MFW Go to a Horse Race

Thursday-Sunday, May 18-21, 2017
I managed to get in my pool time for exercise early so it wouldn't interfere with our projected leaving time of 11:00 so we could arrive at the Wilderness RV Park in Silver Springs by 1:00 in time for the start of the May Mid Florida Winnies campout.  In fact, Dave and Donna Rumrill arrived just in front of us along with Barbie Shaffer in her motorhome.

We ran the generator all morning to get it cooled down inside since this 95 degree weather is tough to keep out of a house on wheels.  We continued to run it on our trip up so that we'd arrive with a cool camper.  Thank goodness we did cause then we ran into problems.  Ken plugged us in and it wouldn't work.  After fussing for over an hour he went searching for Jeff, our president, to see if Tom Zopff had arrived.  He had and was able to come over and use his mechanical skills to get our electricity working.  But we will now have to have service to get it fixed when we return as we've burned out the internal transfer switch - surge surpresser.  (This is the same thing that happened to us on a very very hot day in Chattanooga when we were traveling with our grandsons Reilly and Jason - that time we ended up in a motel for two nights)

By the time this was all done it was time for Happy Hour and our first chance to see everyone in one place.  Members of  two other clubs also joined us so we had 30 coaches all together - a good sized group for May.  The place was buzzing.  There was more high energy than usual because nine coaches of members are leaving from here to begin the trek to Alaska for a caravan there with Dave and Donna Rumrill acting as hosts.  (Below is a picture of five of the couples at their first stop Swanee State Park in Florida - they are enjoying dinner together)

They have been working together trying to arrange to travel together and see loads of things before reaching Alaska.  They had quite an itinerary.

Following Happy Hour, we joined 5 other couples for dinner at Miller's Ale House in Ocala.  Luckily Bob Christian had called ahead cause the place was extremely full but they had a spot for us at a high table.

Friday morning I joined Donna and Barbie at the pool for an hour of exercise and conversation.  The pool itself was probably double the size of the one we have here at Hillcrest with a beautiful garden and water feature waterfall at one end of it.  Yet despite the size of the campground, only 3 others were in the water giving us loads of space.

Afterwards, Ken and I drove into Ocala to a Dollar Tree to find items for me to make a "derby"hat for the competition that was taking place on Saturday.  Off and on rain had started as I returned to the RV from swimming so we took advantage of that kind of weather to not only do that but stop at a Loewes to look at their ceiling fans since we are needing new ones.

Again we returned in time for Happy Hour taking our utensils for dinner with us so we wouldn't have to walk back in rain.  After our dinner we played a fun game of Nickles at our table there were two different groups playing.  I won one of the games getting enough nickles so I could play three more and still go home with 3 more than I started with.

Saturday, following our morning breakfast with the group and MFW meeting, I returned to the pool but didn't last as long cause it was feeling very hot in the noon sun. Besides, Ken and I wanted to go to the Silver Springs State Park

and take the glass bottom boat ride.

 Unfortunately we ended up with a very bad guide and a group with a large number of children that were extremely noisy so we really couldn't hear anything the guide was saying in a low monotone.  But it was fun to get out on the water and see some of the springs.  They were easy to spot as the water was a turquoise shade whereever they were.

It was very clear water sometimes down to a depth of 90 feet,  We could see all the caves that the water was coming from as well as some of the fish in the area.

 On top of that, we got to see an alligator swimming across in front of us,

"snake" birds diving for food,

ducks, and turtles,

There were many people out kayaking or slowly moving around in little boats all just enjoying the hot summer day.

Following our ride we walked around the garden and wildlife area reading the signs and enjoying the views.

It has been probably 30 years since we've been there.  Unfortunately the private owner of the place went bankrupt and it sat unattended for a bit before the state took it over so it really is just now beginning to recover.

There are many paths for hiking within the park as well as a campground.

The heat and humidity kept us from staying very long besides which fact I needed to get back and make the salad for the evening meal as well as finish putting my hat together

before heading to Happy Hour/hat contest/conversation/dinner/horse race.

One of the first things on the agenda at the hall was the hat contest.  The theme for the weekend

was horse racing - the Preakness was actually going to take place later in the evening though we would be into our own races by then.

One of the workers at the campground acted as judge for the "derby"hats.  Everyone walked by her with their given number signs in hand.

The winners were announced and given a decorated bottle of wine.

Then all of us posed for a picture

Meanwhile most everyone was enjoying a mint julep and snacks that included these cookies created by Susan Kiefer.

Larry Deland had created this jockey cut out for the guys to pose behind

Here are Barb and John Trent - she has the mint julep in her hand

Following dinner,("Seabiscuit" -name of a race horse - subs and "cow" chips)we did a bit of betting and horse racing using this board and horses that Larry also created. He threw dice and the horses were moved forward to the pencil marks along the side according to what the dice were like 4 and 6.

Ken bet on horse #6 in the first race and it won giving him $6.  He decided to quit while he was ahead. :-)

 In the shot below you can see the bidders rooting on their horses as well as the blue ribbon table decorations for the weekend.

We picked up several new members including Ken and Mary Ann Long who live at Legacy in Leesburg where Sally Hungerford is.  They had just purchased a Winnebago and were staying at Wilderness.  They noticed lots of Winnebagos and ended up talking with the Rumrills eager to find out why.  They were invited to our activities and by the end of the weekend were fun participants in the club.  

All in all, it was a great weekend and a wonderful ending to our 2016-17 season.  They will begin meeting again in September though at this point it looks like it might be December before we make it again.