Tampa

I figured I better go back to Tampa before I leave the state of Florida. We went to Tampa after staying at Kissimmee Prairie Preserve state park to make our first attempt at a teacup agility trial. We were late (as in 3 months ahead of time) trying to get reservations at a state park or campground and all were full. We were able to stay at the famcamp at McDill Air Force base. That was an experience. I drove through downtown Tampa with no anxiety with mom's calm navigation. It was really nice to do that without panicking. Of course, I avoided I-4. Our GPSs (both of them) sent us to a gate that was closed. We called the famcamp office, got the address and found the way to the main gate which was open. To leave the closed gate, I got to turn around by pulling into a driveway of an empty lot and backing out. I am starting to look forward to practicing and seeing how good I can get at backing where I want to go. McDill Air Force base is on a peninsula off of Tampa and overlooking St. Petersburg. It is a beautiful location. FamCamp is right on the bay, but took over 30 minutes to check in. They had to copy my dogs shot records, vehicle registration, vehicle insurance, identification and reboot the scanner twice while they did that. They assumed I knew the procedures even though I told them that this was my first famcamp. Eventually she explained we got to boondock (no hookups at all) in the over flow area for $15 per night. The bathrooms and showers were in the campground. We pulled into the grass parking area, with rigs about 10 feet apart, but found a pretty good space for us. I unhitched and hunted for the bathrooms. They were about 1/4 mile away. I hooked up the blueboy (portable sewer tank) and we went to the commissary for water and snacks. We had to buy distilled water to flush the toilet with, for some reason most of the bottled water was sold out. Pricey toilet flushing. We went to the beachside bar and grill for dinner. After we figured out the ordering process, we got fish and chips and sat at a table overlooking the beach to eat. It was surprisingly good. We got back in time to be able to take the dogs for a walk on the beach at sunset. That was beautiful. There is a fenced in dog beach so people could let their dogs off leash and play fetch in the water, let them dig and have fun. Of course, Tippy tried to go under the fence to chase the birds. Peanut got to go off leash, she follows me great. We walked back to the camper just before dark. I hooked up the lamps to the inverter, whose batteries I had charged before I left Texas. They lasted about 20 minutes. I think I need new batteries, they are about 3 years old. Fortunately we had flashlight lanterns which we wound up using both nights we were there and we were able to charge our phones in the van. The next morning, we left early to get to the agility trial. We were the first to arrive while they were still setting up. It was a very small trial with 8 dogs. There were too many trials in the area. The people were friendly and explained trial procedures well to me. Tippy had fun. The first run, we looked like we had never practiced. By the end of the day we were starting to look like a team. We actually got a qualifying score in one of the games that just involved jumps and tunnels (his favorites). We have to work on getting Tippy comfortable with the teeter totter. It upset him when he did it the first time, so after that he refused the dog walk and teeter, but would do the A frame. I didn't make him do what he didn't want to do. He was supposed to have fun at this, and he did. We went out to dinner at an Irish Pub with friends who met us at the trial. We had 4 people and 4 dogs. They had a huge, very dog friendly patio and great service and really good food. I will definitely be looking for more Irish Pubs when we travel. We had more neighbors when we got back and I spent quite a while on the beach, just sitting, watching the ocean, the birds, and people. I got the bright idea to take a shower before bed to get the sand off. It was jacket weather so I drove to the bathrooms and had to loop around 3 times before I found a parking space. The bathrooms and laundrymat are connected. Most of the shower stalls had broken curtains, no place to put your dry clothes or towel, but I found one with intact curtains and a bench to put stuff on. I waited forever for the water to get hot, it didn't happen. So cold, very cold shower it was. After I finished and went to brush my teeth at the sink, I read the sign. Their new hot water heater was too small and couldn't power both the laundry and showers so there was limited hot water. Great. I hope they treat the air force soldiers better. The next morning as we got ready to go, we met our neighbors. The kids on one side of us really liked Tippy. The older girl also really liked the Welcome horseshoe on the door and asked all about it. (Thank you Holly). The other side was a new full timer with a fancy popup she hadn't towed before. She had a lot of problems setting up but other more experienced and mechanically inclined people in the overflow area helped her out. She is a smart and capable lady and will be able to address all the problems new fulltimers face and do well. We went to breakfast at a golf club on base. Delicious breakfast. They were having a golf tournament so we watched all the golfers getting ready and lining up the golf cart train to tee off. We headed out, through downtown Tampa and onto the highway.