Last I wrote here, we were just finishing up our stay near the Sturgis, South Dakota motorcycle rally which was August 1st through August 10 of this year. I flew back to Seattle for some more medical needs right after the end of the rally, and that caused our stay in the Sturgis area to extend until I got back, plus a couple of days, to the 29th of August. The park that we stayed at near Sturgis pretty much closes up entirely at the end of the bike rally on the 10th, so we moved nearby to Spearfish for the remaining 2 1/2 weeks before the 29th.

From Spearfish, we started our trek toward Florida by traveling around 250 miles to Sioux City Iowa. That 250 miles we would try to duplicate another nine times as we stayed for about six or seven days each in Merriam Kansas, Camdenton Missouri, Horseshoe Bend Arkansas, Marion Arkansas, Hillsborough Alabama, Hope Hull Alabama, Perry Florida, and finally arriving at Palm Harbor on October 15. Took a few pictures and videos along the way, please see the photos and videos pages for some highlights.

The biggest destination we had on our way to Florida was at Camdenton, Missouri, which is right at Lake of the Ozarks. We learned about another motorcycle rally that would last from September 10 through the 14th. Lake Ozark is about a 10 mile ride from our RV park stay in Camdenton. We learned about this rally from Leo, the fellow who did all of our tattoos in Sturgis. As it turned out, we weren't able to get together with Leo for various reasons, but we enjoyed our stay near Lake Ozark. The rally is a small fraction of what we saw in Sturgis, but we still had a ball. Zillions of places to visit, eat, browse souvenirs, and just generally enjoy the festivities. There's a Harley-Davidson dealership just outside of town, so of course that was a delightful zoo pretty much eery day! Temperatures remained comfortable or warmer for the entire day, probably between 85° and 90° nearly every day.

The only other thing worth mentioning is we finally did one day of Boondocking in Marion, Arkansas, as our RV stay there couldn't be accommodated beyond September 27, but our next stop in Hillsborough Alabama couldn't accommodate us until the 28th. So we stayed in a HUGE parking lot at the Southland Casino Hotel in Marion Arkansas. They have a portion of one of their huge parking lots at the casino that's dedicated to overnight RV stays. No hook ups, of course, but it was fun to have our first experience at Boondocking. Neighbors were friendly and from what we could gather, were there for several days most of them. The parking lot probably could’ve accommodated 60 or 70 large RVs and their trailers, but we were one of probably about 20. And looking back at my pictures, I can't believe I don't have any from that stay. Curious, because I have vivid recollections of taking a bunch to memorialize that event.

Since we got to Palm Harbor about six weeks ago, we've pretty much enjoyed family, a few around and about activities, and neighbors here at the RV park. This RV park seems to be like none other we've stayed in. There's probably only 50 or 60 slots here, but nearly all of them are filled with folks who come down every year, and have for 15+ years, and stay for the winter into early spring. They have a tremendous amount of activities, and people really get involved and become friends as well as neighbors. Every Tuesday morning there's an hour meeting or so where various activities are reported on, including weekly bowling, weekly golf outing, weekly bingo, two or three gatherings for playing cards, suggestions of upcoming events in the area, and so forth. There's usually about 30 or so people at each of the meetings, and the part provides coffee and morning donut related snacks for everybody.

Since our arrival, we went to the Florida aquarium for a day, Venice Beach for a day, and a dolphin boat tour for a day. Between those outings that didn’t have anything to do with the RV park, plus others that DO have to do with the RV park as mentioned above, we have something to do at least three times a week. And that seems to be growing as we make more friends here at the park. Oh yes, and every other Wednesday is a friendly cornhole competition for whoever turns out. The first episode of this season was last week, where I was lucky to be teamed with someone who was pretty good, and we came away with the win for the day. No trophies… Just good fun! It was about 80° by the time we finished, and everyone was glad to get out of the sun where we had virtually zero wind!

As I type these keystrokes on Saturday, November 29, two days ago was Thanksgiving, and the RV park puts on a huge gathering for whoever wants to arrive and dine. The sign-up sheet had something like 30 folks, each of them bringing their favorite Thanksgiving related dish to prepare. We volunteered to take care of one of the turkeys, Gloria made her famous asparagus recipe, and the feasting table must have had the largest spread I've ever seen. Salads galore, turkey galore, stuffing, cranberry sauce, macaroni and cheese, it went on and on. Some public thank you's were made, and we went home with several pieces of leftover pie! I'll see if I can get Gloria to send me some photos she took of of the festivities and put them on the photo page. She's out as I type these keystrokes, so I'll endeavor to remember to ask her to do that!

Ooh, one other thing I don't think I've mentioned before... In July of this year, we had to have the trailer hitch and tongue repaired. It was bending upward in a way such that the front of the trailer was bending downward. Probably around 3 to 5 degrees from level, or horizontal. We found a machine shop that was really close to where we were parked at the time, and ran the trailer over there just before the Fourth of July weekend. They did a great job, straightening it, and reinforced it in several critical areas. I really was very happy with their work, and at $1,600, felt it was a very fair price to pay. Well, it didn't last. In early September, it was bent again, same way, so badly that the front of the trailer was only a few inches off of the ground when connected to the RV. Since it had been only two months since the repair in July, and it was not an insured item, we abandoned it and bought a new trailer. Yeah, a little painful, but hey... I want the motorcycle protected, and regular repairs on the old one just made no sense. Please see a couple pictures I took of the old one and its obvious damage, and now the new one. I'm also paying WAY more attention to how the cargo inside is loaded. I think I put WAY too much weight in the front of the old one. I never weighed it, but I’ve learned how to do that now, and I think I've got it right this time. REALLY like the new trailer, the way it looks, and much more functional inside!

One other final note I don't think I've noted before... Gloria started painting decorative rocks around six months after we left in 2023. Generally, these are flat, smooth, oval shaped rocks that she buys on Amazon, maybe an inch and a half one direction by 3 inches the other direction. She has gotten VERY good at it, and loves to give them away as we arrive at just about anywhere. She brought a bunch on our dolphin boat tour, she brought a bunch to our Venice Beach stay. Nearly always has some to give away when we arrive at a restaurant or other routing, and of course many here at this RV park. Other people seem to LOVE them, and I think her skill in doing them has just evolved magnificently. Most recent ones include Snoopy and Woodstock on motorcycles, then birds, dogs, and very most recently Thanksgiving and Christmas themed ones, the latter of which include many of the Christmas Grinch, Christmas Nativity, Santa's sleigh in the sky, birds, clowns, snowmen, and really a plethora of others. I'll see if I can get a couple pictures of those and put on the photos page as well. She is really becoming well-known around the park as the rock lady, and nearly all residents have been a recipient by now. I'm not just blowing smoke because she’s my girl — she's really gotten good!

That's it for now… See if I can get this up on the website before the end of November! I have two days!