Friday - April 17

Mark started the day with a trip to Hardees and enjoyed his biscuits and gravy fix   He brought a biscuit back for me!   I love 'em.    Hot today, but no complaints as we've had beautiful weather for traveling.    We left Big Rig in Lamont just before 8:00.  We were back to interstate travel today - 10, 85, 65 and 22.    Heading west on I-10 this morning we came across another accident in the eastbound lanes which caused a major back-up.    Lots of emergency vehicles on the scene and saw a charred pickup truck....not a good sight 😟

We drove a total of 350 miles with a few stops along the way including Troy, AL for diesel for Big Red and while Mark was taking care of that, I went to 7 Brew for coffees for us.   Happy to be back on central time and gain an hour.

Yesterday we saw so many beautifu ppurple wildflowers along Florida's roadside with some pinks and whites sprinkled in.    Today, lots of Dollar Generals in Alabama.   😃 

We are at the brand new Loves truck stop in Quinton, AL for the night.    This place just opened last Thursday and has 5 RV spots (we really like these places and their RV facilities are getting to be really popular).   

Mark is thee best logistics guy - once again routing our trip today as to which roads, rest stops, fuel stops, etc.     A task he handles so well each day and enjoys for the most part!

So today we hit 87 and tomorrow, only in the 50's.   Another change of clothing coming up!

Anne and I lost 3 of 5 games to the computer tonight - the cards were not kind!

We are 3 hours and 10 minutes from Memphis and if Ryan had been there and not working tomorrow, we would've met him somewhere, but he's back home at Lake James.

Thursday - April 16

We left Sanlan and Lakeland at 8:57 this morning - took a LONG time to get thru Lakeland with lots of traffic, construction, and stop lights!    We went thru very rural Florida and saw so much poverty and very sad living conditions.    Passed thru many small towns (never heard of them) but for the most part, we were out in the boonies.  It may take longer, but sure beats the stress of interstate travel.

The highlight of our day was stopping for lunch at Olive Garden in Inverness and meeting friends from several years ago - Ross and Carly were RVers and we were together at Water's Edge in Okeechobee.   They are the nicest people and a few years ago, sold their RV and bought a beautiful home on 3 acres in Hernando, FL.  They have done a lot of work to their home and the property is sooo Wow!!!   Carly had a video.   We had a 2 hour lunch and visit - fun, fun , fun!   The last time we were together was March of '22 when they came to Fort Myers.   We "HOPE" to not wait so long to get together again.    Carly is from Vancouver, BC, Canada and Ross is from CA, but they have traveled and lived all over the country.

Carly and Ross

And the 4 of us

And then back on the road again - Ruby and I following Big Red, Flo and Mark.    We came upon a very tragic accident with a badly damaged car and stretcher beside it with a covered body   So many emergency vehicles there.....police, rescue squad, ambulance, fire trucks, etc.    Praying for those involved and the first responders.    So scary to see this and know how quickly an accident can happen.

We arrived at 4:30 at the Big Rig RV Park in Lamont, FL.    This is a fairly new park (in the middle of nowhere) with only 25 sites.

After we were settled, Mark took Ruby for some gas and lo and behold, he came across a Hardees, so you know where he's going for breakfast and what he'll be ordering!  😋😀

Wednesday - April 15

Unusual morning with a start to the day at 7:30 of text messages and reminder that we had 2:50 and 3:00 appts. with Dr. Kagen. our dermatologist.   At 8:00, more text messages that due to unforeseen circumstances, Dr. Kagen had to cancel for today and we needed to reschedule.   And then a phone call at 8:30 from the dermatology office that he would be able to see us and at Mark's suggestion, I asked if they had anything earlier which they did.  

At this point, we were downtown for Mark's haircut with Jose, but first, coffee/breakfast at Peter's and a final good bye to Marika, Stefan and Dani.    These folks are the best.....Mark and I love coffee shops and we've been to a lot, but Peter's is by far, our favorite!!!    Till October....

Sweet Marika

 So our 1:50 and 2:00 appts., worked out well and we were out of there by 2:10 and headed back to CT.   Not sure what all that was about, but everything worked out!

So back at CT, Mark and Flo pulled out of 102, he put up the chain across the lot and Ruby and I followed.    

Day 1 was short with a stop and overnight stay in Lakeland.    Arrived at Sanlan RV Park at 5 and met my brother Ron and Vicki at 6 for dinner at Catfish Country.    We heard about this place from Bob and Linda, but had never been and it's fairly close to Sanlan.    Great to be together and catch up over very fresh and delicious catfish, sweet potato (rice 'n beans for Mark), cole slaw, biscuits with cinnamon butter and hush puppy - all excellent!

Ron and Vicki

Beautiful evening - we went for a walk around Sanlan before heading into Flo for the night.

Tuesday - April 14

 I had a 9:00 hair cut with Destiny, then shopped at Publix for a few things and on home.    Later I went downtown to get a manicure from Alisa.

On home for lunch.   Mark had Big Red hooked up to Flo and was finishing up getting things organized for our trip.  Jim and Lydia stopped in and the guys got their sister Joan's cricket in the she shed.   Soooo appreciate Jim helping as this is definitely a 2-man job.    Not sure just how Mark and I have done it in the past?    But anyway, the she shed is full to the brim and all set for the summer.

The guys getting the cricket ready to go up the ramp

Jim and Lydia

We'll sure miss them!

We both took a nap in the afternoon!   

We so enjoy the "Find Friends" app and can see where our kids/grands are (a Philip idea from many years ago as the kids wanted to know where we were.....and then we can see where they are with all their travels).   Tonight Mark happened to check...........Michael was flying from Charleston, WV to Minneapolis; Philip was in Houston but ended up in Orlando tonight; Ryan is in Dublin, Ireland and Drew is in Cincinnati.

Went for our last walk in the park tonight - more and more have left and we know some leaving tomorrow.    Our street is really deserted!

I watched episodes 3 and 4 of Call the Midwife the past few days.....tonight's show was a tear jerker for sure.

Back on the road again........tomorrow afternoon!

Monday - April 13

 We each had 9:30 6-month dental check-ups with Dr. Baxmann - cleaning with Laura (Mark) and Danielle (me).   We left shortly after 8 - took us an hour to get there with rush-hour traffic.    A school bus either had a breakdown or was in an accident cause traffic was backed up on Summerlin big time, but fortunately not in our direction.

From the dentist, we went to Biscotti for coffee/hot breakfast and then to Sun Harvest and on home.

Finished getting everything in order in the she shed - just one more thing tomorrow.....Joan and Joe's cricket (mini golf cart) and Jim is planning to come help Mark with that which I very much appreciate!   Laundry is all caught up, too!    We're on a roll......

We ran some errands and then had dinner at Laredo Cantina, a popular Mexican restaurant at Bell Tower.    It was good, but we still prefer the Mexican place downtown (Cabos Cantina) and also Port Clinton has a very good one.