2025 July 11 to August 10: the Moose
We started our 2025 Summer travel season in our brand new, just named RV: Josephine. After our trial trip to Peace River on the Harris Chain of Lakes, our first trip this Summer was to one of our favorite places, the Winter Haven Moose Lodge.
The Moose is a fraternal organization established to raise funds for the care of children and older Moose members. The lodge in Winter Haven has lots of social activity, a truly excellent waterfront, and new this year a non-smoking area in the campground.
The Moose lodge also has a number of sincerely good people that help each other, dine, dance, and drink together and have established a multi-generational environment.
And, they have fine fish dinners on Friday nights. Stu says he hates to think he came here just for the food, but . . .
The view from near our campsite at the Moose is lovely, relaxing, quiet, and full of visiting birds. The Canal connects our lake, Idylwild, to several other lakes and several nice places to eat.
Camping trips are, for Stu, a quiet time of reflection. For the first few days, he works through his accumulated list of “someday” and “must do” projects, usually aimed at repairing or improving Josephine, our new motorhome.
After spending 2 weeks at the Moose, Stu drove home for a doctor’s appointment, and to pick up Joan (who was recovering from knee injections) and drove her back to the Moose with him.
Our trip included many visits (about every other day) to the “Rowdy” Gaines Olympic Pool. The very large pool is designed for competitive lap swimming and diving. Each day they open it to the public, that’s us, for general swimming. While there (for $2/day) we did the aerobics drill we learned at our Venetian Isles swim aerobics classes and worked to improve our strength and endurance.
Stu started going before Joan joined the trip and continued with both going as the trip progressed.
The pool is brimming with kids who all seem to see him as their Grandfather so then enjoy each other’s company. The best part is the large bird who built her nest on top of a light pole and is raising one or more chicks as we swim below. I don’t know the bird’s name yet – hoping someone will tell me so the story is complete.
Stu writes: Joan and I are members of Shalom Roamers, a loosely-organized group of mostly Jewish folks who own RVs of various sorts and meet up a few times a year for a week of camping and fellowship. One of the traditions of this group is to attend a local Friday night worship, usually Reform. I look forward to this fellowship as a time for reflecting on the importance of recognizing a greater power and quiet refection.
“I like the silent church before the service begins, better than any preaching” by Ralph Waldo Emerson is chiseled in stone lintel entrance door at the First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia. I look forward to Friday nights, the silence before services, and the fellowship that follows.
This trip, Stu sought the nearby Temple Beth Shalom in Winter Haven. The member- led service, conducted by the Temple President, Uriah Rose, has the feeling of a spiritual experience rather than the performances I’ve experienced in larger multi-rabbi, multi-cantor congregations. Uriah was conveying his true feeling of service as he, and I, see it. The small congregation (with a part-time Rabbi) acted like family, greeting me as a welcome traveler during the hour-long Oneg that followed.
After Joan arrived at the Moose, we had the opportunity to attend another service at Temple Beth Shalom, a Saturday-morning service also member-led and as nice as the first one. The new part-time Rabbi will be starting next month. Members of the congregation invited us to join them for lunch at Olive Garden, and we were delighted to go along. Such wonderful people!
Taking Ellie to lunch
One of our favorite activities at the Moose was launching Ellie, Stu’s 16′ Bayliner motor boat, and taking a beautiful ride on the Chain of Lakes, through the series of connecting canals, to one of several restaurants on the water.
A day at the Old Town in Kissimmee
We decided to spend one of our Moose days visiting Kissimmee’s celebrated Old Town. It did not disappoint us. We wandered around for hours, seeing the antique car display and parade, riding the beautiful ferris wheel, deciding not to ride the roller coasters and other rides for those more daring than we were, and finally having a delicious meal at Shoney’s.
Our days at the Moose were filled with so many wonderful activities.
And almost every day ended with a beautiful sunset on the Moose’s Idylwild Lake, just outside our RV site.
The final treat of the trip was the ride home from Winter Haven. Stu had spotted a large art installation of cattle sculpture when he drove through Okeechobee on his way to the Moose and he drove us to it on the way home.
After we wandered among all the cattle sculptures, we had lunch across the street at the Nutmeg Cafe. With that name, it had to be good. And it was. Can’t wait to go back.
Continue our adventures to Myrtle Beach and Shalom Roamers here