May 4 – Our Last Month in Sarasota – Trip to Sebring, FL

For the past month, our activities haven't changed all that much; both of us walking mornings with an ever-shrinking group (many people leaving for home), a chance to do some limited, local photography,

and sailing 2-3 times a week, at Sun N Fun and Benderson Park with the Sarasota Model Yacht Club. 

Last week, we also had our coach professionally washed and waxed, which we do annually and has served to protect its finish over teh past decade.

On a vastly more positive note, over the coure of the last week to ten days our social schedule has taken a definite uptick, happliy one resembling pre-Covid times … dinner one night with friends from Michigan, our first lunch at a restaurant since sometime before February 2020,

fortunately, we neither smoke or vape

we really hadn't planned and physical activities on our table

dinner at our RV with Debbie's brother Dick and wife Kate

Debbie and Dick

and just last evening dinner at my cousin Sandy and Jeff's home at Misty Creek.

After dinner, Jeff took me on an evening tour of the golf course (which I have played on many occasions in the past … but only during day light hours).

 

Today, we began our trip home,

albeit with a detour to Sebring, Florida … as we need to have five of our motorhome's duo-pane windows which have lost their seals replaced.

Our 76 mile drive, however, took an interesting "turn" when our GPS told us to take a RIGHT in the center of Arcadia.  Thirty-plus miles later we knew something was amiss forcing us to reverse direction.  Along the way (you may notice some blurred spots on the following photos, the remains of Florida's infamous "lovebugs" … more later)

Cattle everywhere

Abandoned buildings

Boarded up businesses in many of the small towns we passed through

Old military equipment

Tractors, an ubiquotous form of local transportation

A occasional truck loaded with cirtus

A storage yard for apparently abandoned cruise ship lifeboats … in the middle of central Florida

A sign which caught your eyes and was more intriguing until we read all of it

We took a shortcut through are area known as Sweetwater, which saved mileage but not much, if any, time as it was a narrow, winding, two-lane road through miles citrus groves.

Some 124 miles after leaving Sarasota, we finaly arrived at our destination.

There we discovered how many lovebug lives our motorhome had claimed

It took the batter part of an hour in 90o-plus heat for the two of us to scrub these carcasses from our windshield, the front of the coach and backs of our wing mirrors.

The name says it all, ovebugs are bugs that are usually paired together with a “mate.”

They will attach their bodies to their mate and fly in tandem together. They have black bodies and red heads, and they are typically 6-9 millimeters in length. Although referred to as bugs, these insects are actually flies. They’re more closely related to biting midges and mosquitoes rather than other common bugs like grasshoppers or termites.

Since their time as flies is only a short period of their life cycle, they spend more of their lives as larvae. Females lay their eggs on the ground and can have around 200-300 eggs alone. The good news is although these bugs are a nuisance to drivers, they cannot cause any physical harm to you or your pets.

Lovebugs have made Florida their home because they thrive in warm, humid climates — commonly on the Gulf Coast. Many times these flies are seen in swarms, most commonly during their two specific mating seasons–once in the spring (April to May), and then again in the late summer (August to September). Lovebugs are most commonly found swarming cars because they are attracted to the gases emitted from vehicles. You’ll most commonly find them swarming fast moving vehicles during the day.

One of the nice amenities the glass company offers is six RV sites complete with 50-amp power and water located in their gated lot making our day-early arrival desirable and convenient.

Nearby is another fenced lot with dozens of abandoned and discarded trucks and other vehicles.

On a more pleasing note, I spotted a cluster of small, yelow and green flowers in a tree

which I discovered were African Primroses.

We have been advised there will knock on our door around 8:15 AM tomorrow morning.  They not only hope to complete the window replacements by the end of the day but, after remeasuring our windows, told me the final cost will actually be LESS than their original estimate. 

A brief downpour passed though this evening.

Oh yes, we were advsied that if walking around after dark to watch out for the alligator which sometimes frequents the large pond on the property and the Florida black bear which will occasionally wander in from the adjacent woods.

 

 

 

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