QC91-14 The I-4 Corridor

March 18, 2009 (Wed) Englewood, FL to Plant City, FL (98/2603 miles) - Another difficult departure! After 2 weeks it was hard to say good bye to Bom, although not as hard as in times past. At 97 she is remarkably healthy and more than capable of living on her own as she does. In fact, maybe even more so this year than last. Also since we have made a commitment to come back to Florida this summer it won't be a whole year as it usually is. Difficult or not, we had to do it and we did, getting on the road at 9:40. headed for Plant City for a visit with Gordy and Ruth.

Our first stop was at the Prime Outlets discount mall in Ellington. Ruth had said that if we were stopping there, she'd like us to pick up something for her. An excuse to stop at a discount mall is something Joy doesn't ignore. We stopped made a small contribution to keeping the economy afloat. At Costco we were able to sample enough of the products they were pushing to call it lunch. We also did some shopping.

We got to Gordy and Ruth's at about 1:30 and, after offloading our suitcases and computer, took Q over to the swimming pool parking lot. He wasn't happy but at least there were more interesting things going on there than in a bank parking lot.

Q048597 Parked (x2)
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March 20, 2009 (Fri) Plant City, FL to Titusville, FL (120/2723 miles) - We spent the day yesterday (Thu) mostly visiting. It was good to be able to sped this time catching up on family doings. And as always is was good to spend some time with Gordy and Ruth. But the time was too short and again today we were on the road. It might have been a rather straight forward run to Titusville up I-4 and across on US50 except for the city of Orlando. Other times we have run into unbelievably heavy traffic through Orlando so we decided to try and go around. Not possible! Going south through Kissimmee on surface roads with traffic lights was as bad if not worse. But once we got out of the cities, we found roads where barely a car passed us. It was a somewhat longer route and with a stop for groceries in St. Cloud and for gas, it took somewhat longer so we're not sure what we gained.

We pulled into The Great Outdoors at about 2:30 and backed into a site across the road from Mike and Dorcas that a neighbor is kind enough to let us use free a couple of nights. (Sites here are individually owned and are often rented out to transients when not in use.) Mike and Dorcas (Mark's sister) have a new 5th wheel - some two weeks old - a tour of which was top priority. Very nice! It's a little bigger than their previous one but seems a whole lot roomier inside. It will be a very comfortable winter home for them.

March 21, 2009 (Sat) The Great Outdoors (2) - It turns out that this is a good weekend for us to be here. TGO is holding what they call their Fun Fair. In addition to the booths and kiosks you'd expect to find in a community Fair - crafts, baked goods, 50/50s, chances to sign up to join worthy activities, etc. there were displays of antique cars, motorcycles and radio controlled model boats and airplanes restored/owned/build/operated by the residents. One boy about 12 or so held a python in his lap (and coiled around his arm). Joy petted it with her finger. A man dressed in jungle gear calling himself Jungle Jim held an adolescent alligator in his arms - maybe 4 feet long with its mouth taped shut. Joy didn't pet him.

After seeing all there was to see at the Fun Fair we drove over to Christmas, FL to the the annual Bluegrass Festival being held there. Bluegrass bands from all over preformed for 30 to 40 minutes each on a portable stage set up in the woods of the Orange County park. We set up our chairs and enjoyed the music of several groups. We also took advantage of two of the festival's other attractions, barbecued pork sandwiches and homemade ice cream (which was actually being made in the background). Delicious! There were also the usual craft and vendor booths willing to make a sale or two.

We were well ready to put our feet up, relax and bask in the memories when we got back in the late afternoon.

Q048717 The Great Outdoors, Titusville, FL #443 w/e/s/c free A (x2)
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March 22, 2009 (Sun) Titusville,FL to Lakeland, FL (87/2810 miles) - The Plantation House Restaurant - part of the TGO (golf) clubhouse - has had a spotty reputation in the years we've been visiting The Great Outdoors. We went to dinner there the first time the first year we visited Mike and Dorcas there and found it quite good. Since then the management has changed hands a few times, as has its quality as a restaurant. Recently it apparently has been getting better so we decided to try their breakfast buffet - more a brunch than a breakfast because it was served between 9:00 and 12:00. It was good but not spectacular. Even so one could easily fill up to the point of not having to eat for the rest of the day - which we almost did.

We got back on the road at about 10:45 (clear, sunny, windy 69°) and headed back to Orlando and I-4 via US50. Thanks Mike and Dorcas for your hospitality and good meals. We will try to get up to see you on the 4th of July. We ran into construction on US50 and the usual tight traffic through Orlando but once on I-4 it was easy going.

Karl and Donna, friends of Ed and Kathy, are visiting them in their Safari class A motor home when we got to Lakeland. We had a good time getting to know one another over delicious chicken enchiladas that Donna had prepared and a rousing game of dominoes.

March 23, 2009 (Mon) Lakeland, FL (2) - The big event for the day was lunch at 5 Guys Burgers and Fries. Well not exactly "at". Karl was expecting a delivery of a replacement for his faulty wireless modem that he'd have to sign for, so we went over and got take-out to eat at home. It's good we decided to do that because FedEx came while we would have been away.

Tomorrow we start north. It will be slow as we have a week to get there. We don't know yet where we'll be tomorrow night. We'll know when we get there. That's part of the adventure

Q048804 Ed and Kathy's yard, Lakeland, FL (x2)