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Out of the Pan(handle) and into the fire (mainland Florida)

Saturday, February 26th – Tate’s Hell to Outside of Gainesville, Florida – Day 19 

The middle of the night featured a truck of people who came to the river area in our campsite, started a fire and it sounded like they were having a very good time. In the middle of the night they took off with only a minor disturbance to our sleep. 

Our morning was fairly relaxed. It was a travel day so oatmeal and coffee, get the trailer ready to be packed up. But, Gen and I had a chance to sit by the river on a beautiful sunny day and drink our coffee. It was very pleasant. Mary and Charlotte went to get a shower at the neighbouring campsite. Once finished, we packed up the trailer and off we went. 

We drove along the coast as much as possible admiring real estate as we went. A lot of the new builds are all on stilts to protect against flooding. Pine trees dominated the drive on both sides of the road. Before we were forced to leave the coastal drive, we found a little park in parts unknown for tuna sandwiches. The play structure was reasonable but the kids still had a good time. The local council had left a bin of sports equipment for people to use so Gen and I threw around a disc. Charlotte, John and I challenged two teenage girls to a soccer game. John’s participation was very short lived. Charlotte played some good defence but needs to work on moving to open space. There were plenty of opportunities to use her speed and push the play down the left flank. After a little while Charlotte decided to withdraw as well and the game was over. 


We were staying at another Harvest Host, Millwood Flower Farm. They grow flowers, make teas, tinctures and more. We had been trying to get a hold of Mary’s friend Cyndy who is an absolutely delightful person. I’ve only met her once with the kids; she was such a gracious host and liked our children (amazingly enough). She worked at a farm, Adena Farms, in the general area we were travelling but she had already let us know that she wasn’t in town when we were passing through. On a whim, we looked up where the farm was and it turned out it was more or less directly on our path to the flower farm. We stopped briefly to take a look at the property and snap a photo. 

 It was late when we finally arrived at the flower farm. We briefly chatted with Natalie, our host. Set-up was quick and I made bean and rice wraps. The front yard had been setup with a swinging bench, chairs and side tables under a magnificent oak tree with moss hanging down from the branches. A warm breeze was blowing and it was a magnificent night for Gen and I to sit out and enjoy (after the kids went to bed). I stayed out a bit longer than Gen. It was tremendously peaceful. I tuned in for some of a beat down the Raptors received from the Atlanta Hawks (Trae Young went off) before turning it off and enjoying my surroundings.




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