New Project

Well after getting back to the trailer we decided to go and look into getting a new stove. We went to two local appliance stores and bought one from the local Maytag dealer. They need to go get it from their Orlando storehouse so we do not know when they will deliver (the sales man/manager said he would have it by Friday). Well the new stove has electronic ignition so it needs electric to plug into so I have been working on that. I went to Lowe’s and bought three different circuit breakers hoping one would be the correct one, no such luck. I took pictures of the circuit breakers and went back to Lowe’s to see if I could find one. After showing the picture to the sales associate he told me the company that made that breaker has been out of business for about thirty years, just what i needed to hear. He told me I might find it at one of the local electric supply stores in Vero Beach. So I went to three different electric supply stores with out finding the correct breaker. One of the electric supply stores said I could try Amazon.com, so I decided to try that. When I got home I went online to Amazon put in the name of the breaker I need and bingo there it was. I ordered it and it should get here tomorrow (paid extra for two day delivery). In the mean time I got the old stove out of the way and found that the wall behind the stove was in bad shape due to the heat from the stove. So I cut out the bad spot and I have been working on yet another repair. Well I should get the new breaker tomorrow and be able to finish this project before the stove is delivered.

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Also we bought a used refrigerator that will be better then the one we have now (also it will be white to match the stove) which will be delivered with the stove.

On a positive note the weather is warming up here in Florida. Also I will be going sailing with Barbara’s cousin Ed on his sail boat (it is 30+ feet), I have been reading up on my sailing but I am sure it will come back to me once I am onboard. I can’t hardly wait for Friday.

The Quest Ends

Well while we where unsuccessful in our quest for warmer weather we did have a nice trip. Today before heading back to the trailer we had heard of a place were manatees gather to stay warm in this cold weather. The place is called Manatee Park. We put manatee Park into Hyacinth (our GPS) and she took us to the wrong place, this happens more often then you would think. So we knew the park was by the power plant so we went down the road further to find the power plant. We found the power plant and kept going thinking the park has to be on one side or the other of the power plant (at least I did). We then stopped at a Publics to use the restrooms and ask for directions. We were told that the park was across the street from the power plant, silly me I was looking on the same side as the power plant. We found the park and I am glad we did not give up. Then it was back to Sebastian and the trailer.

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Quest: Day Four and Five

Yesterday we went to De Soto National Memorial ( http://www.nps.gov/deso/index.htm ) to walk around a bit and get some more history. The Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto came to the west coast of La Florida in search of gold. Unfortunately after traveling as far north as present day Tennessee and as far west as Texas he never found any gold. Upon his death his men buried him in the Mississippi River. It seems that the Native Americans always told De Soto that the gold he was looking for was just a bit farther that way and the greedy Spaniards believed them. While we where there they had a demonstration of some of the weapons the explorers had with them including a cross bow and musket (look carefully at the picture of the cross bow and to the right you will see the bolt on it’s way to the target).

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Next we headed to John & Mable Ringling Museum ( http://www.ringling.org/ ). Barbara really wanted to see the Ca’ d’Zan (translated as house of John, but the blueprints were all labeled “House for Mable Ringling) and so for $5 each we got our tickets for the 12:10 PM tour (of course we got into the grounds for free with one of our museum memberships) and we hopped on a tram fro the ride to the house. The house was started in 1924 and completed just before Christmas 1925. As you can see from the pictures it was full of very opulent furniture and decorating.

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Today we just went to the Edison and Ford Winter Estates (http://www.efwefla.org/), it was cold (in the 30’s) and rainy. We decided to do the self guided tour of the grounds in the rain in stead of waiting for a guided tour. You could not go into any of the houses but the way they have it set up you can see into the rooms with out having to look through glass. The cold and the rain caused us to not stay long but we did see Edison’s House and Guest House and Ford’s House that he bought right next door to his good friend Thomas Edison. We then went back to the museum to sit and get warm. Tomorrow we head back to the trailer in Sebastian and hope the weather gets warmer soon.

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Quest: Day Three

Today we went to Gamble Plantation Historic State Park ( http://www.floridastateparks.org/gambleplantation/ ). It is a plantation house from before the civil war that was once used by Judah P. Benjamin the Confederate Secretary of State. After the civil war he stayed here while he made arrangements for his passage to England. This is the only reason that it was saved by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1925. It was not a very successful plantation in the 12 years the Gamble brothers ran it they had 3 profitable growing seasons. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and answered all our questions.

Then we were off to Marie Selby Botanical Gardens ( http://www.selby.org ). We had a lovely lunch in the café there and then a walk around the grounds which included a conservatory full of orchids, my favorite flower. They had many different types of trees and plants as you can see from the pictures.

After walking around all afternoon we left and went back to the hotel but first we stopped at one of the local food stores called The Fresh Market. We bought some prepared foods we could heat up in the microwave oven. It was a bit expensive but still cheaper then eating dinner out. We had bourbon salmon with roasted potatoes and green beans followed by some stuffed cabbage. Barbara had a fruit tart and I had some cherries and a cappuccino chip cookie for desert.

Today was a little warmer it made it into the 60’s but still not what we would call Florida weather.

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Quest; Day Two

We got up and headed to Sarasota, Florida which is farther south, evidentially not far enough south still cold.

The first stop for the day was the Yuengling brewery for a tour. We got there around 9AM and the tour started at 10AM so we just hung around until the tour started. It was one of the best brewery tours I have been on. After the tour there was the tasting, I had a Black and Tan and a Special both were very good.

We did go to MOTE Aquarium and Marine Laboratory ( www.mote.org ). They had many interesting exhibits including a sting ray touch pool, rays are so smooth they feel like silk, if you ever have a chance to touch them do it. The rays in the touch pool were very active and seemed to invite you to touch them. They also have a turtle that is blind, so he can not be released back into the wild like so many of the sea animals that come there. And in another pool an almost albino turtle, it is missing a lot of it’s pigment so once again can not be released into the wild. This is a must see place and we will go back again (we bought a membership for the year).

We then headed to the motel in hell; well there were several things wrong. First it was the kind were the room doors are on the outside, we like a hallway. Then the heat was not working in the room. But the thing that broke the camels back was there were no wall outlets to plug the computers, all the outlets were behind furniture. The clerk tried to satisfy us by giving us a different room but while the heat in the second room worked there still were no electrical outlets to plug anything into. So after getting out of paying for the room as not being satisfied we went to a Quality Suites (our standard) and got a room we are very happy with.

Included are pictures I took at MOTE.

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In Search of Warmer Weather

Today Barbara and I took off in search of warmer weather. We decided to go to Tampa and went to one of the museums we get into for free, Museum Of Science and Industry ( www.mosi.org ). It was geared to children but most science museums are and some of the displays needed work. Then it was off to the motel for some heat in the room what an idea. The trailer would not be bad but we do not have any heat to speak of, just a space heater that only heats one room at a time. Here are some pictures that I took at the museum.

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