Perry, FL - Easy Does It

We arose early, oh, well, 6:30, which is early for us and, since we had gotten lots of our leaving chores done yesterday, we thought we’d be fine getting up at 6:30. And, we did do fine but, as we were hitching up the Jeep, we met lots of morning walkers who all wanted to know where we were headed and wanted to wish us a great and safe trip. So we didn’t pull out until 9:00. We were rolling along smoothly but, if you’ve been paying attention, you know that we like to get a coffee warm-up and a donut to cheer us up along our way. I had found a place last night and wrote down the address in my little spiral journal. Luckily. I had a general idea where it was and, as we drew nearer, I keyed it into the iPhone. Could I find it? Could I spell the name, Lickin' Good, correctly? Could I even get a map on the screen? Nope, Nope and Nope. Come on, I found it so easily when I was in the campground. But, now, under pressure, I can’t even type it in correctly. Boy, don’t give me the last shot in a tied basketball game.

We circled around and as we were heading to where I thought it was, we saw it. Oops. Not where Google placed it. 2 blocks north and across the street from where Google placed it. Ah, but we found it, not only did the have old fashioneds but they even had a chocolate frosted old fashioned. Those made us overlook the tepid coffee - remember, we’ve got an inverter in the RV and can reheat it there. Oops, they didn’t have decaf and I poured out the regular caffeinated coffee. I’m going to be flying high today: sugar, chocolate and caffeine. Whee. I’d better strap myself in.

Pleasant trip. Easy roll on down Interstate 10 to Tallahassee.

We stopped at 2:00 for lunch in a Love’s truck stop. I’ve heard of walking the dogs when people stop for a rest but these 3 walked the 4 horses they had with them in their horse RV.

They fed the horses from buckets, lugged buckets of water from the station and then - oh, no, they’ve got out the pitchfork. What are they going to do now? That task is easier with a dog.

Usually we don’t take interstates but today we’re on our way and have a goal: Tuesday night in Clermont, FL. We turned south 20 miles after Tallahassee and headed SE on US 19 to Perry for an overnight in a Walmart parking lot. Tomorrow, we’ll finish up.

Walmart - called this morning for permission and was told it was OK. When we got here and were pulling in, we noticed the signs that said: ‘NO OVERNIGHT PARKING’. Oh shucks. So I dutifully walked in, waited at the service desk and asked again. ‘Oh, yeah,’ he said laughing, 'those signs have been up forever.’ So, here we are, with 3 other RV’s. I like to ask permission in the evening and thank them in the morning, with a bag of groceries in my hand. It may be only a loaf of bread but I want them to know how thankful I am for the privilege of overnighting on their property and feeling much safer than in other places.

The next day we headed on to Clermont, FL. The road was a beautiful one to travel since it was 4 lanes, divided and had little or now traffic.

Until it got to Clermont. Then the traffic lights began. Every mile or so is another traffic light. And, believe me, you can’t find any green ones.

And finally we got to our campground and all set up. Time for a walk. We heard this loud squawking sound, turned and saw this friendly bird welcoming us. It’s pretty tame and used to people roaming around.