CALOOSA WINNIES

April Outing 2006
By Nancy Miller

April 6 – 9, 2006, the Caloosa Winnies traveled to Lakeland, Florida for another fun weekend at Sanlan Ranch Campground.  Part of the campground is made for groups, with parking of coaches wagon wheel style, and a picnic shelter in the middle. Right next to the parking area is a recreation hall, which was close by and made it very handy for our use!  Co-hosts for the weekend were Sue & Bill Fuss, Margaret & Jim Armstrong. Happy Hour was held under the picnic shelter and we enjoyed the joke telling contest along with the beautiful warm weather. Members attending the campout were Bill & Sue Fuss, Jim & Margaret Armstrong, Jim & Jane O’Neill, Bud & Paula Geng, Bob & Anita Law, Barbara Wood, Joanne Weber, Jerry & Nancy Miller, Kathryn Griffin and her sister, Gerry. We formed a caravan and went to dinner at Florida Buffet just down the road. Everyone ate too much as usual, and we returned to the campground to play cards.  

Friday morning was a “sleep in” day, and the activities really got rolling in the afternoon with a game of Bean Bag Baseball, held outside. Happy Hour was held at 4:00pm, everyone was asked to tell their favorite “camping misadventure story” or a “first camping experience”. There were so many laughs and wonderful stories – we should write a book!  We also celebrated new coaches for 2 of our members! Barb Wood has a new Sightseer, and Kathryn Griffin has a new View! We took pictures and they gave tours of their new purchases! CONGRATULATIONS, ladies!

Our hosts provided Lasagna and trimmings for dinner, everyone brought dishes to share and we enjoyed another wonderful meal. After dinner, Joanne Weber played her keyboard organ and we had a sing along! Talk about dusting off some old tunes – many of these tunes went back to the ‘20’s, ‘30’s, 40’s, etc. And what was really interesting – many of us KNEW the words without song sheets! We ended the evening with our card games, and Sue Fuss was a big winner at our table! 

Saturday morning was our “pitch in” breakfast, with a big variety of food; we pretty well finished it off! After clean-up, we were off to a day at nearby Cypress Gardens. This park has been a Florida tradition since the 30’s, and is famous for the water ski show. The park closed down a few years ago and fortunately for us Floridians, a new company bought it, added a lot to it, and we have a new Cypress Gardens! The weather was warm and sunny, the flowers and gardens were beautiful, with many new displays, and the traditional hoop skirted young ladies posing in the gardens. There were many new shows, including an ice skating show with an “America” theme, which was just wonderful to see. Of course, the water ski show was as spectacular as I remembered it back in the early 70’s when I was last there as a guest. The wind was blowing right over the water at about 35 MPH with big waves; we just couldn’t believe the show would go on.  

But lo and behold, the skiers did the 3 story pyramid with flags flying and it was just spectacular! With the wind and waves, it was amazing that all the skiers performing various jumps, turns and acrobatics managed to stay upright on skis! We were lucky to get pictures!  At 4:00pm we returned to the campground, and decided to go to nearby Bartow for dinner at Crispers. Card games of “31” ended the evening. 

Sunday morning was our continental breakfast, served by the hosts. We talked about our May campout and our plans to go to Crystal River and Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park. Soon we went our separate ways, filing away the memories of another great campout!

Please join us if you are traveling in our area! We love guests, and will do our best to make you feel welcome, and well fed!

Nancy Miller

239-574-2511