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.
February Was a Blur
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?
Around Home
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.
Deerfield Beach
We found a small motel to spend the night near Miami. A five hour drive yesterday through some congested areas. Not too bad, but I am certainly glad that we chose to drive it on Friday instead the day of the cruise. Nothing like being stuck in standstill traffic while watching the cruise ship leave the port. At least that was my concern. But staying the night here will make a lower stress one hour drive to the port just after noon.
Pre-Cruise Prep
It is just three days until we board the cruise ship Symphony, one of the Crystal Cruise lines floating palaces. And of course the new Omnicron has taken off like crazy all over the world. Well, we knew that cruising during a pandemic could be a risk, but all reports at the time that we booked were that ships were operating as normal, ports were open, and covid cases were minimal due to all the mitigating actions in place. How will Omnicron affect our cruise?
Cruise
Happy New Year Everyone!! As I have mentioned in a prior post, this new year of 2022 will be our 50th wedding anniversary and wanted to do something special and a bit of a splurge. For this special event, we have been planning a Europe trip for several months now and have been watching the travel alerts. Currently Italy is at the state departments Level 4 or Do Not Travel. LINK But that may all change…
Arrived at Winter Home
We are now at our destination for the winter months in the small city of New Port Richey (NPV). It has a population of 17,000 people and is about an hour north of Tampa and includes our RV park – Orchid Lake RV Resort (OLRVR). I’ll post something on the park at a later date. This year we stay at one place for almost four months instead of park hopping every month. We’ll see how that works having a base of operations instead of many areas of exploration.
On the Road to Florida
And we’re off! It does feel good to get back on the road again to Florida. Especially as the Virginia weather forecast has some wintery reminders on the way. Retirement is good to have the time to spend three plus months in Florida instead of the week or two at Christmas back when I was working. Hard to imagine that it is coming up five years now since retirement.
Snowbird Prep
They say that the second time is a charm. I certainly hope that is correct as we are loading the RV up for another attempt at the migration south. We have a few more things to load and then we are off!
Relaxing in Virginia
We have enjoyed some downtime after our ill-fated attempt to get in some RV travel prior to our wintering in Florida. It has not all been resting up and trying to recover from the nasty Covid virus. Actually, it has been somewhat of a busy four weeks since arriving back at our Virginia home. Relaxing in Virginia….