 |
| Shivering snowman...we laughed everytime we drove by this guy because he was literally shivering! |
An interesting observation... I was very impressed with how friendly these graybeards are at Rambler's Rest. Everyone waves, all are willing to stop and talk about anything at any time... they are cruising around on bikes and golf carts, walkin just a walking the dog!! Anyway, as a lifelong educator, it finally struck me that these folks have returned to where we all started as kindergarteners! No judgments about who or what we are, willing to accept anyone, sharing our crayons and blocks. They have even gone back to riding tricycles!! I see some guys around the pool that were obviously "power players", maybe CEOs or some such truck in their working years, but now they just hang at the pool, safari hats shading their noses from the sun, just grateful for another day on the planet. Amen!!
We celebrated New Year's Eve with Skip and Terri in their RV, drinking wine and turning up the amplifiers to sing some raucous rock and roll. Karen is learning the bass, and taking to it like a duck to water!
First, to finish some lingering business from before... you may remember we earlier wrote about the 7 plagues of Florida. But we could only come up with 6, stating that since we were going to be in FL for a while, we would probably come up with one more before we left the state. Sure enough, boys and girls! But instead of just one, I propose a tie between two noxious realities of the Sunshine State, fire ants and poisonous snakes. We have definitely felt the sting of the former, but the latter remains a potential danger, lurking like... well, a snake in the grass!
Being from the Midwest, I was familiar with two types of ants, black and red. Black are relatively harmless pests, the uninvited guests at picnics and in your cupboard. You buy a bottle of Ant-Be-Gone, the sugary stuff, and they binge on it and disappear. The red ants bite a little bit, but are pretty rare in my experience. Well, let me tell you, fire ants of Florida are insects straight from Hell!! They are much smaller than either of their cousins, but they can really bite! They inject venom with their bite, so the bites fester and itch for a good two weeks! Their grayish mounds are EVERYWHERE!!
The poisonous snakes are there according to locals, but we have not seen them so far. Tank thinks any water is fair game, but people are aghast when he plunges into ponds or rivers... water moccasins and cottonmouths in the former, gators in the latter! And don't forget the mini-rattlers that lurk under mounds of leaves!!
Anyway, we mounted our exodus from Ramblers Rest on January 1, following Skip and Terri to a property outside of Bradenton, where they plan to spend the rest of the winter. RJ the horse was very interested, first in our camper, but then he was further infatuated with his own image in the mirror! Terri had to get him to move so I could pull the camper in to the yard... |
| "You're so vain, I bet you think this horse is about you..." |
After one night there, we bid our good friends adieu and headed toward Tricia and Chris's place in Tampa for the weekend. While there we took in an exhibit of Dale Chihuly, a famous glass-blower. Wow!!
 |
| Tricia and Karen through the Chihuly glass |
We also took a walk on the river through downtown Tampa. A beautiful day, in the 70s. Tank got his usual quota of admiring glances and petting...
Must mention here...our host, Chris Malmsjo is an awesome Chef!!!!! CHILI VERDE TORTILLAS...ALL FROM SCRATCH!!! And then the next night, pasta and meatballs! The best Italian ever! So everyone, if you want a great meal, just call me and I will give you his address. ;)
The panhandle area has proven to be refreshingly different, sparsely populated with tall pines reminiscent of northern WI and MN. A very welcome change!
The next day found us in St. George Island State Park, right on the Gulf. It's been 3 nice days here, enjoying the beach and gathering ourselves for the western swing toward New Orleans. Dunes, pine trees and a campfire...On Tuesday we went to the nearby town of Apalachicola to look around. We had heard about this place from two guys we met in Savannah, Georgia. A nice little town, with restaurants, bars and art studios.
We found a place called the Bowery Station that advertised an open mic for the following night. Although a small and eclectic place, they boasted live music 7 nights a week! So we practiced in the afternoon and headed on into town.
When we got there, the place was packed! Probably 50 people or more! James started off the open mic promptly at 6, explaining that each performer got 3 songs, which would fill the first hour, then there was a jam for the following hour. Karen and I followed James and played Pride and Joy by SRV, Ain't Misbehaving from the 40s and Once in Every Lifetime by yours truly. It was a great experience! People listened and applauded. A very warm welcome, with several people coming up to talk to us afterwards!!Then Karen picked up someone's bass and played in the jam time. I played harp into one of the tunes.
Then back to St. George Island...and the next day we finally had to take Tank to a local vet. He'd been chomping on his feet and licking incessantly on his belly and groin. We thought is was the dagg gone fire ants but come to find out he had a staff infection on his skin and a yeast infection in his ears. $350 later....we have a much more comfortable Tankie.
It rained overnight, but following a nice serene walk on the beach looking for shells, we headed out today on a two-day trek to New Orleans, definitely pre-Mardi Gras. We are camped in a Pensacola Walmart tonight. TTFN!
