1076 January 14, 2024 Nike Missile Site

I started a crockpot of steel cut oatmeal, put clothes in the washer and then I walked outside the campground and down Palm Drive.

When I returned, we packed a lunch and took off in the Jeep with the bikes on the back.

We stopped at Robert Is Here; fruit stand extraordinaire. We purchased some mangos, papaya, and mamey sapote.

We couldn’t resist a visit to Everglades National Park; we were so close.

We drove to Long Pine Key and enjoyed our lunch by the lake.

We parked 6 miles from the Nike Missile Site and biked in. We passed one small gator and a bunch of wading birds. The sky began to darken.

We made it to the Missile Site and browsed the exhibits. We have been here several times before and I always learn something new.

As we started our trek back to the Jeep, it began to spit rain. We biked the six mile return trip with a slight headwind. When we were finished, we were slightly damp but we were happy and feeling good!

This afternoon was about chores and playoff football; though Tim wasn’t able to access the 4:30 game for some reason unknown to us! Hopefully he will have better luck with tonight’s game.

1075 January 13, 2024 Southern Comfort

We slept well with our windows open all night long! The warm breeze was heavenly!

I walked laps around the vast casino parking lot. Each lap was 1.2 miles.

My walking companions.

Loggerhead shrike.

This guy was one of our neighbors last night. He appears to be ready for the apocalypse.

We were able to secure a site at the Southern Comfort RV Resort in Homestead. We traveled the short distance and settled in.

This afternoon, we drove the Jeep to Biscayne National Park. We walked the boardwalk, taking in the sights. Being here, I finally feel like we are in southern Florida!

A peacock sauntering through the campground this evening.

1074 January 11-12, 2024 Shark Valley Again!!

We left Fred and Jen’s after our morning exercise and coffee with our hosts.  We had about a three-hour ride to get to Monument Lake in Big Cypress.  It was cloudy and misty and raining all morning.  We stopped in Naples for supplies, knowing that we would be in the middle of nowhere for several days…except we weren’t!   When we checked in Atlanta, Monument Lake had plenty of empty campsites.  When we went to make our reservations, we saw that the campground was full all weekend.  We forgot to take into account, the Monday holiday.  We also found out that there is a music festival at the private resort. 

We booked Monument Lake for Thursday evening and kept searching for other options.  Our reservations in the Keys do not begin until Monday.

When we arrived, it was raining and we spent a quiet afternoon.  At 4 o’clock it was nice enough to walk and bike around the lake.

It rained again during the night and Friday when we woke up, it was gloomy and foggy.  I took a short walk because we were hoping to bike today. 

We pulled into Shark Valley at about 9:30am.  We had to park the RV outside the gate, along the road.  We absolutely love this ride.  We think we have done it 10 times but we never grow tired of it.  Each time we go, it shows up different!   

There were about 30 alligators along the path.

As we biked, the sky began to clear.

There were two crocodiles near the observation tower.  This is the first time we have seen crocs here.  The larger female has been in Shark Valley for ten years.  Noone knows how she got here. 

Little croc.

Bigger croc.

We both felt good as we finished our ride.

We drove about another 30 minutes to the Miccosukee Resort and Casino.  For $25.00, we were allowed to park our RV in their vast parking lot. 

We had no interest in gambling but we did make a dinner reservation.  We had an amazing meal.  We shared a crabcake served in a bed of guacamole with a spicy aioli.  I think that next time I make crabcakes, I will try to emulate this recipe…it was that good.  We never order crabcakes outside of Maryland…but this was outstanding! We also enjoyed tuna tartare tacos.  We both got salads for dinner and we left feeling very full.

1073 January 9-10, 2024 El Jobean With Fred And Jen And Akachan

I took a three mile walk around the campground.

Today my Uncle Don was laid to rest in Mansfield, Ohio. He passed away on January 2nd after a tough battle with cancer. My uncle was kind and gentle. He often took the path less traveled and he was his own man. He was celebrated in a beautiful, traditional Catholic Mass and I was able to view his service on Livestream. I am so grateful that I got to take part in this way. Uncle Don was loved and respected by many and will be missed.

Our journey today took us just an hour. We traveled south to El Jobean to the home of my Uncle Fred and Aunt Jen. We had not seen each other for several years and we spent the day visiting and chatting and sharing stories and memories.

We went to The El Jobean Depot for lunch. We sat outside in very windy conditions but a good meal and a good time was had by all.

We drove to the beach but only stopped for a quick look. The wind was wicked!

Jen and I took a walk through their resort.

This evening, there was a thunderstorm with rain and lightning and more wind. We had a delicious meal of smoked turkey prepared by Fred in his Traeger Smoker and pasta salad and cornbread prepared by Jen.

We retired to the RV for the night. We were fortunate to be able to park right out in front of their place.

On Wednesday morning the sun was out! I enjoyed a nice walk through Harbor Lakes.

Fred made really tasty homemade Jambalaya for our lunch. After our meal, we went for a drive. We stopped at the bay and walked the pier.

We went to Fisherman’s Village where we wandered among the shops and walked along the waterfront.

Each Wednesday, a food truck comes to the RV resort. We all enjoyed our dinner!

We had such a nice visit here. Fred and Jen are gracious hosts. It was great to spend some real quality time together.

Don’t let this picture of a sweet and sleeping Akachan fool you…he is a feisty little guy and he loves shoelaces!

1072 Sarasota With The Fords January 4-8, 2024

We left Atlanta on January 4th. The boys got on the bus to go back to school after a fun filled winter break. Tim and I got into the Jeep and drove to Snellville to get the RV. We organized our belongings and we were on our way. We traveled south on 75 from Georgia into Florida. We stopped for the night at the Gainesville Walmart. We used this opportunity to stock up on all of our essentials.

On Friday morning, I took a walk in the huge complex of nearby stores while Tim did his yoga and strength training. Tim had been strict with his exercise schedule in Atlanta but I had not. It was time to get back on track!

We arrived in Sarasota in early afternoon and got settled at Sarasota Lakes RV Resort. It was a gorgeous day and it was so nice to be in the warm sunshine. We met our good friends, Lisa and Walt, at their condo and went to Lakewood Ranch for Music on Main. We walked through the outdoor mall, chatting and drinking and shopping and snacking. Afterward, we went to Sculler’s for dinner.

The four of us had planned to ride bikes on Saturday but we had hours of heavy rain. It was nice to have a quiet day. The weather finally broke in the afternoon. Tim and I were in a great big hurry to get out and move and I got a great walk in. I saw four wood storks on a patio here in the park.

We set up DISH TV and Tim was able to watch the Ravens game while I worked on the blog and did laundry.

Sunday we had more early morning rain but we were did get to meet Walt and Lisa for a 15.25 mile bike ride. Lisa made us all a delicious lunch.

We are very close to the airport. Fortunately, the planes stop flying from 10pm to 6am!

Monday, we had more rain and I was forced to cut my walk short with my hair dripping and my glasses covered with splatter. We went to get a few groceries. It was clear enough that Tim and I drove to Nathan Benderson Park with the bikes. We got in a good 7 mile ride.

We saw a flock of more than 30 parakeets! I have never seen parakeets in the wild!

In the early evening, Lisa and Walt picked us up and took us to downtown Sarasota. Lisa and I walked around town. We started at the marina.

This HUGE yacht was docked in the harbor. It made all of the other boats look like tiny toys.

We met the guys at El Melvin, the home of Sarasota’s best margarita…indeed!!! We enjoyed a great meal. Tim’s fajitas were prepared with tasty seasonings and mango! My enchiladas in a green sauce were amazing!

Downtown Sarasota is really beautiful I would like to come back someday and explore some more!

We had the best time visiting. Tim and Walt have been friends for more than fifty years and I have known Lisa for more than 20. They are the best kind of friends. We have made a lot of memories with them and we look forward to many more years of shared adventures!

1071 Happy New Year December 8, 2023 – January 3, 2024

We moved the RV into the Prime Storage facility in Snellville on Friday, December 8th. We were settled in at David and Dre’s and waiting for the boys when their school day ended. We were all so happy and excited to be together again!

The last four weeks have passed in a blur. We tried to cram as many adventures and memories into our time as we possibly could. Oliver asked each day: “What is our special for today?”

Baking Christmas cookies…three different batches on three different days.

Building a gingerbread village.

Andrea and I and her cousin from Argentina, Encarna, celebrated Ines’ birthday with a group of her friends.

Viewing the holiday lights at Atlanta Botanical Gardens. This year’s display was voted the best commercial light display in the U.S.

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve with Andrea’s family; calling Santa and leaving oatmeal for the reindeer. We rang bells and ran through the yard with sparklers.

Christmas morning.

12 grapes under the table for good luck on New Years Eve!

Tim assembled bookcases with the boys for their rooms.

We worked on some independence skills. The boys did some cleaning.

Austin cooked his own quesadillas and eggs for PopPop too.

The boys helped with laundry.

Austin cleaning up after an explosion of the Cheeto bag!

We hiked at Stone Mountain, went to the playground, and then had a picnic.

We hiked in the “stream woods” a couple of times.

We went to the movies to see Migration.

Movies at home too!

McKoy Park.

The playground at FAV.

Lots of Legos.

Lots of silliness.

Family time.

Lunches out.

A Lord of the Rings puppet show written and directed by Austin. I acted the characters of Gollum and Gandalf and Dre did Sam and Frodo.

Reading.

Austin created this badge for me. It signifies that I am the very best person in the whole world…#1…such an amazing honor!

So many fun times and so many precious memories made. Oliver is trying to wrap his head around our crazy lifestyle. He called us explorers!

We celebrated in Atlanta this year. Kyle and Allison were in Maryland. Next Christmas will look very different. We are waiting for a new baby boy who will arrive in March…we cannot wait to meet him!

We hope that this finds you in good health. We wish you all a Happy New Year!!

1070 December 6, 2023 Georgia On My Mind

We got up early and got our exercise in before leaving Cedar Key at 9:15 this morning. We traveled north across rural Florida. Most people think of Florida as overdeveloped and commercialized. That is certainly true along much of the coast and of course, in Orlando. There is a lot of undeveloped land, farmland, and small town America in the middle of the state.

We were initially disappointed that we were not able to stay in the Outer Banks. What did happen, is that we saw places we had not seen before. This has been a very good trip and we are glad that we were forced to come up with a new plan.

Our journey today eventually led us to 75N and then we crossed into Georgia. The road was busy and inundated with tractor trailers. There were lots of RVs too but they were all heading south!

We decided to return to the Harvest Host site, Lane Southern Orchards. We liked shopping here last December and we wanted to get a few things for the holidays.

After shopping, we took a walk.

This will be our last blog post until January. We will be back on the road on the 4th or so. In the meantime, we send you warm wishes for happy holidays spent with your family and friends.

1069 December 5, 2023 Mr. Rogers

Tim and I both got up and got our exercise done. We had heard that the part for the RV should be here by 10:30.

At 11am, we had to make a decision. We either had to pay for a late departure or we had to commit to staying another night. We decided to stay.

We waited all day. I kept busy deep cleaning the RV. When we get to Atlanta, later this week, we will store the RV while we visit with David and his family. I wanted to put everything away clean so that when we get ready to ride in January things will be in good order. I scrubbed and polished and vacuumed. Tonight, as I write, I am feeling very satisfied.

Finally at 4pm, just as Mr. Rogers was on the phone with FedEx, the van pulled into the campground with our new motor.

It took less than 5 minutes to install.

I held my breath as Tim went in to try the slideouts…YAHOO!!! Then he tried the leveling jacks. The jacks went down so quietly and smoothly that we weren’t sure that they were working…but they were…YAHOO!!! What a huge relief.

Thank you Mr. Rogers!!! What a knowledgeable, friendly, professional!

Tomorrow, we will drive about halfway to Atlanta.

1068 December 4, 2023 Around Town

Another walk down the peaceful country lane. I saw the wings and tailfeathers of a roseate spoonbill. I tried to get close enough to take a picture but I spooked him.

Today I started to pack and organize for our trip to Atlanta.

We took a break this afternoon and went into town for fresh water. We parked the Jeep and walked the town.

We walked the fishing pier.

We watched this group of pelicans and gulls hunting as they followed a school of fish.

A grackle.

A black mangrove tree.

We sat in a bench on the beach for a long while.

Each time we go into Cedar Key, I notice something I haven’t seen before.

I had hoped to do a little gift shopping but the store I really wanted to visit, closed early today.

Mr. Rogers, our RV repairman is supposed to get our part tomorrow. We are hopeful that it will arrive, be the right thing, and fix the problem. If so, we can be on our way on Wednesday morning!

1067 December 3, 2023 Suwanee

It was foggy and misty and damp when I got outside.

This morning on my walk I passed a pond.  I saw movement and stopped to watch this animal in the water.  It swam and floated on its back and then flipped over and stayed suspended, its limbs hanging down.  He would put its snout out periodically to breathe.  I thought that it was an opossum but now looking at the pictures, I’m not sure.  It doesn’t look exactly like anything.  I don’t think it is a nutria…maybe a super huge rat?!?  It was more than a foot long.  It is kind of hard to tell what it is because it is wet.  It sure is ugly though!  Any ideas???

There were also turtles in the pond.

This afternoon, we drove to Chiefland for groceries.  While we were shopping, the heavens opened and it was pouring when we came out.

We had planned to drive around in the more western portion of the Lower Suwanee Wildlife Refuge.  We went in the rain. 

We drove to Weeks Landing right on the river.

We found a small community park with a picnic pavilion and we ate our lunch there.

We continued on to the town of Suwanee.  There are some ramshackle places intermingled with beautiful properties along a system of canals.

We drove the hour back to the RV and spent the rest of the gloomy day indoors.