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On Sunday, January 5th we left Clarcona Horse Park at noon and drove to Trimble Park in Mt. Dora, Florida for a 12-night stay. We arrived at 1:30 pm and thought we would have to wait until their 3 pm check-in time, but they graciously let us in early.
Our site was a pull-through with water and electric…and a tight fit. Thankfully, we had driven up here a couple of weeks ago and checked out the site so we knew what to expect. It took us about 45 minutes just to correctly position Nomad so that the slide-outs did not hit trees or 4×4 posts around the power pedestal and water faucet. It was a lot of back and forth and some tense words over the walkie-talkies, but we got it done.
After getting set up we hiked part of the nature trail at the park as part of Bella’s afternoon walk.
Trimble Park
Trimble Park is a 71-acre Orange County Park with 15 RV campsites and an area for group or tent camping. As you can see from the map in the photo album, the park itself is a “spit” of land that extends into, and more or less divides, Lake Beauclair and Lake Carlton. Both are beautiful bodies of water that are teeming with various waterfowl, fish, snakes, and alligators. There is a nice nature trail that runs both along the edge of and through the park property, as well as a boardwalk through some of the “wetter” portions at the edges of the lakes.
This is another park that Cindy found when scrambling to find us places to stay after Hillsborough River State Park had to cancel our reservation due to severe damage from Hurricanes Helene and Milton. I’ve mentioned previously that it is no small feat to find a place to RV camp in Florida in the Winter months. Cindy did a great job in making sure we didn’t have to go too far out of the area.
These 12 nights, when we expected to be in the Tampa area, gave us a chance to have some extra time with our kids and grandkids, but also to visit with some friends we hadn’t seen in a while, some more than two years. So there was a bright side to the cancellation.
Lunch With Ann
Monday I drove to meet Ann for lunch in Maitland, which was about halfway between each of us. We had an enjoyable father’s/daughter time and a good meal. Before we knew it, it was over. Much too soon. That night, Cindy and I watched “A Quiet Place – Day One” and since she hadn’t seen the first two “A Quiet Place” movies (which actually happen AFTER “A Quiet Place- Day One”) it gave her a chance to start from the beginning. She liked it and we’ll have to watch the other two movies at some point.
Mobile RV Tech
Tuesday we had a mobile RV tech come out to attempt to fix the problem we were having with our toilet. As I suspected, the toilet would have to be removed to even attempt to make repairs to the flush controller, and that was something I did not want to try. After about an hour of working on the flush controller portion, he advised me to get a new toilet instead of paying him to keep trying to fix something that did not want to be fixed. Fair enough.
Nomad is what is classified as a “lightweight” travel trailer meaning the materials and fixtures are all “lightweight” which is great for gas mileage when you’re towing it. Our toilet is plastic and we always knew that if we ever had to replace it we would do so with a porcelain fixture instead. After the mobile tech and his wife called around pricing toilets we settled on the Dometic 310. We placed the order and expected delivery to the mobile tech on Thursday. In the meantime he put our old toilet back in and we returned to putting water in manually for the next few days as we had already been doing
Trail Terror
Wednesday the 8th we spent most of the morning hiking the entire trail and boardwalk around and through the park. At one point we were walking side-by-side with Bella in the lead. The trail was narrow, but not VERY narrow…in normal circumstances.
Suddenly, from a bush on Cindy’s right, something ran out from under the bush in a flash toward her. She screamed and backpedaled. At the same time, I had seen the blur of something, and saw her jump back, but I was already in mid-step and my right foot came down on something. I honestly thought the blur I had seen was a snake, but when I looked down at my foot I didn’t see anything. I stepped forward to put space between whatever it was and Bella (since Cindy was already several feet behind me) and when I looked down there was a field mouse spasming on the ground. I guess I had broken its neck or damaged its head/brain when I stepped on it.
When Cindy saw it was a mouse she was even more freaked out. If we haven’t mentioned it before, Cindy and mice do not mix well.
I kicked it into the bushes on the left side of the trail so Cindy would move forward and after some hesitation on her part we continued our hike. Now she was watching the edges of the trail like a hawk for any signs of another mouse, which we never saw. But, as I pointed out to her, you have to wonder what was under the bush on her right that scared the mouse so much it was willing to dart out in front of two people and a dog.
Other than that little upset, we enjoyed the hike and got to see both Lake Beauclair and Lake Carlton as we hiked around.
Michelle and Rhonda
Thursday we met our friends Michelle and Rhonda at the Red Robin in West Kissimmee near Disney World. We hadn’t seen these ladies since our visit two years ago, so it was nice to catch up in person rather than online.
We’ve known Michelle and Rhonda for more than a quarter of a century, having first met while I was blogging for the Chicago Tribune and Michelle was writing travel guides for Frommer’s, when Arthur Frommer was speaking at the Orange County Library in Orlando. Michelle now owns and runs the CitySurfingOrlando website and I always say that if you want to know what is happening in Central Florida activity-wise, then CitySurfingOrlando is the place to check. I’ve had the honor, though it HAS been a while due to work and then retirement, of contributing several articles and interviews for Michelle over the years and always enjoyed the times we worked together.
Rhonda recently retired from The Mouse after many years of helping guests at Disney. She knows what proper customer service looks like and wasn’t afraid to demand such from our Red Robin server, lol! She and Michelle have been like “sisters from two different mothers” for as long as we’ve known them and I have always admired their enduring friendship.
So, it was especially good to see them in person after such a long time. I hope we don’t let another two years go by before seeing each other again.
A New Toilet and More Friends
Friday, January 10th our mobile RV tech showed up at 9 am with our new toilet and had it installed by 10 am. He also put in an in-line cut-off switch I wanted in our bathroom water line so that if I ever need to service this toilet I won’t have to shut off all the water to do so. We were pleased with the service and left a nice review on his webpage recommending him if anyone in the area needs a mobile RV tech.
After the mobile RV tech left and we finished playing with our new porcelain toilet and its fancy side-pedal foot flush, we drove over to Lake Mary so Cindy could enjoy lunch with her friend Judith at a place called Jax Fifth Avenue Deli and Ale House. From what I hear they had their usual good time. And I’m pretty sure I had lunch here many years ago with some work colleagues. It may not have been called what it is now, but it was the same location.
Saturday we drove to Miller Ale House in Altamonte Springs so Cindy could have lunch with her former Disney colleague and friend, Liz. Liz is another person Cindy hadn’t seen since our visit two years ago, so this was another chance to catch up in person with a longtime friend. I’ve known Liz since shortly after Cindy and I met when Cindy introduced us to each other when I was a bouncer and DJ at the club they went to to blow off steam after working all week at The Mouse.
Happy Birthday to The Bestest Brother
Sunday, January 12th, we drove down to Tampa to take my brother Mark, his wife and daughter to lunch to celebrate his birthday earlier in the month. What a delightful surprise it was to walk in to my brother’s home and see Scott, his best friend since high school, was also visiting. I haven’t seen Scott since my brother’s wedding 40 years ago, so it was a real treat to find him there as well.
We all went out to a local Mexican restaurant my brother favors and had a wonderful time seeing him, his family, and getting to catch up with Scott. We also had fun when the restaurant staff helped us celebrate Mark’s birthday by placing a sombrero on his head and singing a Mexican birthday song to him. Watch the video and you’ll laugh with us!
Monday, Cindy and I started streaming “Modern Family” because we needed some laughs to combat this dreary state we’re currently in. There are probably only three comedy TV series that I truly find funny; “WKRP in Cincinnati”, “The Big Bang Theory” and “Modern Family.” Make of that what you will. Since we watched “The Big Bang Theory” on DVD last year and you can’t stream OR watch “WKRP in Cincinnati” on DVD, we decided to get our laughs with “Modern Family” this year.
We may even have to watch it twice.
Portillo’s with Friends
Wednesday night we had our last dinner (of this visit) with Kirk, Laura and Laura’s mom Royda at Portillo’s. Cindy and I had never heard of or been to Portillo’s, so it was a first for us and we enjoyed it. We’ll be seeing Royda in August when we visit Michigan for the first time. Hopefully, if the plans work out, Kirk and Laura will come up and join us as well and that will be a lot of fun.
Goodbye to Family
Thursday we said our (maybe) final goodbyes to family in Orlando for this trip. First we stopped by Ann’s to say goodbye to her and our two oldest grandchildren and get some final photos. Mikey doesn’t like to have his photo online so we respect his wishes and do not include him in the photos we post, but we definitely have him in the photos we keep for ourselves.
Then we dropped off a final tub of things at the storage room we weren’t taking with us on this year’s trip. After that it was a trip to Costco to stock up on some things we WERE taking with us. And finally we stopped by Amber’s to say goodbye to her and Abby and get some final photos with them. Then it was a long drive back to Trimble and we’re always a little somber when our time in Orlando comes to an end. Even though Cindy probably talks to Amber at least twice a day and I stay in touch with Ann while we’re traveling, the end of our personal visits with them and our grandchildren is always a bit sad.
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Always a great day for me and always way too short!
Likewise!
I am SO HAPPY you have an email notification now that I am no longer on social media. I hate missing your posts. Uncle Mark looked FABULOUS with the sombrero hahaha. I am happy you got to see so many old friends. Also me, I am happy you got to see me. <3
Thanks for signing up! I am happy I got to see you too 🙂
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