Springtime in Texas

We are in Columbus, Texas at a beautiful campground with the spring flowers in full bloom all around this area.

But before we talk about Texas we need to back up a few weeks to catch you up.  We enjoyed a few more weeks in Florida visiting with Tom's family and enjoying some R&R.  In this case the R&R stands for Relax and Recover.  We both ended up with a stomach virus (possibly something we ate) which made Tom very sick for several days and put me in the hospital for two days.  Our pickle ball days came to an abrupt halt after that.

Tom with Aunt Binnie & Uncle Nick

Thankfully we were recovered in time for our 2 week whirlwind back to PA...and I do mean whirlwind!  We planned to clean out our items stored at my dad's house and put it on the market with a realtor.  Little did we know that from a quick posting on Craig's list and two showings (on our own), we would sell dad's house immediately and then have the task of cleaning all of his stuff at the same time.  The idea of selling my childhood home, and especially one that my dad built with his own hands, was very difficult.  I am so thankful the sale came quickly and to an incredible couple, Kevin & Cindy, who truly appreciate the house for all that it is and will give it the love and caring that I had hoped for.

Dad's house - taking a break with Brenda and Joe

In between cleaning up stuff, throwing out stuff and giving away stuff we were fortunate to have a few fun times with friends and family.  We took Tom's grandkids out for a trout release in the local streams.  The boys had so much fun tossing those buckets of fish into the streams and watching the fish swim away.

Noah and Drew

We also managed to get a few hikes in with our dear friends Joe & Brenda.  While hiking a short section of the Horseshoe Trail we ran into 17 year old Julian who was hiking the entire trail during his spring break from High School.

Then with many tears shed (as I said goodbye to the house) we hopped on a plane and headed back to Florida for our final week.  This time we were in the Pensacola area and headed north to the highest point in FL at Britton Hill near the town of Lakewood.  This was a long and strenuous walk from the Jeep all the way over to the plaque marking the really high point of 345 feet.  Phew!  We had to rest after this accomplishment!  But we're happy to have one more high point checked off our list.  :-)  We also spent a little time checking out a few of the local state parks and their beaches.

Becky in the distance (ha ha) at the highest point

Blackwater River State Park

After FL we made a stop in New Orleans for a few days where we met my brother and his family.  We enjoyed some fabulous food (of course a few beignets!), took a Trolley Car ride and did a lot of people watching!

Michael, Meghan, Taite & Jax enjoying a meal in French Quarters

My nephews - Taite & Jax

Meghan & Becky on Bourbon Street

African Drum Circle

Jackson Square

From New Orleans we took a 8.5 hour drive to Columbus, Texas and settled in which brings us up-to-date and where we are now.  Yesterday we enjoyed a tour of the countryside and all of the beautiful flowers (pictures on top) on our way to the town of Brenham.  While in Brenham we stopped at the Blue Bell Creamery (not nearly as good as our local Turkey Hill Ice Cream!), the Antique Rose Emporium and Brenham Miniature Horses.  I even got to hold a baby girl horse less than 3 hours old!

We will be in Texas until the 12th and then we head out to Arizona for 7 weeks.

Til next time...Happy Trails!

Florida

We've been much busier and have had much more to do than expected in this sunshine state.

Our new addiction:  Pickleball!  We had never heard of it before RVing but it's quite the popular sport in many campgrounds.  Check it out:  www.pickleball.com.  In addition to playing almost every day, we continue to meet new friends through this game and spend time with them both on and off the court.

As I mentioned in the last post, we've been enjoying the citrus fruits around here.  We've also been enjoying the strawberries and the fun we're having going to pick them every few weeks.  Lots of strawberry shortcakes and daiquiris!  This is Jen, Tom and I with 6lbs of strawberries for each of us.  It only took approx. 10 minutes to pick 18lbs!  Thankfully it took a little longer to eat all of them.

Key West and the southern most point in the continental US.  Since Tom had never been there we took a quick 3-day, 2-night trip to Key West to take in the sites.  Although we had a great time, we both agreed we don't need to go back for a long, long time.  A little too commercialized for us.  On our way back we enjoyed a nice bike ride out to Pigeon Key along the old 7-mile bridge.

Center Great Apes - We were fortunate enough to have a tour of this center with several others from our campground.  This one is right up there on my list of favorites along with swimming with the manatees.  I've always had a passion for apes and was in ape heaven during this tour.  Unfortunately, I cannot share any pictures of the precious animals with you as they request nothing be posted on the internet to protect their privacy (check out their website www.centerforgreatapes.org).  This center houses apes (Chimpanzees and Orangutans) who were previously pets (people don't realize how large these animals get and then can no longer take care of them) and retired entertainment animals.  They are incredibly smart and loving creatures.  One is even getting an iPad in the upcoming months!  It was a spectacular time and when we come back to this area I am definitely spending some volunteer time there!

We've been spending lots of time with my Aunt & Uncle who reside in Port Charlotte for the winter months as well as time on the beaches shelling, searching for shark's teeth and soaking in the breath taking sunsets.  We've also enjoyed bird watching (and alligators too) at Six Mile Cypress and just about everywhere we go (including gazing at the Sandhill Crane who was strutting down the road in our campground-not pictured below).

Lake Placid - the town of murals.  Not far from us is this great little town with over 40 murals in its downtown.  Many of the murals have items hidden in them so not only are they beautiful to look at but a challenge to find the items.  This town is also home to over 1,200 acres of caladiums but unfortunately they are not in full bloom until late summer-early fall.

We couldn't leave Florida without visiting the Everglades!  We took a trip down to Everglade City and hopped on Captain Mo's (with Captain Doug's Tours) airboat for wild ride in the Everglades!

Hometown America - Bean Depot Cafe - El Jobean, FL
What a joy it was to enjoy the Bluegrass sounds of the pickers who came out to this cafe (very popular cafe) each Wednesday evening.  Dear little Dolly went to town playing her spoons along with the group and various other instruments: banjos, guitars, resonator (steel) guitars, fiddles, standup washtub base and a harmonica.  Tom especially enjoyed one of the evenings here with a friend from school who he hasn't seen in over 30 years.  Catching up in a place like this is great!

It's hard to believe we're only here another 1.5 weeks until we fly back home to PA for a few weeks.  We thought we'd be counting down the weeks until we left FL and headed out west but now are looking forward to another trip back here in a few years to meet up with friends and check out more of the area.  Who would have thunk it!  :-)  Don't misunderstand, we are still thrilled to be heading out west at the end of March.

Til next time...Happy Trails!

Happy New Year!

It's hard to believe it's already 2012 (and  I'm sure many of you are saying the same thing)!  Where does the time go, especially now that we have more time to our days?  Looking back on 2011, Tom and I have been commenting on what a year of change for the two of us:

• sold our house 
• sold most of our "stuff" and stored the rest at my dad's house and Tom's daughter's house
• moved into our 31 ft. motor home full-time
• finished our full-time jobs June 30 and July 1
• hit the road mid-July
• traded in our 31 ft. motor home for a 40 ft. "Rig"
• lost my dad

Stanley L. Boyer
February 26, 1925 - December 14, 2011

While we hope 2012 comes with a few less major changes, we believe it will come with many adventures.  I'm so sad that I will no longer be able to share these adventures with my dad but know that my desire for them comes from him and all he has done in his 86 years.  I'm also thankful for all of the adventures we've had together.  

Florida...it's a bit different than the mountainous and wooded areas we've been in but the areas we are currently staying in are not as highly crowded with strip malls as we had expected.  Not only do you need to watch out for cars but you also need to look out for the greatly used "Golf Cars" (we quickly learned they are not golf carts here).  We had to laugh when we pulled into Wal-Mart for the first time as half of the parking spots were occupied by Golf Cars instead of vehicles and these things come in every shape, size, color and design!

Hiking in Florida?  Of course!  It's a little flat but still beautiful in a different way.  We took a day trip to Ocala National Forest with a hike on The Yearling Trail (yes, this is the area which inspired the book and later the filming of the movie).

There are also many biking trails which we have been enjoying, especially with the lack of hills.  And let's not forget the wonderful citrus fruit...yummy!

But my favorite time so far...swimming with the manatees at Crystal River!  They are incredibly large and docile creatures who are inquisitive and come up to you to check you out, nudge your leg or get a belly rub.  This I could do every day (although the water is a chilly 72 degrees)!

Check out the video!

Til next time...happy trails!