Stayin' Busy

Our RV lifestyle involves a lot of socializing, which almost always means getting together for meals or happy hours.  We recently got together for lunch with neighbors Paul & Margery and Darrell & Judy at our nearby favorite, Big Daddy's.  Paul & Margery were getting ready to move on to Florida where it's warmer!  We enjoyed spending time with them and hope to see them the next time they're visiting this area.

Last Monday I joined about 45 other women from the Plantation for the annual Christmas lunch.  We went to a very nice restaurant in Robertsdale, Iveys, and had a wonderful time.

This past Thursday we joined 3 other couples to try out a new restaurant that recently opened on the beach, appropriately named The Gulf.  The menu is fairly limited, but the setting is wonderful!  Below is our group seated on the "lawn" (a patch of turf placed on top of the beach sand).  On the left are Judy, Darrell, and Jim.  On the right are Roberta, Joann, George and Keith.

Roberta and Keith are current property owners here at the plantation, but they are in the process of selling that property to our friends Judy and Darrell.  In keeping with the "small world" concept of our RV'ing community, I'll try to explain some of the connections!  George and Joann are new friends of ours (George was Jim's sponsor in joining the Elks Lodge).  They are long-time friends with Keith and Roberta, who also have property at North Ranch in Congress, Arizona, another Escapees Park.  Roberta knows our friend Pat McFall as they have line danced together at North Ranch.

Here are George and Joann standing in front of one of The Gulf's beach lounge chairs.

We had a fun time visiting and enjoying the beautiful beach setting of this unique restaurant.  We all decided the ambiance is fun, the food is nothing that special.  After lunch, George wanted to show us a local "institution" - a restaurant and bar located right on the Alabama/Florida state line - "Floribama".  So we carpooled over there and took a look around.  Everyone agreed to pose in this "beach" setting if I'd post a blog!  So here we all are:  George, Joann, Keith, Roberta, Judy, Darrell, Jim and me!

There's a new neighbor at the Plantation - Gregg arrived about a week ago in his beautiful 5th wheel pulled by a matching Volvo  - big truck!  Gregg is a friend of Pat and Mike McFall and also owns a lot across from friends Dortha and Mark at Retama Village in the Rio Grande Valley - see how the small world connections just keep happening!  Gregg is attending line dancing, as well as many of the other activities at the Plantation, and we're enjoying getting to know him.

Speaking of line dancing, I'm still going to class just about every day.  The M-W-F class is a beginner class, and the Tue. -Thur class is a little bit more geared towards intermediate.  We don't have a designated teacher for that class, right now I usually lead most of the dances unless someone else has a dance they want to teach.  I also found a local class at the Foley Senior Center that meets once a week.  I attended that class last Wednesday and found it just challenging enough!  That gives me plenty of opportunity to improve my dancing skills.

Jim has started a new project too; he's learning how to cane chairs.  There is a group of folks here at the Plantation that refurbishes chair seats and backs using cane.  It's quite an involved art that has been passed down through several generations and is being shared with people here.  Many of the chairs will be auctioned during Mardi Gras here, with the benefits going to the Escapees CARE organization.  We've heard that last year the proceeds of this auction were around $4,000!

We are blessed to be able to enjoy this lifestyle!  More adventures to come....