Departure from Seward

The alarm sounded at six AM and light was already streaming in through the crack in the curtains. Does the sun every really go down up here at this time of year? Locals say yes, but only for a few hours. This pattern will follow us on our journey south, only returning to a semblance of normal in Victoria, BC.

 

Downtown Anchorage at six AM.

This is an all-inclusive cruise, so breakfast today starts with a nice buffet in hotel restaurant before the two-hour bus ride from Anchorage to Seward offering absolutely fantastic scenery. We had a humorous and informative driver who pointed out natural and historical sights along our way. 

Upon arrival in Seward we checked in and processed aboard. We were greeted by the crew and presented with a welcome glass of Champagne. Since our cabins were not yet ready we took a walking tour of our home for the upcoming week. I have never done a cruise before, so I did not know what to expect other than what I learned from episodes of Love Boat. I knew the Regent does a particularly good job, and I was not disappointed. Everything looked first class, and the size (640 passengers) seemed just right.

 

Welcome aboard glass of Champagne

It was announced that the cabins were ready for guests, so we went below to see what awaited us. Wow, iced Champagne, fresh fruit, and a refrigerator with sodas, beer, and ice. The marble bath and well appointed cabin comfortable sitting area opened on to a nice balcony with comfortable chairs. Our bags arrived, and the steward made it clear that if we needed anything at all we just needed to ask. Barbara asked for a bottle of Merlot, and it arrived within minutes. It was obvious that this was going to be a very nice week.

Jocelyne and Randy as we explored the SS Mariner in beautiful Seward

Pay no attention to the man behind the glass, Dorothy

The first order of business as the ship left the dock was the emergency briefing and drill. This was an important orientation, and attendance was taken, but our minds were on the Champagne back in the room.

 

Honey, does this vest make my stomach look big?

The potential occupants of Lifeboat 8

After finishing the bottle of Champagne, we enjoyed a nice buffet and retired to the observation lounge for drinks and enjoying the beautiful scenery as the ship transited the fjords enroute to the open sea and our journey south.

 

Regent Seven Seas Alaska Cruise

Today brought the start of a bucket list adventure for Barbara and I. We are meeting up with my sister Jocelyne and her husband Randy for an Alaskan cruise on the Regency Seven Seas Mariner departing from Seward, AK.

The journey started with flights on United connecting in Chicago. I wish I could say that was enjoyable, but I just do not fit in the cramped airline cabins of today. The leg from Chicago to Anchorage was over six and a half hours in a small Boeing 737. That is just too long for that cramped cabin. Enough said.

Our descent into the Anchorage area offered gorgeous views, and we landed around 9:30 PM to full daylight. 

Regent had a bus waiting for us, so the trip to the downtown Marriott was speedy. We got settled in and began walking the streets of Anchorage in an attempt to meet up with Jocelyne and Randy for dinner. There were few people on the streets and traffic was very light. When we found the restaurant where we were to meet we were surprised to find it closed! Well no wonder, it was eleven PM! It was still broad daylight! After a few texts back and forth we finally met up. They had already eaten, but joined us back at the hotel for a quick bite before retiring. The curtains were drawn against the twilight, and we got to bed in anticipation of an early wakeup.

Wilderness RV Resort, Silver Springs, FL

May brings the last of the season’s outings with the Suncoast Allegros, a chapter of the Tiffin Allegro Club. While several members have already departed for points north and west, we managed a pretty good turnout here at the Wilderness RV Resort in Silver Springs, FL.

Wilderness RV Resort has a long history. It is located along the banks of the Ocklawaha River and is only a few miles from the Silver Springs attraction. Silver Springs closed as a commercial entity a few years ago, but was acquired by the state of Florida and is now part of the state park system. The spring and the beautiful river still draw many visitors year round, and provide draw to this area for snowbirds escaping the colder winter weather up north. The resort offers deeded ownership of the individual lots, and over time has expanded into three sections, each with its own clubhouse and pool. We were in the older section, which offers slightly smaller sites and some have asphalt pads in need of resurfacing. In this section there are many semi-permanent residents in trailers and fifth-wheels, and most take pride in landscaping their sites nicely. There is a newer section that is primarily populated with park models, and a recently opened Class A only section. The entire facility is nicely kept and a pleasure to walk Bella through. The folks are all friendly.

The park borders the Ocklawaha River and has a wonderful walking trail along the river. Bella got to swim in the clear river waters, and also enjoyed running free in the larger dog park. The park is very dog friendly. There are two dog parks, and receptacles throughout the park for cleaning up after your pet. Kayaks, canoes, and a couple of pontoon boats are available for rent. The latter looked a little weary, but the canoes would probably be fun.

Our group had a great time. There were sufficient facilites for us to hold our potlucks and other activities. There is a restaurant on the premises that offered breakfast and lunch. During the winter season they are also open for dinner and it is known for its all-you-can-eat fish dinners on Friday nights. Because we are a relatively large group they opened the restaurant for us to enjoy the fish dinner on Friday. It was great! This is a family owned café so popular in small towns where everyone gets to know each other, and where the waitress calls everyone Honey. The food is good and atmosphere is welcoming and relaxing.

I was able to get on the air with my ham radio after an afternoon of working on issues with the recently acquired Alpha EZ Military whip antenna. The antenna is made of several tubular sections held together with bungee cord running through their centers in such a way that they connect and form a 13’ whip. As it turns out, there was little or no electrical continuity between the segments greatly reducing the effectiveness of the antenna. I used a Dremel tool and wire wheel to remove the anodized coating from the mating surfaces and was able to improve the antenna’s performance. In the brief time remaining before dinner, I was able to make contact with a station in Pope County, Arkansas with the antenna clamped to the picnic table. I was unable to break through the pile-ups at a Houston station and another Arkansas station. For non-Hams, a pile up is pretty much what it sounds like. A popular station has many people trying to get its attention and make contact. With many stations transmitting at the same time, the stronger stations have the advantage. When operating portable with a compromised antenna, it is harder to break through all the stronger traffic and be heard. I was also picking up strong interfering noise from an electrical appliance or motor nearby, and that made it uncomfortable operating for too long.

Sunday morning we got together as a group for a farewell breakfast where everyone gave a brief outline of their planned summer travels so we might link up on down the road. It was then time to pack up and move on.

We elected to stay another day and return home Monday. This gives us a very relaxing day without organized activities, and allows us to return to our storage facility after the weekend boaters have deposited the boats. The small marshalling area for departing and returning RVs and boats gets a little crowded Sunday afternoon, particularly when the weather has been as nice as it has been.

Riverbend RV Resort, Fort Denaud, FL

Our April rally with the Suncoast Allegro Club was held at Riverbend RV Resort near Labelle, FL.  What a fine place this is. We can honestly say that this is the nicest RV facility we have been to, and one of only a handful of facilities we have seen that has earned the right to use the term “resort”. It is admittedly a high-end resort, and prices reflect this, but the landscaping is gorgeous. The facilities are immaculate and the staff and residents are very friendly. We are here after their high season, and many of the owner-residents have departed to the north. As such, most of the activities are no longer being offered and the restaurant is not open. The pool and adjacent clubhouse were available and we held our potluck dinners in the clubhouse. The RV sites are nicely spaced, fully paved, and each one offers a wonderful view of the several lakes or wooded areas.

Because we wished to extend our stay an extra day our originally booked site was changed and we ended up in a site that has seen little use over the past few years, and occasionally a neighbor would stop by asking if we were the owners since they had never seen anyone on this site. It has not been updated or extravagantly landscaped, but it was fine for us. It was a nice end lot looking out on a greenway and lake; nice and private. We loved it.

The view from our pull-in site.

We joined another couple in visiting the Edison Museum in Fort Meyers. The museum provides a history of Tomas Edison’s life and accomplishments. Edison and Henry Ford were close friends and Ford bought the property adjacent to the Edison estate. There were items in the museum that were Ford related, like a nicely restored flathead V-8 engine. The museum also has the restored laboratory used for Edison’s research in rubber production from plants native to North America. If you are in the Fort Meyers area the museum and estate tour are a worthwhile investment of our time.

 

Edison brought music into the home.

3kw DC current generator, or Dynamo.

Early Ford Flathead V-8 engine.

Edison and Ford went on extended camping roadtrips. This is the chuckwagon.

On Saturday the guys got together for a discussion of technical issues with the coaches, and the ladies took over the Nature Center crafts room to make Memorial Day Wreaths.

After gathering for Sunday breakfast the group broke up and headed home, but we stayed to enjoy a quiet Sunday catching up on motor home chores and just relaxing. This gave us the opportunity to finish installing the Magnashade windshield cover that arrived at the house just before we left. This is a mesh cover that blocks 80% of the sunlight from entering the coach through the windshield while camped. This cuts down dramatically the amount of heat the builds up during the day. It allows you to see out and enjoy the view, but provides privacy at the same time. The shade is held in place by very strong magnets. One set is stitched in to pockets on the shade. A matching set is adhered to the inside of the windshield. Installation amounted to lining up the interior magnets while the shade was held in place from outside. Once the interior magnet locations were set, the protective cover on the adhesive was removed and the magnets pressed in place. It takes a little time, but is not difficult. It does take two people and a ladder, but once the initial setup is done one person can put the shade in place without the need of a ladder. We find this to be a great improvement over our previous snap-on shade that did require a ladder to install each time. It was just enough hassle to cause the shade to go unused on short trips.

Magnashade in place. The wiper covers are separate pieces.

Orlando's 2016 MS Walk

I belong to the Orange County Communications Auxiliary here in Orlando. While it is meant to be a supplement to county operations in an emergency, we provide communications assistance to public events through the year as a means of exercising our equipment and maintaining our skills. The majority of these are cycling events, which cover large areas, but some are much smaller such as today’s MS Walk around the lake at Baldwin Park. It is a nice setting and a worthwhile cause.

I misunderstood the start time and arrived quite early, but it gave me a chance to enjoy coffee and a muffin while watching the sunrise over Lake Baldwin. Our roll was simply to provide eyes and ears to the event organizers. When you have several hundred participants of all ages and health it is important to monitor their progress and be ready to offer aid, if required. On as beautiful a day as this it was a pleasure to sit in the sunshine and chat with the folks as they came by. All age groups were represented, and many were wearing crazy costumes. It was a lot of fun, and much less work than following the progress of cyclists as they complete a one hundred mile course. 

It was a quiet, cool morning. Just right for a 2.8 mile walk around the lake.

All ages were represented and there were lots of dogs, too.

I even took a selfie! That doesn't happen often.

Stagecoach RV Park, St Augustine, FL

Close on the heels of our Sarasota rally with the parent Tiffin Allegro Club we set out for St. Augustine Florida and a weekend with the Suncoast Chapter of the club. We had about fifteen coaches, and that made it a much more enjoyable outing. We stayed at the Stagecoach RV Park on County Road 208 near the intersection of Hwy 16 and I-95. I can highly recommend this park. Like many, it can get a little muddy when it rains, but the staff is great and it is very convenient to everything in St. Augustine. Should you decide to stay here I suggest that you plan to disconnect the toad prior to going to the site. The utilities are towards the back of the sites, so you will want to stop short of the front of the site and park your toad in front of the coach. Speaking of utilities, the Stagecoach RV Park has the best WiFi of ANY park or resort we have stayed at.

We had Friday as a free day and took the opportunity to go to the beach with Bella. Bella loved it since there were so many new scents to explore. She had fun chasing the waves, too. The girl loves the water.

We enjoyed this, our second gathering with this group, but had to leave them Saturday morning to travel to attend my stepmother’s memorial service in Santa Barbara, California.

Tiffin Allegro Club Rally, Sarasota, FL

We are attending our second Tiffin Allegro Club rally in Sarasota, FL. Our first was in Orlando last year. The Allegro Club is the factory-sponsored club for Tiffin Motor Home owners. They have about a half dozen rallies across the country each year. They are usually quite large and this one turned out to be the largest so far. The RVing community is pretty social and there are several large clubs that bring people together. At the higher level are the manufacturer’s clubs and RVing association clubs. Tiffin and Winnebago clubs are an example of the former, and the Family Motor Coach Association and Good Sam’s Club are examples of the latter. There are many others in each category. These larger clubs have subchapters, which cater to regions of the country or special interests.

Every available space inside the fence was taken up by coaches.

Pretty tight spacing. No room for awnings.

Our attraction to the Tiffin Allegro Club rallies is part social and part practical. We enjoy meeting friends we have met on the road, and there are forums where we learn more about our coach and its subsystems. We also gain tips on how to travel and camp more comfortably. A big benefit of attending a Tiffin rally is that the manufacturer brings technicians that will perform three minor repairs to each RV at no charge. That is a big benefit. Scheduling and driving some distance for small repairs can actually become time consuming and expensive. I had an air conditioner repaired, two water inlet fittings replaced, and the cable TV input fitting repaired. Tiffin also brought technicians from the Lippert Company to perform a recall on the retracting steps leading into the coach. This saves scheduling and traveling to a dealer to have that modification done, and right now in Florida the lead time for a maintenance appointment is in the neighborhood of two months. Thank You, Tiffin!

Kirk and Phil were great guys and fixed my A/C. Thanks for your service, Kirk.

Approximately three hundred and fifty Tiffin motorhomes were at the rally. For the most part there are two people in each one, so it got crowded at mealtime. It is hard to feed that many people and have a quality meal. The breakfast buffet was fine, but let’s just say the evening meals were nothing special. The Sarasota Military Academy provided the student-servers and they did a bang up job serving this very large crowd.

A (not so) quiet evening with 700 of our closest friends.

You might wonder where you could hold such a big gathering. In this case it is the Sarasota Fairgrounds, and it turned out to be well suited to the task. There was sufficient parking for all of the motorhomes, as well as the sixteen 2016 coaches Lazy Days brought to display (they sold or got orders for over a dozen for their trouble). There were buildings for the forums and a large arena for meals. All in all it went well. The size of the event is a little outside our comfort zone, so we will not do this often. The smaller events put on by the subchapters are more to our liking, particularly those of the FMCA Four-Wheelers out west. We plan to join them for off-roading adventures in Spearfish, SD and Moab, UT this year so watch this space this fall. We also belong to the Suncoast Allegro chapter and we will be enjoying getting together with them four times this winter here in Florida.

Winfred Durand put together a video that shows the scope of this event:

 https://www.youtube.com/embed/kN9cl-2T3Bs

It wasn’t all about motorhomes. We managed to meet close friends of Barbara’s for lunch. It was worth the fight in traffic to join Tom and Sharon Smith for lunch at their beautiful home on Long Boat Key.