Taking a Break from all the Sunshine!

Let's think about going to Alaska! We're tired of all the sunshine and warmth after weeks and weeks of staying in sunny Florida! (We ARE? You're kidding, right? asks an incredulous Eldo.) Absolutely kidding, but  seriously, why not think about heading to Alaska? Other than the worries about getting big chips in your windshield and having to watch for frost heave in the pavement and other such things, how about going if it's NOT your rig? We've got the info you need.....Nick, our neighbor, has found a way to take a trip to Alaska and not have to use your rig. You are "hired", so to speak, to drive Winnebago Class C's from the Iowa factory to Alaska. You do have to pay for your own gas and a fee on top of that, but you are not using your own coach. If you are thinking of getting into RVing, this would be a great way to try it out without paying the extremely high rental fees that are out there for motorhomes. AND, you are getting to see a bit of ALASKA, which is nature's wonderland in its most pristine environment, for the most part. And, your windshield on YOUR motorhome remains intact because you are driving someone else's Winnebago.  You get to decide whether you want to pay for the windshield or Winnebago when it more than likely gets a big chip traveling down the Alaskan Highway by taking the insurance or not!

There are several rental options out there. Nick and Ritchie Boersma, our neighbors, wrote a blog about their Alaskan trip renting the Winnebagos and are mentioned in this link that takes you to Great Alaskan Holidays. Here it is:  Great Alaskan Holidays. If you'd like to directly read the Boersma's Alaskan travels in their blog, here is their link:
                                   http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog/nboersma/1/tpod.html

Here is another link to renting to go to Alaska, along similar lines: Renting an RV to drive to Alaska

Anything else happen today, Sparky? Naw....just spotted this HUMONGOUS tortoise just outside the RV park today, on a bike ride out of the park. He was making his way S-L-O-O-O-W-L-Y across the county road, patiently waiting for traffic to go by. There wasn't much, lucky for him! He was the size of a Thanksgiving platter! At least he could be seen, perhaps. He made it! Whew! At least, I didn't see any squashed remains of turtle soup on the road on my way back...Gopher tortoise, maybe?

After quite a bit of rain, we had to try and get the excess off the awning toppers, as they were really sagging. Sparky had the brilliant idea of pushing the water off the topper from up above. Unfortunately, she almost got stuck! It's the bathroom window that's small, not that Sparky is all that big, dontcha know? :-) Eldo is wisely remaining quiet in the wings here......

We're definitely getting a break from the heat right now...a big, windy cold front came in last night with lots of rain. The rain has gone away, but it's darn right chilly out there today! High fifties and supposed to get down into the twenties (!) tonight. Tomorrow will be another cool day and the warm up starts back up early next week. We have just a couple more days here at Florida Grande...sniff, sniff....getting a little sad about leaving our friends we've made here.....BUT, Sparky is going to head out on another bike trail today or tomorrow, and do a possible kayak paddle at Crystal River before we leave to see if the manatees have come in from the cold weather the past couple of days, so stay tuned for a possible manatee report.....See you later!