Okeechobee Gold Club Rally 2008

Dave Mitchell, General Manager Giant Recreation World Melbourne
The 2008 Gold Club Rally was once again held at the Okeechobee KOA RV Resort in Okeechobee, FL October 24 -26th. It was an exciting and fun weekend "Spooktacular Halloween Weekend". The following activities were scheduled: Prizes For Best Pumpkin Carving, Site Decorating Contest, Costume Contest, Adult Halloween Craft Making, Kids Halloween Craft Making, Hayride, Texas Hold-em, Live Entertainment, Golf Scramble, Teen Meet & Greet, Little Diva Party, Horseshoe Tournament, RV 101, RV Tips & Tricks, Adult CPR/AED Class, Open Bar, Friday Night Dinner, Saturday Breakfast, Saturday Lunch, Saturday Night Dinner, Sunday Morning Continental Breakfast!!

At the end of the post there is a slideshow of pictures from the weekend.

Motorhome Decorated for the "Spooktacular Halloween"

Another View of the Motorhome

We arrived Friday afternoon and registered and proceeded to our site and parked and set up the Motorhome for the weekend. Here is the schedule for Friday:
Friday, October 24
9:00 - 11:30 AM Registration - Convention Center Lobby
1:30 -6:00 PM Registration - Convention Center Lobby
9:00:AM - 5:00PM Parts, Maintenance & Supplies - Hospitality Tent
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM RV Display - Convention Center Parking Lot
1:30PM Adult CPR/AED/ Red Cross Certification Class - Recreation Room
4:00PM - 10:00PM - Open Bar Hospitality Tent
5:45PM Dinner - (Handicap) Convention Center
6:00PM Dinner - Convention Center
7:30PM Bob Diverde - Master Comic & Impressionist - Convention Center
8:00 - 10:00 PM Teen Meet & Greet - DJ, Karaoke & Body Art -Family Pool Area
8:30PM Texas Hold-um (must arrive on time) - Convention Center
8:30PM Hayride - Outside Convention Center
8:30PM Movie - Addams Family - Convention Center

Spooks on the Motorhome

We checked out the hospitality tent which we were very close to. Then we went to the Convention Center for Dinner. After Dinner we enjoyed the entertainment Comedian Bob Diverde. It was a nice dinner and good entertainment. We returned to the Motorhome for TV and sleep.

Saturday's Schedule:

Saturday, October 25
8:00AM Breakfast - Convention Center
8:00-10:00 AM Late Registration - Convention Center Lobby
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM RV Display - Convention Center Parking Lot
9:00-5:00 PM Parts, Maintenance & Supplies - Hospitality Tent
9:00AM RV 101 Driving Tips (sign-up at registration) - Recreation Room
9:00AM Horseshoe Tournament (trophies will be awarded) - Family Pool Area
9:00AM Bocce Ball Tournament (bring your own Bocce Balls) - Family Pool Area
10:00:AM Little Diva Party - Convention Center
10:00AM Kids Halloween Craft Making - Convention Center
10:30AM RV Tips & Tricks (sign-up at registration) - Recreation Room
11:45AM Lunch (Handicap)- Convention Center
12:00PM Lunch - Convention Center
1:00 PM Golf Scramble (sign-up at registration) - Meet at the Pro Shop
1:30PM Adult Halloween Craft Making - Convention Center
2:30-3:30PM Hayride Campground
3:00PM Pumpkin Carving Contest Picnic Tables by Children's Pool
4:00 - 10:00 PM Open Bar - Hospitality Tent
5:30PM Photographs (Handicap)- Outside Convention Center
5:45PM Photographs - Outside Convention Center
5:45PM Dinner (Handicap)- Convention Center
6:00PM Dinner- Convention Center
7:30PM Euphoria Band - Convention Center
9:00PM 50 - 50 Tickets - Convention Center
9:30PM Halloween Parade - Convention Center

Spooks everywhere
Saturday morning we went over for breakfast and came back and decorated the Motorhome with our halloween theme for the weekend. Chilled out afterward and then went over for lunch. Spent some time over at the hospitality tent chatting with other Gold Club members. Took a bike ride around the park taking pictures of the other Motorhome decorations.

Then we dressed up in our halloween costumes for the evening festivities at the Convention Center. Marilyn went as Princess Leia from Star Wars. I used my long standing costume of a Ghoul. I have gotten my money's worth out of this outfit. Using it at many halloween events and haunted houses. I usually wear a plastic mask with it. When I volunteered for the haunted house at the Henegar Center in old downtown Melbourne they didn't want me to wear the mask. So I had to make up my face to look like a Ghoul. One of the organizers of the haunted house made up my face and taught me how to do it. I was still able to use my plastic eyes that really made the masks and now my made up face scary. So for this event I made up my face. I also use a voice changing box that requires a microphone near my mouth. With my hood it is pretty much not visible unless you are close.

We had a nice dinner with the band for dancing afterwards. Then they had the costume contest. We didn't win but it was fun. Then we retired to the Motorhome for the evening.

Marilyn as Princess Leia

Princess Leia and The Ghoul

Sunday nothing was scheduled except for Donuts and Coffee. I went over for that. Came back and prepared the Motorhome for the trip home.

Here is a slideshow with pictures from the weekend. Enjoy!!!

Another great Rally. Thank you Giant Recreation World, Audrey and Chris. A great weekend. Keep up the good work.

Silver River State Park Gold Club Campout

We went to Silver River State Park September 5-7 2008 for the months Gold Club campout. Silver River State Park is located on the Silver River near Ocala, Florida.


Motorhome ready for the weekend
Arriving Friday afternoon we checked in and went to our spot and set up for the weekend. We went to the pavilion at 5:30PM for the Meet and Greet. At 6:30PM we had our Pot Luck Dinner. As always the Pot Luck was great. After the Pot Luck the Pie Baking contest took place. All pies had to be made from scratch. I went to the store to buy some scratch and couldn't find any so didn't make a pie for the contest. The judges tasted all the pies and chose the winners. After the contest we got to eat the pies.

After dinner and the pie contest we went back to the motorhome to chill for the evening with TV.

Saturday morning started with a continental breakfast at the pavilion. I went over for coffee and donuts and Marilyn slept in. They had crafts at the pavilion later in the morning.

Marilyn chilling with Ryder and Brinker

Ryder and Brinker chilling
Saturday afternoon we loaded up to go canoeing on the Silver River. We had to go to the ranger station to get paddles, life vests and the keys to unlock the canoes at the launch point. Marilyn didn't want to go because of the mosquitoes which were plentiful. We had bought a thermal mosquito repellent machine but forgot to bring it. Of course it would have not have worked on the canoe trip. At the ranger station we paired up for the canoes. I was put with Joe since his wife wasn't going because she was afraid of the gators. Once we had our gear we headed for the launch point. We parked and hiked down the River Trail to the launch point. Found our canoe unlocked it and carried it to the launch area. All aboard and headed upriver from the launch area. The headwaters of the Silver River come from Silver Springs which is a Florida Attraction that has been there a long time. They are famous for their Glass Bottomed boats so you can peer at the springs and fish. A tarzan movie starring Johnny Weissmuller was filmed there. Joe and I paddled all the way to Silver Springs. Only about three canoes made it all the way there and back. After getting back to the launch area we hiked back to the parking lot. Joe called his wife to pick us up and take us to the ranger station to return the gear and pay for the canoe rental. Then back to the motorhome and chill until time for dinner.

Getting our gear for the canoe trip

Hiking to the canoe launch area

A view down the Silver River from the canoe
We had a catered dinner that evening at 6:30PM at the pavilion. The dinner was Pork and Beef kabobs, rice, corn on the cob, rolls, iced tea and sheet cake for desert. A nice dinner and fellowship with the other club members. I was wearing my Miami Hurricanes cap and this happened to be the night they were playing the Florida Gators. One of the fellows asked me if I was watching the game that night. I told him I was and he asked how and I told him we had satellite tv. He said he was located close to me and had a 100ft. cable. He asked if he could tap off of my signal and watch the game over in his area. I said sure. So when I got back I connected the satellite output so it would go to my external connector that is usually used to hook to cable tv at rv resorts. He came over with his cable and we hooked it up so his group of "Gator" fans could watch it. So everyone enjoyed the game but of course I was disappointed since the Gators won!!!


Gator fans watching the Hurricanes vs Gators game

Another view of the "Gator" fans

A view of the cable running to my motorhome

Sunday morning we slept in and around 11:00AM packed everything up and headed home. Another fun weekend with the Giant Recreation World Gold Club.

Below is a slideshow from the weekend at Silver River State Park.

Boy Toys

Here is my new toy. It is a 1988 Corvette hardtop. It is in great shape with only 53,000 miles. I just clicked it over 53K.

Roughing it Smoothly

We traveled to Kissimmee the weekend of July 18-20. The Giant Recreation World Gold Club event was at the Tropical Palms RV Resort which is located right behind Old Town. It was a great weekend starting on Friday night with a pot luck dinner.


The entrance to Tropical Palms RV Resort

On Saturday morning we started the day with a pancake breakfast in the Recreation Hall. This was where we ate all of our meals. Saturday afternoon Marilyn and I walked to Old Town. We perused some of the shops as we walked through the area. While we were there the cars started coming in to register for the Cruise In to be held that evening. So we watched the cars come in.

The RV all set up for the weekend

Then we went next door to the Fun Spot. Here I made a bee line to the Nascar Simulators. We signed up for a race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte. There are six simulator cars and I got the number 2 car and Marilyn got the number 8 car. Charlotte was a tough track. I would really get going and passed a lot of cars but then would crash and lose all the places I had gained. I still ended up not doing bad against the other people driving at the time. I was 13th place overall . I was second out of the simulator racers though. The guy in the 12 car was really good because he came in 1st overall. Marilyn came in 25th place. Then we walked through the area checking out all the rides and vendors. We decided to go on one of the Go Cart rides. We chose the Chaos track. It was an okay track with multi-levels. The only problem was I got the slowest cart on the track. It would hardly make it up the hill to the upper level. It was real fast downhill though. I got bumped once going up the hill and it wouldn't even go up the hill. One of the attendants had to come over and push and manually advance the throttle past the standard setting. I told him to make it so it would go faster but it was the same. After the Fun Spot we headed back to Tropical Palms.

Marilyn and I on the way to Old Town

On the way we went down the street where the Cruise In cars were parked. So I perused the cars and took pictures. When we got back to the RV we just chilled out the rest of the afternoon until time for dinner.

Tom and friend in a store at Old Town


RV decorated for Christmas in July

Then we walked over to the rec hall for dinner. It was a great dinner being turkey and the trimmings as the theme for the weekend was Christmas in July. After dinner we walked over to Old Town for the Cruise In. By this time all the cars were parked in the staging area. So we walked through there and I took pictures and talked with some of the car owners. There were some really great cars. Check out my previous post with a slide show of the car pictures. Then we went over to the main street where they parade the cars. I watched the whole show and took lots of pictures.

Some of the Cruise In cars


After the Cruise In we walked back over to the Fun Spot where I did the Nascar Simulators again. I love these simulators and wish we had some closer to home. They give you a special lower price when you go back and do it again. You can also get an all evening pass to do it over and over again until they close. I just wanted one more time. This time I did the Atlanta track. It was a bit easier than Charlotte. I still crashed but it was because of other cars crashing in front of me and just like on the real races you get the smoke and can't see where to go. Once I had two cars spinning in front of me. I went high and missed one and the other one was going up the track so I went low and just like the real thing he bounced off the wall and came down right in front of me. So I hit the 24 car broadside. Once I got loose in the turns and spun out. When you go spinning down the track you really feel like you are going round and round when your car is really stationary except for the tilting and rocking it does to simulate the track and accidents. I came in 25th place overall. But I was 2nd in the simulator cars.

It was a great weekend. We packed up and came home around 11:30 Sunday morning. Check out the slide show of pictures for the weekend below.

Old Town Cruise In

As part of our recent Giant Recreation World Gold Club motorhome club excursion to Tropical Palms RV Resort in Kissimmee we went to the Old Town Cruise In on Saturday night. During the day the cars started coming in and you could walk around and get up close and personal with them. You could chat with the owners and find out all the details. Below is the slide show of the pictures I took at the Cruise In. Enjoy.

The great Palm Bay fire

In May there was some major fires in Palm Bay. It burned through large areas and many houses were either damaged or lost in the fires. I went out and took some pictures during the fires. You can see how bad it was.

Forest Service Helicopter filling up with water

Full of water heading back to the fire

Heading back to the fire with a full bucket

A view of the smoke as the Heli heads into the inferno

A look from Marilyn's back yard as it heads this way

Here the fire had jumped the road and was behind Marilyn's house

This is a view on DeGroodt looking south to the Bayside Lakes/Bombadier intersection in front of Bayside High School

Another view looking south on DeGroodt

Another wider angle view looking south on DeGroodt

At the Bayside Lakes/Bombadier/DeGroodt intersection looking south with Bayside High Shool to the left

Palm Bay Police and Fire Rescue on the job

Here they are coming out of Bayside High School which was a staging area for fire engines and police

The fire burning up to the intersection of DeGroodt, Bayside Lakes/Bombadier

The fire burning the area in back of Marilyn's house

The fire burning along the fence at the rear of Marilyn's house.

The Helicopter almost crashed here. You can see the bucket hit the ground but the pilot managed to save it.

The fire burned a large area of Palm Bay. It burned up to the edge of the house of Marilyn's daughter's Dana. She had evacuated the area as the Fire Dept. had asked many areas be evacuated.