In fact, the closest I got to Disney World or any of the other parks around there were the signs on the highway. The reason I stopped there was to see some relatives of mine and of Mary Beth’s, and some old friends. Like a lot of places in the southeast Orlando has been growing like crazy lately. To make matters worse it’s winter which means the snowbirds were there in full force. Traffic, to say the least, was really bad. It didn’t take me long to decide not to go much further south than Orlando. I never would’ve found a place to stay anyways. When I first got there I stayed in the state park at Wekiwa Springs. It wasn’t a bad park and it had over 13 miles of hiking trails. I was thinking that Abbey would want to get out of the RV after driving down there, I thought I’d try and take her out for a walk despite the fact it was sprinkling. She was reluctant from the start and I should’ve known better than to force her, but I did anyways. The hike wasn’t too exciting and she kept stalling most of the way. It didn’t help when I got a little lost, but we were both happy when we got back to the RV.
On Tuesday I went to see Veronica, one of Mary Beth’s cousins on her mom’s side. She had been up to visit us a lot in the last few years so it was nice to spend some time with her. The next day I moved to the RV park where her father stays in Mt. Dora. I think I was the only one under 60 in the place, but that could probably be said for most places in Florida this time of year. Uncle Louis, Mary Beth’s mother’s brother, lives in his trailer all year round – half in Mt. Dora and half wherever his son lives at the time. He loves the mountains, Colorado and hiking so we had a lot to talk about. Unfortunately, his knees are in too bad of shape to be doing any more hiking. He took me out to lunch a number of times saying that he needed a guinea pig to go with him. He likes to try new places but not by himself so he waits ‘til someone comes into town. I was happy to oblige but I think I put on 10 lbs. in the last couple of weeks. Abbey was real comfortable there and in Uncle Louis’ trailer but she didn’t like the thunderstorms that started Friday morning and didn’t finish until Saturday noon. It took her a day or more to get back to her normal semi-neurotic self, as opposed to her very neurotic self.
While in the Orlando area I got down to see my Aunt Jean and her husband David. She’s one of several relatives I haven’t seen since my sister Susan’s wedding. Unfortunately, she has emphysema now, but is not faring too badly at the moment. She and David keep very busy with the Lion’s Club and other volunteer work. I also saw Anne & David Dore and their 2 kids. I went over to their house in Maitland to watch the Super Bowl, which was quite the dud this year. At least I got to talk with them without missing much of anything.
I left Mt. Dora on Tuesday, the 7th, and headed west to the panhandle. Abbey and I found a nice state park called Ochlockonee a little west of Tallahassee. They had some short trails but Abbey again wasn’t interested. So I gave up after a while and left her in the RV while I went for a walk on my own. The next day we stopped for a walk on the beach near Cape San Blas. There were a lot of jellyfish on the beach and Abbey was too curious of them for my liking. Some were the clear kind, which I wasn’t sure were poisonous, but I didn’t want to take any chances. She smelled the first one, tried to lick the second one, and tried biting a 3rd one, which is when I decided not to let her get anywhere near them. I also saw some blue ones, which I was later told were Portuguese Man-of-War. I’m not sure they were, but I’m glad I didn’t let Abbey get them. She then proceeded to put all kinds of things in her mouth including seaweed. After several minutes of this I decided a walk on the beach with her was not all that enjoyable. So we headed back on the road to Pensacola, where my cousin Debbie lives. Her son Hunter still lives at home, but her husband John was out on an international trip. He’s a pilot for Northwest when he’s not golfing (according to Debbie). When I arrived at Debbie’s we tried to let Abbey and her dog, Bonford (he came with that name so she swears she’s not responsible for it) get acquainted but Bonford didn’t like Abbey from the start. He’s a miniature Schnauzer but he wasn’t at all afraid. After he jumped on Abbey a few times Debbie sent him off to a friend’s house for a few days. I felt pretty bad for kicking him out of his own house, but she said he loves going over to this house. Abbey was happy to see him go. I had a real nice time catching up with Debbie on everything that’s gone on with her side of the family since we were little kids. She and her brother were much older when I was growing up so I didn’t remember most of the things she did about their visits with us. I just remember we all thought her brother, David, was really crazy.
I have yet another cousin, Nancy, who lives in Luling, LA, about 30 minutes outside of New Orleans, so on Friday morning Abbey and I were off again.
Uncle Louis
The Dores
Ochlockonee River
Abbey on the Beach