Text Box:   SUNNY FLORIDA

Text Box: Smith Family Newsletter December 2008 - 1

Text Box: Well, here we are in sunny Florida, watching the rest of the country deal with snow, ice, torrential rain, and below freezing temps.  My sister says she is going to start following our lead, because we have been fortunate to follow the ‘good weather Karma!’…...or is it following us…..what ever!!!!!  It seems to be working for us so far! We all know what Seattle and the North West has been going through this Winter!  The weather really has been pleasant down here, sunny and in the mid 70’s to mid 80’s. That is about as high as I like it, with cool nights in the 50’s.   Well, lets look at some statistics for 2008.  We traveled 6,165 miles, compared to the 10,863 miles in 2007.  We visited 15 states, which is 3 less than last year.  We attended all four of the HR Chapter 400 Rally’s; Rayne, LA in Spring; and the pre-rally to the International in Hopkins, MI, the International Rally itself was in Goshen, IN. Fall in Manheim, PA and the Christmas Rally was in Arcadia, FL   My Bob is now the Vice President of the Chapter 400, as he was sworn in at the Pre-Rally in Hopkins.  Consequently we have been working on planning rally’s for his term as president.   Prior to Arcadia, FL, Bob & I stayed in the Tampa area at the military family campground on MacDill Air Force Base.  We really liked it there because every thing we needed or wanted was nearby and that included a beach right in the campground.  From here we went to Lake Placid, FL where we met up with Peg & Bill and together we moved on to Arcadia for the Christmas Rally.   I have had a similar experience here in Florida that I had in the Phoenix area last year.  My feelings toward Florida have changed for the better,  just as my feelings about Phoenix have become more positive.  It is the West Coast of Florida that I like the best.  It is less congested, and you see more of old Florida.  There is so much wild life down here.  Below is a sunset picture of the beach with birds at MacDill AFB base.            

Text Box: Well the main reason for coming to Florida was to join our HR 400 family for the Holiday.  We had a great time as always.  We had a little bit of everything going on during these days.  To celebrate Christmas itself, some members put on a version of The Christmas Story, with a modern twist.  Bob & I were not in it but really enjoyed the presentation, which was excellent.  We had some great food again of course, with a fair amount being cooked right in the club house.  Our group joined the RV park members for Christmas dinner which was so reasonable and delicious.  Apparently, there was a chef residing in the park, who orchestrated the preparation of the dinner. Yum!! Then there was the night time boat ride in Punta Gordo, along the Intracoastal waterway viewing all the many Christmas lights, which was another treat.  The beautiful homes and yachts  were really decked out!  Instead of having a gift exchange this year, we used that money to purchase needed canned goods for the local ‘food pantry’.  We also attended some planed tours, which included the Echo (Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization) center located in North Fort Myers, and  Solomon’s Castle, located in Ona. The Castle is a work in progress by the artist, Howard Solomon and open to the public.   Sometime before the Rally,  another chapter member  Rene and I talked about our common interest in T’ai Chi.  We made plans to practice during the Rally and  decided to ask if anyone wanted to join us.  Well, that turned out to be a winner!  On any given day, we had between 5 and 12 people participating with us.  In fact, we decided to continue to bring it into future rally’s.  Finally, we celebrated an anniversary, and some birthdays, and had some great 4 o’clocks as well.  Below is a picture of Bob & I at the Christmas dinner in Arcadia, FL.

Text Box: Smith Family Newsletter December 2008 - 2

Text Box: 2008 Christmas Rally Pictures