Cedar Key - Day # 39 - Until Next Time

Haha.....I fooled you, and moi.....there is one more post title with Cedar Key - Day # in it!

I lay in bed at 4:30 am thinking about the many, many things still remaining to be accomplished before liftoff.  I knew I needed to write a list of last minute things that I usually forget to do, especially when we have been sitting for 5 weeks.  Finally around 6 am I rolled out of bed in Sunset Isle for the last time........until next time......of course, you know there will HAVE to be a next time.

I scribbled notes on a Post-It-Note of the 7 things I didn't want to forget to do before turning over the Detroit Diesel 2 stroke.....1) Remove our name plaque from the rear of the coach, 2) Wash front windows, 3) Wipe off the T-Bird (another bird paid a visit), 4) Remove the wheel chock from in front of the right rear dualies, 5) Fasten the strap on across the cabinet doors in the trailer, so they won't come open and hit the roof the T-Bird, 6) Turn off water heater, and #7......a second reminder to remove the wheel chock....:D.....hmmmm, I guess there were only 6......lol!

After finishing my list, and the posting the blog for Sunday (which I wrote Sunday night) I headed outside around 7 am with a cup of coffee to begin crossing things off the list.....I started with the T-Bird.  While I was working outside I could hear TLE inside going through her departure routine of stowing away the many things we have out while sitting still.  

Putting the awning up.....can departure be far behind? (courtesy Technomadia)

Eventually it was time to bring the DD to life, and disconnect the umbilical cord.....we exchanged hugs with Chris and Cherie, Pace and Kyeli, then backed out of our spot and made our way over to the trailer.  The whole process went smoothly and we were pulling on to State Road 24 by 11:04 am.....not bad.....our goal was to leave by 11 am.  I saw Jay standing by his Class C waving, so I gave him a couple of blasts from the air horn....I love that sound!

We waited to load the T-Bird until we came up to the old BP gas station about 4 miles up the road....they have a large concrete pad which is perfect for our task.  We quickly got the 'Bird loaded and headed northeast on 24 eventually crossing over 19  at Otter Creek, and continuing over to 27 where we turned southeast.......our destination for the next 3 days was Fruitland Park, FL, a Methodist camp and retreat where our Amazon.com friends Jim and Jacque Crehan are currently workamping.

One thing I had not been able to accomplish last Friday was get a haircut.....the last one I got was at the Supercuts in Rossville, GA back when we were at Choo Choo Express Garage having the coach serviced, and I was getting a little shaggy.  TLE found one directly on our route just north of Ocala.  We found easy parking, walked into Supercuts where I was immediately seated for a haircut......while I was getting my ears lowered TLE went next door to the Publix supermarket and had barely returned when my haircut was done.....in and out in less than 20 minutes!

We continued south through Ocala, The Villages, & Lady Lake kind of bogging down in the Monday afternoon traffic.......I think it took us an hour and fifteen minutes to drive the last 30 miles.....we were met at the entrance to the Life Enrichment Center (run by the Methodist Church) by Jacque who could only whisper as she has laryngitis.  We are staying in the RV Park section with the first 2 days comped because we are friends of Jim and Jacque, and the 3rd day at $13.80 (Passport American rate strikes again!)......so our cost for 3 days is $13.80!

Jim and Jacque work two days per week (Monday and Tuesday) for 6 hours each day in exchange for their full hookup site.....so they have 5 days off every week to explore the neighboring area.....they are not that far from Ocala, Tampa, Orlando, and Gainsville.

Where our bed is now parked 

While we settled in they went back to finish their work day promising to return around 4:30 to give us a tour of the facility, then off to celebrate their 46th wedding anniversary with us and their friends Claudia and Jake at Ramshackle Cafe in Leesburg....what a funky place!  Reminded me a little of the Tiki Bar with the hundreds of license plates on the ceiling.  Yelp gives it 3.5, and Tripadvisor gives it a 4 (on a scale of 1-5, 5 being best).....I would give it a 4.  I had another Black and Bleu Burger and a pint of Amber Bock draft.  It was a great night of toasts, and fun conversation.  

Jim and Jacque are from Tennessee, and Claudia and Jake are from Oklahoma.  All four are fun people to spend time with and I am so glad we stopped off here to visit before we push on southward in a few days.  Remarkably all three couples (including us) have been married over 40 years.

Of course, upon our return to our "home" I found the picture below posted by Chris (Technomadia)......what an amazing sunset we missed at the Tiki Bar last evening.....now I'm the one looking on from afar being jealous.  This was an amazing sunset!

What we missed....sunset # 39 (courtesy Technomadia)

As we move on we are trying to live in the moment.....not looking backward (too often) and not too far ahead.  I think we did that pretty successfully in Cedar Key.  Our current location reminds us a little of our camping spot in Savannah last April with all the hanging Spanish moss.  We are looking forward to doing a little exploring Tuesday around the area where our bed is currently parked.

Thanks for stopping by!