Lake Wales, FL – Feb 2026

This month has been out of this world – literally!  Highlights included my first ever visit to Kennedy Space Center, as well as getting an email containing my satellite selfie from Crunchlabs principal Mark Rober.  I had honestly forgotten about the selfie as I had signed up for it some time ago. Mark is a former NASA engineer and current YouTuber and founder of Crunchlabs (a science-centric educational company geared towards kids) that arranged to create and launch a satellite that, among its official tasks, would take a picture of a cellphone having your picture that you upload to them displayed on it, with a live view of Earth in the background. AKA – a space selfie!  Being the geek that I am, it sounded like a fun idea so I signed up and uploaded my photo. This was how mine turned out – pretty cool!  You can get your own free space selfie HERE.  Now, let’s move on to other happenings here in sunny Florida.

The Big Freeze

Well, I might have misspoken a bit when I said sunny Florida.  The weather over the past several weeks has been crazy, and included a few nights where temperatures dropped well below freezing (e.g. in the 20’s) for upwards of 7-9 hours.  That is certainly enough time to freeze water and to kill plants.  I certainly had to take precautions to protect my RV water system from freezing and doing any damage to my pipes. This included disconnecting the water hose from the RV, and draining some of the water out of the pipes to allow for freezing and expansion as needed. Fortunately the RV survived without issue.  I did have a number of electric heaters plugged in to keep me warm – well that is until the area lost power at 2am due to Duke Energy equipment failure, and the temps inside the RV plunged into the 40s.  Needless to say, I didn’t get out of my warm and comfy bed until power was restored sometime around 8:30 am. That was a tough night!

Interestingly enough, the orange groves around our community actually flood their trees with water which in turn will freeze (see pics at left, bottom) into ice.  That somehow serves to protect the trees and associated fruit that has yet to have been picked.  I frankly don’t understand the science behind that practice, but apparently it’s what they do down here. As for my own crops, many did not fair that well.  Some of the loss I could care less about as I never really liked those plants anyway.  But, I’m sickened to see my foxtail palm tree (at left, top right) that I planted myself several years ago, looking all brown and damaged from the hard freeze.  I’ve been told and have read that I just need to pretty much leave it as is, and water it to provide strength to the roots.  The tree might come back and survive, or perhaps it may not.  Apparently I’ll know more in the next few weeks.  Fingers crossed that it makes it!  I just read that overall, Florida did not fair well during this freeze.  Just over $3.1B of loss to state agricultural production has been reported.  Interestingly, it was sugarcane that sustained the greatest loss at just over $1.1B, with citris crops coming in second at $674M.  Strawberry growers suffered over $300M in loss, while blueberry farmers lost 90% of their 6,400 acres.  Lastly, corn was a total loss as it was reported that 100% of all crops were lost to the freeze representing a $255M financial impact.  So, overall a pretty significant hit to Florida farmers.  Hopefully there are state and/or federal programs in place to help them with their losses.

Family Gatherings

This time of year, specifically the Super Bowl, often provides an opportunity to get together with family.  This year once again provided such an opportunity.  My brother Dick and SIL Kathi even flew down from New Hampshire for a week or so winter getaway.  So they, and brothers David and Gerry, SIL Debbie, and cousins Louise and Denise all got together for a terrific lunch (at left, top).  It was terrific having this large of a family gathering.  Dick and Kathi were staying at brother Gerry’s place at Satellite Beach, and I drove up there as well to stay a few days with them.  We had a great time catching up on Olympics hapennings and enjoying the amazing views outside his 9th story ocean-front condo – watching surfers taking on the waves, as well as cruise ships heading out of Port Canaveral to their ocean voyages.  The following day we headed to a local Thai restaurant where they all had Thai cuisine, while I enjoyed something more my style from the Japanese menu. Yum – sushi!  Sunday Dick and Kathi left to head back up to the cold north, while Gerry and I watched the Super Bowl.  For me it was a disappointing outcome seeing the Patriots getting walloped by the Seahawks, but for brother Gerry who was born in New England, but spent most of his adult life in the Seattle area, he came out a winner regardless of who won.  Oh well – congrats to the Seahawks.

The following day, Gerry and I headed out early and drove to Kennedy Space Center.  This was my first ever visit here but I was fortunate to have a tour guide brother who is an annual pass holder and has been several times.  He expertly navigated us through all the things we should see and do, while doing so in the most logical order to ensure the best trip outcome.   It really was an amazing place with some really amazing things to see and experience.  We first took a bus tour of the facility which took us by the VAB (vehicle assembly building) (at right, center) where rocket components are built then stacked on top of each other atop a massive launcher platform that will eventually take its 2 mph trip out to a launch site.  We also stopped at the Gantry at LC-39 – a multi story structure that offered amazing 360 degree views all across the complex and its launchpads.  From there, we got a front row seat view of Artimas II sitting out on its launchpad (at right, bottom right).  I’m keeping tabs on that specific launch schedule and may try to visit my brother Gerry again to get to see it launch.  Back at the KSC main area were several buildings containing all sorts of NASA history and artifacts including a Saturn V rocket, Gemini 9 and Apollo 14 capsules, recreated launch control rooms featuring actual and original consoles, and even the massive Space Shuttle Atlantis (at right, bottom left).  We even experienced a shuttle launch in their simulator ride.  Tool cool!  It was an amazing day exploring all there is at this terrific facility.  I’ve got tons more pictures from this trip, so be sure to click the link at the bottom of the blog to see all the rest.  Thanks Gerry for hosting the gathering and for being the great NASA tour guide.

On the way back from staying at my brothers house, I took the back roads to avoid I-95 and the excessivly long 60+ mile hike along Rt 60, in favor of some much less traveled roads that took me through some much less travelled towns.  One such town is Kenansville – named after the third wife of Henry Flagler, a key figure in the development of the Atlantic coast of Florida and founder of the Florida East Coast Railway, Mary Lily Kenan.  Considered today to be a ghost town, this once thriving community of the late 1800s to early 1900s was a stop along the railway, and served as Florida’s east coast cattle center with herds of cattle being driven through city streets by cattle ranch cowboys.  Cattle ranching declined, and when the railway stop was removed in the 1920s, that was the beginning of the end of this once bustling town.  Today, the population stands as just over 450 – several of whom still do cattle farming.  Besides the history of the town, two historical buildings stand across from each other featuring their own piece of history.  The First State Bank building was at the heart of Kenansville’s financial world during the cattle boom.  Many loans and other ranch transactions were done here, while also holding the financial wealth and fortunes of those cattle barons.  Thinking it was just an abandoned relic of the past, I only took pictures of the bank from the outside, but have since learned that the inside holds a series of wall paintings that depicts the history of the town.  I’ll have to check those out on a future drive by.  Across the street from the bank is the Heartbreak Hotel.  The hotel opened in 1915 and at the time was named the Piney Woods Inn.  In the 1940s and 50s when the town was in decline and the hotel in major disrepair, locals started calling it the Heartbreak.  Well, that eventually stuck, and when it was purchased and restored in the mid 50s, it bore the name Heartbreak Hotel. Legend and folklore has it that during one of Elvis Presley’s tours through Florida took him through Kenansville where he stayed at this hotel, and that was the source of his inspiration for his 1956 mega-hit of the same name.  This was never verified by Elvis himself, and in fact is disputed by many.  So, who knows for sure, but it does make for an interesting story and serves as an attraction to spend the night in this quaint little hotel in this quaint little town.

Sand Mine Update

Well, it would seem that the herculean efforts of the Saddlebag Board of Directors and the No Sand Mine org has caught the attention of the proposed mining principals, and has resulted in us reaching a deal in principal between the two parties.  In exchange for the Saddlebag Lake Association and its BOD dropping their opposition to the proposal that sits before the county board of commissioners, the mining company has agreed to the following changes:

• The 200 acre section (shown at right with red arrow) that is directly adjacent to the Saddlebag community, and was one of five sections part of the original proposed mining operation, will be excluded from the resubmitted proposal and not be part of this mining operation request before the county board
• A deed restriction will be placed on this 200 acre property that strictly prohibits it from being mined for a period of 25 years
• The tree line that runs along the western boarder of the Saddlebag community will remain as a buffer zone in perpetuity
• During that 25 year timeframe, the property will retain its agricultural or limited development designation and use, and has prohibited use in any form of mining operations to include truck travel, parking, staging, or storage of any kind

The complete details of the deal are still being worked out between both party’s lawyers, so nothing has yet been signed and sealed.  Also in theory, a new request to mine that specific 200 acre area could be brought before the county commissioners after the 25 year restriction has expired – at which point the then association and BOD could once again raise an army of opposition to defeat the proposal.  In the meantime, individual residents are not bound by the agreement and are certainly free to continue to oppose the proposal as they see fit.  While the No Sand Mine org that I was peripherally a part of was not officially affiliated with the Saddlebag Lake Association or the BOD, it was clear that the efforts of this group had a significant influence in the making of this deal.  As such, the group has decided to eliminate any possibility of jeopardizing the agreement and have discontinued all organized future efforts and activities, and have shutdown all social media and associated outreach.  Our words were heard, and our pressure was felt by the mining company, that we believe was a signifiant contributor to their concessions.  So, while it’s not a total defeat of the mining operation, we certainly consider it a win for the Saddlebag community.  Mission accomplished!

So is there a lesson to be learned here for other would be developers bringing forth an unfavorable plan to develop a property adjacent to a residential retirement area?  Yea — don’t mess with a community filled with motivated retired seniors with boundless time on their hands who collectively posses centuries of diverse knowledge, skill, and experience who can come together to amass a force like no other to take on what might otherwise be considered a lost cause. FAFO!  Consider yourself warned! 😀

In The Community

I continue to stay pretty busy with my tech committee duties, with my weekly CAP (Citizens Assisted Patrol) where I patrol the community using specially marked Polk County Sheriff golf carts, and other miscellaneous projects around the home base.  I did also have the pleasure of celebrating Gordon – my tech partner-in-crime’s birthday with a nice lunch out at Cracker Barrel, while another day he and I installed the new clubhouse laptop while also taking the opportunity to cleanup up the array of wires and connections therein.  Overall, it was a successful transformation!  In other exciting, yet sad news, another golf cart in the community was a total loss to a fire that engulfed and consumed most of its contents.  I was initially concerned that this might yet be another Lithium upgrade incident, as a couple years ago, another cart totally burned up that had recently been upgraded to Lithium.  As you may recall, I upgraded my cart to lithium back in early October.  Fortunately, this cart in this most recent fire had not been converted to lithium, so that was not the culprit.  Also, at the time of the fire, it was not located too close to their home so no injuries or additional property damage resulted.  All things considered, a good outcome.

Golf cart fire update!  Well, it turns out I was wrong about the cart batteries as they were in fact actually lithium.  The cart had been upgraded to lithium a few years prior.  Now I’m back to being concerned!  Guess I’m gonna have to keep my cart away from the RV and shed just in case.  Thanks to my reader and fellow community owner for the correction.

Lookback to 2025

I finally found the time to update all my Fun Facts to include all the data from 2025.  You can see the full size elements on the Fun Facts page HERE, or at the top of this page along the navigation bar.  There were a few items of interest with the 2025 data. First, there were two new all time highest nightly campground charges realized last summer.  The highest at $133 per night while staying at the Nashville KOA in Tennessee (ouch!).   I guess being a high tourist area, they can charge these ridiculous prices.  Fortunately, I was only there for three nights, so the damage was somewhat limited.  The next 2nd highest priced stay was also at another KOA (why do I like KOAs?) and was for my one week stop in Pentaluma, CA.  This was actually an unplanned stay as I was supposed to be staying closer to the Napa area.  But at the time, there was a localized wildfire in the area, and the campground that I had booked prior was closed to travelers so my reservation was cancelled.  I had to quickly find a last minute alternative, and this was one of my only options.  Gotta love those California prices!  The other interesting data result was related to my overall budget and spending.  Most categories continue to track on a somewhat consistent and predictable level.  However, like past years, there are always a few outliers where the spending varies wildly.  Though my overall unplanned maintenance costs were mostly limited this year (a $500 broken window replacement, and a $500 RV landing gear leg replacement), I did incur many thousands of dollars in what I would call elective maintenance.  These included the replacement of both my RV air conditioning units, replacement of all slideout seals, and a roof sealing treatment.  So in the end, my overall spend of just under $13K in maintenance once again busted this budget category.  Campground fees also continued to be high – coming in at just about $13K for the summer, with an overall average daily rate of $79 – up significantly from $65 the year prior.  Last up was my spend in the category of Tech/Toys.  This category is purely discretionary, and is exactly as the name implies – purchases of technology or otherwise toys to mostly amuse myself.  While my prior 6-year average in this category was just under $2,500, it would appear that I totally overspent in that category last year.  But in my defense, there were several high-ticket items that needed to be purchased.  This included buying the robot lawn mower, which in the end, should save me money by avoiding future lawn service fees.  I also purchased a new iPhone last year, having upgraded from an iPhone 8 to an iPhone 13 – so it wasn’t like i spend foolishly on regular upgrades!  I also upgraded my old aging Mac laptop with a new model – albiet I bought it used so as to not spend too much money.  I also purchased the Starlink satellite Internet device to have as a last resort backup for Internet access.  Darn good thing too that I purchased this as I actually used it while I was in the boonies of western California where I had zero cell service on any of my three carriers (AT&T, Verizon, TMobile).  Lastly, my security system back home took another lightning strike over the summer, and since I had to replace some of the damaged equipment, I decided to do a bit of upgrading there too.  So overall, I spent just under $9K in this totally discretionary category, and frankly I figure I’m worth it!  Overall, my prior 6-year total spend averaged close to $60K, and this year my overall spend was just over $70k, but just over $1k more than the prior year.  Overall, I’m satisfied with that.  Besides, as my brother Gerry always reminds me, I’m just spending my kids inheritance anyway!

Last up with the 2025 look back included my updated animated travel video to include the 2025 trip.  With all the 8 years of routes mapped out, it really does show that I’ve done a pretty good job covering a fairly representative swath across the country over this time period.  I also managed to fill in many of the western states, which now only leaves me with not having visited 6 states within the continental region (does not include Alaska and Hawaii).  Of those six, I’ve actually camped and explored through four of them, but did so prior to retirement so they don’t count for this phase of my retired RV nomad lifestyle.  So overall in my lifetime I’ve been to and explored 46 of the 48 continental states.  I think that’s pretty good!  Anyway, give the video a look to see all the routes I’ve taken in the past 8 years.

Final Thoughts

Well, another seemingly thrown-together blog with lots of stuff from several different sources.  When I’m not traveling, I have limited stuff to write about so I can’t be too picky.  I hope there’s at least something of interest to each of my loyal readers to keep them coming back.  I am still working on finalizing my Route 66 plans for the summer, and plan to have all the stops finalized and booked by next month’s blog.  So, I’ll provide those details then.  There’s lots coming up in the coming weeks that will provide content for the next blog including meeting up with my wonderful Canadian friends who I saved from the side of the road several years ago, catching up with other friends here in Florida, to the community Fun Day with its parade and other terrific activities. So, it will be another fast and furious month I’m sure, after which will leave me with only about 6 weeks left here at the home base before I head out for this year’s adventure. Time is gonna fly by so I better enjoy it as it goes.  I hope each of you had a wonderful Valentines Day.  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!