FROG Rally

I just spent a week in Moore Haven at a rally of about 120 Forest River brand RV owners.  It was so much fun to meet other RVers and share stories.  I mostly hung out with about 20 people.  I was the only full timer, but several spent a few months on the road each year, so we had a lot in common.  It was my first rally, but won’t be my last!  Two of the luckiest people I’ve met so far, Cindy and Bob, work for Forest River.  Attending these rallies ARE their job.  OK I’ve done event planning and I know how much work goes into it before the fun begins.  But still, great work if you have to work. 

 

If you recall from previous posts, I had hiked the Florida Trail in northern Florida.  The trail runs the length of the state, including along Lake Okeechobee and I was anxious to hike this portion of it.   On our 2^nd rally day I headed out with a few new friends.  We arrived at a park alongside the trail.  Before we headed out, I tossed some trash in a can and heard some loud hissing.  Upon further investigation, we found 2 possums trapped in the trash can.  They had hopped in using some rocks alongside the can, but once in, couldn’t climb out.  After marveling at how vicious they looked with their teeth bared, we tipped the can over so they could get out.  One left pretty quickly, but we thought the other might have died already.  It was pretty hot out and there was no telling how long they had been trapped.  We peaked in again; the 2^nd possum was apparently just ‘playing possum.’  After a few minutes he began hissing again.  We up ended the can and out he slid.  We did our good deed for the day.

We headed off down the trail and came up to an open gate.  There was a guy inside the gate house, fast asleep.  He had tipped the chair back and had his feet propped up on the desk, so we just tiptoed by.  About 10 minutes later we heard him running after us and shouting.  Apparently, he was supposed to make sure no one got onto that part of the trail.  They were building some locks and there were dump trucks using the trail.  We had a nice chat with him as he escorted us out.  We had a good laugh and promised not to rat him out for sleeping on the job.  Our hiking party then headed in the other direction.  The trail went alongside the road and up over a huge bridge.  The rest of the group didn’t want to cross the bridge so we went back.  I was really disappointed that I didn’t get to hike the trail, but I had a few more days.

The next day we planned on going back to a different section of the trail, but 2 of the people wanted to do other things and the 3^rd talked me into a bike ride instead.  After my morning walk, we rode around the park for a while before I called it quits.  I had been fighting a cold all week and I was really feeling bad.  I ended up sleeping most of the day.  I was bummed that once again I didn’t hike my trail, but I was determined to do it on Thursday, the last free day.  That night after dinner we had a very nice camp fire and we got to meet some of the other park guests.  It was a really fun evening.

On Thursday I was prepared to hike the trail but got side tracked again.  A new friend talked me into going on a group tour put on by the Chamber of Commerce for Clewiston.  It included a trip to the sugarcane fields, the orange juice processing plant and the sugar cane factory.  Due to security and OSHA regulations, we couldn’t go inside the plants, but the tour was pretty informative.  All orange juice sold in stores is made from just 2 kinds of oranges.  Tropicana, Dole and the rest of the brands all get their juice from the factory.  They can get it with or without pulp and they each use their own blend of the two types of oranges.  The sugarcane factory was interesting; the tour guide explained the process, which includes dumping raw sugar by the truck load onto a huge warehouse floor.  The sugar is then moved by an excavator to fill every inch of the warehouse.  To do this, the excavator makes mountains of the sugar, then drives to the top of the mountain and makes the mountain in front of it taller.  Yes, this means your sugar has been moved around in trucks, dumped in the floor and driven over.   In the field, we watched the crop being harvested and got to sample some raw sugar cane.  When I was a kid, I used to train horses at a local boarding stable.  One of the places we rode had sugar cane, so I’ve sampled it before.  The farm also grew fresh tomatoes, and those were so much better!!

The tour ended with a buffet lunch and a short drive around the city of Clewiston.  We visited a park by Lake Okeechobee where the tour guide explained that through a series of canals and locks, a fairly large boat could leave the Gulf of Mexico, cross the lake, enter more canals and end up in the Atlantic Ocean.   These canals differ from the intercostal waterway in that they run east to west and are fresh water, while the intercoastal runs north to south and consists of salt water.  I grew up near West Palm Beach and this was all news to me, so you’re never too old to learn something new.  While at the park we saw an Osprey flying toward us with a fish in its claws.  He then perched in top of a telephone pole and proceeded to eat the fish.  Now that’s not something you see every day.  It was an interesting tour and a nice way to get to know some of the rally folks a bit better. 

The last day everyone lingered over breakfast and finally said their goodbyes.  There are several people I will stay in touch with and I’m already planning on attending the next rally in New York.