Clerbrook Golf & RV Resort

On Sunday January 23, we left Peace River Resort in Wauchula at 9:45 with Acey’s mileage at 80,322.3 and Thor’s at 98,726 and 1651 miles on our bicycles. We tried to connect with our Sunday School class via Zoom on our iPhone, but it was really hard to hear as we were in transit. We are starting a new study on Colossians; hopefully we can connect better next week! We have been in the habit of moving on Mondays, but since the cruise, we have been on a Sunday move schedule. We arrived at the Encore Clerbrook Golf and RV resort in Clermont, FL at noon and got set up. The spot here is rather tight; we are sandwiched between a park model and a fifth wheel.

After lunch we drove to a nearby Amazon locker to pick up a package – new bags for the central vac. The locker was in a suite in the base of the Citrus Tower

From their website: “One of Florida’s first “attractions, the Citrus Tower was built in 1956 on one of the highest hills in Florida’s ridge section. The original plans specified a tower 75 feet high, but when completed, the Citrus Tower rose to a lofty height of 226 feet (equivalent to 22 stories). The tip of the highest antenna pierces the sky at 500 feet above sea level.”

Monday we went for a short bike ride around the resort. Since Jim fell on his knee on the 13th, we have been taking it easy. We rode 2.8 miles, and it seems to be OK.

This resort includes a driving range and an 18-hole golf course, and several small lakes. There are over 1200 sites here; some bigger than others.

Tuesday and Wednesday it drizzled and rained all day! In Florida, when it rains, the rain generally falls about the same time every day for a few days, but this front kept it going! We visited with Tom and Christy in Wildwood – they recently bought a 2009 Dutch Star motorhome. We went out for ribs – oh my – they were DELICIOUS!!

and then we visited the nearby Russell Stover store and had some ice cream…

The rain finally stopped on Thursday – so we went for a bike ride. We had driven by a sign indicating the City of Minneola Trial Head, so we parked there and rode up the hill where this structure was. The bushes spell out Minneola!

Jim recognized the shelter at the top of the hill as one that we rode by last year; this was a trail we rode on last January – the South Lake Trail.

Part of the trail follows along Lake Minneola – a nice ride! It was overcast and cool – 62 on Thursday and a bit sunnier but 60 on Friday – and breezy both days.

Across the lake, we could see the Citrus Tower standing guard over Clermont.

On Thursday, we rode just past mile marker 11…

Friday, we rode to the end of the trail and turned around.

We brought lunch with us on Friday and ate at a picnic table by these huge trees that were draped in Spanish moss. It was great to be back on a bike trail!

Last year when we rode on this trail, we parked in the Lake Hiawatha Preserve – over to the left on the map – this year, we parked way off to the right, off this map.

We rode 10.4 miles on Thursday and 14.4 miles on Friday.

Linda thought we were to visit Russ and Adele in the Villages on Friday afternoon. As we headed out, and texted that we were on our way, we were reminded it was NEXT Friday that we were invited – ooops! So, since we were out, we decided to pay a second visit to the Suncreek Brewery. We had gone there with Chuck last month after the cruise when he stayed with us for a few days.

On Saturday, Tom and Christy came to visit us and we made grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup for lunch. We had not had that combination since we hit the road, and it was perfect on this cool day. It was great to see them again!

It’s going to be colder over the weekend – with a freeze is coming over Saturday night; apparently there has not been a freeze here in 4 years, so there’s BIG talk about it on the news! They talk about the “3 p’s”: plants pipe and pets; about protecting the orange trees and then our favorite – watch out for falling iguanas!

When temps drop below the low 40’s, iguanas will freeze and fall from trees. As long as the cold doesn’t last TOO long, they will warm up and recover just fine!

Sunday it was a bit cool inside Acey when we woke up – 59 inside and 34 outside! The furnace had been on, but we turned up the space heaters. After breakfast, we tuned in to YouTube to see last week’s worship service at Stephens Valley Church and then Zoomed with our Sunday School class.

In the evening, we Zoomed with the family. We had a few members not present because of the football playoff. Maybe Rob and Chuck will join us next week!

Ted & Nancy in OR, Jim & Linda in FL, Charlene & Bill in CA, Eve in TN, Missy & Tom in OR, Chris in TN

Monday it was still a bit cool out in the morning but warmed up to 70! Jim was busy all day doing some support work for the papermill. Linda started another book The Personal Librarian; it’s her Book Club book for February!

Tuesday – another pleasantly cool day 67 and breezy. We returned to the South Lake Trail and rode 15 miles today. We stopped for gas afterwards and paid 3.499/gallon at a Murphy station. Jim noticed a sticker someone placed next to the price of gas.

Thanks Joe!

When we started out on the road in May 2020, we paid $1.599 – its quite amazing (and disturbing) how the price of gas has gone up. We paid $1.468/ gallon for diesel back then (Acey’s preference for fuel); the last fill up was $3.453/gallon – and it looks like we’ll pay $3.587 on Sunday when we fill up again – assuming the price doesn’t go up before then. We use a fuel discount card when we fill up Acey – it’s through TSD Logistics and works at Petro, Love’s, TA and some other TRUCK stops – and we fill up in the truck lanes. Our average savings from the pump price is about .50/gallon using this card.

After we had lunch on Wednesday, the wind had calmed down some and it was 78, just a bit cloudy and still breezy – nice conditions for an afternoon ride. We returned to the South Lake Trail and only rode 9 1/2 miles. This is a great trail – we could just barely see the citrus tower as we rode along Lake Minneola.

The yellow arrow points to the top of Citrus Tower

On Thursday, Jim worked on changing the seals on one of the slides, but we didn’t get photos. He has a few more seals to change, so we will document them when he does! While he was working on the seal, he noticed some issues with the drain line (from the kitchen sink and dishwasher) that moves when the slide goes in and out. So, he made some adjustments.

Friday, we returned to the Van Fleet Trail. It was windy again today, and we thought maybe the wind might be less away from the lake. Turns out, it was pretty windy there too – we rode 14 miles on this rail-trail that we have visited several times before.

We got back to Acey and showered – then headed to The Villages to visit Russ & Adele. We rode in their golf cart to the Square where there were several antique and classic cars on display. This is a Ford Shay-A – a reproduction Model A made in 1980 – there was quite a crowd; hard to get a photo of just the car…

Here’s a Mercury Comet convertible from the ’60s

over the back of the Comet… a ’57 Chevy Bel Air

This 1991 Nissan Figaro was a cute little car

The Toyota Sera subcompact model was made 1990-1995

This Super Sport had a colorful paint job!

A beautiful 1967 Mustang fastback

1951 4 door Kaiser – love the details on this one!

A comfy car to tour in!

There was quite a crowd here on the Square – looking at the old cars and listening and/or dancing to the live band.

Most folks drive their golf carts to get around in The Villages. Linda’s folks lived here for about 2 years before they moved to Nashville and Linda remembers taking their golf cart to Publix for groceries!

We had a nice dinner with Russ and Adele at Gators Dockside

We went back to Russ and Adele’s and had a fun game of Mexican Train. It was a great evening!

We liked the numbers on the pieces rather than dots like our set has.

On Saturday, Jim washed the windows on Acey and Thor and made some preparations for our move tomorrow. Sunday morning, as we brought in the kitchen slide, 2 bolts broke off on one of the rails. Jim got the problem fixed temporarily and we left Clerbrook at 10:15 – a bit later than we had intended.

We stopped in Wildwood for diesel and filled up Acey’s tank. We paid 3.816/gallon – 23 cents more than we expected just 5 days ago! We arrived at Suncoast Designers at 1pm and made lunch. Jim needed some parts to fix the kitchen slide, so off we went to the hardware store. Looks like all is OK now as the slide goes in and out – no jamming and the drain line moves better now. Always something! We are very thankful Jim can fix so many things!

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16 thoughts on “Clerbrook Golf & RV Resort”

    1. Hope you are recovering well from your fall – You can get all warmed up reading our Florida blogs – we’ve been in warmer weather since December!

    1. It was fun playing yet another different set of rules for Mexican train! Thanks for taking the big L…. someone had to 🙂

  1. Love those old cars and you got some good shots of them, too. An amazing coincidence, while out walking today, a mint ‘56 Chevy Belair and a long and low black English classic cruised through our quiet little neighborhood.
    I appreciated the arrow pointing to the Citrus Tower. Most helpful. Enjoyed the show!

  2. Jim & Linda Happy Sunday!

    Like the information , sounds like Jim
    can fix anything!

    Keep us posted.

    Blessings,

    Henry

  3. Love seeing your travel adventures. Meeting and visiting with friends along the way is refreshing. Keep us posted.

  4. Thanks for putting me on your blog list. Fun reading it. Those cars were great! Your warm weather sounds nice. It has definitely been cold enough here to kill some of next summer’s insects.

    Have safe travels!
    Bob Cooper

    1. You are welcome Bob! Its been a bit cool here – but thankfully nothing like the cold weather you guys have had. Perhaps we can meet up when we get back to Nashville in April!

  5. I have quite a few friends in the villages driving golf carts around. That gas discount card sounds like a good deal for you guys. Falling iguanas? That would break my heart to see one of those things plop on the ground 😂

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