Sanlan – Lakeland, Florida – Arrival & first days and beyond.

We arrived at Sanlan Wednesday 11/19 around 4 o’clock.  After checking in and setting up, we both agreed, we’d get to bed early.  Since we’ll be here for a couple of months, I had set up the Starlink antenna, the US Flag and the grill.  I suggested we have veggie burgers for dinner; it would be quick and easy, but boy that didn’t work out so well. 

We had an issue with the grill last year, it’s a small propane Weber grill, and after contacting Weber, they sent a new valve and also some thoughts on successful future grilling.  I hadn’t swapped out the valve yet, but per their suggestion, a small disposable tank should work just fine; I had previously been connecting to the trailer tank.  I still had two small disposable tanks left over from last summer, so I thought I could just finish them, then connect to the trailer tank later.  I never got the temperature above 200 degrees with the disposable tank setup, so in the dark, while under attack from mosquitoes, I swapped out the valve.  I had to warn Mag, “it’s gonna be awhile,” because the food she prepared inside; beans and sweet potato fries, were ready.  It took maybe a half hour to get the grill running properly, get the burgers on and it all worked out.  After dinner, we relaxed over a cup of our ceremonial cacao, then off to bed. 

We’re happy to be in Florida, in warmer temperatures and look forward some adventures.  Thursday was a lazy day; a day to decompress from our journey but soon we’ll start poking around.  What we both have discovered is that the 5-day jaunt to Florida, takes a bit out of us.  After a few days of rest, we’ll be good.  When we come and go through the back entrance, we often see one of the herd members (Sanlan Ranch).  The temp was in the mid-80s, so we suited up and headed to the pool for some lounging and a quick dip. 

Over the past year we took up pickleball.  It seems to be a requirement, a rite of passage even, once you reach, or approach, retirement age.  Sanlan has added an additional court, for a total of three.  We headed over to the courts yesterday to just bat the ball around and ended up playing with some folks for a couple of hours.  On top of the concrete surface, they have added a new court surface.  Each court is covered with 12″ x 12″ polypropylene tiles about 1/2″ thick.  It does provide some cushioning that’s nice, has good drainage properties, that’s nice, but the ball does bounce differently at times, which takes some getting used to.  At times it skids on the tiles instead of bouncing, as you expect, which usually doesn’t work out too well.  We’ve played several times and have met some picklers already and look forward to getting out there again.   I also signed up to play golf Wednesday mornings with a group of folks from the campground.

Yesterday, Sunday 11/23, we attended a birthday celebration for Sue Entner.  The Entners are staying a few sites away from us and we connected with them over our 4 years here at Sanlan.  They’re from Seiverville, TN near Pigeon Forge and Pastor Bob hosts a Sunday service at one of the halls here throughout the Winter months.  At its peak, the service can attract over 100 people.  There were roughly 35 folks gathered for Sue’s party, and we enjoyed seeing folks we’ve met in previous years along with some new folks.  There is a good cross section of people here from the eastern and central US, and many Canadians.  Sitting around their site in a semicircle with 35 people, most of whom we didn’t know, was a little uncomfortable but everyone was very friendly, and we look forward to getting to know some of them.  The park isn’t as full as previous years, and we feel it is mostly due to the Canadian-US exchange rate.  For every $100 USD, Canadians spend about $140 CAD.  There are a lot of Canadians here, mostly from Ontario, eh.     

Thanksgiving Day we elected to order a meal from a local caterer named Elite Catering.  We ordered last weekend and before picking up on Thanksgiving Day, we decided to clean under the Theater Seat that had come loose during our trip here.  After removing the remaining screws, we pulled away the chair, then Mag got in there to sweep and wash the floor.  Then I suggested we remove the other chair and clean under it too.  My suggesting was met with some reluctance but, considering it’s been 4 years, we removed the second chair and cleaned it up nicely.    

The Thanksgiving meal, the Elite Mini Feast for Two included Turkey, Ham, Mashed Potatoes with Gravy, Stuffing, Southern Green Beans, Backed Mac & Cheese, Cranberry Sauce and Homemade Biscuits.  The meats were smoked, moist and delicious!  Mashed potatoes were actually Garlic Mashed.  Stuffing was very good, along

with the Southern Green Beans. I’m not big on Mac & Cheese but this version was delicious.  The cheese on top was slightly browned; very nice.  It also included Sweet or Unsweetened Iced Tea; we opted for the unsweetened.  It began to rain on the drive to Elite Catering, it’s about 5 miles back up toward town, but was pouring when we arrived.  Counting us, there were 5 folks picking up their meals.  A woman was walking out when we were on our way in and the back of her RV was packed with her order and we’re all dodging raindrops.  For the most part, Mag sampled the meal, but I dug right in.  Later than afternoon, I have the customary turkey sandwich with cranberry and stuffing.   The remainder was packed in the fridge to savor over the next few days.

We hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving.  We are so grateful for our families, friends and all the places and people we’ve met along our journey.

A little pickleball over the past week, just Mag and me.  We’ve both come to really enjoy the game, being outdoors and meeting new people 🏓 There is a pickleball group that gathers in the morning, around 8:30 or 9:00.  It’s a competitive group so we haven’t wandered over at that time.  Another group at 4:00 is gentler and more to our liking.  We’ve been playing 2-3 times a week, sometime just us two but, sometimes with others, when they show.  We hope to continue playing before our departure mid-January. 

I played 18 holes of golf with Bob yesterday, a tune-up round before the league on Wednesday.  The league has 40, or so, members, depending on who shows, who are all snowbirds here at Sanlan.  I met a few of the members, most whose names I’ve forgotten, but over time I will commit them to memory.  My play is still so-so but improving slightly and with more rounds under my belt.

The weather has been lovely except for one evening and day where is got down into the low 40s with a high in the 60s.   Outside of that, it’s been 80s during the day and 60s at night.  On December 10 we went to the Historic Ritz Theater in Winter Haven for The Rat Pack.  A show featuring three Rat Pack look-a-likes; imitating Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr.  They performed many holiday songs and many fan favorites, you know them all, a bunch of anecdotes and a lot of ribbing.  They encouraged the audience to join them in song, with the finale of 8, or so audience members on stage mimicking the Rockettes to New York, New York!   It was a fun night, lots of laughs and brought back lots of memories.    

    This area seems to have a vibrant theater community.  The Historic Ritz is a member of Theatre of Winter Haven which features (4) different venues.  Lakeland has Lakeland Community Theater with (3) different stages.   This Saturday we have tickets to Christmas at the Opry, at yet another historic theater in Lakeland, named Polk Theatre (we’re in Polk County).  The showed turned out to be a fledgling group from Nashville trying to develop a following here in Lakeland and other venues in Florida for future holiday shows.  It got mixed review from us but, all in all, it was enjoyable.  

We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas.  We had a quiet day with a little football and streamed a movie.    

Over the holiday stretch we played some pickleball, went hiking, and New Year’s Eve we went to see the movie Song Sung Blue with Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson.  The ratings looked pretty good, so we decided to check it out.  We didn’t investigate the storyline, but both figured it was a story about Neil Diamond.  Well, it was in a way, but indirectly.  It is a true story based on real life characters from Milwaukee.  Here is a link to the story of Song Sung Blue by the original writer.  We walked in blind so maybe you will too but, you can also check out the history of it’s making; it’s quite a story in itself.  Regarding the Hollywood film Song Sung Blue, we both really enjoyed it.  We’ve been listening to Neil Diamond on Spotify since.  Sweet Caroline, ba ba ba, good times never seem so good, so good, so good….

We have some activities planned over the next couple of weeks.  On the 10th we’re planning on visiting the World Equestrian Center in Ocala.  Following that we have a visit planned with family in Largo before we begin our journey to Live Oak Landing in Freeport, FL for our final two months in FL.  We can’t believe it’s been almost two months since we began our trip this year. 

Happy New Year to everyone and we wish you much health, happiness and success with whatever you’re pursuing.

♥♥♥♥♥
T & M