Lake Wales, FL – Feb 2023

Wow, I have to admit, this month sort of slipped by me in a flash.  The first thing I remember is getting my kidney stone blasted on the last day of Jan, and now here we are towards the end of Feb.  Everything that happened in between is somewhat of a blur as it zipped on by.  But it was a productive month, a festive month, and a fun month.  Just too darn quick to pass.  My 2023 adventure departure is a mere six weeks away, which is totally too soon.  I’ve got lots of stuff left to accomplish before I leave, and now with seemingly little time to get it done.  Where the hell has all the time gone?  Oh yea, I’ve been thoroughly enjoying myself with too much goofing off during my winter respite.  So, here’s to another month past, and a recap of what I’ve been up to.

Stone Update

Well, as you may recall from last month’s blog edition, I was about to have a procedure called Shockwave Lithotripsy to bust up a kidney stone.  I’m happy to share that the procedure went well, and I now appear to be stone free – fingers crossed it will stay that way for the foreseeable future.  I was given sort of a mini colander/strainer to use when I went to the bathroom, so that I could possibly catch some of the stones as they pass.  That would then allow for post laboratory review to determine their makeup, etc.  Well, it would appear that my stone collecting went pretty well.  Extremely well actually as I caught what would seem to be a world record number of stone fragments.  The stone they busted up was evidently quite large (reported to be 12mm, or roughly 1/2 inch in diameter).  I gathered up quite the collection of stone fragments over the course of the next couple of weeks.  Fortunately, between the Stent they had inserted up in my ureter, and the degree of fragmentation they managed to achieve via the shockwave blasting, passing the fragments was mostly a non issue.  I took pictures of my impressive rock collection, but decided to hide it behind this seemingly innocent rock collecting picture so that the more squeamish of my readers can opt out of taking a look.  But for the curious others of you, just click on the picture at left to see what I scored in my collection.

Scoot Update

Again for my regular readers, you may recall that back in early Sep, I was struck from behind while at a red light, and while riding my scooter. I was not able to use the scoot for the rest of my journey, and eventually got it to a local Honda dealership here in Florida on Nov 30th to get inspected and repaired.  Sadly, that ended up not going so well.  Despite my insistence that I not spend a dime fixing it if the frame was damaged, they assured me it was not.  So, I approved the almost $1,600 in repairs (mostly plastics), and waited until Feb 4 for the repairs to be completed.  I was looking forward to seeing what should have been a like-new condition scoot.  Well, that was not the case.  Much of the plastics did not align, did not connect correctly, and overall looked like crap.  It turns out, the frame was in fact damaged and bent such that getting all the plastics back on looking like new would not be possible.  To say I was pissed would be a huge understatement.  I just spent significant money fixing something that should have been totaled and trashed.  After arguing with the service manager for some time, I managed to at least get a refund of $1,000 from the repair bill, though in my mind it should have been fully refunded.  I’m still working on that.  But now I’m left with a scoot that looks like crap, and may in fact be unsafe to drive.  So, I’m at a bit of a loss for what to do with it at this point.  This may be the end of my scooting while I’m RVing.  Time will tell.

Roadside America

My brother Dick and I spent a day together playing tourist around the area of New Smyrna Beach and Edgewater, FL.  The former to catch a half dozen or so Roadside America sites, and the latter to pay a visit to famed artist Peter Wolf Toth.  Our first Roadside would take is to a sad, but interesting gravesite.  Back in 1860, a 16-year-old boy named Charles Dummett tragically died in a hunting accident.  Stricken with grief, his family decided to burry him at the exact location where the accident occurred.  Almost a century later in the 1950s, developers ran into difficulty getting permission to relocate the grave, and untilmately opted instead to simply build a planned road around him.  So today, Canova Drive simply splits at what looks like a center island (at left bottom right), but is actually the site of Charles’ burial plot.  A stone dog keeps vigilant watch over the grave.  Reportedly the area is maintained by local residents, though the area is somewhat overgrown these days and in dire need of some landscaping.  We also visited the monument of a WWII Watch and Warn site (at left, bottom left).  This monument is dedicated to a civilian service made up of all volunteers who stood watch in a tower looking for enemy aircraft during World War II.  The tower was built in the framework of a water tower that once stood in this area.  The names of all the volunteers are engraved in concrete around the perimeter of the monument.  It was mostly women and young boys who made up the watchers, those who otherwise would not have been eligible to join forces in the battle.  So this was their way of making contributions to the cause.  Very interesting history indeed.

Next we visited a couple of old sites with remnants of days gone by.  First up was a visit to the Turnbull Ruins of Unknown Purpose.  Sitting along the shore with a beautiful view of  New Smyrna Beach, this archeological site of a massive foundation (at right bottom pics) is made up of coquina rocks.  While its true origin remains unknown, some believe it to have been a mansion, or a fort, or a church.  Others speculate it dates back to the times of the indigenous inhabitants and was a burial mound – possibly of Mayan decent.  But whatever it was, it was certainly built well and very solid.

Next up was a visit to the new Smyrna Sugar Mill Ruins (at right, top and middle left).  Back in the early 1800s, this mill would have processed sugar cane that would have been grown locally, crushed it to extract the juice, then cooked and dried it to crystallize into sugar.  This mill was constructed of coquina (Spanish for “tiny shell”), quarried locally and made up of mollusk shell fragments and quartz sand, bound together by calcium carbonate.  It was built in 1830 by Henry Cruger and William dePeyester, and was generally operated by slave labor. It was destroyed a mere five years later in 1835 when Seminole Indians, aided by the slaves themselves, ran off the founders and all but destroyed the mill.  It sat in ruins mostly thereafter, with some attempts to restore it.  Finally, in 2007, preservation specialists stabilized the remaining coquina walls, and created this wonderful historical park to enjoy.

Next we visited a very strange pair of trees that have sort of grown together.  Known as the Intertwined Oak and Palm Trees in Edgewater, FL, this strange oddity defies all logic as to how they got to be this way.  A mature oak tree has wrapped itself several times around a mature palm tree, to effectively intertwine themselves with each other.  Maybe someone did this when they were mere saplings and they grew up big and strong this way, or a series of storms blew the oak tree one way, then the other, then again the other way, causing this seemingly unnatural wrap around event.  But whatever the source, this is a pair of very odd looking trees indeed!

Next my brother and I met up with Peter Toth at his home and gallery in Edgewater, FL.  You may recall that I have shared several pieces of Peter’s art that I have seen during my travels around the country.  He has created and placed at least one art piece in each of the 50 states, in a series he calls the Trail of the Whispering Giants.  These Indian Head wooden carvings, many exceeding 10 feet tall, are to recognize and pay homage to the American Indian who had suffered significant historical atrocities.  I had reached out to Peter in advance to setup the appointment as was the recommendation.  Peter was extremely gracious, welcoming, and generous with his time, and spent upwards of two hours with my brother and I sharing his stories and taking us through the inner sanctum of his gallery.  He has a massive collection of various art pieces he has produced presumed to represent many decades of his work.  However, his collection is in somewhat disarray and in what some might call hoarder fashion.  Basically just stuff everywhere!  He eluded to hurricane events as being a reason for some of the helter skelter of his gallery.  But as we discovered as we continued our journey with him, it’s more likely his seeming unwillingness to part with any of his artwork that gives off the hoarder-type vibe.  So sadly, there it sits mostly in the hot Florida sun subjected to the harsh tropical events, and virtually eroding to the elements.  I hope someday Peter would be more apt to consider parting with more of his artwork so that it might enjoy life in shelter and in admiration by it new owners.  I guess we’ll see.

His art takes many forms.  While wood carvings are and have been his mainstay, he also dabbles with paintings and such.  He uses a variety of canvases, including glass, wooden doors, and even birch bark for his paintings.  Pictured here is a bit of his work including a portrait of his daughter when she was young (at left, center left), a portrait of Dennis Rodman (at left, top right), Edgar Allan Poe (at left, center right), and a random angelic figure (at left, bottom right).  He’s also a big outdoorsman, often hiking or kayaking throughout the country, where he also collects various pieces of wood that he later envisions into his next work of art.  He is a very skilled tree carver and, as with most artistic types, a bit of an eccentric.  He is in his mid 70’s now, but appears extremely fit as he participates in regular exercise along with his daily activities with his artwork.  He has a desire to create one of his Whispering Giants and place it along the Amazon River.  Funding for this trip appears to be his greatest limiting factor – something he could certainly address with some aforementioned sales of some of his work.

Before our visit, my brother and I both purchased his book “Indian Giver” with intentions of getting them autographed during our time with him.  Here, Peter autographs the book my brother brought along with him (at right, bottom left).  The book is long since out of print, so the only ones available are from used book resellers.  The one I bought did not indicate it had been signed, but alas it was in fact an autographed copy, singed by Peter back in 1984.  So, I really did not need his autograph, though I was going to ask him to sign it again just for fun.  But in the end it didn’t matter as I had stupidly left it behind in my RV.  Oh well!  After our 2-hour visit as we were preparing to head out, Peter asked us for a favor.  He asked if we would take a couple of his homing racing pigeons with us back to Fort Pierce, and release them there.  In doing so, they would either end up being free birds for ever, or would find their way back home to Peter’s coop.  So, we were happy to oblige.  They were placed into a cardboard box, which was then secured with tape.  When we got back to Fort Pierce, my brother and I stopped at a small park and let the birds go. As of the end of Feb, I’ve not heard back yet if the birds made their return to their Edgewater home.  I guess we’ll see.  While I released the birds, my brother recorded the event on my phone.  Here’s that video …

Last up on the Roadside circuit was a visit to this 1920’s general store.  Located just outside of Webster, FL the Richloam General Store has an interesting history.  In 1921, a railroad depot was relocated from Riverland to Richloam. Soon thereafter, the post office was also moved, and a general store added.  The 20s in this area were a rough time with the 1926 murder of a deputy sheriff, then a 1929 robbery of the general store, followed by arson which burned and severely damaged the store. It was rebuilt and continued onward until the Great Depression which forced the closure of the railway, then the store and post office soon thereafter.  The building was then rented as a residence until the 1950s, then sat vacant for an extended period, but was later renovated and reopened as a general store in 2016.  In 2017, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places, and is the only remaining building from the Richloam community.  Today, it operates as a general store, but only selling candy, pop, and other items that would have existed back in the 1920s (albeit at 2023 prices).  Anyway, it was a cool stop where I picked up a drink and a treat representative from a century ago.  Too cool!

Friends & Family

It was another terrific month getting together with family and friends.  First up, all us brothers and significant others got together at Don’s place to watch the Super Bowl, and enjoy the abundance of food that was prepared or otherwise found its way there.  With the exception of Dick and his entourage who were all staying not far down the road in Fort Pierce, the rest of us stayed overnight at Don’s place.  It was a great get together, and an enjoyable football game to watch.  Several of us even won some cash prizes on various football pools we participated in.  All in all, a great day.  Thanks Don for hosting!

A week later, I met my brother David in Webster, FL to attend the Webster West Side, Swap-O-Rama flea market extravaganza.  This market runs every Monday, but on those few occasions a year when that Monday happens to also be a federal holiday, the place goes wild!  It was so big with multiple parking areas and entrances, it took us upwards of 30 minutes to find each other.  It was a lot of fun, with tons of antiques, used goods, and even sections with new junk to search through.  We were both fairly well disciplined and neither of us bought anything.  But we had a great time wandering around.  Thanks for joining me at this event!

My cousins Louise and Denise travelled from the east coast of FL to the west coast to visit with our aunt and uncle.  On their way back, they stopped over for a few hours so that we could spend a bit of time together, and so that Denise could check out my home base.  I took them into historic downtown Lake Wales where we enjoyed a nice lunch at the Ranch Tap Room, followed by a walk and some shopping around downtown.  We wrapped up our visit by checking out a new ice cream shop that has just opened.  They are unique in that they pour a vanilla base cream into a mixing bowl, add one of many available flavors and other ingredients to it, then pour in some liquid nitrogen to flash freeze the concoction into ice cream right before your eyes.  Really cool!  Thanks for the visit cousins!

Lastly, I was happy to host a dinner, drinks, and campfire with friends Corey and Krista.  You may recall from a blog post last winter, they were the folks that I happened to rescue from the side of the road when they were towing their fifth-wheel camper down Rt 60 when their truck broke down.  They had their truck towed away, and using my truck I hooked up to their camper and took them to the campground in Auburndale where they had prior reservations.  Anyway this little deed resulted in a connection and friendship that we’ve maintained, and when I became aware they were in FL again this winter, we make arrangements to get together once again.  This was also an opportunity for me to share with them the wonderful accommodations that exist here at my home base, thinking they too might be interested in acquiring a place here someday when they retire.  Till then, I look forward to keeping in touch, and having the occasion to get together when possible.  Till next time, safe travels my friends!

Final Thoughts

Well, as noted, the month of Feb simply got away from me.  Again, I’ve been working hard on the various videos and music in preparation for the 50th celebration.  I made absolutely zero progress on the trip planning for this year, so that remains yet to be finished (which will be a priority for me in Mar).  So next month I’ll have various community videos to share with you, as well as the final trip plan for 2023.  It also looks like in March I might be heading for eye surgery again to help fight high pressure (Glaucoma) in my left eye.  I’m not looking forward to that.  I’ve also got to finalize all the maintenance on the truck and RV in preparation for a mid April departure.  So, again it’s gonna be a crazy month.  I wish all my friends and family a wonderful month of Mar, and till next time, be well and safe travels.

I only show a sampling of my adventure pictures here in the blog, and do so mostly in collage format for brevity and ease of reading. If you want to view an album containing individual full fidelity and hi-res images of all my travel pictures related to this specific blog, click the image below. Enjoy!