Laura Turns 30 Today

Hard to believe my daughter Laura turns 30 today and hope she isn't too annoyed by the barrage of ecards I sent (think it was 5 or 6, with one being from Tiger and Molly).  Do wish I could be there to take her out to dinner and throw a crazy party for her.  Loved seeing her a couple weeks ago and her brother Tim.

Will be thinking of her all day and my dad too -- 26 years ago today he passed away and can only believe now that he had been thinking of her and that he had never met her in person -- chose to leave his wordly body and came to visit her and me that evening.  Still am sure he was there in spirit for her birthday and hope he visits her again this day.

Spent some time yesterday looking under the RV for those hydraulic valves for the levelling system -- one is still sticking in the partially raised/down position and was beeping all the way up here from Fiesta Key.  Did finally locate the valves and per the manual, tried to vent each of the four valves to allow the "spring return" to work but, nothing happened.  They were hard to get at and I looked like Tiger in the attached picture, only I was under the RV with my legs sticking out from under the front of the motorhome -- people walked by but, no one even stopped to ask what I was doing.  Life in a retirement community, I thought, would be more supportive and maybe friendly but, again, this is Pine Island still.

My search continues today too for that next stop on the Gulf Coast and it appears now that Siesta Key may not be on my dance card as Turtle Beach Campground still does not answer my calls and their message still says they have "No Vacancies" -- until when, who knows?  Tried another state park (Gary E. Moore RV Resort) in Santa Rosa, FL but, they indicated no sites available either -- just as well since it is over 9 hours drive from here.  Called Dunedin Carefree RV Resort and they are full until April 1st but, that would have been just 3 hours north of here and could have cut into that 9 hour trip to the panhandle of Florida.  Will be calling Vacation Village RV Park this morning to see if they have anything -- just west of Tampa.

I also made a trip to the nearest WalMart to get more things but, it only had groceries and no general merchandise -- like TurboTax, a bow saw (for those coconuts), or plastic drop cloths (one to cover the futon).  Did get some munchies and papas fritas are always on my list -- two bags this time.  Notice in the picture, the bags are about the same size but, the contents are only 8.5 oz in the bag on the left and 11 oz in the bag on the right.  Those 8.5 oz went quickly with a few beers yesterday afternoon.



Cat Grass Kit (WalMart special)



Sanibel Island is still on my mind too so, may go there again tomorrow or Thursday (if I can get that next stop on the coast lined up for another week).  Of special interest will be a restaurant called "The Green Flash" which is located on the waterfront at Captiva -- wonder if they guarantee the "flash" or if they have high percentage days they recommend or reserve??