A trip to Fort Pierce!

Yesterday looked like a nice day to visit Fort Pierce to us so we took the dogs and headed out. I’m sure there is lots to see in this town, but we only managed to visit a few locations that were on our list. There is always another time, right. 

First on the list was "The Marine Connection Liquidators"it is a huge place selling surplus marine supplies. Well, we spent quite a bit of time there perusing their inventory and because this place is over 30,000 square feet, it took us a while! Benno is hunting for a 3 bladed 17 or 18 inch diameter, RH propeller of certain pitch, since installing a new diesel engine of less horse power in our boat, the original propeller is LH, four bladed and 20 inch diameter, definitely too big and cannot be used to drive our boat! Propellers cost big money! I’m sure we will be back before heading home to Canada.

Then, just around the corner from this warehouse there is the "Riverside Marina". By Canadian standards I would call a big place. It is mostly a boat storage marina that allows the owners to work on their boats while being piled up. However, they don’t allow anyone to live on their boats on “the hard” (a term for a boat cradled up) while working. Only boats in the water tied to docks are allowed to live on. We strolled through the yard and I obtained their prices from the office. While walking through the marina I spotted a few yachts from Canada and the “Star Spangled” sailboat that belongs to our friend Leszek from back home in Canada. Leszek is a fantastic sailor who rounded  the storm punished Cape Horn and did as well the treacherous East - West Passage in Northern Canada in a sailboat, without sinking or being eaten by a polar bear.

On our return trip I popped into the Ross (Dress For Less) outlet and came out with a couple of items that were a real bargain! And, a quick stop at another Aldi Food Store that was twice the size from the one they have in Okeechobee also had me carry out a shopping bag. I might take advantage of the opportunity when I can and we benefit from the savings.

For the folks home, you probably haven’t seen crabs this big. This Gigantic Land Crab ran by our parked truck at the marina and I followed it to the beach. I didn’t dare to touch it as its claw looked mighty big to me. 

Today we are relaxing. It’s sunny but cooler with only a high of 20C/68F so a good day to get back to my book, “Proof of Life” by J.A. Jance, a page turner.

Thanks for dropping by again.

Happy New Year Everyone

 Here is to wishing everyone a happy and healthy New Year. As it has become somewhat a tradition for Benno and I, we celebrated by ourselves. By celebration I really mean a good meal, spending the evening partly watching TV or a movie, reading and a toast with Asti Spumante at midnight. 

So last night’s dinner were a couple of barbecued ribeye steaks grilled to perfection by Benno on our grill accompanied by a baked potato that we shared, caramelized onions with mushrooms and a garden salad. A glass of Riesling wine topped off the celebration. 

For this morning breakfast we turned it (haha) into a champagne breakfast and got the unfinished bottle of Asti out of the fridge and I served crackers with “Old Amsterdam” cheese that aged a few years in the Netherlands before it got shipped to this country. Also some Swiss Emmental and USA Old Cheddar Cheese we enjoyed.  I could get used to this kind of eating, but then it would not be special anymore.

So yesterday, still being 2024, Benno thought he would end the year with a not so enjoyable task to get it done. We had noticed a few days ago that the ball seal in our RV toiled bowl would not seal properly anymore and would not hold standing water and as well would let some aroma from the holding tank out also, too much for for our sensitive noses! It involved removing and taking the toilet apart and then cleaning the culprit. However, Benno had purchased a new seal just in case from a Camping World store in Fort Pierce and instead of only cleaning the old seal, to do a new install with Silicone grease but also clean the rest of the unit with CLR and Spray Nine cleaner. So on the last day of 2024 Benno became a Toilet Technologist and did the character building exercise to fix our toilet. (bravo!) 

I of course grabbed the dogs and wandered off to leave my hubby to his task in the hopes that he would be finished by my return.  Following are some photos I shot while we were walking in our park. 

boat launching ramp

the RV sites along the creek have a great view and lots of space

various vessels along the creek

An airboat with a big motor

Fish cleaning station

There is a creek next to the RV park with a launching ramp and some pontoon boats and smaller pleasure boats are tied to the floating docks. Actually, there are lots of boats here parked behind and beside the units. However, this creek has no outlet but apparently fish and alligators are in it. Parallel to this creek, called Alligator Creek is the “Fisheating Creek” which leads to the Okeechobee Lake. 

I hope you enjoyed the photos of the area to the creek  I took during my stroll. By the time I came home, all was looking good like new in the bathroom!

And here, in case you had been wondering, a photo of our Christmas Turkey Breast. It had turned out perfect.

Our turkey breast on a big platter!

Wishing you a great start to the year 2025. Thanks for dropping in.