Sandhill cranes at the Turner Agri Civic Center.
We slept in this morning and did not get up until sunrise; very late for us. I made a big pot of coffee and then went for a stroll to take some photographs in the early morning light. I took photos in the afternoon light too, and I have assembled a gallery of images as a second post for today. When I got back Linda made vegan blueberry pancakes with real Maple syrup and vegan breakfast sausage patties. She does not use these fake meat products much anyone, but occasionally we like to have a more “traditional” breakfast. Starting Sunday the rally provides coffee, juice, bagels, toast, and other breakfast items every morning.
After breakfast we drove into town to find a 10-32 Nylok (stop) nut and other items that had been accumulating on our list. Our Garmin 465T GPS found the Walmart just 2 miles SE of the rally venue. We spotted a Tractor Supply Company and a Do It Best Hardware store on the way to Walmart and made note of other local businesses as we passed by. We found everything on our list at Walmart except for two items, one of which was the stop nut, so we stopped at the hardware store on the way back to the Turner Agri Civic Center. Stop nut and drain stopper in hand, we started back to base camp and remember another item that we had not written down. A quick U-turn back to the Sweetbay Market by the hardware store and we found a small (pocketsize) spiral bound notebook. I needed something I could carry around easily to record various details of the rally for my BCM article.
Back at the coach I replaced the two regular nuts I had used to fix the main patio awning yesterday with a Nylok stop nut. We let the awning sit for a while longer to make sure it was dry and then rolled it back up. We are parked with the passenger side of the bus facing north so the awning wasn’t providing any shade but merely blocked our view of most of the rally.
We then decided to give the coach a quick wash. The temperature was around 70 degrees F and there was a high overcast; plenty of light but not a blazing direct sunlight. We closed up the roof vents and windows, got out the hoses, sprayer, collapsible bucket, brush, dish soap, and microfiber cloths and went to work. The coach had picked up a film of road grime over the last 8 days and 1,300 miles and unlike most campgrounds, there was no problem with washing it at our site. We had planned on doing this at the designated RV/Car Wash station at Williston Crossings when we got back, but now we won’t have to. It still needs more hand detailing, but that can be done at our long-term site.
The washing done we opened the coach back up as it was getting warm inside. We had lunch around 1:30 PM; tofu hot dogs with mustard, onions, and relish along with fresh grapes. Apparently this was a comfort food day, but it was also an easy preparation meal. While we were eating I got a call from Chuck Spera. He was on his way from Naples to Ft Meyers and wanted to come to the rally site to visit and check it out. His ETA was still two hours out, so we went for a walk. I then took the camera and went out again as quite a few rigs had arrived during the day.
Barbara was back in Detroit for the holidays, so once we knew Chuck was coming we knew we would be going out for dinner and did some online research. There are plenty of places to eat in Arcadia, but it is not a dining destination. The Magnolia Seafood Grill appeared to be our best option; rated number one on Trip Advisor. Chuck arrived at 4:25 PM as estimated. Linda opened a bottle of our 2009 Egri Merlot and we settled in for a chat. He had a mobile mechanic (Mustafa, seriously) in Naples replace the water pump, connecting hoses, and thermostat on his Detroit Diesel 8V92TA engine (the same one we have) that morning and had to go to Ft. Meyers to return the old water pump to avoid the $165 core charge.
As the sun set and it started to get dark it also got very cool as there had been a strong breeze from the northeast all day. We headed for the heart of Arcadia’s historic district and found the restaurant. Linda and I split a very nice salad and a very mediocre pasta marinara. Chuck had a blackened Corvina (Cilus gilberti, similar to sea bass) with a baked potato and broccoli all of which he said was excellent. Our waitress, Jackie, was delightful and attentive. She even had the cook prepare our garlic bread with olive oil instead of butter. Chuck had a 90 mile drive back to Pelican Lake in Naples, so concluded our visit around 7:30 PM, made plans to meet again, and went our separate ways. We rounded out our meal back at the rig with some vegan chocolate cake and settled in to read, process photographs, work a few puzzles, and watch a little TV before going to bed.