Ahhh Technology

Every so often  I need to just fuss about technology. The last couple of weeks have been very challenging for us in the techno world. So I think I will just fuss…

When we got to Bushnell, Florida we found we had excellent phone coverage (verizon), but the computer had almost no connection (AT&T). So I could keep in touch with family, but could not do any route planning. (Yes kids if I had a new phone I could, but I don’t.) Since I spend time every day looking at routes and campgrounds and making plans, I was really in a tough spot with no internet connection.

Then when we arrived in Cedar Key, Florida we found we had excellent computer coverage (thanks to the campgrounds excellent wifi), but no phone coverage. The phone was strange as the camphost had excellent coverage and he also had Verizon. So Lee checked on the computer and sure enough we should have had coverage….??? Then he goes to the Verizon website and the instant chat. He describes the problem (no coverage) and the chat person gives him a phone number and suggests he calls customer service. Do what???

Ah, but then we remember Skype. So Lee installs Skype on my computer and I am happy talking with family AND using my computer to plan and check routes. We are all happy.

However, Lee is still aggravated that we don’t have Verizon coverage so he decides to use Skype to call the customer service at Verizon. Of course you get 99 different choices on the automated connection. He tries … and everytime he gets a recording that the number is no longer in service!

Even Blogger is giving me troubles. First I wrote a blog about the Okefenokee swamp and tried doing it with a new arrangement of pictures and words. Looked great on live writer, but when published on blogspot, every thing was out of whack. So I tried to delete it and  go back to change live writer, and publish again. It will not publish!

Then I noticed that my blog comments section has those stupid word verifications…wants to be sure you’re not a robot if you comment. Really?? So I tried taking that off, thought I had, and voila…its back today. So who is the robot???

ah… can’t live without technology and sure can’t live with it!!!

Now I feel better.

Sarasota and the Circus World

During the summer I read the book “Water for Elephants” and then later Lee and I saw the movie. As usual the book was much better than the movie. However, we were both ready to see some of the circus sights in Sarasota.

As Sarasota was a couple of hours south of our rv park we decided to take a mini vacation and stay in a hotel. I was really glad we did as the drive down I75 was horrible…way too much traffic and all going very, very fast!

First stop after arriving in Sarasota was the Ringling Brother Museum.

John and Mable Ringling purchased waterfront property outside Sarasota in 1911 and in 1912 they began spending their winters in the area. In the early 1920’s they began designing and then building their dream home – Ca’ d’Zan  (home of John). They moved into the home in 1926 and spent the next three winters there. Unfortunately Mabel died during the third winter.

The home reflects their lavish lifestyle and incredible wealth.

A view of the back deck area..all marble.

Even the boat dock was made of marble!

Our guide describing the dining room.The ceiling looks like inlaid wood, but is actually painted plaster.

A peak into John’s bathroom. The bathtub was onyx from Mexico and there were 4 faucets – hot and cold, fresh and salt water! The floor is marble, of course.

 

 

 

 

After our tour of the house we walked the grounds over to the circus museum. On the way we passed many Banyan Trees as well as the Rose Garden. This is one tree – the limbs grow down and then into the ground becoming additional roots and support systems for the tree.

The museum is comprised of two buildings. In the first are some of the original trains and vans and billboards of the Ringling Circus.

This was the cannon used for shooting people hundreds of feet. I always thought it worked much like a gun – using explosives. But actually the person was ‘fired’ using a bungee type cord. The smoke and loud gun blast were all fake!

The second building contained a replica of the Ringling Circus as it was set up in town. This replica was handmade and took over 50 years to complete. It is 3800 square feet in area…huge!

As you walked around the replica, there were signs to read describing life in a circus. This is a lot of food for one day!

There is also a 21 gallery art museum and a theater on the grounds. But by now we were exhausted and decided to go back to the hotel and relax. Leaving you with one last thought:

Ocala Florida–horse capital of the world

From Woodbine, Ga we drove on into Florida. We had been to Florida many years ago (once to Miami for a cruise and of course to Disney World with the kids) and so we thought we knew what to expect. However, as usual, we are finding the preconceived ideas tend to be wrong. I expected people and cars to be everywhere. And I found that if we stay on the interstates, that was pretty much true. But once off the interstate, Florida was a land of surprises.

We stayed in a very nice Escapees park in Bushnell. It was not too far from lots of interesting sights, and yet far enough to be quiet and peaceful. And of course lots of great Escapees!

High on the list of sights to see was Ocala and the horse farms. Ocala is considered to be the horse capital of the world. There are 300 different registered horse breeds throughout the world and all 300 are represented in Ocala. Ocala is located on a limestone ridge and therefore the water and grasses are all high in mineral content. Thus horses tend to be larger and stronger when raised in Ocala. And of course the mild temperatures are a plus as well.

We planned on three different tours. A Gypsy-Vanner horse farm, a Thoroughbred horse farm, and an event called a ‘trial’ for Eventing Horses.

The first tour was the Gypsy-Vanner horse farm. Several years ago while on an Icelandic Horse trail ride with my mom we saw these amazing horses running in a pasture. They were unique and very beautiful.

So I was really interested when I saw an ad for the Gypsy Gold Farm.

Dennis loved all animals as seen by two of his pets(an Irish

Wolfhound and a Lemur):

You can read Dennis’s fascinating story and learn more about Gypsy-Vanners at www.gypsygold.com

From there we drove over to the Florida Horse Park to watch trials  for 3 day eventing horses. An eventing horse competes in three events over the course of three days. There is dressage, stadium jumping, and cross country jumping. Both the stadium jumping and the cross country involve challenging jumps and a required time. This was a novice class and so the jumps were not too high – about 3 feet.

In cross country the horse must go at a very fast speed and jump some very interesting and challenging obstacles.

There were some very impressive horse trailers from all over the country. At least our truck fit right in and looked good!

The next day we went to see a Thoroughbred farm. Thoroughbred racing requires a very expensive and long process of breeding and training. The farm we visited was Chasin a Dream. It is a breeding farm and initial training. The horses are sold once they become yearlings and are ready to be taken to the track for more extensive training. Our tour included seeing a two day old foal (and getting to pet it), watching a ‘teasing’ (a process to find out if the mare is ready to mate), and some training on the track. It was all very interesting and nicely presented. For more information on this farm you can read www.chasinadream.com

This is a small working farm and so the tour is actually following along as activities are performed on the farm.

Here I am helping bring in the new foal and mother. All I had to do was let the mother stay close to the foal while the farm manager  pushed/carried the foal in to the barn.

Becoming accustomed to people is part of a foals early training. Here Lee is petting the foal while the manager holds the mother.

This is the teasing. A stallion is brought over and introduced to each mare to see how she reacts. This is a young mare who has never been bred. She was not too sure what she thought, but she wasn’t completely opposed to him. Later she decided she wasn’t too keen and she turned and broke the fence with a kick! 

Here the exercise boy is giving the horse a gentle run around the track.

And we left for a another beautiful drive through horse country:

Woodbine Opry–a look at small town USA

From Hardeeville we booked it on down the road to Woodbine. We wanted to be there on time Saturday for the Woodbine Opry. We had no idea of what to expect, but we were certainly happily surprised. The Woodbine Opry was started as a way to save the old high school. While there is no entrance fee, there is a raffle and a 50-50 each night to raise money. The raffle is comprised of food items that the regulars donate. This night there was lots of cookies and cakes, some bags of fresh grapefruit (someone had been to Florida) and even some tea (maybe someone had been to Charleston?) The 50-50 resulted in someone going home with $281. Unfortunately we went home with just smiles!

The Opry is comprised of volunteer musicians from the area. Several were from Jacksonville, Florida. They were all very good instrument players, and some even had good singing voices! But the highlight for me was in watching and talking with the people. We thought we were getting there early, but in fact we almost didn’t get a seat. The place was packed! There was one gentleman who seemed to enjoy every fast dance – and he was 92! Then there was the gentleman with a disability (maybe advanced Parkinsons?) who danced almost every dance with different women all of whom had to hold him up to dance.  Another young man with Down’s Syndrome also danced every dance with many different women. And the couple sitting next to us had met at the Opry and were married just the past weekend…I think they were in their late 70’s. The love in the room was amazing!

 

We even got up and danced a few!  During intermission they put on the lights and asked the first timers to introduce themselves and tell where they were from. Where are we from…anywhere the wheels are stopped!

To see more about the Opry and even our picture on the newcomers page go to ….  www.woodbineopry.com

If you are ever in the area, the Opry should be a must do!

Hope your day was full of must do’s as well!

ps…We have very sketchy computer coverage. So I haven’t been able to post, comment, read, etc very much.  I miss you all and hope to get better coverage soon.

Also welcome to new readers Jeff and Sheryl!!!

Savannah–jewel of Georgia

From Charleston we drove south to the town of Hardeeville, Ga. The Hardeeville RV Park is a Passport America park. By staying there for a few days, I can save up some money before hitting the expensive parks of the Florida coast (at least I hope so!) Also from the Hardeeville Park it is a very easy drive into Savannah. Down a back road, over a very big bridge, take a left and park. No driving in the city at all. Once we were parked we opted to start with a  90 minute overview trolley tour.

Savannah is considered to be an urban masterpiece and America’s best walking city. It is 2.5 square miles and has over 2,000 historically significant colonial and Victorian homes and buildings, most of them completely restored.  Savannah was laid out in 1733 on a perfect grid by its founder, British general James Oglethorpe. The city is arranged around 21 one acre squares. Each square is now dedicated to someone from the past, and while each square has a statue of someone, the two names are seldom the same. So the Telfair square might have a statue to Franklin and the Pulaski square might have the statue of Telfair! Go figure!

 

At President Lincoln’s request, Savannah’s fabled architecture was spared burning during Sherman’s march to the sea in 1864. Thus there are many beautiful homes including these two called the Twin Ladies:

Savannah became rich on King Cotton and many mansions were built surrounding each square.

The original cotton exchange building on the waterfront.

 

 

 

 

After the trolley ride, we got out and walked around. We walked down to the waterfront. Today, as in the past, Savannah is a major shipping port with water access to many points north.

There are lots of tourist shops all along the water front:

 

This City Hall has a dome covered in gold mined from the Georgia mountains.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We ate lunch in a waterfront restaurant. It was Restaurant Week in Savannah so we were able to eat a fancy lunch for two for $20. Lee had crab cake and fries and I had tilapia and asparagus. We started with roasted mushroom soup and a side salad. A great lunch with no room for dessert.

 

After lunch we stopped at the First African Baptist Church. We missed the beginning of the tour, but joined in for the last few minutes.

Throughout the church’s lower level were these designs of holes. They were used as air holes for slaves escaping through the underground railroad. Today the church continues to be an important part of Savannah’s religious life.

And of course there was the requisite stop for afternoon coffee and dessert. This time we stopped at Paula Dean’s Lady and Sons restaurant. Lee ordered the Pecan Pie with Ice Cream and I had a mini Peach Cobbler. Both were incredible! In addition, one of the servers stopped by with johnnie cakes and cheese biscuits. I explained that we weren’t having lunch, just dessert and she said it was ok…they were free to anyone. So Lee put syrup on his johnnie cake and made an extra dessert! I asked if we could buy another biscuit and again she said ‘no, they were free and she would give me another one’. Great…now I had part of our dinner!

And then we tried to walk off some of the dessert!

We stopped at the tourist center which includes a very nice museum. Here is the bench used for Forrest Gump:

Another great tourist day ends as we drive back over the bridge and out of town.

Past swamp land:

And back to our peaceful spot at Hardeeville Campground:

Hope your day was interesting and your night peaceful!