Tag Archives: Florida Tollway System

2014/04/02 (W) Weeki Wachee

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Today was probably our last visit to a Florida State Park in this part of Florida.  In this case “this part of” refers to north central and southwest to the Suncoast.  Our destination was Weeki Wachee Springs SP.  WWSSP is another one of those FSP gems where the state park system took over a former “old Florida” roadside attraction.  We were glad they did because otherwise this iconic old Florida attraction would no longer exist.  The New York Times ran an excellent article on Weeki Wachee about a year ago.  Most of the photos from today are in a separate gallery post.

Peakcock with tail fanned.

Peakcock with tail fanned.

We left WCRVR around 9 AM and headed towards Dunnellon to pick up John and Marian Hagan.  We arrived around 9:40 having been delayed a few minutes by road construction that had traffic down to one lane on US-41.  We got everyone on board and were on our way quickly.  The park is located on US-19 just west of where FL-50 (Cortez Blvd) ends and it took an hour to get there.  We arrived at WWSSP a little before 11 AM, but not in time to see the 11 AM Mermaid show.  Mermaids?  Oh yes; mermaids are the reason to go to Weeki Wachee Springs SP.

Linda, Marian, & John at the entrance to WWSSP.

Linda, Marian, & John at the entrance to WWSSP.

Weeki Wachee Spring is a Class 1 spring issuing over 100,000,000 gallons of fresh water every 24 hours to create the Weeki Wachee River that meanders a mere 12 miles to the Gulf of Mexico.  The water is 99.8% pure, and technically it safe to scoop it up out of the river (near the source, anyway) and drink it without any treatment.

Weeki Wachee is a large, deep spring; amazingly clear with beautiful shades of green and blue in the bright sunshine.  The name cones from earlier Native American words meaning “large spring.”  Go figure.  In the 1940’s a former Navy frogman bought the property and created the underwater viewing theater on the west side of the spring.  He also invented the air hose underwater breathing technique that has allowed young women (and some men) to perform the underwater mermaid shows ever since.  On our visit they were doing two different shows: Fish Tales (a historical retrospective), and The Little Mermaid (adaptation of the Hans Christian Anderson tale).  Campy?  Of course.  Delightful?  Absolutely.

Weeki Wachee SP is small at only 528 acres, but we managed to make a nice, relaxing day of it.  Admission is $13 for adults and our FSP Annual Pass was only good for admitting two people.  The other major attraction is the Buccaneer Bay water park.  It was open but the water slides were not operating.  This time of year the slides are only open on weekends.  They are open every day during the summer season.  We were surprised by how many people were here on a Wednesday in early April, swimming, sunning, walking the grounds, and enjoying the shows.

We went to the animal show at noon.  The young man who did the show was very entertaining but also provided important information about the snakes, turtles, and small alligator he showed us.  He kept the 18″ long alligator out after the show for people to touch and photograph.  The park also has a resident population of pea fowl that roam the grounds freely.  We encountered them numerous times and I took quite a few photographs.  Several of the peacocks were fanning the tails and they were very impressive.

The park service operates a pair of pontoon boats that take visitors on a 25 minute round trip on the upper part of the river.  There is almost no development on this stretch of the River and we saw turtles, an Anhinga drying its wings, and a Bald Eagle nest with an immature eagle in it.

The park operates several concession stands and we patronized one for a light lunch.  They also have a gift shop.  The park is open from 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM.  We left at 5 PM feeling that we had gotten value for our entrance fee.

From the park we headed east on FL-50 / Cortez Blvd to Buffet City.  We had been to this Chinese buffet once before with Al Hesselbart and thought the variety and quality of food was sufficient to make the $11 per person cost reasonable for us.  All four of us got our monies worth.

We headed back to Dunnellon by way of the northbound Suncoast Parkway (FL-589 Tollroad).  The Parkway ends at US-19 south of Homosassa.  From there we reversed our route from the morning, taking US-19 back to Crystal River and then taking the road that runs northeast back to US-41 in Dunnellon.  We stopped at the Hagan’s house for some coffee and conversation.  Marian had taken a few photos of us at the park and John transferred them to a DVD.

We arrived back at our coach around 9:30 PM and were greeted by our two cats who demanded our undivided attention for a while.  A small serving of coconut milk “ice cream” put the finishing touch on a long but very satisfying day.

 

2014/02/20 (R) Cape Canaveral (FL)

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We were up early this morning and on the road by 6:15 AM in order to get Linda to the Orlando International Airport between 8:00 – 8:30 AM for her 10:30 AM flight back to Michigan.  We took the Florida Turnpike and met that objective easily.  The SunPass we bought for the Florida toll road system has proven to be very handy, speeding us through toll plazas without having to stop, and often without having to slow down.

I had several alternatives for what to do with my day given that I was already in Orlando.  One was to head to Wekiwa SP to finish photographing a bus, but the owners were away for the day.  Another was to pay a return visit to fellow GLCCers Bill and Karen (and Mike and Kathy) at the Orange City RV Park, but they were also away from the campground for the day.

The plan that worked out was to continue on to the east on FL-528 (toll) to the Cape Canaveral area, specifically Merritt Island and Jetty Park, which is on the Atlantic Ocean north of Cocoa Beach.  Pat and Vickie, our friends from GLCC, had recently relocated to the Jetty Park Campground from Fort Wilderness (Walt Disney World) and thought I would enjoy the place.  The Park and Campground are owned and operated by the Cape Canaveral Port Authority and I drove past the cruise ship and freight terminals on the way into the park.

I enjoyed the park and ended up having lunch and dinner with Pat and Vickie (thank you) and stayed well into the evening to watch a rocket launch from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station just north of the park and south of the John F. Kennedy Space Center.  The launch was to place a military satellite into orbit, and used a 3-rocket booster.  Liftoff was at 9:00 PM and lit up to night sky.  The sound was also impressive

I waited until 9:45 PM for traffic to thin out a bit, and then headed for Williston.  I did surprising well on the drive considering how long a day it turned out to be.  Vickie sent a bag of pretzels with me so I would have something to munch on the drive.  I stopped on the Florida Turnpike (FL-91) for fuel and got some coffee at the Dunkin’ Donuts.  I arrived back at WCRV Resort around 12:30 AM.

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2014/01/30 (R) Fort Wilderness

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Yesterday was a stay at home day after our 2-day whirlwind trip to the Venice, Florida area to visit with Steve and Karen.  We got up a bit earlier this morning than we have been lately and were on the road by 8 AM.  Our destination this time was Fort Wilderness at Walt Disney World in Buena Vista, Florida.  The purpose of the trip was to visit Pat and Vickie Lintner, friends and fellow Prevost owners from our FMCA Great Lakes Converted Coaches chapter.

Walt Disney World is just southwest of Orlando and about 100 miles southeast of Williston.  We decided to take US and FL highways on the drive down return by way of the Florida Turnpike and I-75.  We stopped at a Dunkin Donuts south of Ocala for coffee and bagels and arrived at the overflow/visitor parking area for Fort Wilderness around 11 AM.  We had to pass through two gates to get to this parking lot, but each time we simply told them we were visiting campers at FW and they let us through without having to pay.  I phoned Pat and a few minutes later he and Vickie picked us up and gave us a driving tour of the campground on the way to their campsite.

Linda had been to Walt Disney World many years ago when our children were very young and stayed at Fort Wilderness in my parents’ motorhome.  We were there together in the early 2000’s when Linda had a professional development seminar at the Swan hotel near Epcot.  That was my one and only visit to WDW prior to today.

Like everything at WDW, Fort Wilderness is a really nice campground.  It’s divided up into sections, each with its own loop road.  The roads are narrow and winding, but the campsites are all angled so that even 40 foot motorhomes can back in easily to the paved sites.   There is extensive landscaping between the sites which, combined with the twisting roads, affords a lot privacy.  But there was only room for one car at each site, which is why Pat had us leave our car in the parking lot.  The common areas include playgrounds, bathrooms, shops, and restaurants, all done to be visually consistent with the Fort Wilderness theme.

The weather was light drizzle with temperatures in the mid-40’s and enough breeze to create a wind-chill factor, but we decided to go explore WDW anyway.  I did not, however, take my camera.  The photos in this post were provided by Vickie Lintner (thanks Vickie!).  From FW you can use the WDW transportation system, specifically the boats and monorail, to visit most of the hotels that are spread around the property free of charge.  We never entered any of the actual theme parks, which required the payment of an admission fee.

This horse with no name was very interested in us. (Photo by Vickie Lintner.)

This horse with no name was very interested in us. (Photo by Vickie Lintner.)

When we got to the Polynesian Hotel we decided to have lunch.  Pat had checked in advance and been told that any of the restaurants at WDW would make vegan dishes on request even if they were not on the menu.  Before being seated, the chef came out to talk with us and made some recommendations for vegan dishes he could prepare.  We ended up ordering a Pan Asian Noodle dish with tofu, and some100% Kona coffee, both of which were excellent.

Us on one of the WDW boats bundled up against the weather. (Photo by Vickie Lintner.)

Us on one of the WDW boats bundled up against the weather. (Photo by Vickie Lintner.)

We were a bit chilled by the time we got back to their coach, so Pat turned on the cube heater and we huddled under some throws to warm up.  While Vickie began preparing dinner Pat drove us to one of the other campground sections to visit with David and Marie Ross.  David and Marie had spent two nights at Williston Crossings visiting with us before going to Fort Wilderness to meet up with Marie’s sister and her husband for a week.  We got to meet them too and had a nice, but brief visit, before Pat returned to fetch us for dinner.

Us back at Pat & Vickie’s coach getting warm. (Photo by Vickie Lintner.)

Us back at Pat & Vickie’s coach getting warm. (Photo by Vickie Lintner.)

Vickie made a (vegan) butternut squash soup from scratch using her Vita-Mix and it was very good.  We learned about the Vita-Mix on our first Holistic Holiday at Sea cruise.  They are so powerful that you can make soup in them, not just blending ingredients, but heating them to boiling hot.  Following the soup course we had potatoes and mixed vegetables.

After dinner we drove to Downtown Disney, the shopping, eating, entertainment center of WDW.  We followed Pat but Vickie road with us to make sure we got there.  The weather had moderated a bit and there were a lot of people there, but we enjoyed walking the grounds and window shopping.  By 8 PM we were back at our cars.  Pat and Vickie led us to the entrance to the toll road, made a U-turn, and headed back to FW as we got on the highway and started for Williston.

2014/01/13 (M) Prevost-Stuff Show

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The Tampa Convention Center waterfront plaza, Tampa (FL).

The Tampa Convention Center waterfront plaza, Tampa (FL).

We spent most of the day and evening traveling to, attending, and returning from the Prevost-Stuff Show at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Florida.  Prevost-Stuff.com is part of the Prevost Owners Group (POG) owned and operated by Jamie Bradford.  We have been POG members for a few years now but this was the first event we have been able to attend.  The Prevost-Stuff show is strictly used Prevost coach conversions.  Jamie organized the show starting last year to run for the two days immediately prior to the Tampa RV Supershow at the Tampa Fairgrounds because the Supershow only allows new units to be displayed.

TCC Beer Pavilion and Fish Sculpture.

TCC Beer Pavilion and Fish Sculpture.

Before heading to Tampa we stopped at the CVS Store in Williston to purchase an electronic pass for the Florida Tollway System.  We purchased a SunPass Mini, activated it via the website using Linda’s cell phone, put an initial balance on it, and mounted it to the inside of the car windshield behind the mirror.  We planned to use the Tollway for part of our trip to Tampa and did not want to be bothered with stopping to pay cash tolls.  We also knew that we would want/need to use the toll roads as we traveled around Florida over the next few months and the SunPass is both more convenient and slightly less expensive on a per toll basis.  A quick stop at the Williston post office to mail a flash drive full of photos to Bus Conversions Magazine editor Mike Sullivan and we were on our way.

View towards Tampa Forum arena from TCC plaza docks.

View towards Tampa Forum arena from TCC plaza docks.

Rather than take I-75 to Tampa, which we have already done once when we went to Arcadia, we headed to the west edge of downtown Williston and picked up US-41 S.  We stayed with US-41 S through Inverness to Brooksville where we took FL-50 over to the Tollway, FL-589, and then headed south towards Tampa.  Our Garmin nuvi 465T GPS was rather persistent in trying to route us away from the Tollway until we checked the settings and discovered it was set to “avoid toll roads.”  From there on it steered us through the convoluted Tampa freeway system, onto the surface streets, and directly to the entrance to the Tampa Convention Center parking garage.

TCC east entrance stairs.

TCC east entrance stairs.

The Prevost-Stuff show was in the West Hall at the Tampa Convention Center.  It was free and open to the public but there were no signs announcing it, almost as if it was an invitation only event; and in a sense that was true, the only real marketing being through the POG and Prevost-Stuff.com websites.  Much to our surprise, the first person we met as we entered the hall was Joe Cannarozzi, our mobile mechanic.  I knew Joe was in Florida for part of the winter, but wasn’t sure just where.  It turns out that he is staying at an RV park an hour or so south of us.

TCC east upper entrance level.

TCC east upper entrance level.

There were at least 30 units on display, all used and all for sale, with a roughly equal number of H3s and LeMirage / XL / XL2s.  All of them were very nice, of course, but most of them were not to our taste (too fancy).   Almost all of them were not in our price range either, so that made it a lot easier to not buy one : – ) (We agreed on the drive down not to make an impulsive purchase.)  I did, however, see a few interesting “features” that may eventually find their way into our coach.  I forgot to take my camera so the photos in today’s posts were taken with my smartphone.

TCC West Hall lobby.

TCC West Hall lobby.

The best part for me was the Prevost reception at 5:30 PM.  I got to meet several people including the owner of AAP.  AAP is the company that now handles Cruise Air units.  It was good to know that they are still available as our coach has three of them.  I got some suggestions from him about what we might do to reduce the noise when they are running.  We also met Jamie Bradford, the owner of the Prevost Owners Group (POG), and Dale Farley, who handles administration for POG.  Jamie said that in addition to the New Orleans rally he is planning for March, he is planning a rally in East St. Louis for the last week in September.  The RV park closes after the third weekend in September but remains “open” for another week for exclusive use by the POG rally.  He will have room for 90 coaches.  I have no idea what it will cost, and I am sure food will be an issue for us, as always.  St. Louis, however, is our home town and we not had the coach down there yet, so we’ll see.

TCC West Hall entrance, Prevost-Stuff Show

TCC West Hall entrance, Prevost-Stuff Show

Finally, we met several folks from Prevost, including:  Gaetan Bolduc, Eng. (president/ceo), Steve Ziegler (national sales manager for conversions shells), Martin –?— (factory product manager), and Bill Jensen, national service manager (conversion shells).  I now have faces and business cards to go with the names.

A whole row of Marathon conversions.

A whole row of Marathon conversions.

I had a chance to talk to Martin about the lack of availability of rubber seals for our awning windows and describe how we were able to get new ones made.  I offered to supply them if they have any other customers who need them : – )  I also got to discuss our intermittent speedometer/odometer problem with Bill Jensen.  Bill agreed that it sounded like we had a wiring problem somewhere after the engine and transmission computers and told me that the two wires of importance are numbers 16 (speedo +) and 20 (speedo ground).  He also indicated that the coach probably does have a “speed switch” and that it is most likely located in the electrical bay above the tag axle on the driver’s side.  The purpose of the switch was to disable the kneeling feature on a seated coach above 5 MPH.  The speedometer wires are “looped through” the switch, however, and it is a potential failure point.

A pair of late model, lightly used, Prevost H3-45 conversions.

A pair of late model, lightly used, Prevost H3-45 conversions.

By the time we left around 6:30 PM it was dark and Linda’s hip was bothering her so I drove home.  Our GPS got us to I-275 northbound, an easy, straight shot west from the Tampa Convention Center parking garage.  I-275 merged into I-75 N.  We exited at US-27 W in Ocala and were home before 9 PM including a brief fuel stop along the way.  Heavy and persistent rain was forecast to start sometime after 9 PM and go through the night, but we made it back to the coach before it started raining.  I took care of some e-mails, posted my blog entry for yesterday, and called it a day.