We left Eustis on Saturday, February 19 at 11:45 with Acey’s mileage at 80,689.2, Thor’s 99,402 and we have put 1,732 miles on our bicycles. Check in time is 3pm, but it was only a 90-minute drive, so we found a place to pull off. We made lunch, and Linda worked on the blog for a while. We arrived at Blue Jay at 3pm and found the office closed for the weekend. We had paid a deposit for our stay and found no sign of information having been left for us. A resident tracked down the office manager and she had a maintenance man lead us to our site. Sometimes you just never know how things will go when you drive into a new resort! We have a fairly spacious spot with a solid surface of pavers – it looks quite nice!
Sunday morning, we tuned in to YouTube and worshipped with Stephens Valley Church, watching the service from last week and Zoomed with our Sunday School Class.
After lunch, it was time to take down the big valances and shades and put up the new blinds. Here’s the “before”
And “after” – much simpler and less cluttered looking.
Later in the evening we Zoomed with the family, and EVERYBODY showed up for once! It had been a while!
On Monday we went for a bike ride on the Withlacoochee State Trail – we rode this trail almost exactly a year ago when we stayed in nearby Zephyrhills. At 46 miles long, it is one of the longest paved rail-trails in Florida. It is very rural with just a few street crossings and some shade along the way. We started at the south end of the trail – at the Owensboro Trailhead.
Along the way, we passed cement mileage and whistle markers, reminders of the previous railroad activity where this trail runs.
Here’s a map of the trail – and some highlights along the way.
We rode up to the 8-mile marker and turned back to the trailhead to have our lunch. Then we drove up to the Villages to pick up a package that we had sent to Adele and Russ. It’s really inconvenient not knowing when stuff will ship and where we will be when it is delivered. But we are thankful we can figure out how to receive packages while we are living on the road! We stopped by O’Reilly Auto Parts to pick up a set of struts for the back of the Jeep. We got showers and then met up with Nancy and Gerry – Jim had worked with Gerry for several years in Nashville and they have a second home in Dade City. We visited the Dade City Brew House; “Dade City’s First & Only Brew House!” Jim and Linda enjoyed a flight of 4 tasters to sample some brews on tap. The restaurant adjoining the brewery was not open today, so we went down the street to Coyote Rojo and had a tasty Mexican dinner.
Tuesday was TWOSday! 2-22-22… and another “work” day for Jim. After breakfast, he got started on Thor. The back of the Jeep had been riding low for some time now, so the back struts needed to be replaced. He removed the back wheel to remove the old strut.
The new strut has one or two more winds on the spring than the old one,
On Wednesday, we returned to the Withlacoochee State Trail and started at the Ridge Manor Trailhead, avoiding the big bridge over State Road 50 that we rode up and over on Monday.
We started before mile marker 6 and rode to mile 14 – riding over 16 miles today. It was warm and sunny, a pretty day for a ride.
This sign was kind of confusing!
We DO try to wear bright colors when riding – the trails usually have road crossings, so it’s good to be seen!
We left early to ride before it got into the 80’s – we got back to Acey and made lunch. Jim worked on replacing the weatherstripping on the front of the kitchen slide – he did the back section a couple of weeks ago. The old weatherstripping was probably original – from 2009 – and was wrinkled and cut, not providing a good seal.
It’s a tight squeeze getting the material into the slim space!
A second piece of rubber goes on the outside, providing a good seal.
On Thursday, we met up with Gerry and Nancy for lunch in nearby San Antonio and had pizza. After lunch, we walked around to visit the quaint shops down the street; antiques, pottery and a gift shop. Then we went to Travelers’ Rest where they have a park model that they live in for part of the year. Neglected to get any photos of our fun day…
On Friday morning, Nancy and Gerry stopped by to check out Acey while Bella chilled out in the shade…
When they left, temps were already in the 80’s so we didn’t go for a bike ride – did some laundry and made some preparations for our move in the morning. Later, we headed to the Villages to see Russ and Adele. We had dinner at Prima Italian Steakhouse. We all enjoyed our dinner!
Linda had to get a photo of Adele’s parrot set – it reminds her of her brother Rob and his macaw Marlin. Rob will be coming for a visit when we get to Vero Beach tomorrow!
We had a rematch of Mexican Train – and neither Linda nor Jim came out well – but we had an enjoyable evening nonetheless!
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Please be sure to comment now and then – to let us know you are reading the blog and keeping up with our adventures. Thanks for stopping by!
Stay in Florida, I think we are having snow this weekend. I am cold and can’t seem to get warm. We sold Floyd’s car last week. He was moaning about where his car was. News report: dark color Siena was involved in gun fight/robbery. It was okay, his car was light colored. He said he is going to be a total hermit!! Help. I need prayers. I will say , he is good at this hermit lifestyle. One New Years night about 10 of us started a game of Mexican train at about 8:00pm. Well, we finally decided that we would have to quit. It was 3:00am. We did have fun. Be safe!!! Blessings , Patty
We are glad to have warmer weather here for sure! We head back to Nashville in April when it OUGHT to be better weather; we’ll see how that goes. Hope Floyd’s car has good “karma” surrounding it… you just never know what the new owner may do! Sounds like you had a good time bringing in the New Year 🙂 Mexican Train is a fun game and we have found there are different rules as to how to play. Try and stay warm!
Hello, Compsons!
We’re enjoying the trip vicariously! You’re where we used to hang out, but usually farther south. We have friends in that area as well.
Jim, have you brought Linda to se your houses in Boca and Pompano, and was it Palm City where your parents were last?
I have seen the Compson’s house in Boca, spent time at their homes in Pompano and Palm City too. We were married in Boca and lived in Delray and Fort Lauderdale before we moved to Nashville, so we are both familiar with South Florida!
I can see where it pays to be handy in your mobile life style. Jim update keep keeps things humming along smoothly. Good to hear that Dade City has its own brew haus.
Yes – Jim seems to be able to fix most anything – and videos on YouTube are quite helpful at times. It appears that the Lykes Pasco Orange juice processing plant in Dade City – which was once the world’s largest – was closed in 2004. Part of the plant was opened as a museum for a short time – couldn’t find more info…
Try to watch last Sundays service. the music was outstanding . Here for Easter?
We watched yesterday- the duet with Mary Margaret and Jerry was absolutely beautiful!
We will indeed be back for Easter!
Jim has surgery scheduled for his left hand – carpal tunnel – his right hand is doing great since the surgery in November.
See you soon! 😃