RV Folly Adventure Freedom Ride

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December 24 through 30, 2007
Morgan, Marion, Sandra, Cassie

Still here at Sandra's mom and step-dad's house in Pompano Beach, Florida.

We've been doing a of lot resting our eyes, but also many chores such as landscaping, plumbing, putting up and taking down
decorations, cleaning the house, preparing meals, and whatever else we can do for them.

We enjoyed seeing my mom and step-dad, Sandra’s mom and step dad, Sandra’s brother and his wife and kids, and Sandra’s
daughter, from her first marriage, and her husband to be on Christmas day.

Getting itchy feet again, so we will be pulling up stakes here about January 4. We plan on heading to the Gulf Coast of Florida for a
month or so and then maybe on to the Florida Keys.

In the meantime, we wish you all a very Happy New Year!

December 23, 2007

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!!!

Our RV Folly Adventure Freedom Ride has moved on to Sandra’s mom and step dad’s home in Pompano Beach, Florida, which is
located between Fort Lauderdale and Deerfield Beach.

Backing Folly out of her “tucked in beside the house” location at Lighthouse Point, Florida was quite a challenge. The slab along side
the house was framed with a thickened edge. For example, this is where the edge of a cement pour would be 3 inches and the
interior of the pour about 1 inch. There are many reasons this is done so I will not try to guess the reason this was done here.

However, when Folly backed onto the slab and moved toward its center, the slab broke to pieces. Then, with Folly’s wheels on the
right side on the broken pieces, the angle and slipperiness of the concrete kept forcing me into the fence running along the lot line
on our left. None of this was good for my mother, her neighbor, Folly, or my heart.

With a bunch of maneuvering and a bit more tree trimming, Folly came popping out in good shape with only damage done to the
concrete slab. Since I plan to visit my mom and step dad on occasion, I am going to rent a cement saw and cut the slab off square
removing all the broken stuff, pour a new edge, and break up all the debris and burry it in the path I will follow to get in and out. As
many of you know, when driving a rig weighing about 15000 pounds, the rig tends to sink a bit on non-paved surfaces, especially
sand.

Well, with my heart back in my chest, we proceeded to prepare Folly for departure. Then off we went up US 1 to NE 51 Street and on
to our new digs…..a whole 3 miles or so…lol. Pompano Beach allows one to park an RV on the front of their property on paved
surfaces only, so that is what we have done.

We returned to Deerfield Beach for walks along the ocean several times. And, we have been doing many chores around the
homestead as Sandra’s mom had knee replacement surgery and her step dad is presently getting radiation and chemo therapy.
Hence, they have not been able to do anything for themselves for quite some time bless their little pea pickin’ hearts.

Our daughter Cassie finished her exams at NC State and rode Amtrak from North Carolina to be with her parents and grandparents
for the holidays. We are very happy to see her. Sandra and Cassie decorated Folly and her mom’s house in the spirit of Christmas
and wrapped a bunch of presents.

Life is “so sweet living on the cheap in Florida in the wintertime”…..lalala… isn’t there a song like that somewhere?

December 14, 2007

Ridin’ on for freedom so to speak, we headed west back to Lake Wales, Fl with Folly very much in need of some petrol. Sweatin’
bullets most of the way, we finally made it to a gas station in Lake Wales that turned out to be about 22 miles from the Lake
Kissimmee State Park. Thank goodness! After a full physical and mental recovery from needing, to getting, then having to pay for gas,
each process being a unique and sometimes harrowing experience, we got on ALT US 27 south for a beautiful ride alongside lake
after lake and several clean towns.

This stretch of ALT US 27 is listed as a “Scenic Highway” and we found that to be true. We traversed over high hills, quite strange
given how flat most of Florida is, and along valleys that were covered with citrus trees, and, seemingly around every corner, was
another beautiful lake. We passed through Babson Park, Hillcrest Heights, and Frostproof, Fl., all built alongside these lakes. Then,
after this most delightful tour, we returned to US 27 south through Avon Park and on to Sebring, Fl.

We have read on line that many RVers that used to spend winters along Florida’s Gold Coast for many years moved to this neck of
the woods to escape the crowds, high prices, and ever increasing “rules” from the powers-at-be that were becoming more and more
RV unfriendly. We found this to be especially true from Avon Park to Sebring, Fl. where attractive RV and MH parks can be found
everywhere. Given our experience traveling through this area so far, we easily understood why. At Sebring, we turned west on CR 634
for several miles to Highlands Hammock State Park and checked in.

Sandra and I arose at the crack of dawn and out the door we went to do some hiking and to pay for another night of camping. Not far
from Folly, Sandra asked me if I saw the dog ahead. I looked where she was pointing and discovered her dog was actually a pig.
Hmmm. After paying for another night, I asked the ranger, “Who let the hogs out?” She laughed and said the hogs were once
domestic and had since turned “alien”. She explained further how the domestic but now wild hogs are not original to the area and
trappers are called in now and then to catch them and take them elsewhere…she was not sure where.

With that information, we left the ranger station and started out on what ended up being about a 5-mile hike. We traversed Wild
Orange Trail to Alexander Blair Big Oak Trail to Hickory Trail and on to Richard Liber Memorial Trail. We picked up a few wild windfall
oranges and grapefruit and marveled at the size and height of all the trees and cabbage palms. All of a sudden, we see an animal
pop onto the trail in front of us.

Sandra asked if it was a fox, and I told her no, it was a kitty cat…a big kitty cat….lol. Actually, it was a Bobcat and appeared to me to be
about 30 inches tall and weighing about 30 to 35 lbs. This animal seemed in perfect health and had a beautiful, shiny coat. One look
at us though was enough to send that cat off in the other direction down the trail and finally into the thick underbrush, which was
plenty okie dokie with me. I wouldn’t want to have to mess with a cat that size….no way, no how.

Then we were on to Young Hammock Trail and Cypress Swamp Trail. Cypress Swamp Trail offered up a whole lot of birds like many
different kinds of woodpeckers and hawks, and at Little Charlie Bowlegs Creek we were entertained for quite some time by a very
healthy looking Muskrat swimming around and looking for lunch. Down he’d go for about 30 seconds and up he’d come with a fish in
his mouth that he proceeded to chomp on a few times and then down his gullet it went. Being on the wooden catwalk that traversed
above and along the creek, we were able to get within about 10 feet of this playful critter. He knew were near, nose searching the air
now and then, but I don’t think he ever figured out exactly where we were. Then it was on to Ancient Hammock Trail and then back to
Folly. Tomorrow, we are going to rent bikes to ride the 9 miles or so of paved bike trails. This park is about 80 years old, and is the
only park I have seen to date with paved bike paths running through miles of nothing but wilderness. Should be interesting.

Today we zipped down to the ranger station to rent a couple of bikes for what turned out to be an 8.2 mile bike ride through the
wilderness. The rental bikes were a bit clunky but sufficient for the task. Off we went. The first thing we discovered was the path was
paved only for the first few feet….a bit of a miscalculation on my part….so several times we had to dismount and walk due to our
bogging down in the sand. We traversed along prairies, treed areas, and swamps but didn’t see much wildlife on this trip other than
4 deer and another wild pig. The trip took us about an hour and fifteen minutes. Then, it was back to Folly to prepare her for the trip to
Lighthouse Point, Florida, which is home to my mother and step dad.

It was about noon when we headed out of the park back to Sebring and then south on US 27 to south on US 98 to Okeechobee,
Florida. Then on to US 98 & 441 South, along the east side of Lake Okeechobee, through Pehokee, Belle Glade and South Bay.
Once on US 98 south along the east side of the lake, we realized we had made this trip once before about 22 years ago in a 1972
Winnebago and decided then that we weren’t ever going to do it again….lol. Oh well, our memories are good, but a little late in this
case.

First of all, one can’t see much of anything of Lake Okeechobee along the way due to a huge dike built along its shoreline. Second,
the road is terrible….bumpy, uneven, and narrow. I had to find the best groove, so to speak, and that was not good. Several areas
were under construction, as was the case 22 years ago. Last, the towns we went through were a bit seedy.

As we neared Pahokee, we started to see police all over the place in cars and motorcycles. We wondered what in the world was
going or had gone on. By the time we got in town, there was a police officer at every intersection along the way, some directing traffic
one way or another, some just standing in the road. Finally, things seemed to settle down as we headed out of town and then
suddenly, low and behold, along comes about 300 plus motorcycle cops. We never saw anything like this before, so, of course, we
got out the camera and started clicking away. A bit further, just before a bend in the road, the box van traveling along in front of us put
on his emergency flashers and came to a stop right in the middle of the highway. And, this is where we sat for about 40 minutes as
mile after mile after mile of police cars and motorcycles paraded by. We wondered if every police officer in the state was here. During
this procession, two hearses went by. Turns out two policemen from Pahokee were killed in the line of duty and were being brought
back to Pahokee for burial. Later, the news media said there were over 6000 police officers in attendance. From where we sat on the
highway while they paraded by, we think that estimate is low.

From South Bay, we picked up US 27 again and headed southeast, away from Lake Okeechobee. About 40 miles later, we headed
east on I 75, aka Alligator Alley, to north on the Sawgrass Expressway and finally Lighthouse Point. Sandra and I found this leg of our
freedom ride today to be the most stressful and exhausting encountered so far, and, we were very happy to see my mom and step
dad and then get a good nights rest.

ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Snort!

Up at the crack of dawn, we went down to Deerfield Beach, Florida beach for a beautiful and relaxing 40 minute walk along the
ocean. FYI, it cost a $1.00 in quarters, $.25/10 minutes, to park our car while we walked….ouch! The Gold Coast of Florida really is a
beautiful place, especially in winter. However, this is common knowledge to the masses so, of course, people come here from all
over the country, Canada, and elsewhere, thus, making things super crowded, sometimes expensive, and busy most all the time.
Sigh, one can’t have it all I guess.

We helped fix a few things around mom’s homestead including pressure cleaning the pool deck area and replacing the pool
Barracuda cleaner. Then on late Sunday afternoon, a knock was heard at the door. Low and behold, the cops were here. The officer
said we had to move on, as motor homes were not allowed to be parked in front of a house, even on ones own property, for more
than 24 hours at a time and no more than 48 hours in a week. Hmmmmmm. Where did we experience this before? Oh yeah, back
home in Pinehurst, NC of course….lol. So, with past experience back in Pinehurst in mind, rather than getting into a hassle, I asked
the officer if we could move the RV to the side of the house. The officer said that would be OK if Folly wasn’t visible from the street.

After a few limbs were trimmed from a tree and a bit of maneuvering, we managed to zip ‘ol Folly back along the side of the house.
Then, I put a brown tarp and a piece of fence I found in the yard up behind her. Viola! Folly is now mostly hidden, but we don’t know if
this will be OK with code enforcement as she rises ever so majestically above the fence due to her being ten and a half feet high. We
shall see if the “coppers” let us slide for another week or so since we plan to leave then anyway. All kidding aside, the Lighthouse
Point code enforcement officer was a very kind and understanding gentleman, just doing a job that I wouldn’t want to have to do.

We like it along the side of the house as this spot is much more private and we even have a pool view right out of our window. Ten
steps from Folly’s entrance is the door to the pool area where we can kick back and enjoy ourselves with a swim or spend some
time resting our eyes in the lounge chairs. Ah, this freedom ride on the cheap in December does have a few advantages don’t you
think?