Has anybody missed us? If you’re on fb, probably not, I’ve
put a couple pictures and comments out there as we have traveled. But if this
is the only way to keep up with us, I apologize. We had a wonderful week with
our granddaughter, Rhiannon and, son, Matt; I did warn you that she would be a
major distraction and not expect to hear much from us. Things didn’t slow down
any as we did a bit of what I would call “those vacations” we never took while
we both owned our own businesses and couldn’t go too far away. It’s been a
crazy few weeks but have thoroughly enjoyed the roads God has taken us down. We
truly believe that God has been so very faithful and has given us such great
favor in the places we have travelled and the places where we have parked our
home.
For our visit with our granddaughter, we traveled back and
forth quite a bit between our motor home and her dad’s place. We were at
Wickham Park in Melbourne. A beautiful county park with several ponds, two swimming
lakes, a playground, disc golf, volleyball, and more. They have all kinds of very
spacious camping and parking sites, unlike a majority of places in Florida. Initially
we were going to have to move from our original site to a different one on Friday.
However, PTL, when I checked on that Tuesday to see if we could stay over one
more night (Easter Sunday), they not only said that would be fine, they also
told us we wouldn’t have to move. So very happy about not having to move sites
but even happier that we wouldn’t have to check out Easter morn. (PTL for
that!!!) We celebrated our Risen Lord at a sunrise service on the shores of the
Atlantic Ocean. Beautiful. We praise our Risen Savior, Jesus Christ, King of
kings and Lord of lords for this special opportunity to celebrate His
resurrection and for His great sacrifice and love for each of us.
We had many fun times with Rhiannon and Matt (I have two
pages of notes on all the things we did but figured that was more information
than what you all would want to know.) One thing you might find interesting is
that we got to watch a rocket launch. We were on Cocoa Beach about five miles
from the launch site. Saw the bright ball of light slowly rise up, reflect
around some clouds, and then reappear. Impressive. I have to admit though that
we were a bit disappointed as there was no real noise and the rocket went away
from us instead of towards us. Still it was a cool experience. Okay one more
thing…which doesn’t really have anything to do with our time with Rhiannon,
other than the fact that we believe it was part of God’s timing, AGAIN. On our
to and from the rocket launch, our car was making some pretty strange noises, and both Bill and Matt
agreed, it sounded like the brakes. Oh great! Glad that we were at our son’s
house at that time. Bill took it to a local Midas shop, got new rear brakes
while I stayed and played with Rhiannon. I’d say I got the better deal.
Bill had wanted to travel to the Florida Keys as we both had
never been there, so from Matt’s place (& Wickham Park) we headed to Key
Largo where we were able to find an RV Park that was not priced out of this
world for three nights. For those of you who know me well, you can be sure I
did a lot of research to find a nice place that wasn’t totally overpriced. Once
again, we were truly blessed with a wonderful park (Key Largo Kampground).
Also, I’m happy to report that the set up (and take down) is going quicker and
I’m getting less and less nervous about it all…PTL. (Keep praying, my prayer
warrior friends and family.) One of the days we were there, we drove across 42
bridges to arrive in Key West. Spent the day and went to thee place to
go to watch the sunset (Mallory Square) and be part of an every night of the
week celebration. Jugglers, magicians, artists, musicians, etc. performing
and/or selling their wares. Did I mention that the sunset was pretty
non-existent as it was cloudy and there wasn’t much to see? Fortunately, the
following night, in Key Largo, we found a wonderful place close to our park to
relax (without the crowds) and watch a beautiful sunset. We did the Key West
thing and both of us are content , that once is enough. We did end up extending
our stay by one day which really helped us in our ongoing scheduling of where
to go from here and for how long…it was another one of those Godincidences
(similar to a coincidence, only you know it’s God). It’s hard to explain how
blessed we feel in God’s timing as to where we are when. Yes, we do some
research and planning, but God really works things out in the end. I say that,
at this point, because now it is time to move from Key Largo to North Fort
Myers, Florida. Why there, you ask? Well let me tell you.
We wanted to end up
in Belleview to see our granddaughter again, but she wouldn’t be available
until after April 4th and we were only planning to be in the Florida
Keys until the 30th of March. Well, what to do in between. Like I just said, we stayed an extra day in
the Keys and then fulfilled one of Bill’s greatest desires on this leg of our
journey and that was to see his “Florida” cousins. He hadn’t seen one in more
than ten years and the other they couldn’t decide if it had been ten years or
more than 25 years. We were thrilled to find out they were both in Port
Charlotte which was easily on the way to Belleview. Also, on the way to
Belleview is North Fort Myers (just 30 minutes south of Port Charlotte), a city
were our friends Terri & Gene Walton moved last August. The RV Park &
Resort that they live in had a two for one sale that started April 1st…the
day we wanted to arrive. Thank you, Tamiami Village for four nights in a lovely
park. Those FOUR nights cost us what it costs us for ONE night in the Keys.
Location, Location, Location. This schedule put us in to Belleview at Southern
Oaks Resort just ten minutes from our, granddaughter’s home on April 5th.
We had dinner that evening with our granddaughter and her
family; she gave us a very imaginative tour around their property in a golf
cart. Delightful! We brought her and her cousin (who lives with them) back to
the motorhome. Bill volunteered to take them (getting up at 6 a.m.) and pick
them up from school each day. We had a
wonderful time with both girls. Although the RV park had little to entertain
ten year old girls, we managed to find things to do. The temperatures were wonderful. Little
humidity and 80 degrees or less. (I prefer temps under 73.) We did a lot of
swimming, watching the Disney channel before bed, and getting ice cream or
slushies. Friday night, while the girls were at a birthday party, Bill and I
went on a date. Rhiannon’s mom suggested we go to Spanish Springs in The
Villages. Loved it! Very quaint, with
lots of restaurants and shops. We had dinner outside, right across from the
square where there was a disc jockey playing some great old tunes with people
just hanging out or dancing. Definitely…I danced! Loved watching the amazing
array of golf carts all over the place. Apparently that is the preferred mode
of transportation in The Villages. Some of them were pretty snazzy. Saturday, our last day with Rhiannon, we had
just her. One very special thing we did was attend the movie, God’s Not Dead 2.
It was fabulous. Rhiannon enjoyed it very much. We spent the last bit of time with her playing
shuffle board back at the RV park. Who knew that it was such a fun game. Like
Rhiannon said, “I thought it was an old people’s game. But it’s fun.”
We departed Southern Oaks Sunday morning. I really don’t
like this traveling on Sunday mornings. In fact, I’m kind of ready to be done
with the whole vacation thing. I’m ready to settle in to the mission God called
us to and staying “home.” We have one more vacation type stop before arriving
at New Creations in Richmond, Indiana later in the week. We’re stopping in Pigeon
Forge for three days. Bill and I really enjoyed a vacation we took took to Gatlinburg
years ago (especially me, as I’m a big Dolly Parton fan) and we both love the
mountains. It is almost directly on our way from Belleville, Florida to
Richmond, Indiana, and we HAD to go somewhere.
It was another long
day for Bill; remember, I can get up and walk around where he has to stay
seated and focused. We left the park in Florida around 11:30 and didn’t arrive
at our overnight destination until 7:30. For a car, this leg of our journey
should have taken about six hours. When
Bill drives for this long of a time, we make several rests stops. One stop that
we made was not part of our plan. As we were travelling down the road we both
heard a noise that didn’t sound good. Sounded like metal dragging. Bill was
sure something broke but we couldn’t imagine what. The good news is…it wasn’t
anything like that. The bad news is, for the second time in our journey thus
far, the right tire strap (the one that helps hold the car on the tow dolly),
came loose. Fortunately, it didn’t fall off, was still usable, and we could
reattach it. Another blessing from above. By the way, had we not had the
windows open in the mid-section of the motorhome, we never would have heard the
banging. PTL!
We boondocked in Athens GA at another Walmart Sunday night.
It’s kind of funny but the location in the lot
where we parked was a rather nice, even quiet, setting. We had grass and
trees on two sides of us. That’s better than some of the RV places we’ve seen
in our travels. One might ask, is it weird or hard to fall asleep when you’re
parked in a public parking lot that has people coming and going all night long.
I say, absolutely not. It’s not that noisy and the fact that I’m sleeping in my
bed, the bed I sleep in every night now, I feel very much at home (no matter
where we are parked). I thank and praise God for that!!!
Have I mentioned all the wonderful restaurants we’ve
“happened” onto? I call these kisses from Heaven. Those little things that mean
so much. Those things you couldn’t have planned and turn out so well. In almost every location that we have
traveled, we have come across the most delightful restaurants. Some quaint (I
love quaint), some unique, some very friendly, most of them affordable, but
most of all they have all been DElicious! This particular night there was a
Chinese restaurant in the strip mall next to the Walmart. Oh my goodness, the
food was spectacular and the sweet Chinese woman that served us was
adorable. When I asked for a to-go
container, she brought me one half filled with rice (she said Bill would need
our leftover rice for his to-go container).
Then she boxed up the snack chips that came before the meal and when it
came time to put Bill’s in a to-go container (yes, there was so much food, even
he couldn’t eat it all), she brought out a little plastic cup so Bill could
take home the extra spicey on-the-side sauce she gave him (because he said, he liked
his food extra spicey). A nice ending to a long day.
We headed out of the Walmart parking lot by 9:30 this
morning. After an hour or so of travel, we stopped for fuel and a coffee break.
We checked the wheel straps to be sure they were secure and they were. I tell you
this because another hour later, a little red car was trying to get our
attention to pull off. That’s not always possible, so they waited until there
was good pull off spot. The driver got out of his car to tell us that our right
wheel strap had come off. Again, it was still hanging on by a thread so we were
able to reattach it once again. God bless this man for his kindness and thank
God for sending him to us. (Please pray that we are able to figure out what
we’re doing wrong with this right tire strap.)
I failed to mention
earlier that we decided not to take the preferred route suggested on GoggleMaps
from Florida to Pigeon Forge that would have taken us through Atlanta. Neither
Bill or I wanted to go through Atlanta so we found a more “direct” route off
the Interstate. It was a really good decision, but one we questioned a few
times before we were through. Although
it might have been a bit slower, the traffic was manageable, the views in
Georgia were beautiful, and we both enjoyed it a whole lot more. Because we took this other route, we ended up
travelling through the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. Talk about
beautiful. Oh my goodness. What a kiss from heaven to send us this way. I felt
bad for Bill as he had to focus more on driving
those narrow roads, climbing up (and then down), going around many
curves and sharp turns, and through a couple tunnels. We both got a bit nervous
a few times as to whether or not this route was such a good idea. But it turned
out wonderfully. PTL! The views were so
breathtaking, we even managed to stop once to take it all in. There were
several large pull off places along the route and fortunately, they weren’t
filled with cars and there was room for us. So very grateful for all the safe
travels we have had. By the way, I’m holding my own on the nerves. Bill is a
great driver and for that I am so very grateful. Once again, I say, God is good.
(Do I hear an “all the time.” All the time, God is good.) Amen!
So here we are in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, the last few days
before we embark on our first real work project. Excited for both. Ready for
whatever God has for us. Thanks for sticking with me through this review of
these last three weeks.
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