Hello from Wildwood

It was a pleasant drive coming from Destin yesterday. We decided to stay overnight in Lake City, which is at the intersect of I-10 and I-75. This morning we headed south to Wildwood, a small town in central Florida located about 20 miles south of Ocala.

We choose Wildwood not for its history, scenic appeal, resort status or its small-town atmosphere, although it possesses some of all of these attributes, the main reason for our stop here in Wildwood was to make a visit to Alliance Coach Inc., a motorcoach service facility. It was formerly owned by Monaco Coach Corp., but was sold off earlier this year to satisfy the bankruptcy filing made by Monaco at the end of last year. It is a modern, state-of-the-art facility that is now owned by the former managers of the facility when it operated under Monaco Coach. All of the service techs are certified and experienced. They handle all facets of coach service including the periodic oil/lube/filters change (the reason that I am here), collision repair, painting, major mechanical, appliance and various coach 240/120V and 12V systems, etc.
There is a very nice and spacious park for overnight stays that includes full hookups and a grassy yard for our pooch. As it was with all of the Monaco service facilities, this one, now under Alliance Coach, is gratis.
I usually have our coach receive its annual maintenance service in the December/January time-period, so this worked out well for us at this time.
I have spoken with a number of folks who have used the service here since they opened (re-opened?) in September of this year, and they have raved and highly recommended the service and capabilities of Alliance Coach. I guess I will be finding out for myself tomorrow.

Once we leave Wildwood, we plan to continue south to the Tampa Bay area where we expect to stay for about one-week. After Tampa we plan for Fort Myers, and then Naples.

I can say that the weather has improved with warmer weather and sunnier skies. It was 81F today with a partly cloudy, mostly sunny sky. Tonight should be about 58F and tomorrow looks to be around 80F again and with sunny skies. I think we have found that warmer weather we were looking for.

I am throwing in a few pictures that were made while we were in the Destin area, and thought that I would share them with all.

We'll check in again soon from the Tampa Bay area...

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A few pictures from back Destin way:

Fudpucker's - a funky place! - - - - - - - - A real/live albino alligator at Fudpucker's

Marilyn at Fud's... - - - - - - - - - - - Live alligators (about 3' to 4')

More gators... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Marilyn at Fud's - lunch

Destin, Florida - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - Bridge from Ft. Walton Beach to Destin

Gulf Shores National Seashore; now doesn't - - Gulf Shores National Seashore ...more snow?
that look like snow? It does, but it is not... - - - It is all just sugar-white beach sand...