From Savannah, GA to Fernandina Fl.

Our first night in the sunshine state was spent in the State Park campsite at Fernandina.

 We awoke to the sound of rain!

Not quite what we expected!

Instead of walking along the beach we drove south on the road to the ferry across the St. Johns river.

Maryport is the home for the US fleet and just a few days later a big aircraft carrier arrived home form the Gulf.

We had to smile at this sign on the ferry!

  At the busy city of Jacksonville we stopped in the Walmart to buy two new mountain bikes as our Christmas presents-I bought one for Jim and he bought one for me-fair enough!

.Looking at the map we were going to pass close by to Alachua where Patti and Clair Benson live.

 We met at West Point Lake campsite and they invited us to stay in their yard.

Clair and Jim retired to the shed to assemble the bikes before we all went off to eat at the local Sonny's.

Now the bus has a new front end!

                     Fantasy of Flight Museum, Lakeland

Kermit Weekes has built up a collection of aircraft that is astonishing.

The museum is set in a huge plot of land with two grass runways and a lake where amphibians and seaplanes can land.

The hangers are in a forties style and the diner reminded us of the terminal building at Liverpool airport at Speke in the fifties!

A new hanger was under construction and aircraft are being restored ready for a new home.

This Sunderland Flying boat Mk5 last flew to take the Olympic Flame to Miami. Inside it is not quite so luxurious as today's air liners!

Looks a bit like something Jim and Bd built!

The tour of the museum included a visit to the back lot. There are warehouses full to overflowing with all sorts of aircraft and spare parts.

This was the engine store where lots of damaged wooden propellers are kept. These are used as patterns when a new prop is needed for an old aircraft.

It seems that Mr Weeks will buy anything to prevent it being scrapped.

This is the flight crew of a B17 which is part of the very realistic WW11 display.

As you walk through the plane and hear the guns and ack ack you feel the draught as the bomb bay door opens beneath your feet!

The guide was most informative and the aircraft behind is one you may recognise.

(Remember the start of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom?)

Everyday they try to fly one of the aircraft.

   This lovely old Feisler Storch gave an impressive display and the pilot landed in just 40feet!

The course was over 8 miles for Saturday and the race was one and a half hours long!

This Maico was loud but managed two laps. This was the only Husquvarna at the event- a 1977 model which went round the lap very quickly.

Racers lined up in classes and had to run to their machines

For the riders of the older machines the start was a big worry-most of them got away Ok. !

This Hodaka is a very rare machine and was in excellent condition but needed fuel on every lap

On Saturday night we were invited to a shrimp cookout by the members of the Saratosa Area Dirt Riders Association who were organising the event.

Mike, Drew, Glen and Tony assured us that this would be the culinary highlight of our trip to Florida.

After eating some of the American delicacies this did not have much to live up to!

The recipe was simple-get a large pan of water boiling over a hot gas ring. Add a bag of special spices (available at the local store) and then every ten minutes add some more ingredients. Sausages, potatoes, corn cobs, sliced courgettes, squashes, pearl onions and then a can of lager. Finally add lots of shrimps and scallops, turn off the gas and enjoy another beer during the ten minute wait!

Then all the liquid was drained away and the contents of the pan poured onto a plastic sheet on the table. A plate and fork were all that was needed to enjoy the feast!

Sunday morning was cold but sunny as Jim got ready to go on his practise lap.

It was all new terrain for him-flat, sandy with berms and fast corners in and out of the trees and through the palmettos.

His ride was soon over when he strayed off the track into the palmettos where a tree stump was waiting to tip him off the bike into the path of the following riders. ouch!!!

Sundays route was eleven miles and over two hours.

First away were the intermediates, seniors and grand masters and most managed three laps. Drew got the holeshot and managed to get home just before Mike!

The last race on the card was for the faster riders many of whom are semi professional. They sped around doing four laps comfortably.

The airways were busy with all sorts of machines. An airship passed overhead on several days, a small amphibian did touch and goes on the water.

.

These two microlights landed and taxied right onto the beach.

Campers helped them to turn around ready for take off and they did a slow fly past to the delight of the children!

The beaches around St. Petersburg are said to be lovely so we hired a car to go for a day out.

We awoke to pouring rain and gale force winds which put paid to our plans for a picnic lunch on the beach!

Instead we drove along the coastal highway and up to Tarpon Springs where we had lunch in a Greek restaurant at the sponge docks!

On the way back via Tampa we called at the supermarket to get some last minute supplies for Christmas.

T Bone steaks for the BBQ and a plum pudding for desert!

On Christmas Eve Dot baked mince pies and made brandy butter.

Now all we need is the sunshine!

Christmas day was a wash out-literally-it never stopped raining all day.

The BBQ was abandoned and lunch cooked in the awning-the sparkling wine made it all seem better.

Worse was to follow as a gale blew up during the night.

We had to get out of our snug bed and stand in the awning holding the poles to stop them bending and trying to stop the floor mat from blowing away!

Eventually at 6am we made a drink of hot chocolate to get warm. The wind seemed to have dropped a little so we went back to bed.

Next morning we packed up quickly!

So much for the sunshine state!

We visited a car wash where the bus fitted easily into the bay and we cleaned off all the salt water and applied polish.

It had to be clean for Dot to drive to Arcadia to join a bunch of bus converters who were holding a rally!

There had been a lot of hurricane damage in this area and the bus conversion factory had no roof and just one warehouse left standing!

Some of the buses had cost a lot of dollars but still looked odd!

Just like the TGV?

Others were classics and in great condition.

Not everyone was convinced that our vehicle had started out as a bus-it looked too small and cute!

All the buses had an information sheet giving details about the vehicle-especially its NAME!!! (See we are not the only ones to give our bus a name)

We celebrated the New Year with a bunch of friendly people listening to Blue Grass music and generators!

It had been a lot of fun and the local paper interviewed us as we had travelled the furthest!.

Now you know where the phrase 'like the back of a bus' comes from!

                       2005 and back to the coast at Fort Myers

The winter estate of the Edison family at Fort Myers is now open to the public and provided us with an opportunity to find out more about this clever inventor.

Now we know what style of horn to put on our Gem Phonograph!

The museum was very interesting but the gardens also had a few surprises.

This 'sausage tree' was one of them-

the fruits are very heavy and look just like huge German sausages! They are not edible-just like..... no must not say that!

At the Shady Acres campground we had some visitors. These geese came every morning to try and share our breakfast.

Ara, the Beemer chef, on the other hand came to show off his new top box he had designed

-complete with axe and shovel!

Ara lives just down the road in Naples and we had met him up in North Carolina at the Ironhorse motorcycle resort.

It was great to see him again and he laughed at our antics as Jim tried to fit 47 well lubricated 'tire balls' into his front tyre.

 This campground is equipped with Wifi internet access so we were able to log on inside our bus. We were able to update our website and check out the progress of our family and team RallyraidUK at Barcelona for the start of the Dakar.

This picture shows them all leaving the UK in snow!!!

www.rallyraid.co.uk

While staying at Fort De Soto we had received a cry for help from the team as the parts for their American Ford F350 truck had not arrived. Good old Mum and Dad had to visit the local Ford dealer and at great expense purchase the parts and ship them to them express to the UK.

Mike had done a lot of hard work to get the truck looking this good-hope it works well out in the deserts of North Africa.