Since we left The Florida United Methodist Children’s Home we attended a roundup of class B RV owners in Ocala, visited with family in South Carolina, attended services at our own church (Lester Memorial Methodist Church) and took care of some doctor appointments. After that we headed south again to Grand Isle, LA for a NOMADS Disaster Rebuild. We are now set up at Our Lady of the Isle Catholic Church, have met with the other team members and will start work tomorrow. More about the location and work next week.
While in South Carolina we washed and waxed Fred and helped put some conduit in the ground to run electrical to the shop.
On the way to Grand Isle we stayed a couple of nights at Forkland COE Campground in Alabama. While there we rested, prepared meals for our work weeks and hiked. On one of the hikes we found this cross. We couldn’t really tell if the cross piece just fell that way or if someone placed it.
The scenery on LA 1 driving to Grand Isle
Driving onto Grand Isle
There is still a lot of visible damage in the area.
More visible damage
Of course, we had to check out the beach on Grand Isle – even if the weather was unseasonably cold.
Today’s blog post covers our weeks 2 and 3 of our NOMADS project at Florida United Methodist Children’s Home. Week two was much like week one. Mary, Phil, and the two of us continued painting the same cottage – mostly second coating the rooms that were started by another group and painting closets. We finished that on Wednesday and started installing new blinds in all the windows. We also scraped and painted some exterior window sills and doors. We were so glad to be finished with the painting. Then on Thursday morning we learned that one of the staff members who had an office in that cottage wanted her office painted and the request was approved. So, out came all the clean paint brushes and all four of us concentrated our efforts on that last room and had two coats on the walls and trim by the end of the day. While we worked in the cottage Jack, Frank, Donna and Bill worked on other projects around campus.
We painted a lot of closets week 2.
Mary painting the cottage front door
Phil and Max got to take a break from painting to hang blinds
One more room
Every day of week 2, just like week 1, ended with brush cleaning.
Donna, Frank and Bill were assigned the task of replacing the wooden porches for the bathhouse …
… with Trex.
Donna and Bill (and sometimes Frank) got to spend most of week 2 scraping and painting these trams the Children’s home uses for tours.
We did the tourist thing that weekend and drove to Ponce Inlet near Daytona Beach to visit the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse and Museum. We postponed this adventure last weekend when we learned that it was race weekend at Daytona. So glad we found that out before getting caught up in all that traffic. We really enjoyed learning the history of that lighthouse and recommend you visit it. There are also several buildings on site furnished as they would have been back in the day. It’s one of the best we have visited and a nice beachfront drive on a a beautiful day, too.
Arriving at the lighthouse
These bracelets gave us all day access to the lighthouse and museum.
Entering the lighthouse
Climbing the 203 steps to the viewing platform
The giant lens at the top
This distorted view from the top is the result of using the panorama setting on our camera.
This is more what it actually looked like
Going back down the stairs was a little easier.
One building on the property houses a large collection of lighthouse fresnel lenses.
One of many interesting history lessons in the museum
There is also a display of Cuban rafts that have washed ashore at Ponce Inlet.
We met this little fellow wandering the grounds.
For week three we (Max, Anne, Phil and Mary) were assigned a new task – to rip up the wooden patio between the volunteer bunkhouse and the bathhouse and build a new one. It was harder and hotter than painting but we were pleasantly surprised with the final product. At the end of the week the maintenance staff provided us with a delicious lunch to thank us for our efforts. We were really blessed to work with such a great team and hope to see them all again soon.
Removing the old decking. We’re glad we had a chance to practice this before the project.
Digging out excess dirt to expose the brick piers
Laying out the new support 4x4s
New support 4x4s in place. Most were either warped or twisted when we got them from the shop.
Mary and Phil did most of the measuring and sawing of the deck boards …
… while we installed them.
The finished wooden patio
Bill, Frank and Donna rebuilding the bell tower roof
Refreshed bell tower
Jack, Bill, Donna and Frank built and painted new boxes to cover some of the above ground valves on campus.
On our last work day we placed one of the new boxes over the valves.
Last Tuesday evening we got together for a potluck at our campsite.
Some of us stood out in the campground and watched a SpaceX launch shortly after midnight last Thursday.
It’s been a couple of weeks since we posted anything so let’s get caught up.
After our unplanned trip back to Alabama to visit the dentist we returned to South Carolina to spend more time with Randy and Debra and prepare for our next NOMADS project. We visited and did a little more work on the deck. All was fine until we discovered a roller had come loose under the same slide on Fred that was worked on last year because a motor had come unplugged. That meant another unplanned trip back to the Tiffin Service Center in Red Bay. We arrived there on a Sunday afternoon and waited until they called us into an Express Bay on Wednesday morning. They put the roller back in place in less than an hour and we made it back to South Carolina that evening. Anyone want to buy a slightly used Gumby? He’s beginning to annoy us.
The deck when we left
The reason for another unplanned trip to Red Bay. If this happens again we now know how to fix it.
After a few more days there we loaded up BB and headed to the Florida United Methodist Children’s Home in Enterprise, Florida for our third NOMADS project here. The drive down was not uneventful. It rained hard for the much of the drive. We are so glad God was with us and protected us as witnessed by this dash cam video captured while Anne was driving:
As always, we are working with long time friends and making new friends. This year we are sprucing up one of the group homes and so far that has meant cleaning and painting. We have completed two bedrooms with bathrooms and the kitchen. On Thursday we started second coating and touching up the rest of the rooms that were started by another group.
Some of the history of the Children’s Home
Cleaning and Painting
We always enjoy working with good friends Phil and Mary.
This weekend we hiked around the area, did our shopping and laundry, worked on the van and rested. This is a beautiful campus with the usual assortment of Florida wildlife. We have seen ospreys, gators, and one eagle. Of course, most of the time we see them walking back and forth to work so we don’t have the good camera.
On one of our walks we walked along the shore of Lake Monroe
We saw this makeshift sign across the road from FUMCH. That water level means that water came very close to getting into some of the buildings.
Still have little gators here. This one is in the pond right beside the campground.
The outdoor worship area we built last year with Phil and Mary. We must say that was a lot more fun than painting.
Green Springs Park is a short walk from campus.
Resident gator in Green Springs. Last year we saw kids swimming in the springs while the alligator was in it.
Some of the beautiful flowers on campus
We look forward to another two weeks of warm winter weather in Florida, while we work to improve the infrastructure here at FUMCH. Please remember all the children all around the world in facilities such as this one. The young people have experienced so much trauma – much more than any child should ever experience – and now are receiving help putting their life back together. We are hoping our work makes their lives a little better.
When we last wrote of our travels, we had just arrived at Oak Alley RV Resort in Webster, FL. It was late afternoon on Saturday and as soon as we were minimally set up, we headed out on a walk of the park. We really needed to stretch our legs after our 450 mile travel day. We don’t usually like to drive that far in a day, preferring no more than 350-400 miles, but we traded out driving every two hours and were not too terribly tired when we arrived. The park walk was just what we needed. Toward the back of the park was one of several retention ponds and we saw an eagle diving toward the water. What a great welcome to the park! Of course, this was not a photography outing so no camera, no picture. Wouldn’t you know it. That was the only time we saw an eagle in the park. (We walked that area every day after that – with camera – but no eagle.) As we continued our walk that first evening we also met Jackie and Bruce, two NOMADS friends. We had a quick little visit with plans to get together later in our stays. The next morning we also met another NOMADS friend Mary when we were all out for our morning walks and we caught up with her husband Phil at the pickle ball courts. So great to already have friends at the resort.
We even got to see a heavy frost in central Florida
Oak Alley is a resort. One of the things they are known for is their pickleball courts (12) and pickleball instructor. There are many classes from beginner, to advanced. Anytime of the day if you pass the courts you will see people playing. But pickleball is just one of many activities offered. There are hundreds of activities planned such as ice cream socials, quilting and many more. They also have different food trucks visit various days along with pot lucks, and other gatherings involving food. Definitely the most active resort we have visited. Also of note, was a wonderful community like atmosphere. Everyone – employees and RVers all seemed so friendly and nice.
One of the dangers of staying at Oak Alley is the trail that leads from the park directly to Dough J’s Chicken and Donuts in Webster. In the week we were there we only visited it 3 or 4 times and both the fried chicken and pastries were delicious.
Sunday we of course worship with our home church and then checked out the club house and other amenities. We attended the ice cream social with Mary and Phil Sunday night and many of us were outside watching another Space X rocket go into space. This was a secret mission for US Space Force rather than one of the frequent launches of satellites for the Starlink system. Always love to see the rocket launches.
Rocket launch from across the state
Monday is flea market day in Webster. We were told it’s the largest flea market in Florida. They had everything – new, used, and swap meet items as well as large quantities of beautiful, tasty produce and homemade cookies, etc. We walked there with our friends and many people from the park drove their golf carts. It’s a huge event so parking is at a premium. After the market we attended an excellent “Introduction to 3D printing” class presented by one of our fellow RVers.
At the famous Webster Flea Market …
… there was a lot of the usual flea market stuff …
… several food vendors …
… lots of produce …
… and even a few pet sellers.
We learned that 3D printing is not as expensive as we thought.
The Florida RV Super Show was this week and we choose to drive over to Tampa on Thursday. We had a good time looking at new RV features, new designs etc as well as visiting all the vendor booths. Our only purchase was a new thermostat for our rear AC/heat pump. We have been to the Tampa show many times and now our favorite thing is meeting up with friends and visiting. It was a good day.
The weather was much nicer than last year
So the show was a little more crowded
Friday morning we installed our new thermostat and all is now working flawlessly. We are so blessed we can take care of some of our RV repairs ourselves. Friday afternoon we took the bikes about 4.5 miles to one of the trailheads of the Van Fleet trail. This is a super 29.2 mile bike/hike trail in central Florida. Almost immediately after beginning our ride we are riding by a swampy area and came upon two river otters playing. Later we saw several large tortoise sunning on rocks in a lake and then on the way back we spotted smaller ones lounging beside the trail. The Van Fleet is a great trail. Flat – always a plus. Partly to mostly shaded. Paved in good condition. Very quiet and peaceful ride. No we didn’t do the entire 29.2 miles because we would have still had to ride 29.2 miles back. We did between 6 and 7 miles and then returned to the truck. Great ride and we intended to do more this week.
Riding the beautiful Van Fleet Trail
One of the tortoises we saw along the trail
Camera shy otter
This brings us to where we are now. We are now back at Camp Sumatanga in Alabama. We left Oak Alley sooner than planned. Remember RVers must be like Gumby – always flexible. We drove back the 532 miles Monday so that Max could see our dentist on Tuesday at 8:00am. Thank you, Dr. Mac! At 1:00 pm he had a root canal and is now on his way to recovery. So blessed that we are always welcomed at Sumatanga when ever we need to be back in our home area. We will again be flexible for the next few weeks in determining when we will return to Florida to work our next NOMADS project. Stay tuned to see where we turn up next.
The lake at Sumatanga looks a lot different than it did last fall.
RVing With a Purpose 