The new millennium finds The Rolling Home still in Florida looking for warm weather. On January 1, we left Okeechobee and the Ancient Oaks Rv resort and moved to Zolpho Springs. The Resort at Zolpho Springs is an Escapee Co-Op Park. While not a large park, the Resort does have a nice clubhouse, a heated pool and a large laundry room. As usual, only one phone line available for voice and internet access, so as you can imagine, there were almost always lines for this phone.
As a test of our resolve to cut campground expenses in 2001, we boondocked
for 10 days at the Resort. As with most SKP parks, the first night
was free. Total cost for our 10 day stay in Zolpho Springs was $20.
We installed two more 6 volt batteries in the coach to bring our total
house battery count to six. With our four solar panels and six house
batteries, we should be able to boondock in good weather for a long time
without running the generator. Unfortunately, in Zolpho we were parked
behind some large trees, so we only had direct sunlight until about 2 or
2:30 P.M. daily. This cut down our solar charging time and we had
to run the genset to make up the difference. It doesn't bother me
to run the genset, it just uses fuel. We also ran into some cool
weather at Zolpho Springs. The stuff on the ground next to our rig
is ice that came off the awning slide as I pulled it in.
We have not put fuel in the rig since November 9th when we were near Brunswick, Georgia. I had not intended to put more fuel in until we leave the Tampa area in early February, but 15 hours of genset time and an unplanned trip to Orlando brought the low fuel light on as we entered the State Fairgrounds on January 17th. Since having the low fuel warning light on is not a good thing, we put fuel in the rig yesterday. (January 21st) We managed to go 73 days without buying diesel fuel.
After we left Zolpho Springs, we trucked about 60 miles north to
Clermont and the Encore park on road 192 just east of U.S 27 and about
10 miles west of Disney. Rich and Diane Emond were there. We
quickly found them, got SKP hugs all around and made plans to go out to
dinner as all good RVers do. 
While we were in this park we received an email from Melanie and Wane Carlisle
from Lithia Springs, GA near Atlanta. They have been following both
The Rolling Home and Roaming America websites and wanted to send a note
to us and the Emonds. Since we were close to their travel path, we
both emailed them back and invited them to stop and visit. One evening
they did! We sat outside under the awning and spent several hours
talking with Melanie and Wane. Nice folks and only about seven years
from their own full time adventure.
We also drove up to Leesburg, Fl. and visited with J.W. and Vassie Roberts,
who were at the Y2K party in Harlingen last year. J.W. has recovered
nicely from his heart surgery last year and both are very active in the
community where they now live. We spent the day with the Roberts
who took us to lunch near Mt. Dora. It was nice to see them and especially
nice for us and the Emonds to be able to sit outdoors at a restaurant and
enjoy their company in the warm sun. 
While in Clermont, we drove over to Downtown Disney to see movies
at the Pleasure Island complex. We saw on four consecutive days,
Traffic, (we were not impressed,) Miss Congeniality, (funny) Brother, Oh
Brother (funny, but started slow) and 13 Days, (a must see, especially
for those of us who remember the Cuban Missile Crisis).
We saw the Clooney movie with Rich and Diane Emond and then went
to Gloria Estavan's restaurant at Downtown Disney for dinner. It
was ok, but I've had much better Cuban food in the small restaurants that
dot southeast Florida.
On Wednesday, 17th, we got up early and left for the Florida Super Rally and RV show at the State Fairgrounds in Tampa. This long journey covered 58 miles and we arrived about 9:30 a.m. Now you must understand how much of a stretch is is for Libby and me to be up and about and actually drive somewhere to arrive at that time. Many times in our 18 months of fulltiming we have just been getting up at 9:30!
We rolled into the main entrance of the fairgrounds only to be told
we were at the wrong gate for the rally. After buttering up the sides
of our coaches, we got through the gate, turned around and went all the
way to the other side of the fairgrounds to the rally entrance. We
had to pull off into a field and unhook the toad and then the rally staff
took us to our parking spots. As we pulled in, we saw Don, Liane
and Tommy Holder parked not too far from us. We had a SKP reunion (hugs
all around) and then headed over to the show to see if we could find Dirk
Harrington.
Dirk is a cyberfriend who started e-mailing with me about a year
ago. We sent him to Don and Liane since they are retired from Bell
Atlantic/Verizon and that is Dirk's employer. We also sent him to
Rich Emond as he is interested in the Dutch Star and the Emonds drive that
particular rig. We were trying to decide what he should look like.
Liane and Don described him, since they met at the Harrisburg PA show last
summer. Libby looked up and said "there he is" and sure enough, it
was. I guess us ex Bell folks can just tell one another by sight.
We were looking for a sunscreen to hang on our awning and one of the vendors near us was selling them. We approached this couple and listened to their pitch. They appeared to have a nice product, but it was selling for about $50 more than we had heard a vendor in Okeechobee was selling them for. Libby pointed this out to the guy, expecting him to sell us on the added value of his product as opposed to the other guy. Instead, he started yelling at her, telling her that he had no competition, didn't do this for the money and that she should just leave his booth. Libby told him that he was very unprofessional and wished him a good day and we left. If I could remember the name of the company, I would post it, but I guess it doesn't really matter. After all the years the two of us were in sales, we were simply amazed at his attitude. By the way, the guy who was selling in Okeechobee was at the show, his screens were $50 less and came with more grommets and fasteners. The Emonds bought one from this guy. I guess the first fellow did have some competition after all.
We really enjoyed the SuperRally. There were over 900 rigs there on display according to the TV. We went into a very small travel trailer called Oxygen and also looked at a 1.3 million dollar Prevost. One of the high line rigs had a staircase into the basement where there was a playroom for the kids. There were rigs with fireplaces ( a total waste of money and space) and two bedroom fivers. We were in a Beaver that had a bath and a half and another high line coach that had a spiral staircase at the entrance. As usual, there were a number of really stupid designs. One class A had a staircase that got very narrow at the top. My size 12 shoes would surely get caught and cause me to fall out on my head. Another had a TV that protruded so far into the staircase that I hit my shoulder on the way in and a short lady behind me banged her head. That same coach had a TV in the bedroom slide that protruded out into the room and it was pretty obvious that when the slide was retracted, it would cover the doorway into the bedroom. A third one had an L shaped couch in a very nice living area, but the couch appeared to block the way to the rear of the coach in a retracted position. I often wonder if the folks who design rigs ever spend a night in them.
On Friday, the Emonds, Holders and Dirk Harrington along with us, went to the Parksdale Farm Market near Plant City. These folks are famous for their strawberry shortcake. In fact, there is a picture of Ws father eating there when he was President. Not to be outdone, we all had some form of strawberry shortcake and Libby made me pose with the crown and giant shortcake prop. I just want you all to recognize what a good sport I am to put this last pic on the website!
On the other hand, we went over to Lazy Days on Saturday. They had a prototype coach there and the factory reps were asking us if we liked the features, what we would change, did the design give us any heartburn? It is refreshing to see them looking for input from the consumer. Winnebago is good at this and I guess a few other builders have figured out that it would be nice to ask those of us who really use the rigs what they should look like.
In the show vendor building we ran into a lady who owns and manages the Eagles Rest RV park in Valdez, Alaska. When we walked up to her booth, she looked at us and said "you guys look familiar". Yes, we spent a week with them last June. We also looked up once and there was Chuck, the manager of the Nottely RV Park in Blairsville, GA. He winters in Tampa and was working security for the show. We also ran into our old friends Joe and Nita who show and sell air ride hitches and spray on liners for MDTs. We first met them at Rainbow's End in 1999 and again at the Rainbow Plantation in Alabama in December 1999. We saw them at the Goshen Escapade last fall in Indiana and now here in Tampa. We found out that they are registered for the Life On Wheels conference in Moscow, Idaho in July. We are also going there along with the Emonds, the Paynes and the Hammonds. Small world!
The show was over on Sunday and we packed up and moved about 35 miles to our daughter's driveway in St. Petersburg. We are boondocked here until Thursday the 25th. We spent four days spoiling the grandtwins and loved every minute of it.
While parked in the driveway in St. Petersburg, I built an entertainment unit/bookshelf for our daughter and her husband. Luckily for me, she changed her mind about removing a wall in the house, so I didn't get involved in demolition! Libby, on the other hand, became the favorite person for our grandson Nathan. Before we left, only she could hold his hand when we went someplace, remove him from the car seat, change a diaper when they had them on (potty training is in progress), tie a shoe etc. His favorite saying by the end of our stay was "NO Granna do it!" Lucky her.
On Thursday, the 25th, we moved back to the Encore park at exit 9
in I-4 just east of Lazy Days. 
This is a Good Neighbor Park and we have stayed here several times.
Our friends the Holders were in one section of this park, just around the
corner from us, so we went to dinner and lunch with them several times.
On Sunday, we went to breakfast with them as we may not see them for a
long time.
Libby's brother lives just about 10 minutes from the park, so we visited with Hal and his wife Nancy several times. He is still recovering from his surgery of January 2, and isn't running any marathons, but is doing better. I hung a couple of blinds for them since they just moved into this new home around Christmas and of course, Hal cannot do any lifting or heavy work yet.
On Monday, the 29th, we drove over to Polk City, about 30 miles east of us, and toured an RV community called Mt. Olive Shores North. This is one of those RV places where every house has an RV port. You can purchase a lot and build a pad to park your class A on, but any other kind of RV must be housed in a port. Most of the residents have built a small house with the RV port as an integral part of the structure. It appeals to us and we may investigate it further when we come to Florida to visit next fall. We certainly are not ready to settle down, but it would be a good place to winter and have in our pocket for that day in the far future when we decide not to travel all the time. After all, the land won't get any cheaper.
As the month comes to a close, I have been reflecting on how quickly these months in Florida have passed. We came into Florida on November 9th and will be heading out in about two weeks. Everyone who is retired tells you that they don't know where the time goes or how they got everything done when they were working. We understand this completely now!
Thursday morning, February 1, we have an appointment at Lazy Days to get a defective jack replaced and then we will be staying at the Rally Park at Lazy Days for the Discovery Owners Association rally for the next four days.
Nest month, FMCA in Brooksville, maybe Crystal River, a visit with Mark Nemith, Summerdale, Alabama, Livingston, Texas and traveling west with the Emonds to Arizona.
John and Libby
Diesel Fuel for January $126.67 (our first fuel
purchase since November 9)
Camping fees for January $235.
Overview of 2000 Average fuel cost per month
Just under $300
High month July $607.49 coming back from Alaska
Low Month $0 December and October
Average Parking fees per month Just under $400.
High month $522 December in Okeechobee
Low Month $288.60 April
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