Florida Update!

My long overdue blog post has finally been written and posted! In this update, I will try to capture the highlights of the last couple of months. There have been many highs and a few lows over this period as we have enjoyed the many activities and friends at our RV park in New Port Richey (NPR) Florida. I’m sure a few things will be left out as I try to cover this time.

My Mother’s Passing / Pat’s Mother’s Hospitalization

It has been a difficult time with the death of my mom on Dec 31. She lived to be 91 years old and was very active and healthy until the last couple of years. In looking back on her years, she enjoyed a great life and had many friends through the years. As we traveled, I would call her to chat a couple of times a week and she was always a positive force in my life. I will miss those chats. Her obituary link is here.

Pat’s mom has also experienced some health issues requiring a hospital stay and of course those stays usually lead to additional issues. We are praying for a speedy recovery and rehab for this sweet 96 year old lady.

Cortez, FL Friends

We enjoyed spending some time with RV’ing friends Mike and BJ while in Cortez. They are from Illinois and are snowbirds like us spending a few months in the sunshine state. We first met them about 6 years ago at Betty’s RV park in south Louisiana. Betty’s is the park where you get caught in her web and may never leave! It is always an enjoyable visit.

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Move to Orchid Lake RV Resort in New Port Richey

We moved on Jan 1st to this familiar RV park driving about 85 miles through and around Tampa. I never look forward to this congested drive, but this year and New Year’s Day, the traffic was not too bad. The drive was about two hours and we had smooth sailing the entire way.

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Ham Radio & POTA – (Parks On The Air)

Of my 41 hobbies, the amateur radio (aka ham radio) is my absolute favorite! Let me know if you have any interest and I’ll fix you right up with all the information to get your license!

Within the hobby, there is a sub-group of people who set up their portable radio stations in state and federal parks and thousands of hams will try to make a two-way communication contact with them to get a “credit” for working that particular park. More parks confirmed in the logbook is rewarded by achievement certificates and bragging rights. Great fun!

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There are a couple of other hams here in the RV park and we quickly made plans to attend a couple of hamfests (ham radio expos), activate some parks, and do antenna work. More fun!

Park Friends

We have several friends that we tend to hang out with while here. So far this year, we have expanded our friends network and have had birthday parties, played cards, had luncheons out, and of course the morning coffee meeting with my group of guys where we discuss the weighty matters of the world as men do. Yeah right.

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I have also joined the park’s bowling league having not regularly bowling in 35 years. The last time that I bowled we had to keep score manually on those large sheets of paper. My scores are slowly improving and I’m having a blast. A new bowling ball fitted to me and bag make it official as a new hobby. Our league has about 20 players including one guy who is very good. I watched him bowl an almost perfect game last week. He left one pin standing on the sixth frame and all the rest we strikes. Amazing!

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Pat has joined a lady’s book club here at the park, the Orchid Lake Literary Society. A group of six ladies who meet weekly to discuss the books and talk about other issues.

Cousins Reunion

We met three of my first cousins in February at a restaurant near Tampa. It was great in catching up with them. Three cousins and their spouses: Stanley (Sonny) and his wife Joyce, Sam and his wife Carol, and Sally and her husband Mark. It was interesting to hear about their children and grandchildren and what retirement activities they are involved in.

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Dali Museum

In one of our excursions, we went to the Salvidor Dali museum in St. Pete. Dali was a Spanish surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarre images in his work. I mean this dude was weird, but his paintings had incredible detail and many hidden images within the work. If interested, check this link for some of his works: LINK

I particularly enjoyed the 22 paintings from the Impressionist era, including 22 paintings from their collection by 18 artists, including Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Henri Matisse and Paul Cézanne.

Wrap Up

Pat and I attend the Riverside Baptist Church while in NPR. It is a good complement to our church back home in Virginia, as both are solid, bible believing, reformed churches. Pat is even involved with a lady’s bible study and has made some new friends there.

Plans are continuing to come together for our daughter Audrey’s wedding In June. We are very excited about this new phase of her life.

This winter has just speeded by, and we are now down to the final month. So many adventures are planned for the coming weeks. Please stay tuned for updates and thanks for following along! God Bless.