Swamp Ape, Airboats and Frank Lloyd Wright!!!

   Yes, Key West was wonderful, colorful, loud, delicious and lots of fun.  That would have been enough to make it a great trip - but - we had more fun!  Stayed in Big Cypress Trail Campground - not realizing that it is World Headquarters of the Swamp Ape Research Center!!!  Not real sure about that swamp ape but they did have the largest snakes we've ever seen and beautiful birds and alligators.  They let Bro hold an alligator - just a baby one. Very interesting place - stop by if you're ever in that area.
   
Just happened to see a nursery with huge greenhouses full of the most beautiful orchids.  Spent some time taking pictures - wanted to bring some home but the shower in the motor home was already looking like a mini greenhouse! 
   One of our favorites was the airboat ride in the Everglades.  Yea, that's Ken in the driver's seat but they wouldn't let drive it - or is that skim it or hover it or whatever it's called.  Extreme fun - took us to a "hammock" where some Miccosukee Indians lived until 1987.  Didn't much like the water moccasins and alligators!


   Bro's iPad with 3G was great - we googled anything we saw along the highway - when we realized we were only a few miles from Florida Southern College - of course we had to stop!  Frank Lloyd Wright designed all the campus buildings - and several miles of his famous low covered walkways.  It is the largest concentration of Wright building in the world - loved it.  FSC has been named the most beautiful college campus in the country - and it really is!  What a nice surprise - and all 
because of Google and road signs!


   Just couldn't get that close to Disney World and not stop.  We only went to Downtown Disney - crowded and hot, but we managed to do a little shopping.  
We spent our last night somewhere in Georgia - really nice campground.
   Great trip - I love going and I love coming home!  
Where might I be thinking about for the next trip?  There are four states that I have not visited - I really need to take care of that.

On to Key West

Miami is a big city with some beautiful art deco buildings.  We have been to Miami so we didn't spend much time there - headed on to the 127.5-mile  highway through the Florida Keys ending in Key West.  It's pretty amazing to drive that highway - to see the old railroad bridge and to realize how isolated Key West used to be.   The water is so beautiful - the colors are impossible to describe.  Key West is just as I imagined it to be - very laid back - loud - crowded - old rundown houses along with the new.   We camped close to Key West - rode the Trolley so we could get on and off wherever we wanted. Lots of bars - I didn't 

have a Margarita - had key lime pie instead!  I tried the key lime pie covered in chocolate on a stick but I liked the original pie best.  Also tried conch fritters - didn't really like them - not nearly as good as hush puppies.  Lunch in an outdoor restaurant - close to the street - with all the mopeds, bicycles, cars and buses.   Didn't see Jimmy Buffet - we were told that he sometimes drops in unexpectedly and sings a few songs.  Did buy a Margaritaville shirt and drive by his recording studio.  If you haven't been to a Jimmy Buffet concert - you should put it on your bucket list - quite an experience.  Mallory Square - entertainers of all kinds - crowds of people waiting on the sunset.  The place to be when the sun goes down - it was worth waiting on.   We enjoyed the unicycle juggler and browsing the booths selling all kinds of arts and crafts.  There are chickens and roosters everywhere - and they always have the right of way.  I didn't see the six toed cats - maybe next time.

Day 3 - April 15 - Boondocking

We left Seestah's house about 1:00 - headed south.  Beautiful day to be on the road.  We ended up looking for a campground and not finding anything so for the first time ever - we "boon docked" at Walmart in Fort Pierce, Florida.  I called and talked to the manager and he sounded like he was more than happy to have us.  We even had a security guard cruising by so we felt very safe! 
After breakfast we hit the road for Miami - looking for the new Marlins stadium.  Well of course our GPS sent us to the old stadium so we got a look at that one before finding the new one.  It's a beautiful building but it just didn't seem right to see an indoor baseball game.  I like the Atlanta Braves games much more.  Sure was nice to go to the camper when I got bored with the game. We enjoyedBro's IPAD - he has Verizon on it so we could look up all kinds of taas we drove.  Any discussion led to one of us saying "Google it".

Our next stop was "Coral Castle" - you have to see it to believe it.  It is built from Coral - built by one small man with no big tools and no help.  He must have been a genius to figure out how to build it - and it seems impossible that he could build the huge things with no help.  He even build a bathtub made of coral.    We stayed at Miami Everglades Campground - nice place.  

On the Way...Sapelo Island, Brunswick, St. Simons

Friday, April 13, 2012 - Road Trip Begins!  I love the sound of that.  Husband, Brother and I hit the road in "Freedom", our motor home.  Headed south...a beautiful day.

First stop:  Sapelo Island, Georgia.  We had hoped to go over to the island but had to settle for the visitor's center.  Reservations are necessary to ride the small ferry to the island.  Sapelo is so very interesting - read about Hog Hammock and the people there who speak Gullah. Living life their way.

Stopped for a visit with my "Seestah" and her family.  Seestah is more than a sister, more than a friend.  So good to see them.  We went to Indigo Kitchen for dinner - great food and friendly people.  We spent the night with them - Bro got special treatment - spent the night in their beautiful Carriage House.  I think he wanted to stay!  They have a beautiful craftsman house - and a beautifully landscaped yard - so relaxing.

Saturday - breakfast with Seestah and family.  Rode around St. Simon's and over to Jekyll - really a beautiful place.

A motor home trip to the beautiful coast of North Carolina - starting with a night on Lake Mattamuskeet.  Such an unsusal lake - average depth of 3 feet - yeah - 3 feet.  It is a wildlife refuge - peaceful, quiet.  Life seems to slow down for us as well...  We camped with a view of the lake - restful.  We drove to Belhaven - checking out places for Ken to come fishing.  Nice little town.  Found some access areas to launch his boat for fishing.

Manteo and over to the Outer Banks - we never get tired of the Outer Banks.  Seeing the Hatteras Lighthouse brought back memories of taking Katia (our "daughter" from Belarus) to see the lighthouse being moved in 1999.  She was nine years old and spoke very little English.  I'm sure a trip in a motorhome was very strange to her - and then to see the 4800 ton lighthouse being moved very slowly - only 25 to 100 feet each day. 

Ferry from Swan Quarter to Ocracoke Island - got some knitting done - enjoyed the beautiful blue ocean and blue sky.  Ocracoke really is a different world - in a good way. Small shops, no big stores, narrow streets with kids riding bicycles - drive slowly.  January is a great time to visit if you want to avoid crowds.  We spent the night - took the 7:30 AM ferry to Cedar Island.  The ferries don't run as often in the winter.

Drove to Harker's Island - ate lunch at Captain's Choice - really, really great seafood - and friendly people. 

Beaufort (in North Carolina it is "Bo"fort).  The waterfront is more than beautiful - historic homes - I love the plaques with the year they were built.  Small shops for browsing and shopping - ice cream  - we did resist the fudge!  We will return.

Morehead City,Emerald Isle, Snead's Ferry, Surf City.  We spent the night at Lanier's Campground in Surf City - huge campground - friendly and quiet. Topsail, Wilmington, Carolina Beach, Kure Beach, Fort Fisher.  One last ferry to Southport - being in a motor home on a ferry is sort of like being in a housboat!                                  

Headed inland - driving the backroads - checking out Jordan Lake south of Raleigh.  Might be a fishing trip in Ken's future.  Cheesy biscuits with dinner at a Sagebrush somewhere on the way.    

I love traveling - a day, a month or longer.  I love to go but I also love coming home.  Life is good.

BIFFLE - Best Friends For Like Ever

Biffle's are one of life's blessings.  Most of us have a lots of friends, even a few good friends.  A few of us have a Biffle.  I am blessed with two Biffles!  Closer than sisters - all the good parts of sisterhood with none of the bad.


These two were not childhood friends or even high school friends.  Fate brought them to me at different times in different ways.  We are biffle's because of who we are as adults - not because of who we were as children.  We're different, but we have so much in common.  


We laugh a lot - at ourselves and at each other.  We can talk or sometimes be quiet.  We've taken short trips and some very long trips together.  I went to Italy with one biffle - the trip of a lifetime - all good.  We've spent time in the mountains, at the beach, in Arizona - the Grand Canyon, Texas and even Las Vegas of all places.  I travel some with my husband, children and grandchildren - travel a lot with my brother.  He and I took a "Road Trip" last year - over 9,000 miles.  Great times - I hope for many more.  As good as they are, nothing is quite like time with my Biffles.

The three of us spent a few days in Charleston, SC last week.  Perfect weather, great hotel - Historic Embassy Suites - unbelievably good food.  If you are ever in the beautiful city of Charleston - don't miss eating at Amen and at Jestine's.  I don't have enough good words to describe the food.  Before you leave stop in Market Street Sweets - it's worth stopping to smell the candy - as if you can resist sampling some.  Our room looked out on a beautiful square decorated for Christmas - was it just for us?   Couldn't have been any better.


Distance doesn't matter, nor does time apart.  We talk a lot sometimes - or we don't for a while.  The connection stays the same.  They are family - chosen family.   I thank God for them.

Missy - Amazing Grace

Rachelle Davene Eckenrode Hollars died today - went to be with the Lord.  No matter how much we believe - our hearts still feel that Missy left us too soon.  Forty two years is not nearly enough.  I believe that God created us to love this life He gave us.  I think Missy loved life.  My belief is that it's okay  - better than okay to love this life and want to live it to the fullest and be with our loved ones for a long, long time.  Missy was Ken's niece.  My nephew, Dale, died at 23.  When one dies so young it leaves a bigger hole in the family.  It alters the future of all in the family - changes everything.  We wonder how life would have been different - better - if they could have stayed with us longer.  

Thank God for Missy's life - for her beautiful smile and her wonderful life.  I can't think of Missy without thinking of her laugh.  Missy enjoyed life - she had fun - she loved and was loved.

Missy's sons and husband will miss her more than words can ever tell.  Their lives are changed forever.  She made them better by loving them so much.  Her family has another hole in it - with God's help and our faith maybe that hole will become a scar and we can remember Missy with pain but also with the joy she left us.

Amazing Grace is what a family needs when one leaves so soon.  I pray that God gives that to each one - especially to her husband, sons and her father.