Leaving the Everglades

Today is mail call plus grocery shopping plus moving day. No big deal except tonight Sandy will have electric to run her stuff, like the vacuum, the microwave, a space heater (or two), water heater and the refrigerator. Plus while there is plenty of electric, we could have some extra lights on, but probably won't. We might even dig out the spiral Christmas ornament for the front of the rig. Then it will seem really like Christmas in the Teggatz household.

Yesterday was an administrative day. We made some phone calls to resolve our IRA withdrawals. One brokerage house says “we need the proper form signed.” The other brokerage house says “we can do it right here over the phone”. There are no hard and fast rules in the world of high finance.

So it was back to the motorhome, where we need to print out the forms, fill them out, scan them and send them to the broker. More stuff to worry about.

Friends of ours from 2 weeks ago in Burns Lake showed up yesterday and other friends of ours from Burns Lake left yesterday. We probably have lots of friends floating around Florida if we just knew their location.

We also learned about another boondocking spot from a friends' friend. Sandy and I both think we've seen it on the NW side of Lake Okeechobee. Today we'll meet up with them again and he'll have his map to show us where it is. (We boondockers kind of stick together to learn where the free places are at.)

For anyone thinking about camping in the Everglades, this campground is far from being used. My guess is that there are less than 15 percent of the sites being used. We're not complaining, just passing the word for others that there is space available. (Including ours at noon if the mail comes in.)

The mail came in, we picked up our groceries and headed out to the campground. We had an hour and 15 minutes to clear the grounds. (As we checked in at the gate, we indicated that we were leaving and might be a few minutes late- just to be safe.)

We stored everything in its proper place and brought the slides in. (Or as one friend said, “We compacted the motorhome.”) Gene took a few minutes to visit the couple about the potential boondocking spot. They showed us on the map and gave us printed directions on how to find it. They said it was a lovely place. It turns out that Sandy and I visited the spot 8 years ago when it was an overgrown weed patch, abandoned by the Corps of Engineers.

The drive to the Midway campground was uneventful with a moderate amount of traffic. Upon arrival, we were met by a couple that we had met last spring at a Boondocking Rendezvous in Arizona. So it was again just like old home week.

We settled in near them and got ourselves organized. Then it was time for the 4 pm social hour where we really caught up on life's happenings.

Sandy is in heaven with the electric power. However, she forgot we had it when preparing dinner and cooked the beans with gas. How fast we learn and then forget it.

While Sandy worked on dinner, Gene tried to get the TV adjusted. It showed that we had about 10 channels, but only one channel has a picture. So we again had the news on during the dinner hour.

((((( I have errorred the last few days and failed to post the new blog writeups. They were written, but not posted! So they have now been posted and you may want to read forward up to Everglades, Day 1.))))

Have a Great Christmas and “Remember the reason for the season!”

Gene