Happy New Year – 2023! Here we are near Zephyrhills for the winter and find ourselves comparing Central Florida to Southwest Florida. Different in many ways and we will continue to see how the rest of the winter goes. Weather has still been good, so no complaints here!

We said goodbye to the Florida panhandle in mid November a little earlier than planned due to Tropical Storm Nicole heading to the Carrabelle area. To be on the safe side we headed northwest into Alabama for several days to wait out the storm before traveling to North Carolina for Thanksgiving.

Turns out we stayed outside Dothan Alabama and remembered there is a special connection to this area for the Johnston family.

In 1951 Jim’s father, Norman, spent time at Camp Rucker (currently Fort Rucker) after being drafted into the Army. Jim was able to visit Fort Rucker and the museum on the base including a display of the time period Norm was there. We remember both Norm and MaryAnn talking about the time they spent in this area as newlyweds.

From Alabama we arrived in North Carolina mid November. Making things a little more interesting, we left the RV at the Jordan Lake campground (Poplar Point) for a few days and drove the car up to Maryland. Anxious to see Kevin, Beth and Gemma’s new house in Annapolis, we spent a few days helping them get settled.

Pretty cold weather in North Carolina, but no issues with the RV. All systems worked great and we stayed comfortably warm. We enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner with Darren, Cheryl, Ellie and Norah, as well as some of Darren’s family.

We left North Carolina on November 30 for our December 1st arrival at Emerald Pointe near Zephyrhills. The park is located just south of the city and we were fortunate to land here for the winter after being displaced from Fort Myers.

Which brings me back to comparing Emerald Pointe and Siesta Bay; our saying is “it’s not better or worse, it’s just different”.

The weather so far has been slightly cooler than SW FL, but also less humid and less breezy; not that “tropical” feel. The area is more rural, with lots of open areas outside of town, some used for cow pastures. Being outside of the city, we are near a industrial area that includes a quarry and related businesses, and a small airport with an active skydiving group. There is a good variety of stores and restaurants nearby; and Dade City and Wesley Chapel provide even more within about a 15 mile radius.

Emerald Pointe is a very well kept park run by an HOA since the lots are individually owned. There are some of the usual amenities and lots of activities going on. Everyone has been friendly and we even met a woman that recently retired from the Dexter School District in Michigan where we both grew up and went to school, realizing again that it’s a small world.

The area seems to be more of a “snowbird” area, not really a vacation or tourist spot. Numerous mobile home parks of all sizes are scattered throughout the area, some showing their age and rundown, while others well kept. On the north side of Zephyrhills there is new development taking place, both commercial and residential, so in a short span you see the old and the new.

For our Christmas trip to Michigan, we had to change our previously purchased tickets to fly out of Tampa instead of Fort Myers. With the Tampa airport about an hour away, it was convenient and easy to get to.We enjoyed our time with Dan, Christie, Megan and Anna, as well as other friends and family we were able to see.

We have been keeping up to date with the slow progress taking place at Siesta Bay and Fort Myers Beach. Recently we confirmed with Siesta Bay that we would like to have “first right of refusal” on our lot when the park reopens.

Not sure when that will be or what the new terms will be at Siesta Bay. Our rent is much lower here; as we have always known the price increases as you go farther south and closer to the coast. In the next few months we will decide where we will be next winter and we will visit the Fort Myer Beach area before we leave in the Spring.

Meanwhile, we have been checking out the area and made a couple of trips to gulf beaches; a beach in Tarpon Springs (Fred Howard Beach Park) and Clearwater Beach. Sand Key county park on Clearwater Beach is about a one hour drive from us and it was a great place to spend the day, especially with their $5 parking.

A couple of other notes: We have more family and friends closer and will be able to see Jim’s brother Ken and wife Violet and several friends more often. With my accounting and tax work picking up, I appreciate the good cell and internet service we have here. It looks like it will be a busy few months!

A spring trip is still in the planning stages. Hopefully we will head west in May and arrive in Michigan mid June.