Advertisement
Published: December 30th 2008
Edit Blog Post
Ah, the joys of winterwear!
Breanna isn't shoveling the walk, she's piling snow on the pile in the next picture! Merry Christmas to all our friends! What an odd Christmas this has been~~not bad at all, just odd. Our original decision to stay down here was based on the distance we needed to travel from the end of our November project to our January project. We hadn’t intended to fly home at all, but plane tickets came up that made it possible, and we were able to leave our bus at Shocco Springs for a while, so off we went! I can’t imagine how hard it would have been to get through December if we hadn’t seen the kids. Wow.
We went to Mankato, MN to visit Megan, and family, and Sara and her family flew in for several days. What a blessing it was to watch all the grandkids play together. Could there be a better sight? There was snow there, but it wasn’t stupidly cold…the kids (and men!) played in the snow and had a great time. The day we flew out (Sara and Damon also) the rain turned to ice, right after we left, and then snow, and the ten day period of frigid weather began. We were in and out at the right now. I’m glad
This is what snow is for...
Once when Daniel was at the top of the hill he took a running leap onto the tube, bounced off, and went down the hill on his stomach!! that it’s finally warmed up some, although I’m probably not as glad as you are!
We traveled from Talladega to Panama City, where we stayed for several days. We found out about staying in state parks, and that has been a pleasant discovery! The prices are lower (as are the amenities!) and they’re located in a natural environment. We were just outside Panama City, and literally 20 steps from the back of our bus to the Grand Lagoon…we thought it was the Gulf of Mexico for the first couple of days! (lagoon: a shallow area of water separated from the sea by a sand bar. The reason I looked up the definition is because I thought lagoons had something to do with waste water ….not the first time I was wrong!) The beach was white powdery sand, and we walked for miles along the water. A little side note here; 35 years ago when Bob was in the Air Force he was stationed at Tindal AF Base (Panama City) for a three week temporary duty (in DECEMBER. Leaving me in Minot, ND) and he described the sand that was so white it looked like snow. And now I see
Jackson & Tyler..
still in Mankato, Minnesota. it! And it is the whitest sand I’ve ever seen. The whole stay was kind of a full-circle moment.
When we left there we went to Manatee Springs State Park outside of Chiefland. We weren’t on the beach there, but there was a natural springs that keeps a constant year-round temperature of 73 degrees (why don’t keyboards have that little symbol????) People swam in the springs, but we didn’t. I’m having trouble with the thought of putting on a swimsuit! The spring then runs into the Suwannee River which floats lazily by. (Did Stephen Foster spell the river wrong, or why was I surprised to see the “u” in it?) We didn’t spot any manatees, which swim into the springs during the winter months, but there were oodles of other wildlife. And hiking trails! (And we hiked them!!) It was very warm there, and that’s where we were for Christmas. The campground was nearly full on Christmas eve~~apparently that’s a viable option for people who live where it’s summer-at-Christmas!
Now, about Christmas…not having shopping to do (that was all finished the beginning of the month) and not having groceries to buy (think about it) and not having family
A pile of grandkids...
The snow from their street is piled in the cul-de-sac, and it was always covered with kids! or friends to visit, what does one do with the holiday season? I’d like to say I dug down deep and was filled with the true meaning of Christmas, but I can’t say that happened any more than any other year. The meaning behind the season has always been important to us. Both of us were well rested, but we did miss the hustle and bustle of the crowds, so we made a couple trips to a big mall, but there’s no bustle if you’re not pressed to buy something and get someplace, so we just watched the kids with Santa, and watched people hurry, and then went home! Pretty great! On Christmas day we drove to Cedar Key where we thought we’d spend the day on the beach; it turns out that just because a place sits on the water does not mean it has a beach!! They had one about a quarter of mile long, and we waded in the water, and ate our tuna sandwiches (you gotta know it’s the first year we’ve had tuna sandwiches for Christmas dinner!!) We watched dolphins swimming and diving and playing. It’s hard to tell how many there were because they
Gulf of Mexico
at Panama City. It's off-season there (can you imagine?!) and many of the businesses along the beach are closed until February.
I wasted my time holding up my shorts legs, because I was wet nearly to the waist before the day was over! were out quite a ways, and all we could see was tails and fins as they jumped and dove! I would guess there were four or five. It was awesome!
We’re now in a KOA just west of Miami. We’re sitting on an island (still no beach) but there are many many islands here. We’ve heard about the Florida keys, and now we’re experiencing them. It makes travel difficult, because the roads can’t go from here to there, they have to go to the end of this island, bridge over to that island, and then bridge to the island where you want to be. (Lisa, it reminds us of the road system in Alaska.) We’ll leave here New Year’s Day, and travel clear across the state (150 miles!) to Miramar, just outside Miami.
Until then, I wish you all blessings for 2009. May your beneficial wishes come true, and may the rest of them pass you by. May you release your regrets, your resentments and your reservations and may they be replaced with hope, joy and contentment.
Vicki
Advertisement
Tot: 0.32s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 13; qc: 63; dbt: 0.2035s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
SARA ROCKS!!
non-member comment
From thick, full trees to crazy birds and ocean! We ALL wish we were in Florida with you! And I won't be reading anymore blogs if there are pictures of the ocean in them :)