Thursday - October 17

Lots of sunshine, nice breeze and temps in the 70's for our final day of travel.    We left the Loves truck stop around 9:15ish and had a little over 2 hours to Cypress Trail - just the last 22 miles from Punta Gorda to Fort Myers we did I-75.   

Had a nice chat with Connor yesterday - he mentioned he would be voting for the 1st time in the coming election.   Wow....that reminded us that Liam, Connor and Brady will all be voting for the 1st time.   

Next week we'll vote, get our flu shots, and have several doctor appointments.  

Our landscaping  looks good EXCEPT for the bougainvillea which are kinda sad....hope they'll perk up.    With record-breaking amounts of rain this summer, that could be the culprit?  

Went to the Boathouse for supper - we shared the seafood sampler (shrimp, grouper and scallops) and then had the new dessert on the menu - pineappleupsidedown pie which was excellent!

Seafood sampler

Excellent dessert

Oink Oink

We walked around the park and visited with some neighbors and folks who recently returned to CT.

Update on Henry.....he has been diagnosed with mycoplasma - a bacterium that causes infections in different areas of the body.   Although he's still not able to eat, drink or swallow spit, he has a little more energy today.    Prayers most appreciated.

Wednesday - October 16

 Today started out sunny but then mostly cloudy and barely into the 70's.    We left the KOA in Starke around 8:50 and headed on good ole Highway 301 towards the Oakwood Smokehouse in Lady Lake where we met Joe, a high school classmate of Mark's who lives in The Villages.   First part of the trip, enjoyed very little traffic but that came to an abrupt stop when we reached Ocala, Bellview, The Villages, etc.    Crazy......

Had a great lunch and visit with Joe who was with Mark in the class of '65 from Newman High School in Sterling, IL.   They were also in 4-H together, so go waaaay back!  In May, Joe fell and broke his hip so not able to play golf all summer.   But he's doing well and ready to get back on the course very soon,  Joe's wife Maria passed away 6 years ago.    They have 2 daughters who live in Virginia and West Virginia.  Hopefully we'll see Joe at their 60th class reunion next September.

Joe

Onto Auburndale (1 hour, 15 minutes) and after fueling Ruby, I got to our site (they have 10 RV spots here at Loves), found someone in #9.    The staff had to come and ask the young couple to leave - unfortunately, there were 3 other available spots, but no power.    Still problems from the storm but strange that all but 3 have power??   Mark got Big Red some diesel and we got settled about an hour after arriving.   BUSY place right by the ramp for  I-4,   We took a nap, read and then off to meet brother Ron and Vicki and friends at the Miller Ale House.    Good dinner and visit!

Paul, Ron, Sue, Peg, Vicki, Pat, Mark

Yesterday when we were driving thru Folkston, Georgia, we had memories of being here in 2008 (January.....COLD) and I started the blog!    We were here for a week and also visited the Okefenokee (love saying that) Natural Refuge Center.

Tomorrow...Cypress Trail, here we come!

Tuesday - October 15

 Our day started with a trip to Waffle House (Mark loves waffles) - we hadn't been to one of these for a long time.    Good stuff and then back to get Flo and Big Red and away we went on another gorgeous day.    We avoided the interstate again today and once again enjoyed minimal traffic, good roads as we prayed the rosary, I listened to my oldies, etc.    

Stopped in Nahunta, Georgia - since we had a big breakfast, we just wanted a little something around 1:30, and by golly, in this little town, found a nice long parking spot for our caravan and walked across the street to the Frosty Freeze Creamery for some yummy ice cream treats.

Met lots of logging trucks today with huge logs.    Another unique town in South Carolina waas "Stephens Crossroads" but forgot to mention yesterday, the most unusual which made us laugh was "North", South Carolina.

Mark's sister Joan's grandson needs prayers.    Henry is 8 and lives in Arizona.   He's in Phoenix Children's Hospital with some scary symptoms and doctors are puzzled and have not figured this out.    After trips to the doctor, urgent care, on several different meds, Henry asked to go to the hospital?

We are at the Starke/Gainesville NE KOA Holiday Campground in Starke, Florida.   The temp when we arrived at 3:30 ws 83.   

Coming into Georgia, we saw first signs of Helene damage - lots of trees down, blue tarps, etc.   Then miles of everything ok and then more damage...Helene was selective here😞 

Helene/Milton update.....we had heard that 50,000 linemen were in Florida after Milton.   

  And after endless sad, heartbreaking stories and photos from western North Carolina, this morning I was reading (and watching the video) of the couple who lost 11 family members due to mudslides.....what a mind boggling catastrophe.   And tonight the NC folks can expect snow in the higher elevations.   

After supper we walked around the campground.

Today ended Connor's fall golf season - between yesterday and today he shot a 77 and an 80.   His team (Danville Area Community College) won the tournament!    Congrats to all!

Connor (pink shirt) and his golf team + Uncle Tom and Aunt Beth who hosted the team and coach for dinner Sunday night~!

Monday - October 14

Hello from Walterboro, SC (been here 2 previous times - 2014 and 2022) at the New Green Acres RV Park.    It's a pretty park with very long sites and nice 'n wide between sites +++ many very tall pine trees.

Traffic was heavy and after lunch in Columbia, SC, my logistics guy came up with an alternate route avoiding I-95 and all the "red" we could see on google maps!    So we had a very pleasant rest of the way (90 miles) thru the SC countryside (added 1/2 hour to our trip) - drove thru some interesting-sounding towns.....Swansea, Norway (saw first of many cotton fields here), Denmark, Cope, Lodge, Bells, etc.    Bamberg, SC has a population of 3,000+ but the entire stretch of downtown (about 10-15 buildings on both sides of the road) were all abandoned - nothin, zich, sad!!!

When we stopped for lunch at Love's, they had a McDonalds and a Chester's Chicken - decided to try Chester's for 1st time.....very good!!

We got to 85 degrees here in SC, but low humidity and nice breeze.   Opened Flo's windows and so pleasant.   

Went to Cracker Barrel for supper - always good and had some leftovers.

Some fun Halloween decor here in the park

Sunday - October 13

 Leisurely Sunday morning as we didn't go to Mass till 12 at St. Charles Borromeo.    Annie and I played a round of hand, knee and foot.   Mark and Luke went to Flo and got Big Red hooked up.   After Mass we all met at the Camp for lunch and played.some games of Sequence.

Back to Philip's to gather the last of our stuff.    Said our good byes....such a fun time these past 4 days/nights.    Luke and Maeve are off again tomorrow for Columbus Day.   Blair has school.

Mark and I worked on getting settled back in Flo - stored some bins in Michael's cottage basement and think we'll be ready to roll outta here in the morning.

Philip, Annette, Luke, Maeve, Michael, Brooke, Blair, Grandma, Grandpa

Had dinner with Michael, Brooke and Blair - delicious beef tacos and then said our good byes (till Thanksgiving) and outside to spend our last night on Flo.

 

Last night at Lake James

Zoom tonight included 9 siblings - most of the talk was about health issues and how important it is for the siblings to share their medical history.

Enjoy your week - cool weather is coming!

 

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