Cows, Sand Cranes, Horseshoes and Alligators: Florida Camping

Life in Florida during the winter months is pretty amazing. While the rest of the country is suffering from below zero temperatures, those of us in Florida are complaining that it is too cold to swim in the pool when it is 60 degrees. What can I say; I've gotten a little spoiled down here. My days usually begin later than when I worked full-time, say around 9am with a cup of coffee and my morning prayers. The view through my front windshield (let's call it the living room) is of the neighbor's cows. Their gentle mooing creates a comforting background to my morning routine. Since I've been trying to eat more healthy foods, I cook my breakfasts (eggs, veggies, and meat in some form).

After breakfast, I work on some Young Living essential oil tasks, do some housekeeping chores or maintenance jobs on the RV. My afternoon companions are a couple of sand cranes who live in the pond to the right of my RV. They like to stop by each day and yell at me. My neighbors tell me that the former occupants of my site used to feed them. Oh well, this year they have to learn to eat natural foods, just like me. Now, I have to confess, I don't work every day. Being so close to Disney World means that at least 3x a week, I head up to the parks to play. As a Florida resident, I was able to buy an annual pass. I will share more Disney stories in another blog post.

As the day winds down, I make a good healthy dinner and listen to the sound of horseshoes hitting the posts and the men cheering each other on to victory as I eat. The horseshoe field and the shuffleboard courts are to the left of my RV and down the hill. It is fun to listen to others playing the games they love and enjoying each others' company. After dinner, I join some of the other residents for dominoes, card games, Pokeno or cribbage depending on the night. Having grown up in a family that loves to play games, I adore this. As a single woman, over the years I missed being able to play cards and other games with family and friends.

So, now I bet you are wondering about the alligators. Yes, with several ponds (lakes) in the RV park (campground) we do have a few alligators who like to wander back and forth between the different lakes. As a matter of fact, the park has set up chairs so that the residents can sit by the water, at a safe distance, and watch them. It was reassuring to hear, that this past summer, the three largest alligators were relocated when they got a little too curious about some of the local pets.  Well, that's it for now. It's time for me to head out to win big money - yup I think tonight's jackpot might be $4.50.

Looking for Balance in Your Life?

Are you trying to find balance in your life? Thinking that if things were different, it would be easier? I used to think that too. When I retired and started living fulltime in an RV I thought it would solve all my problems. I would lose 60 pounds, visit with my family who live all over the United States, reconnect with friends, have time for more fun, ramp up my prayer life, find a cool part-time job and have enough money to do everything without ever having to go back to work in an office.  WELL . . . things haven't turned out quite the way I imagined. What I've learned is that sometimes "the road is uneven and bumpy". Now don't get me wrong, I've had an amazing three months, as you can see from my blog and Instagram posts. But, I've also had a terrible cold, been lost in the mountains with almost no gas, and haven't really gotten my new job off and running yet.


It's amazing what you can learn about yourself by just answering a few questions. So, at the end of this first quarter, I am taking the time to assess my life. The tool I am using is found on a website called "Oola Life". I heard the authors, Dave and Troy, speak at a conference in September and have been trying to improve in the seven areas of my life ever since. These areas are faith, family, friends, fun, fitness, finance and field (work). As I sit here and write this blog post I must confess I've had my ups and downs. Most likely this is due to the fact that I haven't actually written down goals or figured out how to measure my progress toward growth in all 7 areas. (I know all my former colleagues are gasping as I was the queen of the measurement tool). So, you guessed it, I've decided to take this month to find my baseline measures in each area and actually write my goals down for myself.  In the next few weeks, I will share my goals and then you can keep me accountable.  If you are also looking to set some "New Year's Resolutions" and need a tool to help you identify where you have some room to grow, I'd like to recommend that you take the free online quiz at https://www.oolalife.com/step1


(Sorry if this page is weird looking when you try and read it. I've been having some computer issues with Blogger and was waiting to post till I worked it out. Obviously, I haven't worked them out but I wanted to keep you updated on the ongoing Camino Turtle adventures.)