Carrie comes to visit

Saturday April 28, 2012
Lithia Springs Park Site 25

 

Thursday I go for a run around the park.  After a shower and some breakfast, I finish washing Winnona.  I figure it takes me about 5 hours in total.  So I do it two hours on two days and one on the third.  First day I did the roof and the rear.  2nd day the awning side and the front.  This morning I did the driver’s side.  Makes it easier to always be doing the side not in the sun than to try to do it all at once.  I washed every inch by hand, no brushes involved except on the roof.  She looks great if I do say so myself.

 

 

In the afternoon, we pick Carrie up at the Tampa airport.  She’s a clever girl who managed to get herself a direct 2.5 hour flight from Baltimore with no stops.  When I think how long it takes us to go from Tampa to Virginia that seems amazing!

 

We are thrilled to have her here. We take a walk around the park so she can count the speed bumps of course, but also see the spring and meet the resident heron.

 

 

 

We stop by the playground on our way back.  Never pass up a chance to swing!

 

David does some playing too.  He’s always wondered what it would be like to be able to grow his hair long.

 

 

 

On Friday David goes off for his last Velcade shot for 10 days.  Dexamethazone goes with the shot so he feels fine on Friday and Saturday. 

Carrie and I go for a paddle on the Alafia River.  It rained at the end of last week so the river is not quite as low as the last time I was on it but it still requires attention in order to avoid getting grounded.

There is a lot of wildlife on the river today but only one other canoe.  Pretty sweet.   It’s an easy paddle on the way up except for the small  rapids where the river tries very hard to turn us around and send us back down stream.  Hard to paddle strongly and deeply when the river is so shallow. 

 

 

Love the hidden designs that we seldom get to see.

 

 

This hawk was swooping up and down the river nearly all
the time we were out.   We were able to catch these two shots of him.
What a majestic bird.

 

 

 

 

 

We turned around just after seeing this fellow sunning in the middle of the river.
You can see how close I am.  That’s my blue boat in the corner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s what happens when you have your eye on the camera trying to get a picture of the ibis flying.  Oopps!

 

 

 

 

But mostly floating back down stream is pretty easy.

 

We stop at the two points were the two spring runs join the
river to see the clear colored spring waters meet the
tannin colored river.

 

 

 

Then it’s back to the dock where we reassemble the carts, get the boats on and push them back to site 25.

 

 

On Saturday we have a scrambled breakfast that is gone before I think to get a pictures.  Then we head out of the park to avoid the week-end throngs and drive over to Largo and visit my 91 year old father and Carrie’s only living grand parent.   It takes about 45 minutes and the traffic is mercifully light - also a function of going on Saturday I think.

We try to take him to the bank which he assures me is open, but it’s not.  We try to take him to the jeweler’s to get his watch band repaired but both the people who can do repairs (ie are not sales people) who are usually available on Saturday are off today.   So far score Zero. 

But they can put a watch battery in his other watch.  So they do, he pays and it’s off to another jeweler and success with the watch band repair.

After all that work, it’s time for lunch.  Grandfather’s favorite restaurant in Largo is The Farmer’s Kitchen where the food is comfort, the prices low, the portions large and the on line ratings high.  Mmmmm good and every one of us ate too much.  No wonder we don’t do this often.

 

I always say, never go to the grocery store when you are hungry so going after a visit to Farmer’s Kitchen takes care of that problem.  Even with Macular degeneration, Grandfather can whiz through his local grocery store and pick out all the things he normally gets.

 

We bring all the groceries back, get them put away and it’s time to head home.  Before we leave, David gets a picture of the 3 generations of the Lloyd family.  Yes I am Sherry Lloyd Boyd.  No wise cracks or laughing allowed.

 

After we return to Winnona, we load the bikes and kayaks back on the car, bring in the awning, take up the patio mat and do some of the other take down in preparation for leaving tomorrow.  We’ve completed our two weeks near Brandon and are off for a week of “vacation”.

 

Neither Carrie nor I think at all about eating dinner.  But we are trying to put weight on David so he has some leftovers.  While I put together this blog post, he and Carrie each have a beer and sit around playing an ancient computer game called Captain Comic which was one we played back in 1988 when Carrie was but a tyke.  Still a great game! 

 

 

It’s off to Oscar Scherer State Park tomorrow and some Gulf of Mexico beach time.