Text Box:   A Three Year Anniversary Visit!

Text Box: Smith Family Newsletter November 2008

Text Box: Well, this really has been a slow news month, no kidding!  I probably will have trouble filling up one page.  Bob & I ended October and began November at Briarcliffe in Myrtle Beach.  When we left, Paul & Angie were still there and expected to be there until they get ready to leave for the Chapter 400 Christmas Rally in Arcadia, FL. I left Angie in charge of feeding ‘Nicky’, the park’s resident stray cat.  I had bought a dish and some food for her, which I passed on to Angie.  Nicky is cute and so friendly.  She knows just how to ‘work us’ and is in no danger of going hungry. I would have adopted her, but my two spoiled lions would not have made life easy for her or us.  Leaving South Carolina, we headed for Seffner, Florida and Lazy Days.  No, we did not trade in our motor home!  This past November was the third anniversary of purchasing our ‘06 Imperial.  Our ‘Crown Club Membership’ would expire at the end of November and we still had quite a few ‘free coupons’ for the Rally Park.  This decision was a ‘no brainer’.  We were there for eighteen days, with free food and free camping.  On top of that we bumped into Russ & Kathy, a couple we met when we were there three years ago.  It was great seeing them again.  We spent a good amount of time together,  looking at the new motor homes, enjoying ’happy hour’ and just talking. Early in our stay we took the jeep and visited the MacDill Air Force Base RV Park.  This resulted  in our moving the coach there after leaving Lazy Days.  Finally, we would never stop at Lazy Days without  stopping  in to see our Salesman, Demond McKinley, and chatting for a while.  Over all this was a relaxing, fun  experience!      

Text Box: After squeezing the very last day out of the Crown Club Membership, Bob & I moved all of 30 miles to Raccoon Creek Recreation Area and Camp Ground at   MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa.  We had not been here before, other than a brief day visit and were pleasantly surprised at what we found.  We hope to definitely come back here again and probably stay longer.  It is located on a peninsula, jutting out into Tama Bay.  There is a nice beach, marina, walking paths, a golf course, and close to almost anything one might want to do.  Our plan was to spend two weeks here before moving on to Lake Placid, FL for a week and finally Arcadia, FL for our Christmas Rally.  The sunsets are beautiful on a clear night which you can see below, and wildlife is abundant. From the base, it is an easy drive to either St. Petersburg or Tampa. We also drove to the Gulf Coast and found a great little Park which had tons of seashells, many of which were unbroken.  I took a picture of a ‘Pirate Ship’ coming out of the bay and a brown Pelican patiently waiting for an easy lunch!  Our stay was peaceful, except for the sound of ‘reveille’ at 7:00 AM each day.