There was a Civil War re-enactment Friday, Saturday and Sunday. There were thousands of people going through the flea market.
Our set up at Renninger’s Flea Market in Mt. Dora, Florida
Author: Roadtirementvintage
Red Oaks Carefree RV Resort is a top RV stop in Florida
The 10 o’clock shuffleboard games in full swing
Steam coming off the heated pool at the main office complex
Several friends of ours who are traveling in Florida recommended Red Oaks RV park in Bushnell, Florida. Both a Good Sam Club and Passport America park, it has exceeded our expectations. This park is part of the Carefree Resorts chain.
A feathered friend strolling down the street
Starting with the exceptionally friendly office staff and including the escort to our site we knew that we were in good hands at this RV park. Our site is close to the main office, one of the heated pools, laundry and the largest community building. Full hook-ups including a great line up of cable TV stations and a level site made our parking and setup a breeze.
This morning it is rather chilly, but the sun is out and temps are on the rise. I took a stroll to the shuffleboards court where the 10 o’clock games were in full swing. Sher and I are going back for the 2 o’clock games. Horseshoe pits and bocce ball are available and I spotted some corn hole games near the pool. There are some fishing ponds
This park has over 1000 full hook-up sites. The park is one of the cleanest that we have ever seen, and the seasonal residents have been very friendly to us. Any RVer looking for an RV park in central Florida should consider a stay at Red Oaks. Unlike most Florida RV parks, Red Oaks will give the Passport America discount during the “peak season” months. This is one of the few PA member parks that we have found that will honor the discount rate in the winter months.
Our site
We like and would recommend this RV park for a short or a long term stay. Our only complaint is the slow and sometimes intermittent WiFi through the paid Tango Internet service offered at the park. We might just take a break from blogging and go to the karaoke tonight.
1952 Ford truck on an ’87 Ranger frame with a 302 with a C4 tranny: parked across from our site
This guy was about 3 feet away from me
Main Office complex
What a colorful macaw
Pretty bird
We were at the Renniger’s Flea Market in Mt. Dora, Florida when I saw a fellow walking down the aisle with what looked like a large and colorful stuffed parrot. Well, much to my surprise the stuffed bird spread its wings and let out a loud squawk.
The fellow said that the macaw parrot was still young and they actually had been feeding it baby bird formula. It will be a third again longer when full grown. It sure looked big to me. Yes, its wings had been clipped so it can’t fly. That, he said, keeps it from flying into the walls at his house, which it has done once and nearly hurt itself.
Some pretty driving on the way to and from a couple of flea markets
A street tunnel from spreading oak trees and Spanish moss
The last couple of days we have set up at some different flea markets. One of the neat things about our time here in Florida is that we are seeing a lot of areas that are new to both of us. On our way to Stokes Market in Crystal River we drove down a street that looked like it was a tunnel comprised of huge wide spreading oak trees draped in flowing garlands of Spanish moss.
We also have seen some absolutely magnificent horse farms. For miles we passed one after another farm with signage indicating the race horse stable, equestrian training center, and even a polo club. Each had elaborate masonry flanking huge wrought iron double gates, many of which had the farm logo or name displayed in the gates.
Tree farms on both sides of the nice four lane highway
We also drove through some wide open cattle country. One pasture, obviously irrigated, must have had over 400 or so yearly steers and heifers. It was common to see large pastures with huge tree farms in between. We also saw several timber hauling trucks loaded with incredibly long fresh cut pine logs destined to be telephone poles somewhere.
All in all Sher and I have enjoyed the pretty scenery of central Florida. Some areas we have driven through have not been so pretty, but we just enjoy th real pretty ones.
This Walmart lot looked like an RV park
That’s our Four Winds on the right.
Ever pull into a Walmart parking lot for an overnight stay and it looks like a paved RV park? This happened to Sher and I tonight when we pulled into the Walmart at Chiefland, Florida. We had just been through the Chiefland Flea Market grounds and did not see a good place to park for the night. (We are either going to set up tomorrow for the weekend or just shop the market and maybe set up Saturday and Sunday.) So off to the Walmart we went.
There is also a nice diesel pusher behind the other coaches
We spotted the Walmart on Highway 19, aka North Young Blvd. and saw several RV’s already in the far side of the lot. I backed in a few spots away from a nice Itasca coach. As soon as we parked a sweet diesl pusher came in, followed by another nice C.
This rig is a monster from Ontario. Never seen anything like this before
There was also a high riding rig of some type with a pair of spare tires mounted on the front. It looked like some kind of military comand vehicle. I had to walk around it and noticed Ontario plates. What a rig! Maybe I’ll get a chance to talk to those folks in the morning.
All RVers should thank the Walmart managers who allow overnight parking in their lots. And remember, it is a simple overnight stop, not a camping spot. Don’t set out the chairs, run out the awning and fire up the grill. Don’t ruin it for others!
Stokes Flea Market in Crystal River, Florida
Our RV parked adjacent to our vendor booth at Stokes Flea Market.
We spent a couple of days at a long running flea Market in Crystal River, Florida. Open Tuesday and Wednesday each week, we set up on Monday night. The way the vendor spaces were set up allowed us to park the coach right next to the two spaces we needed to occupy.
Tuesday was kind of slow, but we did have some sales. Wednesday was much better, not only because there were more people, but also because the strong winds from Tuesday were gone on Wednesday. It is fun at the markets, because you always get to meet new people, or like today, even see some old friends.
We had a ball at a Speed King Auction
Speed King Auctions Evan Minck
Auctions are one of the things that we like to attend where ever we travel. We found a great auction house on the north side of Lakeland, Florida. We spent a little time at one of their auctions a couple of weeks ago, but we went back today to stay for the entire auction.
The auction started around 1:00 pm (after being open early to view the goods) on the outside. Tables were set up in rows, and wow what a variety of goods were sold. First the hundreds of items on the outside were sold, then the action moved inside. There the ‘more expensive’ items were sold. Small items like jewelry and coins were shown on a large TV monitor.
Evan Minck is the owner and auctioneer of Speed King Auctions. Evan calls a great auction. He is fair, honest, and straight forward in the way he manages the auctions he calls. No bid jumping here. If you are in the Lakeland area of Florida you should consider stoppping by Speed King Auctions. Check the auction house website for times and dates. You just might find something for your RV that you just can’t live without.
We did end up the successful bidder on some things at the auction and had a great time as well.
The Pilot truck stop at Haines City, Florida is RV friendly
Our home spot for the night
We stopped at the Pilot truck stop in Haines City, Florida last night. This Pilot is great for RV travelors, and is truly RV friendly. It has a Denny’s for a meal, or of course the full range of hot and cold foods in the Pilot store.
This Pilot has two RV islands for fueling and an RV dump station. The dump station is not in the same island as the fueling pumps and is also about 15 feet past the pumps, which does require you to pump fuel and then reposition for the dump station, Not a big deal, but I have seen Pilot stations with the dump station(s) in the fuel islands.
The dump station at the end of the propane filling pad
The car lot worked for us for parking. With our 24 foot long Four Winds we usually find a spot near the outside edge, as you can see in the photo. Another bonus at this location was the strong “Cable WiFi” connection. Sher and I both were able to work online with no slowdowns. Sher tried the Pilot WiFi but (as is unfortunately usually the case) it was intermittent and slow.
Gas was $1.95 but we paid $1.92 with the Good Sam Club discount. This gas under two bucks is something we all can get used to!
This Pilot address is 35647 US Highway 27, Haines City, Florida, 33844. If you are in the area check it out.
Tractor show transportation
Recently the Florida Flywheelers antique tractor show was held near Ft. Meade, Florida. This huge (240 acres) site was filled with restored antique tractors and over 1500 vendors selling everything imaginable. To get around the grounds most used golf carts. However there were many different, strange, and unique vehicles utilized. 
Fresh Florida citrus
The produce stand by the side of the road.
We were kind of out in the middle of the state when we happened across a produce stand. We had been by enough orange groves over the past few days to make us realize how huge the orange industry really is. I’m sure we saw only a fraction of the orange trees that are in the state.
We ended up with two “baskets” of oranges: one was navel and the second was a red variety. Are they ever delicious! We got a box of freshly picked strawberries as well. Yummy!
The young lady who was running the stand asked us how we liked traveling in our RV. She and one of her girlfriends are considering traveling all over the east coast next year to look at different colleges. We had a nice chat sharing our full time RV lifestyle with her.
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