We have a lot to catch up on. The final morning after the rally was filled with fussing about. It was chilly and damp as we broke camp. Carol had discovered that the Stephen Foster Folk Cultural Center was only a few miles away, so after the obligatory stop at Walmart we headed the twenty or so miles east towards White Springs where the the park is.
What a nice place, and we certainly know more now about Stephen Foster than we did before. He died young, aged 38, and he had never been way down on the Suwannee River, the river in his song Old Folks At Home. He had never even been in Florida.
From there we headed south for a completely new experience. We had joined a group called ‘Boondockers Welcome’ which is a network of people who have space for RV campers to stay on their property. We made contact with a nice couple in Trenton, Florida who gave us a field to stay in for the night. We had a good time swapping stories. This was the darkest and quietest place we have stayed so far on this trip. They have a large old family farm. The Doodle had cows and farm country all around.
I don’t think three cars passed the whole time we were there. By mid morning the next day we were heading southish once again with Tarpon Springs in our sights. We had stopped here so many years ago when we were cruising in our little boat. Tarpon Springs is the home of Greek sponge fishermen and the city is a bustle of tourists looking for the perfect sponge to take home, and a few Greek pastries as well to round out the afternoon. We bought some pastries and had a good visit of this little town. Carol and I chatted of our memories from when we had cruised here from Rhode Island. That night we stayed at a Harvest Host location.
Harvest Host is a network of farms, wineries, breweries, museums and golf courses. This was our first golf course. I had called and they told me just to park at the far end of the parking lot. It was secluded and level and is in a very safe neighborhood. Nice! We walked up to the clubhouse and had a great veggie pizza for supper. Everyone was very friendly and we chatted a bit with Luciano, the chef from Italy, Napoli of course. By mid-day the following day, we were driving in very heavy traffic fighting our way out to Siesta Key to visit our friends Missy and Bobby who are renting a house there.
Moochdock, instead of Boondocking. Soon we were parked in their driveway hooked to water and electric. Their hospitality was overwhelming. We had a great afternoon poolside, chatting away with wine, beer and soda. Harper and I had a dip in the heated pool before we all headed to the beach for a walk along the Gulf with Missy & Bobby and their daughter Erin, her husband Shawn and their son Liam. These folks have all been part of our ‘family’ for as long as we have known them. Missy was at our wedding, 50 years ago.
Back at the house Bobby made great ribs on the grille and we sat and talked well into the evening. The following morning we all went to breakfast at the neighborhood breakfast place and all over ate…mmmmm. Sad to say good-by but we will see them next week in Cape Coral.
Back on the road we navigated the Doodle back through the tight traffic of the island and through Sarasota, found fuel and headed away from the coast toward Clewiston. We had made reservations here at an RV park to visit some more with our friends Tom and Debbie. On the highway we were delayed over half an hour as there was a horrible accident the was still being cleared. One car seemed to have rolled several time and the other was not visible as it had continued down into the woods. A large truck with a crane was pulling it out as we passed. So difficult to see this along the road, just pray everyone was OK. We arrived late afternoon and the office was closed so we just pulled into our spot.
It is pretty casual down here. We walked a couple of spaces over and knocked on Debbie and Tom’s door. The beginning of a great visit. Tom and Debbie had a beautiful Tiffin Class A RV - for those of you who don’t know what that means - large, comfortable and superb quality. Debbie was making supper (southern hospitality) as she didn’t want us to have to do that after a day of travel. Their puppy, Fallon, wasn’t too sure about Harper who just wanted to play, so initially there was some barking going on but soon everything calmed down, to a point.
Fallon is still a bit suspicious of Harper. We returned to the Doodle and got her all set up properly, pumped out, slide out and set for the evening before returning to Tom and Debbie’s for a wonderful supper and an evening of tall stories of our cruising days. We met Tom and Debbie in Hardin, Illinois along the Illinois River during ‘The Great Loop’ trip. They were with us in Tarpon Springs way back then. It was a great evening, thanks guys.
Below are some random images. Click an image to enlarge and roll over for caption.
