FL: Mid-Florida Winnies

This was a well-attended campout. Several coaches arrived on Sunday and, by Monday we had 21 coaches in attendance. This number included our newest members, Roy & Janis Fulcher, and guests, George & Mary Lou Galea, Bruce Clawson, Liz Sweeney, and Brian Whittie's brother, Neil Whittie. We had an informal happy hour on Monday afternoon at Bob and Glenda Christian’s coach. Most everyone attended this gathering to catch up on their travels. Our hosts, the officers, Bill and Elaine Schilp, Bob and Glenda Christian, Bev and Mike O’Neil, Chuck and Becky Smalley, and Gerry and Irene LaFlamme did an excellent job of organizing activities for our group. Tuesday the festivities began with separate activities for the men and women. The women had a "High Tea at Noon”. The men enjoyed lunch at the Florida Cracker Kitchen Tap Room followed by a trip to the Train Depot Museum.

This was a very nicely kept campground even if it did have a lot of rules and regulations. We had our usual happy hour in the afternoon on Tuesday at the Christian’s coach, as before. Our meal that night consisted of walking tacos with all the fixings and ice cream sundaes for dessert. After the meal, we gathered to draw numbers to determine the teams for the horse race to take place on Wednesday evening. We had 6 teams and all had a great time decorating the pool noodles and making them into great horses. Following are the teams and their horses' names: Team 1 – "Charlie Horse" – Monteleone, Yarnall, & Whittie; Team 2 – "Bella Donna" – Schilp, & Horner; Team 3 – "Runaway Winnie" - Faherty, O’Neil, & Warner; Team 4 – "Regitoni" – Ledford, Zembeck, & Galea; Team 5 – "Picasso" – Rumrill, Smalley & LaFlamme; Team 6 – "Orange Crush" – Belleville, Fulcher, & Clawson/Sweeney.

Wednesday morning the Hosts provided a pancake and sausage breakfast accompanied by mixed fruit, orange juice, and coffee. After breakfast we had our business meeting. Everyone was on their own for the afternoon. We had our usual happy hour in the afternoon at the same location. Our evening meal consisted of quartered rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, and corn casserole. Dessert was an anniversary cake prepared by our master cake baker, Richard Menge. This was our 47th anniversary celebration.

After the meal we all gathered to have sangria and participate in the exciting horse races. We had a contest for the best decorated horse and, Team 5 won. The winners received a 100 Grand candy bar. We had three races and almost had a Triple Crown winner. The first two races were won by Team 1, "Charlie Horse", ridden expertly by Debbie Monteleone. After the first two races were won by Team 1, the dice were changed and the third race was won by Team 6, "Orange Crush", ridden with intensity and excitement by Norm Belleville. There were wagers m a d e o n t h e r a c e s with 50% of the winnings going to our charity. We raised $131 for our chartiy. I think the sangria helped. We had a breakfast on Thursday of mixed pastries with coffee and fruit.

Our next campout is on May 10-13 at Rock Crusher Canyon in Crystal River. This is a rolling campout which will continue on May 13-17 at allahassee RV Park and then on May 17-21 at Azalea Acres RV Park in Robertsdale, AL. We hope to see everyone there. Please call the parks for reservations and mention Mid-Florida Winnies to get the rally rate.