LADIES LUNCHEON AT THE BACK PORCH RESTAURANT, LAKE ALFRED, FLORIDA

Fri, Jan 24 - Today I joined friends Cis and Sally and about 43 other ladies from Torrey Oaks for a delightful luncheon at The Back Porch Restaurant.  I rode with Cis as we caravaned the 40-mile drive to Lake Alfred and the restaurant.  Ken and I have driven pass this place numerous times and often wondered what it was.

The Barn is a unique building that contains three distinct areas -- The Stable contains a garden center with plants and gardening items; The Barn Antiques, established in 1969, has a nice gift shop and lots of antiques; and The Back Porch Restaurant, nestled between the other two, is a nice little restaurant with a dine-in back porch and patio.

Our group actually filled up the entire back porch.  I thought with our large group, it would take forever to be served.  After we had chosen seats, we were given  printed menus and pencils.  We each marked our menu with our choices of appetizer, soup, entree sandwich, and dessert.  When we had made our selections Cis and I took our menus to the front counter and turned them in to the hostess.  We each got coffee from the coffee maker and a cup of iced water and made our way back to our table.

I kid you not!!  Before I could stir my coffee, a waitress brought our lunch!!  Lunch was unique in that the waitresses brought each person a large "picnic basket" containing that person's choices.  We removed our lunch items and placed them on the table and the waitress took the basket.  Cute!!  And apparently that is the secret to very FAST service!!

For my lunch, I choose Cream of Vegetable Soup, Pasta Salad, Chicken Salad Croissant, and Unbelievable Chocolate for dessert!  Delicious!!

It was delightful!!  Thank you ladies for letting me join you all!

THINGS THAT GO CLICK,, CLICK, CLICK IN THE NIGHT!

Thu, Jan 16 -  Thursday morning, Ken said he woke up during the night and heard a strange clicking sound.  Click, Click, Click.  What in the world was going on, he wondered.  He got up and went toward the front of the motorhome.  This is what he saw!!  The slide-out had come in by itself!!

(Picture taken Thursday morning)

And it would not go out!!  This was not good!!  It looked like we were looking at a major expense!!  The Slide-out motor or something like that!

We were planning to leave TT Orlando that morning.  What were we going to do??  At least the slide-out was in the IN position and not OUT!!  We could at least move!!

We called nearby Camping Connection as soon as they opened and asked if they could take a look at our slide-out and figure out the problem.  The Gods were with us!  Camping Connection said to bring the RV in.  They would see what they could do.

Gary spent about an hour and checked out everything it could possibly be.  Turned out the Inline Circuit Breaker had gone bad!!  A $5.69 part plus labor -- total cost $123.79!!  Wow!!  We were so lucky!!!

Thank you Camping Connection for taking good care of us!!

But, this delay leads to the next article where we are not so lucky!

DON'T BE STUPID!! LIKE I WAS!!

Thur, Jan 16 - This morning as we were leaving TT Orlando to go to TT Peace River, we needed to stop by Camping Connection to have a repair made to our slide-out (See article Things That Go Click, Click, Click In The Night).  Because of this delay, we were running a few hours behind schedule.  That was not a problem except it meant we would arrive at TT  Peace River at about 1:30 pm, and by the time we were sat up it would be after 2:00 pm.

In my mind, that was too late to eat lunch.  We were driving at moderate speed south on Rt. 17 through some small towns; terrain was flat and fairly straight; light traffic.  I could whip up a couple of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch on the way.

Suddenly!!  Ken had to stop quickly!  I was standing at the kitchen counter with knife in my hand, spreading peanut butter and jelly on slices of wheat bread.  I went flying toward the front of the RV.  With the slide-out in the IN position, there was very little room to navigate my fall!  I struck my side on the corner of the console and fell into the floor!

The knife went flying out of my hand!  A slice of peanut butter bread was plastered on the side of the J-Lounge on the right!!  Jelly bread was in the kitchen tile floor, jelly side up, almost under my foot!  I slowly managed to get myself up out of the floor and SIT DOWN and fasten my seat belt!!  STUPID!!!

After we had settled in at our new campsite, I drove myself to the Wauchula Hospital Emergency Room to see what kind of damage I had done to my right side.  The staff took four X-Rays of my ribs.  The ER doctor showed me the pictures and said I had fractured my #9 rib (one of the lower ribs) in two places.  The ends were not pointed toward my lungs and did not create a major problem.  They do nothing for that type of fracture except prescribe some strong pain medication.  It will take four to six weeks to heal.  In the meantime, take it easy and breath deeply every hour to prevent pneumonia.

I have been surprised that the fractured ribs have not bothered me too, too much, except getting in and out of bed.  And I have been taking it very, very easy!!  No pickleball for a while!!

So, Do like I said -- not as I do.  Don't Be Stupid!!