Big Pecker

I'm kinda fascinated with the sound, diet and action of this big peckered Limpkin bird. His diet is clams and Apple snails. It's fun to watch it poking around in the water and coming up with dinner. After finding the shell fish he takes it to the bank and easily opens it.

Wouldn't you think I'd have something better to do than follow birds around?





He has a clam ready to be opened and consumed


The banks are littered with these empty Apple snails the Limpkin has consumed, some of these measure over 3 inches.


Two headed Moorhens?


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This is we at W P

W P Franklin is one of our favorite Corps park. We're here for 2 weeks and come back for 2 more weeks next month. No fancy amenities, just a beautiful place and friends we have met in past years.




The river is heading toward Ft Myers and empties into the gulf in about 18 miles.




Beside Nita is Martha and Jack, from NC, who we met in a park in PA in 2008, we have seen them every year since, that's their motorhome directly behind Jack's head. We also met Barbara and Tim, from SC, in another park the same year, they are not in their motorhome but stopped by to visit on the way to the Tampa RV show, think they have the bug to get a new bigger one. The structure in the background is the flood gates that control the water flow to maintain the water level on Lake Okeechobee.

Move over Key Lime Pie, here comes the SSC

We departed the Burgess's Sat morning for the Corps of Engineers campground at the W P Franklin Locks near Ft Myers. We detoured on the way south to visit the Strawberry capital of Florida, Plant City. Plant City has the ideal temp and soil to grow strawberries. As we approached the town we observed the strawberry pickers in the fields.
A must stop in Plant City is the Parksdale Market. Famous for Strawberry Short Cake and Strawberry milkshakes.








Oh my gosh, these strawberry short cakes weigh about 2 pounds each




Although the Key Lime Pie is great it doesn't hold a candle to this dish. Nita could only eat half of hers so I had to sacrifice and finish hers.




This is the strawberry milkshake, you could not drink it with a straw as the berries jammed the straw. It had to be 50% berries, OMG, another hit. Not sure about Nita but I was in pain as I left. As we were leaving I decided to go back and ordered 2 more milkshakes to put in the freezer.




Am hooked now, Plant City will be the first stop when we head back north.
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First and second stops on the way

It warmed up some as we traveled south, we spent the first night Florence, SC, arrived in Ocala. fl the second. We spent Friday with our good friends, Joyce and Kent Burgess, in The Villages, we enjoyed some fun games of Oh Hell, watching Kent sail his RC sailboat and of course Joyce,s gormet cooking. We miss them not living near us.


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Made a list and checked it twice - off to Florida for the winter

Packing the motorhome for an extended trip takes some planning. I made several lists to make sure we had everything on board we would need, meds, food, clothing, phones, iPads, chargers, etc.

We departed last Wednesday 5:45 am to beat the traffic around DC, 8 degree temp. As we crossed into Virginia just south of DC I remembered I left my iPad on the kitchen table following breakfast. Bummer, that was our connection to the Internet, email, blog, etc. turning back would have put us in the middle of rush hour and cost us close to 3 hours of travel time. We decided to press on and once again we had to impose on Kim to retrieve the iPad and Fedx it to us. Should have checked that list the third time inside the MH before driving off.


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Ford's Greenfield Village

The village is 90 acres that include 7 historic districts and buildings of historic significance. Vintage transportation, skilled artisans and costumed presenters can be seen. We only saw about half of before we ran out of steam.

We departed Michigan Wednesday morning and in the afternoon found a camping spot at Deep Creek Lake in Maryland. We then called our WV mountain friends, Pat and Howard, and had a nice dinner and conversation overlooking the lake.

Arrived home yesterday. Will give the blog a rest till our next trip to Florida in January.


Henry Fords childhood home


Street scene with horse carriages and model T's touring visitors


Where the Ford cars got their start


Last car of the Model T production.


Church Henry built for his mother


Live coal burning steam train that take visitors around the village


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The Henry Ford Museum

The Museum is located in Dearborn, MI. It is magnificent and too much to describe here. You could easily spend more than a full day here, we cut it short to a half day in order to visit Fords Greenfield Village the other half.

The museum covers cars, presidential limos including Kennedy's in which he was assassinated, airplanes, racers, trains, campers, machinery from the Ford Model T factory, power plants, bus Rosa Parks Rode in Montgomery, AL., furniture and more.


The cars all looked new, displayed from the 1800's to the 1950's. This is a Tucker, it was supposed to be revolutionary, however they went broke after production in the teens.





Monster steam engine, one of about 6 in the Muesum


Ford Tri Motor aircraft, Ford also developed a small recreational aircraft, the test pilot was killed in the prototype and Ford dropped the effort.


The first V8 powered car





Each day at the museum the visitors assemble a Ford Model T. It is completed in the afternoon, then you can sit behind the wheel and have your picture taken.



I was one of the early assemblers but left before it was completed, too bad no pic.




Early steam engine generator




We departed in an Overland.

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