We left Bushnell on a hot December 9th and worked our way to the Florida Toll Road. It was hot enough to run the generator and air conditioning while having lunch at a service plaza. We got off the toll road after paying $17 in tolls, fueled up and headed to the PSL RV Resort in Port Saint Lucie. We put 183 miles on getting here. We chose this campground since our friends Rich and Diane were camped here for the winter.
Here is our campsite:
Down the road are Rich and Diane, with their brand new Honda CRV shown by the red arrow:
After setting up the four of us went to Duffy's, a local chain, for dinner and catching up. We had not seen each other since the Escapade in June and July 2008, but our best visit then was just before the Escapade in Buffalo, Wyoming.
December 10th we went to the Outdoor Resorts in town to see Brent and Diane, who we last saw in Chimacum, WA in August 2008.
They have a lot here, this is what it looks like:
The view out the back.
We ended up having dinner at Red Ginger Asian Bistro, which was tasty, and then they showed us the area.
On the 11th we met up with Roger and Toni at Golden Corral in Fort Pierce. We talked like we hadn't seen each other in years, but it was only December 2008 at TT Pio Pico.
Brent and Diane recommended we go to the Fort Pierce Saturday Market so we went on the 12th. Here is the market.
The trees are covered with lights and we saw the light show the evening of the 10th.
After buying some fresh bread we watched the wildlife, including this great egret.
On the 13th we met up with Brent and Diane at Archie's Seabreeze, a "bikers bar" in Fort Pierce. Brent and Diane came by Harley, as did another couple. We and the fourth couple came by car.
Over those dunes is the ocean.
Interesting bikes.
It was a busy day at Archie's, with a Toys for Tots drive going on. The food was actually pretty good so we would come back, even without a motorcycle.
Then the eight of us headed to the free music back at the park in Fort Pierce where the market was the day before.
Here is the biker group coming in, Diane is in front with the orange hat and Brent is in white.
More food!
Steel drum Christmas music.
Video of the music (871KB WMV)
Since we were in the same campground as Rich and Diane, we visited more with them during the week. One night they showed us Pueblo Viejo, a local Mexican place we were happy to learn about.
One day we drove down to Palm Beach, where we had lunch at a Toojay's, and then came back via the Lake Okeechobee area.
We really liked the Port Saint Lucie area and would consider wintering here some other year.
On our own we ate at a Friendly's in Port Saint Lucie and found a very nice Thai restaurant, Thai House, in Jensen Beach we would frequent if in the area.
We were a bit miffed when one day our Acer Aspire One netbook computer would not
boot up. Bill tried everything and finally found instructions on the
internet on how to take it apart. Even taking it apart and reseating all
connections did not bring it back to life. We kept all that was
salvageable and now need to buy a new one. A replacement was $280 and the
Acer is out of warranty, so it is not worth fixing.
Now we are off to Fort Myers Beach.