Moonshadow 2020 – Covid Edition / Florida, the year begins

NEW PORT RICHEY FUN, Dec 27 – Jan 1

We bought Moonshadow in a bit of a hurry really.  Rob was determined that we should have a diesel and she fit the bill being a reasonable price for a diesel with low miles in good shape.  BUT, too much excitement can blind … and we’ve had a few issues on our hands we ignored in our haste.  One such issue was the windows.  When we picked her up for transfer to Charleston, we realized the windows had all lost their seal and were cloudy which makes for less than enjoyable viewing from them!! 

2020 began with our traditional Kramer rendezvous in New Port Richey for New Years and we brought Moonshadow along for window replacement at nearby Suncoast RV repair.  Randy and Theresa (Rob’s brother and wife) picked us up from Suncoast and we enjoyed 5 days of family frivolity. 

Rob’s uncle Bob and his two kids Gregg and Wendy and her kids make for nonstop fun.  Bob turned 90 just weeks before and is still the rock – and life – of the family!  We all stayed at Bob’s wonderful home, the guys golfed and Theresa and I hiked daily. 

New Year’s Eve was an emotional day for Rob and I in that it was son Jacob’s wedding day in Colorado.  Planned well after our trip to Florida and repair reservations, there was just no easy way to make our way there.  When the big moment came, we watched on Facebook Live and I cried like a baby while the whole family watched along.

The eve brought great fun with Wendy, partner Steve, son Kirkland and daughter Alli and had another blowout New Years Eve together in Wendy’s welcoming home still impeccably decorated for the holidays.

REUNIONS – Jan 1 – 5

Wekiwa Springs and Winter Park

Florida in winter always means reuniting with good friends.  Jack and Marcia have been spending winters in state parks across the state making for rendezvous’ and fun for us.  In Wekiwa Springs for the holidays once again, we joined them by car with Moonshadow still in repair mode and wasted no time getting in the mood of camping again. 

Having been to Wekiwa before, we revisited a couple trails and enjoyed the springs providing enough exercise to justify the fun we had each evening!  Our time with these friends becomes more relaxed and comfortable with each meeting and this was no different.  Sharing cooking, meals, hiking and games we find it easy to pass time and just be together. 

Without our own rig on hand, we didn’t want to overstay our welcome and on the 3^rd moved on to visit other nearby friends, Stan and Chris, in Winter Park.  Chris is my dear dragonboat racing roommate and buddy and we have lots of great memories under our belts of hard fought efforts to the string of medals we have to show for it. 

Chris and Stan moved to Winter Park several years ago so it’s a treat to spend time together.  Their lovely home (and amazingly comfortable guest room!) is a short distance from lakes to paddle in and the always enjoyable stroll through downtown both which we took advantage of. 

We enjoyed the farmers market Saturday morning as well as all the goodies we found along the way and then wore off the calories with a great paddle in the assortment of ocean kayaks they own.  It was fun to get on the water after a pretty sparce year of dragonboating for me.  I hadn’t paddle a single before and enjoyed every minute of it!

Our visits were short but sweet and we had memories galore to take with us as we headed back the several hour trip to pick up Moonshadow with her shiny new, clear windows throughout. 

LAKE LOUISA – Jan 5 – 9

Reservations in Florida parks in the winter are hard to score and weekdays are pretty much all that are available.  With that fact, we booked the final available days in Florida with Jack and Marcia in Lake Louisa State Park.  Another surprising park, Lake Louisa of course has a lake but stands out in memory more for the vast expanses of abandoned citrus groves. 

With miles and miles of hiking through and around surprise pockets of tangerine and orange trees, we always had sweet snacks to enjoy when it got too hot or water got boring.  We spent our time together doing what we always do – waves over coffee, early hikes planned and executed, afternoon respite and early happy hour with a great meal and games to end the days.  Could sound monotonous or boring but its comfortably soothing and never seems to get old.

Jack and Marcia having been looking around to purchase a home base somewhere in the area and took us along one day to check out the town of Clermont.  Located on a wonderful piece of water, the town is cute and welcoming.  We walked along the water and through town before enjoying an early drink and decadently naughty dinner of gourmet mac and cheese, nachos and wings at a fun little restaurant along the way adding a bit of diversion to our daily routine. 

And before we knew it, it was time to head home again.   We stopped in Jacksonville for the night, taking in a movie and sleeping in a mall parking lot since we made it to town too late for intended task at hand.  We woke bright and early (parking lot nights make for early rising!) and headed to the Jacksonville National cemetery to pay a visit to Rob’s parents’ gravesite there, a fitting way to end a special time with family and friends.