the 2009 Midwinters & U.S. Nationals
John and Dolores' Midwinters Memories
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A couple of days before departing for Florida, SILVERFOX had to be prepared for the trip - as you can tell.
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Even on the day of departure we could not get away from this white stuff.
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We arrived in Lexington at the Kentucky Horse Park the first night around 9.00 pm
after a scary trip through an ice storm that had hit the state the previous day.
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Our next stop was Chattanooga - a bit friendlier as we arrived in the afternoon on Superbowl Sunday. Not much greener but warmer.
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And next, our third stop in Valdosta, GA.
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Tuesday afternoon , we arrived at Lake Eustis where we experienced our first Florida Sunset.
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We gathered with our hosts in the club house since the weather in the evening was still very chilly - notice the lack of refreshments. Dolores was still nursing a cold that she had picked up while packing the RV back home. (clockwise from left) Alex and Peter Rahn, Dotty Murto, Richard Watterson, Mike Murto, Jim Heffernan, ???, Scott Tillema, Richard Johnson?, Mary Abel
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Good Night, Sun. We will see you tomorrow.
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Unreal what nature brings us; what a view!
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An unforgettable view.

Well! What we did not expect was a picture like this one reminding us of a Pumpkin Regatta
instead of the Midwinters with ice covering the early arrivals. 
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Richard Watterson's crew, Mark, brought his sailing canoe, and it came in handy when we could not go out for a lack of wind.
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Our MC Scow neighbours were also content to relax due to a lack of wind. Putting the down time to good use, they ...
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... gave Dave Moring a hair cut/shave on the spot.
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A relaxed Wayfarer bunch waits for some wind to show up, not realizing what will be next as the choo choo comes through - almost.
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Well, you guessed it, but there is enough documentation in other reports.
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This engineer was only thinking of not breaking the No Parking Between the Signs rule.
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A few minutes later, they came to a grinding halt, much to the delight of some of us.
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Dolores and I did not let our sailing performance in Eustis dampen our spirit, as this never happens. We went on to Cortez on the Gulf Coast where we met some really nice people and we stayed another week for some sun and unbelievably fresh Florida seafood, second to none. So we started out with our first bike ride on Bradenton Beach, and then had ...
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... lunch in a nice place with the Gulf in the background. We had just finished our lunch as you can tell.
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In a bayside restaurant across the road from where we were staying, we met a family visiting from Sweden. We had a nice conversation with them and it was a good time. As you can see, they got served before we did, but the waiting time for your order was close to an hour, and you shared a table.
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This same day, we saw three dolphins in the Gulf. We found a little vegetable market
where we replenished our supplies with fresh veggies, etc. before going to lunch.
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This fellow was our comedian waiter at the Rod and Reel restaurant on one of the many city piers. Here we had dinner with friends ...
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 ... Denise and Rodger whom we had met in our RV park. You meet the nicest people anywhere!
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A beautiful Lady and another nice view: the Gulf.
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We also met Pierre and Celine, in the park where we stayed, and had some refreshments with them.
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This was our pad in Cortez from where we rode our bikes every day to the Gulf Coast, a 1/2 mile or so over the Cortez bridge.
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Here we also met Julie and Robert from Cacouna, Quebec.
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On our way home, we stayed at the Eagle's Roost in Valdosta, GA, where we also stayed on the way down - our last nice camp as the weather deteriorated fast as we went North. This was the end of a nice vacation in Florida where we met many very nice people and had great times with them.
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