Setting up – New TV - Okeechobee

(Avon Park, FL) Hi  82 Lo 57 -- We’ve been busy getting our home set up for the winter. We can usually get set up in 10 to 15 minutes when we’re moving from place to place during our summer travels. But when we get here for our 5-month winter stay, we put out the awning, attach the sunscreen (which isn't easy), put out our chairs and grill, and create more of a "homey" atmosphere.

Way back when we were RV shopping, one of the things Jim always checked out was the size of the entertainment area. He wanted to make sure there was plenty of room for a large TV. Our fifth wheel came with a 32-inch TV, but we immediately swapped it out for a 37-inch model we already had. Five years of bouncing down the highway took its toll and the TV gave up the ghost a couple of weeks ago. Once we got settled here he removed the TV and wall mount. The original wall mount was always a pain to keep latched, and it was designed for the specific TV that came in the rig, making it hard to get to the wiring panel on the 37-incher we had. Here's what the space looks like with everything removed.


After much measuring and research, Jim  was going to buy a 42-inch TV, which would be a little larger than our old one. But I talked him into going bigger. So after more research he discovered that a 48-inch Vizio TV would fit. So we went to Walmart and bought a Vizio E480i-B2 48-inch Smart TV. It's sitting on its stand at the moment. A friend here in the park is going to design a custom mount for us. It's big, and it has a beautiful picture. And did I mention it's BIG? From our 8-ft viewing distance it's like sitting in a movie theater. We love it!


This morning we had a mobile detailing service wash our RV. It hasn’t been washed all summer and it had nine states' worth of grime and bugs on it. Their price was so reasonable that we had them also wash our truck and car. While that was going on we were fascinated by the crews right behind our site installing cable for Comcast Cable TV. They would dig holes about 20 feet apart and run the cable underground between the holes using some sort of tunneling contraption. Very interesting to watch.






My sister Doris and her husband Herm recently bought a park model home in Okeechobee, about an hour and half south of us. After the detailing crew finished up we drove down to see their new place. If you want to know what the terrain looks like in south central Florida, it's nothing but open, flat pasture land.


Their new (to them) home is less than half a mile from Lake Okeechobee.


Here's Herm and Doris showing off the pontoon boat they recently bought.


We relaxed for awhile in the boat at the dock.


We're looking forward to some "cruising" along the river and lake in the future.


We took a walk along the levy that circles Lake Okeechobee.

On one side is one of the many, many mobile home/RV parks...











And on the other side is Lake Okeechobee. The lake is over 700 square miles, and is one of the biggest fresh water lakes in the country.











Doris and Jim.


Rain is expected this evening and all day tomorrow. (Of course it's going to rain... we just had our home and our vehicles washed!) We left Doris and Herm's to beat the rain, stopped at our favorite Chinese buffet in Sebring for dinner, and got home to relax the rest of the evening.

We had a wonderful sunset last night, so I’ll end with that.


See you again in a few days.