Arizona/Florida Trip - Day 24

More baseball today.  The Phillies played the NY Yankees in the pre-season opener for both teams.  The weather was great, 85–90 degrees, sunny and no wind.  There was also a good crowd - a mix of Phillies and Yankees fans all having a good time.

My sister, Eileen, her friend Linda and one of her daughters and her family are staying in New Port St. Richey this month and also came to the game today.  My sister, who lives in New Jersey, is a Yankees fan but my niece and her husband, who live in Pennsylvania, are Phillies fans.  Everyone came away more or less happy as the game ended in a 5-5 tie (extra innings are normally not played in spring training).

After the game, we all went over to Clearwater Beach to one of our favorite beach restaurants, Frenchy’s Rockaway Grill, for dinner and to watch the sunset.  My niece’s small children also had a good time playing on the beach while we waited to get seated.  My sister’s other daughter and her friend, who were also in Florida this week, joined us at the restaurant but could not stay for dinner as they had to leave for the Tampa airport for their flight back to Philadelphia.

Our next game is Friday.  Wednesday is an R&R day.  Judy is getting her nails done and I will be catching up with first-of-the month paperwork.  Thursday looks like a beach day.  The weather forecast for at least the next week is clear to partly cloudy skies with the temperature in the mid- 70’s.

Arizona/Florida Trip - Day 23

We slept in today until about 7:00 am.  I finished setting-up our outside stuff and Judy did laundry.  I also drove over to a local Camping World about 15 miles away to pick-up a few things.  All of a sudden it was 5:00 pm and time for tequila and wine on the patio.  After that, I cooked a pork tenderloin and baked potatoes on the grill outside for dinner, accompanied by a good Sonoma red wine.

Tomorrow is the first official spring training game against the Yankees.   Eileen, Linda, Allison, Dan and their kids will be there and maybe we all go out to dinner afterwards.

No pictures today but tomorrow for sure.

Arizona/Florida Trip - Day 22

We slept in a little today, had breakfast, and left for our first baseball game about 10:30 am.  The park is about 15 minutes away, but we got there early, walked around the park and had lunch.

This was the first game of the spring training season for the Phillies.  They played a college team from The University of Tampa, a top-rated Division II baseball team.  The Phillies did not play any of their regular players and the ones playing today were rookies, minor leaguers, and non-roster invitees to spring training.  Few if any are expected to be on the major league roster when the season starts.  So, perhaps as expected, the Phillies lost to a very good local college team, 6-2.

It seemed like most of the fans in the park today were Tampa University fans.  They also brought a pep band and two cheer squads.  It was a good day for the Tampa fans and not an auspicious start for what almost everyone seems to think will be a bad year for the Phillies.

We ran a few errands after the game and returned to the RV for dinner.  Our plan for tomorrow is to finish setting up our site, do laundry, and first-of-the month paperwork.  The next game is Tuesday against the Yankees.  Eileen, Linda, Allison, Dan and their kids will also be at the game and possibly go out to dinner with us afterwards.

Day 22 Pictures

Arizona/Florida Trip - Day 21

We left the RV park at 8:45 am.  It was cloudy and still cool as we headed towards Tallahassee.  It began to drizzle and by the time we got there it was raining pretty hard.  We turned south about 30 miles east of Tallahassee and the rain gradually eased up until we were about 50 miles north of the Tampa area.  It started raining again (pretty hard) until we got to the RV park in Oldsmar about 4:30 pm (EST).

The park is very nice.  We have stayed here twice before and are very satisfied with the location and amenities.  Our first game is tomorrow so we will finish setting everything up tomorrow evening or Monday.

It is good to be here and we are looking forward to no RV driving for awhile.

Arizona/Florida Trip - Day 20

We’re in the Florida Panhandle tonight in the Florida Springs RV park in a small town called Bonifay.  It’s in the middle of the piney woods just off I-10, about 90 miles west of Tallahassee.  We didn’t explore the town but it appears to be home to a state correctional facility.

After a good driving day with not too much traffic, dry roads and little wind, we decided to drive another hour past our planned destination. The park where we are staying is not a destination resort.  It is fairly small and it appears most of the people in the park are long-term residents.  In fact after looking around, it appears we may be the only overnighters here tonight.

We had dinner at the café attached to the RV park office, the Roadrunner Café.  We actually had a pretty good meal.  There were a lot of locals eating here so it is apparently is a favorite local restaurant.

Tomorrow is our last day of RV travel for a while.  We should arrive tomorrow afternoon at the Bay Bayou RV Park in the Tampa area where we will be staying for the month of March.  The site we have reserved will not be available until Sunday, so we will be staying in a temporary site tomorrow night.  We are ready to “park it” for a while and are looking forward to our Florida vacation.

Day 20 Pictures

Arizona/Florida Trip - Day 19

We left the San Antonio RV park about 8:00 am and successfully navigated through San Antonio morning rush hour traffic to I-10.  We had a long trip today (415 miles), complicated by a 10-15 mph  crosswind out of the north.  It was another “two hands on the wheel” driving day, but we made it O.K. and arrived at the Bayou Wilderness RV Park in Lafayette, LA at 4:00 pm.  After resting a bit, we went to dinner at our favorite Cajun restaurant, Prejean’s, near the park.  We had another great meal there, heavy on the calories.  After dinner we picked-up a few supplies at a local grocery store and returned to the RV.  It is also cold here – low 40’s tonight, so we are not yet into warmer weather.

We will spend tomorrow night in the Florida panhandle, then drive to our destination in the Tampa/Clearwater, FL area on Saturday.  The weather forecast for the rest of the drive to Clearwaterlooks good, with clear skies and dry roads.

Day 19 Pictures

Arizona/Florida Trip - Day 18

It was cold in Ft. Stockton last night, but clear this morning (and still cold) when we got up at 6:00 am to prepare for our departure. After a very good dinner last night at the RV park restaurant, we decided to have breakfast there this morning.  I had the “cowboy breakfast” – biscuits and gravy, sausage and scrambled eggs.  Judy had the traditional bacon and eggs.  It was a hardy meal and enough to get us through to dinner.

We got on the road about 8:45 am and headed east on dry roads and under clear skies.  We had a quartering tailwind from the NW most of the way to San Antonio which meant “two hands on the wheel” driving.  We made good time until we got to San Antonio. I made the mistake of just putting the coordinates of Fort Sam Houston into the GPS.  It is a big base surrounded by residential and commercial development and as it worked out, the GPS took us to a closed gate on the other side of the base from where we needed to enter.  After getting directions from the base travel camp, we got back out on the freeway dodging a lot of traffic and construction. We finally arrived at the RV Park about 3:30 pm.  We had considered maybe going into town and see the Alamo and assorted attractions along the River Walk but decided we were too tired to do so.  It looks like a nice area to visit, but it will have to wait for another time.

Fort Sam Houston is the support base for Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) and is a command comprised of ten separate organizations that provide inpatient care, outpatient care, advanced rehabilitative services and troop leadership.  At the center of the command is the hospital component, the San Antonio Military Medical Center (SAMMC). Surrounding SAMMC are five geographically separate Clinics: Fort Sam Houston Family Medicine Service Clinic, McWethy Troop Medical Clinic, Taylor Burk Clinic, Schertz Medical Home and the Corpus Christi Army Depot Occupational Health Clinic. Advanced rehabilitative services are also provided at the Center for the Intrepid, a unique facility that is at the cutting edge of Wounded Warrior care.

SAMMC is one of the Nation’s premier medical facilities, offering highly sophisticated medical care for service members, family members, civilians, and veterans. SAMMC is a 425-bed, state-of-the-art medical facility, playing a critical role in patient care, as well as taking care of Wounded Warriors in transition. The medical center is also the only stateside DOD Level I Trauma Center and receives more than 5,700 emergency room visits each month. Co-located on the BAMC campus is the world renowned Army Institute of Surgical Research, which operates the only DOD Burn Center — the Army Burn Center.

The RV park is very nice and well maintained.  We’ve stayed here before and it’s worth another visit - next time following more specific directions on how to get here.  We had cocktails and hors-d'oeuvres on the patio and dinner in the RV tonight.  Tomorrow we drive to Lafayette, LA.  The weather still looks good, clear skies and dry roads, but still a little windy and cool.

Day 18 Pictures