Thousand Trails 2/11 to 2/18

 Thousand Trails

This aerial view of the resort I'm visiting for the week shows the immensity of the campground. Split the photo down the middle and the right half is the 800+ campsites, Tepees, park homes and log cabins that comprise this Thousand Trails RV resort; part of a vast chain of campgrounds. You can read more about them HERE.  On the left side of the split you can see Elite Resorts at Citrus Valley in the upper half and a private development taking up the lower left portion. As you can see by the white arrow, I'm about as far back in the campground as you can get. The map below is just of the Thousand Trails campground.

I followed the escort in a golf cart through most of the campground because I asked for a shady spot. For Florida campgrounds, that's a tough request. He finally showed me areas "in the wilderness" and I grabbed a back-in site, D65 that would give me shade all day. As I write this on Monday, the temp is down to 78°. Some views of my site and surroundings.

Spanish moss is the eye-catching feature. Neither from Spain nor a moss, Spanish moss is an epiphyte and is in the same family as the pineapple and succulent plants. An epiphyte is a plant that grows on another plant but is not parasitic; it derives no nutrients from the tree nor does it damage it in any way. The plant thrives on rain and fog, sunlight, and airborne or waterborne dust and debris. It has no roots and uses the tree as support.

After settling in and setting up, Vicki and George invited me to their site at Elite Resorts where I enjoyed a delicious roasted chicken dinner. She whipped it up in no time flat and dining outside was a treat. Now, instead of dwelling on the RV "resort" busy with (multiple) dog walking old people, I prefer to dwell on the important, enjoyable aspects of my travels. What follows is the dinner tour that highlighted my visit with friends when traveling. I won't tell you about the "eye-rollers" who judge diets and menus, rather, I'll emphasize the fact that it's all about the people, conversation food and drink. So with the anticipatory criticism of one's diet and meal choices, I continue with my fond memories.

On Tuesday, I took Vicki and Trish for a Valentine lunch at their favorite spot, the Imperium Food and Wine in downtown Celebration. Sidewalk dining was pleasant, the conversation never ending and the day perfect. It was great getting updated on all topics.

For starters, we enjoyed Edamame - steamed soybeans in a spicy Thai chili glaze.

Vicki's Cilantro Lime Shrimp - Poached shrimp, mixed greens, corn,

roasted red peppers, cucumber, green onions, served with cilantro lime vinaigrette. 

Trish's Vegetarian Wrap - Hummus, mixed greens, mushrooms and

roasted red peppers served in a spinach wrap.

My 3 Cheese Panini - Cheddar, Brie and Swiss cheese, bacon and tomato served

toasted on ciabatta bread and a Caesar salad side.

Wednesday morning, George and Ray picked me up and we had breakfast at a nearby iHop. On my journey south, I-95, like all highways, has the travel assist signs as you approach an exit informing the traveler of available services; Attractions, Camping, Lodging, Food and Fuel. In addition, the billboards along the side of the road advertising everything got me smiling and thinking as I drove. Cracker Barrel conjured up breakfast dishes and biscuits; my favorite slogan: "Our biscuits are spoons you can eat", iHop and their pancakes, Pizza Hut, Steakhouses and on and on they go. It's been a very long time since I ate at any of these establishments, so I decided when I could, I'd grab and enjoy a meal. Today, I knocked off pancakes at iHop: two buttermilk pancakes, 2 scrambled eggs, 2 strips bacon, golden hash browns and my first cup of coffee for the day. Delicious. And that will be it until...

...dinner Wednesday night. With Vicki/George, Trish/Craig and Ray. Dinner was at Mito Sushi & Grill conveniently located right outside the resort area on Rte 27. For Tricia and George, it was out of the kitchen, and two for the price of one for the rest of us. Check out their website for ingredients of the familiar rolls named, Tiger Eye, Highway 27, Sweet Heart, Pink Lady and Yummy Yummy. All fresh, delicious and nicely presented.

 

With George working on Thursday, Valentine's Day, I got to take Vicki out for lunch once again.  First Watch, the Daytime Cafe, was a new restaurant presenting locally grown ingredients for their delicious and healthy presentations. Be sure to click on the link in RED and check out the uniquely different menu. Each of our meals was accompanied by a bowl of soup. 

For Vicki, the classic BLT plus an over-hard cage-free egg,
Monterey Jack and mayo on artisan whole grain.

My turkey, bacon, avocado, organic mixed greens, tomato,
Monterey Jack and mayo on sourdough.

With the arrival of Tony/Doreen and Roberta on Friday, dinner plans for Saturday were made.  Corellli's Italian Restaurant was my next stop.  Now this tiny treasure tucked in among the other mall stores was terrific. A measure of its popularity and good food was the ten minute wait we had entering and counting at least fifteen folks waiting in cramped quarters at the entrance when we left. Our table of six was not rushed and we found portions to be h-u-g-e. Portions were large enough to provide each of us meals for the next day.

Each of us had a fresh, crisp chilled Romaine
salad with croutons and the house Balsamic
Vinaigrette...the only chice.

Manicotti (half went home)

Eggplant Parmigiana (half went home)

Mushroom/Spinach (ingredients are your choice) Stromboli
with a delicious marinara dipping sauce (half went home)

And finally, Sunday night, I enjoyed BBQ'd chicken, roasted potatoes and veggies and the good company of Vicki/George at the nearby home of Ray and Kathy. Yup, last minute thought to take the pictures (after portions were served; serving utensils provided). Thank you, Ray & Kathy.

   And so ends a great week at Clermont. And it ends with a grat big thank you to Vicki/George/Tony/Ray who went the "extra mile" to drive over to my campground to pick me up so that I could enjoy and share the day with them. Oh, and yes, it was just about a mile.

See you in Del Ray Beach.