Little Surfer Dog

The Wickster went to the dog beach in Bonita Springs today. He had fun and is now sleeping soundly. We were mildly surprised at how well he did. He barked at some of the other dogs, but not that much. We didn't let him run free because we were concerned that he would pick fights with some of the bigger dogs and get his #$%^ kicked. The video shows two of his many trips into the water. He would go in until the water was up to his shoulders (that's only about 7 inches). A couple of times he actually started "boinging" like he does in the snow. Too bad that we didn't get that on film.

This beach is about 15-20 minutes from the RV park where we will be staying next winter. Maybe we should get him some baggy, brightly colored swim trunks and cool sunglasses.

A Bit Further South Next Winter

We made a reservation for next winter at a new location. We will be spending January through March of 2010 at Imperial Bonita Estates RV Resort. The park is about 30 miles south of where we are now. A major factor in the decision was the difference in monthly rate. We will be saving almost $200 per month compared to this year's cost at Upriver. And chances are, the rates here will be increased. Also, we have to pay a separate electric bill here and in the new park, the electricity is included in the monthly charge. That is a significant benefit, especially if we are running the air conditioners a lot. Here is the address of the website for Imperial Bonita Estates if you want to learn more about the place.

http://www.imperialbonitaestates.com/

Another advantage of going to IBE (lazy typist) is that the park is less than 5 miles from the Gulf beaches. Up here we have to fight through the city traffic so the beach is a minimum of 45 minutes away, usually more. We will be closer to Naples and can have fun exploring all kinds of new shopping and eating locations. Actually, we plan to do some of that this year and then we will be more at home next year.

For anyone planning to visit us, we will be south of the airport but closer to it than we are at Upriver. The Dog Track and the Flamingo Flea Market will be right in our neighborhood. The flea market will be of more interest. FYI, Mike and Kim, the dog track has poker rooms and the Seminole Casino is not too far away.

I will miss the jam sessions with Gator and the boys. I might still make the trip up to play with them once in a while. All things considered, we are excited about the move. And hey Kris, if we want to take a nap before dinner, we won't have to put up with the "4:00 alarm" everyday. Yes, it's still happening. Grrrrr!!

Indians Update: Tribe is losing to the Giants 3-7 in the bottom of the 7th inning. It's the first Spring Training game at the new facility in Goodyear, AZ. Can summer be far behind?

Ave Maria

Ave Maria is a project started by Domino's Pizza founder, John Monaghan. He wanted to found a new Catholic university in the United States. The location of this university is about 50 miles from our RV park, near Naples. We had talked about making a visit there last year but never got around to it. Today we remedied that.

Ave Maria would still be considered a work in progress, in my view. The original university has been joined by a town square that surrounds a church. I understand that the original plan was to only sell residences to Catholics. People here at our park say that that requirement has been relaxed somewhat. I'm not surprised. Even without the problems in the housing market, it seems that limiting your client pool to one religious group would not be the best strategy.

In addition, there is a Del Webb community that is being constructed in this area. They had some model homes that you could look at without getting involved with a salesperson. We looked at two of them. The house pictures in the slideshow are from that home. Very nice!

The other pictures are of downtown Ave Maria, the church and some of the university buildings. Sorry for the blur on some of the pictures. Either the auto-focus was having problems or my hand was shaky. I've got to learn to lay off the Long Island Ice Tea before 10:00AM. Just click on the picture to see the slideshow.

Ave Maria

Jam Session

Each week, usually on Tuesday, a group of musicians made up of people staying here at Upriver RV Resort, get together to play music and sing. For most songs, we just get a key from the person that wants to do the song and jump in with both feet. Sometimes it works and sometimes we move on to the next song. It's fun either way. We have had as many as 8 participants and a group of fans has begun to show up to listen and sometimes dance. The following clip shows two of our recent songs. Unfortunately, I am sitting in a direct line with the camera and Gator, our bass player. He moved later. Maybe I can get a better shot of him at some other session.

It's Cryin' Time

Today, on the CBS affiliate in Fort Myers, they showed two engineers that had been with the station a long time pushing the buttons to shut down the analog signal. They started to tear up on camera. I missed it because I was in the shower. Sue witnessed the noon ceremony and accompanying tears. I felt guilty about making sarcastic comments about the switch to digital. The water in the shower did seem softer after they made the switch.

Analog, Schmanalog

I thought that I would write this short post today because tomorrow, all electronic communication on earth is evidently coming to a screeching halt. (or so it seems)

Even though our government has given us until June to prepare for digital doom, the stations here in Fort Myers are changing over tomorrow. It's sort of the broadcast version of the early bird special. That's FL for ya'!

We are taking no chances. I connected our Direct TV dish today. With the free cable here at Upriver, we have not needed the satellite. I figure that it can be a backup system. Sort of like Howard's generator.

Actually, there are more reasons that I needed to get the dish up and running. The Indians are televising the first three spring training games on STO, starting on 2/25. Also, I want to watch the MAC bball tourney and March Madness. And we can get XM radio and order PPV movies. The XM radio gives nice background music when we are just hangin' around the bus.

If the electronic world disappears tomorrow, take care and be nice to each other. If not, watch for the next blog post.

Presidential Exit

I shot this video that shows (briefly) President Obama flying out of SWFL airport on Tuesday on his way back to Washington. I was filming blind because I couldn't see the plane at all in the camera view screen. I used our neighbor's windsock as a guide and at least got some shots of Air Force One. SWFL is the same airport used by Kris, Mike and Kim and Howard when they visit us down here.

Turtles and Pasta

Tonight was "Italian Night" here at Upriver. A group of volunteers worked all day to make a great Italian dinner. Salad, pizzelles, ziti, and Italian Ice. The response was so great that they had two seatings, just like on a cruise. We were in the 4:00 group and the next crowd came in at 5:30. We had over 100 people at our time and the other one was sold out also. There was a strolling accordian player playing traditional songs from Italy, a dance group and a sing-a-long (That's Amore). We all felt like paesanos for a while.



Many people really decorate their sites with lots of garden statues, lights, flags, hanging baskets and such. We added a cute little momma and baby turtle so that our area didn't look too plain. We may add a few other things if we make a trip to the fleamarket. We have to be careful that we don't collect so much stuff that we have trouble packing it to go home.

The Formative Years

My lovely wife Sue often asks me a question of this sort. "How did you get this way?" Maybe my kids have wondered the same thing. Well, TV certainly played a part in my development. Here is a brief insight into what molded little Billy into big Billy.

Howdy Doody

Lassie

Sgt. Preston

(Well King, it looks like our work here is done)

Pinky Lee

Soupy Sales

Brrr!

I understand that all you northerners are putting up with long stretches of cold temperatures and snow. We empathize, we really do. Florida is getting an influx of cold air too and it's really been unusually cold here lately. Over the next couple of nights, the fruit growers to the north of us may get hit pretty hard by freezing temperatures. We have been using the furnace in the motorhome a lot in the evening and overnight. We're not complaining, just sharing information.



On a different subject, nephew Trevor has been having a great season playing basketball for Marietta College back in Ohio. I haven't been posting anything about him, so here is a brief update. As a freshman, he has started all 20 games for the team and is averaging about 15 points per game (team high). The team is 10-10 with 5 more games to go this season. Since they have often started five freshman against juniors and seniors, they are doing very well. The picture above shows that Trevor definitely inherited the famous "Halter-man" legs.