Florida Bound

   Once we got home from Hawaii, we couldn't get out of COLD Kansas fast enough.....

  But we actually we had to hurry up and WAIT. 

  There was a yucky ice storm and terrible winds that came in the day we were supposed to leave.  Dale studied the road conditions and watched all the weather reports and said it just wasn't worth it.  

  So we paused packing, left out the things we needed for an overnight stay and would decide in the AM if we were a go for launch or not.

 It was a GO! Wahoooooo.  All these years later, I STILL get excited butterflies when that beautiful diesel fires up.

  We thanked the Lord for Dale's wisdom to stay one more day, because we saw no less then 38 cars or marks of cars into ditches, poles and off the highway.  It was AWFUL and our big bus wouldn't have been immune to that gusty north wind!

  It's 2 REALLY long 12 hour drive days and rest stop nights to get to where we were headed in Florida. The kids did awesome! They read books, played games, helped me menu plan and played playdough several times.  We made a bakery! :)

  We had an important stop to make before heading to our now Southern Florida winter home, and that was our old winter stomping grounds, Ocala, where Papa used to have his RV friendly country property.  Uncle Chad and Aunt Lauren are there still, Chad runs the family furniture store.
  We wanted to see everyone, eat our favorite places and drive around a bit, so we found an RV park 30 minutes away, and had a quick overnight visit.  

  First up, Carriage Trade to say hi!  The new trucks and storefront looked awesome.

  Then lunch at Brooklyn's Backyard BBQ for my favorite burger of all, the St Croix, cream cheese, sweet and sour sauce, fried banana peppers...AMAAAZING!  Kids wanted Twistee Treat while we drove around a bit to check everything out.

  We've always loved these arched treed roads in Ocala, so Dale took us for a joy ride. All of a sudden, he made a familiar turn and I literally burst into tears out of NOWHERE.  That hasn't happened for a while, it surprised me!

  As we drove by the gated drive that was one my dad's beloved "farm", alllllll my memories flooded back and I realized just how different this winter would be.  I know we did the right thing not buying it, but that doesn't always mean easy.

  Alot of sweet memories at this place......

 Tears dried, we headed to Chad and Lauren's for the day and had a heck of a time.....the cousins play so good together!

  The adults get along awesome too.  ;)

  And look at what my sweeeeet little brother got for me when he was bidding furniture for the store.... a cardinal!

 AWWW! I LOVE IT!

  2 and a half hours later, we pulled into our home sweet winter home.  We will get to stay here until April, when the world warms up and we can go travel again.

  We set up camp, got groceries, hit the library (priorities) and then went for a bike ride.

 The real question is.......who broke Florida?!  The high tomorrow is 50* and that's COOL here with the high humidity!!!!🤣

 Grammy and Aunt Torrey & Uncle Dan came by to say hi the next day.  It was POURING!!! So we literally had home church and stayed in ALL DAY LONG.  The kids actually handled it awesome and I think it's because we had so many good books and fun company to make the day go by.

    We got a message from some doTERRA peeps we met in a LONG line at convention, that also travel.  Jason says, I think we may be neighbors, I will message you soon.  Turns out, we are all at the SAME RV PARK!!!!!  We made plans to connect after the rain stopped and pretty much the kids were inseparable the REST of the week!  SO cute!
  We took them to our favorite big grocery store/farmers market, out to our favorite all you can eat fish place, Anna Maria's Oyster bar and hung out in the hot tub until laaate one night.

  The Lord just brings us the COOLEST believers to connect with on the road, and we thoroughly enjoyed our time with Jason, Kamille and their whole family! 
​ 
  We got the oh so famous Nokomis Groves fresh ice cream and hit the beach for sunset. Brrr, it was COLD and gusty!  A drive down Casey Key road, and looking at mansions with the heater one became the better option. ;)

  Saturday, the RV park had a parade.  Dale told the kids not to get their hopes up, this is after all a retirement village and we may be seeing a whole lot of golf carts.  Haha, but you guys, it was the CUTEST RV Park parade ever!

​  Board Game Theme

  It's always hard to say goodbye, but we made plans to meet up again soon!

  Florida life is full of sunshine, yummy grilled foods, local seafood, bike rides and hot tub nights.  We are loving it and so grateful the Lord is showing us that even  in the midst of change and loss, there is new life and new memories to be made!

More to come....

Hugs, T