RV travels around the USA
Our Florida winter location at New Port Richey was beginning to get hot. Really hot. I’m talking upper 80’s with humidity. I do enjoy the warm weather and being outside most of the time, but it is a sign that it was time to move on northward. And back to our place in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. But, before getting back we wanted to sneak in some exploring on the way. We are back on the road again!
I had seen advertisements on the Tampa TV stations and on Facebook regarding an immersion experience of Van Gogh’s art work. It sounded like an interesting concept. And was being presented at several cities across the country. The local presentation was in Sarasota, Florida and we only had a few days to go before leaving to go back Up North. So, off we go and were able to work this in after a family visit in the area.
Just a couple of weeks before we left Florida, we drove over to Lakeland to visit with friends and while there we drove around the town a bit and stopped in the county art museum. We just stumbled upon an exhibition of the Highwaymen. I enjoy painting landscape scenes as a hobby and the Highwaymen paintings are among my favorites!
March was our final month at our winter destination in Florida. It has been a great winter with many activities, family and friend meet ups, and as always the nice Florida weather. We are looking forward to some sightseeing on the way back and of course being back in our Blue Ridge Mountains. So let’s wrap up March with a high level summary.
Not sure where the month of February went to, but it is in the rear view mirror now. We seemed to be busy for most of the days, but had just a few noteworthy events. So it is to be retired and enjoying life in Florida, the capital of the 55 and over set. I try to capture items in this blog that have some interest for others and to document our travels. So where did February go?
We are now more than halfway through our stay at our winter home at Orchid Lake RV Resort in New Port Richey Florida. We like this location because it is close to so many places here on the gulf side of the sunshine state. After the cruise, we made a list of twenty or so things to do in the area before we leave. And have just begun to explore.
Pat and I made it safely home yesterday, 1/24, after a very long day the day before. It was an adventure that we would rather not repeat. Although, I love the travelling and you have to take it that occasionally things do not go as planned. Thank goodness with time, we tend to remember the better parts. Here is a quick summary of the disembarkation from Crystal’s Symphony in Bimini and travel home.
Perhaps a couple of red flags have gone up as warning signs. First it was the shutdown of the Crystal cruise operations after our ship returned to the port in Miami on Saturday morning. Today, Friday 1/21, the captain made an announcement that due to “non-technical operational issues” our ship would not be ending the cruise at the Miami port. What’s up now?
Continue reading “Crystal Symphony – Arrest Warrant Issued!!”
So far, so good! In fact, the luxury cruise of a lifetime has been great. How often does one have a 50th anniversary? All around, the vessel, the staff, entertainment, and obviously the chow have been great. And on top of that I feel very safe aboard. Actually, as a guy said yesterday, we feel safer here than going to a local Walmart. More on that later. St. John USVI was our first stop.
We made it through some more hurdles finally getting aboard the Crystal Cruise line’s ship the Symphony. Actually, it was a little more stressful than planned but it all worked out. We made it! All aboard!