Hunger Games Horse Movie Stars

Weather  mid 70's , nights end up cool just above 50
Little did we know that there were movie stars here on site at the Grand Oaks RV Resort.........   Two of the most handsome you will ever meet !   And they will eat right out of your hands.  My new friends love a nibble of carrot every night at sunset, they are so gentle.

Dieuwe and Tristan  both Friesians were the director's choice to pull Katniss and Peeta's Chariot in the Hunger Game 2.  Ocala Daily News Star Banner reported last November these two were chosen out of 17 horses kept on set.  

Waterless Cleaner

This is the best cleaner we have used without doing a full wash/wax of the coach.

16 oz Liquid Turtle Wax
7 cups distilled water
1 teaspoon Dawn Detergent
1/4 teaspoon Lemon Juice
Spray container
Mix in a gallon container and fill spray bottle with solution. Spray on coach and wipe with soft clean cloth.  Let dry and then buff with dry soft cloth.  Micro fiber will work too.

Vintage gas pumps

We happen to stop at a used motorcycle shop called Wheeler's Cycles in Fruitland Park and found some impressive restored fuel pumps...... You just never know.   The front of the store and sign are plain looking so it was quite the surprise when you enter into the shop.

Guess the price tags............. Some $7000, some $10000!!  We talked to the owner and he sold 10 at a car show on the weekend.   I was asking him if Jay Leno bought any, apparently not but a Nascar driver and a Country Singer were a couple of his high profile clients.  Very cool.

Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park

March 15/14  Weather beautiful clear warm day 77, low at night 61

Do you know what the Florida State Bird is?   Flamingo, right?  Wrong.....   it is the Northern Mockingbird.  Funny as a kid I always associated the Flamingos with Florida.  Even when I see one of those tacky plastic lawn ornaments.   So where are all the pretty pink birds hiding?   It felt like there were lots of them in Florida when I was a kid but maybe that's because when we visited the sunny south we hit all the theme parks in a two week span and those are your memories.  The Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park features many different native Florida wildlife.    It is situated on the Homosassa River and without a doubt the main attraction is the West Indian Manatee but for us it was the Flamingos!

Take the walking tour and see black bear, alligators, otters, hippo, birds of prey, whooping crane, shore birds, waterfowl, reptiles, key deer and the beloved manatee.    Spoiler alert~ Flamingos are found on the island in the shore birds section!

Gators

Wounded Bald Eagle

 

 

Owls

Bike Week in Daytona Beach

Weather  Sunny, warm about 80, 60's at night
March 9, 2014
Bike week is on at Daytona Beach which is a nice ride of under 2 hours from our RV park at Grand Oaks in Lady Lake.   We met up with friends; 4 other bikers for morning breakfast in Eustis then headed over.  There are many events in the Daytona area.   Vendors are setup at the Speedway where thousands of bikers stopped in to see new motorcycles, choppers, trikes, gear...... you name it everything for the enthusiast. 

Daytona speedway

Arlen Ness Chopper

BMW Trike

Indian Motorcycle

On a Monday afternoon most of the crazies are still recovering from the weekend so it was pretty tame.  We cruised down Main Street which was not as bad as we thought it would be.  Stop and go for a mile.  

cruising main street

cruising main street

Snowbirds have Taken Over Florida

March 3 - April 3/ 2014 

Sad to say but this is the first time not reserving ahead has hindered us in the last 2 years of traveling along as the urge takes us.   While in Arcadia we tried to book campsites along the Atlantic Ocean and the Big Rig ones were all booked solid till March 23.   Hmmmm 3 weeks from now.   So we could have stayed in Arcadia but it did not really intrigue us since we did get to ride out almost everyday and see the local sites.   The weather is definitely warmer in the southern area but we decided to move back to central Florida where the motorcycle riding is much better.

Darn Snowbirds isn't anyone left back in the North????  

 Well our motto has always been to just go with the flow so that's ok.  We are back in the Grand Oaks RV and Carriage Resort in Lady Lake.  It's such a beautiful place, fate must have meant for us to come back.
There is a beautiful 1968 Cadillac Convertible for sale on the grounds.   Billy thinks it would be a sweet tow vehicle.  Ha Ha.  It's almost as big as our motorhome!!!

Solomon's Castle - The Rembrant of Recycling

Weather  March 1/14 Sunny and warm 80's plus, 60 at night
Beautiful day for a ride and see what Solomon's Castle is all about.   We had a few campers tell us we needed to see this place;  so why not?  The ride from Riverside RV Resort was about 45 minutes through cattle ranches and orange groves.  That by far is one of the best smells on the motorcycle we have come across.  The orange blossoms!!!  

  
Howard Solomon is an artist on a different level......  definitely one of those "off beat" tourist attractions. 

 Solomon's Castle  (which he lives in and shows to the public on tour) is 12,000 square feet and the outside of the the house is covered in aluminum off-set printing plates.  All of his artwork inside is completely made from recycled things - what others throw out he creates with.   Imagine making a sculpture from oil drums, broken appliances, car parts to name a few. 

Howard is the king of pun's in naming all his artwork...  quite a tongue in cheek sense of humor for each of his masterpieces.  He is also named the  DaVinci of Debris.

As well on the property he has built a spanish galleon, a moat, a dungeon, a drawbridge, stained glass windows and gardens.... and a restaurant.   Howard can be found in his workshop most days, hammering away.    He will gladly engage you in a conversation which is quite entertaining too..... remember to lighten up when conversing as Howard does not take any conversation too seriously.

Wow what a ride ..... Life

That pretty much says it all:)

Motorcycle Run to Linger Lodge ~Bradenton

Feb 24 - Mar 3/14  Weather  80+ and low 60 at night.  Quite nice.
Staying in a park that just opened up a whole new section of premium big rig sites, called Riverside RV Resort in Arcadia.  These are the largest sites we have seen as far as width - 60 feet wide!  Nice and private and we back up to a lake.  Of course every thing we know as a pond is called a lake in Florida.......  funny.  But it is lovely with the fountain in it.   The park is right on the Peace River and many of the campers have canoes or kayaks.  

The sign where you launch says no swimming...... ?????   So what is in the water?  Gators.   Today we spotted one lying on the bank.  OK, no kayaking for Rosey.   If something hit up against our kayak I would be bound to freak out and flip over.   Instant lunchmeat.

Arcadia is close to Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda.  We moved about 170 miles south and the temperature is about 10 degrees F  warmer than where we were.  The park has many winter residents and they have a motorcycle run every Wednesday.   

We signed up and thought this would be a great way to see some local roads and chat with everyone.   The ride was mostly through Citrus orchards and cattle ranches.   About 14 motorcycles went and the leader took us to a very unique old lodge for lunch.   Linger Lodge is located on the Braden River in Bradenton.   There are preserved animals on every inch of the restaurant.   

The story is that the owner in the 1950's cleared the land and hunted and stuffed everything he caught.  Billy had to take the pictures for me since the place gave me the creeps.   I am not a "snake" person.  Ok, I hate snakes......  and they are stuffed and hanging every where.   I just kept my eyes down and followed the group to the table.   Billy kept telling me "but they are all dead".   "I know but I still don't like them"!!!  Lucky for me the tables were not within eye distance and I had a wonderful Avocada and Blue Crab Salad. 

Dirt Car Nationals - Volusia Speedway Park

Weather - extremely humid, rain threatening all weekend - 70's to 80's
Have you ever went to see something and wondered what are we doing here???  Once we went to a Monster Truck Rally and that was similar to our night here at The Dirt Car Nationals held at Volusia Speedway. 

My brother is an avid race fan and stopped on his way south to hang out with us for a couple of days and to take "us" to the races.    Every year the park holds 12 days of consecutive race nights prior to the Daytona NASCAR race.  World of Outlaws Late Model Series and Big Block Modified cars ran for their season  finale.   We stopped in early to pick up our tickets and walk through the pit.  Teams were unloading their cars as you can see in the Stacker Trailers.

Late Model

Both divisions have hot laps (warming up the car) and then a time trial lap.  Based on those time trials it sets their spots for elimination races.   In those races it was about 8 cars maximum with a couple of the front guys getting a race on for the win.

After all the elimination races they get them setup for the big 50 lap finale race.  This is the race that blew us away.   There were 27 cars lined up side by side running a 1/2 mile DIRT track at 90 to 100 miles per hour.   No kidding 100 miles per hour.   It was crazy, utter chaos!  Noise and dirt blowing into the stands and sliding cars and more noise and dirt and sliding..... around the whole track.   It was nuts!!!  How they could run at that speed was incredible; these guys are the best in the Nation.  We did not see 1 car crash; although  still haven't figured out how they survived the race.  We walked out exhilarated from quite a show and filthy dirty!  What a night.   In order to make this easy we camped at KOA Wildwood - not the best place but it was super convenient for us as my brother was right next door at the truckstop.

Taking your Motorcycle with You

Feb 18, 19    Weather warm 80's, nights 60's   
We are back at Alliance Coach Service Center for two more items on our "to do" list for the motorhome.   We left here in January and once we camped for a few weeks we realized we should really get a couple more things fixed while we are so close to such a competent shop.  While we were here we ran into 3 different ways to take your Motorcycle with you on the road.  This is a personal preference for each couple.  When we made our choice we looked at the pro's and con's.   
We pull a covered 12 ft cargo trailer with no car.   We are on the road with the Harley only.   We also use it as a garage too, all our motorcycle riding gear, cleaning supplies on the door, tool storage across the front, plus our pedal bicycles strapped to each side wall.   Big advantages are that we can push it around when it is unhooked, it stores quite a bit, keeps our bike clean and safe, and we still stay at 56 feet from front of coach to back of trailer which is not too big for finding campsites.  Disadvantage to most people is that we have no vehicle.  Billy and I have not found this to be restrictive but we do have to watch the weather to plan when we are riding and preparing for down days during inclement weather days.  In big cities or places if we are not feeling safe to ride we rent a car.  For us it works as our main enjoyment is to ride.  The shelf on the door is a real organizer!  We had to special order it at our trailer supplier, we have only seen one other fellow with it and Billy had to have one after he spied it.

 One other coach had a 24 ft enclosed trailer with a motorcycle and his Jeep.  Advantage for them was they had the Jeep plus the motorcycle - best of both transportation.   Disadvantage was how long they became and he said it was a real pain to park the trailer; most times separate from the coach and then have to hook up again.  Sometimes he fit in an extra long pull through, many times not.  Only way to move it as far as he was concerned was to unload his Jeep and use it to tow the trailer around the campground.  He said it was not convenient to move around with the motorhome since the campgrounds often make you drop a trailer in a confined area.  Obviously you cannot push it, since it is just too heavy even with the bike and Jeep unloaded. 
Then there was a coach with a motorcycle lift on the back of his motorhome plus he towed a car.  Once again he had the best of both transportation.  Disadvantage which to Billy would be a deal breaker was that his bike was always dirty and not locked up at night inside.  He said it was dirty every time he got to the next campground and it smelled like engine and/or road dirt but his wife would not travel without a vehicle.   

 So every time we see others different than our choice Billy likes to talk to them and ask how they like their option.   He always comes home feeling we have made the right choice for our time right now.   Now being that we want to ride our Motorcycle when we are traveling and healthy enough to enjoy it. 

Carriage Show at Grand Oaks Resort

Feb 14, 15, 16  
Our last few days Grand Oaks Resort was a nice way to end it.   

There was a Carriage Show and it was interesting and beautiful to watch the horses and their owners/carriages perform.
We did not realize that the entire presentation is judged, the horse(s), the carriage, the performance of the horse, the costume.   Mostly we saw women in period costumes with beautiful embellished hats.  

There were a couple of booths selling the hats and as you can imagine they had a very large price tag!!!   Rosey just had to try one on.....   

 

Gotta Love this sign - Horses have Right of Way