Florida 1-30 & 31, 2013

On the road again Wednesday Jan. 30. Happy birthday wishes to our son, Gene. Hope all you dreams come true this year.


We hiked in the Withacoochee State Forest at Roadham Clay Sink.


Don't know the name of the bush but the yellow flowers are pretty.


Red mushroom.


An older mushroom.


Bromeliads growing on the tree.


Young Spanish moss.

We also hiked at Silver Lake.


Interesting tree.


Fungi.


Huge pine cones. Maybe 7 inches.


Probably 60 ft up the pine cones still look big.


They are littered all over the forest floor.


Resurrection fern appear to die off when weather conditions are dry but come back to vibrant green when it rains.


Busy woodpecker in the tree.


Palms, palms and more palms.


Bridge to cross over. Saw a map near one parking lot said the bridge was out. We hoped we could cross over because we started 1 1/2 mile away from that map. Our RV was about 50 ft. from the bridge. (Old map.)


Silver Lake. Bridge was intact, we could cross over.


Hickory tree. Nostalgic for me...I remember going hickory nut picking with my Dad.

We stayed again at Sumtra Escapee RV Park near Bushnell, FL.

On the road again Thursday Jan. 31. Happy birthday wishes to my sister, Beverly. Best wishes for many, many more years of good health and many new endeavors.

We toured the very impressive Morse Museum in Winter Park, FL. Unfortunately photos not allowed but you can go online to read about it. The Museum is mainly the work of Louis C. Tiffany. The stained glass artwork was so magnificent. The Chapel he exhibited at the Chicago 1893 World's Fair was so awesome. The same can be said of all the things on display. So glad we were able to experience this Museum.


We toured the Harry Leu Gardens in Orlando. He and his wife had a passion for Camellias.


They are called the Rose of the Orient.





This beautiful white one is the size of my hand spread wide.











Miniature Powderpuff Plant.





























Beautiful scented Trumpet Flowers.


Hong Kong Orchid Tree.





So many beautiful roses I couldn't stop taking photos. But alas it was closing time.

We are staying at The Pilot Truck Center in Haines City. An day filled with beautiful artwork of man and nature.

Location:Brookside, Winter Park & Orlando, FL.

Georgia & Florida 1-28 & 29, 2013

On the road again Monday Jan. 28


We stopped at the Ashburn, GA Chamber of Commerce to see their Fire Ant.


A wood carving of a fire ant.


Ashburn has a Fire Ant Festival in March. The town of 4,500 welcomes 30,000 visitors for their Festival.


We were cordially invited to tour the Crime and Punishment Museum. (The jail that was built in 1906,). The windows facing the street have the bars on the inside of the windows so the building looks like a regular house.


Convicts' clothes


40 pound ball convict would have had attached to his ankle. We tried to lift it...HEAVY.


This ball was filled with sand. Weighed less.


Jokingly called the first RV. This car could sleep 6 convicts who were working the fields...rather than to bring them back to the jail


Mosquito bedding on the portable convict car.





Replica of an electric chair.


Klu Klux Klan outfit


The jail cells were on the second floor. Four to a cell.


Often bunks were set up in this space. Overcrowding was common.


The bars on the inside of the windows.


Execution by hanging.


Distillery


Ashburn also has the World's Largest Peanut. It can be seen along I-75.

We are staying at Sumtra Oaks Escapee Park outside of Bushnell, FL. We have limited Internet access so can't post the Blog till we go to town. Phil cleaned out the RV antifreeze so we have running water again. You never know how much you want to get water from the faucet until you can't. With temperatures up to 82 and 58 overnight we don't have to worry about pipes freezing while in Florida.

On the road again Tuesday Jan. 29 but first Phil sanitized the plumbing.
We picked up a few supplies at Walmart in Bushnell. Talked to a couple from Ontario who have a rig similar to ours.


We visited the Dade Battlefield State Park.


This was the site of the first Seminole War.





The U.S. soldiers wore blue coats and carried all their gear.


When they had their coats off the white stripes across their chest were an easy target for the Indians to shot at.


The Indians defeated the U.S. soldiers in 1835.


But the Indians were defeated in 1842.


Game of the Seminole Indians similar to Lacrosse but they used two sticks. The ball was make of deerhide.








The beauty of the live oaks. They grow 50 ft. tall and branches spread 100 ft.


They grow from small acorns.

We are staying again at Sumtra Oak Escapee Park under the beautiful live oaks and palm trees. We enjoy visiting with many of the other people here.

Location:Ashburn, GA & Bushnell, FL.