Electric Palm

This evening the motorhome was bathed in the eerie glow of a new electric palm tree. This long sought addition to Ellen's inventory of things odd and eclectic will illuminate our home on wheels for our entire stay in Florida. Who knows what will replace it as we make our way across the American West this summer ? Whatever it is I'm sure it will glow in the dark !!!

Mart & Rich

We had a good time with Mart (Ellen's sister) and Rich (my brother in law) in Sarasota. It was fun spending time with them hiding out from one of the worst winters ever. Living in Plattsburgh they had to return to some pretty cold weather last week ... oh well, spring break will soon be here. This is a photo from inauguration day.

Click on image to view full size rendition.

The Flynn's

Yes, we did it. Thanks to the Tampa RV show the other week we were able to purchase a custom made sign from one of the resident artisans. Now we can find our motorhome anytime and anyone who wants to find us simply has to search the RV park for "The Flynns"

Hello Port Charlotte

We arrived at Port Charlotte last Sunday. As you can see the campsite is pretty barren with no shade. However, the area is interesting. The Texas Rangers have spring training here in a few weeks so maybe we'll get to see one of their owners from the past, George Bush.

Been spending a lot of time searching for a bike for Ellen and installing a bike rack on the hitch at the back of the motorhome. Hope all is well up north. Take heart, spring is on the way.

Click on image for full size rendition.

20th Century's Most Famous Kiss

The most famous kiss of the 20th century was captured almost 64 years ago (08/15/1945) in Times Square New York as a sailor smooched a nurse in celebration of the end of World War II. It was a superb moment of victory, submission and love captured forever on film by the great Life photographer, Albert Eisenstaedt. The moment lives on in Sarasota, Florida by way of a larger than life aluminum sculpture by Seward Johnson pictured above.

The original can be seen at this link ... http://www.acepilots.com/ww2/times_square.jpg

Click on the photo to view full size rendition.

Good Bye Dolly !

Yesterday marked the departure of our tow dolly. Kathleen put it up for auction on her ebay account and it sold in a few days to a guy from Sebring, FL. He came by yesterday paid cash and towed the dolly away. Ellen quickly converted the $$$ to cold cash by stashing it in a plastic bag in the freezer ala Rep. William J. Jefferson .... http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/05/21/jefferson.search/index.html

Can't say we'll miss the dolly; I could never get comfortable adding another 20' to a 40' motorhome. The rest of our trip segments are all less than 200 miles so it won't be much of a hassle for Ellen to drive the car ahead of the motorhome. Here's hoping that the new owner enjoys the tow dolly a lot more than we did!!!!!!!!!!!!

Click on photo to get full size rendition.

Sun N Fun

We've been staying at Sun N Fun Rv Resort since Sunday. Very nice place with many activities. We're only about 20 minutes from the beach without the traffic and congestion. There's a set of batting cages and golf range 1/2 mile down the street. Stay warm up north; it's been on the cool side here as well but obviously no sub zero weather.

Inauguration Day

Today is Inauguration Day. Whether you voted for him or not it's a noteworthy day as the 44th president is sworn into office. The challenges facing the new occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave are enormous; hopefully he will be up to the task.

Elly and I will be watching the event at an inauguration brunch hosted by the Ritz-Carlton in Sarasota. I'm sure the mamosas and champagne will be flowing freely as Barak takes the oath of office. Best of luck to the new president and a safe return home to the old.

Ed's New Ride

After visiting the biggest RV show in the USA you would think that it would be time for a new ride. Check out .... http://www.frvta.org/supershow.asp for details. Well it is ... Ed did get a new ride as shown in the above photo .. no, it's not the big motorhome attached to that 300 lb. wheel; it's the lounge chair parked in front. I'm sure the chair will transport Ed to many serene hours of naptime (usually around 3:00 pm) and provide a half hour a day of peace and quiet for Ellen !!!!

It's Chilly

We know it's really cold in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio with temperatures hovering around zero degrees. Weather cooled off here as well with temperatures in the upper 40's this morning as evidenced by the gloves worn by Ed for our morning walk. Stay warm up north and beware of frostbite. Hang out indoors and drink some peppermint schnapps !!!

Click on the photo to download the full size version.

Manatee Lake State Park

We arrived on Friday and reached our goal to camp in the Bradenton area. The state park is very nice. Lots of palmettos. The sites are fairly primitive but they do have electric and water. No sewer so it's off to the bathhouse for morning showers!!! Ellen hates the bathhouse but since Ed was in the Army he doesn't care. Ed rated kudos from Ellen for backing the motorhome into a fairly tight spot.

Siesta Key

Today we visited Siesta Key on the gulf at Bradenton. The weather was beautiful and as you can see the beach was really nice.

Full Moon Over Bradenton

Tonight the biggest full moon of the year rose over Bradenton, FL. Captured at f3.5 and 1/400 of a second the moon overpowered the night sky blotting out most of the stars and all the galaxies. The moon follows an elliptical orbit around the earth and tonight the closest point of that ellipse (perigee) coincided with the full moon phase. See this APOD link for more information ... http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap041021.html

For those of you with an interest in lunar literatue check out ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_in_art_and_literature

Turtle Creek

We found the winter hideout of ...... you guessed it, that famous TV couple, the Slowsky's. Turns out they are riding out the miserable Michigan winter in of all places Turtle Creek here at sunny Homosassa, FL. Anyway, they send their regards after spending most of the day sunning their shells on the banks of the Homosassa river.

By the way, the internet connection is really slow, just like our turtle friends like it !!

Apalachicola

Today we visited Apalachicola (via car) which is on the "forgotten" coast of Florida. Very nice little fishing village with lots of old Victorian style homes. The fellow in the picture was our lunch guest. He didn't talk much and the waitress didn't need to worry about spilling soup on him.

Weather continues to be good ... low 70's and sunny.

Bye To Gulf Shores

Friday we visited John and Judy Walker and caught up on old times. Dinner at Fairhope and an hour of viewing photos topped the evening. John and Judy are doing fine and we wish them well for 2009!

Today is our last day at Gulf Shores. We’ve spent many vacations in the past here and have always had a good time. This is probably our last visit ever to this beautiful part of the Gulf. The weather has been great mostly in the 60’s and 70’s with lots of sun. Ed has been able to do quite a bit of biking. Today we had some rain. Spring flowers need their moisture … growing and planting season starts in a few weeks. Can you believe it?

Happy New Year !!!

Happy New Year from Gulf Shores, Alabama !!!! Here's hoping that 2009 is filled with health and prosperity.