March 14 - 17, 2011 Umatilla, Umatilla, Umatilla, Um—-Uh, oh.

Florida is beautiful and comfortable this time of year and we have a wonderful drive to our new location of Umatilla, and the Olde Mill Stream RV Park.

This is a good-sized park with most of the spots owned by snowbirds. It faces on a large lake and the county has many other lakes also surrounded by green grass. Our park used to be orange groves but after several hard freezes in the 1980s the owner decided to turn it into a campground.

We “follow the yellow line” to the rally corner, which turns out to be excellent for our purposes, although we will have to use dump stations as this area does not have sewer connections. What it does have is a large meeting and kitchen area – perfect because tonight we are having one of the few group meals the caravaners prepare, and it is our turn to do the work (along with three other couples). Marcia does her great lemon chicken and Elain does her famous jello salad and all the caravaners go home happy and full.

March 14 - 15, 2011 Going to the birds…

This has not been an event-free caravan.

Gracie, our co-leader, fell and cracked a bone the day prior to the start of this caravan and is on crutches for the duration. She hopes to be off crutches for their Newfoundland caravan this summer, the final of their illustrious post-career lives as unpaid caravan developers and leaders for WBCCI.

Then Deanna found she could not get over an infection and she and Tom decided they needed to go home. Her situation wasn’t made any easier by having to monitor the insulin levels of their diabetic dog Rocky, including administering daily shots.

Then Al and Pat had a minor collision with Dave and Sue’s motor home, breaking two trailer windows and the rearview mirror on the motor home. These windows are safety glass so when a one breaks you are left with lots of broken glass and a large opening. They were unable to replace the windows on the road and drove with plastic bags duck-taped to the openings.

Ken became sick on the cruise, and soon after others from the cruise began coming down with congestive problems and fevers. Then non-cruise people also became ill.

Al and Pat became ill. Then, I’m not clear how; Al and Pat lost a third trailer window. They decided to drop out of the caravan.

While driving to Umatilla Frank head a small noise that he dismissed but on arrival discovered bird-strikes are a problem even if you are not an airplane. This one left a calling card – a brown feather, possibly from a turkey, stuck in the a seam of the now-dented front end of Frank’s trailer. The dent is deep enough to have distorted the ceiling inside, but duck-tape should hold things until the end of the trip.

Then Herbert, a school superintendent in his working years, and his wife VJ dropped out unable to get over their flu. They were followed by Howard and Heather deciding they could not get better on the caravan.

Elain, Marcia and Maryann in Mount Dora.

John, Cam, and Tom in front of the Lakeside Inn.

The porch of the Lakeside Inn--seconds to disaster.

That evening, the Two-Sues reaffirm their friendship.

On our second day in Umatilla we go to the nearby resort community of Mount Dora (maximum elevation: 183 feet).

As we enter the old Lakeside Inn for a group lunch SueW slips on the steps and falls backward, her camera flying from her hand and striking SueB on the forehead. Two people down. SueW (she also had the rearview mirror problem) is sore and scrapped but otherwise fine (and her mirror has been repaired). SueB’s cut bleeds profusely and the Inn calls 9-1-1. She later gets 8 stitches but is doing fine. While administering to the two Sues we realize Kathy is now down; she seems OK but has not recovered from the ship-flu and apparently experienced a low blood pressure situation while seeing the Two-Sues Disaster. (We think the venerable Lakeside Inn, which has hosted at least three presidents in its time, at this point is glad to have our group move on. Not good for business with three people down and paramedics at the door.  We notice they charge the caravan for the lunches the Two-Sues never get to eat.)

Marcia and I are doing just fine.

March 16, 2011   We check out the Florida Carriage Museum and The Villages “over 55” development

For want of anything better to do, several of us today visit the Florida Carriage Museum and Resort in Weirsdale, a very rural part of Florida.

We have a good time as hopefully reflected in the pictures.

Dress chariot used by Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria.

A Hummer transformed to a horse-drawn carriage.

This carriage contained a hidden potty.

Sharp points along the backside keep street urchins from hitching rides.

This unusual long-haired donkey has a miniature pony named Gracie as a friend.

Citrus trees intermingle with pines.  Perhaps after the '80s freezes the owner decided to replant with pines.

“Founded in 1995 by entrepreneur and philanthropist, Gloria Austin, the Florida Carriage Museum & Resort is a carriage museum, driving, riding, and education center, equine resort and home to the not-for-profit 501(c)(3) Equine Heritage Institute, Inc.” (Their website. She used to be married to the guy that founded Paychex, where she also worked.)

Afterwards, the six of us visit the retirement community of The Villages, well known in Florida.

Our two vehicles become separated so Marcia and I investigate on our own. (Later we found Kathy, Larry, Bob and Elaine were more skillful in dealing with their salesman. It took us are least a half-hour more to win our freedom.)

The Villages began more than 40 years ago and now has over 70,000 residents. Although the architecture, size, and amenities differ somewhat from the familiar Sun City developments, the idea is the same: motivated people over 55 buy a home in a gated community and in return hopefully gain instant friends with similar interests, and a support structure. We hope we heard the salesman wrong, but it seemed like he said they have 29 golf courses, although according to him the number one interest is bowling (we didn’t notice any lanes, but surely they are here) and the second is pickleball. (We wonder if he meant billiards instead of bowling.)

Golf carts are used for golf and general transportation along with cars, and the main streets are crowded. They have nice medical and retail centers, and live free music every afternoon in the three town centers.

The three development areas are gated and can’t be viewed without a salesman, but we were able to drive through the oldest area (looks like refurbished off-base Navy housing) and could look across golf courses at the newer area (looked a lot better). Prices range from $150,000 for 1627 square feet to over $400,000 for over 3100 square feet. Additionally, you owe an amenities fee of $135/month and your share of a development bond that ranges from $97 to $448/month.

We stop at a Johnny Rockets for cool drinks and watch the people walking and carting by, a number with grandchildren in tow. There are many middlebrow chain restaurants and a Starbucks. They have a Fidelity center (as well as other brokerages) and I was able to pay some bills. But we aren’t buying.

Larry, Gary, Bob and Donna harmonize, sort-of.

Donna and Harold find you can dance to it.

We end the day with a professional.

That night we attend a one-man music concert by Cahal Dunne in the main park clubhouse. The biggest kegger I’ve attended since college. Hundreds of seniors, each paying $10 for the entertainment and unlimited potato chips and beer. Dunne is from Ireland and looks a little like Conan; he now lives in Philadelphia. He was one of the acts at our Sarasota rally and his comedic patter, singing, and music playing is good but it has to be a rough way to make a living.