Fall in Florida

Yes, there are season changes in Florida.  Definitely not the same as Ohio...but as A REAL RETIRED HOUSEWIFE OF FLORIDA, I can tell it is Fall in Florida.

• The snowbirds are coming back.  The neighborhood is busier and more there are more golfers on the course.
• The decreased humidity and cooler temperatures make it ideal to open up the windows.
• There were less people on the beaches.  Maybe after Brian and I have been in Florida a few more years, we will start to think 80 degrees is too cool for the beach...but not yet.

Here is New Smyrna Beach in June

Here is New Smyrna Beach in October

Florida doesn't have the colorful fall leaves like Ohio.  For a moment, I though I was in the Ohio, when I saw this tree.  When I looked harder, I noticed that the colors were not from the leaves...but from yellow flowers and red seed pods.  It is called a Golden Rain Tree.

I have one change of the season experience that has followed me from Ohio to Florida.  I have an Emerson SmartSet Clock Radio.  I bought it because it automatically sets the correct time after a power interruption.  My problem started in 2007 when Congress changed the dates that Daylight Savings time starts and ends.  This clock is programmed for the pre-2007 time change dates.  So each Fall, the Sunday before the official Daylight Savings time change, my bedside clock spontaneously "falls" back a hour.  This year, I was surprised when Brian woke me up at 4 a.m. to go with him to a motorcycle hare scramble near Ormond Beach, Florida.  The actual time was 5 a.m. (which was early enough). 

Each year, I start out thinking I will leave the clock set to the wrong time till the next week when Daylight Savings time actually changes.  But, it takes too much mental energy for A REAL RETIRED HOUSEWIFE OF FLORIDA to keep converting the time.  So a couple of days in, I change the clock.  Now next week, I will have the same experience in reverse!  Next Spring, the fun begins again.  I think I will put a new clock on my Christmas wish list!

Lower temperatures play a big part in the changing seasons.  That got me thinking about the differences in the climate between Ohio and Florida.  Here are some comparisons between Ohio and Florida. (from climatezone.com and weather.com).

Some Differences 

 



Average High and Low Temperatures
 

AKRON         17 degrees (in January) to 83 degrees (in July)
ORLANDO    49 degrees (in January) to 91 degrees (In July and August)

Much bigger range of temperatures in Akron

Days with Max Temperatures of 90 degrees or higher

AKRON         7 days a year
ORLANDO    107 days a year (Oh My)

Days with Min Temperatures Below Freezing

AKRON         125 days a year
ORLANDO 2 days a year (And Even That Is Too Much)

Some Similarities



Average Precipitation

AKRON         37 inches with 47 days of snow
ORLANDO    48 inches with 0 days of snow

Close to the same amount of precipitation, Akron just gets it in rain and snow)

Cloudy Days

AKRON         28 Clear Days and 99 Partly Cloudy Days (238 Cloudy Days)
ORLANDO   89 Clear Days and 147 Partly Cloudy Days (89 Cloudy Days)

Just about the same "clear" days, big difference in the "cloudy" days

Believe It Or Not!



Record Temperatures

AKRON         Lowest was -25 degrees in 1994, highest was 104 degrees in 1918
ORLANDO    Lowest was 19 degrees in 1984, highest was 101 degrees in 1998

No way!  Akron beat Orlando for the record HIGH temperature!

Fall is my FAVORITE season...hands down.  I like the colors, the smells and the cooler temperatures.  I have some great memories of the Fall season in Ohio..colorful leaves, Summit County Metro Park Hiking Spree, mums and pumpkins.  Oh My.  Now that I am A REAL RETIRED HOUSEWIFE OF FLORIDA, I have to make new memories of my favorite season



The Road Less Travelled

The REAL RETIRED HOUSEWIFE OF FLORIDA hits the off-road sandy trails of Florida

 

Let me tell you sand in Florida is not limited to the beaches.  It is everywhere, including the back road trails.

 

I have had my motorcycle license endorsement for over 5 years (from back in the day in Ohio).  I took the Ohio Department of Public Safety Basic Rider course at a local motorcycle shop.  The course involved some classroom instruction and a couple days of practice riding.  At the end, I took the test and got my motorcycle endorsement.  It was lots of fun and I highly recommend it.

 

My husband, Brian, is an avid motorcyclist.  In fact his love of riding was one of the many reasons for moving to Florida.  He wanted to be able to ride year round.  Most days he rides to work and on the weekends he does off-road events (hare scrambles and enduros).

 

 

I am an occasional rider...a few times a year.  I like gentle rides on back roads and some off-road adventures.   Brian and I have explored lots of back roads in Ohio, West Virgina, Kentucky and South Carolina. 

Since our move to Florida, I have kept to the back roads because of the special skill (guts) needed to handle the sand on the off-road trails.  Finally I put on my Big Girl Pants and told Brian I was ready to try the off-road trails at Croom.  Here I am all suited up (including my Big Girl Pants/jeans, long-sleeved shirt, helmet, sturdy footwear and gloves).  My motto is:

"All The Gear...All The Time"

 

 

Lucky for me we have had a few afternoon showers last week.  Well, that is good...harder packed trails.  And that is bad...lots of standing water.   Sometimes we went thru the water, sometimes we went around the water and sometimes we turned around.

Still there were long stretches of high ground that gave me my adventure in the sand.  It may look like a flat trail, but I couldn't get the series of small hills (called sand whoops) in the picture, some hard-packed, some sand.  Kinda like moguls in snow-skiing.  This area was my favorite!

Sometimes we took the Trail Less Travelled.



First time I saw a tree in the road, I freaked out.  Turns out they were fun and easy.

A couple of times, I found I was going too fast when I hit the loose sand.  But my motto was:

It will hurt to fall ... so don't fall

In the end, I never fell, had a great time and gained some valuable experience in the sandy trails of Florida.  Brian rewarded me for a job well done with a margarita at our favorite Mexican restaurant, The Coyote Rojo in Bushnell, Florida.  I needed it because I was very sore the next day!