Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.

Henry David Thoreau

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.

 

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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.

 

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

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

 

hair boyd

 

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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. 

 

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Love the hidden designs that we seldom get to see.

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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.

 

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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.

 

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ibis on a rock

ibis flies

 

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

 

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But mostly floating back down stream is pretty easy.

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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.

 

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

 

THE FINAL PICTURE

 

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.

 

lunch at farmers kitchen

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.

 

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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! 

 

Visit with Earl 008

 

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

23 comments:

  1. Did the beers help Carrie and David get higher scores on Captain Comic?

    Nice to see a great family day out, your dad looks great for his age. Loved the three generation picture.

    Nice hair for David. Is he regressing back to his wild and misspent youth? ;c)

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  2. Love David in long hair! :)

    Looks like you had a wonderful day with your dad. Have a wonderful time with Carrie!

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  3. Lovely family time...can't beat it! Enjoy Oscar Scherer :-).

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  4. You've got some real keeper photos!! The three generations, Carrie kayaking Linda Payne style and long hair David were really special;o)) Have fun on Vacation and enjoy this time with Carrie!!!

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  5. Looks like Carrie's visit is off to a great start, with 'vacation' promising to bring more great shared time. Nice photo of the three generations.

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  6. I hope he didn't get any chiggers from his "hair".

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  7. Yeah, I just heard that from a guide, DON'T TOUCH THE SPANISH MOSS, they usually have chiggers in it! Loved the alligator photos and the three generations...your dad looks great for his age. Is David drinking any extra "shakes" like Ensure or something like that?

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  8. glad to see Carrie could take some time and make your time in Florida even better...

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  9. I hope David stayed chigger free after that hair transplant. Chiggers love to reside in Spanish moss.

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  10. First thing I thought of when I saw the Spanish moss on David's head was chiggers. Don't know if it's true, but we had always been warned not to touch it. Guess he will know soon enough! What a nice family picture. You're dad looks great.

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  11. I love David's new hair-do! How neat that the three generations could spend time together! Enjoy your vacation and your time with Carrie!

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  12. Not to worry about the chiggers. No sign of any. It's been our long term experience that both chiggers and mosquitos greatly prefer me and have no interest in David. Lucky him!! That's why you'd never catch me doing any moss hair modeling.

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  13. David looks great in long hair. I never did figure out the difference between a gator and a croc, but whatever it is sure has an evil grin!

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  14. Well I think David looks like a hippy with that long curly hair. Spanish moss was often used as mattress stuffing long ago.
    Nice to see everyone enjoy family time like that. Enjoy!
    Syl

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  15. Sorry to be repetitive, BUT i love those turtles... ooo they told us in New Orleans that moss had chiggers in it!!! David better watch out! and the beach?? again?? how can u stand it!!?? Yay!!!

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  16. This clear water/tannin thing is what I was looking for in this post. I saw it once, and wasn't able to find it again. Maybe because the water was so low everywhere we went.

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  17. Keep your eyes peeled for the Florida Scrub Jay at Oscar Scherer.

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  18. Such cute pictures with Carrie! I'm so glad that she was able to come for a visit. I will never get used to how close you get to those 'gators. Oh, me. Be careful!

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  19. loved seeing the pic of Carrie with David on the computer :)

    Diane

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  20. Good family times. Looks like the weather is cooperating for Carrie's visit too. I must say, Winona does look magnificent.... that is a big job to keep her in tip top shape. I like seeing David smiling... and I like his fancy hair. Roger also smiles when his daughters come to visit. Just got back from a visit with Simon at Harding. He is coming here for the summer... in finals week right now.....Met Karissa at Harding too. Enjoy the "critters" that you see along and in the river banks....... carol

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  21. Winnona is so shiny! Great idea to divide up the job so that you're always working on the shady side.

    Fun family times! Glad to see I'm not the only one that still likes to swing in my advancing years.

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  22. You have been busy once again. It's so nice to have our kids come and visit with us. It looks like you are enjoying the time together. Carrie looks very much like you. Love the shot of the three generations. BTW, tell David to get a haircut, it is just too long and looks like a rat's nest, lol!

    Don't forget to vote for us, aussieexperiences.com/contest/entry/red-centre-kevin-read/

    Kevin and Ruth
    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

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