April 2015

Little Manatee River State Park

Wimauma, FL

On the 1^st of the month Monte helped out at the weekly coffee klotch held at the campground. 

 That afternoon he drove down to Charlotte Harbor Preserve State Park in Punta Gorda with the volunteer coordinator to pick up a dump truck with a 40 foot trailer Little Manatee River State Park acquired.

That evening we rode our bikes over to the campground to meet a couple that contacted us through RVillage.  We enjoyed chatting with Chester and Sally until the mosquitoes got to be too much to ignore.   

The first weekend of the month was quite busy for us beginning with an impromptu campfire at the volunteer compound.

  It was a beautiful evening sharing stories and drinking a delicious wine slushy but unfortunately the mosquitoes cut short the amount of time I stayed. 

 

The next night we attended a pot luck dinner at the park manager’s residence. 

Monte was the designated driver- 

My contributions 

On the Saturday before Easter we visited with Monte’s daughter Melissa. 

 We colored and decorated eggs before having a delicious dinner.

Monte played a couple of games of chess with our grandson Timmy.

Easter Sunday we discovered the Easter Bunny left us a treat-actually it was left by John and Darlene, fellow volunteers.

Easter Sunday was spent at my brother’s house.

 

Monte installed odor eliminator vent covers.

Manatee Viewing Center-unfortunately there were no manatees to be seen. 

 

 

 TOO HOT

We sampled chicken wings at Sam’s Club and they were so good we bought a bag and invited the other volunteers to share them at an impromptu pot luck dinner.

My brother and sister-in-law invited us join them in Orlando for a few days. 

 They have a time share at the Westgate Resort.

We spent the first day just hanging out at the pool and paddling around in the swan boats.

 

Fortunately we still had two days left on Disney passes we had purchased many years ago so we spent one day at Epcot.

We got to the park before it opened and were first in line.  We rushed to our favorite ride-Soarin.  As soon as the ride ended we went around to the entrance and rode the ride again. No wait.  We knew from past visits that later in the day there would be at least an hour wait for this ride.

 

 

This was my new hairdo after our ride on Fast Track

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The second day we opted to spend at Hollywood Studios.

 

 

 

The Frozen show was excellent! 

Raiders of the Lost Ark stunt show 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't do roller coasters so I just waited at the exit while Monte, my brother and sister-in-law rode as "single" riders.  No wait. Sweet.

One of my favorite rides is the Tower of Terror.  I have been on it many times but am still thrilled with the first DROP. 

 

 

The Beauty and the Beast show was great. 

 

 

 

Joe, one of the volunteers, treated everyone to a pizza party.

 

 

The end of the month had us attending a Blueberry Festival.  

Rather than eat at the festival we opted to go to a Mexican restaurant we had eaten at once before. 

The food was plentiful and delicious.

March 2015

Little Manatee River State Park

Wimauma, FL

March began with a crazy pattern of weather from temperature lows in the 30s that had us not only running our fireplace but also a small portable heater and highs close to 90 resulting in having to have the air conditioner on all day.

With the arrival of volunteers John and Darlene, who we had co-worked with during our previous work stint at Little Manatee River State Park, the socializing heated up.  Our unofficial activities directors got us out of our rut of just settling in to watch TV at night.

 

 

 

 

 

We attended the Strawberry Festival held annually in Plant City. 

 

 

 

When we first arrived a little after 10AM it was very overcast and chilly. 

  As the day wore on the crowds increased and it warmed up.

 

 

After browsing through all the livestock

 

 

and vendor exhibits

 

 

we sat down anticipating eating a delicious funnel cake. 

 BUT the cake looked better than it tasted.  The outer edges were okay but once we reached the middle we discovered it wasn’t cooked well.

On the 8^th we drove an hour south to my brother and sister-in-law’s house where they hosted a dinner in honor of Monte’s birthday.  His actual birthday is on the 13^th.

When we first arrived, my brother Jon was attempting to catch fish using a casting net.

  He caught a tilapia but threw it back in the water.

 

After a delicious dinner Monte blew out the candles on his cake. 

Happy Birthday Sweetie.

 

 

My parents and I flew to Arizona on the 11^th of the month for a ten day visit with my daughter and granddaughters.

 

 

Every time we visit we have a themed party.  Past parties included an English Tea, Hawaiian Luau and a Western Hoe Down. 

 

 

 

This time around we had a Princess Party. 

 

 

 

 In lieu of tiaras we opted to go with a more fairylike headband.

Even my dad got in the festive mood. 

Mom 

Kennedy and Daphne 

Daphne, mom Renee, and Kennedy

 Unfortunately my mom got sick during the visit.  After a couple of days of coughing and difficulty breathing she asked to be taken to the CVS Minute Clinic.  The Nurse Practitioner suggested we go to Urgent Care because she thought mom should get a chest X-ray.

All they did at the Urgent Care we went to was look at mom’s throat and prescribe an antibiotic for strep throat.  The course of treatment was completed in 5 days.  Instead of feeling better her breathing was so labored she had difficulty catching her breath just walking from the bedroom to kitchen. 

It was time to do what we should have done in the first place-go to the Emergency Room at the local hospital.

Mom was admitted with pneumonia.  That was on Tuesday.  We were scheduled to fly home on Saturday.   It was looking iffy for her to be released in time for our flight.  Luckily by Friday her breathing had improved enough to be discharged from the hospital and given the okay to fly home the next day.

This is the amount of meds she was given prescriptions for when discharged.

So while it hadn’t been a great visit I did enjoy spending time with my daughter and granddaughters (and their new dog).

Kennedy 

Daphne 

I also attended a ceremony at the twins’ school where they each received an honor roll certificate.

The flight home SUCKED-we experienced turbulence over Texas that really scared me. 

 

 

 I was so relieved when we touched down in Tampa and excited to see Monte again after 10 days apart. 

I ended up getting sick (I am convinced I picked up a bug on the plane with so many people hacking away) and spent the next 5 days in bed.

The last Friday of the month we joined our co-hosts from Little Manatee River State Park, Joe and Joann for a dinner out at Anna Maria’s Oyster Bar.  

The place is a goldmine.  Despite the torrential rain we had a 40 minute wait to be seated and it was only 4PM.

A lot of things happened in March that sucked so I am hoping we will have much better days in April.