Home Sweet Home:  Spent the last couple of days sorting the mail, cleaning up leaves, and getting tax stuff ready.  Lots of mail. I got it sorted and sent the junk mail to the recycling bin.  Now just opening it all and doing something with it. I'm ready to have some fun now. And my car started right up. Great car!

Some of my mail.  Mike's pile is even bigger.

KOA, W. Memphis, AR, to St. Louis:  Left around 8:30 this morning.  The rain had finally stopped, but the fog was pretty bad for a while.  By the time we reached Sikeston, MO, the fog had lifted and the sun made an appearance.  Stopped at the Flying J, fueled up and had a big breakfast.  Mike took over driving.  While I was driving a Fed Ex truck pulling doubles passed us and lost control a little bit, swerving into our lane.  He almost side swiped us.  I didn’t even have time to react.  But, other than that, the trip was without incident and we arrived safely back home.  Pulled into our storage area, unloaded the food and were home by 3:00.  Temps in the 50s.  Ugh!  But, all in all a great trip. Now we have to decide what we’re doing this summer.  Maybe a trip to Europe.

A lot of fog this morning heading out.

The landscape is pretty bleak.  Do you see any leaves on these trees?  No, but we'll get to see them burst forth soon.  Any day now.

On I270 going around St. Louis.  Always a lot of fun--6 lanes of mayhem.  I usually feel more secure doing the driving.  A control issue maybe?

Birmingham South RV Park, Birmingham, AL, to KOA, W. Memphis, AR:  Left this morning at around 9:00.  Stopped at a Shell station just before getting back on I65 which was a really tight fit and the place was really busy.  But we fueled up and got out of there okay.  Back on I65 and was glad to get through Birmingham and onto Rt. 78 (or Interstate 22) which crosses northern Alabama and Mississippi.  A really pretty drive through forested rolling hills dotted with little lakes and some trees in bloom. Very rural and very few towns. We stopped just east of Tupelo for fuel and food and Mike took over driving. While he went in and paid the fuel bill, I practiced my backing-up skills and backed into a parking space beside a couple of trucks.  Walked to McDonald’s next door and got my Big Mac fix.  As we approached W. Memphis the sky turned pretty dark and by the time we pulled into the KOA it had started sprinkling and the wind was whipping along with thunder and lightning. Fortunately, Mike got everything hooked up outside before it started raining in earnest. We’ll have to keep an eye on the weather for tomorrow and hope there’s nothing severe in the forecast.  It actually made it up to 71 briefly.  This is our last stop.  Tomorrow we should be home.

Bridge over the Mississippi in Memphis.

Gulf Pines KOA, Milton, FL, to Birmingham South RV Park, Birmingham, AL:  Instead of continuing on Interstate 10 today, we took Rt. 87 out of Milton to Rt. 31 and then we picked up I65 to Birmingham.  It’s always nice to get off the highway once in a while.  We got to see some of rural Florida and Alabama which was really pretty in places. Shortly after we got on I65, we stopped at a Flying J truck stop, fueled up and had breakfast at the Denny’s there.  Then Mike took over driving.  A lot of traffic on I65, but other than that, no problems.  Arrived at Birmingham South and were set up by 1:30.  It got really cold last night and the high today was the upper 50s.  We are not liking this at all. Sandwiches for dinner tonight.  

Dogwoods in bloom along the highway.

KOA, East Tallahassee, FL, to Gulf Pines KOA, Milton, FL:  On the road this morning at around 9:30 again this morning.  A short drive day today, but really short for me, since I just drove 45 minutes or so to the Flying J where we stopped for breakfast.  A reversal of yesterday where I drove 3 hours or so and Mike drove 45 minutes.  Anyway, we headed to the Denny’s Restaurant here and as we walked up to the entrance there was a dog sprawled out on the grass.  I thought he’s probably waiting for someone inside, but no leash.  What a well behaved dog I thought.  After our breakfast and as I was paying our check, I inquired about the dog and was told he’s a stray and has hung out at this Denny’s for over two years now.  They’ve called animal control and people have tried to encourage him to go with them, but he runs whenever anyone approaches him.  They have a food and water bowl out there for him and lots of people drop their left-over breakfast in his bowl.  He/she looks very healthy and in good condition. This is definitely his home. Maybe someone dumped him there and he’s waiting for them to come back?  Reminds me of an obscure movie with Richard Gere titled “Hachi:  A dog’s Tale”.  It’s a touching, true story of a dog who waits at the train station every day for his owner to return from work.  The setting in the movie is a small town outside of NYC.  One day this guy has a heart attack on the way home in the train, so of course he never gets off the train.  That dog sat at that station for years waiting for his owner to return.  After the dog passed away they erected a statue of the dog at the station.  What a great movie!  Anyway, a short drive today—only 3 hours.  And we gained an hour and are now on Central Time (YES!).  The drive on Interstate 10 was uneventful.  Signs of spring everywhere—trees leafing out after being dormant all winter and clusters of wild flowers here and there along the highway.  It was very windy though.  Mid-60s today.

Pictures of this sweet, homeless dog who has made Denny's his home.

Clerbrook Golf & RV Resort, Clermont, FL, to KOA, East Tallahassee, FL:  Left this morning at 9:30 under cloudy skies.  Took Florida’s Turnpike north to I75 north.  The drive on I75 around Ocala is really quite pretty—what with all the elegant horse farms and vast pastures enclosed in neat white- or brown-board fencing. And there are so many signs of spring—wild flowers in profusion, flowering red bud and dogwood trees.  And azaleas—lots of beautiful azaleas.  It took 2 hours to get to I10 and we started looking for a place to fuel up and eat.  Ended up driving another hour before we finally found a Love’s truck stop.  After fueling and eating, Mike took over driving.  He only had a 45-minute drive.  We arrived and were set up by 2:30.  Only in the 60s today.  But no rain at least.

Heading out toward the Atlantic in the waters around Jupiter Island.

Clerbrook Golf & RV Resort, Clermont, FL:  Our last day here.  So we did the laundry, grocery shopping, and went out for a nice dinner.  After a couple of glasses of chardonnay, I was buzzed.  Topped off the truck.  And we’re ready to leave tomorrow morning.  Low 80s today.  Probably our last day in the 80s (sigh).  

Jupiter Island, FL