Sunday through Saturday, February 8-15, 2025—What’s Next?

Posted on February 15, 2025 by dunngone

Kay and I have been RVing pretty much since we got together—25 years. Now that the RV is gone, and there is not one in the future, what will we do next? First and foremost, we’ll stay home in Hot Springs Village more, enjoying our house and lakefront lot. We will continue to play golf and pickleball. And Kay will likely fill up her social calendar while I’ll ramp up photography experiences. If my back will tolerate it, I would like to do some yard work and gardening, particularly for pollinators. And time will be made for even a bit of woodworking now that the absence of a third car frees up a portion of the garage. Maybe, even car/tent camp. And, we will continue to travel—just not for extended times, likely three weeks or less at a time.We still have several places to go on our life list: Switzerland, Ireland, New Zealand, more of the Pacific Northwest, northern Arizona and southern Utah, and maybe even Africa. Whereas financial aspects used to be the limiting factor, now it is health and wellness, or lack thereof, so we’ll see.

Now, for this reporting period. Because of lots of rain, conditions in the Village have been wet so no pickleball and no golf. We’ve both done a bit of cooking and baking, and I have made a couple of things in the “shop”. Our shoes—golf shoes, outdoor shoes, gardening shoes, swimming shoes, etc.— were seemingly everywhere in the garage. So, a shoe bench seemed like a good idea. And, we had a cushion left over from “our” first house (actually Kay’s house). Made with a “trout and fly fishing” fabric that I wanted to use. Consequently, that set the dimensions of length, width, and height. Cheap lumber was used, i.e. #2 pine; it was of very poor quality, but “good enough”. So, after a bunch of sawdust, measurement errors, and wrong screws, the bench was finished. It’s not something to be proud of, but is serves it’s purpose quite well pattern.

And then, a coat and cap rack was necessary to hold all the umbrellas, rain jackets, work coats, and caps and hats. If it’s length were the same as the bench’s, the two would look quite matched. A couple of rare pieces of clear 1 x 4 x 8 pine had been purchased previously from Lowe’s and one was used for the coat and cap rack. It was a simple design and build: cut to length, edges routed with a decorative pattern, sanded, a finish applied, and the coat and cap hooks installed.

I did manage to snap a few photos of birds the last couple of weeks, though they are the same species that have been hanging around all winter.

Saturday through Saturday, January 18-31, 2025—Wrapping Up Our Stay in The Villages and Returning Home

Posted on January 31, 2025 by dunngone

We keep moving our departure date forward, finally opting for Sunday, January 26. The weather in central Florida, i.e. The Villages, has not been real conducive to outdoor activities. The Villages of Florida offer just about any activity one might be interested in pursuing. The grounds are wonderfully landscaped and kept immaculate. It is definitely a golfing community and the well-groomed courses were extensively used, though we were almost always able to get a tee time even if was late in the afternoon. It is difficult to complain about life in The Villages, except it is crowded, traffic is horrible, and the weather, for the most part, was cold, wet, and windy. Kay and I were just a bit overwhelmed by it all. While the people were not unfriendly, there was little social interaction except for cards, golf, and dinner with the Starr’s and early on the Graham’s. Our neighborhood or “village” was socially sterile. But, we were temporary renters, and not owners. We, therefore, have no regrets in leaving early, except we will miss socializing with the Starr’s.

We keep moving our departure date forward, finally opting for Sunday, January 26. The weather in central Florida, i.e. The Villages, has not been real conducive to outdoor activities.

We played a lot of golf, albeit on “executive” courses or “pitch and putt” courses. On Saturday, January 18, we played the Bogart executive course with the Starrs. Photos were taken by Kay and me.

And then on Tuesday, we played the Richmond Pitch and Putt course. It was windy and cool. We returned to play the Richmond Pitch and Putt course on Thursday, and again it was windy and cool, but not as bad as on Tuesday. Photos were taken by both Kay and me.

We played our last round of golf at The Villages with the Starrs on Saturday, January 25, playing the Mickylee Pitch and Putt course. Afterwards we ate at Cody’s, but it wasn’t quite as good as the previous times we ate there, and it was crowded as was the entire Sumter Landing area, such that it was difficult to find a parking place.

Also on Saturday, January 25, we packed up our toys and clothing, and pre-positioned the bags near the garage door for loading on Sunday.

As per schedule, we packed the car, fulfilled the requirements for leaving the AirBnB (regarding dishes, towels, bed linens, trash, etc.) and departed The Villages at 8:10 AM on Sunday, January 26. We were both ready to go home. The day’s drive took us north through Gainesville, then west through Tallahassee, and much of Florida’s panhandle, north northwest through Montgomery and Birmingham, Alabama, and finally northwest in the rain and semidarkness to Tupelo, Mississippi, where we overnighted. The hotel, rated 4.5/5.0 was not great nor even good. It was clean and basic, and had a cleaning odor that prohibited me from sleeping much, though Kay slept fine.

After the unrestful night, we departed at approximately 7:30 AM on Monday morning driving through Memphis and then westward to home, stopping for groceries. The leg from Memphis to home seemingly took forever as we were stopped on I-40 for about 45 minutes because of an accident. Regardless, we arrived home about 1:00 PM, and exhaled a long sigh of relief. We unpacked, began filling the hot tub, filled the bird feeders, set up the computer for photo editing, and enjoyed being in our house. Did I say we really like where we live!

Tuesday, January 28, was spent unpacking and stowing clothes and getting things organized in the house and garage; Kay did a bit of grocery shopping and picked up “held” mail. Of course, we both reconnected with friends.

And then on Wednesday, January 29, I got a haircut for what little hair I have left, and we both played the new pickleball ladder at Diamante. It’s so good to be home.

Both Thursday and Friday were quiet, and we continued enjoying being back in our house, though I did manage to photograph an American Goldfinch.

Friday, January 17, 2025—All About Manatees

Posted on January 17, 2025 by dunngone

One of the key items on our “TO DO” list for this winter was to see the manatees in Florida. Earlier this week, Kay found that the Crystal River area had great manatee tours, and was only 1+ hour west of The Villages. A quick check on Trip Advisor revealed a number of tours, including snorkeling, kayaking, or just viewing from a boat. We opted for the last one, and reservations were made for 2 o’clock PM Friday, January 25.

Crystal River, named for the river which flows through the area, sits on Kings Bay near the Gulf of Mexico (Or is that Gulf of America? What a buffoon). Kings Bay, in turn is fed by over seventy springs and as many as forty more seeps that feed 600 million gallons of freshwater a day into this incredible body of freshwater sitting only six miles from the Gulf of Mexico. It is a leading winter refuge for the Florida Manatee. Consequently, there were many places to see and things to do in the Crystal River area, but a late start hampered our ability to partake. We ended up touring the Crystal River State Archeological Park, one of the longest continually occupied sites in Florida. It is a National Historic Landmark comprised of 61-acres; it is a six mound, pre-contact, Native American site with burial mounds, temple platform mounds, a plaza area and a substantial midden. For more than 1,900 years, this site on Crystal River in Citrus County, Florida, with access to the Gulf of Mexico, served as a ceremonial center. The real reason we visited this site was to photograph birds, which proved to be somewhat unsuccessful except for an Osprey and Red-headed Woodpecker.

After the archeological park, we ventured to Pete’s Pier to await the Crystal River Manatee Viewing Cruise. Florida manatees are large, aquatic mammals that are native to Florida. Adult manatees are typically 9-10 feet long from snout to tail and weigh around 1,000 pounds; however, they may grow to over 13 feet long and weigh more than 3,500 pounds. They can only tolerate a very narrow temperature range; Manatees need access to water warmer than 68 degrees to survive prolonged cold weather. At 2 o’clock PM sharp, Captain Chris motored through the pier area to one of the springs areas where we joined many other tourists anxious to see our first manatee.

Snorkelers getting up close and personal. Manatees are dark shapes in background

Regretfully, attempts to video the large animals with a GoPro underwater failed. Most of the following photos were taken by Kay.

After the neat manatee viewing cruise, we ate seafood at one of the local restaurants and returned to The Villages.

Sunday through Thursday, January 12-16, 2025—Still Trying to Adjust

Posted on January 16, 2025 by dunngone

We are still trying to adjust to the cool weather and life in The Villages of Florida. Fortunately, we have been able to play Hand-and-Foot cards and golf with the Starr’s which make it a bit less difficult.

On Sunday, January 12, we drove to the Lake Panasoffkee WMA west of The Villages with lots of optimism, photographing a Pied-billed Grebe aloe the way, only to find that the WMA was open for hunting on THAT day and we were strongly discouraged from walking any of the trails—another wasted trip!

After again researching eBird, I drove to Hogeye Preserve in The Villages on Monday to walk the 2.8-mile Hogeye Preserve Pathway. This proved to be a decent walk even though it bordered a golf course much of its length, and yielded several good photo ops.

Kay and I ventured out to walk the short Fenney Springs Nature Trail on Tuesday. Despite it’s short length, I was able to take a few photos.

After the photo walk, we decided to try one of The Villages’ Pitch and Putt golf courses. With holes ranging from 40-110 yards in length, these courses focus on shots around the greens. With holes ranging from 40-110 yards in length, this course is shorter than championship courses which are 300-400 yards in length, and is a focused on shots around the greens. We played Marsh View Pitch and Putt Golf Course and it was loads of fun.

Wednesday through Tuesday, January 1-7, 2025—Struggling to Find a Niche

Posted on January 7, 2025 by dunngone

After being overwhelmed last night (New Year’s Eve) with the crowds and traffic, we enjoyed a quiet day in The Villages celebrating New Year’s Day. Clothes were hung or put away, toiletries were located where they could easily be found, and computer equipment set up for processing photo images. We enjoyed hog jowl, black-eyed peas, and cabbage for dinner, and watched TV. A lot of time was spent setting up the TVs to reflect our various subscriptions. Regrettably, we have had no luck in turning closed captioning on the various specialty subscriptions; with my hearing loss, closed captioning is a must! I believe this is the evening that we had our first Hand and Foot card game, women vs. men. It wasn’t even close; ‘nuf said. Way to go men.

The next few days were spent trying to get our bearings, learning all the processes used to “survive” at The Villages, and doing a bit of shopping. Kay suffered sticker shock when checking out at the groceries; groceries are expensive.

We played nine holes of golf at Bogart Golf Course on Thursday, January 2—Bogart is one of the executive courses near us—and had a lot of fun. The executive courses are better than what we were led to believe, but they are really crowded.

We joined Gary, Jolene, Ron, and Bev Friday evening for dinner at the Americanos restaurant at Spanish Springs, one of the large town squares in The Villages, after which we listed to a “just okay”t band.

We left Spanish Square and moved to Sumter Landing town square where the music was a bit better.

Saturday afternoon late, almost 5:00 PM, we played the Bogart Executive Golf Course, together with another couple. Kay and I called it quits after seven holes because of darkness.

On Sunday, January 5, we ventured to the largest of The Villages’ nature preserves—Sharon Rose Wiechens Preserve—but it was closed because of flooding. I had been counting on it for photography—very disappointing. Desperately trying to find some photo subjects, we drove to the small Chitty Chatty Preserve, also in The Villages, and managed to take a few photos.

The Air BNB owner came by the rental and helped with the garage door openers and see how we were doing. In the preceding days, Kay and I had had some serious discussions about our future in The Villages, and we both quickly and firmly agreed that it wasn’t our type of place—too crowded, too much traffic, absence of an abundance of photo opportunities, a lack of neighborhood social activities, and a very expensive place to spend the winter. We agreed that we would ask the owner if we could revise the lease agreement to change the duration to one month instead of three. Fortunately for us, she agreed, and we executed the new rental agreement while she visited. Consequently, we will be returning to Hot Springs Village before the end of the month of January.

Monday was a shopping day for Kay and Jolene, while I remained back in the rental to process photos. We both made calls and/or sent messages letting family know that our plans had changed.

Tuesday, January 7, (not sure of date) Jolene, with Gary’s assistance, prepared a chicken noodle soup and apple bread dinner for Ron,, Bev, Kay and me, after which we had another robust game of Hand and Foot, women vs. men. It was close, but the women edged out a win.

Monday through Tuesday, December 16-31, 2024—Another One Bites the Dust

Posted on December 31, 2024 by dunngone

The last couple of weeks have been mostly all about Christmas; actually though Christmas pretty much ended for us on December 22, when we celebrated with most of our immediate family and a holiday meal. More about that later.

The first few days of this “reporting” period involved luncheons and pickleball for Kay while I managed to take a few photos and play a bit of golf and pickleball.

On Thursday, December 19, birds were far and few between, and only a few of the regulars showed up at the feeders: a Carolina Chickadee, Carolina Wren, and Red-bellied Woodpecker.

And then on Friday, December 20, only a Carolina Chickadee and American Goldfinch fed during photo time on the deck.

Karyn and her family came down over on Saturday afternoon, and attended church with us on Sunday morning. Ron his family joined the activities after their church. We enjoyed a really nice holiday meal, after which gifts were exchanged. For Kay and me, it was pretty low key, and we really enjoyed the mostly stress-free environment. After the kiddos left, a time of picking up present wrapping waste and then relaxation was enjoyed.

“De-constructing” Christmas decorations followed on Monday and Tuesday. A holiday tradition, Candles and Communion, occurred at church on Tuesday, December 24, after which another holiday tradition, a spaghetti meal at Jim and Jackie’s was enjoyed by Jim, Jackie, Jackie’s sister and BIL, Pam, and Kay and me. It’s nice to have “new” holiday traditions, particularly after divorces from our original families, when all traditions collapse—just sayin’.

A cocktail party honoring the Starr’s was on Friday afternoon at the Janice and Harlan’s; Janice really knows how to host a party, and we enjoyed the hors ‘doeuvres, drinks, and most of all visiting with friends.

Following the party we began seriously packing for our winter stay in Florida.

Departing from home on Sunday, December 29, we stopped in Cordova, Tennessee, for a brief Christmas visit with Jenny and her kids.

The kids are growing so much and its interesting to watch how much they mature between visits. Jenny is doing well and is immensely enjoying her job at the YMCA headquarters. We are so pleased that all our our kids are good parents.

Decatur, Alabama, was the first overnight stop on the way to Florida, and an infection had Kay down and out, and very uncomfortable. Consequently, we spent 3 1/2 hours in the ER. It was packed, with most of those present coughing and hacking, likely with the flu. We donned facemarks for personal protection.

After the long wait, and then treatment in the ER, we drove back to the hotel for overnighting.

Our stop in Decatur, Alabama, was chosen because of its proximity to Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge (NWR). After a very short drive on Monday morning, the sound of Sandhill Cranes greeted us upon entrance to the NWR. The cranes were seemingly everywhere.

Even though the NWR Visitors’ Center didn’t open until 9 o’clock AM, people had already begun to arrive and were walking to their favorite observation sites. After eating the breakfast sandwiches in the parking lot, Kay and I walked to the two-story photo observatory, and began to photograph the birds immediately.

We then walked to several other observation sites, amazed at the number of cranes (between 17,000 and 19,000).

And then it was off to the Florida panhandle where we overnighted at Panama City Beach, the location chosen mainly to enjoy a dinner of fresh Gulf seafood. Dinner was at a highly recommended “hangout” that was only so so.

On Tuesday morning, we drove east and south to The Villages of Florida, the US’s largest 55+ community. After a brief orientation, we found the rental house, and “moved” in. We then joined the Starrs and Grahams for a really good dinner and then music at the Sumter Landing Town Square. People were everywhere! Being old fogies, Kay and I didn’t last too long and returned to the rental house to see 2024 out and 2025 in.

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