears his Auburn University orange shirt. 

Couldn't resist getting this picture of Lexie and Ozzie at Helen's house.

One afternoon, Helen, Wayne and I took Lexie, Ozzie and Helen's shiz tsu, Dusty, to a nice walking park near the baseball stadium in downtown Birmingham. After the walk, we picked up a pizza at Jim Davenport's Pizza Palace. It was heavenly.  Jim Davenport, the famous baseball player, is from this area and knew a few of Wayne's father's family members.

Helen and Wayne 

Another afternoon, we took a drive down memory lane as Wayne so enjoys doing when he visits Birmingham. Wayne's father grew up here and Helen remembers all the old family haunts. She helps find the old places. The afternoon wasn't complete without a quick drive by Vestavia Country Club. Another great outing.

The school where Wayne's father and his brothers attended was especially handsome. We didn't get out to walk the grounds or see the football stadium, but enjoyed a tour from the car. Later we learned the school was going to be used in a movie set. That's why it looked so good.  Hummmm.

Woodlawn High School, Birmingham, Alabama

No trip to Birmingham is complete without a visit to the family graves. We visited the graves of Wayne's grandparents, his father, Uncle Roy and Helen's parents. 

Helen, me and the dogs near Wayne's dad's grave. 

The last full day in town, Wayne drove to Green Springs and looked up his old friend and former boss at Auburn, Brad Ashmore.  It had been more than forty years since they'd seen one another and they clearly enjoyed a few hours or reminiscing. 

Wayne and his old pal, Brad Ashmore 

After much deliberation and frequent discussion of the pros and cons, we decided to forego going on to Auburn for the final home game against Samford. It would be sandwiched by games at Georgia and at Alabama.  We stayed a total of 5 days in the Hoover RV Park before heading south to the Gulf coast.

Visits With The Grandchildren

On Saturday, October 25, we enjoyed our last football Saturday afternoon with Macky and Donna.  The following Monday, we left Sharon Johnston Park Campground, headed to middle Tennessee where the children and grandchildren live.  While we're there, we will get our dental cleaning and our annual flu shot from the dentist and doctors who are in nearby Franklin.

We call Nashville I-24 Campground "home" when we visit the area. It's the campground from which our full-time RV life was launched way back in July 2010, just after Wayne's retirement. Over the years, we've developed a good friendship with the campground manager, who, we learned last winter, is married to a former customer of the bank from which Wayne retired.

Cam and Amy invited us to join them for the church's annual chili cook-off and Halloween party where Amy's chili, we later learned, won first place.  Following are a few pictures from that evening.

Going out the door to the chili cook-off and Halloween party. 

Cam and Amy and their sweet little ones. 

Additional visits, including at least one football game watching, took place at Cam and Amy's home.  We also got to see Buddy, but not other grandchildren.

Reading a storybook.

Granddaddy reads too..... without glasses!

A total of ten days were spent in and around middle Tennessee. As Macky continued to improve, we began thinking we'd move on down to Birmingham to see relatives there for a few days.