Opening Cans

The first trip of 2015 was an Airstream rally known as The Canopener and held at Topsail State Park in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida.  I tried to make this trip last year and had to cancel at the last minute so I was very excited to get Breezin' on the road this time.

My favorite view in the rear view mirror

Canopener is an Airforums rally, organized by volunteers who all did a spectacular job.  It was a sea of aluminum with 103 trailers attending!

Topsail is located in the Florida panhandle on the gulf coast, with a beautiful beach.  Wish it had been warm enough to enjoy it!

The park itself is very nice and well maintained.  Several miles of trails and bike paths, tram service to the beach (about 3/4 mile walk), a club house, bath houses, laundry, etc.  Most, if not all, sites had full hookups.  Unusual for a state park but it's also a bit pricey for a state park.

Our campsite at Topsail

I did a little sightseeing the first day before the rally began and drove over to Seaside for lunch.  Seaside is known for the Airstream food trailers that line the main street.  Grace and I walked around and picked up some lunch, visited the bookstore and took a walk along the ocean before returning to Santa Rosa.

The rally got started on Thursday with a chili dinner.  Friday included an open margarita bar and a corn hole tournament at noon.  Friends Beth and Pete both played, with Pete taking second place out of almost 40 players.  Friday night we went to town for seafood at Stinkey's Fish Camp - good stuff.

Saturday's events included an open house at noon.  It was nice to be able to see all of the various floorplans and the modifications people had made.  The afternoon concluded with a pot luck, tons of food - a few giveaways and some entertainment provided by one of the local dealers.

It was great meeting everyone.  Can't wait for next year!

Sundog Books - Seaside, FL

Food trailers

dinner at Stinkey's with Pete and Beth

Saturday evening pot luck - quite a crowd

Sweltering in the South and a visit to Astor

It is HOT, I mean really, really, really HOT.  Yesterday's heat index was 113 degrees inland and 108 on the coast. It is soupy and rainy and we are one month into Hurricane Season here in Florida.  Our first tropical activity is happening off shore but so far nothing predicted but more rain.  Florida is also the lightening capital of the US with storms occurring approximately 100 days out of the year.  The most dangerous area runs from St. Augustine (north) to Lake Okeechobee (south) and from east to west coasts according to the University of Florida.  Where do I live....yep, right about there.  Daily summertime showers are a fact of life in Florida and we rank number one in the number of deaths due to lightening, 94% of which occur between late May and the end of September.   Now you know why the snowbirds all go north around the end of May :-)

Visit to Astor, FL

Drawbridge over St. Johns River

Being too hot to do much else,  a friend and I met in the middle yesterday for a lunch along the St. Johns river.  The town of Astor is said to be "a quaint little Drinkin' Village with a Fishin' problem".  I didn't make that up, it came directly from the city's website. 

Located on the west side of the St. Johns River between Lake George and Lake Dexter, with a population of under 2,000.  In 1874, William Backhouse Astor, Jr. from New York's wealthy Astor family purchased over 12,000 acres, and established a town he called Manhattan. New settlers arrived by steamboat to the town which consisted of a church, schoolhouse, botanical garden, and free cemetery. William Astor also built a hotel, saw mill, and eventually a railroad. Over the next twenty years Astor saw his town grow, but the Manhattan name never caught on. When William Astor died in 1892, the town was officially renamed Astor in his honor.

Astor is directly off of SR40, the Florida Black Bear Scenic Byway.  There is hiking and biking, boating and fishing, and sightseeing.  We ate lunch at the Blackwater Inn on the river but opted for the inside view to beat the heat.

Our view through the window screen

Our waitress was very nice - entertaining, but nice!

Good lunch company

I don't know if Astor is famous for yard art, but they should be... there are two huge shops along the road with very unique "art".  There's also a Pioneer village that I'd like to visit one day, when the temperature is under 100 degrees!  So, if you need a life-size bear, or a 10' pink rooster, or a 15' T-Rex for your yard, let me know... I can hook you up!

T-rex, notice the people for scale.  Taken through the car window

The Countdown Begins

Bathed and ready for our trip!

Almost on the road... 

This little guy was watching me drink coffee this morning

Picked up Breezin' and brought her home

And gave her a much needed bath

Now just waiting out the storm before we leave...

Sunrise in Flagler Beach

Finally made it up and down to the beach for sunrise... well, almost :-)  Should have been there just a bit earlier.  Great Sunday - photos, breakfast, coffee and conversation at my sister's cafe and then a movie later on.  Hope your weekend was spectacular!

Inside Breezin'

I just have to post again this week... not that I have anything profound to share.  No, it's just that I can't stand looking at that dog picture every time I open my blog:-)  What was I thinking?  It seemed funny at the time and certainly more entertaining than real pictures of Grace not feeling well!

Someone asked to see pictures of the inside of Breezin' - so here they are.  I don't have a wide-angle lens so they are not the best but you get the idea.

Went to check on her and start reorganizing for our trip..

The dullness you see on her roof is pollen!  In need of a bath...

Looking into the sleeping area - door on the left is the wet bath

Dinette area

Dinette in 'couch' position, ready for travel

Bed area - small closet on right

My kitchen

Little Bit of This and That

I missed my weekly post last week. But truthfully, it's been pretty quiet around here and not a lot of interesting going on. Grace was sick last week.  A trip to the vet, a few antibiotics, and quite a few dollars later she was back to her old self.  I swear she knows when I am saving for a trip!  Spent the rest of the week working and crossing things off the to-do list (like taxes, which I hate).

No - this isn't Grace, but I wish I had taught her to do this!

The T@B trailer is washed and waxed and ready for sale

(please feel free to pass that along if you know anyone looking).  I spent a little time getting Breezin' ready for a road trip but most of that will happen next week.

We've not had the cold weather that the rest of the country seems to be locked in the grip of, but we have our own weird weather phenomena here...

I swear, this is true-- this is what my car looks like!

Now time to start planning for a trip to visit my granddaughters and watch some softball.  I am SO looking forward to seeing them again.

Hopefully, I'll get out with the camera this weekend.  Have a great week!

Time for a Change... and more flowers

As close as I could get -- wish I would have had a longer lens to get closer!

Shell Game

Air plants hanging from the tree - neat idea

Can you believe it's daylight savings time already?  Wish the weather would catch up a little.  I LOVE having an extra hour of sunlight, not so much when it's cold and gloomy.

Am I boring you to tears with flower pictures yet?  Saturday was sunny after several cold days so I headed to Orlando today to visit Leu Botanical Gardens.  Beautiful place and a good way to spend a sunny afternoon.

Some more flower pictures follow -- I swear I'll have some actual Airstream travel to talk about soon.  I'm waiting for the weather to clear north of here to head out.  Camping in Florida in the winter is a lovely thing, but you have to plan in advance, there are very few (if any) campsites open on the weekends.  They are filled with snowbirds escaping the northern climate.

Leu Botanical Gardens

Dinner with Friends

Tam, Judy and I met in Gainesville last night for it's monthly "Art Walk" where local studios showcase artists of the area.

Home to the University of Florida, the largest and oldest university in the state, as well as the Santa Fe Community College, Gainesville has a college town vibe, with a strong art and music undertone.

We started with dinner at The Top Restaurant.  Great menu selection with lots of vegan choices, or local meats.  I had blackened flounder, which was delicious!  As usual, I didn't get any pictures until we got to dessert.  We all shared a piece of carrot cake... I highly recommend.

Main Street, Gainesville, FL

Local studios open the last Friday of the month for Art Walk

 " Luna"

Interesting light post

Mimes

At least the dogs have retired....

You'd think with all this gorgeous sunshine we've had the past few days that I would have a LOT to write about... I don't.

It occurred to me this morning, that the only ones in this team of three that have really retired are Grace and Dillon, my canine companions.  They wake each morning to a quick trip outside, someone (me!) serves them breakfast, then it's back to lounging while I toll away.  They stay inside in the A/C except when nature calls or Grace dumps the slobbery ball in my lap enough times to get me outside for a game of fetch.  I do my hair with supplies from Wal-Mart;  they have 'beauty' appointments at the local Petsmart.  The rest of the day, they guard the front door in case anyone is brave enough to use 'their' street.  Meanwhile I take conference calls shut in the back room (in case Grace decides to tell someone off for walking down her street.) Heaven forbid the UPS driver has a delivery and actually comes to the porch!  At night, I clean the 'dog art' off the front door so they have a clear view to guard the next day.

Rough life!

Guarding the door

I did manage to stroll around the Fine Arts festival on Sunday, and enjoy dinner with my mom, sister and brother-in-law... Grace and Dillon had to stay home!

Great day for a bike ride!

Dinner at the beach