Florida Friends

Back-Jen and Rita
Front-Brenda, Barb, Carla and Jerilynn

Onions...and carrots

Gary L. gave me a couple of special Florida onions. They are called strawberry onions and have a very mild flavor. We had some last night with some cute-numbers (cucumbers). My friend Colleen calls them 

cute-numbers and that may very well stick with me.

Onions seem to be the theme of the day because my friend Kay S. sent me a picture of Texas onions drying out, getting ready to be bagged up for their trip north. Looks like there has been some gleaning going on in Texas.

Kay also sent a pic of my favorite big ol' fat Texas carrots. She knows they are my favorite.

Next step

We are leaving Sebring Sunday morning and going to Iowa. We have decided to forgo the Nashville tour and thankfully our friends Pete and Jerilynn are understanding about it. We have two different routes scoped out and not sure yet which we will take, but they both end up in the same spot so not sure it matters.

Yesterday we went to Lake Placid and toured some. Lake Placid is a city of murals. There are 37 of them and you can spend many hours looking them all over. We did not come close. Lake Placid is aptly named in my opinion. It isn't overly large and has a laid-back demeanor about it. We had lunch at a very popular and fantastic little spot and I am not remembering the name of it. Suffice it to say it was special. The food was good and reasonably priced and we topped it off with ice cream. Super!

There are hidden and missing objects in the murals.  It is fun to look for them.

We came home mid-afternoon, took a nap and followed that up with Bocci ball and shuffleboard. It was a full and satisfying day.

Waffling

Indecision makes me uncomfortable...but that is where we are. We are becoming homesick...but we know it is still chilly there or it can be. Sometimes even downright cold, so we are in the throws of indecision.
Today is the day we must decide how much longer we are staying in Sebring. We are paid up through today and about to go to the office and talk.
I will let you all know when we do. Look for a change from our original plan. Hmmm Maybe I didn't share our original plan. Later

Visit with Colleen

Pete, Jerilynn, Butch and I travelled 69.2 miles from Sebring to Punta Gorda, Fl to visit with my walking partner and friend Colleen. She said it was surreal seeing me in Florida and I certainly had some of that feeling as well. Colleen fixed us lunch and then gave us the grand tour of the area in which she lives. It is a beautiful place and her home is special too. I now have a better understanding of why she cannot decide to give one of her homes up. They are both very special in very different ways.

My friend Colleen in her living room.

                                                   Pete and Jerilynn

                                                  Butch

                                      Colleen on her dock showing us Alligator River

                                  Her very beautiful tropical home

                                         One of the paintings at the art gallery

                                    The guys waited for us at Fishermans Village

                                   Jerilynn looking over Charlotte Harbor

                               Butch and Barb in Punta Gorda, FL

 We look pretty happy considering that we hit a deer on our way. Butch was able to slow way down but we still made contact and injured the front of the car and the AC did not work after that either. We were still able to drive it and will get it fixed after we get home.

Sunday Supper!

  Gary cooks Brats. Note the sunshine!

  Butch, Pete,Ted and Glen...are you impressed that I know that many names?

 Christian is the young man in the foreground and he is having much more fun than it looks. I was impressed by him. He is comfortable around adults and can hold his own very well in conversation. Carla is seated next. After that the names are fuzzy in my head. Jerilynn in blue has her back to the camera.

Bean Bag Tournament

Jerilynn signed us up for a bean bag tournament. I have never played bean bags in my life. And Butch can tell you when he asks me to throw something up to him when he is on the roof, suffice it to say it is not pretty. Neither of us knows where it will go or even if it will get there! So I didn't know how this would unfold.
It was a double elimination tournament with 44 players. I was surprised because I did not embarrass myself nearly as much as I thought I would. In fact, my partner Al (drawn at random) and I won our first game which put us in the winners bracket, getting us off to a good start. We lost the next two, and it took a long time to do it because we had to wait for the winners to meet up with us. Jerilynn did the best out of the four of us. She and her partner were some of the last playing and they lost the last round by only two points. Butch and Pete were partners. We all were merely players and not final winners, and it was fun.

I think the plan today is to play some shuffleboard. It will be just the four of us and we will be playing Texas/Arizona rules. Florida rules are out of whack as far as we're concerned.

Butch has played some pool. They have two tables and he says they are not in bad shape but dirty. I said you mean Don Louks would be incensed? And he said he certainly would. They also have different rules. Butch said the rules are the ones we played by when we were kids. Of course, he likes the Texas rules better.

It has been a bit strange being here because in many ways it is the same as Magnolia Park. The people here are very friendly and mix a lot. Mostly working class people, Jerilynn said their Arizona park was kind of hoity-toity if you catch my drift and she had to bring lots of dress up clothes. Next year she plans to
leave the dress up clothes at home because she hasn't used them.

This has been a fact finding trip for us and as of yet no firm decisions have been made concerning next season. There are many aspects to consider...