Lake Wales, FL – Mar 2026

Well, I’ve done it!  I have completed the route for this year’s Rt66 trip, and have made all the corresponding reservations for each of my 36 stops.  More details below. This month was also busy with visits with friends and family, and community activities – all of which contributed to virtually erasing the month of March. It definitely went by fast and furious.  You’d think that being retired would result in lots of long and boring days, one after another, making the weeks and months of passing slow and arduous.  But nothing could be farther from reality!  I seem to be as busy, or perhaps even busier than back when I was working.  But I wouldn’t have it any other way.  Read on to get all the details.

Community Happenings

March is generally considered to be the last full month here in the Saddlebag community where most all of the homes are occupied.  Snowbirds will begin their northerly migration usually in April, and the resort will slowly dwindle in size, until usually no later than mid May, where only the full-time residents remain (by which time the full timers are usually tired of us, and looking forward to the slower, more quiet times of summer).  So activities are in full swing and clubs and other various other informal groups (e.g. State resident groups) have the last of their gatherings and parties to wrap up the season.  One such activity is the terrific community service offered by the CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) group that performs golf cart checks and maintenance.  They setup an area in the parking lot where you can drive through to have your tire pressure checked and filled, and to have all your lead acid batteries topped off with distilled water.  Its a wonderful service they provide and certainly beneficial to all residents. I did have my tires checked and filled, but skipped the battery water line since I’ve migrated to Lithium.  Thanks CERT folks for a terrific community event!  Also, as luck would have it, that day also saw the presence of the Blood Mobile where residents could donate blood.  With all the prescribed drugs in my system, I don’t think they want my blood, so I passed on that one.

The other huge event that happens in March of each year is the annual community Fun Day celebration.  This all day event starts with a mid-morning parade through the community, followed by a hot dog lunch and music entertainment in our park known as Under the Oaks.  The afternoon then features two shows of some sort of outside entertainment.  Past years has been a comedian dress-up singer, a mentalist that hypnotized several residents and had some fun with them, to various other really terrific entertainment.  This year was a group called Dueling Pianos, with two exceptionally talented piano players and singers, alternating playing songs on a couple of mini-grands.  They had the place rocking and residents dancing in the aisles.  It was a a terrific show!

But no Fun Day is complete without the parade. That is what really makes Fun Day a fun day!  Clubs, state and country groups, veterans, or simply a bunch of interested folks will gather and develop some sort of entry for the parade.  This event goes back to its founding in 1982 – technically making this the 45th year, though I believe there were at least a couple years skipped (once in 2005 from the 2004 hurricanes, and another in 2000 from the pandemic).  But it continues to be a community favorite, and one that truly enjoys the festive efforts of so, so many volunteers.  Each year has a different theme, providing ample opportunity for lots of creativity and craziness.  This year’s theme was the Olympics.  So as you can see at left, several volunteers spent days and weeks decorating their golf carts with something related to the Olympics.  As you can see at left, there were some truly amazing cart entries.  Also, just for the record, that is a dummy skier standing on top of that cart (at left, top right) and not actually a resident!

Then there are the absolutely crazy costumes these folks come up with!  This included a resident dressed up as at Curler (at right, top left) complete with curlers in her hair and all over her clothes, to folks dressed up as the American and Canadian flags.  Then there was the Sun Catchers with their US flag tops and flaming torches,  to the CERT folks representing the Paralympics with their wheelchair Curling team (at right, center right), Not to be outdone, the toga-wearing Kitchen Band group represented the original Olympions from Athens Greece (at right, bottom left), while the Senior Diving Team marched fully disheveled and thoroughly injured from their late in life participation (at right, bottom right).  All so original, and all so thoughtfully and skillfully represented.

Then there are the floats – converted utility trailers, boat trailers, or something totally custom built, that were pulled behind golf carts or even a tractor, having seen so much time and effort to build and decorate to become these magnificent displays. The Ruff Crowd (community dog lovers club) came up with a float that held the Track Team (at left, top right).  Another group created a float with a giant flame tourch, complete with billowing smoke, also having a giant American eagle in flight overhead (at left, top right). Really awesome!   Another group created a mobile swimming pool – complete with a team of synchronized swimmers onboard (at left, center)!  It was the Michigan state team that pulled boats representing the rowing team sport, while the Canadian team created their Jamaican Bobsled entry (at left, bottom right).  The amount of work going into the design and decorating of these incredible floats is truly amazing.  Judging of all the entries is conducted by the event committee, and top three in several categories were awarded bronze, silver and gold medals.  A really nice trophy is presented to the overall best of show, and this year was awarded to the Michigan group.  Another successful and truly enjoyable Fun Day event is now in the history books.  At the closing of the event, next year’s theme was announced and will be ……. Cartoons!  I can’t wait to see what the residents come up with for that one.  It no doubt will be a hoot!

As some of you might know, one of the things I do to keep busy here in the community is leading the Technology Committee.  This group of dedicated misfits (just kidding) is responsible for providing audio and streaming video services among its many duties.  During the busy winter season, the clubhouse is in a near continued use state – filled with various club, organizational, and social events.  Most often, these events require sound system support for microphones of various types and use, in addition to live streaming the event on either Facebook Live or Zoom. It is the Tech Committee that provides those services.  Dedicated committee members include Liz and Gordon (at right, bottom left), Tod (at right, bottom right), and not pictured Dennis and Cindy. Between us, we keep all things techie running smoothly.  Just the other day, Tod, Gordon, and I spent the better part of a full day tearing out our old and increasingly unreliable wireless microphone systems (at right, top right), and replacing them with some newer and more technically advanced gear (at right, top right and center left). We were certainly appreciative of the Board of Directors support who approved the expenditure of the funds for this new equipment, and look forward to having a higher quality and more reliable sound system.

Finally, there is some good news to report from here in Saddlebag. One of our residents named Bill, who is a skilled designer and craftsman, has taken the lead to add some fun to the community.  For the past many months, he has been working on the design, placement, and funding to develop an 18-hole Putt Putt course.  Through serving food at some of our various events, to just grass roots fund raising, he has managed to raise upwards of the $20k needed to build this project.  Several locations within the community to accommodate this build were proposed and considered. This month, he received final board approval to move forward with the project.  A nice area filled with large shade producing live oak trees was chosen for the location.  Permitting and construction will likely proceed over the summer months.  Part of the design includes several benches throughout the course so that us old folks can take a break as we play a round.  Bill was looking for various individuals and clubs to sponsor each bench, which would then feature a backing consistent with that sponsor.  For example, I believe the fishing club made a donation for one which will feature a large fish on the back of the bench.  I asked Bill if anyone had sponsored a bench that represented the true history and legacy of this community – which is the RV.  No one had, so I personally made the donation that will bring a Luv2RV style bench to the project. So hopefully when I return in the later part of the year, we will have a new up and running amenity to enjoy.

Friends & Family

I had the pleasure of catching up with several folks during this past month. First off, my good friends from the Great White North of Ontario,  Corey and Krista (at right, top left), once again came down to the area for a couple months of warmer weather.  These are the folks that I rescued from the side of the road several years back when their truck broke down while they were towing to their next campground. We’ve stayed in touch and remain great friends ever since.  We had a terrific day together where I offered them the full Lake Wales experience.  We started our adventure by heading to the historic downtown section to get a glimpse of the updated area, and to walk thru the farmers market.  We then went to the Eagle Ridge Mall for lunch where they were having a food truck event.  After reviewing all our scrumptious food choices, we all happened to choose the same truck serving a terrific Cajan style catfish and shrimp meal.  It was absolutely delicious!  We followed that great meal with a trip down to the Lake Whales namesake lake where the annual art festival was going on.  Sorry Corey for all the money that Krista spent at that event!  It was a great day with great friends!  Later in the week, I drove over to Canapy Oaks campground where Corey and Krista were staying for a visit and a fabulous baby back rib dinner!  There, I met some additional folks Jim and Martha (at right bottom) who are also RVers and frequently travel together with Corey and Krista. Truly nice folks!  As you can see from the picture, we got in our dinner and a picture just before this storm rolled in.

My sister-in-law Helen (at right, center right) also came down for a visit. This was the first time that she had been to my little home base, so I had to give her the full tour.  A golf cart ride throughout the community came first, followed by a visit to historic downtown Lake Wales for lunch and a walking tour.  We both enjoy seafood, so I chose to go to the best seafood place in downtown.  Unfortunately, they had ran into a delivery issue with their fresh catch, so no fish or shrimp or virtually anything related to seafood was available. So, burgers it was!  I did however take the opportunity to test their PB&J burger which in addition to the more traditional lettuce and tomato, featured a spread of peanut butter and jelly on the buns.  While it was definitely unusual and for the most part edible, it’s probably not something that I would order again.  Thanks for the visit Helen and let’s try to get together a bit more often when you are down here in FL.

Lastly, my brother Dave and SIL Deb (at right, top right) came down for a final visit before I take off for the summer season. Dave is a skilled plant person, and he helped me review and diagnose all the plants that I have that were damaged by the hard freeze last month. Sadly, it would appear only a few of them seem to be making a came back, while the rest of them will not make it.  For some of them, that is ok as I didn’t like them anyway.  But for others, like for example my fox tail palm tree that I personally planted several years ago, the outcome could not be worse.  I’m likely going to just leave what is there alone for now and see what happens over the summer.  Then, when I get back in the fall, I can replace all those which are not coming back. After the home base update, we headed out to downtown where I took them to lunch at a place that I had not yet been.  Vibin’ Vinny’s is a 50s style diner type place that had recently opened in the Arcade building downtown.  It was a fun place with terrific historic decor, and having some really good food.  It was a great visit and great lunch – thanks for making the trip!

During the month, I made a trip out to the east coast at Vero Beach, and met up with my dear childhood friend Theresa.  We took a drive just north up to Sabastian and had lunch at Captain Hiram’s The Cove.  This terrific water front restaurant has both great food and a killer table-side view.  From there, we ventured off to check out a couple local places of interest, and to check off one additional spot from my Roadside America list.  First up was Mel Fisher’s Treasure Museum. Mel was a treasure hunter who spent decades searching the waters off the Florida Keys.  In the mid 70s, he found the 1622 Spanish galleon ship Atocha.  The state of Florida attempted to lay claim on part of that treasure, but after an 8 year legal battle, the Supreme Court sided with Mel and awarded him the entirety of the find.  This treasure, estimated to be worth some $450 million, included 40 tons of gold and silver coins and ingots, Columbian emeralds, and numerous artifacts.  Mel passed away in 1998, but this museum which features a number of treasures found from the Atocha keeps his story and memory alive. The museum also features a gift shop which among the standard fair of tchotchkes, includes the opportunity to purchase a piece of actual treasure.  But you better bring the big gun sources of financial funds as these items command top dollor!  Lastly we visited Riverview Park – a nice small local park which included this memorial (at left, bottom right) for the SS Dorchester. Originally a commercial passenger steamship, it was commandeered for military service by the War Shipping Administration in January 1942 to be used as a troop transport ship for the US Army.  On February 3, 1943, while en route from New York to Greenland along the Labrador Sea, the ship was sunk by a German U-boat torpedo.  The lives of 674 of the 904 military passengers were lost making it one of the worst sea disasters of World War II.  This memorial also tells the story of four Army Chaplains – known now as the Immortal Chaplains, who died after each having given up their life jackets in order to save others.  They reportedly helped others get into lifeboats and in the end,  joined arms, said prayers, and sang hymns as they went down with the ship.  Quite the selfless act!

Home Base Updates

As always, there’s something to be done around the home base, and this month was not without its needs.  One of the areas that has been particularly problematic has been how I was storing all my network gear for my shed-based security setup.  When I originally installed the equipment, I used a small wire-rack shelving unit (at right, top left).  While this was reasonable at the time, and offered good ventilation, it wasn’t exactly ideal or safe.  When I got hit by another lightning strike this past summer which damaged some of this equipment, the friend who was kind enough to help replace the damaged gear and get my system back up and running, also happened to make a comment that I needed to move the equipment to a rack.  So, as I was meandering across the country last summer, I checked the Facebook Marketplace for sale ads in the area that I happened to be in at the time, looking for various things that I needed.  One of which was an equipment rack.  As luck would have it, the perfect rack was found for sale in Albuquerque, NM.  I reached out to the seller and made arrangements for the pickup.  From there, the rack trekked across the country with me in the back seat of the truck.  It continued to sit back there after I returned here to the home base until I got the motivation to do the install.  Alas, this past month was that time, and I got the project done.  I wall mounted the rack and securely installed all my network gear into it (at right, top right and bottom left).  This rack not only opens from the front and sides, it also swings out from the back to allow easy access to the rear (at right, bottom center left). All in all, it was a great project and certainly cleaned up all the equipment.  Also, while working on this gear, I had a couple of antennas to install on the outside of the shed.  One of the antennas is an additional WiFi access point (at right, right center) that I installed on the left side of the shed.  This antenna provides WiFi access for the outside – particularly in the fire pit seating area.  So now I can sit outside and have terrific Internet access.  The other antenna I installed was at the top center of the shed to extend and improve the T-Mobile 5G reception to my Internet router. Having the router in the shed limited its ability to get a good clear signal, and thus only offered minimal speeds and quality.  Now, with the antenna outside, I’m pulling in a great 5G connection and the Internet speeds are blazing fast. The final little project I completed this month was to install a much needed spice rack on the side wall near my stove (at right, bottom right).  Now all my spices are readily accessible without having to dig for them in the pantry.  A quick and easy project that affords lots of convenience.  Another to-do item checked off!

Rt 66 – Here I Come

The route has been planned, and all reservations have been made.  The Rt 66 trip for 2026 has been finalized.  In a nutshell, I will be leaving the home base here in Florida in early May, and take the next month to quickly (my version of quickly) travel to the far endpoint of the Mother Road in Santa Monica, California.  From there, I will take the next four months exploring the entirety of the 2,448 miles of Rt 66 – making my way to the other endpoint in Chicago.  I will make 16 individual stops, each approximately 150 miles apart, and will spend a full week at each location. This will provide me with a full weeks time to explore the nearby Rt 66 treasures around each stop before moving ahead to the next one.  I truly believe with this much time spent on Rt 66, there should be very little if anything that I will miss by not seeing.  When I’ve finalized my 16 weeks on the trail, I’ll then make a beeline back to the Florida home base – arriving back there in early October – just in time to enjoy the fine fall and winter weather.  At left is the complete itinerary for this trip with details of the dates and locations of each stop.  So if any of my friends or family want to join me for portions of the trip, this is where and when you can find me.  Traveling along the entire route of Rt66 has long since been a bucket list item.  Doing it during it’s centennial celebration is just icing on the cake!

Final Thoughts

Well, my winter respite continues to fly by and I’m now just about 5 weeks from takeoff for my summer adventure.  I’m glad that I now have all the planning and reservations behind me, and can now just finish getting things wrapped up here in Florida before my scheduled departure.  Speaking of which, one of the things I need to look into is to determine if this little critter is actually living under my shed.  I came out to the yard early one morning, and this crazy looking armadillo was walking around my yard. I spooked him when he saw me, and he scurried away back to the rear of my property and under my shed. It looked like this was a normal travel path for this little guy, so it certainly suggests that he might have settled in there.  I need to get eviction proceedings moving forward so that this doesn’t become a long term tenancy. Though it’s certainly kinda cute to watch and see, I hear they can be quite destructive. So, it’s outa here!  Anyway, 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!