Adventures in the Dirt Yacht – Karen and Randy's Travels in their MotorHome named "Dirt Yacht"

May 16, 2024August 14, 2024

Tired of the Wind – 5/16/2024

I should be used to the wet and windy weather by now because that is all it seemed to do when we were in Florida this year, but the weather must have followed us because it seems like the wind has blown almost every day since we got to Chincoteague. We have only gone fishing one day because of the wind, but we have been productive with getting our site set up and have enjoyed exploring Chincoteague and Assateauge in spite of the weather.

We have done the Wildlife Drive on Assateague a couple of times. Have not spotted any of the ponies close up, but did see a muskrat, white tail deer, a racoon and lots of birds. We did not realize that changes in fencing on Assateague probably restricts where the ponies can roam, so we will not see any on the Wildlife drive. There were a lot of geese on Assateague as well as in the campground, so I have been working on trying to keep Skip from barking at them. He does not listen to me very well so not very successful. We have spotted a fox that must live in the protected marsh land in the campground, because we have seen him several times–mostly early in the morning or during one of Skips late night walks. We have been to the beach but only for a quick look. That wind whipping off the ocean was too cold for me.

Most of our time in the two weeks since we arrived has been spent getting the Dirt Yacht set up. Randy raked the lawn and spread grass seed and straw. Right now, the small lawn section is just patches of grass so hopefully the seed will germinate. We did not realize the bag of seed was out of date so not sure how much grass we will actually get. Especially with all of the little birds eating the seed.

One thing we are looking forward to is putting up a fence for Skip. I have it ordered but it is not scheduled for delivery until sometime between May 23 to the end of the month. It has not even shipped yet, so I doubt it will come any earlier. We have made several trips to Pocomoke City, Berlin and even Ocean City to pick up supplies, etc. The one day we did get out to go fishing the starting battery had to be jumped so we knew we needed a new one. The only AGM Group 24 battery we could find either on-line or in a store was from the West Marine in Ocean City so we picked one up so we did not have to worry the next time we get out on the boat. Since we were in OC we headed out to the inlet and got some Thrashers French Fries. They are still as good as ever!

As much as I love the food in Florida, it just does not compete with the seafood in this area. Since it has been so windy and we have not been out on the boat, we have had time for several dinners out at some of the local restaurants for Chincoteague Oysters and some type of crab. Our dinners out have been great. So far Captain Zack’s has been our favorite, but the Wednesday night special of half price appetizers at Steamers was really good too! We have even had a couple of sundaes from island Creamery. We stopped at Ray’s Shanty this afternoon on our way back from Pocomoke City and I picked up some jumbo lump crab meat and a couple of pounds of shrimp. We will have some good dinners the next couple of days.

It was great that Ryan could visit for the weekend. We had a late birthday celebration for Ryan. Ryan and Randy enjoyed the delicious Bloody Mary’s at Captain Zack’s. They were so good I had one too!

Cream of Crab soup at Captain Zack’s. Delicious. Randy got the Blue Crab Chili which I thought was better.

Delicious, but small, Chincoteague Salts.

The Oyster’s Rockefeller at Captain Zack’s were good but the boys thought they had too much spinach. Guess they don’t like their greens.

The soft crabs were delicious at Captain Zack’s but I was so full from the shared appetizers, I had to take one of the soft crabs home for lunch the next day.

View of the cottages at Sun Outdoors while out on the boat exploring.

Fishing the channel in front of the campground

When we stayed at Tom’s Cove, it was a long boat ride to Queen Sound but it is a short ride from Sun Outdoors. No luck fishing though!

Muskrat in the freshwater impoundment on the Wildlife Drive on Assateague.

Randy needed a new battery for Sweet Thing. The closest one available was in West Marine in Ocean City. We took a quick side trip out to the inlet in Ocean City Maryland

The beach at the inlet in Ocean City, Maryland

Ocean City is getting ready for the Cruisin’ weekend by setting up space for vendors in the inlet parking lot.

The main reason we drove out to the Inlet in Ocean City was so Randy could get some Thrasher’s French Fries!

Randy was in the mood for some clam chowder so we thought we would go to Steamer’s for dinner. Did not realize that Wednesday is their half price off appetizers night.

Randy said the Bloody Mary was just OK at Steamers. Good thing we thoroughly enjoyed the dinner.

Appetizers at Steamers included steamed and raw oysters, Chicken nuggets; In addition to the appetizers that we shared we also go Cream of Crab soup and fried oysters. Will need to remember this for another Wednesday night.

Another sundae from Island Creamery. Learned my lesson and only ordered a single dip hot-fudge sundae. But I was still stuffed!

May 15, 2024May 15, 2024

Change – 05/13/2024

Other than a few quick visits, we have not spent much time in Chincoteague, Virginia, since my mom decided to sell the camper at Tom’s Cove Campground after my dad died in 1999. It was heartbreaking that we decided not to buy the site from her, but we only made the trip a couple of times the prior year because the kids had so many activities. We just did not have the time to enjoy all that Chincoteague had to offer. Life changed drastically for us when we no longer had J48 at Tom’s Cove.

At the time we had several smaller boats, including my dad’s 20′ Mako, so we sold everything and bought a larger boat that we kept at Podickory Point Yacht and Beach Club. An hour drive to the boat near the Bay Bridge was much easier to make for a weekend, or even a day, instead of the four and a half hour drive to Chincoteague. Boating instead of camping took most of our free time for quite a few years; especially when we upgraded to Liberty, our 41′ Silverton. It wasn’t until we decided to buy The Dirt Yacht to use once we retired that life changed again. With my hearing loss and cochlear implant surgery, vertigo made any long-term boating impossible for me. While i can still enjoy short fishing or boating trips, I can no longer spend hours or days on a boat.

When Kat bought her Tiffin Motorhome last year, she asked us to go on a shake down run with her to make sure she was comfortable handling her new-to-her motorhome. She asked to go to Chincoteague. I was reluctant because it was supposed to be a cool, wet weekend, but I am glad we decided to go. Tom’s Cove has not changed at all, except the campers have gotten older. J48 is still there, but it looks nothing like we remember. Our old travel trailer and the room Randy built onto it are no longer there. Its one of the few that have been upgraded. The town itself still has most of the older homes we remember, but there are more new stilt homes along Main Street. Randy’s favorite “little pink house” is gone! The most notable change we just happened to notice while driving around is that Inlet View Campground was leveled to make room for Sun Outdoors – Chincoteague Bay. Captain Bob’s Marina is now BluFin Bungalows & Marina. And these new businesses look nothing like the originals. No more falling down campers and old docks. We were excited when we found that Sun Outdoors was brand new and still had seasonal sites available for the 2024 season. We again made some drastic changes and cancelled our trip West with Fantasy RV Tours and booked the summer at Sun Outdoors and a seasonal boat slip at BluFin.

Checking in at Sun Outdoors – Chincoteague Bay

BluFin Marina where we have a seasonal boat slip reserved. Hopefully they will get their permit to open soon.

May 11, 2024May 16, 2024

Summer 2024 – 5/11/2024

I have not been posting anything in my blog for quite a while, but now that we are going to somewhere new for the summer of 2024, I have started posting again. Maybe not so much new, as a return to the old. We left the Keys at the end of April to head to Chincoteague, Virginia, where I spent many fun days with my parents and later with Randy when our kids were younger.

This year’s trip North was one of the easiest trips we have encountered. We left on a Sunday with very little traffic, especially around Miami. We stopped at Sunshine Travel RV Park outside Vero Beach which is where we typically stop for our first night. The next day was another easy day of traffic with only one small traffic backup. We again stopped at our normal stopover at South of the Border. We had more traffic through North Carolina the next day, buy still not bad so we made good time to get to Ryan’s for the night. We arrived in time for Randy to help Ryan install a new dishwasher to replace his old one that had died the day before. We still had plenty of time to get to Smithfield Station for dinner. Since we were only staying one night at Ryan’s we knew that Station was where we wanted to go. Randy and Ryan both enjoyed a Station Bloody Mary. We shared a plate of Oysters Rockefeller and Randy and I shared our dinners. I had fried oysters, Calabash Style, and Randy had a seafood platter. Since the platter does not come with oysters, I shared some of mine with him, and he shared his flounder, crab cake and shrimp with me. It was delicious as always!

The next day we had a short drive to Sun Outdoors at Chincoteague Bay. The only part of the trip I dreaded was the 20+ minute drive across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. Fortunately the traffic was light so the drive across was easy and not as bad as I feared. I did not particularly like towing the utility trailer with the golf cart through the 2 tunnels, but I did not have any problems. Again, the traffic was light so only passed a few semi trucks that caused me a little bit of anxiety.

We had been told prior to arriving that there was a problem with BluFin’s occupancy permit so our boat slip that we had rented for the season would not be available. We were fortunate that we could get a slip for the month of May at the city owned dockage at Curtis Merritt Harbor that is next door to Sun Outdoors. We got a partial refund from BluFin which paid for most of the monthly rental. We were told today the permit has probably been approved and our slip should be ready to use shortly. I am not sure which one will be the nicer slip, but the city dock slip is not available for the rest of the year. We were able to get gas for the boat but the wind picked up so we decided not to go fishing. We did take a quick ride down to BluFin just to look at their entrance from the water. Looks a lot like it did when the marina was Capt. Bob’s. Just 2 bubba stakes outlining the narrow channel. Hopefully it was dredged so we can get in once it opens.

We have gotten most everything set up for the season except for the fence we ordered for Skip. He will like having an area to get outside without being restricted on the leash. It is scheduled to arrive in about 2 weeks. We had one concern that the Airstream that backs up to us was over the property line by several feet. Katerina, the resort manager, talked to the renter today and they told us they will move their RV forward a few feet so we can put our fence along the back line without them being in the way. Now that we have gotten permission for packages to be delivered here at Sun Outdoors hopefully there we not be any problems with shipping. The local Pack N Ship company closed about 10 days ago so the only other option for getting mail is a P O Box at the Post Office. However, they do not have any way to receive packages delivered by UPS or other carriers after they are closed for the day/weekend. Small packages that are shipped USPS are just kept in a storage box or our mail box at the Post Office, until we can pick them up, but they will not accept larger packages. We found this out when Skips canned dog food was returned as undeliverable. Even though Sun Outdoors says they will not accept packages, they have been very gracious about accepting them since there is really no other option. Katerina did warn us that we would have to take any return packages to Pocomoke City or Berlin for pickup. Hopefully someone else will re-open the local packaging shop.

I am looking forward to the weather improving so we can get out to do some exploring on Assateague and hopefully some flounder fishing. It is a big adjustment to the cooler temperatures here in Chincoteague . And the fog has been heavy at times. We are definitely not in the Keys anymore! We did find time to make one quick trip to Assateague but it was very windy so not a good day to explore the island. On our way back from Assateague, we made a stop at Island Creamery for 2 small sundaes. They were great but I miss their Fruit & Fudge sundaes. I will have to see if I can get them to make me one! Skip had a terrible flare of his inflammatory bowel disease during our move so hopefully staying stationary for a while will help him. Stress is a big trigger for him so all of the moving around did not help his condition. He seems to finally be stable and eating consistently again. Now if I can just get him to sleep overnight without having to go outside, we can enjoy our time here! Ryan is coming to visit tonight so maybe Skip can sleep with him.

Fried Oyster dinner at Smithfield Station

Beautiful views from the waterfront sites

The fog has been rolling in off and on all day.

We were able to tour the cottages and glamping tents available to rent at Sun Outdoors-Chincoteague Bay. Randy loves the rooftop decks on the non-waterfront cottages.

SweetThing docked at Curtis Merritt Harbor

September 2, 2022May 11, 2024

Waterfront at Swan Bay Resort and Marina 08/31/2022

Randy really loved the waterfront views at Swan Bay Resort from site 201WF. And I must admit I liked it better too! Being able to move down to the waterfront for the last 2 weeks of our stay has been wonderful. While we did have some walk-by traffic from people going to and from the Price Chopper pier, it was definitely quieter there than our previous site @ 114 up on the hill. I used the foot traffic to work with Skippy on reducing his barking at people and dogs. He met a few people that loved him and he loved getting the attention. He definitely made strides in reducing his barking at people. If I alerted him before a dog approached he was also much better. He would still bark but I could usually get him back under control using “heel” or with a treat. However, if a dog snuck up on us without me noticing, Skippy would go back to his whining and barkng with only limited success on getting him to calm down. We still have work to do! Skippy also got a little time on the boat as well as in the water. I enticed him into swimming by bribing him with cheese. He still does not love the water, but he is not afraid of it now, and knows he can swim with his life vest.

Monday thru Thursday mornings are still the best times of the week as this is mostly a weekend campground, even though it was pretty full the last 2 weeks. I think everyone was trying to get those last few vacation days in before school started and the weather turns colder in a few weeks. It was warm enough during our visit for me to even get in the pool!

The waterfront site also made it nicer when we had friends visit. Bob and Gail were able to get a site in the park for their RV and Bill and Cheryl stayed a few miles away at Otter Creek Inn in Alexandria Bay. With the fantastic views it made sense to gather at our site for a few of the meals. We got together several times for shared dinners at the RV; even introducing Bob and Gail to my salad and the Gianelli Italian sausage that we love. It was great having others share in the food prep! Plus dinners out were great too. Randy and I got to the Island Pier House, Bella’s and Foxy’s sometimes by ourselves and sometimes with the gang. They did several solo tours of the local vineyards and distilleries but we joined them for the Coyote Moon tour. We wanted to replenish our stock of Twisted Sister wine and at the tasting we even found a new Pink FireBoat that we really liked. It is a mix of their FireBoat red and whte. I knew we should have more, so we went back for a second visit to get a few more bottles of the FireBoat wine.

We were pleasantly surprised when Kat made a last minute trip to join us for a few days at the end of our stay. She had been so busy with work we did not think she could get any time off to visit. Hopefully she liked her tour of the St. Lawrence River, the Boldt Castle and Tibbetts Point Lighthouse while here. Since she came over the weekend she also got to meet Bill and Gail for our last get together with them. Fortunately we got to also spend some time with Bill and Gail. We went to Eva’s, Rainbow Shores and Azteca with Bill and Gail. Bill was generous and on our last night together he supplied the steaks which he also grilled. They were delicious!

I definitely missed having more time this summer visiting the Thousand Islands area. We did not get nearly enough time exploring the area and missed visiting with others that could not make it while we were there. The worse part of this trip was the ride home. I knew they were calling for rain on Tuesday, but I did not expect for it to rain almost the entire afternoon. The normal 6 1/2 hour trip took almost 10 hours. There were at least 2 accidents where semi’s jackknifed and tied up traffic. The longest delay was where part of 81 was closed due to Biden’s visit to Wilkes-Barre. Probably the thing that frustrated Randy the most about our trip home was my slow driving in the rain! There are more trucks than cars on 81 and it was definitely no fun for me! I hate driving at any time, but driving in the pouring rain gave me a lot of stress. At least I was not towing the trailer this time as we left the golf cart at home. I need to do a better job planning our drives and find other campgrounds where we can stop when weather is bad. Or better yet, plan our entire trip around the weather like we did when we traveled by boat. I was definitely glad to get home!

Randy spent several days cleaning Dirt Yacht. Then he waxed it too!

The Dirt Yacht all cleaned up. At our first site on the hill @ 114.

A close up of a large cargo ship viewed from the raised platform at the pool.

Enjoying the pool on one of the “hot” days. The water was refreshing !

View from the raised platform at the pool. Randy relaxed while I enjoyed the pool.

Dinner at Island Bay Pier House. They did not have any of their Texas Reuben’s so we split an order of Chicken Wings and a Prime Rib sandwich

The tables and outdoor furniture was all new at Eva’s. Randy enjoyed his sangria.

My rasberry, chocolate cake was good but not as good as the blackberry moose dessert that i had last year.

Gail’s dessert at Eva’s. Randy says next time we need to come and just have dessert!

A public boat ramp to Goose Bay. We came back the next week with Gail and Bill and looked at a cute, older house on Goose Bay that was for sale. Unfortunately the Bay is very shallow. Especially in the fall when the water levels are lower.

A cute little bench we found while exploring . There was nothing around the bench so not sure who put it there.

While out exploring a few lots that were for sale, we found Pine Bay Farm. They have adorable small cabins on the river available for rent.

There is a large frog in this shallow area near the cottages at Pine Bay Farm.

We never got tired of watching the ships go by.

One of our anchorages that we started calling Skippy’s Beach. We learned we need to anchor on the left side as there are hidden rocks on the right.

Yes Skippy you can swim. Your life vest will keep you from sinking. I enticed him out into the water with string cheese!

Cheryl brought this “Summerland” wine for one of our pot luck dinners. The Summerland name reminded me of the Keys!

Dinner at Cavallario’s in Alexandria Bay. One of the more expensive dinners. My surf and turf was very good

Even though we go by this little house every time we travel to Alexandria Bay, it is still a favorite of mine! I think this was known as the In-Law house

Everyone loved the winged, unicorn float at this home on one of the islands on the Canadian side.

Coyote Moon Vineyard–had to get some Twisted Sister and their new FireBoat Pink. We also got these cool plastic wineglasses. They stack and the stems are detachable. Makes it easier to store.

Cheryl and Bill with us at Bella’s. We had the same table for breakfast the next morning. However, the weather was a little cooler with a fine mist.

This dragonfly landed on Cheryl while we were enjoying lunch at Bella’s

Lobster Roll with a side salad for lunch at Bella’s.

Randy had to try Bella’s Key Lime tart. it was delicious!

Dinner at Foxy’s. Maybe the great table was because Bob and Gail are friends with the hostess.

Dinner at Foxy’s. Bob even tried their Bloody Mary after watching everyone else drink them all weekend.

Gorgeous sunset view from our table at Foxy’s Restaurant in Fishers Landing

Lunch was so good we went back for breafast at Bella’s. Randy tried their Caesar.

Kat and Randy at the lighthouse on Tibbetts Point. It was one of the few cool/overcast days.

Skippy sitting on his mat so Kat could get a great picture of him with a large cargo ship in the background

Getting ready to go through the Riff. I was worried whether we would have any trouble because the water levels were way down.

There used to be a large Class A motorhome parked near this dock. Randy and Bill both loved this lot which is now for sale. Unfortunately too much money for us. > $1M

August 6, 2022September 2, 2022

Antique Boat Museum 8/06 and Pirate Days 8/13/2022

I still am having some issues with groin/hip pain so I decided not to join Randy at the 58th Annual Antique Boat Show & Auction at the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton, New York. We have been to this show several times now, but Randy is always up for looking at boats, so he braved the hot weather and went by himself. I did not think I was up to walking around and did not want to pay the entry fee just to sit in the shade while Randy looked around. He did not do any of the inside exhibits, but mainly looked at the boats in the water and watched a few boats being auctioned.

His favorites were a HydraStream and a 1955 Chris Craft that had been donated to the museum by Alan Jackson. The Hydra Stream looks very similar to the one that was owned by a friend. We spent quite a bit of time when we were younger enjoying the Magothy River and the area we now call the “Horse Farm” aboard Dickie’s boat. This was before the 6-knot zone was implemented so we could fly over the water in this small but powerful boat.

Randy especially liked the 1955 29′ Chris-Craft Semi Enclosed boat that Alan Jackson donated to the museum back in 2013. Jackson purchased the dilapidated boat in 2002 and then spent three years having it restored in Tennessee by Travis Hickman. “Flat Top”, whose name refers to the flat top, steel-string acoustic guitars commonly used by Jackson, is one of just 36 of these boats ever built by Sarasota, Florida-based Chris-Craft.

In addition to the Antique Boat Museum, we went to Aleandria Bay for their Pirate Days. We were very disappointed. Its nothing like the Pirate and Wenches Festival in Rock Hall, Maryland, we did several years when on Liberty. They did not even have any T-shirts for the festival. They advertised street performers, etc., but the only thing we saw were booths for

Hydra Stream similar to the one owned by Dickie that we spent lots of time on when we were younger. Mostly used on the Magothy River and area we now call the “Horse Farm.”

Flat Top, 1955 29′ Chris-Craft Semi Enclosed boat that Alan Jackson donated to the museum back in 2013/14.

Miss Comet’s engines; Hemis with 4 deuces

August 5, 2022August 5, 2022

Summer 2022; Return to the Thousand Island Area – 08/04/2022

Plans for our summer, including the trip to the Canadian Maritimes with the Fantasy RV Tour, changed drastically this year due to my health issues. I was really looking forward to this trip since a lot of the people from our Alaska caravan were also going, but when my doctor could not guarantee me that I would be sufficiently recovered to travel after my surgery, we decided to cancel our summer plans. One of the disadvantages of taking a Fantasy tour is the requirement to pre-pay for the tour with a large penalty for a late cancellation. Because we would have lost a lot of money for a last-minute cancellation, we thought it was best to cancel the trip before the 90-day cancellation cutoff which meant we would not join the caravan this summer. Hopefully we will be able to reschedule for another time!

Cancelling the trip really was a blessing in disguise because our renters also gave notice that they were moving out this Spring so being home for several months gave Randy time to make some needed repairs to our home. We did not want to leave our home empty while we travel so we were lucky that Kat agreed to move into the house once our renters moved out. Kat now works from home the majority of the time, so the long commute to her job was no longer an issue like it was pre-COVID. Before getting our home repairs done, Randy helped Kat get her home ready for sale. Our first priority to our house was getting the back yard fenced for both her dogs and our new puppy, Skipper. The new fencing actually makes the back yard appear bigger, even though the entire yard was not fenced. And Skipper loves having the room to run and play with Kat’s dogs! Randy also power washed the entire outside, replaced outdoor lighting, trimmed and cut down trees and spruced up the outside. Once that was finished he started on the interior of the house. He painted two bedrooms and the hallway. He still has to completely renovate the master bathroom and finish painting the rest of the house, but he won’t start on that until we return from a trip to Swan Bay Resort in Alexandria Bay, New York.

We already had a couple of weeks reserved in Swan Bay for the end of August, when we anticipated stopping after our Canadian Maritime trip. We wanted to have some fun time this summer and the Thousand Island area is one of Randy’s favorite, so we extended the reservations at Swan Bay for the entire month of August. We could not get a waterfront site, but at least we were able to secure a water-view site. At least it is water view from inside the RV. I don’t particularly like being in the middle of the park with kids and dogs everywhere, but it is better than sitting at home and gives Randy a much needed break! Other than going to dinner with Bill and Gail since arriving, we have not done a lot since it has been windy and its a rainy day here today, but hopefully we will get better weather to explore the area again!

We made it back home for the summer of 2022

We decided to have the back yard fenced so Kat’s dog and Skippy would have room to run.

It only took them 2 days to get the new wooden fence installed!

Randy spent time while we were home this summer power washing the entire exterior of the house.

Randy painted the master bedroom as well as Kat’s bedroom and the hallway.

Randy painting the master bedroom ceiling.

While home we had dinner with Bill and Cheryl at the Maryland Mallet to celebrate Cheryl and Randy’s birthday. It was great as Ryan was home for the weekend so him and Kat could join us.

While home we visited Ryan and had dinner at Smithfield Station.

We had an awesome dinner with Bill and Gail at Rainbow Shores on the first night in New York. We mooch-docked at Bill’s shop so we could arrive at Swan Bay early in the day.

I made a Chesapeake Bay dinner and invited Bill and Gail . I think they liked the crab cakes!

I made a soft crab and crab cake for dinner!

Our view from the campground in Swan Bay Resort for the next 2 weeks. Randy will like the view from the waterfront site we will move to the middle of August.

Randy finally relaxing while enjoying the view of the St. Lawrence.

November 8, 2021November 8, 2021

Heading South for the Winter 2021

The first night we stopped at our normal stop, South of the Border. There are several sites that can handle our entire caravan.

The second night we stopped at Flamingo Lake RV Park in Jacksonville, Floirda. This was our first time at this park and the park was very accommodating to our long length. They gave us a nice pull through site and allowed us to park the Jeep and trailer across the street, for no additional charge. Randy had to back out since he did not think he could make the sharp right turn out of the site . He still had a tough time getting around the corner at the end of the street.

Flamingo Lake RV Park in Jacksonville, Florida.

View from Brian’s house where we parked the Dirt Yacht. Looking out over the peanut and cotton fields between Brian’s house and Aunt Rene’s house. The bales are peanut vine bales that the cows love.

Randy listening to Aunt Rene’s stories on her front porch.

Aunt Rene with Randy and Karen at her 100th Birthday Celebration

Randy with his Aunt Rene at her 100th Birthday Celebration!

Beautiful decorations for Aunt Rene’s party. There were also photos of Lorene and even some of Randy’s mom decorating the tables.

Randy visiting with his cousin, Charles Reichert Jr. during Aunt Rene’s birthday party.

Entertainment for the kids during Aunt Rene’s 100th Birthday Celebration

After leaving Aunt Rene’s in Georgia, we stopped in Ocala Ranch RV Park in Ocala, Florida. The sites were huge.

Ocala Ranch RV Resort had plenty of room for everything!

Outside the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing

Randy with Don Garlits’ Swamp Rat I. This was Don’s first Chrysler Hemi powered fuel dragster that he built in his home garage in Tampa, Florida. On November 10, 1957, Don set his first World Record of 176.4 MPH in 8.79 seconds, the first over 170 MPH in the Quarter Mile. Restored in 1978 by Don Garlits and Tommy Lemons for the Museum.

1959 T.V. Tommy Ivo’s Buick Dragster. Tommy Ivy was known as the “King of the Dragsters.” This twin-engine, gas, unblown, Buick had a top time of 180 mph with a low ET of 8.69 seconds.

Shirley Muldowney’s 1980 Top Fuel car. Shirley “Cha-Cha” Muldowney considered the first woman of drag racing, is a 3 time NHRA Top Fuel World Champion. We were in the stands when the 1983 movie, “Heart Like a Wheel” about her life and drag racing career was filmed in Pamona, California, during the Winternationals.

Randy loved the 1973 Triumph Bonneville on display at the museum.

1934 Ford Coupe and 1948 Ohio George Anglia

One of several Moonbeam cars designed by Bill Devin

Connie Kalitta’s Bounty Hunter 1962. Don Garlits was named “Big Daddy” when he drove the Bounty Hunter so Kalitta could observe the run when the car was not performing as expected. Don set the NHRA National Record (180.36 mph) during the run and the announcer , Bernie Partridge, nicknamed Don, “Big Daddy”.

John Force’s Funny car body on display at Don Garlits’ Museum of Drag Racing

The only remaining Shirley Muldowney Funny Car that she drove before switching to Top Fuel dragsters. Purchased from the Bowling Green Hot Rod Reunion and scheduled for restoration.

37 Willys Coupe – The first woman in drag racing history to receive an NHRA license for driving supercharged cars, Barbara Hamilton and her best friend Nancy Leonello campaigned this 37 Willys Coupe from 1964 through 1971. Barbara won the 1966 NHRA Springnationals and runner-up at the 1968 Indy Nationals, all the while holding the NASCAR C/Gas Supercharged E.T. record of 11.94 seconds. Barbara is one of only a few women who built, owned, wrenched and drove her own car. She was inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 1992.

1904 Orient Buckboard on display in the Antique Car Museum. Built by the Waltham Manufacturing Company of Waltham, MA. Original cost $375.

1 cent, 10 cent and 25 cent slot machines on display at the Antique Car Museum

1923 Ford Depot Hack on display at the Antique Car Museum. The beginning of the station wagon, these cars were called depot hacks because they were used to transport people to and from the train depot and hotel. This particular car is still driven occasionally.

Juke Box in the Don Garlits Antique Car Museum

Great spot at the Upriver Campground RV Resort in North Fort Myers. There was plenty of room for everything. We unhooked the trailer and parked it on the patio.

Standing next to the small boat ramp at the Upriver Capground RV Resort in North Fort Myers.

No Swimming sign! There were several signs warning about alligators near the boat ramp at the Upriver Campground RV Resort.

I believe the only canal at the Upriver RV Resort

Spent part of the day looking for shells on Turner Beach on Captiva Island.

There were sandpipers all over Turner Beach.

Based on a recommendation from Deb Stewart, we had dinner at the Lazy Flamingo on Captiva Island. There are several Lazy Flamingo restaurants. This restaurant was very close to Turner Beach.

The conch chowder at the Lazy Flamingo was outstanding!

The fried grouper and conch fritters were fabulous. Some of the best ever!

Randy liked the sign at the Lazy Flamingo “Free Beer Tomorrow”

It was great catching up with Larry and Karen again!

Dinner with Larry and Karen at the Shrimp Shack!

The Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum on Sanibel. This is the only accredited museum in the US devoted soley to shells and mollusks.

Some of the fish in the aquarium in the Shell Museum

More fish in the aquarium in the Shell Museum

Chambered Nautilus Shells reminded me of the shape of my cochlea when learning about the implant I had in 2017.

Parking at the Naples/Marco Island KOA was very tight but the hosts at the campground were very accommodating. We parked the Jeep and trailer in the camping spots across from us. Those spots were not open due to high water levels.

Enjoyed our walk on Via Miromar Beach in Naples

It was a windy day so perfect for parasailing.

We had to stop at the Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge since we spent the summer at the Thousand Islands!

Grasslands with a hammock in the background at Shark Valley

Alligator spotted during the tram tour around Shark Valley

Momma alligator watching over her babies

Baby alligator spotted during the tram tour around Shark Valley

Blue Heron spotted while on the tram tour at Shark Valley

We made the hike up the tower at Shark Valley

September 12, 2021September 13, 2021

End of Summer in Thousand Islands 09/11/2021

Even though the summer season is winding down, Swan Bay Park is very busy. We noticed quite a few large Class A Motor Homes pulling in. After googling events in the area, I discovered there was an All-Inclusive Motorhome (AIM) Rally here next week. I had never heard of this club and even though I read that it is open to Class A, B or C type motorhomes, the majority appear to be high-dollar Entegra Class A’s. There are several million dollars worth of RV’s in the park!

As busy as the park has gotten, I guess it is good that we have started packing up to get the Dirt Yacht ready to head home for a few weeks. The weather forcast is for some rain next week so Randy decided to pull the boat yesterday and he loaded the golf cart today while the weather is still dry. Randy was busy today rolling up the carpet, puttiing away all but 2 of the chairs, removing the wheel covers and polishing the wheels. Tomorrow he wants to take down the weather station and the DISH. He will probably keep the DISH hooked up, but just place it on the rocks in the back where we can still get reception.

August 31, 2021September 12, 2021

Castles 08/22/2021

We got to visit Boldt Castle on Heart Island and Singer Castle on Dark Island in the last few days while Ryan, Bill and Cheryl were visiting. Randy did a trip to Boldt two times since Ryan’s visit did not coincide with Bill and Cheryl. Randy toured Boldt Castle with just Ryan and then again a few days later with Bill and Cheryl when I joined them too. I did not want to do too much on the boat so Randy and Ryan explored the Canadian side of the River by themselves too. When Randy and Ryan toured Boldt Castle they also toured the Yacht House which we did not do on our trip to Heart Island. I liked being able to explore Boldt Castle at our leisure more than the tour of Singer Castle because the Singer Castle tour was a guided tour with a limited time frame of 45 minutes. I wish we could have explored the dungeon, tunnels and secret passageways in Singer Castle, but all we were allowed was a quick peek. I think they were trying to entice anyone to come back for an overnight stay so you could explore the entire castle. The day we toured Singer was probably one of the warmest days all summer so it was a little hot inside the castle too. It was fun taking Sweet Thing to both of the castles, instead of having to take one of the tour boats, even if the ride back from Singer was a little bumpy!

August 10, 2021August 10, 2021

Antique Boat Show & Auction and Weekend Fun! 08/05 – 08/08/2021

We started out the Antique Boat Show weekend wanting to watch the boats cruise on Thursday afternoon for the 2021 Boats on Parade. According to their website, the boats were supposed to leave Clayton about 3:00 and cruise around Grindstone Island. We planned to watch the beautiful wooden boats when they went through the Wellsley Island Narrows about 4:15. We arrived in plenty of time, but only saw one wooden boat: No parade of boats! I am not sure if they just did not go or if they went later in the day. After reviewing ABM’s website, I found multiple times for the Thursday cruise on different pages: the 3:00 start time, a 5:30 start time and a 6:30 start time. Needless to say, I was very disappointed that I did not get to see the parade of boats. I wanted to grab a few pictures as the boats navigated the Narrows. Before heading in, we headed to Clayton to look at the boats tied up at the docks.