I got up this morning with the intention of catching up on some emails, but didn’t get too much done as it’s hard to write with someone looking over your shoulder the whole time. Tal-y was very impatient to get on the computer and email Rosie to tell her she’d see her soon!
So instead, and since we didn’t have anywhere to go today, I did laundry. Not the most fun thing but a necessary one, and at least here the washers and dryers are actually in a room. I got it almost finished when a woman came in with what looked like six months of washing. When I do washing I like to get it on so that it can get done as soon as possible, but not her. I was there for about 20 minutes and she managed to get one washer on. She was definitely not a multitasker, talking and loading she could not do; she’ll probably still be there this time next week.
Tal-y and I took a walk this afternoon and found out that her friend Lucy is staying at this park too. She’s the Irish Setter that Tal-y took a liking to when we were at Moore Haven, and it seems that they remembered each other as they started playing straight away.

Mike: Maybe you should have had another one of your quiet times so the poor lady
could get her wash done!

On the road again this morning. Our week in Live Oak is finally over, and I don’t foresee us coming here to stay again anytime in the near future, two weeks in one year is more than enough. The park’s ok, but there is nothing in this area at all. We got packed up and headed off into the morning around 9.30. It was pretty creepy as there was a ton of fog around that lasted until we were well on our way south. We only had to drive for about 2 hours today back to Clermont. Not at the place we previously stayed but at Bees which is about 20 miles north of the park we were at for Christmas and the New Year. We got checked in and found our space and discovered that Mike had to maneuver the trailer around a tree to get it into the space. It took us a little while to get the trailer just right (it would have been a lot quicker if Mike wasn’t quite so anal about the trailer being perfectly squared up) but Serena didn’t get any new bumps or scratches, so it was all good. The parks not too bad but it is super busy, almost all of the 200 spaces are full. At least we have a nice space with plenty of room between us and our neighbours on both sides; some of the spaces here are really close together. The only trouble here are the bloody squirrels, they are everywhere which makes it really hard to walk Tal-y as she is off in a different direction every other second. They are also noisy, there are tons of food here for them, and they sit in the trees eating the nuts, and when they are done they throw them on top of the trailer roofs. I swear they do it on purpose, they take careful aim so that the half eaten nut makes the most noise when it hits and then they sit up in the trees laughing, or chirruping anyway. Mike has already had a word with them but they haven’t stopped yet. I think Tal-y is going to be busy while we are here as there are just so many of the little buggers to keep an eye on. She has already started keeping watch but is still looking for the perfect vantage spot.

Mike: I think I need to get a pellet gun! Then Tal-y can have squirrel stew!

Today is tax day. Mike woke me to tell me that he got his tax stuff from ProBuild and that he now has everything to do our taxes for last year; then he started doing them. I know that it is necessary for them to be done, but it’s not my favourite day of the year cos I either have to go out or I have to be quiet. Since there’s not really anywhere to go, and Tal-y will only walk for so long, I stayed at the trailer and didn’t talk for about 4 hours – it was agony. I don’t know why Mike can’t multitask, surely he should be able to do our taxes and talk to me at the same time. He sat in front of the computer making noises every so often while I puttered around the trailer working really hard the whole time not to talk. He definitely paid the price for my silence this afternoon though, I barely stopped to take a breath between sentences, and I didn’t even have anything to say! Whatever, the taxes are done and Mike is now super happy, one more thing out of the way before we leave for Ecuador.
The park got a lot busier today, everyone must be coming in for the weekend. We were the only people over this side but now we have neighbours on all sides, lovely.

Mike: Yeah, taxes are done for another year! Becc, do you really know what silence
sounds like? Just kidding you were a good girl!

All dry today, its hard to believe that we had so much rain yesterday, it certainly drains off quickly here; it must be the sand ground or something. Since Tal-y didn’t get to go too far yesterday we decided to take her for a long walk today through the trails that are around the park; Mike came with us as well. We walked through the horse area first, although there aren’t any horses here at the moment. As we were walking along the park edge we saw a giant bird. I think it was an emu; do we have emus in the wild here? Anyway Tal-y was all freaked out by it and wouldn’t go anywhere close to it until she realised that it was on the other side of the fence, then she got all brave and started barking at the poor thing. It basically just looked at her with disdain and walked away, but at least Tal-y felt brave!
After the bird encounter we walked upto the Suwanee River and hung out there for a while before heading back home along a hiking trail. It was very cool, the trees here are something else, like something out of a sci-fi movie with creepers and stuff hanging everywhere. It was a lovely walk, and Tal-y finally got a little exercise.

Mike: Tal-y is soo! brave. That bird was taller than me!

It rained all day today, well at least until late this afternoon. I managed to take Tal-y out between storms this morning and then mike and I took a drive into Live Oak to get lunch. We tried the Chinese buffet that is just down the road, and even though we sat in soaking wet clothes it was really good with lots of veggie food for us to eat. We did a little food shopping after lunch and got even wetter running from the car to the store, and then we headed home and got under the covers for the rest of the afternoon and stayed out of the rain.

Mike: I guess that means your all wet!

I think I have to start getting out of bed earlier, especially if we are going to be getting morning visitors. Mike had asked about the crappy reception on our TV the last time we were here and no one came to see to it, well he asked again yesterday and some dude came out to check it this morning. Tal-y and I had to scramble to get decent, shocking. While Mike shot the breeze with him we went for a walk; they were still chatting when we got back about digital, and analogue, and splitters and such. I’m not really sure that either one knew what was going on, but the TV picture is a little better this evening, we cam at least see who the people are tonight.
We didn’t leave the park today, although mike did have to take three drives to the office before he finally managed to get our mail. While he was running around I did laundry, outside. I don’t mean I had to go down to the river and scrub it over the stones, but the washers and dryers (at least the one of each that works) are outside; it’s not the best. Last time we were here I couldn’t find the laundry, well it turns out I did find it I just didn’t believe that what I had found was it. Mike asked at the office, and apparently for all 400 sites there are 6 washers and 5 dryers; it’s a good job this place is almost empty.
After studying a little more Spanish, and taking Tal-y for a walk, I gave her a bath cos she was gross. She wasn’t real happy about it, but at least now she’s all sweet smelling.

Mike: You've got a funny idea of sweet smelling! Especially when I wake up with
butt in my face!

Well the weatherman was right, last night was a little chilly and there was frost on the ground this morning to prove it; we soon got warmed up though when we started getting everything ready to leave. Mike had a little moan as three motor homes pulled out of the park before I got out of bed this morning – I’m sure I don’t know what the hurry is.
We left about 9.45 but had to stop on the way to the freeway to put some air in the trailer tyre. We have a thingy of our own that we can do it with but when mike tried to use it it wouldn’t go. Apparently I left it on and it got flat, like I’d even know how to turn it on! After our little unscheduled stop it was all plain sailing. With just a couple of stops for bathroom breaks we made it to Live Oak around half past noon; driving on a Sunday is good as there’s not much traffic, very few trucks, and no roadwork. We got checked in and in a park of almost 400 spaces we got the same one as the last time we stayed here; that’s not all bad since it’s a decent space and the area is nice and quiet. We got set up and then went to get pizza for lunch in Live Oak itself. We spent the afternoon just chilling, and learning a little Spanish, only three and a half weeks to go.

Mike: If they don't have pictures on the menus Becc will starve to death!

It was a very sad day for Tal-y today, as she had to say goodbye to her new friend Max. She met him a few days ago at the dog park and took to him immediately and they’ve met up every afternoon since. He’s a Shitzu?? From Colorado just traveling the country in a big old motor home and he just loves to run. He and Tal-y have had a blast these past few days and they had one last hurrah this evening before we leave tomorrow. Max actually might be glad to see the back of her since Tal-y stole his ball tonight so that Max had to chase her, and then when he would stop she would drop it in front of him and then snatch it up when he went to get it. He did get his own back at one point though, as Tal-y stood there teasing him he bit her front leg – that’ll teach her, maybe. Max’s folks were very nice people too, from Colorado now but originally from Massachusetts so they have really cool accents, and were very nice to talk to.
We are off back up to Live Oak tomorrow morning for the next week and so I packed up a little this evening to save Mike having to do everything in the morning. Since it’s supposed to be a cold one tonight, the less he has to do the later he can start doing it.

Mike: Poor little Taly! She will just have to wait and play with Rosie.

Boy it sure rained last night. It took me till early this morning to get to sleep, as it’s pretty noisy in here when it rains. So will I had a well-deserved lie in this morning Tal-y helped Mike with breakfast. When I finally dragged my behind out of bed we booked our tickets to London for May. We are getting into Miami from Ecuador at 5ish in the morning of May 18th, and then heading to London at 7.30ish that evening. It all worked out really well since now we don’t have to spend the night in a hotel or rent a car, we just have to hang out at the airport for a few hours. We also won’t get to check on the trailer and truck but they should be ok in storage, and I’m really excited about getting home earlier than we had intended to see Jaime and Lec.
Mike and I took a little drive just to have lunch and do a little shopping. We were going to go to The Villages since it’s the closest place to us but decided to drive a few miles further to Lady Lake just so we wouldn’t have to deal with golf cart driving crazy old people. It rained off and on till about mid afternoon and then it cleared up nicely just in time for the weekend.

Mike: What's the differance between a "well deserved lie in" and your normal time you get up? Oh, I know you just don't feel as guilty!

I woke up this morning to Mikes dulcet tones. He was on the phone with the credit card people wanting to know why there were two pending charges for the airline tickets we supposedly bought yesterday. He was on the phone for about 2 hours altogether this morning trying to straighten out the extra charges and also to actually book our tickets since yesterdays transaction did not get completed. After a little conference calling (actually Mike with a cell phone to each ear) between the airline and the credit card company we finally paid, just one time and have definitely booked tickets now. The again promised email didn’t come however, and we didn’t get it till Mike got back on the phone with the airline this afternoon and stayed on there while they sent it. The one good thing about not buying until today is that the price went down almost $100 over night, tidy!
After Mike got over the whole frustration of the morning he booked us a hotel in Quito for the first six nights, and also reserved (maybe) a hotel in Cuenca for the first few nights we are in that city. I did nothing, me and Tal-y just stayed out of his way. We went to the park for a run around and on the way Tal-y decided to have a lie down and a nice concerned gentleman on a bike stopped and asked me if she was ok. I think he thought she had passed out or something, it was a little embarrassing telling him that she was being stubborn and didn’t want to walk anymore. I felt better a little later though and nowhere near as embarrassed after seeing a couple taking their giant cat for a ‘walk’ in a stroller. When we finally made it to the park Tal-y made a new friend called Max and I got to talk to a nice couple from Colorado. I am just a regular little social butterfly lately!
Now it’s very late, and very wet, and very noisy. It’s after midnight and we are in the middle of a thunderstorm that is supposed to last most of the night. Tal-y beside me cos she’s scared of the noise, whether that noise is the thunder or Mike’s snoring is still undetermined. I’m off to bed, hopefully this’ll all get posted tomorrow once mike has added his two pennies worth. Good night.

Mike:All these old fools are falling all over themselves to talk to Becc.

Happy Birthday Tal-y, three years old today.
After feeding Tal-y some scrambled egg for her birthday breakfast it was laundry day again (which included puked on rugs). I’m glad I saved it (the rugs have been sitting outside since Sunday) as I needed to get out of the trailer while Mike spent half the day on the phone with a LAN airline rep trying to book our tickets to Ecuador. The website wouldn’t let him complete the transaction so he ended up having to call; he got to chat with a nice man named Rodolpho. I don’t know whether Rodolpho is Ecuadorian but Mike seemed to be saying sorry and excuse me a lot, and all the information he had to provide he gave it all at least three times. It’s gonna be fun having conversations while we are down there, which reminds me I really need to get on with learning Spanish.
Well it looks like we have plane tickets round trip to Ecuador from Miami, with two internal flights while we are there. Rodolpho is supposed to be sending a confirmation email to Mike; it was supposed to arrive within 20 minutes but he’s still waiting three hours later. He has managed to locate a couple of hotels for us to stay at, and I double checked with him that they are not motels; I don’t really want to stay anyplace where we have to pay by the hour!

Mike: That's the hardest I have ever worked to by plane tickets!

We took a drive into Leesburg today to take a look at the Morning Glori Antique Mall. We have been seeing signs everywhere advertising this place, 60 dealers and lots of square feet, but the reality didn’t live up to the giant billboards. I was hoping to find some antique jewellery as Mike owes me a present I think, but I didn’t find anything I liked, or even anything antique. It was a biggish converted house with lots of sections selling mostly junk. Maybe I just don’t have the eye, but mostly it was glass and ceramics with a little furniture and some linen thrown in. But just because someone tells me it’s old on a slip of paper doesn’t make it antique does it? I was a little disappointed but I should know better since something that is antique in this part of the world is anything that is more than ten minutes old.
After eating a lovely Mexican we had a much more productive shopping experience when we stopped at Russell Stover Chocolate outlet store on the way home. We finally broke down and went in after having driven past it a half dozen times in the past week. It is a huge warehouse selling nothing but chocolate and it’s the good kind of chocolate; they even had samples. We did show some restraint you’ll be glad to hear and only bought a few things; it was actually quite difficult as things were priced to sell and what better things to spend money on than Pecan Delights.

Mike: Antiques, my foot! Ah, Chocolate!

We got up early this morning even though it was raining quite a lot and headed to Webster to a giant flea market. It probably would have been a good idea to go on a day when it wasn’t raining, but since it’s only there on Mondays it had to be today. It is listed on some websites as being a top ten attraction of Florida, which is hard to believe given everything that is here, but it was pretty cool. And even with the bad weather it was huge with people selling everything from guns and knives to bacon bread. I think there were even some people who just woke up this morning and grabbed some stuff from their houses and brought it with them to sell – there was some real junk there. We wandered around for an hour or so but didn’t buy anything and then headed out to get some breakfast. I imagine that on a fine day you could spend the whole day at there just looking for treasure.
Since I blew my New Years resolution about two weeks ago I spent some of this afternoon catching up on this blog. Some others who shall remain nameless spent the afternoon catching up on their beauty sleep; I guess these early mornings don’t agree with everyone!

Mike: That's the largest collection of junk I've ever seen! It goes for miles!

A quite boring day made all the worse by having to spend an hour this evening cleaning up dog puke. There was a stupid Jack Russell at the park this afternoon who insisted on tearing a tennis ball apart and leaving it all over the floor. My gorgeous girl being the dimwit that she is insisted on eating every piece that I didn’t manage to pick up. I guess I missed a lot of it, and I got to see exactly how much this evening. Be thankful I didn't take pictures!

Mike: I'm not sure who is dumber? The dog that ate the ball or the big person that let her!

Not much happening here the past few days. I’ve walked a lot, Mike’s been on the computer a lot trying to sort out our tickets to Ecuador and stuff, and that’s been about it. We did take a drive to Ocala this morning which is about half hour up the road from us. Mostly to do some shopping since tax time is almost upon us again and Mike needed Turbotax. We had to drive to Ocala to find a Staples, cos we couldn’t find the one in The Villages – I really think that place is like the Twilight Zone. We also got Tal-y another crate while we were out and about. It’s a little bigger than the one we have and it’s just as a precaution in case the airline tells us that the one we have is too small. I don’t want to get all the way to Miami and her not be able to get on the plane.
When we got back to the campground I discovered that there is actually a dog park here, and a nice one too; it only took me 6 days to find it. Actually, if someone hadn’t told me about it I’d probably still be walking Tal-y along the side of the highway.

Mike: Ah taxes! I love taxes!

I spent most of the day today trying to explain to Tal-y about the trip she is going to be taking and about how she should behave in someone elses house. She mustn’t act like it’s her house, she has to listen to everything that she is told, and she has to learn some manners from Rosie, not teach Rosie all her bad habits. I think she finally got what I was telling her, now if only she could remember that she has to be inside the crate before she can get on the airplane!

Mike: This is getting sadder by the day!

We had an appointment with the vet in Clermont today supposedly to get Tal-ys paperwork completed so we could go to our appointment with the USDA on Thursday. We had about an hour drive and our appointment was at 10 so we got going pretty early. Well I thought I had all my ducks in a row and knew what we had to do to get Tal-y to the UK but I was wrong. Turns out the paperwork cannot be completed until 10 days before she flies so we have to go back to the vet in a few weeks. It wasn’t a complete waste of time though as we did get some useful information from the vet and it only cost us $65.00. The vet was actually a bit of an ass, quite arrogant with no sense of humour, but he seems to know what he’s talking about so we are going to take Tal-y back to see him next month. At least we don’t have to drive to Gainsville on Thursday. Mike did have to rebook some of the places we are staying at for the next few weeks though. We aren’t going back into Georgia now, as it would have been too far to drive from there to Clermont to visit the vet. We are now spending the next few weeks in Florida around the Orlando area.
When we got back to the trailer I called Virgin and now Tal-y is all booked on their flight from Miami to London on February 10th – what am I going to do without her?

Mike: You'll survive!

Well I had to do some laundry today, a lot of it so we decided to go to a laundromat rather than do it at the campground. Mike looked them up online and found one in a place called ‘The Villages’. We put the address into Nell and set out to find it. I really wish we hadn’t bothered, as we ended parked outside someones house with no laundry in sight and to make matters worse ‘The Villages’ is the town from hell. It’s a planned community built on a number of golf courses and it seems that all the people that live there are 70 or older; it’s kind of like Stepford Wives but with OAP’s. All the houses look the same and the whole place was like a maze – thank God for Nell. We actually had to go into one of the estates to get to the non-existent laundry and there were roundabouts and guardhouses and barriers everywhere. To top it all off, all the people use golf carts to get around on; they were zipping all over the place like they were on a frigging fairground ride. It was quite a relief when we got back on the main road and I ended up doing my washing at the campground after all.

Mike: I've never been to a place with more golf carts than cars! They need to lock these people up!

We are on the move again today and this time I have the correct address. We got hooked up and ready to go before any of our neighbours decided to come help us, although Mike did have to ask the people across the street to not park right in front of us. It makes it hard to pull out when there are other vehicles in the way!
We got on the road earlyish and headed back the way we had come last weekend. The place we have just been at is the furthest south we are staying while we are in Florida this time round. So we headed back up the 27 (I think Serena could drive this piece of road with her eyes shut at this point); we passed the place we spent Christmas and New Year at and headed further north. We are going to be spending the next two weeks in Wildwood which is about 10 miles from Leesburg (I think east of it but it could be west).
We got to the park and Mike checked in with an old battle axe in the office. We found our spot and got parked and level in record quick time. I think this is the fastest we’ve ever gotten unhitched. It’s a nice park, with all pullthrus and full hookups, we’ve even got internet. The only problem is there’s no dog park, no cable and we only get one good tv channel, yep, just one, FOX. We sometimes get CBS and the Weather Channel but only if we hold our heads just so – will Mike survive, stay tuned?

Mike: That's why there is "redbox" and "blockbuster express", besides your the one that needs to watch all your little TV programs.

I got up somewhat early this morning as we headed to West Palm Beach today to see Alex and Nick. The drive was about an hour and a half but there was very little traffic and the whole trip it was past farmland; the soil here is amazing, I’ve never seen anything so black. We had decided to get to WPB a bit early to hang out with them before lunch, as Nick had to be someplace this afternoon. We found them both in Barnes and Noble and we sat and had coffee and caught up on their lives for a while. There are both doing great and seem to have grown and matured so much since we last saw them; maybe it was all the college talk. Is Alex really old enough to be going to college in the fall? After chatting for a while we headed next door and had a really good lunch and some more chat. Then we walked Nick to his school where he was volunteering for the afternoon. Before Alex took off we stopped off to visit with Vicki, who despite being sick looked fantastic, then we said goodbye to Alex and headed out. It was really great to catch up with them and I’m glad we managed to get down there and that they had time to see us, as who knows when we’ll see them next.

Mike: It was great to see the grand kids!

We did nothing again today just hung out and chilled. Tal-y did get to have her play date with Lucy though and she thoroughly enjoyed herself. We took her over to a field behind the park and let her off the leash and her and Lucy had a blast; they ran for ages and did a little sparring too. Tal-y did eventually get worn out and then got mad at Lucy cos she wouldn’t leave her alone, but I think they both had a good time. Tal-y is getting in practice for when she goes home and runs rings around Rosie. Best get in shape Rosie Posie, she’ll be there before you know what’s hit you, and then you can look out!
Even though she had fun I’m not sure her playtime with Lucy was worth the grief she had to suffer when we got home. I tried to pull of what I thought were pieces of grass and it turned out to be burr clover, and she was covered in it. I spent the next half hour pulling handfuls of the nasty stuff out of her coat. She sat still and let me for the most part, but didn’t much like having her armpits deburred.

Mike: We won't be going back to that field soon!

Today it’s raining so we are staying home and vegetating. Tal-y and I just got back from taking the trash to the dumpster which is on the other side of the park. It stopped raining and I thought it would be a good time for her to take a piddle. Turns out it wasn’t such a good time, we got half way to the trash when the heavens opened. I managed to drag her a little way further but then she sat under a tree and refused to walk anymore. I had to leave her under the tree and take the trash the rest of the way by myself. When I was heading back to her she looked just about the saddest I’ve ever seen her, the water was running off her and her head was all ducked down like she couldn’t quite believe this dreadful thing was happening to her. She looked like I’d just told her that I’d changed my mind and she couldn’t go visit Rosie, it was that sad. As soon as I got back to her and started walking towards the trailer she was up and off at a trot. The rain by this point was so bad that Mike actually drove the truck to come pick us up. Since we both had water running out of our clothes (Tal-y would have if she’d been wearing her hoodie), there wasn’t much point in getting Serena all wet so we sucked it up and walked home.
After drying off, Tal-y got into bed and decided that if I couldn’t see her then I couldn’t make her go out in the rain again. I guess her doggy date with Lucy the Irish Setter is off tonight!

Mike: You poor things! I think I'm going to cry!

We went west this morning towards Fort Meyers and it was not a bad little drive. Nell took us off the freeway and along all the county routes. We passed field after field of sugar cane and never ending citrus groves. Hopefully the crops are all okay as there has been some unusual frost in these parts over the last few weeks; I’m really glad I’m not a farmer. I don’t think the frost damages the sugar cane, as it seems fairly hardy since after it’s harvested the fields are set on fire to get rid of what’s left behind. There seems to be something burning in one direction or another all the time, and we are even getting the ash blowing around the trailer – not good for the folks behind us who hang their washing outside to dry.
We drove around Fort Meyers for a while once we got there and had lunch and then headed towards the beach, or at least what I thought was Fort Meyers beach. Turns out we were headed to Fort Meyers Beach, a city not a sandy place to walk and it took us a little longer than I had anticipated. It didn’t matter though as Fort Meyers Beach had a sandy beach. It was mostly beach actually since the city was on a little island. It was very busy even though it wasn’t a weekend and it was made more so by the fact that there was only one road in and out. We drove along the island for a while and eventually got out of the touristy part and managed to find a place to park for a short while.
The beach was okay I guess but since we were on the Gulf of Mexico I was expecting something amazing. The water looked gorgeous, very sparkly, but the beach itself was just so-so. The sand was super fine, and there were things all over the beach that looked like big crab legs (although I don’t think they were); it made it really hard to walk along the beach without shoes. Tal-y wasn’t impressed either, normally when her paws hit sand she goes crazy and runs around in giant circles and then starts digging, but today she just sniffed, dipped her toes in the ocean, and then couldn’t wait to get back to the truck. I guess we’ve both been spoiled living in San Diego for the past years.

Mike: You don't half complain a lot!

We didn’t go anywhere today so Tal-y and I had a nice lie in before going for a walk. Mike came with us this morning and when we got back he was accosted by our right side neighbour cos our water tap thingy was leaking. According to Mike it was just a little drip but our neighbour was quite concerned about it and even called the manager. Turns out it wasn’t us but the tap end that was faulty; now it’s all fixed and no more leaks for the man next door to worry about!
We spent the afternoon sitting outside the trailer watching the birds swooping over the lake. I think they are swallows and I’m not sure whether they are drinking, fishing or taking a bath; they are pretty cool though. Florida has some really neat birds, there are loads of water birds, especially cranes and storks of all shapes and sizes.
It gets pretty windy here in the afternoons, the wind seems to pick up just after lunch and blow till about 6ish, and then just disappear. It’s weird but quite refreshing as it’s really hot here this week.

Mike: A lot of "bird brains" to go along with the birds.